Future Headline: Grassroots Killed the Radio Star

Future Headline:
"Grassroots killed the
radio star"

This is how the Right wing mouth machine will eventually wind up with a clown-sized foot stuffed into its falsehood-ridden smile. Hosts of Right-wing talk-radio heavily depend upon their favorite writers in the mainstream press, the ones with big megaphones who spout off blatant lies and expect people to continue believing them.

Allow me to use the recent topic of Howard Dean's DNC win as an example:

As bizarre as it might seem, liberal media bias is proving to be a boon for the GOP. In its complete Bush-era meltdown, the liberal media elite is applying absolutely no brakes to the Dean "revolution" taking over the DNC. They are moving further and further to the left, and the media are offering nothing but happy talk. The cliff is in sight, and the Pied Piper press is set to lead the party over the edge.

--Brent Bozell

Note the "key" words.

"Liberal media bias": No such animal. With any news organization, there is an opportunity for good, investigative journalism; for sloppy, clumsy journalism; and for propagandandizing. How many people still believe Fox News' strong support for the White House claims about WMDs in Iraq?If you do not see a strong right-tilted bias in Fox News reporting, I submit that you are either deaf or politically non-perceptive. Bozell will be proven to have been dead-wrong.

"Liberal Media Elite": These are people who, until now, have offered you what you once called "the news". Back in the days when the press was supposed to ask the tough questions without fearing they'd have to "watch what they say" (*from a quote attributed to Ari Fleischer). Before some of the media-elite were jailed for protecting sources. Before party-operatives like Jeff Gannon were planted in the White House press corps to push the propaganda of the White House. Before the government paid journalists to push their propaganda and journalists concealed the all-important fact. Before the profession was dumbed-down and right-tilted. Before right-wing lynch-blogmobs acted in direct line with White House interests and averred, after destroying good men's careers, a la McCarthyism, that they were only seeking the "truth" (while, in effect, eliminating the universal truth's potential to be known). Brent Bozell will be proven to have been dead wrong.

"Meltdown": Indicating an air of desperation, which is totally untrue, in light of the fact that Dean went unchallenged and was wholly supported by the grassroots in every state. By taking his rightful, elected place as DNC Chair, Dean serves as a symbol of new hope and a united Democratic party. Bozell is trying to sell his readers on the story that "grassroots" means "liberal". Brent Bozell will be proven to have been dead-wrong.

"Revolution Taking over the DNC": Bozell makes it sound like the state party chairs went kicking and screaming. He couldn't be more wrong. What he completely neglects to tell his reading public, which is a sin in good journalism, is that Howard Dean was desired by the people and not the Washington elite. The good people of America - from all across this land, red states and blue states, wanted Howard Dean to be party chair. Bozell chooses, by his phraseology, to present the election of Dean in a controversial light. Among the people of America who call themselves Democrats, it simply is not true. We unite around our party chair. Bozell will be proven to have been dead-wrong.

"The cliff": Indicating a prediction of future total failure for the Democratic party, which I believe is terribly melodramatic for a man who's putting himself out there as a serious, unbiased political journalist. Brent Bozell will be proven to have been dead-wrong.

"Happy talk" from "Pied Piper press": Isn't this what we hear from Fox News day in/day out, until we want to puke from all the propaganda, already? Is Brent Bozell serious? What about the "happy talk" when Howard Dean's presidential candidacy was not only derailed, but obliterated by the "Pied piper press"?

Hoffmania says:

They have to launch a new pantload of lies to sell to the American public, and we have to throw up as many roadblocks as we can. Dean's on to their M.O. - much more so than Terry McAuliffe ever could hope to be.

But it won't happen by itself. We need to feed our shiny new media machine, folks.

At the end of each post, there's a button you can use to contribute directly to the New DNC. We're not going to hang ourselves out to dry this time. Thanks for coming here. Now be there.

Grassroots citizens across America are a force in politics once again. Writers like Brent Bozell are afraid, as well they should be. They will be proven dead-wrong, time and time again.

The GOP and the journalists who coddle them will not get away with smearing Howard Dean. I've devoted most of my blog, since its inception, to issues related to Howard Dean. I've been an eye-witness to the smearing as it took place. I have it all documented, concisely and neatly. This is the beauty of the art of the blog. Brent Bozell, a darling of Right-wing talk radio and Fox News, will be proven to have been dead-wrong about this smearing of Howard Dean. His code words will serve to eventually betray him and all who lurk from their right-wing spiderholes from which they spew the tripe they label and try to pass off as "professional journalism".

Right-wing talk radio is already seen by the grassroots Democrats as nothing but propaganda, and as time marches on, Limbaugh and his ilk will be proven to have been nothing more than hacks and shysters, raking in millions while trafficking political lies.

My prediction for the very-near future:
The voices of Right-wing talk radio (and Propaganda-Media) will be "killed" by the grassroots, because the grassroots are the real and true voices of America.

Triangle Bloggers Conference Takes Place in Chapel Hill

Triangle Bloggers Conference Takes Place in Chapel Hill

I'm thinking of many fine people I know, who are at the Triangle Blogger's Conference in Chapel Hill today.

There's a lot of Live Blogging going on right now.



My guest blogger and American Street colleague Anonymoses is there.

Yesterday, he'd invited the Charlotte Observer to send someone along to participate in the Triangle conference. It turned into an unlikely cross-blog discussion with new blogger and seasoned writer Bob Henry.

Ed Cone, who is also at the conference, mentioned it at his blog.

Surfette had some comments about the subject.

"Not when there are at least 100 television viewers for every one person who gets a ticket to the track. And that's a very conservative estimate: Last year, NASCAR claimed TV ratings higher than every major-league sport except the NFL, according to this article from Delaware's News Journal. And NASCAR won in a head-to-head competition with the Olympics for viewers in August.

Fortunately, the team behind Knight Ridder's ThatsRacin.com knows it--and now the quality of their Web site shows it.."

Hope you've had a good time at the conference, y'all!

Bob Henry and other NASCAR bloggers: Welcome to Blogdom!

--Jude


UPDATE: Sally Greene blogs about the conference.

Unfairly tarnished, Eason Quits

Blog-Trial: Unfairly tarnished, Eason Quits

"I have decided to resign in an effort to prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq. I have devoted my professional life to helping make CNN the most trusted and respected news outlet in the world, and I would never do anything to compromise my work or that of the thousands of talented people it is my honor to work alongside."

-- Eason Jordan LINK-ABC News

While not particularly emotional one way or the other about Jordan's actual decision, I will say that this clearly was a case of blog-thuggery and unfair tarnishing, the kind of which I had spoken earlier in the week, and for which I was soundly whipped by Jim Geraghty of the National Review.

The 'Right-wing mouth machine' would like us all to think that Eason Jordan was "bad" and "unAmerican" for saying what he said. CNN has been complicit by their reticence to talk about tough issues. They wound up to be the biggest loser. They lost Eason Jordan. Eason was guilty before being proven innocent by no other process except one: the blog-trial.

The right-wing blogs seem to be the Supreme Court of the blogging community at large.

Why should this be so?

Why are no other rational voices important?

There was never a fair hearing anywhere in the blogworld or in the mainstream media over this case. There was only conjecture and a big agenda, which was to round up enough right-wing activists in the monkey-machine to petition CNN in the hopes they'd fire a man who was branded as a devil for daring to speak out for journalists' protection in a conference most believed was, for the most part, a private panel discussion.

These were "Easongate's" aims:

The purpose of this blog from the very beginning was as follows:

· Act as a clearinghouse for information related to Mr. Jordan's recent and past statement concerning the United States military.
· Provide analysis and commentary on the developing situation.
· Advocate CNN to take real and meaningful disciplinary action against Mr. Jordan.
· Create a petition expressing the public's displeasure with Mr. Jordan's statements.
· Gather information on CNN's advertisers and make this information available to the public.

The activists at Easongate still want the tape. (So Rush Limbaugh can play it 100 times a day *sarcasm*).

Jordan's decision to resign is neither here nor there to me, personally.

I will, however, explain to you where my passion comes in.

I am proud and happy to be a political blogger.

I am free to speak about issues which I believe are crucial to the health of our democracy and no one can fire me .

They can only target me for critcism, as National Review did. I believe that's a good thing. As President Bush would say, "Bring 'em on."

Larry Kudlow claims that CNN has been trying desperately to make the story go away. He says that "bloggers are doing their duty" by calling upon CNN to talk about the issue. To an extent, I agree with him there. CNN should have aired the issue out in public and began to talk about it realistically, from 'Day One'.

However, I have been 'trying desperately' to keep this story alive, from my own point of view. The National Review wishes to delegitimize anyone in the mainstream media who will not toe the White House line like good soldiers. As defenders of freedom and truth, journalists are charged with the duty of getting to the heart and core of matters, even when it means having to have a painful national conversation about those matters. Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth. So why are we so afraid?

In this case, CNN didn't want to have that conversation, the right-wing insisted upon it, and we all have lost something precious in the process. Until mainstream media admits they are the lap dogs of the White House and right-wing, they will always lose.

The people who are calling themselves "new media" are already giving themselves "credit" for Eason Jordan's resignation. I wonder if they realize (or care) that the "credit" signifies a degradation of fairness and freedom of speech in America?

CNN failed to realize, recognize, and appreciate the power of blogs who are in lock-step league with those in the "new media" who are trying to destroy the long-accepted scope and meaning of a journalist's freedom of speech. If that's "new media", count me out.

When I see blogs being used in a way in which I believe American journalism will approach another step closer to being pure propaganda, I will say so.

I'm saying so.
- Jude

____________________

Jay Rosen has posted a comprehensive listing of links and commentary about the resignation.


At the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz quotes Jay Rosen:

Jay Rosen [said] he didn't think Jordan "had engaged in a firing offense." Bloggers "made a lot of noise" about the Jordan flap, Rosen said. "But there was basic reporting going on -- finding the people who were there, getting them to make statements, comparing one account to another -- along with accusations and conspiracy thinking and the politics of paranoia and attacks on the MSM, or mainstream media."

Rebecca MacKinnon, who worked with Jordan at one time, says in her final thoughts about the issue:

"I think Eason Jordan resigned because he knew that if the Davos tape came out it would make the situation worse, not better."

Sisyphus has said:

"The tape, and Eason Jordan, would have allowed a full airing of this issue. Pull the skeleton out, shake out the paranoia, shake hands and go back to work.
Jordan's gone. The idea remains."

*My comment- While I understand, I will comment that Easongate is still heavily pressing for the release of the tape. J'accuse: I think there are far deeper motives here than getting people to "shake hands".

Jim Geraghty at National Review Online:

"I would have preferred that the tape be released, that the public have a chance to mull over his comments, and then let Jordan face whatever consequences were appropriate. I have a feeling that the discussion of the "blogs as a lynch mob" is going to get a lot of coverage in the coming days."

*My comment: Hmmm. It sounds as if Jim is saying Right-wing activists got their wish far too soon, before maximum damage could be done to Jordan's reputation and to CNN. And now he expects that the activism, in itself, will be criticized..perhaps even seen for what it is. I hope so. If the hangman's rope fits, the ones holding it must learn how to explain it when it's still caught up in their grasp.


At Editors Weblog, they title their blogpost: Eason Jordan affair: when bloggers appear as the sons of Senator McCarthy

"Sad conclusion in the Eason Jordan affair (see below the New York Times article), sad day for the freedom of expression in America and sad day again for the future of blogging: the defense of the US army honor seemed more important to some bloggers that the defense of reporters' work! Nevertheless, there is one advantage in this story: masks are fallen! Within the honest community of bloggers, some of them claimed to be the sons of the First Amendment, they just were the sons of Senator McCarthy."

My Comment: Well-said.


Steve Lovelady, Columbia Journalism Review's CJR Daily, has written to Jay Rosen:

"The salivating morons who make up the lynch mob prevail. (Where is Jimmy Stewart when we need him ?) This convinces me more than ever that Eason Jordan is guilty of one thing, and one thing only -- caring for the reporters he sent into battle, and haunted by the fact that not all of them came back. Like Gulliver, he was consumed by Lilliputians."

Ummm..Steve...here's your Jimmy Stewart. Is anyone listening? *waving*

-- Jude

Gannon Talks (well, sort of..)

Jeff Gannon talks (well, sort of..)

Gannon aka Guckert is being cagey when questioned about the CIA memo.

"I answered their questions truthfully and honestly, but I would prefer not to say more. Guckert said he had recently contacted legal representation "for quite a few things," referring to the Plame case and the controversy over his White House access, but he would not elaborate. "I have always had an attorney on retainer, and now I believe I will have to put him to work."

__________________

*See William Rivers Pitt: The News Is Broken

"Once upon a time, working the White House Press Briefing Room was the crown jewel of mainstream political journalism beats. That was it; short of reporting live from under the President's desk or nailing down an interview with the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, you weren't going to get a better gig if you were a political reporter.
To hold such a position was also to be the repository for a great responsibility. If you are privileged enough to be placed there, if you have put in the time as a reporter to earn the right to be there, you are the first line of defense in the eternal struggle between the rights and well-being of the people and governments that are always willing and ready to lie, cheat and steal in our name and 'for our own good.'
Something like that might have once existed, but it is almost completely gone now. The sad and sordid tale of Jeff "Don't Call Me Guckert" Gannon" is a final nail in the coffin, as far as I am concerned."

UPDATE Feb 13:
I'm Not a Journalist, But I Play One on TV: Will Jeff Gannon Ever Meet the Press? from Mark Anderson/Poor Richard's Almanac

"This administration periodically tries to freeze out reporters who don't act like Guckert. They are trying to enforce the "Talon" code of behavior on the entire press corps.

Guckert was a plant, put there by the GOP, to help Bush and Scott McClellan avoid explaining Bush administration policy to the American people."

Rice Lied To America

Rice Lied To America

Condoleeza Rice (national security adviser) wrote a March 22, 2004 column in The Washington Post that "No al-Qaeda threat was turned over to the new administration."

Today, her outright lie to the American public has been revealed.

Dean At The Top

Democrats who supported some of Dean's rivals -- all of whom have dropped out of the race for chairman -- have adjusted to the idea of Dean at the top.

Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders

Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders

Before my father graduated from college and became an engineer for a private defense contractor, he made his living as a musician. He was in a western band called "The Santa Fe Riders".
In 1951, the band had a radio show at WKTV, Channel 2, in Utica, N.Y.

The emcee was someone I'm sure you'll recogize.
He went on to bigger (maybe better) things.

At Channel 2, Dick did many things including hosting his own country-western television program called, “Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders.” Clark even sung on it, though he one time confessed that it was “very badly” done. He was getting a little over fifty bucks a week. He got a raise to $75 when he had an offer from Syracuse’s WHEN-TV.

Clark's chores at WKTV also included playing Cactus Dick, the host of the television station's country and western music show, Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders. Besides serving as the show's announcer, Clark did some singing. "Badly," he confessed to Ralph Emery in 1992. "They used to make fun of me."

On the Dulling of Shining Examples

On the Dulling of Shining Examples

"Do yourself a favor. Read the guy his rights. It may be old-fashioned, but this will come out if we don't. It may take ten years, but it will hurt you, and the bureau's reputation, if you don't. Have it stand as a shining example of what we feel is right."

- Jack Cloonan, an FBI officer since 1972, who has worked antiterrorism cases

____________________

In the most recent New Yorker, Jane Mayer has written a comprehensive piece titled "Outsourcing Torture", which is being discussed by many, including scholars in the legal field. John C. Yoo was deputy assistant attorney general at the time he, along with his colleagues in the Bush administration, generated the now-famous set of internal legal memos advising the President that he had almost unfettered latitude in his prosecution of the war on terror. This laid a firm foundation for a shift in perspective that had been developing in the administration's attitude toward humantarian law, which had begun soon after 9/11, when administration attorneys began to advise President Bush that he did not have to comply with the Geneva Conventions in handling detainees in the war on terror.

Yoo has been a chief advisor in arguing that the Constitution grants the President plenary powers to override the U.N. Convention Against Torture when he is acting in the nation’s defense—a position that has drawn dissent from many legal scholars.

Some knowledgeable about Constitutional law believe that the right wing has been embracing constitutional theorist Bruce Ackerman’s theory of amendment via ‘constitutional moments’ all too readily . (Not on just this one issue, but in general). Ackerman has written, "We the People can reclaim our power to rewrite the Constitution in ways that express our modern constitutional identities. We can become masters of our own house."
Yet, Professor Ackerman has also written, regarding Abu Ghraib:

"America has taken the lead in the postwar period in holding officials in other countries legally responsible for their abuses of power. It is time to judge ourselves by the same rules we impose upon others...[..]..Abu Ghraib has put America on trial before the world. More important, it forces us to look at ourselves in the mirror and define the relationship of law to our public life. Unless we act decisively, the present scandal may serve as a prelude to a grim future."

At times when many readers slap an anti-American label on American citizens like me, I would solemnly remind them of what I am saying here. The Founding Fathers crafted one hell of a constitution and Bill of Rights. James Madison said, "Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention, have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property, and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death." He wasn't just whistling Dixie. (Pun intended - look at the nation we nearly lost in the 1860s.) Madison was on to something that has kept the United States Constitution alive longer than any other charter of government in history.

A republic differs from a democracy like the rule of law differs from the rule of the masses. In the case of Alberto Gonzales and John C. Yoo, I believe they are neglecting to respect the rule of law. All of this is going to come back and bite us in the tail. Our Constitution is going to be damaged, and so is the strength and power of the United States.

Thinking carefully about the new legal perspective which Yoo has been advocating, I have a reality-based fear that our Constitution won't be "living" much longer. If a president is free and willing to ignore law on a whim, it gravely damages the theory behind having a constitution to begin with. We are at the door to the potential of tyranny, if we are not already there. It is a silent tyranny of which many Americans will miss the signs due to partisan blindness and media misinformation.

Idealistic or not, we are all schooled to believe that our nation prides itself on its republican values, form and health. President Ronald Reagan's "shining city upon a hill" is not a vision embraced by one political party alone. We are one, but we are many and diverse. We all want our nation to represent our common values and we would expect them to act morally and with the utmost respect for the rule of law in all national undertakings. Torture is not a moral value. Torture is no "chamois cloth of dignity". We are taking steps closer to the legal acceptance of torture, which will surely not enhance our "shine".

Everything that has been done at the top filters down to guys like Jack Cloonan, a veteran FBI agent. He understood that a breakdown in the respect for law would serve to dull the shining example we have set, as worshippers of democracy, as a decent people in a decent civil society, as Americans from that visionary city upon a hill. It is one of the bedrock principles of the rule of law that a law-enforcement officer cannot break the law as a means of enforcing the law. Cloonan understood that when he professionally came to face a situation where he had to decide how to handle an al Qaeda figure by the name of Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, a man who had run Osama bin Laden's terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Read Cloonan's part in Jane Mayer's New Yorker story and think about how far the Bush administration has come to break down key legal perspective differences which have separated us from the terrorists.

From: Outsorucing Torture by Jane Mayer, New Yorker, Feb 14 & 21, 2005

A few months after September 11th, the U.S. gained custody of its first high-ranking Al Qaeda figure, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi. He had run bin Laden’s terrorist training camp in Khalden, Afghanistan, and was detained in Pakistan. Zacarias Moussaoui, who was already in U.S. custody, and Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber, had both spent time at the Khalden camp. At the F.B.I.’s field office in New York, Jack Cloonan, an officer who had worked for the agency since 1972, struggled to maintain control of the legal process in Afghanistan. C.I.A. and F.B.I. agents were vying to take possession of Libi. Cloonan, who worked with Dan Coleman on anti-terrorism cases for many years, said he felt that “neither the Moussaoui case nor the Reid case was a slam dunk.” He became intent on securing Libi’s testimony as a witness against them. He advised his F.B.I. colleagues in Afghanistan to question Libi respectfully, “and handle this like it was being done right here, in my office in New York.” He recalled, “I remember talking on a secure line to them. I told them, ‘Do yourself a favor, read the guy his rights. It may be old-fashioned, but this will come out if we don’t. It may take ten years, but it will hurt you, and the bureau’s reputation, if you don’t. Have it stand as a shining example of what we feel is right.’”

Cloonan’s F.B.I. colleagues advised Libi of his rights and took turns with C.I.A. agents in questioning him. After a few days, F.B.I. officials felt that they were developing a good rapport with him. The C.I.A. agents, however, felt that he was lying to them, and needed tougher interrogation.

To Cloonan’s dismay, the C.I.A. reportedly rendered Libi to Egypt. He was seen boarding a plane in Afghanistan, restrained by handcuffs and ankle cuffs, his mouth covered by duct tape. Cloonan, who retired from the F.B.I. in 2002, said, “At least we got information in ways that wouldn’t shock the conscience of the court. And no one will have to seek revenge for what I did.” He added, “We need to show the world that we can lead, and not just by military might.”

After Libi was taken to Egypt, the F.B.I. lost track of him. Yet he evidently played a crucial background role in Secretary of State Colin Powell’s momentous address to the United Nations Security Council in February, 2003, which argued the case for a preëmptive war against Iraq. In his speech, Powell did not refer to Libi by name, but he announced to the world that “a senior terrorist operative” who “was responsible for one of Al Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan” had told U.S. authorities that Saddam Hussein had offered to train two Al Qaeda operatives in the use of “chemical or biological weapons.”

Last summer, Newsweek reported that Libi, who was eventually transferred from Egypt to Guantánamo Bay, was the source of the incendiary charge cited by Powell, and that he had recanted. By then, the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq had passed and the 9/11 Commission had declared that there was no known evidence of a working relationship between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Dan Coleman was disgusted when he heard about Libi’s false confession. “It was ridiculous for interrogators to think Libi would have known anything about Iraq,” he said. “I could have told them that. He ran a training camp. He wouldn’t have had anything to do with Iraq. Administration officials were always pushing us to come up with links, but there weren’t any. The reason they got bad information is that they beat it out of him. You never get good information from someone that way.”

Napoleon Dynamite's Top Ten

Napoleon Dynamite's Top Ten

Have you seen Napoleon Dynamite's Top Ten Signs You're Not the Most Popular Guy In High School (on David Letterman)?

My favorite was #2:

" Lord of the Rings Figurines - 50
Friends - 0 "

Runner-up was #9:

"Your only friend is the one that you built in shop class."

Gang Defang - Eason Jordan Hip Hop

Gang Defang - Eason Jordan Hip Hop

Heah's some punkass poetry from tha shiznit Kevin Hayden. He delightfully captures da hip hop version of da Right wing's bloggin' floggin' on Eason's noggin'.


Gang Defang
by Kevin Hayden

From Insty, to his Hughness, to Gang Green, and NRO,
relying on the cred of a liberal Boston homo
that they’d normally attack just for his being gay -
politics and bedfellows - let’s all sashay.

They’re greasin’ up Eason, hear them banjo’s a’playin?
The Do-’ims! and Screw-’ims! are squawkin’ and brayin’.
Cause Eason hurt America’s spotless reputation
in the classic Fantasia of their own imagination.

America, busy working, to pay the rent
issues its verdict with this comment:
“Jordan? Didn’t he retire from basketball?”
Let’s all dosie-do, and head to the mall.

Stunned by the lack of blood in the water,
the Polident sharks starved, for lack of a slaughter.
They headed for Harlem certain of one thing-
there’s always some mileage chompin’ Bill’s dingaling.

- The End

Middle East- New Hope?

We can work it out...?

Middle East- New Hope?
Middle East truce: Global reaction
The BBC has received thousands of emails in response to the ceasefire agreed between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Egypt on Tuesday.

From the news:

There's much to be happy about. If peace is the destination, it's a road worth traveling.
Israel is to return control of five West Bank towns to the Palestinians, and free an initial 500 Palestinian prisoners, with 400 more to follow. Abbas' main task (and big problem) is to gain observance of the truce by anti-Israel extremists such as Hamas. LINK
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have declared that the truce is not binding on them.
A member of the radical Islamic movement Hamas has been killed in a blast in the southern Gaza Strip.

Can You Guess Who Said It?

"Al Qaeda was no more attacking our "freedom" when it drove those planes into the World Trade Center than were Iroquois, Sioux and Apache attacking our freedom when they massacred settlers on the frontier."

Can You Guess Who Said It?

A clue: He's the same fellow who said this:

"Bush may find himself with the epitaph penned a century ago by an old imperialist who knew the region well:

"A fool lies here/Who tried to hustle the East."

Give up? Find him HERE.

WHO'S JEFF GANNON? Valerie Plame CIA-Gate

"Gannon's" role in Valerie Plame CIA-Gate?

"White House-credentialed fake news reporter "Jeff Gannon" from fake news agency "Talon News" was cited by the Washington Post as having the only access to an internal CIA memo that named Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a covert CIA agent. Gannon, in a question posed to Wilson in an October 2003 interview, referred to the memo (to which no other news outlet had access, according to the Post). Gannon subsequently has been subpoenaed by the federal grand jury looking into the Plame outing."

WHO IS THIS GANNON GUY?

**He has just QUIT per Markos, who has talked to Howard Kurtz about it. This is getting to be a weird story, people.

At JeffGannon.com, it says:

"Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.
Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.
Thank you to all those who supported me."

Wow! I mean, why would he quit just because someone was "paying attention" to him?**

HOW WAS IT THAT HE WAS THE LONE PERSON WHO WAS ABLE TO GAIN ACCESS TO THIS MEMO?

WHAT'S UP WITH THE FAKE NEWS AGENCY? IS IT A FRONT?

WE MUST PRESS THIS ISSUE.

__________________

UPDATES:

Joseph Wilson on PropaGANNON - DAILY KOS

Atrios

Media Matters

Archived copies about "Gannon/Guckert"

World O'Crap

Yes, we're talking about "Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief, Talon News" -- Talon News being the rinkydink wingnut "news service" chaired by the same guy who runs GOP USA (the wingnut site that is less upscale than Renew American, but slightly more professional than BushCountryUSA, and apparently run by various members of the Texas GOP).

Open Letter To Rep Louise Slaughter

Louise Slaughter requests probe

Predictably and typical of his usual propaganda-pushing, Sean Hannity has called Gannon a "terific Washington Bureau Chief".

Bobby Eberle / GOPUSA - I had Bobby's "number" long before now. (See third comment on this post).

Cole v Goldberg - Better Than WWE

"Books are nice. They are rectangular and soft and have information in them. They can even be consumed on airplanes. Goldberg should try one."

"..when writing an op-ed, he can get away with only seeming to grasp the facts, whereas in person he can be busted and shown to be only a poseur."

"..All he has to offer us is a party line and a strongly held opinion. Not all pundits are in this category. Goldberg is particularly unsubstantive."


- Juan Cole


Cole v Goldberg - Better Than WWE

Ouch! Remind me never to get into a tangle with the good Professor. ;)

"An argument that judgment matters but knowledge does not is profoundly anti-intellectual. It implies that we do not need ever to learn anything in order make mature decisions. We can just proceed off some simple ideological template and apply it to everything. This sort of thinking is part of what is wrong with this country. We wouldn't call a man in to fix our plumbing who knew nothing about plumbing, but we call pundits to address millions of people on subjects about which they know nothing of substance."

Can I get an AMEN?

"Goldberg is hoping to Kerryize me because my position on the war can't be reduced to a sound bite. I don't really care. I'm not running for office and I'm not making any money to speak of from this punditry gig. If people can't imagine that you can hate Saddam and also think a unilateral war and long-term occupation of an Arab country are bad ideas, that is their problem."

Professor Cole, you are not alone. The problem is, because of the way the Right artfully frames their ideas, people actually believe that anything less than black and white is not to be trusted. Falling in with those Right-wing frames and talking points, the mainstream media failed to spark any meaningful debate before the Iraq war. In essence, they did lack the imagination and curiosity necessary to keep the Bush administration from dragging our nation into this unjust disaster. If we aren't on our toes, they'll be allowed to do it again. The Right is attempting to make intelligent and knowledgeable people look like devils. I was amazed that David Brooks offered such a destructive anti-intelluctual manifesto in the NY Times this week. Brooks basically says that if you're not Barney Rubble, you're Beelzebub. Heaven help this country. Do we really want it run by Barney Rubble, Ralph Kramden, Al Bundy, Jonah Goldberg, and Company?

Right Wing Cage Rattles as Dean Becomes DNC Shoo-In

Right Wing Cage Rattles as Dean Becomes DNC Shoo-In

Howard Dean has no opposition for DNC chair now. There will be no stopping the grassroots now.

The Right cries out, with newfound concern for those poor loser-Democrats: 'Dear Heavens! How could this happen?'

David Brooks blames the most evil force in America - intelligence. I'm not kidding you. If you aren't Ralph Kramden, you're Satan.

Richard Bond, the former head of the RNC, has told the press, "[Dean's] a very capable guy; he's got high energy, but he will reinforce all of their worst instincts. His style and message is one that will narrow his party's options rather than expand them." (And we'll trust him because he, like most Republican leaders, are on our side, right?)

"All I can say is, the Democratic Party is clearly endorsing doctor-assisted suicide!" cackled Kate O'Beirne on Capital Gang.

On the same show, Bob Novak, the douchebag who 'couldn't stop himself' from outing a CIA agent said: "This is suicidal and lunatic by the Democratic Party, and that is an opinion shared by a lot of Democrats that I talk to. This man can't control what he says."

On Beltway Boys, the always-pleasant see-through ideologue Fred Barnes said, "Howard Dean couldn't manage his way out of a wet paper bag."

We're no longer fooled by these bags of wind.

Dean has them in a tizzy because he's succeeding. With the force of the Democratic party behind him, there will be no stopping the grassroots (who are not nearly as liberal or radical as the perfidious pundits would have you believe).

National Review: They Figure I 'Just Had A Bad Day'

National Review: They Figure I 'Just Had A Bad Day'

Truth is...I had a great day!

At NRO, Jim Geraghty asks:

Is TimK really the face of the “right wing bloggers”? Or was he the most convenient example Camwell could find of a person on the right who used four-letter words and who is promising Jordan “a world of [excrement]”? Is it conceivable that TimK’s comment fits a bit of a stereotype of a knuckle-dragging, inarticulate bully of the right? It’s easy to portray that comment as “blog-thuggery.” Fortunately, its tone and tenor is worlds apart from what you find on most blogs.

Look, if Eason Jordan has his facts right, then the guys who committed the crimes he described ought to face the fullest consequences of the law. And Jordan – at least in his initial comment – apparently described outright premeditiated murder. Of course journalists ought to be concerned about that. Everyone should be.

But if it’s not true, and a network’s top newsman is irresponsibly spreading rumors… then journalists ought to be concerned about that, too.

Convenient? Well, the only thing I will say is that it wasn't very hard to find such a statement.

It seems that Jim would like to keep the discussion of the issue dispassionate, as well he should as a respectable writer. He doesn't believe Eason Jordan acted respectably at Davos. I understand. Eason seems to have either made a dreadful accusation - or it could be that he spoke, with conviction, from a terribly passionate place.

Jim didn't seem to appreciate my use of 'TimK' as an example of what the impetus for the right's push-push of this story just might be.

Jim may be a big voice among powerful voices, but mine is ringing loud and clear.
I think there's an agenda here.
The agenda seems to involve pumping out the narrative of the 'evil' Eason Jordan, who is an 'unprofessional' and perhaps even an 'unAmerican' member of the organization they frame as "the old media".
The frame of "old" connotates something no longer useful. Past its prime. No longer trustworthy. Ready for the dustbin of history. It perpetuates the 'liberal media' myth.

I believe Jim is missing the boat here, given his doubt about the reasons for passion from the Right on this issue.

The absence of passion is the farthest thing from which the Eason Jordan story has come to be about. As a matter of fact, it is about nothing but passion. We have passion for defending our soldiers against what many see as unfair, factually-unsupported attacks. We have passion for fellow journalists who are killed carelessly and with barely a nod of respect to the Geneva Conventions, it seems. We have passion for the ideas forwarded by the "new media". We have passion in our insistence that the mainstream media is not now, and has never been "liberal".

We argue passionately if we care.

I've had an ongoing discussion with a lot of people today. They're people with whom I don't generally chat. I find that there are quite a few people, such as the passionate Tim K, who aren't bad sorts simply because they use the "s" word. One theme I see clearly emerging from the right, on a people-to-people basis, is the belief that journalists who aren't embedded with military (or who are not American) may well be enemies. When I stated: "JOURNALISTS ARE NOT THE ENEMY", a commenter named Steve asked:

How do you define it when a group of people regularly show only the side of the story that makes America look bad? What do you call it when ‘journalists’ just happen to be on hand, cameras rolling, as terrorists execute Iraqi election workers in broad day light in the middle of the street? What do you call it when ‘journalists’ are right there to film a staged suicide bombing? What do you call it when journalists are so eager to get one more kidnapping on the wire they are duped by pictures of a child’s action toy? Are all journalists the enemy? Of course not. Are there people calling themselves journalists who are clearly against the American effort? Obviously.

I'm not saying Steve is right or wrong. I'm saying that we need to have this discussion. If we agree, as a civil society, to make our support conditional for the protection of journalists at war-time, I believe we are neglecting a value that is crucial to our traditional defense and promotion of free speech, regardless of where the journalists are from. If we promote democracy, we must show Iraqi journalists (for example) of all ideological stripes that they are free to speak their mind. Otherwise, our support for democracy in other countries is all a sick joke and the world will easily see it.

Would I like to see the story of Eason Jordan buried? Definitely not. It brings about a discussion that I think we should be having, no matter how much it pains either side of the ideological fence.

Do I understand the reasons for passionate right-minded people to get maximum mileage out of the story? Yes.

Do I understand why Eason Jordan said what he said? I think we have to listen to Eason's clarification, give him every benefit of professional doubt, and have a mature discussion about it.

If we care about our country's strength, it has to come from us - with passion and with an honest attempt to reach a goal of understanding. We won't get respect from the world until we learn to respect one another. We need the passion that I suspect led Eason Jordan to speak, albeit clumsily - perhaps even inappropriately, at Davos. Since we have a bona fide mainstream story floating out there, why don't we Americans roll up our sleeves and dig in?

Talk to one another. It might seem painful, but it's the only way we will bring about a positive change within this nation.


A final point.
Jim Geraghty said: "..if Eason Jordan has his facts right, then the guys who committed the crimes he described ought to face the fullest consequences of the law."


Was this the most "convienient" way to neglect the easily-researchable fact that early today, Howie Kurtz reported that Eason Jordan said: "I have never once in my life thought anyone from the U.S. military tried to kill a journalist. Never meant to suggest that. Obviously I wasn’t as clear as I should have been on that panel.”

I don't see that Jim is very willing to give his fellow journalist the benefit of the doubt.

Is this just another case of 'old media' vs. 'new media'?

You decide.

*A shout of thanks goes out to Anonymoses and Jay Rosen for linking some of my comments.


UPDATE: Since NRO is in denial about Righties and their agenda, take a look at the latest fun activity among the right-set: Tell A Friend about Easongate

From the folks at Easongate
"Tell-A-Friend" Day at Easongate: Today is "Tell-A-Friend" Day. Your mission today is to call, email or otherwise contact at least two friends whom you don't believe are aware of the Easongate story!

Eason Tale Hits Mainstream Out on American Street

Eason Tale Hits Mainstream Out on American Street

Here is an excerpt from my latest American Street entry:

Howard Kurtz on Eason Jordan

"Howard Kurtz takes a dispassionate look at what occurred at Davos. Read it (at the bottom) and ask yourselves how a seasoned newsman's passion for the protection of the lives and safety of those who carry out their work in the most dangerous of situations (to show YOU the truth) is, by any standard, "unprofessional". I would have to say just the opposite. The values Eason Jordan appears to espouse involve a concern, caring, and a call for the utmost protection for those who serve in the field of journalism. We all know that war is a risky place for journalists.

The Iraq war is a public action carried out, in my name and yours, by our government. The lives of those who serve the journalism corps in the middle of a war zone deserve every bit as much care and respect as the soldiers (the ones with the guns, I'd like to remind you).

I don't think Jordan Eason should be professionally crucified for what we can liken to a motherly nature when discussing a delicate matter (out of the public eye, for the most part - the Jan. 27 Davos session was supposed to be off the record).

Those who are hot on Eason's trail are only those who wish to inflict some political damage on the few in the mainstream media who still possess the extreme courage of conviction. This is not a case of Dan Rather using fake documents. This seems to be more of a case where a professional journalist has called, in his own fumbling way, for better judgement and a higher degree of care and liability on on the part of U.S. military in choosing their targets.

After what we saw happen at the Palestine Hotel, I don't think that's an unreasonable plea..."

UPDATE: At Press Think yesterday (Feb 8), the BBC's Richard Sambrook commented:

"...as a News Executive on a panel discussing the safety of journalists in Iraq I fail to see why I should not discuss any of these incidents. Unless they are properly, fairly and openly discussed, as I said in my original note to Jay [Rosen], it will simply feed prejudice on all sides. Responsiblity for the safety of journalists in war zones rests with the news organisations. But unless we can have a full and open discussion with the military about how journalists have been killed we cannot understand what more we may be able to do to protect them. You are all entitled to your personal opinions about CNN, the BBC, me, Eason, the Iraq War and anything else. However this started with the question of journalists safety in war zones and the high number who have been killed. For those of us with friends and colleagues out there, we will continue to try to understand why the casualties among journalists are unusually high and what more we might do to protect them."

Eason Jordan / Blogosphere Update

Eason Jordan / Blogosphere Update

Updates on the Eason Jordan blog-story are at Michelle Malkin's site and at Press Think. According to Jay Rosen, "it now appears that the World Economic Forum has decided not to release a tape or transcript, on the grounds that the session was held under rules preventing participants from being quoted directly."

In the most recent Press Think article, Richard Sambrook of the BBC talks about what Eason Jordan said in Davos:

"This culture of "closing ranks" coupled with hostile comments about the media from senior politicians and others, has led some in the media community (not necessarily Eason or myself) to believe the military are careless as to whether journalists are killed or not and to no longer respect the traditional right to report.

As yet, for example, there has been no adequate explanation for the attack on the media hotel in Baghdad, the Palestine, which killed one Ukrainian Reuters cameraman and one cameraman for Spanish TV in 2003. The US tank commander suggested he had come under sniper fire from the building. That is now clearly not the case; it was well known, including in the Pentagon, that the Palestine was used by the media and yet it was attacked directly and purposely. Why? An absence of explanation unhelpfully feeds suspicion in some quarters.

More than sixty journalists and media workers have been killed in Iraq since march 2003.

I am leading an international committee of inquiry into the reasons for the major increase in journalist fatalities around the world. It will make recommendations for improving safety and reducing risk and possibly suggest some changes to international law which ensure that when journalists are killed we can get a proper and open investigation and sense of accountability.

Finally, some people say, if it's so dangerous don't go. I'm afraid I believe that bearing witness, first hand reporting from wars, is a fundamental duty of news organisations. We need to do all we can to ensure we can continue to bear witness, but to do so without carelessly losing lives."

Anonymoses: A Blogollage

Anonymoses: A Blogollage


Credit: Anonymoses
*I'm the yellow-haired gurl - the only gurl appearing in technicolor ;)

I see Ed Cone, Dave Beckwith(Anonymoses), Billy Jones (The Blogging Poet), Kevin Hayden (American Street), Nick Lewis (PBA), Robert L. (Philoblogger), the lovely Erika G, Dave Hoggard (Hogg's Blog), S M Dixon (Vast Leftwing Conspiracy), Dave Weinberger, Jay Rosen (Press Think), and more..

Best Jonah Goldberg Nickname Contest

Best Jonah Goldberg Nickname Contest

At Rox Populi. Go ahead. What are you waiting for? You could win 50 bucks.

Ossie Davis 1917-2005

credit: PBS photo

Ossie Davis 1917-2005
A Tribute to the Actor and Civil Rights Activist
Democracy Now

MYTHS V. REALITIES ON SOCIAL SECURITY

MYTHS V. REALITIES ON SOCIAL SECURITY

On Social Security Policy: A go-to-website for reference to all the lies, exxagerations, misstatements, and Bushite bunkum.
eRiposte

The Myth of the Bloggers vs. the Journalists

The Myth of the Bloggers vs. the Journalists

Don't put too much stock into that myth. Ask Dave Pell.

Headlines - War and Foreign Policy

Headlines

CONSERVATIVES WHO "GET IT"

Letter to The Ledger (Lakeland, FL):

"Every argument against this war has proved to be a fact. That is why Bush spent the majority of his inauguration speech blathering on about spreading liberty and freedom throughout the world. It is his only excuse left for war with Iraq..The war cost is hundreds of billions more than Bush was willing to admit. Saddam Hussein wasn't even a threat to his neighbors. There was no link between Hussein and al-Qaida..The Arab world hates us more than ever before. Bush has made bin Laden a prophet in the Arab world.. The Republican Party was conservative once, but, now, under the leadership of George W. Bush, it has become neoconservative.
I am out. Just don't call me a liberal or a Democrat. If you did, you owe me an apology."

American Conservative - Hunger for Dictatorship: War to export democracy may wreck our own

"The invasion of Iraq has put the possibility of the end to American democracy on the table and has empowered groups on the Right that would acquiesce to and in some cases welcome the suppression of core American freedoms. That would be the titanic irony of course, the mother of them all—that a war initiated under the pretense of spreading democracy would lead to its destruction in one of its very birthplaces. But as historians know, history is full of ironies."

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

IRAQ

UK: "The Ministry of Defence will accept liability for the death of the first British soldier to die in action in Iraq, his widow’s lawyer confirmed today.
Sgt Roberts was shot when trying to quell a riot in Az Zubayr, near Basra, within days of the start of the conflict in March 2003.
An internal MoD report later established that he would have survived if he had been wearing ceramic plates inside his flak jacket. He had been issued with the plates, but gave them to another soldier because his regiment did not have enough for everyone.
Mrs Roberts has already received a personal apology from Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon after she released tapes of her husband voicing his concerns over equipment shortages.

Election Complaints Emerge in Iraq

Seattle Times: Army officer refuses second deployment to Iraq

"He saw a young Iraqi girl with her arm horribly burned and blackened, standing helplessly on a roadside as Benderman's convoy rushed past. He saw dogs feasting on civilian corpses dumped into pits. He saw young American soldiers he believed were treating war like a video game, with few apparent qualms about killing or the effects of the invasion on ordinary Iraqis.
Benderman said he begged an officer to stop and help the girl, but was told the unit couldn't spare its limited medical supplies.
"I had to look at that little girl, look into her eyes, and in her eyes I saw the TRUTH. I cannot kill.."

22 Iraqi Police Officers, Soldiers Killed Near Baghdad; Gunmen Kidnap 4 Egyptians Technicians

Informed Comment: Guest Editorial: Andrew Arato on Constitutional Participation in Iraq ("The election of January 30, 2005 was Sistani’s victory.")

Virtually no punishment or adonishment for this? REALLY?!? This Lt. General makes us look like our troops are guided by a homicidal ethos (in other words: murder-loving assholes)! "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people."

Iraq/Women's Rights- Election rhetoric is not reality

Deja Vu all over again - Purple-fingered frenzy and Forgotten Journalistic Principles- Hailing the bravery of Iraqi voters last week, and at times gushing over the turnout, the American media seems (as it did two years ago in the hyping of Saddam's WMDs) to have forgotten core journalistic principles in regard to fact-checking and weighing partisan assertions.

A long way to go. A step backward for women? 1400 American lives for this?

"Shiite clerics, who, confident they have a popular mandate from the elections, are advocating for Islam to be recognized as the underpinning of the government.....more conservative leaders are insisting that Shariah, or Islamic law, be the foundation for all legislation. Such a constitution would be a sharp departure from the transitional law that the Americans enacted before appointing the interim Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. One focus of the U.S. effort then was to secure equal rights for women and minorities. Under Shariah, for instance, daughters would receive half the inheritances of sons.[..]
[..]..The alliance of Shiite politicians in the national assembly could splinter as its members vie against one another for power and trade favors with rival politicians like the secular Allawi and the Kurds, who are Sunnis. Too strong a push for a Shiite religious state could also prompt violent opposition from Sunni Arabs, the formerly dominant minority that already feels disenfranchised, or from the Kurds, who can exercise veto power over the new constitution.[..]"

Jalal Talabani

"As Iraq's president, [Kurdish leader and candidate] Jalal Talabani said he could play a mediating role between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims, who apparently scored a landslide victory in the Jan. 30 national elections."

_______________________

OSAMA BIN LADEN

While we "spread freedom" in Iraq, Osama Bin Laden runs free to plan his next major attack on the U.S. Taking our focused eye off of Bin Laden may be the costliest mistake a sitting American President could ever have made.

Steve Coll/WP - "September 11 taught us that Chicken Little sometimes gets it right. But the failures to correctly assess Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction showed that he sometimes gets it wrong.[..]President Bush's pledge after 9/11 to make "no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them" does not seem likely to intimidate a future jihadi nuclear cell.."

_________________________

IRAN

NY Review of Books- Bush, Iran & the Bomb By Christopher de Bellaigue

"...the November 2004 [NPT Safeguards] agreement will amount to little unless the Americans join the negotiations, offering advantages such as security guarantees, a deal on Iranian assets in the US, and the prospect of normal economic relations. The Americans are wary of committing themselves to such policies unless the Europeans and others, especially Russia and China, consent to taking punitive action if Iran progresses further toward a fuel cycle that could produce nuclear weapons. What is needed to deal with Iran and its nuclear ambitions is the formation of an international coalition including the US, and that is not George Bush's strong point."

`Pre-emptive' study of Iran data started

"The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched what its chairman called a "pre-emptive" examination of U.S. intelligence on Iran as part of an effort to avoid the problems that plagued America's prewar assessments on Iraq."

Directions for Making a Snow Angel

Directions for Making a Snow Angel

I saw this at GirlOnAGlide blog and wanted to share it with my readers.

During inauguration week, I displayed my own snow-angel-making talents for the staff at the hotel where I was staying (near Washington, D.C.). I couldn't help myself! It was on the day of their first big snowfall of the year and the virgin snow was screaming for an angel's impression. I recall instant smiles from strangers when they saw the results of my efforts. Snow angels almost always have that kind of effect on people. That's why I do it!



Directions for Making a Snow Angel:

1. You need snow, the stickier, the better.
2. Flop over backwards.
3. Pretend that you're doing jumping jacks, only while laying down.
4. Never, ever, ever..step into the head of your snow angel when you get up. Ever.


*photo credit: flickr.com

What Is Your Purpose in Life?

"...it is never too late to re-make yourself, and a step off the cliff might save you.
I challenge you to find your safety zone and leave it behind in the pursuit of your life in the sun."

What Is Your Purpose in Life?

Sapere Aude, my Zardozz colleague who blogs at Mystical Wanderer, has written about a subject that is universal to all of us. She bares a part of her inner world, drawing upon painful experience to help us see that we are not alone in our search for meaning in this life.

Excerpts:

"I've asked myself the same question and I think I've found the answer that satisfies me. And it is that I am here to pursue what I am meant to do, which brings contentment in my life, and if I ignore my truth, I will live a life filled with uncertainty and negativity. And so, I know that my purpose in life is to write, and to help people.
But how do we know what to pursue? Ask yourself, at this very point in your life, are you happy? Is there a long-forgotten dream that you cherish? And if such a dream exists, what's stopping you from pursuing it? Bills? Family? Fear of failure?

..[..].. I believe that when one has reached a certain level of discontent, something has to happen, whether good or bad. But if one ignores the signs, then wrong choices or bad decisions are made, leaving one in a quagmire of boggy malcontent."

I hope you'll read the post in its entirety. It's great food for thought.


*photo credit: http://www.punchstock.com

EasonGate Arrives on the Scene

EasonGate Arrives on the Scene

Activists are looking to take down Eason Jordan of CNN. Dan Rather's head is still warm on the stake, and righties are feeling their "Wheaties".

Readers at Little Green Footballs are taking issue with my saying that they are "stalking" CNN and Eason himself.

I only call it as I see it. If the shoe fits, we must learn to wear it without hiding our agendas and acting defensively when we're called on it.

The political downsizing of Trent Lott was a success story for lefties. Was it fair to Senator Lott? Perhaps not. That's life in the fast lane.

My point: Why be ashamed, LGF? If Democrats were nearly as tenacious as you 'mighty righties', FOX News (as we know it) would be history by now. They'd be exposed for the misinformation they spew 24/7. (I'm surprised Brit Hume's head has not yet spun 360 degrees).

I would recommend that blog activists such as those at LGF do not pretend that they're some kind of moral crusaders or that they are the only people who can claim to be on the "side" of America. That's pure, unadulterated horsecrap. We know it. I think most readers at LGF would be surprised once they sat down and listened to what I was saying. I believe they'd be shocked when they came to understand that we shared many of the meaningful values that make us traditionally American - Progressive values such as truth, honesty, respect, openness, empathy, compassion, strong protection, fair and equal treatment, and fulfillment in life.

I would ask such activists, while they go after the journalists, why they fail to call upon our government to be accountable for the many known lies that they have told us. Freedom to do so is a traditional and important American value. Read a bit of Thomas Jefferson's writings and you will not be able to disagree.

When I compare:

1. Eason Jordan's comments that journalists have been targeted by military
and...
2. Myriad public comments by the Bush administration which caused the military to go to war on the wings of lies in the first place..

Well - I can think of far bigger "gates" to pry open. You don't see Bushgate because many of you protect the ones in the secretive, lying, and tremendously inept administration who have breached the Constitutionally-sacred trust of Americans. The breach of that trust has damaged the national interest. While a small majority of voters carried Bush in November's (forever-dubious) Ohio election, half of America and the entirety of the world community has lost trust in the integrity of his administration. Like falling dominos, this will have many unexpected consequential implications for the future of America's strength and respect in world diplomacy. It will remain this way as long as this administration haphazardly wields its messianic foreign policy.

Rightwing activists: In your own nation, open government and democracy are dying, and you are only a part of that destruction when you become fearful to question the ones who tell you that freedom is paramount as they systematically remove your freedoms.

Do any of you care where an unaccounted-for $9 billion of your tax dollars dedicated to Iraq funds have gone? Where is the "$9 Billion Dollargate"? I'll tell you where it is. Nowhere on your particular agenda.

I'll bet the egotistical media will spend more time navel-gazing than reporting the truth about matters material to the most meaningful national interests. When you hear people say that the mainstream media seems as if they are in league with the American right-wing on the issues they choose to report, this is how it happens.

A final message to LGF readers: You are the kind of people I'd love to have on my side of the issues. I don't appreciate your focus, however. If your intent is a healthy and strong America, you should focus, as a group, on why so many Americans are expecting a modicum of truth, honesty, openness, and integrity from our government. Without jumping to false conclusions. Perhaps, after a while, you'll start asking yourselves.

____________________

*UPDATE:

"..Jordan said something in a public on-the-record forum that he clearly regretted saying. There are really two questions here: First, what did he really say? That's going to get cleared up soon enough. The second more interesting question is: what does he really believe? Clearly he is frustrated and angry at the way in which the U.S. military deals with (or fails to protect) non-embedded journalists in Iraq. Why? Does his anger and frustration have any justification? Is the source of his problem the behavior of individual soldiers on the ground who happen to hate MSM because they think it's anti-military? Or is the source of his problem more systemic and part of a policy - spoken or unspoken - coming from the top?.."

-- Rebecca MacKinnon, from an interview with Hugh Hewitt

*Thanks to Powerpundit for posting this interview, which first appeared on Powerline.

UPDATE 2: Jay Rosen weighs in at Press Think.

Best New Blog: Chief Blogging Officer

Best New Blog: Chief Blogging Officer

I highly recommend it. Get there!

MIA in Iraq funds: $9 Billion US Taxpayer dollars!

"Wake up, America!
Your democracy is disappearing!"

--Congressman Dennis Kucinich
see link

MIA in Iraq:
$9 Billion U.S. Taxpayer Dollars

LINK

Jonah Goldberg Embarrasses Himself

"Jonah Goldberg knows absolutely nothing about Iraq."

- Juan Cole

Jonah Goldberg Embarrasses Himself

You may have already seen this, but I didn't want any of you to miss this beauty of a post by Juan Cole. He aptly takes on Jonah Goldberg, who has, (true to form), embarrassed himself once again. As Markos has said, I'm surely glad Juan's on 'our side'!

There's more from Professor Cole HERE, where he quotes a James Wolcott blogpost about the situation. He includes this: Oh my God! He actually said it! (Goldberg replied to this comment from Juan Cole's reader at the National Review website):

"But if you actually do get an oppurtunity [sic] to verbally castrate this weasel, ask him if he truly meant "In the weeks prior to the war to liberate Afghanistan, a good friend of mine would ask me almost every day, "Why aren't we killing people yet?" And I never had a good answer for him. Because one of the most important and vital things the United States could do after 9/11 was to kill people." '

He looks to be of military age. Ask him why his sorry a** isn't in the kill zone."]

Goldberg actually says,

"For the record, I did in fact mean it. I wrote it here. As for why my sorry a** isn't in the kill zone, lots of people think this is a searingly pertinent question. No answer I could give -- I'm 35 years old, my family couldn't afford the lost income, I have a baby daughter, my a** is, er, sorry, are a few -- ever seem to suffice."

Goldberg helped send nearly 1500 brave Americans to their deaths and helped maim over 10,000, not to mention all the innocent Iraqi civilians he helped get killed. He helped dragoon 140,000 US troops in Iraq. And he does not have the courage of his convictions. His excuse is that he couldn't afford to take the pay cut!"

___________________________

Goldberg must feel like a real ass after all this, even if his overblown ego would never allow him to admit it.

The Worship of the Market God

The Worship of the
Market God
How we lose spirit, moral value, tradition, and democracy

Reading Nick Lewis' fantastic blog, I came across an article I could not resist reading in its entirety - even on a sunny Saturday afternoon when the outdoor sky was beckoning. It's called The Market as God, written for The Atlantic in 1999. It's theme is timeless, and deals with a strange theological crossover discussion. It speaks of "the religion of The Market" in contrast and comparison to the traditional religions. One of the most interesting comments made by the author, Harvey Cox, makes an all-important distinction between what I see as the differences between the view of Conservatives and Left-leaning people:

"..for all the religions of the world, however they may differ from one another, the religion of The Market has become the most formidable rival, the more so because it is rarely recognized as a religion. The traditional religions and the religion of the global market, as we have seen, hold radically different views of nature. In Christianity and Judaism, for example, "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all that dwell therein." The Creator appoints human beings as stewards and gardeners *(see UPDATE below)* but, as it were, retains title to the earth. Other faiths have similar ideas. In The Market religion, however, human beings, more particularly those with money, own anything they buy and -within certain limits- can dispose of anything as they choose."

I would venture to say that Conservatives, for all their talk about their adherence to God's principles in a traditionally religious sense, are worshipping the gods of The Market before their traditional Gods. (Isn't that a major breach of some Commandment? Yes, I think it is).

In some ways, The Market religion represents values which directly oppose traditionally religious principles.

."In Catholic theology, through what is called "transubstantiation," ordinary bread and wine become vehicles of the holy. In the mass of The Market a reverse process occurs. Things that have been held sacred transmute into interchangeable items for sale."

Sounds incredibly shallow in spirit, doesn't it?

Enter philosophy and economist-theologians who justify The Market's ways to men:

".."process theology," a relatively contemporary trend influenced by the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. In this school although God wills to possess the classic attributes, He does not yet possess them in full, but is definitely moving in that direction. This conjecture is of immense help to theologians for obvious reasons. It answers the bothersome puzzle of theodicy: why a lot of bad things happen that an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God-especially a benevolent one-would not countenance. Process theology also seems to offer considerable comfort to the theologians of The Market. It helps to explain the dislocation, pain, and disorientation that are the result of transitions from economic heterodoxy to free markets."

Jude's Note: Whitehead believed that without God, the cosmic process would not be an orderly, creative process, but only a chaos. Therefore, Cox is telling you that the worshippers of Wall Street are comforted by thinking they are following a "divinely-created" order by their political gods.

Harvey Cox finds at least one major contradiction between the religion of The Market and the traditional religions. It's a contradiction that seems to be insurmountable. He says:

"All of the traditional religions teach that human beings are finite creatures and that there are limits to any earthly enterprise. A Japanese Zen master once said to his disciples as he was dying, "I have learned only one thing in life: how much is enough." He would find no niche in the chapel of The Market, for whom the First Commandment is "There is never enough." Like the proverbial shark that stops moving, The Market that stops expanding dies. That could happen. If it does, then Nietzsche will have been right after all. He will just have had the wrong God in mind."

I asked myself a couple of questions, which were inspired by this article.

What is the value of a human life in the theology of The Market? I worked in the liability insurance industry for many years and, often, I had to calculate the value of a human life. It sounds cold, but it's done every day in The Market. Life is not sacred there. It is simply calculated. If everything is for sale under the rule of The Market, I imagine that nothing can truly be 'sacred' except the monetary units against which we measure life. There's no time for emotion or spiritual venture. At the office, there are only a few things: a calculator, a set of statistics, and bargaining skills, which are required to measure the worth of one human being's entire life.

How do we know The Market's will? Cox says the diviners and seers of The Market's moods are the "high priests of its mysteries". These "high priests" are Wall Street and all who work for its thriving survival. "The Market may work in mysterious ways, "hid from our eyes," but ultimately it knows best."

Because our government so closely relies upon The Market (especially the GOP, but Democrats are also worshippers), much of their work is "hidden from our eyes". They become part of the mystery in a religion of greed. This is Constitutionally anithetical to the right of the American people to an open government and a civic democracy.

In the religion of The Market, the parishioners are lifeless and spiritless. They're easily dissociated with tradition and their extended family in pursuit of the monetary unit that rules over the course of their lives. They are no more than little Red and Blue players on a Checkers board.

When did we sign away our souls in America? Did anyone record the moment when that happened? Did we get a good deal?

Some think Heaven will be their great reward after a devoted life of Market-worship, but that's another religion altogether.

______________________

* UPDATE- I give credit where credit is due. In today's Washington Post, we see that some Christians are speaking out for their religious duty of stewardship of the Earth. Could this be a healthy beginning?

"We affirm that God-given dominion is a sacred responsibility to steward the earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part," said the statement, which has been distributed to 50,000 member churches. "Because clean air, pure water, and adequate resources are crucial to public health and civic order, government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation."

Signatories included highly visible, opinion-swaying evangelical leaders such as Haggard, James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Some of the signatories are to meet in March in Washington to develop a position on global warming, which could place them at odds with the policies of the Bush administration.."

Lies are spread too easily by media

Lies are spread too easily by media

When I went to the Google News headlines page, this headline was the top (World) story:

"Rice says Europe ready to move beyond difference with U-S"

I went to the article,and found that, for all the hype in the headline, the article was a big "nothing".

This is how Americans get fooled into thinking all is well, when in reality,they are being given bad information.

The article with the 'major-headline' (if you can even call it an article) says:

Rice says she's hearing "a desire to move on to the next chapter."

Relations were strained over the war -- partly because of comments from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He referred to France and Germany -- which opposed the war -- as "old Europe."

What an incomplete piece of shite. An almost total absence of factual investigation. And it's a "top story"...a "big headline".

After reading it, I thought about how Condoleeza Rice has lied through the gap in her teeth about the reasons we went to Iraq. I thought about how she scared Americans about the threat of mushroom clouds coming at Saddam's willing and capable hands (another lie).

I thought about how Condoleeza Rice has betrayed America.

I thought about how she lied for President Bush, who has betrayed America's trust.

I wondered, why the hell would Europeans trust the America that is governed by the Bush administration when most of America no longer trusts them?

We tend to forget that our "national interest" is truly interdependent. The Iraq war has severely damaged our own national interest because a Constitutionally sacred trust has been broken by the Bush administration.

You really have to think about what you're being fed by the media these days. I wonder if they know they are perpetuating lies, or if they are simply in need of far better journalistic training and guidance?

The Emperor's New Hump

The Emperor's New Hump


The New York Times killed a story that could have changed the election—because it could have changed the election. LINK

Following Ted Kennedy's Advice, US Withdrawing 15K Troops from Iraq

Following Ted Kennedy's Advice, US Withdrawing 15K Troops from Iraq


CNN

Right wingnuts can say whatever negative garbage they would like to say about Senator Ted Kennedy. He was right. And 15,000 troops will soon be coming home.

The United States is to pull 15,000 troops out of Iraq, signalling the launch of a new, post-election phase.

Last week, on the FOX News Sunday show, I heard Brit Hume say that Ted Kennedy "would have to be out of his mind" to suggest such a withdrawl so soon. It looks like Brit Hume's hair dye was getting to his brain and affecting his judgement again.

I'm A Hunter Soul

You Are a Hunter Soul

You are driven and ambitious - totally self motiviated to succeed Actively working to acheive what you want, you are skillful in many areas. You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding. You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force. An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people. You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor. People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all. You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone. Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul What Kind of Soul Are You?

Simon Rosenberg, Out of DNC Race, Backs Howard Dean

Howard (with Judy)

Simon Rosenberg, Out of DNC Race, Backs Howard Dean

Activist Simon Rosenberg abandoned his bid for Democratic National Committee chairman on Friday and backed front-runner Howard Dean, moving the former presidential candidate closer to capturing the party title.

This means that Howard Dean is now likely to win the DNC Chair.

YES!

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

* UPDATE: Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico said yesterday that he is supporting Dean for the chairmanship. "The race is essentially over," said Richardson, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. "He's won fair and square." LINK

U.S. Complicit in Oil For Food Scandal

"This was a bit of a special arrangement here," former U.N. Ambassador John Negroponte explained in an April Senate hearing, to avoid "unnecessarily and unfairly penalizing the people of Jordan [and other countries] from the negative economic consequences of sanctions on Iraq."


U.S. Complicit in Oil For Food Scandal
Moral Perversion and Hyposcrisy Galore

I'd like to know why anyone would be surprised to read this headline.

While the "oh-so-moral" Senator Norm Coleman (who can smile with even more pretty fakery nowadays) publically tries to beat the credibility crap out of Kofi Annan, the newly-appointed ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, who was the U.N. ambassador during the Oil-For-food scandal, looked the other way while Jordan and Turkey were granted embargo-breaking oil sales.

I love the way we reward our own scandalous crooks by handing them ambassadorships to countries we choose to occupy, while at the same time we attempt to deligitimize the U.N. for something in which we willingly and knowingly participated.

It's morally perverted.

There are many in the Republican party today (and I'm not saying all of them, but many, especially within in the Bush administration) who are dangerous hypocrites and moral perverts.

Dem Senators Who Voted "Yes" For Gonzales

Dem Senators Who Voted "Yes" For Gonzales

Here are your Democratic senators who voted 'yes' to the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales:

(1) Senator Ken Salazar (Colorado).
(2) Senator Joseph Lieberman (Conn.).
(3) Senator Ben Nelson (Neb.).
(4) Senator Mary Landrieu (La.)
(5) Senator Pryor (Ark).
(6) Senator Bill Nelson (Fla.)

I thought you'd like to know which of your Senators compromised on their party's long-held values of respect for the Rule of Law and Human Rights, when political circumstances were such that they never even had to compromise. If they could have voted for this supporter of torture, they would more than likely sell you out in the blink of an eye.