Last week George W. Bush headlined a motivational speaker seminar that also featured Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, and Terry Bradshaw:

The all-day event next week will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. Tickets are apparently $19. That’s not per person — that’s per office.

The Get Motivated seminar is, according to its website, “world famous for its energizing, action-packed, star-studded, fun-filled, spectacular stage show. CNN, 60 Minutes, USA Today, TIME, PEOPLE, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal all rave about it! This motivational mega-show packs more inspirational firepower than a stick of dynamite!”

TPM: Bush Headlining ‘Motivational Mega Show’ With ‘Inspirational Firepower’

(via Disinfo)

See: The cult of positive thinking

and: Deathklok: Briefcase Full of Guts

With hypocrisy that pervasive, who could ever hope to take note of all of it? Still, the complaints from America’s Right — and especially former Bush officials — that the Obama administration is attempting to “control the media,” all because the White House criticizes Fox News, is in a class of hypocrisy all by itself. That those petulant complaints are being amplified by a virtually unanimous press corps — “it’s Nixonian!” is their leading group-think cliché — makes it all the more intolerable.

John Cole itemizes just some of the measures adopted by the Bush White House to manipulate, control, punish and bully the very few media outlets which were ever hostile to it — each of those Bush measures, standing alone, is infinitely more invasive and threatening than the mild and perfectly appropriate criticisms of Fox coming from the Obama White House. Indeed, the Bush White House did exactly the same thing with NBC as the Obama White House is doing with Fox, and virtually all of the media stars who today are so righteously lamenting the “attacks on Fox” said nothing. Worse, the very same Bush official who this week said it was “like what dictators do” for the Obama White House to criticize Fox — Dana Perino — herself stood at the White House podium a mere two years ago and did exactly that to NBC News.

But the Bush administration did far worse to media outlets than merely criticize them. They explicitly threatened to prosecute New York Times journalists — to criminally prosecute them — for reporting on Bush’s illegal spying program aimed at American citizens. They imprisoned numerous foreign journalists covering their various wars. The administration’s obsessive and unprecedented secrecy — Dick Cheney refused to disclose even the most basic information about his whereabouts, his meetings, or even the number of staff members he had — was the ultimate form of media control. And what was the Pentagon’s embedding process other than an attempt to control media coverage and ensure favorable reporting? One will search in vain for much media protests about any of that.

But it was the Bush Pentagon’s “military analyst”/domestic propaganda program that was, far and away, the most egregious case in a long, long time of a White House attempting to control media content and political coverage in the United States. [...]

Whatever else is true, Fox has taken on a political role that is very rare, at least in modern times, for a large American news organization. Its news coverage is not merely biased or opinionated; there’d be nothing unusual about that. Instead, it is a major participant — the leading participant — in organizing, promoting and fueling protests, including street protests, against the government. Fox has undertaken a role typically played by media outlets in, say, Venezuela or various unstable, under-developed countries — sponsoring rather than reporting on protests against the government — and it is difficult to recall any recent example that is similar.

Glenn Greenwald: What “controlling the media” really means

Greenwald has more, plus citations for the claims he makes in the text above.

Two years before the 9/11 attacks on America, George W. Bush told a Houston journalist if elected president, “I’m going to invade Iraq.”

Bush made the comments about starting an aggressive war to veteran Houston Chronicle reporter Mickey Herskowitz, then working with Bush on his book “A Charge To Keep,” later brought out by publisher William Morrow.

This disclosure was uncovered by Russ Baker, an award-winning investigative reporter when he interviewed Herskowitz for his own book, “Family of Secrets” (Bloomsbury Press) about the Bush dynasty. However, Baker says, when he approached The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times with the potentially devastating story to President Bush prior to the 2004 presidential election, they declined to publish it.

Gloval Research: Governor Bush told Houston Journalist: If Elected. “I’m Going to Invade Iraq”

Why is this only coming to light now?

(via Jorn Barger)

The poll found that only 59% of voters believe that President Obama was born in the United States, with 23% saying he was not, and 18% undecided. Among Republicans only, a 42% Birther plurality say he was not born here, 37% say he was, and 22% are undecided.

As for the left, check out this question: “Do you think President Bush intentionally allowed the 9/11 attacks to take place because he wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East?” The top-line response is 14% yes, 78% no, and 8% undecided. But among Democrats, it’s a somewhat larger Truther contingent, at 25%-63%-12%.

The poll also extends this poll of conservative New Jersey voters on whether they believe Obama is the Antichrist to all voters. The interesting result here is that 25% of Democrats either believe Bush is the Antichrist or are unsure. Crikey.

TPMDC: Poll Begs Question: Is Extremism Mainstream?

(via Jay Rosen)

At least religion is on the decline.

A sculpture of an enormous bronze-coloured shoe has been erected in Iraq to honour the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush.

The sofa-sized artwork was formally unveiled in Tikrit, hometown of late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.  The report from BBC News can be found here.

According to Forbes Magazine, the incident has been a gold-mine for the Turkish shoemaker, Ramazan Baydan, who claims to have made the shoe thrown at the now ex-President, now renamed the Bush Shoe.

 ”People are calling from all over the world to order this shoe I designed a decade ago. We have so far 370,000 new orders from Europe, the Middle East and the United States compared to only 40,000 orders of this particular model in December last year,” Baydan told Forbes.com during a phone interview through an interpreter.

At least Bush sparked an economic recovery for somebody.  The full article in Forbes can be seen here.

• 8 Reasons Sarah Palin is More Qualified than Barack …
  (tags: politics humor 2008 obama mccain pallin)
• Amy Goodman: Why we were falsely arrested
  (tags: politics policestate police fascism media journalism activism)
• Joe Biden says Barack Obama might pursue criminal charges against Bush
  (tags: politics 2008 obama law)
• Police Terrorists Trained to Hate Protesters and Anarchists
  Did you know that anarchists killed several police officers during the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle? No, you don't know that, because it never happened.
  (tags: police policestate activism)
• Science Proves Exotic Cars Turn Women On
  Title is misleading
  (tags: cars sex)
• Chrome is Fast But Not That Fast
  I've been using it since yesterday and I'm not particularly impressed thus far.
  (tags: internet google web)
• Kremlin critic shot in Ingushetia
  (tags: censorship russia humanrights global media)
• China has head start over West for Iraq oil
  (tags: china global iraq war energy)

Halfcase episode 8.

Phase II: Wes Unruh interview.

The G-Spot episode 20 Sean Marsden interview, and more.

Plus Ultra: Joel Gilbert, writer and director of Farewell Israel: Bush, Iran, and the Revolt of Islam.

Point of Inquiry: Richard Dawkins – Science and the New Atheism.

Point of Inquiry: Student Freethought Leaders Speak Out.

The Viking Youth: How to Cook a Hippie.

Someday You Will Be Dead.

Occult of Personality: An Inquiry Into Suppressed Information.

Today was the 9/11 Truthers general strike for a new 9/11 investigation (and immediate impeachment of President Bush). Since I didn’t have to work or go to school, I did not have to make a decision as to whether I would participate. Generally, I find the Truth Movement to be too certain, too religious in their positions to take completely seriously. At this point, I make no speculation about who was behind the attacks, or what precisely happened that day. That approximately 3,000 people died that day is enough.

But I believe there are enough unanswered questions to justify an extensive, independent investigation into 9/11. And regardless of whether Bush had a role in planning or executing 9/11 (or just let it happen, or whatever), he deserves to be impeached.

So while today was just another day for me, I do want to register in some way my support for a new investigation. I think it is the best way to honor those who lost their lives. We should know what happened, who was responsible, and, most importantly, what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again.

These comments from the Grant Morrison in Arthur Magazine thread but I thought it would be worth highlighting them on the front page.

The first comment comes from Trevor Blake:

Role models for Aryan supermen, cartoon ethics, trusting in Bush / Blair /Nixon, negating the drive toward individuality, the holocaust was perfectly valid… y’all remember this next time you hear someone say ?I don’t like [x], he’s a fascist.’

Morrison found flaws in his previous sense of what the purpose of his life and life in general was. He ditched the flawed understanding. Excellent.
He replaced it with a bigger ?purpose’ in which everyone is as groovy as everyone else. Bunk.

Here’s the scoop: he, me, everyone, and everything has no ?purpose.’ Some humans can give themselves a purpose that is satisfying. That’s about it.

My response:

Here’s another choice Morrison quote:

‘Asked about the current state of the world, particularly the war in Iraq, Mr. Morrison offered, ?perhaps it’s just an essential part of the system, as horrible as that may seem.’ He wasn’t particularly interested in being part of any active anti-war movement, and noted that in his previous experience, a number of those people only seemed to be ?interested in meeting up with the police.”

I’d like to think that it goes with out saying that I don’t endorse Morrison’s philosophy on this, but since people very frequently confuse my opinions with the opinions of people I quote here, I figure I’ll set the record straight: I think Morrison’s whole ‘it’s all part of the system’s plan’ philosophy is a bunch of crap. I’m also not fond of his ‘individuality is an illusion’ stuff.

I don’t disagree with what I’ve read about Manuel DeLanda’s position on individuals and societies, but I haven’t read his new book yet. Shaviro’s review is here. He seems to reach a logical conclusion distinct from the over-romanticizing of of the individual and the problematic concepts of new age collectivism.

I look forward to reading Bloom’s Lucifer Principle as well.

‘Here’s the scoop: he, me, everyone, and everything has no ?purpose.’ Some humans can give themselves a purpose that is satisfying. That’s about it.’

Agreed, more or less. Nothing has any meaning save for what we impose on it. This is not bad/depressing, but liberating.

Bush and his cronies did not have to invade Iraq to fulfill some systemic destiny. They made a choice. We have a choice as well – accept the decisions made by the control machines, or struggle to change things.

I will suggest that we look at the Bush administration through the lenses of three controversial theorists who have had much to say about secrecy in both its religious and political dimensions: the German-born political philosopher, Leo Strauss, the Florentine philosopher, Niccol? Machiavelli, and the French postmodern theorist, Jean Baudrillard. I have chosen these three, seemingly disparate, theorists because they correspond to and help make sense of three of the most important forces at work in the Bush administration, namely: 1) the Neoconservative movement, which is heavily indebted to Strauss’ thought and has a powerful presence in the Bush administration through figures like Paul Wolfowitz (a student of Strauss) and the Project for a New American Century;[15] 2) the manipulations of Bush’s pious public image by advisors like Karl Rove (a reader of Machiavelli) and Vice-President Dick Cheney (often compared to Machiavelli), who have used the President’s connections with the Christian Right for political advantage; [16] and 3) an astonishingly uncritical mainstream media, whose celebration of Bush’s image as a virtuous man of faith and general silence about his less admirable activities is truly “hyperreal,” in Baudrillard’s sense of the term.

Full Story: Esoterica.

(thanks Jay!)

Thanks to Curtis in Montr?al for sending this my way.

Election day looms, so here’s a blast from the past:

She has never attended our domestic violence support groups as she is too tired at night and goes to bed early but the bible study was not optional.

She was excited about “God’s message” when she came back.

This week she moves into low income subsidized housing. Her newest crisis is she has found out when the college is closed for the Christmas holiday (one month) she has no employment. She is hoping to find temporary employment as a seasonal retail worker if the Christmas sales are brisk to tide her over. She doesn’t know what she will do when the baby is born, hopes she can work up till the last week (she is on her feet all day with this job). She will be eligible for subsidized daycare.

She voted for Bush because of his “family values.”

Full Story: Daily Kos.

Religion is a public health crisis.

(It’s not a crusade, it’s a rescue mission).

According to a transcript of President Bush’s remarks on the American Competitiveness Initiative at Tuskegee University on April 19th:

“The government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the Ipod. I tune into the Ipod occasionally, you know?”

Ask yourself: Why would the US government, acting through DARPA, fund all that research just to produce a simple consumer music player? And what does Bush mean by “tune into”? iPods are not tuners — or are they?

Full Story: ZPi.

“Welcome to Reptilian Watch, a repository of images related to Reptilian/Masonic symbolism. Send your finds to me, the editor. I don’t pretend to understand all of this stuff, but it certainly seems odd to me.”

Link (via Thumbmonkey)

In an interviwe with CBS Marketwatch, Hunter S. Thompson advises Bush to quit. Short interview, with a bit of back story. It says his new book will be published in December and will be called Kingdom of Fear (I can’t remember if the month and title had been announced before).
Link (via The Drudge Report).

I’m sitting in front of a sound stage in the middle of a horse pasture watching robotic kids shift and rotate to electronic music. A computer thumps out crunchy, mechanical melodies over the funky beats oozing from turntables. Neon drawings float under the black light from the plywood dance floor. Off to the side of the stage, a guy sits cross-legged and meditates. I’ve been up since 6:30 in the morning, it’s 2:30 at night now, I’m freezing, and have no plans of going to bed. Fatigue has given way to fascination. I feel great.
Read the rest of this entry »

Who watches the watchmen? Bush wants us to spy on each other. Scariest thing I’ve seen in awhile.
Link.

From Wired: “Even if Bush’s hydrogen-car initiative is a cynical ploy, even if the Big Three are hiding behind hydrogen promises to prolong the reign of the V-8 and oilmen secretly want to strangle the fuel cell in its cradle, simple geology is carrying us toward a post-gasoline future. Petroleum’s days are numbered. GM executives themselves understand that. Some say the oil will last 20 more years and some say 50, but nobody says forever.”
Link.

Check out this conceptual art piece/protest at Salon.