David Baldinger - Cartoonist & Photographer

In the last week, two of our most senior generals with command of our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have said they oppose the use of torture or so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques.  These same generals also confirm that the use of these techniques has damaged our international reputation while producing no actionable intelligence. General David Petraeus – the figure lauded by conservatives and the person chosen by Bush and Cheney to sell the surge to Congress – said the following to Fox News in regards to criticisms of President Obama for taking “enhanced interrogation techniques” off the table: Gen. Petraeus: "Well, actually what I would ask is, 'Does that not take away from our enemies a tool which again have beaten us around the head and shoulders in the court of public opinion?' When we have taken steps that have violated the Geneva Conventions we rightly have been criticized , so as we move forward I think it's important to again live ou...

I post this because it is important to counter the virus-like spread of Cliff Kincaid's anti-Obama propaganda. Cliff Kincaid's Aug. 15 Accuracy in Media column proclaims that the Barack Obama campaign's debunking of Jerome Corsi's Obama-bashing book "acknowledges on ... that the mysterious “Frank” in Obama’s 1995 book, Dreams From My Father, is in fact the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) member Frank Marshall Davis," insisting that the admission "can only add to growing public concern about Obama’s relationship with a Communist pawn of Moscow who was the subject of security investigations by the FBI and various congressional committees which examined Soviet activities in the U.S." In an Aug. 17 column , Kincaid complains that the Obama campaign's debunking "doesn’t identify Davis as a hard-core communist and it dishonestly edits an article about Davis to eliminate references to his admitted involvement in CPUSA activities and make t...

Apparently all the wing-nuts blogging throughout the secret basements complex of the Ministry Of Propaganda hoped that they had found another "swift boat" moment to use on Obama. These people are terrified of him for some reason (and I believe it really has to do with race) and are desperately trying to derail Obama's presidential chances. The vomiting out of hundreds of cut and past articles by these bloggers about Obama's supposed Leftist and Communist ties have been polluting the web for months. How about the whisper campaign that Obama is really a Muslim and the fist bump being a "terrorist" fist "jab". Just do a search since I really don't want to provide a link to anything these buffoons post. The latest non-scandal is that Obama's repainted Boeing 757 no longer sports the US flag on it's tail. His campaign logo has replaced it. This must be another example of Obama's lack of patriotism (fuck, I'm sick of hearing that ...

What more can be said about the Right-Wing xenophobes than has already been said?

The New McCarthyism by ~ davidbdr on deviant ART Since a histrionic article about Barack Obama's childhood friendship with the African-American, Communist? poet and journalist, Frank Marshall Davis [link] appeared on the vile AIM (Accuracy In Media) website, [link] the guilt by association charge of being either a Marxist or socialist has been repeated ad nauseum by the Right-Wing hacks of the blogosphere about Obama. Apparently, Obama is a secret Commie mole working for the Communist Party USA to destroy this shining gem of Democracy into a Red gulag. The whole idea would be laughable if it were not for the fact that a large percentage of the US voting public are simpletons with no grasp of history or the reality of their own country. This BS is only going to become more ridiculous as the Right attempt to scuttle Obama's presidential chances. They really fear his intelligence and masterful oratory skills. I can't wait to see the "debates between Obama and McCain....

By Bill Van Auken 23 May 2008 Originally published on the World Socialist Web Site The most stunning revelation in a 370-page Justice US Department Inspector General’s report released this week was that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had formally opened a “War Crimes” file, documenting torture they had witnessed at the Guantánamo Bay US prison camp, before being ordered by the administration to stop writing their reports. The World Socialist Web Site , together with human rights groups and other opponents of US militarism and repression, has long insisted that the actions of the Bush administration—the launching of wars of aggression, assassinations, the abduction and detention of civilians without trial and, most repugnant of all, torture—constitute war crimes under any legitimate interpretation of longstanding international statutes and treaties. To have this assessment confirmed, however, by the IG of the Justice Department, the only senior official there not ans...

Sign the " Condi Must Go " petition. I have doubts anyone will ever do anything about the crimes the Bush administration has been involved with. This is a sad state of affairs for the USA. How many more blatant lies must we be told to our faces to put an end to this abomination of a government. Thomas Jefferson was so god damned right when he stated: "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience [has] shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce [the people] under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." -- Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of...

4000 by ~ davidbdr on deviant ART 4000 US soldiers  (officially) dead in GW Bush's pathological war for resources and a permanent foothold in the Middle East. 4000 is not nearly the monumental numbers of Iraqi dead but these deaths are just as needless.

Putin was just named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for imposing stability that restored Russia as a world power. "I presume they put him on there because he was a consequential leader," Bush said. "And the fundamental question is, consequential to what end? What will the country look like 10 years from now? My hope, of course, is that Russia is a country that understands there needs to be checks and balances ." Oh My God! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Does the Idiot In Chief actually hear the steaming horse shit that spews from his mouth? What an f'n hypocrite. If any white House reporter actually had a set of balls, one of them might have called this bastard on that statement but, of course, that would never happen.

  By Representatives and Members of the Judiciary Committee: Robert Wexler (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) On November 7, the House of Representatives voted to send a resolution of impeachment of Vice President Cheney to the Judiciary Committee. As Members of the House Judiciary Committee, we strongly believe these important hearings should begin.   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.   Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has indicated that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wil...

Our Simpleton-In-Chief, speaking to an adoring Fascist crowd at the cretinous Heritage Foundation made this ridiculous statement :   "When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protesters ."   By watching the video of the event (if one can stomach "Old Smirky"), this inanity is greeted with thunderous applause. ( video available at the White House link )   But he babbled these responses to questions back in March 2002   Q. Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you w...

Published on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 by The Hill by Karissa Marcum An Iraq war protester who got within inches of Condoleezza Rice at a hearing last week said she was shocked that tighter security did not prevent her from coming so close to the secretary of state.   If there had been more security at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, protester Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz said, she probably wouldn’t have approached Rice. “I anticipated that she would have been surrounded by SS [Secret Service] or by private security,” she said.   Photos from the hearing show Ali-Fairooz sticking her hands, which had been soaked in fake blood, in the face of a startled Rice. She then screamed that the blood “of millions of Iraqis” was on the hands of the administration.   Ali-Fairooz, a member of Code Pink who has been arrested four times in the last seven months, was charged with disorderly conduct, defacing of government property and assault on a federal officer. ...

Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 by CommonDreams.org   Mired in the disastrous Iraq quagmire, opposed by a majority of Americans, George W. Bush has reached new depths of reckless, belligerent bellowing. At a recent news conference, he volunteered that he told our allies that if they’re “interested in avoiding World War III,” Iran must be prevented from both developing a nuclear weapon or having “the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.” To what level of political insanity has this Washington Caesar descended? Only two countries can start World War III-Russia and the United States. Is Bush saying that if Russia, presently opposed to military action against Iran, persists with its position, Bush may risk World War III? If not, why is this law-breaking warmonger, looking for another war for American GIs to fight, while his military-age daughters bask in the celebrity lime light? Why is he using such catastrophic language? Surely he does not think Iran could start Worl...

GW Bush takes the blame for the massive Republican Party election loss. The elephant is the Republican Party symbol.

"We have to stand on our principles and we will be successful again," said former House Majority Leader Tom Delay , the Texas Republican who resigned in June after being indicted in a campaign-finance scandal. Democrat Nick Lampson won his old seat Tuesday. "This loss should remind us what we stand for," Delay said. "This country is center-right in terms of its values. We need to show this country that we can take leadership on those principles." Hey Tom! Shut the fuck up. What exactly ARE your principles? I know you think being handed cash is a political right. I know you think political favors are the way to run a government. I know you like to exceed your authority by calling out federal agencies to hunt down your home state's legislators. I know you like to bully opponents. I know you like to help out sweatshop owners in US territories. Explain to me where Christianity actually enters into your thinking except to dupe Fundamentalist voters? Princip...

AP Photo Posted on Truthdig Oct 30, 2006 By Rep. Dennis Kucinich Editor’s note: The Ohio Democrat sees desperation in the Republican National Committee’s attack on his potential 2006 ascent to a key national security subcommittee. The Founders envisioned and created a national government with an intricate series of checks and balances. One-party rule has demolished that system. It has led to a government which has abused the war power, corrupted the Bill of Rights, established a national security state, and sharply accelerated upwards the wealth of the nation. Under these circumstances, the American people, fed up with an illegal and untenable war, are demanding accountability and a true restoration of the two-party system. The 2006 elections will reflect the American people’s desire for a new start and a new direction. The desire for change is palpable. Few are more aware of this shift than the operatives of the Republican National Committee, who, in this election season, have attempt...

Remember this Corporate America...this works both ways. I don't have to but your products either. Media Advisory published by FAIR Air America on Ad Blacklist? ABC document: Sponsors shun liberal network 10/31/06 An internal memo from ABC Radio Networks to its affiliates reveals scores of powerful sponsors have a standing order that their commercials never be placed on syndicated Air America programming that airs on ABC affiliates. The October 25 memo was provided to FAIR by the Peter B. Collins Show, a syndicated radio show originating on the West Coast. Headlined "Air America Blackout" and addressed "Dear Traffic Director"—referring to the radio station staffer who coordinates programming and advertising—the memo gives the following order to affiliates: Please be advised that Hewlett Packard has purchased schedules with ABC Radio Networks between October 30th and December 24th, 2006. Please make sure you blackout this advertiser on your station, as they do no...

I can guarantee that you didn't see this on any national news here in the US: Angry Steelworkers Drive Bush Brother Into Subway Closet Denise Winebrenner Edwards People's Weekly World PITTSBURGH — Laughter, cheers and applause filled the Steelworkers union headquarters here, Oct. 7, when Allegheny County Labor Council President Jack Shea introduced steelworkers who had forced Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to flee into a subway closet the day before. Bush had ventured into this steel town to try to boost the campaign of Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, whose voting record is 90 percent anti-labor. “Steelworkers aren’t kidding when they say ‘Pittsburgh is a Santorum-free zone,’” said Shea. More than 150 local union volunteers savored the story as they finished their coffee, reviewed their suburban maps and assembled their two-person teams to hit the streets, ready to deliver literature and talk to union voters. The big turnout on a picture-perfect fall day usually filled with football, soc...