[DP5Ups8o]

It doesn't seem possible, but some of you really think there is no dirty insider deals with the neocons. Amidst all of this Abramoff filthy dealings, I am in amazement that some of you really think Cheney's connection and profit to Halliburton and the Iraq war and Rumsfeld's connection and profit to Tamiflu are just innocent coincidences.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/12/15/123353/31

Rumsfeld -- as a stock holder and former CEO of Gilead Sciences Inc., the sole patent owner of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug now being stockpiled by the Defense Department and other agencies -- stands to make millions of dollars if legislation is passed that allocates additional federal money to stockpile the anti-viral medications.

Indeed, according to calculations by Roll Call, the secretary of Defense has already seen his personal portfolio in Gilead shares rise in value by 54 percent since the date that his holdings were last calculated for a financial disclosure form.

Since that date, Dec. 31, 2004, appreciation in the stock's price has meant that the value of Rumsfeld's personal holdings in Gilead has risen by between $2.8 million and $13.77 million. His total personal holdings in the company -- assuming he has made no transactions in calendar 2005, as he has indicated -- now range between $8.1 million and $39.3 million, according to Roll Call's calculations.

A colleague summed up the outrage of this situation in an email to me this morning:

One terrible consequence of this administration's and this Congress' record of corruption and misrepresentation is that it puts us in the position of not knowing what and who to believe. Avian Flu may or may not be the threat that is described. Now that we know the enormous personal stake Rumsfeld has in the issue, coupled with the (potentially similiar) record on Iraq and Halliburton, lead everyone to fear/suspect that this is another exaggerated risk and that its solution is advanced precisely because there will be a great financial advantage to administration insiders and associates. The Frist speech the other day was a redux version of W on Iraq, full of WMD/world-about-to-end equivalents.
You neocon apoligists really think it's reasonable to think a slew of dirty money isn't being made by the neocons operating in immoral, criminal manner to make profit?

Rumsfeld just so happened to own tons of stock in the company that the US governement is ready to hand 7 billion dollars to? He didn't have any insider information to own that stock, or anything, right? Lucky guess.

Cheney has seen his Halliburton stock value has grown by over 3000% since the Iraq war started. Coincidence, one and all.

And you rubes just never are a word for the wiser.