TYT - This Bush Lie Mashup Will Make You Angry All Over Again

TYT - Why Obama and Bush Should be Arrested With Snowden

A Wee Bit More Than a Fistful of Dollars

Trey Smith

In the late winter of 2002-03, the war drums were being beaten by the Bush administration as they successfully convinced most of the American public to support an attack on Iraq. Among their selling points were a) the Iraqis would welcome us with open arms (they didn't); b) the war would be over and done with in a matter of months (it wasn't) and c) that it wouldn't cost very much, certainly not more than $100 billion (wrong again).

In 2003, I lived in Salem, OR and served as the Executive Director of an organization called Citizens for Livable Communities (CLC). I testified before the Salem City Council in support of a resolution to oppose the war. One of the points I made was that only a fool would believe that the projected price tag would be so small. Naively, I quoted several pundits who contended the price tag could be as high as $180 - $200 billion dollars.

Yesterday, a study was released by the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. They estimate that the predictions I quoted -- ones that I was assailed for in print and face-to-face -- were WOEFULLY inadequate. According to the study,

The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest.

Think of all the positive and life-affirming things we could have done with $1.7 trillion dollars. It boggles the mind.

And what did we get for this large outlay of taxpayer dollars? Hundreds of thousands of dead and injured Iraqis, most of them guilty of nothing more than living in their home country. A huge national deficit that is the chief cause of an austerity budget here at home. An Iraq today that is on the verge of civil war. But several major corporations -- buddies of the Bush administration -- made out like bandits.

So, I guess it was worth it after all, right?

Afternoon Matinee: Impressionists - Frank Caliendo III

Afternoon Matinee: Impressionists - Will Ferrell

Protecting Their Own

Trey Smith

Near the end of August, the Obama administration did something that was a foregone conclusion. In an announcement by US Attorney General Eric Holder, the ONLY two cases of torture that transpired during the Bush years that the Justice Department had chosen to investigate were closed without ANY charges being filed. It was bad enough that among a myriad of documented instances of torture that Holder's unit only decided to investigate two of them, but not to prosecute a one of them? That defies all credulity!

As usual, Glenn Greenwald provides a superb documentation of the vast injustice that took place. And why was Barack Obama so insistent on shielding the wrongdoings of his predecessor? Greenwald writes that, "Obama is motivated to shield Bush officials from accountability for their crimes in the hope that once Obama leaves office, he, too, will be gifted identical immunity from the rule of law."

This is a very important point. Just like Dubya, Barack Obama has done many things that don't jibe with US law and our hallowed Constitution. He unilaterally committed the US to a war (Libya) without Congressional approval. He has created a "kill list" which deprives US citizens of due process. Both of these actions -- and these represent only the tip of the iceberg -- could well be subject to investigation and prosecution once he leaves office.

By shielding the potential criminals of the previous administration, it is his expectation that his act of "benevolence" will protect him as well (vested self-interest). In a sort of wink, wink agreement between the supposedly adversarial mainstream political parties, major crimes -- some against humanity -- are swept under the rug so that future such crimes will receive the same treatment.

If Bush officials can get away with heinous forms of torture and Obama can get away with creating "kill lists" that include US citizens, it should make each one of us shudder at what future presidents will be allowed to get away with!!

Afternoon Matinee: Lewis Black on Gay Bandidos

Afternoon Matinee: Lewis Black on Duct Tape and Lies

Afternoon Matinee: Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room 2/10

Afternoon Matinee: Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room 1/10

Afternoon Matinee: Biblically Incorrect, 7 of 8

Warning: Bill Maher is a self-professed pottymouth!

Afternoon Matinee: Biblically Incorrect, 6 of 8

Warning: Bill Maher is a self-professed pottymouth!

Afternoon Matinee: Biblically Incorrect, 5 of 8

Warning: Bill Maher is a self-professed pottymouth!

Afternoon Matinee: Biblically Incorrect, 4 of 8

Warning: Bill Maher is a self-professed pottymouth!

Afternoon Matinee: Biblically Incorrect, 3 of 8

Warning: Bill Maher is a self-professed pottymouth!

Afternoon Matinee: Best of the Bushisms

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 51

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 50

Afternoon Matinee: Deceptions - Chapter 2

W Under "House Arrest"

Former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have become quasi-official ambassadors for a variety of causes since they left the confines of the Oval Office. Both jet around the globe. But not George W. Bush. It's not that he isn't interested, it's more that he is unsure what might await him upon touching down in numerous nations, particularly in Europe.

A planned trip by Bush to speak at the Switzerland-based United Israel Appeal later this week has been canceled after several human rights groups called for Swiss authorities to arrest Bush and investigate him for authorizing torture...

Ouch! That's gotta hurt!! He has gone from being viewed as the most powerful leader in the "free" world to a potential arrestee in scores of countries.

I'm guessing that isn't the sort of legacy he was aiming for.