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PRAWN Flyer (PDF) Updated 1Jan08 Philadelphians for Impeachment or Indictment of Bush and Cheney To: City Councilmembers of Philadelphia From: World Can't Wait |
Event Flyers: Make Peace Count 27 Aug (Updated 8/25) ad hoc peace demo Oct 10 |
| Next meeting: TBA At Local 47, AFSCME, 1606 Walnut St, 6:30PM-9:00PM People have asked about parking near where we meet, there is no parking in the immediate vicinity. Folks can park at nearby Septa stations and take the train or subway in or Larry Petkov at 215-563-6357 can obtain a parking space for you in a nearby parking garage. Contacting us: Sign up for our RiseUp unmoderated discussion/events list serve. It also has archives so you can also check up on discussions. Non-members can post to this list, but those posts will be moderated. Or sign up for our Yahoo events-only list serve. This is also unmoderated, so we depend on discretion being used when posting. Webmaster & miscellaneous questions. August 17th, Marcus Garvey Peace Event Born on this date in 1887, Marcus Garvey, the black orator, founded a global mass movement based on his Pan-African philosophy. Northwest Greens and 24 other peace groups will demonstrate from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. near Senator Arlen Specter's home on West Schoolhouse Lane (between Henry Avenue and Gypsy Lane) in East Falls. They want Specter to cut off funding for the U.S. occupation of Iraq and to bring the troops home now. Twenty-four peace groups will demonstrate from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. near Senator Arlen Specter's home on West Schoolhouse Lane (between Henry Avenue and Gypsy Lane) in East Falls. We want Specter to cut off funding for the U.S. occupation of Iraq and to bring the troops home, now. For more information, please contact 215-307-7980 and info2506@prawnworks.net. It's
going
to take place
upon the third Sunday of the month 2pm
to 4pm at the intersection of Timber Lane and Schoolhouse Lane near the
West Chestnut Hill stop on
the R8 train line or by the 32 bus line. For people using
MapQuest
or some other online map search program, the search terms are:
Our view of the current war in Iraq:
It's time to withdraw. The war was a crime against humanity to begin with and the alternative is to go through what happened in Vietnam in 1975, a panicked helicopter exodus from the rooftops. PRAWN's mission is to:
Local Resource Organizations
National Organizations Marlene
Santoyo's
Political
Allies Newsletter
15 Aug 08 31 Jul 08 13 Jul 08 20 Apr 08 23 Mar 08 15 Mar 08 6 Mar 08 28 Feb 08 18 Jan 08 9 Jan 08 17 Dec 07 15 Nov 07 5 Sep 07 30 Aug 07 15 Aug 07 2 Aug 07 24 Jun 07 24 Apr 07 20 Apr 07 15 Apr 07 12 Apr 07 21 Mar 07 16 Mar 07 21 Feb 07 16 Jan 07 8 Jan 07 28 Dec 06 13 Dec 06 8 Dec 06 28 Nov 06 17 Nov 06 10 Nov 06 24 Oct 06 13 Oct 06 7 Oct 06 29 Sep 06 19 Sep 06 13 Sep 06 23 Aug 06 11 Aug 06 1 Aug 06 26 Jul 06 7 Jul 06 2 Jul 06 20 Jun 06 6 Jun 06 1 Jun 06 23 May 06 13 May 06 2 May 06 "Political Allies Newsletter" email listserve which is sent out a few times a month. There are actions you may want to support & local, national & international articles, most of which are not printed in the Phila Inquirer or NY Times. Topic titles are listed. You may read any portion, file away for another time or delete any or all. To subscribe, if in the Philadelphia area: send a blank message to this address. To subscribe If OUTSIDE the Philadelphia area then send a blank message to this address. |
Upcoming Events Make Peace Count in the Election and Beyond 7:00pm 27 August Finnigan's Wake 3rd & Spring Garden St. Philadelphia, PA 19123 Directions End the Iraq War Prevent War with Iran Relaxation - Good times - Large Screen TV to watch speeches on Link to Democratic Convention site Vice-Presidental selectee Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) will speak Democratic "Theme of the Day" is National Security contact Gene Miller the ad hoc peace committee is organizing an anti-war demonstration 4:00 until 6:00 pm on Friday, October 10 West side of City Hall, 15th and Market Streets Please join us at our next planning meeting at 6:30 pm on Thursday, September 4, at LAVA Zone, 4134 Lancaster Avenue in Powelton Village , Philadelphia You may also email your endorsement to: Chris Robinson 215-843-4256 or John K. 609.558.1869. Call to organize an Iraq Town Hall by Democrats.com Democrats.com has 500,000 members, roughly 1,000 in each district. That's more than enough to fill 435 Iraq Town Halls, if just two committed activists in each district will take the lead in organizing one. Will you help us organize an Iraq Town Hall? Everything you
need to get started is here: The Strange Bedfellows coalition has put an ad into the WaPo about the FISA cave-in. (PDF 1 & 2) They're collecting money to shame the enabling Washington DC press corps and their corporate sponsors. Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) did a study of the Iraq War (60 page PDF), concluding that it is a “major debacle,” a “classic case of failure,” and a conflict that may not be winnable." Update: Contains lots of points of agreement with Bush Administration (i.e., that Saddam Hussein attempted to assassinate the elder George Bush, among many others) but these can be seen as tactical agreements, made so that other points have more credibility (i.e., "This is not a DFH screed!").  Quickly, Carefully & Generously - A Responsible Plan for Withdrawing from Iraq - a Committee headed by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) Executive Summary (6 pages) PDF Full version (34 pages) PDF Question: How to withdraw American troops from Iraq without sustaining needless casualties?  Remind me again, just why did the Depression occur? Database of 935 Bush Administration lies that preceded the Iraq War  Not many people are even aware of death toll. The Senate Intelligence Committee Phase II report (PDF) Part I Part II on the lies that the Bush Administration told the American People in order to drag us into the Iraq War.  Post-"Surge,"
casualties in Iraq
start climbing back up
Icasualties "Casualty Trends" shows that US military fatalities reached an average of 30 per week in Jun 07, declined to around 5 a week by Jan 08, but have remained consistent at around 8 per week since then. Update: Apr 08 is the deadliest month on record since Sep 07.  To mention another issue, consider conservatives (red) vs liberals (blue) and how Republicans would like to shift that balance even further. YouTube video produced by local Gold Star family Boston IndyMedia story  Seems the
plans made for the Iraq War fall into the category of what we
call
"wishful thinking." The idea here was that the occupation
force
in Iraq was going to fall to 5000 by December 2006.
Oops!
Cool Protest Idea!! Obtain toy plastic soldier, add a label "Bring me home!", leave in bookstores, libraries, coffee shops, etc. and The Freeway Blogger strikes again! Media
Tank says
FCC is considering
reviewing rules for media ownership This may pave the way for further concentration of the already-overconcentrated mediaMedia Tank and other Philadelphia groups ran a public hearing with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps here in Philadelphia on January 18th, 2007. Archive of presentation.PhillyIMC story Status of Public Access TV Philadelphia
is about America's
only major city without public access TV. This
means that
noncommercial groups can't get airtime to explain their point of view
on any issue. They must depend on commercial media to do that
and
we have seen with the United
Church of Christ ads how willing they are to do that.
Thanks to the Adelphia company no longer being a player (PDF on Adelphia's sale of its assets.) in the cable TV business, Time-Warner and Comcast are now divvying up its assets. Adelphia used to own a substantial chunk of Philly's cable TV market and those assets are now slated for Comcast, which currently owns the other three-quarters of the city. Comcast has been legally obligated to provide free access to community groups since 1983 and the reason it has not done so is the subject of a long-running feud between the cable giant and the city. PCAC opposes allowing Comcast to swallow up that last portion "until Comcast make a public commitment to fully fund public access." The Philadelphia Grassroots Cable Coalition also points out that "Cable rates have risen more than three times the rate of inflation, with rate hikes in Philadelphia of 5% or more annually." PCAC
has a series of action
recommendations.
PGCC has a series of links to other groups. Also
important
news on low-power Community FM radio!
Especially noteworthy Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think: Book Review Essay. A relatively thin book (135 pages) that covers many issues with Muslims and how the West deals with them. No, there is no "clash of civilizations." What most Muslims hate about the US is the failure of the neoconservative movement to live up to the best ideals of our forefathers. They hate the fact that the neocons appear to have dragged the rest of America down into the sewer with them. The fellows behind Media Matters write Free Ride: John McCain and the Media, which examines how the media just loves John McCain and how they cover for him at every opportunity. Firedoglake discussed this book on March 29th. McCain had 135 appearances on high-profile talk shows between 1997 and 2006. One of his more infamous appearances (But that indicts the media more than it does McCain) was his November 12th appearance on Meet the Press. That's right, he appeared shortly after the Democratic sweep of the House & Senate to deliver an anti-Democratic message! Naomi Klein writes The Shock Doctrine. The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, that presents a very frightening picture of how modern capitalism makes profits off of disasters. It's a story of privatization via shock therapy run amuck. Klein's theory is discussed in the context of the California wildfires of late October 2007 and Grover Norquist's expressed desire to annihilate government's role in society. Susan Faludi writes The Terror Dream. Fear And Fantasy in Post-9/11 America, about how gender roles were shaped and twisted and bent to serve political ends. Faludi probably pays more attention to what the right wing was saying at the time than most folks were aware of, which may explain why some consider the book overheated. Faludi talks about how the "cult of the codpiece" was going to save us all from the "Islamofacist Menace" in the "War On Terror." Naom
Wolf's book The
End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot has
been very enthusiastically reviewed by a member of PRAWN.
Author Naomi Wolf wrote Fascist
America in 10 easy steps for The (UK) Guardian and has also
written
extensively on Blackwater, doing two
blog posts for firedoglake.
YouTube speech
by Naom Wolf on her book.
Juan Cole's book Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East is a look at how a former would-be conqueror of the Middle East fared. Answer: Not so hot and not as many differences as one would like to see between 1798-1800 and the younger George Bush's Iraq War 2003-? Update: Kewl marketing scheme for the book which doubles as a way to make important documents of the time available: The Napoleon's Egypt Blog Buzzflash is offering preview copies (3 DVD set) of Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" for a minimum donation of $35. Lawyer & blogger Glenn Greenwald's book, How Would a Patriot Act? hasn't been reviewed by many people, hasn't gotten any big buzz outside the blogs and it's already going to hit number 11 on the NY Times bestseller list! The News Blog reviews James Risen's book (The book that allegedly prompted the NY Times to reveal their knowledge of the NSA spying case.) Smirking Chimp reprints an NYRB review of Risen's book. Book is available from Powells and from Buzzflash (Which also includes another review.) Copied
the PDF of the
Congressional Research
Service's examination of whether it was legal for Bush to have the NSA
spying
for him without FISA warrants.
Short answer: NO! DailyKos describes it as a subtle, polite, well-worded "smackdown". Also, letter sent by "14 law professors and former federal government officials. [in which they] critique the Department of Justice's legal argument in support of the lawfulness of the secret NSA surveillance program." Other meetings/protests
In front of the Recruiting Office at Broad & Cherry Streets last Friday of each month from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. September 07 The Northwest Peace Coalition has been holding weekly candlelight vigils at 7:30 pm each Wednesday at the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike (near Borders Books) in Chestnut Hill. Northwest Peace and Justice Movement and the Unitarian Society of Germantown will begin on December 8 to hold a peace vigil every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, outside the Unitarian Society, 6511 Lincoln Drive (just north of Wayne DelCo Drinkng Liberally meets at John Harvard's Brew House, 1001 Baltimore Pike #1B (Springfield Square South) (map) monthly starting February 5th 6:30pm-8:30pm Archive of Action Items
Oh,
and just how DO Iraqis
feel about the "liberation" of their country?
 Did we gain a victory? Did the Armed
Forces Recruiting Station move away because we were protesting in front
of it once a month? Hey, ya never know!
 Photos
from demonstration observing 4,000th US serviceperson's death
in
Iraq. YouTube
of Celeste Zappala interview. Brandywine Peace Community describes the
event.
Activists are proposing Iraq
Town hall meetings in
response.
 IVAW Winter
Soldier event, A 25-mile march from the Constitution Center to Valley
Forge.
 March on Congressman Joe Sestak's office  Human Chain Event - took place in coordination with 10 other American cities all on the same day. Other demonstrations.  NW Greens collect articles on ANSWER's 15 Sep march in Wash DC  Cindy
Sheehan
visits Philly as part of her campaign to push the Democrats
harder
to end the war.
 Parade for Peace - Chestnut Hill/Mt Airy/Germantown Concerned both violence here at home and violence abroad in Iraq Photos by Hal Sawyer PhillyIMC article Photos & story by Sandy Monique's photos of vigil in West Philly  March in Washington DC 27 Jan 07 Video from PhillyIMC Link to PhillyIMC article (Which has links to lots of pieces)  Active duty soldiers deliver Appeal for Redress  "Last Friday" Protest Photos covering March & April 07 Story by Del Val Vets and by PRAWN   Yet another Tombstones display!  Celeste Zappala with Iraq War vets behind her  We decided to start up yet another regular monthly protest! Sept07  
We were concerned that we might have a sparse demonstration in August. Code Pink saved us by showing up at our monthly rally near Senator Specter's home!!    Declaration of Peace rally in Philly 
One of the Grannies for Peace outside the recruiting station on June 28th.  Combination of pictures from Rich and Monique during march in NYC on 29 April 06      Easter Peace Event    Protest - Break the Silence  
 Observing third anniversary of beginning of Iraq War by picketing near Senator Specter's home.    Cindy Sheehan, Monique Frugier, Bill Perry  Winter Solstice Event near Senator Specter's house Photos by Monique  The
main, serious, essential
question
  Bush comes to speak in Philadelphia 
These five pictures by Monique   
Gold Star Mother Celeste Zappala 
|
Info, articles, etc. Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten MUST appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions! To which we can only say GOOD! Enough of these scofflaws deciding which rules they like and don't like and which laws they'll obey! Sampling of International reactions to pick of Biden as prospective VP: Sudan plus Iraqi Sunnis & Shiites don't like his proposed plans for their countries. Iraqi Kurds like him, Israel, India, Ireland and Iran all like him. Turkey can live with him and Germany is ambivalent. *Sigh!* There's simply no two ways about it. Members of the media just LOVE John McCain! McCain says America should reinstate the draft. Media people claim (falsely) that he didn't say that. Media people claim the Georgia-Russia conflict showed how "tough" McCain was. Actually, it showed that he couldn't wait to blow up the world! Britain's MI5 conducts a lengthy survey of domestic terrorists and concludes that profiling is useless. ...those who become
terrorists "are a diverse collection of individuals, fitting no single
demographic profile, nor do they all follow a typical pathway to
violent extremism".
Ah-HA! Now we know! The Church of England reveals the truth. The reason that people have left the church is due to Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Yeah, seriously. The idea is that she represents the religion of Wicca, which is seducing women away with a message of female empowerment. VetVoice comments on John McCain's tendency to refer people to his Vietnam POW experience as his all-purpose answer to just about any uncomfortable question. Hilarious look at all of the various ways that right-wingers have tried to smear Obama (And its still only August!) So, it's looking like the US is discussing withdrawal by 2011 after all. And the exact plan the negotiaters appear to be considering? That plan is right
out of the Center for American
Progress' "Strategic Redeployment" paper of 2005
-- get out of the cities, get less visible, move from a combat mission
to a training mission, and then go. The left won the Iraq debate.
Period.
Yee-hah!!! Rachel Maddow gets tapped to do an MSNBC show!!! Between her, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and Keith Olbermann, that makes four liberals on the teevee! Woo-hoo! Pensite Review has a real chin-stroker of an evaluation: It’s interesting
that it’s happening now, so close to the election.
We expect to see any number of right-wing blogs hollering "Aaugh! Another liberal on the teevee?!?!? Update: the New Republic is very concerned that this destroys the objectivity of MSNBC. South Ossetia review: The story of how a
16-year, low-grade conflict
over who should rule two small, mountainous regions in the Caucasus
erupted into the most serious post-cold-war showdown between the United
States and Russia is one of miscalculation, missed signals and
overreaching...
People are mocking commentator Cokie Roberts for making the utterly stupid statement that Hawaii is some sort of foreign country. Well, to provincial East Coast elites, I guess it is. In a very sensible and prudent decision, Turkey refuses to allow US warships to travel through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the narrow straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, to carry out what the US claims are merely relief operations. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has requested new powers for the FBI, powers which they have decisively shown they're not competent to handle. South Ossetia war update: Georgia has actually been a US satellite for awhile now. conflict with Russia was only a matter of time. ...add in the
tireless US promotion of Georgia as a pro-western,
anti-Russian forward base in the region, its efforts to bring Georgia
into Nato,...
...under the Bush administration, Georgia has become a fully fledged US satellite. Georgia's forces are armed and trained by the US and Israel. In an excellent and very hopeful contrast to the Kerry campaign of 2004, the Obama campaign is taking the Jerome Corsi "Swiftboating" book with absolute, deathly seriousness. It appears that Obama knows full well that the traditional media is not his friend. Well, looks like the South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia [map] is on again! The current truce was negotiated with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, but apparently broke down when Russia kept up the attack. There is considerable evidence of lengthy US - Israeli planning that preceded the war. Currently, the fear is that Bush may be doubling down and increasing the US commitment. Allegedly, Russia has bargained with the US to trade off Georgia's independence for sanctions on Iran. We'll have to wait and see on that one. $%#@&%!!! And just why did we vote Democrats into the majority in 2006?!?!? Speaker Pelosi has now decided that, in addition to such sensible energy policies as: ...a requirement
that electricity be produced from renewable sources such
as wind and solar energy and the release of some oil from the nation’s
Strategic Petroleum Reserve...
she also wants to allow offshore drilling!!! In 2006, we asked for and got more Democrats. What we need this year is better Democrats! The South Ossetia conflict between Russia and Georgia is now over and Georgia seems to have gotten disillusoned with the ability of the West to pull its' chestnuts out of the fire. The BBC and Just World News contribute post-mortems. The fact that the US is heavily overstretched by the Iraq War and was thus unable to respond effectively was a big problem. Besides which, the US loss of moral credibility over that war and Guantanamo left it pretty much irrelevant. The Guardian appears to feel that Russia deserves some blame, but that there's plenty of blame to be spread to Georgia. Detailed timelines and corporate media reactions. Update: Of course now, after the crisis is over, SecState Rice is headed over there. Voter fraud (Not vote fraud, where the government makes it difficult to vote, but voter fraud, where an individual appears to be a legitimate voter while he or she is not) - not a problem in real life, but something that Republicans are pushing very hard as 1. Obama is counting heavily on new voters and 2. Republicans realize they have to even the electoral odds somehow. Conflict between Georgia (borders on the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains) and Russia. Russia is the formally-appointed peacekeeper for the region that includes Georgia, so it's not like Russia is (legally) the aggressor. It's of course popular to take the "David vs Goliath" position when observing a small country vs a large one, but that may not be the case here. Jane Mayer discusses her book "The Dark Side," about the War on Terror. Interesting answer to 911Truth theory (That 9-11 was an inside job): ...there was a tremendous sense of guilt
inside
the Bush White House and various highest places because they dropped
the ball on 9/11, as Clarke said.
------ ... they felt they had to show that they were in charge like nobody's business afterwards because they missed this, and they had 12 opportunities... The FBI case against Bruce Ivins is looking shakier and shakier. Had some extensive email conversations with conservatives recently that I think are of some interest. Number 1 (PDF - 70+ kilobytes) and I've appended extra comments to Number 2 (PDF - roughly 200 kilobytes). I think these conversations are worthwhile to the extent that one can make one's speech shed light instead of heat, but it really helps when both people have a fair amount of understanding between them to begin with. A condition that I don't think was really present in either case. Wow! Media people are starting to realize John McCain doesn't walk on water!!! Yippee! [F]ormer top
government scientist, Bruce
E. Ivins, who died Tuesday [29 July] of an apparent suicide.
The government just a month ago disposed of the case of another government scientist Steven Hatfill, which apparently cleared the way to accuse Ivins. Many, many questions are raised with the new accusation. We need a full-scale Congressional investigation. We especially need to inquire about the role played by ABC News. NY Times Book Review reviews Jane Myers' new book on the torture policies of the Bush Administration. Vice-President Cheney appears to be the primary actor here, Bush appears to play a peripheral role. "To a man who's only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" - both campaigns are determined to solve the Afghanistan problem by sending more troops, But greater US
attacks and more US troops in Afghanistan aren't the answer.
The piece concludes: So let's let India
and the new government of Pakistan handle their own problems.
----- ...they'll do better without heavy-handed US threats, which only aid extremists and ultranationalists. July
A conservative and I were having an email conversation and the guy waxes lyrical about the legal theory called "Original intent" and how wonderful it is. My question is "How seriously do conservatives take it in real time?" Welllll, not so much, it turns out. Federal precedent
dating as far back as 1807 contemplates that even the Executive is
bound to comply with duly issued subpoenas.
On what basis is the Bush Administration fighting the subpoenas of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten? The Executive cannot
identify a single judicial opinion that recognizes
absolute immunity for senior presidential advisors in this or any other
context.
But they're claiming "absolute immunity" anyway. In other words, when it comes to the day-to-day actions of this administration, the "Original intent" theory is completely irrelevant. Lawyer Jack Balkin is very impressed with the decision. Well, lots of damning testimony about Monica Goodling's actions in picking and choosing who could fill jobs at the Justice Department. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like anyone will be going to jail. This is quite serious as there's a reason that being selective about the politics of people there is so utterly and blatantly illegal. Despite the fact that a culture of partisanship prevailed, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claims he slept through the whole thing. Of course, it's very highly likely that Gonzales was hired for the AG job precisely to politicize the office. Problem is, if citizens get the impression that things like ones' sexual orientation are important to whether one receives justice, that discredits the entire system of justice in the US. Unsurprising news of the week: Media harder on Obama than McCain. Lefty blogs noted how McCain was treated by Katie Couric's show on CBS News (NY Times covered it, but left gaps in explanation). Now, CNN’s Reliable Sources picks up the story! Jane Mayer discusses the extremely bad effects the War on Terror has had upon the soul of America. A discussion of how the US view of the law for the last seven-plus years has pretty much destroyed America's credibility. The US lectures Russia and ends up looking pathetically stupid. Is the "Surge" in Iraq a meaningful element of the larger strategy there? Katie Couric interviews John McCain and Barack Obama, editing McCain's answer to be less embarrassing to him and being very, very obtuse with Obama. Yes, there certainly was a reduction in violence in Iraq and General Petraeus and the "Surge" certainly have something to do with that, but no, there's really no evidence that either of them were game-changers. BTW, Iyad Allawi, the former Prime Minister of Iraq, really doesn't think so either. Glenn Beck is not precisely advocating genocide, but it's hard to see what else he could mean. ...if you’re sitting
down and you’re talking to people, as [Barack Obama] has said
that he wants to do, and try to bring everybody together, you
cannot
bring people together that have
extremist ideology. […] You do not get into bed with
people that want to destroy you and run you into the sea.
[emphases added]
It's hard to see what else he could mean by this, other than that all Palestinians must cease to exist. Keep in mind this guy recently substituted for Larry King, an honor that one would think CNN would reserve for people they really liked. WaPo spins the story of Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki agreeing that US troops should be out of Iraq sometime in 2010 as though their positions were somehow inconsistent with each others. Whuuh?!?!? Drudge doesn't rule the world of the WaPo and the NY Times? They make independent editorial decisions?!?! Attorney General Michael Mukasey suggested that the problem of military detainees could be decided by new legislation. Problem #1: The courts are perfectly capable of hearing the cases at issue. Problem #2: The Geneva Conventions and the Constitution already comprehensively cover all of the relevant issues. There's simply no need to come up with any further laws. Some people are just professional umbrage-takers. They just go through their material, looking and looking and looking for something, anything to get offended about. The US seems intent on tossing out any leverage it might possibly have over the Maliki government of Iraq by insisting, over the objections of the highly nationalistic Iraqis, on remaining at all costs in Iraq. The really amusing aspect is that Maliki is agreeing with the campaign position of Obama and not that of McCain. Via e-mail, a
prominent Republican strategist who occasionally
provides advice to the McCain campaign said, simply, "We're fucked."
Why, according to Speaker Pelosi, are oil prices so high? The price
of oil is… is attributed to two oil men in the White House and their
protectors in the United States Senate.
WaPo utterly disgraces itself with an op-ed stating that the problem with environmentalists is that ...many
environmental leaders seem unpracticed at coalition-building. They
tend to be conventionally, if not radically, liberal. They sometimes
express a deep distrust for capitalism and hostility to the extractive
industries.
Erm, the reason that environmentalists have not been building broad and deep coalitions is that there is already a national consensus that the extractive industries are wrong! The really important question about the New Yorker cover (Showing Barack Obama as a Muslim and Michelle as a gun-toting militant) is "How did conservatives view it?" Answer, in pretty much the way bloggers thought they would, as a "true picture" as to how the couple really is. As Atrios said, this "... doesn't make the New Yorker public enemy #1, just makes them idiots of the week." Heh. Now we know that Obama is right on his withdrawal plan from Iraq! Michael O'Hanlon isn't just angry, he's livid over the plan. His main criticism is that Obama wants to pull out — regardless of what
the Iraqis do, regardless of what our enemies do, regardless of what is
happening on the ground —
which is actually a very popular position among the American people. In an email correspondence with a conservative, the fellow asked me how I justified supporting the Inky columnist Trudy Rubin. I replied "Rubin ain't no Molly Ivins." As if to prove that, Rubin produces an, uh, interesting column today. She suggested that Iraq was a problem for Barack Obama, ignoring the fact that it's a major problem for his rival McCain and her suggestion that "...Iran and the United States [want] to fight their battles on Iraqi soil" is just plain bizarre. There's simply no evidence that either a vacuum would be created by an American withdrawal or that such a vacuum would be filled by Iran. So now the Bush Administration wants to reach a deal with Maliki bypassing the Iraqi Parliament as well as the US Congress. "He is trying to
figure out, just as we did, how you can set up an
agreement between the two and have it be legally binding," one official
said, "but not go through the legislative body."
Hang it up, guys! You've lost. I mean, c'mon, if you have to bypass both legislative bodies to get an agreement, then that agreement won't be worth the paper it's written on. So legendary journalist I. F. Stone got most of his scoops by digging through government records and by quizzing reporters who had official access. He didn't have official access and didn't go to press conferences himself and yet scooped the press corps time and time again. How do reporters do when they have plentiful, generous official access to the McCain campaign? Well, er, um, not so hot, actually. The American people would benefit by knowing the answers to many, many very important questions that the reporters on McCain's campaign bus/plane somehow never seem to get around to asking. Traditional media figure asks his exclusively conservative panel if Obama has "lost his glow" at a time when Obama's poll numbers are increasing and at a time when McCain is stumbling. Ya think we could perhaps ask McCain about his adviser's comment that America's economic problems are all mental? Huh? Maybe? Here's an amusing one: Mark Penn (Who supervised Hillary Clinton's failed Democratic primary campaign) and Karen Hughes (Who supervised Bush's failed attempt to market America to the Musim world) now team up to rescue "corporations in crisis." Yeah, I'll buy stock in that "neat adventure." McCain engages in eliminationist language. Apparently, he thinks it's just hilarious to speak of the mass killing of Iranian citizens. The really sad part is that: Reporters Dismiss McCain’s Iran ‘Joke’ As Part Of His ‘Real Guy’ Persona I mean, Good Lord people! Don't we have any standards of morality left?!?!? Well, the Democrats lived down to our worst expectations by caving in on FISA. The piece at this link expresses puzzlement as to how "caving in" can be interpreted by Democrats as "showing strength," but they seem to believe that it does. Jane Hamsher of FDL has some good words of wisdom for how to respond (And it's not to put all our chips on Ralph Nader). Ooh! Very serious news! Sounds like the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani may oppose Bush's proposed Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that's intended to allow US troops to remain in Iraq after the UN mandate expires at the end of 2008. Very, very bad news for Americans who wish for US troops to remain in Iraq for, essentially, forever (*cough* McCain *cough*) The BBC runs a show "debunking" 9-11 Truth theories. Results are more amusing than convincing. Jonah Goldberg compares Obama's suggested student national service (50 hours a year for high school students, 100 hours a year for college students) to...get this...slavery!!1!1! As though students have never been required to do anything prior to this. I can't wait for
Jonah Goldberg's sudden discovery that some children are told -- told!!
-- to clean their
rooms.
Prime Minister Nouri al -Maliki of Iraq appears to want the US to go home! US, of course, says "Don't be silly, we're not going anywhere." Actually, the full statement was: In a rebuff to the
Mr al-Maliki the Pentagon said any timetable would be
articifical and withdrawal would depend on conditions on the ground.
Close enough. BTW, American citizens couldn't care less what "conditions on the ground" are, they want US troops to come home by majorities of 55% to 65%, depending on who's doing the polling. Hmm. Very, very interesting! Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security both now and back when Hurrican Katrina hit New Orleans, can't seem to find has calendar for 30 Aug 05! A columnist from our local paper writes a love letter to John McCain. My answer. Mr Ferris essentially argued that McCain has not changed his position on immigration due to his unyielding sense of right and wrong. My reading is that McCain's position is a bit more flexible than that and that his stand on the issue has changed more over time than Ferris' view suggests. Sweden appears to have passed a law similar to what Bush & Co would like for the US. Swedes aren't very happy about it. Businesspeople especially are displeased as their customers are going to feel their privacy has been lost. Oh, pu-u-u-leeeezze! The summer sun must be getting to some people: Wouldn't George W.
Bush make an awesome high-school government teacher?
I have a hard time thinking of people less qualified! Controversial piece in the Inquirer gets lots and lots of online comments. Examination of two letters in response. A number of rather highly suspicious things concerning the return of Ingrid Betancourt from a several-year long captivity in South America. Also: Was McCain the bagman? Obama explains his position on FISA (3316 comments as of 11:30pm 5 Jul, piece was posted at 5:00pm 3 Jul). Assessment as to how useful and truthful his explanation is. Conclusion: inadequate. The subsection of the MyBarackObama site that urges Obama not to support the current FISA bill is now the largest subsite there. [Warning, if you want to sign up for the sub-site, it allows one to choose "daily digest" vs "individual messages," as the digest contains up to 100+ messages per day, I recommend "daily digest."] Survey of the North Korean nuclear cluster**** where Kim Jong Il got pretty much everything he wanted in exchange for pretty much nothing. The US got some pretty pictures of a cooling tower being destroyed, but the hard-line right-wingers are right, as John Bolton said: “I think it’s actually a clear victory for North Korea." So, it turns out that "harsh interrogation practices" (i.e. torture) that the US was using on prisoners was based on Chinese communist torture manuals! Uh, slight problem with that. Those techniques weren't designed to produce truth, they were designed to get false confessions. I've been having an email conversation with a conservative who says (Among many other things): "My big issue is less govt." Well, what exactly does that mean in practice? This piece estimates that the US needs to spend at least $1 trillion in order to bring our transportation infrastructure back into shape after a quarter-century of Republican "small government" philosophy. That's the meaning of small, cheap government! June
It really, really helps to put Wesley Clark's words in context before concluding that he made a boo-boo. 'Cause yeah, "The Village" is sure going at that comment! Hissy fits galore! No! The Iraq War was about oil?!?! Geddoudahere!!! Nah, really?!?! Number of good, deepthink posts on the tension between Barack Obama's position on FISA and support for his candidacy on the left generally. Here's the group profile of the MyBarackObama subgroup that asks Obama not to support the FISA bill (HR 6304) as it now stands: Senator Obama - we
are a proud group of your supporters who believe in
your call for hope and a new kind of politics. Please reject the
politics of fear on national security, vote against this bill and lead
other Democrats to do the same!
[The sub-site allows one to choose "daily digest" vs "individual messages," as the digest contains up to 100+ messages per day, I recommend "daily digest."] My personal take on Presidential candidates is that we have to see our relationship with them as a partnership. He does something wrong, we say so. Something right, we say so. Praise and blame as they're deserved. Let's not toss out the baby with the bathwater and dump somebody who is better than the opposition, especially when the opposition has the traditional media firmly in his corner. Six U.S. Senators
maintained their
refusal to support the troops by
voting against the new GI Bill yesterday. One (John McCain)
refused to support the
troops by simply not voting.
My last post was a tad premature. FISA isn't completely done for. There will be a vote on July 8th. Remember: The Democrats passed
the FISA
bill,
which provides immunity for the telecoms that cooperated with the
National Security Agency's illegal surveillance over the past six
years. This bill, which when signed means we will never know the extent
of the Bush White House's violation of our civil liberties, is expected
to be adopted by the Senate. Barack Obama has promised to sign it in
the name of national security. The bill gives the U.S. government a
license to eavesdrop on our phone calls and e-mails. It demolishes our
right to privacy. It endangers the work of journalists,
human rights
workers, crusading lawyers and whistle-blowers who attempt to expose
abuses the government seeks to hide.
Contact your Senators!!! Well, FISA's pretty much done for. Senate voted for cloture, which is the really critical vote. There's a slim possiblity that things could turn around, but frankly, it seems to be all over except for some kabuki preening and prancing. The ACLU presents "Major David J. R. Frakt's Closing Argument in Favor of Dismissal of the Case Against Mohammad Jawad." Strongly recommended reading! The last four paragraphs are especially heartening. Makes me proud to be an American! Oo-er! Not really sure what this means! Russia gets involved in Afghanistan?!?!? Wow! How can the Bush Administration be any less competent?!?!? The fellow who was put in charge of an Arabic-language TV station couldn't speak Arabic! As a result, the station was transmitting merrily away and he had no idea what was being said over the air! And gee, wow, surprise, surprise, the station said a lot of stuff they shouldn't have been saying. David Broder makes an infuriating argument: “McCain benefits from a
long-established reputation as a man who says what he believes,” writes
Broder. “His shifts in
position that have occurred in this campaign seem not to have damaged
that aura." (emphasis in blog post)
Well, duh! "The Village" (Popular blog name for the Washington DC press corps) runs nothing but favorable news about McCain. They positively refuse to run anything negative about the man! Worrisome bill making its way through Congress. H.
Con. Res. 362
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes. More details Anne Ewing says: Basic
intent is to authorize a blockade and search policy in the waters
around Iran without U.N participation, which could be construed as very
provocative, and might precipitate fighting. Since
Ahmadinejad is on
very shaky ground at home, what is the point here?
it is very early in the process and
the bill might not go anywhere at all, but the sponsorship is alarming.
As of 21 June, the bill has 146 co-sponsors. Archive
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