I was thinking all week what surprise Karl Rove had for America before the elections. Friday afternoon was when I expected it, but then it came to me. I had forgotten all about the true surprise he has waiting for America.
In 2004, on the Friday before the election, Karl Rove put out a "new" fake Osama bin Laden tape, designed to scare voters to vote for Bush. It was precisely released after the Washington Press Corps had gone home for the weekend, so that it would receive unfettered coverage for three straight days heading into the presidential election. By the time the analysts figured out that it was clearly designed to help Bush, he was already accepting concession from John Kerry.
I was concerned that another such tape would miraculously arise this afternoon, but I forgot all about Saddam Hussein. You remember him don't you? He is the dictator we loved 20 years ago, but hate today. He is the guy we dug out of the hole. He was the reason we went to wa... wait a minute; that is not why we went to war in Iraq. But it will sure be sold to you that way over the next few days prior to the election. You need to be ready for the media onslaught America.
For those who also forgot Mr. Hussein, you will be surprised to hear that his trial will officially end this Sunday, including a verdict, just two days before our election. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Needless to say the White House is already positively frothing at the mouth over the perceived political juice this can give them. Press Secretary Tony Snow has already said that the verdict would "absolutely be a factor" in the US elections. He went on to say this was proof that the, "Iraqi government that has been doing what the president has said all along" and that this was a "benchmark moment." What a snow job.
Let's first deal with the incredibly ridiculous timing of this verdict. It was decided MONTHS ago, planned by our government to clearly try and affect the mid term elections. The court itself was set up by us, through the Coalition Provisional Authority. It has been reported that, "American influence...has been undeniably pervasive, with about 90 percent of the $145 million in annual costs for the court and associated investigations paid for by the United States Justice Department, and lawyers sent by Washington acting as advisers." Make no mistake about this America, we are in charge of this trial and we decided when to have the "verdict". No matter how much Mr. Snow wants to spin this moment, he cannot remove the obviously political nature of the timing of the verdict, which has not been affected despite the killing of 11 judges involved with the trial. Is there any doubt what the "verdict" will be?
Why Sunday? That provides 2 full days of complete Saddam coverage from all media. America will be bombarded for the 48 hours before they vote, with a never ending Saddam-a-thon. There will be barely any coverage of the current war, the dead, the economy, the poll numbers, or the individual races. Nope, it will be all Saddam, all the time. Just like they did with The John Kerry flubbed joke. Fox News will take the lead and be bragging about the "War on Terror" and how successful it has been now that Saddam, who remember had nothing to do with terrorism, has been brought to "justice", by our Cowboy-in-Chief and his party. The other networks will soon follow suit. Inevitably, the "opinions" will turn to using this "verdict" as a momentum point for the trailing republican candidates. This of course sets up the talking points for post-election coverage when people start talking about stolen votes and Diebold, the media will point to the "firestorm" they themselves created, and pretend that the verdict is what changed the fortunes for the Republican Party, not the voting machines. This was the same pattern in 2004 when suddenly there were millions of evangelical voters who ran to the polls. Fairy tales spun by the GOP and told to you over an over again by the corporate media.
Be ready America, be vigilant. Since the capture of Saddam Hussein we have seen the deaths of at least another 2,400 American troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Another 18,000 American soldiers have been wounded since then. Even though we have 22,000 more troops on the ground since Saddam's capture, attacks have increased 400%. Nothing about this "verdict" should sway your mind about the failed leadership of this party. If anything, a guilty verdict will probably spur more violence and make a martyr out of Hussein.
Don't forget that we do not live in a Machiavellian society. The ends do not justify the means. We did not go into this war because of Saddam, but because of the lies told to us by the Republican Party. They were the ones who swore about connections to al Qaeda and ranted about WMD and "mushroom clouds." 3,000 or more of our kids have come home in boxes and those that sent them there clearly have no plan, just rhetoric. They have no vision, just blind loyalty to party over country. They have nothing left to sell America; just a tin-pot dictator from a bygone era. Their hope is to parade him in front of you for two straight days before you vote and lie to your face about why we are in this God-forsaken war to begin with. They will pretend this preconceived political ploy is a justification for their continued slaughter of people in this world. They are hoping America is so subdued in their fear and cowed in their oppression that they will not be able to tell the difference between a staged political stunt and the truth. They are wrong.
America will remember their dead. They will remember their sacrifice. They will remember the past five years and not continue to give power to people who continue to wrap themselves up in a blood-soaked flag while handing billions of dollars to their political cronies. America stands for more than rhetoric and talking points. It stands for more than blind support for leaders who politically rig trials to magically come to verdict two days before a national election. America stands for honesty, truth and integrity; at least it used to. After this Tuesday, it can and will again, no matter how many times they show us a picture of a tin-pot dictator from a bygone era and pretend that a rigged trial justifies five years of horror.
Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 41-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
- H.L. Mencken
As much as I hate to say it, if a Republican "surprise" affects voters at this late date, the country deserves what it gets. A lot of people won't deserve it, however.
by
JackN (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 28 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 2:15:24 PM
If that's what the GOP is counting on to win them the election they are even more pathetic than I thought. Most people expect Saddam to be sentenced to death. The question is whether that outcome was worth the war. I think overwhelmingly the American people have come to the conclusion that the answer is no.
Add that to the violence that is expected to erupt with the verdict,( all officer leaves have been canceled) all that's going to transpire is that folks will be reminded of exactly how much they hate this war.
Some surprise.
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Peggy McCann (18 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 34 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 2:50:22 PM
I'll be surprised if voters see it for anything besides just another Republican gimick...too little too late. But that doesn't mean I don't think this article needs to be highlighted and sent around the web. It absolutely does. There may also be a bin Laden tape released over the weekend. So spread this article.
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Dean Powers (128 articles, 8 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 3:07:16 PM
Karl Rove's "surprise" will not be a surprise. Any verdict for Sadaam will not affect the elections - unless you are one of those who get your news from mainstream media and nowhere else. It is no surprise to most of us what the bush administration is doing. Vote and hope that our votes will be counted. I do not have much faith in a corrupt government ..... I do not think they will simply give it up and let the good guys take over.
Keep on writing,
Aimee
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Aimee (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 100 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 3:32:21 PM
The sentencing of Saddam just two days before the election will be clearly seen as a staged event on the part of the Republicans. However, this will be no surprise to Americans as we have long known the verdict. The real question is how the mainstream corporate media portrays the event. Will they trumpet the news as though it is some wonderful, cathartic event, spending an inordinate amount of time discussing all facets of its meaning? Clearly, the Bush administration is so completely and so utterly undeserving of any positives from the media on ANY subject related to Iraq. If they think that this one event will will increase Bush's favorability ratings or change voters' minds on Iraq, they are in for a big and unexpected surprise themselves (lol). Currently, 69% of Americans are in favor of getting us out of Iraq, some more quickly than others. This will not change that. The Iraq war will continue to worsen as all of Iraq becomes engulfed in a civil war. The NY Times published a graphic chart, prepared by our military intelligence, of what was termed a "Crisis Index" (?) where it was clearly shown that the situation in Iraq is very, very close to the "chaos" point -- within days and weeks, and not months and years.
What worries me more than the Saddam sentencing on Sunday is this so-called "micro-marketing" campaign that Rove claims will turn the election in the Republicans favor. He seems to be setting the stage for another stolen election by making such claims. Clearly, the majority of voting Americans have had enough of Bush and the Republican culture of corruption. To say that some "micro-marketing" campaign will change all of that is just pure nonsense. So, the thought of another stolen election is what frightens and depresses me.
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Mike Browne (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 17 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 4:39:00 PM
They have already gone very negative, showing plainly that they are scared silly. This nationwide arrest of thousands of folks, staged by our torture czar for obvious political purpose, has fallen pretty flat, dontcha think?
I would guess that most folks have already imagined no other verdict but guilty, most do not think, at this late date, that Hussein has anything at all to do with the so-called "war on terror" and thus I can hear a resounding so what from the public.
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ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 6:19:06 PM
Having never lived in a household where people keep the TV on all the time, or turn it on when they get home from school or work, and not watching TV myself, I always cringe when I'm reminded that there are millions of people who watch TV every day, including the "news," if you can still call it that these days.
Every few days somebody will post a clip of Keith Olbermann on YouTube, and I've been assuming that if there were anything else worth watching on TV, it would also be posted. I'm sorry I missed "Hacking Democracy," on HBO, but having been involved in election integrity activism for a long time, I'm probably not its target audience. Besides, I saw Bev Harris, Bruce Funk, Lowell Finley, Paul Lehto, and Ed Asner live here in San Diego a little over a week ago at an election integrity event. But there were only about 100 people there, even though the event was free. Does that mean that everyone else was home watching TV? Horrors!
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Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 10:15:47 PM
The real surprise I find here is that no one seems to realize (or question) that the critter they are parading around the Iraqi courtroom is NOT EVEN SADDAM HUSSEIN! (How many doubles did he supposedly have? How much money was it -- one hundred billion dollars -- that both he and H W Bush each extorted from the weaker oik sheiks, for which he (Saddam) and his half brother have the bank codes?) Wake up, people, and smell the imposter.
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Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 8:28:33 AM
It is alarming to me that no DNA test was done as part of these mach trials to present to the court as evidence that this is in fact Saddam on trial before they proceeded with the trial. Then again, there was no forensic evidence presented about what really happened on September 11th. We can now assume that science, and real justice, are no longer part of the American system. It has been replaced with a cult of personality, mob rule, trials by popular opinion, and the most sinister of propaganda. On top of that, our government has put us on a five year course for an election system meltdown next week. Regardless of who wins the Congress there will be nasty legal and propaganda battles over the election results. We are now heading for chaos; and their ultimate plan comes into view. That is what they want; chaos will give them the reason for martial law, and the end of liberty and liberalism throughout the empire.
Shelby LaPre
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Shelby LaPre (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 26 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 9:01:54 AM
This article does not deserve the prominent place on this website. I doubt anyone will be "surprised" by a guilty verdict.
It also will not justify the deaths caused by this government in the minds of most voters.
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biernat (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 9:34:20 AM
Look, don't you know Owellian doublespeak by now? The neokooks have pretty much shoved it down our throats for six years now--if they didn't start the indoctrination long long before.
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Kiko (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 28 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 7:08:20 PM
America is full of gullible, ignorant, simple-minded people (no, not all, but far too many). How could someone like Bush be reelected in 2004 if this were not true? After watching him for four years, people asked for four more? Obviously it's not too difficult to fool some of the people all of the time. Electronic voting machines came in handy, too.
Rove is painted as a "political genius", when he is nothing of the sort. In reality, all he does is create whatever stories or catch-phrases he thinks Americans will fall for. It's not the work of genius - it's the work of a PR guy. It's embarrassing to see how Americans buy his garbage so blindly. It's no wonder his biggest supporters are from organized religion, where gullibility is a prerequisite.
The point of the article isn't Saddam's trial or verdict. The point is that it's been staged and timed to sucker Americans on their way to the midterm elections, and it's going to work.
Electronic voting machines have been programmed and are ready to steal another election, and hopefully this one will wake up the rest of America to what many have been telling them for years now. To paraphrase Josef Stalin, it's not the voters who decide an election - it's the people who count the votes who decide an election.
I wish America had the balls of some of the countries we think less of, the countries where the people will mass and walk right down to government headquarters and throw the trash out when they feel their government has gone too far. It will never happen here, where it needs to happen most.
It's really shocking to see how many Americans have been so utterly gullible over the past six years....it's no wonder this country is in shambles.
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Steven A. Hass (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 29 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 10:05:08 AM
Anthony and company, I hope I'm wrong and I really don't mean to be any more depressing than I have to be, but I think that Steve has come closest to the truth than anyone else.
Picture it:
First Fox News, but, very shortly thereafter, all of MSM television.
"We interrupt this program to bring you the following important development in the war on terror!" (see, they're already misstating it)
Then the picture pans to a "dramatic" scene. I can see one of the networks using the pulling down of Saddam's statue, the scene that made Dan Rather and other newscasters get all fuzzy inside.
Then the title in large, large colorful words: GUITLY AS CHARGED, Justice for a Tyrant!
Some of the images that will be shown:
The bodies of gassed Kurds, the picture of that cute dog on which Saddam experimented with his biological and chemical weapons, cheering Iraqis, maybe even the "Mission Accomplished" speech or at least the image from the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Of course, before and after each and every commercial break GUITLY AS CHARGED, Justice for a Tyrant!.
Some quotes that will be used:
"With his popularity plunging and the popularity of the war at an all time low, the president must finally be feeling vindicated and convinced that his invasion of Iraq was, after all, the right thing to do."
"The families of many who were tortured and killed at the hands of Saddam Hussein have seen justice done."
"George W. Bush accomplished what George H. W. Bush could not."
As I said I hope I'm wrong. I hope that an historical, chronological video record of Saddam's past would include Rumsfeld shaking his hand. Will the MSM do that? Let's hope so.
Michael Bonanno
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Michael Bonanno (87 articles, 19 quicklinks, 24 diaries, 124 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 11:45:32 AM
Not that a guilty verdict would be a surprise but rather that the timing will be engineered to sucker America and douse them with war on terror for two days before the election.
I thought it was important to spell it out before it happens, to show those who may not be in the know, how transparent it all will be.
Thanks for all your comments.
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Anthony Wade (153 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 621 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 2:07:09 PM
1. The verdict of not guilty.
2. A mistrial is declared.
3. Binladin captered or found dead just in time to off set numbers 1 and 2.
Either way, I hope we can say good buy to the GOP.
I did not comment on a guilty verdict because it would not be a surprise at all.
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Theo (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments)
on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 5:27:29 PM
One other possible "surprise" (albeit off the wall, but not rubber-room off the wall). This is in response to a very strange 2 panel cartoon I saw today in the Washington Post:
Panel 1: Dubya, sitting in the oval office, reading a newspaper headline: "British Report Says Climate Change Will Devastate Economy", with a bubble in which he states: "Rising Oceans ... Severe Weather ... Melting Ice Caps ... Devastation Within Our Lifetime ... Golly, I should do something about this quick".
Panel 2: Our beloved Dubya, standing at the side of a boat (the "S.S. Bush"), leaning over the railing, looking at the ocean, saying, in BIG BOLD CAPS: "BRING IT ON, BABY!".
So what's the surprise? I wouldn't be totally surprised if "tragic" news were to reach us very soon that a TERRIBLE ACCIDENT has happened to the President, while out on his boat. (It should be noted that small plane accidents (i.e. John F. Kennedy, Jr.), car accidents (i.e. Princess Di) and boating accidents (i.e. Edouard Michelin, CEO of the French Tire Company), to name but a few, account for quite a number of such "accidents". Likewise, it's not uncommon for events of such a nature to be published in a major publication, in a "hidden in plain view"/clandestine manner.
Disclaimer: I'm not saying that this is going to happen, or that I in any way would like to see it happen. I'm merely saying that I would not be surprised if it were to happen, since Bush has admittedly become an expendable liability to the Republicans/Globalists, which makes him -- in cold, callous (i.e. Republican/Globalist) terms -- worth more dead now than alive at this point in their plans.
