You're paying taxes that support this war, whether you like it or not.

Vice President Dick Cheney's defense company KBR, with $16 billion in no-bid contracts - 8x the work of its nearest competitor - doesn't.

From the Boston Globe:

"Over the course of the five-year war, their tax bill would have been more than $500 million."

Here's how they do it.

Get UPPITY! Let your Wisconsin Senators know what you think about this.

Shoddy work by Vice President Cheney's (former?) private defense companies in Iraq and Afghanistan is resulting in U.S. soldier deaths by electrocution.

Halliburton and KBR whistleblowers and U.S. military personnel brought the problems to light as early as 2004.

And they were mocked for their concerns and lied to.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth - a highly-skilled Green Beret - was electrocuted in the shower in a Baghdad military compound three months ago, and the Army told his mom that he died because he brought an electrical appliance into the shower with him ... like the woman just fell off an applecart or something.

These are the same people who wanted us to believe a public relations fairy tale about Pat Tilman and Jessica Lynch.

I may never stop puking.

One lie in a civil deposition about consensual sex caused the Republicans to impeach Bill Clinton.

Nine-hundred and thirty-five Bush administration lies leading the nation to a terrible war shattering the lives of millions have not even merited a Congressional investigation.

I was disgusted some weeks back when talking head Michel Martin said on the Bill Maher show: "But how do you – why – why is it so invested in the idea that (the Iraq War was based on) a lie, as opposed to a mistake? I guess what I’m just curious about is why."

From Nichols at The Nation:

Three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee have called for the immediate opening of impeachment hearings for Vice President Richard Cheney.

Democrats Robert Wexler of Florida, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on Friday distributed a statement, "A Case for Hearings," that declares, "The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens."

It's one of those things we don't like to talk about, but Dick Cheney got his first taste of politics in Wisconsin, back in the time of Gov. Warren Knowles.

Maybe that's why people with Wisconsin connections keep writing about him.

The latest is Steven Hayes, a Wauwatosa native who writes for The Weekly Standard, one of the right wing's favorite rags. He's written a new Cheney bio, with a lot of access to Cheney's inner circle and the man himself. Craig Gilbert writes about it in the Journal Sentinel.

Cheney was pretty sure he'd like Hayes's book better than the one written by another Wisconsinite, John Nichols of the Capital Times and The Nation.

Nichols's book, as unauthorized as they come, is entitled, "Dick: The Man Who Is President."

The White House Phone Number Is ...

202 456-1414

"It is time for the American people to be heard — I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law." — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del, reacting to the commutation of Lewis Libby who both leaked and covered up the leaking of a covert CIA agent's name after the agent's husband had exposed one of the main lies used to sell the Iraq war.

Call 202 456-1414.

###

Disgrace.

Sure you have heard by now. If there were any doubt that this administration believes that laws and rules are for other people, and not them, and that this government is theirs' to rule as they please, such doubts must be cast aside.

We can no longer credibly assert that this is our government; this is a cabal accountable to no one; we do not live a democracy under this administration.

This commutation of a liar and an obstructor of justice will go down in the annals of American shame.

The reaction of the American people to this outrage will be revealing of the extent to which America remains a democratic republic as we head into Independence Day.

Statement by the President
The White House Office of the Press Secretary
Monday, July 2, 2007; 5:53 PM