Tuesday, September 30, 2003
The White House Hits An Iceberg...
MAYDAY...SWZZZZZZZZ...MAYDAY...SWZZZZZZZZZZ...MAYDAY...SWZZZZZZZZZ...KEEP MOVING, DAMMIT!0 comments
Back up the recycling trucks, because there's been a ton of emergency shredding going on in buildings around D.C. this weekend and yesterday, as the S.S. Neo-Con hit something big and nasty over the weekend and started taking on serious water.
This e-mail from White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales to all WH personnel about the Justice Department's investigation which attempts to turn the machines off (or at least slow them down) is most likely a bit late--
PLEASE READ: Important Message From Counsel's Office
We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee. The department advised us that it will be sending a letter today instructing us to preserve all materials that might be relevant to its investigation. Its letter will provide more specific instructions on the materials in which it is interested, and we will communicate those instructions directly to you. In the meantime, you must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department's investigation. Any questions concerning this request should be directed to Associate Counsels Ted Ullyot or Raul Yanes in the counsel to the president's office. The president has directed full cooperation with this investigation.
Yeah, we think the cows are kinda outta the barn on this one.
This isn't just about shredding documents in a case like WorldCom's, where a few hundred thousand whiney employees and stockholders were bilked out of a few measely billions of dollars. No, nothing so mundane.
By courting "at least six" reporters in early July to aid the administration in getting the word out that public dissent within official Washington would not be tolerated (only Robert Novak was stupid or hungry enough to go along with it), someone(s) with direct access to the Oval Office named an undercover CIA operative in the arena of WMD to get back at her husband, and to strike fear into those who considered going public with their information as he did.
By this action, they have compromised CIA operatives who have been risking their lives, and those of foreign nationals who have been helping them, and any and all companies and other fronts painstakingly created over years to help track down the very WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION that the White House has been crowing about protecting us from.
Understand this: these are senior White House leaders—men, and a woman perhaps, of immense wealth and public world power—who are now implicated in the single most horrible breach of their sworn oaths in the history of the United States government—strictly for political advantage.
Clearly understand the phrase. In the history of the United States.
These are powerful people who are now looking at heavy jail time and at bringing down a presidency.
I had been following this story since it broke, and never thought it'd get much past sidebar status. But, by following nothing more than the New York Jets debacle over the weekend, I missed the core meltdown on this issue until last night.
I steer you to The Washington Post and to Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, both of whom have been all over this story over the weekend and up to now.
My Lord, these people are stupid.
posted by Gotham 12:47 PM
Monday, September 29, 2003
Here It Comes...
From last January until the Neo-Cons in the White House actually invaded Iraq in March, a constant rebuttal theme to all the war-mongering was that the model of post-invasion Iraq would be less like 1946 Germany and Japan, and more like the 1990s' Balkans. Century old hatreds would re-emerge. Murderous chaos, if not open civil war, would be a likely result.0 comments
But, of course, this was all pooh-poohed in every Neo-Con press briefing. They'll be just like the good folks in Indiana, you'll see, they'll love it, asserted the White House.
However, like the entire Balkan region had been, Iraq is made up of factions who have been at each other's throats for thousands of years, with morphing loyalties and atrocities on all sides (which, of course, have to be avenged) covering hundreds of years of colonial rule.
This is why the U.S. has traditionally supported dictators like Saddam Hussein around the world. The iron fist approach has always made the unruly masses so much tidier for us to deal with. From your basic Foreign Policy perspective, it's so much easier to deal with an area of the world as a block than as a conglomeration of tribes and factions.
Take the Soviets out of the Balkans, they go back to killing each other.
And now that the Captain has turned off the Repression sign in Iraq, factions are now free to move around the countryside, killing each other.
With U.S. troops right in the middle of it all.
And they thought they were in a scary position before, just sitting through a guerrilla war.
Better order even more of those Kevlar vests, George.
posted by Gotham 11:39 AM
"Psssst, Wanna Buy a Bridge?
No?
How 'bout a canal? Wanna buy a canal? C'mon, man, it's famous, even..."
Thus, a campaign contributor to George Pataki buys the rights to the Erie Canal.
On the cheap.
But have no fear, Elliot Spitzer and Alan Hevasi are now on the case.
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 11:09 AM
0 comments
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Back to the Gore Post
Let's go back to my Al Gore-titled post from Thursday night.0 comments
Along with most media outlets, Thursday's New York Times carried this story:
U.S. Income Gap Widening, Study Says
Aside from the merely distressing numbers mentioned in it, at a time when we're almost numbed by distressing numbers, there's a wealth of interesting information buried within.
First, here again, is the report's main press release.
I have had discussions about the net effect of the Clinton era, and Clinton economy, on incomes and jobs, and by extention, the general standard of living for different income groups.
I've been a solid proponent of "the 1990s raised all boats" theory. Everywhere I looked, folks in the middle classes were thinking in terms of bettering their lot. Jobs were plentiful and well paying across many different industries. Employers went begging for qualified help, often settling for the unqualified. Folks in the $30,000 — $60,000 range began to look to Wall St., and think they might have a place at the table for their retirements and their kids' education.
People earning below $30,000 began to see that there were more and better jobs than there used to be. Kids began to see life alternatives to running on the streets for cash, many of which necessitated their staying in school if they were to have a real shot at all that cash floating around out there.
We were safer, cleaner and generally happier.
Others I've talked with took me to task sternly, stating that the boom I spoke of was chickenfeed compared to the obscene amounts the folks at the top were enjoying out of this boom. They spoke of a growing disparity between richer and poorer Americans, that would come back to haunt us severely.
We were both right.
As was Al Gore, it seems.
During the campaign, I kept wondering what this "One percent" thing was all about. Just name a number, Al, I figured. "Everyone with over $1.37 million is a dope." Or "Don't talk to anyone in your company who earns more than $250,000 a year."
Give us something to go on here, big guy!
But, he just kept up with this "1%" thing until it grew so tired. No one knew who he meant anyway, and it slowly became a meaningless term.
Then, this report comes along and brings it more into focus:
In 1979, the wealthiest 1 percent had just under half the after-tax income of the poorest 40 percent of Americans, analysis of new data from the Congressional Budget Office shows.
The figures show 2000 as the year of the greatest economic disparity between rich and poor for any year since 1979, the year the budget office began collecting this data, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit research organization in Washington that advocates tax and federal spending policies to benefit the poor. It released its analysis on Tuesday.
The richest 2.8 million Americans had $950 billion after taxes, or 15.5 percent, of the $6.2 trillion economic pie in 2000, Isaac Shapiro, a senior fellow at the center, said.
The poorest 110 million Americans had less, sharing 14.4 percent of all after tax money.
But the higher incomes of the last decade did not lift all people equally.
In 2000, the top 1 percent of American taxpayers had $862,700 each after taxes, on average, more than triple the $286,300 they had, adjusted for inflation, in 1979.
The bottom 40 percent in 2000 had $21,118 each, up 13 percent from their $18,695 average in 1979.
There's that "1%" again.
OK, this time it makes sense. Al—and we—would have been better served had he fleshed out the numbers he had a little more and gotten us a lot more pissed off, rather than merely settling for sound bites.
Starting at $286,000, then going up 33% seems a tad cheesy, yes, when 40% of the population jumps a whopping 13% to a spend-crazy $21,000.
in 2000, the top 1 percent had the largest share of the nation's total after-tax income since at least 1936 and probably since 1929.
Yes, even I must admit that this is obscene. Score one for my debate opponent.
Here's one of the points I found most interesting, however:
Both low- and middle-income people shared in the boom of the 1990's, while in the 1980's the bottom fifth experienced a decline in after-tax income, according to the budget office data analyzed by Mr. Shapiro and Robert Greenstein, director for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The middle fifth had an average after-tax income of $41,900 in 2000, a rise of 15 percent both since 1979 and 1997, indicating a long period of no real economic gains for this group.
"You do have gains across the spectrum from 1997 to 2000," Mr. Shapiro said, "but they are much more dramatic at the top."
So, basically, from 1979 until 1997, which includes the whole of the Reagan/Bush (41) years and the recovery part of the Clinton terms, a full 60% of all of us as Americans saw our incomes and/or financial pictures stay flat or go down. Factoring in inflation, 60% of us lost money for 18 years.
Then, in 1997, the middle group, at least, found their "boats rising," gaining 15% over the next four years.
Felt pretty good there for a while, didn't it?
Then, of course, Bush (43) came in and pushed the nose of the plane straight into the ground.
Out of curiosity, do you have a job any longer? Also, do you actually have any of that "Retirement" money left?
Didn't think so. Not many do.
George W. Bush has now overseen a total of 34.6 MILLION good, hard-working, god-fearing American men, women and children being pushed below the Poverty Line.
Among racial and ethnic groups, African-Americans fared the worst last year, with a loss in median income of 3 percent and an increase in poverty to 24.1 percent from 22.7 percent a year earlier.
And though rates of poverty did not change significantly last year for those under age 18 and over age 65, staying afloat was harder last year for people aged 18 to 64—the bulk of the work force.
The poverty rate for single mothers, at 26.5 percent, remained virtually unchanged from 2001. The poverty rate did increase, however, among married couples to 5.3 percent from 4.9 percent a year earlier, a fact that could provide fodder to critics of marriage incentive programs.
The number of entire families living below the poverty line increased to 9.6 percent last year, from 9.2 percent.
The census bureau also reported a slight increase in poverty rates for children, to 16.7 percent last year from 16.3 percent the year before.
The official poverty levels, updated each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, were $18,392 for a family of four, $14,348 for a family of three, $11,756 for a two-person household and $9,183 for an individual.
The percentage of people in severe poverty, those with incomes below half of the poverty threshold, increased to 14.1 million from 13.4 million.
Look at the numbers that the Census Dept. uses to describe poverty level living. As you can see, they haven't changed in decades, and most likely the problem is many times more dire and more devastating than even these horrible numbers attest to.
Going back to the original analysis above, here's another part of it I found fascinating:
"You do have gains across the spectrum from 1997 to 2000," Mr. Shapiro said, "but they are much more dramatic at the top."
The center's analysis said the highest income Americans had grown richer from 1979 to 2000 both from gains in income because of economic prosperity and from tax cuts. Huge gains in executive pay were a significant factor, Mr. Shapiro said.
Federal tax burdens for most Americans had declined over the previous two decades, and not risen as some conservative policy experts have asserted, the center said. Congress enacted tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 that were heavily weighted to the top 1 percent, which supporters said would encourage them to invest more to the benefit of all Americans.
From 1979 to 2000, the total federal tax burden for the top 1 percent dropped 3.8 percentage points, but for the middle fifth the decline was only 1.9 percentage points. Tax rates for the poorest fifth declined 1.6 percentage points. [My emphasis]
The top 1 percent pay a quarter of all federal taxes, while the bottom 40 percent pay 6 percent of all federal taxes. [But that's in dollars, not per cent; which makes sense since they have more dollars. Duh..]
I say this all is a fabulous record of financial acheivement; one that any Republican would be damned proud to run on.
posted by Gotham 6:21 PM
Denial's In the House...
How can events in South Dakota have gone on this long, and there still be no mention of Censure—if not outright expulsion—for Rep. Bill Janklow (R-SD) from the House of Representatives?0 comments
This is not a matter of a body being found somewhere, and a member of the House just MIGHT be implicated. You would expect pious declarations from House members of "We'll support our good friend until all the evidence is in, blah, blah..."
But this is different. Aside from killing someone, this story touches on political arrogance and abuse of power. This is why it's telling that other House members aren't taking a VERY big step backwards from this latter-day Huey Long.
The official reports clearly note that Janklow, 64, was slamming his Cadillac along a country road at 4 p.m., coming home from a political event. In a 55 mph zone, he ran a STOP sign at 71 mph, killing 55-year-old motorcyclist, Randy Scott. It's also clear from reports that soybean plants stand very high at that intersection, blocking the vision from all four directions. Disobeying the posted sign was madness.
South Dakota troopers have gone on record as well, saying that Janklow has MANY speeding tickets, and often boasts about them.
As the former South Dakota Attorney General, he, of all people, should be held accountable for flagrant, and fatal, disregard of the law.
But obviously, as an AG, and former Governor, and now South Dakota's sole House Representative, he obviously feels totally bulletproof. Yesterday, he even PLEADED NOT GUILTY!!
Astonishingly, he could stand in a court room and say, "Not guilty." With a straight face. Plus, tell the assembled cameras that his heart went out to Randy Scott's family, and that due to head injuries, he couldn't remember anything that happened.
I can't wait for the defense they put up for this guy, other than "My dog ate my brakes."
And when do the over 400 upstanding men and women in the House figure out that manslaughter charges for allegedly causing a death while speeding, with mountains of evidence including Janklow's own statements immediately afterwards, is a tad more serious than anything Adam Clayton Powell or James Traficant ever did to get themselves censured.
What cowards.
posted by Gotham 5:22 PM
Just Like Clockwork...
You can set your watch to these guys.0 comments
People have been saying for two years now that John Ashcroft could not be trusted to lead the Justice Department effectively, and definitely could not be trusted with the sweeping revisions to law enforcement protocols contained in the unfortunately named Patriot Act.
Maybe the best to be said of him was that he seemed to exhibit boundary issues.
Critics have been saying for two years that he was lying.
Today, as we see in Eric Lichtblau's story in The New York Times, we now know that he was.
This, at a time when he is barnstorming the country, drumming up support (which he is forbidden to do by Federal law, by the way...) for passage of a secondary version of the bill.
Publicly, Attorney General John Ashcroft and senior Justice Department officials have portrayed their expanded power almost exclusively as a means of fighting terrorists, with little or no mention of other criminal uses.
"We have used these tools to prevent terrorists from unleashing more death and destruction on our soil," Mr. Ashcroft said last month in a speech in Washington, one of more than two dozen he has given in defense of the law, which has come under growing attack. "We have used these tools to save innocent American lives."
Internally, however, Justice Department officials have emphasized a much broader mandate.
A guide to a Justice Department employee seminar last year on financial crimes, for instance, said: "We all know that the USA Patriot Act provided weapons for the war on terrorism. But do you know how it affects the war on crime as well?" (My emphasis)
In essence, what has happened here, is that Ashcroft has used 9/11 to ram through every bit of law enforcement's long-standing wish list. Every office of this administration has wrapped itself callously in the banner of the victims of 9/11 to cram through every legislative / administrative wet dream they ever had.
September 11th is now celebrated as "Christmas on the Potomac".
A study in January by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that while the number of terrorism investigations at the Justice Department soared after the Sept. 11 attacks, 75 percent of the convictions that the department classified as "international terrorism" were wrongly labeled. Many dealt with more common crimes like document forgery.
Ashcroft has fended off critics for two years, saying that these blanket powers were only to be the hefty tool to defend us against terrorism. Rubbish. The Justice Dept. is happily using it to help every investigation they have on the books.
Before, it may merely have been paranoiac twaddle on the part of the far left.
Today, it is real, and acknowledged as such by the functionaries at the Justice Dept. itself.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said members of Congress expected some of the new powers granted to law enforcement to be used for nonterrorism investigations.
But he said the Justice Department's secrecy and lack of cooperation in implementing the legislation have made him question whether "the government is taking shortcuts around the criminal laws" by invoking intelligence powers—with differing standards of evidence—to conduct surveillance operations and demand access to records.
"We did not intend for the government to shed the traditional tools of criminal investigation, such as grand jury subpoenas governed by well-established precedent and wiretaps strictly monitored" by federal judges, he said.
Justice Department officials say such criticism has not deterred them. "There are many provisions in the Patriot Act that can be used in the general criminal law," Mark Corallo, a department spokesman, said. "And I think any reasonable person would agree that we have an obligation to do everything we can to protect the lives and liberties of Americans from attack, whether it's from terrorists or garden-variety criminals."
At this rate, the members of this administration will be lucky to merely be voted out of Washington. It's looking more and more as if they could well be hit with mass indictments before they're through.
The only question remains, how much more damage will they inflict on this country before they're gone?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 4:28 PM
Friday, September 26, 2003
In Case You Were Wondering...
...it's pretty much what you were probably already thinking.0 comments
The New York Times does some investigative reporting on the topic of e-mail spam, which is actually very helpful. For myself, I probably always figured the truth would be pretty cheesy. I just didn't think it'd be THIS cheesy.
At least, now we know the downside of Ebay.
Also, this story comes complete with my favorite quote of the week:
In recent testimony before Congress, Orson Swindle, an F.T.C. commissioner, stated this position plainly: ''We need a couple of good hangings here.''
Ahhhh, at least now we know where AG John Ashcroft got the idea!
Plus, Orson SWINDLE? At the F.T.C.??
Ya just can't make this stuff up, folks.
posted by Gotham 8:26 PM
Turns Out Gore Was Right...
This was a startling report. It basically sets a goodly amount of current wisdom on its ear.0 comments
I'll have more on this later on Friday.
posted by Gotham 3:04 AM
Why America Is Mad at George W. Bush:
The people mentioned here are just like any of us. Your basic "good people". Hard-working people. Broke people.0 comments
It's awful enough if you're unemployed. We expect that to be rough. Managing your unemployment—and its unique finances—becomes your full-time job. But even those of you lucky enough to currently have jobs have seen the cost of everything but the Cheerios fly through the roof. On second thought, no, Cheerios are now over $5.00 for the $1.99 box. Thankfully, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan reminds us there's no/little inflation. Even when most people are hard-pressed to think of something that hasn't gone up.
"Things" may not cost more today, relatively speaking, but necessary services have soared past Pluto into the stratosphere.
My bank "fees" have quadrupled. So, I'm in the process of switching over to a "no fees" bank. But, I just noticed a flyer from them that mentions in passing a fee that wasn't there a month and a half ago when I opened the account.
Check your phone bill or electric bill. If you can even decipher it, there's a (hefty) monthly fee tacked on before you even use the service. In fact, you're no longer paying for the service that you use; you're paying to keep their doors open—any usage that you pay for is strictly extra. My Con Edison gas bill (for our gas stove only) runs $13 - $14 a month. I finally got around to actually looking at it closely. We used $1.73 worth of gas, but the bill was for $13.32! When asked, they said it was my minimum monthly fee. "Minimum monthly fee?" Just what do I get for this "minimum monthly fee"? Basically, the undying friendship of all their employees who haven't been laid off as of yet and the majority of Con Ed's shareholders who'll take any cash cow in a storm.
At the same time, all utilities now routinely pass on to you every tax that was meant for them as a corporate tax. Look at your bill. There will be the usual sales taxes on your usage of the service. Fine. But you'll see lots of other taxes that don't look familiar. Since utility companies can't just raise prices to cover any new taxes they get hit with like other businesses can, they make no bones about getting their friends in your state legislature to allow them to hand any new corporate taxes right off to you.
"Can you say Taxation without Representation, boys and girls? Yes, I knew you could."
Have you had your car fixed lately? Or dealt with health insurance? Or any insurance?
Look at any of your bills these days. Really look at them. You won't have to look hard to find all the hidden charges and fees piled on top of your hidden charges and fees.
Of course, then just when you're stretched to the gills from the basic necessities of your life, you arrive at work one morning to find that eight of you from your twelve-person dept. have been laid off. And to help you acclimate yourself to the degradations to come, they'll even escort you from the building without letting you get your things from your desk. (Don't want any tampering, you know...)
George W. Bush then bounces in, happily assuming that you'll help him win re-election so that he can spend the next four years de-regulating even more industries which will then take this kind of approach with you, as well as getting you to support even more tax cuts for those making over $250,000/yr.
I'm glad George has a plan.
I'd hate to think of where we'd be if he wasn't up to the task.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 2:03 AM
Jersey Girls
There's just no angle to look at this story from without it breaking your heart.0 comments
You have two teenage girls who rob a bank.
Chelsea testified that she held a trash bag and Elysia held the BB gun, pointing it at the face of teller Carol Clark and ordering her to put the money in the bag.
You have the laudable, but misplaced, pluck of fourteen-year-olds.
"I saw that my family was upset," Chelsea said. "The money was needed, so I decided to rob a bank."
You have the Cain and Abel thread.
The twins gave much the same testimony, but in dramatically different tones.
Chelsea was calm, and even smiled when prosecutor Michel Paulhus pointed to her masked image from the bank's surveillance video. Elysia was more emotional, snapping at defense attorney Philip Pagano when he asked if she was angry at him.
You have the plight of Americans across the country, whose federally and state-created financial disasters are leaving great and terrible devastation within even good, strong families; this is not just for dysfunctionals anymore.
"The money was needed, so I decided to rob a bank."
You have just superb parenting and modeling, of course.
... with their mother acting as getaway driver. Kathleen Wortman Jones, 34, has pleaded guilty in the case.
The girls' stepfather, Kevin Jones, 37, did not know about the robbery until it was over, but is accused of destroying evidence and laundering money. Elysia testified that he told her to throw away her clothing from the robbery to destroy evidence, and Jones also is accused of laundering some of the proceeds in an Atlantic City casino.
Then there's even a nod to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative...
Chelsea said she and her sister put on their masks and prayed before entering the bank.
Now, what could you possibly pray for in a scenario like that? $20s instead of $50s? Not getting caught? And just whose side was God supposed to be on in all of this?
Plus, all of this takes place in New Jersey, a place which has had enough troubles with public relations lately.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 12:51 AM
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Citizen Murphy
Like millions of other die-hard New York Mets fans an hour ago, I was glued to the radio, listening to Bob Murphy's grand retirement send-off from Shea Stadium, in Flushing.0 comments
It's always hard to fathom why ANY party must end. Those rare moments in life that do actually fill us with joy and pleasure should never end. But they do.
Bob's Mets broadcasts have been just such a party since the first broadcasts in 1962.
Since 1962, whatever you were doing, wherever you went in the New York area, someone somewhere had a radio on in the background listening to the Mets game.
It was always there: in the deli, at the garage, in the back of the restaurant, not loud enough to call attention to itself, but decidedly there as wallpaper to your life. No matter where you went, there was Murph.
For forty-two years, Murphy has taken those who love baseball, those who dream, those who can enjoy what is good in life while still enduring the pain of intolerable losing, and brought them on a ride where, on any given day, there might actually be a "happy recap."
From the thousands of Mets games I've watched and heard, one comment Murph made a couple of years ago struck me hard and has stayed with me. In a typically meandering game, something bizarre happened, resulting in this from Bob:
"Wow. Just when you've seen everything in baseball, you see something you've never seen before!"
After a severe double-take, I realized that, aside from the distinct Yogi Berra-ness of the quote, it was one of those phrases coined about a specific, which translated immediately into life in general. It was the type of concise philosophy lesson that Murphy always seemed to be sneaking into his radiocasts, most likely without his even being aware of it.
Bless you for your marvelous work over the years, Murph. For all you've taught us about life and this marvelous game of baseball. And for everything you've meant, not just to the New York Metropolitans, or to baseball fans, but to the entire New York Metropolitan Area over four decades.
We've lived our own lives, but you've been the soundtrack.
Go put your feet up, Bob. You've earned it.
Thank you.
Stay in touch. We'll miss you.
posted by Gotham 7:51 PM
The Beat Goes On
Aqila al-Hashimi's murder further points up the chaos in Iraq.0 comments
And the appalling lack of a handle Washington has on any of it. They have no more of an idea of what's going on within the populace of Iraq at the moment then you or I do.
Was she killed because she was too close to the U.S.? Was she killed because she formerly was too close to Saddam? Or because she was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, which is widely seen as a U.S. puppet? Or because she was a woman in a position of influence? Is this just anarchy? Or al-Qaeda? Or Civil War?
With what the Bush administration has allowed to happen in Iraq, any of these scenarios—and more—are possible. The White House seems incapable of grasping the questions, let alone supplying any answers.
The situation in Iraq is deteriorating rapidly.
But, it's OK. $60 billion worth of Kevlar vests and armored Humvees are coming. So, things will be just fine.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 12:12 PM
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
The Prodigal Poster
As you've seen I've been unavoidedly called away from my merry posting post.0 comments
There's been a lot going on while I've been away, and I'll try to start catching up on events within the next day or two.
Thanks for checking back!
posted by Gotham 1:19 PM
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
0 commentsInmates with Blank Checks
When you think about it, George W. Bush could raise the whole $87 billion himself by just continuing his campaign fundraising schedule. Only this time, the money would go to paying for Iraq. I doubt he'd miss it.
Hell, half of what he's already raised would cover the $87 billion.
Do your part, George! After all, you are the Fundraiser-in-Chief.
The sad part of that $87 bn number is that, according to the White House estimates reported on CNN on Monday, only 15% of that money is earmarked for actually rebuilding Iraq and its infrastructure. So, don't expect much in the way of schools and hospitals or the like. The bulk of it is for replacing weaponry, military salaries and Humvees. That's how you're "paying for Iraq."
Any interest in fine-tuning that accounting, Mr. President?
Actually, to be inelegant about it, has anyone ever heard what happened to the first $70 bn we gave him?
I saw a viewer's e-mail read on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show in which the person wrote that a White House staffer opined that it'd take $200 bn for Iraq. Of course, he was clearly accurate and truthful on this issue; of course, he was also fired by the administration.
Meanwhile, stateside, Attorney General John Ashcroft comes to New York City tomorrow. Demonstrations are planned to protest this man who would make us safe by enslaving the American people.
This from a man who lost his Senate seat to a dead man, who was later replaced by his widow, Jean Carnahan.
Ashcroft only wishes we'd be as silent as the man he lost his seat to.
Fat chance, John.
Of all of the reactions I've seen to Bush's Sunday speech, the most "to the point" is Howard Dean's comparing it to problematic administrations from thirty to forty years ago. That it
"was beginning to remind me of what was happening with Lyndon Johnson and Dick Nixon during the Vietnam war."
In his comments, he repeatedly invoked the Vietnam analogy, saying that the U.S. was "bogged down" in Iraq and claiming that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were now costing the U.S. as much each year as did the Vietnam war.
He accused Mr Bush of leaving "a false impression" by claiming a link between Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former dictator, and terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.
"Iraq is the beachhead of the war on terrorism because the president has chosen Iraq as that battlefield," he said. "I think that was a grave mistake and I think it's endangering the security of the United States."
If the White House isn't packed to the gills with actual psychotics, then at least there does seem to be a few sociopaths running loose over there. Unfortunately, they have policy responsibilities.
Let's just say the place doesn't reek of stability right now, you know what I mean?
Has anyone else seen the growing similarity between President George W. Bush and Alfred E. Neuman, Mad Magazine's poster boy? It's getting eerie.
This administration is becoming more and more a Gumby-type creature with every passing day. It's totally at ease with twisting itself in any direction and take advantage of any scenario that presents itself. It does appear that neither Bush nor anyone in his inner circle is emotionally capable of admitting any mistake or miscalculation. Denial runs so deep as to be an art form in the White House these days.
Whenever something goes awry, they merely deny that yesterday's version of the facts existed and move gallantly ahead.
"Weapons of Mass Destruction? What Weapons of Mass Destruction? We're not talking about that any more. That's so yesterday."
Remember the 2000 campaign? How about the "3 dollar bills" trick? How many of you remember that?
I must confess I had forgotten as well until I picked up an old New Yorker from 2000 the other day. It reminded me of a favorite, simple trick Bush had at the time to help people visualize his tax cut plans. Saying that the tax cut was for returning the surplus funds to the taxpayer, he'd take three dollar bills out of his pocket during speeches and say, this one comes out of the surplus for defense; this one comes out of the surplus for entitlement programs. But this last one goes back to the American worker who earned it. Until the surplus is all used up and is gone.
His whole rationale was that the surplus was just found money and we should just put it in our pockets and move on. Like finding a dollar on the street.
And, darn it, wouldn't $1.3 trillion in tax cuts help us do that very thing?
At about the same time, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was warning the U.S. markets of the bubble that he feared was about to burst. He said at the time that he wanted to begin a series of maneuvers to slowly bring the market (and with it the economy) in for "a soft landing." He conceded that it would be a delicate procedure. But Bush made great hay by saying at the time, see? the market dropped another point today! We need my tax cuts before the surplus is all gone!
If you remember, he kept up this "the sky is falling!" routine for the entire rest of the campaign. Greenspan repeatedly tried to get him to refrain from this negative cheerleading, but Bush kept it up.
The markets being the cauldron of twisted emotions that they are, this helped send the markets landing with a splat instead of enjoying a "soft landing." How many untold millions did Bush cost investors with his actions?
Then, the first tax cuts were for easing the recession, which, of course, it didn't do. Then, the later cuts were to ease the pain of the slow recovery. Which it didn't do. Now, it's supposed to create jobs.
Sounds great, Sparky! Just how do ya propose going about that?
By sending Treasury Secretary John Snow to China, begging them to revaluate their yuan currency, which would drive interest rates due north, and cost more jobs?
I wonder if Cheney knows what he'll say when he pardons Bush.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 12:13 AM
Monday, September 01, 2003
0 commentsStill a Dream
Last Thursday, August 28th, was a date worth noting before it slips into memory.
As has been noted in many media sources, August 28th marked the 40th anniversary of the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., famous for the "I have a dream" speech of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Too young to attend that day, at the age of 12, I did not hesitate to offer my services when asked to participate in 1983's 20th anniversary March on Washington.
I served as part of the security detail assigned to the Lincoln Memorial that day.
After a long bus ride, and a detailed briefing by March and security organizers at which we were given orders to be on site at 5:00 am, to secure the area (i.e., sweep for bombs), a half dozen of us were caught on the way out by one of the security honchos. He informed us that we had been chosen to be podium security, and the bodyguard detail for notables while they were on the Memorial: two each assigned to Coretta Scott King, Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young. I was assigned to Jackson.
We took this to be a very high honor, and admittedly were all very proud at being chosen for such an important assignment. For a moment, at least.
As a throwaway line on the way out, the security honcho told us to remember to be careful, since they'd received death threats against all three notables that day.
Just as people do in the army, we started looking around, trying to see whom we could pawn this honor off onto. But, alas, there were no takers.
It was still pitch dark when we arrived at the Memorial. Later, the day broke brutally hot. The reflecting pool kept the area from turning into an oven.
You've seen pictures by now of events, looking out from the Lincoln Memorial towards the crowds surrounding the reflecting pool and stretching out beyond. But from standing on the Memorial near the podium all day, looking out, I assert to you that I've NEVER seen a photograph capture the total and profound majesty of that sight. It truly is one of our most precious American icons.
E Pluribus Unum come to life.
As the day wore on, speech began to drone into speech, and the day grew hotter still. As the late afternoon sun beat down, Andrew Young spoke and left. It now grew time for Jackson's arrival.
I met Jesse Jackson as he arrived on the podium and placed myself to his left side, my partner on his right. There was a tightly packed clutch of people surrounding us, all of them wanting to speak/touch/adore the Rev. Jackson. It was at this moment that I realized the bravery, heroism and patent stupidity of each and every Secret Service agent in our country's service.
Standing next to a charismatic man that many that day wanted dead will bring you closer to yourself. With no training whatsoever, I found myself scanning every human being within twenty yards of us: hands/eyes; hands/eyes; hands/eyes; looking for any sudden movement that might mean danger to the person we were protecting.
And as the tallest, lightest-skinned individual in the crowd, adorned with a bright orange T-shirt signifying March Marshall, I knew that it was going to hurt a LOT whenever some moron tried to be stupid and I ended up with the bullet or blade or mortar round or club or what have you. I may not have been assuming my death at that point, but I was assuming pain. A great deal of pain. Maybe a lot of it.
He then got up to give one of the most stirring orations I've ever experienced. At its end, I too was ready to walk through walls for this man.
Our goal after Jackson's speech was to get him back through the open Memorial, down the long back stairs and into his waiting limo. At that point, our day was to end.
With his last word upon leaving the podium, we moved in beside him and started to attempt to hustle him out the back.
This was also the period when Jesse Jackson was first coyly milking the media about his possible Presidential ambitions for 1984. His "I don't knows" were sounding more and more loudly like "I'm in and running!" every single day. This had been going on for months. The media and Jackson had developed more of a Romeo and Juliet relationship than one of reluctant candidate searching his soul for guidance within public scrutiny.
The cries of "Run, Jesse, Run!" had filled the air for weeks, as they did that day.
From the moment he stepped off the podium, Jackson was surrounded by reporters, each one trying to be THE ONE to hear the man say, "I'm in."
Jackson for his part wanted each reporter to feel as if they might be THE ONE to hear him as well. So, he would stop for a reporter, and we'd scan the crowd. He'd leave that reporter and we'd start for the back again, and he'd stop! Another reporter. He'd finish that one and we'd start for the back again, and he'd stop! Over and over this went. He'd take two steps and grant another interview. This repeated itself dozens of times as we tried to make our way through the Memorial to his limo.
Soon, I no longer wanted to walk through walls for the man. I wanted to pull one down on his head, I was so angry. It was apparent that each and every reporter there would have peddled their grandmothers for being put on a list to gain a three-minute interview with Jackson in his hotel suite. There was no reason to milk the press crowd at that moment when he was in mortal danger, and those around him were in mortal fear.
Happily, we finally got him down the rear stairs and safely into his limo, and he was off.
Exhausted, my partner and I came around to the front of the Memorial and found a place to sit on a grassy knoll off to the right of the Memorial as you look from the podium. We were just far enough back where we could no longer make out the faces on the podium clearly. They were just forms at that distance.
While we had been doing the "Run, Jesse, Run!" reporter shuffle, Ms. Scott had spoken to great applause. As we were sitting down on the grass, she finished her remarks by introducing the playing of the entire recording of Dr. King's famous speech.
Electricity swept the crowd.
Sitting there, spent, after a long, hot, thrilling, terrifying day, we sat and listened to Dr. King's speech, at a distance from the stage where we couldn't tell it WASN'T him at the lecturn. The hair rose on the back of my neck and took hours to lay back down.
It may well be the day I have been most proud of being an American.
posted by Gotham 8:56 PM
0 comments
Teri Thornton
September 1 marks the birthday of a friend.
Singer / Pianist Teri Thornton would have been 69 years young today.
Here's another site about her. Click.
She was very kind to me when I was first starting to sing around New York many, many years ago. She often asked me to sit in with her when she was working somewhere and we would often hang, talking into the dark a.m., long after the audiences had gone home.
Teri had the single most idiosyncratic piano style I have ever heard. She played to back herself up. All that her piano playing was asked to do was to fit HER own singing style, which was rhythmically eclectic and imaginative, but always spot on. Pretty smart and efficient, when you think about it. And she played for everyone else the way she played for herself. So, sitting in with her was always a rhythmic adventure. There was always something of a rodeo quality to singing to Teri's piano work.
Forgive me one personal story.
One night, I stopped by a club she was working in. She asked me to sit in. I picked a tune, which I had wanted to do slowly. She asked, "HOW slow?" I said, "Slow." I counted it off, and off we went, with Teri playing half the time I counted. I found myself having the time to, oh, find an apartment or do my laundry during any given measure. Towards the end of the A section, I turned to her in a panic, my eyes open in terror. She looked at me and smiled, "You said, slow!" And she presented me with the gift of exploring a song in a way that I never would have thought of on my own. A wonderful gift, indeed.
She had been very sick with cancer, although holding it at bay, and quite down emotionally when the Monk Competition came along. She was so thrilled to win it, and to have her career back when everything seemed to be over and done with in life for her.
Those of us honored to have known her only wish that there could have been more of it before the cancer got her. You only wish she could have had more upside to make up for some more of the downside.
But she was here. She was tough. And she was the best.
Happy Birthday, Teri.
Born: Detroit, 1934
Died: Englewood, N.J., 2000
Education: Attended Northern High and Mumford High Schools (Detroit) but never graduated.
On CD: "Devil May Care" (Riverside, 1961); "I'll Be Easy To Find" (Verve, 1999).
Out of print but not out of mind: Thornton's second LP, "Somewhere in the Night" (Dauntless, 1962), and her third LP, "Open Highway" (1963, Columbia).
posted by Gotham 6:34 PM
0 comments
Your Bush Weekly News Digest
George W. Bush just cannot have any worse a week than he's just had without losing an election.First, there were the press stories early in the week alluding to Bush's beginning his re-election campaign efforts this week, pinning his strategy on his role as Commander-in-Chief of a war government. CNN's breathless promo teasers kept asking, "Is this wise?"
Well...
The official, unofficial kick-off included a day of raising humongous campaign contributions at a lunch in Minnesota, followed in the afternoon by a bring-the-public-up-to-speed-on-our-military-successes speech before the American Legion Convention in St. Louis. Right out of the Karl Rove handbook, this was a group seemingly tailor-made for war lessons from the Top Gun.
Luckily for me, I happened to be by a TV that afternoon and was able to catch the speech live on CNN. In keeping with the rest of the president's week, the most rousing applause he heard was upon entering the room. Remember, these are the same men and women whose veterans' benefits have been sliced and diced by Bush and Defense Dept. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the last year or so. These are also people who know what it really means to serve in the military (many in combat, as opposed to most of the administration) and have a good sense of how ill-prepared the current troops (their sons and daughters) are to respond to their orders.
So, crafted to create a frenzy, and filled with podium-thumping, Teddy Roosevelt-esque campaign tag lines meant to whip the faithful into an ongoing lather and delivered with Bush's best "bad dude" zeal/smile/smirk, each line in turn was met with three to four seconds of—deathly silence.
Each time, Bush would hold the pose, waiting for the tumultuous applause his handlers assured him would be there. Crickets. Soon, you could hear a wimpy pair of hands start a bored, embarrassed clap, and it would soon grow into a smattering of polite applause. ("I mean, geez Bob, I guess we should clap some, after all, it IS the president, y'know?")
This held throughout the speech. Bombastic tag line, followed by crickets, followed by one person's clapping, followed by the same smattering of polite applause. Rinse. Repeat. Since the camera held firm on Bush the entire time instead of panning the room, you could see the cumulative effect of those cricket moments wear on him as the speech progressed. Flop-sweat broke out on his face as he dutifully (nay, doggedly) held for each line. It was as if he was gonna get'em with the next line, boy! This was a wonderful opportunity to witness his inability to adjust to circumstances. He was doing his part exactly as rehearsed, even when it was clear it wasn't playing. At no time did it seem to dawn on him, "Hey, I'm gettin' killed out here, maybe I should just plow through it and just get away from this podium."
So, a major segment of Bush's natural constituency was having none of his nonsense and bull.
This does not bode well for the atmosphere in the West Wing.
But wait! This was just the beginning of the week.Other press reports throughout the week were equally kind to the president and his administration. Let's remember reports that there is still a well entrenched Taliban, even though we supposedly kicked some serious booty in the place, and all the problems are over now. (Tell that to these two kids.)
Then, his dog in the California recall hunt has embarrassed himself just the way Karl Rove was afraid he probably would. And now that Bill Simon has been forced out of the race by Republican honchos to make room for Arnold, the possibly soon-to-be Governor Gang-Bang is Bush's boy for good or for ill. Lucky George.
All week long, folks around the world took potshots at his credibility on Iraq. Iraq, as we have all come to know, is a shambles and quickly becoming an actual hell on earth, with L. Paul Bremer, the top American official in Iraq, ass-deep in terrorists. And, of course, Bush is now wondering why no one wants to play with him, after he punched all the other kids and thought it was funny.
Then, he spends most of the week making even more hellacious decisions which are guaranteed to piss off many of the swing voters he needs for his re-election. Maybe he assumes it was a pre-holiday week and no one would be watching.
Maybe this is George's deep-seated cry for help.
Understand, all of this (above and below) is the coverage FROM JUST ONE WEEK.
Some further press accounts of administration actions this past week:Bush Ends Nuclear Monitoring
EPA Quietly Cuts Budget of Energy Star
Feds Urge Overturn of Calif. Air Law
EPA Eases Clean Air Rule on Power Plants
Administration Adopts Rule on Antipollution Exemption
Clinton calls for hearings on EPA's 9/11 report
It's public be damned at the EPA
Dust and Deception
Bush Would Add Review Layer for Rules
Also, he got caught re-using his Dad's favorite device for diverting attention when things go badly:
Mr. Bush and the Flag
U.S. Aid Cut Off to Groups Backing Abortion
The Kids Left Behind
Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought
Amid Tensions, Saudi Envoy Meets Bush Father, Cheney
Bush couldn't even get away from the negativity at home on the ranch (have you ever noticed that he's been clearing that same piece of brush for three years now?):
Activists find a home near the presidential ranch
Bush 'Compassion' Agenda: A Liability in '04?
The economy, you ask? Fear not, there was plenty of ink on the economy this week as well.
Labor Day No Picnic for the Unemployed
A Gamble on Hitting the Payroll in Las Vegas
In S.F., 169 homeless died in past year
President Bush: Policies Reviving US Economy
Vacation Over, Bush Will Hit the Road to Talk Jobs—in which we're informed that all that those folks without jobs really need is:
"a job growth agenda, which includes a comprehensive energy plan, reined-in government spending, legal reform and free trade agreements with other countries."
If any of you have a clue as to how any of this rightist wish list is supposed to create a well paying job somewhere instead of just remunerating campaign contributors, please e-mail me at the address above and clue me in.
Time Bomb Ticks Beneath the Economy
Labor woes to linger
Iraq Costs In 'Tens Of Billions'
Budget deficit seen at $480B in 2004
And I thought I had a bad week!
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:23 PM
