POWWOWIRAQSI -A Musical Journey

POWWOWIRAQSI-A Musical Journey

My co-blogger David K. Beckwith (aka Anonymoses Hyperlincoln) has created a musical suite entitled "POWWOWIRAQSI" ( Music in the Age of George the Unready ).

It is dedicated to (and is written about) the people who are dying in Iraq.

You can download the MP3 here. David says it's his interpretation of what it might be like to those who have to experience it.

The music inspired Patty Ann Smith to write this moving poem:

Can You Taste The Tears?

This is not the heartbeat of the Earth.
Can you hear the fear, can you taste the tears?
Can you smell the blood, can you touch the wounds?
This is the adrenalin rush of mankind at war with itself...
The death throws of a failed experiment.
Hope and despair living in the same body at the same time...
an impossible task
that must be altered.
Otherwise, there will be merciful silence for the Earth in the end
and...no more children to build a future for.

~ Patty Ann Smith / Hope4America

Advice for DNC: Stop eating your own best candidates

Advice for DNC: Stop eating your own best candidates

Here we go again. According to The Hill, many House Dems have said they think that a Howard Dean DNC-chairmanship would drive the party further from the mainstream of American politics. That view, according to the Hill, is "also shared by Republican lawmakers and strategists, who welcomed the prospect of Dean heading the Democratic Party".

This is the same crap we heard the last time the GOP faked the dumb Dems into thinking Howard Dean was poisonous and that the Bushites couldn't wait for him to win the Dem presidential primary. ( Remember the Weekly Standard cover titled "Please Nominate This Man" with Dean's picture on it? )

Democrats: Stop listening to the GOP and the yapping heads of the mainstream media, for sanity's sake!
You'll be sorry when you piss your grassroots progressives away.
Stop running scared and eating your own best candidates.
The party's pulse is still detectable.
Stick with your loser-establishment and you will remain losers.
Listen to the voice of the people instead of the slick-haired Dicks and lip-juicy Janes of the out-of-touch Washington media.
And, by all means, STOP listening to any advice that comes out of GOP mouths.

A Perfect Job for Howard Dean

A Perfect Job for Howard Dean
Please, please, let Howard Dean become the leader of the DNC.
By Natalie Binder Dec 6, 2004
LINK

Iraq- A War on Witnesses?

"...in Iraq, US forces and their Iraqi surrogates are no longer bothering to conceal attacks on civilian targets and are openly eliminating anyone--doctors, clerics, journalists--who dares to count the bodies...."

-Naomi Klein, from Guardian article, 26 Nov 2004

Iraq- A War on Witnesses?

Poli-Sci professor Robert E. Williams cites Naomi Klein's recent assertions that United States forces in Iraq are attempting to suppress reporting of civilian casualties in that nation.

DLC takes nauseating stand on UN

DLC takes nauseating stand on UN

It's absolutely nauseating to see the DLC ideologically bonding with the likes of the weasel-Senator known as Norm Coleman.

Democrats are going to have to get a spine..or continue taking the road to an impotency that Viagra could never resurrect from the bone-dead.


*See Jeffery Dubner's comments at American Prospect.

From Chinaview.cn: Spain, France express support to Annan

"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and French President Jacques Chirac, who were meeting in the northern Spanishcity of Zaragoza, told a press conference they had called Annan to"express their solidarity at a time when he is being unfairly attacked."

Remember Pearl Harbor-A Story Unfinished

"..all those untold stories
all those silent lies
we'll never know each other
keeping them deep inside...."

-from the song Untold Stories by Tim O'Brien

Remember Pearl Harbor-A Story Unfinished

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. At the American Street, Anonymoses offers some good food for thought. It tastes of unfinished tales and untold truths.

In the Seattle Post Intelligencer editorial today, it says:

"Perhaps congressional leaders found it sadly ironic to be still dithering over intelligence shortcomings in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the eve of the 63rd anniversary of another attack for which the nation was woefully unprepared: Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941."

Today, as Congress gears up to try to pass legislation to better protect America with a remake of our intelligence system, we understand that the ways in which Bush and his advisers have met this challenge will be key to how history judges them. It will never help to know that Bush fought the independent 9/11 Commission every step of the way.

The Syracuse Post Standard's columnist Sean Kirst reminds us there is one less Pearl Harbor survivor in Central New York this year.

Krugman Debunks SS Hype

Krugman Debunks SS Hype

In today's NYT column, Paul Krugman attempts to debunk the hype about a so-called "Social Security crisis".

"...the same people who claim that Social Security isn't an independent entity when it runs surpluses also insist that late next decade, when the benefit payments start to exceed the payroll tax receipts, this will represent a crisis - you see, Social Security has its own dedicated financing, and therefore must stand on its own.

There's no honest way anyone can hold both these positions, but very little about the privatizers' position is honest. They come to bury Social Security, not to save it. They aren't sincerely concerned about the possibility that the system will someday fail; they're disturbed by the system's historic success.

For Social Security is a government program that works, a demonstration that a modest amount of taxing and spending can make people's lives better and more secure. And that's why the right wants to destroy it."

Iraq Gets Double Thumbs-Down from CIA

Iraq Gets Double Thumbs-Down from CIA

The NY Times states that two recent CIA assessments have warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon. The top American military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., reviewed the CIA assessments and initially offered no objections, while American ambassador to Iraq, John D. Negroponte, was said by the officials to have filed a written dissent, objecting to one finding as too harsh, on the grounds that the United States had made more progress than was described in combating the Iraqi insurgency. Together, the appraisals, which follow several other such warnings from officials in Washington and in the field, were much more pessimistic than the public picture being offered by the Bush administration before the elections scheduled for Iraq next month.

Howard Dean to make major speech Wednesday

Howard Dean to make major speech Wednesday

Democracy for America Executive Director, Tom McMahon, sent this email to DFA supporters this morning:
__________________________

Governor Dean will lay out a vision for the future of the Democratic Party this Wednesday at 12 p.m. Eastern in Washington, D.C.

He will outline not just a direction for our party, but a concrete destination: a party built from the ground up.

That means a party powered by millions of small donors, not millionaires. It means a party that speaks plainly and commits to concrete outcomes that affect real people. And it means a party that
competes in every single race, for every single vote, in all fifty states.

You can watch live video of the speech on Wednesday morning at the Democracy for America web site:

www.democracyforamerica.com

Be sure to join us for the live webcast on Wednesday at 12 p.m. Eastern. Thank you.

Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democracy for America

__________________________


The AP picks up the story of Governor Dean's upcoming speech on the future of the Democratic party:

Howard Dean, who is weighing a bid for leadership of the Democratic Party, will call on Democrats to fight for victory across the country instead of ceding wide swaths of the South and West to Republicans. [...]

Dean spokeswoman Laura Gross said while other Democrats are talking about whether the party needs to move farther to the left or the right to attract voters, Dean plans to focus on the need for "destination, not direction" during an address at George Washington University on Wednesday.

Jenny Greenleaf Elected to DNC

Jenny Greenleaf Elected to DNC

Congratulations and best of luck to my American Street colleague Jenny Greenleaf, who unseated Mary Botkin as Oregon DNC Commmitteewoman. ( See BlueOregon.com )

Mary has made some outgoing suggestions for Jenny. Here is an excerpt:

"With your new leadership will come the responsibility of gaining the respect and support of those who do not currently support the policies of this new and interesting direction we are headed......try to build support from the 'red" states where we lost - and examine why Howard Dean lost all the blue states to Kerry early in the process so we don't repeat those mistakes. Dr. Dean had an interesting formula for victory. We can and must learn from that formula - we must also learn from it's failures.."

Daily Kos reported on Jenny's win today. There is a lot of healthy discussion there about where others think the DNC should go from here.

Jenny's own comments can be seen at American Street. She has included a copy of the speech she gave. Although she says she took aim at the DNC somewhat, she also states she is not anti-DNC. She says she just wants to shift its focus a bit.

The Christmas season is upon us

"Not least art thou, thou little Bethlehem In Judah, for in thee the Lord was born..."

--from a famous quote by John Oldcastle

The Christmas season is upon us
May we be reminded of the Word, wonderful counselor, glorious messenger of peace

From the Celtic carol Don Oiche Ud I mBeithil (That Night in Bethlehem)

"I sing of a night in Bethlehem, a night as
bright as dawn
I sing of that night in Bethlehem, the night
the Word was born.
The skies are glowing gaily, the earth in
white is dressed
See Jesus in the cradle drink deep in
His mother's breast



And there on a lonely hillside the shepherds
bow down in fear
When the heavens open brightly and God's message
rings out so clear
Glory now to the Father in all the heavens high
And 'peace to His friends on earth below'
is all the angels cry."

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

Don Oiche ud I mBeithil, beidh tagairt ag grian go brach
Don Oiche ud I mBeithil go dtainig an briathar slan
Ta griosghrua ar spearthaibh 's an talamh 'na cludach ban;
Feach Iosagan sa chleibhin, 's an mhaighdean a dhiul le gra.

Ar leacain lom an tslebhe go nglacann na haoiri scath
Nuair in oscailt ghil na speire ta teachtaire De ar fail
Cead gloire anois don Athair I bhFlaitheasaibh thuas go hard!
Is feasta fos ar talamh d'fhearaibh dea-mhein siochain!


small photo credit: ed-waco.com

Ukraine: The Orange Revolution Goes On

Click photo for CNN International's coverage
photo credit: AP

Ukraine: The Orange Revolution Goes On

The NY Times reports:

"The demonstrators' desires..transcend the destiny of their candidate. In conversations over the past few days, protesters expressed a wish to carry Ukraine not only to democratic rule but also to alter the fundamental direction of the country's history.

For more than three centuries, Ukraine has been the prize of Russian czars and Soviet leaders. Its territory has been a battlefield of vicious wars and political repression. Yushchenko's supporters say their goal is to face West, a compass point they believe will end Ukraine's history as a pawn of their northern neighbor."

Clueless: Bin Laden trail is as cold as a Superbowl tit

Clueless: Bin Laden trail is as cold as a Superbowl tit

"Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that the search for Osama bin Laden has gone completely cold..."

WaPo

Sorry to see John Danforth Go

Sorry to see John Danforth Go
Madison Capital Times editorial

The editorial on today's Madison Capital Times' webpage shows how they believe "Bush and his fellow Republicans went out of their way to disregard and disrespect the international body [of the UN] in ways that embarrassed" exiting UN Ambassador John Danforth, who spent a mere seven months in the position.

With unrealistic calls for Kofi Annan's resignation, it is believed that Danforth was never given an real opportunity to improve relations between the United States and the United Nations.


Related commentary about the US/UN politics at my Progressive Women's Blog ring colleague Carla's Preemptive Karma.

Courage: Mark Halperin Interview with HPR

Courage: Mark Halperin Interview with HPR

With no offense intended toward Mark Halperin of ABC Political News, I found his reply to a Harvard Political Review interview question, regarding the topic of courage, to be ambiguous and decidedly pusillanimous, in and of itself. The question pertained to limited news coverage of photographs of American bodies coming home from Iraq. Sometimes I think our journalists attempt to look so very unbiased, even in interviews like these, that they miss the mark of truth by a mile (or much more).

Mark Halperin: ....the press's courage and capacity to press the government on these matters is less than it's been in years past for a variety of reasons. And that means that the press's capacity to give Americans the full view of the costs and benefits of this war is really limited in a way that I think is bad for the country...

HPR: How can you deliver the news if you don't have the courage to show the full consequences of the war?

Mark Halperin: It's very hard when we're not able to travel all around [Iraq] because of security reasons. Unfortunately we have to rely on government officials, and without singling the Bush administration out, we know for a fact that all governments lie, and that governments tend to lie particularly during wartime. So it's a challenge to show a complete picture, positive and negative, because of the circumstances of this war.

Why not "single the Bush administration out"? Who else was directly accountable during the Iraq war?
If "the circumstances of this war" are in question, (not WWI or Vietnam, etc), then why not be straight about who is being criticized?
Why are journalists afraid? Mainstream political journalists weave and wind their logic around their fear of being labeled as biased. We wind up with a meaningless, tangled ball of junk.

In defense of Mr. Halperin's performance in this interview, he did later admit:

"The Bush administration is very aggressive about protecting their interests, and not necessarily always balancing First Amendment rights."

I thought this was a good inteview, although I would have liked to have seen the interviewer take some of these questions a bit further. I think we may have received many relevant and helpful clues from Mr. Halperin as to how the media can improve on safeguarding the media's First Amendment rights on behalf of themselves and for the dual benefit of American democracy.

Harvard Political Review: Blogosphere Rising

Harvard Political Review:
Blogosphere Rising

In its December 11th issue, Ben Milder of the Harvard Political Review reveals that "progressive blogs are now a media force with which to be reckoned".

Excerpt:

Today, blogs are treated by the mainstream media as a novelty, and have at best a niche audience. Yet if they continue to grow at their current pace, they could indeed someday succeed in their goal of making the media and even the entire political system more accessible to the average American.

HPR's current issue covers Election 2004.

Civil War Rears Ugly Head in Baghdad

Civil War Rears Ugly Head in Baghdad

Iraqi insurgents have suicide-bombed a Shiite mosque, a holy place. It was brutal in its sectarian targeting.


Make no mistake, this is a sure sign that civil war has broken out in Iraq.

If we didn't already know or if any American was unsure, this is a horridly easy foretelling of things yet to come.




photo credit: CTV

Related: Scrutiny Hooligans

San Diego Union-Tribune loses Jim Goldsborough

The San Diego Union-Tribune loses Jim Goldsborough
by Jude Nagurney Camwell, American Street, Dec 4, 2004


"The spike of the column was "almost like prior restraint." Don't criticize Bush, or you column won't be run."

--Jim Goldsborough, from an Editor and Publisher article by Mark Fitzgerald

_______


Veteran columnist Jim Goldsborough of the San Diego Union-Tribune, who calls himself a moderate, is quitting the paper. While he may be losing a paycheck, which is never an easy choice to make, I applaud him for doing so. He's already been offered a job with a soon-to-be-available daily online newspaper, the Voice of San Diego.

Mr. Goldsborough is quoted as saying, "I've written columns for everybody. I've been edited, criticized. … But never have I gotten a call Sunday night that the column is not running Monday, and there's no discussion......."

Goldsborough's publisher David C. Copley, in eleventh-hour fashion, pulled a column scheduled to run Monday, saying that the column "might be offensive". Jim has asked, " Offensive to whom? That's the question. The column is not offensive to Jews. Maybe to Bush."


Mr. Goldsborough won't sit back and watch the newspaper's editorial page tilt in one right-heavy direction. Not while he's still part of the team. He's leaving on principle.

Dick Needs New Shoes

Dick needs new shoes

US offers to let Taliban off the hook

US offers to let Taliban off the hook

So much for the great moral clarity of Bush.

There are bigger fish to fry (and more things to blow up and rebuild) in Iraq, where we unilaterally obliterated a regime which had nothing whatsoever to do with the murder of over 3000 of our citizens on 9/11.