Daily Times/Pakistan Op-ed:
Postmodernism and Islam: After 9/11? —Professor Akbar S Ahmed
The challenge to postmodernism did not come from the expected quarters. It came from George W Bush and Osama bin Laden...

"...postmodernism is, if nothing else, is resilient. Ideas of universal acceptance, compassion and understanding are difficult to erase. While Islam is being demonised by many in America as a religion of terrorists and extremists, books on Islam are doing brisk business at the bookstores.
Maulana Rumi, a Muslim mystic born centuries ago in what is now Afghanistan, is one of America’s favourite poets. Rumi’s example in itself is evidence the spirit of postmodernism still survives the Grand Narrative.
Indeed, it is desperately needed in the violent and anarchic world that September 11 has engendered. The predicament of living in the early part of the21st century will be assuaged by the promise and practice of universal compassion and understanding that lie at the heart of both postmodernism and Islam."

YES! Harkin Endorses Dean!



"He's the Harry Truman of our generation"
-Iowa Senator Tom Harkin on Howard Dean

Harkin blogs on BlogforAmerica.com after endorsing Dean in IA - Credit: photo by Ryan Witt/ DeanforAmerica.com

NostradamIddy Predicts-
October 31, 2004
U.S. ASTRONAUTS FIND SADDAM AGAIN!
THIS TIME ON MARS!!!

These are especially the times I realize we need new leadership

"Iran is ready to negotiate with all countries, and America is no exception," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on state television. "If it adopts a new approach to Iran and is ready to interact with us based on mutual respect and the principle of equality, the atmosphere will change remarkably."

This is a great opportunity. I am hearing great messages of hope from leaders of Iran, Syria, Libya (although I have nothing but disgust for the appeased terrorist Osama Bin Laden Mu'ammar Gadhafi).

On one hand, we have Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and their track record of reliance upon (and involvement with) the NeoCon "no diplomacy" gang. They are a stubborn, mean lot. They refuse to play well with others. They would have failed Kindergarten...and I'm not joking about that.

On the other hand, we have hope. We we know now that will entail new U.S. leadership.

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

When a big head on your cable news TV screen (you know the type-perfect coif/chiclet-white teeth/doe eyes/glossy plastic-puffy lips) is telling you that the sky is falling and the code is yellow and the big bad wolf is out to kill you, kill you, kill you, kill you, ........

...remember that FEAR is POWER.


"An invisible man was gonna blow up the world yesterday. He didn't show up for his flight. But we know he was gonna do it. Chances are YOU would've died! The great Bush saved the world. We're all gonna die!"

I'm sick of the hopelessness and fear-mongering which is promoted on our media today.
Aren't you?
Did you ever think the Bush administration may LIKE you to remain afraid...feeling powerless? Needing them to take care of you?
The great hope of our Founding Fathers was self-government.
How is it that we have forgotten?

We, the People, have the POWER to take back our country and make it a place of hope once again, we need to remember the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (from his first inaugural speech):

"...This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read the words of someone who doesn't happen to be American. Get some perspective, people.

"The sun set on the British Empire and we've pretty much managed to deal with it. You'll cope. And you'll cope a lot better if you start remembering that all those people coming into your country are mostly your guests rather than your enemies, and that they've come to visit the Land of the Free, a beacon of fairness and democracy in this benighted world...
.....Vigilance is an ongoing low-key kind of thing that involves people quietly observing and doing what needs to be done, not this arm-waving 'we're all going to die if we don't stop every brown-skinned person coming into our country' hysteria. Your country boasts continually about its intelligence gathering, yet from here I can't help thinking that your intelligence gathering isn't very effective if you can't actually find the people you're looking for – the ones who you claim to know about – without harrassing everyone else along the way.....

Helen Thomas: Remove Arrows from Dean's Back
Cocco: A Goal for Dean: Push a Multi-Faith Theme
Madison Capital Times: Dean's Right on Saddam
Lindorff: Dean and his Democratic detractors


Helena Cobban to U.S. Government: Grow Up/Stop lying and rewriting History/Recognize your place in the world

Grow up and get used to it, babe. People are still chewing and stewing about 1876.
Perhaps the readers at World Net Daily have forgotten about Sam Tilden vs. Rutherford B. Hayes, but historians are
still arguing the legitimacy of that one.
If you think people aren't going to be talking about Bush v. Gore in 2004, you're plum nuts.
Of course the GOP would be wary to respond.
Their guy won by one dubious vote (by hijacking robed partisans instead of the People) in a case never worthy to be used as precedent for any other future case that could be called "legal".
Rightwing screechmonkeys kept telling Dems to "get over it"...now I have to tell the rightwing screechmonkeys to get over it themselves. Criminy, their man won.
Grow up, already. Take the consequences of the dubious action, crybabies.

Gephardt and Kerry's desperate teams read the New York Times Pop-Schlock Op-Eds, Too
See?
Now, what did I predict just yesterday?

Oh, man..these hacks are so predictable....everything I said came true!
Look at what Gephardt's manager wrote to Dean manager Joe Trippi..in part:
"..In the past several weeks, it has come to our attention that your campaign in Iowa is engaged in an effort to violate caucus rules and send out-of-state supporters to pose as Iowa residents and caucus in cities and towns across the state.
First reported in Newsweek (November 22, 2003; enclosed), one of your staff members has contacted us to confess that efforts to send non-Iowans to caucus is indeed a critical piece of your "perfect storm" strategy. Despite your campaign's claim in the Newsweek story that action taken to organize out of state voters were those of a single "kid from Burlington," we have learned that the problem is much deeper than that....An op-ed in yesterday's New York Times (January 7, 2003; enclosed) correctly points out that one doesn't need "a valid voter registration card or proof of residency -- any identification at all -- to take part in Iowa's caucuses. [sic]..."
Letter and reply in entirety here.

Did I peg these selazoids or what?????

Not a word of these accusations are true. I volunteer on the Dean team...they are on the square about everything they ask us to do.
It's nothing more than opportunist filth borne of gossip journalism. Kudos to Dan Savage and especially the new Enquirer-style editors at the N.Y.Times! Bring Jayson Blair back! Woohoo.

By the way, I doubt there's a shred of truth to this sleazy accusation. It looks like a grande play on wording.

Powell Slams Carnegie Think-Tank Report on Iraq

...but Powell accepted policies on Iraq that he believed were calamitous. He is diminished as a result

Why should we now put our faith in the Sceretary who cried 'Wolf'?

Sure you do, rightwing screechmonkey, sure you do
I knew it would take these whiners about a minute to capitalize negatively on the Maidstone Club/Dean connection after reading Mark Singer's New Yorker piece.
Meowwwwww!

Did you ever ask yourself:
'What will David Frum look like in another 30 years?'



Wonder no more.
ANONYMOSES has developed new technology to allow you to glimpse into the Frum future.
It's amazing...absolutely amazing!

New Yorker/Mark Singer
Howard Dean--Running On Instinct
I'm going to sit in my comfy chair and read this new Mark Singer article about Howard Dean. It's in my January 12, 2004 edition of the New Yorker (which just arrived in my mail).
I wanted to make you aware that it's on the internet...so you can read along with me!
*I wish you could see the childhood photos of Governor Dean and his family.*

BBC News-"Your Party":
Howard Dean is the Inspiration for New British Political Party
"...The idea grew out of a disillusionment with mainstream politics, and a desire "to do some good, to make a difference". He also insists that Your Party is not a slave to any existing political ideology.
"There is no single political idea. It doesn't sit somewhere on the political spectrum.
"We believe that there should be some structure there which represents people on an issue-by-issue basis. We believe that should be a part of the political landscape."

New Republic is Decidedly Part of the Stop-Dean Machinery

They endorse Joe Lieberman
On the same day, they make a case for Wesley Clark.
(Seems oddly contradictory, doesn't it?)

As Dean supporters, New Republic's assault upon the intellect and morality of Howard Dean is incredibly insulting to OUR intelligence and OUR morality.
Quote: "The problem with Dean's vision of the Democratic Party is more than electoral; it is intellectual and moral."

To this, I can only reply that both Lieberman and Dean are intelligent, honest, moral men.
They have a difference in their views on how the Democrats conducted themselves over the past three years.
When it all falls out, we will be left behind to take those differences in ideology and let the chips fall where they may.
It is entirely out of line to make a moral issue of the differences.
After the heinous awakening in September, 2001, in the end, the choice between Lieberman and Dean is all about the ease with which the Democrats facilitated Bush's unnecessary (non-terror-related) war. Over 500 of our troops are gone now. We can't bring them back. Oh Lord, I wish we could. But we can insure we have a leader who won't hawkishly lead us (and our children) by the nose to another unnecessary war. The greatest case for Dean vs. Lieberman began in October, 2002. It is a matter of trusting the intelligent and reasonable intuition of a leader. We'll have rough waters to navigate over the next eight years. I trust Howard Dean the most. I'm confident most Americans will agree with me as we go through the nomination season.

Here's what I think about this New Republic Statement knocking Howard Dean:

"The Democratic Party is racing back to the '80s.."

If they mean the 1780s, they may be right.
Howard Dean is reminding us all what the Constitution means and that we, the People, have a vested interest in participating to create a healthier democracy. Our ideas matter..not the ideas of the "New Democrats" and the "DLC".....but all of us.

Take a look at this beauty from the New Republic endorsement:

"Liberals resent Lieberman's moralism."

That, my blogdom friends, is what we call a crock of shit (please pardon the French).

KOS has commentary about the TNR endorsement. He used the first phrase that came to my mind after reading the
schlocky piece: Did I mention TNR sucks?


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

UPI Analysis: Is Clark on the Skids?

"...Why did retired Gen. Wesley Clark "take a Sherman" and bow out of consideration as Howard Dean's vice presidential running mate Sunday? Clark is clearly "going for broke," still convinced he can grasp the Democratic presidential nomination. But it does not appear to be a wise strategy.
....For Clark is being unexpectedly whipsawed from two directions. He now finds himself fighting a political war on two fronts, and he is losing both of them.....
....All this could yet change. Clark might after all defy the polls and humble Dean as he expected to in the South and West. But so far, the poll numbers and the other data flowing in from the field all point against it. Clark is not breathing down Dean's neck. The cold, icy ghost of Al Haig's presidential meltdown is breathing down his..."

Shame Upon our Nation:
Dr. Rafil Dhafir- Locked up in the Bush administration's "war on terror"

His "crime" was to help desperate Iraqis.

"....WHILE SADDAM Hussein remains locked up at an undisclosed location in Iraq, another Iraqi man is behind bars in Jamesville Penitentiary in New York state. The jailer in both cases is the U.S. government.
Dr. Rafil Dhafir has spent over nine months in various prisons in the area around Syracuse, N.Y. He was arrested on February 26, 2003, by federal officials for violating the International Economic Powers Act. This law prohibits individuals from providing material aid to the Iraqi people.
Dhafir has been targeted because of his work with the U.S.-based charity organization Help the Needy. Help the Needy was founded in 1994 with the intention of soliciting money for the starving and oppressed people of Iraq...
Was he just one more casualty in the government’s ruthless drive to war? Was this arrest and the intimidation tactics used against thousands of Arab-Americans and Muslims in this country simply a way to "shock and awe" potential antiwar activists into submission? Was Dhafir targeted to deflect attention away from Bush’s obsession with overthrowing Saddam Hussein?...
...In the final analysis, Dr. Rafil Dhafir is no criminal. Rather, he is a hero for his compassion, bravery and dedication to humanitarian causes. His victimization by the U.S. government should serve as a clarion call to alert us to a government and justice system that has turned the world of heroes and criminals upside down. "

-Dhafir has been an American citizen since 1972, but he was born and educated in Iraq. He is also a prominent member of the Muslim community in Syracuse, N.Y., and a much-respected doctor specializing in the care of cancer patients.-

Middle East/Food for thought:
Peace threats--Columnist asks why no peace-plan is "serious" enough for Sharon
"...The EU-Syria multi-billion euro Economic and Political Agreement is to be signed early this year.
This requires Damascus to implement its economic reform plans. Hence, the way forward for the young Assad is to continue to bombard Israel with peace threats..."
- Mustapha Karkouti, former president, Foreign Press Association in London

~~~~~~~~

Syrian President Assad's recent comments about nuclear proliferation have not helped to secure the
EU-Syrian Political and Economic agreement. (Assad had said he would not agree to destroy his chemical weapons unless Israel abandoned its undeclared nuclear arsenal, estimated at between 100 and 200 warheads. "Unless this applies to all countries, we are wasting our time," he'd said.)
The agreement would open the European markets to Syria, which was an isolated Socialist country. This could be a wonderful opportunity for Syria. I hope they don't blow it.
The European Union still believes that change must come from the young Syrian president who believes in modernism and reform. The delay in this track caused by Assad's negligent comments disappoints European friends who regard Syria's isolation as a setback for the region, and the West. We should all hope President Assad realizes the importance of this agreement and the dangers of WMD proliferation.
I think our own American leadership has been very poor in the area of stemming nuclear proliferation. We've neglected old treaties and have not bothered to reach out to the international community to reach any consensus of new ideas.
Worse yet, the Bush administration has alienated much of the international community and shown the U.N. that they are virtually nothing to us other than a useless hurdle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syrian President Bashar Assad began his visit to Turkey ­(the first by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in the 1940s). Many ­have hailed this visit as “historic and optimistic.”

Assad interview on Syria's relations with Turkey

~~~~~~~~~

Link between Syria and Spider-Man and Wal-Mart?
By J.R. Labbe/JWR
"A shopping spree turns into a geo-political awakening"

General Pervez Musharraf has a long, dangerous road ahead of him

Dean has not ruled out a "middle-class tax cut," but that the details have not been completed and the policy would not be announced until after primary voting has begun.

Some of Dean's economic advisors believe he should propose his own tax cuts for the middle class — both to ease the economic strain on working families and to avoid giving Bush an opening to run similar political ads. LINK

Josh Marshall on Davis Brooks 1-6 column

A Word About the 1-6 David Brooks Column
I just noticed that Josh Marshall wrote about the January 6 Brooks column and had similar things to say....in his own unparagoned way, of course. See Talking Points Memo.

"...One of the greatest rhetorical and moral challenges of opinion writing is how to respond to or critique aggressively dishonest or tendentious arguments. One part of you wants to discuss the underlying issue with its complexities and ambiguities intact
--- and every issue has complexities and ambiguities. But, in battles of ideas, decibels and clarity matter. And, to take up a different sort of metaphor, the niceties of conflict resolution are hardly appropriate or sensible if you’re trapped in a dark alley with a couple mafia goons...
A case in point is the increasingly brazen tendency for conservative columnists to label any critical discussion of neoconservatism as a form of anti-Semitic diatribe."

Thank you, Josh.

FLUMMERY Rocks!
This site has my TTLB New Blog Showcase vote..it's very funny!
Flummery: Howard Dean Says Something