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Bring Back the Draft
I was reading along in the jump of a front page story ("War Now Works Against GOP") in today's Washington Post, when one sentence leaped out and grabbed me by the throat:
"Voter dissatisfaction with Iraq has taken years to build, not least because few Americans fear a draft, unlike the Vietnam era." (My italics--and this is not a quote from any person, it's just the reporters, Peter Slevin and Michael Powell, writing their story).
Once again, I was reminded of one of the most insidious lessons which the Pentagon learned from the Vietnam War. No draft. And one of the biggest political mistakes that progressives have made since the Vietnam War ended. No draft.
Isn't it funny, how if the government announces that it intends to put you into position to die, people suddenly get more interested in what the government is doing? Lots of people. The potential draftees, and their parents and grandparents and siblings and lovers, and friends. Turned out to be a real drag for Presidents Johnson and Nixon.
The all-volunteer army. Sounds so nice. Especially nice in the quiet of the Oval Office. No nasty draftees to deal with, no one spilling blood over files in draft boards, no crowds chanting in Lafayette Park and interrupting a good afternoon of Sunday football, no one lying on the tracks to block troop trains and losing his legs....
In 2003, Rep. Charles Rangel proposed bringing back the draft. His bill actually made it to the floor in 2004, where it was defeated. In 2005, Rangel filed his bill again.
Rangel attacked the fundamental unfairness of forcing those at the bottom of the economic ladder to shoulder the burden of defending the country:
"The American people lost confidence in this war long ago, and now that parents are discouraging their children from volunteering, we are faced with a situation in which the most disadvantaged young people from areas of high unemployment will be even more likely to carry the greatest share of the burden."
Rangel was clear that if there were a draft, the President might be much less inclined to start unnecessary wars. And members of Congress, if their own children were at risk, might even remember that under the Constitution, only the Congress has the right to declare war.
"The President said in his State of the Union address that war was an option that remained on the table in dealing with these countries. In my view, the war option would not be on the table if the people being placed in harm's way were children of White House officials, members of Congress or CEOs in the boardrooms. As other people's children endure a grinding war, they have been given huge tax cuts, while our veterans have gotten cuts in health benefits."
Think we'd be in Iraq if Bush had had to call up the draft? If the Democrats ever do get real control of the government again, one of the first things they should do is dump the all-volunteer army and bring back the draft. Then we'd find out just how gung-ho Americans really are for Bush-style pre-emptive wars if any kid might be sent to die on their behalf, not just the children of the poor.
Dick:
John McCain is recommending that we send 100,000 more troops to Iraq. 'If' he will be their Presidential nominee in '08 then he should be tagged with promotting the return of the draft.But that can wait for the Presidential race to heat up and sink McCain.
Tried promoting the fear of the return of the draft on the Aurora campus in Denver in '04 and was told to take my sign and flyers down by the campaign. Those students in Denver who I did confront didn't seem fazed by the draft; apparently they had not gotten to the Vietnam war yet in their history classes.
Just heard a new radio spot playing in Tennessee for Corker with African drums beings played in the background. Hopefully Ford will be no Harvey Gant and allow a racist campaign to prevail.
Apparently Republicans wish to stop science which is really cruel to those who need the progress of stem cell research. Why have they not yet opposed organ transplants in their religious zeal?
For recruitment, they've now tried big bonusses, letting noncitizens serve, attracting more women, letting people join up to 42 years of age, reducing restrictions on criminal record, amount of education and medical diagnoses such as ADHD. Is is any wonder there are neoNazis serving, to get free training?
They're used up Reserves and Guards, redeployed people multiple times. Back when there was a draft, there were deferrments, first for being in college or being married (Cheney got five deferrments), but then less. Then they had a lottery & alot of people wanted 4F or 1Y (medical & psychiatric deferments). People pretended to be gay, advertised that they were gay if they were. Some hid a pin in their underwear, with which to prick their finger to put blood into their urine. Others made sure it was known that they'd tried drugs from A to Z.
All-volunteer Army and the draft are both bad solutions, as we should not fight wars in the first place & under both systems, kids like the Bush twins will never serve. Talk about a draft would mobilize more young people though. There used to be rumors, but I think it's probably known to be so unpopular that these have been squelched.
Now that there is difficulty getting enough personnel, the US is no longer being able to maintain it's position as a superpower, especially with lost credibility since invading Iraq.
Also, if China calls in its loans, there will be no money for weapons systems. China just got a contract to build hundreds of plans in China - with Aerbus, including transfer of technology. Not good for Boeing.
This country is broke, but it's not evident to most yet. Housing prices have crashed this last month the most in 35 years.
http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://www.comcast.net/data/news/2006/10/26/507351.xml&cvqh=itn_homeprice
Words of wisdom on the draft, by conservative brainthrust, Bill Bennett...
Q: Why is everyone so afraid of talking about a national draft to solve some of the problems our military is facing? - Andy Sturdivant, Mount Dora, Florida
BENNETT: Political leadership is afraid it will be very unpopular with the middle class, and very few candidates want to face that opposition. Second, though, the military does not want a draft: They prefer the commitment of the professional army.
But there is a moral case to be made for national service in which military service would be an option. Everyone in this country, whatever their skills, should do something -- they should be doing something for the republic.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/23/cnna.bennett/
Didja catch that knuckleball from the knucklehead? There is a MORAL case to national to be made for national service.
Yield: Onward christian soldiers only.
Media Bias Example: (FOX minimizes importance)
Service members press Congress to end occupation in Iraq
Boston Globe
US troops call for Iraq pullout
Aljazeera.net, Qatar
US troops on active duty call for Iraq withdrawal
Reuters AlertNet, UK
Troops against war petition Congress
Detroit Free Press
Grass-Roots Group of Troops Petitions Congress for Pullout From ...
Washington Post
Some active-duty troops voice their dissent from US policy in Iraq
San Jose Mercury News
Anti-War Groups Trying to Rally Active-Duty Troops Against War
FOX News
interesting new book
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1931693,00.html
Ghost Plane, by Stephen Grey, the journalist who first revealed details of secret CIA flights in the Guardian a year ago.
More than 200 CIA flights have passed through Britain, records show.
He describes how one CIA pilot told him that Prestwick airport, near Glasgow, was a popular destination for refuelling stops and layovers. "It's an 'ask-no-questions' type of place and you don't need to give them any advance warning you're coming," the pilot said.
The CIA used planes of Air America, a group of private companies it secretly owned, and a second company, Aero Contractors. A CIA Gulfstream V jet, frequently used for the secret rendition of prisoners, flew to Diego Garcia, the British Indian Ocean territory where the US has a large base, the book says. Grey plans to publish more than 3,000 logs of the CIA flights on the internet this week.
CIA pilots, sometimes using false identities and whose planes regularly passed through Britain, ran up huge bills in luxury hotels after flying terrorist suspects to secret locations where they were tortured. But they revealed their whereabouts and identities by indiscreet use of mobile phones and allowed outsiders to track their aircraft's flights.
On one occasion, CIA pilots and crew lived it up in Majorca after rendering Benyam Mohammed, an Ethiopian brought up in Notting Hill, west London, to Afghanistan where he was tortured. Benyam was detained in Pakistan early in 2002, and then flown to Morocco, where he says he suffered appalling torture. He is being held at Guantánamo Bay.
--also - memoirs of Gerhard Schroeder, ex-Chancellor of Germant, who reveals how the Bush-Blair coziness created international wedges, which was more the preference of those two, to decrease competitiveness of a unified EU
Found this quote Dick which affirms your post Dick, that there is a hidden issue behind the war in Iraq and the election, the fear of a Draft.
Will any Democrat whisper that word (Draft) in the next 12 days:
"Voter dissatisfaction with Iraq has taken years to build, not least because few Americans fear a draft, unlike the Vietnam era. But the war is intruding on the public conversation."
Washington Post
There was talk of a possible draft before the 2004 election, with some arguing that Bush would need a draft if he planned to stay in Iraq.
The political result of that argument is questionable. It seems that it may have increased verbal support for Kerry among the young, but not by enough to get them to turn out to vote in the numbers we needed. Of course, while I don't support a draft, it is likely that actually experiencing the draft would increase turn out among those at risk.
This is why most of us locally are boycotting or cancelling long-time subscriptions to the Seattle Times, plus writing LTEs.
Under Orders
Seattle Times Ed Board Bows to Publisher's Greed
http://www.thestranger.com
In a September 8, 2006, editorial titled "Hold Bush to the Law in Terror Suspect Cases," the Seattle Times editorial board came out against Bush's detainee policies. In an editorial on September 11, 2006, titled "A Changed America Five Years After 9/11," the Seattle Times editorial board came out for maintaining the right to habeas corpus. On October 5, 2006, in an editorial titled "The Defense of Gay Marriage Act," the Seattle Times editorial board came out for gay marriage. On March 19, 2006, in an editorial titled "Another Gimmick, Another ANWR Vote," the Seattle Times editorial board came out against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and in a December 22, 2005, editorial titled "Victory in ANWR," the Seattle Times editorial board cheered Senator Maria Cantwell's filibuster against drilling in ANWR. On August 8, 2006, in an editorial titled "Kansas Evolves," the Seattle Times editorial board came out against teaching "intelligent design" in public schools. In a May 4, 2004, editorial titled "Extend the Ban on Assault Weapons," the Seattle Times editorial board came out in support of extending the assault-weapons ban. In a July 7, 2006, editorial titled "Net Equality, Neutrality," the Seattle Times editorial board came out for rules that would prevent giant internet companies from dictating content on the web.
Earlier this week, on Sunday, October 22, in an editorial titled "Mike McGavick for U.S. Senate," the same Seattle Times editorial board came out for the candidate who holds the opposite view on every one of the pivotal issues I just noted. McGavick is for teaching intelligent design in science class in public schools ["Political Science" by Josh Feit, Aug 10]; against the assault-weapons ban; for a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage; for drilling in ANWR; for President Bush's military-commissions bill (the one that iced habeas corpus and gave the president the leeway to shimmy out of the Geneva Conventions); and against net neutrality.
It gets better - this is unbelievable
Why did the Seattle Times endorse McGavick? Well, they write: "Giant media companies continue to calcify the country's need for independent voices. Cantwell understands the issue, but once again has not shown significant leadership to a very real problem. We believe McGavick's independent mind would be useful in untying the knot of media consolidation."
McGavick's "independent mind"? I have no idea what that means. As for Cantwell's lack of "significant leadership," well, let's go to the videotape. In a February 2005 editorial titled "Who Owns the Airways?" the Seattle Times editorial board gave special props to Cantwell for fighting the Federal Communications Commission's push for media consolidation, writing: "Many people played a role in driving a stake through the FCC's proposal. Special notice goes to this state's U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. In June, the Democrat was one of three senators to sponsor an amendment to suspend the FCC rules ... it put the Senate on the record voting against the FCC. 'No one should be allowed to corner the marketplace for ideas,' Cantwell said. That is exactly right."
Indeed, Cantwell joined a bipartisan group of senators to vote down new FCC rules in 2004 that would have allowed media titans to control a greater number of newspapers and radio and television stations. As recently as August 6, 2006, in an editorial titled "Public Input Vital on Media Regulation" the Seattle Times editorial board praised Cantwell for sending a letter to the FCC requesting a hearing in Washington state on its new media-consolidation proposal. (Cantwell is on the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees communications issues.)
So, the Seattle Times endorsed McGavick over Cantwell because...?
How about greed? McGavick supports Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen's pet cause: repealing the federal estate tax, which would affect just about 0.2 percent of Americans. Fourteen Washington families with estates valued at $10 million or above would benefit. The Blethens own 50.5 percent of the Seattle Times, estimated to be worth $900 million.
Blethen is obsessed with the issue: He took to the airwaves, debating it with Bill Gates Sr. on KUOW this week. The Seattle Times' federal lobbyist Jill Mackie (who, in addition to her undisclosed salary, reports the Seattle Times has spent up to $70,000 lobbying in D.C. for the estate-tax repeal and media issues over the last year and a half) has donated $750 worth of time to this season's campaign to repeal the estate tax at our state level. And finally, it seems that Blethen himself has donated some time to that campaign: Scott Campbell, publisher of the Columbian, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Blethen called him and urged him to get involved in the campaign. Campbell donated $5,000.
Okay I know most people do not say much about Laura Bush, but I have to can not hold it in any longer:
She makes STEPFORD wives look normal.
Every article I read about her says she is the Rock Star of the Republican Party PLEASEEEEEE Someone help me here. Havent we all encouraged our daughters to be independant stand up women? Havent we encouraged them to work hard and never let themselves be pigonhold? She sets this cause back 7000 years. If this is the Republicans Idea of the perfect woman no wonder they hate Hilary she threatens the perception they want to have. Grrrrrrrrrr.. I would never in a million years want one of my daughters to be like Laura Bush it would crush me. I am a housewife.. so its not that its the whole attitude she has.
Rant over sorry folks.
"its complicated, you just won't't understand it," Rumsfield told seasoned newsman Jim Micheleshevsky today in a his briefing today.
How condescending.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rumsfeld_3
Rumsfeld tells war critics to 'back off'
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday that critics should "just back off" on demands for deadlines in Iraq and that it is difficult to predict when Iraqis will resume control of their country.
{More blustery blather on link....}
sorry folks.
Posted by: April at October 26, 2006 06:37 PM
I'd like to ask that you kindly refrain from apologizing for the 'rant' regarding Laura Stepford wife, please, since your assessment is entirely correct (IMHO)....
And, why would ANY young woman want to become like Stepford Laura?!? No woman or man in their right minds would wish that on any young women they know, whether daughters, granddaughters, nieces, friends.... whomever. Eeeeeooowwwww....
Stepford Laura may be pleasant enough to talk with... if one can endure the utterly suffocating boredom of talking to a woman whose every sentence begins 'my husband...' - and really, we still don't know what she thinks, only what she thinks her husband thinks, or what he has told her to say (or what someone else has told her to say).... Yawn....
You forgot to include what she told her husband he thinks and what she told her husband to say, Nonny. Remember his twitchin'-Freudian relationship with Babs Bush? Laura's just a surrogate for the uber-authority mom figure in his life.
hey mrs. bush can georgie come out and play now,
Otter
we all better hope that Rove and Mehlman are not rewarded in Tennessee for their disgusting ad. It so reminds me of what Bush did to John Kerry having independent expenditures slam the candidate and then have Bush stand on the side saying how dispicable the ad was, chuckle, chuckle, Corker. Mehlman siad he would do anything to hold onto the US Senate and now we know what he meant. We should expect these same tactics to be used the last week of October 2008 against our Presidential nominee, especially if they are succesful in Tennessee in 12 days.
I see not too many of you have signed up today (or your kids) to go fight wars!
Laura's just a surrogate for the uber-authority mom figure in his life. (Otter)
Could it also be Condi, with the boots? When I was in Colorado, it was really fun to see the tabloid prominently displayed in all the stores - about the supposed dissolution of the Bush marriage, with references to drinking & infidelity. They trot that out every so often & know just how to write it up so they won't get sued. The Red Staters have to see it every time they are at the checkout counter.
Jennifer Peoples with the Chatanooga Tenessian newspaper, told NPR today that contrary to Mehlman's claim that the ad had been pulled it is still being run in Chantanooga. Sounds a lot like Ford is being Swiftboated.
She makes Stepford wives look normal.
April
Well I loved that rant! Apparently, Laura Bush used to be quite normal. She smoked pot, she campaigned for Eugene McCarthy, she worked in a library, she was a Democrat. Just like me.
Then our paths diverged. She dated a frat boy. I stuck with the art students. I wonder if I would have been a Stepford wife?
I did look up both my towns in South Dakota (from those days). Both have roughly 600 people and it told how many voted for Bush v Gore & Bush v Kerry. It was not surprising to see that they overwhelmingly went for Bush. So I guess if I stayed there I could have very well been a Stepford wife.
- Just looked on Wikipeda. Laura Bush was a breast cancer activist after her mother died of cancer. Her family were conservative Democrats. She did work in a library. I see no reference to pot smoking or working for Eugene McCarthy. Where did I get that?!
- New Yorker & Amazon.com say she VOTED for Eugene McCarthy.
Bingo!
He lived above a garage in an apartment that was piled high with dirty clothes that his friends’ wives periodically washed. Most of his nights were spent in bars, drinking with buddies in the oil business.
In July 1977, soon after his 31st birthday, friends introduced him to his polar opposite, Laura Welch. “We were the only two people among our friends who had not yet married,” she later joked.
Nobody expected the introduction to ignite, but George and Laura were married within three months at the First United Methodist Church in Midland.
Laura, the only child of a Midland builder, is remembered by some former students at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for not being as conservative as most. She had smoked marijuana and backpacked through Europe after graduation. A Democrat, she had also supported the anti-war candidate, Senator Eugene McCarthy, for the presidency in 1968.
http://www.cocaine.com Is that a reliable reference?
There are loads of other sites which allege the same thing but who knows. Both of them could have been party animals - now they don't look like they're having much fun.
I talked to a couple of my brother's friends in Colorado who remember the "Bush brothers" coming to town but I certainly can't substantiate their personal accounts.
this last ad has not been reported by the mainstream media but is equally vile:
"An independent group briefly aired a radio ad that had the most explicit attack.
The ad, paid for by a group identified as "Tennesseans for Truth" (Sound Familiar?, probably funded by Bob Perry) and aired on a small station near Nashville, criticized Ford's membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, which the ad said "represents the interests of black people above all others."
"Both Republican and Democratic officials have said they did not know who was behind Tennesseans for Truth." Would anyone be surprised if Perry's name shows up?
The RNC ad is "breaking new ground and, frankly, breaking new lows," said Geer, the Vanderbilt professor. It makes the 1998 "Willie Horton" ad — a good example of using implicit racial messages — look tame by comparison, he said.
Sheesh. And monkey thinks *he's* a party animal.
---------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz bumped and wriggled to an African beat on Thursday, showing a lighter public side as he danced with South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka in a campaign against malaria.
Normally associated with more serious pursuits, the former No. 2 at the Pentagon joined Chaka Chaka in the marbled atrium of the bank as their audience of African ambassadors, private sector officials, and World Bank and U.S. congressional staff cheered and clapped.
They were later joined on stage by South Africa's Ambassador to Washington Barbara Masekela, sister of famed jazz musician Hugh Masekela, and Jack Valenti, an influential lobbyist and anti-malaria activist.
---------------
get bad with your down self wolfie,
Otter
Now I'm hurling like the wolf.
I hap yer hopey.
I support reinstating the draft.
Posted by: Bubba at October 26, 2006 10:27 PM
I am sorry but I think Dems need to respond in kind NOW, but I would have been infuriated at the Democratic Party had they started this kind of ad. We have plenty of actual factual dirt to use, not the made up or exagerated kind!
This kind of thing really does turn people off politics and a side affect voting.
I had to explain to my 58 year old mother that our representive democracy is is really only represents between 30 and 50% during a Presidental election and between 20 and 30% during mid-terms of our voting age people. WHy because she was disgusted that hardly anyone she talked to Democrat or Republican were planning on voting in Nov, she did not understand how things could be going as badly as they are in a host of ways and no one seems to care enough to vote to help fix it. I will turn my very verble mother into an activist yet. Oh and she is awesome at putting so called Christian Conservatives in their place, the have been known to drop their heads and slink away, but she has zero faith in her own brainpower, I am her daughter and understandably prejudice but I think her grasp of the issues is awesome and I respect her intelligence. (and she spells better than me lol)
Yup, April's correct. We have plenty of REAL dirt to work with. We don't even have to exaggerate - just re-run clips from old 'news' conferences and old speeches. Their LIES will bring them down. The refutations have to be made immediately with ads that can come out the next day or two after the lying ads come out.
The one thing I'm happy about in MN is when the Dem governor candidate comes out immediately with ads to refute the LIES in commercials by the current governor, as is happening right now. Also, local TV stations run 'reality checks' and refute statements made in political ads, and the neoCons come off the worst. That goes on almost every night on one channel or another on in-state TV. I think that's what's keeping Dem candidates ahead of the Cons. Some Dems have even come from way behind in some polls to be a point or two ahead of the Cons, and it's done with those ads that refute the LIES immediately. If Dems haven't been way ahead since the beginning (like Klobuchar in the Senate race who was 15 pts. ahead the last time I heard poll results), the majority of Dems are now either two to four points ahead, statistical dead heats, but still ahead. Younger voters who have cell phones can't be polled, and if they vote Dem, the winners will still be Dems by an even higher percentage than polls show. So, here's hoping things will work out to a Dem sweep in Nov. (and we have paper ballots...), that the current Con governor will lose (he's a few points behind the Dem challenger), and the other Dems continue their leads to complete wins, hands down.
I just wish other states had all paper ballots and easy voter registration....
Dick
Well said and it should be said more often. Something needs to get throgh their think heads and the draft would be start.
Joan Vennochi, who is not one of my favorite columnists wrote a column a few months ago about this. I had posted about it on the Dem Daily. Thanks for the reminder that we need to get people to think about this.
The very controversial "Death of a President" starts in limited theaters tomorrow. I watched it last weekend and wrote a review today for the DemDaily. It's an important film that people really need to see.
The message of the film is so much larger than the title of the film - the brouha over the title is smoke and mirrors - go see it!
Easy for *you* to say, V. You're not eligible to be drafted.
harrumph harumph,
Otter
And from the Otterworld Lovin' It Department:
---------------
Poll: Middle Class Voters Abandoning GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) - The 2006 election is shaping up to be a repeat of 1994. This time, Democrats are favored to sweep Republicans from power in the House after a dozen years of GOP rule.
Less than two weeks before the Nov. 7 election, the latest Associated Press-AOL News poll found that likely voters overwhelmingly prefer Democrats over Republicans. They are angry at President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, and say Iraq and the economy are their top issues.
At the same time, fickle middle-class voters are embracing the Democratic Party and fleeing the GOP - just as they abandoned Democrats a dozen years ago and ushered in an era of Republican control.
[snip]
"I don't care if I vote for Happy the Clown, just so it's not who's there now," said Mary Nyilas, 51, an independent voter from Cologne, N.J. She said she would do everything she could to "vote against the powers that put us in this situation" in Iraq.
[snip]
full article: http://tinyurl.com/y6nzuz
poll data: http://www.ap-ipsosresults.com/
--------------
hoist by their own petards,
Otter
October 27, 2006
G.O.P. Moves Fast to Reignite Issue of Gay Marriage
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 — The divisive debate over gay marriage, which played a prominent role in 2004 campaigns but this year largely faded from view, erupted anew on Thursday as President Bush and Republicans across the country tried to use a court ruling in New Jersey to rally dispirited conservatives to the polls.
Wednesday’s ruling, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples, had immediate ripple effects, especially in Senate races in some of the eight states where voters are considering constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage.
President Bush put a spotlight on the issue while campaigning in Iowa, which does not have a proposal on the ballot. With the Republican House candidate, Jeff Lamberti, by his side, Mr. Bush — who has not been talking about gay marriage in recent weeks — took pains to insert a reference into his stump speech warning that Democrats would raise taxes and make America less safe.
“Yesterday in New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises doubts about the institution of marriage,” Mr. Bush said at a luncheon at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that raised $400,000 for Mr. Lamberti.
The president drew applause when he reiterated his long-held stance that marriage was “a union between a man and a woman,” adding, “I believe it’s a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended.”
The ruling in New Jersey left it to the Legislature to decide whether to legalize gay marriage. Even so, the threat that gay marriage could become legal energized conservatives at a time when Republican strategists say that turning out the base could make the difference between winning and losing on Nov. 7. With many independent analysts predicting Republicans will lose the House and possibly the Senate, President Bush’s political team is counting on the party’s sophisticated voter turnout machinery to hold Democratic advances enough that Republicans can at least maintain control.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/us/politics/27marriage.html
Seems to me that the Grand Old Pederasty party is walking a very thin tightrope when it tries to pitch to the god/guns/gays crowd of so-called 'values voters' these days...
and there be dragons,
Otter
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In her first public comments about Bob Woodward's explosive book "State of Denial," first lady Laura Bush sharply denied claims in the book that her husband has misled the public about the level of violence in Iraq.
"Absolutely I think that is wrong," Bush said in an exclusive interview with CNN Wednesday. "Of course, the president has been frank from the very very first speech he gave to the country after the September 11 attacks, talking about this is a long war, this is a very difficult war.
"It's a different war than our country has ever faced. The enemy can make a big show on television like they did for the bloody last month we had in Iraq by blowing themselves up a lot of times along with other people. But our success is not so easy to see. But the fact is that we are succeeding."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/26/laura.bush/index.html
Gimme a "C"...
from Prof. Lakoff, some perspective:
October 27, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/opinion/27lakoff.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print
Staying the Course Right Over a Cliff By GEORGE LAKOFF
Berkeley, Calif.
THE Bush administration has finally been caught in its own language trap.
"That is not a stay-the-course policy," Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, declared on Monday.
The first rule of using negatives is that negating a frame activates the frame. If you tell someone not to think of an elephant, he'll think of an elephant. When Richard Nixon said, "I am not a crook" during Watergate, the nation thought of him as a crook.
"Listen, we've never been stay the course, George," President Bush told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News a day earlier. Saying that just reminds us of all the times he said "stay the course."
What the president is discovering is that it's not so easy to rewrite linguistic history. The laws of language are hard to defy.
"The characterization of, you know, 'it's stay the course' is about a quarter right," the president said at an Oct. 11 news conference. " 'Stay the course' means keep doing what you're doing. My attitude is, don't do what you're doing if it's not working — change. 'Stay the course' also means don't leave before the job is done."
A week or so later, he tried another shift: "We have been — we will complete the mission, we will do our job and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting the tactics. Constantly."
To fully understand why the president's change in linguistic strategy won't work, it's helpful to consider why "stay the course" possesses such power. The answer lies in metaphorical thought.
Metaphors are more than language; they can govern thought and behavior. A recent University of Toronto study, for example, demonstrated the power of metaphors that connect morality and purity: People who washed their hands after contemplating an unethical act were less troubled by their thoughts than those who didn't, the researchers found.
"Stay the course" is a particularly powerful metaphor because it can activate so many of our emotions. Because physical actions require movement, we commonly understand action as motion. Because achieving goals so often requires going to a particular place — to the refrigerator to get a cold beer, say — we think of goals as reaching destinations.
Another widespread — and powerful — metaphor is that moral action involves staying on a prescribed path, and straying from the path is immoral. In modern conservative discourse, "character" is seen through the metaphor of moral strength, being unbending in the face of immoral forces. "Backbone," we call it.
In the context of a metaphorical war against evil, "stay the course" evoked all these emotion-laden metaphors. The phrase enabled the president to act the way he'd been acting — and to demonstrate that it was his strong character that enabled him to stay on the moral path.
To not stay the course evokes the same metaphors, but says you are not steadfast, not morally strong. In addition, it means not getting to your destination — that is, not achieving your original purpose. In other words, you are lacking in character and strength; you are unable to "complete the mission" and "achieve the goal."
"Stay the course" was for years a trap for those who disagreed with the president's policies in Iraq. To disagree was weak and immoral. It meant abandoning the fight against evil. But now the president himself is caught in that trap. To keep staying the course, given obvious reality, is to get deeper into disaster in Iraq, while not staying the course is to abandon one's moral authority as a conservative. Either way, the president loses.
And if the president loses, does that mean the Democrats will win? Perhaps. But if they do, it will be because of Republican missteps and not because they've acted with strategic brilliance. Their "new direction" slogan offers no values and no positive vision. It is taken from a standard poll question, "Do you like the direction the nation is headed in?"
This is a shame. The Democrats are giving up a golden opportunity to accurately frame their values and deepest principles (even on national security), to forge a public identity that fits those values — and perhaps to win more close races by being positive and having a vision worth voting for.
Right now, though, no language articulating a Democratic vision seems in the offing. If the Democrats don't find a more assertive strategy, their gains will be short-lived. They, too, will learn the pitfalls of staying the course.
George Lakoff, a professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute, is the author of "Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision."
***
Since I am in a coffeeshop, watching CNN and having unethical thoughts, I will now go and wash my hands.
Give you a 'C' for what? Constitution abuse? Competency vaccuum? Con job? The list goes on and on.
'w' is for just all kinds of wrong,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at October 27, 2006 08:06 AM
I'm afraid I don't quite get the comment. Not eligible because I'm already in the military? Or not eligible due to gender? The new draft bills are not exactly gender-restricted.
I'm smack-dab in the middle of the target age group as well and it would be my friends - friends newly married, friends having their first child, friends finishing up school and striking out on their careers, friends with promise and potential in their civilian lives - who would be on the front lines.
Here's the draft I support: 18-28, 2-4 years, any military branch/Guard/Reserves or, for conscientious objectors and those ineligible to serve in the military, other community service options such as the Peace Corps, Teach for America, or Habitat. A maximum of one two-year deferment (for those with a young child, dying parents, etc) and NO exemptions except those who would be a danger to society if they served (such as the mentally ill).
So what you're saying, Karen, is that you want the American people to elect Saddam Hussein to be President of the United States in 2008.
And that is exactly what Al Qaeda wants you to do, because they hate us for our freedoms and they want to fight us over here so they don't have to fight us over there.
I'm not saying you're unpatriotic, I'm just saying you're a delusional moonbat who refuses to support our brave young troops and wants our daughters to take abortion pills in their school lunchrooms because they've been having premarital sex with gay illegal immigrants who are not good Christians and aren't rich enough to avoid paying taxes.
and quit picking on rummy already dammit,
Otter
The former, V. I'm well aware that you're a career military person, and I respect you for your service... and for your politics, of course.
FWIW, I have always believed that some sort of universal service requirement would be both appropriate and beneficial to the citizens as well as to the nation.
I disagree that membership in the military should be the strongly-preferred default for fulfilling that universal service requirement, though.
Being the ardently peacemongering type that I am, I would much rather see the selfish and cynical military-industrial-corporate complex that so thoroughly dominates this country's government be dismantled rather than enhanced.
But that's just one otter's opinion. YMMV.
did I happen to mention that shrub is a doink yet today?,
Otter
(P.S. -- what's your take on the Coast Guard wanting to set up permanent live-fire zones in the Great Lakes? Here on the North Coast, we're agin 'em.)
Bush also called Steve Jim, or something like that. He attended a fundraiser for some loser at the Iowa State Fair & couldn't even get the name right!
In all fairness, nmp, given the hectic pace of any campaign tour, the president's momentary confusion over the name of some candidate his handlers told him to make a one-time appearance on behalf of is hardly the most egregious of his many sins and errors.
He invaded a subcontinent for some loser in the VP's mansion & couldn't even get the country right!
Iraq, Iran, hey, whatever works,
Otter
I was interviewed on news camera last night for a two part special to air in November on Robert Charles Brown. A local production on local airwaves.
The title is 'The Devil Among Us'
These reporters, THEY KNOW.
You know what I mean. Some things they can not just air, but they know. They are about to make the point for us.
40 or so murders could have been stopped. Those people died horribly. And the press is going straight to it.
I never thought I would live to see it, but it really is about to blow wide open.
Robert Charles Brown has asked for BLANKET IMMUNITY in the case of Faye Aline Self.
And our family is ready to give it to him. We have asked he be granted blanket immunity.
If anyone is so inclined, please recommend this diary about the congressional debate in my district last night. I know that it's probably not of much interest to many people here, but if our candidate gets elected, he will fairly represent not only those in my district, but all of you here as well.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/27/11015/063
(Sorry to "cut & run" but I've got lots of volunteer campaign work to do today.)
Man, all this time I thought Shrub said he was "cuttin' one".
Mayor McCheese
Posted by: monkey at October 27, 2006 09:24 AM
Obviously she is told what to say. It's not the first time I have heard her say what I would call "canned" words.
I don't know how they can do it.
I hope no '08 candidate proposes the draft as the answer to Iraq. Especially a Democratic candidate, as they will have to bear the stigma of being the President who encouraged/reinstated the draft, if elected. Yes, the people would rally around, but at that persons expense.
A pity that whoever "inherits" '08 will be starting out in a sewer of the mess that George left in his wake.
Rove will get really dirty again in '08, but even more so in '10.
'10-er, anyone?
nuthin' but nyet,
Otter
Part II: Pull the Plug on E-Voting
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102706O.shtml
The degree of independent hand-auditing of paper ballot records sufficient to verify the corresponding computerized vote tallies is comparable to the effort required to more accurately count all the ballots by hand in the first place, dispensing with the machines.
{Embedded links in this story for info regarding nasty e-voting shenanigans.}
US Warned of Ballot Box Chaos as Elections Near
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102706Z.shtml
Six years after the emergence of the now infamous "hanging chad" in the 2000 presidential elections, monitoring groups warn that technological glitches and hackers could throw next month's mid-term elections into chaos.
Excerpt:
Over the period of the past six years, the number of states requiring voters to show identification before they are given a ballot has risen from just 11 states to 24 states this year.
The study said it anticipated problems in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington state.
{{{Okay. I would be prepared to hunker down and patiently wait until votes were accurately counted (honest, I can be patient when I need to be!). Would Lamestream Media be so patient? Or voters in states with e-voting machines that can be hacked into in less than a minute, as was told about in the article? This could get... interesting; or ugly, depending on your perspective or where you live.}}}
Bernard Weiner | Traveling the "National-Security" Route to November 7th
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102706P.shtml
Bernard Weiner writes that "even though America stands as the lone superpower colossus in the world, it is somewhat musclebound and its influence and respect are fast-waning. Changing administrations in Washington might help bring back some of that honor and influence, but it's equally likely that the "old days" are over and that more intelligent US administrations will have to learn how to use America's economic and political power more creatively and less aggressively."
In the Libby Case, a Grilling to Remember
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102706K.shtml
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald took on the first witness in the CIA leak case Thursday, dissecting an expert witness until she acknowledged errors and misstatements in her research.
{{{Oh. My. Gawd. The last two paragraphs of the first article (of two) tell a tale. It's been so long since there was a photo of Fitzgerald anywhere that I can't evenremember what he looks like. If Fitzgerald continues to perform like the first article, in particular, describes, I will safely be able to say 'I {heart} Patrick Fitzgerald...!'}}}
I have some news for Bush. Value voters in 04' (according to PEW polling) in Frank Rich's book (Greatest Story Ever Sold)was NOT overwhelmingly on values. Issues did matter and they were (Iraq,terrorism,the economy and jobs )ranked higher than the value issues. Sixty % of those polled supported gay marriage(25%)or civil unions(35%),and 55% favored choice. "Values " polled in the low single digits.
Any wonder why LSM isn't doing their work as they are now on a mantra for value voters to GOTV....again! Scary Santorum says he's "UP" and LSM is milking books written by Jim H. Jim (as appears on the ballot)in Vir., however, with very little (if any )reporting on that.
http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?sfile=nq061027&vts=102720061218
Non Sequitur humor, for those still inclined to giggle now and then....
http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?sfile=cl061027&vts=102720061218
Close to Home
White House denies Cheney hailed 'water boarding'
October 27, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney was not talking about a torture technique known as "water boarding" when he said dunking terrorism suspects in water during questioning was a "no-brainer."
Human rights groups complained that Cheney's comments amounted to an endorsement of water boarding, in which the victim believes he is about to drown.
President Bush, asked about Cheney's comments, said, "This country doesn't torture. We're not going to torture." He spoke at an Oval Office meeting Friday with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Earlier, White House press secretary Tony Snow denied that Cheney had endorsed water boarding. (Watch Cheney explain that the U.S. has a "fairly robust interrogation program without torture" -- 1:09 )
"You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will," Snow said. "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on."
In an interview Tuesday with WDAY of Fargo, North Dakota, Cheney was asked if "a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives."
The vice president replied, "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/27/cheney.torture.ap/index.html
This is the latest headlines in the Washington Post. What a record for them to be running on:
•Economic growth worst in more than 3 years
Posted by: monkey at October 27, 2006 04:07 PM
"We don't torture" is the new "I am not a crook."
The paypal account has been set up and it is working now. I appreciate it you guys.
Yall are great!
http://www.candlesforaline.blogspot.com/
BREAKING NEWS
U.S. ambassador, Iraqi PM: Timeline needed
Officials issue rare joint statement after Rumsfeld tells critics to ‘back off’
Oct 27, 2006
BAGHDAD - After a tense week in U.S.-Iraqi relations, the Iraqi prime minister and the U.S. ambassador issued a rare joint statement Friday in which Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to a “good and strong” relationship with the United States.
The statement also said that Iraq “made clear the issues that must be resolved with timelines for them to take positive steps forward.”
The announcement came a day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told war critics demanding deadlines for Iraq to “just back off.” He said Thursday that it is too difficult to predict when Iraqis will resume control of their country.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15439415/
(new thread!)
Lakoff: "This is a shame. The Democrats are giving up a golden opportunity to accurately frame their values and deepest principles (even on national security), to forge a public identity that fits those values — and perhaps to win more close races by being positive and having a vision worth voting for."
Here in Missouri, signs and bumperstickers saying "Had Enough? Vote Democrat" are quite numerous.
I'd propose something relatively also short and to the point (for now)... something that offers a call to morals, something that sets a high bar, something that offers hope for future direction, something along the lines of: "We are better than this."
Unfortunately, there are way too many negative visuals that can be inserted after those words in order to make the point, but facing what has been done "in America's name" (whether we agreed or not), and facing those facts together (red and blue voters, side-by-side), provides an opportunity for the citizens of this country to work together for the common good.
Lakoff: "This is a shame. The Democrats are giving up a golden opportunity to accurately frame their values and deepest principles (even on national security), to forge a public identity that fits those values — and perhaps to win more close races by being positive and having a vision worth voting for."
Here in Missouri, signs and bumperstickers saying "Had Enough? Vote Democrat" are quite numerous.
I'd propose something relatively also short and to the point (for now)... something that offers a call to morals, something that sets a high bar, something that offers hope for future direction, something along the lines of: "We are better than this."
Unfortunately, there are way too many negative visuals that can be inserted after those words in order to make the point, but facing what has been done "in America's name" (whether we agreed or not), and facing those facts together (red and blue voters, side-by-side), provides an opportunity for the citizens of this country to work together for the common good.
Sorry about the double post above.
As for the draft, both my husband and I are torn on this issue. We never wanted to see a draft again; we understand that not having a draft has provided a way too easy "out" and escape from the responsiblity that goes with supporting a war that no one in your family might be forced to participate.
"We don't torture in America"
That seems obvious - what about "We don't torture in Cuba" Or "We don't pay poor countries to host torture" "We don't torture though videos show that we do." Or perhaps "Geneva Conventions? We don't violate those. How can we? They don't exist!"
Hmmm - in oz our govt is now shouting about a gap year for students after completion of secondary school. Come into the defence forces kids. Get paid for your year off study. Get paid to travel. Your lives will never be the same.
What a proposal for 18 year olds!