Jay Rosen on Media and Downing Street Memo StoryPress Think's Jay Rosen speaks at the Huffington Post about the Downing Street memo story. He reiterates (and relates to the DSM story) what he has said in the recent past - that the traditional press is "no longer sovereign over territory it once easily controlled." Rosen says:"Now if there's something newsworthy coming out of the U.K. but neglected in America the political blogs in America and other activists online keep talking about it. Quickly the story's unjust obscurity will reach a political player who can change that by acting in a newsworthy way, lending fresh facts and additional reason to cover the story.
By such means the appeal of news judgment starts to take shape."
Crazy Americans
Oh! How cute! Saddam likes Doritos...and he hates Fruit Loops!
Now let's kill him!
I didn't say "Impeachment"-the Washington Post did!"If Karl Rove – that is, politics... drove Iraq policy, then President Bush would merit not only defeat, but impeachment."
- Fred Hiatt, Washington Post, January 26th, 2004
See "An Open Letter to Fred Hiatt and the Washington Post" by John Atcheson (at Truthout.org)
Atcheson says: "It’s too late for defeat, but with the release of the Downing Street Memo and other internal British documents made available to the Post as reported on Sunday June 12, 2005, the evidence that the war was politically motivated and that the administration used deceptions, distortions and outright lies to justify it, is now overwhelming. By your own assessment, it is time for impeachment proceedings to begin....
.....It’s time, Washington Post. We all make mistakes. And it’s very hard to admit them. Particularly when papers in the Knight-Ridder chain and the Guardian got it right all along, while you and your editorial page clung to increasingly transparent lies."
John Edwards Speaks About Howard Dean in Wisconsin"Howard Dean and I, and Dave (Obey), all of us are fighting for the same thing. We're fighting to give regular, decent Americans a fair chance. We're trying to stop the extraordinary damage that is being done to this country by George Bush each day. All of us may not use the same words, but we are completely united in that cause. The media needs to report the "thrust" of a message rather than picking sound bites. What most people care about is not discussion between politicians but what we can do to make their lives better."
-From WisPolitics - Edwards Tells Wausau Dems to Keep the Faith
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Other Edwards-in-Wisconisn news:
The following are the results of a recent Democratic straw poll held in Wisconsin:
Which politician would be your preferred Democratic presidential candidate in 2008?
Total votes: 299
Russ Feingold: 116 votes (38.8 percent)
Hillary Rodham Clinton: 59 votes (19.7 percent)
John Edwards: 32 votes (10.7 percent)
Bill Richardson: 27 votes (9 percent)
Evan Bayh: 20 votes (6.7 percent)
Mark Warner: 12 votes (4 percent)
John Kerry: 5 votes (1.7 percent)
Ed Rendell: 3 votes (1 percent)
Tom Vilsack: 3 votes (1 percent)
WisPolitics President Jeff Mayers interviewed John Edwards on June 12 via telephone. You can read the interview here. Edwards was visiting Wisconsin in support for Congressman Dave Obey. Edwards spoke about his willing assistance to grassroots political activists and he calls upon us to stand by our core set of convictions:"We need to build this party, strengthen this party from the ground up, not from Washington, D.C. down. Which means helping recruit good, local candidates. Making sure we have a good, strong grassroots organization so that we have the foundation that we need. And in terms of what it is we say, and making it clear to the country what it is we believe, I think we ought to fight for our core set of convictions. I don’t think we should change what we believe. I don’t think we should change our positions, or nuance our positions. I think there’s strength in conviction. We should stand by our convictions."
Who D'You Think You're Fooling, W?
Seen at Biomes Blog (Thanks, Mark).
Oh, well - at least George W. is thinking a lot more about Iraq lately - so says Wonkette.
Pol Pot or Pot Roast?
"It's not Pol Pot at Gauntanamo -
It's Pot Roast!"
- Tom Price, Republican Congressman from Georgia, on the floor of the House today
Price was hyperbolically whining for an apology from Sen. Dick Durbin, while totally neglecting to lend honest intelligence to Durbin's call to ethics and honor, which Durbin strongly and clearly sent.
Price
I think my message above graphically matches Congressman Tom Price's whiny hyperbole.
No one should apologize for waking Americans up to the truth and the call to honor and decency.
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Statement of Jamal al-Harith, former detainee at Guantanamo Bay:
I was moved [to Camp Xray/Gauntanamo Bay] on or about 11 February 2002. Before take-off I was hooded and shackled. Mittens were placed on my hands and earphones over my ears. Chains were placed around my legs and my waist. Goggles were placed on my eyes and the straps on the goggles were so tight they cut into my ears. A medical patch was placed on my forehead which I believe contained a muscle relaxant.
On arrival at Guantanamo I was placed on a barge to get me to the main camp. Whilst on the barge, US military forces kicked, slapped, elbowed and punched me in the body and head and they said repeatedly “You are now property of the United States Marine Corps.”
I was taken to Camp X-Ray, the prison camp for detainees. My goggles and hood were removed but I was told I must keep my eyes closed and I was not allowed to speak or move. My clothes were stripped off. I was placed in a shower. My chains were released so I could wash.
I was later placed in a wire cage of about 2 metres by about 11/2 metres to 2 metres. During my imprisonment by the United States Forces, I was deprived of access to my friends and family. I was never allowed any legal advice and never informed of any specific allegations or charges against me. I was repeatedly questioned to try to make me confess to something I had not done.
During the time I was detained by United States Forces I was subjected to systematic abuse which I have been informed amounts to torture under international law. I was assaulted on a number of occasions. This included being punched, kicked and slapped. In addition, I was subjected to a procedure called “short shackling” in painful “stress positions” for many hours at a time. This caused deep flesh wounds which have left me with permanent scarring on my wrists and ankles.
On occasions, unmuzzled dogs would be brought to my wire cage and encouraged to bark in a ferocious and threatening way. I was intentionally subjected to extremes of heat and cold for most of my stay whilst in Guantanamo. For long periods of my detention in Guantanamo I was kept in a filthy cage for 24 hours per day with no proper sanitation and no regular access to cleaning material. I was denied access to necessary medical care.
I was harassed in practising my religion. I was deprived of adequate food. I was deprived of adequate drinkable water. I was also deprived of communication with my family and friends. Very powerful spotlights were kept on during the night-time period which made it hard to sleep properly.
On "Obstruction"Toxic waste and shit are being pumped, by a strong, unnatural force, through the sewer pipe.
If that waste and shit escape the pipe, the ocean will be poisoned and diseased.
So what do you do?
Wouldn't you do everything you could do in order to to stop the force behind the waste and shit?
(Even though you realize 'God' may blow the shit through the pipe while you're on recess?)
Skippy Speaks and Will Soon Be Three
Par-tay!
Skippy The Bush Kangaroo is having a Blogiversary soon. It will be their third. Go and wish them a Happy 3rd - and hear Skippy, himself, on the radio.
Love ya, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo-ers.. Happy Happy Joy Joy.
Quote of the Day
"We are talking here about creating the right political preconditions for moving populations toward a war, quite a different matter from not having decided on the war."
- -Tom Englehart, speaking about the page-11 David Sanger NYT piece ("Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made") that focused on the second of the Downing Street memos. Engelhart claimed that Sanger wrote as if reflecting a situation in which no "political decisions" had been made." Sanger employed no caveat or alternative possible explanation. Englehart feels that was a very bizarre way for Sanger to have showcased his piece.
See my own comments about Sanger's article at this June 13 post. I had given the article my "Most Misleading Headline of the Day" distinction.
