--Published in The New Yorker October 18, 2004
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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Speechwriting for W. . .
--Published in The New Yorker October 18, 2004
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Failed Progress on All Fronts in Iraq
Most honest observers know the counter-insurgency and nation-building efforts in Iraq have failed.
The unwarranted American aggression in Iraq and it's incompetent management have created chaos which will not be solved by continued occupation. The Iraqis are going to fight it out amongst themselves one way or another, eventually.
There is no longer reason to hope for progress in Iraq. The time for America to get out and out of the way is now!
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The security situation is worse and worse as few will be surprised to hear. This remains true even if one looks below the surface at more detailed indicators, like increasing civilian casualties and an enormous increase in the crime rate, than just the daily military death count.
The economic situation is still bad news overall. No new salient infrastructure (despite America's huge investment- where has all the money gone?), no jobs and growing poverty. Any progress here and there has been too slow to help defuse the insurgency, at all.
The political situation is in greater confusion than since the end of official war. Various opinion polls show that public optimism, in terms of Iraqis' views about their personal and country's future, has greatly diminished. The referendum process has estranged Sunni Arabs even further. They still form the core of the insurgency, and bringing them into a national government seems more unlikely than ever.
The unwarranted American aggression in Iraq and it's incompetent management have created chaos which will not be solved by continued occupation. The Iraqis are going to fight it out amongst themselves one way or another, eventually.
There is no longer reason to hope for progress in Iraq. The time for America to get out and out of the way is now!
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Monday, November 28, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Support McCain Amendment Against Torture
The Senate did the right thing when it passed Senator McCain's anti-torture amendment (S. Amdt. 1977) to the FY 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2863) by a bipartisan vote of 90-9, including 46 Republican "yeas." The amendment would prohibit the inhumane treatment of prisoners in the "war on terrorism".
Urge everyone to stand up against torture by doing everything in their power to ensure that Senator McCain's amendment is included in the final FY 2006 Defense Appropriations Act. Vice President Cheney is urging key representatives to allow exceptions to a clear condemnation of torture.
We all need to make sure that when the final bill is passed, the United States will be able to assure the rest of the world that we will stand for freedom and human dignity, not torture.
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Opposing torture is not a partisan cause. The practice of torture so fully embraces evil it dehumanizes both the torturer and its victim. No just cause can be won if it relies on torture to succeed.
Urge everyone to stand up against torture by doing everything in their power to ensure that Senator McCain's amendment is included in the final FY 2006 Defense Appropriations Act. Vice President Cheney is urging key representatives to allow exceptions to a clear condemnation of torture.
We all need to make sure that when the final bill is passed, the United States will be able to assure the rest of the world that we will stand for freedom and human dignity, not torture.
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Monday, November 21, 2005
Same old, same old.
I just had to make a quick comment on the VEEP's speech today:
This guy is a real pip. He begins by saying how his speech the other day was misunderstood, then he proceeds to spew the same old vitriole and skewed truth. Goebbels would be proud. This administration learns nothing, knows nothing and has nothing left to offer on Iraq.
We need to get out of Iraq, just to save this administration from botching it up more than it already has!
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This guy is a real pip. He begins by saying how his speech the other day was misunderstood, then he proceeds to spew the same old vitriole and skewed truth. Goebbels would be proud. This administration learns nothing, knows nothing and has nothing left to offer on Iraq.
We need to get out of Iraq, just to save this administration from botching it up more than it already has!
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GOP in Disarray
For years Bush's White House and party enforcers like indicted Tom DeLay have kept repubs in line with an iron fist. The repub Congress slavishly accepted the Bush line, even his revolting conservative contradictions like his massive budget deficits. Dissidence was quelched by the threat of punishment!
Karl Rove connived and Delay enforced adherence has changed, it seems. Lately, the repubs look like the old dems when they were in power. House repubs this past week rebelled against huge budget cuts to the welfare state, including Medicaid, student loans, etc. Tax cuts for the rich were again on the table, particularly in the Senate where repub moderates joined dems to block them.
Undoing the savage inequalities of the Bush regime is in the wind. After recent election defeats and extremely low Bush polls, the repubs are beginning to fear the reality of a dem rout in 2006! Bush can no longer be relied upon as an asset for repub incumbents.
--inspired by an editorial in The Nation
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(Click on the LINK for a corresponding post at Daily Kos)
Karl Rove connived and Delay enforced adherence has changed, it seems. Lately, the repubs look like the old dems when they were in power. House repubs this past week rebelled against huge budget cuts to the welfare state, including Medicaid, student loans, etc. Tax cuts for the rich were again on the table, particularly in the Senate where repub moderates joined dems to block them.
Undoing the savage inequalities of the Bush regime is in the wind. After recent election defeats and extremely low Bush polls, the repubs are beginning to fear the reality of a dem rout in 2006! Bush can no longer be relied upon as an asset for repub incumbents.
--inspired by an editorial in The Nation
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(Click on the LINK for a corresponding post at Daily Kos)
Friday, November 18, 2005
Daily Kos
Permalinked to a corresponding comment in Planet Patriot's diary at DAILY KOS!
Just CLICK ON THE LINK in this post.
TAKE THE POLL, TOO!
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Just CLICK ON THE LINK in this post.
TAKE THE POLL, TOO!
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
No to Alito!
For liberals and moderates in the Senate, voting against Alito is an easy decision:
Judge Alito's has a 15-year history of judicial decisions that have advanced the cause of the radical right, by 'legislating' from the bench. Among his many alarming rulings and opinions are those that have made it harder for Americans to:
*sue for sex or race-based discrimination in the workplace.
*fight back against companies that violate landmark anti-pollution laws like the Clean Water Act.
*ban private ownership of machine guns.
He really is the classic 'activist' judge, as defined by the right wing themselves!
And there are more disturbing things about Alito that should raise serious concern. For instance, his close affiliation with the Federalist Society and his 'personal' legal opinion about the right to abortion.
If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito has shown that he's anything but restrained when it comes to interpreting our nation's most important legislative protections and legal precedents. He is a danger to our civil rights and liberty.
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Judge Alito's has a 15-year history of judicial decisions that have advanced the cause of the radical right, by 'legislating' from the bench. Among his many alarming rulings and opinions are those that have made it harder for Americans to:
*sue for sex or race-based discrimination in the workplace.
*fight back against companies that violate landmark anti-pollution laws like the Clean Water Act.
*ban private ownership of machine guns.
He really is the classic 'activist' judge, as defined by the right wing themselves!
And there are more disturbing things about Alito that should raise serious concern. For instance, his close affiliation with the Federalist Society and his 'personal' legal opinion about the right to abortion.
If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito has shown that he's anything but restrained when it comes to interpreting our nation's most important legislative protections and legal precedents. He is a danger to our civil rights and liberty.
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Sunday, November 13, 2005
Civil Rights under Attack at Justice
This is the real agenda of the Bush administration!
Read the following article excerpt from The Washington Post, then Click on the LINK for the full story:
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which has enforced the nation's anti-discrimination laws for nearly half a century, is in the midst of an upheaval that has driven away dozens of veteran lawyers and has damaged morale for many of those who remain, according to former and current career employees.
Nearly 20 percent of the division's lawyers left in fiscal 2005, in part because of a buyout program that some lawyers believe was aimed at pushing out those who did not share the administration's conservative views on civil rights laws. Longtime litigators complain that political appointees have cut them out of hiring and major policy decisions, including approvals of controversial GOP redistricting plans in Mississippi and Texas. . .
Read the following article excerpt from The Washington Post, then Click on the LINK for the full story:
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which has enforced the nation's anti-discrimination laws for nearly half a century, is in the midst of an upheaval that has driven away dozens of veteran lawyers and has damaged morale for many of those who remain, according to former and current career employees.
Nearly 20 percent of the division's lawyers left in fiscal 2005, in part because of a buyout program that some lawyers believe was aimed at pushing out those who did not share the administration's conservative views on civil rights laws. Longtime litigators complain that political appointees have cut them out of hiring and major policy decisions, including approvals of controversial GOP redistricting plans in Mississippi and Texas. . .
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Friday, November 11, 2005
Huffington Has It Right. . .
Ariana Huffington is such a breath of fresh air and honesty on the Judy Miller subject. Everyone else (journalists, pundits, etc.) seems to have an agenda aside from just the straight truth.
It is a shame that you have to be a woman to attack the self-righteous nonsense of a Judy Miller. There is obviously so much more we don't know, and with few exceptions most seem afraid to find out- she surely isn't going to tell us willingly. . . makes one really wonder what goes on between reporters and 'sources' in Washington. It's seems almost incestuous.
Click on the link to read her entire article.
Also, catch her on Democracy Now this week. She is as always delightful and insightful!
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It is a shame that you have to be a woman to attack the self-righteous nonsense of a Judy Miller. There is obviously so much more we don't know, and with few exceptions most seem afraid to find out- she surely isn't going to tell us willingly. . . makes one really wonder what goes on between reporters and 'sources' in Washington. It's seems almost incestuous.
Click on the link to read her entire article.
Also, catch her on Democracy Now this week. She is as always delightful and insightful!
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
NEW Media on the Sidebar Player
CHECK IT OUT! Great New Liberal Media on the Playlist:
*New animations, New news clips- some really great, funny stuff
for the liberal with a sense of humor!
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*New animations, New news clips- some really great, funny stuff
for the liberal with a sense of humor!
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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
A Must Read about VP Cheney:
Columnist Dan Froomkin of The Washington Post has written a frightening expose entitled, Cheney's 'Dark Side' Is Showing.
Just Click on the link to read it in its entirety-- frightening stuff!
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Just Click on the link to read it in its entirety-- frightening stuff!
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Saturday, November 05, 2005
NEW Liberal Media!
Our play of the week:
A news clip on the successful Democratic 'stunt' in the Senate. . .
More LIBERAL MEDIA now playing on the sidebar!
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A news clip on the successful Democratic 'stunt' in the Senate. . .
More LIBERAL MEDIA now playing on the sidebar!
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005
A Lebanized Iraq
The Bush administration has 'Lebanized' Iraq. It is ironic that a political structure that has worked so poorly for Lebanon is now the template for Iraq.
Some experts believe that a civil war in Iraq is already underway, even if it is not yet a full-blown conflict. . . If accounts from the ground are to be believed, there is already some ethnic cleansing going on in some neighbourhoods and some areas within Iraq. The reason is clear: Iraqis have looked for the constitution to be a national pact, and the general perception now is that it's not!
The most important parts of the 'approved' constitution -- or at least those to which the Sunnis are most strongly opposed -- were worked out between the Kurds and the major Shiite parties to the explicit exclusion of the Sunnis, despite U.S. efforts to the contrary. . .
. . .The Iraqi people (as it would likely be to other oppressed and war ridden peoples around the world) appear to see things in the black and white, desperate and frightening reality of death and degredation. The US is the obvious cause and target of their angst. Whether we leave now or later will change nothing.
Its true that perpetuating a century old arbitrary border flies in the face of our notions of self-determination, but trying to enforce some unwanted federation does just the same. The barely checked belligerent behavior of Iraqis from all groups tends to support this in spite of the desperate efforts of a American puppet government, of newly returned exiles of dubious backgrounds and political beliefs.
The best that can be hoped for in the present American model: An Iranized shia south; a no man's land sunni center; and an inevitably belligerent kurdish north (hopefully kept in check by an ever watchful and fearful Turkey).
Change the names of indigenous groups and outside instigators and influences-sounds like Lebanon, huh.
A federation becoming a reality in Iraq is a dubious one, at best.
All credible reportage has the country already in civil war, at whatever level you choose to put it. The central and south has come under the grip of a pervasive, dangerous, fascist religiosity on the street. The secular bathists, with their fascist tenets in common, have teamed up with them in outright defiance of a terribly weak, utterly corrupt govt. These are just facts, not hyperbole.
Unlike early after the 'end' of official war, westerners cannot even get about in Baghdad anymore, let alone the rest of the country without heavy guard or military. The infrastructure of the country, both public and private is worse than it has ever been by insurgent fiat! Iraq is an outright disaster area. . .
. . .Remember the lessons of history, particularly that of Britain who faced a similar circumstance in Iraq last century. Bottom line- occupation ended due to an uncontrollable and increasingly violent insurgency of the people of Iraq against it (not just outside infiltrators). The imposed govt collapsed with the vacuum filled eventually by an Arabic version of national socialism. Unfortunately, something similar will be Iraq's fate again. This time more likely religious fundamentalist govt than a secularist one.
Be skeptical of the present pro-occupation position of the dominant shia parties in the Iraq govt. Their longtime cultural identification and loyalties lie with Iran, intensified and ingrained in them by their experience under Saddam. More than suspicion is they are glad to have American largess continue to fill their Swiss bank accounts as long as it flows their way, and so for now are pliant to Bush administration wishes.
As for the Kurds. The sure bet is they are just waiting for the moment to close their border to a country and culture with which they have little in common. They will turn their attention north to Turkey to aid their kurdish brothers in their longtime insurgency for the creation of a greater Kurdistan. They are also glad for American aid in the meantime as it serves their purpose. The only outcome can be war or civil war with the Turks, depending on your point of view.
A federal republican state cannot be solution in Iraq. How does it really serve the self-perceived interests of the Iraqis. There is no experience with democracy as a solution to major political differences. As great as the differences between the three main Iraqi ethno/religous groups are, the old sure and tried middle eastern way of imposing one's will and gaining one's ends; at the point of a gun will prevail.
Blog On
Some experts believe that a civil war in Iraq is already underway, even if it is not yet a full-blown conflict. . . If accounts from the ground are to be believed, there is already some ethnic cleansing going on in some neighbourhoods and some areas within Iraq. The reason is clear: Iraqis have looked for the constitution to be a national pact, and the general perception now is that it's not!
The most important parts of the 'approved' constitution -- or at least those to which the Sunnis are most strongly opposed -- were worked out between the Kurds and the major Shiite parties to the explicit exclusion of the Sunnis, despite U.S. efforts to the contrary. . .
. . .The Iraqi people (as it would likely be to other oppressed and war ridden peoples around the world) appear to see things in the black and white, desperate and frightening reality of death and degredation. The US is the obvious cause and target of their angst. Whether we leave now or later will change nothing.
Its true that perpetuating a century old arbitrary border flies in the face of our notions of self-determination, but trying to enforce some unwanted federation does just the same. The barely checked belligerent behavior of Iraqis from all groups tends to support this in spite of the desperate efforts of a American puppet government, of newly returned exiles of dubious backgrounds and political beliefs.
The best that can be hoped for in the present American model: An Iranized shia south; a no man's land sunni center; and an inevitably belligerent kurdish north (hopefully kept in check by an ever watchful and fearful Turkey).
Change the names of indigenous groups and outside instigators and influences-sounds like Lebanon, huh.
A federation becoming a reality in Iraq is a dubious one, at best.
All credible reportage has the country already in civil war, at whatever level you choose to put it. The central and south has come under the grip of a pervasive, dangerous, fascist religiosity on the street. The secular bathists, with their fascist tenets in common, have teamed up with them in outright defiance of a terribly weak, utterly corrupt govt. These are just facts, not hyperbole.
Unlike early after the 'end' of official war, westerners cannot even get about in Baghdad anymore, let alone the rest of the country without heavy guard or military. The infrastructure of the country, both public and private is worse than it has ever been by insurgent fiat! Iraq is an outright disaster area. . .
. . .Remember the lessons of history, particularly that of Britain who faced a similar circumstance in Iraq last century. Bottom line- occupation ended due to an uncontrollable and increasingly violent insurgency of the people of Iraq against it (not just outside infiltrators). The imposed govt collapsed with the vacuum filled eventually by an Arabic version of national socialism. Unfortunately, something similar will be Iraq's fate again. This time more likely religious fundamentalist govt than a secularist one.
Be skeptical of the present pro-occupation position of the dominant shia parties in the Iraq govt. Their longtime cultural identification and loyalties lie with Iran, intensified and ingrained in them by their experience under Saddam. More than suspicion is they are glad to have American largess continue to fill their Swiss bank accounts as long as it flows their way, and so for now are pliant to Bush administration wishes.
As for the Kurds. The sure bet is they are just waiting for the moment to close their border to a country and culture with which they have little in common. They will turn their attention north to Turkey to aid their kurdish brothers in their longtime insurgency for the creation of a greater Kurdistan. They are also glad for American aid in the meantime as it serves their purpose. The only outcome can be war or civil war with the Turks, depending on your point of view.
A federal republican state cannot be solution in Iraq. How does it really serve the self-perceived interests of the Iraqis. There is no experience with democracy as a solution to major political differences. As great as the differences between the three main Iraqi ethno/religous groups are, the old sure and tried middle eastern way of imposing one's will and gaining one's ends; at the point of a gun will prevail.
Blog On
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
NEW Media Player!
LIBERAL MEDIA-
New on the sidebar at PLANET REVOLUTION. . .
Choose from a list of various Liberal Media, updated regularly:
*short animations
*news clips
*political ads
*music and audio
*much more . . .
Enjoy!
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New on the sidebar at PLANET REVOLUTION. . .
Choose from a list of various Liberal Media, updated regularly:
*short animations
*news clips
*political ads
*music and audio
*much more . . .
Enjoy!
Blog On
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