Since I never *cough* talk about our elected (or appointed, or 'purchased') leaders *cough*, I'd like to take a moment to jot down some of the wonderful things they're involved in. (sources are varied. exact quotes used where possible. just random stuff I've found.)

Let's start with a quote from US Republican Senator Gonzalo Barrientos where he discusses his colleagues.

"They don't want to govern. They want to rule."

For those who think the Brits aren't in it for the same reasons, consider this: National Grid Transo, a UK utilities corporation, owns the New York power grid (Yes, the one that recently collapsed). This US interest is governed by US laws on emissions, regulation, etc. Earning nearly a a billion pounds sterling in revenues this year and having 46% of its operations in the US, this conglomerate is very important to the British economy.

Some 'classified' portions of a report created following sept. 11 contain, according to the LA Times quoting a US official, informtation that "... describes 'very direct, very specific links' between Saudi officials, two of the San Diego-based hijackers and other potential co-conspirators 'that cannot be passed off as rogue, isolated or coincidental'...". Of course, with Neil, Jonathan and Marvin Bush, through Kuwait-American Corp., Stratesec as well as most of the US oil industry having direct financial ties with the Saudis, this will pass quietly into the dust of historical records. Had Iraq created the same sort of ties that Kuwait has, they'd no doubt have avoided the current invasion.

But while the President was telling the US people that he had not decided yet whether we'd go to war, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton told senior Russian officials, "we're going ahead... You are not going to decide whether there is war in Iraq or not. That decision is ours, and we have already made it. It is already final. The only question now is whether the council will go along with it or not." (and make no mistake, this is not someone who would not be informed about things, especially not while addressing the Russian government)

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on corporate responsiblity : "When I was at Alcoa I never sold a single share of Alcoa stock... I wanted my financial success and the company's success inextricably linked. Other executives should do the same."
The SEC records: O'Neill sold 662,547 shares (about $30,000,000) in April 1999 while Chairman and CEO of Alcoa.

While Secretary of Defense under Bush the senior, Cheney and the Pentagon touted 'spy photos' purported to show 250,000 Iraqi troops and 1,500 tanks on the border to Suadi Arabia as justification for their desire to go into Iraq. The St. Petersburg Times got their hands on two images from the same time, same place from a commercial satellite. The border was full alright. Full of sand. There were no troops or tanks. The Pentagon's photos are still 'classified'...

President Bush was very proud to say that leading blue chip economists' reports concluded that his tax cuts for 2003 would grow the economny 3.3 percent. It would have been nice if such reports had actually existed before he quoted them.

Ahhhh. Ari Fleischer. There's a special little cubby in Hell waiting for this habitual liar. But, damn, doesn't he do it well?
Fleischer when asked why the President had an about-face on nation building: "During the campaign, the president did not express, as you put it, disdain for nation-building."
"I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not." Gov. Bush on the campaign trail, Oct. 11th, 2000
The press corps had to pull their jaws off the floor as they stared incredulously at this spin master. Sadly no one thought they'd need to actually bring the quotes with them. Fleischer just said they didn't happen and that was that.

John Howard? You only have to turn on the TV and watch to witness his prevarication. See, he turns bright red and gets flustered when he lies. Poor thing. He just can't hang. He'll always be the 'Martin' to Bush and Blair's 'Bart and Milhouse'. The 'Mr. Magoo' to their 'Yogi and Boo Boo'.

* Speaking of The Simpsons, the subject is a line from Homer, "Oh, Lisa, the important thing is I didn't get my comeuppance, and I never will."