Sunday, February 15, 2004
So Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, no longer utters the "blood libel" against Jews in Mel Gibson's Jesus movie -- right? You know: "His blood be on us, and on our children" -- Mel cut that out, didn't he?
The cover story in this week's Entertainment Weekly (subscription only) says maybe, maybe not:
Last fall, Gibson reportedly cut the line; in fact, at the [November] screening attended by [Jim] Caviezel [the star of the film] and [actress Rene] Russo, it wasn't there. But in recent weeks, Gibson showed thousands of Christians a version that retained the line. Word got out. Controversy erupted. The press pounced. Gibson was heard to suggest that dark forces were moving against him. And again, interest was piqued. The capper: In February, The New York Times, whose coverage of The Passion Gibson has deplored, was allowed to see the film, and broke the news that the "blood libel" reference had been deleted.
The magazine thinks this is just a clever way to garner publicity. I doubt it. I think when the movie opens, the line will be gone -- at least on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Now, maybe it would be too risky for Gibson to retain the line in the prints that are distributed in the red states. Maybe he'll just wait and restore it in the DVD ("UNCUT CHRISTIAN EDITION!"). Maybe the line will be absent in American prints, but will show up in prints distributed in, oh, I don't know ... Indonesia and the Middle East? Or maybe, in the future, when church groups ask for copies to help in proselytizing, the line will slip in.
The cover story in this week's Entertainment Weekly (subscription only) says maybe, maybe not:
Last fall, Gibson reportedly cut the line; in fact, at the [November] screening attended by [Jim] Caviezel [the star of the film] and [actress Rene] Russo, it wasn't there. But in recent weeks, Gibson showed thousands of Christians a version that retained the line. Word got out. Controversy erupted. The press pounced. Gibson was heard to suggest that dark forces were moving against him. And again, interest was piqued. The capper: In February, The New York Times, whose coverage of The Passion Gibson has deplored, was allowed to see the film, and broke the news that the "blood libel" reference had been deleted.
The magazine thinks this is just a clever way to garner publicity. I doubt it. I think when the movie opens, the line will be gone -- at least on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Now, maybe it would be too risky for Gibson to retain the line in the prints that are distributed in the red states. Maybe he'll just wait and restore it in the DVD ("UNCUT CHRISTIAN EDITION!"). Maybe the line will be absent in American prints, but will show up in prints distributed in, oh, I don't know ... Indonesia and the Middle East? Or maybe, in the future, when church groups ask for copies to help in proselytizing, the line will slip in.
These guys will say anything, won't they?
"This idea that's developed that we're going to run against Kerry like he is Mike Dukakis is a bunch of baloney," said [Matthew] Dowd, [Bush's chief campaign stategist]....
"Mike Dukakis was an outsider, and compared to John Kerry, Mike Dukakis is mainstream. Michael Dukakis was a governor who balanced a budget. I don't remember Michael Dukakis ever advocating defense cuts, and I don't remember Michael Dukakis ever advocating against cuts in taxes."
--New York Times
Here's the restrained, high-minded way Bush the Elder and his surrogates talked about the "mainstream" Michael Dukakis:
"It’s time to talk issues, to use the dreaded 'L' word. Liberal, liberal, liberal!"
--Ronald Reagan taunting Dukakis, 8/14/88
"The liberal governor of Massachusetts -- I love calling him that!"
--Bush campaigning in Albuquerque, 10/4/88
"He did not go to Canada, he did not burn his draft card and he damn sure didn't burn the American flag!"
--George Bush favorably contrasting Dan Quayle with Dukakis and his backers (and making a gutter-level allusion to an utterly unsupported rumor that Kitty Dukakis once burned an American flag), 8/22/88
"There's a lot of things we can refer to the man from Massachusetts as. We can call him 'Mr. Tax Increase.' ... We can call him 'Mr. Weak on National Defense.' But let me tell you something. Come November 8th, there's one thing we'll never call the governor of Massachusetts, and that is 'Mr. President.'"
--Dan Quayle, 9/17/88
"Want to hear a sad story about the Dukakis campaign? The governor of Massachusetts, he lost his top naval adviser last week. The rubber duck drowned in his bathtub."
--Dan Quayle, 9/13/88
(All quotes from Paul Slansky's 1989 book The Clothes Have No Emperor.)
Incidentally, the absurdity of the Dowd quote is acknowledged in the online version of the Times story: Dowd is said to be "offering a view of Mr. Dukakis that no doubt would have turned the head of Lee Atwater, the mastermind of George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign." This coment does not appear in my copy of the print Times, however -- which means that someone actually had to point this out to Times editors.
"This idea that's developed that we're going to run against Kerry like he is Mike Dukakis is a bunch of baloney," said [Matthew] Dowd, [Bush's chief campaign stategist]....
"Mike Dukakis was an outsider, and compared to John Kerry, Mike Dukakis is mainstream. Michael Dukakis was a governor who balanced a budget. I don't remember Michael Dukakis ever advocating defense cuts, and I don't remember Michael Dukakis ever advocating against cuts in taxes."
--New York Times
Here's the restrained, high-minded way Bush the Elder and his surrogates talked about the "mainstream" Michael Dukakis:
"It’s time to talk issues, to use the dreaded 'L' word. Liberal, liberal, liberal!"
--Ronald Reagan taunting Dukakis, 8/14/88
"The liberal governor of Massachusetts -- I love calling him that!"
--Bush campaigning in Albuquerque, 10/4/88
"He did not go to Canada, he did not burn his draft card and he damn sure didn't burn the American flag!"
--George Bush favorably contrasting Dan Quayle with Dukakis and his backers (and making a gutter-level allusion to an utterly unsupported rumor that Kitty Dukakis once burned an American flag), 8/22/88
"There's a lot of things we can refer to the man from Massachusetts as. We can call him 'Mr. Tax Increase.' ... We can call him 'Mr. Weak on National Defense.' But let me tell you something. Come November 8th, there's one thing we'll never call the governor of Massachusetts, and that is 'Mr. President.'"
--Dan Quayle, 9/17/88
"Want to hear a sad story about the Dukakis campaign? The governor of Massachusetts, he lost his top naval adviser last week. The rubber duck drowned in his bathtub."
--Dan Quayle, 9/13/88
(All quotes from Paul Slansky's 1989 book The Clothes Have No Emperor.)
Incidentally, the absurdity of the Dowd quote is acknowledged in the online version of the Times story: Dowd is said to be "offering a view of Mr. Dukakis that no doubt would have turned the head of Lee Atwater, the mastermind of George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign." This coment does not appear in my copy of the print Times, however -- which means that someone actually had to point this out to Times editors.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
OK -- this is a cheap shot, but I can't resist:
First Daughter Barbara Bush's dirty-dancing partner has been hot-footing it from the law.
Gotham gadabout Fabian Basabe - pictured in a hip-lock with Babs on the front page of the Daily News yesterday - is wanted on three warrants in California.
The social climber has been busted for speeding, driving under the influence and trespassing. He even jumped bail in one case, court records show.
Other court files show a string of infractions - but no open warrants - in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, including two collisions.
... His first warrant dates back to an Oct. 22, 1999, bust for driving more than 100 mph and without a license in Riverside, a city in Southern California.
...Three months later, Basabe was nabbed for trespassing on the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University at 6:30 a.m. and driving with a suspended license....
...On May 21, 2000, he was stopped for driving under the influence at the wheel of a friend's 1996 Volkswagen Jetta....
I guess she's looking for a guy like Dad.
Oh, and while I'm here in the gutter, I see that TBogg has linked this report on the evening Babs spent with Basabe ("Commenting on the trays of margaritas and Veuve Clicquot champagne delivered to Bush's table before her gutsy performance, one wag quipped, 'I hope the Secret Service is driving her home'").
******
OK, I know: a lot of you think this stuff ought to be be off limits.
I understand. I'd rather it stayd off limits too. But you know what? For years, Republicans have been attacking the character not only of Democratic politicians but of everyone who isn't a God-fearing Republican conservative. Here's Newt Gingrich back in the '90s:
"Woody Allen having non-incest with a non-daughter to whom he was a non-father because they were a non-family fits the Democratic platform perfectly."
And here's Gingrich talking about child-killer Susan Smith:
"I think the mother killing her two children in South Carolina vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we have to have change. I think people want to change and the only way you get change is to vote Republican. Thats the message for the last three days."
(Smith's stepfather, of course, was a prominent South Carolina Republican and Christian Coalition member who molested her.)
And Republicans talk a hell of a lot about "the family." They don't think you can be a good person, or a good parent, if you don't accept their definition of family and if you don't raise your kids the way they do. And the flip side of that is the implication that if you do what they do, you are automatically a good person and your family is automatically a good family. A weird result of this is what Paul Krugman alluded to yesterday -- the fact that George W. Bush is seen as a man of "character" and "integrity, " as a good, decent man, no matter how dishonest or reckless or irresponsible or mean-spirited or rude he is. It's as if a large percentage of the country agrees with Pat Robertson's assertion about Bush: "It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him.''
If there's going to be a gutter GOP campaign that paints not only the Democratic nominee but all Democrats as moral decadents and threats to "the family," then at some point it really might not be out of line to talk about just what kind of family George and Laura Bush have.
(First link via INTL News.)
First Daughter Barbara Bush's dirty-dancing partner has been hot-footing it from the law.
Gotham gadabout Fabian Basabe - pictured in a hip-lock with Babs on the front page of the Daily News yesterday - is wanted on three warrants in California.
The social climber has been busted for speeding, driving under the influence and trespassing. He even jumped bail in one case, court records show.
Other court files show a string of infractions - but no open warrants - in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, including two collisions.
... His first warrant dates back to an Oct. 22, 1999, bust for driving more than 100 mph and without a license in Riverside, a city in Southern California.
...Three months later, Basabe was nabbed for trespassing on the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University at 6:30 a.m. and driving with a suspended license....
...On May 21, 2000, he was stopped for driving under the influence at the wheel of a friend's 1996 Volkswagen Jetta....
I guess she's looking for a guy like Dad.
Oh, and while I'm here in the gutter, I see that TBogg has linked this report on the evening Babs spent with Basabe ("Commenting on the trays of margaritas and Veuve Clicquot champagne delivered to Bush's table before her gutsy performance, one wag quipped, 'I hope the Secret Service is driving her home'").
******
OK, I know: a lot of you think this stuff ought to be be off limits.
I understand. I'd rather it stayd off limits too. But you know what? For years, Republicans have been attacking the character not only of Democratic politicians but of everyone who isn't a God-fearing Republican conservative. Here's Newt Gingrich back in the '90s:
"Woody Allen having non-incest with a non-daughter to whom he was a non-father because they were a non-family fits the Democratic platform perfectly."
And here's Gingrich talking about child-killer Susan Smith:
"I think the mother killing her two children in South Carolina vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we have to have change. I think people want to change and the only way you get change is to vote Republican. Thats the message for the last three days."
(Smith's stepfather, of course, was a prominent South Carolina Republican and Christian Coalition member who molested her.)
And Republicans talk a hell of a lot about "the family." They don't think you can be a good person, or a good parent, if you don't accept their definition of family and if you don't raise your kids the way they do. And the flip side of that is the implication that if you do what they do, you are automatically a good person and your family is automatically a good family. A weird result of this is what Paul Krugman alluded to yesterday -- the fact that George W. Bush is seen as a man of "character" and "integrity, " as a good, decent man, no matter how dishonest or reckless or irresponsible or mean-spirited or rude he is. It's as if a large percentage of the country agrees with Pat Robertson's assertion about Bush: "It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him.''
If there's going to be a gutter GOP campaign that paints not only the Democratic nominee but all Democrats as moral decadents and threats to "the family," then at some point it really might not be out of line to talk about just what kind of family George and Laura Bush have.
(First link via INTL News.)
By the way, they love playing this game of reveal-and-withhold, don't they?
The White House distributed the two-inch stack of papers, and allowed reporters a brief look through another several dozen pages of medical records that were not allowed out of a briefing room....
--AP on yesterday's "release" of Bush's Guard file
The document was made available to The New York Times on Sunday, with an accompanying translation made by the military. A reporter was allowed to see the Arabic and English versions and to write down large parts of the translation.
--Dexter Filkins on the request for al-Qaeda aid allegedly written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, The New York Times, 2/9/04
Responding to earlier threats of a subpoena, the White House agreed last year to allow three members of the 10-member commission and the panel's Republican staff director to review portions of the President's Daily Brief from before the Sept. 11 attacks....
In recent weeks, however, the White House has refused to give permission for the four members of the delegation to share with the full commission their handwritten and computerized notes, which are retained by the White House under the agreement....
--Philip Shenon, New York Times, 2/10/04
The White House distributed the two-inch stack of papers, and allowed reporters a brief look through another several dozen pages of medical records that were not allowed out of a briefing room....
--AP on yesterday's "release" of Bush's Guard file
The document was made available to The New York Times on Sunday, with an accompanying translation made by the military. A reporter was allowed to see the Arabic and English versions and to write down large parts of the translation.
--Dexter Filkins on the request for al-Qaeda aid allegedly written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, The New York Times, 2/9/04
Responding to earlier threats of a subpoena, the White House agreed last year to allow three members of the 10-member commission and the panel's Republican staff director to review portions of the President's Daily Brief from before the Sept. 11 attacks....
In recent weeks, however, the White House has refused to give permission for the four members of the delegation to share with the full commission their handwritten and computerized notes, which are retained by the White House under the agreement....
--Philip Shenon, New York Times, 2/10/04
Why is every news story saying that there's been a release of Bush National Guard documents? It's not a release:
The White House distributed the two-inch stack of papers, and allowed reporters a brief look through another several dozen pages of medical records that were not allowed out of a briefing room...
In any case, it didn't work:
Hundreds of pages of documents that the White House said comprise President Bush's entire military record offer no new answers to the election-year questions that have swirled around his Vietnam-era service. Democrats who have led the criticism greeted Friday's release of documents with skepticism.
The White House distributed the two-inch stack of papers, and allowed reporters a brief look through another several dozen pages of medical records that were not allowed out of a briefing room...
In any case, it didn't work:
Hundreds of pages of documents that the White House said comprise President Bush's entire military record offer no new answers to the election-year questions that have swirled around his Vietnam-era service. Democrats who have led the criticism greeted Friday's release of documents with skepticism.
Did the FDA cave in to Christian Right pressure on the morning-after pill? Sure looks that way -- and it looks as if the agency did it at the time most cowardly acts are done in Washington, on a Friday afternoon:
...On Dec. 16, two expert advisory committees to the F.D.A. recommended, by votes of 23 to 4, that the drug [the morning-after pill] be sold over the counter.
But that did not stop the lobbying for and against the drug.
On Jan. 9, some 35 members of Congress wrote to President Bush asking him to urge the F.D.A. to deny the over-the-counter application....
And then, late this afternoon...
The Food and Drug Administration has told Barr Laboratories, the marketer of a so-called morning-after pill, that it is delaying its decision on whether to allow the drug to be sold over the counter.
The company's president and chief operating officer, Dr. Carole Ben-Maimon, said the F.D.A. called about 2 p.m. today and then faxed the company a letter saying it was extending its Feb. 20 deadline by 90 days.
The agency wants Barr Laboratories to provide more information about the use of the emergency contraceptive, especially among teenagers, according to the company....
If there were a betting pool for approval of over-the-counter sales of this drug in the U.S., I'd put money on "never" -- or at least on "never as long as Republicans control the federal government."
...On Dec. 16, two expert advisory committees to the F.D.A. recommended, by votes of 23 to 4, that the drug [the morning-after pill] be sold over the counter.
But that did not stop the lobbying for and against the drug.
On Jan. 9, some 35 members of Congress wrote to President Bush asking him to urge the F.D.A. to deny the over-the-counter application....
And then, late this afternoon...
The Food and Drug Administration has told Barr Laboratories, the marketer of a so-called morning-after pill, that it is delaying its decision on whether to allow the drug to be sold over the counter.
The company's president and chief operating officer, Dr. Carole Ben-Maimon, said the F.D.A. called about 2 p.m. today and then faxed the company a letter saying it was extending its Feb. 20 deadline by 90 days.
The agency wants Barr Laboratories to provide more information about the use of the emergency contraceptive, especially among teenagers, according to the company....
If there were a betting pool for approval of over-the-counter sales of this drug in the U.S., I'd put money on "never" -- or at least on "never as long as Republicans control the federal government."
Friday, February 13, 2004
From faith-based prison to faith-based courts in Jeb Bush's Florida?
The Miami Daily Business Review reported Jan. 8 that Broward Judicial Nomination Commission (JNC) member O’Neal Dozier has asked several candidates for Broward County judgeships inappropriate questions about their religious beliefs, such as whether they attend church and are “God-fearing.” ...
Dozier has repeatedly expressed an intolerant and theocratic approach to government. According to a report in the New Times Broward-Palm Beach late last year, Dozier told a Religious Right gathering, “We as Christians must take control of the government. We should be the ones in charge of the government.”
New Times said Dozier also observed that homosexuality is “something so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit.”
According to the more recent Miami Business Review article, Dozier said, “There is no such animal as separation of church and state in the Constitution.”
Dozier was appointed to the judicial nomination commission by Gov. Bush....
--Americans United for Separation of Church and State
The Miami Daily Business Review reported Jan. 8 that Broward Judicial Nomination Commission (JNC) member O’Neal Dozier has asked several candidates for Broward County judgeships inappropriate questions about their religious beliefs, such as whether they attend church and are “God-fearing.” ...
Dozier has repeatedly expressed an intolerant and theocratic approach to government. According to a report in the New Times Broward-Palm Beach late last year, Dozier told a Religious Right gathering, “We as Christians must take control of the government. We should be the ones in charge of the government.”
New Times said Dozier also observed that homosexuality is “something so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit.”
According to the more recent Miami Business Review article, Dozier said, “There is no such animal as separation of church and state in the Constitution.”
Dozier was appointed to the judicial nomination commission by Gov. Bush....
--Americans United for Separation of Church and State
So why did Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana recently invite Mike Haley to testify on faith-based initiatives? Haley works for the far-right Focus on the Family, which doesn't take any federal funds. To be specific, Haley travels the country proselytizing for the "ex-gay" movement as Focus's "Manager of Gender Issues." So what wisdom did he have to offer the committee?
A press release from a pro-gay-conversion group explains, sort of:
Although Focus does not accept federal funds, Mike Haley explained to the subcommittee that he offers a unique insight into the causes and recovery of the homosexual condition because he lived as a gay activist for 12 years.
OK -- and the federal government should be interested in this for what reason exactly? Is someone perhaps hoping to send federal funds to those who claim to be able to "cure" homosexuals, if that can be arranged?
Incidentally, this college newspaper says Haley's "ex" status is not exactly 100%:
Haley admitted that reparative therapy has not worked for everyone and that he is still tempted by homosexuality.
"I will never be as though I never was," he said. "But I had an unmet emotional need that was sexualized, now my needs are met appropriately."
Whatever you say, Mike.
A press release from a pro-gay-conversion group explains, sort of:
Although Focus does not accept federal funds, Mike Haley explained to the subcommittee that he offers a unique insight into the causes and recovery of the homosexual condition because he lived as a gay activist for 12 years.
OK -- and the federal government should be interested in this for what reason exactly? Is someone perhaps hoping to send federal funds to those who claim to be able to "cure" homosexuals, if that can be arranged?
Incidentally, this college newspaper says Haley's "ex" status is not exactly 100%:
Haley admitted that reparative therapy has not worked for everyone and that he is still tempted by homosexuality.
"I will never be as though I never was," he said. "But I had an unmet emotional need that was sexualized, now my needs are met appropriately."
Whatever you say, Mike.
Earlier today I linked this Kerry article (from Murdoch's Sun), but I didn't mention what I says:
Presidential hopeful John Kerry was branded a “sleazeball” last night by the parents of a young woman he allegedly tried to woo....
Her mother Donna claims Kerry, 60 — dubbed the new JFK — once chased Alex to be on his campaign team and was “after her”.
There is no evidence the pair had an affair, but her father Terry, 56, said: “I think he’s a sleazeball. I did kind of wonder if my daughter didn’t get that kind of feeling herself.
“He’s not the sort of guy I would choose to be with my daughter.”...
If it's true, sure, it's sleazy and wrong, but ... he chased her? Is that what all the fuss is about?
Excuse me, didn't the Republicans practically call for putting Schwarzenegger on Mount Rushmore after he did a lot more than that?
Presidential hopeful John Kerry was branded a “sleazeball” last night by the parents of a young woman he allegedly tried to woo....
Her mother Donna claims Kerry, 60 — dubbed the new JFK — once chased Alex to be on his campaign team and was “after her”.
There is no evidence the pair had an affair, but her father Terry, 56, said: “I think he’s a sleazeball. I did kind of wonder if my daughter didn’t get that kind of feeling herself.
“He’s not the sort of guy I would choose to be with my daughter.”...
If it's true, sure, it's sleazy and wrong, but ... he chased her? Is that what all the fuss is about?
Excuse me, didn't the Republicans practically call for putting Schwarzenegger on Mount Rushmore after he did a lot more than that?
We're still nickel-and-diming our airport security, and the result is understaffing and poor performance. Good thing we have those tax cuts!
Airport screening jobs are turning over faster than expected at some of the busiest airports and the government isn't moving fast enough to fill them, a congressional investigator and airport officials told lawmakers Thursday....
The turnover of Transportation Security Administration screeners averages 14% a year but is as high as 36% at very large airports, according to Cathleen Berrick, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the General Accounting Office. She testified that recent interviews revealed 11 of the 15 busiest airports didn't have enough screeners.
The GAO said low pay and undesirable hours are reasons why part-time jobs go unfilled.
One federal security director told the GAO that the delay in filling vacant jobs made it hard to improve screeners' performance and "contributed to screener complacency because screeners were aware that they were unlikely to be terminated due to staffing shortages," Berrick's written testimony said....
This is the part that makes me furious:
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Wis., said Congress set an arbitrarily low limit on the number of full-time screeners who could be hired.
"TSA has been handicapped by the ill-advised cap of 45,000 full-time screeners imposed by the Appropriations Committee, a cap imposed without any basis for determining that 45,000 was the right number," Oberstar said.
Berrick reported that the TSA is trying to improve its work force planning. Among the changes: hiring part-time workers to fill in during the busiest shifts.
As The Boston Globe reported last December, people, quite logically , don't want to go through extensive for a poor-paying part-time job -- and hiring enough full-timers seems not to be an option:
The TSA stopped hiring full-time workers after it laid off 6,000 screeners nationally in May to cut costs and alleviate overstaffing. Many airports have since struggled with long lines during peak travel hours and on holidays, causing the agency to seek part timers to work at 40 airports, including Logan [Airport in Boston, departure point of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center].
But few people have shown interest in applying for a part-time position that requires intensive background checks, weeks of training, and long, odd hours dealing with a frustrated traveling public....
Why can't we alleviate these shortages? Is paying a decent wage to non-CEOs just intolerable to Republicans?
Airport screening jobs are turning over faster than expected at some of the busiest airports and the government isn't moving fast enough to fill them, a congressional investigator and airport officials told lawmakers Thursday....
The turnover of Transportation Security Administration screeners averages 14% a year but is as high as 36% at very large airports, according to Cathleen Berrick, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the General Accounting Office. She testified that recent interviews revealed 11 of the 15 busiest airports didn't have enough screeners.
The GAO said low pay and undesirable hours are reasons why part-time jobs go unfilled.
One federal security director told the GAO that the delay in filling vacant jobs made it hard to improve screeners' performance and "contributed to screener complacency because screeners were aware that they were unlikely to be terminated due to staffing shortages," Berrick's written testimony said....
This is the part that makes me furious:
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Wis., said Congress set an arbitrarily low limit on the number of full-time screeners who could be hired.
"TSA has been handicapped by the ill-advised cap of 45,000 full-time screeners imposed by the Appropriations Committee, a cap imposed without any basis for determining that 45,000 was the right number," Oberstar said.
Berrick reported that the TSA is trying to improve its work force planning. Among the changes: hiring part-time workers to fill in during the busiest shifts.
As The Boston Globe reported last December, people, quite logically , don't want to go through extensive for a poor-paying part-time job -- and hiring enough full-timers seems not to be an option:
The TSA stopped hiring full-time workers after it laid off 6,000 screeners nationally in May to cut costs and alleviate overstaffing. Many airports have since struggled with long lines during peak travel hours and on holidays, causing the agency to seek part timers to work at 40 airports, including Logan [Airport in Boston, departure point of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center].
But few people have shown interest in applying for a part-time position that requires intensive background checks, weeks of training, and long, odd hours dealing with a frustrated traveling public....
Why can't we alleviate these shortages? Is paying a decent wage to non-CEOs just intolerable to Republicans?
Are you surprised that the first "legitimate" media outlet to print the name of Kerry's alleged girlfriend is owned by Murdoch?
(UPDATE: Whoops! Sorry, the name's also here -- and gosh, what do you know? That's a Murdoch paper, too!)
(UPDATE: Whoops! Sorry, the name's also here -- and gosh, what do you know? That's a Murdoch paper, too!)
Thursday, February 12, 2004
In The New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg depicts Ted Sampley as just another aggrieved vet:
The photograph with Mr. Kerry [and Jane Fonda] was taken two years earlier. But it brings up deep memories for people like Mr. Sampley....
Tomorrow I'm going to snail-mail this to her. It's the chapter on Sampley from Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America by Susan Katz Keating (I quoted from it earlier today). Sampley is a sociopath who has hated Kerry for years because Kerry won't say that there are thousands of POWs and MIAs still in Vietnam.
Oh, and another thing, Sheryl: In your story you say that
on Thursday, a new photograph of the senator and the actress began circulating via e-mail. Unlike the image Mr. Sampley bought, which shows Mr. Kerry seated several rows behind Ms. Fonda, this picture — its origins are unclear — shows them side by side, Ms. Fonda behind a microphone and Mr. Kerry, holding a notebook, to her right.
That wouldn't be the photo even the Freepers say is fake, would it?
(UPDATE: Atrios points to this Snopes page, which shows the "photo" and debunks it.)
The photograph with Mr. Kerry [and Jane Fonda] was taken two years earlier. But it brings up deep memories for people like Mr. Sampley....
Tomorrow I'm going to snail-mail this to her. It's the chapter on Sampley from Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America by Susan Katz Keating (I quoted from it earlier today). Sampley is a sociopath who has hated Kerry for years because Kerry won't say that there are thousands of POWs and MIAs still in Vietnam.
Oh, and another thing, Sheryl: In your story you say that
on Thursday, a new photograph of the senator and the actress began circulating via e-mail. Unlike the image Mr. Sampley bought, which shows Mr. Kerry seated several rows behind Ms. Fonda, this picture — its origins are unclear — shows them side by side, Ms. Fonda behind a microphone and Mr. Kerry, holding a notebook, to her right.
That wouldn't be the photo even the Freepers say is fake, would it?
(UPDATE: Atrios points to this Snopes page, which shows the "photo" and debunks it.)
"Democrat" Zell Miller -- now in bed with Judge Roy Moore:
Federal courts could not curb state court rulings that allow an "acknowledgment of God," according to a measure two senators introduced Thursday as a response to the dispute over a Ten Commandments display in Alabama.
"I think it's a good time to have a debate on it," said one sponsor, Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga. "We'll run it up the flag pole and see how many salute."
...Much of the work on the legislation was done by Roy Moore, who was ousted as Alabama's chief justice after refusing a federal court order that he remove the Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse. Miller said he has "great respect and admiration for Moore" and volunteered to help with the bill.
The other Senate sponsor is Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. ...
Want a theocracy, Zell? Iran's that way.
Federal courts could not curb state court rulings that allow an "acknowledgment of God," according to a measure two senators introduced Thursday as a response to the dispute over a Ten Commandments display in Alabama.
"I think it's a good time to have a debate on it," said one sponsor, Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga. "We'll run it up the flag pole and see how many salute."
...Much of the work on the legislation was done by Roy Moore, who was ousted as Alabama's chief justice after refusing a federal court order that he remove the Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse. Miller said he has "great respect and admiration for Moore" and volunteered to help with the bill.
The other Senate sponsor is Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. ...
Want a theocracy, Zell? Iran's that way.
The chutzpah. The unbelievable chutzpah:
Republicans, already preparing for the general election race, launched a pre-emptive strike on Kerry, with Republican Party chief Ed Gillespie accusing him of planning "the dirtiest campaign in modern American politics."
He said Kerry supporters planned to spread rumors about Bush in Internet chat rooms....
He had the gall to say that today.
Republicans, already preparing for the general election race, launched a pre-emptive strike on Kerry, with Republican Party chief Ed Gillespie accusing him of planning "the dirtiest campaign in modern American politics."
He said Kerry supporters planned to spread rumors about Bush in Internet chat rooms....
He had the gall to say that today.
...On the other hand, if all this gets thrown at Kerry now and it doesn't stick, what's left? There's a lot about Bush that hasn't gone primetime, but unless somebody knows something about Kerry running guns or selling crack in schoolyards, what else is there? Three weeks before the election, "Kerry's rude to checkout clerks" ain't gonna cut it.
Oh, fer chrissakes: Kerry unfaithful? Now we have Drudge with the flashing-light logo and five scare headlines (all linked to the same speculative story).
Gee, I guess the GOP has unilaterally repealed the "Schwarzenegger rules" (you know -- everything a candidate ever did is off limits, even the illegal stuff, if it happened prior to the Oprah appearance).
Damn, it's only February. Where do we go from here? If Kerry weathers this, remember than an aide of his told The New York Times,
This is not the Dukakis campaign. We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything.
Everything? The cocaine? The rather alcoholic-seeming wedding video? Laura's car accident?
"Bring it on," a lot of you are thinking.
But eventually one of the candidates is going to climb up onto the high ground, however disingenuously, and say, "Enough" -- and the Leader of the Fight Against Terror might look rather credible to a lot of voters if he does it first. Also, a lot of anti-Bush dirt is unverifiable (if only because no one will step up and do the verifying), while some, surely, is just untrue -- and unverifiable charges don't do us much good. Plus, very dirty campaigns just confirm most voters' belief that politics is a cesspool -- and the party that gains from that is the one that, even though it's run the federal government for most of the past quarter century, always manages to persuade voters that it's the anti-government party. Finally, er, wasn't this campaign supposed to be about how the Bush administration is governing?
So OK -- some carefully targeted scrutiny of Bush's life is worthwhile. I just worry about losing an all-out war.
Gee, I guess the GOP has unilaterally repealed the "Schwarzenegger rules" (you know -- everything a candidate ever did is off limits, even the illegal stuff, if it happened prior to the Oprah appearance).
Damn, it's only February. Where do we go from here? If Kerry weathers this, remember than an aide of his told The New York Times,
This is not the Dukakis campaign. We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything.
Everything? The cocaine? The rather alcoholic-seeming wedding video? Laura's car accident?
"Bring it on," a lot of you are thinking.
But eventually one of the candidates is going to climb up onto the high ground, however disingenuously, and say, "Enough" -- and the Leader of the Fight Against Terror might look rather credible to a lot of voters if he does it first. Also, a lot of anti-Bush dirt is unverifiable (if only because no one will step up and do the verifying), while some, surely, is just untrue -- and unverifiable charges don't do us much good. Plus, very dirty campaigns just confirm most voters' belief that politics is a cesspool -- and the party that gains from that is the one that, even though it's run the federal government for most of the past quarter century, always manages to persuade voters that it's the anti-government party. Finally, er, wasn't this campaign supposed to be about how the Bush administration is governing?
So OK -- some carefully targeted scrutiny of Bush's life is worthwhile. I just worry about losing an all-out war.
Yesterday's scurrilous Washington Times article "Photo of Kerry with Fonda Enrages Vietnam Veterans" made at least one leap up the media food chain, to CNN ("Kerry Takes New Fire Over Vietnam," plus this interview with Jane Fonda).
Meanwhile, the good Roger Ailes points to this page, where you can read a chapter on Ted Sampley from Susan Katz Keating's book Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America. Sampley, as I noted yesterday, was the only actual enraged veteran quoted in the Washington Times story, apart from two GOP congressmen.
More important, Sampley is, as Ms. Keating makes clear, a piece of work.
What do you want to know about? The time he told the family of a missing soldier in the first Iraq war that he had been killed and mutilated by an anti-Semitic Iraqi mob because of his Jewish-sounding name? (The soldier later returned home alive and in one piece.) The time he punched an aide to Senator John McCain? The time he created a potentially deadly road hazard as a publicity stunt? Yeah, let Keating tell you about that one:
In 1986, for example, when Sampley was in Washington, D.C., attending one of his many POW functions, he set up a publicity stunt that could have killed or seriously injured someone. Shortly before 2 A.M., bar closing time, Sampley and a few confederates erected a barrier at the top of a freeway on-ramp that handles traffic coming from Capitol Hill. They coated the ramp with oil, so that unsuspecting motorists would slither wildly before crashing into the barrier. The cars' headlights would illuminate a sign on the barrier that read "Free the POWs."
The next day I learned about the on-ramp trap from Sampley, who called to announce what he had done. He was proud of his effort but disappointed that the trick had not come off. While Sampley and friends had watched from a nearby hiding place, police officers had found and dismantled the arrangement before any cars ran into it.
When I told Sampley he had risked people's lives with the stunt, he accused me of being a spoilsport. He also said he was dismayed at missing the chance for newspaper coverage.
That's The Washington Times's idea of a reliable source.
Oh, and just for good measure: Is this the same Ted Sampley who pushed for the Kinston, North Carolina, city council to pass a resolution "recognizing God as the foundation of this country's heritage," a resolution that claims that "the majority of those who drafted and signed the U.S. Constitution … never intended that there be a separation between [God] and the affairs of government" -- which many Kinston city councillors felt was "crammed down [their] throat"? (Answer: Yup. Here's a story about Sampley's POW bracelets, accompanied by a picture of Jan Barwick, who's ID'd as his business partner in the city council story.)
Meanwhile, the good Roger Ailes points to this page, where you can read a chapter on Ted Sampley from Susan Katz Keating's book Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America. Sampley, as I noted yesterday, was the only actual enraged veteran quoted in the Washington Times story, apart from two GOP congressmen.
More important, Sampley is, as Ms. Keating makes clear, a piece of work.
What do you want to know about? The time he told the family of a missing soldier in the first Iraq war that he had been killed and mutilated by an anti-Semitic Iraqi mob because of his Jewish-sounding name? (The soldier later returned home alive and in one piece.) The time he punched an aide to Senator John McCain? The time he created a potentially deadly road hazard as a publicity stunt? Yeah, let Keating tell you about that one:
In 1986, for example, when Sampley was in Washington, D.C., attending one of his many POW functions, he set up a publicity stunt that could have killed or seriously injured someone. Shortly before 2 A.M., bar closing time, Sampley and a few confederates erected a barrier at the top of a freeway on-ramp that handles traffic coming from Capitol Hill. They coated the ramp with oil, so that unsuspecting motorists would slither wildly before crashing into the barrier. The cars' headlights would illuminate a sign on the barrier that read "Free the POWs."
The next day I learned about the on-ramp trap from Sampley, who called to announce what he had done. He was proud of his effort but disappointed that the trick had not come off. While Sampley and friends had watched from a nearby hiding place, police officers had found and dismantled the arrangement before any cars ran into it.
When I told Sampley he had risked people's lives with the stunt, he accused me of being a spoilsport. He also said he was dismayed at missing the chance for newspaper coverage.
That's The Washington Times's idea of a reliable source.
Oh, and just for good measure: Is this the same Ted Sampley who pushed for the Kinston, North Carolina, city council to pass a resolution "recognizing God as the foundation of this country's heritage," a resolution that claims that "the majority of those who drafted and signed the U.S. Constitution … never intended that there be a separation between [God] and the affairs of government" -- which many Kinston city councillors felt was "crammed down [their] throat"? (Answer: Yup. Here's a story about Sampley's POW bracelets, accompanied by a picture of Jan Barwick, who's ID'd as his business partner in the city council story.)
May I just say for the record that I don't give a good goddamn whether or not Comcast buys Disney? And may I also add that the Disney-Pixar split was absolutely meaningless to me? Why are these rearrangements of the deck chairs on the capitalist luxury liner inevitably on the front page of my morning paper? Is it for any reason other than primitive worship of our tribe's alpha males?
People complain about the lingering influence of the 1960s -- but potential megamergers are sexy again, Donald Trump has a hit TV series, luxury goods are selling like hotcakes again while the non-rich have to pinch pennies, and I have to ask: When the hell are the '80s going to be over?
People complain about the lingering influence of the 1960s -- but potential megamergers are sexy again, Donald Trump has a hit TV series, luxury goods are selling like hotcakes again while the non-rich have to pinch pennies, and I have to ask: When the hell are the '80s going to be over?
Israeli police have come up with plans to place bags of pig lard on buses in a bid to deter Palestinian militants from carrying out suicide attacks, the Maariv daily reported.
Rabbinical authorities have given the idea its approval on the grounds that it could be a life-saving measure even though pigs are also considered impure by Jews.
Authorities believe that the move could discourage Palestinians from carrying out attacks as pieces of their exploded body could come into contact with the pig fat, prejudicing their chances of entering into paradise....
--Agence France-Presse
Please tell me this is a joke. Please tell me they don't actually believe this will work.
Rabbinical authorities have given the idea its approval on the grounds that it could be a life-saving measure even though pigs are also considered impure by Jews.
Authorities believe that the move could discourage Palestinians from carrying out attacks as pieces of their exploded body could come into contact with the pig fat, prejudicing their chances of entering into paradise....
--Agence France-Presse
Please tell me this is a joke. Please tell me they don't actually believe this will work.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
As Atrios notes, the headline of this AP story -- "Kerry Signed Letter Backing Gay Marriage" -- is an utter distortion of the truth. Rightly or wrongly, Kerry's support for gay rights stops at the altar -- he supports civil unions. The proposed state constitutional amendment he objected to in the letter would have banned civil unions as well as gay marriage.
The text of the amendment is here and (in fuller form) here:
It being the public policy of this Commonwealth to protect the unique relationship of marriage in order to promote among other goals, the stability and welfare of society and the best interests of children, only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent.
So when Kerry signs a letter objecting to a "proposed Constitutional amendment that would prohibit or seriously inhibit any legal recognition whatsoever of same-sex relationships," because of "the likelihood that it will prevent not only the state government, but also the cities, towns and counties from acting as they might wish to provide some form of recognition for same-sex relationships," and he later says he's never backed full gay marriage, there's no contradiction.
But Closet Case Drudge is trumpeting the story, so expect lazy superstar "journalists" to begin telling you Kerry's a flip-flopper and a liar.
The text of the amendment is here and (in fuller form) here:
It being the public policy of this Commonwealth to protect the unique relationship of marriage in order to promote among other goals, the stability and welfare of society and the best interests of children, only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent.
So when Kerry signs a letter objecting to a "proposed Constitutional amendment that would prohibit or seriously inhibit any legal recognition whatsoever of same-sex relationships," because of "the likelihood that it will prevent not only the state government, but also the cities, towns and counties from acting as they might wish to provide some form of recognition for same-sex relationships," and he later says he's never backed full gay marriage, there's no contradiction.
But Closet Case Drudge is trumpeting the story, so expect lazy superstar "journalists" to begin telling you Kerry's a flip-flopper and a liar.
Are you following the story of Dave Louthan? He killed the cow in Washington State that was found to have mad cow disease; now he's insisting that there must be more BSE in America.
This is from a February 3 New York Times story:
Contrary to reports from the federal Department of Agriculture, he asserts that the cow he killed was not too sick to walk. And it was caught not by routine surveillance, he says, but by "a fluke": he killed it outdoors because he feared it would trample other cows lying prostrate in its trailer, and the plant's testing program called for sampling cows killed outside only.
"Mad cows aren't downers," he said. "They're up and they're crazy." The Agriculture Department disputes his account....
In his new role as bloody-handed industry critic, Mr. Louthan argues that too few cattle are tested for mad cow to say with certainty that beef is safe. "One mad cow is a scare, but two is an epidemic," he said. "They absolutely, positively don't want to find another."...
Mr. Louthan, who lives across the street from Vern's, said that the slaughtering was "still going like crazy" but that an inspector in the plant told him no more mad cow testing was being done.
Here's his Web page, on which he also insists that no BSE testing is now being done at the slaughterhouse where he worked; he's also given interviews to Counterpunch and to the blog bad things.
I'm not qualified to judge what he's saying. However, I do think we were far too quick to accept the all-clear from the USDA. In the Times article, read the description of carcass splitting, a job Louthan used to do -- if he's right, the segregation of "good" and "bad" tissues in slaughterhouses is far less precise than they want you to believe.
(Thanks to Skimble for the links.)
This is from a February 3 New York Times story:
Contrary to reports from the federal Department of Agriculture, he asserts that the cow he killed was not too sick to walk. And it was caught not by routine surveillance, he says, but by "a fluke": he killed it outdoors because he feared it would trample other cows lying prostrate in its trailer, and the plant's testing program called for sampling cows killed outside only.
"Mad cows aren't downers," he said. "They're up and they're crazy." The Agriculture Department disputes his account....
In his new role as bloody-handed industry critic, Mr. Louthan argues that too few cattle are tested for mad cow to say with certainty that beef is safe. "One mad cow is a scare, but two is an epidemic," he said. "They absolutely, positively don't want to find another."...
Mr. Louthan, who lives across the street from Vern's, said that the slaughtering was "still going like crazy" but that an inspector in the plant told him no more mad cow testing was being done.
Here's his Web page, on which he also insists that no BSE testing is now being done at the slaughterhouse where he worked; he's also given interviews to Counterpunch and to the blog bad things.
I'm not qualified to judge what he's saying. However, I do think we were far too quick to accept the all-clear from the USDA. In the Times article, read the description of carcass splitting, a job Louthan used to do -- if he's right, the segregation of "good" and "bad" tissues in slaughterhouses is far less precise than they want you to believe.
(Thanks to Skimble for the links.)
I get confused when I read the Democrat-hating press: Is Hillary Clinton so evil that it's just a matter of time before she's Global Dictator for Life (see, e.g., William Safire's now-laughable prediction of her rise from the undead at a brokered Democratic convention)? Or does fate regularly thwart her schemes while she howls, "Curses! Foiled again"? Susan Estrich -- commentator for Fox News and NewsMax, even though she insists she's a Democrat (no, really) -- apparently believes the latter:
IImagine that Howard Dean's December had come in the fall instead. Ideological warfare, tearing the party apart, attacking the Clintons, the Democratic Leadership Council -- what could have been better for Hillary? Let Dean take the party to defeat, and she could've been the savior, rising from the rubble to unite the defeated Democrats. Who could deny her the nomination four years later?
Maybe that's what she was thinking...
If Kerry wins [with John Edwards as his running mate], Hillary Clinton can't run for president for eight more years. And then it would be the 58-year-old vice president's turn, maybe for the next eight. That makes 16. That's it....
Zounds! Why didn't Hillary's good friend Satan warn her?
But there's still a chance if Kerry loses ... no?
Kerry may not be Hillary's biggest problem. John Edwards is the real threat. He's the other half of most Democrats' dream tickets, and by any reckoning, the obvious next nominee....
Oh, right. Of course! Edwards has to be the 2008 nominee if Kerry loses -- in the proud tradition of ticket-toppers Ed Muskie, Sargent Shriver, Geraldine Ferraro, Jack Kemp, and Joe Lieberman.
IImagine that Howard Dean's December had come in the fall instead. Ideological warfare, tearing the party apart, attacking the Clintons, the Democratic Leadership Council -- what could have been better for Hillary? Let Dean take the party to defeat, and she could've been the savior, rising from the rubble to unite the defeated Democrats. Who could deny her the nomination four years later?
Maybe that's what she was thinking...
If Kerry wins [with John Edwards as his running mate], Hillary Clinton can't run for president for eight more years. And then it would be the 58-year-old vice president's turn, maybe for the next eight. That makes 16. That's it....
Zounds! Why didn't Hillary's good friend Satan warn her?
But there's still a chance if Kerry loses ... no?
Kerry may not be Hillary's biggest problem. John Edwards is the real threat. He's the other half of most Democrats' dream tickets, and by any reckoning, the obvious next nominee....
Oh, right. Of course! Edwards has to be the 2008 nominee if Kerry loses -- in the proud tradition of ticket-toppers Ed Muskie, Sargent Shriver, Geraldine Ferraro, Jack Kemp, and Joe Lieberman.
TWO NATIONS
While lefties are examining Bush's Air National Guard years, conservatives, led by Matt Drudge, are bouncing off the walls because The Harvard Crimson has just posted this 1970 interview with John Kerry (and this summary).
The young Kerry, back from Vietnam, sounds, yeah, a bit left-wing: he calls for the virtual elimination of the CIA and for that reddest of flags in the eyes of right-wing bulls, placing U.S. troops under U.N. control. (As I type this, the U.N. quote from the interview tops Drudge's page; right-wingers have absolutely no idea that this is not a burning issue anywhere but on the right.)
I don't know what the reaction to all this will be among average voters. I think they'll sigh and just continue trying to decide who's going to provide jobs, health care, and security. I do, however, like the fact that the Democratic Party managed to strike first.
It seems to me that Democrats who are attacked suffer a double blow: They have to respond to an allegation, plus they look weak. And many voters, of course, think Democrats are naturally weak. But in this race, so far, Bush is on the defensive. That means it's not 1988.
(By the way, you might have some trouble getting to those Crimson links -- the Drudgistas are really jamming the servers.)
While lefties are examining Bush's Air National Guard years, conservatives, led by Matt Drudge, are bouncing off the walls because The Harvard Crimson has just posted this 1970 interview with John Kerry (and this summary).
The young Kerry, back from Vietnam, sounds, yeah, a bit left-wing: he calls for the virtual elimination of the CIA and for that reddest of flags in the eyes of right-wing bulls, placing U.S. troops under U.N. control. (As I type this, the U.N. quote from the interview tops Drudge's page; right-wingers have absolutely no idea that this is not a burning issue anywhere but on the right.)
I don't know what the reaction to all this will be among average voters. I think they'll sigh and just continue trying to decide who's going to provide jobs, health care, and security. I do, however, like the fact that the Democratic Party managed to strike first.
It seems to me that Democrats who are attacked suffer a double blow: They have to respond to an allegation, plus they look weak. And many voters, of course, think Democrats are naturally weak. But in this race, so far, Bush is on the defensive. That means it's not 1988.
(By the way, you might have some trouble getting to those Crimson links -- the Drudgistas are really jamming the servers.)
The headline in The Washington Times reads, "Photo of Kerry with [Jane] Fonda Enrages Vietnam Veterans." Odd, then, that with all those outraged veterans, the only ones WashTimes reporter Stephen Dinan could find who would actually express outrage were two Republican members of Congress and Ted Sampley, publisher of U.S. Veteran Dispatch, an organization largely devoted to the notion that POWs and MIAs are still alive in Vietnam and there's a massive effort to deny this fact. Sampley despises not only John Kerry but John McCain, whom he calls "the Manchurian Candidate"; note the lovely, racist cartoon here, as well as the description of McCain as "a fraud, collaborator, and danger to the security of the United States." In the '90s McCain and Kerry worked to debunk the notion that Vietnam POWs and MIAs are unaccounted for; I can't help suspecting that, even before the picture emerged (in which Kerry is shown a couple of rows behind Fonda, and not in contact with her at all), Sampley's baseline for anti-Kerry rage was already a tad high.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
U.S. Nixes Subpoenas Against Protesters
DES MOINES, Iowa - Federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena Tuesday ordering Drake University to turn over a list of people involved in an antiwar forum in November, as well as subpoenas ordering four activists to testify before a grand jury.
Brian Terrell, leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry and one of the four, told a crowd of about 100 cheering people outside the federal courthouse: "We made them want to stop, and we have to make sure they never want to do this again."
The U.S. attorney's office had no immediate comment on why the subpoenas were withdrawn just one day after federal prosecutor Stephen O'Meara issued a statement acknowledging an investigation was under way....
--AP
DES MOINES, Iowa - Federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena Tuesday ordering Drake University to turn over a list of people involved in an antiwar forum in November, as well as subpoenas ordering four activists to testify before a grand jury.
Brian Terrell, leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry and one of the four, told a crowd of about 100 cheering people outside the federal courthouse: "We made them want to stop, and we have to make sure they never want to do this again."
The U.S. attorney's office had no immediate comment on why the subpoenas were withdrawn just one day after federal prosecutor Stephen O'Meara issued a statement acknowledging an investigation was under way....
--AP
I've added a few links in the right column: Seeing the Forest and Sisyphus Shrugged, which probably should have been there a long time ago; the homepage/blog of Michael Berube, professor, critic, and foe of David Horowitz; and, finally, the unique link stylings of INTL News.
(Also, in a Monk-like moment, I alphabetized the links.)
(Also, in a Monk-like moment, I alphabetized the links.)
This is weird: A visit to Free Republic leads me to Christianity Today, where I learn that the evangelizin' pilot -- now identified as Roger Findiesen -- has broken his silence and given his first interview to -- I'm not making this up -- The Advocate. ("At no time did Findiesen mention homosexuality or say anything antigay," The Advocate's interviewer notes -- understandable when you realize that the guy seems to have no earthly idea what The Advocate is.)
An excerpt from the interview:
"I just got back from a mission in Costa Rica," said Findiesen, a tall white man with neatly trimmed thick white hair and a mustache, both lightly peppered with black. "I felt that God was telling me to say something." He went on to explain that he felt God wanted him to witness to the passengers on his first flight upon returning to work for American Airlines after his mission. Despite this feeling, he said, he had decided not to say anything--but then he got another sign from God.
A minor problem with the plane's braking system had developed during final checks before takeoff, he said, a problem that might have grounded the aircraft, on which every seat was taken, in part because another American flight from Los Angeles to New York had been canceled that morning. But after a simple maneuver involving a power source, the braking problem inexplicably "disappeared," Findiesen said, and the plane was cleared for departure, and that's when he knew he had to use the P.A. system to talk about his Christian faith.
Yeah -- well, when I was eight years old I stepped on a crack, and two days later ... well, nothing broke exactly, but my mother did have a mild lower back twinge, and I never, ever, ever stepped on a crack again, because I knew that lower back twinge was all my fault.
An excerpt from the interview:
"I just got back from a mission in Costa Rica," said Findiesen, a tall white man with neatly trimmed thick white hair and a mustache, both lightly peppered with black. "I felt that God was telling me to say something." He went on to explain that he felt God wanted him to witness to the passengers on his first flight upon returning to work for American Airlines after his mission. Despite this feeling, he said, he had decided not to say anything--but then he got another sign from God.
A minor problem with the plane's braking system had developed during final checks before takeoff, he said, a problem that might have grounded the aircraft, on which every seat was taken, in part because another American flight from Los Angeles to New York had been canceled that morning. But after a simple maneuver involving a power source, the braking problem inexplicably "disappeared," Findiesen said, and the plane was cleared for departure, and that's when he knew he had to use the P.A. system to talk about his Christian faith.
Yeah -- well, when I was eight years old I stepped on a crack, and two days later ... well, nothing broke exactly, but my mother did have a mild lower back twinge, and I never, ever, ever stepped on a crack again, because I knew that lower back twinge was all my fault.
I have absolutely no idea what to make of this:
MOSCOW police said they were carrying out chemical tests at the Moscow office of the oil company BP on Tuesday, after employees reportedly felt ill following the reception of suspicious mail.
Police said a person calling from the BP office said that employees suffered headaches, rashes and felt a stinging in their eye after handling mail that arrived from Houston, Texas, the Interfax news agency reported.
Police experts were testing the air and the mail for chemicals, but found no powder or liquid inside the envelopes, Moscow police spokesman Pavel Klimovsky said. Officials at BP in Moscow could not immediately reached for comment.
--News.com.au (Australia)
MOSCOW police said they were carrying out chemical tests at the Moscow office of the oil company BP on Tuesday, after employees reportedly felt ill following the reception of suspicious mail.
Police said a person calling from the BP office said that employees suffered headaches, rashes and felt a stinging in their eye after handling mail that arrived from Houston, Texas, the Interfax news agency reported.
Police experts were testing the air and the mail for chemicals, but found no powder or liquid inside the envelopes, Moscow police spokesman Pavel Klimovsky said. Officials at BP in Moscow could not immediately reached for comment.
--News.com.au (Australia)
Michael Berube has word of an endorsement in the presidential race that might surprise Limbaugh and Lileks.
I see the Coalition Provisional Authority has had to explain to the Japanese that freedom of the press is pro-evildoer:
SAMAWA, Iraq -- The Coalition Provision Authority (CPA) has ordered police in Samawa to withhold security information from Japanese media covering Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) activities there, the Mainichi has learned.
Karim Helbet Monahar al-Zayday, police commissioner in the southern Iraqi province of Musanna where Samawa is located, said the gag rule was imposed to improve the image of the town.
"Some members of the Japanese media have reported that Samawa has security problems," al-Zayday told the Mainichi. "We just want to make Japanese understand that Musanna is a safe place." ...
Yeah, and refusing to provide any information to back up a claim of safety is really the best way to make sure it's believed, isn't it?
This is ham-handed, but it's also idiotic: If the CPA won't talk (in its usually Pollyannaish way) to the Japanese press, the stories are going to get more negative, not less -- which is what the CPA deserves.
SAMAWA, Iraq -- The Coalition Provision Authority (CPA) has ordered police in Samawa to withhold security information from Japanese media covering Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) activities there, the Mainichi has learned.
Karim Helbet Monahar al-Zayday, police commissioner in the southern Iraqi province of Musanna where Samawa is located, said the gag rule was imposed to improve the image of the town.
"Some members of the Japanese media have reported that Samawa has security problems," al-Zayday told the Mainichi. "We just want to make Japanese understand that Musanna is a safe place." ...
Yeah, and refusing to provide any information to back up a claim of safety is really the best way to make sure it's believed, isn't it?
This is ham-handed, but it's also idiotic: If the CPA won't talk (in its usually Pollyannaish way) to the Japanese press, the stories are going to get more negative, not less -- which is what the CPA deserves.
The story in today's New York Times doesn't even have this quote, but The Seattle Times caught it and (appropriately) made it the lead:
Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S.
WASHINGTON — The movement of American factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.
The embrace of foreign "outsourcing," an accelerating trend that has contributed to U.S. job losses in recent years and has become an issue in the 2004 elections, is contained in the president's annual report to Congress on the U.S. economy.
"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," said N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, which prepared the report. "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past. And that's a good thing." ...
Let them eat cake.
Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S.
WASHINGTON — The movement of American factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.
The embrace of foreign "outsourcing," an accelerating trend that has contributed to U.S. job losses in recent years and has become an issue in the 2004 elections, is contained in the president's annual report to Congress on the U.S. economy.
"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," said N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, which prepared the report. "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past. And that's a good thing." ...
Let them eat cake.
Shorter David Brooks:
Bush's problem on Meet the Press was that he didn't talk enough like Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter.
Bush's problem on Meet the Press was that he didn't talk enough like Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter.
ABORTION WARS
First, here's Ashcroft, out of control:
A move by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to subpoena the medical records of 40 patients who received so-called partial-birth abortions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was halted -- at least temporarily -- when a Chicago federal judge quashed the information request.
The ruling is the first in a series of subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department seeking the medical records of patients from seven physicians and at least five hospitals...
In a 16-page decision, U.S. Chief District Judge Charles Kocoras denied the government's request to obtain patient medical records from Northwestern, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Illinois' medical privacy law.
Northwestern received the subpoena in December, a month after obstetrician/gynecologist Cassing Hammond, a member of Northwestern's staff and medical school faculty, was served with subpoenas seeking his patient records. Hammond is one of seven doctors and three groups who has challenged the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003....
While the Justice Department has said it is not seeking information that would identify the patients, that did not persuade Judge Kocoras....
--Chicago Business
Then there's this:
A bill is gathering support in the Virginia legislature that would require unborn children be administered a painkiller before abortions are performed.
A measure introduced by Republican Dick Black will be considered by the justice committee of Virginia's lower chamber, the House of Delegates, Monday, reported WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. The Senate will address a similar measure Thursday.
"We must do everything possible to relieve the terror and suffering of children as they are aborted," said Black in a statement....
That story's from WorldNetDaily, and, fortunately, it says nothing about how likely the bill is to pass -- from which I infer that it probably won't. (If the bill had substantial support, the far-right WND would be delighted to tell us.)
But still -- let's all go to the Bible Belt and find liberal kids who are over 20 years and 3 months old, but under 21. Let's buy beers and sell them to the kids on the steps of police stations -- and when we get arrested, let's say that the kids are really 21 because, hey, life begins at conception, doesn't it? As every God-fearing Christian knows?
(Both links via BuzzFlash.)
First, here's Ashcroft, out of control:
A move by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to subpoena the medical records of 40 patients who received so-called partial-birth abortions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was halted -- at least temporarily -- when a Chicago federal judge quashed the information request.
The ruling is the first in a series of subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department seeking the medical records of patients from seven physicians and at least five hospitals...
In a 16-page decision, U.S. Chief District Judge Charles Kocoras denied the government's request to obtain patient medical records from Northwestern, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Illinois' medical privacy law.
Northwestern received the subpoena in December, a month after obstetrician/gynecologist Cassing Hammond, a member of Northwestern's staff and medical school faculty, was served with subpoenas seeking his patient records. Hammond is one of seven doctors and three groups who has challenged the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003....
While the Justice Department has said it is not seeking information that would identify the patients, that did not persuade Judge Kocoras....
--Chicago Business
Then there's this:
A bill is gathering support in the Virginia legislature that would require unborn children be administered a painkiller before abortions are performed.
A measure introduced by Republican Dick Black will be considered by the justice committee of Virginia's lower chamber, the House of Delegates, Monday, reported WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. The Senate will address a similar measure Thursday.
"We must do everything possible to relieve the terror and suffering of children as they are aborted," said Black in a statement....
That story's from WorldNetDaily, and, fortunately, it says nothing about how likely the bill is to pass -- from which I infer that it probably won't. (If the bill had substantial support, the far-right WND would be delighted to tell us.)
But still -- let's all go to the Bible Belt and find liberal kids who are over 20 years and 3 months old, but under 21. Let's buy beers and sell them to the kids on the steps of police stations -- and when we get arrested, let's say that the kids are really 21 because, hey, life begins at conception, doesn't it? As every God-fearing Christian knows?
(Both links via BuzzFlash.)
Monday, February 09, 2004
This AP story about the Zarqawi letter basically gets it right:
A letter seized from an al-Qaida courier shows Osama bin Laden has made little headway in recruiting Iraqis for a holy war against America, raising questions about the Bush administration's contention that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror.
The 17-page letter, cited as a key piece of intelligence that offered a rare window into foreign terrorist operations in Iraq, appealed to al-Qaida leaders to help spark a civil war between Iraq's two main Muslim sects in an effort to "tear the country apart," U.S. officials said Monday....
"Many Iraqis would honor you as a guest and give you refuge, for you are a Muslim brother," it said. "However, they will not allow you to make their home a base for operations or a safe house."
That suggests that Iraqis may be willing to support their homegrown insurgency but have little interest in backing foreign infiltrators. The letter's appeals for outside help raises questions whether al-Qaida had a support network here before Saddam's downfall....
But the cynical bastards in the White House know this is all hard for most Americans to follow. Alas, they know that they can robotically repeat the Big Lie ("White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the letter, first reported Monday by The New York Times, shows that 'Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism'") and most of us will swallow it.
And there's a chance they're actually going to revive the "increased violence means we're succeeding" line they tried out a few months ago:
One senior U.S. officer, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, warned the plea could mean more "spectacular" attacks because the rebels were despairing that their devastating car bombs and the steady killing of U.S. troops were failing to shove the Americans from Iraq or spark massive discord.
And now the administration can blame any truly nasty violent act in Iraq on al-Qaeda, with or without evidence -- just in time for the campaign.
A letter seized from an al-Qaida courier shows Osama bin Laden has made little headway in recruiting Iraqis for a holy war against America, raising questions about the Bush administration's contention that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror.
The 17-page letter, cited as a key piece of intelligence that offered a rare window into foreign terrorist operations in Iraq, appealed to al-Qaida leaders to help spark a civil war between Iraq's two main Muslim sects in an effort to "tear the country apart," U.S. officials said Monday....
"Many Iraqis would honor you as a guest and give you refuge, for you are a Muslim brother," it said. "However, they will not allow you to make their home a base for operations or a safe house."
That suggests that Iraqis may be willing to support their homegrown insurgency but have little interest in backing foreign infiltrators. The letter's appeals for outside help raises questions whether al-Qaida had a support network here before Saddam's downfall....
But the cynical bastards in the White House know this is all hard for most Americans to follow. Alas, they know that they can robotically repeat the Big Lie ("White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the letter, first reported Monday by The New York Times, shows that 'Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism'") and most of us will swallow it.
And there's a chance they're actually going to revive the "increased violence means we're succeeding" line they tried out a few months ago:
One senior U.S. officer, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, warned the plea could mean more "spectacular" attacks because the rebels were despairing that their devastating car bombs and the steady killing of U.S. troops were failing to shove the Americans from Iraq or spark massive discord.
And now the administration can blame any truly nasty violent act in Iraq on al-Qaeda, with or without evidence -- just in time for the campaign.
By now you know all about God's self-appointed copilot. But do you know about jellybeans for Jesus?
Parents Sue To Allow Daughter To Distribute Religious Jellybeans
DAYTON, Ohio -- Parents have sued a school district because a kindergarten teacher stopped their daughter from distributing bags of jellybeans with an attached prayer to her classmates.
Allen and Sheila Wuebben, of suburban Kettering, say the school's policy of prohibiting students from distributing religious literature in the classroom violates their daughter Madison's rights to freedom of speech and religion....
According to the lawsuit, Madison sought permission from her teacher, Angela Helwig, to distribute "The Jelly Bean Prayer" to her Orchard Park Elementary School classmates before last Easter.
The prayer's first two lines are: "Red is for the blood He gave, Green is for the grass He made." ...
The teacher said no Jesus jellybeans in the classroom. The family cried "Persecution!" The superintendent said Jesus jellybeans were OK on the bus, in the playground, or after school. That wasn't good enough for the family.
Oh, by the way: The family's lawyer is from the Rutherford Institute, legal backers of Paula Jones.
Now, let me get this straight: According to religious conservatives, gay marriage is an intolerable infringement on the lives of married heterosexuals, even when those married gay people don't go anywhere near non-consenting heterosexuals -- yet if someone gets in my face and starts trying to convert me to Christ in a setting I can't readily leave (an airplane, my kindergarten class), that just fine.
A kindergartner doesn't have a right to proselytize in the classroom, any more than a tenth grader has a right to get up in the middle of a math test, whip out an electric guitar and a portable amp and start working his way through the Good Charlotte songbook. No one says that guitarist's First Amendment rights are being denied if he's told to take it back to the garage. It's about common courtesy and mutual respect. It's about not being a rude, inconsiderate boor.
Proselytizing Christians? You say Jesus loves us? We get it. Now, if we ask you to back off, back off.
(Jellybean link via INTL News.)
Parents Sue To Allow Daughter To Distribute Religious Jellybeans
DAYTON, Ohio -- Parents have sued a school district because a kindergarten teacher stopped their daughter from distributing bags of jellybeans with an attached prayer to her classmates.
Allen and Sheila Wuebben, of suburban Kettering, say the school's policy of prohibiting students from distributing religious literature in the classroom violates their daughter Madison's rights to freedom of speech and religion....
According to the lawsuit, Madison sought permission from her teacher, Angela Helwig, to distribute "The Jelly Bean Prayer" to her Orchard Park Elementary School classmates before last Easter.
The prayer's first two lines are: "Red is for the blood He gave, Green is for the grass He made." ...
The teacher said no Jesus jellybeans in the classroom. The family cried "Persecution!" The superintendent said Jesus jellybeans were OK on the bus, in the playground, or after school. That wasn't good enough for the family.
Oh, by the way: The family's lawyer is from the Rutherford Institute, legal backers of Paula Jones.
Now, let me get this straight: According to religious conservatives, gay marriage is an intolerable infringement on the lives of married heterosexuals, even when those married gay people don't go anywhere near non-consenting heterosexuals -- yet if someone gets in my face and starts trying to convert me to Christ in a setting I can't readily leave (an airplane, my kindergarten class), that just fine.
A kindergartner doesn't have a right to proselytize in the classroom, any more than a tenth grader has a right to get up in the middle of a math test, whip out an electric guitar and a portable amp and start working his way through the Good Charlotte songbook. No one says that guitarist's First Amendment rights are being denied if he's told to take it back to the garage. It's about common courtesy and mutual respect. It's about not being a rude, inconsiderate boor.
Proselytizing Christians? You say Jesus loves us? We get it. Now, if we ask you to back off, back off.
(Jellybean link via INTL News.)
If you're enjoying Hans Blix's comments on the Iraq debacle, you'll be pleased to know that the book tour should be starting very soon.
Last week I mentioned a Fox News story hyping the discovery of a block of cyanide salt found at a Baghdad compound reportedly used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been identified as a jihad-friendly terrorist. (Cyanide salt is commonly found in chemistry labs and jewelers' workshops.) Now, in today's New York Times, Dexter Filkins says that Zarqawi recently wrote a letter to al-Qaeda begging for help with the Iraq insurgency.
Filkins summarizes the Bush administration's prewar rap on Zarqawi, and its relationship to the truth:
In the period before the war, Bush administration officials argued that Mr. Zarqawi constituted the main link between Al Qaeda and Mr. Hussein's government. Last February at the United Nations, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said, "Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants."
...Since the war ended, little evidence has emerged to support the allegation of a prewar Qaeda connection in Iraq. Last month, Mr. Powell conceded that the American government had found "no smoking gun" linking Mr. Hussein's government with Al Qaeda.
If the document Filkins writes about is genuine, we now have Zarqawi begging al-Qaeda for help with the insurgency -- which implies that al-Qaeda isn't providing a whole lot of help with the insurgency now. If you're trying to make the case that Saddam = Osama and the Afghan and Iraq wars were part of one big war on terrorism, this isn't a very convincing Exhibit A. Nor is this:
"Many Iraqis would honor you as a guest and give you refuge, for you are a Muslim brother," according to the document. "However, they will not allow you to make their home a base for operations or a safe house."
In fact, all this even undermines the "flypaper theory" (you remember: the notion that war in Iraq was a neat idea because even if all the evildoers weren't in Iraq when we invaded, fighting the war there encouraged them all to show up later).
Alas, Iraq = al-Qaeda could well be the message an awful lot of people take from this story, even though it's utterly wrong.
Filkins summarizes the Bush administration's prewar rap on Zarqawi, and its relationship to the truth:
In the period before the war, Bush administration officials argued that Mr. Zarqawi constituted the main link between Al Qaeda and Mr. Hussein's government. Last February at the United Nations, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said, "Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants."
...Since the war ended, little evidence has emerged to support the allegation of a prewar Qaeda connection in Iraq. Last month, Mr. Powell conceded that the American government had found "no smoking gun" linking Mr. Hussein's government with Al Qaeda.
If the document Filkins writes about is genuine, we now have Zarqawi begging al-Qaeda for help with the insurgency -- which implies that al-Qaeda isn't providing a whole lot of help with the insurgency now. If you're trying to make the case that Saddam = Osama and the Afghan and Iraq wars were part of one big war on terrorism, this isn't a very convincing Exhibit A. Nor is this:
"Many Iraqis would honor you as a guest and give you refuge, for you are a Muslim brother," according to the document. "However, they will not allow you to make their home a base for operations or a safe house."
In fact, all this even undermines the "flypaper theory" (you remember: the notion that war in Iraq was a neat idea because even if all the evildoers weren't in Iraq when we invaded, fighting the war there encouraged them all to show up later).
Alas, Iraq = al-Qaeda could well be the message an awful lot of people take from this story, even though it's utterly wrong.
I hope you've read about the federal judge who's ordered Drake University to turn over information about meetings of antiwar protesters; if not, the story's here.
I'm amused that this story broke exactly one day after Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic wagged his finger on the op-ed page of The New York Times and told liberals opposed to Ashcroftism to mind their manners and be reasonable. Rosen said that reason and compromise could remove all the nasty excesses from the Patriot Act -- after all, he said, it had removed them from our system of scrutinizing airline passengers, hadn't it? Well, according to this story, it hasn't:
The airport counter: This is as far as Rebecca Gordon and Janet Adams say they are allowed to go at San Francisco International Airport. The last time they checked in for a flight to Boston to visit Gordon's 80-year-old father, an airline employee called the police.
"She came back and said you turned up on the FBI no-fly list. We have called the San Francisco police. We were shocked, really shocked,” recalled Adams.
"We were detained. We were definitely detained. I couldn't even get a drink of water," Gordon remembered.
So why would two women in their 50's, U.S. citizens, San Francisco homeowners and long-time peace activists with no criminal records be on a federal watch list with suspected terrorists? ...
The list is now alleged to include not only suspected terrorists and those believed to be a threat to aviation security but civil rights activists say it also targets people based on their political views. A list that is thought to include members of the Green Party, a Jesuit priest who is a peace activist and two civil rights attorneys.
In Gordon and Adams’ case, the ACLU believes the couple may have been targeted for their work on War Times, a free bilingual newspaper that has been critical of the war and the Bush administration's policies on terrorism.
It’s very scary that two people who pose no danger, who are publishing something, which last time I looked we were allowed to do, are being detained at the airport and having the police called and they won't tell us why," Adams said.
And as of today, Gordon and Adams still don't have any answers from the government but have a court hearing set for April 9th. This controversy isn't likely to go away anytime soon, since the government is planning on implementing a color code system this summer to track passengers and that list too is expected to be secret.
(Frist link courtesy of BuzzFlash; last link courtesy of INTL News.)
I'm amused that this story broke exactly one day after Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic wagged his finger on the op-ed page of The New York Times and told liberals opposed to Ashcroftism to mind their manners and be reasonable. Rosen said that reason and compromise could remove all the nasty excesses from the Patriot Act -- after all, he said, it had removed them from our system of scrutinizing airline passengers, hadn't it? Well, according to this story, it hasn't:
The airport counter: This is as far as Rebecca Gordon and Janet Adams say they are allowed to go at San Francisco International Airport. The last time they checked in for a flight to Boston to visit Gordon's 80-year-old father, an airline employee called the police.
"She came back and said you turned up on the FBI no-fly list. We have called the San Francisco police. We were shocked, really shocked,” recalled Adams.
"We were detained. We were definitely detained. I couldn't even get a drink of water," Gordon remembered.
So why would two women in their 50's, U.S. citizens, San Francisco homeowners and long-time peace activists with no criminal records be on a federal watch list with suspected terrorists? ...
The list is now alleged to include not only suspected terrorists and those believed to be a threat to aviation security but civil rights activists say it also targets people based on their political views. A list that is thought to include members of the Green Party, a Jesuit priest who is a peace activist and two civil rights attorneys.
In Gordon and Adams’ case, the ACLU believes the couple may have been targeted for their work on War Times, a free bilingual newspaper that has been critical of the war and the Bush administration's policies on terrorism.
It’s very scary that two people who pose no danger, who are publishing something, which last time I looked we were allowed to do, are being detained at the airport and having the police called and they won't tell us why," Adams said.
And as of today, Gordon and Adams still don't have any answers from the government but have a court hearing set for April 9th. This controversy isn't likely to go away anytime soon, since the government is planning on implementing a color code system this summer to track passengers and that list too is expected to be secret.
(Frist link courtesy of BuzzFlash; last link courtesy of INTL News.)
More on that proselytizing pilot, from AP:
Passenger Amanda Nelligan told WCBS-TV of New York that the pilot called non-Christians "crazy" and that his comments "felt like a threat." She said she and several others aboard were so worried they tried to call relatives on their cell phones before flight attendants assured them they were safe and that people on the ground had been notified about the pilot's comments.
You'd be torn, wouldn't you? You'd think: Am I merely being insulted by a self-righteous jerk who should just shut up and do his job, or am I about to be the victim of a mini-9/11 in Jesus' name?
Passenger Amanda Nelligan told WCBS-TV of New York that the pilot called non-Christians "crazy" and that his comments "felt like a threat." She said she and several others aboard were so worried they tried to call relatives on their cell phones before flight attendants assured them they were safe and that people on the ground had been notified about the pilot's comments.
You'd be torn, wouldn't you? You'd think: Am I merely being insulted by a self-righteous jerk who should just shut up and do his job, or am I about to be the victim of a mini-9/11 in Jesus' name?
Sunday, February 08, 2004
"Iraqization" -- er, no, it's not working:
Iraqi Police Major, Gunmen Attack GIs
TIKRIT, Iraq - Gunmen, including a major in the new Iraqi police force, attacked a group of American soldiers, sparking a gunbattle in which the officer was killed and two other attackers wounded, the U.S. military said Sunday.
The soldiers were observing a house belonging to a person suspected in rocket-propelled grenade attacks on American forces in the village of Qadisiyah, 30 miles south of Tikrit, when the gunmen opened fire Saturday evening, the military said in a statement.
The Americans fired back and threw a hand grenade at the attackers, killing one and wounding two. Two more gunmen were captured. The slain attacker was identified as an active Iraqi police major....
--AP
Iraqi Police Major, Gunmen Attack GIs
TIKRIT, Iraq - Gunmen, including a major in the new Iraqi police force, attacked a group of American soldiers, sparking a gunbattle in which the officer was killed and two other attackers wounded, the U.S. military said Sunday.
The soldiers were observing a house belonging to a person suspected in rocket-propelled grenade attacks on American forces in the village of Qadisiyah, 30 miles south of Tikrit, when the gunmen opened fire Saturday evening, the military said in a statement.
The Americans fired back and threw a hand grenade at the attackers, killing one and wounding two. Two more gunmen were captured. The slain attacker was identified as an active Iraqi police major....
--AP
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Fareed Zakaria may be a centrist (and, by his own admission, a friend of one of the authors), but he gets in a few good digs in his New York Times review of David Frum and Richard Perle's An End to Evil:
While terror mounted, Frum and Perle say, the Clinton administration did nothing. They remind us that in one case (an anti-Semitic attack in Argentina) ''it opened negotiations with the murderers.'' Now one can make the case that America's halfhearted responses have egged on Middle Eastern terrorists. But one should surely begin this story where the terrorists do themselves, with their huge attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983 and America's disastrous decision to pull out immediately. Nor do the authors mention the most important instance of the United States ''negotiating with murderers,'' which was, of course, the decision to trade arms for hostages in the mid-1980's. Both events took place during the Reagan administration, when Perle was in high office.
Moreover, the impression the authors give is that they and their confederates were outraged by Clinton's (weak-kneed) efforts against Al Qaeda. In fact neoconservatives were silent about Al Qaeda during the 1990's. One searches vainly through the archives of the Project for the New American Century, the main neoconservative advocacy group, for a single report on Al Qaeda or a letter urging action against it before 9/11. (There are dozens on the China threat, national missile defenses and Saddam Hussein's weapons.) Clinton may merely have lobbed missiles at terrorists, but the neoconservatives did not even launch a blast fax.
Ouch.
While terror mounted, Frum and Perle say, the Clinton administration did nothing. They remind us that in one case (an anti-Semitic attack in Argentina) ''it opened negotiations with the murderers.'' Now one can make the case that America's halfhearted responses have egged on Middle Eastern terrorists. But one should surely begin this story where the terrorists do themselves, with their huge attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983 and America's disastrous decision to pull out immediately. Nor do the authors mention the most important instance of the United States ''negotiating with murderers,'' which was, of course, the decision to trade arms for hostages in the mid-1980's. Both events took place during the Reagan administration, when Perle was in high office.
Moreover, the impression the authors give is that they and their confederates were outraged by Clinton's (weak-kneed) efforts against Al Qaeda. In fact neoconservatives were silent about Al Qaeda during the 1990's. One searches vainly through the archives of the Project for the New American Century, the main neoconservative advocacy group, for a single report on Al Qaeda or a letter urging action against it before 9/11. (There are dozens on the China threat, national missile defenses and Saddam Hussein's weapons.) Clinton may merely have lobbed missiles at terrorists, but the neoconservatives did not even launch a blast fax.
Ouch.
Is there something about pressurized jet-cabin air that turns some people into self-important, self-righteous jerks who can’t tolerate difference of opinion?
The second American in a month was arrested while entering Brazil for making an obscene gesture while being photographed by an immigration official, police said on Saturday.
Federal police in Foz do Iguacu on Brazil's border with Argentina and Paraguay said retired U.S. banker Douglas Allan Skolnick, 56, was jailed overnight for flipping his middle finger in a photo now required to be taken of all U.S. tourists entering Brazil.
Brazil began fingerprinting and photographing Americans entering the country in January after the U.S. government imposed a similar process on foreigners, except for those from 27 mostly European countries....
--Reuters
An American Airlines pilot flying passengers to New York asked Christians on board to identify themselves and suggested the non-Christians discuss the faith with them, a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based airline said today.
Flight 34 was headed from Los Angeles to John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday afternoon, said spokesman Tim Wagner. The pilot, whose identity was not released, had been making flight announcements and then asked that the Christians on board raise their hands, Wagner said.
The pilot told the airline that he then suggested the other passengers use the flight time to talk to the identified Christians about their faith, Wagner said.
The pilot later told passengers he would be available at the end of the flight to talk about his first announcement.
Wagner said the airline was investigating the incident, and that the company had guidelines about appropriate behavior. He said the pilot had just returned to work from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.
"It falls along the lines of a personal level of sharing that may not be appropriate for one of our employees to do while on the job," Wagner said.
--AP
The second American in a month was arrested while entering Brazil for making an obscene gesture while being photographed by an immigration official, police said on Saturday.
Federal police in Foz do Iguacu on Brazil's border with Argentina and Paraguay said retired U.S. banker Douglas Allan Skolnick, 56, was jailed overnight for flipping his middle finger in a photo now required to be taken of all U.S. tourists entering Brazil.
Brazil began fingerprinting and photographing Americans entering the country in January after the U.S. government imposed a similar process on foreigners, except for those from 27 mostly European countries....
--Reuters
An American Airlines pilot flying passengers to New York asked Christians on board to identify themselves and suggested the non-Christians discuss the faith with them, a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based airline said today.
Flight 34 was headed from Los Angeles to John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday afternoon, said spokesman Tim Wagner. The pilot, whose identity was not released, had been making flight announcements and then asked that the Christians on board raise their hands, Wagner said.
The pilot told the airline that he then suggested the other passengers use the flight time to talk to the identified Christians about their faith, Wagner said.
The pilot later told passengers he would be available at the end of the flight to talk about his first announcement.
Wagner said the airline was investigating the incident, and that the company had guidelines about appropriate behavior. He said the pilot had just returned to work from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.
"It falls along the lines of a personal level of sharing that may not be appropriate for one of our employees to do while on the job," Wagner said.
--AP
On ABC's news broadcast last night, there was deep skepticism about Bush's new commission:
PETER JENNINGS: ...President Bush signed an executive order today which many people believed as of yesterday was going to have as its prime mission an investigation of prewar U.S. intelligence in Iraq. The president used that intelligence to justify attacking Iraq, and much of it turns out to be flawed. Tonight, the official mission of this new commission is much less about Iraq than anticipated, and it is clearly the president's commission. Terry Moran is at the White House, and Terry, this afternoon -- late this afternoon, on a Friday -- you've had a chance to look at the finer print.
TERRY MORAN: Indeed, Peter, and under this executive order, which the president just signed, the main job of this commission is not to look at that flawed intelligence on Iraq, and there's nothing in this order directing the commission to investigate how the Bush administration used that intelligence to justify war. Instead, the president wants this commission to look at the much broader question of gathering intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, and only secondarily to look at what went wrong in Iraq....
Moran concluded by noting this interesting factoid about the commission's report, which is due next March:
...there’s nothing in this order that would require that report to be made public.
(Not available as text only; video available here.)
PETER JENNINGS: ...President Bush signed an executive order today which many people believed as of yesterday was going to have as its prime mission an investigation of prewar U.S. intelligence in Iraq. The president used that intelligence to justify attacking Iraq, and much of it turns out to be flawed. Tonight, the official mission of this new commission is much less about Iraq than anticipated, and it is clearly the president's commission. Terry Moran is at the White House, and Terry, this afternoon -- late this afternoon, on a Friday -- you've had a chance to look at the finer print.
TERRY MORAN: Indeed, Peter, and under this executive order, which the president just signed, the main job of this commission is not to look at that flawed intelligence on Iraq, and there's nothing in this order directing the commission to investigate how the Bush administration used that intelligence to justify war. Instead, the president wants this commission to look at the much broader question of gathering intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, and only secondarily to look at what went wrong in Iraq....
Moran concluded by noting this interesting factoid about the commission's report, which is due next March:
...there’s nothing in this order that would require that report to be made public.
(Not available as text only; video available here.)
Abdul al-Latif al-Mayah was never safe. Not before the war started, and not after.
A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Mayah, a 53-year-old political scientist and human rights advocate known in his neighborhood here as "the professor," was driving to work when eight masked gunmen jumped in front of his car. They yanked him into the street, the police said, and shot him nine times in front of his bodyguard and another university lecturer.
In an instant, he became one of hundreds of intellectuals and midlevel administrators who Iraqi officials say have been assassinated since May in a widening campaign against Iraq's professional class.
"They are going after our brains," said Lt. Col. Jabbar Abu Natiha, head of the organized crime unit of the Baghdad police. "It is a big operation. Maybe even a movement."...
--New York Times
Read the story. Abdul al-Latif al-Mayah wasn't just a human rights advocate after Saddam was overthrown -- he was a human rights advocate when Saddam was in power. Back then he survived.
A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Mayah, a 53-year-old political scientist and human rights advocate known in his neighborhood here as "the professor," was driving to work when eight masked gunmen jumped in front of his car. They yanked him into the street, the police said, and shot him nine times in front of his bodyguard and another university lecturer.
In an instant, he became one of hundreds of intellectuals and midlevel administrators who Iraqi officials say have been assassinated since May in a widening campaign against Iraq's professional class.
"They are going after our brains," said Lt. Col. Jabbar Abu Natiha, head of the organized crime unit of the Baghdad police. "It is a big operation. Maybe even a movement."...
--New York Times
Read the story. Abdul al-Latif al-Mayah wasn't just a human rights advocate after Saddam was overthrown -- he was a human rights advocate when Saddam was in power. Back then he survived.
Fred Phelps presses on, and idiots who just can't seem to grasp how church-state separation has to work on public land are making it possible:
...The Rev. Fred Phelps, from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., has chosen Boise and roughly 10 cities around the country to be locations for an anti-gay monument because those cities all have Ten Commandments monuments on city property.
He believes that, based on a federal court ruling, those cities have to allow his religious monument on city property because there is already another religious monument, his lawyer said.
Boise City Councilman Alan Shealy proposed returning the Ten Commandments monument to the group that gave it to the city in 1965, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, rather than get into a court fight with Phelps over what Shealy called a "repugnant" message....
...but a local Christian group led by the Rev. Bryan Fischer of the Community Church of the Valley is fighting the move, taking the issue to federal court....
Reverend Fischer thinks the you can permit "good" religious speech on public land and keep out "bad" religious speech. That's not how it works.
For those of you who don't know who Fred Phelps is, well, he's a real sweetheart:
Phelps has sent letters to several cities around the country seeking to put up a monument on city property with a picture of a gay Wyoming college student who was killed in a gay-bias attack, with the words, "Matthew Shepard. Entered Hell October 12, 1998. In Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22."
Because of the Biblical quotation the monument is considered religious, and should be allowed to stand in public parks where there are already religious monuments, said Phelps' daughter and lawyer, Shirley Phelps-Roper.
"That's basically the linchpin to it all, that they put up some religious monument in their public spaces, so they can't refuse ours," Phelps-Roper said....
Is this coming to your town?
She said she could not recall all the cities the group has sent letters to, but among them are Nampa, Idaho; Cheyenne and Casper, Wyo.; Greeneville, Tenn.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Lebanon, Pa. ...
--ABC
...The Rev. Fred Phelps, from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., has chosen Boise and roughly 10 cities around the country to be locations for an anti-gay monument because those cities all have Ten Commandments monuments on city property.
He believes that, based on a federal court ruling, those cities have to allow his religious monument on city property because there is already another religious monument, his lawyer said.
Boise City Councilman Alan Shealy proposed returning the Ten Commandments monument to the group that gave it to the city in 1965, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, rather than get into a court fight with Phelps over what Shealy called a "repugnant" message....
...but a local Christian group led by the Rev. Bryan Fischer of the Community Church of the Valley is fighting the move, taking the issue to federal court....
Reverend Fischer thinks the you can permit "good" religious speech on public land and keep out "bad" religious speech. That's not how it works.
For those of you who don't know who Fred Phelps is, well, he's a real sweetheart:
Phelps has sent letters to several cities around the country seeking to put up a monument on city property with a picture of a gay Wyoming college student who was killed in a gay-bias attack, with the words, "Matthew Shepard. Entered Hell October 12, 1998. In Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22."
Because of the Biblical quotation the monument is considered religious, and should be allowed to stand in public parks where there are already religious monuments, said Phelps' daughter and lawyer, Shirley Phelps-Roper.
"That's basically the linchpin to it all, that they put up some religious monument in their public spaces, so they can't refuse ours," Phelps-Roper said....
Is this coming to your town?
She said she could not recall all the cities the group has sent letters to, but among them are Nampa, Idaho; Cheyenne and Casper, Wyo.; Greeneville, Tenn.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Lebanon, Pa. ...
--ABC
Friday, February 06, 2004
SILBERMAN
President Bush named seven people Friday to sit on an independent study commission to look into intelligence failures on Iraqi weapons, choosing former Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb and retired judge Laurence Silberman, a Republican, to head the panel....
--Associated Press
BUZZFLASH: ... You also seemed quite involved with the Silbermans. It was still astonishing to see the extent that a sitting federal judge was interacting with the efforts to attack Clinton -- Judge Lawrence Silberman and his wife that is. Silberman gave you advice on proceeding with articles that attacked Anita Hill and the President.
DAVID BROCK: Judge Lawrence Silberman, who sits on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, was an appointee of President Reagan to that court. His wife Ricky was the vice-chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the period that Clarence Thomas was the chairman on the Commission. I met them originally as sources for my first book on the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. They went beyond the role of source.
BUZZFLASH: And he was a sitting judge at the time?
DAVID BROCK: Yes he was a sitting judge. For example, they reviewed in draft the galleys of that book. And so it certainly went beyond a reporter-source relationship. And coming out of that, Judge Silberman became a mentor to me and was someone who I relied on, as well as Ricky, for political advice while I was at the American Spectator pursuing a lot of the anti-Clinton stories. When Ricky Silberman left the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she founded, or was one of the co-founders, of the Independent Women's Forum -- it was actually her idea. And it was actually Ricky Silberman's idea to approach Ken Starr to file that friend-of-the-court brief in the Paula Jones case. And Ricky knew the Jones case was simply payback for the Anita Hill affair. She thought, wouldn't it be delicious that Clinton would now be accused of sexual improprieties in the same way that Clarence Thomas had been? Judge Silberman played an absolutely key role at a critical juncture....
--BuzzFlash interview posted 5/29/02
President Bush named seven people Friday to sit on an independent study commission to look into intelligence failures on Iraqi weapons, choosing former Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb and retired judge Laurence Silberman, a Republican, to head the panel....
--Associated Press
BUZZFLASH: ... You also seemed quite involved with the Silbermans. It was still astonishing to see the extent that a sitting federal judge was interacting with the efforts to attack Clinton -- Judge Lawrence Silberman and his wife that is. Silberman gave you advice on proceeding with articles that attacked Anita Hill and the President.
DAVID BROCK: Judge Lawrence Silberman, who sits on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, was an appointee of President Reagan to that court. His wife Ricky was the vice-chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the period that Clarence Thomas was the chairman on the Commission. I met them originally as sources for my first book on the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. They went beyond the role of source.
BUZZFLASH: And he was a sitting judge at the time?
DAVID BROCK: Yes he was a sitting judge. For example, they reviewed in draft the galleys of that book. And so it certainly went beyond a reporter-source relationship. And coming out of that, Judge Silberman became a mentor to me and was someone who I relied on, as well as Ricky, for political advice while I was at the American Spectator pursuing a lot of the anti-Clinton stories. When Ricky Silberman left the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she founded, or was one of the co-founders, of the Independent Women's Forum -- it was actually her idea. And it was actually Ricky Silberman's idea to approach Ken Starr to file that friend-of-the-court brief in the Paula Jones case. And Ricky knew the Jones case was simply payback for the Anita Hill affair. She thought, wouldn't it be delicious that Clinton would now be accused of sexual improprieties in the same way that Clarence Thomas had been? Judge Silberman played an absolutely key role at a critical juncture....
--BuzzFlash interview posted 5/29/02
George W. Bush -- still confusing the armed services and prop services:
..."Knowing what I knew then, and knowing what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq," Bush told a handpicked crowd of applauding supporters on a Charleston Harbor dock....
The morning was raw, with wind whipping his hair, script and overcoat. Moments before the speech, the White House staff had to get the Coast Guard to reposition a cutter anchored behind him because it had drifted out of position and was no longer providing a perfect backdrop....
--Washington Post
(Thanks to salto mortale for the link.)
..."Knowing what I knew then, and knowing what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq," Bush told a handpicked crowd of applauding supporters on a Charleston Harbor dock....
The morning was raw, with wind whipping his hair, script and overcoat. Moments before the speech, the White House staff had to get the Coast Guard to reposition a cutter anchored behind him because it had drifted out of position and was no longer providing a perfect backdrop....
--Washington Post
(Thanks to salto mortale for the link.)
Paul Krugman writes today:
Do you remember when the C.I.A. was reviled by hawks because its analysts were reluctant to present a sufficiently alarming picture of the Iraqi threat? Your memories are no longer operative. On or about last Saturday, history was revised: see, it's the C.I.A.'s fault that the threat was overstated. Given its warnings, the administration had no choice but to invade.
A tip from Joshua Marshall, of www.talkingpointsmemo.com, led me to a stark reminder of how different the story line used to be. Last year Laurie Mylroie published a book titled "Bush vs. the Beltway: How the C.I.A. and the State Department Tried to Stop the War on Terror." Ms. Mylroie's book came with an encomium from Richard Perle; she's known to be close to Paul Wolfowitz and to Dick Cheney's chief of staff. According to the jacket copy, "Mylroie describes how the C.I.A. and the State Department have systematically discredited critical intelligence about Saddam's regime, including indisputable evidence of its possession of weapons of mass destruction."
He's right -- and there's a bit more in An End to Evil, the book Perle recently wrote with David Frum. An excerpt:
The CIA's analysts could not emancipate themselves from the ideologically liberal assumptions they brought with them from their elite colleges [during the cold war]....
The CIA's reports on the Middle East today are colored by similar ideological biases -- exacerbated by poor understanding of the region's culture and a politically correct disinclination to acknowledge unflattering facts about non-Western peoples.
No, I'm not making that up.
Do you remember when the C.I.A. was reviled by hawks because its analysts were reluctant to present a sufficiently alarming picture of the Iraqi threat? Your memories are no longer operative. On or about last Saturday, history was revised: see, it's the C.I.A.'s fault that the threat was overstated. Given its warnings, the administration had no choice but to invade.
A tip from Joshua Marshall, of www.talkingpointsmemo.com, led me to a stark reminder of how different the story line used to be. Last year Laurie Mylroie published a book titled "Bush vs. the Beltway: How the C.I.A. and the State Department Tried to Stop the War on Terror." Ms. Mylroie's book came with an encomium from Richard Perle; she's known to be close to Paul Wolfowitz and to Dick Cheney's chief of staff. According to the jacket copy, "Mylroie describes how the C.I.A. and the State Department have systematically discredited critical intelligence about Saddam's regime, including indisputable evidence of its possession of weapons of mass destruction."
He's right -- and there's a bit more in An End to Evil, the book Perle recently wrote with David Frum. An excerpt:
The CIA's analysts could not emancipate themselves from the ideologically liberal assumptions they brought with them from their elite colleges [during the cold war]....
The CIA's reports on the Middle East today are colored by similar ideological biases -- exacerbated by poor understanding of the region's culture and a politically correct disinclination to acknowledge unflattering facts about non-Western peoples.
No, I'm not making that up.
I'm picking up the distinct odor of rat: I just came across an apparently pro-Democrat but anti-Kerry Web page, called "Anybody but This Guy." It seems to be brand new -- its only entry is dated 2-5-04 -- yet it has somehow sidestepped the difficulties most of us have had getting attention for our political Web pages and instantly earned links from both Lucianne Goldberg (see "Some Blogtruth About Kerry") and Mickey Kaus (see "ABK404").
I smell a rat because, despite the site's "Who are we? People who want to see that Bush serves only one term" and its links to the sites of Dean, Clark, and Edwards, it's a one-stop link source for most of the GOP's anti-Kerry bullet points -- and it has this:
How many hit pieces on Kerry are we going to see featuring Ted Kennedy and Michael Dukakis? You'll be seeing this picture soon.
Er, yeah -- we've seen that picture, or pictures like it. It's a picture of Kerry with Kennedy. So?
Only Republicans think Ted Kennedy is a liability for the Democrats. Real Democrats know that only hardcore, yellow-dog Republicans hate him -- nobody else does. I think this fake-lo-fi site is a pathetic attempt at political dirty trickery.
I smell a rat because, despite the site's "Who are we? People who want to see that Bush serves only one term" and its links to the sites of Dean, Clark, and Edwards, it's a one-stop link source for most of the GOP's anti-Kerry bullet points -- and it has this:
How many hit pieces on Kerry are we going to see featuring Ted Kennedy and Michael Dukakis? You'll be seeing this picture soon.
Er, yeah -- we've seen that picture, or pictures like it. It's a picture of Kerry with Kennedy. So?
Only Republicans think Ted Kennedy is a liability for the Democrats. Real Democrats know that only hardcore, yellow-dog Republicans hate him -- nobody else does. I think this fake-lo-fi site is a pathetic attempt at political dirty trickery.
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has an anti-gay-marriage editorial in today's Wall Street Journal. The title of the editorial is "One Man, One Woman." Romney writes,
...marriage is not "an evolving paradigm." It is deeply rooted in the history, culture and tradition of civil society. It predates our Constitution and our nation by millennia. The institution of marriage was not created by government and it should not be redefined by government.
I've said this before, but let me remind you again that Romney's own great-grandfather would beg to differ. Romney's father was former Michigan governor Gene Romney, whose grandfather, as The Washington Post has noted, "emigrated to Mexico in 1886 with his three wives and children after Congress outlawed polygamy."
...marriage is not "an evolving paradigm." It is deeply rooted in the history, culture and tradition of civil society. It predates our Constitution and our nation by millennia. The institution of marriage was not created by government and it should not be redefined by government.
I've said this before, but let me remind you again that Romney's own great-grandfather would beg to differ. Romney's father was former Michigan governor Gene Romney, whose grandfather, as The Washington Post has noted, "emigrated to Mexico in 1886 with his three wives and children after Congress outlawed polygamy."
NO MILLIONAIRE LEFT BEHIND
Floyd Norris's column in today's New York Times points out a little-noticed provision in the new Bush budget:
... a proposal to reduce the maximum capital gains tax on gold coins from 28 percent to 25 percent.
These guys never run out of ways to make the wealthy wealthier, do they?
Floyd Norris's column in today's New York Times points out a little-noticed provision in the new Bush budget:
... a proposal to reduce the maximum capital gains tax on gold coins from 28 percent to 25 percent.
These guys never run out of ways to make the wealthy wealthier, do they?
Thursday, February 05, 2004
...which candidate do you think Al-Qaeda might root for in this election, John Kerry (should he be the Democratic nominee), or George W. Bush? ... do you think Al-Qaeda kind of enjoys John Kerry saying let's take our defense and give it to the UN and the French and the Germans?
--Rush Limbaugh, from his 4/4/04 radio show
...who do you think Al Qaeda wants to win the election? ... Who would Iran want to deal with when it comes to its nuclear program – Cowboy Bush or “Send in the bribed French inspectors” Kerry?
--right-wing columnist/"humorist" James Lileks, from his 4/5/04 blog entry
I'm sure this is an astonishing coincidence and not, y'know, part of an elaborate process of test-marketing GOP talking points or anything like that.
--Rush Limbaugh, from his 4/4/04 radio show
...who do you think Al Qaeda wants to win the election? ... Who would Iran want to deal with when it comes to its nuclear program – Cowboy Bush or “Send in the bribed French inspectors” Kerry?
--right-wing columnist/"humorist" James Lileks, from his 4/5/04 blog entry
I'm sure this is an astonishing coincidence and not, y'know, part of an elaborate process of test-marketing GOP talking points or anything like that.
No boycotts or protests outside movies are planned for the Feb. 25 release of Mel Gibson's hotly anticipated "The Passion of the Christ."
However, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee will sponsor lectures, interfaith talks and other programs....
--The Washington Times
No ... please ... not the interfaith talks! Oh, those jackbooted non-Christian liberal thugs!
However, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee will sponsor lectures, interfaith talks and other programs....
--The Washington Times
No ... please ... not the interfaith talks! Oh, those jackbooted non-Christian liberal thugs!
Those Iraqi evildoers talk tough...
A coalition of insurgent groups has vowed to take over cities vacated by U.S. troops, and warned of "harsh consequences" for Iraqis who resist....
"America is getting ready to withdraw its forces from our country with its tail between its legs ... pressured by rockets and explosive devices," the statement said....
Despite the threats, U.S. officials have expressed confidence Iraqi police will be able to handle the security situation....
The U.S. Army has said it will gradually reduce its presence in Iraqi cities and hand over control to Iraqi security forces. The Army has so far given a detailed withdrawal plan only for the capital, Baghdad, which it envisages to be virtually free of U.S. troops by May....
But our well-trained Iraqi replacements will kick their butts! Right?
Er ... right?
The men of Bravo Company hold an important distinction: They are the first members of the Iraqi civil defense forces to be sent out on their own in Baghdad. But the first three weeks of that experiment have left them exasperated.
At the start of this week, despite what they said were repeated requests to the U.S. battalion that is supposed to support them, they were working without radios, bulletproof vests, gasoline, furniture or a functioning vehicle.
"We go on our patrols every day," Capt. Haider Salah, the unit's commander, said Tuesday. "But we go without radios or vests. . . . Even the pens and paper are from home."
U.S. officials frequently hail the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a paramilitary force akin to a national guard, as the cornerstone of U.S. plans to transfer security tasks to Iraqis. Sending Bravo Company, part of the 36th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, to live and work without any U.S. soldiers by their side was to be a major test of the plan to train and deploy 40,000 such troops across the country by May. And Bravo's experience is a testament to the challenges ahead....
OK, OK -- never mind.
A coalition of insurgent groups has vowed to take over cities vacated by U.S. troops, and warned of "harsh consequences" for Iraqis who resist....
"America is getting ready to withdraw its forces from our country with its tail between its legs ... pressured by rockets and explosive devices," the statement said....
Despite the threats, U.S. officials have expressed confidence Iraqi police will be able to handle the security situation....
The U.S. Army has said it will gradually reduce its presence in Iraqi cities and hand over control to Iraqi security forces. The Army has so far given a detailed withdrawal plan only for the capital, Baghdad, which it envisages to be virtually free of U.S. troops by May....
But our well-trained Iraqi replacements will kick their butts! Right?
Er ... right?
The men of Bravo Company hold an important distinction: They are the first members of the Iraqi civil defense forces to be sent out on their own in Baghdad. But the first three weeks of that experiment have left them exasperated.
At the start of this week, despite what they said were repeated requests to the U.S. battalion that is supposed to support them, they were working without radios, bulletproof vests, gasoline, furniture or a functioning vehicle.
"We go on our patrols every day," Capt. Haider Salah, the unit's commander, said Tuesday. "But we go without radios or vests. . . . Even the pens and paper are from home."
U.S. officials frequently hail the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a paramilitary force akin to a national guard, as the cornerstone of U.S. plans to transfer security tasks to Iraqis. Sending Bravo Company, part of the 36th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, to live and work without any U.S. soldiers by their side was to be a major test of the plan to train and deploy 40,000 such troops across the country by May. And Bravo's experience is a testament to the challenges ahead....
OK, OK -- never mind.
Could gay marriage in Massachusetts hurt a John Kerry candidacy? Yeah, I suppose -- but I don't think harm is inevitable.
Gay people will legally be allowed to marry in Massachusetts starting May 17. For a few days, the press will prowl the Bay State, desperate for the perfect, unrepresentative photo of sodomite matrimonial makeup excess.
And then it'll be over, and we'll all move on to the next celebrity felony or orange alert.
Don't believe me? Notice the complete evaporation of the "Saddam bounce" in Bush's approval ratings in the latest Gallup poll. We have no memory for news in this country. (Turkey? Did Bush serve turkey somewhere on Thanksgiving?)
Oh, sure -- the Bushies will try to make the campaign all gay marriage, all the time, especially in the South and Midwest. But all Kerry has to do is hone a response -- and he's had months to prepare. The Bushies will be refighting the family's last war against a "Massachusetts liberal," and they'll expect Kerry to be as passive as Dukakis. And it's almost biochemically impossible for any other human being to be as passive as Dukakis was.
Gay people will legally be allowed to marry in Massachusetts starting May 17. For a few days, the press will prowl the Bay State, desperate for the perfect, unrepresentative photo of sodomite matrimonial makeup excess.
And then it'll be over, and we'll all move on to the next celebrity felony or orange alert.
Don't believe me? Notice the complete evaporation of the "Saddam bounce" in Bush's approval ratings in the latest Gallup poll. We have no memory for news in this country. (Turkey? Did Bush serve turkey somewhere on Thanksgiving?)
Oh, sure -- the Bushies will try to make the campaign all gay marriage, all the time, especially in the South and Midwest. But all Kerry has to do is hone a response -- and he's had months to prepare. The Bushies will be refighting the family's last war against a "Massachusetts liberal," and they'll expect Kerry to be as passive as Dukakis. And it's almost biochemically impossible for any other human being to be as passive as Dukakis was.
"Was the situation in Iraq worth going to war over, or not?"
In the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, the percentage saying yes has dropped a new low -- 49% (Yes-no is now a 49%-49% tie.)
And 53% of poll respondents disapprove of Bush's handling of the war -- a new high.
(But ... but ... what about the "Saddam bounce"?)
Full report here (including some lovely graphs showing the decline in support).
In the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, the percentage saying yes has dropped a new low -- 49% (Yes-no is now a 49%-49% tie.)
And 53% of poll respondents disapprove of Bush's handling of the war -- a new high.
(But ... but ... what about the "Saddam bounce"?)
Full report here (including some lovely graphs showing the decline in support).
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
The New York Times article about today's opening of the fancy-schmancy new Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle mentions Cindy Crawford swanning past a tray of risotto and mushroom tarts, but not the leafletters outside protesting CNN union-busting.
For more information, read these letters from the unions involved, NABET and CWA (1, 2; warning: PDFs). Also see this December article from Broadcast Engineering:
CNN, a business unit of Time Warner, has terminated its agreement with a unionized contractor that provides more than 220 technicians and camera crews for its Washington and New York bureaus. CNN said it wants to bring the jobs in-house with nonunion workers.
The technicians, who are represented by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET), have been invited to apply for nonunion jobs at CNN. Some already have been hired....
Your liberal media in action.
(Thanks to Blah3 for the last link.)
For more information, read these letters from the unions involved, NABET and CWA (1, 2; warning: PDFs). Also see this December article from Broadcast Engineering:
CNN, a business unit of Time Warner, has terminated its agreement with a unionized contractor that provides more than 220 technicians and camera crews for its Washington and New York bureaus. CNN said it wants to bring the jobs in-house with nonunion workers.
The technicians, who are represented by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET), have been invited to apply for nonunion jobs at CNN. Some already have been hired....
Your liberal media in action.
(Thanks to Blah3 for the last link.)
I wondered why, a few months ago, we were suddenly seeing a barrage of well-produced public-service announcements promoting 1-800-MEDICARE as an information source. Now I know:
Just two days after the White House proposed serious budget cuts and the President said he's "calling upon Congress to be wise with the taxpayer's money," ... the White House will use $9.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services – money that is supposed to be used to implement the law and could go to restore some of the cuts to social services for the poor – on political commercials that "rebut criticism of the new Medicare law." ...
The new Medicare ads urge citizens to call 1-800-MEDICARE to hear more about the new law....
So the Bushies were setting us up to regard this phone number as a benign source of friendly information, and now they've turned it (at least in part) into a tax-funded political propaganda unit.
(Though it's hard to imagine that it'll be a particularly successful one, if, as the link reports, you have to shout "Medicare improvement" into the phone in order to hear the propaganda. Hey, schmucks, if you want to use Orwellian doublespeak, use it yourselves -- but don't think you're going to make it sink in by forcing us proles to use it.)
Just two days after the White House proposed serious budget cuts and the President said he's "calling upon Congress to be wise with the taxpayer's money," ... the White House will use $9.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services – money that is supposed to be used to implement the law and could go to restore some of the cuts to social services for the poor – on political commercials that "rebut criticism of the new Medicare law." ...
The new Medicare ads urge citizens to call 1-800-MEDICARE to hear more about the new law....
So the Bushies were setting us up to regard this phone number as a benign source of friendly information, and now they've turned it (at least in part) into a tax-funded political propaganda unit.
(Though it's hard to imagine that it'll be a particularly successful one, if, as the link reports, you have to shout "Medicare improvement" into the phone in order to hear the propaganda. Hey, schmucks, if you want to use Orwellian doublespeak, use it yourselves -- but don't think you're going to make it sink in by forcing us proles to use it.)
Google News hits for "jackson apologizes": 68.
Google News hits for "timberlake apologizes": 0.
You really don't have to be Katha Pollitt to suspect that we have a rather sexist double standard about Areolagate.
Google News hits for "timberlake apologizes": 0.
You really don't have to be Katha Pollitt to suspect that we have a rather sexist double standard about Areolagate.
I think a lot of us assume that we're going to have a Kerry-Edwards ticket in the fall -- but it was pointed out last night, by some pundit or other, that John Edwards has said he doesn't want to be vice president. Here's the quote, from the Today show a week ago: "No, no. Final. I don't want to be vice president. I'm running for president." And, for all we know, Kerry might not want to pick Edwards.
If Kerry and Edwards don't pair up, I think Kerry's might try to gobsmack the two noncombatants on the other ticket by pairing himself with a fellow veteran -- Max Cleland.
We know Cleland has campaigned for Kerry. And we know that a campaign that's willing to revisit the Bush AWOL issue is willing to bring up other issues the press considers old news -- such as the disgraceful Republican campaign ads that compared Cleland to Saddam and bin Laden. With Cleland on the ticket, those ads would go nationwide -- the ads would run on the nightly news, juxtaposed with footage of Cleland in his wheelchair, and the whole country would get a glimpse of the GOP in all its sleazy glory.
Two Nam vets? I know the rules say that running mates are supposed to "balance" each other -- but Clinton threw the rulebook out in '92, picking a fellow young Southerner as his #2, and it worked. That said the Democrats were ready to battle for the South. This would say the Democrats are really ready to take on the flight suit.
If Kerry and Edwards don't pair up, I think Kerry's might try to gobsmack the two noncombatants on the other ticket by pairing himself with a fellow veteran -- Max Cleland.
We know Cleland has campaigned for Kerry. And we know that a campaign that's willing to revisit the Bush AWOL issue is willing to bring up other issues the press considers old news -- such as the disgraceful Republican campaign ads that compared Cleland to Saddam and bin Laden. With Cleland on the ticket, those ads would go nationwide -- the ads would run on the nightly news, juxtaposed with footage of Cleland in his wheelchair, and the whole country would get a glimpse of the GOP in all its sleazy glory.
Two Nam vets? I know the rules say that running mates are supposed to "balance" each other -- but Clinton threw the rulebook out in '92, picking a fellow young Southerner as his #2, and it worked. That said the Democrats were ready to battle for the South. This would say the Democrats are really ready to take on the flight suit.
Parodying Massachusetts is a way to keep old resentments alive without getting into any of the inconvenient details. It also allows a pro-business, Yale-educated president with an MBA from Harvard to cast himself as anti-elitist by implying (as his Yale-educated father did in 1988 with that line about the "Harvard boutique") that Massachusetts people are a bunch of snobs. The people selling this stuff should know that in my hometown, folks get punched out for being snobs....
Massachusetts voted for McGovern over Richard Nixon -- not so much because of the Harvard boutique but because the old factory towns such as the one where I grew up remained loyal to the party of Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. In any case, why, in light of history, is voting against Nixon so dishonorable? ...
That's from "The Truth About Massachusetts," a good column by The Washington Post's E. J. Dionne (a native of Fall River, Mass.). I grew up in Boston and I'm very pleased to see that this GOP crap is getting more and more Bay Staters' backs up.
Massachusetts voted for McGovern over Richard Nixon -- not so much because of the Harvard boutique but because the old factory towns such as the one where I grew up remained loyal to the party of Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. In any case, why, in light of history, is voting against Nixon so dishonorable? ...
That's from "The Truth About Massachusetts," a good column by The Washington Post's E. J. Dionne (a native of Fall River, Mass.). I grew up in Boston and I'm very pleased to see that this GOP crap is getting more and more Bay Staters' backs up.
Here's a thought: Howard Dean's campaign is struggling now -- but he's a hell of a speaker. Assuming he doesn't make an amazing comeback in this race, why not offer him a show on Progress Media, the in-development liberal talk-radio network? I think Dean's got just the right touch for radio -- he's pointed, funny, and (yeah, at times) pugnacious, but the sound of his voice goes down easy. And he could probably do the show out of Burlington -- Judy wouldn't have to give up her patients. Hey, why not?
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
OK -- is this story going to be part of the administration's Saddam = al-Qaeda = ricin terrorism case? (Or, at least, part of an attempt to blur the distinctions in people's minds?)
A 7-pound block of cyanide salt was discovered by U.S. troops in Baghdad at the end of January, officials confirmed to Fox News.
The potentially lethal compound was located in what was believed to be the safe house of Abu Musab Zarqawi, a poisons specialist described by some U.S. intelligence officials as having been a key link between deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda terror network.
...Zarqawi, believed to have been operating in Iraq before March's invasion, was still being sought by coalition forces. It was not clear if anyone had been apprehended in connection with last month's find....
U.S. officials, who said they were getting new intelligence in the hunt for Zarqawi, also believe he had been attempting to produce large quantities of the toxin ricin in northern Iraq.
--Fox News (emphasis mine)
First, cyanide salts: I don't know much about 'em, but I guess they're used in electroplating, so you might want to tell the FBI if you have any neighbors who are jewelers.
Now, as for Zarqawi: You might have heard of him because he's an alleged al-Qaeda operative who once got medical treatment in Baghdad; as a result, right-wingers see him as a human smoking gun, a Saddam-Osama link. But a lot of other people think (a) he may not have had strong al-Qaeda ties and (b) his presence in Iraq, even in Baghdad, may not be a sign of a Saddam endorsement -- possibly it's a sign of Iraq's instability just before the war. (Zarqawi was captured near Baghdad last April, yet the capture somehow hasn't managed to generate proof of any of the Bushies' more melodramatic theories.)
And meanwhile, the Senate ricin mailer might just be an American trucking company owner, so go figure.
A 7-pound block of cyanide salt was discovered by U.S. troops in Baghdad at the end of January, officials confirmed to Fox News.
The potentially lethal compound was located in what was believed to be the safe house of Abu Musab Zarqawi, a poisons specialist described by some U.S. intelligence officials as having been a key link between deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda terror network.
...Zarqawi, believed to have been operating in Iraq before March's invasion, was still being sought by coalition forces. It was not clear if anyone had been apprehended in connection with last month's find....
U.S. officials, who said they were getting new intelligence in the hunt for Zarqawi, also believe he had been attempting to produce large quantities of the toxin ricin in northern Iraq.
--Fox News (emphasis mine)
First, cyanide salts: I don't know much about 'em, but I guess they're used in electroplating, so you might want to tell the FBI if you have any neighbors who are jewelers.
Now, as for Zarqawi: You might have heard of him because he's an alleged al-Qaeda operative who once got medical treatment in Baghdad; as a result, right-wingers see him as a human smoking gun, a Saddam-Osama link. But a lot of other people think (a) he may not have had strong al-Qaeda ties and (b) his presence in Iraq, even in Baghdad, may not be a sign of a Saddam endorsement -- possibly it's a sign of Iraq's instability just before the war. (Zarqawi was captured near Baghdad last April, yet the capture somehow hasn't managed to generate proof of any of the Bushies' more melodramatic theories.)
And meanwhile, the Senate ricin mailer might just be an American trucking company owner, so go figure.
I guess they really just can't stop, can they?
HILLARY'S VEEPSTAKES
by DICK MORRIS
The demise of Howard Dean's candidacy opens the door to a Kerry/Clinton ticket in 2004....
Here's Step 1 for you, Dick: "I admit I am powerless over my Hillary obsession -- that my life has become unmanageable...."
HILLARY'S VEEPSTAKES
by DICK MORRIS
The demise of Howard Dean's candidacy opens the door to a Kerry/Clinton ticket in 2004....
Here's Step 1 for you, Dick: "I admit I am powerless over my Hillary obsession -- that my life has become unmanageable...."
Saddam did try to kill an ex-president of the United States ... right? In The Nation (subscribers only), Scott Sherman says, er, maybe not:
A few weeks ago, Slate asked a number of "liberal hawks"--among them George Packer, Kenneth Pollack, Thomas Friedman, Paul Berman and Fareed Zakaria --to reflect on their support for the Iraq war. For several days, Slate readers witnessed a steady stream of linguistic acrobatics, graceful, guilt-ridden prose and, in some cases, genuine contrition. But if contributors like Pollack and Slate editor Jacob Weisberg expressed deep misgivings about their initial support for military intervention, they accepted Administration claims that, in Weisberg's words, "Saddam tried to assassinate former President Bush." Weisberg and Pollack echoed what Bush himself said of Saddam in 2002: "This is a guy that tried to kill my dad." Is Saddam guilty as charged? Backtrack to spring 1993, when the Clinton Administration announced that Iraqi intelligence had attempted to assassinate George Bush Sr. with a car bomb during a ceremonial visit to Kuwait. In retaliation Clinton ordered a missile attack on Baghdad, which killed eight civilians. Our knowledge of the plot against Bush might have ended there if not for the efforts of Seymour Hersh, who revisited the episode in a lengthy piece for The New Yorker in November 1993. After numerous interviews with high-ranking US and Kuwaiti officials, along with electrical engineers and bomb experts, Hersh concluded that the key suspects in the plot were beaten (and possibly tortured) by Kuwaiti authorities, and that "there is no evidence that any of the alleged assassins took any overt steps to deploy any bombs." In February 2003, in a little-noticed article, the Baltimore Sun disclosed that "the former FBI chemist who tested the explosive recovered in Kuwait says he told superiors it did not match known Iraqi explosives"--a fact that does much to bolster Hersh's reporting. Do Weisberg and Pollack know something Hersh doesn't? One can only speculate, since they didn't return phone calls.
A few weeks ago, Slate asked a number of "liberal hawks"--among them George Packer, Kenneth Pollack, Thomas Friedman, Paul Berman and Fareed Zakaria --to reflect on their support for the Iraq war. For several days, Slate readers witnessed a steady stream of linguistic acrobatics, graceful, guilt-ridden prose and, in some cases, genuine contrition. But if contributors like Pollack and Slate editor Jacob Weisberg expressed deep misgivings about their initial support for military intervention, they accepted Administration claims that, in Weisberg's words, "Saddam tried to assassinate former President Bush." Weisberg and Pollack echoed what Bush himself said of Saddam in 2002: "This is a guy that tried to kill my dad." Is Saddam guilty as charged? Backtrack to spring 1993, when the Clinton Administration announced that Iraqi intelligence had attempted to assassinate George Bush Sr. with a car bomb during a ceremonial visit to Kuwait. In retaliation Clinton ordered a missile attack on Baghdad, which killed eight civilians. Our knowledge of the plot against Bush might have ended there if not for the efforts of Seymour Hersh, who revisited the episode in a lengthy piece for The New Yorker in November 1993. After numerous interviews with high-ranking US and Kuwaiti officials, along with electrical engineers and bomb experts, Hersh concluded that the key suspects in the plot were beaten (and possibly tortured) by Kuwaiti authorities, and that "there is no evidence that any of the alleged assassins took any overt steps to deploy any bombs." In February 2003, in a little-noticed article, the Baltimore Sun disclosed that "the former FBI chemist who tested the explosive recovered in Kuwait says he told superiors it did not match known Iraqi explosives"--a fact that does much to bolster Hersh's reporting. Do Weisberg and Pollack know something Hersh doesn't? One can only speculate, since they didn't return phone calls.
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