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Let's Make Grover Norquist So Small We Can Drown Him in the Bathtub.
Well, we've finally made it. Thanks to the sadistic leadership of the Bush administration, the United States has officially become a third world country - complete with a struggling, terrified public, a tyrannical hologram for a leader, and a crumbling infrastructure.
An infrastructure that began to officially crumble this week in Minnesota. And when I say "began," I mean we're just getting started.
This morning, Twin Cities residents awakened to a list published in the Sunday paper of all the bridges in our state that are "structurally deficient." Turns out it's most of them. The article was badly written because the newspaper fired all the people who could write to save a few bucks, so nobody knows where these deficient bridges are. It's a secret.
Kind of a state-wide "The price is Right," except that if you guess wrong you might die. Just tell Little Johnny these are tough times, and if Mommy or Daddy don't make it home from work, the important thing is that everybody who survives gets to keep all their money, instead of paying for stinky old bridges and schools and stuff.
He'll understand. Orphans are very emotionally mature.
To all the Presidents and Governors and Senators and Representatives who ran entire campaigns on the simple mantra that this vast country of ours can be run without money, I curse you.
To all the yuppy, suburb-dwelling grub worms that write letters to the editor every day complaining that they have to pay taxes for living in America, and can't have 3 more cars and a new boat, I curse you.
To the media, who has ceased to question the administration about anything, or offer useful analysis to an information-deprived public, I curse you.
Maybe I shouldn't be so angry that our bridge fell down. Maybe it's what passes for "the best thing that could happen to us" these days... because maybe, finally, the American people will stop pretending that we can run this nation and never pay for it.
You see, it's very simple, Grover... When we don't pay taxes for things, PEOPLE DIE. They die because they don't have health care. They die because they can't get an education and become drug addicts and shoot each other. They die because the house they live in doesn't have heat. They die because the government didn't fix the levee. And they die because the government didn't fix the bridge.
So, to Grover and the Grub Worms, I say congratulations. You've finally made government so small that it cannot take care of its citizens. You must be very proud. Maybe you guys could go over to Iraq and help them shrink government, too. For some reason, government over there just keeps getting bigger.......
Me, I'm going to work to send Democrats to Washington so they can raise my taxes and fix the bridges.
I have a graphic at the link below that shows the bathtub quote from Grover in a story about protest surrounding the Bush visit to Minneapolis yesterday.
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2007/08/pawlenty-of-bla.html
Some believe it's not the right time to protest as my friend points out in her commentary in OpEdNews. She, by the way, is the one holding the sign in my post showing portraits of the Mn governor and Bush at the protest yesterday. In the OpEd, she relates her experience about a person telling her that her actions are inappropriate as well as her response.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kathlyn__070804_how_do_we_make_them_.htm
Amen Victoria.
Amen.
Good connections made & loved the Norquist truck. There were some points made re Norquist and Hurricane Katrina as well.
Yeah, we get it.
And now, what to do about it??
Can we PLEASE dog the Members of Congress this month until THEY get it too?
Their jobs, and they DID choose to accept them, are to take care of the poor and indigent, defend the borders (not borders they are only dreaming about, or that technically belong to others--such as those who actually LIVE there), and protect the laws and values as defined by the Constitution.
Oh yeah, and they work FOR US.
They work for US, but they sign their own paychecks.
Now that it is in a headline I guess it is official.
House Passes Bush’s FISA Law - American Civil Liberties Destroyed
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
Christy,
My point is they need that reminder. They are amok.
I feel a cold rage this morning. It begins somewhere deep in my stomach, rises up and twists my lungs and pierces and breaks my heart.
What exactly did they sign and why? I sent out queries to some others. Not sure where to turn next but need to be armed with more information. Alot of it is legalese. Need more information.
Still at Kos but not for much longer.
People are talking about how and why they started blogging. One is a former government worker who "worked for a war criminal" and "got tired of being a good German and keeping quiet." He is talking about how DailyKos does represent all 50 states and urban/rural.
They are figuring out good demographic rationale for where to have the Netroots conference next year.
Just heard from a friend who feels what just happened is a legalization of illegal spying that has beeing coming out of this administration for several years. Why would they do this? A power grab? Now they won't even have to do a job but will have complete benefits while they serve as window dressing for the Liberty Bell. (profanity removed)
My point is they need that reminder. They are amok.
I feel a cold rage this morning. It begins somewhere deep in my stomach, rises up and twists my lungs and pierces and breaks my heart.
Posted by: karen
Amen Again!
Me, too, darlin, cold rage. It gets colder by the day.
BTW, I am with you 100% on the thing about them doing their jobs.
At this point, impeachment is a matter of them fufilling their Constitutional obligation. They should not need public opinion, the evidence alone should compell them.
I am losing patience fast now. It is painful.
Karen, is this your email?
karen@dcp.net
It keeps returning saying no such user.
karen at democracycellproject dot net
I know kos must seem exciting, but, really, it obviously will have no impact outside yall having some fun.
The future president you just met, will he be spying on us and invading countries too? Cause it really seems like they only speak against it to score political points. And only with words they do not have to back up.
@@@@@@@
I think we (the bloggers) have contributed to moving the debate on Iraq from "however long it takes" to: When do we leave? What is success? etc... Bush was intent on staying in Iraq for sometime, perhaps building permenant military facilities. We contributed to the dismantling of the myth that "progress" was being made in Iraq and that there was any reconstruction taking place. 2 years of "happy talk" (2004 to 2006) from Bush and Rumseld wasn't going over anymore. I began calling for Rumsfeld's resignation after I read, in various accounts, how he had botched almost every aspect of the initial invasion and the post invasion period. Further, Afghanistan was doing no better.
After losing both the House and the Senate in 2006 to the Democrats (which I had thought was very unlikely), Bush immediately dumped Rumsfeld - I think it was the day after the election, Wednesday, when Bush announced that Rumsfeld was resigning. That was a big victory. (Rumfeld had more power than Rice or Powell or Tenet in the inner circle around Bush.)
I think the bloggers and internet folks are good at fund-raising lots of small individual donations candidates. My guess is that Obama's fund raising has been done mostly via the internet (not at fancy high-priced fund-raising dinners like HIllary).
I also think young people are getting more information via the internet (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc..). This bodes well for the Democrats.
BTW just the fact that 7 SEVEN of the Dem presidential candidates attended the conference is a victory. If the bloggers weren't an important constituency, the candidates wouldn't even bother to show up at KOS.
BTW:
C-Span's Washington Journal today had a call-in segment on the DKOS convention. It was the last segment (last 45 minutes).
I started calling and got through on the Democrat line. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes. I am the caller from Warsaw, Indiana. I plugged my website The Soapbox Road Show (I was going to slam Hillary but I just couldn't weave it in to the discussion). I told the moderator that I get most of my information via the internet and that TV network news is awful. He asked me "But, you do watch C-Span on TV, don't you?" And I said, Yeah, you guys are the best.... (Which is true - they are about the only game in TV town other than the Comedy Channel..) He laughed.
Bush was intent on staying in Iraq for sometime, perhaps building permenant military facilities.
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 5, 2007 02:03 PM
What enrages me the most (maybe) is that we have permanent military facilities there, and we will be there for a long time.
I worry that we have been a minor annoyance, at best. I think we (bloggers and the grassroots left) were instrumental in the 2006 election, but so were Rahm Emmanuel and the DNC, and they really blew it in some places (Illinois? Oncall's district?)
I'm glad everyone had a good time at YKos and I hope lots of networking and good deeds ensue. I think that such events (and I have seen the same type of good networking and energy come out of Take Back America, The Dem. convention in 2004, and Progressive Caucus meetings--only to dissipate and fall into factions and a lack of follow-through later) are energizing and useful.
The question is always: what is (are) the next step(s)?
The very night that so many were enjoying each other's company, the House passed a horrific resolution:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/05/house-passes-bushs-fisa-law-american-civil-liberties-destroyed/
We have very serious work to do, and it involves making sure our elected representatives know what we think about what they have done, it involves speaking up and speaking out, and getting some serious street heat going.
I hope that the lingering effects of Yearly Kos are more than knowing what people look like, and building up recs and comments. I hope the lingering effects are to truly scare the rightwingers and to build some hefty networks for taking the Congress and the administration down--to return to the Constitution and the rule of law.
But let us not kid ourselves--all the Bush programs have gone ahead with only a modicum of resistance from the voters. I fear it is going to take much more to recover even a small amount of what we have lost.
Hence my sadness and rage.
Posted by: karen at August 5, 2007 02:33 PM
After the FISA bill was approved, I not only feel sadness and rage, I feel betrayed.
Yes, Illinois 6 is a perfect example of DNC obstruction and the politics of personal power. Christine Cegelis would not pledge herself to Rahm Emmanuel, Richard Durbin and Barak Obama, and for that show of independence she was cut loose. As time passes however, many in the district become more concerned with the pocketbook issue of taxes (In no way does the Iraqi occupation personally effect them). I suspect that if they had a choice they would prefer to see their tax money go to safe roads and bridges and not to a failed policy which sustains our occupation of Iraq. As long as we can demonstrate to Americans that we have a choice between guns and butter, I believe most Americans will pick to lay down the guns.
I'm enraged.
Between the conservatives who have destroyed the US as we knew it, the Australian and Korean immigrants who provided the ideology and the money to make it possible, and the liberals who are accusing me of being a greedy suburbanite troll just because I am not moving fast enough, I am at a loss as to what to do.
And let's not forget a certain German luxury car maker who is still fully behind Bill O'Reilly...
Posted by: oncall at August 5, 2007 03:26 PM
That's precisely why I left the Democratic Party.
Although I am planning to rejoin it in order to vote in the primaries, the consideration is more practical - making sure Hillary is not the nominee.
To all the yuppy, suburb-dwelling grub worms that write letters to the editor every day complaining that they have to pay taxes for living in America, and can't have 3 more cars and a new boat, I curse you.
Posted by Victoria Ellen at August 5, 2007 10:20 AM
I live with those scums.
And because I am leaving in 3 months as opposed to RIGHT NOW, some liberals think I am one of those scums too.
Maybe they have a point too - I do drive a car made by Bill O'Reilly Motor Works (AKA BMW). It'll be gone soon too.
To all the YKos attendees from DCP:
Sorry to hear that not all of you could get together at the same time at the same place.
Especially NMP and madame defarge - the two of you would've had a blast together, in terms of discussions. You two should really have met.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at next year's YKos.
Victoria,
Have you thought of sending your post to a local newspaper as a letter to the editor? I suppose there are many in your neck of the woods who are equally outraged and their opinions are being published.
I am curious how many have made the point that our federal, and your state government have failed to protect the citizens because of bad choices?
The question is always: what is (are) the next step(s)?
The very night that so many were enjoying each other's company, the House passed a horrific resolution:
@@@@@
Had they allowed me more time on C-Span, I might have pointed out the weakness of the internet in many communities (like my blue-collar, functionally illiterate city):
1) People don't own or use computers
2) People don't read newspapers (our one newspaper is barely surviving)
3) Shockingly, people get most of their news via network television and radio.
4) People know little or nothing about their elected politicians (for example, I would guess that many people in my city could not name both of our state's Senators in Congress. We have term limits in the state legislature, which is good that no politicians can stay in Lansing forever. But, on the downside, it is confusing to voters because every two years it is like musical chairs in Lansing: Reps. are term-limited out after six years; Sens. are term limited out after 8 years. On the whole, I think the turn-over is good. I have met some really crumby candidates - Repubs and Dems - who fell by the wayside because they did not know the ABC's of running a campaign.)
Teens 'executed' at US school
8:54am: THREE teenagers were lined up against a wall of a school carpark and shot in the head in a shocking triple murder for which police have found no motive.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22195421-2,00.html
Just hit our papers, Unfrikingbelievable
Howard is 'dishonest and too old'
DEVASTATING private polling conducted for the Government has warned of crashing support among voters who see John Howard as past his prime and dishonest while Kevin Rudd is "genuine".
I didn't answer the main question -
What do we do next??
I think we have to get out of the internet ghetto. Bricks and mortar perhaps. Direct mailings. Ads on T.V. and radio. More use of broadcast media. We have to keep writing letters to the editor - a surprising number of people read those letters (they want to know what the buzz is and what their neighbor said in the paper.)
I do think the future looks good for bloggers in that the internet will continue to grow as more people become fluent with using computers and the web. But in the poorer and less educated areas of the country (Afri-Amer's, Hispanics, rural areas) we have little or no influence.
I don't know about the Kev Rudd being the Genuine Deal bit though.
He is not my Genuine Deal
Wonder if Georgies keeping a weekly count, on the deaths of his Liberation of Iraq.
24 GIs 644 Iraqi killed 491 wounded Iraqi
Sunday: 4 GIs, 108 Iraqis Killed; 51 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 Marine, 38 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 3 GIs, 22 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 116 Iraqis Killed; 76 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 6 GIs, 1 Briton, 178 Iraqis Killed; 188 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Marine, 34 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 4 GIs, 82 Iraqis Killed; 65 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 2 GIs, 66 Iraqis Killed; 63 Wounded
BTW Vic--I agree with oncall. Share.
It's the right thing to do.
rossiann - Kevin Rudd is probably about as genuine as any leader anywhere in the world. He won points from me because he's the only one in the ALP who answers his emails personally. Even when I dumped him in favour of the Greens. He supports the obliteration of old growth forests in Tasmania in order to build and feed a monstrous water and wood guzzling pulp mill owned by Tasmania's Halliburton-greed-corp Gunns Ltd.
He gets my vote anyways woz, Hopefully he will be okay, anyone other than Georgies Puppet has got to be better for Australia.
I'LL hold my judgement though, untill I see him perform
What I find grimly fascinating is that our country's dismal current political situation was so accurately predicted from America's earliest days. The Anti-Federalists deeply distrusted a political system that rested largely upon the supposed selfless Political Virtue of politicians...later, de Tocqueville warned that America's delicate balance between state and federal power could be easily upset by real or perceived national threats, the growth of a mass media, and an increasing trend toward homogenization, of an "American culture" that largely erased regional or local differences and made governing from a federal standpoint that much easier.
Economists have also predicted the future of our country for decades.
And for all these years, nobody's listened; and everyone's been surprised when these futures come to pass.
It is a uniquely American trait to live so fully in the present that the past is ignored and the future is fashioned only of dreams.
We have very serious work to do, and it involves making sure our elected representatives know what we think about what they have done, it involves speaking up and speaking out, and getting some serious street heat going.
I hope that the lingering effects of Yearly Kos are more than knowing what people look like, and building up recs and comments. I hope the lingering effects are to truly scare the rightwingers and to build some hefty networks for taking the Congress and the administration down--to return to the Constitution and the rule of law.
But let us not kid ourselves--all the Bush programs have gone ahead with only a modicum of resistance from the voters. I fear it is going to take much more to recover even a small amount of what we have lost.
@@@@@@@
It was my understanding that this bill only extends FISA 6 months and will have to be re-authorized at that point. Hopefully A.G. Gonzales will be gone by then.
I'm feeling quite betrayed by Pelosi. She recently said that impeaching Gonzales was "not a priority" (off the table?). I can't believe this. Gonzales has been lying continuously to the Senate Committee. All of his aides have been either lying or claiming executive privilege. Gonzales has practically destroyed the Department of Justice. FBI Director Mueller did everything except call him a liar.
All Pelosi will do nothing about this???
I think I have to make another phone call to John Conyers office on this matter. He should be making the call on the DOJ and Gonzales. The Senate is begging for impeachment of Gonzales.
24 GIs 644 Iraqi killed 491 wounded Iraqi
Sunday: 4 GIs, 108 Iraqis Killed; 51 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 Marine, 38 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 3 GIs, 22 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 116 Iraqis Killed; 76 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 6 GIs, 1 Briton, 178 Iraqis Killed; 188 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Marine, 34 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 4 GIs, 82 Iraqis Killed; 65 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 2 GIs, 66 Iraqis Killed; 63 Wounded
Posted by: rossiann at August 5, 2007 07:55 PM
@@@@@@@@@@
Where did these figures come from. The New York Times is reporting that the surge is succeeding in reducing the violence.... Or is that just in the Baghdad area?
http://antiwar.com/
Go into Iraq casualties
They have the deaths daily of GIs and the Iraqi Dead, and wounded.
Americans Keep Dying
Mom: 'They Said He Was a Hero, but That Doesn't Bring Him Back'
Newlywed Soldier From Indiana Dies in Afghanistan
Soldier (OK) Wounded in Iraq in 2004 Dies While on Medical Leave
Kansas Guardsman's Death in Iraq Under Investigation
American-Born GI, Son of Deported Haitian Mother, Killed in Iraq (PA)
Army Major (TX) Killed in Afghanistan Had Planned to Come Home to Teach
Everett (WA) Soldier Who Joined Army for His Daughter Killed in Iraq
Soldier (ID) Killed in Afghanistan Left Strong Impression on Fellow Soldiers
They Called Him 'Sgt Howdy;' Soldier Remembered for His Smile (VA)
Glendale (OR) Mourns Loss of 'A Popular Kid'
Soldier (VA) Killed in Afghanistan Remembered as Selfless, Dedicated
Neighbors Remember South Florida Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
Friends Remember Florida Soldier Killed in Iraq Atttack
Son's Words as He Left for Iraq Recalled (KY)
Marine From Springtown (TX) Killed in Iraq
Fallen California Marine Honored as Hero
Airborne Soldier From Alaska Dies in Afghanistan
Owego (NY) Soldier Killed by Bomb Explosion
I thought of the greens to woz, but I don't want to waste my vote.
Now if only America can get more than 40% voting,
Georgie and his thugs might not be able to steal another Presidency
Hey Rossi...I love you.
Just had to say it before I go to bed.
And Karen... My email is either fried or one of those other programs have sucked everything I send into a black hole. I will post it here.
I just wrote it today but, I still quit writing.
Stopping Bad People From Doing Bad Things
I am a member of the New South. Which is to say I am one of the younger generation that fully rejects racisim and feels deep regret we could not address it sooner. Unfortunately the old ways die hard, and to this day our own familys are involved in a deeply abstract and disturbing struggle. It is almost impossible to spend any real time here without coming face to face with it. Our hearts and minds are are at stake. So is our souls.
Not a single member of my family, nor my friends, nor any of my children are allowed to use racist slang or go into racist tirades around me, or in my house. Why would no one dare cross this line in my home or in my presence...? Well, it could be the fact they each know I will personally step up to stop them. I have before, many times. That I love them gives me even more incentive to stop it. It comes from the most surprising places, and is always unexpected. It is always frightening.
Those who have refused to follow my rules in my home, I have gone as far as physically striking them when they continue unabated by a first warning. The simple truth is this, I can not literally, physically, tolerate it. I can not stand there and listen to it. I can not engage with it, I can not concur I can not be comfortable with it near me in any way. I can not be silent. I will do whatever it takes to get away from it or get it away from me. I would rather embrace a leper than a racist. I know for a fact I am not alone in that view.
I prefer to be a pacifist, don't we all? But some things must be stopped, no matter the odds. Some things are worth dying to protect. It is the only way I know how to live with myself in the aftermath.
Which brings me to the even more pressing issue we all now face in our own homes, the death of the United States Constitution, mortally wounded by George W. Bush and his merry band of torture enablers and war profiteers.
Why In the name of God can no one stop this man from violating everything we hold dear? There is a reason most of what he does is hidden, in secret shame. We all know why. Because when good people see bad people doing horrible things, they are compelled to stop them. Mobs form, intent on doing the right thing.
If he had ripped the US Constitution to shreds in full view of the public, good people everywhere would have bumrushed him and STOPPED HIM. Which brings us to, where else?, congress. It is hard to even articulate the disgust I feel when I observe their actions. I have to turn away and calm myself, lest I can no longer tolerate it physically. I do not think congress understands I am suffering from the same symptoms as millions. Tens of millions. Hundreds of millions.
We are begging for this man to be stopped by those who can actually do that. We are FREAKING BEGGING.... BEGGING for relief from no less than tyranny. To no avail. To deaf people who prefer we go blind and shut up. To people who refuse to do their jobs and fufill their Constitutional roles they swore to fufill and uphold.
The SCOTUS and Congress have both effectively been turned into the puppets of George W. Bush, and all three brances have completely abandoned any actual responsibility to WE, the people that they have betrayed. Complete with the illusion of opposition. We have been left naked and wounded at the feet of a monster no one dare try to stop.
How can it be the great nation I grew up in can just be so completly gone, and even alien to what we have become these last seven years? That is simple. Because no one stopped it. Strongly worded letters do not seem to have any effect what so ever. Good people are left with so few options. The bodies are piling up. How will we live with ourselves in the aftermath?
How long will we be able to tolerate bad people doing horrible things right in front of our eyes..? The answer may not matter when it comes. The only thing that will matter is that it is stopped.
And those that stop it will be the heros of a whole new generation of patriots.
Posted by: Christy at August 6, 2007 12:06 AM
Thank you for sharing.
I will tell you this: my father came to America PRECISELY because of Republican politics. The kind of macho politics that fattens the coffers of certain contractors through increased military spending, not some sissy socialist domestic program for the poor and the colored. And he's far from alone.
We have to stop this kind of partisan immigration as soon as possible.
A very private war
"Republican guard".
There are 48,000 'security contractors' in Iraq, working for private companies growing rich on the back of US policy. But can it be a good thing to have so many mercenaries operating without any democratic control?
Jeremy Scahill reports Wednesday August 1, 2007The Guardian
It was described as a "powder keg" moment. In late May, just across the Tigris river from Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, a heavily armed convoy of American forces was driving down a street near the Iraqi Interior Ministry. They were transporting US officials in what is known widely among the occupation forces as the "red zone" - essentially, any area of Iraq that does not fall inside the US-built "emerald city" in the capital. The American guards were on the look-out for any threat lurking on the roads. Not far from their convoy, an Iraqi driver was pulling out of a petrol station. When the Americans encountered the Iraqi driver, they determined him to be a potential suicide car bomber. In Iraq it has become common for such convoys to fire off rounds from a machine gun at approaching Iraqi vehicles, much to the outrage of Iraqi civilians and officials. The Americans say this particular Iraqi vehicle was getting too close to their convoy and that they tried to warn it to back off. They say they fired a warning shot at the car's radiator before firing directly into the windshield of the car, killing the driver. Some Iraqi witnesses said the shooting was unprovoked.>>>cont
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2138878,00.html
Hey Christy girl Love you to, how is your Mum,
You happen to remember that site you set up that night while you were drunk, well it is getting very lonely without you quick wit, and fury there.
Its call RebelleNation, in case you have forgotten
Christy Darn it all you should have understood that sleeze, that night in 2000 when the Supreme Court gave him the election.
You only have to look at him, and you blood freezes over, at least it always has for me, he is a pervert.
America surely failed itself, and the world that night, when they did not take to the streets, and demand that the votes where counted there and then, and thrown the creature in the rubbish heap where he has always belonged
Darn sorry guys, but you all know that he absolutely makes my blood boil, and I do not want to bawl for another couple of months and walk around like a Zombie because America was stillasleep at the wheel in 2008.
Hell I am getting the first Saudi Arabian Student I have ever had, Hmmmmm that is certainly going to be interesting I would think, good thing I wont have any sunni students here, but then Saudi Arabia are sunni anyways,
Well he will just have to be okay with Japanese, and Chinese, will be interesting at the dinner table though with Randy going off her block about 15 Saudi Arabians going into the Trade Centre, every day.
Very Very interesting.
You would appreciate these Christy
Poems from Guantánamo
Boston Globe
August 5, 2007
THE JUST-released "Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak" is a collection of 22 poems by 17 detainees at the US detention center at Guantánamo Bay. Edited by Marc Falkoff, each poem had to be cleared by the Pentagon. The result offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the prisoners. The following is an excerpt.
Sami Al Haj
Sami al Haj, a Sudanese national, was a journalist covering the conflict in Afghanistan for the television station al-Jazeera when, in 2001, he was taken into custody and stripped of his passport and press card. Handed over to US forces in January 2002, he was tortured at both Bagram air base and Kandahar before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay in June 2002. The US military alleges that he worked as a financial courier for Chechen rebels and that he assisted Al Qaeda and extremist figures, but has offered the public no evidence in support of these allegations. Haj remains at Guantánamo.
HUMILIATED IN THE SHACKLES
When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,
Hot tears covered my face.
When the lark chirped, my thoughts composed
A message for my son.
Mohammad, I am afflicted.
In my despair, I have no one but Allah for comfort.
The oppressors are playing with me,
As they move freely about the world.
They ask me to spy on my countrymen,
Claiming it would be a good deed.
They offer me money and land,
And freedom to go where I please.
Their temptations seize my attention
Like lightning in the sky.
But their gift is an evil snake,
Carry hypocrisy in its mouth like venom.
They have monuments to liberty
And freedom of opinion, which is well and good.
But I explained to them that
Architecture is not justice.
America, you ride on the backs of orphans,
And terrorize them daily.
Bush, beware.
The world recognizes an arrogant liar.
To Allah I direct my grievance and my tears.
I am homesick and oppressed.
Mohammad, do not forget me.
Support the cause of your father, a God-fearing man.
I was humiliated in the shackles.
How can I now compose verses? How can I now write?
After the shackles and the nights and the suffering and the tears,
How can I write poetry?
My soul is like a roiling sea, stirred by anguish,
Violent with passion.
I am a captive, but the crimes are my captors'.
I am overwhelmed with apprehension.
Lord, unite me with my son Mohammad.
Lord, grant success to the righteous.
Osama Abu Kabir
Osama Abu Kabir is a Jordanian water truck driver who worked for the municipality of Greater Amman. After joining an Islamic missionary organization called Jama'at al-Tablighi, he traveled to Afghanistan, where he was detained by anti-Taliban forces and handed over to the US military. One of the justifications offered for his continued detention is that he was captured wearing a Casio digital watch, a brand supposedly favored by members of Al Qaeda because some models may be used as bomb detonators. Kabir remains at Guantánamo.
IS IT TRUE?
Is it true that the grass grows up again after the rain?
Is it true that the flowers will rise up in the spring?
Is it true that birds will migrate home again?
Is it true that the salmon swim back up their stream?
It is true. This is true. These are all miracles.
But is it true that one day we'll leave Guantánamo Bay?
Is it true that one day we'll go back to our homes?
I sail in my dreams, I am dreaming of homes.
To be with my children, each one part of me;
To be with my wife and the ones that I love;
To be with my parents, my world's tenderest hearts.
I dream to be home, to be free from this cage.
But do you hear me, oh Judge, do you hear me at all?
We are innocent, here, we've committed no crime.
Set me free, set us free, if anywhere still
Justice and compassion remain in this world!
Posted by Victoria Ellen at August 5, 2007 10:20 AM
EXCELLENT thread header! Thank you!
I share your rage and frustration....
If you want to laugh through the rage and tears, here's some good snark:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/16596/93621
ACTION ALERT: Democrats In Congress Need Our Support!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/21465/06790
Helping Alberto Gonzales Identify Terrorists to Spy On
Hey Nonny O How you going, Scary as I would say.
77,000 US bridges in need of urgent repair:
About 77,000 bridges across the US share the same "structurally deficient" rating as the one that collapsed over the Mississippi in Minnesota, it emerged yesterday
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2141496,00.html
The Highwaymen
Why you could soon be paying Wall Street investors, Australian bankers, and Spanish builders for the privilege of driving on American roads.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html
Reporters Sue FOX TV-Inside Story
Fox managers and their lawyers ordered us to distort, twist, and slant a story and threatened us with immediate dismissal if we would not broadcast material we knew to be false and misleading.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1212.htm
Legal Documents
The media in general has no legal obligation to tell the truth.
Florida Appeals Court Ruling : FOX News Lies are not Illegal ... This clip describes what happened when a couple of FOX news reporters tried to release info ...
Florida Appeals Court Orders Akre-Wilson Must Pay Trial Costs for $24.3 Billion Fox Television
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2003/Akre-Wilson-Pay-Fox7mar03.htm
How about that Faux can lie about any piece of news, you know Faux We Report You Decide
FAIR AND BALANCED must have gotten lost somewhere along the way, but then FAIR AND BALANCED is not actually truth, now is it.
Bridge Over Troubled Water
by Simon And Garfunkel
When youre weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
Im on your side. when times get rough
And friends just cant be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When youre down and out,
When youre on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
Ill take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
Im sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
monkey, We listened to that song yesteray when we were feeling particularly distraught. It's on crooksandliars from a few nights ago:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/03/cls-late-nite-music-club-with-simon-garfunkel-2/
It calms me, but it also brings a flood of tears.
Strange, but it seems a true change is coming over us.
This whole group, for years, has stuck together and really what we have left behind is no less than a complete archive of our times. Even against these impossible odds stacking up against us, we kept going.
Is it just me, or does it feel like something has changed? Like knowing you are watching the last moments of a play that should have ended years ago.
It feels like an ending. It feels like we are in mourning.
None of our time here before has ever really felt like that before. We gave each other hope, and now very few of us can even spare it for ourselves.
Something has changed, and I am not sure why.
Rossi, Ofcourse I remember Reb darlin.
I am most certain I am now on several 'lists' because of it. How could I ever forget...?
PS... I wasn't 'drunk' I was sick and on NyQuil, technically I was not drunk, I was medicated.
Oh look, the WaPo thinks we are 'dumb' for wanting impeachment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080201767_pf.html
That is REAL DEEP coming from the bastards that helped him justify an illegal invasion.
I hope they all roast in hell.
I am not sure wether to laugh hysterically, or chuckle in a long, low and impish giggles.
A Diversity of Opinion, if Not Opinionators
At the Yearly Kos Bloggers' Convention, a Sea of Middle-Aged White Males
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501580_pf.html
Now that is just... Funny HAHA! and Funny WhoooWhooo! all at the same time.
Posted by: Christy at August 6, 2007 10:24 AM
I'm pretty sure these conventions are dominated by white liberals. Reasons why:
- Nonwhites are far more conservative than whites give them credit for. Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, for example, is Latino dominated.
- Nonwhites don't feel comfortable talking about conservatism in their own communities, for fear of being dismissed as racists and self-haters.
- White liberals don't understand nonwhite conservative dynamics - i.e. Catholicism in Latin America, Confucianism in Asia.
- White liberals also tend to dismiss transgressions by nonwhite people/companies, whether it's Hugo Chavez or Toyota Motor Company.
I'm sorry, but that's how I strongly feel. That's why I no longer hang out at the likes of DU.
Posted by: monkey at August 6, 2007 07:35 AM
Posted by: karen at August 6, 2007 08:35 AM
That song is always a decent choice...
Karen, Oncall, Nonny & Co...
I'm keeping an eye on the editorials. Everyone is angry, so I'll try to write something that hasn't been said a hundred times.
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at August 6, 2007 11:40 AM
Vic, Just send them this. Also, print it up and post it at the grocery or hardware bulletin board. In face, with Vic's permission maybe we can post her article there ourselves.
Jesselyn has a great diary on the rec. list at Daily Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/6/81143/73736
And within the dairy is this great post:
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/8/6/81143/73736/23#c23
Christy and any Y-kos doubters. Ralph did a good job of addressing why the Y-kos is important and a tremendous step for Americans. For the first time in how many years did the people get to get a direct chance to tell their candidates to get their butts over here and answer questions without some bubblehead paid hack doing the questioning?
This is a very important first step.
Also, Yearly Kos was about more than just drinking and listening to the presidential candidates woo us.
They had forums on things like:
Following the money
Running for Congress
The Science behind issues
Engerizing the grassroots
Strife between the msm and bloggers--media reform
Media Matters
Iraq, Pakistan and the middle east conflicts,
A lurker's forum
This list goes on. Frankly, all of us may feel we know what we're doing, but this forum gave people a chance to discover things they didn't know before. And it also empowered them to get out and do more!
There were no rules at the event against speaking about impeachment and whoever said that must have misunderstood them.
And for those of us who heard Kos's speech, he pointed out that it's not one person who makes a difference it's all of us.
He "built the website but it's us that built the netroots."
That's where we stand now. We have all different groups on whatever websites, calling, protesting and basically doing the same thing. But a website is a bunch of code to give you a database to deposit your words and actions. And that's important because we've documented the corruption, lies, and hackery of the powers that be and the media, but the more important part isn't the website. It's US.
It's US getting others to read what's out there. It's us getting others to join us in calling and faxing and protesting. It's us that will keep fighting tooth and nail against fascism.
The New York Times is reporting that the surge is succeeding in reducing the violence.... Or is that just in the Baghdad area?
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 5, 2007 10:52 PM
Slightly less military personnel were killed in July than June. That is what they are touting. 2000 plus civilians were killed both months and it seems more in July than June.
Very misleading.
Appreciate the comments from people that include suggestions. One idea is that areas that do have bloggers and computer penetration do outreach on the ground to areas where there is not so much (poorer, minority, immigrant, conservative, rural, etc.).
YearlyKos has lots on marrying technology to action. There were people who wanted to see what others look like but I don't even know who most of those people are and met them pretty much at random. (ie. I seldom go and read through hundreds of comments but focus more on news items themselves)
The highlight for me was probably seeing Wesley Clark. The papers are reporting that Hillary Clinton went over better than expected (except for admitting she relies on lobby groups) and I did see some personal evidence of that. That's because YearlyKos is a pretty broad tent - from very progressive to very moderate. There are a number of former Republicans. That is one reason the O'Reilly characterization is laughable. There are progressive elements and the whole netroots idea is still developing, but the group itself does not have a unitary flavor.
The conference was different for every individual, both years.
Sparrow
Very good characterization of YearlyKos from one who was there. Re the Washington Post article, there is some truth to the fact that white liberals were well-represented but male-dominated. No.
I heard a talk on demographics of bloggers and woman are now well represented and they were at YearlyKos as well. That is not to say there weren't alot of young good-looking males, old hippie males, Iraq vet males - the gamut.
& there were certainly some minorities, but they were in the minority! Could that be why they're called minorities? Anyway, as you say, there was every kind of breakout caucus, even for lurkers. Someone put a sign up (in jest? to annoy Fox?) which you can see on my site, about the Nudist caucus - something like that. There was AA support (unofficial) and as last year, the nondenominational service on Sunday.
Still, for diversity, I did enjoy very much the African-American Shriners convention next door, with people from all over the United States, and places like Jamaica and the UK! Loved the way people dressed up and had alot of good elevator conversations, etc.
Convention centers themselves are fairly soulless and usually located kind of off by themselves, but that can be easily circumvented by mass transit.
Hoping you survived Subwar Ride from Hell ok! There were 100 standbys to Seattle and 90 standbys to LA and very few got on even though it was a late flight. I think alot of flights were cancelled in the AM due to fog (which burnt off).
On the way home, I had a great time with a young woman born in Seoul who has chef training but periodically nannies for the children of the rich. Ally would have enjoyed it! We traded some great stories! Some validation was also added to some of Ally's observations about immigrant communities (which vary widely) and that there can be a very conservative faction that is upwardly mobile at the expense of others.
Posted by: not my president at August 6, 2007 11:57 AM
I discovered the reason for the delay on the train. Apparently there was a train derailment.
QUOTE FROM WAPO ON IMPEACHMENT
There's little disagreement among liberals about the substance. If any administration since President Richard M. Nixon's has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, surely it's this one; if lying about consensual sexual activity fit the bill, then surely lying about the reason for a war does, too. As Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky argue in their indignant book "The Case for Impeachment," the bill of indictment goes far beyond Bush's grave lies about Iraq. There's also the arrest and detention without trial of U.S. citizens, the violation of international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions at the prisons at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the "blatant violation" of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment "by secretly authorizing secret warrantless spying on thousands of American citizens by the National Security Agency."
The political case, though, is another question entirely. Impeachment is not merely a bad idea, but the single worst course of action that Democrats could possibly undertake -- the only thing they could do that might, in one stroke, convert Bush from the figure of contempt and mockery he is now into one of vague sympathy. Just as bad, it's the one move that would definitively alienate nonideological voters and, therefore, harm the Democrats' otherwise excellent chances for winning congressional seats and the White House in 2008. And that's just what impeachment would do to the Democrats. Even worse is what it would do to liberalism and to the country.
A friend sent this, with heading "Let's Make Films!" - Brave New Films was a sponsor of YearlyKos and I thinned out my stuff but brought home alot of new media and other stuff that looked like it had interesting URLs I could use to look into further.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mW5kalblSE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emediacrashers%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F
It wouldn't be hard to go a step further than blogging - make podcasts, put yourself on YouTube even for a rant! It's not hard - I did one by using the "film" section in my regular still camera (it was at Daft Punk concert) and then uploaded according to the directions to YouTube. It was far easier than I'd anticipated.
Would love to see people do this who like to express themselves visually, talk orally (or sing or dance!) rather than just type, type, type.
There were 100 standbys to Seattle and 90 standbys to LA and very few got on even though it was a late flight. I think alot of flights were cancelled in the AM due to fog (which burnt off).
Posted by: not my president at August 6, 2007 12:07 PM
Sounds a lot like my return to Los Angeles from Chicago, at the end of Memorial Day Weekend. I took the second United flight of the day (8AM) and already no standbys/upgrades were getting on. The airlines need to start adding capacity back.
Great to hear about your conversation with the Korean woman.
Again, I sometimes feel that nonwhites are being driven away from these gatherings, by the orthodoxy of white liberals. You don't have to be a conservative to be an orthodox ideologue.
I'm pretty sure that level-headed people, like us here at DCP, will still prevail though, at next year's YKos.
Posted by: rossiann at August 6, 2007 03:20 AM
Posted by: monkey at August 6, 2007 07:35 AM
Posted by: karen at August 6, 2007 08:35 AM
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at August 6, 2007 11:40 AM
I live near the Mississippi River and there is a much narrower bridge to cross to get to the other side of town but where the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis is about a three hour drive from where I live. Now I'm wondering how structurally sound the local bridge is....
Thanks for the song, monkey... I have the vinyl album from --- well, oh, so long ago!
Victoria - Ken in MN (I think that's his name?) has another Kos diary up today on the bridge collapse. I read it but didn't mark it. It should be in the top 30-50 new diary posts.
There are plenty of people who are mightily PO'd about the bridge. Seems the state of Minnesota can afford to fund stadiums for overgrown boys to play in (many of whom make the top of the in-state news for committing crimes!), but the Repub governor vetos bills containing gas taxes to pay for the state's share of highway and bridge maintenance.
If we want adequate roads and bridges, people are going to have to realize that tax money pays for the maintenance and building of those same things. Sometimes taxes are a necessary evil. Duh.
new thread