Bin Laden’s 6th

Well, there’s a new video soon to be out of Bin Laden celebrating his 6th year anniversary of U.S. incompetance, and he’s dyed his beard for the occasion.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jF-I3mpEsoYVjKQpyZgEH-BxV5Qw

Of course, we found out soon after the 9/11 attacks that when the administration said they had no prior warning of the attacks, that was a lie. On August 6, 2001, there was a presidential daily briefing titled, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike the U.S.” In it it said:

“We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a —- service in 1998 saying that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman and other U.S.-held extremists.

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.”

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/august6.memo/index.html

And according to the Washington Post, the U.S. government concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001, and according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, failure by the U.S. to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the U.S. in the war against al Qaeda. Intelligence officials have assembled what they believe to be decisive evidence, from contemporary and subsequent interrogations and intercepted communications, that bin Laden began the battle of Tora Bora inside the cave complex along Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern border.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16

However, the ironic thing is, Bin Laden has never been formally charged with any crimes linked to 9/11. Even the F.B.I. Wanted Posters of him fail to say anything about 9/11 but only link him to the 1998 African Embassy bombings. Of course we know he was involved because the World Trade Center towers were hit at the same time. He was first inspired to bring down the towers after watching some towers in Lebanon fall in it’s 1982 war with U.S.-backed Israel. But the truth is we never gained any hard evidence for it.

But what I would really like explained to me is the details behind why we can’t get Bin Laden without setting off a nuclear war with Pakistan.

Political Links

The Case Against George W. Bush, by Ron Reagan

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0804-14.htm

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, by Michael F. Scheuer, a 22-year CIA veteran Chief, and Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station From 1996 to 1999

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Hubris

Supply Side Economics

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/23More.htm

The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed, by Director of the Office and Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan, who led the passage of Reagan’s Supply Side Economics and then later admitted, “I mean, Kemp-Roth [Reagan’s 1981 tax cut] was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate…. It’s kind of hard to sell ‘trickle down.’ So the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really ‘trickle down.’ Supply-side is ‘trickle-down’ theory.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stockman

The Mendacity Index

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.mendacity-index.html

Dead Zone

“When Westen and his Emory colleagues conducted brain scans during the 2004 presidential campaign, they found that partisans of either side, when presented with contradictory statements by their preferred candidates, would struggle for some seconds with feelings of discomfort, then resolve the matter in their candidates’ favor.

“The scans showed that to do this, they used the part of their brain that controls emotion and conflict. The area that controls reasoning was inactive — “the dead zone,” Westen said.

“Westen writes that it doesn’t make sense to argue an issue using facts and figures and to count on voters — particularly the swing voters who decide national elections — to make choices based on sophisticated understandings of policy differences or procedures. He says Democratic candidates must learn to do what Republicans have understood for many years — they must appeal to emotions. And (talking to you, Mr. Gore) stay away from numbing statistics.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-guru9jul09,0,3671214.story?coll=la-home-center

Liberal/Conservative News Pundit Comparison

Just for the record I wanted to try and figure out what the Conservative/Liberal ratio is for Fox News and CNN to dispel the myth that CNN is liberal network and Fox News is “fair and balanced.” It’s not a complete list, and anyone can feel free to add some to the list, but I doubt the general ratio will change.

Conservative Commentators on FOX News:

1.Sean Hannity

2.Bill O’Reilly

3.John Gibson

4.Brit Hume

5.Neil Cavuto (“You were sickening then, you’re sickening now.” – Referring to anti-war protesters, “Now may I suggest you take your column and shove it?” [7] – Response to Paul Krugman after he criticized Cavuto for his comments on anti-war protesters, “Trust me, all this fuss over freedoms would fade in a mushroom-cloud moment if there were another attack on our soil.” – Referring to NSA phone record collecting, “I know I’m a money guy here, but I think the tragic events of the Southeast remind you that money is important, but living is pretty important too.” [9] – Referring to the tornado hitting Enterprise High School )

6.Steve Doocy (Fox and Friends)

7.Brain Killmeade (Fox and Friends)

8.Gretchen Carlson (Fox and Friends)

9.Brian Kilmeade (Fox and Friends Weekend): during an interview with actress and anti-war activist Janeane Garofalo, Kilmeade berated her opinions, saying ” Saddam must love you.”

10.Mancow Muller (Fox and Friends Weekend): launched into a tirade against Howard Dean, calling him “vile,” “evil,” and “the enemy,” and recommending that he be “tried for treason” and “kicked out of America.”

11.Greg Gutfeld (Red Eye W/ Greg Gutfield)

12.Brenda Buttner (The Cost of Freedom)

13.David Asman (The Cost of Freedom)

14.Fred Barnes (The Beltway Boys)

15.Jim Pinkerton (Fox News Watch)

16.Cal Thomas (Fox News Watch)

17.John Kasich (Heartland With John Kasich)

18. Oliver North (War Stories With Oliver North)

19.Kurt Long (Half Hour News)

20.Jennifer Robertson (Half Hour News)

21.Ned Rice (Half Hour News)

22.Paul Gigot (Journal Editorial Report)

Bonus: Sean Hannity again (Hannity’s America)

Liberal Commentators on FOX News:

1.Alan Combes

2.Jane Hall (Fox News Watch)

3.Neil Gabler (Fox News Watch)

Conservative Commentators on CNN/CNN Headline News:

1.Glenn Beck

2.Bill Bennett

3.J.C. Watts

Liberal Commentators on CNN/CNN Headline News:

1. ????

“Look at the op-ed pages. Compare the number of conservative columnists with liberal columnists. Listen to talk radio. Count the number of nationally syndicated liberal talk-show hosts. Watch the cable TV talk shows. Count the number of liberal and conservative pundits. Conservatives far outnumber liberals.”

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/column.billpress/

“Unlike BBC’s network of reporters and bureaus, CNN International makes extensive use of affiliated reporters that are local to, and often directly affected by, the events they are reporting. The effect is a more immediate, less detached style of on-the-ground coverage. This has done little to stem criticism, largely from Middle Eastern nations, that CNN International reports news from a pro-American perspective. This is a marked contrast to domestic criticisms that often portray CNN as having a “liberal” or “anti-American” bias.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN

http://mediamatters.org/items/200412080005

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2447