Bush wants African Oil

Bush still looking for oil.
This time in Africa.

Bush's trip to Africa is causing him follow a Clintonesque path.
God, I'll bet Bush hates that comparison after saying in 2001 that Africa wasn't on his radar.
(I don't think there were too many blips on that radar at all, frankly).

If you hear Bush telling you he wants to get these poor folks out of poverty so they won't turn to terrorism -while he's concentrating on oil development for US interests- consider this (from the article:)

"The problem is that money going into the oil industry tends to fill the pockets of top politicians who grant access for exploration and drilling. Millions in “signing bonuses” and other concealed perks make a handful of people fabulously rich, but do little for the population at large. Indeed, the inflow of foreign exchange to oil tends to create relatively few jobs and allows countries to import, rather than manufacture, the goods they need. In the end, most developing countries that have oil as their economic mainstay are embroiled in conflict and mired in poverty."

The only way Africa has gotten on Bush's radar is OIL.
It's the same old same old.
At present, the United States imports about 18 percent of its oil from Africa. Iraq isn't panning out. OPEC is holding together and keeping their prices up.
There is no cheering in the Arab streets for what we have wrought in Iraq.
I guess it's time for some good old down-home expoitation of Africa.
Just watch. I'll bet Bush, all hubris and Godspoken, will be bold enough to look for the African-American vote
for all his "humanitarian" effort in Africa. Remember all the good he's doing with promised money for AIDS-curing drugs
for Africa...while sliding an ex-pharmeceutical honcho into the number-one oversight position.

If it's not Big Oil, it's Big drugs. It's always Big sumthin' with Bush and his ilk.
If it ain't Big, it ain't bringin' in the campaign contributions.
Money is the ONLY thing that makes Bush-style Republican policy work.
There is no virtue alone that could make today's GOP policy socially appropriate.
Money is their message. We are the United States of Amoney-ka.
If you ain't got the dime, Bush aint got the time.

If Bush really wants to help the poverty-stricken, perhaps he should look a little closer to home.
See this story from the Guardian.

If the following statement from the story is true and it could be proven, Bush should be promptly impeached and imprisoned.

excerpt: "Democrats believe the Republicans are being encouraged by the White House to cause chaos in the hope this will lead to the recall of the Democratic party governor, Gray Davis, and his replacement with a Republican, possibly Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Talk about being anti-american! Dragging your nation's economy down purposefully for political gain? That, my friends, is criminal.

What's happening to what was once such a great, virtuous, and noble nation?

Howard Dean, Webmaster

From the Howard Dean blog today:

Howard Dean, Webmaster
Adam Nagourney looks back at Howard Dean's Monday numbers and gets the complete picture in the Sunday New York Times' Week In Review :

"Political strategists have become increasingly fascinated with the Internet as a potential new force in political organizing and fund-raising.
But no one seemed to understand how effective the Web could be until Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate,
reported last week that he had raised $7.5 million in the second quarter of this year — with $4.1 million coming from his Web site.
Dr. Dean blew past his competitors, drawing checks and clicks from almost 59,000 people, which he suggested was a record.

It's not just money. Using the Web to get out the vote — replacing telephone banks and doorbell ringing — suddenly seems very real.
Dean supporters organized meetings nationally last week through Meetup.com, drawing 55,000 people in 250 communities.
Is it any surprise that Joe Trippi, Dr. Dean's campaign manager, would be proposing that the Web would transform politics as
much as television did after the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates?"

___________________________

My own comments as posted on the Howard Dean blog:

"Here is the key to it all...this is how Dr. Dean will, as we look back, have come strolling refreshingly on in and surprised them all:

Using Adam Nagourney's astute comment:

"....no one seemed to understand how effective the Web could be until Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate, reported last week that he had raised $7.5 million in the second quarter of this year — with $4.1 million coming from his Web site."

Many in Big Media just don't "get it" yet.
They're a tough crowd. Very slow to come around to reality sometimes.
They are beginning to understand..and voices like Nagourney's are powerful in getting those in journalism who are far too often wobbly and reliant upon "old-school" to come around to the truth of what is happening out here.


I love these music ideas, by the way.
Especially the Billy Bragg.

I've always loved this Peter, Paul, and Mary song..and in this day and age of Patriot Acts, Total Information Awareness, and sunshine patriots, it reminds me of the hope that still lives in our hearts...the hope that Dr. Dean symbolizes, for me:

HOME ON THE RANGE /
DON'T EVER TAKE AWAY MY FREEDOM

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam
And the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Three horses grazing out my window, brown, black and white they stand
Rolling pastures they can wander, free and easy is their land

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

I always thought that I'd see in my own lifetime
An end to poverty, injustice and war
But now I've learned that that job will take a long, long time
So there's one thing that must endure

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

When I am old and thinking over the whole life that I've led
If there's one final wish left to me
I will pray that the children, who are yet to be born,
I will pray that they will always live free

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

There is a time for the singing and the sunshine
There is a time for the thunder and the rain
There is a time for the changing of the seasons my friend
But there is one thing we must never change

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

Traditional / Peter Yarrow

____________________

Irrelevant Journalism-Part 8941

Heard on the Chris Matthews show today:

Howard Fineman of Newsweek reading a letter from a friend he claims is high-ranking in the US Military.
He states that he had received the letter three weeks ago:

"Have I got news for you!
The reporters have fled and the real stories have just begun...Iraq is a mess."

Why did the embedded reporters disappear?
(The ones supported by so many of our tax dollars)?
Was it because the Bush administration claimed "victory"?
What made it a victory, really? Was it that gigantic statue that was pulled down and stomped upon?


Saddam-Did we really get him? Click here for answer.

Was that the end?

Hardly.

Ask the American families of over 60 men who have died since then.

Where are the embedded reporters now that the real stories have just begun?

They're back in their Bushworld where the big news today is wag-the-dog Liberia.

Carefully crafted Attention Deficit journalism.

The mess in Afghanistan has been all but forgotten (as we once again negotiate with terrorists in the Taliban out of the media-scope).

Will Iraq soon be relegated to the back-burner?

They're already trying..while troops are still dying.

It's Worse Than It Seems

From the blogs:
Is the draft coming soon?

It's Worse Than It Seems
By Steve Gilliard / http://www.DailyKos.com

"...Viceroy Jerry has asked for 50,000 troops to maintain his rule. There's one small problem with that. There aren't 50K to give. The US military is nearly at the end of it's deployable strength and needs to withdraw the 3ID as soon as possible...."

"....didn't we disregard our allies sane, rational, and logical suggestions about how to deal with Iraq? Now, we expect Japanese and Korean troops, forget French and German to help us out?"

"The request for troops is a political minefield and one which places the Army at it's limits. The war was supposed to be over, 50,000 men getting their Iraqi visas puts that to the lie once and for all. It would awaken opposition to the war and not solve the problem..."

"The Shia will determine what happens in Iraq regardless of our desires and will. The Army is stretched to the limits with no clear source of more troops. And there are no simple answers to any of this. Bring it on? We have brought it on, more than we can handle without grim choices..."

TEMPERAMENT WARS

TEMPERAMENT WARS
By James Traub
New York Times Sunday Magazine, July 6, 2003

"Why are the Democrats so much more willing than the Republicans to make political sacrifices in the name of procedural fairness or of good government? Maybe Democrats are just nicer, but a more philosophical view is that liberals are committed to, are in fact bedeviled by, ideals about process that do not much preoccupy conservatives, at least contemporary ones. Liberals put their faith in such content-neutral principles as free speech, due process, participatory democracy. Is that too lofty?"


Bitter charging is all the GOP knows.


"The G.O.P. is making such inroads among younger voters for the same reason that Fox News is making inroads among younger viewers.
We live in a culture that values brazen certainty and loud conviction, no matter how wrongheaded.
Pity the Democrats, stuck with the wrong set of virtues..."

George W Bush- Lies With Lips fully in Gear-Delusions of Granduer Also Spinning Madly

Army Times Editorial Shows the Truth -What the Average Military Man and Woman Are Thinking of George W. Bush's Empty Rhetoric

George W Bush lies with his lips fully in gear---his God-stimulated delusions of granduer apparently alive and intact--
how else could he make so many vacant promises and statements devoid of actuality?

The rhetoric is far more empty than the stuffed "man-area" of AWOL Flop Gun Bush's flight suit on the day he lied on and on about
victory in Iraq-- the combat being over--the mission "accomplished". Does he take active servicepeople and Vets for fools?

Veterans and active servicepeople can tell when a leader is trying to rip away at the social programs that benefit them.

They can see a phony leader feeding them pretty lines-- and they can see when the pretty lines have no substance
to transform 'pretty' to active reality.


A man's own life is important to him. So is his country and his beloved family.
The soldier thinks not about God's bestowal of grandeur upon his leader when following orders of that trusted leader.
The soldier concerns himself not with any glory his leader hopes to attain, but simply hopes for the grace of his God in the face of death.

If you think you aren't happy about the thought of perpetual war (allegedly inspired by God) at the drop of your leader's
war-mongering 'bring-em-on' hat, think about the men and women with their very lives on the line....and the families who love them.

"His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States.
So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of
the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category."

David Rubenstein, Carlyle managing director

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Poor Rich Little Loser-boy Dubya


He was down on his luck. Needed sumthin' to do. He liked tellin' lots of dirty jokes.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __

David Rubenstein said:

"....when we were putting the board together, somebody came to me and said, look there is a guy who would like to be on the board. He's kind of down on his luck a bit. Needs a job. Needs a board position. Needs some board positions. Could you put him on the board? Pay him a salary and he'll be a good board member and be a loyal vote for the management and so forth.

I said well, we're not usually in that business. But okay, let me meet the guy. I met the guy. I said I don't think he adds that much value. We'll put him on the board because - you know - we'll do a favor for this guy; he's done a favor for us. We put him on the board and spent three years. Came to all the meetings. Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I kind of said to him, after about three years - you know, I'm not sure this is really for you. Maybe you should do something else. Because I don't think you're adding that much value to the board. You don't know that much about the company.

He said, well I think I'm getting out of this business anyway. And I don't really like it that much. So I'm probably going to resign from the board.

And I said, thanks - didn't think I'd ever see him again.
His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States. So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category.

from an actual tape obtained by freelance reporter Suzan Mazur who recently posted a partial transcript on the Progressive Review website.

See Democracy Now story re: a tape recording of Carlyle managing director David Rubenstein to have "A Look At Why The Carlyle Group Wanted to Drop George W. Bush From Its Board A Decade Ago"

A day to 'begin the world over again'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Fourth of July, 2003
John Nichols: A day to 'begin the world over again'


The Fourth of July falls on a Friday this year, which is great news for the three-day weekend crowd that complains bitterly most other years about having to go to work the day after they "celebrate" the anniversary of the nation's birth.

In a country where just about every national symbol - from the flag to the presidential oath of office - has been bent to serve the interests of commerce and leisure, it is amazing that we still celebrate the Fourth of July on the Fourth.

As long as no one tells John Ashcroft or Dick Cheney that this holiday honors revolutionaries who threw off the chains of colonialism, empire, monarchy and the state-sponsored religion that were - and remain - the primary threats to freedom and human advancement, the Fourth is probably safe from interference from our contemporary King George and his churlish courtiers.

But how should Americans who take seriously the promise of a revolution - "that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights" and "that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among these men (and women), deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" - go about celebrating this Fourth of July?

Should we raise the red-white-and-blue banner of the Republic? Well, of course. Though it has been dragged through the mud by so-called "patriots" who continue to engage in the sort of military adventurism that both Washington and Jefferson warned against in their farewell addresses to the nation, this remains the flag of the Wisconsinites who marched south to banish the crime of slavery from this country's soil. No flag has yet been associated with a nobler military endeavor than the Stars and Stripes when it flew above those who battled the Southern scoundrels who marched beneath the banner of human bondage.

Should we celebrate the founders themselves? Yes, within reason. It is true that many of the men who made this nation were flawed. The best of them admitted as much at the time. The worst were revealed in time. But no one who cherishes liberty should hesitate to raise a cheer for old Tom Paine, who wrote of Americans in 1776: "We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation similar to the present hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of the new world is at hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the events of a few months."

As America celebrates the 227th birthday of the new world, however, it is important to recall that Paine also reflected upon the prospect: "If you subvert the basis of the revolution, if you dispense with principles and substitute expedients, you will extinguish that enthusiasm and energy which have hitherto been the life and soul of the revolution; and you will substitute in its place nothing but a cold indifference and self-interest, which will again degenerate into intrigue, cunning and effeminacy."

Paine's warning anticipated this degenerate moment, in which Americans are awakening to the prospect that the president and his advisers intrigued the country into a foreign misadventure that stinks rather too much of the imperialism Americans once associated with the British crown their forebears revolted against.

Should we despair at the realization of Paine's worst fear for the land? Perhaps a bit. But Paine would surely warn against surrendering to that despair. These may, in fact, be the times that try men's souls. But as Tom Paine suggested in 1776, such times are where the false patriots are separated from the true: "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as definitional a pair of summer soldiers as ever will be found, can lead their sunshine patriots in celebrations of imperialistic conquest and their allegiance with Tony Blair and what remains of the tattered British realm. The sons and daughters of Tom Paine will stand this Fourth of July and honor the revolutionary spirit that revolted against the corruptions of empire.

Copyright 2002 The Capital Times


http://www.madison.com/captimes/opinion/column/nichols/52132.php

Seen on the forums

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I noticed this on a political forum yesterday--liked it ;)

"Bring 'Em On"

If your aim is to bait the enemy,
You don't have to watch what you say.
You just have to do all your taunting
From a very safe distance away.

By DC Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listen to Howard Dean's NPR Interview -- Transcript Now Online

Go here to listen to
Bob Edwards' interview with Howard Dean on July 2.

American Prospect article on Dean campaign

Don't miss this article from American Prospect (link here). They have a good handle on what's really happening with the Dean campaign.

Doonesbury today

See the Doonesbury cartoon for today, July 4.

Bring 'em on?

These were Dr. Dean's comments on Bush's dangerously thoughtless and macho-impulsive Bring 'em on" statement yesterday:

“Today, President Bush provoked Iraqi militants targeting our soldiers in Iraq, saying ‘Bring them on.’ This was incredibly reckless rhetoric.
These men and women are risking their lives every day, and the President who sent them on this mission showed tremendous insensitivity to the dangers they face. This is the wrong message to send to our troops in the field and their families who wish them a safe return. President Bush should focus on encouraging the keeping of the peace, since that is now our mission.”

Friends listen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention… "
Rachel Naomi Remen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Dean's Surge in Fund-Raising Forces Rivals to Reassess Him

July 3, 2003
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MICHAEL JANOFSKY

WASHINGTON, July 2 - Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor making his first bid for national office, raised substantially more money
this quarter than all his more established opponents in the Democratic presidential contest, according to figures released today.

The result forced Dr. Dean's rivals to reconsider how to deal with an opponent they had until now viewed as little more than an irritant..... "

"...many Democratic leaders said they continued to view his candidacy as something of a long shot...."

Jude's comment: What "Democratic leaders"?

"....Dr. Dean's showing was unexpected - even by some supporters - and reflects some of the different approaches he has brought to
campaigning, starting with his clearly effective reliance on the Internet to raise money. His rivals seemed uncertain just what to make
of this turn of events..."

In several campaigns today, there was debate about whether - or, in some cases, when - to begin attacking Dr. Dean directly,
and how to do it without alienating the new voters he has drawn into the political process.

Jude's comment: Attacking Howard Dean? That's no way for the other Dem candidates to score confidence points...
Democrats want to hear a plan for America...not an attack on a fellow party-member.

"..I think most Democrats would prefer not to have Howard Dean as the nominee," Mr. Gephardt's campaign manager,
Steve Murphy, said. "I'll leave it at that....."

Jude's comment: What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

"....An aide to Mr. Lieberman said: "Everyone wants a race against Dean. Everyone has looked at the research, and he
looks easiest to bring down. He's positioned himself as a liberal, and liberals don't win here..."

Jude's comment: Famous last words of a loser. I'm terribly disappointed in Lieberman.

"...What the Democrats want more than anything else in the nominee is someone who can beat Bush - Democrats just want to win,"
this Lieberman aide said....."

Jude's comment: LIKE---HELLO?!?

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Re-Lighting the Torches of America's Soul

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re-Lighting the Torches of America's Soul
By Bernard Weiner
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers



HOPE ON THE HORIZON

In short, the building blocks are almost in place for serious impeachment moves and a possible electoral victory in 2004. The keys to these hopeful developments lie in:



1. MAINTAINING THE PRESSURE. Bush&Co. cannot be permitted to select a scapegoat and thus avoid personal responsibility for the lies told that put American men and women into harm's way in Iraq, and that continue to get many of them killed. (Clinton harmed himself and just a few others as a result of his lying about sex; when Bush lies, people die and our treasury is depleted. Many religiously-oriented folks were deeply upset at Clinton's "immorality"; the connection needs to be emphasized to them that "immoral" behavior can involve something other than sexual liaisons.)
______________________



2. WORKING TO ENSURE A FAIR ELECTION. Demand of your local and state election officials that no computer voting be authorized unless and until it comes with iron-clad ways of checking the ballots, a verifiable paper-trail to ensure that nobody can tamper with the vote and get away with it. Ensure that, unlike Florida in 2000, tens of thousands of voters cannot be purged from the voting rolls by deliberate fiat of supporters of one party or the other. Double-check to make sure that the vote-counting of military personnel abroad is on the up-and-up, with a verifiable paper trail.
_______________________



2. TALKING UP A STORM. Contact your neighbors and associates and friends about what is happening in this country; write letters to the editor, call talk-show hosts, compose articles and blogs for the internet, participate in meetings and political actions, go out and register new voters, etc. etc. -- all these help add to the critical mass necessary for regime change at home. In short, organize, organize, organize!
_____________________



3. CONNECTING WITH THE FAITHFUL. Work with your church or synagogue or mosque to re-fire the moral indignation, to connect one's religiosity to the soul-work of right action in society.
_______________________



4. REVERSING THE SUCTION. Engage in positive, spiritually uplifting actions as often as you can, so that you can escape the immoral suction forces pulling one down into the negativity and fright that pass for policy in the Bush world. Volunteer, aid a soup kitchen, donate money to good causes, become a mentor to at-risk kids, choose a candidate and work for the campaign, immerse yourself in an art project, help oppositional websites and magazines, etc. etc. In other words, see the light guiding one forward, rather than the shadows nipping at your heels. Turn your head away from the propaganda and lies, and towards the sunshine of hope. Let love rule your actions; as your heart opens, so do doors of possibility and courage.
_______________________



5. JOINING THE POLITICAL PROCESS. Elect Greens or whomever on local levels, but once the Democrats select their presidential standard-bearer, do not dwell on the candidate's shortfalls or where you might disagree with him or her on a particular issue or two. Remember that the ONLY point in 2004 is to defeat the Bush juggernaut, so as to move our country away from extremist politics and back toward civil compromise and more centrist (and, we can hope, maybe even some progressive) policies.
________________________

NY DAily News column re: "Treason"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hard right finally dumbs out

Re: The book "Treason" by Coulter:


"I am happy to report that Ann Coulter has lost her mind......"



"When her book reaches the best-seller list, as it surely will, we'll know the conservative movement has cracked up.
Happy days are here again."



http://www.nydailynews.com/07-01-2003/news/story/96978p-87861c.html

Food for Thought

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/070103_beyond_bush_1.html

Now, you may think this borders the
conspiracy-theorist's lawn, but nowadays, I just don't know...
I just...
........don't
......................know.

When you have plenty of facts sliding right on by....and you add a healthy dose of suspicion....

Decide for yourself.

Are you a Pantheist?

Are you a pantheist?

http://www.pantheism.net/

The Fall of Rome

Educate Yourself
*Robert Kaplan--minus intellectualism--equals FEAR

This man...Robert Kaplan...pulls no punches. He gives it to you straight as an arrow.
No moral ambiguity. He has apparently been able to put the sense of morality completely aside
when explaining the U.S. standing in the world. The frightening thing is, he is representing a bitter
truth.
It's what the President doen't tell you, but it's there...silent and sturdy...undereath every word he spins.
America as Empire.
America is Empire.

Robert Kaplan seems to forget something important here....we are still a democracy. American democracy is still breathing.
We, as citizens, have a right and responsibility to watch over the actions of our leader and call him on his lies.
He is not entitled to be Emperor.
We American citizens are responsible for the behavior of George W. Bush in ways that the people of Iraq were never responsible for Saddam Hussein. There is now good reason to believe that GW Bush, in his highly dishonest, personal, irrational, and thoroughly Manichaean campaign against
Hussein, has set the very world on a course toward disaster.

The frightening thing about Robert Kaplan is this:
He sets aside moral clarity to shore up what he considers to be the "necessary Empire"...only to serve a dystopian vision later on:
Robert Kaplan: "....I foresee a global system in a few decades that will very roughly resemble the Han Empire that emerged in China in around the second or third century BC. The Han Empire, which governed much of today's China, was not a dictatorship ruled from a central capital. In the beginning, at least, it represented a grand harmony of diverse peoples and systems that despite all their power struggles found out that it was in their self interest to limit their own power for the sake of the greater whole..."

I would suggest to Mr. Kaplan that he study history with a closer eye on the effects of power upon human nature.
When you start with "ugly", it only gets uglier.....

To his intellectual credit, Kaplan is a proponent of the emulation of 2nd-Century Rome..not that I share his opinion.
Kaplan's Machiavellian idea that armed prophets are the only prophets who truly succeed run counter to my thoughts on
the practice of non-violence. Peace will never be established through violence. Violence will be a cycle that never ends.
You need not be religious to understand the requisite role love plays in the attainment of peace.

When contemplating Rome and considering the direction of the leadership of George W. Bush, I am reminded of Constantine.

My mind turns to the emperor Constantine who, in 313, issued the Edict of Milan, and in my mind, set the stage for Rome's eventual fall.
I am reminded Of George W Bush in his "unifying" us through actions (such as the decision to preemptively strike Iraq) which he admits are "divine" interventions...his attempting to "unite" us in troubled times by giving us a prescribed axis of "evil" (knowing the Empire requires the political conquering of these countries)....and especially Bush's pandering to the Christian fundamentalists in this country.
Constantine, seeking complete political unification of the Roman Empire, set about bringing the religious and ethnic groups who lived under Roman rule into unification. He accomplished this by instilling in Roman citizens a common sense of brotherhood, namely by identifying common enemies of the state. He also claimed he was halting religious persecution, issuing the Edict of Milan. (While at the same time he was was preparing to stamp out religious diversity within Christianity..dividing....and hoping to conquer... through a new and united political "religion").

I see Bush's efforts to unite Americans against a common enemy, which he calls "terror"---a vague description which he is deliberately blurring and blanketing into Iraq, Iran, Syria, and most other unAmericanized desert lands---as glaringly similar to Constantine attempting to unite the divided Church against a common enemy "outside" Christendom (as per Nicea--which watered down true Christianity forever). Bush is a replay of Constantine's efforts to unify the divided Roman Empire by identifying and condemning its common "enemies".

You're either "with us" or "against us".

Long after Constantine helped to politicize what was once a beautiful and pure Christianity, many saw the violent and brutal Crusades as a morally sound effort...
or they simply set aside the moral ambiguity.

*This sounds like the ideological lovechild of Robert Kaplan's philosophy and George W Bush's actual leadership.

We are no better off than Rome in 395, when severe financial problems began to face the Empire.
Let us not forget what happened to Rome.

Study the fall of Rome.
Beware.

Last, a quote from Robert Kaplan:

"Foreign policy, though, operates in a lawless realm. The kind of morality we apply overseas in dealing with our adversaries is a more limited, sadder morality than we apply at home. Realism also means that all moral questions of human rights, democracy, etc. are ultimately questions of power. Realism assumes that sometimes you have to perpetrate a certain amount of evil in order to do a greater amount of good. These are all aspects of realism in foreign affairs. I think the United States, right now, under President Bush, is what I would call a classically realist foreign policy."

For all his talk about the importance of the pagan warrior, Mr Kaplan certainly talks a blue streak about "good" and "evil".
I believe that Mr Kaplan, like many of us, is afraid, plain and simple.
He realizes capitalism is flawed, and populism is his sworn enemy...it scares him to death.
His "realism" stems from his subjective "reality"....and in his world, there is great fear and mistrust of his fellow man.
To Mr Kaplan, the world-at-large is scary and "evil".
Power is the panacea in his dystopian dreams.
This is the same fear that won the election for the GOP in 2002.
The same fear that has afforded Bush popularity in public polls.
The further we play into our fears, the sooner we will destroy ourselves from within.


Resources:

SOCIETY FOR LATE ANTIQUITY
http://www.sc.edu./ltantsoc/


INTERNATIONAL ANCIENT HISTORY SOURCEBOOK
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html

INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL SOURCEBOOK
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

BYZANTINE STUDIES
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/index.html


ORB ENCYCLOPAEDIA: scroll down to: 'Early Medieval „ Antecedents': several useful essays on aspects of 'the Fall of Rome'
http://orb.rhodes.edu/index.html

DE IMPERATORIBUS ROMANIS: lengthy, scholarly essays on each of the emperors, to 476 for the West and to 1453 for the East.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm

LACUS CURTIUS: contains an Atlas of the Roman world
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/home.html

JOHN VANDERSPOEL HOME PAGE:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/

Restoring the American Spirit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restoring the American Spirit
—By Jay Walljasper, Utne magazine

I enjoyed this short piece in Utne Reader.
The small things we set our hearts to doing for the America we envision means everything.

Do something.


"How sadly ironic it would be if 9/11, a tragedy that pulled Americans together like nothing since World War II, provided cynical politicians an opportunity to stifle our deep instincts for trying to make things better...."

"..citizens are no longer motivated..... they no longer feel they can make a difference. That may be what’s at the heart of the Bush team’s political strategy: to shovel so much economic and political clout into the hands of corporate executives that the rest of us feel almost powerless to change anything in our country.


".....now that’s the American spirit: citizens growing aware of a problem and then rolling up their sleeves to do something about it. It’s what has always brought out the greatness in us, from 19th-century abolitionists to New York City firefighters. And I don’t believe that the Bush administration, no matter how brilliant its strategists are, will get away with quashing our deeply ingrained American optimism..."

Pakistan is a powderkeg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pakistan is a powderkeg


Did you know that:

Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf warned, prior to his recent trip to Washington, of a possible "non-conventional nuclear war" in South Asia if the West continued to sell weapons to New Delhi while maintaining a patchy arms embargo on Islamabad? Did you know that Musharraf said that, in such circumstances, Pakistan would have no choice but to rely on its nuclear weapons?

Do you find it odd that:

Given the Bush administration's recent high profile public concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation in North Korea and Iran, President George W Bush did not press Pakistan regarding its nuclear weapons program?

Do you worry when you realize:

US officials are concerned that political turmoil in the Kashmir region increases the threat from both insiders and outsiders to nuclear facilities, material and weapons and fear that nuclear weapons and facilities could fall into the hands of terrorists or a hostile government?

Do you better understand the majority of the minds of the Pakistani people when, after hearing Musharraf say in a television interview that 'mainly Muslim Pakistan' must seriously take up the issue of recognizing Israel and avoid dealing with it on emotional grounds, they aver:

"Jerusalem is not just an Arab issue and is linked to the faith of every Muslim," maintained Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, a component party of the MMA (the six-party Pakistani religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal). "Presenting Palestine as a sole Arab issue is a heinous conspiracy of the imperialists and colonists aimed at disintegrating the Muslims and shattering the concept of Muslim unity. It is for the same reason the colonist forces are trying to portray every Muslim issue as regional or bilateral," said Qazi, reiterating his support for the Palestinian intifada or uprising.

What do you think about the U.S. getting down in the bloody muck of once again negotiating with the Taliban (as we did in Pakistan this past month)?
Didn't we beat them down? Or have we been grossly misinformed?

Do you know things are getting worse in Afghanistan? That's A-F-G-H-A-N-I-S-T-A-N.......have you forgotten?

Are you aware that it's predicted that an ever-better-organized, equipped and trained resistance movement will intensify its guerrilla attacks,
especially in the rugged mountains and scorching heat of Jalalabad and Kandahar? That the ranks are being swelled by Chechen and Uzbek volunteers,
and some sources even say that suicide bombers are included in their ranks?? It has been said, by observers familiar with Afghan resistance
movements, that the resistance movement that has emerged since Taliban's fall is stronger than the movement that opposed Soviet
invaders for nearly a decade starting in 1979.


Do you know that the re-emergence of the Taliban movement suits some elements in Pakistan, who hanker after the days when Pakistan, through its support of the Taliban, wielded much influence in Afghanistan?


Do you think Pakistan is a virtual powderkeg?

I certainly do.

James Carville quote

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James Carville on Mahdi from
Bag-hdadi's Old Centrifuges Buried Under the Rosebushes
(From Transcript of Meet The Press June 29, 2003):



"....I suspect that they have a pretty good idea if they had some weapons or not. This unearthing that this guy had something buried in his back yard for 12 years, I swear, it looked like a carburetor some redneck would have in his garage, and they put this thing up and we’re going to get blown up by this? It was buried for 12 years. I mean, they may have—as Vice President Cheney said right here in this chair, they may have a reconstituted nuclear program, but we sure haven’t found anything close to it yet or a nuclear bomb..."

Is Google God?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Thomas Friedman asks the burning question.....



Is Google God?

"The key point is not just whether people hate us," says Robert Wright, the author of "Nonzero," a highly original book on the integrated world. "The key point is that it matters more now whether people hate us, and will keep mattering more, for technological reasons. I don't mean just homemade W.M.D.'s. I am talking about the way information technology -- everyone using e-mail, Wi-Fi and Google -- will make it much easier for small groups to rally like-minded people, crystallize diffuse hatreds and mobilize lethal force. And wait until the whole world goes broadband......"

http://politicalwire.com/archives/002349.html

~~~~~~~~~~~


Dean Raises $7 Million For Quarter

See Taegan Goddard's Poliical Wire for more about the good news!

Sen John Warner refuses Iraq investigation

DID YOU KNOW THAT
SENATOR JOHN WARNER HAS REFUSED A REQUEST FOR A SENATE ARMED
SERVICES COMITTEE INQUIRY INTO IRAQ INTELLIGENCE?
article here

Ask yourselves--why wouldn't the good Senator Warner care?
Why would the Armed Services Committee need to wait until the Senate Intelligence Committee
has completed its review, then decide how to move ahead?

When covering asses becomes paramount over an imperative truth (a truth which has taken the lives of over 200 precious U.S. troops
and countless Iraqi troops and civilians), then there clearly IS no Senate bipartisanship and should be no angst about Senate bipartisanship.



SCREW bipartisanship if this is the way of things.

Senator Carl Levin---we Americans salute you!
Thank you.

Foreign Power Detains Mayor of U.S. Southern City

Foreign Power Detains Mayor of U.S. Southern City!



"Foreign troops detained the mayor of this Christian-dominated southern city on Monday, accusing him of kidnapping and corruption, and arrested 62 of his top aides, the foreign military said...."



OK.

This isn't a real story.

Something similar has actually happened, though, in another country.

Imagine it happening here.
Can you?
I wonder.....


...and the nuttiest thing is this: we appointed the guy in the first place.
What the hell are we thinking? What the hell are we doing?!


Democracy? I'm sorry.....did someone say democracy??!?


..with a straight face?!??


Incidentally, the photo above is actually the Addams family's "Cousin It" being taken to the City Zoo.


And, no---this is NOT John Kerry.



But this surely resembles Emperor Bush surveying his conquered lands amidst the vanquished of desert sands..

Bush Misled US Into Iraq War--An Official Finding?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Corn
Bush Misled US Into Iraq War--An Official Finding?


U.S. Representative Jane Harman (ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee) is speaking strongly.
Will Bush's prewar deceptions end up more thoroughly substantiated than was his case for war?


See article here

California State Democrats recall lessons of Florida

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

California State Democrats recall lessons of Florida
Republicans' 2000 tactics serving as model for Davis team


"When the 2000 presidential election melted down in Florida, Democrats were admittedly exhausted, caught off guard and outmaneuvered by Republicans. Now, Democrats are applying the lessons they learned 3,000 miles away to the potential recall of Gov. Gray Davis.

Over the past two weeks, Davis and his supporters have become more organized and focused, and unafraid of ground-level skirmishes. They have settled on a simple message -- that the recall is a right-wing coup attempt -- and started preparing a long-range public relations assault..."

read article here

Top 100 Small Art Towns

Top 100 American Small Art Towns
-Where the towns are small, but the art is always BIG


An image from Le Paradis Musulman
illustrated by F.-L. Schmied

See author John Villani's list of Top 100 Small Art Towns in America
*from his book "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America: Discover Creative Communities, Fresh Air, and Affordable Living":

See index here

Art reference: http://www.wilsey.net/

The Language of Nonviolence

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Language of Nonviolence
By Marshall B. Rosenberg

The path to non-violence begins by considering that:
(from article):
“How are you?” has become ritualized in many cultures, but it’s a profoundly important question, because living in harmony with our nature – which I think is compassion – requires being able to stay connected to one another..."

*Marshall B. Rosenberg travels the globe teaching Nonviolent Communication to diplomats, educators, corporate managers, parents, military personnel, peace activists, and others in over 20 countries.

Natural Child Project
Misc Rosenberg Articles

Newsday Columnist Agrees That Cable News is Swiftly Becoming Irrelevant

Newsday Columnist Agrees That Cable News is Swiftly Becoming Irrelevant

See article here

The Cable News networks may as well be Court TV.

Excerpt:

"I was a little worried about the coming news vacuum now that we've won the war in Iraq. The only thing left is to get Iraqis to like us and stop shooting our nation-builders.

It's a comfort to know that, thanks to TV news, the most trusted source of information, a recent poll found one-third of the American public believes weapons of mass destruction were uncovered in Iraq. Another 22 percent believes Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against coalition forces.

The whole world is in recession. You can get a six-year loan with zero interest on a car, and dealers still can't give the cars away. Ford is seemingly going bankrupt. Still, there is no economic news worth saturation coverage.

You can't do foreign news, because surveys find that Americans are bored by foreign news. So covering the 60 countries where we may have to send our troops to help rebuild is frowned upon."

'Enron Ralph' given senior spot in Conservative Bush campaign

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Enron Ralph' given senior spot in Conservative Bush campaign

"Mr. Bush has named Ralph Reed, who first rose to prominence as executive director the Christian Coalition, as a senior member of his campaign team. Beyond that, Mr. Rove and Mr. Mehlman are viewed by conservatives as advocates for their point of view in the White House."

...the same "prominent" Ralph Reed who, prior to his recent rise to capaign glory, achieved "prominence" when a cushy job with Enron was bestowed upon him.....thanks to "friends in highhh places..".
Sing a long, Ralph: "Whaaaat a friend we have in Dubya....."

Here's a quote from Edward H. Crane, president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization: "His fiscal record is appalling — spending is out of control... the fiscal record of the Bush administration makes Clinton look downright responsible."

If democracy-loving Americans remain complacent, Grover'Norquist's twisted wish will come true:
"The Republicans are looking at decades of dominance in the House and the Senate, and having the presidency with some regularity," Mr. Norquist said.

Don't just sit there----DO something.

Adam Nagourney/NY Times article here

Britain stirs, America sleeps

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britain stirs, America sleeps
By William Pfaff TMSI/IHT

Excerpt:

".. A good deal has already been written about corrupting the intelligence services to serve ideological interests. Not so much has been said about plain lies, which travel a long way in an electorate as uninterested in international affairs and as ill-served by press and television as today's American electorate.

Bush convinced the majority of Americans that Saddam Hussein not only had weapons of mass destruction but was about to use them against America. He convinced the public majority that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were linked, and that Iraq collaborated in the Sept. 11 attacks. He has now convinced the public that Iran is a nuclear threat, and 56 percent of American opinion would support military intervention in that country to deal with the claimed danger.

Presidential lies to Congress, strictly speaking, are constitutional ground for impeachment. They really are something more serious. They rupture the relationship of responsibility that is supposed to exist between president and public.

Partisan or personal interest and equivocation are one thing. Lies about matters of state, and about war, are another. To lie to the citizenry is to reject the confidence freely given a president.

It destroys the moral bond that holds a democratic society together."


Another interesting Pfaff article: The long reach of Leo Strauss

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy, Why Did We Have to Attack Iraq?

Sunday, June 29, 2003

Helen Caldicott Video

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE THIS VIDEO!


Writer/Pediatrician/Activist Helen Caldicott speaks about depleted uranium weapons and their effect upon both troops and civilians in the Iraq war.
Please, take 5 minutes of your time to review this video. It's worth it.



http://www.freespeech.org/fsitv/fscm2/contentviewer.php?content_id=244

Bush Administration Embraces Facism

Bush Administration Embraces Fascism
A powerful statement enhanced by blogger Anonymoses.

Link here.

Know Your NeoCons- Part 1089

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get to Know Your NeoCons-
Especially When You Suspect They're Planning Your Country's Next War

Veteran neo-con advisor moves on Iran


Time for a proper introduction.
Meet Michael A Ledeen.



America, this is Michael.



Michael, this is my friend America.

Would it be "one war too far"?

"....judging by the failure to complete the victories won on the battlefield in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the portents for the coming war with Iran are ominous. Both Afghanistan and Iraq now have developing major insurgencies with which US forces are showing few signs of coming to terms, and without doubt Iran will be a much harder nut to crack. The drain on US resources and lives will almost certainly be that much greater. Any one of these campaigns may indeed be winnable, two are a serious problem, however three may well prove to be just one war too far, even for the world's only superpower."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Iraq 'had no links to al-Qaeda'


Sorry...not linked.

Bush brags while States stumble

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bush boasts about shrinking the Federal budget while starved States stumble in near-desperation

"The news is pretty bad, and I think it's going to get a little worse," said Ray Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association.."

How long will neo-breadlines soon become?

Breaking News: HUNGER ON THE WAY



Will the misled masses move to recall every governor who will surely be unable to arrest the furious tide of economic failure?


Will bitter partisan efforts to remove fairly-elected officials like this one

be the best idea for hiding the REAL mismanagement in the American economy?

Is THIS the cure-all...the panacea??!?

REALLY??!???

I fear for American democracy....and the result of the great ideological fight for the American mind.

I Never Promised You a Ruse Garden -- A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Never Promised You a Ruse Garden -- A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

OPERATION INFINITE MENDACITY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OPERATION INFINITE MENDACITY
President George W. Bush's Speech to the Nation after September 11, 2001
by Lester Schonbrun

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-politics-internet.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sour Grapes?
I know, being a participant in the MoveOn.org primary, that this statement is absolutely untrue:

"This was a made-for-Howard-Dean primary,'' Kerry spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adding Kerry saw the poll as a tool to increase interest and build his donor and e-mail lists."
From: NY Times /Reuters
Dean Wins Democratic Online Poll

Read this book-Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Personal Freedom-- And What You Can Do About It

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you read this yet?



Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Personal Freedom-- And What You Can Do About It
by Jamie Court

see author interview: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporate/nw/nw003390.php3

Steven T Jones wrote in a recent SanFrancisco Bay Guardian review of the book:
"Court sees our most cherished democratic values being subsumed by corporate domination, and he’s calling on all of us to fight back.
How? Well, we start with the language we use to define the problem.
Behind the word corporateer are important ideas and distinctions. We can evaluate a given corporation to see whether it is corporateering, and if so, whether the public interest might be better served by regulating or even destroying that corporation.

That’s a revolutionary notion in this era of the hallowed “free market,” but maybe a revolution is what we need right now. Pamphleteers llike Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson awoke their compatriots to the injustices suffered under King
George III, and perhaps it will be author-activists like Court who help us again declare our independence and assert our sovereignty. (Steven T. Jones)

MoveOn.org primary: Most votes to Dean... followed by Kucinich, Kerry

MoveOn.org primary: Most votes to Dean... followed by Kucinich, Kerry


Howard Dean received the most votes...winning the MoveOn.org primary by a wide margin!


Results:
Howard Dean received the highest vote total with 43.87% of the vote (139,360 votes); followed by Dennis Kucinich with 23.93% (76,000 votes); and John Kerry with 15.73% (49,973 votes).
The rest of the field was in single digits: John Edwards, 3.19% (10,146 votes); Richard Gephardt, 2.44% (7,755 votes); Bob Graham, 2.24% (7,113 votes); Carol Moseley Braun, 2.21% (7,021 votes); Joe Lieberman, 1.92% (6,095 votes); and Al Sharpton, 0.53% (1,677 votes).

**My comment: MoveOn.org chose to only endorse a candidate IF that candidate were to have received 50% or more of the vote, which is up to them. However, we may look at reality:
Since when is 43.87 NOT a majority when you have nine candidates and you compare the actual results? I realize MoveOn.org's main goal is to bring a grassroots movement to life, but I think their 50% mark was unrealistic (in a field of nine candidates) and I hope they haven't shot themselves in the foot by setting such a mark. I don't doubt there were forces out there who made sure Dean did not reach the 50%. Their failure to be able to endorse a candidate makes them appear just as wobbly on the Democrats as most of the media-at-large appears nowadays. You cannot expect Big Media to run with the story when the CLEAR winner of the primary doesn't even get an endorsement from the organization that has proven who the clear winner was. **


A note about today's MoveOn.org result from a Howard Dean supporter --seen today on Howard Dean's weblog:

"We have begun a new era. When FDR first used the radio to reach millions of Americans it changed everything. When JFK used television to inspire a generation it changed everything. Dr. Dean has changed everything today. To you other 139,359 people who voted for Dean in the moveon.org primary, congratulations we just made history. There will be many books written about this campaign. Mark this day well, it is the day we changed America. I am so proud to be a part of it. I have waited so long.

peace,
billy
June 27, 2003 01:25 PM

From the Howard Dean weblog: A Letter About a Lost Friend--A Plea for Change

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Howard Dean weblog:
A Letter About a Lost Friend--A Plea for Change


Dear Dr. Dean:

I know this isn't exactly on topic, but I need a place to put this.

My friend died today.



My best friend, Lance Corporal Gregory MacDonald of the United States Marine Corp died in Iraq when his vehicle overturned while rushing to aid a group of fellow Marines who were being ambushed.

I met Greg when we were both in graduate school at American University. He was studying Arabic and Near East affairs with a focus on the Palestian-Israeli conflict and Iraq.

During the entire build-up to the war in Iraq, Greg argued forcefully and logically that the case being outlined was false and not consistent with any expert opinion on the subject. He was also a man in the finest tradition the USMC has ever produced, and when called to serve with his Recon unit (one of the most dangerous positions, even for the USMC), he did not hesitate to answer the call of duty.

As a final act defiance before setting out to fight a war he knew was wrong, Greg was interviewed on the radio explaining why the President had not made his case for war. He did the interview on condition of anonymity because he did not want his fellow Marines to think he wasn't 100 percent committed to their mission.

Dr. Dean, we need you more than ever. Something is wrong with this country when our best warrior-philosophers are thrown into the cauldren of Iraq by a President who went AWOL from national guard duty. Something is wrong with this country when an actual expert on the subject of Iraq is sent to war by a cynical, unscupulous Vice President who had "other priorities" when it came his turn to serve.

I'm tired of the chickenhawks who lie while our best men pay the consequences.

Greg told me many times that he would support any candidate who stood up forcefully against this war because it was wrong and was not sold on evidence, but lies and ideology.

Greg would have supported you, Dr. Dean.

And I support you Dr. Dean, because I can think of no other way to better honor the memory of a man ten times greater than our President, even when he plays dress-up in a flight suit - unintentially mocking those who fought and died in uniform.

Thank you

SZ

_________

Companion story from the Washington Post here

AT THE PICKRICK

Scene One: "The Pickrick"




Enter: Lester Maddox

Maddox: "IS this heaven.... or is this 1950s "just-in-case-some-of-you-Communists, Socialists and Integrationists-have-any-doubt ,-The-Pickrick-will-never-be- Integrated" Georgia?



Enter: A Mysteriously glowing figure. Lester rubs his eyes...is he dreaming?

Mysterious Glowing Figure: "Well, hello, Lester! I just arrived this morning. How about a plate of grits and eggs for a kindred spirit?"

May the angels carry them.

Nuke component unearthed in Baghdad back yard


OR......alternate story title....



"PARTS IS PARTS"



So Mahdi from Bag-dahdi led us to his 12-year old

rose bush.


An anonymous official tells us it's NOT a

smoking gun


But you can bet your fanny the Bush administration will use these parts to validate the entire preemptive strike on Iraq.
As if those 12-year old parts under Madhi's rosebushes were an imminent threat to us!!
Jeez, I'll bet they weren't even a threat to the grubs crawling all around them for these past 12-plus years!

I wonder if spreading this around as if it's an actual validation for the Blair/Bush lies is a trick David Kay has up his sleeve.
It's coming out terribly soon after his arrival on the scene.


Who?? ME??


You've gotta love THIS statement from the article linked below......read it and think about it
while FOX news is blathering ad nauseum about these rusty useless pieces of scrap which Mechanic Mahdi from Bag-dahdi
stuck in a buried barrel under the flowers....

"Gen. Abizaid told the Armed Services Committee that he is confident that evidence
"at some point ... will lead us to ACTUAL weapons of mass destruction."

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030625-102141-6927r.htm


Former UN weapons inspector David Albright has said:
"In a sense, the program was in hibernation.

*(ZZZZZZ)

He {Mahdi} was the key to the restart of this centrifuge program,
and he never got the order.
So in that sense it doesn't show at all that Iraq had a nuclear program.
And Obeidi told me that he never worked on a nuclear program after 1991."

Targeting Lobbyists Pays Off For GOP

Targeting Lobbyists Pays Off For GOP

Another method being utilized to murder American democracy.
Beefing up the GOP through the influence of the Special Interest.

"A Republican National Committee official recently told a group of GOP lobbyists that 33 of 36 top-level Washington positions he is monitoring went to Republicans, according to someone who attended the meeting. The trend could deeply influence Washington politics, policy and fundraising
for years..."





This is not the America envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

This is corruption...plain and simple.



An additional commentary is provided by NY Times' Paul Krugman in a recent column:
"Why isn't the ongoing transformation of U.S. politics — which may well put an end to serious two-party competition — getting more attention? Most pundits, to the extent they acknowledge that anything is happening, downplay its importance. For example, last year an article in Business Week titled "The GOP's Wacky War on Dem Lobbyists" dismissed the K Street Project as "silly — and downright futile." In fact, the project is well on the way to achieving its goals."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Administration, Yellowstone Staff at Odds on Park Threats
Link here



"Tinkering with scientific information, either striking it from reports or
altering it, is becoming a pattern of behavior," said Roger G. Kennedy, a
former director of the National Park Service."

Wait----is this an article about the decision to go to war with Iraq--or is this an article about the rape of Yellowstone?
It could be either, on the surface.

This administration perverts all information made available to them in order to fit its ugly, ugly agenda.

A malleable Congress with a partisan majority facilitates the perversion.

I fear for Yellowstone.
I fear for the soldiers risking ALL in Iraq.
I fear for our American democracy.

"Yellowstone is no longer in danger," Paul Hoffman, an Interior Department
official, wrote in an April 7 letter to the World Heritage Committee of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization."

Neither is our American democracy, if you ask anyone from the Bush administration.

Tinkering with the sanctity of nature...the sanctity of the lives of our troops and their families...tinkering with
the true freedoms we've known and enjoyed for so long (thanks to the lifeblood of American democracy)....

Bush is tinkering toward the death of all the above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The NY Times----are they going to bring up the MoveOn.org online primary at any point in time?
They are quick to bring up right weblog activism (see William Safire's article about the Gray Davis recall campaign).
SAFIRE QUOTE: "If enough voters are egged on by TV advertising, talk-showboating and Weblog fury, the governor's recall will be on the ballot along with a separate list of potential successors."

All I see at the NY Times website is this AP article which includes a highly interesting and questionable quote:
"If I were a Democrat, I would be looking at this as something that's not helpful,'' said Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. ``People have got to begin to have a longer term perspective than maneuvering for position six to eight months before the first real primary.''

I say: Why not?
WHY NOT?
We already have a Republican candidate for 2004.
Why pretend Democrats don't yet care about the candidate they think will do the best job of leading their nation?
Why do we wait until the last moment?
What is the fear all about, really?

You have to REALLY wonder why the New York Times is remiss in taking note of the MoveOn.org historic grassroots effort to involve the voting community via the internet. My opinion is that the NY Times is afraid of getting on the wrong side of history. Meanwhile, history rolls right past their noses, which are apparently firmly stuck up the asses of the powers-that-be. They lost their nerve and their professional intuition after 9-11.

The New York Times, along with a lot of other forms of corporate media, is fast on the road to historic irrelevance.

Meanwhile, on other websites, Joe Lieberman is WELL aware of the MoveOn.org primary....and is apparently worried.
His quote from this ridiculous article(from "Republicans for Sharpton"):
"Officials in Joe Lieberman’s campaign said they received several calls and e-mails Tuesday from supporters who got an error message after trying to cast electronic ballots. As it turns out, the system blocked out the blonde candidates as well.
"It's been problematic," said Sen. Lieberman "We've heard from dozens of supporters who have either signed up to get an e-mail and haven't gotten it or can't get online or can't get on the site."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake."
Henry David Thoreau

~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOWARD DEAN
Speech
June 25, 2003
Council on Foreign Relations
Washington DC

See text here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A compelling plea for rightists (too often blind Bush supporters)
to speak out against the FCC-facilitated BigMedia takeover of America's local press/radio/TV- -
Can rightists break the chain of blind partisanship and see what they stand to lose?

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/opinion/26SAFI.html

""There has to be a clear perception of public outrage," says Burr. And to move Bush and DeLay, that expression of snail mail and e-mail outrage must come from the right — from believers in strong local say about the means and content of communication, acting while there is still time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dear GOD!
This is downright catty...
"MEOWWWWWWW", hisses William Saletan, "MEOWWWWWWW!!"........


A prime example of Corporate Media in action...biased action!

ABSOLUTE HOWARD

"For months, I've been scratching my head over the Howard Dean problem...."
*Hey, kitty girl, if you scratch that dome of yours as hard as your scratching at Howard Dean, you're going to have one bloody scalp!*

This is a further indication that media is just a lame extension of the 2004 Bush campaign!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judith Miller---What WERE you thinking?
When embedded journalism becomes incestuous between Military and journalist...it's an embedding indeed.


Embedded Reporter's Role In Army Unit's Actions Questioned by Military
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer


"The April trip to Chalabi's headquarters took place "at Judy's {Judith Miller's} direction," one officer said...."

"This was totally out of their {MET Alpha's} lane, getting involved with human intelligence," said one military officer who, like several others interviewed, declined to be named because he is not an authorized spokesman. But, the officer said of Miller, "this woman came in with a plan. She was leading them. . . . She ended up almost hijacking the mission."

"Asked why Chalabi didn't simply call his official Pentagon liaison to turn over an important Iraqi, Sethna said they wanted to make sure that Sultan was transported quickly and safely and that he was "very surprised" when MET Alpha agreed to take the prisoner..."

***HMMMMMMM......this sounds like fodder for the National Enquirer...***
"Miller formed a friendship with MET Alpha's leader, Chief Warrant Officer Gonzales, and several officers said they were surprised when she participated in a Baghdad ceremony in which Gonzales was promoted. She pinned the rank to his uniform, an eyewitness said, and Gonzales thanked Miller for her contributions. Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norman Solomon- One of Our Most Gifted Political Writers




TILTING DEMOCRATS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE
By Norman Solomon / Creators Syndicate

The corporate Democrats who greased Bill Clinton's path to the White House are now a bit worried. Their influence on the party's presidential nomination process has slipped. But the Democratic Leadership Council can count on plenty of assistance from mainstream news media.

For several years leading up to 1992, the DLC curried favor with high-profile political journalists as they repeated the mantra that the Democratic Party needed to be centrist. Co-founded by Clinton in the mid-1980s, the DLC emphasized catering to "middle class" Americans --
while the organization filled its coffers with funding from such non-middle-class bastions as the top echelons of corporate outfits like
Arco, Prudential-Bache, Dow Chemical, Georgia Pacific and Martin Marietta.

In a 1992 book, "Who Will Tell the People," political analyst William Greider noted that the Democratic Leadership Council's main objective was "an attack on the Democratic Party's core constituencies -- labor, schoolteachers, women's rights groups, peace and disarmament activists, the racial minorities and supporters of affirmative action." During the eight years that followed, President Clinton "moderately" shafted many of those constituencies.

Clinton proved to be a political survivor. But his presidency led to the destruction of Democratic majorities in both the House and
Senate.

Now, the Los Angeles Times reported in late June, "the centrist 'New Democrat' movement is struggling to maintain its influence in the
party as the 2004 presidential race accelerates." DLC stalwart Sen. Joe Lieberman is getting nowhere. Other DLC-friendly candidates, such as Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards, are hardly catching fire.


One of the key "New Democrats" is DLC favorite John Breaux, a senator from Louisiana who distinguished himself by trying to protect deregulation measures approved in early June by the Federal Communications Commission. Breaux unsuccessfully proposed amendments to help TV networks to further consolidate media ownership. His efforts were even too flagrantly corporate for many Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee.

Despite its setbacks, the Democratic Leadership Council need not despair. Most of the nation's political journalists, including pro-Democrat pundits, insist that the party should not nominate someone too far "left" -- which usually means anybody who's appreciably more progressive than the DLC. That bias helps to account for the frequent mislabeling of Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who has risen to the top tier of contenders for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

After seven years as governor, the Associated Press described Dean as "a moderate at best on social issues and a clear conservative on fiscal issues." The news service added: "This is, after all, the governor who has at times tried to cut benefits for the aged, blind and disabled, whose No. 1 priority is a balanced budget."

When Dean officially announced his presidential campaign on June 23, some news stories identified him with the left. It's a case of mistaken identity. "He's really a classic Rockefeller Republican -- a fiscal conservative and social liberal," according to University of Vermont political scientist Garrison Nelson.A recent memo by a pair of DLC honchos, Al From and Bruce Reed, linked the party's progressive-leaning activists with "elitist, interest-group liberalism." The salvo is laughable. It would be difficult to find any organization of Democrats more deserving of the "elitist, interest-group" tag than the DLC, which has long been funded by oil, chemical, insurance and military-contracting corporations -- and has served their interests.


As a fiscal conservative, Dean is aligned with the status quo of extreme inequities. That alignment was on display during a pair of June 22 appearances.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Dean delivered a one-two punch against economic justice. He advocated raising the retirement age
for Social Security, and he called for slowing down the rate of increases for Medicare spending.

Later in the day, at a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition forum, Dean went out of his way to emphasize support for out-of-control military spending
after a rival candidate, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, said that "the only way we're really going to close the (digital) divide in this country is to
start cutting the Pentagon budget and put that money into education." Dean's response: "I don't agree with Dennis about cutting the Pentagon
budget when we're in the middle of a difficulty with terror attacks."

The next day, at his official campaign kickoff, Dean gave a 26-minute speech and didn't mention Iraq at all. It was a remarkable
performance from someone who has spent much of the last year pitching himself as some kind of anti-war candidate.

Dean is already sending a message to his announced supporters among peace and social-justice advocates: Thanks, suckers.

Usually, major-party candidates wait until they have a lock on the presidential nomination before diving to the center. Eager to avoid
being hammered by the national press corps for supposed liberalism, Dean hasn't bothered to wait.

My own comment: Howard Dean cannot afford to wait. If he is going to "trip" the media system, he must act as quickly as they do. We live in an ADHD-induced media atmosphere. Americans seem to follow the flow of the never-ending influx of media babble..the loud and constant ramblings of the "here and now" ...and they tend to forget what they heard just the day before. In this Information Age, a politician must adjust to the known public tendency to be fickle (in a media-infuence sense). We must learn to be open to affording our Democratic candidates some level of forgiveness for the necessity to fight the media flow.....for it must be done until the media changes..and I don't see that happening anytime soon!
We need to understand that, without giving up important democratic principles, candidates like Howard Dean must appeal to more than the idealists
in order to win the 2004 election. Taking the office from its unrightful owner George Bush is the goal. We should not forget that for a moment!


Other particularly important and relevant writings from Norman Solomon:
http://www.juicycerebellum.com/solomon027.htm
http://www.mediamonitors.net/solomon19.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1018-07.htm

A collection of Norman Solomon:
http://www.alternet.org/alsoby.html?Author=2874

Crossroads

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The United States is at a crossroads....



The choice is so big....

Bush & the End of Reason
By Nat Parry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


art by Kazimierz Dzyga


“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
-- Louisa May Alcott

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Has anyone noticed the state of the economy is pathetic? Or is it just me?
There is really no sign of a revival in business investment
spending ...U.S. Durables Orders Fell in May for a Second Month
...the Fed's likely to lower rates to a 45-year low...the reality is sinking in after the myth of the expected postwar economic boom... the tech
slump is causing grief in our desperate American cities.. Phoenix, for example....not since the Great Depression has the United States suffered through such a protracted hiring slump as it has the past 27 months....the Silicon Valley is but a shadow of its former economic self....and tell me--what IS consumer confidence? I seem to have forgotten!

And the good news is......










* Oh---stop looking for it, already!!! I was only being sarcastic! *

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Downing Street's second dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
caused an "embarrassment" for the Government, Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw conceded today."




Poor Jack Straw's embarrassed.

Hundreds of our faithful troops have died...

Screw Jack Straw.

"Straw concedes 'substantial error' in Iraq weapons document"