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Ask Polly Sigh
This week, intrepid political healer Polly Sigh traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota, to garner public opinion in on-the-street interviews with real Americans. The names have been changed to protect anonymity, and to prevent lengthy government incarceration without legal counsel.
It’s a beautiful day (above zero) in Minnesota, and I am gracing the streets of St. Paul to take the political pulse of America. I will undoubtedly change lives out here today, as many of these lumpen heaps have never encountered a real celebrity. And since this is a state that voted for John Kerry, I feel compelled to gain insight into the minds of these strange humans. Their expressions of gratitude bring tears to my eyes. Great women are not made of stone, dear reader. I make this sacrifice for you – my people.
Sensitively yours,
Polly
Location:(5th and Jackson, downtown, African American Male, 30s. “Lars”)
Polly: Lars, what are your thoughts about the President’s plan to take money out of the Social Security fund for private accounts?
Lars: He just wants more money for his rich friends. He doesn’t care about anybody who’s not rich.
Polly: Obviously, you’re a Socialist, Lars.
Lars: Well, I like hockey, if that’s what you mean…
Polly: Very interesting. Lars, if you give me your home address and social security number, I can send you a souvenir of our visit.
Lars: Yah, sure, you betcha.
Location:(Rice Park, White Female, 40s. “Olga”)
Polly: So, Olga, who did you vote for in last year’s presidential election?
Olga: John Kerry. He’s a better man than George Bush.
Polly: Do you consider yourself a communist, Olga?
Olga: No. Lutheran.
Polly: I see. Did you know that John Kerry protested the Vietnam War?
Olga: Yes.
Polly: That doesn’t bother you?
Olga: He fought in the Vietnam War. He had a right to protest it. At least he didn’t hide in Texas.
Polly: That’s an appalling thing to say, Olga. You seem very disgruntled. Are there many disgruntled Lutherans here?
Olga: Yes.
Polly: How do you deal with that, Olga?
Olga: We vote. We have the highest voter turnout in the country.
Polly: That’s an appalling thing to say, Olga.
Olga: Yeah, democracy’s a bitch. I gotta go. It’s state hockey tournament. Where are you from, anyway?
Polly: Washington, D.C.
Olga: Figures.
[Note to reader: I concluded that Olga was insane when she walked away laughing for no apparent reason.]
Location:
(University Avenue, Asian Male, 20s. Also named “Olga”)
Polly: Olga, do you support George Bush’s policy goal of bringing democracy to the Middle East. By force if necessary?
Olga: I think we should try it here first.
Polly: Olga, America is a democracy.
Olga: Whoa! Does the media know this?
Polly: Olga, do you know who the President is?
Olga: Of course. John Kerry.
Polly: The President is George W. Bush.
Olga: Whoa! You’re kidding me, right?
Polly: No. I’m not kidding, Olga.
Olga: Even in Minnesota?
Polly: Yes. Minnesota is part of the United States.
Olga: Well, technically, yeah… I mean, you just never think it can happen to you. Especially during the hockey tournament…
Polly: Olga, I find your responses quite frightening. And your hair, as well.
Olga: That’s what my mom says, too. She’s Lutheran.
Polly: Cut. That’s a wrap, boys.
Until next week, dear reader...
As always, damn funny!
Polly:
Thank you for enduring the cold and the hockey in Minnesota to share with us the thoughts of those undemocratic commies. My goodness, I had no idea Minnesota was still a part of America.
hahaha, that's great.
Actually, it kinda reminds me of Truth Out's "Red State Road Trip." Anyone see that? It was really interesting. They speak to all these people who say they voted for bush because they thought he would nationalize health care, or something like that. Then when they are told that bush/republicans are against that, they are SHOCKED. They talk to some people who voted for bush for no reason at all, and of course they find a lot of Democrats/people who voted for Kerry, too.
Here's the link, there's twelve days and each one is around 5 min:
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
Although parts of it are kinda sad, it really over all left me very optimistic. You always hear people talk about how Democrats are in "such a mess" now and how we have to do SOMETHING - God knows what!- to win the "red states," but really its not like that at all. Watching this video, it becomes clear that we don't have to CHANGE anyone's IDEOLOGY or make them care about certain issues- they already DO care. They tell the people from Truth Out how they want healthcare and jobs and that they're concerned about the deficit and the environment, and they want our troops back home as soon as possible. Many people in these "red sates" really do share our values, we just have to improve our communication and get the message out better, so they don’t end up voting for republicans because they think they will nationalize healthcare!
Journalist's Shooting Stirs Italian Anger
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4843924,00.html
"on the left and on the right"
Posted by: DiAnne at March 5, 2005 05:35 PM
NPR/All Things Considered just said that Sgrena said in an interview that there were maybe 300-400 shots fired at the car...
Republicans Say the Darndest Things
Congressman Says Syria Nuke Comment a Joke
DALLAS (AP) - A congressman who raised eyebrows with recent remarks about personally wanting to drop a nuclear bomb on Syria now says he was joking.
The Feb. 19 remarks by Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, at a church pancake breakfast were first reported this week in Roll Call. The Capitol Hill newspaper reported it had heard a recording of the talk made by someone in attendance.
According to Roll Call, Johnson said he was talking with President Bush and GOP Rep. Kay Granger at the White House about weapons of mass destruction that troops failed to find in Iraq.
According to Roll Call, Johnson said he told the president: ``Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore.''
Johnson, 74, is a former Air Force combat pilot who served in Korea and Vietnam, where he was shot down and spent 7 years as a prisoner of war.
Johnson did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press on Friday. However, he told The Dallas Morning News that he was surprised anyone took his comments seriously and has never advocated a nuclear strike on Syria.
``I was kind of joking - you know, we were talking between veterans,'' he said. He added that President Bush knew he was joking.
6:54
Are we conversing with Bush as the fellow veteran? Comparing combat missions?
Posted by: Marjorie G at March 5, 2005 07:23 PM
Yeah good point...
According to Roll Call, Johnson said he was talking with President Bush and GOP Rep. Kay Granger at the White House about weapons of mass destruction that troops failed to find in Iraq.
Granger happens to be my rep. ...but shes no veteran, and then there's bush. so what could he have meant by: "you know, we were talking between veterans" ????
Marjorie G
Faux pas after faux pas .. ever had a Teflon pan? Eventually the Teflon wears off, you know!
High school students win right to counter-recruitment table
http://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=1678
Great American hero, Paul Rieckhoff (we wrote about him and his courageous statements against the way the troops were being treated back in May of last year after he returned from Iraq) has asked me to lend a link to his fundraising efforts for Operation Truth. Happy to. Please check out his site and support the great work he's doing by buying a few dog tags in support of our troops!
Also, keep an eye out for the documentary Gunner Palace, filmed by the troops in Iraq, which (we believe) he exec produced. Hopefully it's coming to a theater near you. We recently saw the trailer (you can see it online at the link above) and can't wait to see this film!
http://bradblog.com/
Please support them. I think this is a great idea and much more meaningful then the insincere yellow ribbon magnets that garnish the cars of the same people who blame the troops for all the failures of the missing explosives and Abu Grhaib.
US attack against Italians in Baghdad was deliberate: companion
Published: 3/5/2005
ROME - The companion of freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena on Saturday leveled serious accusations at US troops who fired at her convoy as it was nearing Baghdad airport, saying the shooting had been deliberate.
"The Americans and Italians knew about (her) car coming," Pier Scolari said on leaving Rome's Celio military hospital where Sgrena is to undergo surgery following her return home.
"They were 700 meters (yards) from the airport, which means that they had passed all checkpoints."
The shooting late Friday was witnessed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office which was on the phone with one of the secret service agents, said Scolari. "Then the US military silenced the cellphones," he charged.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=38029
America No. 1?
No. In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close.
The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.
http://207.44.245.159/article8191.htm
'I just want to survive and go home with all my body parts' :
The daily drip of US casualties passes almost unnoticed now, a footnote to the wider slaughter of Iraqis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1430376,00.html
Italian agent killed at U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad had negotiated release of previous hostages:
Nicola Calipari was a veteran Italian secret service agent and practiced negotiator who had helped return two hostages kidnapped in Iraq home to their loved ones in Italy.
http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Italy-AgentProfile-ai/resources_news_html
A Few Words From A "Liberated" Iraqi:
We do not hate America for its "freedom or democracy". We don't hate America. We hate the crimes, the destructions, and the devastation committed by America against the innocent people in our country.
http://207.44.245.159/article8201.htm
US attack against Italians in Baghdad was deliberate: companion :
"Giuliana had information, and the US military did not want her to survive," he added.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=38029
This one does not feel good, the agent that they killed, has a brother who is a priest in the Vatican, bad bad news for Bush and Berlusconi, this I do not think will just dissappear, in Italy
A beginning of explanation in the attack of Juliana Sgrena.
Out of what I read in the linked article, that summarizes the Italian informations, here are the main points.
- The squadron in charge of the check- point, made of young reservists from the National Guard, only arrived one week ago and didn't know the ground at all...
- The signal, one arm up, thay are tought to stop the traffic means... hello for the Irakis
- The very same problem happened not long ago. A young soldier started to shoot at a check-point killing 48 people all by himself.
- There were flaws in the chain of command... an American colonel was already at the airport waiting for the Italians.
Who will play scapegoat?
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20050306.FIG0173.html
Sorry, the soldier killed 30 people in 48H at a check-point.
I got mixed up in the figures.
Good morning Andree:
Thank you for keeping us up to date on the legitimate news surrounding this brutal murder. Lately, I have not been here (or online) as often as I'd like to be so I would be in the dark on this case if I had to rely on the propraganda media in the U.S.
Now, more than ever, I am thinking we need to divise our own on-the-ground media that simplifies spreading the TRUTH.
We are the media really hits home and locally when the media on the fcc wires boiles down to compost.
Sparrow,
Here is more, out of what Sgrena reported herself, with a TRANSLATION if you go bottom thread.
http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/etranger/20050306.FAP8916.html?1116
I noticed your articles remained extremely cautious up to now. One thing is sure, the Italians are at shock!
Kind of the same from The Australian, with a new detail "it wasn't the checkpoint that opened fire, but a patrol..."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12461786%255E2703,00.html
Thanks Rossian and Andree for info on this story, which I have been following like a hawk.
On two other topics:
- an important Veterans story has disappeared from Knight Ridder newspapers. It was archived though and is making the rounds of Vets networks.
I got it from Vets for Peace and put it onto Kerry 2008 and Old American Century and local Vets network & will put it on here later.
- I received an invitation to a luncheon with Cantwell, Murray, Boxer and 5 other women Senators but it would mean using a precious vacation day and would of course cost money.
I may just do it.
- Our "cell" is finalizing plans for a retreat and we have copies of all the Voter Reform legislations. I posted all this stuff in the "Forum" under Pacific states.
More on Sgrena:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4844879,00.html
Sgrena:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ajdibfhOjhbI&refer=top_world_news
read it & wait ....
Reuters & BBC on Sgrena
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7817604
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4323361.stm
Posted by: Andrée - France at March 6, 2005 09:25 AM
Andree:
How would you boil down this whole thing to one simple factual newstory. For instance, if someone were to need the reader's digest version of the facts to print up and post. How would you do this?
It's difficult for me to figure it out because I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Therefore, I have so much more sympathy and understanding for the people out here who have no idea that the 10 minutes they spend on news and soundbites are not really able to see the propraganda.
So, how can we make it easy for the harried workers out here?
I too want to thank everyone here who has been so faithful to swiftly supply links of info on the Sgrena matter in your posts.
Rossiann and Andree, seems you get the legit news before it even trickles over here. Thank you both. Thanks too DiAnne and Madame Defarge.
Posted by: DiAnne at March 6, 2005 10:00 AM
Dianne:
Go for it!!!! Take the day off!
Sparrow,
Hard to answer. On one hand too much information kills information, and this is true all over the world. The problem is that news turned into scoop after scoop without little sound investigation. It's at whom will make the best audience scores out of catchy headlines... They don't bother about truth, nor the people watching.
It's somewhere too late for those you call "harried workers". Due to their life style they rely upon processed news as they do on processed food : quick and easy, right from the box
Unfortunately the world doesn't go that way, it is not easy to apprehend or understand, so why bother more? They already have their everyday problems.
Spninnaker wrote something very interesting yesterday.
She couldn't show up to the table and take part in the conversation, when a kid, unless she had read the papers before...
That was normal to her, but she was most of all able to develop her knowledge, curiosity and sense of criticism.
How do you want to inform people who were never trained to it?
About the story itself, there cannot be a single version this time, because the person involved in a foreigner and a journalist on top.
Only her report should be taken into account. If the Washington Post or the New-York Times do their job properly, you should read in their columns what was written in our papers before.
Why later for you, why before for us, this is an other question, and do the majority really care?
I think part of it is the time difference - that's why I read the Guardian & sometimes Le Monde before bed. It's morning in Europe & the UK then & a version of what we'll see in the morning here.
People should be trained to read straight off the wires & to know who owns them. They should read the facts and create their own commentary, or with friends, not rely on corporate shills. That is also why I don't watch tv. I am a harried person who works full-time and commutes and tv is a waste of my limited time, whether for news or entertainment.
I will read some op-eds from left to right but am very impatient even with those, as so many are just promoting their own books and careers.
I find that the newspapers are not too bad here (we get Seattle Times, Post-Intelligencer and New York Times) but by the time they are out, it's all been discussed on the internet hours (or sometimes a couple of days) earlier.
BBC morning report on the radio is FOUR MINUTES LONG and that provides more news for me than I'll get if I watched American tv for forty minutes in the evening. I know because I've tried.
It comes on same time as NPR Morning Edition so may catch a little of that - all on a 1/2 hour drive 4 days/week. On the way home, am limited to business news but it's a good window into the corporate mind. Nowdays, business magazines such as Economist (UK) and Financial Times seem to have more "facts" than deteriorating Newsweek, Time and US News & World Report (which now goes straight into the garbage after a quick scan) - maybe because business people at least care about the bottom line more than about who goes to church or has an abortion.
Believe me, I work with people with Masters degrees who say "I don't follow the news at all because its too depressing." When Kerry had the election taken from him, they were sympathetic to ME because they knew I'd worked hard for him, and I said, "You really ought to be thinking about yourself and your own family, not me."
Television news is now controlled by 5 media conglomerates, whereas 10 years ago it was 50 - read that on a media monitoring site.
People in the 3rd world are often very informed so it is possible. Listen to people who are interviewed "on the street" who are citizens of other countries - English isn't their 2nd language but the depth of understanding is amazing sometimes. From time to time on NPR, they play little voice clips from middle eastern countries or where the tsunami hit.
I know that I slacked off during the Clinton years - it seemed promising that Dems had taken back the White House & the economy was good. The Berlin Wall had fallen & USSR became Russia & nuclear stockpiles decreased. We had wars and terrorist attacks but somehow more abstract as further away and less coverage. On 9/11 I woke up - wanted to know what the hell had happened & still do.
Friend says:
None of this discussion or its implications was a topic on the Sunday network talkshows. (the case of the Italian reporter) Instead, it was about how can the Democrats acknowledge ALL OF THE POSITIVE things going on in the middle east with elections and democracy and still be a viable opposition. Wasn't Bush right afterall,
blah, blah, blah.
How can the Republicans paint Democrats as the bad guys? Why the big disconnect between voters and their well being? WIll it turn around in the next election after SS is threatened? Is that the big chance or will the propoganda machine win out
again?
I'm still tracking the Sgrena story out of personal interest and also to see which American news outlets provide the most detail and in what order:
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1000174&tw=wn_wire_story
and comparing with foreign sources and alternative media
Got a friend who knows Italian? (Audiocast)
http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/743610.php
Sunday talk shows (which I did not watch but my friend says so far didn't mention anything about this story):
FOX NEWS SUNDAY (WTTG), 9 a.m.: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), presidential counselor Dan Bartlett and developer Donald Trump.
THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA), 9 a.m.: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and Charles W. Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
FACE THE NATION (CBS, WUSA), 10:30 a.m.: Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
MEET THE PRESS (NBC, WRC), 10:30 a.m.: Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.)
LATE EDITION (CNN), noon: Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel Al-Jubeir, Jordanian Ambassador Karim Kawar, Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon and Mithal Alusi of Iraq's Democratic Party.
and why? US govt doesn't like other govts paying ransom to get their reporters & hostages back. They think it encourages hostage taking.
Why take the risk of killing the hostage? To send a message to the hostage takers? At the risk of alienating the Italian government & much of the world & even citizens for justice at home?
..if we've become enough of a rogue nation
Posted by: DiAnne at March 6, 2005 01:00 PM
DiAnne, just a passing thought about why the US doesn't like it that Italy might have paid a ransom for their journalist... Maybe it's because it will make us look even worse (than we already do) in the eyes of the world...we didn't pay any ransom for Nicholas Berg or Daniel Pearl...
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=38029
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=7216
I am wondering if these two stories are connected in some way. I will be interesting to see what come out
A beginning of explanation in the attack of Juliana Sgrena.
Out of what I read in the linked article, that summarizes the Italian informations, here are the main points.
- The squadron in charge of the check- point, made of young reservists from the National Guard, only arrived one week ago and didn't know the ground at all...
- The signal, one arm up, thay are tought to stop the traffic means... hello for the Irakis
- The very same problem happened not long ago. A young soldier started to shoot at a check-point killing 48 people all by himself.
- There were flaws in the chain of command... an American colonel was already at the airport waiting for the Italians.
Who will play scapegoat?
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20050306.FIG0173.html
Posted by: Andrée - France at March 6, 2005 08:42 AM
just want to survive and go home with all my body parts' :
The daily drip of US casualties passes almost unnoticed now, a footnote to the wider slaughter of Iraqis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1430376,00.html
Mother of slain soldier says his life 'wasted' in Iraq:
" I feel like his life was wasted," Patricia Brady said Wednesday. "A lot of people say he's a hero, but to me his life was wasted along with many others."
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=55921
Another son manning a checkpoint without the experience
Madame Defarge
You're right!! (about Berg & Pearl)
Putting the oil business ahead of human life is sleazy ato the max.