Agitprop: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Propaganda

Kafka and the Classroom

Guess what New York?

Los Angeles Unified has rubber rooms too!

Department of Fearmongering

Chertoff is at it again:

Terrorists who had planned to detonate gel-based explosives on U.S.-bound flights from London last August would have achieved mass devastation, according to new information from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

Please - this 'plot' has been discredited so many times it's not even funny.  Here's a just a few steps in the hours-long protocol that, perhaps, produces a big bang:

Once the plane is over the ocean, very discreetly bring all of your gear into the toilet. You might need to make several trips to avoid drawing attention. Once your kit is in place, put a beaker containing the peroxide / acetone mixture into the ice water bath (Champagne bucket), and start adding the acid, drop by drop, while stirring constantly. Watch the reaction temperature carefully. The mixture will heat, and if it gets too hot, you'll end up with a weak explosive. In fact, if it gets really hot, you'll get a premature explosion possibly sufficient to kill you, but probably no one else.

After a few hours - assuming, by some miracle, that the fumes haven't overcome you or alerted passengers or the flight crew to your activities - you'll have a quantity of TATP with which to carry out your mission. Now all you need to do is dry it for an hour or two.

Can't the Loyal Bushies cut this shit out?  At least during the summer travel season?

So Now It's 'Benchmarks'

Why does everybody get so excited about benchmarks?  The Boy King will just tack on a signing statement saying he doesn’t have to pay attention to them.

don't adjust your dial

In the comments of this post Frederick asked: "How is it our Generation is so dead?" Busker argues that television is the culprit, citing the discovery of the mummified remains of a 70-year old Long Island, NY man sitting dead for more than a year in front of his blaring television set.

Since we're talking 'bout all things tee-vee, may I direct you to a post I wrote on the subject a couple years back. I'm not sure if it's the content or the medium itself that is the cancer, but either way my generation (Gen X) is dosed. Any thoughts on why we're so dead?

Another Bu$hCo War ...

Fearful that a new cold war between the U.S. and Russia is just around the corner, Russian Foreign Secretary Sergueii Lavrov called for:

[T]he establishment of a world government, bringing together the United States and Russia. Lavrov's call comes at a time of a chilling of relations between Moscow and Washington and amidst signs of a new Cold War. Moscow is wary of the establishment by America of a front of "New Democracies" in Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Georgia to counter "the Russian Bear," which is powerfully awakening. In an interview granted to the magazine "Russia in Global Politics," Lavrov said that bringing together a "chorus" of major nations into a world government will eliminate the jockeying for power that creates imbalances. Lavrov was certain that "most countries will welcome such a grouping of leadership."

Isn't that cute!  He thinks the Dear Leader will share his toys!  Another thing:  who's going to break this to China?

read more:  bush russia sergueii lavrov impeach bush china world government eastern europe

Porter, We Hardly Knew Ye ...

At Agitprop, we have yet to jump into the Porter Goss fray.  Now that he's headed back to sunny Florida and the Isle of Sanibel, however, we feel it's time to sort the wheat from the chaff - sort of like intelligence work.

Poor Porter - some say he resigned over a turf battle with John "Jacuzzi" Negroponte, the Supreme Director of All Intelligence.  Some say he's involved in Fornigate along with his number three, a spy named (no really) K. Dusty Foggo.  Two camps have sprung up around the Fornigate - one says the hookers were women, one says they were men (the last not a good thing if you're a rabid conservative).  Others say Goss has wrecked the CIA with his heavy-handed partisanship.

At Agitprop, we're rooting for the hookers - a blow job seems to be the only thing that reliably takes administrations down.  But we ask you, dear readers ... why do you think Porter got thrown under the bus?

read more: porter goss cia war on terror impeach bush george bush dusty foggo fornigate

One Step Closer To 1984

Net Neutrality?
"No Soup For You!" Sez The House of Representatives!

By a 34-22 vote, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee rejected a Democratic-backed Net neutrality amendment that also enjoyed support from Internet and software companies including Microsoft, Amazon.com and Google.
[snip]
Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and committee chairman, pressured his fellow GOP members to vote against Markey's amendment--even going so far as to remind them that he opposed it and to call in wayward colleagues who had strayed out into the hallway. Net neutrality is "still not clearly defined," Barton said. "It's kind of like pornography: You know it when you see it."

Well this should kill off a few blogs!  At Agitprop, we're sure the Senate will save us all from this fate.  Click here and here to learn more about Barton, an atavistic little Texas thug owned by the oil industry.

read more: joe barton net neutrality big oil impeach bush ed markey

Drip, Drip, Drip ...

What in the wide wide world of sports is going on here?  First, Scooter leaks (but with the permission of the Dear Leaker, says the think tank scholar). Then we find out that the Dear Leaker leaked the super secret NIE in an attempt to bolster the non-existent case for the Iraq War.  Now, it seems Condi "We-don't-torture" Rice may have leaked classified info about Iran to some AIPAC types.  A similar leak to the very same AIPAC duo landed a lower level Pentagon official in jail.

Of course, Bush/Cheney/Condi/Scooter leaks of secret stuff are doubleplus good!  On the other hand, a senior career CIA officer who leaks information about secret European terrorist prisons is doubleplus ungood.  Looks like Condi won't be dragged out of the State Department in cuffs anytime soon.  Whew - this means Operation Enduring War™ can proceed apace.  Next stop - Iran!

Larry Johnson's take on Mary McCarthy's firing is here - esssential reading as he concludes she was likely a whistleblower on the secret prisons.

read more: condoleezza rice scooter libby dick cheney iraq iran war on terror impeach bush george bush aipac

Obey and Conform

Oh shit.

hat tip, graphic (Dr. Wilhelm O'Goebbels) by Doug Hoffman
tags: bill o'reilly fox news o'reilly enemies list internet trolling george bush

A Dozen More Brownies

Senate Schmenate!
Bush Wants His Brownies!

[source: Raw Story] The Senate is out of town, so the Dear Leader decided to appoint more Brownies. The crony list includes Ellen Sauerbrey, a complete failure from Maryland, and Julie Myers (she's the one married to Chertoff's chief of staff).

What's next? A federal district judgeship for Jack Abramoff?

tags: michael brown george bush michael chertoff ellen sauerbrey julie myers impeach bush

Bu$hCo Propaganda Effects Wearing Off!

What's Worse?
The First Number, or the Second?

from PR Newswire:

Read it and weep:
Twenty-two percent (22%) of adults believe that Saddam Hussein "helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11th." However, all of these beliefs and others have declined sharply since the questions were asked in February 2005. For example:

Those who think Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda have fallen from 64 to 41 percent.

Those who believe that Iraq was a serious threat to U.S. security are down from 61 to 48 percent.

Those who think Saddam Hussein helped plan 9/11 are down from 47 to 22 percent.

Those who think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction are down from 36 to 26 percent.

Those who think Iraqi hijackers attacked the United States on 9/11 have fallen from 44 to 24 percent.

tags: iraq war on terror saddam hussein al qaeda 9/11
graphic: The General

Bring Me The Head Of Howard Dean!

Son of Reagan Calls for Death of DNC Head!
Can Hugo Chavez be Far Behind?

First Ann Coulter called for the death of random American journalists. Then Pat Robertson suggested that Hugo Chavez be offed. And don’t forget Fox News “Military Analyst” Col. David Hunt's call for the death of a federal judge.

Now Son of Gipper Michael Reagan has told his Radio America audience that "Howard Dean should be arrested and hung for treason or put in a hole until the end of the Iraq war!" Reagan was reacting to Dean's comment that the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq "is just plain wrong."

Tomorrow on Rush: Radio host to call for airstrikes on Congressman Jerrold Nadler!

[via Buzzflash] tags: iraq war on terror michael reagan howard dean ann coulter pat robertson david hunt

Bolton Wants To Shut Down U.N.

Didn't They Learn Anything Back in 1995?

You would think the Repugs learned something after being blamed for shutting down the government in 1995 in service of their ideology. But no. Not satisfied with having pissed everyone off in their attempt to shut down the U.S., now "diplomat" John Bolton is attempting to shut down the U.N. He wants to prevent passage of "the organisation's 2006 budget until member states approve wide-ranging management reforms."

At this point, even the Poodle's government is against Bolton. When Bu$hCo loses the Brits, game over! [via Raw Story.]

tags: john bolton United Nations impeach bush bush administration

Cindy Sheehan Found Guilty

George W. Bush Still Walks the Earth
Insults China, Labels Non-Believers "Irresponsible"

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, was found guilty today of protesting near the White House without a permit. She and 26 other activists were ordered to pay $75.00 each in court costs and fines. Sheehan will appeal.

The Dear Leader, however, was found guilty of nothing. After calling for the Chinese to print more bibles and labeling as (wait ... meme approaching) "irresponsible" those who criticized him for lying about prewar Iraq intelligence, Bush prepared for the next destination on his Asian trip: China.

Someone should start a fund so Cindy Sheehan can tail Bush around the world as he jets from one photo op to the next. With the problems he has, he's going to be out of the country a lot.

tags: cindy sheehan iraq george bush impeach bush john murtha china

Dear Leader's Timing a Coincidence?

The Dear Leader strode boldly to the podium today at 10:26 EST to talk about ... the War on Terror [sic]. At the same time, Louisiana Governor Blanco testified before a Senate committee about Hurricane Katrina. On WNYC, host Brian Lehrer said the MSM was cutting away from Blanco to cover Bush. Obviously, it was important to cover the Dear Leader's clear and incisive analysis of the killing of Abdullah Abu Azzam, yet another No. 2 al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. "This guy's a brutal killer," Bush said.

Then WNYC lost the feed of Blanco's testimony. Lehrer, half-jokingly, said not to assume there was some conspiracy. But putting aside the missing feed, what was learned at Bushie's photo op? There will be more killing? Duh. Terrorists bad, al-Qaeda really bad? Check. The jaded would think Bush was trying to silence Blanco. The Dear Leader must be doing this because ... Blanco's with the terrorists - yeah, that's it. All hail the Dear Leader.