August Week 4, 2005

Monday  August 22 , 2005

I met, not long ago, a young man who aspired to become a novelist. Knowing that I was in the profession, he asked me to tell him how he should set to work to realize his ambition. I did my best to explain. 'The first thing,' I said, 'is to buy quite a lot of paper, a bottle of ink, and a pen. After that you merely have to write.'

Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)

Went to my Dr, he says he can't find anything wrong with me... that's a good thing I guess... I have a Cardiology appointment the second week of September...

House is looking good... well, better. Brett has done an incredible amount of work, If all my kids together had done half as much as he did we would be done.

Tuesday  August 23 , 2005

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy.

George H. Lorimer, editor (1868-1937)

Brett left at about 1300, He did an awesome amount of work but he wiped himself out in the process, I was worried about his being able to make it home without falling asleep at the wheel, plus, he has never driven here by himself so he didn't know the way home... He called, he made it in OK...I am trying to accomplish something... anything. There is an awesome amount of work to do but I keep getting pulled away because of others seeming to have a hard time figuring out what to do and then, when I have made a suggestion, they need my help or need me to stand over them and tell them what to do and how to do it... frustrating...

The realtor called and said I have to get the septic system inspected and pumped... not a big deal but now I have to dig a hole to get to the access call (and pay for) Joe (Acton Sanitation) to come out... time consuming and tedious and hard on the old unused muscles and joints

Wednesday  August 24 , 2005

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause. A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.

Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Monica starts school today... she seems excited about it... I wonder why.

The big news today was our Pat (The Bastion of Christian Morality and Conscience) Robinson suggested that the United States kill the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. It made me take a step back... Hugo Chavez is not fond of America, to be honest, he has good reason... America made deals with the prior governments to make the Administration wealthy and to get the oil cheap. the people got screwed. Chavez will... well,... could go down in history as the greatest leader Venezuela has ever had.. He wants to renegotiate the oil deals with America and redistribute the wealth to the people, not directly but through jobs and government projects. Needless to say the Wealthy in Venezuela are up in arms and American oil barons are pissed, they put pressure on Bush to stop Chavez and they tried with, without success, to see to it that he didn't get elected. There was even an attempt on his life, not directly, but some are convinced Americans had something to do with it... I like Chavez... Of course, I liked Fidel Castro back in the late 50's too, it turns out he had a hidden agenda, Hugo could too, but for now I like him...

I liked this too...

PAT ROBERTSON URGES U.S. TO COVET CHAVEZ' WIFE

Televangelist Breaks Second Commandment in Two Days

One day after Pat Robertson called for the U.S. to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the televangelist raised the ante again today, urging the U.S. to covet President Chavez' wife.

In so doing, Mr. Robertson appeared to contradict two of The Ten Commandments in as many days, having flouted "Thou shat not kill" on Monday.

Speaking on the television program he hosts, "The 700 Club," Mr. Robertson lashed out at the Venezuelan strongman once more, telling his audience, "It's high time that the United States coveted Hugo Chavez' wife."

Warming to his topic, the opinionated preacher added, "And while we're at it, we should covet his house, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox and his ass, for that matter."

Mr. Robertson indicated that all of the coveting he referred to would not require a war, arguing that it could be all done through the use of covert operatives within Venezuela.

"We could send some special ops guys down there, and bang-bang, covet all of that stuff," Mr. Robertson told his audience.

Speaking to reporters after the program, Mr. Robertson was unrepentant about having broken two of the Ten Commandments in two days, telling them, "I fully intend to obey the other eight, and eight out of ten ain't bad."

But the televangelist seemed to waver from that position slightly, telling reporters that the U.S. should "bear false witness against Hugo Chavez and dishonor Hugo Chavez's mother and father."

Elsewhere, one day after the Princeton Review named the University of Wisconsin the nation's top party school, UW said that it was "too hammered" to comment.

TWMC
Please do what you can to see to it that people like Pat Robertson are not portrayed as representative of Americans in general and Christians in particular. Senile elderly hate filled bigots have a right to their opinions too but they do not speak for me nor do they speak for the majority of Americans, giving this man and men like him a channel for their venom is irresponsible.
Mr. Robertson, by his own generous estimation, Mr. Robertson has over a million viewers for his private bugle, the 700 Club. His power and influence in the evangelical world is a matter of record. Please see to it that his
rhetoric doesn't find it's way to the disillusioned minority that may be influenced by it. For him to instigate a Christian Jihad is just too repulsive to contemplate.

Sincerely;
Pete Daggett

 

This is pretty powerful: It takes a while to load on a dialup but I enjoyed it.   http://www.bushflash.com/vigil.html

This

Song for Cindy Sheehan
David Rovics

Casey was a good boy
He treated people well
And his momma loved him
Anyone could tell
She'd send him off to school
Pack his lunch with care
When he came back home she hugged him
With her fingers in his hair
Cindy, she loved Casey
And when all is said and done
She is every mother
And he was every mother's son

When Casey was a little older
He spent his time each week
In that church in Vacaville
In the service of the meek
In the service of his city
In the service of the lord
With his momma in the pews
All the time they could afford
And if their love alone could save us
Then the world would be one
She is every mother
And he was every mother's son

People thought the priesthood
Was where he'd someday be
So some folks were surprised
When he joined the army
The recruiter told him
He wouldn't have to fight
Cindy hoped this was the case
And prayed for him every night
That was before they sent him
To the desert with a gun
She is every mother
And he was every mother's son

His truck had no armor
And when it came under fire
It and half the soldiers in it
Became a funeral pyre
Cindy, she was sleeping
The moment Casey died
And she knew she'd never see him
Standing by her side
There was no consolation
No safe place she could run
She is every mother
And he was every mother's son

The president, he told her
He died for a noble cause
But Cindy's wondering
Exactly what that was
Since they never found the weapons
And now that Casey's gone
It seems that oil is the game
And Casey was the pawn
Cindy's got some questions
And so does everyone
Because she is every mother
And he was every mother's son


Created August, 2005
 

On the August 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh declared that it is time to question the patriotism of "the people on the left." After attacking war critic Cindy Sheehan, her supporters, and New York Times columnists Frank Rich and Paul Krugman, Limbaugh said, "[I]t's time to stop dancing around this issue folks, to tell you the truth. It's time for somebody to tell the people on the left, you're damn right we're questioning your patriotism."

Open letter to Rush Limbaugh:

Dear Rush

 

I am 100% in support of Cindy Sheehan. Whether or not you consider that statement to be patriotic or not is irrelavant. The opinion of entertiners and other self-annointed patriots who giddily send other peoples children off to war is hardly anything to get agitated about.

 

However, using your forum to promote your opinion is of concern to me. Cindy Sheehan and the people who support her are the same sort of couragious citizens who stood up to be counted in 1776. One lone heartbroken woman has taken on the President of the United States, if that isn't couragious then I don't understand the definition of the word. If, in your opinion, letting more soldiers die simply to perpetuate the myth that there was something noble about George's war, then you and the ditto-brained pinheads that worship you should strap on a gun (Ill loan you mine) and put your bodies on the front line...

 

P. Daggett

 

Vietnam Vet

 

 

PS: Lay off Cindy Sheehan... drug dependant, bloated draft dodgers shouldn't pick on young mothers who have lost their sons... it's unbecoming as hell... it may even border on treason.

Letter to :

ABC Family: http://abcfamily.go.com/feedback/ (Since The 700 Club is not listed as a show on ABC Family's website, leave the "Choose a Show" field blank.)

FamilyNet: http://www.familynet.com/site/contact

Trinity Broadcasting Network: http://www.tbn.org/index.php/9.html or send email to comments@tbn.org

Thursday  August 25 , 2005

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.

Aesop

After re-reading this I seem to detect a new theme. It seems like I have a fixation with Cindy Sheehan... and I suppose I do. She is far and away the most courageous person I have heard about since Mahatmas Gandhi. Come to think of it the analogy is extremely apropos.  her life since her sons death has been devoted to exposing the Bush Administration for the cowardly, duplicitous, knee-jerk reactionary, bunch of idiots they appear to be. One lone heartbroken woman has taken it upon herself to be the spokesman for all of us... she has single-handedly taken on the President of the United States, if that's not courage then I don't know the meaning of the word.

Friday  August 26 , 2005

I was coming home from kindergarten--well they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. It's good for a kid to know how to make gloves. -

Ellen DeGeneres

American Waterwell guy yesterday $270

We don't know the outcome

Septic Inspection and pumping yesterday$350

Water softener guy yesterday and again today $200

Would have been under warrantee but it needs a sediment filter,

Termite guy Billz Bugz $325

Subterranean termites, I left a piece of cardboard under the house about 10 or 15 years ago and the bugs infested it, any cardboard, paper or wood is subject to infestation if you have any of that stuff in contact with the ground around your house get rid if it.

Bank Appraiser Yesterday $0

We have no idea what his report says

Home Inspector today $0

Lots of rinky dink things, we'll get a readout in a day or two.

The next big hurdle is the buyers walk through... Then we can really call it sold.

Saturday  August 27 , 2005

We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas, and not for things themselves.
John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)
 

The guy who was interested in my bike called and said he wasn't interested any more.

Brett made it in about 0900, we were getting worried. I worked on the bathroom and he did everything else. The house is looking manageable now,

This is from Morons.com

Sunday  August 28 , 2005

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

Buddha

I worked on the utility room and the bathroom, and I helped Brett a little... we are almost done with the drywall taping and plastering, he should be able to paint next weekend. We hung the doors, I finally feel like like all the work we have done is paying off, something about seeing the doors makes me feel like we might make it...

Suddenly, This Summer...

August 24, 2005
By Sheila Samples

"The United States is not nearly so concerned that its acts be kept secret from its intended victims as it is that the American people not know of them." - U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark

Folks who watch the "fair-and-balanced" coverage of Fox News, or perhaps CNN, the most "trusted name in news," might think Camp Casey is a neat new name for the Gaza Strip in Palestine or even a teenage hideout in Aruba. They would probably be surprised to learn the camp is at President George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and is named after 24-year-old Army Specialist Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Casey's mother, Cindy Sheehan, has been living in a tent on George Bush's doorstep since August 6th - three days after Bush assured a group of Texas lawmakers in Grapevine that the slaughter of 20 Ohio Marines from one battalion in a single week would not shake his will, because, by God, "we are at war." Bush crowed, "Our men and women who've lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and in this war on terror have died in a noble cause and a selfless cause."

That did it. Cindy Sheehan says she decided at that moment to go to the Crawford ranch and ask Bush one question - just one. "What was the noble cause that my son died for?"

Now, it would not be unreasonable for the president of the United States to come out and answer one question from a grief-stricken mother whose child was sacrificed in what Bush so giddily proclaims a "noble" cause. But that's not how this president does things. No one calls the shots for Bush; he does not make mistakes, and he says the great thing about being president is that he doesn't owe anybody an explanation. About anything. Especially about his war, a noble cause which has settled gloriously around his shoulders like a Cicerian ruff.

Bush steadfastly refuses to hear the voice of "the people" or to even acknowledge they have a voice at all. The only call Bush hears comes directly from God - not from the street rabble comprising the cannon fodder required for his legacy, nor from their keening mothers who are beginning to buzz around his head like pesky mosquitoes at a Texas all-day singing and dinner on the grounds.

Parents shouldn't have to bury their children. Ever. It disrupts the "natural order" of things. Unfortunately, most of the world is in agreement that nobody is better at disrupting order than George W. Bush. Thanks to his callousness and cruelty, the "one-question" meeting with Sheehan that Bush could have resolved in less than an hour while racking up some badly needed positive PR evolved instead into a movement that is gaining both attention and velocity. It is assuming a life of its own, and is sweeping non-stop across the nation. Cindy Sheehan is emboldening Americans awakening to a nightmare of murder, genocide, torture, abuse, assassination, rendition - lies piled upon grisly lies - to break through the yellow ribbons encircling the patriotic detention camp their nation has become.

Suddenly, this summer. Free at last.

Although Sheehan was called to her stricken mother's bedside last week and remains in California, the number of sojourners to Camp Casey continues to grow. These concerned citizens believe their president should, as Fox News' Sean Hannity demanded in 1999 when troops were preparing to go into Kosovo, "explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life."

The people are awake. Like Sheehan, they want answers. Yet, at Camp Casey...

I saw NO religious leaders striding bravely through the shimmering Texas heat in an effort to stem the flow of innocent blood. Where are the peace-loving Christians who should be speaking out on behalf of Jesus Christ - who minced no words when it came to peace and love and mercy? Why do these Good Samaritans cross to the other side of the street and skitter by fearfully, lest anything even remotely resembling compassion should be expected of them?

I saw NO members of Congess from either side of the aisle with the courage to throw a supportive arm around Sheehan's shoulders and demand that Bush answer her single question. How can they? Like dogs in heat, some are in pursuit of their corporate donors who are marching triumphantly into Baghdad. Others, mostly Democrats, are calculating the political risk of showing their faces in public lest they be asked to take a stand on anything, especially a hideous war for which ultimately they must be held accountable. The silence surrounding the 78 elected women in Congress is as thick as an Iraqi sandstorm.

I saw NO objective mainstream media (MSM) coverage of Sheehan's vigil. Those forced to acknowledge that something of historical magnitude was gathering steam were very careful to "balance" a 10-second Sheehan sound bite with interminable interviews with those who condemned Sheehan for not supporting the troops in a time of war. It's easy for those who get their news from U.S. state-controlled corporate media to get the impression that Sheehan is an "activist mom," that she is little more than an "anti-war advocate" who is being used by left-wing political groups for their ideological advantage. [1] [2]

Actually, the electronic MSM left the building years ago and are little more than holographic images on our TV screens. Their goal, especially CNN and Fox, is to do whatever it takes to keep the people from challenging or embarrassing, as they like to say, "this president." The gist of their coverage is that the Sheehan "ditch witch" needs to just shut up and accept Bush's grand vision. Sheehan should leave, for her presence there forces God-fearing, family-values-oriented Americans to watch sausage being made in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, in spite of all they can do, Bush's noble cause is rapidly becoming the people versus the sausage-making machine. The MSM are indignant that Sheehan is forcing them to bother their beautiful minds with such a messy process. Sheehan needs to show more compassion when George Bush whines that he needs to "get on with his life." After all, her son's life is over - why does she have to try to ruin his?

The print MSM, although not as racuous, has uniformly enabled Bush to act upon his spate of fantastical delusions, whether about weapons of mass destruction, regime change, distributing freedom to every individual of oil-rich countries as a gift from God, liberating the denizens of entire villages by blowing them off the face of the earth, or spreading democracy like a virus throughout an entire region. Rather than address the critical questions that Sheehan and others ask - have every right to ask - about why their sons and daughters are dying, most reporters turn the issue into a political pissing contest.

"Certainly Sheehan has caught a wave, and the ranch stakeout was very clever," Washington Post's Dana Milbank remarked on Aug 18 in an online discussion. "But she has been seeking publicity for more than a year ... and for the most part, the media ignored her." Milbank admitted it is "possible" for Sheehan to have ignited a movement that will continue, but added he believed "Sheehan's story will fade after the Roberts hearings start." Milbank also quipped that the only citizen who has a right to take a grievance to the president is... Laura Bush.

In his own online chat the day before, Milbank's cohort at the Post, Jim VandeHei, yawned, "The White House thinks this whole story is a silly obsession of bored reporters with nothing better to do during the slow August."

The blase' attitude of Milbank and Vandehei is shared by the majority of their peers, with the exception of far too few editorial writers such as the Atlanta Journal-Consititution's Jay Bookman and the New York Times' Paul Krugman and, of course, Frank Rich - who has no peer. While waiting for August to end, Milbank and Vandehei could perhaps amuse themselves and their readers with a rollicking account of the travails endured by a pack of their fellow reporters and photographers who accompanied Bush on a 17-mile bike ride on Saturday, Aug. 13.

Or not. I mean, after spending hours cycling through the Texas Johnson grass and loco weed with the leader of the free world, a "bonding" adventure if ever there was one, what's there to talk about - the 1,868 butchered US citizens in Iraq, one of whom was Casey Sheehan, whose mother is camped out at the front gate?

No? Well maybe the bikers thought to ask Bush why he stubbornly continues to remain in a bloody IraqNam quagmire that continues to suck our sons and daughters under at more than three a day, continues to add more wounded and maimed Americans to the already 45,000 whose lives are shattered forever, continues a murderous rampage against innocent civilians in two countries whose existance on this planet is so trivial their deaths are not worthy of counting.

Too much hard work? Well, I'm sure those stalwart journalist cyclists were just bubbling with questions about the "nobility" of a cause wherein a president is willing to sacrifice his nation's citizens, its money, its very existance on an illegal, immoral, grandoise crusade to spread freedom and democracy - only to back off at the last minute and support the creation of an Islamist state. Surely they are curious about such shuddering hypocrisy. For Bush to change horses in the middle of the Democracy stream is the most deadly flip-flop of all time. Bush's cowardly retreat screams an answer to Sheehan's question and to questions of all mothers who are waking up and realizing that their children have died - will continue to die - in vain.

Milbank flippantly opines that when this August non-story is over, Cindy Sheehan will be viewed as either "Rosa Parks or Lyndon Larouche." I have news for Milbank and his fellow MSM holograms - this is not last August nor the August before and, as Yogi Berra once earnestly opined - "it ain't over till it's over."

The people have Karl Rove in hiding; they have smoked Bush out and have him on the run. Bush is so rattled that he shouts "9/11!" to any question posed to him, calls out "9/11!" to questions not posed to him, and holds up a sign heralding "9/11!" to passers-by on the street.

The search for answers began with a single woman stumbling along through a tangle of weeds in a ditch beside a dusty Texas back road, with a single question to ask the president of the United States. She was ignored by the president, yet her presence ignited a movement that roared across the country at an astonishing rate, almost instantly becoming larger than one dead soldier and his heartbroken mother.

And it is not over.

The people are coming, and George Bush knows it. They want answers. They want the truth and they will not stop until they get it from Bush and his neoconservative handlers, from the heartless and destructive religious right, the corporate military-industrial jackals, Congressonal whores and cowards, from the hollow virtual media complex. And from the murderous Donald H. Rumsfeld.

When that happens, this nation will experience its own terrible and awesome "Suddenly, This Summer" moment.

Then, and only then, will it be over.

[1] Local media across the nation did an admirable job of covering candlelight vigils that lit up the entire U.S. landscape last week. Great photos and coverage here - where attendees are encouraged to post photos from vigils in their area - and here.

[2] The Internet is literally pulsating with minute-by-minute reports from reporters at the scene - reports that cannot be spun, watered down or scrubbed by the administration or the MSM. There are far too many to mention here, but check out Democratic Underground, TruthOut, Huffington Post, The Iconoclast (Bush's hometown paper), and Air America Radio.

Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites. Contact her at: rsamples@sirinet.net.

August 13 / 14, 2005

Is Condi Crazy?

Ridiculous Rice

By BRIAN CLOUGHLEY

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently been declared the most important person in the universe, or something like that, and is no doubt pleased to be so honored. But it is doubtful that any country in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) would endorse that status because she has insulted all ten of them, which is no mean feat.

She refused to attend their annual meeting that was held in Laos in July.

Many countries prefer Rice's space to her presence, but when she chose to send Deputy Secretary Zoellick to represent her in Laos she sent a curt imperial signal to the effect that 'You ASEAN countries aren't important enough for me to attend your two-bit gathering.'

There has been no public explanation of why Rice refused to go to the meeting (because Empires don't explain their insolence and arrogance), but the usual anonymous US officials briefed selected reporters that she didn't go because it would be wrong to sit down alongside people from Burma (Myanmar) which has a lousy human rights record. And they said that anyway she had a busy schedule.

For a decade it has been customary for the US Secretary of State to attend the last two days of ASEAN gatherings, which in this case was from July 24 to 29. Deputy Zoellick left Washington July 26 and got back four days later. But before he arrived in Laos the ASEANs had solved the Burma problem through quiet diplomacy and had persuaded the Burmese that they should not chair next year's meeting, although it would be their turn to do so. It was all arranged without fuss and without vulgar threats. This sort of solution is not understood by Cheney-Bush Washington which prefers confrontation and bullying, especially when dealing with those regarded as inferior.

Now, sure, Burma's human rights record is grim. The nutty generals who try to run the country have gone berserk and the place is in ruins. Last year, according to Ms Rice's State Department, the Burmese government "continued to restrict severely freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and movement. [It] restricted freedom of religion, coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions, and imposed restrictions on religious minorities . . . Security forces continued to monitor systematically citizens' movements and continued to restrict freedom of movement, in particular, foreign travel by young female citizens." Obviously Ms Rice is shocked -- shocked -- about this.

While Mr Zoellick was away, Rice had a meeting on July 27 with Mr Tang Jiaxuan, State Councilor of the People's Republic of China.

The State Department Human Rights Report 2005 notes that the government of Mr Tang, among other things, "continued to commit numerous and serious abuses. Citizens did not have the right to change their government, and many who openly expressed dissenting political views were harassed, detained, or imprisoned . . . Abuses included instances of extrajudicial killings; torture and mistreatment of prisoners, leading to numerous deaths in custody; coerced confessions; arbitrary arrest and detention; and incommunicado detention . . . The Government regulated the establishment and management of publications, controlled broadcast and other electronic media . . . [There was] violence against women, including imposition of a coercive birth limitation policy that resulted in instances of forced abortion and forced sterilization . . ." and so on.

Does this remind you just a tiny bit of something rather similar that the State Department of Ms Condoleezza Rice had to say about Burma? (Mind you, the phrases "deaths in custody", "incommunicado detention", and "torture and mistreatment of prisoners" are painful reminders of the hellholes at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, and heaven knows how many others, where the behavior of US citizens has been quite as illegal, brutal and murderous as that of their soul-mates in China.)

It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall when Mr Tang Jiaxuan called on Rice on July 27. You can imagine it : "Well Hey, Mr Tang! Great to see you! Just squat right there! I'm glad you could come by, and I've got to tell you I'm happy to be here rather than Laos at that trivial ASEAN meeting, just like your foreign minister must be. And the reason I didn't go is because Burma has one lousy human rights record, and - - - Uh? . . . Oh; I see : so your foreign minister DID attend the ASEAN gathering but is leaving Laos this afternoon to visit Burma. - - - And he's going to meet tomorrow with Burma's dictator, Senior General Than Shwe and Prime Minister General Soe Win, is that so? Well, Mr Tang, that's very interesting, and would you please avoid the media when you leave the building?"

Burma's human rights violations are terrible. China's are worse. The State Department says so. And China is a major supporter of Burma. Where does that leave Rice?

Up a ideological gum tree, that's where ; along with her Israeli policy.

Condoleezza Rice is attempting to mediate between Israel and Palestine, but the chances of her being regarded as an honest broker or impartial referee in the Arab-Israeli dispute are zero. They could hardly be otherwise, given her effusively admiring comments about Israel :

"In an exclusive interview with Israel's daily Yediot Aharonot . . . Dr Condoleezza Rice said that "the security of Israel is the key to security of the world." Rice added that she feels "a deep bond to Israel." Asked if her feelings toward Israel stem from her religious convictions, Dr. Rice said "That is a very deep question. I first visited Israel in 2000. I already then felt that I am returning home despite the fact that this was a place I never visited. I have a deep affinity with Israel. I have always admired the history of the State of Israel and the hardness and determination of the people that founded it . . . I think that we, Israel and the US, share common values. Israel is the only democracy in the region. That is also very important . . ."

And some people wonder why the Islamic world feels, oh, ever so slightly, that the closest associate of the President of the United States of America is just a little partial to Israel, at the expense of the Palestinians whose land has been stolen and who have been denied dignity and a decent life for half a century. Arabs from Morocco to the Gulf know that Washington will not lift a hand -- a finger -- to help the Palestinians if this would mean offending Israel.

Israel is the country that has citizens under investigation for alleged spying on the United States, as are some members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington.

One of the most effective and damaging spies in American espionage history was Jonathan Pollard. He was jailed for life in 1987 because he sold Israel over a thousand highly classified documents about US operations while he was a US intelligence analyst. Some of those on submarine detection were of staggering importance, and putting things right took years and cost billions. And last month Pollard appealed against his sentence. (You didn't hear much about that from the US media, did you? But it was on the BBC which tells us foreigners much more about America than American citizens are allowed to know by their own media -- especially about Israel.) The appeal was rejected, but Pollard, the US intelligence analyst jailed for being a traitor to America, was with fanfare made an Israeli citizen by a grateful Israeli government in 1995.

Here is the message to Washington from Israel's parliament about the spy Pollard : "The Knesset sends blessings of strength and courage to Israeli citizen Jonathan Pollard who has been incarcerated in an American prison . . . The Knesset calls upon the American President to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard at once and to release him from prison."

And the US Secretary of State declares that "I have a deep affinity with Israel" whose spy Pollard continues to be supported unequivocally by the foreign power that employed him to spy on her country. Is she crazy?

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is the organization that declares "America must continue to stand by Israel's side politically, diplomatically and economically . . . AIPAC trains and educates pro-Israel students across America and develops their leadership skills so that they become effective citizen lobbyists today and pro-Israel leaders tomorrow."

So who was honored as a guest speaker at the AIPAC celebrations on May 23? Why, the US Secretary of State, who restated enthusiastically that "Israel has no greater friend and no stronger supporter than the United States of America." (Applause.) Then she went on to say that ". . . . the Government of Iran . . . is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. (Applause.) The United States has focused the world's attention on Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. And along with our allies, we are working to gain full disclosure of Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. The world must not tolerate any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon. (Applause.) Nor can it tolerate Iran's efforts to subvert democratic governments through terrorism. (Applause.)"

The Washington Post recorded that "during the pro-Israel lobby's annual conference yesterday, a fleet of police cars, sirens wailing, blocked intersections and formed a motorcade to escort buses carrying its conventioneers -- to lunch". It is obvious that AIPAC has massive influence in Washington, and lots of friends in the State Department and the Pentagon. It is interesting that a foreign political lobby group of which two (former) senior staff members have been charged with spying on America can order Washington officials to block off roads for their lunchtime convenience.

Israel is the country for which the US Secretary of State declares she has a "deep affinity". Given this blatant partiality, it is impossible to believe for one instant that Palestinians will get a fair deal from Bush-Cheney-Rice. And the signal she sent to Israel and the world about Iran was stark and brutal. In her speech, Rice declared Iran to be "the world's leading sponsor of terrorism . . . ." and that "[it is developing] weapons of mass destruction . . ." (Where have we heard this before? The alarm bells are ringing around the world.)

The writing is on the wall for Iran, and Rice chose a meeting of 5000 cheering supporters of Israel to announce the fact, as did the farcical and financially intriguing Richard Perle who got "cheers from the crowd when he favored a military raid on Iran, saying that 'if Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon, I think we will have no choice but to take decisive action'." Don't you love that "We"?

Just who is 'We' to Perle and AIPAC and Rice? America? Or America and Israel? Or Israel? Where does their loyalty lie?

Perhaps it would help to understand Ms Rice were she able to express herself coherently in her unrehearsed public statements. Take the interview in Moscow when she was asked if she would run for president of the US. She replied "da, da", which means yes, yes. Then she realized she had meant 'No' rather than 'Yes', so fired off seven 'nyets'. You might think that someone who has been declared the most important person in the universe (or something) by Forbes Magazine might be able to differentiate between 'da' and 'nyet' even if they weren't experts on Russia. But we shouldn't really be surprised, because in Bush Heaven, in which Rice is an angelic exemplar of unconditional loyalty, 'Yes' can mean 'No' whenever it is convenient for that to apply.

Rice is even less coherent when talking about Iraq. Try as one might, it is difficult to understand just what line she espouses about that unfortunate country that Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush have wrecked beyond repair. On one of the days on which she should have been at the ASEAN conference she appeared on The NewsHour with Tim Lehrer and threw darkness on US policy and the Rice approach to women's rights in Iraq. The exchange was fascinating :

Lehrer : In a general way, though, is it conceivable that the United States, in the interest of bowing out and letting the Iraqi people have their way, you may have to swallow a constitution that, whatever it is, has to do with rights of women or whatever, has some things in it that go against the grain of the United States? [Not that this is well-expressed, but we get the general idea.]

Rice : Well, we are going to stand for the principles that we're standing for around the world, and most especially in Iraq, where America has sacrificed and sacrificed lives and treasure. And so, of course, we're going to stand and stand strongly for the rights of women. We're making that very clear to the Iraqi Government. But again, if the Iraqis themselves, who want to live in a society in which there are -- in which citizens of both male and female and where they recognize that the trend in the world is not to move away from women's rights but to move in the other direction. [End.]

This pathetic gibberish was spouted by the Secretary of State of the United States of America who chose to be interviewed on a news program rather than attend Asia's most important gathering. (The Asians didn't miss much, obviously.) She capped her grotesque performance by stating on August 8 that "It's a lot easier to see the violence and suicide bombing [in Iraq] than to see the rather quiet political progress that's going on in parallel", which was a comment of mind-boggling absurdity.

Condoleezza Rice says she doesn't want to be president, but she will want some sort of job when she leaves the State Department. So here's an idea for her : there is a high-powered organization called the International Crisis Group, whose experts round the world produce excellent analyses of critical areas. It "works through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict."

They might employ Rice as a clerk, if she asked nicely.

Brian Cloughley writes on military and political affairs. He can be reached through his website www.briancloughley.com