Thursday, September 30, 2004
George W. Bush Document(ed) Lies
AP: Bush Document Details Military Departure0 comments
The White House continues to avoid the questions America keeps asking and keeps answering the questions that no one ever asked. Sweet approach.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the resignation was found in connection with a lawsuit brought by The Associated Press. The White House said the document had been in Bush's personnel file and that it had been found by the Pentagon.
Earlier Wednesday, the White House said Bush never was disciplined while serving in the Texas Air National Guard, never failed a physical and never asked his father or family friends for help to get him into the Guard.
As usual, you have to parse every syllable Scott McClellan utters.
the White House said Bush never was disciplined while serving in the Texas Air National Guard
No one has said he was. That's not the problem. When he actually felt like showing up, he actually got decent to good reports. And the four or so commanders or Bush-level peers who can remember ever seeing or dealing with him are on record as saying he was an OK guy.
What is charged is that he disobeyed a direct order to have a physical and was suspended from flying, which of course can be interpreted as an administrative move.
never failed a physical
No one ever said he failed a physical. What's this got to do with the price of corn in Iowa? What is on record is that HE BLEW OFF a physical. This immediately following the addition of drug testing to the physical procedure. The inference of his trying to avoid a drug test hangs heavy with many Americans.
and never asked his father or family friends for help to get him into the Guard.
Again, into Parseland. No one ever said he asked in so many words: "Daddy, could you get me into the Texas Air National Guard, please? I hear they have champagne there." This is gobblety-gook. All he needed to do is let it be known that "Damn! My deferment is up in FIVE DAYS! I could get drafted! YIKES!" to set all the machinery of the well-connected into motion.
Bush has maintained he fulfilled all of his National Guard requirements and served honorably.
And Baghdad is a sleepy, peaceful town and chads never hang.
posted by Gotham 2:35 PM
George W. Bush's "Iraqi People"
In Baghdad, supporters of The Divine 43's hand-picked Iraqi leader, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, go about their daily routine.0 comments
posted by Gotham 1:58 PM
George W. Bush: Vietnam "Inconvenient"
WP: Bush's Exit Letter To Guard Released0 comments
MIAMI, Sept. 29 -- President Bush, accused by Democrats of shirking his duty in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, wrote that he had "inadequate time" to meet future reserve commitments in his November 1974 letter of resignation, which was released Wednesday.
(...)
In the one-page "Tender of Resignation," Bush hand-wrote the following reason for resigning: "Inadequate time to fullfill possible future commitments."
"I'm the future president, Divine 43, so let those other guys get shot at. They're not doing anything."
As Carly Simon sang, "I haven't got time for the pain."
posted by Gotham 1:56 PM
George W. Bush the Blasphemer — On DVD, Oct. 5
NYTimes: Frank Rich: Now on DVD: The Passion of the Bush0 comments
A must read.
Rich does a superb job of highlighting just how George W. Bush has tossed away any chance he had of ever seeing the Pearly Gates. Let alone get through them.
If you believe in the concept of One God—however else you may define the divine—that bit of monotheism simply doesn't leave enough room in this town for George and Jesus both. One of them is going to have to go.
On Oct. 5, the Bush camp is making its case with the Christian Taliban treatise, "George W. Bush: Faith in the White House." Following on the course established by Mel Gibson's groundbreaking Christian slasher film, "I Saw What You Did Last Easter," FITWH is reviewed by Rich as a hyperbolic tract meant to diefy ol' 43 and sanction each and every action (and inaction) he has taken.
So, while the smart money may be on Christ, the Divine 43 is lining his troops up to give it a good shot.
Since "the Son of God" slot is already taken, we're shooting for "the Grandson of God" for the Divine 43. Which may come as bad news for Prescott Bush, since that drops him down to Step-Grandfather of the Divine 43.
So, maybe we sold George short with this Fortunate Son crap. He may actually attain Fallen Angel status before this is all over.
For as Rich sums up:
Far more startling is the inability of a president or his acolytes to acknowledge any boundary that might separate Mr. Bush's flawed actions battling "against the forces of evil" from the righteous dictates of God. What that level of hubris might bring in a second term is left to the imagination, and "Faith in the White House" gives the imagination room to run riot about what a 21st-century crusade might look like in the flesh. A documentary conceived as a rebuke to "Fahrenheit 9/11" is nothing if not its unintentional and considerably more nightmarish sequel.
It's clear Bush is probably going to rot in hellfire for what he's done to the people of this world.
Let's just hope (and pray) that he doesn't take the rest of us with him.
posted by Gotham 1:50 PM
Christians Teaching Muslims
NYTimes: Three Car Bombs Near U.S. Convoy in Baghdad Kill Dozens0 comments
It seems that the Muslim anti-Iraqi occupation forces have picked up a favorite trick of the right-wing Christian anti-abortion terrorists here in the States.
Set off the first bomb. Then time a couple of others to nail all the good-hearted people who run to help the victims of the first blast.
This is the democracy we've brought them.
posted by Gotham 1:12 PM
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Participatory Sports
Baseball (and mayhem) is coming back to Washington, D.C.!0 comments
WP: Baseball Tells D.C. that Expos Are Coming Here
And to prepare, Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert have made certain that all these brand new Washington Senators baseball fans really can "Kill the Umpire!"
House Passes Repeal of D.C. Gun Bans
Play brawl!
posted by Gotham 4:57 PM
With Friends Like These, Tony...
London Evening Standard: Allies secretly planned for Iraq war0 comments
You already knew this, of course. But it's still disgusting to finally see in print.
Britain was involved in planning for war in Iraq for at least nine months before MPs approved military action, according to a document apparently leaked from the Pentagon.
Details from the secret briefing paper suggest that military commanders took part in a war planning conference with US counterparts as early as June 2002.
At the time, Prime Minister Tony Blair was insisting that no decisions had been taken on military action.
Today's leak, on the eve of a crucial debate on Iraq at Labour's conference in Brighton, will fuel speculation that Mr Blair agreed in principle to join the US in military action at his April 2002 summit at President George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas—something the Prime Minister has always denied.
Here's more.
Senior British and US commanders met at a war-planning session in June 2002 and orders to prepare actual military operations were given on October 7, 2002.
This was more than a month before a UN resolution giving a final warning to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the London Evening Standard reported.
Full battle plans were issued on October 31, 2002, eight days before UN Resolution 1441 called for the resumption of arms inspections in Iraq and warned Saddam of "serious consequences" if he were still seeking weapons of mass destruction, the paper said.
The document quoted in the report is a Pentagon chronology used by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld in an August 2003 presentation on the "strategic lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom".
The chronology lists a "UK and Australia planning conference" on June 28, 2002.
But three weeks later, on July 16, the prime minister rejected the notion that Britain was gearing up for an invasion.
When asked by an MP whether Britain was "preparing for possible military action in Iraq", [Tony] Blair responded, according to the paper: "No, there are no decisions which have been taken about military action."
Yeah, foreign policy is Bush's strong suit.
This may be the most satisfying part of this story:
The newspaper report was written by defence and security journalist Andrew Gilligan, the former BBC radio reporter whose claim that Blair had "sexed up" his pre-war dossier with a claim about Iraqi weapons capability led to his ouster and a showdown between the government and public broadcaster [BBC, where the BBC caved in].
It's good to see some courageous journalists will stay with a story until the truth sees the light of day. And they achieve vindication. Listening, Wolf?
posted by Gotham 1:21 PM
Insure Your Future
Here's yet another report that points to the "blame someone else" smokescreen Bush/Cheney '04 throws around a major problem to keep you from taking actions that would hurt their corporate friends.0 comments
Arkansas News Bureau: Health care costs outpace worker wages, study shows
Nationally, the report showed that family health premiums paid by employers and workers rose from $7,028 in 2000 to $9,320 in 2004. The average amount paid by workers for this coverage rose from $1,433 to $1,947, an increase of 35.9 percent.
The number of Americans spending more than a quarter of their income on medical costs climbed from 11.6 million in 2000 to 14.3 million this year, according to the report.
"Working families were squeezed by runaway health care costs over the past four years," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which has criticized President Bush's policy on health care and backed proposals from Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry.
The 50-state report by Families USA is similar to other recent studies by Harvard University and the Kaiser Family Foundation, which highlight the fact that there are 45 million uninsured Americans and fewer employers are now offering health insurance to their employees.
Likewise, the National Federation of Independent Businesses cites skyrocketing health care costs as the most pressing issues facing small business owners.
Nearly 25 million small business owners, employees and families are without health insurance, according to NFIB. That's about 60 percent of the nation's more than 45 million uninsured.
(my emphasis)
The smokescreen focuses us on "However are we going to pay these enormous bills??? We must have new ways to come up with the money!"
No. It's high time that we go after the Evildoers!
The true question we need to zero in on is: "Insurance Industry, just why the hell are these bills so frickin' high? Show us your books!"
It's time to stop glaring at the poor fools who get sick, or the poor guy who's trying to run a small business without going broke, or the doctor who's now paying four times the cost of his education in yearly insurance fees because a couple dozen of his peers are incompetent and deadly, or the lawyer who wins money for horrified people who've been maimed or killed by quacks and the hospitals that abet them.
It's time to take dead aim on the Insurance Industry which is fueling all of this pain and misery. Breaking up the Insurance Industry is our top priority as a nation. When half the CEOs in Hartford, and the like, take that perp walk to answer fraud, collusion, theft, profiteering and price-gouging charges, many other ills in society will slowly begin to heal.
Then, we can turn our attention to the Drug Cartels. Urrr, I mean, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries.
posted by Gotham 11:01 AM
George W. Bush's Base
Editorial Cartoon0 comments
—Vic Harville, Arkansas News
posted by Gotham 10:21 AM
Great Cartoon
Vic Harville nails it in the Arkansas News:0 comments
Editorial Cartoon
In our youth, we like to break new ground, and explore great possibilities unknown to previous generations. But no matter how much we've changed, it's amazing that as we get older we always tend to revert to our roots.
So sometime soon, we'll most likely see Bush disappear for a while, start falling off bar stools and playing more tennis.
posted by Gotham 10:17 AM
Democracy Alert! George W. Bush at "America Last" Rallies!
AP: Veterans for Kerry Barred From Bush Rally0 comments
The rallies for Bush/Cheney '04 are quickly taking on all the aspects of KKKlan Rallies.
This is getting scary.
Time to pass out the sheets.
"How soon 'til we burn somethin'?"
"Something in a nice percale for you, Karl?"
posted by Gotham 1:29 AM
Election Theft
NYTimes: Absentee Votes: Hurdles Remain for U.S. Voters Living Overseas0 comments
The ongoing battlefield from this point onward will be:
The Suppression of the Vote.
These guys are working for a Bush Win—by Any Means Necessary.
posted by Gotham 1:09 AM
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Neo Con = Ultra Patriot? or Police State Thug?
David Neiwert lays out the case of the fascistic nature of the direction the Neo-Con Movement is taking our country in Orcinus0 comments
posted by Gotham 11:56 PM
Privatize Your Support / Squash All Dissent
Sweet.0 comments
NYTimes: Supporters Get Incentive Plans at Bush Rallies
You now see exactly how the next four years will work, people. This IS the Bush agenda for a second term: you work for us, or get out.
Be warned.
posted by Gotham 2:41 PM
So, Market-Timing Is a Bad Thing?
NYTimes: Saudis to Boost Oil Production Capacity as Price Hits $500 comments
They just needed to wait until they got the price they wanted. And enough people had 6 mpg SUVs.
Now, watch the gush of oil come through.
CA-CHING!
Now you see why Bush didn't tap the oil reserves.
posted by Gotham 2:24 PM
George W. Bush's Economy Woes Continue
The economy continues to Turn the Corner—into a dark alley.0 comments
The Conference Board's new Consumer Confidence Index just came out. This Index of 5,000 U.S. households covers the period through September 20, 2004.
Overall—when combined with a third straight monthly decline showing up in the numbers of the Conference Board's Leading Indicators Index, released earlier this month—these numbers do not bode well for Bush/Cheney '04.
Wall Street was not overly enthusiastic about the news, either. As the news was being released at 10am, the DJIA proceeded to drop some 40 points. It slowly recovered afterwards, and now by 12:45pm seems to be trending slightly higher again.
The Index highlights:
(The Index's base number is 100, which is where things stood in 1985 when the survey started. So everything is studied relative to that.)
In August, the overall Index stood at 98.7. It's now down to 96.8.
The Present Situation Index fell from 100.7 in August to 95.5 in September.
The Expectiations part of the survey remained flat.
In percentage terms, people saying jobs were "plentiful" dropped from from 18.4% to 16.8%.
Those saying jobs were “hard to get” soared from 26.0% in August to 28.3% in September.
It would be interesting to see the financial well being of the various segments of the sample in this survey, since people's anticipation of what lay ahead diverge dramatically, and at oddly even numbers, at the end points.
Consumers who anticipate there being "fewer jobs" increased from 15.1% to 16.1%.
At the same time, those who anticipate there being "more jobs" available rose from 16.3% to 17.7%.
It's hard to tell just from the core numbers whether this shows the despair/hope confusion of the American people overall, or whether there is a type of class warfare afoot here, with it all depending on your initial situation.
In tandem with these reports, however, there's this jobs tidbit from CBS MarketWatch:
Motorola to cut 1,000 jobs
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 10:45 AM ET Sept. 28, 2004
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW)—Motorola plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in connection with the spinoff of its semiconductor unit.
The move will result in a one-time cost of $50 million for severance benefits, Motorola said Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The layoffs will be spread across three different corporate segments.
Earlier this year, Motorola sold shares of its chip unit, now known as Freescale Semiconductor. The company still retains voting control over Freescale.
Motorola also said it will take a onetime charge of $80 million in the third quarter related to the early retirement of debt.
Separately, Motorola said it generated a one-time gain of $218 million from the sale of shares of Nextel Communications and Nextel Partners.
Shares of Motorola were down 19 cents at $17.31 in recent action. Nextel was up 32 cents to $23.25.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Washington.
(c) 1997-2004 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.
Drip, drip, drip.
posted by Gotham 1:11 PM
Monday, September 27, 2004
Darth Cheney Wows Hears Sees His Supporters
Sitting firmly on The Dark Side, ol' Darth leaves his supporters scratching their heads.0 comments
NYTimes: The Vice President: Cheney Crowds Would Like More on Kitchen-Table Issues
posted by Gotham 2:02 PM
Travelers Cheque-ing In
Just thought I'd drop in on the ol' Cost of the Iraq Invasion Clock site to see how my favorite Conservative president is doing these days.0 comments
It's been a while since I'd done so.
Well, the latest is, Bush's Folly is costing you precisely $115,000.00 per minute. Or looked at another way, that's $1,917.00 per second. Zip. Speedy. Gone. The smiling folks at Halliburton say, "Thank you very much."
Here's the Iraq Clock.
Now, note as the numbers fly by you, that this is the actual, direct cost only of Bush's Folly—in dollars, not lives (that's for another post)—and has nothing whatsoever to do with those other clocks sitting on the White House mantle: the bulging National Debt Clock or New York City's favorite tourist attraction: the ever-faster running U.S. Deficit Clock.
Yes, those are three distinct, separate hands you feel in your pocket.
"Money?! We don' need no stinkin' MONEY!"
posted by Gotham 1:38 PM
Invasion of the Bureaucrat Snatchers
The gravest threat to YOU personally, as an American, comes not from any inhumane law the GOP has strong-armed through Congress, including the Patriot Act; it stems from the deep drilling of personnel appointments the neo-cons have achieved within each and every federal agency over four years. Neo-cons have dropped tentacles deeply into the inner workings of the entire governmental machinery.2 comments
NYTimes: Agencies Postpone Issuing New Rules Until After Election
Neo-cons have placed apparatchiks in positions four- and five-deep at every agency in the bureaucracy. Not just the Secretary of each federal Department, but down on through the various Under Secretaries, and the hundreds of Assistant Under Secretaries and the thousands of people who report to them, throughout the bureaucracy. To do this, they've summarily dismissed experienced, long-time professionals—who have served administrations of both parties with distinction— and replaced them with young, upwardly mobile true-believers who will adhere precisely to the new party line. Not only do we lose the combined wisdom and experience of the former job-holders, these political robots will think of the good of the country and its people in exactly NO percent of the cases brought before them. Including your case.
Neo-cons realized that they didn't need the highly public wrangling that goes with passing legislation. They went right to the quiet source of real power in this country. Simply issuing new regulatory guidelines (or not) to get your way is faster, less public, less messy and much more effective.
These regulatory destruction efforts effect every, single aspect of your life: from food safety to consumer protections, to workplace safety, to selling off every corner of the environment, to your being paid time-and-a-half for working overtime, to banking protections, to controling gas and heating fuel prices and supply, to polluting your air and water, to rate hikes for EVERYTHING you buy, consume or use, including cable and cell and telephone service, to enforcement of civil rights laws, to your ability to afford to buy or rent a home, to further limiting how and from where information is conveyed to you (and by whom!), to how your schools are run and what is taught in them, to your ability to have your fair day in court, to your physical well-being and ability to get treatment, to your ability to raise a family, and your ability to afford and survive any possible retirement.
In short, every aspect of your life as you know it. And the upcoming presidential election will determine the on-going scope and power of all of these moves.
"Officials have decided to wait until after Election Day to respond to an appeals court decision that struck down rules that would make it easier for the largest media conglomerates to grow larger. And they are not expected to issue rules that will determine prescription rates and coverage under the new Medicare law until after the presidential election.
Both industry lobbyists and their critics say that the re-election of President Bush would probably lead to the adoption of some regulations favorable to industry and the rejection or watering down of others that industry considers objectionable. Consumer groups, environmental organizations and food safety experts, meanwhile, say that delays could lead to significantly weaker rules that could increase prices on some products, reduce safety and relax environmental protections.
While the delay of completing rules, known to lobbyists and policy makers as 'slow rolling,'' is common in a campaign season, some environmental groups and consumer advocates say this year is different.
'Generally, regulatory submissions often get pushed off in election years,'' said Gene Kimmelman, a senior director of public policy at Consumers Union.
'What is unusual this time,'' he added, 'is the clear pattern of holding back regulatory decisions that will benefit the largest industry players and will drive up prices and market place risks for consumers, ranging from telephones to drugs to the risks of contaminants of food. The pattern of slow rolling will ultimately benefit the largest players and hit consumers in the pocketbook.''"
You must be aware that THIS is where the decisions which effect YOUR daily life the most are made. In the shadows. NOT on CNN or on FOX.
THIS is where the fix is in.
posted by Gotham 1:07 PM
It's becoming clearer with every passing day that Bush's "Iraqi people" ARE the insurgency.0 comments
NYTimes: U.S. Military Arrests an Iraqi Commander
posted by Gotham 11:10 AM
WARNING: KERRY SURGE!
Washington Post: Election Heightens Terrorism Offensive0 comments
At the U.S. Capitol, Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer has ordered a number of his officers to wear sophisticated new equipment to protect them from a biological or chemical attack.
Yeah, but who protects us from the Department of Homeland Security?
Register to Vote Here!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 2:21 AM
Sunday, September 26, 2004
More from "the Iraqi People"
Washington Post: Violence in Iraq Belies Claims of Calm, Data Show0 comments
A nearby tailor, Hisham Nuaimi, 52, said Allawi "is either deceiving himself or the Americans. What do you call a city with a car bomb every day?" he said. "Is this the security they are achieving?"
posted by Gotham 8:05 PM
"The Iraqi People"
Bush lately has taken to prattling on about "the Iraqi people," as if he knew anything about the Iraqi people, and cared anything for any "Iraqi people" other than for the fellow-traveler thugs he's set up there, like Alawi.0 comments
Well, George, here's your "Iraqi people":
NYTimes: Body Count: Killings Surge in Iraq, and Doctors See a Procession of Misery
Before the war, the institute [for autopsies] received 200 to 250 bodies a month, with fewer than 20 gunshot deaths, said Abbas Mustafa, who keeps records at the morgue. In January 2003, the morgue received 246 bodies, including those of 17 gunshot victims.
The deaths began to soar in April 2003, when looting racked Baghdad, and have remained high ever since. Including killings and accidental deaths, the morgue has performed 5,239 autopsies so far in 2004, an average of about 650 a month, with more than half of them gunshot victims.
The highest monthly total ever came in August 2003, when the morgue took in 875 bodies, including 522 gunshot deaths, Mr. Mustafa said. Last month, 696 corpses arrived for autopsy, including 386 gunshot victims. Men make up about 90 percent of the shooting victims, he said.
I'm waiting for one of your hologram rallies to ask you about your "Iraqi people," George.
posted by Gotham 6:26 PM
Saturday, September 25, 2004
CBS Bullied into Backing Bush/Cheney '04
Disgusting.0 comments
NYTimes: Campaign 2004 > The Fallout: '60 Minutes' Delays Report Questioning Reasons for Iraq War
The wingnuts were all over CBS, like ants on jelly. Give CBS what-for from the liberal / normal side!
CBS Web Feedback Form.
posted by Gotham 9:10 PM
Frank Rich's Tale of Two Columns
The week got off to a twisted start with Frank Rich's column in last Sunday's New York Times.0 comments
Frank Rich wrote what is essentially: "Two! Two! Two Columns in One: One on the Outside; One on the Inside."
The inside article is the clearer and more important of the two. The stupidly inflamatory outside article, with its equally unfortunate headline, is the one that catches your eye, however, and inadvertantly proves the very point he's trying to make on the inside.
The inside article describes clearly how all mass media—with the help of, and with battering from, the Bush Media machine—has capitulated totally since September 11, 2001, and now exists simply as an outlet for the floodwaters of leaks from the administration.
The outside article begins with an attack on CNN for its exposure on the James Carville/Paul Begala/Crossfire issue, stating what a coup for FOX this is.
Yet as CNN continues its ratings free-fall, humbled by Fox and occasionally by MSNBC as well, "Crossfire" remains one of its few signature brands. No matter how long the overlap between Mr. Carville and Mr. Begala's TV and campaign roles, that brand and CNN itself are now as inextricably bound to the Democrats as Fox is to the Republicans. The network has succeeded in an impossible feat — ceding Mr. O'Reilly the moral high ground.
Nonsense. Rich never mentions, of course, that Crossfire's own Veteran Journalist Bob Novak is perfectly happy to break standing federal law and to get people killed to enable the administration's version of events by Outing a covert CIA agent who has crossed this current administration.
Five graphs into the story, though, Frank Rich shifts gears and the story shifts from CNN's supposedly playing into FOX's hands politically, to an overall look at the state of the media today. Here, the tires begin to grab hold.
Article Two begins with this graph:
What much of the other news media have offered as an alternative [to FOX] has not been an alternative at all. At some point after 9/11, the news business jumped the shark and started relaying unchallenged administration propaganda — though with less zeal and showbiz pizazz than Fox. The notorious March 2003 presidential news conference at which not a single probing question was asked by the entire White House press corps heralded the broader Foxification to come. As Michael Massing, a frequent critic of this newspaper and others, put it on PBS's NewsHour, the failure of the American news media to apply proper skepticism to the administration's stated rationale for war in Iraq is "one of the most serious institutional failures of the press" since our slide into Vietnam. Mr. Massing attributes some of this to the fear of challenging a president then at the height of his popularity. Whatever the explanation — and there are many, depending on the news organization — the net effect was that the entire press came off as Fox Lite. The motive to parrot the administration line may not have been ideological, as it was at Fox, but since the misinformation was the same, news consumers can't be blamed for finding that a distinction without a difference.
I, like many Americans, still have nightmares from spending too many hours after the initial surge into Iraq by U.S. troops and bombers, watching Wall-to-Wall Wolf Blitzer excitedly reading Republican press handouts in Kuwait (REPEAT! That's REPUBLICAN! press handouts! HERE in Kuwait!) in that annoyingly bizarre signature style of his. This Torture-by-Wolf was only broken by the slew of press briefings given by then-Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, where you waited for ANY reporter to ask something besides puffball questions which allowed Ari to end up sounding only slightly more lucid and coherent than "Baghdad Bob." We watched—hoping for a shred of hard news—as Ari worked the room as if he were surrounded by scores of hungry cats and he alone held the open bag of kibble.
Later comes a ludicrous point from Rich:
It's a damning measure of the news media's failure to provide a persuasive dose of reality as an antidote to Washington fairy tales that so many Americans came to believe that the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis, not Saudis. A Newsweek poll just two weeks ago shows that 42 percent of Americans (among them, 32 percent of Democrats) still believe that Saddam was "directly involved" in the 9/11 attacks.
"... a damning measure ..."?
What Frank sees here are layers of residue. White House gunk which started on the very day of the attacks. Clips from the schoolroom video, and photos of the Most Powerful Man in the World staring forelornly out the window of a wandering Air Force One appeared that first day, only to disappear for years.
Instead of scratching his head and fretting over the press's "failure to provide a persuasive dose of reality," why doesn't Rich come right out and state the fact of the matter:
Starting on 9/11, the press rolled right over and assumed the position for the Bush White House.
And this masochistic industry has made only the most feeble of efforts to ask the administration to stop abusing them ever since.
Period.
As of 9/10/01, Bush's was a presidency in trouble, with poll numbers starting to drop like a stone. Over nine months, the press made efforts to present both the White House wins and losses in equal measure, which added up poorly for the new president.
As Bush loves to say: "On September 11th, everything changed."
Yes, everything.
There can be no face-saving gloss put on this, Frank. What followed was total dereliction of duty. An utter failure on the press's part of horrendous and deadly proportions.
Simply and clearly put: EVERY member of the press is fully complicit in the subsequent slaughter of tens of thousands of people over the past two years.
Period.
What would have happened in this world had the thousands of basically good and moral people within the media—the reporters, anchors, editors, publishers, columnists, etc.—actually stood up and fulfilled the basic core tenets of their profession, and performed the press's duties within a free society?
If anyone in the press asserts that they're clean from the last three years, they're lying or delusional. It's goes across the board, despite any self-serving howling from the White House. If Dan Rather is to go, then EVERYBODY goes!
Just who told these good "Americans" mentioned above—up to 70% of the population at the time, and yes, 42% of them still—to believe that there was a connection between Saddam and 9/11?
The administration, aka, "a senior administration official said today... ."
Period.
You found this tale nowhere else. You heard it from no one else.
Did ANY journalist from a mainstream press organization dig to corroborate the White House's story at the time? Or to uncover differing or conflicting facts?
No.
Was there ANY truth to the administration's story?
No, of course not.
How did the administration continue to get that story out, then?
The press, Frank. The wire services, the network news programs, the cable news channels, newspapers like yours, and local newspapers which only reprint wire stories. All the good water carriers. The White House said it; the media dutifully carriied it verbatim to the American people. On the air; over cable; in print. On the record, and off.
How often did the press run that fiction?
As many times a day as the White House would say it. After every briefing, speech and sound bite.
Did the mainstream press investigate the administration's claim?
No.
Simply parrot it?
Yes.
Did the alternative press investigate this story?
Eventually, yes.
Was that covered by the mainstream press?
Eventually, but not for a long time. And only when the facts the alternative press dug up became too clearly self-evident.
Were the facts as they emerged embraced by the maintream press?
No.
The press followed right along—as they still do today, it's still Accuse Any Messenger Who Dares to Accuse the White House—rather than taking an in-depth look at the original allegations, which tend to usually end up making the White House look rather bad.
The Bush Was AWOL story is a perfect case-in-point. I'm weary of the revisionist history surrounding this story. The original allegations have been presented by investigators who have spent years finding these facts and wrestling with federal government agencies under the Freedom of Information Act. The White House spin and rebuttal stories are mostly written by junior reporters who started their careers within the last four years.
No, Young Writers of America, this is NOT OLD NEWS! American voters were NOT fully focused on Bush's lack of service in 2000, and DID NOT fully vet and absorb it, as you insist on writing again and again. It emerged in the Boston Globe and on a couple of Internet sites. It was then slammed with every Karl Rove frontal-assault tactic in the book, and was quickly buried as the work of a few Al Gore-lovin', left-wing crackpots. Some voters were aware that the allegation was out there, but few, if any, actually took the time to read it or follow the saga. Besides, 2000 was a peaceful, prosperous time. What difference could it possibly make? As a story in 2000, it had a VERY small, VERY short shelf-life.
What a difference four years, a wrecked economy and over ten thousand lives lost makes!
Today the White House still gets everyone to focus on the "axe-to-grind" angle of the accusor. The WH simply ignores the fact that you have in the White House today: a "war president" who ignored this country's best intelligence professionals and failed to prevent the carnage of the 9/11 attacks; a president who later gave up on the "Dead-or-Alive" hunt to track down Osama bin Laden—the actual killer of over 3,000 Americans that day; a president who has been directly responsible for the deaths of over 1,050 U.S. military men and women under his command in Iraq—a country which posed no threat to the U.S.; a president who drove our most powerful allies from our door; a president who drove the country broke with his insane agenda of cutting taxes while paying for a war; and a president who turns out to have never fulfilled even what little was asked of him by his country, while his not-so-well-connected fellow young Americans without deferments were either dying at the rate of 1,000 a month in Vietnam, leaving the country for life or going to prison for 5 to 10 years. This "war president" chose to spend HIS affluent wartime service chasing Southern women, playing tennis, driving around in his Triumph convertible and falling off bar stools after too many lines and Jim Beam. An all-around heroic All-American Boy.
And, somehow, these stories are all about Dan Rather? Or James Carville?
Even though the basic facts of 9/11's being an operation of Saudi Arabian nationals—with no Saddam connection whatsoever—emerged, and the country started catching on, the press ignored it, instead dutifully reporting their AMAZEMENT that the majority of the American people still believed ("REPEAT! They STILL BELIEVED!") that it was an Iraqi ("REPEAT! That's an IRAQI!") attack. ("That's an AMAZING, AMAZING statistic!")
And the ignorance continues.
After the administration's blurbs and spins were thoroughly and completely debunked, did an embarrassed and revitalized press go on the offensive and dig into exactly what happened—on an array of issues?
Well, yes, but only as far as the administration would let them. The press corps would come up with information damning to the administration, the administration would simply go, "All lies!" and admit nothing, and the press would drop it. They'd simply go back to the Talking Point of the Day memo handed out by the White House Communications Director earlier that morning. Or they'd feel victorious from making Press Secretary Scott McClellan look stupid on any given day (not an overly difficult task, that; something I assume the local dry cleaners may actually do on a weekly basis), although they wouldn't have actually gotten Scott to say anything new or substantive about the accusation du jour. Then, again, they'd drop it. Not exactly dogged attempts on the press's part.
Has the press steadfastly repelled any further attempts by the White House to bamboozle the American public?
You're joking, right?
Only if you consider it to be forceful journalism to still run Shadow President Dick Cheney's ongoing, tired repetitions of his discredited "It was All-Saddam; All-the-Time" fantasies—AS NEWS—without any challenge or bucketful of caveats.
To be the proper buffer between the American people and a rogue administration, the press would have to refuse to carry—again, as news, no less—the ongoing GOP sleazy campaign rubbish of slimy innuendo and personal attack. Crap like: the fake terror alerts every time Bush's poll numbers drop more than two points, or "The terrorists want the Democrats to win!", "Kerry shot HIMSELF to get his medals! Yeah, that's it; that's the ticket!" etc., etc., ad nauseam.
And the press—after simply ignoring that baseless Personal-Attack-of-the-Day GOP talking point—would have to press the administration and its surrogates on their record of the last four years, or the current daily actions of the White House and its GOP-strangled Congress, or their detailed plans for where they hope to take the country in the next four years.
And perhaps even have the temerity to ask:
"What will this country actually look like after another four years of Bush/GOP control?"
and
"What will this country actually look like after four years of a John Kerry administration?"
Or more importantly:
"What would this country look like if the press were not to follow the iron-fisted lead of Rupert Murdoch, Richard Mellon Scaife and Tom DeLay?"
You've become a far better political writer than you ever were a theater critic, Frank. And I understand the impulse to catch up for lost time on the political beat.
But, please, just write one column at a time.
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:02 PM
Catching Up...
It's been quite a week.0 comments
Enough to make you scream, laugh and just shake your head in amazement.
I'll be catching up over the weekend as best as I can.
There's just been so-o-o-o much.
posted by Gotham 1:28 PM
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Fun Fax!
Washington Post: Critics Say Bill Could Trigger Flood of Faxes0 comments
Maybe you'll get a fax from Staples alerting you to a sale on fax paper!
Time to stock up!
posted by Gotham 5:24 PM
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Thinkin'...Always Thinkin'...
Bush's Swap Sewage for Guns Plan0 comments
What an inspirational leader! George knows how to get those Hearts and Minds, boy! And noses!
posted by Gotham 8:43 AM
George Leads the Way...
CNN.com: Security row?fires Australian poll0 comments
Australian Prime Minister John Howard now wants to stage "pre-emptive strikes."
Newly installed Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin says now he'll stage "pre-emptive strikes" as well.
Everyone else seems to be lining up to prepare similar efforts.
Everybody, it seems, is now fully justified to run amok and blow up anybody else that they damned well feel like—all in the name of some amorphous "terrorism."
Thank you, George, you've personally brought us to the end of civilization as we've known it.
Nice legacy, there, Bub.
Happy now?
And here we thought you were the Rich, Ne'er-do-well Son.
Silly us.
Hopefully, you've underfunded the End of Civilization efforts the same way you've underfunded all of your administration's other efforts.
That may be our only chance at survival.
posted by Gotham 8:38 AM
This GOP House Speaker Has Nothing to Say
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is, in short, a hack. And dangerous for our country and its citizens.0 comments
It's bad enough that he's spent years desperately trying to kill Title IX laws that give girls the same access as boys to federal school sports program funding—because his beloved boys' wrestling is one of the first programs usually whacked when schools are faced with budget cutbacks due to the viciously underfunded Bush No Child Left Behind law.
Then, he participates in the bribing of Congressman Smith—on the floor of the House—to get his urgently needed vote during the overnight Medicare Bill fiasco.
Now this:
... Dennis Hastert's affirmation at a fundraiser that he believes al Qaeda could operate better with a Kerry administration.
No, Mr. Speaker, Congress could operate better with a John Kerry administration.
Like I said, a hack.
posted by Gotham 8:16 AM
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Bush Wants the Questions Answered!
Good boy! So do we...0 comments
NYTimes: Bush Says Questions About Guard Memos Used by CBS 'Need to Be Answered'
Absolutely!
And here are the questions that the American people most need to have answered:
- How could you possibly support the war in Vietnam—as you've often said you did, Mr. President—and then go out of your way to avoid serving in it? Was this just the vagaries of growing up privileged, or did you have some other reason for pulling strings and hiding out in the Texas Air National Guard?
- Finally, and for history's sake: Aside from those few hours you spent actually working on a losing Senate campaign, just WHERE WERE YOU between May 1972 and May of 1973? What were you doing and who were you doing it with? And just WHY WON'T ANY OF THEM VOUCH FOR YOU? What did you DO to these people?
- Why didn't you just find someone else's urine to hand in when you found out that the National Guard had just added drug testing to their basic yearly physical?
- Over the course of the rest of your life, did you really think there would never be any repercussions from your ignoring a direct order from a superior officer?
- Why did you choose cocaine over flying, when you seemed to enjoy flying so—and it was something you were actually even pretty good at? Isn't it fun soaring around above Houston after a few lines and a bellyfull of Jim Beam?
- Is there ANYONE credible whom you could produce from that time period to vouch for you and your actions—who wouldn't also be confessing to committing a felony simply by describing their interactions with you? Or at least be boring people with their tales of hanging out in a bar with you all day?
- Why did you not clear all of this up before you decided to enter politics—where this type of skeleton is always outed—thereby creating an on-going web of lies told by a slew of staffers on your behalf, from Austin to Washington, DC?
- Why in heaven's name did you think that none of this was ever going to get out?
- Do you really think that you're going to be able to simply ignore this deceit—now that the American people have a clearer picture of what you did 32 years ago, and how you been lying about it and covering it up for twenty years, even to today?
- Do you actually think that your average American will ever be able to think of you in the context of Commander-in-Chief again without laughing?
- Are you clear that this is a serious character issue? And you seem to be standing on the wrong side of it?
- And are you aware that this issue is making you look worse by the day, and may end up costing you the election?
And lastly, but most importantly:
- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!??
These are the types of questions that the American voters need answers to.
posted by Gotham 1:34 AM
Friday, September 17, 2004
Bush's Iraq Plan?
More liberatin' goin' on.0 comments
She'd throw flowers, but her hands were blown off.
Arab News: 43 Die in US Bombing of Fallujah
posted by Gotham 8:05 PM
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Who Knew?
NYTimes: Nicholas D. Kristof: Mr. Bush's Glass House0 comments
We had no idea then that the Top Gun landing George W. Bush made on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego Bay was not a photo op, but rather was meant to fulfill part of his Texas Air National Guard obligation.
Ohhhhh...
And that MISSION ACCOMPLISHED did not refer to Iraq, but rather to finally garnering additional points towards justifying his Honorable Discharge.
Now, I get it...
posted by Gotham 1:04 PM
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
"Here, Kitty...Here, Kitty..."
Salon.com Books: Don't mess with the Bushes0 comments
My favorite part:
What do you think W. will do if he loses in November? Will he happily go back to baseball?
No. You know something that I have found out from this family after four years -- he doesn't plan to lose. They know how to win -- no matter what.
What does that mean?
That means these people can put "The Sopranos" to shame.
Does that mean vote stealing?
That's a bit overt. But nothing will stand in the way of these people winning. Nothing. You start out looking at the Bush family like it's "The Donna Reed Show" and then you see it's "The Sopranos."
posted by Gotham 3:53 PM
Division of Labor Among the Evildoers
Today's column in the WP by E. J. Dionne, Jr. is so good I have to reference it a second time.0 comments
Dionne clearly points out the power wielded by the National Rifle Association over the legislative branch of our government. They are the ultimate, monomaniacal single-vote operation—and every other issue of import to the commonweal can go to the back of the bus. Or take a long jump off a short pier. Nope, just not interested.
The NRA leaders are the real "Evildoers."
Their attacks in southern states cost Vice President Al Gore the election in 2000; they have both Democratic and Republican members in Congress and in every state legislature scared to death of them; they've already budgeted $400,000 A WEEK to spend on ads aimed at skeet-shooting Senator John Kerry's campaign for the White House; and their most vile and evil habit—they hold rallies nearby to locales where children have nortoriously just killed other children with pistols and rifles, so that any anti-gun outcry is dwarfed and muted and the press agenda safely returns to how put-upon gun owners are.
These are bad people.
Very bad people.
And a perfect complement to any Bush White House.
It's a macro/micro thing.
From before the First World War, the George Herbert Walker/Samuel Bush-led family has made its immense fortune—over eighty years and four well connected Connecticut generations—from being major players on the world's armaments stage, and in the financial houses and oil/energy companies around the globe which have enabled the very Military/Industrial Complex that Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the country against in his farewell speech.
The Bush family response?
"That Ike. What a kidder!"
The Bush family wasn't about to listen to a U.S. General then, and it's not about to listen to any generals now. Not when there is SO MUCH money to be had by being a "wartime president." Consider the Bushes the "Anti-Ike" administrations.
So the Bushes have the big picture, big-ticket cannon, bomb and fighter jet markets cornered; they needed someone to cover the smaller, street-level death-stick market.
Voila! Les NRA!
How do you think the NRA can afford $400,000 a week for presidential election search-and-destroy ads? Where do you think that money comes from? There are some governments that can't afford ongoing outlays of $400,000 a month!
So whether your child is blown to pieces by automatic weapons fire in uniform in Fallujah, or by just walking to the store in Fremont, California, Butte, Montana or Biloxi, Mississippi, he or she will still be just as dead.
And you'll still be just as blinded and powerless.
And the money will still flow freely.
The NRA takes the inside; the Bushes take the outside. Everyone walks away fat and happy.
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 2:36 PM
Boot Out the Rubber Stamp GOP from Congress!
Excellent column by E. J. Dionne, Jr. today.0 comments
Washington Post: Staring Down the Barrel of The NRA
It's horrifying, really, to think that members of the Republican Congressional Caucus actually have the cojones to stand for re-election.
That is, they have to stand—until the White House, the NRA or the House & Senate GOP leadership tells them to sit down. And not a moment before.
You'd be hard pressed to find a single Republican House or Senate member who served the needs of his/her constituents over these last (and I'm being kind here by not counting the Clinton hunt) four years.
These GOPers return to the people of their districts or states with nothing to show—aside from a well worn rubber stamp—and whatever tiny sliver of the Homeland Security, Medicare, Budget and Highway Pork Barrel bills they could wrestle out of the clammy, iron hands of Tom DeLay or Bill Frist.
Vote.
It's up to you to take the rubber stamps out of their hands.
And elect Representatives for a change!
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 11:16 AM
Campaign Photos
Bush supporters work hard for the votes of undecided voters:0 comments
AP: Campaign Photo News
posted by Gotham 1:51 AM
A Chance to Not Die in the Street...
NYTimes: Bush Describes Kerry's Health Care Proposal as a 'Government Takeover' of Health Care.0 comments
It's about damned time!
posted by Gotham 1:48 AM
Krugman Nails It
NYTimes: Taking On the Myth0 comments
What everyone opposed to George W. Bush's re-election needs to re-enforce every day, in every thing we say and write is:
"George W. Bush sucks at his job, and is going to get us all killed."
Have a Nice Day."
Stay on Message!
posted by Gotham 1:39 AM
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Wanna Buy That Bridge Again?
NYTimes: Bush and Kerry Step Up Attacks in Swing States0 comments
1.) Make no mistake:
As this story proves, there are no mistakes in the Bush/Cheney '04 Campaign. EVERY minute point is plotted out in meticulous fashion. Zell Miller is a case in point. He was no unfortunate mistake in GOP convention planning. Every moment went according to the script. The Bushies got EXACTLY what they were after. That Wacky Zell!
Otherwise, no B/C '04 official—let alone Bush—would be seen within 2 time zones of the man. And yet here we see Bush draggin' ol' Zell around like a Raggedy Andy doll, just like he used to do with Colin Powell. But, you know, black guys are so-o-o "last week."
2.) The other point of this story:
The insanity plea is working for Bush again.
No, not that you'll forgive him because he's insane. But rather, that if he stays insane enough for long enough, you'll completely forget everything you know to be true and have ever learned, and you'll ignore everything your eyes show you and your mind tells you.
In the military, this is called Psych Ops. Mass manipulation of the highest order. And Karl Rove is the supreme master of it.
Bush initially received major campaign points for attacking that vague, gaseous "terrorist" war thing; right out of the vague "Mom" and "Apple Pie" playbook. Now he's back to co-mingling that with off-handed references to EVERY discredited, wrong, fact-less piece of frog swill that he's ever handed us about Iraq, as if we all, of course, know that Iraq is "the Motherland of All Things Terrorist-ish", just like HE does.
Just as he did last year before he began his conquest of the Middle East.
And you know what, folks? The polls show that you're falling for it. Buying into it, actually.
The very idea that Bush could attack John Kerry for possibly—Heaven Forbid!—leaving Saddam Hussein in power in Iraq, and turning his removal into some Universal Truth is the height of insanity and manipulation.
Because, as it turns out, that leaving Saddam in power, and setting up a U.S.-led destabilization effort, would have attained the exact same result, without the buckets of non-Skull and Bones blood on Bush's hands.
When you hear Bush's rant about Hussein, which you again may believe to be true, think things through:
Who removed Saddam from power, exactly? Bush did.
Who told you that Saddam had to be removed from power? Uhhh..., Bush and his people did. Over and over and over...
Anybody else? Well... No.
Where did he get his info? From Ahmad Chalabi and his friends and cronies—who were working for personal profit and power, and had already been convicted of felonies and were wanted men, and who were also working as spies for Iran!
Oh. Sweet.
Did Bush have any other proof? Umm... No. No smoking gun, no "Cuban Missle Crisis"-type photos. Nothing. Powell had a couple of photos of trucks. That's it. There are a lot of trucks in the world. Also, a baggie of white powder he claimed was anthrax, that, had it been real, would have sent the entire auditorium running for their lives.
Was Bush right to do all this? No, not if Saddam had no nuclear capability (which he didn't), no biological weapons (which he didn't) and no chemical weapons (which he didn't), and was still perfectly contained in the little box the world created for him after Daddy Bush allowed him to grab some Kuwaiti territory in 1990 (which he was).
Is any country better off without a dictator? Usually, yes. We could look at fifty murderous despots around the globe, and see that. "He murdered HIS OWN PEOPLE." Well, ummm, yeah, that's what despots do.
Are Iraqis better off? No. We've killed them; we've insulted the populace to its very core; we've dragged them off the street, and tortured and murdered them (just like Saddam!); we've told them that they can be free and have democracy ("Just like us!"), but only if they choose the guys we give them (our friends), and NOT the ones they would choose themselves (not our friends); we've delivered none of the basic daily services (electricity, clean water, etc.) that allow for normal human living (notice the screaming and yelling over getting the Florida power back up after a hurricane, and the resulting speed of service that 21 Electoral Votes allows);
Is the world better off without Saddam Hussein around? No. We now have thousands more people who are perfectly happy to die, if it means taking a few dozen/hundred/thousand other people (i.e., us) with them.
Is the United States safer, now that Saddam is out of power? Don't be foolish. Of course not. The horrors of the schoolchildren in Breslan shows the folly of that assumption.
Bush/Cheney '04 figures that if they keep merging the two—making you too afraid to look at Iraq simply as Bush's War, and NOT the U.S.'s—that it will innoculate him from his greatest failure: the cold-blooded sacrificing of 1,000+ U.S. military personnel, the murder of 13,000+ Iraqis, the mutilation of tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqis in this Pit of Hell that this Bush administration has created there, and the utter destruction of the U.S. and Iraqi economies—all in the service of the Bush/Walker family business over four generations, which is armament sales, oil, energy and worldwide elitism, control and privilege.
So, if they can re-sell you all of that, they figure it's been a good day.
posted by Gotham 1:11 PM
Monday, September 06, 2004
No Republican Can Look In the Mirror...
... Ever again. This is what your Grand Old Party has come to.0 comments
This just proves it: The people running the GOP are pigs.
MoveOnForAmerica.org
This is Hate Speech, pure and simple. And this is a Hate Crimes Site.
Think of this as the KKK's Greatest Hits.
They'll be burning crosses in from of John Kerry's bus pretty soon.
Someone forgot to tell Karl Rove they're in the lead.
And when does MoveOn.org sue for tradename infringement?
posted by Gotham 3:24 AM
Saturday, September 04, 2004
I Luv New York
There's a reason why they're "New York's Finest."0 comments
NYTimes: Police and Protesters Spar a Last Time, Over the Peace
500,000+ demonstrators behaved sooo much better than the fascist hordes inside at the hate-filled Bush rallies at the Garden.
And, in tandem, the NYPD was the very soul of professionalism, pride and humanity in a very tough job.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commish Raymond Kelly will have to answer, of course, for the wretched conditions at the holding pens in Chelsea—Guantanamo/NY as it's come to be known. And why NYC's law of 1-day arraignment was botched for hundreds of those arrested.
But, otherwise, kudos all around.
Once again, NYC shows the world how it's done.
More on last Sunday's anti-RNC demonstration and on the Convention overall in a later post.
posted by Gotham 3:07 PM
No Artistic Deed Goes Unpunished
That theatrical set they came up with for George W. Bush's acceptance speech wasn't just dazzling—it appears it was illegal. And underhanded.0 comments
First, the illegal:
The RNC and Pres. Bush violated Title 18, Section 713 of the US Code
Then:
While we're on the subject of Shrub's set, did you get a load of the subliminal crosses behind him?
On a long shot of the podium, you see three or more rows of Old Glorys displayed like a page of postage stamps on the Jumbotron screen behind him.
As the camera pulls in for the tight bust shot, where it stayed for the majority of the speech, you now clearly see the overly heavy border frames around all of the stamp-like flags, making for a sort of tic-tac-toe board behind Bush.
You slowly notice that at tight close-up, the centerpiece of the background no longer is the flag, but rather the heavy border frames, which now have the bar above him and the bar below cropped off. This leaves heavy vertical lines just off each shoulder and at his spine, and one heavy horizontal line at his neck line.
Voila!
A "cross" on either side of George, whichever side he slides to.
Nasty, but slick, very slick.
These guys plan for, and sweat over, every minute detail so spare me the complaints that Karl Rove and his team merely created a "happy accident."
I did have this very strong urge to tithe 10% of my income during the later portions of the speech, though.
posted by Gotham 2:54 AM
Since you're a sharp, inquisitive American...
...Who wants to get at the facts, be sure that before you let someone (be it politician, campaign spokesperson or media talking head) tell you ANYTHING about the economic state of the Union, that you ask them the simple question of whether their income last year from all sources was over or under $100,000. That way you'll know what their biases are.0 comments
Bush and Pataki Tell Workers Poverty is Good for Them
Yes, it's clear that the exact people who tell you things are good, are the very people who are riding the highest.
posted by Gotham 12:35 AM
Friday, September 03, 2004
Those Damn Steroids!
Steroids appear to have damaged that part of Arnold Schwarzenegger's brain which controls memory function and the ability to recall facts clearly.0 comments
Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey never debated in 1968—even though Arnold described just such a debate in his RNC speech as the lynchpin to his conversion to Republicanism.
And now, in another stunning example of the toll that long-time steroid use appears to have taken on the California governor, it emerges that Arnold's claim—during that same RNC speech—of having seen Soviet tanks in the streets of a socialist Austria as a small boy was false. First, Schwarzenegger grew up in the British sector of Austria after WWII, not the Soviet sector. And from 1947 to 1970, Austria was led by an unbroken string of conservative, anti-Soviet leaders.
Newsday: Austrians Doubt Schwarzenegger's Memories
Again, since Newsday takes their AP pages down quickly, the story is below.
---------------------------
Austrians Doubt Schwarzenegger's Memories
VIENNA, Austria -- Historians criticized Arnold Schwarzenegger for telling the Republican National Convention that he left a "socialist" country when he moved away in 1968, noting that Austria had conservative leaders during the entire time he lived there.
Some also were doubtful about Schwarzenegger's remark that he saw Soviet tanks as a child, since he lived in an Austrian region occupied by British troops after World War II.
Still, the questions about the California governor's memories of his homeland aren't likely to dampen his enduring popularity among Austrians who admire him for rising from a penniless immigrant to become an international movie star and the highest official in America's most populous state.
In his convention address Tuesday, Schwarzenegger said: "As a kid, I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left" in 1955 and Austria regained its independence.
But Austria was governed by coalition governments that included the conservative People's Party and the liberal Social Democratic Party, Martin Polaschek, a law history scholar and vice rector of Graz University, told the Vienna newspaper Kurier.
Between 1945 and 1970, all the nation's chancellors were conservatives—not socialists. And when Schwarzenegger left in 1968, Austria was run by a conservative government headed by People's Party Chancellor Josef Klaus, a staunch Roman Catholic and a sharp critic of both the socialists and the communists ruling in countries across the Iron Curtain.
Schwarzenegger "confuses a free country with a socialist one," said Polaschek, referring to Soviet bloc communist officials' routine descriptions of their eastern European countries as socialist. "He did not speak as a historian, after all, but as a politician."
Norbert Darabos, a ranking official of Austria's opposition Social Democratic Party, complained, "The Terminator is constructing a rather bizarre Austria image."
Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, said the governor was not referring specifically to the Socialist party but rather to "a socialistic style of government and governing that he experienced when living in Austria."
Some Austrians also questioned Schwarzenegger's reminiscence about seeing Soviet tanks growing up in Austria, which was divided into U.S., British, French and Soviet occupation zones after the war.
"When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in the streets," he told the Republican convention. "I saw tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes," he added.
"It's a fact, as a child he could not have seen a Soviet tank in Styria," the southeastern province where Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, historian Stefan Karner told the Kurier, noting that province and neighboring Carinthia were guarded by British troops.
Thompson, the governor's spokeswoman, said he was referring to a visit to the Soviet zone, which was as close as 30 miles to his family's home.
"Never in there did the governor reference that the tanks were where he grew up. It was a reference to visiting Soviet-occupied Austria," she said.
Many ordinary Austrians seemed in a forgiving mood Friday over any gaffes.
"Maybe he has a wrong recollection—it's so many years since he left," said Wilma Fadrany, 32, a waitress in Vienna.
"There must be political reasons for such comments," she said. "You've got to tell the (convention delegates) what they want to hear in order to win them over. Politicians always talk the way it fits into their agenda."
Copyright (c) 2004, The Associated Press
posted by Gotham 11:56 PM
George W. Bush—Man of Action
Here on C-Span.org you can find the John Kerry late night rally from Thursday night.0 comments
And here's a good wrap up:
Salon.com: John Kerry comes out swinging
The new mantra of the American middle class:
"Such lousy food. And such small portions!"
This on Bush from Reuters:
"Because we acted, our economy is growing again," [George W.] Bush told a crowd of about 10,000 in Moosic, a suburb of Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania. "Because we acted, we have overcome recession, scandal, stock market decline and a terrorist attack."
"Because we acted...?"
Well, yes. We've got quite the record to run on.
"Because we acted..."
The Supreme Court appointed us to the White House with a minority vote.
"Because we acted..."
We panicked Wall St. over the end of the Dot-Com Boom, pushing a typical economic slow-down into a full-bore Recession.
"Because we acted..."
...On our tax-cut plans only, we avoided policies that would limit the financial disaster of 2001-2003.
"Because we acted..."
Your retirement savings were wiped out.
"Because we acted..."
You can no longer send your child to college.
"Because we acted..."
Millions of you use credit cards and home equity loans to pay for basic living expenses.
"Because we acted..."
3 Million good-paying jobs with benefits were wiped out. We replaced them with 1.5 Million poorly paying jobs with either no benefits, or benefit packages that eat major chunks of your pay.
"Because we acted..."
You no longer struggle with the math, figuring out how taxes will effect your check—now that you no longer get time-and-a-half for overtime.
"Because we acted..."
Your jobs have moved to India, Thailand, Singapore, China, wherever, helping the long-term profitability of U.S. companies. And that is our plan for creating good jobs right here at home.
"Because we acted..."
144,000 jobs were created in August, although we need 320,000 every month just to break even, and we gained only 32,000 in July and 78,000 in June.
"Because we acted..."
Those of you with jobs work more hours, with more stress than you can handle. You all hate your jobs today, sure, but most of you are too afraid to leave them.
"Because we acted..."
We successfully pitted you against your neighbor for whatever morsels get tossed onto the table. Your new-found hatred for your friends and neighbors for whatever meager gains they make is music to our ears. Better you argue among yourselves, than with us.
"Because we acted..."
1.5 Million people were just pushed into poverty.
"Because we acted..."
39 Million children just lie sick or injured, because they can't afford a doctor or dentist.
"Because we acted..."
Your school system is in shambles, as your local government tries to figure out how to implement the strict and expensive new federal school guidelines with no federal money.
"Because we acted..."
Your property taxes, sales taxes, licenses, fees, tuitions and every other state and local tax have soared through the roof as we shed the cost of running America's life onto you, there, on the local level. That way, we make it easier on the rich guys.
"Because we acted..."
The average mediocre professional athlete on your favorite team will receive a far greater tax cut amount this year than you will earn this year in wages or salary. In the case of Alex Rodriquez of the New York Yankees, his tax cut alone equals two to three years' worth of wages for many, if not most, people. So, go boo Alex; not us.
"Because we acted..."
You didn't have to worry about increased revenues from the 2003 Bull Market. We made certain it went strictly to corporate profits.
"Because we acted..."
Corporations are free to dump toxic waste back into the rivers and streams near your homes. We're assured by these companies that no toxic chemicals will ever leech into your ground water, pools, wells or drinking water to kill or deform your family, or any farmers' livestock. They promised.
"Because we acted..."
Our corporations are again free to spew toxic smoke back into the air in your town. The EPA assures us that, while it may peel the paint off your car, there are no measurable health risks.
"Because we acted..."
We successfully focused you on the private affairs of a minority of people—homosexuals—who normally just go about their daily affairs, wanting to be left alone with their loved ones. This leaves us free to govern the country with less interference.
"Because we acted..."
We've successfully used elements of the Patriot Act to indict suspects in scores of normal criminal cases—which the courts would never have allowed us to do before, due to prickly points about the Constitution. Someday, we're assured, this Act will also come in handy against possible terrorist cases as well—although we haven't seen that as yet and haven't gained any terror convictions with it.
"Because we acted..."
The Taliban, and its guest, al Qaeda, were driven out of resource-poor Afghanistan.
"Because we acted..."
...In Iraq, we could immediately pull our valuable assets from poor, barren Afghanistan.
"Because we acted..."
...In Afghanistan as we did, we successfully missed capturing the murderer of 3,000-4,000 Americans, long-time Bush family friend Osama bin Laden; the Taliban regained control of major segments of the country; the warlords now run the rest; and the opium poppy production is back in full swing. This crop finances a large segment of the terror networks, and successfully floods the streets of the United States and Europe with high-grade heroin. This should help you pass the time as you no longer have college or retirement as options.
"Because we acted..."
...On phoney WMD intelligence provided by convicted felon and Iranian spy Ahmed Chalabi, we successfully by-passed the time-consuming task of creating and financing a popular anti-Saddam Hussein uprising in Iraq. This way, we could just plow ahead and invade it, creating a full resistance/freedom fighter army among its citizens, successfully turning that country into the very Gates of Hell.
"Because we acted..."
1,000 American sons and daughters in uniform are dead in the sand in Kuwait and Iraq.
"Because we acted..."
8,000 brave American men and women are forever mangled, impaired and hobbled.
"Because we acted..."
Some 30,000 Iraqi citizens are dead, with twice that amount mangled.
"Because we acted..."
We are now perfectly positioned to begin military operations to bring American-type Freedom to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and the rest of the region we feel will benefit greatly from our having targeted them for Liberation. Our good friend, the feudal monarchy in Saudi Arabia, is fully prepared to assist us in this effort.
"Because we acted..."
We spent only a few billion of those $200 Billion worth of Supplemental Appropriations earmarked for Iraq on actual military needs. The rest we've successfully siphoned off into corporate coffers and into the pockets of those whom we know understand how to handle prosperity.
"Because we acted..."
Vice President Dick Cheney contracted out large segments of normal U.S. military functions, while continuing to receive his income from Halliburton Corporation. They and other contractors have successfully avoided delivering the very services for which they have been paid billions, while taking aggressive control of the military prisons in Guantanamo and Iraq.
"Because we acted..."
The word "Torture" has become part of the American lexicon, like "Mom" and "Apple Pie."
"Because we acted..."
The Saudi Royal Family has been spared retaliation from the American people.
"Because we acted..."
North Korea and Iran have been better able to develop nuclear weapons capable of reaching American towns and cities.
"Because we acted..."
Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith was able to facilitate the stealing of American foreign secrets by an Israeli spy.
"Because we acted..."
Large segments of the entire rest of the world hates us with a venom the globe has never witnessed.
"Because we acted...
We have proved we are not 'girlie-men.'
And today, I ask for your vote.
Thank you, and God Bless America!"
posted by Gotham 4:40 PM
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Playing Catch-Up
At various times, different, disparate themes merge when we're least prepared for them.0 comments
And this, friends, leads us to the definition of Leadership—or lack of it, as the case may be.
It's one thing for the average Joe on the street to be caught off-guard, it's quite another for the professionals in government, law enforcement or the military in whom we place our trust. It's important that they be gaming the various possibilities and contingencies as part of their daily lives—in the hope of not just being able to respond to events as they arise, but in order to steer us clear of dangerous events or even to thwart danger before it reaches the status of "event."
Today's event:
Armed attackers seize 400 in southern Russia
Terrorists threaten to kill 50 kids for each dead militant
This is the on-going type of horror that makes September 11, 2001 so intolerably difficult to swallow.
And George W. Bush's empty boasts so dangerous for this nation.
That a U.S. administration had specific information that SOMETHING BIG was in the works months before and took no aggressive, protective action; that numbers of commercial airliners could go silent then meander across the radar screens of the Air Force—as well as the air controllers—and still no one jumps into action; that hotlines across this government don't start ringing off the hook to immediately engage the very forces and offices and personnel directly responsible and fully trained for this very contingency; and, that the president of the United States isn't grabbed by the Secret Service detail from his day's planned event and hustled off to a safe action site for upwards to fifteen minutes after it is clear the country is under attack, is fully incomprehensible. Agencies and forces have been gaming this exact type of scenario since the mid-Nineties, at least.
For naught, we see.
Then, after all the proverbial cows are out of the proverbial World Trade Center, the administration storms off in the wrong direction to "respond forcefully."
Big whup.
I mentioned in a recent post that there were other areas of the world that demanded the Bush administration's attention for at least 5 minutes as we plod on, destroying any and all hope for a civilized Iraq.
One of the areas I mentioned earlier, Ossetia—both North Ossetia, near Chechnya and within Russian territory, and South Ossetia, which split from Georgian territory fourteen years ago and is undergoing armed attempts from Georgia to reunite—are powder kegs which contain both modern religious-fervor kindling and ancient, centuries-old ethnic and tribal blood-feud fuels.
The region is about to blow sky-high for scores of secular and religious reasons.
And, as always, the innocents are caught in the middle.
And, as always, the Bush administration is dong nothing about any of it.
Remember this attack and think of how George W. Bush claims that he is keeping us safe from terrorist attack.
How is he doing that, exactly?
And who actually thinks that a gang of 40 heavily armed whackos with the element of surprise on their side couldn't do the EXACT SAME THING to some school or mall in Kansas, Florida or Utah anytime they wanted? Or in New York City or Washington, DC?
The answer should be, No One.
The "Element of Surprise" is your actual enemy. That is what the pros game for. Or should be gaming for. So that there is someone in our government who is not actually caught flat-footed.
By the actions of this administration, we are not in a position to avert "events"—as happened a number of times under President Bill Clinton.
Bush should stay wary of claiming credit for decisions that others both here and around the world, and whom we don't know exist, have made.
Especially since his people are set up only to respond after all the cows are gone out the windows.
Or the teachers or children are shot.
posted by Gotham 1:06 PM
