Via Frank Rich today:
This Sunday, GQ magazine is posting on its Web site an article adding new details to the ample dossier on how Donald Rumsfeld’s corrupt and incompetent Defense Department cost American lives and compromised national security. The piece is not the work of a partisan but the Texan journalist Robert Draper, author of “Dead Certain,” the 2007 Bush biography that had the blessing (and cooperation) of the former president and his top brass. It draws on interviews with more than a dozen high-level Bush loyalists.
Draper reports that Rumsfeld’s monomaniacal determination to protect his Pentagon turf led him to hobble and antagonize America’s most willing allies in Iraq, Britain and Australia, and even to undermine his own soldiers. But Draper’s biggest find is a collection of daily cover sheets that Rumsfeld approved for the Secretary of Defense Worldwide Intelligence Update, a highly classified digest prepared for a tiny audience, including the president, and often delivered by hand to the White House by the defense secretary himself. These cover sheets greeted Bush each day with triumphal color photos of the war headlined by biblical quotations. GQ is posting 11 of them, and they are seriously creepy.
Take the one dated April 3, 2003, two weeks into the invasion, just as Shock and Awe hit its first potholes. Two days earlier, on April 1, a panicky Pentagon had begun spreading its hyped, fictional account of the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch to distract from troubling news of setbacks. On April 2, Gen. Joseph Hoar, the commander in chief of the United States Central Command from 1991-94, had declared on the Times Op-Ed page that Rumsfeld had sent too few troops to Iraq. And so the Worldwide Intelligence Update for April 3 bullied Bush with Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Including, as it happened, into a quagmire.) What’s up with that?
As Draper writes, Rumsfeld is not known for ostentatious displays of piety. He was cynically playing the religious angle to seduce and manipulate a president who frequently quoted the Bible. But the secretary’s actions were not just oily; he was also taking a risk with national security. If these official daily collages of Crusade-like messaging and war imagery had been leaked, they would have reinforced the Muslim world’s apocalyptic fear that America was waging a religious war. As one alarmed Pentagon hand told Draper, the fallout “would be as bad as Abu Ghraib.”
And speaking of Rumsfeld, Rich also mentions this:
In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks.
Donald M. Horstman, the Pentagon’s deputy inspector general for policy and oversight, said in a memorandum released on Tuesday that the report was so riddled with flaws and inaccuracies that none of its conclusions could be relied upon. In addition to repudiating its own report, the inspector general’s office took the additional step of removing the report from its Web site.
bible thumpers = low information requirements. neither fact nor science matter
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
..my brother now preaches raw hate. He never had a problem with gays before, but now he does nothing but bash them, as well as Jews and Muslims....All in the name of Jesus!
I don't understand the Jew bashing Christians, especially since Jesus was a Jew....It's akin to Buddists who hate Buddah...
Rumsfeld is no different...
as you likely know already...
but your brother didn't find Jesus...he found a religious offshoot of xtianity, more cult-like than most xtian sects.
If jesus was real, he sure as shit wouldn't be preaching hate.
Personally, these xtian types better hope that the Rapture doesn't occur.
Because Jesus will return...and this time...he's bringin' his Dad!!!
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
if, indeed that IF all this jesus business is true, and that's a friggin HUUUUGE IF!
That the VAST majority of the rapture bunnies will find that they, in fact, aren't the ones that jebus and co. are coming to take away.
They'll be the ones left behind.
If I remember correctly it's only about 66,000 Jews that are going to heaven and they are supposed to be virgins.Weather that leaves out gay jews I don't know.
Of course they don't listen when you tell them that it goes in one ear and out the other
If the Cubs are still playing into mid October, better get right with Lord. Nostradamus was a big Cubs fan, BTW.
When the little bears from the windy city take the flag, then you shall know the end is nigh.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
It's so bizzare that bigoted white Americans worship a dark skinned , bearded, long haired Jew from Palestine.
If Jesus were alive, he'd be tortured before he ever set foot in this country
Jesus is WHITE!!
They can prove it...they have pictures of him on black satin!!
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
And oddly enough...he looks like teh Elvis in alot of those paintings....interesting.
velvet Elvis painting I saw which still had the crown of thorns on his forehead and tears coming from his eyes. I guess it was painted to depict those final moments on the throne. I know it was painted in Juarez, Mexico.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
It was when we were talking about Hitler's switched dental records.We couldn't figure out if he was smart enought to do that
sounds like it was hoot too!
who said they Identified Hitler by his dental records.And I told him Hitler was probably smart ennought to have switched his dental records before he fled,Not including a DNA sample of Hitler's relatives living somewhere up there close to NY,I don't remember exactly where
But you were in the conversation
............He wears a suit! hahahahaha
Is it just me or is he lookin' a little gay?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uoHXtDg5HC4/Sal3mnZ...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Yes, his "followers" wouldn't recognize him and he wouldn't recognize them.
Let's see how far to the right they go before they fall off of the edge of this flat world.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=M...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU3JrXt_cPk
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
are so easily controlled! And why not? If you really believe that a ratty old book full of contradictory statements and flat out lies is The Word of God, what won't you believe?
...are equally detached from reality?
they have to be detached, in order to hate so blindly.
Think of it as a prerequisite to get into the radical religion club.
Now we know Rumsfeld was hiding behind the curtains whenever Dubya was having his "conversations with God!"
Well, that explains a lot!!!
Maybe Rummy, Cheney and Rove were taking turns behind the curtains!!
dumbya had his predilections in college and beyond. ask gwb's coke dealer how he paid when he had no cash.
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
Were these guys Mormons?
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
is Bush's Himmler.
God.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
fucking religion
How can I convert?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
you can only deconvert...no superstitions allowed
dear god, please protect me from those who believe in you.
:\
http://www.13moons.com/?main_page=product_inf...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
.........bringing his dog the slippers.
two theocratic extremist groups: Radical Muslims VS Christian Conservatives. Oil, power, and religious superiority is what the Bush regime was all about. Nothing new here.
LimpBalls
...unless you're brown skinned and protecting oil facilities.
..war crimes should be former, disgraced, Dept. of Defense Chairman, Donald "we go to war with the army we have" Rumsfeld.
He can be #3 as long as former Secretary of State, Condelezza Rice is #4.
I'm saving #1 and #2 for you know who! In fact, I would like to authorize ex-prison inmate Martha Stewart to do the interior decorating of their cells. Well, her or the mother of one the Iraqis that the illegal invasion killed; that would be good!
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Rumsfeld played bible-droid Bush with scripture quotes, and this somehow exonerates Bush?
Don't think so.
I think not!
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
Was this an attempt to manipulate Bush, or (more likely) to just give Bush what he wanted to hear? One can use the Bible to promote just about anything, including war. Especially war.
I'm shocked!
Nice avatar rascal.
Is that how you asked for an unfiltered cigarette in Cockneyese?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That's how Monica asks for a cigar.
the preznitwit is dumber than a sack of hammers.
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
where they belong. Some people, who will not be mentioned by name, place them in a box. Rocks come in boxes, not hammers.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
I have it on good authority, that hammers can ALSO come in boxes...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?ter...
Urban dictionary....
respect it!
"Its as if the report came from God Himself." GB would remark when looking at the cover.
My reaction exactly:
http://www.vp-distribution.us/images//bvimage...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The only teen porn magazine run by teens.
ys you're simply the best. better than all the rest.
This really offends me!
This really offends me!
This is just creepy and sick
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Because sometimes mass murder isn't creepy.
They don't read the New Testament, except for Revelation.
Bible à la carte... religion of the 21st Century.
"You pick the verses you want to follow and forget the rest."
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
I guess you go to war with the verses you have, not the ones you wish you had.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Someone's been watching Jack Van Imp's stuff.
Besides, can we take anyone seriously whose last name is "Imp". You wouldn't go to a doctor with the last name of "Butcher".
(That made me chuckle out loud. Thanks.)
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Who is Imp?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Pat Robertson.
Maybe even slightly more...crazy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f3aRnkgOWs
Yikes!
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
And then there's THIS guy...
http://atheistagogo.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/...
But he's a pseudo wannabe televangelist that tries to pass off his "news stories" coupled with scripture as legitimate.
My bad... it's Jack Van Impe (forgot the "e").
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Mon, 05/18/2009 - 12:02 — pissed off patricia
Who is Imp?
_______________________________________________________________
http://www.satanspace.com/m_pictures/20061106132235!Feeding_demonic_imps.jpg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
My sister's doctor is named Dr. Butcher.
How about a vet named Dr. Howell?
I once handled a bank transaction from a vice president of Taco Bell
His last name was Belcher.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
is Dr. Lawyer.
That makes everything nice and tidy;
He can sue himself.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
thnx POP. now i have to go change.
Might I suggest Depends before reading comments at crooks and liars? :)
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
You mean George W. Bush was easily manipulated by visions of grandeur spurred on by religious quotes, never.
They distracted him with shiney objects while Dick used the autosigner to get the executive orders signed.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Where are the hungry lions when you need them...
The fact that these homicidal eejits aren't in jail awaiting trial tells me that I got shorted on my "change."
Of course Bush could be manipulated; that's why he was the Repuke's choice. And as far as I can see, he only used religion for his/their political purposes. Of course that pretty much describes the Repuke base who only adhere to the parts of the bible that suits them.
For Holy State (we have lived to learn)
Endeth in Holy War
going crazy right now.
Right.
Using verses in the bible to justify war.
Where are the tea baggers when you need them.
I believe they're surprised that Rumsfeld was evidently so religious.
Yep, that's as deep as their thinking would go.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
..all those anti-choice protesters at Notre Dame.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
How do we know they aren't all the same people. Maybe you rent them at Protesters-R-Us.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
.......Thank you for calling them what they really are 'Anti-Choice'
I'm guessing that all these quotes are from the Old Testament. Right?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
what the Jews are calling it? ;)
Ephesians is from the New Testament.
And, somehow, while quoting Isaiah, he forgot the passage where Isaiah reiterates Joel's message of 'swords into plowshares.'
Isaiah also writes in 32:17, "And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever."
For that matter, Isaiah is the source of some of Handel's Messiah:
"And His Name shall be called: Wonderful. Counselor. Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
when the guy with the funny colored wig holds up the sign at the Cowboy's games and tells me it is.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
That guy went crazy and shot a few people or held some people hostage didn't he?
Gonna do teh google.
BRB
Couldn't find it. :(
... it's ironic that one of my late father-in-law's favorite Biblical passages is Joshua 1:9 - "Be thou steadfast and of good courage, for the Lord thy God is with thee wheresoever thou goest," which Rumsfeld cites on one of his bulletins.
I always took the quote as a reminder not to give into despair and fear, to be mindful of God's blessings as one goes through life.
Only a sick motherfucker like Rumsfeld could turn it into an exhortation unto war.
say you dont suppose rummys been whispering the same things into obamas orfice to do yah? pst pst pst!iran pst! iraq! pst afganistan! buz buz buz!
used to start some wars but since I came into existance, we agreed we wouldn't start any wars.
Geezus Criste All Mitey.
Cheese and crackers got all muddy.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Here's a little light reading for rummy:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Lu...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Anyone still think Christianity isn't abjectly evil? Anyone?
Christianity, and those who follow the Prince of Peace, are not necessarily evil. Close-minded Xtian Soldiers who do not practice what He preached know not what they do because they are brain-washed. Sadly most of them will never allow their poisoned hearts to open up to the truth.
W, Rumsfeld and Cheney are evil, but not Christian.
Nah...but plenty who call themselves Christians...youbetcha!
How does GQ get the scoop on something like this? Did their source get a really hot date following their fashion advice?
I mean, more power to them but it's kind of weird that they'd get the story first.
I was sitting here thinking the same thing. Not the part about the hot date and fashion advice, but do we know for sure this is for real?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
... when there's no real journalism going on elsewhere? Here in TV land, we're flogging Pelosi.
Rummy quoting Scripture to justify a war? Yawn.
I can't help but wonder where was all this concern the republicans are showing for the CIA, back when Valerie Plame was outted. As I recall they refused to even admit that she was working under cover at the time. Now today Joe Scarborough and the rest are about the love for them.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
He can hump Republicans' legs without having me to watch now.
It was getting pretty gross.
Mika Brzezinski could hump my leg, as long as she doesn't talk.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Gimme that ol time religion...Gimme that ol time religion...Gimme that ol time religion...thas good enough for me...
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-bible/e-text/se...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I've had people call me a good Christian, and even mistaken for a junior minister.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to explain that the big black book I was carrying was the combined texts of Dracula and Frankenstein.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
... annotated version by Leonard Wolf? I have his 'Annotated Dracula' (now republished as 'The Essential Dracula' or something similar), and it's a lot of fun.
My Bible is in a plain brown wrapper cut from a shopping bag. :D
I've read it, but no, this was not annotated.
Wolf tends to be a sloppy researcher according to Elizabeth Miller, head of the Canadian chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (Headquartered in Romania), and also a doctoriate in literature specializing in Gothic literature. She agreed with me pretty much that even worse was Wolfe's Dream of Dracula, which the best I can describe is stream-of-consciousness on drugs.
The annotated, now the essential was his best containing Romanian recipes, scraps of mythology etc.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Personally, I would check out Boykin.
You know, the dude who wore his uniform while giving sermons at churches....and I think he was the one who made the comment about how Bush had gotten put into the White House by God to lead this country after 9/11...or some such stuff like that.
... the guy who saw the 'evil blot' on the map and knew his Gawd was bigger and badder than this Allah guy ...
Did he get around to the Pulp Fiction one, do you suppose?
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."
Holy crap.
Just what Batman said after Robin sat on a tree branch above the Batmobile.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Heck, Cheney was Rumsfeld's PROTEGE'
This is so unbelieveable. First, these jerks go to war under false pretenses. Then they justify it and encourage it more with the Bible.
How sick and perverted are some in this world? Stuff like this never ceases to confound and amaze me.
...While they tortured.
This is a perfect Stephen King story of depravity.
They always come draped in the flag and clutching a bible, or some other book. The book doesn't matter - the results are always the same. Recognise this for what it is republicani, and reform your ways.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Because... you know... we want the politicians who have the power to start a war basing their whole lives on a unverified mythical absentee landlord, and to zealously cite passages from a book of suspect accuracy?!?!? Yes this is what the founding fathers had in mind all along!
...sarcasm off
Ok Rumsfeld is quite a wicked and soulles guy if he is ready to abuse trust and ignorance in such a machiavelic way.
But what does this say about Bush that he would be swept away by this rhetoric? That someone would fall for that, think of that as appropriate, or not see a blatant distortment to the suposed peacefull teachings of the christian sect and this violence, is quite shamefull imho. Pathetic weakminded son of privilege that makes.
A crusade, carried out by an enemy within. That's what the big picture looks like now.
What's a crusade without some torture?
What's a little torture when you're on a crusade? what's a lot of torture when you're on a crusade?
What's a crusade without an all out invasion somewhere? How about that shock and awe?
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
rummy was quoting the bible to bush, no wonder he was so loaded with malapropisms, witless mutterings, flights of fantasies masquerading as facts, articles of faith that spits in the eye of centuries of testable knowledge of reality, peevish acts of totally wanton violence, and contradictions that would piss off a trekkie if it were written into trek canon like they were sardined into bush's noggin.
rummy: hey mr. president, get a load of this one; "After God kills those of other faiths, be sure to reject their beliefs and do not learn about them. Otherwise God will have to kill you too." Deuteronomy - 12:30
rummy:oo! oo! no, no this one's better! "Kill everyone who has religious beliefs that are different from your own." Deuteronomy - 17:2-7
me? i'm betting he slept with this one under his pillow.
Don't trust anyone. Not even your neighbors, family, or friends. Those who believe differently than you are all liars and evil doers. Jeremiah - 9:4-6
Thanks for the post Susie, interesting. Many months ago I stated, that I believed oil was not the "soul" reason we entered this quagmire.
If this earth and it's inhabitants are not prematurely stopped from evolving by childishly, scared, factionalism, by the honest and dishonest alike... One day faiths will merely be a hobby. Though not soon enough in my opinion.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Of all the terrifying things I've read at C&L, this is without doubt one of the most terrifying.
I don't know if anyone will understand this, but reading about these unearthed memos makes me feel something like I imagine a homicide detective must feel reading the diary of a serial killer or something. This is just so goddamn sick!
how sick and upsetting I find this sort of thing to be (I'm an Atheist). The worst part is that it doesn't even surprise me. It makes me lose even more hope that our nation will be able to turn back from the precipice these twisted bastards have brought us to. The last eight years have been like living in some sick Alice-in-Wonderland nightmare and each day, with each new revelation of the Bush Boys' depravity, it gets even more surreal and disheartening. What is wrong with these people? What is wrong with us as citizens for letting them get away with it?
WOnder if Bush is still talking to God these days or if Jesus is his 12-step rehab buddy. I'm more afraid of the far right christians in this country than a mooslim tera-riss, that we are apparantly supposed to be so scared of according to the media. I like this site. I can't take huffpo these days, too many reichwing trolls and obamanuts, you know the ones that attack you for valid criticism of Obama.
Don't go down this path because it will do nothing but rally the GOP base into a frenzy. I can hear it now... there is a war against Christians in this country. Something will have to give and like it or not Democrats are going to need some GOP support to get the investigations and/or truth commissions going.
Stay away from religion for the moment in terms of discussing the Bush administration.
I suppose the religious right will consider Rumsfeld's creepy Biblical quotes to Bush a good thing.
...that he's killing the _right_ people.
says it all.
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