If the war starts...
There'll be protests all over the country at 5PM of that day (next day if at night). In NYC, it's Times Square...
Friday, January 31, 2003
Moonie Times denounces the "Rush Haters":
Rush haters
Michael Stinson, a California-based Internet designer,
wants the nation's most popular radio personality off the air.
He calls his group "Take Back the Media," and has organized a
boycott against 24 companies who advertise on Rush
Limbaugh's daily show, heard by about 20 million people on
more than 600 radio stations.
Mr. Stinson denounces Mr. Limbaugh — the bane of
liberals everywhere — as a "hate-radio entertainer." In fact,
Mr. Stinson condemns talk radio itself as "a hotbed of vicious
right-wing hate speech."
"Anyone who goes against the pro-war agenda Rush
calls 'anti-American,' " Mr. Stinson charged. "Well, some of
these protesters honored their country by serving in the
military."
Mr. Stinson added: "We are getting about 14,000
views a day at our Web site," www.takebackthemedia.com.
"We've made some progress, but we're being stonewalled,
too."
Rush haters
Michael Stinson, a California-based Internet designer,
wants the nation's most popular radio personality off the air.
He calls his group "Take Back the Media," and has organized a
boycott against 24 companies who advertise on Rush
Limbaugh's daily show, heard by about 20 million people on
more than 600 radio stations.
Mr. Stinson denounces Mr. Limbaugh — the bane of
liberals everywhere — as a "hate-radio entertainer." In fact,
Mr. Stinson condemns talk radio itself as "a hotbed of vicious
right-wing hate speech."
"Anyone who goes against the pro-war agenda Rush
calls 'anti-American,' " Mr. Stinson charged. "Well, some of
these protesters honored their country by serving in the
military."
Mr. Stinson added: "We are getting about 14,000
views a day at our Web site," www.takebackthemedia.com.
"We've made some progress, but we're being stonewalled,
too."
Dem POTUS Candidates Sabotage efforts to Stop War - Draft Gore!
Two senior Democratic senators, Robert Byrd
of West Virginia and Ted Kennedy of
Massachusetts, this week proposed separate
bills on the matter. Byrd's would require President
Bush (news - web sites) to seek a fresh vote
in the U.N. Security Council before attacking Iraq;
Kennedy's would require new votes in
Congress before doing so.
But the chance of approval for either
measure is slim, given GOP control of the Senate and a
lack of enthusiasm from Democratic
congressional leaders.
The bills aren't supported by any of the
four Democratic members of Congress running for
president: Sens. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of
Connecticut and John Edwards of North
Carolina, and Rep. Richard Gephardt (news, bio,
voting record) of Missouri.
"We authorized the president as commander in
chief to take action," Lieberman said. "These
decisions ultimately can't be made by 535
members" of Congress.
Two senior Democratic senators, Robert Byrd
of West Virginia and Ted Kennedy of
Massachusetts, this week proposed separate
bills on the matter. Byrd's would require President
Bush (news - web sites) to seek a fresh vote
in the U.N. Security Council before attacking Iraq;
Kennedy's would require new votes in
Congress before doing so.
But the chance of approval for either
measure is slim, given GOP control of the Senate and a
lack of enthusiasm from Democratic
congressional leaders.
The bills aren't supported by any of the
four Democratic members of Congress running for
president: Sens. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of
Connecticut and John Edwards of North
Carolina, and Rep. Richard Gephardt (news, bio,
voting record) of Missouri.
"We authorized the president as commander in
chief to take action," Lieberman said. "These
decisions ultimately can't be made by 535
members" of Congress.
From UK, Anne sends us this lovely quote:
Dennis Skinner (Labour, Bolsover) stated upon arrival at Downing
> Street: "Here we've got an American pResident who is as thick as
> two short planks and somehow or other, intelligent people have been
> wooed by him. Now give me a break. There have been some clever
> people in America but he ain't one of them and whatsmore, he had a
> worse election result than Mugabe."
Dennis Skinner (Labour, Bolsover) stated upon arrival at Downing
> Street: "Here we've got an American pResident who is as thick as
> two short planks and somehow or other, intelligent people have been
> wooed by him. Now give me a break. There have been some clever
> people in America but he ain't one of them and whatsmore, he had a
> worse election result than Mugabe."
US is misquoting my Iraq report, says Blix
By Judith Miller and Julia Preston in New York
February 1 2003
Days after delivering a broadly negative report on Iraq's cooperation with international
inspectors, Hans Blix
challenged several of the Bush Administration's assertions about
Iraqi cheating and the notion that time was running out for disarming Iraq through
peaceful means.
In an interview on Wednesday, Dr Blix, the United Nations chief weapons inspector,
seemed determined to dispel any impression that his report was intended to support
the United States' campaign to build world support for a war to disarm Saddam
Hussein.
"Whatever we say will be used by some," Dr Blix said, adding that he had strived to be
"as factual and conscientious" as possible. "I did not tailor my report to the political
wishes or hopes in Baghdad or Washington or any other place."
Dr Blix took issue with what he said were US Secretary of State Colin Powell's claims
that the inspectors had found that Iraqi officials were hiding and moving illicit
materials within and outside of Iraq to prevent their discovery. He said that the
inspectors had reported no such incidents.
By Judith Miller and Julia Preston in New York
February 1 2003
Days after delivering a broadly negative report on Iraq's cooperation with international
inspectors, Hans Blix
challenged several of the Bush Administration's assertions about
Iraqi cheating and the notion that time was running out for disarming Iraq through
peaceful means.
In an interview on Wednesday, Dr Blix, the United Nations chief weapons inspector,
seemed determined to dispel any impression that his report was intended to support
the United States' campaign to build world support for a war to disarm Saddam
Hussein.
"Whatever we say will be used by some," Dr Blix said, adding that he had strived to be
"as factual and conscientious" as possible. "I did not tailor my report to the political
wishes or hopes in Baghdad or Washington or any other place."
Dr Blix took issue with what he said were US Secretary of State Colin Powell's claims
that the inspectors had found that Iraqi officials were hiding and moving illicit
materials within and outside of Iraq to prevent their discovery. He said that the
inspectors had reported no such incidents.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
We did
good
!
Ads rushing out of Limbaugh show?
Progressives take aim at radio program's sponsors
By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:04 AM ET Jan. 30, 2003
CHICAGO (CBS.MW) - A Rush to the exits?
Though still in its infancy, a letter-writing campaign aimed at advertisers on "The
Rush Limbaugh Show," has already claimed a few choice scalps -- and hopes to soon have other
marketers saying
"ditto."
Kicked off last week on the website of a group called Take Back The Media, the effort is
generating a growing buzz
among online progressives (or, if you prefer, "liberals") -- along with hundreds of angry e-mails
to companies that
sponsor what it calls Limbaugh's "hateful chortling and guffawing."
Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran, is co-founder of Take Back The Media. Obviously never
a Rush fan, Stinson and
his cohorts were content to largely ignore the king of reactionary talk radio -- until he weighed
in on the recent anti-war
protests, calling participants "anti-American," "anti-capitalist" and "communists," among other
terms.
"He just went too far," said Stinson. "Don't call me anti-American. I served this country."
good
!
Ads rushing out of Limbaugh show?
Progressives take aim at radio program's sponsors
By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:04 AM ET Jan. 30, 2003
CHICAGO (CBS.MW) - A Rush to the exits?
Though still in its infancy, a letter-writing campaign aimed at advertisers on "The
Rush Limbaugh Show," has already claimed a few choice scalps -- and hopes to soon have other
marketers saying
"ditto."
Kicked off last week on the website of a group called Take Back The Media, the effort is
generating a growing buzz
among online progressives (or, if you prefer, "liberals") -- along with hundreds of angry e-mails
to companies that
sponsor what it calls Limbaugh's "hateful chortling and guffawing."
Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran, is co-founder of Take Back The Media. Obviously never
a Rush fan, Stinson and
his cohorts were content to largely ignore the king of reactionary talk radio -- until he weighed
in on the recent anti-war
protests, calling participants "anti-American," "anti-capitalist" and "communists," among other
terms.
"He just went too far," said Stinson. "Don't call me anti-American. I served this country."
Mandala blasts Bush* on war:
African President Nelson Mandela lashed out at
U.S. President George Bush's stance on Iraq on
Thursday, saying the Texan had no foresight and
could not think properly.
"It is a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is
doing in Iraq," Mandela told an audience in
Johannesburg. "What I am condemning is that
one power, with a president who has no
foresight, who cannot think properly, is now
wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust," he
added, to loud applause.
"Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are
undermining an idea (the United Nations) which
was sponsored by their predecessors," Mandela
said. "Is this because the secretary general of
the United Nations (Ghanaian Kofi Annan) is
now a black man?
African President Nelson Mandela lashed out at
U.S. President George Bush's stance on Iraq on
Thursday, saying the Texan had no foresight and
could not think properly.
"It is a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is
doing in Iraq," Mandela told an audience in
Johannesburg. "What I am condemning is that
one power, with a president who has no
foresight, who cannot think properly, is now
wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust," he
added, to loud applause.
"Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are
undermining an idea (the United Nations) which
was sponsored by their predecessors," Mandela
said. "Is this because the secretary general of
the United Nations (Ghanaian Kofi Annan) is
now a black man?
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Lemmings
Digby 's commentary, inspired by Vonnegut's remark about PP's:
This gets to one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with this
administration. We keep expecting that they will be held accountable for
lying, or breaking their promises or misrepresenting their policies or any
number of other things we can file under the heading of WTF? But,
because they are moving so fast and with such focus we simply cannot
assess the damage before they are on to the next item.
They execute, they don’t plan. Their vision is a laundry list. They do not
reassess their policy goals, ever, because they do not really have goals.
They have an itemized agenda. And, they just keep moving. Like sharks.
They don’t have regrets and they never question. They have faith that
whatever their team is doing, it must be right and the most important thing
is to GET THE JOB DONE.
That’s why this administration is so irrational and incompetent on every
single level
These people are not natural leaders. They are natural followers. Like
lemmings, they are following their instincts without knowing that they are
all jumping off the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately they are taking us and the
rest of the world with them.
Digby 's commentary, inspired by Vonnegut's remark about PP's:
This gets to one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with this
administration. We keep expecting that they will be held accountable for
lying, or breaking their promises or misrepresenting their policies or any
number of other things we can file under the heading of WTF? But,
because they are moving so fast and with such focus we simply cannot
assess the damage before they are on to the next item.
They execute, they don’t plan. Their vision is a laundry list. They do not
reassess their policy goals, ever, because they do not really have goals.
They have an itemized agenda. And, they just keep moving. Like sharks.
They don’t have regrets and they never question. They have faith that
whatever their team is doing, it must be right and the most important thing
is to GET THE JOB DONE.
That’s why this administration is so irrational and incompetent on every
single level
These people are not natural leaders. They are natural followers. Like
lemmings, they are following their instincts without knowing that they are
all jumping off the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately they are taking us and the
rest of the world with them.
On Bartcop Forum, Santoshi notices:
The UN mandate is for weapons inspectors to disarm Iraq, not for Iraq to disarm.
http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/toc.html
UNMOVIC : Basic facts
The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)
was created through the adoption of Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December
1999. UNMOVIC was to replace the former UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) and
continue with the latter’s
mandate to disarm Iraq
of its weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological weapons and missiles with a
range of more than 150 km), and to operate a system of ongoing monitoring and
verification to check Iraq’s compliance with its obligations not to reacquire the
same weapons prohibited to it by the Security Council."
Obviously Bushco did not read it, so they make up the part about Iraq's burden of proof of NOT having WMD.
The UN mandate is for weapons inspectors to disarm Iraq, not for Iraq to disarm.
http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/toc.html
UNMOVIC : Basic facts
The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)
was created through the adoption of Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December
1999. UNMOVIC was to replace the former UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) and
continue with the latter’s
mandate to disarm Iraq
of its weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological weapons and missiles with a
range of more than 150 km), and to operate a system of ongoing monitoring and
verification to check Iraq’s compliance with its obligations not to reacquire the
same weapons prohibited to it by the Security Council."
Obviously Bushco did not read it, so they make up the part about Iraq's burden of proof of NOT having WMD.
Dear Andrew Sulivan
MWO highlights this incredibly well writen letter sent to the shrill euro-trash:
"Those who support Bush, who
cram their theories to fit a man of his stature, are simply
afraid to admit to any flaw in him because it will bring the
whole house of cards tumbling down. So you invent a
jut-jawed man of action, determined and resolute with a clear
vision of world harmony. But the whispering in your head won't
stop: he's a vile and craven little momma's boy, a snooty
insider trader and coward who deserted his National Guard
post while the great unwashed were still dying in Vietnam, and
who rushed off to save his candy ass on September 11 and
invented a lie about Air Force one being a target while the
great unwashed were once again dying under the rubble. But
you're too damned afraid to admit it. Sick of it? Too bad.
MWO highlights this incredibly well writen letter sent to the shrill euro-trash:
"Those who support Bush, who
cram their theories to fit a man of his stature, are simply
afraid to admit to any flaw in him because it will bring the
whole house of cards tumbling down. So you invent a
jut-jawed man of action, determined and resolute with a clear
vision of world harmony. But the whispering in your head won't
stop: he's a vile and craven little momma's boy, a snooty
insider trader and coward who deserted his National Guard
post while the great unwashed were still dying in Vietnam, and
who rushed off to save his candy ass on September 11 and
invented a lie about Air Force one being a target while the
great unwashed were once again dying under the rubble. But
you're too damned afraid to admit it. Sick of it? Too bad.
Interview with Kurt Vonnegut
Based on what you’ve read and seen in the media, what is not being said in
the mainstream press about President Bush’s policies and the impending
war
in Iraq?
That they are nonsense.
My feeling from talking to readers and friends is that many people are
beginning to despair. Do you think that we’ve lost reason to hope?
I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war,
might as well
have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had
been. What
has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the
sleaziest,
low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in
charge of
the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or
geography,
plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” and plus, most
frighteningly,
psychopathic personalities, or “PPs.”
To say somebody is a PP is to make a perfectly respectable medical
diagnosis, like saying
he or she has appendicitis or athlete’s foot. The classic medical text on PPs
is The Mask
of Sanity by Dr. Hervey Cleckley. Read it! PPs are presentable, they know
full well the
suffering their actions may cause others, but they do not care. They
cannot care
because they are nuts. They have a screw loose!
And what syndrome better describes so many executives at Enron and
WorldCom and on
and on, who have enriched themselves while ruining their employees and
investors and
country, and who still feel as pure as the driven snow, no matter what
anybody may say
to or about them? And so many of these heartless PPs now hold big jobs in
our federal
government, as though they were leaders instead of sick.
What has allowed so many PPs to rise so high in corporations, and now in
government, is
that they are so decisive. Unlike normal people, they are never filled with
doubts, for the
simple reason that they cannot care what happens next. Simply can’t. Do
this! Do that!
Mobilize the reserves! Privatize the public schools! Attack Iraq! Cut health
care! Tap
everybody’s telephone! Cut taxes on the rich! Build a trillion-dollar missile
shield! Fuck
habeas corpus and the Sierra Club and In These Times, and kiss my ass!
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Lord Zontar's SOTU review as posted in Bartcop Forum
Chimpy sez ' ' The only thing we have to fear —is EVERYTHING! ' '"
So, who spotted all the lies in the Iraq part of the Leader's address? The ones I
noticed were: a repetition of the aluminium tubes lie, several lies of omission or
misrepresentation in regards to what Iraq hasn't declared which were declared in the
12,000 page report to the U.N., the unsubstantiated accusation in regards to death
threats against Iraqi scientists (which may or may not be true, but without credible
corroboration, how do we know for certain?). He glossed over the fact that Hussein
gassed Iraqis and Iraqi kurds with the approval or benign neglect of the Great God
Reagan, using the very weapons that Daddy and Daddy's CIA pals helped him get on
the black market. He again tries to link Al Qaeda to Iraq, nevermind that the former
represents Islamic fundamentalism which Saddam Hussein has long kept suppressed
as a threat to his power. He speaks of the U.N. inspectors "conducting a scavenger
hunt" for hidden weapons and materials, yet of course doesn't mention that the U.S.
is not sharing intelligence information as to where to look for weapons. Finally, he
engaged in what is known in debate mechanics as the logical fallacy of the Strawman:
the deliberate setup of a distorted and weakened version of an opponnent's argument
for the express purpose of knocking it down and winning a false victory on points.
Nobody is "trusting in the sanity of Saddam" for their future security.
As for the domestic stuff, it was just the same reheat of trickle-down voodoonomics
and Thousand Points Of Light Redux that I was expecting. So no surprises there.
In the 1930s, FDR told the American people that the only thing we had to fear was
fear itself and offered the country the New Deal. Seventy years later, the Occupant
sells us fear in a handful of dust and offers to us the Raw Deal.
Zontar
Chimpy sez ' ' The only thing we have to fear —is EVERYTHING! ' '"
So, who spotted all the lies in the Iraq part of the Leader's address? The ones I
noticed were: a repetition of the aluminium tubes lie, several lies of omission or
misrepresentation in regards to what Iraq hasn't declared which were declared in the
12,000 page report to the U.N., the unsubstantiated accusation in regards to death
threats against Iraqi scientists (which may or may not be true, but without credible
corroboration, how do we know for certain?). He glossed over the fact that Hussein
gassed Iraqis and Iraqi kurds with the approval or benign neglect of the Great God
Reagan, using the very weapons that Daddy and Daddy's CIA pals helped him get on
the black market. He again tries to link Al Qaeda to Iraq, nevermind that the former
represents Islamic fundamentalism which Saddam Hussein has long kept suppressed
as a threat to his power. He speaks of the U.N. inspectors "conducting a scavenger
hunt" for hidden weapons and materials, yet of course doesn't mention that the U.S.
is not sharing intelligence information as to where to look for weapons. Finally, he
engaged in what is known in debate mechanics as the logical fallacy of the Strawman:
the deliberate setup of a distorted and weakened version of an opponnent's argument
for the express purpose of knocking it down and winning a false victory on points.
Nobody is "trusting in the sanity of Saddam" for their future security.
As for the domestic stuff, it was just the same reheat of trickle-down voodoonomics
and Thousand Points Of Light Redux that I was expecting. So no surprises there.
In the 1930s, FDR told the American people that the only thing we had to fear was
fear itself and offered the country the New Deal. Seventy years later, the Occupant
sells us fear in a handful of dust and offers to us the Raw Deal.
Zontar
US Democracy:Where the Candidate with the Most Votes Loses
LONDON -- In a recently televised satire here titled "Between Iraq and a
Hard Place," George
W. Bush is depicted as an idiot who can't seem to grasp why Saddam
Hussein isn't
cooperating with the U.S. timetable for war. American democracy is
defined as "where there
are two candidates and the one with the most votes loses," and Britain's
role in the
forthcoming military campaign is starkly simple:
"What is it that the Americans want from us?" asks a British official.
"From us?" replies an army general. "Dead bodies."
LONDON -- In a recently televised satire here titled "Between Iraq and a
Hard Place," George
W. Bush is depicted as an idiot who can't seem to grasp why Saddam
Hussein isn't
cooperating with the U.S. timetable for war. American democracy is
defined as "where there
are two candidates and the one with the most votes loses," and Britain's
role in the
forthcoming military campaign is starkly simple:
"What is it that the Americans want from us?" asks a British official.
"From us?" replies an army general. "Dead bodies."
The
The Note links to Cindy Adams' column :
"Cindy Adams is SUCH a tease: "Those in the know: Don't count Gore out." LINK
The Note links to Cindy Adams' column :
"Cindy Adams is SUCH a tease: "Those in the know: Don't count Gore out." LINK
News Before the Fact
A Seattle TV station posted this review of the SOTU speech HOURS before it happened:
'This Country Has Many Challenges'
January 28, 2003
By KOMO Staff & News Services
WASHINGTON - President Bush, girding the nation
for war, said Tuesday in his State of the Union
address that Saddam Hussein has shown "utter
contempt" for the world community and must be
held to account. Bush also pledged to help the
ailing economy with lower taxes and a stronger
health care system.
"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the
contrary, he is deceiving," the president said.
A Seattle TV station posted this review of the SOTU speech HOURS before it happened:
'This Country Has Many Challenges'
January 28, 2003
By KOMO Staff & News Services
WASHINGTON - President Bush, girding the nation
for war, said Tuesday in his State of the Union
address that Saddam Hussein has shown "utter
contempt" for the world community and must be
held to account. Bush also pledged to help the
ailing economy with lower taxes and a stronger
health care system.
"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the
contrary, he is deceiving," the president said.
Those in the know: Don't count Gore out
GORE is not out of politics. Trust mother, kiddies. Folks who are close to
him who are close to me who is close to you say his opting out of the next
presidential campaign does not - n-o-tttt - mean he'd refuse the nomination.
About to sweat for it, he wouldn't. But accept a draft, he would. Just
letting you know what I know as I know it, y'know.
Ok, so that's Cindy Adams'
Page Six
at NY Post, but she's been right a few times and we can use any help we can get. Thanks, Cindy!
GORE is not out of politics. Trust mother, kiddies. Folks who are close to
him who are close to me who is close to you say his opting out of the next
presidential campaign does not - n-o-tttt - mean he'd refuse the nomination.
About to sweat for it, he wouldn't. But accept a draft, he would. Just
letting you know what I know as I know it, y'know.
Ok, so that's Cindy Adams'
Page Six
at NY Post, but she's been right a few times and we can use any help we can get. Thanks, Cindy!
Krugman reminds us of past SOTU promises:
We can be sure that some pundits will acclaim the speech as bold and brilliant; they would do
that if he read from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Whether their praise, and the theatrics of
the occasion, will turn things around is anyone's guess. A lot depends on whether Mr. Bush is
held accountable for the promises he made in his last State of the Union address.
For there was more to that speech than the axis of evil (a phrase, by the way, that has
vanished from Mr. Bush's vocabulary, along with the name of that guy he promised to bring in
dead or alive). He assured those who worried about red ink that "our budget will run a deficit
that will be small and short-lived." He offered comfort for those who remembered his father's
"jobless recovery," which felt like a continuing recession: "When America works, America
prospers, so my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs."
We can be sure that some pundits will acclaim the speech as bold and brilliant; they would do
that if he read from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Whether their praise, and the theatrics of
the occasion, will turn things around is anyone's guess. A lot depends on whether Mr. Bush is
held accountable for the promises he made in his last State of the Union address.
For there was more to that speech than the axis of evil (a phrase, by the way, that has
vanished from Mr. Bush's vocabulary, along with the name of that guy he promised to bring in
dead or alive). He assured those who worried about red ink that "our budget will run a deficit
that will be small and short-lived." He offered comfort for those who remembered his father's
"jobless recovery," which felt like a continuing recession: "When America works, America
prospers, so my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs."
GOP Senator Doesn't Accept Twice Elected President:
Crossfire,January 27
INHOFE:
It was your guys back during
your president, Bill Clinton's
time in 1998...
BEGALA: He was your
president too, we're all
Americans.
INHOFE: Well, you make that
determination...
BEGALA: I just -- you look
like American to me. United
States senator.
Crossfire,January 27
INHOFE:
It was your guys back during
your president, Bill Clinton's
time in 1998...
BEGALA: He was your
president too, we're all
Americans.
INHOFE: Well, you make that
determination...
BEGALA: I just -- you look
like American to me. United
States senator.
Spare the Dauphin! says Bush Ist
Bush said President Bush faces tough decisions, but did
not say if he now supports removing Saddam.
"Our son faces a tough call," he said.
The former president said he is wounded when critics call
his son a warmonger.
"They've hurt this loving, proud father very much," Bush
said. "I would tell you from the bottom of my heart that the
president is giving peace a chance."
Bush said President Bush faces tough decisions, but did
not say if he now supports removing Saddam.
"Our son faces a tough call," he said.
The former president said he is wounded when critics call
his son a warmonger.
"They've hurt this loving, proud father very much," Bush
said. "I would tell you from the bottom of my heart that the
president is giving peace a chance."
Monday, January 27, 2003
Chickenhawk Bush on dodgy ground
Those who served and suffered find strange bedfellows in Iraq
protest, writes
AARON HICKLIN
The Herald
AMERICANS have a word for men like George W Bush and Dick Cheney.
In the parlance of Vietnam veterans Mr Bush and his vice-president are
"chickenhawks", men who dodged the draft and now cheerfully dispatch young
Americans to war. Not without irony they note that the most hawkish and bellicose
government in living memory is filled with men who never saw battle themselves.
Of the senior members of the US administration, Colin Powell, the secretary of
state, is the single exception.
For many military men and women in America, the discrepancy has become a
rallying call all the more potent because those who avoided the draft were
invariably the sons of the wealthy and well-connected. Bush himself managed to
stay home during Vietnam by getting a coveted slot with the Texas National
Guard, only to go awol after completing his training as a fighter pilot, effectively
making him a deserter.
Venerable journalist Ceci Connelly went berserk
at the Gore inauguration and had to be
sedated.
David Podvin
Now that we have reached the midpoint in the first term of President Al
Gore, it is time to reflect on
what has occurred during the past two years. Under the president’s wise
leadership, America is
experiencing unprecedented prosperity at home and receiving unparalleled
respect overseas; our
nation has never been stronger. As the Washington Post recently
editorialized, “It’s time for
impeachment!”
Of course, President Gore won the election in a controversial manner -
by getting the most votes. The
choice of the American people was ratified in an upset five-four
decision by the United States Supreme
Court when, just minutes before hearing the case, Associate Justice
Clarence Thomas inadvertently
glanced into a mirror. Thomas was stunned to discover that he is a black
man, and immediately resolved
that ballots cast by African Americans in Florida would have be counted.
Russel Mokhiber
Shows Ari what Journalism is Again:
Q Two things. Actually, a follow-up to the Iraq-U.S. alliance. The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday
that a number of major American corporations -- including Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel -- helped Saddam
Hussein beef up its military in the '80s. And also the Washington Post last month in a front-page article by
Michael Dobbs said the United States during the '80s supplied Iraq with cluster bombs, intelligence and
chemical and biological agents.
In that same article they reported that Donald Rumsfeld, now Secretary of Defense, went to Baghdad in
December '83 and met with Saddam Hussein, and this was at a time when Iraq was using chemical weapons
almost on a daily basis in defiance of international conventions.
So there are some specifics, and the question is, if Iraq is part of the axis of evil, why isn't the United States
and these American corporations part of the axis of evil for helping him out during his time of need?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell, as I indicated, I think that you have to make a distinction between chemical and
biological. And, clearly, in a previous era, following the fall of the Sha of Iran, when there was a focus on the
risks that were underway in the region as a result of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran, different
administrations, beginning with President Carter, reached different conclusions about the level of military
cooperation vis-a-vis Iraq.
Obviously, Saddam Hussein since that time has used whatever material he had for the purpose therefore of
attacking Kuwait, attacking Saudia Arabia, attacking Israel. And, obviously, as circumstances warrant, we have
an approach that requires now the world to focus on the threat that Saddam Hussein presents and that he
presents this threat because of his desire to continue to acquire weapons and his willingness to use those
weapons against others.
Q So was it a mistake for the U.S. to support Saddam?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell. Russell.
Shows Ari what Journalism is Again:
Q Two things. Actually, a follow-up to the Iraq-U.S. alliance. The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday
that a number of major American corporations -- including Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel -- helped Saddam
Hussein beef up its military in the '80s. And also the Washington Post last month in a front-page article by
Michael Dobbs said the United States during the '80s supplied Iraq with cluster bombs, intelligence and
chemical and biological agents.
In that same article they reported that Donald Rumsfeld, now Secretary of Defense, went to Baghdad in
December '83 and met with Saddam Hussein, and this was at a time when Iraq was using chemical weapons
almost on a daily basis in defiance of international conventions.
So there are some specifics, and the question is, if Iraq is part of the axis of evil, why isn't the United States
and these American corporations part of the axis of evil for helping him out during his time of need?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell, as I indicated, I think that you have to make a distinction between chemical and
biological. And, clearly, in a previous era, following the fall of the Sha of Iran, when there was a focus on the
risks that were underway in the region as a result of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran, different
administrations, beginning with President Carter, reached different conclusions about the level of military
cooperation vis-a-vis Iraq.
Obviously, Saddam Hussein since that time has used whatever material he had for the purpose therefore of
attacking Kuwait, attacking Saudia Arabia, attacking Israel. And, obviously, as circumstances warrant, we have
an approach that requires now the world to focus on the threat that Saddam Hussein presents and that he
presents this threat because of his desire to continue to acquire weapons and his willingness to use those
weapons against others.
Q So was it a mistake for the U.S. to support Saddam?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell. Russell.
Who Handled the Ritter Sliming? (via Interesting Times):
Denis of CNNLies has made an interesting discovery. The judge who put the
seal on Scott Ritter's arrest record was Thomas J. Spargo.
This Thomas J. Spargo?
Justice Spargo Faces Inquiry
By John Caher
New York Law Journal
When election law expert and longtime Republican activist Thomas J.
Spargo was caught on film participating in a noisy political
demonstration, nobody close to politics was particularly surprised.
Spargo is a seasoned regular in the political game, and that he would
show up in Florida at the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections during
the Bush-Gore electoral debacle of November 2000 was almost
predictable.
But there was one thing troubling about that image.
At the same time he was stumping for George W. Bush and chanting
with other Republican supporters at what amounted to a boisterous
sit-in, Spargo was serving as a part-time judge in the rural Albany
County town of Berne. Judges are not supposed to get involved in
politics.
Denis of CNNLies has made an interesting discovery. The judge who put the
seal on Scott Ritter's arrest record was Thomas J. Spargo.
This Thomas J. Spargo?
Justice Spargo Faces Inquiry
By John Caher
New York Law Journal
When election law expert and longtime Republican activist Thomas J.
Spargo was caught on film participating in a noisy political
demonstration, nobody close to politics was particularly surprised.
Spargo is a seasoned regular in the political game, and that he would
show up in Florida at the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections during
the Bush-Gore electoral debacle of November 2000 was almost
predictable.
But there was one thing troubling about that image.
At the same time he was stumping for George W. Bush and chanting
with other Republican supporters at what amounted to a boisterous
sit-in, Spargo was serving as a part-time judge in the rural Albany
County town of Berne. Judges are not supposed to get involved in
politics.
Mark Morford :
== War War War Oh Boy Giggle Whee ==
The pinched-faced warmongering Bush administration dismissed Iraq's
response to U.N. disarmament demands as inadequate, saying there is
nothing in the report of inspectors that indicated a willingness to
comply or that Iraq has done enough to avert war, even though inspectors
haven't found much of anything, but it doesn't matter in the slightest
as ShrubCo is hell-bent on launching his daddy's war and we've already
got this massive US buildup and we can't back away now or Cheney will
have a tizzy and Rumsfeld will inhale even more nitrous oxide which
tends to scare everyone in the War Room. "Iraq is not complying! Iraq is
not complying! That means we get to bang bang kill boom right? Right?!"
squealed Shrub, bouncing on Dick's knee as Lynne and Rummy lounged on
the couch across the room, stroking each others' horns.
Powell: Sovereign rights to invade Iraq?
He also said the United States was willing to act by itself. "We continue to reserve our
sovereign right to take military action against Iraq alone or in a coalition of the willing,"
he said.
And that's the guy they call the "diplomat". Apparently, North Korea also said it has a sovereign right to build nuclear weapons...A claim less outrageous, me thinks.
He also said the United States was willing to act by itself. "We continue to reserve our
sovereign right to take military action against Iraq alone or in a coalition of the willing,"
he said.
And that's the guy they call the "diplomat". Apparently, North Korea also said it has a sovereign right to build nuclear weapons...A claim less outrageous, me thinks.
The Mystery of the Missing
News
The missing 8,000 pages the United States edited out of
Iraq’s 11,800-page dossier on weapons before it passed on a “sanitized”
version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations
security council, according to a December 22 story in the Glasgow,
Scotland Sunday Herald.
The five permanent members of the security council—the US, the UK, France, China and
Russia—were given access to the complete “top secret” version of the dossier.
Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan called it was ‘unfortunate’ that the UN had allowed the
US to take the only complete dossier and edit it. Norway, a fellow (non-permanent) member of
the Security Council, was miffed; its UN spokesperson said Norway felt like it was being treated
like a “second-class country” because it wasn’t made privy to the complete dossier.
Without all the information, the authors point out, the non-permanent members of the Security
Council will have no way of testing the US claims for themselves if the US and the UK go back to
the Security Council seeking authorization to wage war on Iraq due to alleged breaches of
resolution 1441. The UN weapons inspectors’ report is expected to be made to the UN this
month.
Hans von Sponeck, former assistant general secretary of the UN and the UN’s humanitarian
co-ordinator in Iraq until 2000, told the Scottish authors, “This is an outrageous attempt by the
US to mislead.”
The needed information came through on December 18 by way of a Geneva-based reporter,
Andreas Zumach. He broke the story on the US national listener-sponsored radio and television
show "Democracy Now!,” reporting that he had found that the missing pages provided the names
of US corporations, government agencies and even nuclear labs that over the years have helped
arm Iraq, and train Iraqi personnel in the use of these arms—illegally.
"We have 24 major U.S. companies listed in the report who gave very substantial support
especially to the biological weapons program but also to the missile and nuclear weapons
program," Zumach said. "Pretty much everything was illegal in the case of nuclear and biological
weapons. Every form of cooperation and supplies was outlawed in the 1970s."
US corporations listed in the missing pages of the report include Hewlett Packard, DuPont,
Honeywell, Rockwell, Tectronics, Bechtel, International Computer Systems, Unisys, Sperry and TI
Coating. Further, the missing information shows that US governmental agencies, including the
Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. government nuclear
weapons laboratories Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia, all illegally helped Iraq to build
its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs by providing supplies and/or training
News
The missing 8,000 pages the United States edited out of
Iraq’s 11,800-page dossier on weapons before it passed on a “sanitized”
version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations
security council, according to a December 22 story in the Glasgow,
Scotland Sunday Herald.
The five permanent members of the security council—the US, the UK, France, China and
Russia—were given access to the complete “top secret” version of the dossier.
Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan called it was ‘unfortunate’ that the UN had allowed the
US to take the only complete dossier and edit it. Norway, a fellow (non-permanent) member of
the Security Council, was miffed; its UN spokesperson said Norway felt like it was being treated
like a “second-class country” because it wasn’t made privy to the complete dossier.
Without all the information, the authors point out, the non-permanent members of the Security
Council will have no way of testing the US claims for themselves if the US and the UK go back to
the Security Council seeking authorization to wage war on Iraq due to alleged breaches of
resolution 1441. The UN weapons inspectors’ report is expected to be made to the UN this
month.
Hans von Sponeck, former assistant general secretary of the UN and the UN’s humanitarian
co-ordinator in Iraq until 2000, told the Scottish authors, “This is an outrageous attempt by the
US to mislead.”
The needed information came through on December 18 by way of a Geneva-based reporter,
Andreas Zumach. He broke the story on the US national listener-sponsored radio and television
show "Democracy Now!,” reporting that he had found that the missing pages provided the names
of US corporations, government agencies and even nuclear labs that over the years have helped
arm Iraq, and train Iraqi personnel in the use of these arms—illegally.
"We have 24 major U.S. companies listed in the report who gave very substantial support
especially to the biological weapons program but also to the missile and nuclear weapons
program," Zumach said. "Pretty much everything was illegal in the case of nuclear and biological
weapons. Every form of cooperation and supplies was outlawed in the 1970s."
US corporations listed in the missing pages of the report include Hewlett Packard, DuPont,
Honeywell, Rockwell, Tectronics, Bechtel, International Computer Systems, Unisys, Sperry and TI
Coating. Further, the missing information shows that US governmental agencies, including the
Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. government nuclear
weapons laboratories Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia, all illegally helped Iraq to build
its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs by providing supplies and/or training
The Mystery of the Missing News
The missing 8,000 pages the United States edited out of
Iraq’s 11,800-page dossier on weapons before it passed on a “sanitized”
version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations
security council, according to a December 22 story in the Glasgow,
Scotland Sunday Herald.
The five permanent members of the security council—the US, the UK, France, China and
Russia—were given access to the complete “top secret” version of the dossier.
Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan called it was ‘unfortunate’ that the UN had allowed the
US to take the only complete dossier and edit it. Norway, a fellow (non-permanent) member of
the Security Council, was miffed; its UN spokesperson said Norway felt like it was being treated
like a “second-class country” because it wasn’t made privy to the complete dossier.
Without all the information, the authors point out, the non-permanent members of the Security
Council will have no way of testing the US claims for themselves if the US and the UK go back to
the Security Council seeking authorization to wage war on Iraq due to alleged breaches of
resolution 1441. The UN weapons inspectors’ report is expected to be made to the UN this
month.
Hans von Sponeck, former assistant general secretary of the UN and the UN’s humanitarian
co-ordinator in Iraq until 2000, told the Scottish authors, “This is an outrageous attempt by the
US to mislead.”
The needed information came through on December 18 by way of a Geneva-based reporter,
Andreas Zumach. He broke the story on the US national listener-sponsored radio and television
show "Democracy Now!,” reporting that he had found that the missing pages provided the names
of US corporations, government agencies and even nuclear labs that over the years have helped
arm Iraq, and train Iraqi personnel in the use of these arms—illegally.
"We have 24 major U.S. companies listed in the report who gave very substantial support
especially to the biological weapons program but also to the missile and nuclear weapons
program," Zumach said. "Pretty much everything was illegal in the case of nuclear and biological
weapons. Every form of cooperation and supplies was outlawed in the 1970s."
US corporations listed in the missing pages of the report include Hewlett Packard, DuPont,
Honeywell, Rockwell, Tectronics, Bechtel, International Computer Systems, Unisys, Sperry and TI
Coating. Further, the missing information shows that US governmental agencies, including the
Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. government nuclear
weapons laboratories Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia, all illegally helped Iraq to build
its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs by providing supplies and/or training
The missing 8,000 pages the United States edited out of
Iraq’s 11,800-page dossier on weapons before it passed on a “sanitized”
version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations
security council, according to a December 22 story in the Glasgow,
Scotland Sunday Herald.
The five permanent members of the security council—the US, the UK, France, China and
Russia—were given access to the complete “top secret” version of the dossier.
Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan called it was ‘unfortunate’ that the UN had allowed the
US to take the only complete dossier and edit it. Norway, a fellow (non-permanent) member of
the Security Council, was miffed; its UN spokesperson said Norway felt like it was being treated
like a “second-class country” because it wasn’t made privy to the complete dossier.
Without all the information, the authors point out, the non-permanent members of the Security
Council will have no way of testing the US claims for themselves if the US and the UK go back to
the Security Council seeking authorization to wage war on Iraq due to alleged breaches of
resolution 1441. The UN weapons inspectors’ report is expected to be made to the UN this
month.
Hans von Sponeck, former assistant general secretary of the UN and the UN’s humanitarian
co-ordinator in Iraq until 2000, told the Scottish authors, “This is an outrageous attempt by the
US to mislead.”
The needed information came through on December 18 by way of a Geneva-based reporter,
Andreas Zumach. He broke the story on the US national listener-sponsored radio and television
show "Democracy Now!,” reporting that he had found that the missing pages provided the names
of US corporations, government agencies and even nuclear labs that over the years have helped
arm Iraq, and train Iraqi personnel in the use of these arms—illegally.
"We have 24 major U.S. companies listed in the report who gave very substantial support
especially to the biological weapons program but also to the missile and nuclear weapons
program," Zumach said. "Pretty much everything was illegal in the case of nuclear and biological
weapons. Every form of cooperation and supplies was outlawed in the 1970s."
US corporations listed in the missing pages of the report include Hewlett Packard, DuPont,
Honeywell, Rockwell, Tectronics, Bechtel, International Computer Systems, Unisys, Sperry and TI
Coating. Further, the missing information shows that US governmental agencies, including the
Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. government nuclear
weapons laboratories Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia, all illegally helped Iraq to build
its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs by providing supplies and/or training
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Responding to the DNC Solicitation of Renewal
To whom it may concern
There will be no renewal of membership to the DNC from me.
There will be no more donations, no more volunteering, no more
"e-captain" from me. There will be no vote for whatever "fresh face" you
designated to lose to Bush in 2004. I saw this in Florida in 2002 - I
was dumb enough to send McBride money after you sabotaged Janet Reno.
By forcing Al Gore out of the race, you are legitimizing the
impostor in the White House. By eliminating the stolen election as an
issue you are giving away my voting rights (no right of yours) and
aiding and abetting future fraud (do I need to remind you that the GOP
eliminated exit polling and had Diebold counting votes for them?)
After the GOP stole my voting rights in 2000, you are cancelling
my right to vote in the primaries by pushing out the frontrunner.
I will not vote for anyone who endorsed Bush's fascistic war or
civil rights supression. I will write in Al Gore's name in the primaries
and the moneys earmarked for you is going to draftgore.com for obvious
reasons.
I have enclosed a check for 1 cent to make sure this letter will be
opened.
Sincerely,
Leah Faerstein
To whom it may concern
There will be no renewal of membership to the DNC from me.
There will be no more donations, no more volunteering, no more
"e-captain" from me. There will be no vote for whatever "fresh face" you
designated to lose to Bush in 2004. I saw this in Florida in 2002 - I
was dumb enough to send McBride money after you sabotaged Janet Reno.
By forcing Al Gore out of the race, you are legitimizing the
impostor in the White House. By eliminating the stolen election as an
issue you are giving away my voting rights (no right of yours) and
aiding and abetting future fraud (do I need to remind you that the GOP
eliminated exit polling and had Diebold counting votes for them?)
After the GOP stole my voting rights in 2000, you are cancelling
my right to vote in the primaries by pushing out the frontrunner.
I will not vote for anyone who endorsed Bush's fascistic war or
civil rights supression. I will write in Al Gore's name in the primaries
and the moneys earmarked for you is going to draftgore.com for obvious
reasons.
I have enclosed a check for 1 cent to make sure this letter will be
opened.
Sincerely,
Leah Faerstein
This is the DNC Choice to Deliver the Response to SOTU:
Angry Dems in a Locke Box
Only conservatives love the governor's no-new-taxes budget, which puts
fellow
party members in a real bind.
by George Howland Jr.
"What does Gov. Gary Locke's budget procedure, known as Priorities of
Government, or POG, spell
backward? GOP!" That's the joke circulating among Democrats as the
105-day state legislative
session opens this week in Olympia. The humor masks real anger. On Dec.
17, Locke put members
of his own party in a terrible political position by releasing a
no-new-taxes plan that would cut $2.4
billion from a $23 billion biennial budget. It is a budget so extreme
that one of Locke's own
spokespeople, Ed Penhale of the Office of Financial Management,
acknowledges that not even the
Republican-controlled Senate can stomach it. "Even [the Republicans]
couldn't pass it," admits
Penhale."
It's official, Karl Rove (Turd Blossom) runs the Democratic party.
Angry Dems in a Locke Box
Only conservatives love the governor's no-new-taxes budget, which puts
fellow
party members in a real bind.
by George Howland Jr.
"What does Gov. Gary Locke's budget procedure, known as Priorities of
Government, or POG, spell
backward? GOP!" That's the joke circulating among Democrats as the
105-day state legislative
session opens this week in Olympia. The humor masks real anger. On Dec.
17, Locke put members
of his own party in a terrible political position by releasing a
no-new-taxes plan that would cut $2.4
billion from a $23 billion biennial budget. It is a budget so extreme
that one of Locke's own
spokespeople, Ed Penhale of the Office of Financial Management,
acknowledges that not even the
Republican-controlled Senate can stomach it. "Even [the Republicans]
couldn't pass it," admits
Penhale."
It's official, Karl Rove (Turd Blossom) runs the Democratic party.
Monty Python's Terry Jones Loves Bush's Thinking:
I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr
Bush
Terry Jones
Sunday January 26, 2003
The Observer
I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's
running out of patience. And so am I!
For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a
couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health
food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is
planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover
what. I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's
got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is.
As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good
sources - that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street
telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one.
Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police?
But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a
crime with which to charge my neighbours.
They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and
wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be
finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be
secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent
range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But
until recently that's been a little difficult. Now, however, George W. Bush
has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can
wade in and do whatever I want.
I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr
Bush
Terry Jones
Sunday January 26, 2003
The Observer
I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's
running out of patience. And so am I!
For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a
couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health
food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is
planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover
what. I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's
got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is.
As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good
sources - that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street
telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one.
Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police?
But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a
crime with which to charge my neighbours.
They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and
wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be
finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be
secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent
range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But
until recently that's been a little difficult. Now, however, George W. Bush
has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can
wade in and do whatever I want.
Sam
Parry : Bush's Lips sink ships
George W. Bush’s followers hail his tough comments as proof of his
straight-talking style and his “moral clarity.” But his often-insulting remarks
about political and international adversaries also raise questions about
whether the president’s loose tongue is becoming a national security danger
to the American people.
Do Americans, for instance, face a greater risk of
nuclear conflict because Bush indulged in a rant last
year that included calling North Korea’s leader a
“pygmy” – or of terrorism because Bush termed U.S. military action in the Middle
East a
“crusade,” with its Christian vs. Muslim overtones? Or does he exacerbate worldwide
suspicion that Washington doesn’t care much about the global environment when he
mocks environmentalists to his White House aides as “green-green lima beans”?
Parry : Bush's Lips sink ships
George W. Bush’s followers hail his tough comments as proof of his
straight-talking style and his “moral clarity.” But his often-insulting remarks
about political and international adversaries also raise questions about
whether the president’s loose tongue is becoming a national security danger
to the American people.
Do Americans, for instance, face a greater risk of
nuclear conflict because Bush indulged in a rant last
year that included calling North Korea’s leader a
“pygmy” – or of terrorism because Bush termed U.S. military action in the Middle
East a
“crusade,” with its Christian vs. Muslim overtones? Or does he exacerbate worldwide
suspicion that Washington doesn’t care much about the global environment when he
mocks environmentalists to his White House aides as “green-green lima beans”?
Saturday, January 25, 2003
The Horse Tries to Keep up With the Competition: You Too can be Paid for Propaganda!
BRIBERY AND FRAUD!
GOP Offers Gifts for Successful Astroturf Propagandizing
Rant for points
The GOP site's Action Center makes it easy to search for print
and broadcast outlets by geographic area, then fire off a
prefab letter or compose one of your own. DeFeo points out
that members are encouraged to edit text in the prewritten
letters or add their own comments.
The payoff? The site awards "GOPoints" that letter senders
can accumulate and spend on a variety of goods. For
example, you collect five points for contacting the media and
another two if the outlet publishes your letter. When you reach
95 points, you can trade them in for a "Team Leader" mouse
pad. Other prizes include T-shirts (185 points), portable
coolers (375 points), or leather portfolios (525 points).
Introducing Horse Points!
Show your lack of support for the Bush Regime and earn valuable MWO
Horse Points! Here's how:
Letters to the editor:
Published letter to the editor: 5 points
Published letter to the editor beginning "As a lifelong
Republican,...": 10 points
Published letter to the editor beginning "I made the mistake
of voting for Bush last time, but I am living to regret it
because...": 15 points
CSPAN Call-ins:
Call to CSPAN: 15 points
Call to CSPAN, comments prefaced with "As a lifelong
Republican,...": 20 points
Call to CSPAN, comments prefaced with "I made the mistake
of voting for Bush last time, but I am living to regret it
because...": 30 points
Crying (convincingly) during call: Add 10 points
Additional exciting opportunities to come.
50 points earns you entry into the prestigious MWO Jockey Club, with its
many benefits and perks, including permanent links to your letters/calls. So
set your alarm clocks and speed dials for Washington Journal this weekend
and good luck!
BRIBERY AND FRAUD!
GOP Offers Gifts for Successful Astroturf Propagandizing
Rant for points
The GOP site's Action Center makes it easy to search for print
and broadcast outlets by geographic area, then fire off a
prefab letter or compose one of your own. DeFeo points out
that members are encouraged to edit text in the prewritten
letters or add their own comments.
The payoff? The site awards "GOPoints" that letter senders
can accumulate and spend on a variety of goods. For
example, you collect five points for contacting the media and
another two if the outlet publishes your letter. When you reach
95 points, you can trade them in for a "Team Leader" mouse
pad. Other prizes include T-shirts (185 points), portable
coolers (375 points), or leather portfolios (525 points).
Introducing Horse Points!
Show your lack of support for the Bush Regime and earn valuable MWO
Horse Points! Here's how:
Letters to the editor:
Published letter to the editor: 5 points
Published letter to the editor beginning "As a lifelong
Republican,...": 10 points
Published letter to the editor beginning "I made the mistake
of voting for Bush last time, but I am living to regret it
because...": 15 points
CSPAN Call-ins:
Call to CSPAN: 15 points
Call to CSPAN, comments prefaced with "As a lifelong
Republican,...": 20 points
Call to CSPAN, comments prefaced with "I made the mistake
of voting for Bush last time, but I am living to regret it
because...": 30 points
Crying (convincingly) during call: Add 10 points
Additional exciting opportunities to come.
50 points earns you entry into the prestigious MWO Jockey Club, with its
many benefits and perks, including permanent links to your letters/calls. So
set your alarm clocks and speed dials for Washington Journal this weekend
and good luck!
And Now, a Word from Bush's Base (ortography preserved):
> IT'S ABOUT TIME WE ATTACK...WITH NUKES!
>
>
> It's about time we take what's right fully ours, I'm talking about the
> oil. Who in the hell do you think made all that oil worth anything in
> the first place? That's right, the U.S. with our invention THE CAR that
> uses gasoline made from oil. Get it straight people of the world..we own
> you. Got it!
>
> IT'S ABOUT TIME WE ATTACK...WITH NUKES!
>
>
> It's about time we take what's right fully ours, I'm talking about the
> oil. Who in the hell do you think made all that oil worth anything in
> the first place? That's right, the U.S. with our invention THE CAR that
> uses gasoline made from oil. Get it straight people of the world..we own
> you. Got it!
>
Helen Thomas Rides Again (from the Horse):
HELEN THOMAS: Who in this country, beside the President and
his courtiers, want to go to war with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not aware of anybody here who wants to
go to war with Iraq, Helen. But the President very much wants
to protect the peace by making sure that Saddam Hussein
cannot engage in war against us.
Q He's aware that there is widespread opposition to war in this
country?
MR. FLEISCHER: Do you think that the majority of the
Americans are opposed to war with Iraq, Helen?
Q I think so. What do you think?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think if you take a look at all the public
surveys on this issue, there's a lot of Americans who believe
that Saddam Hussein does, indeed, pose a threat. And they
believe --
Q They'll give their brothers, their husbands, their children?
MR. FLEISCHER: -- and they believe that if the President,
knowing what he knows, makes the determination that the
best way to protect the American people from the risks that we
have seen our nation is vulnerable to --
Q So he believes people want to go to war?
MR. FLEISCHER: -- is to disarm Saddam Hussein from having
weapons of mass destruction, the President will make a case
Q We have weapons of mass destruction. Eight other countries
have them.
MR. FLEISCHER: And how many resolutions has the United
Nations passed urging us to not have the weapons that we
have that have successfully kept the peace for 50 years?
Q How many other nations have defied U.N. resolutions and
gotten away with it?
MR. FLEISCHER: None like Saddam Hussein on a measure
that has been this unequivocal, where the world has called on
him
Q I could give you chapter and verse otherwise.
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm aware that you try to.
Email Helen Thomas
HELEN THOMAS: Who in this country, beside the President and
his courtiers, want to go to war with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not aware of anybody here who wants to
go to war with Iraq, Helen. But the President very much wants
to protect the peace by making sure that Saddam Hussein
cannot engage in war against us.
Q He's aware that there is widespread opposition to war in this
country?
MR. FLEISCHER: Do you think that the majority of the
Americans are opposed to war with Iraq, Helen?
Q I think so. What do you think?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think if you take a look at all the public
surveys on this issue, there's a lot of Americans who believe
that Saddam Hussein does, indeed, pose a threat. And they
believe --
Q They'll give their brothers, their husbands, their children?
MR. FLEISCHER: -- and they believe that if the President,
knowing what he knows, makes the determination that the
best way to protect the American people from the risks that we
have seen our nation is vulnerable to --
Q So he believes people want to go to war?
MR. FLEISCHER: -- is to disarm Saddam Hussein from having
weapons of mass destruction, the President will make a case
Q We have weapons of mass destruction. Eight other countries
have them.
MR. FLEISCHER: And how many resolutions has the United
Nations passed urging us to not have the weapons that we
have that have successfully kept the peace for 50 years?
Q How many other nations have defied U.N. resolutions and
gotten away with it?
MR. FLEISCHER: None like Saddam Hussein on a measure
that has been this unequivocal, where the world has called on
him
Q I could give you chapter and verse otherwise.
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm aware that you try to.
Email Helen Thomas
Operation "Shock and Awe"
The loho for the battle strategy of the planned war seems to indicate it's real reason. Just like Charlie O from Star Trek, Bush* is an arrested development teenager desperate for attention. He wants to shock us and held in awe. Millions will die because all adults around him are too coward to do anything about it.
The loho for the battle strategy of the planned war seems to indicate it's real reason. Just like Charlie O from Star Trek, Bush* is an arrested development teenager desperate for attention. He wants to shock us and held in awe. Millions will die because all adults around him are too coward to do anything about it.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Paul Robeson Jr: Bush a Stalinist Neo-confederate
Paul Robeson, Jr., son of civil rights renaissance man Paul Robeson, delivered a
deliberate but passionate speech condemning the Bush administration and American
apathy toward human rights to a crowd of around 60 Dartmouth students and local
residents Thursday afternoon in Dartmouth Hall.
Robeson spoke in a calm, measured fashion for over an hour and delivered a polemic
message against President Bush, his administration and particularly the potential
American invasion of Iraq.
He was especially negative on the Bush administration's declared "War on Terrorism"
and the creation of the Homeland Security Department.
As a scholar of Russian studies, Robeson said that the Homeland Security Act was
modeled after a collection of documents authored by Joseph Stalin and that President
Bush "is part of a neo-Confederate government geared at destroying the Union."
Paul Robeson, Jr., son of civil rights renaissance man Paul Robeson, delivered a
deliberate but passionate speech condemning the Bush administration and American
apathy toward human rights to a crowd of around 60 Dartmouth students and local
residents Thursday afternoon in Dartmouth Hall.
Robeson spoke in a calm, measured fashion for over an hour and delivered a polemic
message against President Bush, his administration and particularly the potential
American invasion of Iraq.
He was especially negative on the Bush administration's declared "War on Terrorism"
and the creation of the Homeland Security Department.
As a scholar of Russian studies, Robeson said that the Homeland Security Act was
modeled after a collection of documents authored by Joseph Stalin and that President
Bush "is part of a neo-Confederate government geared at destroying the Union."
Funniest Post of the Day - Stranger on Bartcop Forum
In the thread: "Ari said that Europe will answwr the call when the call is made. What call?" this answer had cofee spills on several monitors:
. "Hello, Fransh? Thish ish Dubya...."
You frogs in, or do we have to stuff a firecracker down your throat?"
Something like that.
In the thread: "Ari said that Europe will answwr the call when the call is made. What call?" this answer had cofee spills on several monitors:
. "Hello, Fransh? Thish ish Dubya...."
You frogs in, or do we have to stuff a firecracker down your throat?"
Something like that.
Quote of the Day
(Bartcop's pick):
“Karl Rove called Bush a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. Now, I checked this out.
TR created five national parks. Bush increased air pollution in national parks.
Roosevelt created 230 million acres of new federal land he preserved.
Bush wants to drill in the Arctic. Roosevelt protected rivers and streams.
Bush, of course, 500 percent increase in arsenic in the drinking water.
TR is spinning in his grave, man. What is Karl smoking?"
--Paul Begala, just the facts. ma'am, Crossfire, 01/23/03
(Bartcop's pick):
“Karl Rove called Bush a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. Now, I checked this out.
TR created five national parks. Bush increased air pollution in national parks.
Roosevelt created 230 million acres of new federal land he preserved.
Bush wants to drill in the Arctic. Roosevelt protected rivers and streams.
Bush, of course, 500 percent increase in arsenic in the drinking water.
TR is spinning in his grave, man. What is Karl smoking?"
--Paul Begala, just the facts. ma'am, Crossfire, 01/23/03
Clinton: Take my money nd make America well!
Clinton noted his own post-presidential affluence as he echoed the Democratic
attack on Bush's
tax cuts as a boon for millionaires. Instead of spending the money on Medicare
and Social
Security (news - web sites), Clinton said, Bush wants "to give it to me!"
'TAKE MY MONEY AND MAKE AMERICA WELL'
"It's bad ethics and terrible economics," he told an enthusiastic audience at
the Families USA
health advocacy conference. "Take my money and make America well."
He also said he couldn't figure out why the Republicans wanted tax cuts that
would deepen the
deficit.
"The first thing you ought to do when you find yourself in a hole is quit
digging," he said.
"Instead they are looking for a bigger shovel."
Also:
He scolded those who said that the nation
can't worry about its health system while it is dealing
with terrorism, Iraq and North Korea (news -
web sites). "That's why you develop a brain, so you
can think about more than one thing at a
time."
Clinton noted his own post-presidential affluence as he echoed the Democratic
attack on Bush's
tax cuts as a boon for millionaires. Instead of spending the money on Medicare
and Social
Security (news - web sites), Clinton said, Bush wants "to give it to me!"
'TAKE MY MONEY AND MAKE AMERICA WELL'
"It's bad ethics and terrible economics," he told an enthusiastic audience at
the Families USA
health advocacy conference. "Take my money and make America well."
He also said he couldn't figure out why the Republicans wanted tax cuts that
would deepen the
deficit.
"The first thing you ought to do when you find yourself in a hole is quit
digging," he said.
"Instead they are looking for a bigger shovel."
Also:
He scolded those who said that the nation
can't worry about its health system while it is dealing
with terrorism, Iraq and North Korea (news -
web sites). "That's why you develop a brain, so you
can think about more than one thing at a
time."
"Merde" was the word French hurled at Rummy (that the previous NYT article aluded to):
D'autres responsables politiques ont plus durement répliqué au responsable
américain, la palme revenant à la ministre de l'Ecologie Roselyne Bachelot. «Vous
savez, moi je suis des Pays de la Loire, et il y a dans les Pays de la Loire une célébrité
qui s'appelle Cambronne», a-t-elle dit dans une allusion au fameux «mot» de Pierre
Cambronne, général français des armées napoléonniennes blessé à Waterloo, qui
aurait répondu par un «merde» retentissant à une sommation de se rendre.
(Le Figaro)
Here's the NYT paragraph:
> Mr. Rumsfeld's comments predictably raised a storm today in
> both Paris and Berlin, with a French cabinet minister
> responding by alluding to a vulgarity that one of
> Napoleon's generals used when the British sought his
> surrender at Waterloo.
D'autres responsables politiques ont plus durement répliqué au responsable
américain, la palme revenant à la ministre de l'Ecologie Roselyne Bachelot. «Vous
savez, moi je suis des Pays de la Loire, et il y a dans les Pays de la Loire une célébrité
qui s'appelle Cambronne», a-t-elle dit dans une allusion au fameux «mot» de Pierre
Cambronne, général français des armées napoléonniennes blessé à Waterloo, qui
aurait répondu par un «merde» retentissant à une sommation de se rendre.
(Le Figaro)
Here's the NYT paragraph:
> Mr. Rumsfeld's comments predictably raised a storm today in
> both Paris and Berlin, with a French cabinet minister
> responding by alluding to a vulgarity that one of
> Napoleon's generals used when the British sought his
> surrender at Waterloo.
No Body Bags News
Denver Post
Pentagon eyes mass graves
Option would fight contamination after bioterror deaths
By Greg Seigle
Special to The Denver Post
Friday, January 24, 2003 - WASHINGTON - The bodies of U.S. soldiers killed by
chemical or biological weapons in Iraq or future wars may be bulldozed into mass
graves and burned to save the lives of surviving troops, under an option being
considered by the Pentagon.
Since the Korean War, the U.S. military has taken great pride in bringing home its war
dead, returning bodies to next of kin for flag-draped, taps-sounding funerals complete
with 21-gun salutes.
But the 53-year-old tradition could come to an abrupt halt if large numbers of soldiers
are killed by chemical or biological agents, according to a proposal quietly circulating
through Pentagon corridors.
Denver Post
Pentagon eyes mass graves
Option would fight contamination after bioterror deaths
By Greg Seigle
Special to The Denver Post
Friday, January 24, 2003 - WASHINGTON - The bodies of U.S. soldiers killed by
chemical or biological weapons in Iraq or future wars may be bulldozed into mass
graves and burned to save the lives of surviving troops, under an option being
considered by the Pentagon.
Since the Korean War, the U.S. military has taken great pride in bringing home its war
dead, returning bodies to next of kin for flag-draped, taps-sounding funerals complete
with 21-gun salutes.
But the 53-year-old tradition could come to an abrupt halt if large numbers of soldiers
are killed by chemical or biological agents, according to a proposal quietly circulating
through Pentagon corridors.
Even NY Times
Noticed: the Entire World Hates Bush*
PARIS, Jan. 23 - In Europe, it often seems that it is not
only the wisdom of a war against Iraq that lies at the
heart of trans-Atlantic differences, but the personal style
of George W. Bush himself.
To European ears, the president's language is far too
blunt, and he has been far too quick to cast the debate
about how to separate Saddam Hussen from his weapons of
mass destruction in black-and-white certainties, officials
in Paris and Berlin say. They add that his confrontational
approach, his impatience with the inspections and even his
habit of finger pointing as he speaks undermine the
possibility of common strategy against Saddam Hussein.
"Much of it is the way he talks, this provocative manner,
the jabbing of his finger at you," said Hans-Ulrich Klose,
the vice chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the
German Parliament. "It's Texas, a culture that is
unfamiliar to Germans. And it's the religious tenor of his
arguments."
"Much of it is the way he talks, the rhetoric, the
religiosity," he said of Mr. Bush. "It reminds them of what
drove them crazy about Reagan. It reminds them of what they
miss about Clinton. All the stereotypes we thought we had
banished for good after Sept. 11 - the cowboy imagery, in
particular - it's all back."
Noticed: the Entire World Hates Bush*
PARIS, Jan. 23 - In Europe, it often seems that it is not
only the wisdom of a war against Iraq that lies at the
heart of trans-Atlantic differences, but the personal style
of George W. Bush himself.
To European ears, the president's language is far too
blunt, and he has been far too quick to cast the debate
about how to separate Saddam Hussen from his weapons of
mass destruction in black-and-white certainties, officials
in Paris and Berlin say. They add that his confrontational
approach, his impatience with the inspections and even his
habit of finger pointing as he speaks undermine the
possibility of common strategy against Saddam Hussein.
"Much of it is the way he talks, this provocative manner,
the jabbing of his finger at you," said Hans-Ulrich Klose,
the vice chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the
German Parliament. "It's Texas, a culture that is
unfamiliar to Germans. And it's the religious tenor of his
arguments."
"Much of it is the way he talks, the rhetoric, the
religiosity," he said of Mr. Bush. "It reminds them of what
drove them crazy about Reagan. It reminds them of what they
miss about Clinton. All the stereotypes we thought we had
banished for good after Sept. 11 - the cowboy imagery, in
particular - it's all back."
Thursday, January 23, 2003
New Propaganda Doublespeak delivered by Rove Personally:
Rove also took issue with criticism that the president has sided with wealthy interests and
rolled back environmental reforms.
"This president is a populist," he said. "Given a choice between
Wall Street and Main Street, he will chose Main Street any
time."
Rove also took issue with criticism that the president has sided with wealthy interests and
rolled back environmental reforms.
"This president is a populist," he said. "Given a choice between
Wall Street and Main Street, he will chose Main Street any
time."
Rumsfeld Comment Sparks Angry
Responses
Thursday January 23, 2003 4:00 PM
BERLIN (AP) - German and French officials fired back angrily Thursday at
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's dismissal of their governments as
the ``old Europe,'' and said the comments underscored America's arrogance
as it prepares for possible war with Iraq.
Rumsfeld also said that German and French positions had proved to be a
``problem'' that had not been created by ``vast numbers of other countries
in
Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this. They're with the
United States,'' Rumsfeld said at a briefing Wednesday.
``We should try to treat each other sensibly,'' said German Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer. ``Our position is not a problem, it is a constructive
contribution,'' he said as he left for a tour of Turkey and the Middle East in
an attempt to cool the crisis.
The spat erupted after the two European powers on Wednesday unveiled a
joint anti-war stance on Iraq, forcing the NATO alliance to delay planning
for a possible support role in an Iraqi invasion.
French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he was ``profoundly vexed'' by
the remarks.
Responses
Thursday January 23, 2003 4:00 PM
BERLIN (AP) - German and French officials fired back angrily Thursday at
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's dismissal of their governments as
the ``old Europe,'' and said the comments underscored America's arrogance
as it prepares for possible war with Iraq.
Rumsfeld also said that German and French positions had proved to be a
``problem'' that had not been created by ``vast numbers of other countries
in
Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this. They're with the
United States,'' Rumsfeld said at a briefing Wednesday.
``We should try to treat each other sensibly,'' said German Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer. ``Our position is not a problem, it is a constructive
contribution,'' he said as he left for a tour of Turkey and the Middle East in
an attempt to cool the crisis.
The spat erupted after the two European powers on Wednesday unveiled a
joint anti-war stance on Iraq, forcing the NATO alliance to delay planning
for a possible support role in an Iraqi invasion.
French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he was ``profoundly vexed'' by
the remarks.
Draft Al?: The Carthage Courier will run a full-page ad Wednesday asking
former Vice President Al Gore to run for president in 2004. The group
that paid for the ad, Grassroots Democrats, also has a Web site urging
Gore to reconsider his December decision – which he announced on CBS
News' "60 Minutes" - not to run for the Democratic nomination again. The
group says that it has plans in the works to organize pro-Gore Democrats
in Iowa and New Hampshire to help draft the former vice president.
In a release Tuesday about the ad, the group says it "does not expect or
request a response from Al Gore in the immediate future. His was an
extremely difficult decision that will not change overnight. What Gore
supporters do hope is that the former vice president will keep his
options open as we near the primary season in 2004."
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Weirder things have
happened." says CBS News
former Vice President Al Gore to run for president in 2004. The group
that paid for the ad, Grassroots Democrats, also has a Web site urging
Gore to reconsider his December decision – which he announced on CBS
News' "60 Minutes" - not to run for the Democratic nomination again. The
group says that it has plans in the works to organize pro-Gore Democrats
in Iowa and New Hampshire to help draft the former vice president.
In a release Tuesday about the ad, the group says it "does not expect or
request a response from Al Gore in the immediate future. His was an
extremely difficult decision that will not change overnight. What Gore
supporters do hope is that the former vice president will keep his
options open as we near the primary season in 2004."
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Weirder things have
happened." says CBS News
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Fake Wall Of Boxes!
I
Bush delivered his message in front of a fake wall of cardboard boxes stamped "Made
in U.S.A."
pictured here
and here The real boxes, set to Bush's side, had their "Made in China" stamps blotted
out.
The White House said it did not intend to cover up the markings on the boxes. "It
appears it was an overzealous volunteer. We'll take it up with the appropriate
channels," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.
Bush's tax cuts will be a tough sell.
I
Bush delivered his message in front of a fake wall of cardboard boxes stamped "Made
in U.S.A."
pictured here
and here The real boxes, set to Bush's side, had their "Made in China" stamps blotted
out.
The White House said it did not intend to cover up the markings on the boxes. "It
appears it was an overzealous volunteer. We'll take it up with the appropriate
channels," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.
Bush's tax cuts will be a tough sell.
Smearing Edwards for Chewing Gum
I'm told that Drudge is in shock: apparently Senator Edwards is chewing gum. I guess he should visit the
photo
that goes with that Washington Post article.
I'm told that Drudge is in shock: apparently Senator Edwards is chewing gum. I guess he should visit the
photo
that goes with that Washington Post article.
Harold Pinter in The Guardian:
The Guardian
>
>
> Here they go again,
> The Yanks in their armoured parade
> Chanting their ballads of joy
> As they gallop across the big world
> Praising America's God.
>
> The gutters are clogged with the dead
> The ones who couldn't join in
> The others refusing to sing
> The ones who are losing their voice
> The ones who've forgotten the tune.
>
> The riders have whips which cut.
> Your head rolls onto the sand
> Your head is a pool in the dirt
> Your head is a stain in the dust
> Your eyes have gone out and your nose
> Sniffs only the pong of the dead
> And all the dead air is alive
> With the smell of America's God.
>
> © Harold Pinter, January 2003
>
The Guardian
>
>
> Here they go again,
> The Yanks in their armoured parade
> Chanting their ballads of joy
> As they gallop across the big world
> Praising America's God.
>
> The gutters are clogged with the dead
> The ones who couldn't join in
> The others refusing to sing
> The ones who are losing their voice
> The ones who've forgotten the tune.
>
> The riders have whips which cut.
> Your head rolls onto the sand
> Your head is a pool in the dirt
> Your head is a stain in the dust
> Your eyes have gone out and your nose
> Sniffs only the pong of the dead
> And all the dead air is alive
> With the smell of America's God.
>
> © Harold Pinter, January 2003
>
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
A bid to get Gore to run again for the White House
By JAMES W. BROSNAN
Scripps Howard News Service
January 21, 2003
Washington - Some die-hard Al Gore fans don't really believe it when he says he doesn't want to
run for
president again in 2004.
So the Draft Gore 2004 group is taking out a full-page ad in Wednesday's Carthage (Tenn.)
Courier urging
the former vice president to accept a draft for the Democratic nomination. Gore has homes in
Carthage and
Nashville, Tenn.
"You are the only Democrat who can represent us in what may be one of the most crucial
elections in
American history," says the ad.
Efforts to reach Gore for comment were unsuccessful.
When Gore announced his decision Dec. 15, he said that he still had the energy and desire to be
president,
noted Monica Friedlander, chairman of Draft Gore 2004.
"It sounded like he just doesn't think he'll have the support from the Democratic Party. I think we
can prove to
him that the people support him," said Friedlander, 42, a writer at the Lawrence Berkeley
National
Laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley.
Gore also said he didn't want the 2004 race to be a rehash of the disputed 2000 election and
"distract from
the focus on the future." He wrote earlier to another support group, AlGore04.com, that he
would rather "fight
for the right result," and would endorse another Democratic candidate.
But Friedlander said that other Democratic hopefuls were too accommodating to President Bush
on Iraq
and the economy.
Another member of the group, David Van Os, chairman of the Northeast Bexar County
Democrats in San
Antonio, Texas, said Gore "is the only Democrat of national stature who has repeatedly
challenged George
Bush's wrongheaded policies for the past year."
Friedlander, who volunteered in both Clinton presidential campaigns and in Gore's 2000 run, said
the group
has grown to about 500 through a Web site, draftgore.com., since Gore announced.
"I know we're going against the odds," said Friedlander, "But we're hoping to persuade him."
Sheila Jackson Lee Wants to Repeal the Iraq Resolution
She is on C-Span in the snow explaining why she will introduce a bill in the House to repeal the Iraq resolution.
Added to the French veto and the momentum of the protests, opinion polls I am almost daring to hope... I heard the little dictator on the radio today - impatient again: "This is like an old rerun of a bad movie and I don't intend to stick around to
see it"
She is on C-Span in the snow explaining why she will introduce a bill in the House to repeal the Iraq resolution.
Added to the French veto and the momentum of the protests, opinion polls I am almost daring to hope... I heard the little dictator on the radio today - impatient again: "This is like an old rerun of a bad movie and I don't intend to stick around to
see it"
Rumsfeld Apologizes for Draftee Remarks
By ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld apologized to veterans Tuesday for comments
he made on the military draft that he said had been misconstrued by some as
disparaging their service.
Rumsfeld issued the written apology shortly after three Democrats in Congress
expressed outrage at his remark that draftees had added "no value, no advantage" to
the U.S. military because they served for such short periods.
"We are shocked, frankly, that you were apparently willing to dismiss the value of the
service of millions of Americans, tens of thousands of whom gave their lives for their
country in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam," they wrote.
"If you think back to when we had the draft, people were brought in, they were paid
some fraction of what they could make in the civilian manpower market because they
were without choices," Rumsfeld said.
In his written apology Tuesday, Rumsfeld described his remarks on draftees as "not
eloquently stated."
He said he had not meant to say draftees added no value while they were serving.
"They added great value. I was commenting on the loss of that value when they left
the service."
Rumsfeld said he had no intention of disparaging the service of draftees.
"I always have had the highest respect for their service, and I offer my full apology to
any veteran who misinterpreted my remarks."
It is rare for a defense secretary to issue a written apology on any topic.
"It is painful for anyone, and certainly a public servant whose words are carried far and
wide, to have a comment so unfortunately misinterpreted," Rumsfeld said, adding that
it was "particularly troubling" to know there are service men and women - past and
present - "who may believe that the secretary of defense would say or mean what
some have written. I did not. I would not."
The Secret is out: Bush* sucks
Poll Shows Americans Have Doubts About Iraqi War
Majority Disapprove of Bush's Handling of the Economy
According to
Washington Post Seven in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors months more to pursue their
arms search in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found
growing doubts about an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
In addition to the public's skepticism about military action against Iraq, the poll found
that a majority of Americans disapproved of President Bush's handling of the economy
for the first time in his presidency. The number of Americans who regard the economy
as healthy has not been lower in the past nine years, and majorities raised objections
to the tax-cut plan Bush has proposed as a remedy.
"On the economy, Americans disapproved of the job Bush has done by a margin of
53 percent to 43 percent; that represents a 7-percentage point shift from December."
"By a margin of 7 percentage points, Americans opposed the cornerstone of Bush's
proposal, the elimination of the tax on stock dividends. By more than 2 to 1,
respondents said they would rather have more spending on education, health care and
Social Security than a tax cut, and a sizable majority said they would rather the money
be used to balance the federal budget."
Poll Shows Americans Have Doubts About Iraqi War
Majority Disapprove of Bush's Handling of the Economy
According to
Washington Post Seven in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors months more to pursue their
arms search in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found
growing doubts about an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
In addition to the public's skepticism about military action against Iraq, the poll found
that a majority of Americans disapproved of President Bush's handling of the economy
for the first time in his presidency. The number of Americans who regard the economy
as healthy has not been lower in the past nine years, and majorities raised objections
to the tax-cut plan Bush has proposed as a remedy.
"On the economy, Americans disapproved of the job Bush has done by a margin of
53 percent to 43 percent; that represents a 7-percentage point shift from December."
"By a margin of 7 percentage points, Americans opposed the cornerstone of Bush's
proposal, the elimination of the tax on stock dividends. By more than 2 to 1,
respondents said they would rather have more spending on education, health care and
Social Security than a tax cut, and a sizable majority said they would rather the money
be used to balance the federal budget."
Truthout:
__CNN/Time Poll Shows Bush's Approval 1% Above its LOWEST, So CNN & Time Scrub the Poll!
AP reports that the latest CNN-Time poll shows Bush's job approval ratings have dropped to
53%, just 1% above the LOWEST approval figure for his entire Residency
(http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm). Amazingly, Bill Clinton's second-term job
approval only dropped to 52% right after the Monica Lewinsky story broke in January 1998,
and the following week it jumped 16% to 68% (http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm). So
how much coverage did this shocking poll get from CNN and Time? Absolutely none! Karl Rove
doesn't want America to know the truth - that Bush has pissed away all of the support from
9-11 - so CNN and Time scrubbed their own poll! Bush's continuing efforts to promote W-ar and
tax cuts for the rich will soon drive Bush's ratings to historic lows. Tell the media to report
that Bush's approval rating is tanking!
__CNN/Time Poll Shows Bush's Approval 1% Above its LOWEST, So CNN & Time Scrub the Poll!
AP reports that the latest CNN-Time poll shows Bush's job approval ratings have dropped to
53%, just 1% above the LOWEST approval figure for his entire Residency
(http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm). Amazingly, Bill Clinton's second-term job
approval only dropped to 52% right after the Monica Lewinsky story broke in January 1998,
and the following week it jumped 16% to 68% (http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm). So
how much coverage did this shocking poll get from CNN and Time? Absolutely none! Karl Rove
doesn't want America to know the truth - that Bush has pissed away all of the support from
9-11 - so CNN and Time scrubbed their own poll! Bush's continuing efforts to promote W-ar and
tax cuts for the rich will soon drive Bush's ratings to historic lows. Tell the media to report
that Bush's approval rating is tanking!
_Iraqi Rightly asks, 'Who Appointed the Idiot Bush as the World's Police Officer?'
Reuters. "An Iraqi envoy dismissed the idea Saddam might be persuaded into exile
to avert war. 'Who appointed the idiot Bush as the world's police officer?' Ali Hassan al-Majeed
said in Beirut. 'This is merely nonsense and one of the tactics of psychological warfare.'"
Reuters. "An Iraqi envoy dismissed the idea Saddam might be persuaded into exile
to avert war. 'Who appointed the idiot Bush as the world's police officer?' Ali Hassan al-Majeed
said in Beirut. 'This is merely nonsense and one of the tactics of psychological warfare.'"
What a Difference a NUMBER makes
posted by GoPsUcks in BC Forum
9/11 -- Most everyone knows what this represents. The most horrific terrorist attack in
world history occurred 9/11/01 when terrorists hijacked 4 jet airliners, crashing them
into the World Trade Center and Pentagon -- one missing the target and crashing into
a Pennsylvania field. 9/11 overshadows every policy the US is committed to for
probably a generation and is distorting our view of how we should deal with real threats
versus those contrived by special-interest lobbies, namely the corporations, who would
commit this nation to war for monetary gain rather than genuine security interests --
defense of the public at large.
539,000 -- That's how many votes Bush lost the popular election to Al Gore in 2000.
Although Florida was hotly contested in the courts, the Supreme Court (mostly
appointed by Republicans) had the final say and put their boy in.
300 TRILLION -- That's the number of dollars worth of oil reserves estimated under
Iraqi soil, the envy of the oil corporations who also happen to control the White House.
1441 -- That's why we're going to WAR! Or, so says Bush.... UN Security Council
Resolution #1441, passed November 8, 2002, demanded that Iraq re-open to UN
Inspectors and make a complete inventory of destroyed stock of WMD provided
through Bush, Sr. in the 1980s. So, we're GOING TO WAR BECAUSE SADDAM DIDN'T
COMPLY WITH UN RESOLUTION #1441! Would you like to die for such a cause? If
you're willing to see others die for it, yet you don't feel inclined to volunteer for the
same, what does that make you, Mr. or Ms. Patriot?
12,000 -- That's the number of pages Iraq provided to inspectors, although Bush's
White House insiders conveniently "purged" 8,000 pages out of them because they
implicated his father and GOP controlled weapons suppliers in the report. The world
mustn't see that! In Bush's defense, he claimed it was to "protect national security."
Bullshit! It was to protect weapons suppliers, namely his Texas weapons manufacturer
cronies!
1,000,000 -- That's the number analysts estimate will die in Iraq should the US
invade. Low number is 300,000 for you "optimists"! Invade for what? To remove
weapons of mass destruction that other means can more easily eradicate? For a
"regime change" that can more simply be accomplished without the deaths of
thousands/millions? How insane can this White House be? The US and much of the
world will be paying the price for Bush's foolishness for many years to come. S--t rolls
downhill, and we will definitely feel the effects of such poor leadership. Wake up and
smell the biological weapons!
1.2 TRILLION -- That's the high-range of the cost estimated for the US to invade Iraq;
the low-range is $200 billion. George Bush says we can "afford" such, but can't afford
Emergency Room Medicare treatment for seniors or any other stimulus to the
economy, besides bail-outs for his corporate buddies -- corporate welfare is okay, but
welfare for the needy is a "hand-out" undeserved.
1.3 TRILLION -- That's the tax-cut for the rich that was passed in 2001 that will mainly
go to the top 3% of the population -- namely Bush's buddies.
674 BILLION -- That's the tax-cut for the rich that Bush is proposing in 2003 that will
mainly go to the top 3% of the population -- namely Bush's buddies -- and will do
NOTHING to stimulate an economy that's plunging to Depression era numbers.
1 -- That's the number of AIR FORCE ONE that Bush uses as his personal political
campaign transport. If he's out on AIR FORCE ONE, it's guaranteed that he'll make a
major campaign appearance on behalf of some Republican crony. In the 2000
campaign, however, he used the official ENRON JET to make his appearances when
running against Gore. ENRON CEOs were his closest friends and biggest contributors to
Bush's campaign and freely offered the jet. (Have you noticed that Ken Lay hasn't
been indicted yet?)
227,000,000 -- That's the number of dollars it cost the US taxpayers in 2002 alone to
fly George Bush on Air Force One to Republican campaign stops last year so he could
sew up both the House and the Senate -- thus controlling the entire US government.
How's it feel knowing that our tax dollars are being spent like this?
1984 -- That's the name of the famous George Orwell book that depicts a future
controlled by a one-world power called BIG BROTHER which monitors everyone on the
planet through electronic surveillance and stomps out any resistance to government
control. The science fiction novel best describes the era we're fast approaching -- as
civil liberties are being erased by an administration that believes it knows best for all
and that any disagreement with BIG BROTHER BUSH is an act of treason punishable by
indefinite "detainment" in military tribunals. BIG BROTHER watches every move and
clamps down "PRE-EMPTIVELY" so that the "DEPARTMENT OF PEACE" can be successful.
posted by GoPsUcks in BC Forum
9/11 -- Most everyone knows what this represents. The most horrific terrorist attack in
world history occurred 9/11/01 when terrorists hijacked 4 jet airliners, crashing them
into the World Trade Center and Pentagon -- one missing the target and crashing into
a Pennsylvania field. 9/11 overshadows every policy the US is committed to for
probably a generation and is distorting our view of how we should deal with real threats
versus those contrived by special-interest lobbies, namely the corporations, who would
commit this nation to war for monetary gain rather than genuine security interests --
defense of the public at large.
539,000 -- That's how many votes Bush lost the popular election to Al Gore in 2000.
Although Florida was hotly contested in the courts, the Supreme Court (mostly
appointed by Republicans) had the final say and put their boy in.
300 TRILLION -- That's the number of dollars worth of oil reserves estimated under
Iraqi soil, the envy of the oil corporations who also happen to control the White House.
1441 -- That's why we're going to WAR! Or, so says Bush.... UN Security Council
Resolution #1441, passed November 8, 2002, demanded that Iraq re-open to UN
Inspectors and make a complete inventory of destroyed stock of WMD provided
through Bush, Sr. in the 1980s. So, we're GOING TO WAR BECAUSE SADDAM DIDN'T
COMPLY WITH UN RESOLUTION #1441! Would you like to die for such a cause? If
you're willing to see others die for it, yet you don't feel inclined to volunteer for the
same, what does that make you, Mr. or Ms. Patriot?
12,000 -- That's the number of pages Iraq provided to inspectors, although Bush's
White House insiders conveniently "purged" 8,000 pages out of them because they
implicated his father and GOP controlled weapons suppliers in the report. The world
mustn't see that! In Bush's defense, he claimed it was to "protect national security."
Bullshit! It was to protect weapons suppliers, namely his Texas weapons manufacturer
cronies!
1,000,000 -- That's the number analysts estimate will die in Iraq should the US
invade. Low number is 300,000 for you "optimists"! Invade for what? To remove
weapons of mass destruction that other means can more easily eradicate? For a
"regime change" that can more simply be accomplished without the deaths of
thousands/millions? How insane can this White House be? The US and much of the
world will be paying the price for Bush's foolishness for many years to come. S--t rolls
downhill, and we will definitely feel the effects of such poor leadership. Wake up and
smell the biological weapons!
1.2 TRILLION -- That's the high-range of the cost estimated for the US to invade Iraq;
the low-range is $200 billion. George Bush says we can "afford" such, but can't afford
Emergency Room Medicare treatment for seniors or any other stimulus to the
economy, besides bail-outs for his corporate buddies -- corporate welfare is okay, but
welfare for the needy is a "hand-out" undeserved.
1.3 TRILLION -- That's the tax-cut for the rich that was passed in 2001 that will mainly
go to the top 3% of the population -- namely Bush's buddies.
674 BILLION -- That's the tax-cut for the rich that Bush is proposing in 2003 that will
mainly go to the top 3% of the population -- namely Bush's buddies -- and will do
NOTHING to stimulate an economy that's plunging to Depression era numbers.
1 -- That's the number of AIR FORCE ONE that Bush uses as his personal political
campaign transport. If he's out on AIR FORCE ONE, it's guaranteed that he'll make a
major campaign appearance on behalf of some Republican crony. In the 2000
campaign, however, he used the official ENRON JET to make his appearances when
running against Gore. ENRON CEOs were his closest friends and biggest contributors to
Bush's campaign and freely offered the jet. (Have you noticed that Ken Lay hasn't
been indicted yet?)
227,000,000 -- That's the number of dollars it cost the US taxpayers in 2002 alone to
fly George Bush on Air Force One to Republican campaign stops last year so he could
sew up both the House and the Senate -- thus controlling the entire US government.
How's it feel knowing that our tax dollars are being spent like this?
1984 -- That's the name of the famous George Orwell book that depicts a future
controlled by a one-world power called BIG BROTHER which monitors everyone on the
planet through electronic surveillance and stomps out any resistance to government
control. The science fiction novel best describes the era we're fast approaching -- as
civil liberties are being erased by an administration that believes it knows best for all
and that any disagreement with BIG BROTHER BUSH is an act of treason punishable by
indefinite "detainment" in military tribunals. BIG BROTHER watches every move and
clamps down "PRE-EMPTIVELY" so that the "DEPARTMENT OF PEACE" can be successful.
Monday, January 20, 2003
NOVAK BLOWS BUSH COVER ON IRAQ
http://www.mediawhoresonline.net/
It's Not About Regime Change, It's Just About Having a War
Is the White House War Crazy? Bob Says It Is
In a remarkable appearance on "Capital Gang," Bob "Some Facts" Novak
has divulged something the craven media has left the American people
utterly unready to comprehend: That the Bush Administration is going to war
with Iraq simply in order to have a war against somebody, anybody, and
show off its military might.
Regime change to rid Iraq of its fascist dictatorship? No, Novak charges that
"the last thing the hawks inside the administration, and their friends outside
the administration, want is a coup d'etat that would replace Saddam
Hussein."
Saddam's control of weapons of mass destruction? Novak: "I can't imagine
that anybody would say, We're going to war because there are 11 empty
warheads, probably left over from 10 years ago. These warheads are not the
nuclear weapons we've been warned about. They travel about 12 miles. But
this is being used as a pretext for a decision that's already been made at
high levels of the U.S. government to change the government in Iraq."
Then what could it be? Novak says it clearly: "They want a war as a
manifestation of U.S. power in the world and as a sign that the United States
is capable of changing the balance of power and the political map of the
Middle East."
Even Mark Shields can't believe it. But Novak sticks to his guns: ....
It amounts to a charge that the Bush Administration is preparing to
undertake actions that, under every international agreement on the subject
since 1945, will mark them as war criminals.
It amounts to a charge that, if things go as they seem to be going, George
W. Bush and his advisers will deserve to be packed off to the Hague and
prosecuted....
_________________________
Thanks MWO.
> TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL
> January 20, 2003
> A Stirring in the Nation
>
> A largely missing ingredient in the nascent debate about
> invading Iraq showed up on the streets of major cities
> over the weekend as crowds of peaceable protesters marched
> in a demand to be heard. They represented what appears to
> be a large segment of the American public that remains
> unconvinced that the Iraqi threat warrants the use of
> military force at this juncture.
>
> Denouncing the war plan as an administration idée fixe
> that will undermine America's standing in the world, stir
> unrest in the Mideast and damage the American economy, the
> protesters in Washington massed on Saturday for what
> police described as the largest antiwar rally at the
> Capitol since the Vietnam era. It was impressive for the
> obvious mainstream roots of the marchers -- from young
> college students to grayheads with vivid protest memories
> of the 60's. They gathered from near and far by the tens
> of thousands, galvanized by the possibility that President
> Bush will soon order American forces to attack Iraq even
> without the approval of the United Nations Security
> Council.
>
> Mr. Bush and his war cabinet would be wise to see the
> demonstrators as a clear sign that noticeable numbers of
> Americans no longer feel obliged to salute the
> administration's plans because of the shock of Sept. 11
> and that many harbor serious doubts about his march toward
> war. The protesters are raising some nuanced questions in
> the name of patriotism about the premises, cost and
> aftermath of the war the president is contemplating.
> Millions of Americans who did not march share the concerns
> and have yet to hear Mr. Bush make a persuasive case that
> combat operations are the only way to respond to Saddam
> Hussein.
>
Black GOP-ers - Chickens Voting for Colonel Sanders:
Calif. Republican Leaders Still Bickering About Race
By Brian Faler - Washington Post
A California Republican Party leader has released a letter assailing the party's only
African American board member for "whining" about "how awful it is to be a black
Republican."
The letter, distributed to Republican activists throughout the state, was written in
response to board member Shannon Reeves's recent critique of the party's relationship
with African Americans.
"Black Republicans are expected to provide window dressing and cover to prove that this
is not a racist party," Reeves said Jan. 7 in a letter distributed within the party.
"I, for one, am getting bored with that kind of garbage," board member Randy Ridgel
responded to Reeves. "Get over it, Bucko. You don't know squat about hardship. . . . I
personally don't give a damn about your color . . . so stop parading it around."
Calif. Republican Leaders Still Bickering About Race
By Brian Faler - Washington Post
A California Republican Party leader has released a letter assailing the party's only
African American board member for "whining" about "how awful it is to be a black
Republican."
The letter, distributed to Republican activists throughout the state, was written in
response to board member Shannon Reeves's recent critique of the party's relationship
with African Americans.
"Black Republicans are expected to provide window dressing and cover to prove that this
is not a racist party," Reeves said Jan. 7 in a letter distributed within the party.
"I, for one, am getting bored with that kind of garbage," board member Randy Ridgel
responded to Reeves. "Get over it, Bucko. You don't know squat about hardship. . . . I
personally don't give a damn about your color . . . so stop parading it around."
_Hundreds of Thousands of Americans March Against War
Reuters reports, "Hundreds of thousands of Americans opposed to waging war in Iraq rallied on
Saturday in several cities demanding the White House back down and give U.N. weapons
inspectors a chance. Thousands marched on Washington and San Francisco and at smaller
protests in Chicago and Tampa, Florida, in what organizers said was the largest showing of U.S.
anti-war sentiment since Bush started making his case for attacking Baghdad last year.
Reuters reports, "Hundreds of thousands of Americans opposed to waging war in Iraq rallied on
Saturday in several cities demanding the White House back down and give U.N. weapons
inspectors a chance. Thousands marched on Washington and San Francisco and at smaller
protests in Chicago and Tampa, Florida, in what organizers said was the largest showing of U.S.
anti-war sentiment since Bush started making his case for attacking Baghdad last year.
Bush Attack on Affirmative Action: Sloppy and Disingenuous
Thomas Olliphant writes:
F I WERE A university admissions official
> and George W. Bush were an applicant submitting a short essay on
> affirmative action, I would toss his application. First, he was too
> lazy and inattentive to correct a wrong word. Bush's statement, as did
> his audible voice, referred to ''perspective'' students at the
> University of Michigan. The right word is ''prospective,'' and two
> days after it was issued the statement had still not been corrected.
Thomas Olliphant writes:
F I WERE A university admissions official
> and George W. Bush were an applicant submitting a short essay on
> affirmative action, I would toss his application. First, he was too
> lazy and inattentive to correct a wrong word. Bush's statement, as did
> his audible voice, referred to ''perspective'' students at the
> University of Michigan. The right word is ''prospective,'' and two
> days after it was issued the statement had still not been corrected.
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Begala on Bush*'s personal Affirmative Action
TERRY MORAN, ABC REPORTER: A question about his feeling
about fairness in America. When he was 18, he got into Yale
University, which had and still has a policy of granting very
special preferences to children of graduates like him. Is that
preference OK? To give him a leg up, but other preferences...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEGALA: But Fleischer declined to respond directly, as did the
president.Why? Because in George W. Bush's America, only
the right people receive preferential treatment. When a
Hispanic or a black kid gets a let up, Mr. Bush wants to make
a federal case out of it, literally.
(APPLAUSE)
Of course, Mr. Bush himself is the beneficiary of a very special
kind of affirmative action, preferences that help the hard
drinking, underachieving near-do-well (ph) children of the
Eastern moneyed elite.
(LAUGHTER)
That's affirmative action for you.
(APPLAUSE)
BEGALA: Why is it OK for Yale to let George W. Bush in
because his daddy went there, but it's not OK for Michigan to
help poor kids who are black or Hispanic?
ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There are a lot
of factors that universities consider. And if someone has a
special relationship and heritage and the university means
something to him, a lot of universities use that for black and
white students.
BEGALA: But if your parent is this big money Eastern elite
named Bush, that's OK. But if your heritage is Hispanic or
African- American, no?
CASTELLANOS: No. But the issue...
BEGALA: He's a hypocrite on this issue, isn't he, Alex?
CASTELLANOS: Of course not.
BEGALA: He ought to send back the diploma.
CASTELLANOS: They did. And so the University of Michigan still
wanted to have their quota. They changed the word to "target"
and "goal," and said how can we get there? Ah-ha, we'll give
points on race. That's wrong. That's racial discrimination.
BEGALA: How many points did Bush get from Yale. You never
answered the question. How many points did Bush get from
Yale?
(CROSSTALK)
NOVAK: Let's not talk about Bush, Paul.
BEGALA: How many points -- Bush did not qualify to get into
Yale. Some qualified kid was turned away so that the son of a
moneyed elite could go there. And now he's saying that other
kids shouldn't get a leg up because they're black or Hispanic?
BEGALA: Because -- this is why I have a whole lot more
respect, Alex, I love you personally. But for your position and
for Mr. Novak's position if you all would acknowledge what is
evident. Mr. Bush didn't...
NOVAK: Well let's lay off the damn point.
BEGALA: See, you won't do it.
NOVAK: Well it's ridiculous. You turn everything into a bashing
of Bush.
BEGALA: No Bob.
NOVAK And I'm getting sick of it. I am really getting sick of it.
BEGALA: No Bob. You reap -- I'm sick of you saying -- crying
alligator tears for some kid who doesn't get into Michigan.
NOVAK: I'm not crying alligator tears. I have some sympathy
for them. But we're sick of this Bush bashing.
TERRY MORAN, ABC REPORTER: A question about his feeling
about fairness in America. When he was 18, he got into Yale
University, which had and still has a policy of granting very
special preferences to children of graduates like him. Is that
preference OK? To give him a leg up, but other preferences...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEGALA: But Fleischer declined to respond directly, as did the
president.Why? Because in George W. Bush's America, only
the right people receive preferential treatment. When a
Hispanic or a black kid gets a let up, Mr. Bush wants to make
a federal case out of it, literally.
(APPLAUSE)
Of course, Mr. Bush himself is the beneficiary of a very special
kind of affirmative action, preferences that help the hard
drinking, underachieving near-do-well (ph) children of the
Eastern moneyed elite.
(LAUGHTER)
That's affirmative action for you.
(APPLAUSE)
BEGALA: Why is it OK for Yale to let George W. Bush in
because his daddy went there, but it's not OK for Michigan to
help poor kids who are black or Hispanic?
ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There are a lot
of factors that universities consider. And if someone has a
special relationship and heritage and the university means
something to him, a lot of universities use that for black and
white students.
BEGALA: But if your parent is this big money Eastern elite
named Bush, that's OK. But if your heritage is Hispanic or
African- American, no?
CASTELLANOS: No. But the issue...
BEGALA: He's a hypocrite on this issue, isn't he, Alex?
CASTELLANOS: Of course not.
BEGALA: He ought to send back the diploma.
CASTELLANOS: They did. And so the University of Michigan still
wanted to have their quota. They changed the word to "target"
and "goal," and said how can we get there? Ah-ha, we'll give
points on race. That's wrong. That's racial discrimination.
BEGALA: How many points did Bush get from Yale. You never
answered the question. How many points did Bush get from
Yale?
(CROSSTALK)
NOVAK: Let's not talk about Bush, Paul.
BEGALA: How many points -- Bush did not qualify to get into
Yale. Some qualified kid was turned away so that the son of a
moneyed elite could go there. And now he's saying that other
kids shouldn't get a leg up because they're black or Hispanic?
BEGALA: Because -- this is why I have a whole lot more
respect, Alex, I love you personally. But for your position and
for Mr. Novak's position if you all would acknowledge what is
evident. Mr. Bush didn't...
NOVAK: Well let's lay off the damn point.
BEGALA: See, you won't do it.
NOVAK: Well it's ridiculous. You turn everything into a bashing
of Bush.
BEGALA: No Bob.
NOVAK And I'm getting sick of it. I am really getting sick of it.
BEGALA: No Bob. You reap -- I'm sick of you saying -- crying
alligator tears for some kid who doesn't get into Michigan.
NOVAK: I'm not crying alligator tears. I have some sympathy
for them. But we're sick of this Bush bashing.
The Pollsters Get Uppity
In the latest approval ratings for Bush, the Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton
Survey Research Associates shows Bush with a 56% approval rating, and a 33%
disapproval rating. In the latest CNN/Time Poll conducted by Harris Interactive,
Bush scores a 53% approval rating, and a 41% disapproval rating.
In the latest approval ratings for Bush, the Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton
Survey Research Associates shows Bush with a 56% approval rating, and a 33%
disapproval rating. In the latest CNN/Time Poll conducted by Harris Interactive,
Bush scores a 53% approval rating, and a 41% disapproval rating.
NYT Editorial on North Korea:
"The Bush administration's radically different responses to weapons threats from Iraq and North Korea have
confused the American people. Worse, they risk sending other rogue states the perverse message that the
way to receive lenient treatment from Washington is to develop nuclear weapons....
"The Bush administration's radically different responses to weapons threats from Iraq and North Korea have
confused the American people. Worse, they risk sending other rogue states the perverse message that the
way to receive lenient treatment from Washington is to develop nuclear weapons....
__The Myth of Bush Competence
It has almost become an article of faith that this administration is somehow more
"professional", or "grown up" than the last one. But the facts show differently. Jeffrey J.
Mariotte writes, "In its annual year-end issue, TIME Magazine labeled the Bush/Cheney team
'Partnership of the Year.' The article gives a glowing review of the value Dick Cheney brings to
the White House, painting virtually every move the administration makes as carefully
choreographed for maximum effect. The truth, though, seems to be that the Bush
administration is stumbling from one crisis to another, and that the only thing that it has
successfully accomplished is manipulation of the media to give it this aura of accomplishment."
It has almost become an article of faith that this administration is somehow more
"professional", or "grown up" than the last one. But the facts show differently. Jeffrey J.
Mariotte writes, "In its annual year-end issue, TIME Magazine labeled the Bush/Cheney team
'Partnership of the Year.' The article gives a glowing review of the value Dick Cheney brings to
the White House, painting virtually every move the administration makes as carefully
choreographed for maximum effect. The truth, though, seems to be that the Bush
administration is stumbling from one crisis to another, and that the only thing that it has
successfully accomplished is manipulation of the media to give it this aura of accomplishment."
Washington Post on the Protest
This time, they said, the turnout was 500,000. Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H.
Ramsey said he would not provide an estimate, but said it was bigger than October's.
"It's one of the biggest ones we've had, certainly in recent times," he said.
and
Regardless of the exact number, the crowd today on the Mall was the largest anti-war
demonstration here since the Vietnam era. People packed much of four long blocks of
the Mall, shoulder-to-shoulder in many sections, from 3rd to 7th streets SW between
Madison and Jefferson drives for the 11 a.m. rally. The first marchers stepped off at
about 1:30 p.m., and when many had begun reaching the Navy Yard more than two
dozen blocks away about an hour later, protesters were still leaving the rally site.
Also, SF Chronicle:
In Washington, where temperatures hovered in the mid-20s, as many as
500,000 protesters rallied outside the Capitol, while in San Francisco
tens of thousands of peace activists marched up Market Street from the
Ferry Building to City Hall.
This time, they said, the turnout was 500,000. Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H.
Ramsey said he would not provide an estimate, but said it was bigger than October's.
"It's one of the biggest ones we've had, certainly in recent times," he said.
and
Regardless of the exact number, the crowd today on the Mall was the largest anti-war
demonstration here since the Vietnam era. People packed much of four long blocks of
the Mall, shoulder-to-shoulder in many sections, from 3rd to 7th streets SW between
Madison and Jefferson drives for the 11 a.m. rally. The first marchers stepped off at
about 1:30 p.m., and when many had begun reaching the Navy Yard more than two
dozen blocks away about an hour later, protesters were still leaving the rally site.
Also, SF Chronicle:
In Washington, where temperatures hovered in the mid-20s, as many as
500,000 protesters rallied outside the Capitol, while in San Francisco
tens of thousands of peace activists marched up Market Street from the
Ferry Building to City Hall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)