Steven Vincent Had Hope

Steven Vincent Had Hope
..in his memory, we can speak to power - the promise has not been honestly fulfilled.

People in the blogosphere are making what they wish of a journalist's death - injecting their opinions into the reason that Steven Vincent was cut down in cold blood. Bottom line, there is no reason. He was an American - it was all the thugs needed to know. Some murderous fuck took a beautiful soul out of this world, and we know that sort of task is God's job - and God's job alone. Steven would probably have never have listened to someone like me, who would have cautioned him about his hawkish idealism. He didn't care much for anyone who wasn't "all for the cause" - a look at his In The Red Zone blog and his blogroll shows that he had put his interest and trust in the right side of the blogosphere. Many who are searching for reasons for his senseless murder are neglecting to mention that Basra is less secure than it has ever been. Steven was obviously a gentleman of conviction - brave, bold, and he probably always knew this was a possibility. In life, I know I would have genuinely liked him. I 'm so sorry for what happened to him. My heart goes out to his wife - his family. I cannot imagine that Steven would have been satisfied with the fact that there are plans for U.S. troops to pull out - with no clear "victory". God knows what's going to happen to the people we leave behind in Iraq. What have we done? What have we done? Will Steven's dream ever be realized? All we've seen is an unnecessary political war - accompanied by an endless string of lies and dirty political tricks played upon American citizens by their government. Steven's name is added to a list of at least 1800 other Americans who have died for a cause with which we strive to categorize as death for some higher purpose - but that higher purpose is not at all clear.

Update: See Timothy Phelps' Newsday column about Steven Vincent.

BTC News has a rather sinister suspicion about the death of Steven Vincent. A theory about wrong place/wrong time/ wrong target/wrong people to have pissed off.

Bill O'Goebbels

Read what the jerky Bill O'Goebbels is saying now...or watch.

The Fitzgerald Focus

The Fitzgerald Focus

One particular sentence which David Johnston has written for the NYT shouldn't surprise me, yet it seems rather news-y. I was under the impression that all we officially knew was that Patrick Fitzgerald was focusing on the outing of Valerie Plame and who may have been responsible. Johnston writes:

Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on whether in the identification of the officer, Valerie Wilson, there was a deliberate effort to retaliate against her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, for his criticism of the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.

Is the focus is on the conspiracy to do political damage to Mr. Wilson? If so, what will be the legal charges brought about with any potential indictments? This is getting more interesting - and intriguing - by the day.

Jean Schmidt insults Vets;Exaggerates About Humble Beginnings

Jean Schmidt insults Vets;
Exaggerates About Humble Beginnings

Exaggerating about your humble beginnings can be politically dangerous when a GOP candidate does it and an American Street writer happens to have grown up with the truth-stretcher. Check out Barbara O'Brien's down-home tale about Ohio candidate Jean Schmidt, who says she doesn't think that American vets from the Iraq war are qualified to serve in public office! (Hear THAT one, vets?)

Schmidt's opponent, Iraq war vet Paul Hackett, is still accepting donations here.

A note about the results of the Ohio special election: It had been 15 years since a Democratic candidate for Congress received more than 30 percent of the vote in Ohio's 2nd District and decades since a Democrat held the seat. Paul Hackett received 48% of the vote. That speaks volumes about Schmidt's ignorant comment about vets. A hell of a lot of District 2 voters disagreed with Schmidt's view that being an American vet from the Iraq war is the "wrong kind of experience" for a member of Congress. 14 Marines (from Ohio, they're saying) were KILLED today - I wonder what Jean Schmidt and other Republicans would have said about them if they'd come home in one piece and run for office as Democrats?

I'm sick of Republicans pretending they are in awe of vets - putting yellow-ribbon magnets on their ATV bumpers - then, like Jeckyl v Hyde, donning Purple Heart stickers on their cheeks to mock veterans who don't happen to belong to the Republican party. And saying the vets have no place in Congress. What a bunch of pukes.