I think from now on I'm just going to dedicate my Sunday post to correcting the flaws in columnist Patrick Mcilheran's editorials. Why? Because there are so many, of course! That's flaws, not editorials, for those of you slightly confused.

This week, Patrick made the same dubious claim that there was a connection between al-qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Let me state something unequivically to you: Patrick MciIheran is a liar. He is flat-out lying to you and I'm not afraid to state this.

Saddam had nothing to do with al-qaeda.

Need more?

Saddam had nothing to do with al-qaeda.

Still not convinced?

Saddam had nothing to do with al-qaeda. 

Patrick Mcilheran is attempting to prove a connection by citing a handful of out-of-context sentences from 600,000 pages of documents in order to prove his point, hoping you will be convinced if you believe there is still some sort of mythical liberal bias in the media, hoping against hope that you are still ignorant enough to believe the neoconservative hype that the war in Iraq has been a "good thing."

Patrick is clutching, desperately, to anything he possibly can, knowing full well that America no longer believes it. I think, deep down, he knows that he's wrong, and yet he's still unwilling to admit it, unwilling to believe that he himself was deceived and used as a propaganda tool by the Bush administration to cheerlead our country into an illegal occupation. 

I'm going to post every Sunday to expose Mcilheran's misleading statements for what they truly are. If I can convince just one of his readers to actually go out and look at the actual facts, then this entire blog will be worth it.

Every Sunday. 

There's not better way to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the illegal Iraq Occupation than with a birthday cake of truth. Yes, fine citizens, it's time for you to come to grips with the painful truth that often coincides with this particular type of mistake. In this, case, the mistakes came from our so-called "experts" on the Middle East who helped cheerlead us into war.

No doubt you know a lot of people right now who still argue that, given the facts involved, the U.S. had no choice to go into war. "Everyone was fooled," they say. "You can't blame the Bush Administration just because their intelligence was faulty." Others you know might even take it a step further and say, "Well, even the experts believed Iraq was a threat. They went on TV and said so!"

Guess what? There WAS a handful of reporters who actually went out to find the truth before the war. Their names were John Walcott, Jonathon Landay, Warren Strobel and Jonathon Landay, among others at the Knight Ridder Newspapers bureau. While Bush was handing off lies as quickly as possible, Knight Ridder was questioning the links between Saddam Hussein and Iraq, questioning every lie that was being spread on the Network news stations. The reporters at Knight Ridder were actually talking to real experts in the middle east, and they were finding no evidence of WMD's in Iraq, no connection to Al Qaeda, and nothing but lies being spread by the Bush Administration.

Click here to read the full story, courtesy of the Huffington Post.

So why weren't these reporters taken more seriously? Why couldn't the Network News anchors find this information themselves? Why did every half-blown "expert" go on TV and completely cheerlead us into a war that's cost us over $1 trillion?

Find the answer. 

So far, the most outrageous "scandal" to hit the Obama campaign has been his relationship with a man by the name of Tony Rezko, and the Clinton campaign has gone out of its way to make the most of this. There's only one problem: Obama has no problem confronting this "scandal." Not only has he confronted it, he's gone out of his way to PROVE his innocence. Recently, he sat down with dozens (dozens!) of reporters at the Chicago Tribune and literally answered EVERY question they had. Every question. He sat there for 96 minutes and literally answered every question thrown at him regarding this so-called "Scandal."

And guess what? When it was all said and done, the editorial board agreed with him. Guess why? You ready? Sit down because this is going to shock you ...

There never was a scandal. Try to think back to the last politician who was willing to sit down with reporters and let them grill him/her on a Scandal. Has it ever happened? Would John McCain sit down with reporters for an hour and answer questions about his ties to lobbyists and the various scandals that have affected him directly?

Barack Obama is going up against one of the toughest, most hard-hitting groups of individuals to have ever exploited the political system: the Clinton campaign. And if this is the worst the Clinton campaign can find, then Obama can stop the Republican Party in its tracks.

Barack Obama also made a speech on race in America, and I think it's a must-watch. As a writer, I think it's well-written. As an American, I think it's well-said.

Every Friday, I post homework. Stuff you can read, so you can exercise that lumpy ol' brain of yours that's been put through the gauntlet from too many years of television. The goal is to help you become more informed about the things that really matter, since we obviously can't trust the corporate media anymore. While ABC News is reporting on breaking news about the safety of your pet, the democrats in the House are actually trying to hold the Bush administration accountable for the laws it's broken. So take a few minutes and check these out:

The Great Healthcare Debate - Read about (or listen to) the debate between Rep. Vukmir and Dr. Robert Kraig.

"The Candidate of Permanent Will" - David Sirota's newest column about Hillary Clinton's backing of NAFTA.

Contractor Immunity? - 100,000+ contractors in Iraq and not a single crime committed? That's because they have immunity and can't be prosecuted. There have also allegedly been numerous rapes by KBR employees, all shoved under the table thanks to arbitration agreements.

"A Crisis of Faith" - Article by Paul Krugman, a great economist and tough liberal. 

The Candidates Speak - Watch all of the candidates speak to the Journal-Sentinel editorial board on a variety of issues. Hardly any reading involved!

To be sure, this year's presidential race will most likely be the most disgusting in the history of our country, bar none. Whether Clinton or Obama wins, you'll see a very specific strategy of attack by the Right Wing. Namely, either misogyny or racism. Clinton is already being heckled at speeches by men determined to make her iron their shirts (whatever that truly means ... you have to wonder where these guys are coming from). The Right Wing has already proven that it's not afraid to make any attack seem relevant. Rush Limbaugh, after all, was known to refer to the Clintons' teenage daughter as a dog while they were in the White House, so that should put things in a neat perspective for everyone out there. The first attempt at bringing down the Clinton White House was nothing short of extraordinary. Whether it was frivolous attacks on Slick Willy's sex life or outright accusations of murder, nothing was out of line and the corporate news media ate it all up.

Now let's fast-foreword to an Obama presidential race. I've already received chain email (from my grandmother no less!) suggesting that:

1. Obama is a Muslim.

2. Obama doesn't pledge allegiance to our flag.

3. Obama is implicated in a variety of crimes.

Number 3 shouldn't come as any surprise, given how closely the right wing scrutinizes the Democratic Party but cares nothing about President Bush lying us into a trillion-dollar war. The other two lies are just that--lies. They don't have any credence whatsoever. In fact, it seems the Right Wing (at least in regard to lie number 1) is confusing Obama with another dark-skinned male in Congress. That shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone well-versed in the doings of the Right Wing. Confusing dark-skinned individuals for other dark-skinned individuals seems to be the only thing the Right Wing does consistently. That and stealing elections.

Keep your eyes open and grab a blanket to fight off the cold, because this is going to be one flat-out disgusting presidential race. It may also be historical, if enough people can see through the Right Wing fog.

Yours,

Ken Brosky