Sarah McLachlan
Angel

Comedians, artists and certainly political cartoonists tend to possess an anti-authoritarian, skeptical, irreverent streak. This makes the staunchly conservative cartoonist an especially odd bird. Flipping the traditional journalist ethos of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, rightwing cartoonists tend to ridicule the disenfranchised and excuse the abuses inflicted by the powerful. In some cases, their pieces literally spout the latest GOP talking points, revealing the cartoonists to be not independent voices, but merely members of the vast GOP echo chamber - not wits or critics as much they are hacks and shills.

This installment covers cartoons published between 12/11/06 and 12/17/06. This week, conservative cartoonists primarily took aim at favorite targets, plus said goodbye to a departing one.
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Mayor Daley has decided to abandon his long’standing tradition of remaining neutral in Democratic primaries and endorse Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, City Hall sources said Tuesday.
“Here you have not only an Illinoisan, but a Chicagoan who is a major contender for the highest office in the land. . . . When in our history have we ever had a favorite son this close to [the White House]? Why not get on board early?” said a Daley confidant, who asked to remain unnamed. “Hillary Clinton has been a great senator, a wonderful civic leader. But logic dictates that a Chicago mayor would be behind the Chicagoan who has taken the world by storm. Beyond that, this man has tremendous potential. The world sees that. It stands to reason that the mayor sees it.”

Daley’s early endorsement will mark the second time in 17 years he has taken such a stand before Democratic primary voters have made their choice.

In January 1998, he endorsed Vice President Al Gore with the presidential vote nearly two years away. Daley’s brother Bill Daley, then U.S. Commerce secretary, later became Gore campaign chairman.

Read more at the Sun Times

PARIS - As violence mounts in Afghanistan, France is pulling 200 of its best soldiers out. But military officials here insist France remains fully committed, with 1,100 troops still based in Kabul.

Nevertheless, France’s decision to withdraw its Special Forces comes amid concerns in Paris that NATO’s mission in Afghanistan has grown confused and that the alliance may be overreaching in its efforts to stabilize and rebuild the nation.

French officials and experts say that as fighting in Afghanistan has dragged on and the insurgency has grown in strength, the special forces were no longer ideal for the mission. Such elite units tend to be more lightly armed, and specialize in gathering intelligence or rapid attacks.

“The conditions no longer correspond to what the special forces do,” said Capt. Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The French elite troops _ deployed in southeastern Afghanistan since July 2003 _ were France’s contribution to a U.S. anti-terror mission code-named Operation Enduring Freedom that is separate from the NATO mission.

Read more here

Donald the Terrible is going to be busy with all these lawsuits……not to worry about him getting bored in retirement!

In 1999 they won a 28 million dollar judgement against the Chicago Police Department, and have won 11 of their past 12 cases. This is not a symbolic suit, and is now on the docket as case number 06 C 6964 before a judge who has previously demonstrated a low tolerance for the violation of basic human rights and due process. Things do not look good for Mr. Rumsfeld.

Donald Rumsfeld is returning home to Skokie, Illinois and he will soon be greeted by the Sherrif with news from the powerful law firm of Loevy and Loevy. Rumsfeld will be asked to appear before Judge Milton Shadur to answer the complaint filed by one of his victims, US Navy veteran Donald Vance.

Vance was secretly detained for 3 months at the infamous Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport, after cooperating with the FBI in an investigation of illegal arms sales by a security firm operating in Iraq.
Vance, a 29 year old Chicago native, previously had 2 years of active duty in the Navy and 4 years in thereserves. After 9/11 he made himself available to be reactivated if necessary. In 2004, he took a job with a private contractor named “The Sandi group” that was working in a joint venture with DynCorp International to provide security support in Iraq. Dyncorp is one of the contractors that had an early presence in the privatization of the US military, as part of Plan Columbia, where they have been effective in eliminating the political opposition to President Alvaro Uribe.

Vance became unhappy with the callous attitude of his employer, quit and returned home. That could have been the end of the story. But things eventually got worse.

According to a report at Chicago Indymedia by an employee of the law firm that now represents Vance in his suit against Rumsfeld:

“Vance was approached by a former coworker at The Sandi Group to join his new firm, Shield Group Security (SGS), an outfit owned by Mustafa Al-Khudairi, who holds dual Iraqi/British citizenship.
Like The Sandi Group, Shield provides security to private firms and NGOs, but also occupation forces and the Iraqi government itself. Again, Vance’s job was to supervise other security employees and as such he had the opportunity to view some of the inner workings of SGS. Along with Ertel, another fellow Sandi group alumnus at SGS, Vance began to observe behavior that suggested possible rampant payoffs by SGS to local shieks, as well as possible illegal weapons sales.

On a trip back to Chicago in October 2005 for the funeral of his father, Vance contacted the FBI and agreed to be an unpaid informant for them about the activities at SGS. Working with Chicago-based FBI agent Travis Carlisle and two U.S. government contacts in Iraq, Vance frequently telephoned and emailed his observations of SGS, including the violent activities of his armed supervisor, Joseph Trimpert, who boasted of the brutal acts he committed against Iraqi civilians.

Read more here

Someone sent me a long email regarding this organization (I say someone because I have no idea who the “Frank” that sent it to me is). Anyway…..whoever you are, thanks! Organizations such as this give hope that one day …….maybe…..there can be peace in the Middle East.

Mission Statement

Jewish Voice for Peace is a diverse and democratic community of activists inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice, and human rights. We support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination.
We seek:

A U.S. foreign policy based on promoting peace, democracy, human rights, and respect
for international law
An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem
A resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem consistent with international law and equity
An end to all violence against civilians
Peace among the peoples of the Middle East

We are among the many American Jews who say to the U.S. and Israeli governments: “Not in our names!”

JVP supports peace activists in Palestine and Israel, and works in broad coalition with other Jewish, Arab-American, faith-based, peace and social justice organizations.

Read more about Jewish Voice for Peace here

In his speech, Sean Penn said: “Now, there’s been a lot of talk lately on Capitol Hill about how impeachment should be ‘off the table.’ We’re told that it’s time to look ahead — not back. … Can you imagine how far that argument would go for the defense at an arraignment on charges of grand larceny, or large’scale distribution of methamphetamines? How about the arranging of a contract killing on a pregnant mother? ‘Indictment should be off the table.’ Or ‘Let’s look forward, not backward.’ Or ‘We can’t afford another failed defendant.’

“Our country has a legal system, not of men and women, but of laws. Why then are we so willing to put inconvenient provisions of the U.S. constitution and federal law ‘off the table?’ … Unless we’re going to have one set of laws for the powerful and another set for those who can’t afford fancy lawyers, then truth matters to everyone. And accountability is a matter of human and legal principle.”

Two former prosecutors released comments this yesterday to the Institute for Public Accuracy about Penn’s speech:

Elizabeth Holtzman is a former Congresswoman and was the district attorney of Brooklyn; she was a member of the House panel that impeached Richard Nixon. Holtzman is co-author with Cynthia L. Cooper of the new book “The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens.”

Holtzman said yestreday: “Penn is right; the principle here is holding our leaders accountable for their actions under the law, just as citizens are held accountable under the law for theirs. There is plenty of evidence President Bush has committed what the Constitution calls ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ the remedy for which is impeachment. Congress needs to get the Constitutional machinery started, first by formally investigating the evidence, then executing the required procedures for impeachment and removal from office.”

Read more here

And then we have McCain and Lieberman telling Israel not to speak to Syria……. diplomacy abounds!!!!!!!

The Bush Administration has been quietly nurturing individuals and parties opposed to the Syrian government in an effort to undermine the regime of President Bashar Assad. Parts of the scheme are outlined in a classified, two-page document which says that the U.S. already is “supporting regular meetings of internal and diaspora Syrian activists” in Europe. The document bluntly expresses the hope that “these meetings will facilitate a more coherent strategy and plan of actions for all anti-Assad activists.”

The document says that Syria’s legislative elections, scheduled for March 2007, “provide a potentially galvanizing issue for… critics of the Assad regime.” To capitalize on that opportunity, the document proposes a secret “election monitoring” scheme, in which “internet accessible materials will be available for printing and dissemination by activists inside the country [Syria] and neighboring countries.” The proposal also calls for surreptitiously giving money to at least one Syrian politician who, according to the document, intends to run in the election. The effort would also include “voter education campaigns” and public opinion polling, with the first poll “tentatively scheduled in early 2007.”

Read more at CNN

Good boy, let me get you a treat………

NEW YORK (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in favor of announcing a timetable to pull troops out of Iraq, but was “brainwashed” out of it by President George W. Bush, Iraq’s vice president said on Tuesday.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi told New York’s Council on Foreign Relations that when he spoke with Blair about three months ago, the British leader was supportive of his appeal for the United States and Britain to say when they would withdraw.

“I had just convinced him,” Hashemi said. “He promised he was going to discuss the subject with President Bush, but at the end of the day, it’s quite unfortunate, that your president (made) some sort of brainwashing of Mr. Blair.”

But Hashemi also said any withdrawal of troops should be conditional on U.S. training of Iraq’s security forces.

Blair, who visited Baghdad on Sunday, defended on Tuesday his nation’s close U.S. alliance in response to an influential British think tank’s report that found the relationship has damaged Britain’s credibility in the Middle East.

Read more at CNN

Wonder if he’s started the book yet………

WASHINGTON - Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has submitted plans to retire and will leave his post in March, a step likely to make way for a change in military strategy at a time the Bush administration is seeking a new plan for Iraq.

Abizaid has been the primary architect of U.S. military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan since becoming head of the U.S. Central Command more than three years ago. He has strenuously resisted calls to increase troop levels to quell rising violence in Baghdad, arguing it would increase Iraqi dependence on Americans.

But a growing number of current and former officers have embraced the idea, some of whom have briefed President Bush as part of his monthlong review of Iraq policy, and the White House is believed to be considering the move.

“If you’re going to change the strategy, in fairness to [Abizaid], let him go,” said a former senior Pentagon official who has worked closely with the general. “He’s given it all he’s got, in terms of personal sacrifice.”

Read more at the Sun Sentinel

Last night I got an early Christmas present…….the devil with fur. A Yorkie puppy. He weighs 3.5 lbs. He’s 9 weeks old. I’ve named him Spike. God he’s cute……but he kept me up all night long. Now that I’ve drank a pot of coffee he’s asleep. And no Buck ….. that’s not my hairy leg in the picture. That’s the troublemaker who gave me the devil and then went to bed and slept like a baby!!!

So, many more are going to die then. Has anyone found out yet why?

Bush Plans to Increase Size of Military

Bush Says He’s Asked New Defense Chief to Give Him a Plan to Increase Troops

WASHINGTON Dec 20, 2006 (AP)- President Bush, who has contended that the U.S. was winning the war in Iraq, said Tuesday for the first time that American forces were not winning there. He also said the military would be expanded to fight a long-term battle against terrorism.

Bush did not say the U.S. was losing the war, which began in March 2003 and has cost the lives of nearly 3,000 troops. Instead, when asked during an interview with The Washington Post whether the war was being won, the president borrowed the phrasing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace.

“You know, I think an interesting construct that General Pace uses is, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not losing.’ There’s been some very positive developments. And you take a step back and look at progress in Iraq, you say, well, it’s amazing constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East, which is a remarkable development in itself,” he said.
…

“And I’ll come forward with a plan that will enable us to achieve that objective,” he said.

Two weeks before the November elections, which shifted control of Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats, Bush asserted that “absolutely, we’re winning” in Iraq. On Tuesday, he said that response was “an indication of my belief we’re going to win.”

Source: ABC News / AP

I can’t help but think about that poor Terri Schiavo, and how inside trader/cat doctor, Bill Frist performed that video diagnosis on her. What would his findings be if he were to perform one on Tim Johnson? I’m glad we’ll never have to find out.

Son: Johnson’s recovery ‘exceeding expectations’

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson has been exceeding expectations in his recovery from emergency brain surgery last week, his son Brendan said Tuesday.

Brendan Johnson, a Sioux Falls lawyer, said in an interview with The Associated Press that his father has been responding repeatedly to directions from his mother, Barbara. But he is not yet speaking.

“It’s fair to say he’s been exceeding expectations up to this point,” Brendan Johnson said. “All the tests and the indications now are positive.”

Johnson offered few details about his father’s condition and said he doesn’t know what kind of tests he will undergo this week. He said he is not sure if the senator will need additional surgery.

Source: CNN.com