Thursday, May 12, 2005
Quagmire Update
Death toll nears 400 as violence escalates in Iraq
"More than 70 people were killed in at least five attacks across Iraq yesterday in a dramatic surge in insurgent violence that has overshadowed the rise to power of Iraq's first elected government.
The wave of attacks, which brings the total number of Iraqis dead over the past two weeks to nearly 400, has shattered the sense of optimism created by the January 30 elections."
Explosion Effectively Finishes Off Squad
"In 96 hours of fighting and ambushes in far western Iraq, the squad had just ceased to be.
Every member of the unit -- one of three squads that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment -- had been killed or wounded, Marines here said. All told, the 1st Platoon, which Hurley commands, had sustained 60 percent casualties, demolishing it as a fighting force.
'They used to call it Lucky Lima,' said Maj. Steve Lawson, commander of the company. 'That turned around and bit us.'"
The fact that the Bush Admin and Rummy have relied on luck instead of stategic planning in the aftermath of initial attacks on Iraq has also turned around and bitten them. See the post below on the "smoking gun" British memo for evidence of why this war based on lies was not worth it.
"More than 70 people were killed in at least five attacks across Iraq yesterday in a dramatic surge in insurgent violence that has overshadowed the rise to power of Iraq's first elected government.
The wave of attacks, which brings the total number of Iraqis dead over the past two weeks to nearly 400, has shattered the sense of optimism created by the January 30 elections."
Explosion Effectively Finishes Off Squad
"In 96 hours of fighting and ambushes in far western Iraq, the squad had just ceased to be.
Every member of the unit -- one of three squads that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment -- had been killed or wounded, Marines here said. All told, the 1st Platoon, which Hurley commands, had sustained 60 percent casualties, demolishing it as a fighting force.
'They used to call it Lucky Lima,' said Maj. Steve Lawson, commander of the company. 'That turned around and bit us.'"
The fact that the Bush Admin and Rummy have relied on luck instead of stategic planning in the aftermath of initial attacks on Iraq has also turned around and bitten them. See the post below on the "smoking gun" British memo for evidence of why this war based on lies was not worth it.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Conservatism As Pathology
This article poses the question, "Are Bush supporters literally insane?"
Short answer: Yes.
How else do you explain, as noted by this author (and by Thomas Frank in his book What's the Matter with Kansas?), the working class individual's support for a party that caters to the rich while making life harder for the middle class? The answer is simple: Voting against your own economic interests must be a pychological disorder.
The article cites a study done on the psychology of conservatism, and it confirms what I've always felt about conservative ideology--that it plays to the worst traits in people, such as self-interest over community (only yellow dogs have that "pack" mentality), intolerance ("you're either with us or against us"), fear of the "other," or what this article calls "a defense of one's cultural worldview and therefore a resistance to outsiders and new ideas." (Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, anyone?)
I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how conservatives, especially those who aren't rich CEOs making out like bandits under Bush, can possibly support this administration, and this explanation--a plea of insanity--seems the most plausible so far.
Conservatism As Pathology - Are Bush supporters literally insane? By Timothy Noah
Short answer: Yes.
How else do you explain, as noted by this author (and by Thomas Frank in his book What's the Matter with Kansas?), the working class individual's support for a party that caters to the rich while making life harder for the middle class? The answer is simple: Voting against your own economic interests must be a pychological disorder.
The article cites a study done on the psychology of conservatism, and it confirms what I've always felt about conservative ideology--that it plays to the worst traits in people, such as self-interest over community (only yellow dogs have that "pack" mentality), intolerance ("you're either with us or against us"), fear of the "other," or what this article calls "a defense of one's cultural worldview and therefore a resistance to outsiders and new ideas." (Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, anyone?)
I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how conservatives, especially those who aren't rich CEOs making out like bandits under Bush, can possibly support this administration, and this explanation--a plea of insanity--seems the most plausible so far.
Conservatism As Pathology - Are Bush supporters literally insane? By Timothy Noah
Father Knows Best
Yes, it's a bit early for a father's day tribute, but I just loved the opening of this NYT editorial by Bob Herbert:
"When Bob Woodward asked President Bush if he had consulted with his father about the decision to go to war in Iraq, the president famously replied, 'There is a higher father that I appeal to.' It might have been better if Mr. Bush had stayed in closer touch with his earthly father. From the very beginning the war in Iraq has been an exercise in extreme madness, an absurd venture that would have been rich in comic possibilities except for the fact that many thousands of men, women and children have died, and tens of thousands have been crippled, burned or otherwise maimed."
With the recent resurgence of violence in Iraq, I think it's good to review the various lies and missteps that led us into this quagmire:
1) Lack of convincing evidence that there were WMD:
"The world now knows that the weapons of mass destruction were a convenient fiction. Less well known is that bumbling administration officials eagerly embraced the ravings of a foreign intelligence source known, believe it or not, as "Curveball." He helped promote the fantasy that Iraq had mobile laboratories for the manufacture of biological weapons.
The C.I.A. was warned that Curveball was as crazy as a Peter Sellers character, but the administration wanted this war in the way that a small child wants candy. Curveball's information was swallowed whole."
2) Failure to recognize that we needed more troops in Iraq:
"General Shinseki said it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to pacify Iraq. That was the end of his career."
3) Lack of preparation and adequate equipment:
"Bush & Co. sent far fewer troops into the war, and many of them were never properly trained or equipped. The results have been nightmarish. Roadside bombs have caused 70 percent of American casualties in Iraq. The military was not prepared for this tactic and has had a miserable record providing protective armor for Humvees and other vehicles carrying soldiers and marines.
So G.I.'s from the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the history of the world have been dying because their nation wouldn't give them up-to-date combat vehicles."
4) Complicity in Abu Ghraib torture scandal:
As for training and preparedness, the scandal at Abu Ghraib is instructive. The problems there went far beyond the photos of Lynndie England and others humiliating the Iraqis under their control. We learned last week that Janis Karpinski, the brigadier general whose reserve military police unit was in charge of the prison, had been arrested for shoplifting at a military base in Florida in 2002. The same army that's scouring Iraq for insurgents and terrorists was apparently unaware of the arrest record of the woman assigned to such a sensitive position at Abu Ghraib.
Abu Ghraib was not an aberration. It was a symptom. This is a war in which the people in charge have had no idea what they were doing. One of the recommendations of Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who investigated the scandal at Abu Ghraib, was that a team be sent to Iraq to teach some of the soldiers how to run prisons. How's that for an innovative step?
Conclusion:
"The United States is now stuck with a war it should never have started. The violence continues to rage out of control. The latest fantasy out of Washington is that somehow, miraculously, Iraqi troops will be able to take over and win the war that we couldn't.
The American public is becoming fed up and with good reason. Support for the war is declining and the reputation of the military is in jeopardy. The Army has been unable to meet its recruitment goals and the search for new soldiers is becoming desperate.
Last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, told Congress that the war in Iraq was taking a toll on the military and would make combat operations elsewhere in the world more difficult. That was hardly a comforting thought as the administration was ramping up its rhetoric about North Korea.
If President Bush had consulted with his father before launching this clownish, disastrous war, he might have gotten some advice that would have pointed him in a different direction and spared his country - and the families of the many thousands dead - a lot of grief."
Amen.
Now, shouldn't we be starting impeachment hearings? After all, when Clinton lied, no one died (See following post for reasons why the conservative corporate media ignores Bush's lies while jumping all over Clinton's scandal.)
Stranger Than Fiction - New York Times
"When Bob Woodward asked President Bush if he had consulted with his father about the decision to go to war in Iraq, the president famously replied, 'There is a higher father that I appeal to.' It might have been better if Mr. Bush had stayed in closer touch with his earthly father. From the very beginning the war in Iraq has been an exercise in extreme madness, an absurd venture that would have been rich in comic possibilities except for the fact that many thousands of men, women and children have died, and tens of thousands have been crippled, burned or otherwise maimed."
With the recent resurgence of violence in Iraq, I think it's good to review the various lies and missteps that led us into this quagmire:
1) Lack of convincing evidence that there were WMD:
"The world now knows that the weapons of mass destruction were a convenient fiction. Less well known is that bumbling administration officials eagerly embraced the ravings of a foreign intelligence source known, believe it or not, as "Curveball." He helped promote the fantasy that Iraq had mobile laboratories for the manufacture of biological weapons.
The C.I.A. was warned that Curveball was as crazy as a Peter Sellers character, but the administration wanted this war in the way that a small child wants candy. Curveball's information was swallowed whole."
2) Failure to recognize that we needed more troops in Iraq:
"General Shinseki said it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to pacify Iraq. That was the end of his career."
3) Lack of preparation and adequate equipment:
"Bush & Co. sent far fewer troops into the war, and many of them were never properly trained or equipped. The results have been nightmarish. Roadside bombs have caused 70 percent of American casualties in Iraq. The military was not prepared for this tactic and has had a miserable record providing protective armor for Humvees and other vehicles carrying soldiers and marines.
So G.I.'s from the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the history of the world have been dying because their nation wouldn't give them up-to-date combat vehicles."
4) Complicity in Abu Ghraib torture scandal:
As for training and preparedness, the scandal at Abu Ghraib is instructive. The problems there went far beyond the photos of Lynndie England and others humiliating the Iraqis under their control. We learned last week that Janis Karpinski, the brigadier general whose reserve military police unit was in charge of the prison, had been arrested for shoplifting at a military base in Florida in 2002. The same army that's scouring Iraq for insurgents and terrorists was apparently unaware of the arrest record of the woman assigned to such a sensitive position at Abu Ghraib.
Abu Ghraib was not an aberration. It was a symptom. This is a war in which the people in charge have had no idea what they were doing. One of the recommendations of Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who investigated the scandal at Abu Ghraib, was that a team be sent to Iraq to teach some of the soldiers how to run prisons. How's that for an innovative step?
Conclusion:
"The United States is now stuck with a war it should never have started. The violence continues to rage out of control. The latest fantasy out of Washington is that somehow, miraculously, Iraqi troops will be able to take over and win the war that we couldn't.
The American public is becoming fed up and with good reason. Support for the war is declining and the reputation of the military is in jeopardy. The Army has been unable to meet its recruitment goals and the search for new soldiers is becoming desperate.
Last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, told Congress that the war in Iraq was taking a toll on the military and would make combat operations elsewhere in the world more difficult. That was hardly a comforting thought as the administration was ramping up its rhetoric about North Korea.
If President Bush had consulted with his father before launching this clownish, disastrous war, he might have gotten some advice that would have pointed him in a different direction and spared his country - and the families of the many thousands dead - a lot of grief."
Amen.
Now, shouldn't we be starting impeachment hearings? After all, when Clinton lied, no one died (See following post for reasons why the conservative corporate media ignores Bush's lies while jumping all over Clinton's scandal.)
Stranger Than Fiction - New York Times
Wednesday Woodchuck Cub Blogging
We now have a plague of whistlepigglets. At least four, probably more.
They look a lot like full grown woodchucks only smaller, softer, and grayer.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Yellow Dogs Battle Yellow Journalism
Definition of "Yellow Journalism": The term, as it commonly applies, refers to news organizations for whom sensationalism, profiteering, and in some cases propaganda and jingoism, take dominance over factual reporting. Most cases tend to be related to journalistic bias, and the endemic practices of particular organizations to operate as mouthpieces, for rather limited and particular allegiances, rather than for the public trust.
This article highlights some recent examples:
"Elaborate Mission Accomplished-style propaganda backdrops at every public event. Fake news stories filmed at government expense and released to an all too incurious media. Paid journalists and columnists writing fawning stories for profit. Bogus White House correspondents throwing soft ball questions under assumed names. Staged "town-hall meetings" with pre-screened crowds and pre-screened questions – questions like, "Mr. President, did you know my wife and I pray for you every night?" Whew. That’s a toughie. And even with the hand-selected audiences, strong-armed stooges roam the crowd and silence, roust, and arrest any stray dissenters who somehow make it past the crumbled remains of the First Amendment that block the entrances to these tax-supported events.
There’s Dick and Rummy and Condi and Wolfy and even George himself telling us about meetings that didn’t happen; links that didn’t exist; weapons that weren’t there. And now we have notes from British intelligence revealing that as early as July, 2002 the administration was saying it was going to "fix" intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion.
For that matter, we have tape of them knowingly lying about the costs of the pharmacy bill, and we know they threatened to fire the government actuary in charge of forecasting costs when he wanted to set the record straight. We know they outed a covert CIA agent as a revenge tactic. We know that there’s a trail of memos justifying torture, extraordinary rendition and other jack-boot tactics that leads straight to the most senior levels of the Pentagon and the White House. One of them was signed by our sitting Attorney General when he was White House Counsel.
The press has allowed Mr. Bush to fundamentally rewrite foreign and domestic policy under a cloud of deception, distortion, and deceit.
Iraq was never about WMDs, or al Qaeda links or "immediate threats" – it was part of a broadly conceived and highly pugnacious neoconservative foreign policy.
Tax cuts were never about "your money," budget surpluses, budget deficits, or economic stimulus. They were – and are – part of a stealth attempt to "drown the beast", to shrink government by starvation.
The Clear Skies Initiative isn’t about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting energy companies.
The Healthy Forest Initiative isn’t about healthy forests, it’s about cutting down trees in pristine wilderness areas.
Social Security privatization is not about rescuing Social Security, it’s about killing it.
Now, it may be that Americans want a country in which the tax burden is shifted from corporations and the ultra-rich to families, workers and individual wage earners. Perhaps we want to cut government services and gut environmental protections, and impose trillions of dollars of debt on our children and our children’s children. And it may be that we want a belligerent foreign policy in which we eschew the UN; reject treaties and alliances; unilaterally launch preemptive wars and encourage the resumption of a nuclear arms race by undercutting the Non-proliferation Treaty with plans to develop new nuclear weapons. Heck, it’s possible that we’re willing to ignore real threats to our homeland such as enough unprotected lose nuclear material to make 40,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs. We might even prefer to spend $300 billion in Iraq, while our borders remain porous; our ports, schools, power and chemical plants remain unprotected; our first responders underfunded; and bin Laden roams free.
But it’s doubtful. And that’s why Mr. Bush and friends want to accomplish their objectives by a stealth attack on the media and the truth."
The Influence of Fools
This article highlights some recent examples:
"Elaborate Mission Accomplished-style propaganda backdrops at every public event. Fake news stories filmed at government expense and released to an all too incurious media. Paid journalists and columnists writing fawning stories for profit. Bogus White House correspondents throwing soft ball questions under assumed names. Staged "town-hall meetings" with pre-screened crowds and pre-screened questions – questions like, "Mr. President, did you know my wife and I pray for you every night?" Whew. That’s a toughie. And even with the hand-selected audiences, strong-armed stooges roam the crowd and silence, roust, and arrest any stray dissenters who somehow make it past the crumbled remains of the First Amendment that block the entrances to these tax-supported events.
There’s Dick and Rummy and Condi and Wolfy and even George himself telling us about meetings that didn’t happen; links that didn’t exist; weapons that weren’t there. And now we have notes from British intelligence revealing that as early as July, 2002 the administration was saying it was going to "fix" intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion.
For that matter, we have tape of them knowingly lying about the costs of the pharmacy bill, and we know they threatened to fire the government actuary in charge of forecasting costs when he wanted to set the record straight. We know they outed a covert CIA agent as a revenge tactic. We know that there’s a trail of memos justifying torture, extraordinary rendition and other jack-boot tactics that leads straight to the most senior levels of the Pentagon and the White House. One of them was signed by our sitting Attorney General when he was White House Counsel.
The press has allowed Mr. Bush to fundamentally rewrite foreign and domestic policy under a cloud of deception, distortion, and deceit.
Iraq was never about WMDs, or al Qaeda links or "immediate threats" – it was part of a broadly conceived and highly pugnacious neoconservative foreign policy.
Tax cuts were never about "your money," budget surpluses, budget deficits, or economic stimulus. They were – and are – part of a stealth attempt to "drown the beast", to shrink government by starvation.
The Clear Skies Initiative isn’t about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting energy companies.
The Healthy Forest Initiative isn’t about healthy forests, it’s about cutting down trees in pristine wilderness areas.
Social Security privatization is not about rescuing Social Security, it’s about killing it.
Now, it may be that Americans want a country in which the tax burden is shifted from corporations and the ultra-rich to families, workers and individual wage earners. Perhaps we want to cut government services and gut environmental protections, and impose trillions of dollars of debt on our children and our children’s children. And it may be that we want a belligerent foreign policy in which we eschew the UN; reject treaties and alliances; unilaterally launch preemptive wars and encourage the resumption of a nuclear arms race by undercutting the Non-proliferation Treaty with plans to develop new nuclear weapons. Heck, it’s possible that we’re willing to ignore real threats to our homeland such as enough unprotected lose nuclear material to make 40,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs. We might even prefer to spend $300 billion in Iraq, while our borders remain porous; our ports, schools, power and chemical plants remain unprotected; our first responders underfunded; and bin Laden roams free.
But it’s doubtful. And that’s why Mr. Bush and friends want to accomplish their objectives by a stealth attack on the media and the truth."
The Influence of Fools
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Yellow Dog Mother's Day Tribute
From a letter written by Cindy Sheehan, Mother of Spc Casey Austin Sheehan, Killed in Action, 04/04/04
"When I woke up this morning, the 'official' death count in Iraq was 1576. The first thing I do in the morning after I boot up my computer is to check the DoD website to see if any more of our nation's precious children were killed in this horror of a nonsensical war. I was talking to another Mom, Celeste Zappala, today and she sadly advised me that the count rose to 1579 (note: the official count is now 1594) while she was out to lunch." [NOTE: On ABC's Sunday news show, they featured 20 US soldiers killed in Iraq just this past week.]
"Celeste and I and too many other moms know what the significance of 'Pending Notification' means: it means that there are people in our country going through their lives right now not even knowing that they are about to be ambushed with the most devastating news of their lives: "We regret to inform you..."
"Somewhere in America, there is a mom (I always think of the moms first) shopping for groceries, driving home from a long week of work, or maybe even planning her soldier's homecoming party. Somewhere, here in our country there is a mother who is hoping that she will receive a Mother's Day card from her soldier, or perhaps, if she is extremely lucky, a rushed telephone call. There is a mom out there who has been worried sick about her soldier since they arrived in the combat zone. Maybe the mom still supports George Bush and the occupation or maybe the mom is certain if her child is killed in this abomination that her sweet baby, her soldier will have died for lies and betrayals. In the end, and at that moment, the mom is not going to care about politics or about reasons for invasion and occupation. She won't care if her child died for freedom and democracy, or to make some people wealthier and more powerful. All she will see is the Grim Reaper in a uniform standing at her door before she collapses on the floor screaming for her child and pleading with the Grim Reaper to take her with him."
"The families of these soldiers are also departing on a long tour of banalities uttered by well-meaning, but let's face it, uninformed people. I hear these phrases over and over again: "Time heals every thing," "Casey's in a better place," (oh really, I didn't know that home with his mom was such a bad place to be), "Casey wants you to be happy," "Casey died doing what he loved doing," (he did?), or, my favorite, "Casey died defending his country." Let me assure the reader, phrases like this do not help. They are cliches for one thing, and for another, none of them are true. None of them help a grieving family. If you, the reader, is ever in the situation facing a mom who had her son brutally murdered, God forbid, I will give you hints on what does help: hugs (lots and lots), make sure she eats, make sure she drinks plenty of water (tears are dehydrating), make sure she hears wonderful things about her child, bring boxes of tissues and toilet paper, and bring yourself. Leave your tired and impotent cliches at the door."
"Of course, the most tragic thing about the 1579 is that not even one should be dead. Our "president" cheerfully rushed this country into a needlessly horrendous and devastating invasion. Our "president" thinks stolen elections confer a mandate. Our Congress cheerfully relinquished their Constitutional responsibility to declare war. If they had any courage or honor they would claim that right back and end this travesty. I have a feeling our mis-leaders will be having a nice day with their moms or their children on Mother's Day. As they are eating their brunches and giving and receiving bouquets of Mother's Day flowers, they probably never even think about the moms in this world that their insanely reckless policies have destroyed. It never enters their wicked brains that they have ruined Mother's Day for so many families. This is a tragedy.
"Our media was, and still is, a willing shill for the Administration and has never told the American public the truth. Reporting about Iraq is always trumped by such as child molesters, Martha Stewart, Terri Schiavo, Scott Peterson, the American Idol, or now, Runaway Brides! Another tragic thing about this illegal and disastrous invasion and occupation is that there are only 1579 families in this country who even have to think about Iraq. Most Americans probably don't even know where to find Iraq on a map. The Halliburtons, Bechtels, KBRs, and the oil oligarchs of the world, who are laughing all the way to the bank, think of Iraq with greedy glee each day. Sorrowfully, there are 1579 families in this country who have "Iraq" carved on their hearts and souls for eternity. We have sacrificed more than the $1.99 it costs to buy a "Support the Troops" magnet for our cars. We have had a violent amputation. Even if our fellow citizens don't realize it, by allowing this occupation to continue, they are also losing a very important part of themselves: their humanity."
Love and Peace!!!
Cindy Sheehan
Name Withheld Pending Notification
"When I woke up this morning, the 'official' death count in Iraq was 1576. The first thing I do in the morning after I boot up my computer is to check the DoD website to see if any more of our nation's precious children were killed in this horror of a nonsensical war. I was talking to another Mom, Celeste Zappala, today and she sadly advised me that the count rose to 1579 (note: the official count is now 1594) while she was out to lunch." [NOTE: On ABC's Sunday news show, they featured 20 US soldiers killed in Iraq just this past week.]
"Celeste and I and too many other moms know what the significance of 'Pending Notification' means: it means that there are people in our country going through their lives right now not even knowing that they are about to be ambushed with the most devastating news of their lives: "We regret to inform you..."
"Somewhere in America, there is a mom (I always think of the moms first) shopping for groceries, driving home from a long week of work, or maybe even planning her soldier's homecoming party. Somewhere, here in our country there is a mother who is hoping that she will receive a Mother's Day card from her soldier, or perhaps, if she is extremely lucky, a rushed telephone call. There is a mom out there who has been worried sick about her soldier since they arrived in the combat zone. Maybe the mom still supports George Bush and the occupation or maybe the mom is certain if her child is killed in this abomination that her sweet baby, her soldier will have died for lies and betrayals. In the end, and at that moment, the mom is not going to care about politics or about reasons for invasion and occupation. She won't care if her child died for freedom and democracy, or to make some people wealthier and more powerful. All she will see is the Grim Reaper in a uniform standing at her door before she collapses on the floor screaming for her child and pleading with the Grim Reaper to take her with him."
"The families of these soldiers are also departing on a long tour of banalities uttered by well-meaning, but let's face it, uninformed people. I hear these phrases over and over again: "Time heals every thing," "Casey's in a better place," (oh really, I didn't know that home with his mom was such a bad place to be), "Casey wants you to be happy," "Casey died doing what he loved doing," (he did?), or, my favorite, "Casey died defending his country." Let me assure the reader, phrases like this do not help. They are cliches for one thing, and for another, none of them are true. None of them help a grieving family. If you, the reader, is ever in the situation facing a mom who had her son brutally murdered, God forbid, I will give you hints on what does help: hugs (lots and lots), make sure she eats, make sure she drinks plenty of water (tears are dehydrating), make sure she hears wonderful things about her child, bring boxes of tissues and toilet paper, and bring yourself. Leave your tired and impotent cliches at the door."
"Of course, the most tragic thing about the 1579 is that not even one should be dead. Our "president" cheerfully rushed this country into a needlessly horrendous and devastating invasion. Our "president" thinks stolen elections confer a mandate. Our Congress cheerfully relinquished their Constitutional responsibility to declare war. If they had any courage or honor they would claim that right back and end this travesty. I have a feeling our mis-leaders will be having a nice day with their moms or their children on Mother's Day. As they are eating their brunches and giving and receiving bouquets of Mother's Day flowers, they probably never even think about the moms in this world that their insanely reckless policies have destroyed. It never enters their wicked brains that they have ruined Mother's Day for so many families. This is a tragedy.
"Our media was, and still is, a willing shill for the Administration and has never told the American public the truth. Reporting about Iraq is always trumped by such as child molesters, Martha Stewart, Terri Schiavo, Scott Peterson, the American Idol, or now, Runaway Brides! Another tragic thing about this illegal and disastrous invasion and occupation is that there are only 1579 families in this country who even have to think about Iraq. Most Americans probably don't even know where to find Iraq on a map. The Halliburtons, Bechtels, KBRs, and the oil oligarchs of the world, who are laughing all the way to the bank, think of Iraq with greedy glee each day. Sorrowfully, there are 1579 families in this country who have "Iraq" carved on their hearts and souls for eternity. We have sacrificed more than the $1.99 it costs to buy a "Support the Troops" magnet for our cars. We have had a violent amputation. Even if our fellow citizens don't realize it, by allowing this occupation to continue, they are also losing a very important part of themselves: their humanity."
Love and Peace!!!
Cindy Sheehan
Name Withheld Pending Notification
Bush BS Alert
From the Daytona Beach News Journal:
"Bush is pushing the idea (BS alert!) of an 'ownership society' to 'reform' Social Security. He ignores these facts. By 1998 one percent of our population owned 38 percent of the national wealth. In an era of GOP dominance, 1979-2001, the income of the top 5 percent increased by 81 percent, while that of the bottom 20 percent went up by just 3 percent. Since 2001 Bush's tax policy has worsened that inequality. The Republicans apparently understand 'ownership society' to mean one in which the very few own everything.
Bush stands by while his acolytes stir up the radical right with claims (BS alert!) that the Democrats in the Senate are blocking the people's will in holding up Bush's judicial appointees. They never mention that 250 out of Bush's 260 nominations sailed through. Nor is it obvious that his judicial choices represent the "people's will."
Bush and friends call themselves (BS alert!) fiscally responsible, but this is the biggest piece of BS of all. They hide the impact the war and tax cuts for the wealthy have on current budgets and they hide from future budget projections the burdens of Social Security privatization and the end of the estate tax. They are more interested in placating their far-right base than addressing the looming fiscal crisis.
Bush and friends say (BS alert!) they want limited government. But as a direct result of their failure to deal with the truth -- with reality -- we now have a government that is out of control. It seems fixated on interfering in people's personal lives while placing in peril the health of our economy by ignoring the social and economic costs of their initiatives."
After all of this BS, it's going to be hard to clean up after this administration....
The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Editorials
"Bush is pushing the idea (BS alert!) of an 'ownership society' to 'reform' Social Security. He ignores these facts. By 1998 one percent of our population owned 38 percent of the national wealth. In an era of GOP dominance, 1979-2001, the income of the top 5 percent increased by 81 percent, while that of the bottom 20 percent went up by just 3 percent. Since 2001 Bush's tax policy has worsened that inequality. The Republicans apparently understand 'ownership society' to mean one in which the very few own everything.
Bush stands by while his acolytes stir up the radical right with claims (BS alert!) that the Democrats in the Senate are blocking the people's will in holding up Bush's judicial appointees. They never mention that 250 out of Bush's 260 nominations sailed through. Nor is it obvious that his judicial choices represent the "people's will."
Bush and friends call themselves (BS alert!) fiscally responsible, but this is the biggest piece of BS of all. They hide the impact the war and tax cuts for the wealthy have on current budgets and they hide from future budget projections the burdens of Social Security privatization and the end of the estate tax. They are more interested in placating their far-right base than addressing the looming fiscal crisis.
Bush and friends say (BS alert!) they want limited government. But as a direct result of their failure to deal with the truth -- with reality -- we now have a government that is out of control. It seems fixated on interfering in people's personal lives while placing in peril the health of our economy by ignoring the social and economic costs of their initiatives."
After all of this BS, it's going to be hard to clean up after this administration....
The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Editorials
The American Taliban
This story is pretty unbelievable; yet, with the current climate of radical right Christians inserting themselves into politics and trying to turn our democracy into a theocracy, it's not surprising:
From MSNBC:
"A Baptist minister expelled nine members of his North Carolina church because they failed to vote the way he told them to in the last presidential election.
Members of the congregation said Chandler told them during last year’s presidential campaign that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry needed to leave the church.
Longtime member Selma Morris, who was treasurer at the church, said Chandler’s sermons remained political after Bush won re-election. This past week, his comments turned to politics again at a church gathering that ended with nine members voted out."
A pastor establishing a litmus test for who is allowed to worship in a church? Maybe he needs to ask himself, "What Would Jesus Do?"
Democrats voted out of N.C. church - Politics - MSNBC.com
From MSNBC:
"A Baptist minister expelled nine members of his North Carolina church because they failed to vote the way he told them to in the last presidential election.
Members of the congregation said Chandler told them during last year’s presidential campaign that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry needed to leave the church.
Longtime member Selma Morris, who was treasurer at the church, said Chandler’s sermons remained political after Bush won re-election. This past week, his comments turned to politics again at a church gathering that ended with nine members voted out."
A pastor establishing a litmus test for who is allowed to worship in a church? Maybe he needs to ask himself, "What Would Jesus Do?"
Democrats voted out of N.C. church - Politics - MSNBC.com
