Ah, the USA. Let’s celebrate their own celebration of ignorance and stupidity. How these people get on television is anyone’s guess. WEE mean, Australia has its own crass and appalling TV journalists, commentators and entertainers (Kyle Sandilands anyone?) but the US really takes the cake in promoting the truly sub-intelligent and moronic to celebrity prominence.

News Ltd, has found some commentators and journalists worse than their own to pick on for once…

‘Serial killer’ for approving camel cull “Launched air strikes against camels” Anchor is serious The Punch: A bit too far?PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has been labelled a serial killer on US TV for approving the culling of feral camels.Erin Burnett, an anchor on American financial news channel CNBC, launched a verbal attack targetting Rudd following his government’s decision to spend $A19 million to cull feral camels in the outback.

via Kevin Rudd called a ‘serial killer’ on CNBC | TV | News.com.au.

These people are really stupid and so dumb transparent -  you can bet if John Howard had made this decision it wouldn’t have rated a mention.

But their real stupidity is that they have sat and barracked for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last few years and simply cannot see the offensive irony of calling the cull of camels in the outback ‘genocide’.

These people represent a portion of the American establishment that is sick, sick, sick. They are so out of touch with any kind of reality that it really is not worth talking about their outlandish behaviour and hateful, bile filled speech. They are so tired and dull. Let’s just hope they go away.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Well, it seems that there is finally proof emerging that Bush was a complete nut job. Following close on the heels of news that Donald (the other nut job) Rumsfeld would put religious quotes on memos to Georgie about the war in Iraq, it now emerges that the same George W tried to convince the French President of the biblical proportions of the war on terror.

Alternet brings us this article.

The terrifying thing is that this nutter was in control of a nuclear arsenal while he had little control of his own brain. Maybe the US system is sound in that Bush got nowhere near the nuclear trigger – or maybe we all were just lucky and dodged a bullet over the last eight years. Whatever, thank god he’s gone. Let’s hope we never see another like him.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

photo credit: azrainman

UPDATE: Oh the exquisite irony of it all!

* Obamas told they can’t stay in mansion

* John Howard already has place booked

* Obamas have to move into a hotel

BARACK Obama and his family have been forced to move into a hotel because John Howard is staying at their place.

via John Howard bumps Barack Obama out of Blair House in Washington | World News | News.com.au.

ORIGINAL POST:

Howard to receive US freedom medal

Samantha Maiden, Online Political Editor | 10:30am JOHN Howard will be awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom next week, in one of George W Bush’s final acts as president.

via The Australian, News from Australia’s National Newspaper.

Just how out of touch are these guys? Can’t someone quietly tap them on the shoulder and say, “Hey fellas, it’s all over, you can leave now”? It is astonishing that they keep pretending that the disastrous war that they sent our countries into was not one of the most appalling foreign policy disasters for a generation.

So again WEE will be subjected to another round of back slapping and self-congratulation by Bush, Blair and Howard. They will repeat the lie that the world is safer because of their actions and the mainstream media will again cast no critical eye on their actions – they’ll just quote the press releases that trumpet the great achievements of these diminuitive leaders.

WEE think the ceremony would be the perfect opportunity to round up the ‘three amigos’ and send them to the International Criminal Court to be tried for their war crimes. WEE’ll keep dreaming on that one.

WEE do not look forward to watching another orgy of ineptitude when these three unimaginitave leaders get together to celebrate their contribution to freedom in the world. What all of this demonstrates is just how out of touch George Bush is. Some 80% of the US population wants him to just go away. Perhaps he could just stay on vacation until 20 January?

Still, we may well get our wish that we never hear of George W  Bush again after 20 January. Apparently he is not planning to be a high profile former president. He was barely a high profile serving president given the amount of time he spent on vacation.

And WEE will not forgive him for giving further oxygen to our own former little leader John Howard. At least Howard still hasn’t cottoned on to the fact that being associated with George W Bush is actually not anything to write home about. Little Johnny is so out of touch too that he still thinks Bush is a man of substance and power – as opposed to the lame duck president he has been for about the last 3 years.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

photo credit: Jari Carr

This is a depressing read and the final insult to those who have remained opposed to this ridiculous war from the start. The final disgraceful twist in the Iraq saga in the final twilight of one of the most disastrous presidencies in American history. Bush’s administration has been an utter failure on so many fronts who counts any more…

Report Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders

Published: December 13, 2008

BAGHDAD — An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then moulded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.

via Report Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders – NYTimes.com.

What is outrageous is that the lies that this mob have generated over the eight years of their administration have just gotten bigger and bigger and more and more bizarre. But through all of this none of the mainstream media in the US have seen fit to scream at the top of their voices enough. It’s been left up to internet-based progressive media to hold this administration to account.

Roll on the Obama administration. There must be some kind of prosecution of these nit wits for their appalling prosecution of what has always been a pretend war. That so many lives were wasted on both sides over this fraud makes it all the more tragic and induces blood boiling if dwelt on for too long by any sane individual.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

photo credit: WTL photos

Here is an hysterical quotation from today’s SMH. Coming on the same day as the news about the horrific terrorist attacks in Islamabad in Pakistan, WEE feel it really demonstrates how out of touch some people are:

Campbelltown resident Rebecca Giddio learned about 20 minutes too late of today’s M5 shutdown.

The 34-year-old was driving to her husband’s office in Botany to show off the newest addition to their family, three-week-old daughter Charlotte.

She had successfully bundled both Charlotte and the couple’s other daughter, four-year-old Brooke, into the car about 9.20am and had just passed the tolls, when news of the latest computer glitch broke on radio.

“It came over the radio station that the M5 had been totally closed both ways and then the next minute I just hit traffic and it was just bumper to bumper the whole way,” Ms Giddio said.

Two hours, two traffic diversions and an emergency breastfeeding session later, a frazzled Ms Giddio finally made it into her husband Eric’s business in Botany.

“[Charlotte] was all right when I first left but I had to pull over because she was really hot and dehydrated. I had to strip her down and feed her and I had to put cloths up on the window for shade,” she said.

“I’ve got a four-year-old with me as well so while the traffic was still I had to get her to jump from one side of the car to the other because the sun was too hot.”

Oh baby, M5 tunnel takes its toll – National – smh.com.au.

Oh… my… god… the four year old had to move from one side of the car to the other. This is just terrible. How traumatic for all concerned. Dear oh dear.

I hope that her health insurance covers trauma counselling because Rebecca is clearly in need of some help with getting over this dreadful trip.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

From the start of this saga, WEE had given the Government the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there really was something that the AFP had on Haneef. WEE were content, despite the uneasiness of the continued extensions of Haneef’s detention, to let the AFP do their job and trust that the judicial review of the case would ensure a reasonable outcome. But then it started…

Government ministers couldn’t help themselves, commenting on the case. Ruddock, Downer, Andrews and Howard just couldn’t keep their mouths shut. This wasn’t for the benefit of the case, it was to try and draw the opposition out – to try and get a rise from Rudd. And the longer Rudd resisted the more bits and pieces of information dribbled out. That was until it became apparent that the AFP had made some errors in the investigation.

Mick Keelty blames the time zone difference between Australia and the UK for some of the confusion. Good grief, its 2007 not 1807. However, when push came to shove and they had to make some charge against Haneef to justify all the carry on surrounding the case, the judicial system operated as it should and granted bail to the accused.

This is where things started to go off the rails and the Government really started to overstep its power. Kevin Andrews, a grubby character if ever there was one, and a committed Christian, decided that based on some evidence that only the AFP and he have been privy to (and which seems to be the only piece of evidence not leaked to the press!) he would revoke Haneef’s working visa. This truly was an act of a complete bastard. A mean, nasty and vicious act – and an act that was political in its motive.

And make no mistake, this was not an act that Andrews dreamed up all by himself. This one has all the hallmarks of a classic Howard maneuver. Try and win a political point over Labor under the guise of anti-terror laws. They have used this time and time again. And unfortunately for the Gold Coast registrar Haneef, he was in the way, and disposable (and deportable).

What they didn’t count on was the whole AFP case unravelling quite so badly. Unravelling to the point that the DPP had to drop the charges against Haneef.

If the Coalition had been able to resist their insatiable desire for a political wedge to damage Rudd, they wouldn’t be in this mess. If they had let the AFP do their job without the running commentary. If Haneef could have waited patiently for the case against him to be dropped after investigation, then none of this grandstanding would have been necessary. None of this visa nonsense would be necessary and the whole thing could have been a shining demonstration of how the terror laws could work – even in the case of an innocent person being detained.

But no, our grubby leaders couldn’t let that happen. And it begs the question. Did they really introduce the terror laws to protect Australia? Or did they introduce them to create the circumstances for political show trials? Show trials designed to keep the community in fear? Show trials to try and goad the opposition into questioning their outrageous treatment of any poor bugger that gets detained on flimsy or false evidence?

These are the questions we should reflect back on these men who think nothing of dragging Haneef through mud. Of course they will squeal like stuck pigs that this article is written by someone soft on terror, that WEE haven’t seen the evidence against Haneef, that WEE would prefer to see someone get killed in a terror attack that protect the nation. What rot.

WEE cannot stop asking these questions. The veil of suspicion must fall on the Howard government. It is they who have betrayed our trust in this case. It is they who have behaved in the most appalling way. It is they who are threatening the national security of this country through their abuse and disregard for natural justice and common law.

Do not let Andrews cast further suspicion onto Haneef as he tried to do by commenting on the haste with which the poor doctor left the country last night. Rather let us reflect on the haste with which Andrews made his decisions about this case, and the suspicion this arouses about the Government’s motives for such actions. Get suspicious about everything this Government has done and will do in the future under the guise of terror laws and ‘protecting’ Australia.

Question their utterances, now matter how Downer extreme. Question their actions. For in our view these are not the actions of men with the countries interest at heart – this are men who are acting in their own self-interest, and in the interest of maintaining power.

And finally, can WEE just make the observation that the quiet dignity and grace that Haneef has shown since his release stands in stark contrast to the hysterics of the grubby men who pretend they are protecting Australia.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Well the sentence in the David Hicks case has been brought down. This terrible, dangerous man, who was caught consorting with terrorists, hanging with Osama, and providing material support to terrorists will serve nine months in prison in Adelaide.

Gosh, the case against him must have been compelling for this result. Hardly a case of do the crime, do the time. It doesn’t seem the crime was very serious after all.

Bush, Howard and all their cronies should hang their collective heads in shame. The serious and terrible crimes of which he was accused (that we never really got to the bottom of) were worth a measly nine months in jail? Are they serious? Seven years was pleaded down to nine months?

Can we get these fools away from the levers of government? They really don’t deserve them. [more]

Janet Albrechtsen and the rest of the Howard cheer squad were out in force late last week, misrepresenting the views of many people who were more concerned about justice than his guilt or otherwise. But all of us have apparently got ‘egg on our faces’ because Hicks pleaded guilty. Well they must be suffering a bit of egg blowback tonight! This dangerous man they have all be demonising for the last five years will be walking among us early in 2008.

How will we protect ourselves from such danger? WEE are astonished that Howard can, in the light of this result, stand with his straight, serious face on and tell us that due process has been observed and justice has run its course.

WEE mentioned that it was a sad chapter in Australian history earlier this week. Well, it’s starting to descend into farce. WEE only hope the electorate can see through this sham.

Either the man is a dangerous terrorist (the government position) who deserves to be locked up behind bars for a long time, or he was a naive adventurer (the rather extreme left view) who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and so was only guilty of misadventure… which WEE don’t think is a crime.

Gosh, when is this farce going to end? Now we have to wait until early next year (and after the election… how convenient) to really hear what Hicks is all about. And of course it will be dragged on and on in the media. Couldn’t they have put us all out of our misery and released him now? Then it could all be over in a couple of weeks, or at least the real issue in all of this could have been brought into focus, the role the Australian government played in colluding with the Americans to lock Hicks up without trial for five years.

Alas, the media will now be clamouring over each other to court Hicks for his story over the next 9-12 months. And the distraction of these media games will ensure that Howard and his government avoids any awkward questions about his disgraceful handling of the Hicks case from the day he was apprehended by the Americans.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Today marks a very unpleasant chapter in Australian history. The fact that David Hicks has seemingly admitted his guilt in providing material assistance to terrorists (with no specific incident cited, of course) is a sad indictment on the whole process of what has happened at Guantanamo Bay.

It is reasonable to assume that Hicks was up to no particular good in his decisions to engage in some kind of action in first Kosovo, and then Afghanistan over five years ago. But nothing is reasonable about the Australian government treatment of Hicks after he was picked up by American forces.

[more]

What this case represents is a total abandonment of an Australian citizen overseas. In his post-9/11 excitement, John Howard also abandoned the fundamentals of our judicial system. Hicks has paid the price of Howard’s political games, which include backing G W Bush to the hilt and trying to paint the opposition as being weak on terrorists. WEE have also witnessed and embarrassing and unprecedented demonisation of Hicks by senior members of our government and more importantly by our chief law officer, Phillip Ruddock.

It’s all rather sad and depressing, but at least by his admission of guilt, Hicks will not have to spend any longer in that vile camp at Guantanamo Bay. That was probably what was on his mind anyway. It was clear that there would be no fair trial in the short-term, and the prospect of serving anymore time in Cuba was probably unbearable.

So just be clear. Here was the decision he faced: plead not guilty and remain in Guantanamo Bay indefinitely while the case goes through years of agonising legal toing and froing, or plead guilty to a more minor charge of material assistance for terrorists and be on a plane home to Australia in a few weeks. Um, that isn’t a fair process. This is an outcome as a result of the tortuous conditions at Guantanamo Bay.

Make no mistake. The man has had to sleep with lights on for the last five years. I’d like to see all those people gloating at the guilty verdict today spend a few months in his shoes and then say they wouldn’t be desperate to get out of such a situation.

What has happened today is no victory for anyone. Hick’s story is a modern day tragedy and we hope there is a new leadership in the Australian government before another situation such as this one presents itself. The response by the current leadership has been completely inadequate.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

New ads encouraging people to enlist in the defence forces will hit television screen next month as part of a massive recruitment drive. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says the government decided to increase the Australian Defence Force’s advertising budget to help it reach its recruitment targets. Dr Nelson said the government would significantly increase the amount of money spent on advertising and promoting the ADF, and change the focus of the campaigns.

Source: More funding for recruitment ads: Nelson – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

I don’t suppose it occurred to the government that perhaps numbers were down because people don’t want to be sent into war zones on the whim of a prime minister.

The Iraq adventure has done untold damage to the ability of the defence force to attract people. The government will blather on about a tight job market, but in the end it’s the poor judgement of John Howard that has led to this problem.

The mess in the Iraq is the worst job ad you could hope for when it comes to recruitment for the ADF. People understand the different roles that can be undertaken in the ADF and there are some admirable examples of interventions at a national and international level.

However, the risk of being sent to participate in the invasion and occupation of a war like Iraq surely puts many people off. Especially as they understand that the Iraq war was inspired by the less than honourable motives of leaders in the US, UK and Australia.

The image of a career in the defence force has been damaged by members of the government themselves, and until they start to admit they were wrong about the war, WEE don’t see many people rushing to join up.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

WEE are not so sure. He is a wily old ______. There is still a long way to go to the next election and he’s been down and out for the count before. But most agree he hasn’t been quite this far down and out in his years in office. Perhaps we are really sensing a mood for change among the Australian people, and it would be quite extraordinary that in an economy that is still going strong, issues around human rights, the war in Iraq and workplace relations come into focus as key concerns for the voting public.

The war and human rights have been in focus before and haven’t damaged Howard. It’s really still a waiting game to see if he has credibility left on these issues, or if people are really just sick of the accumulation of mean-spiritedness and untruths over much of these social matters. Perhaps this election won’t be fought on “it’s the economy stupid” but rather over the broad vision of where Australia is heading as a nation in the next twenty years.

Whatever the next few months hold, it is going to get vicious. Howard will not risk the trashing of his legacy without a fight. Or… Costello. Nah, he’s left his run way too late.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post