Have you met Kevin Kellems?

From the Center for American Progress:

MEET KEVIN KELLEMS – EXPERT ADVISER ON LYING ABOUT IRAQ: Cheney's top spokesperson, Kevin Kellems, tried to spin the Commission's rebuke into a statement that supported Cheney's position. He said, "We are pleased with today's statement from the 9-11 commission which puts to rest a non-story." Kellems, of course, has been a key player in perpetuating myths about Iraq: not only has he served as Cheney's top spokesman in misleading the public about Iraq's WMD, al Qaeda ties, and Halliburton contracts, he also served as top press adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in the run up to the invasion, when Wolfowitz was parroting many of the same myths. See some of Wolfowitz's pre-war falsehoods, and see this example of Kellems trying to cut off an interview when a Washington Post reporter was pressing Wolfowitz for answers on why his WMD claims had proven false.

They could make mass murder sound good. Oh yeah, it's called the war in Iraq.

Left Wing Liberal Commie Agitator

I saw this and I thought the Fixer-man started yet one more new blog, but lo, it was another matching that description. The thing that really caught my eye was the counter on the page, a running total of the cost of the Iraq war. That dial is moving faster than the one on the gas pump. Go take a look.

Sam Adams shrugged.

Julia at The American Street wrote a fable that you can write the ending to.

Activist judges? You must be kidding!

From WaPo. Our President out on the campaign trail today.

. . .

Bush, who later flew to Michigan, also strongly criticized Democratic senators, including Edwards, for failing to confirm some of his judicial nominees from North Carolina and Michigan. "Their nominations are being held up, and it's not right and it's not fair . . . ," Bush said. "These judges deserve better treatment in the United States Senate. A minority of senators apparently don't want judges who strictly interpret and apply the law. Evidently, they want activist judges who will rewrite the law from the bench. I disagree."

. . .

I posted this Monday:

Caught this over at Tom Paine:

Early next week, the Senate will consider two nominations for lifetime seats on important courts: Thomas Griffith to the Federal Court of Appeals (second only to the U.S. Supreme Court) and J. Leon Holmes to the Arkansas District Court. Griffith's record includes hostility toward Title IX, which gives women equal status with men in scholastic athletics, and practicing law without a license. Holmes' view of women is positively archaic: he's said that "the wife is subordinate to her husband," and, in supporting an anti-choice amendment in Arkansas, refused to even allow an exception for rape victims. Join the National Women's Law Center and contact your senator to let them know you won't stand for these appointments. Call the Senate at 1-888-508-2974 to oppose Holmes, and ACT NOW  to oppose Griffith.

It won't make a difference who wins at the ballot box if the courts are stacked. Let's hope none of the Supremes decide to retire before the election, or none of the more liberal justices, heaven forbid, die.

Bush has the nerve to complain about activist judges when he puts these two up for the federal bench? You've got to be kidding me. It's like "The Wizard of Oz". Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. These guys want to rewrite Roe v. Wade and many other laws protecting our personal freedoms.

John on John

From the Kerry website:

. . .

“John Edwards speaks the heart of America – hope and optimism,” Kerry said. “He is a lifelong champion for America’s families who has shown courage and conviction standing up for America’s values. In the Senate, he has a record of reaching across party lines and working to reform our intelligence, combat bioterrorism, and keep our military strong. Together, we will campaign tirelessly across the country – fighting to build an America that is stronger at home and respected in the world.”

. . .

“In the next 120 days and in the administration that follows, John Edwards and I will be fighting for the America we love,” Kerry said. “We'll be fighting to give the middle class a voice by providing good paying jobs and affordable health care. We'll be fighting to make America energy independent. We'll be fighting to build a strong military and lead strong alliances, so young Americans are never put in harm’s way because we insisted on going it alone.”

The more I see of Kerry/Edwards, the more I like this ticket. I actually feel optimistic about the election in fall.

Collectors beware!

From Asia Times:

KOLKATA - An unprecedented global demand for Indian art, both old and contemporary, has given rise to a flourishing fake-art market, with artists discovering, much to their horror, that their works are being forged and reproduced - at times even brilliantly executed - and sold as original art both at home and overseas.

"Indian art is selling like hotcakes at overseas auctions," says R B Bhaskaran of Lalit Kala Academy, an art-promoting institution that is a wing of India's Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Culture, adding, "Certain agencies spread across the country are systematically indulging in faking paintings and other works of art like sculptures and antiques." And according to Sharan Apparao, owner of the Chennai-based Apparao Gallery, "Every year, about 20-30 fakes of important paintings and 50-100 fakes of [less] important paintings get released for the markets globally."

. . .

It's hot here in New York, where I'm a student, and I doubt most of the pretenders who buy Indian art really know what they're looking at. If you're going to buy art of any kind, do your homework. Know the gallery and know the piece you want to buy, and then worry about the price if you have to. As with anything else, if it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Interesting . . .

(Hondo, N.M.-AP, July 7, 2004) — Three people were found slain on a New Mexico ranch owned by ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, authorities said Wednesday.

. . .

Sullivan said Donaldson was not a suspect and was cooperating with the investigation.

. . .

Emergency powers

From the Jerusalem Post:

. . .

The much-anticipated Order of Safeguarding National Security grants Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that iron fist to crack down on insurgents and virtually anybody else deemed dangerous to the stability of Iraq.

. . .

But if stability is in the offing, Iraqis don't seem to mind a bit. "Of course this is the right decision," said Ivan Hermiz Hana from his ice-cream shop in the upscale Zeiyuna neighborhood. "All Arab countries need to maintain control of their people."

Voicing what has become conventional wisdom in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's ouster, Hana believed that too much freedom, for Iraqis at least, is a bad thing. "Freedom is good, but give it to us slowly-slowly," reasoned the 23-year-old, a member of Iraq's Christian minority.

. . .

But weren't these the people who were supposed to be so beside themselves with joy at the arrival of 3rd Infantry Division, they would do whatever we told them? Are these the people who would embrace democracy and freedom and welcome the American system of governance? For two generations, these people have been under the iron-fisted rule of Saddam Hussein. They do not know any different. Turning them loose after so many years of oppression begat anarchy. Our military is finding that out now.

Oh no . . . sigh.

The old man's at it again. Now the blog looks like a circus clown threw up.

6:10 pm:

Fixer writes:

. . . And yes, I DID squeeze the shit out of a circus clown!

This is promising!

Via Drudge.

By MARY FLOOD and TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The Enron grand jury delivered a sealed indictment in court today, and lawyers close to the case believe it contains charges against ex-Chairman Ken Lay and that he will likely surrender Thursday.

This could turn out to be interesting. Did you think Bush and Ashcroft would let the FBI make Kenny-boy do the perp walk?

Just say no? No.

Fixer-man found this over at Pandagon which everyone should read.

I've been yelling about this for a while. Jesse at Pandagon says abstinence-only sex education is not only stupid it's dangerous.

I could understand the push for abstinence-only education in a backhanded way if we were dealing with an either-or situation. If abstinence-only were a stunt designed to get abstinence included in a full spectrum of sexual education, then sure, okay - yell about it, get it included, everyone's happy and safer.

But seeing as how it's a serious movement, it's just a dangerous, disturbing method of consigning a generation of kids to a series of ill-advised behaviors if and when they do have sex.

[. . .]

This from L.A. Weekly

Lethal new regulations from President Bush’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, quietly issued with no fanfare last week, complete the right-wing Republicans’ goal of gutting HIV-prevention education in the United States. In place of effective, disease-preventing safe-sex education, little will soon remain except failed programs that denounce condom use, while teaching abstinence as the only way to prevent the spread of AIDS. And those abstinence-only programs, researchers say, actually increase the risk of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

[. . .]

Now, if just the Jesus freak, Christo-Fascist, Neocon, Republicans followed this advice, I'd call it throwing a skimmer in the gene pool. Unfortunately, they're allowed to teach this shit to our fucking kids too.

While I do not advocate the drastic measures The Fixer does, this is just crazy. All we have to do is look to Sub-Saharan Africa to see the results of abstinence only. There is no way you can tell someone my age to stop having sex once they have become sexually active. Protection is the key to preventing STDs, namely HIV/AIDS.

Axis of Evil?

So what do we do about this? From Reuters via MSNBC.

Reuters-July 7, 2004 - Communist North Korea has been building and deploying intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of reaching U.S. military targets in Hawaii and Guam, South Korean newspapers reported Wednesday.

Here is a nation who actually does have nuclear weapons which, unlike Saddam's fictional WMDs, can actually strike U.S. soil. What have we done? Next to nothing, but the Republicans are getting rich in Iraq.

So?

So, is the yellow better?

Off your back, shit. Keep blogging and quit whining.

This is unbelievable!

Via Corrente:

A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents.

. . .

Shaw's actions are the latest to raise concerns that senior Republican officials working in Washington and Iraq have used the rebuilding effort in Iraq to reward associates and political allies.

What are the odds this will spur another investigation into the Bush White House and how they're operating in Iraq? Not!

It's good to be back up and blogging. Maybe now that old man will get off my back.


3:05 pm: Kicking Ass has more, proving I was wrong in my speculation.

The FBI is now investigating these and other cases of top Republicans turning the rebuilding of Iraq into a candy store handout for their pals. But the big question is: will the Republican controlled Congress once again refuse to do its constitutional duty and investigate this abuse of taxpayer money?

Let's hope indictments are forthcoming.

Yeah

Going to get my 'puter now! Be on later.

Go to bed

Go to bed at 20:00 like I do and you'll be up at 04:00, young 'un. Off to the mines.

Uhhh

I get my puter back this morning. How does he get up so early?

Now it's official

Remember when VP Clogged Arteries went on and on about Iraq's connections to Al-Qaeda, after the last 9/11 Commission meeting? Remember when the commissioners said that if VP Lying Bastid has evidence of the link he should put it forth?

From The Agonist:

Cheney Had No New Data on Saddam, Al Qaeda-Panel
Washington | July 6
Reuters - The Sept. 11 commission, which reported no collaborative links between Iraq and al Qaeda, said on Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney had no more information than commission investigators to support his later assertions to the contrary.

They will say anything and do anything to hold their power. Kerry/Edwards in November, for the sake of the nation.

Edwards and Big Business

So, Big Business is colluding to attack Edwards as a plaintiff attorney using all the baggage that goes with it. Now, I have no love for plaintiff attorneys, they're as common as rats in the Subway in NYC, and just as ethical, but I have to smile. They're worried. The big corporations who've had a 4 year Christmas under the Bush mal-Administration are worried they'll actually have to pay their fair share of taxes and be responsible citizens under Kerry/Edwards.

Listen to how loud they bitch and you'll know how worried they are. Motherfuckers.

The cracks

Are the cracks starting to appear in that special relationship we have with Great Britain? From the Guardian.

Tony Blair conceded today that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction "may never be found" but claimed that they could have been "hidden, removed or destroyed".

Appearing before the Commons liaison committee of senior MPs, the prime minister said: "I was very, very confident the Iraq Survey Group would find them - I have to accept we haven't found them and we may not find them."

[. . .]

Even he doesn't believe Bush anymore. Full story. Good night.

Rush

Oy gevult! That's all I gotta say. World O'Crap has a section of a transcript of one of Limbaugh's recent shows. The Stoned leading the Stupid.

I'm done. Hope The X gets the computer tamed inexpensively. See you tomorrow unless something blows up.

Pleasant dreams.

No shit?

Cross posted from The Fixer.

The UPC barcode is 30 years old! Go figure. Didn't seem that long ago. Via South Knox Bubba:

[. . .]

It was met with more criticism than even Michael Moore could have mustered.

Union representatives said it would steal American jobs. Conspiracy theorists believed it was intrusively "Big Brother." Some Christians thought it hid the number 666, representing the Antichrist. Television talk-show host Phil Donahue claimed it was a corporate plot against consumers.

[. . .][My emphasis]

See what I mean about . . . you know . . . them.

Yeah, I know. Read the whole story here. And Happy Birthday to the Universal Product Code!


And it wouldn't be right if I didn't lift this either:

Other technologies, such as radio-frequency identification tags, may one day replace it, but the lowly UPC improved efficiency and supply-chain control almost invisibly. One of the few times it gained media notice at all was in 1992 when President George H.W. Bush marveled at it during a campaign visit to a grocers' convention in Florida. His reaction added to a perception that he was out of touch with the public, because many people were by then well acquainted with the technology.

The UPC code is a Democrat.

Oy gevult!

Kid's got a lot to say when I've carried the majority of the water today. For somebody who was a gleam in their daddy's eye the time I was killing Communists, the comments are coming awful freely. Young smartass.

Hope you get your shit fixed. The world don't stop you know.

Colors

I used someone's laptop to check the blog and the new colors took me aback.  It reminds me of some Maoist-Wild West fusion thing.  I think Fixer-man was having one of those LSD flashbacks when he was experimenting last night.  You know those old folks  :)  Or maybe this was a mistake?  Either way, I should be back up and running by tomorrow.

 

Crash and Burn

I'm doing this from my phone.  My computer crashed and I'm getting it fixed.  Keep your pants on, old man!

 

It's Edwards!

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

Sen. John Kerry names John Edwards vice presidential running mate - NBC -

I think this is the best move. I heard the news this morning that he'd picked Gephart. They musta listened to the fucking NY Post. Ain't nobody believes anything in the Post. At least, nobody who lives in New York City. Lambert at Corrente has the Dewey beats Truman-esque headline.

Picking Gephart would have sent a message that it would be the same old Democratic song and dance. The selection of John Edwards portends a Party looking to the future. Maybe an Edwards/Clinton ticket in 2012?

BTW, where the fuck is The X?

Update 14:35: Cheney's got a little wiener. Mr. Edwards reveals the truth over at High Desert Skeptic.

Veepstakes again

I'm sure X will have something about this when it's undeniably daytime. I put this here (instead of The Fixer) to start the thread.

From Daily Kos:

[. . .]

This year, the Kerry campaign is doing their best to get themselves a serious bounce based on their veep choice, which has given Kerry wall-to-wall positive press for about a week now and should continue for another week. That takes us to the week before the Dem convention, which will be filled with convention chatter, and then the convention week itself.

[. . .]

Given the timing of the veep announcement, vis a vis the convention, and how skillfully the Kerry campaign has managed this (the veep won't join Kerry for his announcement, as to not prematurely tip off anyone to the selection), expect a nice bump. It doesn't hurt that Bush, running out of money, has gone dark the last two weeks in the battleground states.
Our job is to not get complacent, since Bush will get a great deal of it back during the gag-fest that will be the RNC convention in New York.

Complete post.

What got me was the declaration: '. . . Bush, running out of money, . . .' All I have to say is YAY!

Trust me, I know what I'm doing

Hey, X, I diddled the HTML and it didn't go poof! I don't suck all that much. Ye of little faith.

Abu Ghraib, USA

An article from Anne-Marie Cusac in The Progressive:

. . .

In conversations over the past few weeks, I have heard outrage and anger over the abuse at Abu Ghraib. I have rarely heard such reactions in connection with abuse of prisoners in the United States.

When we tolerate abuse in U.S. prisons and jails, it should not surprise us to find U.S. soldiers using similar methods in Iraq.

George Bush said he was exporting democracy to Iraq, but he seems to have exported a much uglier aspect of American public policy--some of the most sadistic practices employed in the U.S. prison system.

Contrasting the way Iraqi prisoners were treated at Abu Ghraib and the way inmates are treated in American jails, she doesn't find much of one at all.

Judicial Nominations, take heed!

Caught this over at Tom Paine:

Early next week, the Senate will consider two nominations for lifetime seats on important courts: Thomas Griffith to the Federal Court of Appeals (second only to the U.S. Supreme Court) and J. Leon Holmes to the Arkansas District Court. Griffith's record includes hostility toward Title IX, which gives women equal status with men in scholastic athletics, and practicing law without a license. Holmes' view of women is positively archaic: he's said that "the wife is subordinate to her husband," and, in supporting an anti-choice amendment in Arkansas, refused to even allow an exception for rape victims. Join the National Women's Law Center and contact your senator to let them know you won't stand for these appointments. Call the Senate at 1-888-508-2974 to oppose Holmes, and ACT NOW  to oppose Griffith.

It won't make a difference who wins at the ballot box if the courts are stacked. Let's hope none of the Supremes decide to retire before the election, or none of the more liberal justices, heaven forbid, die.

Church vs. State?

From Mary Ratcliff at the american street:

. . .

Republicans are countering his message with their values, namely that Kerry's position on abortion should supercede all other concerns. They are aggressively targeting Catholics in this region and have convinced a number of potential Kerry voters that they cannot vote for Kerry without endangering their souls. On Sunday's All Things Considered, one person who went to see Kerry told the reporter that although he really liked Kerry, he could not vote for him because of what his priest said. Will he find himself voting for Bush or just staying home?

. . .

Now wait a second . . . Let's look at that again.

". . .one person who went to see Kerry told the reporter that although he really liked Kerry, he could not vote for him because of what his priest said."

Uh, um, aren't we violating at least one federal campaign law here? Can a priest tell his congregation how to vote? Can a priest, while not endorsing the incumbent directly, advance a church doctrine in a way so as to 'disqualify' his opponent? Oh no, I think not. Can we get the FEC to investigate? Maybe threaten the Catholic Church with its tax-exempt status? I think not either, not while this administration is still in office.

Read the rest of Mary's post. This just caught my eye by the seeming illegality of it, but she sums up Kerry's trip through the heartland as a general success, aiming his message at the rural counties who voted for Gore in 2000.

Kerry go home?

From Corrente:

Morans
Just another day on the campaign trail for Kerry:

There were also scattered Bush signs, some Bush stickers on folks holding Kerry signs and at least one heckler, in a T-shirt that read "W in '04," who yelled, "Kerry go home."
(via WaPo)

Um, Kerry is home, right? After all, this is America. Though you'd never know it at Bush rallies, where people wearing the wrong kind of shirt get dragged away by the cops (here).

NOTE For the famous "morans" picture, see Orcinus

I thought the phrase '(Whatever) go home!' was reserved for people who hate us. Oh, that's right, the True Believers hate anyone who disagrees with God's Chosen One. Has America come to this?

E. J. Dionne

In WaPo:

Whose lives, whose fortunes, whose sacred honor are now on the line for our country?

Our Founders were unequivocal. They didn't count on others to take the risks for them. They didn't call for sacrifice from all except their favored constituencies. The Founders came in large part from privileged backgrounds and were willing to lose it all.

. . .

God forbid that Americans earning, say, more than $1 million a year be asked to pony up a little more in taxes to support a larger military at a time when, we are told over and over, the country is in the middle of a war on terrorism. Millionaires can't be asked to sacrifice even a little bit. No, they deserve to have their taxes cut while others fight and die. And anyone who speaks up in opposition to this injustice risks being called unpatriotic by those who give up absolutely nothing themselves. Patriotism is defined as a solicitude for tidy incomes, a belief in anything Rush Limbaugh says on the radio and a demand that those in charge of the country never be held accountable for their mistakes.

. . .

If our current leaders are unwilling to ask themselves and other privileged Americans to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, they at least owe us some candor about the costs of their grand enterprises and greater justice in how those burdens are apportioned.

After 9/11 we were all willing to sacrifice. Now it seems it's the poor who have to sacrifice so the rich can maintain their standard of living. Read E.J.'s column.

Show me da money

The Guardian:

Iraq gets fraction of US aid billions

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Monday July 5, 2004
The Guardian

The US government spent just 2% of the $18.4bn (£10bn) it had obtained from Congress for the urgent reconstruction of Iraq before formally ending its occupation last week.

. . .

The White House blames the spending paralysis on the wave of ambushes, kidnapping and sabotage gripping Iraq that has forced many projects to be postponed or cancelled.

. . .

With the US reluctant to disburse cash, reconstruction money has largely been drawn from Iraq's oil receipts, with some $19bn of a $20bn fund spent during the Coalition Provisional Authority's tenure in Iraq.

. . .

In its accounting of the funds, the White House budget office said the largest disbursement so far was for rebuilding Iraq's police and military, with $194m spent.

But that figure was less than the planned spending of $3.2bn to provide security.

. . .

The reality, which was made apparent in the report released on Friday in advance of the July 4 holiday weekend, is bound to raise questions from Iraq's new rulers - and during the US election campaign - about the use of the $87bn package approved by Congress in November.

The Bush administration had said that the funds were needed urgently to stabilise Iraq, and enhance the security of US forces.

Okay, so where is that $87 billion and all the other money appropriated for Iraq?

Tinfoil hats?

When I read the F-man's post about Colin Powell's trip to Sudan, I thought he'd put on his tinfoil hat:

. . .

Colin Powell was in the Sudan scouting the area of the next U.S. Theater of Operations. I get the feeling the Administration knows their original plan for Iraq is generally blown and the best they can hope for is a good PR moment if the place doesn't descend into civil war. They won't have control of Iraq's oil production and they probably won't have the ability to conduct operations in other parts of the region (Iran) from within Iraq.

After catching this via The Agonist, he doesn't seem that crazy anymore:

LAGOS June 4 - A US navy battlegroup is to make a ``show of force'' in the oil-rich waters of the Gulf of Guinea, off west Africa, diplomats said Friday, as Washington hones plans to escape its dependence on unstable Middle Eastern supplies by securing more African crude.

The foray by a heavily armed carrier group into the waters off Nigeria, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and other African oil producers, comes at a time when fuel prices are topping the US political agenda and security crises in the Gulf region are pushing demands for greater diversification in energy supplies.

Hmmm . . .

Reports, Surveys, oh my god!

According to Atrios:

Well, fine, but <100,000 per month average growth is pretty damn crappy. So much for the booming economy they keep telling us about...

He cuts through the spin and the White House hype to tell us what the jobs report really means.

5:00 pm: From MaxSpeak:

Jobs increased by 112,000 in June. The President chose to enumerate in terms of the past six months. If you go by the President's own claims, however, we are still way short. Moreover, 112K is insufficient on a monthly basis for keeping up with the growth of the labor force.

Psy . . . what?

We take you now to the Oval Office:

Laura: Sit down Dubya, you have to learn this.

W: But why? (whining) Can't Dick do this? He's better at big words than I am.

Laura: No, you're the President and you have to tell people why things are not going well in Iraq, and with the economy, and with your polling, and with . . .

W: They are? Uncle Karl says things are going just the way I say they are.

Laura: That's part of it, Dubya. It's this psychology thing I told you about.

W: Psy . . what?

Laura: Psychology, say it with me. Sy-kol-ogee.

W: I'm still trying to get the hang of nu-cu-ler.

Laura: I know, we'll work on that again later. Right now, you have to say that John Kerry is using reverse psychology.

W: Reverse? I haven't even figured out forward psy . . . whatever it is.

Laura: (Sighs) I'll make it easy for you. Remember back in '99? When we had you tell everyone that the Clinton Economy was going bust and people believed it?

W: Yeah. (Chuckles) We had them snowed.

Laura: Well, we're going to accuse Kerry of doing the same thing. We're going to say that Kerry is talking the economy down, that he's pessimistic and that's unpatriotic.

W: That's right. (nods like a bobblehead doll) Dick said that anyone who disagrees with me is un-American.

Laura: Good, good. So try this with me. Kerry's pessimism about the state of the nation is unpatriotic and is a psychological attack on American Values.

W: Kerry's psycho and playing possum.

Laura: Close enough. (Stands as Karl Rove enters the room)

Rove: How's our boy doing? (He asks Laura)

Laura: As well as can be expected.

Rove: That bad?

Laura: He'll get it.

W: Yeah, Uncle Karl, I'll get it.

Rove: That's my boy. (Pats Dubya on the head)

Laura: (Moves closer to Rove and whispers.) Meet you in the Lincoln Room later?

Rove: Of course. (He whispers back) Will you do the thing with your mouth again? (Laura just smiles at him)

W: What did he say?

Rove: I said you remind me of Lincoln.

W: Yes, I do, don't I.


November can't come soon enough.

Morning Person?

I guess the F-man is a morning person. He posts more before the sun comes up than anyone I know. Personally I don't roll out of bed until it is undeniably daytime.

If you're not a morning person, wait until later to answer the question; Do you know these men?

Well, do you?

Optimistic or Blinded By The Light

From Corrente:

"Optimistic"
This is one of those words Bush has been trying to hijack for his own Orwellian purposes.

So, ever helpful, we at Corrente will translate it for you. In fact, I can think of two translations:

1. Think happy thoughts on the way down.

And, the bonus:

2. Lay back and enjoy it.

UPDATE Alert reader Beth suggests:


3. Seeing the glass as half full even after its been smashed into a million pieces.



UPDATE And alert reader MJS:


Optimism is ditching your National Guard obligation and knowing that somehow it will be made alright by others.

Optimism is seeing huge gas guzzlers spewing exhaust all over America and knowing that your closest business allies are sitting on top of oil reserves.

Optimism is when your party controls both houses of Congress, the Executive Branch, and is one Chief Justice away from holding the majority vote in the highest court in the land for years to come.

Optimism is controlling the leading media outlets but making it seem like you are a victim of mindless partisan attacks.

Optimism is knowing that much of your base needs only to hear the occasional manipulative code word to excite their loyalty.

Optimism is knowing that voting can be rigged, controlled, denied and obscured in ways that are seemingly beyond the reach of the law.

Optimism is never having to say you're sorry.

Repeating flawed logic over and over is not optimism, it's known as denial.

Figures

Figures I find me a fucking Yankee fan to do this. Oy!

Excuse me?

The Fixer-man wrote:

Might the Mets sweep the Yankees this weekend? Looks that way. 4-1 Mets inn the 5th right now. Why can't they play like this when it counts, like in the 2000 Series?

Well, I'm done for the day. Hope yours is safe and fun.

Pleasant dreams.

Well, yes, he can sleep well tonight. He is one of that strange species that inhabit New York known as Mets fans. I hope flashbacks from the 2000 World Series don't disturb his orange and blue dreams. Yes, the Mets swept the Yankees this weekend. I doubt it will happen again anytime soon or, as The Fixer puts it, 'when it counts'.

Saddam tribunal calls accused's defence team

From Al-Jazeera:

Sunday 04 July 2004, 17:10 Makka Time, 14:10 GMT


The head of Iraq's special tribunal charged with putting Saddam Hussein on trial has made contact with his defence counsel, the ousted Iraqi president's chief Jordanian defence lawyer said Sunday.

Salim Chalabi "telephoned me last night (Saturday) and said he wanted to facilitate the action of the defence team in the tribunal", Muhammad al-Rashdan told AFP.

But Chalabi insisted Iraqi law stipulates that Saddam's in-court defence lawyer be Iraqi - an interpretation that Rashdan takes issue with - although he said the Jordanian team has "begun contacts to choose an Iraqi lawyer".

Rashdan also told reporters that "several families" of 11 of Saddam's former top officials also set to go on trial had contacted him and that on Saturday, he was given power of attorney from the family of former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz.

AFP obtained a copy of the document, which had been signed by Aziz's wife Violette, their sons Ziad and Saddam, and their daughters Zainab and Maisaa.

Rashdan's team, so far denied entry into Iraq let alone access to Saddam, had renewed its request to do so with Iraqi legal and US military authorities.

A defiant Saddam appeared in court for the first time on Thursday to hear preliminary charges of crimes against humanity and denounced the legality of the court set up to try him.

He also refused to sign any papers without the presence of his lawyers.

Does the name Chalabi sound familiar? Salim is the son of Ahmed, the man who provided most of the hearsay evidence about Saddam's WMD program. the man who was the Bush Administration's choice to lead Iraq until it was revealed he was also working for the Iranians. Hopefully not 'like father, like son', being that Salim 'is the executive director of the special tribunal for Iraq and for those who will be charged with war crimes and other crimes against humanity' [CNN].

Veepstakes

Joshua Micah Marshall at Talking Points Memo:

. . .

Point being, that since 1980 the norm for vice-presidential picks seems to be that pundits bandy about half a dozen names of serious contenders. And then the pick ends up being someone who was either never even considered or someone who was thought the longest of long-shots.

Now, like everyone else did in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, I certainly figure that it'll be one of the logical choices -- Edwards or Gephardt most likely. But if it is one of those two, it'll be a break from the trend of the last quarter century.

Call me a pundit, but I'm thinking Edwards or Gephart, probably Edwards because he's better looking. Read Joshua's whole post and you decide.

2:30 am: Daily Kos feels just the opposite:

Kerry's team is operating under the C.W. assumption (correctly, IMHO) that a reelection battle is a referendum on the incumbent. Hence, they are fully expecting Bush to do himself in, leaving Kerry as the only alternative by the time November runs around. It may not be an exciting strategy, but a sound one nevertheless.

Gephardt as veep would be a natural extension of that strategy.

I'm going to sleep now.

Continuing the theme.

Since this is mutual swipage day, I did too. Via Just a Bump in the Beltway via Eschaton:

Swiped from the relief crew at Atrios, because this belongs to all of us:

Progressives show their patriotism today by looking for a union label in their American-made clothes, or they can look for a “fair trade” label on various consumer goods made overseas. (Help is available from several nonprofit groups: www.fairtradefederation.com; www.transfairusa.org; www.nosweatapparel.com; and www.unionlabel.org.) The American activists who’ve protested at World Trade Organization and World Bank meetings to demand better living standards for Third World workers aren’t simply do-gooders. When workers in China or Mexico get paid a living wage, American companies have less incentive to move jobs from U.S. soil, and those workers have more money to buy U.S.-made products.

But let’s get back to the Red-White-and-Blue. The flag, as a symbol of the nation, is not owned by the administration in power, but by the people. We battle over what it means, but all Americans — across the political spectrum — have an equal right to claim the flag as their own.

Most Americans are unaware that much of our patriotic culture — including many of the leading symbols and songs that have become increasingly popular since September 11 — was created by writers of decidedly progressive sympathies.

For example, the Pledge of Allegiance itself was originally authored and promoted by a leading Christian socialist, Francis Bellamy (cousin of best-selling radical writer Edward Bellamy), who was fired from his Boston ministry for his sermons depicting Jesus as a socialist. Bellamy penned the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America by promoting use of the flag in public schools. He hoped the pledge would promote a moral vision to counter the climate of the Gilded Age, with its robber barons and exploitation of workers. Bellamy intended the line “One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all” to express a more collective and egalitarian vision of America.

Bellamy’s invocation of American patriotism on behalf of social justice is part of a hidden tradition. Consider the lines inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Emma Lazarus was a poet of considerable reputation in her day, who was a strong supporter of Henry George and his “socialistic” single-tax program, and a friend of William Morris, a leading British socialist. Her welcome to the “wretched refuse” of the earth, written in 1883, was an effort to project an inclusive and egalitarian definition of the American Dream.

And there was Katharine Lee Bates, a professor of English at Wellesley College. Bates was an accomplished and published poet, whose book America the Beautiful and Other Poems includes a sequence of poems expressing outrage at U.S. imperialism in the Philippines. A member of progressive-reform circles in the Boston area, concerned about labor rights, urban slums and women’s suffrage, an ardent feminist, for decades she lived with and loved her Wellesley colleague Katharine Coman, an economist and social activist.

“America the Beautiful,” written in 1893, not only speaks to the beauty of the American continent but also reflects her view that U.S. imperialism undermines the nation’s core values of freedom and liberty. The poem’s final words — “and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea” — are an appeal for social justice rather than the pursuit of wealth.

In the Depression years and during World War II, the fusion of populist, egalitarian and anti-racist values with patriotic expression reached full flower. Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and A Lincoln Portrait are now patriotic musical standards, regularly performed at major civic events, written by a member of a radical composers’ collective.

Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America Be America Again,” written in 1936, contrasted the nation’s promise with its mistreatment of his fellow African-Americans, the poor, Native Americans, workers, farmers and immigrants:

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

In 1939, composer Earl Robinson teamed with lyricist John La Touche to write Ballad for Americans, which was performed on the CBS radio network by Paul Robeson, accompanied by chorus and orchestra. This 11-minute cantata provided a musical review of American history, depicted as a struggle between the “nobody who’s everybody” and an elite that fails to understand the real, democratic essence of America.

Robeson, at the time one of the best-known performers on the world stage, became, through this work, a voice of America. Broadcasts and recordings of Ballad for Americans (by Bing Crosby as well as Robeson) were immensely popular. In the summer of 1940, it was performed at the national conventions of both the Republican and Communist parties. The work soon became a staple in school choral performances, but it was literally ripped out of many public school songbooks after Robinson and Robeson were identified with the radical left and blacklisted during the McCarthy period. Since then, however, Ballad for Americans has been periodically revived, notably during the bicentennial celebration in 1976, when a number of pop and country singers performed it in concerts and on TV.

Many Americans consider Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land Is Your Land,” penned in 1940, to be our unofficial national anthem. Guthrie, a radical, was inspired to write the song as an answer to Irving Berlin’s popular “God Bless America,” which he thought failed to recognize that it was the “people” to whom America belonged. The words to “This Land Is Your Land” reflect Guthrie’s assumption that patriotism, support for the underdog, and class struggle were all of a piece. In this song, Guthrie celebrates America’s natural beauty and bounty, but criticizes the country for its failure to share its riches, reflected in the song’s last and least-known verse:

One bright sunny morning in the
shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry I stood there wondering
If this land was made for you and me.

Stimulated by the recent nostalgia for World War II, old recordings by left-wing performers of the 1940s Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers, Josh White, Burl Ives, Leadbelly, and Paul Robeson are, fortunately, undergoing a revival. This was material deliberately created to promote the war effort, expressing the passionate fervor of left-wing resistance to fascism. The best songs also express the conviction that the fight against fascism must encompass a struggle to end Jim Crow and achieve economic democracy at home. Indeed, President Franklin Roosevelt’s speeches during that period reflect many of the same themes and images. And if you add to these songs the scripts of numbers of Hollywood war movies and radio plays by some of America’s leading writers — some of whom were later blacklisted — it becomes clear that popular culture in support of that war was largely the creation of American leftists.

Even during the 1960s, American progressives continued to seek ways to fuse their love of country with their opposition to the government’s policies. The March on Washington in 1963 gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. famously quoted the words to “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” repeating the phrase “Let freedom ring” 11 times.

Phil Ochs, then part of a new generation of politically conscious singer-songwriters who emerged during the 1960s, wrote an anthem in the Guthrie vein, “The Power and the Glory,” that coupled love of country with a strong plea for justice and equality. The words to the chorus echo the sentiments of the anti–Vietnam War movement:

Here is a land full of power and glory;
Beauty that words cannot recall;
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all.

One of its stanzas updated Guthrie’s combination of outrage and patriotism:

Yet she’s only as rich as the poorest of her poor;
Only as free as the padlocked prison door;
Only as strong as our love for this land;
Only as tall as we stand.

Interestingly, this song later became part of the repertoire of the U.S. Army band.

And in 1968, in a famous anti-war speech on the steps of the Capitol, Norman Thomas, the aging leader of the Socialist Party, proclaimed, “I come to cleanse the American flag, not burn it.”

In recent decades, Bruce Springsteen has most closely followed in the Guthrie tradition. From “Born in the USA,” to his songs about Tom Joad (the militant protagonist in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath), to his anthem about the September 11 tragedy (“Empty Sky”), Springsteen has championed the downtrodden while challenging America to live up to its ideals.

Steve (“Little Stevie”) Van Zandt is best known as the guitarist with Springsteen’s E Street Band and, most recently, for his role as Silvio Dante, Tony Soprano’s sidekick on The Sopranos. But his most enduring legacy should be his love song about America, “I Am a Patriot,” including these lyrics:

I am a patriot, and I love my country, Because my country is all I know. Wanna be with my family, People who understand me. I got no place else to go.

And I ain’t no communist, And I ain’t no socialist, And I ain’t no capitalist, And I ain’t no imperialist, And I ain’t no Democrat, Sure ain’t no Republican either, I only know one party, And that is freedom.

In the midst of a controversial and increasingly unpopular war, and with a presidential election under way that will shape the nation’s direction, there is no better way to celebrate America than to listen to Van Zandt’s patriotic anthem. And while doing so, maybe waving a flag and remembering it’s also yours.

Thanks, Melanie

2:35 pm: Fixer-man is a lazy bugger. He only linked to this. :)

Hello

As the Fixer-man said, I'll be writing drivel and basically be responsible for the content of this blog, working around his somewhat lacking HTML skills. Face it, they suck, so half of my posts will probably evaporate into thin air once in a while. I accepted that when I accepted his invitation. I'm glad to be part of the team.

He invited me to do this mainly because I share the same political leanings, and I'll probably be posting news stories and commenting on them, giving my opinions in a less profane manner than he does on his blog 'The Fixer', but just as passionately. I'll also be posting observations of a social nature, just the little things I see that make me think. Hope you aren't disappointed and thanks for indulging us.

It's an auspicious beginning for this blog. Born on the 4th of July. How very American. Have a happy holiday!

Alter-ego

I've invited another to blog here to fill up space with drivel, sort of like a guinea pig so I won't feel obligated to provide content. As I said previously, I'm doing this blog to practice my HTML skills. The Fixer is my first priority, although I will comment here from time to time as well, just without the gun to my head.

Please welcome Alter X the way you did me when I began my first blog.

My other blog

I have another blog, the one I take seriously.

The Fixer
Daily rants and comments upon the state of the nation and the world of auto repair from the other side of the wrench.

Feel free to stop there anytime.

Hi

This blog is purely experimental for now. I'm using it to practice my HTML skills and I'll apologize in a advance if it will sometimes look like it was zapped by an alien HERF (High Energy Radio Frequency) gun.