previous issue August 5

Who's Raising Race? The Messages Loaded Into a McCain Surrogate's Words by Eugene Robinson This battle over Obama’s image as a black man is arguably the central front of the presidential campaign right now. Once-sharp lines between the candidates on issues such as withdrawing US troops from Iraq or allowing new offshore oil drilling are becoming blurred. The Democratic Party’s structural advantages going into the election are formidable. It’s hard to imagine how McCain could possibly win unless he generates doubt in voters’ minds about Obama. One way to do that would be to fabricate the impression that Obama is demanding special treatment and privilege because he is black — in other words, turn a self-made man into a stereotypical beneficiary of affirmative action. The Cheney Doctrine Shoot Your Friends First by Dave Lindorff Some people are expressing consternation and disbelief at a report by journalist Seymour Hersh that Vice President Dick Cheney had discussed the idea in his office of having some Navy Seals dress up as Iranians, and then put them in faked Iranian speedboats to make a fake attack on US ships in the Persian Gulf. The ensuing faked battle, with fake Iranians shooting at US ships and US ships firing back, he suggested, could be used to spark a war between the US and Iran. I don't know why people would find it hard to believe that this vice president would think up an idea like having Americans shoot at other Americans in the interest of his own warped view of national security. After all, this is a guy who shoots his own friends.

Today's Quote:

"Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest."

- Benjamin Franklin

Editor's Notes & Rants:

McCain picks Cheney for VP?

Cheney is skipping the GOP convention, he has his regularly scheduled meeting with Lucifer that day.

Book by former Wall Street Journal reporter claims White House ordered CIA to forge evidence linking Saddam to al Qaeda, and knew that Iraq had no WMDs before the invasion.
Well, duh!