Albion Monitor Issue 174 OCTOBER 2008
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The Bush Legacy Plan

FREE! Plan A was the dynasty plan. The plan presumed a continuation of Bush policies, notably the radical conservative game plan laid out in the 2002 National Security Strategy, under the next Republican administration. The Legacy Plan recognizes the possibility that the Republicans might not only lose the White House, but that they might also face such a widespread backlash against their disastrous policies to make any form of Republican recovery unlikely. The goal under Plan B is to lock in as many of Bush administration's fondest structural changes as possible before turning over the keys of the White House.

First, the relay team dropped the torch. The president, whose job it was to pass the torch, began to lag seriously behind in the race and then bungled the pass. Then the candidate, whose job it was to receive the torch, fumbled the handoff, complaining that the torch itself was defective. By the time the Bush team realized just how bad things were the situation had become worse. The polls showed signs that an African-American, liberal upstart would actually win the race. That would blow Plan A out of the water. Although all possible attempts would be considered to save it, including Dick Cheney's personal favorite of attacking a foreign country (the much-discussed October Surprise) there seemed to be no choice but to prepare Plan B. This was the "Legacy Plan."

To fill the potential gap created by drawdown in Iraq, the legacy plan is expanding military spending in other areas and preparing the ground for new conflicts. The Bush administration pushed increased military spending in Afghanistan and Pakistan and started delivery of defense contracts for the U.S.-Mexico border region. The $162 billion FY2008 supplemental spending bill passed in June provides significant breathing room to defense contractors in the case of a transition, but concerns are mounting about what will happen to bloated defense companies when the Iraq feed line is cut


Right Seeks to Blame Economic Crisis on "Greedy Poor People"


Wasn't "the ownership society" keystone of Bush 2004 campaign?

U.S. to Use Some of $700 Billion to Buy Bank Shares


1st time since Great Depression

Will Economic Crisis Mean End of IMF & World Bank?


"We need a better group for a different time," World Bank president Zoellick said

Google Says Google us on How to Save the Economy


Do anything to push renewable energy infrastructures and technology

Bailout Good News: Wind, Solar Tax Credits Extended FREE!


Failed to pass in Senate last year

China's Hidden Hand in Bailout


Treasury Dept. must give priority to companies like Fannie and Freddie with heavy Chinese investment

"Sweetened" Wall St. Bailout Becomes Law


"They added some tax cuts so Republicans would vote for it, and added [a health provision] so that progressives and liberals would pay for it. But, it's the same flawed plan that the House defeated earlier this week." - Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio

Democrats' Hands Aren't Clean in the Financial Mess


Clinton's Treasury secretary Robert Rubin lobbied hard for dumping the decades-old Glass-Steagall Act

Mexico Economy Follows U.S. Into Ditch


90% of Mexico's foreign trade is tied to the U.S. market - remittances from migrants dry up

Two Faces of America's Economic Collapse


One man in charge of the bailout, the other a suicide-murder

Why the U.S. Raid on Syria?


First raid across Iraq-Syria border left 8 dead

Syrians Enraged by U.S. Attack


TV broadcasting images of 4 children said to be killed in raid

Colin Powell's Payback for GOP Disrespect


Partially bittersweet payback for the harsh, odd-man-out treatment he got from some within the Bush administration and the GOP

Severe Bird Flu Outbreak Could Trigger 'Major Global Recession' - World Bank


People's efforts to avoid infection are 5x more important than deaths, 2x more important as illness itself

Bush Forgiving "Axis of Evil" Nations as Term Nears End


More "Legacy plan" to rehabilitate image

Saudis Hosted Secret Taliban Peace Talks in Sept.


Brits also seeking to get out if U.S. escalates military involvement

THE MISGOVERNANCE OF AMERICA

Why Misgovernment Was No Accident in George W. Bush's Washington
© 2008 Michael Kountouris   All Rights Reserved

FREE! Corruption is uniquely reprehensible in a democracy because it violates the system's first principle, which we all learned back in the sunshiny days of elementary school: That the government and its vast workforce serve the people. The idea is so deep in the American grain that we can't bring ourselves to question it, even in this disillusioned age. Republicans and Democrats may fight over how big government should be and exactly what it should do, but almost everyone shares those baseline good intentions, we believe, that devotion to the public interest.

We continue to believe this in even the most improbable circumstances. Take the worst apple of them all, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose astonishing career as a corruptionist has been unreeling in newspaper and congressional investigations. Journalistic coverage of the Abramoff affair has stuck closely to the "bad apple" thesis, always taking pains to separate the conservative movement from its onetime superstar. What Abramoff represented was "greed gone wild," asserts the most authoritative account on the subject.

But the truth is almost exactly the opposite, whether we are discussing Abramoff or the wider tsunami of corruption. It is just this: Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals. It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society.

Immigration Arrests Expand Nationwide


27,000 arrested so far this year

Salvadorans Targeted in Anti-Gang ICE Raids

A three-year ICE investigation culminated in the arrest of 29 indicted suspects, 22 of whom were alleged members of MS-13 (Photo: Erika Cebreros / El Mensajero)

"Operation Devil Horns" seen as a nod to conservatives complainging that little is being done about illegal immigration

Chinese Deeply Shocked by Toxic Milk Scandal


Deliberately contaminated with harmful chemicals to maximize profits

1 in 4 Mammals Face Extinction


Could be as high as 36%

Glimpse of Japan's Secret Death Row


Date of execution not revealed until the last minute

Palestinians Don't Trust Israeli Drinking Water


In part because W Bank Israeli colonies polluting ground water with sewage

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinians Who Were Believed to Be Considering Violence


Investigators also wonder if bodies were dumped at scene

Afghan Journalism Student Sentenced to 20 Years for "Blasphemy"


Charged with downloading material about women's roles in Muslim societies

Israel Blocking Palestinian Students From Study Abroad


Only 1 in 3 with college admissions allowed to leave Gaza

Israel Tries to Block Gaza Health Conference FREE!


Focused on the mental health impact of the Israeli blockade

Enviros Fighting Plan to Tinker With Oceans


"Fertilize" oceans with iron and chemicals to fight global warming

Iraq THE WAR IN IRAQ

Iraq Pact a Crushing Defeat for Bush/Cheney


U.S. troops in Iraq could be confined to their bases after Dec. 31

Book: Remembering a Tolerant Iraq


After WWI, one-third of Baghdad was Jewish

Move to Allow Iraq Doctors to Carry Guns Provokes Mixed Reaction FREE!


Part of desperate efforts to persuade doctors to return to the country

Politics As Usual POLITICS AS USUAL

For Christian Right, Abortion is ONLY Election Issue


As Palin accusing Obama of supporting infanticide

ACORN Becomes the GOP's Super-Villain


Even blamed in sub-prime mortgage implosion

How the GOP Will Legally Suppress 2008 Minority Votes


GOP groups have declared themselves exempt from the court rulings against sending test letters to addresses of newly registered voters

McCain's Views Still Reflect POW Trauma


Like Bush, a world seen in black and white

Wealthy Anti-Abortion Zealot Funding Anti-Obama Ads


$338,000 ad buys in just 2 battleground states

McCain Losing Big on his Risky Election Bets


Projections begin to project Obama landslide

More Election-Year Charges of Voter Registration Fraud


Round up the usual suspects: minority community organizers

What Obama, McCain, Aren't Talking About


Important issues not even mentioned in debates

Michigan Republicans Angered at McCain's Exit


Announcement caught Michigan Republican Party and supporters by surprise
Columnists

JOE CONASON

Joe Conason

Scapegoat Sarah

"Joe the Plumber" Codeword for "Barack the Marxist"

Palin's Bush-Style Whitewash

McCain's Politics of Personal Destruction

Making the Bailout Less Toxic

ROBERT SCHEER

Robert Scheer McCain's Unaccountable Appeal

The Battle for Obama's Economic Soul

John Hoover McCain

A Plague Upon the White House

Pundits Side With Wall Street Over Main Street

ALEXANDER COCKBURN

Alexander Cockburn Change that Would Really Mean Something

McCain's Cancer

McCain Lurching Into Final Lap

Neither Candidate Rising to The Challenges

How McCain Blew It

STEVE YOUNG FREE!

Steve Young BELOVED,REPLY ASAP TO MR. McCAIN

Enough With the Lawn Signs

Oh, What a Tangled Web O'Reilly Weaves

Now It's The Palin Curse

It's The Satire Factor

How McCain Became MacBeth

Facing possible defeat in the election, fearing the lost of his ultimate prize, McCain opened a door to deep hatred and fear in this country. Now as the demons come out into the light, he recoils. But it might already be too late. To fan the fire of racism is easy when one has the bully pulpit. To put it out when it spreads, on the other hand, is always nearly impossible no matter where one stands. The senator seemed to have stepped off American political theater and onto a Shakespearean stage -- McCain as the tragic figure of Macbeth.

The parallels with senator McCain are striking. Descendant of Navy admirals, and a war hero, his presidential campaign, unlike any in recent memory, has gone over to the dark side by stoking the fire of racism. With ads calling Senator Obama "Dangerous" and "dishonorable" while Sarah Palin, his running mate, went on the offensive, with phrases like, ""This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America," and "palling around with terrorists," the once veiled racism became overt. As Lady Macbeth, she is full of glee and smiles as she goes about her task of character assassination

Albion Monitor
(http://www.albionmonitor.com)
Issue 174

Editor: Jeff Elliott (editor@monitor.net)

The Albion Monitor is currently published as an ongoing newspaper by Wayward Press Inc, POB 1733, Sebastopol, CA 95473

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