Donald Trump does not believe Osama Bin Laden is DEAD? Does he really need to see the death certificate?

Some of the theories still being echoed by Pakistani politicians, mullahs and journalists: Bin Laden died of natural causes years ago in Afghanistan. He had his hands and feet bound by plastic straps, carried into the house on a helicopter and executed in a US operation to embarrass Pakistan. His bodyguard shot him in the heart, but he survived with "supernatural strength", until he requested his loyal follower shoot him in the head.


In case you missed it, the following story is still the best written account of the special operations' mission to get Bin Laden published to date:

The New Yorker
Getting Bin Laden
What happened that night in Abbottabad.
by Nicholas Schmidle
READ MORE...

Honestly, even almost one year later, this blogger still has no secret, morbid desire to see the photos of Bin Laden's dead corpse. I agreed with President Obama's original decision not to add visual fuel to the geopolitical fire.

Given the nature of our open and progressive society, at some point in the future, perhaps as a result of the Freedom of Information Act, the images of Bin Laden will be released. IF it's 50 years from today, so be it.

This was the most expensive manhunt in U.S. history. The original mission in Afghanistan was to find, kill and/or capture Osama Bin Laden. Perhaps his death will open the political door so our troops can return home.

If the Navy Seal mission in Pakistan had failed, would the GOP have made it a campaign issue? 

Cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's in mice?

So, why does the U.S. Federal Government provide medical research grants to universities?

In case you missed it, this week there was breaking news that some medical hope may be on the horizon for millions of families battling the darkness of this dreaded disease.
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Newt Gringrich for President?

Seriously? Really? Could General Ripper's conspiracy theory linking "fluoridated water" with a Communist plot to weaken American society be true? Every time this blogger reads about the candidate's recent surge in the polls, a single rhetorical cliché best describes my thoughts regarding Newt's book selling run for the White House:

Can you say "Lipstick on a Pig"?

Despite Newt's well-documented, extremely checkered political record, a growing number of Republicans actually believe he's the best candidate to beat President Obama in 2012.

Good luck with that one!

Perhaps Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who's NOT known for her intellectual prowess or problem solving skills, put it best. On CBS' Face the Nation, Bachmann stated, "He's the 'King of K Street. For a person who's been influence peddling for over 30 years in Washington, D.C. - to think that Newt Gingrich is somehow an outsider, when he is the consummate establishment insider?"

Hopefully, between now and the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, GOP voters will WAKE UP and take another look at Jon Huntsman and Buddy Roemer. Otherwise, Republican voters should be prepared for the GOP to suffer its biggest Presidential defeat in its long, proud history. In terms of Jon Huntsman, he has an extremely strong foreign policy background (which during the Cold War actually meant something with Republican voters). As far as supporting a candidate like Buddy Roemer, well, GOP voters could walk away from a 2012 defeat with dignity and some glimmer of hope for the Party's political future.

Political Quote of the Week:
"If a corporation is a person, I can't wait until they get drafted in the next war."
~ Buddy Roemer on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show
December 8, 2011



Photo Credit: Peter Rimar's wife in a gallery located in Beijing's 798 Art District (May 2008).
Reference Links:
Lipstick on a Pig
Dr. Strangelove

The Former King of K Street Speaks Out?

"Our system is flawed and needs to be fixed."
~ Jack Abramoff
60 Minutes
November 6, 2011




According to the Center for Responsive Politics (based on data collected from the Senate Office of Public Records), in 2010, 12,951 lobbyists worked the corridors of power in Washington D.C. on behalf of a long list of corporate clients. Read More...

If you think corporate influence on the democratic process is limited to just the White House and Capital Hill, think again.

The residents of quiet North Dakota, a state rarely mentioned in the national media, got an education on the real workings of crony capitalism. Earlier this year, the former Republican Governor personally lobbied the state's representatives in Bismarck to lower the tax rates for oil companies. As a thank you, one extremely grateful oil company gift wrapped a new job title and 11,945 shares of its own stock (worth over $770,000) to Ed Schafer. Read More...

No Higher Honor:
A Memoir of My Years in Washington ~ Condoleezza Rice (Hardcover)

This week in American History?

Poor Rick Perry & Michele Bachmann. Who actually remembers the Presidential Election of 1936? Alf Landon? Or his running mate Frank Knox? The latter of which went on to serve under FDR as Secretary of the Navy during World War II, but I'll leave this feel good political story for another bipartisanship kind of day.

So, what else happened THIS WEEK? The approval rating for the U.S. Congress, the bedrock of this country's democratic principals and ideals, is now in single digits. According to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll, only 9% of the American people think our representatives are actually doing a decent j-o-b. While GOP voters are still searching for a Presidential candidate to support, Congressional incumbents from both parties are wondering if they'll still have a j-o-b after the next election.
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Beyond Lindsay Lohan posing nude for Playboy, the #Occupy Wall Street Movement and the ongoing trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, one story got this Blogger's attention. While it's a story which will never appear as some future newspaper sidebar highlighting this week in American History, it's a story which reminds us all, that during this specific week, the United States is still a country at war:

CBS News
Soldier in Afghanistan killed during
14th deployment
October 25, 2011
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...reflections...

IUC Nurse at the bedside of Medal of Honor Recipient 
Marine Corporal Jason Dunham 

Ibn Sina Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq

April 2004

Photos by Peter Rimar.