Throw da bum out!

By Capt. Fogg

Yes sir, Baseball fans are a loony, Irrational, Bush Hating, Liberal fringe element buncha lefty, commie, pinko America haters who choose to ignore the wonderful things Bush has brought to our wonderful world. It warms my heart to see it confirmed. You may have seen the clip already, but see it again. It may bring some cheer to your Monday Morning.




Cross posted from Human Voices

Profiles in Courage

by expatbrian

When I first saw the movie "The Killing Fields" in the mid 80's I, like most Americans, was completely ignorant of the events taking place in Cambodia. Like many vets, I saw all the movies that were related to Vietnam in an effort I suppose to find some meaning that I had missed. Most were disappointments but this movie, based on the genocide of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, was so much better than the rest that I ended up watching it 3 times over the years.

It depicts the real life close relationship between western journalist Sydney Schanberg and his Cambodian counterpart, Dith Pran who worked as an interpreter for western newsmen trying to report on the war. The movie won three Oscars.

Dith Pran was captured by the Khmer Rouge but managed to survive by hiding his intellectual background and pretending to be a peasant. The horrors he witnessed are for most, unimaginable and the courage and fortitude he displayed is the stuff of legends.

After Dith finally escaped and moved to the U.S., he became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and founded the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, dedicated to educating people on the history of the Khmer Rouge regime.

He was "the most patriotic American photographer I've ever met, always talking about how he loves America," said Associated Press photographer Paul Sakuma, who knew Dith through their work with the Asian American Journalists Association.

It was Dith Pran himself who coined the phrase "killing fields" when describing the horrifying stacks of corpses and skeletal remains of victims he encountered on his desperate journey to freedom.

Dith Pran died yesterday at his home in New Jersey from pancreatic cancer. He was 65.

A personal milestone

By Libby

It seems hard to believe I started my first blog five years ago. It took a while to find my voice and my focus but I ended up adding a new blog every year during this same week, so I'm celebrating four years at Detroit News in a couple of days, I think we just passed the three year mark here, but I didn't do much with this one for a few months so I don't usually celebrate it and I'll hit one year with the Newshoggers in a few more days. The Reaction I think I hit a few weeks ago for one year so that's the one that broke the pattern and serves as the two year old blog anniversary.

I don't think I'll add any more blogs to my roster but incredibly, I still enjoy blogging after all this time and all these blogs. I didn't get rich. I didn't get famous. But on my better days I feel like I'm having at least a small effect on the public narrative. That's all I ever wanted, was to do my part to change the world a little bit for the better. Some may dispute it was for the better, but I think in those terms, I've succeeded.

A movie made by a movement

By Libby

I was about to do my weekly media bytes post but I don't want this to get lost in the links. It just arrived in my inbox and I swear I got goosebumps and almost got teary. It's a six minute trailer for The Shift. Watch it and see if you can remain unmoved by the message.

Counting out the money

By Libby

Remember when money counted as a barometer of viability in a campaign? I suppose McCain laid that metric to rest with his comeback but nonetheless, this can't be a good sign for Hillary. I would preface these figures with the caveat that they come from the Politico, so I'm not vouching for their reliability but if they're true...

The rest can only be spent in the general election, if she makes it that far, and must be returned if she doesn’t. If she had paid off the $8.7 million in unpaid bills she reported as debt and had not loaned her campaign $5 million, the cash she would have had available at the end of last month to spend on television ads and other up-front expenses would have been less than $2 million.

By contrast, if you subtract Obama’s $625,000 in debts and his general election-only money from his total cash on hand at the end of last month, he’d still be left with $31 million.

What has been reported widely enough to believe is that the Clinton campaign has stiffed small vendors all the way back to Iowa, while Politico reports she allegedly has paid off one big company that has the ability to stage events nationally. In terms of keeping her candidacy alive, this makes sense. In terms of demonstrating fiscal responsibility, not so much. And no matter how you slice it, I'd say the figures argue for Obama's greater support among the voters who are engaged enough in the process to contribute to the campaigns. Surely they will turn out to vote in November.

Meanwhile, the GOP's faithful are more than happy to see this go on forever. The WaPo asks "what's the hurry" in an editorial. The Bush administration's biggest media cheerleader thinks it would be just great for the Democrats to keep this up right through August, assuming the candidates will discuss the issues instead of tearing each other apart. I do too, if they would run against McCain instead of each other, but the commenters to my other post on this aren't buying into the idea that there's a unity pony under all the shit that has been slung so far in this contest. Can't say I blame them.

Even more telling, prime neo-nut and former chief Clinton basher Richard M. Scaife reassessed his opinion of Hillary and now finds it's a very favorable one indeed. I think we can guess who the GOP really want to run against in November. I suppose you can't blame them. They have 15 years worth of oppo already in the can against Hillary. They would have to work a lot harder to trash Obama and I don't think anyone believes that no matter who the nominee is, that we'll continue to see this great equanimity coming from these quarters once we have one.

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

Lights out

By Capt. Fogg

There's nothing wrong with the urge to do good, but most often the urge is expressed with romantic, meaningless and even counter-productive gesture. Perhaps "Earth Hour" is one of them. Switching off the electricity for an hour would indeed have some kind of a psychological attraction to those who think technology has done us a mean trick by allowing us to have a more pleasant evening environment than possible whilst squatting around a fire, swatting mosquitoes and worrying about malaria, but I'm sure an hour after Earth Hour, the twin Sub-Zero refrigerators will be back on, along with the pool heater and the air conditioning and the climate control in the wine cellar every house in Beverly Hills is possessed of. I'm sure more kilowatt hours are involved in spreading the word than will be saved by switching to candles made from petroleum based, paraffin wax.

Sure, I could have switched off last night; lit some kerosene mantle lamps and indulged in some battery powered music, but to what purpose? Living in a hurricane zone and being an emergency communications specialist, I'm well equipped for temporary self sufficiency. A home lit by fire however, is far less efficient and far more polluting than one blessed by Edison's genius and the pollution and energy consumption involved with producing and disposing of batteries is far worse than what comes off the grid. It's all a bit like wearing ribbons and going on walks for AIDS or breast cancer. It gets people talking and socializing and feeling like philanthropists, but doesn't really involve them in doing anything constructive. Worst of all it allows those who really are vested in raping the planet to dismiss us as hippies, tree-huggers, wearers of sandals and with other meaningless categories. Isn't it a bit like getting stoned and painting your face like a color blind Apache and thinking that's going to bring on a new age of peace and harmony?

Is it really that the benefit of having good light after the sun has gone down has made our atmosphere unstable or is it that there are far too many of us? Is it a grand gesture to do without an hour's light while so much of the world lives in abject poverty and filth and darkness, or is it hypocrisy? It's really only the relatively affluent who do these things for an hour before running the jacuzzi, turning on the 52" TV and cranking the AC down to 70 anyway. Isn't it a sad fact that if two thirds of the world had a third of our comforts, the planet's ecology might collapse?

And who knows what people will really do when the lights are out? We had a mini baby boom here after the storms of 2004-2005 and that gets to the root of the problem - there are so many of us that we may have to keep the larger part in poverty so that the smaller part doesn't have to go to sleep when the sun goes down, gets to eat strawberries in February, can travel at will and is never out of sight of a Starbucks. It isn't technology with it's hand around our throat, it's your kids, their kids and their kids' kids. It isn't technology that makes us give in to the urge to breed like rabbits and it isn't sanity that makes us interfere in other peoples efforts to keep the population under control. It's religion, it's greed and sometimes it's even fear of a socialism free future where society won't take care of us making us think we need to have 18 children.

If there's anything I have faith in though, it's that circumstances will continue to rule us rather than the other way around. It's partly because we aren't quite smart enough or rational enough, but it's partly because we indulge in fatuous displays rather than making hard decisions.

Cross posted from Human Voices

God Damn America

by expatbrian

Those words surely have caused a lot of havoc lately for the Obama campaign. Why, I don't know given that Obama didn't say them and has absolutely no influence over the preacher who did. But the rightwing saw an opportunity to attack him "by association" because he didn't immediately denounce the preacher or get up and walk out of the church. I for one would much rather be associated with the likes of Reverend Wright than I would with lying, cheating, lawbreaking, traitors like Bush and Cheney.

If I believed in God I would say God damn America, too. Somebody should. Not because the American people are evil. They aren't. They're just apathetic. And not because America is rich and powerful. Give any group of bold and visionary men and women a land of almost endless natural resources and wealth and power will be the result. Our ancestors were such men and women.

No, America should be damned because its government has become like a warlord to its own "subjects" and to people around the world. It ignores the needs of these people while it feeds on the worlds dwindling resources in a desperate attempt to maintain and even enhance the absurdly wealthy lifestyles of its most powerful citizens. Their attitude, like any good warlord's is "let them eat cake".

In America the people cry out for affordable health care. Is it doable and possible? Of course. Do all the candidates, every election, say they will do something about it? Of course again. Are you going to get it? Of course not, stupid. Because for you to get it, the disgustingly rich insurance and drug companies would have to give up a little profit. The government is not going to make them do that. Instead, they are just going to say, "fuck you" to the American people and like they always do, they will get away with it.

Would you like a simplified tax system? Maybe something you could do yourself instead of the unbelievably complicated 200 page "Tax Guide" they send you each year? Of course you would. Is it doable and possible? Absolutely. Do all the candidates promise that tax reform is going to be one of their top priorities? Every year. Are you going to get it?

No, you ignorant fuck, you are not. If you started to understand your taxes and how much of your hard earned money you actually gave away to rich people, you might question it. Even refuse to pay it. Can't have that. The government finds it much easier to control you and your money when you remain ignorant.

How about global warming and those other environmental concerns? Do you want a world that is clean and healthy for your children and grandchildren? Of course you do. Does the government and each of the candidates profess profound concern over these issues? Of course again. Are your children going to inherit a clean, healthy planet?

No, you blithering idiot, they are not. Nobody in this government is going to force any of the mega rich pollution spewing industries to spend the big bucks to clean up their act. No, they will pass just enough cheap meaningless environmental legislation so they can all say they are doing something about it. At the same time more and more species will be wiped out and more poor people will starve and die of thirst and disease while these industries continue to stuff their pockets with your money. And besides, before any big American company has to spend money to comply with pollution regulations, they will just fire you and move overseas where they don't have to put up with that shit.

If another country happens to have a supply of a natural resource that we need should we sit down and hash out a workable deal that benefits both countries? Sounds good. Maybe do a barter of some kind with a plentiful foodstuff like wheat that they could really use in return for what we need? Perfect! Everybody wins! Are we going to do that?

No, you gullible jerk, we are not. We are going to go blow their fucking asses away and take exactly what we want exactly when we want it. And if we find out later on that another country has something else we need, we'll blow their fucking asses away, too. We're America. Fuck 'em.

So if Reverend Wright was cursing the American people or the beautiful country they call home, I condemn him for it. But if he was cursing the behavior of America's corrupt government with its shortsighted economic policies, its domestic thievery and its bullying international arrogance - if he was damning America's insatiably greedy corporations who are allowed to get away with rape and murder, then I for one will echo his sentiment and damn America, too.

Dirty effin' hippies - back in the day....

By Libby

We didn't have conventions, we went to music festivals.



After Woodstock, we smoked pot and listened to long haired kids singing about low heeled boys. This felt profound after you dropped some LSD. So did this.

Now we blog. Probably more effective. Definitely not as much fun.

Fresh Obama ad

By Libby

I think it's really good.



As the old saw goes, this one will play well in Peoria.

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

How to end the occupation of Iraq

By Libby

This story didn't get enough attention yesterday and it was truly an awesome development in the narrative on the failure of the occupation in Iraq.

More than 40 Democratic House and Senate candidates have endorsed a document stating that "there is no military solution in Iraq" and calling for an end to the war and the removal of all U.S. troops from the country, though not according to any specific timeline.

The strategy document, titled "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq," calls for using "diplomatic, political and economic means" to hasten an end to the conflict. As of this writing, it has been endorsed by four Democratic Senate candidates and 38 House hopefuls, a handful of whom touted the plan on a conference call with reporters today.

I'd note this effort is being led in part by a blogger. It's a good plan and I think it's rather incredible that this many candidates have signed on so early in the game. I have to think more will sign on as it becomes apparent it's a winning strategy in an election year where the electorate is undeniably tired of pouring blood and treasure into a quixotic quest with an end goal that has yet to be clearly stated. We've come a long way since the 06 elections.

We're going to end this by electing enough politicians in 08 who are willing to stand up and vote for the people rather than cower in the face of the conventional wisdom inside the Beltway.

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

Dirty effin' hippies convene

By Libby

I would have liked to go to the Atriots convention. The speakers are knockout great bloggers, and I would have loved to hear them speak at length and maybe meet some of them in person. I didn't go for a number of reasons. First my schedule made it impossible to attend and secondly, even though it's fairly close by and cheap by the usual standard for these sort of gatherings, I still couldn't afford the $400 bucks I figure it would have cost me. I can't afford much these days with the price I'm paying for a single payer health insurance policy.

But also, you might be surprised to learn I'm rather shy and the Atriots are such a closeknit group, I probably wouldn't have gone, even if I could. I don't feel all that welcome in the comment section. I can't imagine I'd feel more comfortable arriving alone, on the physical plane. I'm not close to any of them, even in the cybersense and I get the sense most of them are a lot younger than me and I would have felt very out of place.

Too bad. Via Avedon, I see Sinfonian is liveblogging the event and it does sound like they're having fun. Besides it's always interesting to see what people you've never met really look like in person, as compared to your vision of them. NTodd for instance, didn't look a bit like I expected him to. I hope Sinfonian posts more pix, especially of the attendees. I'd love to see what some of the non-blogging regs look like.

To the idiot who said...

By Libby

... in comments that the protests on the streets of Iraq against Maliki's crackdown was a sign of the success of the "new democracy," read this. The Maliki government considers any civil disobedience, peaceful or otherwise, as a crime prosecutable under terrorism laws. I assume the only reason they didn't arrest everyone on the spot is because they were unable to effect a mass arrest of that proportion, even if most of the protesters were unarmed. I don't suppose we'll hear anything from the western press in the event that the organizers are ultimately prosecuted.

Cognitive Dreaming

By Libby

Inspired by my colleague at The Reaction, Carol Gee and her blog about dreaming, I've been working on my dream skills that I had put aside for many years. Or rather it was more my skills had vanished when I reached a point where they scared my psyche into retreat. I just wasn't able to do it anymore after a particularly cognitive dream. It's not a practice for the fainthearted. Controlling your dreams can be terrifying, or at least it has been so for me.

One of the first exercises in this practice is to conciously look at your hands in your dream. In other words to willfully recognize you are in a dream and deliberately make that conscious move. The first time I ever succeeded was in 1974, I think. I immediately went into a state where I felt like I was falling into an abyss. I woke myself up in a cold sweat and didn't try it again for a long time. Over the years, I've looked at my hands many times without those ill effects and for a while in the mid 90s became more proficient at remaining aware in my dream state. Eventually I scared myself silly again in a very vivid dream and found myself again unable to continue.

In any event, I've recently taken up the practice again and last night I successfully looked at my hands for a long time. They looked big and almost disembodied but they were clearly mine. I made a fist to sustain the image. When I opened it I found a flower in my hand. It looked a lot like this wild garlic. I tried to maintain the focus to do it again but I woke up instead.

I went right back to sleep, but I couldn't control the dream anymore. I spent the rest of the time dreaming mostly about politics. At one point, I had found a document of some sort that was going to destroy Karl Rove. I marched triumphantly into GOP headquarters, announcing I had the goods in my hand but when I went to show them, the document was gone. They ignored me. That part felt pretty much like my waking life.

Ending the occupation of Iraq

By Libby

I'm fighting off the grog from too much sleep today and sloughing through the depressing news. I'm not finding much I feel like talking about but Zbigniew Brzezinski has an op-ed in the WaPo worth reading on how to end the Iraq occupation with some measure of grace. I thought this was his best point.

Contrary to Republican claims that our departure will mean calamity, a sensibly conducted disengagement will actually make Iraq more stable over the long term. The impasse in Shiite-Sunni relations is in large part the sour byproduct of the destructive U.S. occupation, which breeds Iraqi dependency even as it shatters Iraqi society. In this context, so highly reminiscent of the British colonial era, the longer we stay in Iraq, the less incentive various contending groups will have to compromise and the more reason simply to sit back. A serious dialogue with the Iraqi leaders about the forthcoming U.S. disengagement would shake them out of their stupor.

The truth is, no one can predict what effect withdrawing our military support would have on Iraq or the situation in the Middle East generally but it seems unlikely that it could be significantly worse than the all too apparent results our continued occupation is currently generating.

On a related note, I posted the funniest quote of the day at Newshoggers.

The Empire retires?

By Capt. Fogg

There's a new kind of darkness come to the Sunshine State. Karl Rove, whose bald pate is sometimes described as looking like a shaved testicle, has bought himself a house in a small development on the gulf coast in the western half of the Florida panhandle. You may have a hard time finding it on the map. It's quite a way from any place with a name you might recognize; the kind of place that gets hurt really, really bad by the hurricanes that scream through now and then. The mangroves and the vegetation that used to protect the dunes are now gone to be replaced by condos and beach houses and the country types who used to inhabit the area have been replaced by more economically upscale and in this case at least, a morally bankrupt politician.

I could imagine all sorts of reasons that Karl would choose to spend at least part of his time in a remote area, even if locals aren't particularly likely to admire him any more than I do, but it seems to interest Raw Story to a degree I find amusing. The stereotype of the typical "liberal" often is someone of limited means with a jealous grudge against those with less limited means. It's not true, but of course one will find examples.

The story focuses on how large and expensive is his abode as though to provide a very unneeded reason to dislike Rove. It has to make a Floridian smile. Perhaps to a rust belt city dweller a 2500 square foot house is big and a million dollars for a seaside property is expensive, but Welcome to Florida. Even in the midst of a real estate slump a 50,000 square foot house was completed last month, just a few miles up the coast from me. A big chunk of the people who live here don't need mortgages and a million buys a rather average house if it's within sight of the water. Did anyone think a high level king maker like Rove couldn't afford it - regardless of his party affiliation? I'm actually surprised at how modest it is compared to the palatial Rush Limbaugh seaside estate in Palm Beach.

The real surprise though, is that the real base of the Republican party, and I don't mean the money people, the influential people, but the guy whose house has wheels, the small businessman resentful of taxes, the retired military lovers of authority who always vote Republican, the Religious right; that such people support Rove and Rumsfeld and Bush and Cheney even now is what amazes me. That they think the Party represents them, is on their side and is lead by struggling people just like them, is beyond understanding. But let's not do so much to further the false image of Democrats that serves the Republicans so well. Let's not make demons of anyone with money when it's those who get rich by lying, cheating and stealing; those who use economic power to subvert politics to nefarious ends who are our opponents. Karl Rove isn't evil because he made a few bucks, but because he made it the way he did.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Lies and the Lying Liars that tell them

by expatbrian

Fabrications, exagerations, out and out lies. Hillary's wasn't the first, even for her and there are more where that came from. Just saw this good article (at Al Jazeera of all places) which talks about the lies and lists a few more.

Never Never land

By Capt. Fogg

Should I believe Glenn Beck? I'll forget for the moment that cynical and baseless hyperbole seems to surround him like that elusive halo of dark matter some cosmologists are talking about and assume he didn't just make up the figure of $53 trillion he tells us is

"the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made."

Beck compares this debt to an asteroid on a collision course with America and if it were an asteroid being ignored by the government, says he, the public would "be sharpening our pitchforks and demanding answers."

Fair enough, but I also want some answers first before I become another empty skulleddittohead ready to declare open season on Democrats. Sure I would like to know how and where he got the number, but I would like to know what would happen if Medicare and Social Security simply went away. I would like to know how much money would be spent on providing retirement income and medical care if we went back to the days of widespread poverty and disease and an imperilled "surplus population." Surely medical insurance and annuities and personal savings would still exist, but they would not be free, they would simply come from the pockets of those who could afford them and in many cases they would be more expensive because private, for profit providers would extract a much larger fraction than would a government agency. Such things as retirement and health would become more of a luxury, but they would be paid for by those who could pay for them. Wouldn't that cost suddenly become larger?

When he says the bill is $53 trillion, is that a gross cost that ignores that this money is supporting the health care industry and those who work in it? Doesn't all that spending help the economy and why isn't he factoring that in? What about the cost of having some 20, 30 or 40% of out population in poverty and disease - do we let them die, turn to crime or do we support them, police them, jail them and house them anyway and at a higher cost? I'd like to know how the apocalyptic Republican prediction of bankruptcy would be affected by changing retirement ages, applying means tests or other things before I suck up any more slop from your trough.

What would Beck answer if I could ask him how much more a private annuity would cost than a publicly administered one? How much more would private medical insurance cost? I would guess it would be more, and if the 53 trillion number is real, it's lower than it would be if all that stuff had to be obtained from a profit oriented vendor. Medical care is going to be paid for and is going to cost money - the question is whether a public or private conduit is less expensive and more equitable; the question is whether we force people into a minimum level of planning or let them be a burden at a higher cost later. Maybe I'm wrong, but without seeing that number, Beck has only a preamble to an argument rather than a case for privatizing the whole shebang.

Typically of such ad captium vulgis arguments, even when they are complete arguments and not mere cage rattling, what's for sale is a Utopian image of governmental minimalism that has never proved itself in the real world. Most modern countries after all, provide social services out of tax revenue and are far less burdened by the correlates of poverty, like crime. Sure, it's tempting to imagine how well we could live if we paid hardly any taxes, just as it's tempting to think how much cheaper it would be to drive a car with no insurance, but we require fiscal responsibility in that respect and we require it by mandatory payments to make us less of a burden on society if we get sick and when we get old. I don't see a difference

Why shouldn't I have to have insurance against complete financial disaster which would make me a burden on society when I can't work Mr. Beck? And why will this scary number destroy our country when it hasn't destroyed others? Aren't you just indulging in deceptive accounting? Aren't you all about letting people fantasize about a "screw you, I've got mine" world much like the one we struggled out of so many years ago? Aren't you really supporting yourself in style by being an enemy not only of America but of civilization in general? I mean, I'm just askin'.

Cross posted from Human Voices

He fought Sadr and Sadr won

By Libby

I leave the big analysis of the morass in Mesopotamia to the policy wonks, but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to grasp that this is bad news for Iraq.

Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.

It reminds me of an article I read several years ago about a military unit in Afghanistan, back when the media still covered that occupation. The commander of the unit remarked, "You can't buy an Afghani, but you can rent one." It seems the same dynamic plays out in Iraq. Maybe Maliki thought he had an ace up his sleeve with the US effectively bribing the various factions to stop fighting, but it apparently turned out to be just a joker.

Mr al-Maliki has gambled everything on the success of Operation Saulat al-Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, to sweep illegal militias out of Basra.

I have little doubt that the recent spate of visits by US dignitaries had something to do with Maliki throwing his cards on the table and clearly the pressure came straight from the alternate reality team at the White House.

"Prime Minister Maliki's bold decision, and it was a bold decision, to go after the illegal groups in Basra shows his leadership and his commitment to enforce the law in an even-handed manner," Mr Bush said. "It also shows the progress the Iraqi security forces have made during the surge."

Cripes. If this is progress I surely don't want to see what regression looks like. Meanwhile...

If the Iraqi forces fail to stamp out the powerful militias, however, and Iraq sinks into a new bout of in-fighting, Mr Bush’s troops and British forces may be forced to weigh in, sparking a new round of blood-letting ahead of US elections and scuttling British plans for an early withdrawal from Iraq.

That prophecy didn't take long to self-fulfill. Three days in and the
US forces are already taking the lead. You know, Bush has stated on numerous occassions that his only plan for Iraq was to engineer the circumstances on the ground to force his successor to maintain the occupation. Damn if it doesn't look like it's going to work.

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

In case you didn't notice...

By Libby

I'm working today and am basically off line. I'm supposed to get out early. I'm not holding my breath. No idea when I'll be back.

Same old George

By Capt. Fogg

No, I don't mean George Orwell, although the two will forever be linked with antinomial rhetoric. I know the theme has been beaten to death, but Bush's reflexive promotion of bad news as good news simply won't let the comparison die. When he didn't send enough troops, that was a good thing and then when finally he did, that was a good thing and now that the all too brief and all too small down tick in violence seems to have lost the coat of whitewash - that's a good thing. "It's a positive moment" he said of the renewed fighting to The Times of London; just as it was positive that British troops had withdrawn previously. In fact every military debacle in recent years has been positive to this administration, including the horrible miscalculation that allowed the collapse of Iraq's infrastructure and the rise of an insurgency and the need for re-enforcements.

Reiterating his commitment to occupying Iraq until they become a willing client state and oil source, Commander Guy said he would not listen to "those who scream the loudest," which of course means those who question his fantasy. It's good to know that foolish consistency remains as unchanging as his mind.

“I understand people here want us to leave, regardless of the situation, but that will not happen so long as I’m Commander-In-Chief.”

How long has it been since we've had or even wanted leadership that recognized the sovereignty of "the people here" or recognized that the term "commander in Chief" refers only to command of the military and not to the nation?

"a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law"

says Bush despite the fact that Iraq isn't a sovereign nation and with the smug consciousness that we aren't either. If we were, we would be willing to take on elements we believe are beyond the law instead of gibbering like demented monkeys about Obama's preacher and how we just hat, hate, hate oh yes hate Hillary. If we were a sovereign nation and not the Kingdom of a God chosen ruler, we would have put the junta behind bars long ago.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Bombs over Baghdad and Blackwater fever

By Libby

I see the Pentagon is spinning the mayor mayhem that broke out in Iraq as an inevitable result of the success of the surge. Yeah, it's so successful, they're resorting to air strikes all over the place.

BAGHDAD — U.S. aircraft supporting an Iraqi government offensive against Shiite Muslim militias bombed suspected militia positions south of Baghdad amid intense fighting Wednesday in parts of the Iraqi capital and in the southern port city of Basra, Iraqi police said.

The long list of targets and victims is too depressing to list, but this one graf really strikes me.

In the south, the fighting Wednesday spread to Kut as Maliki sent forces from Karbala to supplement the 15,000 troops he already had. U.S. air support attacked targets on major roadways and the homes of suspected weapons smugglers, said Abdel Kareem Khalaf, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

It's always suspected evildoers when they know the death toll of innocent civilians is going to be high and that's surely inevitable with air strikes. If memory serves, the COIN manual regards air strikes as a 'desperate measures only' tactic because it's kind of counterproductive to whole winning hearts and minds that's central to the strategy.

Meanwhile, many more innocents will die from this.

FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) - Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

The lede is somewhat sensational. The disease is a well known and particularly malicious strain of malarial infection and it's not at all clear the doctors named it after Blackwater, the mercenaries. Nonetheless, it can kill in 24 hours, the central Health Ministry is ignoring it and they don't have the doctors or the medicine to treat an epidemic. Their medical system is in fact on the verge of collapse. Another inevitable by-product of the occupation.

If all this death and violence is part of the plan, then it's a really bad plan and it always was. Of course, that's what everybody except the diehard deadenders was saying a year and a half ago.

Hold McCain to the fire

By Libby

John McCain is breaking the law with his campaign spending. He gamed the system using our tax dollars and they're still calling him Straight Talk instead of calling him out for his criminality in the press. This should be get more than a passing mention in our good for nothing major media, which is all they've given it so far.

The activism unit at FireDogLake is on it and has already filed a formal complaint. They're now putting together a follow up letter signed by outraged citizens. Please read and co-sign the letter to the FEC right now and pass the link along. It's a simple sign on. It won't take ten seconds.

If you need more convincing, read my Newshoggers post.

Hate mail of the month

By Libby

On April 2nd, I will have been blogging at the Detroit News for four years. I have a bit of fan base. I do occassionally get a stray commenter who will praise my work and say they read me every day, but most of them are critics. They love to hate me and really, I love them. Some have been following me so long, they feel like friends. But a stranger showed up with a priceless critique.

Tue. 03/25/08 08:25 PM
LIBBY

What a dumb bitch.


SMOK'IN JOE WOOD, KINGMAN, AZ

There were two from Arizona. No idea how they ended up at the Detroit weblog and the other guy was bitching about my post dissing Lieberman. I love the intertubes.

Hillary and McCain

By Libby

I'm back to work today so just a short post at the moment. Despite my best intentions, I broke my own plea for unity this morning after reading this rumor, among other disturbing news. I collect the pieces at the Newshoggers post and it doesn't assemble into a pretty picture.

Meanwhile, I've been doing my serious McCain bashing at the Detroit News. You should be able to access the posts from that index, but it doesn't always work. They do regularly repair it though, check back if it doesn't and you don't feel like scrolling the blogs to get to my posts.

There's a big opportunity to trash McCain today. It appears he's repaying Hillary for all her kind words by attacking her on her occupation stance. Kind of bad timing though.

McCain is calling for her to apologize for saying the surge didn't work, just as it fell apart. It seems pretty clear that added troops didn't exactly quell the violence so much as Sadr's ceasefire had. It seems his "awakened" Shia militiamen are tired of waiting for political progress and the ceasefire is off. Death and general mayhem just exploded again, with fighting in Basra, increased suicide bombings and a recent sustained rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad.

I don't understand how anyone can believe Clueless McCain is the guy to deal with this. He was so busy starting his build his case for bombing Iran that he apparently didn't notice any trouble brewing on his recent tour, from which he came back pronouncing how lovely Iraq is at this time of year.

Hillary Says She 'Misspoke' About Wrestling Bin Laden

by expatbrian

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has been accused in recent days of padding her foreign policy resume while First Lady, admitted today that she may have exaggerated about an encounter she said she had with al-Qaeda terror mastermind Osama bin Laden in 1998.

In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Sen. Clinton told host Tim Russert, "I wrestled bin Laden in his cave in 1998 and had him pinned to the ground before the bastard got away."

But a review of Sen. Clinton's official White House schedule from that period revealed that the then-First Lady was nowhere in the vicinity of Mr. bin Laden on that day, but was instead greeting a group of honor roll students at Disney World in Orlando.

"I may have misspoke about what went on that particular day," Sen. Clinton said today. "But it was a very busy time for me, what with having that knife-fight with Kim Jong-Il and all."

Reporters peppered Sen. Clinton's new press spokesman with questions about another purported exploit of hers, in which the senator claimed that she and a ragtag team of blue-collar drillers deflected an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth.

"Everything Hillary Clinton says is true," said her new spokesman, the author James Frey.

H/t to Huffington Post and author Andy Borowitz
(Andy Borowitz is a comedian and writer whose work appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and at his award-winning humor site, BorowitzReport.com)

A small endorsement for Obama

By Libby

This one didn't get much attention but Obama's neighbor Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, who has been the spiritual leader of the synagogue across the street from Obama's home, delivered a ringing endorsement last week.

Obama is no anti-Semite. He is not anti-Israel. He is one of our own, the one figure on the political scene who remembers our past, and has a real vision for repairing our present.

Barack Obama is brilliant and open-hearted; he is wiser and more thoughtful than his former minister. He offers what America, Israel, and the Jewish community need: a US President willing to ask hard questions, and grapple with difficult answers.

Meanwhile, Harry Reid is hinting that the Democratic leadership is about to step in behind the scenes and ask someone to withdraw for the good of the party.

Much as I would like my vote in May to count for something, I'd be happier if the intraparty bickering ends and we could all go back to bashing the GOP again.

Same old Dick

By Capt Fogg

I'm rather tired of the false familiarity politicians sometimes use when trying to sound like one of the guys; as though they'd really rather be called Dick than Richard or even "Mr. Vice President" because power and status are uncomfortable to these log cabin born rail splitters with dung on their boots. I'm always happy to call our current VP Dick however, although the opportunity isn't likely to present itself unless we have another hurricane in my part of Florida this summer.

I was beginning to think for a while that Dick was in ill health or that George had sent him to his room so as not to embarrass the party, but he's back. He's back with the same old "go F*** yourself" attitude, the same old so what response to the will of the country he was elected to serve and the same old authoritarianism in conservative clothing. Like most mythological creations of religious organizations do, Dick speaks in parables and his latest and most overused parable seems to be tale of the democratically elected hero who knows much more and much better than does the peasantry about what needs to be done and so steps outside his job description and like a fat Napoleon, on to a white marble horse.

Gerald Ford, says Dick, exhibited the same sort of heroism in pardoning the other great Dick of American History that he and his administration did by fabricating a story requiring us to invade, demolish, pillage and occupy Iraq. Let's not be so formal as to call this sophistry, let's continue with the familiarity thing and call it a foul, stinking, crock of shit and worse: an effort to advance the cause of paternalistic, authoritarian and yes, imperial government. Of course no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of Americans and especially that of Republicans, but it shouldn't be too difficult to recognize that pardoning a cheap, chiseling, neurotic and alcoholic crook like Nixon could never have the same kind or degree of repercussions or involve the same kind of human and financial costs as did and does our occupation of Iraq.

But if anyone still needs help, arguing that because a president may sometimes have to temper the short term passions of the public, a ruthless dictator is ipso facto a good president, is a false argument of insidious intent. Get it?

Dick likes to pose as the long suffering victim of unintelligent and unappreciative liberal advocates of popular sovereignty whom time will eventually exonerate and promote. As you may recall, we were suffocated with similar sentiments concerning the other Dick and so far Nixon looks worse with every passing year and every transcribed tape. I'm afraid glory will escape Dick Cheney in his lifetime and in saecula saeculorum unless of course honest history fails along with our democracy and our republic.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Hillary tells a whopper

by expatbrian

Far be it from me to put down a democrat but I feel that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Hillary decided to try to capitalize on her visit to one of the world's many hot spots by telling a blatant lie in an attempt to appear brave and tough. The evidence of the lie was filmed for all the world to see. How dumb can you get?

Then today she tried to minimize the damage by saying she "misspoke" and her campaign staff scrambled to cover for her. You've all heard the distasteful details.

Frankly, I find her behavior disgusting and inexcusable. We have brave, tough troops under fire every day. For her to lie to try to be like one of them is just as perverse as Rudy and his lie about time spent at ground zero.

I don't think she can or will put this episode behind her. If she became the candidate, McCain's people would pound her with it daily. She needs to get out now and throw all of her support behind Obama. To do anything else, to act as if she did nothing seriously wrong will just humiliate her and the party further.

cross posted from World Gone Mad

So much for southern hospitality

By Libby

I know the economy has everybody down and towns are struggling with lean budgets but this is the craziest policy I've read about outside of the war on some drugs in a very long time.

MOORESVILLE, Ala. — The city of Mooresville is charging commercial photographers $500 for a permit to take pictures of its historic buildings, a practice some are questioning as discriminatory and unlawful.

Huntsville photographer Don Broome sent a letter to the editor of The Huntsville Times after he was served with a violation notice two weeks ago and told to leave town because he didn’t buy the permit before taking pictures.

Since Mooresville also charges $30 for a business privilege license, it costs commercial photographers $530 a year to take pictures in the north Alabama town, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has about 60 residents.

The mayor said the regulation was misapplied in his case but the criteria is still crazy.

She said only commercial photographers who regularly book multiple clients and actually step onto the property to take pictures are required to buy the permit.

Commercial photographers like Broome would be exempt because they don’t have a subject in the photo and aren’t in Mooresville on a regular basis.

How many people could fit that criteria anyway. It's a cute little town but it doesn't look all that different from any small town in New England to me and if they're kicking out people for taking pictures without paying an exorbitant fee, how charming can it be?

The most interesting thing about it is "males had a median income of $51,667 versus $65,417 for females" and "the per capita income for the town was $51,694, unusually high for the state." Otherwise there appears to be nothing to do there except walk around and take pictures.

As I dig around Google, here's more. The politics of the fee are more interesting than the town itself.

The town created it because of the influx of photographers who wanted to use small town as their own studio. While Mooresville resident Margaret Anne Crumlish says visitors were welcomed, "It was just getting a little out of hand and with the number of people and moving some of the furniture and things like that and we wanted to have some guidelines." Crumlish helped developed these guidelines. The $500 permit must be obtained for utilization of the privately owned property.

Jeanie asked Crumlish, "What about Mr. Broome? Does this apply to him?"

She says, "No, it does not. It does not apply to him. He's not on the town property. Anyone can stand on the street and take a picture. I think there were just some misunderstandings about what the permit was about." And Crumlish says residents hope to clear some of those misunderstandings up when everyone's back from Spring Break.

So far nine photographers who want to use the premises on-site have paid the fee. Crumlish says the town has very few ways of making money to help preserve these buildings.

"We have nine photographers who have paid the fee. We are very appreciative to them that they are helping to retain the historical charm, the historical values of our buildings and we look forward to continuing that."

Hence, the permit fee was a way to put money back into these historical structures to preserve Mooresville's unique heritage. She says it's been a good relationship and has given some photographers exclusive rights to these buildings.

Broome would still need to pay the $30 fee for business use.

I don't know much about this kind of law but I don't see how applying the ordinance by having the residents walking around arbitrarily asking people if they're commercial photographers and giving exclusive photographic rights to town owned buildings is legal. Not to mention that it's tacky. Surely there's better ways to raise money.

The 3:00am Girl speaks

By Libby

Via Michael Stickings at The Reaction, the YouTube you've been waiting for.... well, at least I was waiting for it. The little sleeping girl in Hillary's ad woke up, grew up and now speaks for herself -- and Obama.



Poor Hillary is not having a good week. That 3:00am ad is now useless to her and the press suddenly remembered how much they hate her again and have been pounding her for days. Meanwhile, McCranky McCain continues to get a pass from his pet press corps. Nevermind he doesn't know Shite from Sunni, and can't find his ass using both hands without Joe Lieberman's help, we're not to worry cause he was just having a 'senior moment.' Great. Just what we need in a leader, presenile dementia.

Man, there's just got to be a better way to pick a president.

Obama's foreign policy plan

By Libby

If you read nothing else today, this is the one piece you should read in full. Spencer Ackerman interviews Barak Obama's foreign policy team and comes away very impressed. Obama of course has staked out an anti-occupation platform for some time now but no one has dug into the specifics of what Obama has in mind when he says he doesn't want to just end the occupation. He wants to end the mindset that allowed us to get into this mess in the first place. Spencer does the digging.

But to understand what Obama is proposing, it's important to ask: What, exactly, is the mind-set that led to the war? What will it mean to end it? And what will take its place?

To answer these questions, I spoke at length with Obama's foreign-policy brain trust, the advisers who will craft and implement a new global strategy if he wins the nomination and the general election. They envision a doctrine that first ends the politics of fear and then moves beyond a hollow, sloganeering "democracy promotion" agenda in favor of "dignity promotion," to fix the conditions of misery that breed anti-Americanism and prevent liberty, justice, and prosperity from taking root. An inextricable part of that doctrine is a relentless and thorough destruction of al-Qaeda. Is this hawkish? Is this dovish? It's both and neither -- an overhaul not just of our foreign policy but of how we think about foreign policy. And it might just be the future of American global leadership.

Read the rest for the particulars. I was as impressed as Spencer seems to be. The idea that we reject that the only choices are to be strong and wrong, as embodied by the White House policy of the last seven years, or be meek and right, resonates with me. We can, and we must, be strong and right but after all these years of neocon propaganda that has promoted the opposite view, it seems to me that it takes great courage to stake your success on that claim.

Obama has embraced that view and defended it, even against the advice of his more politically cautious advisors. For all the talk about empty rhetoric, it appears that just maybe Obama really is willing to gamble it all on the belief that the electorate has smartened up enough to actually embrace the change behind the words.

Of course, no one can truly predict what any candidate will do once they gain that 1600 Penn Ave address, but I can't deny I'm now more hopeful that he means what he says. Obama may not have won my affection yet, but after reading this piece, he's certainly won some major respect. [via]

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

Your Tax Dollars at Work

by expatbrian

April 15th is quickly approaching. Please give all that you can. Here is just one example of how your hard earned money is spent and who gets it.

Oh, the humanity

By Libby

The local Humane Society here has a really good website where they feature the abandoned pets up for adoption. I occassionally cruise the site, imaging that I might someday have the kind of life again that would allow for a dog. Everytime I visit, I look at their plea for volunteers and consider doing so but I've been afraid it would tear my heart to know that many of these animals will die without being adopted.

Today, Michael D at Balloon Juice put up a beautiful and moving post about his experience in volunteering at his local animal shelter. It inspired me and gives me some courage to give it try myself. At worst, I could offer some comfort to an innocent creature in its last days and at best I could witness the rescue of at least some of them. I may give it a try.

When will Glenn Reynolds renounce hateful rhetoric?

By Libby

There's a bit of a kerfluffle going on in Blogtopia (yes skippy named it) today over Glenn Greenwald's post. The good Glenn noticed that Insty Glenn linked to a racist blog for Easter. I think Insty is an atheist so there's no religious hypocrisy involved, although one might question the tastefulness of linking to such hateful rhetoric on a day that many religious people celebrate as a time of joy. That aside, the wingers seem to think they scored some big point because the good Glenn identified the wrong author of the post. Insty himself gloats, "I know it’s hard to get your mind around the idea that multiple pseudonymous writers might actually be different people, but..."

Probably about as hard as it is for Insty to get his mind around the fact that Obama might actually be a different person than Rev. Wright, or Louis Farrakhan or any other black man that has made radical statements. Neither is Obama promoting these speakers by repeatedly linking approvingly to their websites. Yet Insty has no problem demanding Obama denounce, renounce and reject those speakers while he feels free to promote many blogs that frequently post racist and/or otherwise hateful screeds.

Perhaps Dr. Professor Reynolds could try to wrap his mind around his own duplicity. Is it only unAmerican when a black man gets angry at white people or is it equally unAmerican when a white man gets angry with black people? Where does same race hate against different ideologies fit in? It would seem that Insty excels at passing judgements but fails to live up to the standard he demands of others.

That's ceased to surprise me, but it still disappoints that a blogger with his reach would so willingly, and irresponsibly, turn civil discourse into a cesspool by promoting hatefilled rants and then pretend his hands are clean because all he did was send hundreds of people to read them.

Media Bytes - Yes, we have no bananas edition

By Libby

Song in my head. That's the orginal 1923 version on MP3. If you prefer a more contemporary take, The Muppets cover it as only they can. But the truth is, the post label is a lie. In the course of spending hours looking for the Jimmy Durante version of the song, I found a lot of bananas. My favorite find is this original Chiquita banana commericial.

I never found the Durante cover, which is my all time favorite harking back to the orginal movie Sabrina, but I did find this video where The Schnoz offers some timeless advice on how to beat a bad economy.

Meanwhile, in honor of the holiday, here's a gallery of WaPo's marshmallow peeps diorama contest. My personal favorites are No. 9 and No. 21.

And don't forget this is the last day to Blog against theocracy. They have a lot of posts up there already.

If you would rather play a useless game, this one is easy to play but I couldn't get past Bobbing Bobcat.

And this awareness test looked pretty easy but I failed it. Maybe you'll do better. It's short.

This however, is the easiest way to buy lingerie online that I've ever seen. Very clever.

Speaking of clever, my creative friend Henning put his entire collection of photos online at Flickr. I liked the hometown photos the best, but I suppose you have to know the people to enjoy them as much as I did. You'll probably like this other gallery better. My favs from here were this one and this one.

If you're looking for paintings instead, The Iraq Art gallery has some truly fine art and it's a worthy project to support. [via]

Want some background music while you're cruising the galleries? Check out Holly Harris' new internet blues radio show sent to me from my friend Irma.

And this is my favorite link this week. I love musicals and all my life I've been hoping that people would just bust out into song during an ordinary day. I wish I had seen this live. It would have been a dream come true.

Of course, I can't completely ignore politics so on the serious side, there's this very long list of lawlessness and the trailer for the documentary, Body of War.

On a lighter note, most of you probably don't remember School House Rock, but they did some great stuff in the early 70s. It's just a bill is a classic and I really liked conspiracy theory rock which I think is actually a derivative by MadTV.

Finally, Rove was just complaining that the neo-cons don't do enough creative YouTubes like the liberals do. He's certain they're just as talented but are too busy making money to take the time. He put out a call for conservative creativity and I guess this is the answer. The John McCain girls. I leave you to make your judgments on which side is more talented.

[Links if not otherwise apparent from Avedon and Radley.]

He's back

HAPPY EASTER

Why I was right about Iraq

By Libby

Pure clairvoyance. Today Jim Henley says he was right because he's so smart. Can't argue with that. He's a really smart guy, a whole lot smarter than me, but I'm still one up on him because I was so far ahead of the curve on this one. I predicted this disaster in 2000.

Okay, I didn't predict Iraq specifically but in September 2000, I predicted that Bush would cause an unprecendented foreign disaster. My big mistake was in underestimating the gullibility of the electorate. I didn't push early enough to defeat Bush because I couldn't believe anybody in their right mind would actually vote for him.

I wasn't a huge fan of Al Gore. I didn't like the Clintons all that much either and it had nothing to do with all the manufactured scandals. I never liked the whole politics of triangulation thing. I think it was pretty big factor in changing the Democratic brand to GOP lite. I saw Gore as an extension of that mindset.

Nonetheless, I certainly voted for him. In the end, as I started telling people much too late, it comes down to manners. Gore was an infinitely better statesman. There was no comparison between the two. Bush had, and still has, no social graces. His self-absorption was painfully evident. I can't remember my exact words, but I said something the lines of, if you elect this man, he is going to cause an international incident of such great magnititude that it could lead to an armed conflict.

I come from a long line of women who are to varying degrees, clairvoyant. My sister and my mom tend more towards the predictive than me. They dream things that later happen. I usually lean to the empathic side of the skill. I tend to read the past. I'll meet a stranger at a party and tell them something about themselves that I shouldn't know. It usually freaks us both out a little.

But with Bush I had a strong vision of the future. I knew he was going to cause a major disaster. Unfortunately, I didn't foresee just how huge it would be or I might worked a little harder to defeat him back then when all this could have prevented. One of my very few regrets in life is that I didn't.

Sometimes war is just crap

by expatbrian

As the military brass have proven that they are incapable of providing the troops with any meaningful mental health treatment, our fighting men and women have taken the initiative in creating and administering their own therapies. Here is an especially poignant example of how comrades show each other they care.



This guy was lucky. It appears he wasn't squatting over a barrel of diesel fuel like we did in our last occupation.

Anti War groups Join the Establishment

by expatbrian

I hope this starts a nationwide trend and is an omen of things to come. And I'm not surprised, indeed I'm a little proud that it's in California. Long Beach Veteran's Day Parade organizers are going to allow anti war groups to march in the festival this year.

Parade organizers say Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out will each be allowed to carry a banner in the 12th edition of the event on Nov. 8.

The groups were prohibited from marching last November because organizers said they didn't fit the spirit of the parade honoring veterans.

cross posted at World Gone Mad

Media revolt

By Libby

Following up on yesterday's post about Chris Wallace reaming out Fox and Friends for Obama bashing, I'm heartened to see yet another media professional jumping on the bandwagon to call out their egregiously irresponsible peers. Court TV's Catherine Crier posting at HuffPo, joins in to praise Wallace for his groundbreaking criticism.

And to give credit where credit is due, I missed this yesterday, but Fox and Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade, who endured Wallace's tonguelashing, had earlier walked off the set in the midst of the two hour bashfest. I suppose it was because if he didn't, he may have slapped the smirk off that resident bimbo's face. I don't know who that woman is, but I felt like slapping her myself when she airily deigned to speak for what Americans want to hear.

Quote of the day

By Libby

It's been a long time since I've read anything by Robert Fisk, but he has a good Iraq retrospective. It's not that long so read it all but the money quote is the closer.

There is no connection between Islam and "terror". But there is a connection between our occupation of Muslim lands and "terror". It's not too complicated an equation. And we don't need a public inquiry to get it right.

I know I'm not a Very Serious Foreign Policy expert, but I think that about nails it. via.

Reporting on the War III

by expatbrian

Several key questions are posed in this excellent assessment of reporting the war in Iraq. The most profound of these is what would be the reaction of the people in the coalition countries, primarily the US, if they actually saw what was going on in Iraq instead of the heavily censored and sanitized version that the government allows?

According to this reporter, the war news seen on TV in the US is even more sanitized than in other western countries and the middle east. That's no surprise. He wonders further how people might react if they could see what is really happening in Iraq in their name.

Journalism, particularly television journalism, by its failure to show the real horror of war, has become a lethal weapon supporting governments that want to go to war.

This short video is an excellent bit of reporting in its own right.

cross posted from World Gone Mad

The good, the great and the funny

By Libby

I'm supposed to be off. I worked most of the day again instead. Just as well, because outside of this stunning display of on screen pique by Chris Wallace, there's almost no news. Watch the clip. It's really good. Wallace really lays into the Fox and Friends team. It was heartening. I expect he'll get in trouble for it.


Meanwhile, a lot of bloggers are doing introspective pieces about Iraq. If I was a younger woman, I would ask John Cole to marry me for writing this great post. I've been waiting a long time for a former war supporter to be that honest. Hell, I've been waiting all my life for a man who would be that unflichingly honest.

Finally, this post by PZ Meyers of Pharyngula is the funniest thing I've read in a very long time. Seriously, read the whole thing but here's the opening scene.

There is a rich, deep kind of irony that must be shared. I'm blogging this from the Apple store in the Mall of America, because I'm too amused to want to wait until I get back to my hotel room. I went to attend a screening of the creationist propaganda movie, Expelled, a few minutes ago. Well, I tried … but I was Expelled! It was kind of weird — I was standing in line, hadn't even gotten to the point where I had to sign in and show ID, and a policeman pulled me out of line and told me I could not go in. I asked why, of course, and he said that a producer of the film had specifically instructed him that I was not to be allowed to attend. The officer also told me that if I tried to go in, I would be arrested. I assured him that I wasn't going to cause any trouble.

That part is a little scary. The hilarious part is who they let into the movie. I don't blame PZ for finding the nearest computer to blog it. I'm still chuckling about it myself.

Welfare for billionaires

By Libby

Some might think the chairman and former chief executive of Bear Stearns, James Cayne, deserves some sympathy. As the NYT notes today, "The value of his stake in Bear Stearns collapsed from about $1 billion a year ago to as little as $14 million at the price JPMorgan Chase offered for the teetering bank on Sunday." Poor Mr. Cayne, he'll have to make ends meet on that $14 mill and the $40 million or more he bled out of the system prior to the meltdown caused by his mismanagement. My heart is really bleeding for him.

Meanwhile, the editorial connects the dots between the meltdown and the Bush regime.

Compared to the cold shoulder given to struggling homeowners, the cash and attention lavished by the government on the nation’s financial titans provides telling insight into the priorities of the Bush administration. It’s not simply a matter of fairness, though. The Fed is probably right to be doing all it can think of to avoid worse damage than the economy is already suffering. But if the objective is to encourage prudent banking and keep Wall Street’s wizards from periodically driving financial markets over the cliff, it is imperative to devise a remuneration system for bankers that puts more of their skin in the game.

As Krugman put it today, these financial titans have been partying like it's 1929 and thanks to a regulatory system that has grown increasingly lax as people forgot the lessons of 1930, we're living in that same house of cards again. Only this time, instead of the financiers jumping out of the windows of Wall Street, it's the honest homeowners who are trying to honor their obligations that are left feeling suicidal.

Could be

by Capt. Fogg

I guess the idea is to keep the lies coming so fast and furious that rebuttal is useless. I guess the idea is just to keep saying things, no matter how factually or logically untrue they might be so that the faithful will continue to have something to hold on to as the lies get shot down one by one.

Sure the administration has denied any connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein or that he had a nuclear weapons program or had chemical weapons factories and the means to deliver all that stuff to Festus Missouri in a suitcase, but they keep saying it anyway; they keep basing arguments on it and they keep getting people to believe their war was necessary.

The McClatchy website today quotes Bush as saying on a Radio Farda broadcast that Iran has "declared they want a nuclear weapon to destroy people" and that the Islamic Republic could be hiding a secret program. [italics mine] Of course they never actually declared any such thing and the phrase could be doesn't accompany the caveat that could be covers everything from the likely to the ludicrous. I could be the Easter Bunny. Saddam could have had invisible nuclear bomb factories and George Bush could be an honest man too.

"they've hidden programs in the past and they may be hiding one now. Who knows?" says Bush. The US has gone to war under false pretexts in the past and they may do it again, say I.

If George Bush had not turned the nuclear inspection program in Iraq into a passion play we would not have had this war and it could be that we could have contained Saddam quite well at a ten thousandth of the cost, which would have allowed him to continue to keep al Qaeda out of Iraq and us to concentrate on crippling the group that planned the 9/11 attack rather than the economy and our civil liberties. Could have - it's a fun game. You can do almost anything.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Reporting on the War II

by expatbrian

This scene plays out over and over again. Frightened and confused Iraqi civilians leaving their homes, fleeing not Al Quaeda, but the Americans. These soldiers do stop to listen but seem to not have a clue how to deal with these people.

Then listen while a marine explain why it is necessary to break down people’s doors in order to make them safe. I’m sure he is a good marine, but he is not the guy who should be out explaining policy to the Iraqi people.

While Bush keeps saying that if we pull out there will be a bloodbath, these people seem to be begging us to leave so the bloodbath will stop.



These people are scared to death of us. No wonder.

cross posted from World Gone Mad

Reporting on the War

by expatbrian

A lot has been said about the American press and it's unwillingness to report anti war or anti administration news. The complete absence of news about the Winter Soldier hearings is a perfect example. The MSM also avoids stories about the abhorrent treatment our veterans recieve, their homeless rates, suicide rates, etc. Pictures and video from the war zones are heavily censored and, although the vast majority of common Americans are against the war, we sure don't hear much from them.

It's almost as if people are afraid to speak out.

There is a conspiracy of information control in America and it is perhaps the most threatening and dangerous thing that has evolved out of the Bush presidency. Speak out against policy (a constitutional right encouraged by the founding fathers) and risk being discredited and humiliated by the right wing minority.

It has gotten to the point where we must depend on the foreign press (and the blogs) to get a true picture of what is going on in our own country and in the war. In the case of the war, if the reporters are embedded with the US military they are safer but they only get to see what is allowed.

Some reporters have chosen to go it alone. But they do so at great personal risk, not only from the militias but from the coalition as well. Over the next few days, unless my Alzheimer's kicks in, I'm going to post a few of their reports.



How you protect the Iraqi people from harm by firing rockets at them is a little beyond me.

cross posted at World Gone Mad

Excess bloggage - brief edition

By Libby

I've been pressed into rendering some emergency assistance today so I'll be offline for a few hours at least, and I only have a moment right now. I've been posting some stuff that's worth reading. Here's a few links.

Searching for unity in Leftopia has been well received. Well except at Protein Wisdom who thought it was just hiliarious. Link to PW at the post.

Over at DetNews, I've been putting my pledge to practice, with an an Iraq review and note that it's time to get some answers from McCain along with my take on the Wright kerfluffle.

Okay, gotta go.

The problem with protests

By Libby

You have to give Stop the War credit for trying but street protests just don't draw the crowds they used to back in the 'old days.' Only hundreds showed up this week in DC. They did better in London and Canadians marked the anniversary of the Iraq invasion with a pretty good turnout, but they were protesting their involvement in Afghanistan. As one one long time organizer in New York put it, in the internet age, people sign petitions on line and think they did their part and of course, without the draft threatening to make them a part of it, the occupations aren't as relevant to young people.

In the end, although internet petitions haven't ended the occupation, you have to wonder if street protests are really an effective tool anymore either. Although a google news search turns up a fair amount of print coverage, if it isn't on teevee, it isn't real to people and the television barely covers the occupations, much less the protests. It's like that old Buddhist koan, if a protest occurs and no TV cameras show up, does it even exist?

But maybe all that's needed is a change of strategy. I wonder if it wouldn't be more effective to start protesting against the television stations that refuse to cover the news? It would be a lot harder to ignore a mass of people who block the newstrucks from leaving the lots...

Are they having a laugh?

by Capt. Fogg

I had to turn off the tube last Sunday when Secretary Paulson, with a look on his face like a dog that needs to be taken outside now, told us that the government has a strong dollar policy and would stick by its belief in the need for a strong dollar. Having just put down Michio Kaku's book on parallel universes, I had to look out the window to reassure myself that there weren't two suns in the sky. So when I made a Monday morning call to the land of cuckoo clocks and cheese to discuss the strengthening Yen, I asked whether the administration's support of the dollar was widely accepted there. He laughed. Swiss bankers don't often do that.

I have no idea whether he had read Daniel Gross' March 15th article in Slate which gives us

"The very mention of the strong-dollar policy now elicits raucous bouts of knee-slapping in even the most sober Swiss banks. (How do you say schadenfreude in German?)

I'm not sure it's Schadenfreude, ( and that's how you say it in German) but the man did laugh.

Despite the cocky assurances of Blognosticators who have mastered the language of Economics sufficiently well as to sound just as confusing as the pros, the working economists I know all seem to be laughing, if not at our pain, at the swaggering superiority we are still trying to maintain in the face of the Dollar's decline and the faltering ability of American companies to compete in the world market.

Gross tells us that after Bush's pleading with the producers for lower oil prices to help us through the recession that he refuses to call a recession

"OPEC President Chakib Khelil responded acidly that crude's remarkable run had nothing to do with the reluctance of Persian Gulf nations to pump oil, and everything to do with the 'mismanagement of the U.S. economy.' (How do you say schadenfreude in Arabic?)"

Who knows, but we're not going to hear them say "I feel your pain" are we?

"The dollar's weakness reflects the world's collective, two-thumbs-down verdict about the ability of the United States—businesses, individuals, the government, the Federal Reserve—to manage the global financial system and the world's largest economy."

says the article and I have to agree. International financiers, laughing or not, are concerned with

"misplaced assumptions about housing, a lack of necessary regulation and irresponsible use of debt with sophisticated financial instruments,"

as Ashraf Laidi, currency strategist at CMC Markets says, according to Gross. The self-righteous bumbling and fumbling and strutting of the current administration has rubbed off on all of us from its inception and we may be able to continue insisting that we don't care what the world thinks, that we know better, that no lesson can be learned from the successes of others, but if pride cometh before the fall, prideful stupidity at this level must presage something really, really funny.

Have they no big screen TVs to sell?

By Libby

What cars do they drive? Do they have marble countertops? Avedon is right, you can't really excerpt Athenae's rant. It needs to be read in full, it's not long, but it's the best take I've seen on the federal bailout of Bear Stearns so far.

Still full of it after all these years

By Capt. Fogg

I tuned into CNN just now to find the haggard face of George W. "commander guy" Bush stripped of it's sneering cockiness, but asserting that Iraq is where the US was just after our revolution. I turned it off. He's still full of it after all these years.

Iraq is not a country with a parliamentary history. It does not have a government founded on a concept of certain inherent and inalienable human rights or founded on the concept of the sovereignty of the people rather than obedience to the dictates of a God chosen leader. The infant United States was not a country laid waste, not a country where various religious and political sects were being blown apart by their rivals and most importantly our revolution freed us from an occupying imperial power; it didn't have its government and treaties and laws and business arangements dictated by an army of infidels.

Iraq isn't a self sufficient nation engaged in passionate debate among learned proponents of humanism. Jawad al Maliki isn't Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin or James Madison or anyone similar. Our nation in its infancy wasn't having it's resources syphoned off by corrupt warlords, it's leaders weren't being assasinated, it's churches weren't being blown to bits. In fact nothing in the present circumstances of Iraq has any similarity to the phantasmagoria we have been and are being given by George W. Bush and his familiars.

The strain of keeping up a the shifting series of phantasms, illusions and deceptive appearances, as created by the imagination of the Neo-cons has clearly begun to show. This is not the same man giving us that tired story. One can speculate that he isn't sleeping or that he's drinking again and both guesses may be right, but to me the real horror isn't seeing a crumbling, delusional president, but the idea that he may soon be replaced by one with the same disconnected convictions and freshly charged batteries.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Let us remember.....

Five years ago today, the media were cheerleading the war, riding inside the very tanks and trucks of the invasion force.

[Posted by Mike - Born at the Crest of the Empire]

Quick hits and run

By Libby

Whoa. Am I out of the loop in the last couple of days. I haven't read any of these links but they look interesting so I'm posting them so I can easily find them later.

It appears in response to the endless railing over the pastor's rantings, Obama gave a speech. Take your pick of the outlets talking about it at the link, but please don't click on the top link to Drudge report. It just encourages that sludgeheaded rumor monger to think he's important. I guarantee any of the other links will be giving superior summaries.

I'm so crazy busy that I haven't even looked at Newshoggers today but I see Cernig is focusing on real news about the apparently boundless supply of missing interrogation tapes.

Mr. Alleged Foreign Policy experience, John McSame McCain, apparently can't keep his terrorist groups straight. I haven't read it but I see Cernig is on that too, so skip over to Newshoggers to see what else is going on besides the stupid primary. Meanwhile young Media Matt notes McSame doesn't know much about the economy either.

EJ Dionne posts what looks like a good rant on corporate welfare, judging from the blurb.

And of course, if you're just getting here, scroll down from the home page and check out my co-bloggers brilliant posts. They're doing some really knockout work around here while I'm slacking off making a living.

Where's the Baloney?

By Capt. Fogg

I used to travel fairly often and I always made it a point to learn some useful words and phrases when going somewhere where English or German weren't helpful. Where's the bathroom? How much is that? and too much! probably head my list of most used items. Of course the problem with such partial skills is that one can't always understand the answers.

When asking how much relative to the cost of our invasion and occupation of Iraq, the answers vary and the answers are as confusing as the dialects one encounters traveling in China. "It's only half a trillion or so" say those who wish to minimize it for purposes of maintaining some political attitude. Others like Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University public finance Professor Laura Bilmes may give you a much higher figure that adds perhaps 600 billion in interest payments, possibly another 300 billion to replace and repair the military infrastructure. In fact they give us a total of 3 trillion, which is far harder to sweep under the GDP - and of course the meter is still running. According to Zachary Coile at the San Francisco Chronicle, The White House has not disputed these numbers that show Bush's war so far is second only to WW II in cost making it the second most expensive war in the last hundred years - at least. That makes it ten times more expensive than WW I, 3/5ths of the cost of WW II and yet it has so far failed to eliminate the inchoate and disparate movement that killed 3000 Americans over 6 years ago.

Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor writes in their new book, The Three Trillion Dollar War

"The best way to think about it is: What could we have done with $3 trillion? What is the best way to spend the money, either for security or for our national needs in the long run? The stronger the American economy, the more prepared we are to meet any threat. If we weaken the American economy, we are less prepared."

With perhaps half our National Guard resources committed in Iraq, is our ability to deal with an other and larger terrorist attack less that it would otherwise have been? Can we really dismiss this kind of cost as a serious detriment to our economic future?

It's hard to think that this cost hasn't weakened us, it's painfully humorous to remember how the administration punished people for suggesting that it would cost as much as two to three hundred billion. Rumsfeld called it "baloney"

I guess English is still well enough understood in the US that I don't have to learn the phrase "where's the baloney?" In fact I don't have to ask the question, I know where it is already.