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Making the News in West Bloomfield
Yesterday I was at a protest in West Bloomfield. The GOP held a fundraising event here with Karl Rove as their headliner and with WDIV/Channel Four's Detroit weather forecaster Chuck Gaidicka as their MC.
Though the billings sent out included grand headlines featuring their on-air personality's name and status as the host for MC'ing the event, Channel Four felt there was no conflict of interest problem since they brought a camera outside to shoot footage of the protesters. "He's a private citizen and he's there as a private citizen," they said.
(In the meantime, they videotaped both inside the event and outside. What do you think, does Gaidicka's actions as an MC and the fundraisers' using his name and status as a local news celebrity to promote the event equate to private citizen activities, or does it cross ethical lines as far as WDIV's coverage of the event is concerned?)
As the day went on, the protest began with about 20 people who gathered in the parking lot across the road about 90 minutes early. The group crossed the street to the Shenandoah Country Club, where the organizers staked out the area where we would be allowed to protest and where not surprisingly protesters would be kept at least 500 feet away from the Evil One -- Karl Rove.
The organizers had prepared some very well designed signs that we inserted in the ground along the 1000 feet leading up to the Country Club's driveway. The signs combined, read, "Oakland Country GOP, SHAME ON YOU! Ordinary Citizens must testify UNDER OATH. Make Karl Rove testify under oath..." (The organizers have posted albums of the event here.)
As the rally continued, numerous people honked horns, flipped us the peace sign, and many even pulled their cars over into a nearby lot and joined us. So what started out as a couple of dozen protesting Rove's speach and the GOP fundraiser ended up being at least 100 people and likely more, too!
Other stations other than Channel Four were there too. ABC, CBS, Reuters, AP and the local press arrived to document the event as well. That meant that this morning I was able to pull up the local print articles on the event.
The Oakland Press, the Free Press and the Detroit News all covered the story. Take a look at all three to get the flavor of the event and the range of media coverage it received here in Detroit.
So the word got out through the local print media. Better yet, we got to enjoy some of the benefits of taking your protest out to the street. We encountered supporters but we also got to educate those who asked, "Hey, what are you guys protesting?"
The television media also covered the event. The story led off their headlines. Viewers couldn't help but hear all the cars honking in support of the protesters. And the best thing was the interviews of real people that the local stations showed.
Those are the stories that make my day.
Like the 13 year old boy who rode his bike up to us to ask what was going on. A few elderly people answered his questions. Then they started to ask him what he thought. They asked him how he felt about the war and they asked him why he thought it should matter to him. From my perspective as an observer, it was interesting watching the two generations discuss politics, life and death, and justice and equity.
They were forming a bridge and I was lucky to bear witness to this encounter.
And then there was a young 20-something couple driving a jeep who pulled over to ask us what was going on. They had no clue who Karl Rove was and why we were protesting. So the ladies around were describing his activities to this young couple. The two were appalled to hear what Karl Rove exemplifies. And as they drove away, the young woman was putting the Karl Rove mask we'd provided on her face and thanking us for being there.
When we planned the protest, nobody knew if 5 people would show or 150 would show up. But it didn't matter. By the end of the event, we all agreed it was a great day, because there was one thing that was obvious to everyone:
Our message had been heard loud and clear.
Great job...
Rove invaded the city of Jackson, Michigan too...
I called the restaurant hosting the Rove fund-raiser (my only way to protest since I didn't have transportation to get to Jackson). I spoke with a waitress first and then to the "banquet manager" and then to a third fellow.
I told this guy that Rove was a
liar
coward
and a criminal.
The guy listened and didn't say anything.. I said something like " Did you get that?" he still didn't respond so I repeated it.. then I hung up..
Also, I forgot to include the story of a Vietnam Vet who was talking to people about the depleted Uranium used in Iraq.
He spoke of the illnesses Veterans are coming home with as a result, such as the fact that they'll likely get cancer within 5 years of returning home or they're offspring will have congenital defects.
He also related the Depleted Uranium to the Nukes and bombs used in the Vietnam War too.
Though many hadn't heard of it before, I felt bad for one of the protestors there: a man whose son is a marine serving in Iraq. He was already nervous about his son being there. And his son remains enlisted because he doesn't want to leave his friends (as he's been trained to do). But He was even more concerned to hear about the munitions being used ontop of just knowing the danger his child faces.
They also spoke of the trauma and PTSD that soldiers face when returning home. They explained it takes a number of years to adapt back to civilian life and how these soldiers will not be able to adapt with help due to Bush and the Republican's budget cuts.
The articles said Jackson Republicans earned 30k from this fundraiser. And the Oakland GOP earned 40k.
Now I can't speak about security at the Jackson event, but I can tell you that there were at least 4 police cars used in W.B. and numerous standing officers outside the building. How much does it cost to utilize that many officers for security purposes for a partisan event?
I wonder if the GOP or if the tax payers will be charged for all this security Rove had to get.
Somebody fill me in on this... How do we make sure that the GOP pays the bill for the security instead of us, the taxpayer?
I think Rove just wants to get out of Washington D.C. - the heat is on.... Bush is pissed and Cheney has his quail hunting gun out.... And Leahy is not compromising - UNDER OATH, WITH A TRANSCRIPT...
Rove is on the run...
REPOST:
PETITION CALLING FOR A.G. GONZALES TO RESIGN:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/271776124?ltl=1174845992
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 25, 2007 02:15 PM
BTW:
Who made the Karl Rove headpiece??? And where can I get one like it???
oped by Brzezinski in today's WaPo addresses Rove's creation: the culture of fear that's paralyzed us for the last 6 years
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301613.html
Some excerpts:
" . . . .Constant reference to a "war on terror" did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue. . .
. .
"Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, "Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia"? Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, the likelihood of which cannot be denied, let us show some sense. Let us be true to our traditions."
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 25, 2007 04:51 PM
The people at the Backbone site created the puppets. They are available for rent or purchase. But they can be expensive.
I would presume that the person wearing the Karl Rove headpiece made it themselves out of papier mache. And I would presume that you can get one like it by doing the same.
I would presume that the person wearing the Karl Rove headpiece made it themselves out of papier mache. And I would presume that you can get one like it by doing the same.
Posted by: Otter at March 25, 2007 06:24 PM
@@@@@@@@@
Thanks Otter...
Hey, can you make one?? presumably out of papier machee ...
Video of the Rove protest in Jackson Michigan:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-riY_Z2_Gvs
Suz
That is so cool! I heard that the Backbone artists had made Rovians, to tour the country, but hadn't seen them yet!
Ralpheh
Good one! Let your fingers do the walking!
Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America
By Zbigniew Brzezinski
The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.
The damage these three words have done -- a classic self-inflicted wound -- is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare -- political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants.
(snip)
To justify the "war on terror," the administration has lately crafted a false historical narrative that could even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By claiming that its war is similar to earlier U.S. struggles against Nazism and then Stalinism (while ignoring the fact that both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were first-rate military powers, a status al-Qaeda neither has nor can achieve), the administration could be preparing the case for war with Iran. Such war would then plunge America into a protracted conflict spanning Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and perhaps also Pakistan.
(snip)
That is the result of five years of almost continuous national brainwashing on the subject of terror, quite unlike the more muted reactions of several other nations (Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, to mention just a few) that also have suffered painful terrorist acts. In his latest justification for his war in Iraq, President Bush even claims absurdly that he has to continue waging it lest al-Qaeda cross the Atlantic to launch a war of terror here in the United States.
Such fear-mongering, reinforced by security entrepreneurs, the mass media and the entertainment industry, generates its own momentum.
(snip)
That America has become insecure and more paranoid is hardly debatable. A recent study reported that in 2003, Congress identified 160 sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists. With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849; by the end of 2004, to 28,360; by 2005, to 77,769. The national database of possible targets now has some 300,000 items in it, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival.
(snip)
Government at every level has stimulated the paranoia. Consider, for example, the electronic billboards over interstate highways urging motorists to "Report Suspicious Activity" (drivers in turbans?). Some mass media have made their own contribution. The cable channels and some print media have found that horror scenarios attract audiences, while terror "experts" as "consultants" provide authenticity for the apocalyptic visions fed to the American public. Hence the proliferation of programs with bearded "terrorists" as the central villains. Their general effect is to reinforce the sense of the unknown but lurking danger that is said to increasingly threaten the lives of all Americans.
The entertainment industry has also jumped into the act. Hence the TV serials and films in which the evil characters have recognizable Arab features, sometimes highlighted by religious gestures, that exploit public anxiety and stimulate Islamophobia. Arab facial stereotypes, particularly in newspaper cartoons, have at times been rendered in a manner sadly reminiscent of the Nazi anti-Semitic campaigns.
(snip)
Social discrimination, for example toward Muslim air travelers, has also been its unintended byproduct. Not surprisingly, animus toward the United States even among Muslims otherwise not particularly concerned with the Middle East has intensified, while America's reputation as a leader in fostering constructive interracial and interreligious relations has suffered egregiously.
The record is even more troubling in the general area of civil rights. The culture of fear has bred intolerance, suspicion of foreigners and the adoption of legal procedures that undermine fundamental notions of justice. Innocent until proven guilty has been diluted if not undone, with some -- even U.S. citizens -- incarcerated for lengthy periods of time without effective and prompt access to due process.
(snip)
In the meantime, the "war on terror" has gravely damaged the United States internationally. For Muslims, the similarity between the rough treatment of Iraqi civilians by the U.S. military and of the Palestinians by the Israelis has prompted a widespread sense of hostility toward the United States in general. It's not the "war on terror" that angers Muslims watching the news on television, it's the victimization of Arab civilians. And the resentment is not limited to Muslims. A recent BBC poll of 28,000 people in 27 countries that sought respondents' assessments of the role of states in international affairs resulted in Israel, Iran and the United States being rated (in that order) as the states with "the most negative influence on the world." Alas, for some that is the new axis of evil!
The events of 9/11 could have resulted in a truly global solidarity against extremism and terrorism. A global alliance of moderates, including Muslim ones, engaged in a deliberate campaign both to extirpate the specific terrorist networks and to terminate the political conflicts that spawn terrorism would have been more productive than a demagogically proclaimed and largely solitary U.S. "war on terror" against "Islamo-fascism." Only a confidently determined and reasonable America can promote genuine international security which then leaves no political space for terrorism.
Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, "Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia"? Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, the likelihood of which cannot be denied, let us show some sense. Let us be true to our traditions.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, is the author most recently of "Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower" (Basic Books).
Incredible article - rest at the link - hat tip to mbk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301613.html - Mar 24, 2007
Longer version of the video of the Rove protest in Jackson, Michigan:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TtFdmH_6PIk
Victory for Free Speech! Ashcroft tried to pass off an internet censorship bill as a way to protect children from internet porn, but parental filtering would have been sufficient. This was an underminded attempt at controlling the internet for the political purposes of the neocons, and it was defeated.
http://www.cdt.org/publications/policyposts/2007/04
This is an example of how we can't let them fool us when they use fearmongering to "protect" us and especially our children, including those not born yet. Beware the framing of radical conservatives. As William F. Burroughs said and Laurie Anderson made immortal: "Language is a Virus."
Here's another Karl Rove video though not on the protest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaRFf7Cd6M&mode=related&search=
GOP senators question Gonzales' honesty
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070325/ap_on_go_co/fired_prosecutors
And not to forget that all roads lead to the W.H....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301396.html
The Justice Department also said yesterday that Monica Goodling, a senior counselor to Gonzales who worked closely with Sampson on the firings, took an indefinite personal leave from her job on Monday. A Justice official said that she is still employed there but that it is not clear when she will return.
Goodling was the DOJ liaison to the White House.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002760.php
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_070325_judiciary_corruption.htm
snip
Of course, Gonzales was just the trigger man for Bush. President Bush is the one who should be removed.
When we look at the history of the US. This horrendous abuse of justice will be ranked right up there with some of the worst, most criminal acts by a government official.
Mainstream Media Collusion in Preventing the Corruption Story From Being the Top News
It is time for the mainstream media to be making the criminal firing of these attorneys as the big news story, not the battle between Bush and the congress. That's the spin Bush wants. Every time the news talks about the conflict between congress and the President, Bush Wins.
The story is about the worst abuse of the justice system in recent history. Bush's failure to pull Gonzales just makes him more guilty. This WILL be the lynchpin that leads to Bush's impeachment. We better get to work on Cheney, or he could be Bush's replacement. Cheney has to go first.
snip
THE WALK
There will be more Republicans who can no longer deny they, like the wives of sexual predators of children, live in a house where massive abuse is going on. Their fear for their continued survival, their loyalty to a damaged relationship will fail to maintain the lie. They may not speak out, but they will find others who feel the same way, and soon enough, they will make THE WALK.
The walk is the walk by at least one dozen Republican senators to the Whitehouse. They will walk there to tell Bush and Cheney it is time for them to go, that they are ready to support impeachment, if necessary, but willing to help negotiate resignations that minimize the risk of prosecution.
This will not be easy. Should the Dem congress allow Bush and Cheney to resign with some immunity from prosecution? The temptation will be to resist giving Bush and Cheney any slack. But allowing them to resign, perhaps with a confession of some sort, with public testimony-- along the lines of South Africa's truth and reconciliation hearings-- might go a long way to get us back on track.
My guess is the Republicans would want to see a Republican replacement. That would NOT be acceptable. Nancy Pelosi is next in line and she should become the first Female President. My guess is the republicans will put this off until spring 2008, after the presidential primaries are far along, especially, after the California primary, when it will be too late for Pelosi, as the incumbent president, to declare she is running for president for the 2008 race. After all, if "THE WALK" happens this spring or summer, and Pelosi has even six months to show a strong track record, she has a very good chance of becoming the leading contender in the Democratic presidential primary race.
It IS getting interesting, isn't it?
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Hagel_There_are_ways_to_deal_0325.html
Hagel: There are ways to deal with' a president who says 'I don't care' Ron Brynaert
Published: Sunday March 25, 2007
Print This Email This
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is considering running for president in 2008, stopped just short of threatening impeachment against President George Bush on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning.
I think that if impeachment/resignation happens it will be via the "Nixon route"; which was the House started impeachment proceedings, and then the Republicans said to themselves "Enough, this can't go on..". The Repubs told Nixon to pack his bags...
But Al Gonzales is AWFUL and does not deserve to be A.G. he should go..... as Rumsfeld left before him..
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 25, 2007 08:43 PM
Ralph,
All roads lead to the W.H. and the VP's office as well.
They all need to go.
Ben and Jerry - Americone Dream
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17152896/
It's great!
Posted by: not my president at March 25, 2007 07:15 PM
As many of you know, I grew up in a fascist dictatorship that was supported by our Republicans.
I was always trained to be on a lookout for any signs of left-wing activity, such as student/labor activism and peace activism (read: Commie sympathizers) and immediately report them to my school teachers or to the police.
If I did my job, the "perpetrators" would've been jailed for years, tortured, and maybe even executed after a short summary trial.
This went on until 1987 when the protests, the peace groups, and the labor unions finally got legalized under tremendous grassroots pressure. Of course, the Reagan regime graciously extended immigration visas to the fascists' supporters, including my father.
I know how the culture of fear works, and I am saddened to see that the US has gone down the exact same path - and even worse, with help from my fascist former countrymen like Reverend Moon and John Yoo.
Posted by: not my president at March 25, 2007 08:54 PM
LOVE IT!
Ally
Very good summary! When I was a child, I grew up hearing about how the children of the Soviet Union were supposed to report their parents, if they were doing anything suspicious. I was told that the Sovies used propaganda to brainwash people and that the heads of both governments, theirs and ours, had their hands on the nuclear button. I was trained to "duck and cover" and grew up terrified of radioactive fallout.
Now I'm like one of those people who was raised by religious nuts so now I'm pretty immune to cults and solicitations. Only it was politically paranoid nuts, and the fearmongering was around Communism.
This refers to Bush:
Results 1 - 10 of about 116,000,000 for not my president. (0.19 seconds)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070325/ts_alt_afp/uruguayusjusticerightscondor
Kissinger's extradition to Uruguay sought over Operation Condor
MONTEVIDEO (AFP) - An attorney for a victim of Uruguay's 1973-1985 dictatorship has asked his government to request the extradition of former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger over his alleged role in the notorious Operation Condor.
{See link for more.}
Suz - great photo, and uniform with the shaming sign on front. I'm glad it all went so well. That's about as much as all of us can do. And write letters. And make phone calls. And educate as many as possible. I talk to heaps of people because I use public transport.
My protests are hardly on the scale of yours and in human terms right now - not at all important. In human terms in the future - devastating. We have a major multi billion $$$ company that chops down all our ancient trees - for pulp. And to clear Tasmania of all things old so that we can be a new island with all new trees planted in neat rows and growing at identical rates. Added to that they want to suck up all of the Tamar River (goodbye Tassie wine) to bleach the woodchips - using chlorine!!!! The dioxins will simply travel along the river out into Bass Strait.
Unfortunately our state premier is onto a goldmine with this company that gave him a holiday recently in another Australian city and picked up the tab for his $3000/night motel suite. And he's all sullen and sulky now that's been exposed and insists that he doesn't have to give them anything. Hmmmm. So, why then did he dump the Environmental Regulators reviewing the new pulp mill for a personally selected review panel? He's done "a Bush" and installed a "Yes" team. I'll keep making big noises about this tiny little segment of our planet.
But in the meantime I continue to send my complaints and advice re Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Cuba to our politicians on both sides of the fear-mongering fence.
I didn't realise until last week that David Hicks was actually arrested with John Walker Lindh. Lindh is serving a 20 year sentence in the U.S. right now whilst David Hicks has the dubious distinction of being the very first "terrorist" to be tried under the new military commission - so that the world can see that it has convicted Hicks fairly.
Hicks may cut a deal
Guantanamo Bay
March 26, 2007 - 2:10PM
David Hicks, desperate to end his five years' incarceration in Guantanamo Bay's high security US military jail, may plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
Speculation of a deal mounted today after a bedraggled, bearded and long-haired Hicks, chained to the floor in a room at the jail in Cuba, met with four members of his legal team for more than three hours.
(snip)
Hicks will be the first Guantanamo inmate to appear before the new military commission system, earning a day in court before the likes of alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
"He says that if he's the worst of the worst and the person who should be put before a military commission first, then the world really hasn't got much to worry about," McLeod said.
Hicks, originally from Adelaide, was captured while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001.
AAP
Full story here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hicks-may-cut-a-deal/2007/03/26/1174761346151.html
But Al Gonzales is AWFUL and does not deserve to be A.G. he should go..... as Rumsfeld left before him..
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 25, 2007 08:43 PM
Trouble is - do they hand in their resignation so that they can continue to pick up many, many thousands of dollars in their retirement plan? I'll bet Rumsfeld's unemployment is way more than comfortable. Gonzales should go - with nothing! The grin on his slimy face is more intolerable than Bush's smirk. Gonzales knows you know the truth. His grin is just to let you know there's not a damned thing you can do about it.
I post this lengthy excerpt from an earlier but still quite informative interview with gadfly journalist Robert Parry for the blogger with the rather unlikely nom du tron of 'Ally McRepuke':
-----------
Rev. Moon is perhaps the deepest pocket for the conservative infrastructure when looked at over the past quarter century. That money has been very important. We're not talking small sums -- we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars, really into the billions of dollars. His sources of money have never been clarified, but we know from research that has been done by federal investigators and by experts in certain journalistic areas that Moon's history goes back to an association with Japanese organized crime figures from the so-called yakuza gangs -- that Moon's big step into becoming an international figure came when a relationship was brokered with a yakuza leader named Ryoichi Sasakawa.
Sasakawa and another leader named Yoshio Kodama were World War II war criminals. They'd been fascists during World War II. They were let out by the U.S. military after some imprisonment, and they used their wealth and their ruthlessness to become political kingpins as well as crime kingpins in Japan. They helped Rev. Moon, along with some other Asian leaders, essentially build the World Anticommunist League into an international force. And through the World Anticommunist League, Moon developed very important ties to South America, to some of the right-wing governments that were then controlling most of that continent.
Many of those groups also were involved in the drug trade. For instance, Moon and his people helped support a right-wing coup in Bolivia in 1980 which overthrew a left-of-center government. The coup has come to be known as the cocaine coup because it was financed and organized by drug dealers and by their allies in the Bolivian military and security forces, and many other drug traffickers were let out of jail. That Bolivian coup provided a secure source of raw coca which was then shipped across the border into Colombia to help start a group called the Medellin Cartel, which became the principal supplier of cocaine into the United States.
Now Moon sent his top officials, including Bo Hi Pak down to Bolivia right after the coup to congratulate the new leaders. The Moon organization had a very close association with them. Later the corruption in Bolivia became so severe that eventually the cocaine coup government collapsed. But Moon never paid a price for his association with them. By that point, he suddenly was sitting on top of vast sums of money, and he used it to start The Washington Times in 1982.
Moon was also at that time still fending off in the United States evidence that had been developed by a Congressional investigation, known as the Koreagate investigation, which had found that he was part of a Korean influence-buying scheme whose main purpose was to spread money around Washington to politicians, to set up newspapers, and to invest in academia.
That investigation determined that there were unexplained sources of money coming into his group from overseas. That led to his prosecution and conviction on a tax evasion charge, so he did go to jail. But when he came out of jail, he simply resumed those practices. The evidence is now overwhelming that he and his organization continued, essentially, money-laundering operations, and they maintained contacts with the drug-trafficking groups throughout South America and in Central America, where some of the contra groups that were working with the same drug traffickers. Moon’s newspaper, The Washington Times, then became a major defender or protector of these groups like the contras and fended off efforts by Congress to investigate.
So, for instance, when a young senator named John Kerry sought to investigate the problems of Contra drug trafficking, it was The Washington Times that led the attack against Kerry, denouncing him for engaging in a witch hunt, for accusing his investigators of violating some rules, generally trying to make it impossible for them to do their job. So Moon has had this history of working with unsavory characters and making it harder for American officials to look into it. His alliances with the conservatives have effectively given him political protection. And his alliances particularly with the Bush family have proven to be extremely important to him.
(source: http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/10/int04055.html )
--------------
moon ribbit,
Otter
March 26, 2007
For Many Palestinians, ‘Return’ Is Not a Goal
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
AMMAN, Jordan, March 22 — For nearly 60 years Nimr Abu Ghneim has waited, angrily but patiently, for the day he would return to the home he left in 1948.
A resident of a sprawling Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, Mr. Abu Ghneim, like most Arabs, says there can be no peace with Israel until he and 700,000 other Palestinians are permitted back to the homes they left in the 1948 fighting that led to Israel’s creation.
But with the Arab League expected to focus later this week on the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, there is another, albeit quieter, approach being voiced, especially by younger and wealthier Palestinians: it may be neither possible nor desirable to go back.
“Every time people talk peace, you hear discussion of this subject,” said Hanin Abu Rub, 33, a Web content manager at a Jordanian Internet startup, Shoofeetv, who has been active in Palestinian politics. “But now it is a major part of the discussions we have. When people think, ‘Is it possible for us to go back?’ deep inside they now know they are not going back.”
Even having such a debate — rethinking a sacred principle — was once impossible. Now the discussion is centering on how to define the right of return in a new way. Some have come to see the issue as two separate demands: the acceptance, by Israel, that its creation caused the displacement and plight of the Palestinians; and the ability to move back to the lands they or their families left.
Almost no Palestinian questions the demand for Israel’s recognition of the right to return; many, however, now say returning is becoming less and less feasible.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/world/middleeast/26palestinians.html
More from that same Robert Parry interview, for Ally McRepuke:
---------------
Rev. Moon has bought a position of influence in Washington. And he has paid a large, large sum of money to do it. Despite his fierce anti-Americanism -- his speeches are quite clear on these points -- he has been accepted and protected by the conservative movement in Washington because he has given them far more money than anybody else. When we talk to you about the hundreds of millions of dollars, that money alone has altered the balance of political power at the center of the U.S. government.
Moon himself said that in the first 10 years of The Washington Times, from '82 to '92, he had spent a billion dollars on its operation. He is continuing to lose vast sums of money, and there really are no explanations of where this money's coming from. I interviewed a number of his supporters who said that a lot of the little scam operations that he runs -- the selling of carnations, of trinkets of various kinds -- don’t really raise him much money at all. They may help pay for some local offices, but they don't pay for any of the big-ticket items. And most of the companies that people connect with him -- he has an absolute maze of companies -- don't make money either. Many of them are big money losers. So the question has always been, where does this money come from? What kind of enterprise generates that kind of cash that can be thrown around? And why hasn't the U.S. government followed up on its earlier investigations in the late '70s and early '80s into what appears to be a continuing criminal enterprise?
I think the only answer you can give to those questions is that he has bought himself protection. Especially when the Republicans have been in power, they find every reason possible not to investigate him. When Clinton was in power, there was, I think, a general fear that if they took on Moon, it would be seen as a retaliation against a political enemy, so there was hesitancy there, too. But the evidence from his people who are close associates to Moon, including his ex-daughter-in-law -- the evidence has been that he has continued smuggling cash into the United States and engaging in money-laundering activities.
--------------
one small step for moonkind,
Otter
Just received from a friend... one of our monkeys has gone...
Our Goddess Sister-Friend Julia passed peacefully at about 5:30 am Friday, March 23, 2007, with Sam and myself at her side. We were privileged to be "present" as the time approached for her transition. We will always remember the beauty, grace, compassion, sense of humor and strength of her spirit during her last hours. Below are the details of the memorial services planned by her family (especially her Sister Arden, Mom Annie and her dear friends Rolland and Kerry). Love and countless blessings to you all.
Julia Macmillan
7/10/63 – 3/23/07
A memorial celebration to honor Julia’s life and spirit will be held
Sunday, April 1st at 1pm
at the Lake Biwa Pavillion at the Morikami Japanese Gardens
4000 Morikami Park Road
Delray Beach, Fl 33446
http://www.morikami.org
Memorial slideshow and an opportunity for all who wish to share their memories, stories, songs, thoughts and feelings begins at 1 pm
followed by food and music until dusk.
Please to bring a dish to share if you would like to do so.
There will be a memory wall to post pictures, and we welcome and encourage everyone to please bring your favorite photo of Julia to share.
The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Julia’s honor to either of her favorite charities:
The Sea Turtle Survival League
www.cccturtle.org
or
The Musicares Hurricane Relief Fund
http://www.grammy.com/MusiCares/Hurricane%5FRelief/
My guess is the Republicans would want to see a Republican replacement. That would NOT be acceptable. Nancy Pelosi is next in line and she should become the first Female President. My guess is the republicans will put this off until spring 2008, after the presidential primaries are far along, especially, after the California primary, when it will be too late for Pelosi, as the incumbent president, to declare she is running for president for the 2008 race. After all, if "THE WALK" happens this spring or summer, and Pelosi has even six months to show a strong track record, she has a very good chance of becoming the leading contender in the Democratic presidential primary race.
It IS getting interesting, isn't it?
@@@@@@@@
IF there is a removal of Bush and Cheney, I think their replacements might be "caretakers" - perhaps older and with no future political amibitions (on the Gerry Ford model, although Ford did run for re-election); perhaps one from each party etc... - to serve just until an elected leadership will come in in 2009.
We are now dealing with a huge crisis and lack of credible leadership in the executive branch a la the Nixon gang. We should do this carefully and without haste.
BTW:
Frontpage on my local newspaper:
IMPEACHMENT AN OPTION,,, SEN. HAGEL
Posted by: Otter at March 26, 2007 04:07 AM
Posted by: Otter at March 26, 2007 07:00 AM
Thanks for sharing, Otter...
I've also posted to my blog a TruthOut article and some thoughts on the Moon debacle a few weeks ago.
http://rachelkso.blogspot.com/2007/03/yellow-peril-revisited.html
The man who linked Moon to the lucrative Japanese yakuza activity was South Korea's prime minister, Kim Jong-pil, who served the 18-year fascist president and unitary executive, Park Chung-hee (the man W models his presidency after).
The government of Taiwan (Republic of China) was also a member of International Anticommunist League, and a major Moon supporter.
In both countries, Jimmy Carter is a very hated figure among right-wingers, for jailing Moon and for trying to cut US forces in the Far East (never mind that W made bigger cuts).
The sad thing is that both South Korea and Taiwan are set to throw out their left-wing regimes and put the Moonies back in power, partly because the lefties were inept, and partly because the media is run by right-wingers like Samsung.
Posted by: monkey at March 26, 2007 08:24 AM
Sorry to hear of her passing. Thanks for keeping us informed of her condition - and may she rest in peace.
The worst shame is that she won't live to see the W criminal cabal out of office.
Monkey,
I'm very sorry to hear of your friend's passing. May Julia rest in peace.
If you need to talk just put a word and a time on the blog and I'm sure you'll find a friend or two to meet you in the irc at your designated time.
Look what's hit the Age! Familiar photo - I guess this article really is on topic then.
President under siege as his time runs out
Michael Gawenda, Washington
March 26, 2007
PRESIDENT George Bush is under siege from a resurgent Democratic Party.
He is under siege over the firing of eight US attorneys, which has become a raging controversy that most likely will force Mr Bush to sack his close friend, Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales.
And more crucially, he is under siege from Democrats determined to fulfil what they see as the mandate they were given in the mid-term elections: to end the US involvement in Iraq and bring the troops home.
If the past month is an indication of what Mr Bush has to look forward to in the last 21 months of his presidency, he is in for almost two years of political torture.
Check out the picture - and complete article .....
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/25/1174761281679.html
monkey, my sincere condolences.
ditto, monkey. Love to you and Julia's family/friends.
On the thread header--it is heartening to see the pushback that has been happening on a regular, but relatively tiny basis here in DC make it out to the hinterlands (and not just Seattle either!). The puppets that the Backbone Campaign made are grerat and have been seen all over--there are, I believe, three full sets of Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfield.
The set that the Code Pink folks had in DC is on the Make Hip-Hop Not War bus tour that may be coming to a location near you:
http://www.hiphopcaucus.org/tour.php
3/24/2007 - New York, New York
7:00pm - 10:00pm, Doors @ 6:00pm
West-Park Presbyterian Church (165 West 86th St. at Amsterdam Ave.)
3/27/2007 - Greensboro, North Carolina (North Carolina A&T State University)
7:30pm - 9:30pm, Doors @ 7:00pm
Barnes Hall Auditorium (North Carolina A&T Campus 1601 East Market St.)
3/29/2007 - Orangeburg, South Carolina (South Carolina State)
6:00pm - 8:00pm, Doors @ 5:30pm
Fine Arts Building Auditorium (South Carolina State Campus 300 College St., NE)
4/1/2007 - Atlanta, Georgia (Morehouse and Spellman College)
Time and Location TBD
4/4/2007 - Memphis, Tennessee (University of Memphis)
Time and Location TBD
4/7/2007 & 4/8/2007 - Crawford, Texas (Camp Casey)
4/7: Concert @ Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan
2:00pm - 4:00pm
4/8: Easter Ecumenical Service
7:00am - 8:00am
4/9/2007 - Tucson, Arizona
Time and Location TBD
4/10/2007 - Los Angeles, California
Time and Location TBD
4/11/2007 - Berkeley, California (University of California, Berkeley)
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Sproul Plaza (University of California Campus, 2200 University Ave.)
4/14/2007 - Cedar Falls, Iowa (Northern Iowa University)
An all day event in conjunction with the Step It Up! National Day of Action
1:00pm - 8:00pm
Overman Park (2nd St. at Franklin St.)
4/17/2007 - Chicago, Illinois
Time and Location TBD
4/18/2007 - South Bend, Indiana (University of Notre Dame)
7:00pm - 9:00pm, Doors @ 6:30pm
Washington Hall (University of Notre Dame Campus)
4/20/2007 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7:00pm - 10:00pm, Doors @ 6:00pm
Monumental Baptist Church (2240 Wylie Ave.)
4/21/2007 - Boston, Massachusetts
Time and Location TBD
4/24/2007 - Baltimore, Maryland
Time and Location TBD
It's interesting to note that the Pittsburgh stop on the Code Pink bus tour you mention, karen, happens the same day as Teresa Heinz Kerry's big conference on women's health and the environment there.
Changing gears, here's a great video of a European panel discussion in which Tony Benn and others hand John Bolton his asterisk on a plate: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17404.htm
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
Thank cry with the saints,
Cuz sinners are much more fun...
Posted by: woz at March 26, 2007 10:18 AM
I am in that picture. I intentionally wore a t'shirt with an American flag across the front. Of course, you can't really see me, because I'm just a blob in the background, but if you look down low, you'll see another blob with a with sign on it. (Hint: look at ankle/knee level)
That smaller blob is my dog who was wearing the sign that most people loved. The sign read, "I pee on traitors"
Senators Feinstein and Bill Nelson are calling for Gonzales to resign....
Sens. Specter, Hagel and Graham are critical of A.G.
stay tuned...
Posted by: suz at March 26, 2007 01:31 PM
Fired Tyrants...
Fire Hydrants...
Even Dogs Know
Know any video producer types? Great concept!
rafilm@kulturmejeriet.se
TRANSMISSION AT MEJERIET
PLAN
Transmission is a network of citizen journalists, video makers, artists, researchers, programmers and web producers who are developing online video distribution tools for social justice and media democracy. Our objective is to make independent online
video distribution possible (using FLOSS) by building the necessary tools, standards, documentation and social networks.
This project aims to work on the connections between social video makers and translation networks to build a better network and tools for video and translation.
(Alot of what they propose to create will be multi-lingual!)
For Julia:
Oh Goddess
There is great sadness
A cherished one has gone
Emptyness engulfs me
Loss languishes within
Help me bear this grief
Accompany their spirit
Comfort we who grieve
Let us rejoice in their life
May their essence be recorded
In the Great Book of Shadows
Renew our remembrance with joy
There is no question that your friend Julia was much loved by many and will be long remembered by all who knew her. Given the strength of her friendship with you, Marc, I know that this must be the case even though I never had the pleasure of meeting the woman in person myself.
blessed be,
Otter
I just learned about these prizes, to be awarded April 7 in DC and also found the background information interesting (about the foundation).
2007 Ridenhour Prize Winners Announced
Washington, March 26 -- The prize-winners are:
President Jimmy Carter in recognition of his life-long defense of the public interest, his passion for social justice, and the courage he has displayed in speaking forthrightly on contentious and controversial subjects.
Donald Vance, an American contractor turned FBI whistle-blower in Iraq who was detained by American troops and held at the notorious Camp Cropper for over three months, has won The Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.
Washington Post journalist and editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran for his book - Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone - chronicles how the Coalition Provisional Authority bureaucratic arrogance and ineptitude led to their disastrous postwar planning and directly contributed to the chaos that we witness in Iraq today.
It takes nerve and courage to speak out, even in a free country," observed Nation Institute president Hamilton Fish. "People who articulate unpopular truths place their reputations and livelihoods at risk, and are often subjected to retaliation. By their acts of bravery, the Ridenhour Prize winners have strengthened our commitment to democracy."
Presenters include Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Ted Koppel, and Rory Kennedy, an award-winning documentary producer whose latest project, The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, was aired recently on HBO.
Past recipients of the Ridenhour Prizes include former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, journalist Seymour Hersh, 9/11 widow and activist Kristen Breitweiser and whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg.
The Ridenhour Prizes seek to recognize and encourage those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. http://www.ridenhour.org
In 1969, Vietnam veteran Ron Ridenhour wrote a letter to Congress and the Pentagon describing the horrific events at My Lai. He became a respected investigative journalist and died suddenly in 1998 at the age of 52. At the time of his death, he was working on a piece for the London Review of Books, had co-produced a story on militias for NBCs Dateline and had just delivered a series of lectures commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of My Lai.
Founded in 1966, The Nation Institute has a commitment to the values of free speech and open discourse. The Institute places particular importance on strengthening the independent press in the face of America's increasingly corporate-controlled flow of information, and through its programs the Institute promotes progressive values on a variety of media platforms. The Institute sponsors a number of projects including conferences, seminars, televised town hall-style meetings, web newsletters, book publishing, social justice awards, investigative reporting, film production, journalism fellowships and internships.
http://www.nationinstitute.org
Fertel Foundation seeks to foster projects related to the arts and education. It devotes considerable funding to projects within its overall mission that help rebuild a better New Orleans and create national models in a post-Katrina world.
http://www.fertel.com
Posted by: Otter at March 26, 2007 03:33 PM
Broseph.
Muchas Garcias from Fog City.
We interrupt my durge for this breaking news...
Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment
Goodling will refuse to answer Senate questions on fired U.S. attorneys
Updated: 4 minutes ago
AP
WASHINGTON - Monica Goodling, a Justice Department official involved in the firings of federal prosecutors, will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday.
"The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real," said the lawyer, John Dowd.
He said that members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees seem already to have made up their minds that wrongdoing has occurred in the firings.
more....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17801652/
WASHINGTON - President Bush will give three commencement addresses this year, including a speech in the congressional district of one of his fiercest war critics.
The White House announced Monday that Bush will speak on April 28 on the Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College in Miami, Fla.
His next address will be on May 11 at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. The president of the college, Jim Towey, is the former director of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
The college is in the district represented by Rep. John Murtha, who has helped lead Democratic opposition to Bush's war strategy in Iraq.
Bush will also speak on May 23 at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17801246/from/RS.1/
Changing gears, here's a great video of a European panel discussion in which Tony Benn and others hand John Bolton his asterisk on a plate: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17404.htm
Posted by: Otter at March 26, 2007 11:43 AM
Wow! Otter. That's the best video I've seen since this damned war began. Made it worthwhile getting up early. I'll distribute this widely. Thanks.
Commentary: Gonzales must show his hand
By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN
SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Last week, I tried to defend Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against an assembling mob that, when it comes to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, is long on animosity but short on facts.
The New York Times jumped the gun when it called for Gonzales to be dismissed back on March 11 -- two days before the press conference where Gonzales said that "mistakes were made" and before the Justice Department had released a single e-mail.
Columnists, pundits and editorial pages quickly piled on and demanded Gonzales' resignation without providing a good reason why. And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, spelled out in television interviews what really happened -- that someone tried to short-circuit the system and then cover it up -- and then issued subpoenas to find out what really happened.
In response to the commentary, I was flooded with angry e-mail from condescending liberals. (I know. Is there any other kind?) You see, while those on the left say they want to give people like me every possible right, apparently this doesn't include the right to think for ourselves.
Scores of readers claimed that I had written that the only reason Gonzales is in trouble is because he is Hispanic and that, for this reason alone, he should get a pass on any wrongdoing.
I don't believe either of those things. And reading over the piece, I can't find where I said otherwise. Maybe you'll have better luck. (Gonzales' persecutors blinded by rage)
Now, there is evidence that Gonzales and a handful of senior advisers discussed the plan to remove the U.S. attorneys at a meeting on November 27, 10 days before seven of the dismissals occurred.
That appears to contradict what Gonzales said at the March 13 press conference about how he was "not involved in any discussions about what was going on." Gonzales has also said that it was his former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, who compiled the list of attorneys to be fired.
Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos last week reiterated that Gonzales did not involve himself in selecting which U.S. attorneys should be fired, although he signed off on the final list -- which seems to have been completed by the November 27 meeting.
It may yet turn out that the messiest part of all this is not the firings per se but how the Justice Department went about justifying them. If these folks did nothing wrong, they need to stop acting as if they did.
Gonzales must clear up the confusion when he testifies next month before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He should put all his cards on the table, admit every mistake that he made and apologize for making them. And he should answer every question completely and truthfully. If there is a simple explanation for all this, then let's have it.
The point of my earlier commentary is that, for reasons that go way back and have nothing to do with this controversy, the long knives are out for Alberto Gonzales. That's a fact. But it's no excuse for making the kind of mistakes that gives your enemies the chance to use them.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/26/navarrette/index.html
That smaller blob is my dog who was wearing the sign that most people loved. The sign read, "I pee on traitors"
Posted by: suz at March 26, 2007 01:31 PM
Good dog.
Remember the Revolutionary Women of Afghanistan?
I sent them some money after 9/11 and wondered if they had kept going. It appears so! A peace activist here sent it out to alot of women he knows.
http://www.rawa.org/
Posted by: not my president at March 26, 2007 03:40 PM
I've not heard of the awards, but congratulations to the recipients. They deserve the accolades.
The Oz PM regards Guantanamo as an island resort. Well, he did until his own party members started writing letters to the press about it.
Palms and kisses in paradise: a Guantanamo to remember
Mark Coultan
March 27, 2007
US DEFENCE secretary Robert Gates wants to close it. President Bush says he wants to close it. For the rest of the world, it is synonymous with America's excessive zeal in prosecuting the war on terror.
cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/palms-and-kisses-in-paradise/2007/03/26/1174761379251.html
Hicks plea bargain moves step closer
Mark Coultan, Guantanamo Bay
March 27, 2007
DAVID Hicks could be a step closer to returning to Australia after serious negotiations over a plea deal began hours before his appearance at the first military commission for terrorism suspects.
Hicks was due to appear at an arraignment hearing in a courtroom at Guantanamo Bay overnight, but given the inevitable legal wrangling, his quickest route home may be a negotiated sentence.
His Australian lawyer, David McLeod, said: "Obviously, all the options have to be discussed, from 'not guilty' and tough it out, through to 'how do I get out of here at the earliest opportunity?'
cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hicks-plea-bargain-moves-step-closer/2007/03/26/1174761379248.html
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/03/032607_barney.html
Posted by: monkey at March 26, 2007 04:14 PM
Can't we just do what Gonzo and the rest of the mafia gang in the W.H. does? Send her to Gitmo and torture the truth out of her. Afterall, by taking out prosecutors she helped terrorists who could have been under investigation as well.
Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment
Goodling will refuse to answer Senate questions on fired U.S. attorneys
Updated: 4 minutes ago
AP
WASHINGTON - Monica Goodling, a Justice Department official involved in the firings of federal prosecutors, will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday.
"The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real," said the lawyer, John Dowd.
He said
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
I guess the Senate will have to grant her immunity to get her to testify....
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 26, 2007 06:21 PM
If you're talking immunity then it better lead to the top. Because on it's own, I give Gonzalez 5 more days before he resigns. And I firmly believe their behavior doesn't just lead to Rove but leads to Bush and Cheney too.
Read this entry from DU about Susan Ralston. I think it has merits.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x505855
Her attorney is Berenson, Kyle Sampson's attorney.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/19/12148/2763
Speaking to reporters in Orlando, Fla., Sen. Bill Nelson said whether or not Gonzales was fully engaged, "he has lost all credibility with me." Nelson, D-Fla., joined the ranks Sunday of lawmakers in both parties calling for Gonzales to resign.
"Unless he has a good explanation for not only what he knew and when he knew it but also for the ineptitude of the department ... he is a goner," Nelson said of Gonzales. "I think there might be enough Republicans who are calling for his resignation, even before he takes the witness stand."
Stopping short of demanding Gonzales' resignation, Sen. Arlen Specter cited a Nov. 27 calendar entry placing the attorney general at a Justice Department meeting to discuss the dismissals. Those documents "appear to contradict" Gonzales' earlier statements that he never participated in such conversations, said Specter, top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the Justice Department.
"We have to have an attorney general who is candid, truthful. And if we find out he has not been candid and truthful, that's a very compelling reason for him not to stay on," said Specter, R-Pa.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17801652/
'Nuff said:
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/CombsP/2007/CombsP20070313_low.jpg
Well, it seems that there is legal mayhem all over the place right now.
Hicks judge in legal storm
March 27, 2007 - 8:17AM
Australian David Hicks has reserved his plea on a charge of supporting terrorism in an explosive hearing at a US military tribunal today.
A "shocked" Hicks said he wanted more lawyers after two of his legal counsellors were disqualified. One stormed from court accusing the military judge of making up the rules.
cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hicks-judge-in-legal-storm/2007/03/27/1174761414531.html
Posted by: monkey at March 26, 2007 07:27 PM
Specter has two mouths or multiple personality disorder. Don't trust him.
Woz, that is amazing events with the Hicks coverage. It's like he's caught in a web of hysteria and ineptness.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/waxman-requests-that-rnc-bush-campaign-preserve-e-mails-2007-03-26html
Gee Wiz! This is starting to sound like NIXON'S Rosemary Woods missing tapes story back at the WATERGATE!! History repeating itself? Nixon was impeached ......right??? hmmmmmmm?
Someone told me it's 6-6-6 more days til Bush is gone. Is it true?!
This story is the reason I'm thrilled to not have my old job anymore! (And another reason to know that test scores are b.s.)
http://rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Finsidehighered.com%2Fnews%2F2007%2F03%2F26%2Fwriting
I don't really watch the Sunday talk shows but a friend does and she wrote to Donna Brazile and got an answer. I haven't had a good impression of DB but my friend did and this is the exchange (letter first, then response). I just want to make the point about not hesitating to try to get you opinion across to these public figures via email, phone, fax etc. You never know!
Glenda says:
I wrote Donna Brazile, who I really admire on the talk shows. Here is her response and my email to her. If you have any great suggestions, send them her way. Note the response time. David Broder was sounding like a broken record the last two Sundays with "Are the Democrats Overreaching with
Investigations?"
-----Original Message-----
From:Glenda
To: info@brazileassociates.com
Subject: Are Dems Overreaching with Investigations
Dear Ms. Brazile,
I love you and know you speak often on various talk shows. This is an issue that seems to becoming a pervasive talking point among conservatives. No one seems to be countering the "message". Please speak to this issue.
These are my thoughts....
The unified message of nearly every conservative: Democrats may overreach with these investigations. Come November 2008, they could be punished unless the people’s work gets done. Some balance, please.
A warning to Republicans for all their Clinton investigations was never voiced. Republicans’ overreach gave them the Presidency, House, Senate, and Judiciary. Punishment: a Republican-controlled government. Bush’s 2000 promise to return “honor and integrity” was to debunk any need for investigating his presidency.
For six years Republicans sidelined the people’s work and governmental oversight. Last month, the Democratic House passed minimum wage increase, stem cell research, and more. Bush threatened a veto, but all failed in the 50/50 Senate. Legislation is important, but investigations cannot be
marginalized.
In January, Fred Fielding, Nixon’s old Watergate attorney, became Bush’s White House Counsel. With Fred’s experience in protecting Nixon’s dirty tricks from going public, is the Bush team needing cover-up protection of their own? With a scarcity of both truth and facts, investigations are essential.
Bush must be held accountable for abusing and eroding our civil liberties, our democracy, and our constitution. The founding fathers demanded it. We must too.
From: Donna Brazile [mailto:donna@brazileassociates.com]
To: dang.teck@comcast.net
Subject: This is actually a good column.
Are you planning to write it?
Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. Please contact my office at (202) 628-8081.
At last - almost over for one - we hope. The same article that I posted earlier, but with this astonishing conclusion. Makes me think that things are indeed crumbling. Oh, I hope so.
Hicks pleads guilty
March 27, 2007 - 10:49AM
BREAKING NEWS Australian David Hicks has pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge before a US military tribunal.
Hicks's military lawyer Major Michael Mori, entered the plea on behalf of his client, who stood alongside with a sombre expression.
The Australian has been held for more than five years at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/27/1174761414531.html
Subject: This is actually a good column.
Are you planning to write it?
Posted by: not my president at March 26, 2007 08:24 PM
NMP, I agree and it's a great idea. If the MSM doesn't want it as a column, then perhaps Glenda could send it as a letter to the editor - of all the mainstream publications that feed neocon supporters with their daily doses of fear, exaggeration and downright lies.
Posted by: not my president at March 26, 2007 08:24 PM
Posted by: woz at March 26, 2007 09:10 PM
Good letter but Donna Brazille is not my favorite person.
Hallelujah! I'll stay positive on this.
Hicks coming home: Downer
March 27, 2007 - 8:38AM
Convicted or acquitted, David Hicks is coming home, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.
Mr Downer said a prisoner-exchange agreement between Australia and the US would allow Hicks to serve out any sentence in Australia.
"Of course, if he is acquitted he will come home anyway," he told the Nine Network.
Cont. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-coming-home-downer/2007/03/27/1174761421183.html
Posted by: Ralpheh at March 26, 2007 06:21 PM
If you're talking immunity then it better lead to the top. Because on it's own, I give Gonzalez 5 more days before he resigns. And I firmly believe their behavior doesn't just lead to Rove but leads to Bush and Cheney too.
Posted by: sparrow at March 26, 2007 06:31 PM
@@@@@@@@
Here I go with the Nixon analogy again (and it has a happy ending)... Bush could very well dump Gonzales to solve the attorney firing problem. He may have to dump Rove as well, if Rove oversaw the process of the firings or instigated it.
To me there is still the question of conspiracy involving the "appointment loophole" slipped into the Patriot act and Harriet Miers wanting to purge all of the attorneys etc... and the Domenici/Wilson phonecalls to U.S. attorney Iglesias.
John Dean must be thinking, "deja vu"...
"80% of Republicans are just Democrats who don't know what's going on."
-- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
woz, here's today's Associated Press version of the David Hicks story:
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070327/D8O4DCJO0.html
Good morning from the road...
Here's another view of the David Hicks story, from Jesselyn Radack, one you won't see in printed newspapers. (I was going to say MSM, but as we're finding out, blogs are becoming even more powerful in making MSM irrelevant.)
David Hicks Guilty Plea: NOT a Victory for Bush
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/16/53341/8715
Every day is a winding road...
Every day I am made more aware how little I know. Jesselyn Radack, Sibel Edmonds, Valerie Plame - all victims of this current US administration - but three of the gutsiest women I could ever have imagined. Even in large numbers the entire congress resigns itself to Bush's "power of veto" or "gag order" or whatever his choice of orders for today happens to be.
But not you American women. You've had enough and the world is in awe of your guts, endurance, determination and voice. You know how to get attention and generate more bodies for each occasion. This is different from any huge movement of minds, hearts and souls throughout history. You really do have a whole nation on the move - women, men, young, old, pets and cameras. Thank the powers for digital cameras. You protest in rain, hail, shine with patience and humour as well as overwhelming sadness at feeling impotent against the carnage caused by a simple stroke of the Bushboy's pen.
You have the attention of the world - on our tvs, in our newspapers, on our radios.
I read Jesselyn Radack's book and was afraid of what they are capable of. I watched and listened to Valerie Plame Wilson speak against the reckless disclosure of her name by people she should have been able to trust. And tonight I watched a documentary about Sibel Edmonds. All three have been removed from their employment by the current administration. All have been gagged. None have crept away to quietly lick their wounds. Oh no! These women have stood up and looked their bullies straight in the eye and told it like it is.
You may have seen this documentary. If not, I recommend it.
Kill the Messenger
This documentary reveals how a foreign spy ring with links to al-Qaeda has been discovered working within the FBI. Sibel Edmonds began work at the FBI translating wire taps in an investigation into a foreign spy ring operating in the US. She became suspicious of her colleagues after discovering some mistranslations and was then invited to join the spy ring which had evidently infiltrated the FBI itself. She went straight to her bosses but rather than being hailed as a hero she was promptly sacked. After going public on 60 Minutes she has been officially gagged.
Genre: Current Affairs
Language: English, French
Otter
Thanks. That was an unbiased article. It was good to read after I've been seeing our primped up PM and others in govt raving about Justice having finally been done and what an absolutely appalling person David Hicks is, to have done such a thing. Honestly - it depends who's telling the tale. And he should be home to serve his 20 year sentence by the end of the year. Surely packing won't take 9 months! I wouldn't have thought he's got many belongings.
Madame
A great dailykos diary from Jesselyn Radack. Thanks for the link.
Jesselyn was interviewed a little while back by Australia's Four Corners program. It will be broadcast on the ABC next Monday night.