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“The President is not just ignoring poor people - he is targeting them.”

Bush administration is attacking the poor say Christians -13/5/03

"Christian campaigners in the USA are claiming that proposed regulations by the Bush administration regarding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) amounts to an “attack” the poor. ..."


http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_2003_05_13_poor.shtml

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"This is not the peace of God that we are seeing built in Iraq. It is the jittery, fearful truce of standoff,
of political tensions pulled so taut that what ensues may not be considered much of a victory in the long run.."


Mennonite Weekly
No Justice In War's Violence


"When celebrations broke out in Iraq on April 9, one was tempted to believe the war was nearing its end, or at least an important turning point. In a little more than three weeks, the military objectives the coalition had set for itself largely were achieved. But the effort to establish an administration of order and integrity in Iraq is only getting started. Moments of great uncertainty are still to come, and success is far from assured."

http://www.thirdway.com/wv/article.asp?ID=251

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Where are the Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Dual-Use Material and the Weapons Search in Iraq
Alistair Miller | 05.07.2003
Tikkun.org


"During 12 years of sanctions on Iraq, the US and Britain blocked billions of dollars in Iraqi purchase orders on the grounds that the sought-after goods could have "dual uses," one entirely innocent and the other military. Today, it appears that the most obvious evidence of dual-use material can be found in US and British arguments attempting to justify the invasion of Iraq."


http://www.tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/170.html

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Is There Anything Left That Matters?
by Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
Thursday, May 29, 2003 - the National Catholic Reporter

"This is what I don't understand: All of a sudden nothing seems to matter....."

"If the king acts precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the people.

It may be time for us to realize that in a country that prides itself on being democratic, we are our government. And the rest of the world is figuring that out very quickly...

From where I stand, that matters."

http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/

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ON BEING A DESERT

Being a Desert

There is an ancient teaching that is at the core of true spiritual development: in order to connect constantly to the Light of the Creator we must develop and become like the desert.

The desert is un-owned, open space within which anybody can do anything they want. This is the level to which we are supposed to develop. Being like the desert means that you do not care what people do to you, what people say to you, or what they do not do for you or say to you. It means being free in the deepest sense.

Our nature is usually the opposite of the desert. We are extremely and constantly concerned about what people do, say or even think about us. We are captive to almost everybody, for their actions, words and even thoughts can influence our feelings and life. In order to develop spiritually we need to constantly work on becoming like the desert, feeling open and free like the desert. It is not an easy process but one that not only greatly enables our spiritual development, but also brings to a level of equanimity and peace that cannot be reached any other way.

It is a process that takes constant focus and effort but one whose spiritual and practical effect is immense.

Rabbi Michael Berg

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Gore Vidal on the "United States of Amnesia," 9/11, the 2000 Election and the War in Iraq
http://www.democracynow.org/transcripts/gorevidal.shtml

"...we have a global empire and nobody knows where anything is, nobody knows any languages, so our statesmen go abroad and people laugh at them, because they are so dumb, or seem to be so dumb."

"....In the U.S., everybody listens to 19th Century Fox TV News. In which a bunch of loons just scream and scream and scream. And with each scream they tell another lie. How are we ever going to have an informed citizenry? Which means then how can we have an informed election?"

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".....if we do not participate in an educated democracy, we participate in its demise."


Kilroy's Still Here
by Sean Penn
(Published on Friday, May 30, 2003 as a full-page ad in the New York Times )


http://www.seanpenn.com/kilroy.pdf

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IS BUSH DOING WHAT OSAMA BIN LADEN WOULD HOPE HE WOULD DO?

http://www.mikehersh.com/Bush_doing_what_bin_Laden_wants.shtml

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THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO 'HMMMM'....

"A dustup between two NY Times reporters over a story on an Iraqi exile leader raises some intriguing questions about the paper's coverage of the search for dangerous weapons thought to be hidden by Saddam Hussein. An internal e-mail by Judith Miller, the paper's top reporter [sic] on bioterrorism, acknowledges that her main source for such articles has been Ahmad Chalabi, a controversial exile leader who is paid by top Pentagon officials. Could Chalabi have been using the Times to build a drumbeat that Iraq was hiding WMD?... "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39280-2003May25.html

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OPINION-
NEW YORK TIMES
Who Lied about Iraqi WMDs? NY Times Demands Investigations

"The failure so far to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the prime justification for an immediate invasion, or definitive links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda has raised serious questions about the quality of American intelligence and even dark hints that the data may have been manipulated to support a pre-emptive war. These are critical issues that require thorough review not only by the C.I.A. but also by high-level oversight bodies in the administration and Congress... Bush should ask the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board... headed by Brent Scowcroft... to assess the record on Iraq, and the Congressional intelligence committees should conduct their own reviews. When Bush and Powell repeatedly assured the world that Iraq's unconventional weapons were a threat to international security, they relied on America's intelligence agencies. The country needs to know if the spy organizations were right or wrong."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/opinion/26MON1.html

WATERGATE REDUX?

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May 27, 2003
Democrat search probe spreads to Perry, aide
Pair reportedly in DPS command post
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

"AUSTIN -- A legislative investigator said Tuesday that Gov. Rick Perry and his point man on anti-terrorism were in a state police command post the day the state enlisted federal Homeland Security forces to help search for runaway House Democrats."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1927358

ROBERT BYRD-THE UNLIKELY SUPERSTAR-SHINES

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030602-454491,00.html

"For Byrd, history not only teaches the importance of rules and precedent but also offers warnings for the present. Deviation from democratic process can, he says, cloak an attempt "to dominate all branches of government." For that reason, Byrd says, "this Republic is at its greatest danger in its history because of this Administration."

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"The good news for the Pentagon yesterday was that its investigators had finally unearthed evidence of weapons of mass destruction, including 100 vials of anthrax and other dangerous bacteria.
The bad news was that the stash was found, not in Iraq, but fewer than 50 miles from Washington, near Fort Detrick in the Maryland countryside."

US finds evidence of WMD at last - buried in a field near Maryland

Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday May 28, 2003
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,965319,00.html

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A DIFFERENT SPIN ON NEOCONSERVATIVES:
THEY'RE RADICALS...PHONY CONSERVATIVES..
ARE CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS BEING SUCKED IN?

"Clear Thinking" Counterfeit Conservatives"

"Those who hail and embrace the term neoconservatism, and adopt their dishonesty, are Counterfeit Conservatives."

"...Contrast the collectivism of the neoconservatism with the insights of the Six Canons of Conservative Thought from Russell Kirk....
Then review The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk and the following "Ten Conservative Principles (1993)" ....
Can any honest and truthful traditionalist espouse the policies that neoconservatives maintain and promote, and still retain a valid claim for calling themselves a Conservative? Only the prevaricator of deceit, as defined by Merriam Webster - a former liberal espousing political conservatism - would insist on a perpetual hoax that insults one’s intelligence...."

Understand clearly and unequivocally, neoconservatism is the tormentor of Western Civilization. NeoCons are the enemy, and seek a barbarism equal to the most hardened FDR New Deal "collectivist". Individual Liberty is unpalatable to the counterfeit conservative...."

"...Bill O’Reilly is just a symbol of the symptom.....Mr O’Reilly . . . doesn’t have a clue, nor do the rest of the NeoCons..."

" When Rupert Murdoch testifies before congress to secure News Corp’s latest acquisition - Direct TV - don’t be duped into thinking you will be availed with conservative content. If you think the Weekly Standard or the National Review is conservative, you are sipping that tainted drink and swallowing a fake line. Where are the Kirk Canons and Conservative Principles in any of the NeoCons positions? Limited government, Bill of Right protections, a Republic governance - are all absent from the neoconservatives. Comprehending the nature of the hoax requires an understanding of real conservatism. Surely, those ‘Clear Thinking Americans’ will follow their cue and parrot from the TelePrompTer. Will you be one of them?"

http://pages.zdnet.com/sartre65/view/id25.html

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Blair faces war crimes suit
Greek lawyers say they are going to sue British officials - including Prime Minister Tony Blair - for their role in the Iraq war.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2933140.stm

"The lawyers call the attacks by the United States and British forces against Iraq "crimes against humanity and war crimes".
They have listed a number of international treaties they say the two countries have violated.
These include the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Convention and the International Criminal Court's statute...."

THIS NEEDED TO BE SAID:

EDITORIAL OBSERVER
For Partisan Gain, Republicans Decide Rules Were Meant to Be Broken
By ADAM COHEN


There was a lot not to like about the new Congressional district lines Republicans tried to push through in Texas this month, the ones that made Democratic legislators flee to Oklahoma to prevent a vote. Democratic Austin was sliced into four parts and parceled out to nearby Republican districts. A community on the Mexican border and one 300 miles away were painstakingly joined together and declared to be a single Congressional district. But the real problem was that Republicans were redrawing lines that had just been adopted in 2001, defying the rule that redistricting occurs only once a decade, after the census.

The Texas power grab is part of a trend. Republicans, who now control all three branches of the federal government, are not just pushing through their political agenda. They are increasingly ignoring the rules of government to do it. While the Texas redistricting effort failed, Republicans succeeded in enacting an equally partisan redistricting plan in Colorado. And Republicans in the Senate — notably those involved in the highly charged issue of judicial confirmations — have been just as quick to throw out the rulebook.

These partisan attacks on the rules of government may be more harmful, and more destabilizing, than bad policies, like the $320 billion tax cut. Modern states, the German sociologist Max Weber wrote, derive their legitimacy from "rational authority," a system in which rules apply in equal and predictable ways, and even those who lead are reined in by limits on their power. When the rules of government are stripped away, people can begin to regard their government as illegitimate.

The Texas redistricting effort was part of a national Republican effort to shore up the party's 229-to-205 House majority going into the 2004 elections. The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, who traveled to Austin to supervise the effort personally, was blunt about his motives: "I'm the majority leader, and I want more seats." Texas Republicans seized control of the Legislature last year, and they thought they could add five or more Republican Congressional seats. When the Democrats took off for Oklahoma, the Department of Homeland Security helped hunt down a plane filled with escaping legislators. Sixteen members of Congress from Texas wrote to Attorney General John Ashcroft asking him whether there had been "attempts to divert federal law enforcement resources for private political gain."

In Colorado, Republicans succeeded this month in redrawing the state's Congressional lines, which had been duly redrawn after the 2000 census. Republican state legislators, under the guidance of the presidential adviser Karl Rove, added thousands of Republicans to a district that Bob Beauprez, a Republican, won last year by just 121 votes, and excluded the Democrat who nearly beat him from the district. Democrats have gone to court, charging that Republicans violated Colorado's Open Meetings Law and legislative rules when they sneaked the plan through.

In the judicial battles in the Senate, Republican leaders, frustrated that Democrats have rejected a handful of Bush nominees, have declared war on longstanding Senate rules. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has dispensed with procedures that allow senators to exercise their constitutional "advice and consent" function, in one case holding a single hearing for three controversial nominees, and he has stifled legitimate inquiry. When Senator Charles Schumer tried to ask one nominee about his legal beliefs, Senator Hatch snapped that he was asking "stupid questions."

The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, has declared that filibusters, which allow senators to block action with just 41 votes, should not be used to reject judicial nominations, despite a history of using them to do just that. Abe Fortas was prevented from becoming chief justice in 1968 by a Republican-backed filibuster. While Senator Frist pushes "filibuster reform," Senate Republicans are also talking about a "nuclear option," in which Vice President Dick Cheney would preside over the Senate and hand down a ruling that Rule 22, which permits filibusters, does not apply to judicial nominations.

The Republicans' attack on the rules come at a time when they could easily afford to take a higher road. They have, by virtue of their control of the White House and Congress, extraordinary power to enact laws and shape the national agenda. And this administration is already getting far more of its judges confirmed, and more quickly, than the Clinton administration did.

Weber, in writing about rules, was concerned about what factors kept governments in power. That is not a concern in the United States — there is no uprising in the offing. But when Americans see their government flouting the rules, as they did during Watergate, they respond with cynicism.

In these hard times — with threats from abroad and a sour economy at home — our leaders should be bringing the nation together not by demonizing foreign countries, but by instilling greater faith in our own. They should be showing greater reverence for the rules of government, and looking for other ways — like tougher campaign finance laws — to assure Americans that their government operates evenhandedly.

How likely is that? The word in Texas is that Republicans may try their redistricting plan again. Senate Democrats are bracing for Senator Frist's "filibuster reform," or the "nuclear option."

And Mr. DeLay recently revealed how he felt about rules of general applicability. When he tried smoking a cigar in a restaurant on federal property, the manager told him it violated federal law. His response, according to The Washington Post, was, "I am the federal government."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/opinion/27TUE4.html

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PAUL KRUGMAN/ NY TIMES May 27, 2003


"The Financial Times suggests that "more extreme Republicans" actually want a fiscal train wreck...."

"....balancing the books without tax increases will require deep cuts where the money is: that is, in Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security."

"The Financial Times suggests this is deliberate (and I agree)......"

".... the people now running America aren't conservatives: they're radicals who want to do away with the social and economic system we have, and the fiscal crisis they are concocting may give them the excuse they need. The Financial Times, it seems, now understands what's going on, but when will the public wake up?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/opinion/27KRUG.html

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How the US set a course for war with Iraq
By Quentin Peel, Robert Graham, James Harding and Judy Dempsey
Published: May 26 2003

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1051390328587&p=1012571727088

"Mr Chirac made his move on January 22, the day of the Elysée treaty celebrations. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr Schröder he declared: "War is always an admission of defeat ... the worst of solutions. Hence everything must be done to avoid it." He implied it was a common European policy, although it was not.

It was a fateful day. In Brussels, France, Germany and Belgium blocked a US-led initiative to give Nato support to Turkey in the event of Iraqi retaliation.

The next day in Washington, Donald Rumsfeld, the blunt-spoken US defence secretary, dismissed the fears of "old" Europe. "The centre of gravity is moving east," he said. The stage was set for Europe to split, with a helping hand from the US."

JIM HIGHTOWER SPEAKS....

http://www.jimhightower.com/

Friday, May 23, 2003
"BUSH'S HUG"

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

Who says George W doesn't love working people? I saw him hug one!

The occasion was yet another Bush photo-op, this one in Little Rock at a pep rally to cheer George's plan to give at least half-a-trillion dollars from our public treasury to America's richest people. The Arkansas Republican Party handpicked the cheering audience for the event and, as the TV cameras rolled, a worker was brought onstage for George to hug.

Why a worker? It's part of the Bushite flim flam, trying to deceive We the People into thinking that while this massive giveaway of public funds actually would go into the silk pockets of the wealthy, it's really being done for us – or, as Bush said at the staged media event, "for the American worker."

Workers sure could use a break. Since Bush took office, 2.6 million jobs have been lost, long-term unemployment is up by 184 percent, an additional two million Americans have no health insurance, wages are stagnant, pensions are being eliminated, and more corporations are abandoning America to exploit cheap labor abroad.

But instead of simply putting money directly in the hands of workers by, say, requiring corporations to pay a living wage or by cutting the payroll taxes that workers and small businesses pay – the Bushites are practicing the same old trickle-down economics that George's daddy once ridiculed as "voodoo."

Fatten the rich, goes this bankrupt theory, and they'll buy more luxury SUVs, causing more autoworkers to be hired, and – trickle, trickle – the economy to be stimulated. But wait, the rich are few in number and will only buy so many SUVs – besides, most SUVs aren't made in the U.S., so there won't be any trickle-down on American workers nor any stimulus for our economy.

This is Jim Hightower saying... Bush should have been hugging a Wall Street speculator, for that's his true love. Bush's "economic stimulus" is a fraud – the rich get the money, the rest of us get a made-for-TV hug. Try taking that to the bank. "

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"While hollow men strut aboard aircraft carriers and smack their lips with regal smirks announcing false victories, the war of lies takes it toll in human life. The dead and dying are resurrected as martyrs to justify more violence, and their epitaphs are nothing more than empty slogans and unfulfilled pious promises.

Both sides are wrong. Both sides peer into the mirror of self-righteousness, and see only the vain glorious reflection of their own craven image, not the ugly truth of their tyranny and terror.

To quote T.S. Eliot again:

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

The true weapons of mass destruction are greed, hypocrisy, and moral arrogance; wars built upon lies and false victories of hollow men who seek conquest and dominance over tolerance and peace. "

http://truthout.org/docs_03/052103A.shtml