Summer Cold

Summer Cold
A Blogstream of Cool Consciousness

I was feeling so trusting
Gave it all right down to the bone
But she did me wrong
On a summer night, on a summer night
On a summer night, on a summer night
A cold chill, a cold chill, a cold chill, cold chill

- Stevie Wonder

_______________

Aaah - summer romance gone cold. What could be sadder? I get goosebumps just thinking about the ice-olation.

Anton has chosen "Summer Cold" as the carnival theme for this week's Tar Heel Tavern. I wasn't sure what to say, as I don't want to even think about the possibility of getting summer sneezes and wheezes, so I thought I would simply ruminate on cold summer/summer cold.

Would you like a Chinese recipe for preventing a summer cold?

- Herba Agastachis (5 g)
- Herba Eupatorii (5 g)
- Herba Menthae (3 g);
prepared as decoction for drinking...
suitable for prevention of common cold in summer.

Movie Break: The Cold Summer of 1953

In the arctic summer, the dark-colored ground absorbs energy from the sun, so plants grow close to the warm ground rather than towering high above ground. Often, I feel like the arctic plants, obtaining shelter from life's harsh elements by doing my best to keeping myself grounded. Ear to the ground. Feet on the ground.


Other times, I feel like flying.



Do you sometimes dream about the cold in the middle of the summer?
When there's more than enough heat to be had for the asking, why is it that we yearn for something else?
Are we never satisfied?





Have you ever felt gusts of cold air on a still and warm August day and think it might be a ghost?

What becomes of the ghosts of summers that never came? Mount Tambora, which is on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, erupted on April 5, 1815. It resulted in an extremely cold spring and summer in 1816, which became known as the 'year without a summer.'



All insects are cold-blooded Even on an arctic summer day, the chill in the air can make it difficult for them to move, let alone fly. Billions of mosquitoes, midges, gnats, crane flies, and hover flies warm up by basking in the sun often in the middle of a flower like the arctic dryad or arctic poppy.

Feeling under the summer weather? Remember that Chinese elixir to ward off illness.

Are spirits chilling your summer hallways? Let them pass through you - you deserve a break from the heat.

Healing a summer romance-gone-wrong? Dream about making yourself small enough to fit into the warm refuge of the poppy's embrace.

May your summer be warm - but not exceedingly so.

I'll let Stevie take you out....

_______________

It was a cold chill
"Like standing in the deep freeze
A cold chill
Like when snow's above your knees
Cold chill
Like sitting at the north pole
A cold chill
Wearing not one stitch of clothes
Cold chill
Like a winter Chicago night
A cold chill
Twenty ice cubes down your back for spite
Cold chill
Stranded in sub-zero degrees
A cold chill
Layed out on the arctic sea
Cold chill
When your fingers get frost bite
A cold chill
Buried beneath ten feet of ice
Cold chill
Baby, that ain't so nice
A cold chill......"

Mocking the Memo? I'm not laughing. You?

Mocking the Memo? I'm not laughing. You?

The White House Press Secretary Scott McLellan is mocking the 'Downing Street Memo,' as Congressman Conyers calls for an inquiry.



President Bush also mocked the search for WMD as young men and women fought and died for what is shaping up to be an apparent deliberate misleading of Congress and the American people.

Washington Post writer Dana Milbank mocked the memo, too. John Conyers wasn't laughing.

I'm not laughing.

Are you laughing?


*The real question of the day is: WHO will be the first Republican to call for a Congressional Investigation into the Downing Street documents?

Today's Downing Street Memo Hearing

"Members of Congress -- whether they are Democrats or Republicans -- should do the right thing. They have a Constitutional duty to investigate the facts surrounding the Downing Street Memo. They didn't ask my son if he was a Democrat or Republican when he joined the military. These are life and death questions and should be treated that way."

- Cindy Sheehan, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace; mother of Casey Sheehan, who died in Iraq

What Happened At The Downing Street Memo Hearing?

Every Congressman and Congresswoman who spoke at John Conyers' hearing on the Downing Street Memo commented on how sad it was to have to meet in a basement room at the U.S. Capitol that was about the size of "two freight elevators." Every Representative who spoke commented upon their disgust at the Republicans in Congress who have abrogated their sworn duty to the American people by downplaying this information and failing to ask for an inquiry into serious questions posed by the Downing Street memo's public release.


Joseph Wilson

Joseph Wilson was the first witness to speak at the hearing. He stated firmly that he has not worked for America as a Republican or a Democrat. He clarified that he has only worked for America. Wilson believes that, if the information he provided about Niger and those infamous aluminum tubes was ignored because it did not fit certain Bush administration preconceptions about Iraq, then a legitimate argument can be made that we went to war under false pretenses.

He spoke of many things I have posted here at my personal blog over the past two years. (I've written a lot about Joe Wilson):
- What He Didn't Find in Africa,
- The treasonous act against Wilson's family
- Dick Cheney's curious denial of knowledge of Joe Wilson
- The "burning" of Valerie Plame
- The sordid intelligence leaks
- Former CIA agent Larry Johnson's anger at the outing of Valerie Plame
- American Prospect coverage
- Why I continued to believe Joe Wilson
- Even while certain people tried to discredit him,
- Especially the blind partisan Jonah Goldberg
- I'd heard it all, and STILL believed Joe Wilson
- Joe wrote a column for the LA Times in summer, 2004.

Wilson was discouraged after seeing the most recent WaPo-opinion piece (Howard Kurtz?), which made it sound as if many journalists in the mainstream press did not see this new memo as a big deal or a smoking gun - with so many journalists acting as if they 'knew it all along' and that this is no "smoking gun".
(* so why the heck didn't they REPORT it to the American people?).
He reminded the panel that James Baker wouldn't have written a column when he did, just after 2002, and Brent Scowcroft and Wilson himself wouldn't have written opinion pieces in newspapers if they didn't feel the cards had already been dealt well before the American people were misled into war. Wilson said that Gen. Anthony Zinni may not have participated in the debate at the time he did in 2002, had he not known that a decision had already been made to go to war.


Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, a soldier who died in the Iraq war, was next to speak about the effect which the Downing Street Memo has had on her family. The leak of the Downing Street memo confirmed what she's suspected all along - that intelligence was cherry-picked and lies were told to take our nation to a war that was unnecessary. Ms. Sheehan quoted Mickey Herskowitz, who, in 1999, was hired to ghostwrite a campaign autobiography for George W. Bush, an assignment that was later withdrawn.
*Herskowitz later spoke about Bush for an article by journalist Russ Baker:

“He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999... It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency.”

Ms. Sheehan said that it looks like George W. Bush was ready to go to an avoidable war, well before he became president - lying to Congress is a serious offense - over 1700 brave Anericans (including her son) have died while only trying to do their duty. They are coming home in coffins that our leaders won't let us see. Ms. Sheehan said she wouldn't say any cuss words at the hearing, because she wanted to give her complete respect to the panel, but if anyone has a right to cuss, it is the mother of a soldier who died in a war in which a President had lied to citizens and troops in order to obtain their trust and support.


Ray McGovern

Former CIA official, Ray McGovern, was next to speak. McGovern has made serious accusations about the Bush administration in connection with the planning of the war in Iraq. McGovern served as a CIA analyst for 30 years. From 1981 to 1985, he conducted daily briefings for Ronald Reagan's vice president, George Bush,(father of the incumbent president.)
McGovern began by talking in terms of what he called "AOL" -the Anatomy of a Lie. On August 26, 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney gave a major speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and he told them:

"...we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Among other sources, we've gotten this from the firsthand testimony of defectors -- including Saddam's own son-in-law, who was subsequently murdered at Saddam's direction. Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon."

McGovern makes a very strong accusation, saying that Dick Cheney lied about Saddam's son-in-law in that VFW speech. McGovern quoted page 13 of his own debriefing report which said that Saddam's son'in'law confirmed that all WMD were destroyed in July of 1991, at his order, to prevent the UN inspectors from finding them after the first Gulf war. A whistleblower had leaked this debriefing to Newsweek magazine as the Bush administration's drumbeat for war got louder. The article about it appeared in Newsweek on February 24, 2003, weeks before the war began. The story never got much play because the timid media supressed the story. McGovern said that a "supine press" eager to accept official explanations contributed to the facilitation of this war.

McGovern talked about VP Cheney's personal visits to CIA. He said not only were they "unusual", they were unprecedented. McGovern said that he believed 'the best of the CIA' is gone from the department now. In the old days, you never would have seen CIA acquiesce to fixing the facts around the Executive's policy whims. Yet, when Cheney went to CIA and told them he wanted certain intelligence to take priority to fit the case for war, too many CIA officials became yes-men. In McGovern's time, he said most of the CIA would have walked out if they'd been presented with such a request.


John Bonifaz

John Bonifaz is the founder and general counsel for the National Voting Rights Institute. He used to work with the Center for Responsive Politics. His writings have been published in both the Yale Law and Policy Review as well as the Columbia Law Review. Bonifaz is also the Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.

Bonifaz said that, if the documents were proven to be true, the president may have violated a federal law against misleading Congress, and his actions would be grounds for impeachment.

Quoting Bonifaz:

"If the evidence revealed by the Downing Street minutes is true, then the President's submission of his March 18, 2003 letter to the United States Congress would violate federal criminal law, including the Federal Anti-Conspiracy Statute which makes it a felony, (quote), “to commit any offense against the United States or to defraud the United States or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose,” and the False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.

The United States House of Representatives has a constitutional duty to investigate fully and comprehensively the evidence revealed by the Downing Street minutes and other related evidence and to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach George W. Bush, the President of the United States. A resolution of inquiry is the appropriate first step in launching this investigation.

The Iraq war has led to the deaths of more than 1,700 United States soldiers, and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Thousands more have been permanently and severely injured on both sides. More than two years after the invasion, Iraq remains unstable and its future unclear. The war has already cost the American people tens of billions of taxpayer dollars at the expense of basic human needs here at home. More than 135,000 United States soldiers remain in Iraq without any stated exit plan. If the President has committed high crimes in connection with this war, he must be held accountable. The United States Constitution demands no less."

Read Bonifaz' statement here

More References on Downing Street Hearings (FYI)

Ray McGovern: The Secret's Out - Now What?

PBS Online News Hour Special: War Memos

Video: Why The Downing Street Memo Matters - (4.5 mins long)

Downing Street and Beyond: Hearing Builds Momentum for Full Investigation (Democracy Now)

The Downing Street Memos and the Revenge of the Bloggers

War on Iraq: "Go Find Me A Way To Do This"

See the list of 123 House Reps who have signed on to the letter calling on President Bush to answer new questions about the Downing Street documents.

Do a Google Search on Downing Street Memo

_________________


Last Note: John Conyers, the Democratic congressman who drafted a letter to President Bush, has now written to the UK's former MI6 chief Dearlove, asking him to say whether or not it was accurate that he believed the intelligence was being “fixed” around the policy. He also asked precisely when Bush and Blair had agreed to invade Iraq and whether it is true they agreed to “manufacture” the UN ultimatum in order to justify the war.


*this piece is also appearing at The Rational Liberal/Syracuse.com

A Damning Statement and A History Lesson

A Damning Statement and A History Lesson

To me, the quote below is the most "telling" statement in the UK Cabinet Office Paper titled: "Conditions for Military Action." (Which showed that the U.S. had no post-war plan). Who knows if there may have been something even more "telling?" The paper, produced by the Cabinet Office on July 21, 2002, is incomplete because the last page is missing.

17. In the absence of UN authorisation, there will be problems in securing the support of NATO and EU partners. Australia would be likely to participate on the same basis as the UK. France might be prepared to take part if she saw military action as inevitable. Russia and China, seeking to improve their US relations, might set aside their misgivings if sufficient attention were paid to their legal and economic concerns. Probably the best we could expect from the region would be neutrality. The US is likely to restrain Israel from taking part in military action. In practice, much of the international community would find it difficult to stand in the way of the determined course of the US hegemon. However, the greater the international support, the greater the prospects of success.

So, there you have it - Australia and the UK owe the US; France might go along if she feels that she has no other choice; Russia and China might be "bought" for their cooperation; the U.S. is bound and determined; the writing's on the wall. Amen.

Meanwhile, at the same time in history, the Bush administration was telling America nothing about its determination to go to war with Iraq. Here's a good old-fashioned HISTORY LESSON for all of you (from Bob Woodward, LINK at CBS):

“And there's this low boil on Iraq until the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21, 2001. This is 72 days after 9/11. This is part of this secret history. President Bush, after a National Security Council meeting, takes Don Rumsfeld aside, collars him physically, and takes him into a little cubbyhole room and closes the door and says, ‘What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq? What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret.’"

Woodward says immediately after that, Rumsfeld told Gen. Tommy Franks to develop a war plan to invade Iraq and remove Saddam - and that Rumsfeld gave Franks a blank check.

”Rumsfeld and Franks work out a deal essentially where Franks can spend any money he needs. And so he starts building runways and pipelines and doing all the preparations in Kuwait, specifically to make war possible,” says Woodward.

“Gets to a point where in July, the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. …Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this."

July, 2002 - the same time that the secret UK Memo was written.

Now, examine all the statements that the Bush administration threw at you (long after they'd made up their minds).

America - you've been punk'd.

John Conyers' Hearing on the Downing Street Memo

"It's official: The Downing Street memos, a snooty New York Times "News Analysis" informs us, "are not the Dead Sea Scrolls."

- So begins Greg Palast, in an online testimonial re: The Downing Street Memo Hearing in D.C. today

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

John Conyers' Hearing on the Downing Street Memo

Dem Bloggers has a videoblog interview with Congressman Conyers available in WMV at their site today. They will be providing a quicktime version, a high quality version, and an mp3 of this interview later this evening.

You can watch the hearing on CSPAN3 Live today - currently scheduled to air at 2:30 pm.

Listed speakers:
Conyers, John Jr., U.S. Representative, D-MI
Bonifaz, John C., Founder, National Voting Rights Institute
Wilson, Joseph, Deputy Chief of Mission (1988-91), Iraq
McGovern, Ray, Member, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Sheehan, Cindy, Mother



From the Pacifica.org website:

The John Conyers' Hearing on the 'Downing Street memo' has changed the start and end time. The new time is from 2 PM to 6 PM EST.

If you are an online listener, you can hear the live streaming audio at Pacifica.org.

Confirmed guests for the Pacifica special broadcast include:

- Congressman John Conyers (Chair of the Hearing)
- Ray McGovern (CIA analyst, witness for Hearing),
- George Galloway, Member of Parliament/United Kingdom,
- Frances Boyle, University of Illinois Law Professor who has drawn up Impeachment papers, and more.

Initially prevented from holding the Hearing on Capitol Hill by the Republicans, Conyers was to hold it at the Democratic National Committee Building in Washington, but now reports indicate the Hearing may in fact happen on Capitol Hill.

tip of the hat to Common Ills

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

Palast Credits the Bloggers

"Let me conclude with a comment about those pesky "blogs" that so bother the New York Times. We should stand and offer a moment of quiet gratitude to the electronic swarm of gadfly commentators who make it so much harder for the US media to ignore news not officially blessed. Yes, Judith Miller's breathless reports for The Times that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction may have maintained "access" for the mainstream press to its diet of White House propaganda, but the blogs insure that, whatever nonsense the US press is biting on, the public need not swallow."

- Greg Palast

* * See Harry Shearer's smackdown of mainstream journalists who've created revisionist versions of the Iraq story in the name of self-preservation.

David Yepsen on John Edwards

David Yepsen on John Edwards
Yepsen Calls for Less Conviction, More Compromise with Partisans

In the DesMoines(Iowa) Register, David Yepsen asks:

"Can [John Edwards] stand up to Democratic constituency groups and tell them things they may not want to hear about fighting poverty while still courting them in another bid for the White House?"

Within this question lies an imaginary gauntlet, set down by Mr. Yepsen himself, that seems quite unnecessary at a time when Democrats are striving to find a way to unite and attract new interest in the party.

Curiously, Yepsen flatly accuses John Edwards of "pandering" to the Iowa Coalition for Housing and the Homeless in Des Moines on Tuesday - and provides no basis for proving his strong opinion. He forwards a notion that he has little faith in John Edwards' sincerity. Yepsen says that, if Edwards "just panders" to the democratic constituency, "we can dismiss his center's work as just another effort to keep some politician in the limelight." Yepsen fails to mention that Edwards was a volunteer with Urban Ministries in Raleigh, NC long before he entered political life.

Yepsen seemingly places himself in a universe where, in order to inspire people to fight poverty, you have to remain ideologically neutral. Has he forgotten the past four years and the policies of the current GOP? Has he neglected to observe some of the most blatant power-grabs, by the majority party in Congress, in America's history? What kind of "fresh thinking" does he imagine the American people are looking for, when it comes to fighting poverty? Does he imagine the highly partisan Bush supporters will say to themselves "Hey - I think John Edwards is right - let's forget our blind support for all things GOP and fight poverty?"

I think Mr. Yepsen is calling for something quite unrealistic, while he seems to be creating a negative view of John Edwards by accusing him of simply being what he is - a Democrat and a politician with strong conviction.

If it's only a watered-down non-ideological call to arms against poverty that will please Mr. Yepsen, all I can say is that I'm awfully glad it's John Edwards who's heading up the Poverty Center rather than Mr. Yepsen, who would kill any inspiration I might have for joining the cause.

Notable Quotes: Hillary, Bush, the Draft

Notable Quotes:
Hillary, Bush, the Draft

Hillary:

Robert Kuttner reports on Hillary Clinton's view of being a political lightning rod:

"She has told associates .. that being a polarizer can actually be a plus, as George W. Bush has demonstrated: It doesn't matter if you rally the other side's base as long as you rally your own base plus enough moderates."
Link

Bush:

In a column where he lays out a realistic set of goals which address the genuine challenges that confront America, Kuttner bemoans the fairy-bubble from which he believes George W. Bush is leading the nation. He says:

"In a decade, historians will ponder how the American people could possibly have reelected a president who lives in a fantasy world and who is doing such damage to the real world."
Link

The Draft:

Joan Vennochi explains how, for some American mothers, while it's easier to say 'don't join the Army,' it's harder to say 'don't serve your country.'

"The numbers tell a story about a war that is growing more unpopular with the country, especially with parents whose flesh and blood the Pentagon covets. If the US military presence in Iraq continues at its current level and enough citizens do not volunteer for military service, a draft seems inevitable."

Vennochi, in a cautious way, tells us readers that it's natural for a mother to say "not my son" and that the current war in Iraq causes the volume of "not my son" to be turned up inside a mother's head. (Full blast as far as I'm concerned). She speaks of hearing a father's story about the death of his son - who was a soldier in Iraq:

"Listening to that father mourn, I also thought: not my son. It is a typical baby boomer reaction, in my case, underscored by the belief that this current war does not justify the sacrifice of any son or daughter of America."
Link

Media Defensive On Downing Street Coverage

Media Defensive On Downing Street Coverage

Mark Follman (salon.com) writes about the rebound of the Downing Street Memo, now that the mainstream press realizes the story is not going to be allowed die while it's in the hands of the ever-tenacious citizen's media. Members of Congress are beginning to step over mainstream media to reach out to citizen bloggers - offering interviews, tips, and information they once offered exclusively to the mainstream journalists.

I appreciate Follman's critique of statement made by Howard Kurtz about the quality of the media's coverage during the lead-up period to the Iraq war.

Kurtz said:

"The press performance in covering this tightly disciplined administration has been far from perfect, especially on Iraq. But it's worth remembering that during the Clinton years, it was conservatives who saw the media as being embarrassingly soft on the White House."

Follet commented:

Whether or not that was the case -- the press was plenty vigorous in its pursuit of Whitewater and Monica -- the stakes are an awful lot higher now.

- Think back to the time of Clinton's friendly fellatio, and then bring yourself back to 2005.
- Understand the consequences of Bush misleading an entire nation into a war of option - along with a post-war which was not adequately planned, and in fact, has proven to be a nightmare.
- Contrast the proportionate amount of in-depth media coverage the respective stories received.
- Cry for a loss of solemn responsibility - which is overruled by ratings-wars and advertising dollars - in the mainstream media.
- Pray for a whistleblower.


UPDATES:

Robert Parry Commentary
-LSMSM (The Lying Mainstrean Media)
- Mocking the Downing Street Memo

Iddybud Debuts On CNN's "Inside the Blogs"

Iddybud Debuts On CNN's "Inside the Blogs"

I've been spending a lot of time at my parents' home lately. My mother is going through chemotherapy and she needs a lot of help with routine chores which she is far too weak to do herself. I was taking a break to watch CNN's Inside Politics this afternoon, (I try to watch every day), and when the "Inside the Blogs" segment came on, I thought I saw a familiar blog page on one of Abbi Tatton's computer screens.

It was my own.

The transcript calls me "ittybird", but I heard Abbi, and she clearly said "Iddybud."

ABBI TATTON, CNN BLOG REPORTER: And so, of course, Randy Cunningham -- we said he has made a statement saying that he's denied any wrongdoing. And that's over here Ittybird.Blogspot.com (ph) with a picture of the Congressman.

In an interview last week, they point out he said, "My whole life I've lived above board. I've never even smoked a marijuana cigarette." Well, there you go, is the point they make on that one.

I hope Abbi will pay me future visits. She and Jacki Schechner are always welcome here at Iddybud.

New Blog: 'Now, That's Progress'

New Blog: 'Now, That's Progress'
The Progressive Depot has a brand new blog of its own. It's called "Now, That's Progress." The blog's introductory declaration can be read by going HERE.

Thomas Friedman Offends Many With Terrible Misjudgement

Thomas Friedman Offends Many With Terrible Misjudgement

Thomas Friedman is making some terrible judgements lately, and the most unfair judgement I've seen in recent days is his assertion that

(quote) "Liberals don’t want to talk about Iraq because, with a few exceptions, they thought the war was wrong and deep down don’t want the Bush team to succeed. As a result, Iraq is drifting sideways and the whole burden is being carried by our military."

I'd remind Mr. Friedman that not only have people like myself TALKED about the Iraq war, we have been SCREAMING about the Iraq war from the lead-up until the present.

How does Mr. Friedman come to the twisted conclusion that, by our pointing out the catastrophic blunders which the Bush administration has made, it is resulting in the military failure itself? BALDERDASH!

I would remind Mr. Friedman of the not-so-liberal General Anthony Zinni's list of Ten Mistakes made by the Bush administration.

I would also remind Mr. Friedman that he was taken in by the administration himself, and I believe it's partly because he is an opitimist and wants to see success in the region. That said, Mr. Friedman is not being intellectually honest in presenting any provable form of truth in his all-too general interpretation of how "liberal" Americans feel and/or think "deep-down." That's voo-doo mind-reading malarkey and, needless to say, it is not at all professional.

I'd remind Mr. Friedman that we'd all like to see peace and prosperity in the region and that we do not cheer at the news stories of dead civilians and soldiers. To the contrary, it breaks our hearts.

How dare he make such sweeping generalizations? I am deeply offended.

I'm forwarding a reference to this post to the NY Times ombudsman. You, too, can reach Brian Calame, the NYT ombudsman, here: public@nytimes.com or call (212) 556-7652.



*Mr. Friedman offended Billmon.

Tom Delay Doesn't Want a Cunningham Investigation

Tom Delay Doesn't Want a Cunningham Investigation

"Just because it appears in an article doesn’t mean a thing....Duke Cunningham is a hero."

This is a recent statement made by Tom Delay, while defending Rep. Duke Cunningham's home sale, which some suspect may have been an actual 3/4 million dollar "payback-favor" he got from a recently-enriched defense contractor named Mitchell Wade. Wade had purchased Cunningham's house for an exorbitant price with the help of a real estate businesswoman named Elizabeth Todd, who also happened to be a major political contributor to Cunningham. Wade quickly sold the house at a loss, to himself, of $700,000. At the same time, Wade was mysteriously enriched with government contracts. Did Cunningham pocket $700,000 in return for special favors to Mitchell Wade?

Tom Delay doesn't want this investigated.

Duke Cunningham's statement in his own defense:



"My whole life I've lived aboveboard. I've never even smoked a marijuana cigarette ... I feel very confident that I haven't done anything wrong."
LINK

Well, there you go. Any upstanding politician who's never smoked a "J" must not be capable of graft.

Josh Marshall is doing a fantastic investigation into this story at Talking Points Memo.

photo

photo credit: BBC news

A homeless child sleeps on a bed made from a campaign poster in the south-eastern province of Kerman, Hashem Hashemi, Iraq.

Wolfowitz Recommends Cutting Subsidies to American Farmers

Wolfowitz Recommends Cutting Subsidies to American Farmers



The only way that Paul Wolfowitz, as new head of the World Bank, can foresee helping Africa's farms to grow and compete, is to hurt the American farmers.

This will be a bitter pill to swallow for America's farmers. They will wonder why it is them who should directly suffer, in a free, democratic nation and a land of "opportunity", so that the World Bank can assist another continent.

It also puts the 'new world order' at odds with American democratic interests.

I think its worthy of debate. It cannot be denied that the interests of the World Bank do not run in true course with the business interests of the free American individual and the way that individual is served by his own nation's government.

On one hand, we see that the World Bank is offering compassion for Africa and its people by offering a constructive economic design for their future. These aren't hand-outs being given to Africa for the sheer sake of hand-outs. Instead, they are being given the economic tools to become independent and free.

Yet, many American farmers will ask: Why did it have to come at their expense?

I'm not as concerned about the American corporate agricultural system as I am worried about the family farmer who is barely getting by. We tend to forget that this nation's earliest economic backbone and social order once rested, in large part, among and within the lives of the family farmers. They work harder than most other people for meager economic return. They provide us with nourishment. I think, in a political sense, that we should give them far more economic respect.

The Change to Win Coalition - Labor Moves On

The Change to Win Coalition - Labor Moves On

There's a conundrum that has been presented by Harold Myerson in today's WaPo. Splitting up the Labor movement would fragment the force required to organize Wal-Mart or dethrone Tom DeLay in 2006. Yet, to reverse labor's decline, the SEIU contends that the movement must be restructured so it can organize again. The problem seen by SEIU is that the AFL-CIO has "encouraged" unions to work toward worthy goals, yet they have not moved to make the changes in strategy, structure, rules, and budget priorities to achieve those goals. Talk is cheap - action is necessary.

The SEIU is the the AFL-CIO's largest affiliate. They passed a resolution last weekend authorizing its top officers to take the union out of the longstanding Labor federation when they deem it appropriate. The central point of contention surrounds a loss in confidence toward incumbent AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Change or die - sometimes it has to come down to that. Let's hope the AFL-CIO finds a way to stay together by agreeing to restructure. If not, I hope that Americans will support Labor in their struggle to find a successful way to move on.

Reference:
SEIU
Unite To Win Blog

We Don't Believe Judith Miller Anymore

We Don't Believe Judith Miller Anymore

Josh Marshall reminds us of what I've said in the past. Judith Miller cannot be trusted after her writings in the lead-up to the Iraq War heavily contributed to the misleading of America. Why is she still with the NY Timid Times? We don't believe a word she says anymore.

Mary Carey says -

Mary Carey says -
"We can show Washington that we're
normal people, too....
Mary and a friend



I'm especially looking
forward to meeting Karl Rove....

....I know that he's against gay marriage, but
I think I can convince
him that a little girl-on-girl action now and then isn't so bad!"

~~~~~~~~




Now, tell me - doesn't this make the fuss over Janet's boob-exposure
and the FCC fines on Howard Stern look ridiculously hypocritical?

Who needs Howard Stern or Janet Jackson when you've got GOP fundraisers with porn stars?

A misled Christian conservative calls Bush a "liberal" for attending a fundraising dinner with a porn star.

Sorry, Conservative Christian, but that's not a liberal or political value.

It's a sex-based value - and a matter of good taste and tact (or a lack thereof).

Don't blame us progressives. Do you see me promoting porn stars anywhere on this blog? Please! Give me a break.

Throw shame at George Bush if you must, but he's surely not one of us progressives. We are principled people. He's one of you Conservative Christians - he tells you that everyday. You keep him.

While you're at it, Conservative Christian, ask some of your Southern Republican Christian heroes why they can't apologize for their pro-lynching brethren of olde?

No apology for Lynching in states where it was most prevalent - embracing porn - lying the nation into war - is this as good as this party gets?

Lynching Resolution - Who Failed to Sign On?

"I hope you won't be hanging until they apologize."
Lynching Resolution - Who Failed to Sign On?

I saw this comment today at Daily Kos, in a posting about the Lynching resolution (regarding those who failed to support the "apology" measure):

"My head is bleeding
These right wing ***$%!**s want to stop everything because a fictional cartoon character might be gay. But when confronted with an actual historical wrong, they scurry like cockroaches in the dark." -- JoeWPgh, at Daily Kos

There are 78 senators who sponsored the (S.Res.39) resolution opposing the racist lynchings of African Americans. And, the 22 apparent nonsponsors are listed below, along with links to how these Senators (IF they were in the Senate in 2002) voted on the Hate Crimes legislation ( S 625, which was defeated with a 54-43 vote in June, 2002).

In the sense of fairness, I listed the Senators who voted in support of the Hate Crimes legislation with asterisks after their names.

It is the Senators who refused to sign on to the Hate Crimes legislation and this current Lynching resolution (and their constituency, apparently) about whom I would be seriously concerned.

(According to John Aravosis, the resolution was passed via voice vote so the dissenters could avoid putting actual votes on the record.)

Kenneth Brummel has called some of the offices of these Senators and he has posted the responses he's gotten from them.

The List I've Compiled, After Research:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)(not in Senate June 2002)
Bob Bennett (R-Utah)
Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi)
John Cornyn (R-Texas) (not in Senate 2002)
Michael Crapo (R-ID)(no vote on Hate Crimes 2002)
Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming)
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire)
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) (not in Senate 2002)
Jack Reed* (D-Rhode Island)
Dick Shelby (R-Alabama)
Gordon Smith* (R-OR)
John Sununu (R-New Hampshire)(Didn't cast vote on Hate Crimes)
Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming)
George Voinovich (R-Ohio)

To their credit, Reed and Smith supported Hate Crimes Legislation in 2002.
Alexander, Cornyn, Crapo, Lisa Murkowski, and Sununu were not in the Senate or did not cast votes on the Hate Crimes bill in June 2002.


Note: I may be amending the list as I learn more about who signed on (and failed to sign on).

Michael Jackson Verdict: NOT GUILTY

Michael Jackson Verdict: NOT GUILTY!

Since it's the only thing on television right now, I thought I might as well say something about it.

"Mamma-say-mama-
sah muh-ma koo-sah-
Yee- Hee - Hee!"



Count One: Not Guilty
Count Two: Not Gulity
Count Three: Not Gulity
Count Four: Not Guilty
Count Five: Not Guilty
Count Six: Not Gulity
Count Seven: Not Guilty
Count Eight: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)
Count Nine: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)
Count Ten: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)

Define "Over the Top", You Potty Mouth (Dick)

Define "Over the Top", You Potty Mouth (Dick)

"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency [to Sen. Patrick Leahy] (Washington Post, June 25, 2004)

"I think Howard Dean's over the top..That's not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party." -- From the obscenity-spewing potty-mouth who is a heartbeat away from the presidency. (Reuters)

Timid Media Perpetuates Bush Administration Lies

Timid Media Perpetuates Bush Administration Lies

What's wrong with the mainstream media?
We've been conned by President Bush - the proof is in the Downing Street Memo.
The mainstream media gave Bush a pass in 2002 when they should have been investigating and questioning.
The mainstream media gives Bush a pass now because they failed to investigate and question.
Why should the mainstream's failure to investigate and question be allowed to perpetuate the greatest lie ever told to the American public by their President?

*inspired by Atrios and the smug and unconcerned Michael Kinsley, who is happy to shrug his shoulders in an "I already knew-that" style and tell us that he's not surprised that Bush would fix intelligence and facts to fit a desired policy. This is the same Michael Kinsley who said, back in 2003, that the debate about WMD’s existence was always really academic, and that most people had moved on even though the WMD was never found. He was weak then, and I think that's why he's weak now. I suggest, when the military draft is reinstituted (don't kid yourself, it's coming, and middle class boys (and girls) are being sent to Iraq, the tune and the public mood will change, even if Kinsley's attitude doesn't.

Downing Street/Iraq War Propaganda Updates

Downing Street Memo/Iraq War Con-Job Updates

The mainstream media cannot bury this sizzler of a story underneath their "Mean Howard Dean" and "Michael Jackson Trial" stories -- unless they wish to relinquish all claims to being 'investigative journalists' and leave it to the bloggers.

See Third Estate Sunday Review's editorial: Mainstream press, do your damn job


Raw Story is reporting that six new British documents reveal details on the case for the Iraq war quoted in the UK press but never printed raw; A longer narrative will be available later today.

-------------------------------------

The Iraq options paper (Raw Story) - Jack Straw indicates the case for war was weak; that the Iraq situation had remained unchanged; and that the United States would not have gone to war without September 11.

-------------------------------------

Raw Story: A memo from Christopher Meyer, British ambassador to the US from 1997 through February 2003, and dated in March of 2002. Strikingly, the document speaks of a "need to wrongfoot Saddam on the inspectors" and suggests British intelligence and diplomacy draws a great deal on articles written by Sy Hersh in the New Yorker. It also describes a meeting with then-Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz.

-------------------------------------

Sunday Times Online: UK PAPER TELLS OF 2002 NEED FOR WAR 'EXCUSE'- Read the secret doc: Make conditions for the Iraq war. The document said the only way the allies could justify military action was to place Saddam Hussein in a position where he ignored or rejected a United Nations ultimatum ordering him to co-operate with the weapons inspectors.

********

Look at David Sanger bending over backwards to give the White House a free pass on this - with the God-awful misleading headline: "Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made." The NY Times should be ashamed - and sharply criticized! The content in the memo directly contradicts The NY Times' "fuzzy" headline.

********

-------------------------------------

Raw Story: Condoleeza Rice committed to regime change in early 2002

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Raw Story: Iraq: The British legal background


-------------------------------------

The FULL TEXT of the UK 'Iraq Options Paper'

A refusal [by Iraq] to admit UN inspectors, or their admission and subsequent likely frustration, which resulted in an appropriate finding by the Security Council could provide the justification for military action....sensitising the public: a media campaign to warn off the dangers that Saddam poses and to prepare public opinion both in the UK and abroad....The US should be encouraged to consult widely on its plans..."

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Downing Street Memo Argument Debunker

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Google

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Lamest Commentary of the Day:
Michael Kinsley

- (Mike, don’t feel bad that bloggers beat you to the biggest story of the decade) (BTC News)

Most Incredibly Misleading Headline:
"Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made."


Today's Quotes:

Eric Margolis - "Anyone who still believes all the Anglo-American propaganda about the Iraq invasion is now faced by deep disillusionment."

Juan Cole:

"The seeping of blogistan into the pages of the Times of London with regard to its own scoops seems to me a bellwether of the kinds of changes that are being produced in our information environment by the blogging phenomenon. The gatekeepers at the New York Times and the Washington Post can no longer decide whether a leak is a story or a non-story. The public decides what a story is."

Ruth Conniff (political editor of The Progressive): "Making sure that people see the facts, and hammering home the point that the lies we were told led us to the mess we're in now, has got to be part of the solution."

Ignore the Power of TV at Your Political Peril

Ignore the Power of TV at Your Political Peril

Josh Shear has a post about the power of television. He wonders why liberals cannot seem to "wake up and properly utilize the most used medium in the country"

Quotes:

"....we need to drop our professed hatred for television, know what's on, what's effective and what people are watching, and then figure out the best way to use the medium....

....we're not going to be able to effectively utilize television if we're not attuned to what's on and how well it gets the point across."

Honey Glazed Chicken and Rice Pilaf

"Honey Glazed Chicken and Rice Pilaf"

- FOX NEWS SUNDAY, JUNE 12 - Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee kept repeating the Gitmo Sunday dinner menu for prisoners - and using it as proof we don't abuse detainees.
Uh-huh.

*I'll bet the children love Gitmo's honey glazed chicken and rice pilaf.

June 11 Tar Heel Tavern

June 11 Tar Heel Tavern
Don't miss this week's edition of the Tar Heel Tavern at "A Sort of Notebook." Waterfall has done an excellent job of showcasing THT participants' entries based upon this week's theme: "Back to Nature."

Back to Nature

Back to Nature

"O you, who covers the high places with waters,
who sets the sand as a bound to the sea and upholds all things,
the sun sings your praises; the moon gives you glory,
Every creature offers a hymn to you, his author and creator forever."

- An Eastern Orthodox prayer

About These First Four photos:
1. I took this at sunset in Sedona, Az. after returning from a hike.
2. My nieces at an apple farm in Central New York. The orchards are a popular place in upstate N.Y. in the Fall.
3.A shell on the beach in Maine. I just loved the way the sand sparkled in the sun that day.
4. The Adirondack Mountains in Autumn. It looked like a watercolor painting - and the photo is true to that which my eyes had observed that late September day near the Stillwater Resevoir.








This was taken in the Adirondack Mountains, in summertime. You can take a hike and sit on an isolated beach and meditate all day if you want. The Adirondacks are filled with these gorgeous spots.










These Four photos:
1. A cute-looking deer I came across on a hike in the Adirondack Mountains (which, in a creepy way, hissed at me immediately after I took the photo and caused me to move along rather quickly).
2. Sunset, Oswego, NY (Lake Ontario)
3. Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, N.Y.

* Legend has it that Chief Taughannock and his band of Delaware indians raided the Iroquois tribes in this area (Cayuga & Seneca), but were defeated and most of the Delawares who did survive were adopted by their captors. One of these braves fell in love with White Lily, a Cayuga maiden. One dark night the the brave and White Lily fled toward the Delaware's canoe on the shore of Cayuga Lake. Being chased by the Cayuga braves, the entire village was alerted and joined in the chase. Running through the pine forest the couple knew they would not make the crossing at the creek above the falls. Chosing death over the torture that would be inflicted on the brave per the Iroquois code, they stood on the edge of the falls, embraced, and leapt. Since it was dark, the villagers returned to the in the morning to gather the remains for burial. But when they returned, they could not find the brave and maiden. It was said that the Great Spirit was aware of the young couple's love and he opened the "door" high on the side of the ravine. When they jumped he ushered them through the secret passageway and closed the door tightly behind them.

4. My father, fishing in the ocean, Brewster, Mass, Cape Cod








The Adirondack Mountains in the Fall - You'll notice I use the Adirondacks for my photographic subject quite often. I think it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. This photo was taken at the Nature Center at Newcomb, N.Y. I literally ran into a black bear while hiking there one August evening. Newcomb is the site of a Teddy Roosevelt festival each September. Teddy Roosevelt spent many vacations as a young lad in the Adirondacks. While staying at the Tahawus Club, located in the township of Newcomb, and hunting on Mount Marcy, Guide Harrison Hall climbed Mount Marcy to inform TR that President McKinley was near death. En route from Tahawus to the North Creek train station, TR became president of the United States, upon the death of McKinley.




_



Next Two Photos, which are side by side:
1. A scene from a Shaker's settlement at Sabbathday Lake, Maine (near Poland Spring - and before you ask, the answer is "no," there is no tourist stop for any particular spring where the Poland Spring Company draws its water. I know because I went in search myself). A lovely recording of Shaker hymns was made by the Boston Camerata at Sabbathday Lake.

2. The sky - in all its glory. Taken in Sedona, Az.










Feet: There is nothing that feels better than dipping your toes into the ocean. I took this photo of Robert's feet on Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.





Oak Creek Canyon, Az

Clueless in Iraq

Clueless in Iraq

Oh - - - oh - - this is just great. Now what the hell do we do?

This sounds like a Daily Show skit..
The problem is..it's for real!

This sounds like a Daily Show skit. The problem is...it's for real!

~~~~~~~~~~

"Get down and clear your own weapon!" Cpl. William Kozlowski shouted to Zwayid in English.

Zwayid answered in Arabic. "That's my weapon," he explained, pointing to his friend.

"Corporal, you're a leader!" Kozlowski shouted back. "Take charge!"

Zwayid smiled at him. "What's he saying to me?" he whispered

~~~~~~

Seriously, I'm getting angrier by the moment. I hear tougher-talking Democrats, like Joe Biden, say that Bush's rhetoric is right but the plan is wrong. Yet, no legislator, Republican or Democrat, can come up with a realistic or convincing strategy to pull that "right" rhetoric out of Bushworld and into reality. The Military recruitment is suffering and it won't be long before our government is drafting our children into a service that serves no productive purpose because there is no plan to win.

Most disappointing is Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is pushing a draft because he believes it's the right thing to do while, at the same time, he's comparing the Iraq war to the Holocaust. What about that "disconnect?" Rangel cannot see what he's doing, which is, in effect, creating the path of least resistance for the neocons who want warm bodies to finish Iraq and invade Syria and Iran.

Look at Iraq! The rubble, the carnage, the failure. If we've made a mistake, we'd best find a plan to rectify it before we break our Military's backbone and destroy American families who lose drafted sons and daughters to a war planned by civilian idiots.

UPDATE - From the Boston Globe, Sat. June 11:

"Faced with plummeting public support for the war in Iraq, a growing number of members of Congress from both parties are reevaluating the reasons for the invasion and demanding the Bush administration produce a plan for withdrawing US troops. A bipartisan group of House members is drafting a resolution that calls on the administration to present a strategy for getting the United States out of Iraq, reflecting an increasing restlessness about the war in a chamber that 2 1/2 years ago voted overwhelmingly to support the use of force in Iraq."

Kansas.com June 12 - Military action won't end insurgency, growing number of U.S. officers believe

Support the Iraq war? Consider Yourself Morally Responsible

Fernando Botero painting
Support the Iraq war? Consider Yourself Morally Responsible

There is a new batch of gruesome Abu Ghraib torture photos coming - and many Americans who have supported this war will be (rightfully) morally outraged. Columnist Naomi Klein reminds us, however, that the majority of Iraqi citizens do not want us to remain as an occupier in their country. Torture is part of the territory and we'd best be clear on that inescapable fact if we, as a democracy, are going to be accountable for what we allow to be done to others in our name. Using the example of the character known as 'Col. Mathieu' in the 1965 Pontecorvo film "Battle of Algiers", Klein warns us that unwanted regimes, whether domestic dictatorships or foreign occupations, rely on torture precisely because they are unwanted. In the film, 'Col. Mathieu' neither denies the abuse and torture of Algerian prisoners by French paratroopers, nor does he claim that those responsible will be punished. Comparisons are made, by Klein, to Donald Rumsfeld and the Iraq war.

U.S. troops are on Iraqi soil in open defiance of the express wishes of Iraq's population. The point Klein wishes to drive home is that there is no nice, humanitarian way to occupy any nation against the will of its people, and that those who support such an occupation don't have the right to morally separate themselves from the brutality it requires.

If you, who are outraged by any of these new photos, still find that you support this war, then you must be held morally responsible for, and accepting of, all the consequences that go along with it - in your name.

Frankly, I continue to look at the Abu Ghraib photos that have already come out, and I'm beginning to believe that only a moral dengenerate could be accepting of a war in which we must do the things we are doing to these detainees.

AP Poll: Bad Political News For President Bush

AP Poll: Bad Political News For President Bush

An all-new low water mark has been revealed under the murky surface of the President's ebbing tide of popularity. In the latest AP/Ipsos poll, only 35 percent of Americans said they think the country is headed in the right direction, while 43 percent said they approve of the job being done by Bush. Just 41 percent say they support his handling of the war.

Since winning re-election last November, President Bush has seen his poll numbers sag like Great Grandma's bosom.

Both Republican and Democratic Representatives should take note that a whopping 64 percent of Americans disapprove of the job they're doing in Congress.

Since winning re-election last November, President Bush has seen his poll numbers sag like Great Grandma's bosom. I think it's because he never convinced us that he'd even try to be the "uniter-President" he'd promised he would be. Instead, last November 4th, just after his re-election (which he won by a fraction of a majority), he went in front of a nation bitterly divided and he looked into the face of the media's cameras and swore he would cash in on his political capital.

When asked how he planned to unite America, he said he would "expect Democrats to participate in promoting his agenda" - period - requiring no change from his side of the aisle. In doing this, I believe the President ensured that no future poll would include support from those who'd voted for the Democratic ticket. The division was sealed by Bush's promise to spend his political capital and politically ignore and alienate half a nation. Last Fall was a time for President to have reached out, and the only proverbial part a Democrat could have perceived being projected by him, when all was said and done, was one big finger.

Currently, Iraq is a disaster, many of the nations who had joined our coalition have fallen away, the Military has been harmed by misuse and poor planning by the Bush administration, and with the Downing Street memo, Independent voters and even some moderate Republicans are realizing that Bush broke faith with their trust when he gave us false reasons for making the pre-emptive strike upon Iraq.

House Judiciary Democrats to hold hearings on Downing Street minutes

House Judiciary Democrats to hold hearings on Downing Street minutes
Raw Story has it.
Tip of the hat to Shakespeare's Sister.

bba
downing street memo

A Kairos Moment on Poverty

A Kairos Moment on Poverty

Last fall, I wrote about kairos - and talked about the future.

'Kairos' refers to the "timeless realm" of God, a space in time where measurable time does not apply. We pause upon the brink of the unknown; we are each a part of the same phantom corps moving about the earth. The book of history remains empty and blank out ahead of us.

Who are we, as individuals, to think we can effect those now-white pages?

We are living in a moment of time which I believe will prove itself to be a great turning point in the history of not only America, but all of mankind. In order to have this moment in history be a reflection of purpose and principle in our lives, we simply must learn to speak a different language than those who are seeking to control the political agenda today in America.

We must learn not only to avoid speaking in the tongue of right wing talking points, but to create a new language for all men and women to recognize and understand. It must be a language which would be the basis of new and inspired conversations.

The book of history awaits. We each need to give substance to our reality, but we can only do it in concert with one another. I believe the good of mankind depends upon it.

So, here is our kairos time. We're pebbles in a great sea. Our language, uttered at the right time and with the right intonation, could make all the difference.

- - Jude

Today, in Sojouners (online version), Jim Wallis has offered his own view of that same spirit-filled time - a 'kairos moment on Poverty.' He sets a fine example of speaking in a new way, as I had described, to lend substance to hope.

In a recent commencement speech to graduating students from John Carroll (Jesuit) University, Wallis said that 'faith is for changing the big things ..the things that nobody thinks can be changed...the things that others say are hopeless, where the odds are against us. That time is, indeed, the time for faith.'

Wallis believes that the massive reality of global hunger and poverty has revealed our own spiritual poverty - and that revelation is capable of bringing us together. In the light of the growing crises of global poverty, disease, and conflict, despite often deep and painful religious and political differences, we all must reach toward what is common to all of us - and we must do much more. Jim believes, with a focus on the reality of Poverty and with caring cooperation, we can find what we've been lacking as a divided people - the moral and political will to give this world some real hope for progress. In this time, we have everything else in place - the knowledge, information, technology, and resources to substantially end extreme poverty as we know it - it's all just waiting for our hearts and our common will.
You can read Jim Wallis'story and plan for implementation of some real and present opportunities to alleviate poverty here (free reg. required)

__

NOTE: Below are links to more articles on Poverty (thanks to Chris Winn at One America for the first two):

-Columnist Bob Herbert offers some interesting insight in his piece, "The Mobility Myth."

From the New York Times' recent series on class in America called "Class Matters" - this one is about America's wealthiest class. Read the statistics carefully.

- Paul Krugman writes:

"Since 1980 in particular, U.S. government policies have consistently favored the wealthy at the expense of working families - and under the current administration, that favoritism has become extreme and relentless. From tax cuts that favor the rich to bankruptcy "reform" that punishes the unlucky, almost every domestic policy seems intended to accelerate our march back to the robber baron era."

Will Pitt on Downing Street Memo:It Isn't Going Away

Will Pitt on Downing Street Memo:
It Isn't Going Away

"...Plenty of powerful people would like this document to go away, not excepting the folks in the news media, because the document provides a capstone exposure of just how flawed, biased, shabby and ultimately deadly their coverage of this issue has been. Don't doubt for a second that the scions of our journalistic realm would like the Minutes to fade, because as long as the document stands in the light, their complicity in this catastrophe is all too clear.

It isn't going away."

Half a Million Strong?

Half a Million Strong?
Congressman John Conyers has raised the goal on the DSM letter to half a million signatures, with the help of MoveOn.org. I'm predicting that they will easily be able to do that.

Nancy Pelosi Gives Credit to Bloggers For Downing Street story

Nancy Pelosi Gives Credit to Bloggers For Downing Street story

Raw Story has interviewed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and she said the following about the political blogs talking about the Downing Street memo:

"..last week we were out of session, and more people asked me about the Downing Street memo, and I said, you know what, I really haven’t seen much about it in the news, and then I realized it was on the blogs."

You see? If we hadn't talked about it, it's quite possible that no one would have. I'm grateful that Nancy, and many others, are listening.

Photo- Chapel Hill

Springtime at Chapel Hill
photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

Defend Dean: Our Hyperbolic Bloodhound

Defend Dean: Our Hyperbolic Bloodhound

Democrats who speak to the press - stop worrying about Mean Dean.

Yes - his barking head can sling saliva across a twenty-foot conference room, but he knows the scent of Republican fear....
.....and a Democrat's wallet.

He may be a hyperbolic bloodhound, but he's our hyperbolic bloodhound. Yes- his barking head can sling saliva across a twenty-foot conference room, but he knows the scent of Republican fear...and Democrat's wallet.

You haven't seen "worry" until you've eaten your own DNC Chair and millions of angry party members walk away.

Could that happen? Yes, I really think it could. Imagine the grassroots up and leaving. It would be an ugly sight.

Stand up for Dean.

Unite behind him, dammit! I'm tired of losing! (Anyone else tired of losing yet?!?)

"Dean's fellow Democrats would rather boo him than themselves." - Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe

Listen to Joan Vennochi. We have enough real problems. Dean isn't one of them.

While you're at it, stop spreading false rumors about Dean's poor fund-raising ability.

Question: Since when is being called a 'white Christian' considered to be a victimizing statement? I'd really love to know.


UPDATE:I think this was an honest, yet supportive answer:

Nancy Pelosi on Howard Dean:

"I don’t think his remarks were appropriate, but I think he’s been a great chairman. I don’t know the context he said what he said, but I think he’s been a great chairman. As I said, I travel the country constantly, and I know the enthusiasm he has engendered among the grassroots in our party. That their voice, their vote and their volunteerism will make a difference, and that they look to him and think he’s a good—people don’t understand what the chair of the Democratic National Committee does; he does things that elected officials don’t do, and sometimes he’s a little more out there on some of his statements. But again, if I made a litany about all the things they said about me, much less about Democrats in general. They’re very offended when somebody says something about them. They’re pretty glib when it comes to criticizing Democrats in general and Democrats in particular. So I wouldn’t make a whole lot of it. But I would say that it is par for the course, ‘let’s focus on that, so people don’t have to focus on the economy, the war, what they’re trying to do to Social Security’—you know the list."

Obama serves to disappoint (see Susie's post).

RudePundit is hilarious. (tip of the hat to Mathew Gross).

Oil Wars

Kenneth S. Deffeyes nominates next Thanksgiving as his World Oil Peak Day wherein "we can pause and give thanks" for the good years of abundance, and face up to the coming decline of this life-force fuel.."

Oil Wars
Let's stop kidding ourselves. Stop the 'hearts and minds' fairy tale and get real. Americans are not that stupid.

We're at war over oil.

I'd encourage anyone who wants to say, with a straight face, that it isn't true - that it isn't our primary goal -- I'd encourage them to examine the simple, basic, and honest truth.

'Hearts and minds' sound good in a stump speech, but hot competition for petroleum products is where it's at.

Where will the next oil war be?

GOP Political Viability Threatened by Downing Street Memo

GOP Political Viability Threatened by Downing Street Memo

Stirling Newberry skillfully employs history to show that no President who has faced serious impeachment in the past has returned to office, nor has any "party heir" groomed for the presidency returned to office (if the term limit was involved).

"..of the three actual votes on the floor for impeachment, Johnson, Tyler and Clinton, all three were a contest between Congress and a President over the political direction of the country. Neither Johnson nor Tyler served a second term, Clinton's Vice President failed to secure election. Nixon, who resigned before almost certainly losing a vote rounds out the list, his VP was also defeated."

The Republicans are going to have to go into hyper-defense mode over the Downing Street memo if they expect to have political viability in 2008. The sheer (serious) talk of impeachment in the mainstream media is sure to cause them substantial political damage.


BBA
Downing Street Memo

Contractors: "They Treated Us Like Insurgents!"

Contractor: "They Treated Us Like Insurgents!"

Oh, come on, now!

You know how they treat captured insurgents - in a humane way, of course.

Are these absurd whining contractors 'girlie-men' or what?!? They can't take a little dose of "humane treatment," already?

Downing Street - With Unfounded Fear, Bush Ignored Rule of Law

"Bush and Cheney must answer the allegations now posed to them formally by 89 Democratic members of Congress as to why the administration lied to the Congress and to the public, evidenced by the 2002 British meeting minutes. If the 2006 midterm elections hand the Democrats control of one branch of the Congress then they can proceed to introduce articles of impeachment."

Downing Street - With Unfounded Fear, Bush Ignored Rule of Law

David Frenkel, guest columnist for the Winchester Star, suggests that in 2002, the urgency the Bush administration felt about attacking Iraq was based upon naked fear - and that there was no legal basis for invasion of Iraq under international law. The Downing Street Memo is a key piece of evidence to show the clear path of premeditated and illegal war. Lies and dissembling were employed to justify the invasion, losing international support in the process.

Our nation, as a result, has been taken into a war that will be very hard to "win," and for which an endgame cannot be reasonably fixed without the GOP suffering significant political damage.

Speaking of "fixed", I read a strange rationalization this morning - a parsing of linguistics - possibly written to attempt to deflect the glaring truth exposed in the Downing Street memo. It seems that Kevin believes that the whole to-do about the Downing Street memo can be chalked up to "peculiar British phrasing." See Wizbang.
My Comment is HERE.

bba
downing street memo

New Tag in Technorati Town

New Tag in Technorati Town

There's a new tag in Technorati town. You can even Google it.
President 2008