Condoleezza Rice, undeterred by her failure as National Security Advisor during 9/11 and her inability, as Secretary of State, to do anything but pose for pictures with heads of state, has taken on a new challenge--golf. According to an aide, Ms. Rice “would very much like to do what she can to raise awareness of golf as a sport.” (Don’t be surprised if President Bush issues an Executive Order, changing the rules of golf to favor Republican players.)
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The CIA has finally responded to a 15 year-old Freedom of Information Request and released nearly 700 pages of documents dating back to 1973 (AP, 6/21/07). The documents depict an organization that conducted illegal detentions, illegal wiretaps, illegal surveillances, mail tampering and assassinations. Maybe these revelations are supposed to make us feel better about the illegal detentions, illegal wiretaps, illegal surveillances, mail tampering and assassinations of the Bush administration.
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Senator Joe “Bomb Iran Now” Lieberman (I-CT) spoke out against an amendment sponsored by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), which would have required that our troops get as much time to rest as they spend fighting. Lieberman described the amendment as “sniping” at the troops, and actually said, “Give the American soldiers a break.”--a strange choice of words for someone opposing an amendment designed to “Give the American soldiers a break”. Connecticut must be proud.
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“The Army missed its recruiting goals in June for the second straight month…
The downturn has coincided with sharply higher casualty numbers in Iraq, where 331 American soldiers were killed from April to June, the highest three-month level of the war.”--The New York Times, 7/9/07
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As of July 13, 2007, 4,023 Americans have died in Mr. Bush’s wars, and 26,695 have been maimed in Iraq alone (BuzzFlash.com) Congress has already appropriated $610 billion, and the wars are now costing the American taxpayer $12 billion a month (AP, 7/9/07).
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Ignoring the fact that seven of ten Americans believe America should withdraw its troops from Iraq, Republicans in the Senate continue to filibuster every attempt to set a timeline for withdrawal, but this is beginning to change. In the last vote, seven Republican Senators joined with the Democrats. Apparently, continuing to support Mr. Bush’s deadly delusions of victory is becoming less and less appealing to Republicans as the 2008 election draws near (six of the seven Republican defectors just happened to be up for re-election next year.)
Now, for the third time this year, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to end America’s involvement in Iraq, with troop withdrawals beginning within four months and the bulk of troops out by April 2008 (BBC News, 7/13/07). Will the Senate Republicans be able to block it again? That is something that should be decided by the American people. That is why you need to contact your Senators and tell them is time to end the occupation of Iraq and bring our troops home. (This is especially important if your Senator is one of the Republicans who continue to support President Bush’s war without end.) Please call today: 800-614-2803; 888-355-3588; or 202-224-3121. Bring the troops home!
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