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Karl Rove: Liberals Want Troops To Die
Karl Rove is despicable. I think we have all known that for some time, but now the proof of it comes from his own mouth.
Last night at a conservative fundraiser in New York City, Karl Rove, political advisor to President Bush, said that liberals want our troops to die.
President Bush's partner, in his own words:
"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,"..."Has there ever been a more revealing moment this year?" Mr. Rove asked. "Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."
Are you outraged yet?
From Josh Marshall:
Don't forget that these statements are meant to outrage you. You're a targeted audience They're meant to perpetuate a state of maximal polarization in this country -- the state of affairs most suited for vampires like Mr. Rove to suck the nation dry.
[...]
Just right: Rove should apologize or resign.
And that's only the start. For Rove, the war on terror, Iraq and Afghanistan have always been nothing more than tools of domestic politics. He speaks for the president and the president speaks for him. So all of that applies to the president too unless and until we hear from him.
From Spinnaker in the comments, and also via First-Draft and Atrios:
Since Karl Rove is the Senior Political Advisor to the President, and the de facto head of the Republican party, why not call or e-mail your Republican member of Congress and ask them, "Does Karl Rove speak for you?"
Rove should either apologize or resign. Immediately.
...And for my money, Atrios is exactly correct when he says this:
For the record, my motives aren't to get more troops killed. If those were my motives I'd ship them off to a war on false pretenses without sufficient equipment to keep them safe.
some Democratic leaders respond:
Rove Slammed For 9/11 Comments
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2005
"Karl Rove should immediately and fully apologize for his remarks or he should resign. I hope the president will join me in repudiating these remarks."
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
(AP) White House adviser Karl Rove should either apologize or resign for saying liberals responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes by wanting to "prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Democrats said Thursday.
Adding to the rancor, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested that Republican charges that Democrats were undermining the war on terror with their criticism of administration policies amounted to an act of desperation.
"The president wanted to go to Iraq in the worst possible way and he did," Pelosi said. "The president is on the ropes."
President Bush's chief political adviser, Rove said in a speech Wednesday that "liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he told the New York state Conservative Party just a few miles north of Ground Zero, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for "moderation and restraint" after the terrorist attacks.
Democrats were quick to respond — and in growing numbers.
"Karl Rove should immediately and fully apologize for his remarks or he should resign," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. "I hope the president will join me in repudiating these remarks."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called on Mr. Bush to "show some leadership and unequivocally repudiate Rove's divisive and damaging political rhetoric."
The White House defended Rove's remarks and accused Democrats of engaging in partisan attacks. Rove, said spokesman Scott McClellan, "was talking about the different philosophies and our different approaches when it comes to winning the war on terrorism."
snip~
During a Senate hearing on Iraq in which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other military leaders testified, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., read Rove's statement and urged them to reject the remarks.
"I would hope that you and other members of the administration would immediately repudiate such an insulting comment from a high-ranking official in the president's inner circle," Clinton said.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said New York has had unity since Sept. 11. "To inject politics into this and to defame a large number of people" is outrageous, he said. "It's not what New York and America is all about."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said nearly 3,000 Americans died on Sept. 11 and "we should not dishonor their memory by using that tragic day for political trash talk."
continue~
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/23/politics/main703771.shtml
Question: why do Americans vote against their own best interests?
Bush's Empathy Squeeze
Arlie Hochschild
June 23, 2005
Let's consider our political moment through a story. Suppose a chauffeur drives a sleek limousine through the streets of New York, a millionaire in the back seat. Through the window, the millionaire spots a homeless woman and her two children huddling in the cold, sharing a loaf of bread. He orders the chauffeur to stop the car. The chauffeur opens the passenger door for the millionaire, who walks over to the mother and snatches the loaf. He slips back into the car and they drive on, leaving behind an even poorer family and a baffled crowd of sidewalk witnesses. For his part, the chauffeur feels real qualms about what his master has done, because unlike his employer, he has recently known hard times himself. But he drives on nonetheless. Let's call this the Chauffeur's Dilemma.
Absurd as it seems, we are actually witnessing this scene right now. At first blush, we might imagine that this story exaggerates our situation, but let us take a moment to count the loaves of bread that have recently changed hands and those that soon will. Then, let's ask why so many people are letting this happen.
snip~
It's not hard to understand why the millionaire, with the power to satisfy so many desires, might want to claim another's bread. But why does the chauffeur open the door? Why do about half of lower- and middle-income Americans approve of tax cuts that favor the rich and budget cuts that deprive the poor?
snip~
We often hear two explanations for this. First, George W. Bush has deflected public attention from the bread transfer at home to political enemies abroad. Second, Americans have been repeatedly told over the last three decades that the government—military spending aside—is grossly wasteful and hopelessly inefficient. So why not pocket a little money yourself, no matter who gets the lion's share, if it's being wasted anyway?
snip~
In a sense, Bush is exploiting the common man twice over—once by ignoring his own plight and that of the poor and twice by covering it over with military drums and tin-man morality. We really need to turn both things around. But to do that, we need to remind the chauffeur, wherever he is, that it's within his power to stop the car—tax the millionaire, help the homeless and offer new hope to those in between. Otherwise, the deal Bush is brokering between millionaire and chauffeur will impoverish the chauffeur—in his pocketbook and in his soul.
continue here~
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050623/bushs_empathy_squeeze.php
"In a sense, Bush is exploiting the common man twice over..."
That's only because they haven't figured out a way yet to exploit the common wo/man100 times over. Yet.
We know when Rove appears on tv,(like in two days) they're in trouble!! He's on Scarborough tonight...think I'll go for a long walk!! My dem meet up is tonight with discussion of DSM
So....I'm listening to the MUSIC radio this morning. This is the same dj who went bolistic for minute men a few months ago.
The scene a few months ago: This dj who LOVED the minute men and was appalled that somebody in N.M. had been surrounded by illegal Mexicans and produced a gun. Then the imagrants were asked by the police if they wanted to press charges. so this dj was fuming!!!!
He rants, "Call me up all you wing-nut libs!"
*******
WELL, that was then this is now...
"Well today the republican congress has been diligently working on their anti-flag burning bill. NOW I suggest to the Republican congress that they work on more important issues like the DSM and bringing our troops home. If they can't do it then lets just give them a six month vacation--save that money and donate it to social programs they cut and the veterans we're bringing home! At least if we give them a six month vacation we know they can't f*up anymore than they have already!"
And that my friend is the difference between a few extra months of this neocon agenda!
Rove's comments:
~was just listening to Tom Oliphant, (of the Boston Globe)speaking on Air America. Paraphrasing Tom, its his opinion that Rove made those very comments very specifically, Rove was throwing red meat to get Dems reaction and attention OFF the mess in Iraq.
Rove & bu$h WH have been dividing this country using 9-11 since day one. Afterall, that was exactly what they did during the '04 election.
But with the concentrated Dem focus on the Iraq quagmire this week and polls showing a majority of Americans now want out of Iraq, Rove goes public with divisive words like this, guaranteed to get liberals to shift focus.
Rove usually operates behind the scenes. Earlier this week, he was on MSNBC Hardball for a one hour interview. Bu$hcheney WH & Rove want to control each day's news cycle, divert attention, especially when BAD news keeps leaking out. BAD news that THEY are responsible for.
bait & switch....
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Media_Watch/
Public Broadcasting Names New President
AP - 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, already embroiled in controversy over allegations of a liberal-leaning bias in PBS programming, chose a former Republican Party co-chairman Thursday as its president and chief executive. Patricia S. Harrison, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, was selected following three days of closed-door meetings by the corporation's board of directors.
The neoCons are experts at character assassination, and the sheeples who keep themselves uneducated and glued to infotainment news on MSM TV stations just eat it up... like reality TV shows I keep seeing ads for. (Isn't anyone bored with that crap yet? Or are the sheeples dumber than I thought?) Personal attacks, or attacks against a whole group of people, character assassination with a big paintbrush with grandly sweeping stroke, is the specialty of the neoCons.......
But, yes. It is a diversion, and probably a calculated diversion.... so that MSM will talk about that instead of anything remotely newsworthy... which leaves me wondering what major thing is happening behind the scenes that we will find out about later....?
This is a bait and switch by Rove. It is also a sign of desperation that the country recognizes as not only mean spirtited, but unpatriotic. It wont change people's opinion about the war in Iraq. We all know we were lied to, and imho, that is why the DSM are not gaining traction (The lies are "old news" that people unfortuantely have come to accept as part of the way our government operates.)I wonder when is somebody in the press corpse going to smack down Mr. Mouthpiece McClellan?
Posted by: oncall at June 23, 2005 03:18 PM
You beat me to my afterthought: talking and writing about the Downing Street Memos and asking why Bu$hCo's lies about going to war in Iraq don't qualify as grounds for impeachment has been left off in favor of being outraged by what that raving lunatic Rove said, now didn't it???
The Thing We Don't Talk About
By William Rivers Pitt
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062305X.shtml
the saddest thing I've read today:
Can you imagine losing not 1 son, but 2, in 1 week because of Bu$h's war:
Family's grief spans from Iraq to Iowa
By Elizabeth Owens and Lynn Campbell, The Des Moines Register
Thu Jun 23, 7:48 AM ET
In a little more than a week, Ann and Bill Byers lost both their sons. One died in combat in Iraq; the other was struck and killed by a pickup a few miles from home.
Sgt. Casey Byers, 22, a member of the 224th Engineer Battalion of the Iowa National Guard, died June 11 south of Ramadi when a bomb exploded under his armored Humvee.
Justin Byers, 19, who was scheduled to leave for Iraq himself this fall with an Army Reserve unit, was killed Monday night near here.
Even more devastating news came Wednesday, about an hour before Casey Byers' funeral began in Denison: Justin's death was ruled a suicide.
Crawford County Medical Examiner Dennis Crabb said Justin was upset about his brother's death and his own upcoming deployment.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/b7fa9
Warner, meanwhile, praised Bush for "steady and unflinching resolve.
"Our great nation has an enormous capacity for sacrifice and hardship when we understand the cause is just," he said.
Could somebody please point out to me which "just cause" he is talking about? WE can't let Rove change our message.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/23/rumsfeld.iraq.ap/index.html
well worth reading!
Internal Democratic talking points on Rove 9/11 comment
RAW STORY
INVOKING 9/11 FOR PARTISAN GAIN IS DESPICABLE: KARL ROVE SHOULD APOLOGIZE OR RESIGN
The Right-Wing Attack Machine: Deceive, Distract, Divide
This White House does not get it. You don’t win the war on terror and the war in Iraq by taking political shots. You win the war on terror by getting Osama Bin Laden when your CIA Director say he knows where he is. You win the war in Iraq by leveling with the American people and producing a plan for success. On the War on Terror or the war in Iraq, it’s Bush, Cheney, and Rove who don’t get it. To hide their failures, it’s all attack, all the time. Enough is enough.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Internal_Democratic_talking_points_on_Rove_911_0623.html
My question: Does Karl Rove's speech speak for the President and his views of the opposing party? Does the President feel this way?
Are those W's words? If they are let's hear him say them rather than hide behind Rove's skirt.
The Thing We Don't Talk About
By William Rivers Pitt
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062305X.shtml
Posted by: NonnyO at June 23, 2005 03:30 PM
I have been waiting for someone had to write this.
My respect for WRPitt continues to grow.
We should all think about this for awhile.
Most questions can be answered by looking back at history. But sometimes the answers are painful indeed.
Posted by: oncall at June 23, 2005 03:35 PM
To Warner: "Steady and unflinching resolve" my a$$. Bullying warmonger who has no conscience, no empathy, who seeks power for the sake of power with no consideration other than monetary gain....
We are not a civilized nation yet for the simple reason we've not learned our lessons regarding what kind of person we want as the leader of this nation: a profiteering warmonger who robs our treasury, or a peacemaker who will get along with people from other lands....
Sen. John Kerry
LIVE right now
on CSPAN 2
speaking from the floor of the Senate
on Rove's comments
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 23, 2005 03:57 PM
I'm old; unfortunately, I've heard the tale before that the economy needs war....
The part that makes me feel sorrow is that we have not evolved as human beings. If we were evolved to a higher state of mind, of being, there would be no need for war, and we would find many other ways to keep the economy going.....
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 23, 2005 03:57 PM
Additionally, like you, my respect for William Rivers Pitt grows. Over the time I've gotten the Truthout e-newsletter, I've followed his columns, and he still continues to write in a way that appeals to my common sense thinking and philosophy. In that way, he reminds me somewhat of Bill Moyers. I hope Pitt continues to write the clear-thinking way he has done so far.
did anyone else see Sen Kerry tear into Rove's comments, on the Senate floor a few minutes ago?
Waiting to find a text of his speech, I didn't have a pencil to write down quotes....he asked if Bush didn't believe what Rove said, then Bush should call for Rove to apologize or fire him...among other things.
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 23, 2005 04:42 PM
I saw part of it when I saw you had posted he was on. Impressive that someone noted he had had a son over there (couldn't see the name, screen fuzzy on WMP for C-SPAN), and I agreed with Kerry's response.... Sorry I don't have a link with the written transcript....
Again, from the Public Library in Jamestown, ND -
I am here while my mom is shopping for groceries. I'll be back tomorrow about same time, while she's playing for a funeral.
About Rove - this is the same tactic that was used after 9/11. If any one in any way questions any of the Administration's policies, they are unpatriotic, treasonous and so on.
I am writing from a town where the National Guard has recently returned from overseas duty and it looks like Everett, WA, where I work - after the return of the USS Lincoln - yellow ribbons on the stop signs even, flags everywhere.
Rove seeks to keep the nation in denial about what our troops are being put in harm's way for and how that came to be. It is an attempt to imply the old simplistic "If we don't get 'them' over there, 'they' will come here & attack us."
Nothing deeper, please.
They can't hide the coffins though. I remember Vietnam well, even though I was a teen through twenty-something - and the lessons learned. I'll need to try to catch a replay of Kerry when I get to my mom's. I've been sitting here on the ND prairie all week, reading history.
If we haven't learned, we will, and it's a hard lesson with a high cost. I don't believe the American people are dumb - I was raised around the midwestern "common sense" which I know is here on the prairie. I saw W on tv talking down to the American people - from a "nucular plant" yet - about how engineers are smart people so if they think it's safe it's safe. At some point, even those in deep denial (about America and what it has become) are going to have to wake up.
What I see here on the prairie is a deep patriotism and even sacrifice. But I don't think that alot of people realize that what they believe America to stand for is NOT what this government represents.
It's about 100 degrees here & I'm hoping for a thunderstorm to move in - it's one of the things I miss about the prairie, along with the train whistles. (I'm doing alot of drawing & photography here). I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes, something we don't have at home. (An aside - I read in the Fargo Forum that the Dalai Lama does not kill mosquitoes but is very annoyed by them).
Another thing I read in both local papers - the bankruptcies, the foreclosures, the drug busts and the obituaries - and I read them with care. I saw that a 20 year old from Moorehead MN had died - and I had to read the obituary three times to finally find the line that said he was a member of the National Guard - the one that just returned. Negative news is kept very low profile. Why?!
I'm wearing my bright yellow "Hands Off Our Social Security" t-shirt that I got when we were protesting W's appearance in Maple Grove, MN. So far I have not had any conversations with locals about it, but I hope to do that next.
I had a wonderful visit with "Truth Will Prevail" - we have some photos, with my mom, but we can't upload them from here. She drove for more than two hours, after having plumbing problem - only to find that her car heater/AC system was leaking. We found some mechanically-inclined locals who put our minds to rest - for free - that she would be able to make it home again.
We had lunch with my rad former Republican mom & then she demo'd 4 of her keyboards for us - ragtime, church music, classical, oldies - mostly by ear. We had a great chat & wish we could have spent longer!
We spent some time talking about the wonder of the internet, the blog (for making connections), our journey through life, funny anecdotes etc. My mom even gave her some apple pie! She's on her way back but you'll probably hear from her later tonight! We also talked about human nature, greed & compassion.
I'll read through a little more & check my email, maybe some news - nothing like internet under pressure! We tried to get my mom to get on the internet but she is a little hesitant, preferring to use her hands for embroidery & piano.
It's always wonderful to meet someone from the blog and I'm very thankful to "Truth Will Prevail" for coming up here - next time I'll rent a car & have more mobility!
We also talked about boundaries, people crossing them, testing them and going too far - and Karl Rove has now done this. There will be a karmic reward for him. (Re. the aforementioned greed vs compassion components of human nature, I believe he is going down the wrong road). The disharmony caused in the universe will eventually cause events to snap back in the other direction. I believe we are on the right path.
I also want to put in a plug for our funny picture (Bert of Vets for Peace & I) at http://www.silencedmajorityportal.blog.com (I think that's it).
LUTD has the text of Sen. John Kerry's speech just delivered before the Senate regarding Rove's comments:
John Kerry's Floor Speech on Karl 9/11 Remarks: "Frankly, he ought to fire him."
23 June 2005
Text of John Kerry's Floor Speech on Karl Rove's 9/11 remarks:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp
Maybe wrong URL - click on my name & try again.
ontovictory:
that was exactly my point. W should not be allowed to hide behind Rove's skirt. Dems should be linking these over the top statements directly to the guy in the oval office. Its easy for Rove to get away with these kinds of statements. heck he can just say he's a political operative. W can't.
If Bush and Rove spent half as much time fighting terrorism as they do fighting Democrats, we probably wouldn't be losing the war.
Nice try, Karl.
You can spend all week on television and we'll all still know that you're responsible for starting, and losing, this war...
Coward and imbecile.
V4D and NonnyO,
I love Will Pitt's writing and Stirling Newberry. Two writer that world would likely not know about if it weren't for blogs.
http://www.dembloggers.com/
has video already!!!!
This is Kerry's response to Karl Roves remarks last night.
Take time to watch entire speech.
John Kerry's Speech From The Floor
http://www.dembloggers.com/
it still makes me long for the idea of Kerry in '08.
Posted by: Casey Morris at June 23, 2005 05:09 PM
Agreed, Casey. I've a feeling that if we EVER get back "our mainstream media" as we once knew it back in the Watergate days that they will become household names.
BTW, I was listening to the House Reps blather on and on and compliment each other, couldn't stand it any longer, so called the local office of my Rep (Dem) to see if his local person knew how he was going to vote on the PBS funding (he has two offices in our district, not long distance to call the one in town). When I finally got through, I also gave him the URLs for Truthout, Common Dreams, Information Clearinghouse, and Alternet, since he didn't seem to know about the Internet news. I let him know I am one of the people left over from the old Kerry blog on a new political blog, and that we keep up with what's going on politically.... etc. Now, as long as my Rep actually does vote for the amendment to the current spending bill that gives full funding back to PBS, I'll feel better about it.
it still makes me long for the idea of Kerry in '08.
Posted by: Ira at June 23, 2005 05:19 PM
ditto for me.
If JK decides he's willing, I'm on board too.
Til then, we work towards our future.
Rove is gearing up for the '06 election cycle. He is worried about losing not only the house, but also potentially the Senate.
from CNN news:
Poll: In wake of Iraq war, allies prefer China to U.S.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
The Iraq war and wariness about U.S. foreign policy caused a slip in world opinion, an international poll says.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States' image is so tattered overseas two years after the Iraq invasion that communist China is viewed more favorably than the U.S. in many long-time Western European allies, an international poll has found.
The poor image persists even though the Bush administration has been promoting freedom and democracy throughout the world in recent months -- which many viewed favorably -- and has sent hundreds of millions of dollars in relief aid to Indian Ocean nations hit by the devastating December 26 tsunami.
"It's amazing when you see the European public rating the United States so poorly, especially in comparison with China," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which surveyed public opinion in 16 countries, including the United States.
In Britain, almost two-thirds of Britons, 65 percent, saw China favorably, compared with 55 percent who held a positive view of the United States.
In France, 58 percent had an upbeat view of China, compared with 43 percent who felt that way about the U.S. The results were nearly the same in Spain and the Netherlands.
The United States' favorability rating was lowest among three Muslim nations which are also U.S. allies -- Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan -- where only about one-fifth of those polled viewed the U.S. in a positive light.
Only India and Poland were more upbeat about the United States, while Canadians were just as likely to see China favorably as they were the U.S.
The poll found suspicion and wariness of the United States in many countries where people question the war in Iraq and are growing wary of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.
continue~
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/23/poll.america.ap/index.html
Karl Rove is as close to a satanic figure as we have in American politics.
If JK decides he's willing, I'm on board too.
Til then, we work towards our future.
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 23, 2005 05:46 PM
Exactly- same here. And wow, Kerry's comments on the floor were excellent!
oncall, you're right- rove is obviously worried about 2006. Bring it on.
Here they say they want you to write Republican congressman:
The first person to get a response back that either distances the congressman/woman from Rove's statements will get their good work recognized here when we post the entire e-mail on the blog.
You'll also get a free First Draft T-shirt of your choice from the swag store to your left.
http://www.first-draft.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3540&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Bush lied, people died. Now hold him accountable.
Do all of you receive the Media Matters e-newsletter? The latest one I got has the "Top Five Gitmo Falsehoods"..... If you don't get the e-newsletter, go to their web site, scroll down to that title.....
http://mediamatters.org
[WH press showing more signs of coming back to life]
McClellan Battles WH Reporters on Rove:
Here's the Blow-by-Blow
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000967382
I'm watching footage of Teddy Kennedy go at Rummy during a hearing, on the Newshour. It's about time that somebody finally took the gloves off.
Good for Teddy. Rumsfeld responded by demonstrating that he is still in total denial.
from the Asia Times:
Iraq, the new Afghanistan
By Pepe Escobar
The script was Brussels does Baghdad this Wednesday at an international conference of foreign ministers - co-sponsored by the US and the European Union - high on rhetoric and low on practical decisions, designed to support nation (re)building in Iraq as a "pluralist democracy". UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Iraqis should "take heart from this strong message of support".
Unscripted response in the streets of Baghdad: four car bombs, 32 dead, more than 50 wounded.
Behind all the diplomatic gloss, observers in Brussels say that nobody was really paying attention to the usual routine by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accusing Syria of destabilizing Iraq (Syria has 7,000 troops patrolling the border) or insisting that Iraq was "on its way to democracy".
What really counts is where the money is coming from - the crucial issue at a donor conference in Amman, Jordan, next month. For starters, one wonders whether any "donor" will dare ask the Americans what happened to US$8.8 billion of Iraqi money that "disappeared" under former proconsul L Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority. For their part, wealthy Iraqi neighbors such as Sunni Arab Saudi Arabia will only pledge substantial financial help if Sunnis are represented en masse in the political process.
It's virtually impossible for US President George W Bush's Iraq to be "on its way to democracy" when real unemployment reaches a staggering 50% (a scarier prospect for most people than car bombs or snipers), 25% of children under five years old are malnourished, 78% of the households in the country (and 92% in Baghdad) have electricity only a few hours a day, only 37% of urban households (and a mere 4% in the countryside) have sewage-disposal systems, only 61% have access to drinking water, 5% of households have been destroyed by bombing or search-and-destroy missions, only one in 10 households in rural areas can be reached by a paved road, and more youngsters than in any previous generation are illiterate. This is the appalling legacy of the occupation - and the US and UN-imposed regime of sanctions in the 1990s.
snip~
Iraq is the new Afghanistan in more ways than breeding a new generation of jihadis. The US has alienated Sunni Arabs in Iraq, just as it has alienated the Pashtun in Afghanistan. Sunni Arabs control the heart of Iraq's industrial economy, just as the Pashtun control the heart of Afghanistan's rural economy - based on opium-trading. The Pashtun will fight to the death against the remake of Afghanistan as a docile pupil of International Monetary Fund/World Bank dictates, just as Sunni Arabs - and many Shi'ites as well - will fight to the death the remake of Iraq as a US-controlled neo-liberal paradise.
continue~
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF24Ak03.html
FYI--I don't know if anyone has seen the CNN reports from Afghanistan today, but guess what? The White House propaganda machine is in full swing on covering the war. Since the war in Afghanistan is the one that most American's "approve" of, CNN's Barbara Starr "has been granted exclusive access to the troops fighting in the hill along the border of Pakistan"
Now, two questions immediately occur to me: What's the new message? And how many more exclusive opportunities are going to be granted to various members of the media, one at a time, so it's "exclusive" coverage that they will "jump" at, and thus, just as they did when they had reporters embedded during the beginning of the Iraq War, and they will be once again in FULL control of the media message about the war.
Lovely. Let's keep our eyes on this one. If folks see more of these "exclusive" type stories, please e-mail me at casey@democracycellproject.net
I suspect this is part of the rollout of the President's new messaging about Iraq.
Thanks.
I am focused on '06 and don't want voters to say paux on both sides they are both rotten and just stay home.
Posted by: Ira at June 23, 2005 01:57 PM
This was a post from the other thread, but I thought it was very important to remember. We fight back when rove or whoever does something like this-- but we do it right so we hurt only them.
To Warner: "Steady and unflinching resolve" my a$$. Bullying warmonger who has no conscience, no empathy, who seeks power for the sake of power with no consideration other than monetary gain....
We are not a civilized nation yet for the simple reason we've not learned our lessons regarding what kind of person we want as the leader of this nation: a profiteering warmonger who robs our treasury, or a peacemaker who will get along with people from other lands....
Posted by: NonnyO at June 23, 2005 03:57 PM
Right on NonnyO could not have said it better myself
CSPAN live
Honor the fallen
Dem Representatives now reading aloud into the Congressional Record the names of all US soldiers killed in Iraq & Afghanistan
The Repubs have sent this out to cover Rove's ass. Using quotes, more than likely many of them out of context, to show Karl was "right." I can't speak for the other quotes mentioned but JKs quotes should be defended. First of all, Didn't one of Shrub's men just say a few weeks ago that the war or terror was primarily a police-type operation, basically agreeing with JK?
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To: National Desk
Contact: Tracey Schmitt of the Republican National Committee, 202-863-8614
WASHINGTON, June 23 U.S. Newswire -- "It's outrageous that the same Democrats who stood by Dick Durbin's libeling of our military are now expressing faux outrage over Karl Rove's statement of historical fact. George Soros, Michael Moore, MoveOn and the hard left were wrong after 9/11, just as it was wrong for Democrat leaders to stand by and remain silent after Dick Durbin made his deplorable comments." (RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman)
Liberal Third Party Groups Urged Restraint, Blamed America:
Immediately After 9/11, MoveOn.Org Petition Urged "Moderation And Restraint" And Use Of "International Judicial Institutions."
-- "We, The Undersigned, Citizens And Residents Of The United States Of America ... Appeal To The President Of The United States, George W. Bush ... And To All Leaders Internationally To Use Moderation And Restraint In Responding To The Recent Terrorist Attacks Against The United States." (MoveOn.Org Website, "MoveOn Peace,"
http://web.archive.org/web/20021127190638/peace.moveon.org/petition.php3, Posted 9/13/01, Accessed 6/23/05)
-- "We Implore The Powers That Be To Use, Wherever Possible, International Judicial Institutions And International Human Rights Law To Bring To Justice Those Responsible For The Attacks, Rather Than The Instruments Of War, Violence Or Destruction." (MoveOn.Org Website, "MoveOn Peace,"
http://web.archive.org/web/20021127190638/peace.moveon.org/petition.php3, Posted 9/13/01, Accessed 6/23/05)
-- "(W)e Demand That There Be No Recourse To Nuclear, Chemical Or Biological Weapons, Or Any Weapons Of Indiscriminate Destruction, And Feel That It Is Our Inalienable Human Right To Live In A World Free Of Such Arms." (MoveOn.Org Website, "MoveOn Peace,"
http://web.archive.org/web/20021127190638/peace.moveon.org/petition.php3, Posted 9/13/01, Accessed 6/23/05)
Just After 9/11, Liberal Filmmaker Michael Moore Derided "Terror And Bloodshed" Committed By Americans. (David Brooks, Op-Ed, "All Hail Moore," The New York Times, 6/26/04)
-- Just After 9/11, Moore Blamed America's "Taxpayer-Funded Terrorism" And Bush Administration For Terrorist Attacks. "We abhor terrorism - unless we're the ones doing the terrorizing. We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me....Let's mourn, let's grieve, and when it's appropriate let's examine our contribution to the unsafe world we live in." (Michael Moore Website Archive, "Death, Downtown," Posted 9/12/01, http://www.michaelmoore.com, Accessed 7/27/04)
-- Michael Moore Said U.S. Should Not Have Removed Taliban After 9/11. Moore: "Likewise, to bomb Afghanistan - I mean, I've never understood this, Tim." (CNBC's "Tim Russert," 10/19/02)
Liberal Donor George Soros Claimed America Should Have Treated 9/11 Attacks As Crime, Responded With Police Work. "War is a false and misleading metaphor in the context of combating terrorism. Treating the attacks of September 11 as crimes against humanity would have been more appropriate. Crimes require police work, not military action. To protect against terrorism, you need precautionary measures, awareness, and intelligence gathering - all of which ultimately depend on the support of the populations among which terrorists operate. Imagine for a moment that September 11 had been treated as a crime. We would have pursued Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but we would not have invaded Iraq. Nor would we have our military struggling to perform police work in full combat gear and getting killed in the process." (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 18)
-- Soros Said The Execution Of 9/11 Attacks "Could Not Have Been More Spectacular." "Admittedly, the terrorist attack was a historic event in its own right. Hijacking fully loaded airplanes and using them as suicide bombs was an audacious idea, and the execution could not have been more spectacular." (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 2)
-- Soros Said War On Terror Had Claimed More Innocent Victims Than 9/11 Attack Itself. "This is a very tough thing to say, but the fact is, that the war on terror as conducted by this administration, has claimed more innocent victims that the original attack itself." (George Soros, Remarks At Take Back America Conference, Washington, DC, 6/3/04)
Liberal Democrats Urged Restraint, Blamed America:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH): "'The Time For Peace Is Now,' (Kucinich) Declared Optimistically July 11, Two Months To The Day Before Terrorists Hit The Pentagon And The World Trade Center. ... Sitting In His Capitol Hill Office Last Week, Near A Window Where He Could See The Smoke Rising From The Pentagon On Sept. 11, Kucinich Insisted He Is More Optimistic Than Ever That People Worldwide Are Ready To Embrace The Cause Of Nonviolence." (Elizabeth Auster, "Offer The Hand Of Peace," (Cleveland, OH) Plain Dealer, 9/30/01)
-- Kucinich: "Afghanistan May Be An Incubator Of Terrorism But It Doesn't Follow That We Bomb Afghanistan ..." (Elizabeth Auster, "Offer The Hand Of Peace," (Cleveland, OH) Plain Dealer, 9/30/01)
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI): "Only Now Are We Trying To Figure Out What Is Islam. Maybe If There Was A Department Of Peace, They Would Be Able To Say, 'Uh-Oh, We've Got Some Problems With These People,' ... I Truly Believe That If We Had A Department Of Peace, We Would Have Seen (9/11) Coming." (Ethan Wallison, "War A Challenge For Peace Caucus," Roll Call, 10/1/01)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA): "I Am Convinced That Military Action Will Not Prevent Further Acts Of International Terrorism Against The United States." (Eddy Ramirez, "Calif. Congresswoman Alone In Vote Against War Powers Resolution," (University Of California- Berkeley) Daily Californian, 9/17/01)
Al Sharpton (D-NY) Said That The Attacks On The World Trade Center Are Evidence That "America Is Beginning To Reap What It Has Sown." (Adam Nagourney, "Say It Loud," The New York Times, 12/1/02)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) Claimed Osama Bin Laden Could Be Compared To "Revolutionaries That Helped To Cast Off The British Crown." "'One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non- nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown,' Kaptur told an Ohio newspaper, The (Toledo) Blade." (Malie Rulon, "Lawmaker Compares Osama, U.S. Patriots," The Associated Press, 3/6/03)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) Said The United States Would "Pay Every Single Hour, Ever Single Day" That Bombs Were Dropped In Afghanistan. "'How much longer does the bombing campaign continue?' Biden asked during an Oct. 22 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. 'We're going to pay every single hour, every single day it continues.'" (Miles A. Pomper, "Building Anti- Terrorism Coalition Vaults Ahead Of Other Priorities," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 10/26/01)
-- "The Bombing Campaign, (Biden) Said, Reinforced Existing Stereotypes Of The United States As A 'High-Tech Bully ...'" (Miles A. Pomper, "Building Anti-Terrorism Coalition Vaults Ahead Of Other Priorities," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 10/26/01)
Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) Said Osama Bin Laden Not Guilty. Dean: "I Still Have This Old-Fashioned Notion That Even With People Like Osama, Who Is Very Likely To Be Found Guilty, We Should Do Our Best Not To, In Positions Of Executive Power, Not To Prejudge Jury Trials." ("Dean Not Ready To Pronounce Osama Bin Laden Guilty," The Associated Press, 12/26/03)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) To High School Students: "How Would (Muslims) Look At Us Today If We Had Been There Helping Them With Some Of That Rather Than Just Being The People Who Are Going To Bomb In Iraq And Go To Afghanistan? ... War Is Expensive Too ... Your Generation Ought To Be Thinking About Whether We Should Be Better Neighbors Out In Other Countries So That They Have A Different Vision Of Us." (Gregg Herrington, "Senator Asks Students To Ponder," The (Vancouver, WA) Columbian, 12/19/02)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): "(W)ar On Terror Is Far Less Of A Military Operation And Far More Of An Intelligence-Gathering, Law-Enforcement Operation." (The Iowa Brown & Black Coalition Presidential Forum, Des Moines, IA, 1/11/04)
-- Kerry: "(W)hat We've Learned Is That The War On Terror Is Much More Of An Intelligence Operation And A Law Enforcement Operation." (NPR's "All Things Considered," 3/19/03)
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All polls are showing American support of Bu$h's Iraq war = sinking fast. Free-fall fast..
Bu$h's Iraq war is not sustainable if American parents will not send their sons & daughters to die for Bu$h's corrupt Iraq war.
Are we really surprised that this corrupt administration goes back to the tactic of using the ghost of 9-11 to buck up their poll numbers.
The Republican object is to once again equate 9-11 to Iraq....stir up all the feelings of 9-11, remind Americans "its US against them", so "support the troops, by supporting your president"....
Sorry, Karl, more Americans are on to you now.
As your VP would say, the terror grip the Republicans have had on hiding the truth is "in its last throes".
Just got home a bit ago from my visit with DiAnne and her mother. DiAnne, is so bright, and fun! We had a good time. Her mom and I got a little mixed up on our directions, and once I found myself going the wrong way down a one way street, but, hey, we made it. Had a real good visit, and she just called me on the phone to tell me about the latest Karl Rove misdeed.
I am already mad, because Cyrano you are absolutely correct in your assessment that Rove is the closest to a satanic figure that we have in American politics. I cannot express the level of disdain I have for this man. Pure evil.
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I suspect this is part of the rollout of the President's new messaging about Iraq.
Thanks.
Posted by: Casey Morris at June 23, 2005 06:28 PM
CASEY, I noticed this slant over the past three days. They are pulling at people's heart strings, preaching patriotism, fear mongering. I posted yesterday about the pattern I saw developing on CNN (so you know it is on Faux too),
with ramping up the airing of video of Muslims with turbans hovering around bombed burning cars. MEGA airing. Scotty McClellan said that the fact that we now have all these TERRORISTS in Iraq is all the more reason to stay there and "stay the course", (implied inference, of course, 'otherwise they will just migrate to America and terrorize YOU'.) The Iraqi people want us out. They do not see us as liberators, only conquerors. Bu$hCo. has torn up their country, destroyed the little bit of security they had, killed and wounded their people, taken their oil, made big profits off building on their land, built several new U.S. military bases in their country, and NOW attempt to muffle the cries of objection and dissent back home in the U.S. by telling U.S. citizens "they" are going to come over here and do to us what we have been doing to them. For shame.
We can win this!!!! WE CAN WIN THIS!!!! The American people have started to wake up. If the Dems can get their message out there (go Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry (good for you!)), before the people get scared mute again, we can do it.
FYI--I don't know if anyone has seen the CNN reports from Afghanistan today, but guess what? The White House propaganda machine is in full swing on covering the war. Since the war in Afghanistan is the one that most American's "approve" of, CNN's Barbara Starr "has been granted exclusive access to the troops fighting in the hill along the border of Pakistan"
Now, two questions immediately occur to me: What's the new message? And how many more exclusive opportunities are going to be granted to various members of the media, one at a time, so it's "exclusive" coverage that they will "jump" at, and thus, just as they did when they had reporters embedded during the beginning of the Iraq War, and they will be once again in FULL control of the media message about the war.
Posted by: Casey Morris at June 23, 2005 06:28 PM
CASEY!
I saw that "exclusive" of the war in Afghanistan, with coverage of the troops fighting in the mountains along the border of Pakistan.
The first thought I had when I saw it of what the message is now:
OSAMA BIN LADEN IS 'STILL OUT THERE'. WE ARE FIGHTING A 'WAR AGAINST TERROR'. AFGHANISTAN, BIN LADEN, AND THE "terrrists" IN IRAQ ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER TO HURT Y - O - U.
This is the card they play when they want to pull in the reins, they know they are losing control.
Come on, DEMS!!!!
Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 23, 2005 06:36 PM
Exactly right. And I think they have made a mistake by trying to revisit 9/11 in this way.
Personally, I would like to figure out a way to tie all of this conversation about Rove and his claims of what the "liberals" did after 9/11, back to the DSM.
Such as, "Well, say what you will, Karl, but we didn't go off an attack the wrong country, get 1700 soldiers killed, and lie about the reason for going to war as stated in the DSM. By the way, now that you mention 9/11, any luck finding Osama yet? How about those WMD, huh, Karl?"
Truth,
You always speak the truth. Especially when you said, "Scared mute" because that is exactly what they (the neoCONS) thrive on is FEAR. They can smell it and it makes them giddy with intoxication. They know when we are afraid or when they tug the patriot strings, we go in our shell and want protection.
Don't give up guys and don't get diverted by this latest Rove antic. THink of what is going on behind their back that they're trying to hide.
Is it Iraq?
Is it the new pictures of torture that are suppose to be released?
Is it the DSM?
Is it the fact America has begun to wake up and the media is waking from their walking dead?
IMO, WE MUST MAKE SURE WE"RE NOT LETTING THEM DISTRACT US AND CALL THE SHOTS! Let's not let them divide us, but instead remind them of our duty as AMERICAN's and how we all came together after 9-11 and how we must bring it back.
Rove sez:"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war;
Really, Karl? Because I know of ONE conservative who saw the savagry of 9/11, and continued reading My Pet Goat.
And then after that, he rode around in his airplane until other people made sure it was safe to go home, and after that, he waited three more days before he even went to ground zero.
So actually, Karl, I think if you are talking about that conservative response, you've got it a little backwards...
Suz, why isn't it possible to walk and chew gum at the same time?
Why can't we say, The White House wants you to think about 9/11--okay, let's talk about 9/11 and let's talk about where we are today while we're at it.
Why isn't the fighting in Afghanistan wrapped up?
Where is Bin Laden? It's been almost four years, why hasen't he been caught or captured.
We want answers about Iraq and we want them now.
Suz, I think the sooner we tie in their incompetence in the War in Iraq to whatever it is THEY want to talk about the better off we are.
Suz, here's the way I see it: WE don't get to choose the topic, because WE are not in control of the media.
Therefore, the best response,IMHO, is to bring EVERYTHING back to the incompetence in the War in Iraq and the fact that they lied to get us there, as the Downing Street Minutes prove, and the fact that after four years, we would probably have Bin Laden and more of AlQaeda caught and captured if we weren't bogged down in the War In Iraq.
And because we are bogged down in the quagmire in Iraq, we are sepnding 6 billion dollars a month that could be spent on college education, feeding the poor, medical care for millions and millions of people.
I agree with you spinnaker, but that is not what I see is happening. I see a single id focus instead of a single thread being woven through everything.
Suz,
Id focus?
Just read Mr.Rove's comments and as my grandmother use to say " It's enough to gag a maggot on a gut truck." I used the link Casey provided and read some more of Rove's rant. The part that struck me was
"Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."
Careful consideration, moderation and restraint, those are certainly NOT qualities one should expect,or for that matter, desire from elected leaders. Hell, we should have just nuked them, Afganistan, Iraq, Sryia, Iran, all of them. Oh... but then we wouldn't have been able to use all that oil...a commodity that certainly receives careful consideration from this administration. Oil is worth money, real money, unlike the compensation dead soldiers' families receive. Lives aren't deemed valuable enough to call for careful consideration, moderation, and restraint.
As for Senator Durbin's remarks I can't think of another comparision he could have made that would have been more accurate, in particular and in general. This administration is scary in its similarities to Nazi Germany and Soviet Communisn. It's only their lack of complete power that keeps Mr. Durbin's comparision from being perfect. I weas appalled when I heard Durbin's groveling apology. If they are chaining people, naked, in fetal positions on the floor in extreme temperatures and leaving them lay in their own waste, in a place where they know they are being obseved, can you imagine what they are doing where they can't be seen?