More than 100 join rally for jailed doctor
November 15, 2003
By Ngoc Huynh
Contributing writer/Syracuse Post Standard
Supporters of a Manlius doctor jailed on charges he illegally sent money to Iraq marched Friday in front of the Onondaga County Justice Center with a banner that read: "The U.S. attorney has ruined our Ramadan by refusing bail for our brother Rafil."
Dr. Rafil Dhafir, accused of violating sanctions against Iraq by sending money there through his DeWitt-based charity, Help the Needy, has been denied bail three times since his arrest in February. A judge ruled that Dhafir was a risk to flee the country.
More than a 100 Muslims and non-Muslims arrived at the justice center's State Street entrance at 2 p.m. to show their support for Dhafir.
Mohammad Al Wahaidy, 12, of Fayetteville, was the first in the crowd to shout, "Free Dr. Dhafir!" He is the son of Osameh Al Wahaidy, 41, one of four men originally charged in the Help the Needy case. The elder Al Wahaidy pleaded guilty in April to one count of violating the sanctions.
As others joined in his chant, another voice sang, "We miss him. He's a good man."
Several cars passed by and motorists honked and waved.
Imam Ahmed Kobeisy, who heads the Islamic Society of Central New York, said Dhafir has strong ties with the community and is not a flight risk.
"We would like to have him reunited with the community in the month of Ramadan," Kobeisy said. "We would like to celebrate with him, fasting and praying with fellow Muslims."
Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar, ends Nov. 25. During this time, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, pray, meditate and do acts of charity.
U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue rejected Dhafir's last bail request in July. Dhafir, an oncologist, is considered a flight risk because of his financial assets and overseas contacts, judges have said.
In addition to the charges that he violated sanctions against Iraq, Dhafir is accused of evading $400,000 in federal income tax payments by falsely writing off donations to Help the Needy, and of defrauding Medicare out of more than $274,000.
Haikal Abughoush, rally organizer, has known Dhafir for 20 years. He said the government is looking for reasons to keep his friend in jail.
"They had egg on their face," he said, "so they needed to find something. What they found was further charges."
........
2003 The Post-Standard.
FREE DHAFIR
Add 'Blog' To the Campaign Lexicon
By Brian Faler
Special to The Washington Post
Arar and Immigration: Canadian's Next PM Paul Martin had best keep things honest
"...When he succeeds Chretien, who is expected to step down in upcoming weeks, Martin will promote stronger relations with Bush and strengthened ties between Canada's Parliament and Congress.
Chretien angered Bush this year by refusing to take part in the war in Iraq, prompting the U.S. president to cancel a planned visit to Ottawa in May. Before then, some of Chretien's subordinates publicly ridiculed Bush over his unilateral policies, with one quoted as calling the president a moron..."
Canadian PM Chretien has had more than one good point, like him or hate him.
When you have innocent Canadian citizens going through American airports, being detained by U.S. officials and deported to Syria (with a dependent family left behind with no word)...and when that Canadian is then tortured in a grave-like prison for over a year, you have to do what is best to protect your people.
Maher Arar
Martin had best watch his back on the future of immigration policies involving the U.S. as partner.
One can not doubt the delicate idea of a coordinated Canadian immigration policy with the U.S. has been complicated by the fate of Maher Arar, a Syrian-born immigrant to Canada who was deported to Damascus last year by U.S. agents. Ottawa is under pressure to reveal what role if any Canadian police played in the decision.
Listen to Maher Arar's story of illegal rendition here.
and here.
and here.
I'm betting neither the Bush administration nor the Congress will touch this investigation.
Human Rights groups are trying to help.
Pentagon IG wipes the slime off the pig
A pig, however, will always be what he is.
The Pentagon, the Bush administration, the Richard Perles, the Mark Zells, the Douglas Feiths, the private companies and the investors are so intertwined that there is no longer any way to separate them.
Welcome to the sty. Go to work, go shopping, watch Fox News, buck up and don't ask any questions, U.S. taxpayers.
Of course, Richard Perle didn't violate ethics law....there IS no code of ethics with these people and
a law can be s--t--r--e--t--c--h--e--d to prove it.
Even if we turn our faces from all the lies...
what of the promises?
Still no cheering..other than cheers of some Iraqi children when a U.S. helicopter is shot down.
Still no roses...except those at the funeral services.
One hour ago, two more U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down.
Judiciary squabble:
Word- Most Americans could care; remain unaware
I heard a journalist on a political talk-show saying that, through calling for the all-night session regarding the Judiciary this week, the Republicans had hoped to at least educate the public on the meaning of "filibuster".
Another journalist on the panel said (basically) "Fat chance".
If you're a political junkie like me, (especially if you loved "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"), you already know what a filibuster is.
I agree, though, that if you don't already know or care, this whole session was for naught.
It was just a stage for the melodramatic children from the GOP who wasted what could have been
a far more productive last few hours to debate and formulate some meaningful legislation.
A Washington Post article asked: "Why do some Washington stories take off like a booster rocket while others seem to fizzle?"
The article drives home the point that the average American didn't even know or care about this yak session.
Note: Be sure to read the above-mentioned article as it progresses to talkng about the current contretemps over the Senate intelligence committee memo. It's amusing and compelling (if you're a political junkie like me, at least).
Republicans Got Nowhere With Their Drama-Queen Act
Rick Santorum literally said there would be "payback" when a Democratic president (President Dean;) starts to
nominate judiciary candidates.
This anti-filibuster filibuster only shows how much our Senators resent one another...but that's nothing new.
Call me jaded. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that a high-strung GOP Senator hauled off and physically went
for the wrinkly throat of a fellow Senator.
Bush has set the tone for this animosity.
I hope he's proud of the political atmosphere he has led to this frenzied state.
What Kerry's doing bugs me
I like John Kerry, but I resent the fact that he plans to use his wife's money (as much as he can) to fight the little people making donations from hard-earned money out of their own pockets to the candidate of their choosing.
I really do resent that.
A candidate using his own wealth does nothing to promote the cause of healthy democracy or
to spark new voters.
I suppose Howard Dean put him in this corner...and Kerry took the bait.
Kerry comes out looking bad.
Dean wins again.
"My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush"
Ronald P. Reagan
Ronald Prescott Reagan for President '04
Bankruptcy in America
Continuing the record-setting pace of recent years, personal bankruptcies rose 7.8 percent in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, according to data released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The past four years:
FY........Business..NonBusiness....Total
2003.....36,183.....1,625,813......1,661,996
2002.....39,091.....1,508,578......1,547,669
2001.....38,490.....1,398,864......1,437,354
2000.....36.065.....1,226,037......1,262,102
See U.S.Courts.gov
I found this to be a most unusual story
"Get Him, Lenny!"
Democratic Leaders and MSNBC--Time to Stop Giving Bush Honeymoon!
MSNBC posed a question to potential television-poll-participants today...
"Is George Soros' political gift ($millions$) to democratic organizations going to help or hurt the Democrats?
What a conservative-leaning crock of crap!!!!
As if $15 million won't help, regardless of the donator.
Give us a break!
And when is the last time we were asked if the $24 million Bush raised at a black-tie gala in DC would
help or hurt him?!?
MSNBC, shame on you!
NBC doesn't have enough Jim Miklaszewski's.(see reference below)
MSNBC cowers in the heavy shadow of their corporate-sentries.
They are lame, to put it in the simplest terms.
Self-respecting journalists who work for NBC/MSNBC should be embarrassed.
When is NBC/MSNBC planning to stop giving this guy his undeserved honeymoon?
When he's lobbed the first nuke into the Middle East and has killed hundreds of thousands?
Thanks to his wealth, he may have educational degrees, but we all know what a simp he is...and what an easy shill he is for those who subscribe to the Three Ps...Profits, Poverty, and Power.
He's a man who was never personally successful at anything in his life until money made him the little king and footsoldier of God that he apparently always wanted to be. Now he's ruining our Union.
He's a man who subscribes to an ideology that is crucially damaging to the vast majority of citizens of this nation.
We have a President who'd willingly carry on an unnecessary war of distraction while the ugly greed that is sated by policies that enrich the wealthiest is fed..while loyal grunts in Iraq die or face lifelong disability from injury and the poorest among us are virtually forgotten...while our civil liberties are systematically being stripped away.
MSNBC headline:"How to talk to your kids about Kobe Bryant"!??!
Dear God...what are they thinking?
How about "How to talk to your kids about GW Bush"??!!
Wake up!
It's time for our journalists AND our Congresspeople to tell it like it is..
time to stop pussy-footing their way around this fascist Bush administration.
Time to start saying what they mean.
The Republicans are trying hard (and often successfully) to make Democrats look like nothing more than
"hate-speechers". Well, why don't our Democratic leaders haul off and show the other side what it really means
to rip apart the Bush policies...with the gloves off.
If they are going to be accused of it, they'd best do a damned effective job instead of looking like they're still
courting the worst President in American history.
"Get him, Lenny!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reference to Jim Miklaszewski from Deborah Mathis' Nov 11th column:
" WE CAN'T RIGHT-WING JUGGERNAUT STOP THE PRESSES"
"...Thank heavens there are still those like Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News, who are not cowed by this machine and don't let the racket drown out the little voice that reminds journalists what they're there for: Get the story. Get it right and get it true.
He was excoriated for reporting, with videotaped footage, the carnage at Baghdad's al-Rashid Hotel in the wake of a bombing that coincided with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz's visit - indeed, his residency at the very hotel that was struck.
The knee-jerk reaction was to accuse Miklaszewski of accentuating the tragic in order to mock George W. Bush's sunny focus on the region.
Fortunately, not only did Miklaszewski stick to his guns, but so did network executives.
That's too rare a stance these days. Other journalists - lesser journalists, maybe - would be so worried about having their credentials yanked or not being invited to the Christmas party or press picnic that they would be scrambling to kiss up to the White House...."
Wilson's Wisdom: Beware of the white-collar redneck
I'm not worried about the guy waving his Confederate flag next door. I'm more worried about someone else.
by Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson
Rabbi Wilson is right.
Symbols are symbols, but the real danger lies in those with the real influence.
"...the rancor should not be over wooing pickup-truck rednecks. It should be over the courtship of the white-collar rednecks, the ones who really wield the influence."
Cloning Christ
I first read about this on Jewsweek. From the 'Yada, yada, yada blog': "..And you guys were worried about The Passion. Take a look at the book, soon to be a motion picture, Cloning Christ...."
The main character is Dr. Max Train, a leading genetic scientist from Syracuse, New York.
I live in Syracuse, NY..hmmm..that increases my interest in the story...
The book is written by authors Peter Senese and Robert Geis, who have joined forces to create "Cloning Christ".
Their website calls it "a brilliantly written theological thriller which provokes the question of how genetic science and faith may co-exist in today's world. The intricately developed plot, with originally created characters who are cast behind the backdrop of an assortment of scientific and religious perspectives held by people of the world today, challenge the reader at every turn to think through these current issues as the fast-paced thriller evolves into a story of good versus evil."
Cloning Christ is in development to be made into a motion picture, production scheduled to begin in the late spring of 2004.
It's the story of a genetic scientist - Max - a man who lived a 'perfect' life. Highly respected in the field of genetic research, his work led him to discover the secrets of man’s DNA sequence code. Happily married to Lisa Train, the loving mother of their four-year old daughter, Annie, Max lived the life most people aspire to have. Thankful in his blessings, Max’s devout love of God led him to live a righteous life. Max was a Believer.
Then a nightmare so chilling and cruel became Max’s cold reality as all he loved and cherished was brutally taken from him. When Max enters an ancient cave hidden from time near Mount Olivet, he discovers what may be the True Cross of Jesus, and painfully confronts his faith in God. This is only the beginning of Max's journey into chaos he could never imagine in his wildest nightmares....Other people are aware of his find, including a corrupt cardinal close to the pope, who is fanatically afraid that Train will use the DNA from any flesh or hair remaining on the cross to try to clone Christ....With the possible True Cross in his possession, Max dashes across the globe in an attempt to flee the dark clouds of evil endlessly chasing after him and the artifact that may in fact change the world forever. Confronted with his desire to accept God – unable to accept the dark past that turned his life into a living nightmare – Max begins a dangerous global journey back to the loving hands of the Christ.
This may, indeed, be a controversial movie, but the subject matter is quite interesting...provocative at best.
Often, when an author (or authors) attempt to transcend religion, they wind up inadvertenly insulting the faithful masses.
I have yet to read this book, so I am no authority.
I'll have to put it on my list of "to-reads".
Take This Test!
http://www.politicalcompass.org/
The social dimension of politics is important. That's the dimension that the mere left-right scale doesn't adequately address. So Political Compass has added one, ranging in positions from extreme authoritarian to extreme libertarian.
My result was here:
Close to this fellow:
NOTE: Don't spoil the results by reading the Analysis section before you take the test.
John Stewart Honored by Jewsweek
The Jewsweek Jewriffic Awards
Also, do not miss this honorable mention:
4. Best opera honoring a sleazy Jewish talk show host: London audiences have been privileged to have "Jerry Springer -- The Opera" at the state-funded National Theatre since April. This week, however, the man himself paid them a visit and had this to say at a lavish party honoring him after the show: "As an opera, it's perfect."
A new blog
Take a drive by And then..., an interesting new blog.
Best line from article about Senate debate on Judiciary nominations:
"Republicans displayed large charts with judicial nominees' photographs, which looked like posters of missing children."
Best Whine:
"It's not right to be coming down and mentioning senators by name and using words like `sanctimonious hypocrisy.' "
The sanctimoniously hypocritical Sen Don Nickles crying about a comment made by the bluntly honest Sen Tom Harkin
Republicans Are Trying to Gut Medicare
Thanks to the GOP's truly evil efforts, health care may soon be out of reach for many older Americans.
"If we're an arrogant nation, then they'll resent us. I think one
way for us to end up being viewed as
'the Ugly American' is to go around
the world saying "we do it this way, so should you."
Gov. George W Bush during the 2000 Presidential debates
Bush: Covering Blair's Sorry Bum
So Bush will meet with familes of dead British soldiers to help his buddy Tony Blair.
Yet this is what Bush has allegedly said of his predecessor Clinton: Some close to the president say another reason he has not expressed more public sympathy for individual soldiers killed in Iraq is his determination to let families have their privacy. He was offended, his friends say, by what he saw at times as President Bill Clinton's exploitation of private grief for political gain. link
(Bush the bloody hypocrite)
Bush has shown full willingness to meet with victims of Saddam Hussein (from 20 years ago) for access to the political keys to justifying the driving of his war machine. link
(Bush the war whore).
But so far, unless anyone can correct me, I count families of FIVE dead American soldiers with whom Bush has met
(Camp LeJeune in early April 2003..photo-op). Yes, I said FIVE.
(Five out of 400 and thousands more wounded.)
He wouldn't even mention the fifteen who died on that Chinook helicopter in public on the day it happened.
He likes to keep them hidden.
I hope he thinks about that while covering Tony Blair's political back during his UK visit.
Snapshot in Time...
Six months After 9-11 / NYC
photo by iddybud
"My Dad"
I see a face, a face of God
He's smiling down on me and my mom.
My dad is up there smiling too.
When his tower collapsed he was trapped
Inside a fiery inferno with nowhere to go
Except heaven.
Hilary Strauch, at 12 years old
The Funnies:
When Moms get wired..
Oh, Nooooooooo!
"....Really, the blog is just a record of what I think about the world and how I spend my free time," Widmar said. "In other words, exactly the sort of information that no 30-year-old wants his mom to have access to..."
Take a peek at Blogger's answer- "What to Do When Your Mom Discovers Your Blog"! :)
Chickenhawk Down by Tom Tomorrow-A must-see! ;)
Looking back:
What FOOLS we were to let them go...
"One year ago: "US army sacks gay Arabic experts""
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the sacking of two Arabic translators from the U.S. Army.
This, to me, is a very sad and disturbing story. As stated in the BBC article, 'the decision comes when American military and intelligence services are suffering from an acute lack of translators and interpreters needed for their war on terror'
and 'the US Government has been frantically trying to recruit more Arabic speakers.'
I wish Mr. Gamble and Mr. Hicks great success in their personal and professional civilian lives.
Their removal is a shame and a loss for this nation, especially in light of all that has occurred this past year.
The services of these men would have been very valuable at such a dangerous time for our troops.
Ask yourselves:
Why do we place a higher value on the focus of what people
do in their bedroom vs. what they could have done to avert terror and save lives?
Changing the rules When the Games Don't Go Your Way-
The Mark of People Who Lack Character;
the Mark of UnAmerican Political Leaders
Who Will Allow the Balance of Power to Suffer In Order to Win
The Republicans are on the floor of the Senate as we speak... attempting to change long-standing traditions that will make it certain that the Dems (at this time) will not be able to filibuster to keep a judge from getting an easy up/down vote in a majority Senate.
It shouldn't be that easy.
Face it.
The balance of power between all branches should always be the primary concern, and when you take away the power from the Judiciary committee, you offset the balance of power between the Executive and the Judiciary.
The current make-up of the Senate (regardless of majority) will prove there is no clear mandate for such a drastic change in the delicate balance of power.
I mean, it's a complete "NO-DUH" that the majority Republicans will
allow these ideolgues to sail in on the partisan breeze if they succeed in changing a rule (since they couldn't win any other way...the awful babies).
*This is Mitch McConnell:*
It will work to the GOP's complete detriment should the Senate balance be shifted to Dems and a bunch of left-wing extremists are given an easy ticket to the higher-court benches. They would not want this to happen, I'm sure. They'd best be careful what they wish for.
photo by Iddybud
My son with President Clinton
photo by Iddybud
My son..six months after 9-11 in New York
Here's some real news from Iraq.
You may bypass the media filter altogether by going here.
Ed Kinane is a mamber of the Syracuse Peace Council who works with Voices in the Wilderness in Iraq. He returned there in August to experience the US “liberation” firsthand. 'Voices' is a grassroots network based in Chicago that relays the voices of the Iraqi people back to the U.S.
Ed returned home to Syracuse in November and was one of many political activists who spoke to a large group of citizens at a townhall meeting in Syracuse last night.
I was there.
Not one Federal representative chose to attend or send a representative to listen to what Syracuse had to say.
I found that very, very disappointing.
Besides the SPC, others represented at last night's meeting of concerned Syracuse citizens:
AFSC (American Friends Service Committee)...NYCLU ..NOW..CCA..Syracuse United Neighbors..Planned Parenthood..CAN (Citizens Awareness Network)..SEIU 1199..Pax Christi..Sierra Club..ASLF(Atlantic States Legal Foundation)..the Muslim Community (supporters of Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a local pediatrician who has been wrongly imprisoned for 10 months-a story I plan to tell very soon)... our good (outgoing) city auditor Minch Lewis..and many more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some excerpts from Ed Kinane's website writings:
"....Very few soldiers I've met truly want to kill. It's not a question
of bravery. They're some of the bravest people I've ever seen. But few want
to be here. Most are reservists who signed up for the job and tuition benefits,
hoping not to have to go to war."
Joel Preston Smith, photojournalist
"..there are things that come out in interviews with Iraqis that I don't write
about. This is out of consideration for them and sometimes out of a
concern for their security. If it weren't so cumbersome, I'd be
tempted to keep a separate set of books."
Ed Kinane, Syracuse Peace Council
"...What happened to you – the supporters and the followers of the Christ (peace be upon him).
What happened to you – the followers who love peace, what happened to you? …”
From “Call of Peace”
Sayed Muktade Al-Sadur, spiritual/political leader in Iraq
Syracuse Peace Council Newsletter available here
Wesley Clark: 'Big Blog' Debut
See the Clark Community Network for more information.
Gen Clark claims the "internet made him do it" ( run for Prez, that is :)
I'd like to see Clark and Dean ( and their campaigns) limit a lot of future squabbling and run together.
What a marvelous team they'd make.
Molly Ivins Proudly Invites You To: "Call Me a Bush-Hater"
"....Among the more amusing cluckings from the right lately is their appalled discovery that quite a few Americans actually think George W. Bush is a terrible President...."
GO FIGGER! ;)
".....Poor Bush is in way over his head, and the country is in bad shape because of his stupid economic policies.
If that makes me a Bush-hater, then sign me up...."
HEY-PASS THAT PEN AND PAD OVER HERE WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED!
ART ZIMMER- Central New York Resident Finds Success His Own Way
Farmboy Turns Into Millionaire
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 12, 2003
Mr. Zimmer is owner of the Syracuse New Times, one of the best alterative newspapers in America.
Read his story.
US Senate backs Syria sanctions
After Iraq, I would have hoped the Senate would know better than to give unbridled authority
to the already-proven untrustworthy Bush administration.
Damn if they haven't done it again.
We are taking the wrong path.
Cutting off our own noses to spite our American faces.
Blowing an opportunity for cooperation and creating a resentful and hungry people instead.
When the hell will we learn?
In 2002, Syria provided the United States with much information on potential terrorist attacks and was one of the CIA's most effective intelligence allies in the fight against al-Qaeda. The hawks of the Bush Administration are willing to
shut down this major channel of information... even though al-Qaeda remains a serious threat.
CIA Director George Tenet has allegedly fought a losing battle to keep Syria as an intelligence source against
members of the Bush Administration who'd obviously prefer confrontation with Damascus over help against al-Qaeda. Bottom line, they regard Syria as a problem because of its support for Hezbollah, the organization that forced
Israel out of southern Lebanon.
Yet they will likely come out the loser for it when it comes to stopping al-Qaeda.
And our Senate are willing to let them do it...no questions asked.
The vote was 89-4.
Senators Byrd, Jeffords, Chaffee, Enzi were the only ones with brains and guts enough to dissent.
Read Seymour Hersch's New Yorker piece titled "The Syrian Bet" for more information.
Jack Straw is breaking ranks with us over Iran.
Seventeen Italian soldiers have died in Nasiriyah. I'm certain this will affect Italian resolve regardless of
what Berlusconi is saying this morning.
Bremer's probably on his way out of his position and the UN and Red Cross have scattered and gone from Iraq. General Sanchez is realistically telling us it's bad..he's worried.
I fear the policies of the Bush administration are not taking us toward any meaningful resolution anywhere in
the Middle East. Just the opposite, matter of fact. Seeing the good organizations of the world fall away from
Iraq while even Britain is beginning to distance themselves from Bush on Iran is not a good indicator of a war
that is going well.
No Mama-No Papa-No Uncle Sam:
A Veterans' Day Tribute to my Uncle Paul Nagurney
To Paul: a Veteran; a Patriot; a Great Man
~~~~~~~
"It is wrong to place our military in harm's way and not support them.
May God forgive those who did so in Bataan, and may God forgive those who forget the sacrifices of Bataan,
and those other Americans who rest here."
Maj. Richard M. Gordon (USA Ret.)
Adjutant
Battling Bastards of Bataan
Remarks at the Manila American Cemetery
-Ft. Bonifacio, Makati, Manila, Philippines-
April 2, 2002
Senator Inouye, Senator Stevens, Ambassador Ricciardone in attendance
~~~~~~
On this Veteran's day I wish to thank my Great Uncle Paul who died in 1981 at the age of 67...and whose sacrifices and stories I will not forget.
He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March of WWII.
He served 20 years with the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.
He was wounded December 10, 1941 while stationed at Nichols Field in the Phillipines.
He was evacuated to Bataan and then to Corregidor.
When Corregidor fell to the Japanese, he was taken prisoner.
He survived the Bataan Death March, thanks to his sheer will and a secret stash of quinine, which he shared with others to
help sustain them.
Hundreds of Americans died or were killed in that Death March.
Uncle Paul survived over three more years imprisonment by the Japanese. He was later awarded the American Defense Service Medal with a bronze star, a Distinguished Unit Badge with two oak-leaf clusters, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with a bronze star, the WWII Victory Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Phillipine Defense Ribbon with a bronze star.
"Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides tells one of the best stories about the Bataan incident.
Fourth Marine Mel Sheya, a Bataan survivor, wrote a first-hand accounting of Bataan in "The Battling Bastards of Bataan".
I am lucky enough to have an autographed copy of the book.
In one section of the book, Sheya writes:
"In our short stay at Cabanatuan, we had seen our comrades face the firing squad, hundreds die from dysentery, malaria, malnutrition, and shot by guerillas who were after the Japs.
When we left, the camp was in a precarious state, for many
men were lying around about to die. The camp looked more like a graveyard than a prison camp. Men weighed from sixty to eighty pounds and were unable to hold anything on their stomachs.
We bid them adieu, knowing that soon many would be buried.
Some of the dying would give buddies their sentimental valuables and ask them to give them to their wives or families when Uncle Sam liberated us.
The time for departure came and we lined up ready to march.
You wouldn't realize men could become so close in friendship until you could see the tears shed by the men whose close friends were leaving...."
He also wrote:
"Many nights I would dream of home..my Mom and the friends I would love to see, then I would be awakened by the sobbing of some boy that was less fortunate than I in concealing his emotions. There was alwas some one of us prepared to comfort and try to console these men that were still human enough to cry..."
and....
"Old Glory, to me, really means the flag of freedom and democracy.
May it forever fly proudly.
Damn the men that ever try to depreciate it."
Mr Sheya and my Uncle survived a living hell in captivity for
42 months under the Japanese. Corregidor was not only the bloodiest battle in the WWII Pacific, but was possibly the worst form of defeat ever inflicted in the U.S. armed forces.
There were very dark moments when these prisoners would feel they were forgotten and abandoned by the American generals. Lorcha Dock was where General MacArthur (realizing too late that he had spread his troops too thinly) uttered the words "I Shall Return", before departing for Australia. He had ordered a general retreat of his troops on Luzon to the Bataan Peninsula on the western side of Manila Bay. The American and Philippine Army troops scattered across eight of the other large Philippine islands were abandoned to the Japanese.
How might YOU have felt if you were one of those left behind?
Uncle Paul learned that, when all is said and done, we only have ourselves on which to rely upon for our own survival.
He was not angry at his nation for what happened to him.
He held no grudge.
He believed in the cause of true American democracy and freedom.
Yes, through it all, my Uncle Paul loved America for what he believed she stood for.
Freedom and democracy.
I learned many important lessons from Uncle Paul through the years I was lucky enough to have his
company and his counsel.
His thoughts, his patriotic love run through me and through all the words you see here on this page.
I intend, as long as I live, to never let his memory die.
The bottom line on Howard Dean and the Confederate Flag Issue:
"I intend to talk about race during this election in the South
because the Republicans have been talking about it
since 1968 in order to divide us...
and I'm going to bring us together!"
Howard Dean
Yes, this is me...a Northern girl who
came up through Connecticut Yanks over the past
375 American years. Just take a look at me..
posing in front of the "dreaded" symbol of
our nation's once-fragile and fractured unity.
How can I possibly be smiling, you ask?
Some would call it hope.
My hope for America rests with the People...
and for a leader who will help them understand how
to heal and find strong enough common ground
for the mending of our tattered civil and civic fabric.
We will never make the world a better place when
we cannot find a spot our own land solid enough to stand together.
Morton H. Halperin: Safe at Home
From: TAP/American Prospect online
11.1.03
-At the dawn of the Cold War, America's leaders created new institutions that made us safer.
Fast forward to the present.
Why isn't the Bush administration following their example?-
In this article, there is a definitive list and brief review of what we have done over the past two years which provides a basis for determining what needs to be done from this point forward to make the nation safer.
Excerpts:
"....President Bush got one thing right: The greatest threat to American security is a rogue state providing a terrorist group with a weapon of mass destruction and the means to deliver it in the United States. Unfortunately, almost everything he has done since September 11 has made this problem worse rather than better. We need new policies, new approaches and new institutions to reduce this risk...."
"....None of this argument is based on altruism. It is a straightforward claim that the administration's policies to date have failed to make us safer, and that a new approach is more likely than the path we are now on to prevent rogue states from sharing true weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery with terrorists who would wish us harm."
George Soros Rocks!
Soros's Deep Pockets vs. Bush
Financier Contributes $5 Million More in Effort to Oust President
~~~~~~
"We were disappointed. We thought a guy like George Soros could do more.
No....no....kidding!
It was thrilling."
Steve Rosenthal, CEO, America Coming Together
~~~~~~~
"...It is the central focus of my life," Soros said, his blue eyes settled on an unseen target. The 2004 presidential race, he said in an interview, is "a matter of life and death."
"....Neoconservatives, Soros said, are exploiting the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a preexisting agenda of preemptive war and world dominion. "Bush feels that on September 11th he was anointed by God," Soros said. "He's leading the U.S. and the world toward a vicious circle of escalating violence."
"..Soros believes that a "supremacist ideology" guides this White House.."
*OH, SWEET IRONY-
THE RNC: A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE--
"...It's incredibly ironic that George Soros is trying to create a more open society by using an unregulated, under-the-radar-screen, shadowy, soft-money group to do it," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson said. "George Soros has purchased the Democratic Party."
~~~~~~~~
For more on George Soros, see: "The Bubble of American Supremacy"
Twenty-Six House Democrats Push to Fire Rumsfeld
"...we're willing to stand up and say what so many policy makers know, that the first step to bringing our troops home is to send Donald Rumsfeld home."
Rep Charles Rangel-NY
OH NO----NOT AGAIN!
Condoleeza Rice: ''Most of this country is stable...''
WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THIS BEFORE?
PRESIDENT BUSH: ".. Well, first of all, we're just starting in Iraq. And a lot of Iraq is stable, and the life of the Iraqi people are better now than it was prior to the war.."
Speech at G8 summit May 29, 2003
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a July 8th, 2003 Washington Post editorial "Facing Reality in Iraq", Dick Cheney began: "Most of Iraq is stable..."
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 23, 2003
"Wolfowitz said that despite repeated attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, commanders on the ground report that the entire North and South of Iraq is stable."
Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample
American Forces Press Service
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THERE IS COMMENTARY FROM THE WISE AND SKEPTICAL:
COMMENT FROM BUZZFLASH:
Subj: Iraq Stability
Every administration official comes out and says that most of Iraq is stable and quiet. Or, that problems are concentrated in the Sunni Triangle. I guess this is supposed to make us feel better about the occupation. Kind of like a doctor comforting a patient by telling him that the malignant brain tumor only affects 15% of his brain.
Turk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAYBE THIS SEEMS STABLE....
BUT FRANKLY, NO ONE LIVES HERE.
NOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, THESE GALS ARE TRIANGLE GALS
WHERE PEOPLE EXIST, WE'RE TENDING TO SEE INSTABILITY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
THEN THERE'S THE TOTAL MISINFORMATION THAT ALWAYS FOLLOWS:
Exhibit A: " Most prefer to concentrate on the violence taking place in the Sunni-triangle areas, which is Saddam's stronghold. By the way, the sunni-triangle area constitutes about 1% of the entire country of Iraq. *(see my note below*) Despite that American troops are being shot at in this area, the rest of Iraq is stable...."
Exhibit B: "-Most of Iraq is stable. Almost all U.S. casualties have happened in a part of Iraq(Sunni triangle) that makes up only 5 percent of the country..."
From : KEYS TO THE WHITEHOUSE site, 8-31-03
RIGHT!
*My Note- 20% of the Iraqi population lives in the Sunni triangle.
Iraq is not "stable" anywhere.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frist finds a way to protect his real master - The People be damned.Frist Freezes Senate Probe of Prewar Iraq Data
By Walter Pincus and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 8, 2003; Page A18
Angry about a leaked Democratic memo, the Republican leadership of the Senate yesterday took the unusual step of canceling all business of the committee investigating prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called on the author of the memo -- which laid out a possible Democratic strategy to extend the investigation to include the White House and executive branch -- to "identify himself or herself . . . disavow this partisan attack in its entirety" and deliver "a personal apology" to Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Only if those steps are taken, Frist said, "will it be possible for the committee to resume its work in an effective and bipartisan manner -- a manner deserving of the confidence of other members of the Senate and the executive branch."
Roberts followed Frist on the floor and said that unless the Democratic members "properly" address the issue, "I am afraid that it will be impossible to return to 'business as usual' in the committee."
A committee meeting scheduled for yesterday was canceled, and none has been scheduled for next week, according to a senior committee staff member.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), the committee's ranking Democrat, said he was "really disappointed" with the Republican action. "Whose advantage is it to derail asking the tough questions on prewar intelligence and the use and misuse of it?" he asked.
The GOP move follows a month of extraordinary maneuvering by Democrats and Republicans to take political advantage of the committee's look at how the intelligence community collected and analyzed intelligence on Iraq over the past decade.
FULL TEXT HERE
The People are supposed to be Frist's primary charge and consideration in his important position as Senate majority leader.
But, nooooo....
Frist is using petty politics to provide the usual escape-from-accountability for the Bush administration.
This is just another case of abuse of power and an abrogation of responsibility to the People.
Pat Roberts looks like nothing more than a drama queen.
I hope people are smart enough to call their Congresspersons to tell them this:
What we suspect the Bush administration has misled us about is far more serious than Pat Roberts' damned PRIDE.
~~~~~~
"It's a very grave issue if the president is manipulating and distorting intelligence. There must be high anxiety about this in the intelligence community, because they are chatting to the press."
Ivan Eland, senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California
June,2003
~~~~~~
Lives are being lost in the twisted tangle of the Sunni triangle while these drama queens play partisan politics.
The Dems have NOTHING to apologize for - the memo was completely straightforward in laying out Democratic options to get to the truth while the Republicans are trying to WHITEWASH the Bush's administrations treasonous manipulation of Iraq intelligence.
Good People of this nation:
If you aren't outraged, you simply aren't paying attention.
If Frist cannot lead, he should get out of the way!
Websites worth visiting--often
I found a couple sites today which I found interesting.
I wanted to share them with you.
Sinister Swing, also known as 'The Left Wing of the Web',
is a fantastic collection of current news articles, as well as left-related activism and information. Well-done.
Patriots for Peace is another site that's new to me..and one I highly recommend.
Al Gore: An Intelligent Democrat Criticizes the Patriot Act,
the Power Grab and the
Crisis-Exploiting Tactics of the Executive
What a contrast between the man who so aptly gave today's Moveon.org/ACS-sponsored speech at the packed
DAR Constitution Hall in Washington DC and the bumbling idiot who has reduced our nation to
a shred of what she was since he robbed the steering wheel in 2000.
President Dean
Vice President Clark
Whoops...heh-heh.
Uh..you caught me thinking ahead.
*sorry
Howard Dean Offers New Declaration
WHEN IN THE Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
Two centuries ago, our founders brought into this world a new republic. This republic brought to the world a new era of self-government. It ensured the rights of the citizenry and gave them the vote to elect representatives.
Throughout this nation’s history, the American people have struggled to keep their rights and make their government work for them. We have seen the populists, progressives, women, labor, and civil rights movements.
Today our government has become overrun by special interests. Working with President George Bush, they have turned our government into a system that works for the profit of the few not the benefit of the many.
They have in the last two elections flooded our politics with over 5.1 billion dollars in contributions.
They have walked into the Vice-president’s office and written energy legislation that keeps us shackled to fossil fuels.
They have written health care legislation denying access and affordability, and keeping prescriptions away from seniors.
They have purposely misled this nation into an unnecessary war.
WE, therefore, the architects and builders of Dean for
America, appealing to the Wise Judgment of the American people on our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these United States, solemnly Publish and Declare, the People of these United States are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT OF SPECIAL INTERESTS and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT CITIZENS, they have full Power to participate, deliberate, pursue the common good, protect their own interest from corruption, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT CITIZENS may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, we mutually pledge to each other to write letters, knock on doors, organize our neighbors, self- fund this effort, and vote.
Signed,
Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.
Lanya Shapiro
Aldon Hynes
Kim Hynes
Jasper Hendricks
Peng Her
Susan Hudgens
Jerome Wiley
Add your signature to the Declaration
Today On "ABC News- This Week"....
There was an excellent conversation between Richard Holbrooke and Richard Perle facilitated by "ABC News' This Week" today.
The look on Richard Perle's face while Richard Holbrook (assistant secretary of state and ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton) pointed out the bare truth to him on the
failed (or ignored) pre-Iraq war / Imad Hage peace-negotiations ..the look on that man's face said it all. Perle really doesn't have a poker face.
He looked down, appeared to be turning a shade of ashen green. Was it shame?
Perle-prince of darkness- ashamed?
Perle called Hage's attempt to stop the war "a trap" due to oil concessions.
Oil. Oil. Oil. Oil. Oil.
Oil.
OIL.
Did I say oil?
With the slithery, slippery assistance of George W Bush and Dick Cheney, oil has killed almost
400 American troops in the interest of American corporations.
Oil was the very reason Perle discounted an effort to head off an unnecessary war.
We need to be outraged.
If we're not outraged, we are not paying attention.
If I hear Perle call the Iraqi resistance "bitter-enders" one more time, I think I'll become nauseous.
What kind of "bitter-end" (or ANY end, for that matter) is anywhere near in this war?
The resistance has escalated like a wild fire this past month.
They succeeded in killing so many of our fine young troops...took down a Chinook and now TWO Blackhawk-downs (Where's Mark Bowden and Ridley Scott?)
"Bitter-beginners" may be a more fitting term.
John Edwards
I ran into this post from John Edwards' campaigners.
I would still welcome any discussion about the Edwards campaign.
He's a good man.
He's still in my own 'top-tier' of the Democratic field.
Even though Edwards is from the South and I hail from the North, my own Grandfather worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania in his youth and went on to send his
children to college so they could have a better life than he did.
Our stories are much the same.
I can identify with the place from which Senator Edwards has come and I appreciate his view of where
he thinks we should be headed.
I think he made a mistake recently in his comments to Howard Dean during the "Rock the Vote" debate, but I can
understand why so many of the contending Democrats feel the need to take the front-runner down a few pegs.
I don't think, however, we should make suspicion-generating statements about our geographic differences
when we are talking about leadership and cooperation.
Senator Edwards should emphasize we're in this together.
I look forward to seeing what Senator Edwards has to say on Meet the Press with Tim Russert this Sunday.
A Good Article on the Political Effects of Temporary Upswing in Economy
Bottom line, it's mostly about public perception.
People are easily swayed to believe all is suddenly rosy wth our economy.
Most people do not have a good understanding of the economy and rely upon Greenspan, Buffet,
brokers and talking CNBC heads to drive their opinions.
I heard Ron Brownstein on CNN yesterday chatting manically about the latest news as if we hadn't lost
2.7 million jobs in the last two years and that the news of 126,000 jobs (mostly McJob quality) was the ticket for a Bush reelection in 2004. (That's 126,000 jobs nation-wide..there are 50 states..58 counties in California alone..average out 126,000 jobs amongst 50 states and then by county).
Brownstein's a professional...he should know better than to mislead CNN viewers.
How disappointing.
Most people do not understand what this huge defecit will eventually mean for them personally if we do not turn things around.
From the article:
"...The train wreck that has been arranged for the day when the government's ravenous appetite for IOUs to finance unheard of red ink collides with both the capital needs of a recovering economy and the huge cost of my generation's impending retirement will come after next year's election. It will come, but deficits do not matter politically the way they mattered in 1992 when they were an obvious factor in the stagnation that hurt Bush's dad.."
"...There is not going to be a repeat of the third quarter performance. The latest round of tax cuts has been mostly spent, imports will go back up, there is a much smaller volume of mortgage refinancing to provide extra cash, and states and localities have only just begun slashing services and jobs.
Nonetheless there has been an unprecedented amount of budgetary and monetary stimulus applied to the US economy over the last 30 months and at some point it is going to respond. The political question is partly how much, but it also involves whether the output recovery is perceived by people as actually improving their standard of living.
For the perception question to be answered favorably for Bush, there have to be a lot more jobs producing more after-tax, after-inflation income for people who live off their paychecks and pension checks..."
~~~~~~~~
Another note on the subject.
Check out the headline:
DISASTER FOR DEMS
By JOHN PODHORETZ
NY Post
I would imagine "Great News for Americans" would be a healthy title...even though I don't
agree that the news is all that great.
I don't believe that Podhoretz considers Democrats to be "American".
There was a word I used to like to use as a kid to describe the attitude of people like those at the NY Post..
the word was "skeevy".
I looked the word up..it was actually in the dictionary.
It said:
Skeevy:
Adjective; Personal attributes that may arouse nausea an another.
Used in a sentence: "From a distance he's suave and debonair; but when he gets close, you can see he's all skeevy with his greasy hair, unshaven face, and mix of body odor and cheap cologne."
I suppose that sums up the way I view the NY Post. The cover looks inviting,
but when you get close, they're pretty skeevy.
Here's the line Skeevy Podhoetz used to end his ninth-grade-reading-level column:
"That's pretty impressive, even before you think about the 7.2 percent growth figure. The dark lining in this silver cloud is, of course, the loss of 2 million jobs - but that will be ending. Even if growth slows down to a less sizzling pace of 4 percent or so, there will be sustained job creation throughout 2004.
And if that does happen, it's almost a certainty that one person will be keeping his job: George W. Bush"
Wait until growth comes down to a fizzling pace.
I shake my head increduously and wonder how people can be so gullible.
Sanitizing the truth may become Bush's downfall
It's time to remove your news filters, Mr. Bush
This opinion rings of so much truth.
Bush has obviously been avoiding the subject of casualties in his speeches. He's attended no funerals or memorials for soldiers. I heard a father of a deceased troop stating that Bush never called him. Shouldn't a father of a
troop who gave all expect that call?
In public, Bush has been making strong and unrealistic suggestions to the American media, suggesting they self-censor when it comes to the news that isn't "pretty".
Bush's reliance upon a rarely-used rule allowing him to censor
the media's showing of the dead as they return from overseas is causing many Americans who may have been shakily supporting him to now think of him as a leader without a lot of empathy or character.
How do I come to this conclusion?
I talk with people.. everyday Americans like you and me.
"Time to remove your filters, Mr. Bush. It's a messy world out there, but we all have to live in it."
Civil Rights Attorney to Dean: "Confederate Flap: Stand Firm, Howard Dean"
By Constance L. Rice, LA Times
"Go for it. And you don't need to apologize."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giant union throws its weight behind Dean
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean: Brutal Ruler Doesn't Justify Force
Bill Frist proving to be worse than Trent Lott as Senate Majority leader
Leadership and uniting Senate are obviously not his strong points
Current Senate train wreck:
Frist Accuses of Democrats of Undermining Intelligence Panel
By Ken Guggenheim Associated Press Writer
This is about a a Democratic memo leaked this week that outlines a strategy for exposing contradictions between intelligence reports and Bush's claims about Iraqi weapons programs.
The memo in question was apparently STOLEN...then leaked.
Jay Rockefeller's capability as an effective Senator has been in much doubt as of late, IMHO,
judging from what I've seen from him on recent FOX interviews. Rockefeller was totally
careless in allowing something like this staff-memo to fall by the wayside.
The paranoid Pat Roberts is whining that Democrats are "plotting against him".
Roberts went on with his paranoid complaint (which may actually be a deceptive way to pull the plug on a
decent investigation), saying:
"The memo said that at some point the Democrats could 'pull the trigger'. When I read that, I felt like they're going to pull the trigger on me."
Dirty business all around.
This is a clarion call to elect a President in 2004 who is outside the sloppy and jaded Washington loop.
I'm convinced that few of them hold the people's interest as their priority.
I'm especially convinced that these GOP-ers would sell their mothers to Saddam Hussein to steal power
from Democrats.
The Dems don't owe them an apology...they owe them a gobulous spit in their thieving slanderous faces.
If the Bush administration hadn't abused intelligence and misled the people so many times while troops continue
to die, it never would have come to this sad state of affairs in the Senate. The Republicans on the Intelligence
Committee are in a pickle. How long can they continue to cover for the worst President in American history while attempting to slander their political Democratic brethren in Congress?
They're beginning to look ludicrous.
Here is the most ludicrous statement of them all...not to mention insulting to the intelligence of the American people:
From NewsMax:
"Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Thursday that Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., was right to charge this week that a memo outlining plans by Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats to politicize Iraq war intelligence borders on "treason."
Oh, please. Someone get Orrin Hatch a valium or a lollipop. He's going off again.
MUSIC BREAK: Go here to hear Orrin's
lovely and inspirational recording of "Heal Our Land". Then start praying we obtain a real leader
who will do just that.
I hope this committee investigation derailment orchestrated artfully and stealthily by the GOP members of
the committee will speed us toward a full and independent investigation.
This memo could never be a bigger scandal than the scandalous reason the Committee is there in the first place--
a President who misled (perhaps criminally) the people of America about the reasons our sons and daughters would meet horrendous
conditions..horrendous injury...horrendous death.
Now THERE'S the scandal.
Cowardice violations can be punished by death.
Luckily, the Army dismissed a cowardice charge and filed a lesser count against an Army interrogator who sought counseling after he saw the body of an Iraqi man cut in half by American fire.
The poor fellow won't have to die because he got upset and sick over a bloody mangled corpse cut in half.
Oh, goodie.
How awesome of the Army to not kill him.
I'm feeling warm and fuzzy..how about you?
There's a great recruiting come-on...
"Join us and we just might not KILL you for puking when you see someone's guts blown all over you."
The bogeymen are allegedly stalking American cities
'Mwuhahahaha!'
MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, is reporting a message titled "A Warning to Muslims in America". It's an alleged directive which was issued by the previously unknown "Islamic Bayan Movement" and first ran on the Global Islamic Media Web site this past Monday.
I wonder--is this a deliberate scare tactic on the part of MEMRI (who has shown unusual bias against the Arab world in the past) ...or our own government?
I trust them so little these days that I wouldn't put it past them.
FOX is always a seemingly willing and avid participant in the dissemination of dramatic and terrifying information.
Maybe it's just fundamental Islam f*king with our minds.
All I know (and/or believe) is this--
1. There's a hell of a lot more good people in this world than there are terrorists.
2. We have never come close to meeting the objective of bringing Saddam or Osama Bin Laden to justice.
Where are they? If we were really going to be tough Texas-troopers, why weren't a couple of cheap-ass bullets to the back of the head used to remove Saddam and Osama instead of hundreds of American troops' lives and hundreds and hundreds more troops' limbs (while we still don't have them?)
3. We haven't come close to meeting the objective of 'draining the swamp' of terrorists. The bogeymen are still
taunting us (or at least we're being told they are) and they are multiplying like baby rabbits since we hopped on the Iraq war-wagon.
4-With righteous and simple, decent leadership, we could turn this mess around.
Who's the Enemy?
Have you seen this theory?
Do you buy into rumors and suspicion when you consider that in the Middle East, November 9th is written as "9-11"?
Are you going to let this stop you from shopping?
Will you still keep that Broadway show on your intinerary?
A great cross-section of Politics in the real America
General Discussion at American View is one of the best cross-section representations of the real America.
This is a group of people who are decidedly diverse in their political affiliations.
They have known eachother for several years and through all forms of heated argument, have found a way to
stay together and talk it through..and walk away when necessary.
This is what America's all about.
The view cannot possibly be more American than this.
Executive privilege seen as leak-case option
Shielding material is not ruled out
Beyond belief.
Filthy treason may be upheld and shielded under the name of Executive privilege.
I'd say "only in America.." but this kind of thing would happen in any nation in this world where
the people are corruptly barred from justice.
Without a special prosecutor, there will never be any justice...let alone any fruitful investigation.
"Despite President Bush's repeated pledges of full cooperation, administration officials yesterday refused to rule out invoking executive privilege to shield some documents from Justice Department investigators looking into whether someone in the White House illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative...."
PEACE DEAL ABORTED
ABC did some damn good investigative journalism here.
This story has long, swift legs. Congress had best keep up with it.
Note to Congress:
Investigate.
NY TIMES STORY
BBC STORY
GUARDIAN STORY
ANANOVA STORY
~~~~~~~~~
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfled said at a Pentagon news conference Thursday:
"The regime of Saddam Hussein had ample - well beyond ample - opportunity to avoid war..."
They forgot to add a line he didn't vocalize, yet what I imagine must be true...
"...but we did not- in good faith - allow them an ample - opportunity to avoid a war that we knew would take the lives of hundreds of our own troops and thousands of Iraqi civilians' lives."
I strongly believe Donald Rumsfeld is lying through his teeth.
Sports, Ideology and Other Distractions
-On Exploiting Decent People
-Rising to the Top
-The Evolution of Cooperation
~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an excellent column by blogateer (modern-day pamphleteer) Anonymoses.
Democratic Debate: Senator John Edwards Has Made A Grave Error
"Let me tell you, the last thing we need in the South is somebody like you
coming down and telling us what we need to do."
Who said this?
Was it a Civil War-era white Southerner speaking to Lincoln?
Was it a Civil-Rights-era white Southerner speaking to LBJ?
Was it Zell Miller speaking to Tom Daschle?
Most curiously, no.
It was Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards speaking to Howard Dean.
Why?
Because Howard Dean wishes to include all Americans under the "big tent"...proclaiming that those
with Confederate flags were welcome.
I think this one line may prove to be the biggest mistake John Edwards ever could have made..
for his own candidacy and for the self-destructing Democratic party.
If you are truly American, it's all our Heritage..whether you live in Bangor, Maine or Biloxi, Mississippi
I walked through a Confederate cemetary in Fredericksburg, Virginia last Spring.
I understood that the young men laid under that ground in their beloved and beautiful Virginia
didn't fight for that flag because they hated blacks. It wasn't as simple as that. I wish we could say it was.
There is still a civil war going on. It's a war of ideologies.
Howard Dean could be our Uniter.
God and Nature know we need a Uniter.
Our united nation is withering before our very eyes.
John Edwards sounded more like Zell Miller...or a rebel secessionist..or a resentful 1960s-Selma white... last night than sounding like a 21st-century enlightened, inclusive Presidential candidate.
He made a mistake far more revealing than anything Howard Dean could have said on the subject.
By simply separating Southerners from Americans and feigning offense at Dean's supposed Northern arrogance and
intervention, Edwards is showing America that he's a throwback to 1850s-America.
My God, we don't need that kind of thought anymore.
I suspect there is still strong Southern separatist thought within the GOP, but I did not suspect
that those who claimed to be progressive still harbored such territorial suspicion.
This isn't North vs. South..it shouldn't be.
THIS IS AMERICA.
We cry "United We Stand" and in the next breath betray animosty toward our
fellow party-member because of his geographical origin.
If this is still North vs. South, even among our most progressive politicians,
then we've made no progress since the end of the dreadful Civil War.
It only leads me to believe what I have believed for a long time.
The Civil War was never competely resolved.
War rarely provides a true healing or a true resolution.
When the North "won" the Civil War, they applied a really good band-aid, but I think it had a "TO BE CONTINUED" sign stashed under the bandage.
The GOP is slick and savvy enough to know not to air their filthy laundry in front of all America.
They are the worst of all in all their white hegemony.
We know it. It speaks for itself.
The Democratic party shows weakness by letting themselves fall all over each other in all these debates when they know the GOP Wolf and all the drooling right-partisan pundits are on their heels.
Howard Dean is a maverick who refreshingly spills the truth..he's the blatantly honest child in the
"Emporer's New Clothes" tale. He is intelligent enough to spill the truth and let all other candidates
betray themselves for the people they truly are.
Win or lose in 2004, he is the face of the future of America.
John Edwards made a grave error for himself and for his party last night.
Howard Dean is holding a hand out to the South.
(It's amazing-the lengths to which our politicians go to pander to them)
Howard Dean: "I am not going to take a back seat to anybody in terms of fighting bigotry.”
"We [Democrats] are not going to make progress if we don’t broaden the tent.”
John Edwards: "Let me tell you, the last thing we need in the South is somebody like you
coming down and telling us what we need to do."
WHO IS THE REAL SEPARATIST?
~~~~~~
see William Saletan's commentary about the bum rap that was laid on Howard Dean by his fellow Democratic candidates.
I heard James Carville on NPR saying that the Democrats lost a crucial opportunity to turn the whole issue around
to Bush's hypocrisy-through-silence on the Confederate flag issue in South Carolina.
They should have known better than to trash one another. As Anonymoses eloquently wrote recently,
"Democrats, Use Your Time Wisely".
~~~~~~
"Howard Dean is a maverick who refreshingly spills the truth..he's the blatantly honest child in the
"Emporer's New Clothes" tale. He is intelligent enough to spill the truth and let all other candidates
betray themselves for the people they truly are."................
"But he has nothing on!" cried a child.
"The child tells the truth," said his father quietly.
And the people began to whisper to one another what the child had said.
"He has nothing on ! The child says he has nothing on!"
And the Emporer, hearing what they had said, shivered. For he knew their words were TRUE.
But it would never DO to stop the procession...so he held himself stiffer than ever.
Real Men Aren't Metrosexual (?)....
Being Anti-Iraq-War is Gay...No decent Republican is Metrosexual...
infers Columnist Mark Steyn
Someone should suggest to Steyn that he use a better ending for his columns
than his cheapshot "Nah-Nah"-quality
"Or maybe that 7.2 percent economic growth will collapse to 6.4 percent.."
That 7.2 percent, over time will prove to be like the first little pig's house.
One huff..one puff of stinky air and it's bound to be blown to hell with no solid foundation.
.jpg)
"7.2%, eh?"
( (whooooooooooosssshhhh) )
As Paul Krugman quoted the late Herbert Stein in today's NY Times column,
"Things that can't go on forever, don't."
A real man---a political metrosexual--would understand that in his trying to see Venus best
from his vantage point on Mars,
there is a very, very big picture to be viewed.
A dynamo-American political metrosexual would be concerned with liberty and justice for all instead of living in a state of denial in dark ignorance.
It is no sin for a real man to change his mind when he sees what a blooming disaster has been
produced by his darkness.
Ego-driven Republican men tend to fail to see things clearly and therefore fail to
do the right things..even though they claim to BE 'the Right'. What's worse, ego-driven Republican men tend to
pridefully and stubbornly hold to their "absolute truths" and destroy others in the process.
In order for any of us to 'do the right thing', we first need to see not only Mars,
but Venus and the rest of the big picture.
There is an entire universe out here, boys.
That's why I love Metrosexuals. They see the true and right relationship of all things.
That's the only path to liberty and justice for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters.
Oh---and they usually have the hottest coifs and threads.
Too, too Mars
No hinge-head hairdos will do for our men.
And ohhhh, they understand the secret to a happy life is well-moisturized skin!
Metrosexuals have the secret to happiness
I'm glad Steyn admits to being a Metrosexualphobe.
It confirms every suspicion I've ever had about the collective ego of the GOP male population.
Guess what?
Women adore Metrosexuals...
..and we still have the right to vote, much to your bloody chagrin.
Andrew Cohen on 21st century enlightenment
What does enlightenment mean in the 21st century?
What does enlightenment mean in the 21st century? It really means everything. It means the evolution of our species and the survival of our species. It doesn't mean anything less than that. And very practically, it means that more and more of us have to be willing to recognize who we truly are, take responsibility for the implications, and be willing to live the gift of human life for very different reasons than the ones we've been living for up until now.
Andrew Cohen
Oslo, Norway, May 2003
from AndrewCohen.org
or additional inspiration, see The Guru and the Pandit
-Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber in dialogue.
Andy Rooney: "If I Were Bush's Speechwriter ..."
Here's at least one good thing from CBS this week.
The bad news is that the cowardly CBS has allowed themselves to be censored by the free market.
The unobjective screamers who have never seen the television movie about Ronald Reagan
have ensured that it will be hidden from non-premium TV-customers' sight due to a risk of financial damage
to the network through advertising loss.
When first amendment rights are removed by 'special interests', via the free market, which is what has doubtlessly occurred here, we see
just another example of how "liberty" is imperfectly produced by the free market.
There were no real debates...no votes...only loud complants from a few partisan people with a stick up their ass
about artistic freedom.
I plan to boycott the integrity-challenged CBS and their sponsors..period.
I hate most of their shows, anyhow. They've nearly broken Dan Rather. He even looks broken nowadays..have you noticed?
CSI (not 'Miami') is about the only worthwhile production I've seen there in the past five years.
The damage caused to CBS by the silent majority will wind up doing them far more damage
than they could possibly imagine.
I hope the Showtime version omits nothing from the original script.
