Keith Olbermann Video Shows Bush Admin Actions Pre-9/11At Raw Story David Edwards has provided us with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's fantastic video of the Bush administration's pre-9/11 actions and failures. A transcript is also provided. Don't miss it. Keith and staff have done a thorough job.
At American Street, Barbara O'Brien has wisely gathered a collection of selected excerpts from writings and coverage over the past few years that convinces her that "every ball that could have been dropped, was dropped" by he Bush administration pre 9-11:I have never said that President Clinton was blameless, or that there wasn’t more he could have done. But the elevation of the hapless and clueless George W. Bush into some kind of Demigod of National Strength has got to be one of the most pathological events in American history. For generations historians will be looking back on our little era and asking, “How could so many people have been so blind?”
..and I'd be remiss if I didn't include Barbara's advice for Democrats:I think the time is ripe for Democrats to pull a Karl Rove and mount an attack directly on Bush’s alleged “strength.” It’s past time to dismantle the Big Lie that George W. Bush is an effective leader against terrorism.
Whatever else happens, please help keep this issue out in the light. Don’t let the VRWC cover it up again. Don’t let the lies continue.
SeptemberDeparting summer hath assumed
An aspect tenderly illumed,
The gentlest look of spring;
That calls from yonder leafy shade
Unfaded, yet prepared to fade,
A timely carolling.
- William Wordsworth, ‘September’
The Last Daisy of Summer
Then summer fades and passes
and October comes.
We’ll smell smoke then,
and feel an unexpected sharpness,
a thrill of nervousness, swift elation,
a sense of sadness
and departure.
- Thomas Wolfe
The Bumble Bee Partakes of Early Autumn's Delights
By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer's best of weather And autumn's best of cheer.
- Helen Hunt Jackson
*all photos by Jude Nagurney Camwell in her very own garden
The Clinton Global InitiativeOriginally posted SEPTEMBER 20, 2006, there are now transcripts available of each session (posted below):
President Bill Clinton at the 2006 CGI Conference
The second annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) officially launched this morning with an opening plenary session which included First Lady Laura Bush and panelists including President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, President Alvaro Uribe Velez of Columbia and Javier Solana, the Secretary General of the Council of the (EU) European Union.
President Clinton introduces First Lady Laura Bush
At the plenary session, President Clinton announced the first five commitments of 2006, including a commitment by Mrs. Bush to provide thousands of citizens in sub-Saharan Africa with safe drinking water. Mrs. Bush committed a $16.4 million pledge from USAID, PEPFAR, the Case Foundation, and the MCJ Foundation. These committed funds will provide Play Pumps water systems to more than 1000 communities and schools in sub-Saharan Africa to provide thousands with safe and clean drinking water. It's both an ingenious and simple idea. It harnesses human nature and child's play to make it work.
The panel at the opening plenary was mediated by NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who asked a question of each panel member - "If the 'Clinton genie' could grant you one wish - what would that wish be?" I will provide some of their answers for you at a later time.
President Johnson-Sirleaf stressed the belief that the people of her nation's localities need to set the priorities for their needs in order for those needs to be realistically and successfully met. (re: schools, clinics, business needs, etc). The returning refugee population in her once turbulent nation need tools and seeds for farming in order to revive agriculture in Liberia.
President Musharraf made a plea for a return of diplomacy in world affairs. During the panel session, he stressed that a global divide was growing and that problems in the Middle East contribute to that divide. He sugested that we all need to build bridges rather than to burn them; to move away from extremism with something other than simply a militaristic solution. He stated that it was his opinion that Pope Benedict XVI's recent words - the ones that inflamed so many in the Muslim world - were "unwarranted." He believes that many in the Islamic world are already experiencing poverty and hopelessness; they feel a sense of abandonment and misunderstanding. "Rubbing salt in their wounds" is not a successful solution. He said that the cart cannot be put before the horse - that the Palestinian conflict lies at the core of many of the problems of extremism and terrorism. He doesn't trust that struggles such as the Iraq War will "fall in line" until the Palestinian problem has been resolved. He touched on some other political topics that I will cover in future posts.
Mrs. Bush speaks
Secretary General Javier Solana said that, without security, there can be no successful development. We all have a responsibility to protect the innocent from genocide - and we must remember that there are consequences when we use that very word. When Mr. Friedman asked Mr. Solana about a single policy change the EU could take right now, he said world leaders need to continue working together toward the alleviation of suffering and as a force for international security. Barbara O'Brien (Mahablog) has a lot more on Mr. Solana.
Keeping busy in the press room.
Afternoon SessionsThere were afternoon sessions held on four focus issues: Climate Change, Global Health, Poverty Alleviation, and Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict.
All transcripts can be seen by linmking the topic:
Energy and Climate Change: Saving Energy Sept 20 Part 1 - - Part 2
Global Health: Condition Critical: The Health Care Infrastructure Chasm Part One - - Part Two
Poverty Alleviation: Transforming Agriculture to Empower the Poor Part 1 - - Part 2
Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict: Meeting the Challenge of Coexistence: Living in Integrated Communities Part One - - Part Two Video/Webcasts: 10:00 AM EST
Opening Plenary and "Urgent Issues & Innovative Solutions"
1:30 PM
Working Session: Energy and Climate Change: Saving Energy
1:30 PM
Global Health: Condition Critical: The Health Care Infrastructure Chasm
1:30 PM
Poverty Alleviation: Transforming Agriculture to Empower the Poor
1:30 PM
Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict: Meeting the Challenge of Coexistence: Living in Integrated Communities
5:00 PM
Effective Action, Lasting Results
I listened in to workshop sessions on Global Health and Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict. I also have some video from a Press Conference held later in the afternoon by the session leaders. I'll share that with you at my earliest opportunity.
Later on...
Some of the bloggers who attended the CGI conference at a Press Reception.
One thing I'll leave you with is that I've talked to a few people this evening and one common thread running through the opinions offered about Day One of this conference is that the issues and the way they're being aproached and embraced by those participating in the CGI commitment process is generating a feeling of hope for this world that few have sensed for a long, long time.
Russia Helping Iran Complete Its Bushehr Nuclear PlantZaman.com:
A group of Iranian officials have been in talks with officials in Moscow to get a promise from the Moscow administration to finish the power station in Bushehr as well as to supply nuclear fuel to it.
The document specifies March 2007 as the date when Iran will receive 80,000 tons of nuclear fuel from Russia.
An agreement signed in 1995 in Tehran initiated the nuclear power station project in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, now nearing completion.
Russian officials are struggling to complete the $1 billion project despite heavy pressure from the U.S. administration.
The United States is accusing Russia of helping Iran to increase its chances of obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran’s argument is that it is entitled to have nuclear works for civilian purposes; however, the United States remains adamant that Iran is seeking access to nuclear weaponry.
Interfax:
Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Sergey Kiriyenko told a Thursday press conference dedicated to the Atomic Energy Industry Day in Moscow.
"I can see no obstacles for further cooperation with Iran," he said, referring to energy projects and the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
The construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant "is strictly in line with all international norms and requirements, and it does not breach the non-proliferation regime," he said.
