Sunday, June 22, 2008
Zimbabwe: It CAN Happen Here
Zimbabwe: Dick Cheney's petri dish.0 comments
Zimbabwe has now been shown to the world to be a military dictatorship under formerly popular rebel leader Robert Mugabe. His actions to hang onto power has far exceeded the ability of the world's leaders to go, "Oh, Robert's not really a dictator. He's just popular. Wink-wink; nudge-nudge."
Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out of the run-off election—not because he can't win (it wouldn't be allowed), but to save the lives of those citizens who would show the astonishing courage to face death in order to vote.
It still stuns us at Gotham Notes that no one would think that this group in the White House, whose only mantra is "Power," would simply shrug and say, "Gee, you beat us, Dems. Pretty badly too, it seems. Guess we have to clear out now."
We felt this was the case in 2004, when John Kerry most likely won if all the ballots were clearly tallied and GOP voter suppression effort operatives were captured and convicted. He simply would not have been allowed to take office. Period. There seemed no clear way you would unseat the Bush administration without prying their cold, dead fingers off of the levers of power.
What's changed? Not much.
Now, Cheney gets a third-world proxy to try out just how the world would react if we called off the 2008 elections or if they trumped up some "crisis" or "threat" or "attack" that would give them cover to grab control of the government indefinitely. It's in this group's DNA. They fully believe they were chosen by God Almighty to rule, everyone else (i.e., a Democrat) is an infidel who's usurped their throne—and must be brought down by any means necessary. It's how they acted when they walked the desert when Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were president, and it's how they acted once they regained power. A Divine Right.
So, despite the astonishing array of criminality spawned during the last eight years, and despite how badly they have besmirched "the GOP brand" in the eyes of America and the world, they don't intend on going anywhere.
Maybe the Smart Money is on Barack Obama this year, but the Dumb Money is on No Election Being Held.
posted by Gotham 12:37 PM
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Support Our Hackers!
Just catching up on older stories I didn't have time to peruse earlier. Some, sad to say, are months-old. But, as with everything during the last eight years, the chilling parts seem always relevant.0 comments
Here's a Walter Pincus story on the Pentagon's war plans for space and cyberspace from last March's WaPo. I don't remember it getting all that much ink or airtime:The New Art of WarThe Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare is led by the director of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade. This group manages the cooperative arrangements for defending national computer operations and for carrying out network warfare against adversaries. In an article on the command three years ago, Wired magazine reported: "It could best be described as the world's most formidable hacker posse. Ever."
They could use a new jingle:
"Hack! All That You Can Hack! I-i-n the Arrrrr-ar-my!"
posted by Gotham 9:09 PM
Monday, June 02, 2008
Bush/Cheney Bag Another One
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Nothing to see here; just move along...
Marine, ready to return Iraq, shot dead in his home town
posted by Gotham 8:14 AM
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Apples And Trees...
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As the Democrats' intramurals finally wind down, the press is FINALLY beginning to snoop around and take a peek into this cipher called John McCain.
Admiral-to-be jumped ship to wed John McCain's mom
So, just as we looked at Joe Kennedy's shady dealings when JFK, RFK and all the FK's were running for office, and we had the chance to look at Daddy Bush's smarmy dealings, and Sen. Prescott Bush's Nazi ties, now's the opportunity to look at the guiding lights in McCain's background.
So far, we see that a young Pop McCain went AWOL to get married and, as a connected Admiral's son himself, merely got a slap on the wrists. Of course, you or I would have ended up in the brig, facing serious charges, only dreaming of our honeymoon. Then Pop scapegoats his wife as soon as a Navy report makes him look none too good. Nice guy.
Fairly minor stuff, of course. Just the rights of the privileged. But, still unbecoming a "maverick."
We can only assume... that there's more to come.
posted by Gotham 3:55 PM
