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©2001 chadsux
©2001 Chris Whitehouse
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In This Edition We spotlight the cartoons of Chadsux with additional cartoons from Cunningham Strikes, Tom Paine and Chris Whitehouse. Robert Lederman gives us part three of the Bush/Walker Nazi connections. We'll hop in the time machine and take you back to Christmas Eve 1992 to show you the criminal Presidential Pardons of Poppa Smirk. Tamara Baker explains why you haven't heard about those civilians on the submarine that nailed the Japanese fishing boat. Molly Ivins takes us backstage at Smirky's cabinet to dig out the skeletons. Larry Chin reveals Katherine Harris' payoff for treason and sedition. Bartcop points out what we've all been thinking of Dennis Miller lately. Then finally your wicked Uncle Ernie shows the problems of an official religion in "Gimmie That Old Time Religion II." Plus we have all your favorite departments, so welcome once again to "Issues & Alibis." We hope you enjoy your stay.  Gimmie That Old Time Religion II Last time we talked about Smirky the Chimps plans to establish an official religion. This time we’ll meet a lady who has been blessed with having to deal with an official religion by some other loonies with a government badge and their own ideas about religion. Our tale concerns a suburban Michigan lady who ran afoul of Jesus.
I’m sure you know the 1st Amendment to the Constitution i.e. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," etc etc etc. Yet every year some servant of the people takes it upon himself to spend the peoples money on doing just that. In stubborn defiance of the law some dimwit decides to take it upon himself to induce others to share his own particular brand of insanity. Such is this case…
An atheist lady noticed a large nativity scene on her Township lawn and proceeded to ask why? I mean how dare she ask why a federal law was being violated? Well because of course the powers that be were Christians and therefore, they’d do as they pleased. Oh and by the way, "We’ll get you for this and your little dog too," they said and they did!
The folks at the bi-weekly Nazi rag where this story first appeared did their best to fan the flames of hatred! There’s a lot of sales potential in hatred! They wrote front-page articles reporting ‘the facts’ in their typical Nazi fashion. Shame on her, how dare she? On their Opinion Page they would run the most inflammatory letters to the editor from some the most certifiable loonies in the area. Gun nuts who would talk about their love of America, Guns and Jesus and in threatening tones tell her to go back where she came from or else! One such rant I counted was 32 misspelled paragraphs long. It was balanced by a support letter three sentences long. You really can’t say they weren’t being fair. Not!
As she writes for a suburban weekly there has been much ado around her office with these good Christian folk slandering her as they cancel their subscriptions. Pity if she has to go to the Township Hall on business from time to time. The cabal at the township office suddenly treats her with sickly sweet smiles. Voices dripping honey with an undertone of torturous death. Not to mention the gossip they've spread throughout the area. They've even been making pamphlets about her in their religious zeal, always behind her back of course. And Koresh help her, if she has to go shopping around town.
I’m sure you all remember childhood and how mean children can be to other children. These adults never grew out of that childhood. I guess that’s the only way you can be, in order to believe in gods and devils and other such nonsense. And all this wonderful treatment because she asked them if they were going to put that nonsense on the peoples lawn then add other similar sized displays of all the other religions and a sign for the atheists. Not to move it, just to include all others.
Their attitude of course is that this is a 'Christian' community and if you don’t like it, too bad. This is why we need to bring back the old English punishment for treason by politicians, that of being publicly 'Drawn and Quartered.' I’m sure you’ve noticed the lack of death penalty crimes for politicians that sell out the people, funny that, eh?
Well who would ride to this ladies rescue? Why it’s the good old ACLU or is it? When she called the ACLU and told them about it they said they put a law-student on it and would then take it under advisement. Why? Seems perfectly clear to me, very cut and dried. Cease and desist or include everybody. We are an all-inclusive society are we not? Apparently we are not in suburban Michigan!
Scary thing is we still have four more years of the ‘Smirky Show’ in store for us, unless the old Indian curse gets him! I’d say that the government goons will get their way and continue to impose their religious will on the people in their pursuit of establishing an official religion by the government. Methinks I see a simple solution that involves a gallon of gasoline and a match but it too is against the law and so I won’t mention it.
Next time around we’ll have a good laugh over the 13th Amendment, you know the Amendment that abolishes slavery?
[1] The Bush family and IBM are in good company. Among the many corporations and famous American individuals with their own direct link to Nazi Germany were Henry Ford, JP Morgan, Du Pont, Mellon, Allen Dulles (America's first CIA director), John Foster Dulles (President Eisenhowers' Secretary of State), Charles Lindbergh, William Randolph Hearst, Alcoa Aluminum, Rockefellers' Standard Oil (now Exxon), General Motors, ITT and Chase Manhattan Bank. [2] For these corporations and individuals this was not simply a matter of having an investment in a German subsidiary. Some of these corporate heads met repeatedly with Hitler and his closest advisors, contributed millions of dollars to help establish the Nazi party and in some cases - such as the Bush and Rockefeller families - continued to channel money and advanced technology to the Nazis even after the US entered WWII. Some of these corporations, like Chase Manhattan Bank, have publicly apologized for their Nazi connection. Others have acknowledged but not apologized for it. In the case of the Bush family they have neither acknowledged nor apologized for it. [3] In the case of our new President the connection is not limited to an embarrassing episode of WWII history. His father, former President Bush, was exposed in 1988 for having numerous former Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in his Presidential campaign. GW Bush's corporate cabinet prominently features representatives of many of the same companies that were Hitler's biggest American supporters, like Alcoa and GM. His appointees have numerous direct ties to racist organizations like the Pioneer Fund which helped write both the US and Nazi eugenics laws and to modern day eugenicists like Charles Murray, author of the Bell Curve. Bush's entire domestic agenda, the absurdly named, "compassionate conservatism", was invented by the CIA's Manhattan Institute a right wing think tank founded by former CIA director William Casey who helped bring thousands of former Nazis to the US following WWII. The Bell Curve was written while Murray was a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and he continues to lecture there to this day. [4]
It is understandable that the media, which depends on
corporate ads for their livelihood, is not falling over itself to
expose these Nazi ties but in light of the IBM story isn't it time
to let all of this dirty laundry be aired once and for all?
If IBM can be forced to come clean, can the US President hide
his own far more extensive links to Nazi Germany any longer?
The American people have a right to know.
Administration officials have disclosed that Bush will nominate William Stamps Farish III, one of the Bush family's closest confidantes, as Ambassador to Great Britain.
A worldwide cartel of Standard Oil of New Jersey and the Nazi I.G. Farben company built and operated the Auschwitz concentration camp, notorious for mass murder of Jews and slaves. The arrangements with the Nazis were supervised by Standard's president, Williams S. Farish, grandfather of Farish III. The proposed ambassador's vast wealth is the inheritance from this Auschwitz cartel.
On March 25, 1942, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold announced that William S. Farish had pleaded "no contest" to charges of criminal conspiracy with the Nazis. On Oct. 20 and 28, 1942, the U.S. government seized Nazi German banking and shipping operations that were being conducted by Prescott Bush, grandfather of the current President. The two grandfathers, Bush and Farish, were close friends. They and their corporate superiors, the Harrimans and the Rockefellers, were Anglophiles, but had continued with the original British Hitler-sponsorship after Britain switched and went to war... 
Bush Pardons Weinberger, 5 Others in Iran-Contra; Act Called Cover-Up;
By: ROBERT L. JACKSON and RONALD J. OSTROW
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
WASHINGTON -- President Bush granted Christmas Eve pardons to former
Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and five other former government officials
Thursday, wiping out all pending criminal prosecutions in the Iran-Contra
case.
In an angry statement, the Iran-Contra independent counsel, Lawrence
E. Walsh, accused Bush of "misconduct" and declared that the pardon was
part of the cover-up that "has continued for more than six years."
And in a potentially explosive revelation, he said it was recently
discovered that Bush himself kept personal notes on aspects of the
arms-for-hostages affair. He said prosecutors have been denied access to
some of them "despite repeated requests" and added ominously that this
"will lead to appropriate action."
The flurry of dramatic events, which began with the midday issuance of
the White House's Christmas season pardon list, meant that instead of
winding down after a term of unprecedented length, the Iran-Contra
investigation was erupting anew with the suggestion of a higher target
and greater implications.
Walsh declined to say what action he might take against Bush. In an
interview broadcast later, however, he did acknowledge that Bush is "the
subject now of our investigation" and that the potential grounds are
having "illegally withheld documents" from Iran-Contra investigations.
Of Bush's notes, he said: "We have some already and some have been
withheld still. There are months missing. . . . "
The White House declined comment on the charges, although an official
who asked to remain anonymous said: "We've turned over all the documents.
Everything we can turn over we have turned over."
In addition to Weinberger, Bush pardoned Elliott Abrams, former
assistant secretary of state; Robert C. McFarlane, former national
security adviser, and former CIA officials Clair E. George, Alan D. Fiers
and Duane Clarridge. All were in President Ronald Reagan's
Administration.
A presidential pardon is absolute. It wipes out all convictions,
pending charges, appeals or even possible future prosecutions.
Weinberger, 75, who was due to stand trial early next month on perjury
charges as the highest ex-official to be charged in the affair, told
reporters: "I am pleased that my family and I have been spared the
terrible ordeal of a lengthy and unjustified trial."
He added: "I am absolutely confident that I would have been
acquitted." He was accused of lying to Congress and Walsh's investigators
about the Iran-Contra affair and concealing key notes of White House
meetings about plans for Iranian arms sales to try to free American
hostages in the Mideast.
George, the CIA's former No. 3 official who was convicted on two
perjury charges earlier this month, also thanked Bush and said he will
"focus on eliminating the pressing financial debt" he has incurred by
defending himself through two trials.
The President, in a written statement about the pardons, said the
six-year investigation had gone on long enough and that those he was
pardoning had acted only in what they believed was the nation's interest,
not for their benefit.
All "have already paid a price" that is "grossly disproportionate to
any misdeeds or errors of judgment they may have committed," he said.
Bush called Weinberger "a true American patriot who has rendered long
and extraordinary service to our country" during seven years in the
Reagan Administration and previously in three posts in the Richard M.
Nixon Administration. The former California assemblyman was state
director of revenue during Reagan's term as California governor.
Bush said he felt the independent counsel's investigation had outlived
any justification it had when it was convened by a panel of federal
appellate judges six years ago at the recommendation of then-Atty. Gen.
Edwin Meese III.
In Los Angeles, Reagan said he was pleased by the pardons.
"These men have served their country for many years with honor and
distinction," he said, adding that he was "glad that this long ordeal has
ended for them and their families."
President-elect Bill Clinton told reporters in Little Rock, Ark., he
was concerned it signaled that if you are a high government official,
"you are above the law."
Bush's action held some historic and legal risks for him.
By clearing away the other cases, the pardon allows the independent
counsel to focus on Bush's role in the Iran-Contra affair--a course that
Walsh hinted he will pursue.
Walsh indicated specific interest in Bush's sworn insistence that he
had no detailed knowledge of the plan to swap arms for hostages. "The
statute of limitations has run out on the substance of the crime, on the
cover-up itself," he said in one interview. But "the statute of
limitations can always be revived by a false statement under oath."
Meanwhile, the pardon attracted the attention of legal scholars and
historians who will assess Bush's presidency and its legacy.
It is rare for a President to exercise his powers of executive
clemency for a defendant before his trial, as was the case with
Weinberger. The most celebrated case of such a pardon was former
President Gerald R. Ford's grant to Nixon, who had resigned in August,
1974, as he faced House impeachment in the Watergate scandal.
Ford could not be accused of a personal conflict in the action because
he had not figured in the Watergate scandal. But Bush's role in
Iran-Contra has repeatedly been questioned, and evidence prepared for the
trial cited Bush's presence as vice president at several high-level
meetings.
Bush has insisted he was "out of the loop" on Iranian arms sale
discussions. Contemporaneous notes written by Weinberger in 1986 and
obtained by the prosecution indicated that Bush was present at a White
House meeting at which the hostage deal was debated in detail. The note
indicated that Bush supported the swap of arms for hostages while
Weinberger and then-Secretary of State George P. Shultz argued against
it.
Weinberger, although he told Congress a year later that he had no
relevant documents on Iran-Contra, later turned over 1,700 pages of notes
and other records on his whole Pentagon tenure to the Library of
Congress. In response to a request from Walsh's staff, he made the notes
available to investigators in 1990. They ultimately led to his
indictment.
Walsh, in his sharp attack on Bush's action Thursday, said: "The
Iran-Contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has
now been completed with the pardon of Caspar Weinberger."
He added that "Weinberger's notes contain evidence of a conspiracy
among the highest-ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to
Congress and the American public." The concealment of such notes kept
fresh evidence away from investigators for years "and possibly
forestalled timely impeachment proceedings against President Reagan and
other officials," Walsh said.
In addition, Walsh said his investigators were informed "only within
the past two weeks that President Bush had failed to produce . . . his
own highly relevant contemporaneous notes, despite repeated requests for
such documents."
Characterizing this alleged failure as Bush's "own misconduct," he
said "the production of these notes is still ongoing and will lead to
appropriate action."
Walsh drew a parallel between Bush's pardons and Nixon's attempt to
thwart the Watergate investigation by firing special prosecutor Archibald
Cox.
"It may well be that President Bush has succeeded in a sort of
Saturday Night Massacre," he said on the ABC-TV "Nightline" program. "You
may remember that President Nixon had Archie Cox fired when he got too
close to the presidency. This may be a more subtle way of closing down an
investigation. But we have not yet accepted that conclusion. We will
check our options, and we will not close it down until we are certain
that that's the only appropriate course."
Bush, who was at Camp David for the weekend, said in his statement
that he will ask Walsh to provide him with a copy of his own testimony to
the investigators so that he can release it publicly to show his candor.
"No impartial person has seriously suggested that my own role in this
matter is legally questionable," he said.
Even though Walsh's statement appears to underscore charges that
Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore made during the campaign that
Bush had not adequately accounted for his conduct during Iran-Contra, the
confrontation could pose a difficult problem for the incoming
Administration.
If Bush and Walsh do battle over a special prosecutor's power to
obtain documents from a President, Clinton might find himself compelled
to take up Bush's side of the argument in defense of his office's legal
rights. "It could be touchy," said a Clinton aide.
In granting clemency to the six, Bush wiped out four criminal
convictions on Iran-Contra charges and blocked two pending prosecutions.
Abrams, who in the State Department oversaw U.S. policy toward Latin
America, pleaded guilty last year to two misdemeanor charges of
withholding information from Congress about the secret government efforts
to provide support to the Nicaraguan Contras at a time when such aid was
banned by Congress.
McFarlane helped arrange the arms sales to Iran and made a secret
trip to Tehran at a crucial stage in the affair. He pleaded guilty in
1988 to four charges of withholding information from Congress.
Of the former CIA officials, Clarridge was accused of lying to
Congress about a secret shipment of Hawk missiles to Iran, while George
and Fiers were convicted of falsely denying knowledge of the
Administration's illegal aid operation for the Contras. Abrams, McFarlane
and Fiers were sentenced to probation and to perform community service.
George's sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 18. Clarridge was due to go on
trial March 15.
Asked why he thought he had been prosecuted by Walsh, Weinberger
replied: "He seemed absolutely determined to get somebody, in view of his
dismal record."
Only one defendant ever went to jail for offenses in the scandal:
former CIA operative Thomas G. Clines, who was convicted of tax-related
charges.
Walsh's staff obtained 11 convictions during their six-year tenure,
but the two biggest ones were overturned on appeal: those of former White
House aide Oliver L. North and former White House National Security
Adviser John M. Poindexter.
Seven other convictions resulted from negotiated plea agreements.
Bush's pardons did not extend to North and Poindexter, whose cases have
been dismissed anyway, nor did the pardons apply to Iran-Contra middlemen
who pleaded guilty in the scandal, such as former Air Force Maj. Gen.
Richard V. Secord and Iranian-born businessman Albert Hakim.
The Iran-Contra scandal involved the November, 1986, disclosure that
former President Ronald Reagan's Administration, in violation of his
stated policies, secretly sold arms to Iran in the hope of gaining the
freedom of U.S. hostages in Lebanon. Some of the proceeds from the arms
sales were passed on to Contra rebels fighting the leftist Sandinista
government in Nicaragua at a time when such aid was banned by Congress.
The Iran-Contra independent counsel, Lawrence E. Walsh, brought 14
indictments and obtained 11 convictions during a $33-million, six-year
investigation of how far the ensuing cover-up extended into the CIA and
the White House. Walsh's inquiry was the longest since the special
prosecutor law was enacted in 1978 in one of the most significant
legislative changes of the post-Watergate era.
Iran-Contra Figures at a Glance
A glance at the figures in the Iran-Contra case pardoned Thursday:
* Caspar W. Weinberger, a former defense secretary. He was indicted
June 16 for allegedly concealing his notes about the arms shipments to
Iran. Prosecutors uncovered the 1,700 pages of notes in 1991 at the
Library of Congress. The material details discussions among former
President Ronald Reagan and his top aides--including then-Vice President
Bush--about the Iran initiative.
* Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state for
Inter-American Affairs. Abrams was sentenced Nov. 15, 1991, to two years
of probation and 100 hours of community service for his guilty plea on
two misdemeanor charges of withholding information from Congress in the
affair. He agreed to cooperate with Iran-Contra investigators.
* Duane Clarridge was the head of the CIA's Western European Division. He
was indicted on Nov. 26, 1991, for lying to Congress and the Tower
Commission that investigated Iran-Contra. Clarridge was charged with five
counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements for allegedly
covering up his knowledge of a Nov. 25, 1985, shipment of Hawk missiles
to Iran.
* Alan D. Fiers, retired chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force.
He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, and his testimony gave a boost
to the long-running criminal investigation. Fiers was sentenced to one
year of probation and 100 hours of community service.
* Clair E. George is the retired chief of the CIA's covert operations
division. He was convicted of lying to two congressional committees.
Before Bush's pardon, George faced a maximum five-year sentence and a
possible $250,000 fine for each of the two convictions. His sentencing
had been scheduled for Feb. 18.
* Robert C. McFarlane, former national security adviser. McFarlane
pleaded guilty March 11, 1988, to four counts of withholding information
from Congress. He was placed on probation for two years, fined $20,000
and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
Why not North and Poindexter?
Charges against national security aide Oliver L. North were dismissed
in 1991 at the prosecution's request. The conviction was thrown out
because the judge said key testimony was tainted by information North
gave Congress while under immunity. North was convicted in 1989 of
destroying documents, accepting an illegal gratuity and aiding the
obstruction of Congress. Former National Security Adviser John M.
Poindexter also had his five felony convictions set aside on appeal.
 Texas Oilmen at the Controls of Navy Sub?
Is This Why the Smirk-Boy Administration Didn't Want to Release the Identities of these "Civilian VIPs"?
Some interesting tidbits came over the e-transom today:
Seems that two of the "VIP civilians" involved in the USS Greeneville's smacking into a
Japanese fishing boat have stepped forward.
One of them is Todd Thoman. The other is John Hall. Thoman and Hall
(http://www.msnbc.com/news/529046.asp) were on NBC's Today show this morning.
Now here's the interesting part:
A "Todd Thoman" was employed by the Fossil Bay oil company in their just-closed Houston office
(Fossil Bay is headquartered in Dallas). And a John Hall is named on Fossil Bay's web site as being
on their board of directors:
- - -
John M. Hall - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hall has
been an independent investor in the oil and gas industry for many
years. From 1993-1994, he was Chief Executive Officer of Merit Energy,
where he was instrumental in facilitating a large transaction wherein
Merit's offshore California assets, and those of several major oil
companies, were sold to Nuevo Energy
(http://www.fossilbayresources.com/news2000/fb25oct00.htm)
- - -
In other words, to quote my e-correspondent, it looks very much as if the combined stupidity of
joyriding Texas oilmen and GOP-worshiping Navy brass killed nine Japanese fisherfolk and schoolkids.
And we weren't told this for nearly a week after the fact.
No wonder the Japanese want our heads over this.
And does anyone doubt that, if the "VIP civilians" had been Democrats,
that the US broadcast media would have already told us their names,
jobs and arrest records within hours after the incident occurred?  Dead letter office Heil Bush, Dear Gruppenfuhrer Breaux, Congratulations you have just been awarded the Vidkun Quisling Award for 2001. Your name will now live throughout history with such past award winners as Marcus Junius Brutus, Judas Iscariot, Benedict Arnold, Vidkun Quisling and last years winner Volksjudge Wilhelm Rehnquist. With your vote to allow Herr Ashcroft to take command of the Gestapo we will soon certainly put those Darkies and Jews back in their place und make Jesus das King. Along with this award there will be an Iron Cross 2nd class presented by our glorious Fuhrer Herr Bush at a gala party in das Fuhrer Bunker, formerly the White House on 4-1-2001. We salute you Herr Breaux! Sieg Heil!
Signed, Heil Bush
You can't tell the Cabinet connections without a program
Hightower once again has his eye on the shell with the pea under it when it
comes to President Bush's Cabinet.
The pundit corps has been swooning over the diversity of Bush's picks -- four
women, a Cuban-American, two African-Americans, a Japanese-American, a
Lebanese-American, a Chinese-American and a Democrat.
President Inclusive chooses a Cabinet that looks like America. Just one
catch: Every member is a corporate creature. In fact, the corporations have
just taken over the government. Why hire lobbyists when your CEOs and board
members are running the show? Who's left to lobby?
Until recently, Real President Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton Inc., the
giant oilfield services firm that has been making money and trading with Iraq
despite the sanctions through its subsidiaries Dresser-Rand and
Ingersoll-Dresser Pump.
Courtesy of the Hightower newsletter, here are some of those now running the
country:
* Elaine Chao (Labor): an investment banker and corporate director, former
vice president of Bank of America and board member for Northwest Airlines,
Dole Food, Clorox and Columbia/HCA Health Care.
* Norman Mineta (Transportation): corporate VP for Lockheed Martin; also
former chairman of the House Transportation Committee, where his major
contributors were the American Trucking Association, Boeing, General
Electric, Greyhound, Lockheed, Northwest Airlines, UPS, Union Pacific and
United Airlines.
* Paul O'Neill (Treasury): CEO of Alcoa, the aluminum giant, and previously
CEO of International Paper Co. and on the boards of Eastman Kodak and Lucent
Technologies.
* Gale Norton (Interior): formerly with the Mountain States Legal Foundation,
an anti-environmental group funded by oil companies. Prominent member of
"property rights" groups funded by Boise Cascade, DuPont and Louisiana
Pacific; national chairwoman of the Coalition for Republican Environmental
Advocates, funded by the American Forest Paper Association, Amoco, ARCO, the
Chemical Manufacturers Association and Ford.
* John Ashcroft (attorney general): sponsor of last year's Senate bill to
extend the patent on the super-profitable allergy pill Claritin, owned by the
giant pharmaceutical firm Schering-Plough, which gave him $50,000 for his
last Senate campaign. He also got $1.7 million from oil, chemical and paper
companies that were grateful for Ashcroft's opposition to funding
environmental enforcement, voting for rollback of clean water protections and
letting mining companies dump cyanide and other wastes on public land.
As Hightower has observed, if you wonder why these issues didn't come up in
his confirmation hearings, consider the state of the Democratic Party and the
effects of campaign contributions.
* Rod Paige (Education): formerly Houston school superintendent, where he
promoted corporatization. Food service went to Aramark Inc., payroll to
Peoplesoft and accounting to SAP. Last year, he cut an exclusive marketing
deal with Coca-Cola to put machines in the school hallways. He also brought
in Primed Corp.'s Channel One, the "educational channel" that spends two out
of every 10 minutes of broadcast time selling M&M/Mars, Pepsico, Reebok and
Nintendo.
* Colin Powell (State): on the board of America Online and was recipient of
$100,000 a speech to a list of corporations too long to believe.
*Anthony Principi (Veterans Affairs): heir to family-owned real estate
company, also former president of QTC Medical Services Inc.; later with
Lockheed Martin and most recently president of the airless technology firm
Federal Network.
* Donald Rumsfeld (Defense): formerly CEO of General Instrument Corp. and
drug giant G.D. Searle & Co., also on the boards of Asea Brown Boveri, a huge
Swedish engineering firm, and the Rand Corp. Also on the advisory board of
Salomon Smith Barney, the Wall Street investment firm.
* Ann Veneman (Agriculture): lawyer with a firm specializing in representing
agribusiness giants and biotech corporations. On board of Calgene Inc., a
subsidiary of Monsanto, the first firm to market genetically altered food.
Also a participant in the International Policy Council of Agriculture, Food
and Trade, a group funded by Monsanto, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Kraft
and Nestle.
* Tommy Thompson (Health and Human Services): former governor of Wisconsin
whose major contributors were HMOs, hospital chains, nursing homes, clinics,
doctors and insurance companies. Phillip Morris gave him $72,000 in campaign
contributions.
* Spencer Abraham (Energy): one-term senator from Michigan who once sponsored
a bill to abolish the Energy Department. Especially active in fight over
requiring greater fuel efficiency from SUVs, giving him special brownie
points with the energy and the auto industries.
* Mel Martinez (HUD): no corporate connections; formerly the top manager of
Orange County, Fla. That's Orlando/Disney World, and if you have visited, you
know that ending urban sprawl is not his specialty
Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Star-Telegram. You can reach her at 1005
Congress Ave., Suite 920, Austin, TX 78701; (512) 476-8908; or
 Crime Does Pay: Katherine Harris Elected to The Council on Foreign Relations by Larry Chin © 2000 Attribution Katherine Harris has been elected as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. This little nugget, which surfaced in a footnote-sized bit in the February 16th issue of U.S. News & World Report, is alarmingly significant in its implications. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is the pre-eminent "policy committee" which includes high ranking members from governments, the wealthy elite, corporate chiefs, high finance, big oil, and spooks from the intelligence and military communities. Its members slither between cabinet-level posts (in both Republican and Democratic administrations) and CEO suites. The policies formulated by this group become U.S. government policy. The CFR holds the power to declare wars and assassinate people, manipulate financial markets, and essentially "runs the world". The CFR is affiliated with the Trilateral Commission. David Rockefeller is a top-ranking member of both groups. As are the George Bushes and Alan Greenspan. One does not simply join this cabal. One is invited. We must ask ourselves how and why Katherine Harris---the hateful and venomous apparatchik whose sole career accomplishments were to have affairs with both Bush brothers and to commit election fraud and treason---was invited to join one of the most dominant (and some would say the most influential) cabals on the face of the earth. According to investigator Sherman Skolnick (www.skolnicksreport.com), Harris' crimes predate the stolen presidential election. As Florida secretary of state, Katherine Harris was the Bush family's bag lady. She supervised a massive money laundering operation, funneling upwards of $75 million in clandestine funds for the Bush family. She was also responsible for the concealment of records for various shell corporations operating illegally within the United States. It is also rumored that she assisted with Bush financial games long before becoming state secretary in Jeb's administration. Harris' election to the CFR offers clear evidence to the values and ethics espoused by this panel of "concerned citizens". What does it say about corporate America that CEOs applaud Harris' unsavory activities? For her lifetime of service to the world's top crime family, and for assisting in a corporate/right wing coup d'etat of historic proportions, the CFR membership is Harris' big, fat thank you gift, and her invitation to participate in future plundering---alongside the really big boys. The Cartoon Corner This edition we're proud to showcase the cartoons of Chadsux.
    
The Craven
Once upon a season dreary, while we pondered, weak and weary,
Ah, distinctly we remember it was in the bleak December
Amid the soggy sad uncertain rising of the Bush dynastic curtain,
Presently our stomachs got weaker, watching our craven leaders grow meeker,
Deep into that darkness peering, long we stand here wondering, fearing,
On Saturday, May 19, 2001, Voter March will sponsor the Voter Rights March at the Mall in
Washington, DC from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm to voice our outrage over the fraud and
disenfranchisement of voters in the latest Presidential election, to call for critically-needed
voting and electoral reforms, and to protest the illegitimate President's right wing agenda to
turn back gains in the environment, a woman's right to choose, and the separation of church and
state. Give The Votes Back
(Sung to the tune of "Hit The Road, Jack")
Give the votes back,
This we say:
This woman named Harris thinks she's being so keen
Give the votes back,
Bush Baby, Bush Baby had to cheat in this way
Give the votes back,
1956
550,000
462
8
3 |
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Parting Shots... 
Dennis Miller's stock continues to plummet! I wish I knew what happened to Dennis Miller. Did he go "Hollywood" on us? How sad would that be, for one of our premier modern satirists to turn into "Dennis the Suit" for, ...reasons I can't imagine, ...and lose his entire comedy base. Koresh, that's an ugly feeling. Losing Miller to coke or alcohol would be one thing, but losing him to big money and the charms of the Smirk Monkey? When we lost Jimi, Janis and Jim, we knew it was because they were dancing on the edge. When we lost Keith, Bonzo and Hutch, we knew it was because they flew too close to the sun. When we lost Dennis Miller, we knew it was because he had some Michael Jackson surgery. - ABC paid for an operation that made Dennis Miller more white. Dennis Miller has been smacking The Man's ass for the best part of twenty years and now he sounds like Ari Fliesher explaining something for Resident Smirk. Dennis, my man, ...I've been with you for so many years. It hurts to say it, but you've turned a corner that just ain't makin' it. Did you hear a tape of your own show last night, Dennis? Every Bash-the-Democrat joke and the fuck-the-Clintons joke fell flat. Did you think it was only your live audience that wasn't laughing? Christ, I like a good Clinton joke. Miller was never nice to Clinton, but he used to be semi-fair. Koresh, he did 2 or 3 "Clinton stealing furniture" jokes last night, and there was no audible audience response to the fuck-Clinton jokes. Den - Babe - the days are over when you can say "Monica" and get a laugh. If your Clinton jokes were funny OR made a valid point, the audience would respond. Miller is going the same place the whore press is. (Notice I haven't put the "W" word on Miller yet, my 18 years of loyalty prevent me from using the BIG hammer, but Dennis Miller's boat of credibility is heading for the falls and if he turns network Steppinfetchit on us, I will regret encouraging his retirement.) Last night, he and Gary Oldman sat there for eight minutes and talked about what a bunch of low-life, scumbag, intolerant assholes the Democrats were. No, he wasn't trying to prod the party to do better, like we do here at bartcop.com no, he was playing the whore.
Dennis - tell us what happened...
When you became a hit on MNF, they kidnapped your kids and promised to kill them?
It's too early to say Dennis Miller is dead, but I think we see some chapter titles.
Why do you think your studio audience isn't laughing? The Warren Christopher in me is reminding that Dennis Miller has given me hundreds of hours of smart, smart comedy that reflected what the some real people were saying. Dennis is talking like the New York network boys want him to talk. Someone told Dennis he'd look good in the pink tutu.
Sad, ...sad day ...but Dennis, in your earlier encantations, you were top of the heap.
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Issues & Alibis Vol 1 # 3 ©3/1/2001
Issues & Alibis is published
on the 1st & 15th of every month.
It is not affiliated with any political party but
is dedicated to the restoration of the American Republic.