« High School Students Protest Military Recruiters | Main | Mothers Day 2007 »
O'Reilly as Propagandist -- Villains, Victims and the Virtuous
drawing by DiAnne Greiser
A new study has been done at Indiana University, without the involvement of any special interest group, that analyzes the editorial communication style of news commentator Bill O'Reilly. It was published May 2 and has just been put out as a press release and the article will appear in the Spring issue of Journalism Studies.
O'Reilly was chosen because in a 2005 Annenberg survey, 40 percent of respondents considered him to be a journalist. The intent was not to highlight political left or right, but to examine the premise of whether his television editorials are indeed fair and balanced, as represented by its host network.
The methodology involved studying six months worth (115 episodes) of O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo", using propaganda analysis techniques.
At the beginning of his program, O'Reilly tells Fox News viewers that they are entering the "No Spin Zone." The new study reveals the ways in which he is actually and consistently painting certain people and groups as villains and others as victims.
The Indiana University study is titled Villains, Victims and the Virtuous in Bill O’Reilly’s "No-Spin Zone" -- Revisiting world war propaganda techniques. Its authors preface the report of their findings this way:
"This study updates methods of communication analysis popular in the period between the world wars in an effort to analyze news commentator Bill O’Reilly’s 'Talking Points Memo' editorials. The results show that O’Reilly is a heavier and less nuanced user of the seven devices developed by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the late 1930s than the notorious radio commentator of that time, Father Charles Coughlin.
"O’Reilly also employs other propaganda techniques, identified by Lasswell, Berelson and Janowitz. This includes ample use of fear appeals and the construction of the battle between good and evil. The most evil villains in O’Reilly’s world are illegal aliens, terrorists, and foreigners because they are apparently a physical and moral threat to the United States.
"Slightly less evil -- but unambiguously bad -- are groups (media, organizations, politicians) who share a political leaning to the left. On the other side, the virtuous flank emerged as an all-American crew made up of the military, criminal justice system, Bush administration, and ordinary US citizens."
The researchers found that O'Reilly called a person or group a derogatory name on the air every 6.8 seconds on average, essentially painting them as "good" or "evil," without presenting evidence.
O'Reilly employed six of seven propaganda devices approximately 13 times per minute in his editorials (which are also presented on his Web site and in his newspaper columns). The seven propaganda devices included:
Name calling -- giving a bad label to make the audience reject it without examining the evidence;
Glittering generalities -- the opposite of name calling;
Card stacking -- the selective use of facts and half-truths;
Bandwagon -- appeals to the desire, common to most of us, to follow the crowd;
Plain folks -- an attempt to convince an audience that they, and their ideas, are "of the people";
Transfer -- carries authority of something we respect to something the speaker wants us to accept;
Testimonials -- a respected (or disrespected) person endorsing or rejecting an idea or person.
Among the study's findings:
Fear was used in more than half (52.4 percent) of the commentaries, without a resolution. As an example, O'Reilly presented the "left-wing" media as unfairly criticizing Attorney General Gonzales for his role in Abu Ghraib and referred to that as an example of "America slowly losing its freedom and core values."
O'Reilly referenced 22 groups in his commentaries and those most frequently labeled as bad were the political left (Americans as a group, and those media not favored by O'Reilly). Left-leaning media (21.6%) were the largest portion of bad people, then media without a clear leaning (12.2%). Illegal aliens (26.8%) were the most evil, followed by terrorists (21.4%). These groups were also never presented as victims, never vulnerable or deserving of empathy.
Victims were those judged unfairly (40.5%), hurt physically (25.3%), undermined (20.3%) or hurt by moral violations of others (10.1%). Americans in general, the U.S. military and the Bush administration were the top victims in the data set (68.% of all victimization).
O'Reilly would come up with a couple examples of "proof" and then claim to be fair to all groups. In one case, he showed a video clip where he had called Mexican workers "good people", then asked for a boycott of a newspaper in which a journalist had criticized him for comments about Mexicans. He consistently cast non-Americans in a negative light, whether illegal aliens or foreigners.
Additional data, charts and the full text of the study are available online at http://journalism.indiana.edu/papers/oreilly.html and in document format at http://journalism.indiana.edu/papers/oreillyjourstud07.pdf.
Great sketch (though I've seen it on your blog before) - thanks for sharing with the DCP.
Now, you need Michelle Malkin in there, as the poster child for Asian-American reactionary politics - just like the Mann is the poster child for LGBT reactionary politics.
How to argue wih lying propagandists. By A poet.
Be willing to call a liar... a liar.
To his face. As he lies.
And remain perfecly calm as they react. Do not lose focus no matter how vicious they get. Never fear a liar.
And you will shut them down every time.
All propaganda requires a false sense of political correctness, or a false sense of politeness to work. It requires fear.
Just because you are expected to take it, does not mean you have to take it.
You can totally be rude and blunt to these liars, and still remain a Christian.
Ummmm....
Amen.
I definitely feel more threated by illegal aliens than by terrorists.
Our economy is tanking fast for sure, and illegal immigration is a lot of it. Outsourcing and illegal immigration is a double threat we can't survive.
The Government of Mexico needs to be called on toying with our dollar. This is a loco situation. They need to quit encouraging their own people to flee. That is just obscene.
We need a true strong diplomat in the WH or atleast a man smart enough to send one.
We are ALL Americans on this side of the world. There has to be a way to get along without mutualy assured economic ruin.
O'Reilly can talk about being a traditionalist, but he'll always be a Loofah rubbing-Falafel lovin' hypocrite to me.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris1.html
I don't feel threatened by either illegal immigrants or terrorists. Illegal immigrants do alot of work in my part of the country that would not get done otherwise. Families are separated and in limbo. Terrorists are random occurances and have always been a threat, and moreso as we antagonize people and there are more willing martyrs or vengeance-seekers following killing of relatives etc.
There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
There is a special sale on fear at Walmart every day. Don't buy it.
I definitely feel more threated by illegal aliens than by terrorists.
Posted by: V at May 8, 2007 12:29 PM
@@@@@@@
If you can read, write and speak English, it would seem that you have a huge advantage over illegal aliens from Mexico. Don't be so worried...
Christy
What you are describing can be accounted for by extreme free trade, hypercapitalism, globalization. CEOs benefit. Union busting, using illegals and outsourcing are the tricks of the trade. It's not the fault of the scabs, illegals or foreign workers, who are trying to put food on the table. The discrepancy between CEO and worker pay in the US is more than in other developed countries, often in 3 digit percentages. The bosses love it when the working poor and shrinking middle class are pitted against scapegoats at the bottom. Same is used to promote racism.
You know, it's good to have global connectivity, integration, interdependence, communication but economically, globalization creates a cruely unequal playing field, if the end goal is to standardize life all over the globe (which won't happen).
Idealistically, it would be nice to have prices, wages, profits at developed country levels but this depends on climate, migration patterns, population, movement of money, geopolitics, tourism, immigration, trade, refugee status, telecommunication and politics all play a part. None are easy to control.
In the United States, we tolerate free trade and globalization when it benefits us, but become suddenly isolated and nationalistic when it comes to Kyoto treaty or the World Court where war crimes are examined.
We have many such double standards. We participate in the WTO, manipulate tariffs, create trade zones, allow in poorly regulated goods, ignore intellectual property laws when it suits the economic interests of those making the most money.
Remember, it was Reagan who first told people to "vote with their feet." We cannot support double standards without becoming hypocrites, and it's really unfair to blame the victim.
Love the sketch and the analysis.
On terrorists vs. illegals: I feel threatened by the terrorism propagated by Bill O'Reilly, which feeds the fear of illegal aliens, many of whom are well-behaved citizens and a few of whom are right-wing, religious to the point of lunacy, or just plain stressed out and violent. You know, just like the rest of the population.
Blanket characterizations are misguided. So many just need help, healthcare, education, a leg up.
Some need to be locked up and I know who's at the top of that list, for me. And he's not an illegal alien.
This just in:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/moveontoimpeachment/
Sign, seal, deliver
Karen
I liked what Arianna Huffington said today:
So it's finally happening: accountability. At long last, a prominent public figure is being punished for serial reckless behavior and the willful denial of its consequences.
Unfortunately, the public figure in question is Paris Hilton, not George W. Bush. The good news is that, for better or worse, Paris has always been a trend setter (without her, we never would have had the Kim Kardashian sex tape or Britney flashing her privates in public). Maybe her high-profile punishment will lead to more high-profile accountability. Starting with Alberto Gonzales and Paul Wolfowitz. And, of course, the president...
I should have said:
/sarcasm
Posted by: V at May 8, 2007 04:13 PM
I knew you were being sarcastic. But thanks for clarifying. :)
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 02:28 PM
And sexism and homophobia.
Tell the white straight middle-class men that it's affirmative action for women, nonwhites, and homos that is causing opportunities to shrivel up.
Tell the nonwhites that the "privileged" rich white male homosexuals want the same civil rights as the nonwhites, at the nonwhites' expense.
Tell the Asian entrepreneurs that the welfare system is a Democratic ploy to keep the blacks lazy and forever keep them from improving themselves.
Tell the blacks that Asians are greedy entrepreneurs who are exploiting other nonwhites, on behalf of whites.
This has worked so well, especially in badly segregated and splintered Los Angeles.
Posted by: Christy at May 8, 2007 01:16 PM
Yes, the Mexican government must be held responsible.
But I don't expect that to happen anytime soon, as long as our Republicans keep supporting the National Action Party (PAN, the ruling party) overtly and covertly.
NAFTA was supposed to create good jobs in Mexico, so that Mexicans wouldn't have to come to the US illegally to make ends meet. On that front, NAFTA is a complete failure.
I thought the "surge" was 21,000 - who are these 35,000 preparing to deploy?
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/05/08/657827.html&cvqh=itn_pentagondeploy
Looks like the powers-that-be are agreeing to try to make things look good by September. Then if they can't, there will just be too many troops and too much equipment in the middle east to be able to disengage, & once someone pushes the button to start aerial bombing of Iran (perhaps Israel, since we aren't allowed under treaty but they haven't signed it), then it'll be too late & we'll join in the fray - toward Armageddon. This has been planned for over a decade.
Plug from Al Gore. I approve this message.
A few weeks ago I read John and Teresa's book, This Moment on Earth. I found the stories within, about men and women fighting the great fight for our environment, to be a profound challenge to all of us. These activists provide valuable lessons on the power of people working for change. If we embrace their resourcefulness, determination and essential patriotism we will prevail in the fight to save our planet.
I was inspired by their work, and I know you will be too. You can purchase a copy of This Moment on Earth at your local bookstore or by clicking here:
Buy the book
The book comes at an important time, a vital moment on Earth.
Right now our nation is ready to cross the tipping point beyond which our leaders will be forced to take real action to solve the climate crisis. However, in order to cross that threshold it is going to take a sufficient expression of political will.
Most of our Representatives in Washington know there is no longer a debate about the fact that the climate crisis is real -- and they know the serious consequences our planet faces if we fail to act. Political will is a renewable resource, and enough already exists to start solving this crisis. We just have to communicate that forcefully to the political leaders of our country.
As John and Teresa's book demonstrates, the most powerful way to realize that change is through the activism of the American people.
That is why a few months ago I began building a movement at AlGore.com. Already we have grown to a community of more than 550,000. In order to ultimately succeed we will need to grow even bigger.
Today I want to invite you to join our movement to solve the climate crisis by visiting:
http://www.algore.com/join/
For many years, I have worked with John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry to fight for a solution to the climate crisis -- way before it was fashionable. Indeed, they were providing outstanding and courageous leadership on these vital questions when very few people in the world were even paying attention to these challenges. This commitment continues in their important new book.
I urge you to join me in working for change. And I urge you to read John and Teresa's wonderful new book for moving and inspiring illustrations of the potential power of Americans working for a better planet. Together, we can create a better tomorrow for our Earth if we seize this vital moment.
Thank you,
Al Gore
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 06:13 PM
I just caught the same story on Yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_troops
Pentagon tells 35,000: Prepare to deploy
The Pentagon has notified more than 35,000 Army soldiers to be prepared to deploy to Iraq beginning this fall, a move that would allow commanders to maintain the ongoing buildup of troops through the end of the year if needed.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday the deployment orders, which have been signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, do not mean that the military has made a decision to keep the increased level of 20 brigades in Iraq through December. A brigade is roughly 3,500 soldiers.
Instead, he said the decision gives the Pentagon the "capability" to carry the buildup to the end of the year. The replacement forces, Whitman said, would give commanders in Iraq the flexibility they need to complete the mission there.
{{{More on link. "Complete WHAT MISSION...?!?" The "mission" has NEVER been defined, not in all these years, although there have been shifting "rationalizations" for the Iraq war through the years from imposing 'freedom on the Iraqi people' to 'gee, it's good Saddam is gone' (and the like; all false justifications for the war crime of invading an innocent nation after 9/11 - and those rationalizations are all lies). The only thing Georgie and Dickie and their corporate cronies have to wait on now is the vote of the Iraqi parliament regarding the clause in the dictated constitution that gives US oil corporations a huge chunk of current oil revenues and virtually all drilling rights for future oil wells in Iraq (there never was any intent to "rebuild" Iraq with revenue from their own oil wells - so far any "rebuilding" costs have come from US taxpayers or loans for the "supplemental spending bills" with money going straight into corporate coffers of Halliburton, Carlyle, Blackwater, et al. - and those "reconstruction" projects are never successful for several reasons (not built with local labor, no one in Iraq is shown how to keep these places going, 'insurgents' blow the places up). How about this: Don't give Georgie and Dickie and their corporate cronies any more money - regular or supplemental funds - until/unless they can "define the mission" in Iraq. Er.. what am I saying? That would require them to tell the truth for a change. Ain't gonna happen.}}}
Must see TV - the Newshour tonight, a segment between the head of VoteVet.com and wingnut radio host, Melanie Morgan, of Move America Forward.
Scary stuff. I come across conservatives all the time on the net who say these kinds of things, and now I know why. They're repeating her psychotic talking points. This person is scary - and operating totally in dead-ender mode (a phrase I happily borrowed from Donald Rumsfeld). You have to see her to believe her.
You can probably even download a podcast of this exchange online. This woman is an example of the authoritarian personality that John Dean describes in Conservatives Without Conscience. Scary, scary stuff. Either you're with her or you're a traitor!
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/05/supremecourt_woman.html
An Adult Woman
{{{Whoever drew this cartoon has been reading my mind for the last few years. The older I get, the more I resent being treated like a backward child who doesn't quite know how to tie her own shoelaces, let alone use her mind. When I was young and kinda cute (and didn't know as much as I do now), people listened to me; I was in an occupation where lives depended on what I said, so I learned to ask the right questions and knew I had to have the right information before I answered anyone's questions, or had to look up the correct answers if I didn't know them and get back to the person asking questions. Now that I'm old, with gray hair and wrinkles and have paid my dues for acquiring knowledge - and continue to seek more knowledge - for the last few years I'm mostly treated like I've lost all that knowledge and have become mentally retarded. Nothing makes me lash out in anger and resentment more than the twin prejudices of ageism and sexism. I downloaded this cartoon and sent it to practically every woman in my address book!!!}}}
Posted by DiAnne Grieser at May 8, 2007 11:04 AM
Good Thread Header!!! :-)
I've known for a long time that O'Lielly has been using propaganda tools. I just hope the people who "need" to see that will read it....
The part that always surprises me is that so many listen to him and Rushie McLimpDick and their ilk - and it's outright shocking that anyone takes them seriously!
Just freakin' amazin' (to me) that people don't deconstruct their lies and figure out that those particular individuals are evil monsters of misinformation and disinformation and outright lying propaganda. It's so EASY to deconstruct their lies and almost-half-truths, not even intellectually challenging to do so....
Posted by: Cyrano at May 8, 2007 06:34 PM
Thanx for the head's up. News Hour comes on here in 10-15 minutes.
Watch. This will be Bush's new buddy, unless he's seen as a liability because he's a lame duck. Wouldn't be surprised if he turns up soon at the ranch in Crawford, or maybe W will be wooed on the yacht.
A Wreath for Chirac, a Yacht for Sarkozy
Mr Sarkozy, 52, a right-wing politician who won a clear mandate on Sunday to impose radical reform, had campaigned on the slogan “work more to earn more”. But immediately after his election victory he flew by private jet to relax with his family on the yacht of a billionaire friend off Malta. The monarchical “cloister”, to which Mr Sarkozy had implied he was retreating, turned out to be a posh yacht, one newspaper noted.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1763805.ece
While Mr Sarkozy was motoring between Malta and Sicily on the 120ft (35m) Paloma, with 17 crew and a big spa bath, his absence raised eyebrows at home, where police have arrested hundreds of rioters and hundreds of cars have been torched in demonstrations in Paris and other cities.
Some opposition politicians accused Mr Sarkozy of conduct that conflicted with his message of blood, sweat and tears for French revival.
(snip)
War veterans had expected Mr Sarkozy, who campaigned on the theme of patriotism and hard work, to accompany President Chirac yesterday as he laid a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe to mark the Nazi surrender in 1945. In the last handover of power, in May 1995, Mr Chirac attended the public holiday event as president-elect alongside President Mitterrand, the outgoing head of state.
Mr Sarkozy’s Mediterranean retreat was his second signal this week that France is breaking with its tradition of staid heads of state and is coming under the command of a new-generation leader with an unabashed taste for glitz. On Sunday’s election night, television cameras waited for an hour for the victorious candidate to emerge from Fouquet’s, a famous restaurant on the Champs Elysées, where he was celebrating with Johnny Hallyday, the venerated French rock musician, and other stars.
Hallyday, a close friend of Mr Sarkozy, announced yesterday that he is to return from tax exile in Switzerland. The new president’s plans for a 50 per cent cap on personal taxes will enable him to enjoy his wealth in his home country.
The new tenant of the Elysée Palace is close to several of France’s richest men. Le Point magazine said this week: “Sarkozy likes money. He does not hide it. For him, it is the sign of social success.”
Mr Mennucci said that he was worried by the new president accepting the loan of the motor yacht, which charters for more than €175,000 (£120,000) a week, from Vincent Bolloré, a Breton industrialist who ranks 451st on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest.
The French media exercised their traditional restraint towards an incoming president, but comment on the internet was vitriolic. “Decency would have required that he attend the May 8 ceremony at Chirac’s side, but obviously his cynicism was stronger,” said a commentator on the site of the magazine Le Nouvel Observateur. Another said: “This is no surprise. After our banana republic, now we have the republic of glitz, Sarkoland in all its splendour.” There were some suggestions that the president-elect, who is about eight inches shorter than Mr Chirac, may not have been keen to stand alongside the political rival whom he is to succeed.
Mr Sarkozy last week explained the reasons for taking what was supposed to be his secret retreat by saying that he needed time to prepare himself spirtually to assume the heavy burden of state.
Off-topic:
Wikipedia says that W's third veto of his pResidency may likely be the Matthew Shepard Act, the new federal hate crimes legislation that will protect sexual orientation AND gender identity, and broaden the applicability to everyday life, not just federally protected acts like voting.
If W goes ahead with his veto, it will be proof that he is the pResident for Dominionist Christians, and Dominionist Christians ONLY.
And for madame defarge and Ellen Beth:
Even your Congressman, the hated Mark Kirk, supports the Matthew Shepard Act. In fact, he was the Republican House co-sponsor.
Just shows how out of touch W is with the non-Dominionist America.
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 06:46 PM
Sarkozy is yet another example of the fact that immigrants are NOT all liberals, and in fact, most are conservatives.
If Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republican sweetheart immigrant communities of Florida and California have not rubbed this fact in, Sarkozy surely will.
It's amazing to me how often someone slides in "damn the illegal immigrants" alleged issue in blog discussions these days.
I mean it shows up in every damn thread I read.
Last night, a guy was talking about his unemployment woes. The post garnered over 200 comments. And damned if there wasn't this one post in the middle from some guy saying, "It sucks that we give so much to illegal immigrants when we have real citizens suffering".
One thing I know for sure. That unemplyed guy ain't gonna be picking lettuce anytime soon. He will lose his house before that happens.
The crops that will lay in the fields unpicked this year will be telling. But then I guess those who fear the crop-pickers don't eat much roughage anyways.
I just wonder if the Karl Rove trolls actually LOOK like pudgy Karl Rove in person.
Thanks for the all the fearful of immigrants for VALIDATING the entire premise of this blog post.
Tell Move On Org directly about impeachment:
Dear MoveOn member,
Could you take 30 seconds to answer our one-question survey about how
to deal with the Bush administration? Click here:
http://pol.moveon.org/bushsurvey/a.html?id= 10229-4599041-uA6iZW&t=1
Thanks very much,
–Eli Pariser
MoveOn.org Political Action
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
Maryland Governor to endorse Hillary Rodham Rodham for president:
By Andrew A. Green
Sun Reporter
Originally published May 8, 2007, 4:07 PM EDT
Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to endorse Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a campaign rally in Annapolis on Wednesday, and the governor has begun encouraging his supporters to back her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, sources familiar with the plans said.
An endorsement would hardly be a surprise -- when talking in the abstract about the next president, O'Malley has been known to use the pronoun "she" -- but it would solidify Clinton's position in the race for Maryland's delegates to the Democratic Naitonal Convention in 2008.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, has already signed on as a national co-chair of the Clinton campaign, and O'Malley's backing would give the New York senator the backing of the two most powerful state-wide Democratic organizations in Maryland.
The Clinton campaign announced it would "make a major campaign announcement" at the City Dock in Annapolis tomorrow morning but provided no further details. O'Malley administration officials also declined to discuss the event, which is scheduled for 9 a.m.
DEMOCRATS MAY PROPOSAL SHORT-TERM FUNDING OF WAR
May 7 — House Democrats may push ahead this week with a new war spending bill that would provide money for combat operations through midsummer, with the rest of the funds sought by President Bush withheld until commanders in Iraq provide a report on conditions there.
Senior Democratic officials say the proposal, which is still being put together and could reach a floor vote by the week’s end, is an attempt to provide the Pentagon with the money it needs while keeping pressure on Mr. Bush over his conduct of the war.
The House leadership had made no final decision, but aides said Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, was leaning toward the approach, which was developed by Representatives David Obey of Wisconsin and John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, two senior Democrats on the Appropriations Committee.
Congressional officials said that so far, the proposal had not met serious opposition from the party’s antiwar wing or from more moderate Democrats anxious about being accused of not financing the military.
It does not include the timeline for withdrawal that drew Mr. Bush’s veto of the initial $124 billion bill, but it would require a second vote by Congress to release the bulk of the money.
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 8, 2007 07:54 PM
This is what I said, how I voted:
http://pol.moveon.org/bushsurvey/a.html?id=
Do you think Congress should impeach President Bush? [Yes]
Why/Why not?
The Iraq invasion and occupation is/was a war crime. Torturing and illegally detaining prisoners at Guantanamo is a war crime. Bush & Cheney and their cohorts have repeatedly lied about all of the above. The Military Commissions Act of '06 is unconstitutional; the Patriot Acts have invaded our privacy (they should be repealed in their entirety, along with most legislation passed since January 2001). Refer to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights & other Amendments, the Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg judgment, and US law (Title 18 regarding war crimes). Impeaching Cheney first, Bush second would be ethical, moral, and honorable.
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 06:15 PM
-------
Actually, one especially cool thing about that letter from Al Gore is where it came from and who it got sent out to: johnkerry.com's email list.
That's right, Gore wrote it but Kerry distributed it for him. Some people apparently think that's sorta-lame, especially some of them posting to a couple of actually-lame threads over on Democratic Underground (ahem), but I think it's a terrific move myself.
(For the record, people posting to the equivalent threads over on Daily Kos seem to have a much less knee-jerk perspective about things like this (ahem, ahem), beachmom has an excellent diary about the shared-distribution email and its implications over there at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/8/15352/50433 -- check it out, read the comments, and add your $.02 if you want.)
Anyway, this was my reply on the subject to a truly lame pinhead who posted on DU about how allegedly lame it was of Gore to let Kerry's people write his messages for him:
----------------
Gore's not just pimping Kerry's book for him to Kerry's mailing list any more than he's just piggybacking on Kerry's mailing list because he doesn't have one of his own to use.
Yes, they're helping each other out with this email that Gore was given access to Kerry's mailing list for. Yes, it does promote the book at the same time as it promotes algore.com. But there's nothing lame about that on any of the levels some of the people posting seem to be looking at here.
Gore and Kerry have worked closely together on environmental issues for over two decades now. They genuinely like and respect each other, and they respect each other's ongoing work on those environmental issues. Gore's emphasis on climate change at the global level dovetail's nicely with Kerry's emphasis on enviro-toxins and related issues on the local level.
Kerry's got a huge and very loyal online community, even now when he's not running for national office, and it is a significant thing that he offered to promote Gore's algore.com site in this message sent out to to Kerry's 3-million-strong mailing list.
It's not about pimping Kerry's book to Kerry's online community -- he doesn't need anybody's help to do that. But it is about pushing Gore's message regarding his online activist community to people on Kerry's list who might otherwise not be aware of it.
That's not lame, that's damn strong synergy. And it's also a great example of how progressive leaders can work together to reinforce their strengths and their activities in addressing the critical issues of the day. If we could get more people in Washington to work together that way, the small-d democratic agenda would be very well-served indeed.
Hell, if we could just get more people on DU to work together that way, we could stop the war, save the planet, take back the government, rebuild the economy, and still have time to play a few rounds of golf before Memorial Day.
That, and have time to believe six impossible things before breakfast, too.
----------------
www.draftgore.com y'all,
Otter
Keith Olbermann | Where Does the Politicization of Justice End?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050807A.shtml
Keith Olbermann says: "It was at first a disturbing story about political servitude violating the sanctity of the offices of federal prosecutors. Then it was a story about employees in those offices being hired only if they were political adherents, something that rang of the old Soviet Politburo. But the Alberto Gonzales/US Attorney Firings scandal has now reshaped itself - like some governmental Andromeda Strain - into what looks like an attempt to deprive Democrats of the right to vote."
{Video plus two printed stories on above link.}
Robert Parry | Tenet-Bush Pre-9/11 "Small Talk"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050807E.shtml
Robert Parry writes, "In late August 2001, when aggressive presidential action might have changed the course of US history, CIA Director George Tenet made a special trip to Crawford, Texas to get George W. Bush to focus on an imminent threat of a spectacular al-Qaeda attack, only to have the conversation descend into meaningless small talk."
Otter
My take on the Kerry/Gore thing is that they are both wholly committed to improving life on the planet and saving it from destruction, insofaras it's even possible - for both it's been a long-term, long-time commitment. Watching Gore's documentary, I felt shame that I had not worked harder for his campaign (in addition to just wishing I'd worked harder against the reign of W). I could see how hard he had tried to make it an issue in the Senate and in his campaign and at that time, so many people saw him as an "environmental wacko."
By the same token, even during the 2004 elections, so few people knew or cared that Kerry had been part of original Earth Day or knew about Teresa's pioneering work (I didn't, til I heard her speak early on) or how hard he'd tried to save the Alaskan wilderness. It seems like almost 3 years post the 2004 election, the environment and global warming are more politically accepted topics than they wre back then. Bush wasn't even acknowledging global warming (or "climate change"), it didn't seem like a huge campaign issue, the media didn't seem to pick up on it.
The environmentalists I did know were passionate about Kerry, knew about Gore and were heartsick after both stolen elections, but those are people who were ahead of the curve, and ahead of me. I was trying to listen, but now realize it's an even larger issue than who is President. Alot of the effort has to be international. We can't be doing things like not signing the Kyoto treaty or its successor(s). & big companies have to start being "greener," or be boycotted or pushed out of the way by companies that will make the effort. Consumers have to be educated and then to act and as a lifestyle, not a fad.
I have an autographed copy of JK and THK's book and I put it in my basement with all my political stuff. Well it is coming upstairs and I am going to read it. I scanned it over but I can not say I have read it yet. & I'm going to buy my son a copy of Gore's documentary - his birthday is tomorrow.
Boston Legal is dealing with a fictitious case of suing the US because of abuse/torture at Gitmo.
This should prove interesting. Mountain and Pacific Time zone people should be able to catch the show....
I'm going to buy my son a copy of Gore's documentary - his birthday is tomorrow.
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 10:03 PM
Happy birthday to your son from all of us at DCP.
He seemed like a bright young fellow to me!
Speaking of insane pundits, Coulter says Obama's lead in Newsweek poll is fake and made up and that it helps Al Quaida. I think it would be nice if she would go do some embedded reporting like that guy who's trying to be the rightwing Michael Moore. Surely she could learn something by going to some of the hotspots. Maybe she ought to take a walk among the Taleban without a burka.
http://www.comcast.net/news/politics/index.jsp?cat=POLITICS&fn=/2007/05/08/657921.html&cvqh=itn_coulter
Ally,
Thanks! My son is the one who got me interested in Gore, and Kerry - he really researched them. For the moment, he is backing Obama. He says Obama has an encyclopedic knowledge, similar to Bill Clinton. I do listen to him and he now has a degree in political science. He knew all the Presidents and Vice Presidents by the time he was 4 or 5 - used to fall asleep holding the almanac! I wondered if it was normal and at this point, I don't care. I'm just so happy I successfully chased away all the military recruiters and taught him about working for world peace since he was small, taking him to rallies and marches even when he was an infant.
This just in:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/moveontoimpeachment/
Sign, seal, deliver
Posted by: karen at May 8, 2007 02:49 PM
Drat!! Since your president's lonely point of view hurts all the world, it would benefit us outside the US, to have GWB impeached. Soon. Sadly, I'm unable to sign petitions.
This is the second petition to come past me today and I've not been able to sign either. The last was from Al Gore. American activity in every sphere, affects the world's population.
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 10:10 PM
Or better yet, the Mann should cut off his/her hair, and grow a beard, to avoid running afoul of sharia moral laws.
MSNBC said today (I was watching while waiting in line at a Bank of America branch, for my family business) that Hillary is well ahead of Obama. I don't know which poll to believe.
Obama looks good to me too, though I also like Edwards and Richardson.
privacy (they should be repealed in their entirety, along with most legislation passed since January 2001). Refer to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights & other Amendments, the Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg judgment, and US law (Title 18 regarding war crimes). Impeaching Cheney first, Bush second would be ethical, moral, and honorable.
Posted by: NonnyO at May 8, 2007 09:32 PM
@@@@@@@@
It is interesting that Move On is even asking this question about "impeachment". A couple of months ago, Move On did not even have impeachment on the menu.
Ally
I think the polling is premature and that it's too early, also that too much is made of it. I'm not going to pay much attention to it and will start watching more toward end of summer - plan to see the candidates in a panel and watch the on-line debates in the fall. New candidates could still jump in! I also like aspects of Dodd and Biden. I have not made a choice and don't intend to this time, at least not yet. It's nice.
While Mr Sarkozy was motoring between Malta and Sicily on the 120ft (35m) Paloma, with 17 crew and a big spa bath, his absence raised eyebrows at home, where police have arrested hundreds of rioters and hundreds of cars have been torched in demonstrations in Paris and other cities.
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 06:46 PM
And Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
V:
Thank goodness "Posted by: V at May 8, 2007 04:13 PM" was sarcasm! You had me worried for a second there!
DiAnne:
Great drawings. I never knew....
On Gore/Kerry mutual support, we need more of that. Just because someone lost a fight doesn't mean we should turn our backs on them. Just the opposite, in fact -- we should be out there saying "yes we were right all along." They are good leaders fighting for the good cause. If you lose a battle and lose heart, you can never win a war. I am very proud to see people like Gore and Kerry sticking together.
I think this post sort of speaks to the threader topic about how things get communicated (and in this case from the other side of the coin).
Chuck in Houston
Sarkozy is the Berlusconi of France. The EU is downright determined to keep the USA as the sole arbiters of the international order for another couple decades, while reseving the right to whine and complain.
Chuck in Houston
Ally
South Korean editorial about looking longingly at the new European turn to the right by certain governments:
Excerpt:
Any country that gets lured by the false glory of being a welfare state will inevitably catch the British, German or French disease. And it takes an unimaginable level of pain to cure that disease. During the initial stages of Thatcher’s reforms, unemployment in the U.K. rose from 1.5 million to 3 million. But that was the only way for the country and its economy to regain its vitality. Now Germany and France are following suit. When will Korea, still chasing the false dream of a “European model,” finally open its eyes?
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705090013.html
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 8, 2007 10:34 PM
MoveOn is being pushed into it by other organizations who know we need to get the wannabe dictator(s) out of office. Think there's a link above describing it....
As far as I am concerned, it's the one topic that "should be" the #1 issue in this nation and talked about daily, co-equal with stopping their illegal war and torture.
But that's only my opinion. I don't seriously believe anyone in Congress will ever broach the subject rationally or dispassionately on points of law and constitutional principles alone. I think the Bushista dictator wannabes will leave office unscathed, and no one will ever hold them accountable for their crimes. And we'll be left to pick up the pieces and pay their bills.
Chuck, Woz
European bloggers called him "the Nixon of France" and also a "rabid Tony Blair" - nice to know we're not the only one with a problem.
Slightly off-topic (imagine!) - the new Atlantic Monthly has an article about how people mess with those "Nigerian scam" type frauds who want you to transfer money to them. They have gotten people to fall in love with them by pretending to be Gillian Anderson, copy long passages of "Lord of the Rings," or carve a wooden computer. They also get them to go on long motorcycle trips to pick up money that isn't there, or to hold up wierd signs and be photographed. It's mean but so is the scamming.
NMP:
Telling that they didn't call him the Berlusconi of France. As if they had to look outside their own house to find examples. I tell you, those continentals, they always stick together. Andree has some 'splainin' to do in my book!
Chuck in Houston
NMP:
On dealing with the"Nigerian Scam" thing, wow! That's a real eye-opener. The possibilities are limited only by the scope of human imagination and YouTube access! "Reality TV" enters a new dimension (que Rod Sterling....).
Chuck in Houston
As per above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y
Chuck in Houston
About to read an article on Condi Rice and how she is taking chances to prevent nuclear oblivion in the middle east (??) when i get this email:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/8/183441/6853
Condi Rice to be investigated by the Wall Street Journal for being on Chevron's board of directors when they were paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein r/t the Oil for Food program.
No shame. I know there is an oil tanker named for her.
Don't know how accurate this is, but it's an interesting read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarkozy
Chuck in Houston
NMP:
So the second COndi finally does something right the Wall Street Journal comes up with the goods? Is that a special request from Rupert or what?
No, I'm not paranoid. It's just that everybody is against me!
Chuck in Houston
NMP:
By the way, Chevron is a very cautious and conservative corporation. They do not take such chances. They are the "goody-two-shoes" of the oil patch. Or one of them anyways. It's a good company.
Chuck in Houston
In other news, it's nice to know that *somebody* is standing up for truth, justice, and the American way:
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070509/D8P0IGPO0.html
Of course, Condi, as they say (or as someone once must have said): "Live by the sword, die by the sword."
Chuck in Houston
Of course, Condi, as they say (or as someone once must have said): "Live by the sword, die by the sword."
Chuck in Houston
Otter
Strange - Only in America.
Chuck
Good to hear that about Chevron. I'm all for investigation in order to make sure everything was on the up and up. Although I doubt they'll ever get to the bottom of everything that happened in the run up to the war. I think alot of evidence has been destroyed, in our government offices and also in Iraq.
Above should have read:
"Of course, Condi, on the other hand...."
Or as Condi should understand: "S volkami zhyt', po-vol'chi vyt'"
Re; Condisleazy mentioned in the oil-for-food-scam.... (Hmmm... does this have anything to do with her defying a Congressional subpoena...?)
Chevron to Acknowledge Aiding Saddam Hussein
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050807T.shtml
Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, is preparing to acknowledge that it should have known kickbacks were being paid to Saddam Hussein on oil it bought from Iraq as part of a defunct United Nations program, according to investigators.
Excerpts:
A report released in 2004 by an investigator at the Central Intelligence Agency listed five American companies that bought oil through the program: the Coastal Corporation, a subsidiary of El Paso; Chevron; Texaco; BayOil, and Mobil, now part of Exxon Mobil. The companies have denied any wrongdoing and said they were cooperating with the investigations.
As part of the deal under negotiation, Chevron, which now owns Texaco, is not expected to admit to violating the U.N. sanctions. But Chevron is expected to acknowledge that it should have been aware that illegal kickbacks were being paid to Iraq on the oil, the investigators said.
~~~~~
According to the Volcker report, surcharges on Iraqi oil exports were introduced in August 2000 by the Iraqi state oil company, the State Oil Marketing Organization. At the time, Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state, was a member of Chevron's board and led its public policy committee, which oversaw areas of potential political concerns for the company.
Ms. Rice resigned from Chevron's board on Jan. 16, 2001, after being named national security advisor by President Bush.
NMP:
What in this wide-world is entirely on the "up-and-up?" And how can one even tell? And when or where has it ever been otherwise?
"The rain may never fall till after sundown.
"By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
"In short, there's simply not
"A more congenial spot
"For happily-ever-aftering than here
"In Camelot."
Chuck in Houston (and no, I'm not yet entirely cynical)
That was Richard Harris sang that I think.
I never could figure how Lynn Redgrave went for that Robert Goulet character when Richard Harris was so obviously superior as a human being. But there you have it -- go figure!
Lancelot was the original Han Solo.
V:
I guess I dated myself pretty bad, huh?
Oh well, I guess that's the moral of the story. The more things change, the more the Song Remains the Same (now, THAT'S my generatiojn -- sorry Madame).
Chuck in Houston
Came up in SE Portland OR (Hosford GS, CLeveland HS)
Chuck
It surprises me that Condi and Peter Jennings dated.
My uncle really liked this blog and he told me that Rush Limbaugh is saying now that since Segalene Royal lost in France, it means Hillary Clinton will lose in US. His logical progressions reveal his drug-addled nature.
Chuck
If you click on my name and scroll down to the "Oregon Majiko" story you will see some Portland pics and some other wierd stuff on the way.
Dated? Hardly. King Arthur is timeless.
After all, I had to read all two volumes of Malory's Morte D'Arthur in the original Middle English :)
Most depressing thing I've read in a while:
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 10:50 PM
Yep, who needs decent wages, shared health insurance, protection for the old, disabled, and poor? Who needs to live in a society that takes care of its own? It's better to be "vital" right? Whatever that means. Very appropriate to the thread header if you care to deconstruct it.
Chuck in Houston, Texas USA
Chuck...is your email on here a working one? I have a question to ask you.
V:
Oh yeah? Well, I struggled through a good portion of "Canterbury Tales" on assignment in Doha!
NMP:
Weird on Jennings and Condi! Though I guess some could see her as kind of cute, in a skinny kind of way. And you know what they thought about gapped-teeth in Chaucer's day!
Chuck in Houston, hoping they hit it off all the same....
I was Queen Morgan LeFay in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" my Senior year in high school (Onida, SD). The same year I played the innkeeper who turned the pregnant Mary away from the inn at my Methodist Church. I guess I was getting typecast as the antiheroine. That was the end of my acting career, though I was in a punk band called "The Homewreckers" for awhile in the early 80s.
Strangely enough, Condi also worked for Gary Hart. She was a liberal. Sometimes people flip.
Whan that Aprille with her shoores soote
Inspired hath in every holt and heethe....
My uncle's comment on Coulter:
that woman is insane--Fox is pandering to the lowest common denominator in allowing her on their network....at least Paris doesn't make any pretense of expertise in politics or national affairs
Chuck
McNemamins Oregon Coffee Liqueur is really something! I am testing it! The Beer Brothers of McMinnville Oregon have certainly started something impressive and real with their ales and brandies and honeys and little cigar bars that play only the music of the Grateful Dead, with their mystical magical artists who make every square inch of their properties special and alive and ghostly. Let's hope it spreads. Love and peace and fantasy are alive at their establishments, and I think it's time for the UFO Convention at their place in Cottage Grove. When you are back in Oregon, check them out. They have also bought up the Bagdad Theater and the Crystal Ballroom in Portland and at their property in Troutdale they bring in acts like kd lang, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Decemberists (I don't get the connection either). It's amazing! I bought one of those bumper stickers that says "Keep Portland Wierd" and it's kind of like our "Fremont Center of the Universe" thing. U District Street Fair and Fremont Solstice Fair are coming up and I couldn't be more jazzed! No matter what happens in the world, they can't take all of this away because there's not much profit in it!
NMP:
That Gary Hart bit is even weirder. I don't connect with our Secretary of State. Something seems missing there.... Does not compute...
V:
Posted by: V at May 9, 2007 12:33 AM I still check that from time to time
Chuck in Houston
Chuck: you've got mail (assuming your email on here works!)
Ah Ha! NMP!:
As I recall, COndi went to school in CO, so there is your Senator Hart connection! (Brent Scowcroft is from Utah, on the other side.)
NMP:
Bagdad theater -- 37th (or so) and Hawthorne -- used to sneak in back when it was a blue-collar neighborhood. Crystal Ballroom -- my hero, from Hosford and Cleveland that held the Cleveland record for High Hurdles -- booked the Crystal back when. Billy Rancher lives. God Bless Peace Love and Understanding.
Stop making me so nostalgiac!
Chuck in HOUSTON
Chuck
Some budding neocons used to cluster around Scoop Jackson, a WA Democrat .. Elliott Abrams, William Kristol ... See what I mean about people "flipping"? Is it a sign of instability?
Crystal Ballroom rocks. They used to have swing dancing there a couple times a week.
The only bad thing about McMenamins is that they're a chain (a cool chain, but a chain nonetheless) that is buying up and squeezing out a lot of cool mom-and-pop local places.
They have a biker bar in North Portland that has a couple of little hotel-type rooms you can rent upstairs. No advance reservations accepted.
V
Yes - they have an old school turned into a hotel in Portland. & we saw a movie at one of their places in Bend OR and you sit on couches and they bring you daquiris and cajun tater tots. $3 movies. It's not bad! & they have a Turkish "soaking pool." They're moving up into Washington - hotel in Centralia and a few pubs around. I guess as long as they can maintain the atmosphere - no tvs, everyone in a celebratory mood but mellow, and the sound of frogs. Loved it! (Troutdale)
Chuck
You know Belmont Street? Now it's cooler than Haight Ashbury ever was. I saw a guy lugging a big musical washtub into a coffee house and I don't mean Starbucks. Your old hood is getting really cool, much more so than the trendy Pearl District. Love Portland, even more than Seattle where I live, I think!
Posted by: Otter at May 8, 2007 11:18 PM
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070508/D8P0F6RG0.html
Data Says 2.5 Million Less Watching TV
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070508/D8P0E8S00.html
Nielsens: Real Bad Week for Katie Couric
{{{This could have been predicted from day one when Couric announced she was having Rushie McLimpDick do an editorial segment later that week. I watched the first evening snooze show of hers... until she made that announcement; I then boycotted CBS news - trash like that does not belong on TV. Couric is a third-rate infotainment hack, at best, and she does nothing but gush like a love-struck teenager when she interviews Dictator Georgie (ditto the "girls" at ABC's GMA when I've seen them talk about or interview the little dictator). Memo to Nielsen... there is no surprise at Couric's failure. The only "surprise" is ABC getting ratings (apparently by default???) with Charlie Gibson, another third-rate infotainment hack with neoCon religious leanings (or so it seemed when last I saw five minutes of any ABC evening snooze many months ago and that was the second time in one week when the lead-in to their snooze involved religion and politics, so I boycotted them, too). If Lamestream Media TeeVee snooze is going to do nothing but read propaganda from the administration, they are not broadcasting need-to-know FACTS.... People who want to know FACTS or appreciate deconstructed propaganda, get their news on the internet..., or they turn to Keith Olbermann or Jon Stewart. Shhhh..... that's a secret!}}}
Jason Leopold | A Crusade and a Holy War in the US Military
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050807R.shtml
An Orthodox Jew and former petty officer in the US Navy said his civil rights were violated after a chaplain and officials at a Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, tried to convert him to Christianity while he was under the VA's care.
Excerpt:
Since he launched his watchdog organization 18 months ago, Weinstein said he has been contacted by more than 4,000 active duty and retired soldiers, many of whom served or serve in Iraq, who told Weinstein that they were pressured by their commanding officers to convert to Christianity.
Weinstein said Miller's case is just the latest example of how the military has been hijacked by a right-wing fundamental Christian agenda, in what appears to be a clear-cut violation of the constitutional separation between church and state, which has rippled across all four branches of the military under President Bush.
"The rise of evangelical Christianity inside the military went on steroids after 9/11 under this administration and this White House," Weinstein said in an interview. "This administration has turned the entire Department of Defense into a faith-based initiative."
On Thursday, Weinstein said he intends to push back. He plans on holding a news conference in Des Moines to discuss Miller's case and draw attention to the broader issue of "religious fanaticism" plaguing the military. Weinstein added that his organization will likely file a lawsuit against the Veterans Administration hospital for violating Miller's civil rights.
"We will rapidly explore all legal options available, and I fully intend to file a lawsuit against the VA for massive constitutional violations against Mr. Miller," Weinstein said. "We will look at the law and lay down a withering field of fire at the feet of the VA to stop this tidal wave of unconstitutional destruction."
NMP:
I grew up about a ten blocks from 30th and Belmont. I used to deliver papers all around there (nobody paid back then).
Chuck
NMP:
But "Scoop" was a whole different era! Is "Scoop" still relevant???
Chuck
V/NMP:
Well, you all have made me so nostalgic I just can't stand it. Makes me want to pack up the old bass after a gig at Luis La Bambas and head out to the coast to fish for Steelhead on the Nestucca near Hebo. Etc. etc.
Chuck, unfortunately, in Houston
Lord, I was born a rambling man;
Trying to make a living and doing the best I can.
When it's time for leaving, I hope you'll understand,
That I was born a rambling man.
Well I'm Southbound.
Well I'm coming home to you.
Lord I'm Southbound baby.
Lord I'm coming home to you.
Got that old lonesome feeling
They sometimes call the blues.
Lord I've been working every night
Travelling every day.
Lord I've been working every night;
Travelling every day.
Oh you'd better tell your loving man
Sweet daddy's on the way.
FYI -- Allman Brothers Band --"Brothers and Sisters"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/08/colbert-defends-christianistss-right-to-discriminate-against-gays/
Colbert Defends Christianists’s Right to Discriminate Against Gays
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/08/jon-stewart-analyzes-the-republican-presidential-debate/
Jon Stewart Analyzes The Republican Presidential Debate
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2007/05/09/notes050907.DTL&nl=fix
Mark Morford
Apocalypse Of The Honeybees
How poetically appropriate that the End of Humanity should come from such a tiny, sweet source
MAJORITY OF IRAQI LAWMAKERS NOW REJECT OCCUPATION
By Raed Jarrar, Joshua Holland, AlterNet
More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51624/
Excerpts:
A sovereign and unified Iraq, free of sectarian violence, is what George Bush and Tony Blair claim they want most. The most likely reason that the United States and Britain have rebuffed those Iraqi nationalists who share those goals is that the nationalists oppose permanent basing rights and the privatization of Iraq's oil sector. The administration, along with their allies in Big Oil, has pressed the Iraqi government to adopt an oil law that would give foreign multinationals a much higher rate of return than they enjoy in other major oil producing countries and would lock in their control over what George Bush called Iraq's "patrimony" for decades.
~~~~~
The coming weeks and months will be crucial to Iraq's future. The United States, in pushing for more aggressive moves against Iraqi nationalists and the passage of a final oil law, is playing a dangerous game. Iraqi nationalists reached in Baghdad this week say they are beginning to lose hope of achieving anything through the political process because both the Iraqi government and the occupation authorities are systematically bypassing the Iraqi parliament where they're in the majority. If they end up quitting the political process entirely, that will leave little choice but to oppose the occupation by violent means.
{{{Ah. Okay, that 'splains why Dickie went on that surprise visit to Iraq. Can't you just hear him now? Bleat, blah, blah, blah... your legislators can't take a two-month summer vacation because they've not voted on the constitution we dictated to you, especially the part giving our oil corporations profits and drilling rights to Iraqi oil..., blah, blah, bleat, blah, bleat..., and you'd better follow our orders or those 38,000 new troops we're sending on top of the 21,500 'surge' troops will get you when we finish those permanent military bases... blah, bleat, blah, blah, blah... and no we can't get out now 'cuz we told our people we're bringing freedom to your country and you're not showing us the proper appreciation for that freedom... blah, blah, blah... and I don't care if you want us out, we still don't have the oil agreement... blah, blah, blah....}}}
NMP,
On this,
Posted by: not my president at May 8, 2007 02:28 PM
I actually have a child by an illegal Mexican. She is a beautiful child, just like her daddy, smart and brave like him too.
I do not blame the proverbial immigrants in any way. I blame our governments.
In my time actually living with illegal Mexicans, I learned so much about how the fear works against them. Things I am sure I would never have known unless I was right there among them.
I think what their government is doing is atrocious, and our government has no better grip on the problem than they do.
My one and only concern with illegal or legal immigration is our economy.
To me it has always been an economic issue not a racial issue. If our economy can not survive, then niether will our nation.
We have to come up with a better plan than anyting else ever thought of, cause so far nothing is working or fair to either side.
From "The Carpetbagger Report"
Add this gem to the list of examples of what the far-right means when it talks about “supporting the troops.”
President Bush has repeatedly argued that the United States needs to “eliminate terrorist threats abroad, so we do not have to face them here at home.”
Last night on Hannity and Colmes, right-wing pundit Dick Morris also claimed that we need to keep U.S. troops in Iraq so that terrorists don’t come to the United States. But he argued that we need to put “Americans right within their [terrorists’] arms’ reach” so that they have the opportunity to “kill Americans” there. He added that therefore, “they don’t have to come to Wall Street to kill Americans. They don’t have to knock down the Trade Center. They can do it around the corner, and convenience is a big factor when you’re a terrorist.”
There was no indication that he was kidding.
It’s hard to overstate how offensive this is. On the one hand, Morris seems to believe U.S. troops should exist as human bait in Iraq, making them targets for terrorists’ “convenience.” And on the other hand, Morris is just foolish enough to believe that intentionally keeping American troops in harm’s way will somehow make terrorists disinterested in attacking the U.S. directly. It’s the kind of analysis one can only find on Fox News.
What’s more, it amazes me that, with the war in its fifth year, the right is still embracing the “flypaper” strategy. It disappeared for a while — I think some conservatives realized it’s a morally bankrupt argument — but if Morris is any indication, it’s back.
With war-related talking points, everything old becomes new again.
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Because she's a Russia scholar, Secretary Rice will be quite familiar with Lenin's term, "useful idiot." Near the end of her decade on Chevron's board (she joined it in 1991 while a professor at Stanford University), the corporation cooked up the very responsible-sounding "The Chevron Way to a Strong Board." As chairman of the "Public Policy Committee," she should have been tuned in to the open secret of kickbacks being paid to Saddam starting in June 2000 (everyone in the industry knew, according to investigators quoted in the International Herald Tribune).
While she left the board to head the National Security Council seven months later, there was plenty of time to keep Chevron from buying millions of barrels of crude from Iraq and sending around $20 million to Saddam's private accounts and "pet projects" like aiding Russian whacko bigot, Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
"The Chevron Way to a Strong Board," after all, emphasized "ensuring that management and the CEO lay the company's problems out on the table," according to CEO at the time, Kenneth Derr. Sounds really thoughtful and, like most Corporate Social Responsibility blather, aimed at concrete problems. Problem is, even the top officials can be faked out or lack interest in flagging the most blatant acts of cupidity.
Now that the Queen is back home (I hope, for her sake), here's what the BBC is reporting...
Washington diary: Royal jitters
I have seen George Bush fumble for grammar, cringe in front of the cameras and shrug off insults from world leaders.
I have seen him joust gamely with opponents and stare down enemies with a cold eye.
But I have never, ever seen the commander-in-chief of the mightiest nation on earth look utterly terrified.
This week an elderly lady, who is at least a head smaller than the president and who, by all accounts, has never harmed a fly, achieved - unwittingly - what Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Nancy Pelosi have all tried and failed to do: reduce George Walker Bush to a quivering mass, make his lower lip tremble and - I promise you I saw it with my own eyes - make him blush to the roots of his Texan rind.
--snip--
The endearing thing about George Bush is that his body language and the spoken variety both betray his true emotions at every turn.
At Monday night's state dinner, the first white tie event in the Bush White House, a pair of lacquered black shoes could be seen virtually tap dancing with jitters on the red carpet next to the royal footwear.
Then there was George Bush's hesitant "should I sit or should I stand" toast which left the Queen on her feet, sipping her Riesling all by herself.
The most memorable gaffe had been committed earlier that day, when the president almost implied that the Queen was 200 years older than her current age by thanking her for attending America's bicentennial celebrations in 1776.
He corrected himself mid-date, then did what he often does in sticky circumstances. He winked, smiled and lunged for recovery.
The Queen was heard to mutter: "Wrong year!"
The president responded with disarming honesty. The Queen had given him "a look that only a mother could give a child" he told his guests and the world, under a glorious Washington May sky.
Call me churlish, but I thought this was a charming escape from Royal Protocol Armageddon.
To my knowledge no reigning Queen of England had ever been winked at.
The first Elizabeth would surely have had George Bush's guts for garters. This one responded with dead-pan aloofness. Her Majesty was not amused.
There wasn't even a flicker of a smile and the stiff upper lip of the House of Windsor remained resolutely stiff in the land of the free.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6637429.stm
You know, the "flypaper theory" of why we're in Iraq kind of flies apart now that "homegrown" terrorists have been caught - could be the pizza boy next door. One of them is a Russian nicknamed "Elvis." They needn't be illegal (some had green cards) or even foreign "looking" (consider JW Lindh or T McVeigh or Unibomber).
Speaking of "double standards," it's interesting that the antiCastro guy got off when he is implicated in actual bombing of an airliner in which 70 died and probably a hotel bombing - he got off on a technicality because they blew the case by holding him for interrogation ostensibly on immigration-related matters.
Strange world.
By the way, this is cool! & timely - isn't it strange that a park in the center of Los Angeles (huge Griffith Park) is on fire - full of dry brush) I was there at this time of year 30 years ago and it was lush and green.
(press release)
Kerry Says Global Warming Poses National Security Risk
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator John Kerry spoke at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the urgent need to address the national security threats posed by global warming. He said that global warming could impact America’s national security by leading to large-scale migrations, increased border tensions, and the spread of disease and conflicts over food and water – all of which might lead to U.S. military involvement.
On April 17, Senator Kerry wrote Chairman Joseph Biden to request today’s hearing, arguing that the growing risk of climate change posed a risk to American security and should be reviewed by the Foreign Relations Committee. Three experts, including Admiral Joseph Prueher, former Commander if Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, General Charles Wald, former deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, Air Force, and Vice Admiral Richard Truly, a former shuttle astronaut and administrator at NASA, who was also the first commander of the Naval Space Command, appeared before the committee. They wrote the recent “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change” report and testified at this morning’s hearing. Their report highlighted the evidence that global warming is inextricably linked to our national security.
Below is Kerry’s statement from the hearing:
“When a dozen of our most respected former admirals and generals discuss emerging threats to our national security, we must listen,” Senator Kerry said. “We know we have a ten year window to address global climate change before it’s too late. But now, it’s abundantly clear that global warming is not just an environmental threat – it’s also a national security imperative. If we’re serious about our national security, we better get serious today about combating global warming.
“Clima