Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News News Benazir Bhutto killed in bomb blast

Good to know Phil. I've always felt the LAT was one of the better of the big city dailies, but cynic that I am about the press, that's almost equivalent to saying a certain kind of $hit is one of the better smelling.

OFFTOPIC: have you noted any shift since they were taken over by the Trib?

The take over of the times is in its infancy but Zell seems to favor local control by the news staff, not the accountants.

This is in reply to the stereoman comment about VP Cheney and attacking Iran. I try to answer the obviously insanely partisan threads with frivolity - or address more benign topics, but I feel compelled here by the sheer level of madness. Where oh where is Dick Cheney on any sort of record that he was for invading Iran at any particular point in time (versus a more general leave that option on the table).

I don't imagine anyone had made up their minds about any invasion tactics at all. It was, and for that matter still is, a dangerous source and threat in which options are probably routinely discussed. At different times these discussions are anything but routine. However, are you claiming some personal insight into when and how Dick Cheney proposed dealing with Iran at some sort of National Security Council meeting? Are you an Islamo-Facist Spy who has secretly bugged the Old executive Office Bldg? (That was a joke).

Just Wondering from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

OFF TOPIC

Vhia Kane, after six years of observing VP Cheney in office, I have learned that he says little of substance, and when he does speak, what he says is often not true. If you review the events of Spring 2007, particularly what was happening in the Persian Gulf, and what was being said about weapons being smuggled into Iraq, you will find the drumbeats of war were almost deafening, and Mr. Cheney was in the forefront peddling the Administration's "all options" rhetoric and echoing the Zionist "we will not permit" line. Ludicrous indeed, that at the same time as Mr. Cheney was eagerly pitching the threat of Iran as a terrist state, Musharraf was signing a treaty with the al-Qaeda influenced tribal cabals in Waziristan.

At the very same moment.

So I take it from your reply that your knowledge of VP Cheney's intent vis-a-vis Condi Rice is based on your knowledge that he is part of the Zionist, NeoCon conspiracy to rule the world for a greater Isreal. Had I realized that you had penetrated the cloud that we members of the Zionist Occupied NeCOn Govt of the US have raised - and recognized Musharaf for the Jew that he is (He is secrectly named Moishe Glodstein during "our" meetings), then I would not have pressed you for any sort of actual link to reality.

VRWC

OFF TOPIC

You're entitled to come to any far-fetched conclusion you wish, but that does not affect nor reflect my position on the matter. My observation, after many years of political discussion, is that a person who is interested in learning from others will ask intelligent questions, while one who is not will make ridiculous assumptions.

So, and correct me if I am wrong, Stereoman, what you are saying is that you actually performed an analysis based on the intelligence available at the time from a number of different sources, rather than waiting for Dick Cheney to send a memo outlining his hopes, desires, and intent?

I can see why such a novel approach to figuring out what may be planned by the secretive powers that be, would comfuse some who may be much less eager to stray from the safety of group-think'.:-)
Yours,
Issodhos

I suppose that would depend on what one considers to be "intelligence", iss. I don't think the evidence I examined was obscure or secretive enough to qualify for what we think of as spy fodder when the term "intelligence" is bandied about, so I would offer instead that my analysis was based on news reportage available at the time, and so forth.

Again, I would certainly not agree that any part of this plan deserves to be classified as "secretive". There were plenty of other people more expert than myself who shared this opinion of Mr. Cheney's intent - including (you may or may not recall) Admiral William J. Fallon.

While Mr. Cheney's ambitions concerning Iran may seem not particularly germane to the assassination of Ms. Bhutto, there are plenty of Conspiracy Theorists already connecting all the dots that give credence to a Bush-Musharraf-al Qaeda conspiracy to enable the US to exert control over Pakistan's nukes. There are plenty of dots to do that with.

I do hope you realize that I was being complimentary to your approach toward the subject, Stereoman. As to "intelligence", it is any information, whether obtained overtly or covertly, that is useful for analysis. Indeed, much of the intelligence gathered on the Soviet Union was from "open source" venues -- everything from technical journals to street gossip -- and often as valuable or even more valuable than the secret stuff.

One of the tricks that has been used from the beginning to defend this administration by its fellow travellers has been to demand that only that which George Bush and his crowd say or write can be used as evidence for what they are/were up to. It is the childish attempt to treat the real world as if it is constrained by the rules of juresprudence. In other words, it is just another method they use to try to shut down dissent.

In the end, your analytical method is the surest way we 'nobodies' have of gaining insight into the real intent of these and other similiar rascals.:-)
Yours,
Issodhos

Thank you for your kind remarks, iss. The great danger that a free and democratic (or is it libertarian?) internet poses is that ordinary people with determination and skill can find almost anything out. I suppose that's why Congress has been straining to find a way to bring Al Gore's invention under some sort of free market control.

Ahem.