``This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically,'' Kennedy said. ``This whole thing was a fraud.''

This is quite an interesting statement from Mr. Kennedy, charging that the move to war was politically motivated and that the Bush administration announced it as such. I doubt he would have said this unless there were facts to back this up. Quite despicable really if it's true...and guess what...it is.

The Senate's liberal lion said Bush must be held accountable for the ``rush to war'' in the face of no ``imminent threat,'' skewering Bush with rhetoric unmatched in Congress or among the pack of Democrats running for president.

Actually Bush should be held accountable and in all honesty is accountable. There is no way around that. People should remember that Bushco turned up the heat and created a situation where war was inevitable despite the outcry from the rest of the world and much of the United States. Always remember too that Powell was against the whole deal until it was clear...and it was made quite clear by the Bush administration...that there was no way around this, they were doing it no matter what, so get in the boat or jump overboard...these were the only options. They gave the finger to all dissenters.  

``This is a bankrupt policy and the American taxpayers are paying for it and the American soldiers are paying for it every day,'' Kennedy said in an interview.

This is a simple statement of fact from Ted. The two groups paying for this are American Soldiers...with their lives...and American taxpayers...and now 87 billion please, hand it over. There is no political partisanship in these words. If you think there is...well you truly are lost and ignorant.

He said Bush's kitchen cabinet in Texas invented the threat on the eve of an election year.

This is not a quote but what the writers of the story see as the meaning behind his statements. Therefore it's not particularly relevant.

Republican New York Gov. George Pataki called Kennedy's comments ``reprehensible.''

They don't use Pataki's full quote, just the word "reprehensible". I think what's reprehensible is that Pataki would support the notion of not standing up and saying something is very wrong when it's clear to you that it is. Ted's not alone in this notion and there is loads of information to support what he's saying...which is in fact not at all radical in any way and should not be painted as such. We elect these people to support our beliefs and to tell us what the hell is going on. Not to sit on their hands and shut up because some people would feel that's more appropriate, that in fact is not an "American" idea in any way shape or form.  

``Anybody who has been to as many funerals as I have of Colorado soldiers who've died serving their country in Afghanistan and Iraq has to in fact find what Sen. Kennedy said today to be extremely disturbing and at significant variance with the facts,'' said Republican Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

Honestly Owens should take his head out of his ass. He's talking about burying our young men (and women) and then calls Kennedy's comments "extremely disturbing" when in fact Kennedy has just said these soldiers should not be over there getting killed at all. What "facts" is this moron looking at?  Umm, it's ok to bury these guys for the sake of political points at the polls? No link was ever established between 9/11 and Saddam. No WMD were ever found. No proof was ever put on the table to show that Iraq was an imminent threat to the US either before we attacked or after. We got taken advantage of because we as a nation were shell shocked after the 9/11 attack. The Bush administration rushed us to war. Those are not "political statements", those are the fucking facts.   

Kennedy's remarks, echoed - though with less fire - by Democrat Howard Dean campaigning in New Hampshire, marked a new verve by Democrats to undercut Bush's wartime popularity.

Don't you think that maybe Kennedy is one of the millions of people who actually can see we got screwed here and this is not all about undermining Bush at the polls? This is one of those cases where opinion enters a story a little. You can call it fact that the Democrats are going to bring this up and that sure it will politically hurt Bush, but let's face it...Bushco made these moves and threw all the bait in the water...it needs to be brought up because it is wrong...all politics aside.  

The comments came a day after Bush admitted there were no ties between Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Well this took a while huh?

The admission followed weeks of denial by Bush administration officials that they inflated talk of Iraq's burgeoning nuclear threat and its access to weapons of mass destruction.

Eventually they'll have to come clean on this too. What do you suppose they are waiting for?

``We've had shifting explanations by the president, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense,'' Kennedy said. ``The American people are entitled to a real explanation of what this war was really all about.''

Again nothing radical in Ted's statement here. This is true, they've shifted more often than the sands of time. Who would not agree that we are entitled to an explanation of why Bush is spending our money and getting our soldiers killed...pretty damn simple idea isn't it?

The Massachusetts Democrat said there was ``no question'' the war was politically motivated, evidenced by Bush's new demand for $87 billion in bonus funding that is suddenly a top priority.

This is a matter of accountability...and accounting...where is this money going? Halli...ahh, what's the name of that company? Somebody is filling their pockets on this...

``This was not on the agenda going into the August recess and it was number one on the agenda after the August recess,'' Kennedy charged. ``There's no question this administration made a rush to war, that's a fact.''

He's right...these are facts he states above.

Since Bush is spending more than $4 billion of taxpayer cash each month to fight the war, Kennedy said Americans deserve accounting.

This is sure true. Can anyone think of better ways to spend the 4 billion? I sure as hell can.

`This thing is out of control, Americans want transparency - this is all taxpayer money,'' he said.

It certainly is out of control and guess who can put a stop to it. The voters.

He said a recent Congressional Budget Office report showed only $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent each month can be accounted for, suggesting Bush is using it to bribe world leaders to now help his cause.

``My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops,'' he said.

Ahh, Bushco...they are so full of surprises. We could have stuck with the UN instead of trying to crawl back to them now looking for support because of the mess we've made. Nah, it was easier and more in their interests to play on our fear after 9/11 and get over there and grab Iraq while the grabbing was good. Now we're fucked over there and we probably have to bribe other nations to pitch in now. Idiotic really.

Dean told a Londonderry, N.H. audience that Bush should be ashamed for letting Americans think Saddam and al Qaeda worked ``hand in glove'' on the 9/11 attacks. Saddam, Dean said, ``was a horrible person but he was not a threat to the United States.''

Somebody should break the news to Howie that these guys don't feel shame. Saddam was an easy sell to the American people and to top it off he was easy to find. Now he's well...having coffee with Osama I guess. We sure as hell can't find him now right?

The White House declined comment on the remarks.

What a surprise there. Normal mode of operation for Bushco isn't it?

But, appearing with other GOP governors at a Republican Governors Association meeting in Boston, Vermont Gov. James Douglas accused Kennedy of straying ``totally out of bounds.''

``To undermine or to impugn the motives of the president and all those who voted to do this and call it a political game or calculation I think is totally out of bounds, totally inappropriate,'' he said.

Another guy that's totally lost there. We elect these guys in the hope they will stand up and say something and fill us in. When the hell did this change? Why do these Republicans seem to think it's "out of bounds" to point out something that should not be happening? This stuff is absolute bullshit. I have grown so sick of hearing these guys saying that if you disagree with the president and say so it's "inappropriate". That is so off the wall I'm thinking maybe this guy should be committed. We can't even get a clear picture of what the president's  motives are. That's what Ted is asking for. Put your damn motives on the table. Such horseshit from these guys. The President does not get nor does he deserve a free pass because he's President. You have to earn the respect of the people. Bush is clearly not doing that. This whole idea that we should just be silent and go along is absolutely nuts. People should be jumping up and down about this. The President is a public servant. An elected official put there to serve the will of the people and he is accountable to the people. When the hell did that stop?

``I hope that we will not fall into the temptation to establish political policy or take political shots based on what we find out after the fact,'' Romney said.

What do you suppose Romney means by this? We should just shut up when we discover we've been had and say nothing about the fact that this administration can come up with no evidence to back up attacking Iraq...that pointing out these facts is taking "political shots"? It seems to me that the right wing take on this deal is, "So what we were wrong. Just shut up about it!"

I don't think so guys.

                                            Reg