SOTU Highlights Loss

SOTU Highlights Loss

Last night in his SOTU speech, President Bush reminded me of all we have lost since he has come to lead this nation.

The President said that the 911 attacks could have been stopped if the phone calls of two hijackers had been monitored under his domestic eavesdropping program. Dick Cheney had asserted the same thing previous to last night's speech. FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that The National Security Agency's secret domestic spying hasn't nabbed any Al Qaeda agents in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks! Kristen Brietweiser was made a widow when her husband Ronald was killed in New York City on 911. Ak her what she thinks about those assertions of Bush and Cheney. Read 'NSA Director Hayden--One Needle in a Growing Bush "Hay"stack of Lies' by Mrs. Breitweiser.

Kristen lost someone she loved. She wants Bush to stop deliberately and grossly misleading the American public.

Last night in the gallery, Cindy Sheehan - mother of American soldier Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq - was removed from her seat. She wasn't simply ejected, but she was arrested for wearing a t-shirt that displayed a message that was not allowed because it criticized Bush.

After booting the mother of a dead soldier who came to listen, Bush spoke a lot more about the criticisms about the Iraq war that he would not accept - all the while chiming lofty rhetoric about something called "liberty." I thought about the Bill of Rights and the many incredibly difficult issues that our Founding Fathers must have discussed in order to agree upon them. We certainly don't see a willingness in teh Executive or Legislative branch for that kind of dissent and debate today. We are losing the Founding Fathers' concept of an enlightened society.

I kept thinking about George Washington's ghost looking at Bush and tossing rotten tomatoes at him - knowing that he deliberately avoided going overseas during Viet Nam - knowing he was attempting, with all his bully might up on his podium, to squelch freedom for Americans to express dissent - knowing how he has completely (and determinedly) divided America - knowing he was hosting one mother of a brave and loyal soldier who'd died in the war on terror while ejecting and arresting a mother of an equally brave and loyal KIA soldier because she dared to express her dissent about the war on a T-shirt.

Although Mrs. Sheehan's act of civil disobedience got her a result she likely suspected and probably surprised few people, the contrast Bush showed us last night between his version of a soldier's "good mother" and a soldier's "bad mother" should be highlighted.

Why should I highlight the contrast? Because they were both soldier's mothers. Can you imagine if Bush had allowed Cindy Sheehan to stay in the gallery and introduced her, all teary-eyed, alongside the other family? If the soldiers' mothers had been allowed to publically hug one another in solidarity over the honrable young men they'd lost? It would have raised Bush up to look so generous in spirit - but no. He couldn't have any of that. He couldn't bring himself to a point where his ego (and his misleading rhetoric) wouldn't have been threatened.

Cindy lost someone she loved. She wants Bush to stop deliberately and grossly misleading the American public.

I kept wondering why Bush was wasting so much time talking about isolationism when it came to war. It was pure fiction. The Democratic leadership has never called for any isolationism! Pat Buchanan (and this fellow) is the only pundit in the mainstream that I've heard going on and on about isolationism. Bush is apparently defending his administration from the rumblings of dissent from members of his own party (as if Democratic criticism wasn't enough).

In essence, Bush has been the one who has isolated the U.S. from international progress because he insisted on unilateralism while plunging headlong into Iraq without a plan - and I'm convinced that he values war over diplomacy. The world can see his stubby little chickenhawk claw - constantly on the trigger.

I am losing something I love - American freedom and democracy. I want Bush to stop deliberately and grossly misleading the American public.

A Tribute to Coretta Scott King

A Tribute to Coretta Scott King



Coretta Scott King
4-27-1927 - 1-30-2006









On June 18, 1953, Martin Luther King Sr. married his son, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott.

The couple returned to the South to work on the civil liberties of Black Americans. By 1964, King was the mother of four children: Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice Albertine. Think about the life that Coretta Scott King lived. Listen to words about the time and place where history put Coretta. Her son Dexter Scott Kinghas written about his family:

"When my mother became pregnant with me, the family was moving to Atlanta from Montgomery, Alabama, where my father had been pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. He'd become famous or infamous there, depending on one's slant, as one of the architects of the Montgomery bus boycott. That action was spawned by Mrs. Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a city transit bus, a watershed event of the Civil Rights Movement. We moved to Atlanta after that."

Dexter Scott reminds us that his mother protected her children from some of the harsh realities and always made them feel supported and cared for.

Our home at 234 Sunset was kind of home central, the neighborhood headquarters. All the kids came by to play. My mom treated them like hers, which wasn't always reassuring for them. Coretta Scott King was a disciplinarian, took no guff from hers or any others. Froze you with a look. "Time out" was a call we made in football, not what fell from her lips in our direction. Under her eye or not, we'd play "hide-and-go-seek," as we called it, football, softball, kickball, tag, marbles in the red clay; we'd spin tops, ride homemade skateboards, "pull" friends along by pedaling bikes standing up as the friend rode on the passenger seat. We had a swing set, seesaw, and slide. I loved the slide. I loved playing on the gym set. I loved it all, really. We had a hoop too. Ours was, in these regards, a typical family home—or so I thought back then.

Dexter Scott came to a gradual awareness of the invisible lines that separated the races in the 1960s South, and he makes it apparent that even though his mother personally struggled alongside her husband to erase those lines, the hardship was never made an issue for her young children. She allowed them to be children - innocent, happy, and well-loved.

As children, we didn't know we were "Negroes," or if we did, we didn't know exactly what that meant. We didn't realize we lived in "segregation," didn't know there were better pools than the one we crowded into at the Y, or that we and our friends would be considered "have-nots" if our father wasn't the co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. We weren't aware that we could and would be turned away from public accommodations, educational institutions, or turned away from desirable living spaces by the real estate restrictive covenants. We weren't aware that we were shunned by society, murdered over mere glances, made to feel less than human. We were children, and children are more than human; we were blessed, but sooner or later we'd grow up and have to face this prison of segregation, unless Daddy won his struggle. There was this great social upheaval, this "great getting-up morning" going on that would redefine our lives and existences, and those of the people around us.

Dexter Scott has memories of how a young Senator named John F. Kennedy cared about his family and called Mrs. King when her husband had been sentenced to hard labor in a Georgia prison for taking part in a lunch-counter demonstration at Rich's department store, protesting segregated eating facilities—the only time he joined any such local demonstration in his hometown of Atlanta.:

My mother spoke with Senator Kennedy; he said he knew it must be hard, he knew she was expecting; if there was anything he could do feel free to call.

On April 4, 1968, the innocence of those children met a shattering reality. Coretta Scott King's husband was shot and killed while giving a speech on a hotel balcony. She knew that she had to be strong for her children and to continue the work of her husband.


Mrs. King has always spoken out for human rights and freedom for all people. She was involved in the opposition of the death penalty. Although Mrs. King had lost her husband and mother-in-law to gun violence, she cannot accept the judgment that their killers deserve to be executed. She believed that the death penalty continues the cycle of violence and destroys all hope for a decent society. Mrs. King said:

"As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the tacking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder."

Another of King's passions is the International Peace Movement. In 1985, she was arrested while protesting the South African Government's policy of racial segregation known as apartheid.



In 1986, Martin's birthday, January 15, became a national holiday because of her dedication to the acknowledgements of her husband's achievements.


She never let the world forget the courageous actions of Rosa Parks.










We shall not forget Coretta Scott King. We know she's marching today with her Martin in Heaven.






Sources:
African American Registry
twbookmark.com

Zogby: Tonight's SOTU - Terror or Trust?

Zogby: Tonight's SOTU - Terror or Trust?

I think John Zogby has made the best point of any writer today on tonight's upcoming SOTU speech. Simply put, Bush can either play the tired terror card or be a real statesman and tackle the issue of trust in government head-on.

"....there is a decline of trust in the federal government. The President will no doubt try to use what's left of the public trust he has from his own base and get his numbers up among his own constituency by playing the war on terrorism card. Or he could try over the next few weeks and months to tackle the overall problem of trust and polarization in the nation today.

His approach tonight in his State of the Union Address will be whether he decides to hit a bunt and make it just to first base or instead opts to go for the fences by tackling the broader distrust that is out there.

That will be the difference between a politician and a statesman."

Given all I have experienced with Bush at the helm, I strongly suspect he'll play the terror tune once again. He's worn it out harder than a teenager's Beyonce CD.

Iran and a SOTU Speech Past

Iran and a SOTU Speech Past

What do we do about Iran?

I'm thinking of a dreadful SOTU speech past....2002.

Four years ago, President Bush decided, quite literally, to demonize Iran by labeling it part of an "Axis of Evil." In all sincerity, I believe that our President is a very unwise leader. He went along, as a piece of driftwood on the tide, with a foreign policy eked out by neoconservative wonks which, in essence, pulled the rug out from those in America who'd been supporting positive progressive reform in Iran. Iranian scholars, artists and authors were blocked from visiting the United States. (Former Iranian President Khatami had proposed a "people-to-people" dialogue). Khatami had helped the United States in Afghanistan, and this was the thanks and support he got from the President of the United States.

The fledgling democratic movement in Iran was dealt a severe setback when President Ahmadinejad was elected. I firmly believe that the Bush administration's wrong-minded foreign policy led to Mr. Ahmadinejad's election. When Iranians last went to the polls, we indirectly begged for a more hardline Iranian stance towards Israel by the Bush administration's diplomatic ignorance and deliberate unwillingness.

Dragging Iran before the U.N. Security Council now isn't going to help. We have to look at this situation with reason as our base - rather than demonization and fear. Even the reformers in Iran would like a modern nuclear program with transparency and adherence to international law. Why would any modern civilization wish to be kept in the dark ages?

We should be doing everything within our diplomatic power to convince Tehran to stick by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, appoint a special human rights monitor for Iran, and give power to Iran's people by employing more NGOs and the private sector to strengthen civil society [and talk to Paul Wolfowitz about ending excessive World Bank loans to Iran that too easily lead to government corruption].

And, for Pete's (and peace's) sake, let's stop demonizing Iran and permit Iran to conduct a limited uranium enrichment program (as allowed under the nonproliferation treaty) under strict safeguards by the IAEA (provided that Tehran promises meaningful reforms, including freeing political prisoners and holding free and fair elections.)

Bush should meet face to face with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad instead of using the tactic of having his administration working with exile groups behind the scenes to chip away at his authority. And let him use Condi Rice for the diplomatic good I know she could do rather than the demonizing bad cop.

Tehran has said it will stop snap inspections of nuclear sites if its case is sent to the UN, which could impose sanctions. What good is any of this going to do for reformers in Iran?

Our current path may lead to even further erosion of positive progress in Iran. I think that's a damned shame.

For too long, leaders have used one of the best methods of uniting their people - keeping a common enemy upon which we can focus our hate. (illustrated in George Orwell's "1984"). Combine that kind of demonization with the real and present instability of the Middle East - add a heaping helping of Bush's foreign policy - and you have a recipe for disaster.

Iran, like Iraq, has been an extremely hard intelligence target. We saw what the political abuse of shaky intelligence and a lack of sincere international cooperation can get us - an unnecessary war in Iraq which has increased the recruitment of terrorists and taken the lives of over two thousand American troops and untold numbers of Iraqi civilians.

Tehran has always said it has the right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - which it has signed - to research nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. We neeed to talk about that - bring them into the light. Eliminate the chances that they will start WMD programs. That will take hard the work of intelligent diplomacy - not a war that will destabilize this region.

Either we walk down every diplomatic road - or we'll go to another war that was never necessary and make things a lot more dangerous for our future generation, who will have to deal with the all the dangers of a nuclear world. I don't think that's a false choice. (I know we hear so many today). Nuclear power is here - it's clear we are never going back. Do we choose hope and diplomacy or mutually assured death and destruction?

I choose to hope.

'The America We Believe In' by John Edwards

"The world desperately needs moral leadership from America, and the foundation for moral leadership is telling the truth. While we can't change the past, we need to accept responsibility, because a key part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging when we've made mistakes or been proven wrong--and showing that we have the creativity and guts to make it right."

-Senator John Edwards

'The America We Believe In'
by John Edwards

Here is an excerpt from former Senator John Edwards' own State of the Union speech:

I am grateful for the opportunity to talk with you about the state of our union on the day of the president's address to our country. While it is discouraging for all of us to see our country moving in the wrong direction, we need to take this opportunity to offer ideas for how to get the nation back on track.

America is losing the most important element of our national character: We are no longer the land of opportunity for all.

Generations before us came to America for one reason. This is the land where everyone who worked hard would be rewarded, could raise a family and could make a better life for their children. But America has changed. Now, hard work does not guarantee a decent standard of living, and our children do not believe they can achieve the successes of their parents. It should not be that way.

Hurricane Katrina brought the issue of poverty to the forefront for the first time in decades. But the reality is that the people of the Gulf Coast--the vast majority of them working--were living in crisis for years before the hurricane hit and put them on the news. They were living without good schools, adequate health care, safe housing and without hope--just like millions of other families across this country.

During the week of the hurricane, the Census Bureau reported that more than 37 million Americans live in poverty; 13 million of them children, most likely as not going to bed hungry some nights. Their parents sit around the kitchen table and wonder how they'll be able to feed their kids the next day, let alone send them to college. When will our leaders recognize that Americans are ashamed of our failure to reach out to these families?

My friend, Rev. Jim Wallis, has said that the Bible talks about fighting poverty more than 3,000 times. Three thousand times. Our work here on earth is clear.

When history judges us, as a nation and as individuals, it will ask: what did we do to end poverty? How we answer this call will forever define us as a nation--showing the world how America leads or how we fail to live up to our most cherished values.

READ THE REST AT TOMPAINE.COM

Stop Bush's War on People in Poverty

Senator Edwards is asking you to tell the IRS Commissioner to stop freezing the Earned Income Tax Credit refunds of low-wage working families while letting wealthy individuals and big corporations cheat the system. The way to recoup money owed the federal government is to go after those who owe the most, not the least. Poverty profiling must end. Make your voice heard now at www.OneAmericaCommittee.com/EITCaction

Headlines

Headlines

It's Done.

..and "We Are F-f-f-f****d"

Gee, thanks, Democrats.


Kos: While Howard Dean is out raising money directly for the state parties and finally investing in the sort of infrastructure that Republicans spent decades building, the cowardly shots in the beltway press come from disaffected insider consultants who see their lucrative gigs in danger.

Exxon Mobil reported a quarterly profit of $10.7 billion, capping a year of record earnings dominated by surging oil and gas prices. The results pushed up Exxon's profit for the year to a staggering $36.13 billion -- bigger than the economies of 125 of the 184 countries ranked by the World Bank. Profit rose 42 percent from 2004. The company and its peers have come under fire for posting billions in profit while consumers struggle with high gasoline prices.

Raw Story: The second part of the Senate investigation into bungled pre-war Iraq intelligence is still being held up by an internal Pentagon investigation of Douglas Feith, one of the war's leading architects.

A supermarket chain pulled soup cans from the shelves of its stores in six states after a family reported finding a sewing needle in a sealed can of minestrone, officials said. The incident was the fourth report of needles or pins found in food purchased from stores in the Bethlehem, PA area in the past two weeks. The allegedly tampered can of Progresso Vegetable Classics Minestrone was purchased Saturday at a Giant Food Store in Wind Gap, PA.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is planning a march this spring to protest post-hurricane policies he fears will marginalize the black community, the civil rights leader said Monday as he toured one of the city's hardest-hit areas.

Raw Story has Senate Minority leader Harry Reid's speech, called a pre-emptive broadside to Bush's SOTU speech.


Jill Carroll has appeared on a new video. She was crying. Her voice was not audible. The demand from her captors is still the same: the release all Iraqi women prisoners.

The United States and the other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council reached surprising agreement Tuesday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said he would meet soon with Hamas leaders about forming a new government.

Abbas stressed the importance of the continuation of financial and other types of support by the donor countries in order that the Palestinian institutions continue to function and the plan to build the independent Palestinian state is not disrupted or derailed.

Ayman invites George...to become a Muslim. {As if that will happen anytime soon.]

A maritime rescue is under way in the Channel between France and Britain after a chemical tanker collided with a bulk carrier ship overnight last night.

By the end of 2007, the overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will have left Iraq. The number of foreign soldiers in Iraq will fall below 100,000 by the end of the year, Iraq's national security adviser told The New York Times in a report posted at the NYT website yesterday.

Five months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, toppling New Orleans' aging levees and submerging 80 percent of the city, only 55 representatives and 30 senators have visited the decimated city.

Karen Kwiatkowsi on Neoconservatives

Karen Kwiatkowsi on Neoconservatives

"Who benefits from this kind of foreign policy?"

- Karen Kwiatkowski

Karen Kwiatkowski is interviewed by Omar Khan of Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches, where she characterizes neoconservatism as "a dead philosophy of anticommunism." She asks: Is it really democracy that [the neoconservatives] want, or is democracy simply a trojan horse?

She says, of neoconservatives:

You can’t just have a mere enemy; it has to be a monstrous enemy, something that can destroy us. They’ve found that in, or rather cultivated it, in what is called 'Islamic Fascism.’ Unfortunately this doesn’t exist. No one advocates it. No one articulates it. In the 1930s, Hitler had fascism and he talked about it. Islamic Fascism is a made up thing. . But it doesn’t matter: what matters is that it’s useful in generating fear, and serves that same larger purpose—providing a platform from which to operate.

If we can’t talk about it, then we shouldn’t be paying for it

..the 'grand plan’ is a Mideast transformation plan..Since we have this apocalyptic enemy, it’s either us or them. So in Iraq: the money goes for 'security’— American bases, and police power to defend those bases. The things we’ve destroyed we have not rebuilt or fixed. The things that we have protected have been the Oil Ministry and the Finance Ministry...Those bases in Iraq will be how we deal with (intimidate) the rest of the Middle East. Keep those other countries in line—politically, economically, and in every other way. This is clearly articulated, for example, in "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," actually written for Netanyahu: Iraq must first be changed, and from there we will be able to deal with our enemies—primarily, Syrians and Iranians. But this has nothing to do with America, or with American interests—in my opinion, anyway.

Who benefits from this kind of foreign policy? This needs to become a topic that can be publicly discussed. If we can’t talk about it, then we shouldn’t be paying for it.

Why We Fight - Jarecki documentary

Why We Fight - Jarecki documentary

"...people have begun to feel that mainstream journalism has been corrupted by forces for whom the truth is inconvenient."

- Eugene Jarecki

See the trailer from the new documentary "Why We Fight" by Eugene Jarecki. An Indiewire review is here. "Why We Fight" premiered at Sundance last January and won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. According to the Boston Globe, Jarecki "lays out a historical through-line for American military involvement that stretches from Dwight Eisenhower's famous farewell speech naming the military-industrial complex 45 years ago this month to today."

The Boston Globe's Ty Burr says:

"...this is very much the movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" should have been, and an experience audiences of every political conviction need to contend with."

David Erlich of the Spectator writes that former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's speech that became such a formative moment for Jarecki was even more prescient than most realize, as the complex of which President Eisenmhower spoke has become "both the means and the ends to America’s militaristic policies the world over."

Erlich adds:

[Jarecki's] work is perhaps the most successful attempt at unmasking the contraption with images as indelibly as Noam Chomsky has with words. The self-perpetuating and intangible transition from nation to empire demands an independent interpreter, a role Jarecki assumes without the arrogance that might taint his message. Acutely attuned to the complex’s evolving anatomy, Jarecki founded academic initiative The Eisenhower Institute as a means to monitor the forces shaping American foreign and defense policy. His voice demands to be heard, as the aural manifestation of political altruism can be found in the selflessness of his words and unflaggingly smooth affectation with which he delivers them.

An interview with the director can be read here at IFC.

Tim Kaine's Going To Do Just Fine

Tim Kaine's Going To Do Just Fine
Let's Talk About Things That Really Matter

I really don't understand the big fuss over Virginia governor Tim Kaine being
asked to voice the SOTU Democratic rebuttal. I don't believe it deserves to have rated such big headlines (see Jim VandeHei's article in the WaPo). I think that the Democrats should show Kaine off proudly for the nation to see. The consummate anti-fake political character, Kaine won Virginia's gubernatorial race by not being ashamed of telling people who he was.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel doesn't quite get the hype, either. There are many more important issues about which we could be truly concerned.

I think that Mr. Vandehei has missed something very important in his article - and I know about it because I - and many other bloggers - been a part of it. He speaks about the liberal bloggers who were dismayed when the Democratic establishment ate Howard Dean for lunch. Yeah, I understand. I was undoubtedly one of the most vocal of those disgusted bloggers.

There's a quote from James Boyce (Huffington Post) in the WaPo article about John Kerry becoming the big link between Democratic leadership and the liberal blogging community. This is where I need to step in and remind you that, for the past two solid years, Howard Dean's Democracy for America has been doing some amazing grassroots promotion of fresh new Democratic talent on the net. Moreover, where I'm personally involved is with former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards' One America Committee website. From last November until early January, Senator Edwards' One America Committee had given me, an unpaid citizen blogger, the opportunity to lead an ongoing debate over the role of religion in politics through the OAC website's Book Club, where we discussed the book "God's Politics" by Jim Wallis. Not only did I see a lot of interested discussion from the public, but Senator Edwards, his wife Elizabeth, and Jim Wallis participated directly by contributing a two-part Podcast discussion of the role of religion in politics. National Journal has recently named Senator Edwards' blog as the best candidate's blog. Edwards' direct involvement is being well received by the liberal blogging community.

I don't want to slight General Wesley Clark, either. For quite a while now, I've seen a tremendous internet response to his blogging efforts. I appreciate Senator John Kerry's recent attempts to reach out directly to the blogging community at Daily Kos and Huffington Post. Let's not pretend candidate involvement is something new, however. I think Senator Kerry is a good Senator and an ethical and intelligent man - but he tends to trail a step behind in creativity and innovation - perhaps a bit too cautious about what's blowing in the political winds. He was far too snail-like to defend himself from accusations made by the filthy Swift Boat attack machine. I suspect that his slow step and lack of clarity is what cost him the last election (along with some downright dubious electoral shenanigans in Ohio).

Sen. Chafee Votes His Individual Conscience

Sen. Chafee Votes His Individual Conscience

According to developing news at Raw Story, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)will vote NO on Alito. I deeply respect seeing him carrying out his duty to vote along with the conscience of his constituents in the face of the wicked political pressure I know he faces.

Lincoln rocks.

Ebadi/Sahimi on Iran

Ebadi/Sahimi on Iran

I am placing this column here in its entirety, which is something I do not generally do. These voices are very important ones. I hope our political leaders will pay close attention to them and act accordingly.

Contra Costa Times
Sunday, Jauary 29, 2006

What to do about Iran?
Diffusing problem with democracy
United States will not level Iran's nuclear energy program with military strikes, sanctions; another approach must be taken
By Shirin Ebadi and Muhammad Sahimi

LOST IN THE international fury over Iran's partial restart of its nuclear energy program, and the deplorable statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding Israel, has been the fact that respect for human rights and a democratic political system are the most effective deterrents against the threat that any aspiring nuclear power, including Iran, may pose to the world.

When the United States and its allies encouraged the shah in the 1970s to start Iran's nuclear energy program, they helped create the Frankenstein that has become so controversial today. If, instead, they had pressed the shah to undertake political reforms, respect human rights and release Iran's political prisoners, history could have been very different.

In the three decades since, India, South Africa, North Korea, Israel and Pakistan have joined the nuclear club -- and most people would acknowledge that the democracies among them are viewed today as the least threatening. In the 1980s, South Africa's apartheid regime made several nuclear bombs, but the democratic government of Nelson Mandela dismantled them. India has a nuclear arsenal, but few perceive the world's largest democracy as a global threat. Nor is Israel considered likely to be the first in the Middle East to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.

But North Korea's nuclear program is a threat because its regime is secretive, its leader a recluse. The nuclear arsenal of Pakistan is dangerous because the military, which runs the country and is populated by Islamic extremists, helped create the Taliban and allowed Abdul Qadeer Khan to freely operate a nuclear supermarket.

Iran's nuclear program began accelerating around 1997 when the reform-minded Mohammad Khatami was elected president -- just as Iran was developing an independent press, and just before a reformist parliament was elected in 2000. The reformists supported the nuclear program but wanted it to be fully transparent and in compliance with Iran's international obligations. These were reassuring signs that it would not get out of control.

But instead of backing Iran's fledgling democratic movement, which would have led to nuclear transparency, the U.S. undercut it by demonizing Iran.

While Khatami proposed people-to-people dialogue between Americans and Iranians, Washington chose to block Iranian scholars, artists and authors from visiting the United States. Although Khatami helped the United States in Afghanistan, President Bush designated Iran a member of the "axis of evil."

By 2003, when it became clear that Khatami's reforms had stalled, the world started paying closer attention to Iran's nuclear program. So, what had demonizing Iran achieved?

The United States will not solve the nuclear problem by threatening military strikes or by dragging Iran before the U.N. Security Council. Although a vast majority of Iranians despise the country's hard-liners and wish for their downfall, they also support its nuclear program because it has become a source of pride for an old nation with a glorious history.

A military attack would only inflame nationalist sentiments. Iran is not Iraq. Given Iranians' fierce nationalism and the Shiites' tradition of martyrdom, any military move would provoke a response that would engulf the entire region, resulting in countless deaths and a ruined economy, not only for the region but for the world.

Imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran would also be counterproductive, prompting Tehran to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its "additional protocol." Is the world ready to live with such prospects?

So, what can the West do? Western nations should help the U.N. appoint a special human rights monitor for Iran. It would remind the General Assembly of Iran's human rights record annually, and strongly condemn it if the record keeps deteriorating. Contrary to the general perception, Iran's clerics are sensitive to outside criticism.

The World Bank should stop providing Iran with loans and, instead, work with nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to strengthen civil society. The West should support Iran's human-rights and democracy advocates, nominate jailed leaders for international awards and keep the cause in the public eye. Western nationsshould downgrade diplomatic relations if Iran continues violating basic human rights.

Iran is at least six to 10 years away from a nuclear bomb, by most estimates. The crisis is not even a crisis. There is ample time for political reform before Iran ever develops the bomb.

Meanwhile, the West should permit Iran a limited uranium enrichment program (as allowed under the nonproliferation treaty) under strict safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- but only when Tehran undertakes meaningful reforms, including freeing political prisoners and holding free and fair elections.

Lastly, the United States and Iran should enter direct negotiations. It is simply absurd for the United States and the most important nation in the Middle East not to communicate directly. The Bush administration should not be seduced by exile groups with no support in Iran. Developing democracy is an internal affair.

Democracy, in the end, will provide the ultimate safeguard against nuclear disaster, because a truly democratic Iran, backed by a majority of Iranians, would feel secure enough not to pursue dangerous military adventures.


Ebadi, a human rights advocate, was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Sahimi is a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Southern California

Political Cartoon

Soros is Back With Dreadful News

Soros is Back With Dreadful News

Who said this?

"U.S. power and influence has declined precipitously because of Iraq and the war on terror and that creates an incentive for anyone who wants to make trouble to go ahead and make it."

None other than George Soros, the man who offered (and spent) a considerable amount of his own money to try to convince American voters to defeat Bush in the 2004 election. If only he'd succeeded.

He's absolutely correct in saying that our influence has waned because of Iraq.

We now live in a dangerous and bizarre world, thanks to the utter failure of Bush to work respectfully with the world after 911. His idea of working well with others is convincing Senator Robert Byrd to vote for SCOTUS nominee Samuel Alito while Democratic citizens who believe that he's wrong for the job are sending a shitstorm of "NO" pleas to their Senators.

What's wrong with Democrats in the Senate? They seem to have lost their backbone, forgotten their duty to their constituents, and lost their will to politically survive. When will the $%$%$%#s come alive?

Let me tell you, it's bizarre out here.

A mother of a young soldier killed in Iraq is hugging Hugo.

The majority of voters in Palestine are happy with Hamas.

In Iraq, the insurgents are wreaking holy havoc.

The cost of US light crude is highest since the hurricanes.

Iran's leader is hosting a Holocaust hootenany and he's not hiding his hope to harbor nuclear horrors.

It's a f!@king nightmare out here - and the once-successful dirty campaigner (now reduced to harping clown) Karl Rove is telling us how great the post-911 world is, thanks to Bush.

Isn't that a friggen hoot?


We're being told, by reliable investors, that oil may go up to as high as $262 a barrel. I'm not kidding.

262 dollars a barrel.

For all who've been mocking the Jimmy Carter presidency, weep now - because you will see that he did what he had to do, even though unpopular, when faced with his own oil crisis. Bush is too afraid of pissing off his cronies and losing Republican votes in an election year to do the right thing about this crisis. If he pulls his usual Bushit move, he'll do nothing but tell us to wear a g*d&$#*&d sweater while old folks freeze to death in their apartments. It's no surprise. It's clear that Bush's political party and the richest Americans mean more to him than the welfare of the people ever has.

I know that the President will give plenty of lip service to alternative energy sources in his SOTU speech because he thinks it will save his political ass, but I guarantee you that he won't boast too loudly about his oh-so-strong commitment to build as many new nuclear power plants as possible, paying back his pals in Big Energy and insuring that our children and the planet they'll inherit will face increased risk of disaster and disease. He won't talk too loudly about the nuclear waste he wants to buy from countries all around the world in order to recycle the dangerous material - as if we don't already have so much that we don't know where to put it anymore. I guess we haven't seen enough of our loved ones eaten away by cancer yet.

George Soros is back - saying "I told you so." Is it too late for crash conservation efforts? Will Bush even call for any? Has this mess of a President burned too many bridges and wasted too many of his days on his perpetual Republican campaign - on our tax dollars? Has he reduced the solid strength of our Military to a cracking veneer?

This is the worst President in American history, and I believe that we now have the weakest Congress to match. They are about to confirm a SCOTUS nominee who will complement the rot that is eating away at our nation's core. They are all failing us.

I'll see you in the mile-long line at the pumps soon - if you can afford it. If your sweater didn't do the trick and you've frozen to death like a lifeless human popsicle in your heatless apartment, maybe I'll catch you on the other side. If you make it through to the great recession, that'll be cool (literally and figuratively).

We're Israel's Allies - Not Their Attack Dogs

We're Israel's Allies - Not Their Attack Dogs

There was discussion among world leaders and foreign policy experts about Iran's defiant nuclear stance and talk about the option of the use of force against Tehran during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. From Reuters -

Kenneth Pollack, an expert on Iran at the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think-tank, said the military option was ''sub-optimal,'' but not impossible.

Although Israel has reserved the option of military force, Pollack said the United States would be the only country with the air power to carry out the ``hundreds of sorties a day'' required, possibly for weeks, to knock out Iran's air defenses and destroy anywhere between several dozen and several hundred facilities linked to its nuclear program.

"It would mean going to war with Iran and I think it's fair to figure that the Iranians would not sit by idly," he said.

"We've had some Iranian leaders say very explicitly that they would strike back...at a time and place of their own choosing, and that time and place would likely be soonish in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"If you think it's bad now (in Iraq), imagine 6,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards and intelligence agents joining in the insurgency."

I have a good idea, American political leaders:
Let's not act as Israel's little attack dogs.
We recognize them as good allies, but that shouldn't mean you can sell the souls of our young men and women to them in their haste to use force against their enemy du jour.
Israel's itchy - but it's OUR trigger that their fingers want to be on.
You 'big boys' are playing with our American sons and daughters' lives when you're talking U.S. military intervention. We've watched Bush botch Iraq. We're watching you ever so closely now.

Military Volunteerism Hurt by Stop-Loss Policy

Military Volunteerism Hurt by
Stop-Loss Policy

It's really no wonder that Military recruitment is suffering. When the service for which a person volunteers has to repeatedly resort to compelling the retention of those who want to leave, especially in a war that we now know was never necessary, volunteerism is bound to become a markedly less popular notion. The U.S. Army has forced about 50,000 soldiers to continue serving after their voluntary stints ended, and according to a Reuters report, court challenges to the "stop-loss" policy have fallen flat.

Hamas Win Shows U.S. Foreign Policy is a Lemon

"We're interested in peace."

- G.W. Bush

Are we?

Hamas Win Shows U.S. Foreign Policy is a Lemon
It's the near-perfect recipe for unmanageable instability in the Middle East
Nice job with your Post 9/11 strategy, Karl Rove.




Bush doesn't care quite as much about the new democracy in Palestine as he cares about PEACE.

Bush doesn't care quite as much about PEACE in Iraq as he does about the new democracy.

Is it any wonder that Bush's Middle East foreign policy is a loser?

Brit Hume called Palestine's free and fair elections "interesting" this morning on Fox News Sunday.

Interesting?

You have to admit, that's quite a contrast to Hume's glowing claptrap about the direct, sudden, and magical connection between voting and "liberty":

"Everybody saw on Al-Jazeera, among the Arabs, the free elections in Iraq under American auspices. It showed that we were sincere in the invasion in not being after oil or hegemony, but in bringing liberty."

Bottom line, Anthony Cordesman, military analyist and Iraq expert for the Center for Strategic and International Studies was right when he told Fox News,

"Merely having people go to the polls can always be claimed to be a success. And I'm sure the [Bush] administration will claim just that, while a good part of the Arab world will claim it's a failure."

And now we see the opposite happening in Palestine. Bush decries the rise of Hamas, at the willing and free hands of the Pelestinian purple-fingered people, as a failure of liberty.

It leaves you to wonder just what "liberty" means to George W. Bush and his administration. It has little to do with freedom. It reduces any consistent form of logic behind his lofty rhetoric (a la Inauguration speech 2005) to tepid publum.

What hypocrisy.

Insisting that the Iraq war was "a necessity" after all of America can see that it was not, Seanate majority leader Bill Frist said today, to Tim Russert on Meet the Press, that he would have conducted the war differently, knowing what he knows today. When asked about the surprising victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, Frist said that democracy was still valued - that it is important for voters to have freedom to choose. He said that it increases transparency.

What is transparent - as clear as a bell - is that our foreign policy has driven the Palestinians straight to Hamas - and nearly every Middle Eastern election straight to the hardest lines. Anyone who would deny that fact is clearly not living in the real world, for you'd have to be blind, deaf, dumb, or dead to have not yet noticed our current presence as occupiers in a major Middle Eastern nation.

We've spent over almost $2 billion since 1993 for aid to Palestine - and got no political bang for the buck. We've lost hearts and minds in the Middle East because of Iraq. We are embarrassed. We have to now look tough, because of the Bush doctrine, and totally withdraw our support for the people of Palestine in order to punish their government, which we have deemed as a terrorist organization. The immorality of this very thought - the known suffering that the Palestinian people will have to endure because they dared to exercise, through free elections, their option toward their own freedom and democracy drives home what I've been saying here for three years. Bush is the wrong president to have had at this crucial time. Fatah was no hippie tree-hugging peace organization, either.

We should voice our strong support for Israel's right to exist - and for the people of Israel. We should also remember that Israel has a major stock of weaponry, inculding 200-400 nukes, and we don't have to coddle them - they are perfectly capable of defending themselves. We certainly don't have to BE a de facto Israel. I want heavy neoconservative thought out of our White House (their warped minds are far more dangerous than Monica Lewinsky's lips), but I see that we'll have to wait at least three years before that will ever have a chance of happening. George W has shown, by his every action, that he is one of them. The attitude projected in his post Palestinian election rhetoric is telling America that all hope for peace is lost in the Middle East - and that kind of total abandonment of hope is NOT indicative of good leadership.

Congress members and political leaders - you'd be smart to pick up the football where the President has dropped it. Speak with some reason, some moral leadership, and some integrity now - or I fear we can only expect more violence and instability of which our Military is clearly not capable of handling at the present time. Nations will start to line up against nations.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear Bush was gunning for a WWIII.
Worst leader in American history.

Bob Woodruff Seriously Injured in Iraq

Bob Woodruff Seriously Injured in Iraq

ABC's Bob Woodruff is a high-profile journalist and co-anchor of ABC's "News World Tonight." His serious injury by a roadside IED about 12 miles north of Baghdad while embedded with the 4th Infantry will surely send shockwaves throughout the nation. The overall tone of ABC's reporting on Iraq, and perhaps other cable news reporting (the incredibly tilted FOX News notwithstanding), is inevitably bound to change toward something far more somber. ABC cameraman Doug Vogt was also seriously injured in the incident.


My prayers are with Bob, Doug, and their families.

Update: 1:30 pm - Both men in stable condition following surgery The U.S. military plans to medevac them to medical facilities in Landstuhl, Germany, probably overnight tonight.

Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson in Syracuse

Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson in Syracuse


Eliot Spitzer spoke at the Sheetmetal Workers Hall on Pulaski Street in Syracuse on Satuday. Syracuse was Spitzer's third stop of the day. He also made visits to Buffalo, Rochester and Westchester County.


Changing the status quo is what Eliot Spitzer is about, and it is what this campaign is about. His choice for running mate is David Paterson, D-Manhattan, who Spitzer hopes will be a lieutenant governor who will take the lead for him on many of the important challenges facing our state. Mr. Paterson is the quick-on-his feet Senate Democrat leader who has engineered a party comeback in the Republican-controlled chamber. Here's more about the way Attorney General Spitzer came to his decision about Mr. Paterson.





Desperate Republicans have been upset because Eliot Spitzer has been tough on their special interests - the big businesses that have been systematically robbing everyday New Yorkers.

He said that we need to see decency, fairness, and openness in government - and apply them to health care, education, etc. We have seen enough of the ever-growing gap between the haves and have nots in New York State.
We shouldn't be shy about speaking up about how we feel.
We need to do something different.
We have to rattle the cages.
You don't change the world by whispering.
You'll never change the status quo by accepting it.
We will not succeed unless we reform our state government


Eliot Spitzer says that what the people care about - and what we have to focus on - is improving the lives of our kids, so they'll stay here, they'll put down their roots, they'll buy homes, and become part of the community.

Filibuster

Please do, Democrats.

Me - A Long Time Ago

Me - A Long Time Ago

How do you like my toy box?

How's Your Heart Health?

How's Your Heart Health?


Are you at risk for heart disease? Click on the preview to see a video with Katie Couric and Dr Lori Mosca, author of Heart to Heart : A Personal Plan for Creating a Heart - Healthy Family [see at Amazon.com].


Dr. Mosca
A recent national study conducted by the American Heart Association showed that fewer than 50% of American women know that heart disease is their leading killer.


The Nagurney's circa 1972 - when we didn't have to worry about our hearts ;)

A special note: Prayers go out to Dr. Mosca's Aunt Sandy, who had to have emergency surgery here in Syracuse this week. Sandy - we all love you and are pulling for you.

Joan Bokaer: Megachurches & Canadian Shift to Right

Joan Bokaer: Megachurches & Canadian Shift to Right

Theocracy Watch's Joan Bokaer has wriiten a thought-provoking story [TalkToAction] about the "Toronto Blessing" and how political organizing by congregants of megachurches may be affecting Canadian politics.

To be fair, the new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, came across as a moderate conservative, studiously avoiding discussion of social issues during the campaign, but then so did Bush in 2000. I hope that our Canadian friends wake up in time to stop their Religious Right from winning a strong majority in Parliament.

Parham:Amos and Zechariah's SOTU Speech

Amos and Zechariah's SOTU Speech
by Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics

If a biblical prophet gave the 2006 State of the Union address, what would the message be?

Tar Heel Tavern #49

Tar Heel Tavern #49

The Tar Heel Tavern is up (in two parts) at Blue NC.

Part One
Part Two

Third Estate Sunday Review

"It's as though the spirit of dissent is silenced from Bully Boy's ass to Joe Lieberman's mouth and then throughout the rest of the party."

- Third Sunday Estate

Third Estate Sunday Review on Dems
Third Estate Sunday Review (Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" - five students enrolled in the same journalism program) on the state of the Democratic party.

They say that even Howard Dean seems like he's taking heavy doses of Lithium these days.

I agree with their thoughts on Al Gore. He is a strong voice for the Democrats - an accomplished orator, a patriot in the truest sense of the word - a realist - and trustworthy.

I hope Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, and "Ava" have heard Senator John Edwards out there fighting for labor and the working poor, while engaging young Americans to get involved with service and advocacy... admitting that his IWR resolution was a mistake and calling Bush "the worst president in our lifetime." You can extend hope and be a realist at the same time, it's a damned tough line to toe in life, and I think that's what we need so desperately in a leader. It's important to remember that these people aren't Gods - they are all too human. When we hear one talking to us and it strikes a familiar and important chord in our gut, I think we owe it to them to listen and not hold them to an overly idealistic standard. When we hear them saying something we sense is totally wrong, we also need to speak out - at lightning speed. Politics is like the shark - hungry - survival its only concern - ready to strike at what is easily overcome - waiting for no man or woman. What makes a great leader is the soul that miraculously survives the survival instinct.

Blind Bush supporters are guilty of false idol worship. Howard Dean's probably tired. The mainstream media is slow to wake up and he's had an uphill battle all the way - being nearly eaten by his own while being pulverized by the Right. Lord - wouldn't anyone feel like they'd need lithium by now if they were Howard? He's still got balls, he's just learning how to squeeze them into the places where he can put them to best use.

Bush: The Old Law's No Good

Bush: The Old Law's No Good


" I said, 'Look, is it possible to conduct this program under the old law?'
And people said, 'It doesn't work in order to be able do the job we expect to us do.' "

Bush Wants Other Countries' Nuclear Waste

Bush Wants Other Countries' Nuclear Waste
Our own nuclear storage problems aren't enough - Bush wants to adopt everyone else's nuclear waste for Big Energy to play with. Who stands to be enriched by this scheme? Does the American public stand to be endangered?

At American Street, I asked this question today:

Why Do We Want Foreign Nuclear Waste? The Bush administration is working on a civilian nuclear energy plan that would reprocess spent nuclear fuel from other countries in a break from long-standing U.S. policy.

Will our GOP-majority "rubber stamp" Congress debate the issue of lifting the moratorium on the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel in the US? I'd like to know, because in a dangerous world of nuclear proliferation, the process that our President is promoting would result in the production of material that could be used in nuclear weapons. One scientist has said that, even with all the promised safeguards, it would not prevent a suicidal terrorist from handling the material. Other scientists warn us that it's not a good idea to lift the moratorium at this time - until technology has improved.

How desperate are we that we’d need to do this now?

Another Honeymoon Offer From Tom to George

Another Honeymoon Offer From Tom to George
Mmmmwaaaah - barf!

On Tuesday President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address and map out priorities for his last three years. The direction in which America needs to go is obvious: toward energy independence. If Mr. Bush steps up to that challenge, this speech could be a new beginning for his presidency. If he doesn't, you can stick a fork in this administration. It will be done —

- Thomas Friedman

Oh Oh! Oh! Tom! Tom! Tom! It was over long ago! Why do you give this honeymoon offer over and over again? How many times will you let the man abuse you before you leave him, Tom? Please, someone - explain to Mr. Friedman that the fork was stuck in this administration once the pin had popped the balloon on every rationale for war and Americans were knifed in the heart by all the disapppointments with every partisan spoon-fed lie we were told.
THE HONEYMOON IS OVER.
It's love on the rocks.
All our bags are packed - we're ready to go.
He don't bring us flowers anymore.
There's a tear in our beer.
Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today.
We will survive - as long as we love democracy we know we'll stay alive.

Ditch the guy, Tom.
There'll someday be another who'll be good to you.
This one's a cad.

Thanks to OAC

Thanks to OAC


My thanks to OAC for making Iddybud a Featured Blog at the One America website.

A Great Country Tune

A Great Country Tune

As people who know me will tell you, I love bluegrass and country music. I have never appreciated the Nashville record industry's attitude as war-huggers. After so many country stations nixed the Dixie Chicks, I avoided any artist who had even one pro-Iraq song in their discography. I found this one by surfing the net. It's called "I'm Taking My Country Back" and for a country fan who prefers the steel guitar and the fiddle without pseudo-patriotic war revelry, it's sponsored by Music Row Democrats, and it's great! The lyrics are here.

I hear that Tim McGraw's a Democrat. How cool is that?

Elizabeth Edwards Has More Spine Than Most Democrats

"Are you a reporter?" the silver-haired lady next to me wants to know. I laugh and say, no, I'm a soccer mom from nearby Cary, but I'm going to write up the event tonight for a blog called Daily Kos and its spin-off, Street Prophets."

- There's a question with which most bloggers can identify, from Deborah Brown, from her diary about a recent speech given by Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards Has More Spine Than Most Democrats

If you read Deborah Brown's Daily Kos diary about her experience at an event where Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Senator John Edwards, was speaking, you will begin to understand what I already believe about this amazing woman. She doesn't pull any punches. She made a clear point that as frustrated as she was at the Bush administration's posturing, deflecting, and story-changing, she was just as frustrated about the Democrats' inability to stand up together.

She urged Democrats to stop watering down our message. We need to say things to the American people in a clear way--that the current Republicans have created a "culture of corruption."

We need to say to the American people that your votes and your needs don't count--because your politicians are for sale. The symbiosis that used to happen between the American people & their leaders is now happening between politicians and their lobbyists.

Read the rest of Deborah's diary HERE

Speaking of SPINE, the NYT is wondering if the Democrats have one anymore.

The Wrong Democracy Win in Palestine

The Wrong Democracy Win in Palestine
Oh, my! Purple Fingers Don't Lie!

What's with the Washington Times? Their headline today, from the Washington Times Insider, is nothing less than bizarre.
It reads: Fatah edges Hamas in polls.




The first paragraph reads

..."Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party eked out a narrow victory over the militant movement Hamas in parliamentary elections yesterday.."

Hello? I don't think so.


Other headlines about the same election read:

- Hamas Wins Landslide 76 Seats

- Peace call to Hamas after shock poll win

- Arabs jubilant at Hamas victory

-Official PLC elections results: Hamas 76, Fatah 43

Bibi's Gonna Be Bigger

I am sorry to say that I believe that, with the unfortunate illness of Ariel Sharon and the rise of Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the opposition Likud Party, will likely be more popular with Israelis in their upcoming election. Fear has a potent affect on the populace of any nation. It is the near-perfect recipe for assured and continued instability in the Middle East. Netanyahu condemned the Palestinians' democratic vote today, saying that "Today Hamastan was formed." Here's a beauty of a statement from Bibi about the Palestinian election outcome:

"This is a new and dangerous situation. Sharon said he wouldn't let Palestinians in Jerusalem vote. Olmert let them."

Using Jerusalem to show that democracy is a WRONG and DANGEROUS idea for some while a great concept and lofty aim for others?! How many of us watched Iraqi expatriates voting here in the United States?

President Bush couldn't say a whole lot about the outcome because he's the champion of democracy - but this time it seems like Mr. Bush thinks it's the wrong democracy. So is democracy the goal in the Middle East - and if it isn't, then what is?



The Western Word for Today: "WRONG"

Anonymoses points to the hypocrisy of the lofty Bush rhetoric about democracy (look for the hidden "W" - and decide whether he means "Dubya" or "Wrong" - or maybe the "Washington Times" ):

Tora Bora Redux

Tora Bora Redux

Another Big Fish story.

Freedom of Speech and the Kurds' Jailing of Qadir

Freedom of Speech and the Kurds' Jailing of Dr. Qadir

A journalist was condemned last October by a KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) court to 30 years imprisonment for two articles that were published on a Kurdish internet site. He received 15 years for each article. Imagine yourself - locked up for blogging something critical regarding the government. Look at the KDP website - how its logo boasts of "freedom."

I wrote about this case on January 12. The KDP has locked up the Austrian journalist Kamal Sayid Qadir because he criticized the Barzani government, accusing them of corruption. Whether or not he "defamed" the government is a point we all know too well to be politically subjective. In the U.S., we've enjoyed a society where journalists are free to be be critical. The Kurdish government is the one closest and friendliest to Western interests in all of Iraq. Unfortunately, though, freedom of speech is not a value that currently is shared between the KDP and the West. Mr. Qadir has credited the Voice of America for possibly saving his life.

The senior official of the K.D.P., which controls western Kurdistan, said that Mr. Qadir's sentence would be reduced to one year and that his family would be permitted to bail him out. The senior official said a court would make the ruling in the next few weeks.

But Mr. Qadir still could face serious criminal jeopardy from complaints yet to be prosecuted, said Ismael Khalil Shakeeb, the presiding criminal court judge in Erbil and one of the judges who sentenced him last month. "He has insulted many other people," he said.

Mr. Qadir, 48, credits a statement issued by the United States over the Voice of America for possibly saving his life. An American official in Baghdad said Washington had discussed the case with Kurdish officials. Delegations including Austrian officials have paid prison visits, he says, adding pressure that greatly improved his living conditions.

Dr Qadir’s case is a political issue, related to freedom of expression and it should have not been a legal case. So says Judge Qubadi Jelilzade, a well-respected Kurdish judge. He stated it in an "open letter to the judges of Kurdistan" that was published on a Kurdish website dengekan.com on 24 January 2006. [KurdMedia.com]

I am still very curious as to why the Washington DC lobbyists Barbour, Griffth, and Rogers (who have extremely strong ties to the Republican party) have been retained by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - the same party that has jailed this journalist? Who are they lobbying (in D.C.) on behalf of the Kurdish political party that the President and his administration are criticizing? What are the interests that coincide with the U.S. government and the KDP? Bear in mind that our soldiers are being killed while defending Iraqis, and these Iraqis are battling one another because of the power vacuum that was created in the wake of the U.S. forced removal of Saddam Hussein. I can only assume that these lobbyists are looking to have an effect on political outcomes in Iraq because of their own personal interests - isn't that why they are in business? This may not be anything illegal - but how ethical is it to look out for your own pockets by representing a foreign political interest in a place where American boys and girls are still shedding their blood? It sure as hell isn't patriotic. Frankly, the thought is reviling to me.

I'm an American citizen. I want to know where my tax dollars have gone in Iraq. I want to know why Washington DC lobbyists are representing the KDP - and what that might have to do with the Republican party. I'm curious to know where the money that was given to the KDP from the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority went. So much of our tax dollars have gone unaccounted for in this dirty little war. All of the gloryspeak about freedom and democracy in President Bush's second inaugural speech has flown out the window of truth.

Read Dr Kemal Sayid Qadir and Plato’s Cave by Nergiz Duhoki/KurdishMedia

The sisters of the jailed journalist have spoken out on his behalf.

..the purpose of this article is not to analyse the significance of Kamal Sayid Qadir’s phenomenon. The story is not over yet and the historical function of his timely intervention has just become active. My purpose is to draw attention to the other aspects of the break unleashed by Kamal’s saga: hundreds of intellectuals, especially those in the Diaspora, raising their voices in support of free expression and against corrupt and criminal power practices in Kurdistan. This has been unprecedented in Kurdish history.

This is a story that should be important to Americans because we are being told that the war for democracy in Iraq is our lofty aim - and that is necessary to strengthen our national security. There is suspected corruption in the KDP, some Washington lobbyists are representing their party, and journalists are being jailed for talking about their suspicions.

Chris Trapper at the Redhouse

Chris Trapper at the Redhouse

Chris Trapper at the Redhouse
Syracuse N.Y. 24 January 2006

You haven't lived
until you've heard Chris play the lead-in to
Roundabout on his ukelele.

Boston Globe

Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Republican Senators: Please Vote No on Alito

Republican Senators: Please Vote No on Alito

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said that Supreme Court candidate Samuel Alito is "exceptionally qualified," and we understand that he is, indeed, perfectly qualified to set our nation back many years on our hard road toward progress.

I beg you to examine your conscience as our elected representatives as you hear the ongoing debate.

Please vote NO on Samuel Alito. Our President has made his own intentions crystal clear and there is every indication that a SCOTUS Justice Alito would turn back the clock on our hard-won freedoms.

Republican Chairman Arlen Specter said he would be "sorry" to see a party-line vote but it looks like that's what there will be.

I am dismayed that the Republican Senators would feel compelled to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the President's agenda. The current Congress has the lowest public poll ratings in history because you have relinquished your duty to the people.

I believe you will suffer at the polls, Republican senators, if you act, once again, as a body without deliberations of true individual conscience - a rubber stamp for the Executive. I vow to personally work to see that you are not re-elected if you continue to fail to fulfill your individual and sworn duty to serve Americans where they are found at the center of the political spectrum. Alito is radically to the right. We all know this - and we are watching each of you.

Tim Johnson and Robert Byrd - I am ashamed of you.

Pope Benedict XVI Calls For Political Change Toward Social Justice

"Love is free; it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends."

- Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI Calls For Political Change Toward Social Justice
Directs more responsibility for social justice directly to the state

Good news for social progressives from the leader of the Roman Catholic church.

There is a new 71-page encyclical called "God is Love" which characterizes Pope Benedict XVI's early pontificate as "one in which he seeks to return to the basics of Christianity with a relatively uncontroversial meditation on love and the need for greater works of charity in an unjust world." [NYT]

I hope that our elected representatives will hear the words of Pope Benedict XVI, and take them seriously. He's stepping out of the realm of the church's responsibility and telling us, in no uncertain terms, that we are responsible, politically, for social justice. The Pope's words take the biblical message found in Matthew 25 and, setting respectful parameters for the church's involvement in political life, he calls upon the State to "stimulate greater insight into the requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest." In other words, when making public policy, stop being concerned with lining the pockets of those who can bestow favor upon you (or your re-election) and think about the spiritually and economically poorest in our society.

From a NYT/AP article:

"There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbor is indispensable," he said.

Benedict stressed that the state alone is responsible for creating that just society, not the church. [my emphasis] "As a political task, this cannot be the church's immediate responsibility," he said.

However, he said the church wants to be involved in political life by helping to "form consciences in political life and stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest."

He said the church was "duty-bound" to offer such a contribution, and that the lay faithful, who as citizens of the state, are duty-bound to carry it out through works of charity.

While stressing that the church has no direct political role, he did offer a prescription for what the state should do. He stressed the church's charity workers must never use their work to proselytize or push a particular political ideology.

"We do not need a state which regulates and controls everything, but a state which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need," he wrote.[my emphasis]

The Pope criticizes the Marxist political model, in which the state tries to provide for every social need. (And, mind you, American social democracy is far more in line with the principles of subsidiarity). While Marxism responded to the plight of the poor faster than even the church did during the Industrial Revolution, it did not succeed in creating the Utopian society that it had set its aims upon. Freedom is an all-important component to any form of politics with lasting social justice as its aim. The Pope reminds us, in a way that we can all understand, that even in the most just societies, charity will always be necessary. I am relieved to hear that the Pope, in many ways, is supportive of governments reducing corruption within their own systems while supporting the continuation of a vibrant political debate from people of faith.

This is not a Republican or Democratic statement - but I can see that it is a Progressive statement, and I'm grateful that we have our spiritual leaders speaking, out of agape love, on behalf of the poorest in our society.

* A Note on the principle of subsidiarity
(sounds like political progressive centrism):
The principle of subsidiarity was developed in the encyclical Rerum Novarum of 1891 by Pope Leo XIII, as an attempt to articulate a middle course between the perceived excesses of laissez-faire capitalism on the one hand and the various forms of totalitarianism, which subordinate the individual to the state, on the other.

Santorum: Patriotic Heroes Do Bumper Stickers

Santorum: Patriotic Heroes Do Bumper Stickers

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

-Words from the inaugural address of President John F. Kennedy, delivered in 1961

Young John Murtha, Max Cleland, and John Kerry went to the Viet Nam war in the days when these words were spoken.

They've been blasted by right wingers - portrayed as cowards - we saw purple bandaids worn on cheeks at the Republican National convention, swift boat style attack ads - and Republican leaders say nothing in Murtha, Cleland, or Kerry's strong defense because of political stinginess.

Yet, according to Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, any American who would put a friggen Rick Santorum bumper sticker on their car is a patriotic hero. (Don't believe me? See the video.)

What a FAR CRY from JFK's plea for service.

What's next?
Medals of Freedom for the best Dem Vet-attack ads?

GIVE ME A BREAK, ALREADY!