This Is Not That Day- - Lord of the Rings Trilogy
I thought this was an interesting analysis of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in light of some saying that Peter Jackson and Hollywood were making a pro-Bushite film.
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....
Monday, December 29, 2003
False Witness
How can prejudice affect a Christian’s witness?
Here's a fine example. This person calls himself 'pastor', yet sets a poor example for true Christian witness.
~~~~~~~~~~
"...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:23-24
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
~~~~~~~~~~
Is Howard Dean's Sudden Religiousity Sincere or Politically Motivated?
by J. Grant Swank, Jr., Pastor
"Howard Dean may garner the votes of the Unitarian-Universalists and the Jesse Jacksons of the world, but he will never get the votes of sincere Catholics, Evanglicals, and other Christian denominations that actually adhere to the Bible."
To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):
Who is this man to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.
Take your false piety and allegiance to Fox News and shove it up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.
While people like this pastor seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they create factions in His loving name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent Bible passage from the Right Christians blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we're on the subject of theology, I saw an interesting piece in the on-line version of the most recent issue of IN THESE TIMES
It deals with Marxism, Christianity, and a new book by Slovenian philosopher [and 'godless theologian'] Slajov Zizek.
"...Zizek’s post-secular theology. Zizek’s Christianity is a Cross without a Resurrection, and I would maintain, as a Christian and a socialist, that this neglect both obscures his theological vision and undermines his political hope. (Here, I ask readers—a mostly secular audience, I’m sure—for their indulgence.) Because he still sees the atonement as a cosmic yet incomplete debt cancellation, Zizek doesn’t fully appreciate [St.] Paul’s point: that we rise as well as die with Christ—that is, all debts are erased in what Zizek calls this “New Beginning.” Moreover, for Christians, the “infinite joy” at which Zizek marvels rests on a belief from which he recoils. Christians’ collective experience of joy in the world is inaugurated by faith in a triumph over death, a victory won by God’s power—a power we share but which we are not. Zizek’s Pauline theology collapses because, to put it squarely, it does not assert the exterior reality of God, on which Christian joy and political commitment must inevitably rest. However empowering Zizek’s formulation seems, it rests on an interiorized—and, Christians must maintain, ultimately empty—space through which we end up pursuing our own shadows."
Here's a fine example. This person calls himself 'pastor', yet sets a poor example for true Christian witness.
~~~~~~~~~~
"...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:23-24
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
~~~~~~~~~~
Is Howard Dean's Sudden Religiousity Sincere or Politically Motivated?
by J. Grant Swank, Jr., Pastor
"Howard Dean may garner the votes of the Unitarian-Universalists and the Jesse Jacksons of the world, but he will never get the votes of sincere Catholics, Evanglicals, and other Christian denominations that actually adhere to the Bible."
To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):
Who is this man to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.
Take your false piety and allegiance to Fox News and shove it up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.
While people like this pastor seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they create factions in His loving name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent Bible passage from the Right Christians blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we're on the subject of theology, I saw an interesting piece in the on-line version of the most recent issue of IN THESE TIMES
It deals with Marxism, Christianity, and a new book by Slovenian philosopher [and 'godless theologian'] Slajov Zizek.
"...Zizek’s post-secular theology. Zizek’s Christianity is a Cross without a Resurrection, and I would maintain, as a Christian and a socialist, that this neglect both obscures his theological vision and undermines his political hope. (Here, I ask readers—a mostly secular audience, I’m sure—for their indulgence.) Because he still sees the atonement as a cosmic yet incomplete debt cancellation, Zizek doesn’t fully appreciate [St.] Paul’s point: that we rise as well as die with Christ—that is, all debts are erased in what Zizek calls this “New Beginning.” Moreover, for Christians, the “infinite joy” at which Zizek marvels rests on a belief from which he recoils. Christians’ collective experience of joy in the world is inaugurated by faith in a triumph over death, a victory won by God’s power—a power we share but which we are not. Zizek’s Pauline theology collapses because, to put it squarely, it does not assert the exterior reality of God, on which Christian joy and political commitment must inevitably rest. However empowering Zizek’s formulation seems, it rests on an interiorized—and, Christians must maintain, ultimately empty—space through which we end up pursuing our own shadows."
Bob Kerry
Monday Ramblings Which Begin with Bob Kerry
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Howard Dean:
"He’s got a big neck; he looks like a wrestler."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Terry McAuliffe:
"I think they [DNC] need a new chairman. I like Terry McAuliffe; he’s a friend.… [but} I think they need a new face at the Democratic Party."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bush:
"[Bush has] got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him.."
LINK
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bill Clinton:
"Clinton is an unusually good liar. Unusually good. Do you realize that?"
Esquire/January 1996
"It was not an angry comment. It was actually intended as an off-handed compliment."
Omaha World-Herald (2/5/96) [Senator Kerry commenting on the previous quote]
A Book Review on Bob Woodward's Accounting of A Conversation between Bill Cinton and Bob Kerry:
"What is also amazing about this book, is that Woodward gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of the battle to pass this
budget through both the House and the Senate. It also gives you the word for word account of a bitter phone conversation between Clinton and Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerry, in which Clinton tells Kerry to go f--- himself, when Kerry refuses to vote for his budget, which turned out to be the crucial vote.
As it would turn out, Kerry would vote for it, making it a tie. Gore then gave the over the top vote and the budget was
passed..."
An opinion about Bob Kerry and the 2000 Dem VP slot vs. Sen. Joe Lieberman:
"Senator Lieberman will likely help Gore with moderates (the political middle), but may hurt him with the left. The Gore Campaign probably believes that its support within that constituency is solid, but if Green Party candidate Ralph Nader runs a strong campaign, then the selection of Lieberman could backfire.
Nevertheless, a more socially progressive Vice-Presidential candidate, such as Senator Bob Kerry of Massachusetts, could have weakened Gore's chances with swing voters. Thus, Lieberman remained the safest choice - regardless of the fact that he is an Orthodox Jew."
From the same article, thoughts on why Gore chose Lieberman as running mate in 2000:
"Perhaps it is the inevitable consequence of the Bill Clinton's tumultuous time in office that Al Gore felt compelled to select a candidate based largely upon his moral character. Senator Lieberman may lack personal dynamism, but he is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public."
So...do we want a President who looks like a wrestler?
Do we want a President with no personal dynamism, but is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public?
Do we want a President who'll be an unusually good liar?
Or do we want a President who has got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him..?
People of America, I submit to you that Bob Kerry would rather see George Bush re-elected than to see
Howard Dean elected. The airing of his public doubts will help Bush in 2004.
WOW!
You GO, Bob!
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Howard Dean:
"He’s got a big neck; he looks like a wrestler."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Terry McAuliffe:
"I think they [DNC] need a new chairman. I like Terry McAuliffe; he’s a friend.… [but} I think they need a new face at the Democratic Party."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bush:
"[Bush has] got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him.."
LINK
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bill Clinton:
"Clinton is an unusually good liar. Unusually good. Do you realize that?"
Esquire/January 1996
"It was not an angry comment. It was actually intended as an off-handed compliment."
Omaha World-Herald (2/5/96) [Senator Kerry commenting on the previous quote]
A Book Review on Bob Woodward's Accounting of A Conversation between Bill Cinton and Bob Kerry:
"What is also amazing about this book, is that Woodward gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of the battle to pass this
budget through both the House and the Senate. It also gives you the word for word account of a bitter phone conversation between Clinton and Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerry, in which Clinton tells Kerry to go f--- himself, when Kerry refuses to vote for his budget, which turned out to be the crucial vote.
As it would turn out, Kerry would vote for it, making it a tie. Gore then gave the over the top vote and the budget was
passed..."
An opinion about Bob Kerry and the 2000 Dem VP slot vs. Sen. Joe Lieberman:
"Senator Lieberman will likely help Gore with moderates (the political middle), but may hurt him with the left. The Gore Campaign probably believes that its support within that constituency is solid, but if Green Party candidate Ralph Nader runs a strong campaign, then the selection of Lieberman could backfire.
Nevertheless, a more socially progressive Vice-Presidential candidate, such as Senator Bob Kerry of Massachusetts, could have weakened Gore's chances with swing voters. Thus, Lieberman remained the safest choice - regardless of the fact that he is an Orthodox Jew."
From the same article, thoughts on why Gore chose Lieberman as running mate in 2000:
"Perhaps it is the inevitable consequence of the Bill Clinton's tumultuous time in office that Al Gore felt compelled to select a candidate based largely upon his moral character. Senator Lieberman may lack personal dynamism, but he is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public."
So...do we want a President who looks like a wrestler?
Do we want a President with no personal dynamism, but is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public?
Do we want a President who'll be an unusually good liar?
Or do we want a President who has got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him..?
People of America, I submit to you that Bob Kerry would rather see George Bush re-elected than to see
Howard Dean elected. The airing of his public doubts will help Bush in 2004.
WOW!
You GO, Bob!
Sunday, December 28, 2003
DLC/Howard Dean Squabble
New Democrats: It's time to be optimistic about 2004...time to stop begrudging and lamenting
At the New Republic, writer Jacob T. Levy is disappointed that Joe Lieberman isn't translating well as a viable Presidential candidate these days. He claims that Howard Dean is "distancing himself" from Bill Clinton. In my opinion, the distance has already naturally occurred in the past 3 years
of daily, systematic Clinton-dismantling activities by the Bush Administration. Howard Dean is not Bill Clinton. He is Howard Dean. He respects much of what Clinton did, as we all do. Yet we must remember we are no longer standing on the precipice of a new millenium with the hope that Clinton was afforded. In the late 90s, we could imagine taking flight from that precipice.
We cannot forget Clinton's fall.
It hurt us all so very much.
It was a immense help in the bringing forth of George W. Bush.
Mr. Levy writes:
"....New Democratic moment was a fragile one, and its highlights more than a bit accidental. Welfare reform, NAFTA, and the WTO were all essentially products of the interaction between Clinton, a small minority of moderate Democrats, and a majority (but not an overwhelming majority) of congressional Republicans. The budget surplus was the result of a bitter standoff between Clinton and Newt Gingrich's GOP over fiscal policy; for a brief moment, both sides decided they would rather let accumulating revenues just sit there than let the other side use them.
But the good news is that, accidental or not, some of the most important New Democratic policy triumphs of the '90s are more or less locked into place. And that may contribute to changing the political climate a few years down the road..."
While this may be true, you just cannot change the fact that too much water has run under the bridge.
Clinton was able to snuggle the center during his terms as President. In 1998, the lies about Lewinsky and the ensuing GOP witch-hunt blew the swing-voters, who had been caressed in the GOP-lite center so long by Clinton, back to the old-values right. Gore was damaged goods to swing-voters by 2000, thanks to a tarnished White House and the abandonment of Gore even by the fickle mainstream press (Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich were two of the worst). While many would love to have blamed Gore, we people outside Washington aren't that stupid. We see things for exactly what they have been.
Low, petty journalism and a kick to the stomach of the body of swing-voters by Clinton's ethical fall caused the election to come down to the Supreme Court being able to step in and overtake Florida's right to govern their own electoral process. It will always be one of the lowest points (if not THE lowest point) in the history of true freedom and democracy in America.
The Gingriches and Norquists make it crystal-clear that they want to crush and kill our education system, our unions, our social programs. They do not wish to diminish them....they wish to crush the life out of them.
No, this coming election in 2004 is NOT a time for a DLC/New Democrat centrist.
Not after three years of Bush's destruction and tearing down all the good Clinton tried to do.
It is time to be optimistic about Howard Dean.
The nay-sayers are only sabotaging their own party, which consists of far more than just the "New Democrats".
"....Tendencies are not destiny, to be sure. But, thanks to decisions made in the '90s, the tendencies are good ones. The New Democratic agenda may currently be crushed between union-backed, left-wing Democrats like Gephardt and Dean, and a pro-business but anti-market Republican administration. But perhaps this election will be something of a last gasp for those interest groups on both sides. The foul season may pass..."
I think Levy is being pie-in-the-sky to think the "foul season", as he sees it, will pass anytime soon.
This is war, my fine sir. The GOP started it when Bill Clinton got into office, regardless of how he tried to please
the center. And now we stand looking at a government gone far right and twisting every policy Clinton ever held as dear.
It's time for the toughest, most honest optimism we can summon.
The press will never be on our side while old-school DNC continues to begrudge and lament.
Stand tall...we need to see where it is our party must go to survive.
Let's join together and show one another what it means to be American. Let's use our power to take America back from those who wish to crush every good Clinton ever did for the People.
To "New Democrats":
No tears.
No hoping for something that no longer exists, save in your fond memories of a time that was and is no more.
The People are on the move.
Move with them...or die as the GOP would like you to do.
We can still be a party who can win with a war of ideas.
But the 2004 election will be.. must be war....and certainly not a war with one another.
We have so much to lose.
We can progress only if we progress together.
At the New Republic, writer Jacob T. Levy is disappointed that Joe Lieberman isn't translating well as a viable Presidential candidate these days. He claims that Howard Dean is "distancing himself" from Bill Clinton. In my opinion, the distance has already naturally occurred in the past 3 years
of daily, systematic Clinton-dismantling activities by the Bush Administration. Howard Dean is not Bill Clinton. He is Howard Dean. He respects much of what Clinton did, as we all do. Yet we must remember we are no longer standing on the precipice of a new millenium with the hope that Clinton was afforded. In the late 90s, we could imagine taking flight from that precipice.
We cannot forget Clinton's fall.
It hurt us all so very much.
It was a immense help in the bringing forth of George W. Bush.
Mr. Levy writes:
"....New Democratic moment was a fragile one, and its highlights more than a bit accidental. Welfare reform, NAFTA, and the WTO were all essentially products of the interaction between Clinton, a small minority of moderate Democrats, and a majority (but not an overwhelming majority) of congressional Republicans. The budget surplus was the result of a bitter standoff between Clinton and Newt Gingrich's GOP over fiscal policy; for a brief moment, both sides decided they would rather let accumulating revenues just sit there than let the other side use them.
But the good news is that, accidental or not, some of the most important New Democratic policy triumphs of the '90s are more or less locked into place. And that may contribute to changing the political climate a few years down the road..."
While this may be true, you just cannot change the fact that too much water has run under the bridge.
Clinton was able to snuggle the center during his terms as President. In 1998, the lies about Lewinsky and the ensuing GOP witch-hunt blew the swing-voters, who had been caressed in the GOP-lite center so long by Clinton, back to the old-values right. Gore was damaged goods to swing-voters by 2000, thanks to a tarnished White House and the abandonment of Gore even by the fickle mainstream press (Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich were two of the worst). While many would love to have blamed Gore, we people outside Washington aren't that stupid. We see things for exactly what they have been.
Low, petty journalism and a kick to the stomach of the body of swing-voters by Clinton's ethical fall caused the election to come down to the Supreme Court being able to step in and overtake Florida's right to govern their own electoral process. It will always be one of the lowest points (if not THE lowest point) in the history of true freedom and democracy in America.
The Gingriches and Norquists make it crystal-clear that they want to crush and kill our education system, our unions, our social programs. They do not wish to diminish them....they wish to crush the life out of them.
No, this coming election in 2004 is NOT a time for a DLC/New Democrat centrist.
Not after three years of Bush's destruction and tearing down all the good Clinton tried to do.
It is time to be optimistic about Howard Dean.
The nay-sayers are only sabotaging their own party, which consists of far more than just the "New Democrats".
"....Tendencies are not destiny, to be sure. But, thanks to decisions made in the '90s, the tendencies are good ones. The New Democratic agenda may currently be crushed between union-backed, left-wing Democrats like Gephardt and Dean, and a pro-business but anti-market Republican administration. But perhaps this election will be something of a last gasp for those interest groups on both sides. The foul season may pass..."
I think Levy is being pie-in-the-sky to think the "foul season", as he sees it, will pass anytime soon.
This is war, my fine sir. The GOP started it when Bill Clinton got into office, regardless of how he tried to please
the center. And now we stand looking at a government gone far right and twisting every policy Clinton ever held as dear.
It's time for the toughest, most honest optimism we can summon.
The press will never be on our side while old-school DNC continues to begrudge and lament.
Stand tall...we need to see where it is our party must go to survive.
Let's join together and show one another what it means to be American. Let's use our power to take America back from those who wish to crush every good Clinton ever did for the People.
To "New Democrats":
No tears.
No hoping for something that no longer exists, save in your fond memories of a time that was and is no more.
The People are on the move.
Move with them...or die as the GOP would like you to do.
We can still be a party who can win with a war of ideas.
But the 2004 election will be.. must be war....and certainly not a war with one another.
We have so much to lose.
We can progress only if we progress together.
Dean's Right..Nominate Him or we stay home.
Dean's right....
"Howard Dean said Sunday that the hundreds of thousands of people drawn to politics by his campaign may stay home if he doesn't win the Democratic presidential nomination, dooming the Democratic Party in the fall campaign against President Bush..."
And the Democratic party would deserve it.
This bitterness has gone too far now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And honestly, if THIS happens [Some see Graham as aiming to be Dean's running mate], Dean isn't going to win the 2004 Election.
It's going to have to be Wesley Clark, the most-tasty doughnut-hole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Brooks: A party unable to deal with rebellion deserves what it gets
"Howard Dean said Sunday that the hundreds of thousands of people drawn to politics by his campaign may stay home if he doesn't win the Democratic presidential nomination, dooming the Democratic Party in the fall campaign against President Bush..."
And the Democratic party would deserve it.
This bitterness has gone too far now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And honestly, if THIS happens [Some see Graham as aiming to be Dean's running mate], Dean isn't going to win the 2004 Election.
It's going to have to be Wesley Clark, the most-tasty doughnut-hole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Brooks: A party unable to deal with rebellion deserves what it gets
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Howard Dean Makes Fools of Press
PUBLIC STATEMENTS--MEDIA OFTEN FORGETTING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AMERICAN
***IDDY'S RECOGNITION OF BREACH OF GOOD CHARACTER CODE--
TRAIT: Honesty***
QUESTION FROM NEWSPAPER:
"..wouldn't most Americans feel strongly that bin Laden should be tried in America – and put to death?"
DEAN'S REPLY:
"...I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found," Dean said. "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials. So I'm sure that is the correct sentiment of most Americans, but I do think if you're running for president, or if you are president, it's best to say that the full range of penalties should be available. But it's not so great to prejudge the judicial system."
WORLD NET DAILY HEADLINE:
" Dean not sure Osama's guilty
Says he has 'old-fashioned' notion about 'jury trials' "
Anyone with half a brain and a professional and fair sense of journalism would fully understand that it is very American to
believe in American justice, even with its flaws. Our Founding Fathers did not intend American justice to mean going out and hacking to pieces or summarily executing someone we suspect of even the worst of crimes.
It is only the bravest American who would maintain that the American justice presumption of "innocent until proven guilty" would apply even to the very worst of defendants. I can understand how an Americans' trust in the American justice system would be destroyed after the O.J. Simpson trial and especially after (S)election 2000.
Hearing a completely civil and American justice-reliant Howard Dean speak of his confidence in American justice is a bold step indeed. We Americans have become quite divided in our feelings and our doubts about the American justice system. The Patriot Act has raised visions of secret trials on American soil and has sent a non-American message to America and the rest of the world. That's a damned pity. The judicial system in the United States has its flaws, but it is by far the most fair and balanced system of justice in the world. The very fact that a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty and is judged by a jury of peers has made the U.S. justice system of the U.S. more advanced than most of the rest of this world. The Bush administration has direspected and disregarded the system of U.S. justice at nearly every opportunity...and it is the very instrument by which he came to power! There can be no justice unless everyone is treated the same by the system of justice.
Dean's reminder that American justice...a system which has long recognized the fundamental rights of all humanity a la the Founding Fathers... puts him in the picture frame of an American uniter. He creates in us a rekindled hope for a healing of all the damage done to American justice. The People decide upon justice...not the Executive.
Has the ignorant media forgotten that "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"?
It didn't say all Americans..it said "all men".
WE--The People-- own America.
If WE choose to put Osama Bin Laden to death, it shall be done.
Let's catch the bastard first, shall we?
The media has lost its collective mind.
World Net Daily gets a big fat zero on intellectual honesty this time.
I wrote them a letter to tell them so.
Mona Charen is Ugly
Complains that the American soldier was not deserving of Time Magazine honor...
Shows total lack of human empathy for the Dean family loss of a beloved son
***IDDY' S RECOGNITION OF BREACH OF GOOD CHARACTER CODE--
TRAIT: Thankfulness, Respect, Empathy***
Charen says:
"....Time magazine has chosen the American soldier as its Person of the Year. Ha! .."
**This is a most ungrateful wretch of a woman**
"...Last August, the Quad-City Times of Davenport, Iowa, circulated a questionnaire to the Democratic candidates for president. The newspaper asked the candidates to complete the following sentence: "My closest living relative in the armed services is - ." Dean wrote: "My brother is a POW/MIA in Laos, but is almost certainly dead." In point of fact, Dean's brother Charles, whose remains have recently been returned from Laos, was not in the armed services. He was a tourist, visiting Laos as part of a one-year world tour. The Quad-City Times editorially expressed dismay at Dean's mendacity. Instead of apologizing for misleading readers, Dean dashed off an indignant letter to the editor....
Dean is more than a liberal, he is a liar and a narcissist."
**This is an antipathetic wretch of a human being**
~~~~~~~~~~
I love revealing ugliness for exactly what it is..and there it is, people.
The same type who have classified any reasoned criticism of Dubya Bush as "hate-speech".
The bloody hypocrites.
Charen will drop any sense of decency to rally around a leader that half of America itself does not trust.
She'd rather see honor given to the proven war-evader from the Viet Nam era who sent so many of our brave loyal men and women into battle in a smotheringly hot and dangerous desert for shady and dubious reasons.
Time Magazine would lose at least 50% of their subscriptions if they gave false honor to this untrustworthy leader whose bravery took him as far as sneaking into the Iraqi desert in the dead of night, donning an Army workout jacket, and holding a decorative turkey for a quick in/out photo op.
Mona Charen should listen to ANDREW GREELEY
"....The administration legitimized the invasion of Iraq as part of the ''war on terrorism'' and deceived the American people into believing that Saddam was involved in the Sept. 11 attack and that he had ''weapons of mass destruction.'' No one, except possibly Vice President Dick Cheney and the Wall Street Journal, believed that Saddam was involved in the attack on the World Trade Center. The weapons of mass destruction have disappeared. The president asks a TV interviewer what difference the mass destruction question makes, now that we have eliminated Saddam from power.
Note how slippery the administration line has been. The purpose of the war now is to get rid of an evil man who had done horrible things to his own people, even if he wasn't a real threat to us. Would those Americans who are willing to settle for that rationale have bought it at the beginning of the war? Such is the slipperiness of the administration's dishonesty that it can get away with a change in motives for the war...."
"....brave and good American men and women continue to die in Iraq, as do good Iraqi men and women. The military tells us that the Army will have to remain for two more years. The war was not only unnecessary, it was unjust by any and all of the traditional canons of an unjust war."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See my comments about the Quad-Cities Times Editorial
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is another piece of hateful, partisan, pessimistic, foul-smelling spew which found it's way to this internet site which gives itself a deceiving name. This is surely no news site.
It's more like Pessimism Central.
Friday, December 26, 2003
Love Sees No Color
"Love Sees no Color"--
About Fred Nassiri
".....The theme of the video and what Nassiri claims is the whole motivation behind the music in general, is a message of a humane charity and peace-on-Earth. The music is what Nassiri refers to as "New Generational," a genre he coined. "It's a new type of music and I want to introduce it to the world," says Nassiri.
Abdullah asserts that "every dime" of the proceeds from the CD and DVD sales will go toward Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations organization that rescues third world children forced to join military forces..."
Nassiri Video site here
Lyrics to the Song:
Love Sees No Color
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
When I look into your eyes I see hope, and future
Realizing what we have inside.
Hearts of love, hearts of light, hearts of new beginnings
Eager to find the answers we are seeking
Why does it take one man to end it all?
Oh, why can't we see!
Why does it take much more to stop the fall?
When it only takes love to be free.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
Let’s light a candle for the joining of our union
One for the fate of all mankind
One for love, one for thanks, all that we are given
Celebrating life and love we are finding.
Why does it take one man to end it all?
Oh, why can't we see!
Why does it take much more to stop the fall?
When on only takes love to be free.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
About Fred Nassiri
".....The theme of the video and what Nassiri claims is the whole motivation behind the music in general, is a message of a humane charity and peace-on-Earth. The music is what Nassiri refers to as "New Generational," a genre he coined. "It's a new type of music and I want to introduce it to the world," says Nassiri.
Abdullah asserts that "every dime" of the proceeds from the CD and DVD sales will go toward Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations organization that rescues third world children forced to join military forces..."
Nassiri Video site here
Lyrics to the Song:
Love Sees No Color
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
When I look into your eyes I see hope, and future
Realizing what we have inside.
Hearts of love, hearts of light, hearts of new beginnings
Eager to find the answers we are seeking
Why does it take one man to end it all?
Oh, why can't we see!
Why does it take much more to stop the fall?
When it only takes love to be free.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
Let’s light a candle for the joining of our union
One for the fate of all mankind
One for love, one for thanks, all that we are given
Celebrating life and love we are finding.
Why does it take one man to end it all?
Oh, why can't we see!
Why does it take much more to stop the fall?
When on only takes love to be free.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
We are the same as the rays from the sun
Love sees no color, no race, no religion
Only through love can we live as one.
Iran Quake
Dear God: At least 10,000 Souls Lost..
Iranian Quake Deaths Could Reach 40,000
This was all that was left of the remains of the old city. Located on a 6 sq. km site and built in the 11th century, the Citadel of Bam’s unique mud-brick structure was the largest clay structure in the world. It seems it was destroyed in the quake.
See Guardian articles:
Bam: Jewel of Iranian heritage
and
In minutes, Bam's 2,000 years of history and its hopes for the future were left in ruins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jihad in Tappahannock!?
Tappahannock, VA is a lovely town with one of the best river-views and one of the best little-known used book-stores around.
But...Tappahannock?!? Rappahanock? Who'd know?!?
Rappahannock River -photo by Iddybud
"....According to this morning's news, the little town of Tappahannock, with a population somewhere under 2000 souls, may have been identified through intelligence intercepts as a possible terrorist target. Tappahannock is some 90 minutes down Route 17 from me, and it reportedly has a single policeman on duty at any given time. So my question is a simple one: Tappahannock? .."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A 14-year-old boy reveals more tongue-in-cheek wisdom than the pundits who cover up the truth for Misleader Bush on a daily basis.
The twisting Bush can't fool children, who see life in the simplest, least hypocritical ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mad Kane's Latest Parody: Bushtown Races :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU MUST SEE THIS CHRISTMAS CARTOON!
~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE FUN: Take the King William's College quiz
Pupils at King William's College on the Isle of Man have suffered this fiendish general knowledge quiz for 99 years. The average score is just two. Answers will be forthcoming in the new year .
_ _ _ _ _ _
Guardian: 2003: End of year news quiz
It was the year of the Iraq war, royal embarrassments and rugby. What can you remember from 2003?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert D. Blackwill is the new "grand pooh-bah" of U.S. foreign policy.
..The job was designed to provide cohesion and long-range planning for a White House foreign policy team under stress from breaking wars and ongoing crises. Blackwill has quickly become the alter ego to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
...Although a colorful and highly public figure in the past, Blackwill is now among the least accessible officials. In his heart, he tells colleagues, he's a 19th-century man who believes in the necessity of secrecy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember Joseph Wilson? Leak of CIA agent Probe Gathering Momentum
..the CIA believes that people in the administration continue to release classified information to damage the figures at the center of the controversy, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV and his wife, Valerie Plame, who was exposed as a CIA officer by unidentified senior administration officials for a July 14 column by Robert D. Novak.
..a grand jury may be called to take testimony from administration officials
.."The only fear I've heard expressed is that the investigation will be too slow or too fast and will kick into a visible mode in a way that is poorly timed for the election," the Republican said. "If they prosecuted someone tomorrow, I don't think the White House would care. And they can do it in December 2004. They just don't want it to become an issue in the election."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Krugman takes on the media and tells them to GET REAL:
"Don't fall for political histrionics. I couldn't believe how much ink was spilled after the Gore-Dean event over Joe Lieberman's hurt feelings. Folks, we're talking about war, peace and the future of U.S. democracy — not about who takes whom to the prom.
Political operatives have become experts at manufacturing the appearance of outrage. In the last few weeks the usual suspects have been trying to paint Howard Dean's obviously heartfelt comments about his brother's death in Laos as some sort of insult to the military. We owe it to our readers not to fall for these tricks.
It's not about you. We learn from The Washington Post that reporters covering Mr. Dean are surprised — and, it's implied, miffed — that "he never asks a single question about them." The mind reels..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washington Times on Grover Norquist
"The soul of the new machine," is how Mother Jones describes Grover Norquist in an in-depth profile.
"As national ward boss for the right," writes Michael Scherer, "Norquist has gone a long way toward demolishing the old Democratic agenda. And he isn't done yet."
For readers who don't know the 47-year-old president of Americans for Tax Reform, his invitation-only Wednesday meetings, for which he is the blunt master of ceremonies, "have become a hot ticket for Washington's conservative In Crowd, the place for GOP players to brain-storm, swap intelligence and see and be seen."
Even Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, is known to drop by. As do senators and congressmen, from 259 of whom Mr. Norquist has secured written promises not to raise taxes. But his agenda doesn't stop there. He's launched Republican recruitment efforts to attract minorities, especially Muslims, aiming to turn them into ideal Americans.
"My ideal citizen is the self-employed, home-schooling, IRA-owning guy with a concealed-carry permit," he says. "Because that person doesn't need the [expletive] government for anything."
"And rather than negotiate with the teachers unions and the trial lawyers and the various leftist interest groups, we intend to break them," says Mr. Norquist, who at age 12 volunteered for Richard Nixon's campaign.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeking a new emphasis, Dean touts his Christianity
I'd hardly call answering an interview question "touting".
I'd call it "answering".
See how the media can be?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter's kin is riled up with enthusiasm for Howard Dean!
Jimmy Carter's son Chip stumps for Dean
"...as you travel around the world, people are looking for a new leader. The world is so scared of George Bush. They don't know what he is going to do next."
Carter thinks it would only take "20 minutes" for Howard Dean to make an impact on this worldview and rebuild confidence in the United States again from other nations.
Carter feels that Dean's has a good chance to stand against President Bush in the upcoming presidential election because he is willing to reach out to groups who previously have not voted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who cares what these damn pundits wail on about? We've chosen our side....and the pundits will wind up victims of
losing the mainstream...scratching their head..see NATION article
"...Today, the nation remains no less divided than four years ago, with about 20 percent of the vote up for grabs. The punditocracy has chosen its side. Perhaps it's time the rest of us choose ours..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharks, Bigfoot Lead National Geographic Top News Stories of 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It couldn't happen to a more deserving terrorist
Al-Qaida assassins after Gadhafi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iranian Quake Deaths Could Reach 40,000
This was all that was left of the remains of the old city. Located on a 6 sq. km site and built in the 11th century, the Citadel of Bam’s unique mud-brick structure was the largest clay structure in the world. It seems it was destroyed in the quake.
See Guardian articles:
Bam: Jewel of Iranian heritage
and
In minutes, Bam's 2,000 years of history and its hopes for the future were left in ruins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jihad in Tappahannock!?
Tappahannock, VA is a lovely town with one of the best river-views and one of the best little-known used book-stores around.
But...Tappahannock?!? Rappahanock? Who'd know?!?
Rappahannock River -photo by Iddybud
"....According to this morning's news, the little town of Tappahannock, with a population somewhere under 2000 souls, may have been identified through intelligence intercepts as a possible terrorist target. Tappahannock is some 90 minutes down Route 17 from me, and it reportedly has a single policeman on duty at any given time. So my question is a simple one: Tappahannock? .."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A 14-year-old boy reveals more tongue-in-cheek wisdom than the pundits who cover up the truth for Misleader Bush on a daily basis.
The twisting Bush can't fool children, who see life in the simplest, least hypocritical ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mad Kane's Latest Parody: Bushtown Races :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU MUST SEE THIS CHRISTMAS CARTOON!
~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE FUN: Take the King William's College quiz
Pupils at King William's College on the Isle of Man have suffered this fiendish general knowledge quiz for 99 years. The average score is just two. Answers will be forthcoming in the new year .
_ _ _ _ _ _
Guardian: 2003: End of year news quiz
It was the year of the Iraq war, royal embarrassments and rugby. What can you remember from 2003?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert D. Blackwill is the new "grand pooh-bah" of U.S. foreign policy.
..The job was designed to provide cohesion and long-range planning for a White House foreign policy team under stress from breaking wars and ongoing crises. Blackwill has quickly become the alter ego to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
...Although a colorful and highly public figure in the past, Blackwill is now among the least accessible officials. In his heart, he tells colleagues, he's a 19th-century man who believes in the necessity of secrecy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember Joseph Wilson? Leak of CIA agent Probe Gathering Momentum
..the CIA believes that people in the administration continue to release classified information to damage the figures at the center of the controversy, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV and his wife, Valerie Plame, who was exposed as a CIA officer by unidentified senior administration officials for a July 14 column by Robert D. Novak.
..a grand jury may be called to take testimony from administration officials
.."The only fear I've heard expressed is that the investigation will be too slow or too fast and will kick into a visible mode in a way that is poorly timed for the election," the Republican said. "If they prosecuted someone tomorrow, I don't think the White House would care. And they can do it in December 2004. They just don't want it to become an issue in the election."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Krugman takes on the media and tells them to GET REAL:
"Don't fall for political histrionics. I couldn't believe how much ink was spilled after the Gore-Dean event over Joe Lieberman's hurt feelings. Folks, we're talking about war, peace and the future of U.S. democracy — not about who takes whom to the prom.
Political operatives have become experts at manufacturing the appearance of outrage. In the last few weeks the usual suspects have been trying to paint Howard Dean's obviously heartfelt comments about his brother's death in Laos as some sort of insult to the military. We owe it to our readers not to fall for these tricks.
It's not about you. We learn from The Washington Post that reporters covering Mr. Dean are surprised — and, it's implied, miffed — that "he never asks a single question about them." The mind reels..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washington Times on Grover Norquist
"The soul of the new machine," is how Mother Jones describes Grover Norquist in an in-depth profile.
"As national ward boss for the right," writes Michael Scherer, "Norquist has gone a long way toward demolishing the old Democratic agenda. And he isn't done yet."
For readers who don't know the 47-year-old president of Americans for Tax Reform, his invitation-only Wednesday meetings, for which he is the blunt master of ceremonies, "have become a hot ticket for Washington's conservative In Crowd, the place for GOP players to brain-storm, swap intelligence and see and be seen."
Even Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, is known to drop by. As do senators and congressmen, from 259 of whom Mr. Norquist has secured written promises not to raise taxes. But his agenda doesn't stop there. He's launched Republican recruitment efforts to attract minorities, especially Muslims, aiming to turn them into ideal Americans.
"My ideal citizen is the self-employed, home-schooling, IRA-owning guy with a concealed-carry permit," he says. "Because that person doesn't need the [expletive] government for anything."
"And rather than negotiate with the teachers unions and the trial lawyers and the various leftist interest groups, we intend to break them," says Mr. Norquist, who at age 12 volunteered for Richard Nixon's campaign.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeking a new emphasis, Dean touts his Christianity
I'd hardly call answering an interview question "touting".
I'd call it "answering".
See how the media can be?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter's kin is riled up with enthusiasm for Howard Dean!
Jimmy Carter's son Chip stumps for Dean
"...as you travel around the world, people are looking for a new leader. The world is so scared of George Bush. They don't know what he is going to do next."
Carter thinks it would only take "20 minutes" for Howard Dean to make an impact on this worldview and rebuild confidence in the United States again from other nations.
Carter feels that Dean's has a good chance to stand against President Bush in the upcoming presidential election because he is willing to reach out to groups who previously have not voted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who cares what these damn pundits wail on about? We've chosen our side....and the pundits will wind up victims of
losing the mainstream...scratching their head..see NATION article
"...Today, the nation remains no less divided than four years ago, with about 20 percent of the vote up for grabs. The punditocracy has chosen its side. Perhaps it's time the rest of us choose ours..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharks, Bigfoot Lead National Geographic Top News Stories of 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It couldn't happen to a more deserving terrorist
Al-Qaida assassins after Gadhafi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Happy Christmas!
The Rebel Jesus
by Jackson Browne
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
William Rivers Pitt Speaks for Dean
"Howard Dean wants his country back, and so do I, and all the electoral math is pointing more and more every day to the fact that if we are to take this country back from the brigands, we will be doing it in Howard Dean’s army."
".....But the ad in Iowa, the nonsense about Hussein’s capture, and these most recent smears about Dean’s brother, are a cancer. It smacks of bitterness, of candidates who thought it was their turn and now feel thwarted by this doctor who came out of nowhere. It smells like brimstone, because if it continues, it will return to haunt us in the general election, the “Dean can’t win” claims will become a self-fulfilling prophesy, Bush will secure victory in 2004, and we will reap the whirlwind. If the Democratic party eats itself over the nomination of Howard Dean, it will cease to exist as a viable force in America, and deservedly so. Memo to the DLC and DNC: You have been warned..."
Howard Dean is Treated Most Unethically by Iowa Newspaper
Quad-Cities Times
Quad-Cities Times: I can't believe they actually did this
I will post the entire Quad-Cities Times Editorial at the end of this blog entry.
The Editorial would have been fine up until the last sentence, clearly meant to take a great deal of credibility away from
Howard Dean in a most unethical fashion.
I've seen tawdry tactics before, but this one really takes the cake.
It brings to mind how far I believe some of our journalists have strayed from ethics and from human reality today, even in the scope of "all's fair" American-style politics.
Fritz Williams of the Baltimore Ethical Society said:
"Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. ln those transparent moments we know other people's joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own."
There is an element of empathy in the story of Charlie Dean's family situation that most Americans capable of empathy can clearly see..and that the Quad Cities Tmes has totally missed.
According to Jodi Wilgoren of the NY Times, Dr. Dean has written a letter to the Quad-Cities Times, saying he was "deeply offended" by the editorial. I don't see the letter posted at the Quad Cities site. Perhaps they're embarrassed. They should be.
Howard Dean's statement about his brother finally coming home
When Charlie's remains looked as if they'd been found, Howard Dean publically stated:
So when did we lose our sense of empathy in America?
Charlie may not have been a soldier. He may not have been CIA. Frankly, none of this has ever been made clear and perhaps we, the public, will never and should never have access to any of that information. Charlie's not coming back. His family has suffered deeply, as I'm sure your family would. Howard Dean, in his eloquent statement expressed the great lesson he learned from the POW/MIA experience....and that lesson was borne of empathy for other families who lost beloved soldiers in the Viet Nam War. He also expresses his thanks and respect to the Military operation that enabled his family to have a final reuniting with Charlie.
If you can't see Howard Dean's answer for what it is and understand that it is truly the first thing that comes to this man's mind when he's asked about his closest relative and the armed forces, then I have no answer other than to say there's a sad combination of a lack of ethics, empathy, and a removal from reality on the part of the Editorial-writer at the Quad Cities Times. I won't go as far as to say there was deliberate atempt to impugn Dean's honesty and/or credibility, but I must say I suspect it.
It was incredibly scummy.
At a recent Sunday morning meeting, Dr. Khoren Arisian of the New York Society for Ethical Culture said:
"...When I say that since the times are always changing and so must we, I’m urging that if we are to be effective in the world, we need to catch on to the tunes and code words being played all around us. Then, maybe, we can respond forcefully and convincingly and make our voices heard.
"...Democracy depends on our being citizens first, consumers second, couch potatoes never.
"...The good life, the fulfilled life, is ultimately with people who are real. Real people are characterized by an ability to deal boldly with reality, with what’s actually at stake as opposed to what’s ostensibly happening, the music and the code words mentioned earlier. We have to learn to read between, not into, the lines..."
Howard Dean is about as real and as bold as you can get in politics today.
I understood what he was saying in his answer to that question..and I'll bet most other Americans did, too.
The Quad-Cities Times failed to read between his lines, and in doing so, missed a great opportunity to show
themselves as an humanly empathetic or ethical newspaper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE EDITORIAL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think the Quad-Cities Times Editorial shamefully revealed more about their own agenda than intended.
More information on this subject can be found at the following sources:
Jimmy Breslin
Telegraph
Gerry Cohen
N.Y. Post
Boston.com
Quad-Cities Times
Quad-Cities Times: I can't believe they actually did this
I will post the entire Quad-Cities Times Editorial at the end of this blog entry.
The Editorial would have been fine up until the last sentence, clearly meant to take a great deal of credibility away from
Howard Dean in a most unethical fashion.
I've seen tawdry tactics before, but this one really takes the cake.
It brings to mind how far I believe some of our journalists have strayed from ethics and from human reality today, even in the scope of "all's fair" American-style politics.
Fritz Williams of the Baltimore Ethical Society said:
"Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. ln those transparent moments we know other people's joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own."
There is an element of empathy in the story of Charlie Dean's family situation that most Americans capable of empathy can clearly see..and that the Quad Cities Tmes has totally missed.
According to Jodi Wilgoren of the NY Times, Dr. Dean has written a letter to the Quad-Cities Times, saying he was "deeply offended" by the editorial. I don't see the letter posted at the Quad Cities site. Perhaps they're embarrassed. They should be.
Howard Dean's statement about his brother finally coming home
When Charlie's remains looked as if they'd been found, Howard Dean publically stated:
"This has been a long and emotional journey for my mother, Jim, Bill and me. We greet this news with mixed emotions but are gratified that we may now be approaching closure to this painful episode in our lives. We ask that you respect our privacy as we arrange for the transfer, identification and ultimate burial of what we believe are Charlie Dean's remains.
I want to particularly thank the United States military. The men and women I visited with and stayed with at base camp last year in Laos are extraordinary human beings. This whole operation is an extraordinary credit to the government and the U.S. military. My family and I are deeply appreciative.
This is an extraordinary thing they've done: I've been on the site of five POW/MIA where they believe people are buried. It's very, very difficult. It's very rare to recover the type of remains that we recovered, which are very significant and are very likely to be positively identified.
At every turn [JPAC and the U.S. military] have been accommodating and respectful of our family's needs, and we're grateful for their service to our family and to every other family who has experienced a similar loss.
This is painful not just for us, but for the families of every POW/MIA in America. Based on my spending time in Southeast Asia last year I can tell you and all those families that similar efforts are being made for every family and every missing American from these Southeast Asian wars. This is an extraordinary step our government has gone to [to bring home every POW/MIA]."
So when did we lose our sense of empathy in America?
Charlie may not have been a soldier. He may not have been CIA. Frankly, none of this has ever been made clear and perhaps we, the public, will never and should never have access to any of that information. Charlie's not coming back. His family has suffered deeply, as I'm sure your family would. Howard Dean, in his eloquent statement expressed the great lesson he learned from the POW/MIA experience....and that lesson was borne of empathy for other families who lost beloved soldiers in the Viet Nam War. He also expresses his thanks and respect to the Military operation that enabled his family to have a final reuniting with Charlie.
If you can't see Howard Dean's answer for what it is and understand that it is truly the first thing that comes to this man's mind when he's asked about his closest relative and the armed forces, then I have no answer other than to say there's a sad combination of a lack of ethics, empathy, and a removal from reality on the part of the Editorial-writer at the Quad Cities Times. I won't go as far as to say there was deliberate atempt to impugn Dean's honesty and/or credibility, but I must say I suspect it.
It was incredibly scummy.
At a recent Sunday morning meeting, Dr. Khoren Arisian of the New York Society for Ethical Culture said:
"...When I say that since the times are always changing and so must we, I’m urging that if we are to be effective in the world, we need to catch on to the tunes and code words being played all around us. Then, maybe, we can respond forcefully and convincingly and make our voices heard.
"...Democracy depends on our being citizens first, consumers second, couch potatoes never.
"...The good life, the fulfilled life, is ultimately with people who are real. Real people are characterized by an ability to deal boldly with reality, with what’s actually at stake as opposed to what’s ostensibly happening, the music and the code words mentioned earlier. We have to learn to read between, not into, the lines..."
Howard Dean is about as real and as bold as you can get in politics today.
I understood what he was saying in his answer to that question..and I'll bet most other Americans did, too.
The Quad-Cities Times failed to read between his lines, and in doing so, missed a great opportunity to show
themselves as an humanly empathetic or ethical newspaper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE EDITORIAL
Dean's answer reveals more than intended
For 12 weeks, editorial page readers have learned a little bit about the human side of our presidential caucus candidates.
Our Caucus Q&A each Sunday defines each candidate in terms beyond position statements. They have divulged childhood experiences and influential teachers. In today's installment, the candidates named their favorite comedy film.
Last Sunday, Howard Dean offered an unusually revealing answer.
The candidates were asked to cmplete this sentence:
My closest living relative in the armed services is...?
Dean's reply: "...my brother is a POW/MIA in Laos, but is almost certainly dead."
Dean's truthful answer provided an inaccurate response. His brother was never a member of the armed services.
In an interview Friday with the Times editorial board, Dean said he believed the question was meant to get at his personal understanding of the military.
That definitely was the intent of our question.
We wanted to know the intent of his answer.
Dean said he visited Vietnam with veterans and military personnel and participated in digs to unearth enlisted men's remains.
That experienced created a strong affinity for men and women in uniform.
Charlie Dean's remains were found last month in a Laotian rice field, ending nearly three decades of anguish for his family.
Charlie Dean by many accounts was a renegade, an anti-war activist who didn't scream objections and wave signs. He worked for George McGovern, and in 1974, began a world journey. The news stories called him a "tourist," but his activism would indicate the trip was much more than that.
He crossed the Pacific by freighter. He worked on an Australian ranch.
Then for reasons only he knew, he went with a friend to Southeast Asia to see the war first-hand.
At some point, he was arrested by Laotian communist troops and held against the formal objections of the U.S. and Australian governments.
The U.S. Department of Defense classified Charlie Dean as Missing in Action, meaning that he was among
those officially sought by our government. He wasn't the only civilian with such a classification.
But he was a civilian, not a member of the armed services.
Charlie Dean's capture and death in Southeast Asia certainly shaped his brother's opinions about the American military.
Knowing that story tells us something about the candidate.
So does inaccurately implying a direct family connection to the armed services for the 72,000 Quad-Citians who received Sunday's newspaper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think the Quad-Cities Times Editorial shamefully revealed more about their own agenda than intended.
More information on this subject can be found at the following sources:
Jimmy Breslin
Telegraph
Gerry Cohen
N.Y. Post
Boston.com
Monday, December 22, 2003
Code Orange
Howard Dean was absoutely preposterous and well out of the mainstream when he said the nation "hasn't been made any safer" since we've caught Saddam Hussein...
Oh, by the way, there's a slim chance that you might be blown to smithereens
later this week...
Oh, but don't let that stop you from getting on the plane to visit Grandma...
Buh-bye! Don't worry!
Have a good time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look at fickle William Saletan falling for Centrist DLC pukery:
"We are no safer today than we were the day the planes struck at the World Trade Center," Dean said Thursday, adding that the capture of Saddam Hussein "does not mean that this president—or the Washington Democrats—can declare victory in the war on terror."
Picture that debate next year: On one side, Bush, the Washington Democrats, support for some tax cuts, relief at Saddam's capture, and the belief that by toppling the Taliban, if not Saddam, we're safer today than we were on 9/11. On the other side, Howard Dean."
By next year, we could be dealing with a fresh terror attack..especially if you listen to what the Bush administration is telling you this week. If you really think we're safer from terror now, I think you need your head checked. Read my lips..Saddam was a tin-pot dictator..not a terrorist. Is Saletan now buying into the Saddam-9-11 connection?
If so, he's lost all credibility with me and many others as a reasonable journalist. You tell me who's the one losing track of reality here. I surely don't think it's Howard Dean.
"....Bruce Reed, Clinton's former chief domestic policy adviser, called Dean's remark "a cheap shot at Clintonism."
That's B.S....and Reed knows it. Talk about fakery. Reed's feeling the sting because DLC-darlings Kerry, Edwards, and Lieberman's poll ratings have gone down the tubes.
Bruce Reed is out of touch with Democrats, he's destroying the Democratic party, and I recommended his firing last summer.
The threat of terror is very real, Howard Dean understands this better than most of the others, and he has a plan to deal with it. It doesn't involve lying to the American public. It doesn't involve cowering behind an untrustworthy,
wrong-minded, secretive President who maintains an acceptable popularity rating. Dean will not need masterful advisors who pump his popularity by resorting to deceptive paths. He has been and will continue to be popular by being himself..an honest, intelligent leader with nothing to hide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jimmy Breslin Isn't Fooled By Such Cock and Bull
Breslin: Blaming Saddam For Everything
"...the unmistakable feeling is that more and more of the American public will consider Saddam Hussein a partner in terror with Osama bin Laden and that it was a wonderful thing we did, going to war to catch one of them..."
"...I could hear George Bush and his people all saying: "We went and got Saddam because it is better to fight terrorists in Iraq than in Manhattan."
No matter that Saddam had nothing to do with the attack.
There were 15 Saudi Arabians who were in the suicide attack. Then immediately, the FBI gathered up those members of bin Laden's sprawling family who were in America and got them on planes to Switzerland. And soon, the Saudi Arabian prince was at Waco, Texas, for an amiable day with Bush..."
~~~~~~~~~~
DLC can dish it out/can't take ribbing about what's true.
Lieberman criticizes Dean for comment about Democratic Leadership Council
* Bruce Reed and Al From have sabotaged the progress of the Democratic party. Dean shares much of the group's political philosophy, conservative fiscal principles, and progressive social ideals, but he's been at odds with these two wrong-minded leaders. Iowa and New Hampshire poll results have proven Reed and From very, very wrong about the direction Democrats need to take...something I've been saying here on this blog for almost a year now. *
".....Howard Dean says he was only having some fun when he described the centrist Democratic Leadership Council as the "Republican" part of the Democratic party. But Joe Lieberman, a former chairman of the group, says he did not see anything to laugh about."
"One of the reasons I wish the others guys running for president would tone it down a little bit is that at the end, we're all going to have to pull together in order to beat George Bush," he told several hundred people at a packed town hall meeting.........even the Democratic Leadership Council, which is sort of the Republican part of the Democratic Party … the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, we're going to need them too, we really are." - Howard Dean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes from Guardian UK: Tough Climate for Centrist Democrats
"We spent two decades in the political wilderness because the middle class didn't trust us with their values or their taxes,'' said Bruce Reed, a former Clinton aide who is president of the DLC. ``I, for one, don't want to go back there.''
*Then I'll tell you what, chum. I'll tell you straight as an arrow.
The middle class..especially middle class in the Red States.. didn't trust Democrats with their values after 1998.
I think you know why.
I, for one, don't want to go back there.*
"What I can't understand is why our party won't heed the lessons of the one Democrat elected and re-elected to the White House in six decades,'' said Al From, founder and chief executive of the DLC."
* I can't believe I have to tell you this, Al.. pal. I mean, you're the one who's supposed to be the expert and all.
A big lesson was that a man (like Clinton) can be as great as any President ever was....but the minute he was hunted down by the witches of the GOP and impeached for sexual play on national business-time/the taxpayer's dime, he fell amazingly from grace with a hell of a lot of swing voters. Ask Al Gore about why he believes he lost in 2000 (other than the GOP chicanery). Regardless of how great we both might think Bill Clinton was for this nation and the world, if you do not see the association between the sullied 1998 White House and the Gore loss of states like Tennessee in 2000, you'd best seek a new line of work. Perhaps you forget Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist's remark that in 2000, "The tarnished presidency made Gore damaged goods in his home state." When it all falls out, I also think having the good Sen. Lieberman as running mate to Gore was a turn-off for Red-state swing voters. I hate to say this, but I think it's straight and it's true.
So there you have it.
Stop seeking a 'Re-Clinton' or a 'Clinton Cont'd' and open your eyes to the new political genius of the brilliant and popular man standing in front of you...his name is Howard Dean. Joe Lieberman doesn't have the chutzpah it takes to woo voters to take him on as their President. There are no Bill Clintons in your DLC-bunch. Clinton's keen intellect and his political brilliance will always stand, but I am afraid that his ethical reputation will never be repaired. *
9-11 Commission Head Tom Kean States on CBS Nightly News-
"This is not something that had to happen."
Meanwhile, a ridiculous Op-Ed in the N.Y. Post (accusing Kean of having
'an agenda') states:
".....Indeed, Kean has long made clear that he believes his primary responsibility is to the victims' families - who have declared that they will "not stand for some broad, sweeping, historic account."
They want heads to roll. "
Uh, no. I think all they want is the truth.
Is Kean wrong to be working toward an answer for these families?
If this was your father, mother, brother, friend who died (live/in living color) in front of the world on 9-11, wouldn't you want him to be doing what he's doing?
I would.
"This is not something that had to happen."
Meanwhile, a ridiculous Op-Ed in the N.Y. Post (accusing Kean of having
'an agenda') states:
".....Indeed, Kean has long made clear that he believes his primary responsibility is to the victims' families - who have declared that they will "not stand for some broad, sweeping, historic account."
They want heads to roll. "
Uh, no. I think all they want is the truth.
Is Kean wrong to be working toward an answer for these families?
If this was your father, mother, brother, friend who died (live/in living color) in front of the world on 9-11, wouldn't you want him to be doing what he's doing?
I would.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Howard Dean Has Become Synonymous With Our Very Selves
by Jude Nagurney
What do James Madison and Senator James Jeffords have in common?
James Madison warned that the majority must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. A majority of five out of nine caused George W. Bush to be the President in 2000. A majority of Republican-influence in the Senate make-up of 50 Rep-50 Dem in January, 2001, along with the new Bush administration pushing through an ultra-conservative agenda with no mandate was only the beginning of Madison's warnings-come-true.
Senator Jim Jeffords, then a Republican, understood this, and acted in Madisonian conscience when he made the tough decision to become an Independent. In his own words on the second anniversary of his switch to Independent, Jeffords said, "..events of the past two years have only heightened my concern over the president's veer to the right, and the poisoning of our democratic process of government." Unfortunately, it provided only a temporary remedy to the a malady within our Union that I will discuss in this essay.
The Republican party, along with rightwing media pundits, convinced many unsuspecting Americans that Senator Jeffords was a traitor, when in reality, he had acted in the utmost patriotic fashion.
Madison also said that a pure democracy, by which he meant a society consisting of a small number of citizens who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. He said that when we extend the sphere of society, we take in a greater variety of parties and interests and it would be less likely that the majority of the whole would have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens..or if such a common motive exists, it would be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength and to act in unison with each other. Where there is consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.
What's Happened to the Health of Our Democracy?
The body of our Union in Washington is suffering from an unchecked malady that has tainted members of both major parties. That malady is called the special interests.
Their common motive is to hijack America from individual citizens for whom the very idea of the American Republic was founded. We, the People, have the right and the reason to distrust the effect of the special interests upon our Representatives. The undue power of the special interests skews the scope of our individual rights. Special interests' monied influence upon our Representatives takes the place of our God-given individual freedom within this American society. The special interests are the unelected and invisible danger..the unriddable ghosts that have been possessing our Union's Representatives for far too long. Because our Representatives are ultimately the voice of the People of America within in this Republic, we need to bring the truth of the dangers of the special interests to the forefront. We need to drag the tragic way in which Washington has been infected into the light of day.
In your own good sense and in good faith, would you allow your destiny to rest in the hands of the unelected entity of the Energy/Oil lobby?
Do you believe the Insurance lobby or the AARP is your natural patron and friend?
With all your good sense, do you believe the interests closest to your American heart can be promoted by Ralph Reed or the Christian Coalition?
It is not what many of today's rightwing pundits would classify as "anti-American" interest that causes me to speak out about this issue. It is, rather, what James Madison called my "zeal, borne of Amerian pleasure and pride, in cherishing the spirit and supporting the character"of men like Jim Jeffords.
Along came Howard Dean, promoting joyous citizen participation as avidly as Bush was oppressing it
The spirit of Jeffords moved me in 2001, and has been complimented by the spirit of Howard Dean.
Although Senator Jeffords has not yet publically endorsed Howard Dean, the two men are so close in spirit that I cannot imagine Jeffords would endorse another.
I have long been possessed by the love of American democracy.
I would like to extend some of the credit for my more recent inspiration to Howard Dean.
He got my attention over a year ago when I heard him speak about his vision of America, which was so close to my own.
He is the one man who has inspired so many Americans like me to understand the duty and importance of acting upon our civic rights. He has caused me to invest in America in a most deeply personal way.
He makes an obvious distinction between himself and George W. Bush. He makes the undeniable point that while he promotes the egalitarian community of American citizens, self-reliance, civil liberties, and democratic participation, Bush supresses these values at every opportunity. In the end, Howard Dean's reminder of these distinct and nearly-forgotten American values was the dream of each and every one of our Founding Fathers--to have a Republic based upon the best each of us can be as individuals with rights bestowed upon us by God himself. God does not depend or rely upon a special interest group to make the rain; nor does God consult a special interest group to deem who lives and who dies on any given day. Our Representatives are far from being God (although some unbelievably act as if God is in their faction's camp). The Government is an artificial structure that has overcome some tremendous historical difficulties with often-unexpected unanimity. The beauty of America has been this: the translating the reality of what is best within each individual soul into a totally artificial government-structure. Through this potentially-miraculous translation, we have long enjoyed the mutual benefit to all in our American society...citizen-to-government/government-to-citizen.
In our history, I firmly believe it is the transcendent empowerment naturally held within each American citizen that has facilitated in capturing the hearts and minds of our best/most respectful governmental leaders and has shown the world the hopeful revelation of our common destiny as a people struggling to be the best that God can allow us to be.
When I hear people attacking Howard Dean (as I have heard so often lately), I am beginning to take each word in each attack in a deeply personal way.
I am not saying this because I am partial to Howard Dean (although I admit to being so).
I am telling you this because, most simply, it is true.
The name of Howard Dean has become synonymous with the investment of our very selves in the betterment of our nation, our love for healthy and strong American democracy,and our individual interests in preserving our American rights and performing our American duties.
This man, Howard Dean, has caused us to believe in ourselves and all we can be for our vision of America.
Most important is his reminder of the fact that America is ours...and we need to take her back.
The Bush Administration is beginning to see the danger to Dean's candidacy and I don't think they ever really saw it coming.
Every attack they will make on Howard Dean will be felt (quite deeply) as an attack on every American who feels they have the right to participate in American government.
What a paradox! With every attack on Howard Dean, he is further empowered.
What Does Madison's Scheme of Oppression Have to do with America in 2003 ?
The scheme of oppression in America has been a booming success these past few years. The most insidious of the Washington powerful have used (and will continue to use) the deaths of 3000 on 9-11 to defend their secret reliance upon the special interests.The scheme was strengthened by the majority of five in the Supreme Court in 2000 and got its most powerful after 9-11, when fear could easily be politically-used to continue the special-interest reign in Washington.
It continued through the false punditry of the rightwing media to further a special agenda(FOX/MSNBC/Hannity/O'Reilly/Snow/Hume/
Limbaugh/Savage/Beck); through vicious attacks by the GOP on good and decent men like veteran Max Cleland (decency and campaign finance concerns trampled in favor of a special interest group); through lies told to the American public resulting in a war that never had to happen; through the Patriot-Act theft of our precious liberties (for which so many of our soldiers have surrendured ALL and American cities have proclaimed against); through the Tom DeLay use of Homeland Security for the purpose of tracking down Democrats (while attempting to change a law every time something hasn't gone the GOP's way, even if it means a Federal intrusion into States' rights-as in the Texas redistricting case); through the deep darkness in which the Executive operates while attempting to usurp power from the People and store it in the reserve of the secretive Executive-(as in the mystery surrounding VP Cheney and the Energy industry). In these few examples (and many more), you might see how special interests have both benefitted from and contributed to today's democracy-thieving political machinery.
Although the GOP is not the only party to be sucked in by the special interests, they are the party most willing to play the game. It shows in the contributions they receive from the special interests and the legislation gifted to those interests in return. Meanwhile, millions of Americans lose jobs they will never see again.
The Democrats have participated in the game, too. In doing so, they have forgotten what it means to be Representatives of the People.
After 9-11, the People paid much closer attention. The Democrats were weak on defending their own decency and they ignored their own constituency. While I hate to have to say this, I was often ashamed of them. By not standing up proudly for who they were and what they stood for, they lost power to translate their decency into the artificial structure known as the U.S. government. We the People got a wicked case of laryngitis because of the malady in Washington.
It's well past the time for a major change.
That change is Howard Dean.
Words of Warning to Democrats
Democrats, take heed. If you do not move with and get behind your front-runner Howard Dean now, the party will remain voiceless.
I don't know if some of you who think you have great power within the Democratic party have some sort of secret strategy to damage Dean's campaign. I'm not privvy to that sort of thing. All I can say is to look into your own hearts.
When you calm your mind and forget the snare of ambition, I believe you'll see what I've seen for a long time...and what
hundreds of thousands of extremely successful grassroots activists have learned over the past year.
You know that it's too late to make these Dean-damaging moves and still reasonably hope to maintain a party of decent souls who wish the best for a healthy citizen-participant America. (And have shown they can get the job done). If you do not listen to these words with an eye upon sheer reason, you may as well get on board with George W. Bush's re-election team at this juncture.
Words of Caution to All Elected Representatives-
We Haven't Forgotten Who Owns America
A vow should be made to try to begin to change in Washington D.C.
I make a plea to our Represntatives:
The next time you look at a lobbyist, think of the millions upon millions of individual citizens
and the trust they placed in you on election day. That trust is worth more than any contribution they could ever make to your campaign or any political favor they could do for you..or you for them.
It's a new day.
The breach of that unspoken promise of trust for your special interest-hugging actions in the past has caused the
new-found political rise of Howard Dean.
James Madison warned that the majority must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. His warning rings true today. He made no provision to stem the tide of undue special interest-influence because it did not exist in the scope or magnitude that it does today. Yet, the spirit of his commentary and advice lives on. We need to render these special interests far less able to carry on this oppression through the channel of the government owned by the American People.
JNC/Iddybud
12-21-03
Out of the Mainstream? Hardly.
"The Post's Dec. 18 editorial discussing my recent foreign policy speech ["Beyond the Mainstream"] badly misrepresents both my position and the central argument in the coming election on how best to strengthen America's security...."
"...The Post repeatedly misstates my views.."
"...The Post's editorial comes close to equating the Bush administration's foreign policy -- including its signature doctrine of "preemptive war" -- with the American foreign policy mainstream. In fact, the Bush agenda represents a radical departure from decades of bipartisan consensus on the appropriate use of U.S. power and our leadership in the world community..."
"...In the end, I believe it will be clear who is in the mainstream and who is swimming against the tide of history."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See other LETTERS TO EDITOR in response to "Beyond the Mainstream"
"....Your paper doesn't like Dean saying that the capture of Saddam Hussein has not made us safer, although none of us has seen the terrorist warning improve from Code Yellow to Code Green..."
"...I am a Dean volunteer, but I am not a Democrat and I am not angry. Attempts to typecast the campaign will prove futile in slowing his grass-roots support from people like me..."
"....your paper owes its readers a little more variety and balance. As Howard Dean would say: "We can do better than that!"
"....these pundits who see this as a big boost for Dubya may be right. The human mind is a complex thing, and many are capable of consigning their mounting realization that the war was based on lies to one section of their gray matter, while storing the image of the captured Saddam (hauled from his "rat's nest," his "snake pit," his "lair" in mainstream journalese) in whatever section produces seratonin..."
******Be sure to read Prof. Leupp's ten points of serious doubt about the Saddam-9-11 ties*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reminder: "..the capture of Saddam
has not made America safer.." Howard Dean
Trying link again.. idon't see that my first vote counted on TTLB.
Here is the vote--again. Chris Brown
Chris "Lefty" Brown's Corner: What's so funny about peace, love, and higher taxes
Here is the vote--again. Chris Brown
Chris "Lefty" Brown's Corner: What's so funny about peace, love, and higher taxes
Saddam trial may backfire, prof says
Profesor Juan Cole Interview/Ann Arbor News
Sunday, December 21, 2003 By Art Aisner
"....One of the persons who is calling for a war crimes tribunal in Iraq is Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, current president ofthe interim Governing Council. Sixty-three members of his family were killed by Saddam Hussein. I'm willing to concede that the man is an upright man, but I don't know if saints exist to that extent in the world where he has no sense of vindictiveness about this...." -Prof. Juan Cole
Profesor Juan Cole Interview/Ann Arbor News
Sunday, December 21, 2003 By Art Aisner
"....One of the persons who is calling for a war crimes tribunal in Iraq is Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, current president ofthe interim Governing Council. Sixty-three members of his family were killed by Saddam Hussein. I'm willing to concede that the man is an upright man, but I don't know if saints exist to that extent in the world where he has no sense of vindictiveness about this...." -Prof. Juan Cole
There has been much national and international debate over what to do with deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein since his capture by the U.S. military.
University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole has taught Middle East and South Asian history since 1984, has a Ph.D. in Islamic studies and has written extensively on Iraq and modern Islamic movements in the Persian Gulf.
We recently spoke with him about Saddam's capture, how he should be prosecuted for the treatment of his people and the dangers of putting Saddam on trial.
Q: What concerns do you have about the suggestions of putting Saddam
Hussein on trial?
A: There are several. The Bush administration and Iraqi interim Governing Council both seem to think it's a good idea to try him in Iraq, and I understand why. But one wonders at what cost this will come. A lot of Sunni Muslims in Iraq fear the fall of the government because it will place them in the vast minority to Shiites who were persecuted by Saddam.
Any trial is going to cover his acts of genocide against the Kurds in the late 1980s and Shiites following the first Gulf War of the early '90s. Spending months on these kind of investigations has the potential for
provoking ethnic violence.
Q: What are other potential consequences of putting Saddam on trial?
A: I believe giving Saddam Hussein a stage or platform in Iraq through a trial is a bad idea because he's going to be defiant and still has Fedayeen and a loyal base active in the country. There also is the potential
that Saddam may find ways to underline U.S. complicity in the atrocities, which could make it difficult to maintain support for the occupation forces.
Q: The atrocities you mentioned that are attributed to Saddam are what we know about. Is there a danger that such trials would reveal more that we don't know about?
A: Diplomatic historians say there are no secrets if you know where to look. We already know a great deal about the U.S. government's [complicity] with Saddam Hussein and his actions. There could be more.
Q: Would he focus on that compliance to mount a defense?
A: I don't know that he would. It certainly would hurt his stature in the Middle East and Arab world to make himself look like an agent of the CIA, so he may not want to. But when he can bring that information to light in self defense, I believe he could.
Q: International human rights organizations have been collecting data on Saddam's brutal regime for decades. With so much documentation, what kind of defense could he mount?
A: What we have seen in the cases of those dictators who have been tried for war crimes in the past is that they are impertinent. They blame subordinates, say things got out of hand and blame the victims. He's already been quoted as saying the bodies of those found in mass graves throughout the country belonged to thieves and traitors.
Q: Is it possible for him to get a fair trial?
A: That's another issue. One of the persons who is calling for a war crimes tribunal in Iraq is Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, current president ofthe interim Governing Council. Sixty-three members of his family were killed by Saddam Hussein. I'm willing to concede that the man is an upright man, but I don't know if saints exist to that extent in the world where he has no sense of vindictiveness about this. That's a problem that a lot of the people involved in this have talked about, and for those reasons I really think it is important that any trial occurs in The Hague.
Q: Are there other reasons why any trial should be conducted by the
existing format of international war crimes tribunals?
A: There has never been such a tribunal in Iraq before. It's being created from scratch, most of the judges with long experience in Iraq are Baathists and there's no constitution in Iraq. Under what statutes can he be tried?
Q: Does it matter if he gets a fair trial?
A: I think it does matter. First, Saddam still has supporters, and to satisfy those supporters, it's important that any trial is conducted through a fair process. Otherwise, it could be construed that he was treated unfairly. I also think it's important for Iraq. If there is going to be a new Iraq, it must be founded on the principles of law and fairness. It would not [...] bode well that the country's first act would be to railroad someone even as despised as Saddam Hussein.
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