Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters™ and Defenders of Democracy™!
Here are this week’s top stories:
-- A brilliant Aussie may very well have found a way to protect the world's poor from being extorted out of fair use of water. With the dire implications of global warming bearing down upon us, it helps to know that at least some people are responsible enough to look for -- and find -- solutions!
-- What happens when a moron at a Caterpillar factory hands an insane sadist the keys to a tractor large enough to move Rhode Island in one scoop? Well, if the insane sadist is George W. Bush, why, then harmless pranks and hilarity ensue. So what if a leering Bush drove straight for the press corps, causing the Secret Service to dodge and weave in an effort to see that no one came to harm? Just a little happy-go-lucky hijinx. Can you imagine the reaction if BILL CLINTON had pulled such a dangerous, irrational stunt? They'd have packed him off to the happy home in a hug-me jacket and thrown away the key!
-- Der Spiegel's interview with Ty Drumheller on torture
-- Henry Kissinger finds new tactic to evade pointed questions from the media on Bush's Iraq exit strategy ... ssh, the emperor's new clothes are tippy-top seekrit ... they're waiting in the next room where you can't see them!
-- Pentagon prefers crucifying the messenger rather than making good-faith counts of the ACTUAL sick, wounded, and dead service-people coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq.
-- More lies about Obama and John McCain flip-flops!
-- Exxon-Mobil is the new Big Tobacco: waging war on science so as to screw the people of America and, duh, the world!
-- Thom Hartmann calls Bush what he really is: a TRAITOR.
-- Time's Jay Carney defines "mainstream" African-Americans as those "who didn't come from the civil rights movement."
-- Limbaugh vs Gore in a battle for the Nobel Peace Prize?!?? Are you SERIOUS?!??
-- Scientists accuse Bush of interfering with their reports to the American public on global warming.
-- Rove first spilled the beans on Plame's identity as an undercover CIA operative, testifies Libby.
-- Ralph Nader: the “Unreasonable Man” is honored in a documentary that showcases how much we Americans owe him, from seatbelts in our cars to the EPA to a host of other consumer and worker rights. Ralph may run again if Hillary is the only challenge put up by the Dems -- run, Ralph, run!
-- Let's all honor our dearly departed but never forgotten Molly Ivins by RAISING MORE HELL!
If we do nothing else, we must all work together to mandate Congress to revoke any further funding for Bush’s wars and invasions of aggression and greed.
Keep the faith and keep fighting: together, we WILL win our nation back!
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From our mailbag
A nifty find by The Scallion!
A brilliant Aussie developed a simple vertical windmill that uses fundamental physics to cool the air and collect the water (already desalinated from the oceans by the sun) from it. How often do we read these days that our fascist global corporations are already in cahoots to privatize water and thus screw the world's poor by extorting them out of existence? This approach may very well save the world ...!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21123007-12272,00.html
Reader K.R. sent in this galling article, which he titled “Your God-Emperor at Play.” The story? The morons at the Peoria Caterpillar factory handed the Traitor in Chief the keys to one of their biggest earth-movers, which the Traitor in Chief promptly aimed at the White House Press corps.
http://bailey.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=464251
Reader and fellow blogger Dot Calm sent in the following links ...
... about Molly Ivins and how badly we will miss her:
and
http://wingsofjustice.com/07/01/woj07005.html
... about how the Pentagon consistently strings up the messenger rather than confronting the ugly facts about the number of our military who need health care. The Pentagon's practice of choice? Don't count our military members who've died from illnesses and accidents among the wounded or dead ... and get the journalist fired who uses public information to derive a correct count. Sounds like a great plan to us at The Scallion: how else can we help the Traitor in Chief to eliminate the VA budget and screw our veterans out of the care we promised them unless we cut our counts in half?
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/30/injuries
... about why Al Franken left Air America
Comedian Al Franken to run for Senate in Minnesota
WASHINGTON - Comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken has begun calling Democratic members of Congress and prominent Minnesota Democrats to tell them he will definitely challenge Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008, McClatchy Newspapers has learned.
On Monday, Franken announced that he was quitting his radio show on Feb. 14, and he told his audience that they'd be the first to know of his decision. But Franken has been working the phones in recent days, telling his political friends he's ready to declare his candidacy.
McClatchy Newspapers confirmed Wednesday that Franken made calls to at least two members of the Minnesota congressional delegation in Washington to break the news. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, not wanting to pre-empt Franken's announcement.
"From his voice to my ears, he's running," said one House member, who relayed the remark via his press secretary.
"I can tell you we got one of those calls," said a top-ranked aide for another House member.
Franken declined to be interviewed.
"He's not going to comment on his private conversations," said Andy Barr, his spokesman. But he added that Franken has "made no secret" of his interest in Coleman's seat.
No other Democrats have announced plans to challenge Coleman, who's expected to be among the most vulnerable GOP incumbents next year.
Franken, who grew up in St. Louis Park, Minn., achieved fame in New York as a comedy writer for NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" and went on to become a best-selling author. He moved his radio show to Minneapolis last year and has become increasingly active in Minnesota and national politics.
His Midwest Values political action committee raised more than $1.1 million and he distributed checks of $10,000 each last year to Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz, and he gave smaller amounts to dozens of other national and state candidates.
Coleman has had little to say about Franken, but in an interview last year he said he expected him to be "a very strong voice for the far left" and a strong fundraiser. Republicans will try to exploit Franken's ties to Hollywood: Contributors to his political action committee included Barbra Streisand, Phil Donahue, Larry Hagman and Norman Lear from the entertainment industry.
That list of contributors prompted Coleman to say that Franken "obviously has a sense of humor" by calling his PAC Midwest Values.
"Hollywood values aren't Midwest," Coleman said, "and the money isn't Midwest."
Franken expects his years in New York to be an issue in the campaign but has had a ready line as he promotes himself to Minnesota audiences: "If I do run against Norm Coleman in '08, I'll be the only New York Jew in the race who actually grew up in Minnesota."
Coleman grew up in New York and moved to Minnesota as an adult.
... and about Traitor Henry Kissinger's vaporware “exit strategy” for Iraq
(hint: if you pretend that the emperor has clothes waiting for him in the other room, the press won't point and laugh that the emperor is naked)
Wherever a Senator's Question Leads, Kissinger Gamely Follows
By Dana Milbank
Thursday, February 1, 2007; A02
So now it can be told: President Bush has a secret plan to end the war in Iraq.
Henry Kissinger, who as Richard Nixon's secretary of state learned something about secret plans, went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday to argue that Bush, too, has such a proposal.
"I am convinced, but I cannot base it on any necessary evidence right now," Kissinger told the senators, "that the president will want to move toward a bipartisan consensus" to stabilize Iraq through diplomacy.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was suspicious of such assurances. "Is there any place that you're familiar with where the administration has articulated this strategy?" he asked.
"I don't know any place where the administration has articulated this particular strategy," the octogenarian diplomat admitted. But he added: "From my acquaintances with some of the people, I think it is possible that they will come to this strategy."
Obama asked Kissinger if "you are suggesting that they have some secret strategy that we have not been made privy to."
"I would be disappointed and surprised," he reiterated, "if they did not accept some of the elements of what has been discussed here."
For Kissinger, the floating of a phantom plan for Iraq provided a deft way out of a tricky situation. Like James Baker, who went before the committee Tuesday, Kissinger was inclined to defend Bush's Iraq policy. But Bush had left the two men, both former Republican secretaries of state, with little ammunition.
The administration rejected the core recommendation from Kissinger and from Baker's Iraq Study Group: a massive diplomatic offensive involving Syria and Iran. And yet, neither man was prepared to turn against the White House.
Baker, testifying on Tuesday, acted as if Bush had, in fact, supported his ideas. He mentioned the "common elements" between the Bush and Baker plans and the "very important points of similarity." Rubbing his fingers together and making motions with his mouth as if sucking on a hard candy, Baker pleaded: "Look, the president's plan ought to be given a chance. Give it a chance."
Kissinger, the master of nuanced phrases such as "not incompatible," provided few such broad pronouncements yesterday. Indeed, he pronounced very little in his low, German-accented rumble.
"I want to make sure I heard you right, because it's hard to hear you, so tell me if I heard you right," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) directed him.
Kissinger responded with a guttural sound that the transcript labeled "(inaudible)."
It must have been a terrifying hearing for stenographers, who recorded Kissinger's utterances with phrases such as "we should avoid its (inaudible) deployment" and "we should work in the direction that will (inaudible) for maximum stability."
But this hardly mattered. The senators heard in Kissinger's testimony whatever they wanted to hear. On the one hand, Kissinger spoke of "an upheaval that goes across the whole region" and an "explosion of violence." On the other hand, he stated that "I do not believe we can withdraw from Iraq" and he provided a lukewarm endorsement for Bush's proposed increase in troops.
That left each senator in the room with the impression that Kissinger was endorsing the lawmaker's own personal plan. And the venerable diplomat, now stooped and wearing a hearing aid but as shrewd as ever, did not disabuse the senators of these impressions.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), the chairman, pitched his plan for an Iraq split into autonomous regions. "I'm sympathetic to an outcome that permits large regional autonomy," Kissinger concurred.
Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.), the ranking Republican, asserted that "we cannot be in a situation in which we say 'We're out of there,' " Lugar pointed out.
"I believe very strongly that we cannot withdraw from the region," Kissinger agreed.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) tried to pull the witness in his direction. "I certainly agree with you that we cannot disengage from the region -- but what about redeployment from Iraq?" he asked.
"Of course significant American forces can be withdrawn," Kissinger obliged.
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) tugged Kissinger the other way. "Is it your belief that a precipitous withdrawal . . . would have a greater negative long-term impact?"
"That is my conviction," Kissinger said.
"Would you agree," Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) asked, that "every alternative carries with it some rather grave risks?"
"Absolutely," Kissinger complied.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said he hoped Bush's troop buildup would allow for reconciliation and diplomacy. "Am I wrong?"
"The objectives you've stated are compatible with what the president is attempting to do," Kissinger assured him.
The secretary's agreeability had a calming effect. "I think what I'm seeing here is someone testifying and almost everyone on this committee agreeing," observed Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). "It's an interesting thing to watch."
Maybe that's Bush's secret plan to end the war in Iraq.
Reader D.F. sent in this Spiegel interview of ex-CIA-Europe director Drumheller regarding extraordinary rendition and torture ... very interesting!
"We Probably Gave Powell the Wrong Speech"
TYLER DRUMHELLER
Martin H. Simon
Tyler Drumheller, 54, had a 25-year career working for the CIA. In 2001, he was promoted to become the American intelligence agency's chief of European operations. The spectacular kidnappings of suspected al-Qaida terrorists -- including the German-Syrian Mohammed Haydar Zammar and the German-Syrian Khaled el-Masri -- by CIA commandos happened under his watch. Drumheller, who retired in 2005, recently published his memoir, "On the Brink," in the United States. The former chief of the CIA's Europe division, Tyler Drumheller, discusses the United States foreign intelligence service's cooperation with Germany, the covert kidnapping of suspected terrorists and a Bush adminstration that ignored CIA advice and used whatever information it could find to justify an invasion of Iraq. The US attack on Baghdad (2003): "No President on my watch has had a spotless record when it comes to the CIA."
SPIEGEL: Mr. Drumheller, do you still dare to travel to Europe?
Drumheller: Yes, absolutely. I was a great friend of the Europeans. I grew up in Wiesbaden. I love Germany very much.
SPIEGEL: Arrest warrants have been issued in Europe for a number of your former colleagues. They are suspected of involvement in the illegal kidnappings of suspected terrorists as part of the so-called "renditions" program. Doesn't this worry you?
Drumheller: No. I'm not worried, but I am not allowed to discuss the issue.
SPIEGEL: One of the cases is the now famous kidnapping of Khalid el-Masri, a German-Lebanese who was taken into custody at the end of 2003 in Macedonia and later flown to Afghanistan. How could the CIA allow an innocent person to be arrested?
Drumheller: I'm not allowed by the agency to comment on any of those cases or the so-called "secret prisons." I would love to, but I can't. We have a life-long secrecy agreement and they are very, very strict about what you can say.
SPIEGEL: The renditions program saw the kidnapping of suspected Islamist extremists to third countries. Were you involved in the program?
Drumheller: I would be lying if I said no. I have very complicated feelings about the whole issue. I do see the purpose of renditions, if they are carried out properly. Guys sitting around talking about carrying out attacks as they smoke their pipes in the comfort of a European capital tend to get put off the idea if they learn that a like-minded individual has been plucked out of safety and sent elsewhere to pay for his crimes.
SPIEGEL: We disagree. At the very least, you need to be certain that the targets of those renditions aren't innocent people.
Drumheller: It was Vice President Dick Cheney who talked about the "dark side" we have to turn on. When he spoke those words, he was articulating a policy that amounted to "go out and get them." His remarks were evidence of the underlying approach of the administration, which was basically to turn the military and the agency loose and let them pay for the consequences of any unfortunate -- or illegal -- occurences.
SPIEGEL: So there was no clear guidance of what is allowed in the so called "war on terrorism"?
Drumheller: Every responsible chief in the CIA knows that the more covert the action, the greater the need for a clear policy and a defined target. I once had to brief Condoleezza Rice on a rendition operation, and her chief concern was not whether it was the right thing to do, but what the president would think about it. I would have expected a big meeting, a debate about whether to proceed with the plan, a couple of hours of consideration of the pros and cons. We should have been talking about the value of the target, whether the threat he presented warranted such a potentially controversial intervention. This is no way to run a covert policy. If the White House wants to take extraordinary measures to win, it can't just let things go through without any discussion about their value and morality.
SPIEGEL: Perhaps the White House wanted to gloss over its own responsibility.
Drumheller: Let me give you a general thought: From the perspective of the White House, it was smart to blur the lines about what was acceptable and what was not in the war on terrorism. It meant that whenever someone was overzealous in some dark interrogation cell, President (George W.) Bush and his entourage could blame someone else. The rendition teams are drawn from paramilitary officers who are brave and colorful. They are the men who went into Baghdad before the bombs and into Afghanistan before the army. If they didn't do paramilitary actions for a living, they would probably be robbing banks. Perhaps the Bush Administration deliberately created a gray area on renditions.
SPIEGEL: Investigations in the European Parliament and the German parliament, the Bundestag, are trying to ascertain the extent to which European governments cooperated with the CIA after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. How close is the relationship?
Drumheller: On terrorist issues very closely -- we did some very good things with the Europeans. Two weeks after Sept. 11, August Hanning (the head of the German foreign intelligence service, the BND) came with a delegation to discuss how we can make cooperation better. Elements of the Bush administration developed the view that European personal privacy laws were somehow to blame, that the Europeans are too slow. We can be very frustrating to work with. I always said, 'Stop preaching to them.' The Europeans have been dealing with terrorism for years, we can learn from their successes and failures. Its not a good spy story, but it's actually how you do this.
SPIEGEL: How important is Europe to the CIA?
Drumheller: The only way we will ever be able to protect ourselves properly is if we can get a handle on the threat in Europe, since that is the continent where fanatics can best learn their most crucial lesson: How to disappear in a Western crowd. Europe has become the first line of defense for the United States. It has become a training ground for terrorists, especially since the war in Iraq has heralded an underground railroad for militants to go and fight there. It is being used for young fanatics in Europe to be smuggled into Iraq to fight Americans and, assuming they survive, to return home, where they present a more potent threat than they did before they left. Since the odds against penetrating the top of al-Qaida are phenomenally high, we must pursue the foot soldiers.
SPIEGEL: But given the uproar in Germany and all over Europe, it looks highly unlikely that they will cooperate fully with the CIA.
Drumheller: The guys who attacked the World Trade Center didn't fly from Kabul to New York. They came from Hamburg. So the value in befriending the local intelligence services in Europe instead of alienating them is clear: We need to ensure that they are telling us everything they know.
SPIEGEL: But it was your agency that was coming up with all the wrong information concerning Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. To what degree is the intelligence community responsible for the disaster?
Drumheller: The agency is not blameless and no president on my watch has had a spotless record when it comes to the CIA. But never before have I seen the manipulation of intelligence that has played out since Bush took office. As chief of Europe I had a front-row seat from which to observe the unprecedented drive for intelligence justifying the Iraq war.
SPIEGEL: One of the crucial bits of information the Bush administration used to justify the invasion was the supposed existence of mobile biological weapons laboratories. That came from a German BND source who was given the code-name "Curveball." An offical investigation in the United States concluded that of all of the false statements that were made, this was the most damaging of all.
Drumheller: I think it is, it was a centerpiece. Curveball was an Iraqi who claimed to be an engineer working on the biological weapons program. When he became an asylum-seeker in Germany, the BND questioned him and produced a large number of reports that were passed here through the Defense Intelligence Agency. Curveball was a sort of clever fellow who carried on about his story and kept everybody pretty well convinced for a long time.
SPIEGEL: There are more than a few critics in Washington who claim that the Germans, because of Curveball, bear a large part of the repsonsibility for the intelligence mess.
Drumheller: There was no effort by the Germans to influence anybody from the beginning. Very senior officials in the BND expressed their doubts, that there may be problems with this guy. They were very professional. I know that there are people at the CIA who think the Germans could have set stronger caveats. But nobody says: "Here's a great intel report, but we don't believe it." There were also questions inside the CIA's analytical section, but as it went forward, this information was seized without caveats. The administration wanted to make the case for war with Iraq. They needed a tangible thing, they needed the German stuff. They couldn't go to war based just on the fact that they wanted to change the Middle East. They needed to have something threatening to which they were reacting.
SPIEGEL: The German government was convinced that "Curveball" would not be used in the now famous presentation that then US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave in 2003 before the United Nations Security Council.
Then Secretary of State Colin Powell as he presented "evidence" of weapon of mass destruction in Iraq to the United Nations general assembly: "We probably gave Powell the wrong speech."
Then Secretary of State Colin Powell as he presented "evidence" of weapon of mass destruction in Iraq to the United Nations general assembly: "We probably gave Powell the wrong speech."
Drumheller: I had assured my German friends that it wouldn't be in the speech. I really thought that I had put it to bed. I had warned the CIA deputy John McLaughlin that this case could be fabricated. The night before the speech, then CIA director George Tenet called me at home. I said: "Hey Boss, be careful with that German report. It's supposed to be taken out. There are a lot of problems with that." He said: "Yeah, yeah. Right. Don't worry about that."
SPIEGEL: But it turned out to be the centerpiece in Powell's presentation -- and nobody had told him about the doubts.
Drumheller: I turned on the TV in my office, and there it was. So the first thing I thought, having worked in the government all my life, was that we probably gave Powell the wrong speech. We checked our files and found out that they had just ignored it.
SPIEGEL: So the White House just ignored the fact that the whole story might have been untrue?
Drumheller: The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy. Right before the war, I said to a very senior CIA officer: "You guys must have something else," because you always think it's the CIA. "There is some secret thing I don't know." He said: "No. But when we get to Baghdad, we are going to find warehouses full of stuff. Nobody is going to remember all of this."
SPIEGEL: After the war, the CIA was finally able to talk to "Curveball" -- something the BND had never allowed before. What was the result?
Drumheller: In March 2004, a fluent German-speaking officer, one of my best guys, who had a scientific background went to Germany and worked for about two weeks. Finally, at the end of it, Curveball just sort of sat back and said: "I don't have anything more to say." But he never admitted. People here always ask, was he polygraphed? Well, lie detector tests aren't used very much in Germany.
SPIEGEL: Do you think it would have make a difference if the Germans had allowed you to question Curveball earlier?
Drumheller: If they had allowed us to question him the way we did in March of 2004, it would have. Maybe the whole story would have turned out in a different way.
SPIEGEL: In your book, you mention a very high-ranking source who told the CIA before the war that Iraq had no large active WMD program. It has been reported that the source was Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, Naji Sabri.
Drumheller: I'm not allowed to say who that was. In the beginning, the administration was very excited that we had a high-level penetration, and the president was informed. I don't think anybody else had a source in Saddam's cabinet. He told us that Iraq had no biological weapons, just the research. Everything else had been destroyed after the first Gulf War. But after a while we didn't get any questions back. Finally the administration came and said that they were really not interested in what he had to say. They were interested in getting him to defect. In the end we did get permission to get back to the source, and that came from Tenet. I think without checking with the White House, he just said: "Okay. Go ahead and see what you can do."
SPIEGEL: So what happened?
Drumheller: There were a lot of ironies throughout this whole story. We went on a sort of worldwide chase after this fellow, and in the end, he was in one place, and our officer was in another country asking for permission to travel. I called up people who were controlling operations, and they said: "Don't worry about it. It's too late now. The war is on. The next time you see this guy, it will be at a war crimes tribunal."
SPIEGEL: Should you have pressed harder?
Drumheller: We made mistakes. And it may suit the White House to have people believe in a black and white version of reality -- that it could have avoided the Iraq war if the CIA had only given it a true picture of Saddam's armaments. But the truth is that the White House believed what it wanted to believe. I have done very little in my life except go to school and work for the CIA. Intellectually I think I did everything I could. Emotionally you always think you should have something more.
Interview conducted by Georg Mascolo and Holger Stark.
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From our information clearinghouse
These are items we receive from the countless mailing lists to which The Scallion collectively subscribes. They are worth the effort of at least a good skim.
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From AlterNet
The Most Important Thing You Can Do To Stop Global Warming
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet
Environmentalist Bill McKibben explains that forcing Congress to take action on climate change is the top priority. Fortunately, he has a plan.
Gay + Iraqi = Dead
By Doug Ireland, TomPaine.com
The U.N. has finally recognized that there is a widespread purge being carried out against Iraq's GLBT community.
Libby Trial: Smoking Gun for Impeachment?
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig
The Libby case testimony, centered on the chicanery of the vice president, certainly suggests that impeachable offenses occurred at the highest level of the White House.
Note to Progressives: Challenge Market Fundamentalism
By Ruth Rosen, AlterNet
If progressive causes are to get anywhere in the next Congress, we need to challenge the ingrained belief that the market can solve our problems.
How PR Ploys Fill the Pentagon's Recruiting Quotas
By Diane Farsetta, Center for Media and Democracy
The Pentagon relies on sophisticated PR strategies, suckering media to cover its gimmick events -- all in the name of boosting recruiting numbers.
Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
Texas Observer
Syndicated political columnist Molly Ivins died of breast cancer Wednesday evening at her home in Austin. Molly's enduring message is, "Raise more hell."
Punish the Right-Wing Liars
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
If the right-wing media keeps spreading lies like the one about Barack Obama supposedly going to a madrassa as a child, it's time to consider hiring the meanest lawyers on the planet to fight these creeps.
What does it mean to say that we've lost in Iraq?
By Jan Frel
If you're willing to admit that we've lost in Iraq, don't stop there: what are the implications?
Olbermann: Bush's 96 words of BS [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Counter-terrorism "successes" are just ... wrong.
How to Beat the Right Wing
Cliff Schecter: In a word: Synergy.
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Apple Computers: Fun for You, Toxic for the Environment
By Jess Hemerly, AlterNet
Apple positions itself as the technological haven for the hip, the progressive, and the revolutionary. But when it comes to the environment, Apple is quite out of touch.
Wal-Mart's New Marketing Strategy Hides Dirty Practices
By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
Wal-Mart is making over its image to cater to a more affluent crowd. But behind its increasingly upscale image are the same lowbrow business tactics.
What Progressives Have in Common with the Military
By Lorelei Kelly, In These Times
An alliance between these two seemingly disparate groups could help address problems in Iraq and build future policy.
Food Becomes Curriculum in School Lunch Revolution
By Tom Philpott, Grist Magazine
Maverick chef Ann Cooper aims to spark a nationwide school-lunch revolution. Currently, 78 percent of schools in America do not meet USDA nutritional guidelines.
In Bush's War on Terror, Immigrants Are Both Soldiers and Targets
By Roberto Lovato, New America Media
The war on terror is morphing into a war on immigration, with immigrants finding themselves on both sides of the conflict.
Audio Slideshow: From Washington, DC with Peace
By Nina Berman, AlterNet
Hundreds of thousands of people marched on Washington this Saturday to protest the war. Experience it yourself with imagery and sounds captured by photojournalist Nina Berman.
Minimum Wage Increase Is Good for Business
By Chuck Collins, TomPaine.com
A growing number of business owners are supporting the minimum wage increase, which the Senate may vote on tomorrow.
Republicans Scared Stiff of Bush's War Bumbles
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Massive public discontent with Bush's hopelessly flawed and failed Iraq war cost the Republicans big in November and has them scared stiff about their future.
Disturbing video of US Soldiers assisting in Civil War [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
A different kind of escalation ...
How the anti-war movement wins in the end
By Joshua Holland
The Real McCain provides a model.
GOP stalls on minimum wage to avoid Iraq votes
By Bob Geiger
Republicans' real fear is taking stand on Iraq.
"Girls Gone Wild" mogul's own sex tape up for grabs
By Lindsay Beyerstein
He & Paris Hilton have "pit-bull legal team."
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New Fatherhood Initiative Leaves Some Dads in the Cold
By Amy DePaul, AlterNet
The Bush Administration's new initiative to improve fatherhood in America raises questions about how best to strengthen families: by encouraging parenting skills or by promoting marriage?
ExxonMobil's War on Science
By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., HuffingtonPost.com
With an elaborate network of phony think tanks and slick public relations firms, ExxonMobil has become today's Big Tobacco, defrauding the public and waging a war on science.
Facing Up to the Immense Challenge of Immigration Reform
By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real
Pizzo argues that liberals are flummoxed by the issue of immigration and losing ground by being overly politically correct. He says our focus should be on common-sense rules and enforcement.
The Rest of the Story: a Response to Stephen Pizzo
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
What Pizzo misses is that a comprehensive immigration debate should include the effects of trade policies, reforming the World Bank, and providing debt relief to poorer countries.
The Most Feared Woman on Capitol Hill
By Linda Burstyn, Ms. Magazine
Corrupt politicians like Tom DeLay have complained miserably about Melanie Sloan and her ethics watchdog group -- so she must be doing something right.
Did Spitting 'Victim' from DC Protest Cry Wolf?
By Dave Johnson, AlterNet
The media interest surrounding Private Joshua Sparling's claim that he was spit at during the Washington, DC, protest merits skepticism considering that his previous claims of victimhood have turned out inaccurate, and that he's been a frequent associate of right-wing figures such as Sean Hannity and Oliver North.
Bias on eBay
By Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
Buyers in the U.S. usually give positive feedback or no feedback at all, inflating people's eBay "reputations."
Bush appointee unable to utter the words "Global Warming" [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Dems reveal Bush revisions as unscientific, industry gifts...
Reporter defeats gov. intimidation
By Evan Derkacz
But refusenik officer still faces prison...
Important care options for disabled being ignored
By Prema Polit
Community services for the developmentally disabled do need help, but outdated institutions are not the solution.
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National Health Insurance Now, Not Later
By Stephen Fleischman, AlterNet
Health care costs continue to skyrocket, and 47 million people remain uninsured. Sooner, if not later, the system will crash. Must we wait for that to happen?
What Place Does Race Have in Sports?
By Derek Jennings, AlterNet
Why it matters that two black coaches will be in the Super Bowl this year.
9/11: The Case Isn't Closed
By Sander Hicks, AlterNet
In defense of the "9/11 truth movement."
Which Will It Be America, Empire or Democracy?
By Chalmers Johnson, Tomdispatch.com
The dream of the Bush administration -- eternal global domination -- disappeared in Iraq. But it remains to be seen if the American people will choose to keep their empire or return to a constitutional democracy.
Holding Bush Back from Attacking Iran
By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Bush will not likely ask permission to make war on Iran, and it's up to Congress to stop him
Government Lies Over Najaf 'Cult' Battle Exposed
By Dahr Jamail, Ali Al-Fadhily, IPS News
The Iraqi government lied about the killing of hundreds of Shias in an attack on Sunday aided by American forces, with the possible motive of stifling growing Shia-Sunni unity in the area of Najaf.
Good Golly, How We'll Miss Molly
By Arianna Huffington, HuffingtonPost.com
Unlike so many of the smart-assed satirists of our day, she was a woman. A classy lady with a pair of brass cojones.
You can stop the Iraq War right now [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Join the "virtual march" (and watch McCain slouch toward cowardice...)
Update: Cartoon Marketing Ignites Bomb Scare [VIDEO]
By Philip Barron
Pranksters give finger to the media...
"Justice" under the treads of a tank ...
By Joshua Holland
Winning hearts and minds.
-----
War on Iran: Stop Bush Before He Starts
By Robert Parry, Consortium News
Much as he did before the Iraq invasion, George W. Bush is limiting the debate about war with Iran, offering assurances that he considers war "a last resort" even as he moves his military forces into place.
Thanks, Readers: Amy Goodman Column funded for year!
Thanks to the 119 people who contributed, Amy Goodman's column will be published every week in 2007 (see this week's column below). Because of your promising response, we even exceeded our goal, so we are devoting the extra funds to bringing you transcripts of key interviews from Democracy Now!.
Ehren Watada Leads The Way Out Of Iraq
By Amy Goodman, King Features Syndicate
The military court stifled Watada's challenge to the war's legality, but his stand reveals the path those in power should follow.
Will Hillary Cave on Health Care?
By Jeff Cohen, AlterNet
It's conventional wisdom that Iraq is the issue that will hurt Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency, but if she offers vague rhetoric and half-way measures on health care, it could destroy her campaign.
Impeachment by the People
By Howard Zinn, AlterNet
Remembering our country's history of grassroots movements can energize calls for impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
Readers Write: Can Apple and the Tech Industry Be 'Green'?
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet
Our readers questioned whether Apple deserved its low environmental rating from Greenpeace and what can be done to green the tech industry.
The Most Important Church-State Decision You Never Heard of
By Rob Boston, Church and State
Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that kicked off the culture wars, marks its 60th anniversary.
It's Way Too Late for Nonbinding Resolutions on Iraq
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
This week, Senate Democrats agreed with key Republicans on a watered-down resolution opposing Bush's troop escalation. It may be smart politics, but it's bad policy.
The Big Game
By Will Durst, AlterNet
I'll root for the Colts, as their fair city has never won ... anything ... ever, except the record for auto accidents over Memorial Day weekend.
Daily Show's Scooty Libby Primer [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
All you ever wanted to know about the Bush admin's apparent crime but were too tired to ask...
World's leading scientists spell out the dangers of climate change
By Tara Lohan
Tara Lohan: We made our bed, now we are going to have to swim in it.
Charles Krauthammer: Iraq was begging for it!
By Joshua Holland
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions may work for others, but we have a short attention-span and neo-con historical revisionism.
-----
Who's Funding Global Warming?
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet
Find out which banks are part of the problem, and which are part of the solution, in the fight against global climate change.
The Man Who Might Make Obama President
By Christopher Hayes, The Nation
David Axelrod, Barack Obama's closest political adviser, is applying the lessons he learned from Chicago's ugly racialized politics.
Nonprofits in a Time of War
By Mark Rosenman, AlterNet
Nonprofits have the responsibility of outrage when government policy creates and exacerbates misery: Charities need to speak up and demand that Congress get Washington's foreign policy and its financial priorities in order.
From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil
By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet
An in-depth look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the events leading up to them, and the players who made them possible.
Israel's Economic Stranglehold of Palestine Is a Silent Killer
By Nora Barrows-Friedman, IPS News
Daily life has become a constant struggle for the ordinary Palestinian trying to put food on the table or run a business within a choking, round-the-clock military occupation.
McCain's 47-second flip-flop
By Joshua Holland
It's a new land-speed record!
-----
From the Center for American Progress
GOOD NEWS
"MySpace.com will donate a national computer database on U.S. sex offenders to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the popular social-networking site said Monday."
STATE WATCH
NEW YORK: State government "lifted a barrier that prevented Medicaid recipients from accessing emergency contraception medication without a prescription."
VERMONT: "Vermont's being left behind" in the creation and use of renewable energy.
STATE PROGRESS: The Center for American Progress's newsletter examines embryonic stem cell progress nationwide. Subscribe to State Progress here.
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: Audio: President Bush says Vice President Cheney is a "half-glass-full" kinda guy.
POLITICAL ANIMAL: The death of glaciers.
VOTEVETS: Iraq vets launch anti-escalation ad campaign.
CARPETBAGGER REPORT: Exploring the Vice President's inner circle.
DAILY GRILL
"The United States remains committed to a unified, democratic and prosperous Iraq and looks forward to the continued cooperation of the international community for Iraq's future."
-- Then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, 11/28/06
VERSUS
"The United States has no strategic interest in the fact that there's one Iraq, or three Iraqs. ... We have a strategic interest in the fact of ensuring that what emerges is not a state in complete collapse, which could become a refuge for terrorists or a terrorist state."
-- Bolton, 1/29/07
-----
GOOD NEWS
Activists who have been "pressing for big boosts to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis overseas won a $1.3 billion increase -- to $4.5 billion" -- in the omnibus spending bill Congress is considering.
STATE WATCH
MINNESOTA: State lawmakers tackle global warming.
MONTANA: "Montana moves to reject Real ID Act." Find out more on REAL ID here.
CALIFORNIA: State lawmaker wants California to "ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs."
FLORIDA: Jailed rape victim is denied emergency contraception because of jail worker's religious convictions.
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN): White House barred John Negroponte from saying "global" and "warming" in same sentence.
TPM MUCKRAKER: Following up on hearing exchange, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) writes Secretary Rice on Iran.
IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE: Blog devoted to student/youth activism on climate change.
ZDNET: FBI turns to broad new wiretap method.
DAILY GRILL
"Our goal is a democratic Iraq that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its people, provides them security, and is an ally in the war on terror."
-- President Bush, State of the Union, 1/23/07
VERSUS
"Maybe we ought to redefine the goals here a bit and do something that's more realistic in terms of getting some progress and then maybe take on the other things later."
-- Adm. William Fallon, Bush's nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East, 1/30/07
-----
GOOD NEWS
New legislation introduced by Sens. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) will "punish attempts to deceive and intimidate voters," including "knowingly communicating false information about the time and place of an election or about voter eligibility rules."
STATE WATCH
INDIANA: State Senate "voted to advance a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the state."
FLORIDA: Gov. Charlie Crist (R) hopes to "replace Florida's maligned ATM-style voting machines with systems that provide a clear paper trail."
VIRGINIA: "Virginia moved forward on Wednesday to apologize for slavery, something no president or legislature has done."
ENVIRONMENT: Almost "375 mayors of large and small cities from 50 states" have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement to combat global warming and its effects.
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: As White House plays the anti-military card, troops go without guns, supplies, armor.
TEXAS OBSERVER: Remembering legendary columnist Molly Ivins. (Read her final column.)
BOB GEIGER: A young Marine dies of PTSD -- and neglect.
WINDOW ON WASHINGTON: House Judiciary Chairman Conyers (D-MI) announces formal probe of presidential signing statements.
DAILY GRILL
WSJ: Was there a moment in the war when you said we have to make a major change in the way we're doing things in Iraq?
GWB: Yes, there was.
WSJ: When was that?
GWB: September/October.
-- Wall Street Journal interview with President Bush, 1/31/07
VERSUS
"I believe that the military strategy we have is going to work. That's what I believe."
-- President Bush, 10/25/06
-----
GOOD NEWS
Great Britain plans to put children on "the front line of the battle to save the planet," by making issues of sustainable development -- such as energy saving and recycling -- a compulsory part of the school curriculum.
STATE WATCH
INDIANA: State House "voted 71-29 Tuesday to raise the minimum wage to $7.50 an hour by September 2008." Bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
MINNESOTA: "A committee in the Minnesota Senate unanimously approved a bill that would require utility companies to get at least a quarter of their energy from renewable sources."
UTAH: State representative introduces a bill to ban abortion in Utah.
ARIZONA: Bill would require women to disclose their reasons for having an abortion, which doctors would then report to state officials.
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: Laura Bush defends President on global warming: "I don't think that's fair criticism"
WASHINGTON WIRE: New poll shows strong opposition to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
THE INTERSECTION: IPCC weighs in on global warming and hurricanes.
E&P: A Molly Ivins retrospective.
DAILY GRILL
"So America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq."
-- President Bush, 1/10/07
VERSUS
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that "additional support troops would be deployed in the same proportion to combat troops that currently exists in Iraq. That approach would require about 28,000 support troops in addition to the 20,000 combat troops -- a total of 48,000."
-- CBO, 2/1/07, on the actual number of troops that will be needed for Bush's escalation plan
-----
GOOD NEWS
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) "signed an order Friday making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer."
STATE WATCH
MICHIGAN: Court of Appeals rules that state's same-sex marriage ban also "blocks public universities and state and local governments from providing health insurance benefits to the partners of gay workers."
LOUISIANA: Post-Katrina New Orleans is now more dangerous than ever, pushing the "criminal justice system over the edge."
HEALTH CARE: Number of U.S. citizens "enrolling in Medicaid has dropped in several states over new ID and citizenship requirements intended to keep illegal immigrants out of the program."
BLOG WATCH
THINK PROGRESS: Video: William Kristol says Iraq chaos shows that insurgents are "worried."
TALKING POINTS MEMO: Former Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) regrets voting for 2002 Iraq resolution.
DAILY HOWLER: Time's Jay Carney defines "mainstream" African-Americans as those "who didn't come from the civil rights movement."
CARPETBAGGER REPORT: Note to the right: Fox's 24 is just a TV show.
DAILY GRILL
"Took us a long time to get in the situation we re in, and to say that -- and somehow assume that in a few months, that things are going to get all better I think is not realistic."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 2/4/07, on his expectations of the escalation strategy
VERSUS
STEPHANOPOULOS: "You say it s all in. How long are you going to give it to work?"
MCCAIN: "I think in the case of the Iraqi government cooperating and doing what s necessary, we can know fairly well in a few months."
-- McCain, 2/4/07, 47 seconds later
-----
From “Democracy Now!”
Send a Message to Congress Today: Save Public Access TV!
Take Action Today at: http://saveaccess.org/node/688
Dear saveaccess supporter,
We need you to send a letter today! The new Senate Commerce Committee meets on Thursday this week in a Hearing entitled: "Assessing the Communications Marketplace: A View from the FCC".
This annual Q/A of the FCC by the Senate Committee is an important moment for us to respond to the December 20th FCC Ruling on Video Franchising. That FCC ruling went far deeper than the failed Congressional legislation of last year in attacking Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) Access channels and facilities. It also threatens local municipalities ability to exercise control over their 'rights of way" and provides little protection against the red-lining of entire communities. Worse of all, the FCC hearing on the matter was rife with inaccuracies and half-truths that even the phone companies backed away from. Such behavior by a Federal agency is reprehensible and we demand full accountability now!
The many organizations representing cities, along with the Alliance for Community Media, have promised a lawsuit - but we need for the Senate to hear from the people and for them to respond accordingly. Congressional intervention can stop this mess now!
Please take a moment today to send our letter to the Senate committee! We have to ensure that 'local video franchising' is on the Senate's list of problematic issues with the FCC (because it's a long list!). And though we are seriously miffed about this mess, we have a proper and polite letter you can send to all the members of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Take Action Today at: http://saveaccess.org/node/688
Thank you!
-----
* Government Scientists Accuse Bush Administration of Interfering,
Misleading on Climate Change *
According to a new survey, hundreds of government scientists say they have
perceived or personally experienced pressure from the Bush administration to
eliminate phrases such as “climate change” and “global warming” from their
reports and public statements. One of those scientists -- NASA climatologist
Drew Shindell -- testified Tuesday before the Committee on House Oversight
and Government Reform.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/1543215
* Blood of the Earth: Dilip Hiro on the Battle for the World's Vanishing Oil
Resources *
In his new book, veteran Middle East Journalist Dilip Hiro offers a detailed
account of how and why the planet's limited supply of oil has come to
revolutionize human behavior, politics and warfare across the globe. He
joins us for a wide-ranging interview.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/1543222
* As Police Arrest Public Housing Activists in New Orleans, Federal
Officials Try to Silence Leading Attorney for Low-Income Residents *
New Orleans police raided the Saint Bernard housing project this morning
where activists had been occupying a building to prevent government plans to
demolish it. Meanwhile, the Housing Authority of New Orleans has sent a
letter to one of the lead lawyers for the residents, Bill Quigley, asking
him to stop speaking to the media and to remove statements he made that
appear in several online videos.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/1543227
* Revealed: FBI Internet Surveillance More Extensive Than Previously Known *
The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique
that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been
disclosed. C-NET News reports that instead of recording only what a
particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be
assembling data on thousands of Internet users at a time into massive
databases.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/1543233
* Headlines for January 31, 2007 *
- Ex-Bush Counsel: Congress Can Stop Iraq War
- Murtha to Hold Hearings on Iraq Military Contractors
- Doubts Raised over US-Iraq Claim on Najaf Battle
- Germany Charges 13 US Operatives in CIA Kidnapping
- Castro Appears in First Images in 3 Months
- NASA Scientist: Bush Admin Censored Climate Reports
- Woman Arrested, Denied Contraceptive After Reporting Rape
- Jury: Seattle Police Violated WTO Protester Rights
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/1543211
-----
* Molly Ivins, 1944-2007: Legendary Texas Journalist Dies After Long Bout
With Breast Cancer *
The syndicated columnist and best-selling author Molly Ivins passed away
last night following a long bout with breast cancer. Her weekly column
appeared in over 400 newspapers making her the most widely read progressive
columnist in the country.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1529226
* Battle in Najaf: Is US-Iraqi Claim of Gunfight with Messianic Cult
Cover-up for a Massacre? *
There are new doubts about the US and Iraqi claim that the hundreds of
people killed in a battle in Najaf over the weekend were members of a
messianic cult. Reports indicate the official story might actually be a
cover-up for a massacre. We speak with London Independent correspondent
Patrick Cockburn and Dr. Amer Majeed, a doctor who treated the wounded.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1530252
* The Libby Trial: Time Magazine Reporter Testifies Karl Rove First Revealed
Identity of CIA Operative Valerie Plame *
David Corn of the Nation magazine joins us with the latest on the trial of
Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
Former Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper testified Wednesday that it was
President Bush's political advisor, Karl Rove, who first revealed the CIA
status of Valerie Plame. Cooper follows former New York Times reporter
Judith Miller, who acknowledged she had conversations with other government
officials and could not be “absolutely certain” that she first heard about
Plame from Libby.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1532228
* Headlines for February 1, 2007 *
- Dems, GOPers Agree to Non-Binding Measure Against Troop Surge
- White House, CIA Silent on Kidnap Arrest Warrants
- Venezuela Congress Grants Chavez Decree Powers
- EU Calls for Limits on Financial Surveillance Program
- In Reversal, Gonzales Releases Wiretap Docs
- Up to 15% of Iraq Reconstruction Funds Lost to Waste, Fraud
- Biden: Obama First “Mainstream,” “Clean” Black Candidate
- Immigration Fees Near-Tripled
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1529221
-----
* The Case of Ali al-Marri: Can the Bush Administration Indefinitely Detain
Legal Residents Without Charge? *
The Bush administration has declared Ali al-Marri an --enemy combatant-- and
is claiming the right to jail him forever without pressing charges. On
Thursday al-Marri's attorneys appeared in a federal court to fight his
five-year detention. The case marks one of the first challenges of the
Military Commission Act and its suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus.
Constitutional scholars warn that if the government prevails it would expose
more than twenty million noncitizens residing in the United States to the
risk of indefinite detention on the basis of unfounded rumors, mistaken
identity and lies.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1533231
* German Arrest Warrants for CIA Kidnapping, Torture of Khaled El-Masri Come
as US Extraordinary Rendition Scrutinized Around the Globe *
German prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for thirteen CIA operatives
linked to the kidnapping and torture of German citizen Khaled El-Masri. The
arrest warrants were announced at a time that the US practice known as
extraordinary rendition is coming under increasing scrutiny around the
globe. We speak with award-winning journalist Stephen Grey.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1533236
* Former CIA Inspector General Calls for End to “Illegal,” “Immoral”
Extraordinary Rendition Program *
Frederick Hitz served as inspector general at the Central Intelligence
Agency from 1990 to 1998. He says: “I'm against extraordinary rendition on a
number of grounds. Principally, because of the immorality of it, the
illegality of it, [and] the fact that it doesn't work.”
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1533243
* Do Chavez's New Decree Powers Undermine Venezuelan Democracy? A Debate *
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Thursday that his government
would move toward nationalizing major parts of the country's oil industry.
The announcement came just one day after the Venezuelan National Assembly
agreed to Chavez's request that he be allowed to rule by decree for the next
18 months. Since being re-elected in December with 63 percent of the vote,
Chavez has put forward a series of sweeping reforms that will lay the
groundwork for what he describes as “Bolivarian socialism.” Critics of this
measure say it gives Chavez far too much authority. We host a debate.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1533248
* Headlines for February 2, 2007 *
- Human-Caused Global Warming Could be Insurmountable
- Scientists Offered $10,000 to Challenge Climate Report
- Exxon-Mobil Posts Record $39.5 Billion Profit
- 60 Killed, 150 Wounded in Iraq Bombing
- Study: Iraq Escalation Could Double in Size, Cost
- Senate Approve Min. Wage Increase
- 20-Year US Effort to Deport Palestinian Activists Dismissed
- Florida to Abandon Touch-Screen Voting
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/02/1533228
-----
* Ralph Nader on Why He Might Run In 2008, the Iraq War & the New
Documentary "An Unreasonable Man" *
Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader says he will
decide later this year whether to run for president in 2008. Today he also
looks back at his childhood and his new book "Seventeen Traditions." In
addition, film director Henriette Mantel joins us to talk about "An
Unreasonable Man."
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/05/1532248
* American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion *
Paul Barrett talks about his new book "American Islam" and Asra Nomani
recalls how in November 2003 she became the first woman to insist on the
right to pray in the male-only main hall of her mosque in West Virginia.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/05/1532255
* Headlines for February 5, 2007 *
- U.S. Rejects New UN Environmental Body
- 1,000 Killed In Iraq Over Past Week
- Military Admits Four U.S. Helicopters Shot Down
- Saudis Help Sunnis Buy Anti-Aircraft Missiles
- Senate To Vote on Non-Binding Iraq Resolution
- Bush Seeks Hundreds of Billions More For War
- Activists Launch Occupation Project
- NIE Predicts Situation in Iraq Will Worsen
- Sen. Clinton Refuses to Rule Out Backing Iran Attack
- 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's Court Martial Begins
- NYPD Stop & Frisk Over 500,000 In 2006
- U.S. Troops Levels in Afghanistan Reach New High
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/05/1532242
-----
From Media Savvy
Lewis Libby Trial Coverage Central
Read Rory O'Connor's coverage as well as our media roundup in this unfolding historical event.
CNBC's Maria Bartiromo In Hot Water For Corporate Jet Rides
A classic case of big business meets big media and big journalists getting big perks from big businessmen.
Today's Global Warming Debate, Brought To You By ExxonMobil
Are the oil companies sponsoring bad science, or is global warming a global hoax?
I Can t Remember What I Don t Remember: Libby Trial Recap
Audiotapes of Libby s closed-door testimony will be entered into evidence. First, however, lawyers for the opposing sides will argue over the public release of those tapes.
Apple Takes A Bite Out Of The Media Market, Microsoft
Apple's latest adventures and misadventures in the media.
It's Rush Limbaugh Vs. Al Gore In A Nobel Peace Prizefight
The Nineties revisit the Nobel Peace Prizes--who really deserves the prize? The talk-radio ratings champ, or the former veep-turned-filmmaker?
-----
From HuffPo
Arianna Huffington: The Administration Punts Again...Why Does the Press Play Along?
AP
From Arianna Huffington's Blog:
One of the small satisfactions of the Libby trial has been getting certain things that we all already knew confirmed by various former White House officials...
...It was Ari Fleischer, the "pig in a poke" to whom Patrick Fitzgerald "reluctantly" granted immunity, confirming what we already knew about the famous "16 words" about the Niger yellow cake in Bush's State of the Union speech in 2003.
"I had been told to be careful not to stand by the 16 words, that the ground might be shifting on that," Fleischer said. "You can't say yes. You can't say no. At that briefing, I basically punted. I said yes and no."
Click here to read more.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Sen. Russ Feingold: Breaking Another Iraq Taboo
Bob Cesca: That One May Smile, And Smile, And Be Cheney
Jeralyn Merritt: Never in His Wildest Dreams
Gen. Wesley Clark: Taking on the Escalation -- Vets Leading the Way
-----
Arianna Huffington: Judy Miller Swears To Tell The Truth
AP
From Arianna Huffington's Blog:
The Aspen trees are rustling in D.C. Judy Miller, the only person to go to jail so far in L'Affaire Plame, took the stand today. A few bon mots caught my attention. Among them was Miller's description of the last post she held at the New York Times: "free ranging investigative reporter." How nice that the "free range" trend has expanded from the supermarket aisles to the Times' newsroom. No longer should reporters be hemmed in and confined by truth and reality. Now they can roam all over the rhetorical field.
Click here to read more.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Naomi Foner: You Don't Need a Weatherman to Tell Which Way the Wind is Blowing
Chris Kelly: George Bush Throws a Veteran Under a Train
Harry Shearer: You Mean USA Today Gets It Wrong, Too?
Bob Cesca: The UN Predicts A Global Disaster -- And Right Soon
-----
Al Eisele: Looking for Scapegoats in D.C.
AP
Excerpted From Al Eisele's Blog:
...But I'm concerned that senators like McCain, who sees the Iraq war through the perspective of his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and as a presidential candidate in 2008, will try to make Gen. Casey a scapegoat for the political and diplomatic failures of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, now that former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld is no longer a target.
If the senators are looking for a scapegoat, they should look no further than Rumsfeld or Cheney or Paul Wolfowitz or neoconservative former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith...who told the Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday that "it now appears that there may have been substantial preparation by Saddam Hussein's regime for an insurgency of this kind, and yet the intelligence community didn't find it."
Click here to read more.
ON THE BLOG TODAY
Adam McKay: And Then There Were Thirty...
Marty Kaplan: The Founders Fumbled
Tony Campolo: Religion After Freud
Mike Stark: Jonah Goldberg Agrees: The French Were Right
-----
From Thom Hartmann
Hi!
First off, just a quick announcement that Al Franken will be leaving Air America on February 14th, and I'll be replacing him the next week on most stations (and the next day in New York and a few other stations). If you have a local Air America Station and would like to hear my show, please let them know.
Here's an article I just posted on Common Dreams. I'll be sending you another email with a book review of Cannery Row from Buzzflash in a short while.
Join The Parade For We The People
by Thom Hartmann
This weekend I was in Washington, DC. Prior to the antiwar protest, I went to interfaith service Saturday morning at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation and heard breathtaking sermons from Rev. Robert Hardies, Sister Carol Miller, Ms. Khalila Sabra, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rev. Graylan Hagler, and Bhante Suhita Dharma.
My old friend Rabbi Michael Lerner (disclosure: I was on the advisory board of Tikkun for years) highlighted the gig with a rousing call to action in the streets, and he and I marched partway to the demonstration together.
But what all the speakers knew, and the people in the (literally) overflowing church knew, was that it wasn't about any "big names" or "leaders." It was about the people marching. The people sitting in the pews. The people who went largely unreported in the mainstream media, but ultimately will transform this nation. The people who comprise the Parade.
Ultimately, it's all about the Parade - "We The People." The ultimate question for Americans - one we've been debating since 1787, is: "Do we run our country, or do our politicians?"
This issue - the power of the Parade, of We The People speaking up and speaking out and participating in the political process - was the primary debate in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention. Tragically, it will again be hotly contested as the House of Representatives begins to investigate potential crimes by the Executive branch and the Bush administration begins to push back and claim executive privilege (a doctrine that appears nowhere in the Constitution).
Now, as then, the cleavage will be between the liberal vision of a nation "Of the people, by the people, for the people," versus the conservative vision of a nation with a thin veneer of democracy over a government run by an elite meritocracy (with the governing merit being "wealth").
In 1787, the debate broke out into the open when Alexander Hamilton, on a hot June day, gave a long-winded speech about how America should be an elected monarchy. He said, as James Madison transcribed in his notes on the Convention, "The British Government was the best in the world: and that he [Hamilton] doubted much whether any thing short of it would do in America."
Hamilton added, according to Madison, "Let the Executive [President] also be for life."
The delegates soundly rejected Hamilton's conservative vision of America, and he left most of the subsequent deliberations to his peers, going back to New York two days after his infamous speech. (To his credit, when the Convention was finished he was the only New York representative to sign the new Constitution, and he argued strongly for its ratification in a series of newspaper articles today known collectively as "The Federalist Papers" co-authored with John Jay and James Madison.)
But the dynamic push-and-pull between conservatives who believe in an elite controlling government and liberals who believe We The People should hold all power has gone on from the founding of this nation to today. After George Washington - who referred to himself and to our nation as "liberal" - left office, the conservative John Adams followed him. Adams referred to the average folk as "the rabble," and was so suspicious of us that he pushed through the Alien and Sedition Laws in 1798, allowing him to imprison anybody for saying anything he considered slanderous about himself.
But the liberals carried the day in the election of 1800 (sometimes referred to as "the Revolution of 1800"), throwing out conservative John Adams and electing the liberal Jefferson.
Liberals like Jefferson had long believed in giving all power to We The People - the Parade. For example, Jefferson wrote in 1788 to CWF Dumas, "I have such reliance on the good sense of the body of the people and the honesty of their leaders that I am not afraid of their letting things go wrong to any length in any cause."
A year later, in a letter to David Humphreys, Jefferson repeated his faith in the rabble. "Whenever our affairs go obviously wrong," he wrote, "the good sense of the people will interpose and set them to rights."
And a decade after leaving the presidency, Jefferson - having held that executive office for eight turbulent years - still believed in the Parade. As he wrote to Spencer Roane in 1819, "Independence can be trusted nowhere but with the people in mass. They are inherently independent of all but moral law."
The Parade was the core concept of the Founders and Framers of this nation. Their idea was that we don't elect leaders - we elect representatives.
It's not about who's in Washington, our state capitols, or our county or municipal offices. It's about us.
One of the most effective ways to trivialize the political process is to turn it into a sports event. From TV commentators to radio talk show hosts to bloggers and pundits of all stripe, calculating the game of "who's going to win" is a powerful and effective tool for diminishing a discussion of the real issues and the real role of We The People in politics.
Such a discussion trivializes activism. It trivializes the Parade. Ultimately, it trivializes We The People - us.
When we look back on the history of political movements in America, none has ever been instigated by a politician. They've always arisen out of the Parade. From the liberal democratic republic we founded, to the abolition movement, to the suffrage movement, to the anti-war, civil rights, and women's rights movements of the last century, every one originated with masses of people standing up and speaking out as we did this past weekend.
And in every case, when a critical mass of people became passionate enough to form a Parade, eventually a politician jumped out in front of it and said, "This is MY parade!"
Abraham Lincoln was not elected on a platform of freeing the slaves. Teddy Roosevelt never spoke of taking on the trusts and the Robber Barons before becoming president. Franklin Roosevelt ran on a very middle-of-the-road platform in the election of 1932.
Now it appears that at least one of our Democratic politicians has noticed the Parade.
"Do you believe that you have a unique selling point up against Hillary and Obama?" Chris Matthews asked John Edwards on his Hardball program on MSNBC, on the 28th of December.
- "I think I have a different perspective on what needs to be done in this country," Edwards replied. "Some people believe that we should campaign, hope that the candidate that we vote for will be elected president, and somehow that president is going to go out there and solve all our problems. I just think that's not going to happen. If we want to actually change this country, the only way to do it is for America to get involved.
- "You've heard Bill Clinton and others talk about 'individual responsibility.' I'm not talking about 'individual responsibility.' I'm talking about responsibility for your country. We want people to take responsibility for their country; to not just wait for the government to solve their problems but for the government and Americans to work together to solve problems, which is why I've been talking about Americans going out there and taking actions, instead of just waiting for the next election. I think that's different."
When Matthews pointed out that Bush's solution to America's problems is to "just go out and go shopping," Edwards asked rhetorically, "What planet is he living on?"
He then spoke directly to the concept of the Parade:
- "After September 11th [2001], we had an extraordinary moment of unity and a proud feeling of patriotism - I had it myself, all of us had it - and it was a great opportunity for us tap into the will of the American people to do great things together. Not just for themselves, but for America.
- "I don't think that will and feeling has gone away. And the next president of the United States needs to tap into it - not in an ideological or partisan way - but say, 'These are the great things that we can do as Americans. But you can't sit home and complain that somebody else is not doing their job. If you actually want America to be great, you're going to have to step out and take some responsibility yourself and do something."
Matthews pointed out that George W. Bush, "a president of limited rhetorical ability," managed to turn Americans against the French, against French fries, against Europe, whereas in World War II, the children of the "elite" (from all four of FDR's sons, who all served in combat, to Joe Kennedy's two eldest sons, one of whom was killed and the other shot out of the water by the Japanese) served in the war, and Americans sacrificed (butter and tire rationing, for example). "How," Matthews wanted to know, "do we engage the public in the war effort today"?
- "That was a time," Edwards replied, "when the president didn't just take action through the government. The president said to the American people, 'If we want to do the things we want to do - support the war effort, like you just asked about - we're going to have to do it together, and you're going to have to get off your duff and go out there and show how much you love your country.' He [Roosevelt] inspired people to do that, and that's exactly the kind of thing we need again."
Edwards then went on to draw his metaphor out beyond war.
- "I think there are multiple levels on which we need to do that. You just asked about the war. This is an area where the decision-making about the war is primarily the President of the United States' responsibility, but speaking out and making our views heard is the responsibility of America. Doing something about our energy situation, which is a total disaster - both the energy situation and what is happening with global warming - this is something that the government alone can't fix. My own view about it is that we ought to ask America to be patriotic about something other than just war."
Edwards' entire rap was about the Parade. Hopefully we'll soon be hearing the same from the other Democratic candidates, as they figure out that people want "representation," and the type of "leadership" America has historically done best with is leadership from the front of an already-moving Parade.
FDR spoke of the Parade when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
JFK called people to the Parade when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask, rather, what you can do for your country."
Ben Franklin openly endorsed the Parade, saying: "In free governments the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns."
Americans love the Parade - the idea that We The People are really the ones in charge, and that we want our representatives to represent us, not to "lead" us. It's in our political DNA. Our Founding document - our original political gene pool - speaks of it: "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
This isn't meant as an endorsement of Edwards, although I have little doubt he would make a fine president, even though I do disagree with him on past votes and many issues. That's not the point: rather, it's an agreement with his push that we all join the Parade.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote to Edmund Randolph, a year before Jefferson became President:
- "The whole body of the nation is the sovereign legislative, judiciary, and executive power for itself. The inconvenience of meeting to exercise these powers in person, and their inaptitude to exercise them, induce them to appoint special organs [branches of government] to declare their legislative will, to judge and to execute it. It is the will of the nation which makes the law obligatory; it is their will which creates or annihilates the organ [government] which is to declare and announce it [the will of the people]."
It's not enough to sit around and wait for politicians to do things - we must be guiding them. It's not enough to simply vote - we must be active in the political process, from local party work (any party!), to joining activist movements, to writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper and calling into talk shows.
If you want to help save democracy in America, join the Parade!
Thom Hartmann is a Project Censored Award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of eighteen books and the host of a nationally syndicated noon-3pm ET daily progressive talk show syndicated by Air America Radio. His website is at www.thomhartmann.com His most recent books are "Walking Your Blues Away" and Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class and What We Can Do About It.
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Hello again -
This is a book review I just published for Buzzflash (they support their site by selling books) that I thought you may find interesting. You can pick up the book through their site at the link in the previous sentence.
"Cannery Row" by John Steinback - Thom Hartmann's "Independent Thinker" Book of the Month Review
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 01/29/2007 - 7:46am. Thom Hartmann
THOM HARTMANN'S "INDEPENDENT THINKER" BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW
"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Reviewed by Thom Hartmann
Arguably, there's nothing whatever political about "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck. It chronicles the lives of some of the residents of Monterey, California in the early 20th century, before the great ecological disaster (mostly over-fishing - it's still debated) of the mid-1940s that wiped out the sardine harvest and threw the boom town into bust. There's Doc, the central focus of the novel, based on a close friend of Steinbeck's, Edward F. Ricketts, one of America's most famous marine biologists. And Mack, who's always trying to do good and never quite making it. And an entire cast of characters that reflect the aura of America in the 1930s.
On the other hand, one could argue that the book is entirely political - today - because it shows us a slice of America before the Great Corporate Homogenizers got ahold of us.
Before we walled ourselves into our highly-mortgaged houses to stare for hours, alone, at our TVs, eating the mental gruel of multinational corporations who profit from wars.
Before our highest ideal - our "American Dream" - was to build up a small business so we could sell it off to Disney, as did the woman Bush congratulated in his State of the Union speech, but when the real American Dream was grounded in community, safety, friendship, and a healthy acceptance of eccentricity.
In 1968, I hitchhiked from Michigan to San Francisco, lived there for half a year, and then hitchhiked back. Every city was different. Restaurants were locally owned. Hotels and motels had eccentric names. Every main street was different. It was fascinating, an exploration in a very literal sense, discovering hundreds of communities that were all uniquely different from each other.
But after Reagan's "revolution" and he stopped enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act for all practical purposes, mega-corporations moved in. For much of the 1990s, I made a living in part as a consultant to a variety of organizations, leading me all around the USA (and the world). I logged over 7 million miles just on Delta Airlines. And the quirky, unique, personality-rich cities of America had been replaced by chain stores, chain restaurants, chain hotels, and franchises. Today if you were to parachute randomly into any town or city in America, it may take you days to find a commercial landmark that would uniquely identify the place.
In this regard - highly political in that it shows us how different the pre-Reagan America was from the post-Reagan America, Cannery Row is a political book.
I didn't go looking for "Cannery Row." As I sat with my father this past summer, helplessly watching him choke and gag on his own blood as he died from asbestos-caused mesothelioma (thanks in part to one of Dick Cheney's companies) while my brothers and I tried to comfort him, I saw the book beside his bed. He was an inveterate reader - there are about 20,000 books in his basement - and he'd often read and re-read his favorites over and over again. After his funeral, I picked the often-read book up and took it with me to read on the plane ride home from Michigan to Oregon.
What I found in "Cannery Row" was a time, and an America that my parents had often spoken to me about. My mother's stories about squeezing the last of the toothpaste from the tube in a door jamb when she went to Michigan State University, because she was putting herself through college by propping planes on weekends and being a lifeguard in the summer, and there was barely the money for toothpaste or toilet paper, much less cosmetics. My dad's stories of going down to one of Al Capone's speakeasies as a kid on the south side of Chicago to get a pail of bootleg beer to bring to his dad and uncles as they sat on the stoop in the row houses.
It was a time of challenge and a time of opportunity. It was America before Reagan.
In one of my dad's last emails to me, he talked about that era:
"Thank you for the wonderful dedication in SCREWED. I wanted to tell you in person but I get so emotional that I can't talk. But it made me think of what I did in life other than try to lead a good life and do no harm to others. I'm happy with my life although it was selfish because I did the things I did with no sacrifice on my part.
"Then I thought of your mother. She was the one that gave up all her early ambitions and dreams for me and her family. She wanted to be a writer - worked her way thru college to complete her dreams. I still have many of her early writings (if she hasn't tossed them) which were very good. She worked at an airport for money and flying lessons, she took care of a family for room and board, plus all summer with a bunch of girls to earn tuition money. After she graduated she turned down a great job working for the oil companies in Saudi Arabia just so she would not leave her Mother alone. She managed a book store in Grand Rapids where I met her. (When I saw her I told the friend with me that I was going to marry her.)
"After we were married she started to write again. But then little Thomas came on the scene...
"I guess I'm done Thom. I love Jean with all my heart and soul. I have hoped that you could and would write about her as you have about me. I think she deserves it much more. She is the true hero of our family!!!"
They were the last words of his I ever heard - and that in an email - as he couldn't speak by the time I got to Michigan.
I realize that telling you a story about my hitchhiking across America, or about my dad, isn't telling you the story of Cannery Row, but in a way it's very much the story of Cannery Row. The stories are meta to the novel. My dad was a huge fan of Steinbeck, presumably because he knew so well the America of which Steinbeck wrote.
Beyond that, telling you the story line itself of Cannery Row would be a disservice. It's a novel, and one shouldn't have even an inkling where a novel is going when one starts to read it. It was only after I finished the book that I began to research its history, and found a rich treasure trove of information on the web about the history of the real cannery row, the real Monterey of the 1930s, and the read Ed Ricketts. I hope you will, too.
But first indulge yourself in a bit of old-fashioned escapism - step back to the time of the Republican Great Depression and meet a wonderful cast of characters, in a story that will leave you smiling, wistful, and newly-informed.
And, maybe, hopefully, we'll all live to see that true spirit of America - its people, so brilliantly drawn by Steinbeck in "Cannery Row" - again emerge as Americans awaken from our dream-fog of consumerism and hellish wars, and rediscover the sense of self and community and purpose and the egalitarian values of community on which this nation was founded.
THOM HARTMANN'S "INDEPENDENT THINKER" BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW
Get your copy of "Cannery Row" from the BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Thom Hartmann is a New York Times bestselling author and the host of The Thom Hartmann Program syndicated nationally by Air America Radio.
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And now for something you'll really like: musical humor!
"My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a producer."
-- Cole Porter
"(Musicians) talk of nothing but money and jobs. Give me businessmen every time. They really are interested in music and art."
-- Jean Sibelius, explaining why he rarely invited musicians to his home.
"The amount of money one needs is terrifying..."
-- Ludwig van Beethoven
"Chaos is a friend of mine."
-- Bob Dylan
"I am not handsome, but when women hear me play, they come crawling to my feet."
-- Nicole Paganini
"What is the voice of song, when the world lacks the ear of taste?"
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Flint must be an extremely wealthy town: I see that each of you bought two or three seats."
-- Victor Borge, playing to a half-filled house in Flint, Michigan
"Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years."
-- William F. Buckley, Jr.
"You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow."
-- Oscar Levant, explaining his way out of a speeding ticket
"Wagner's music is better than it sounds."
-- Mark Twain
posted by The Scallion @ 5:58 PM
