If you want to see the most dishonest discussion of the Orwellian "Protect America Act," watch MSNBC's Alex Witt and Col. Jack Jacobs - neither of them has a clue what they're actually talking about, but they do a great job of promoting Republican lies.

Witt and Jacobs were key liars about Iraq and the fact that they are still promoting GOP lies on TV is a disgrace to MSNBC and its parent companies, GE and MSNBC.

[transcript below]

ALEX WITT, MSNBC: What has this wiretapping law been doing, and why did it expire?

 

Hiring Bill Kristol by the NYTimes should come as no surprise to anyone considering the way the mainstream media have surrendered to the Bush administration's autocratic policies. With the general election coming up in less than a year from now we have seen the Republican right wing operatives and propaganda machine methodically worm their way into every major media outlet.

When G. W. Bush named Kevin Martin to head the FCC the Republican media takeover plan was inevitable. With little or no opposition from the Democrats, media giants can now implement their monopoly in controlling whatever news is disseminated for public digestion.

They now have a green light to own entire television networks, radio stations and newsprint in major metropolitan areas, key factors in the Republicans' strategy to win the presidency and even take back both houses of congress.

All of our emails and calls are giving Democrats in Congress the backbone to say NO to Bush's demand for warrantless wiretapping power.

So to avoid defeat, the Busheviks are once again playing their ace-in-the-hole - the Big Lie - which is being stovepiped into Congress through Rupert Murdoch's lie-filled NY Post.

On May 15, Spc. Alex Jiminez (left) and six other soldiers were on lookout in the Triangle of Death when insurgents attacked, killing 4 and kidnapping 3, including Jiminez.

While U.S. troops began a highly-publicized manhunt, NSA lawyers struggled to find a top Justice Department official to get an emergency warrant for a wiretap (of what I don't know - did the insurgents leave behind a cellphone or their personal address book?).

But it took them 10-12 hours because

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was out of town; Deputy AG Paul McNulty had resigned already; Solicitor General Paul Clement "had left the building"; and the other responsible official, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein was not yet authorized to approve the emergency order.

The Vatican’s recent snub of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is only the latest salvo in the battle between Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush. This tug of war has profound implications for both U.S. foreign policy and the critical Catholic vote in 2008's presidential race.

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Overlapping Agendas

Things haven't always been tense between Bush and Benedict. They share similar views regarding abortion, gay marriage, and other hot-button conservative issues. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (as Benedict was known before becoming Pope in April 2005) even helped Bush secure the White House for a second term.

If you back through news archives, you'll discover that every time Bush heads into battle with Democrats - whether it's a legislative battle or an election - the Busheviks plant stories in the Corporate Media claiming "victory is at hand."

It's a simple and effective propaganda technique, a form of "psychogical warfare" designed to get Democrats to abandon the fight before it ever begins. I'm sure it's in Sun Tzu's "Art of War" somewhere - trick the enemy into defeating himself before the fight begins.

And Democrats in Congress fall for it nearly every time, while the Busheviks laugh their asses off watching them do it.

Over at TPM, Greg Sargent almost grasps this simple fact when he references the Bushevik lies that preceeded the 2006 election:

"...the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other." - Benjamin Franklin, 1787

They say that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out, but that if you raise the pot's heat gradually, the frog won't react.

The US public has been on a slow boil since 2001. This administration's rollbacks have been so consistent and so egregious that it's no surprise many Americans feel apathetic.

And that begs the question: What exactly would it take to get the US public spurred into action?

I'm new here...but I came across a very distubing website [Link deleted by Moderator] It has an aweful lot of nasty, and anti-democrat trash on it. It also seems to think it's funny to poke fun at ethnic groups and the things we believe in. Isn't there something that can be done about these people?

"One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."

Joseph Stalin's infamous words.

This certainly seems to reflect corporate media's attitude to the ongoing slaughter in Iraq.

It is the 4th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L) - the invasion was later renamed for PR reasons - and despite the US military's reluctance to 'do body counts' a number of other organizations are aware of the level of carnage. Rather than being described as an 'insurgency' it should more accurately be described as a 'holocaust'.

In light of Rupert Murdoch’s recent admissions that he tried to gin up support for this illegal war in Iraq, how is it that Democratic Presidential Candidates are taking their national debate on to his Republican Propaganda Voice, Fox? I would think that just plain common decency, a sense of self-preservation, or maybe a little self-pride would keep any Democrat from ever appearing on any of their programs ever! Can this act be anything but an attempt to legitimise Fox as a valid source of information?

Sincerely,

Dan Monte
Delegate to the California Democratic Convention, AD-07

US / Iranian rhetoric is at fever pitch. Both sides are claiming to have “evidence” of military foul play. Both sides are holding military exercises in each others faces and the Gulf is so full of warships it must be highly dangerous to navigate. Both sides are threatening a massive military response to any use of force. Both presidents have backed themselves into political corners and neither shows the slightest sign of backing down.

A second US carrier strike group has just arrived in the Gulf bringing the total number of US (and allied) warships there to about 50 and a third group, headed by USS Reagan has just been ordered to rendezvous in the Western Pacific with destroyers from Pearl Harbour before sailing to the Gulf.