Bush succumbs to Kerry pressure; Contradicts his own Iraq policy
In a political atmosphere which has produced some of the lowest poll approval numbers Bush has seen, we've seen him cave in to pressure to internationalize his dreadful Iraq problem. Jim Hoagland demonstrates how Bush's current efforts to internationalize have only exposed a naked contradiction to his reasons for being in Iraq to begin with. Concessions on Iraq's sovereignty have no rational relation to the moral and national security reasons Bush put first forward for invading Iraq.
I'm afraid this, like so many other purely political moves Bush has made, will only serve to backfire in its effects upon the facts-on-the-ground.
We need much less pitiful political damage-control and far more decisions made by wise and morally consistent leadership.
[LINK-Washington Post]
Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Frum/Perle Beliefs Threaten the World
Frum/Perle Beliefs Threaten the World
~~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Communists, by their own declaration, did not invade Hungary in 1956, or Czechoslovakia in 1968; they "liberated" these countries from evil. Frum and Perle have learned their lessons well."
~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Gordon systematically deconstructs the logic of Perle and Frum.
~~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Communists, by their own declaration, did not invade Hungary in 1956, or Czechoslovakia in 1968; they "liberated" these countries from evil. Frum and Perle have learned their lessons well."
~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Gordon systematically deconstructs the logic of Perle and Frum.
Frum and Perle have identified with great clarity a system of belief that threatens the world. This system requires all governments to conform to the policies of a single power. Those that refuse face violent overthrow. The ensuing military occupation by the dominant power is styled democracy; and, once people grasp its benefits, it is claimed that democracy of this sort will conquer the world.
[LINK-Ludwig von Mises Institute]
[LINK-Ludwig von Mises Institute]
Saturday, June 12, 2004
UK Elections: Blair's party takes a beating
UK Elections: Blair's party takes a beating
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, has called on Tony Blair to stand aside after the Labour party suffered its worst 24 hours at the polling booths since the mid-70s.
Short has said:
"I think that the electorate is sending a message to Tony Blair because the Labour party is incapable of correcting him. What he did in Iraq has brought disgrace and dishonour on Britain around the world. As Tony Blair won't change the policy, the only way to make a correction is for him to step aside from the leadership."
[LINK-Guardian]
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, has called on Tony Blair to stand aside after the Labour party suffered its worst 24 hours at the polling booths since the mid-70s.
Short has said:
"I think that the electorate is sending a message to Tony Blair because the Labour party is incapable of correcting him. What he did in Iraq has brought disgrace and dishonour on Britain around the world. As Tony Blair won't change the policy, the only way to make a correction is for him to step aside from the leadership."
[LINK-Guardian]
In Iraq Today
In Iraq Today
Bassam Salih Kubba gunned down
Was Iraq Ministry's most senior diplomat
The 60-year-old Kubba was a longtime diplomat, having served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations and Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba was the second senior Iraqi official to die in weeks. On May 17, Iraqi Governing Council head Izzadine Saleem was killed in a suicide car bombing near the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.
Three hostages were butchered by insurgents..one Lebanese hostage and two locals working for a foreign company in Iraq.
[LINK]
Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives Iraqi government conditional support
An aide told the Arab television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sadr would cooperate with the new government if it worked to end the U.S. military presence in the country.
[LINK]
In Sadr City
On Friday in Sadr City, one Mahdi Army militiaman was killed and several others were wounded in clashes with American forces in Sadr City, Baghdad. A Sadrist clergyman, Shaikh Nasir al-Sa'idi, preaching at the al-Hikmah mosque, warned nations considering joining the multinational force in Iraq that they will be treated the same way the present occupiers are treated.
[LINK]
In Kufa
At the Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Shaikh Jabir al-Khafaji preached in the stead of Muqtada al-Sadr, reading the latter's prepared sermon for the third week in a row. During the sermon, he mentioned that Muqtada al-Sadr would support the caretaker government if it demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of Occupation forces from Iraq. He emphasized his "refusal to kowtow to the Occupiers."
In Najaf
On Thursday and early Friday, Mahdi Army militiamen looted and burned a Najaf police station after the police attempted to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr. Although US-installed Najaf governor Adnan Zurufi accused the Mahdi Army of breaking the truce, it is hard to see how the attempted arrest was consistent with a truce. Zurufi is probably egged on in these matters by Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, but note that the US offered him no help on Friday. I think it is a legitimate demand that militias not appear in the streets armed. I'm not sure trying to arrest Muqtada's aides is so legitimate.
--Juan Cole
[LINK]
Food for Thought
A 6/19/2003 report by Juan Cole on the cancellation of planned municipal elections in Najaf was particularly painful for Professor Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago to reread from today's perspective. He wrote recently:
"You [meaning Prof. Cole] reported then that local US officials believed "Najaf was ready for elections and that the theocrats would have done poorly." But even if the Sadrists had won the election, their movement may have developed very differently over the past year if they could have built their political power by spending public funds for local reconstruction, rather than by recruiting soldiers for armed resistance."
Bassam Salih Kubba gunned down
Was Iraq Ministry's most senior diplomat
The 60-year-old Kubba was a longtime diplomat, having served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations and Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba was the second senior Iraqi official to die in weeks. On May 17, Iraqi Governing Council head Izzadine Saleem was killed in a suicide car bombing near the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.
Three hostages were butchered by insurgents..one Lebanese hostage and two locals working for a foreign company in Iraq.
[LINK]
Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives Iraqi government conditional support
An aide told the Arab television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sadr would cooperate with the new government if it worked to end the U.S. military presence in the country.
[LINK]
In Sadr City
On Friday in Sadr City, one Mahdi Army militiaman was killed and several others were wounded in clashes with American forces in Sadr City, Baghdad. A Sadrist clergyman, Shaikh Nasir al-Sa'idi, preaching at the al-Hikmah mosque, warned nations considering joining the multinational force in Iraq that they will be treated the same way the present occupiers are treated.
[LINK]
In Kufa
At the Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque, Shaikh Jabir al-Khafaji preached in the stead of Muqtada al-Sadr, reading the latter's prepared sermon for the third week in a row. During the sermon, he mentioned that Muqtada al-Sadr would support the caretaker government if it demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of Occupation forces from Iraq. He emphasized his "refusal to kowtow to the Occupiers."
In Najaf
On Thursday and early Friday, Mahdi Army militiamen looted and burned a Najaf police station after the police attempted to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr. Although US-installed Najaf governor Adnan Zurufi accused the Mahdi Army of breaking the truce, it is hard to see how the attempted arrest was consistent with a truce. Zurufi is probably egged on in these matters by Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, but note that the US offered him no help on Friday. I think it is a legitimate demand that militias not appear in the streets armed. I'm not sure trying to arrest Muqtada's aides is so legitimate.
--Juan Cole
[LINK]
Food for Thought
A 6/19/2003 report by Juan Cole on the cancellation of planned municipal elections in Najaf was particularly painful for Professor Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago to reread from today's perspective. He wrote recently:
"You [meaning Prof. Cole] reported then that local US officials believed "Najaf was ready for elections and that the theocrats would have done poorly." But even if the Sadrists had won the election, their movement may have developed very differently over the past year if they could have built their political power by spending public funds for local reconstruction, rather than by recruiting soldiers for armed resistance."
Friday, June 11, 2004
Larry Sabato on parallels between 1980 and 2004
Larry Sabato on parallels between 1980 and 2004
Joe Gandelman brought this new article by the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato to my attention (Thanks,Joe).
[LINK HERE-A LESSON PLAN FROM THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR]
Mr. Sabato's asking if this week's look back upon the Reagan years provided us with any insight about the 2004 Presidential campaign. He focuses on 1980, the year when Ronald Reagan achieved what observers at the time thought unlikely.
As the road to the 1980 election narrowed, Mr. Sabato points to these historical
mile-markers:
Foreign policy seemed a mess.
Americans were unhappy about the economy.
Our primary international enemy (the the USSR) appeared to be on the march and achieving major goals.
A sizeable majority of voters said the country was seriously off on the wrong track and
questioned whether the incumbent President and his team were competent enough to handle the myriad challenges before them.
An independent candidate for President added to the confusion of the election.
The country as a whole was uncertain what to do.
In 1980, it was pretty much a dead heat between Carter and Reagan up until October, yet at campaign's end, everything came together for Reagan.
It goes to show us all that you never know what might happen..and this whole 2004 race just might come down to the fates. I think Mr. Sabato is dead-on-target when he comments:
Though some people may think a happy resolution of the hostage situation wouldn't have quickly erased the public's memory of the long gas-lines and the inflation of Carter's unfortunate political time, I think they would be off-the mark. The public is easily swayed by such events poured out over their TV screens like high drama with heart-wrenching music and happy tears of relieved family members. Levers would have been pulled for Carter had fate smiled upon him.
Fate never smiled on Carter that year. Reagan eventually (boldly and illegally) defied fate and decided to cast his sails with the political winds at his back by selling arms to Iran for the release of those hostages.
If Osama bin Laden is caught in October, CNN and FOX will surely create the 24/7 drumbeat..the sappy movie-quality dramatics, music and all...and the dynamics of Election 2004 could greatly change... leaning toward an easy Bush victory. As long as bin Laden remains at large, however, America is reminded how pointless and unnecessary the violent Iraq war really has been.
Mr. Sabato wonders if John Kerry might not win by a landslide if this set of seven points still holds true on November 2nd.
I happen to think there's going to be a hell of a lot of violence and death in Iraq this summer. I hope I'm wrong, but i don't expect I will be. Bush will lay the blame and responsibility on the Iraqis, since they're now "in charge" (cough-cough). I don't think the public will buy it, but who knows? The public's been fooled many times by the misleading Bushites. They seem to accept many of the lies without question. Will they willingly accept many more troops killed as a civil war rages in Iraq? (A recent LA Times poll indicates that a majority of Americans now thinks it was not worthwhile going to war in Iraq).
Outsourcing was not a major issue in 1980. Have any Americans been watching Lou Dobbs? Will they be patient while their jobs continue to leave their small towns as their state taxes rise? Does Kerry promise them any relief?
There was no fear of E-vote theft in 1980...and there hadn't been a stolen (ahem--Supreme Court-assigned) election in 1976. A lot of 2000-Gore voters are just waiting to prepare their ballots very carefully and correctly this time. Will Diebold be capable of giving us an honest vote-tally? Why should we trust them knowing their CEO promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush?
What about the Saudi promise to lower those gas prices for Bush just before the election?
I think this country, as a whole today, is more certain of what to do than in 1980. The problem is, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gap between those people.
The irresponsible party-before-country (pig-headed) leadership in Washington is perfectly reflective of the gap. Last summer we saw Rep Bill Thomas call the police on his fellow statesmen. That gave the phrases "beyond the pale" and "over the top" entirely new meanings.
I don't think we're going to see any landslides unless Bush totally screws up.
(I can't believe I'm saying that--because I personlly do think that President Bush has already screwed up--far past my own political tolerance-point....yet I understand he has loyal and fierce supporters who practically live to see skeptics such as myself shut up and/or shut away.)
Note- See Joe's latest--Will the Bush Campaign's Use of Reagan Imagery Prove A Double-Edged Sword?
You can also see Joe over at Dean's World this week.
Joe Gandelman brought this new article by the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato to my attention (Thanks,Joe).
[LINK HERE-A LESSON PLAN FROM THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR]
Mr. Sabato's asking if this week's look back upon the Reagan years provided us with any insight about the 2004 Presidential campaign. He focuses on 1980, the year when Ronald Reagan achieved what observers at the time thought unlikely.
As the road to the 1980 election narrowed, Mr. Sabato points to these historical
mile-markers:
Foreign policy seemed a mess.
Americans were unhappy about the economy.
Our primary international enemy (the the USSR) appeared to be on the march and achieving major goals.
A sizeable majority of voters said the country was seriously off on the wrong track and
questioned whether the incumbent President and his team were competent enough to handle the myriad challenges before them.
An independent candidate for President added to the confusion of the election.
The country as a whole was uncertain what to do.
In 1980, it was pretty much a dead heat between Carter and Reagan up until October, yet at campaign's end, everything came together for Reagan.
It goes to show us all that you never know what might happen..and this whole 2004 race just might come down to the fates. I think Mr. Sabato is dead-on-target when he comments:
Had Carter managed to free the hostages just forty-eight hours before the election, it is conceivable that he could have managed to win a narrow reelection. Surely, both George Bush and John Kerry are waiting with bated breath to see if certain events in late October (the capture of Osama bin Laden, a terrorist act on American soil, a fresh disaster in Iraq) will swing the election one way or the other.
Though some people may think a happy resolution of the hostage situation wouldn't have quickly erased the public's memory of the long gas-lines and the inflation of Carter's unfortunate political time, I think they would be off-the mark. The public is easily swayed by such events poured out over their TV screens like high drama with heart-wrenching music and happy tears of relieved family members. Levers would have been pulled for Carter had fate smiled upon him.
Fate never smiled on Carter that year. Reagan eventually (boldly and illegally) defied fate and decided to cast his sails with the political winds at his back by selling arms to Iran for the release of those hostages.
If Osama bin Laden is caught in October, CNN and FOX will surely create the 24/7 drumbeat..the sappy movie-quality dramatics, music and all...and the dynamics of Election 2004 could greatly change... leaning toward an easy Bush victory. As long as bin Laden remains at large, however, America is reminded how pointless and unnecessary the violent Iraq war really has been.
Mr. Sabato wonders if John Kerry might not win by a landslide if this set of seven points still holds true on November 2nd.
I happen to think there's going to be a hell of a lot of violence and death in Iraq this summer. I hope I'm wrong, but i don't expect I will be. Bush will lay the blame and responsibility on the Iraqis, since they're now "in charge" (cough-cough). I don't think the public will buy it, but who knows? The public's been fooled many times by the misleading Bushites. They seem to accept many of the lies without question. Will they willingly accept many more troops killed as a civil war rages in Iraq? (A recent LA Times poll indicates that a majority of Americans now thinks it was not worthwhile going to war in Iraq).
Outsourcing was not a major issue in 1980. Have any Americans been watching Lou Dobbs? Will they be patient while their jobs continue to leave their small towns as their state taxes rise? Does Kerry promise them any relief?
There was no fear of E-vote theft in 1980...and there hadn't been a stolen (ahem--Supreme Court-assigned) election in 1976. A lot of 2000-Gore voters are just waiting to prepare their ballots very carefully and correctly this time. Will Diebold be capable of giving us an honest vote-tally? Why should we trust them knowing their CEO promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush?
What about the Saudi promise to lower those gas prices for Bush just before the election?
I think this country, as a whole today, is more certain of what to do than in 1980. The problem is, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gap between those people.
The irresponsible party-before-country (pig-headed) leadership in Washington is perfectly reflective of the gap. Last summer we saw Rep Bill Thomas call the police on his fellow statesmen. That gave the phrases "beyond the pale" and "over the top" entirely new meanings.
I don't think we're going to see any landslides unless Bush totally screws up.
(I can't believe I'm saying that--because I personlly do think that President Bush has already screwed up--far past my own political tolerance-point....yet I understand he has loyal and fierce supporters who practically live to see skeptics such as myself shut up and/or shut away.)
Note- See Joe's latest--Will the Bush Campaign's Use of Reagan Imagery Prove A Double-Edged Sword?
You can also see Joe over at Dean's World this week.
It's A Shame About Ray
It's A Shame About Ray
I'm not talking about Evan Dando's Lemonheads.
I'm talking about Ray Charles.
I think "You Don't Know Me" was my favorite song by Ray.
I'll never forget the warm night in June when I heard him sing 'Georgia' live from the stage at Jazz Fest in Clinton Square.
Man, I'm sorry to see him go...
I'm not talking about Evan Dando's Lemonheads.
I'm talking about Ray Charles.
I think "You Don't Know Me" was my favorite song by Ray.
I'll never forget the warm night in June when I heard him sing 'Georgia' live from the stage at Jazz Fest in Clinton Square.
Man, I'm sorry to see him go...
Funeral Over-Maybe we'll get some real news now?
The Funeral's Over
Maybe we'll get some real news now?
Quote of the day:
"The great American news industry, the Pekinese of the Press with so much room and time and nothing to say, compared Reagan to Lincoln and Hamilton, they really did. This is like claiming that the maintenance man wrote the Bill of Rights."
--Jimmy Breslin
[LINK]
Maybe we'll get some real news now?
Quote of the day:
"The great American news industry, the Pekinese of the Press with so much room and time and nothing to say, compared Reagan to Lincoln and Hamilton, they really did. This is like claiming that the maintenance man wrote the Bill of Rights."
--Jimmy Breslin
[LINK]
Charles Krauthammer on Optimism, Liberals and Reagan
Charles Krauthammer on Optimism, Liberals and Reagan
Charles Krauthammer cannot abide any liberal person's praise of former President Reagan, it seems.
[SEE LINK-REAGAN REVISIONISM]
Crediting President Reagan for his fine ability to inspire the average American is just not good enough. If you don't agree with Reagan's ideology lock, stock, and barrel, then I'm sorry, dear reader...Charles says you are a damned phoney.
I submit to you that Mr. Krauthammer sounds like a wounded little child who wishes to keep Reagan in his pocket for his selfish little self and won't let you hold him..even for just a moment.
Reagan belonged to all Americans and we can say anything we truly believe, if we believe the Bill of Rights. Of course, that doesn't mean idiots like Mr. Krauthammer won't try to prove us liars.
Now, I don't begrudge Mr. Krauthammer his own opinion. When he takes others' opinions and turns around to call the others fakes and liars, he only comes off appearing infantile, ill-mannered, and disrespectful....which is a terrible flaw in character I find common in many right-wing ideologues today.
'Vindicated' by history?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"Rarely has a president been so quickly and completely vindicated by history."
Vindicated?
History isn't over yet.
With no disrespect intended toward former President Reagan, if history was at its end, you could twist your facts around and turn even a farceur into a permanent mythical hero...but you'd know you'd have to ignore and omit many other facts. That, my friends, is what you call revision...which is exactly what Mr. Krauthammer is accusing liberals of doing (while doing a bang-up job himself). What a futile exercise.
We're looking back at Reagan from a narrow lens..all that will stem from Reagan's actions (or lack thereof) is yet to be.
I'm not sure about Mr. Krauthammer, but I know what I saw on September 11, 2001. The rest of you readers saw it happen, did you not?
If Mr. Krauthammer believes the murderous event that shook America in utter defeat at the hands of a popular Muslim fundamentalist leader on that autumn morning in New York City is disconnected from Ronald Reagan's failure (by his negotiating with the fundamental terrorists of Iran rather than stand morally strong) and from Reagan's failure to understand the future of the post-Cold-war world (especially after seeing 241 Marines suicide-bombed and Pan Am 103 in pieces on the Scotland ground), then I think Krauthammer had better think it out again.
Reagan's 'new peace'?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"His policies of unrelenting toughness won the Cold War and brought a new peace."
A new peace.
September 11, 2001. That's all I can say about Reagan's new peace.
Bush 43 could never come close to Reagan's uniting abilities
Mr. Krauthammer mockingly discounts optimism in his column and I realize that's exactly what is missing in right-wingers today.
At the funeral service today, Margaret Thatcher talked about Reagan's grace under pressure..about Reagan's wit, faith, and optimism. It's a shame to see Mr. Krauthammer discounting such wonderful character traits.
GW Bush should have such abilities. He doesn't, though. He's far more like dead wood.
Reagan, through his abilty to inspire, was a brilliant figurehead.
Compare that to Bush--the wooden cigar-store Indian that cannot come up with an eloquent reply to an impromptu question from the press.
If Reagan was an "amiable dunce" (not my words), that would make G.W. Bush is a "non-amiable dunce", hostile to those who do not share his ideology (my words). Reagan was a capable uniter, even while pushing an ugly agenda of greed. Bush is a divider in the world and in his own country.
Perhaps that's why Krauthammer cannot abide a liberal's praise for a former President's graceful wit. He knows the current right-wing oaf in office will never win on "grace".
Who is the dissembler and a revisionist when it comes to an open discussion about Reagan, really?
In section 59 of Arlington National Cemetery, near the graves of 21 American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in the line of duty in Beirut, there is a cedar tree with this marker:
LET PEACE TAKE ROOT
THIS CEDAR OF LEBANON TREE GROWS IN LIVING MEMORY OF THE AMERICANS KILLED IN THE BEIRUT TERRORIST ATTACK AND ALL VICTIMS OF TERRORISM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Do you think I'm being a phoney, readers?
Charles Krauthammer cannot abide any liberal person's praise of former President Reagan, it seems.
[SEE LINK-REAGAN REVISIONISM]
Crediting President Reagan for his fine ability to inspire the average American is just not good enough. If you don't agree with Reagan's ideology lock, stock, and barrel, then I'm sorry, dear reader...Charles says you are a damned phoney.
I submit to you that Mr. Krauthammer sounds like a wounded little child who wishes to keep Reagan in his pocket for his selfish little self and won't let you hold him..even for just a moment.
Reagan belonged to all Americans and we can say anything we truly believe, if we believe the Bill of Rights. Of course, that doesn't mean idiots like Mr. Krauthammer won't try to prove us liars.
Now, I don't begrudge Mr. Krauthammer his own opinion. When he takes others' opinions and turns around to call the others fakes and liars, he only comes off appearing infantile, ill-mannered, and disrespectful....which is a terrible flaw in character I find common in many right-wing ideologues today.
'Vindicated' by history?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"Rarely has a president been so quickly and completely vindicated by history."
Vindicated?
History isn't over yet.
With no disrespect intended toward former President Reagan, if history was at its end, you could twist your facts around and turn even a farceur into a permanent mythical hero...but you'd know you'd have to ignore and omit many other facts. That, my friends, is what you call revision...which is exactly what Mr. Krauthammer is accusing liberals of doing (while doing a bang-up job himself). What a futile exercise.
We're looking back at Reagan from a narrow lens..all that will stem from Reagan's actions (or lack thereof) is yet to be.
I'm not sure about Mr. Krauthammer, but I know what I saw on September 11, 2001. The rest of you readers saw it happen, did you not?
If Mr. Krauthammer believes the murderous event that shook America in utter defeat at the hands of a popular Muslim fundamentalist leader on that autumn morning in New York City is disconnected from Ronald Reagan's failure (by his negotiating with the fundamental terrorists of Iran rather than stand morally strong) and from Reagan's failure to understand the future of the post-Cold-war world (especially after seeing 241 Marines suicide-bombed and Pan Am 103 in pieces on the Scotland ground), then I think Krauthammer had better think it out again.
Reagan's 'new peace'?
Mr. Krauthammer says:
"His policies of unrelenting toughness won the Cold War and brought a new peace."
A new peace.
September 11, 2001. That's all I can say about Reagan's new peace.
Bush 43 could never come close to Reagan's uniting abilities
Mr. Krauthammer mockingly discounts optimism in his column and I realize that's exactly what is missing in right-wingers today.
At the funeral service today, Margaret Thatcher talked about Reagan's grace under pressure..about Reagan's wit, faith, and optimism. It's a shame to see Mr. Krauthammer discounting such wonderful character traits.
GW Bush should have such abilities. He doesn't, though. He's far more like dead wood.
Reagan, through his abilty to inspire, was a brilliant figurehead.
Compare that to Bush--the wooden cigar-store Indian that cannot come up with an eloquent reply to an impromptu question from the press.
If Reagan was an "amiable dunce" (not my words), that would make G.W. Bush is a "non-amiable dunce", hostile to those who do not share his ideology (my words). Reagan was a capable uniter, even while pushing an ugly agenda of greed. Bush is a divider in the world and in his own country.
Perhaps that's why Krauthammer cannot abide a liberal's praise for a former President's graceful wit. He knows the current right-wing oaf in office will never win on "grace".
Who is the dissembler and a revisionist when it comes to an open discussion about Reagan, really?
In section 59 of Arlington National Cemetery, near the graves of 21 American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in the line of duty in Beirut, there is a cedar tree with this marker:
LET PEACE TAKE ROOT
THIS CEDAR OF LEBANON TREE GROWS IN LIVING MEMORY OF THE AMERICANS KILLED IN THE BEIRUT TERRORIST ATTACK AND ALL VICTIMS OF TERRORISM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Do you think I'm being a phoney, readers?
What Have We Become? Ret. Naval Officer Speaks
What Have We Become?
A Retired Naval Officer Speaks
Sen. James Inhofe, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rush Limbaugh, Kate O'Beirne, President Bush are named as some of the leaders in a zealot's parade.
A Retired Naval Officer Speaks
Sen. James Inhofe, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rush Limbaugh, Kate O'Beirne, President Bush are named as some of the leaders in a zealot's parade.
Doesn't it ever occur to those zealots that something we do can be terribly wrong even if something else, somewhere else, is worse? I am very afraid that even that thin line will soon become so blurred we will be inured to anything, all in the name of patriotism.
I say this with the full knowledge that I'll be accused of "blaming America first." In this age of instant awareness of everything that goes on in the world, too many of us insist on being unaware of what some of us are becoming.
--Keith Taylor, retired officer, U.S. Navy
[LINK-Online Journal]
I say this with the full knowledge that I'll be accused of "blaming America first." In this age of instant awareness of everything that goes on in the world, too many of us insist on being unaware of what some of us are becoming.
--Keith Taylor, retired officer, U.S. Navy
[LINK-Online Journal]
Newsmax is proudly encouraging censorship
Newsmax is proudly encouraging censorship
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I see the folks at Newsmax do not wish for Americans to be free to consider views alternative to theirs.
The spirit of censorship by a market force within our capitalistic political structure, my dear readers, is what it means to be anti-American...to run against the Bill of Rights.
Our troops defend freedom in wars promoted by these market forces, yet the markets are not promoting freedom.
In this manner, they betray the troops with false sermons about what it means to be American.
I'm American, and so is Michael Moore.
Michael Moore isn't an alien enemy. He's an American with a story to tell.
Newsmax is claiming they don't want Moore to "profit" from his film, but we know what they really do not want is for too many Americans to hear the "other side of the story".
The man who's leading the charge is Mr. Howard Kaloogian, the same fellow who made history as Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Kaloogian talks a pretty talk about supporting the troops, but he falls flat on his ass when it comes to promoting the spirit of a truly free America. He has "AGENDA" written all over his false face.
Newsmax is free to help Mr. Kaloogian try to recruit people to speak out in anger, but in the end, what they hope for is market-censorship of "Fahrenheit 9/11".
Freedom is freedom.
Censorship is censorship.
The forces behind the market known as "Newsmax" are trying to control the political system. They know the election is fast-approaching and their obvious agenda is damaged every time an American hears hidden truths.
America is a nation of non-market-based individuals (sometimes known as humans) born to the hope of freedom in a nation born with and raised on The Declaration of Independence.
Newsmax does not represent freedom in the spirit of our Founding Fathers.
They're much closer to acting as market-fascists with their censorship-crusade.
[LINK]
UPDATE:
See Max Blumenthal June 14, 2004
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I see the folks at Newsmax do not wish for Americans to be free to consider views alternative to theirs.
The spirit of censorship by a market force within our capitalistic political structure, my dear readers, is what it means to be anti-American...to run against the Bill of Rights.
Our troops defend freedom in wars promoted by these market forces, yet the markets are not promoting freedom.
In this manner, they betray the troops with false sermons about what it means to be American.
I'm American, and so is Michael Moore.
Michael Moore isn't an alien enemy. He's an American with a story to tell.
Newsmax is claiming they don't want Moore to "profit" from his film, but we know what they really do not want is for too many Americans to hear the "other side of the story".
The man who's leading the charge is Mr. Howard Kaloogian, the same fellow who made history as Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Kaloogian talks a pretty talk about supporting the troops, but he falls flat on his ass when it comes to promoting the spirit of a truly free America. He has "AGENDA" written all over his false face.
Newsmax is free to help Mr. Kaloogian try to recruit people to speak out in anger, but in the end, what they hope for is market-censorship of "Fahrenheit 9/11".
Freedom is freedom.
Censorship is censorship.
The forces behind the market known as "Newsmax" are trying to control the political system. They know the election is fast-approaching and their obvious agenda is damaged every time an American hears hidden truths.
America is a nation of non-market-based individuals (sometimes known as humans) born to the hope of freedom in a nation born with and raised on The Declaration of Independence.
Newsmax does not represent freedom in the spirit of our Founding Fathers.
They're much closer to acting as market-fascists with their censorship-crusade.
[LINK]
UPDATE:
See Max Blumenthal June 14, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Iraq Pipeline Hit Will Cause Electricity Interruptions
You're looking at the latest hit by saboteurs on a key northern oil pipeline Wednesday, forcing a 10 percent cut on the Iraqi national power grid as demand for electricity rises with the advent of Iraq's broiling summer heat.
Chant along with me: "...hearts and minds.....hearts and minds.."
[LINK]
Hannity and Colmes-A worthless show
Hannity and Colmes-
A worthless show
Look at this conversation with guest Ted Rall. Lots of false morality, ugly hubris, desperate and defensive argument...nothing but meaningless tripe from all sides. It's nothing but pablum for the politically retarded. This is what's killing civility in America. I think Alan Colmes is the biggest puke of all, perhaps, for his line of questioning and sickeningly fake moral-posturing from the get-go. It set the tone for censoring Mr. Rall before he was allowed to utter one word.
These two a**wipes will remain on the air as long as their hateful, politically-slow audience chooses to swim and drown in their dribbling infantile-emotion-level pool of drool.
Poor, poor America.
A worthless show
Look at this conversation with guest Ted Rall. Lots of false morality, ugly hubris, desperate and defensive argument...nothing but meaningless tripe from all sides. It's nothing but pablum for the politically retarded. This is what's killing civility in America. I think Alan Colmes is the biggest puke of all, perhaps, for his line of questioning and sickeningly fake moral-posturing from the get-go. It set the tone for censoring Mr. Rall before he was allowed to utter one word.
These two a**wipes will remain on the air as long as their hateful, politically-slow audience chooses to swim and drown in their dribbling infantile-emotion-level pool of drool.
Poor, poor America.
Joel Mowbray: State Dept- Hating Weasel
Joel Mowbray:
State Department-Hating Weasel
When a writer is on a one-trick-pony crusade against the State Department.. and when he goes as wacko-far as accusing a major mainstream news publication of being "controlled" by the State Department.....and when his paranoid complaint is featured in a right-wing-leaning Washington newspaper...and when he'd defend a Neocon and a deceitful embezzling crook over good men and women within his own government....and when the writer has been a guest on Pat Robertson's ("nuke Foggy Bottom") show more than at the credible political media outlets...
...he might be nothing more than a State-Department-hating weasel.
*..and his credibility is going down the toilet along with the chickenhawks he defends...and he knows it. Smearing General Zinni hasn't helped Mowbray to look pro-American..*
[LINK]
State Department-Hating Weasel
When a writer is on a one-trick-pony crusade against the State Department.. and when he goes as wacko-far as accusing a major mainstream news publication of being "controlled" by the State Department.....and when his paranoid complaint is featured in a right-wing-leaning Washington newspaper...and when he'd defend a Neocon and a deceitful embezzling crook over good men and women within his own government....and when the writer has been a guest on Pat Robertson's ("nuke Foggy Bottom") show more than at the credible political media outlets...
...he might be nothing more than a State-Department-hating weasel.
*..and his credibility is going down the toilet along with the chickenhawks he defends...and he knows it. Smearing General Zinni hasn't helped Mowbray to look pro-American..*
[LINK]
Iyad Illawi helped CIA; Conducted bombing campaigns which killed kids
Iyad Illawi helped CIA; Conducted bombing campaigns which killed kids
Iraq's newly appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi apparently has blood on his hands..schoolchildren included. Please explain to me...how is bombing a crowded movie theater NOT acting as a terrorist? Would YOU want a leader who'd killed schoolchildren? What if you knew he wasn't even ashamed of his terrorist actions? It's pretty disgusting to think he's acting Prme Minister in Iraq right now. Our CIA was in on these bombings and sabotage beside Allawi in the early 90s. When Allawi was picked as interim prime minister, he said his first priority would be 'to improve the security situation by stopping bombings and other insurgent attacks in Iraq'...an idea several former officials familiar with his past said they found "ironic."
Why can't we ever choose someone "clean"? Conscientious? Decent? Moral? I think it's because we don't WANT a 'nice guy' to lead Iraqis to "freedom". Apparently ,we prefer the fellows with barbaric tendencies. Wasn't Saddam a barbarian, too? We're settling for a nicer barbarian, already?
*WE didn't choose him, you say?
B.S. we didn't!*
[LINK]
Update June 11, 2004:
Sunni preacher Shaikh Ahmad al-Samarra'i accused Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of being an American agent in his sermon on Friday. He addressed Allawi from the pulpit, saying, "Have all noble persons disappeared, that you have come and sought assistance from foreigners?"
[LINK]
Iraq's newly appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi apparently has blood on his hands..schoolchildren included. Please explain to me...how is bombing a crowded movie theater NOT acting as a terrorist? Would YOU want a leader who'd killed schoolchildren? What if you knew he wasn't even ashamed of his terrorist actions? It's pretty disgusting to think he's acting Prme Minister in Iraq right now. Our CIA was in on these bombings and sabotage beside Allawi in the early 90s. When Allawi was picked as interim prime minister, he said his first priority would be 'to improve the security situation by stopping bombings and other insurgent attacks in Iraq'...an idea several former officials familiar with his past said they found "ironic."
Why can't we ever choose someone "clean"? Conscientious? Decent? Moral? I think it's because we don't WANT a 'nice guy' to lead Iraqis to "freedom". Apparently ,we prefer the fellows with barbaric tendencies. Wasn't Saddam a barbarian, too? We're settling for a nicer barbarian, already?
*WE didn't choose him, you say?
B.S. we didn't!*
[LINK]
Update June 11, 2004:
Sunni preacher Shaikh Ahmad al-Samarra'i accused Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of being an American agent in his sermon on Friday. He addressed Allawi from the pulpit, saying, "Have all noble persons disappeared, that you have come and sought assistance from foreigners?"
[LINK]
Ken Burns Addresses Yale
Ken Burns Addresses Yale
"...there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history."
Because filmmaker Ken Burns has been a chief inspiration to me in creating this blog, I wish to share some of his advice to graduating Yale students in his May 23rd commencement speech:
So what do we make of all this? Let me speak directly to the graduating class.
(Watch out, here comes the advice.)
As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts. You will be healthier. Replace cynicism with its old-fashioned antidote, skepticism.
Don't confuse success with excellence. The poet Robert Penn Warren, who taught here at Yale for many years, once told me that "careerism is death."
Travel. Do not get stuck in one place. Visit Yellowstone or Yosemite or Appomattox, where our country really came together. Whatever you do, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Listen to jazz music, the only art form Americans have ever invented, and a painless way, Wynton Marsalis reminds us, “of understanding ourselves.”
Give up addictions. Try brushing your teeth tonight with the other hand. Try even remembering what I just asked you.
Insist on heroes. And be one.
Read. The book is still the greatest manmade machine of all -- not the car, not the TV, not the computer, I promise.
Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality. Remember, too, there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history.
Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within, as Lincoln said. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Steel yourselves. Steel yourselves. Your generation will have to repair this damage. And it will not be easy.
Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country -- they just make our country worth defending.
Do only, as Emerson suggests, whatever “inly rejoices.” Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, “God in us.” Remember, most of all, that only love multiplies.
Mr. Burns also offered inspirational, educated, and critical (yet necessary) comments about the civil state of America today. It would behoove all of us..beginning with our leaders..to heed Ken Burns' sage advice:
The great jurist Learned Hand (and could there be a better name for a judge than Learned Hand?) once said that, “Liberty is never being too sure you're right.” Somehow, recently though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy; begun to start wars instead of finishing them; begun to depend on censorship and intimidation and to infringe on the most basic liberties that have heroically defined and described our trajectory as a nation of free people; begun to reduce the complexity of modern life into facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, sometimes, in moments, become what we despise.
It is easy, I am sure, during these times of international upheaval and titanic change everywhere, to, like an ostrich, retreat inward, to retire to our spiritually as well as physically gated communities, to smugly convince ourselves that we in this country have somehow triumphantly made it through, that our destiny as a people, a society, a nation is now assured. That, like some perpetual motion machine, we will go on forever.
Nothing could be more dangerous than this arrogant belief, brought on and amplified as it is by a complete lack of historical awareness among us, and further reinforced by a modern media, cloaked in democratic slogans, but dedicated to the most stultifying kind of consumer existence, convincing us to worship gods of commerce and money and selfish advancement above all else.
“There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land,” Henry Adams wrote, “and whether one government can comprehend the whole.” It is a perfect quote, accurately conveying the anxiety of Americans in the middle of the 19th Century who feared that this collection of former colonies could ever expand to continental status, could ever deal as one nation with the sectional discord that threatened civil war, could, as Adams put it so well, “comprehend the whole.”
Civil war did come, yet the phrase “the United States are,” as we referred to ourselves plurally before the war, paradoxically morphed after the war into a singular “the United States is” that we still, ungrammatically, refer to today.
But, alas, today we find ourselves in the midst of a new, subtler, perhaps more dangerous, civil war. The first one proved, above all, that a minority view could not secede politically or geographically from this union.
Now we are poised to fight that war again, and perhaps again and again, this time culturally, where the threat is fundamentalism wherever it raises its intolerant head. The casualties this time will be our sense of common heritage, our sense of humor, our sense of balance and cohesion. The ultimate stakes, though, are just as great as those Abraham Lincoln faced--the Union and very survival of our country.
What we are seeing is a secession of ideas and identification from the mainstream. In the name of the truth, we have created an infinite number of different truths, all pulling in different directions, all oblivious to the old or even a new conception of the whole. The historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said that we suffer today from "too much pluribus and not enough unum."
Our first Civil War started, as the writer Shelby Foote says, because we failed to do what we Americans do best: compromise. "We like to think of ourselves as uncompromising people," he said, "but our genius is for compromise and when that broke down, we started killing each other." The lesson for us, today, is tolerance and the mitigating wisdom that sees beyond the dialectical preoccupation that has set each individual, each group, each region of the country, against the whole.
So, I ask those of you graduating tomorrow, male or female, black or white or brown or yellow, young or old, straight or gay, to become soldiers in a new Union Army, an army dedicated to the preservation of this country's great ideals, a vanguard against this new separatism and disunion, a vanguard against those who, in the name of our great democracy, have managed to diminish it.
This is a family problem. Our problem. Not a red state or a blue state problem.
Our problem.
I'm not sure if my readers have seen the AP article that followed Mr. Burns' speech:
Filmmaker Ken Burns Criticizes Bush at Yale as President Arrives for Daughter's Party
By Diane Scarponi--Associated Press, 05/23/04
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture.
President Bush came to the campus for a private reception with his daughter, Barbara, who graduates from Yale on Monday. Bush did not hold any public events, and Barbara skipped Sunday's baccalaureate services and the day-before-graduation senior Class Day festivities where Burns spoke.
While Bush was not in public view, his presidency was a hot topic of rhetoric at Class Day.
Without mentioning Bush by name, Burns drew parallels between today's political leaders and the Iraq war, versus Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, which he chronicled in an award-winning film series.
Both wars threatened to tear the country apart, Burns said.
"Steel yourselves. Your generation must repair this damage, and it will not be easy," Burns told the seniors.
Burns quoted famed jurist Learned Hand as saying, "Liberty is never being too sure you're right."
"Somehow recently, though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy," Burns said, to applause from the 1,300 graduates and their families and friends.
He criticized what he called a culture of censorship and intimidation that was intolerant of others, as well as a compliant media and a consumer culture that values the pursuit of money above everything.
"We have begun to reduce the complexities of modern life into the facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, some times and moments, become what we despise," Burns said.
Burns noted that it is tempting in such times to turn inward and ignore outside troubles, but he urged the seniors to reject that impulse and study history as a way to cope with these troubles and to figure out what to do about them.
"If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know who you are and where you're going?" Burns asked.
(see link for more)
---------------------------------------------------------
[LINK]
Congratulations to Mr. Burns daughter, Sarah, who was one of the graduating students at Yale.
"...there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history."
Because filmmaker Ken Burns has been a chief inspiration to me in creating this blog, I wish to share some of his advice to graduating Yale students in his May 23rd commencement speech:
So what do we make of all this? Let me speak directly to the graduating class.
(Watch out, here comes the advice.)
As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts. You will be healthier. Replace cynicism with its old-fashioned antidote, skepticism.
Don't confuse success with excellence. The poet Robert Penn Warren, who taught here at Yale for many years, once told me that "careerism is death."
Travel. Do not get stuck in one place. Visit Yellowstone or Yosemite or Appomattox, where our country really came together. Whatever you do, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Listen to jazz music, the only art form Americans have ever invented, and a painless way, Wynton Marsalis reminds us, “of understanding ourselves.”
Give up addictions. Try brushing your teeth tonight with the other hand. Try even remembering what I just asked you.
Insist on heroes. And be one.
Read. The book is still the greatest manmade machine of all -- not the car, not the TV, not the computer, I promise.
Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality. Remember, too, there is nothing more incredible than being a witness to history.
Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within, as Lincoln said. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Steel yourselves. Steel yourselves. Your generation will have to repair this damage. And it will not be easy.
Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country -- they just make our country worth defending.
Do only, as Emerson suggests, whatever “inly rejoices.” Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, “God in us.” Remember, most of all, that only love multiplies.
Mr. Burns also offered inspirational, educated, and critical (yet necessary) comments about the civil state of America today. It would behoove all of us..beginning with our leaders..to heed Ken Burns' sage advice:
The great jurist Learned Hand (and could there be a better name for a judge than Learned Hand?) once said that, “Liberty is never being too sure you're right.” Somehow, recently though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy; begun to start wars instead of finishing them; begun to depend on censorship and intimidation and to infringe on the most basic liberties that have heroically defined and described our trajectory as a nation of free people; begun to reduce the complexity of modern life into facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, sometimes, in moments, become what we despise.
It is easy, I am sure, during these times of international upheaval and titanic change everywhere, to, like an ostrich, retreat inward, to retire to our spiritually as well as physically gated communities, to smugly convince ourselves that we in this country have somehow triumphantly made it through, that our destiny as a people, a society, a nation is now assured. That, like some perpetual motion machine, we will go on forever.
Nothing could be more dangerous than this arrogant belief, brought on and amplified as it is by a complete lack of historical awareness among us, and further reinforced by a modern media, cloaked in democratic slogans, but dedicated to the most stultifying kind of consumer existence, convincing us to worship gods of commerce and money and selfish advancement above all else.
“There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land,” Henry Adams wrote, “and whether one government can comprehend the whole.” It is a perfect quote, accurately conveying the anxiety of Americans in the middle of the 19th Century who feared that this collection of former colonies could ever expand to continental status, could ever deal as one nation with the sectional discord that threatened civil war, could, as Adams put it so well, “comprehend the whole.”
Civil war did come, yet the phrase “the United States are,” as we referred to ourselves plurally before the war, paradoxically morphed after the war into a singular “the United States is” that we still, ungrammatically, refer to today.
But, alas, today we find ourselves in the midst of a new, subtler, perhaps more dangerous, civil war. The first one proved, above all, that a minority view could not secede politically or geographically from this union.
Now we are poised to fight that war again, and perhaps again and again, this time culturally, where the threat is fundamentalism wherever it raises its intolerant head. The casualties this time will be our sense of common heritage, our sense of humor, our sense of balance and cohesion. The ultimate stakes, though, are just as great as those Abraham Lincoln faced--the Union and very survival of our country.
What we are seeing is a secession of ideas and identification from the mainstream. In the name of the truth, we have created an infinite number of different truths, all pulling in different directions, all oblivious to the old or even a new conception of the whole. The historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said that we suffer today from "too much pluribus and not enough unum."
Our first Civil War started, as the writer Shelby Foote says, because we failed to do what we Americans do best: compromise. "We like to think of ourselves as uncompromising people," he said, "but our genius is for compromise and when that broke down, we started killing each other." The lesson for us, today, is tolerance and the mitigating wisdom that sees beyond the dialectical preoccupation that has set each individual, each group, each region of the country, against the whole.
So, I ask those of you graduating tomorrow, male or female, black or white or brown or yellow, young or old, straight or gay, to become soldiers in a new Union Army, an army dedicated to the preservation of this country's great ideals, a vanguard against this new separatism and disunion, a vanguard against those who, in the name of our great democracy, have managed to diminish it.
This is a family problem. Our problem. Not a red state or a blue state problem.
Our problem.
I'm not sure if my readers have seen the AP article that followed Mr. Burns' speech:
Filmmaker Ken Burns Criticizes Bush at Yale as President Arrives for Daughter's Party
By Diane Scarponi--Associated Press, 05/23/04
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture.
President Bush came to the campus for a private reception with his daughter, Barbara, who graduates from Yale on Monday. Bush did not hold any public events, and Barbara skipped Sunday's baccalaureate services and the day-before-graduation senior Class Day festivities where Burns spoke.
While Bush was not in public view, his presidency was a hot topic of rhetoric at Class Day.
Without mentioning Bush by name, Burns drew parallels between today's political leaders and the Iraq war, versus Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, which he chronicled in an award-winning film series.
Both wars threatened to tear the country apart, Burns said.
"Steel yourselves. Your generation must repair this damage, and it will not be easy," Burns told the seniors.
Burns quoted famed jurist Learned Hand as saying, "Liberty is never being too sure you're right."
"Somehow recently, though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy," Burns said, to applause from the 1,300 graduates and their families and friends.
He criticized what he called a culture of censorship and intimidation that was intolerant of others, as well as a compliant media and a consumer culture that values the pursuit of money above everything.
"We have begun to reduce the complexities of modern life into the facile judgments of good and evil, and now find ourselves brought up short when we see that we have, too, some times and moments, become what we despise," Burns said.
Burns noted that it is tempting in such times to turn inward and ignore outside troubles, but he urged the seniors to reject that impulse and study history as a way to cope with these troubles and to figure out what to do about them.
"If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know who you are and where you're going?" Burns asked.
(see link for more)
---------------------------------------------------------
[LINK]
Congratulations to Mr. Burns daughter, Sarah, who was one of the graduating students at Yale.
Unlike Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush Chooses to Remain in Dark Ages
Unlike Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush Chooses to Remain in Dark Ages
The dismal fact is: She's locking all of us in with her.
I consider this to be the saddest affront to the memory of President Ronald W. Reagan...
perpetrated by the current President who wishes to leech onto Reagan's legacy.
In essence, Laura Bush is saying: "I lost my father to this debilitating illness with no cure, now you and all Americans must suffer the same fate.. Oh, but I will admire you for slaving over your loved one as you watch them suffer and wither hopelessly before your eyes."
[LINK]
The dismal fact is: She's locking all of us in with her.
I consider this to be the saddest affront to the memory of President Ronald W. Reagan...
perpetrated by the current President who wishes to leech onto Reagan's legacy.
In essence, Laura Bush is saying: "I lost my father to this debilitating illness with no cure, now you and all Americans must suffer the same fate.. Oh, but I will admire you for slaving over your loved one as you watch them suffer and wither hopelessly before your eyes."
[LINK]
Bush Administration Has Waffled Terribly on Peacekeeping
Bush Administration Has Waffled Terribly on Peacekeeping
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building...I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."
--GW Bush, Presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
What we've witnessed with the Bush administration is "peace on the cheap"...because peace was not properly valued.
Before the Iraq war, the Peacekeeping Institute at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., was "just one more vestige of the Clinton years that Donald Rumsfeld intended to consign to the dustbin of history"*.
This administration has learned important lessons far too late. While trying to be ahead of times, they endangered our chances for success in Iraq. They endangered the lives of our troops. We need to toss them out on their incompetent rears in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published April 15, 2003
Army institute to be shut down
Critics hit loss of training center for peacekeeping
Rumsfeld supports closing
By Douglas Holt
Tribune staff reporter
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published July 8, 2003
Peacekeeping Institute to Stay Open
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published September, 2003
Peacekeeping revisited, again
The ‘p’ word gets another look
By Michael Moran
Senior correspondent MSNBC
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published November, 2003
Iraq provides Peacekeeping Institute with needed boost
...to save money and get more active duty officers serving with troops in the field, the Army announced in January that the Peacekeeping Institute would shut down -- despite ongoing U.S. peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan and, at the time, a looming war in Iraq.
"The war college was told it had to cut 64 slots, and our 10 were among them," said Col. Michael Dooley
Critics figured that the decision had more to do with the distaste for U.S. "nation-building" frequently expressed by President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The institute also has a new name, to reflect its broadened mission. It now is known as the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
[LINK]
Published: Jun 9, 2004
United States Pushes G-8 Plan to Train 50,000 Peacekeepers for Africa, Elsewhere
By John Leicester Associated Press Writer
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published June 9, 2004
Rumsfeld expresses interest in a new regional peacekeeping training institute styled as Bangladesh Institute of Peacekeeping Support Operations Training
Staff Writer
Daily Star
[LINK]
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building...I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have a kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."
--GW Bush, Presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
What we've witnessed with the Bush administration is "peace on the cheap"...because peace was not properly valued.
Before the Iraq war, the Peacekeeping Institute at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., was "just one more vestige of the Clinton years that Donald Rumsfeld intended to consign to the dustbin of history"*.
This administration has learned important lessons far too late. While trying to be ahead of times, they endangered our chances for success in Iraq. They endangered the lives of our troops. We need to toss them out on their incompetent rears in November.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published April 15, 2003
Army institute to be shut down
Critics hit loss of training center for peacekeeping
Rumsfeld supports closing
By Douglas Holt
Tribune staff reporter
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published July 8, 2003
Peacekeeping Institute to Stay Open
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published September, 2003
Peacekeeping revisited, again
The ‘p’ word gets another look
By Michael Moran
Senior correspondent MSNBC
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published November, 2003
Iraq provides Peacekeeping Institute with needed boost
...to save money and get more active duty officers serving with troops in the field, the Army announced in January that the Peacekeeping Institute would shut down -- despite ongoing U.S. peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan and, at the time, a looming war in Iraq.
"The war college was told it had to cut 64 slots, and our 10 were among them," said Col. Michael Dooley
Critics figured that the decision had more to do with the distaste for U.S. "nation-building" frequently expressed by President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The institute also has a new name, to reflect its broadened mission. It now is known as the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
[LINK]
Published: Jun 9, 2004
United States Pushes G-8 Plan to Train 50,000 Peacekeepers for Africa, Elsewhere
By John Leicester Associated Press Writer
[LINK]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published June 9, 2004
Rumsfeld expresses interest in a new regional peacekeeping training institute styled as Bangladesh Institute of Peacekeeping Support Operations Training
Staff Writer
Daily Star
[LINK]
Political Compass
Take This Test!
Political Compass
The social dimension of politics is important. That's the dimension that the mere left-right scale doesn't adequately address. So Political Compass has added one, ranging in positions from extreme authoritarian to extreme libertarian.
My result was here:
Close to this fellow:
NOTE: Don't spoil the results by reading the Analysis section before you take the test.
Political Compass
The social dimension of politics is important. That's the dimension that the mere left-right scale doesn't adequately address. So Political Compass has added one, ranging in positions from extreme authoritarian to extreme libertarian.
My result was here:
Close to this fellow:
NOTE: Don't spoil the results by reading the Analysis section before you take the test.
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