Bush's Iraq WMDs Joke Backfires
BBC NEWS
The joke about the fruitless search for Iraqi WMDs, so far, Washington's prime justification for the US-led invasion, has been branded as tasteless and ill-judged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3570845.stm
[Duchess Note ... War and occupation is NOT a laughing matter. The loss of OVER 500 American soldier lives, plus thousands wounded and Iraqi brutally slaughter is NOT some damn joke. Yo, Shrub the Lesser, shame on you!!! Just goes to show how little this administration values Americans. They don't give a damn about Americans unless your millionaire or billionaire, then they love you, but the average citizen on the street ... NOTHING, NADA, ZIPPO!! This administration enjoys greedily taking from middle/poor classes and giving generously to the filthy rich. This has got to stop people ... vote them OUT of office in November. Take back your country!!]

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM DENNIS KUCINICH
Hi, this is Dennis with a special message. We've been informed by our Alaska campaign managers that we picked up as many as five new delegates to the national convention as a result of the personal campaign we took to Democrats in Alaska last week. It is instructive the returns in the City of Fairbanks, where I spoke, were as follows: Dean 6%, Uncommitted 20%, Kerry, 22%, Kucinich 51%.

What was that message in Fairbanks? The message was that if you want to keep alive the hopes that the Democratic party will stand for peace, for health care for all, for civil liberties (repeal the Patriot Act) and for fair trade, then support our campaign so we can continue to speak for those principles and so we can take this message all the way to the convention in Boston. Our campaign stands alone in providing Democrats with an opportunity to let the Party know that while the direction of the nomination may be decided, the direction of the Democratic Party has yet to be determined. Sixteen Caucuses or Primaries remain ahead, including Colorado, North Carolina, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Alabama, South Dakota, Puerto Rico, Montana, and New Jersey.

Even though the nomination may be decided, why should millions of Democrats in these sixteen voting areas be denied a chance to affect the direction of our party? The fact is there are sixteen more opportunities for you to have an impact on the future of the Democratic Party. Sixteen chances to register your concerns about peace, about universal health care, about the Patriot Act, about our trade policies which are costing us millions of jobs while diminishing workers rights and environmental protections everywhere. This weekend I am headed to Oregon to continue to press forward with a message of hope and the possibilities of an expanded meaning for the Democratic party. I am dedicated to taking this race right through to the convention.

Even though eight other presidential campaigns have conceded, you've helped us make a difference over the past year. You have brought us a great distance. Help us arrive at the convention with the message of hope, of peace, of social and economic justice. The convention is only a few months away. We need you now more than ever. Now is the time for us to make a renewed commitment while there still is a chance to influence the debate within the party. You've been generous with your time and your money. We need your continued support and the support of your loved ones and friends. Help us raise the money to cover the next few months! Help us carry the message, your message. Help us carry the hopes, your hopes and those of millions of Americans, help us demonstrate that courage of commitment brings with it the possibility of creating new outcomes which others may have missed because they quit trying. Forward, with your help. This is Dennis with such gratitude for all that you've done and will do for this common effort. Thank you.

From MoveOn.Org - Richard Clarke's Revelations On Bush Empire
As you may have heard, Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism advisor to Bush, and a registered Republican who has worked in every administration since Reagan, has exposed Bush's mishandling of 9/11 and the war on Iraq. In his book "Against All Enemies," Clarke does an amazing job of presenting the facts and connecting the dots. Instead of refuting Clarke's claims, the Bush Administration has launched a campaign of character assassination, hoping that the story will just go away. We're committed to stopping that from happening by making sure that the American public hears Clarke's extraordinary comments. If we can raise $300,000 in the next few days, we can run a hard-hitting ad nationally that highlights his message. You can see a rough story board of the ad and donate to get it on the air at:
https://www.moveonpac.org/clarkead.html?id=2487-2148547-VUszb7bU9Np0BgGVriFQXg

When the World Trade Center was hit on the morning of 9/11, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice dubbed Richard Clarke, the administration's top counter-terrorism official, "crisis manager." As the White House, which was thought to be the next target, was evacuated, Clarke heroically stayed on, coordinating the government's response from the Situation Room in the West Wing. Clarke is viewed by colleagues as a hawk, a "true believer" who doesn't play partisan politics. So the shocking facts he revealed about the Bush administration's approach to terrorism before 9/11 and its response after must be taken seriously. On Sunday, Clarke told reporters that the President and Defense Secretary downgraded counter-terrorism and ignored repeated warnings about an al Qaeda attack prior to 9/11. And, perhaps even more explosive, Clarke revealed that President Bush and senior administration officials wanted to bomb Iraq after 9/11 even though they knew that it had no connection to al Qaeda, and that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks.

Already, the White House spin machine is in overdrive. Since they can't rebut Clarke's facts -- which independent witnesses have confirmed -- they're trying to paint him as an angry partisan, even though he's a Republican. But Clarke's words remain a searing indictment of the Bush Administration's campaign against terrorism. Together, if we act today, we can beat back the spin by widely airing a TV ad which gets these uniquely credible comments directly to TV viewers. Richard Clarke had an intimate view -- perhaps the best view -- of how the Bush Administration responded to terrorism. So we should all listen carefully when he says: "Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know. . . I think the way he has responded to al-Qaeda, both before 9/11 by doing nothing, and by what he's done after 9/11 has made us less safe, absolutely. I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism." Together, we can make sure every American knows what President Bush's true record on terrorism really is.