Flip The Middle

Think of the political spectrum as a circle with radical left and radical right almost meeting at the bottom of the circle.

On the right, Ron Paul is right next to that gap between radical left and right. Across the gap from him, on the radical left, are Gravel and Kucinich.

On the other side of the spectrum, across from the gap, are the political moderates. These moderates increasingly want the US out of the middle east. As moderates awaken to the fact that the "top" candidates, both democratic and republican, do not share their view, they will begin to look to the "fringe" candidates.

The "fringe" candidates, especially Ron Paul, because he is in stark contrast to the other Republican candidates, have the opportunity to firmly plant claim for themselves the mainstream of America. America wants out. The fringe is really the "do nothing", "establishment" position which is represented by the top tier of candidates and by the current congress. All one has to do is look at the congressional approval rating and one can see how America feels about a "do nothing" strategy.

Within the next three months the public will wake up to the fact that the main stream Democratic Presidential candidates and their Republican counterparts do not want to leave Iraq and really are very close to one another on the topic of Iraq. That's why none of the Republican candidates, besides McCain, is even talking about the war. That also explains why the Democrats have not pushed to de-fund the war. All they want to do is rethink and redefine the strategy.

Within the next three months, we'll see Democrats and Republicans agreeing that the U.S. should not leave Iraq but should "re-deploy" and "re-define" the mission. They will claim a re-found focus on eliminating Al Qaeda and fighting terrorism throughout the region.

The top tier of candidates, regardless of party, are all going to agree to this, despite what people think they are saying now.

This creates an opportunity for Ron Paul. One of his core philosophical tenets is the need to disentangle America from unnecessary foreign conflicts. His congressional voting record clearly documents this belief which is now shared by the majority of Americans.

Once the American people realize that no top tier candidate supports their views, they will begin to swing towards Dr. Paul. He will gain momentum entering in to the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. If he places well, the phenomenon of his popularity on line will translate to real world, main stream popularity. At that point, we'll be off to the races.

Cheney gets Waxed!

Waxman is circling Alberto Gonzalez and he is almost within striking distance.

Dick Cheney is the latest victim of Waxman's quest to make the AG enforce the law. Turns out Cheney doesn't think that the rules surrounding the use of classified information pertain to his office. His office told the National Archives that he's not part of the executive branch and that those laws don't apply to the VP's office.

Well, that didn't sit too well with the Director of the National Archives in charge of Information Security. He wrote the Office of the VP on two occasions. Once in January and once in August. Still no reply.

So, that brave gentleman, Mr. J. William Leonard, wrote to the AG asking him that he do his job and enforce the law.

Guess what? No response.

Well, the issue has gotten the attention of Waxman, who is investigating the Department of Justice and the AG on several fronts. Today, Waxman sent the VP a letter tearing him a new orifice. He also published a fact sheet detailing repeated efforts by the Vice President to avoid accountability and over sight.

Go Waxman! The law applies to all citizens.

Criminal Violation

Violation of the Presidential Records Act is a criminal offense. And evidence is beginning to pile up that the officials within the administration have done just that.

The act states that the President is required to “take all such steps as may be necessary to assure that the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies that reflect the performance of his constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties are adequately documented … and maintained as Presidential records.” Not doing so, would be criminal. Did Alberto Gonzalez, the White House Counsel, know that violations were occurring and do nothing to prevent it.

Rep. Henry Waxman and the Congressional Oversight Committee he chairs seem to think so. They just released an interim report on the investigation that says the following:

1. The White House lied when saying that only a "handful" of officials were using non-official email accounts.
2. White House officials were using unofficial RNC email accounts for official business.
3. RNC extensively destroyed emails it had under its possessions.
4. There is evidence that the AG Alberto Gonzalez "may have known" that this was going on and took no action. This is back when he was the white house attorney.
   

In order to recover the emails destroyed by the RNC, the Committee has written to 25 federal agencies requesting that they search their records for communication from or to Government officials from nonofficial email accounts. Some agencies have reported that they do have records of communications sent by officials from non-government email accounts.

The committee certainly wasn't surprised. "The Committee asked the RNC to provide data on how many e-mails each White House official sent to or received from official “.gov” e-mail accounts. According to the information from the RNC, virtually all of the 37 White House officials used their RNC accounts to communicate with government officials with official “.gov” e-mail accounts. Of the 674,367 e-mails preserved by the RNC, 240,922 e-mails (36%) were sent to or received from government e-mail accounts."

Now, it's bad enough that they were conducting official business (it's official if it goes to a .gov address), but what do you think the content of those messages was, pray do tell. Imagine the content that arrogance matched with a false sense of impunity will generate.

An example of this arrogance is what started this whole investigation in the first place. The committee learned of this this type of behavior while investigating government corruption by Jack Abramoff. It was during that investigation that the committee learned that Susan Ralston, Special Assistant to the President and a deputy to Karl Rove
sent a note to an Abramoff associate saying “I now have an RNC blackberry which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH e-mail.”

But, one example. Waxman has over 240,000 more to go.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

Wolfowitz, Libby, Pace, but who fell first?

Pace's departure seems to be another sign of a major change in tack for this administration.

Brooks said it today on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, the administration is trying to "bind" the next President to some kind of policy in Iraq. What happened today is another step, but certainly not the first step, towards that goal.

The shift in strategy is a little too late for W., though. His legacy is definitely shit canned. He seems like a man tearing apart at the seams. I actually am feeling sorry for him. He was always out of his depth and now he is visibly struggling personally to stay afloat.

No matter, he was always dispensable to the people that set him on a shelf of power. The Baker's and the Schulz's of the world, and the little man behind the curtain, or the guy holding the strings. They never cared about him. They liked him because he didn't care. He was malleable. He would play along. Now, he is just a dried up, sapped up alcoholic getting his kicks from non-alcoholic beer. Been there, haven't done that.

The ship began to bear away with the Iraq Study group. That group that everyone seems to believe had absolutely no impact on future direction. But, do you really think James Baker ever gets involved in anything of insignificance.? Things began to really show with the departure of Rummy, perhaps the first to fall. In came Gates. Quiet, efficient, low profile feeling his way into the dark swamp that Rumsfeld and the crew created.

Gates who somewhow seemed to float outside the bubble. The first that really put his head down and began to work in what appeared to be isolation.

Now falls Pace and a new Chairman steps in. The pieces are in place for the next phase. What it is is hard to say, but it has begun.

So, at some point along the line, the tiller must have been eased out from the hands of Cheney. The guy that was steering during this leg of the regatta. Perhaps it was at the same time that the architect, or the navigator, Rove also stopped determining the next political coordinates. Perhaps that unknown moment was when the boom came swinging around, knocking the neo-cons over board.

Who ordered the change is unknown, but they're swinging the pendulum of opinion the other way. The MSM will become increasingly negative about the administration. The momentum will build setting the stage for a "sweeping change" in power through the election of a Democratic President. Except, there will be no sweeping change. The elected individual will continue the charade. Representing the interests of the elite classes, while giving the people a sense of satisfaction. The King is Dead. Long Live the King.

Often there is a bit player that's not really in the game. Goldwater, Dean, Kucinich, Nader, Ron Paul, perhaps? Someone that is clearly not part of the racket. But, alas they never get elected. Or else the fun would end. Even when what they say is clearly what we have all been saying all along:

1. End the war on Drugs - it's a war on a lot of people we know.
2. Treat people fairly - don't bomb them - trade with them.
3. Decide what you want for you and your family at a local level.
4. Protect privacy.
5. Put an end to fear mongering.
6. Strengthen our borders and our first responders.
7. Develop alternate forms of energy.
8. Simplify the tax code.
9. Promote private enterprise and capitalism.
10. Pursue sound monetary policy.
11. Protect the constitution (lest I forget).

Must we elect again a candidate from the band of privateers, the ones that have eroded our liberties and started unnecessary wars? Can't we put someone in power that is going to make a difference? Someone that is reasoned and reasonable?

I hope so. But, I'm a dreamer

Arianna thinks Hillary won the Debate

Arianna thinks Hillary won the Democratic debate. That's because Ron Paul wasn't on stage.

I wonder how long it will take for the HuffPost, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars etc. to realize that the candidate they're looking for is Ron Paul and that he wasn't on stage at the Democratic debate.

Critics have said that the "liberal blogosphere" is made up of partisan hacks.

Well, Ron Paul promises the readers of those blogs everything they have been asking for. Everything. If they're in deed looking out for the best interest of our country, they need to admit that Ron Paul is their candidate.

I'm particularly interested in seeing when MoveOn notices Dr. Paul. They're a PAC that has challenged the Democratic leadership. Will they take note?

I'm looking for leading indicators of when Ron Paul will reach a tipping point that allows support to spill over from the internet in to the mains stream. Support from the liberal blogs would be a pretty clear one.

Another Patriot

Rep. Henry Waxman is slowly but surely getting to the bottom of numerous scandals perpetrated by the Bush Administration. Truth Dig has a story where he states that both companies were given special treatment, paid on a cost plus basis and that they "have taken advantage of the situation and defrauded the government, and they have never been taken to task on it."