The Hollywood Liberal

Thirty-Six Sure-Fire Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling

Daily Reckoning as Seen on What Really Happened
Excerpt
You know your empire’s crumbling when the folks who are gearing up their empire to replace yours start blowing up satellites in space. And then they don’t bother to return your phone calls when you ring up to ask why.

You know your empire’s crumbling when those same folks are cutting deals left, right and center across Asia, Latin America and Africa, while you, your lousy terms, and your arrogant attitude are no longer welcome.

You know your empire’s crumbling when you’re spending your grandchildren’s money like a drunken sailor, and letting your soon-to-be rivals finance your little splurge (i.e., letting them own your country).

You know your empire’s crumbling when it’s considered an achievement to pretend that you’ve halved the rate at which you’re adding to the massive mountain of debt you’ve already accumulated.

H.L.s Take
Click through and check the other 32 ways you know your Empire is crumbling. Condi ought sit Bush down and read this to him, (and send a copy over to Congress) but it would probably go right over his head.

U.S. sent pallets of cash to Baghdad-

AP
Excerpt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S.
Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said on Tuesday.
Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that’s exactly what our government did,” the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in
Iraq.
On December 12, 2003, $1.5 billion was shipped to Iraq, initially “the largest pay out of U.S. currency in Fed history,” according to an e-mail cited by committee members.
It was followed by more than $2.4 billion on June 22, 2004, and $1.6 billion three days later. The CPA turned over sovereignty on June 28.

WHERE’S THE MONEY?

Democrats led by Waxman also questioned whether the lack of oversight of $12 billion in Iraqi money that was disbursed by Bremer and the CPA somehow enabled insurgents to get their hands on the funds, possibly through falsifying names on the government payroll.

H.L.s Take
So the US is shipping giant skids of cash to Iraq that are now (possibly) winding up in the hands of the people who are killing our soldiers over there. This sounds like the work of George W. Bush, and Big Dick Cheney. Are Bush and Cheney funding the insurgents so that they can keep killing our soldiers, so we can drag the war on forever, so Bush and Dick can make even more cash for their friends at Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. A while back there was a story about tons of missing explosives that the insurgents got their hands on. Bush and Cheney are sure making it easy on the insurgents.
I wonder if these shipments of cash are part of this (also from 2003)

Military waste under fire $1 trillion missing –

SF Chronicle
Excerpt
The Department of Defense, already infamous for spending $640 for a toilet seat, once again finds itself under intense scrutiny, only this time because it couldn’t account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions, not to mention dozens of tanks, missiles and planes.

H.L.s Take
1 Trillion Dollars Missing, not to mention tanks and planes. How do you lose a tank or a plane??? Maybe they shipped them to Iran to help fund the Iranians to keep that war dragging on forever. My congressional representative Henry Waxman will get to the bottom of this. Thats why Hollywood keeps voting for him.

Here is the video footage released yesterday of the friendly fire incident in which American pilots fired on a British convoy killing Matty Hull from England. We had this story yesterday. The U.S. tried to suppressed this video from back in 2003 until someone leaked it to the UK Sun, they ran it yesterday and now its all over the web. Here it is

Crooks & Liars

He told us that too many of his colleagues are "afraid of criticism from the White House… They're trying to have it both ways… People who know better are trying to take the easy way out." He recalled that he had introduced legislation 2 years ago that called for a 15 month timeline for ending the way. It would have been over last year. "Now even Hillary Clinton is talking about a timeline." And now Senator Feingold has moved to the next step– the Iraq Redeployment Act of 2007.

Republicans refuse to debate Iraq surge

The News Blog
Excerpt
Let’s see which if the Republicans up for re-election in 2008 voted against debating the Iraq surge:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Larry Craig (R-ID)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
John Sununu (R-NH)
John Warner (R-VA)

Lookit here — Chuck Hagel once again proves he’s all talk, but when it comes time for action, he buckles.

NE-Sen, pres: Chuck Hagel — weak

Daily Kos
Excerpt
Chuck Hagel, two weeks ago:

This is a very real, responsible addressing of the most divisive issue in this country since Vietnam. Yes, sure, it’s tough. Absolutely. And I think all 100 senators ought to be on the line on this.
What do you believe? What are you willing to support? What do you think? Why were you elected?
If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes. This is a tough business. But is it any tougher, us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves and have the courage to step up on what we’re asking our young men and women to do?
I don’t think so.
When I hear, on both sides of this argument, impugning motives and patriotism to our country, not only is it offensive and disgusting but it debases the whole system of our country and who we are.
My goodness. Can’t we debate the most critical issue of our time, out front, in front of the American people?
The expect it. Are we so weak, we can’t do that?

H.L.s Take
Hagel is a typical weak republican, he voted to invoke cloture and end the debate on the resolution he was so fired up about last week. Hagel is a weak weak hypocrite.

NH-Sen: John Sununu — spineless

Daily Kos
Excerpt
John Sununu, two weeks ago:

Republican Sen. John Sununu told CNN Tuesday he will not support President Bush’s plan to send an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, although he hasn’t yet decided whether to back a Democratic resolution opposing the move.
Well, he decided that he didn’t really oppose Bush’s plan. Instead, he preferred to support Bush’s escalation.

Haggard now “completely heterosexual”

AP
Excerpt
DENVER – One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is “completely heterosexual.”

“He is completely heterosexual,” Ralph said. “That is something he discovered. It was the acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn’t a constant thing.”

H.L.s Take
Oh Pleeeasseee. Who are these guys trying to kid. That may work on the flock that shells out the loot these guys use for speed and gay male hookers, but the rest of us know the truth. Once you’ve crossed that line and started sucking off other dudes (or whatever it was he was doing with the gay prositiute) thats it, your gay. Men who are not gay don’t suddenly start having sex with other men, even if they are tweaked out of their minds. This guy has either been repressing his true sexual desire his whole life, or he is just lying.

Video shows US friendly fire attack on British tank

AP
Excerpt
The U.S. military had previously refused to release the video to Hull’s (the victims) family, despite requests by British government officials and the coroner investigating the death. The video was leaked and published Tuesday by The Sun newspaper.

The pilot can be heard in the cockpit trying to establish whether targets on the ground are coalition forces or insurgents.

One man asserts that orange panels on the vehicles could mean they are coalition forces — most are equipped with bright markers to prevent such incidents.

Another man is heard saying the orange markers look like rockets.

“I think killing these damn rocket launchers, it would be great,” a man on the recording is heard saying.

Two U.S. A-10 jets allegedly opened fire on Hull’s tank, which was part of five-vehicle convoy engaged in combat outside of Basra. Four other soldiers were injured, including the convoy’s leader, Capt. Alexander MacEwen.

The convoy — three British Scorpion tanks and two engineering vehicles — had come to a halt at the edge of a shantytown near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The soldiers were being approached by a crowd of civilians carrying a white flag when they were attacked.

The transcript printed in The Sun records the alleged exchange between the pilots after they realize what has happened.

Pilot 1: “I’m going to be sick.”

Pilot 2: “Ah f—.”

Pilot 1: “Did you hear?”

Pilot 2: “Yeah, this sucks.”

Pilot 1: “We’re in jail, dude.”

H.L.s Take
So, they were not sure whether the vehicles were coalition forces or not, but they fired on it anyway because they wanted to kill some “enemy” rocket launchers. Then the United States refuses to let the video be seen even by the British Government, this happened back in 2003 so they have been covering this up for more then 4 years. Another reason not to join the Army, if you don’t get killed by the enemy you get killed by your own people, then they cover it up and lie about it.

Defense, Energy Companies Stand to Benefit in Budget

AP
Excerpt
Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Textron Inc., Boeing and European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. all would get a boost.
The largest programs of Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, the world’s No.1 defense contractor, were almost fully funded. That includes $6.1 billion for the Joint Strike Fighter, its largest weapons program and $4.6 billion to buy 20 Lockheed F-22A Raptor fighters.

Democratic Representative Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the defense spending request “staggering” and promised “due diligence” in scrutinizing the budget

H.L.s Take
I was wondering if what kind of connections Bush/Cheney have to any of these companies. It took me about 2 seconds to get the answer

Lizzie Cheney – The Pride of Lockheed Martin – Speaketh

The Huffington Post
Excerpt

Dick Cheney’s son-in-law, Philip J. Perry, a registered Lockheed lobbyist who had, while working for a law firm, represented Lockheed with the Department of Homeland Security, had been nominated by Bush to serve as general counsel to the Department of Homeland Security. His wife, Elizabeth Cheney, serves as deputy assistant secretary of state for Middle Eastern affairs.

Then there is this from Common Dreams

Boeing also kicked in $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney inaugural fund, while Lockheed gave $225,000

So when I talk about Bush and Cheney, (and their cronies) getting rich off a war based on lies which they never want to end, this is what I am talking about. They should both be impeached for this alone, not to mention the hundred other things that they should be brought up on charges for.

US Army sued for spying on blogs

PC Advisor
Excerpt
A US Army unit that monitors thousands of websites and soldiers’ blogs has been served with a lawsuit by a San Francisco-based privacy group.
In the suit filed in the US District Court in Washington last week, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) said that despite several requests for information from the Army unit, known as the Awrac (Army Web Risk Assessment Cell), no answers have been provided.

In an announcement about the lawsuit last week, the EFF said that some bloggers have cut back on their posts or shut down their sites after being contacted by the Awrac. “Soldiers should be free to blog their thoughts at this critical point in the national debate on the war in Iraq,” Hofmann said. “If the Army is colouring or curtailing soldiers’ published opinions, Americans need to know about that interference.”

Update, here is a link to the live streaming feed. of NBC News Raw

Today is our first segment on NBC News Raw, (which can be seen on nbc4.tv) I made a video yesterday, in which I talked about what we were blogging about on friday and whats coming up this week. I also went to a Super Bowl party yesterday, and threw a little of that in as well, OK here it is. the return of HLTV