1. You think the telcos are bad? Wait till you find out what Bush and Co have been doing with the secret monitoring of banking transactions on ATM networks. This issue is so secretive the press cannot even discuss it, even though it has been hinted at several times during top level TelCo hearings.

2. Most of the disillusioned commenters here who criticize Obama will suck in their guts (again), clench their teeth (again) and go out and vote DEMS (again) on November 2nd. As a result, the Green Party led by Cynthia McKinney will pre-poll better than their final tally. If the Dems lose anyway, this will (again) be a lost opportunity for really "progressive" voters to shake the tree of the two-party (or is it one Corporatocracy party?) state.

The US Green Party may be an object of ridicule in the US corporate press, and personally I don't think Nader's one-man crusade helped their cause, but they are part of a global coalition of Green parties which provide real hope for concerted co-operation among nations, and a real agenda to save our planet.

I write this from distant Australia, where the Green Party has grown from a single-issue, anti-logging protest group some 20 years ago to a position of power today. They now hold about 10% of the popular vote and control the balance of power (along with two independent Senators) in the upper house. If the US Green Party could get just 5% of the vote this time around, that would represent IMHO the USA's biggest political change in 40 years. But here's a suggestion: if you are going to vote Green, don't just vote for them, get off your ass and go and help them, coz they are gonna need it. Otherwise you might as well vote Dem (again) because nothing will change.

Speaking of and from Australia, it's interesting to note that our former PM John Howard (a willing corporate Iraq warmonger stooge who Bush described as his "deputy") lost power to Kevin Rudd late last year. Obama's campaign to date reminds me of Rudd's in many ways, particularly the "me-too-ism" (spin doctors call it "shadowing") and the big question mark over what an Obama administration might really be like. The good news: Rudd is a thousand times better than Howard. The bad news: he is still in thrall to Big Business. The really bad news (for you guys): the USA and Australia are many miles apart in all kinds of ways, particularly due to (a) compulsory voting, (b) the Westminster system of government, and (c) preference voting (whereby my vote for the Greens sent preferences that helped Rudd get elected).

NB: If I am not able to read all the comments on this thread because the thread keeps growing faster than I can read, does that not imply that other commenters here are not actually reading previous comments before they comment?

I suggest that readers of all US political blogs keep in mind that the major political parties (esp. GOP) are now paying people to write blog comments for them.

That is all.

Do you ignore this trollish nonsense, or risk amplifying it by responding? I find it very frustrating that G.G. is being dragged down into dirty campaign politics, after he did such good work on FISA and anthrax.

It might be best if the USA just elects Mickey Mouse as President For Life. Citizens can all just pretend he is real, and Dick Cheney's friends in the Military-Industrial Complex can work with Disney Studios Inc. to make Mickey say whatever they want said.

Anyone who says "Mickey is not real" will be imprisoned. But when Mickey declares war on Iran, Syria and Jordon simultaneously, nobody will be able to criticize the wisdom of his decision (he is not real, d'uh!).

All press conference questions will need to be scripted, so the animators have time to create a response. The State of the Union address will become an animation tour de force, featuring Donald Duck (Rumsfeld's voice), Goofy (GWB), Uncle Scrooge (Cheney), and other loveable Disney characters like Shrek (Powell) and Cinderella (Condi).

US soldiers abroad will wear Mickey Mouse ears on their helmets to make them easily distinguishable from the Bad Guys. It will look great on TV, trust me! Viewers will be clamoring for "More War!"

Meanwhile... FBI Laboratory Director Chris Hassell says the "publication plan" for their "mission accomplished" propaganda is already under way:

Speaking of the science, he adds, "We are hoping to get as much as we can into peer-reviewed journals."

I will be watching for Richard Spertzel to author at least one "I was wrong about Ivins" article... (link at my sig).

I have witnessed a Mickey Mouse character on official Palestinian TV teaching toddlers that all Jews are sub-human and deserve to die!

That video was taken off air on the orders of the popularly elected Hamas government in Palestine. It (justly) remains off the air.

But I have witnessed US and Israeli soldiers killing innocent Iraqi, Afghan and Palestinian civilians day after day. And their governments and judiciaries have endorsed these killings. And the killings continue as I write.

And I have witnessed a Mickey Mouse President telling his nation that Saddam Hussein had WMDs, and ties to terrorists, and plans to kill US citizens, and deserved to die. And even though these lies were exposed for all the world to see, this Mickey Mouse President remains on air, without official sanction or rebuke.

Who is truly brainwashed? Who are the real Fascists? And who is just muddying the waters with shallow lies and distortions?

I am not sure the FBI really expect us to take their alleged "pro-life" motivation seriously. It is just pure speculation, filling a massive hole in their anthrax case argument, with little or no evidence to support it.