Things Around

David Hunter takes the spineless American media to task.

McCain endoreses Kerry. Huh?

Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. determines if there is real hope for America, in this essay.

Rob Kall equates the Progressives' response to Chaunce the Gardener in "Being There".

Talk back

Steve Gilliard helps you devise responses to your right-wing neighbor's comments.

Sticks and Stones

So you notice how the Liberals spend their time attacking the White House, while the Republicans spend their time attacking the Liberals for attacking the White House? During the Clinton Administration, when the Democrats attacked the Republicans for literally attacking the White House, the Republicans attacked the Demo.... oh, you get the picture. Also, notice that I said "Liberals" in the first statement, as the Democrats currently are still playing dead. There will (hopefully) never be a better time in our history for so much fodder for the Left, yet they are soooo afraid of attacks from the Right. Better hide before those nasty Republicans say something else mean and hurt your feelings! Democratic Senators and Representatives: your cowardice makes me embarrassed to be a Democrat.

Lying vs. Justification

We liberals have been knocking Bush for a while now about those missing WMD. But have we been taking too high a road? As with pretty much everything, nothing is ever just black or white. Ben Fritz at Spinsanity explains. Snippets:

Making sense of such a heated and rapidly evolving debate can be extremely difficult. At this point, though, two things are clear. One is that, as with many intense political battles, some on both sides are stepping well beyond the limits of reasonable discourse and making vicious and unfounded accusations about their opponents. Even more notably, however, in many cases, both sides are talking past the other, making claims that are largely true, but don't engage the arguments of the other side.

Much more remarkable in this debate than this sort of inflammatory rhetoric has been the inability of both sides to engage the other sides' points. While liberals point to specific instances of deception by the administration and call for investigations into whether intelligence may have been altered or ignored by the President and his aides, conservatives respond by pointing out that several different organizations and people have accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction and defending the war based on other rationales.

In reality, then, the question is whether these two issues can be considered separately. As previously cited work on this site and a recent article in The New Republic, amongst others, show, there can be no doubt that the Bush administration made deceptive statements in specific instances about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction and its connections to terrorism. But the administration and its defenders correctly point out that many world leaders and intelligence experts have believed Iraq possessed these types of weapons or was in the process of making them. And supporters of the war have every right to consider the war justified by these assessments or to point to other rationales for the war besides weapons of mass destruction.

Iraqi Museum Looting: The Real Story

First the Iraqi National Museum was ransacked so badly that there was virtually nothing left of value, according to initial reports in April. Then in May reports said that actually very little was lost. So what do we believe? This article from Art News by Roger Atwood gives probably the most accurate explanation. The losses aren't that horrible, but ...

117 Degrees of "Freedom"

THIS is what's happening right now:

As Baghdad boils, blackouts shut down air conditioning and anger Iraqis
By Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press, 6/27/2003 16:15 BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)
Sabotage against Baghdad's power grids has blacked out much of the city for days on end, forcing residents to sleep on roofs, fan infants and study by candlelight. The electric outages are also fueling anti-U.S. sentiment at a time occupation forces are seeking to quell a worsening insurgency that has seen a sharp rise in attacks on American troops.

With temperatures reaching 117 degrees, life has been almost unbearable. ''We have been living without electricity completely for the past three days,'' said Siham Ibrahim, a 48-year-old woman who has been sleeping with her family on the roof of their two-story house in Baghdad. ''When the Americans removed Saddam, we expected that we would have a better life, but things are getting worse.''

Coalition forces have struggled to re-establish basic services like electricity and water since ousting Saddam Hussein's regime.

And THIS is what the Bush Administration says is happening:

washingtonpost.com Experts Question Depth of Victory - Attacks Indicate Baath Party Is Not Cowed - By Thomas E. Ricks - Washington Post Staff Writer - Friday, June 27, 2003; Page A20
...Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said the trend in Iraq is still good and should not be seen through the lens of one day's events. "The direction is pretty clear," he said in a telephone interview. "It is toward a more secure Iraq," in which the Baathist position is weakening and basic services are being restored.

Wolfowitz did not foresee any major changes in the U.S. military posture in response to the attacks. "I think that the basic approach that the military is using is a sound approach," Wolfowitz said.

Hmm. Whom should I believe...

K Street Juggernaut

When you read an article like this is when you consider that all is lost, make plans to move out of the country, and start considering suicide as a viable option. Kucinich, Dean or Kerry: How on earth are you going to possibly overcome this if you win in '04?

ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

I've been privately harping about this issue ever since I first read an article on it about 6 months ago. I personally think that Danablankenhorn also sees the light on this and is as scared as me. Snippets:

There is a huge, ongoing scandal going on that threatens our democracy. With the new electronic voting machines you cannot prove an election wasn't stolen. There is no audit trail.

Just saying that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Imagine how Fox News would react if it knew that some Democrat had stolen the Presidency by manipulating the programming in voting machines, covering his tracks through the lack of an audit trail.

This is the biggest story since Watergate. It is, in fact, bigger than Watergate, much bigger. If Republicans have been manipulating the machines, as Thom Hartmann alleges, they have been systematically destroying the democratic process we've trusted for over 200 years. At minimum you can already prove that they can't prove they're not doing just that -- which is scandal enough.

I may still make it the main emphasis of this blog in the near future.

Matt Davis harks back to the "good old days", way back to the January, 2001 and before. Snippet:

So now, something vastly improper, like phonying up an EPA report on global warming, fades into the background. "Outrage fatigue" is one way to explain it, perhaps. But it's also a bit like juggling--one can't keep one's focus on any particular outrage, because it's already time to focus on the next one.

One of the Bush administration's stunning victories is that they have kept the Left off balance with this endless and audacious stream of actions that would be beyond the pale if we lived in less extraordinary times. We can call them on things all we want, but the country is too scared to listen.

I especially like the phrase "outrage fatigue", which describes exactly how I feel much of the time, and maybe explains the reason for the sudden stoppage of mass public demonstrations, rallies and marches against the Iraq war and so many of the other criminal activities in which the Bush Cartel is currently engaged.

Hitting Home

The current quagmire in Iraq seems detached until you start examining the victims. Look at THIS WEB SITE. Examine the names and hometowns and then tell me that this illegal war and ongoing occupation has been worth the expense in lives, social upheaval, money, resources, and environmental destruction. You can't, if you have anything resembling compassion.

The votes are in! HERE are the results of the first MoveOn primary for Democratic candidates for President:

NAME - # Votes - Percent
DEAN - 139,360 - 43.87%
KUCINICH - 76,000 - 23.93%
KERRY - 49,973 - 15.73%
EDWARDS - 10,146 - 3.19%
GEPHARDT - 7,755 - 2.44%
GRAHAM - 7,113 - 2.24%
BRAUN - 7,021 - 2.21%
UNDECIDED - 6,378 - 2.01%
OTHER - 6,121 - 1.93%
LIEBERMAN - 6,095 - 1.92%
SHARPTON - 1,677 - 0.53%
TOTAL - 317,647 - 100.00%

Seems obvious, at this point, who the top three candidates are...

Here's a Sport for Grandma

Tired of the same old routine skydiving? Then it's time to try EXTREME IRONING!

The sport that is 'extreme ironing' is an outdoor activity that combines the danger and excitement of an 'extreme' sport with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt. It involves taking an iron and board (if possible) to remote locations and ironing a few items of laundry. This can involve ironing on a mountainside, preferably on a difficult climb, or taking an iron skiing, snowboarding or canoeing.

Is Anybody Paying Attention?

Are things rapidly deteriorating in Iraq? Oh, you bet they are. From Daily KOS:

In less than two days, we have 10 dead, 16 wounded and 2 missing and possibly kidnapped. In addition, the power has been blown in Baghdad, the water no longer works, and the average temperature is 110 degrees.
Meanwhile, the lights are on at the Presidential Palace as Jerry Bremer labors away in air conditioned opulance.

Is it a pattern of resistance? Maybe. But the complaints about US and British behavior, the cultural misunderstandings between the occupier and the occupied is what is driving the killing. The British act like Amara, a den of smugglers, will turn over their kin for defending their faith and honor. There was no misunderstanding on their part. The British disrespected them and they paid for it.

The coalition has misjudged the Iraqi people and their awareness. They treat them like Afghans, isolated from the world, and they are not. They are no more isolated or religious as your average Texan. They know the world well enough to know the CPA is ruining their lives. Who wants to swelter and drink dirty water? Freedom doesn't eliminate cholera.

The lack of Arabic speakers, the ignorance of basic religious and local customs, the force being used is leading to disaster.

The policy in Iraq is speeding towards a nationwide resistance that the US is unable to deal with. Blaming current conditions on Saddam is a handy foil, but fooling no one. Saddam was truly hated across Iraq. The Shia tribesmen who fought him are clearly not his foils. They are hard men, who live by rules one crosses only if they want to die. Calling for an arrest is as foolish as sending dogs into their homes. Anyone who knew the region would have known they would kill transgressors for a serious offense.

Make no mistake about what is at stake here. If the US is driven from Iraq, the policy failure will be the greatest since Pearl Harbor. We have no more troops to send. The few and scattered replacements we're getting vary in capability to a frightening degree. We can kill more people, but they can kill and wound us in turn.

The apologists try to spin day after day of bad news from Iraq with distractions. At this point, I'd argue that the WMD hunt, while politically relevant, is fast being overtaken by the utter disaster taking place on the ground.

This must stop. Why are there no more mass rallies and marches? Where did all the liberals from January and February go? Where's the pre-war outrage? Hello? Is anybody out there?

Bush Knew

If there is still any doubt in your mind that Bush knew that New York and the Pentagon was going to be attacked on 9-11, then watch this recently-released video. It shows Bush, as calm as a lark on a spring morning, AFTER being told by his chief of staff that the second WTC tower had been hit. Also read the supporting analysis below the snapshots. Thanks to The MemoryHole for hosting this video.

"I suppose that's a good thing"

Read William Saletan's expose in Slate on the shaky national security and foreign policy views of Democratic candidate Howard Dean.

A Focus on Bogus

Read Anna Quindlen's Newsweek column here about the bogus nature of Bush's aid to cities and what affect it's having, in this example, on libraries. Snippet:

The linchpin of the president’s education agenda, for instance, which he developed before terrorists made it possible for his administration to dispense with domestic policy—and civil liberties—was something with the catchy slogan “Leave No Child Behind.” It is a program heavy on performance standards that may as well be called “Leave No Child Untested.” But the states have been picking up most of the added costs for the new mandates. Thus your state and local taxes are soaring, and your alleged tax cut merely moved from beneath one government walnut to another. You’ll get a peek, and then it will disappear.
Step right up to the greatest show on earth. See a lady sawed in half—whoops, it’s the librarian! The administration says it’s providing more help for libraries, but towns have to cut library hours to afford police officers, some required by Homeland Security provisions for which the Feds promised reimbursement, now long overdue. So the First Lady does television spots with Elmo the Muppet about the importance of reading, but kids whose parents can’t afford to buy the newest “Harry Potter” will just have to lump it because the library can’t afford to buy new books.

Now That's a Bit Awkward

Recently some military equipment and weapons manufactured in other nations were found in Iraq. Among the more interesting finds was a cache of missiles bought from........ DRUM ROLL HERE ........... the United States! read the short article HERE.

User's Manual: How to Beat Bush

Buzzflash feels that the following are the qualities necessary for a Democrat to succeed against Bush in 2004 (excerpts):

Here are some of the characteristics that we believe are essential ingredients for an individual to succeed in restoring democracy and Constitutional rights to Americans by winning the White House next year:

1) The ability to define the terms of the debate and put the Republicans on the defensive. Throughout the Bush administration, the GOP has kept the Democrats on the defensive.

2) The ability to penetrate Bush's "Teflon" credibility. Needless to say, the see-no-evil approach of many Democratic Congressional leaders is not only counter-productive; it is dishonest. If you enable a liar, you become tainted by the liar. If Bush's "credibility" isn't exposed as a phony front for serial lying, Bush will win the next presidential election.

3) Like it or not, in this day and age of television, the candidate will have to convey an image on TV that inspires trust and puts people at ease.

4) If you don't have the political courage to come out swinging and fight back against the ruthless rumors, innuendo, and gutter whispering campaigns that Karl Rove will launch against you and your family, don't run.

5) You will need to offer a vision for Americans that is one of hope and promise.

6) You need to shape the polls rather than be tied down to them.

7) You will need courage, plenty of courage.

8) You need to show Americans that you will fight for them and protect them by showing that you will bring the battle to Bush decisively, tenaciously and without apology.

Do you agree? Why or why not? The Democrats need a candidate that will gain strength during the primary and election campaign processes (a la Clinton), not tire out and succumb to media pressure (a la Gore). Bush is weak in debates; hit him hard there. Bush is able to only give canned answers to canned questions; be creative and challenging while having answers to problems of Iraq, the economy, health, education and jobs that the same people (who think Iraq caused 9-11 or used WMD in the war) can understand and believe. People must think they will again be empowered to control their lives and lose their current Bush-induced fears if a Democrat wins. The candidate must literally roll up the sleeves and fight for blood. Nothing less will ever work against the morally-challenged and ethically-lacking far right Republicans.

Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

Think your 13-year-old could pass the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas? I'll bet you 10 to 1 that even YOU can't pass it. This web site (besides presenting the exam for viewing) makes a good (to say the least) point about the sorry state of American Education.

The Art Corner

Here is a new art form that's bound to make waves in the art world: TPR Portraits.

110 degrees

Here's an interesting link you might want to bookmark: the Baghdad weather forecast. Tensions aren't the only things overheated in Iraq.

Bullsit

On this day in 1876 General Custer, against direct orders, attacked Sitting Bull's main camp. HERE is a description of the ensuing slaughter, from the original NY Times front page. Maybe Bush should read this before planning his next excursion, presumably into Iran or N. Korea.

Dr. Imposter

Recently I've ranted against Dean, accusing him of being a imposter of the progressive movement. HERE is an article by William Saletan in Slate expressing similar concerns.

Post Poll

A recent poll by the Washington Post reveals, among other things:

"More than six in 10 said the decision to go to war was justified even if the United States does not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

"About one in four Americans incorrectly believes Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the conflict. Slightly more than six in 10 said Iraq had not, while the remainder weren't sure."

Let's paraphrase that last one: 40% of Americans believe that Iraq used, or might have used, chemical or biological weapons in this war. Who are these people???

"What luck for rulers that men do not think." --Adolf Hitler

"Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk." --Henry David Thoreau

Evil-Driven Recall?

Behind every Republican attack of Democrats you can be sure to find a shady character. Snippet:

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, the driving force behind the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis, was prosecuted with his brother in San Jose in 1980 for allegedly faking the theft of Issa's Mercedes Benz sedan and selling it to a car dealer for $16,000, according to court records.

Okay, Dean's out.

Dean appeared yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press. Here's the entire transcript. Emma at Notes on the Atrocities gave me this lead and did a nice analysis of some highlights of the show, and you should read it (see her June 23 posts). Dean does not sound like a progressive, nor like someone I would want running this country.

Helping Others to Help Themselves

This is an example of one real, compassionate human. Susan Cruz has set up a non-profit organization in California, Sin Fronteras, that "is working with youth in custody of the Juvenile Justice System, specifically at Challenger Memorial Youth Camp, on a weekly basis, addressing social skills, behavioral alternatives, parenting issues, and resources for problem solving. She also assists Latino families to successfully access the health care system." This is ONE PERSON. Imagine what would happen if the US government did this kind of stuff, instead of running all over the world in military costumes bombing and shooting humans. We would soon be living in paradise.

"Never believe anything until it has been officially denied." --Claud Cockburn

Pat Walton

Sometimes we need a story to sober us up about just how short and precious our time is in this life. HERE is a short story about the final days of a nurse who worked for 33 years at a children's hospital and who died Saturday.

Revenge Several-Fold

Robert Higgs shows that, if Bush was taking revenge for the ~3,000 killed on 9-11, then he's exacted his revenge several times over.

True Grit

Check out this Rolling Stone article written by Evan Wright who was with a marine platoon from the start of the war. My first conclusion: Some marines are just plain psycho (or at least trained to act that way).

Reexamining Dean

After reading THIS ARTICLE that Ben Regenspan referred to me, I think we all need to seriously reconsider if Dean is a legitimate progressive candidate. Snippett:

In a major foreign policy speech earlier this year, Dean, while calling for an end to Palestinian violence, did not call for an end to Israeli violence, let alone an end to the illegal Israeli occupation.

And when asked whether his views are closer to the dovish Americans for Peace Now (APN) or the right wing, Sharon-supporting American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he stated unequivocally in an interview with the Jewish weekly The Forward, "My view is closer to AIPAC's view."

"At one time the Peace Now view was important, but now Israel is under enormous pressure. We have to stop terrorism before peace negotiations," he said.

Similarly, Dean's official campaign position on solving the Palestinian Israeli problem is that "terrorism against Israel must end," but there is no mention of the Israeli violence that has resulted in over 2,391 deaths since September 2000.

The Hardships of Occupation

How's it looking for the army in Iraq? "Hard Times Ahead..." Snippet:

Last Sunday, a front-page story in the New York Times aroused attention throughout the Pentagon. Pfc. Matthew C. O'Dell, 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, told a reporter: ''You call Donald Rumsfeld and tell him our sorry asses are ready to go home. Tell him to come spend a night in our building.''

Four days earlier, in a speech that marked his retirement as the Army's chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki said it's ''just not helpful and it isn't true'' for ''some [to] suggest that we in the Army don't understand the importance of civilian control of the military.'' He added: ''To muddy the waters when important issues are at stake, issues of life and death, is a disservice to all of those in and out of uniform who serve and lead so well.'' Unlike the private first class, the general did not mention Rumsfeld by name. But that's who he meant.

With more than 370,000 soldiers or 70 percent of the Army deployed in 120 countries, President Bush's capability to pursue his doctrine of preemption is constrained. In his farewell address, Shinseki called for ''a force sized correctly to meet the strategy set forth in the documents that guide us.'' He warned: ''Beware the 12-division strategy for a 10-division army.''

HULK

Went to see "Hulk" this past weekend. I went grudgingly with the family after seeing the bad previews and critical reviews. Boy, was I surprised! Uneven, but very entertaining. Nick Nolte was great. I highly recommend it. Read a review of it HERE.

KUCINICH?

After watching the journalists-sponsored debate on C-SPAN today, one candidate stood out who seemed to actually passionately believe what he was saying: Dennis Kucinich. I'm not highly informed about this man, but what I've seen and read so far, I really like. I have yet to come across an issue he supports that conflicts with my political philosophy. Sharpton and Braun? They're fine but won't have a chance against Bush. Gephardt, Lieberman and Kerry? Mainstream politicians and too afraid to boldly speak out on passionate issues and chance stepping on toes. I can't stand Lieberman who supported the Iraq war and waffles on issues and I still wonder to this day why Gore chose him. Edwards? Complains a lot but doesn't offer many solutions and doesn't seem passionate about them. Dean? Seems pretty progressive and I'll support him if Kucinich fails, but he's got a stiff on-screen personality that the media will use to tear him to shreds ala Gore. Graham? Also progressive and would be my third choice if Kucinich and Dean fall to the wayside. Kucinich, at this time, is not in the top tier of Democratic candidates with respect to popularity and finances, but if he wins the MoveOn vote he will gain a lot of recognition that will help his campaign. People say he's funny looking, but that won't be a problem running against Bush, who, honestly, is really stupid-looking.

HERE is a brief but colorful history of Kucinich's life.

You Coward!

Ted Rall is calling you a coward. ARE YOU? Excerpt:

Where is the outrage? Even though it's painfully clear that Bush lied about the WMDs, even though daily ambushes of American troops indicate that the war is far from over, a CBS News poll shows that 62 percent of Americans still support Bush's con job on Iraq. "The president is 99 percent safe on this one," says Newt Gingrich.

Protestors who demonstrated against the war before it began ought to be energized by the WMD scandal, but the streets of Washington are quiet. Editors who parroted the Administration's lies, given the chance to redeem themselves now, downplay the latest Slaughtergate news. An army colonel e-mails, urging me to keep asking questions, yet confesses, "I'm keeping my thoughts to myself and waiting until I retire to get the hell out of here." Daniel Goldhagen's controversial 1996 book "Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" pointed out an obvious truth: that the Nazis could never have triumphed, retained power or gotten anything done without the explicit complicity of the people they ruled. Therefore, Goldhagen argued--and thoughtful people agree--the failure of the German people to resist Hitler made them just as guilty as he was.

The Rich Feeding the Rich

Excerpt from Today's NY Times:

There's nothing like having a few friends over for a cocktail or two," President Bush told more than 1,200 Republicans who paid $2,000 apiece last week to begin what will be a record-breaking binge of Republican money-raising. The president's gratitude went over well with the Washington crowd, who ponied up $3.5 million. Even more, it underlined the extraordinary gilded age of fat-cat politicking that has befallen the nation with the intersection of Bush tax cuts favoring the affluent — $1.7 trillion worth and counting — and the start of the president's phantom primary campaign season.

With no G.O.P. challenger in sight, Mr. Bush nevertheless will easily raise as much as $200 million in primary money for his re-election coffers, much of it from the warm-hearted supporters benefiting most from his deficit-financed tax cuts. This is revenue synergy of a high order that promises only to intensify. Party strategists boldly promise that, the nation's mounting debt notwithstanding, each year of their continuing incumbency will feature even more tax-cut pressures.

Just How Successful is MoveOn?

Read Harold Meyerson's description of the recent emergence of MoveOn on American politics and how it just may make a big difference in the 2004 election.

Let's face it. Bush won't admit he lied to us about anything: WMD, nukes, 9-11, nothing. Never did, never will. Republican leadership isn't going to suddenly stumble upon morals and ethics. The rest of the planet is not going to forgive us for raping Iraq. And the Republican congress isn't going to start increasing tax rates for the rich and increase spending for social programs.

Ain't gonna happen.

Once you come to the above conclusion, if you haven't already, then it's time to stop whining about all of it and start acting. Join MoveOn. Start listening to Pacifica Radio. Register to vote. Discuss politics with coworkers and family (they'll probably hate you for it, but at least you'll respect yourself more). Go to peace marches and demonstrations. STOP watching TV news. All TV news. Get your news online, from political journals and from balanced newspapers. And last but not least, do the one thing your parents never taught you: Question Authority.

Ah, the Petting Zoo Analogy Ressurected

A lot of pro-war-ites are justifying the recently discovered mass graves as justification for the invasion. Daily Koss explains it correctly:

Yes, we've found mass graves in Iraq. Oddly enough, most date back to the uprising after the Gulf War, the one where we encouraged the Shia and Kurds to rise up against Saddam and then let them be slaughtered. It's as if we unleashed a pit bull in a petting zoo and then express astonishment at the dead bunnies and chicks lying around. Then, a few weeks later, say that we need to take over the petting zoo because the owner lets pit bulls run around and kill things.

Golly, Molly

WorldCom... Perle... Global Crossing... Pentagon Defense Policy Board... It's all so confusing. Wait, Molly Ivins explains it.

Lifted shamelessly from Ornicus:

A soldier's prayer
Thursday, June 19, 2003
This item was in the most recent [July 2003] Harper's:

From "A Christian's Duty in Time of War," a pamphlet published by In Touch Ministries. The pamphlet exhorts its readers to pray for President Bush and to "consider fasting as you beseech the Lord" on his behalf. Thousands of the pamphlets were distributed by unknown persons to U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

MONDAY: Pray that the President and his advisers will be strong and courageous and do what is right, regardless of critics.

TUESDAY: Pray that the President and his advisers will have the unified support of the American people as well as that of other countries around the world.

WEDNESDAY: Pray that the President, his advisers, and their families will be safe, healthy, well rested, and free from fear.

THURSDAY: Pray that the President and his advisers will be successful in their mission and that world peace will be realized.

FRIDAY: Pray that the President and his advisers will recognize their divine appointment and will govern accordingly in compassion, mercy, and truth.

SATURDAY: Pray that the President his advisers will remember to keep their eyes on Almighty God and be mindful that He is in control.

SUNDAY: Pray that the President and his advisers will seek God and His wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding.

And the following day's prayer, no doubt:

MONDAY: Pray that the antiwar protesters who seek to distract the President from his Biblical duty as warrior king are struck down by God's terrible lightning bolts and are immediately sent to hell where they may roast screaming for eternity.

What? I Thought Syria Was Next

Richard Bennett explains why Bush will invade Iran at the end of 2004. I guess all that Iranian oil is too distracting, plus it's right around (let me check my calendar...) election time! Plus, there's THIS.

Comes Down to a Choice

Check out this GNN video. (Click HERE for dialup connection.)

American Targets (and I don't mean stores)

Is it just me, or does it sound like the Iraqis are getting really pissed that the American "Liberators" have basically just entered their country without an invitation, killed or maimed tens of thousands of their citizens, destroyed their military, incapacitated their health and education systems, let criminals run wild and terrorize the general population, thrown most working Iraqis into the ranks of unemployed, and put their religious and social infrastructure into chaos? In fact, they did, in a period of two months, what Hussein was unable to do in two decades. I'd be pissed too. Know what? Even the American Troops in Iraq are getting pissed.

Another Republican Hypocrite

Senator Orrin Hatch recently said that persons who illegally download music should have their computers destoyed. Well, the Republican Senator turns out to be a hypocrite because his web site used (until today) unlicensed (i.e. illegal) software.

Take a Break

It's been a tough week. Hey, every week since January, 2001 has been tough. Time to take a fun break and go FLING THE COW. My best score so far: 330. Let me know if you beat that. But please, never participate in dwarf-tossing (thanks, Bertrandrussell).

When you're done tossing mammals, visit this site, which sells airplanes converted into houses. It's for real! And it sounds cool. And it's a great recycling program to boot.

Who Gives a Damn About Those WMD

Why Americans Just Don't Care.

Confused? Don't Be.

Confused and overwhelmed by all the Democratic candidates? THIS SITE will help you sort it all out. On the right side, under "Get to know the candidates" you can read "all responses" to platform questions on one page or else go to each candidate's page and view their responses plus their introductory letter. Give it a try, and maybe join MoveOn while you're at it, because at this point it has a very good chance of actually affecting the outcome of the 2004 election.

Balls and Savy

NDOL seems to support the economic plans of Lieberman and Edwards revealed this week. Excerpts:

Lieberman called for a three-part strategy to revive progress against poverty:

Intensifying welfare reform by giving families "the child care, job training and other resources they need to find and keep good jobs," along with expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and elimination of the marriage penalty.

Helping poor families save and create wealth through a "dramatic" expansion of tax-free Individual Development Accounts in which government will match personal savings to buy a home, go to college, get job training or start a small business.

Empowering people to fight against poverty-inducing social conditions like educational failure, family breakdown, early childbearing and delinquency.

Meanwhile, Edwards proposed canceling several recent Bush tax cuts for the top 2 percent of Americans in order to provide working families with incentives for savings and wealth creation. Specifically, Edwards called for:

"American Dream Tax Credits" that would offset half the cost of down payments on a first home.

"Matching Savings Accounts" that would offer a dollar in refundable tax credits for every dollar saved for retirement by families with incomes up to $50,000.

A cut in dividend and capital gains taxes for low-to-moderate income families.

The proposals are supported by the assumptions that there will be tax cuts for the poor and the recent tax cuts for the rich will be reversed. Do these guys really think that will happen? The rich (who control everything) may not give a damn about tax breaks for the poor, but when was the last time they supported higher taxes on themselves? It's not going to happen, and these candidates are wasting our time mentioning it.

The other main source of revenue to pay for these proposed social programs would be through a reduced military budget, a budget that is greater than 99% of the GDP's on this planet. But what Senator or Representative from state XYZ is going to throw their support behind reducing the number of bases in their state, or the number of contracts for companies in their state that sell military weapons and equipment? Let's be realistic and admit that no sane Congressman would do such a thing.

What does that leave us? The only option is to make sure we get, into the White House, a Democrat who has the balls and savy to successfully fight the Republicans in Congress. (That eliminates Lieberman and Edwards right off the bat.) How do we know it will work? Can anyone remember way back to about three years ago during something called the "Clinton Administration"? Even Lieberman admitted:

Lieberman noted the remarkable poverty-fighting record of the Clinton-Gore administration, which "produced the lowest African-American poverty rate ever measured -- and the lowest Hispanic poverty rate in 20 years -- double-digit income growth -- especially for the bottom 20 percent -- and the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years."

It's been done and it can be done again. Find your candidate who has the determination and intelligence necessary, and throw your support behind him or her. Now. (Thanks, NDOL, for stoking my ire.)

Pathological Fanaticism

Arianna Huffington discusses Bush's pathological fanaticism. Excerpt:

Gustav le Bon, a social scientist known for his crowd psychology theories, has stressed the importance of repetition as a weapon in the fanatic's arsenal. Repetition breeds blind acceptance and contagion.

"Ideas, sentiments, emotions and beliefs," writes le Bon, "possess in crowds a contagious power as intense as that of microbes." As James Moore, co-author of "Bush’s Brain," says, "If the president says it over and over enough, people will believe it, just as Karl Rove got him to say over and over that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11."

The technique was so successful that a poll taken by the Pew Center in 2002 showed that 66 percent of Americans believed that Hussein and bin Laden were both behind the attacks. In the words of that giant banner that Rove had placed behind the president following his Top Gun landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln: "Mission Accomplished."

CNN QuickVote

Take the CNN QuickVote now. It's near the bottom on the right side. The question is: "Did the Bush administration overplay the threat of Iraqi WMD to justify the war?" Go now!

UPDATE: Too slow, you missed it. But there's probably another good one there now. Go check it out.

MoveOn Now

This organization is something you should seriously consider joining. It is becoming the most effective online democratic movement and rapidly gaining members and influence. If you join now you'll qualify for an online vote that will allow hundreds of thousands of voters to speak out now, adding their weight to the campaigns of their choice. Voting in the MoveOn.org PAC primary starts Tuesday, June 24. Join! It costs nothing but a few minutes of your time.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." -- Frank Sinatra

Destroy Computers of Illegal Downloaders

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday he favors developing new technology to remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music from the Internet. Okay, so it's a bit extreme (name one thing Republicans do that isn't extreme). But, really, if people would just stop doing that illegal sh*t we wouldn't have to go through this. Look, if you can afford a computer, I'm sure you can afford to buy an occasional $12 CD and not rip off the recording artist and the recording/distribution companies. It's immoral and unethical; didn't your mother teach you anything?

Okay, But You Guys Need to Do This Every Day

Dean rants against Bush.

Why won't THIS GUY run for Prez?

The Neocon Con

The Left Coaster dissects a recent Newsweek article calling into question the foreign policy intentions of the Bush Administration. Snippet:

Kristol’s comment at the end of the story is telling. And it seems to indicate to me that these guys are just the way I originally thought they were before the PNAC stuff emerged: a bunch of inflexible cold-war Neanderthals incapable of the multitasking and nuanced big-picture analyses required for diplomacy in the world we face. If Iraq was the endgame all by itself, we can feel relieved and scared at the same time. Relieved that these guys have blundered their way into situations in Afghanistan and Iraq that will tie us down for years while not allowing them to create mischief elsewhere. And scared because even in doing these ill-conceived things in a half-assed and surly manner they have made the world more unsafe than they found it in 2001.

Could Steve Gilliard be on to something? I think so.

Senator Jeffords' Second Anniversary speech.

In case you haven't had your fix of Bushisms lately, here's a slew of them.

A plug for DennisKucinich.

The myth of Robert Byrd and the USS Abraham Lincoln

And a plug for someone in desperate need for one: Tim Duncan.

Yeah, Ithaca, NY is a progressive city. But come on, sometimes you should leave the cameras at home.

Okay, okay. We're all unpatriotic, treasonous anti-american lefty villians. Now that we've talked that one to death can we please get the h*ll off our butts and start supporting some Democratic candidates who are trying their damnedest to make something big out of something that's big?

Hey, It's Our turn

Clinton got a blow job and consequently was impeached. The American public got screwed by Bush and consequently got sons/daughters needlessly killed in the Middle East, increasing unemployment, increasing taxes, decreasing quality of health care and education, the rest of the planet hating us and the environment heading back into the sewer. Clinton is now having the time of his life; when does ours start?

American Public: Pathetically Ignorant

From the Charlotte Observer:

A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll, and 22 percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons. But no such weapons have been found, nor is there evidence they were used recently in Iraq.

Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were among the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. But most of them were from Saudi Arabia. None were Iraqis. How could so many people be so wrong about information that has dominated the news for nearly two years? The poll results startled the pollsters who conducted and analyzed the surveys. "It's a striking finding," said Steve Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which asked the weapons questions during a May 14-18 poll of 1,265 respondents. "Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention," he said, "this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance." That is, having their beliefs conflict with the facts. Kull said the poll's data showed the mistaken belief that weapons of mass destruction were found "is substantially greater among those who favored the war."

Pollsters and political analysts see several reasons for the gap between fact and belief: the public's short attention span on foreign news, fragmentary or conflicting media reports that lacked depth or skepticism, and Bush administration efforts to sell a war by oversimplifying the threat. "Most people get little whiffs and fragments of news, not in any organized way," said Thomas Mann, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, a centrist think tank. "And there have been a lot of conflicting reports on the weapons." Polls show support for Bush and the war, though 40 percent in the May survey found U.S. officials were "misleading" in some of their justifications for war. A majority, 55 percent, said they were not misleading. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

That explains quite a bit. But it doesn't explain the Democratic Leadership's total lack of action.

Bush Speaks in N.J.

Some excerpts from Bush's speech yesterday in New Jersey. I don't think any interpretation is necessary.

We sat around the table and I listened to the concerns of both taxpayer employee, as well as small business owner. And the concerns are great, but the concerns can be solved.

People want to have a secure environment in which to risk capital. And, therefore, our biggest challenge, or one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that we continue to fight and win the war on terror.

On September the 11th, our country was shocked -- this part of the world was particularly shocked -- at the violence, the sudden violence done. We were shocked into recognizing that oceans can no longer protect us from harm, and therefore we have the serious charge to keep.

This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history -- revisionist historians is what I like to call them. Saddam Hussein was a threat to America and the free world in '91, in '98, in 2003. He continually ignored the demands of the free world, so the United States and friends and allies acted. And one thing is for certain -- (applause) -- and this is for certain: Saddam Hussein is no longer a threat to the United States and our friends and allies. (Applause.)

We've got a lot of brave troops still on the move, still looking for terrorists. We're cooperating with our friends and allies, we're sharing intelligence, we're running down their money trails. But one thing is certain for the American people to know, that this government will use whatever technologies and skill is necessary to secure America by hunting down those who would harm us, one person at a time. It is a charge we have been given and it is a charge we will keep.

I went to the United States Congress when I first got elected and said, this nation is -- looks like it's in recession. We need to let people have more of their own money in order to stall off the recession.

But we needed more action, so I went in front of the Congress this year and I said, let's come together, let's set aside all the party politics and partisan bickering and remember why we're in Washington in the first place -- we're there to do what's right for the American people. We must care about how to help somebody find work. That's what we ought to be focused on, not partisanship, but what's right for the American people.

Listen, if choice in health care is good enough for members of the United States Congress and their employees, it ought to be good enough for the seniors of the United States of America.

But our military muscle is not the true strength of America. I mean, there's no question about it, we've got the capacity to fight and win war and therefore make the world more peaceful.

By the way, there was no mention of WMD's in Iraq, which was about the only thing he did talk about in his speeches 6 months ago.

"The Dog Ate My WMDs"

William Rivers Pitt, a high school teacher, has heard every kind of excuse. Bush's are no different.

Our Dependable Government

Well isn't this just dandy. The IRS wants the very poor to prove they qualify for a measly tax credit while so many of the filthy rich are cheating ad nauseam on their taxes as the IRS looks the other way. If nothing else, this Republican administration is predictable and consistent.

And if that doesn't fan your ire, how about this possible scandal. Halliburton was given $500 million in contracts by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1991 for Iraqi war work. Sniff sniff... I smell something rotten. (Note: Adobe Acrobat required.)

Friday Readings and Viewings

Someone Truly Making a Difference

Blogging for Profit.

"Am I Still an Unpatriotic Traitor?"

Only 6 Days Remaining to Buy Hummer Upgrade

Critical Weeks

Attack of the Beer Belly

Deliberate Deception

Bush Playing in Parents' Driveway

Who's Watching the Press?

Teaching English to Japanese

Gollum's MTV Acceptance Speech (warning: some really foul language)

Impeachment: It's the American Way

Excerpt from Ted Rall's latest column:

Nixon and Clinton escaped criminal prosecution for burglary, perjury and obstruction of justice. George W. Bush, however, stands accused as the greatest mass murderer in American history. The Lexington Institute estimates that the U.S. killed between 15,000 and 20,000 Iraqi troops during the fraudulently justified invasion of Iraq, plus 10,000 to 15,000 wounded. More than 150 U.S. soldiers were killed, plus more than 500 injured. A new Associated Press study of Iraqi civilian casualties confirms at least 3,240 deaths. Although Bush, Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice denied such legal niceties to the concentration-camp inmates captured in their illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, these high-ranking Administration henchmen should be quickly turned over--after impeachment proceedings for what might properly be called Slaughtergate--to an international tribunal for prosecution of war crimes.

How Ironic that, on the day Gregory Peck passes on, the character he played in "To Kill A Mockingbird" was voted the top hero in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Heroes and Villians.

False Clams

Josh Marshall explains "imminent threat" and how it was used wrongly by Bush to justify his invasion of Iraq.

Remember, You Heard It Here First

Invisibility technology used to hide bin Laden and Hussein.

Safety, Fuel Economy and SUVs

Excerpts from the Common Dreams Progressive Newswire:

This past April, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a stunning statistic: For the first time in a quarter century, the number of traffic fatalities in the United States rose over the previous year’s total – to 42,850. We also found out this spring that the average fuel economy for the nation’s fleet of motor vehicles declined in 2002 – for the first time in 22 years – to 20.4 mpg. There is a simple explanation for these alarming statistics: the proliferation of sport utility vehicles, which now make up one-fourth of all new vehicles sold. These vehicles are threatening to overwhelm the revolutionary safety improvements we have seen since the first auto safety laws were passed by Congress in 1966. And they are steadily rolling back the significant fuel conservation gains that began with passage of the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in 1975.

Had Congress in 1990 passed CAFE legislation sponsored by Sen. Richard Bryan, passenger cars would now be getting, on average, 40 miles per gallon, and SUVs and other light trucks would be getting 29 miles per gallon. This would have saved motorists $89 billion in fuel costs and reduced U.S. oil consumption by 1.5 billion barrels in 2002 alone. It also would have resulted in safer highways for everyone.

This is an excerpt from a Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. Read the entire statement and find out what Detroit's big three are planning to (not) do.

Give Her a Hub (sic)

THIS will either scare you or humorize you.

Got 30 minutes?

Al Franken vs. Bill O'Reilly (thanks Buzzflash for the link). Here's the 30 minute video.

Another great passes on to the big anchordesk in the sky. So long, David Brinkley.

Securing Funds for Security

This guy, Fred Kaplan, is GOOD. Read his thorough analysis on lack of adequate federal funding for homeland security. Only bad thing is, after reading it you'll come away feeling a whole lot less secure.

Bush , Osama and 9-11

This is an issue that is still unresolved. Snippet:

To suggest that the Bush Administration arranged the 9/11 tragedy is to resort to wildly speculative conspiracy theories. On the other hand, there is a substantive and documented record of neglect and obstruction to warrant a charge of criminal negligence by Bush and his national security state apparatus. It may be that part of that apparatus, especially elements within the FBI, are angered by how they and their reports were cavalierly treated by the White House. They and other congressional sources may be leaking the kind of information that was essential in bringing down President Nixon. Instead of waiting, however, for what appears as inevitable congressional investigations, we should be doing everything in our power to raise questions in public forums and the courts, if possible, about the criminal negligence of the Bush Administration. Before another pretext is created for another war for oil and the advancement of the military-industrial complex, this Administration needs to be confronted for the duplicitous and corrupt self-serving elite they are.

Read the entire article HERE.

Thought For the Day

Maybe we should cordon off the area and let Palestine and Israel just shoot it out until there's a winner. If you have a better idea, please leave a comment. And I don't mean an idea that they've already tried.

JERUSALEM (AP) 6.11.03, 10:45a -- A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and wounding nearly 70. An hour later, an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing two Hamas officials and at least five other people and wounding 30.

Proof in the Pudding

In case you thought it might be true, here is the absolute proof that Bush is the anti-christ.

North Korea Needs a Better Meal Ticket

As hideous as this story is, it should be a wake-up call to the Bush Administration to stop screwing around with nuclear weapons diplomacy and start getting serious about helping the people of this country.

Put a Cork in It

The entire sporting community is aghast, aghast I tell you, at Sammy Sosa's corked bat. Charles P. Pierce, writing for Slate, puts the whole issue into a proper perspective.

ReviewOlogy

I normally don't advertise the work of one of my kids, but I highly recommend ReviewOlogy. There are reviews of TV shows, films and live theatre, all by one 11-year-old self-proclaimed critic, that are funnier and more informative than anything you'll ever read in the Calendar section of the L.A. Times.

Question

Be sure to stop at Wolf Blitzer's site and answer the Question of the Day:

Did President Bush exaggerate the ties between al Qaeda and Iraq?

The Bush Juggernaut

Jeremy Brecher's Foreign Policy in Focus discussion paper analyzes ways of "Terminating the Bush Juggernaut". Intro:

The Bush administration is presenting itself to the world as a juggernaut--a "massive inexorable force that advances irresistibly, crushing whatever is in its path." Bush's National Security Strategy envisions its "war against terrorism" as "a global enterprise of uncertain duration." It says the U.S. will act against "emerging threats before they are fully formed." The Bush administration envisions the coming decades as a continuation of recent U.S. demands, threats, and wars. It intends to continue the aggressive behavior already illustrated by war on Afghanistan and Iraq, armed intervention in the Philippines and Columbia, and threats against Syria, Iran, and North Korea. The Bush administration and its successors are likely to continue this juggernaut until they are made to stop.

Iraq, circa July, 2002

Just how prophetic was Phyllis Bennis regarding our Iraq policy? Read for yourself.

Bush = Nazis, part XXII

Bill Connolly raises one of those issues that cyclicly surfaces and disappears every few years. He points out that the Polish edition of Newsweek ran a recent article about the connection between President Bush's grandfather (Prescott Bush) and the Nazis in the 1930's and 40's. Here is the standard conspiracy site that covers the whole biased story.

Let's Give It More Time

Speaking of bandwagons (see last post) there's no reason just yet to start shooting off calls for "Bush's impeachment because he lied to us" about the reason for invading Iraq. A lot of information still needs gathering and analysis, i.e. more ex-Hussein officials need to be interviewed, more locations need to be inspected. The damage to the increasingly reactionary Left will be severe if the impeachment process is asked to walk before it can crawl. Let's take our time and get the facts so that the accusations are irrefutable. The Left is already on shaky ground with the lack of direction and power. It can ill afford another blow that can cause permanent damage.

Museum Treasures Safe

So it turns out that the Baghdad Museum was not as severely ransacked as originally reported. A special report on the Guardian Unlimited reveals the truth. An awful lot of the media an even more bloggers (including yours truly) wrongly jumped onto the misinformed bandwagon. I'm beginning to wonder if we're all making the same mistake about WMD...

Added Catalyzer Journal to the Politics & Opinions blogroll.

Also: Cure for Headaches

Keep Your Number

Finally! Cell phone users can keep their numbers, court rules.

Louis Gould has a solution to the problem of the U.S. Presidency.

Problem: Two-Term Limit:

The story of the modern presidency is a cautionary tale rather than an American success saga. The instituion badly needs rethinking and fundamental reorientation. As it stands now, the presidency is beset with intractable problems. These difficulties, I believe arise from the interaction of three main forces:

1. The increase in size of the presidency.
2. The rise of what has been called "continuous campaigning."
3. The impact of the twin pressures of celebrity and show business. (One key structural change in the Constitution, the Twenty-Second Amendment, completed the emergence of the presidency as we know it.)

Solution: Repeal the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

First and foremost, I would endorse the repeal of the Twenty-Second Amendment mandating only two elected terms for any successful president. Passed after World War II largely with Republican support, it was designed to make it impossible for any other politician, and presumably a Democrat, to serve three terms as Franklin D. Roosevelt did and then to be elected to a fourth. The amendment achieved that purpose, of course, and will operate against President Bush if he is reelected in 2004. There is at least one congressman now, Jose Serrano of New York, a Democrat, who wants to repeal the Twenty-Second Amendment, but his initiative is unlikely to go anywhere.

This is an issue that is long overdue for debate. Read the entire article HERE

A WMD Tribute to Dr. Seuss

A young person's guide to weapons of mass destruction by Tim Dunlop. Here's the Beginning:

I am Sa-ddam
I am Sa-ddam
Saddam I am

That Saddam-I-am
That Saddam-I-am
I do not like
that Saddam-I-am

Have you found my weapons in the sand?

I have not found your weapons in the sand.
I have not found them Saddam-I-am.

Have you found them here or there?
Have you found them anywhere?

I have not found them here or there.
I have not found them anywhere.

This may become your poisoned chalice.
Have you looked inside my palace?

Read the entire poem HERE.

And then there's THIS one.

Speech by Senator Robert Byrd June 5, 2003. Snippet:

"Saddam Hussein is missing. Osama bin Laden is missing. Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are missing. And the President's mild claims that we are "on the look" do not comfort me. There ought to be an army of UN inspectors combing the countryside in Iraq or searching for evidence of disbursement of these weapons right now. Why are we waiting? Is there fear of the unknown? Or fear of the truth?"

"How Badly Do You Want to Win?"

This speech by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) made two days ago will get you out of your La-Z-Boy.

WOW!

CNN possibly supports the impeachment of Bush? Snippet:

This administration may be due for a scandal. While Bush narrowly escaped being dragged into Enron, which was not, in any event, his doing. But the war in Iraq is all Bush's doing, and it is appropriate that he be held accountable.

To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."

Sign me up as a witness!

This editorial by Ruth Rosen of the S.F. Chronicle says it in a similar fashion.

Sent to me by Jason; from Famous Quotes:

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." -- Elie Wiesel (1928- ) Writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner 1986

Stuff

Here's something fun to do for about 60 seconds before you get bored. Each time you click on the refresh button in the browser when on THIS WEB SITE you'll see the content in a totally new configuration that is randomly generated. The nice thing is that you can save the configuration and use it for your own web page (instructions on the site).

And speaking of fun, by just entering your birthdate HERE you can determine what type of person you were in your past life. It turns out that two of my three sons were females several centuries ago, and two were watchmakers. I wonder if they kept their bedrooms any neater 500 years ago.

Bored? How would you like to BUY A GHOST?

And Finally... How to KEEP YOUR BEER COLD outside on hot days.

Poor People and Taxes

Here's a great quote from the T.A.P. newsletter of 6/6/03:

...ever wonder why so many conservatives -- from Bob Novak to Rush
Limbaugh to The Wall Street Journal editorial page -- keep talking about how poor people don't pay taxes? ... Aaron Schatz looks at the absurdity of this bald-faced lie. Of course many of the poor don't pay federal income taxes. But given the number of regressive taxes out there, many end up paying a larger percentage of their earnings to the government than the average American. As Schatz puts it: "The Wall Street Journal, for example, claimed this week that the tax bill "exempts another three million-plus low-income workers from any federal tax liability whatsoever." Perhaps, but apparently these 3 million people aren't paying FICA. They also don't drive cars, smoke, drink or use the phone. That's not 3 million people. That's Eric Robert Rudolph."

Well, okay, you just can't say it any better than THIS

Everybody say it together: "I'm a liberal. F*ck you!"

Say Bye Bye to Sesame Street Warnings?

Time to scrap the Terror Alert System (color-coded threat alerts)? I think so, as does the DLC. But I will miss seeing Ernie or Bert when I load my blog.

"Where's the Outrage?"

Read David Corn's latest rant.

94 Senators Try a Fix

The Senate tries to fix one part of history's worst tax-cut bill:

WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Senate voted overwhelmingly today to give an increased child tax credit to millions of low-income families who did not receive it in the new tax law, moving rapidly to quell an issue that Democrats had used to portray Republicans as brutish toward the poor. The vote was 94 to 2. Both opponents, Senators Don Nickles and James M. Inhofe, are Republicans from Oklahoma. Mr. Nickles said he objected to increasing the refund to people who did not pay federal income taxes. The bill, which would allow 6.5 million minimum-wage families to begin receiving checks of $400 per child, now goes to the House, where its prospects are uncertain. Two senior House Republican officials said today that House leaders would vote for the increased child credit only as part of a much broader tax bill that could cost the Treasury about $100 billion. That could cost the bill Senate support. The Senate bill is projected to pay for itself with increased customs fees and would not come at a cost to the Treasury.

Thanks for Trying, Verizon

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has struck another blow to our personal privacy, this time on our use of the internet. Snippets:

Verizon Communications said Wednesday that it will turn over to a recording industry trade group the names of four anonymous subscribers accused of illegal file swapping, after an appellate panel denied the company's request for a delay.

At stake are subpoena powers granted under a controversial copyright law that aims to make it easier for content owners to combat Internet piracy. Unlike ordinary "John Doe" subpoenas, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) allows copyright holders to subpoena information without first seeking a judge's blessing, making it an easier and cheaper method for tracking down alleged copyright infringers.

Privacy experts have criticized such subpoenas, saying they violate consumers' privacy and give copyright holders too much power. Internet trade groups worry that it could shift the burden of copyright enforcement toward ISPs.

For an analysis on why the court's actions are probably illegal, go to THIS article and then click "30-page brief" in the 2nd paragraph. And HERE is another analysis of the situation.

HERE is a fascinating interview with Paul Kunz, who, along with his fellow group of atom-smashers, created the first web page in 1991.

Arianna Spouts

Arianna's latest column rips apart the recent tax cuts. Snippet:

"How about the unprecedented aircraft-leasing deal currently being put together by the Pentagon and Boeing -- a plan that uses the same kind of accounting sleight-of-hand popularized by the gang at Enron. Here's how it works: instead of the Pentagon buying the 100 new jets it wants to use as aerial refueling tankers directly from Boeing, at an upfront cost of $138 million per plane, a special-purpose entity created on Wall Street will purchase the planes and lease them to the Air Force. That way the Pentagon gets to acquire the planes without having to dip into the Air Force's limited procurement budget, and Boeing gets to reap billions in new military contracts without having to show the debt associated with the shady deal on its balance sheet. It's an off-the-books win-win deal for them both -- but a losing proposition for taxpayers, who'll end up forking over an additional $8 billion to cover the interest payments on the leases. The sleazy new deal is being put together by the good bankers at Citigroup -- the same outfit that helped Enron defraud shareholders out of, what do you know, also $8 billion. Who says irony is dead?"

Wolfowitz Admits What We All Know and What Bush Won't Say

From The Guardian today:

The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.

Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."

In The Media...

Doesn't THIS just make your skin crawl?

Top U.S. Marine Commander in Iraq says there are no WMD.

Let the media buyouts begin.

Helen Thomas on those dadburn WMD.

The Saintly Molly Ivins on the FCC's new deregulation rules.

SAVE KITTENS!

Salam Pax, author of "Dear Raed" has been found. The Guardian has the full story.

The Blog Ecosystem

We're a Slimy Mollusk (see 1507 or so). We'd like to be at least a Crawly Amphibian.

What's Up With Blogger?

I am getting quite frustrated with Blogger these days. I paid upgrades for Blogger Pro and Blogspot Plus, and the service has been steadily degrading almost daily, especially with respect to speed and template reliability. I've seen many other similar complaints by fellow Blogger users. If you have info on a more-reliable blogger service, I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a comment or e-mail me. Thanks loads!

A Clear Channel to Supporting Media Monopolies

***UPDATE*** IT'S OFFICIAL.

Dan Gillmor of the Mercury News examines today's almost certain decision to relax "rules governing corporate ownership of multiple media outlets, potentially unleashing a wave of consolidation that could put the nation's TV, radio stations and newspapers into the hands of fewer owners." Snippet:

"Among the changes likely to be approved:
• A single company could own up to three TV stations in a single market, such as the Bay Area;
• A company could own TV stations reaching 45 percent of the nation's viewing audience, up from the current 35 percent cap;
• A company could own both a newspaper and a TV station in all but the smallest markets.
The Bay Area market, which includes San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, is typical of other major markets. One-fourth of the region's TV stations are owned by major TV networks. The nation's two largest radio groups -- Clear Channel Communications and Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting -- own nearly one-third of the local radio stations. And the two largest newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Mercury News, are owned by larger companies that also own other media properties across the nation."

Dan then asks, what can we do next: (snippet)

"Assuming the fix is in, let's ask a different question: Where do we go from here? We, the people, need to understand what's happening, and why. Then we need to get angry. We need to get organized, and take the fight back to the halls of power. And we need to call Powell's bluff. He's reassuring everyone that our fears are groundless, but now he has to back his lofty words with genuine action."

Read the entire article HERE.

Finally, Tom Shales of the Washington Post gives his effusive rant about the whole issue. Snippet:

"Unless something dramatic and unexpected occurs to stop it, this is what will happen today in Washington: The Republican chairman of the Republican-dominated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and his Republican majority will revise long-standing rules on media ownership in ways that will hugely benefit, among others, rich Republicans. Revising and relaxing the rules that prohibit a single entity from controlling too large a percentage of American media will allow corporations that are already too big to become much, much bigger. Also much more powerful and much more oblivious to the common good. The proposed changes are such a threat to First Amendment freedoms that even some Republicans on Capitol Hill have been brave enough to oppose them. And yet, a fat lot of good it does. FCC Chairman Michael Powell wants to plow ahead with his deregulation scheme no matter what. It appears he is trying to do more damage than any other chairman in FCC history."

Take 4 minutes and do this.

Tomorrow (June 2nd) the FCC will be voting on new rules that allow media corporations to increase the number of stations they can own. You can do something about it today. Click or paste into your address field, the following link and briefly (e.g. "I am strongly opposed to further relaxing the current media ownership rules") let the FCC know how you feel. DO it NOW.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/ecfs/Upload?hot_docket=1006400938%7C02-277%7CBroadcast+Ownership&Send=Continue

Here is a post of mine today at Billmon:

"As long as the American masses are indifferent enough to not care about searching for the truth, we (those who do care) are doomed. As Michael Rivero said: "Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of a corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all."

We (who care) have all been in the same boat for many months now, and tell me, have any of us actually convinced any one else to change their pro-Bush view? Probably not. That's because we propogate a we're-right-you're-wrong attitude rather than lowering ourselves to their level of attention and pointing out how their lives are slowly spinning into the sewer as a result of almost everything the Bush Administration does. Joe-next-door doesn't care about the relative distribution of tax cuts between the extremely poor and the top 1% of the income spectrum. But if you show him how his state must now raise his taxes, reduce police and fire teachers due to lower federal taxes, then you'll get his attention."

Tom Paine has chronologically arranged the WMD statments, made by Bush et al to the American public since last summer. People, these statements were made to you by our President and his staff in order to convince you of the necessity of their actions. Now, you tell me if the slaughter of Iraq based on these statements was justified, and if so, why. More (and original source of) statements HERE.

Republicans Screw Low-Income Citizens - Part II

From Yesterday's NY Times:

"A new study by groups critical of the tax law that President Bush signed on Wednesday has found that 8 million mostly low-income taxpayers will not receive any benefit from the law. Republicans have said for weeks that the new tax law was designed to benefit all those who pay income taxes. This is the second time since Congress passed the bill that critics have pointed out how some of its provisions would not help millions of people in the lowest tax brackets. In response to earlier disclosures about the complex bill's fine print, the Senate's chief Republican writer of tax legislation said on Friday that Congress should revise at least some of the law's provisions, involving child tax credits, to broaden their effect. The new analysis says that the taxpayers who get nothing from the tax law are primarily low-income single people who do not have children and lack income from dividends or capital gains. A large number of low- and moderate-income single parents with children over 16 will also get no benefit from the law, because it did not change the tax rate for such parents who are unmarried. In combination with the children who were cut from the bill's benefits by the Congressional negotiators, the study says, there are 50 million households — 36 percent of all households in the nation — who will receive no benefit from the tax law. The figure includes people who do not earn enough to owe income tax. But the study's authors noted that there are 40 times as many taxpayers who get no benefit from the cuts as there are millionaires who will get 44 percent of the law's tax benefits in 2005."

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Take the Post-War Iraqi Quiz and see how informed you are.

Then, see why Bush is a Genius. Really.

Bush finally seeks peace with nations who opposed his invasion. NOT!