Sunday, December 14, 2003
Been gone but now I'm back.
I've been out with some family and health issues, but now I'm back.
# posted by scorpiorising : 4:50 AM |
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
From the DailyKos comment thread...
Re: Open Thread (none / 0)
A poster on the NYTimes Op/Ed is suggesting that everyone vote by adsentee ballot this year as it leaves a paper trail as opposed to the flawed Diebold software that comes with an ejector button into hyperspace.
nolalily
by nolalily on Tue Dec 2nd, 2003 at 05:54:52 UTC
[ Parent ]
Not a bad idea.
A poster on the NYTimes Op/Ed is suggesting that everyone vote by adsentee ballot this year as it leaves a paper trail as opposed to the flawed Diebold software that comes with an ejector button into hyperspace.
nolalily
by nolalily on Tue Dec 2nd, 2003 at 05:54:52 UTC
[ Parent ]
Not a bad idea.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:44 AM |
Monday, December 01, 2003
54 Dead in Samarra. What does it mean?
Musical Chairs highlights the differences in reporting of this incident by the American media and Al-Jazeera:
"Repelling Attacks" versus "Perpetrating A Bloodbath"
"One civilian injured" versus "killed innocent bystanders when they opened fire on anything that moved"
Al Jazeera also mentions that the attackers "allegedly wore the black uniforms of the Fidayin"
Both the BBC and Al Jazeera mention nearby factory workers getting killed - Al Jazeera in paragraph 4 and the BBC in paragraph 15. As of Monday morning, 12:20 PST, the web sites of CNN , CBS and Fox News did not.
There were two orignal sources for these articles , an AFP reporter, and the US military.
It shows that bias is alive and well, one way or another.
Then there is this ABCNews.com article on the incident, posted today on their site. I'll post the article in full, as they tend to disappear:
U.S. Says 54 Iraqis Killed in Samarra
U.S. Military Says 54 Iraqis Killed in Samarra Battle, but Residents Say Death Toll Is Lower
The Associated Press
SAMARRA, Iraq Dec. 1 — The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes. But residents said Monday that the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians.
By the American account, Sunday's fighting was the bloodiest combat reported since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in a U.S.-led invasion.
A U.S. military spokesman said attackers, many wearing uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, struck at two U.S. convoys at opposite sides of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The scars of the battle were evident on Monday. About a dozen cars lay destroyed in the streets, many apparently crushed by tanks, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A rowdy crowd gathered at one spot, chanting pro-Saddam slogans. One man fired warning shots in the air when journalists arrived at the scene.
Many residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing at random, many civilians got their guns and joined the fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.
"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?" asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?"
"Civilians shot back at the Americans," said 30-year-old Ali Hassan, who was wounded by shrapnel in the battle. "They claim we are terrorists. So OK, we are terrorists. What do they expect when they drive among us?"
Many residents said the Americans opened fire at random when they came under attack, and targeted civilian installations. Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the injured. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells. No children were hurt.
"Luckily we evacuated the children five minutes before we came under attack," said Ibrahim Jassim, a 40-year-old guard at the kindergarten. "Why did they attack randomly? Why did they shoot a kindergarten with tank shells?"
Lt. Col. William MacDonald of the 4th Infantry Division said that after barricading a road, attackers opened fire from rooftops and alleyways with bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
U.S. troops responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire from Bradley fighting vehicles, he said.
"It sounds like the attack had some coordination to it, but the soldiers responded, used their firepower, used tank and Bradley fire and other weapons available to them, to stop this attack and take the fight to the enemy," he said.
MacDonald said the attack was the largest faced by his Task Force Ironhorse, whose mission includes the hunt for Saddam. Military officials in Baghdad said they haven't reported a deadlier attack since May 1, when U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over. U.S. officials have only sporadically released figures on Iraqi casualties, and wouldn't say whether there has been a deadlier firefight that went unreported.
The U.S. military initially said 46 Iraqi fighters died and five American soldiers were injured. But a statement on Monday raised the Iraqi dead to 54.
Residents of Samarra disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine people died. Three bodies lay in the hospital morgue. There was no way to reconcile the accounts.
The scale of the attack and the apparent coordination of the two operations showed that rebel units retain the ability to conduct synchronized operations despite a massive U.S. offensive this month aimed at crushing the insurgency.
At least 104 coalition troops have died in Iraq in November, including 79 American troops. In terms of coalition losses, it has been the bloodiest month of the war that began March 20.
Shortly after the firefight, four men in a BMW attacked another U.S. convoy in Samarra with automatic rifles, MacDonald said. The soldiers wounded all four men, and found Kalashnikov rifles and grenade launchers in their car.
"We have been very aggressive in our convoy operations ... it does send a clear message that if you attempt to attack one of our convoys, we're going to use our firepower to stop that attack," MacDonald said.
Also Sunday, two South Korean contractors were killed near Samarra in a roadside ambush in what U.S. officials called a new campaign aimed at undermining international support for the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Attacks on Saturday killed seven Spaniards, two Japanese diplomats and a Colombian oil worker.
The two Japanese diplomats were flown to Kuwait and arrangements are being made for transporting them home, a Japanese diplomat said Monday on condition of anonymity.
In Seoul, the South Korean government vowed to stick by plans to send up to 3,000 troops to Iraq despite the killing of two South Korean engineers.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Monday his vow that the attack on the Japanese diplomats would not alter Tokyo's commitments to send non-combat troops, provide humanitarian aid and participate in the reconstruction of Iraq.
"Repelling Attacks" versus "Perpetrating A Bloodbath"
"One civilian injured" versus "killed innocent bystanders when they opened fire on anything that moved"
Al Jazeera also mentions that the attackers "allegedly wore the black uniforms of the Fidayin"
Both the BBC and Al Jazeera mention nearby factory workers getting killed - Al Jazeera in paragraph 4 and the BBC in paragraph 15. As of Monday morning, 12:20 PST, the web sites of CNN , CBS and Fox News did not.
There were two orignal sources for these articles , an AFP reporter, and the US military.
It shows that bias is alive and well, one way or another.
Then there is this ABCNews.com article on the incident, posted today on their site. I'll post the article in full, as they tend to disappear:
U.S. Says 54 Iraqis Killed in Samarra
U.S. Military Says 54 Iraqis Killed in Samarra Battle, but Residents Say Death Toll Is Lower
The Associated Press
SAMARRA, Iraq Dec. 1 — The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes. But residents said Monday that the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians.
By the American account, Sunday's fighting was the bloodiest combat reported since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in a U.S.-led invasion.
A U.S. military spokesman said attackers, many wearing uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, struck at two U.S. convoys at opposite sides of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The scars of the battle were evident on Monday. About a dozen cars lay destroyed in the streets, many apparently crushed by tanks, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A rowdy crowd gathered at one spot, chanting pro-Saddam slogans. One man fired warning shots in the air when journalists arrived at the scene.
Many residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing at random, many civilians got their guns and joined the fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.
"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?" asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?"
"Civilians shot back at the Americans," said 30-year-old Ali Hassan, who was wounded by shrapnel in the battle. "They claim we are terrorists. So OK, we are terrorists. What do they expect when they drive among us?"
Many residents said the Americans opened fire at random when they came under attack, and targeted civilian installations. Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the injured. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells. No children were hurt.
"Luckily we evacuated the children five minutes before we came under attack," said Ibrahim Jassim, a 40-year-old guard at the kindergarten. "Why did they attack randomly? Why did they shoot a kindergarten with tank shells?"
Lt. Col. William MacDonald of the 4th Infantry Division said that after barricading a road, attackers opened fire from rooftops and alleyways with bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
U.S. troops responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire from Bradley fighting vehicles, he said.
"It sounds like the attack had some coordination to it, but the soldiers responded, used their firepower, used tank and Bradley fire and other weapons available to them, to stop this attack and take the fight to the enemy," he said.
MacDonald said the attack was the largest faced by his Task Force Ironhorse, whose mission includes the hunt for Saddam. Military officials in Baghdad said they haven't reported a deadlier attack since May 1, when U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over. U.S. officials have only sporadically released figures on Iraqi casualties, and wouldn't say whether there has been a deadlier firefight that went unreported.
The U.S. military initially said 46 Iraqi fighters died and five American soldiers were injured. But a statement on Monday raised the Iraqi dead to 54.
Residents of Samarra disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine people died. Three bodies lay in the hospital morgue. There was no way to reconcile the accounts.
The scale of the attack and the apparent coordination of the two operations showed that rebel units retain the ability to conduct synchronized operations despite a massive U.S. offensive this month aimed at crushing the insurgency.
At least 104 coalition troops have died in Iraq in November, including 79 American troops. In terms of coalition losses, it has been the bloodiest month of the war that began March 20.
Shortly after the firefight, four men in a BMW attacked another U.S. convoy in Samarra with automatic rifles, MacDonald said. The soldiers wounded all four men, and found Kalashnikov rifles and grenade launchers in their car.
"We have been very aggressive in our convoy operations ... it does send a clear message that if you attempt to attack one of our convoys, we're going to use our firepower to stop that attack," MacDonald said.
Also Sunday, two South Korean contractors were killed near Samarra in a roadside ambush in what U.S. officials called a new campaign aimed at undermining international support for the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Attacks on Saturday killed seven Spaniards, two Japanese diplomats and a Colombian oil worker.
The two Japanese diplomats were flown to Kuwait and arrangements are being made for transporting them home, a Japanese diplomat said Monday on condition of anonymity.
In Seoul, the South Korean government vowed to stick by plans to send up to 3,000 troops to Iraq despite the killing of two South Korean engineers.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Monday his vow that the attack on the Japanese diplomats would not alter Tokyo's commitments to send non-combat troops, provide humanitarian aid and participate in the reconstruction of Iraq.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:52 AM |
Salon has an excellent article on MoveOn.org, and the fear this organization is causing within the ranks of the GOP, and the corporate media, including Fox and O'Reilly.
The cool thing about this situation is, as the article aptly explains, we are MoveOn.org:
Given its scope and the nearly infinite number of projects it could undertake, there's very little division inside MoveOn or sniping outside it. Partly, this is because its membership has such a large role in setting the group's agenda. In June, MoveOn asked its members to interview each other about what values and issues were important to them. About 20,000 participated, interviewing each other by phone, producing 10,000 pages of feedback. MoveOn then hired a linguist to parse the data and figure out which concerns were most widely shared by the membership. The top three were security and Iraq, energy and the environment, and freedom and civil liberties. Boyd says they didn't put them in any order: Iraq was most cited as a top issue, but freedom was most often cited period, and that's where MoveOn has focused its resources. Even the slogan on MoveOn's new T-shirts, "Democracy is not a spectator sport," was chosen democratically: Members submitted more than 700 suggestions, with a vote determining the winner.
MoveOn.org has them worried.
Salon has an excellent article on MoveOn.org, and the fear this organization is causing within the ranks of the GOP, and the corporate media, including Fox and O'Reilly.
The cool thing about this situation is, as the article aptly explains, we are MoveOn.org:
Given its scope and the nearly infinite number of projects it could undertake, there's very little division inside MoveOn or sniping outside it. Partly, this is because its membership has such a large role in setting the group's agenda. In June, MoveOn asked its members to interview each other about what values and issues were important to them. About 20,000 participated, interviewing each other by phone, producing 10,000 pages of feedback. MoveOn then hired a linguist to parse the data and figure out which concerns were most widely shared by the membership. The top three were security and Iraq, energy and the environment, and freedom and civil liberties. Boyd says they didn't put them in any order: Iraq was most cited as a top issue, but freedom was most often cited period, and that's where MoveOn has focused its resources. Even the slogan on MoveOn's new T-shirts, "Democracy is not a spectator sport," was chosen democratically: Members submitted more than 700 suggestions, with a vote determining the winner.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:12 AM |
I was wrong.
I was dead-on wrong in my previous post. The only other opinions that matter, concerning Bush's visit to Baghdad on Thanksgiving Day, besides the Iraqis themselves, are the troops:
Asked if Bush's visit had strengthened their resolve, Pledger joked: "What do you mean? It was nothing like Michael Jackson," visibly unaware of the pedophilia charges pressed against the once pop idol.
"Yeah, it was just another visit," said St. Luce.
"Don't get me wrong, we appreciate him coming but we still need to go home," said Pledger.
Asked if Bush's visit had strengthened their resolve, Pledger joked: "What do you mean? It was nothing like Michael Jackson," visibly unaware of the pedophilia charges pressed against the once pop idol.
"Yeah, it was just another visit," said St. Luce.
"Don't get me wrong, we appreciate him coming but we still need to go home," said Pledger.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:04 AM |
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Riverbend on Bush's visit to Iraq.
In my view, the only opinions worth hearing, as far as relates to Bush's visit to Baghdad on Thanksgiving day, are the Iraqis. From Riverbend, posted on Saturday, November 29:
Everyone here sees it for what it is- just a lame attempt to try to look good. We actually expected him in Iraq during his Asia tour- he was bound to stop by for a good gloat. I just think the whole thing could have been a little bit less transparent (and I expected it would occur closer to elections).
Seeing him on tv was amusing- so why did he have to sneak into and out of Iraq with such secrecy? Why didn't he walk the streets of the country he helped 'liberate'? Why didn't he at least *hover* above the country he 'liberated'? He constantly claims the situation is much better now than pre-war, so why isn't he taking advantage of our excellent security situation?! We all sat there, watching him garble out the usual stream of words and shook our heads… he's just as much of an ass in Baghdad as he is in Washington.
I am curious about how the troops felt about his presence though… I'm sure the hand-picked group in the airport were elated, but I can't help but wonder about the troops stuck in Tikrit, Najaf, Falloojeh or Mosul… I imagine they'd much rather be at home.
And from the same post by Riverbend, as she attempts to comfort a woman in Baghdad whose entire family was killed in their car by American soldiers at a checkpoint :
A part of me knew that being there, sharing Eid with her, was the right thing to do- the proper thing to do. Another part of me felt like we were committing some sort of terrible sin and that it was just unforgivable to be sitting there, talking about rain and explosions when this woman's life had fallen apart on a black day in April. I couldn't decide which was worse- to see the agonized look in her eyes during moments of remembrance, or to see the vague, void look of indifference she'd sometimes wear when she disappeared inside of herself.
As we were leaving, I leaned down and hugged her, whispering "Akhir il ahzan…" and as I pulled away, she simply looked at me, shook her head and said, "Of course it'll be the last of my sorrows- there's nothing else to mourn because nothing else matters…"
Everyone here sees it for what it is- just a lame attempt to try to look good. We actually expected him in Iraq during his Asia tour- he was bound to stop by for a good gloat. I just think the whole thing could have been a little bit less transparent (and I expected it would occur closer to elections).
Seeing him on tv was amusing- so why did he have to sneak into and out of Iraq with such secrecy? Why didn't he walk the streets of the country he helped 'liberate'? Why didn't he at least *hover* above the country he 'liberated'? He constantly claims the situation is much better now than pre-war, so why isn't he taking advantage of our excellent security situation?! We all sat there, watching him garble out the usual stream of words and shook our heads… he's just as much of an ass in Baghdad as he is in Washington.
I am curious about how the troops felt about his presence though… I'm sure the hand-picked group in the airport were elated, but I can't help but wonder about the troops stuck in Tikrit, Najaf, Falloojeh or Mosul… I imagine they'd much rather be at home.
And from the same post by Riverbend, as she attempts to comfort a woman in Baghdad whose entire family was killed in their car by American soldiers at a checkpoint :
A part of me knew that being there, sharing Eid with her, was the right thing to do- the proper thing to do. Another part of me felt like we were committing some sort of terrible sin and that it was just unforgivable to be sitting there, talking about rain and explosions when this woman's life had fallen apart on a black day in April. I couldn't decide which was worse- to see the agonized look in her eyes during moments of remembrance, or to see the vague, void look of indifference she'd sometimes wear when she disappeared inside of herself.
As we were leaving, I leaned down and hugged her, whispering "Akhir il ahzan…" and as I pulled away, she simply looked at me, shook her head and said, "Of course it'll be the last of my sorrows- there's nothing else to mourn because nothing else matters…"
# posted by scorpiorising : 10:15 AM |
Some excellent, mainstream articles on Iraq.
There is this article from the New Yorker:
http://newyorker.com/fact/content/?031124fa_fact1
In the Pentagon’s scenario, the responsibility of managing Iraq would quickly be handed off to exiles, led by Chalabi—allowing the U.S. to retain control without having to commit more troops and invest a lot of money. “There was a desire by some in the Vice-President’s office and the Pentagon to cut and run from Iraq and leave it up to Chalabi to run it,” a senior Administration official told me. “The idea was to put our guy in there and he was going to be so compliant that he’d recognize Israel and all the problems in the Middle East would be solved. He would be our man in Baghdad. Everything would be hunky-dory.” The planning was so wishful that it bordered on self-deception. “It isn’t pragmatism, it isn’t Realpolitik, it isn’t conservatism, it isn’t liberalism,” the official said. “It’s theology.”
Then there is this article from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20034-2003Nov28.html
Since the largest U.S. Army hospital in Iraq opened its doors on April 10, nearly all U.S. casualties have passed through its first-floor emergency room. Some come already dead. Some arrive with one arm instead of two, a shattered leg or a face wiped away by an explosion.
Assaults on U.S. troops have numbered as many as 45 a day in recent weeks. For the staff at the 28th Combat Support Hospital, located within the U.S.-led occupation authority's headquarters at one of former president Saddam Hussein's palaces, that translates into a dozen patients some days. Twenty-four hours in the hospital's emergency room with soldiers stripped of their uniforms and gritty exteriors revealed the physical and emotional toll.
About 70 percent of the hospital's patients are wounded soldiers; the rest are Iraqi civilians and prisoners, along with a small number of U.S. civilian contractors, said Maj. Mark White, director of patient administration.
The number of soldiers treated for serious combat injuries is not publicly disclosed. Instead, the hospital releases statistics on patient admissions -- a total of 1,659 U.S. soldiers through Oct. 30. The combined number of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi patients admitted per month has increased since September, and this month was expected to reach about 400, White said.
Soldiers stay here for up to two days; those with serious wounds requiring further treatment are sent on to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and, if necessary, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
"They come in here saying, 'Did he make it? Did my driver make it?' " said Lt. KomKwuan Pholtavee, 24, an ER nurse from Bellmore, N.Y. In their haze of pain and fear, she said, "I've had soldiers think that I'm their wife."
The worst that Maj. Michael Hilliard, 33, an emergency physician, saw back home in San Antonio were car crash and gunshot victims. Here, he estimates that he has treated the broken bodies of more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers.
"The injuries are horrific," he said. "They are beyond anything that you see in a textbook, and they are the worst that I have ever seen."
http://newyorker.com/fact/content/?031124fa_fact1
In the Pentagon’s scenario, the responsibility of managing Iraq would quickly be handed off to exiles, led by Chalabi—allowing the U.S. to retain control without having to commit more troops and invest a lot of money. “There was a desire by some in the Vice-President’s office and the Pentagon to cut and run from Iraq and leave it up to Chalabi to run it,” a senior Administration official told me. “The idea was to put our guy in there and he was going to be so compliant that he’d recognize Israel and all the problems in the Middle East would be solved. He would be our man in Baghdad. Everything would be hunky-dory.” The planning was so wishful that it bordered on self-deception. “It isn’t pragmatism, it isn’t Realpolitik, it isn’t conservatism, it isn’t liberalism,” the official said. “It’s theology.”
Then there is this article from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20034-2003Nov28.html
Since the largest U.S. Army hospital in Iraq opened its doors on April 10, nearly all U.S. casualties have passed through its first-floor emergency room. Some come already dead. Some arrive with one arm instead of two, a shattered leg or a face wiped away by an explosion.
Assaults on U.S. troops have numbered as many as 45 a day in recent weeks. For the staff at the 28th Combat Support Hospital, located within the U.S.-led occupation authority's headquarters at one of former president Saddam Hussein's palaces, that translates into a dozen patients some days. Twenty-four hours in the hospital's emergency room with soldiers stripped of their uniforms and gritty exteriors revealed the physical and emotional toll.
About 70 percent of the hospital's patients are wounded soldiers; the rest are Iraqi civilians and prisoners, along with a small number of U.S. civilian contractors, said Maj. Mark White, director of patient administration.
The number of soldiers treated for serious combat injuries is not publicly disclosed. Instead, the hospital releases statistics on patient admissions -- a total of 1,659 U.S. soldiers through Oct. 30. The combined number of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi patients admitted per month has increased since September, and this month was expected to reach about 400, White said.
Soldiers stay here for up to two days; those with serious wounds requiring further treatment are sent on to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and, if necessary, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
"They come in here saying, 'Did he make it? Did my driver make it?' " said Lt. KomKwuan Pholtavee, 24, an ER nurse from Bellmore, N.Y. In their haze of pain and fear, she said, "I've had soldiers think that I'm their wife."
The worst that Maj. Michael Hilliard, 33, an emergency physician, saw back home in San Antonio were car crash and gunshot victims. Here, he estimates that he has treated the broken bodies of more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers.
"The injuries are horrific," he said. "They are beyond anything that you see in a textbook, and they are the worst that I have ever seen."
# posted by scorpiorising : 10:09 AM |
Sunday, November 16, 2003
We won.
I feel as though someone has beat me with a baseball bat. That's how tired I am, what with phone banking for Blanco's campaign yesterday, staying up late and quietly celebrating her victory last night, and being at work this morning for 6:30 am. But I would like to have a few words about this victory for the people of Louisiana.
If anyone doubted Kathleen Blanco's graciousness, and abilities as a concensus builder, all they had to do was hear her victory speech last night, and post-victory speech today, in order to cast their doubts aside. Last night she had much to say about Jindal and his efforts, praising him and his supporters for their commitment to better Louisiana.
Jindal, in his concession speech last night, never mentioned Blanco's name once, displaying, for a time, the latent hostility and mysogynistic undertones of politics in Louisiana, and perhaps in our country. He couldn't lower himself to name or congratulate the woman who defeated him yesterday. Someone, of course, talked some sense into him, and today, he issued a statement congratulating her and wishing her the best.
I did a survey of the major news networks today, and found that Fox News was the only network to mention his lack of grace and sour grapes:
Jindal, whose concession speech Saturday never mentioned Blanco by name, congratulated his rival on Sunday.
"Today is certainly a new day for Louisiana and today should be Kathleen's day," he said. "We offer our governor-elect our heartiest support and will do anything we can to help her."
Hopefully, dear reader, you have an opportunity to read the Fox news report, and savor, if you will, the enthusiasm in the article on Kathleen Blanco's victory, muted though it is. Fox news is like a concentration camp for journalists. Surrounded by the bobwire of ignorance and idealogy, we forget, sometimes, that there are journalists working there who would prefer to have it another way, but for reasons of their own, choose to remain there, and compromise their values in the process. Every now and then, however, the true nature of their hearts is exposed.
I digress. In her post-victory speech today, Blanco reached out to Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, and said, "We will work together." There was not a hint of irony in her voice, given that Nagin, a democrat, had endorsed her republican rival. She talked about wanting to challenge the children of our state to do better in school. I liked her phrasing. Nothing about mandotory testing, and all about, in that simple statement, assigning the responsiblility of caring about learning to the children, with all of our help of course.
I am suffering a little bit of postportum depression today. A sweet joy/sorrow that this is over, for now, and Blanco won, and now what? I know however, that we have a little something special in Louisiana, because for two years in a row, we have been able to beat back the Republican surge in this country. We have been able to freeze the right wing dead in its tracks, and they have cracked like a branch covered in ice in an ice storm.
Perhaps that is why my dream the night before the election, in which my sister told me it was going to freeze that night, 5 degrees below zero. Sometimes a victory is like an ice storm, and as the young man said in the movie, The Ice Storm, molecules slow down in freezing temperatures, and the purity of things, or the lack there of, is apparent.
If anyone doubted Kathleen Blanco's graciousness, and abilities as a concensus builder, all they had to do was hear her victory speech last night, and post-victory speech today, in order to cast their doubts aside. Last night she had much to say about Jindal and his efforts, praising him and his supporters for their commitment to better Louisiana.
Jindal, in his concession speech last night, never mentioned Blanco's name once, displaying, for a time, the latent hostility and mysogynistic undertones of politics in Louisiana, and perhaps in our country. He couldn't lower himself to name or congratulate the woman who defeated him yesterday. Someone, of course, talked some sense into him, and today, he issued a statement congratulating her and wishing her the best.
I did a survey of the major news networks today, and found that Fox News was the only network to mention his lack of grace and sour grapes:
Jindal, whose concession speech Saturday never mentioned Blanco by name, congratulated his rival on Sunday.
"Today is certainly a new day for Louisiana and today should be Kathleen's day," he said. "We offer our governor-elect our heartiest support and will do anything we can to help her."
Hopefully, dear reader, you have an opportunity to read the Fox news report, and savor, if you will, the enthusiasm in the article on Kathleen Blanco's victory, muted though it is. Fox news is like a concentration camp for journalists. Surrounded by the bobwire of ignorance and idealogy, we forget, sometimes, that there are journalists working there who would prefer to have it another way, but for reasons of their own, choose to remain there, and compromise their values in the process. Every now and then, however, the true nature of their hearts is exposed.
I digress. In her post-victory speech today, Blanco reached out to Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, and said, "We will work together." There was not a hint of irony in her voice, given that Nagin, a democrat, had endorsed her republican rival. She talked about wanting to challenge the children of our state to do better in school. I liked her phrasing. Nothing about mandotory testing, and all about, in that simple statement, assigning the responsiblility of caring about learning to the children, with all of our help of course.
I am suffering a little bit of postportum depression today. A sweet joy/sorrow that this is over, for now, and Blanco won, and now what? I know however, that we have a little something special in Louisiana, because for two years in a row, we have been able to beat back the Republican surge in this country. We have been able to freeze the right wing dead in its tracks, and they have cracked like a branch covered in ice in an ice storm.
Perhaps that is why my dream the night before the election, in which my sister told me it was going to freeze that night, 5 degrees below zero. Sometimes a victory is like an ice storm, and as the young man said in the movie, The Ice Storm, molecules slow down in freezing temperatures, and the purity of things, or the lack there of, is apparent.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:17 PM |
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Cut and Run.
It is my prediction that the Bushies will cut and run. From Iraq that is. Honestly, my mother predicted this weeks ago. She dreamt that Iraq was a horrible swamp from which we could not extricate ourselves, and the American troops were left there to die. She and Wesley Clark were watching in horror when this happened, in her dream. I think it is looking more and more like the troops will be suddenly overrun, and helpless, left to die. Bush will drown in blood and lose the election, or, he will invent a new threat, and win the election, or declare Marshall law, or some such nonsense. I put nothing past these monsters.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:39 AM |
I'm Scared.
A dream last night that my sister told me it will turn freezing cold tonight, 5 degrees below zero. I fear now that this is a forewarning that Blanco is to lose. Shit.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:12 AM |
Friday, November 14, 2003
Apologies and response concerning the rebel flag, Dean, and the south.
From my friend,
elizabeth,
I came very close to calling you all ignoramuses and I apologize
for that. I think you three know more than most about American history
-- what I was saying is that you've taken the side of the ignoramuses
against Dean, arguing that he needs to watch his mouth when he says
something that might offend the ignoramuses who misinterpret the rebel
flag as nothing but a symbol of racism and are unaware of its richer and
deeper significance -- those are the ignoramuses. I'm not content to let
a symbol that I honor and revere be trashed and forgotten because idiots
in the '50s and a few remaining troublemakers misuse it. I'm
disappointed that folks who do know its greater significance have no
heart to defend it. I'm disappointed that Democrats have this tendency
to divide and undercut each other when unity is so obviously needed to
achieve a common purpose, to defend democracy and the Constitution, to
take the presidency back from thieves, liars and murderering
imperialists. Why is it so important to you to beat up on the Democratic
front-runner when you know he's not a racist and at worst he made an
ill-considered word choice? Don't you know you're giving ammunition to
the other side?
By the way, I was not talking about displaying a rebel flag in my
window. I was talking about putting it in my home to spark conversations
among my friends, to revive an appreciation for its greater significance.
I decided a better way to do that was to make a poster of "The Day They
Drove Old Dixie Down". There's too many ignoramuses out there who would
take offense if I put the flag in my window -- I'd endanger the other
occupants of this house by attracting the ignoramuses you defend.
I'm well aware of the large number of rebel flag-hating
ignoramuses -- I don't need to "google" on them to find out. Defenders
of the flag mostly do so out of respect for its positive traditional
meanings and only rarely for its newer, hateful meaning. Overt racism
has been effectively marginalized over the last 50 years. Other
prejudices -- including contempt for rebel flag flying bubbas -- has
replaced it.
J( *}
elizabeth,
I came very close to calling you all ignoramuses and I apologize
for that. I think you three know more than most about American history
-- what I was saying is that you've taken the side of the ignoramuses
against Dean, arguing that he needs to watch his mouth when he says
something that might offend the ignoramuses who misinterpret the rebel
flag as nothing but a symbol of racism and are unaware of its richer and
deeper significance -- those are the ignoramuses. I'm not content to let
a symbol that I honor and revere be trashed and forgotten because idiots
in the '50s and a few remaining troublemakers misuse it. I'm
disappointed that folks who do know its greater significance have no
heart to defend it. I'm disappointed that Democrats have this tendency
to divide and undercut each other when unity is so obviously needed to
achieve a common purpose, to defend democracy and the Constitution, to
take the presidency back from thieves, liars and murderering
imperialists. Why is it so important to you to beat up on the Democratic
front-runner when you know he's not a racist and at worst he made an
ill-considered word choice? Don't you know you're giving ammunition to
the other side?
By the way, I was not talking about displaying a rebel flag in my
window. I was talking about putting it in my home to spark conversations
among my friends, to revive an appreciation for its greater significance.
I decided a better way to do that was to make a poster of "The Day They
Drove Old Dixie Down". There's too many ignoramuses out there who would
take offense if I put the flag in my window -- I'd endanger the other
occupants of this house by attracting the ignoramuses you defend.
I'm well aware of the large number of rebel flag-hating
ignoramuses -- I don't need to "google" on them to find out. Defenders
of the flag mostly do so out of respect for its positive traditional
meanings and only rarely for its newer, hateful meaning. Overt racism
has been effectively marginalized over the last 50 years. Other
prejudices -- including contempt for rebel flag flying bubbas -- has
replaced it.
J( *}
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:27 PM |
Tomorrow is the election for the governorship of Louisiana.
What a few weeks it has been since I jumped on the forum for Louisianademocrats@yahoo.com and predicted Kathleen Blanco had all but lost the election to Bobby Jindal. Several of us exchanged very worried messages. In the process, I was invited to a women's breakfast for Blanco which was held last Saturday, the day of the full moon eclipse.
I knew there would be no shortage of emotional energy due to the eclipse; what I didn't expect was the effort we all made, all 1000+ of us women, to lift each other's spirits, and in the process, Kathleen's. She said, "Ya'll have inspired me and convinced me we can do it". I believe her. She had been dropping in the polls. I'm sure she lost some hope, as we were all struggling to keep the faith.
Today the race is neck and neck, and I can tell you, that something good happened in that room last Saturday. I'm not saying it is the reason for Kathleen's surge in the polls, but it is amazing what women who support and care for each other can influence and accomplish.
The breakfast began with a spontaneous second line, with the fantastic Storyville Stompers. My friend and I jumped into the back of line, waving the large, white dinner napkins next to our plates. The trombone player swang that horn right above our heads. I told my friend we were dancing for justice.
There were several moving testimonials from black activists and politicians, all women, that Kathleen had helped in some way in the course of her long, excellent career. Renee Gil-Pratt, a New Orleans City Councilwoman, described how the Essence Festival wanted to abandon New Orleans as the venue for its yearly festival, because of a difference with the state of Louisiana over discrimination and hiring. Blanco stepped in, as Lt. Governor, and negotiated a compromise between the state and the festival. That is a victory worth 100 million dollars a year for New Orleans.
Senator Mary Landrieu was there with her brother, Mitch, who was just elected Lt. Governor. They got up on stage together, and Mitch described how Mary has won her last two elections by one vote per precinct. Mary shook her head solemnly. We all know the incredible effort we have to put forth to defeat the money of the republican party.
Mary led a cheer, Go Blanco Go, and we sent Kathleen out on cloud 9.
Kathleen is a hard-working, no-nonsense yet compassionate woman who exemplifies the Big Tent of the democratic party. She met with the gay and lesbian groups in the state while Jindal refused, saying he "didn't have the time". Like my friend said, he isn't honest enough to admit gays don't jive with his religious fanaticism. Even some nationally known bloggers found and circulated religious articles Jindal wrote in the early 90's, pertaining supposedly to Jindal's brush with demonic possession, and his belief in the Catholic Church as the only true church.
We've all been a bit hard on Blanco these last few weeks, as she dived from a 10 point lead to about a 10 point deficit in the polls about three weeks ago. I know there were many hard on her, because I was one of the ones who called her campaign headquarters in Lafayette to express my fears and dissappointment in her campaign so far. The worker I spoke to said they were receiving many worried calls from her supporters. I wasn't just a naysayer, however, as me and several from the La. demos@yahoo.com had very concrete and excellent suggestions as to how she could better exploit his weaknesses and her strengths. Someone at the headquarters was not supposed to give me a particular email address, which I used to send several emails filled with suggestions for ads and strategies in the remaining two weeks.
I have no idea wether our emails were regarded or not, but Blanco laid out some hard hitting ads on TV, mailouts and the radio which dealt direct hit on Jindal. There is no other way to run for office these days against republicans. You have to answer each attack, and uncover and expose their political weaknesses.
Blanco stayed away from the more controversial issues regarding Jindal's religious beliefs, but she did challenge him on the inclusivity issue. She really didn't have to bring up the articles he wrote, because with the help of us yellow dog democrats, the articles are circulating anyway. Blanco almost waited too late to attack him, at forst running ineffective ads claiming to be a victim of Jindal's attacks. This is not what the voters want to hear. They want to hear that someone is strong enough to take the republicans on toe to toe, without lying in the process. It is not playing dirty to expose what you believe are the political weaknesses of another.
We have to be stronger than they are, especially in spirit.
I knew there would be no shortage of emotional energy due to the eclipse; what I didn't expect was the effort we all made, all 1000+ of us women, to lift each other's spirits, and in the process, Kathleen's. She said, "Ya'll have inspired me and convinced me we can do it". I believe her. She had been dropping in the polls. I'm sure she lost some hope, as we were all struggling to keep the faith.
Today the race is neck and neck, and I can tell you, that something good happened in that room last Saturday. I'm not saying it is the reason for Kathleen's surge in the polls, but it is amazing what women who support and care for each other can influence and accomplish.
The breakfast began with a spontaneous second line, with the fantastic Storyville Stompers. My friend and I jumped into the back of line, waving the large, white dinner napkins next to our plates. The trombone player swang that horn right above our heads. I told my friend we were dancing for justice.
There were several moving testimonials from black activists and politicians, all women, that Kathleen had helped in some way in the course of her long, excellent career. Renee Gil-Pratt, a New Orleans City Councilwoman, described how the Essence Festival wanted to abandon New Orleans as the venue for its yearly festival, because of a difference with the state of Louisiana over discrimination and hiring. Blanco stepped in, as Lt. Governor, and negotiated a compromise between the state and the festival. That is a victory worth 100 million dollars a year for New Orleans.
Senator Mary Landrieu was there with her brother, Mitch, who was just elected Lt. Governor. They got up on stage together, and Mitch described how Mary has won her last two elections by one vote per precinct. Mary shook her head solemnly. We all know the incredible effort we have to put forth to defeat the money of the republican party.
Mary led a cheer, Go Blanco Go, and we sent Kathleen out on cloud 9.
Kathleen is a hard-working, no-nonsense yet compassionate woman who exemplifies the Big Tent of the democratic party. She met with the gay and lesbian groups in the state while Jindal refused, saying he "didn't have the time". Like my friend said, he isn't honest enough to admit gays don't jive with his religious fanaticism. Even some nationally known bloggers found and circulated religious articles Jindal wrote in the early 90's, pertaining supposedly to Jindal's brush with demonic possession, and his belief in the Catholic Church as the only true church.
We've all been a bit hard on Blanco these last few weeks, as she dived from a 10 point lead to about a 10 point deficit in the polls about three weeks ago. I know there were many hard on her, because I was one of the ones who called her campaign headquarters in Lafayette to express my fears and dissappointment in her campaign so far. The worker I spoke to said they were receiving many worried calls from her supporters. I wasn't just a naysayer, however, as me and several from the La. demos@yahoo.com had very concrete and excellent suggestions as to how she could better exploit his weaknesses and her strengths. Someone at the headquarters was not supposed to give me a particular email address, which I used to send several emails filled with suggestions for ads and strategies in the remaining two weeks.
I have no idea wether our emails were regarded or not, but Blanco laid out some hard hitting ads on TV, mailouts and the radio which dealt direct hit on Jindal. There is no other way to run for office these days against republicans. You have to answer each attack, and uncover and expose their political weaknesses.
Blanco stayed away from the more controversial issues regarding Jindal's religious beliefs, but she did challenge him on the inclusivity issue. She really didn't have to bring up the articles he wrote, because with the help of us yellow dog democrats, the articles are circulating anyway. Blanco almost waited too late to attack him, at forst running ineffective ads claiming to be a victim of Jindal's attacks. This is not what the voters want to hear. They want to hear that someone is strong enough to take the republicans on toe to toe, without lying in the process. It is not playing dirty to expose what you believe are the political weaknesses of another.
We have to be stronger than they are, especially in spirit.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:05 PM |
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Dean, the GOP and racism.
"M" had this to say about the subject:
I think the Republicans have been playing this kind of
wedge politics more and more lately, giving little
nods to the far right when no one else is around, and
then acting reasonable in public. Bush, Barbour,
Jindal, Trent Lott, etc. are all playing this
two-faced game. The Dean supporters think they've got
the answer to this kind of politics, but I think
they're playing right into GOP hands.
I think the Republicans have been playing this kind of
wedge politics more and more lately, giving little
nods to the far right when no one else is around, and
then acting reasonable in public. Bush, Barbour,
Jindal, Trent Lott, etc. are all playing this
two-faced game. The Dean supporters think they've got
the answer to this kind of politics, but I think
they're playing right into GOP hands.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:22 PM |
More on the Confederate flag and the South.
I think the emails speak for themselves, so here they are. I'll highlight his emails in black and mine will be italicized:
J,
>
> I saw an idiot with rebel flags all over his truck driving down
> Carrollton
> not long ago. He also had two big flags flying from atop two flag
> posts
> hooked on either side of the back of his truck. I happened to be
> working
> with a black woman at the time (our shop faces Carrollton), and she
> reacted
> aggressively by running through the door onto the sidewalk, hooting
> and
> hollering at this truck, shaking her fist in the air. She did it
> with a
> touch of humor though, a kind of dark humor, in which one would have
> thought
> she was actually cheering the guy on, until noticing the color of
> her skin.
> She did it with great irony and humor actually. She called them
> "idiots"
> afterwards, which they were. I think they had Mississippi or Alabama
> license
> plates.
>
elizabeth
Elizabeth,
I think I know how Howard Dean felt trying to explain his remark.
Like him, you all know I'm not a racist. Like him, I have an
appreciation for the traditional meanings of the rebel flag, for honor,
courage, love of homeland, the Constitution, resistance to tyranny, and
the suffering of kith and kin. M thinks it's important how many
days of explaining passed between Dean's remark and his surrendering
apology. T and elizabeth think it's important that a few rare idiots
still sometimes like to provoke a response by waving the rebel flag.
Everybody wants to be right.
I'm tempted to follow Dean's example and just apologize to you
all to shut you up. I'm not trying to be President so I don't have that
pressure on me, but I am committed to electing someone other than Bush.
If it would help us all get focused again on the task at hand and stop
this stupid bickering and squabbling among ourselves, I will apologize to
you: Yes, it's sad that Dean spoke without considering the hostile and
divisive reaction he would get by making reference to the Confederate
flag. I'm terribly sorry.
This whole episode makes me want to find a rebel flag and display
it in my home. But maybe I'll just make a nice poster out of "The Night
They Drove Old Dixie Down" and put that up instead.
J( *}
J,
> It's interesting to me that you would prefer that we shut up on this
> issue, as you so indelicately propose. You proposed that it is very
rare
> that it happens, that some idiot waves the rebel flag, etc. However,
this
> has been, very recently, a very divisive issue in some state
governments in
> the south, involving the opinions and views of millions of people.
Several
> southern states either continue to fly the flag, or very close
approximations
> of it, to the dismay of many of the states' black citizens. If you
don't
> believe me, google on it, as I did. It is not rare that this flag is
waived
> in the face of black people. Actually, it is quite common.
>
> elizabeth
elizabeth,
When southern states fly their flags with the rebel flag within,
they do so in honor of their heritage and the positive symbolism I've
spelled out for you, which imbued the flag for over 90 years before
racists misused it during the civil rights struggle. They do not fly the
flag to antagonize their black citizens, and black citizens with an
understanding and appreciation of American history know that. Many
Americans, maybe most Americans, do not know and understand their own
history, and that's unfortunate. Are those of us who do know history
supposed to let the ignoramuses prevail? I prefer to at least try to
educate those who misunderstand and despise the meaning of the rebel
flag. Dean chose to placate the ignoramuses so he could get on with
winning the presidency. Meanwhile, your foolish crusade on the side of
ignorance would weaken the Democratic candidate most likely to take the
presidency back from the military/industrial complex; but thankfully,
your negative opinions have been neutralized by Dean's quick and politic
apologies and today he received two major labor endorsements.
You're free to go on complaining. I don't think I'll have
anything more to say on this topic.
J
J,
You don't have to reply to this, but please permit me the dignity of responding
to your last message on the subject. Apparently, the dialogue has
deteriorated to the point that those who don't agree with your historical interpretation of the flag are ignoramuses. I suppose you lump the three of us
in that category as well. Apparently, you didn't bother to do the little bit of
research that I suggested, and google on the confederate flag in southern
states, because it might dispel your confidence on the subject. I have
no confidence on this subject. It is a complicated issue, full of historical
significanse, pride, fear, longing, anger (obviously) and hate. I have empathy for those who treasure the flag, and I know that not all of these people are racists. I do know however, that some who are racists use the flag to promote their views. Barbour was recently elected governor of Mississippi, and is a supporter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group that prominently features the confederate flag on its web site. From the Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/
29/barbour_campaign_shows_gops_racist_side/:
"In the rush to trample Musgrove, the GOP is crushing its own toes. Barbour has blatantly appealed to the most racist elements in Mississippi by defiantly
refusing to ask the Council of Conservative Citizens to remove his photograph
from its website home page. The photo shows Barbour at a CCC-sponsored barbecue with five other men, including CCC field director Bill Lord.
The CCC grew out of the racist white citizens councils that fought integration
during the civil rights movement. In yet another example of its hatred, the CCC home page features an article titled "The Racial Compact." The article proposes a South African-style apartheid in most of the United States reserved for the
"Nordish-American population." African-Americans, who are referred to as "Congoid," would be shoved into what is now Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and north Texas. Latinos would be consigned to south Texas and New Mexico."
You site the 50's as the decade in which the flag began to be seen as a racist symbol, yet you offer no analysis as to why that decade. I have done no
reading on the subject, but I will venture a theory: the 50's marked a change in consciousness for blacks, in that they began to find their voice, and formulate
their objections to the segregated south, which exploded into the civil rights protests of the 60's. As they began to formulate their objections, some of their focus landed on the confederate flag, which flew unopposed at the time, over several southern states, as a symbol of their oppression.
I'm not asking you necessarily to agree with their interpretation, but instead to recognize that they, like yourself, are entitled to have their interpretation
of a very important symbol. Somewhere the two sides will have to meet in the middle, because we are one nation under one flag. That is why my suggestion for Dean, to use the concept of inclusivity within the origin of our country, as a metaphor to reach out to confederate flag waivers.
It saddened me to hear you "threaten" to display the flag in your window.
I can tell you that it would not harm myself, "T" or "M" in any way if you did this. I'm glad that you decided not to do it, however, as it would have drawn unnecessary attention to a symbol that is fraught with tension for this country.
You said you want to educate people on the true meaning of the flag, so that
they will see the dignity and nobility inherent in the symbol. That is fine, but remember, your truth is just that: your truth. You are attempting to put forth your beliefs about the flag as historically accurate, as opposed to the beliefs others
may hold. Be careful that you don't become Don Quixote chasing windmills,
and the illusions of your own beliefs.
elizabeth
elizabeth,
I came very close to calling you all ignoramuses and I apologize
for that. I think you three know more than most about American history
-- what I was saying is that you've taken the side of the ignoramuses
against Dean, arguing that he needs to watch his mouth when he says
something that might offend the ignoramuses who misinterpret the rebel
flag as nothing but a symbol of racism and are unaware of its richer and
deeper significance -- those are the ignoramuses. I'm not content to let
a symbol that I honor and revere be trashed and forgotten because idiots
in the '50s and a few remaining troublemakers misuse it. I'm
disappointed that folks who do know its greater significance have no
heart to defend it. I'm disappointed that Democrats have this tendency
to divide and undercut each other when unity is so obviously needed to
achieve a common purpose, to defend democracy and the Constitution, to
take the presidency back from thieves, liars and murderering
imperialists. Why is it so important to you to beat up on the Democratic
front-runner when you know he's not a racist and at worst he made an
ill-considered word choice? Don't you know you're giving ammunition to
the other side?
By the way, I was not talking about displaying a rebel flag in my
window. I was talking about putting it in my home to spark conversations
among my friends, to revive an appreciation for its greater significance.
I decided a better way to do that was to make a poster of "The Day They
Drove Old Dixie Down". There's too many ignoramuses out there who would
take offense if I put the flag in my window -- I'd endanger the other
occupants of this house by attracting the ignoramuses you defend.
I'm well aware of the large number of rebel flag-hating
ignoramuses -- I don't need to "google" on them to find out. Defenders
of the flag mostly do so out of respect for its positive traditional
meanings and only rarely for its newer, hateful meaning. Overt racism
has been effectively marginalized over the last 50 years. Other
prejudices -- including contempt for rebel flag flying bubbas -- has
replaced it.
J( *}
J,
>
> I saw an idiot with rebel flags all over his truck driving down
> Carrollton
> not long ago. He also had two big flags flying from atop two flag
> posts
> hooked on either side of the back of his truck. I happened to be
> working
> with a black woman at the time (our shop faces Carrollton), and she
> reacted
> aggressively by running through the door onto the sidewalk, hooting
> and
> hollering at this truck, shaking her fist in the air. She did it
> with a
> touch of humor though, a kind of dark humor, in which one would have
> thought
> she was actually cheering the guy on, until noticing the color of
> her skin.
> She did it with great irony and humor actually. She called them
> "idiots"
> afterwards, which they were. I think they had Mississippi or Alabama
> license
> plates.
>
elizabeth
Elizabeth,
I think I know how Howard Dean felt trying to explain his remark.
Like him, you all know I'm not a racist. Like him, I have an
appreciation for the traditional meanings of the rebel flag, for honor,
courage, love of homeland, the Constitution, resistance to tyranny, and
the suffering of kith and kin. M thinks it's important how many
days of explaining passed between Dean's remark and his surrendering
apology. T and elizabeth think it's important that a few rare idiots
still sometimes like to provoke a response by waving the rebel flag.
Everybody wants to be right.
I'm tempted to follow Dean's example and just apologize to you
all to shut you up. I'm not trying to be President so I don't have that
pressure on me, but I am committed to electing someone other than Bush.
If it would help us all get focused again on the task at hand and stop
this stupid bickering and squabbling among ourselves, I will apologize to
you: Yes, it's sad that Dean spoke without considering the hostile and
divisive reaction he would get by making reference to the Confederate
flag. I'm terribly sorry.
This whole episode makes me want to find a rebel flag and display
it in my home. But maybe I'll just make a nice poster out of "The Night
They Drove Old Dixie Down" and put that up instead.
J( *}
J,
> It's interesting to me that you would prefer that we shut up on this
> issue, as you so indelicately propose. You proposed that it is very
rare
> that it happens, that some idiot waves the rebel flag, etc. However,
this
> has been, very recently, a very divisive issue in some state
governments in
> the south, involving the opinions and views of millions of people.
Several
> southern states either continue to fly the flag, or very close
approximations
> of it, to the dismay of many of the states' black citizens. If you
don't
> believe me, google on it, as I did. It is not rare that this flag is
waived
> in the face of black people. Actually, it is quite common.
>
> elizabeth
elizabeth,
When southern states fly their flags with the rebel flag within,
they do so in honor of their heritage and the positive symbolism I've
spelled out for you, which imbued the flag for over 90 years before
racists misused it during the civil rights struggle. They do not fly the
flag to antagonize their black citizens, and black citizens with an
understanding and appreciation of American history know that. Many
Americans, maybe most Americans, do not know and understand their own
history, and that's unfortunate. Are those of us who do know history
supposed to let the ignoramuses prevail? I prefer to at least try to
educate those who misunderstand and despise the meaning of the rebel
flag. Dean chose to placate the ignoramuses so he could get on with
winning the presidency. Meanwhile, your foolish crusade on the side of
ignorance would weaken the Democratic candidate most likely to take the
presidency back from the military/industrial complex; but thankfully,
your negative opinions have been neutralized by Dean's quick and politic
apologies and today he received two major labor endorsements.
You're free to go on complaining. I don't think I'll have
anything more to say on this topic.
J
J,
You don't have to reply to this, but please permit me the dignity of responding
to your last message on the subject. Apparently, the dialogue has
deteriorated to the point that those who don't agree with your historical interpretation of the flag are ignoramuses. I suppose you lump the three of us
in that category as well. Apparently, you didn't bother to do the little bit of
research that I suggested, and google on the confederate flag in southern
states, because it might dispel your confidence on the subject. I have
no confidence on this subject. It is a complicated issue, full of historical
significanse, pride, fear, longing, anger (obviously) and hate. I have empathy for those who treasure the flag, and I know that not all of these people are racists. I do know however, that some who are racists use the flag to promote their views. Barbour was recently elected governor of Mississippi, and is a supporter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group that prominently features the confederate flag on its web site. From the Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/
29/barbour_campaign_shows_gops_racist_side/:
"In the rush to trample Musgrove, the GOP is crushing its own toes. Barbour has blatantly appealed to the most racist elements in Mississippi by defiantly
refusing to ask the Council of Conservative Citizens to remove his photograph
from its website home page. The photo shows Barbour at a CCC-sponsored barbecue with five other men, including CCC field director Bill Lord.
The CCC grew out of the racist white citizens councils that fought integration
during the civil rights movement. In yet another example of its hatred, the CCC home page features an article titled "The Racial Compact." The article proposes a South African-style apartheid in most of the United States reserved for the
"Nordish-American population." African-Americans, who are referred to as "Congoid," would be shoved into what is now Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and north Texas. Latinos would be consigned to south Texas and New Mexico."
You site the 50's as the decade in which the flag began to be seen as a racist symbol, yet you offer no analysis as to why that decade. I have done no
reading on the subject, but I will venture a theory: the 50's marked a change in consciousness for blacks, in that they began to find their voice, and formulate
their objections to the segregated south, which exploded into the civil rights protests of the 60's. As they began to formulate their objections, some of their focus landed on the confederate flag, which flew unopposed at the time, over several southern states, as a symbol of their oppression.
I'm not asking you necessarily to agree with their interpretation, but instead to recognize that they, like yourself, are entitled to have their interpretation
of a very important symbol. Somewhere the two sides will have to meet in the middle, because we are one nation under one flag. That is why my suggestion for Dean, to use the concept of inclusivity within the origin of our country, as a metaphor to reach out to confederate flag waivers.
It saddened me to hear you "threaten" to display the flag in your window.
I can tell you that it would not harm myself, "T" or "M" in any way if you did this. I'm glad that you decided not to do it, however, as it would have drawn unnecessary attention to a symbol that is fraught with tension for this country.
You said you want to educate people on the true meaning of the flag, so that
they will see the dignity and nobility inherent in the symbol. That is fine, but remember, your truth is just that: your truth. You are attempting to put forth your beliefs about the flag as historically accurate, as opposed to the beliefs others
may hold. Be careful that you don't become Don Quixote chasing windmills,
and the illusions of your own beliefs.
elizabeth
elizabeth,
I came very close to calling you all ignoramuses and I apologize
for that. I think you three know more than most about American history
-- what I was saying is that you've taken the side of the ignoramuses
against Dean, arguing that he needs to watch his mouth when he says
something that might offend the ignoramuses who misinterpret the rebel
flag as nothing but a symbol of racism and are unaware of its richer and
deeper significance -- those are the ignoramuses. I'm not content to let
a symbol that I honor and revere be trashed and forgotten because idiots
in the '50s and a few remaining troublemakers misuse it. I'm
disappointed that folks who do know its greater significance have no
heart to defend it. I'm disappointed that Democrats have this tendency
to divide and undercut each other when unity is so obviously needed to
achieve a common purpose, to defend democracy and the Constitution, to
take the presidency back from thieves, liars and murderering
imperialists. Why is it so important to you to beat up on the Democratic
front-runner when you know he's not a racist and at worst he made an
ill-considered word choice? Don't you know you're giving ammunition to
the other side?
By the way, I was not talking about displaying a rebel flag in my
window. I was talking about putting it in my home to spark conversations
among my friends, to revive an appreciation for its greater significance.
I decided a better way to do that was to make a poster of "The Day They
Drove Old Dixie Down". There's too many ignoramuses out there who would
take offense if I put the flag in my window -- I'd endanger the other
occupants of this house by attracting the ignoramuses you defend.
I'm well aware of the large number of rebel flag-hating
ignoramuses -- I don't need to "google" on them to find out. Defenders
of the flag mostly do so out of respect for its positive traditional
meanings and only rarely for its newer, hateful meaning. Overt racism
has been effectively marginalized over the last 50 years. Other
prejudices -- including contempt for rebel flag flying bubbas -- has
replaced it.
J( *}
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:11 PM |
The Confederate Flag and Racism in the south.
My conversation with my friend over the Confederate Flag deteriorated, then improved again, although, at least for now, we'll simply have to agree to disagree.
I want to make a point here though, and one that I make in an email to friends that I will include here, is that the GOP is unabashedly supporting racists candidates for major offices, namely, Barbour in Mississippi. The GOP pulled out all the stops for Barbour, including visits from Cheney and Bush. In a column by Derrick Jackson I found in the Boston Globe, he reports the dark underbelly of the GOP elephant in their support of Barbour.
Barbour has ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a southern group with blatantly racist segregation beliefs, and prominent displays of the rebel flag on their website.
My friend's beliefs about the flag, are very different from those of racists. In fact, my friend neatly slices the flag from any ties to our history of oppression of the black race in this country. I feel this is somewhat unrealistic. My friend, however, is not a racist. There is a small group of humanitarians, my friend mentions Robbie Robertson, who see the qualities of independence and self-reliance reflected in the flag. I can't argue with their interpretation of that symbol necessarily, except in the case of refusal to recognize that others feel an equal legitimacy in their views of the flag as a representation of evil and harm, or one of white supremacy.
The flag in and of itself, as an inanimate object, is not evil. It is the meaning that we ascribe to symbols that we create, that determine wether the flag, or any symbol, will be used for good or for ill. Unfortunately, too many would prefer to use it for ill, and too many believe that the flag is the representation of evil. Under the circumstances, I feel it would be far better to distance oneself from use of the flag at all, except in very private instances, if one must.
I want to make a point here though, and one that I make in an email to friends that I will include here, is that the GOP is unabashedly supporting racists candidates for major offices, namely, Barbour in Mississippi. The GOP pulled out all the stops for Barbour, including visits from Cheney and Bush. In a column by Derrick Jackson I found in the Boston Globe, he reports the dark underbelly of the GOP elephant in their support of Barbour.
Barbour has ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a southern group with blatantly racist segregation beliefs, and prominent displays of the rebel flag on their website.
My friend's beliefs about the flag, are very different from those of racists. In fact, my friend neatly slices the flag from any ties to our history of oppression of the black race in this country. I feel this is somewhat unrealistic. My friend, however, is not a racist. There is a small group of humanitarians, my friend mentions Robbie Robertson, who see the qualities of independence and self-reliance reflected in the flag. I can't argue with their interpretation of that symbol necessarily, except in the case of refusal to recognize that others feel an equal legitimacy in their views of the flag as a representation of evil and harm, or one of white supremacy.
The flag in and of itself, as an inanimate object, is not evil. It is the meaning that we ascribe to symbols that we create, that determine wether the flag, or any symbol, will be used for good or for ill. Unfortunately, too many would prefer to use it for ill, and too many believe that the flag is the representation of evil. Under the circumstances, I feel it would be far better to distance oneself from use of the flag at all, except in very private instances, if one must.
# posted by scorpiorising : 2:41 PM |
Monday, November 10, 2003
Dean and the confederate flag.
My friend posted these comments to me regarding Dean's comments on confederate flag wavers:
I wasn't offended at all by his reference to the Rebel flag,
>which to me and to millions of Southerners symbolizes regional pride,
>fierce individuality, and a refusal to knuckle under to tyrranical
>authority, not racism or slavery. I understood his remark to mean that
>his candidacy has to appeal to the Southern white mainstream if he's
>going to win, and I think that's very true.
> Dean's Democratic rivals unfairly twisted his remark into
>something else, unfortunately damaging the Party, but not too bad. To
>me, their remarks were more condescending toward Southerners than Dean's
>were. Pickup trucks aren't cheap.
And my response:
Regarding Dean's comments concerning the confederate flag, I sat next to a Dean supporter at a breakfast for Kathleen Blanco recently. This Dean supporter, a white woman, said that African Americans who work with her won't speak to her now regarding Dean, because of his remark. I'm afraid he still has some fences to mend with the average black voter who is aware of his comments, and it is hard not to be aware of them what with everyone jumping into the fray.
You may disagree with anyone taking offense at his remark, but it was ill-considered and I'm afraid he'll have to learn the hard way on this one. You very accurately expressed how some white people feel about the flag, when you said:
"I wasn't offended at all by his reference to the Rebel flag, which to me and to millions of Southerners symbolizes regional pride, fierce individuality, and a refusal to knuckle under to tyrranical authority, not racism or slavery. I understood his remark to mean that his candidacy has to appeal to the Southern white mainstream if he's going to win, and I think that's very true.
Dean's Democratic rivals unfairly twisted his remark into something else, unfortunately damaging the Party, but not too bad. To me, their remarks were more condescending toward Southerners than Dean's were. Pickup trucks aren't cheap."
I am somwhat surprised to hear you say how much you also identify with the flag, when to millions of blacks, it is a symbol of the slavery they fought to be free of. You and I have had discussions about our beliefs that the Civil War need not have been fought. I agree with you on that point. However, to put such importance and pride in a symbol that provokes fear and horror in our African American population, is callous and insensitive, to say the least.
If Dean had prefaced his remark, in a way that would have respected the "regional pride and fierce individuality", as you put it, while gently chiding those same people, and reminding them that the Democratic party has and always will be a huge tent for everyone, including disaffected republicans.
Yes, he went out on a limb, in reaching out to confederate flag wavers, but he sawed the limb off with his own words, when he didn't turn the coin to view the other side of it, and the oppression and slavery that the confederate flag symbolizes to blacks.
Honestly, I don't need the Confederate flag to symbolize anything for me. I turn to our Declaration of Independence for my sustenance, and reminder, when I am discouraged, that we have endowed ourselves, from the beginning, with the concept of equality, and the right to a just government:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Dean would have done well to remind these southern Confederate flag wavers that the true source of our irrepressible strength, as a nation, was, and always will be, our inclusiveness, regardless of the symbols that we individually subscribe to.
elizabeth
My friend's response to this:
It's sad to me that so many southerners have forgotten the sadly
noble original meanings of the rebel flag. They've let the fearful
racists of the '50s and '60s and the yankees (who want to pretend their
brutal invasion and subjugation of the South was really a righteous act
of racial liberation) redefine it.
The Civil War was an unjust war over power and money. (I admit I
think all war is unjust.) The North included four slave states where
blacks were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued
two years into the war as a tactic for winning it. Race riots ensued in
NYC. The violence and destruction and hatred and hypocrisy of that war
and its political aftermath is what created the terrible race relations
that followed. What the rebel flag meant to southerners of the time was
their love of their homeland and its independence.
People who think the rebel flag represents slavery are ignorant
of American history. Dean is not ignorant of American history -- should
he self-censor his every utterance to be sure not to accidentally offend
the ignorant? His apologies have satisfied most reasonable people that
he didn't mean to promote racism.
And my response:
It's truly amazing to me that you fail to recognize that the confederate flag, to African Americans, is a symbol of slavery. You are very quick to acknowledge your own, personal meanings of the flag. I accept your personal meaning, though I disagree with it.
Your refusal to acknowledge the meaning of the flag for blacks is nothing short of historical and political naivete. I hope that Dean is not as naive, although something tells me he has a touch of that as well, as he made the remark in the first place.
Wether or not the Civil War was fought over slavery, the flag is a symbol to blacks of their own slavery in the deep south.
You said:
"The violence and destruction and hatred and hypocrisy of that war
and its political aftermath is what created the terrible race relations
that followed. What the rebel flag meant to southerners of the time was
their love of their homeland and its independence."
What the flag also meant, I am sure, to blacks, at that time, was the continuation of slavery, wether or not the North originally intended to emancipate slaves. If the south had won, slavery would have continued. That is what I am sure, blacks believe. Wether or not you agree with that belief, to refuse to recongnize their subjective meaning that they associate with the rebel flag, and by the way, all symbols are infused with the subjectivity of our beliefs, is, quite simply, a rather interesting state of denial on your part.
Again, I agree with you, that all war is unjust. Will you also agree that slavery is unjust? Wether or not the civil war, the institution of slavery was bound to fail.
You said: "It's sad to me that so many southerners have forgotten the sadly
noble original meanings of the rebel flag."
Because I believe the civil war was an unjust war, doesn't mean that I see nobility in the way of life of the south at that time. The southern economy was predicated on slavery. Without it, it would have never risen to the heights that it did. The oppression of any human being has nothing to do with nobility. I am sure many hard-core capitalists right now see the out-sourcing of American jobs to cheap labor abroad, and sweat factories in those countries, as a noble venture of spreading the good word of capitalism. We all know the obvious hypocricy there.
Let us be careful with what symbols we choose to defend, and remember that symbols have multiple meanings, because they are, after all, the reflections of our subjective beliefs. As far as I am concerned, because of the way blacks feel about the confederate flag, the flags ought to be retired to the cedar chests with moth balls. But they won't, and they aren't now, as some states insist on continuing to fight to have the flag flown over state capitals, despite the objections of its black citizens.
Dean waded into this rattle snake nest when he mentioned the flag. He simply didn't think it through before he spoke. You gave no credit to my suggestion that if he had acknowledged the beliefs of white southerners, who still regard the flag with pride, and, at the same time, reminding them that the source of our strength as a nation is our inclusivity, and that the democrats best represent this inclusivility because of our big tent metaphor, this entire controversy may have turned out differently. Maybe he didn't couch the issue in those terms, because he might have lost a few votes. Big deal.
He would have gained the respect of many more in the process. By the way, I well know that Dean is not a racist. However, he shot himself in the foot by emphasizing the importance of the white southern vote. What about the black southern vote? He certainly doesn't have that vote sewn up yet. He's got to think before he speaks, otherwise he is going to get tired of the taste of shoe leather.
elizabeth
I wasn't offended at all by his reference to the Rebel flag,
>which to me and to millions of Southerners symbolizes regional pride,
>fierce individuality, and a refusal to knuckle under to tyrranical
>authority, not racism or slavery. I understood his remark to mean that
>his candidacy has to appeal to the Southern white mainstream if he's
>going to win, and I think that's very true.
> Dean's Democratic rivals unfairly twisted his remark into
>something else, unfortunately damaging the Party, but not too bad. To
>me, their remarks were more condescending toward Southerners than Dean's
>were. Pickup trucks aren't cheap.
And my response:
Regarding Dean's comments concerning the confederate flag, I sat next to a Dean supporter at a breakfast for Kathleen Blanco recently. This Dean supporter, a white woman, said that African Americans who work with her won't speak to her now regarding Dean, because of his remark. I'm afraid he still has some fences to mend with the average black voter who is aware of his comments, and it is hard not to be aware of them what with everyone jumping into the fray.
You may disagree with anyone taking offense at his remark, but it was ill-considered and I'm afraid he'll have to learn the hard way on this one. You very accurately expressed how some white people feel about the flag, when you said:
"I wasn't offended at all by his reference to the Rebel flag, which to me and to millions of Southerners symbolizes regional pride, fierce individuality, and a refusal to knuckle under to tyrranical authority, not racism or slavery. I understood his remark to mean that his candidacy has to appeal to the Southern white mainstream if he's going to win, and I think that's very true.
Dean's Democratic rivals unfairly twisted his remark into something else, unfortunately damaging the Party, but not too bad. To me, their remarks were more condescending toward Southerners than Dean's were. Pickup trucks aren't cheap."
I am somwhat surprised to hear you say how much you also identify with the flag, when to millions of blacks, it is a symbol of the slavery they fought to be free of. You and I have had discussions about our beliefs that the Civil War need not have been fought. I agree with you on that point. However, to put such importance and pride in a symbol that provokes fear and horror in our African American population, is callous and insensitive, to say the least.
If Dean had prefaced his remark, in a way that would have respected the "regional pride and fierce individuality", as you put it, while gently chiding those same people, and reminding them that the Democratic party has and always will be a huge tent for everyone, including disaffected republicans.
Yes, he went out on a limb, in reaching out to confederate flag wavers, but he sawed the limb off with his own words, when he didn't turn the coin to view the other side of it, and the oppression and slavery that the confederate flag symbolizes to blacks.
Honestly, I don't need the Confederate flag to symbolize anything for me. I turn to our Declaration of Independence for my sustenance, and reminder, when I am discouraged, that we have endowed ourselves, from the beginning, with the concept of equality, and the right to a just government:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Dean would have done well to remind these southern Confederate flag wavers that the true source of our irrepressible strength, as a nation, was, and always will be, our inclusiveness, regardless of the symbols that we individually subscribe to.
elizabeth
My friend's response to this:
It's sad to me that so many southerners have forgotten the sadly
noble original meanings of the rebel flag. They've let the fearful
racists of the '50s and '60s and the yankees (who want to pretend their
brutal invasion and subjugation of the South was really a righteous act
of racial liberation) redefine it.
The Civil War was an unjust war over power and money. (I admit I
think all war is unjust.) The North included four slave states where
blacks were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued
two years into the war as a tactic for winning it. Race riots ensued in
NYC. The violence and destruction and hatred and hypocrisy of that war
and its political aftermath is what created the terrible race relations
that followed. What the rebel flag meant to southerners of the time was
their love of their homeland and its independence.
People who think the rebel flag represents slavery are ignorant
of American history. Dean is not ignorant of American history -- should
he self-censor his every utterance to be sure not to accidentally offend
the ignorant? His apologies have satisfied most reasonable people that
he didn't mean to promote racism.
And my response:
It's truly amazing to me that you fail to recognize that the confederate flag, to African Americans, is a symbol of slavery. You are very quick to acknowledge your own, personal meanings of the flag. I accept your personal meaning, though I disagree with it.
Your refusal to acknowledge the meaning of the flag for blacks is nothing short of historical and political naivete. I hope that Dean is not as naive, although something tells me he has a touch of that as well, as he made the remark in the first place.
Wether or not the Civil War was fought over slavery, the flag is a symbol to blacks of their own slavery in the deep south.
You said:
"The violence and destruction and hatred and hypocrisy of that war
and its political aftermath is what created the terrible race relations
that followed. What the rebel flag meant to southerners of the time was
their love of their homeland and its independence."
What the flag also meant, I am sure, to blacks, at that time, was the continuation of slavery, wether or not the North originally intended to emancipate slaves. If the south had won, slavery would have continued. That is what I am sure, blacks believe. Wether or not you agree with that belief, to refuse to recongnize their subjective meaning that they associate with the rebel flag, and by the way, all symbols are infused with the subjectivity of our beliefs, is, quite simply, a rather interesting state of denial on your part.
Again, I agree with you, that all war is unjust. Will you also agree that slavery is unjust? Wether or not the civil war, the institution of slavery was bound to fail.
You said: "It's sad to me that so many southerners have forgotten the sadly
noble original meanings of the rebel flag."
Because I believe the civil war was an unjust war, doesn't mean that I see nobility in the way of life of the south at that time. The southern economy was predicated on slavery. Without it, it would have never risen to the heights that it did. The oppression of any human being has nothing to do with nobility. I am sure many hard-core capitalists right now see the out-sourcing of American jobs to cheap labor abroad, and sweat factories in those countries, as a noble venture of spreading the good word of capitalism. We all know the obvious hypocricy there.
Let us be careful with what symbols we choose to defend, and remember that symbols have multiple meanings, because they are, after all, the reflections of our subjective beliefs. As far as I am concerned, because of the way blacks feel about the confederate flag, the flags ought to be retired to the cedar chests with moth balls. But they won't, and they aren't now, as some states insist on continuing to fight to have the flag flown over state capitals, despite the objections of its black citizens.
Dean waded into this rattle snake nest when he mentioned the flag. He simply didn't think it through before he spoke. You gave no credit to my suggestion that if he had acknowledged the beliefs of white southerners, who still regard the flag with pride, and, at the same time, reminding them that the source of our strength as a nation is our inclusivity, and that the democrats best represent this inclusivility because of our big tent metaphor, this entire controversy may have turned out differently. Maybe he didn't couch the issue in those terms, because he might have lost a few votes. Big deal.
He would have gained the respect of many more in the process. By the way, I well know that Dean is not a racist. However, he shot himself in the foot by emphasizing the importance of the white southern vote. What about the black southern vote? He certainly doesn't have that vote sewn up yet. He's got to think before he speaks, otherwise he is going to get tired of the taste of shoe leather.
elizabeth
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:30 AM |
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Bush signs partial abortion bill.
Yesterday, Bush signed the partial abortion bill into law.
# posted by scorpiorising : 4:29 AM |
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Kucinich, Ohio and Hunger in America
Kucinich in Rolling Stone and hunger in America, via the Guardian.co.uk.
Why do I link these two? Because the guardian talks to people in a soup line Ohio, Dennis's home state, and cites the soaring statistics of poverty in Ohio:
In Ohio, hunger is an epidemic. Since George Bush won Ohio in the 2000 presidential elections, the state has lost one in six of its manufacturing jobs. Two million of the state's 11 million population resorted to food charities last year, an increase of more than 18% from 2001.
In Logan, over 500 families regularly turn out twice monthly at the food pantry run by the Smith Chapel United Methodist Church.
"In all our history starting in the mid-80s we've never seen these numbers," said Dannie Devol, who runs the pantry. The food comes from a regional food bank, which is stocked by a mix of private donations and food bought from local farmers by the government.
Dennis is getting a lot of "star" attention right now. Does he have the gumption to stand in the soup line in his home state and talk to the people who are being drastically affected by Bush's economic policies? It would bring much needed attention to the most basic symptom of a failed economic policy: a rise in hunger in America. And, it would bring attention to a state suffering a great deal from one of the basic causes of the demise of our economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs in America.
I don't begrudge Dennis his moments in the sun, by the way. I'm actually kinda proud of him. I just happen to believe it would be a good campaign strategy, as well as humanely necessary, to visit the soup kitchen in his home state: It would show a certain quality of courage, and illuminate issues.
Why do I link these two? Because the guardian talks to people in a soup line Ohio, Dennis's home state, and cites the soaring statistics of poverty in Ohio:
In Ohio, hunger is an epidemic. Since George Bush won Ohio in the 2000 presidential elections, the state has lost one in six of its manufacturing jobs. Two million of the state's 11 million population resorted to food charities last year, an increase of more than 18% from 2001.
In Logan, over 500 families regularly turn out twice monthly at the food pantry run by the Smith Chapel United Methodist Church.
"In all our history starting in the mid-80s we've never seen these numbers," said Dannie Devol, who runs the pantry. The food comes from a regional food bank, which is stocked by a mix of private donations and food bought from local farmers by the government.
Dennis is getting a lot of "star" attention right now. Does he have the gumption to stand in the soup line in his home state and talk to the people who are being drastically affected by Bush's economic policies? It would bring much needed attention to the most basic symptom of a failed economic policy: a rise in hunger in America. And, it would bring attention to a state suffering a great deal from one of the basic causes of the demise of our economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs in America.
I don't begrudge Dennis his moments in the sun, by the way. I'm actually kinda proud of him. I just happen to believe it would be a good campaign strategy, as well as humanely necessary, to visit the soup kitchen in his home state: It would show a certain quality of courage, and illuminate issues.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:13 AM |
Truth and distortion.
Is manufacturing activity surging, as reported by the Institute for Supply Managment (ISM), as widely reported in the press?
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. manufacturing accelerated in October, the nation's purchasing managers said Monday, in a report that surpassed most forecasts on Wall Street.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of manufacturing activity jumped to 57 from 53.7 in September. It was the fourth straight month the ISM index was above 50, a number that indicates expansion in the sector.
Economists, on average, expected the ISM index to rise to 55.8, according to Briefing.com.
"This is the best report that we have seen in quite some time in terms of the overall strength of manufacturing," said Norbert Ore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "The picture continues to improve, and it appears that manufacturing will finish 2003 on a very positive note, assuming the recent trend continues."
Wampum breaks it down for us, after visiting the ISM web site:
Now to be honest, I never got past the "surges", as I was unaware that the ISM report was in fact due out today. After surfing over to their website for the official report, I was confronted with a somewhat less "rosy" analysis:
ISM's Backlog of Orders Index indicates that order backlogs improved again in October. However, manufacturing Employment continued to decline in October as the index remained below the breakeven point (50 percent) for the 37th consecutive month. ISM's Prices Index indicates that manufacturers experienced higher prices for the 20th consecutive month. New Export Orders grew in October for the 22nd consecutive month, while October's Imports Index grew for the 12th consecutive month.
Comments from purchasing and supply managers seem to be lagging the data. The indexes indicate significant improvement, but the purchasing and supply managers' comments do not reflect this trend. It appears that some industries are not yet experiencing the upturn.
Hmmmm...that doesn't sound so great... Time to read more of the CNN report:
The ISM noted, however, that some parts of the manufacturing sector have yet to improve, based on comments from individual purchasing and supply managers that were still cautious.
"It appears that some industries are not yet experiencing the upturn," the ISM report said....
The employment index rose to 47.7 from 45.7 in September, indicating manufacturers were still cutting jobs, but at a slower pace.
"We're still seeing job cuts in manufacturing, and it's going to stay that way for some time," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Native American Securities in New York."
[Note: Yes, there is a large financial institution run by Indians which is oft quoted in mainstream media outlets.]
So the news is really not all that different from recent months; A significant Keynesian upsurge based upon consumer spending due to one-time middle-class tax credits, but which fails to motivate businesses to increase employment versus fall back on an upswing in productivity.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. manufacturing accelerated in October, the nation's purchasing managers said Monday, in a report that surpassed most forecasts on Wall Street.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of manufacturing activity jumped to 57 from 53.7 in September. It was the fourth straight month the ISM index was above 50, a number that indicates expansion in the sector.
Economists, on average, expected the ISM index to rise to 55.8, according to Briefing.com.
"This is the best report that we have seen in quite some time in terms of the overall strength of manufacturing," said Norbert Ore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "The picture continues to improve, and it appears that manufacturing will finish 2003 on a very positive note, assuming the recent trend continues."
Wampum breaks it down for us, after visiting the ISM web site:
Now to be honest, I never got past the "surges", as I was unaware that the ISM report was in fact due out today. After surfing over to their website for the official report, I was confronted with a somewhat less "rosy" analysis:
ISM's Backlog of Orders Index indicates that order backlogs improved again in October. However, manufacturing Employment continued to decline in October as the index remained below the breakeven point (50 percent) for the 37th consecutive month. ISM's Prices Index indicates that manufacturers experienced higher prices for the 20th consecutive month. New Export Orders grew in October for the 22nd consecutive month, while October's Imports Index grew for the 12th consecutive month.
Comments from purchasing and supply managers seem to be lagging the data. The indexes indicate significant improvement, but the purchasing and supply managers' comments do not reflect this trend. It appears that some industries are not yet experiencing the upturn.
Hmmmm...that doesn't sound so great... Time to read more of the CNN report:
The ISM noted, however, that some parts of the manufacturing sector have yet to improve, based on comments from individual purchasing and supply managers that were still cautious.
"It appears that some industries are not yet experiencing the upturn," the ISM report said....
The employment index rose to 47.7 from 45.7 in September, indicating manufacturers were still cutting jobs, but at a slower pace.
"We're still seeing job cuts in manufacturing, and it's going to stay that way for some time," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Native American Securities in New York."
[Note: Yes, there is a large financial institution run by Indians which is oft quoted in mainstream media outlets.]
So the news is really not all that different from recent months; A significant Keynesian upsurge based upon consumer spending due to one-time middle-class tax credits, but which fails to motivate businesses to increase employment versus fall back on an upswing in productivity.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:38 AM |
A moment in the eye of the storm.
Riverbend of Baghdad Burning offers us a moment in the eye of the storm, and a description of Ramadhan. Her writing speaks for itself:
After the soup, comes a whole procession of often traditional foods… maybe I should post the recipes. There’s so much food because the ‘futtoor’ is more of a daily celebration than it is an ordinary meal. During previous years, we would spend almost every day breaking our fast with various family or friends. This year is different because the security situation doesn’t allow for traipsing around Baghdad or other provinces on a daily basis. It’s also not the same because, under normal circumstances, our ‘futtoor’ gatherings often last well into the night, sometimes past 12 am, before the group breaks up to go home.
The neighbors are often a big part of the month. If they’re not dropping by to sample futtoor, then they’re sending over a plate of something for you to sample. We also get together to agree who will be sending food over to the local mosque to feed the mosque keepers and the Imam, and to arrange who will be sending what to the more destitute families in the neighborhood. Ramadhan is the time of year when we put aside neighborhood differences (like the fact that Abu K.’s dog howls at anyone who goes down the street), and combine culinary skills and a general feeling of empathy.
After the soup, comes a whole procession of often traditional foods… maybe I should post the recipes. There’s so much food because the ‘futtoor’ is more of a daily celebration than it is an ordinary meal. During previous years, we would spend almost every day breaking our fast with various family or friends. This year is different because the security situation doesn’t allow for traipsing around Baghdad or other provinces on a daily basis. It’s also not the same because, under normal circumstances, our ‘futtoor’ gatherings often last well into the night, sometimes past 12 am, before the group breaks up to go home.
The neighbors are often a big part of the month. If they’re not dropping by to sample futtoor, then they’re sending over a plate of something for you to sample. We also get together to agree who will be sending food over to the local mosque to feed the mosque keepers and the Imam, and to arrange who will be sending what to the more destitute families in the neighborhood. Ramadhan is the time of year when we put aside neighborhood differences (like the fact that Abu K.’s dog howls at anyone who goes down the street), and combine culinary skills and a general feeling of empathy.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:26 AM |
Monday, November 03, 2003
The loyalty thing.
Bush has gone dangerously down a path many failed, totalitarian-leaning leaders have gone. That of demanding, and giving, unquestioning loyalty to his followers, all the while not realizing that, while he is leading, he is also doing a great deal of following. For those who are unquestioningly loyal, then there can be little questioning of each other. However, the shit is hitting the fan so often, there has been a sort of implosion, and old-fashioned semblance of purging, and the scapegoating and targeting of Rumsfeld.
In this case Rumsfeld bore the brunt, probably in spite of the fact that after 2000, they all helped in creating this horrible policy of preemptive war. Rumsfeld planned the war based on their neocon policy, complete with all of its false assumptions, but now he is an easy target because their beliefs did not bear out in reality.
Now you tell me, will Condeleeza Rice read lullabies to George Bush when he is old and gray and possibly senile?
Hell no, she will have long ago moved on. The imcompetents have circled the wagons for now, because there is nothing left to do but try to protect themselves from charges of imcompetence. Bush, like most totalitarian leaning- leaders who seldom dare to question themselves, much less allow others to question them, place emphasis on a kind of loyalty that is vacuous and dangerous. They are loyal to imcompetence. They are loyal to faulty beliefs, unwilling to face the idea that they might be wrong in their current assumptions about reality. Some are looking for escape.
Look for some important defections. Look for Bush to become increasingly more irrational. Look for Bush to possibly manufacture a crisis to keep himself in office. Heaven help us.
In this case Rumsfeld bore the brunt, probably in spite of the fact that after 2000, they all helped in creating this horrible policy of preemptive war. Rumsfeld planned the war based on their neocon policy, complete with all of its false assumptions, but now he is an easy target because their beliefs did not bear out in reality.
Now you tell me, will Condeleeza Rice read lullabies to George Bush when he is old and gray and possibly senile?
Hell no, she will have long ago moved on. The imcompetents have circled the wagons for now, because there is nothing left to do but try to protect themselves from charges of imcompetence. Bush, like most totalitarian leaning- leaders who seldom dare to question themselves, much less allow others to question them, place emphasis on a kind of loyalty that is vacuous and dangerous. They are loyal to imcompetence. They are loyal to faulty beliefs, unwilling to face the idea that they might be wrong in their current assumptions about reality. Some are looking for escape.
Look for some important defections. Look for Bush to become increasingly more irrational. Look for Bush to possibly manufacture a crisis to keep himself in office. Heaven help us.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:48 AM |
New York Times: Is Diebold and others trying to squash freedom of speech?
Commondreams.org published this article from the New York Times, on the efforts of corporations who own the voting machines to recover stolen emails and documents that have been circulated online:
Nelson Pavlosky, a sophomore at Swarthmore from Morristown, N.J., who put documents online through the campus organization Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons said the cease-and-desist letters were “a perfect example of how copyright law can be and is abused by corporations like Diebold” to stifle freedom of speech. He said that he and other advocates wished the college had decided to fight instead of take down the files.
“We feel like they wimped out,” Mr. Pavlosky said.
But with each takedown, the publicity grows through online discussion and media coverage, and more and more people join the fray, giving Diebold’s efforts a Sorcerer’s Apprentice feel. The advocates, meanwhile, are finding that civil disobedience carries risks. One student who posted the documents and has received a letter, Zac Elliott of Indiana University, said, “I’m starting to worry about the ramifications for my entire family if I end up in some sort of legal action.”
Copyright law, and specifically the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, are being abused by Diebold, said Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. Copyright is supposed to protect creative expression, Ms. Seltzer said, but in this case the law is being evoked “because they don’t want the facts out there.”
The foundation is advising many students informally and helping them to find legal aid, and it is representing the Online Policy Group, a nonprofit Internet service provider that got a cease-and-desist letter from Diebold after links to the documents were published on a news Web site that the group posts.
Nelson Pavlosky, a sophomore at Swarthmore from Morristown, N.J., who put documents online through the campus organization Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons said the cease-and-desist letters were “a perfect example of how copyright law can be and is abused by corporations like Diebold” to stifle freedom of speech. He said that he and other advocates wished the college had decided to fight instead of take down the files.
“We feel like they wimped out,” Mr. Pavlosky said.
But with each takedown, the publicity grows through online discussion and media coverage, and more and more people join the fray, giving Diebold’s efforts a Sorcerer’s Apprentice feel. The advocates, meanwhile, are finding that civil disobedience carries risks. One student who posted the documents and has received a letter, Zac Elliott of Indiana University, said, “I’m starting to worry about the ramifications for my entire family if I end up in some sort of legal action.”
Copyright law, and specifically the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, are being abused by Diebold, said Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. Copyright is supposed to protect creative expression, Ms. Seltzer said, but in this case the law is being evoked “because they don’t want the facts out there.”
The foundation is advising many students informally and helping them to find legal aid, and it is representing the Online Policy Group, a nonprofit Internet service provider that got a cease-and-desist letter from Diebold after links to the documents were published on a news Web site that the group posts.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:26 AM |
Mayor Ray Nagin set to endorse...
Mayor Ray Nagin is set to make an endorsement today in the governor's race. It is increasingly likely that he will endorse Jindal. I called his office this morning and left this comment:
Shame on Mayor Nagin is he endorses a candidate from the Republican party, the party that has voted in tax cuts for the wealthy, while rejecting the needs of the working class.
As far as I am concerned, the battle lines are drawn, and we have to hold politicians responsible for their actions, and endorsements.
Shame on Mayor Nagin is he endorses a candidate from the Republican party, the party that has voted in tax cuts for the wealthy, while rejecting the needs of the working class.
As far as I am concerned, the battle lines are drawn, and we have to hold politicians responsible for their actions, and endorsements.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:22 AM |
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Blanco takes a swing.
just saw an ad by Blanco in which she takes a swing at the "Washington Politicos" who are behind the negative ads by Jindal. It's a start. She's got to find a way to motivate african Americans to the polls, and she's got to do this by exposing Jindal for the republican operative that he is. Here is more on the election from Stephen Sabludowsky on BayouBuzz.com:
As we ready for Halloween, a new Louisiana governor’s poll shows the balance of the campaign might not be much of a treat for Lt. Gov. Blanco—unless she has a few tricks up her sleeves.
According to an Associated Press story released today, Bobby Jindal received 49 percent compared to Blanco´s 38 percent in an independent poll by Verne Kennedy of the Pensacola, Fla.-based Marketing Research Insight. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The gap between the two candidates for our state’s highest administrative office is widening.
According to sources, various business people with an interest in the race commissioned the poll.
Along with the widening numbers, Blanco’s favorability ratings have dropped significantly from 66 to 47 percent within a two-week period.
Assuming the accuracy of the poll, why the gobblins in Mrs. Blanco’s numbers? Here are some possible reasons for the recent polling gap:
The Madam is a Ghoul
The Jindal camp has successively painted Blanco as being “negative ogre”. In my view, this is truly a shame since she has given so much positive to this state, but in the land of politics you reap what you sow. She formerly criticized her democratic opponents for piling up upon her at the last moment of the first primary. Then, instead of bellowing the virtues of her record, she has criticized Jindal’s record. This “negativity” could explain her drop in “favorability ratings”-- which is usually a spin-off of negative or perceived negative campaigning.
The Ghostly Candidate
According to the Jindal camp, Blanco does not want to debate. She publicly said she had to get out and raise money, which, most would say was true. But, she could have received millions of dollars in free advertising discussing health care, tourism, economic development, schools, crime and the other laundry list of issues. Even yesterday, according to news reports, she failed to show up for a face-to-face television debate in Alexandria and a meeting with the municipal mayors. This is not the way to win over an audience—especially one with so much clout such as Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans who indicated that he still had an open mind.
Apple Bobbing
Bobby Jindal has played it smart. He has voluntarily put his financial records online so the community could see in almost “real-time” from where he was getting the core of his financial support. In contrast, Mrs. Blanco has retreated to the letter of the ethics law and has refused the “Jindal challenge”—whether the challenge was a political gimmick or not. The net effect of the campaign financial tactic showed Jindal is flush with money and has taken away the surprise regarding where he has obtained his funds. Meanwhile, Mrs. Blanco might say she is not going to allow Jindal to run her campaign, but, the young man wins the apple for campaign openness.
Costume Ball
It has not done Mrs. Blanco any good to parade a bunch of political stiffs on a stage to show her support. As many writers and pundits say, these endorsements--in this day and age of information-- are virtually meaningless. St. Tammany Parish is not Tammany Hall.
After all, which is a better haul—a Billy Tauzin and David Vitter versus a John Breaux. After a while, when the endorsements fall straight upon party lines, they masquerade the true reasons for the support and lose their inherent values.
As New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said in a press conference yesterday, the public doesn’t seem to be responding solely based upon traditional party lines. Blanco has piled up some impressive democratic endorsements. But, because these endorsements are cosmetic in nature—Republican vs. Democrats—they are meaningless to the average voter. They might help with getting out party apparatus and some fund raising, but, the real test will be election day—as to whether any of these endorsers can get out the vote
The Fall
It is no surprise that Halloween’s colors are gold, orange and red. The holiday represents the fall of the leaves and the beginning of the cold. Does this Kennedy poll signify the falling thermometer of Mrs. Blanco’s gubernatorial demise after weathering a grueling “hot” highly-competitive and sultry campaign?
Headless Horsewoman
Whatever the reason for the recent gap, this poll could be the beginning of the end for Mrs. Blanco unless she rides a different horse. Her campaign is headless. The more she goes negative, the more positive Jindal looks. The less she debates, the more she appears mute. The less she reveals her finances, the more she looks like she has something to hide. The more she goes after endorsements, the more she comes across as a traditional politician.
Mrs. Blanco has a record she can stand on and she needs to get in front of the public with Ichabod Jindal at her side and let people know her record and her philosophies and debate the differences. Up until now, her secret quest of lining up political endorsements and funding her treasury is the “witches brew” for campaign failure.
As we ready for Halloween, a new Louisiana governor’s poll shows the balance of the campaign might not be much of a treat for Lt. Gov. Blanco—unless she has a few tricks up her sleeves.
According to an Associated Press story released today, Bobby Jindal received 49 percent compared to Blanco´s 38 percent in an independent poll by Verne Kennedy of the Pensacola, Fla.-based Marketing Research Insight. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The gap between the two candidates for our state’s highest administrative office is widening.
According to sources, various business people with an interest in the race commissioned the poll.
Along with the widening numbers, Blanco’s favorability ratings have dropped significantly from 66 to 47 percent within a two-week period.
Assuming the accuracy of the poll, why the gobblins in Mrs. Blanco’s numbers? Here are some possible reasons for the recent polling gap:
The Madam is a Ghoul
The Jindal camp has successively painted Blanco as being “negative ogre”. In my view, this is truly a shame since she has given so much positive to this state, but in the land of politics you reap what you sow. She formerly criticized her democratic opponents for piling up upon her at the last moment of the first primary. Then, instead of bellowing the virtues of her record, she has criticized Jindal’s record. This “negativity” could explain her drop in “favorability ratings”-- which is usually a spin-off of negative or perceived negative campaigning.
The Ghostly Candidate
According to the Jindal camp, Blanco does not want to debate. She publicly said she had to get out and raise money, which, most would say was true. But, she could have received millions of dollars in free advertising discussing health care, tourism, economic development, schools, crime and the other laundry list of issues. Even yesterday, according to news reports, she failed to show up for a face-to-face television debate in Alexandria and a meeting with the municipal mayors. This is not the way to win over an audience—especially one with so much clout such as Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans who indicated that he still had an open mind.
Apple Bobbing
Bobby Jindal has played it smart. He has voluntarily put his financial records online so the community could see in almost “real-time” from where he was getting the core of his financial support. In contrast, Mrs. Blanco has retreated to the letter of the ethics law and has refused the “Jindal challenge”—whether the challenge was a political gimmick or not. The net effect of the campaign financial tactic showed Jindal is flush with money and has taken away the surprise regarding where he has obtained his funds. Meanwhile, Mrs. Blanco might say she is not going to allow Jindal to run her campaign, but, the young man wins the apple for campaign openness.
Costume Ball
It has not done Mrs. Blanco any good to parade a bunch of political stiffs on a stage to show her support. As many writers and pundits say, these endorsements--in this day and age of information-- are virtually meaningless. St. Tammany Parish is not Tammany Hall.
After all, which is a better haul—a Billy Tauzin and David Vitter versus a John Breaux. After a while, when the endorsements fall straight upon party lines, they masquerade the true reasons for the support and lose their inherent values.
As New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said in a press conference yesterday, the public doesn’t seem to be responding solely based upon traditional party lines. Blanco has piled up some impressive democratic endorsements. But, because these endorsements are cosmetic in nature—Republican vs. Democrats—they are meaningless to the average voter. They might help with getting out party apparatus and some fund raising, but, the real test will be election day—as to whether any of these endorsers can get out the vote
The Fall
It is no surprise that Halloween’s colors are gold, orange and red. The holiday represents the fall of the leaves and the beginning of the cold. Does this Kennedy poll signify the falling thermometer of Mrs. Blanco’s gubernatorial demise after weathering a grueling “hot” highly-competitive and sultry campaign?
Headless Horsewoman
Whatever the reason for the recent gap, this poll could be the beginning of the end for Mrs. Blanco unless she rides a different horse. Her campaign is headless. The more she goes negative, the more positive Jindal looks. The less she debates, the more she appears mute. The less she reveals her finances, the more she looks like she has something to hide. The more she goes after endorsements, the more she comes across as a traditional politician.
Mrs. Blanco has a record she can stand on and she needs to get in front of the public with Ichabod Jindal at her side and let people know her record and her philosophies and debate the differences. Up until now, her secret quest of lining up political endorsements and funding her treasury is the “witches brew” for campaign failure.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:32 AM |
The state of the democratic party.
A friend of mine posted my "Sense of Dread" post to the chairman of the democratic party in Louisiana, Scott Arceneaux. Here is what he had to say about it:
Thanks for your concern and your are correct in many respects. Jindal does have one of the best media people in the nation. Ms. Blanco is using her local consultant who is very good but we are working with a lot less money and resources. Please know we are working very hard with everything we have.
Thanks
Scott
He doesn't address the content or quality of her campaign, which I feel is sorely lacking. She's got just two weeks to initiate a change-around. It's not likely that she will do it. I'm going to keep pressing though. Maybe somehow I can reach Blanco. I know that her money doesn't meet Jindal's, but a few well-placed ads, and remember the freedom and the power of the press conference, could help turn this campaign around.
This lack of fight and organized resistance to the encroachment of the republican party was apparent in California as well. It's like democrats still have not realized the republicans will distort distort, distort, possibly lie, manipulate, and distort some more in order to win. You almost have to admire their sense of evangelical righteousness, obviously rooted in their religious beliefs. Jesus fucking Christ, some of them believe they are the party of God.
The democrats, to counteract this near-fanaticism, need to use cold logic, address each and every attack; don't let them get away with shit...and go on the offensive always and often. Challenge their fallacies and views. This is, after all, a war of idealogy. It is a battle over what kind of country we will evolve to.
Democrats behave as if they are sleep-walking. There is also obviously an on-going identity crisis. What kind of party are we, and who do we represent? Camille Paglia was right recently when she said, in a Salon.com article, that no one is addressing the problems within the democratic party, and how to regain power for the party of the people. Everyone is writing books on how awful the republican party is, but no one is writing on the failures and need for change withing the democratic party, she said.
She is right. In my view, if you aggressively address the needs of the working class, which are the majority in this country, the people will come to your aid. That is my belief, as far-fetched as it may seem.
There is so much to write on this subject. More later.
Thanks for your concern and your are correct in many respects. Jindal does have one of the best media people in the nation. Ms. Blanco is using her local consultant who is very good but we are working with a lot less money and resources. Please know we are working very hard with everything we have.
Thanks
Scott
He doesn't address the content or quality of her campaign, which I feel is sorely lacking. She's got just two weeks to initiate a change-around. It's not likely that she will do it. I'm going to keep pressing though. Maybe somehow I can reach Blanco. I know that her money doesn't meet Jindal's, but a few well-placed ads, and remember the freedom and the power of the press conference, could help turn this campaign around.
This lack of fight and organized resistance to the encroachment of the republican party was apparent in California as well. It's like democrats still have not realized the republicans will distort distort, distort, possibly lie, manipulate, and distort some more in order to win. You almost have to admire their sense of evangelical righteousness, obviously rooted in their religious beliefs. Jesus fucking Christ, some of them believe they are the party of God.
The democrats, to counteract this near-fanaticism, need to use cold logic, address each and every attack; don't let them get away with shit...and go on the offensive always and often. Challenge their fallacies and views. This is, after all, a war of idealogy. It is a battle over what kind of country we will evolve to.
Democrats behave as if they are sleep-walking. There is also obviously an on-going identity crisis. What kind of party are we, and who do we represent? Camille Paglia was right recently when she said, in a Salon.com article, that no one is addressing the problems within the democratic party, and how to regain power for the party of the people. Everyone is writing books on how awful the republican party is, but no one is writing on the failures and need for change withing the democratic party, she said.
She is right. In my view, if you aggressively address the needs of the working class, which are the majority in this country, the people will come to your aid. That is my belief, as far-fetched as it may seem.
There is so much to write on this subject. More later.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:34 AM |
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Blanco needs to take the gloves off.
I posted a "Sense of Dread", my previous post, to Louisiana Democrats at yahoo.com, and received this reply from a friend of mine:
Well, put!
I agree with everything that you've said, but it goes even further. Jindal
has seized an opportunity where Blanco has not fortified her base constituency,
which are Blacks and the blue collar types. There is even a campaign launched
called "Bubbas for Jindal." She needs to spend more time in New Orleans, as
Jindal has. Even though her agendas should appeal to the average New Orleanean,
the message is just not getting out. She did make a positive impression with
a gay and lesbian activist group, one that Jindal has ignored. This needs to
be exploited.
Also, I strongly feel that Jindal's ads that say that he stands for change
and how poorly our healthcare has been in this state should be used against him.
I mean, how in the world are we to expect change from the morass of the last
8 years, when he was hand picked by General Foster. And how dare he say how
poorly we've been with healthcare issues when he was the secretary of the
Department of Health and Hospitals. Isn't that like Tom Benson saying that the
Saints suck?
I have also noticed that Blanco has a good core of contributors from the
healthcare profession. I think a splendid idea would be to utilize them in a
fierce ad campaign which would demonstrate that if Jindal was all that with the
healthcare profession, then how come he does 't have the solidarity of them
behind him. If you've noticed, the only people that have come to his defense on
healthcare, or lack there of, are Republican politicians.
On the other hand Blanco has had nothing but praise with every department
that she has worked with, just ask Mitch Landrieu. Now, he's someone that's got
a
tough act to follow. In New Orleans,Blanco should also take advantage of her
strong contributions to the arts community and non-profits. What has Jindal
done ... and what's worse, we know what he's going to do, absolutely nothing.
It's not in him.
Let's go get 'em ! Attack! Attack! Attack That Lying Liar!
And my response:
Well put. You addressed specific areas of weakness of Jindal's that Blanco ought to jump on. I love your idea for an ad with health care workers. That would hit where it hurts. Blanco has got to take the glove's off. Here is her most recent response, posted on her website, regarding Jindal's ads:
"I am very disappointed that Bobby is trying to distort the facts. This
is a serious attempt on his part to distract voters from the truth,"
said Blanco.
The Jindal campaign released a statement today accusing Blanco of
running negative television and radio ads, which is something that
Blanco says, is simply not true.
"It's the classic big lie technique," said Blanco. "The only message
that I have delivered from the beginning of my campaign is on the issues
that are important to our state and that I'm the candidate with the
qualifications, experience and background to be an effective and
efficient governor."
"The people know me."
Trey, the big lie Kathleen speaks about is not wether or not she has run negative ads; she has got to run "negative" ads to counteract his. The big lie is how this man is portraying himself. He is reaching bubbas, blue collar workers, and african-americans, as a man for the people. The truth is he comes from a party that has sacrificed the "people" for tax cuts for the wealthy, a dangerous war with no end, and environmental degradation.
Kathleen does not have to bring up the war, or other national issues though. It is a matter of interpreting his philosophy on a local level. What will his proposals mean to the people? What is his record at DHH? Why is he bringing up Hollywood and the ACLU in ads? What do these have to do with our issues? They are distractions, and Blanco ought to expose that, and then address his real record with DHH.
The kind of "negative" ads that Kathleen ought to run, must deal with the fallacies he is putting forth as the "truth", and at the same time, conveying Blanco's "truth".
elizabeth
Well, put!
I agree with everything that you've said, but it goes even further. Jindal
has seized an opportunity where Blanco has not fortified her base constituency,
which are Blacks and the blue collar types. There is even a campaign launched
called "Bubbas for Jindal." She needs to spend more time in New Orleans, as
Jindal has. Even though her agendas should appeal to the average New Orleanean,
the message is just not getting out. She did make a positive impression with
a gay and lesbian activist group, one that Jindal has ignored. This needs to
be exploited.
Also, I strongly feel that Jindal's ads that say that he stands for change
and how poorly our healthcare has been in this state should be used against him.
I mean, how in the world are we to expect change from the morass of the last
8 years, when he was hand picked by General Foster. And how dare he say how
poorly we've been with healthcare issues when he was the secretary of the
Department of Health and Hospitals. Isn't that like Tom Benson saying that the
Saints suck?
I have also noticed that Blanco has a good core of contributors from the
healthcare profession. I think a splendid idea would be to utilize them in a
fierce ad campaign which would demonstrate that if Jindal was all that with the
healthcare profession, then how come he does 't have the solidarity of them
behind him. If you've noticed, the only people that have come to his defense on
healthcare, or lack there of, are Republican politicians.
On the other hand Blanco has had nothing but praise with every department
that she has worked with, just ask Mitch Landrieu. Now, he's someone that's got
a
tough act to follow. In New Orleans,Blanco should also take advantage of her
strong contributions to the arts community and non-profits. What has Jindal
done ... and what's worse, we know what he's going to do, absolutely nothing.
It's not in him.
Let's go get 'em ! Attack! Attack! Attack That Lying Liar!
And my response:
Well put. You addressed specific areas of weakness of Jindal's that Blanco ought to jump on. I love your idea for an ad with health care workers. That would hit where it hurts. Blanco has got to take the glove's off. Here is her most recent response, posted on her website, regarding Jindal's ads:
"I am very disappointed that Bobby is trying to distort the facts. This
is a serious attempt on his part to distract voters from the truth,"
said Blanco.
The Jindal campaign released a statement today accusing Blanco of
running negative television and radio ads, which is something that
Blanco says, is simply not true.
"It's the classic big lie technique," said Blanco. "The only message
that I have delivered from the beginning of my campaign is on the issues
that are important to our state and that I'm the candidate with the
qualifications, experience and background to be an effective and
efficient governor."
"The people know me."
Trey, the big lie Kathleen speaks about is not wether or not she has run negative ads; she has got to run "negative" ads to counteract his. The big lie is how this man is portraying himself. He is reaching bubbas, blue collar workers, and african-americans, as a man for the people. The truth is he comes from a party that has sacrificed the "people" for tax cuts for the wealthy, a dangerous war with no end, and environmental degradation.
Kathleen does not have to bring up the war, or other national issues though. It is a matter of interpreting his philosophy on a local level. What will his proposals mean to the people? What is his record at DHH? Why is he bringing up Hollywood and the ACLU in ads? What do these have to do with our issues? They are distractions, and Blanco ought to expose that, and then address his real record with DHH.
The kind of "negative" ads that Kathleen ought to run, must deal with the fallacies he is putting forth as the "truth", and at the same time, conveying Blanco's "truth".
elizabeth
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:47 AM |
Thursday, October 30, 2003
The good news is...
The good news is...the fundamentalists using terrorist tactics in Iraq don't want the old regime back.
Riverbend of Baghdad Burning, as far as I am concerned, is the best source of what is truly going on in the chaos known as Iraq.
Check her out:
The majority associate such attacks with resistance and many people believe that they are being carried out by people with access and knowledge of advanced military equipment- perhaps Iraqis who were a part of the Guard or former members of the Iraqi army. Now, while some may certainly be labeled as Ba'athists, or loyalists, they aren't fundamentalists. We do, after all, have hundreds of thousands of disgruntled former military personnel and soldiers who were made to sit at home without retirement, a pension or any form of compensation. The relatively few who were promised a monthly 'retirement wage', complain that they aren't getting the money. (I can never emphasize enough the mistake of dissolving the army? was anyone thinking when they came up with that decision?!)
Riverbend of Baghdad Burning, as far as I am concerned, is the best source of what is truly going on in the chaos known as Iraq.
Check her out:
The majority associate such attacks with resistance and many people believe that they are being carried out by people with access and knowledge of advanced military equipment- perhaps Iraqis who were a part of the Guard or former members of the Iraqi army. Now, while some may certainly be labeled as Ba'athists, or loyalists, they aren't fundamentalists. We do, after all, have hundreds of thousands of disgruntled former military personnel and soldiers who were made to sit at home without retirement, a pension or any form of compensation. The relatively few who were promised a monthly 'retirement wage', complain that they aren't getting the money. (I can never emphasize enough the mistake of dissolving the army? was anyone thinking when they came up with that decision?!)
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:43 AM |
Monday, October 27, 2003
Peace March.
We had a peace march in New Orleans on Saturday, with about 250 participating, which was a pretty good turn out, all things considered. It was sponsored by CCC, the same lovely bunch that brought us the political forum I posted on earlier. They did a much better job with the peace march.
We were a noisy bunch marching down Canal St., which is the middle of downtown, interrupting the traffic of mostly tourists and infrequent locals who don't know any better to avoid Canal St. on a Saturday afternoon.
I felt we made a splash, and were probably on the evening news, as their camera guy was all over us. My favorite marchers actually rolled. An elderly gentleman pushed his wife in a nouveau wheelchair that easily converted to a comfortable chair at the rally afterwards.
From Canal St. we turned down Lasalle to Charity Hospital where someone gave a brief, police-interrupted speech on the cuts to Charity Hospital. He wasn't allowed to finish the speech as the one police grunt hurried us along, despite the fact that others had approved the stop and speech.
At least one female doctor came out and shook someone's hand, saying "thank you".
Charity Hospital is closing its walk-in clinic, and other services, in across- the- board cuts to social services in Louisiana. I fear we are about to elect Bobby Jindal as governor, who will, in my view, callously institute more cuts to health services to the poor.
From Charity we marched down a very deserted side-street, preaching to buildings, on our way to an equally deserted Duncan Plaza at City Hall. A levee is built up around the plaza, so literally and figuratively I felt our little group isolated from the rest of the world.
The post-march speeches were all good and from the heart, with one exception. The representative of the New Black Panther party, in a thoroughly thoughtless, and ego-driven speech, must have been mistaken that we were all there to hear him, and began ranting about Hindus. I'm not kidding. Truth is, I was uncomfortable whenever someone would chant "damn Bush" during the march,and I would refrain from chanting. There is no need to damn Bush. He has damned himself.
Salon.com today posted an article about the D.C. march this past Saturday, and commented on the convolution of messages, intersecting at cross angles to one another.
ANSWER wants the troops out and the UN out, and they support the violent overthrow of the US occupation. Many progressives, including myself, want the troops out and the UN in, and an end to the violence. Wishful dreaming? There is also a realistic expectation on my part that perhaps the Iraqis, or at least, the more militant factions want the US out and the UN out. I'm sure many ordinary Iraqis want the US, at this point, because of our bungling, out, and the UN in.
It's a merry-go- round of views and a tragic play in Iraq that the US has created in the absurdist tradition. There is a destruction of meaning, in the destruction we have wrought upon that country. What is the value of life that we have so carelessly taken in the pursuit of our goals there? What is the value of the ancient culture of the Iraqi people which we so thoughtlessly and carelessly left open to destruction? So, yes, in this atmospere of the destruction of the meaning of life and culture, it is difficult now to ascertain the correct course of action.
We are left with basically a "no choice", because any choice will likely result in more deaths. We, and the Iraqi people, are between a rock and a hard place.
We were a noisy bunch marching down Canal St., which is the middle of downtown, interrupting the traffic of mostly tourists and infrequent locals who don't know any better to avoid Canal St. on a Saturday afternoon.
I felt we made a splash, and were probably on the evening news, as their camera guy was all over us. My favorite marchers actually rolled. An elderly gentleman pushed his wife in a nouveau wheelchair that easily converted to a comfortable chair at the rally afterwards.
From Canal St. we turned down Lasalle to Charity Hospital where someone gave a brief, police-interrupted speech on the cuts to Charity Hospital. He wasn't allowed to finish the speech as the one police grunt hurried us along, despite the fact that others had approved the stop and speech.
At least one female doctor came out and shook someone's hand, saying "thank you".
Charity Hospital is closing its walk-in clinic, and other services, in across- the- board cuts to social services in Louisiana. I fear we are about to elect Bobby Jindal as governor, who will, in my view, callously institute more cuts to health services to the poor.
From Charity we marched down a very deserted side-street, preaching to buildings, on our way to an equally deserted Duncan Plaza at City Hall. A levee is built up around the plaza, so literally and figuratively I felt our little group isolated from the rest of the world.
The post-march speeches were all good and from the heart, with one exception. The representative of the New Black Panther party, in a thoroughly thoughtless, and ego-driven speech, must have been mistaken that we were all there to hear him, and began ranting about Hindus. I'm not kidding. Truth is, I was uncomfortable whenever someone would chant "damn Bush" during the march,and I would refrain from chanting. There is no need to damn Bush. He has damned himself.
Salon.com today posted an article about the D.C. march this past Saturday, and commented on the convolution of messages, intersecting at cross angles to one another.
ANSWER wants the troops out and the UN out, and they support the violent overthrow of the US occupation. Many progressives, including myself, want the troops out and the UN in, and an end to the violence. Wishful dreaming? There is also a realistic expectation on my part that perhaps the Iraqis, or at least, the more militant factions want the US out and the UN out. I'm sure many ordinary Iraqis want the US, at this point, because of our bungling, out, and the UN in.
It's a merry-go- round of views and a tragic play in Iraq that the US has created in the absurdist tradition. There is a destruction of meaning, in the destruction we have wrought upon that country. What is the value of life that we have so carelessly taken in the pursuit of our goals there? What is the value of the ancient culture of the Iraqi people which we so thoughtlessly and carelessly left open to destruction? So, yes, in this atmospere of the destruction of the meaning of life and culture, it is difficult now to ascertain the correct course of action.
We are left with basically a "no choice", because any choice will likely result in more deaths. We, and the Iraqi people, are between a rock and a hard place.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:49 AM |
Thursday, October 23, 2003
No compromise.
I attended a so-called progressive forum in New Orleans last night, sponsored by a peace group, CCC, that I had been involved with on occasion. Last night I was glad I wasn't associated with the group any longer, because it seemed like idiots with their eyes closed structered this so-called forum.
It was top-heavy, with a panel of, can't call them experts, with one exception, and the audience relegated to a mostly passive participation, except for the question and answer session.
There was one representative of the Democratic party, a Dean supporter, who idiotically spoke negatively about hillbillies and Texas, alluding to our current president. However, as someone shouted "what's wrong with Texas", and I said, "what's wrong with hillbillies", its not about a certain state or a sub-group of people. Obviously, it was a poor choice of words on his part. It didn't help that he went on to talk down certain candidates. Someone called it "gossiping", which hit the nail on the head.
God, I came away depressed at the state of far left politics in this country. The panelist representing the new Black Panther Party, dressed like a general with a silver panther dangling around his neck, very intimidating presence. In his opening remarks there was much assailing against the white race, and I can agree with most of what he said. Also, he was at least willing to step out of the norm of his party to create alliances with the democratic party people in New Orleans, in an "anyone but Bush" attitude.
The green party panelist was depressingly familiar in his rhetoric that we should "vote our conscience", or "vote our principals". I'm supporting my principals in Dennis Kucinich, though I nearly lost faith in him recently. I came to realize it doesn't matter wether Kucinich wins. He is changing the face of electoral politics with his emphasis on certain issues, such as opposition to war, NAFTA, WTO, Universal Health Insurance (with the only workable plan, in my opinion), the bloated Pentagon budget, etc.
It is all about being like Kucinich, isn't it? Working hard for your beliefs, and not giving up.
I told the green party member that I felt a great deal more hope when Clinton was president, and Gore was running. I don't see where the green party accomplished one little shit by running the ego-inflated Nader as their candidate.
Then there were two African-American activists in the audience who spoke on the state of the black community in New Orleans. We all know, it ain't good, but then they went on to condone and justify the possibility of violent resistance and revolution. I confronted the younger one after the forum, questioning his support of violence as a means of change. At first he denied his support of violence. "You didn't hear me," he said. "Revolution begins in the mind". When I pressed him, he seemed to defend his support of violence as a means of defense against the white oppressors. I am white, by the way.
"You mean to tell me," he said, "that if I would punch you in the face, that you would not strike me back?"
"First of all, " I said, "you would probably knock me out, if you punched me. Secondly..." and here, I got real with him, "I've had two young black men, on two different occasions, point guns at me and demand my money. One night, a young black male smashed a bottle over my companion's head as we innocently walked down the street, in the Fauberg Marigny. As a result of these events, I have never wanted to own a weapon, or exact any kind of revenge.
"If you had a weapon on you, wouldn't you have used it?" he asked.
"I would never own a weapon," I said. He brushed me off then, as he had tried to talk over me the entire time I addressed him. Very angry, passionate, and mis-directed.
Professor John Clark of Loyola University spoke last night; brilliant in politics and philosophy. He said the green party made a terrible mistake when it got into electoral politics, rather than focusing on creating alternative "institutions", so that the hearts and minds of people can be influenced from the bottom up. Clark has land in Mississippi where he is creating an alternative, bio-diverse farm. He is walking the talk.
I did disagree with Clark that we should ignore electoral politics and focus on creating alternatives. I think we can do both. I believe we have to do both. If we lose this election, we will be saying good-by to civilization as we know it.
It was top-heavy, with a panel of, can't call them experts, with one exception, and the audience relegated to a mostly passive participation, except for the question and answer session.
There was one representative of the Democratic party, a Dean supporter, who idiotically spoke negatively about hillbillies and Texas, alluding to our current president. However, as someone shouted "what's wrong with Texas", and I said, "what's wrong with hillbillies", its not about a certain state or a sub-group of people. Obviously, it was a poor choice of words on his part. It didn't help that he went on to talk down certain candidates. Someone called it "gossiping", which hit the nail on the head.
God, I came away depressed at the state of far left politics in this country. The panelist representing the new Black Panther Party, dressed like a general with a silver panther dangling around his neck, very intimidating presence. In his opening remarks there was much assailing against the white race, and I can agree with most of what he said. Also, he was at least willing to step out of the norm of his party to create alliances with the democratic party people in New Orleans, in an "anyone but Bush" attitude.
The green party panelist was depressingly familiar in his rhetoric that we should "vote our conscience", or "vote our principals". I'm supporting my principals in Dennis Kucinich, though I nearly lost faith in him recently. I came to realize it doesn't matter wether Kucinich wins. He is changing the face of electoral politics with his emphasis on certain issues, such as opposition to war, NAFTA, WTO, Universal Health Insurance (with the only workable plan, in my opinion), the bloated Pentagon budget, etc.
It is all about being like Kucinich, isn't it? Working hard for your beliefs, and not giving up.
I told the green party member that I felt a great deal more hope when Clinton was president, and Gore was running. I don't see where the green party accomplished one little shit by running the ego-inflated Nader as their candidate.
Then there were two African-American activists in the audience who spoke on the state of the black community in New Orleans. We all know, it ain't good, but then they went on to condone and justify the possibility of violent resistance and revolution. I confronted the younger one after the forum, questioning his support of violence as a means of change. At first he denied his support of violence. "You didn't hear me," he said. "Revolution begins in the mind". When I pressed him, he seemed to defend his support of violence as a means of defense against the white oppressors. I am white, by the way.
"You mean to tell me," he said, "that if I would punch you in the face, that you would not strike me back?"
"First of all, " I said, "you would probably knock me out, if you punched me. Secondly..." and here, I got real with him, "I've had two young black men, on two different occasions, point guns at me and demand my money. One night, a young black male smashed a bottle over my companion's head as we innocently walked down the street, in the Fauberg Marigny. As a result of these events, I have never wanted to own a weapon, or exact any kind of revenge.
"If you had a weapon on you, wouldn't you have used it?" he asked.
"I would never own a weapon," I said. He brushed me off then, as he had tried to talk over me the entire time I addressed him. Very angry, passionate, and mis-directed.
Professor John Clark of Loyola University spoke last night; brilliant in politics and philosophy. He said the green party made a terrible mistake when it got into electoral politics, rather than focusing on creating alternative "institutions", so that the hearts and minds of people can be influenced from the bottom up. Clark has land in Mississippi where he is creating an alternative, bio-diverse farm. He is walking the talk.
I did disagree with Clark that we should ignore electoral politics and focus on creating alternatives. I think we can do both. I believe we have to do both. If we lose this election, we will be saying good-by to civilization as we know it.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:30 AM |
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Violence, and its uses thereof.
In an earlier post, I was praising the anti-war movement for remaining peaceful throughout this peaceful war against the Bush administration. I'm afraid that pro-Bush supporters, at least one, is missing the message. From Counterspin Central:
Yesterday, a Harrisonburg, Virginia family's home was burned down by an arsonist who set an anti-war banner hanging from their porch on fire.
"The home’s occupants, Sam Nickels, 43, and his wife, Cindy Hunter, 42, disagree with the war with Iraq and say it is their right as Americans to peacefully disagree with President Bush.
The family had hung the sign on the porch two months ago after vandals continued to rip the same posted sign from their yard.
The sign, now reduced to ashes, told of the number of Iraqi civilians and coalition forces killed since the war began in March, Nickels said.
"We’re trying to reflect a concern for people," Nickels said. "That war is bad for everybody. It doesn’t serve us well in the global community."
The couple’s house has also been egged and just last week, someone ripped down a flag promoting world peace from their porch, Nickels said.
Shifflett said the fire is under investigation. Officials have no suspects, he continued.
The couple, their three children and an adult housemate were sleeping when the fire alarm woke them just before 5 a.m., Hunter said.
Nickels and Hunter awakened their roommate and led their children to safety at a designated meeting place across the street.
Yesterday, a Harrisonburg, Virginia family's home was burned down by an arsonist who set an anti-war banner hanging from their porch on fire.
"The home’s occupants, Sam Nickels, 43, and his wife, Cindy Hunter, 42, disagree with the war with Iraq and say it is their right as Americans to peacefully disagree with President Bush.
The family had hung the sign on the porch two months ago after vandals continued to rip the same posted sign from their yard.
The sign, now reduced to ashes, told of the number of Iraqi civilians and coalition forces killed since the war began in March, Nickels said.
"We’re trying to reflect a concern for people," Nickels said. "That war is bad for everybody. It doesn’t serve us well in the global community."
The couple’s house has also been egged and just last week, someone ripped down a flag promoting world peace from their porch, Nickels said.
Shifflett said the fire is under investigation. Officials have no suspects, he continued.
The couple, their three children and an adult housemate were sleeping when the fire alarm woke them just before 5 a.m., Hunter said.
Nickels and Hunter awakened their roommate and led their children to safety at a designated meeting place across the street.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:14 AM |
Link to good article.
Here is a link to a good article in the New Yorker on the intelligence, or lack there of, that led us into war. Article by Seymour M. Hersh, and yes, Virginia, there is still an investigation going on:
Since midsummer, the Senate Intelligence Committee has been attempting to solve the biggest mystery of the Iraq war: the disparity between the Bush Administration’s prewar assessment of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and what has actually been discovered.
The committee is concentrating on the last ten years’ worth of reports by the C.I.A. Preliminary findings, one intelligence official told me, are disquieting. “The intelligence community made all kinds of errors and handled things sloppily,” he said. The problems range from a lack of quality control to different agencies’ reporting contradictory assessments at the same time. One finding, the official went on, was that the intelligence reports about Iraq provided by the United Nations inspection teams and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iraq’s nuclear-weapons programs, were far more accurate than the C.I.A. estimates. “Some of the old-timers in the community are appalled by how bad the analysis was,” the official said. “If you look at them side by side, C.I.A. versus United Nations, the U.N. agencies come out ahead across the board.”
Since midsummer, the Senate Intelligence Committee has been attempting to solve the biggest mystery of the Iraq war: the disparity between the Bush Administration’s prewar assessment of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and what has actually been discovered.
The committee is concentrating on the last ten years’ worth of reports by the C.I.A. Preliminary findings, one intelligence official told me, are disquieting. “The intelligence community made all kinds of errors and handled things sloppily,” he said. The problems range from a lack of quality control to different agencies’ reporting contradictory assessments at the same time. One finding, the official went on, was that the intelligence reports about Iraq provided by the United Nations inspection teams and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iraq’s nuclear-weapons programs, were far more accurate than the C.I.A. estimates. “Some of the old-timers in the community are appalled by how bad the analysis was,” the official said. “If you look at them side by side, C.I.A. versus United Nations, the U.N. agencies come out ahead across the board.”
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:55 AM |
Monday, October 20, 2003
What is the Weather Underground these days.
I saw a documentary last night, The Weather Underground, a history of the underground, radical group that morphed from what was the Students for a Democratic Society in the 60's, to the Weather Underground in the 70's. Several members dropped below sight and began planting bombs in various public places and political buildings. No one was ever hurt in the bombings.
See the film for yourself, and judge the effectiveness of the use of violence in making political statements and as an agent for social change. The violence propagated by the Weather Underground seemed to give some legitimacy to Nixon's attempts to supress the anti-war movement. We haven't made that mistake in our current anti-war movement, in terms of the use of violence, so far.
I will say that I understand the helplessness of those who decided to go underground . Helplessness, in and of itself, is one of the greatest causes of violence. I thank goddess that we have the internet, so that there is yet another tremendous outlet for anger, a way to channel the anger and combat the helplessness. The internet may be the single, greatest reason there has not been violence, for the most part, in response to the policies of George Bush Jr.
I will write more later. My computer is sorely in need of maintenance.
See the film for yourself, and judge the effectiveness of the use of violence in making political statements and as an agent for social change. The violence propagated by the Weather Underground seemed to give some legitimacy to Nixon's attempts to supress the anti-war movement. We haven't made that mistake in our current anti-war movement, in terms of the use of violence, so far.
I will say that I understand the helplessness of those who decided to go underground . Helplessness, in and of itself, is one of the greatest causes of violence. I thank goddess that we have the internet, so that there is yet another tremendous outlet for anger, a way to channel the anger and combat the helplessness. The internet may be the single, greatest reason there has not been violence, for the most part, in response to the policies of George Bush Jr.
I will write more later. My computer is sorely in need of maintenance.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:34 AM |
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Perspective.
I was in need of some perspective today, and the Guardian provided it with this article:
A Republican rebellion in the Senate against White House plans for rebuilding Iraq raised questions yesterday about President George Bush's authority in Washington as he struggles to maintain control of a divided administration.
A late-night Senate vote to turn half the $20bn (£12bn) Iraq reconstruction budget into a loan marked a serious setback for the administration, which had wanted all the money in the form of a grant. It also came as a personal defeat for the president.
On Tuesday, Mr Bush had called in nine Republican rebels and ordered them to support his version of the bill, reportedly slamming a table at one point and refusing to answer their questions.
The outburst did him little good. Eight Republican senators voted against the administration on Thursday. One rebel, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, said: "It was very difficult to stop this train because it made so much sense."
A Republican rebellion in the Senate against White House plans for rebuilding Iraq raised questions yesterday about President George Bush's authority in Washington as he struggles to maintain control of a divided administration.
A late-night Senate vote to turn half the $20bn (£12bn) Iraq reconstruction budget into a loan marked a serious setback for the administration, which had wanted all the money in the form of a grant. It also came as a personal defeat for the president.
On Tuesday, Mr Bush had called in nine Republican rebels and ordered them to support his version of the bill, reportedly slamming a table at one point and refusing to answer their questions.
The outburst did him little good. Eight Republican senators voted against the administration on Thursday. One rebel, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, said: "It was very difficult to stop this train because it made so much sense."
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:14 PM |
Major Barbara is on it!
Arms and the Man, aka Major Barbara, is on this feast of corruption in Iraq. He links us to Minnesota public radio, thanks to Josh Marshall, and an unbelievable recording of an American businessman, talking to an Iraqi businessman. I am embarrassed for my country.
Link to Arms and the Man, and scroll down to October 14 at 5:55pm for a link to the audio. It is worth five minutes of your time for this revelation as to how we are doing business in Iraq.
Link to Arms and the Man, and scroll down to October 14 at 5:55pm for a link to the audio. It is worth five minutes of your time for this revelation as to how we are doing business in Iraq.
# posted by scorpiorising : 10:52 AM |
We are being fleeced.
I'm so mad today, I can hardly speak without spitting. Our representatives in Congress are going to approve the fleecing of America through the 87 billion dollars, despite allegations of kickbacks, despite allegations of inflated cost estimates, despite the way this thing has been handled from the beginning.
Some of our "representatives" in Congress are over-paid plutocrats who apparently don't give a hoot about the average joe struggling to make ends meet, who are now going to have to foot a bill for a war we are losing, a war that wasn't needed in the first place.
This bill might be the straw to break the camel's back, when the true nature of how this money is being spent will leak out, pour out, spill out like a sieve of revolting intelligence agents.
Arms and the Man, I hope you're on this. I'll help too, in terms of tracking down whatever articles I can on the corruption that is happening while we speak in that sad, broken country, with our money.
Shame on the democrats who were cowards in voting for this bill. Thank you Congressmen William Jefferson from my home state for voting against the bill. Thank you, of course, Kucinich, Pelosi, Jackson-Lee and many others in the House of Representatives who had the courage and the balls to stand up to corruption.
Thanks to Senators Kerry, Graham, Edwards, Jeffords, Kennedy and of course, the very courageous Senator Robert Byrd, who in my view, is the greatest living, American statesman, with Kucinich a close second.
Kerry and Edwards grew their balls back. Daschle did not. Gephardt continues to be ball-less, and apparently, despite his retoric, I met in the Rose Garden, blah, blah, blah and told the president blah, blah, blah, he is willing to fund an unjust and unwise war and enrich all the president's men.
Senator Boxer against. Senator Feinstein, for. Check the records for yourselves. I've provided the links. Despite this vote, this battle has only just begun.
Some of our "representatives" in Congress are over-paid plutocrats who apparently don't give a hoot about the average joe struggling to make ends meet, who are now going to have to foot a bill for a war we are losing, a war that wasn't needed in the first place.
This bill might be the straw to break the camel's back, when the true nature of how this money is being spent will leak out, pour out, spill out like a sieve of revolting intelligence agents.
Arms and the Man, I hope you're on this. I'll help too, in terms of tracking down whatever articles I can on the corruption that is happening while we speak in that sad, broken country, with our money.
Shame on the democrats who were cowards in voting for this bill. Thank you Congressmen William Jefferson from my home state for voting against the bill. Thank you, of course, Kucinich, Pelosi, Jackson-Lee and many others in the House of Representatives who had the courage and the balls to stand up to corruption.
Thanks to Senators Kerry, Graham, Edwards, Jeffords, Kennedy and of course, the very courageous Senator Robert Byrd, who in my view, is the greatest living, American statesman, with Kucinich a close second.
Kerry and Edwards grew their balls back. Daschle did not. Gephardt continues to be ball-less, and apparently, despite his retoric, I met in the Rose Garden, blah, blah, blah and told the president blah, blah, blah, he is willing to fund an unjust and unwise war and enrich all the president's men.
Senator Boxer against. Senator Feinstein, for. Check the records for yourselves. I've provided the links. Despite this vote, this battle has only just begun.
# posted by scorpiorising : 10:05 AM |
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Touch-screen hacking.
This is an issue that frightens me more than any other right now, as there is no way to determine if the companies who manufacture voting machines, have hacked their own machines in favor of certain candidates. There are many sub-issues to this issue, sub-plots and what appear to be schemes. It is very much like venturing down the rabbit hole and swallowing the pill, in order to understand the terrain. The terrain in this case is the possibility of vanishing votes because there is no paper trail. The terrain is also little regulation and oversight over these new machines, so that we don't know what the heck the companies are doing to the machines when they institute software changes, patches, especially at the last minute, which has happened a number of times.
This is the most serious issue of our day and the greatest threat to democracy that we face. If we don't confront the companies and politicians that have bought into this electronic voting machine fallacy, then we may lose our democratic voting apparatus, and we'll lose our country.
From Salon.com, more on the issue, and on the wonderwoman Bev Harris, who began the questioning:
She began by looking into Election Systems & Software, the world's largest election supply company, based in Omaha, Neb. Harris quickly found that ES&S was owned, in part, by a merchant banking holding company called the McCarthy Group and that the firm's chairman, Michael McCarthy, was Chuck Hagel's campaign treasurer. After searching news archives, Harris found that during Hagel's first campaign, in 1996, the Nebraska media reported that he had been president of ES&S -- which at the time was called American Information Systems -- between 1992 and 1995. But the articles suggested that Hagel was no longer affiliated with the voting equipment company. Harris saw election records that showed Hagel still holding between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in McCarthy, which owned about 25 percent of ES&S.
Harris had stumbled on what seemed to be a striking conflict of interest -- a U.S. senator owned a share in a company that built all the vote-counting machines in his state. She put up the relevant documents on her site, "and immediately I knew I'd hit a sore spot," she says, "because right away I got a threat letter from ES&S."
This is the most serious issue of our day and the greatest threat to democracy that we face. If we don't confront the companies and politicians that have bought into this electronic voting machine fallacy, then we may lose our democratic voting apparatus, and we'll lose our country.
From Salon.com, more on the issue, and on the wonderwoman Bev Harris, who began the questioning:
She began by looking into Election Systems & Software, the world's largest election supply company, based in Omaha, Neb. Harris quickly found that ES&S was owned, in part, by a merchant banking holding company called the McCarthy Group and that the firm's chairman, Michael McCarthy, was Chuck Hagel's campaign treasurer. After searching news archives, Harris found that during Hagel's first campaign, in 1996, the Nebraska media reported that he had been president of ES&S -- which at the time was called American Information Systems -- between 1992 and 1995. But the articles suggested that Hagel was no longer affiliated with the voting equipment company. Harris saw election records that showed Hagel still holding between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in McCarthy, which owned about 25 percent of ES&S.
Harris had stumbled on what seemed to be a striking conflict of interest -- a U.S. senator owned a share in a company that built all the vote-counting machines in his state. She put up the relevant documents on her site, "and immediately I knew I'd hit a sore spot," she says, "because right away I got a threat letter from ES&S."
# posted by scorpiorising : 1:51 PM |
Halliburton accused of fleecing.
This is good news, as apparently people are beginning to wake up the the outrage of Halliburton, with close ties to the Vice-President, making a fortune off of this war. The latest has Halliburton charging the American taxpayer inflated prices for oil to deliver to Iraq, then selling it cheap in Iraq. What the heck?
Reps. Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan are on it, as is the army and Army Corps of Engineers, the jerks that gave Halliburton the no-bid contract to begin with. Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey wants to bar companies with close ties to the president and vice-president and the cabinet from receiving contracts to rebuild Iraq.
Better late than never, but Jesus Christ, glad you guys are coming around to the greatest fleecing of the American taxpayer ever that this war is, among other atrocities:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which chose Halliburton, has received bids for a replacement contract that could be awarded this month.
Corps spokesman Robert Faletti said he could not confirm the figures that Waxman and Dingell cited in a letter to Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
He said, however, that the contract is being audited by Congress and the Army.
In a further move against Halliburton, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., announced Wednesday he would propose barring the government from awarding Iraq reconstruction contracts to companies that maintain close financial ties to the president, vice president or members of the president's Cabinet.
Lautenberg wants the measure added to an $87 billion reconstruction bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cheney receives deferred payments from Halliburton and also has stock options.
Reps. Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan are on it, as is the army and Army Corps of Engineers, the jerks that gave Halliburton the no-bid contract to begin with. Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey wants to bar companies with close ties to the president and vice-president and the cabinet from receiving contracts to rebuild Iraq.
Better late than never, but Jesus Christ, glad you guys are coming around to the greatest fleecing of the American taxpayer ever that this war is, among other atrocities:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which chose Halliburton, has received bids for a replacement contract that could be awarded this month.
Corps spokesman Robert Faletti said he could not confirm the figures that Waxman and Dingell cited in a letter to Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
He said, however, that the contract is being audited by Congress and the Army.
In a further move against Halliburton, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., announced Wednesday he would propose barring the government from awarding Iraq reconstruction contracts to companies that maintain close financial ties to the president, vice president or members of the president's Cabinet.
Lautenberg wants the measure added to an $87 billion reconstruction bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cheney receives deferred payments from Halliburton and also has stock options.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:22 AM |
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
I can't tell you how many times my mother and I have sung this tune, liar, liar, pants on fire, when hearing about the latest lies exposed of the Bush administration. It seems Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's fame is taking it a step further. He now heads the political action group, True Majority, from whom I receive email updates. He has created a huge, Bush in effigy with flames shooting out of his pants, and he drove the thing from his home in Vermont to Manhattan, and meet the press there yesterday.
I'm so glad the thing didn't catch on fire, although that might have actually been kind of appropriate.
I couldn't find a damn thing on the True Majority web site as to how this went, but I haven't heard of any tragic, unusual fires either, so I guess no news is good news.
Ben Cohen
I'm so glad the thing didn't catch on fire, although that might have actually been kind of appropriate.
I couldn't find a damn thing on the True Majority web site as to how this went, but I haven't heard of any tragic, unusual fires either, so I guess no news is good news.
Ben Cohen# posted by scorpiorising : 7:55 AM |
Australian parliament censures it's prime minister.
I didn't hear about this because I am sure the GOP leaning media didn't want me to hear about this, and I missed it somehow on the internet. Anyhow, that marvelous group known as the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (where were they during the Iran/contra scandals), tell us that one person can make a difference:
Our most recent open appeal to you, “Now It’s Your Turn,” was made on August 22, 2003. On that same day, it turns out, former Australian intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie testified before a parliamentary committee examining the justification given by Prime Minister John Howard for Australia’s decision to join the war in Iraq. Wilkie had been a senior analyst in Australia’s premier intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments. Of all the Australian, British, and American intelligence analysts with direct knowledge of how intelligence was abused in the run-up to the war—Wilkie was the only one to resign in protest and speak truth to power.
Those who dismiss such efforts as an exercise in futility should know that, on October 7 the Australian Senate, in a rare move, censured Howard for misleading the public in justifying sending Australian troops off to war. The Senate statement of censure noted that Howard had produced no evidence to justify his claims last March that Iraq had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, and castigated him for suppressing Australian intelligence warnings that war with Iraq would increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks. One senator accused Howard of “unprecedented deceit.”
Our most recent open appeal to you, “Now It’s Your Turn,” was made on August 22, 2003. On that same day, it turns out, former Australian intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie testified before a parliamentary committee examining the justification given by Prime Minister John Howard for Australia’s decision to join the war in Iraq. Wilkie had been a senior analyst in Australia’s premier intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments. Of all the Australian, British, and American intelligence analysts with direct knowledge of how intelligence was abused in the run-up to the war—Wilkie was the only one to resign in protest and speak truth to power.
Those who dismiss such efforts as an exercise in futility should know that, on October 7 the Australian Senate, in a rare move, censured Howard for misleading the public in justifying sending Australian troops off to war. The Senate statement of censure noted that Howard had produced no evidence to justify his claims last March that Iraq had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, and castigated him for suppressing Australian intelligence warnings that war with Iraq would increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks. One senator accused Howard of “unprecedented deceit.”
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:45 AM |
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