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Political Art: Populist Propaganda
[Editor's Note: This piece was written and prepared before today's Gonzales news, so let's continue the discussions and add these thoughts in]
As Marshall McLuhan prophetically wrote in the 1960s, "Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it. "
Political art comes in many varieties, from official government propaganda produced with a staggering budget to products of personal convictions of individuals working on a shoe string. YouTube and other video art are the latest phenomenon to emerge, but the pieces presented below are relatively low-tech and include seed art, car art, public space installation art, and personal marquee art.
These pieces were made of seeds and photographed by Kayakbiker at the Minnesota State Fair. The colors come from the type of seeds. (Artists: Kim Cope, Teresa Anderson)
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Car art can be fancy or brutally honest. The best messages are quickly absorbed, often while moving. I have often been known to follow people quite a distance if I want to photograph the message. People respond with anything from failure to notice (scary), to thumbs up and honking to flipping off the drivers. These were both photographed in Seattle.
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Sometimes people with climbing skills accomplish some impressive decoration, with political intent. The peace sign was painted on an old abandoned gasworks that sits in a public park on Lake Union, Seattle. The person who painted it had to scramble over a high barbed wire barrier. The peace message with letters was strung up behind a community center, also in Seattle, which was formerly a home for unwed mothers. It is unlikely that authorities or the public would ask to have these taken down, once mounted.
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Other examples, liberal and conservative, can be seen on private property situated on busy thoroughfares.
The first example is on a busy suburban to urban route in Seattle, the second is alongside the freeway heading south to Portland. Both are changed frequently, in line with the owner's reaction to happenings.
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I would like to create a second segment before long, so if anyone has examples, send them along. A fine example would be Sparrow's art of painting political messages on large and highly visible rocks.
Here is one more example of a person taking it upon themselves to make the personal (response) political (others see and interpret it). This was set up at a public event, not specifically related to the event, but no one made her remove it. This takes a certain amount of courage.
“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.”
Noam Chomsky quotes. (American Linguist and Activist)
“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist”
Salman Rushdie (Indian born British Writer)
Maybe I will collect some colored seeds and try to make a portrait of Gonzales. I don't think I've tried that particular technique since vacation Bible School!
I had heard about Gonzales through email since haven't got to the news yet since just got up. There was some speculation that the timing had to do with the pre-recess FISA vote, like a deal had been made. Who will ever know ..
Will have coffee with a friend and then probably head out to greet the President over in Bellevue. He's there to raise money for Congressman Reichart, running against Darcy Burner (who was at YearlyKos and lost narrowly to him in 2006).
For $10,000, it's possible to be photographed with the President and for $1000, it's possible to get in the door.
There is an eerie quiet today because the airspace is closed off but very early this morning, we heard military helicopters.
http://www.hhv.de/images/stuff/36716_02.jpg
http://www.hhv.de/images/stuff/36716_02.jpg
Posted by: monkey at August 27, 2007 10:56 AM
OH let it be so!
slugbug, great photos!!
Monkey,
Thanks for the jpeg!
Posted by: Not My President at August 27, 2007 11:14 AM
It's my pleasure... literally.
Bush wades into water over his head...again
We should not abandon Iraq, but Bush's argument is demonstrably false
COMMENTARY
By Jack Jacobs
Military analyst
MSNBC
-snip-
Bush begins to fabricate history
Among other things, he suggested that the proximate cause of the genocide in Cambodia was our withdrawal from Vietnam. Absolute nonsense. The Khmer Rouge’s murderous regime established itself long before the American combat presence in Vietnam ended.
Mr. Bush also opined that the post-war orgy of retribution in Vietnam was the proximate result of our withdrawal as well. This, too, is a fabrication.
I first went to Vietnam in 1967, as our forces were building there. At the height of our involvement, we had well over half a million Americans engaged, and we ultimately lost more than 58,000.
By the time I got to Vietnam for my second tour, on the 4th of July in 1972, most Americans had gone home in a withdrawal that had begun more than a year earlier. I joined the Vietnamese Airborne Division as it was fighting the North Vietnamese Army near the Demilitarized Zone. When I left six months later, I was among the last American combat soldiers in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government did fall, but not until two years later. There were about three years between American withdrawal and communist victory -- a very poor example of the point the president was trying to make.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of President Bush’s speech is that his assertion about Vietnam is diametrically opposed to his own public position not long ago, when he argued that the wars in Vietnam and Iraq were nothing alike. Most experienced military people agreed with him then and thus can’t possibly agree with him now. Of course everyone, including the president, is entitled to his opinion and is entitled to change it, too, but he’s not entitled to fabricate evidence to support it.
Who is ignorant of the lessons of history?
So, Bush’s speech is infuriating: his argument that we should not abandon Iraq precipitously is fundamentally a good one, but he undermines a militarily sound course of action with specious nonsense that is demonstrably false, easily refuted by any sentient being with a passing knowledge or understanding of recent history.
It has always been something of a public amusement to make sport of President Bush’s apparent ignorance. And it would be regrettable if neither Bush, nor his speechwriter, nor even his chief of staff has any substantive grasp of the events the president cited in his speech. It would be far worse however, if Bush does indeed understand the lessons of history but believes that his audience is easily convinced to ignore them.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20427300/from/RS.5/
Max Clelland thinks it's bull too:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFjlODY5tmhw&refer=home
Guardian says it was "a blunder too far"
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFjlODY5tmhw&refer=home
Warner disputes Bush Iraq/Vietnam Analogy
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFjlODY5tmhw&refer=home
Ted Kennedy says it's a false analogy
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFjlODY5tmhw&refer=home
Hitchens give 13 reasons why Bush's analogy is "Moronic"
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/08/25/hitchens-13-reasons-why-bushs-vietnam-analogy-is-moronic/
Of all of them, this is the original of the Hitchens piece and it is brilliant. If you read one, read this one. It's a great rebuttal to use against idiots who try to argue about why we are "over there" etc.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2156380,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
Dianne,
I love the artwork you've utilized in this piece. All of it is so important. And monkey, music makes a difference too. I know my 'nonpolitical' daughter listens to the music and some has moved her more than my rants or rages ever come close to doing.
Posted by: sparrow at August 27, 2007 12:23 PM
Music IS the difference... especially the REAL kind.
Karen --
I responded to your questions on the previous thread.
Bush: Gonzales' 'good name dragged through the mud'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Monday said he reluctantly accepted the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose "good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons."
After months of standing by his top prosecutor and "close friend," Bush spoke briefly in Texas to praise Gonzales, saying the attorney general endured "unfair treatment that has created harmful distraction at the Justice Department."
Bush said it's "sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person" is impeded "from doing important work."
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky expressed "hope that whomever President Bush selects as the next attorney general, he or she is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we've sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months."
Describing Gonzales' resignation as a reaction to "basically unproven charges," GOP Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas called it "a sad day and sad commentary on the hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington."
morons...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/27/gonzales/index.html
Boo frickin hoo! Accountability is a BITCH, ain't it?
Karen --
I responded to your questions on the previous thread.
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at August 27, 2007 12:38 PM
I saw and now we have to check on monkey's availability. I don't think he smokes, though, on or off camera....
Posted by: karen at August 27, 2007 12:58 PM
I'm available... and as for smokin, I never looked ;-)
Monkey would make an excellent co-anchor. Can't wait!
Limbaugh sucks.
Democrats "want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur," Limbaugh said.
He continued: "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble."
A caller responded, "The black population," to which Limbaugh said, "Right."
Limbaugh didn't stop there -- he continued by politicizing Democrats' support of Nelson Mandela's fight against South African apartheid:
"...So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela -- who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing."
http://www.mediamatters.com
Go here, type in your zip code, find an event near you.
http://pol.moveon.org
If there isn't an event near you, be your own event!
Here is a reminder from John Kerry:
tomorrow is the date for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq's Town Halls and MoveOn.org's End It in September Vigils. Those organizations are working hard to make these events as large and important as humanly possible, so if you can attend an event in your area, please do.
Anybody have anything you want me to tell George W Bush?
I'm ready to make a sign.
Posted by: Not My President at August 27, 2007 01:15 PM
FGWB
(Battery included)
http://www.iraqcampaign.org
You Ain't Going Nowhere
by Bob Dylan
Clouds so swift
Rain won't lift
Gate won't close
Railings froze
Get your mind off wintertime
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
My bride's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!
I don't care
How many letters they sent
Morning came and morning went
Pick up your money
And pack up your tent
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
My bride's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!
Buy me a flute
And a gun that shoots
Tailgates and substitutes
Strap yourself
To the tree with roots
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
My bride's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!
Genghis Khan
He could not keep
All his kings
Supplied with sleep
We'll climb that hill no matter how steep
When we get up to it
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
My bride's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!
Posted by: monkey at August 27, 2007 12:25 PM
Yep. Music is the real difference.
Also, I'd like to know why the Dixie Chicks got mauled for their comments but Nugent the violent (and I'm not sure if he's a druggy but he always struck me as one) didn't get any kind of push-back.
Though honestly, since in the end the Dixie Chicks were proven correct and I hope many are ashamed of what they did to the Chicks, I think it made them a legend. I don't want that of Nugent.
(Brain bubble: it was Nugent, right?)
Because Nugent hasn't done anything in like 3 decades, and has zero talent... and his only hits these days are on defenseless animals.
Kerry Tells Bush to Restore Integrity to Justice Department
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kerry issued the following statement today, following the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
“Alberto Gonzales turned the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House and he should have resigned long ago,” Kerry said. “From the firings of the US Attorneys to evasion about illegal wiretapping, Gonzales single-handedly damaged the integrity of our legal system and subverted efforts to get to the truth. This is a critical moment. President Bush can either continue on a divisive and destructive path, or choose in the next Attorney General someone who knows they’re not the president’s lawyer but rather the nation’s top law enforcement officer. The President should choose a replacement that gives the department a fresh start, untainted by controversy; and even with Gonzales gone, Congress must keep pushing until we get truth and accountability on unanswered questions involving everything from illegal wiretapping to the US Attorneys scandal.”
I just received word from Jesselyn that Chertoff might be the next appointee. This would be very bad stuff. And Senator Kerry may 'hope' that Bush will de-politicize the justice Dept just like I hope I win the lotto. It ain't going to happen.
It's up to us. We need to get the members of the Judiciary Committee to deny Chertoff his appointment. He has already lied under oath. He is implicated in the DOJ-John Walker Lindh torture case that Ms. Radack exposed. And he will be every bit as dirty and evil as Torture-boy was.
Jesselyn has asked for our help. If you haven't been able to purchase her book but would like an exerpt of that chapter let me know. Or you can read her diary at Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/27/103219/658
Here’s a media approach I’d love to see- celebration of the different approaches candidates offer- that having options & different opinions IS A GOOD THING and people should be applauded for having different ideas….
Christy
Dancing With Conyers
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_cheryl_b_070826_dancing_with_conyers.htm
Posted by: sparrow at August 27, 2007 03:08 PM
There seems to be some conflicting info out there about his replacement. (What a surprise.)
Yahoo is reporting that Paul Clement will be the stand-in until there's a confirmation.
Clement to stand-in as attorney general
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070827/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gonzales_clement
But CNN is reporting that Chertoff may be the recess appointment we'd expect the idiot-in-chief to make.
Senior admin. officials: Chertoff may get nod
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/27/senior-admin-officials-chertoff-likely-to-get-nod/
Nothing this administration does will surprise me.
Here's a photo of the new interim AG:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004011.php
Seems like all of Bush's boys (except Gonzo) look the same. What's up with that?
Well, I've crossed the lake and parked way up on top of the Mall parking lot. My car has a lot of political bumper stickers so I'd just as soon be on foot. It took forever to find parking. I had to take a big detour because of all the yellow police tape. It's as if an important dignitary is expected soon. Well, I'm going to look for daylight.
“Alberto Gonzales is the first Attorney General who thought the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth were three different things."
-- Rahm Emanuel, on Fredo's resignation.
Posted by: not my president at August 27, 2007 04:34 PM
Keep us in the loop, please!
Posted by: Not My President at August 27, 2007 01:12 PM
At least Limbaugh is fair - he is equal opportunity hater for all nonwhites. Even the Republican favorites like the Koreans/Vietnamese.
Posted by: sparrow at August 27, 2007 01:31 PM
Yes it was Nugent.
I am still very happy over the vindication of Dixie Chicks. (And still fondly remember singing one of their hits with madame defarge during my Chicago visit last spring.)
Rossi -
re: 1/3 of Congress not having valid passports
They're all US citizens, of course. You must be a citizen to run for Congress.
however, you only need a passport if you actually travel overseas. That tells us: 1/3 of Congress has never been overseas, and doesn't intend to go at all, ever.
These dumbheads are the ones helping make our foreign policies.
More about the "brave" Motor City Madman...
Ted Nugent: So Scared of the Draft, He Wet His Pants
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/27/142852/095
Every dem or indy here should read the article Rossi posted.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_cheryl_b_070826_dancing_with_conyers.htm
Conyers better pick a side and freaking stay on it. That would be most helpful.
Oh my, the news just keeps on coming today...
From TPM:
GOP Senator Convicted of Lewd Conduct
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/051691.php
TPM also posted this little historical gem from Craig RE: Big Dog Clinton...
MR. RUSSERT: Larry Craig, would you want the last word from the Senate be an acquittal of the president and no censure?
SEN. CRAIG: Well, I don't know where the Senate's going to be on that issue of an up or down vote on impeachment, but I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure reslution and it's a slap on the wrist. It's a, "Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You're a naughty boy." The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy.
I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy. The question issue now is simply this: Did he lie under oath? Did he perjure himself and did he obstruct justice? And that's where we're trying to go now in this truth-seeking process.
"...by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, "
Oh man...
How many Mr. CanIsuckyourwinkyfortwentybucks? can one party have ?
Do all mens public bathrooms double as whorehouses...?
I am never letting my son out to pee ever again.
Posted by: Christy at August 27, 2007 06:18 PM
Just read it. I have been feeling for quite some time that Conyers is not walking a straight line on this. He could file. He could make sure that the party doesn't suffer for it. And he could bring oh so many more crimes to the forefront than what he's doing. I'm very disappointed in him.
Regarding Jesselyn:
One source informs us that Chertoff is going to be appointed. Though I received information from another source that his name was brought up and then tossed out.
All I know is that Jesselyn was harmed by Chertoff. She knows for a fact that he's perjured himself before Congress. Both of us are fully aware of which Judiciary members know her story and which ones follow through.
It's not looking so good for truth and justice for us nowadays but it's looking even more ugly for those beautiful truth tellers.
So about those tax dollars that are supposedly for rebuilding Iraq... Well, guess what...
Iraqi insurgents taking cut of U.S. rebuilding money
BAGHDAD — Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/19232.html
Kayakbiker:
Thanks for the great photos of the artwork too. I forgot to say that earlier.
Hey Karen, Monkey should definately smoke on air. Maybe even drink too.
I would rather listen to a drunken Monkey read off the facts than be spun by a sober fox employee any day. Who wouldn't?
Whatever you set up though, I still say it is vital to get as many people online, as fast as possible. Anybody who is not a middle class white male is a priority.
I would say the absolute best group to target first would be young, single moms. Any race, but most certainly black and latino women.
I say if it is a mans world, then men have screwed up royally. Time to bring on the womenfolk.
And, single women with kids wil be the most eager to want to be online. They perfectly well understand the advantages their kids are missing out on.
If you need a target location, I would say young, single black mothers in New Orleans could sure use some help getting online right about now.
We need to know the news from there, they are desperate to hear from the outside world.
It would be mutually beneficial.
Hey everyone, remember when we were back in 2004 and early 2005 and we kept telling each other to take the high road and keep it clean and all that so we could open up conversations that were substantive?
Did you EVER think we have thread headers like this in which one sordid story after another just keeps rolling out?
Christy asks how many of these nasty types can one party have. The answer is: an endless supply.
It just smells soooo bad in this town!
An endless supply. Great.
What is the point of taking the high road now? That road has been blocked and has been impassable for a while now.
All we can do now is hide the children and wait for the Revolution to start.
Seriously, I have to know now, are all mens bathrooms like that..? Because I have a son and I am freaked out thinking there are republicans lurking in the stalls.
Me, too, forgot to add, great art work!
If all people had was dirt, they would still find a way to create something beautiful from it.
Hey Karen, Monkey should definately smoke on air. Maybe even drink too.
Posted by: Christy at August 27, 2007 07:52 PM
Monkey drinks? Why I never...
New talking point for an old liar. They will try to repeat it until it is true. Don't let them.
Ari Fleischer: ‘Congress Is Dangerously Politicizing The Justice Department’
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/27/fleischer-gonzo/
They seem desperate. I wonder WHY?
Something is not right.
I am back from greeting Bush and will be uploading photos.
It would please me not to see another authority figure for a good long time.
During an appearance on CNN, former US Attorney David Iglesias said Gonzales's resignation is "absolutely linked with Karl Rove leaving two weeks ago," and speculated the two resigned "for the same reason": Congressional investigators closing in on their suspected roles in the attorney-firing scandal.
"This is what happens when there is not check and balance" under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House "and all of a sudden you have a new sheriff in town - so to speak - that wants answers to hard questions."
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Iglasias_Gonzales_halftruths_devastating_0827.html
I like to think alberto has been sweating it out since Karl left...who's going to help me now & all that....alternative theory-the few folks left at DOJ convinced him it was time (or they'd ALL leave)
just my personal fantasies..
More photos will be added, but there are a couple, with a video I shot which is also up at YouTube. Click on my name.
Seriously, I have to know now, are all mens bathrooms like that..? Because I have a son and I am freaked out thinking there are republicans lurking in the stalls.
Posted by: Christy at August 27, 2007 08:05 PM
Yes, except for my area, where it's so reactionary that such behavior will get you stoned or beheaded.
Thank my Third World immigrant neighbors.
W went to New Mexico to help Pete Domenici, after his fundraiser in Bellevue. One cop lost his life in a crash, while guarding W:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20467072/?GT1=10252
They seem desperate. I wonder WHY?
Something is not right.
Posted by: Christy at August 27, 2007 08:24 PM
@@@@@@
I think I read that Ari Fliescher is a hired "mouth" now for the Bushies. Ari has his own P.R. firm now and is trying to improve "W" crumby image.
big-time cred!!!
This is the same Ari that had to testify under immunity from prosecution in the Libby trial..............
it makes one sick
BTW: what are the chances (since Pelosi won't impeach) of getting the U.N. to charge Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Gonzo with war crimes.
This cabal had every intention of plundering and raping Iraq, making fortunes for themselves and their buddies. Iraq has been destroyed - intentionally...
The Nobel peace prize should also stick it to Bush and Cheney
possible nominees:
Cindy Sheehan
Hans Blix
Joe Wilson
Barbara Lee
Lynn Woolsey
Code Pink
Anyone going to a vigil or town meeting tomorrow night?
How about on 9/11 (Freedom from Fear - fight against Bush being able to impose martial law in event of a "catastrophe")
and on 9/15 (when Iraq policy will be debated and reports on progress in Iraq will be due)?
Would be good to hear what is planned in other parts of the country.
Bush video/photos from today at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com - finally uploaded properly.
Limbaugh didn't stop there -- he continued by politicizing Democrats' support of Nelson Mandela's fight against South African apartheid:
Posted by: Not My President at August 27, 2007 01:12 PM
Well, that certainly shows the kind of person he IS - one who supports apartheid - and why stop there - slavery, I imagine. He seems to be riddled with an ugly superiority complex.
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 27, 2007 10:40 PM
Any presidential "spokesperson" (Ari) that dismisses a former VP (Al Gore) as a "rambling lunatic" (or whatever) over a friendly advice, is only fit for the W junta.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004011.php
Seems like all of Bush's boys (except Gonzo) look the same. What's up with that?
Posted by: Carol at August 27, 2007 04:32 PM
Yikes, Carol. That's the face I always envisage under KKK hoods.
These dumbheads are the ones helping make our foreign policies.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 27, 2007 05:02 PM
Yes I understood what you meant, that they had never been out of America, amazing isn't it, that they are deciding the foreign policy for the world in general, I think it might have been Woz post you where reading
If all people had was dirt, they would still find a way to create something beautiful from it.
Posted by: Christy at August 27, 2007 08:14 PM
Right - all the ancient rock art of Aborigines was done with varying colours of ochre and other soil and seed mixes.
From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB
And now for the rest of the story
President George Bush has managed to stir the waters again on the role of the United States in Iraq by comparing it to Vietnam. Bush is now saying we should not have left Vietnam so early, despite the fact that Vietnamese themselves are arguing that we should have left much earlier than we did. (See: Bush's invocation of Vietnam War pullout to defend his Iraq strategy rankles Vietnamese.)
The broadening of the discussion to Vietnam can only complicate the present debate even more, but it does at least give us a chance to look back into our own recent history for some clues about how to proceed at this time.
But there is more to the story than the headlines. At the same time Bush reopened the Vietnam debate, curiously enough, I got a letter from an Iraqi participant in past activities of the Woman's Global Peace Initiative, asking us to share this letter with as many people as possible. That makes this column longer than most. The length of the agony in Iraq must surely warrant it.
So, read it if you can. Imagine that you got it from someone you know and ask what it is saying to you? Who's right? President Bush? The Vietnamese who are speaking out against his analysis? This young woman who is living in the United States?
Most of all, ask what the letter says that daily news bulletins cannot begin to report:
http://ncrcafe.org/node/1282
The donors behind those new TV ads:
The donors who are financing the new multi-million-dollar TV ad campaign arguing against a withdrawal from Iraq include a Who's Who of former Bush Administration ambassadors (to plum assignments like France, Italy, and Malta); a least one of Bush's original Pioneers; the man ranked by Forbes (in 2006) as the third-richest American; and, of course, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/22/328681.aspx
Now I have got to wonder if there are any Adds out there, in the South and Red States, where they still believe Georgie and Cheney and Fleischer, that Iraq was responsible in part for Sept 11.
Any adds out there calling them on this lie, setting the people straight, on exactly who committed Sept 11.
Pro-'surge' group is almost all Jewish
Published: 08/24/2007
Four of five members of the board of a campaign promoting President Bush's policies in the Iraq war are Republican Jews.
The board of "Freedom's Watch" includes Ari Fleischer, Bush's former press secretary; Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Bradley Blakeman, a senior White House staffer in Bush's first term; and Mel Sembler, a longtime RJC leader and former ambassador to Rome.
Brooks told JTA that the fifth member, William Weidner, a casino operator in Las Vegas, is not Jewish. However, Weidner's wife, Lynn, is Jewish and is active in that city's federation. Blakeman is the group's president.
Brooks said it would be a mistake to regard the group as having a Jewish direction.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/103795.html
Maliki: Turkey's bombardment violation of Iraq's sovereignty :
"The bombardments by Iran and Turkey are violations of Iraq's sovereignty.
We will not allow these violations, but this must come through diplomatic channels. We will inform our brothers in Turkey and Iran about that through the Foreign Ministry," Maliki said at a news conference held in Baghdad.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=120494
Maybe he should have told Georgie and Cheney that, before they committed their war of Shock and Awe on Iraq. Maybe it just did'nt work into his plans at the time, the Thug.
Wasn't Shock and Awe a violation of Iraq"s sovereignty?
Chronicle of a Coup Foretold?:
Consider the most recent example of disdain for Iraqi national sovereignty: the U.S. attempt to overthrow of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
http://www.counterpunch.org/dimaggio08272007.html
What happens if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz?:
In terms of volume, blocking the Strait of Hormuz ''is probably the biggest single energy-security risk that exists in the world,'' says Lawrence Eagles, head of oil markets at the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based energy watchdog for the world's most industrialized nations.
http://snipurl.com/1q0ln
Anna Politkovskaya's killers have suppossedly been arrested.
Guess who was giving them orders?
"That is called a state sponsored assassination. "
http://www.atlargely.com/2007/08/annas-killers.html
I just read the details of the Craig arrest and I think I need a shower.
That does it, my kid is never going into a public bathroom. That is just sck. Sex in a public...BATHROOM!!? My God, can you think of anything more disgusting than these people?
The toilets are not even as offensive as his history of homophobia. We have got to get these people out of our government.
Ewww. Ewww. I just feel like I've been slimed.
Rio Rancho Officer Dies From Bush Motorcade Crash
UPDATED: 7:21 pm MDT August 27, 2007
A Rio Rancho police officer assigned to the presidential motorcade has died from injuries received in a crash Monday near Sunport and Interstate 25, according to Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman.
-snip-
A Bernalillo police officer was hurt In February 2006 while escorting President Bush's motorcade from Rio Rancho to Kirtland Air Force Base.
A motorcycle cop was killed while escorting the presidential motorcade in Hawaii on Nov. 26, 2006.
http://www.koat.com/news/13986586/detail.html
Everywhere he goes, people die. I swear, I've never heard of motorcycle cops dying while escorting a president, this one has killed 2 and injured another. Weird.
monkey...maybe this will cheer you up...
Download the Boss's "Radio Nowhere" song for free from the Guardian.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2157092,00.html
A congressional source familiar with deliberations about Gonzales' replacement told CNN that the successor will not be Chertoff and that senior administration officials are "playing you guys," referring to the media.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/27/gonzales/index.html
How many people have been killed by bushes motorcade?
All of them cops?
Yes Bush didn't let anything stop him .. but went on to fundraisers. In the video you can get an idea how much it cost local taxpayers. Only people over where he was pay a smaller proportion in taxes relative to their huge incomes. Cars going by were supportive esp. all the big trucks (like Safeway) that are Union. They know their days are numbered under Big Business. Feel free to leave comments at the video (click on my name).
Bush to deliver Iraq speech to American Legion
Speech intended to set stage for next month's progress report on war
Updated: 13 minutes ago
RENO, Nev. - President Bush speaks to thousands of veterans today at the American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada. It's his second major speech in a week aimed at bolstering support for the war in Iraq.
A senior administration official says Bush's speech will argue that fighting extremists in Iraq is crucial to U.S. security and to the future of the Middle East.
At a political fundraiser in Washington state last night, Bush warned that failure in Iraq will cause the enemy to "follow us to America."
Last week before the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Bush likened today's fight against extremism in Iraq to past conflicts in Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
The speeches are intended to set the stage for next month's progress report on the war.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20474235/from/RS.1/
Puh-LEEEEZ!!!!!!!!
(thx for the tune md!)
For a lame duck he should be limping more by now.
Casey: National Guard under record stress
One-time ‘weekend warriors’ now struggle with up to 15-month Iraq stints
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Pentagon is asking National Guard troops and their families to make sacrifices like never before in Iraq and other hot spots, the Army’s chief of staff told a conference bringing together citizen-soldiers from across the country.
Gen. George Casey — and others at the three-day gathering that ended Monday — acknowledged that the Guard’s wider role puts unprecedented pressure on the lives, careers and relationships for troops once considered mostly weekend warriors.
Guard leaders from America’s 50 states and its territories displayed patriotism and a sense of duty, but some also privately spoke of the difficulties of returning to civilian life.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20467834/
Scores of anti-war demonstrators are expected to greet President Bush when he arrives Tuesday in Reno to address the American Legion's national convention.
Local activists, including some veterans and military families, plan to wave "Support the Troops, End the War" placards outside the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, said Greg Richardson, Nevada field director for a sponsoring group Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NEWS/708270342/1321
Bush seeks to inspire patience with Iraq war
Ahead of Petraeus report, president to say fight against extremism crucial
RENO, Nev. - President Bush aims to inspire patience with the war Tuesday by arguing that the fight against extremists in Iraq is crucial to U.S. security and the future of a strategic, struggling region. Bush is speaking before thousands of veterans Tuesday at the American Legion convention. It his second major speech in a week devoted to an attempt to buttress support for the war.
Last week before the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, he likened today’s fight against extremism in Iraq to past conflicts in Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
On Tuesday, he plans to discuss the implications of the fight in Iraq for the broader Middle East, a global crossroads that has largely missed the democratic and economic advances seen in other parts of the world and is thus vulnerable to the rise of terrorism, said a senior administration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the president.
moron...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17152241/from/RS.1/
Seeks to inspire patience???
NMP, great pics!
I am going to make one more effort to make this point in hopes that it will generate some thoughtful discussions here. I do not expect others to agree with my point of view I just ask that some give it some serious thought. And this is my point:
Unintended political consequences are eminating from criticisms here, on my ddd, huffington post, daily kos, and Air America regarding a Democratically run Congress. I am calling it Unintended because from what I am hearing on mainstream media I am sure this is not the message intended. As many know, support for Congress is at an all time low, 19%. It is my theory that Dems won't generally support a Republican Congress and vise versa. It is my theory and I believe polling will support this theory, that today's polling of Congress's low national support, is coming primarily from the left, progressive blogs and progressive talk radio that I listen to regularly. I call it unintended consequences because what we are hearing is not that Bush, Cornyn, Hatch and the conservative right are demanding 67 votes and not 50 votes to pass stem cell research,stronger environmental legislation and changes in policies regrding disengagement from Iraq. Reluctantly Republicans finally gave in to some ethics reforms and raising the minimum wage, but continue to block just about everything else including the 911 Commission recommendations, increases to Medicaid and the SCHIP program that my state of Texas desperatly needs and which my 2 conservative Senators hutchinson and Cornyn continue to obstruct. We don't hear enough about Senators Collins, Sanunu, Arlin Spector and Colemen refusing to cross over and provide the additional votes to pass any of these vitally necessary pieces of legislation over a veto. What I hear and read at this site and other Progressive sites is that our Democratic Congress is worthless and does not deserve our support and is doing nothing we here can or should support. What I don't hear is that Harry Reid, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and Russ Feingold have thoughtfully investigated spying abuses by AG Gonzalez, rampent nepostism, cronyism and general incompitence on issues and appointments as diverse as mine safety, to product safety to undermining the legal system which is near and dear to my heart. They have been unable to end the war because of an intransigent President and cowardly Republican Senators who are putting party over country. This morning I listened to Ari Fleischer smirk about Congress's low approval rating when asked about the Gonzalez matter. It made my skind crawl to hear him brag about Congress' low approval rating and understanding that many here and at Progressive sites who dislike him inadvertantly agree wit his premise as twisted as his pronoucement was. The "unintended message" I heard is that we need to elect more Conservative Republicans to get us out of Iraq, restore confidence in our federal legal system,ethics and integrity in our government (like bringing back Delay Abromoff)and inspect our mines, food and N.O. levies. Again I don't believe that is what is intended by our constant attacks on our Democratically led Congress but what is unintendly coming across. I may be a loan wolf out there asking for a general discussion and reconsideration of this progressive trend, and what I expect to hear in response are more attacks on my posts, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and Ari Fleischer. This post is not about me , Ari Fleisher, Harry Reid or even the so called main stream media. I am simply asking for Progressives here and on other progressive blogs to look in a mirror and ask themselves if they think we would be having oversight hearings or any legislation we support or challenging of Bush incompitent appointments by electing more Conservative Congressmen or endorsing a low approval rating for Congress. Again this post is a querry only, asking for some serious discussion about what I see as as an unitended message by the 19% support of Congress today.
"I am simply asking for Progressives here and on other progressive blogs to look in a mirror and ask themselves ..."
Here is an idea. Instead of asking us to reflect upon ourselves as a cause for congresses low approval rating, why don't you ask them to show even a moment of reflection and assumption of the duty they swore to uphold...?
Who knows, perhaps if they did, their numbers would go back up.
Whatever good Reid and Pelosi have accomplished, they gave up wayyyyy more than that when they chose to take large and important pieces of the United States Constitution off the table, like impeachment and the Bill of Rights.
When he is shown to be committing FELONIES, their job is not to make what he does legal.
Yet, that is what they do, time and time again.
Do you know what the REAL problem is...? Somewhere along the way a whole lot of democrats decided that if we were just more like republicans we could win elections.
Maybe we should get our own rove, or no, wait, we could all be little autotrons that do not dare critisize our own leaders even when they absolutely positively deserve it, and do not ever lay the blame on anyone when you can pawn it off on someone else.
What are we suppossed to be looking for in that mirror again? Will it be anything like what Pelosi and Reid see?
I totally freaking doubt it.
I assume that was set off by the Dancing with Conyers article.
Did yall actually read that article?
Is there anyone out there that can explain exactly how John Conyers does not appear to be a flipflopping weakling who is playing both sides of the isle in the name of his own politically calculated future?
The man has even offered up 'RETRO ACTIVE IMPEACHMENT' as a thought. How pathetic are we willing to get just because his job is on the line?
We can blame ourselves for John Conyers failures, or we can put the blame where it actually belongs.
"if we were just more like republicans we could win elections."
good start to discussion. My response is where have you heard that Republicans support stem cell research, a living wage, responsible tax laws, tort law protections,clean air and water, universal healthcare, disengaging from Iraq(this morning Senator Gramm returned from Iraq and reaffirmed his support for the surge haven't heard that from any Dem other than faux Dem Lieberman), keeping partisan politics out of the federal judiciary, and on and on? Are you convinced that Dems support the same tax policies and the same kinds of appointments to the Supreme Ct.as Republicans? Do you agree with Ari Fleisher's comments this morning that the low polling numbers for Congress support his view that what we need to fix this problem is to elect more conservative Republicans? I doubt you would agree but my guess is that you will respond and say they are all the same. I recall Ralph Nader using that same argument in the 2000 election. Something about there not being a dime's worth of difference... I don't buy into that argument and why I am desperatly trying to generate a civil discussion about this phenomenom I see.
President George Bush has managed to stir the waters again on the role of the United States in Iraq by comparing it to Vietnam. Bush is now saying we should not have left Vietnam so early, despite the fact that Vietnamese themselves are arguing that we should have left much earlier than we did. (See: Bush's invocation of Vietnam War pullout to defend his Iraq strategy rankles Vietnamese.)
Posted by: rossiann at August 28, 2007 03:17 AM
What is the original writer of the article smoking?
Certainly NONE of the Vietnamese around me think so. They think we should've stayed to save their illegitimate government as long as possible.
Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2007 09:19 AM
We have to fight the extremists over here first, before we can fight them over there.
Posted by: Bubba at August 28, 2007 11:04 AM
I think Christy meant that the Dems should STRATEGIZE like the Republicans. That's never a bad thing - in fact, it's a brilliant thing. The Dems have never been as good at strategizing.
On the other hand, if the Dems took the same policy positions as the Republicans, then I'm applying for refugee status with another country.
They know their days are numbered under Big Business. Feel free to leave comments at the video (click on my name).
Posted by: Not My President at August 28, 2007 09:15 AM
Unionized workers' days certainly are numbered, the way we are taking in immigrant groups from notoriously anti-union countries, above and beyond the job market's ability to take them in.
"My response is where have you heard that Republicans support stem cell research, a living wage, responsible tax laws, tort law protections,clean air and water, universal healthcare, disengaging from Iraq,..keeping partisan politics out of the federal judiciary,"
I do not have to hear it from anyone. Every single republican I know are actually FOR those things. Just because the busheviks are against it does not mean they are constantly to be mistaken as real republicans.
Go look at the poll numbers supporting stem cell research. There is your answer.
No, republicans and democrats have always had different ideas about taxes. But republicans pay them to so whatever their ideas that is for the courts of law and public opinion to decide.
"Do you agree with Ari Fleisher's comments this morning that the low polling numbers for Congress support his view that what we need to fix this problem is to elect more conservative Republicans?"
What kind of question is that from one dem to another...? Because honestly, it sounds like some bullsh*t a republican would say.
Ohh you said blahblah, that must actually mean you support...ARI FLIESHER!!!
Nope, try again, cause that is lame.
"but my guess is that you will respond and say they are all the same."
Quit trying to guess what I am thinking because it just reinforces how wrong you already seem to be.
OH MY GOD! I MUST BE FOR RALPH NADER THEN!
Ummmmhmmmm. Yeah. Except your guess was wrong in the first place.
By the way, if you want a 'civil' conversation, it would perhaps be best not to try starting out telling us how we must accept the blame of other peoples failures in the name of the party.
You are most certain to encounter resentment and hostility.
I think Christy meant that the Dems should STRATEGIZE like the Republicans. That's never a bad thing - in fact, it's a brilliant thing. The Dems have never been as good at strategizing.
On the other hand, if the Dems took the same policy positions as the Republicans, then I'm applying for refugee status with another country.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 28, 2007 11:18 AM
In a way you are both right and wrong Ally. It is about stratagy, not personal or even political issues.
But I do not in any way think we should mimic republicans in any way shape or form. Yes, they are good at propoganda and logistical crushing of opposition, but as a governing body the republicans are complete and total failures.
These are evil people, their kind should be crushed into the earth and never allowed to be held up as an example of anything ever again.
Dems have never been good at ORGANIZING. Not on a massive scale.
I never said dems are trying to mimic policy positions of republicans, but now that we are there, that is also happening in every way. Hillary is perhaps a perfect example of observing power, then mimicking it to try to attain it for herself.
The entire Iraq war happened because democrats wanted to prove they were just as brave and patriotic as the big daddy republicans.
And now that all those policies are absolutely falling to pieces by the minute, instead of looking in that mirror themselves, they simply use a handy republican trick and lay the blame somewhere else until everyone shuts up about it.
The policies of the busheviks disgust me. But it is their methods that truly anger me. How dare they use God and the ignorant like that? How dare they betray our soldiers?
I do not know how they dare, the gall of them is toxic and vile, but I know no matter how bad it gets I will not imitate them in any way, even if it truly is easier. Nor will I belong to a party who requires the same absolute loyalty and dedication that has spawned this evil we have watched unfold here.
The best way to get republicans out of our government for the time being, is to expose each and every one of them and their enablers. Even if they are calling themselves 'democrats'.
Do you know what it is about rove that gets mistaken as 'genius' every time?
He understands fear and weakness. He understands it so well, when he overlays that understanding onto a political strategy, all the sudden he looks 'brilliant'.
He ain't 'brilliant', nor is he a 'genuis'. He is just a scared weak little man who can only look brave to weak and terrified people.
Bubba, there is a difference between voting for Democrats so that Congress can have a chance of becoming more sane and less like a rightwing corporation and not speaking up and telling them how we want them to legislate.
Right now, we MUST speak up and insist that they uphold the rule of law and provide legislation that takes better care of people and bring our kids home from an unlawful war and raise CAFE standards and all of that. We must speak because they are hearing many opposing points of view from lobbyists, daily.
I WISH we could petition, call, write, fax and have them listen to the will of the people, but frankly, John Conyers is behaving as he is because we are NOT loud enough, nor are there enough of us making a stink!
That said, you are correct when you write that we DON'T want more Republicans who are yay-sayers to the neocons and who listen to those with the fattest wallets. (And you can add Lieberman to that list as well--whatever he is calling himself this week). We DO want stem-cell research and better education and help for poor people and tort reform and all of that. And so, many people will vote their hopes and not their experience.
The 19% approval rating for Congress is, I believe, based on hopes. But this Congress has not used any sort of bully pulpit, nor have they ridden roughshod over the criminals in charge. And that pisses people off, especially when those people donated money, worked hard, and had high hopes for change.
Just between us, until we get those really loud moneyed influences out of the way and make sure that ALL elected officials, Repubs and Dems, listen to the people themselves, we are going to be disappointed.
And screwed.
Every single republican I know are actually FOR those things.
Its nice that your Republican friends support these policies which I honestly doubt but Republican Congresspeople and Senators are not. I will be happy to provide their voting records.
What kind of question is that from one dem to another...? Because honestly, it sounds like some bullsh*t a republican would say.
That is enough Cristy. I tried to have a civil convesration and that is not possible here any longer. I have done more to help Progressives win office then you will ever realize. I am finished here and will not return. The DCP is now Christy's site lock stock and barrel and I am totally not interested in that. Thereis a really importan issue that I have tried to raise here and that is impossible, so I will not waste my time here any longer. Good By and good luck!
Bubba, I replied to you.
"Its nice that your Republican friends support these policies which I honestly doubt but Republican Congresspeople and Senators are not. I will be happy to provide their voting records."
I do not have any republican friends. Knowing someone and being friends with them is a very distinct difference.
And you can keep their voting records, I know how republican senators vote, it is why I am no longer a republican.
You tried a civil conversation by trying to blame us fellow dems for the failure OF CONGRESS...?
My site? Karen might be surprised to know that.
By the way Bubba... Bye.
Just a parting note Chrty since you seem determined to drive away as many of the faithful as possible my point to you and Karen are that you are inadvertantly undermining the very policies you claim to support. The heat you seem so determined to show should be directed to fools like Senator John Cornyn, John Sanunu,Senator Collins, and Coleman rather than our friends like Congresmen Connyers, Wexler, Lee, Kerry, Kennedy, Boxer, and Feingold who have stood with us and are my unsung heros.
I saw this happen to the Democratic Party in 1972 when Progressives attempted to have the same purity standards that I see here today. It drove away moderates like me and others that were the backbone of winning elections and providing better policies fo our country and for our families.
I am totally unintersted in leaving my work time and coming here to read the constant infighting and attacks on DCP members like myself that have been here since its creation in January 2005. I will not subscribe to your purity standards much as you want to knock us in the head and insist.I don't expect any of you to agree with anything I post and I am thick skinned enough to deal with that.
I will just not be a part of the cabal that says do it our way or we are OK with a Republican President and Congress in '08. i had we have learned what that means to our nation since 2000. And don't try and preach to me either that driving the Democratic Congress' numbers down to 19% because they won't move for impeachment is not what is happening.
If that happens I will be leaving for Canada and I am sure many of my frinds will be joining me.
Do Not respond, please, I have had enough of what I have read and seen here lately and I don't like it one bit. I tried karen...
Dissent on the Front
Newsweek
Sept. 3, 2007 issue - Are there consequences for soldiers who write publicly, and prominently, against the war? Eight are finding out. "We have failed on every promise," wrote seven 82nd Airborne paratroopers in a stark dispatch from Baghdad that was the lead Sunday op-ed in The New York Times Aug. 19. Superiors at Fort Bragg were surprised—but not professors at Marquette, where Sp. Buddhika Jayamaha, whose name led the op-ed, had studied. One, Barrett McCormick, said he e-mailed with "BJ" recently. "He was very curious about what was going to happen," he says. "No one knows what the repercussions will be."
There may not be any. Army policies permit soldiers to write or blog as long as they don't compromise operational security (e.g., troop locations) or challenge civilian leadership. "Until it is established that they violated any regulations, they will not be punished just for their views," said Army spokesman Maj. Tom Earnhardt.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20439108/site/newsweek/
Baird ‘verbally flogged’ over pro-escalation stance.
For three hours during a townhall meeting last night, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) “was verbally flogged by hundreds of his constituents for no longer supporting the quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq.” “There is only one way to end an illegal and immoral war, and that’s to end it,” said Zamme Joi. “You have screwed up, my friend. You have screwed up and you have to change course,” another constituent said. “We don’t care what your convictions are,” said Jan Lustig of Vancouver, “you are here to represent us.” See the video
VoteVets’ Jon Soltz also attended. “Speaking calmly and to raucous applause,” Soltz said Baird “was fooled ‘by a dog and pony show’ and is unfortunately ‘providing cover for President Bush.‘”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/28/baird-%e2%80%98verbally-flogged%e2%80%99-over-pro-escalation-stance/#comments
More on that... Since it is absolutely relevent.
He spoke in a high school auditorium that was packed with at least 500 people who were overwhelmingly vocal in their opposition to Baird’s new stance. There were also protesters outside calling for Baird to resign.
He was hammered by Jon Soltz, the young, good looking, charismatic chairman and co-founder of political action committee VoteVets.org. Soltz is also an Iraq war veteran, having served in 2003. Speaking calmly and to raucous applause, he said Baird (who recently returned from a visit to Iraq) was fooled “by a dog and pony show” and is unfortunately “providing cover for President Bush.”
Afterwards, Soltz told me that his goal is to bring Baird back into the Democratic fold.
Another speaker who brought down the house was Zanne Joi, a Vancouver activist with Code Pink Women for Peace. Joi called Baird “arrogant” for trying to dictate how Iraqis should govern themselves and said the war was only about “American oil profit.”
A third speaker, who also spoke to tremendous applause, was Jane Lustig from Vancouver, whose main complaint was that Baird wasn’t representing his constituents, who, judging from this crowd, were against the war.
I also talked to several people as they left the auditorium and asked them if they found Baird—who was there to explain his new position—to be persuasive. To a person, everyone shook their head “no way,” including Doris Holmes, active member of the 18th district Democrats, who said, “He lied. He’s toeing the Bush party line. I can’t believe he’s a Democrat.”
http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/report_from_vancouver_washington_rep_bai
FORT MEADE, Md. - A military court Tuesday acquitted an Army officer of charges that he failed to control U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, but it found him guilty of disobeying an order.
Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, who ran the Abu Ghraib interrogation center, was the only officer and the last of 12 defendants to go to trial in the 2003 Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal that embarrassed the Pentagon and shocked the Muslim world.
The allegations at the U.S.-run prison came to light with the release of pictures of U.S. soldiers smiling while detainees often naked, were held in painful and humiliating positions at the prison. Jordan, 51, never appeared in the inflammatory photos but he was accused of fostering a climate conducive to abuse.
The jury of nine colonels and one brigadier general deliberate for about seven hours before issuing its verdicts Tuesday.
It acquitted Jordan of three counts: cruelty and maltreatment for subjecting detainees to forced nudity and intimidation by dogs; dereliction of a duty to properly train and supervise soldiers in humane interrogation rules; and failing to obey a lawful general order by ordering dogs used for interrogations without higher approval.
Jordan was found guilty of one: disobeying a general's order not to talk to others about the investigation into the abuse.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20478391/from/RS.4/
Why We Need a Draft: A Marine’s Lament
He was in the firefights of Fallujah. He saw gaps in America's arsenal that he believes can only be filled when America's elite puts its sons on the battlefield. A plea for selective service.
Web-exclusive commentary
By Cpl. Mark Finelli
Newsweek
Aug. 28, 2007 - “Maybe we would have only lost those three instead of 13,” I thought to myself on a dusty Friday in Fallujah in early November 2005. I was picking up the pieces of a truck that hours before had been blown apart by an IED, wondering why our equipment wasn’t better and why three more Marines were dead. Ramadan had just ended, the period in which a suicide bomber gets double and triple the virgins for killing himself in the name of jihad, and my weapons company, Second Battalion Second Marines, had lost 13 men in the last two weeks—not from firefights but from roadside bombs likely being imported from Iran. The insurgents were ramping up their technology, and here we were in the same old trucks. At least these didn’t have cloth doors like the ones last year. But seriously, was this the best technology we have?
Just then I noticed a big vehicle driving by, one owned by a private contracting company. This thing made our truck look like a Pinto in a Ferrari showroom. It was huge, heavy, ominous, indestructible. I wanted to commandeer it. I wanted to live in it. If only we were in one of those, I would definitely come home, and a lot of the guys who won’t would too. As it passed I stared at what I would later learn was called the MRAP vehicle (Mine Resistant Ambush Protective Vehicle). I never thought I would see something in Iraq that enticing, but there it was, rumbling past in all its glory.
I looked at my platoon sergeant. “Staff sergeant?”
“Yes, Finelli?”
“Why are the private companies driving around in these things and not the Marine Corps?” He looked at me and gave the universal sign for money, rubbing together his thumb and forefinger. And suddenly, I understood. It became clear on that November Friday in Fallujah that America’s greatest strength, economics, was not in play. A sad realization.
According to the Pentagon, no service personnel have died in an MRAP. So why isn’t every Marine or soldier in Iraq riding in one? Simple economics. An MRAP costs five times more than even the most up-armored Humvee. People need a personal, vested, blood-or-money interest to maximize potential. That is why capitalism has trumped communism time and again, but it is also why private contractors in Iraq have MRAPs while Marines don’t. Because in actuality, America isn’t practicing the basic tenet of capitalism on the battlefield with an all-volunteer military, and won’t be until the reinstitution of the draft. Because until the wealthy have that vested interest, until it’s the sons of senators and the wealthy upper classes sitting in those trucks—it takes more than the McCain boy or the son of Sen. Jim Webb—the best gear won’t get paid for on an infantryman’s timetable. Eighteen months after the Marines first asked for the MRAP, it’s finally being delivered. Though not nearly at the rate that’s needed. By the end of the year, only 1,500 will have been delivered, less than half the 3,900 the Pentagon had initially promised.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20478293/site/newsweek/
Bush to deliver Iraq speech to American Legion
Speech intended to set stage for next month's progress report on war
Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2007 09:19 AM
Bush Speaking to American Legion: Sign Up!
I was wrong. I wrote "The Legion owes Nation Apology." I said; "The Legion is a spectacularly effective organization for veterans, their families and their communities." As many readers pointed out, I should definitely have written "was" not "is." In actuality, the Legion is betraying both the military and veterans. The American Legion is as far off course now as they were in 1929 when the National Commander and members of the American Legion met with Premier Mussolini in Rome and in the 1930s when the American Legion was attempting to make Premier Mussolini a life member of the American Legion. The Legion was a powerful, respected brand. However, the organization is hijacked by extremists who abandoned the veterans and military for a political adventure. Veteran or civilian, we need your help now!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hal-donahue/bush-speaking-to-american_b_61953.html
Pro-Surge Dem "Verbally Flogged By Hundreds Of His Constituents"
"You Have Just Broken My Heart" ... Watch Video
Face-To-Face With Iraq Vet
http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2007/08/vancouverites_vent_at_baird.html