Lying piece of crap teacher browbeats students for McCain

Gateway Pundit: Hope, Change and Child Abuse

Stop The ACLU says it succintly................

Congratulations, moonbats. You finally have your revenge for being forced to look at all those flags after 9/11. This is a day of celebration for everyone hostile to America and the principles of individual liberty for which it stands. Enjoy it while you can.

There are people lowdown enough to know in advance who and what was elected yesterday, and to have voted for the Moonbat Messiah anyway. What they have done to this country is beyond forgiveness.

But an ultra-radical leftist like Obama could not be elected in a center-right country, or even a center-left country, without a great deal of deception. Thanks to a radicalized liberal media willing to sacrifice its own long-term credibility to put a leftist in power, Obama was never publicly vetted. Moderates did not vote for a real person, but for a two-dimensional phantom temporarily conjured into being by hype.


Read the rest here

The left is supposed to be the peaceful ones...right?

Gateway Pundit: Obama Supporters Enter GOP Campaign Office & Mace Employees-- Including Elderly Women

Liberals - Double standard

What If SNL Mocked Michelle Obama? - The Political Jungle


Jen said everything that needs to be said about this

Barrack Hussein Obama thug attacks, beats then mutilates McCain supporter = UPDATED - Story made up....JAIL HER ASS

From Sweetness and Light:

Woman Attacked At ATM, Assailant Carves Letter Into Her Face

Woman Robbed, Attacked With Knife At Bloomfield ATM

October 23, 2008

PITTSBURGH — A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, police said.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard tells Channel 4 Action News that the victim was robbed at knifepoint on Wednesday night outside of a Citizens Bank near Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street just before 9 p.m.

Richard said the robber took $60 from the woman, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.

Richard said the woman refused medical treatment after the assault, which happened outside the view of the bank’s surveillance cameras.

The robber is described as a dark-skinned black man, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 200 pounds with a medium build, short black hair and brown eyes. The man was wearing dark colored jeans, a black undershirt and black shoes.

_______________________________________

They sum it up nicely over on the blog, "Of course it’s the conservatives who are the ugly thugs, right?"

Yeah, we are the thugs, meanwhile; its the lunatic left who is perpertrating the violence.

Liberals really suck

Bad

Check out sweetness and light for pictures and a video

UPDATE:

Story is made up and "victim" is being criminally charged, and rightfully so!

This woman sucks...BAD

The scary part of this story? It could very well have been true because nothing can be put past the liberals in this country

More ACORN bullcrap

From Stop The ACLU:

Delaware County (Pa.) authorities yesterday arrested a former employee of the activist group ACORN on felony theft and forgery charges for allegedly submitting dozens of phony voter-registration applications.

Jemar Barksdale, 34, of Chester, while employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, submitted 18 fraudulent forms using the names of existing voters, and 22 other applications in which the information was “completely fictitious,” according to District Attorney G. Michael Green.

Read the rest at Stop the ACLU


Voter fraud, the ONLY way liberals can win an election

Texas Fred - Barrack Hussein Obama is a LIAR

Read all about it at Texas Freds

Top ten things to do when liberals start bashing conservatives in your office

10. Stand up and sing My Country Tis of Thee as loudly as you can

9. Print out a bunch of pictures of Bush and spread them throughout the office and break areas, putting a #1 or something to that effect on the picture is optional, but effective.

8. Stand up and declare that Barrack Hussein Obama is the messiah and you would proudly lay your life down for him. Try and do this with a maniacal look.

7. Bellyache loudly that your boss is a McCain supporter and that you will "get him/her" while holding your thumb up and index finger out making a pretend gun.

6. Buy some stuffed toy pigs from the store and put lipstick on them, then spread them around the office with an Obama 08 button on them.

5. Buy everyone t-shirts with conservative logos on them, such as Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency. Be sure to wrap them up nicely or put them in gift baskets on everyone’s desks.

4. Force them to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day at work.

3. Put a donation can next to the coffee machine, ask for 75 cents a cup, tell the people in your office that 35 cents of that is going to the hobo down the street and the rest is going in your pocket to cover administrative expenses.


Add your own #2 and #1

Many thanks to Airborne Vet for her input on this list

Arizona wants ACORN Investigated

From the Tucson Citizen:

2008 Election

Secretary of State wants ACORN in Arizona investigated

BLAKE MORLOCK

Tucson Citizen

Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer has turned over information about a grassroots organizing group that conservatives have accused of voter registration fraud.

Brewer, a Republican, gave Democratic state Attorney General Terry Goddard information about the group's effort to register voters but did not disclose specifics about what the group had done wrong in a news release.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now has been accused of turning in fraudulent registration forms solicited by organizers who are paid by the number of new voters they sign up. ACORN leaders counter that the fraudulent forms only defrauds the group, because they paid to sign up a voter who can't vote.

Goddard spokeswoman Anne Titus Hilby would not discuss Brewer's complaints specifically.

"Any election-related issue that the Secretary of State's office sends to us, we will we look into," Hilby said.

Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain claimed in the final presidential debate Wednesday that the organization "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

He kept up the attack on Thursday, saying ACORN is being investigated for voter fraud "in every single battleground state" and demanding that Democrat Barack Obama detail his ties to the group.

A handful of ACORN canvassers are currently being investigated across the country by local officials on suspicion of submitting false registration cards, some with names like "Mickey Mouse" or "Donald Duck."

The group recently completed a massive registration drive in poor and working-class neighborhoods — which tend to vote Democratic — across 21 states, signing up 1.3 million new voters. Arizona was not part of that drive. Bogus registration cards filled out in the names of cartoon characters and the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys have been targeted for investigation in about 12 states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, Nevada and South Carolina.

ACORN, which advocates for the underprivileged, has said for days that it was its own quality-control workers who first noticed problem registration cards, flagged them and submitted them to local election officials in every state that is now investigating them.

ACORN hires canvassers from disadvantaged communities, pays them $8 an hour and provides them with a day of training, according to the group's spokesman, Brian Kettenring. He said those who forged registration cards were lazy employees trying to earn money for doing no work, and were fired.

Many states, including Arizona, require that every collected registration card be submitted to election officials so that bogus cards or those with incomplete information are vetted by voting professionals, not the groups that collect them.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign gave $800,000 to ACORN to organize voters in Ohio, Indiana, Texas and Pennsylvania during the primaries. He didn't win any of the races. The issue has been discussed on conservative talk radio and in the blogosphere.

Press inquiries and citizen phone calls prompted Brewer's office to turn give Goddard's office a list of complaints about the group from this and previous elections, said State Elections Director Joe Kanefield.

"We have seen an unusually high number of registration forms that were false," Kanefield said.

ACORN has turned in forms late and others that involved the same people registered a number of times, Brewer said in the news release, though no specifics were provided.

ACORN organizers say they are being "smeared" for following state law requiring all registration forms be turned in, even ones they understand won't get a new voter on the rolls, said Kristy Theilen, who runs ACORN's Tucson operation.

"You may see that Mickey Mouse has been registered, so you flag it for the elections board," Theilen said. "Mickey Mouse is, obviously, not going to vote in the election."

Theilen said ACORN-Tucson is not doing voter registration here in 2008.

The group has been active in the past and has had no more problems than other voter registration drives, said Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez.

"The problem is that, if they are paying them by the piece, you know they are going to turn them in, whether they are valid or not," Rodriguez said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
_____________________________________

Good thing Arizona requires ID to vote. Right?

huh

"KILL HIM" The non story that never was

McCain Rally "Kill Him" Anecdote A Lie Say Bye Bye To Freedom Of Speech - The Political Jungle

Voter fraud in Ohio...this has GOT to be costing us money

Thanks ACORN, or should I say, thank you Barrack Hussein Obama

From Yahoo News:

About 200K Ohio voters have records discrepancies

By TERRY KINNEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 46 minutes ago

CINCINNATI - Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner estimated that an initial review found that about 200,000 newly registered voters reported information that did not match motor-vehicle or Social Security records, Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder said. Some discrepancies could be as simple as a misspelling, while others could be more significant.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the Ohio Republican Party on Tuesday and ordered Brunner to set up a system that provides those names to county elections boards. The GOP contends the information will help prevent fraud.

"Things already are in motion to comply," Kidder said. "We're working to establish these processes on how we can make this work. The computer work actually began last week."

About 666,000 Ohioans have registered to vote since January.

Brunner previously cross-checked new-voter registrations with databases run by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle and the Social Security Administration and made the results available online, but the 6th Circuit said the information was not accessible in a way that would help county election boards ferret out mismatches.

Brunner, a Democrat, told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on Wednesday that she is concerned the court decision is a veiled attempt at disenfranchising voters. Brunner said she'll urge counties not to force these people to use provisional ballots.

The court gave Brunner until Friday to get election boards the information but it was unclear whether that deadline would be met. The court set no penalty for missing the deadline.

County election officials were trying to determine Wednesday how they will respond once they get the information.

"I'm very concerned with these new requirements as we get closer to Election Day," said Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Dayton. He said his staff already is working 16 hours a day, seven days a week.

"It's clearly going to have an impact in regard to resources we have to expend to resolve discrepancies," said Jeff Hastings, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland.

"We've had about 100,000 (registrations) since January and of those about 34,000 since the primary. We will do whatever is required of us."

Also Wednesday, the Ohio Republican Party said it has filed public records requests with all 88 counties for copies of forms submitted by newly registered voters, especially those who registered and cast an absentee ballot on the same day during a one-week window earlier this month.

Brunner has said that 13,141 Ohioans registered and voted immediately during the window.

"We've seen reports of fraudulent registrations, and we want to see those forms first-hand," said Jason Mauk, the state GOP's executive director.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Hannah in Dayton and M.R. Kropko in Cleveland contributed to this report.

_______________________________

So...the Secretary of State, a Democrat, is NOT going to do the right thing in taking only provisional ballots on the questionable registrations and instead will allow questionable voters to vote

Wonder is she is connected with ACORN? Maybe she wants the Obamasiah to win

Either way, this is a good first step, but its not complete yet.

More Voter fraud courtesy...ACORN

Gateway Pundit: Busted!... Ohio ACORN Hired 'Get Out the Vote' Workers to Canvass For Obama & Even Advertised It

OUTFLIPPING RAGEOUS

This makes me mad

From Real Debate Wisconsin:

This comes from the mother of a Racine Unified School District 8th grader. She has asked to keep her name out of this but frankly I can't add much to what she has said here but I do have one question. Did the teacher give equal time and a fair discussion about John McCain and his "life of service"? I think I already know the answer to that question. This is not education folks, this is indoctrination.

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!



My 8th grade son is in an advanced English class at a public middle school here in Racine, Wisconsin. I just found out that my son's new (copyright 2008) Wisconsin - McDougal Littell Literature book has 15 pages covering Barack Obama.

I was shocked - No John McCain, no Hillary Clinton, no George Bush - Just Barack Obama. I'm wondering how it is that Obama's story gets put into an 8th grade literature book? It would be one thing, if it was just the tidbit about his boyhood days, but 15 pages, and they talk about his "Life of Service". Honestly, what has Obama really done to be included in this book? Not only that, but on page 847 there is a photo of Obama at the 2004 Democratic Convention with at least 8 Obama signs in the background! Front & center is an www.obama2004.com sign.


Now I understand that many teachers are liberals, but does the school have the right to shove Obama down our kid's throats? All the kids grouped together and read the story. After that, they discussed it... I guess it appears that Obama is planning ahead. If he doesn't get his coveted Presidency, Obama is going to make sure, that the younger generations know all about him, and his "life of service".

If you would like to see the 15 page story on Obama, it appears that you can order this book online. There is a note in the book that says, For more on Barack Obama, visit the Literature Center at www.ClassZone.com The book is: Wisconsin - 8th grade - McDougal Littell Literature - copyright 2008. The Obama story starts on page 830. I hope you will take the time to look at this book. I'm really angry about this - In fact, I would love to rip the pages right out of this book.

By the way, you might find this interesting: I did a little checking on McDougal Littell, and it appears that MCDOUGAL, ALFRED L CHICAGO , IL 60611 - N/A/RETIRED has been making contributions to Barack Obama's campaign!

I found that information on this website.
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=IL&last=MCDOUGAL&first=ALFRED
Now I'm not an expert at these things (just a PTA mom), but It looks to me like Alfred McDougal is connected to McDougal Littell the same company that publishes the 8th grade textbook that has 15 pages on Obama. Like I said, I'm not an expert, but I'm sure you have someone who can delve into the dirty little details.

I guess my question is: Is it ethical for an Obama supporter to publish an educational book which has a 15 page Barrack Obama story in it? If the tax payers are paying for these books, why is it okay for McDougal Littell to promote Obama? This really bothers me. I would have no problem with it, if Obama had actually done something important. Why is Obama being put up on a pedestal, before he actually wins the pedestal? All I can say, is we can thank the liberal media, and now the liberal book publishers. Thanks to them, I'm sure there are probably thousands of these books all across the United States.


Great question, and the answer is no, it is not ethical.





__________________________________________________

I can't even begin to describe how mad this makes me. No different point of view, no rebuttal, just here is the obamasiah

More Acorn nonsense

Ah yes, that indelible group of do-gooders that Barrack Hussein Obama embraces so lovingly


From the New York Post:

7-YR.-OLD GETS AN ACORN VOTE
CONN. JOB TO BOOST OBAMA

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS and SUSAN EDELMAN in New York and MELISSA KLEIN in Bridgeport, Conn.

Posted: 4:23 am
October 12, 2008

O'jahnae Smith is ready and registered to vote this November.

There's only one problem: She's 7 years old.

The Connecticut girl is 11 years too young - and nobody in her family knows how she ended up on a voter registration form submitted by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"She's registered to vote?" said a surprised Jerome Smith, O'jahnae's teenage brother. "She's too young to vote."

But that didn't stop someone from forging the child's signature on a voter registration card and giving her a fake birth date that upped her age to 27. The family told The Post a drug-addicted relative may have given the bogus card to ACORN.

Voter registration fraud complaints like these continue to mount for the group, already under scrutiny in 11 states where hundreds, if not thousands, of new registrations are being questioned.

ACORN volunteers have been found to register dead people and even put members of the Dallas Cowboys on Nevada lists.

The community organizing group has a long history of flooding low- and middle-income neighborhoods in election years with temporary workers instructed to register 20 to 25 voters per day - or risk getting fired.

Most states prohibit paying per signature, but ACORN workers earning $8 to $9 an hour still have to hit their quotas. And many need the money - including some ex-cons in work-release programs.

ACORN's controversial tactics have fueled John McCain's criticism of Barack Obama, whose campaign paid an ACORN spinoff - Community Services Inc. - about $800,000 to knock on doors and urge people to vote for Obama in four key primary states: Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

In his pre-politics days, Obama ran the Illinois chapter of Project Vote in 1992, before it hooked up with ACORN.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis on Friday called for a freeze on taxpayer dollars to ACORN until recent allegations have been investigated.

Meanwhile, state authorities in New Mexico, Indiana, Missouri, Connecticut, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada have launched probes of bogus voter registration forms filed by ACORN.

Roberta Casteel, a nurse, is one of several dozen Nevada voters caught in the web of fake ACORN registrations. Casteel, a registered voter since 1991, was shocked to receive a letter rejecting a voter application she didn't know she'd made.

Authorities said they'd received two voter applications in her name: one as a Democrat and one as an independent. Both cards had her address, date of birth and Social Security number, and were submitted by ACORN workers. Neither signature matched her original one on file.

A former ACORN worker in Pennsylvania has already been charged with 17 counts of identity theft and forgery.

Other states are sifting through cartons of suspicious forms.

The ACORN shenanigans likely won't rise to actual voting fraud, stressed election law expert Terri Enns at Ohio State University.

"ACORN's problematic registrations create extra work for election boards, because they have to check them, but it's not double voting," she said.

Additional reporting by Al Branch and Bob Shemeligian

gotis@nypost.com
_________________________

Wonder if she will vote dhimmicrap?

Liberals - Just more proof that they are intolerant

This is how liberals treat opposing view points. They boo, jeer and yell angrily. I have experienced this first hand. The video drives the point home with the point that liberal theology says to silence the voices of dissent.

Need any more proof that Liberalism is a Mental Disorder?

HT To American and Proud

This man reflects the feelings and sentiments of most of America

HT To Ariel over at Flopping Aces More there on this subject

Leftist again shows the true colors of liberal theology, rejoices in the pain of others

Anyone who has been on the conservative blogosphere for any amount of time has probably read or ran across Kender.

It is known to everyone who reads his blogs that he has a herditary kidney problem that he has been dealing with all his life. STOP the ACLU has an extensive post on the matter.

So here is someone asking for much needed help and in a moment of desperation and darkness posted something which was dark and disturbing. We have ALL had these moments in our lives, sometime when we feel desperate, alone and have no options. Some people express these feelings publicly, some keep them private. The ones that keep them private are usually the ones who succeed in doing something drastic about them, such as suicide. Kender received much needed encouragement and support when he posted this, and in a moment of clarity, took his post down and properly asked for help in a post directed to HIS FRIENDS.

Ok. That is fair to ask for help, we all need it once in a while, and Kender is no exception. Our thoughts, prayers and hearts go out to him.

And along comes the hypocrite, MEATHEAD. Who gleefully is rejoicing in Kenders pain and hard times.

"It seems clear now that Kender’s “Final Post” was merely a clumsy attempt to drum up sympathy, prior to a pathetically overt plea for money.

And sadly, some folks will no doubt fall for this transparent ploy."

Yes, by all means, go and give your hard-earned money to a racist lying coward. Certainly this miserable failure that calls itself Kender has no talent for earning its own living."

Wait a minute.

Isnt the left supposed to be the "compassionate ones"?

The ones who actually care about the less fortunate and downtrodden? The ones who accuse conservatives of having no heart and not caring about people? The ones who accuse conservatives of being selfish?

And aren't conservatives the ones who have said for a long time that liberals are afraid to look in the mirror because liberals are the ones who are projecting themselves onto conservatives?

And if you think its an isolated incident, join me in viewing one of his commenters, a fellow leftist libtard who calls himself billy joe:

"Heh. Even his ‘final’ post insulted his critics :-)

And now he’s homeless? How could that be in Republican America, when the economy is so great…"


Do we really need any more proof that liberals are just a bunch of self centered, hypocritical buffoons?

Liberalism is indeed a mental disorder. Meathead is the prime example of this.

I am sure meathead will comment saying something to justify his actions. But, he will be a lone voice in the wildnerness.

How the left views free speech

By theft of personal property:



HT To Freedom Folks for the heads up

So much for our first amendment rights! I would have gone and got a cop just to prove a point. I have zero tolerance for liberals stealing personal property.

What are they afraid of? The truth!

Military hating lawyer keys Marines car

From Flopping Aces:

Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour). On December 1st, 2007, Mike went to visit a friend in Chicago before deploying to say goodbye. In order to get to his friend's residence, and keep in mind that Chicago is a myriad of diagonal and one-way streets, the front entrance (right way) to the one-way street was blocked. Mike, being a Marine, overcame and adapted by driving around the block to the other end of the street and backing up all the way to his friend's place.

While saying goodbye, at about 11am, he noticed a man leaning up against his car. Mike left his friend's apartment and caught the man keying his car on multiple sides.

After caught in the process, the man told Mike, "you think you can do whatever you want with Department of Defense license plates and tags". (In Illinois you can purchase veteran, Marine, or medal plates. Mike has Illinois Marine Corps license plates.) During the exchange, he made additional anti-military comments.

Mike called the Chicago police and had the man arrested. A citation against the man was issued for misdemeanor criminal damage to private property.

It doesn't end there. The damages turned out to be 2400 bucks which is a felony (no idea why he was cited for a misdemenor since I have never in all my years in a black & white seen a keying of a car come out to less then 300 bucks in damages) and the Marine demanded the guy be charged with a felony while in court.

*snip*

Read the rest of the article and responses. This guy is a scumbag, first class, and because he is a lawyer, he gets to act smug and like he is above the law. And the state isn't helping AT ALL.

Scumbags, all of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


*********************

Update 1/1/08 0958 (yeah, I am a little behind on this)

From Flopping Aces this update:

Attn: BlackFive

I am writing to produce an update of the results of Sgt McNulty's case against Jay R Grodner. I was present in support of Mike and thought you may be interested in an update for this story.

Sgt McNulty was called forward by the State's Attorney in order to discuss the case. I am not sure what transpired behind the closed doors, however, I overheard the State's Attorney expressing her intent to prosecute this guy to the fullest extent. It seems as if BlackFive is the sole catalyst to this story getting out and I am sure Sgt McNulty has probably heard the effect of yours and other blogs from the results of today's proceedings to include several Marines and civilians who showed up in his support.

Jay R Grodner was called before court and in his absence, the Judge issued a warrant for his arrest effective immediately. Sgt McNulty was departing the court when Grodner rolled in to the courtroom more pathetic than anyone I had ever seen. The Judge had questioned him on his tardiness and he explained that traffic had been busy and he 'made a wrong turn'. The Judge chastised him for his tardiness, pathetic excuses, and that he was lucky the warrant had not been executed prior to his arrival.

It seems the blogosphere has put the ball in Sgt McNulty's court. Furthermore, it is also apparent that the State's Attorney's Office has decided to take this matter on a much more serious level. A new and very aggressive State's Attorney seems to have a genuine interest in pursuing this case to the extent that it warrants.


____________________-

This is the power of the conservative blogosphere at work folks...the MSM and certainly dimwits such as dailykos would never have this kind of positive influence to do what is right, nor would they report on the idiocy of this "lawyer" and the sheer meaness of what he did. ... oh excuse me ... "Allegedly" did.

Bush Derangement Syndrome worms its way into Bhutto assasination

What the feck?

Someone had to find a way to blame Bush, didnt take them long did it?

From Yahoo News:

Where Bhutto's Death Leaves the U.S.



By MARK THOMPSON AND BRIAN BENNETT/WASHINGTON 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

The weeks to come will determine just how severe a blow Benazir Bhutto's death is to Pakistan, but debate over Washington's role in the run up to this tragic day will continue well beyond that. Even as the smoke still lingered in Rawalpindi, President Bush demanded that those responsible for Bhutto's death be caught and punished. "The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy," Bush told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where he had arrived Wednesday to begin a long New Year's holiday. "Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice."

But there are some who think the Bush Administration is not without blame. Hussain Haqqani, a former top aide to Bhutto and now a professor at Boston University, thinks the U.S., which has counted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a key ally against terrorism since 9/11, bears some of the responsibility. "Washington will have to answer a lot of questions, especially the Administration," he says. "People like me have been making specific requests to American officials to intervene and ask for particular security arrangements be made for her, and they have been constantly just trusting the Musharraf Administration." U.S. officials said they were leery of intervening in another nation's internal affairs, and didn't want to give Bhutto Washington's imprimatur.

Haqqani is not shy about pointing fingers. He blames Musharraf himself, above all, for Bhutto's death. "It's quite clear that Musharraf does not want an election - you can quote me - he is the one who has constantly wanted anybody who can threaten him or his power, out." Haqqani told Congress in October that U.S. aid for Pakistan has for too long been tilted toward the Pakistani military. "Since 1954 almost $21 billion had been given to Pakistan in aid," he told the House Armed Services Committee. "Of this, $17.7 billion were given under military rule, and only $3.4 billion was given to Pakistan and the civilian government."

It is Musharraf's iron grip on power that has made Washington's own policy toward Pakistan such a target of criticism. While Washington has publicly extolled the virtues of democracy and hoped that Bhutto's return to Pakistan in October would usher in a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, it was also clearly nervous about the instability if the country's strong man were to lose power entirely. Pakistan - the world's second-most-populous Muslim nation, with elements of al-Qaeda and the Taliban controlling lawless mountainous pockets in the northwest - is also the only Islamic state with a nuclear arsenal. And though Washington publicly says Pakistan's nuclear weapons are safe, there are always private concerns about their security, concerns that will only heighten in the wake of Bhutto's assassination.

The U.S. has few options in Pakistan. One thing is clear, says Peter Galbraith, senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation: It is "not a good idea to have 70 nuclear weapons in the hands of a country that is falling apart." Some observers believe that U.S. policy in Pakistan has favored personalities over principles. "We have a bad habit of always personalizing our foreign policy," says P.J. Crowley, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. "We've done it with Musharraf, and we did it with respect to Bhutto. We are very good at providing technical support to the Pakistani army. We are not good at building indigenous or effective local political processes or strong institutions of government." Given the realities on the ground, the U.S. is likely to continue to throw its support behind Musharraf. "In terms of political leadership, Pakistan does not have a deep bench," says Crowley.

Some will say Bhutto had a death wish; one U.S. official even termed her presence at large-scale campaign rallies "foolhardy", given the Karachi suicide bombing that killed more than 140 people on October 18, the day she returned from exile. She returned to Pakistan and faced a range of powerful anti-democratic enemies, including both religious extremists like al-Qaeda and corrupt branches of the Pakistani military and intelligence services. "When you have the criminal and corrupt in the same camp it makes for dangerous bedfellows," says Arsalan Iftikhar, contributing editor to Islamica magazine. "In a sense Benazir knew she was on a martyrdom mission. She was willing to give up her life for democracy."

Senator Joseph Biden, the Delaware Democratic and presidential candidate, echoed Haqqani's view that Musharraf, at a minimum, didn't provide Bhutto with adequate security. In fact, he twice urged the Pakistani President to bolster Bhutto's protection. "The failure to protect Ms. Bhutto raises a lot of hard questions for the government and security services that must be answered," said Biden, who is also chairman of the foreign relations committee. "The U.S. should offer any assistance necessary, including investigative teams, to get to the bottom of this horror."

Still, the former top U.S. military commander in that part of the world said it's wrong to blame Musharraf, or the U.S. "I think it is al-Qaeda - they're the only ones who gain from this," says Anthony Zinni, a retired four-star Marine general who served as chief of the U.S. Central Command - responsible for Pakistan - from 1997 to 2000. Zinni rattled off reasons for al-Qaeda's wanting Bhutto dead, including her commitment to democracy, her secular views, the blowback it will create for Musharraf, and her gender. Beyond that, Zinni says al-Qaeda - making marginal progress in Afghanistan, backsliding in Iraq, and rebuffed in Somalia - is looking for a new battlefield. "I really think they're trying to ignite Pakistan into the kind of chaos they need to survive," Zinni says, "and create a fundamentalist, even radical, Islamic government." "This is one of the worst things that could happen to Musharraf," he continues. "In part, because he'll be accused of doing it."

Zinni also disputes the idea that Washington could have done anything to prevent the assassination. "You want Blackwater out there providing security for her?" he asked, referring to the controversial U.S. private-security firm implicated in the deaths of many Iraqi civilians. "The losing of Pakistan - to whatever degree we've lost it, and I wouldn't write it off yet - goes back to after the first Afghan war," Zinni says, when Washington neglected the Afghan-Pakistan border roiling with insurgents. "We put them in a bad situation that we helped create," Zinni says. "I'm no fan of this Administration, but you can't criticize this Administration for what they inherited."

___________________________

Ok, so since when is the safety and security of leaders of countries the responsibility of the United States and NOT the government of that country?

For years we have been hearing cries to stay out of middle east policy, now we hear that we need to intervene at such a micro level as to manage the security for leaders?


I wont even go into to who was President after the first Afghan war but suffice to say that we didnt invent this situation, it was created by another country altogether.

Bush derangement syndrome...seriously, it should be listed as a mental health issue