Readers are directed to the NEW YORK TIMES 9/12/05 editorial discussing the grossly unfair Georgia voter ID law.

David, bush won BOTH elections under shifty and dishonest circumstances, IF he won at all. I recall your position after this last fiasco when you made it clear that you were doubtful that any election rigging had occurred. Have you changed your mind? And as for photo ID, how will that change anything? The last thing we need is another piece if ID to carry around. How about going back to the old fashioned way of voting? Filling in the blanks on a paper ballot. This seems to work well in other countries and used to work fine here.

I forgot to add Marla Ruzicka to the list of God's disciples. She is truly with God for eternity.

Bush wanted to strengthen al Qaeda so he can use the organization to remain in power beyond 2008. The 2008 elections won't happen because martial law will have been declared by election time.

We are currently a police state. Its rulers are quacks, psychos, wackos, insane, and depraved idiots.

The Voice of the White House

September 14, 2005: When he is not making useless and cosmetic trips to New Orleans for photo ops, the President is literally screaming with rage in the West Wing because the media has dared to criticize him, has forced him to fire the worthless head of FEMA (a political friend and supporter) and also because he is very obviously has lost any black voter support and, not unsurprisingly to say, is losing a great deal support from the Christian Right because of the media-fueled condemnations of the total lack of Government response to the Katrina disaster.

Forced to eat crow over Brown, and savagely attacked in what he thought (via Rove) was a docile and controlled media, Bush, who is not rational at best, has been demanding a whole new ballgame from his aides, one of whom gave me a memo containing so-called talking points for selected staff leaders.

Since blacks will never support him, they want to find any means necessary to exclude them from voting rolls, mainly by passing a Federal law that no one can vote without possessing, and showing, an official photo ID card, be it a driver's license or a State ID card (which will be made expensive and hard to get)

Also ex-convicts, called by Rove as a potential Democrat recruiting base will be prohibited in voting in any Federal election, now and forever.

Turn all Federal and state welfare programs over to the private sector.

Establish a volunteer Corps of professional paramilitary units such as Blackwater Security ( a ripe bunch of chubby, vicious, ex-military and sacked dim-wit and sadistic cops) that will act as support groups for State and local agencies in case of further national emergencies. They can rob, loot and pillage and the Army and civilian authorities will not be held responsible, just like their Presidential-sponsored and protected role in Iraq, where they behaved like drunken SS men in a Jewish ghetto.

Reinstitute a limited draft to restock the badly shopworn and depleted current active military. Recruitment of volunteers for the Iraqi bloodbath has fallen to next to nothing.

With a new army,launch preemptive strikes against putative nuclear enemies of the United States. Top of the list is Iran who dares to defy Bush and is selling huge amounts of their oil to the PRC, one of the Bush people's most perceived enemies. (The Chinese have warned Bush that they will use nuclear weapons on us if we interfere in any Chinese military action against Taiwan. Bush takes this as a personal insult and threat and when this happens, he demands the denigration and destruction of the source, be it a television commentator, a newspaper or a public figure. Or, to our peril, an aggressive country with nuclear weaponry and the ability to deliver them to the continental U.S.)

Bush is, in my opinion (and the opinion of more than a few here inside the Beltway) a national disaster rivaling Katrina and, in his death throes, will take down as many of whom he perceives as his opponents as he can. At the present time, considering his plummeting polls, (which is causing him daily spastic colon attacks) this will certainly mean most of the United States (except for the Bible Belt freakos and proto-fascists), Chavez, Putin, North Korea and many others.

On a less serious note, someone sent a big box of free toilet paper to the White House recently. Of course the Secret Service X-rayed it to be certain that it was not just another explosive device, (17 this year alone) and guess what? The picture of our Glorious Leader was imprinted on every segment! Naturally, the order came to destroy this and find out who was printing it, for the purpose of punishment. So far, the bumblers can't figure out who sent it or who had it made and about twenty rolls vanished before they could be officially burnt. No doubt they will be put to good use. The President may not meet his Maker but he certainly will find yesterday's dinner.

What disturbed me the most about the past two elections was the obvious racism involved. In MN and SD there were problems on the reservations. In MN the problems were a direct result of the Secretary of State getting involved to make voting more difficult. In Ohio voting booths were aplenty in Republican burbs but were scarce in Democratic strongholds. Now the Republicans could say in both instances that it was just political game playing or strategy. It wasn’¥ racism it was politics. And I say bullshit. The African Americans' and the Native Americans' voice was diminished. And that is racism.
I think the commission should have put together a group who have a history of strong and progressive work in the civil rights movement. People who understand the social and political problems involved in shoddy voting practices. Those who understand that the effects last long after the day of the election. Jimmy Carter was an excellent choice but there should have been more. It's time we start looking at these problmes, not as something that needs to be covered up but as something that needs to be eliminated.
These voting "irregularities" are an insult to the democratic process. They are an insult to the American people. We are better than this and the Republican party should be ashamed. If they are going to be a party of value to our country they must be a party honest to the ideals of the country.

What Noble Cause?

Saladin,
Very interesting. He sounds more crazy every day. Hello Congress. Are you watching your president?

Military Recruiters

A very good article to read!!!

Mr. David Corn,

Iraq body counts prove the civil war is afoot.

"Mission Accomplished."

Carter and Baker? If we provided for those who live at or below the poverty line it would make a bit more sense. Too many Americans do not vote and a new "requirement" is not likely to increase turnout. I have read where these "photo ID's" will have an associated cost? Not to mention how would a "federal" voter ID be different than a national ID?

"Your papers, please?"

Seems to me a new and bigger mess will do nothing to address the process being sold to the likes of Diebold, ES&S, etc. more, it is likely to give these corporate slugs and thugs more credibility even though the slugs have done nothing to fix the problem with their honesty. It is not a problem with the people it has always been a problem with the process, the system and "we the people" no longer "own" the process as it has been sold to a few companies.

The problem is not with the voters or voter ID the problem is with the process and software that is now being called "private proprietary" and the complete lack of integrity of the corporations that have a horse in the race but will still be calling the shots and telling us the totals.

These corporations that have a single interest, profit, are going to tell us who we voted for and who wins without a transparent and above board representation of how the totals were tallied. Without taking that process back no amount of ID's or any other "reform" will ever matter one bit.

I predict a landslide in 2006 in favor of those currently in power. So how do we deal with a party in power that has a super-majority? If the black-boxes are being stuffed (I am of the opinion that they are) they will make a move for more and more consolidated power. What good is it to steal elections if you cannot abuse the power?

"The people who cast the votes do not decide an election, the people who count the votes do." ~ Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)

Thanks for another good post!

Kirk

When Bush comes to shove the agenda in Iraq...facts and reality ..have never gotten in his way. In regard to voting there is a news alert at the "BRAD BLOG" and an article at Huffington Post about someone from INSIDE DIEBOLD who is singing about the CORRUPTION AND STOLEN ELECTION. Go check it out. David who came out first with the figues of the dead in New Orleans...was this another Rove move? Also who is Judge Margolis who is over seeing the investigation of Patrick Fitzgerald...who is he? and what is his history????

Saladin, your sense of balance is precise!

Gerald, I think you may have stumbled on the links to David's thread. More War means more for the home team come election time.

The Military Industrial Complex has battled against democracy in America for the entire century. Look behind every bush and you may find a traitor ready to commit subterfuge to control power. Industrialists working with Hitler. Inside saboteurs for the Bay of Pigs and the Iran Hostage rescue. The assasination of Kennedy and King. The extension of the Viet Nam War for six extra years. The Iran Contra scandal. And terrorism on six continents with constant percolation of conflict and the steady sale of arms to anyone with the money to buy them. Clinton's impeachment was a power takeback. And in this century, the 2000 election, complicity on 9/11, the ever popular war on terror, the war in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, and now the 2nd coming of reconstruction in the South.

G.H.W.Bush and James Baker have been in the thick of things along with Negroponte, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, and their bevy of accomplices in the political and military arena.

These men will do anything to ensure the lasting control of power. Baker is the very last person I would want in charge of seeing that my vote counts in America. Dems should be as outraged as they were when Kissinger was named to the 9/11 Commission.

New State Flower of Louisiana, the Turd Blossom. Found growing on the right bank of the Mississippi. Changes colors frequently. Should be on the endangered list. Watch your step around this one.

Considering balance?

As good as Carter is, he does not have enough "goodness" to offset the evil in James Baker III.

Lest we forget Baker represents tthe interests of the Saudi royals AGAINST the survivors and surviving families from the victims of 9/11. Baker holds a position in the Carlyle Group and has his substantial influence tainted by blind loyalty to poppy and party.

Carter could be a saint but it will take an angel to offset the devil.

IMHO

capt

From: Raw Story

Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), who led investigation into rampant voting irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election, quickly attacked the report. Staff estimated that millions of people would be made ineligible to vote should if legislation were enacted.

"I am shocked that this Commission has decided to take us several giant steps back in the march for voting rights by recommending a national ID requirement for voters," Conyers said in a statement. "This would inevitably disenfranchise minority voters and the most vulnerable among us -- those who live in poverty and the elderly. Rather than gathering facts and then developing policy recommendations that follow from those facts, this Commission appeared to have developed its recommendations and simply went through the motions of a fair and deliberative process. At the very first hearing of this Commission, this voter ID proposal was mentioned twenty-two times."

He said civil rights groups had essentially been 'barred' from testifying.

"Cvil rights groups were essentially barred from the process," Conyers said. "The only input from the civil rights community (Barbara Arnwine from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) was essentially ignored on this critical issue. If they had spent more time on the issue, they would realize that there are incredibly few documented cases of voter fraud to even respond to via legislation."
--------------
Carter is supporting this? Sounds like a new and improved version of election rip-off to me.

David this is off the direct topic but ties into Iraq and how we got there. I often go over to the National Review site to find out where the neo-cons want to lead (or drag) our nation. I especially follow MICHAEL LEDEEN'S ARITCLES. Where is this guy he has not written in close to three weeks and the longest he usually goes is 2 at the most. IS HE OFF IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF SYRIA AND IRAN COOKING ( mmany think he is the source for the niger yellow cake documents) UP SOME MORE FAULTY INTELLIGENCE TO TAKE US INTO SYRIA OR WHAT? DO YOU FOLLOW THIS FELLOW?

Vote counting process was addressed many years ago. The counting is done under observation of a representative of all parties involved and for all to see. The checks and balances give validity to the outcome.

Am I suppose to believe that the politicians from both parties accidentally sold the process to a private company and just forgot about checks and balances? Elections are how the slugs from both sides get their work, they know damn well what they were doing and to whom they were doing it.

No, they did exactly what they intended to do, they sold our process even though it belonged to us, not the politicians.

It would be just as wrong if these companies supported democrats. It is especially wrong when there is a corporate party v. the peoples party and no coincidence the corporate party is supported by the big corporations (that now own our process).

No amount of ID's and sweet talk will return our process to us.

I think this is a red-herring. National ID will not fly, it never will so what is this fake "news" covering up? What is below the radar?

Is this suppose to distract us from the sinking poll numbers? To have us look away from the death and destruction of Katrina? Maybe get us to turn from the DSM memo? Kkkarl Roves treason? The fleecing of every tax dollar spent so far in Iraq? Are we suppose to ignore the very active civil war? The murdering of Iraqi MP's?

Maybe we are all suppose to go into misinformation overload and our heads explode.

I think Carter was hoodwinked by his personal kindness and concern for his country. No recommendation from them will be implemented. It is a bit more of that familiar kabuki theater we all know the MSM loves. They will eclipse any "news" from the disaster area(s) with more of this BS.

capt

Hello, everybody,
Just back from a weekend with someone who teaches the extension of Love, and that fear is simply a call for Love.

Having said that, I was wondering what happened to the "right-Wing" columnists or talk show hosts who were to visit Iraq to put the level of violence in perspective. We were told they would come back with a report to counter the "liberal" medias always showing the worst of the war.

So, has anyone heard the report back from this group?

Be Peace,
St. John

This is a mess of our own making

Tim Collins told his troops this was a war of liberation, not conquest. Now he says that he was naive to believe it

Sunday September 18, 2005
The Observer

When I led my men of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment across the border into Iraq we believed we were going to do some good. Goodwill and optimism abounded; it was to be a liberation, I had told my men, not a conquest.

In Iraq I sought to surround myself with advisers - Iraqis - who could help me understand what needed to be done. One of the first things they taught me was that the Baath party had been a fact of life for 35 years. Like the Nazi party, they said, it needed to be decapitated, harnessed and dismantled, each function replaced with the new regime. Many of these advisers were Baathists, yet were eager to co-operate, fired with the enthusiasm of the liberation. How must it look to them now?

The consequences of this adventure may run even deeper. Hurricane Katrina has caused a reappraisal of the motives and aims of this war in the US. The storm came perhaps in the nick of time as hawks in Washington were glancing towards Iran and its newly found self-confidence in global affairs. Meanwhile, China and India are growing and sucking up every drop of oil, every scrap of concrete or steel even as the old-world powers of the UK and US pour blood and treasure into overseas campaigns which seem to have no ending and no goal.

It is time for our leaders to explain what is going on. It was as a battalion commander trying to explain to his men why they would embark on a war that I came to public notice. The irony is that I made certain assumptions that my goodwill and altruistic motivations went to the top. Clearly I was naive. This time it is the role of the leaders of nations to explain where we are going and why. I, for one, demand to know.

*****end of clip*****

Seems like "reality" is sinking into the minds of even some of the war supporters.

I think we should be demanding an answer. It is our money and our blood.

capt

Guess who won't get the National ID cards. Guess who will get them but they will be "invalid". Guess who's going to make a whole got of dough on this project. Sorry. I don't trust it.

When I hear/read otherwise informed individuals say that there is no difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties, I wonder what planet they're from. Is either party perfect? Of course not. Are all politicians perfect? Of course not. Is ANY politician perfect? Of course not! Are all citizens perfect? Of course not. That all or nothing way of thinking is tiresome, as is the I-will-not-compromise-my-principles' "argument."

There are innumerable ways that the parties differ, but one important way is that Democrats don't prance around the country campaigning like they are Jesus' buddy. They don't use so-called "moral values" wedge issues to divide Americans. Democrats don't wear their religion on their sleeves. Democrats don't claim they talk directly to God. Democrats respect other religions -- non-Christian and Christian alike; they respect that a person may be "un-churched" and have no religious preference at all.

But...that is only one difference. An important one. This nation can survive a hijacking of an election (or two? 2000 AND 2004). What it cannot survive is our indifference to, or unawareness of, the difference in the two major political parties.

(Okay...The Dems need to clean up their act, too. I know THAT! But at least, they have some decent people among their ranks.)

Please read #9 by capt and keep special eye on Stalin's quote.

Let me paraphrase Henry Kissinger that American men and women soldiers are stupid and they are nothing more than cannon fodder. I hope that you take sometime to read my post on Military Recruiters.

Military Recruiters is post #8.

Another P.O.V.

http://www.fairvote.org

Rob Richie is the executive director of the group FairVote and co-author of the book "Whose Vote Counts?" He said today: "The Commission report has a few sensible recommendations, but its chief failure is to accept the United States' position far outside international norms in standards for free and fair elections.

Consider that the report doesn't call for direct election of the president despite the Electoral College's malfunction in 2000 and the fact that the candidates focus on only a handful of battleground states.

It is silent on establishing a constitutional right to vote despite the obvious adverse impact of more than 13,000 jurisdictions having the power to make independent decisions about running federal elections.

It neglects instant runoff voting despite recent high-profile elections with non-majority winners and finger-pointing about 'spoilers.' It overlooks nonpartisan redistricting and proportional voting systems as the necessary means to take on the shocking lack of voter choice and distortions in representation in our legislative elections. It accepts that the citizens of the District of Columbia have no voice in Congress."

Bush Pushes

Guess who will oversee our elections in 2008 if we have such elections?

American Indian voters face hostility in South Dakota.

The hostility and racism has kept the American Indian community out of the political decision-making process for decades. Now, because of grass roots organizations, the number of American Indians registering and voting has increased; but so have some regulations that are allegedly designed to intimidate, tribal members argue.

Photo identification cards became a major issue in South Dakota when tribal chairmen opposed a bill to require the ID. The bill passed. Tribal officials argued that the photo ID was in direct retaliation against Indian country for turning out in large numbers during the 2002 election cycle when Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., narrowly defeated Republican John Thune.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation offered free photo IDs, according to Raymond Uses the Knife, tribal vice chairman. He said the $5 - $15 cost for state-issued IDs was a roadblock for many people.

''I know some people who refused to vote because of the ID.''
-------------------

This is part one. Very insightful.

American Indian voters face hostility in South Dakota.

The hostility and racism has kept the American Indian community out of the political decision-making process for decades. Now, because of grass roots organizations, the number of American Indians registering and voting has increased; but so have some regulations that are allegedly designed to intimidate, tribal members argue.

Photo identification cards became a major issue in South Dakota when tribal chairmen opposed a bill to require the ID. The bill passed. Tribal officials argued that the photo ID was in direct retaliation against Indian country for turning out in large numbers during the 2002 election cycle when Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., narrowly defeated Republican John Thune.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation offered free photo IDs, according to Raymond Uses the Knife, tribal vice chairman. He said the $5 - $15 cost for state-issued IDs was a roadblock for many people.

''I know some people who refused to vote because of the ID.''
-------------------

This is part one. Very insightful.

Religion and Politics

Dear Posters:

I was talking to a friend and he said that in the past belonging to a specific political party would mean live and let live.

Today a membership in a political party defines who you are. For example if you are a republican, you are defined as holy, saintly, and destined for heaven. If you are a Democrat, you are defined as bad, evil, and destined for hell. So what if you are someone who is into fear, greed, hatred, killing, and torture, you are a republican and you are saved. If you are a Democrat and you believe in the true God of love, mercy, justice, and peace, you are still destined for hell because you are a Democrat.

My friend went on to say that heaven should be an interesting place because the fearmongers, the greedmongers, the hatemongers, the killmongers, and the torturemongers will be transforming heaven into hell. Just like they are transforming America into a living hell while they are here and in power.

Yes, heaven will be an interesting place with all the false prophets and bush lovers.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Micki,

Blind partisanship for or about either side is still blind.

"But at least, they have some decent people among their ranks"

That is true of both parties? We are all Americans and no ideology can change that fact.

"What it cannot survive is our indifference to, or unawareness of, the difference in the two major political parties."

You extrapolate a position that NOBODY has ever offered. That is a straw-man and very easy for you to knock down.

The laws passed by the legislature in the last twenty years have been passed by both parties and both parties are full of politicians. They are, by their nature self-serving jerks. That is my opinion and I am neither indifferent nor am I unaware.

You may hold hope for some of the politicians but I base my opinion on what they do and what they do not do. Neither side represents "the people" or they would have increased the minimum wage when they gave themselves the last 10 or 20 raises (cost of living increases for politicians not the people).

Where were the "decent" politicians when they voted to sell the process of counting the votes to a handful of "private" companies?

You have no better insight to what politicians do and just because someone does not agree with you does not make them unaware or indifferent.

Political philosophy varies from one politician to another and painting with such a broad brush is a bigger disservice to both sides than indifference or being unaware. Read republican Ron Paul? Is he not decent?

I could list others in the republican party that are decent and I could list many from the democrats that are not. That is not really the point here.

You are entitled to your opinion but your effort to define others is not within your purview.

I am of the opinion that the only indifference is from those who do not vote. Just because I will not support democrats because they call themselves democrats does not make me unaware nor indifferent. I would not support most of the creeps in office if they called themselves by any other name.

Actions not words or political philosophy will drive my informed, aware, and very concerned position and opinions without regard to party.

IMHO

capt

The Vote

In 2004, 59 million Americans voted for bush. HOW MANY VOTES WERE RIGGED FOR BUSH? Americans turned their backs on the true God and replaced the true God with the bush god. The bush god with his lies has killed 1559 ( now 1900) American soldiers in Iraq for a wrong and an immoral war.

Yes, a false god with a depraved indifference toward living human beings has killed 1559 (1900) American soldiers through his lies in Iraq.

What the bush god does not understand is that healing within a person and a nation cannot take place in a culture of hate. bush did not invent hate but he expanded the culture of hate as a divider and not as a uniter.

We know that bush has language problems with his fork tongue and he also spews lies from his mouth. Since bush does not read, we know that he is blind and deaf in understanding Scripture. A professed born again Christian does not comprehend the Words of God, "Love one another as I have loved you." bush's legacy will be hatred and lies for all mankind and history to study and loathe with contempt for a person of questionable character.

Steve Roberts, a commentator, was on the Diane Rehm show. He made a statement that I want to share with you. "The republicans remind him of a boy who kills his parents and when he goes to court, he pleads for mercy because he is an orphan."

The repugnants and bush are working 24/7 on screwing you and me.

Read great, great articles on antiwar.com!

Ok, I have to get a handle this new system. Sorry about the double post.

lol Look who Doofus gets email from.

Bush's HotMail in-box

The Decline of Public Discourse

Dear Posters:

The Fifth Estate will feature a program on July 6, 2005 called The Decline of Public Discourse. In America we seem to have left civility behind our principles. There are shouting matches and lies and more lies. We have rigged elections and more rigged elections.

Along with the decline in public discourse there is a decline in Christianity. The neocons, the born again kkkristians, and the kkkristian evangelicals are saying to the American sheep what they believe is Christianity. Christianity for the neocons, the born again kkkristians, and the kkkristian evangelicals is to glorify, honor, and worship a bushgod.

The neocons, the born again kkkristians, and the kkkristian evangelicals have created a mess for the real America. America has become a country where we glorify fear, greed, hatred, killing, and torture. We are a country with a depraved indifference toward the killing of human beings. America is a certifiable nation of crazy people. The majority of Americans are nuts or nutcases.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Bad Fixes, Wrong Problems

Commentary: The Carter-Baker report on election reform misses the point.

By Tova Andrea Wang

September 19, 2005

Article created by The Century Foundation.

It is truly shocking how, given all the problems in the voting system and continued disenfranchisement, the terms of the debate have shifted to that of so-called "ballot integrity." It is reminiscent of how conservatives have misappropriated the concept of patriotism and the American flag, and used the power of language and messaging to distort the discussion, by using terms such as "partial birth abortion" or "death tax." The latest example of this is the just released report of the commission on election reform co-chaired by Jimmy Carter and James Baker.

The 2001 bi-partisan commission co-chaired by former President Carter and Gerald Ford, which The Century Foundation co-sponsored and I was on the staff of (and which had an entirely different membership), had a very different approach. There were differences about how best to implement the recommendations of the report. However, while we were concerned with accuracy and preventing fraud, we did not see that as a goal that was in conflict with ensuring the right to vote.

It was the 2001 commission that promoted the idea of statewide voter registration databases, so that we could both prevent fraud and ensure every registered voter was on the voting list the list and able to vote. We proposed the idea that any voter who comes to the polls and does not appear on the list be given a provisional ballot. We stated that when a felon completes his sentence, he should get his voting rights back. We enumerated several ways to ensure that "no individual, group or community [holds] a justified belief that the electoral process works less well for some than for others." We even recommended an election day holiday!

This stands in stark contrast to the entire tenor of the Carter-Baker report, which presumes that fraud committed by voters is the biggest problem confronting our election system. There is simply no strong evidence of this, and some of the remedies proposed will take us backwards in the fight to increase voter participation.

In addition to proposing limited felon re-enfranchisement and providing negligible input into the very important and controversial provisional ballot questions, the report really focuses on requiring all voters to present government issued photo ID, such as the REAL ID, in order to vote, and promoting the expensive and complex idea of making all statewide databases "interoperable" nationwide. As I and others have documented repeatedly (see here, here, and here) voter fraud at the polling place is not our major problem, and identification requirements serve to disenfranchise many groups of voters.

Here's what the problems are in American elections today: too few—Æot too many—∞eople vote; the voter registration system is not working for voters or elections administrators; voters are still systematically disenfranchised, due to such policies as felon disenfranchisement, flawed felon purges, inaccessible polling sites, misallocation of voting machines, and inappropriate challenges at the polls; voters are individually disenfranchised by continued, often race based, voter intimidation and deceptive practices; and there is a general mistrust of the election system by the American people.

*****end of clip*****

General mistrust? It seems the people are paying attention.

capt

Sorry for the length, but I think it is worth posting in its entirety...

Senator John Kerry's Speech at Brown University
Remarks As Prepared for Delivery, Sept 19, 2005:

Providence, RI - Thank you for your invitation to be here. It’s rare for me to speak at a university like Brown. Usually I don’t speak at a football factory. I want to personally thank those of you who generously lent your efforts to my campaign last year. No one showed more passion than the thousands of students from across the country who knocked on doors, wore out shoes, endured desert heat and arctic cold and probably damaged their GPA's to get out the vote. You did everything, except move to Ohio.

I also want to thank you for what the Brown community has done to help and comfort the many victims of Hurricane Katrina. This horrifying disaster has shown Americans at their best -- and their government at its worst.

And that's what I've come to talk with you about today. The incompetence of Katrina's response is not reserved to a hurricane. There's an enormous gap between Americans' daily expectations and government's daily performance. And the gap is growing between the enduring strength of the American people -- their values, their spirit, their imagination, their ingenuity, and their willingness to serve and sacrifice -- and the shocking weakness of the American government in contending with our country's urgent challenges. On the Gulf Coast during the last two weeks, the depth and breadth of that gap has been exposed for all to see and we have to address it now before it is obscured again by hurricane force spin and deception.

Katrina stripped away any image of competence and exposed to all the true heart and nature of this administration. The truth is that for four and a half years, real life choices have been replaced by ideological agenda, substance replaced by spin, governance second place always to politics. Yes, they can run a good campaign -- I can attest to that -- but America needs more than a campaign. If 12 year-old Boy Scouts can be prepared, Americans have a right to expect the same from their 59 year-old President of the United States.

Katrina reminds us that too often the political contests of our time have been described like football games with color commentary: one team of consultants against another, red states against blue states, Democratic money against Republican money; a contest of height versus hair - sometimes. But the truth is democracy is not a game; we are living precious time each day in a different America than the one we can inhabit if we make different choices.

Today, more than ever, when the path taken last year and four years earlier takes us into a wilderness of missed opportunities -- we need to keep defining the critical choices over and over, offering a direction not taken but still open in the future.

I know the President went on national television last week and accepted responsibility for Washington's poor response to Katrina. That's admirable. And it's a first. As they say, the first step towards recovery is to get out of denial. But don't hold your breath hoping acceptance of responsibility will become a habit for this administration. On the other hand, if they are up to another "accountability moment" they ought to start by admitting one or two of the countless mistakes in conceiving, "selling", planning and executing their war of choice in Iraq.

I obviously don't expect that to happen. And indeed, there's every reason to believe the President finally acted on Katrina and admitted a mistake only because he was held accountable by the press, cornered by events, and compelled by the outrage of the American people, who with their own eyes could see a failure of leadership and its consequences.

Natural and human calamity stripped away the spin machine, creating a rare accountability moment, not just for the Bush administration, but for all of us to take stock of the direction of our country and do what we can to reverse it. That's our job -- to turn this moment from a frenzied expression of guilt into a national reversal of direction. Some try to minimize the moment by labeling it a "blame game" -- but as I’ve said - this is no game and what is at stake is much larger than the incompetent and negligent response to Katrina.

This is about the broader pattern of incompetence and negligence that Katrina exposed, and beyond that, a truly systemic effort to distort and disable the people's government, and devote it to the interests of the privileged and the powerful. It is about the betrayal of trust and abuse of power. And in all the often horrible and sometimes ennobling sights and sounds we've all witnessed over the last two weeks, there's another sound just under the surface: the steady clucking of Administration chickens coming home to roost.

We wouldn't be hearing that sound if the people in Washington running our government had cared to listen in the past.

They didn't listen to the Army Corps of Engineers when they insisted the levees be reinforced.

They didn't listen to the countless experts who warned this exact disaster scenario would happen.

They didn't listen to years of urgent pleading by Louisianans about the consequences of wetlands erosion in the region, which exposed New Orleans and surrounding parishes to ever-greater wind damage and flooding in a hurricane.

They didn't listen when a disaster simulation just last year showed that hundreds of thousands of people would be trapped and have no way to evacuate New Orleans.

They didn't listen to those of us who have long argued that our insane dependence on oil as our principle energy source, and our refusal to invest in more efficient engines, left us one big supply disruption away from skyrocketing gas prices that would ravage family pocketbooks, stall our economy, bankrupt airlines, and leave us even more dependent on foreign countries with deep pockets of petroleum.

They didn't listen when Katrina approached the Gulf and every newspaper in America warned this could be "The Big One" that Louisianans had long dreaded. They didn't even abandon their vacations.

And the rush now to camouflage their misjudgments and inaction with money doesn’t mean they are suddenly listening. It's still politics as usual. The plan they’re designing for the Gulf Coast turns the region into a vast laboratory for right wing ideological experiments. They’re already talking about private school vouchers, abandonment of environmental regulations, abolition of wage standards, subsidies for big industries - and believe it or not yet another big round of tax cuts for the wealthiest among us!

The administration is recycling all their failed policies and shipping them to Louisiana. After four years of ideological excess, these Washington Republicans have a bad hangover -- and they can't think of anything to offer the Gulf Coast but the hair of the dog that bit them.

And amazingly -- or perhaps not given who we’re dealing with -- this massive reconstruction project will be overseen not by a team of experienced city planners or developers, but according to the New York Times, by the Chief of Politics in the White House and Republican Party, none other than Karl Rove -- barring of course that he is indicted for "outing" an undercover CIA intelligence officer.

Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job - Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to “Mission Accomplished” and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The bottom line is simple: The "we'll do whatever it takes" administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done.

This is the Katrina administration.

It has consistently squandered time, tax dollars, political capital, and even risked American lives on sideshow adventures: A war of choice in Iraq against someone who had nothing to do with 9/11; a full scale presidential assault on Social Security when everyone knows the real crisis is in health care - Medicare and Medicaid. And that's before you get to willful denial on global warming; avoidance on competitiveness; complicity in the loss and refusal of health care to millions.

Americans can and will help compensate for government's incompetence with millions of acts of individual enterprise and charity, as Katrina has shown. But that’s not enough. We must ask tough questions: Will this generosity and compassion last in the absence of strong leadership? Will this Administration only ask for sacrifice in a time of crisis? Has dishonesty in politics degraded our national character to the point that we feel our dues have been paid as citizens with a one-time donation to the Red Cross?

Today, let’s you and I acknowledge what’s really going on in this country. The truth is that this week, as a result of Katrina, many children languishing in shelters are getting vaccinations for the first time. Thousands of adults are seeing a doctor after going without a check-up for years. Illnesses lingering long before Katrina will be treated by a healthcare system that just weeks ago was indifferent, and will soon be indifferent again.

For the rest of the year this nation silently tolerates the injustice of 11 million children and over 30 million adults in desperate need of healthcare. We tolerate a chasm of race and class some would rather pretend does not exist. And ironically, right in the middle of this crisis the Administration quietly admitted that since they took office, six million of our fellow citizens have fallen into poverty. That’s over ten times the evacuated population of New Orleans. Their plight is no less tragic - no less worthy of our compassion and attention. We must demand something simple and humane: healthcare for all those in need - in all years at all times.

This is the real test of Katrina. Will we be satisfied to only do the immediate: care for the victims and rebuild the city? Or will we be inspired to tackle the incompetence that left us so unprepared, and the societal injustice that left so many of the least fortunate waiting and praying on those rooftops?

That’s the unmet challenge we have to face together. Katrina is the background of a new picture we must paint of America. For five years our nation's leaders have painted a picture of America where ignoring the poor has no consequences; no nations are catching up to us; and no pensions are destroyed. Every criticism is rendered unpatriotic. And if you say “War on Terror” enough times, Katrina never happens.

Well, Katrina did happen, and it washed away that coat of paint and revealed the true canvas of America with all its imperfections. Now, we must stop this Administration from again whitewashing the true state of our challenges. We have to paint our own picture - an honest picture with all the optimism we deserve - one that gives people a vision where no one is excluded or ignored. Where leaders are honest about the challenges we face as a nation, and never reserve compassion only for disasters.

Rarely has there been a moment more urgent for Americans to step up and define ourselves again. On the line is a fundamental choice. A choice between a view that says “you’re on your own,” “go it alone,” or “every man for himself.” Or a different view - a different philosophy - a different conviction of governance - a belief that says our great American challenge is one of shared endeavor and shared sacrifice.

Over the next weeks I will address some of these choices in detail - choices about national security, the war in Iraq, making our nation more competitive and committing to energy independence. But it boils down to this. I still believe America’s destiny is to become a living testament to what free human beings can accomplish by acting in unity. That’s easy to dismiss by those who seem to have forgotten we can do more together than just waging war.

But for those who still believe in the great tradition of Americans doing great things together, it’s time we started acting like it. We can never compete with the go-it- alone crowd in appeals to selfishness. We can’t afford to be pale imitations of the other side in playing the ‘what’s in it for me’ game. Instead, it’s time we put our appeals where our hearts are - asking the American people to make our country as strong, prosperous, and big-hearted as we know we can be - every day. It’s time we framed every question - every issue -- not in terms of what’s in it for ‘me,’ but what’s in it for all of us?

And when you ask that simple question - what’s in it for all of us? - the direction not taken in America could not be more clear or compelling.

Instead of allowing a few oil companies to drill their way to windfall profits, it means an America that understands we can’t drill our way to energy independence, we have to invent our way there together.

Instead of making a mockery of the words No Child Left Behind when China and India are graduating tens of thousands more engineers and PhDs than we are, it means an America where college education is affordable and accessible for every child willing to work for it.

Instead of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, it means an America that makes smart investments in your future like funding the science and research and development that will assure American technological leadership.

Instead of allowing lobbyists to rewrite our environmental laws, it means an America where lakes and rivers and streams are clean enough that when a family takes the kids fishing, it’s actually safe to eat the fish they catch.

Instead of letting a few ideologues get in the way of progress that can make us a stronger and healthier society, it means an America where the biology students here today will do the groundbreaking stem cell research tomorrow.

And instead of stubbornly disregarding intelligence, using force prematurely and shoving our allies aside, it means an America that restores its leadership in the world. An America that meets its responsibility of creating a world where the plagues of our time and future times - from terror to disease to poverty to weapons of mass destruction to the unknown - are overcome by allies united in common cause, and proud to follow American leadership.

That is the direction not taken but still open to us in the future if we answer that simple question - ‘what’s in it for all of us?’ It comes down to the fact that the job of government is to prepare for your future - not ignore it. It should prepare to solve problems - not create them.

This Administration and the Republicans who control Congress give in to special interests and rob future generations. Real leadership stands up to special interests and sets the course for future generations. And the fact is we do face serious challenges as a nation, and if we don’t address them now, we handicap your future. My generation risks failing its obligation of assuring you inherit a safer, stronger America. To turn this around, the greatest challenges must be the starting point. I hope Katrina gives us the courage to face them and the sense of urgency to beat them.

That’s why the next few months are such a critical time. You’ll read about the Katrina investigations and fact-finding missions. You’ll get constant updates on the progress rebuilding New Orleans and new funding for FEMA. Washington becomes a very efficient town once voters start paying attention.

But we can’t let political maneuvering around the current crisis distract people from the gathering, hidden crises - like energy, environment, poverty, healthcare and innovation - that present the greatest threats to our nation’s competitiveness and character. The effort to rebuild New Orleans cannot obscure the need to also rebuild our country.

So realistically, I’m sure you’re wondering: How do I change all this? What can I do? The answer is simple: you have to make your issues the voting issues of this nation. You’re not the first generation to face this challenge.

I remember when you couldn’t even mention environmental issues without a snicker. But then in the 70’s people got tired of seeing the Cuyahoga River catch on fire from all the chemicals. So one day millions of Americans marched. Politicians had no choice but to take notice. Twelve Congressmen were dubbed the Dirty Dozen, and soon after seven were kicked out of office. The floodgates were opened. We got the Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water. We created the EPA. The quality of life improved because concerned citizens made their issues matter in elections.

You are citizens in the greatest democracy in the world. Moments like Katrina are so difficult - so painful - but they help you define your service to your fellow citizens. I’ll never forget as a teenager standing in a field in October of 1957 watching the first man made spacecraft streak across the night sky. The conquest, of course, was Soviet - and while not everyone got to see the unmanned craft pass overhead at 18,000 miles per hour that night - before long every American knew the name Sputnik. We knew we had been caught unprepared.

In the uncertain years thereafter, President Kennedy challenged Americans to act on that instinct. He said, "This is a great country, but I think it could be a greater country...the question we have to decide as Americans," he said, is "are we doing enough today?"

Today, every American knows the name Katrina -- and once again we know our government was undeniably unprepared, even as Americans have shown their willingness to sacrifice to make up for it.

But in these uncertain weeks of Katrina's aftermath, we must ask ourselves not just whether a great country can be made greater -- the sacrifice and generosity of Americans these last weeks answered that question with a resounding yes.

No, our challenge is greater - it’s to speak out so loudly that Washington has no choice but to make choices worthy of this great country - choices worthy of the sacrifice of our neighbors in the Gulf Coast and our troops all around the world.

What's in it for all of us? Nothing less than the character of our country - and your future.

Leaders Who Won't Choose

In Washington, it's business as usual in the face of a national catastrophe.

By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek

Sept. 26, 2005 issue - Adversity builds character," goes the old adage. Except that in America today we seem to be following the opposite principle. The worse things get, the more frivolous our response. President Bush explains that he will spend hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding the Gulf Coast without raising any new revenues. Republican leader Tom DeLay declines any spending cuts because "there is no fat left to cut in the federal budget."

Whatever his other accomplishments, Bush will go down in history as the most fiscally irresponsible chief executive in American history. Since 2001, government spending has gone up from $1.86 trillion to $2.48 trillion, a 33 percent rise in four years! Defense and Homeland Security are not the only culprits. Domestic spending is actually up 36 percent in the same period. These figures come from the libertarian Cato Institute's excellent report "The Grand Old Spending Party," which explains that "throughout the past 40 years, most presidents have cut or restrained lower-priority spending to make room for higher-priority spending. What is driving George W. Bush's budget bloat is a reversal of that trend." To govern is to choose. And Bush has decided not to choose. He wants guns and butter and tax cuts.

*****end of clip*****

Business as usual. *damn them all*

capt

The Bible in today's climate

Arianna was brutally attacked by our Nazi bloggers. The Bible study class may have clarified why she was attacked. During the time of Jesus the son would usually follow in the trade of the father. A brighter son or a son of a rich person would study in the temple. Today the sons and daughters of the rich will go to college and the sons and daughters of the poor such as the 90% of Americans will enter the armed forces to fight the Bush wars. The 21st century will be known as the century of the Father of Wars in Bush's honor. There were slaves during Jesus' time and the Hebrews treated their slaves well and some slaves even became part of the family. The neocons have a close alliance with Israel. It is too bad that they are not going to treat the 90% of Americans in the same way as the Hebrews treated their slaves. American slaves today will have to beg for scraps of food from the neocons. The neocons do not have a heart.

Cheney's energy policy has been kept a secret. Today I had the opportunity to find out what will be America's alternative energy policy for the 21st century. Actually it will be similar to the energy policy around the time of Jesus. Cheney and the neocons have a special place under Cheney's alternative energy policy for our women. One of the jobs that women prepared for during Jesus' time was to collect the animal dung and make cakes out of the dung for fuel. Today's women who are not in the armed services will be dung collectors for Cheney's new and great alternative energy policies. Arianna and other intelligent women are attacked because the neocons want women to be dung collectors.

During Jesus' time war was important because war served as a means of keeping the economy going. Today wars are important because with the military draft sons and some daughters who are not dung collectors can fight in the Bush wars and help keep the economy going. Plus, defense companies can keep the Bush war machine going. Plus, fatherland security will receive money to help keep the American economy going and Cheney' alternative energy policy of dung collectors will also help our economy. The future looks bright for America with regard to wars and dung collecting.

True Freedom

"Many have called me a coward. Some have called me a hero. I believe I can be found somewhere in the middle. To those who have called me a hero I say that I don't believe in heroes but I believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. To those who have called me a coward I say they are wrong, and that without knowing it they are also right. They are wrong when they think that I left the war for fear of being killed. I admit that fear was there, but even more there was the fear of killing innocent people, the fear of putting myself in a position where to survive means to kill. There was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body. The fear of losing myself to my daughter, to the people who love me, to the man I used to be, the man I wanted to be. I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me. But they who called me a coward without knowing it are also right. I was a coward for not leaving the war sooner, for having been part of it in the first place. Refusing and resisting this war was my moral duty. A moral duty that called me to take a difficult action. A moral duty that was clear and the accomplishment of which was urgent. I failed to fulfill my moral duty as a human being and instead I chose to fulfill my duty as a soldier.
"I apologize to the Iraqi people. To them I say I'm sorry for the rage, for the killings. May they find it in their hearts to forgive me. One of the reasons I did not refuse the war from the beginning was that I was afraid of losing my freedom. Today as I sit behind bars I realize that there are many types of freedom and that in spite of my confinement I remain free in many important ways. What good is freedom if we are afraid to follow our conscience? What good is freedom if we are not able to live with our own actions? I am confined to a prison now but I feel today more than ever connected to all humanity. I am truly free."
The above words are from a soldier whose name is Camilio Mejia. Camilio sent this letter to Bishop Thomas Gumbleton who has been a peace activist for many years.

Truly Listen

Evil seems to have the upper hand. How can the human heart triumph so that peace will prevail? The problem is that we are not listening to the word of God.

God says that violence will not bring peace, only the transforming power of love will bring peace. 250,000 people in Fallujah had to leave their homes because the Army was to demolish the city. We do not even think about that because we are focused on violence.

We drop 500 pound bombs and hit a village. What kind of terrorism is that? That is how we respond. And, it will only bring more violence, more terrorism, more killing, more wars.

WE HAVE TO BEGIN TO LISTEN TO JESUS! Peace will prevail when you and I truly listen to the word of God and then act upon His word.

TAKE TIME TO TRULY LISTEN TO JESUS AND HIS WORDS!

Let me add another name to the list of God's disciples. The name is Camilio Mejia. Dear God, please give us many more heralds of truth for You. Let America flourish as a land filled with Your disciples. Thanks be to God!

The Fine Print

Dear Posters:

Over this past weekend I had an opportunity to read the fine print in some of our daily newspapers. I will share the fine print with you.

The first fine print mentions that more soldiers and military veterans will not receive or their health care will be delayed because baby bush has slashed the Veteran's Administration's budget by $1 billion.

The next fine print says that more military forces will return home from foreign bases in order to protect against domestic violence. Yes, I printed domestic violence. The reason has to do with the strengthening of the Patriot Act to include American enemy combatants. Plus with the reinstatement of the military draft blood will flow on our streets because only the sons and daughters of the poor and the middle class will serve. Exempt will be the sons and daughters of the rich and hyper-rich. Yes, more military forces will be necessary to keep our banana republic alive.

There was also an article of a woman who was recalled for military duty. In 1998 she completed her eight years of service, such as four years of active duty and four years in reserves. In 2005 she was recalled to duty. The woman thought that the letter she received was a mistake and she called for clarification. The answer she received was for her to read the fine print. She is government property until 2018. Yes, military duty for the government means that you are government property for twenty-eight years.

Each draftee will be government property for twenty-eight years. How can the sons and daughters of the poor and the middle class make any personal plans regarding family, marriage, career, etc. if you are government property for twenty-eight years to fight in bush's endless wars and our government's endless wars?

In order to survive this ongoing madness and nonsense each person will need to incorporate daily meditation. Now close your eyes and with your arms embrace hatred, killing, and torture. Look upon this delightful trio as positive experiences in your life. Feel the warm fuzzies of hatred, killing, and torture. Americans will only be able to survive by accepting and glorifying hatred, killing, and torture. America's only future is hatred, killing, and torture. That my fellow Americans is the endless fine print that will consume our lives.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Who Is My Neighbor

In an earlier post I mentioned that I am a member of the Christian Caucus. We meet from September through May once a month with December as a no meeting month. My wife goes with me. At first she did not want to go but she decided to go with me. She now enjoys going because the people who go are into helping people.

We have a speaker and a topic to discuss. The central theme for this year has been health care. In May we had the Director of a community health center. She talked about how dire it is for many people because their employers are just dropping them from any health care coverage. Who is my neighbor?

We live during the time of the greediest and most selfish generation in American history. More and more tax cuts for the rich and the demise of the middle class. Who is my neighbor?

I have shared with you The Beatitudes and after each of the Beatitudes there is a question or two. Where is the concept of Shalom? Where each person shares in God's creation and gifts. Where each person is included into the community and not excluded from the community. Why is no one asking the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
Are all Americans fearful that they will not have enough money to survive? To accept Shalom into our lives will mean that we are in this world together and we will work together in having God's vision of His world fulfilled where everyone is accepted and will benefit from all of His creation.

People are afraid and yet, God has said many times in the Bible, "Be not afraid!" Let us continuously ask ourselves, "Who is my neighbor" and be not afraid to accept all of God's children.

There is a report on DailyKos that Cindy Sheehan and/or an organizer may have been arrested today afterspeaking at a rally in NYC.

The Contender

I watched a movie on TNT and the title was, "The Contender," with Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges. I loved the movie. In addition to commenting on separation of Church and State before the repugnant committee who was evaluating her for Vic President, she made a comment to the President on the White House lawn. If you watch the movie, pay careful attention to her comment "I don't smoke." The comment is made near the end of the movie.

The repugnant committee who was to evaluate her fitness for Vice President was bringing up all kinds of dirt about her but she would not discuss her private life with the committee.

At one of the hearings during the nomination process Joan Allen says that she believes in a strong military force to fight against genocide in the world. After she made that comment I reflected on her words. America has a strong military force but we are conducting genocide in Iraq right now. Bush and Rice are bringing up lies so that our genocide force can spread to Iran and Syria and from there to North Korea with several hundred missiles going astray into China. Bush and his gestapos and henchmen are preparing for a nuclear genocide throughout the world.

If you have given it some thought, you would have the reason why the fundamentalists are growing in membership and other religious are declining in membership. The reason for this behavior has to do that their preachers are saying that with a Bush in the White House the end time and the Rapture are close at hand. The fundamentalists are truly glorified by a nuclear genocide that is close on hand. Nuclear genocide is a strong possibility because America is the land of fear, greed, hatred, killing, and torture.

Clinton criticizes Bush

Happy days are here again!

Oh, here's another way the Repubs and the Dems differ:

GWB, chief Repub pretender, doesn't want his oilionnare friends to suffer any wartime sacrifices, so he's "resolute" about not rolling back tax cuts he's given to the hard-pressed corporations like oil & gas industries and the rich elite. George says screw future generations.

Bill Clinton, still chief Dem no matter how you slice it, has said GWB should roll back some of those billions in tax cuts he gave to his pals to meet the costs of Katrina and the Iraqi War. Bill doesn't want to pass on huge deficits to future generations.

"I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine." ~ Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

Oh, just thought of another difference! Democrats speak English. Republicans, such as presidents and former vice presidents, speak gibberish. (Which kind of makes one wonder about the people who elect Republicans! - admittedly, a politically incorrect statement )

A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.
Dan Quayle

I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.
Dan Quayle

I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.
Dan Quayle

If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.
Dan Quayle

Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.
Dan Quayle

The future will be better tomorrow.
Dan Quayle

We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.
Dan Quayle

What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.
Dan Quayle

"The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks the best." ~ Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), Illiterate Digest (1924), "Breaking into the Writing Game"

"Bill Clinton, still chief Dem"

Thanks I needed a good chuckle!

GREAT SARCASM!

capt

An interesting bit on Daily Kos on the importance of blogs. Here's a portion.
http://www.dailykos.com/

It would seem reasonable to conclude, then, that the best strategy for the progressive netroots is to go after the media and Democratic Party leaders and spend less time and energy attacking the Bush administration. If the netroots alone can't change the political landscape without the participation of the media and Democratic establishment, then there's no point wasting precious online space blasting away at Republicans while the other sides of the triangle stand idly by. Indeed, blog powerhouses like Kos and Josh Marshall have taken an aggressive stance toward Democratic politicians they see as selling out core Democratic Party principles. Kos's willingness to attack the DLC is mocked on the right, but it is precisely the right's fear that Kos will "close the triangle" that causes them to protest so loudly. Similarly, when Atrios, Digby, Oliver Willis, and so many other progressive bloggers attack the media, they are leveraging whatever power they have to compel the media to assume a role as the third side of their triangle.

There was a report on Democracy Now today about the trial of non violent Anti-War activists. I wonder if the Bush administration has hopes this trial will intimidate the activists who are planning to protest this weekend.

Non-Violent Anti-War Activists Face Conspiracy Charges
Here in this country, Four anti-war activists go on trial today in Binghamton New York on federal conspiracy charges for taking part in a non-violent act of civil disobedience protesting the Iraq war. The activists - known as the Saint Patrick's Day Four - face up to six years in prison, a period of probation and $275,000 in fines. It marks the first federal conspiracy trial of antiwar protesters since the Vietnam War. On March 17, 2003, two days before the Iraq invasion, Daniel Burns, Clare Grady, Teresa Grady and Peter De Mott, were arrested inside the Army recruiting station in Lansing New York after they had poured vials of blood on the walls, windows and American flags. They were originally charged in state court with criminal mischief but the judge declared a hung jury after 9 of the 12 jurors voted for acquittal. The federal government then upped the charges to conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States "by force, intimidation and threat" as well as three lesser charges. Law Professor Bill Quigley, who is advising the four protesters, said there is concern that this case will set a precedent for nonviolent protesters across the country to be charged with federal conspiracy. To coincide with the trial, activists in Binghamton are staging A Citizens' Tribunal on Iraq.

#49 Jeanne, the announcement of this trial before the September 24 meeting was to intimidate the people who love God and America.

Jon Stewart's piece on the emmys is on crooks and liars. Pretty funny. JS at the Emmys.

hohum...

anyone else waiting for october?

that glorious month when the leaves fall, the weather cools, the children put on their costumes...

my wife and I were married in october...

first child born in october...

and yet that holy month has not stopped giving me jewels!

This fine october we will see an indictment of Rove and the failure of the Iraqi constitution and thus the failure of America to assert her blunderous imperialism. More examples of just how nationalism and patriotism and love of one's own country can be expelled from the heart of an otherwise lovable and content person. FALL BABYLON... Just don't fall on me...

Impossible Spiritual Life

Here are some words of wisdom from Caryll Houselander who died in 1954. She was a British mystic, poet, wood carver, and spiritual teacher:

"There are many people in the world who cultivate a curious state which they call 'The spiritual life.' They often complain that they have very little time to devote to the Spiritual life." The only time that they do not regard as wasted is the time they devote to pious exercises: praying, reading, meditations, and visiting the church.

"Will the time spent in earning a living, cleaning the home, caring for children, making and mending clothes, cooking, and all the other manifold duties and responsibilities be regarded as spiritually insignificant and wasted?

"It is really through ordinary human life and the things of every hour of every day that union with God comes about. There is one big thing we can do with God's help, that is, we can trust God's plan, we can put aside any quibbling or bitterness about ourselves and what we are.

"We can accept and seize upon the fact what we are at this moment, young or old, strong or weak, mild or passionate, beautiful or ugly, clever or stupid, is planned to be that. Whatever we are gives form to the emptiness in us which can only be filled by God, and which God is even now waiting to fill."

I know that Caryll Houselander is right when she says that we are to trust in God's plan. The problem that I have is we are in a struggle between God and the devil. God will eventually win on the Last Judgment Day but I cannot sit back and let the devil win here on earth. God's grace can give me the strength to persevere to the end and I hope that my God will show me mercy. The struggle with the devil on earth is a fierce struggle. The devil in America has the upper hand but we must never give up on God.

Jeanne, well yes this quote from daily kos is interesting "It would seem reasonable to conclude, then, that the best strategy for the progressive netroots is to go after the media and Democratic Party leaders and spend less time and energy attacking the Bush administration."

However, I think that it's imperative to spend a LOT of energy attacking the Bush administration -- if progressive netroots focused solely on going after the media & attacking Democratic Party leaders, Rove would be chuckling with glee that his prayers had been answered. He'd have his minions and echo chamber pointing out the disarray and divisiveness within the Dem party every day of the week.

Frankly, I intend to give the busheviks hell every chance I can. And, I write and voice my opinion to my two Dem Senators and one Dem congressman every time they need a kick in the butt and/or cast a vote contrary to the greater good.

Micki,
The Bush administration is such an easy target. I can't figure out how they can still look legitimate in the eyes of some people.
Ripple,
Ahhhh October. My son was born in October. The MN Twins won 2 World Series in October. Ahhhh...the continued decent of the Bush Administration.

Democracy Now had an interview with Hugo Chaves today and a speech by Jesse Jackson. It was a very good program. If Imperialist US Dares to Invade Venezuela, the war of 100 years will be unleashed on South America.
It was a very interesting interview. You see so little of him in MSM. In this interview he looks like a very legitimate and honorable leader.

The Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle
Commentary on the Flux of Events

by Jim Kunstler

September 19, 2005

Take a good look at America around you now, because when we emerge from the winter of 2005 - 6, we're going to be another country. The reality-oblivious nation of mall hounds, bargain shoppers, happy motorists, Nascar fans, Red State war hawks, and born-again Krispy Kremers is headed into a werewolf-like transformation that will reveal to all the tragic monster we have become.
What we will leave behind is the certainty that we have made the right choices. Was it a good thing to buy a 3,600 square foot house 32 miles outside Minneapolis with an interest-only adjustable rate mortgage -- with natural gas for home heating running at $12 a unit and gasoline over $3 a gallon? Was it the right choice to run three credit cards up to their $5000 limit? Was I chump to think my pension from Acme Airlines would really be there for me? Do I really owe the Middletown Hospital $17,678 for a gall bladder operation that took forty-five minutes? And why did they charge me $238 for a plastic catheter?
All kinds of assumptions about the okay-ness of our recent collective behavior are headed out the window. This naturally beats a straight path to politics, since that is the theater in which our collective choices are dramatized. It really won't take another jolting event like a major hurricane or a terror incident or an H4N5 flu outbreak to take things over the edge -- though it is very likely that something else will happen. George W. Bush, and the party he represents, are headed into full Hooverization mode. After Katrina, nobody will take claims of governmental competence seriously.
The new assumption will be that when shit happens you are on your own. In this remarkable three weeks since New Orleans was shredded, no Democrat has stepped into the vacuum of leadership, either, with a different vision of what we might do now, and who we might become. This is the kind of medium that political maniacs spawn in. Something is out there right now, feeding on the astonishment and grievance of a whipsawed middle class, and it will have a lot more nourishment in the months ahead.
There are two things that the newspapers and TV Cable News outfits are not covering very well. One is that the Port of New Orleans is not functioning, with poor prospects for a quick recovery, and with it will go much of the Midwestern grain harvest. Another thing that has fallen off the radar screen is the damage done to the oil and gas infrastructure around the Gulf Coast, especially the onshore facilities for storing and transporting stuff, and for marshaling the crews and equipment to fix stuff. The US is going to run short of its customary supplies for a long time. The idea that these things will not affect an economy of ceaseless mobility is not realistic.
These serious problems on-the-ground are going to affect the more ephemeral elements floating around in the financial ether: the value of the dollar, the hazard in hedge funds, the credibility of institutions. By October, the hurricane season will be ending and the stock market crash season will be underway. It is hard to imagine that companies like WalMart really believe they will keep their profits up when their customers are paying twice as much as they did a year ago to heat their houses and fill their gas tanks.
Meanwhile, does anybody remember a place called Iraq? A bomb that killed thirty people was reported on page 12 of the Sunday New York Times. That's how important Iraq has become. But, I guess, a nation can hardly pay attention to a bullet in the foot when it has a sucking chest wound.
--------------
He is right on, as usual.

More Katrina eyewitness reports from medical personal. Going back for more. I think this is the most detailed of the reports I have seen so far on the actual day to day work and the in the trenches experience. There were descriptions I haven't read about too. For instance, writes of help from Gore and Travolta. Wrote of Forest Service there to provide help.

Capt, I could go on all day about the sins of the dems. Party labels don't mean anything, personal integrity means everything. To compromise in this area is to bow to defeat.
micki, would you be willing to hire an attorney that was willing to go to any length, including lying, to win a case for you? Do you really believe the ends justify the means? Don't you realize that no politician stands a chance of gaining the WH without the blessing of the powers that be? And if they do get in, they will do just what they are told. How else do you explain the total lack of action on the part of both parties, with very little dissent? And the ones who make waves don't last long. Political affiliation does not make the politician, dedication to truth and country do. And there is far to little of that to suit me. Everyone has the right to support the reps of their choice but I will stick with my high standards, even if it is unrealistic. The people I know expect no less of me, and I am not responsible for an entire state!

Sorry for the long posts but this is unbelieavable. Are they TRYING to starve these people to death?

-------------
19 September 2005
EXCLUSIVE: UP IN FLAMES
Tons of British aid donated to help Hurricane Katrina victims to be BURNED by Americans
From Ryan Parry, US Correspondent in New York
HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.
Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

And unless the bureaucratic mess is cleared up soon it could be sent for incineration.

One British aid worker last night called the move "sickening senselessness" and said furious colleagues were "spitting blood".

The food, which cost British taxpayers millions, is sitting idle in a huge warehouse after the Food and Drug Agency recalled it when it had already left to be distributed.

Scores of lorries headed back to a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, to dump it at an FDA incineration plant.

The Ministry of Defence in London said last night that 400,000 operational ration packs had been shipped to the US.

But officials blamed the US Department of Agriculture, which impounded the shipment under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

The aid worker, who would not be named, said: "This is the most appalling act of sickening senselessness while people starve.

"The FDA has recalled aid from Britain because it has been condemned as unfit for human consumption, despite the fact that these are Nato approved rations of exactly the same type fed to British soldiers in Iraq.

"Under Nato, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness."

The worker added: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.

"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.

"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.

"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."

The Ministry of Defence said: "We understand there was a glitch and these packs have been impounded by the US Department of Agriculture under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."

Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.

And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.

The FDA said: "We did inspect some MREs (meals ready to eat) on September 13. They are the only MREs we looked at. There were 70 huge pallets of vegetarian MREs.

"They were from a foreign nation. We inspected them and then released them for distribution."

EXCLUSIVE: UP IN FLAMES

Tons of British aid donated to help Hurricane Katrina victims to be BURNED by Americans

From Ryan Parry, US Correspondent in New York

HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.

Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.

"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.

"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."

The Ministry of Defence said: "We understand there was a glitch and these packs have been impounded by the US Department of Agriculture under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."

Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.

And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.

*****end of clip*****

Business as usual.

capt

Oop's did not see you beat me to it!

Sorry Saladin, but can you believe this crud?

AAARRRGGGHHHH!

capt

From: Common dreams

Published on Thursday, September 15, 2005 by WorkingForChange
Poll Shows Americans Want Troops Brought Home; Top Dems Ignore the Public
by David Sirota

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll tells us what we already know: a strong majority of Americans favor bringing troops home from Iraq. Specifically, 55% support a withdrawal, while just 36% back Bush's position that current troop levels should be maintained.

This latest poll is consistent with other polls that show Americans oppose the war, want an exit strategy, believe the conflict is damaging U.S. national security, and think the war is hurting the effort to win the War on Terror.

Yet, as we see in Sen. Joe Biden's (D) Washington Post op-ed today, top Democrats still can't find the guts to push for withdrawing troops, and instead continue to drone on with the same split-the-difference posturing and weak-kneed whining that has marked their electoral decline in the last few years. As Atrios's Duncan Black notes, all Biden and the D.C. Democratic Establishment seem to be able to muster is, "If only a bunch of stuff that won't happen would happen, Iraq would be a lot of fun."

This kind of pathetic cowering isn't limited just to the Senate. Roll Call reports today that House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D) "has assembled a kitchen cabinet of fellow moderate Members to shape the Democratic strategy on national security issues." What's troubling is that every single member mentioned in the article as working with Hoyer recently voted against legislation to force President Bush to detail an exit strategy from Iraq. Similarly, nearly every member voted for the Iraq War (including Hoyer).

This apparent exclusion by D.C. Democratic Establishment types like Hoyer of those who want troops withdrawn from Iraq doesn't seem inadvertent. In fact, it seems like Hoyer is going out of his way to put a thumb in the eye of the few courageous Democrats who are trying to get their party to take a real position on the war. As the article notes, Hoyer is unveiling his group's agenda "just as some of the Caucus’†left-leaning Democrats are becoming ever more vocal about their opposition to the war in Iraq and heightening their call to bring U.S. forces home."

As I have written before, the longer the insulated D.C. Democratic Establishment practices its trademark thumb-in-the-wind, split-the-difference politics on the most important national security issues, the more the public will perceive the Democrats as standing for nothing. And ultimately, no matter how much we drive down Republicans' approval ratings, America will not reward a political party that tries to win by taking no clear positions at all.
---------------
This is the point I have been trying to make. We can complain and write letters until hell freezes over, they do what they want. hillary clinton beats the war drums as loudly as anyone. If they are supporting this war they are traitors to the country. I will NEVER compromise on this war or the cover-up of 9/11.

I don't get it. I just don't get it. We look like a bunch of gluttonous spoiled children.

only the dead have seen the end of war --

-- Plato

Great minds Capt!! My theory is that they are finding out just how much they can get away with. Check out this article from TBR News, seems they can get away with a lot.
Scroll down a bit.

Blackwater Mercenaries: Coming Soon to Your Town

I'm going to a discussion with Democrats tomorrow. I am going to voice my opinion about the need for a more social agenda and a real plan for the withdrawl of troops from Iraq. I'll see what they say.

Good quote James. I'll remember that one.

I have a neighbor who is very knowledgeable about what the government does behind the scenes. He is intelligent and rational. He has been saying for years that the Bush administration wants a way to invoke martial law.

It's always been tough to read through the God talk you try to speak, Gerald. It may help if you were to go to a site specializing in Jesus and his miracles. There are no miracles here, just tough problems being worked at.

There are some really interesting posts here today, capt, micki, jeanne, kathleen, et al.

Couple of questions. Is there a basis for a civil suit against the gov't for allowing the voter process to be taken over by private industry? I have not heard of such. Nothing related appears on the list of causes on the ACLU site. There should be suits springing up like 'shrooms.

Second, I keep seeing and hearing the phrase 'moral values.' What the f**k is a moral value? My religion, which isn't really a religion with all the rules and regs of how a person has to act, suggests that a person's way of realizing the moral truth is to look within and see what is right and what is wrong, not unlike what the Peacock War President said he would do as it relates to Katrina. I do this searching in terms of my own deeds. Words are like barn swallows, and flitter this way and that without making too many landings. When I decide what is right and what is wrong, it does not mean there is a value created. Unless, unless, one takes this decision as something upon which to build, which is totally morally inept. Moral, being moral, is the condition of being a living person in the here and now. This has not changed since Coyote evolved into Man and Woman.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." : Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait, 1963

=
If you are neutral in situatio