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Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future
We Americans need to address some history that should probably have been more prevalent in news media coverage and analysis in 2002 and 2003 -- as discussed in a book by Vali Nasr, titled "The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future".
In the preface to his book, Mr. Nasr recounts an incident that he observed, which I recall as well, observed through the global eye of television. I interpreted it much differently than he did. Unfortunately for our soldiers, our government did not understand the significance of such an event either.
I was on a research trip in Pakistan in April 2003 when two million Shias gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala to mark the Arbaeen, the commemoration of the fortieth day after the martyrdom of the Shia saint Imam Husayn [Hussein] at Karbala in 680 C.E. ... On that particular "fortieth day," so soon after the one on which U.S. Marines and jubilant Iraqis had pulled down Saddam's hollow image in Baghdad's Firdous Square, I happened to be on the outskirts of Lahore, visiting the headquarters of a Sunni fundamentalist political group known as the Jamaat-e Islami (Islamic Party). The office television set was tuned to CNN, as everyone was following the news from Iraq. The coverage turned to scenes of young Shia men standing densely packed in the shadow of the golden dome of Imam Husayn's shrine at Karbala. They all wore black shirts and had scarves of green (the universal color of Islam) wrapped around their heads. They chanted a threnody in Arabic for their beloved saint as they raised their empty hands as if in prayer toward heaven and in unison brought them down to thump on their chests in a rhythmic gesture of mourning, solidarity, and mortification. The image was magnetic, at once jubilant and defiant. The Shia were in the streets and they were holding their faith and their identity high for all to see. We stared at the television screen. My Sunni hosts were aghast at what they were seeing. A pall descended on the room.
...The CNN commentator was gleefully boasting that the Iraqis were free at last--they were performing a ritual that the audience in the West did not understand but that had been forbidden to the Shia for decades. What Americans saw as Iraqi freedom, my hosts saw as blatant display of heretical rites that are anathema to orthodox Sunnis. ... "These actions are not right," said one of my hosts. Iraqis--by which he meant the Shia -- "do not know the proper practice of Islam." The Shia-Sunni debates over the truth of the Islamic message and how to practice it would continue, he added, not just peacefully and symbolically but with bombs and bullets. He was talking not about Iraq but about Pakistan.
So what are these differences between Shia and Sunni and how have they evolved? That's not something that I can adequately cover here but I can point you toward a few resources that will start you on a journey of understanding that we all should have taken 5 years ago.
Mike Shuster and NPR put together a magnificent series -- one of those that NPR does so well with extended focus over a 5 day period on a single topic -- which aired earlier this month. The entire series is available by streaming audio and also available for download as a podcast.
It starts with the genesis of the Shia - Sunni divide, covers the incident of martyrdom celebrated in the event Nasr described above, and moves on into more recent history of where the Shias moved to and how they have existed in tension with the Sunni majority up to the present time.
It is expertly narrated by Mike Shuster, with audio clips from live news coverage of events in more recent history sprinkled throughout. Vali Nasr is one of several scholars whose comments are heard throughout the series. The series is called "The Partisans of Ali" -- a name which you will better understand after you've listened to the series.
After listening to the NPR series, you may find that this Washington Post article, "Across Arab World, a Widening Rift", adds more perspective to what's happening across the middle east with regard to the Shia emergence and the reactions by various Sunni institutions and governments. Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post Foreign Service gives us an on-the-ground look at how the recent events are regarded in the largest, most populous Sunni country, Egypt, and how the Shia - Sunni co-existence there has differed from the co-existence in other countries.
Another resource is, of course, Vali Nasr's book, "The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future", which is available now in hardcover and will be released shortly in paperback. Vali Nasr writes in the conclusion of his book:
It is clear today that America cannot take comfort in an imagined future for the Middle East, and cannot force the realization of that future. ... The lesson of Iraq is that trying to force a future of its liking will hasten the advent of those outcomes that the United States most wishes to avoid. Through occupation of Iraq, America has actually made the case for radical Islam--that ours is a war on Islam--encouraging anti-Americanism and fueling extremism and terrorism. The reality that will shape the future of the Middle East is not the debates over democracy or globalization that the Iraq war was supposed to have jump-started but the conflicts between Shias and Sunnis that it precipitated. In time we will come to see this as the central legacy of the war.
In other words, we have opened Pandora's box. Let me start you on your learning journey with this thought which Vali Nasr placed prior to the preface of his book:
Heed not the blind eye, the echoing ear, nor yet the tongue,
but bring to this great debate the test of reason.-- Parmenides
[Note: this entry was originally posted in a slightly different form here. The map is from a 2003 BBC special report on global Islam that can be explored here.]
Good stuff, dwahzon. Merci bien.
Thanks, madame.
I highly, highly recommend listening to... not just reading... the NPR series. There's stuff in the audio that is not on the website that really adds to the content.
The map at the top of this threader is especially striking. We Americans don't seem to realize that 'Islam' isn't synonymous with 'Arab', and that its influence extends to much more of the planet than just the Middle East. Almost half of the African continent is majority Muslim, and Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country. Here in the United States, our leaders seem to believe that flyover-country fundamentalism trumps all else. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Here 's an interesting site to learn more about the Middle East & Islam.
History of the Middle East Database
http://www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/mehistorydatabase/mideastindex.php
Also, the diarist Unitary Moonbat at Daily Kos has many well written & resourced history diaries, with many about the Middle East. See here for a complete list ==> http://unitary-moonbat.dailykos.com/
Chimps were obsessed with making spears.
Women may have invented weapons.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21277955-2703,00.html
Great thread - looking forward to reading it more closely on my break.
In the news I see that Canada is striking down its secret trials r/t terror suspects, Britain is seeking to cooperate with US on missile defense shields, press is putting positive spin on Cheney's blusterings in Australia, and Democrats in Congress may seek to limit the scope of the mission in Iraq.
That last bit speaks to the topic of this thread, as it won't be legal then to justify killing members of just any faction, on someone's whim. Sorry I didn't supply links - had to just take a quick news overview. I like to get a "big picture" from high overhead first.
Was listening to NPR on the way in & it struck me how dire the situation for common people in places like Zimbabwe and Guinea, where dictators rule and public assembly and free speech are illegal, and where there is martial law and possibly imminent war or bloody revolution. How sad that we support some dictators and ignore others, while going on about spreading democracy (when I say "we" I mean the neocons who pretend to represent "we the people").
PS I just did read through this again - I did catch the NPR 5 part series and also thought it was excellent. Thanks for writing, Dwahzon.
Re the toppling of the Saddam statue, I might also add that the event was rigged. It was a planned photo op, with "actors." I can find the link for this again, I think. It shows the whole courtyard from overhead and just one section has the Saddam statue toppling & it's obvious the staging and props.
Chimps were obsessed with making spears.
Posted by: DiAnne at February 23, 2007 10:55 AM
Brittany on the Bounty
eek eek i did it again
Saddam toppling link for now
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2842.htm
I remember being all up in arms about this bit of propaganda.
http://www.topplebush.com/
Did you catch that published poll of 27 countries last week wherein most people thought the conflicts in the middle east to be political rather than clash of cultures?
Also to remember, as we embroil ourselves in the 14 century old question of whether it is the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf our aircraft carriers are sitting in:
Iran is a Persian country. About 3% of Iranians are ethnic Arabs and native speakers of Arabic, the vast majority- over 97% of the country do not speak Arabic and do not consider themselves ethnically or culturaly related to Arabs.
Iranians are predominantly Shia muslims while Arabs (with the exception of Bahrain and Iraq) are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
Arab country neighbors of Iran
Bahrain
Iraq
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Non-neighboring Arab countries
Algeria
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Eritrea
Jordan
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Western Sahara (SADR)
Yemen
(from notes I took earlier from Wikipedia)
How timely! Thanks, dw, for this.
I was speaking just yesterday with someone who may want to use LMA to understand the body language of people from the Middle East. I pointed out that there are many many sub- and micro-cultures throughout the ME and it is impossible to describe, in simple terms anyway, signifiers that are shared by everyone.
Al Quaeda itself is a developed micro-culture, and no doubt innovations in signifiers/codes have been developed in order to decrease the personal and familial patterns, and allow them to identify each other as well.
So this insight from Mike Shuster is another peek inside the systems and beliefs. More data!
I also spoke to this person about the intermarriages and studies in other countries that impact beliefs and behaviors. There really is not a simple line between Sunni and Shia. Our friend Andy Shallal is Shia Iraqi married to a Sunni Iranian (I think that's correct, not 100% positive) and so is Raed Jarrar. The Iraqi women who visited via Code Pink last year were Kurdish and Sunni and Shia, sometimes within the same families.
It's complicated. I always feel uneasy when anyone talks about the Middle East as a single culture, just as I do when people speak of Africa as a single culture. Or Cleveland, for that matter.
In the end, as always, it will be about listening and engaging across differences that will break through these barriers. We cannot shoot or bomb our way through. We are simply going to have to listen, observe, attune, and CARE.
And in line with the thread header and my comment/response to Truth Shall Prevail in the previous thread header, I found the story I was looking for:
There’s an old parable about heaven and hell the source of which I cannot remember, but the image still lies clearly in my mind. A man stood at the gates of the afterlife and two doors lay before him. He opened one door and looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water. But curiously, the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. They were bitter and angry and at odds. The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering and realized this was Hell.
The man went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The man said, “I don’t understand. How do you eat?” “It’s simple” they replied. “It requires but one skill. We learned to feed each other.”
http://www.good.org/sermons/index.shtml
Blinded By Rainbows
The Rolling Stones
Did you ever feel the pain
That he felt upon the cross
Did you ever feel the knife
Tearing flesh thats oh so soft
Did you ever touch the night
Did you ever count the cost
Do you hide away the fear
Put down paradise as lost
Yeah youre blinded by rainbows
Watching the wind blow
Blinded by rainbows
Do you dream at night
Do you sleep at night
I doubt it
Did you ever feel the blast
As the semtex bomb goes off
Do you ever hear the screams
As the limbs are all torn off
Did you ever kiss the child
Who just saw his father shot
Do you ever shed a tear
As the war drags on and on
Do you ever touch the night
Or is it just another job
Do you feel the final hours
Put down paradise as lost
Yeah youre blinded by rainbows
And faces in windows
Blinded by rainbows
Do you dream at night
Do you sleep at night
I doubt it
Do you ever fear the night
Could it be the war is lost
Do you fear the final hour
Do you kneel before the cross
Youre blinded by rainbows
And watching the wind blow
Blinded by rainbows
Do you dream at night
Do you scream at night
Do you smell of fear
Is your conscience clear
Are you caked in sweat
Are your clothes all wet
Do you see the light
Is the end in sight
See the face of christ
Enter paradise
I doubt it
DCPers:
We can join this coalition, if you want it:
http://www.a28.org/
Let us know!!
You're so right, Karen. There's far more going on here. The map that Otter pointed out also highlights how Islam is not synonymous with Arab. And as Nasr's book opens the door... Islam is not a monolithic, homogeneous entity either.
One of the commenters from the prior posting of this said.
"The NPR podcast was excellent. Hard to believe they fit a really good overview of the history and the cultural divides that are the basis of the current conflict into less than an hour of audio.
I highly recommend the NPR podcast to get an understanding of who and when and why this all happened."
I add that just to push those who were not sure about the use of time on it, into going ahead and listening to the NPR audio.
I'm going to mention another post here that adds additional light on the complexity. The links included in it should be reviewed by any serious reader who wants to understand the complexities that have been omitted by the Bush admin and the MSM with a few exceptions.
It's called
Four Simultaneous Wars in Iraq?
and can be found here...
http://blog.johnkerry.com/2007/02/four_wars_in_iraq.html
There's also a fascinating diary here in which Jerome A Paris argues that military force is not the solution....
"And if there are real political grievances to the terrorist acts, military action will never solve them .... Solutions can only be political. Military action can be a political tool, and is not to be excluded altogether, but it should be used only with a keen understanding of the political context...."
"Ignoring the underlying facts by waging indiscriminate and disproportionate violence is unlikely to eliminate the existing grievances if they exist and will give legitimacy and substance to those terrorists that initially had no public support and no claim beyond their criminal intent or what was in their deluded minds. Violence begets violence."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/23/85836/9074
I've had enough of 'nonbinding,' " said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who is helping to draft the new Democratic proposal. The 2002 war resolution, he said, is an obvious target.
"The authorization that we gave the president back in 2002 is completely, completely outdated, inappropriate to what we're engaged in today," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022201743.html?nav=rss_world/mideast/iraq
Posted by: karen at February 23, 2007 11:44 AM
I have no objection.
Karen
I've read in a number of places and also heard people interviewed with translators, in Iraq, especially by Ann Garrels of NPR - that Shiite and Sunni lived side by side in Iraq before we invaded. There were mixed neighborhoods, now replaced by Shiite death squads and Sunni insurgency.
Imagine if the same thing happened in the US and someone came to liberate us - I wonder if our polarized by coexisting neighborhoods would become violent and separatist?
My husband also pointed out that despite Ahmidenejad's mean rhetoric about wiping Israel off the map, a Christian and Jewish minorities are currently tolerated in Iran.
In Iran, the Bahais have been persecuted, and in Iraq, there was a large group pushed literally out of the country who honored not Jesus or Mohammed as their Savior, but John the Baptist.
sorry about typos
by = but
a minorities = minorities
What I hear of Murtha's plan which will be unveiled soon looks great & it's threatening to Cheney if he's essentially calling Pelosi a terrorist.
Meanwhile, Condi opposes Israel opening dialogue with Syria. What madness is this? Colin Powell certainly favors it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829441.html
The neocons simply adhere blindly to their mad vision, irrespective of any data that it is not only failing but dangerous.
In Iran, the Bahais have been persecuted, and in Iraq, there was a large group pushed literally out of the country who honored not Jesus or Mohammed as their Savior, but John the Baptist.
Posted by: DiAnne at February 23, 2007 12:20 PM
Richard is rather fond of the Great Father Snake. I myself worship at the altar of Terpsichore.
Can't we all just get along??
Go Terps!
Outta My Shell
Snakiness is next to godliness.
Karen
For me, it's Kwan Yin
I agree
For me, it's Kwan Yin
Posted by: DiAnne at February 23, 2007 03:13 PM
Kwan Yin, the transgender bodhisattva - YES! :)
"Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut told the Politico on Thursday that he has no immediate plans to switch parties but suggested that Democratic opposition to funding the war in Iraq might change his mind."
its too bad we have no Senator willing to stand up to him and tell him that he is endangering the lives of our brave troops.
I worship at the altars of each of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne [Memory] and Zeus: Calliope, the Muse of eloquence and epic or heroic poetry; Clio, the Muse of historical and heroic poetry; Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry, particularly love and erotic poetry, and mimicry; Euterpe, the Muse of music and lyric poetry - she is also the Muse of joy and pleasure and of flute playing and was thought to have invented the double flute; Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy; Polyhymnia, the Muse of the sacred hymn, eloquence and dance; Terpsichore, the Muse of dancing and the dramatic chorus, and later of lyric poetry (and in even later versions, of flute playing), hence the word terpsichorean, pertaining to dance; Thalia, the Muse who presided over comedy and pastoral poetry; and Urania, the Muse of astronomy and astrology,
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/muses.html
Er... well, I am a Pisces, after all, the sign that encompasses traits of all the other eleven signs of the zodiac, plus traits of their own, and sign of trivia (or, knowledge, if one prefers) and allegedly remarkable memory, along with the ability to dance (Pisces rules the feet), and theatrical ability, and there are tales of mystical and intuitive abilities connected with spiritualism (or, depending on how one interprets the alleged spiritual aspects of the zodiac, Pisces is the last incarnation). Well those are the positive traits of Pisceans - the negative traits are real doozies for those who don't follow a positive path in life. There are always choices involved - 'the stars impel, they do not compel.' I get along well with the traits from my past incarnations, and in this lifetime my task is to tie up loose ends and unfinished business left over from past lives; karma. *grin* One fish swims upstream and accomplishes much in spite of the current, and the other fish swims downstream, going with the flow. Two diametrically opposing traits in one being is how that's interpreted for Pisceans. A Piscean must learn when to swim upstream and when to swim downstream; choices and circumstances are involved. (BTW, the alleged Rebbe Yeshua was born in the sign of the two fishes.)
All of which means nothing, except I've had old-age-related things on my mind recently and the birthday card I got from my brother today is one of those funny Maxine cards. On the outside it says "Birthdays are like chocolate chip cookies..." and on the inside: "If you think about how many we've had, it makes you kinda sick."
Which led my brain to remember the war-related dialogue at the end of Boston Legal this week: 'The first recorded war was mentioned in writing in 2700 BCE' (wars occurred before that, but that's the first recorded mention of a war) - to paraphrase the script. I wonder if that's true, and if the writers researched that before they wrote the script? How many wars have been fought since the first recorded mention of war (whenever that actually happened, whether the script was right or not)? The mere idea of war makes me sick, and the current unjustified and illegal war makes me sicker still because it is connected to torture that has been sanctioned by 'our leaders,' and I am adamantly opposed to torture in all forms done to anyone, anywhere, at any time, and I am adamantly opposed to war.
Why can't humans evolve to the point of their bonobo chimpanzee relatives and solve all problems peacefully (and with sex, like bonobos!). The regular chimpanzees have war-like traits, the group is led by a patriarch, it seems, they do commit murder and infanticide on occasion, and females are only available during estrus (and with only one male mating with them, the paternity is known). Bonobos, on the other hand, while a related species, are not the same as regular chimpanzees. Bonobos do not kill each other, and because they solve everything with sex (all kinds of sex, several times a day, even if it only lasts a few seconds at a time), they do not commit infanticide because none of the males know which offspring are theirs because females are receptive to sex the year 'round (not just during estrus like the regular chimps) and it's counter-productive for the males to kill infants because any of the infants might be biologically descended from any male in the group, so killing any infant negates the possiblity of that male's DNA going forward to the future if he kills an infant that may (or may not) be his own biological offspring..., and the bonobo groups are led by females.
Things that make me go Hmmmmmmm...... (Work with me here. I'm connecting seemingly random, unrelated, dots with only a few details....) *grin* Still, in connecting dots via quantum leaps, one has to reckon with history, so the adage about repeating history's mistakes rings true for anyone who has studied history, ancient and modern, and it's related topics. With the current state of the world today, we are devolving, not evolving.
I don't understand religious zealotry (including the Sunni-Shia differences), and the older I get the less appealing religion is to me because of the hypocrisy involved (all religions; it just happens that in this country it's fundamental Christianity that is part and parcel of the horrors committed by some citizens of this country today, and historically it's related to martyrdom in the name of religion). I don't get the whole concept of any religion anywhere in the world that preaches peace on one hand, and practices war in the name of religion on the other. It's counter-intuitive, and it reduces things ad absurdum to Orwell's 'war is peace' in 1984.
I agree with Karen: "Can't we all just get along??"
There are so very, very many interesting things to learn and do in life, and so very many things one can accomplish in life if one has the peace and means to achieve learning and doing (wherever one's talents and interests lie). Why must there be war according to patriarchal standards, with its attendant wholesale slaughter of innocents and destruction of the things that make up the history and culture of any given country? War and torture dehumanize us. War and torture make us less than civilized.
Karen,
Occurred to me that I may have not gotten the jest of your message to me on the previous thread.
Yes, we CAN all get along.
You say potato, I say potahtoe, Dubya says "taters".
;}
Love and appreciate each one of you so much!
Lou Dobbs wasn't quite calling for regime change here in the United States during his broadcast tonight, but he's getting closer to it.
I'm a very even-handed kind of otter, but I can't find ways not to agree with this any more:
Investigate. Indict. Impeach. Imprison.
And I repeat myself:
DCPers:
We can join this coalition, if you want it:
http://www.a28.org/
Let us know!!
Posted by: karen at February 23, 2007 11:44 AM
Investigate. Indict. Impeach. Imprison.
Posted by: Otter at February 23, 2007 06:23 PM
Yes, yes, yes, yes...! The one country that truly NEEDS regime change is the US.
We're all sick of illegal unjustified wars based on lies, lies, and more lies.....
GI's petition to end the Iraq occupation will be on 60 minutes on Sunday.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/22/60minutes/main2505412.shtml
karen --
Speaking of course as an individual, not an organization -- I'm in. I'm in for that. I am *so* in for that.
John Kerry called for "regime change" in this country four years ago and got jumped all over.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23490-2003Apr3?language=printer
As usual, he was prescient and not appreciated.
As we know, we should be having Al Gore in his 2nd term, with Kerry as VP because Lieberman was not selected in order to woo Florida retirees. Oh would I like to revise history like it really needs to be!
Recommended diary about what WA state legislature is doing to encourage impeachment proceedings. Be aware also that alot has been going on in New Mexico. Probably we would need a "perfect storm" of state legislatures and city councils in order to have an effect. Is it possible?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/2/23/172726/112
Notice Cheney is given hunting and fishing perks plus a high international profile in another hemispherer when he should by rights be on the witness stand or already doing time.
UK supports ban on cluster bombs
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2020446,00.html
but not China, Russia, U.S., Israel
At least, the people of Nevada were able to forestall the explosion of massive bunker busters, for now, which could have released radioactive dust from past bombs detonated in the desert there.
Oh for crying out loud, McCain snuck into the Westin, Seattle - wooing moderate Republicans just after whoring fundies in South Carolina at the abstinence conference. The man has no shame.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2020446,00.html
http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=17394&cid=4&cname=Business+Today
Complaint against Bush billboard upheld
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/23/write-your-own-caption-30/
Billboard image on C&L.... If you go to original article to read the story, scroll down the page to see the same image.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070223/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
Dems move to limit Bush's war authority
White House opposes war authority limits [Headline this afternoon; above headline from this morning, altho it seems to be the same story.]
{About danged time, and the sooner the better!!! They should have done this years ago!}
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2897188
Senate Dems Move to Limit Iraq Mission
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070223/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_iraq
Cheney won't take back Pelosi comment
Excerpt:
During Friday's interview in Sydney with ABC News, Cheney said, "I'm not sure what part of it is that Nancy disagreed with. She accused me of questioning her patriotism. I didn't question her patriotism. I questioned her judgment."
"You also have to be accountable for the results. What are the consequences of that? What happens if we withdraw from Iraq?," he said. "And the point I made and I'll make it again is that al-Qaida functions on the basis that they think they can break our will. That's their fundamental underlying strategy, that if they can kill enough Americans or cause enough havoc, create enough chaos in Iraq, then we'll quit and go home. And my statement was that if we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaida. I said it and I meant it."
Asked if he was willing to take back his criticism of Pelosi, Cheney replied, "I'm not backing down."
sorry wrong link - try
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003586396_webjbmccain23.html
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2007/02/23/notes022307.DTL&nl=fix
Behold, The Lost Americans
Who are the 13 percent of us who've never heard of global warming? And how can they be stopped?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/22/one-step-closer-to-a-theocracy/
One Step Closer To A Theocracy
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/23/a-new-%e2%80%98bubble-boy%e2%80%99-emerges/
A new ‘Bubble Boy’ emerges
This is ridiculous:
I believe that if we fail and leave you will see chaos and genocide. I also believe that unlike the Vietnam War when we lost and they didn't want to follow us home, these people want to follow us home," McCain said.
-- Then he headed to the county airport to meet with Christian conservatives, a separate meeting. The guy they quote is from the exurban megachurch that thinks it can "cure" gays.
Reading about this soldier who got 100 years for killing and raping in Iraq who will actually get off in only 10 years is breaking through my defenses really fast.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2019724,00.html
Michael Jackson to convert to Islam?
Friday, February 23 2007, 10:43 GMT
By Nick Levine, Entertainment Reporter
Michael Jackson is planning to convert to Islam, according to his brother Jermaine.
The troubled pop legend was recently given some books on the religion by his Celebrity Big Brother contestant brother, who became a Muslim in 1989.
Jermaine told The Muslim News: "When I came back from Mecca I got him a lot of books and he asked me lots of things about my religion and I told him that it's peaceful and beautiful.
"He read everything and he was proud of me that I found something that would give me inner strength and peace. I think it is most probable that Michael will convert to Islam. He could do so much, just like I am trying to do. Michael and I and the word of God, we could do so much."
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a43039/michael-jackson-to-convert-to-islam.html
And I repeat myself:
DCPers:
We can join this coalition, if you want it:
http://www.a28.org/
Let us know!!
Posted by: karen at February 23, 2007 11:44 AM
Posted by: karen at February 23, 2007 06:45 PM
@@@@@@@
I think impeachment should be and may have to be an option to deal with this awful administration. There also these campaigns/umbrella groups advocated impeachment:
http://www.impeach07.org/
http://impeachpac.org/
DiAnne,
Re: McCain
If the supporters of McCain can be reminded of how sorry a state Arizona is, compared to their posh Seattle area legislations and surroundings, that would work the trick.
They will either (1) stop supporting that weasel, or (2) relocate to union-free Arizona and sing its praises.
So now, yes, I am home and mixed myself a stiff drink.
On the way home I listened to a sad sad NPR broadcast about a high school near a military base in Texas where almost every student has a parent stationed in Iraq (or as it's fashionable to say, "deployed to"). Some of them stay up all night, watching over their mothers so they won't commit suicide. Others drive younger siblings to appointments and try to calm them when they cry for parents who are gone. Still others have taken to cutting their own flesh.
Also, this wacko story, which is not from The Onion:
KFC Seeks Papal Blessing for New Sandwich
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/kfc-seeks-papal-blessing-for-new/20070222192809990001
Despise Fox news?
Read this and forward it widely.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/fox-attack-enough-is-eno_b_41902.html
What Would Lennon Do?
By David Swanson
Let's Impeach Them (Bush Is Over)
With Thanks to John Lennon, Yoko Ono, George Mason, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson
So let's impeach them.
They lied about war.
If we don't impeach them,
What the hell are laws for?
So let's impeach them.
They lied and they spied.
They tortured and murdered.
Now where will they hide?
CHORDS: / D - / Em - / A7 - / D - / G - / Am - / D - / G - /
{Refrain}
We'll remove them from office,
And the world will all sing.
Thus always to tyrants.
The law is the king.
CHORDS: / C - / Dm - / Am C / G A7 /
So let's impeach them------------Bush is over
For weak and for strong------------If you want it
For rich and the poor ones------------Bush is over
The road is so long------------Now
So let's impeach them------------Bush is over
For black and for white------------If you want it
For yellow and red ones------------Bush is over
Let's stop all the fight------------Now
{Refrain}
So let's impeach them. ------------Cheney's over
They lied about war. ------------If you want it
If we don't impeach them,------------Cheney's over
What the hell are laws for?------------Now
So let's impeach them.------------Cheney's over
They lied and they spied.------------If you want it
They tortured and murdered.------------Cheney's over
Now where will they hide?------------Now
{Refrain}
War is over if you want it
War is over now
Torture's over if you want it
Torture's over now
Bush is over if you want it
Bush is over now
Cheney's over if you want it
Cheney's over now
http://www.bushisover.org
Despise Fox news?
Read this and forward it widely.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/fox-attack-enough-is-eno_b_41902.html
Posted by:
@@@@@@@@@@
Apparently the Nevada State Democratic party doesn't depise Fox News.... they want to do business with Fox News. Fox News is suposed to cover a Democratic primary debate held in Nevada.
People might want to write or call the Nevade Democratic Party and ask them, "What were you thinking???":
Nevada Democratic Party
1210 South Valley View Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89102
702-737-8683
702-735-2700 (fax)
http://www.nvdems.com/
Chair: Hon. Tom Collins
Vice Chair: Teresa Benitez-Thompson
Executive
Ralpheh
That is a good action item. I'm gonna do it.
Dear DCPers,
I just got a call from Tina Richards, MFSO, who dropped our friend Polly at the airport, and who ran into many young people on their way back to Iraq or Afghanistan. Polly and Tina spoke with many of these young people. One young man told her the story of a friend who was wounded in Iraq and whose hopes of becoming a policeman were shattered when he became disabled in one arm. The VA gave him a 10% disability rating, even though he is pretty close to being totally unable to earn a living. He is working security details for $5.00 an hour and he cannot even afford a car with the special equipment to drive to his job.
Tina said, "You know that Hatch et al have been talking about demoralizing the troops if we defund? What could be more demoralizing than seeing your buddies lost hope and support once they are stateside?"
I just want to do something effective on this topic. Any ideas?
You know what's a cool fantasy? Take over FOX news. Tie up the big wigs and make them wath our guerilla broadcasts. Watch them gasp as we bring in the most scary speakers they can think of - pacifists, environmentalists, feminists, actual minorities, homosexuals and punk rockers. Then bring out the dunk tank and in go all the hate-monger wingnut radio show hosts, kicking and screaming. Anne Coulter's makeup is streaming down.
Eeeek! Coultergeist! Run away!
Neil Young knows.
---------------
Let's impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
He's the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war
Let's impeach the president for spying
On citizens inside their own homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and telephones
What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees
Would New Orleans have been safer that way
Sheltered by our government's protection
Or was someone just not home that day?
Let's impeach the president
For hijacking our religion and using it to get elected
Dividing our country into colors
And still leaving black people neglected
Thank god he's racking down on steroids
Since he sold his old baseball team
There's lot of people looking at big trouble
But of course the president is clean
Thank God
----------------
shrubiana delenda est,
Otter
IF LIBBY IS CONVICTED:
I think that this would give a great push for the impeachment movement - especially of impeaching Cheney. The trial of Libby clearly showed that Cheney and people in his office conspired to smear Wilson, his wife and to release classified information and the ID of a CIA agent.
Perhaps Fitzgerald will give over all the documents and testimony from his Grand Jury hearings and the Libby trial to the House of Representatives etc and they can pursue impeachment.
Perhaps I'm being too cynical or paranoid (or both), but...
I'm wondering if the US is trying to create an international incident & provoke Iran with the arrest of the son of a Shiite leader in Iraq. The father has close ties to both Iran and the United States and is considered by some people the most powerful Shiite politician in Iraq...
U.S. military defends arrest of Shiite politician's son
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/24/iraq.main/index.html
Perhaps I'm being too cynical or paranoid (or both), but...
Posted by: madame defarge at February 24, 2007 12:42 PM
How can you be TOO cynical or paranoid? It seems to me as if we cannot be cynical or paranoid ENOUGH.
These people are both stupid and short-sighted. If Iran is attacked we will have to be in the streets, in Congressional offices, and taking over Fox (as DiAnne suggests, above). Anything less is to allow the worst of political and human disasters.
By the way, he said completely off-topically...
As all things grow and change, so does the DCP.
We've built a strong foundation here over the last couple of years, and as the political sands are shifting in favor of progressivism again, our roles in the process are changing but they're even more important than ever.
I'll be writing up a more detailed threader about this in a week or so, with a number of suggestions for the whole DCP community to consider and weigh in on. So I guess you could call this a heads-up pre-alert post.
I've been tapped to step into the role of chief-editor-and-bottle-washer for the DCP site, particularly the blog.
I've already got some ideas in mind to bump up the energy and re-emphasize the current purposes & goals of the DCP community. I'm soliciting a lot more ideas too, though (this pre-alert post being an example of that). I'll work them all into a set of suggestions for y'all to give thumbs-up or thumbs-down to.
In the meanwhile, though, why not jump-start the brainstorming process by letting me know what your off-the-cuff thoughts on our best next steps are? You can post them here in the threads, and/or if you want to make sure they don't get lost in the ongoing flow of comments, you can also email them to me at: rick(at)democracycellproject(dot)net.
I'm looking forward to helping guide what we do here at the DCP into the next phase of its growth. It's going to be fun. (Also a whole lot of work, but hey.) Besides, it's important stuff and it needs doing. So if I can help, then I'm on the case. And I'm hoping that all of you are, too.
Really good & thought-provoking piece here, kids:
http://culturekitchen.com/margaret_bassett/forum/blogging_is_not_a_spectator_sport
'Bout darn time she started a channel and made stuff easy to find:
http://youtube.com/globalvillage1
WOW!!! I think the Libby lied through most of his Grand Jury testimony, after listening to the recording of his 4 hour first session of testimony.
The audio tape of Libby's testimony is at C-Span here:
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Current_Event&Code=Bush_Admin&ShowVidNum=18&Rot_Cat_CD=BA&Rot_HT=&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=365&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30
Libby is charged - I believe - with 7 counts of perjury. From the testimony that I listened to, Libby may have not told the truth at least 15 times... Things like: I don't recall..., I may have..., I may not have... It's possible..., I don't know for sure...
Here's the amount of time that has passed since President Bush said he would get Osama bin Laden dead or alive:
1986 days, 17 hours, 58 minutes, and 9 seconds
It's fun also to think of the reaction of the habitual Fox watchers as we took over the airwaves. Instead of the pretend liberals they use as foils, actually have Michael Moore and other legendary monsters they secretly fear. Get Sacha Baron Cohen to come up with some more characters. Get some of the best of Public Access and pipe it into the homes of middle America and the Bible belt and the exurbs. They wouldn't know what hit them!
Posted by: karen at February 24, 2007 11:18 AM
That is something I would like to contribute time and effort to.
That's incredibly sad that that young veteran was given a 10% disability rating and has to work a $5.00 an hour job. I hope someone gets to know him personally if they don't already, and gets behind him to help him lift himself up. He needs rehabilitation, training for new skills that are also in demand (moving to India? being sarcastic).
Those are the kinds of vets, who, left alone to deal with psychological and physical wounds, many times end up homeless on the streets.
Who can help? Is that what the Veterans Administration is for?
That's another reason why I hate that the neocons have so effectively split people regarding faith and religion. Everyone should and could be working together.
I would like to say send the guy to a church for help, but only in a perfect world would there be people in every church doing what they profess.
In my post on yesterday's thread I was speaking of what good I have seen people of faith do in my lifetime. I didn't talk about those who knew to do good and did it not. And I have seen plenty and there are plenty who wrap themselves in robes of righteousness but don't walk the talk. But there are also many who do good.
Spiritual growth is a process. Some people get stuck in the early stages and use their religion as a mask so they don't have to deal with reality. Some are going along the road, perhaps stuck in a spot, but progressing. Some just zip along. We're all human.
Oh, how I wish there wasn't this chasm between people of faith and some progressives.
I would be willing to work on something to help veterans get better treatment and opportunities in life after their service. Better still if I could do it from home (calling, emailing, writing letters, mentoring, etc.). Maybe some day I can get to Minneapolis.
We are each best at something. Karen is the energentic go getter who networks, processes, attends meetings and shares, and effects change in great ways by sharing knowledge and encouraging and empowering.
Congratulations Otter for your new official title as Blog Editor! You have been doing a superb job!
Now, now, TSP, please do not get me confused with the new blog editor. It's not his fault he's only a poor land-based biped.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/24/vilsack_ends_his_run_for_president/
Mike Huckabee -- a former Arkansas governor who is among the lesser-known competitors in the race for the GOP nomination -- has lamented the heavy focus on money, noting that some political analysts have said a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million to be taken seriously.
"If all it's going to be about is raising money, let's put the whole thing on eBay," Huckabee told voters in Manchester , N.H., earlier this month. "If anyone breaks the $100 million [mark] before the first vote is even cast, you do not want that guy handling the federal Treasury."
Astrobuff will never believe this was printed in the Bend, OR weekly! It's about the reincarnation of the Pharoahs.
http://www.bendweekly.com/print/2978.html
Dubya's half-billion tower of Babel
President's 'truest believers' plan mother of all presidential libraries and conservative think tanks
After six years of incompetence and cronyism, a failed war against terrorism, the quagmire that is Iraq, wars against science, the environment, corporate regulation and the public's right-to-know, a chummy working relationship with the country's most reactionary conservative evangelical Christians, a politicized faith-based initiative, giveaways to the energy industry, tax relief for the wealthy, a culture of corruption culminating in the forced resignations and imprisonment of some of the administrations key soldiers, and an attack on fundamental democratic rights and values, the Bush Administration is hatching plans to celebrate itself with a $500 million library (the costliest presidential library ever) to be built after Bush's second term is over.
In what is being called "their final campaign," Bush's "truest believers" are aiming to raise a half-billion dollars for the mother of all presidential libraries. The library and an attached think tank -- which will pay for conservative research -- is being earmarked for the Dallas, Texas campus of Southern Methodist University, where First Lady Laura Bush is an alumna and a trustee.
(snip)
In late-November, the New York Daily News reported that "Bush sources with direct knowledge of library plans" said that "Bush fund-raisers hope to get half of the half billion from what they call 'megadonations' of $10 million to $20 million a pop." According to the Daily News, "Bush loyalists have already identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential 'mega' donors and are pressing for a formal site announcement - now expected early in the new year ... . The rest of the cash will come from donors willing to pony up $25,000 to $5 million."
(While the donors to Bush 43's library will remain anonymous, in February 2006, the Associated Press reported that among the donors to Papa Bush's presidential library located at Texas A&M University in College Station were a sheik from the United Arab Emirates, who contributed at least $1 million, the state of Kuwait, the Bandar bin Sultan family, the Sultanate of Oman, King Hassan II of Morocco, the amir of Qatar, and the former Korean prime minister. China also gave tens of thousands of dollars to the library. In addition, funds were received from the late Kenneth Lay, the former head of Enron, and Dick Cheney, the current Vice President.)
(snip)
The really big extra embedded into this project appears to be what Bush insiders are calling the Institute for Democracy. Modeled after the Hoover Institution, a long-time conservative think tank located on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, Bush's institute operation would hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider told the Daily News. This would be the post-administration version of a policy they established during his reign; paying columnists to advocate for administration policy.
According to the newspaper, "The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans."
While it may seem counterintuitive, it isn't all that surprising that while Bush's popularity continues to plummet, and his administration's policies gain no traction with the American people, his handlers would already be hatching the mother of all redemption plans. Perhaps Bush's close advisors are hoping that Bush won't have to spend his entire post-presidency trying to rebuild his standing amongst the American people and history a la Richard Nixon.
(snip) (excerpt from letter of opposition)
We count ourselves among those who would regret to see SMU enshrine attitudes and actions widely deemed as ethically egregious: degradation of habeas corpus, outright denial of global warming, flagrant disregard for international treaties, alienation of long-term U.S. allies, environmental predation, shameful disrespect for gay persons and their rights, a pre-emptive war based on false and misleading premises, and a host of other erosions of respect for the global human community and for this good Earth on which our flourishing depends.
(snip)
Ironically, the fundraising push for Bush's library comes at the same time many Americans have digested and are debating the substance of Sean Wilentz's provocative May 4, 2006 Rolling Stone piece titled "The Worst President in History." Wilentz wrote that Bush's presidency "appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11 ... there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents.
(snip)
Noting that the president's team was aiming to raise $500 million for the project, Conan O'Brien pointed out that would "work out to $100 million a book."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dick-cheney-heads-home/2007/02/25/1172338452183.html#
Dick Cheney Heads Home
Barricades were in place on roads leading to Sydney Airport as US Vice-President Dick Cheney wrapped up his visit to Australia.
Mr Cheney left about 9am today after a four-day visit marred by violent protests, arrests and traffic chaos in Sydney.
He also faced intensive media questioning about Australian terror suspect David Hicks, Australia's continued military role in Iraq and a possible US-led invasion of Iran.
The near perfect weather during the visit turned to rain today as the 20-vehicle vice presidential entourage travelled to Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport and entered Gate 12A near the domestic terminal.
Airforce 2, a Boeing 757, and a much larger US Air Force KC-10 transport, were loaded by US support staff prior to Mr Cheney's arrival on the tarmac.
No Australian politicians were present at the airport, but US Ambassador Robert McCallum, and his wife Mimi, farewelled the vice-president.
Under a heavy guard of NSW police, US Secret Service and other security personnel, Mr Cheney boarded the flight.
Airforce 2 will have to refuel at an undisclosed location before reaching the US mainland.
Many Sydneysiders experienced the fourth day of traffic chaos in a week when the Sydney Harbour Bridge and part of the Rocks were cleared to give visiting US Vice-President Dick Cheney a clear ride.
All lanes on the bridge and the sea surface below were cleared to allow Mr Cheney's motorcade to travel to John Howard's residence, Kirribilli House.
The situation was made worse by maintenance work on the CityRail network, disrupting services on six suburban lines with many trains running to amended timetables and some services and stations shut down in the CBD and replaced by bus transport.
No comment.
My apologies to blog editor Rick Albertson. Rick, you have been doing a superb job, and Congratulations!
Aw, shucks.
*blush*
:0)
Posted by: DiAnne at February 24, 2007 11:19 AM
Good idea.
As for Coulter, as Austin Power says, "it's a MAN, baby!"
Coultergeist, I tell ya.
Help fund the half a billion dollar Tower of Babel Library
by going on the Neocon Cruise!
http://www.twscruise.com/index.html
http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/02/saturday-cartoons_24.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070224/wl_uk_afp/britainiraqnuclear_070224202240
Thousands join anti-war march in central London
LONDON (AFP) - Thousands of people demonstrated in central London on Saturday calling for British troops to be pulled out of Iraq, the largest such protest for several years.
{{{More on link. Something to warm the cockles of yer big hearts, mates... ;-) From the gist of the article, they're agin' other things, too, like more of their troops being sent to Afghanistan, Trident subs et cetera.....
Democrats Propose Bill to Withdraw Troops Starting in 120 Days
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407Y.shtml
Brushing aside criticism from the White House, Senate Democrats said Friday their next challenge to President Bush's Iraq war policy would require the gradual withdrawal of US combat troops beginning within 120 days.
Army Files New Charges in Watada Court-Martial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407A.shtml
The Army has filed a new round of charges against a Fort Lewis officer who refused to deploy to Iraq and spoke out publicly against the war, resurrecting a high-profile case aborted by a mistrial two weeks ago. In a widely expected move, the Army on Friday filed the same charges against Lt. Ehren Watada that were brought against him in the wake of his refusal to board a plane bound for the Middle East on June 22.
Joe Conason | It Can Happen Here
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407F.shtml
"For the first time since the resignation of Richard M. Nixon more than three decades ago, Americans have had reason to doubt the future of democracy and the rule of law in our own country. Today we live in a state of tension between the enjoyment of traditional freedoms, including the protections afforded to speech and person by the Bill of Rights, and the disturbing realization that those freedoms have been undermined and may be abrogated at any moment," says Joe Conason.
Canada's High Court Strikes Down Indefinite Detention
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407G.shtml
One of Canada's most contentious anti-terrorism provisions was struck down Friday by the Supreme Court, which declared it unconstitutional to detain foreign terror suspects indefinitely while the courts review their deportation orders. The 9-0 ruling was a blow to the government's anti-terrorism regulations.
{Congress Critters who passed unconstitutional legislation that needs repealing and SCOTUS could take a lesson from this.}
Jason Leopold | BP Alaska Still Risks Environmental Disaster
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407B.shtml
Less than a year after a corroded pipeline ruptured causing the largest oil spill in Alaskan history, BP (British Petroleum) has continued to implement severe cost-cutting measures at its North Slope facilities, making it vulnerable to another environmental disaster, a leading critic of the company has charged.
Slavery links families
By AUSTIN FENNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
In a revelation that will stun the nation, the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of America's most powerful black leaders, has unearthed a shattering family secret - his ancestors were slaves owned by relatives of the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond.
It is an ironic twist of fate that inexorably links one of the most vocal civil rights activists and an icon of Deep South segregation.
A team of some of the country's most trusted genealogists spent two weeks examining Sharpton's family background.
Sharpton learned the results of their work this week. Today, in the first part of a Daily News series, Sharpton talks about the emotional shock of learning how his family was so closely linked to a man who embodied everything he despises.
The Rev. Al Sharpton sat silently in the sanctity of his Manhattan radio studio as his family's roots were laid bare before him.
With each revelation, the feeling of disbelief grew. His lips drew thin and his face tightened as the findings, projected onto a beige wall, brought home the enormity of the moment.
Sharpton - one of America's most vocal and prominent civil rights campaigners, a man who has dedicated most of his grown life to furthering the cause of the black community - was stunned to learn how his history was bizarrely intertwined with a man with whom on the surface he had nothing in common - the late right-wing Sen. Strom Thurmond.
- more -
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/500577p-422090c.html
I wonder what Trent Lott will have to say about this story?
I wonder what Thurmond's family will have to say about this story?
Here's another story from today's Daily News, spotlighting the dark side of an American culture that worships greed, celebrity, violence, and the objectification of women.
The party's over
By MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
The hangovers have passed. The gambling losses have been forgotten. The hookers have gone home, and the strippers have put their clothes back on. The orgy that was the NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas is officially over.
Tommy Urbanski, meanwhile, remains in critical condition at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, until late last night lying unconscious and breathing through a ventilator.
Urbanski arrived for his job as a morning manager at Minxx Gentlemen's Club and Lounge at about 5 a.m. on Monday, shortly after Tennessee Titans' cornerback Adam (Pacman) Jones and his entourage had returned to the upscale strip joint for the second time in the hours after the NBA All-Star Game. It is still unclear what happened in the next hour. If Tommy Urbanski leaves the hospital alive, he will probably never walk again.
"I am devastated," says Kathleen Urbanski, his wife. "One minute you're a happy-go-lucky couple making plans for the rest of your life. The next minute your husband is on a ventilator in a hospital bed, clinging to his life."
According to a search warrant filed by police, a brawl sparked by Jones and his posse ended in a shooting that left Urbanski, bouncer Aaron Cudworth and a female customer injured. A bullet severed Urbanski's spinal cord and even though he is expected to survive and doctors were bringing him out of a drug induced coma last night, the 43-year-old former WWF wrestler from Commack, L.I., will probably be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.
Jones, 23, has denied any involvement in the shooting and says he doesn't know who opened fire that night. But Minxx co-owner Robert Susnar says surveillance videos show the gunman, who is still at large, was a member of Jones' party that night.
"He came in with him, he was talking to him, he was drinking with him," Susnar says. "Without a doubt he knew the guy. And now the spoiled little s--- is hiding behind high-level attorneys and claiming he wasn't involved."
Nobody from the Titans, the NFL or the NBA has reached out to the Urbanski family. So as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell met with a group of league officials, coaches and players in Indianapolis on Friday to address the thuggish off-field behavior of some of its players, the Urbanski family gathered in a hospital room in Las Vegas, praying for a big man with tubes coming out of his nose, mouth and arms to pull through.
As Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt told reporters at the scouting combine that this incident may cost Jones his job, Urbanski's family was wondering how it will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay his medical bills and the costs of his rehabilitation.
And as Titans' head coach Jeff Fisher was repeatedly telling the press he couldn't comment on the incident, Urbanski's family was reeling with loss and grief and pain.
"The millionaires and billionaires who run the NFL and its teams have shut up and surrounded themselves with lawyers," Susnar says. "But we will not rest. We want justice for Tom."
- more -
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/500480p-422018c.html
Mike Lupica weighed in on this subject today as well:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/500479p-422017c.html
Oh I hope this is true. It's about damn time for the military to start standing up to the decider.
US generals ‘will quit’ if Bush orders Iran attack
SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.
Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1434540.ece
Impeach, impeach, impeach. I just dropped by- don't drop by much anymore- and the talk is all about impeachment again. Any attempt to impeach either Cheney or Bush would only lead to the house sending it over to the Senate and the Senate voting it down, just as happened when the Repugs tried to do it to Bill Clinton but didn't have the votes to convict. It would also lead to Joe Liar-man jumping over to the Republicans, and then we'd see Dick Cheney taking permanent residence in the Senate to break all those 50-50 ties. It's useless. It's time to look towards the future and how we really CAN change the country, which is one other reason I haven't been here in awhile. I've chosen the person I want to follow this insane Republican administration and am starting to work for the cause already. My choice is John Edwards, but lots of you might choose another candidate, probably Obama would be my guess. It's less than a year to the primaries, and time to get to work. The American people want Bush out, yes, but an impeachment that failed would just be a waste of time. History will judge this administration in the same way most people are now beginning to judge Rummy, as an absolute failure. Impeachment might be the moral course, but it's a losing one. Why waste all that time and energy promoting it, when you could be using your time and energy to see that tomorrow brings real change? Anyway- I'm getting off here, because my next president is coming on Meet the Press right now.
In America, you have to buy your way into office
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21286492-2703,00.html
It's embarrassing.
Impeach, impeach, impeach. I just dropped by- don't drop by much anymore- and the talk is all about impeachment again. Any attempt to impeach either Cheney or Bush would only lead to the house sending it over to the Senate and the Senate voting it down, just as happened when the Repugs tried to do it to Bill Clinton but didn't have the votes to convict.
@@@@@@@@@@@
My view is that - like the Nixon impeachment - impeachment of Cheney or Bush may not have to go to the Senate to get a resignation. Nixon resigned after the House Judiciary Committee merely voted to put the impeachment bill on the floor of the House. It didn't even get out of the House and into the Senate.
If Libby is convicted of perjury and Special prosecutor Fitzgerald believes that a crime was committed by the Vice President and others in the White House, then an impeachment inquiry should - must - start.
The first two articles of impeachment of V.P. Cheney taken from the GQ article (March issue)
Article I
In his conduct of the office of the vice president of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, contrary to his oath to faithfully execute the office of vice president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws of this nation be upheld, has deliberately obstructed the nation's intelligence-gathering capacity, in that:
(1) During the several months preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the vice president endeavored to bypass the role of the Central Intelligence Agency as the nation's principal filter of raw intelligence, directing subordinates within the agency to "stovepipe" raw intelligence directly to his office.
(2) As a result of this policy, the vice president became privy to unanalyzed, unverified data that should not have been available to him, including documents that seemed to indicate that Saddam Hussein may have attempted to purchase yellowcake uranium from the African country of Niger in February 1999.
(3) Relying on these documents, and ignoring the CIA's assessment that they were most likely fabrications, the vice president proceeded to publicize the Niger documents and encouraged the president to refer to them in his 2003 State of the Union address, deliberately obstructing the role of the CIA and promoting known forgeries to bolster his case for war.
(4) At the same time, acting personally and through his subordinates, the vice president conspired with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to create a substitute intelligence agency within the Pentagon, known as the Office of Special Plans, with instructions to contradict unfavorable information emerging from the CIA.
(5) Under this mandate, the Office of Special Plans sought to undermine the authority legally vested in the CIA, cultivating intelligence sources known to be discredited and embarking on extralegal "missions" to Iraq without consulting the nation's legitimate intelligence services.
(6) In these distortions of the nation's intelligence-gathering process, the vice president, acting personally and through subordinates, has obstructed the democratic institutions of the nation and undermined the rule of law.
In all of this, Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as vice president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
Article II
Using the powers of the office of the vice president of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, contrary to his oath to faithfully execute the office of vice president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws of this nation be upheld, has personally deceived the American people, in that:
(1) During the several months preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and thereafter, the vice president became aware that no certain evidence existed of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a fact articulated in several official documents, including:
(a) A report by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, concluding that "there is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons, or where Iraq has - or will - establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities."
(b) A National Intelligence Estimate, compiled by the nation's intelligence agencies, admitting to "little specific information" about chemical weapons in Iraq.
(c) A later section of the same NIE, admitting "low confidence" that Saddam Hussein "would engage in clandestine attacks against the U.S. Homeland," and equally "low confidence" that he would "share chemical or biological weapons with al-Qa'ida."
(d) An addendum by the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, asserting that Hussein's quest for yellowcake uranium in Africa was "highly dubious" and that his acquisition of certain machine parts, considered by some to be evidence of a nuclear program, were "not clearly linked to a nuclear end use."
(e) A report by the United States Department of Energy, stating that the machinery in question was "poorly suited" for nuclear use.
(2) Despite these questions and uncertainties, and having full awareness of them, the vice president nevertheless proceeded to misrepresent the facts in his public statements, claiming that there was no doubt about the existence of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq and that a full-scale nuclear program was known to exist, including:
(a) March 17, 2002: "We know they have biological and chemical weapons."
(b) March 19, 2002: "We know they are pursuing nuclear weapons."
(c) March 24, 2002: "He is actively pursuing nuclear weapons."
(d) May 19, 2002: "We know he's got chemical and biological...we know he's working on nuclear."
(e) August 26, 2002: "We now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons... Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."
(f) March 16, 2003: "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."
(3) At the same time, despite overwhelming skepticism within the government of a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda - resulting in the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission that "no credible evidence" for such a link existed, and the CIA's determination that Hussein "did not have a relationship" with Al Qaeda - the vice president continued to insist that the relationship had been confirmed, including:
(a) December 2, 2002: "His regime has had high-level contacts with Al Qaeda going back a decade and has provided training to Al Qaeda terrorists."
(b) January 30, 2003: "His regime aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaeda. He could decide secretly to provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists for use against us."
(c) March 16, 2003: "We know that he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the Al Qaeda organization."
(d) September 14, 2003: "We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the '90s, that it involved training, for example, on biological weapons and chemical weapons."
(e) October 10, 2003: "He also had an established relationship with Al Qaeda - providing training to Al Qaeda members in areas of poisons, gases, and conventional bombs."
(f) January 9, 2004: "Al Qaeda and the Iraqi intelligence services...have worked together on a number of occasions."
(g) January 22, 2004: "There's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government"
(h) June 18, 2004: "There clearly was a relationship. It's been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming."
(4) Through all of these misrepresentations, the vice president knowingly skewed the public's perception of reality, clouded the nation's ability to weigh evidence, and willfully disrupted the function of American democracy.
In all of this, Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as vice president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
That would certainly make my day.
Cyrano
re NFL/Vegas incident you posted & "the dark side of an American culture that worships greed, celebrity, violence, and the objectificat