Republicans were once uniters

Josh Marshall in this excellent post suggests that, battling those responsible for the recent atrocity in London is made more difficult by our presence in Iraq. This paragraph illustrates the tone:

But with respect to the folks who want to lasso this into a pillar of support for a disastrous policy in Iraq, frankly, we already knew terrorism was real. Most people are sick to death of our bumbling in Iraq because it's distracted us from actually defending ourselves.

I would like to add to the discussion that it is time for we Americans to unite against our common enemies, both with each other and with the world community. Recognizing that Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland share the same threat ought to mean that we can all work together to fight religious fundamentalism wherever it takes hold (whether at home or abroad).

For five years now President Bush has been dividing Americans and uniting our enemies and this latest tragedy in London ought to be enough to make him call a truce and work with Harry Reid and John Kerry to make America stronger. As Abraham Lincoln once said, A house divided against itself cannot stand.

Spurning allies

I've always been puzzled by the Republican failure to reach out to liberals in the aftermath of 911. This is because liberals hate everything about the Jihadis and would make a natural ally against them.

Consider:

Liberals fight for freedom of speech through the courts, through street protests, and through exercising their rights. Islamic Jihadis aren't interested in free speech for anyone but themselves.

Liberals fight for gender equality. Islamic Jihadis want women to cover, cower, and conform.

Liberals fight for religious tolerance, yet Islamic Jihadis promote a totalitarian faith that murders non-subscribers.

Liberals believe in expansive personal freedom, and that these freedoms are America's strength. Islamic Jihadis are opposed to the very principle of a self-guided life that pursues happiness.


Consider again:

When Al Quaeda attacked London and New York it attacked two very liberal cities. They didn't attack, for instance, a southern city widely known for it's racism and cultural conservatism.

Reconsider that:

If Al Quaeda "can't stand freedom" and attacked New York and London it must be because they associate freedom with liberal politics.


I simply cannot understand why Republicans have spent so much of their time attacking liberals recently. They are dividing their allies at home as effectively as their allies abroad.

Wild speculation on the leak

One of the things that confuses me about the Valerie Plame affair is why Judith Miller of the New York Times went to jail and Matt Cooper of Time didn't.

Matt Cooper says that his source released him from his pledge of confidentiality, which I believe. What I wonder is why didn't Judith's source release her from confidentiality.

Here are a few different explanations (all wildly speculative):

1. Judith's source is not the same as Matt's source, and hers is not someone that can be outed (like Vice President Cheney or Condi Rice) without great embarrassment.

2. Judith and her source discussed something more damning to the Bush administration than Matt's source (like everyone was lying about WMD).

3. "No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court".

4. Matt Cooper was scared and lying.

5. Matt Cooper's source seems to be Karl Rove. It could be that he has maintained enough principle not to send someone else to jail on his own behalf.

Isn't this fun?

Charles Evers, Republican.

Here is a fascinating perspective. Charles Evers is a black man from Mississippi that is in the Republican party. I don't know what to make of a man that loved Clinton but voted Republican anyway because he supported his party. It seems to me like that attitude puts America second.

But he is a very interesting person and his views deserve attention.

President Bush Doesn't Speak For Me

Ooops

Point:

"We will, in fact, be welcomed as liberators"

- Vice President Dick Cheney -

Counterpoint:

Ongoing terror in Iraq

New Clear Threat

Here is a report which might change your opinion of the effectiveness of the Bush administration when it comes to stemming the tide of WMD, that is if you hold the opinion that he is tough and competent:

Nook You Lar

Not again

The BBC is reporting that three small blasts went off in London, although there seems to be confusion about the severity of this recent attack:

Tube cleared after small blasts

It's enough to make you think the US should focus some attention on al Quaeda, rather than stirring up more trouble in Iraq.

Spooky

We all know what Republican spinsters think about the Valerie Plame leak (i.e. gutter politics trump national security). What we need to focus on, though, is what CIA people think of it.

Here is a letter written by 11 of them, and we should all thank Josh Marshall for providing this on his blog:

Leak is spooky


Luckily for American security, polls indicate Republicans are willing to buck the party line on this one. I have culled a few points for your perusal below, but I suggest you read the entire memo and let it sink in.

"we believe that the partisan attacks against Valerie Plame are sending a deeply discouraging message to the men and women who have agreed to work undercover for their nation'’s security."

We believe it is appropriate for the President to move proactively to dismiss from office or administratively punish any official who participated in any way in revealing Valerie Plame's status. Such an act by the President would send an unambiguous message that leaks of this nature will not be tolerated and would be consistent with his duties as the Commander-in-Chief.

Here, too, is a recent article written by Ray McGovern of Intelligence Professionals for Sanity:

Rove or America?


Does it look to you like the folks at the CIA are as complacent about the Rove/Libby leak as all the President's men?

CIA agents literally die for our freedom and it disgusts me that anybody would defend the actions of Rove or Scooter Libby after what they have done. You do not share this type of information with anyone unauthorized to receive it EVER, and particularly not the press!

A friend of Valerie Plame

An associate of Valerie Plame blogs about her here:

What's Valerie like, anyway?

All the same to you?

In October 2001 who said,

"it is unacceptable behavior to leak classified information when we have troops at risk."?

Answer here

In October of 2003, who said,

"If anyone in this administration was responsible for the leaking of classified information, they would no longer work in this administration."?

Answer here

Who now says they will

"fire any aid that committed a crime (in the disclosure of a CIA agent's identity)"?

Answer here

Is it all the same to you, or does it sound like the walk don't match the talk?


In related news, here is a poll which shows that only 25% of the respondents felt that the Bush administration was cooperating with the investigation into the Valerie Plame leak.

You don't get those kinds of numbers without some solid bipartisan mistrust.

All work and no pay

I rarely shop at Walmart because I don't like the way they treat their employees. I consider my choice an opting-out of the process that is destroying the American dream for future generations.

Costco, though, has a different story. If you have one near you, shopping there will support this kind of business climate:

the Anti-Wal-Mart


Read those wall street analyst pieces of advice carefully. They sound closed-minded and ideologically driven to me. That is, when faced with facts contrary to their opinions their thinking ought to change, but they instead seem intent on sinking a rising ship.

No wonder hard-working people have such a hard time finding work that pays a living wage!

Good for Mr. Sinegal for rebuffing their efforts. I suppose he can feel vindicated with stock options that are worth $150 million dollars and managing a company whose sales went from zero to $3 billion in less than six years.

If you don't have one near you, then you can always shop on-line here: Costco

What kind of society do you want to live in, dog eat dog or neighbor helping neighbor?

The choices you make matter.

Beating about the Bush

One thing I like about Noam Chomsky is his use of language, which is hardly surprising since he is by trade an MIT linguist. Be that as it may, when he verbally assaults someone it is with direct blows to the face.

Take this article, for instance, called It's imperialism, stupid

However, in American journalistic circles they'd rather give voice to people like Mike Savage, Joe Scarborough, Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, and their troupe.

Perhaps that is where blogs should come in? Perhaps blogs should amplify the voice of the qualified expert instead of the ignoble Savage?

That's my view anyway. Enjoy.

Anchors away!

I believe that fighting for justice ought to be the cause célèbre of democrats (whether social justice, Constitutional justice, individual justice, or fairness issues). As such it is absolutely essential that democrats attack Karl Rove and George W. Bush on the Valerie Plame leak. Not to do so is to become what voters consider bad democrats, that is, "one that doesn't stand for anything". What voters mean when they say that is a democrat that doesn't fight for justice.

Howard Dean is not that type of democrat. When he sees corruption (perhaps even treason in this case) he does the right thing and calls the Bush administration to task. Now, if he can use the language of justice (fairplay, common security, moral behavior, and so on) then he'd be cooking with gas:

Howard Dean agrees with George Bush (H.W. that is)

In Karl Rove's case I guarantee that many prominent Republicans will not defend him. When you burn as many bridges as Mr. Rove did, you find yourself stranded.

Load for bear, or perhaps even elephant Mr. Reid, and press, press, press this issue until the Bush administration has to talk about it.

And you, Mr. John Kerry, your very presence serves to remind people what a loathsome character Karl Rove is. Remind voters how he was not below maligning your service to America, or John McCain's either, then link that with his outing of a CIA agent. It's all well and good to target a politician, even one that was a prisoner of war and a hero by most peoples standards, but it is another thing entirely to expose a covert officers identity during wartime. That is politics taken too far. That is extremism.

It should be pointed out that this line of attack is perfect before the expected nomination of a radical judge.

The American people can understand this leak business and can see the depravity of the situation. What they need to see now is Democrats doing something about it.

In the words of James Carville, "If your opponent is drowning throw him an anchor".

Click for but one example 

Britain's brave Brits

Here is an article by John Simpson (a BBC world affairs editor) which illustrates the British approach to dealing with terrorist attacks. It requires extraordinary commitment to New Hampshire's motto "Live free or die":

London bombs need calm response

By contrast, American conservatives seem to believe that to defeat terrorism we need warfare, and one global in scope at that. I'm not sure upon what data they have drawn this conclusion, but it seems awful dear to them. That's too bad, because on Clinton's watch police action caught those responsible for bombing the world trade center without any privacy-invading Patriot act.

ADDENDUM: Here is a site which shows what British are made of.

What kind of man is Joseph Wilson?

While the tempest storms around Karl Rove, a man that smeared both John Kerry's and John McCain's service records, and a man that started a false whispering campaign about Anne Richards being a lesbian, it is important to realize that this is the type of person President Bush surrounds himself with.

The type of person that President Bush or his staff has punished is someone like Joseph Wilson.

What type of person is Joseph Wilson?

While ambassador of the US in Iraq in 1990 he was protecting Americans in the embassy there. Saddam Hussein told him that he needed to "register" the guests or face execution. Here is a description of his response in his own words

One of these briefings took place on September 20, 1990. The Iraqis had circulated a diplomatic note to all embassies directing them to register citizens in their care with the appropriate authorities. Capital punishment was threatened for those who failed to comply, the implication being that even diplomatic personnel could be subject to this decree. However, registration could be accomplished only by personal appearance at the appropriate office, and our experience had been that Americans appearing were taken hostage. It was clearly a way for the Iraqis to replenish their stock of hostages. The choice, theoretically, was either to turn over Americans or to defy the note and risk execution.

I thought this was a tailor-made opportunity to confront the authorities over their increasingly draconian measures. I decided to give copies of the note to the press attending the briefing that morning, and then, to underscore the threat of execution, I asked the Marine security guard to fashion a hangman’s noose for me to wear. I wanted to make the point that faced with the choice of sacrificing Americans under my protection or suffering capital punishment, my response to Saddam was if he wants to execute me for keeping Americans from being taken hostage, I will bring my own f---ing rope, as I told the reporters that morning.

Excerpted from "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity," by Joseph Wilson.

Which type of person would you rather have bending the President's ear, Rove or Wilson?

Which person is more loyal to America, one that would die to protect Americans, or one that would endager an American CIA operative?

Any cattle with that hat Mr. President?

Scott McClellan, speaking for the Whitehouse on October 6, 2003 said, "If anyone in this administration was responsible for the leaking of classified information, they would no longer work in this administration."

You can watch President Bush and Scott McClellan both talk tough here: tah-dah

Will there be some tough action to back up the tough talking, or will the President lie to the American people again on matters of national security?

If you want to add your name to a call to fire Karl Rove then all you have to do is click this link Fire Rove.

Plame-leaker on ropes?

George HW Bush once called the type of person that exposed an under-cover CIA agent "the lowest form of traitor". His strong conviction led him to lobby for the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. Now, it appears that Karl Rove is involved in leaking the identity of Valerie Plame:

Traitor Rove?


While the press wonders if Karl Rove will have to "step down", he could be in for a lot more hot water than that (if George HW Bush has his way?), since the leak was made during a time of war.

See the Intelligence Identities Protection Act

This is serious stuff and I'm more than normally glad my name isn't Karl Rove this morning.

Also one wonders why a person like Rove even had knowledge of CIA affairs to begin with. Isn't the person that told Rove about this guilty of dispensing classified information about the identity of an undercover agent?

And finally, if Rove is guilty and charged it couldn't happen to a more deserving character. I don't expect too many people to go out on a limb for him.

ADDENDUM:

I think the media is beginning to tire of being played for patsies by the Bush administration and this story coalesces their ire directed Rove's way. My favorite quote is this one:

Under the best case scenario, if Rove's conversations about Joseph Wilson's wife were not technically illegal, we still have the president's top political aide covering up a White House lie by smearing an opponent, going after his wife, and in the process 'accidentally' exposing an undercover CIA agent. For the White House, that's the best case scenario.


Full article

Curiously the article ends far off course and winds up with a GOP slam of Hillary Clinton, so there is something for everyone here. I suppose Howard Kurtz considers it fair-and-balanced to repeat Hillary-bashing because Karl Rove was caught with his pants down. I don't. I consider it an attempt to equate treason with joking that the president acts like Alfred E. Newman, or to paint Democrats concern that there is a traitor in the White House as somehow partisan.

But hey, why quibble when the press is starting to do an adult job of it's job, which is to question authority for the people.

ADDENDUM 2

My favorite quote regarding Mr. Rove has already been usurped by the Bull Moose blogger (Marshall Whitman). It is this:

Short of a criminal indictment, Rove will remain in place. For Bush to get rid of Rove would be like Charlie McCarthy firing Edgar Bergen.

In worse shape

Time magazine has a new article called:

Why Iraq Has Made Us Less Safe

I think that when enough of our troops die that Americans will begin to realize they've been bamboozled by Bush into giving up their children for an ill-gotten war that made them less safe, but until then it is a perverse wait.

On one side of the scale there is the steady, bald-faced lying campaign waged by the Bush administration that is ever-more defensive. Also there are the constant distractions provided by T.V. like shark attacks, hurricanes, celebrity exploits, and "reality" programs.

On the other side of the scale there are dead Iraqi and American GI bodies piling up. Also the number of global terrorist attacks are increasing. Our debt, mostly funded by communist China, is piling up.

Sooner or later miss Justice's scale is going to tip against the Bush administration and all that is required is to wait, but like I said it is a perverse wait.

Here's an idea

I am not really ready to write about the London bombings yet. An event like that needs to seep into my mind before I can send anything out.

However, while watching the Harry Potter euphoria bubble inflate it struck me that J.K. Rowling ought to release The Half Blood Prince in London this week.

They've had a bad week in London and this could be just the thing (a fairytale!) to help them through a rough time.

It would be a small gesture, really, but wouldn't it be a nice treat for the children of the Union Jack?

Iraq and Iran team up

Iraq and Iran have signed a military agreement:

Details here...

Is this according to plan, or is it an end result of poor judgement?

I guess the latter.

Egyptian diplomat murdered

One June 22nd US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said she hoped "Arab nations would send ambassadors to Baghdad and generally upgrade their diplomatic missions to show support for the Shiite-dominated government."

Source

On July 7th, 2005 the Egyptian foregin ministry confirmed that Egypt's top envoy to Iraq has been executed:

Story

I wonder if Ihab el-Sherif's presence in Iraq had anything to do with Ms. Rice's request?

Bombs explode in London

Bombs are most likely the cause for explosions that damaged at least one of London's iconic double-decker buses and an Underground subway:

Breaking news...

London police caution that it is too early to tell what/who is responsible for the blasts.

ADDENDUM

DEBKAfile reports that Al Quaeda is responsible for the explosions:

Story here...

Paul flippin' Harvey

I grew up hearing the voice of Paul Harvey on the radio. He'd make observations kind of the way Andy Rooney does on 60 minutes and was sandwiched between radio auctions and ballroom music. His signature line is, "and now, the rest of the story..."

Well, recently Mr. Harvey surprised listeners by sounding more like Anne Coulter and calling for more American brutality in our foreign policy.

Here's what he said

I find it troubling whenever anyone apes for more violence, more nukes, and more biological warfare, or else equates petulance with good foreign policy. This Cain-inspired, fear-motivated, apocalypse cheerleading is extraordinarily harmful to humanity.

Must we perish together as fools?

Click picture to learn more 

Live 8

After posting about the association between Democrats and Justice I came across this quote from Bono at the Live 8 concert in London. While Bono is not to my knowledge a Democrat his language exemplifies what a Democrat should sound like:

"So this is our moment. This is our time. This is our chance to stand up for what's right. We're not looking for charity, we're looking for justice. We cannot fix every problem, but the ones we can, we must."

- Bono -

Wouldn't you rather hear this simple, hopeful, inspiring language from Democrats?

Democrats in a word

A popular Conservative view holds that liberal politics is the result of the guilt of privilege. Thinking about this for a while allowed me to see that there is a sliver of truth in that notion, but that it really misses the mark. Furthermore, the mark is important because it allows Democrats to see who they are and why they are here.

The guilt, you see, stems from a longing for justice, and in the case of privileged Democrats the longing is for economic justice. There is nothing to be ashamed of there, unless you consider the teachings of Jesus Christ unethical.

Then, the big picture started to hit me:

Black people support Democrats because they are interested in social justice.

Unions seek economic justice ala the rich Democrats but from the vantage point of the bottom of the barrel.

Trial Lawyers are looking for criminal justice.

What Democrats stand for, then, is breathed in a word: Justice.

So, get out there and start talking about social justice, and criminal justice, and economic justice, and level playing fields, and equal protection under the law, since that is speaking from the heart of a Democrat.

Stay the mistakes?

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when we execute the 21-year-old cousin of Iraq's ambassador to the UN?

Smile on your brother

Is a traitor about to be exposed?

How ironic would it be if a law promoted by George HW Bush, namely the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, was used to prosecute a member of Jr's administration for exposing Valerie Plame as a covert intelligence agent?

That possibility may be closer to reality as TIME Inc. has decided to release confidential sources in the case:

Norman Pearlstine says...

Of course TIME wouldn't be in this position if Jr. had the ethics to demand the name of the leaker from his cabinet, but the President likes to take toughness only so far as talk.

Stay the course?

The President likes to use the phrase "Stay the Course" as if it were an unassailable reason to continue a policy of failure in Iraq. It seems to me that there are times when you want to stay the course and times when you wish to change the course.

For instance, you might want to change the course if you are following a man that has leapt off a tall building. You might want to change your course if you are steaming towards the precipice of a waterfall. You might want to change your course if you inadvertently find yourself in an angry bull's pasture.

I want to argue that you "Stay the Course" when there is a high probability that doing so will achieve the goals which shaped the course, without incurring losses unacceptable for your gains.

The goals which we are striving for are hard to pin down, but today appear to be the creation of a peaceful, free, and democratic Iraq. The original goals which set us on our course were: smoking out Osama Bin Laden, removing fleets of unmanned Ariel vehicles, removing tons of Sarin gas, Mustard gas, and Anthrax, removing mobile biological weapons labs, removing a nuclear arsenal, and of course removing Saddam Hussein himself from power.

The losses we are incurring as we go are killed and wounded American soldiers, killed and wounded Iraqi civilians, billions of dollars expended, and international pariah status for ourselves.

The task of making Iraq safe for democracy is not so clear-cut and is somewhat subjective. However, I want to argue that Iraqi perception of our presence is critically important to our likely success.

And...

Based upon news reports and interviews with Iraqis it seems that their access to water, gas, and electricity is unpredictable and measurably worse than it was under Saddam Hussein. Many cannot find jobs. In many places the sewers aren't working. Many Iraqis argue that while Saddam was a brute and they are happy to be rid of him, that so far they experience more unpredictable danger in their daily lives under our occupation. That is, they considered Saddam to be a predictable danger and our presence there an unpredictable danger. At best I would say they are ambivalent about us, patient and hopeful but not happy with their current lot in life.

Unless we want to spend all our time trying to put out forest-fires of anti-occupation activity then we need to generate conditions succulent for democracy to flourish, namely Iraqi cooperation. In fact, I argue that if the Iraqi people fight against our goals then democracy is unobtainable by its' very definition (government of the people, for the people, by the people). And that means, as Donald Rumsfailed succinctly said, we want to win Iraqi hearts and minds.

Well...

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when Abu Ghraib is still open for business?

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when we shoot at an unarmed, wounded prisoner in a mosque?

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when we use interrogation techniques offensive to their religion?

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when we build permanent bases on Iraqi soil?

Are we winning Iraqi hearts and minds when we smash ancient cities like Fallujah?

I argue that nothing is more important to our goal than to change the course which led to the events listed above. If the current culture is allowed to continue then we will not succeed because the people of Iraq will abandon us, and once that happens we will have to choose between governing like Saddam (with fear) or going.

Where's Osama? 

Fast forgotten

President Bush's speech was predictable and unenlightening and I expect it to fade from view very quickly.

He's still out to bamboozle the American people by linking 911 and his ill-gotten war in Iraq. He's still trying to divide Americans, rather than uniting them. He's still leaving his incompetent defense secretary in place. And he's still engaging in happy-talk and empty-bravado.

But...

Once your credibility is gone you cannot lie with success. While the president tried to again use our troops as props in his pageant, they refused to play along and clapped exactly once and even then had to be coerced into it.

Here's what I've learned. When you have war whose purpose is to ward off an actual threat (from a fleet of unmanned, aerial, WMD-laden vehicles, say) there is no need to lie to the American people. They will sacrifice and they will fight like hell to defend America. But, when you lie to Americans and their children start to die and the threat evaporates they lose respect for you.

A President is essentially a confidence peddler and nothing is more undignified in a President than pomp devoid of trust, and that is where we are now. Our President is a used-car salesman peddling a lemon and we aren't interested.

This is a palpable feeling which now envelopes President Bush. If he weren't so arrogant I might be capable of compassion for him, but instead I find myself uninterested in him or his likely B.S. In other words I am waiting for the next administration and it's as if he doesn't exist anymore.

Here is the full text of the President's speech. There's nothing new in it and I don't trust the messenger, but a good way to leverage the internets is to provide the whole context and not simply an interpretation.

Lonely and pathetic

Meanwhile back at the ranch

On May 25th, 2004 President Bush used all of the bravado at his command and promised to tear down Abu Ghraib. For those with short memories here is a refresher link:

We will demolish the Abu Ghraib prison

About a year later, on June 28th 2005 that bravado is not only unfulfilled, we have been adding people to Abu Ghraib in excess of its capacity:

Past the normal capacity for both Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca

Our President is all hat and no cattle.

What to do about Iraq

Some conservatives have the perplexing position that being correct about the war in Iraq makes Democrats weak on national defense. First, we were dismissed as unpatriotic, or perhaps not properly "supportive" of a President who prematurely declared our mission there accomplished (which frankly still seems absurd).

Then, once we were exposed as correct by the facts on the ground, conservatives adopted the new charge that the mess was somehow our fault, by reason of improper support of a President who mismanaged nearly every aspect of the war.

My conservative friends, isn't it time you started to listen to the helps that come from reason? The solution to the war in Iraq can be paraphrased like so, "Change the friggin' course!"

The unabridged version of the solution was articulated by Senator Joseph Biden, who strikes Marshall Whitman as rather like Truman:

Intelligent Foreign Policy

I just couldn't resist a post on this subject. It's too important a speech to ignore.

Click here to order your own 

No mas

I think I'm going to be hanging up my blogging spurs. I got started on a whim, simply intending to find out what the heck a blog was, and became hooked.

I had found that my pent-up political anger was spilling into my conversations with friends and family and blogging gave me an outlet for my rants. I consider it to have been quite healthy for my psyche as well as beneficial for my social life to unburden myself of missiles like the Abu Gharaib scandal, the swift boat veterans for dishonoring the service of war heroes, Patriot Acts I and II, the plundered treasury, the trade imbalances, the cost and toll of the Iraq war, the arrogance of Rumsfeld, the uncritical press, Blair's brown-nosing, and the growing culture of fascism in America.

I have tried to talk about the world around me from my own perspective in the service of telling my truth steadily and broadly. On occasion I wrote odd short poems hyperlinked to the stories that inspired them, which I expect is a medium unique to the internet.

Mostly I liked to use my blog like an index for stories that I found interesting or important and attached to these stories an expression of their meaning to me. Perhaps I should now provide a bushel of links to sites I have enjoyed:


All hat no cattle

Truth Out

Joshua Micah Marshall

Debkafile

BBC

Asia Times Online

Bull Moose Blog

Daily Kos

David Hackworth

Common Dreams

Michael Moore

Dennis Kucinich

Juan Cole

Noam Chomsky

Slate Cartoon Index

The Onion

Thanks for the company and I hope it was time well spent.

Adieu.

Spring's new product

Here is a terrific article on the difficulty of selling WWIV.

Step right up

It seems to me that war is always an easy sell because it appeals to the basest nature of us all, so I can't say I agree with the main premise of the article. Sex sells for a reason and that reason is powerful enough to make a preacher put his bible down (as Muddy Waters would sing).

Yet war seems to trump sex as a marketing tool, because even an unjust war poorly planned has many Americans proud enough to adorn their vehicles with patriotic magnets and flags, and spirited enough to shout along with Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Mike Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and their ilk.

So, call me skeptical, but the article makes for good reading just the same.

Gloria Olivae

The world has a new pope going by the nomme du pontiff of Benedict XVI.

Urbi at Orbi


Will he be the second-to-the-last pope?

Prophecy of St Malachy

Dreams deferred

Here is a story:

Turmoil in Iraq

And a companion quote to reflect upon:

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty and democracy?"


- Mohandas Gandhi -

Happy Patriots Day

Ray McGovern has been writing a lot lately and I find that both troubling and hopeful at the same time. It is troubling because the last time he wrote prolifically was before the Iraq war. It is hopeful because he seems as committed as ever to honest CIA analysis.

In this article you can get his take on what is and isn't broken in our intelligence services.

Exposing Incompetent Incumbents

NY Times on DeLay

If you're going to stone someone they say it takes good aim and a lot of rocks.

On Sunday April 17th the New York Times wrote an Editorial that calls Mr. Delay to task for his numerous ethical lapses.

Within are words such as "alarming" and "abuse" and "disastrous" and "neglect".


Power for Power's Sake


These are uncharacteristically strong words from our paper of record. Let us all hope they resonate with the moral champions that elected President Bush and the company he keeps.

Bud wiser

Our survival is not independent of the survival of our food supply. Because of this I admit to being conservative when it comes to introducing GM-based products to market. In fact I would rather pay more for organic produce than trust to market forces as a mother.

I feel that folks bringing GM products to market have been playing fast and loose with human survival. After all, natural selection is a process that has been field tested for millions of years and there may be unapparent reasons for a plant's traits.

I would also say that the early fruits of the GM fields are products like tomatoes that ship well and cannot compete with their packaging for flavor. In other instances, the natural cycle of life is replaced with industrial gardening techniques that poison the land and erode the soil.

A new practice, bio-pharming (I ignore the 'P'), incorporates pharmaceuticals into plants. While this could help reduce medicinal manufacturing costs, there is a chance that such openly-pollinated plant pills will cross pollinate with wild neighboring plants. Imagine if a trip to the super-market for a loaf of bread could introduce one to a game of medicinal roulette. Perhaps the lucky will ingest Viagra. Perhaps the unlucky will ingest estrogen.

Should we treat these risks lightly?

Will limits be placed on the types of drugs manufactured in this way (i.e. should the side-effects be a determining factor)?

Could the new plants introduce dangerous food allergies into previously safe foods?

Is it safe to take medicine in amounts impossible to control (what's the dosage in a slice of toast or a bowl of cereal)?

And finally should producers like Budweiser, who are the nations largest buyer of rice, worry about the risk of infecting their beer with pharmaceutical cocktails?

Apparently that is a thought that has occurred to them and Anheuser-Busch is believed to be the first major company to threaten a boycott over the issue:

Beer Giant Says it Won't Buy Rice from States That Grow GM Crops

I would like to say in closing that while I feel there is great promise in GM foods, greater still is the responsibility inherent in their production. Consequently I don't feel comfortable supporting GM foods until the danger of cross-pollination is removed, and until there are laws isolating the GM food production chain, and until there are governmental oversight panels similar to the FDA dedicated to protecting us from honest mistakes and dishonest suppliers.

I also say, "Good for you Anheuser-Busch for erring on the side of my health."

April 15th

Our national spending priorities add endurance to Martin Luther King's charge that we are a world of guided missiles and misguided men.

This website makes it easy to take a look at where the US Congress spends the tax dollars it raises, and how it affects your state.

Where Do Your Taxes Go?

What lesson is there in the fact that we spend 49 cents of every tax dollar on the military, while spending 9 cents of every tax dollar on nutrition, housing and education combined?


A stream of consciousness begins...

Minds dull when bombs shine and hope shines when bombs dull.

A shrine shrinks on bombs hope and a child's blood spends like bullets.

Peace and love bore men to apples, but warriors dream of gardens.

Make love and war and have a bang.

Funerals are like morning-after pills for war (sounds deep but seems to imply nothing).

It takes a child to raze a village but a hero for a parade.

Don't blame me I voted for the other war enthusiast.

God asked me to tell you to jump off a bridge.

A stream of consciousness sputters and ends, far off course...

Department of Peace

Congressman Dennis Kucinich would like to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace as a counter-balance to the Department of Defense.

After watching my first episode of Nanny 911 I think that creating a culture of peace is a good idea for America. We war too easily and love too timidly and it shows in our families, in our churches, in our communities, and in our foreign policy.

Why don't we set a place at the table for one that calls on us to hope and to love and to be compassionate?

Viva D.O.P.

For Hermes or McClellan

I am reading Orpheus with his Lute - Stories of the World's Spring Time by W.M.L. Hutchinson at the moment. It is very enjoyable to read "the oldest fairy tales in the world" and I find them remarkably well told, but I'm a bit concerned that I hold the Bush administration in too low a regard, for when I read these words of Prometheus I thought it would be cheerfully fitting to hear Helen Thomas directing them at the Whitehouse press secretary:

"Insolent hireling! Well dost thou ape the pompous bluster of thine upstart lord, as is ever the wont of thy kind. Go, tell the new-made tyrant that I set him at defiance; no outrage shall wring from my lips the word that would save him."

How many people read one of the greatest works of literature only to fill the inkwell of their poison pen?

Perhaps I should hold my breath and count to ten?

This seems like a good time to quote Michael McCourt by way of President Clinton, although I am convinced peals of laughter would overtake such wise counsel if Helen Thomas engaged Prometheus' words.

"Harboring anger is like taking poison and waiting for the other guy to die."
- Michael McCourt -

Headlights get in your eyes

Here is an excerpt from an interview conducted with President George W. Bush while he was in Rome for the Pope's funeral.

Q: Just to follow up on that, Mr. President, a couple questions about the Pope. One, I noticed at one point you had your glasses on and you were following along -- I'm not sure if you were looking at the homily at that point or maybe, did you have one of those guides that --

THE PRESIDENT: I did. It's hard to follow -- my Spanish is not very good -- (laughter) -- nevertheless, it is decent enough to pick up sounds that then can help me follow the Italian.

Q: Had you ever been to a Latin mass before; I imagine you've been to an English mass?

THE PRESIDENT: No, never been to a Latin mass.

Source: Whitehouse Website

Daniel Ellsberg on the Bush Administration

Here is an interesting interview with Daniel Ellsberg on the Bush administration. A couple of the things he said leapt out at me:

1. Everything done by Nixon to keep him from exposing the "Pentagon Papers" is now perfectly legal under the Patriot Act.

2. Daniel said that he would like to see President Bush directly asked 'Do you, Mr. President, believe that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would postpone the return of the Messiah?'

He thinks the President would "find it hard to say that he doesn't believe that, because he's supposed to witness for what he believes in his religious faith and he'd lose a lot of support if he denied that."

Ye doth protest too little

I don't know about you, but I sure would like to see a reporter ask President Bush Daniel's question live. As an American I feel more entitled to his response than to Michael Jackson's extra-musical activities, the contents of the Presidential Ipod, or Jenna Bush's dance routines.

The Moose rolls

Marshall Whitman is on a roll lately at Bull Moose blog. He is a disaffected conservative whose acid wit burns down Republican rhetoric to the ground. He has seen his party cast off the ideals of Newt's revolution for lure of a dollar bill and the thrill of power.

He says that the true religious calling of Bush-like Republicans is to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. Here is a rollicking story about a new "holy day" on the Republican calendar:

April 13th

Bigger government, debt, and IRS

What kind of pride do Conservatives have now-a-days that their candidate, unencumbered by Senate/House Democrats would:

1. Increase the size of Federal government bureaucracy
2. Increase government's powers to snoop in your life
3. Increase the size of the IRS.
4. Increase deficit spending.

A tree falls

I have highlighted many voices protesting the war in Iraq, and have tried to include Republican voices above all because I want to challenge the assumption that to oppose an unjust war makes one a "looney liberal".

Here I would like to draw your attention to the words of Representative Ron Paul, a Republican from the Lone Star state (Texas). When asked if Iraqis are better off with Saddam gone he makes the case (to paraphrase) that the answer is "Well, no, particularly not Iraqi Christians". He also asks a much more important question, I think, which is this "Are we better off with a foreign policy that promotes regime change while justifying war with false information?"

I think Ron Paul feels government ought to be accountable to the people and especially when spending their money or embroiling the nation in war. In any case he is like another proverbial tree falling unheard in the Republican wood:

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Reversing enlightenment

Perhaps it is time that scientists start showing up in churches demanding that evolution be fairly taught on Sundays, or that other flood stories be discussed for their archeological significance. Perhaps scientists should band together and denounce Jesus as "a theory with holes in it". Perhaps scientists should "infect" religious schools with objective truth and peer reviews.

Bible science

Or, perhaps religion should be taught in religious settings and those that prefer biblical biology ought to seek out vestments rather than lab coats.

I thought we ascended from the dark ages.

Click picture for titanic untruths 

Pay no attention to the war

If happy talk made for happy wars we'd all find delight in Baghdad on a daily basis. However, in spite of heaps, mounds, and monuments of happy-talk the war in Iraq continues to worsen:

Iraq general kidnapped in Baghdad

The popular commitment to willful ignorance in the face of disheartening news is quite impressive. I wonder how long it can last.

A look at Falluja

I have a friend that likes to say, "You always get the government you deserve." His meaning, I take it, is that a government will only answer to the people when it has to, and that when the people don't demand justice a government won't offer it.

I think a lot about that statement when I hear the stories coming out of Iraq, and specifically out of places like Falluja. What kind of government will repay our collective indifference to the heavy-handed operations taking place in Iraqi cities such as Falluja?

To hell and back

At least half of the casualties of war are usually children. Do you ever think of them as collateral damage instead?

The Pope, upon whose vestments Republicans now cling like barnacles, condemned the invasion of Iraq as unjust. Do you ever think of our efforts there as "defending freedom" instead?

Most of the fighters in Iraq are actually Iraqis trying to repel a foreign army (us). Do you think of them as "insurgents" instead?

What kind of government do you deserve?

June 2005

Before the Iraq invasion several voices rang out loud, and with hindsight, true. Two such voices were those of Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern.

They are now both warning that Iran is going to be struck by either the US or Israel, or by a joint attack, with Scott Ritter setting the moment to June of 2005.

Scott Ritter on Iran

Ray McGovern on Iran

Some people look forward to birdsong and gardens.
Others, it seems, upset our peaceful summer dreams.

Neutering Social Security

Since 1937 conservatives have been predicting the early demise of Social Security. It galls them, apparently, that a government program should work, or that Americans should be engaged in the welfare of their neighbor, or perhaps they view grandma as a burden to society.

Whatever their reason, though, they are stubborn I'll give them that. Stubborn and cold.

In 1983 the Cato Institute developed a five-point plan to kill Social Security and it went like so:

1. Maintain constant criticism of Social Security to influence the media and to undermine public confidence in the soundness of the program;

2. Build a network of influential supporters of private accounts, including Wall Street brokers who would profit from them;

3. Divide and conquer the opposition by assuring retirees and those nearing retirement that their benefits would be fully paid;

4. Enact laws creating 401(k)s and other private accounts so people learn to accept them; and

5. Have a privatization plan waiting in the wings when a president came along who was willing to claim that Social Security's trust fund faces a shortfall.



Sound familiar?

This entertaining article talks about the legacy of conservatives with regard to "saving" Social Security:

Neutering Social Security

National Sales Tax

Is a national sales tax a good idea?

Not if you want to buy a car, or a house, or a computer.

Not if you are elderly and would be doubly-taxed by a lifetime of income taxes, then a retirement of goods taxes.

Kevin Drum, in this article, counts many more ways in which a national sales tax would be a bane to everyone but the wealthy:

George Will is in love

Mugabe

The middle-east gets lots of attention for their styles of governance, dubbed as "evil" in some circles, yet it is hard to fathom how any place could be more cruelly managed than Zimbabwe. Here are two analysises of Robert Mugabe and the effects of his "rule":

Climate of the vote

Early vote results

As scornful as the Bush administration is of the press, it has not bombed American press outlets on American soil.

As hostile as the Bush administration is to the poor, it has not generated 70% unemployment.

As cruel as the Bush administration is to POWs, it has not tortured democrats (though they have been forcibly evicted from his "town hall meetings").

As singularly contemptuous of compromise as the Bush administration is, Ted Kennedy remains alive and well.

This is perhaps evidence that we could do worse than President Bush, while at the same time a reminder of why we should care about the consolidation of Presidential power.

Water on Mars!

Scientists have announced the discovery of water on Mars. As I look up at the sky tonight and cast my gaze towards the red planet it will be with a renewed sense of awe for the achievements of man:

Story here

The Pope's failing health

All men must die and the best case scenario is to delay that inescapable fate a little bit. The worst case scenario, in my opinion, is to prolong the end in a state of suffering. As the Pope's health seems to be failing I find myself wondering, "What if he slips into a coma without flat-lining his EKG graph, and the consensus medical opinion is that he has no chance of growing younger?".

I also wonder, "What if technology can maintain his state of ill-health indefinitely, keeping him alive as some sort of living mummy?".

Should he be maintained with electrified heartbeats, feeding tubes, and breathing apparatus? If so, would he still be the Pope, since that job is held "for life"?

People close to the pope describe his state as "suffering" and also say he has "great difficulty breathing". Does this mean that Jesse Jackson and Jeb Bush ought to alight to Rome with their placards and showmanship and demand he be kept alive, and also personally attack any Cardinal that says different?

Keep Pope alive!

Obviously I think that the Schiavo case in the soap-opera state of Florida was old-fashioned political grand-standing, but I could be proven wrong by a principled commitment to life expressed Popeward. After all, the Pontiff himself could be allowed to "cross over to the other side peacefully" when there is yet a chance to maintain the bloodflow in his tissue and the motion in his lungs.

Darfur Day

I have grown fond of the Bull Moose blog, which I describe as a blog with good centrist commentary and a lean to the right on social issues. While I sometimes disagree with the blog's perspective I am magnanimous enough to appreciate a variety of viewpoints, especially when delivered without moral certitude.

In this post Mr. Moose (Marshall Whitman) challenges bloggers to assert their relevance and end the genocide in Darfur, or at least draw attention to the ongoing slaughter there:

Bull Moose

Genocide is defined as "the systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group".

Why do you suppose that Americans are significantly more engaged in the Schiavo case than in the slaughter of Darfur?

On a related note, I am told the movie Hotel Rwanda properly focuses the vigor of the spirit on the dirty business in Darfur.

Atheists fight back

I don't have faith in God, nor do I believe in God, but I guess you could say that I hope there is a God. This is because if man is all there is, then our history might soon be appended with "The End" with no possibility of appeal.

I do believe in the notion of a spirit, though, chiefly because of this. Consider the body of a man one second before death and one second after death. Assume if you like that they were injected with drugs that stopped their heart without damaging anything. Between the time of life and death the body goes from being alive to being meat. As far as I can make out, the chief difference between the two states is that a type of energy has petered out, and this is perhaps the soul.

Is the soul immortal?

The first law of thermodynamics states that "energy is conserved in all thermodynamic processes." Another way to express that is "energy can neither be created nor destroyed", and from the second law we find that "energy can be converted from one kind to another".

So, it seems there is some rational basis to conclude that this little light of mine is going to continue to shine on if my sense of self is linked to this energy. I am not willing to definitively answer that question by the only method known to me, but it is something to ponder for my duration.

When it comes to religion, though, I am ambivalent about them (except when they are working to restrict my freedom). On the one hand, religion seems to comfort people frightened by the prospect of worms playing pinochle on their snout, or they offer a social community (which is important and healthy), or they can simply be a place to hear choirs sing.

On the other hand they can be a dangerous tool when wielded as fuel for violence, since members are infrequently affected by the helps that come from reason once inflamed.

David Morris sounds to me like he has had enough of the bad side of religion, and writes about it here:

The End of Reason

Accountability

When the General Accountability Office said that it wasn't legal for the Bush administration to feed TV stations pre-packaged news stories that do not disclose the government's hand in producing them, the man that was supposed to restore accountability to Washington "rejected the ruling".

Not as I do

Shouldn't it be illegal to lie to the American people with textbook propaganda?

Why would any reputable newscaster broadcast such flim-flam? Wouldn't doing so suggest a healthy lack of respect for the audience and for any sense of duty to democracy? Is this a case of groveling for scraps of political favor?

I used to enjoy making fun of Communist newscasts, or of people like Baghdad Bob, but the fuel for the derision, my feelings of news-source superiority, seem to be approaching empty. It is also getting harder and harder to find a reputable filling station too.

What do you think?

In a time of universal deceit a little satire can be highly refreshing. Here, the Onion, conducts one of it's trademark opinion polls and asks the question:

"In a major political victory for President Bush, the Senate recently voted to open the Alaskan Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. What do you think?"

Answers here

Enjoy

Beastly behavior

I am ashamed of the cowardice that manifested itself as the murder of POWs in our care, no matter how tempting it may have been to "pulpify" a prisoner's appendages:

POW abuse

Where are the angry "culture of life" hordes when the life in question is not fetal nor vegetative nor American?

What generates the collective indifference necessary to ignore these abuses?

What has happened to America's conscience?

Don't morals apply to us?

ADDENDUM: UK Lawmakers Accuse U.S. of Grave Rights Violations

Union Jack

British citizens have been staunchly opposed to the Iraq war from the start, and so protesting in vast waves of people, and ceaselessly hounding Tony Blair for his support of the war.

While Tony Blair might fancy himself to be bravely and wisely choking the threat of terrorism in the cradle, he seems (at least from afar) to be regarded as a brown-nosed admirer of the US Presidential derriere and ridiculed with the moniker of "poodle". It is hard to imagine anyone labeling Winston Churchill as such.

There is now news that the UKs Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, changed his mind about the legality of the Iraq war (presumably under pressure from Tony Blair). This is sure to be another headache in a long line of headaches for the Prime minister.

Poodle Blues

Will the UK be the next member of the coalition of the not-so-willing, following in the footsteps of Spain, and Poland, and the Ukraine, and Italy? Will any of Tony Blair's political opponents pledge to withdraw troops in exchange for votes? How long can the silver-tongued Prime minister sustain the war against the public mood?

The sense of British loyalty to the US is an admirable quality to have and a virtue to be admired, yet there comes a time when loyalty becomes an addiction. I don't know if we're at that point yet, but there is certainly another straw on the camel's back in this revelation isn't there?

Bull Moose

It seems that idealistic Conservatives under Bush are treated in the same manner as idealistic Liberals under Clinton, which is to say they were marginalized in favor of the interests of professional pan-handlers (also known as "Washington lobbyists").

The name Marshall Whitman is no doubt familiar with my esteemed Conservative readership, since he was a driving force alongside Newt Gingrich and the accompanying Conservative resurgence.

My esteemed Conservative readership might be interested to know that Marshall now spends a lot of his time railing against the unabashed corruption of Mr. Tom DeLay and yesterday's moral champions:

Sleazo-Cons

A society organized around money will undoubtedly be corrupted by money, since political power draws strength from inequity, and money assures that inequity will flourish. If you think about it, it is really surprising that society exists at all when money rewards selfishness, violence, and greed above all other virtues.

Perhaps this is a testament to the high moral standards of past politicians?

I have to say that it alarms me to see how quickly the knights in shining armor (the righteous right) have indentured themselves to the dragons. I never even witnessed an attempt to don the armor of principles.

Here also is an article by none other than David Brooks, who apparently feels there is more Conservative than Conscience in the machinations of Delay, Reed, and Norquist:

Tisk, Tisk, Tisk

It is nice to see some intellectual honesty coming from conservatives these days. Ends do not justify means when goals are trampled.

1,500,000 words

Here is a 3D look at the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibit at Arlington National Cemetary, which commemorates the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan:

War's fruits

Here is a story telling you more about the exhibit:

The War Dead

I wonder if there will be such an exhibit next year. If so I hope they add a hall of lies which you must pass through first since that could be instructive. Imagine seeing huge videos of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney and Condi Rice and President Bush in full danger-and-kill modes, warning of WMDs and mushroom clouds and fleets of bio-terror planes and so on as a precursor to seeing the faces of those paying the price for those lies.

Confidence

"Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table. Whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red."



- President G. W. Bush, Tampa, Florida, Feb. 4, 2005 -

Is nothing sacred?

Extraordinary rendition is a freedom-loving process that involves outsourcing an uncooperative detainee's torture to someplace full of liberty like Saudi Arabia, where they are reputed to have an excellent staff of practitioners of torture to recommend them.

What you may not have heard is that for some reason the CIA made use of a jet of a minority partner of the Boston Red Sox, one Mr. Philip Morse, to transport their human cargo for treatment.

Story here

Confirmation here

I grew up hating the New York Yankees and we have come to refer to that organization as the "evil empire" in recent years, yet as far as I know not even George Steinbrenner is involved in a racket to profit from torture.

We live in a strange world when stories like this appear.

The final frontier?

One of my favorite things about perusing the internet is that I sometimes feel like Captain Kirk exploring alien worlds, but my ship is named Intel-inside and not Enterprise. While I can't claim to be boldly going where no man has gone before, it's a good bet that I am often lightly preceded.


Has the US government taken steps to legislate peace and restructure the banking system while cloaking the whole process in secrecy?

National Economic Security And Reformation Act

Are extra terrestrials drawing crop circles within the confines of our Canadian neighbors to the north?:

CCCRN

Did thousands of Americans all across the country protest the war in Iraq, stop traffic in Chicago by laying down in the streets, and hold numerous marches and rallies that promoted peaceful coexistence?

War resistors allegedly exist

Can you visit the Grays of Mars using only the power of your mind?

Cosmic Voyage PDF

The truth, as they say, is out there.

Guns don't kill people?

Gun control is a contentious issue and the best counter-argument for arming citizens has reared its ugly head again, this time on a Chippewa reservation in Minnesota.

A young man, 17 years old, shot nine people before turning the gun on himself. He shot his grandparents, 6 people at school, then himself.

Ten killed in school shooting

Guns are great for hunting, but I'm not sure I like handguns and/or assault weapons all that much, particularly this morning.

Spring

I shall find you with a song
when the warm winds return
and build you a treehouse
where we can watch the stars burn.

And we'll sing for want of nothing
and watch our children grow
from our Kiva in the treetops
when the summer winds blow.

U.M.

Big Government at it's worst

Terri Schiavo has been severely brain-damaged, to the point where she has been in a vegetative state since 1990. Her husband, understandably in my view, would like to remove her feeding tube and allow his wife Terri to find her rest.

The question this case poses is can death be compassionate? In my view the answer is yes, since in some cases prolonging life is equivalent to prologning suffering. In fact I would like to say that if I am in a vegetative state please unplug me, since I can think of no prison worse. Don't be hasty about it, mind you, but if the medical consensus is that I won't recover play "There is a balm in Gilead" by the Fisk Jubilee singers, place flowers beneath my nose, and wave goodbye.

I strongly feel that a decision such as this ought to be Mike's alone and is hard enough to make without the Federal government getting involved in the case. As it is the feeding tube has been removed twice only to be reinserted later on. I think it is a case of big government over-stepping it's role and interfering with the intimate moral decisions of a family.

Imagine what it must be like to come to the conclusion that death is in the best interests of someone you love. How can anyone meddle in that awesome duty that a husband and wife must sometimes bear?

Difficult decision

ADDENDUM: Click here for a good example of Presidential hypocrisy on this issue.

Watch it Friday

You may recall that I blogged about a book called "God's Politics", which was an alternate theological viewpoint regarding Christ's teachings as they relate to politics in America.

The author of that book, Jim Wallis, appeared on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" and received vigorous applause for saying things like, "I'm pretty sure Jesus' first priorities wouldn't have been a capital gains tax-break and making war on Iraq".

I, myself, haven't made up my mind as to what I believe regarding a creator. However, I can say with confidence that I am more closely aligned to Jim's point of view than the one which says we must make a desert and call it peace.

Here is a link to the segment.

Watch it

Liberty and justice for oil?

Investigative reporter Greg Palast was involved in a joint BBC Newsnight and Harper's Magazine story which posits that there were two separate plans to sequester Iraq's oil well before the invasion of Iraq. There was a big oil plan and a neo-conservative plan and the story alleges that the neo-con plan won out.

If this is true, of course, it means the protestors that were shouting "No blood for oil" hit the nail on the head.

Here is the story:

Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq's Oil

You can watch an online broadcast of the story between March 17 at 7pm and March 18th at 7pm here:

Watch it

Temptation

Whenever anyone comes out strongly opposed to a book I usually, of course, respond by going out and buying a copy of the book to see what all the fuss is about. It's not so much that I have a strong desire to rebel, but rather I find censorship cowardly and authoritarian and I also find my curiosity raised by being told "No!"

My curiosity has been recently aroused by some rather harsh words from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone about the book the Da Vinci Code.

Details here

Here is a link to purchase a copy of the book for yourself if you are similarly inclined:

Da Vinci Illustrated

I suppose the Cardinal realizes that men never have resisted the temptation of forbidden fruit and that we never will?

Holocaust

I never have to doubt the Holocaust because my grandfather fought in World War Two.

My grandfather was a family man by nature and therefore opposed to the reckless killing that goes along naturally with war. He preferred to stay home and work and raise a family than to spend his time fighting a foreign enemy on foreign soil.

But WWII was a paradox for my grandfather. He was drafted by his new country and went to fight from a sense of duty, even though it meant leaving his pregnant wife behind (he would not see my mother until she was 4).

My grandfather was humble and didn't like to talk much about the war. In fact, when he talked with us kids about it he usually focused on the comic times, like the time his unit came across a wine cellar thanks to the keen sense of smell of one of the men (nicknamed "Honk"), or the time he had to steal a horse and it was so old it farted up every hill (as a child I underestimated the danger of a slow getaway and overestimated the comedy of a flatulent horse).

I remember one time I asked him if World War II was worth it. He paused as powerful emotions swept through him, wiped at a tear, and then told me that he once saw a death camp, and that it was depressing to find out people could be so cruel to each other. He said he saw people so scrawny he didn't know how they could stand up, many of them were bleeding from their bottoms, and their faces were "like zombies". He paused to let the picture sink in, then he simply said, "Yes, it was worth it, but I didn't know it up until that moment."

Many of the people who remember WWII have passed away, my grandfather included, and so the designers of a new Holocaust Museum felt a sense of urgency to complete their monument lest future generations forget:

A new memorial

A monument such as this must be powerful and beautiful and horrible all rolled into one, at least if it accurately reflects the human race.

Coalition of the dwindling

Italy will begin withdrawing it's 3,000 troops from Iraq by September, obviously in response to US soldiers shooting a recently freed Italian hostage and high-level intelligence asset.

Support fading


Maybe now the US Congress will begin to pressure the Bush administration for an exit strategy. After two years don't we deserve to know what set of circumstances will lead to our withdrawal? Didn't President Bush himself say that "victory is exit strategy?"

We waited out WMD claims.
We waited out Saddam's capture.
We waited out a transfer of sovereignty.
We waited out an Iraqi election.

What, exactly, are we waiting for now?

Honest Abe

"As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 - (letter to Col. William F. Elkins

Leviticus and aliens

I have heard the Bible described as a book which should not be taken literally, but which is always true. As I was reading through Leviticus I came across this commandment of God to Moses and was struck by it's relevance to our times:

When an alien resides with you in your land,
you shall not oppress the alien.

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as a citizen among you;
you shall love the alien as yourself,
for you were aliens in the land of Egypt:
I am the Lord your God.


Leviticus 33-37

In the aftermath of 9/11, perhaps the temptation to hunt immigrants can seem justified, but I think that is fear talking.

Dollar continues sliding

The Japanese Prime Minister said that diversity in foreign exchange reserves was a good thing, which raised concerns about central bank reserve diversification.

What that means in English is that the dollar is not going to stop losing value anytime soon as investors continue to regard the US dollar as a risky investment (thanks to the tax cuts of George W. Bush).

Story here


To this news we can also add news of rising claims of joblessness and growing inventories.

Story here

And also there is that pesky trade imbalance which has grown yet again:

Trade off

And finally, it is worth considering that Republicans are literally selling us to Communist China every time they add to our debt levels:

Pay the man

But, don't worry, President Bush is gonna sing you a lullaby.

That's hypocritical

At a time when Republicans in Washington have racked up more debt than any other Congress in US history through a combination of reckless spending and ideological tax-cutting, they have the temerity to make it harder for Americans on poverty row to declare bankruptcy.

I was raised that you lead by example and the example these balance-sheet bunglers set is fiscal mismanagement without accountability.

Let them eat cake

Is Washington full of nothing but hypocritical hucksters and used car salesmen in expensive suits?

If what is good for the goose were good for the gander the Whitehouse would be repossessed and it's occupants held responsible for their debts.

I believe that a person ought to pay their bills, but sometimes there's a damn good reason to declare bankruptcy, usually that reason is a medical emergency. If these carrion-feeders were as compassionate as advertised they'd do something about our healthcare system so that people wouldn't have to declare bankruptcy in the firstplace. Instead they act to make a bad situation worse and congratulate themselves with smiles all around.

How can so many people be so outright heartless?

If Canada can do it, why can't we?

Hopelessly devoted

"When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some."


- Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun -

Here in the Homeland, or "America" as I still like to call it, there is a trend to blur the lines between Church and State, between patriotism and piety, and between obedience to God and obedience to Washington. For example, this article describes a scheme whereby a group of evangelical Christians infiltrates a prison and proselytize to the incarcerated (with government dollars):

Beyond the God Pod

Does anybody else find it ironic that most of our enemies in the "War on Terror" blur the lines between Church and State?

Could it be that religious control is necessary in a state that wants to spread terror so that it can portray violence as a divine calling?

Didn't our founding fathers recognize this fraudulent use of religion and explicitly guard against it by erecting Church/State walls of separation?

Shouldn't we be wary of our own tendencies to pitch down that slippery slope?

Is it wise to seek spiritual sustenance from Washington, or to make your church beholden to Federal dollars?

Wouldn't devotion to a separation between church and state be the surest way to keep political Islam out?

The Religious Center?

Not every reader of the "good book" believes in cheerleading for war, in moral superiority, or in stuffing their boot in the face of the poor.

Here is an article written by Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine, on the religious center and the rising voice of progressive religion:

What Jesus Wouldn't Do

How we look abroad II

Here is an article that wonders how President Bush could choose a unilateralist like John Bolton to represent them at the UN. The point is raised within that this seems to put the lie to President Bush's recent talks with European leaders which suggested a more diplomatic approach.

A view of Mr. Bolton

How we look abroad

You might be interested to know that some of the most glaring examples of Bush administration deceit, for instance Gannongate, are actually covered abroad. It is a pity that as an American citizen I should have to rely on foreign correspondents to raise questions about the US government, but once again the internets giveth what domestic cowardice taketh away:

A hireling, a fraud, and a prostitute

I am confident that a story this juicy would not have been as ignored as a sparrow-fart in a hurricane had Clinton been guilty of this behavior (a blue dress comes to mind). It makes me wonder if the Religious Right is guilty of practicing the "moral relativism" they profess to abhor.

The curse of oil

Here is a story with an easy ending to predict:

There are three bands of indigenous tribal people living in a pristine virgin rainforest in Ecuador. They are the Achuar, the Shuar, and the Kichwa peoples. The land is their ancestral home and has been legally designated as such.

Much of this land, it turns out, is believed to sit on huge untapped reserves of oil and gas.

The story

If tribes of oilmen can become rich by killing tribes of indians what do you suppose will happen?

That didn't take long

On February 24th the Holy See, the Pontiff, and the Pope came out and blasted gay marriage as the new ideology of evil.

This week three homophobes went out gay bashing.

Aggravated battery

Was the intolerance of the Pope a contributing factor in this hate crime?

Would the Pope condone three attackers kicking a man in the head in order to combat the new ideology of evil?

Oooops

Italian journalist Ms. Giuliana Sgrena had been kidnapped in Iraq by a group called the Islamic Jihad Organisation.

However, Italy managed to negotiate her release from the captors.

However, as she was being driven to the airport, and accompanied by Nicola Calipari described as one of Italy's top security agents, her vehicle was fired upon by American soldiers.

Ms. Sgrena was wounded.

Nicola was killed protecting her.

Coalition chilling

Understandably Silvio Berlusconi was outraged at the event and demanded an explanation from President Bush. He has it hard enough as it is remaining part of the "coalition of the willing" against the wishes of a democratic populace, without the added insult of losing intelligence assests and injuring a woman championed as a hero at home.

President Bush has promised a full investigation into the matter, which will probably entail placing blame solely on the backs of the troops on the ground (his modus operandi thus far).

Some people are already racing to characterize the whole thing as a hoax (She faked it). One need only note that Mr. Berlusconi met Ms. Sgrena at the airport to disabuse themselves of that fantasy (i.e. he's not going to use his time legitimizing hoaxes which undermine his position).

I am amazed that cheerleaders of the apocalypse aren't out in full force showing Silvio a little team spirit. Perhaps they are incapable of feeling his pain?

Hollywood

Today I find myself wondering why Conservatives are always railing against Hollywood. If you ask me, Hollywood has done more to promote democracy abroad than any war ever has.

Do Conservatives think our culture spreads on the merit of our political leaders?

Do Conservatives think that Hollywood played no role in brining down the iron curtain?

Who else but Hollywood could reach the masses under Communism's jack boot and stir thoughts of liberty? Who else could show them that, by comparison, their lives were unfulfilling?

Is there any more popular Republican politician than Arnold the Barbarian?

What gave Ronald Reagan his mass appeal but Hollywood's long reach?

Yet, to listen to Conservatives talk they'd rather capture a latte drinking Hollywood movie star than Osama bin Forgotten.

Why is that?

Why don't democrats ask someone like Tom Brokaw, Oprah Winfrey, or John Redford to run? Are they blind to the success rate of Sony Bono, Ronald Reagan, Arnold, and Jesse Ventura?

Americans love Hollywood movie stars. They love to watch them, talk about them, and vote for them, and when in Rome democrats ought to wear sandals.

As for the latte drinkers, I view any ingredient other than coffee in my coffee as pollution, yet I tolerate Conservatives across the aisle that put sugar and cream in their cup (how elitist!).

The lesson of Pinnochio

Alan Greenspan thought it would be sound fiscal policy to gut the treasury with President Bush's tax-cuts, which were aimed squarely at the well-off. In fact, he manipulatively warned of the danger of "paying down the deficit too fast". What a hoot it must have been to pass that one off on the trusting populace!

Now that our economy predictably suffers, though, Alan has the audacity to warn Congress to get the budget deficit under control! What Congress should do is tar and feather him and run him out on a rail (but of course they are in on the joke).

Ha ha grandma

Something tells me that people like Mr. Greenspan are forever thirsty in a land of water, forever hungry in a land of harvest, and forever lonely in the midst of love.

Has he immersed himself in the pursuit of wealth and failed to understand what riches are?

ADDENDUM: Thank you Paul Krugman. I can see I am not the only one whose hackles were raised by the shameless, partisan display from Mr. Greenspan:

Foreign dependence

1500 dead and counting

The US death total in Iraq just passed 1,500 lives and the wounded in action total just passed 11,200.

A bell tolls


The Defense Department says they know what they are doing, are having great success, and not to worry your pretty little head.

Call me skeptical.

Archeology

Until industrial feudalism is replaced by industrial democracy,
politics will remain the shadow cast by big business over society

- John Dewey -

Is Iran on the table?

Ray McGovern wrote a flurry of articles before the US invaded Iraq trying to point out the irrationality of the venture.

Ray McGovern's pen is in the midst of a new flurry of articles pointing out the irrationality of attacking Iran:

Ray on Iran

If nothing else, you should read about Mohammad Mossadeq and who we "regime-changed" him with. It wasn't exactly a success story.

Exodus

Since the world seems to be full of people competing to destroy mankind for the glory of God, I decided to begin reading religious works. Currently I am reading The New Oxford Annotated Bible (so I can know what a cubit is, or what it means to be redeemed by a sheep).

I have made it through Genesis and am now in Exodus. My early impression is that there aren't any good people in the Bible so far, simply obedient ones. Nearly every character, from Noah to Moses, seems driven to do what God tells them for fear of punishment or else motivated by greed (If I do X I obtain Y).

Another early impression I have is that people seem to pick and choose which words of God they wish to obey rather than obeying them all. Can you exercise a line-item veto of the Covenant?

For instance, when the Lord talks to Moses about altars He says:

You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. But if you make for me an altar of stone, do not build it of hewn stones; for if you use a chisel upon it you profane it. You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.

Exodus 20.24 - 20.26

Yet every Church I have been in has a raised altar made of hewn stone which is approached by steps. Are the Church leaders guilty of disobeying the words of the God of Moses?

What about:

"Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work..."

Exodus 20.8

By working on the Sabbath do you condemn your children to the third and fourth generation to the punishment of a jealous God? (Exodus 20.5)

By these two simple examples I suppose you see my point. Most of us, even the religious, ignore the words of God at our pleasure (if not these, then others). I do so because I doubt the veracity of the Bible and the people that relate it, but what about the cultural moralists among us? How can they, for instance, work on Saturday, worship at a hewn altar, and then point their fingers at Sponge Bob's transgressions? Don't their own actions dethrone their moral position?

I suppose the answer is that pious people prioritize the words of God and then do the best they can with what they have, which is human form. I suppose they are confident they have their priorities right with God before they go about using the Bible as a wedge and their pulpits for persecution.

I wish I knew which words of God to safely ignore. Maybe if I keep reading I'll figure it out. If I do I'll be sure and pass it on. Until then I shall ignore them all and do the best I can with what I have.

Double threat

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don't need an economist to interpret this financial message:

1. Personal income fell 2.3 percent in January.

2. Inflation was "sharper-than-expected" and will spark another interest rate hike.

Details


Of course you can add to this news the dollars continuing slide, a large trade deficit, an expanding budget deficit, and growing anti-American sentiment abroad.

It seems the President's plan to devalue our way to prosperity either needs more time to prove itself effective, or is the opposite of a sound fiscal policy.

Robert Baer comments on the terror war

Many intelligence agents and former agents of the US continue to be unimpressed by our conduct of the war on terror. Robert Baer is simply one of the latest to speak out:

Totally reactionary