The Information Super-Frog

Here's a little cartoon by Clifford Berryman from 90 years ago. You no doubt recognize the personifications of the USA's pair of ruling parties. "Borah" refers to William Borah of Idaho. It seems he was an intelligent fellow of honest principles who somehow wound up in the U.S. Senate -- sounds implausible, but statistical anomalies do happen once in a while. Well, Borah did a study of how elections were bought and sold and the attendant corruption. As the cartoon shows, those two animal headed deities that run this country weren't able to get their minds around the notion there was anything wrong in that.

We're winding down a 6 Billion Dollar political campaign here in the USA - I hope we all got our money's worth.

For those who haven't yet read either of these two articles on the US & the economy, recomended:

The Quiet Coup by Simon Johnson

The Big Takeover by Matt Taibbi

From: Minister of Treasury Hank Paulson

Dear American, My Dear Friend:

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America.

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with “Mr. Phil Gram,” lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a citizen, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check.

URGENT REQUEST FROM REPUBLIC OF AMERICA FOR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP (CONFIDENTIAL!)

Former National Security Director during the Reagan administration, General William Odom, bashes the Democratic congress... for not standing up to BushCo. He advocates withdrawl from Iraq and impeaching Bush if he stands in the way.
'Supporting the troops' means withdrawing them


67% of USA voters realize that the Iraq war is creating more terrorism rather than diminishing it. 56% believe that the Iraq war is a distraction from the fight against terrorism.
poll

45% think Bush should be impeached. Might that number be higher if that wouldn't result in President Cheney? 54% want Cheney impeached.
ABC story
Polls on American Research Group

Ron Paul, the only anti-Iraq war Republican candidate, is now ahead in campaign contributions cash of John McCain, former front-runner and the most vehement support of the BushCo War Stategy.
ABC article

Fred Thompson's role in the Watergate hearings: A mole for Nixon.
Boston Globe article

BushCo War costing US $12 Billion a month, could top 1.4 Trillion