ThinkFast: March 1, 2007
Walter Reed officials have known of the deplorable conditions for at least 3 years. Joyce Rumsfeld, the wife of then-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, was taken to Walter Reed last October “by a friend concerned about outpatient treatment.” Mrs. Rumsfeld was told that her husband was being given a rosy picture of the hospital. Walter Reed officials proceeded to ban the friend who brought Mrs. Rumsfeld in.
For five years, the U.S. accused North Korea of pursuing a secret path to developing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, an accusation that “resulted in the rupture of an already tense relationship.” Now, the administration has quietly admitted its intelligence may have been faulty.
Amb. Tim Carney, a U.S. coordinator for Iraq’s reconstruction, said on NPR yesterday, said the post-war decision to exclude Iraqis from governing the country was “incompetent, foolish, dubious in all of its aspects.” Carney was recently flown to Baghdad by the administration to avoid testifying before a congressional committee.
Bush administration regulators approved children’s lunch boxes that were laden with more than 10 times hazardous levels of lead, then lied about it and refused to release details of their tests, an AP investigation revealed. The administration’s excuse: food in the lunch boxes “may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn’t direct exposure.”
Military reporter James Crawley says yesterday’s Army Times revelation “that Walter Reed patients had been barred from speaking with reporters is not the first case of tightened restrictions. In recent months, he says several MRE members have reported similar crackdowns. What’s worse, many of the denials are apparently in reaction to the potential negativity of a planned story.”
The departing U.S. attorney in New Mexico, David Iglesias, charged yesterday “that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections.” All the members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have denied involvement except for Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), who have not responded to “repeated requests” for comment.
President Bush has declared his intention to veto a “broad counterterrorism bill to implement many of the remaining recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission” if the legislation extends union protection to 45,000 federal airport screeners.
Six months since his last visit to New Orleans, and one month after failing to mention the Gulf region in his State of the Union address, President Bush “will find…a city of extremes, where life abounds in isolated areas and is eerily lacking in others.”
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) “is in talks to become the Philadelphia Inquirer’s newest op-ed columnist.”
And finally: Richard Simmons gets Hill staffers sweatin’. Roll Call reports, “Simmons was in the Capitol and House office buildings on Wednesday, spreading joy — and some unsolicited advice — to unsuspecting staffers. … He accosted one group of House staffers leaving the Longworth cafeteria. ‘I need to check your lunches,’ Simmons announced, according to one of the surprised, sandwich-toting aides. ‘He approved of our sandwiches, but made me look him in the eye and promise not to eat my chips.’”
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For five years, the U.S. accused North Korea of pursuing a secret path to developing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, an accusation that “resulted in the rupture of an already tense relationship.†Now, the administration has quietly admitted its intelligence may have been faulty.
Well, why not? China had to defuse that situation for us, and if you have to have China take care of your foreign affairs, what does that say about you as a nation?
Shorter: We already look like asses, so what’s to lose by letting that little tidbit out?
March 1st, 2007 at 11:00 amBush administration regulators approved children’s lunch boxes that were laden with more than 10 times hazardous levels of lead, then lied about it and refused to release details of their tests, an AP investigation revealed. The administration’s excuse: food in the lunch boxes “may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn’t direct exposure.â€
Are these guys even capable of looking out for anyone else besides themselves?
March 1st, 2007 at 11:15 am“Bush administration regulators approved children’s lunch boxes that were laden with more than 10 times hazardous levels of lead, then lied about it and refused to release details of their tests, an AP investigation revealed. ”
Look for the money. Someone paid for pressure to do this, I’d bet. It is so galling that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been transformed into the Corporate Profit Security Commission.
We need to realize that putting people who hate regulation in charge of structures meant to protect us from harm has serious negative consequences. Our children will be paying for these past six years for the rest of thier lives.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:27 am2. For Truth,
I’m fairly convinced, at this point, that they’re not even capable of looking out for themselves.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:27 amAre these guys even capable of looking out for anyone else besides themselves?
Comment by ForTruth
I think it’s more like “are these guys even capable of noticing the EXISTENCE of anyone besides themselves?”
March 1st, 2007 at 11:30 amState nurses monitor Vets Home
Gov. Pawlenty and legislators call for immediate action and a plan to fix seriousc omplaints at the Minneapolis Veterans Home.
Feb. 28: 3 die at Vets Home after errors
March 1st, 2007 at 11:32 amWe need to realize that putting people who hate regulation in charge of structures meant to protect us from harm has serious negative consequences.
[…]
Comment by Peter
Kinda like what happens when one puts a fox on guard duty at a chicken coop…
March 1st, 2007 at 11:34 am‘In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. “When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable,” said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.
Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, “I went flying down to Kevin Kiley’s office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else.”‘
Shameful. While it is all well and good that Young was outraged at the deplorable conditions, he shouldn’t have let his frustrations just make him stop visiting. He should have publicly aired his concerns to the media and other members of Congress. This whole story is a national disgrace.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:35 amWalter Reed officials have known of the deplorable conditions for at least 3 years.
Actually they probably have been covering it up longer
Walter Reed officials proceeded to ban the friend who brought Mrs. Rumsfeld in.
Like I said, coverup was all they were interested in.
And that is still the course. With the new orders to the wounded to not talk to the press and them being punished with daily inspections now, of the sort not usually done after leaving basic training.
“Some soldiers believe this is a form of punishment for the trouble soldiers caused by talking to the media,” one Medical Hold Unit soldier said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
makes me sick……
March 1st, 2007 at 11:51 amHonesty, who expected this administration to rule any differently on this. Why George W. Bush himself had such a lunchbox as a child and look how he turned out. He’s President of the United States! What’s a smidge of brain damage really going to do? It just takes the edge off those hard decisions.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:09 pmBush administration regulators approved children’s lunch boxes that were laden with more than 10 times hazardous levels of lead, then lied about it and refused to release details of their tests, an AP investigation revealed. The administration’s excuse: food in the lunch boxes “may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn’t direct exposure
Geez, hard to believe that this administration would lie or mislead.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pmAnd those apples that happened to have direct exposure, what happened to them?
Oh, I know, those apples may have had their skins removed before consumption, thus eliminating the possibility of exposure.
By the way, just out of curiousity, are these the same regulators that have given the a-okay for recent V.A. hospitals, particularly Walter Reed?
The administration’s excuse: food in the lunch boxes “may have an outer wrapping, a baggie, so there isn’t direct exposure
I am pretty sure most kids do not wear baggies on their hands while handling their lunch boxes.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pmThe more we find out about Bushco, the worst it gets.
Volume three is Nemesis and the subject of this review. In it, Johnson “tried to present historical, political, economic, and philosophical evidence of where our current behavior is likely to lead.” He believes our present course is a road to perdition in the form of fiscal insolvency and a military or civilian dictatorship. Our Founders knew the risk and tried preventing it with our constitutional republican government now in jeopardy. It’s come from our commitment to large standing armies, constant war, reckless stimulative military Keynesianism spending causing an erosion of democracy and growth of an imperial presidency. Once a nation goes this way, its fate is the same as all others that tried - “isolation, overstretch, the uniting of forces opposed to imperialism, and bankruptcy.” It’s symbol is that patient Greek goddess now visiting our shores awaiting the tribute she’ll demand - “our end as a free nation.”
It’s now our choice. We can continue the same way as imperial Rome and lose our democracy or chose the British model keeping it at the expense of sacrificing empire. Johnson ends his book citing Japanese scholar and journalist Hotsumi Ozaki as a role model example. Ozaki understood his country’s occupation of China would fail and lead to the kind of blowback caused by the Chinese Communist revolution. He tried warning his government, but was hanged as a traitor for his efforts late in WW II. Johnson hopes he won’t meet a similar fate but is as certain as Ozaki “that my country is launched on a dangerous path that it must abandon or else face the consequences.” We should hope we never see them, but wishing alone won’t make it so.
hey exley, you especially need to read this book
March 1st, 2007 at 12:35 pmKarlX,
I read that whole thing, I don’t even know what to say about stuff now. It seems pretty ucked up.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:36 pmMaj. Walter Reed, that champion of defeating Yellow Fever, IS TURNING OVER IN HIS GRAVE AT THE YELLOW-BELLIED FEVER SWEEPING OVER THE SEPTIC DUMP THAT BEARS HIS PROUD NAME!!!!!
March 1st, 2007 at 1:19 pm“Faulty? Faulty? OUR INTELLIGENCE HAS NEVER BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE FAULTY CONCERNING North Korea!!!!!” Basil FAWLTY(tm): “DID SOMEBODY CALL ME?????”
Tim Carney is currently residing in a PADDED CELL DEEP UNDER the Emerald City in Iraq UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!!!!
Administration Spokesman: “TELL THOSE SCHOOLKIDS TO GET THE LEAD OUT!”
COVER-UP! COVER-UP! COVER-UP! RUN TO THE SHELTER FOR COVER-UP! COVER-UP! COVER-UP! COVER-UP!
DUMB-Nancy and WILLfulLIARson–WHAT A PAIR(of JOKERS, that is!)–DOMENICI and WILSON went up to The Hill
To FETCH a PAIL of LIES and SHILL!
WILSON fell down and broke HER CROWN
And DOMENICI came TUMBLING AFTER WIL-NILL!!!!!
CHIMPya–ANTI-Union ‘TILL THE BITTER END(Oops! CHIMPya is an END-BITER, WASN’T HE?)
CHIMPya will find “that his mind is composed of EXTREMES–where LEANING TO rightwingnut cranks abounds in some cranial areas and COMMON SENSE, DECENCY, COMPASSION and CARING is EERILY LACKING THROUGHOUT CHIMPya’s ROTTEN CABEZA!!!!!”
GOOD! NOW I CAN ATTACK BOTH Santorum AND The Philadelphia Inquirer(tm) IF THEY ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO HIRE THAT MORON!!!!!
They’re LUCKY they didn’t RESIST Richard or HE WOULD HAVE BITCH-SLAPPED THEM LIKE HE DID THAT BIG GALOOT WHO CALLED HIM NAMES!!!!!
http://www.pbs.org/ now/ politics/ defensedollars.html
click on the chart. democrat presidents consistently underfund the military.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pmits right there.
#16 - “click on the chart.” Comment by ballbuster — March 1, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
So, we had the cold war in 1986 (You know, when Pres. Reagan re-introduced the fiscally irresponsible over-spending , massive deficits and raising the debt faster than any previous President) and money was thrown around like it was going out of style.
There were no large-scale invasions during 1996, so there was no need to pay for our military to deploy in countries that we were invading.
There was the abdication of our responsibility to Afghanistan in 2003 when Pres. Bush would rather invade Iraq that hunt down Usama bin Laden and eradicate the Taliban like he promised. (Pres. Bush has been proven to lie more often and more consistently than Pres. Clinton.).
Wow! You’re right! Democrats “under fund” private companies with non-wartime spending and Republicans “over fund” private companies that detract from our wartime obligations!
Thanks a lot, ballbuster, for proving how bad Pres. Bush is for our military!
March 1st, 2007 at 2:18 pmYawn. Just another day of stories about the incompetent and lying ways of the Bush administration, and how they use intimidation to deal with everything.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:25 pmOn the good news front
Breaking News >> Commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center Relieved of Duty
WASHINGTON — A top Army commander was relieved of his command at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Thursday after senior officials said they lost trust and confidence in his leadership abilities to address injured soldier care at military medical facilities.
Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman leaves his post as two-star general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pmbob, i’m pusing this book on everyone
Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson
read it
14 for truth
you read the book already?
March 1st, 2007 at 2:44 pmOff-topic, but crucially important news:
See Global Research for the article.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:45 pmhttp://www.pbs.org/ now/ politics/ defensedollars.html
click on the chart. democrat presidents consistently underfund the military.
its right there.
Comment by ballbuster
That’s kinda misleading when you look at the contracts handed out daily by the DOD for things that aren’t being used in Iraq nor that support the military. The miliatry is not suffering by any means. Most of their stocks are doing very well even. And if your an investor, or trader you might want to look at where these contracts are going.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:13 pmhttp://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/
So, Bush has said we had “faulty intelligence” on Iraq, and now he has said we had “faulty intelligence” on North Korea. Why should we believe anything he says about Iran?
March 1st, 2007 at 5:28 pmKarlx
I didn’t read the book, but I read the material on the link, it was enough.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:30 pmComment by ballbuster — March 1, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
Republicans spend more on everything.
Before Reagan, the deficit was less than $1 trillion. After Reagan, it was more than $3 trillion.
Before Bush43, the deficit was $5.6 trillion and falling and the budget was balanced. Now, the deficit is almost $9 trillion and growing at nearly $2 billion per day.
What was your point?
March 1st, 2007 at 7:34 pmhttp://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3456
————————————————————–
War Resisters — Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight
The Army has re-filed charges against Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, following mistrial. Find out the latest developments in his case and how you can help.
It takes courage to say that you will not fight — especially if you are a soldier. As more members of the U.S. military step forward for peace, the peace movement must step forward to support them.
Large numbers are now refusing to serve: The Department of Defense estimates that there are about 8,000 AWOL service members. The GI Rights Hotline http://www.girights.objector.org/
(800-394-9544) is currently receiving about 3,000 calls a month.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:09 amhttp://www.vcnv.org/ project/ the-occupation-project
The Occupation Project
THE OCCUPATION PROJECT is a new effort initiated by UFPJ member organization Voices for Creative Nonviolence. The plan is to unfold a campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at ending the U.S. war in and occupation of Iraq. The campaign begins with occupations at the offices of Representatives and Senators who refuse to pledge to vote against additional war funding.
Several UFPJ member groups, including CodePink, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, After Downing Street, and a host of local groups from North Carolina to Alaska are all involved in this effort. United for Peace and Justice, as a national coalition, has also endorsed The Occupation Project.
Your group can find out more about this initiative, including how you can get involved, by visiting their website. Or you can contact the organizers via phone at 773-878-3815 or via email, occupationproject at vcnv.org
—————————————————————–
And if you haven’t already:
Click here and sign Peace Action’s “No War with Iran!” petition today!
http://www.peace-action.org/Iranpetition.html
This petition to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice rejects any U.S. military action against Iran and demands direct negotiations. Copies will go to Chairs of the Senate
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:47 am