Juan Cole speaks

One of the blogs I regularly visit is Juan Cole's. He's a college professer, shows up on liberal talks shows often. Here's a post that knowledgeably captures the current state of affairs in the oil game.

Beating a live horse

Okay, I've carped about this before, but on the sixtieth anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, it seems appropriate to reiterate a point about "terrorism."

The IRA, the German Baader Meinhof group, the Weather Underground, Osama bin Laden--these were hardly the first to use the death of civilians as a military/political tool. In just the last century -- not to mention the use of plague and disease as a weapon in previous times -- both the Allies and the Axis powers were "terrorists," as that term's being used now. The Nazis employed rockets, the V-1 and V-2, that were specifically designed to kill and frighten civilian Londoners to affect Britain's resolve to fight. We bombed Dresden, Tokyo and other cities that had no strategic value, precisely to break the will of our enemies to resist, and then, of course, there's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities without any military defense and no military value. We did so without warning, without at least trying to deploy the bomb on an unpopulated target to persuade the Japanese to cease fighting. We killed more civilians in our bombing of defenseless cities in 1944-45 than bin Laden can imagine.

Terrorism sucks, no doubt. But let's not forget its history.

Blood and guts

During the first three days of August, 27 US military service persons have been killed. This doesn't include Iraqi soldiers and police or civilians.

And yet, not a peep from any news source or Democrat (except those who opposed the war to begin with) that we should pull our troops out immediately.

Not even an explanation to the American public why these people are dying. The war has settled into a meat grinding operation, just like those who opposed it predicted, and Bush has the temerity to say that the recent deaths are a "grim reminder" that we're still at war. Reminder? Had he forgotten? Had the American people? Had the media?

I'm angry beyond words. So I'll stop typing.

Bean counting

For a detailed review of the recent casualty figures in Iraq and trends, check out this post. Not heartening, not at all. For an ongoing tabulation, this site's the best. The ghoul in me hits the latter every day, despising Bush/Cheney while I do so, because they've caused me to cheer our increasing death-toll.

Pat Buchanan, Republican whore

For years, Pat Buchanan, a Nixon/Reagan stalwart and conservative commentator on the AntiWar blog, has railed against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I've linked to his writings often, including this post, well-written and incisive.

But he backed Bush/Cheney in both campaigns, notwithstanding that they brought us this awful, tragic war. Why? Because, he said, the alternative, Kerry/Edwards, offered him no choice on the conduct of the war and proposed a liberal domestic agenda, which he opposed.

Here's what I say to Buchanan. Shut up about the war, shut the fuck up! You gave your vote to Bush/Cheney, so shut the fuck up.

Your opinion, please

Okay, here's a report of a car bombing in Baghdad that apparently targeted Iraqi police (killing four of them) that also killed or injured several "innocent bystanders." Is this appropriately called an act of insurgency with "collateral damage," an act of "terrorism," "negligent homicide" or what? If the Soviet Union had occupied the U.S., and Americans were working as police to uphold that occupation, wouldn't an attack on those police by an outraged American be heroic, even though innocent Americans were killed in the process? I dunno, just asking.

The wheels are off

I'm not going to make the effort to provide links to all the stories that contain these facts (it takes too much patience), so you can either trust me or find them yourself through Google or various blogs. These are all current events, taken from today's news accounts.

We're running out of fish--the major fisheries in all oceans are startingly depleted. Our beaches are growing filthy. Global warming is here. Our Congress just passed an energy bill that omits requirements that our cars become more fuel efficient, and the House passed CAFTA, which guts the US job market and exploits foreign workers and the environment, for the benefit of multinational corporations.
The war in Iraq is growing bloodier, there are deep schisms in the positions of the various factions that are said to comprise its "freely elected" government, and women will lose significant freedoms under the eventual constitution. Terrorist attacks are now common in Europe, especially in nations that supported the US invasion of Iraq.
Middle class income in the US is down, credit-card and mortgage debt is skyrocketing, the disparity between rich and poor, nationally and internationally, is greater than during the "Gilded Age."
Corporations (banks, defense contractors and oil companies, mostly) are prospering, while the availability of health care to workers is spiraling downward, now become rare in some industries, particularly the service industry. America's deficits--both in international trade and in balancing its governmental fiscal policy--are higher than ever in history.

That's today's news, folks. And the good news? I'm in California, and the day on the east coast is almost over.

A fine kettle of fish

So--Turkey wants the U.S., occupiers of Iraq, to send troops up to the north part of Iraq to quell the Kurdish guerillas that are attacking into Turkey from there. We, of course, have stayed out of the north for our own reasons, and the Turks are getting tired of our one-sided treatment of terrorism, since they (and we) have labeled those Kurdish guerillas terrorists.

Oh, goody. Now we get to fight another country's war on foreign soil. We reap what we sow.

Blood in the water?

Thank goodness for WaPo's Walter Pincus. A true "liberal media" person. This story about Rovegate reveals that the prosecutor Fitzgerald has smelled blood, and has included in his inquiry the fascinating question of how the 18 words about "uranium from Africa" found their way into Bush's state of the union address, when the CIA had earlier stricken the reference from a previous speech by Bush. Recall how deliberate Bush's reference was: He attributed the information to British intelligence, an obvious way to avoid the dispute that was evident in US sources.

Could it be that there will be indictments? With the grand jury's term (and hence Fitzgerald's task) concluding in October, we don't have long to wait.

More mystifying

My reflections on the ambivalence of recent poll results, see my post, "Mystifying" below, are highlighted by this story, that cites a poll where a majority now believes Bush "deliberately misled" us about the existence of WMD in Iraq, that we're unlikely to "win" the war, but (what?!) that we were right to invade.

What does that say about our leadership, about our democracy, about pollsters, about the media, and--most fundamentally--about how Bush has Americans exactly where he wants them, dazed and confused.

The silence is deafening

I guess I understand. Nobody likes to hear bad news, but the media thrives on it anyway. So why, in view of the ongoing misery in Iraq (bombings, shootings, devastation), do we hear so little about it on the mainstream media? I'll tell you why. Because it's old news, that's why.

God, this is a cynical culture we've created. Surely, God didn't create it, did He?

Boy oh boy, this Iraqi sure gets around

Two separate "terrorist attacks," weeks apart, as reported by the US Army. But guess what? An Iraqi who witnessed one of the attacks somehow finds himself at the site of the second attack and is quoted by the Army again. Same quote.

Is this an ubiquitous Iraqi talking, or the Army's spin doctor?

Neither. It was an "error."

Under the radar

The ACLU and other groups have sued Rummie and the DoD to release the videos and photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the many that weren't revealed previously. Seymour Hersch said that they were more horrific than the original photos, including screams of detainees audible on the videotapes while they were being sodomized.

The district judge who's handling the case is disgusted with the DoD's repeated delays in production of the material under the Freedom of Information Act, the latest maneuver by the DoD being to claim some law-enforcement restraint on production. (A quickie series of quotes by the judge, Rummie and the DoD can be found here and NYT's take on the DoD's latest ploy to avoid compliance with the District Judge's order, go here.)

Bottom line: Despite Bush/Rummie's assurances that their investigation of the abuse scandal with be so transparent that it will show how democratic and forthright the U.S. is, the administration is doing all it can to obstruct the revelation of the prisoner abuses and to bring to justice those (including Rummie, Gonzales and the generals) who caused them to occur.

Take heart: The District Judge who's handling the case doesn't appear to be cowed by the Bushists. The awful photos and videos will indeed be made public, and not too long from now.

Treasongate

For a succinct and entertaining summary of the Rove/Plame/Niger/Yellowcake-gate affair, check out this story, the conclusion of which is telling: The real story is how Rove's actions reveal the degree to which this administration is dedicated to its lies and its wars.

Mystifying

Check out these recent polling results on various questions relating to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. While in several polls a large majority of those polled state that they feel Bush has done a poor job of handling the war, to other questions a majority answers that they approve the military operation--even though a majority also believes the invasion/occupation has worsened the terrorist situation around the world and has made the US less safe from terrorism.

These disparities of public opinion tell me that a majority of US citizens are conflicted about our actions and policy in Iraq, but are coming slowly to the realization that Bush has made a gross error by invading Iraq in the first place and has placed our nation in an impossibly costly and strategically disastrous position. As I've said for years, "It's Iraq, stupid!" If we want to have any chance to change the direction of our nation's politics and policies, we must continue--day by day--to hammer home the evil idiocy of that awful war.

Tangled webs after a thousand deceptions

Could it be as simple as this? Karl Rove and Scooty Libby (the two men closest to Bush/Cheney, respectively) indicted for perjury for testifying before a grand jury that they first learned of Valerie Plame's status from news reporters when those same reporters deny same? This testimonial conflict, supported by the implausibility of Rove/Libbys' stories, taken together with today's new account of the State Department memo that was circulated on Bush's Africa-bound airplane (surely a smoking gun on the issue of whether Plame's employment by the CIA was "secret"), may spell the end of Bush's holier-than-thou administration. Just as a "third-rate burglary" wrecked Nixon's reign, this tiny crack in Bush's impervious imperium may bring down the entire structure.

Let's hope--it's just a hope--that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is the Archibald Cox/Leon Jaworski of the new millenium.

One step backward, one step backward

The "new constitution" in Iraq will likely curtail womens' rights, far more limiting than womens' status under Saddam Hussein's regime. Makes all that killing worth it, eh?

Back in the USSA

In response to the urgent pleas of scores of you devotees, I resume my posting after a month's vacation in NW USA and Alberta/B.C., Canada.

Amazing, isn't it?, how Bush slithers through his lies and treasonous conduct. A month ago, after months of urging by us bloggers, the Downing Street Memos finally made the bigtime, bringing to the fore the "smoking gun" proof of Bush's lies about WMD before the Iraq invasion. At the time, we knew the Bushists would manufacture some detour--a Supreme Court nominee, another war, something--to wipe the Downing Street Memos from our memories. But no--there's been an unexpected detour: The Karl Rove story.

Fact is, however, the latter isn't anywhere near as important the the former, and now Bush's war-inducing lies have disappeared into history, as will the Karl Rove story, as will even the outrageous Iraq war when the Saddam Hussein trial starts. The latter will be carried ad nauseum by the networks, obliterating the war news and Bush will once again escape the fallout from his criminal conduct. Worst president ever, no contest.

Take care

I'm off for an extended trip (look out, trout!), be back in about a month. Meanwhile, don't you people let Bush get away with any more shenanigans.

Secrets and lies

Here's a report by a retired military man, detailing the sustained effort by the Bushies to plump for invasion and to keep spreading favorable press about the war in Iraq in the face of reality. We're still being fed lies and misinformation by Bush/Cheney/Rummie/Condi, and we've simply got to demand that the media call them to account. Otherwise, we'll be in for another decade of war in the Middle East and beyond.

Just another day in Iraq

For a sense of the terror and outrage of our occupation of Iraq, check out the list of entries and news summaries for today (6/15) that are shown down the right-hand column of the blog.

It's getting uglier and uglier

So now, the Kurds in Kirkuk--a northern Iraq city with a pool of oil under it--are abducting and imprisoning Arabs and Turkmen, who oppose Kurdish control over the city, and in some cases with the knowledge of the US and Iraq military. What the hell?

Leaked memos

Here, in a sequence (pdf format) are the various memos, including the Downing Street Minutes, that have given rise to all the recent blog (and, finally, a bit of MSM) hullabaloo.

Enjoy.

Recon by fire

Stories like this, where our soldiers shoot at cars that are speeding toward a checkpoint, or are driving too slowly toward a checkpoint, or are turning around to avoid a checkpoint--whatever--are becoming common. It's part of the reconnaissance by fire tactic (more like a syndrome) that we adopted in Viet Nam, where our troops fired indiscriminately into the jungle to see if there were any VC or NVA in the bushes and in the process killed thousands of locals.
Slopes, gooks, Arabs, what's the difference?

A prediction

I don't do this often, and when I've done it in the past (as with the ruination of the dollar and the replacement of Cheney on the ticket in 2004) I've been wrong. So, with a miserable track record, I presume nevertheless to predict this: A catastrophic attack, or a discovered threat of one, within the next few days. With Bush/Cheney in such shit as now, what else could one expect?

The Times--the original Times

The Times of London, which broke the Downing Street Memo on May 1, has done it again, this time with a memo about how Bush/Blair were intent on seeking a legal justification--in particular, the use of the UN--to invade Iraq. Doncha wish our MSM would do some spadework on this issue?

Here's the actual memo, as published by the Times.

Freeway blogger

This site--especially for me, an inveterate sign-displayer--is inspiring. And fuuunny.

Lehrer sucks

I just watched PBS Friday night news with Jim Lehrer. He gave the shortest possible shrift to the Downing Street memo and its significance. When a transcript of the show is made available I'll post it. Amazing. We are really being isolated, even by the "liberal" media.

More about suicide bombers

Here's an elucidation of the study of suicide bombers that I referred to in a previous post. It's important for Americans to understand what we're fighting, and how they're fighting us. It's brutal, all of it, but are we less--or more--brutal than they? In answering, remember, we invaded their country and presently occupy it. If they invaded ours, and you were powerless against their overwhelmingly powerful force, what would you do?

This is absolutely delicious

Private contractors from the US, working in Iraq and armed to the teeth (and immune from suit by reason of Tribune Bremer's previous decree), have fired on civilian Iraqis and US soldiers, causing deaths and injuries. Now, the Iraqi Interior Ministry, with the blessing of the US military, want to impose controls on these contractors, whose impunity and huge salaries are envied by our poorly paid grunts.

Could we be talking about a civil war in Iraq between American troops and American contractors?

Winning their hearts and minds

Ah, This'll do it, no doubt. The Pentagon has decided to outsource to private PR firms its propaganda effort directed at foreigners. (The military is forbidden by law from spreading propaganda among US citizens--oh right!) .

I love this part:

"The contract calls for the firms to produce print articles, video and audio
broadcasts, Internet sites and novelty items, like T-shirts and bumper stickers,
for foreign audiences."

Bumperstickers? T-shirts? What slogans? "They dropped clusterbombs on my village, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt"?

It's Iraq, stupid

I can't believe that those in charge of the Democrats' positions can read the tea leaves, or even the polls. This nation hates this madness in Iraq, and the Left must jump on it. Now, tomorrow and until the Right dies from loss of blood.

The responsibilities and lawfulness of occupation

Look, there's no mystery to this. We've occupied countries before. Germany, Japan and Italy after WWII to name three. We are now occupiers of Iraq after a war in which we prevailed. No mystery there. So our obligations are fixed by well-settled international law. We must follow due process of law with regard to prisoners, just as the UN dictates.

So, if you have any doubts that the US is capable of being as vicious a conqueror as Nazi Germany in France during WWII, just compare our treatment of those who resist our occupation with the French who resisted the Nazi's. I submit that the only difference is that Bush doesn't have a moustache.

Wrongfooting Saddam

This memo, another from a growing collection of British prewar documents, tells of a meeting between a UK official and Paul Wolfowitz, then with the Pentagon. In it, the Brit shows what a charade our prewar machinations were, as we tried to trick Saddam into some mistake that would give support to our invasion of Iraq.

It was apparent to me in the weeks before the invasion that all of the public relations, from Bush's speeches to Colin Powell's dog and pony show before the UN, that war was inevitable (to borrow a word from the Downing Street Minutes). We were bombing strategic targets in the north and south of Iraq, we were obfuscating on the subject of WMD, not presenting the weapons inspectors with our claimed sightings of caches of weapons, and then, when finally some information was given to the UN inspectors it turned out to be "garbage on garbage."

I just watched a PBS interview with an important journalist who believes the quiet about the Downing Street Minutes (which is no longer quite so quiet) is the calm before the storm, that some major news organization will put all (or most) of the pieces together and publish a definitive proof that Bush/Cheney/Rummie and the gang weren't serious in any attempt to "solve Iraq" except by invasion. The evidence--not just documents and observations by insiders, but their conduct too--is inconsistent with any other conclusion.

Update: As to the legitimacy of the "wrongfooting Saddam" memo, check out this Guardian article about the memo, published almost a year ago. There's no doubt about its authenticity.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse

Now we learn about the massive underfunding of pensions for employees of major corporations, and the insolvency of the federal agency that supposedly insures against just that.

(If you think you just heard the death knell for Bush's "privatization plan" for Social Security, you're right.)

Suicide bombers explained

It's not about Islamic fundamentalism. It's not lunacy, or the product of misfits in their culture. Those who commit suicide by detonating explosives to cause damage to the enemy do so to get the enemy the hell out of their country.

Call me crazy

but I think this story about the Pentagon's corruption (with the complicity of Bush administration officials, including Andrew Card, the President's Chief of Staff), the the aborted sale/leaseback of Boeing transports will become the first significant scandal to touch Bush. Because John McCain was the driving force to squelch the deal, he's in the driver's seat. He could ride this scandal to the White House.

For background on the deal, a story appearing in WaPo before the sale/leaseback arrangement was killed, go here. As you can see, this was politics at its slimy worst.

BBC, Thanks

A new feature on the BBC website will follow events in Iraq, including comments and details as they occur, on a daily basis. Think any of our networks will follow suit?

Under the radar

There are so many stories that go unreported by the MSM that it's difficult to list them all, but here's one that's so far under the radar that even sonar doesn't reach it: The charges against two lobbyists for AIPAC, a group supporting the Israeli interests in the Middle East, of obtaining secret documents from a Defense Department official, Larry Franklin, and Franklin's connection to high officials in the Bush administration. For details, check out the invaluable online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Viva Chavez

You just gotta love this guy. Not just spot on, but cheeky too.

What a fine kettle of fish

Spreading democracy? Free and fair elections throughout the Middle East, throughout the world? Well, Bush, be careful what you pray for because now, in southern Lebanon, you've got it.

Dictator watch

My third watch, following the Fascism Watch and the Orwell Watch, probably merely a supplement to each, is my just-launched Dictator Watch, that reports most recently on Time magazine's revelation the the CIA is no longer automatically included in Bush's briefings and discussions of national security. We can't have any of those pesky independent agencies listening in on the neocons' plans, can we?

Marla Ruzicka

Remember her? The young American woman who worked in Baghdad, trying to get a count of civilian Iraqi war dead, and was killed in a suicide blast a few months ago? Well, here's a revealing, well-written piece about her life and last days.

A Brit looks at the US press

Some memorable quotes, including this one about the result of the Bush administration's constant attack on those who report its mistakes:

The result of this climate of fear and caution is that few Americans have any
idea of the circumstances in which 1,600 of their countrymen have lost their
lives in Iraq, the hideous injuries suffered by both Iraqi and American victims
of suicide bombers, or even the profound responsibility that lies with Rumsfeld
for mishandling practically every facet of the occupation. The mission to
explain has been replaced by the mission to avoid.

If you ever doubted

the similarities between the wars in Iraq and Viet Nam, check out this story, and, in particular, the photo.

Orwell Watch

In addition to my fascism watch (actually, to supplement it), I'm instituting an Orwell Watchto track instances (not all of them, there are so many) in which the Bush administration is delivering us to 1984.

Here's a prime example of its employment of "the memory hole" called to my attention to by a website of the same name.

The smoking bullet in the smoking gun

Ya know, the massive pre-war airstrikes inside Iraq by the US, that were contemporaneously reported by AP and others, struck me at the time as worthy of comment, since the US had no authority to conduct such attacks--even under its twisted reading of the UN resolution that the Kurds and Shiites be protected (which the Brits and the US claimed justified their armed clearance of the "no-fly zones" in the north and south of Iraq). But not being a blogger, I thought about it but did nothing but think.

Now this article in The Nation puts those attacks into the context, revealed by the Dowing Street Memo and confirmatory testimony and paperwork, of a pre-planned attack on Iraq, wholly inconsistent with Bush's statements to Congress and--as if it matters anymore--entirely in violation of international law.

It is a "high crime" to wage illegal war. Bush has committed an impeachable offense and should be removed from office.

Query: Will the Democrats follow Conyer's lead to that end?

Oh, Wouldn't it be loverly?

If the Iraqi workers' unions successfully resisted privatization of Iraq's oil, so that Bush and his buddies ended up without their spoils after all?

I am speechless

with outrage. Is this how we support the troops--by killing them after they've been wounded in battle?

The Tillman tragedy

So, the Army--that's gotta include Rummie, DOD boss--knew NFL star Pat Tillman was killed by "friendly fire" and lied to hide the fact until weeks later. Now that the truth is out and Tillman's parents are publicly expessing their outrage, will he give them a call? Will Bush? Or will they, as is their habit, somehow dodge the issue of these lies, as they've dodged all others? Or will they, as is their more habitual habit, somehow find something to tar Tillman's parents with?

It makes sense to me now

I've been truly baffled about my fellow citizens' behavior, that is, the behavior of those who, despite his lies, continue to trust Bush to govern. Well, now I understand, and I forgive them. It's genetic. Their systems produce too much oxytocin.

Why I march

As readers of this blog know, I weekly march in protest of the war in Iraq, carrying a sign that counts the dead and wounded G.I.'s and Iraqis, and demands that Bush order our immediate withdrawal. We (five regulars and an average of five irregulars) cover a two-mile loop in downtown SB, singing peace songs and chanting anti-Bush slogans. I also hold the sign up at various intersections here in SB, about two hours a week. In both settings the response by passers-by is overwhelmingly supportive, with the honks and thumbs-up outnumbering the middle-finger salutes and jeers by a two to one margin, and the favorable ratio is increasing weekly.

I call attention to this because some friends have wondered why I persist, especially since the 2004 election gave Bush the White House for four more years, and there doesn't seem to be much articulation of a protest movement, or a demand for withdrawal from Iraq, in Congress or on other streets of the U.S.

Well, my answer is simple. I just can't not protest, not simply in this blog with a readership (maybe) of five or six like-minded souls, but in some way that maybe will be noted by someone who'll reflect for a moment on this ongoing outrage and maybe, just maybe, be affected in some positive way. Maybe someone will see the figures (to date)--1667 dead G.I.'s, and 12,222 wounded; 24,000 dead Iraqi civilians; $300,000,000,000 wasted--and be affected. Maybe.

To me, the question isn't Why do we march?, but Why aren't more people marching? I've seen little discussion of this question, particularly in view of the polls showing that a large majority of Americans feel that the war in Iraq isn't "worth it." Here's one columnist who's asked the question, Why isn't there more protest? His answer--not comforting--is that Americans aren't sufficiently moved to react because the body count isn't high enough. Well, if he's right, then I suppose all we have to do is keep marching and wait a while.

Maybe I'm a bit crazy

but isn't it big news that the Iraqi government has just today formally asked for, and received,an extension of the UN mandate authorizing the continued occupation of Iraq by US and coalition troops? I mean, given the fact that Iraq's "duly constituted sovereign government" could theoretically ask for an end to the occupation at any time, shouldn't it be important that it didn't, both to the Bush administration (which is probably nearly passed out in relief) and to the anti-occupation Westerners, like me (who is deeply disappointed). Maybe neither side wants to publicize the event for its own reasons and so no news is no news.

You're not alone

According to Rasmussen's polls, the percentage of persons (44%) who believe the US is winning the war on terr'r has fallen to its lowest level ever.

The insurgents' latest weapon

is poisoned watermelon. (Scroll down to middle of story.)

Four more years!

How comforting. Cheney says the war in Iraq will be over by the end of Bush's term. Of course he's right. Sometime before election day 2008, Bush will have declared the conflict over so that whoever the neo-cons put up to run for his office will be able to claim victory.

Basra revisited

Remember Basra? That's Iraq's second largest city, the port city that's occupied by British troops, not American. It's been relatively quiet, without the car bombs and razor wire that pervades Baghdad and the towns in the "Sunni Triangle." So what's its status? Well, according to the Iraqi general who's in charge of the place, not good, not good at all.

Downing Street Memo remembered

Here's a site, with a lengthy exposition, related to the status of the Downing Street memo, or rather its lack of status in the MSM. It's actually an entire website devoted to tracking, and calling the MSM's attention to, the "smoking gun" document.

Next time you're in eastern Pennsylvania

drop in and have a beer, and congratulate the owner, at Keystone Pub.

Body count

"Things are getting better in Iraq." So goes the Bush/Cheney refrain, repeated in news conferences and interviews. Well, to check just one "metric" (Rummie's word), here are the numbers of American soldiers who've died, showing that the contrary is true. May's total of coalition soldiers killed is exactly the same as May last year, both of which are among the highest totals since the war began.

Update: The coalition troop body count for May 2005 turns out to be higher than a yearago.

MoJo radio

News Flash! Mother Jones magazine is launching a radio program, starting June 5. An hour-long show will be carried on Air America Radio, available here in SB on 1340AM. Listings for other areas are available on the above website. For those of you (us) who tire of Al Franken, this is good news indeed.

Fascism watch

Further to my previous post--I've decided to maintain a fascism watch. The latest sighting: MTV.

I don't like the sound of this

"Widening the focus against extremism?" With this administration, such a concept can only mean one thing. Two, actually: Perpetual war and invasion of civil rights.

You heard it here first (or maybe for the hundredth time): We are becoming a fascist state.

Support our troops?

I'm not certain this is a message I still want to convey. We chant, "Support our troops! Bring them home! Stop the war! Now!" during our weekly peace march here in SB, but I'm having new thoughts about its nature, its message. Kinda like this blogger's sentiments. Some of our soldiers are blackening American traditions and images abroad, and I wonder whether the chants fortifies this, somewhat.

A new form of guided missle

I have a good friend who's an animal activist, a dog-lover in particular. He's not gonna like this story. The lesson: War makes us monsters, all of us.

A professor's outlook for Iraq

Read it and weep.

And now as if Baghdad residents hadn't suffered enough,

cholera.

Finally...

According to Gallup, one half of Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of his presidency. First time he's hit that mark, ever...

Why do they hate us?

No mystery there: I hate us.

Meanwhile, in our other war

May has been a violent month in Afghanistan, with shootings, kidnapings,bombings. And this is the war we "won"!

Infuriating

A headline in the NYT today blares, "Eight Soldiers Killed in Two Days," and is echoed in headlines on my AOL portal and in dailies throughout the US. Like suddenly the war in Iraq is on again. What bullshit. Check out the deaths, by daily tally, during the month of May here. There have been many days when the two-day total exceeds eight, including one in which eight were killed in a single day.
So...the awareness of our public is dependent on a the caprice of the layout person at the NYT? Or the headline writer? Wouldn't you think that the papers, and the TV could at least support the troops enough to keep their deaths on the front page, maybe a little boxed article or something? No--instead of "support our troops" the MSM's motto is, "Forget our Troops."

What can we do

to stop killings like this?

"Proud to be an American?"

This lengthy NYT article about US military prisoner abuse in Afghanistan leaves no doubt: Our military is no different from other nations'. It is a cruel tool of a war-mongering empire that is due to fail as have all others before it because of the inherently bestial nature of war. We were taught, as citizens of previous empires were taught, that we have a special place in history, that we are a benign force. Wrong. We're not only not special, we're more dangerous than any previous force because of our global dominance.

I pray for all of us--for America, sure; but more urgently for the rest of the world.

Baghdad seething

Riverbend's latest post, describing Condi Rice as The Vampire and relating the horror of car bombs in Baghdad, concludes with this compelling observation:

Detainees coming back after weeks or months in prison talk of being forced to eat pork, not being allowed to pray, being exposed to dogs, having Islam insulted and generally being treated like animals trapped in a small cage. At the end of the day, it's not about words or holy books or pork or dogs or any of that. It's about what these things symbolize on a personal level. It is infuriating to see objects that we hold sacred degraded and debased by foreigners who felt the need to travel thousands of kilometers to do this. That's not to say that all troops disrespect Islam- some of them seem to genuinely want to understand our beliefs. It does seem like the people in charge have decided to make degradation and humiliation a policy.

By doing such things, this war is taken to another level- it is no longer a war against terror or terrorists- it is, quite simply, a war against Islam and even secular Muslims are being forced to take sides.

We have guided missles, why can't they?

It's a bit chilling, but it seems the insurgency in Iraq has found a way to make sure their car bombs get to the target. Duct tape.

"The officer said that in two of the recent Baghdad bombings, investigators
had found indications that the men driving the cars had been bound with duct
tape before the attacks. He said the foot of one of the attackers, in a
marketplace bombing last week that killed 22 people in south Baghdad, had been
found taped to his vehicle's accelerator. In another case, the officer said, the
attacker's hands were taped to the vehicle's
wheel.
"The implication was that those planning the
attacks wanted to be sure that the vehicles would continue to their targets even
if the drivers were killed by American or Iraqi gunfire as they
approached."

Modern medicine, modern war

There have been various reports of this before, but here's a chilling one: The prevalence of brain trauma among US soldiers who're wounded in Iraq. Our modern medicine saves their lives, keeping them from being counted as war dead, but at what cost?

What does it take

for the "smoking gun" story to get legs. For weeks (two-plus, now) bloggers have been beating the drum about the "fix the facts" memo that surfaced in Britain and so far, besides some random mentions, nothing, nada, nichts, in any MSM publication, including cable TV. Maybe the publication of the entire memo in the NYT Review of Books will change that, but I wouldn't hold my breath, especially in light of Newsweek's recent cave-in on the Koran-flushing story.

If Nixon had managed equally to cow the press, he'd have served out his term and been hailed as a much-maligned leader of the free world.

My hope: The Bushies weather all of these early storms, only to have all the revelations pile up at the end of his term so that he leaves in disgrace and his Republican successor loses to anybody in a landslide.

Surprise, surprise

Rummie, and now Condie, have made surprise visits to Iraq of late. Here's another example of how the media is cowed by the administration's verbiage. These visits aren't surprises to anyone but the media and the Iraqi insurgents. Obviously both our military and the administration knows of the visits in advance. The only people who're surprised are the media and the Iraqis, who, if they were told, would make the visits impossible due to the overwhelmingly negative response, and possible danger, the visits would engender.

Now isn't that special...

Iraq, according to the International Drug Control Board, has now become a key artery for smuggling drugs that are grown in Afghanistan. The route through porous borders and a fractured security system takes heroin, speed and marijuana, from their source to the Mediterranean and then into the European marketplace.

So--with all the money and lives we've expended, we've managed to turn Iraq from a harsh dictatorship into a violent hotbed of terrorism and a major drug-trafficking center. I suppose if we drop some more cash and bodies into the fray, we can add civil war to the list.

Update about the AWOL MSM story

It's been a couple of days now, and still no MSM story about the British memo about how the Bushies predetermined the attack on Iraq and "fixed the facts" to justify it, all as reported in my previous post, "I'm soliciting suggestions." Several bloggers have commented on the MSM silence, and 88 Congresspersons have jointly authored a letter to the President to inquire about the story (while noting the MSM silence on the subject), but still so far nothing from NYT or WaPo or any of the TV channels, not even cable, so far as I can see.

I just don't get it

With CEOs' salaries skyrocketing (even after all the scandals involving over-compensated corporate managers), it turns out that the workers' pensions will fall to the axe because of United Airlines' bankruptcy reorganization. Result: its defined-benefit plan will pay $800 per month as a pension to an employee who'd been promised $1700.

Isn't it time Americans woke up to what's afoot in America? Apparently not, so long as the same companies that are sucking up our money own the media that doesn't report it.

I'm not making this up

Halliburton's KBR unit, the one that's been all over the news in the last two years for overcharges and missing documents in its Iraq rip-off, was just awarded bonuses of millions of dollars by the Defense Department for its "very good" work.

This essay from a Louisville, Kentucky, paper, says it all

Louisville, Kentucky? How can a city in a red state have such a blue paper? No, not blue. True blue.

I'm soliciting suggestions

for a word to be applied to that temporal gap between when a story is reported in the foreign press, or on a blog, and when it is finally (if indeed it ever is) picked up by MSM here in the US. This powerful piece of information about Bush's predetermination to attack Iraq and "fix the facts" to justify the invasion lay outside of US news for at least a week until just now, when the Chicago Tribune finally gave it a small half-column. Now, let's see if it gets any further legs or whether it'll be washed away by stories about runaway brides and weird pop singers.

Two questions arise from this news story

in today's NYT.

First, where on Earth does the reporter get the phrase, "fully and freely elected democratic government" in describing Iraq's present set of office-holders? The nation was under occupation and a large segment of the populace boycotted the election because of the Sunnis' outrage at the US presence in the country. That phrase certainly isn't necessary for the story that follows (about the selection of a cabinet) and is clearly the product of the same herd instinct and bias that characterized the reporting of events in Iraq since Bush set his eyes on it. It's an indication, and an obvious one, of how colored the US reporting is on this war, notwithstanding the mea culpa the NYT has previously expressed over just that bias.

Second, if Iraq can have a Human Rights ministry in their government, why can't we?

Ooops, here it comes

This mass grave isn't Saddam Hussein's doing. It's apparently the product of some pissed off Shiites getting even with Sunnis, from deeds back in the day. Or not. Either way, it's a dangerous turn of events.

Whazzup?

I just finished a book by George Johnson, who writes, among other things, science pieces for the NYT. Fire in the Mind. A super read, an in-depth analysis of various scientific theories--math, physics, geology, biology--juxtaposed against native American tales and myths, all with a view to explaining why we seem to have a "fire in the mind" to learn about ourselves and our meaning. He concludes thus (I'm leaving out some really good stuff):

"Sometimes the intelligence of our species seems like a tiny flame
flickering on the periphery of a vast blackness, trying to illuminate the
void. Who gave us this burden? Will anyone or anything beyond our
celestial campsite ever care? If this web is just something we are
spinning for our own amusement, it will die along with its
creators.

"...[I]t is hard not to believe that we are all
participating in something universal, something holy, that the pageant must
unfold beyond our planet. Perhaps we are merely one among a myriad of
players--gathering bits, abstracting concepts, building great edifices of
theory, these mathematical Towers of Babel, that reach higher and higher above
the plains. High enough, perhaps, to make out, just barely, the
rhythm of other dancers, the flickering of other fires."

Was that conclusion just Johnson's late-night musing, or perhaps--more cynically--his way of satisfying his editor with a final phrase signaling a role for faith, or at least an instinct for mysticism? I'm not sure, but to me it doesn't matter. While I disagree with some people's interpretation of the quote attributed to Einstein ("God does not play dice with the universe"), namely, that Einstein was expressing a belief that something mystical was at work in the universe, I am coming to believe that we humans aren't anywhere near capable of knowing everything--even of seeing everything. I believe Einstein was saying something like, "We don't know what game is afoot, because we can't see God or the dice, or even ourselves."

That I truly believe, for me anyway. I'll always be playing dice in the dark. The question then becomes, Why play at all?

Cofer the Beheader

This quote of our counterterrorism chief, seeking bin Laden's head in a box, reveals all one needs to know about the propensitites of Bush appointees.

A reason to watch Entertainment Tonight

Here's a take on why "serious bloggers" should keep connected to the topics of lesser significance. Does this mean we must watch all the trash on TV? No, but we score no style points for ignorance, either.

Now just a goddam minute

Now they're going after PBS. We'll lose not only Nova, Amercian Experience and Now, but the Antiques Road Show too, the latter not on political grounds, but because it's competitive with, and hence to be absorbed by, commercial television, just like Siskel and Ebert were.

Thank God for the NYT

Not just that it (and a few other MSM outlets, such as the LA Times) more than occasionally provides an outlet for news that's not reported by the other sources, such as this one on the recent ouster of the UN investigator of prison practices in Afghanistan, but that it's a big enough source that its stories can't be ignored. Right? Let's see if the story is picked up anywhere else. I'll report back on this.

Soft Patch or Hard Times

With increasing inflation and declining GDP, there has been mention by the economic pundits of the possibility of stagflation. This phenomenon last occurred in the seventies, when inflation soared and the economy remained flat, so that there was no apparent fiscal or monetary remedy that wouldn't either trigger higher inflation or drive the economy downward. We're probably not headed there yet, but there are ominous signals--and little indication that anything in being done to stem the tide, while both the U.S. trade imbalance and federal deficit continue to grow unchecked. If I were a dollar-holder, or a treasury bond trader, I'd be looking to get out pronto.

There's got to be something wrong with this poll

I simply don't believe that 63% of Americans believe that the bible is literally true. Just don't believe it, that's all.

What's wrong with America?

Here, in detailed presentation, are two features of American global policy that I detest: Its militarism and its blind, greed-driven dependence on oil. There are others: Its crass materialism and dollar-dominated corporatism, the inequities of world wealth that it causes and perpetuates, its aspiration to empire and a few others. But the first two--they're the ones that are going to ruin our nation and destroy the planet first.

This scathing report

on the status of Iraq's security forces, detailing the absenteeism, lack of training, absence of morale (contrary to the recent representation of the US military command): Is it contained in some left-wing opinion piece? No--it's found in a news analysis by Business Week Online.

Condi's solution to terrorism

The surest way to deal with the ever-increasing numbers of terrorist activities around the globe, despite the assurances of Bush and Rice that the US is winning the "war on terr'r" is to stop publishing the embarrassing statistics. Especially since last year, the administration's attempt to minimize the numbers of attacks was found out and the report revised upward.

So--no more annual report on global terrorism will be submitted by the new Secretary of State. What you don't know won't hurt us, is Condi's motto.

SIP's

This new Amazon.com feature sounds interesting. Surely it's the basis for a new board game.

Where's the outrage?

I'm not posting regularly, nor am I on the Internet much, because I've traveled to Tucson for several days and I'm relegated to a dialup connection. As a result, I haven't yet checked Google News to see whazzup, but I'll be surprised to find broad Mainstream Media coverage of this outrageous situation about armored vehicles in Iraq. This is at least the third separate time the absence of armor has been raised--the first being within three months of the invasion, the second being about three months ago, and still we've heard only muttering about it on the MSM.

Meanwhile, Rumsfeld and his Pentagon minions roll on: mindless, callous criminals. And more mindless and callous than they? The MSM, which allows them to do so.

Bottoming out

I watched a Frontline TV show last night called, "The Architect," devoted entirely to Karl Rove's activities and orchestration of Bush's electoral victories and the rightward shift of the Republican Party which has lately led to its dominance in Washington and in many states. (Rove declined to be interviewed for the show, which was co-produced by The Washington Post).

There wasn't anything new in the presentation for those who follow politics and certainly not for those who've read Bush's Brain. However, I came away with a sense that the Democrats, at least many of those in power, haven't yet gotten the fundamental message that the show demonstrated: The way to achieve political strength is by perseverance, organization and adherence to a resonant message.

Rove's drive as a youth stemmed from Goldwater's loss in 1964, a nadir for the Republicans--and for the conservative message. From that bottom there was nowhere to go but up, and within four years Nixon was in the White House, followed by Ford and, with but a brief interruption, twelve more years of conservative rule, during which time Rove rose in the ranks and plied his trade by carving out a rightist agenda of low taxes and capitalist hegemony over the economy. Now, in the wake of the damaged image of the Democrats caused by the Clinton presidency he's aligned the Republicans with the religious right, armed them with the "war on terror" and is firmly in control of the national pulse, with his candidate cutting taxes, cutting federal programs, opting out of treaties, gaining control over strategic resources and calling out religious slogans to invigorate the faithful to support his causes and his candidate.

Well, the Democrats have bottomed out now, too. True, the 2004 presidential race was no landslide, like those Goldwater, Dukakis and McGovern suffered. But the Republicans hold sway in all three branches of the federal government and in most states. They have the resonant messages, too: The "Ownership society and "culture of life" being the latest.

I've been watching the Democrats in Congress lately, during the confirmation hearings of Gonzales, Rice, Negroponte, and, most recently the brute, John Bolton. With the exception of a few members of Congress, including Barbara Boxer, from my state, the Democrats' responses are pitiful. Where's the outrage that Bush should appoint and retain those who failed America during his first term? Where's the message that we've lost thousands of lives and limbs in a war that wasn't necessary? Where's the demand that these appointees be held accountable?

The Democrats must adopt an affirmative message and a consistent means of its delivery. It has always been the party of the working class, it has always protected minorities, the environment, the freedoms of press and religion--causes that are now being trampled by the Republicans. The Democrats must now, as any twelve-stepper knows, acknowledge the problem and, one day at a time, take steps--forward and upward--to correct it, starting at the bottom.

What a difference two years make

The famous square in Baghdad where Saddam Hussein's statute was toppled is shown in two telling photos. The first--taken as the statue fell--shows the square nearly empty except for some US troops and a handful of Iraqis. The second, taken last week, shows tens of thousands of Iraqis rallying to protest the US occupation. (BTW, during the first anniversary of the invasion the square was blocked off for security reasons.)