« More Weasel Words | Main | Bombing Iran Back to the Stone Age »
US: Life With Deregulation, A National Security Threat
A short time ago, Dianne posted an article about national security and the ports in Seattle. She included pictures and made a clear cut case that our ports are unsafe despite the money thrown to the Homeland Security Department and the refrain, "We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here."
But what happens when products arrive in our ports legally via a corporation producing low-cost goods overseas? We have many more things that are unsafe and when confronted with the choice of keeping us safe from terrorism and keeping us safe from formaldehyde, lead, and arsenic in our products, isn't it our government's responsibility to protect our country from all potential hazards?
The free market will take care of things, right? I'm sure we can trust the free market; afterall, it's what we've been told.
But just the other day, I read an article discussing the tainted clothing from China, and this morning I read an article about tainted pet treats quietly being pulled from Walmart's shelves. And it wasn't very long ago that I was reading about poisonous pet food and killer toothpaste. All of these events qualifynot just as public health threats, but as national security threats.
In fact, if you want to measure the safety of the country by our legal corporate imports, from countries such as China, then we need look no further than this article from the Philidelphia Inquirer that lambasted the whole infrastructure of Chinese exports, the regulations of our government, and the ethical responsibility of corporations, as well as the self-responsibility of the consumers.
For the recent recalls, the first fingers should be pointed at the Chinese businesses and managers that produced shoddy products, along with failed oversight by the Chinese government. However, the answers are not that easy. The United States purchases nearly $300 billion worth of goods a year from China, and "phantom" sourcing makes it difficult to ascertain the origin of the tainted products.
Further, making deeper sense of this situation involves complex ethical questions.
Our society has clearly stressed the value of low-priced goods, even if those attractive prices come at the cost of quality. As such, have Western multinational corporations relentlessly pursuing a competitive advantage played a role by purchasing goods from a developing country? Could we implicate our own government for allowing those bad goods to enter our market? Might even we, as consumers who endlessly chase lower prices, play a part?
We've been led to believe that the free market will take care of things. And we're also led to believe that we should just 'deal with it' because we have a 'global economy.'
However, I argue that their 'global economy' actually means 'corporate economy', and as such, the corporate economy is dangerous to our national security.
We have a government by the people and for the common good of the people. Our government must treat all goods coming into our ports as if they are a potential threat to the well-being of its citizens, because they are.
Of course the proponents of the free-market and proponents of deregulation have argued against tariffs, increased security and amore protectionist approach to the world marketplace. And if we look just a short ways into the matter, we discover those corporatists have something in common with Li Changjiang, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine--the so-called 'safe-products' Czar.
According to Li Changjiang:
"Personally, I believe it is new trend in trade protectionism. Although recalls are necessary, it is unfair to decide that all products made in China are unqualified,"
I guess we can rest easy now that Li Changjiang has reassured us that "his department was doing everything possible to monitor product quality, especially after recalls of millions of toys by Mattel Inc., the world's biggest toy- maker, because of lead paint."
What about the toothpaste? What about the poisoned livestock? What about the toxic gluten? What about the formaldehyde up to 900 times above the safe level in wool and cotton clothes, those very clothes we put on our infants and children?
I, for one, am not reassured. These events further indicate that protectionism isn't a toxic word; protectionism is a national security matter.
Ironically, just last week, I spent time with union workers who have seen their employers remove safety regulations at an alarming rate. Employers love to get the products built overseas where they can use cheap labor but also can use cheaper products--like lead paint. They are free of regulations.
The fact is that China is now one of the biggest producers of exports across the world. As a result tensions that were already high between China and the European Union and the U.S, are now even higher. Some countries were threatening trade sanctions against China even before these tainted products were discovered.
What types of consequences could result from trade sanctions?
Furthermore, with candidates on the campaign trail stumping for us to pay more attention to terrorism, why are they not focusing on the inherent terrorism poisoned clothing, toys, and toothpaste bring?
We have dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Homeland Security Department and have dumped even more money to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here." But absent some reasonable level of inspection of all imports, regulations on all imported consumer goods, and without our government providing strict laws for businesses to follow, whether they manufacture their goods here or afar, we are left with a big gaping hole in our national security.
What economic and political choices are we, as citizens and consumers, willing to make to force our government and businesses to put real national security policy discussion back on the table?
Since writing that piece more goods have been recalled. (Namely the watering cans children use to help water the garden or make sandcastles at the beach, etc. So in effect, the poison has leaked into the veggies and soil and water nearby.)
Posted by: Suz at August 29, 2007 02:35 PM
The poison is definitely in the Bush's as well.
But that's old news.
“There’s still obstacles, and there’s still work to be done,” the president said. “But there’s been a lot of progress made, and that’s what people have got to understand. And I have come to this site — what we call Ground Zero, this is where the worst of the worst of the storm hit — to be able to show the American people that through their generosity, this infrastructure has been rebuilt.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20490384/
Thats what people have GOT to understand???
They've GOT to understand?
Ummm, you useless prick, YOU don't understand!
Everyone else does...
YOU
DONT
UNDERSTAND
WE call it Ground Zero????
WE???
Who's WE?
And how many Ground Zero's can you claim under YOUR watch?
How Many?
Progress?
One bridge was rebuilt in Mississippi, and that's progress? That's rebuilding the infrastructure????
“If George Bush’s government were as good and decent and focused as the people of New Orleans, whole parts of the city would not still look like the storm just hit. This is a national disgrace,” said Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who launched his campaign last year from the devastated Ninth Ward.
Study: Withdrawal Possible Over a Year
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070829/us-iraq-pullout/
Read The Report
Maliki: Surge Hasn't Worked, U.S. To Blame For Sectarianism
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/redeploy_report.html
Maybe their goal is to have a ground zero in every state in the country before 2008.
Bush probably goes to casino land in MS and claims progress is being made. He's too much of a chicken s*&t to go to the lower 9th and say that.
Putz.
Suz -
Great thread! I can't stand buying stuff from China, but boy is it hard. I have started seeing things from S. American countries more often. What ever happened to that old patriotic "buy american" thing? I love buying things that are made here, but they sure are hard to find.
GOP Senators McCain, Coleman, And Rep Hoekstra Call For Full Resignation...White House "Disappointed"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070829/craig-arrest/
HOMOSEXUAL CHILD PROSTITUTION RING INVOLVING GEORGE BUSH SR.
ARCHIVE OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES OF YET ANOTHER OF MASSIVELY SUPPRESSED STORY INVOLVING THE FAMILY WHO IS ABOVE ALL LAWS - THE BUSHES
http://www.voxfux.com/features/bush_child_sex_coverup/article_archive.htm
What ever happened to that old patriotic "buy american" thing? I love buying things that are made here, but they sure are hard to find.
Posted by: Carol at August 29, 2007 04:48 PM
I have so many students from China staying with me Carol, and they do not buy here at all they just say it is to expensive or they can buy it cheaper at home, they bring everything they need from China, or have it sent over on regular basis. Anything that they do buy here, comes from ChinaTown. That does not happen with any of the other International Students.
Have a look at this picture of Craigs wife, now why the hell wouldn't she tell him to go wank himself, and do his interviews by himself.
That pic disturbs me so much, that she would even do that to herself, it is like the creep is controlling her even now, stand by me little wife and take the heat with me for my sins.
Now if it was me, I would cut the bloody thing off. I would be doing a Bobbit for sure.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070829/craig-arrest/
Priest keeps 'murder board' to honor New Orleans victims
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Priest_keeps_murder_board_to_honor_0829.html
From Indy, who LIVES in NOLA...
"There's still obstacles, and there's still work to be done," the president said. "But there's been a lot of progress made, and that's what people have got to understand. And I have come to this site — what we call Ground Zero, this is where the worst of the worst of the storm hit — to be able to show the American people that through their generosity, this infrastructure has been rebuilt."
So Mr. Bush,
What is it we have GOT to understand?
*That our infrastructure is in shambles?
*That the water lines that service the city are no longer leaking 85 million gallons (no exaggeration) a DAY, but down to 40 million gallons a day?
*That the people who live here are being forced to PAY for these leaks on their monthly water bills?
*That the local governmental agency in charge has N O T FLUORIDATED THE WATER SINCE KATRINA?!?!?
*That the Federal Government will not assist in repairing the damage to the sewer and water systems that was caused directly from the FAILURE OF THE FEDERALLY FUNDED AND MAINTAINED LEVEES AND FLOOD WALLS?!?!?
And then there is Entergy Corporation.
Yes...just place a name and add "CORPORATION" behind it and the Federal Government will support them in whatever robbery, pilfering and price gouging one can imagine...so while we are imagining Mr. President...imagine getting an electric and gas bill for $900 FOR ONE MONTH?!?!?!?!
And while we are talking about every road leading to Rome...if we follow the $114 BILLION to the Gulf Coast, let's see in whose pockets MUCH of that money ended up...can you say HALLIBURTON?!?! Can you say Kellog Brown and Root...okay...that one gave you a little trouble...can you say KBR?!?!
Now...let's look to the lower 9th ward and New Orleans East Mr. President...where I work in the Central Business District I watched this morning as Marine One was escorted by two Black Hawk helicopters just so you could have your "Photo Op" at a school and talk about how everything is just peachy keen...
People in these and many areas are still without PHONE SERVICE, SEWER, WATER, ELECTRICITY in most cases and they sure as hell do not have decent roads, schools in which to educate their children, grocery stores in which to buy food and no...and I mean NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION...so what does that spell Mr. Bush?
L A C K O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E.
Not to mention a completely inadequate police force and lack of fire stations (hint, hint George...that is why the National Guard is still here TWO YEARS LATER!!!) not to mention the reason we are all in this mess to begin with...
THE LEVEES ARE STILL NOT REPAIRED!!!
And we here in New Orleans do not call it "Ground Zero"...that is what we call the empty space between your ears Mr. Bush...
What we who have returned to rebuild, renew and restore one of the greatest cities in the world because of the damage caused by the greatest man made disaster in our Nation's history call this place Mr. Bush...
Is HOME.
Nice hat-tip to John Kerry on Olberman tonight re: Katrina.
Jonathan Alter said that Kerry had said to him after the storm that if he had been president, he would have physically moved his operation down to NOLA to give it the attention it needed. Unlike Shrub who likes to flyover and make his assessments that way.
Can't find a link yet.
Bravo! Good article! I work with autistic children and Thomas the Train is the favorite toy of many. Recently, some of the red tank engines (James) were recalled because of lead in the paint. One mom found her son's "James" with little teeth marks in the red paint, with the matching paint on his teeth. If there's anything autistic children don't need, it's more lead, particulary since some parents are convinced heavy metals like mercury may play a part in the etiology of autism. There are certainly more toxins and loose hormones getting into childrens' systems and there is at the same time a huge increase in incidence of autism and also other disorders such as asthma.
On the related topic of government negligence, it is a travesty to hear Bush on the radio, going on about "progress, progress" in Iraq, in New Orleans - when the situations "progressing" would not have had to happen in the first place if a more intelligent policy had been in place.
Such "progress" is like saying the house is starting to burn down a little more slowly.
This Chinese headline struck me as odd:
Toilet scandal-ridden Craig outsted from senior posts
(xinua.net)
And the lists go on and on, are our children safe anywhere today? The church, Scouts, Politics, and who else in positions of power, can our children trust todayl.
5,100 Scout leaders axed for abuse: CBS
Troop leaders suspected of molestation outed every 2-3 days for past 60 years.
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/CBS_5100_Boy_Scout_leaders_removed_0829.html
Northern Iraq hit by major cholera outbreak: minister (8 dead so far: 4000 cases)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070829/hl_nm/iraq_cholera_dc_1
The responsibility lies with the name on the Box of the toy, or food product, etc.
There seems to be disconnection between who markets and retains profits from the product, and who is responsible for quality and safety. It is the same Entity.
There are hundreds of companies here in China with names of prominent American companies on buldings. These are satellite branches for ordering, packaging and shipping of products back to the USA.
However, there are no americans working in them. There are only Chinese, having tremendous pressure placed on them from Corporate level back in Anytown USA to perform at lower pricing each year. Otherwise the order be sent to their competition.
The mad dash to the bottom line in the USA is the driving force behind lead in paint, and the
problems we are reading about. Corporations have abandoned their responsibilities in favor of outsourcing the entire structure of manfacture and Quality control. Someone in the board room truly thought the Corporation could simply outsource responsibility.
This is no different that the Sub Prime loan issues in the USA, people and corporation demanding something for nothing. It doesnt work.
I owned a Manufacturing company in the USA, sold it in 2005 due to nonsense occuring from buyers; demanding pricing lower than the market cost to produce it. Either cut corners or get out.
Until people hold Mattel Responsible for the quality of Mattel toys, this will continue. Only when the Corporatin is held to account will they actually inspect the product, and install quality control as ALL responsible manufacturing company does.
I would not get too excited about what conyers said yet.
"Conyers said that citizens must reject the "imperial" government of the Bush administration. Conyers listed torture, Geneva Convention violations, abuse of national security letters, and voters' rights violations as parts of the "imperial system," and that members of the administration have "inherent contempt" for the Congress. Conyers said he has no reticence or reluctance to "use the tool of impeachment," when he "feels it is appropriate."
For 1 Mr. conyers, it is YOU that needs to get to rejecting this imperial presidency, it is your JOB to do so.
"Conyers listed torture, Geneva Convention violations, abuse of national security letters, and voters' rights violations as parts of the "imperial system,"
John Conyers also should have listed John Conyers as part of that 'imperial system' that he has a Constitutional obligation to confront. Precisely because he has not confronted it is why it is IMPERIAL.
"..members of the administration have "inherent contempt" for the Congress. "
Again, what have you done exactly about such 'contempt' Mr Conyers? Because I know damn good and well if any of us showed him such contempt he would have no problem having us arrested and processed.
"Conyers said he has no reticence or reluctance to "use the tool of impeachment," when he "feels it is appropriate.""
And that is a flat out lie, because obviously he does feel reluctant and says so often. "But... But... It will just be so messy and I am so busy..."
And as far as when it is appropriate, let me guess when that 'appropriate moment will come... 5 minutes before bush is to step down conyers will do it to try to forcea resignation and call it 'victory'.
As a matter of a fact, Conyers himself has said he is more for RETROACTIVE IMPEACHMENT. There is no doubt he is hoping to go retro rather than put his own arse on the political line.
But, for whatever it is worth, he is now making clear he is not Nancys houseboy, which would be great except for the lingering thought he is only saying that to keep from being confronted by too many more angry crowds.
Just think of how much more simple it would be if he just did his job and protected the US Constitution first and worried about his job later.
Big Easy to Big Empty: The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans
In Big Easy to Big Empty: The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans, Greg Palast and his team travel to New Orleans to investigate what happened in the year following Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast. On his visit, he discovers that the population of New Orleans is miniscule, the reconstruction sparse, suicide rates are climbing, and many have not - nor do they know how to - return to "the city that care forgot." He examines why residents had to leave, what really caused the flood and why they aren't returning.
Video Link http://www.linktv.org/programs/bigeasy
Larry Craig's bathroom behavior and the right wing -- then and now
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/08/28/craig/index.html?source=newsletter
BTW, Rossi and Ally.
If you are missing out on Shreveport, I can sincerely say you are missing out on perhaps on of the prettiest cities in the country.
For the last decade or so we have been in the grips of what they are calling 'mural mania', and the results have been stunning. It was already one of the prettier skylines, but now the whole city is a work of art.
Even our public busses are completely covered in mural art.
It is nothing short of thrilling.
If you come in from the airport and come east into Shreveport on the interstate, the most obvious thing you will see in the skyline, is a woman. A beautiful woman holding a crystal ball, painted on the side of the AT&T building in the center of the skyline.
She is atleast 100 feet tall and can be seen from miles away. Click on the first pic, that is her.
This is the Shreveport I see you are missing...
http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/images/Photos/MURAL5.jpg
http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/images/Photos/MURAL3.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/303942520/in/set-72157594244741062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/321000777/in/set-72157594244741062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/363077185/in/set-72157594244741062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/374032001/in/set-72157594244741062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/417185874/in/set-72157594244741062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcmetroguy/451493024/
Posted by: Christy at August 30, 2007 05:21 AM
They are excellent photos Christy your city is lovely. Love the murals
TY Rossi, so is yours.
Yall have a beautiful skyline, too, much bigger than Shreveport. I will see it for myself one day.
If they will let me out of this backwards country, that is.
Oh. My. God.
...."over the last 60 years, at least 5,100 adult leaders were kicked out of the Scouts because of allegations of sexual abuse."
That figure emerged as the result of a lawsuit against the Scouts by two brothers, who told CBS they were abused throughout their entire childhoods by an assistant scoutmaster who has since acknowledged his guilt.
"Thousands of secret Boy Scout files ... were turned over to the brothers' attorney" as a result of the suit, CBS reported, and the attorney told CBS his analysis showed troop leaders were being tossed out for suspected abuse every three days before 1991 and every 2 days since then.
The Boy Scouts insist that these numbers represent only a tiny percentage of scoutmasters, and the organization now requires criminal background checks and has instituted educational policies intended to prevent abuse. Despite the increased scrutiny, the head of the Scouts' child abuse prevention program was convicted in 2005 of trafficking in child pornography."
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/CBS_5100_Boy_Scout_leaders_removed_0829.html
Oh man, I think I am gonna be sick.
Some smart and brave patriot has leaked the GAO report on Iraq so georgie can not hide the bad news.
"The person who provided the draft report to The Post said it was being conveyed from a government official who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version -- as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month's National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. Congress requested the GAO report, along with an assessment of the Iraqi security forces by an independent commission headed by retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, to provide a basis for comparison with the administration's scorecard. The Jones report is also scheduled for delivery next week."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902434.html?hpid=topnews
Freaking AMEN!
How Does Laura Bush Sleep at Night?
By Susan J. Douglas
With the passing of Lady Bird Johnson, we are reminded that First Ladies used to stand for something. She was not as beautiful as Jackie Kennedy, and in the mid-1960s with the war in Vietnam escalating, beautifying America’s highways may have seemed a trivial goal. It wasn’t. Lady Bird Johnson—a successful businesswoman in her own right—combined a disdain for the spread of commercial clutter with a love for the environment that today seems positively progressive in a first lady. She helped her husband advance the Head Start program and civil rights; she spoke publicly in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
By contrast, what does Laura Bush stand for? Well, at first it was “literacy” and the merits of being a stay-at-home wife who gets her husband (allegedly) to quit drinking. Then she was going to combat the influence of gangs on school children. (Her husband subsequently eliminated this program.) Then there was some hand-waving about women’s heart disease. Her very glitzy website also cites “Gulf Coast Rebuilding” (no comment) and “Global Diplomacy” as top Laura priorities. All of these are advanced with a smile as lock-jawed as Nurse Ratched’s.
As one of the scant 15 percent of likely voters who has a “very unfavorable” assessment of Mrs. Bush (and who finds her high approval ratings a complete mystery), I would like to suggest that she may be the worst First Lady in recent memory. Here are the reasons: First, she has had no consistent program or agenda that has changed anything for the better. Second, she provides PR cover for her husband so she can pretend they’re doing one thing, like helping school children, while he can do another, like screwing them and their teachers through disasters like “No Child Left Behind.” (Another example of being a beard for Bush, she promotes awareness about women’s heart disease while he proposes slashes in Medicaid, 70 percent of whose recipients are poor women.) Third, she has taken absolutely no stand against her husband’s relentless, Shermanesque march across women’s rights. Last and most damning, she is an utter hypocrite, especially when it comes to global rights for women.
Remember how Laura Bush claimed that one of the main reasons for the war in Afghanistan was to liberate women from their burkas? To “kick off a world-wide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the regime it supports,” she opined in a November 2001 radio address. “The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.” Really? Seven months later, her husband withheld more than $200 million in funding for programs to support women and to combat AIDS in Afghanistan.
And where has Laura Bush been since, when it was made clear that women would play virtually no role in the post-Taliban government? Where was she when Human Rights Watch reported in July 2003 that violence against girls and women in Afghanistan, including rape, was increasing? Well, in the spring of 2005 she went to visit Afghani women for six hours where she offered “the very best wishes of the American people.” Upon her return, she told Jay Leno things were “very encouraging” for them.
Meanwhile, this mother of two daughters has remained mute during her husband’s six-and-a-half year assault on women’s rights. In addition to appointing two deeply conservative, anti-choice zealots to the Supreme Court, Bush enacted a domestic gag rule in 2004 which allowed HMOs, hospitals and the like to prohibit doctors from providing abortion referrals or even information about abortion. One of his first acts in office was to reinstate a global gag rule, which forbade any agency that got funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development from using those or any other funds (including their own!) to provide or promote abortions. Within a year, there were shortages of contraceptives, clinics had closed, and 16 developing countries (including Afghanistan, which Laura cares so much about) had seen shipments of supplies cut off.
Two months after his inauguration, Bush closed the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach. He then made sure that information about issues like pay equity and childcare were removed from the Department of Labor’s website—25 such publications vanished from the Women’s Bureau website alone. Instead, new bogus information, such as the claim that there was a link between having an abortion and getting breast cancer, appeared on the National Cancer Institute’s website. In 2005, the Bush administration weakened the standards for compliance with Title IX (maybe the Bush girls were too busy partying to play any sports).
As one reviews this record and the cynical gaps between Mrs. Bush’s pro-woman-pronouncements and her husband’s determination to keep as many of us as possible barefoot and pregnant, it is hard to imagine how she lives with him. Or herself.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3290/
Oh man, I think I am gonna be sick.
Posted by: Christy at August 30, 2007 05:52 AM
I posted it up further Christy, where are our kids safe today.
Did you read the other post on the bushes its posted up further to. I posted another on Rebelle
HOMOSEXUAL CHILD PROSTITUTION RING INVOLVING GEORGE BUSH SR.ARCHIVE OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES OF YET ANOTHER OF MASSIVELY SUPPRESSED STORY INVOLVING THE FAMILY WHO IS ABOVE ALL LAWS - THE BUSHES
Ther is also a link in ther about the Aussie Embassy but I am not getting it up
http://www.voxfux.com/features/bush_child_sex_coverup/article_archive.htm
The Franklin Coverup Scandal
The Child sex ring that reached Bush/Reagan Whitehouse
http://www.thelawparty.org/FranklinCoverup/franklin.htm
SEX PARTY HELD AT AUSSIE EMBASSY 'WE'RE NOT TALKING CROCODILE DUNDEE HERE,'" Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper, Washington Times, July 28, 1989
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2003/02/06/15709461.php
I am not getting into any of the links I am have to Google the indvidually
Christy and Rossi - I heard a report today on the world-wide slave trafficking which is far, greater than it ever was when slaves were brought to America from Africa.
The biggest industry they are trafficked for is the sex industry. Women and children. Others are used for specific work as well as for sex.
Christy - I want to be sick, too.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Iraqi government has failed to meet the vast majority of political and military goals laid out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq war strategy, congressional auditors have determined.
The Associated Press has learned the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, will report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure the surge of U.S. troops to Iraq are unfulfilled ahead of a September 15 deadline. That's when Bush is to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy, according to three officials familiar with the matter.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public, also said the administration is preparing a case to play down the findings, arguing that Congress ordered the GAO to use unfair, "all or nothing" standards when compiling the document.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/30/iraq.report.ap/index.html
The Bush administration... moving the goalposts faster than Halliburton makes money...
Well, almost.
Flashback: Larry Craig Called Bill Clinton "A Bad Boy, A Naughty Boy"
By Greg Sargent - August 27, 2007
GOP Senator Larry Craig, who we now know was arrested for lewd conduct in a men's room in June, had this to say about Bill Clinton on Meet the Press on January 24, 1999, at the height of Monicagate:
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.
http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/08/flashback_larry_craig_called_bill_clinton_a_bad_boy_a_naughty_boy.php
Monkey - do Americans really care about Clinton's misbehaviour? It was between consenting adults so why do any of us think we've a right to judge it.
Other issues that are popping up for a range of republicans - in public toilets - with children - breaking the law re prostitution ok. We know they're sleazy. At least they had a go at impeachment. It doesn't seem that the dems have the courage to give that a go.
Posted by: woz at August 30, 2007 08:53 AM
It's all gone into the toilet, hasn't it?
It's not the sex, it's the LYING about the sex....
It's always the LYING that nails you.
Posted by: karen at August 30, 2007 09:03 AM
Nice choice of words.
Speaking of getting nailed...
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2007/08/24/mitchell/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The McCain campaign — in a new video unveiled exclusively to CNN on Wednesday — is aiming to showcase the Arizona Republican's service in the Vietnam War, including his time spent in a North Vietnamese prison.
Called "Courageous Leadership," the twelve-minute video begins with footage of McCain being interrogated by enemy soldiers.
The video then details McCain's experience as a prisoner of war, and includes interviews with the senator himself, as well as several others who served with him.
The campaign says it plans to use the video to introduce the White House hopeful at house parties and speaking events. The campaign is also likely to use the video as the basis for a number of television commercials.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/29/cnn-exclusive-mccain-camp-releases-interrogation-video/
Pretty Swift
Pete Seeger's Bring Em Home - amazing. The same words. "Support our troops. Bring Em Home." I guess it's gonna be a late night here again.
It's a documentary with great film clips people and songs. You might have seen it.
Get Up Stand Up
Next Stop Vietnam
Thursday 30 August 2007
Protesting against unjust wars has been one of the recurring features of the history of politically charged music, and the success of pop culture in the Vietnam era became a benchmark for successful musical activism.
Genre: Documentary
Year: 2003
As a matter of a fact, Conyers himself has said he is more for RETROACTIVE IMPEACHMENT. There is no doubt he is hoping to go retro rather than put his own arse on the political line.
But, for whatever it is worth, he is now making clear he is not Nancys houseboy, which would be great except for the lingering thought he is only saying that to keep from being confronted by too many more angry crowds.
Just think of how much more simple it would be if he just did his job and protected the US Constitution first and worried about his job later.
Posted by: Christy at August 30, 2007 04:40 AM
@@@@@@@@@@@@
If we can't get the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, can we get the United Nations to look into war crimes??
BTW: I am hoping that Gonzales is charged with perjury and/or contempt of Congress, especially after Dubya's F.-U. to Congress announcing Gonzales's resignation.
Top Iraqi diplomat: No ‘magical solutions’
He says progress being made, regardless of what Petraeus report will say
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s top diplomat said Thursday that more progress had been made in bringing security to the country than in advancing the tumultuous political situation, and cautioned against expecting “magical solutions” from the upcoming status report to U.S. Congress.
“The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate,” Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters. “I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any instant answers to the difficulties and challenges we are going through.”
Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack during combat operations in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province, the U.S. command announced. The Task Force Lightning soldier was killed Wednesday by the explosion next to his vehicle, the military said in a statement. The soldier’s name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20509653/
U.N. hails ‘significant step’ in Iran nuke probe
Report commends Tehran, deals blow to U.S.-led effort for new sanctions
VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday called Iran’s cooperation with its investigation of past suspicious atomic activities “a significant step forward,” in a report expected to hamper U.S.-led efforts for new sanctions on Tehran.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20508886/
Posted by: monkey at August 30, 2007 08:43 AM
Does anyone else get the creeps when they hear/read this statement by Craig? "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."
I just get this vision of Craig's mother catching him when he was little, and saying those words to him over and over, and ever since, he's been a perv.
Gives me the willies - no pun intended.
Posted by: Carol at August 30, 2007 11:27 AM
It is kinda hard to swallow...
I was going to say his mother caught him spanking the monkey, but then I remember I was talking to you, and you might not like that reference!
eeeuuuwww factor high today here at DCP....
Okay, I've been away for ten days.
While in Reno I noticed every darn thing I bought was made in China, and the quality of it is horrible!!
Years ago, there was a department store chain who's name shall go un-named, but it was the same calibre as Penney's. I noticed then that the clothes I was buying my boys cost alot, but fell apart after about four washings. That was the beginning, for me, to see that I was paying top dollar for junk.
Now it is malignant. As you know I went to Reno to my Dad's 90th birthday party (it was a wonderful success!). My brother picked me up one morning to go to a "party store" to buy some "Happy Birthday" tablecloths, balloons filled with helium, and poppers (you pull the string and it pops and shoots confetti and streamers in to the air). Every single item had "made in China" on it.
The tablecloths were so thin they ripped if you tugged a wee bit on them, the balloons were so thin that some popped on the way home from touching each other, and half the poppers didn't have a pull string, or just plain didn't work.
And the price for those party favors was $75.00.
While I was in Reno I took my son to see the building his dad worked in when he was a baby, that ended up being bought by General Electric, then they outsourced ALL the jobs to Mexico.
Everywhere I look, both there and where I live, we are paying very high bucks for VERY sub-rate merchandise. I first noticed some of this when in Europe. The people there dressed a heck of a lot better than we do (Italian shoes, nice fabric), eat better than we do (eat a nice lunch at a table with linen, then take another hour and a half off), have 4 to 5 weeks of holiday a year PLUS time off to care for sick relatives and to have a baby. And their workers doing the same work I did here made two dollars more an hour than I was making in the states (with my ten days 'leave' time.
We think we are "making it" and doing good if we can pay all our bills and still afford to go through a drive-in to buy our dinner and eat it out of a styrofoam box.
While in the plane on the way home we didn't get any food or drink unless we wanted to buy it extra, but, we did get.....ta da.....a glass of water when our plane was delayed for over an hour and we were on the runway packed like sardines without air conditioning in Las Vegas.
****
All in all, we had a birthday party with cheesy party favors, but the birthday boy was smiling.
He (My dad) told me to call him as soon as I got in, which I did, and he excitedly told me Gonzo had resigned!!!
I haven't had time to catch up all the way yet, I did read the thread the day Gonzo resigned, and everyone felt the way I did when I heard the news....."what is coming down the pike?" What is he hiding? Is he distancing himself from Jr. because some $*it is going to hit the fan, or is it a political move to distance MOST Republicans from Junior?
Help!!!! Anybody got any ideas? Why did he resign??? I asked my dad, and he said the rats were jumping off the sinking ship, but it has to be more than that.
Any ideas????
I don't think rats are jumping off a sinking ship, cuz nobody has fired anything of substance AT the ship.
Man, how I wish someone would.
TSP --
My feeling about Gonzo is that, like Rummy and the host of others who have resigned, it's all about getting the press to start the meme that GW is getting a 'fresh start,' a chance to 'rebuild his legacy,'etc... that's what I think the marketing part of it was.
On a deeper level, I think they thought it would shut up democrats (or at least confuse them for a while)...
GW will make a horrible recess appointment. Of this I'm sure. And his hostility will only increase forcing a showdown with Dems. If the Dems don't rollover, that could be good. On the other hand...
We'll see how it all plays out.
My two cents.
Just emailed Hillary & Schumer re AG. Word is that Dems will fold & allow Clement or someone similar (they seem to NEVER learn. BIG SIGH)
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/08/30/a-consensus-ag-nominee/
I keep going back to your comment Karen about teens with ipods in their ears, which, btw, Niki loved(high school teacher & all).
Whatever the reason- I am glad the gonzales is gone. I'd love the new mem to be- the new AG has to be someone who can restore honor to the Dept- someone beyond reproach......
I know, I dream.
Thanks for your two cents, peeps.
My first thought was that some $h!t is going to hit the fan, and they don't want Rove and Gonzo aligned with Bush when it does. Sigh. May be wishful thinking....