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Never Another Decade Like the '60s: A Vet's Perspective
This is excerpted from a piece written by Vietnam war veteran Kayakbiker, who is very active in Minnesota Vets for Peace, and he took the photographs. He is of my generation, so I do agree that too little was learned and remembered, and countless people had to suffer and die because of it.
Memorial Day was just like many of the previous ones except this year there are many more new participants crying for loved ones who were killed in war. I arrived early and paid my respects to war victims, including a shipmate, at the Vietnam memorial. I saw vets show up from WW II, and of course the Vietnam war. US-born persons are not the only ones who mourn dead from our wars. A large group of Laotian veterans were also on the Capitol lawn. I can imagine Iraqis having these ceremonies as well. How many Iraqis have died as a result of the US attack on their nation?
The Vets for Peace ceremony began with the reading of a poem by the late Archibald MacLeish. This is appropriate because a line from his poem -- "we were young, we have died, remember us" -- marks the top of the memorial wall that lists the names of the fallen Minnesotans from the Vietnam war.
THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS
for Lieutenant Richard MeyersThe young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts.They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us.
They say: We have done what we could but until it is finished
it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished
no one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean
what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope
or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must say this.
They say: We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.
There is typically not an organized program for this service. It provides an opportunity for vets and, for that matter, anyone in attendance, to share their feelings. A veteran said that he supported providing better care for returning veterans, and was interested in promoting peace so that our young wouldn’t have to pay such a dear price.
Another vet spoke up and said that we need to urge our legislators to end the war. He encouraged all of us to look closely at the Vietnam memorial and to note how many of the names occur after 1968, the year Nixon was elected to end Johnson’s war. The war continued for another 7 years. We have an identical situation today with the election of a Democratic majority in the Congress and Senate with a mandate to end the Iraq occupation. It has been 6 months since that election and the Congress and Senate just gave President Bush another blank check to continue the Iraq occupation.
One person who was present disagreed with those sentiments. He addressed the group by saying that "Those men are dying over there so that people like you can stand up on your soapbox and say this bullshit." He didn’t wait around for any responses to his statement. Instead, he walked away. Marv Davidov, a long time Minnesota activist, said that people like that always talk about freedom of speech, but they don’t want anyone to say anything. We know this is true. Persons critical of Bush's policy are treated as traitors. Activists who have argued that the Iraq war is misguided and immoral whose children have died in Iraq, such as Cindy Sheehan and Andrew Bacevich, have received letters blaming them for their child's death. They are accused of giving comfort to the enemy.
My response to the person who called our event "bullshit" is to quote Reagan. I didn’t agree with Ronald Reagan’s policies and I thought his presidency was a failure, but he is venerated by the Republican party. Maybe they should read and follow what he said in his speeches. If they did, they would discover that it is they who are acting un-American. For instance, Ronald Reagan said:
The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor.
History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
A people free to choose will always choose peace. Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
I’m a Vietnam vet and it has been a big disappointment that our nation has forgotten the lessons learned in Vietnam. I think it's the greed and opportunity for corporations to make money off of war that blind and motivate the nation's leaders, Democrats and Republicans, to promote and prolong war. As Bob Dylan sang in "Masters of War":
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drainYou fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
So as I mourn my peers who died in war, I also urge us to use this occasion to stop the Iraq war so that the tragedy isn’t compounded. And let’s hope that we won’t hear any more justification for the slaughter in Iraq because of September 11th.
I connect with Green Day's lyrics to this song from their album titled "American Idiot" -- a song called "Wake Me Up When September Ends":
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can
Wake up when September endsLike my fathers come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
-- Bert/Kayakbiker
Following monkey's lead from the tail end of the previous thread:
-----------------
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself -- well... how did I get here?
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime / water flowing underground.
And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime / water flowing underground.
Same as it ever was... same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
Water dissolving... and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones / there is water underground.
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime / water flowing underground.
And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?... am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
My god!... what have I done?
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones / there is water underground.
Letting the days go by / let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by / water flowing underground
Into the blue again / after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime / water flowing underground.
Same as it ever was... same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was... same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was... same as it ever was...
-----------------
insane as it ever was,
Otter
Same As It Ever Was!!
Thanks, Otter!
"Those men are dying over there so that people like you can stand up on your soapbox and say this bullshit."
Posted by DiAnne Grieser at May 28, 2007 06:56 PM
**********************************************
Really, either I'm dense, or someone has GOT to explain to me how what this nation is doing to Iraq and elsewhere allows me or anyone else to speak their mind more freely?
Bush, Putin to meet as rift between nations widens
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With U.S.-Russian relations under heavy strain, President Bush and President Vladimir Putin will meet July 1 and 2 in Kennebunkport, Maine, administration officials said Wednesday.
"It's an opportunity for him and President Putin to continue what is always, for the two of them, candid and very honest conversations about things that matter," Bush spokesman Tony Snow said.
Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, has an oceanfront compound in Kennebunkport, and the two leaders will meet there.
The session comes at a time when many experts say relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Soviet era.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/30/bush-putin.ap/index.html
Daddy, can I use the beach place to hang with Pootin for a weekend in Joolie?
"Those men are dying over there so that people like you can stand up on your soapbox and say this bullshit."
Posted by DiAnne Grieser at May 28, 2007 06:56 PM
**********************************************
Really, either I'm dense, or someone has GOT to explain to me how what this nation is doing to Iraq and elsewhere allows me or anyone else to speak their mind more freely?
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 12:26 PM
I concur, monkey.....
Every time I read/hear b.s. statements like that, I wonder what war they're talking about. It certainly does NOT include Korea, Vietnam, or this latest illegal folly in Iraq (or Afghanistan, for that matter). It might have been true in WWI and/or WWII, but not the last three wars.
As for the current illegal war crime, I wish someone would explain FACTS to Lamestream Media bobbleheads and artificial pundits and the 28% of sheeple who think in sloganeering terms.
Georgie and Dickie ordered the invasion of Iraq because of the oil beneath it's sands, and they lied to obtain their objectives. There are NO "patriotic" reasons for us to be in Iraq or Afghanistan. Period.
The only "freedom of speech" that's been threatened is our own, thanks to the Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the invasion of privacy because of illegal wiretapping, among other nonsense passed by our legislators or enacted by executive order and the like on behalf of the dictator wannabe.
The kids fighting and dying in Iraq (and Afghanistan) are doing so for the sake of lies and oil. The citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan have never tried to invade the US, so they have never been a threat to any of us, or our First Amendment rights, or any other rights and privileges we used to enjoy in this country.
Reality bites, but the sooner people wake up to that fact, the better.
THE LAME RESPONSE FOR MICHAEL GORDON ABOUT MY REVIEW OF HIS BOOK, "COBRA II":
The main focus of the book was the development and execution of the war
plan, including the post-war planning. While it touched on the WMD
issue that was not the primary theme. A book, even one that is more than
500 pages, can't cover everything in depth. So I have left much of that
to others and you seem to be familar with some of that literature.
Very disappointed in your book, Cobra II. My review: I have just read
through the section of the book dealing with the "pre-war intell" on
Iraq's WMD and find it wanting and, frankly, inaccurate. The authors do a
woefully inadequate job of covering the "nuclear weapons" claim by the
Bush administration. They do not mention, for example, that the claim
of Iraq's attempting to purchase Niger uranium had been removed - at the
request of the CIA (George Tenet, I believe) - from a speech that Bush
gave in October 2002. Nor do the authors mention Ambassador Joseph
Wilson's trip to Niger to attempt to verify the claim. The authors make no
effort at trying to explain why the Niger claim magically "resurfaced"
in the 2003 State of the Union speech or why the claim had not been
corroborated by the C.I.A. but was attributed, in the speech to "British
intelligence". It is my understanding that neither the State Department
nor the C.I.A. ever believed that a purchase took place or even an
attempted purchase took place. Needless to say, the book makes no mention
of the Italian forgery of the Niger "purchase" which was, almost
immediately, rejected by the IAEA. And, amazingly, the book does not mention
the Downing Street Memo of July 2002, which stated that Bush had decided
to go to war with Iraq, regardless of the reasons and, in fact, there
was not a compelling reason to go to war with Iraq. AUTHORS; PLEASE SEE
"DOWNING STREET MEMO", and read it....
BTW: for what it is worth,
George Bush has proven himself unfit and unworthy of command of U.S.
military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any future military action, if cooked
up by Mr. Bush without consulting Congress, would be, at least,
incompetent and at worst criminal... (you might want to suggest this in your
Times articles, if you haven't already...)
Cheney's Lawyer Had Visitor Log Eliminated
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007L.shtml
A lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney told the Secret Service in September to eliminate data on who visited Cheney at his official residence, a newly disclosed letter states.
Jason Leopold | An Interview With David Iglesias
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007J.shtml
Jason Leopold interviews former US attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias, one of eight US attorneys fired in December for reasons that appear to have been motivated by partisan politics. Iglesias says he believes a "smoking gun" exists that will lead directly to Karl Rove and blow the scandal wide open.
Fitzgerald Says Plame Was a Covert Agent
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007M.shtml
In new court filings, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has finally resolved one of the most disputed issues at the core of the long-running CIA leak controversy: Valerie Plame Wilson, he asserts, was a "covert" CIA officer. Fitzgerald cites Wilson's covert status as part of his argument, advanced in two strongly worded memos filed in recent days, that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, should be sentenced for up to three years in prison.
Excerpt (more on link):
"It was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute" - the Intelligence Identities act - "as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press," Fitzgerald wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed late last Friday night.
{{{In other words, apart from Johnson's dKos article in defense of Plame-Wilson, this is straight from Fitzgerald who has to deal only in FACTS. Why are the neoCons being such pathetic liars about Plame-Wilson...? *Rhetorical question; I know they're just trying to keep one of their own evil ones out of jail.... Part of the rest of the article deals with how Libby was received at a dinner recently: with a standing ovation! Obviously, there's also talk of a presidential pardon. How criminally ugly and immoral and unethical do the neoCons have to get before Congress Critters toss them out on their ears, per the wishes of their constituents, some of whom have already voted in favor of impeachment in their local communities...?}}}
Ralpheh, your post is confusing. Who reviewed the book, which part of what you posted is the "lame response", which Times articles are you referring to, and why did you not include any reference link(s) when you posted it?
I reviewed the book - at Amazon.com, (the second paragraph)
Gordon's lame response is the first paragraph... 500 pages, blah blah
Why didn't a post the links? - I Am Lazy...
BTW; Would you like me to post Cindy Sheehan's recent comments about John Kerry (with links!!!!) ??? or shall we let sleeping dogs lie?
Ralpheh
I read another article from a soldier's dad where he said the Repubs & Dems both kind of work for the military industrial complex -it's a matter of degree. But that's old news - it was true during the Vietnam era and possibly before. Unfortunately, how can anyone be elected to high office in this country without kowtowing some to lobbyists, industry, business? It's an unfortunate fact. Would love to see true campaign finance reform & in fact a more just economic system in general. The Dems are more accountable in general re this than the Republicans (some more than others, individuals in each party differ or course). They have to work in a bipartisan manner now because the Republicans still dominate and that sucks and is part of the "incremental" movement back from the far right, which also sucks, but may be our only choice. That said, the Dems should have shown more spine in the latest vote (of course, there would have gone minimum wage, hurricane reconstruction etc, for now). Kerry actually voted right on that, n'est pas? As for Cindy Sheehan, she has been to the left of most Dems for awhile, & didn't she go hang out with Chavez. If you can believe it, I find things in common with Cindy, Kerry AND Chavez - but do not agree totally with any of them. So we would not be surprised at comments you or Cindy or anyone else would have about Kerry. I, in fact, was a very early Kerry adopter and remained consistent but I did from the start disagree with him on 1) the IWR, 2) labor, 3) Israel policy. Those are huge, but I still found more qualification in his record & career than for the others. That does not mean I am a lapdog for him or anyone. You seem to get an especial pleasure from rubbing antiKerry stuff in peoples' noses but I'm pretty immune, for one. I once had a Howard Dean fan spit in my face and call me a "Zombie" and I liked alot about Dean - I agreed with all of his gaffes, in fact. I am not a "yellow dog Dem" but I do pay taxes that end up financing the war. Until I have the guts to be a tax resister, I do not expect absolute ideological perfection in my candidates but am partially a pragmatist. No sense being the mirror image of an armchair ideological neocon but from the left, is there? End of rant.
Rantasaurus Rex!
To me as a noon news reader, drug-resistant people with TB flying around pose as much statistical threat as terrorists and Rupert Murdoch buying PhotoBucket may be at least as who is the face of the antiwar movement or that Putin is going fishing with W in Maine. Who is to say?! It's the mystery of the vacillating perspective.
There is a word missing somewhere in that paragraph and the word is "important" - it comes after "at least as"
Oh man - Guardian let Richard Perle comment on their blog! He still has no regrets about Iraq.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_perle/2007/05/it_doesnt_matter_how_we_got_he.html
Prince of Darkness Perle makes this statement:
An invasion in which an unspeakably vicious mass murderer was brought down, his regime toppled in 21 days with a small number of casualties.
We should have handed political authority in Iraq to an interim Iraqi government the day Baghdad fell. With the best of intentions, though, we embarked on an ill-conceived and catastrophically flawed occupation aimed at bringing a decent, representative government to the long-suffering Iraqis.
We didn't know how to do that.
(Boy is that an understatement, and his entire justification for the "adventure" is flawed)
Bush Envisions US Presence in Iraq like in South Korea
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30416213.htm
That means forever.
Allyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!
Bush Envisions US Presence in Iraq like in South Korea
Posted by: not my president at May 30, 2007 03:54 PM
If 'those men' were really 'dying over there' in Iraq for my freedom, then why am I paranoid to express in writing exactly what I envision for Bush?
The Land of the Freaked
"The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," Snow told reporters.
He said U.S. bases in Iraq would not necessarily be permanent because they would be there at the invitation of the host government and "the person who has done the invitation has the right to withdraw the invitation."
"I think the point he's trying to make is that the situation in Iraq, and indeed, the larger war on terror, are things that are going to take a long time. But it is not always going to require an up-front combat presence," Snow said.
"The president has always said that ultimately you want to be handing primary responsibility off to the Iraqis," he said.
"You provide the so-called over-the-horizon support that is necessary from time to time to come to the assistance of Iraqis but you do not want the United States forever in the front."
************************************************
Well kids, I'm sure the Muslim world ain't gonna take that lyin' down, pardon the horrific pun. That stance alone is the absolute antithesis of the withdrawal timetable everyone was hoping for, and since the Dems gave away the store with the last funding bill, you get BULLSHIT like this... which is gonna get a lot of innocent people whacked.
We're in for a world of hurt...
Kerry actually voted right on that, n'est pas? As for Cindy Sheehan, she has been to the left of most Dems for awhile, & didn't she go hang out with Chavez. If you can believe it, I find things in common with Cindy, Kerry AND Chavez - but do not agree totally with any of them. So we would not be surprised at comments you or Cindy or anyone else would have about Kerry. I, in fact, was a very early Kerry adopter and remained consistent but I did from the start disagree with him on 1) the IWR, 2) labor, 3) Israel policy.
@@@@@@@@@
I have almost nothing in common with Kerry politically or personally. I am not married to a billionairess and I didn't go to Yale or any other Ivy League school. I was suspicious about George Bush from the beginning, starting with his clueless tax-cutting frenzy; after 9-11, his very slow response on airline security; and then the long run-up to the war in Iraq which smelled bad from the start and just got more stinky as we got closer to war. When UNSCOM found practically nothing in Iraq in 2003, I was convinced that Bushco had been lying about Everything they had told us about Iraq.
In my part of the country, Michigan/ the Rust-belt, the Democrat party is dying out. The Dems left in control here in my state - the DLC triangulators, tell us "liberals" "anti-war" folks to shut up about the war - just talk jobs and healthcare. What is left of the Michigan Dem party is dominated by old union (UAW) bosses clinging to the small power they still have and ambitious pseudo-Democrats running for political office or trying to climb the party structure in Lansing. Most Dem party insiders are not fair (at least in my experience) but are control freaks, only concerned with their position of power within the party and frequently not really interested in winning elections if Dem candidate is someone they can't control...
So we would not be surprised at comments you or Cindy or anyone else would have about Kerry. I, in fact, was a
@@@@@@@
You know what:
Sheehan has more guts than John Kerry, frankly, with regard to the Iraq war. She came out against he war long, long before John even began to backpedal on the war. And I know John K. likes to wind-surf but it seems that Sheehan has been working damn hard on the war issue - harder the "JK" and even harder than "THK" but that is just my personal observation.
Windsurfing... sheesh.
Wait wait wait, was he wearing flip-flops on the windsurfboard while eating directly from a Heinz Ketchup bottle while not actually taking shrapnel wounds when he didn't risk his rich nuts in Vietnam?
Raise Your Hand if You're Sure
You seem to get an especial pleasure from rubbing antiKerry stuff in peoples' noses but I'm pretty immune, for one.
@@@@@@@
Here's the deal, Otter is a dyed in the wool Kerryite and Otter and I bump heads quite a bit. When Sheehan gave her parting message and mentioned that certain person, I had fantasies of putting the Sheehan quote up here on this board, for all to see; but no, I censored myself, knowing it would be very imprudent and cause much harm to those not immune (as you are immune).
Windsurfing... sheesh.
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 04:23 PM
@@@@
No, to give JK credit, while he was wind-surfing he was thinking about the $87,000,000,000 Iraq supplemental and how he could come up with a coherent talking point. He was multi-tasking... and it had been a brutal primary process...
Posted by: not my president at May 30, 2007 03:54 PM
Let's see... Decades of fascism, and tons of grateful Iraqi-Americans who will be loyal Republican voters for generations.
We've had enough of this crap from South Korea, didn't we?
"The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," Snow told reporters.
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 04:07 PM
WRONG, Snow. South Korean democracy was developed DESPITE American (actually Republican) efforts to keep a fascist puppet state going.
And the Korean fascists returned the favor by being among the largest, if not THE largest, foreign supporters of American fascism.
I still remember Reagan's first few days in office, which he spent greeting South Korea's new fascist president, Chun Doo-Hwan, who in turn needed Reagan to legitimize his regime. The two plotted together and sent a packed Korean Air 747 into Soviet airspace a few years later, on a CIA spying mission; the plane was shot down, and 270 civilians were killed. (Ever wonder why Reagan didn't use Pan Am or Northwest for that mission?)
And let's not even get started on how W hates the current leftist South Korean regime, and paid the Grand National Party to impeach him... and also paid Chosun and other right-wing media to discredit the regime.
It didn't help that the leftist president, Roh Moo-Hyun, was himself inept at best - kinda like Segolene Royal in France.
Do they windsurf in South Korea?
If 'those men' were really 'dying over there' in Iraq for my freedom, then why am I paranoid to express in writing exactly what I envision for Bush?
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 04:04 PM
W believes there ought to be limits to freedom. He's not a man I entrust with my freedoms or rights.
BTW, for those who are going to Chicago, the Freedom Museum at the Tribune Tower (freedommuseum.us) is a valuable sight. It really lets you re-examine what the First Amendment does and does NOT protect, and what happens when group well-being clashes with individual rights. It's probably the most important thing I saw during my Chicago weekend.
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 30, 2007 04:08 PM
Agreed about UAW becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Their biggest mistake was accepting generous benefits packages from GM and Ford, instead of pushing them to have the government provide universal healthcare. Now, these benefits are simply huge overheads that GM and Ford can no longer afford.
And of course, with GM and Ford cranking out crappy cars and losing market share to nonunion Japanese shops, UAW can only get weaker.
When is the Chicago gig again?
" The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor.
History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
A people free to choose will always choose peace. Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."
We used to have this Reagan quote on our front page... and this is one of the few good things to come out of that man's mouth.
Agreed about UAW becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Their biggest mistake was accepting generous benefits packages from GM and Ford, instead of pushing them to have the government provide universal healthcare. Now, these benefits are simply huge overheads that GM and Ford can no longer afford.
And of course, with GM and Ford cranking out crappy cars and losing market share to nonunion Japanese shops, UAW can only get weaker.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at May 30, 2007 05:04 PM
@@@@@@@@
The UAW used to be one of the most progressive, liberal, and well-run unions (back in the 1940's and 1950's). It was one of the first unions to treat Afri-Amer's and women the same as white males. It had scholarships and continuing education programs for its members. It did political outreach and education with its membership etc..
But now the union is now old, riddled with institutional arthritis, lazy and smothered by incompetent, selfish leadership. And they did get far too greedy in the '70's and '80's when many people could not even find a job. Many non-union folks in Michigan resented this (amazingly, in the birthplace of the industrial union, unions are routinely bashed and criticized by the general public).
Yet it still has its controlling grip on the Michigan Dem party. And it won't let go without a huge fight.
A U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, killing seven people, NATO officials tell CNN, adding a rescue team was ambushed.
This is bad news, for McDermott and for all of us, especially any whistleblowers.
Statement Concerning Decision in First Amendment Case in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
"By a vote of 5-4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today sharply limited the free speech protections of the First Amendment in violation of binding Supreme Court precedent.
"A majority of the Court agreed with my position that the First Amendment does not allow the government to punish the disclosure of truthful information on a matter of public importance on the ground that someone else unlawfully acquired the information. However, a separate majority held that those protections did not apply in this case in light of a House Ethics Committee rule. The House Ethics Committee issued a report last December concluding that my disclosure of a tape-recorded telephone call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Republican leaders violated the "spirit" of a rule, but the committee went on to say that no formal or further action would be contemplated or taken.
"As the vigorous dissent by Judge Sentelle pointed out, the protections afforded by the First Amendment are not limited by the House Ethics Committee rules, so the majority's reliance on that report is "a non sequitur." Judge Sentelle further explained, the court majority read too much into the report. 'Abrogating Representative McDermott's First Amendment protections because he violated the 'spirit' of a rule contravenes the well-established principle that vague restrictions on speech are impermissible because of their chilling effect ... and because of the need to eliminate the impermissible risk of discretionary enforcement. Plainly, subjecting a Member of Congress to liability for violating the 'spirit' of a rule burdens political speech in the vaguest of ways, leaving the Member to 'guess at [the] contours' of the prohibition.'
"Legal counsel will continue to review today's decision. It is premature to speculate on a course of action. We have 90 days to decide whether to appeal this important and unfortunate First Amendment ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court."
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 30, 2007 04:08 PM
If you still drive a car that burns petroleum and if you still pay taxes, then you are not all the way anti-war.
If you run for Senator, then you can decide whether you ought to have a rich wife or wind surf.
Decisions, decisions.
Iraq refugees knocking: U.S. to let in 7,000
That's up from 800 allowed in since 2003, but fewer than Sweden
WASHINGTON - The United States will soon begin admitting a bigger trickle of the more than 2 million refugees who have fled Iraq, acknowledging for the first time the country may never be safe for some who have helped the U.S. there.
After months of agonizing delays and withering criticism from advocacy groups and lawmakers, the Bush administration has finalized new guidelines to screen Iraqi refugees, including those seeking asylum because helping the Americans has put them at huge risk.
The 2 million-plus people — the fastest growing refugee population in the world — have left Iraq, but Washington has balked at allowing them into the United States for security reasons.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18944557/
Nice immigration plan.
Ralpheh
Well, it looks like Republicans and Democrats pretty much generally believed for a long time that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, not just Kerry. It looks like there was either a long trail of botched intelligence or something.
These are all the dates of quotes from Democrats who insisted Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction and something had to be done. So it wasn't hard to talk them into going into Iraq after 9/11, even though Saddam had nothing to do with it. They took the Richard Perle approach that MAYBE Saddam might help terrorists. They took the easy way out, they thought. Our whole Legislature failed us. These are the dates of the quotes. I don't even want to put them on the internet, because wingnuts will gloat. We have been had.
http://www.TruthOrFiction.com has apparently verified quotes that cite this. These are the peopl and dates. Sick.
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan.23.2003
My guess is that Saddam to scare Iran by making them think he had WMD and the US took him seriously after he kicked weapons inspectors out for 5 years or so. They did so, and in so doing, removed Iran's biggest obstacle. Real smart. Granted Byrd and Kennedy didn't vote for the IWR but the whole lot of them got taken in by Saddam's scam.
Here is how Bush's latest speech starts out:
Please be seated, unless, of course, you don't have a chair.
Can't we give Bush the chair instead?
Sit Liberty, sit.
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 06:16 PM
The only reason for the stance change by the US:
Iraqi-Americans will make great future Republicans, like the Cubans, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, and now the Venezuelans before them.
When is the Chicago gig again?
Posted by: monkey at May 30, 2007 05:09 PM
Aug. 2-5. Be there. Things be jumpin' in Chicago.
Ralpheh
Found a little documentation (it's a friend's blog .. in his article on the billion dollar election we're facing
...http://www.apenwarmedinhell.com
The Father of Our Country, George Washington, was not only the most famous colonialist and Army General, but he was one of the richest men in America, being that the woman he married, Martha Custis, was an extremely wealthy Colonial Era widow.
Her fortune, in today's dollars, would handily eclipse the multi-billion dollar Heinz Ketchup one of John Kerry's wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry.
.. I wasn't kidding. Meanwhile, we have in other countries leaders who are media moguls (Italy), those with rich friends (France), and there have even been those with many shoes (Phillipines). Average CEO makes at least 350x more than average worker (in US). & even the new World Bank guy replacing Wolfowitz used to be on the Board of Directors of Enron. Most people's retirement mutual funds contain some corporate pig companies like Bechtel, along with the shady PepsiCo, Phillip Morris, etc.
Oh by the way, "multibillion" is an exaggeration for THK - she is a half-billionaire acc/what I read at Center for Public Integrity during last election, same as Dick Cheney, but he pays virtually no taxes, as he has his investments in tax-free funds. She gives money away to worthy causes. Big difference.
This came in while we were away over the weekend, which I will post about soon:
From our good friend Lane, a Vietnam Vet, from his friend and fellow Vet:
Memorial Day being over, perhaps we don't need tohear another story about our men and women serving in Iraq. This weekend however, we had an active duty Marine visit the Arlington West display at the beach who related her personal experience to me. I thought others would be interested in her story. It is not special, only typical of the Iraq Veterans who come to find the name of a fallen comrade.
A young, very attractive girl, (I guess in her twenties) was introduced to me by her friend, a Viet Nam vet. He asked me to "Take care of her." We immediately bonded even though I was old enough to be her father, I believe because I had served during the Viet Nam era.
She wanted to find a name among the crosses. I found the name and she began to weep uncontrollably. I held her and asked her how she knew this female soldier. She replied that it had been her duty to send her out on patrol the night she was killed. She then asked for another name. I found it. She asked if it could be placed with the other soldier. I replied, "Of course" and asked her how she knew this soldier. She said he was returning from another assignment and stopped to talk to her friend when a suicide bomber detonated his device killing both soldiers. Again she lost all composure. I assured her that it was all right to cry as I had seen many male Marines cry just as hard.
She then asked for another name. I found it and brought it to her. The cause of death said "killed in non-combat related incident." I asked her how he died. She replied, "He put a gun to his head and committed suicide." By this time, I could take no more and was in tears myself.
As a nation, we must become more cognizant of the heavy price we are paying for this fiasco in Iraq. It is our duty to question the decisions of our politicians because those who serve cannot.
Before leaving, this young lady informed me that she had just reenlisted for another four years. I told her I did not like that decision but would be proud of her if she were my own daughter. I fear for her as if she is my own daughter.
Rodney Brown,
member, Veterans for Peace, American legion, Veterans United for Truth
It's a shame a good Dem's integrity like Kerry gets attacked. Even if does something positive or tries to do the right thing it's never good enough for some people.
I bet Rove is just laughing his tail off at the way we continue to eat our own.
Someone sent me "Pirates of the Constitution" - I used it, but credited it - click on my name to see it because I have a jpeg, not a link.
Ralpheh
Well, it looks like Republicans and Democrats pretty much generally believed for a long time that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, not just Kerry. It looks like there was either a long trail of botched intelligence or something.
These are all the dates of quotes from Democrats who insisted Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction and something had to be done. So it wasn't hard to talk them into going into Iraq after 9/11, even though Saddam had nothing to do with it. They took the Richard Perle approach that
@@@@@@@@
Please, please, please, now you are sounding just like the righwingers I encounter on a daily basis on the internet - and I have seen the Cut And Paste WMD quotes from 1998 over hundred times.
If you are going to argue that Kerry was fooled by Bush and Cheney as was the rest of Congress, you only make me more cynical about the Dem party and less willing to donate ANY time or money to them.
Triangulate Away!!!! let the war drag on a few more years... we were all fooled by the Bushies.... or perhaps Bush and Cheney didn't lie to us after all - they got bad intell from the C.I.A. and the Brits; they really thought Saddam had loads of WMD and was combing the world for yellowcake.
The Dems don't need the liberals or the anti-war folks or the Dean folks or the Kucinich folks or Cindy Sheehan!!! They've got Hillary and money and the unions....
The Father of Our Country, George Washington, was not only the most famous colonialist and Army General, but he was one of the richest men in America, being that the woman he married, Martha Custis, was an extremely wealthy Colonial Era widow.
Her fortune, in today's dollars, would handily eclipse the multi-billion dollar Heinz Ketchup one of John Kerry's wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry.
@@@@@@@
I think reason why people kind of liked Clinton was that he wasn't a snob and didn't come from privilege (like all of the Bush family). Actually Clinton was rather poor - before he became president; being Governor of Arkansas doesn't hardly pay the rent.
Thanks for the info on Washington...
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 31, 2007 02:03 AM
Yeah, pretty odd, you're taught to believe in the American dream, a dream laden with materialistic possessions, only to find out that if you actually achieve that dream and become successful, it's the job of everyone else around you to demean the success that's been achieved.
What a petty f*ckin' place this is anymore...
Thanks for nuthin.
Breaking: U.S. economic growth slows to slowest pace in almost 5 years
Steam
by Peter Gabriel
Stand Back!
'said Stand Back!
What are those dogs doing sniffing at my feet?
They're on to something, picking up
Picking up this heat, this heat
Give me steam
And how you feel can make it real
Real as anything you've seen
Get a life with the dreamer's dream
You know your culture from your trash
You know your plastic from your cash
When I lose sight of the track
You know the way back
But I know you
You know your stripper from your paint
You know your sinner from your saint
Whenever heaven's doors are shut
You kick them open, but
I know you
Give me steam
And how you feel can make it real
Real as any place you've been
Get a life with the dreamer's dream
Stand back!
'said Stand back!
Can't you see I've lost control?
I'm getting indiscreet
You're moving in so close 'til I'm picking up
Picking up this heat, this heat
You know your green from your red
You know the quick from the dead
So much better than the rest
You think you've been blessed
But I know you
You know your ladder from your snake
You know the throttle from the brake
You know your straight line from a curve
You've got a lot of nerve
But I know you
Everybody nosedive
Hold your breath, count to five
Backslap, boobytrap
Cover it up in bubblewrap
Room shake, earthquake
Find a way to stay awake
It's gonna blow, it's gonna break
This is more than I can take
Oh yeah, I need steam
Feel the steam around me
Ah you're turning up the heat
When I start to dream aloud
'Til you're movin' hands and feet
Won't you step into this cloud of steam
This steam
Help me yeah
Ready to steam out the log jam
Stir crazy from the freezer to the boil
Water's bubbling, it's b..b..b..bubbling
bubbling bubbling bubbling bubbling
Life is coming to the boil
Gimme steam, lady
Gimme the steam around me now
On a high, Coming alive
'said gimme some steam!
Ralpheh
I didn't agree with those Dems - it's just a fact that they were also yammering away like the Repubs about WMD. I did get it off a rightwing site but it is also true. They made the statements, not me. I just paid my taxes and voted them in. & my retirement mutual funds probably include some bad stuff too. I feel guilty. Glad you're arguing with wingnuts though. I'm just a wingnut lite. I am actually registered at Free Republic but seldom go there and lurk rather than post.
What a petty f*ckin' place this is anymore...
Thanks for nuthin.
Posted by: monkey at May 31, 2007 08:33 AM
@@@@@@@@
If only I had gone to Yale....
I would be rich and powerful today...
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 31, 2007 10:38 AM
Ya think that woulda done it?
And what does going to Yale have to do with being rich and powerful...
There's more than a few examples of well-educated and poor Yale alumni to go around.
Education in general, on the other hand, is a definite stepping stone.
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Russia's test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile this week was in response to U.S. steps that have sparked an arms race and undermined world security, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.
"Our American partners have left the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty. We have warned them then that we will come out with a response to maintain the strategic balance in the world," Putin told a news conference Thursday.
"We conducted a test of a new strategic ballistic missile with multiple warheads, and of a new cruise missile, and will continue to improve our resources."
"We are not the initiators of this new round of the arms race," said Putin. "(Our partners) are stuffing eastern Europe with new weapons. A new base in Bulgaria, another in Romania, a site in Poland, radar in the Czech Republic . . . what are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this."
Russia test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday featuring multiple warheads that senior officials said could pierce any missile defense system, including the planned U.S. shield in Europe.
Russia says the U.S. missile defence shield is a threat to its security and will change the strategic balance in Europe, but Washington dismisses such fears, saying the shield is intended to counter "rogue states."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/31/russia.missile.reut/index.html
Peace, Out
In hot seat, Bush unveils new climate strategy
Proposals still leave him distant from Europe ahead of G8 summit
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Ahead of a summit next week where Europe wants strong action to curb warming emissions, President Bush on Thursday unveiled a strategy that would gather the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases and cut tariff barriers to sharing environmental technology.
The U.S. strategy also calls for consensus by the end of 2008 on long-term goals for reducing the greenhouse gases tied to global warming.
With the United States often accused of dragging its feet on combating climate change, Bush called for a meeting this fall of 15 countries identified as major emitters. This list would include the United States, China, India and major European countries.
Bush's proposal is separate from U.N.-brokered climate talks already set for December in Bali, Indonesia.
Bush’s critics were quick to respond.
Greenpeace called it an attempt to bypass both the Group of Eight industrial nations' summit next week and the Bali talks.
“The only way you can get a grip on carbon emissions is to cap and trade them globally. Bush has rejected that, so there are fundamental contradictions in these declarations,” said Greenpeace climate expert Charlie Kronick.
Added Kit Vaughan, a climate expert with the World Wildlife Fund: “This is trying to leapfrog next week's summit and the Bali meeting by aiming at the end of 2008. We don't have time for this. There are lives being lost. It is morally unacceptable.”
more crap...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18959819/
DEM PARTY SPLITTING UP OVER IRAQ VOTE
It is time for a valid unity party or the Liberals will start their own political machine that actually does answer to the voters.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/blogosphere-fury-at-dems-on-iraq-vote-2007-05-30.html
Blogosphere fury at Dems on Iraq vote
Furious that congressional Democratic leaders did not fight harder to pass a supplemental spending bill with a timeline to end the war in Iraq and tougher benchmarks, liberal online activists have ripped party leaders and threatened to halt contributions to Democratic lawmakers.
The power of the so-called netroots — liberal activists who rally likeminded supporters on the Internet — is not clear. They have a loud voice and they have the capacity to raise money quickly for a candidate they favor, but they so far have been unable to push House and Senate Democratic leaders on a range of issues, including ending the war in Iraq.
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 31, 2007 10:38 AM
Ya think that woulda done it?
Posted by: monkey at May 31, 2007 10:57 AM
@@@@
It couldnt a hurt.....
It couldnt a hurt.....
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 31, 2007 11:38 AM
Really???
The Bush-Yale Connection
We know that generations of Bushes have passed through Yale's hallowed halls, but what are the other connections? Use this timeline to explore the events and people that bring Yale and the Bush family closer together.
1977 Arbusto gets its start
The Bush Connection: George W.’s first foray into the oil business, Arbusto Energy, is founded in 1977 with the help of his uncle Jonathan Bush ‘53. After not finding oil, in 1982 Arbusto attempts to bring in some more cash by going public. Philip Uzielli and his Executive Resources Corp. put up $1 million to buy 10% of Arbusto’s stock. Uzielli was a close friend of James Baker III.
The Yale Connection: Investors in this venture included:
http://www.yaleinsider.org/bush_time.html
Interesting story about meeting Elizabeth Edwards here...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/31/51356/9207
Interesting article in salon -- talks about how Bush has bolstered Assad as a dictator
----
"But Assad's power has been growing for an ever more apparent reason: Iraq. A few years ago, his regime was reluctantly talking about economic and political reforms. Today, its dominant message is about security and stability, which resonates powerfully with a population that has witnessed bloody chaos to the east and watched more than a million Iraqi refugees flee across Syria's borders. Syrians who might once have wanted regime change themselves now fear ending up like Iraq; the promise of democracy isn't worth the cost."
"By getting rid of one dictator, Saddam Hussein, the Bush administration has strengthened another one right next door."
[...]
"One young human rights activist, whom I've met frequently during my visits to Syria over the past three years, was the most dejected and depressed I've ever seen him... "You can no longer engage average people about democracy and human rights. They see what's happening in Iraq and they panic," he says, sipping an espresso at a Damascus cafe where he spends a lot of his time these days. "They don't want to hear about democracy.""
---
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/31/syria/print.html
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 31, 2007 11:35 AM
I don't think the Dem party will split up but I think there is a good chance a "mainstream" ticket could emerge that is not popular with the "netroots." Assuming a progressive one takes the nomination, there is quite a precedent for people not to listen.
Literally in my parched "tropical" backyard...
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Water levels in Florida's dried-out Lake Okeechobee dropped Wednesday to match a historic low set in 2001, while firefighters battled a blaze burning on part of the exposed lake bottom.
The South Florida Water Management District expected the water level to drop below the record of 8.97 feet (2.73 meters) on Thursday as the region's worst known drought continues.
The average water level this time of year in the second-largest freshwater lake in the United States should be around 13 feet (4 meters).
The 12,000-acre (4,856-hectare) fire started Monday in vegetation left dry after lake waters receded from its northwest rim, said Melissa Yunas, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Forestry.
The cause of the fire was unknown. It was about 50 percent contained, Yunas said.
Lake Okeechobee is the primary backup reservoir for 5 million people in South Florida during dry periods. Water management officials warn that the lower the lake levels drop, the less likely it is that summer rains will sufficiently refill the lake to meet water demands during the next dry season.
The continuing drought has forced stringent water restrictions on homes and businesses in 13 counties, and four coastal wells were closed to prevent saltwater contamination.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/30/lake.level.ap/index.html
Paging Pat Robertson....
A Walk In The Dark
by David Byrne
I'm takin' all your little toys away
You don't have any say so in your future
The pretty colors and the shiny lights
Do we just chase whatever we desire?
Oh silent night
Oh holy night
Sometimes you see me
Sometimes you don't
You'll get to know me better
After a walk in the dark
The monster in the mirror
We'll take a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
I'm not afraid to close my eyes at night
I'm not afraid of what my dreams will show me
I saw a fish that had a human head
I saw some things that I would like to show you:
The broken glass
The car's on fire
Open the cages
And set them free
Mine eyes have seen the glory
I took a walk in the dark
It ain't no bedtime story
We'll take a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
Oooh -
Who will help ya now?
Surrender,
My love
Let it all come down
Burn baby burn
Now Jesus, Mary and the Holy Ghost
Took one look and they said, "Hey, we're lost!"
"How the hell do we get outta here?"
They shit their pants, they got so scared
So no matter who you are
Ya need a walk in the dark
The sweetest thing I ever saw
I took a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
Woah - we'll take a walk in the dark
Hey, can the next president please promise not to put up those STUPID corporate looking banners behind them everytime they give a speech???
Am I the only one who is sick to death of that as well?
Today, his shrubiness is talkin' plain 'bout Climate change. The huge banner behind him says, well, here -> (look behind the crosseyedecider)
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2007/POLITICS/05/31/bush.climate.ap/newt1.bush2.gi.jpg
I don't think the Dem party will split up but I think there is a good chance a "mainstream" ticket could emerge that is not popular with the "netroots." Assuming a progressive one takes the nomination, there is quite a precedent for people not to listen.
Posted by: not my president at May 31, 2007 12:39 PM
@@@@@@
The Dems had a lot of momentum going from the last election and the wide discontent with the war in Iraq (and Afghanistan is not going well either). And besides, it is the morally "right" thing to do - to oppose the war and Bush.....
If the Dems pick a mainstream candidate with no clear message and which does not offer a clear alternative to the Republican candidate, they will lose momentum and further turn voters off...
Posted by: monkey at May 31, 2007 01:30 PM
If they're going to have a banner, let it read something like, "Make love not war".
Posted by: dwahzon at May 31, 2007 12:38 PM
Thanks good article - reading over lunch.
Obama will be here tomorrow, & I've received publicity from him, Richardson, Clinton and Edwards. I have sworn to not take sides til after I see the panel in Chicago in August, but I'll certainly file this foreign opinion on Obama's foreign policy ideas away.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/31/8023/76395
& I guess Wolfowitz' replacement used to be on the Board of Enron. I guess that's not as extreme as being an "architect" of the oil war? Who knows.
Ralpheh
Possibly you have more faith in the electorate and voting process than I do. I have been burned many times.
Now there is a rebuttal:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/31/115113/636
I'm not taking sides, but trying to study the biases without developing a strong one yet
The White House denied that a new Cold War is beginning and said the system is designed to defend allies vulnerable to ballistic missiles. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Washington is trying to reassure Russia that the anti-missile system is a defensive -- and not aggressive -- deployment.
In an interview with CNN Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Moscow's fears are "ludicrous" and that the system is not aimed at gaining a strategic advantage over Russia.
"This is against smaller but nonetheless potentially very deadly places like Iran," she said in Berlin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov retorted: "There is nothing ludicrous about it. The arms race is beginning again."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/31/russia.tensions/index.html
Ok, so which one is it? For defense purposes, or against "deadly places like Iran"?
Be good to the ones you love while you can... nutcase at the wheel.
defensive not aggressive .. oh yeah that is real plausible - from a country whose military philosophy in writing includes the possiblity of pre-emption
Scripps National Spelling Bee is on TeeVee tonight. ABC network (check local listings, etc.).
So, okay. I'm a sucker for things like this. It has two things that appeal to me: smart kids, and etymology plays a role. Mostly I just like seeing kids who are smart, know how to use language, and appreciate it. (I know how to use the Mute button for stupid commercials.)
Don't know if I'll be able to see all of the spelling bee 'cuz I have stuff to do, but I'll catch what I can.
Dell profits rise, but jobs get cut.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6710327.stm
I'm never buying their crap again. Dells have really gone down the drain thanks to so much "crapware" on the hard disks.
Heck, even Dell's favorite president, W, uses Macs!
Damn, Ralpheh. You do not want to go there. You do not -- I repeat, do NOT -- want to go there.
I'm just sayin'.
At least Obama is calling for troops getting out of Iraq:
QUOTE:
Our servicemen and servicewomen have performed admirably while sacrificing immeasurably. But it is time for our civilian leaders to acknowledge a painful truth: we cannot impose a military solution on a civil war between Sunni and Shiite factions. The best chance we have to leave Iraq a better place is to pressure these warring parties to find a lasting political solution. And the only effective way to apply this pressure is to begin a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces, with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the goal set by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. This redeployment could be temporarily suspended if the Iraqi government meets the security, political, and economic benchmarks to which it has committed. But we must recognize that, in the end, only Iraqi leaders can bring real peace and stability to their country.
Damn, Ralpheh. You do not want to go there. You do not -- I repeat, do NOT -- want to go there.
I'm just sayin'.
Posted by: Otter at May 31, 2007 06:22 PM
@@@@@
Where??
Links...
Sheehan...
Iraq....
Yale.... ???
Ralpheh
Possibly you have more faith in the electorate and voting process than I do. I have been burned many times.
Posted by: not my president at May 31, 2007 03:29 PM
@@@@@
Maybe we should realize what Rove has realized about Americans and the voters:
You can fool most of the people, most of the time... with lots of money, repetition of a simple message and good media coverage..
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/05/equal_pay.html
The Supreme Court Just Won't Cut us a Break
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/30/is-al-gore-going-to-run-for-president/
Is Al Gore Going to Run for President?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/30/al-gore-on-countdown-part-ii/
Al Gore On Countdown: Part II
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/31/rove-protege-tim-griffin-resigns-from-us-attorneys-office/
Rove Protege Tim Griffin Resigns From US Attorneys Office
Griffin is thinking of taking a job with Thompson's campaign:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003315.php
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/31/compromise_or_capitulation.php
Compromise Or Capitulation?
Live Each Day To Its Fullest
Alex R. Jimenez
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Boston Globe -- No matter how or when Alex R. Jimenez comes home from Iraq, he'll receive a hero's welcome, family friend Wendy Luzon said last night.
Jimenez, a 25-year-old Army specialist from Lawrence , was among the US soldiers captured -- or killed -- by insurgents in an ambush Saturday south of Baghdad by a group that includes Al Qaeda members, Department of Defense officials said last night. The group, the Islamic State of Iraq, warned the United States not to search for the missing soldiers.
The military said Jimenez had been traveling in a patrol by two Humvees in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Al Taqa, looking for insurgents planting roadside bombs, when they were hit by automatic weapons fire and explosives.
Killed in the attack were Sergeant First Class James D. Connell, Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn.; Private First Class Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich., and Private First Class Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va.
Christopher E. Murphy
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Washington Post -- Christopher E. Murphy grew up in Virginia and played high school football without his glasses, although that probably left him unable to see 10 feet in front of him, his coach recalled last night.
Sometimes it seemed that a ball carrier would slip by unseen, said John Earich, assistant head football coach at William Campbell High School in Campbell County, Va. But Murphy was a hard worker and "just a bull on that line" and often reached out at the last moment to bring down an opponent.
Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, was one of three soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division who were killed Saturday in Al Taqa, Iraq, when their patrol was attacked with explosives and automatic weapons, the Pentagon said. [See story, A10.]
The Defence Department listed his home town as Lynchburg, Va., but those who knew him said he came from the rural Gladys area of Campbell County, which borders the city.
Daniel W. Courneya
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Detnews.com -- Courage characterized Daniel W. Courneya, who relatives said decided on a military career while still in junior high.
The former Vermontville resident often said how he admired their work, and wanted to perform similar duties "to make a difference," said his grandmother, Martha Petuck. "He wanted to make things better in the world, for everyone. He was always concerned about people."
He enlisted in the Army weeks before graduating from Maple Valley Junior/Senior High School in 2005.
Courneya was deployed to Iraq in August, his grandmother said. His stepfather, Army Spc. David Thompson, had also been serving there and was scheduled to return last weekend.
James D. Connell Jr.
Wednesday, May 16 2007
WVLT -- Lake City (WVLT) -- The Pentagon has not confirmed it officially, but we're told that an East Tennessean is among the five soldiers ambushed in Iraq yesterday.
Family members tell us First Sergeant James D. Connell Jr. grew up in Lake City, and currently lived in New York.
His brother tells us this father of four had visited his family in Lake City only two weeks ago.
"I came out to lower the flag to half staff since we had a brother soldier killed in Iraq," said Lake City resident Jack Reed.
Reed says he didn't know First Sergeant James D. Connell personally, but he is close with the his parents.
"I'm sure it's very difficult," Reed said, "I understand he was home two weeks ago, and to be brought back this soon, it's really a hardship, I'm sure."
Nicholas S. Hartge
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Journal and Courier -- ROME CITY - A soldier from northeastern Indiana was killed while serving in Iraq, his family said.
Pfc. Nicholas S. Hartge, 20, was killed at 1:03 a.m. Monday, according to his father, Dave Abbott, of Rome City. The family was notified by Army officials late Monday afternoon.
"It's terrible," Abbott said this morning. "It's your worst fear."
Abbott said his son was either on patrol or performing a raid when Hartge's unit met with heavy resistance.
"A heavy battle ensued, and he was killed," Abbott said.
Hartge served with the 1st Infantry Division and was deployed to Iraq in August. He was stationed in Baghdad.
John T. Self
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal -- PONTOTOC – John T. Self's preacher says the 29-year-old's death in Iraq on Monday was shocking, but not surprising.
"He was in his fourth tour as a military policeman," said the Rev. Don Smith, preacher of the Algoma Baptist Church, where Self had attended since he was a little boy. "That's one of the most dangerous jobs a person can have in Iraq, but John loved it, he loved serving his country."
Self, a staff sergeant, became the second Northeast Mississippi soldier killed in Iraq in less than a week when a roadside bomb exploded Monday in Baghdad, hitting the vehicle he was in. He also became the fourth Iraq casualty from Pontotoc County.
Jill Self said her son had volunteered again and again because he wanted to serve his country.
Joseph J. Anzack Jr.
Wednesday, May 16 2007
Department of Defense -- The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom who was previously listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown.
Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was captured May 12 by enemy forces in Al Taqa, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by insurgents using automatic fire and explosives.
His body was recently recovered in Iraq. The circumstances surrounding his capture and death remain under investigation.
Anzack was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. For more information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Drum public affairs office at (315) 772-8286.
KGTV -- TORRANCE, Calif. -- A Torrance soldier who was mistakenly rumored to have died in Iraq last week was identified Tuesday as one of four soldiers who were either killed or captured during a weekend al-Qaida ambush south of Baghdad.
Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, was listed by the Department of Defense as "Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown."
Four soldiers were killed and three others were missing and feared captured in the wake of the Saturday ambush near Mahmoudiya.
The Department of Defense identified three of the soldiers who were killed in the attack as Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn.; Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich.; and Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va.
William A. Farrar Jr.
Tuesday, May 15 2007
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin -- Army Pfc. William A. "Tony" Farrar Jr., 20, of Redlands was killed Friday in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Farrar, son of Rialto police Capt. Tony Farrar, died in Al Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, where he was on military police duty.
A Police Department spokesman said the mood was solemn at headquarters on Monday, where the soldier's father has worked since his son was an infant.
"Everyone here, especially those of us who knew Tony Jr., are just devastated," said Sgt. Tim Lane, a department veteran who said his and Farrar's families sometimes vacationed together when the young soldier was a child.
From his home in Redlands on Monday, Farrar would say only that he is deeply saddened and caught up in family affairs.
Andrew J. Bacevich
Tuesday, May 15 2007
Boston Globe -- Boston University professor Andrew J. Bacevich has been a persistent, vocal critic of the Iraq war, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure. This week, the retired Army lieutenant colonel received the grim news that his son had been killed on patrol there.
First Lieutenant Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, of Walpole, died Sunday in Balad of wounds he suffered after a bomb explosion, the military said yesterday. The soldier, who graduated from BU in 2003 with a degree in communications, is the 56th service member from Massachusetts to be killed in Iraq.
His father, a veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf wars, has criticized the war in his writings and described President Bush's endorsement of such "preventive wars" as "immoral, illicit, and imprudent."
Anthony J. Sausto
Tuesday, May 15 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer -- GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A 22-year-old soldier who spent most of his life in Atlantic County before enlisting in the Army last year was killed in Iraq last week, just two months after being sent overseas.
Private Anthony J. Sausto, who was born in Somers Point and later moved to Hamilton Township, was killed Thursday by small-arms fire in Baghdad, relatives told the Press of Atlantic City on Friday.
Sausto completed basic training in May 2006. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., before going to Iraq in March.
Douglas A. Zembiec
Tuesday, May 15 2007
Washington Post -- There may not be higher praise than was offered last night for Douglas A. Zembiec, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a resident of Annapolis and a Marine.
"I thought he was one of the greatest people on Earth," said Zembiec's father-in-law, William Slunt.
"He was one of the best Americans that this country could ever know," said Alexandra Ripley of Annapolis, the wife of a close friend.
Zembiec, 34, a career Marine who held the rank of major and whose formal assignment was at corps headquarters, in rlington, was killed in combat Friday in Baghdad, the Pentagon said last night.
A newspaper in Albuquerque, where he went to high school, described him as a legendary Marine, and his friend Tom Ripley said that was accurate.
Site Note
Monday, May 14 2007
We have created a new category for those listed as MIA, POW or DUSTWUN and moved Keith Maupin to this category. He and the others like him will not be forgotten.
Michael Frank
Monday, May 14 2007
Cincinnati Enquirer -- A soldier who graduated from the University of Cincinnati was killed Thursday night in Iraq, the military said.
Spc. Michael Frank, 36, of the HHC1-504 Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team 82nd Airborne, was killed when the Humvee he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device at about 10:22 p.m., Baghdad time, said Capt. John Bleile, casualty assistance officer for the Montana Guard.
"Michael died from wounds sustained from that IED," Bleile said.
Frank was active-duty Army, serving his second tour and first Iraq deployment. Two other soldiers were injured as a result of the explosion, Bleile said.
Frank earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from UC. His body is being returned to Cincinnati for funeral services. .
Roy L. Jones III
Monday, May 14 2007
KHOU -- A decorated Army private from Houston was killed Thursday. Pfc. Roy L. Jones III, died from wounds sustained from small-arms fire in Diwaniyah, Iraq the defense department said.
He is the third Houston area soldier to die in the past week. Jones was assigned to the 984th Military Police Company from Fort Carson, Colo.
Defense department officials said the 21-year-old had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal and had received a combat action badge since being deployed o Iraq in Sept. 7.
Attempts to reach Jones family for comment were unsuccessful.
Jason W. Vaughn
Saturday, May 12 2007
Daily Journal -- IUKA – Walter Vaughn said his son U.S. Army Sgt. Jason W. Vaughn, who was killed by a roadside bomb Thursday in Baqubah, Iraq, always put the needs of others before his own.
"He told me he didn’t want to be promoted, because he wanted to be in the fight helping the men and women he served with," an emotional Walter Vaughn said Friday. "Jason was so loyal. This is a very tough day."
Jason Vaughn of Iuka had served two tours of duty in Iraq. "He went back because he wanted to help his buddies over there," his father said.
The 29-year-old soldier died from wounds he suffered from a bomb near his vehicle, the Department of Defense confirmed late Friday night.
Bradly D. Conner
Saturday, May 12 2007
Spokesman Review -- A highly decorated U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant major from Coeur d'Alene was killed in an explosion while serving his fourth tour in Iraq, the Defense Department said Friday.
Sgt. Maj. Bradly D. Conner, 41, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, headquartered at Fort Lewis, Wash. He fought in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, including the capture of Baghdad International Airport, said his sister, Brenda Day, of Spokane Valley.
According to a statement by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, N.C., Conner's convoy was ambushed near Al-Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, on Wednesday. Conner was fatally wounded when an improvised explosive device struck the M1114 armored personnel carrier in which he was riding.
Day said Conner was "headed out to check on his team" and that two other soldiers were injured in the blast.
Blake C. Stephens
Friday, May 11 2007
Twin Falls Times-News -- POCATELLO, Idaho - The wife of an eastern Idaho soldier killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb said her husband would have still gone to war even if he had known his fate.
"He still would have done it," Erin Stephens told the Idaho State Journal. "He always said it would be better to die doing something he loved. His death was honorable. He was a hero."
Army Sgt. Blake C. Stephens, 25, of Pocatello, was part of a convoy escorting an Army colonel when the device exploded Tuesday in Salman Pak, a town 18 miles south of Baghdad. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga.
"We were best friends. Blake was me,