It is indicative of the character of a lot of these neocons that I am no longer shocked by what they say. Richard Perle now tried to parse his words so that he can distance himself from the Iraq war. He keeps claiming that he was not the architect of the war, which may be technically true even if it is a way to minimize the perception of his role in causing this war to happen. He had high level access. He was there at some important think tank meetings. He had access to many top level officials.

And he goes a step further by distancing the neocon movement from this war as if they had no influence with the Bushies in the planning of this war. Say what?

    I have been widely but wrongly depicted as deeply involved in the making of administration policy, especially with respect to Iraq. Facts notwithstanding, there are some fifty thousand entries on Google in which I am described as an "architect," and often as "the architect," of the Iraq War. I certainly supported and argued publicly for the decision to remove Saddam, as I do in what follows. But had I been the architect of that war, our policy would have been very different. [...]

   But about the many mistakes made in Iraq, one thing is certain: they had nothing to do with ideology. They did not draw inspiration from or reflect neoconservative ideas and they were not the product of philosophical or ideological influences outside the government.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/perl e-iraq-architect/

We can always count on ThinkProgress to call him on his bullshit.

Perle is right. He strongly advocated publicly for the invasion of Iraq, especially after 9/11, even making claims that Saddam Hussein had links to Osama bin Laden (an assertion he later claimed he never said). But in fact, Perle had direct access to top administration officials during the run up to the war. Former CIA director George Tenet recalled that shortly after 9/11, Perle told him that "Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday, they bear responsibility."

Moreover, the neoconservative influence on the Bush administration, particularly regarding Iraq, has been well documented. For Perle to claim otherwise is beyond absurd.

This is why we need to punish anyone with official responsibility who lied or hid the facts during this war. We cannot let these people get away with it only to rise again when the next opportunity presents itself.

Class Warfare (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
[F]rom Daily Kos...: "If the lines had continued to track closely together as they did prior to the 1970s, the MINIMUM WAGE would be more than $19 an hour. THE MINIMUM WAGE!!!..."... Also a major factor: The two-paycheck family obscured this wage deflation. After all, with both husband and wife working, it almost added up to one healthy paycheck! (As you can imagine, single moms like me had no trouble figuring it out.) I used to read years ago that Republicans actually liked the influx of women into the workplace for precisely this reason: It gave them cover for deflating wages. Nice work, guys!

MORE MORE MORE

By Nezua

Media Consortium Mediawire Blogger

The new year rushes upon us with momentum born of crisis and necessity. In every direction one looks, change is needed--and not cosmetic alteration, but deep, structural repair. The issue of immigration is no exception.

Warning this video is graphic.

Sorry this is just a cut-and-paste job, but the perspective of Paul Rogers (of opendemocracy) needs to be heard by everyone, peaceniks and realpolitikers alike. He states that while likely the chief benefit for Al Queda from the Gaza war is in the damage done to Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt (see "Cairo's balancing act over Gaza"), there is also the following (emphasis added) to weigh:

But the advantage al-Qaida might gain from the Gaza war of 2008-09 may go further. For an emerging and widespread public interpretation of the conflict across the middle east draws on evidence of the more than seven years of "war on terror" to place what is happening in Gaza in a wider context, in a way that can be used to reinforce the movement's worldview.

What is happening in Gaza, according to this general perspective, is that it is not an Israeli war but a joint operation by the United States and Israel. Thus, the F-16 strike aircraft and the Apache helicopter-gunships are seen less as Israeli aircraft but as American aircraft with Israeli markings. This in turn feeds into the wider perception of a generalized war against Islam being conducted by a crusader-Zionist opponent that must be resisted by all means possible. From this outlook, it is Hamas that is on the frontline of the moment and deserving of increased support.

This is a deeply embedded worldview. What makes it more potent is that it is grounded in many elements of US-Israeli cooperation that are clear and beyond controversy. As a number of columns in this series have reported, the military connections between Washington and Tel Aviv that predated the war in Iraq that began in 2003 were hugely boosted as US forces ran full-tilt into an urban insurgency in Iraq.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict including the recent Gaza invasion is not about Jews. It is about Israelis who have run amok, and it is not all Israelis at that. Israel is now engaged in a moral crisis and its government is now acting in a manner to enrage Jews everywhere. Not In Our Name used to be the name of a Boston group of Jewish Americans, which folded into Jewish Voice for Peace. Look them up. For now here is the kind of actions such Jews are taking as innocents, Palestinians, die in Gaza.

Toronto: Wednesday January 8, 2009

BURRIS THE PERSISTENT

After trying unsuccessfully to sell the President-elect's Senate seat, accused Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich gave it away by appointing an unblemished journeyman politician, Roland Burris. This was less a "clean" appointment action than an effort to embarrass those opposing the Governor. He succeeded.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders said emphatically that any appointee of the Illinois Governor would be so tainted that the Senate would never accept him.
They underestimated Roland Burris. Mr. Burris showed up, was turned away, but then hung around claiming that he was the junior Senator from Illinois, holding press conferences, and picking up supporters and endorsements.

He wore Mr. Reid down. The grounds for rejection were really quite shaky. The Illinois governor was still in office, performing his other governing duties. Backtracking daily, Harry Reid was finally reduced to reliance on the fact that the Illinois Secretary of State had not signed the appointment certificate. A slender reed indeed.

Roland Burris will be accepted as Illinois Senator. Blago will smile. And Mr. Burris can add another "Burris the Trail Blazer" to his worshipful mausoleum.

homer   www.altara.blogspot.com

This Saturday, supporters of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people, will rally at Boston City Hall to call on President-Elect Obama and the new Congress support equal rights. The event is being organized by Join The Impact MA, the same group that organized the protest at Boston City Hall on November 15th which drew thousands of people as Boston saw the largest LGBT related protest in decades.

LGBT Rights Protest
1:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 10th
Boston City Hall

Advocates and allies are urging the new administration to repeal the anti-gay marriage Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), repeal the ban on gays in the military (Don't Ask Don't Tell), enact Hate-Crimes legislation, and fight against HIV/AIDS.

The demonstration on Saturday is part of a nation-wide effort to draw attention to LGBT equality. There will be simultaneous protests in over 50 cities across the country. The recent surge of LGBT related activism is being seen as a new push for equal rights for LGBT people.