You know, if John McCain and the rest of the GOP could manage to see past the end of their noses once in awhile, and not be so obsessed with putting profit over everything else -- including human life and decency -- they would realize that without the benefit of foresight success in anything will always be fleeting.

But hell; nobody expected John McCain to see something like this coming. How could he? After all, the surge is working, right? The surge is responsible for all the progress; all the feel-good success stories bursting out like daffodils all over the Iraqi countryside. And, the success of the surge will carry John McCain all the way to the White House... right?

McCain never really knew the difference between Sunnis and Shiites anyway so naturally he failed to see this coming.

There will be wars... and rumors of wars.

It’s not enough for the Pentagon to have the best; the newest, and the most destructive weapons (and the most of them) on the planet. No, the Pentagon has to have the most lethal weapons that can strike anywhere, anytime against anyone -- then not have to lay claim to any such strike(s) -- for the sake of political expediency. It’s just what the doctor neocons ordered for trying and unstable times like these; a highly effective weapon that delivers its payload anonymously -- the perfect compliment to McCain’s war du jour mentality.

It’s affectionately referred to at the Pentagon as the "long-range blowtorch." But the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is designed like no other weapon in the world. It has the ability to remain anonymous as to its source. This is the perfect tool of war-whacked imperialism.

... in fact, The United States has far less control over events in Iraq than John McCain and his lapdog press corps would have us believe.

It’s a real tragedy that 147,000 American troops are essentially being held hostage in Iraq by the ever-changing political winds swirling 'round an ancient culture we know little about. Yet, after five-years this is our basic strategy, and it shall remain so if John McCain is somehow elected to the Oval Office.

Relying on current, relatively calm conditions in Iraq (as McCain is doing) to sustain the claim that the so-called surge escalation is working is a flawed strategy. Truth is; if McCain actually had half the "experience" in foreign policy that he thinks he does he’d realize there’s more trouble blowin' down the road in Iraq.

... sometime within the next 10 years.

I don’t know about anyone else but I cannot imagine waking up one day and finding myself totally cutoff from the world of Dkos and other progressive sites that I depend on every single day to find out what’s really happening in the world. That said, our government (at least how it stands right now) is bound and determined to control the free flow of information in and out of this country. They've already decimated the tv and radio airwaves and the print media; the tubes are next.

In fact, they’re so determined to control the collective narrative of this country, our government is said (by a very credible source) to have already drafted a Patriot Act-type document to enact (sound vaguely familiar?) in the case of a major terrorist attack on the internet.

Tech visionary and 2008 NetRoots Nation panelist Lawrence Lessig made a sobering prediction Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech Conference.

John McCain, Lindsey Graham, [and, I’m sure] Joe Lieberman, and a host of other Republican corporate-fascists in the U.S. Senate are attempting to deliver a death knell to the U.S. Constitution by adding an amendment banning habeas corpus.

They claim it would only affect detainees in Guantanamo Bay; but I would ask how long would such an amendment be limited to only the detainees at the notorious offshore prison? How long would it take for such a ban to be manipulated to better fit the greater neocon agenda? How long before we all lose habeas corpus... forever?

By the way, any so-called Democrat supporting any such antithetical amendment should immediately be thrown out of the Democratic Party, and in the case of Lieberman; he should be thrown out on his arse -- HARD.

The President would no longer be able to secretly modify or revoke a published executive order if a new bill introduced in the Senate yesterday becomes law.

Finally, the true patriots of the Senate reveal themselves and boldly issue a forthright challenge to the unchecked power of the evil despot; hell-bent on taking this country into the aphotic depths of tyranny.

Actually, Senators Feingold and Whitehouse have introduced legislation that would essentially impel Bush to bring his egregiously misused Executive Order prerogative process out of the shadows and into the ever-cleansing rays of sunlight, forcing him to publish his intentions in the Federal Register at least 30 days before the enactment of any such order.

... and lifting the Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling would increase the oil companies' debt to American citizens to $60 billion over the life of those leases.

It’s a scam, folks; plain and simple. From 1995 on, Exxon-Mobile and other oil companies have been freeloading at the expense of all Americans. In short, a bureaucratic oversight ploy has enabled a total of 24 oil companies to avoid paying more than $1.3 billion in royalties to the American people for the privilege of drilling oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico alone.

And, that’s only the beginning.

If Congress repeals the moratorium on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)drilling that has existed since 1982, these freeloading oil companies will be eligible to bid on new leases, providing them with even more record profits while American families are left holding the bag. These 24 companies have posted a combined $365 billion in profits since 2006.

Betcha John McCain didn’t see this one coming.

Ol’ smilin’ John may not be smilin’ so much when he realizes just how much money it’s going to cost to continue bribing the Sunni tribesmen who’ve proven to be a major part of the so-called success of the surge escalation. The anti-jihadists-cum-lately are in no mood for small talk these days. In fact, they’ve offered the U.S. military an ultimatum – either pony up more money or they’ll be rejoining the ranks of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

"I'll go back to al-Qaeda if you stop backing the Sahwa (Awakening) groups," Col. Satar tells U.S. Lt. Matthew McKernon, as he tries to secure more funding for his men to help battle the anti-U.S. insurgents.

This is one of those issues that John McCain regularly gets a pass for in the media. Yet, it so reeks with greed and hypocrisy that it makes me want to knock my head against the wall a few times every time I hear it.

Last year, Republican presumptive nominee Senator John McCain earned a total of $23,157 from Social Security benefits, or approximately $1,930 per month. The amount is near the maximum benefit allowed under the federal program. (benefits are determined by age at retirement)

Even after calling the program "a disgrace," McCain reportedly accepts and cashes each and every one of his monthly checks; despite having the option to refuse all benefits. (according to B.J. Jarrett from the Social Security Administration)

Never mind the torture. No apology could ever mitigate that unconscionable behavior. But, if the evidence that the expert witnesses for the defense of Canadian Omar Khadr say killed U.S. Sgt. Chris Speer, bears out; the U.S. government owes Mr. Khadr formal apologies and substantial reparations.

First, a bit of back story courtesy of the German online news site Welt Online:

The son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan in which he was badly wounded. He was 15 when he was captured and could face life in prison if convicted.

OK, I know Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, his sidekick, Minority Whip Rep. Roy Blunt and others of their ilk (including the Blue Dog Democrats) are probably having a good, long laugh over this. But, if the Democrats in Congress are really serious, and it sounds as if they are indeed serious – I’m all for it. In fact, considering the dismal state of affairs in this country right now; I think it could be just what the doctor ordered.

Sixty-nine House Democrats are sponsoring HR 808; the proposed legislation drafted by the most peaceful, democratically-minded congressman I know of, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The bill would fund and create a new, cabinet-level government agency in Washington.

And, just for good measure, HR 808 or The United States Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act (DPN) now has bipartisan support in the House.

Glen L. Carle knows about the threat America faces from Islamic extremism. He should; during his stellar 23-year career as a member of the CIA’s Clandestine Service he’s personally drafted many of the government’s most senior assessments of the threats we’ve faced by al-Qaeda and just about every other Muslim extremist organization in the world over the past two-decades.

Mr. Carle devoted his entire career to understanding and combating the jihadist threat. Perhaps that’s why he's taking such exception to the constant fear mongering promulgated by both the Bush administration and the campaign of the presumptive Republican nominee for president, John McCain. He felt the need to speak out now and he has done so in a very heartfelt and eloquent way.

If they haven’t already, Mr. Bush’s secret army of snoops & snitches may soon be infiltrating a neighborhood near you-- and you may never even know it.

Of course, right now it’s only happening in a finite number of states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. But chances are, it’s only a matter of time until this super-secret army comes a’ huntin’ terrorists dissidents at your neighborhood hangout, wherever you live in America. So, who are these sleuthhounds? That’s just it. We may never know who they are. They could be a store clerk at K-Mart; a latte barista at Starbucks or even a cable-tv installer from Comcast -- all no doubt someone's neighbor -- but all recruited by the government to be so-called "terrorism liaison officers."

The altruistic paramedic responding to your neighbor’s frantic 911 call might just be a TLO. That bearded utility worker huggin’ the top of the telephone pole down the block could be one too. In Bush’s Orwellian world you can never tell. You’re either a spy or a suspect. (the domesticated version of "You're either with us or ag'in us.")

There’s a movement afoot, folks. Insurance companies are itching to jump into America’s nascent surveillance society and their insidious efforts to do so are about to infringe upon one of your last bastions of privacy... your car.

It had to happen. I knew it was coming as far back as the late eighties when I found out that the car companies were installing those blasted black boxes under the hood. That was bad enough. But, this... this is going too far, in my opinion. I’ll be dammed if I want to become some blip on a computer screen monitored by some idiot with a sandwich in one hand and a playboy magazine in the other, paid to keep tabs on my movements from the time I pull out of my driveway to the time I make it back home.

Will it be that bad? I don't know but to me, it’s the equivalent of slappin’ one of those detention bracelets on your ankle axle.

The same CIA operative that tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraq before the runup to the March 2003 invasion has now come out to say the agency is doing the same thing with Iran. A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in late 2007 said Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program back in 2003.

Barred from using his real name, the onetime undercover agent, filed a motion in federal court late Friday requesting that the government declassify legal documents showing what he contends was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency claims. He alleged in a 2004 suit that the CIA fired him after he repeatedly clashed with senior intelligence managers over his attempts to report direct challenges to the conventional wisdom at the time about weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. The CIA refuses to make the claims public because it deems the information top secret.

While on a twilight bike run on a lonely highway near Elko, Nevada back in 1979, myself and three other saddle tramps began seeing a semi-stationary formation of odd red lights in the clear, moonlit sky ahead. As we neared, we all watched as the bright lights (five in total) hovered in a quasi-triangular pattern over a small valley at the base of the Ruby Mountains.

Always looking for an excuse to crack a beer anyway, we stopped on the side of the road, pulled out a few not-so-cold-ones, rolled a couple, and then sat back and watched the sky; mesmerized by the lights as they seemed to perform a sort of coordinated, zigzagged dance right before us. The graceful movement of the lights against the backdrop of the pitch-black sky gave the scene a sort of scifi movie-surreality. From time to time the lights fully disappeared behind the mountain range, only to pop back out again a few seconds later, still in rigid formation.

The show lasted nearly a full hour until, suddenly -- with the lights still locked in the odd geometric pattern -- the ground shook and the entire formation shot clean out of sight overhead; the abruptness of which startling me so much I almost fell off my bike reaching for the beer that just dropped like a lead weight from my hand.

This could end up being the only redeeming part of this otherwise pernicious, democracy-killing legislation. But, just like most of the legislation coming out of Congress these days, the FISA bill is poorly written in general, and still could be considered ambiguous to all but the most erudite of government lawyers.

It is small concession then that the latest version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act actually contains within it a practical clarification of what’s been a perennial question and point of contention -- in particular since September 11, 2001 -– the definition of a WMD.

That’s right; amidst all the obligatory concessions and embarrassing capitulations to Mr. 28% contained in the new FISA bill, Congress offers a brand new definition of WMDS that’s actually a marked improvement over their past attempts.

But, despite their latest effort, did they just make it more difficult to define what a WMD is?

The verbatim headline from CBS affiliate WCBSTV’s website goes like this: "IAEA Chief: Iran Could Make Nuke In 6 Months" But, what the ominous title suggests is, at least in my mind, significantly different than what the IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei meant with his statement to Al-Arabiya television on June 20.

Of course, headlines like this automatically raise red flags in the minds of those people who normally just scan the headlines instead of stopping to read the whole articles. We’re all guilty of that, myself included. After all, it’s a busy world and time is valuable.

But, that’s what makes this type of sensational-hype-journalism so dangerous for those of us seeking the truth about the issues we face as Americans, especially war; while at the same time making it so politically expedient for those in the Bush administration trying their utmost to bolster their [trumped-up] road to war with Iran.

Unfortunately, most Americans just scan the headlines.