courtesy of Oliver Stone....and apparently just before the Presidential Election this November, says ABC News Australia........

Director Oliver Stone has landed a distribution deal with Lionsgate to get his upcoming film about President George W Bush into theatres in October, shortly before the US presidential election.

The political biography is to be called W and features No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin as Mr Bush.

Shooting is slated to start in Louisiana this week, Lionsgate said.

In addition to Brolin, the film stars Elizabeth Banks (Seabiscuit) as first lady Laura Bush, James Cromwell (The Queen) as former president George H W Bush and Ellen Burstyn (Requiem For A Dream) as his wife, Barbara Bush.

Rounding out the cast are Thandie Newton (Crash) as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Jeffrey Wright (Syriana) as former secretary of state Colin Powell, Scott Glenn (The Bourne Ultimatum) as former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Ioan Gruffud (Fantastic Four) as former British prime minister Tony Blair.

Still to be cast are the roles of Vice-President Dick Cheney and former White House political adviser Karl Rove

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While the economy, the environment, health-care and education will all be key issues in November, the choice for president will almost certainly come down to the critical issues of the war in Iraq and all issues relating to foreign and military policy.

If you thought Hillary Clinton played the "3 AM call" card, wait til you see what John McCain has up his sleeve.

As great a candidate as Barack Obama is, he will certainly be facing an up-hill battle against McCain on these core issues.

With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:

Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Thus far, Joe Biden won the Sec. of State poll and yesterday Michael Bloomberg won the Sec. of the Treasury poll (results below the fold). Today you can vote on the next Secretary of Defense:

Whatever happened to Colin Powell's Pottery Barn Rule: "You break it, you buy it"?

Iraq's Financial Free Ride May End

By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest war foes to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country.

"I think the American people are growing weary not only of the war, but they are looking at why Baghdad can't pay more of these costs. And the answer is they can," says Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Ben Nelson, of course, was one of the bright lights who voted to invade Iraq in the first place.

I think of so many things that have happened, especially since George Bush was president.
I am bitter when I think of the days after 911, when George & Co. started doing the hard-sell on the Iraq war. When I remember thinking, we can't really go to war with Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with this. But we went to war anyway.
I am bitter when I remember Colin Powell and his charts and graphs trying to justify the war, the mushroom cloud argument especially.
I am bitter when I think of Dick Cheney and how he keeps repeating the lie, even today, linking Saddam Hussein to 911.
I am bitter when I remember... Cheney?... saying we'd be greeted as liberators with flowers in the streets of Iraq.
I am bitter when I remember Cheney or Rumsfeld saying we could be there six weeks, we could be there six days. When we've been there for years now.
I am bitter remembering BushCo saying (laughably, even then, and yet people bought it) that this war would Pay For Itself!
I am bitter every time I see a yellow ribbon on a giant SUV.

As I watch the election cycle unwind and see how damn damaging this primary circus is becoming and how Obama, who should be trouncing McSame is just tied with that slug, I get pissed off.

I am royally pissed that Bush and his crime gang Pulled a stunt like this and am even more appalled that America's answer to Joachim Von Ribbentrop aka retired General Colin Powell was part of this enormity and did not resign considering how ignoble and wretched his participation in this affair is, on top of lying to the world at the UN.

Let's jump.

Ok-this is my first diary so cut me a little slack. I'm going to delve into a subject that is above my pay grade but that is really burning me up this week.

My premise is that the venerable Colin Powell, a man who has an incredible amount of respect across party lines and in the world at large, has gotten a free ride. We may need to take a closer look.

Colin Powell's name has been repeatedly floated as a running mate for both Senators Obama and McCain. General Powell's name has historically been floated as a candidate for the presidency itself. I'm one of the people who gave General Powell a pass on his presentation to the United Nations regarding Saddam Hussein's WMD programs...

Cross-posted at The Dead Guy

You would think I wouldn't have to say more. That we have all heard the news. That we all knew what was done was against the law - both domestic and international. One day, maybe soon, we all will know. One day, maybe soon - we'll see our 43rd President, along with current and former members of his administration, hauled before an international court for crimes against humanity in time of war.

In today's interview with ABC News, President Bush admits he was aware and approved of his senior advisers were making decisions, on a case by case basis, on what interrogation techniques (including waterboarding and other extreme inhumane activities) would be utilized.

One thread that can be teased out of the runup and reaction to the Petraeus-Crocker Senate briefing on Iraq is the strategic congruence between Obama and the country's best military minds - e.g., Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen, and former Secretary of State/Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell. Beyond the implicit consensus that current troop levels in Iraq are unsustainable, all three have also joined Obama in stressing the need to concentrate more force on the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Gen. Colin Powell’s message to children on Good Morning America:

...kids need to take responsibility for their own actions and for achieving success, he said.

Powell said he often tells kids, "Have a sense of shame."

And what we learned yesterday:

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

....At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Colin Powell doesn't always put his money where his mouth is. Powell recently donated the maximum amount allowed by law to Republican John McCain, but his strongest praise came for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

GARY, Ind. — Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell may have contributed $2,300 to the Republican presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, but he is reserving his strongest praise for the Democratic candidacy of Senator Barack Obama.

In a television interview that was broadcast Thursday, Mr. Powell said he "admired" how Mr. Obama handled a speech last month on race. He also said he agreed with much of what Mr. Obama had said about the controversial sermons of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

"I thought that Senator Obama handled the issue well," Mr. Powell told ABC’s "Good Morning America." "He didn’t abandon the minister that brought him closer to his faith, but at the same time he deplored the kinds of statements that the Reverend Wright had made."

The news is stunning.  Rice, Cheney and even Colin Powell (who of all people should have known better) choreographed the torture of "high value" detainees.  And we will no doubt get push back of "well it worked dammit!"  But we do not really have the smoking gun of that statement while we do have the smoking gun of having our nations leaders detailing torture techniques.

Regardless of how "successful" they were, torture is a war crime.  When are these folks going to stand trial?  When is Cheney going to be impeached and then the chimp after him?

This is much too much to just decide to sit on our thumbs and wait for the election IMO.
Update:  I missed the recced diary on this topic so please go to itHistory will judge

Most Americans realize that the military is strained by long and repeated deployments, Bush, Cheney, McCain and the neocons in the Administration continue to downplay this serious problem.  Today Colin Powell joined the ranks of those who are speaking out about the strain that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are putting on the troops.  

More Below the Fold:

I was stunned to see this story on Yahoo, and even more stunned that it has not been diaried.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's most senior advisers approved "enhanced interrogation techniques" of top al Qaeda suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency, ABC News reported on Wednesday, citing sources it did not name.

ABC reported that the so-called "principals" discussed interrogation details in dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House.

Who was involved???

Colin Powell will be the second high profile Republican to praise Barack Obama on his handling of the controversy surrounding Reverend Wright.  Powell takes things one step further, though.

"Bull in China Shop" Art By Vic Roschkov [Canadian Editorial Cartoonist]

copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

Americans are five years into a battle gone awry.  Citizens of the United States cry out, "too much blood has been spilled, too many lives and limbs were lost," we the people want to, "Bring the troops home."  Hence, Congress holds hearings.  The inquiry is intended to help define the future.  For many it is time to exit Iraq and end a futile war.  The people have questions; when and how will we complete a failed mission.  On April 8, 2008, the Senior Commander of multinational forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, American envoy to Baghdad, spoke to United states Senators and attempted to address the public's concerns.

It is very rare that the veep pick makes much of a difference in general elections. (ask Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle.) But every once in a while, there is an JFK-LBJ moment, that does make the difference of who becomes president.

the purpose of this diary is to emphasize how important it is to COME TOGETHER AS PARTY behind our eventual nominee.

If John McCain is brave enough, there are 3 candidates who could open up this divide if we don't heal it, and give the GOP new inroads into groups that usually provide the winning margin to Dems. these candidates are Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Kay Bailey Hutchison. all of these candidates can help the GOP no matter who our nominee is.

in short, any of these three would give the GOP an answer to the Democrats historic ticket. granted, the GOP choice would be at the bottom the ticket, but McCain's age and the idea that he might only serve one term makes the historic implications very real.

This is not a diary for arguing over the whether the invasion of Iraq was justified or not.  Rather, this is a piece about what happens when chickenhawks get hold of the military and live out their repressed fantasies by giving it an unrealistic mission, holding it to an impractical timeline, and generally using its soldiers as human chess pieces.

Call it overconfidence; call it arrogance, but none of the shortages I was experiencing five years ago this week really bothered me at the time.  They were planted firmly in the back of my mind, but I think I was just too busy to worry about them.  It’s only when I look back that I see how poorly planned and resourced the invasion of Iraq was from the start.