Bush Speech: Covering the Day After

Bush Speech:
Covering the Day After

Juan Cole:

..There are no Iraqi military units that can and will fight independently against the Sunni guerrillas, so all those statistics he quoted are meaningless.

..The people in Fallujah and Ramadi were not sitting around plotting terrorism three years ago. They had no plans to hit the United States. Terrorism isn't a fixed quantity. By unilaterally invading Iraq and then bollixing it up, Bush and Vines have created enormous amounts of terrorism, which they are now having trouble putting back in the bottle.

..Maybe 8 percent of the fighters in Iraq are foreign jihadis. Of the some 25,000 guerrillas, almost all are Iraqi Sunni Arabs who dislike foreign military occupation of their country...Moreover, many of those jihadis fighting in Iraq wouldn't even be jihadis if they weren't outraged by Bush's invasion and occupation of a Muslim country.

TomDispatch.com:

No administration in memory has been quicker to lie in its own interests and never stop doing so, no matter what.

Arianna Huffington on Bush using 9/11 so many times in his speech, and David Gergen calling it Bush's successful "trump card":

It turns out that when the media abdicate their responsibility to tell it like it is -- like they and we all know it is -- and call a deception a deception, our leaders will take advantage of that and, yes, continue to deceive.

Which brings us back to Bush. So 9/11, which he mentioned, by the way, five times in his speech, is his trump card?

Here’s Wikipedia on what a trump card is:

In card games, trumps frequently figure in trick-taking games such as bridge, euchre, and spades. Trumps are cards (usually, all the cards of one particular suit) which rank above non-trump cards...

But this is not a trick-taking game. It’s war -- and a matter of life and death. And if your trump card is a universally acknowledged lie, what does that say about the deck you’re playing with?

At Democracy Now:

Fmr. Pentagon Insider LT. COL. KAREN KWIATKOWSKI Blasts Bush's Iraq Speech and Repeated References to 9/11

I was actually curious as to who he was addressing this speech to. I mean, there were so many things in there that just don't match with reality, whether it's the American strategy, why we're in Iraq, which was supposedly why he gave this address, to explain to the American people why this is worth it, and yet he didn't speak about any of those reasons.

Journalist Patrick Cockburn Calls Iraq a "Bloody Mess" One Year After Handover of "Sovereignty"

..in a way, the atrocities committed by Zarqawi has made it much easier for the administration to pretend that no news is good news. In fact, no news out of Iraq means that something so horribly dangerous is going on that nobody can report it.

Mother of Soldier Killed in Iraq: "The Best Way To Honor My Son's Death Would Be To Bring The Troops Home"

Iraqi Blogger Criticizes Western Media For Excluding Iraqi Voices

Rahul Mahajan: "Bush Trots Out Bin Laden to Justify Anything He is Doing"

..in order to bring any kind of clarity to this situation, the United States has to withdraw. If it withdraws and part of the settlement is, in fact, that all Iraqi forces that will negotiate with each other, which includes the mainstream politicians now, it includes most of the resistance, it includes Muqtada al-Sadr, but it does not include Zarqawi and people like that. Then as the U.S. is withdrawing, and these other factions can easily come together and negotiate and agree to deal with the terrorism problem they have. In the absence of a withdrawal, however, just the reverse dynamic happens, and more and more of the resistance factions feel as if Zarqawi is on their side.

Bush Speech: Nothing Has Changed

Bush Speech: Nothing Has Changed
See my remarks, written directly after hearing almost the same speech from Bush on September 7, 2003.

Excerpt:

BUSH:
"Two years ago [in 2001], I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places. Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there -- and there they must be defeated."


BACK THEN, I RESPONDED:
"The central front of a war on terror? Do you mean Pakistan? Saudi Arabia--where most of the 9-11 hijackers came from? Are you speaking of the Phillipines? Indonesia? Iran? Georgia? Azerbijan?

Are you saying the heart of terror was or is in Iraq?

Or are you saying you carefully CHOSE Iraq because she was the weakest nation, knowing you would "bring on" the terrorists from all these other regions once the pre-emptive attack began?

If that is the case, and it appears it IS the case from all you have said, then you were immoral and the cause of the Iraq war was unjust.

You told us, Mr. Bush, that Iraq's regime posed an "imminent threat". That is what you said.

You lied."

I had ended with my hope, which is an unrealized two-year-old hope:

The U.S. needs UN and international cooperation to lighten the overwhelming economic and military burdens.

Mr Bush, you also need desperately to counter these perceptions of U.S. unilateralism. Swallow this dangerous pride, Mr. Bush.
It's getting late.

See my comments from the same day, "HOW MANY "NEW EXPLANATIONS" WILL THERE BE FOR MAKING WAR UPON IRAQ?"

I feel hopeless after hearing the old new Bush speech. It was all hat - and no cattle. I listened for indications that Bush had a strategy - that he knew how to win - not just with slogan-words like "freedom" - but to tell us what winning will really look like. He obviously has no strategy, other than the losing one he's been pursuing for over two years.

Bush said "We will stay in Iraq as long as we are needed — and not a day longer." According to Donald Rumsfeld, that could be twelve years from now. Twelve more years - and not a day longer.

TRANSCRIPT HERE

Clear Path to Victory?!

Clear Path to Victory?!
President Bush will speak to the nation tonight. With no expected move, on his part, to change in the incompetent strategy in Iraq, President Bush expects us to believe there is a clear path to some imagined victory. Prior statements from his administration serve to prove a lack of clarity and historically proven inaccuracy.

NYT-

[Scott] McClellan suggested that Mr. Bush would not signal any change in military or diplomatic strategy. Instead, he said, the president will emphasize that Iraq is making progress despite the mounting loss of life, and that the United States cannot allow the understandable concern about the violent insurgency to deter it from completing the job.

______________

Why I am on a 'clear path' to not being convinced:



Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Feb. 7, 2003, to U.S. troops in Aviano, Italy:

"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:
Sunday, June 26, 2005-

"That insurgency could go on for any number of years. Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years. Coalition forces, foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency."

Vice President Dick Cheney-
March 16, 2003, on Meet the Press:

"I think it will go relatively quickly...(in) weeks rather than months."

Larry King, to Vice president Dick Cheney, May 30, 2005, about the Iraq war:

It's not going to be a 10-year event?

Vice President Dick Cheney:

No. I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time. But I think the level of activity that we see today, from a military standpoint, I think will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

_________________



The only quote that makes sense in the whole bunch:

Zbigniew Brzezinski, US National Security Advisor during the cold war conflict, on Saturday, June 25, 2005:

"Patriotism and love of country do not demand endless sacrifice on the part of our troops in a war justified by slogans."

Shelby Foote Has Died

Shelby Foote Has Died

Sadly, I just learned that novelist and Civil War historian Shelby Foote has passed away. He was 88. His sweet southern drawl and keen knowledge pulled me into the stories which Ken Burns put together so well in his Civil War series. I thought he was a beautiful man, in every way. He will be greatly missed.

Headlines

Headlines

Chinese Bid for Unocal Adds Fuel to Fire
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Google
Bloomberg
Reuters
LA Times

These moves highlight a startling trend of aggressive competition between the established economy of the United States and the speeding locomotive of the Chinese economy. China's dependence on petroleum imports (already 40% of its demand) is rapidly growing. With the likelihood that all domestic oil production will peak by 2020 or sooner, industry pushes China and the rest of the world into a cold war of finite resources.-LINK-Your Village Voice

Anonymoses - Charlotte's Billy Graham is the exemplar
"Forget all those fakes. Billy is the real deal, and he apparently showed it in New York."

WRAL.com:
Poll: More N.C. Residents Disapprove Bush's Handling Of War
Poll Conducted by WRAL and News-Observer, Raleigh, NC


Audit questions $1.4b in Halliburton bills
Expenses at issue from Iraq contracts
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff, June 28, 2005

U.S. Sen. Feingold Calls on Rumsfeld to Stop Collecting Personal Information of High School Students
(wisdems.org)

Feingold pushes Bush for withdrawal timetable

Steve and Jen's News Blog - Fight the FEC!
- "People are journalists by their actions, not their tools."
- "Once they make rules about what people can say, they won't stop. Unless the blog is campaign-related, they need to leave it alone." - Steve Gilliard comment


Fred Phelps "has only to look in the mirror for evil"
Metro West Daily News, by Deborah Gauthier
(Phelps promises to picket the funerals of the "Godless fag American soldiers when the pieces come home.")

Kidnapping in Italy
A few months ago, Jeanne at Body and Soul wrote about a controversy in Italy over the CIA's apparent abduction of an Egyptian imam in Milan. The man was rendered to Egypt, where he was reportedly tortured. An Italian judge's office has announced that he has ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents involved in the kidnapping.
At War and Piece, Laura Rozen has an update. With half the CIA's Italian ops' cover and real names all over the Italian press, which has come from considerable help from the Milan prosecutor's office, is this revenge for the US's killing of Italian agent Nicolo Calipari? Or a battle between agencies in the Italian government?

Don't Miss:
General admits to secret air war
By Michael Smith

Raw Story:
The Unofficial War
(Raw Story’s tracking of the unofficial war graphic

Brad Blog: Congressional Members to Hold 'Downing Street' Town Hall Meetings on July 23rd!

AfterDowningStreet.org:
Downing Street Minutes to Hit House Floor
Your help is needed. Please contact your Congress Member right away and ask them to contact the Judiciary Committee staff and commit to taking part.
Phone: 1-877-762-8762


Axis of Logic:
Why the American Press Remains Paralyzed

'Spikes of Activity' In The DSM
Saturday, June 25, 2005

PSoTD:
Tracking the Congressional roll call for investigating the Downing Street Memo


Ex-Guantanamo inmates allege Holy Qur’aan sacrilege
(this is not much different than the infamous Isikoff Newsweek article)
Related:
NYT: "Senators Laud Treatment of Detainees in Guantanamo"
("Operation Happy Talk" - "Whether or not people are being fed orange chicken," Ms. Musa, of Amnesty International, said, "does not get at the heart of the issue." [TCI]


New York Times continues to pimp the Judy Miller case as world shattering, it matters to you news
The Common Ills

Ayn Clouter at the American Street - Check out the wittiest satire to come along in the wake of the wishy-washy Ten Commandemnets decision.


"Seek and You Shall Find"

Colonial Theater Reborn in Fredricksburg, VA.
A Fredericksburg theater troupe teamed with Historic Kenmore recently to give four performances of an 18th-century Restoration comedy on the lawn at Kenmore.

Art experts seek long-lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci
AP/Globe and Mail June 20

Recent Events Clearly Prove That Race Still Matters
Wilmington Journal 6/27/05

WTOP News: Hull-Less Barley Makes Beer Tastier
As we look at gas prices and our dependency on foreign oil, this could be another big boost to agriculture. Hull-less barley is easier on ethanol production equipment because it is less abrasive.

"We got in the wrong way. Let's get out the right way."

Iraq: "We got in the wrong way. Let's get out the right way."

I believe this will be a very effective soundbite. It will be part of a new MoveOn.org campaign. Regardless of what fathead Karl Rove says, MoveOn.org has had it right all along. They get to Karl - and it shows. By invoking their name, he aims to make them poison to mainstream Democrats. I certainly hope they won't buy into Karl's attempt to cow them. They needn't be afraid, if they trust the hearts of fellow Democrats. This is an important time in political history - for political courage, conviction, and fierce defense of the people who are not afraid to show it.

I wanted to share a letter I had written to my Congressman James Walsh today. I have removed some personal information for my own privacy.

Dear Congressman Walsh:

On the day before you voted "YES" to the Iraq War resolution in October, 2002, I had called your office to entreat you not to do so. I recall getting emotional - even though I'd tried to hold back. I was upset because I had followed developments closely - solemnly studying and analyzing known facts and opinions. I knew this war was wrong and that our President was misleading you. I am so sorry it has come to this sad point - with the Downing Street memos revealing that all I had anlayzed and personally concluded was true.

I cannot abide by what I know this President has done, Congressman Walsh. I just cannot do it. It isn't possible, in a moral sense, for me to turn my head and forget the damage that has been done by a President breaking faith with the American people.

I am asking you to examine your own conscience. I have many relatives, including my own father.. who are veterans of American wars. We look to the people who lead this nation to do what is right.

Please do the right thing. This madness in Iraq cannot go on. The civil war we've unleashed (and contributed to) with our inadequate show of force, poor planning, strategic incompetence, compounded by the bold-faced lies told by our leaders - only serve to weaken and endanger our military men and women - and our nation's reputation around the world.

I would ask you to join many of your Republican counterparts in the House and press this President for a timetable to get us out of this liars' mess.

Although I realize how politically fragile you feel, a refusal to press for an investigation into questions that the Downing Street memo have raised would not engender a lot of respect for the moral courage I thought you might have.

We're out here watching. We, the American public, know what's happening. The fantasy being played out in Washington, D.C., with a deliberate denial of the horror we see every day on our television screens and no real plan for short-term success, is becoming more and more damaging to you folks in the Congress every day. Your aproval rating is somewhere near 19%. Why is there such a "disconnect" between what is real and what is being fantasized by so many Republicans today? Do you think the public doesn't see it? When did we stop being one America? Why are decent and intelligent people who are paying the closest attention ignored? Why would you care to play a willing part in this great fantasy?

You are a politician, but you are first and foremost, a human being. Could you look me in the eye in another year or two and tell me that you need my son to be drafted to (or to volunteer for) a war which you believe we can be truly proud to fight?

I hear Donald Rumsfeld saying that the insurgency will last another twelve years. Then, I hear our President saying he refuses to set timetables for our departure from Iraq. It isn't hard to understand how any rational person could surmise that we stand a chance of having to send our military men and women to Iraq for twelve more years unless we move definitively toward an exit strategy.

Please, in the name of God and what is right - truly right for our nation and its reputation and inner-strength - act now.

Thank you for listening.

Downing Street Memo Revelation Missed By Media

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Will Miller and Cooper Go to Jail?

Ernest Judith and Matthew Go To Jail
Hah! Whoever said the press was protected by the First Amendment? Perhaps those Founding Idiot Fathers did, but surely not the Supreme Court!

At Press Think, Harry Shearer recently commented:

You quote a National Review writer thusly: "Readers expect a certain amount of American-ness in their reporters. They expect that since the source of these reporters’ liberties is the U.S. Constitution, then perhaps they owe the U.S. a tiny bit of loyalty." Don't conservatives, and Christians, and the Founders, believe that the source of these reporters' liberties (and those of the rest of us) is (to use one formulation) Nature and Nature's God, not the Constitution?

Behold the face of God.

Moses, Git Out the Courthouse

"Moses, Git Out the Courthouse"
A New Hit by The Supremes...

NY Times Promises Less Clarity for the Sake of Keeping Conservatives Happy

NY Times Promises Less Clarity for the Sake of Keeping Conservatives Happy
The New York Times is promising that the paper will back off from publishing clearly and realistically. In Bill Keller's stated quest for a more 'even-handed' (less "urban" - ahem) treatment of stories, you can see he is pandering to Conservatives, even though he avers that he is not. (It seems as if they are already beginning the bamboozling). If this is a route they choose, I believe that the blogosphere will take a bit of the power, credibility, and the left-minded audience the NY Times once had. The last bastion of clarity for people who respect intellect and clarity - the Internet. Who knew?

I could use some newspaper to line my catbox.


See NRO Commentary

D.C. Dick is the New Baghdad Bob

D.C. Dick is the New Baghdad Bob
...or maybe just "delusional dick"....

12 Years to Defeat Insurgency

Defeating Insurgency Could Take as long as 12 Years, Rumsfeld Says
Did you hear that? Twelve years.

I'm a Blogcritic

I'm a Blogcritic

My first Blogcritics column. It's a political opinion piece. I appreciate founder and publisher Eric Olsen's willingness to give my voice wings at the popular website.

Tar Heel Tavern #18

Tar Heel Tavern #18

Don't miss Mandie's fantastic collage. It's the 18th edition of the Tar Heel Tavern. While you're at her site, give yourself an extra treat. Take a look through her gorgeous photos.

photo/poem

The train to yesterday is leaving last evening
Get on board before you age another day
Your loved ones will greet you on the platform
They've missed you more than words could say


photo and poem by Jude Nagurney Camwell

Weird Coincidence - Leonardo

Weird Coincidence - Leonardo

I bought the most beautiful table candles at a store last week. I brought them home and put one in my bedroom and the other on my kitchen table. When the sun shines through them, the colors in the glass holders become even more vibrant.

I went to Trade Street Journal to do some reading and saw a familiar name. I asked myself, "Where have I seen that name recently?" I looked at the stickers on the glass table candles and sure enough, the name "Leonardo" was on them. It was so strange - so coincidental. On the same day I'd purchased those beautiful glass candle vases, I went to one of my favorite blogs and read about the company who sold them. Not only that, the Dan Brown book "The DaVinci Code" was sitting right by my side. I checked out their website and they have a lot of lovely products.

Kristen Plucks Plumage Off Chickenhawk Rove

The GOP Used NYC
photo by Ethan Camwell, taken April 2001

Kristen Plucks Plumage Off Chickenhawk Rove
Leaves behind a bare little lump of lies in her awesome wake!

Anyone who has read the Iddybud blog for a long while knows how I feel about Kristen Breitweiser, widow of Ron Breitweiser, who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. I believe Kristen is a courageous woman; a voice of reason; an inspiration; an American heroine.

Today at the Huffington Post, Kristen has written her opinion of Karl Rove's recent divisive and ill-conceived comments.She shames Karl Rove - she's the right one to do it - and he deserves it.

"Karl when you say, “Conservatives saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and prepared for war,” what exactly did you do to prepare for your war? Did your preparations include: sound intelligence to warrant your actions; a reasonable entry and exit strategy coupled with a coherent plan to carry out that strategy; the proper training and equipment for the troops you were sending in to fight your war? Did you follow the advice of experts such as General Shinseki who correctly advised you about the troop levels needed to actually succeed in Iraq? No, you didn't...[..]

.....For the record Karl, does Iraq have any connection to the 9/11 attacks? Because, you and your friends with your collective “understanding of 9/11” seem to be contradicting yourselves about the Iraq-9/11 connection, too.[..].Of course, the Downing Street memo clarifies many of these things, but for the record Karl: Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11; there were few terrorists in Iraq before our invasion, but now Iraq is a terrorist hot-bed. America had the sympathy and support of the whole world before Iraq. Now, thanks to your actions, we find ourselves hated and alienated by the rest of the world..[..]

....Karl, please “understand” that the reason we have not suffered a repeat attack on our homeland is because Bin Laden no longer needs to attack us. Those of us with a pure and comprehensive “understanding of 9/11” know that Bin Laden committed the 9/11 attacks so he could increase recruitment for al Qaeda and increase worldwide hatred of America..[..]

....what Bin Laden could not achieve by murdering my husband and 3,000 others on 9/11, you handed to him on a silver platter with your invasion of Iraq - a country that had nothing to do with 9/11."

You tell that lying little chickenhawk weasel, Kristen!

A Word of Warning to Democrats Who Won't Stand Up and Fight

A Word of Warning to Democrats Who Won't Stand Up and Fight

John Cory, a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, asks:

"What the hell is wrong with you Democratic politicians? Why do you turn on each other? Why won't you stand by your own words and ideals? Why do you keep apologizing for telling the truth? And why can't anyone see McCain's true colors? Or Lieberman or Biden?

And why in God's name do you expect folks like me to come support you after you turn tail and run?

We know the truth out here. We will stand with anyone who stands up for us. Where are you?"

I couldn't say it any better. It's simple. I am willing to support Democrats when they show they are willing to support what we can all see is clear truth, regardless of what the cable news networks are screeching on and on about.

9/11 is Bush's political life-saving oxygen. His administration doesn't care who they have to suck the life out of in order to win. Bush’s poll numbers are sinking lower than Great-Grandma's bosom, and Rove is using 9/11 to try to get Bush's poll numbers up again.

I'm not going to get all hot under the collar about Karl Rove's ignorant comments. It's his job to be an asshole and to inflict damage upon the Democrats - if he can. He's very good at what he does. And, as far as the media goes, he gets away with it - even when he's purposefully dividing America. 9/11 is Bush's political life-saving oxygen. His administration doesn't care who they have to suck the life out of in order to win. Bush’s poll numbers are sinking lower than Great-Grandma's bosom, and Rove is using 9/11 to try to get Bush's poll numbers up again. I think many Americans see right through his shenanigans - and you Democrats, by backing down from your own convictions, are showing that you have lost faith in the critical thinking skills of independent Americans. I regret seeing Karl Rove and Company get the better of you.

I'm a lot angrier with Dick Durbin for giving me temporary encouragement for exposing the torture at Guantanamo, and then sending my confidence crashing to the ground with an apology that never should have been made. I've been so upset that I've held my tongue - until now.

Democrats - until you show some moral courage, I do not consider you as individuals who share my personal values.

Where is your conviction? Why is it that you continue to fail to convey your values to the public in a meaningful way? Is it because you are afraid of what CNN's "Inside Politics" might say about you because you got tough with the White House? The cable news pundits are constantly playing catch-up with citizen's media these days. News is being swiftly analyzed and disseminated by the blogosphere, and the talking heads on cable news often focus on the wrong stories - or take too long to get around to talking about the right ones.

Many in media have chosen to deem the Downing Street memos as worthless, and we know that those official governemnt documents contain the proof of the worst deception ever deliberately committed by a sitting President. Just today, Paul Krugman raised the fact that the Fourth Estate is lagging behind the bloggers, and he says: "Once the media catch up with the public, we'll be able to start talking seriously about how to get out of Iraq."

Democrats - you are in danger. You must start trusting and listening to the people you are sworn to represent. You are looking cowed and weak-spined.

Change - or I assure you that you will suffer political death through abandonment.

Ever the optimist, I'd be the very last one to shut the door on you, but I cannot deny there are great rumblings among many Democrats.

Fight for us - fight for America.

May I suggest reading Sun Tzu's "Art of War"? In order to be successful leaders, you must be convincing ones.

Listen to John Cory. Listen to Hoffmania. Listen to Markos.

Liberals aren't killing our troops. I'll give that credit to the war cheerleaders who couldn't give two shits about the lack of armor for our forces in Iraq, or about the lies that put them there for no discernable reason. The same people who couldn't care whether this administration has a victory strategy, or whether we have the manpower to fight the war effectively.
American politics has reached a new low these past two three days. And given the desperation of the war cheerleaders, it's only going to get worse. It's the only way they can cover their spectacular failures.

The best way to tell the anti-war folks to fuck off would be to succeed. Pacify Afghanistan. Defeat the insurgency in Iraq. Destroy Al Qaida.

But that would require a level of competence utterly and completely absent in this administration.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

"It's hard to stop suicide bombers, and yet they're able to do incredible damage."

-George W. Bush, in a press conference today


A suicide bomber in a vehicle killed six U.S. Marines today (three of them women) when it exploded near their convoy in Falluja. Incredible damage, indeed.

Growing Freedom Through the Diversity of Free Press

Growing Freedom Through the Diversity of Free Press

Why would some Egyptians, many of whom you might think would welcome Condoleeza Rice's call for political reform in their nation, denounce the secretary of state, instead? What moves them to make racist and sexist comments about her for meddling in Egypt's domestic affairs?

At The New Republic, Joesph Braude points out that the popular media in Egypt, while not being particularly accurate, does not suffer from what Paul Krugman calls "the tyranny of even-handedness", a disturbing media-trend which results in the effect of ethical numbness and intellectual paralysis when viewing most American cable news shows and stories. The claim to "fair and blanced" may be a great cover for the radically conservative Fox News network, and the Wall Street Journal may try to tell you that most Egyptians appreciated and loved Condi's recent message to the Egyptians, but the truth is that the majority of Egyptians are not hearing rosy stories - and this is probably for the best. Although many of the news stories coming from the Egyptian media have been "wildly inaccurate", they still capture grains of truth. Braude writes:

By delivering her speech when she did, Rice walked into the middle of a nasty schism within the country's media. Neither side in this conflict thinks particularly well of the United States. And yet for precisely the rationales that undergirded Rice's speech, it is in America's interest to see the conflict grow.

One line from the article jumped out at me, and reminded me of how the stupidity of the Bush foreign policy in Iraq has, for the most part, damaged world perception of our best intentions to support democracy around the world (Although I realize there has been a long-standing anti-American sentiment to begin with, the conniving Bush and the neocons have made things harder for everyone in this world, including our own U.S. military):

"...the article asserted that Egyptians do not want "American-style democracy, like the kind one finds in Afghanistan or Iraq."

If America is not particularly worried about Egypt's political reform being a carbon-copy of American-style democracy, then there could be an upside to all of this. According to Mr. Braude, "some of Rice's bad press in Cairo should be viewed as an acceptable price to pay for the political reforms the U.S. government has been demanding" in the region.

Overall, I think Mr. Braude brings about an important lesson for us all. Delivering the news isn't supposed to be a squeaky clean process where you can present every point of view in every story - and still expect that story to make sense. Media, when editors are only concerned about what is viewed as "fair and balanced", does not inspire a population to change. It doesn't educate the public, but serves to confuse them. It doesn't inspire them to dream about what could be - it is a perfect vehicle for political stagnation and propaganda. The current that is moving political reform along in Egypt may be hastened when the public is given straight stories and are trusted to use their critical thinking skills to decide what is right for their own political culture. That's what democracy is all about.

There is one (uneven/loose) parallel I draw, between U.S. media and Egyptian media, from reading that "tens of millions of Egyptians get their news not from any newspaper but from the national radio and television stations owned by the government."

In many ways, especially in the U.S. Cable News business and "talk-radio", the "free" media seems to have become little more than a tool for government propaganda - especially in the case of Fox News, which is the most highly-rated TV news network. Even in White House press conferences I have watched these past five years, American reporters do not seem to sufficiently challenge or question the White-House line. Their supine obedience helped to buy us a war we never needed to wage in Iraq.

Think of America and American media when you read Mr. Braude's final paragraph:

If Rice's clarion call for democracy in Cairo is to be honored, the United States should be prepared to exert considerable pressure on Mubarak to loosen his grip on the fourth estate--not tighten it, as he and his apologists may be tempted to do after the election. Either way, America is in for some unwelcome headlines in Cairo. But some of those unwelcome headlines will be a sign of growing freedom--and therefore welcome indeed.

The Bush administration has an invisible grip on American media. There are elements of White House intimidation and fears of market retribution in the stifling of the American press. The recent assault upon public broadcasting should be ringing alarm bells. There is a flaw in the system of capitalism that is severely damaging our First Amendment rights. If we Americans do not yet see that, in the aftermath of being deceptively thrown into an unecessary war that has taken so many lives and promises to take more, then God help us, we will lose the freedom for which our ancestors fought and died.

While I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Braude's appeal to the White House to put pressure on the government of Egypt to loosen their grip on the media, I think we'd best look at ourselves and clean our own house. As trend-setters in the world, we Americans should serve as a wonderful example of freedom of the press. Instead, our own Fourth Estate lies in shame. It's been placed in the laps of the Fifth Estate - the second superpower - the Internet - to deliver the truth.