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.

Thoughts on Fahrenheit 9/11

2004-06-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

If we truly had a liberal media, or even an evenhanded one, nothing in
this film would come as much of a surprise to anyone, just as it
didn't to me. The connections between the Bush administration and the
Saudi royal family and the bin Laden family should be well known, as
should the true effects of war. That so many people view Moore's film
with surprise or disdain is a sign of how one-sided the news we
receive really is.

Just as in Bowling for Columbine, there are some claims made by Moore
that are not objectively true. This does not mean that they are
objectively false; for example, there is still confusion over whether
and why the bin Laden family was allowed to leave the United States at
a time when all other American flights were grounded, for example.

Happily, Michael Moore keeps his on-camera time to a minimum,
appearing only to call attention to the fact that only one member of
Congress has a child in the military or, in a moment of surreal,
couldn't-have-scripted-this-better amazement, be approached by the
Secret Service - who have been called to investigate a camera crew
standing outside the Saudi Embassy!

"Does the secret service usually protect foreign embassies?" Moore
asks. "Not usually," replies the officer.

Among the most chilling and convincing scenes were those who not even
Moore's most rabid enemies could possibly question the veracity of: A
public beheading ceremony in Saudi Arabia; defense contractors
literally salivating over the money to be made from the death and
destruction in Iraq; a North Face-jacketed yuppie woman simpering that
"this whole thing is staged" as a grieving mother stands talking to a
protester on the Mall.

Moore has his excesses, and I question many of his methods and even
some of his views. But even in his narcissism and bombast, his is, by
an order of magnitude, a more realistic view of international
relations and cause and effect than any member of the Bush
administration. These people will be the ruin of us. Do not be fooled.

See if this sounds familiar

2004-06-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

A police officer pursuing the driver of a stolen car Wednesday
was seen on videotape beating the
suspect after he appeared to have surrendered.

Next up: A former football star will be accused of murdering his wife
and her lover.

Gross incompetence

2004-06-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

And an ignorance of cause and effect.

The Pledge

2004-06-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

John Ashcroft, spin master:

In a written statement, Attorney General John Ashcroft praised
the ruling saying it "ensures that school children in every corner of
America can start their day by voluntarily reciting the Pledge of
Allegiance."

It may be too obvious to mention, but Ashcroft hilariously ignores the
fact that the Supreme Court decision had little or nothing to do with
the actual issues at hand. In fact, some of the justices bemoaned the
fact that the Court didn't address the Constitution at all. All in
all, a huge cop-out sure to be trumpeted by Christianists all over the
nation.

I have no real problem with the Pledge as it stands - as Ashcroft
describes it. My only problem is that I can't imagine Ashcroft or even
the Supreme Court stating the reverse:

"School children in every corner of America can start their day by
voluntarily refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance."

Let me know how that one plays in Peoria.

Even when they spin, they lose

2004-06-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Remember when the global terror report came out showing a decline in terrorist attacks, and I showed how bogus the conclusions were?

Turns out the data was bogus, too.

The department has said that one of the mistakes was that only part of 2003 was taken into account.

One of the mistakes? Let's hope it was one of the biggest ones. Powell reassures us that the mistakes weren't politically motivated. Too bad his credibility is about as healthy as Rodney Dangerfield.

I'm not saying that all members of the Bush administration lie about everything, but I guarantee you that the words "not politically motivated" have never truthfully passed a Bush official's lips.

Anecdotal evidence

2004-06-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

At the Portland Rose Festival this weekend, a surprising number of people were wearing Bush/Cheney 04 stickers. Presumably there was a campaign booth somewhere around the midway, but I certainly never saw it. Lucky for them.

Surprising, though, how many diverse people were wearing the stickers and putting them on their kids' strollers (yecch). The backlash is not as widespread as I would have expected - especially in a crowd which included a lot of people waiting for the Violent Femmes show.

America is waking up, but it may not be as quickly as some of us thought.

In Memoriam: The 40th Presidential Administration, 1981-1989

2004-06-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 5th, approximately 600 people in the United States died of complications related to Alzheimer's Disease.

A while back, I took Ted Rall to task* for his Pat Tillman cartoon, reasoning that gloating over the death of anyone was unseemly and counterproductive, not to mention unfair. Now, when many are taking the same position over his recent comments about Ronald Reagan, I find myself coming to Rall's defense.

It's a seeming contradiction, but I don't necessarily see it that way. The main reason is that if anyone is gloating over Reagan's death, it's his supporters. Luminaries like Peggy Noonan are cackling over the meme that "this wall-to-wall media coverage must be driving the lefties insane."

Well, in a way, she's right. It is driving us insane, not that the nation is mourning the man - an honor arguably due any president - but that the mourning is treated as whitewash, giving rise to the idea that the country is happier, healthier and safer thanks to the Reagan presidency.

This idea is being pushed heavily by the right, thereby bringing Reagan-era nostalgia into the realm of "fair game" for criticism, even now.

Fine, Rall says. Let's really look at what Reagan did for this country. And he does, much better than I ever could.

As for the other reason: I was 5 years old when Reagan took office, and 13 when he left. My entire elementary education, in other words, was framed by his presidency. Even at that age, I understood the danger of "Evil Empire" posturing and the irresponsibility of "Just Say No." In many ways, Ronald Reagan is entirely responsible for my depth of liberal sentiment. To see history revised right in front of my eyes is not something I am particularly interested in respecting, no matter how much I grieve for any bereaved family. For someone who enters political life - with both feet and guns blazing - there must be disconnect between displaying respect for the man and speaking truth to the power the man wielded.

On Saturday, June 5th, approximately 600 people in the United States died of complications related to Alzheimer's Disease. Probably only one of them had all of his medical care and medications paid for by the taxpayers. Funnily enough, that same person - the one who drew more money from the treasury than any other ex-president - once called the idea of universal health care "Marxist."

* I'm sure he's still stinging from my criticism.

Rest in peace, Mr. Reagan. As for Mr. President...

2004-06-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

"His errors glide past unchallenged. At one point...he alleged that
almost half the population gets a free meal from the government each
day. No one told him he was crazy. The general message of the
American press is that, yes, while it is perfectly true that the
emperor has no clothes, nudity is actually very acceptable this year."

--Simon Hoggart, in The Observer (London), 1986

No one told him he was crazy because, Alzheimer's references aside, he
knew exactly what he was doing. Ronald Reagan truly believed that
all poverty is a moral defect. Homelessness and drug abuse,
too.

It takes a special kind of cynic to tell people to "Just Say No" while
supporting the international drug
trade.

Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004

2004-06-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Rest in peace.

Hiatus ain't just an aperture in the diaphragm

2004-06-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been posting recently. That is
because I am on a self-declared one week (more or less) break due to
the Memorial day weekend and other such issues. It's a bad time to
take a break, I admit, with so much going on in Iraq and elsewhere but
I will be back with a vengeance* next week, if not this weekend.

* A peaceful vengeance, of course.

Puts things in perspective

2004-05-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Our thoughts with the people of the href="http://tinyurl.com/25kz6">Dominican Republic.

Do you stand for goodness, or for BADNESS?*

2004-05-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Peggy Noonan is outraged by the
outrage. She is of the opinion that we should catch terrorists
first and apologize later.

Let's make it our highest national priority. Let's find those
who mean to end the lives of hundreds, or thousands, or tens of
thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of innocent people. Then, once it
looks like all or most of the bad guys are captured, let's turn our
national attention to studying how we could have done it better, more
gently, more justly, more competently. But first the capture, then the
criticism.

I see. The ends justify the means to the nth degree.

But mostly Amnesty is talking about this because they don't
really like us, they don't know what time it is, they have to do
something for a living, they think we're more competent than we are,
and they still don't understand Sept. 11.

They will understand terrorism better after the next attack. But
Americans don't have to wait. We were there.

Hmm. Peggy, like most Americans, remains blissfully unaware that the
rest of the world does understand terrorism - because
it's happened to them. It would not be too far off
the mark to say that the USA was a latecomer to the war-on-terrorism
game. And yet somehow, most of the rest of the world seems to be
perfectly fine with, say, ensuring that there are some checks on their
behavior so as not to throw the baby out with the bathwater - to, as
Al Gore recently alluded to in his excellent speech, maintain a
United States worth saving.

I agree extensively with Ms. Noonan that our goal should be to create
a world without fear for our children and grandchildren. But a country
in which an American lawyer can be arrested and held without charge
based on a series of mistakes and assumptions is a far cry from her
utopia. Without seriously questioning the abuses at Gitmo and Abu
Ghraib, how long will it be until we are quietly accepting identical
abuses at Leavenworth?

* With apologies to Caddyshack. You know - Noonan! N-o-o-nan!

Not sure if this is an indictment of American education or politics

2004-05-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Last night on Super Millionaire (yeah, I watched it, so what?) there
was a question - I think it was a $50,000 question:

Arabic is not the official language in which of the following countries:

a) Syria
b) Jordan
c) Afghanistan
d) Kuwait

Neither the contestant nor his lifeline had the slightest idea.

Is it ignorance or arrogance to know so little about a country we were
bombing into oblivion just two years ago? Or just the standard
American conflation of "all terrorists are Arabs" (not to mention "all
Arabs are terrorists")?

So, basically what liberals were suggesting all along, then

2004-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

US proposes multi-national force to
keep peace in Iraq.

No idea a good one unless our people suggested it, eh?

Working on something big

2004-05-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really, really big, but it's a post that's been begging to
be written, and so I'm having trouble thinking of anything else. It
may not turn out to be too exciting, but I think it's something that
needs saying. It should show up in the next couple of days. In the
meantime, go read Jesus'
General for awhile. His little soldier will fill any empty space
you might have.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy

2004-05-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

The always-excellent Juan Cole eviscerates Andrew Sullivan on Iraq.

(Thanks Eschaton commenter Dave for the tip.)

Well, well, well

2004-05-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

On May 9, Newsweek published an article about the Brandon Mayfield
case, in which a US official was quoted as saying the following:

"If that print had matched with some little old lady in Peoria,
that would be one thing," says a U.S. official. "But what are the odds
it would be somebody with this background?"

This background, of course, was that Mayfield was the lawyer for
Jeffrey Battle, a member of the "Portland Seven."

What are the odds, indeed?

Brandon Mayfield, 37, was released soon after Spanish officials
said fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site were that of an
Algerian. U.S. authorities had previously said the prints were
Mayfield's.

I think I may just buy a Powerball ticket tomorrow.

Mayfield was released before his children could finish crocheting
a pair of yellow and tan socks for him. "Dad, you got out sooner then
we thought," his 10-year-old said, according to Avnell
Mayfield.

Just how ineffectual is Alan Colmes?

2004-05-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Bill Moyers just told Terry Gross that most of the people carping
about the liberal media were right-wing voices like "Limbaugh, Hannity
& Colmes, and Bill O'Reilly."

Doing a bang-up job making your liberal presence known, there, Alan.

Is all fundamentalism fundamentally flawed?

2004-05-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Irshad Manji in today's
Wall Street Journal, contends that Muslim moderates who
describe the Nick Berg incident as "utterly repugnant to the Islamic
rules of war" are either dissembling or wishfully thinking.

Wishful whitewashing. The Koran verse that's cited as
"unequivocal" actually bestows wiggle room. Here's how it fully reads:
"We laid it down for the Israelites," meaning those who believe in one
God, "that whoever killed a human being, except as punishment for
murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having
killed all mankind." Sadly, the clause starting with "except" can be
deployed by militant Muslims to fuel their jihads. That's precisely
how Nicholas Berg's executioners justified their travesty.

She then goes on to state that "moderate Christians and Jews
acknowledge the nasty side of their holy texts" and that the Bible
isn't perfect, which may or may not be true - and is certainly not
true of Christian fundamentalists - but the thesis of her column is
that moderate Muslims cannot simply say "you must put such verses into
context."

Ironically, however, whenever the Israelites' slaughter of, say, the
Canaanites is brought up, Christians and Jews fall all over themselves
to bring up context. That verses from the Bible like "When the Lord
thy god hath delivered (a City) into thine hands, thou shalt smite
every male thereof with the sword" (Deut 20:13) are not being used to
justify violence is welcome*, but seemingly not due to any qualitative
difference between the Old Testament and the Koran.

* Although we should ask an abortion provider how they feel about the
peaceful intentions of fundamentalist Christians.

Reminder

2004-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

Oregonians who haven't mailed your ballots:

VOTE TODAY!

And if you're in precinct 4027, Multnomah County, vote for me!

We found the WMD's

2004-05-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

And they're, apparently, one Sarin gas shell found by the roadside and booby-trapped, presumably by insurgents.

Wingnuts are jumping on the meme that anti-war "moonbats" will deny that the gas was there, or that it was planted by coalition forces.

I think neither, of course. But if there are large caches of Saddam's chemical weapons remaining in insurgent hands, why aren't they using them?

The obvious answer is, of course, that they don't have them. The Telegraph says that Brig Gen Kimmit "believed the insurgents who left the bomb did not know it contained sarin since the dispersal of the nerve agent from such a device 'is very limited.'"

The same article has a confusing quote from a member of Blair's cabinet:

"This does not represent a new capability but it does appear to be part of a programme declared to the UN. That munition should have been handed over [to UN weapons inspectors].

"It appears to be in breach of UN Security Council resolutions and backs up what we have been saying all along that Saddam did conceal some of his stock."

So the smoking gun is one shell which the UN knew existed, and whose chain of custody is suspect at best? Maybe Saddam didn't turn the weapon over because it had already been stolen, or sold on the black market. Chemical weapons going missing is not an unheard-of occurence.

In the interest of fairness and of sharing random finds, here's a 1984 fact sheet from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute which is of the opinion that, although the US certainly knew of Iraq's use of mustard and nerve gas twenty years ago, at least the evidence suggests that we didn't sell it to them. So we've got that going for us.

There's a lot of grave, serious news...

2004-05-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

But I wanna talk about this.

Ball lightning, my Aunt Fanny.

I'll be back this evening.

Our wisest president?

2004-05-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

I was doing some research for a future post and came across a treasure trove of quotes, all in one place, by one former president, which have amazing relevance to the situation in which we find ourselves. Let's read, shall we?

But I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free...

The plea of necessity, that eternal argument of all conspirators...

A decent and manly examination of the acts of government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged."

-- William Henry Harrison

Harrison, by the way, argued against two-term presidents; he went a little overboard by dying 30 days into his first term, but perhaps we should take his advice this November.

I may pull those quotes out again in the future, but they were so perfect I wanted to share them with you now.

I'm shocked, shocked to find that torture is going on in here!

2004-05-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

Your winnings, Mr. Rumsfeld.

The rules governing the secret operation were "grab whom you must. Do what you want," the unidentified former intelligence official told the New Yorker.

Rumsfeld left the details of the interrogations to Cambone, the article quoted a Pentagon consultant as saying.

"This is Cambone's deal, but Rumsfeld and Myers approved the program," said the Pentagon consultant in the article.

Might as well be frank, America. It would take a miracle to get you out of Iraq, and the neocons have outlawed miracles.

Tiny hiatus

2004-05-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Family issues will limit my posting today and probably tomorrow. If you're here because you've received one of my 100% recycled, discreetly placed namecards, click here to learn a bit more about me and please come back in the future for more!

Certainly a possibility

2004-05-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Pfc England says she was ordered
to pose for the photos:

"I was instructed by persons in higher rank to 'stand there, hold
this leash, look at the camera,' and they took pictures for PsyOps
(psychological operations)," she told the station.

"I didn't really, I mean, want to be in any pictures," she said. She
also said she thought "it was kind of weird."

"Kind of weird" indeed. Still, it seems to me that, based on what
we're learning about the way Abu Ghraib is being administrated, this
seems quite realistic if not likely.

Asked whether worse things happened than those already seen on the
photos, she said yes but declined to elaborate.

She said her superiors praised the photos and "just told us, 'Hey,
you're doing great, keep it up."'

"Hey, you're doing great, thanks for making it possible for us to
further endanger the lives of American prisoners and stoke the fires
of terrorism."

Har. De har.

2004-05-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Glad to see Sullivan has his sense
of humor unruffled by the Nick Berg killing:

BBC WATCH: "His killers shouted "Allah is great" before holding
what appeared to be a head up to the camera." What appeared to be his
head? Who do they think Zarqawi is: Penn or Teller?

Oh, clever, Andy.

If Haloscan crashes in the forest, does anyone hear it?

2004-05-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

Soliciting ideas (by e-mail, apparently) for new free commenting. I've heard only bad things about the new Blogger system.

Words fail

2004-05-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

You know what I'm talking about.

Reading foxnews.com so you don't have to

2004-05-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

Dick Cheney will soon emerge from the crawlspace under an unidentified ranch home in the midwest to undergo a pacemaker checkup.

Spokesman Kevin Kellems said the tests at George Washington University Medical Center would include a physical exam, an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram and a stress test.

About three headlines down, a completely unrelated story...

[H]ospitals had to absorb the cost of $22 billion in unpaid bills last year. In the last decade, hundreds of emergency rooms have shut down because of budget problems...

According to the 2002 Census, more than 43 million Americans or 15 percent of the population are without health insurance. That number is up by 2.4 million from the previous year...

Taylor said that this system should be replaced with "what I have characterized as a low cost government health care loan program. Because right now I am the low cost loan program. Let the federal government take on that burden. Get me out of that business."

Taylor argued that this system would make sense because then the federal government is paying for the care or at least assuming the financial risk of the care, which Congress mandated that hospitals provide.

Now, I'm very surprised that Fox News ran such a pro-socialized medicine story. I'm equally impressed with the nonexistent sense of irony it required to run the story about Cheney's receipt of federal government-funded health care above the story about the millions of uninsured in this country.

Up is down

2004-05-11T00:22:00.000-07:00

Hesiod is leading the charge against the anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans.

[T]he people who are still bitter about John Kerry are, to borrow a phrase from our embattled Secretary of Defense, nothing but a bunch of "dead enders."

By the way: I just realized how random that title is considering the way I worded my post. In my mind, it was "Up is down" :: "Kerry has a tarnished Vietnam record." Just wanted to clear that up.

Think globally, act really really locally

2004-05-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

I would like to announce a write-in campaign for Precinct Committeeperson, Precinct 4027, Multnomah County, Oregon. If you are here because you received a card, you know my name, although this blog is published semi-anonymously. You also know that I bill myself as "A Progressive Voice in Local Party Politics." If you spend a little bit of time perusing my blog here, you will understand a little more about where I'm coming from.

Rest assured that if elected, I intend to bring my practical-idealistic sensibilities to bear on the local Democratic Party, to do my part to open the party again to the progressive values of old. Many of our friends and neighbors are disillusioned by the Democratic Party's perceived willingness to betray liberal principles at the behest of corporations or other pressures. Well, I still believe in the Democratic Party, but I understand that disillusionment.

That's why, if elected, I will be an important piece of the process of "re-liberalizing" the party. I will work to ensure that local Democratic candidates are not "Democrats in Name Only" but voices for liberal values in our community and across the nation.

So please, if you have any questions, e-mail me and I will be happy to discuss them with you. I am a member of your community and your neighborhood and will be accountable to you.

Note: Precinct committeepersons are part of the Democractic Party Central Committee which, as the committee's web site puts it, is "the body that establishes the policies, articulates the beliefs and establishes the standard of all local Democratic candidates."

Oh, this sounds like a winning idea

2004-05-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Judge orders couple not to have children

Monroe County Family Court Judge Marilyn O'Connor ruled March 31 that both parents "should not have yet another child which must be cared for at public expense."

"The facts of this case and the reality of parenthood cry out for family planning education," she ruled. "This court believes the constitutional right to have children is overcome when society must bear the financial and everyday burden of care."

Okay, now. Let's all take a deep breath. The fact is, these parents have four children in foster care already, and no one in their right mind would think that another child is the best idea in the world. But doesn't this sound an awful lot like eugenics?

The couple may choose to be sterilized at no cost to them, O'Connor ruled.

But the more I read about this ruling, the more I'm willing to give the judge a smidgen of the benefit of the doubt. For one thing, she advocates family planning education, which presumably (or at least hopefully) means she's against abstinence-only sex education and is acting symbolically to point out that this situation is one of the results of the current atmosphere of silence about sexual issues.

This couple definitely should not have any more kids. The court definitely should not be dabbling in eugenics

Everything Old is New Again

2004-05-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Florida to purge 40,000 "felons" from voting rolls

Look, I'm fine with Florida deciding that convicted felons are no longer eligible to vote. I'm not, to say the least, fine with a repeat of the year 2000. The article does say that the NAACP has "approved" this year's list, so maybe it's all about nothing. But between stuff like this and black box voting, it's starting to add up a little too familiarly.

Portland connection to Madrid

2004-05-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

According to MSNBC/Newsweek online, the FBI have taken a suspect in the Madrid bombing into custody.

The man was identified as Brandon Mayfield, a convert to Islam who is tangentially linked to one of the chief defendants in the so-called "Portland Seven" case—a suspected terror cell in Oregon whose six surviving members pled guilty last year of plotting to fight for the Taliban against U.S. soldiers during the war in Afghanistan.

Ted Rall: Scorched-earth "liberal"

2004-05-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

It's people like Rall that made me start this blog in the first place. It's people like Rall that give neocons who rant about the deconstructionist left some connection, however tenuous, to reality. These are people who do not really care about change, or the moral high ground, or other people - because if they did, they would actually attempt to do some good.

Rall is entitled to his opinions - about Pat Tillman, about the US Army's similarities to the SS, or about the best ways to deliver his opinions for maximum effect. But just as anarchists practice physical violence, Ted Rall seems determined to practice, well, metaphysical violence.

The politics of alienation is the politics of cowardice. The politics of firebombing Starbucks, of spiking trees so that loggers are at risk, of throwing bottles at police at a "peace" rally, or simply of closing people's hearts and minds - is the politics of those whose worst nightmare is apparently their own success.

True change for the better comes not by force but by convincement. Not by polarism but by compromise. Not instantly but in stages. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

Laurence J. Peter said, "A man convinced against his will is not convinced." Ted Rall has apparently surrendered all hope of convincing anyone.

I think they get it, Mr. President

2004-05-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

The wisdom of George W:

"The people in the Middle East must understand that this was horrible."

Also,

Asked why Bush himself had not apologized, McClellan said: "I'm saying it now for him."

Perhaps he just forgot. Maybe he had his mind on another potential defector from his administration - and this one's kind of high-profile.

"Pretty weak stuff"

2004-05-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Newsmax shows its true colors:

In fact, what the photos show is not "torture" - or Iraqi prisoners being subjected to "atrocities," another term being tossed out to hype this story.

Instead, these GI's were likely doing what they were told to do - soften up their prisoners for interrogation that next day by using humiliation and intimidation.

Funny. The Geneva Convention defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession." (emphasis mine)

The Bush administration needs to announce that while this entire episode may be regrettable, there was no "torture," "atrocities" weren't committed - and suggestions to the contrary by American reporters give aid and comfort to the enemy.

Oh right! The definition of treason! Well, I'll tell you, Newsmax, what really gives aid and comfort to the enemy - seeing their enemy behave the way the United States is right now. Stirs up a righteous anger and helps expand the resistance, you see.

Meanwhile, if the Muslim world considers it "torture" to have female GIs looking at their undressed prisoners, they ought to consider how upset Americans get when the folks we sent over to rebuild one of their countries are shot, burned, have their corpses dragged through the streets and used for bridge ornaments.

Oh - so this was payback. Well, at least someone finally said it.

Satan's lacing up his ice skates

2004-05-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you why in a minute. First read this:

After 9/11, however, our neoconservatives, who had been prattling on about "global hegemony" and a "crusade for democracy" since the end of the Cold War, sold President Bush on their imperial scheme: a MacArthur Regency in Baghdad.

And so it is that we have arrived at this crossroads...

Empire requires an unshakeable belief in the superiority of one's own race, religion, and civilization and an iron resolve to fight to impose that faith and civilization upon other peoples.

We are not that kind of people. Never have been. Americans, who preach the equality of all races, creeds, and cultures, are, de facto, poor imperialists. When we attempt an imperial role as in the Philippines or Iraq, we invariably fall into squabbling over whether a republic should be imposing its ideology on another nation. A crusade for democracy is a contradiction in terms.

While it would be nice if Brazil, Bangladesh, and Burundi all embraced democracy, why should we fight them if they don't, and why should our soldiers die to restore democracy should they lose it? Why is that our problem, if they are not threatening us?

And now ask yourself, when's the last time you agreed with Pat Buchanan?

Neoconservatives make strange bedfellows.

What Kerry might be up against

2004-05-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

Open letter to John Kerry from a Green voter.

Wrestling the truth to the ground and pulling its hair

2004-05-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

NTodd at Dohiyi Mir brings us the annotated Richard Perle.

Move over Google

2004-05-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

The most exciting IPO of the week (well, for some of us at least) was actually here. Of course, by the time we realized we had been listed we had already seen an exciting uptick and a downgrade to "Sell." Oh well, at least we can applaud the analysts for being conservative and avoiding a "blog bubble."

Fundamentalism as self-parody

2004-05-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

From Jesus' General comes one of the funniest New York Times articles ever:

Darwin-free fun for creationists

The article tells the story of a fundamentalist who got offended at Disney World - and no, for once, not by gay day. No, Mr. and Mrs. Passmore were offended by the claim that dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago.

It is to laugh - everyone knows the earth began in 4004 B.C. So they sought out a place that would tell the truth about natural history - Dinosaur Adventure Land.

The validity of this particular worldview can be summed up in one hilarious sentence from the article:

"[Did] the Colorado River formed the canyon over millions of years[?] "This is clearly not possible. The top of the Grand Canyon is 4,000 feet higher than where the river enters the canyon! Rivers do not flow up hill!"

Or this science experiment, mixed with just the right amount of dark undertone sure to please fundamentalists everywhere:

"A child stands before the ball, and then a park guide gives it a shove from a specific angle, so that it comes careering back at the child's face only to stop just in front of it. The child wins if he does not flinch, proving he has "faith in God's laws" — in this case, that a swinging object will never come back higher than the point from which it took off."

And they even have a fancy web site, with games and virtual tours and - ah yes, there it is! Armageddonism!

"[Come see] How awesome the world used to be and how it will be again very soon!"

Iraqi prisoner scandal

2004-04-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

It's almost unbelievable, and the ramifications are too wide and deep to really begin to comment on, but I thought W. said an interesting thing about the accusations of abuse against Iraqi prisoners: Their actions "do not reflect the nature of men and women we sent overseas."

That's right, President Bush, they don't reflect the nature of men and women we sent overseas; I just hope that it doesn't reflect the nature of men and women we're creating by keeping them overseas. You should recognize that when you send soldiers into a war with no exit strategy, no fixed return date, and inadequate equipment, you may end up with different men and women than you started with. We saw it in Vietnam; soldiers were forever changed by war, and atrocities were one of the results of that change. I just hope, for their sake, that the problem isn't more widespread and that the majority of our people come back at least resembling who they were when they left.

While I am bitterly upset with the actions of the soldiers in question, and fearful of the resultant righteous anger, I place the blame for the attitudes which allowed these photographs to be taken squarely on the shoulders of the leadership.

Let Sinclair know how you feel

2004-04-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 8 ABC affiliates, is refusing to run tomorrow night's Nightline because it is apparently "not in the public's best interest" to honor and mourn fallen soldiers, and because Nightline is apparently playing politics by reading names and showing pictures. Rather than vomit bile all over my keyboard, which is what I am tempted to do when faced with such disgusting newspeak and disrespect for American sacrifice by the right, I'm going to let the Sinclair Group know what I think of their decision. Atrios has all the information.

Sinclair's justification for this, available on their web site, is a ludicrous, rambling, unsupportable mess, accusing Nightline of "an effort to highlight only one aspect of the war effort" which, besides revealing the lack of thesaurii at the Sinclair headquarters, ignores the hundreds of hours that the major networks have devoted to the administration's view of things.

It seems clear to me that, in Sinclair's collective mind at least, not only is it not necessary to support the war to support the troops, it's not actually possible to support the troops and support the war - unless by "support the troops", the right means "forget their names as soon as they're dead."

Update: It's clear that Sinclair was a joke long before this decision.

Creative headlines 101

2004-04-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

To wit:

Worldwide terrorist attacks down in 2003

Well, golly gee, that sure sounds like bad news for us liberal whiners, with our "the Iraq war is making us less secure"'s and "the war on terrorism is going badly"'s. How can we argue with such a result?

Hmm, I guess there are a couple of things...

The figure...did not include most of the attacks in Iraq

Well, that makes sense; it is war, after all - it would be stretching things to call it terrorism.

The report counted 82 anti-U.S. attacks around the world in 2003, up from 77 in 2002.

Wait - I thought the terror attacks declined.

The report said the war in Iraq has turned that country into "a central battleground in the global war on terrorism."

Oh, now I get it. The United States has turned itself into a lightning rod, coalescing terror activity against itself, both civilian and military, in one place - Iraq - and provided a new focal point and purpose to terrorists around the world. What a ringing endorsement of the President's war on terror!

Orcinus strikes again

2004-04-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

He has what should be, but probably won't be, the final word on the Kerry vs. Bush war records:

[B]ringing up the military records, and all the comparisons that come with it, probably wasn't the brightest idea on the part of Republicans...because the GOP had successfully snowed the press corps into submission on the whole issue of Bush's military records.

And now the questions have started again. Way to go, Republicans.

Comments and trackback are down

2004-04-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

I know thousands are clamoring to leave feedback, but at the moment, Haloscan is throwing a hissy fit. Sorry.

The Fallen

2004-04-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Nightline is doing something on Friday that I think will be very powerful. Via Atrios:

Friday night, we will show you the pictures, and Ted will read the names, of the men and women from the armed forces who have been killed in combat in Iraq. That’s it. That will be the whole broadcast.

And to expand on what an Eschaton commenter said, I think that those who will be outraged by this as "insensitivity" betray their true feelings towards the troops. This kind of reminder is required to keep the nation honest. I don't hold out much hope that it will do the same for the administration.

The New Vietnam Snipers

2004-04-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

A poster at the Daily Kos has Senator Durbin's speech from the floor regarding Cheney's attack on Kerry:

Vice President Cheney was supposed to speak at Westminster College about foreign policy, issues in Iraq. Instead he went on the attack, the attack on John Kerry and his patriotism in defense of America. It was such an embarrassing moment that when he left, Fletcher Lamkin e-mailed the students, staff, and faculty basically apologizing for what Vice President Cheney had said at Westminster college.

Okay, just one

2004-04-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

"Surprisingly", Little Green Footballs has been remarkably silent about the Jay Severin affair.

What's the matter? Someone finally said what your readers have been thinking?

Update: Dear lord, that first sentence was poorly constructed. Sorry about that.

Today is Monday

2004-04-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

It is hot outside and beautiful and cloudless and I am not going to post today because I will be outside and beautiful. Okay, not that last part.

Friday Link Number 3

2004-04-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

General J.C. Christian's letter to Michigan State Rep. Richardville regarding the right-to-discriminate-in-healthcare act.

Friday Link Number 2

2004-04-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Roger Ailes offers us a glimpse into the madness of Peggy Noonan.

Friday Link Number 1

2004-04-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Body and Soul writes about the suggestion that John Kerry should not be granted communion, and links to a fantastic essay about why pro-lifers should be Democrats.

Googlebomb, anyone?

2004-04-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Kelley Kramer, via Hesiod, tells us about what happened to a woman who took a picture of flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq:

Silicio was let go yesterday for violating U.S. government and company regulations, said William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft, the contractor that employed Silicio at Kuwait International Airport.

"I feel like I was hit in the chest with a steel bar and got my wind knocked out. I have to admit I liked my job, and I liked what I did," Silicio said.

The cowardice of the Bush administration continues to startle. Bush - coward. Rumsfeld - coward. Ashcroft - coward. Wolfowitz - simpering coward.

Cowards.
Cowards.
Cowards.
Cowards.

Oh, good part 2

2004-04-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Fuel rods missing from Vermont reactor.

However...

The fuel rod was removed in 1979 from the Vermont Yankee reactor

so maybe I'm just jumpy.

I'm a bit conflicted

2004-04-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

As a pacifist, I'd normally be a bit reluctant to crow about a candidate's war record, but the Bush attack is so ludicrous, I can't help it:

Kerry's military record

Not exactly dental records and smudged payroll forms.

Oh, good

2004-04-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

CNN:

A gasoline tanker truck has been missing from a Pennsauken parking lot for more than a week, sending local officials and the FBI scrambling.

Um, guys? I'm not sure you're allowed to call it "scrambling" if it's been a week.

However...

Griffin said the truck did not have any liquid in its chrome-plated tank.

So maybe I'm just jumpy.

Some truths are indisputable

2004-04-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

G.A. Cerny nails gaspricegate on the head:

If it had been alleged that Bill Clinton had made such a deal with the Saudis, and if Clinton's flak had been this incoherent in responding to the charge, the right wing would have demanded that the President hang.

Let's get this baby rolling, people. (Not the calls for hanging, of course - just the calls for accountability)

Please visit blackboxvoting.org

2004-04-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's very, very important.

Forget oil prices - let's get them to focus on important issues

2004-04-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Saudi's seeming tolerance of spousal abuse got a public airing today, as a Saudi television personality went public:

After banging her head on the floor and the wall until she lost consciousness, al-Baz said her husband drove her to the hospital and left her at the front doors, claiming she was a victim of a traffic accident and that he was going to pick up others who had been hurt...

Police say when they find al-Fallatta, he will likely face charges of abuse and attempted murder...

Although Islam prohibits violence against women, many believe spousal abuse is common in the almost entirely Muslim Saudi Arabia.

There are no statistics available on wife abuse in the kingdom, but husbands rarely meet disapproval for "reforming" spouses deemed "disobedient" by hitting them.

You got some 'splaining to do...

2004-04-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said that it was good news for Bush that the Saudis were going to lower gas prices?

Guess I should have read the article instead of just the CNN headlines.* (link is a pdf via Buzzflash)

[Just to point out, this is a letter to the President from Reps. Waxman (D-CA) and Markey (D-MA)]

Mr. President, we request that you fully explain the understanding that you or your administration reached with the Saudis to boost oil production and disclose any promises that have been made to the Saudis on behalf of the US...Our nation's economy is too important to suffer high gasoline prices to suit the timing of any Presidential reelection campaign.

Hmm. Potentially rampant political corruption in the White House. Will the nation finally sit up and take notice? My guess is no, but we'll keep trying.

Update: Atrios has a primer for the media, and for people like me who fall into the trap of ever taking a headline at face value:

If Woodward's allegations about the Saudi Prince and oil prices are true, and given Scotty's non-denials today they clearly area, then the issue is not WOW BUSH STRUCK A DEAL TO LOWER OIL PRICES.

The deal is...

BUSH STRUCK A DEAL TO KEEP OIL PRICES HIGH UNTIL CLOSER TO THE ELECTION AT WHICH POINT THEY'LL FALL.

* As noted in the post, I was just reacting to the dominant appearance of CNN's web site.

He loves it when a plan comes together

2004-04-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Let me see, just on CNN today, we have a Fallujah cease-fire, a new commitment to improving security, and the Saudis lowering gas prices.

On one doe-eyed hand, I'm really hoping this might be the first of many lights at the ends of long, dark tunnels; on the other cynical hand I'm wondering why, if Bush and his administration can be so effective when he wants to be, why they saved it all for 2004. I'm sure that makes me a typical naysaying liberal, but such is life.

I support Kos part 2 or, how I learned to stop worrying and love open, fair political discourse

2004-04-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

In part 1 we looked at why the right-wing smear campaign against Kos is counter to the cause and spirit of free speech.

Today we're going to look at why it's also, like nearly everything else right-wingers say and do, completely hypocritical.

No More Mister Nice Blog (via Orcinus)brings us a transcript from one Mr. Limbaugh:

Hillary wants to be on the VP ticket so that she dispels the notion that the Clintons are sabotaging the campaign...[t]hey know that they're pretty confident Kerry is going to lose and if Kerry wins there's always Fort Marcy Park.

Fort Marcy Park, of course, is the park where Vince Foster's body was found after his suicide - or, as dittoheads and other idiots would have it, his murder by the Clintons. Not, as we might imagine, a park where Rush used to send his assistant to buy his Oxycontin for him.

Certainly one can only assume that sponsors will begin leaving Rush's show posthaste, as they did to Kos; one would also think that all political candidates will cancel any upcoming appearances. I would imagine Fox News will hold at least one discussion show regarding the nastiness of political discourse these days, vilifying Rush as "contributing to the problem." And the Op-eds! Oh, what a flood of those we shall see!

Update: Atrios suggests a method of execution that Bush might use against Kerry - thereby, undoubtedly, drawing boycotts and death threats from every corner of the right.

Pop-culture-geek alert

2004-04-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

While I realize that many people see reality shows as the worst thing to come from Western Civilization since the Inquisition, I just have to say:

Bill won! Bill won! When Kwame didn't fire Omarosa, I turned to my wife and said, "I would have fired her instantly, and so would Trump*. He's done." And sure enough, I was right.

*Thereby proving that Trump and I think exactly the same way. Why I'm not a real estate mogul yet I don't know**.

**Yes I do.

Hey, morons

2004-04-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

You know how some of us smart people decry Bush's tactics in Iraq because they will only make things worse by alienating the people we're supposedly trying to reach? You know how we sometimes like to think we're morally superior to those warlike greedheads? You know how we often like to think before we speak?

Why, then, are you so stupid?

I mean, really. Save your ugly hyperbole for your club meetings - whatever a "democratic club" is - and leave the reaching-out-to-undecided-voters to people who have some sense.

"Figure of speech", my left one. This is Florida, people. This is kind of - just a teensy-weensy bit - an important state. How about we not seemingly confirm to the right-wingers that liberals are all a bunch of hypocritical wackos - that's them, not us.

Gaaah. Sorry about this rambling, seething post, but I'm not happy.

One way to tell who's lying

2004-04-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Who has the most to gain from a lie - or to lose from a potentially damaging truth?

Would that be the retired Thomas Pickard?

Or the man who holds the highest law enforcement position in the land and presumably hopes to for the next four years?

Update: Just for fun, I've added the correct answer to this question in invisotext:

Ashcroft is lying.

Yes, folks, you get the best the web has to offer here at BTJ!

Why aren't you reading Orcinus?

2004-04-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

No offense to all the incredible bloggers out there, but posts like this are why Orcinus is consistently the best blog on the web.

Not the last word on abortion...but maybe it should be

2004-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Kristof looks at the abortion debate in Portugal, which has led to a backlash against prison sentences for abortion:

The police staked out gynecological clinics and investigated those who emerged looking as if they might have had abortions because they looked particularly pale, weak or upset. At the trial, the most intimate aspects of their gynecological history were revealed.

Ah, the conservative utopia.

This just strikes me as funny

2004-04-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

From a Q&A:

Question: Did you see . . . the President's Daily Brief from August of '01 as a warning?

President Bush: Did I see it? Of course I saw it; I asked for it.

This, however, does not strike me as funny:

President Bush: And you might recall the hijacking that was referred to in the PDB.

It was not a hijacking of an airplane to fly into a building, it was hijacking of airplanes in order to free somebody that was being held as a prisoner in the United States.

Well, that clears it up. No wonder we didn't ramp up the FAA, CIA, and FBI immediately to try to forestall such pedestrian terrorist actions!

Update: Matthew Yglesias noticed that, too.

Wow.

2004-04-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

What a terrible day.

I wish I had time to post today, not that my words would be necessary or sufficient, but just to get the whirling feelings and sadness off my chest. Read Atrios, Hesiod, and Juan Cole to see what's making me so depressed.

There was no "silver bullet" - but there sure were a lot of BBs

2004-04-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Orcinus with an amazingly insightful post.

Still Friday

2004-04-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Might post a little later.

Catchphrase of the week:

"Series of Actionable Items"

Use it when talking with friends!

Friday started early this week

2004-04-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

I.e., on Thursday.

Enjoy Fark, perhaps.