This week was embroiled with Bush's attempt to assault the constitution and Ahnold obviously wants to be president someday. It turns out the Germans were well ahead of the CIA and tried to help but that surely didn't help at all. Bush launches a campaign to jail his Nobel Peace Prize competition and our man, Tony, takes another well-timed hit.

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Rise of the Machines

You knew this would be coming. It seems California Governor Schwarzenegger (wait, let's say that again...Governor Schwarzenegger), who has been in office a mere 98 days, is backing a constitutional admendment which would allow naturalised citizens to run for president. As you all know, only home grown Americans can hold the office. He denies any intentions of pursuing the oval office, but really, who is he kidding?


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/23/national/23ARNO.html

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No Response

Two and half years before 9/11, the CIA was given the first name and a telephone number of one the hijackers by German officials. It seems that German intelligence had pegged Marwan al-Shehhi as an Al-Qaeda operative and provided the CIA with a phone number in the United Arab Emirates. The CIA did precisely this with the information: nothing. American officials were "unable to come up with anything." The CIA, apparently unable to track down unlisted telephone numbers, were stymied. We at the BHC imagine the extent of the CIA investigation:

CIA calls the number,

CIA: "Hello, is the Marwan?"
Marwan: "Uh, who is this?"
CIA: "It's the CIA. Is this Marwan?"
Marwan: "Uh...no. He's out."
CIA: "Ok, then. Sorry for troubling you."

Hence, the investigation ends, all effort having been thwarted.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/politics/24TERR.html?pagewanted=2&hp

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An Actual Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

A three time Nobel Peace prize nominee, Kathy Kelly, founder of Chicago based Voices in the Wilderness, was sentenced to three months in prison, for silent, non violent protest protest outside the notorious School of the Americas, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Kelly has been an almost continuous thorn-in-the-side of many administrations over the years by pointing out and publicly protesting calimatous American foreign policies. When she's not in jail, that is. She has protested the US-backed Contras and recently has been in Iraq trying to help local civilians from getting blown up by American military might.

Former UN Assistant Secretary General and UN Coordinator in Iraq and himself a Nobel nominee had this to say about American justice:

"To learn that Kathy Kelly has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for her stand against the criminal training provided by the School of the Americas is an outrage. Such aggressive action in respect of US citizens who care, who are truly patriotic - demonstrates that so called American values and what passes for US democracy adds up to little more that fascism. For a citizen, and Noble Peace Prize nominee to be hogtied, abused and then jailed is astounding, but not surprising under the current rightist regime in Washington. Kathy is the most courageous person I know - Kathy, along with millions I salute you."

BHC theory might consider the posibility that Bush has a plan. If he can imprison all his fellow nominees, maybe he'll win.

www.commondreams.org/views04/0223-12.htm

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Starve the Beast

This is how the anti-big-government Republicans work: start a few wars, add a new "security" agency, pump up the defense budget, install huge, regressive tax cuts and corporate subsidies and then get the Chairman of the Fed to come out and say we need to cut back on domestic spending. Of course, as we are all aware, the Republicans have a newly adopted anti-anti-big-government position under George Bush's stewardship, much to the consternation of many conservative groups. Those evil entitlements, which Republicans despise, must be reigned in. Even though some %55 of the cost of Bush's legislation comes from his tax cuts, Greenspan sees the only way to control things is to cut back Social Security benefits.
We have known for some that Social Security was going to go bust, through mostly demographic forces, and that something needs to be done. But for Greenspan to ignore the effects of the tax cuts and, indeed, implicitly support them, is bizarre. Of course, he recommends that "action is better taken as soon as possible." The timing of this statement mostly assuredly will dictate that "action" won't be taken as soon as possible. No politician is going to cut benefits in an election year. Not even Bush could be that unaware.

In a profound moment of insight, Greenspan says,

"I am just basically saying that we are overcommitted at this stage,"

Really? The US about to experience projected record red ink of $521 billion this year, Greenspan's statement is really going out on a limb. The BHC cannot believe he gets paid for this.


www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4953-2004Feb25.html

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Constitutional Matter

President Bush has backed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage Tuesday. Though Bush lacks it, spokesman Scott McClellan said."The president believes it is important to have clarity". This is so clearly a politically motivated move by Bush (or Rove or who ever the hell is running the White House right now) that it's almost insultingly obvious. Bush knows, as do many others, that he does not have votes in Congress to ever make this a constitutional amendment. But at least he can say to his base of Christian zealots: hey, I tried.

But forget that. That Bush would choose to amend the constitution with a prohibition (remember the last one?) is enormously wrong-headed. Bush seems to be singularily lacking any understanding of what the constitution actually is and for what it is meant. The Bush administration has never shown the slightest respect for the consitutional restrictions on government, why now does the constitution seem so vital to them?

The constitution of the United States is a proud document designed to enshrine, protect and enable rights and priveleges for all Americans, not to deny them to a few. The constitution is American citizens' protection against meddlesome intrusions on life and liberty by their government. The constitution is a document which is, first and foremost, designed to restrict government actions, not those of its citizens. Madison and Jefferson are rolling in their graves right now.


www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/politics/24CND-GAY.html

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Burnin' Ring of Safire

NY Times columnist William Safire is on a tirade, calling the Democrats, who are saying that the jobs outlook is not good, "troubadours of trouble" and "gloomy-Gus politicians". He seems especially riled by all these folks coming out and claiming that, while unemployment is going down, some measure of the decreasing statistic is that a large number of people are dropping out of the job hunt and, consequently, out of the labour department statistics, which artificially reduces the unemployment figure. Of course, these "media fearmongers" are the lefty media and Democrats just trying to pretend all those mega-monstrous tax cuts did nothing about improving employment.

How is it that this guy has a job? Is he being disingenuous or just clueless? The unemployment statistics are provided by the Department of Labour and in its own summary says,

The number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force totaled about 1.7 million in January, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. There were 432,000 discouraged workers.*

So, according to Safire, is Bush's US Department Labor a bunch of "troubadours of trouble"? How do the editors at the NY Times let this crap onto their pages?


Read the nonsense here...


* US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January, 2004.
(www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm)

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Malden Mills Bills

Lawyers who restructed Malden Mills Industries (makers of Polar-Tec) and exumed the company from its financial mire are demanding $21 million in fees for two years of work. Malden Mills has balked, insisting that the fees are unconscionable. Naturally, off to court they go. Some of the billing has been shown to be somewhat questionable. After reviewing the charges, Judge Rosenthal notice that some of the billing included time spent reviewing other lawyers' bills:

"The court did not envision that reviews of all other professionals' monthly invoices, and preparation of an applicant's own monthly bill, would become a major source of fees for some professionals".

That the lawyers and "restructuring experts" (are these the guys who break kneecaps to get money out of you?) managed to keep Malden Mills afloat and turn it around is great. They now seem bent on driving it back into Chapter 11. It's a great, circular, make-work project.


http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/02/25/malden_mills_looks_at_21_million_bankruptcy_tab/

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Terrorist Breeding Ground

The United States military is facing the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops

Saddening and horrifying, little did anyone know US troops would be the terrorists within.


www.nytimes.com/2004/02/26/national/26MILI.html

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Short Shrift

A former cabinet minister in Tony Blairs' government, Clare Short, has come forth and claimed that British Intelligence conducted a long-term spying campaign against members of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan. Of course, our man Tony mustered up some bluster and rebuked Ms. Short for her "totally irresponsible" remarks. Notice Tony doesn't actually deny anything here. Just that Short is irresponsible. And spying on so-called allies in the UN is not. Blair has been taking a damn good thrashing these days and we at the BHC applaud these well-focused and independant blows. Amazingly, at the Scottish Labour Party's conference, not one question for Blair invloved the Iraq war or the UN spying charges.

Quotes Blair biographer, Anthony Seldon, "My sense is that the nation has moved on anyway and there are bigger Blair issues"

Bigger Blair issues? Falsify evidence to start war, spy on the UN, these aren't big issue to the Labour Party? Good Lord, what else has he been up to?


www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=GGQFTJUY4E1TQCRBAEZSFEY

www.nytimes.com/2004/02/26/international/europe/26CND-BRIT.html

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Unite and Divide

With the constitutional amendment threat posed by Bush, we here at the BHC thought it might be timely to provide a synopsis of some of the stalwart "compassionate conservative"'s policies. And let us not forget those famous words:


I'm a uniter, not a divider: Damn the UN, world opinion and international law, launch preemptive war
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Blame the CIA: they made me do it.
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Vengefully expose undercover CIA operatives when they don't kowtow
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Appoint more right wing, Christian zealots to the federal bench.
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Ban evil gays from marriage to satisfy moralistic, extremist Christian idealogy
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Ban critical medical research to satisfy moralistic, extremist Christian idealogy
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Increase weapons spending, cut social program spending
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Award majority of enormous tax cut to wealthiest 10% of Americans and corporations
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Beat and arrest dissenters and protestors
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Demand support for the troops and cut $20 billion in VA benefits.
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Unravel 30 years of environmental protection laws
I'm a uniter, not a divider: Facing an unprecedented deficit, propose more tax cuts, have the Fed advise cuts in Social Security

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We're outta here.