What is “expansion of freedom"?

What is “expansion of freedom”?

I have a question for you:
Who thinks that President Bush is an abuser of the word “freedom”?

In his inaugural speech today, President Bush recalled America’s “deep commitments”.
He stated he was “determined to fulfill his oath”, and for those who have disagreed with his foreign policy, that is a frightening statement to have heard him make.

He said that our duties are defined by the history we’ve seen together. He’s made some of that history, after the “Day of fire” (9-11) raised a “moral threat” to our nation. (Mortal threat may have been the better word- perhaps I heard him wrong).
President Bush wishes to redeem his narrowly-gained power in the next four years to “reward hope of the decent and the tolerant.” He stated that our liberty depends on liberty in other lands, and that our best hope is the “expansion of freedom”.

WHAT IS “EXPANSION OF FREEDOM”?

What is it going to mean to America?

What will be the dreadful cost?

Shall we ask the Neo Cons?

Shall we ask Donald Rumsfeld?

President Bush said that the urgent requirement of our nation’s security and the “duty of our time” is ending “tyranny in our world”. (This, from the guy who likened nation building to a political disease in 2000).

He vows to help others find their own voice (Or else, I wondered? Snuff their voices out with bombs and American occupation? Have you noticed how big that went over in the Middle east when we charged into Iraq?)

President Bush promises that we will use American power confidently in “freedom’s cause”.
and that freedom is “eternally right”.

The Bush administration’s definition of “freedom” is paramount to the American discussion which must follow; after this inauguration day is over.

President Bush says that human choices move events and that God chooses as He wills.

George Bush claims to have relied upon God’s voice and he made some unfortunate choices these past few years.

He said no one should live at the “mercy of bullies” (I immediately thought to myself: After what we’ve done in Iraq? Hello?)
He said that there’s no justice without freedom.
That depends on what freedom means to you, doesn’t it?

If you ask a lot of Iraq people today (the ones still alive), what their definition of “mercy”, of “bullies”, and of “justice” might be - - well - I think you might be shocked at the difference between their opinion and this American President.

The President focused on the “unfinished work” of American freedom.

I fear he truly believes he needs to finish what he has begun- and then some.

Is anyone worried? Will idealists be the ruin of America by abusing the very word, ” freedom”?

Please Cast Your Vote My Way

Please Cast Your Vote My Way

I've been nominated for The Koufax Awards: Most Deserving of Wider Recognition

Go Here to Vote

It would be deeply appreciated!

Rice admits bad Iraq decisions

Rice admits bad Iraq decisions

Oh, wow. That really does a lot to boost world trust in Ms. Rice.
(Sarcasm intended).

The headline above is a beginning of a truthful exposure - about what this administration's wrong-minded foreign policy has done to American trust - and world trust.

When will Ms. Rice be forced to admit that she willingly misled America?

She has admitted some obvious blunders (which must have really pained her deeply to have to do - she'd probably rather have had a double root canal without novacaine).

I'd heard her misinform the public many times in both the lead-up and the post-"shock and awe"-phase of the pre-emptive attack upon Iraq. I specifically recall her appearance in an interview on the PBS News Hour.

What we knew going into the war was that this man was a threat. He had weapons of mass destruction. He had used them before. He was continuing to try to improve his weapons programs. He was sitting astride one of the most volatile regions in the world, a region out of which the ideologies of hatred had come that led people to slam airplanes into buildings in New York and Washington.
Something had to be done about that threat and the president to simply allow this brutal dictator, with dangerous weapons, to continue to destabilize the Middle East.

LINK

--Condoleeza Rice, July 30, 2003

I'm glad Barbara Boxer dealt with Rice in a straight-on fashion yesterday. I wonder why so many of our Representatves and the media that follows them have been remiss for this long?

Have they learned their lessons yet?

Judging from the Rice confrontation, it looks like they may have begun to learn. When deferring to civility and rules gets us nowhere - when it puts us smack dab in the middle of a war we never should have started - when protocol is abused by bad politics, it's time for giants to awaken..if they are present ANYWHERE in our government today.

We're watching.

I don't want to hear about how we're going to be "spreading freedom" to Iran with bunker busters and a new draft to bulk up a voluntary military of withering numbers.

NEVER AGAIN!


_____________

Why the hawks are circling over Iran
As George W Bush prepares for a second term, his administration is setting its sights on Iran. But, Rupert Cornwell reports, a new foreign policy adventure could be disastrous

Checking In

Checking In

I saw the always-eloquent Pete Hamill speak about and read from his new book, "Downtown: My Manhattan" Tuesday night at Borders in Bethesda, MD. I can't wait to read the book. I'll have more on it upon my return.

I walked down by the MCI Center on Tuesday afternoon and noticed an unusually heavy presence of smartly dressed military men and women, along with tons of security all around. Turns out there was an event taking place where President Bush just happened to be in attendance. LA Times:

The audience of about 10,000 included 60 winners of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for combat bravery. As he began his remarks, Bush snapped them a sharp salute.

The roads around Washington DC were an incredible mess today. There was a snowstorm that produced just enough of the white stuff to disrupt traffic.

I hope the weather will be better for the inauguration tomorrow. I hope to have an insider's report; to be written by a reliable source. A family member will be in attendance. I'll be watching CSPAN for a glimpse of him in the grandstands from my (mercifully) warm hotel room.

I'll be away for a short while

I'll be away for a short while

I'll be in D.C. during inauguration week. I'll try and get back here with blog reports when possible, but due to limited online service, I can't promise regular bloggings.

Have a great week!


- Jude

Morally Empty Absolution

Morally Empty Absolution



President Bush: Don't blame me......and whatever you do, don't ABSOLVE me or my fellow Americans on your own cheap and easy behalf.

"Cheap grace" is worthless. Worthless, worthless, worthless. See Josh Marshall's comments about Bush's latest affront to our sense of intelligence and decency.

“Cheap grace" is absolution without personal confession.
Josh pretty much hit the nail on its head.
In President Bush’s mind, Election 2004–the “great American Communion”, has washed clean what we see as his foreign policy sin.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis, by the way.

See Melanie Mattson's comments.

See Echidne's comments.

Poor Babylon: Works of Ages Destroyed in Two Years' Time

Poor Babylon: Works of Ages Destroyed in Two Years' Time

It is with sorrow, this morning, that I quote the words of my fellow blogger Sapere Aude, a wise world historian and mystic wanderer:

"A profound thought is realized here, that a site that has survived human machinations for thousands of years can be destroyed in two years, a testament to this world's meme of "destroy or be destroyed", a parasidic attitude that has infected our civilization.

Perhaps what is left can be preserved for future generations to visit and study. It's a maudlin thought that future historians must relegate themselves to reading about the ancient city, rather than touch the edifices and stones that were touched by an ancient civilization of ages past."

MLK and the new Dream

"Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world become
A place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together
By the task that stands before us
And the road that lies ahead.."

- James Taylor -

MLK and the new Dream

Martin Luther King said:

"You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."

Reverend Martin was speaking about the tribulations of the people of his time. We often think about people of color when we think of the dear Reverend. Yet, he was not a prophet for people of color alone. He was a fierce defender of righteousness and justice. I look, today, for anyone on the horizon who could match Martin's heart and wisdom. People like him are rare. I see a new group of human beings, regardless of color, who are today's "creative sufferers"; unearned sufferers.

Martin suggested that those who suffered should know that somehow their situation can and will be changed. He said:

"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King. We are bound together, every color, every man and woman living today...suffering today.

The task still stands before us, in our time.

Remember the American dream.

Work to see it fulfilled.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day in the hills and halls of America that the sons and daughters of Blue States and the sons and daughters of Red States will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.



I have a dream that one day even the state of Georgia, a state sweltering with the heat of political treason borne by the likes of Zell Miller, sweltering with the heat of hatred and fear of progress, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that our little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their political ideology, but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down at FOX News and Rush Limbaugh's studio, with their vicious propaganda, with their lips dripping with the words of lies and deliberate misinformation; one day, in spite of them, right there in New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Alabama, Progressive Americans will be able to join hands with American Conservatives as sisters and brothers and get down to the real and meaningful business of healing a nation and a world in need of justice, mercy, and compassion.

I have a dream today.

On First Impressions: Gladwell's New Book "Blink

On First Impressions: Gladwell's New Book "Blink"

Robert Stribley has an interesting blogpost on Malcolm Gladwell's new book.

Random Ten Songs

Random Ten Songs

Roxanne asked for 10 random songs. She said:(1) Fire up your IPOD, MP3 or other digital media player
(2) Set to random play
(3) List the first ten songs

Here are the first ten that came to mind for the way I feel today:


Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man - The Byrds
From The Morning - Nick Drake
Beeswing - Richard Thompson
Streets of London - Ralph McTell
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Light and Day - Polyphonic Spree
Tiger In My Tank - Eels
Echo Park - Joseph Arthur
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Late In The Day - Hot Rize

-- Jude

Cartoon

Credit: Tom Toles Cartoon/Copyright Washington Post

Me, Blaire, and G Star

Hanging out at my brother's place on New Years Eve with my niece, B. Hannah, and my pal G. Star

Bring 'Em On, Li'l Dawgies

Bring 'Em On,
Li'l Dawgies

Hank says: "Bring 'em on? Oh yeah?
We'll see how you swagger when I get
through with ya! Woof!"

LINK

*Thanks, Echidne
Hank rocks. ;)

Protecting Armstrong Williams, Right-Wing Lies About Kos

Protecting Armstrong Williams, Right-Wing Spreads Lies About Kos

Desperately trying to take the "heat" off so-called "journalist" Armstrong Williams, who was caught red-handed taking a government bribe for a secret political agenda, right-wing mud-slingers are suddenly trying to claim that Kos (Markos Moulingas of Daily Kos) secretly had a political agenda while leading one of the top blogs in the world.

THAT'S A LIE.

I have been a Kos diarist a long time. I knew who Markos was and what he did for a living. He has always made it clear.

Kos has NEVER hidden what he does for a living, and the fact that his consulting firm did some work for Howard Dean was made public long ago. Markos was never ashamed and never took taxpayer's money.

The question is: What other journalists have been taking taxpayer bribes from the Bush administration? Who's bribing them?

I want to know!

______________

Related Stories:

Kos speaks (and he's pissed - and I don't blame him a bit for feeling that way.)

American Street - Echidne, who asks: "Who in the government is BRIBING journalists?"

A Story from a YEAR AGO TODAY publicizing Kos' activities. It was no secret!

Wall Street Journal's totally lame-ass attempt to impugn the ethics and integrity of Markos-as-blogger

Digby speaks (via Anonymoses' link)

Disturbed & Deranged in Alabama

Disturbed & Deranged in Alabama

This is really and truly sickening.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. "A woman angry with her 12-year-old daughter for having sex forced the girl to drink bleach and sat on her until the child died..The girl's 9-year-old brother was forced to watch the attack...She told him that if he shed a tear that she was going to kill him, too."....she told authorities she was disturbed because "her daughter told her that she was no longer a virgin."..

LINK

WMD LIES AND BRING 'EM ON BLUNDERS

WMD LIES AND BRING 'EM ON BLUNDERS

What can YOU do?
-- Go to the above link and watch.
-- E-Mail Congress - ask them to stand up and challenge Bush's deceitful policy on Iraq.
-- E-Mail President Bush - tell him you know policy in Iraq is a failure and is based on a lie. When saving face means sacrificing and taking more precious lives, it's time to put it to a screeching halt.

This dismal puzzle has already been done for you.


credit: Christian Science Monitor, Bennett Cartoons

Want a laugh?

Want a laugh?

If you've seen the film Napoleon Dynamite, this is a must-see.

Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility

Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility

On January 9, I'd written about the upcoming invitation-only conference Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility to be held at Harvard on January 21 and 22. The schedule is here.
At Greensboro101 and Ed Cone, I was referred to a link at Raving Lunacy about the conference and
The 'Head Lemur' breaks down the strange fellowship of Blogging as tool, Journalism as occupation, and Credibility as goal. He comments that, while only time and events will bestow credibility to anybody, it's undeniable that the Internet is becoming the primary source for news and information for more and more people, and that there is both promise and danger to the intersection of blogging and journalism. Be sure to read his entire blogpiece.

Ed Cone, who will attend the conference, says that Greensboro has

"interesting things going on here with our traditional journalists as they try to figure out how blogging and newspapers co-exist."

Looking ahead to the time he gets to the Harvard conference, Ed says:

I think I have something to tell the media elite in Cambridge next week, and that is the way traditional and alternative journalism are being practiced on the web here Greensboro. It's not about blogging as punditry, or blogs as the bane of reckless TV journalists, it does not answer burning questions about the place of bloggers in the social hierarchy of Manhattan and DC, but it does address the issues of blogging, journalism, and credibility.

As a community blogger working in harmony with the Syracuse, NY newspaper, The Post Standard, I can relate to Greensboro blogger David Wharton, who will blog about a local issue one day and blog about the tsunami the next.

I wish Ed Cone and all attendees the best of luck at the conference.

Meet the next-door blogger/Syracuse.com

Meet the next-door blogger
By Brian Cubbison, Assistant News Editor
Syracuse Post Standard, January 13, 2005

My interaction with the Greensboro101 bloggers was printed on Page 2 of The Syracuse Post Standard yesterday.

If you live in Cazenovia, Parish or Camillus, your neighbor might be a blogger.

Syracuse.com is nurturing local bloggers who write about their neighborhoods. It’s a trend that’s also taking roots in communities in New Jersey, North Carolina and Washington state.

Jim Jurista writes the Cazenovia Free Press. The technology consultant writes about national politics or village events, such as the Cold War and a men’s night out.

Lou Guindon writes Positively Parish, sometimes in the classic style of a weekly newspaper: "Mr. and Mrs. James Anderson and Lloyd and Arreta Ware had dinner at a local restaurant Friday evening and then enjoyed a duel of cards, the men beating the women. Arreta’s home made chocolate cake soothed the ladies, but they pledged to get even another time."

In Faith Meets Life, the Rev. Jim Corl, of Christ Church in Manlius, wrote a post-election blog about values.

Donna Reynolds, of Syracuse, writes a daily blog, That’s Entertainment. This prolific freelancer is an assistant editor for Reality News Online, among other projects. She’s your source for Survivors, Idols, Amazing Racers and Elvis water on eBay.

Orange fans write blogs about Syracuse University sports. Downstate and Jersey fans weigh in on the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Jets and Giants.

Gridiron Grit covers local high school football and Track Smack follows auto racing. Dr. Scott Petosa, tennis coach at LeMoyne College, writes The Fitness Fanatic.

When the News and Record of Greensboro, N.C., wondered how to turn a traditional newspaper into an online destination of the future, it turned to the local bloggers at greensboro101.com and the visionaries at the Press Think blog at New York University.

From Camillus, Jude Nagurney Camwell urged them on. She writes The Rational Liberal at syracuse.com. She vouched for her experiences with syracuse.com and The Post-Standard and urged on the Greensboro experiment. "The people in Greensboro have such talent — and such heart!" she wrote. "I wonder — is it something in the drinking water?"

Maybe blogging is in your water. To check them out, or to start your own, go to
www.syracuse.com/weblogs

— Brian Cubbison, assistant news editor

For more, plus links to sources mentioned here, see the News Tracker blog at
www.syracuse.com/newslogs/ newstracker/

* The soundtrack:From "Hometown Hero" by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Copyright 2004 The Post-Standard

Press Think Comments on Rathergate

"If the anchorman is on the hook, you don't let him do the news from the hook position."
- Jay Rosen, speaking about Dan Rather

Press Think Comments on Rathergate

Don't miss Jay Rosen's Press Think coverage in the aftermath of the release of the CBS report on "Rathergate". I had recently said that Mary Mapes' superiors should have been held responsible. Mr. Rosen seems to agree, and gives his reasons. He says:

My other major reaction is that, like others, I am shocked that CBS News President Andrew Heyward still has his job. This is the reason.

As soon as the reporting of the Air National Guard story came under question, CBS had not one but two problems. The evidentiary problems with the story were one. The involvement--no, the immersion--of Dan Rather in the events thereafter was the other. Rather is the star of CBS News, the face of the brand, the personification of the news division. The anchor. Immediately it was clear that he had "bigfooted" the rest of the division and took over defense of a case in which he was accused. In effect, he was making policy for the network, as when he said that there is no investigation underway at CBS. There were huge dangers for Rather, for CBS News and for the network itself in allowing Rather to become so involved in defense of the story, which muted everyone else "under" Rather, leaving only Andrew Heyward, the boss, who did not act. He was the one who could have protected the brand and his friend, Dan Rather, by speaking truth to (star) power. The responsibility was his alone and he failed in the clutch.

See Mr. Rosen's Short Letter to Dan Rather.

"So I kind of resent your attitude toward your numerous critics who operate their own self-published sites on the Web. They were being more accurate than you were, much of the time. I don't speak for them, but I know my own archive." Plus: Lose the spokeswoman, Dan. Hire a blogger.

Not a bad idea, eh?