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Never Mind TIME -- McCain Thinks We're Stupid, Too
John McCain thinks the voters are stupid. Really, it's the only explanation I can think of for this nonsense.
But Mike Pence and Lindsey Graham think the voters are even stupider. Really, it's the only explanation I can think of for THIS nonsense.
First, McCain's disingenuous version of reality on the ground in Baghdad, as he told reporters at a press conference held in the heavily-fortified Green Zone on, fittingly enough, April 1:
After a heavily guarded trip to a Baghdad market, Sen. John McCain insisted Sunday that a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the capital was working and said Americans lacked a "full picture" of the progress.
McCain, a Republican presidential hopeful who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, acknowledged a difficult task lies ahead in Iraq, but criticized the media for not giving Americans enough information about the recent drop in execution-style sectarian killings, the establishment of security posts throughout the city and Sunni tribal efforts against al Qaeda in the western Anbar province.
"These and other indicators are reason for cautious, very cautious optimism about the effects of the new strategy," said McCain, who was leading a Republican congressional delegation to Iraq that included Sen. Lindsey Graham.
McCain, R-Ariz., was combative during the news conference, refusing to respond to a question about whether the U.S. had plans to attack Iran. He also replied testily to a question about remarks he had made in the United States last week that it was safe to walk some Baghdad streets.
"Things are better and there are encouraging signs. I've been here ... many times over the years. Never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able go out into the city as I was today," he said.
We'll get back to the Bizzarro Planet aspect of those remarks in a moment. But let's listen to Pence's and Graham's versions of the same Sunday stroll through the park-like atmosphere of Baghdad's Shorja market:
At a news conference shortly after their outing, Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and his three Congressional colleagues described Shorja as a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis —- “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime,” offered Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican who was a member of the delegation.
The politicians spoke of strolling through the marketplace, haggling with merchants and drinking tea. “The most deeply moving thing for me was to mix and mingle unfettered,” Mr. Pence said.
Lindsey Graham, at least, admitted the surreality of the experience, even while gloating over low-priced and occasional even free deals on goodies from the local vendors:
"We went to the market and were just really warmly welcomed. I bought five rugs for five bucks. And people were engaging, and just a few weeks ago, hundreds of people, dozens of people were killed in this same place."
Wait a minute, people were getting killed in that very market just a few weeks ago, and now it's perfectly safe for three long-in-the-tooth politicians from America to meander around schmoozing and sipping and shopping? How can that be?
Simple -- they got by with a little help from their friends.
Karim Abdullah, a 37-year-old textile merchant, said the congressmen were kept under tight security and accompanied by dozens of U.S. troops.
"They were laughing and talking to people as if there was nothing going on in this country or at least they were pretending that they were tourists and were visiting the city's old market and buying souvenirs," he said. "To achieve this, they sealed off the area, put themselves in flak jackets and walked in the middle of tens of armed American soldiers."
Tens, you say? Or was it more like hundreds?
The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees —- the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hour-long visit.
Gee, no wonder that when NBC Iraq correspondent Tom Aspell went on the Don Imus show the next morning,
Aspell said that, with a similar level of protection, “even Paris Hilton could ride a bicycle in a bikini through Anbar province.”
Aspell observed, “It looked as though the whole trip had been arranged by someone to get rid of the negative publicity about [McCain’s] remarks in the States earlier in the week. It seemed as though he’d come to Baghdad, made a point of going to a market, staging this kind of visit to the market, and it just seemed to backfire.” He remarked that this weekend’s deadly violence in Iraq “made the trip look rather foolish.”
(You can watch video of that interview with Aspell here. If you want to watch video of Paris Hilton riding a bicycle in a Baghdad-camo bikini, though, you're just going to have to Google that up for yourselves...)
Well, maybe many of McCain's constituents ARE stupid after all...
Just look at all the stats for Arizona, which is a Republican wet dream of a third-world state.
The sad thing is, McCain wanted to help Ahnuld turn California into another Arizona, and almost got his wish.
I am in a relatively conservative area today.
I overheard someone in a cafeteria telling someone else, "Saddam was a very horrible guy but we're in the wrong war in the wrong place and it has nothing to do now with what he did."
I found this bumper sticker on my windshield when I returned to my car. "01.20.09 Bush's last day."
Tonight I will be wearing my "4JKB4IA" button.
Are those Blackwater contractors protecting McCain or just the crumby-paid Army grunts??
A combination of both, I believe.
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,130957,00.html
Not since the latter days of Richard M. Nixon have we had so clear a spectacle of arrogant politicians bumbling into fatal mistakes and poorly planned and executed cover-ups as George W. Bush administration is now providing, day by day.
How strange that an administration that took such pride in putting up a seamless wall around the White House and marching in lock-step, all reading from the same script and spinning in one direction, has come to this...
...For six long years the Republicans had it all their way, with control of the White House and both houses of Congress. There was no oversight to speak of; no one asking pesky questions about the routine incompetence and breath-taking mismanagement of everything from the war in Iraq to the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Now, with the Democrats in control of Congress and the president's approval ratings down around his shoe tops, the end-game of a tormented presidency has begun.
George Bush can draw lines in the sand, make imperious declarations of defiance and issue orders to Congress but he better be buying Band-Aids by the carload.
Does John McCain go to an outdoor Indiana market in the summertime dressed in full safety gear surrounded by a band of heavily armed guards? Wow! Some outdoor markets they have in Indiana. Remind me to cross Indiana off my list of states to visit.
Ok. I'll accept that's what he and his cronies believe. That an outdoor market in Baghdad is as safe as the same in Indiana in summer, then surely they wouldn't mind conducting a little experiment for us.
I'd like McCain and all who travelled with him, to go back to Baghdad and walk around without protective clothing, without guards, without carrying anything more dangerous than a teaspoon. Oh - and that's OUTSIDE the green zone.
McCain's Baghdad market visit branded a stunt
Kirk Semple, Baghdad
April 4, 2007
MERCHANTS at Baghdad's oldest and biggest market say an American congressional delegation has got it wrong about new security measures.
The delegation, led by Senator John McCain, arrived at Shorja market on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armoured vehicles as attack helicopters circled overhead. Soldiers redirected traffic, restricted access to the Americans and sharpshooters were posted on the rooftops.
More -
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/senators-security-circus/2007/04/03/1175366241393.html
Ally, you need to know about this -- or then again, you probably already do:
---------------
Blackwater plan to open west coast training camp: protest April 5 in San Diego planned
Massive security contractor faces growing protest in rural California town over 842-acre base
SAN DIEGO -- Potrero, California boasts a broad swath of meadowland that currently houses derelict chicken coops. Surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest, the property boasts a former chicken ranch and includes an environmentally sensitive, protected agricultural preserve southeast of San Diego.
But if private security contractor Blackwater USA gets its way, this 850-strong community will soon host an 824-acre military training base, replacing the erstwhile chicken ranch with fifteen firing ranges and an emergency vehicle operator’s course the length of ten football fields.
A RAW STORY investigation has already led to the removal of one lawyer connected to the project. The inquiry has also discovered that California congressman Duncan Hunter -- ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee -- is a client of the firm, Blackwater USA, a massive US security contractor in Iraq, and minutes of a planning meeting raise questions about whether Hunter was involved in lobbying for the project.
At a Feb. 8, 2007 planning meeting, Vice President for Blackwater West Brian Bonfiglio said Hunter was one of the firm's clients.
[snip]
Full story here: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Massive_security_contractor_faces_growing_protest_0403.html
---------------
if you build it they will bomb,
Otter
Off-topic, but oy vey!
----------------
LONDON (AP) - Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.
"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME.
"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."
Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84.
---------------
the pa's that refreshes,
Otter
Oh, it gets even weirder than that when you look at the picture. Please, mom, is it dawn yet? I'm ready for the long night of the living dead to be over now...
http://tinyurl.com/2sz3kd
eek-a-mouse,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 05:22 AM
Egads, the picture looks like he still has some Bert on his upper lip.
Linus
The Rose Garden Offensive
Bush came out swinging against a Democratic Congress determined, he argues, to undo the benefits of the "surge." Time for a reality check. Finding the thorns in Bush's Rose Garden address.
April 4, 2007 - President George W. Bush went on the offensive Tuesday against the Democrats who've retreated from Washington for spring recess. From the sun-splashed setting of the Rose Garden, the president suggested that it was lazy--and possibly even unpatriotic--for the Democratic-controlled Congress to depart with a half-finished Iraq spending bill. "In a time of war, it's irresponsible for the Democrat leadership in Congress to delay for months on end while our troops in combat are waiting for the funds," Bush told reporters. He vowed to veto any bill that set a deadline for troop withdrawal, as legislation approved by both the House and Senate does.
The administration is justifiably worried that the new Congress will use its constitutional prerogative to cut off funding for the Iraq war at a time when, after four years of miscues, Bush thinks he's finally got the right strategy and team in place. But upon closer inspection, some of Bush's warnings suggest that the president is holding the Democrats to a different standard than he held his own party when it ruled Capitol Hill-and building a political case against Congress' course that doesn't quite add up.
Bush began by complaining that it had been "57 days since I requested that Congress pass emergency funds for our troops." He said that if Congress doesn't give him a bill he can sign by mid-April, the Army will be "forced to consider cutting back on equipment, equipment repair and quality-of-life initiatives for our Guard and Reserve forces," as well as training, so that money can go to "troops on the front lines." And if he doesn't get a bill by mid-May, Bush said, "the problems grow even more acute"-forecasting delays in funding repair depots, training active-duty forces needed overseas, and in forming new brigades.
Yet previous Republican-controlled Congresses have left for spring recess without passing the sort of supplemental bill Bush was talking about. In 2006, the GOP Congress didn't approve the supplemental until the middle of June. Sen. Jack Reed, a leading Democratic member of the Armed Services Committee, told Newsweek that "there was no concern then about the dire consequence of running out of funds." Besides, Congress has already passed a huge $70 billion bridge fund last fall that will tide the troops over-even if the spending bill doesn't go through. (This was created because previous Congresses have been concerned that the administration tends to fund the war hand-to-mouth with supplemental bills, rather than asking for the money up front in its annual Defense budget.) "It's hard not to view this [Bush's charges] as somewhat hyped up," says Steve Kosiak of the Center for Strategic And Budgetary Assessments, a Washington-based military think tank.
-snip-
In his morning press conference, Bush also charged that the supplemental bill is ungainly and loaded up with Democratic "pork"-i.e., unrelated funding for projects back home. But the main reason for the supplemental in the first place, many Democrats charge, is to avoid tallying the real cost of the Iraq war in the regular budget. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., called the supplemental a "shell game" and told Fox News Sunday: "If the president had been honest with what he needed for this war in his regular budget, then we wouldn't be having this."
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17936367/site/newsweek/
Two eastern thoughts regarding "truth" that seem a propos to this administration. (BTW, I apologize for using the words "truth" & "this administration" in the same sentence, since they clearly don't belong together.)
"Only he who is ready to question, to think for himself, will find the truth!"
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
"Do not believe a thing simply because it has been said."
- Buddha
Castro pens attack on Bush ethanol plan
April 4, 2007 - 6:54PM
Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted US President George W Bush's biofuel plan as "genocidal" in an editorial on Wednesday, saying it would worsen global hunger.
The column published as "Reflections of the Commander in Chief" in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma was the second in a week by Castro attacking Bush's proposals to increase the use of foodstuffs like corn for fuel to run cars.
more -
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Castro-pens-attack-on-Bush-ethanol-plan/2007/04/04/1175366319913.html
Posted by: monkey at April 4, 2007 07:22 AM
Wondering if the citizens have caught on to Bush's plan. Furthermore, wondering if they've realize the Republican party isn't strong on defense as has been rumored for too many years.
"Take Me Home - A Sampler of American Artists for Peace "
As a part of Arden's Garden Productions ongoing efforts to wage peace, we are proud to release this compilation CD featuring tracks from 13 artists performing their own peace songs in a variety of roots styles. 100% of the net proceeds associated with this project support Veterans for Peace in their efforts to bring the troops home from Iraq now. We believe the diversity of viewpoints represented here, all expressing the need for peace, represent a true voice of people everywhere. It is our fervent hope to spread the message of peace, galvanize folks to action, and keep a steady influx of funds flowing into Veterans for Peace, all while providing you with an opportunity to hear some really great music.
http://www.ardensgarden.org/
Arden's Garden is the project headed up by our new angel Julia's sister, Arden.
Sum of death statistics: a perilous Iraq
Merchants, U.S. officials take issue with McCain's remarks on security gains
By Sudarsan Raghavan
washingtonpost.com
Updated: 1 hour, 24 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - On a two-day visit to Iraq, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) declared after a short walk in a market that Baghdad was becoming safer under a new security plan. But after his departure, Iraqi merchants and U.S. military officials said his upbeat assessment is far from the reality they experience every day.
McCain, who left Iraq on Monday but remained in the region, also said that "things are getting better in Iraq" and that he was "pleased with the progress that has been made." However, new morgue statistics obtained by The Washington Post paint a more complicated picture and underscore the country's precarious security environment.
"This is the most dangerous area," Ahmad al-Aghaedi, the owner of a small shop that sells light fixtures in the city's Shorja market, which McCain visited, said on Tuesday. "There are snipers everywhere. Just three days ago, before the delegation arrived, they shot someone."
-snip-
"This was all done just for the media," said Ahmad, referring to McCain's visit. "Security means being able to open the street up, to move freely, to be open until late at night."
As they spoke, they were shutting down their shop, worried about the threat of kidnapping. About two weeks ago, thugs entered a neighboring shop at around this time, handcuffed the owner and took all his money. Around the warren of shops in Shorja market, he was considered lucky.
"They usually ask for ransom, and then behead the hostage," said Hassan.
As he stepped outside his shop, he pointed to a green pedestrian bridge, near a charred, bomb-shattered building, and said: "If you go in that direction you'll be kidnapped."
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17939598/
Posted by: monkey at April 4, 2007 08:30 AM
Thanks for the music tip. Just ordered the CD & can't wait to get it. Love the music & the concert in Felton/Monterey Peninsula, my old stomping & romping grounds.
P.S. The online CD order site is very, very cool too. Check it out.
http://cdbaby.com/home
Breaking News
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he has pardoned the 15 British sailors and marines detained last month and will set them free.
Main Entry: di·plo·ma·cy
Pronunciation: d&-'plO-m&-sE
Function: noun
1 : the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations
2 : skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility
Too bad Bushco doesn't know this word even exists...
Up early - work day
Had a great time last night at the JK/THK book signing - 88 photos of which I'm hoping at least 2-3 will work out, but no time to write or read the book. I'll get there though.
This is the only blog where you can start out with McCain and end up with Keith Richards snorting his dad! Love it!
Source: WRC-TV
WASHINGTON -- White House Advisor Karl Rove was the target of a protest on the American University campus Tuesday night, NBC 4 reported.
Rove was on the campus to talk to the College Republicans, but when he got outside more than a dozen students began throwing things at him and at his car, an American University spokesperson said.
The students then got on the ground and laid down in front of his car as a protest.
Read more: http://www.nbc4.com/news/11516096/detail.html?dl=headli...
Posted by: not my president at April 4, 2007 09:42 AM
Pop goes The Weasel.
Posted by: not my president at April 4, 2007 09:42 AM
Posted by: monkey at April 4, 2007 11:11 AM
More roadkill for Rove.
Monkey,
I just purchased the cd. I really saw some interesting cd's to get later from cd baby.
Can't wait to get it now.
From Nawlins...
Zeke Speak: Revolting Developments
What is the meaning of meaning? What is the value of values? Such questions assail me as I sit in this ghost town pockmocked by random oasises of sruggling conviviality, dodging the bullets, while (frat)Boy George sits on his goodhand as he gladhands yet another wave of oblivion full of the fog of empty promises and wishful fictions. Those rose-tinted glasses Cheyney wears? Don't look now, but that rose color comes from the blood of trusting, young Americans.
If we musicians ever needed the music before, Christ, you know we need it now!
http://tinyurl.com/2mp8sv
Elizabeth Edwards gets good news on treatment
April 4, 2007
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Elizabeth Edwards said that she got some good news: She has a type of cancer that is more likely to be controlled by anti-estrogen drugs.
Mrs. Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, expressed frustration with reports that she's likely to die within five years. She said doctors can't give her a reliable life expectancy and even if they could, the information would be of no comfort to her.
"I don't care," she said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press as she campaigned with her husband.
"I'm going to fight exactly as hard if they tell me that I've got 15 years or if I've got 30 years. I'm still going to fight to get rid of this -- if they tell me I've got 15 minutes I'm still going to fight. It doesn't matter what the prognosis is. So it's not an important piece of information to me."
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/04/elizabeth.edwards.ap/index.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a really good article by reporter Joel Connelly
"Kerrys go over the heads of the political elite"
http://www.seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/310255_joel04.html
More when I get a chance - some really good issues raised here.
Posted by: not my president at April 4, 2007 12:59 PM
Link isn't working.
Here's a working link for the Joel Connelly article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/310255_joel04.html
There's another good related article here, too:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003650525_kerry04m.html
And beachmom put up a great diary on dKos conflating the articles with some other connecting dots as well:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/4/9554/07367
Survey: Americans anxious about foreign policy
Pew poll finds pessimism goes beyond Iraq; global warming worries, too
WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans are expressing growing nervousness about their country’s foreign policy, according to a survey, with about two-thirds saying relations with the rest of the world are on the wrong track.
The poll, completed in March, found that public pessimism extends beyond the war in Iraq. More than eight in 10 respondents said they were worried about the way things are going for the United States in world affairs.
Three quarters of Americans also said they worry about global warming, up from two-thirds percent in September 2006.
-snip-
Here are some of the other findings:
82 percent say the world is becoming more dangerous for the United States and its people, with 48 percent saying “much more dangerous.”
73 percent say the United States is not doing a good job as a leader in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world, with 34 percent saying it has done a “poor” job.
68 percent believe the rest of the world sees the United States negatively, with 34 percent saying “very negatively.”
61 percent say America’s safety from terrorism does not depend on success in Iraq, and 70 percent say its troops should leave within the next 12 months (19 percent say immediately).
84 percent say “initiating military force only when we have the support of our allies” should be important to our foreign policy, with 51 percent saying “very important.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17946481/
September 2, 2003: John Kerry Announcement Speech
First, we must restore a foreign policy that is true to our ideals. We will defend our national security and maintain a military that is the strongest armed force on earth. But if I am president, I will never forget that even a nation as powerful as the United States of America needs to make some friends in this world, and I will do that. Overseas, George Bush has led and misled us on a course at odds with 200 years of our history. He has squandered the goodwill of the world after September 11th, and he has lost the respect and the influence that we need to make our country safe. We are seeing the peril in Iraq everyday. I voted to threaten the use of force to make Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations. I believe that was right, but it was wrong to rush to war without building a true international coalition and with no plan to win the peace. So long as Iraq remains an American intervention and not an international undertaking, we will face increasing danger and mounting casualties. Being flown to an aircraft carrier and saying, "Mission accomplished" doesn't end a war.
(Source: johnkerry.com)
Otter
Thanks for the links - I typed that in by hand, due to technical limitations at the moment
Thank God.
Monkey
United States of America needs to make some friends in this world - JK
My son showed me that on a video and that's how I started supporting JK.
& last night he noticed my 4JKB4IA button & commented on it.
Read more: http://www.nbc4.com/news/11516096/detail.html?dl=headli...
Posted by: not my president at April 4, 2007 09:42 AM
LOL!!! Lovin' it.
Off topic, but the previous thread led me to this protest.......
I PROTEST!!!
WHY MUST WE ACCEPT A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WE DON'T WANT?
Because the "establishment" has decided to fund and promote Hillary, we are having her shoved down our throats, IMHO.
We are being cheated out of a viable Democratic candidate, IMHO.
Do we HAVE TO ACCEPT THIS?
What can we do about it?
It's not fair, it's not democratic, IMHO.
I don't know of one single person who likes her.
How is this happening?
What can we do about it?
Thread header and ideas, Mr. Albertson, sir?
Please?
On the subject of whether we are Stupid or not (thread header), as r/t McCain or to other high profile persons who may either be running for high political office or may be sitting in same.
What is real and what is for political benefit?
What is propaganda? What is for domestic consumption? What is puffery and sabre rattling? How can we know?
A friend has read speculation on TPM that the administration covertly supports Pelosi going to Syria but doesn't admit it publicly. Then Mitt Romney is critical of her visit.
Then I heard this morning that Iran was freeing the British hostages, and a Financial Times reporter told NPR that behind-the-scenes secret British diplomacy had been going on that was milder than the rhetoric that had been given out publicly. Just a couple of days ago, Bush was weighing in on how heinous this Iranian crime was and just before that Blair. That was public. Now not Bush but Cheney is saying it is a good thing that the Iranians have behaved themselves. So why Cheney and why now?
It's just interesting.
TSP
I think the "annointing" of candidates is done by big donors and big business and big media. It takes alot of us small donors, bloggers, regular people to counterbalance that. Consider that Bill Clinton was president for two terms, and the Bush dynasty together were president for three terms. Alot of connections and power are represented by that. There are people who want that power.
Consider Obama, a newcomer, who suddenly has amassed as much money as Clinton. That indicates to me that some people want a change from the "establishment". Clinton was such an individual when he first started out, but now he (and his wife) are part of the establishment, but a different faction than the Bush one.
Obama, if elected, would probably go on to create his own faction, to some degree. Same with Edwards. It would take time and hard to see what that would look like, but in this country, the President always has to answer to business, the military and rich people. It's probably less true for the Democrats, but they still have to answer to powerful lobbyists or they can't get in.
Are we really a democracy or even representative republic? Good question.
I'm also following the French election. Boy is it getting dirty - with people calling each other liars! How can I get over to Paris? I have so little vacation time saved up, not to mention that the dollar is worth about 75 cents there. I miss Paris ..
Hey Gang:
Come over and visit and give a shout out to Speaker Pelosi here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/4/14122/77671
Senseless Interjection Time, Wednesday Edition...
Just back from a late lunch-slash-drive-slash-muchneeded-tood-adjustment, and I can confirm without a doubt, there ain't nuthin that turns my frown upside down like a band hittin on a good groove.
But I digress, ya dig....
NEW AVENUES FOR GETTING THE MESSAGE(S) OUT:
Online Newspaper discussion forums
My local newspaper, which is really struggling with high production costs and ever-declining readership/revenue, has decided (rightly) to emphasize its website and reduce the amount of its hardcopy/printed material. The newspaper's website is now updated hourly with local, national and international news.
The online forum section allows one to comment, agree or disagree with editorials, articles and LTTE's. I have found that the forum is very good at generating debate and thought about obscure local issues that people would not even bother to read about. Or national and internation issues which are not being covered locally. You can bring new up new issues that have not been covered in that day's printed edition, or bring back old stories for more comment.
With my newspaper's print edition, you are limited to one letter per month and, of course, during election time there are a spate of LTTE and one's letters are lost in the sea of other LTTE..
Man, did you see those suits that the British sailors were wearing when they were so cordially released?
Did Ahmadinejad take them all to his tailor this week?
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/meast/04/04/iran.sailors/newt1.iran.wed.11.ap.jpg
Obama, if elected, would probably go on to create his own faction, to some degree. Same with Edwards. It would take time and hard to see what that would look like, but in this country, the President always has to answer to business, the military and rich people. It's probably less true for the Democrats, but they still have to answer to powerful lobbyists or they can't get in.
Are we really a democracy or even representative republic? Good question.
I'm
@@@@@@@
I believe we are losing our democracy:
1) Voter turn-out is pathetic; horrible in the primaries. Do we really have a democracy when half the "REGISTERED" VOTERS don't bother to??
2) Money and personality trumps issues and virtue. Would Hillary be a front runner if she were obese or ugly - No; Would GW Bush been elected president if his last name had been Bommarito and Finkelstein and not the famous "Bush" - No. Bush used a frightening combination of wealth, power, family connections and name recognition to plow his way into the presidency. I worry that Hillary is the rough Democratic equivalent to GW Bush...
3) I worry about that the wealthy are controlling everything in Washington - at least Bill Clinton spent the first half of his life with relatively moderate financial means. I don't believe that Hillary has any of this "common" touch that Bill had.... (which is one reason I like Edwards and Obama).
NMP,
Then that would lead one to suppose that perhaps "the establishment" is one and the same on both sides of the aisle. (gulp)
Well, maybe it's a light bulb moment for me, but I thought we had a fighting chance, if we could get a good candidate.
Seems most who have already been burned aren't going to stick their hands on that hot poker again.
Can the grass roots get an honest non-establishment candidate elected?
I'm tired of being shoved around. Is there hope?
I know that's what this site is all about, and that's what I have been learning about here, but can we actually do it?
I wasn't considering Edwards, but his conviction, and Elizabeth's, at their hour of crisis leads me to lean strongly toward him at this time.
Mr. Albertson and Monkey,
I apologize for the interjection, although I do not consider it senseless. I sincerely hope we can explore this topic on a future thread. I'm just seeing red about it today.
Bowing out.........
I'M BAAAAAAACCCKKKKK,
LOL
Mr. Albertson, regarding your thread header today, I think it is the new tactic (yes I realize that is the point), because I was just sent an email by a Republican fundie who has at least been listening to me and finding the information I present her very interesting. She knows that Iraq is FUBAR'd, and said certainly the President wouldn't be so stupid as to attack another country, but it is a very BIG stretch for her and she is trying hard to understand and grow. At least she is open minded.
The email she sent was from a "soldier in Iraq's point of view", and she asked me to read it and said it made sense.
All I can see is the pattern of if one type of propaganda doesn't work, let's try another. They are trying to win back support for the war, which I know is also obvious.
McCain is no doubt sucking up to the establishment. I thought his nose was starting to look a little bit like a vacuum cleaner nozzle last night when I saw him on the news.
IMHO.
No apologies are ever necessary for interjecting ideas and concerns, TSP. This isn't a one-topic-at-a-time blog, it's more like a slow-motion chat room where all things can and should and will be discussed.
** BREAKING NEWS ALERT **
The White House just recess appointed Sam Fox to his ambassadorship for Belgium.
Background: Never before has a withdrawn nominee been recess appointed in this fashion. The White House withdrew Fox's nomination on March 27th, less than an hour before the hearing was to start, admitting later that he did not have the votes to survive.
Foreign Relations Committee Democrats will be assessing every option -- both legal and within the Foreign Relations Committee -- for taking on this recess appointment.
It’s sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to send a donor to Belgium over the objections of the Senate.
When it comes to getting body armor for our soldiers or relief for New Orleans, they’re AWOL, but they'll move heaven and earth to reward a smear.
This White House has governed on fear and smear for far too long. Today's move shows it is wedded to the politics of personal character assassination that they are willing to take unprecedented steps to reward donor Sam Fox with an Ambassdorship.
Last week, the White House acknowledged that Sam Fox did not have the support of the Foreign Relations committee to succeed. Rather than lose a vote, they withdrew his nomination. Rather than fight on principle, they are hiding behind cowardly and perhaps illegal tactics. Today we see they will go to all odds to reward its biggest donor.
This is another abuse of power by this White House and shows an utter disregard of Congress's role in the nominating process. It’s time this White House learns it can’t change the rules just to win its game.
Unfortunately, this White House is so inseparable from the politics of character assassination that they would take unprecedented steps to install Sam Fox as Ambassador. It’s cowardly to buck the will of the Foreign Relations Committee to reward a donor whose nomination was withdrawn rather than face outright rejection.
Never before has a president used a recess appointment to support a withdrawn nominee. Every time this White House shows that if they can’t win the game, they just change the rules, our democracy and the Constitution loses.
SO...
Call your Congressmen! Call your Senators! Call the White House, stat!
(If you don't have the contact info handy, you can always go to http://www/firstgove.com and drill down from there.)
Don't delay -- the Constitution you save might be your own!
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/04/040407_prisoner_treatment.html
Center For American Progress Cartoon.... "Hypocrisy Can Be a Real Drag"
Um, that link should have been:
http://www.firstgov.com
White House phone numbers:
202-456-1414 (switchboard)
202-456-1111 (comments line)
Put pressure on all your legislative representatives in both the House and Senate to use this latest example of egregious excess on the part of a desperate Bush administration not only to scuttle Sam Fox's bogus recess appointment, but as the straw that broke the Iraq-withdrawal veto's back!
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 05:17 PM
Criminy. They just will not stop these questionable shenanigans and outright outlawry, no matter what. When will Congress Critters EVER learn this administration can NOT be trusted for even a single nanosecond?!? I'd suggest none take any vacations or days off until after inauguration day 2009....
And here I was just wondering if BolTHead was ever replaced with anyone...? And why is BoltHead appearing on talking bobble-head shows (or at least show up in some online videos I've seen from those shows)? Didn't he do enough danage when he was at the UN?
Pelosi just did them all better with her diplomatic coup....
Memo to Pelosi: I have a table if you have IMPEACHMENT....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070404/us_nm/usa_flag_burning_dc
Three Yale students arrested for burning U.S. flag
Three Yale University students, including a Briton and a Greek national, have been charged in a case involving the burning of a U.S. flag outside a Connecticut house, a court official said on Wednesday.
Said Hyder Akbar, 23, Nikolaos Angelopoulos, 19, and Farhad Anklesaria, 19, were arrested on Tuesday and charged in New Haven Superior Court with reckless endangerment, arson, breach of peace, criminal mischief and other offenses.
Police said the three torched a flag hanging from the porch of a house in New Haven near the Ivy League school.
~~~~~
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning was protected under constitutional free-speech guarantees, invalidating laws in 48 states and outraging veterans' groups and others who say that an important national symbol should be protected from defacement.
{More on link. I bet this makes the evening snooze. Yet another piece of infotainment to distract from Pelosi's peaceful diplomatic coup and get the reich-wingnuttias back to demanding an amendment to stop burning the flag, in spite of so many other issues that are so much more important, such as DimWit's war/occupation, repealing the Patriot Acts and MCA '06, torture at Gitmo, et cetera. Sigh....}
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/04/countdown-senator-feingold-talks-sense-about-iraq/
Countdown: Senator Feingold Talks Sense About Iraq
Feingold on Olbermann: Video
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_outflanking_congress
Bush bypasses Senate to name ambassador
Besides the Fox recess appointment, there's this in the same article:
Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. The president's earlier nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program, was rejected by Senate Democrats in February.
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 05:17 PM
I'm more than willing to call any & all reps/senators about this, but in the end, what can they do? I ask this question in all seriousness: is there any recourse on this?
In a press release Wednesday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., responded to the president's move, saying, "It's sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate. This nomination was withdrawn because the administration realized it would lose in the Foreign Relations Committee. Unfortunately, when this White House can't win the game, they just change the rules, and America loses."
Added Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., "I seriously question the legality of the president's use of the recess appointment authority in this instance ... This is underhanded and an abuse of executive authority — sadly this behavior has become the hallmark of this administration."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17953593/
Hmmmm...interesting headline at CNN about this:
Swift Boat donor's appointment sidesteps Congress
Maybe there's a glimmer of hope for them yet.
Can we please impeach NOW?!!!
Along with calling your own senators, call the senators on the Foreign Relations Committee to ask them to support Dodd in determining the legality of this appointment.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/committees.tt?commid=sfore
BTW, there were 3 other recess appointments made. Wonder what Rover et al have up their sleeves now. Are they trying to take our eyes off of one of the other appointees, like Biggs, who is apparently hell bent on privatizing social security?
Andrew G. Biggs, of New York, to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security
Susan E. Dudley, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget
Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium
Carol Waller Pope, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
I spoke with Chris Dodd's blogger-outreach people a little while ago, and he's even more mightily pissed off about this than Kerry is (if that's possible). Here's what they wanted me to pass along to you guys:
----------------
Statement of Senator Chris Dodd on the recess appointment of Sam Fox:
"It is outrageous that the President has sought to stealthily appoint Sam Fox to the position of ambassador to Belgium when the President formally requested that the Fox nomination be withdrawn from the Senate because it was facing certain defeat in the Foreign Relations Committee last week. I seriously question the legality of the President's use of the recess appointment authority in this instance. I intend to seek an opinion on the legality of this appointment from the General Accountability Office and invite other Senators to join with me in that request. This is underhanded and an abuse of Executive authority — sadly this behavior has become the hallmark of this administration."
Sam Fox is part of the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," having contributed $50,000 to the group infamous for their ads attacking Senator John Kerry's service during the Vietnam War.
"U.S. ambassadors need to be both responsible and credible, and Mr. Fox's support for an organization known to have spread falsehoods illustrates neither. The fact that Mr. Fox refused to apologize for his behavior during his nomination hearing reinforces my belief that he would not be an acceptable representative for the position of U.S. ambassador."
Join Senator Dodd by signing the petition urging opposing this recess appointment then ask your family friends and personal networks to do the same:
http://chrisdodd.com/opposefox
---------------
impeach these friggin bastids NOW,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 07:03 PM
Thanks, otter. Signed, sealed, & delivered to Dodd & my email list.
If you can bear it, check out the snide grin on duh presidense today, flashed sometime after his honorable recess appointments...
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/POLITICS/04/04/bush.ambassador.ap/story.bush.ap.jpg
Caption: President Bush leaves the White House Wednesday for a two-stop visit in California before spending Easter at his Texas ranch.
Docked for Duty?
The Justice Department called David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, an 'absentee landlord'—a key reason listed for his firing last December. Just one problem: Iglesias, a captain in the Navy Reserve, was off teaching classes as part of the war on terror. Now Iglesias is striking back, arguing he was improperly dismissed.
By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball
Newsweek
April 4, 2007 - When he wasn’t doing his day job as U.S. attorney in New Mexico, David Iglesias was a captain in the Navy Reserve, teaching foreign military officers about international terrorism.
But Iglesias’s military service in support of what the Pentagon likes to call the Global War on Terror (GWOT) apparently didn’t go down well with his superiors at the Justice Department. Recently released documents show that one reason aides to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales cited in justifying the decision to fire Iglesias as U.S attorney late last year was that he was an “absentee landlord” who was spending too much time away from the office.
That explanation may create new legal problems for Gonzales and Justice. Iglesias confirmed to NEWSWEEK that he was recently questioned by lawyers for the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal watchdog agency, to determine if his dismissal was a violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a federal law that prohibits job discrimination against members of the U.S. military.
oh by all means, read on...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17951419/site/newsweek/
Posted by: NonnyO at April 4, 2007 05:17 PM
Like that cartoon, NonnyO. Ain't that the truth?
Bush is using a loophole to appoint Swift Boat Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium?
!!!
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 05:12 PM
Thanks for your sentiments and encouragement, Otter. I have learned so much here, but as you all know, there is SO much going on at once all the time it's like watching a twelve ring circus with new acts every day, then trying to connect the dots.
I really appreciate it when some of you explain things to me here, like you have Otter, and NMP has many times. I don't mind reading the articles and looking for the information myself, but I find it just helps me connect the dots if I just hear people speak from people who have already connected the dots and can help me to understand the big picture.
I so appreciate all the hard work each of you has done. And, I do LOVE the dialogue on here, sometimes just as much if not more when it is interspersed with the articles. It takes alot of time to read each article and then try to see how each thing relates to other things and get the scope of what is going on. At least for me, so I am grateful for any interjections of explanations that come my way on this blog.
tsp
I do think "the establishment" is kind of the same on both sides of the aisle, but catered to moreso by the Democrats. In any event, whoever is in power has these big pharmaceutical, oil, military companies already in place. The Chamber of Commerce is powerful, the religious right. It's hard to ignore them. If one accepts any donations from them, favors are owed. That was my point.
I still would always vote Democrat and have (except I couldn't vote for someone like Lieberman now). I just think until there is real Campaign Finance Reform, to some extent, the tendency to buy one's way in will have to continue.
I also heard from my uncle in MN (former Republican) and he said now electronic voting may start to become a problem in France, if they institute it. People are nervous about it, as there are anti-immigrant and "law and order" candidates, those who want to have more free trade and globalization, etc., same as here. We are maybe ahead of the curve in doing this, but there are forces in Europe that want to move to the right too.
We are all in the same battle - companies vs people. What I called the "establishment" is also partly the "old guard" or what Michael Moore called "stupid white men" in one of his earlier books. (like Cheney type)
Oh - and if we support a really progressive outside-the-beltway antiestablishment candidate, they would not get too far - a symbolic peace candidate, a real strong pro-labor person etc. There are alot of cards stacked against them. Call me a cynic, but I think we have alot of work to do and that the problems we're seeing have been building ever since the Nixon era.
Last night when I was listening to the Kerrys, I was thinking what a tough sell it was to try to package an intelligent couple like that and get them into office. Bill and Hillary actually were pretty smart, but I remember when I started to hear the Kerrys - I thought - they're smart like that & cool too, a perception that has grown more each time I've seen them. People really didn't realize what we could have had. I'd much rather have THK for lst woman president than HRC.
It's not fair, it's not democratic, IMHO.
I don't know of one single person who likes her.
How is this happening?
What can we do about it?
Thread header and ideas, Mr. Albertson, sir?
Please?
Posted by: tsp at April 4, 2007 02:20 PM
@@@@@@@
At least Obama is making a race of it - according to this quarter's filing Obama raised over $20 million from 100,000 people. The report on NPR said that Hillary's donors are maxed out by FEC limits but Obama can still tap his people for more money..
Edwards was not even mentioned, but should Hillary bomb or scream (or Bill is caught with another woman !?!?!?), Edwards is in good position...
Posted by: Ralpheh at April 4, 2007 08:13 PM
Was watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN tonight after work while unwinding. Suzanne Malvo was taking Blitzer's place.
Pelosi got ALOT of GREAT coverage about her trip to Syria. I think that's great! Had to chuckle, and it brightened my day. Miss Moxie. Bush looked a little p.o.'d cuz after all, he is "the decider". Then Suzanne Malvo interviewed the Syrian ambassador to the U.S. and he said the American people are not being told the truth. He said he HAS offered the olive branch to Israel, and that this administration is trying to portray Syria as (the new phrase today is "evil"), and he said that Syria wants to be part of the solution for peace, not a part of the problem, and that it's time the American people were told that.
Hmmm.
Ralpheh,
As far as Obama, yes, he has done wonderfully raising 25 million dollars in three months. However, I still think Hillary has bigger guns behind her - the establishment machine. She also now has 26 million she just raised, plus 10 million left over from her uncontested run for the Senate last time, which takes her up to 36 mil.
It's anyone's guess what will happen next, but I think Hillary has big money powers behind her. And, I sure don't want her in.
Suzanne Malvo also interviewed Giulliani, and asked him if he is pro choice. He said he personally is opposed to abortion, and think people should be counseled to consider adoption, but that he feels that it is law and a constitutional right for a woman to have a choice.
We'll see how this goes down with the conservative base. He is a likeable fellow though. Darn.
Join Senator Dodd by signing the petition urging opposing this recess appointment then ask your family friends and personal networks to do the same:
http://chrisdodd.com/opposefox
---------------
impeach these friggin bastids NOW,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at April 4, 2007 07:03 PM
@@@@@@@
IN THE RECESS APPOINTMENT DEPARTMENT
Today Bush also appointed a woman (I have forgotten her) to be the Director of the Management and Budget Office. Her appointment to another executive position was held up in the Senate for being too controversial - so Bush just did the Wild Thang and appointed her today...
We'll see how this goes down with the conservative base. He is a likeable fellow though. Darn.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at April 4, 2007 08:26 PM
If he's so likable, then why are all the NYC fire unions against him?
As far as Obama, yes, he has done wonderfully raising 25 million dollars in three months. However, I still think Hillary has bigger guns behind her - the establishment machine. She also now has 26 million she just raised, plus 10 million left over from her uncontested run for the Senate last time, which takes her up to 36 mil.
@@@@@@@@@
That is what is even more bothersome about Hillary - she is raising money like a Republican. And Hillary will be portrayed as a Washington elitist/insider who is out-of-touch with the people (which she is, basically). Hillary has a kind of natural arrogance about her which she has no ability to hide. Bush, at least, is able to hide his blue-blood and arrogance much of the time - by using that Texas twang and puttin' on cowboy boots and using simple words or misprouncing big words etc...
It's all sick.
Well, I'm hitting the road and will hear even more "dirt" on the way home to be outraged about.
Sam "Swift Boat" Fox
Murderous McCain Photo Op
Premature Dems
He is a likeable fellow though. Darn.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at April 4, 2007 08:26 PM
He's NOT likable.
In the LGBT world, while LGBs think Giuliani is their friend, among T's he is universally hated, for encouraging homophobic ethnic groups to hunt down and kill transgenders.
I can name several NYC cases where Jamaican and other homophobic nationalities killed, or almost killed, a transgender woman, and got away with it unpunished.
I think the only transgender who will approve of Giuliani will be Mann Coulter.
Posted by: not my president at April 4, 2007 08:04 PM
I just have to say that it is not necessarily right wing to be opposed to immigration.
Given the situation we have in the US, where many immigrants are brought in on Republican partisan favors, as well as the increased environmental strains placed by growing population, you don't have to be a right-wing lunatic to oppose immigration anymore.
In fact, I refuse to buy into the thinking that just because one's politics leans left that he/she must welcome all immigrants with open arms. We certainly cannot afford those Jamaican killers in NYC, and we certainly cannot afford another Reverend Moon either.
STUDENTS PROTEST ROVE VISIT TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITY:
http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=88158
Some are arrested; face discipline by University..
Ally
I agree to a point. We don't need more rightwing immigrants to join the rightwing native-born, and in some cases (as in places in Europe), the immigration is happening faster than it can be absorbed (like people sneaking in under risk of death & then they cannot compete for employment) and it's destabilizing. It's still a "wedge" issue that can be used, if framed right.
The text is more of the same, but the cartoon is apt.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-gag-my-idea-says-us-general/2007/04/04/1175366326258.html
I was reading more about opposition to paperless voting in France, where they'll road-test machines in May, some of which turn out to be made by Diebold.
I have a photo of a Diebold cash machine in Paris that is like .. smashed.
US ploy to destabilise Iran: report
Sue Pleming, Washington
April 5, 2007
THE US has been secretly advising and encouraging a Pakistani militant group that has carried out raids inside Iran, the American broadcaster ABC News has reported, citing US and Pakistani intelligence sources.
From - http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-ploy-to-destabilise-iran-report/2007/04/04/1175366325186.html
Has he been in a sleepwalking coma all these years?
Bush admits Americans weary of Iraq war
April 5, 2007 - 2:24PM
US President George W Bush on Wednesday admitted Americans were weary of the Iraq war and defended his decision to send more troops to Iraq before a number of soldiers about to deploy there.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Bush-admits-Americans-weary-of-Iraq-war/2007/04/05/1175366387977.html
UK troops hit by roadside bomb in Iraq
April 5, 2007 - 6:54PM
A roadside bomb hit British forces in a Shi'ite militia stronghold in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Thursday in what the British military described as a "serious incident".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/UK-troops-hit-by-roadside-bomb-in-Iraq/2007/04/05/1175366401736.html
Love this comment from Seattle PI reader comments:
"The President couldn't do any worse if he was lit up like Rick James {RIP) on a Saturday night."
~snip
Given the situation we have in the US, where many immigrants are brought in on Republican partisan favors, as well as the increased environmental strains placed by growing population, you don't have to be a right-wing lunatic to oppose immigration anymore.
~snip
Posted by: Ally McRepuke on a new Mac at April 4, 2007 09:25 PM
Ally, I completely agree with you. Like NMP pointed out, it is a good wedge issue if phrased right, and anything the right can do to make it's base or some indies crazy by slandering and putting down a segment of our population to make Dems look looney they do. I think Rovie is a master of it.
I'm sorry to hear about what they were doing to t's in NYC. Hatred is such a waste.
What I meant about Giulliani is that although I will probably never vote Repuke again, he has alot of charisma and it emotes through the media.
He seems like a likeable chap. The fact that he is a member of the party he is, though, makes me distrust him. I don't know if I will EVER trust any R again. Again, these are my personal views, and not those of the DCP.
Bush, at least, is able to hide his blue-blood and arrogance much of the time - by using that Texas twang and puttin' on cowboy boots and using simple words or misprouncing big words etc...
Posted by: Ralpheh at April 4, 2007 08:38 PM
Well, they used to say ain't ain't a word, but it is in the dictionary now so.........
He ain't never hidden it from me. I feel like I stick my finger down my throat every time I see him wink.
And......while I'm at it......
That Press dinner the other night where they had Rove rappin', and Bush was covering up his inadequacy by being "cute, funny, and charming....."
BLECH..........!!!!!!!
I'd rather have a real President who is an honest statesman and knows how to find his way out of a paper bag, and doesn't have to hide his dishonesty and ineptness by being cutesie. That dog don't bark very long with me, and he's hoarse already.
(If you know you've made an a$$ out of yourself in front of the whole world, make jokes about yourself and wink and turn on the charm. How freaking dumb do they think the world is? Charming they. are. not.)
Too bad Bushco doesn't know this word even exists...
Posted by: madame defarge at April 4, 2007 09:27 AM
The elite I have found (when I was one) don't have to think about dipolomacy. They use their money to buy everything they want. Power, pleasure, carry out vendettas, etc.
When you have money people kiss your keister. When you don't, they don't have alot of time for you.
Raised with his silver spoon in his mouth he probably can't even pronouce diplomacy, let alone know what it means.