The Long Journey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God's given us years of happiness here
Now we must part
And as the angels come and call for you
The pains of grief tug at my heart
Oh my darling
My darling
My heart breaks as you take your long journey...
From a song by Doc Watson & Rosa Lee Watson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Valerie Reitman of the L.A. Times speaks to us about the language we use to prepare for the longest Goodbye. Whether the crossing is real or metaphoric, it's an inevitable mystic event.
Families and health care-workers hear words about the journey so often from the dying, conveying a sense of moving from one place to another, of being in transition...that a reasonable conclusion is that it must be a special language the dying have to communicate what they're experiencing.
[LINK]
Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
Monday, June 14, 2004
Max has an idea
Max has an idea
Max Blumenthal has a counterproposal to Grover Norquist's HR 452. It's called the Ray Charles Memorial Act and it would save the ten dollar bill from Reagan's mug.
That would free the sawbuck problem and make room for my notion: to chuck the silly 'National ID card' idea and use the image of Reagan's head for National ID tattoos on each of our American foreheads instead.
Again, there's Anonymoses' idea: Change the name of the U.S. to "Reagan".
Max Blumenthal has a counterproposal to Grover Norquist's HR 452. It's called the Ray Charles Memorial Act and it would save the ten dollar bill from Reagan's mug.
That would free the sawbuck problem and make room for my notion: to chuck the silly 'National ID card' idea and use the image of Reagan's head for National ID tattoos on each of our American foreheads instead.
Again, there's Anonymoses' idea: Change the name of the U.S. to "Reagan".
Krishnamurti-"Inquire"
IT IS NOT FOR THE TRULY FREE MIND
TO SIMPLY ACCEPT OR TO SIMPLY DENY
"One has to find out
for oneself."
"This does not mean that you reject what others say...
___*_____
_*_____*___
....but that you inquire without acceptance or denial."
^~^~^~^~^~^"An aggressive mind, a mind tethered to a belief, is not free.......
^~^~^~^~^~^
~^~^~^~^~^~and therefore it is incapable of inquiry."
"All this demands intensive inquiry, not acceptance."
__________________
__________________
KRISHNAMURTI
TO SIMPLY ACCEPT OR TO SIMPLY DENY
"One has to find out
for oneself."
"This does not mean that you reject what others say...
___*_____
_*_____*___
....but that you inquire without acceptance or denial."
^~^~^~^~^~^"An aggressive mind, a mind tethered to a belief, is not free.......
^~^~^~^~^~^
~^~^~^~^~^~and therefore it is incapable of inquiry."
"All this demands intensive inquiry, not acceptance."
__________________
__________________
KRISHNAMURTI
Turkey taking harder line on Ariel Sharon at OIC Talks
Turkey taking harder line on Ariel Sharon at OIC Talks
The foreign Ministers of a 57-member bloc of Islamic nations began talks in Turkey's commercial capital, Istanbul, over the future of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict today. Turkey is the only Muslim member of NATO.
The foreign ministers will also elect a new secretary general for the Saudi-based grouping, known as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or O.I.C.
In the Washington Post, it says the conference will likely emphasize the unity of Iraq amid Arab and Turkish fears the country could fragment along ethnic lines.
At BakuToday.com, it says that foreign ministers are expected to call for a speedy transfer of full sovereignty to the Iraqi people and emphasize the need to preserve the territorial unity of Iraq. Iran, Syria and Turkey, which share borders with Iraq, have expressed deep concern over a feared break-up of Iraq into separate, Kurdish, Shia and Sunni entities should the Iraqis' experiment with democratic self-rule fail. All three are especially worried that the emergence of a Kurdish state in Iraq could fan separatist sentiment among their own Kurdish minorities.
Last week, the leaders at the G8 summit adopted a compromise version of President Bush's plan for Middle Eastern reforms and tied it to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (one of the few Muslim leaders invited to the G8) has said: "Change should not be imposed from the outside. The character and traditions of each country must be taken into consideration." Before leaving for the U.S., Erdogan had told reporters that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bringing stability to Iraq were crucial issues for the current OIC.
It is believed that it would be a major coup for the Turks to get a Turkish head of the OIC, and although the Washington Post doesn't mention it, I read this in Baku Today (a less-western-flavoured news source):
Host nation Turkey has long been criticized by Arab nations for its strong military and economic ties with Israel. In recent weeks, however, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken out against the policies of his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, accusing the Jewish state of engaging in terrorism against the Palestinians.
To gain political ground with the OIC, Turkey is apparently being forced to take a harder line on Israel because of the Iraq war.
I wonder if this Sharon-dissing by one of the only democracies in the region was foreseen by the NeoCons who wanted this war so badly?
Quote:
"And I just, you know every so often I hear some people suggesting, well the right reaction for Turkey to this bump in our relationship is, well we should make more friends with Iran and more friends with Syria. Excuse me, that's absolutely the wrong way to go. The right way to go, as I say, is to think about where the real democrats, where does democracy need to be supported."
-Paul Wolfowitz to CNN Turk May, 2003
The foreign Ministers of a 57-member bloc of Islamic nations began talks in Turkey's commercial capital, Istanbul, over the future of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict today. Turkey is the only Muslim member of NATO.
The foreign ministers will also elect a new secretary general for the Saudi-based grouping, known as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or O.I.C.
In the Washington Post, it says the conference will likely emphasize the unity of Iraq amid Arab and Turkish fears the country could fragment along ethnic lines.
At BakuToday.com, it says that foreign ministers are expected to call for a speedy transfer of full sovereignty to the Iraqi people and emphasize the need to preserve the territorial unity of Iraq. Iran, Syria and Turkey, which share borders with Iraq, have expressed deep concern over a feared break-up of Iraq into separate, Kurdish, Shia and Sunni entities should the Iraqis' experiment with democratic self-rule fail. All three are especially worried that the emergence of a Kurdish state in Iraq could fan separatist sentiment among their own Kurdish minorities.
Last week, the leaders at the G8 summit adopted a compromise version of President Bush's plan for Middle Eastern reforms and tied it to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (one of the few Muslim leaders invited to the G8) has said: "Change should not be imposed from the outside. The character and traditions of each country must be taken into consideration." Before leaving for the U.S., Erdogan had told reporters that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bringing stability to Iraq were crucial issues for the current OIC.
It is believed that it would be a major coup for the Turks to get a Turkish head of the OIC, and although the Washington Post doesn't mention it, I read this in Baku Today (a less-western-flavoured news source):
Host nation Turkey has long been criticized by Arab nations for its strong military and economic ties with Israel. In recent weeks, however, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken out against the policies of his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, accusing the Jewish state of engaging in terrorism against the Palestinians.
To gain political ground with the OIC, Turkey is apparently being forced to take a harder line on Israel because of the Iraq war.
I wonder if this Sharon-dissing by one of the only democracies in the region was foreseen by the NeoCons who wanted this war so badly?
Quote:
"And I just, you know every so often I hear some people suggesting, well the right reaction for Turkey to this bump in our relationship is, well we should make more friends with Iran and more friends with Syria. Excuse me, that's absolutely the wrong way to go. The right way to go, as I say, is to think about where the real democrats, where does democracy need to be supported."
-Paul Wolfowitz to CNN Turk May, 2003
We've Killed More Innocent Iraqis Than We've Been Told
We've Killed More Innocent Iraqis Than We've Been Told
It would shame us as good people to ignore the fact that the United States launched many more failed airstrikes on a far broader array of senior Iraqi leaders during the early days of the war last year than has ever been previously acknowledged. Knowing that some caused significant civilian casualties should give us pause to mourn the innocent victims of our war intended to "liberate" them. Only a few of the 50 airstrikes have been described in public. All were unsuccessful. These failures were an early warning sign about the thinness of American intelligence on Iraq. The unspoken numbers of civilian casualties has not been acknowledged by the Bush administration.
The fervored Texas-style manhunt for the faces on that infamous deck of Iraq's "most-wanted" playing cards turned into an entire tome filled with innocent faces who were unlucky enough to be in the way when the shock and awe began.
I am ashamed of the government that would have led us in this iresponsible manner. If you aren't, I wonder if you possess a soul of basic human compassion. This is not to preach, but to ask you how there can be any form of national pride-in-responsibility when our leaders play "Deputy Dawg" and stomp on others' homelands with faulty intelligence and devastating bombs?
MOST WANTED
MOST GOTTEN
The reality of the awareness that every breath is shared with all life and that all people are brethren may never become a political asset...but it will always be true.
The war was unnecessary. Untold numbers of perfectly innocent souls are dead at our hands. The President may not wish to talk about it, but it will always be true.
[LINK]
It would shame us as good people to ignore the fact that the United States launched many more failed airstrikes on a far broader array of senior Iraqi leaders during the early days of the war last year than has ever been previously acknowledged. Knowing that some caused significant civilian casualties should give us pause to mourn the innocent victims of our war intended to "liberate" them. Only a few of the 50 airstrikes have been described in public. All were unsuccessful. These failures were an early warning sign about the thinness of American intelligence on Iraq. The unspoken numbers of civilian casualties has not been acknowledged by the Bush administration.
The fervored Texas-style manhunt for the faces on that infamous deck of Iraq's "most-wanted" playing cards turned into an entire tome filled with innocent faces who were unlucky enough to be in the way when the shock and awe began.
I am ashamed of the government that would have led us in this iresponsible manner. If you aren't, I wonder if you possess a soul of basic human compassion. This is not to preach, but to ask you how there can be any form of national pride-in-responsibility when our leaders play "Deputy Dawg" and stomp on others' homelands with faulty intelligence and devastating bombs?
MOST WANTED
MOST GOTTEN
The reality of the awareness that every breath is shared with all life and that all people are brethren may never become a political asset...but it will always be true.
The war was unnecessary. Untold numbers of perfectly innocent souls are dead at our hands. The President may not wish to talk about it, but it will always be true.
[LINK]
Sunday, June 13, 2004
About Wallace Turnage
About Wallace Turnage
WALLACE TURNAGE
Photo credit: NY Times
His story, written on blue-lined paper in a leather-bound notebook, probably sometime in the late 19th century, ended up with a neighbor, Gladys Watt, who discovered only by reading it that Mrs. Connolly was a former slave's daughter. Mrs. Connolly often described herself as "Portugee" to explain her dark complexion...Mrs. Watt kept the notebook in a closet for years, in a clamshell archival box, unsure what to do with it. And then last summer she took it to the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich....After the Turnage narrative was donated to the Greenwich historical society, the group hired two researchers to make sure it was authentic. "This is such a vivid and amazing story, the first thing we wanted to do was make sure it was not a fake," said Debra Mecky, the society's executive director. The researchers found that much of Mr. Turnage's account could be verified in census, Army and bank records...
Mr. Turnage's story tells..of the brutality of slavery, because most of his years of bondage were spent as a field hand in Alabama. He writes of near-crippling lashings of female slaves and describes four unsuccessful attempts to escape, some of them followed by severe beatings, before he finally succeeded in 1864 after hiding in a swamp for a week.
While hiding, he often slept in an unused Confederate lookout perch. One morning, he writes, as if he were witnessing a miracle, he saw the tide bring something in.
"Now when I got down there I seen a little boat very small indeed though the tide was going out," he says. "It stood like it was held by an invisible hand; so I got in the little boat and it held me."
A few hours later, as a storm threatened to drown him, he was pulled over the side of a Union gunboat by eight soldiers — and finally "had obtained that freedom which I desired so long."
He ends his story with a stern command to his readers not to regard his account as a "novel, nor a fable, but a reality of facts."
"My reader," he adds, "I will now leave my book to your judgement. The end."
[LINK: N.Y. Times- Journals of 2 Former Slaves Draw Vivid Portraits by Randy Kennedy]
Frank Rich- Bush is clearly no Reagan
Frank Rich-
Bush is clearly no Reagan
Not even close
Last weekend in Normandy, the president sat for an interview in which Tom Brokaw challenged his efforts to pull off a bigger flimflam than impersonating Ronald Reagan — the conflation of the Iraq war with World War II. "You referred to the `ruthless and treacherous surprise attack on America' that we went through during our time," Mr. Brokaw said. "But that wasn't Iraq who did that, that was al Qaeda." With the gravesites of the World War II dead behind him, the president retreated to his familiar script ("Iraq is a part of the war on terror"). Even if you think the lines make sense, the irritated man delivering them did not sound like someone who had ever experienced pain of the life-and-death intensity that comes with war. The problem is not merely that Mr. Bush lacks Reagan's lilting vocal delivery. As any professional actor can tell you, no performance, however sonorous, can be credible if it doesn't contain at least a kernel of emotional truth.
[LINK]
Bush is clearly no Reagan
Not even close
Last weekend in Normandy, the president sat for an interview in which Tom Brokaw challenged his efforts to pull off a bigger flimflam than impersonating Ronald Reagan — the conflation of the Iraq war with World War II. "You referred to the `ruthless and treacherous surprise attack on America' that we went through during our time," Mr. Brokaw said. "But that wasn't Iraq who did that, that was al Qaeda." With the gravesites of the World War II dead behind him, the president retreated to his familiar script ("Iraq is a part of the war on terror"). Even if you think the lines make sense, the irritated man delivering them did not sound like someone who had ever experienced pain of the life-and-death intensity that comes with war. The problem is not merely that Mr. Bush lacks Reagan's lilting vocal delivery. As any professional actor can tell you, no performance, however sonorous, can be credible if it doesn't contain at least a kernel of emotional truth.
[LINK]
Sanchez Approved Torture; White House May Be Linked to Decision
Sanchez Approved Torture; White House May Be Linked to Decision
Daily Kos diarist DHinMI provides us with an analysis which leads us to expect we'll soon be easily able to connect the Abu-Ghraib dots from Gen. Ricardo Sanchez directly to the Pentagon and to the White House. An article in the Telegraph (UK) tells us:
New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.
[Telegraph- Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels']
We should face the fact that most Americans have highly suspected the torture at Abu Ghraib was not the work of just a few "bad apples." It would seem terribly naive to think otherwise.
[LINK-DHinMI at Daily Kos]
Also--new in today's N.Y. Times--the Red Cross has said it alerted American military commanders in Iraq to abuses at Abu Ghraib in November. But the disclosures that the military's own interrogators had alerted superiors to abuse back then in internal documents has not been previously reported. LINK/NYT- Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq
Michael Moore saw prisoner abuses long before 60 Minutes' revelation
Filmmaker Michael Moore allegedly kept silent about prison-abuses of Iraqi detainees for fear he'd only be blamed for publicity-seeking.
From SFGate.com-
Filmmaker Michael Moore said Friday he wasn't sure he did the right thing by saving footage of U.S. American soldiers' cruelty toward Iraqis for his controversial documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11,'' instead of releasing the evidence earlier when it might have helped halt such abuse.
"I had it months before the story broke on '60 Minutes,' and I really struggled with what to do with it,'' Moore said in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. "I wanted to come out with it sooner, but I thought I'd be accused of just putting this out for publicity for my movie. That prevented me from making maybe the right decision.''
The footage, eerily similar to film of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison, shows GIs laughing as they snap photos of each other putting hoods over Iraqi detainees.
In the same scene from "Fahrenheit 9/11,'' which opens Friday at Bay Area theaters, an American soldier fondles a prisoner's genitals through a blanket.
"The stuff with the detainees in my movie is even more shocking than what we saw in that prison because it happens outdoors and is more commonplace,'' Moore said.
[LINK-Documentarian kept quiet after filming U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis]
Other articles:
WP- General Granted Latitude At Prison; Abu Ghraib Used Aggressive Tactics
Detroit Free Press- U.S. forces lose track of Iraqi prisoners; Men and boys vanish; families search in vain
U.S.News.com- Hiding a bad guy named triple X; How the military treated some inmates at Abu Ghraib like 'ghosts'
Editor and Publisher- Exclusive: Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
Daily Kos diarist DHinMI provides us with an analysis which leads us to expect we'll soon be easily able to connect the Abu-Ghraib dots from Gen. Ricardo Sanchez directly to the Pentagon and to the White House. An article in the Telegraph (UK) tells us:
New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.
[Telegraph- Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels']
We should face the fact that most Americans have highly suspected the torture at Abu Ghraib was not the work of just a few "bad apples." It would seem terribly naive to think otherwise.
[LINK-DHinMI at Daily Kos]
Also--new in today's N.Y. Times--the Red Cross has said it alerted American military commanders in Iraq to abuses at Abu Ghraib in November. But the disclosures that the military's own interrogators had alerted superiors to abuse back then in internal documents has not been previously reported. LINK/NYT- Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq
Michael Moore saw prisoner abuses long before 60 Minutes' revelation
Filmmaker Michael Moore allegedly kept silent about prison-abuses of Iraqi detainees for fear he'd only be blamed for publicity-seeking.
From SFGate.com-
Filmmaker Michael Moore said Friday he wasn't sure he did the right thing by saving footage of U.S. American soldiers' cruelty toward Iraqis for his controversial documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11,'' instead of releasing the evidence earlier when it might have helped halt such abuse.
"I had it months before the story broke on '60 Minutes,' and I really struggled with what to do with it,'' Moore said in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. "I wanted to come out with it sooner, but I thought I'd be accused of just putting this out for publicity for my movie. That prevented me from making maybe the right decision.''
The footage, eerily similar to film of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison, shows GIs laughing as they snap photos of each other putting hoods over Iraqi detainees.
In the same scene from "Fahrenheit 9/11,'' which opens Friday at Bay Area theaters, an American soldier fondles a prisoner's genitals through a blanket.
"The stuff with the detainees in my movie is even more shocking than what we saw in that prison because it happens outdoors and is more commonplace,'' Moore said.
[LINK-Documentarian kept quiet after filming U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis]
Other articles:
WP- General Granted Latitude At Prison; Abu Ghraib Used Aggressive Tactics
Detroit Free Press- U.S. forces lose track of Iraqi prisoners; Men and boys vanish; families search in vain
U.S.News.com- Hiding a bad guy named triple X; How the military treated some inmates at Abu Ghraib like 'ghosts'
Editor and Publisher- Exclusive: Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy
Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy
Heavy-hitters in Diplomacy and Military (many from Reagan era) aim to see Bush defeated in 2004
Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired ambassadors and senior military officers, will hold a Morning Newsmaker news conference Wednesday, June 16, at 8 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club (Zenger Room), 13th floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.
The topic will be "The Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy."
The group includes former ambassadors Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy, David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes and Alexander Watson; and Adm. William Crowe (former chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Reagan), Gen. Joseph Hoar and Adm. Stansfield Turner.
[LINK]
See: NYT- Former Officials to Criticize Bush Foreign Policy
Heavy-hitters in Diplomacy and Military (many from Reagan era) aim to see Bush defeated in 2004
Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired ambassadors and senior military officers, will hold a Morning Newsmaker news conference Wednesday, June 16, at 8 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club (Zenger Room), 13th floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.
The topic will be "The Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy."
The group includes former ambassadors Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy, David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes and Alexander Watson; and Adm. William Crowe (former chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Reagan), Gen. Joseph Hoar and Adm. Stansfield Turner.
[LINK]
See: NYT- Former Officials to Criticize Bush Foreign Policy
Bush succumbs to Kerry pressure; Contradicts his own Iraq policy
Bush succumbs to Kerry pressure; Contradicts his own Iraq policy
In a political atmosphere which has produced some of the lowest poll approval numbers Bush has seen, we've seen him cave in to pressure to internationalize his dreadful Iraq problem. Jim Hoagland demonstrates how Bush's current efforts to internationalize have only exposed a naked contradiction to his reasons for being in Iraq to begin with. Concessions on Iraq's sovereignty have no rational relation to the moral and national security reasons Bush put first forward for invading Iraq.
I'm afraid this, like so many other purely political moves Bush has made, will only serve to backfire in its effects upon the facts-on-the-ground.
We need much less pitiful political damage-control and far more decisions made by wise and morally consistent leadership.
[LINK-Washington Post]
In a political atmosphere which has produced some of the lowest poll approval numbers Bush has seen, we've seen him cave in to pressure to internationalize his dreadful Iraq problem. Jim Hoagland demonstrates how Bush's current efforts to internationalize have only exposed a naked contradiction to his reasons for being in Iraq to begin with. Concessions on Iraq's sovereignty have no rational relation to the moral and national security reasons Bush put first forward for invading Iraq.
I'm afraid this, like so many other purely political moves Bush has made, will only serve to backfire in its effects upon the facts-on-the-ground.
We need much less pitiful political damage-control and far more decisions made by wise and morally consistent leadership.
[LINK-Washington Post]
Frum/Perle Beliefs Threaten the World
Frum/Perle Beliefs Threaten the World
~~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Communists, by their own declaration, did not invade Hungary in 1956, or Czechoslovakia in 1968; they "liberated" these countries from evil. Frum and Perle have learned their lessons well."
~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Gordon systematically deconstructs the logic of Perle and Frum.
~~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Communists, by their own declaration, did not invade Hungary in 1956, or Czechoslovakia in 1968; they "liberated" these countries from evil. Frum and Perle have learned their lessons well."
~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Gordon systematically deconstructs the logic of Perle and Frum.
Frum and Perle have identified with great clarity a system of belief that threatens the world. This system requires all governments to conform to the policies of a single power. Those that refuse face violent overthrow. The ensuing military occupation by the dominant power is styled democracy; and, once people grasp its benefits, it is claimed that democracy of this sort will conquer the world.
[LINK-Ludwig von Mises Institute]
[LINK-Ludwig von Mises Institute]
Saturday, June 12, 2004
UK Elections: Blair's party takes a beating
UK Elections: Blair's party takes a beating
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, has called on Tony Blair to stand aside after the Labour party suffered its worst 24 hours at the polling booths since the mid-70s.
Short has said:
"I think that the electorate is sending a message to Tony Blair because the Labour party is incapable of correcting him. What he did in Iraq has brought disgrace and dishonour on Britain around the world. As Tony Blair won't change the policy, the only way to make a correction is for him to step aside from the leadership."
[LINK-Guardian]
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, has called on Tony Blair to stand aside after the Labour party suffered its worst 24 hours at the polling booths since the mid-70s.
Short has said:
"I think that the electorate is sending a message to Tony Blair because the Labour party is incapable of correcting him. What he did in Iraq has brought disgrace and dishonour on Britain around the world. As Tony Blair won't change the policy, the only way to make a correction is for him to step aside from the leadership."
[LINK-Guardian]
In Iraq Today
In Iraq Today
Bassam Salih Kubba gunned down
Was Iraq Ministry's most senior diplomat
The 60-year-old Kubba was a longtime diplomat, having served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations and Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba was the second senior Iraqi official to die in weeks. On May 17, Iraqi Governing Council head Izzadine Saleem was killed in a suicide car bombing near the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.
Three hostages were butchered by insurgents..one Lebanese hostage and two locals working for a foreign company in Iraq.
[LINK]
Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives Iraqi government conditional support
An aide told the Arab television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sadr would cooperate with the new government if it worked to end the U.S. military presence in the country.
[LINK]
In Sadr City
On Friday in Sadr City, one Mahdi Army militiaman was killed and several others were wounded in clashes with American forces in Sadr City, Baghdad. A Sadrist clergyman, Shaikh Nasir al-Sa'idi, preaching at the al-Hikmah mosque, warned nations considering joining the multinational force in Iraq that they will be treated the same way the present occupiers are treated.
[LINK]
In Kufa
At the Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Shaikh Jabir al-Khafaji preached in the stead of Muqtada al-Sadr, reading the latter's prepared sermon for the third week in a row. During the sermon, he mentioned that Muqtada al-Sadr would support the caretaker government if it demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of Occupation forces from Iraq. He emphasized his "refusal to kowtow to the Occupiers."
In Najaf
On Thursday and early Friday, Mahdi Army militiamen looted and burned a Najaf police station after the police attempted to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr. Although US-installed Najaf governor Adnan Zurufi accused the Mahdi Army of breaking the truce, it is hard to see how the attempted arrest was consistent with a truce. Zurufi is probably egged on in these matters by Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, but note that the US offered him no help on Friday. I think it is a legitimate demand that militias not appear in the streets armed. I'm not sure trying to arrest Muqtada's aides is so legitimate.
--Juan Cole
[LINK]
Food for Thought
A 6/19/2003 report by Juan Cole on the cancellation of planned municipal elections in Najaf was particularly painful for Professor Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago to reread from today's perspective. He wrote recently:
"You [meaning Prof. Cole] reported then that local US officials believed "Najaf was ready for elections and that the theocrats would have done poorly." But even if the Sadrists had won the election, their movement may have developed very differently over the past year if they could have built their political power by spending public funds for local reconstruction, rather than by recruiting soldiers for armed resistance."
Bassam Salih Kubba gunned down
Was Iraq Ministry's most senior diplomat
The 60-year-old Kubba was a longtime diplomat, having served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations and Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba was the second senior Iraqi official to die in weeks. On May 17, Iraqi Governing Council head Izzadine Saleem was killed in a suicide car bombing near the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.
Three hostages were butchered by insurgents..one Lebanese hostage and two locals working for a foreign company in Iraq.
[LINK]
Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives Iraqi government conditional support
An aide told the Arab television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sadr would cooperate with the new government if it worked to end the U.S. military presence in the country.
[LINK]
In Sadr City
On Friday in Sadr City, one Mahdi Army militiaman was killed and several others were wounded in clashes with American forces in Sadr City, Baghdad. A Sadrist clergyman, Shaikh Nasir al-Sa'idi, preaching at the al-Hikmah mosque, warned nations considering joining the multinational force in Iraq that they will be treated the same way the present occupiers are treated.
[LINK]
In Kufa
At the Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Shaikh Jabir al-Khafaji preached in the stead of Muqtada al-Sadr, reading the latter's prepared sermon for the third week in a row. During the sermon, he mentioned that Muqtada al-Sadr would support the caretaker government if it demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of Occupation forces from Iraq. He emphasized his "refusal to kowtow to the Occupiers."
In Najaf
On Thursday and early Friday, Mahdi Army militiamen looted and burned a Najaf police station after the police attempted to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr. Although US-installed Najaf governor Adnan Zurufi accused the Mahdi Army of breaking the truce, it is hard to see how the attempted arrest was consistent with a truce. Zurufi is probably egged on in these matters by Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, but note that the US offered him no help on Friday. I think it is a legitimate demand that militias not appear in the streets armed. I'm not sure trying to arrest Muqtada's aides is so legitimate.
--Juan Cole
[LINK]
Food for Thought
A 6/19/2003 report by Juan Cole on the cancellation of planned municipal elections in Najaf was particularly painful for Professor Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago to reread from today's perspective. He wrote recently:
"You [meaning Prof. Cole] reported then that local US officials believed "Najaf was ready for elections and that the theocrats would have done poorly." But even if the Sadrists had won the election, their movement may have developed very differently over the past year if they could have built their political power by spending public funds for local reconstruction, rather than by recruiting soldiers for armed resistance."
Friday, June 11, 2004
Larry Sabato on parallels between 1980 and 2004
Larry Sabato on parallels between 1980 and 2004
Joe Gandelman brought this new article by the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato to my attention (Thanks,Joe).
[LINK HERE-A LESSON PLAN FROM THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR]
Mr. Sabato's asking if this week's look back upon the Reagan years provided us with any insight about the 2004 Presidential campaign. He focuses on 1980, the year when Ronald Reagan achieved what observers at the time thought unlikely.
As the road to the 1980 election narrowed, Mr. Sabato points to these historical
mile-markers:
Foreign policy seemed a mess.
Americans were unhappy about the economy.
Our primary international enemy (the the USSR) appeared to be on the march and achieving major goals.
A sizeable majority of voters said the country was seriously off on the wrong track and
questioned whether the incumbent President and his team were competent enough to handle the myriad challenges before them.
An independent candidate for President added to the confusion of the election.
The country as a whole was uncertain what to do.
In 1980, it was pretty much a dead heat between Carter and Reagan up until October, yet at campaign's end, everything came together for Reagan.
It goes to show us all that you never know what might happen..and this whole 2004 race just might come down to the fates. I think Mr. Sabato is dead-on-target when he comments:
Though some people may think a happy resolution of the hostage situation wouldn't have quickly erased the public's memory of the long gas-lines and the inflation of Carter's unfortunate political time, I think they would be off-the mark. The public is easily swayed by such events poured out over their TV screens like high drama with heart-wrenching music and happy tears of relieved family members. Levers would have been pulled for Carter had fate smiled upon him.
Fate never smiled on Carter that year. Reagan eventually (boldly and illegally) defied fate and decided to cast his sails with the political winds at his back by selling arms to Iran for the release of those hostages.
If Osama bin Laden is caught in October, CNN and FOX will surely create the 24/7 drumbeat..the sappy movie-quality dramatics, music and all...and the dynamics of Election 2004 could greatly change... leaning toward an easy Bush victory. As long as bin Laden remains at large, however, America is reminded how pointless and unnecessary the violent Iraq war really has been.
Mr. Sabato wonders if John Kerry might not win by a landslide if this set of seven points still holds true on November 2nd.
I happen to think there's going to be a hell of a lot of violence and death in Iraq this summer. I hope I'm wrong, but i don't expect I will be. Bush will lay the blame and responsibility on the Iraqis, since they're now "in charge" (cough-cough). I don't think the public will buy it, but who knows? The public's been fooled many times by the misleading Bushites. They seem to accept many of the lies without question. Will they willingly accept many more troops killed as a civil war rages in Iraq? (A recent LA Times poll indicates that a majority of Americans now thinks it was not worthwhile going to war in Iraq).
Outsourcing was not a major issue in 1980. Have any Americans been watching Lou Dobbs? Will they be patient while their jobs continue to leave their small towns as their state taxes rise? Does Kerry promise them any relief?
There was no fear of E-vote theft in 1980...and there hadn't been a stolen (ahem--Supreme Court-assigned) election in 1976. A lot of 2000-Gore voters are just waiting to prepare their ballots very carefully and correctly this time. Will Diebold be capable of giving us an honest vote-tally? Why should we trust them knowing their CEO promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush?
What about the Saudi promise to lower those gas prices for Bush just before the election?
I think this country, as a whole today, is more certain of what to do than in 1980. The problem is, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gap between those people.
The irresponsible party-before-country (pig-headed) leadership in Washington is perfectly reflective of the gap. Last summer we saw Rep Bill Thomas call the police on his fellow statesmen. That gave the phrases "beyond the pale" and "over the top" entirely new meanings.
I don't think we're going to see any landslides unless Bush totally screws up.
(I can't believe I'm saying that--because I personlly do think that President Bush has already screwed up--far past my own political tolerance-point....yet I understand he has loyal and fierce supporters who practically live to see skeptics such as myself shut up and/or shut away.)
Note- See Joe's latest--Will the Bush Campaign's Use of Reagan Imagery Prove A Double-Edged Sword?
You can also see Joe over at Dean's World this week.
Joe Gandelman brought this new article by the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato to my attention (Thanks,Joe).
[LINK HERE-A LESSON PLAN FROM THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR]
Mr. Sabato's asking if this week's look back upon the Reagan years provided us with any insight about the 2004 Presidential campaign. He focuses on 1980, the year when Ronald Reagan achieved what observers at the time thought unlikely.
As the road to the 1980 election narrowed, Mr. Sabato points to these historical
mile-markers:
Foreign policy seemed a mess.
Americans were unhappy about the economy.
Our primary international enemy (the the USSR) appeared to be on the march and achieving major goals.
A sizeable majority of voters said the country was seriously off on the wrong track and
questioned whether the incumbent President and his team were competent enough to handle the myriad challenges before them.
An independent candidate for President added to the confusion of the election.
The country as a whole was uncertain what to do.
In 1980, it was pretty much a dead heat between Carter and Reagan up until October, yet at campaign's end, everything came together for Reagan.
It goes to show us all that you never know what might happen..and this whole 2004 race just might come down to the fates. I think Mr. Sabato is dead-on-target when he comments:
Had Carter managed to free the hostages just forty-eight hours before the election, it is conceivable that he could have managed to win a narrow reelection. Surely, both George Bush and John Kerry are waiting with bated breath to see if certain events in late October (the capture of Osama bin Laden, a terrorist act on American soil, a fresh disaster in Iraq) will swing the election one way or the other.
Though some people may think a happy resolution of the hostage situation wouldn't have quickly erased the public's memory of the long gas-lines and the inflation of Carter's unfortunate political time, I think they would be off-the mark. The public is easily swayed by such events poured out over their TV screens like high drama with heart-wrenching music and happy tears of relieved family members. Levers would have been pulled for Carter had fate smiled upon him.
Fate never smiled on Carter that year. Reagan eventually (boldly and illegally) defied fate and decided to cast his sails with the political winds at his back by selling arms to Iran for the release of those hostages.
If Osama bin Laden is caught in October, CNN and FOX will surely create the 24/7 drumbeat..the sappy movie-quality dramatics, music and all...and the dynamics of Election 2004 could greatly change... leaning toward an easy Bush victory. As long as bin Laden remains at large, however, America is reminded how pointless and unnecessary the violent Iraq war really has been.
Mr. Sabato wonders if John Kerry might not win by a landslide if this set of seven points still holds true on November 2nd.
I happen to think there's going to be a hell of a lot of violence and death in Iraq this summer. I hope I'm wrong, but i don't expect I will be. Bush will lay the blame and responsibility on the Iraqis, since they're now "in charge" (cough-cough). I don't think the public will buy it, but who knows? The public's been fooled many times by the misleading Bushites. They seem to accept many of the lies without question. Will they willingly accept many more troops killed as a civil war rages in Iraq? (A recent LA Times poll indicates that a majority of Americans now thinks it was not worthwhile going to war in Iraq).
Outsourcing was not a major issue in 1980. Have any Americans been watching Lou Dobbs? Will they be patient while their jobs continue to leave their small towns as their state taxes rise? Does Kerry promise them any relief?
There was no fear of E-vote theft in 1980...and there hadn't been a stolen (ahem--Supreme Court-assigned) election in 1976. A lot of 2000-Gore voters are just waiting to prepare their ballots very carefully and correctly this time. Will Diebold be capable of giving us an honest vote-tally? Why should we trust them knowing their CEO promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush?
What about the Saudi promise to lower those gas prices for Bush just before the election?
I think this country, as a whole today, is more certain of what to do than in 1980. The problem is, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gap between those people.
The irresponsible party-before-country (pig-headed) leadership in Washington is perfectly reflective of the gap. Last summer we saw Rep Bill Thomas call the police on his fellow statesmen. That gave the phrases "beyond the pale" and "over the top" entirely new meanings.
I don't think we're going to see any landslides unless Bush totally screws up.
(I can't believe I'm saying that--because I personlly do think that President Bush has already screwed up--far past my own political tolerance-point....yet I understand he has loyal and fierce supporters who practically live to see skeptics such as myself shut up and/or shut away.)
Note- See Joe's latest--Will the Bush Campaign's Use of Reagan Imagery Prove A Double-Edged Sword?
You can also see Joe over at Dean's World this week.
It's A Shame About Ray
It's A Shame About Ray
I'm not talking about Evan Dando's Lemonheads.
I'm talking about Ray Charles.
I think "You Don't Know Me" was my favorite song by Ray.
I'll never forget the warm night in June when I heard him sing 'Georgia' live from the stage at Jazz Fest in Clinton Square.
Man, I'm sorry to see him go...
I'm not talking about Evan Dando's Lemonheads.
I'm talking about Ray Charles.
I think "You Don't Know Me" was my favorite song by Ray.
I'll never forget the warm night in June when I heard him sing 'Georgia' live from the stage at Jazz Fest in Clinton Square.
Man, I'm sorry to see him go...
Funeral Over-Maybe we'll get some real news now?
The Funeral's Over
Maybe we'll get some real news now?
Quote of the day:
"The great American news industry, the Pekinese of the Press with so much room and time and nothing to say, compared Reagan to Lincoln and Hamilton, they really did. This is like claiming that the maintenance man wrote the Bill of Rights."
--Jimmy Breslin
[LINK]
Maybe we'll get some real news now?
Quote of the day:
"The great American news industry, the Pekinese of the Press with so much room and time and nothing to say, compared Reagan to Lincoln and Hamilton, they really did. This is like claiming that the maintenance man wrote the Bill of Rights."
--Jimmy Breslin
[LINK]
Charles Krauthammer on Optimism, Liberals and Reagan
Charles Krauthammer on Optimism, Liberals and Reagan
Charles Krauthammer cannot abide any liberal person's praise of former President Reagan, it seems.
[SEE LINK-REAGAN REVISIONISM]
Crediting President Reagan for his fine ability to inspire the average American is just not good enough. If you don't agree with Reagan's ideology lock, stock, and barrel, then I'm sorry, dear reader...Charles says you are a damned phoney.
I submit to you that Mr. Krauthammer sounds like a wounded little child who wishes to keep Reagan in his pocket for his selfish little self and won't let you hold him..even for just a moment.
Reagan belonged to all Americans and we can say anything we truly believe, if we believe the Bill of Rights. Of course, that doesn't mean idiots like Mr. Krauthammer won't try to prove us liars.
Now, I don't begrudge Mr. Krauthammer his own opinion. When he takes others' opinions and turns around to call the others fakes and liars, he only comes off appearing infantile, ill-mannered, and disrespectful....which is a terrible flaw in character I find common in many right-wing ideologues today.
'Vindicated' by history?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"Rarely has a president been so quickly and completely vindicated by history."
Vindicated?
History isn't over yet.
With no disrespect intended toward former President Reagan, if history was at its end, you could twist your facts around and turn even a farceur into a permanent mythical hero...but you'd know you'd have to ignore and omit many other facts. That, my friends, is what you call revision...which is exactly what Mr. Krauthammer is accusing liberals of doing (while doing a bang-up job himself). What a futile exercise.
We're looking back at Reagan from a narrow lens..all that will stem from Reagan's actions (or lack thereof) is yet to be.
I'm not sure about Mr. Krauthammer, but I know what I saw on September 11, 2001. The rest of you readers saw it happen, did you not?
If Mr. Krauthammer believes the murderous event that shook America in utter defeat at the hands of a popular Muslim fundamentalist leader on that autumn morning in New York City is disconnected from Ronald Reagan's failure (by his negotiating with the fundamental terrorists of Iran rather than stand morally strong) and from Reagan's failure to understand the future of the post-Cold-war world (especially after seeing 241 Marines suicide-bombed and Pan Am 103 in pieces on the Scotland ground), then I think Krauthammer had better think it out again.
Reagan's 'new peace'?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"His policies of unrelenting toughness won the Cold War and brought a new peace."
A new peace.
September 11, 2001. That's all I can say about Reagan's new peace.
Bush 43 could never come close to Reagan's uniting abilities
Mr. Krauthammer mockingly discounts optimism in his column and I realize that's exactly what is missing in right-wingers today.
At the funeral service today, Margaret Thatcher talked about Reagan's grace under pressure..about Reagan's wit, faith, and optimism. It's a shame to see Mr. Krauthammer discounting such wonderful character traits.
GW Bush should have such abilities. He doesn't, though. He's far more like dead wood.
Reagan, through his abilty to inspire, was a brilliant figurehead.
Compare that to Bush--the wooden cigar-store Indian that cannot come up with an eloquent reply to an impromptu question from the press.
If Reagan was an "amiable dunce" (not my words), that would make G.W. Bush is a "non-amiable dunce", hostile to those who do not share his ideology (my words). Reagan was a capable uniter, even while pushing an ugly agenda of greed. Bush is a divider in the world and in his own country.
Perhaps that's why Krauthammer cannot abide a liberal's praise for a former President's graceful wit. He knows the current right-wing oaf in office will never win on "grace".
Who is the dissembler and a revisionist when it comes to an open discussion about Reagan, really?
In section 59 of Arlington National Cemetery, near the graves of 21 American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in the line of duty in Beirut, there is a cedar tree with this marker:
LET PEACE TAKE ROOT
THIS CEDAR OF LEBANON TREE GROWS IN LIVING MEMORY OF THE AMERICANS KILLED IN THE BEIRUT TERRORIST ATTACK AND ALL VICTIMS OF TERRORISM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Do you think I'm being a phoney, readers?
Charles Krauthammer cannot abide any liberal person's praise of former President Reagan, it seems.
[SEE LINK-REAGAN REVISIONISM]
Crediting President Reagan for his fine ability to inspire the average American is just not good enough. If you don't agree with Reagan's ideology lock, stock, and barrel, then I'm sorry, dear reader...Charles says you are a damned phoney.
I submit to you that Mr. Krauthammer sounds like a wounded little child who wishes to keep Reagan in his pocket for his selfish little self and won't let you hold him..even for just a moment.
Reagan belonged to all Americans and we can say anything we truly believe, if we believe the Bill of Rights. Of course, that doesn't mean idiots like Mr. Krauthammer won't try to prove us liars.
Now, I don't begrudge Mr. Krauthammer his own opinion. When he takes others' opinions and turns around to call the others fakes and liars, he only comes off appearing infantile, ill-mannered, and disrespectful....which is a terrible flaw in character I find common in many right-wing ideologues today.
'Vindicated' by history?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"Rarely has a president been so quickly and completely vindicated by history."
Vindicated?
History isn't over yet.
With no disrespect intended toward former President Reagan, if history was at its end, you could twist your facts around and turn even a farceur into a permanent mythical hero...but you'd know you'd have to ignore and omit many other facts. That, my friends, is what you call revision...which is exactly what Mr. Krauthammer is accusing liberals of doing (while doing a bang-up job himself). What a futile exercise.
We're looking back at Reagan from a narrow lens..all that will stem from Reagan's actions (or lack thereof) is yet to be.
I'm not sure about Mr. Krauthammer, but I know what I saw on September 11, 2001. The rest of you readers saw it happen, did you not?
If Mr. Krauthammer believes the murderous event that shook America in utter defeat at the hands of a popular Muslim fundamentalist leader on that autumn morning in New York City is disconnected from Ronald Reagan's failure (by his negotiating with the fundamental terrorists of Iran rather than stand morally strong) and from Reagan's failure to understand the future of the post-Cold-war world (especially after seeing 241 Marines suicide-bombed and Pan Am 103 in pieces on the Scotland ground), then I think Krauthammer had better think it out again.
Reagan's 'new peace'?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"His policies of unrelenting toughness won the Cold War and brought a new peace."
A new peace.
September 11, 2001. That's all I can say about Reagan's new peace.
Bush 43 could never come close to Reagan's uniting abilities
Mr. Krauthammer mockingly discounts optimism in his column and I realize that's exactly what is missing in right-wingers today.
At the funeral service today, Margaret Thatcher talked about Reagan's grace under pressure..about Reagan's wit, faith, and optimism. It's a shame to see Mr. Krauthammer discounting such wonderful character traits.
GW Bush should have such abilities. He doesn't, though. He's far more like dead wood.
Reagan, through his abilty to inspire, was a brilliant figurehead.
Compare that to Bush--the wooden cigar-store Indian that cannot come up with an eloquent reply to an impromptu question from the press.
If Reagan was an "amiable dunce" (not my words), that would make G.W. Bush is a "non-amiable dunce", hostile to those who do not share his ideology (my words). Reagan was a capable uniter, even while pushing an ugly agenda of greed. Bush is a divider in the world and in his own country.
Perhaps that's why Krauthammer cannot abide a liberal's praise for a former President's graceful wit. He knows the current right-wing oaf in office will never win on "grace".
Who is the dissembler and a revisionist when it comes to an open discussion about Reagan, really?
In section 59 of Arlington National Cemetery, near the graves of 21 American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in the line of duty in Beirut, there is a cedar tree with this marker:
LET PEACE TAKE ROOT
THIS CEDAR OF LEBANON TREE GROWS IN LIVING MEMORY OF THE AMERICANS KILLED IN THE BEIRUT TERRORIST ATTACK AND ALL VICTIMS OF TERRORISM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Do you think I'm being a phoney, readers?
What Have We Become? Ret. Naval Officer Speaks
What Have We Become?
A Retired Naval Officer Speaks
Sen. James Inhofe, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rush Limbaugh, Kate O'Beirne, President Bush are named as some of the leaders in a zealot's parade.
A Retired Naval Officer Speaks
Sen. James Inhofe, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rush Limbaugh, Kate O'Beirne, President Bush are named as some of the leaders in a zealot's parade.
Doesn't it ever occur to those zealots that something we do can be terribly wrong even if something else, somewhere else, is worse? I am very afraid that even that thin line will soon become so blurred we will be inured to anything, all in the name of patriotism.
I say this with the full knowledge that I'll be accused of "blaming America first." In this age of instant awareness of everything that goes on in the world, too many of us insist on being unaware of what some of us are becoming.
--Keith Taylor, retired officer, U.S. Navy
[LINK-Online Journal]
I say this with the full knowledge that I'll be accused of "blaming America first." In this age of instant awareness of everything that goes on in the world, too many of us insist on being unaware of what some of us are becoming.
--Keith Taylor, retired officer, U.S. Navy
[LINK-Online Journal]
Newsmax is proudly encouraging censorship
Newsmax is proudly encouraging censorship
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I see the folks at Newsmax do not wish for Americans to be free to consider views alternative to theirs.
The spirit of censorship by a market force within our capitalistic political structure, my dear readers, is what it means to be anti-American...to run against the Bill of Rights.
Our troops defend freedom in wars promoted by these market forces, yet the markets are not promoting freedom.
In this manner, they betray the troops with false sermons about what it means to be American.
I'm American, and so is Michael Moore.
Michael Moore isn't an alien enemy. He's an American with a story to tell.
Newsmax is claiming they don't want Moore to "profit" from his film, but we know what they really do not want is for too many Americans to hear the "other side of the story".
The man who's leading the charge is Mr. Howard Kaloogian, the same fellow who made history as Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Kaloogian talks a pretty talk about supporting the troops, but he falls flat on his ass when it comes to promoting the spirit of a truly free America. He has "AGENDA" written all over his false face.
Newsmax is free to help Mr. Kaloogian try to recruit people to speak out in anger, but in the end, what they hope for is market-censorship of "Fahrenheit 9/11".
Freedom is freedom.
Censorship is censorship.
The forces behind the market known as "Newsmax" are trying to control the political system. They know the election is fast-approaching and their obvious agenda is damaged every time an American hears hidden truths.
America is a nation of non-market-based individuals (sometimes known as humans) born to the hope of freedom in a nation born with and raised on The Declaration of Independence.
Newsmax does not represent freedom in the spirit of our Founding Fathers.
They're much closer to acting as market-fascists with their censorship-crusade.
[LINK]
UPDATE:
See Max Blumenthal June 14, 2004
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I see the folks at Newsmax do not wish for Americans to be free to consider views alternative to theirs.
The spirit of censorship by a market force within our capitalistic political structure, my dear readers, is what it means to be anti-American...to run against the Bill of Rights.
Our troops defend freedom in wars promoted by these market forces, yet the markets are not promoting freedom.
In this manner, they betray the troops with false sermons about what it means to be American.
I'm American, and so is Michael Moore.
Michael Moore isn't an alien enemy. He's an American with a story to tell.
Newsmax is claiming they don't want Moore to "profit" from his film, but we know what they really do not want is for too many Americans to hear the "other side of the story".
The man who's leading the charge is Mr. Howard Kaloogian, the same fellow who made history as Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Kaloogian talks a pretty talk about supporting the troops, but he falls flat on his ass when it comes to promoting the spirit of a truly free America. He has "AGENDA" written all over his false face.
Newsmax is free to help Mr. Kaloogian try to recruit people to speak out in anger, but in the end, what they hope for is market-censorship of "Fahrenheit 9/11".
Freedom is freedom.
Censorship is censorship.
The forces behind the market known as "Newsmax" are trying to control the political system. They know the election is fast-approaching and their obvious agenda is damaged every time an American hears hidden truths.
America is a nation of non-market-based individuals (sometimes known as humans) born to the hope of freedom in a nation born with and raised on The Declaration of Independence.
Newsmax does not represent freedom in the spirit of our Founding Fathers.
They're much closer to acting as market-fascists with their censorship-crusade.
[LINK]
UPDATE:
See Max Blumenthal June 14, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Iraq Pipeline Hit Will Cause Electricity Interruptions
You're looking at the latest hit by saboteurs on a key northern oil pipeline Wednesday, forcing a 10 percent cut on the Iraqi national power grid as demand for electricity rises with the advent of Iraq's broiling summer heat.
Chant along with me: "...hearts and minds.....hearts and minds.."
[LINK]
Hannity and Colmes-A worthless show
Hannity and Colmes-
A worthless show
Look at this conversation with guest Ted Rall. Lots of false morality, ugly hubris, desperate and defensive argument...nothing but meaningless tripe from all sides. It's nothing but pablum for the politically retarded. This is what's killing civility in America. I think Alan Colmes is the biggest puke of all, perhaps, for his line of questioning and sickeningly fake moral-posturing from the get-go. It set the tone for censoring Mr. Rall before he was allowed to utter one word.
These two a**wipes will remain on the air as long as their hateful, politically-slow audience chooses to swim and drown in their dribbling infantile-emotion-level pool of drool.
Poor, poor America.
A worthless show
Look at this conversation with guest Ted Rall. Lots of false morality, ugly hubris, desperate and defensive argument...nothing but meaningless tripe from all sides. It's nothing but pablum for the politically retarded. This is what's killing civility in America. I think Alan Colmes is the biggest puke of all, perhaps, for his line of questioning and sickeningly fake moral-posturing from the get-go. It set the tone for censoring Mr. Rall before he was allowed to utter one word.
These two a**wipes will remain on the air as long as their hateful, politically-slow audience chooses to swim and drown in their dribbling infantile-emotion-level pool of drool.
Poor, poor America.
Joel Mowbray: State Dept- Hating Weasel
Joel Mowbray:
State Department-Hating Weasel
When a writer is on a one-trick-pony crusade against the State Department.. and when he goes as wacko-far as accusing a major mainstream news publication of being "controlled" by the State Department.....and when his paranoid complaint is featured in a right-wing-leaning Washington newspaper...and when he'd defend a Neocon and a deceitful embezzling crook over good men and women within his own government....and when the writer has been a guest on Pat Robertson's ("nuke Foggy Bottom") show more than at the credible political media outlets...
...he might be nothing more than a State-Department-hating weasel.
*..and his credibility is going down the toilet along with the chickenhawks he defends...and he knows it. Smearing General Zinni hasn't helped Mowbray to look pro-American..*
[LINK]
State Department-Hating Weasel
When a writer is on a one-trick-pony crusade against the State Department.. and when he goes as wacko-far as accusing a major mainstream news publication of being "controlled" by the State Department.....and when his paranoid complaint is featured in a right-wing-leaning Washington newspaper...and when he'd defend a Neocon and a deceitful embezzling crook over good men and women within his own government....and when the writer has been a guest on Pat Robertson's ("nuke Foggy Bottom") show more than at the credible political media outlets...
...he might be nothing more than a State-Department-hating weasel.
*..and his credibility is going down the toilet along with the chickenhawks he defends...and he knows it. Smearing General Zinni hasn't helped Mowbray to look pro-American..*
[LINK]
Iyad Illawi helped CIA; Conducted bombing campaigns which killed kids
Iyad Illawi helped CIA; Conducted bombing campaigns which killed kids
Iraq's newly appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi apparently has blood on his hands..schoolchildren included. Please explain to me...how is bombing a crowded movie theater NOT acting as a terrorist? Would YOU want a leader who'd killed schoolchildren? What if you knew he wasn't even ashamed of his terrorist actions? It's pretty disgusting to think he's acting Prme Minister in Iraq right now. Our CIA was in on these bombings and sabotage beside Allawi in the early 90s. When Allawi was picked as interim prime minister, he said his first priority would be 'to improve the security situation by stopping bombings and other insurgent attacks in Iraq'...an idea several former officials familiar with his past said they found "ironic."
Why can't we ever choose someone "clean"? Conscientious? Decent? Moral? I think it's because we don't WANT a 'nice guy' to lead Iraqis to "freedom". Apparently ,we prefer the fellows with barbaric tendencies. Wasn't Saddam a barbarian, too? We're settling for a nicer barbarian, already?
*WE didn't choose him, you say?
B.S. we didn't!*
[LINK]
Update June 11, 2004:
Sunni preacher Shaikh Ahmad al-Samarra'i accused Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of being an American agent in his sermon on Friday. He addressed Allawi from the pulpit, saying, "Have all noble persons disappeared, that you have come and sought assistance from foreigners?"
[LINK]
Iraq's newly appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi apparently has blood on his hands..schoolchildren included. Please explain to me...how is bombing a crowded movie theater NOT acting as a terrorist? Would YOU want a leader who'd killed schoolchildren? What if you knew he wasn't even ashamed of his terrorist actions? It's pretty disgusting to think he's acting Prme Minister in Iraq right now. Our CIA was in on these bombings and sabotage beside Allawi in the early 90s. When Allawi was picked as interim prime minister, he said his first priority would be 'to improve the security situation by stopping bombings and other insurgent attacks in Iraq'...an idea several former officials familiar with his past said they found "ironic."
Why can't we ever choose someone "clean"? Conscientious? Decent? Moral? I think it's because we don't WANT a 'nice guy' to lead Iraqis to "freedom". Apparently ,we prefer the fellows with barbaric tendencies. Wasn't Saddam a barbarian, too? We're settling for a nicer barbarian, already?
*WE didn't choose him, you say?
B.S. we didn't!*
[LINK]
Update June 11, 2004:
Sunni preacher Shaikh Ahmad al-Samarra'i accused Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of being an American agent in his sermon on Friday. He addressed Allawi from the pulpit, saying, "Have all noble persons disappeared, that you have come and sought assistance from foreigners?"
[LINK]
Ken Burns Addresses Yale
Ken Burns Addresses Yale
"...there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history."
Because filmmaker Ken Burns has been a chief inspiration to me in creating this blog, I wish to share some of his advice to graduating Yale students in his May 23rd commencement speech:
So what do we make of all this? Let me speak directly to the graduating class.
(Watch out, here comes the advice.)
As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts. You will be healthier. Replace cynicism with its old-fashioned antidote, skepticism.
Don't confuse success with excellence. The poet Robert Penn Warren, who taught here at Yale for many years, once told me that "careerism is death."
Travel. Do not get stuck in one place. Visit Yellowstone or Yosemite or Appomattox, where our country really came together. Whatever you do, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Listen to jazz music, the only art form Americans have ever invented, and a painless way, Wynton Marsalis reminds us, “of understanding ourselves.”
Give up addictions. Try brushing your teeth tonight with the other hand. Try even remembering what I just asked you.
Insist on heroes. And be one.
Read. The book is still the greatest manmade machine of all -- not the car, not the TV, not the computer, I promise.
Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality. Remember, too, there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history.
Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within, as Lincoln said. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Steel yourselves. Steel yourselves. Your generation will have to repair this damage. And it will not be easy.
Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country -- they just make our country worth defending.
Do only, as Emerson suggests, whatever “inly rejoices.” Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, “God in us.” Remember, most of all, that only love multiplies.
Mr. Burns also offered inspirational, educated, and critical (yet necessary) comments about the civil state of America today. It would behoove all of us..beginning with our leaders..to heed Ken Burns' sage advice:
The great jurist Learned Hand (and could there be a better name for a judge than Learned Hand?) once said that, “Liberty is never being too sure you're right.” Somehow, recently though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy; begun to start wars instead of finishing them; begun to depend on censorship and intimidation and to infringe on the most basic liberties that have heroically defined and described our trajectory as a nation of free people; begun to reduce the complexity of modern life into facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, sometimes, in moments, become what we despise.
It is easy, I am sure, during these times of international upheaval and titanic change everywhere, to, like an ostrich, retreat inward, to retire to our spiritually as well as physically gated communities, to smugly convince ourselves that we in this country have somehow triumphantly made it through, that our destiny as a people, a society, a nation is now assured. That, like some perpetual motion machine, we will go on forever.
Nothing could be more dangerous than this arrogant belief, brought on and amplified as it is by a complete lack of historical awareness among us, and further reinforced by a modern media, cloaked in democratic slogans, but dedicated to the most stultifying kind of consumer existence, convincing us to worship gods of commerce and money and selfish advancement above all else.
“There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land,” Henry Adams wrote, “and whether one government can comprehend the whole.” It is a perfect quote, accurately conveying the anxiety of Americans in the middle of the 19th Century who feared that this collection of former colonies could ever expand to continental status, could ever deal as one nation with the sectional discord that threatened civil war, could, as Adams put it so well, “comprehend the whole.”
Civil war did come, yet the phrase “the United States are,” as we referred to ourselves plurally before the war, paradoxically morphed after the war into a singular “the United States is” that we still, ungrammatically, refer to today.
But, alas, today we find ourselves in the midst of a new, subtler, perhaps more dangerous, civil war. The first one proved, above all, that a minority view could not secede politically or geographically from this union.
Now we are poised to fight that war again, and perhaps again and again, this time culturally, where the threat is fundamentalism wherever it raises its intolerant head. The casualties this time will be our sense of common heritage, our sense of humor, our sense of balance and cohesion. The ultimate stakes, though, are just as great as those Abraham Lincoln faced--the Union and very survival of our country.
What we are seeing is a secession of ideas and identification from the mainstream. In the name of the truth, we have created an infinite number of different truths, all pulling in different directions, all oblivious to the old or even a new conception of the whole. The historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said that we suffer today from "too much pluribus and not enough unum."
Our first Civil War started, as the writer Shelby Foote says, because we failed to do what we Americans do best: compromise. "We like to think of ourselves as uncompromising people," he said, "but our genius is for compromise and when that broke down, we started killing each other." The lesson for us, today, is tolerance and the mitigating wisdom that sees beyond the dialectical preoccupation that has set each individual, each group, each region of the country, against the whole.
So, I ask those of you graduating tomorrow, male or female, black or white or brown or yellow, young or old, straight or gay, to become soldiers in a new Union Army, an army dedicated to the preservation of this country's great ideals, a vanguard against this new separatism and disunion, a vanguard against those who, in the name of our great democracy, have managed to diminish it.
This is a family problem. Our problem. Not a red state or a blue state problem.
Our problem.
I'm not sure if my readers have seen the AP article that followed Mr. Burns' speech:
Filmmaker Ken Burns Criticizes Bush at Yale as President Arrives for Daughter's Party
By Diane Scarponi--Associated Press, 05/23/04
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture.
President Bush came to the campus for a private reception with his daughter, Barbara, who graduates from Yale on Monday. Bush did not hold any public events, and Barbara skipped Sunday's baccalaureate services and the day-before-graduation senior Class Day festivities where Burns spoke.
While Bush was not in public view, his presidency was a hot topic of rhetoric at Class Day.
Without mentioning Bush by name, Burns drew parallels between today's political leaders and the Iraq war, versus Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, which he chronicled in an award-winning film series.
Both wars threatened to tear the country apart, Burns said.
"Steel yourselves. Your generation must repair this damage, and it will not be easy," Burns told the seniors.
Burns quoted famed jurist Learned Hand as saying, "Liberty is never being too sure you're right."
"Somehow recently, though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy," Burns said, to applause from the 1,300 graduates and their families and friends.
He criticized what he called a culture of censorship and intimidation that was intolerant of others, as well as a compliant media and a consumer culture that values the pursuit of money above everything.
"We have begun to reduce the complexities of modern life into the facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, some times and moments, become what we despise," Burns said.
Burns noted that it is tempting in such times to turn inward and ignore outside troubles, but he urged the seniors to reject that impulse and study history as a way to cope with these troubles and to figure out what to do about them.
"If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know who you are and where you're going?" Burns asked.
(see link for more)
---------------------------------------------------------
[LINK]
Congratulations to Mr. Burns daughter, Sarah, who was one of the graduating students at Yale.
"...there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history."
Because filmmaker Ken Burns has been a chief inspiration to me in creating this blog, I wish to share some of his advice to graduating Yale students in his May 23rd commencement speech:
So what do we make of all this? Let me speak directly to the graduating class.
(Watch out, here comes the advice.)
As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts. You will be healthier. Replace cynicism with its old-fashioned antidote, skepticism.
Don't confuse success with excellence. The poet Robert Penn Warren, who taught here at Yale for many years, once told me that "careerism is death."
Travel. Do not get stuck in one place. Visit Yellowstone or Yosemite or Appomattox, where our country really came together. Whatever you do, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Listen to jazz music, the only art form Americans have ever invented, and a painless way, Wynton Marsalis reminds us, “of understanding ourselves.”
Give up addictions. Try brushing your teeth tonight with the other hand. Try even remembering what I just asked you.
Insist on heroes. And be one.
Read. The book is still the greatest manmade machine of all -- not the car, not the TV, not the computer, I promise.
Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality. Remember, too, there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history.
Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within, as Lincoln said. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Steel yourselves. Steel yourselves. Your generation will have to repair this damage. And it will not be easy.
Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country -- they just make our country worth defending.
Do only, as Emerson suggests, whatever “inly rejoices.” Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, “God in us.” Remember, most of all, that only love multiplies.
Mr. Burns also offered inspirational, educated, and critical (yet necessary) comments about the civil state of America today. It would behoove all of us..beginning with our leaders..to heed Ken Burns' sage advice:
The great jurist Learned Hand (and could there be a better name for a judge than Learned Hand?) once said that, “Liberty is never being too sure you're right.” Somehow, recently though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy; begun to start wars instead of finishing them; begun to depend on censorship and intimidation and to infringe on the most basic liberties that have heroically defined and described our trajectory as a nation of free people; begun to reduce the complexity of modern life into facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, sometimes, in moments, become what we despise.
It is easy, I am sure, during these times of international upheaval and titanic change everywhere, to, like an ostrich, retreat inward, to retire to our spiritually as well as physically gated communities, to smugly convince ourselves that we in this country have somehow triumphantly made it through, that our destiny as a people, a society, a nation is now assured. That, like some perpetual motion machine, we will go on forever.
Nothing could be more dangerous than this arrogant belief, brought on and amplified as it is by a complete lack of historical awareness among us, and further reinforced by a modern media, cloaked in democratic slogans, but dedicated to the most stultifying kind of consumer existence, convincing us to worship gods of commerce and money and selfish advancement above all else.
“There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land,” Henry Adams wrote, “and whether one government can comprehend the whole.” It is a perfect quote, accurately conveying the anxiety of Americans in the middle of the 19th Century who feared that this collection of former colonies could ever expand to continental status, could ever deal as one nation with the sectional discord that threatened civil war, could, as Adams put it so well, “comprehend the whole.”
Civil war did come, yet the phrase “the United States are,” as we referred to ourselves plurally before the war, paradoxically morphed after the war into a singular “the United States is” that we still, ungrammatically, refer to today.
But, alas, today we find ourselves in the midst of a new, subtler, perhaps more dangerous, civil war. The first one proved, above all, that a minority view could not secede politically or geographically from this union.
Now we are poised to fight that war again, and perhaps again and again, this time culturally, where the threat is fundamentalism wherever it raises its intolerant head. The casualties this time will be our sense of common heritage, our sense of humor, our sense of balance and cohesion. The ultimate stakes, though, are just as great as those Abraham Lincoln faced--the Union and very survival of our country.
What we are seeing is a secession of ideas and identification from the mainstream. In the name of the truth, we have created an infinite number of different truths, all pulling in different directions, all oblivious to the old or even a new conception of the whole. The historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said that we suffer today from "too much pluribus and not enough unum."
Our first Civil War started, as the writer Shelby Foote says, because we failed to do what we Americans do best: compromise. "We like to think of ourselves as uncompromising people," he said, "but our genius is for compromise and when that broke down, we started killing each other." The lesson for us, today, is tolerance and the mitigating wisdom that sees beyond the dialectical preoccupation that has set each individual, each group, each region of the country, against the whole.
So, I ask those of you graduating tomorrow, male or female, black or white or brown or yellow, young or old, straight or gay, to become soldiers in a new Union Army, an army dedicated to the preservation of this country's great ideals, a vanguard against this new separatism and disunion, a vanguard against those who, in the name of our great democracy, have managed to diminish it.
This is a family problem. Our problem. Not a red state or a blue state problem.
Our problem.
I'm not sure if my readers have seen the AP article that followed Mr. Burns' speech:
Filmmaker Ken Burns Criticizes Bush at Yale as President Arrives for Daughter's Party
By Diane Scarponi--Associated Press, 05/23/04
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture.
President Bush came to the campus for a private reception with his daughter, Barbara, who graduates from Yale on Monday. Bush did not hold any public events, and Barbara skipped Sunday's baccalaureate services and the day-before-graduation senior Class Day festivities where Burns spoke.
While Bush was not in public view, his presidency was a hot topic of rhetoric at Class Day.
Without mentioning Bush by name, Burns drew parallels between today's political leaders and the Iraq war, versus Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, which he chronicled in an award-winning film series.
Both wars threatened to tear the country apart, Burns said.
"Steel yourselves. Your generation must repair this damage, and it will not be easy," Burns told the seniors.
Burns quoted famed jurist Learned Hand as saying, "Liberty is never being too sure you're right."
"Somehow recently, though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy," Burns said, to applause from the 1,300 graduates and their families and friends.
He criticized what he called a culture of censorship and intimidation that was intolerant of others, as well as a compliant media and a consumer culture that values the pursuit of money above everything.
"We have begun to reduce the complexities of modern life into the facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, some times and moments, become what we despise," Burns said.
Burns noted that it is tempting in such times to turn inward and ignore outside troubles, but he urged the seniors to reject that impulse and study history as a way to cope with these troubles and to figure out what to do about them.
"If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know who you are and where you're going?" Burns asked.
(see link for more)
---------------------------------------------------------
[LINK]
Congratulations to Mr. Burns daughter, Sarah, who was one of the graduating students at Yale.
Unlike Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush Chooses to Remain in Dark Ages
Unlike Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush Chooses to Remain in Dark Ages
The dismal fact is: She's locking all of us in with her.
I consider this to be the saddest affront to the memory of President Ronald W. Reagan...
perpetrated by the current President who wishes to leech onto Reagan's legacy.
In essence, Laura Bush is saying: "I lost my father to this debilitating illness with no cure, now you and all Americans must suffer the same fate.. Oh, but I will admire you for slaving over your loved one as you watch them suffer and wither hopelessly before your eyes."
[LINK]
The dismal fact is: She's locking all of us in with her.
I consider this to be the saddest affront to the memory of President Ronald W. Reagan...
perpetrated by the current President who wishes to leech onto Reagan's legacy.
In essence, Laura Bush is saying: "I lost my father to this debilitating illness with no cure, now you and all Americans must suffer the same fate.. Oh, but I will admire you for slaving over your loved one as you watch them suffer and wither hopelessly before your eyes."
[LINK]
Bush Administration Has Waffled Terribly on Peacekeeping
Bush Administration Has Waffled Terribly on Peacekeeping
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building...I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."
--GW Bush, Presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
What we've witnessed with the Bush administration is "peace on the cheap"...because peace was not properly valued.
Before the Iraq war, the Peacekeeping Institute at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., was "just one more vestige of the Clinton years that Donald Rumsfeld intended to consign to the dustbin of history"*.
This administration has learned important lessons far too late. While trying to be ahead of times, they endangered our chances for success in Iraq. They endangered the lives of our troops. We need to toss them out on their incompetent rears in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published April 15, 2003
Army institute to be shut down
Critics hit loss of training center for peacekeeping
Rumsfeld supports closing
By Douglas Holt
Tribune staff reporter
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published July 8, 2003
Peacekeeping Institute to Stay Open
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published September, 2003
Peacekeeping revisited, again
The ‘p’ word gets another look
By Michael Moran
Senior correspondent MSNBC
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published November, 2003
Iraq provides Peacekeeping Institute with needed boost
...to save money and get more active duty officers serving with troops in the field, the Army announced in January that the Peacekeeping Institute would shut down -- despite ongoing U.S. peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan and, at the time, a looming war in Iraq.
"The war college was told it had to cut 64 slots, and our 10 were among them," said Col. Michael Dooley
Critics figured that the decision had more to do with the distaste for U.S. "nation-building" frequently expressed by President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The institute also has a new name, to reflect its broadened mission. It now is known as the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
[LINK]
Published: Jun 9, 2004
United States Pushes G-8 Plan to Train 50,000 Peacekeepers for Africa, Elsewhere
By John Leicester Associated Press Writer
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published June 9, 2004
Rumsfeld expresses interest in a new regional peacekeeping training institute styled as Bangladesh Institute of Peacekeeping Support Operations Training
Staff Writer
Daily Star
[LINK]
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building...I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."
--GW Bush, Presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
What we've witnessed with the Bush administration is "peace on the cheap"...because peace was not properly valued.
Before the Iraq war, the Peacekeeping Institute at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., was "just one more vestige of the Clinton years that Donald Rumsfeld intended to consign to the dustbin of history"*.
This administration has learned important lessons far too late. While trying to be ahead of times, they endangered our chances for success in Iraq. They endangered the lives of our troops. We need to toss them out on their incompetent rears in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published April 15, 2003
Army institute to be shut down
Critics hit loss of training center for peacekeeping
Rumsfeld supports closing
By Douglas Holt
Tribune staff reporter
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published July 8, 2003
Peacekeeping Institute to Stay Open
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published September, 2003
Peacekeeping revisited, again
The ‘p’ word gets another look
By Michael Moran
Senior correspondent MSNBC
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published November, 2003
Iraq provides Peacekeeping Institute with needed boost
...to save money and get more active duty officers serving with troops in the field, the Army announced in January that the Peacekeeping Institute would shut down -- despite ongoing U.S. peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan and, at the time, a looming war in Iraq.
"The war college was told it had to cut 64 slots, and our 10 were among them," said Col. Michael Dooley
Critics figured that the decision had more to do with the distaste for U.S. "nation-building" frequently expressed by President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The institute also has a new name, to reflect its broadened mission. It now is known as the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
[LINK]
Published: Jun 9, 2004
United States Pushes G-8 Plan to Train 50,000 Peacekeepers for Africa, Elsewhere
By John Leicester Associated Press Writer
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published June 9, 2004
Rumsfeld expresses interest in a new regional peacekeeping training institute styled as Bangladesh Institute of Peacekeeping Support Operations Training
Staff Writer
Daily Star
[LINK]
Political Compass
Take This Test!
Political Compass
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.
Political Compass
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.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Lawyers Decided Bans on Torture Didn't Bind Bush
Lawyers Decided Bans on Torture Didn't Bind Bush
This is a powerful piece. It shows that administration lawyers made a conscious decision to allow Bush and his administration to get away with open-ended definitions of torture and escape international legal scrutiny. A March memo view is in direct conflict with the position the administration has taken in U.S. Supreme Court regarding Constitutional protections for prisoners.
When too much power is afforded to people who can easily abuse it, we shouldn't be surprised if and when we find ourselves well outside the realm of the rule of law.
Today, Attorney General John Ashcroft, without offering sound reason, said he would not discuss the contents of the Justice and Pentagon memos, and would not turn over the Justice memo to the committee.
UPDATE-June 9:
Washington Post Editorial- LEGALIZING TORTURE
Washington Post-Memo on Torture Draws Focus to Bush ; Aide Says President Set Guidelines for Interrogations, Not Specific Techniques
Josh Marshall Commentary (Josh is an intuitive pundit; consistently ahead of the curve.)
This is a powerful piece. It shows that administration lawyers made a conscious decision to allow Bush and his administration to get away with open-ended definitions of torture and escape international legal scrutiny. A March memo view is in direct conflict with the position the administration has taken in U.S. Supreme Court regarding Constitutional protections for prisoners.
When too much power is afforded to people who can easily abuse it, we shouldn't be surprised if and when we find ourselves well outside the realm of the rule of law.
A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.
The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons...
The March memorandum...is the latest internal legal study to be disclosed that shows that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the administration's lawyers were set to work to find legal arguments to avoid restrictions imposed by international and American law.
...lawyers who drafted the torture memo in March could face professional sanctions.
[LINK-NYT}
The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons...
The March memorandum...is the latest internal legal study to be disclosed that shows that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the administration's lawyers were set to work to find legal arguments to avoid restrictions imposed by international and American law.
...lawyers who drafted the torture memo in March could face professional sanctions.
[LINK-NYT}
Today, Attorney General John Ashcroft, without offering sound reason, said he would not discuss the contents of the Justice and Pentagon memos, and would not turn over the Justice memo to the committee.
I believe it is essential to the operation of the executive branch that the president have the opportunity to get information from the attorney general that is confidential," he said.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) warned Ashcroft that his refusal might place him in contempt of Congress.
[LINK-NYT]
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) warned Ashcroft that his refusal might place him in contempt of Congress.
[LINK-NYT]
UPDATE-June 9:
Washington Post Editorial- LEGALIZING TORTURE
Perhaps the president's lawyers have no interest in the global impact of their policies -- but they should be concerned about the treatment of American servicemen and civilians in foreign countries.
Washington Post-Memo on Torture Draws Focus to Bush ; Aide Says President Set Guidelines for Interrogations, Not Specific Techniques
Josh Marshall Commentary (Josh is an intuitive pundit; consistently ahead of the curve.)
Now, we know that presidents sometimes break laws and they frequently bend them, if only in cases where the laws don't seem to anticipate a situation the president finds himself confronting. There is even an argument that the president can refuse to enforce laws he deems unconstitutional.
But there is no power inherent in the president simply to set aside the law.
But there is no power inherent in the president simply to set aside the law.
General Batiste Visits Baquba
General Batiste Visits Baquba
Baquba and Col. Dana Pittard, for me, have become the symbol of the best model of possible success in Iraq. May the men and women of the Third Brigade see continued positivity from the hopeful people of that city. God knows- it isn't going to be a cakewalk. A suicide bomb near Baquba killed at least one U.S. soldier today. I credit no small part of any acheived success in Baquba (which is about 30 miles north of Baghdad)to Col. Pittard, a true gentleman in a war of twisted motives where gentleman hardly count.
Mostly, I hope these troops will soon be able to leave Iraq..a place they never should have and never needed to have been sent to begin with.
Baquba and Col. Dana Pittard, for me, have become the symbol of the best model of possible success in Iraq. May the men and women of the Third Brigade see continued positivity from the hopeful people of that city. God knows- it isn't going to be a cakewalk. A suicide bomb near Baquba killed at least one U.S. soldier today. I credit no small part of any acheived success in Baquba (which is about 30 miles north of Baghdad)to Col. Pittard, a true gentleman in a war of twisted motives where gentleman hardly count.
Mostly, I hope these troops will soon be able to leave Iraq..a place they never should have and never needed to have been sent to begin with.
The general said that of all the cities under his watch, Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, was the most willing to work with the Americans. Col. Dana J. H. Pittard, the brigade commander, said he expanded the provincial council last week to 40 members from 29 to make it more inclusive.
But Baquba still has a strong Sunni guerrilla movement, and insurgents have killed some local leaders, including a communist member of the provincial council and a district police chief. Insurgents have tried twice to kill the governor, Colonel Pittard said.
[LINK-NYT]
But Baquba still has a strong Sunni guerrilla movement, and insurgents have killed some local leaders, including a communist member of the provincial council and a district police chief. Insurgents have tried twice to kill the governor, Colonel Pittard said.
[LINK-NYT]
AlJazeera Spreads Propaganda About U.S.
AlJazeera Spreads Propaganda About U.S.
Oh, man..just look at this propaganda....
{LINK-A Letter From Baghdad - US Soldier "Media dont tell the whole story"]
Oh, man..just look at this propaganda....
{LINK-A Letter From Baghdad - US Soldier "Media dont tell the whole story"]
Iraq -U.N. and CPA Updates
Iraq -U.N. and CPA Updates
It's good to see the United Nations getting involved again. John Negroponte says Iraq's sovereignty will be "undiluted" (whatever the hell that means when it comes to the big picture).
There has been no commitment (or discussions) for troops from other U.N. countries right now, but I think they'd have to be insane to want to commit troops at this juncture. Security has been so badly bungled by Rumsfeld and Co...if anyone expects instantaneous stability, they need their heads examined. The coalition needs at least 500,000 troops to bring peace to Iraq, according to military analysts including Christopher Langton of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a London-based defense consultant.
There's still a problem of legitimacy with the Iraqi people themselves. While Bush can claim a victory with the U.N. resolution, the resolution will have little effect on the ground, as Simon Kitchen, Middle East analyst for the Eurasia Group has said. This new interim government can sign contracts and discuss debt, but still have a lot of problems because most Iraqis don't see it as legitimate. [LINK-Bloomberg News]
It doesn't help that Paul Bremer has signed an order banning Muqtada al-Sadr and his lieutenants from running for elective office for 3 years because of their membership in an illegal militia. al-Sadr and his supporters have rejected this decree, saying that the CPA and the interim government have no right to make such decisions. [LINK-Guardian]
Juan Cole says:
Bremer's action in excluding the Sadrists from parliament is one final piece of stupidity to cap all the other moronic things he has done in Iraq. The whole beauty of parliamentary governance is that it can hope to draw off the energies of groups like the Sadrists. Look at how parliamentary bargaining moderated the Shiite AMAL party in Lebanon, which had a phase as a terrorist group in the 1980s but gradually outgrew it...
The only hope for dealing with the Sadrists nonviolently was to entice them into civil politics.. Now that they have been excluded from the political process and made outlaws in the near to medium term, we may expect them to act like outlaws and to be spoilers in the new Iraq.
[LINK-Informed Comment]
It's good to see the United Nations getting involved again. John Negroponte says Iraq's sovereignty will be "undiluted" (whatever the hell that means when it comes to the big picture).
There has been no commitment (or discussions) for troops from other U.N. countries right now, but I think they'd have to be insane to want to commit troops at this juncture. Security has been so badly bungled by Rumsfeld and Co...if anyone expects instantaneous stability, they need their heads examined. The coalition needs at least 500,000 troops to bring peace to Iraq, according to military analysts including Christopher Langton of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a London-based defense consultant.
There's still a problem of legitimacy with the Iraqi people themselves. While Bush can claim a victory with the U.N. resolution, the resolution will have little effect on the ground, as Simon Kitchen, Middle East analyst for the Eurasia Group has said. This new interim government can sign contracts and discuss debt, but still have a lot of problems because most Iraqis don't see it as legitimate. [LINK-Bloomberg News]
It doesn't help that Paul Bremer has signed an order banning Muqtada al-Sadr and his lieutenants from running for elective office for 3 years because of their membership in an illegal militia. al-Sadr and his supporters have rejected this decree, saying that the CPA and the interim government have no right to make such decisions. [LINK-Guardian]
Juan Cole says:
Bremer's action in excluding the Sadrists from parliament is one final piece of stupidity to cap all the other moronic things he has done in Iraq. The whole beauty of parliamentary governance is that it can hope to draw off the energies of groups like the Sadrists. Look at how parliamentary bargaining moderated the Shiite AMAL party in Lebanon, which had a phase as a terrorist group in the 1980s but gradually outgrew it...
The only hope for dealing with the Sadrists nonviolently was to entice them into civil politics.. Now that they have been excluded from the political process and made outlaws in the near to medium term, we may expect them to act like outlaws and to be spoilers in the new Iraq.
[LINK-Informed Comment]
Dems, GOP give each other the 'Dutch' rub
Dems, GOP Give Each Other the 'Dutch' rub
Republican aides dredged up comments by [John] Kerry which were unflattering to Mr Reagan in the '80s...
Democrats retaliated with statements by [George] Bush Sr. in 1980, when he ran against Mr Reagan for the Republican nomination.
[LINK-Guardian]
Democrats retaliated with statements by [George] Bush Sr. in 1980, when he ran against Mr Reagan for the Republican nomination.
[LINK-Guardian]
In House bill: Churches to be freed to preach Word of Bush?
In House bill: Churches to be freed to preach Word of Bush?
Not only is the House trying to free the churches to put politics in their pulpits, they're doing it in a downright sneaky manner.
Representative Bill Thomas(the same cordial gent who called the fuzz on his fellow House reps last summer) has snuck the measure into a larger bill introduced to Committee last Friday.
Rev. Barry Lynn (of Americans United for Separation of Church and State) says 'no way'.
Paul Weyrich (of the Free Congress Foundation) imagines it's the best way..perhaps the only way.. to ensure a Bush re-election.
The House, in true partisan form, is going with Weyrich's idea.
Push the Federal Marriage Amendment--fire up the Christian fundamentalists. Get the fire and damnation mouths a-rumblin' and a-roarin'. Get all those millions of missing evangelicals to show up at the polls…along with untold millions of "traditional" Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, Missouri and Wisconsin synod Lutherans... and, oh.. those Episcopalians!
Vote for Bush or go to Hell and all other venues of vaguely related tarnation.
Not only is the House trying to free the churches to put politics in their pulpits, they're doing it in a downright sneaky manner.
Representative Bill Thomas(the same cordial gent who called the fuzz on his fellow House reps last summer) has snuck the measure into a larger bill introduced to Committee last Friday.
Rev. Barry Lynn (of Americans United for Separation of Church and State) says 'no way'.
Paul Weyrich (of the Free Congress Foundation) imagines it's the best way..perhaps the only way.. to ensure a Bush re-election.
The House, in true partisan form, is going with Weyrich's idea.
Push the Federal Marriage Amendment--fire up the Christian fundamentalists. Get the fire and damnation mouths a-rumblin' and a-roarin'. Get all those millions of missing evangelicals to show up at the polls…along with untold millions of "traditional" Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, Missouri and Wisconsin synod Lutherans... and, oh.. those Episcopalians!
Vote for Bush or go to Hell and all other venues of vaguely related tarnation.
Monday, June 07, 2004
See the Venus Transit tomorrow!
See the Venus Transit tomorrow!
"There will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the Earth and the June flowers are blooming in 2004. What will be the state of science - God only knows."
1882 -- William Harkness, U.S. Naval Observatory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A rare celestial event, one not seen by any person now alive. On June 8, the planet Venus will appear to cross in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. The last "Venus transit" occurred more than a century ago, in 1882, and was used to compute the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
DON'T MISS IT! [LINK1]
[LINK2]
Predictions/times to witness the transit in your city
"There will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the Earth and the June flowers are blooming in 2004. What will be the state of science - God only knows."
1882 -- William Harkness, U.S. Naval Observatory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A rare celestial event, one not seen by any person now alive. On June 8, the planet Venus will appear to cross in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. The last "Venus transit" occurred more than a century ago, in 1882, and was used to compute the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
DON'T MISS IT! [LINK1]
[LINK2]
Predictions/times to witness the transit in your city
Time To Leave Iraq - from The Nation
Time to Leave
from TheNation.com
Listen to what the Iraqis are telling us---give them back their country... and leave.
[LINK}
from TheNation.com
Listen to what the Iraqis are telling us---give them back their country... and leave.
[LINK}
Reagan, Terror, and Bush
Reagan, terror, and Bush
With Ronald Reagan as President, America felt optimistically safe to see the world in black and white. These days, as a New York Times editorial stated, "gray is beginning to look a lot more attractive".
Reminiscing with my own mother, she recalled one of the darker moments of the Reagan presidency...his decision to send our Marines to Lebanon. I recall my mother weeping that morning in October, 1983 when she learned over 240 Marines were killed by Middle-eastern terrorists.
the Reagan era brought its share of terror victims.
I also recall having Syracuse University basketball game tickets in my hand for a game to be played in late December, 1988. Just before the game came the news that terrorists connected with Libya had blown up a jet over Lockerbie, Scotland..killing 35 Syracuse University students who were coming home for the holidays. I attended that basketball game and will never forget the solemn silence which subdued the crowd that night. The terrorist bombing of Flight 103 was unquestionably an attack on the United States.*15 active-duty U.S. military members and at least 10 veterans of the United States Armed Forces and members of their families were among those who lost their lives in this tragedy.*
I implore you, dear readers, to research how President Reagan (and Bush 41 directly after him) responded to these acts of terror. I assure you that you'll find little prescience in the wisdom of whatever retaliatory moves were made by our then-President. Why did it take almost 20 years to do anything? Why was terror allowed to build up rather than to be broken down?
These acts of terror during the Reagan era were just a beginning. When I think back, I truly do not think our nation's response to these acts of terror were sufficient. Perhaps, if we'd acted with full responsibility in the 80's, there would have been no strong Osama Bin Laden to lead in 2001.
While I highly respected and liked President Reagan and trusted he was sincere in his motives, I think we should be careful in making a saint of this wonderful human being. In our big fears about Communism, I believe we fully missed the boat on the murderous treachery that would follow on the heels of its demise.
Perhaps President Reagan made us all a bit too optimistic. We went into a dreamful and exuberant "Me-decade" sleep.
Realism is criticized by some of today's NeoConservatives, but I've got to say, my dear readers, there is no more important time in American history than right here..right now for a realist to take the reins. Visionary speeches do no good when the facts on the ground are constantly working against you.
Gazing upon Utopia and shining cities on hills are lovely when the murderer isn't breathing down your neck.
I think Bush is a super-dumbed-down version of a Reagan-wannabe (without Reagan's natural gift of humor). Bush tries to imitate and emulate Reagan's historical successes. We need a clear-eyed realist who is his own man. (A man---or woman---who doesn't have to read from cue-cards and sound like a second-grader when he does). I'm sick of being faked out by cheap (and often seemingly-learning-disabled) imitations.
I believe that a good portion of the reason so many Americans have a visceral dislike for Bush is primarily due to the fact that they suspect they are far more intelligent than he is. It's frustrating when you don't share a man's ideology and you observe that he can barely squeeze three or four properly-pronounced words into one flowing sentence. Another reason for the Bush-disconnect is that so many Americans do not trust that Bush's motives are genuine. He's been caught lying to Americans too many times.
You didn't see the same distaste for Reagan, even though his ideology was oppositional to many.
We trusted Ronnie. He had a genuine-looking smile. He told us to be proud and we found something in his words to believe. He was witty..charming. He had many friends in this world..outside the borders of America. People in Europe tore down a wall with the help of his optimism. What a wonderful time for America...what a decent man.
He wasn't perfect, though. As many Christians joke, there was only one perfect man...and look what they did to him.
There were boats Reagan missed.
Ask the familes of any of these Americans and they'll tell you.
*Matthew Gross has some interesting commentary on Bush/Reagan and what Reagan's death might mean to the upcoming Presidential election.*
*There's a roundup of Reagan commentaries and farewells at Mahablog.
With Ronald Reagan as President, America felt optimistically safe to see the world in black and white. These days, as a New York Times editorial stated, "gray is beginning to look a lot more attractive".
Reminiscing with my own mother, she recalled one of the darker moments of the Reagan presidency...his decision to send our Marines to Lebanon. I recall my mother weeping that morning in October, 1983 when she learned over 240 Marines were killed by Middle-eastern terrorists.
the Reagan era brought its share of terror victims.
I also recall having Syracuse University basketball game tickets in my hand for a game to be played in late December, 1988. Just before the game came the news that terrorists connected with Libya had blown up a jet over Lockerbie, Scotland..killing 35 Syracuse University students who were coming home for the holidays. I attended that basketball game and will never forget the solemn silence which subdued the crowd that night. The terrorist bombing of Flight 103 was unquestionably an attack on the United States.*15 active-duty U.S. military members and at least 10 veterans of the United States Armed Forces and members of their families were among those who lost their lives in this tragedy.*
I implore you, dear readers, to research how President Reagan (and Bush 41 directly after him) responded to these acts of terror. I assure you that you'll find little prescience in the wisdom of whatever retaliatory moves were made by our then-President. Why did it take almost 20 years to do anything? Why was terror allowed to build up rather than to be broken down?
These acts of terror during the Reagan era were just a beginning. When I think back, I truly do not think our nation's response to these acts of terror were sufficient. Perhaps, if we'd acted with full responsibility in the 80's, there would have been no strong Osama Bin Laden to lead in 2001.
While I highly respected and liked President Reagan and trusted he was sincere in his motives, I think we should be careful in making a saint of this wonderful human being. In our big fears about Communism, I believe we fully missed the boat on the murderous treachery that would follow on the heels of its demise.
Perhaps President Reagan made us all a bit too optimistic. We went into a dreamful and exuberant "Me-decade" sleep.
Realism is criticized by some of today's NeoConservatives, but I've got to say, my dear readers, there is no more important time in American history than right here..right now for a realist to take the reins. Visionary speeches do no good when the facts on the ground are constantly working against you.
Gazing upon Utopia and shining cities on hills are lovely when the murderer isn't breathing down your neck.
I think Bush is a super-dumbed-down version of a Reagan-wannabe (without Reagan's natural gift of humor). Bush tries to imitate and emulate Reagan's historical successes. We need a clear-eyed realist who is his own man. (A man---or woman---who doesn't have to read from cue-cards and sound like a second-grader when he does). I'm sick of being faked out by cheap (and often seemingly-learning-disabled) imitations.
I believe that a good portion of the reason so many Americans have a visceral dislike for Bush is primarily due to the fact that they suspect they are far more intelligent than he is. It's frustrating when you don't share a man's ideology and you observe that he can barely squeeze three or four properly-pronounced words into one flowing sentence. Another reason for the Bush-disconnect is that so many Americans do not trust that Bush's motives are genuine. He's been caught lying to Americans too many times.
You didn't see the same distaste for Reagan, even though his ideology was oppositional to many.
We trusted Ronnie. He had a genuine-looking smile. He told us to be proud and we found something in his words to believe. He was witty..charming. He had many friends in this world..outside the borders of America. People in Europe tore down a wall with the help of his optimism. What a wonderful time for America...what a decent man.
He wasn't perfect, though. As many Christians joke, there was only one perfect man...and look what they did to him.
There were boats Reagan missed.
Ask the familes of any of these Americans and they'll tell you.
*Matthew Gross has some interesting commentary on Bush/Reagan and what Reagan's death might mean to the upcoming Presidential election.*
*There's a roundup of Reagan commentaries and farewells at Mahablog.
President Reagan: A poetic expression of love
President Reagan: A poetic expression of love
I don't think I have to repeat the news that he's gone.
What I choose to recall this morning is a part of what was President Reagan's heart..a part with which we can all identify.
He wrote this letter to Nancy on a Sunday..March 20, 1955.
Godspeed, Dutch.
I don't think I have to repeat the news that he's gone.
What I choose to recall this morning is a part of what was President Reagan's heart..a part with which we can all identify.
He wrote this letter to Nancy on a Sunday..March 20, 1955.
Sunday, March 20, 1955
"My darling, here it is, our day. If we were home, we would have a fire and funnies. And we would hate anybody who called or dropped in.
As it is, I'm sitting here on the top of the sixth floor, beside a phony fireplace, looking out at a gray, wet sky, and listening to a radio play music not intended for one person alone.
"Nevertheless, I wouldn't trade the way I feel for the loneliness of those days when one place was like another, and it didn't matter how long I stayed away... with all the missing you there is still such a wonderful warmth in this loneliness.
Like looking forward to a bright, warm room, no matter how dark and cold it is at the moment, you know the room is there and waiting.
I love you so very much.
I don't want--I don't even mind that life made me wait so long to find you.
The waiting only made the finding sweeter.
I love you,
Ronnie"
[LINK]
Godspeed, Dutch.
Who was Elie Hobeika? Ask Karl Rove.
Who was Elie Hobeika?
Ask Karl Rove.
On September 15, 2001, just four days after the 9-11 attacks, CIA Director George Tenet provided President Bush with a Top Secret "Worldwide Attack Matrix"—a virtual license to kill targets deemed to be a threat to the United States in some 80 countries around the world. The Tenet plan, which was subsequently approved by Bush, essentially reversed the executive orders of four previous U.S. administrations that expressly prohibited political assassinations.
According to high level European intelligence officials, Bush's counselor, Karl Rove, used the new presidential authority to silence a popular Lebanese Christian politician [Elie Hobeika], who was planning to offer irrefutable evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorized the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women, and children in the Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla in 1982. In addition, Sharon provided the Lebanese forces who carried out the grisly task.
After announcing he was willing to testify against Sharon, Hobeika became fearful for his safety and began moves to leave Lebanon. Hobeika was not aware that his threats to testify against Sharon had triggered a series of fateful events that reached well into the White House and Sharon's office.
On January 24, 2002, Hobeika's car was blown up by a remote controlled bomb placed in a parked Mercedes along a street in the Hazmieh section of Beirut.....
It is noteworthy that the State Department's list of global terrorist incidents for 2002 worldwide failed to list the car bombing attack on Hobeika and his party. The White House wanted to ensure the attack was censored from the report. The reason was simple: the attack ultimately had Washington's fingerprints on it.
High level European intelligence sources now report that Karl Rove personally coordinated Hobeika's assassination. The hit on Hobeika employed Syrian intelligence agents. Syrian President Bashar Assad was trying to curry favor with the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9-11 and was more than willing to help the White House. In addition, Assad's father, Hafez Assad, had been an ally of Bush's father during Desert Storm, a period that saw Washington give a "wink and a nod" to Syria's occupation of Lebanon. Rove wanted to help Sharon avoid any political embarrassment from an in absentia trial in Brussels where Hobeika would be a star witness. Rove and Sharon agreed on the plan to use Syrian Military Intelligence agents to assassinate Hobeika. Rove saw Sharon as an indispensable ally of Bush in ensuring the loyalty of the Christian evangelical and Jewish voting blocs in the United States....
[LINK-Online Journal]
Prior thought about Hobieika:
--The Assassination of Elie Hobeika
--Elie Hobeika's Assassination: Covering Up the Secrets of Sabra and Shatilla
--BBC Profile
--Robert Fisk- The Man Who Would Testify Against Sharon Is Blown Up
--Dawn.com
--Michael Young commentary
--Stark Portrait of Sabra & Shatila & Sharon depicted in World Premier Film "2000 TERRORISTS"..
--Jafi.org Info on Kahan Commission
Ask Karl Rove.
On September 15, 2001, just four days after the 9-11 attacks, CIA Director George Tenet provided President Bush with a Top Secret "Worldwide Attack Matrix"—a virtual license to kill targets deemed to be a threat to the United States in some 80 countries around the world. The Tenet plan, which was subsequently approved by Bush, essentially reversed the executive orders of four previous U.S. administrations that expressly prohibited political assassinations.
According to high level European intelligence officials, Bush's counselor, Karl Rove, used the new presidential authority to silence a popular Lebanese Christian politician [Elie Hobeika], who was planning to offer irrefutable evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorized the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women, and children in the Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla in 1982. In addition, Sharon provided the Lebanese forces who carried out the grisly task.
After announcing he was willing to testify against Sharon, Hobeika became fearful for his safety and began moves to leave Lebanon. Hobeika was not aware that his threats to testify against Sharon had triggered a series of fateful events that reached well into the White House and Sharon's office.
On January 24, 2002, Hobeika's car was blown up by a remote controlled bomb placed in a parked Mercedes along a street in the Hazmieh section of Beirut.....
It is noteworthy that the State Department's list of global terrorist incidents for 2002 worldwide failed to list the car bombing attack on Hobeika and his party. The White House wanted to ensure the attack was censored from the report. The reason was simple: the attack ultimately had Washington's fingerprints on it.
High level European intelligence sources now report that Karl Rove personally coordinated Hobeika's assassination. The hit on Hobeika employed Syrian intelligence agents. Syrian President Bashar Assad was trying to curry favor with the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9-11 and was more than willing to help the White House. In addition, Assad's father, Hafez Assad, had been an ally of Bush's father during Desert Storm, a period that saw Washington give a "wink and a nod" to Syria's occupation of Lebanon. Rove wanted to help Sharon avoid any political embarrassment from an in absentia trial in Brussels where Hobeika would be a star witness. Rove and Sharon agreed on the plan to use Syrian Military Intelligence agents to assassinate Hobeika. Rove saw Sharon as an indispensable ally of Bush in ensuring the loyalty of the Christian evangelical and Jewish voting blocs in the United States....
[LINK-Online Journal]
Prior thought about Hobieika:
--The Assassination of Elie Hobeika
--Elie Hobeika's Assassination: Covering Up the Secrets of Sabra and Shatilla
--BBC Profile
--Robert Fisk- The Man Who Would Testify Against Sharon Is Blown Up
--Dawn.com
--Michael Young commentary
--Stark Portrait of Sabra & Shatila & Sharon depicted in World Premier Film "2000 TERRORISTS"..
--Jafi.org Info on Kahan Commission
Iraq hostage Matt Maupin family statement
Iraq hostage Matt Maupin family statement
Where is Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin?
I would hope none of us have forgotten that Pfc. Keith Matthew (Matt) Maupin, a 20-year-old Army reservist, has been held hostage by insurgents since April 9 somewhere in Iraq.
I don't see very much about Matt in the mainstream news.
The silence is absolutely deafening.
For those who haven't forgotten, a recent statement from Keith & Carolyn Maupin (parents of Matt):
The Maupin family would like to thank everyone for supporting all soldiers as well as our son, Spc. Matt Maupin. The Yellow Ribbon campaign for our soldiers has been truly amazing and our spirits are lifted each time we see a new yellow ribbon displayed. Please continue to keep the yellow ribbons flying and candles lit to light their way home. A special thanks to the many people who have brought meals, provided religious support, established websites and for the many campaigns and vigils throughout the community and country. The outpouring of support and sentiment towards our family has been incredible, from both the military and civilian community. The emails, letters, cards, and prayers continue to arrive daily with well wishes for the safety of our son. Each one has touched our heart deeply during this difficult time. Although Matt has been captured for some time, we continue to pray daily for his safe return and the safe return of all soldiers to their loved ones. Our faith will never diminish and we ask that you keep all soldiers in your prayers and wish them a safe and speedy return.
Keith and Carolyn Maupin
[LINK-ChannelCincinatti.com]
Where is Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin?
I would hope none of us have forgotten that Pfc. Keith Matthew (Matt) Maupin, a 20-year-old Army reservist, has been held hostage by insurgents since April 9 somewhere in Iraq.
I don't see very much about Matt in the mainstream news.
The silence is absolutely deafening.
For those who haven't forgotten, a recent statement from Keith & Carolyn Maupin (parents of Matt):
The Maupin family would like to thank everyone for supporting all soldiers as well as our son, Spc. Matt Maupin. The Yellow Ribbon campaign for our soldiers has been truly amazing and our spirits are lifted each time we see a new yellow ribbon displayed. Please continue to keep the yellow ribbons flying and candles lit to light their way home. A special thanks to the many people who have brought meals, provided religious support, established websites and for the many campaigns and vigils throughout the community and country. The outpouring of support and sentiment towards our family has been incredible, from both the military and civilian community. The emails, letters, cards, and prayers continue to arrive daily with well wishes for the safety of our son. Each one has touched our heart deeply during this difficult time. Although Matt has been captured for some time, we continue to pray daily for his safe return and the safe return of all soldiers to their loved ones. Our faith will never diminish and we ask that you keep all soldiers in your prayers and wish them a safe and speedy return.
Keith and Carolyn Maupin
[LINK-ChannelCincinatti.com]
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Iraq Weekend Updates
Iraq Weekend Updates
Thursday:
Tom Clancy: "Is Wolfowitz working for our side?"
[LINK-Informed Comment]
*Note- see my own recent comments [LINK] about the seemingly anti-American activities by some of the NeoCons.*
Friday:
The situation in Iraq acutely threatens Israeli security
[LINK-Informed Comment];
Iran Leader Slams Caretaker Government in Iraq [LINK];
Iraq as Failed State [LINK]
Saturday:
5 US Troops Killed in Iraq, 5 wounded,New Accord in Najaf
[LINK-Informed Comment]
Sunday:
Sistani Meets Muqtada; Ceasefire Taking Hold
[LINK-Informed Comment]
Thursday:
Tom Clancy: "Is Wolfowitz working for our side?"
[LINK-Informed Comment]
*Note- see my own recent comments [LINK] about the seemingly anti-American activities by some of the NeoCons.*
Friday:
The situation in Iraq acutely threatens Israeli security
[LINK-Informed Comment];
Iran Leader Slams Caretaker Government in Iraq [LINK];
Iraq as Failed State [LINK]
Saturday:
5 US Troops Killed in Iraq, 5 wounded,New Accord in Najaf
[LINK-Informed Comment]
Sunday:
Sistani Meets Muqtada; Ceasefire Taking Hold
[LINK-Informed Comment]
Who Is Francis Brooke?
Who Is Francis Brooke?
--Ahmed Chalabi's right-hand man in Baghdad
--An American consultant
--An Iraqi National Congress lobbyist
--Worked with the shady Rendon group on the Iraq project, a London-based C.I.A.-funded program to influence global opinion on Saddam Hussein.
--An evangelical Christian
--Ex-CIA consultant
--A recent consultant for BKSH and Associates, a company run by Charlie Black, a Republican Party veteran.
--A man who has boasted of engineering the war on Iraq by providing the United States the "evidence" it was seeking on (apparently non-existent)weapons of mass destruction along with Saddam's supposed ties to terrorists.
Where is Francis Brooke now?
--It's thought he scrambled back to Washington D.C.
Who wants to know?
An Iraqi judge...Judge Zuhair Al-Maliky of the central criminal court in Baghdad, to be precise.
Why?
Francis Brooke allegedly obstructed the Iraqi police from conducting a legitimate raid on Ahmed Chalabi's place. They say Brooke stopped the Chalabi raid by telling the police they didn't have the legal power to do it because "he was an American and they were Iraqis."
Reports from Iran suggest Francis Brooke acted as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, passing letters between the two governments, which do not have diplomatic relations.
Brooke is trying to pass the buck and blame it all on a fellow by the name of Arras Habib, who is Chalabi's security chief.
[LINK]
More on Francis Brooke:
--Telegraph: Iraqi judge orders arrest of American aide to Chalabi
--Disinfopedia
--New Yorker- The Manipulator
--MSNBC- Chalabi-A questionable use of U.S. Funding
--Washington Post- Chalabi Aides Suspected of Spying for Iran; Raid at Leader's Home Targeted His Associates
--Ahmed Chalabi's right-hand man in Baghdad
--An American consultant
--An Iraqi National Congress lobbyist
--Worked with the shady Rendon group on the Iraq project, a London-based C.I.A.-funded program to influence global opinion on Saddam Hussein.
--An evangelical Christian
--Ex-CIA consultant
--A recent consultant for BKSH and Associates, a company run by Charlie Black, a Republican Party veteran.
--A man who has boasted of engineering the war on Iraq by providing the United States the "evidence" it was seeking on (apparently non-existent)weapons of mass destruction along with Saddam's supposed ties to terrorists.
Where is Francis Brooke now?
--It's thought he scrambled back to Washington D.C.
Who wants to know?
An Iraqi judge...Judge Zuhair Al-Maliky of the central criminal court in Baghdad, to be precise.
Why?
Francis Brooke allegedly obstructed the Iraqi police from conducting a legitimate raid on Ahmed Chalabi's place. They say Brooke stopped the Chalabi raid by telling the police they didn't have the legal power to do it because "he was an American and they were Iraqis."
Reports from Iran suggest Francis Brooke acted as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, passing letters between the two governments, which do not have diplomatic relations.
Brooke is trying to pass the buck and blame it all on a fellow by the name of Arras Habib, who is Chalabi's security chief.
More on Francis Brooke:
--Telegraph: Iraqi judge orders arrest of American aide to Chalabi
--Disinfopedia
--New Yorker- The Manipulator
--MSNBC- Chalabi-A questionable use of U.S. Funding
--Washington Post- Chalabi Aides Suspected of Spying for Iran; Raid at Leader's Home Targeted His Associates
Elvis chicken at Google Blog
Elvis chicken at Google Blog
I borrowed this recipe for fried chicken from Charlie Ayers at the Google Blog. It was a recipe he summoned up the nerve to extract from a southern cook named Robert Brown who had allegedly fried the stuff up for Elvis Presley at one point in time.
[LINK]
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Elvis Loved
*Google-sized portions; read all the way through to get the total amounts needed*
1/2 c thyme
1/4 c oregano
1/4 c basil
1/2 c onion powder
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c dry mustard
1/2 c paprika
1/4 c chili powder
1/2 c celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c coriander
1/2 c cumin
1/3 c kosher salt
1/4 c cayenne pepper
1/2 c ground black pepper
1/4 c ground white pepper
3 gals. buttermilk
3 cases organic free range chicken (roughly 30 chickens, divided into 1.5- to 2-lb. sections)
Mix these amounts of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk until it's thoroughly mixed.
Pour the batter over the chickens and marinate for up to five days - keep refrigerated, of course.
For frying
Now mix another 4x the above dry ingredients, and add:
2 lbs. cornstarch
8 qts. all-purpose organic whole wheat flour
Dredge the marinated chicken pieces in the dry herbs/flour/cornstarch mixture mix.
Fry the dredged chicken in a large skillet with hot peanut oil @ 375 degrees. Once chicken has reached a golden brown color, finish cooking it in the oven.
Thanks for sharing, Charlie!
I borrowed this recipe for fried chicken from Charlie Ayers at the Google Blog. It was a recipe he summoned up the nerve to extract from a southern cook named Robert Brown who had allegedly fried the stuff up for Elvis Presley at one point in time.
[LINK]
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Elvis Loved
*Google-sized portions; read all the way through to get the total amounts needed*
1/2 c thyme
1/4 c oregano
1/4 c basil
1/2 c onion powder
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c dry mustard
1/2 c paprika
1/4 c chili powder
1/2 c celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c coriander
1/2 c cumin
1/3 c kosher salt
1/4 c cayenne pepper
1/2 c ground black pepper
1/4 c ground white pepper
3 gals. buttermilk
3 cases organic free range chicken (roughly 30 chickens, divided into 1.5- to 2-lb. sections)
Mix these amounts of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk until it's thoroughly mixed.
Pour the batter over the chickens and marinate for up to five days - keep refrigerated, of course.
For frying
Now mix another 4x the above dry ingredients, and add:
2 lbs. cornstarch
8 qts. all-purpose organic whole wheat flour
Dredge the marinated chicken pieces in the dry herbs/flour/cornstarch mixture mix.
Fry the dredged chicken in a large skillet with hot peanut oil @ 375 degrees. Once chicken has reached a golden brown color, finish cooking it in the oven.
Thanks for sharing, Charlie!
Tie-runn-eee
Tie-run-eee
Bush said today, in tribute to former President Reagan, that he had saved the world from an "era of fear and tyranny".
Ronald Reagan never would have pronounced the word 'TYRANNY' as TIE-RUNN-EEE.
Good heavens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."
--Ronald P. Reagan
Bush said today, in tribute to former President Reagan, that he had saved the world from an "era of fear and tyranny".
Ronald Reagan never would have pronounced the word 'TYRANNY' as TIE-RUNN-EEE.
Good heavens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."
--Ronald P. Reagan
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