Obama's a sharp guy; he's smart, and he's articulate. He's definitely not the stunned chicken that is George Bush, nor the DLC accent chameleon that is Hillary Clinton. I think it's good that he's not only standing strong on his original points, but is expanding on them, further raising his profile, taking control of the message. We need more of this from him, not less.

And aren't people ever tired of the "madman leader" slur that is invariably thrown on anybody in the Third World our government doesn't like? Chavez enjoys playing the gadfly with Bush, but he was democratically elected by Venezeulans -- remember that Bush/Cheney supported the brief military coup against him, so why shouldn't he be pissed off about that? Or is anybody we don't like just immediately branded as insane? That sounds, well, crazy to me.

North Korea's leadership is definitely whacked, but they're crazy like foxes, too. But the rest? Nah. Sorry, I don't buy it. Angry at us, yes. Enjoying pissing us off, certainly. But insane? How could anybody look at American politics today and seriously accept that kind of verdict coming from a country that voted for Bush/Cheney not once, but twice? And for Hillary Clinton to go along with that kind of approach to try to look tough, shameful.

Unless anybody going against the sole superpower's plan for the world must therefore be insane -- it's alot like the old attack the Kremlin used within the USSR against dissidents, how they'd institutionalize them, because anybody going against the dictates of the Kremlin had to be insane! Wrongthink! Freeze them out, they're loonies!

Look to the Clinton Cadres to work hard this week and next to change the conversation, because they've lost this one, and they don't even realize it, yet. Kudos to Obama for kicking it up a notch, and for trying to break the US out of the "my way or the highway" straitjacket of preconditioned negotiation -- that shows intelligence, integrity, and courage on his part. The pundits will be pissed!

Only $1 trillion? That's chump change. The Cold War cost us $5 to $8 trillion, and look what we got for that -- a military-industrial complex! Woo hoo!

Still, Iraq's cost us a lot in a shorter amount of time, so maybe in 20 or 50 years, when Iraq's finally settled, it'll probably have cost us $20 trillion, maybe more as more expensive weapon systems are designed to justify the ongoing trough-feeding.

By then, if any Americans can still read or do math, they'll experience sticker shock as they find themselves in endless debt-slavery to their Chinese overlords.

You disbelieve, JB? How soon they forget! It was in the papers at the time. Here's one from 2002, from the UK Guardian...

Venezuela coup linked to Bush team

Specialists in the 'dirty wars' of the Eighties encouraged the plotters who tried to topple President Chavez

Observer Worldview

Ed Vulliamy in New York

Sunday April 21, 2002

The Observer

The failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials in the US government, The Observer has established. They have long histories in the 'dirty wars' of the 1980s, and links to death squads working in Central America at that time.

Washington's involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed left-wing leader Hugo Chavez from power last weekend resurrects fears about US ambitions in the hemisphere.

It also also deepens doubts about policy in the region being made by appointees to the Bush administration, all of whom owe their careers to serving in the dirty wars under President Reagan.

One of them, Elliot Abrams, who gave a nod to the attempted Venezuelan coup, has a conviction for misleading Congress over the infamous Iran-Contra affair.

The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from the coup. It immediately endorsed the new government under businessman Pedro Carmona. But the coup was sent dramatically into reverse after 48 hours.

Now officials at the Organisation of American States and other diplomatic sources, talking to The Observer, assert that the US administration was not only aware the coup was about to take place, but had sanctioned it, presuming it to be destined for success.

The visits by Venezuelans plotting a coup, including Carmona himself, began, say sources, 'several months ago', and continued until weeks before the putsch last weekend. The visitors were received at the White House by the man President George Bush tasked to be his key policy-maker for Latin America, Otto Reich.

(there's more to the article below, if you'd like to read on...)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,688071,00.html

And, JB, this is pretty amusing -- FAIR covered the coverage of the coup...

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1867

...including this hilarious editorial from the NYT (on my birthday, no less), after the coup had failed...

"In his three years in office, Mr. Chavez has been such a divisive and demagogic leader that his forced departure last week drew applause at home and in Washington. That reaction, which we shared, overlooked the undemocratic manner in which he was removed. Forcibly unseating a democratically elected leader, no matter how badly he has performed, is never something to cheer."

Mmm hmm. Tell that to the American press. FAIR nicely covers all of the coup cheerleading that went on.

Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy says he's going to give Gonzales one more chance to clarify his testimony.

One more chance??! How many chances does Gonzales get, Senator Leahy? All Gonzo will do is continue to delay and obfuscate as long as he can.

Impeach him already. Impeach, impeach, impeach!

People should start mailing in peaches to their Congresspeople (Republican or Democrat) with notes about the need to impeach these people, already. Peaches are in season, and impeachment is most definitely in season with this maladministration.

Gonzo has had plenty of chanced to clarify his testimony; he's not going to start now.