Iraq is FUBAR and They Can't Credit God

Iraq is FUBAR and
They Can't Credit God

At the Nation, Tom Engelhardt's point about Bush and current Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is short and sweet. The fact that the Bush administration has not been able to set up an Iraqi government that has both legitimacy and that meets America's desires is not lost on those who have paid any amount of attention to the 3 1/2-year long disaster of a war.

The news headlines today might as well have have been written three years ago. President Bush should have adjusted his strategy as soon as he knew that we would not be greeted as liberators.

- Democrats Urge Bush to Change Course on Iraq
- Major Change Expected In Strategy for Iraq War

The fact that he waited so long - so stubbornly - and that he'd insinuated that his critics were just as good as traitors at every turn has been a constant reflection of his poor leadership skills.

Long undecided about which way to turn - only looking dogmatically and blindly ahead - Bush is now faced with a severe deficit of public support and no easy choices. The choices may have been far better ones for America and Iraq had he acted responsibly, quickly, and with accountability three years ago - or had he not rushed and lied us into the war to begin with. Alas, we know we cannot go back in time.

When all else fails, it's easy to blame (or credit) God for the good you claim you've tried to do..and have miserably failed to do.
Top US general Peter Pace defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is "inspired by God." Violent Islamic jihad is also "God-inspired." It doesn't make those who claim to be God-inspired righteous when innocent people are in the targets - or when they are caught in the crossfire in a war on terror..especially a completely unnecessary war like the war in Iraq.

Robert Scheer writes:

An occupation initially advertised as a “cakewalk” war to disarm a tyrant is now, according to our politically desperate president, a fight for the soul of the world—good versus evil, democracy versus tyranny.

But the carnage we have visited upon Iraq represents nothing of the sort. We are not building democracy, we are creating mayhem.

The evidence arrives daily in the form of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of mutilated bodies. But even the few ghastly images that actually make it onto the television actually underestimate the horror. And it is getting worse, not better: The killing of innocents is now 10 times higher than a year ago.

I am more inclined to look up to the Heavens and cry, "My God, what have they done?" than to believe God was in Rumsfeld's ear telling him what was righteous and moral for our country or for humanity. Moses sent us God's message and His commandment of 'Thou Shalt not Kill' probably meant what it said. When Jesus told us to love our enemies, it was a political statement, and it meant, at best, don't kill them. If I'm not mistaken, there was also a commandment about the sin of lying, and lies were systematically told to the American people by Rumsfeld and others to get them to accept an immoral war of choice with which even the Roman Catholic Pope could not abide. General Pace claims that Rumsfeld "leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." I think it's ludicrous, at this stage of the game - simply ludicrous - for the good General to expect that faithful and responsible people of America will swallow this whole and not see it for the bitter pill that it is.

Pat Tillman's Brother Calls for Change

Pat Tillman's Brother Calls for Change




When it came to the war on terror, the Tillman boys signed up for the cause because they trusted the intregity of our American leadership. Pat gave everything he possessed here on this Earth for you and me...for our country. He laid it all down. His brother Kevin is speaking out about all that he has learned since those days of trust. To say that he is bitterly disappointed and disillusioned - even angry - would be an understatement.

I share every one of his concerns as well as his sorrows. He and Pat are my American brothers and I'm proud of Kevin for taking up the mantle and calling for a change before America becomes just another lost ideal in the dustbin of History.

___________

Whoever the sicko is in Washington DC coming to my blog looking for nude photos of Pat Tillman, don't expect to find any here. [Is it you, Mark Foley?]

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Senator Edwards to Speak at UB October 30

Senator Edwards to Speak at UB October 30
Former Senator John Edwards will be at the University of Buffalo on October 30th to deliver the keynote address at the Western New York Poverty Symposium being held in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus. Senator Edwards will speak at 11:05 a.m. after an introduction by President John B. Simpson. A question-and-answer session with members of the audience will follow Edwards' speech. The event is free of charge and open to the public.

The UB campus map is here. Directions can be customized for your convenience here.

I'll also be in Buffalo this weekend and will be looking around the city to see how they are faring in the aftermath of the freak snowstorm a week ago that brought 16 inches of heavy, wet snow to the city, downing tree limbs and power lines and killing several citizens. I have had no luck in finding a hotel room for the night. All hotels within a 30-mile radius of Buffalo are filled with National Grid employees who are working on the restoration of power to thousands of citizens still without electricity in the city.

National Character Counts: Bush Stumps for Philanderer

National Character Counts: Bush Stumps for Philanderer

Pennsylvania Congressman Don Sherwood may have a record of accomplishment in the House of Representatives, but according to the WaPo's Dana Milbank, he also has a police record - a record of wicked infidelity and a penchant for kinky violence against women.

While representing the good people of the 10th District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911; Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub.

During "National Character Counts Week", Bush might have been just as well off stumping for child predator Mark Foley. (Oops- Mark Foley's no longer in the running, is he?)

National character obviously doesn't count to the Republican leadership nearly as much as retaining their naked, raw manly-man power.

NNSA Conversion Would Mean Less Highly Enriched Uranium

NNSA Conversion Would Mean Less Highly Enriched Uranium

I found this interesting news at the Student-Operated Press website. The Bush administration is making efforts to minimize the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications around the world. Now if they could just find the diplomatic smarts to stop (idiotically) pissing off every kook in the world who has access to the highly-enriched uranium that still has the potential to exist, we might actaully get a feeling of enhanced security. Putting a gag over Bush's impulsive mouth whenever he goes to speak might be a good start.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has successfully converted a research reactor at the University of Florida from the use of highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium. This conversion comes on the heels of a reactor conversion at Texas A&M University that was announced last week. By the end of this year, NNSA will have converted six U.S. and international research reactors.

As a part of its nonproliferation mission, NNSA converts research reactors in the U.S. and around the world from operating on highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. LEU is not suitable for use in a nuclear weapon and is not sought by terrorists or criminals. The conversion is part of the Bush administration’s efforts to minimize the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications around the world.

“Decreasing the use of highly enriched uranium in the United States and around the world is a priority for this administration,” said Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman. “Converting this domestic reactor at University of Florida and the one last week at Texas A&M University further demonstrates our commitment to limiting the spread of nuclear material.”

Hot Soup is Ready

Hot Soup is Ready

The heat under Ron Fournier's Hot Soup was switched on yesterday.

The question was asked: "What is the most important issue ignored by mainstream media and our leaders?"

Donna Brazile says it's Poverty, an issue to which Senator John Edwards has placed a public magnifying glass.

I commented about Ms. Brazile's opinion here.

I commented about Ed Gillespie's opinion here. He had the nerve to say that Democrats "would rather have everybody do worse" than to see the rich, under GOP leadership, get exorbitantly richer while the poor get extremely poorer and the middle class shrivels.

McCain Jests About Committing Suicide

McCain Jests About Committing Suicide

There are some things that will just never be funny and you wonder how high-profile leaders can make such thoughtless comments and expect that no one will notice. Suicide is all too real and mental illness is all too prevalent in our society to respect a public figure who would take the subject so lightly. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all U.S. men (Anderson and Smith 2003). I'd like our leaders to take the topic seriously - at best not to be publicly flippant about it.

More on Converge South

More on Converge South
cross posted at American Street


Converge South was held last weekend at Rev. Jesse Jackson's alma mater North Carolina A & T University , Greensboro, N.C. There was a barbeque held at the home of Greensboro blogger Dave Hoggard on Friday night, and I regret to say I couldn't make it. I heard it was a lot of fun and that a lot of new blogging relationships were formed. One new blogging relationship mentioned by Robert Scoble at the Conference on Saturday was forged between himself and Greensboro's colorful and talented character Billy the Blogging Poet. I wasn't in attendance because I was with fellow American Street blogger Anonymoses at a political (NC District Eight) rally in Concord, N.C. where Democractic Congressional candidate Larry Kissell and Senator John Edwards spoke to an enthusiastic crowd from the back of a pick-up truck. We were also invited to meet Senator Edwards before the rally. (See photos below).


ELizabeth Edwards and Ed Cone at Converge South 2006


I attended the conference on Saturday where Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Senator and 2004 VP candidate John Edwards, led an excellent early-morning discussion about community-building on the web. The net-savvy Mrs. Edwards has established a great rapport with bloggers simply by being one of them.


Elizabeth Edwards at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Charlotte NC


I had seen Mrs. Edwards speak three days earlier at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Charlotte, N.C. about her best-selling book "Saving Graces," and I found the theme underlying her book to flow seamlessly with the topic of her Converge South session. There are many ways the internet has already easily facilitated community-building, and both continued and new methods and motivations for building new associations on the web were covered well by Mrs. Edwards and the Converge participants.


Robert and Maryam Scoble offer 10 ways to write a "killer blog".

The vibrant (and married) blogging couple Robert and Maryam Scoble (who maintain separate blogs, both unique in their own right) led a 10-step session (which actually grew to what turned out to be 15 steps) on how to write a "killer blog". Anton Zuiker has a great summary of those steps.

Converge South 2006 - Some Photos

Converge South 2006 - Some Photos

Here are a few photos from Converge South. It's always a pleasure to see the people of "Blogsboro" again, and I wish to thank Ben, Sue, Ed, Dave, and all the bloggers of Greensoro who made this unique and wonderful experience possible. These people are the trailblazers of creating a blogging community that should inspire all other aspiring blogtopias.

Anonymoses and Maryam Scoble have blogposts.

I'll provide my own comments about the conference soon.


Elizabeth Edwards and Ed Cone talk about building community


Robert and Maryam Scoble - What a vibrant blogging couple!



Billy the Blogging Poet and his marvelous flying machine



I'm talking with Greensboro's own Sue Polinsky; Elizabeth Edwards and Robert Scoble in background.

The Sacred is Found in the Ordinary

The Sacred is Found in the Ordinary
Written for the Tar Heel Tavern [Edition 85]

The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary,
that it is to be found in one's daily life,
in one's neighbors, friends, and family,
in one's backyard.

- Abraham Maslow

The greatest example of courage, faith, and love in my life was set by my mother. The unconditional love she gave to all her friends, neighbors, and family came back to her and to my family in her last days. Because of the example of her great and unconditional faith and love, I have been emptied of cynicism and firmly believe that I have been able to become a more capable vessel for the sharing of that unconditional faith and love for my own friends, family, and community.

A year ago today, Mother was fighting a cancer from which she would never recover.

Through the darkness of those days, neighbors came to call on her and on the family. They brought small gifts - a homemade bread, some lovely fresh flowers, a card with a message of love drawn in crayon from a child's hands.

Family came to help with household chores and to sit by Mother's bedside. They read her books. They talked about old times.

Father and brother pulled out their musical instruments and sat by her bedside playing and singing as if there wasn't a care in the world, even though their hearts were breaking.

The parish priest Father Michael and the Hospice spiritual advisor Dave came to hold our hands and remind us that faith is the little bird that feels the dawn breaking, yet goes on singing while it is still dark.

Then there were the ones who came from years out of my past just to hold my hand at Mother's funeral. Their simple gesture was enough to fill the empty pages of the lengthy time we'd spent apart.

There were beautiful cards filled with caring and sympathy.

Looking back, my last days with Mother are not remembered as an unscalable mountain. Instead they were a revelation of God from and within those who joyfully participated in the cycle of her unconditional love. They all helped me to rise - to find my way around the stumbling block of darkness and doubt.

Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with
grateful hearts and no one to thank.

- Christine Rosetti

Meister Eckhart believed that if the only prayer you ever say in life is "Thank you," it is enough. My thanksgiving goes out in prayer for all of my blessings. Life can deal you any blow. You can be forced reap the bitter harvest from unimaginable sorrow and witness it being spun into hope and light by those who love you. What a joy to understand that the commonplace is the sacred. The consciousness that designed and created existence is also the intelligence that is programed into the core of every atom. We are interdependent walking miracles.

In my own life, the mysteriously endless cycle of love and the awakening example of truth that everyone is a divine instrument of God was created by my mother. In a particularly memorable act of empathy and kindness on the day Mother passed away, a Muslim friend told me that his faith taught him that there is no stronger love on this earth than the love of a precious mother. Her love for you is the closest thing to God while you live here on the earth. But the love of God is even 70 times stronger. Imagine that.

E.J. Dionne Hurls Boulder Through GOP "Family Values" Facade

E.J. Dionne Hurls Boulder Through GOP "Family Values" Facade

In today's WaPo, E.J. Dionne blows the lid off the phony "family values" vibe the GOP tries to embrace. He asks the question that sends a bullshit-detection boulder through their "family values" facade:

"When confronted with an issue, do politicians focus on narrow political imperatives or do they care most about the well-being of children and families? The politicians should have asked that question in Foley's case, and they should ask it about a lot of other issues, too."

Don't miss this R-rated hymn straight out of the GOP Family Values Hymnal at American Street.

It's so juicy..



..that it might even raise this dude's eyebrows!

Jonathan Alter on Barack Obama

Jonathan Alter on Barack Obama

Barack Obama was not a member of the U.S. Senate when he opposed the war in Iraq. Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were in the Senate, and if there's one thing we all should understand, it's that it's a whole lot easier to say "No" when you are not directly responsible as an elected representative for the security of hundreds of thousands of constituents and when you're a representative from a state with key military bases.

If we value inexperience over our leaders actually having been there/done that, then I suppose Jonathan Alter is 100% correct that Democratic primary voters will find Obama to be "perfectly positioned" for 2008. However, that's not at all what I witnessed in 2004 when Democratic primary voters flocked to John Kerry, who had voted for the Iraq War resolution. To the primary voters, Kerry had had a decided air of gravitas that comes only from life (and war) experience. The voters didn't use Senator Kerry's vote for the IWR against him then. Armed with plenty of real knowledge and 20/20 hindsight about the Bush administration's failures, misleadings and outright untruths, I cannot believe that Democratic voters will punish those who voted Yes to the IWR in 2008 because they will understand that it was not the Democrats who commanded this disastrous war. Many of the same Democrats who gave good faith and trust to the POTUS in 2002 are now being labeled as cowards and traitors in stump speeches by the President.

I trust that Democratic primary voters will understand that both Edwards and Clinton have been no less than repulsed by the gross inefficiency of Donald Rumsfeld, who offered many times to step down but was begged to stay by an incredibly incurious President who clearly never understood how to lead a war or the dangers of rushing your nation into an unjust and unwinnable type of warfare.

The truth is that it wasn't at all easy to vote "yes" OR "No" in October, 2002 to give the POTUS the authority to press the UN on Resolution 1551. A year had barely passed since the worst attack on American civilians in U.S. history. The cherry-picked intelligence being shouted from the Bush bully pulpit proved out to be a horrifically negligent, if not intentional misleading, but no one knew it or could prove it then. With weakness and inefficiency from CIA head George Tenet and the false stories from journalists like Judith Miller along with the rest of the pliant Oval-office stenopad-MSM, our leaders were put between a rock and a terrible place.

Collectively, we all learn from mistakes of our past. The question should be: What has Senator Edwards learned? What has Senator Clinton learned?

We'll never know what Barack Obama would have done had he been called on the floor of the Senate to look every American in the eye on the CSPAN camera and risk American lives (and his own reputation) just because he had a hunch that Bush was a dishonest broker. He never had to be there. I imagine he's glad of it because he won't have to answer for it one way or the other.

What the Democrats did in 2002 was not easy for them. Their floor statements will tell you that they were torn. Regime change in Iraq was the policy of America when President Clinton left office and it was still the policy at the time of the IWR. Would President Clinton have impulsively and inefficiently done what Bush did? I doubt it, but he wasn't POTUS at the time. He didn't have to make that decision, and I imagine he's glad of it because he won't have to answer for it one way or the other.

I know Barack Obama has a brilliant future ahead of him. I admire him. He's a fantastic orator and he shows a firm commitment to American progress. When it comes to voting for the Iraq War resolution, he could only second guess Senators like Edwards and Clinton. Even he, I'd imagine, would have the grace to understand that they were in a far different place than those outside the halls of federal leadership in those dark days.

Rove Aide Resigns in Abramoff Corruption Wake

Rove Aide Resigns in Abramoff Corruption Wake

Having passed inside White House information to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove's aide Susan Ralston has submitted her resignation. Her official title was Executive Assistant to the Senior Advisor to the President of The White House.

A White House spokeperson has said that Ms. Ralston recognized that "a protracted discussion of these matters would be a distraction to the White House." Ralston had worked for Abramoff before joining Rove in 2001. She'd allegedly facilitated more than half of Abramoff's sixty-six contacts with the Bush White House.

The old surfer song "Pipeline" by the Ventures comes to mind when I read how Ms. Ralston aided Abramoff toward his corrupt goals. One example comes from a great timeline I found at Democratic Underground:

Late 2002 – Abramoff learns from his pipeline to the White House—which includes Susan Ralston, who used to be his personal secretary and was now working directly with Karl Rove--of the impending nomination of Leonardo Rapadas to replace Frederick Black as US Attorney of the Marianas. Abramoff instructs his team to send out e-mails claiming credit for getting rid of Black who--as he said in an earlier e-mail--“has been screwing us for years”.

November 18, 2002 – Following the request of U.S. Attorney Black, a federal grand jury in Guam subpoenas the Guam Superior Court for records involving a lobbying contract with Jack Abramoff.

Placing a new GOP-friendly attorney in Black's place may have hidden Abramoff's wrongdoing a bit longer - and the fact that US Attorney Black succeeded in uncovering the slime of a snake Abramoff from under his well-protected rock likely helped to expose Karl Rove's Deputy assistant as sahe worked for the cause of corruption in our White House.

A tip o' the hat to Jeffrey Feldman/Frameshop for quickly getting the news out about this resignation. A tip to John Byrne and Washington Monthly for collecting background information.

Moyers on Norquist, My Back Pages

Moyers on Norquist, My Back Pages

Watching Bill Moyers' fantastic documentary about the Jack Abramoff/Grover Norquist/Tom Delay net of deception, evil, and corruption, I was reminded to look back to some of my posts on Grover Norquist.

This one from 2003 is a doozy, and I've heard nothing in the mainstream media about it.

How this crook and others like him get away with stealing our most precious commodity, which is our democracy, through their evil dealings is beyond all reason. Do we have so many corrupt people in our nation that, through their willful ignorance of what is happening in the D.C. shadows, corruption is swept under a rug?

As more and more people understand how a lobbyist-funded "shadow government" has formed in the lobbyists' headquarters and in lobbyist-owned cafes and restaurants in the shadow of our Capitol building, the complete failure of our media to expose the theft of our democracy will become more and more unforgiveable. Thank God there are Bill Moyers and other real investigative journalists out there. I wish there were more, but rather than finding them in the mainstream, I think you'll likely find them on the blogs or the alternative internet media. As we learn more from each other through grassroots efforts, voters will likely catch on and oust more and more Republicans and Democrats who continue to operate within and cooperate with this perverted style of shadow governing.

Why Don’t We Hear About SPP?

Why Don’t We Hear About SPP?

The U.S. Department of Commerce is, for all intents and purposes, rewriting U.S. administrative law with absolutely no Constitutional justification.

What would you think if you knew that George W. Bush, while speaking from the bully pulpit about the need to build a wall across the Mexican/U.S. border, has been pushing for a commitment to a long-term goal of dramatically diminishing the the current intensity of America’s physical control of cross-border traffic and travel within all of North America?

What would you think if you knew that President Bush was promoting a system that loosens U.S. control over the screening of travelers from foreign countries at their first point of entry into anyplace in all of North America and from that first entry, the elimination of most controls over all of the temporary movement of these travelers within North America?

What do you suppose our Founding Fathers would say about erasing U.S. borders to enrich the richest in the false name of security and erase American democracy?

What do you think about a President who would keep all of this, for the most part, a secret from the American people? (Other than an unadvertised website.)

Given this President’s track record, I imagine you would not be particularly surprised at his reticence, but I’m here to tell you that you need to pay close attention, regardless of the fact that most of the whistleblowers aren’t likely from your favorite political crowd. With our common sovereignty at stake, we need to get active to stop the unconstitutional replacement of American authority for a supranational replacement created by elites. We need to be watchdogs over our own individual rights, freedoms, and our democracy.

If you think NAFTA has proven itself to be a disaster for human rights, worker’s rights, and the health of democracy in all subscribing nations and has watered down our Constitutional freedoms, then I’m sure you’ll find the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America [SPP] to have the potential to be even more dangerous.


There's a lot more information about SPP at my post from today at American Street

- - Jude

David Brooks Frames Doubt About Dems' Direction Unfairly

David Brooks Frames Doubt About Dems' Direction Unfairly

In his NYT column today that weakly attempts to divide the Democratic party, David Brooks asks,

"Can a politics that evades the modern realities of Islamic extremism and the skill-based global economy really be the basis of a majority movement? I doubt it."

It happens far too often that columnists lump a whole bunch of Democratic candidates and leaders together and draw conclusions that encompass a whole bunch of false choices.

As things go, I happen to agree with Mr. Brooks' statement above, and, being one of the bloggers who pays the closest attention to the activities of Senator John Edwards, I can tell you that he fully comprehends the "realities" of extremism. You'd have to be as blind as a bat not to notice how the divide between the East and West has reached canyon-like proportions over the past five years. For all the "attention" to extremism in the Muslim world that Mr. Brooks may attribute to the Bush administration, an overwhelming number of average Americans believe it's a wrong-eyed focus and that we're headed in the wrong direction. It's the fear-mongering, war-failing, reality-denying kind of focus to which Democratic leaders like Senator Edwards would love to apply their own "corrective lenses."

Evading a national security issue and putting a more efficient focus on ways to tackle the issue are two totally different ways of describing the politics surrounding the issue. After his column gives a partial description of Senator Edwards' ideas regarding how to proceed with the Iraq war, Mr. Brooks has chosen to label that offer of an alternative solution as "evasion," and I don't see the logic in that statement.

Senator Edwards has been totally up-front about our new life in the skill-based global economy. Trade agreements with foreign nations and the organizing activities of American labor will continue to evolve and find new ways to coexist as we move forward in this century.

Our nation has moved from isolation to interdependence to a new and necessary need for cooperation. It's a no-brainer that we can never go back - regardless of how much we tap nostalgia. Naturally, Senator Edwards understands this and communicates his modern positions clearly. I'd wager you could ask anyone who's ever been in a room where he's speaking and they will tell you that he's no backward-thinking dreamer, but instead a promising and hopeful symbol of America's future who inspires college students and elderly citizens alike across America toward greater and higher aims and values with a keen eye upon our current reality.

We should be moving ahead bravely with our leaders reassuring us that American workers will not be lost in the outsourcing shuffle. Mr. Brooks speaks as if supporting the American worker is a successful political exercise of the past, and that's where I'm afraid he's missing the boat. Labor is evolving, but it will never disappear, for in many small towns across America, the union hall is still at the core of our community life along with the VFW and our church basements. These are our brothers, fathers, and sisters that we're talking about.

Speaking about Senator Edwards and others as if they want to send the nation to yesteryear is disingenuous talk, especially since the fellow who currently occupies the Oval Office has set the progress and good name of our nation decades backward and has presided over an economy where Business has been encouraged, through the public policies of the Republican party, to be socially irresponsible and to ignore labor standards in foreign nations where they've moved their offices and factories. The gap between rich and poor in America is reminiscent of the pre-FDR era. Talk about sickening ways of "going Retro!"

If any political party leaders are "evading," the GOP has surely won the crown by evading an honest debate with Democrats on Iraq; they've evaded the American labor movement while allowing business to run roughshod over American livelihoods and human rights in foreign nations; and they've evaded raising the federal minimum wage for the American worker.

Loose talk that creates a false impression of a leader like Senator Edwards is deeply unfortunate, and I know David Brooks is a smart gentleman. When I see comments that reflect what I see as intellectual dishonesty, I have to ask myself why such brilliant writers would employ what I view to be such division with such weak argument.

Happy Birthday, President Carter!

Happy Birthday, President Carter!

I would like to remind Congresswoman Jane Harman, who gave credit for presiding over the end of the Cold War solely to Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush 41 this morning on Fox News, that it was President Jimmy Carter who painstakingly laid a hopeful and firm foundation for the end of the Cold War.

I regret she forgot to mention him, especially since today is President Jimmy Carter's birthday. James Earl Carter, Jr.was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia.

Here's wishing a very 82nd Happy Birthday to President Carter and a salute to him and to his wife Rosalynn for the great work they're doing at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

New video of 9/11 Attackers Atta, Jarrah Surfaces

New video of 9/11 Attackers Atta, Jarrah Surfaces

The Times of London says that it has secured a 6-1/2 year old never-before seen video of two men - one who led and one who participated in the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The Times online states:

A video shows two of the world’s most infamous terrorists joking and laughing while filming their ‘death wills’ at Osama Bin Laden’s lair in Afghanistan. The journalist and author Yosri Fouda explains the terrible significance of the new find.

The following are some excerpts from the story by Mr. Fouda:

...nearly an hour long, that was filmed at Osama Bin Laden’s lair in Afghanistan 6½ years ago. They are revealed today for the first time, and they are a missing chapter in the searing story of the attacks on America on September 11, 2001.

Atta led the team of 19 suicide attackers and flew American Airlines flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Jarrah piloted United Airlines flight 93. His assigned target was Capitol Hill, but the plane crashed. [..]

[..] the tape not only fills a gap in the story of September 11 but also provides chilling proof of the difficulty of fighting Islamic terrorism.

[..] The unedited video was passed to The Sunday Times through a previously tested channel. On condition of anonymity, sources from both Al-Qaeda and the United States have confirmed its authenticity. It has no sound — and lip-readers have failed to decipher it, according to a US source — but the images speak loudly for themselves.

The tape not only features Atta and Jarrah. It also gives a rare and intriguing sight of Bin Laden with his inner court.

It opens with 100 or so Al-Qaeda hardcore members sitting on the ground in the open air, obviously expecting something to happen. Among them are several children.

[..] Unedited, the extraordinary footage also gives us a glimpse into the superficially ordinary character of the man who would later spearhead the devastating terrorist attack.

[..] Distinctively the black sheep of the whole lot — plotters and hijackers — Atta and Jarrah came from the two most liberal Arab countries, both from the heart of their respective communities, both from middle-class families, both intelligent, pleasant and trusted wherever they went, and both with impressive educational track records. Jarrah went to a Christian school in Beirut; Atta advanced his English at The American University in Cairo.

[..]If the appearance of this video solves one mystery, the big question about both Atta and Jarrah is still with us: how on earth did such impressive young men with everything to live for develop such a mindset? Neither was mad and neither was brainwashed. If anything at all they were both the antithesis of such naive and easy explanations.

Go to website. Video will be available from noon (London time).

Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Clinton Global Initiative

Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Clinton Global Initiative

*Dedicated to my fellow Tar Heel Tavern participants and all fellow travelers on this road called Life...


Archbishop Desmond Tutu joyously speaks of hope to the audience of CGI participants


Now that the transcript is available at the Clinton Global Initiative website, I wanted to share with you some of the most inspirational and thought-provoking faith-based statements made at the 2006 meeting by the illuminating and courageous Archbishop Desmond Tutu. May you be as inspired as President Clinton and the participants of the conference were. In India people will travel hundreds of miles for what is called the darshan, the look, of a holy man or woman because this look is believed to confer blessings. Just being in the room where Archbishop Tutu, a walking example of God's love on earth, was speaking was a darshan experience for me.

On Faith and Religion

There is no faith that I know that propagates death, murder, as a principle of that particular religion. There is no faith that I know which does not, in fact, seek to propagate compassion, justice, love, caring. And we need to hold on to that and underscore the fact that religion, in and of itself, is actually morally neutral. It is neither good nor bad. As I’ve sometimes tried to say, it is like a knife. When you use a knife for cutting bread, it’s good. If you use that knife to stick into somebody’s guts, it’s bad.

On the Meaning of Terrorism and Religious Perversion

And I am deeply concerned that even here, you know, we are sliding in the thing of saying 'Muslim terrorism.' Muslim - I haven’t heard people describe the guy who bombed Oklahoma... that’s an example of Christian terrorism. I haven’t heard them speak about the guys who are fighting in Northern Ireland. Christian against Christian. But those are Christian terrorists. They will say IRA. I haven’t heard that the Christians were responsible for the Holocaust, the Christians were responsible for apartheid. Somehow, we are able to define Christianity. Most Christians would be appalled if you said that that is a characteristic of Christianity. We would say it is a perversion.

On Pope Benedict XVI's Statement That Resulted in Anger Throughout the Muslim World

...He has tried to apologize. But he shows how very difficult it is to say sorry... very difficult. I find it difficult to say sorry to my wife in the privacy of my bedroom. [audience laughter] And rather than say sorry in public is one of the most difficult things, and that is why it was such an incredible experience to have people in the [inaudible] Commission say, please forgive me, in the glare of television lights.

On the War on Terror

We are part of a world that needs to remember a very simple thing. We are family. And we can try until we are blue in the face, we won’t win a war against terror, so-called, as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate.

On Progressing Together and a Statement on the Subhumanity of "Self-Sufficency"

And so I hope, I mean that we will get to learn that we can survive only together. We can be free really only together. We can safe and secure only together. And that God didn’t make a mistake of creating us. God created us different, not so that we should be alienated from one another, but that we should know our need of one another, that ultimately there can be no such thing as the totally self sufficient. In fact, to be totally self-sufficient is subhuman.


This is a Moral Universe

You and I are frequently appalled by the evil that is around in the world. And that makes us blind to the fact that there is a great deal of good. Well, you are an instance of that. You are here, you don’t need to have been, except because, I mean that Bill Clinton is so persuasive. [audience laughter] but you are here. And the incredible generosity that you have exhibited is part of saying this is a moral universe.

This is a universe with good, with right and wrong matter. It is a universe in which ultimately good will prevail. Ultimately. That you and I are people who are made for goodness. This is why the people we admire are the not macho, the aggressive, the
successful, I mean, Mother Teresa. There are many things you would say about her. Macho is not one of them. [audience laughter] and yet, the world reveres her.


God to Self: "Whatever Got Into Me to Create That Lot?"

God sees the tears of the compassionate
and is vindicated

You and I are creatures who are made for transcendence, were made for love, were made for caring, were made for embracing one another. I have look out of door but I mean, although God looks down and sees all of the ghastly things and God says 'oh, dear.' [audience laughter] Whatever got into me to create that lot? [more laughter]

And then God sees and God sees the others, the ones who wipe the tears from the eyes of the many, the ones that say we want to do something about poverty eradication. We want to do something about the HIV pandemic and God begins to smile through the tears. And a little angel walks up to God and wipes God’s tears from God’s eyes. And God says, yes, they have vindicated me.

Because you and I are ultimately made for goodness.

And that is what is going to prevail.

[tremendous applause]

The Buck Stops with Bush

The Buck Stops with Bush
Before the course of events can change in Iraq, President Bush must change.



What we have done in Iraq - the way we went about this venture - is something I'm sure that President Bush now regrets, even though he'd never admit it. We have a strategic nightmare on our hands, and we also have citizens of Iraq - not al Qaeda, but citizens - murdering one another. The children in the photo you see above are real. A U.S. soldier took this photo and I received a copy of it. Look at their faces for a while. Consider what you think we should do now that you have all the facts about the way President Bush and his administration misled us into what has turned out - because of their absolute inefficiency - as a case where a newly free citizenry has run amok with anarchic, sectarian methods to achieve power. Rather than cooperating with those Iraqis who have been voted into power by millions of purple fingers, anarchists view their elected opponents as friends of "the U.S. occupier" who rely upon (our brave, misused) American troops for the level of security necessary to keep them in power. The Bush administration is using a recipe taken straight from Osama bin Laden's favorite terrorist's 'cookbook'. Our President and his administration do not seem to understand the meaning of cooperation and diplomacy to put an end to the murder and mayhem that we so obviously have failed to abate - and have caused to increase.

There is a better way. We can see it. Many of our legislators can see it.

Do we want our legislators to keep up their partisan catfights on the floor of Congress with the majority party snuggling close to a President that hardly anyone trusts anymore? Of course we don't, but it seems the most reasonable among them has been left with no alternative. We all understand that there are precious lives at stake, and we would expect a pro-life party to act responsibly to honor each life in Iraq. Who do we blame when we go to blame our government for such an unfortunate and disastrous war product?

The buck stops with the Commander in Chief.

If the photo of these beautiful and innocent children looking to this soldier for protection has any truth to it, then we have done them a horrific injustice. We've destroyed their nation's infrastructure and caused many of them to become orphans long after we'd rid Iraq of their ethically perverted leader. Saddam Hussein's been locked up for years. He's no longer their boogie-man. While it's dandy for George W. Bush to brag about his capture, it seems totally disconnected from what we are doing in Iraq today.

We've invited, unleashed and increased the likelihood of terror being imported into Iraq by "taking the fight to Iraq so we don't have to fight them here." Our foolish President begged them to "bring it on." With the on-the-ground facts as we know them today, thanks to real-time intelligence reports, we can see that have done an immoral service to Iraqi citizens by daring terrorists to come to their homeland. The fight, for all intents and purposes, was unjustly brought upon an innocent nation. We'd have to be absolutely blind not to see it. There was no organized foreign terrorist activity in Iraq before 9/11. There was no connection between the government of Iraq and 9/11. The President readily admits it.

It's difficult to sleep at night knowing that my government has done all of this in my name. I wonder if the Commander in Chief loses any sleep at night or during his regularly scheduled beauty naps?

President Bush says that people like me are falling into terrorist propaganda by disagreeing with the awful way this action is being conducted by his administration. That's interesting, because I wouldn't begin to know what that 'terrorist propaganda' might consist of. I pay much closer attention to the way in which this action in Iraq and the overall war on terrorism is being handled, and I can see that we can do much better on all fronts for the good of our nation and the good of these children.

What we are doing in Iraq is not working. This is not the shining example of freedom and democracy in the Middle East that President Bush guaranteed, after he offered so many different and confuted rationales for going into Iraq.

To President Bush, I would recommend a good long look at this picture. Stare into the faces of these children and think about the promises you have made to them. In reality, you gave them - and America - false hope while you misled us and kept a grossly inept Secretary of Defense in power to politically protect a course that's been wrong from the start. Perhaps the problem is that, regardless of who might replace Donald Rumsfeld, the shattered premise for this war can never be altered. It's moral foundations fell apart long ago. New Congressionally-approved rules for torturing prisoners of war and turning away from the rule of law will cause further harm to the family of man, to their human rights, to freedom, to democracy, and to our chances of being a moral victor in this train wreck that we call a war. Dumping Mr. Rumsfeld will do no good unless we can take politics out of the game and look reality straight into its eye.

If President Bush wanted to be a better leader (rather than a bitter leader), he would cease his constant efforts to run down his fellow countrymen and find a way to work out of the political matrix. He would actually take the advice of his Generals. He might actually listen and debate the actual merits of the arguments he's receiving on a regular basis from Democrats and Republicans who are trying so hard to reach President Bush with reason, yet only find that he's locked himself away in a box of hubris, defensiveness, and political bravado that is doing no one any good.

Before the course of events in Iraq can change for the better for children like the ones in the photo above and for this country, President Bush is going to have to change. The buck stops there.