S/V Tavarua

It’s hard to know where to turn today. Not only are we finding out that CIA Director George Tenet indeed briefed (then) National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice way back on July 10, 2001 about an imminent Al Qaida threat (“a 10 on a scale of 10 to 10”), but now we learn that he also briefed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Or is it that the 9/11 Commission may have known about Rice’s meeting but omitted it from the “9/11 Commission Report”? Any way you cut it, this looks bad for the junta. The October surprise is turning out to be our disintegrating republic.

Update: “Who Covered for Condi?” by Paul Sperry via antiwar.com.

“I don’t think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile - a hijacked airplane as a missile.” — Condoleeza Rice

“I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded. And now we are having to deal with it and will.” — George W Bush

“I don’t think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we’ve encountered. I guess the other area that I look at, in terms of an area where I think we were faced with difficulties we didn’t anticipate was the devastation that 30 years of Saddam’s rule had wrought, if you will, on the psychology of the Iraqi people.” — Dick Cheney

Update: I can’t resist; or is it this? Why doesn’t the FBI go arrest this man? I thought Attorney General Gonzales said he was tough on Internet pedophiles. But I guess he didn’t mean the Republican ones like Foley, who was being protected by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives for over five years. The Associated Press is also reporting that Fox News, The St. Petersburgh Times, and The Miami Herald were given copies of Foley’s emails last year and chose not to run them. This has all the earmarks of another major Republican cover-up.

Update: it gets even more surreal. Don’t miss the third comment on this page.

Worse than Watergate, indeed.

Please consider taking part in thursday’s World Can’t Wait October 5th Day of Protest. There are now 175 protests planned around the United States. Find one near you and show up. The revolution begins at home, we’re just not sure if it’s going to be televised yet. Your showing up might make the difference!

The Santa Cruz rally starts noon at the Clock Tower. The SFO one is an epic 24 hour event:

TIME: Convergence at 12 noon. THIS PROTEST IS AT LEAST 24 HOURS LONG
LOCATION: Justin Herman Plaza, #1 Market St. (near Embarcadero BART)

NO SCHOOL! NO WORK! NO BUSINESS AS USUAL! STUDENTS, VETERANS, WORKERS,
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES, IMMIGRANTS, ARTISTS -- ALL DAY AND INTO THE
NIGHT! COME ONE! COME ALL! JOIN US IN THE STREETS! GET INVOLVED!

LOCATION: Justin Herman Plaza; Convergence, march begins/ends, rally, vigil/encampment 

(We have a permit for Justin Herman for 24 hours & a permit for a Market St. MARCH)

12 NOON Convergence, youth speak-out, march send-off by Daniel Ellsberg
1 PM MARCH up and down Market street
4 PM rally and a dramatic Peoples Tribunal to indict the regime
7 PM Into the night vigil Camp WAKE THE FOLK UP broadcasting 24+ hours
9 AM (OCT 6 Friday morning) morning rally and press conference

I’m looking forward to the “dramatic Peoples Tribinal” and the 40 foot tall Statue of the Bush Regime! This should be good!