Bending Towards Justice

One-two punch

2004-10-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

First Jon Stewart rips Tucker Carlson's intestines out and shows them to him.

Then Tom Tomorrow provides the most succinct analysis of modern politics this side of, well, the Daily Show.

I can't wait to see what's next.

Due to the large volume of mail received, responses may take 6-8 weeks

2004-10-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Sens. Smith and Wyden and Rep. Blumenauer:

I am a pacifist and a Quaker. I was not in favor of taking action in
Iraq because I deplore the needless loss of life of both American and
Iraqi - and beyond my religious beliefs, I did not feel that it was a
constructive step even by the standards of war. But while I was
against jumping into the river, I am in favor of swimming. This does
not mean that I deplore even one loss of life any less; it simply
means that after accepting the harsh reality that there will be loss
of life, my hopes must rest with the idea that our leaders will work
to minimize that loss of life.

That is why I was so disturbed to read the following in the Los Angeles Times (registration required):

'The Bush administration will delay major assaults on rebel-held
cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say
administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives
could affect the U.S. presidential race.

Although American commanders in Iraq have been buoyed by recent
successes in insurgent-held towns such as Samarra and Tall Afar,
administration and Pentagon officials say they will not try to retake
cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi -- where insurgents' grip is
strongest and U.S. military casualties could be the greatest -- until
after Americans vote in what is likely to be a close election.

"When this election's over, you'll see us move very vigorously," said
one senior administration official involved in strategic planning,
speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Once you're past the election, it changes the political
ramifications" of a large-scale offensive, the official said. "We're
not on hold right now. We're just not as aggressive."'

Now, I am mindful that one cannot trust everything one reads in the
media, especially a story based on anonymous sources. But based on the
track record of the Bush Administration when it comes to deciding
policy based on political expediency, I have a strong feeling that
there is at least a kernel of truth at the bottom of this story.

At the very least, we must discover whether, in fact, American - and
Iraqi - lives are being used like chess pieces in a political game. I
expect that this possibility has already provoked outrage in you as
well. Therefore, I and all Oregonians - all Americans - encourage you
to take the floor of the Senate [or House - don't worry, I changed it depending on the recipient] and push for an investigation into
these accusations, and to emphasize to the Bush administration in the
strongest possible terms that basing military strategy on political
expediency is dangerous, counterproductive, and a betrayal of the
American people that the President is constitutionally required to
serve.

Thank you for your service and your kind attention to this issue.

Thanks to Atrios for the tip.

Inspiring words

2004-10-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Whoever said:

"The question of terrorism within the United States has been one that has worried us in the past. It is one that will continue to be a problem for years to come. We have to remember that the war that al Qaeda is waging and their allies are waging, is waged all over the world and it's waged right here in the United States. That's why we have to continue to be alert. It is also essential in being alert that we be fair; fair because by being fair we uphold the very freedoms that the terrorists would destroy. We uphold the standards of conduct which they would never follow. And, in this connection, I think that we must look to the future having in mind the fact that we fight terrorists at home not only by our laws to deal with terrorists - the few who do become terrorists and the few who do become evildoers, but we also fight terrorism at home by moving against those various injustices which exist in our society which the terrorists feed upon."

...would quite probably get my vote for President. It shows a realistic view of the way the world works, at least some understanding that without separating us from the terrorists, we will have nothing left worth fighting for. I have seen nothing - not one thing - from George W. Bush that shows that he understands this - beyond claiming that the terrorists simply hate our freedom.

It was fascinating to see George W. Bush say "I hope you don't think that" to the man who asked about the erosion of civil liberties. He seemed to be genuinely surprised that Americans are concerned that his Justice Department hates the Constitution. Just another example of his complete disconnect from the American people.

A lot of people don't like the increased divisiveness of politics; long gone are the days when the majority of Americans might conceivably say "party, schmarty; I just vote for the best candidate." I was watching the first Kennedy-Nixon debate on C-SPAN tonight (ahhh, C-SPAN on a Saturday night; fatherhood is the best) and was struck by - assuming we don't know about how Nixon ended up - how alike, reasonable, American both platforms were. Both men were pro-growth, both fairly moderate. The main difference between the two was their economic policies. But both policies represented each man's solution for the problems of the average American. None of this ridiculous "what's good for the corporation is good for Americans" policy.

Oh, and that opening quote? Substitute "communism" for "terrorism", and you'll have Richard Nixon's homeland security policy.

The Bush Administration is the aberration. It's time to get back to basics.

Tune in tokyo

2004-10-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I bought the earpiece theory when it first came to my attention, which was long before the first debate. After seeing the 'bulge photos' I started to take it a little more seriously.

Tonight I became certain that there's something going on under that jacket. My non-conspiracy-theory-oriented wife and mother in law both gasped when Bush walked in front of the camera and I pointed at the back of his jacket. They had never heard this theory, and yet the first thing out of my wife's mouth was "he's wired!"

Really, I'm starting to think that we're running out of alternative explanations. And this being 2004, if there's an issue, there's a blog for it.

I left my skepticism in Florida in 2000...

Sean Hannity: Man of the People

2004-10-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Via Jesus' General:
Conservative students learn a hard lesson:

"[Hannity's agent] said he thought we should say that because of the short time frame involved, it didn't work out," said Hollander. "I said I didn't think that was the truth, and...I really felt we had met all of our commitments and we were going to be honest when asked."

Yes, honesty. Not a word Hannity's agent hears a lot. And the real reason for his cancellation?

Hannity, Hollander said, requested a private jet to fly him to St. Louis for the speech, but then rejected "several" different jets offered by a private donor. He told Hollander about a "bad experience" with the prominent company that had manufactured all the jets offered for his trip.

When Hollander and fellow law student Melinda Gorman failed to locate a jet manufactured by another company, they offered Hannity a first-class ticket on a commercial flight. He refused.

Who's looking out for Sean?

Voting is not enough...

2004-10-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

...but you knew that. Part of the reason I haven't been updating is it's just overwhelming. What do I talk about first? Second, I've been pretty busy on the weekends volunteering for the League of Conservation Voters. This is the first time I've done any significant volunteer work on a campaign. I wanted to donate money to various candidates, but thanks to Bush's economy (as well, to be fair, as other factors) I can't afford it. Volunteering is a good way for anyone in my position to do their part. I thought it might be a good idea to quickly run down some volunteer opportunities for anyone who lives in or near a swing state as we come into the final three weeks. These are just the few I know of, to start with. Submissions are requested. It's not too late to get started!

Kerry Campaign
America Coming Together
League of Conservation Voters
ElectionMatch
Oregon Bus Project
South Carolina Progressive Network

Well, what do YOU think I should write about?

2004-09-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Of the trillions of words out there about tonight's debates, let me just say this:

Kerry won.

Bush lost.

That's not a surprise. What is a surprise is how surprised everyone is. Especially the right-wing blogs, as a Kos diarist points out:

Winds of Change:

"Kerry did well in terms of his persona; I went in expecting a pompous windbag and he wasn't one. Bush did less well in persona; fragmented, repetitive..."

The only thing that is unexpected about that is finding out that the freepers have been believing their own spin.

Subliminable messages?

2004-09-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I'm starting to get really, really paranoid. I was driving today when a church sign caught my eye. Something was very odd. See for yourself:

No? It might be kind of subtle - I've pretty much lost all perspective on this whole election. Just to see if this might be just a matter of coincidence, I checked the other side.

So is it just me? Or are they just plain not getting into the spirit of the "not-endorsing-a-particular-candidate" thing?

Sounds like an endorsement to me

2004-09-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile I admit I listen to Howard Stern. This morning Donald Trump is on, and, well, I'll let this exchange speak for itself. Howard and Robin have been asking the Donald about his kids' inheritance (all paraphrased from memory):

TRUMP: You know, under the Bush estate tax plan, you pay nothing for ten years - nothing in years eight, nine, and ten, but then in year eleven you pay sixty percent. You pay everything if you die in the eleventh and twelfth years, so there's going to be a lot of billionaires killed by their children at midnight -

HOWARD: The bigger problem is, if Bush is president, in twelve years there won't be a country.

TRUMP: Well, yeah, that's true.

You heard it here first: Trump Endorses Kerry.

Yawn

2004-09-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Drudge is reporting (no link, you can find it) that "CBSNEWS PLANS STATEMENT TO 'CLARIFY' BUSH GUARD DOCUMENTS STORY... NEW TIME: 5:00PM EDT..."

It's been delayed from Noon EDT to 3:30 EDT to 5:00 EDT (43 minutes ago at the time of writing).

There's rumors a-flyin', everything from "we still stand by our story" to Dan Rather's resignation. I'm guessing it's somwhere in the middle.

The Republicans are masters of the red herring, aren't they?

UPDATE: Ho-hum. Andrew Heyward basically says "we believed them at the time; we're doing more investigation now. Quite an exclusive, Drudge.

My booss, who by the way is an old and dear friend and constantly enjoyable to debate with, claims that the liberal media is pretty much ignoring "memogate." Interesting, then, to read this article on cbsnews.com:

Congressional Republicans turned the high heat on CBS News, charging that last week's revelations about Lt. George Bush, which aired on 60 Minutes, were based on fake documents and demanding that 60 Minutes and Dan Rather retract the story.

"It's very clear the documents were forged. They were laid on him and this time he bit," said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.

Forty members of the House signed a letter accusing the network of deception. The letter asked CBS if the documents are authentic, and why the network won't say how it got them, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

"I think at the very least CBS should characterize the source," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri. "I think it's amazing that they haven't already done that."

Just an interesting side note, is all.

Whew

2004-09-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much lately, but Bob Harris makes me want to retire altogether.

In the past year, I have personally visited three of the six biggest Muslim countries on Earth, and I have spoken at some length with ordinary Sunnis and Shia on four continents. This week I have just returned from Egypt, where I listened to lots of perfectly average people on the street, in trains, shops, and cafes.

This is true, I swear: we have hundreds of millions more potential friends than America realizes right now. And we are losing them for a generation or more. I promise you that on my soul.

Read the whole article. If it doesn't move you, you ain't movable.

We report - you decide

2004-09-14T02:44:00.000-07:00

Like Pandagon, I have no verification that this is true, but in a world where every little claim and question about John Kerry is dissected and rehashed ad nauseum, it needs to be discussed:

The letter said, "Governor Bush ... made a deal with Ben Barnes not to rebid [the GTech lottery contract] because Barnes could confirm that Bush had lied during the '94 campaign."

In that close race, Bush denied the fix was in to keep him out of 'Nam, and the US media stopped asking questions. What did the victorious Governor Bush's office do for Barnes? According to the tipster, "Barnes agreed never to confirm the story [of the draft dodging] and the governor talked to the chair of the lottery two days later and she then agreed to support letting GTech keep the contract without a bid."

Most effective talking point yet?

2004-09-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Kos diarist Zackpunk suggests Kerry's response to Bush's 'ownership society' should be:

"Mr. President, if you want to talk about an ownership society, let's talk about what you own."

There's more, of course.

In Memoriam

2004-09-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?"

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Shorter George Bush

2004-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

I've been saving the really good policies for the sequel. C'mon, guys, you can trust me.

Can we use the D-word yet?

2004-09-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

William Saletan gets it:

In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power—the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics.

Are you prepared to become one of those countries?

Bush: Sky is blue

2004-08-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

In other news, the war on terra is unwinnable.

"I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."

The bad news, George, is that what you're doing is the exact opposite of that.

Meanwhile, in New York, Rudy Giuliani spouts every right-wing talking point available to him. Wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire*.

* I probably would, though. He's still a human being. A spineless human being, but a human being nonetheless.

Hesiod is back!

2004-08-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Go see!

Vaulting towards justice?

2004-08-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

At last we have a non-political analogy for the way the media works in this country. Paul Hamm is still being pressured to return his gold medal. "After all," the meme goes, "it's only fair."

Now here's where it starts to sound familiar. After all, it does seem like good sportsmanship to return a medal unfairly won. In the face of the evidence - that the South Korean gymnast was given an incorrect start value - how could anyone but a cheater at heart keep the spoils of a mistake?

Sports columns and letters pages - at least in this city - are being flooded with such sentiments, decrying Paul Hamm as everything from "un-American" to "a typical American." At least 75% of weighers-in opine that "given what we know now, Paul Hamm should step down."

There's only one problem with all of this. It's all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong and, in case I haven't made myself clear, WRONG. Completely debunked. False. Flying in the face of all available evidence. Ignoring the facts. Based on false premises. Bulls-

Sorry. Got carried away. Here's the problems with the "anti-Hamm" argument - and I'll make it quick, because they're not even the point: 1) The South Koreans had a chance to protest the start value, and they didn't. The rules state their time for complaining is over. But that doesn't matter, because 2) The South Korean gymnast did an illegal routine which was also missed by the judges. A completely accurate score would have been one-tenth lower than it was.

Sorry to bore you with all the gymnastics stuff. Here's the point: Despite clear evidence to the contrary, this story still has legs. Many of the opinion stories don't even mention the "illegal routine" aspect - because if they did, they'd have no argument left. So they just ignore it. Likewise, the letter writers don't even mention the debunking, either - probably because they haven't heard it. And so the myth is perpetuated: Hamm doesn't deserve his medal.

Sound familiar?

National Guard Records, Schmational Schuard Schmecords

2004-08-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Via pandagon, this is quite the reply to the Swift Boat ads - and, to repeat a joke from pandagon's comments, has the advantage of being true (.mov clip):

Ben Barnes on rich kids

AWOL or not, some people - in the know - think the service Bush did was less than honorable - and this is someone who stands to lose respect by coming forward.

Always trust the guy who has something to lose over the guy who has something to gain.

King George refuses Max Cleland an audience

2004-08-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

At least take the letter, George. Make it look like the American people still have some access to their president. Heck, not just "people" - Senators.

And in his return letter - a letter directly to Kerry - Bush's people reiterate proven lies and halftruths. The cojones!

That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle.

and

You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities...

Not only do Bush's supporters expect the American people to swallow this demonstrably false rhetoric about Kerry, they expect Kerry himself to believe it.

And here's the best part. Think this is a spontaneous outpouring of support for George W. Bush in response by willing veterans who have no ulterior motive but to counteract the Senators' claims? Well, you'd be forgiven, but note the signature lines:

Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson
Rep. Duke Cunningham
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Rep. Sam Johnson
Lt. General David Palmer
Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient
James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Castle (Ret)
Paid for by Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.

Ah yes. The heartwarming loyalty of the bought-and-paid-for.

This just in

2004-08-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Someone in the mainstream press is finally paying attention.

Failures involving touchscreens during voting this year in Georgia, Maryland and California and other states have prompted questions about the machines' susceptibility to tampering and software bugs.

I'd be more impressed with CNN's overdue discovery of this story if it didn't come under the heading "Business Tech." Wouldn't want it to take away headline space from Scott Peterson's lawyer's sense of humor, would we?

Whoops, two in one month

2004-08-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

Daunte, a diarist at DailyKos, has a hilarious take on the Swift Boat nimrods:

Group Questions Circumstances of Phelps' Olympic Medals
(Athens) A group of veteran Olympic swimmers stirred controversy today by questioning the circumstances under which fellow Olympian Michael Phelps won his seven medals and attacked his qualifications to be named captain of the US Olympic Swimming Team.

"When the chips were down, you could not count on Michael Phelps," said Larry Thurlow, referring to Phelps' actions as a teammate in the 4 X 200 Freestyle relay. Phelps was awarded a Gold Medal for his performance, but Thurlow claims did not feel he [could] rely on Phelps when they competed together.

Posts are monthly now, apparently

2004-08-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

Outside of McCarthyite paranoia, the main knock against Communism was that it impeded progress.

With communism, no such interaction between citizen and bureaucrat was necessary. If the yields were low, only the citizens starved. The bureaucrats never did. In Russia , there was no motivation to work at all. As one peasant said, "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work."

This is not an unfair criticism. There is no real problem with the thesis that American industry was built on the idea of cause and effect: If I work hard and well, I will advance and achieve security and success; the harder and better I work, the more security and success I will achieve. If you were to take away this cause and effect, you would certainly expect an undermining of motivation.

So what are we to think of the situation as it stands? Outsourcing is rampant: Where is the security? Millions will lose the opportunity for overtime: Where is the success? CEOs make 400 times their average employee's salary, and receive huge bonuses despite fraud and failure: The bureacrats never starve.

I can't shake the feeling that Bush's capitalism looks a lot like communism with no social insurance. Add a touch of the opiate of the masses and a dash of bourgeois nationalism and voila: Compassionate Conservatism.

From the pre-generated headline dept.

2004-07-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

USA Today: "Democrats Assail Bush."

What a joke that rag is. The full transcripts aren't up yet, but of all the speakers last night, I only remember one even mentioning Bush - and that was Ted Kennedy! If references to how the country would be better under John Kerry is an assailment, I can't wait to hear what the McPaper calls the Republican National Convention.

The Republicans would still like us to believe that anything short of kowtowing is sedition.