State sponsored terrorism

Axis of Evil
by John CleeseBitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil",
Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil", which they said would be more evil than that stupid
Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State of the Union address.Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new
Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just as evil...in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il."Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're the best."Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded,
although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil."They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."An axis can't have more than three counties", explained Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool."International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was
swift, as within minutes, France surrendered.Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in
what has become a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia
announced that they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil", forcing
Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil", while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable".With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host theOlympics".Canada, Mexico and Australia formed the "Axis of Nations That Are
Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About
America", while Scotland, New Zealand and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick". "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do", said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps
making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axes,
although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose
Names End in 'Guay", accusing one of its members of filing a false
application.Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges.Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but
privately world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

Cute but not a substantive reply. That's ok, though, I barely have time to check my email these days. But I do take time to watch the Iraqis cheer the impending downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime occasionally. They're dancing in the streets of some towns, so the media says, to celebrate something the left (including you) is opposed to.[This message has been edited by gene90, 03-23-2003]

As the long timers here are probably aware, back in this topic in November or December of 2002, I made what is probably the single most controversial statement in the history of (Newbee's need to search it out for themselves). Way back, Gene was rightfully upset that I wouldn't respond much, if at all, to his comments on my statement. Well, the issue is very complex, and my mind is/was feeble. Many messages were started and worked on, then discarded or set aside. Well, here's the attempt at bringing my personal closure to this topic. Much of this message was written many months ago, and now modified. Some may be repeats of things I've already posted.Once again, "The Statement" happened about 14 months ago. Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone had just been killed in a plane crash, and the Democrats had lost the Senate seat to the Republicans. The Afghanistan war was in progress, and the Iraq war was looming. I was seriously bummed.Many topics in this general area have happened since. Many of my personal perspectives of the issues have been covered by others, better than I could have. I thank them ("the axis of liberalism"). Certainly, though, I must make further comment on some things.Depleted Uranium weapons - This has since been covered in it's own topic, but I'll put out what I wrote quite a while back. Gene had asked for mainstream (not leftist) references on the dangers or non-dangers of depleted Uranium weapons. Strange but true - such references seem hard to find (at least back then). What was on the internet seemed to indicate that, largely, the only people who seemed concerned about it, were are those of the left, and military veterans organizations. I wonder what residents of (pick your location) of the U.S. would think and say, if the government announced that they were going to scatter these depleted Uranium solids, dusts, and vapors around their neighborhood? Not to mention, that the uranium might contain other even more obnoxious post reactor isotopes.U.S government and corporate involvement in Iraq etc. - I would be interested in seeing the broad exposure of the history of the U.S. government activities concerning Iraq. Likewise, the history of the various activities of companies such as Kellogg Brown and Root (I believe a Halliburton subsidiary), Halliburton, and Bechtel, and what their parts and profits were in the various buildings of and destructions of the country of Iraq. Likewise, for the various military supply corporations. And who were/are the leaders of these various organizations at various times. What is the commonality between the leaderships of the U.S. government, and the leaderships of these corporations? Of course, it's known that Dick Cheny is the ex-head of Halliburton. I believe that George Schultz currently heads Bechtel. I believe George H. W. Bush (senior) has substantial connections to the military contractors.The global economy - What is called a "Free Market" is economic warfare under a different name. And economic warfare can be just as destructive as military war.The state of U.S. government - Here in the U.S., many voters find the two party system to be a choice between bad and even worse. What we got this time is the "even worse". The bottom line is, I think the G. W. Bush administration is corrupt to the point of being evil. As I see it, we may need nothing short of a new United States revolutionary war. Is the ugly reality that the only way to a more progressive path is through political and corporate assassinations? A quote that I heard as being attributed to Mao Tse Tung: "Change must come, through the barrel of a gun".I regret, and withdraw the "(or some other party)" part of "The Statement". But I stand by the rest.I leave you with this quote:"Fascism should more be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power" - Benito MussoliniMoose

Is it just nostalgia, or does anybody else here remember a time when shady, corrupt, backroom dealings were carried on in secret? The thing I dislike most about this administration is that they don't have the decency to at least keep it a secret that they're making deals with corporations to f*ck us over.If I were Justice Scalia I'd at least deny that I went on duck hunting trips with Cheney before I said that he didn't have to tell us who was in his super-secret energy panel. If I were Bush I'd at least have a crony appoint panel members for the intelligence Probe rather than do it myself. Gosh, wonder what the panel results will be? (Exactly what Bush wants them to be, I think.)It's the lack of decorum that I dislike more than anything about our government - the general level of arrogance and willingness to engage in petty retribution.

I totally agree Crash. At least pretend that you know you are doing wrong.Inabilitiy to distinguish between right and wrong is the legal definition of insane. Inability to care about the difference and having no remorse for making the wrong decision is a diagnostic standard for being a sociopath.I worked with the mentally ill for 10 years, now that makes me qualified to work in federal government.

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Asgara
"An unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates via Plato