Sunday, October 31, 2004
Liberty, mercy and "Motorcycle Diaries"
A letter to a friend:
Steven,
Steven, it would be very easy to demonize the "right". There are many directions we could all move in right now. I am still of the persuasion that, as the I Ching teaches, it is best to be forgiving and merciful with the followers of...evil, or ignorance...and punish the leaders. I am counting on their being some indictments after Kerry is in office. If not, and the neocon leaders get off scott-free, then there is the danger it will happen again.
I had a passionate discussion with a man who delivers pastries to the coffeeshop where I work in New Orleans. It was 6am, and he brought up the topic of politics...whew, I couldn't believe how my passions could bubble over so early in the morning like the hot coffee my co-worker was brewing. Long story short, he made fun of Kerry, I defended him. This man, I'll call him Kevin, stated he didn't believe he was capable of understanding the workings of our government, so implied he preferred having a president who was strong and decisive and knew what to do; basically, a man who never questioned himself or the decisions he has made. Funny, but this was the exact same argument made by a friend of mine at a time when this friend was still supporting Bush.
I asked Kevin how he felt about his president lying to him about the decisions to go to war. He rationalized...I suggested that by forfeiting his own participation in this democracy, he had participated in the creation of a dangerous situation in which fanatics had got control of our country. Kevin suggested we must confront and defeat those who express a sentiment against our country. I told him I wanted no part of his war...he was startled at my statement. "My war?" he said. "If you wish war upon those who express a sentiment against us, " I said, "I want no part of it".
The last thing he said to me was, "I'm going to support my president."
Well, I saw him again this morning, exactly one week later, and I do believe he thought about the things I said. "I don't really think much of him, of Bush," he said. He voted early, and he voted for Bush, but now he was beginning to allow some real feeling to come through.
He expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to understand political essays and writings. He also expressed confusion about the vast number of opinions, and why people believe and say the things they say. I encouraged him to explore...a wide variety of views. Kevin actually expressed a good deal of insight while we talked, and I pointed out that he knows more than he realizes. I encouraged him to read, and I specifically recommended Howard Zinn, because Zinn has written much on the history of the working class in this country. "Oh", he said, " you mean like the riots in New York between the Irish gangs?" This is not a stupid man, but this is a man, like many, who have little belief in their own powers of comprehension and understanding, and this is exactly the type of man that a fellow like George Bush preys upon.
I feel as though I have made a new friend, and I am going to encourage my friend to express his views and explore his own beliefs and thoughts.
There are those who reach for power because of greed and fear and a desire to control. And there are those who follow those in power out of a need to belong and feel secure. I advocate that we learn to practice and believe in the basic tenets of this country, that, in my opinion, have yet to be fullfilled:
"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."
Were there ever more beautiful words spoken, Steven, in the history of the formation of governments? Certainly, using one's imagination, one can feel a divine inspiration in those words, and religion is never mentioned in that text.
May I also point out, Steven, that our founding fathers said, "All men are created equal", not all American men, or all European men, or all men in that new world. America was meant to be the great wishing well for the dreams of the entire world. Too often, she has become the world's nightmare, because her themes have been usurped over and over again by those who would and are profiting from war and misery.
As I suggested before, stay vigilant. If Kerry is elected to represent us, then we must hold him accountable for his actions and decisions. He is a man. Right now many have idealized him, because the last four years have been so very painful. Kerry is a reasonable and intelligent man, but I do not believe all of his decisions will necessarily be reasonable. We must challenge him, and challenge ourselves, to apply the tenets of this democracy to humanity, to everyone we encounter.
May I suggest, as an antidote to politics right now, and if you are looking for a way to escape and relax, to see the film "Motorcycle Diaries", a film about a young Che Guevara and his travels with a friend through South America on an old, leaky motorcycle. It is one of the most beautiful and moving films I have seen in some time. You may, or may not, agree with the outcome of Che Guevara's life, but I believe this film beautifully captures Guevara's love of humanity.
It is this love that I believe we are all capable of tapping into, and expressing. In fact, it is self-expression, and art that seems to be the antithesis to our present administration, and the antithesis of war. I find myself continually seeking and finding art that moves me to create in my own life. Art, the act of creation, is the antidote...
Peace,
scorpiorising
From Steven (the above letter is my reply):
ScorpioRising: You are correct but I've never seen the actual
numbers [of Iraqi civilians killed in the war, which is upwards of 100,000 and counting] any where and you know those conservative,
they will be in denial. It's for their own good! I
knew it was much higher but didn't have any supportive
facts. By the way, speaking of support, what does
"Support Our Troops" mean. I have real trouble with
that statement. I really don't know what is being
said? Is that like support our troops and the war. If
you don't support the war, you don't support the
troops? Does this have something to do with Bush,
support our troops and G. W. Bush? I've heard this
thing about support our troops who are defending your
freedom! There's some connection between the war and
our troops and I can't figure it out. If I don't
support the war does this mean I don't support our
troops? Strange, I was talking with a friend(?) who
happens to be republican and he said some very strange
things to me. Like why do you and all the other
liberals hate this country. You know I didn't know I
hated this country until he pointed it out. Scorpiorising, I'm
getting a little tired of being demonized by the
right. I think it's time we take some action like was
done to the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore and so many
more. I think it's about time we start boycotting
businesses like Wal Mart and taking other action. We
need to show ablolute support for those on the left.
The other day Bush was in town and right behind him
was Mike Tice the coach of the Vikings. Who did I see
at the republican nationa convension, Lynn Swan. In my
opinion, it's time we do as they do and demonized the
right and let it be known we don't care for their
actions either. What do you think?
Steven
Steven,
Steven, it would be very easy to demonize the "right". There are many directions we could all move in right now. I am still of the persuasion that, as the I Ching teaches, it is best to be forgiving and merciful with the followers of...evil, or ignorance...and punish the leaders. I am counting on their being some indictments after Kerry is in office. If not, and the neocon leaders get off scott-free, then there is the danger it will happen again.
I had a passionate discussion with a man who delivers pastries to the coffeeshop where I work in New Orleans. It was 6am, and he brought up the topic of politics...whew, I couldn't believe how my passions could bubble over so early in the morning like the hot coffee my co-worker was brewing. Long story short, he made fun of Kerry, I defended him. This man, I'll call him Kevin, stated he didn't believe he was capable of understanding the workings of our government, so implied he preferred having a president who was strong and decisive and knew what to do; basically, a man who never questioned himself or the decisions he has made. Funny, but this was the exact same argument made by a friend of mine at a time when this friend was still supporting Bush.
I asked Kevin how he felt about his president lying to him about the decisions to go to war. He rationalized...I suggested that by forfeiting his own participation in this democracy, he had participated in the creation of a dangerous situation in which fanatics had got control of our country. Kevin suggested we must confront and defeat those who express a sentiment against our country. I told him I wanted no part of his war...he was startled at my statement. "My war?" he said. "If you wish war upon those who express a sentiment against us, " I said, "I want no part of it".
The last thing he said to me was, "I'm going to support my president."
Well, I saw him again this morning, exactly one week later, and I do believe he thought about the things I said. "I don't really think much of him, of Bush," he said. He voted early, and he voted for Bush, but now he was beginning to allow some real feeling to come through.
He expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to understand political essays and writings. He also expressed confusion about the vast number of opinions, and why people believe and say the things they say. I encouraged him to explore...a wide variety of views. Kevin actually expressed a good deal of insight while we talked, and I pointed out that he knows more than he realizes. I encouraged him to read, and I specifically recommended Howard Zinn, because Zinn has written much on the history of the working class in this country. "Oh", he said, " you mean like the riots in New York between the Irish gangs?" This is not a stupid man, but this is a man, like many, who have little belief in their own powers of comprehension and understanding, and this is exactly the type of man that a fellow like George Bush preys upon.
I feel as though I have made a new friend, and I am going to encourage my friend to express his views and explore his own beliefs and thoughts.
There are those who reach for power because of greed and fear and a desire to control. And there are those who follow those in power out of a need to belong and feel secure. I advocate that we learn to practice and believe in the basic tenets of this country, that, in my opinion, have yet to be fullfilled:
"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."
Were there ever more beautiful words spoken, Steven, in the history of the formation of governments? Certainly, using one's imagination, one can feel a divine inspiration in those words, and religion is never mentioned in that text.
May I also point out, Steven, that our founding fathers said, "All men are created equal", not all American men, or all European men, or all men in that new world. America was meant to be the great wishing well for the dreams of the entire world. Too often, she has become the world's nightmare, because her themes have been usurped over and over again by those who would and are profiting from war and misery.
As I suggested before, stay vigilant. If Kerry is elected to represent us, then we must hold him accountable for his actions and decisions. He is a man. Right now many have idealized him, because the last four years have been so very painful. Kerry is a reasonable and intelligent man, but I do not believe all of his decisions will necessarily be reasonable. We must challenge him, and challenge ourselves, to apply the tenets of this democracy to humanity, to everyone we encounter.
May I suggest, as an antidote to politics right now, and if you are looking for a way to escape and relax, to see the film "Motorcycle Diaries", a film about a young Che Guevara and his travels with a friend through South America on an old, leaky motorcycle. It is one of the most beautiful and moving films I have seen in some time. You may, or may not, agree with the outcome of Che Guevara's life, but I believe this film beautifully captures Guevara's love of humanity.
It is this love that I believe we are all capable of tapping into, and expressing. In fact, it is self-expression, and art that seems to be the antithesis to our present administration, and the antithesis of war. I find myself continually seeking and finding art that moves me to create in my own life. Art, the act of creation, is the antidote...
Peace,
scorpiorising
From Steven (the above letter is my reply):
ScorpioRising: You are correct but I've never seen the actual
numbers [of Iraqi civilians killed in the war, which is upwards of 100,000 and counting] any where and you know those conservative,
they will be in denial. It's for their own good! I
knew it was much higher but didn't have any supportive
facts. By the way, speaking of support, what does
"Support Our Troops" mean. I have real trouble with
that statement. I really don't know what is being
said? Is that like support our troops and the war. If
you don't support the war, you don't support the
troops? Does this have something to do with Bush,
support our troops and G. W. Bush? I've heard this
thing about support our troops who are defending your
freedom! There's some connection between the war and
our troops and I can't figure it out. If I don't
support the war does this mean I don't support our
troops? Strange, I was talking with a friend(?) who
happens to be republican and he said some very strange
things to me. Like why do you and all the other
liberals hate this country. You know I didn't know I
hated this country until he pointed it out. Scorpiorising, I'm
getting a little tired of being demonized by the
right. I think it's time we take some action like was
done to the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore and so many
more. I think it's about time we start boycotting
businesses like Wal Mart and taking other action. We
need to show ablolute support for those on the left.
The other day Bush was in town and right behind him
was Mike Tice the coach of the Vikings. Who did I see
at the republican nationa convension, Lynn Swan. In my
opinion, it's time we do as they do and demonized the
right and let it be known we don't care for their
actions either. What do you think?
Steven
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:04 PM |
Saturday, October 30, 2004
More collage, this time by Micah Wright
# posted by scorpiorising : 11:47 AM |
breaking through the barriers
political collage by Susan Schraft, Clifton Park, NY
# posted by scorpiorising : 11:25 AM |
Scary Al Qaeda tape
Then there is this tape released by ABC on thursday:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=206661
"From the ABCNEWS Investigative Unit: Daily Investigative Report
While CIA officials say they have not been able to authenticate the 75-minute tape, an agency spokesman says it "appears to have been produced by al Qaeda's media organization, al Sahab productions." The tape is marked with the same logo and graphics seen on previous videos released by al Qaeda.
The man on the tape is identified only as "Azzam the American." U.S. officials say they had not previously known of the nom de guerre. His face is never fully visible and he makes no reference to where in the United States he might have lived.
"No, my fellow countrymen you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. You are as guilty as Bush and Cheney. You're as guilty as Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and Powell," he says in what he calls his message to America. "After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."
Senior administration officials told ABC News tonight that copies of the tape are being provided to all 13 current and former administration figures mentioned by name in the tape, and that the tape is being shown to captured al Qaeda leaders in U.S. custody to see if they can identify the man on the tape.
"A member of al Qaeda who professes to be a U.S. citizen was always coveted and looked for by the al Qaeda," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent who interviewed a number of captured al Qaeda members and is now an ABC News consultant. Cloonan said he believed the tape to be authentic.
Law enforcement officials and linguistic expert Gerald Lampe, deputy director of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland, believe English was not Azzam's first language. They speculate he may have learned English as a child in a household of non-native speakers."
I think there is better than a 75% chance that there will be another attack on our soil, and I think that is what my nightmare was about. The changes that would occur in this country if there were another terrorist attack on our soil, even during a Kerry administration, would be "right" leaning and enormous, because of the paranoia it would induce.
On Atrios today I said there were globalization forces that want to see the U.S. become something akin to a military state; it would leave us open and vulnerable to manipulation by outside economic forces. More on this later.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=206661
"From the ABCNEWS Investigative Unit: Daily Investigative Report
While CIA officials say they have not been able to authenticate the 75-minute tape, an agency spokesman says it "appears to have been produced by al Qaeda's media organization, al Sahab productions." The tape is marked with the same logo and graphics seen on previous videos released by al Qaeda.
The man on the tape is identified only as "Azzam the American." U.S. officials say they had not previously known of the nom de guerre. His face is never fully visible and he makes no reference to where in the United States he might have lived.
"No, my fellow countrymen you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. You are as guilty as Bush and Cheney. You're as guilty as Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and Powell," he says in what he calls his message to America. "After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."
Senior administration officials told ABC News tonight that copies of the tape are being provided to all 13 current and former administration figures mentioned by name in the tape, and that the tape is being shown to captured al Qaeda leaders in U.S. custody to see if they can identify the man on the tape.
"A member of al Qaeda who professes to be a U.S. citizen was always coveted and looked for by the al Qaeda," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent who interviewed a number of captured al Qaeda members and is now an ABC News consultant. Cloonan said he believed the tape to be authentic.
Law enforcement officials and linguistic expert Gerald Lampe, deputy director of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland, believe English was not Azzam's first language. They speculate he may have learned English as a child in a household of non-native speakers."
I think there is better than a 75% chance that there will be another attack on our soil, and I think that is what my nightmare was about. The changes that would occur in this country if there were another terrorist attack on our soil, even during a Kerry administration, would be "right" leaning and enormous, because of the paranoia it would induce.
On Atrios today I said there were globalization forces that want to see the U.S. become something akin to a military state; it would leave us open and vulnerable to manipulation by outside economic forces. More on this later.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:54 AM |
Friday, October 29, 2004
Billmon's back, and so is Bin Laden
The spinners are spinning the latest tape from Bin Laden, it's three days until the election, I'm having an outbreak of paranoia like a bad Herpes virus, and Billmon apparently has found the next whiskey bar, because he's back:
http://www.billmon.org/
"If anyone had any doubts about which candidate al-Qaeda prefers in this election, I think you can put them to rest now. This tape -- coming hard on the heels of "Azzam the American" -- is obviously designed to have U.S. voters as obsessively worried about the terrorist threat as possible when they go into the voting booth next Tuesday. Osama, like Bush, understands the electoral value of zapping the deeper reptilian centers of the brain. Call it hypothalamus politics. Or, as one member of the media idiot chorus cheerfully told CNN a few days ago: "Fear works."
In a way, this move is even smarter than an actual terrorist attack on American soil -- which al-Qaeda might not have been able to pull off anyway. A real attack would have been an unpredictable gamble. It might have given Bush a huge boost, but it's at least conceivable it would have had the opposite effect, by underscoring the hollowness of the endlessly repeated Republican claim that our cowboy-in-chief has made us all safer.
Osama's video bomb, on the other hand, is a brilliant example of "virtual" terrorism. It's perfectly designed to keep the media tape loop spinning from now until next Tuesday, with minimal risk of a backlash. It not only wipes the missing explosives story off the map (that is, until they do the same to some unsuspecting Americans) it also allows the GOP to turn every remaining campaign event into a bin Laden hate rally. It is, in short, the definitive October surprise."
I agree with Billmon that the release of this tape is designed to affect the American election, but I'm not sure yet just which way the intended effect, Bush or Kerry? Americans are not the Spanish people; the threat of terrorism is likely to steer Americans towards fascism, not away from it. And yet, whose to say this won't drive Kerry into a more hardline point of view on the world scene, and encourage the growth of fascism within his administration, if he is elected?
I had the worse nightmare last night, and with this event coming on the heels of my dream, I have to admit to being a bit freaked. My dream went like this:
I was with a liberal, politically minded co-worker. We were outside, and the wind began to howl like a hurricane. We both said, "Oh no." A large dark hand emerged from the wind and moved as if to swat me. I went inside where I watched from the window, feeling scared and queasy. On a bookshelf in my home was a helmut with a nazi insignia on it, and a jar of cream, I think facial cream. I thought at some point that I might be called to expose my life for some reason. As I watched from the window, a long limousine drove up and parked outside...a beautiful woman in high heels stepped out of the limosine; I felt she was from the other side, beyond death. She reached into my home and took the facial cream off of the bookshelf and took it with her. It was then I noticed there were dummies in the shape of female heads in her limousine with wigs sitting on them.
My interpretation: fascism will rise in the U.S., and I will be called to go underground, in disguise, to fight it. Fuck. This sucks big donkey dicks.
Billmon didn't "want to go there", but I will, and say the globalization forces are making their presence felt through Bin Laden and are attempting to push this election in a certain direction, only, I'm not sure yet in which direction. Suffice it to say though, that you can just about count on some sort of terrorist attack on our soil in the near future. "They" aren't done yet. "They" are only beginning.
Whose to say what a terrorist attack on our soil would do to a Kerry administration? Nudge him towards fascism as well? Quite possibly. Do I feel a draft?
Kerry has threatened tougher action on the beleaguered city of Falluja. I think he has every intention of continuing this war and possibly expanding it; why wouldn't he crack down on American citizens if he felt it necessary to consolidate his power? I'm remembering an old axiom, or is it a new one: trust no one in power...
Meet the new boss...same as the old boss???
http://www.billmon.org/
"If anyone had any doubts about which candidate al-Qaeda prefers in this election, I think you can put them to rest now. This tape -- coming hard on the heels of "Azzam the American" -- is obviously designed to have U.S. voters as obsessively worried about the terrorist threat as possible when they go into the voting booth next Tuesday. Osama, like Bush, understands the electoral value of zapping the deeper reptilian centers of the brain. Call it hypothalamus politics. Or, as one member of the media idiot chorus cheerfully told CNN a few days ago: "Fear works."
In a way, this move is even smarter than an actual terrorist attack on American soil -- which al-Qaeda might not have been able to pull off anyway. A real attack would have been an unpredictable gamble. It might have given Bush a huge boost, but it's at least conceivable it would have had the opposite effect, by underscoring the hollowness of the endlessly repeated Republican claim that our cowboy-in-chief has made us all safer.
Osama's video bomb, on the other hand, is a brilliant example of "virtual" terrorism. It's perfectly designed to keep the media tape loop spinning from now until next Tuesday, with minimal risk of a backlash. It not only wipes the missing explosives story off the map (that is, until they do the same to some unsuspecting Americans) it also allows the GOP to turn every remaining campaign event into a bin Laden hate rally. It is, in short, the definitive October surprise."
I agree with Billmon that the release of this tape is designed to affect the American election, but I'm not sure yet just which way the intended effect, Bush or Kerry? Americans are not the Spanish people; the threat of terrorism is likely to steer Americans towards fascism, not away from it. And yet, whose to say this won't drive Kerry into a more hardline point of view on the world scene, and encourage the growth of fascism within his administration, if he is elected?
I had the worse nightmare last night, and with this event coming on the heels of my dream, I have to admit to being a bit freaked. My dream went like this:
I was with a liberal, politically minded co-worker. We were outside, and the wind began to howl like a hurricane. We both said, "Oh no." A large dark hand emerged from the wind and moved as if to swat me. I went inside where I watched from the window, feeling scared and queasy. On a bookshelf in my home was a helmut with a nazi insignia on it, and a jar of cream, I think facial cream. I thought at some point that I might be called to expose my life for some reason. As I watched from the window, a long limousine drove up and parked outside...a beautiful woman in high heels stepped out of the limosine; I felt she was from the other side, beyond death. She reached into my home and took the facial cream off of the bookshelf and took it with her. It was then I noticed there were dummies in the shape of female heads in her limousine with wigs sitting on them.
My interpretation: fascism will rise in the U.S., and I will be called to go underground, in disguise, to fight it. Fuck. This sucks big donkey dicks.
Billmon didn't "want to go there", but I will, and say the globalization forces are making their presence felt through Bin Laden and are attempting to push this election in a certain direction, only, I'm not sure yet in which direction. Suffice it to say though, that you can just about count on some sort of terrorist attack on our soil in the near future. "They" aren't done yet. "They" are only beginning.
Whose to say what a terrorist attack on our soil would do to a Kerry administration? Nudge him towards fascism as well? Quite possibly. Do I feel a draft?
Kerry has threatened tougher action on the beleaguered city of Falluja. I think he has every intention of continuing this war and possibly expanding it; why wouldn't he crack down on American citizens if he felt it necessary to consolidate his power? I'm remembering an old axiom, or is it a new one: trust no one in power...
Meet the new boss...same as the old boss???
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:02 PM |
Moveon.org Voter Protection Card
Here is a link to the Moveon.org Voter Protection Card:
http://cdn.moveonpac.org/content/pdfs/ep_card.pdf
There are instructions on this card as to what to do and who to call if you feel you are harassed when you vote.
http://cdn.moveonpac.org/content/pdfs/ep_card.pdf
There are instructions on this card as to what to do and who to call if you feel you are harassed when you vote.
# posted by scorpiorising : 3:23 PM |
What to do if challenged at the polls...
Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
From the comments of Atrios today (I'll update the info as it occurs):
If one is challenged at the polls, go immediately to the election judge at the poll - the person who is in charge. If it is the judge who challenges - and in Texas, that is the only person who can directly challenge a voter - then call Election Protection. Tell them what has happened. They will send a lawyer there if it looks like it is necessary.I"ll go over to ElectionProtection and get some phone numbers.Tena Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:30 pm #
I suggest information as to how one would conduct oneself if challenged at the polls, and people are responding, above and below quotes from the comments section of Atrios:
.1) In the first instance, comply with whatever the elections authorities request to demonstrate that you are a proper voter -- I think, for the most part, at the polls all you have to do is sign a written affirmation. But, in any case, be as cooperative as practical. You are, after all, in the right.2) In the course of (1), get whatever information you can -- particularly identifying information -- about the intimidator. 3) Notify local media, particularly broadcast media, law enforcement, and anyone you can reach via the blogosphere of the intimidation (Atrios, I hope, will have an election-day semi-open thread for just that purpose) -- get the information out.4) Consult with an attorney to determine if you have any civil remedies available, and what the risks and costs are of pursuing them. Pursue them as fully as you can consistent with the risks and costs you are personally willing to bear.Essentially, in short, do what is necessary to vote, then make sure as many people know about the intimidation as possible, and do everything you can to make sure they don't get away without paying for it.cmdicely Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:33 pm #
Ok, Atrios has posted the numbers for Election Protection.Folks, EP04 is our best friend in this situation. The org. has an entire army of lawyers ready to go if one is needed. It has all kinds of knowledgeable people who can help when something goes wrong. It is not going to be possible to mount your own anti-goon squad on the 2d. Just use the tools that are available, thanks to the PAC.Tena Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:43 pm #
Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
From the comments of Atrios today (I'll update the info as it occurs):
If one is challenged at the polls, go immediately to the election judge at the poll - the person who is in charge. If it is the judge who challenges - and in Texas, that is the only person who can directly challenge a voter - then call Election Protection. Tell them what has happened. They will send a lawyer there if it looks like it is necessary.I"ll go over to ElectionProtection and get some phone numbers.Tena Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:30 pm #
I suggest information as to how one would conduct oneself if challenged at the polls, and people are responding, above and below quotes from the comments section of Atrios:
.1) In the first instance, comply with whatever the elections authorities request to demonstrate that you are a proper voter -- I think, for the most part, at the polls all you have to do is sign a written affirmation. But, in any case, be as cooperative as practical. You are, after all, in the right.2) In the course of (1), get whatever information you can -- particularly identifying information -- about the intimidator. 3) Notify local media, particularly broadcast media, law enforcement, and anyone you can reach via the blogosphere of the intimidation (Atrios, I hope, will have an election-day semi-open thread for just that purpose) -- get the information out.4) Consult with an attorney to determine if you have any civil remedies available, and what the risks and costs are of pursuing them. Pursue them as fully as you can consistent with the risks and costs you are personally willing to bear.Essentially, in short, do what is necessary to vote, then make sure as many people know about the intimidation as possible, and do everything you can to make sure they don't get away without paying for it.cmdicely Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:33 pm #
Ok, Atrios has posted the numbers for Election Protection.Folks, EP04 is our best friend in this situation. The org. has an entire army of lawyers ready to go if one is needed. It has all kinds of knowledgeable people who can help when something goes wrong. It is not going to be possible to mount your own anti-goon squad on the 2d. Just use the tools that are available, thanks to the PAC.Tena Email Homepage 10.29.04 - 12:43 pm #
Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:47 AM |
Ohio GOP officials confronted by angry voters.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/10042113.htm?1c
Immigrant responds
Twinsburg resident Errol Horam's registration was challenged twice.
An immigrant from Jamaica, Horam, 55, said he came to the United States because ``it is the greatest democracy on the face of the earth.''
``I am disappointed in the Republican Party,'' Horam said as he left the hearing room.
``I'm really disappointed that they are trampling on people's rights and democracy and depriving them of their right to vote.''
The angry voters had the Republicans on the defensive.
``Why'd you do it?'' one challenged voter shouted out at Calhoun. ``Who the hell are you?'' the man asked.
``What the hell do you care?'' replied Calhoun, an attorney.
After the hearing, Calhoun said he felt the challenges were legitimate.
``I thought there was reason to challenge them based on what was told to me by associates at the Summit County Republican Party on behalf of the Ohio Republican Party,'' he said.
Lisa McCraney of Tallmadge, whose husband RaShawn McCraney's registration was challenged, stepped up to the microphone and took to task those who filed the challenges.
``We work hard, just like you do, trying to make our living, trying to prove ourselves in this world to get to the point where we are 80 years old like you.
``But you signed your name to 200 documents of people you have never met a day in your life, challenging our right to vote.''
She finished talking to the four by telling them they needed to apologize.
Arshinkoff, chairman of the Summit County GOP, pointed to the state party and said Chairman Robert Bennett should be held accountable.
Bennett on Thursday defended the GOP's challenge of voter registrations, saying that efforts by Democrats that registered the likes of Mary Poppins and Dick Tracy to vote warranted it. However, he said GOP attorneys -- other than just Morrison -- should have been at the hearing to represent the four party members who signed the challenges.
``I don't know what happened. I'm still looking into that,'' he said.
Once the board dismissed the challenges, Morrison and Summit County elections Director Bryan Williams led the challengers out of the hearing room and into a back stairwell. Doerler questioned why challenges were dismissed. Morrison, however, advised them against answering questions.
Bennett said the party would stand behind the four and provide them with legal assistance, should they face legal action for signing the challenges.
Probe sought
Pry and elections board member Wayne Jones said after the hearing that they intend to contact the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the challenges.
``You don't mess with somebody's right to vote,'' Jones said. He believes the effort to challenge legitimate voters is proof that Republicans are running scared in Ohio.
Arshinkoff and Hutchinson were obviously angry with the state party.
Arshinkoff compared the proceedings to a ``train wreck'' and said representatives from the Ohio Republican Party should have been at the hearing to defend the lists of challenges that it prepared.
``This was not good,'' he said, adding that he wished the challenges would not have been filed. ``This is like asking somebody who was just told by the dentist that we're going to pull all of your teeth out without novocaine if you want to go through the procedure again,'' Arshinkoff said.
``There was no evidence,'' Hutchinson said of the challenges.
Hutchinson said he didn't know if Horam was a Democrat or a Republican, but he was sure he won't be voting Republican in this election.
Both agreed that a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls would be the best way to protect voting.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com
Immigrant responds
Twinsburg resident Errol Horam's registration was challenged twice.
An immigrant from Jamaica, Horam, 55, said he came to the United States because ``it is the greatest democracy on the face of the earth.''
``I am disappointed in the Republican Party,'' Horam said as he left the hearing room.
``I'm really disappointed that they are trampling on people's rights and democracy and depriving them of their right to vote.''
The angry voters had the Republicans on the defensive.
``Why'd you do it?'' one challenged voter shouted out at Calhoun. ``Who the hell are you?'' the man asked.
``What the hell do you care?'' replied Calhoun, an attorney.
After the hearing, Calhoun said he felt the challenges were legitimate.
``I thought there was reason to challenge them based on what was told to me by associates at the Summit County Republican Party on behalf of the Ohio Republican Party,'' he said.
Lisa McCraney of Tallmadge, whose husband RaShawn McCraney's registration was challenged, stepped up to the microphone and took to task those who filed the challenges.
``We work hard, just like you do, trying to make our living, trying to prove ourselves in this world to get to the point where we are 80 years old like you.
``But you signed your name to 200 documents of people you have never met a day in your life, challenging our right to vote.''
She finished talking to the four by telling them they needed to apologize.
Arshinkoff, chairman of the Summit County GOP, pointed to the state party and said Chairman Robert Bennett should be held accountable.
Bennett on Thursday defended the GOP's challenge of voter registrations, saying that efforts by Democrats that registered the likes of Mary Poppins and Dick Tracy to vote warranted it. However, he said GOP attorneys -- other than just Morrison -- should have been at the hearing to represent the four party members who signed the challenges.
``I don't know what happened. I'm still looking into that,'' he said.
Once the board dismissed the challenges, Morrison and Summit County elections Director Bryan Williams led the challengers out of the hearing room and into a back stairwell. Doerler questioned why challenges were dismissed. Morrison, however, advised them against answering questions.
Bennett said the party would stand behind the four and provide them with legal assistance, should they face legal action for signing the challenges.
Probe sought
Pry and elections board member Wayne Jones said after the hearing that they intend to contact the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the challenges.
``You don't mess with somebody's right to vote,'' Jones said. He believes the effort to challenge legitimate voters is proof that Republicans are running scared in Ohio.
Arshinkoff and Hutchinson were obviously angry with the state party.
Arshinkoff compared the proceedings to a ``train wreck'' and said representatives from the Ohio Republican Party should have been at the hearing to defend the lists of challenges that it prepared.
``This was not good,'' he said, adding that he wished the challenges would not have been filed. ``This is like asking somebody who was just told by the dentist that we're going to pull all of your teeth out without novocaine if you want to go through the procedure again,'' Arshinkoff said.
``There was no evidence,'' Hutchinson said of the challenges.
Hutchinson said he didn't know if Horam was a Democrat or a Republican, but he was sure he won't be voting Republican in this election.
Both agreed that a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls would be the best way to protect voting.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:36 AM |
GOP caught filming early voters in Florida
I already posted a link to this story before, from the BBC, by Greg Palast, but it's worth it to highlight this section:
Private detective
In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.
The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.
On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimidate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.
Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown watches a private investigator film voters.
Private detective
In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.
The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.
On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimidate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.
Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown watches a private investigator film voters.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:28 AM |
Legal Battle for Election has started.
From the Washington Post:
GOP Challenging Voter Registrations
Civil Rights Groups Accuse Republicans Of Trying to Disenfranchise Minorities
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 29, 2004; Page A05
Republicans yesterday continued to challenge the validity of tens of thousands of voter registrations in Ohio and other key states in the presidential election while a coalition of civil rights and labor groups sued the GOP, contending the Republican efforts were aimed at removing eligible minority voters from the rolls.
After initially saying he would not contest a Wednesday ruling halting the challenges, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R) worked with other election officials who asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to allow GOP challenges to 35,000 voters from mostly urban and minority areas to proceed before the election. As of late last night, the court had not ruled.
Also yesterday, Republicans in Wisconsin attempted to challenge the registrations of 5,600 voters in Milwaukee but were turned down in a unanimous decision by the city's bipartisan election board.
The Republican challenges in Ohio, Wisconsin and other battleground states prompted civil rights and labor unions to sue in U.S. District Court in Newark, saying the GOP is violating a consent decree, issued in the 1980s by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and still in effect, that prevents the Republicans from starting "ballot security" programs to prevent voter fraud that target minorities.
Judith A. Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the Republican "challenges were, and currently are, used to disenfranchise minority voters."
But Republicans denied that they were targeting black voters. Bobby Burchfield, an attorney for the Republican National Committee, told Debevoise that "troubling reports" of fictitious names such as Mary Poppins appearing on Ohio's rolls prompted the challenges.
GOP Challenging Voter Registrations
Civil Rights Groups Accuse Republicans Of Trying to Disenfranchise Minorities
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 29, 2004; Page A05
Republicans yesterday continued to challenge the validity of tens of thousands of voter registrations in Ohio and other key states in the presidential election while a coalition of civil rights and labor groups sued the GOP, contending the Republican efforts were aimed at removing eligible minority voters from the rolls.
After initially saying he would not contest a Wednesday ruling halting the challenges, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R) worked with other election officials who asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to allow GOP challenges to 35,000 voters from mostly urban and minority areas to proceed before the election. As of late last night, the court had not ruled.
Also yesterday, Republicans in Wisconsin attempted to challenge the registrations of 5,600 voters in Milwaukee but were turned down in a unanimous decision by the city's bipartisan election board.
The Republican challenges in Ohio, Wisconsin and other battleground states prompted civil rights and labor unions to sue in U.S. District Court in Newark, saying the GOP is violating a consent decree, issued in the 1980s by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and still in effect, that prevents the Republicans from starting "ballot security" programs to prevent voter fraud that target minorities.
Judith A. Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the Republican "challenges were, and currently are, used to disenfranchise minority voters."
But Republicans denied that they were targeting black voters. Bobby Burchfield, an attorney for the Republican National Committee, told Debevoise that "troubling reports" of fictitious names such as Mary Poppins appearing on Ohio's rolls prompted the challenges.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:43 AM |
"I got mine..."
My letter to Lou Dobbs today:
Dobbs,
Your lead-off story yesterday was a reference to a Washington Moonie-owned Times article that Russia made off with the wmds. I guess you didn't listen to your own colleague recently, when he declared: game, set, and match:
Aaron Brown:
BROWN: "And was there anything else at the facility that would have been under IAEA seal?
KAY: Absolutely nothing. It was the HMX,RDX, the two high explosives.
BROWN: OK. Now, I want to take a look at the barrels here for a second and you can tell me what they tell you. They obviously to us just show us a bunch of barrels. You'll see it somewhat differently.
KAY: Well, it's interesting. There were three foreign suppliers to Iraq of this explosive in the 1980s. One of them used barrels like this and inside the barrel is a bag. HMX is in powdered form because you actually use it to shape a spherical lens that is used to create the triggering device for nuclear weapons.
And, particularly on the videotape,which is actually better than the still photos, as the soldier dips into it that's either HMX or RDX. I don't know of anything else in al Qa Qaa that was in that form.
BROWN: Let me ask you then, David, the question I asked Jamie. In regard to the dispute about whether that stuff was there when the Americans arrived, is it game, set, match? Is that part of the argument now over?
KAY: Well, at least with regard to this one bunker and the film shows one seal, one bunker, one group of soldiers going through and there were others there that were sealed, with this one, I think it is game, set and match."
Or Perhaps, MR. Dobbs, you are more concerned with what will likely be your repealed tax cut. In that case, you ought to read another of your colleagues, and get some perspective:
From CNN Money, Kathleen Hays:
"Beyond that, there are some of us who have secure, good-paying jobs, and money in the bank, houses that have skyrocketed in value, maybe even portfolios that are churning out a decent return. For us, the economy may not be roaring but it's doing well enough for us to feel good and to feel good about the guy who's been the White House the past four years.
Then there are those of us who have been laid off, or seen our colleagues laid off and unable to find new jobs with salaries close to what they made before -- if they can find jobs at all.
The pinch of rising health care costs, and higher gas prices makes it tougher to save money and get ahead. And oh, by the way, we may have aging parents to take care of and kids to put through college. This group isn't sure Bush is on the right track."
Nuff said.
Dobbs,
Your lead-off story yesterday was a reference to a Washington Moonie-owned Times article that Russia made off with the wmds. I guess you didn't listen to your own colleague recently, when he declared: game, set, and match:
Aaron Brown:
BROWN: "And was there anything else at the facility that would have been under IAEA seal?
KAY: Absolutely nothing. It was the HMX,RDX, the two high explosives.
BROWN: OK. Now, I want to take a look at the barrels here for a second and you can tell me what they tell you. They obviously to us just show us a bunch of barrels. You'll see it somewhat differently.
KAY: Well, it's interesting. There were three foreign suppliers to Iraq of this explosive in the 1980s. One of them used barrels like this and inside the barrel is a bag. HMX is in powdered form because you actually use it to shape a spherical lens that is used to create the triggering device for nuclear weapons.
And, particularly on the videotape,which is actually better than the still photos, as the soldier dips into it that's either HMX or RDX. I don't know of anything else in al Qa Qaa that was in that form.
BROWN: Let me ask you then, David, the question I asked Jamie. In regard to the dispute about whether that stuff was there when the Americans arrived, is it game, set, match? Is that part of the argument now over?
KAY: Well, at least with regard to this one bunker and the film shows one seal, one bunker, one group of soldiers going through and there were others there that were sealed, with this one, I think it is game, set and match."
Or Perhaps, MR. Dobbs, you are more concerned with what will likely be your repealed tax cut. In that case, you ought to read another of your colleagues, and get some perspective:
From CNN Money, Kathleen Hays:
"Beyond that, there are some of us who have secure, good-paying jobs, and money in the bank, houses that have skyrocketed in value, maybe even portfolios that are churning out a decent return. For us, the economy may not be roaring but it's doing well enough for us to feel good and to feel good about the guy who's been the White House the past four years.
Then there are those of us who have been laid off, or seen our colleagues laid off and unable to find new jobs with salaries close to what they made before -- if they can find jobs at all.
The pinch of rising health care costs, and higher gas prices makes it tougher to save money and get ahead. And oh, by the way, we may have aging parents to take care of and kids to put through college. This group isn't sure Bush is on the right track."
Nuff said.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:41 AM |
Thursday, October 28, 2004
reasoning and liberty
The stink of death that is Iraq right now is heavy and fouling the already polluted atmosphere of American politics. 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead and counting. Republicans are belching their defenses...defense of actions in Iraq that allowed the looting of sites like Al Qaa Qa. Democrats are circling like hyenas, drawn to the smell of frightened exposure. The democrats sense victory and are hyper/nervously celebrating before all the eggs are hatched, and taking spirited jabs into the republican body on forums such as Eschaton and Daily Kos. Dissent, criticism of Kerry policies is not, ironically enough, to be tolerated there, while republicans are berated for their daily violation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I wonder though, where was Kerry and most of our other illustrious congress people when the war was being planned, and then conducted in such a disastrous manner? And I'm sitting here post-red moon eclipse wondering what exactly will be won, election day.
I have stated that I do believe a certain degree of reason will return to the political dialogue. A reasoned people do not measure arguement by its pro or anti American tone. A reasoned people do not casually and carelessly throw about the word "treason", to silence those who would criticize the actions of our government. Kerry appears intelligent and possessing of the ability to reason; however, as I said earlier, that trait does not insure that all of his decisions will be reasonable. I suspect some Americans may turn the treason accusations on their head, and come to view some of the actions of the Bush administration, particularly regarding the war, as possibly treasonous. Would it be no less treasonous then to expand this war, though it be the "wrong war", and ask more Americans and more Iraqis to die...for what?
Will religion as influence, and the danger of war for the sake of scripture, recede...for now? Israel will always be the wild card in this global theater.
Kerry is becoming the new man of the hour to idolize and for a while at least, he will do no wrong. Interesting that the process of American idol also contained the specter of the disenfranchisement of minority voters.
As voters, are we reasonably discussing the immense problems of environment, war and poverty, and just how, as a species capable of reasoning, we are going to deal with these problems?
To a great degree, I feel we have forfeited the national dialogue to sensationalism that masks just how the capitalist system is stacked in the favor of the monied elite. It is the mindset of criticism=treason that has infested our dialogue, and it is the cynicism of "what's the use, might as well eat the bread and watch the circus" that fuels our apathy. The election of Kerry is just the tip of the iceberg to recovery, or it may not have any relation. And going after Halliburton is one thing, but to dismantle the system that has allowed Halliburtons throughout our history, is quite another. I think it will take nothing short of dismantling, and rebuilding.
I wonder though, where was Kerry and most of our other illustrious congress people when the war was being planned, and then conducted in such a disastrous manner? And I'm sitting here post-red moon eclipse wondering what exactly will be won, election day.
I have stated that I do believe a certain degree of reason will return to the political dialogue. A reasoned people do not measure arguement by its pro or anti American tone. A reasoned people do not casually and carelessly throw about the word "treason", to silence those who would criticize the actions of our government. Kerry appears intelligent and possessing of the ability to reason; however, as I said earlier, that trait does not insure that all of his decisions will be reasonable. I suspect some Americans may turn the treason accusations on their head, and come to view some of the actions of the Bush administration, particularly regarding the war, as possibly treasonous. Would it be no less treasonous then to expand this war, though it be the "wrong war", and ask more Americans and more Iraqis to die...for what?
Will religion as influence, and the danger of war for the sake of scripture, recede...for now? Israel will always be the wild card in this global theater.
Kerry is becoming the new man of the hour to idolize and for a while at least, he will do no wrong. Interesting that the process of American idol also contained the specter of the disenfranchisement of minority voters.
As voters, are we reasonably discussing the immense problems of environment, war and poverty, and just how, as a species capable of reasoning, we are going to deal with these problems?
To a great degree, I feel we have forfeited the national dialogue to sensationalism that masks just how the capitalist system is stacked in the favor of the monied elite. It is the mindset of criticism=treason that has infested our dialogue, and it is the cynicism of "what's the use, might as well eat the bread and watch the circus" that fuels our apathy. The election of Kerry is just the tip of the iceberg to recovery, or it may not have any relation. And going after Halliburton is one thing, but to dismantle the system that has allowed Halliburtons throughout our history, is quite another. I think it will take nothing short of dismantling, and rebuilding.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:05 PM |
More collage by Nicholas Lampert: locust tank
# posted by scorpiorising : 2:50 PM |
soldier for oil, by Nicholas Lampert
# posted by scorpiorising : 2:44 PM |
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Perfect red-balled bliss in the sky..
You know, after such a day, this is the perfect ending, this red-balled bliss in the sky, this moon hidden by the sun, this portent of change to come. Love life uncertain, war, animals ducking for cover and plants on the wane, but it might come down to a night, a moment of perfect bliss to set it alright in motion again. As long as there is a breath to scrape out of this dark-red moon illumined atmosphere...
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:27 PM |
Florida shenanigans
Someone commenting on Atrios tonight posted this link to a BBC story on potential republican disruption of voting there:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
New Florida vote scandal feared
By Greg Palast
Reporting for Newsnight
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Election supervisor Ion Sancho believes some voters are being intimidated
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot.
Mass challenges
They may then only vote "provisionally" after signing an affidavit attesting to their legal voting status.
Mass challenges have never occurred in Florida. Indeed, says Mr Sancho, not one challenge has been made to a voter "in the 16 years I've been supervisor of elections."
"Quite frankly, this process can be used to slow down the voting process and cause chaos on election day; and discourage voters from voting."
Sancho calls it "intimidation." And it may be illegal.
A Republican spokeswoman did not deny that voters would be challenged at polling stations
In Washington, well-known civil rights attorney, Ralph Neas, noted that US federal law prohibits targeting challenges to voters, even if there is a basis for the challenge, if race is a factor in targeting the voters.
The list of Jacksonville voters covers an area with a majority of black residents.
When asked by Newsnight for an explanation of the list, Republican spokespersons claim the list merely records returned mail from either fundraising solicitations or returned letters sent to newly registered voters to verify their addresses for purposes of mailing campaign literature.
Republican state campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker Fletcher stated the list was not put together "in order to create" a challenge list, but refused to say it would not be used in that manner.
Rather, she did acknowledge that the party's poll workers will be instructed to challenge voters, "Where it's stated in the law."
There was no explanation as to why such clerical matters would be sent to top officials of the Bush campaign in Florida and Washington.
Private detective
In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.
The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.
On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimidate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
New Florida vote scandal feared
By Greg Palast
Reporting for Newsnight
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Election supervisor Ion Sancho believes some voters are being intimidated
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot.
Mass challenges
They may then only vote "provisionally" after signing an affidavit attesting to their legal voting status.
Mass challenges have never occurred in Florida. Indeed, says Mr Sancho, not one challenge has been made to a voter "in the 16 years I've been supervisor of elections."
"Quite frankly, this process can be used to slow down the voting process and cause chaos on election day; and discourage voters from voting."
Sancho calls it "intimidation." And it may be illegal.
A Republican spokeswoman did not deny that voters would be challenged at polling stations
In Washington, well-known civil rights attorney, Ralph Neas, noted that US federal law prohibits targeting challenges to voters, even if there is a basis for the challenge, if race is a factor in targeting the voters.
The list of Jacksonville voters covers an area with a majority of black residents.
When asked by Newsnight for an explanation of the list, Republican spokespersons claim the list merely records returned mail from either fundraising solicitations or returned letters sent to newly registered voters to verify their addresses for purposes of mailing campaign literature.
Republican state campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker Fletcher stated the list was not put together "in order to create" a challenge list, but refused to say it would not be used in that manner.
Rather, she did acknowledge that the party's poll workers will be instructed to challenge voters, "Where it's stated in the law."
There was no explanation as to why such clerical matters would be sent to top officials of the Bush campaign in Florida and Washington.
Private detective
In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.
The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.
On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimidate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:04 PM |
Bleary under a lunar eclipse.
I'm beyond tired into wired from lack of sleep, and marveling at the cross-current of events, that I would fight for myself and my co-workers today and secure payment from a movie company filming in our coffeehouse. That Mosh would be the number one video on MTV just days before the election, and wondering how Kerry will deal with youthful rage if he expands the war. Watched a goddamned silly-ass reporter from Rolling Stone interviewed on Olbermann tonight take on Eminem's Mosh, and wanted to puke at her trivialization and cynical reaction to the anger over the war and the growing feeling, I am certain, among young people who enlisted that they are being used...with little concern for their well-being. These over-paid and over-priced media types, the type that came into our coffeeshop this morning and proceeded to take it over, with little concern for our well-being and reimbursement for our effort, I don't give a fuck if they are from Hollywood, I told one guy, we are due reimbursement.
The puking way members of the human race treat each other when they've got their piece, don't wanna share no part of that piece; just now a military jet flew really low over our neighborhood. Ominous. I'm tired. Yes, I am glad Kerry will probably win this election. But am I hopeful the activism will continue in opposition to the war? Not much. Yet.
The puking way members of the human race treat each other when they've got their piece, don't wanna share no part of that piece; just now a military jet flew really low over our neighborhood. Ominous. I'm tired. Yes, I am glad Kerry will probably win this election. But am I hopeful the activism will continue in opposition to the war? Not much. Yet.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:08 PM |
The Highway of Death
Lest we forget, John Kerry voted against this war, the first Gulf War. The question remains, how will he deal with Iraq? Remember the Highway of Death, America's war crimes in the First Gulf War. We have become so arrogant as a "superpower" that we think ourselves above international law. This did not start with Bush:
I want to give testimony on what are called the "highways of death." These are the two Kuwaiti roadways, littered with remains of 2,000 mangled Iraqi military vehicles, and the charred and dismembered bodies of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, who were withdrawing from Kuwait on February 26th and 27th 1991 in compliance with UN resolutions.
U.S. planes trapped the long convoys by disabling vehicles in the front, and at the rear, and then pounded the resulting traffic jams for hours. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel," said one U.S. pilot. The horror is still there to see.
On the inland highway to Basra is mile after mile of burned, smashed, shattered vehicles of every description - tanks, armored cars, trucks, autos, fire trucks, according to the March 18, 1991, Time magazine. On the sixty miles of coastal highway, Iraqi military units sit in gruesome repose, scorched skeletons of vehicles and men alike, black and awful under the sun, says the Los Angeles Times of March 11, 1991. While 450 people survived the inland road bombing to surrender, this was not the case with the 60 miles of the coastal road. There for 60 miles every vehicle was strafed or bombed, every windshield is shattered, every tank is burned, every truck is riddled with shell fragments. No survivors are known or likely. The cabs of trucks were bombed so much that they were pushed into the ground, and it's impossible to see if they contain drivers or not. Windshields were melted away, and huge tanks were reduced to shrapnel.
"Even in Vietnam I didn't see anything like this. It's pathetic," said Major Bob Nugent, an Army intelligence officer. This one-sided carnage, this racist mass murder of Arab people, occurred while White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater promised that the U.S. and its coalition partners would not attack Iraqi forces leaving Kuwait. This is surely one of the most heinous war crimes in contemporary history.
I want to give testimony on what are called the "highways of death." These are the two Kuwaiti roadways, littered with remains of 2,000 mangled Iraqi military vehicles, and the charred and dismembered bodies of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, who were withdrawing from Kuwait on February 26th and 27th 1991 in compliance with UN resolutions.
U.S. planes trapped the long convoys by disabling vehicles in the front, and at the rear, and then pounded the resulting traffic jams for hours. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel," said one U.S. pilot. The horror is still there to see.
On the inland highway to Basra is mile after mile of burned, smashed, shattered vehicles of every description - tanks, armored cars, trucks, autos, fire trucks, according to the March 18, 1991, Time magazine. On the sixty miles of coastal highway, Iraqi military units sit in gruesome repose, scorched skeletons of vehicles and men alike, black and awful under the sun, says the Los Angeles Times of March 11, 1991. While 450 people survived the inland road bombing to surrender, this was not the case with the 60 miles of the coastal road. There for 60 miles every vehicle was strafed or bombed, every windshield is shattered, every tank is burned, every truck is riddled with shell fragments. No survivors are known or likely. The cabs of trucks were bombed so much that they were pushed into the ground, and it's impossible to see if they contain drivers or not. Windshields were melted away, and huge tanks were reduced to shrapnel.
"Even in Vietnam I didn't see anything like this. It's pathetic," said Major Bob Nugent, an Army intelligence officer. This one-sided carnage, this racist mass murder of Arab people, occurred while White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater promised that the U.S. and its coalition partners would not attack Iraqi forces leaving Kuwait. This is surely one of the most heinous war crimes in contemporary history.
# posted by scorpiorising : 2:23 PM |
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Riverbend, with some reticence, endorses Kerry
Riverbend, of Baghdad Burning, in a curiously ambivalent, almost schizophrenic post, acknowledges what I will call the banking and globalization forces behind the electing of a president, and American national politics in general, and then goes on to endorse Kerry. I hope her statement, "It cannot get much worse", isn't actually an inadvertent curse of some kind.
It sometimes seems, from this part of the world, that democracy in America revolves around the presidential elections- not the major decisions. War and peace in America are in the average American’s hands about as much as they are in mine. Sure, you can vote for this man or that one, but in the end, there’s something bigger, more intricate and quite sinister behind the decisions. Like in that board game Monopoly, you can choose the game pieces- the little shoe, the car, the top hat… but you can’t choose the way the game is played. The faces change but the intentions and the policy remain the same...
...Who am I hoping will win? Definitely Kerry. There’s no question about it. I want Bush out of the White House at all costs. (And yes- who is *in* the White House *is* my business- Americans, you made it my business when you occupied my country last year) I’m too realistic to expect drastic change or anything phenomenal, but I don’t want Bush reelected because his reelection (or shall I call it his ‘reassignment’) will condone the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. It will say that this catastrophe in Iraq was worth its price in American and Iraqi lives. His reassignment to the White House will sanction all the bloodshed and terror we’ve been living for the last year and a half.
Sounds like she's been feeling something similar to my own ambivalence, and yes, schizophrenic reactions to the American political scene. Yea, rah rah for kerry, yah, but oh my god he's going to expand the war in Iraq and finish off Falluja. Yea but his election will mean the return of reason into the national political dialogue, okay, but that doesn't mean that all of Kerry's decisions will be reasonable, but maybe the sheer force of his good will would end the war without any more bloodshed. I have aquaintances who believe this. The American political system, as it is now, encourages the election of idols whose responsibility it becomes to mute criticism of catastrophic decisions.
It sometimes seems, from this part of the world, that democracy in America revolves around the presidential elections- not the major decisions. War and peace in America are in the average American’s hands about as much as they are in mine. Sure, you can vote for this man or that one, but in the end, there’s something bigger, more intricate and quite sinister behind the decisions. Like in that board game Monopoly, you can choose the game pieces- the little shoe, the car, the top hat… but you can’t choose the way the game is played. The faces change but the intentions and the policy remain the same...
...Who am I hoping will win? Definitely Kerry. There’s no question about it. I want Bush out of the White House at all costs. (And yes- who is *in* the White House *is* my business- Americans, you made it my business when you occupied my country last year) I’m too realistic to expect drastic change or anything phenomenal, but I don’t want Bush reelected because his reelection (or shall I call it his ‘reassignment’) will condone the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. It will say that this catastrophe in Iraq was worth its price in American and Iraqi lives. His reassignment to the White House will sanction all the bloodshed and terror we’ve been living for the last year and a half.
Sounds like she's been feeling something similar to my own ambivalence, and yes, schizophrenic reactions to the American political scene. Yea, rah rah for kerry, yah, but oh my god he's going to expand the war in Iraq and finish off Falluja. Yea but his election will mean the return of reason into the national political dialogue, okay, but that doesn't mean that all of Kerry's decisions will be reasonable, but maybe the sheer force of his good will would end the war without any more bloodshed. I have aquaintances who believe this. The American political system, as it is now, encourages the election of idols whose responsibility it becomes to mute criticism of catastrophic decisions.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:06 AM |
Lest we forget...
I'm as glad as any democrat to see Clinton healthy and campaigning. However...it was interesting to hear Kerry yesterday in Philly declare Clinton a champion for the middle class, because he certainly wasn't one for the poor:
With a stroke of his pen, Bill Clinton dismantled the New Deal and replaced it with a Raw Deal for poor women and children," NOW President Patricia Ireland said Aug. 22, the day President Clinton signed the new welfare bill into law.
"Millions more will swell the ranks of the poor and hungry as a result of this bill," she said. "It is a repeal of welfare -- not a reform."
Ireland joined hundreds of activists who rallied in front of the White House to protest the president's action on the bill. NOW and its allies vowed to continue the "Hungry for Justice" campaign to force President Clinton and Congress to eliminate the most harmful requirements from the bill and restore some of the safety net for the poor.
On July 31, when President Clinton announced he would sign the welfare repeal bill, NOW launched the "Hungry for Justice" campaign with a huge demonstration in front of the White House. Ireland, along with the other officers and many NOW staff members and activists, began a fast to protest Clinton's action and "to enhance our understanding and commitment to ending poverty," Ireland said.
Now I remember the 90's as a time when I saw my own earnings creep upwards, and watched the enormous wealth that was being accrued through the stockmarket. I remember feeling that this wealth was not real, intuitively, though I understood little as to why the bubble was occuring. I remember talking to friends who were investing for the first time, and earning, only to see it all vanish a few years later. Clinton did us all a favor by eliminating the deficit. That much he understood. I think he caved into the pressures from the right when he dismantled the welfare state. Just my opinion. When will Kerry cave and how? In my view, Kerry is already caving to globalization pressures by promising to expand the war in Iraq. Too much moolah and investment opportunities to be lost if we simply pulled out. Sheesh...when will guys learn to pull out...
With a stroke of his pen, Bill Clinton dismantled the New Deal and replaced it with a Raw Deal for poor women and children," NOW President Patricia Ireland said Aug. 22, the day President Clinton signed the new welfare bill into law.
"Millions more will swell the ranks of the poor and hungry as a result of this bill," she said. "It is a repeal of welfare -- not a reform."
Ireland joined hundreds of activists who rallied in front of the White House to protest the president's action on the bill. NOW and its allies vowed to continue the "Hungry for Justice" campaign to force President Clinton and Congress to eliminate the most harmful requirements from the bill and restore some of the safety net for the poor.
On July 31, when President Clinton announced he would sign the welfare repeal bill, NOW launched the "Hungry for Justice" campaign with a huge demonstration in front of the White House. Ireland, along with the other officers and many NOW staff members and activists, began a fast to protest Clinton's action and "to enhance our understanding and commitment to ending poverty," Ireland said.
Now I remember the 90's as a time when I saw my own earnings creep upwards, and watched the enormous wealth that was being accrued through the stockmarket. I remember feeling that this wealth was not real, intuitively, though I understood little as to why the bubble was occuring. I remember talking to friends who were investing for the first time, and earning, only to see it all vanish a few years later. Clinton did us all a favor by eliminating the deficit. That much he understood. I think he caved into the pressures from the right when he dismantled the welfare state. Just my opinion. When will Kerry cave and how? In my view, Kerry is already caving to globalization pressures by promising to expand the war in Iraq. Too much moolah and investment opportunities to be lost if we simply pulled out. Sheesh...when will guys learn to pull out...
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:34 AM |
A link to Eminem video.
Here is a link to the Eminem video Mosh, which apparently isn't getting air time on MTV. Eminem issues a challenge to Senator Kerry at the end of the video:
[Eminem speaking angrily]And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator[End] '
http://boss.streamos.com/qtime/interscope/eminem/encore/video/mosh-rev/300_mosh-rev.mov
[Eminem speaking angrily]And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator[End] '
http://boss.streamos.com/qtime/interscope/eminem/encore/video/mosh-rev/300_mosh-rev.mov
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:18 AM |
Bring the troops home.
Will Eminem rage against Kerry if he doesn't bring out troops home? I wonder if everyone will quietly go back to sleep after Kerry is elected? From the song Mosh, Eminem's anti-war mantra:
To the people up top, on the side and the middle,
Come together, let's all bomb and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us, they can't, we're stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push up, mush, fuck Bush,
until they bring our troops home comeon just . . .
To the people up top, on the side and the middle,
Come together, let's all bomb and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us, they can't, we're stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push up, mush, fuck Bush,
until they bring our troops home comeon just . . .
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:32 AM |
The Dutch have found a way.
Note the use of smiles, and the striving for respect for the natives. "We are guests here", one Dutch peacekeeper said.
Instead of armored vehicles, the Dutch drive vehicles that leave them exposed to the people around them. To encourage interaction with local residents, they go bare-headed and are forbidden to wear mirror sunglasses. Making soldiers accessible and vulnerable to their surroundings increases their security, they contend. Making them inaccessible decreases it.
"You would lose contact with the people," said Lt. Col. Kees Matthijssen, the commander of the Dutch force in Iraq. "In fact, the support and the consent of the people is a form of protection. If you have good contact with the people, if it's easy to talk to the people, people always give you some information. You know what's in their minds, what they're thinking, what's worrying them.
Instead of armored vehicles, the Dutch drive vehicles that leave them exposed to the people around them. To encourage interaction with local residents, they go bare-headed and are forbidden to wear mirror sunglasses. Making soldiers accessible and vulnerable to their surroundings increases their security, they contend. Making them inaccessible decreases it.
"You would lose contact with the people," said Lt. Col. Kees Matthijssen, the commander of the Dutch force in Iraq. "In fact, the support and the consent of the people is a form of protection. If you have good contact with the people, if it's easy to talk to the people, people always give you some information. You know what's in their minds, what they're thinking, what's worrying them.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:25 AM |
A Canadian activist is turned away.
From MetroTimes in Detroit, this account of the questioning, and turning away, of John Clark, anti-globalization activist, at the border:
In terms of the border itself,” Clarke tells Metro Times, “the essence of globalization is to remove barriers so that corporations are allowed to ship goods and services from one country to another with great ease, and to allow those same corporations to move jobs and livelihoods across borders with impunity.”
He says his detention and interrogation ironically served to highlight that, “When it comes to people who want to cross the border to hold discussions about what is occurring — or people who want to try and cross the border to organize protests against what is happening — barriers to prevent them from doing that are being put up.”
“One of the problems we’re facing,” he adds, “is that on both sides of the border people are seeing the criminalization of political activity. Then those charges are used against them, creating pariahs when they attempt to move from one country to another.”
In terms of the border itself,” Clarke tells Metro Times, “the essence of globalization is to remove barriers so that corporations are allowed to ship goods and services from one country to another with great ease, and to allow those same corporations to move jobs and livelihoods across borders with impunity.”
He says his detention and interrogation ironically served to highlight that, “When it comes to people who want to cross the border to hold discussions about what is occurring — or people who want to try and cross the border to organize protests against what is happening — barriers to prevent them from doing that are being put up.”
“One of the problems we’re facing,” he adds, “is that on both sides of the border people are seeing the criminalization of political activity. Then those charges are used against them, creating pariahs when they attempt to move from one country to another.”
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:11 AM |
Halliburton probed by Pentagon
If the title of this post isn't enough to make you puke, then the thought of the Pentagon investigating its own corruption should finish the job for you. On page 23 of the Washington Post (seems the fleecing of the American tax payer still cannot get top billing) there is the specter of the Pentagon investigating how it doled out the bucks to Kellog Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. Remember this name: Bunnatine Greenhouse, whistleblower and employee of the Army Corps of Engineers.
What will be astounding about this situation is that Pentagon officials will actually pretend they didn' t know we were being fleeced. Even I knew we were being fleeced. Let's see if Kerry will have the balls to bring some of them to justice, and get some of our money back. I want my money back.
What will be astounding about this situation is that Pentagon officials will actually pretend they didn' t know we were being fleeced. Even I knew we were being fleeced. Let's see if Kerry will have the balls to bring some of them to justice, and get some of our money back. I want my money back.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:51 AM |
Inspection schedule for Al Qa Qaa
Inspection schedule for UN monitors for the Al Qa Qaa site, and others, can be found here:
http://www.vertic.org/onlinedatabase/unmovic/dsp_Site.cfm?siteID=9
http://www.vertic.org/onlinedatabase/unmovic/dsp_Site.cfm?siteID=9
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:42 AM |
Monday, October 25, 2004
This news is nothing new.
Looting of weapons caches in Iraq? Nothing new. Sounds like it was common knowledge:
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jid/jid030529_1_n.shtml
Throughout May, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed mounting concern at the outbreak of looting that has been taking place at Iraq's abandoned nuclear sites - which number around 1,000 in total. JID has commissioned a leading British nuclear analyst to assess the security risk posed by the missing material and the golden opportunities the chaos in Iraq may have presented to international terrorists. According to eyewitness reports as many as 400 looters a day have been ransacking the Al-Tuwaitha complex south of Baghdad, regarded as the main site for Iraq's former nuclear weapons programme and covering an area of 120 acres. The crowd got in by simply cutting the surrounding barbed-wire fence in the absence of security patrols.
From Knight-Ridder news:
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/world/9849036.htm
October 2, 2004
The insurgents probably are using weapons and ammunition looted from the nearby Qa-Qaa complex, a 3-mile by 3-mile weapons-storage facility about 25 miles southwest of Baghdad, said Maj. Brian Neil, operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which initially patrolled the area.
The facility was bombed during last year's invasion and then left unguarded, Neil said. "There's definitely no shortage of weapons around here," he said.
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jid/jid030529_1_n.shtml
Throughout May, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed mounting concern at the outbreak of looting that has been taking place at Iraq's abandoned nuclear sites - which number around 1,000 in total. JID has commissioned a leading British nuclear analyst to assess the security risk posed by the missing material and the golden opportunities the chaos in Iraq may have presented to international terrorists. According to eyewitness reports as many as 400 looters a day have been ransacking the Al-Tuwaitha complex south of Baghdad, regarded as the main site for Iraq's former nuclear weapons programme and covering an area of 120 acres. The crowd got in by simply cutting the surrounding barbed-wire fence in the absence of security patrols.
From Knight-Ridder news:
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/world/9849036.htm
October 2, 2004
The insurgents probably are using weapons and ammunition looted from the nearby Qa-Qaa complex, a 3-mile by 3-mile weapons-storage facility about 25 miles southwest of Baghdad, said Maj. Brian Neil, operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which initially patrolled the area.
The facility was bombed during last year's invasion and then left unguarded, Neil said. "There's definitely no shortage of weapons around here," he said.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:33 AM |
Carlyl tryin' to Cash IN.
First of all, the absurdity of Iraq paying any debt to any nation, at a time when they've been bombed nearly back to the stone age, is beyond reasonable comprehension.
Jual Cole correctly highlighted these paragraphs from the Naomi Klein article I posted a few days ago, on James Baker:
http://www.juancole.com/2004_10_01_juancole_archive.html#109841783717336801
President Bush's special envoy, James Baker, who has been trying to persuade the world to forgive Iraq's crushing debts, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, according to confidential documents.Mr Baker's Carlyle Group is in a consortium secretly proposing to try to collect $27bn (£15bn) on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using high-level political influence. It claims Mr Baker will not benefit personally, but the consortium could make millions in fees, retainers and commission as a result.Other countries, including Britain, have been urged by Mr Baker to relieve the new Iraq regime of its $200bn debt burden. Iraq owes Britain approximately $1bn.One international lawyer described the consortium's scheme as "influence peddling of the crassest kind".Jerome Levinson, an expert on political and corporate ethics at American University in Washington, told the Guardian: "The consortium is saying to the Kuwaiti government, 'Through us you have the only chance to realize a substantial part of the debt. Why? Because of who we are and who we know'." '
Jual Cole correctly highlighted these paragraphs from the Naomi Klein article I posted a few days ago, on James Baker:
http://www.juancole.com/2004_10_01_juancole_archive.html#109841783717336801
President Bush's special envoy, James Baker, who has been trying to persuade the world to forgive Iraq's crushing debts, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, according to confidential documents.Mr Baker's Carlyle Group is in a consortium secretly proposing to try to collect $27bn (£15bn) on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using high-level political influence. It claims Mr Baker will not benefit personally, but the consortium could make millions in fees, retainers and commission as a result.Other countries, including Britain, have been urged by Mr Baker to relieve the new Iraq regime of its $200bn debt burden. Iraq owes Britain approximately $1bn.One international lawyer described the consortium's scheme as "influence peddling of the crassest kind".Jerome Levinson, an expert on political and corporate ethics at American University in Washington, told the Guardian: "The consortium is saying to the Kuwaiti government, 'Through us you have the only chance to realize a substantial part of the debt. Why? Because of who we are and who we know'." '
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:42 AM |
Joe Lockhart's response to missing Iraq weapons cache.
Washington, DC – Kerry-Edwards Senior Advisor Joe Lockhart issued the following statement on reports of missing explosives in Iraq:
“Today, the Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq. How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so? And why was this information unearthed by reporters -- and was it covered up by our national security officials?
“These explosives can be used to blow up airplanes, level buildings, attack our troops and detonate nuclear weapons. The Bush administration knew where this stockpile was, but took no action to secure the site. They were urgently and specifically informed that terrorists could be helping themselves to the most dangerous explosives bonanza in history, but nothing was done to prevent it from happening.
“This material was monitored and controlled by UN inspectors before the invasion of Iraq. Thanks to the stunning incompetence of the Bush administration, we now have no idea where it is.
“We need to know what the administration knew about this and when. We need to know why they failed to safeguard these explosives and keep them out of the hands of our enemies. The National Security Advisor should be at her desk in Washington tomorrow to work this problem and answer these questions, instead of giving speeches in battleground states.”
From CNN today:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives/index.html
IAEA: Tons of Iraq explosives missing
Monday, October 25, 2004 Posted: 8:53 AM EDT (1253 GMT)
VIENNA, Austria (CNN) -- Some 380 tons of explosives, powerful enough to be used to detonate nuclear warheads, are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under American control, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says.
Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CNN the Iraqi interim government reported several days ago that the explosives were missing from the Al Qaqaa complex, south of Baghdad.
The explosives -- considered powerful enough to demolish buildings or detonate nuclear warheads -- were under IAEA control until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. IAEA workers left the country before the fighting began.
"Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we've seen," Fleming said. She said the IAEA doesn't know if some of the explosives may already have been used.
A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.
"The immediate danger" of the lost stockpiles is its potential use by insurgents to make small, but powerful, explosive devices, an expert said. The expert said the explosives could be easily transported across the Middle East.
According to The Times, the stockpiles missing from Al Qaqaa are the strongest and fastest in common use by militaries around the globe.
The Iraqi letter to IAEA identified the vanished explosives as containing 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or "high melting point explosive," 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or "rapid detonation explosive," among other designations, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or "pentaerythritol tetranitrate."
Fleming said the IAEA, whose mission is to keep track of everything with potential nuclear weapons applications, had been monitoring about 100 sites in Iraq, but there were only a few of special concern, including Al Qaqaa.
"The concern is that other sites that have items that are potentially dangerous have gone missing," Fleming added.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry decried the missing explosives, after seeing The New York Times report in Monday's editions.
In the statement, Kerry senior adviser Joe Lockhart said: "The Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq.
"How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so? And why was this information unearthed by reporters -- and was it covered up by our national security officials?
"These explosives can be used to blow up airplanes, level buildings, attack our troops and detonate nuclear weapons. The Bush administration knew where this stockpile was, but took no action to secure the site."
Kerry criticized Bush for his "stunning incompetence."
There was no response from the Bush administration on the missing explosives.
“Today, the Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq. How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so? And why was this information unearthed by reporters -- and was it covered up by our national security officials?
“These explosives can be used to blow up airplanes, level buildings, attack our troops and detonate nuclear weapons. The Bush administration knew where this stockpile was, but took no action to secure the site. They were urgently and specifically informed that terrorists could be helping themselves to the most dangerous explosives bonanza in history, but nothing was done to prevent it from happening.
“This material was monitored and controlled by UN inspectors before the invasion of Iraq. Thanks to the stunning incompetence of the Bush administration, we now have no idea where it is.
“We need to know what the administration knew about this and when. We need to know why they failed to safeguard these explosives and keep them out of the hands of our enemies. The National Security Advisor should be at her desk in Washington tomorrow to work this problem and answer these questions, instead of giving speeches in battleground states.”
From CNN today:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives/index.html
IAEA: Tons of Iraq explosives missing
Monday, October 25, 2004 Posted: 8:53 AM EDT (1253 GMT)
VIENNA, Austria (CNN) -- Some 380 tons of explosives, powerful enough to be used to detonate nuclear warheads, are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under American control, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says.
Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CNN the Iraqi interim government reported several days ago that the explosives were missing from the Al Qaqaa complex, south of Baghdad.
The explosives -- considered powerful enough to demolish buildings or detonate nuclear warheads -- were under IAEA control until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. IAEA workers left the country before the fighting began.
"Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we've seen," Fleming said. She said the IAEA doesn't know if some of the explosives may already have been used.
A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.
"The immediate danger" of the lost stockpiles is its potential use by insurgents to make small, but powerful, explosive devices, an expert said. The expert said the explosives could be easily transported across the Middle East.
According to The Times, the stockpiles missing from Al Qaqaa are the strongest and fastest in common use by militaries around the globe.
The Iraqi letter to IAEA identified the vanished explosives as containing 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or "high melting point explosive," 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or "rapid detonation explosive," among other designations, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or "pentaerythritol tetranitrate."
Fleming said the IAEA, whose mission is to keep track of everything with potential nuclear weapons applications, had been monitoring about 100 sites in Iraq, but there were only a few of special concern, including Al Qaqaa.
"The concern is that other sites that have items that are potentially dangerous have gone missing," Fleming added.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry decried the missing explosives, after seeing The New York Times report in Monday's editions.
In the statement, Kerry senior adviser Joe Lockhart said: "The Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq.
"How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so? And why was this information unearthed by reporters -- and was it covered up by our national security officials?
"These explosives can be used to blow up airplanes, level buildings, attack our troops and detonate nuclear weapons. The Bush administration knew where this stockpile was, but took no action to secure the site."
Kerry criticized Bush for his "stunning incompetence."
There was no response from the Bush administration on the missing explosives.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:40 AM |
Shooting ourselves in the foot.
Apparently, our men and women, as well as Iraqis, are being killed in Iraq with explosives that we failed to secure after the invasion:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25bomb.html?oref=login&hp&ex=1098676800&en=61cf6e1aa29b7871&ei=5094&partner=homepage
TRACKING THE WEAPONS
Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in IraqBy JAMES GLANZ, WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGERPublished: October 25, 2004
This article was reported and written by James Glanz, William J. Broad and David E. Sanger.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.
The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished sometime after the American-led invasion last year.
The White House said President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was informed within the past month that the explosives were missing. It is unclear whether President Bush was informed. American officials have never publicly announced the disappearance, but beginning last week they answered questions about it posed by The New York Times and the CBS News program "60 Minutes."
Administration officials said Sunday that the Iraq Survey Group, the C.I.A. task force that searched for unconventional weapons, has been ordered to investigate the disappearance of the explosives.
American weapons experts say their immediate concern is that the explosives could be used in major bombing attacks against American or Iraqi forces: the explosives, mainly HMX and RDX, could produce bombs strong enough to shatter airplanes or tear apart buildings.
The bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 used less than a pound of the same type of material, and larger amounts were apparently used in the bombing of a housing complex in November 2003 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the blasts in a Moscow apartment complex in September 1999 that killed nearly 300 people.
The explosives could also be used to trigger a nuclear weapon, which was why international nuclear inspectors had kept a watch on the material, and even sealed and locked some of it. The other components of an atom bomb - the design and the radioactive fuel - are more difficult to obtain.
"This is a high explosives risk, but not necessarily a proliferation risk," one senior Bush administration official said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency publicly warned about the danger of these explosives before the war, and after the invasion it specifically told United States officials about the need to keep the explosives secured, European diplomats said in interviews last week. Administration officials say they cannot explain why the explosives were not safeguarded, beyond the fact that the occupation force was overwhelmed by the amount of munitions they found throughout the country.
A Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, said Sunday evening that Saddam Hussein's government "stored weapons in mosques, schools, hospitals and countless other locations," and that the allied forces "have discovered and destroyed perhaps thousands of tons of ordnance of all types." A senior military official noted that HMX and RDX were "available around the world" and not on the nuclear nonproliferation list, even though they are used in the nuclear warheads of many nations.
The Qaqaa facility, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, was well known to American intelligence officials: Mr. Hussein made conventional warheads at the site, and the I.A.E.A. dismantled parts of his nuclear program there in the early 1990's after the Persian Gulf war in 1991. In the prelude to the 2003 invasion, Mr. Bush cited a number of other "dual use" items - including tubes that the administration contended could be converted to use for the nuclear program - as a justification for invading Iraq.
After the invasion, when widespread looting began in Iraq, the international weapons experts grew concerned that the Qaqaa stockpile could fall into unfriendly hands. In May, an internal I.A.E.A. memorandum warned that terrorists might be helping "themselves to the greatest explosives bonanza in history."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25bomb.html?oref=login&hp&ex=1098676800&en=61cf6e1aa29b7871&ei=5094&partner=homepage
TRACKING THE WEAPONS
Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in IraqBy JAMES GLANZ, WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGERPublished: October 25, 2004
This article was reported and written by James Glanz, William J. Broad and David E. Sanger.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.
The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished sometime after the American-led invasion last year.
The White House said President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was informed within the past month that the explosives were missing. It is unclear whether President Bush was informed. American officials have never publicly announced the disappearance, but beginning last week they answered questions about it posed by The New York Times and the CBS News program "60 Minutes."
Administration officials said Sunday that the Iraq Survey Group, the C.I.A. task force that searched for unconventional weapons, has been ordered to investigate the disappearance of the explosives.
American weapons experts say their immediate concern is that the explosives could be used in major bombing attacks against American or Iraqi forces: the explosives, mainly HMX and RDX, could produce bombs strong enough to shatter airplanes or tear apart buildings.
The bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 used less than a pound of the same type of material, and larger amounts were apparently used in the bombing of a housing complex in November 2003 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the blasts in a Moscow apartment complex in September 1999 that killed nearly 300 people.
The explosives could also be used to trigger a nuclear weapon, which was why international nuclear inspectors had kept a watch on the material, and even sealed and locked some of it. The other components of an atom bomb - the design and the radioactive fuel - are more difficult to obtain.
"This is a high explosives risk, but not necessarily a proliferation risk," one senior Bush administration official said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency publicly warned about the danger of these explosives before the war, and after the invasion it specifically told United States officials about the need to keep the explosives secured, European diplomats said in interviews last week. Administration officials say they cannot explain why the explosives were not safeguarded, beyond the fact that the occupation force was overwhelmed by the amount of munitions they found throughout the country.
A Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, said Sunday evening that Saddam Hussein's government "stored weapons in mosques, schools, hospitals and countless other locations," and that the allied forces "have discovered and destroyed perhaps thousands of tons of ordnance of all types." A senior military official noted that HMX and RDX were "available around the world" and not on the nuclear nonproliferation list, even though they are used in the nuclear warheads of many nations.
The Qaqaa facility, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, was well known to American intelligence officials: Mr. Hussein made conventional warheads at the site, and the I.A.E.A. dismantled parts of his nuclear program there in the early 1990's after the Persian Gulf war in 1991. In the prelude to the 2003 invasion, Mr. Bush cited a number of other "dual use" items - including tubes that the administration contended could be converted to use for the nuclear program - as a justification for invading Iraq.
After the invasion, when widespread looting began in Iraq, the international weapons experts grew concerned that the Qaqaa stockpile could fall into unfriendly hands. In May, an internal I.A.E.A. memorandum warned that terrorists might be helping "themselves to the greatest explosives bonanza in history."
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:15 AM |
Saturday, October 23, 2004
James Baker's Double Life
From Naomi Klein in the Nation: I'll just print page one. It is a very long article. Here is the link:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041101&s=klein
James Baker's Double Life
A Special Investigation
by Naomi Klein
Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
ADVERTISEMENT The secret deal involves a complex transaction to transfer ownership of as much as $57 billion in unpaid Iraqi debts. The debts, now owed to the government of Kuwait, would be assigned to a foundation created and controlled by a consortium in which the key players are the Carlyle Group, the Albright Group (headed by another former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright) and several other well-connected firms. Under the deal, the government of Kuwait would also give the consortium $2 billion up front to invest in a private equity fund devised by the consortium, with half of it going to Carlyle.
The Nation has obtained a copy of the confidential sixty-five-page "Proposal to Assist the Government of Kuwait in Protecting and Realizing Claims Against Iraq," sent in January from the consortium to Kuwait's foreign ministry, as well as letters back and forth between the two parties. In a letter dated August 6, 2004, the consortium informed Kuwait's foreign ministry that the country's unpaid debts from Iraq "are in imminent jeopardy." World opinion is turning in favor of debt forgiveness, another letter warned, as evidenced by "President Bush's appointment...of former Secretary of State James Baker as his envoy to negotiate Iraqi debt relief." The consortium's proposal spells out the threat: Not only is Kuwait unlikely to see any of its $30 billion from Iraq in sovereign debt, but the $27 billion in war reparations that Iraq owes to Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion "may well be a casualty of this U.S. [debt relief] effort."
In the face of this threat, the consortium offers its services. Its roster of former high-level US and European politicians have "personal rapport with the stakeholders in the anticipated negotiations" and are able to "reach key decision-makers in the United Nations and in key capitals," the proposal states. If Kuwait agrees to transfer the debts to the consortium's foundation, the consortium will use these personal connections to persuade world leaders that Iraq must "maximize" its debt payments to Kuwait, which would be able to collect the money after ten to fifteen years. And the more the consortium gets Iraq to pay during that period, the more Kuwait collects, with the consortium taking a 5 percent commission or more.
The goal of maximizing Iraq's debt payments directly contradicts the US foreign policy aim of drastically reducing Iraq's debt burden. According to Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University and a leading expert on government ethics and regulations, this means that Baker is in a "classic conflict of interest. Baker is on two sides of this transaction: He is supposed to be representing the interests of the United States, but he is also a senior counselor at Carlyle, and Carlyle wants to get paid to help Kuwait recover its debts from Iraq." After examining the documents, Clark called them "extraordinary." She said, "Carlyle and the other companies are exploiting Baker's current position to try to land a deal with Kuwait that would undermine the interests of the US government."
The Nation also showed the documents to Jerome Levinson, an international lawyer and expert on political and corporate corruption at American University. He called it "one of the greatest cons of all time. The consortium is saying to the Kuwaiti government, 'Through us, you have the only chance to realize a substantial part of the debt. Why? Because of who we are and who we know.' It's influence peddling of the crassest kind."
In the confidential documents, the consortium appears acutely aware of the sensitivity of Baker's position as Carlyle partner and debt envoy. Immediately after listing the powerful players associated with Carlyle--including former President George H.W. Bush, former British prime minister John Major and Baker himself--the document states: "The extent to which these individuals can play an instrumental role in fashioning strategies is now more limited...due to the recent appointment of Secretary Baker as the President's envoy on international debt, and the need to avoid an apparent conflict of interest." [Emphasis in original.] Yet it goes on to state that this will soon change: "We believe that with Secretary Baker's retirement from his temporary position [as debt envoy], that Carlyle and those leading individuals associated with Carlyle will then once again be free to play a more decisive role..."
Chris Ullman, vice president and spokesperson for Carlyle, said that "neither the Carlyle Group nor James Baker wrote, edited or authorized this proposal to the Kuwait government." But he acknowledged that Carlyle knew a proposal was being made to the government of Kuwait and that Carlyle stood to land a $1 billion investment. "We were aware of that. But we played no role in procuring that investment."
Asked if Carlyle was "willing to take the billion but not to try to get it," Ullman answered, "Correct."
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041101&s=klein
James Baker's Double Life
A Special Investigation
by Naomi Klein
Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
ADVERTISEMENT The secret deal involves a complex transaction to transfer ownership of as much as $57 billion in unpaid Iraqi debts. The debts, now owed to the government of Kuwait, would be assigned to a foundation created and controlled by a consortium in which the key players are the Carlyle Group, the Albright Group (headed by another former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright) and several other well-connected firms. Under the deal, the government of Kuwait would also give the consortium $2 billion up front to invest in a private equity fund devised by the consortium, with half of it going to Carlyle.
The Nation has obtained a copy of the confidential sixty-five-page "Proposal to Assist the Government of Kuwait in Protecting and Realizing Claims Against Iraq," sent in January from the consortium to Kuwait's foreign ministry, as well as letters back and forth between the two parties. In a letter dated August 6, 2004, the consortium informed Kuwait's foreign ministry that the country's unpaid debts from Iraq "are in imminent jeopardy." World opinion is turning in favor of debt forgiveness, another letter warned, as evidenced by "President Bush's appointment...of former Secretary of State James Baker as his envoy to negotiate Iraqi debt relief." The consortium's proposal spells out the threat: Not only is Kuwait unlikely to see any of its $30 billion from Iraq in sovereign debt, but the $27 billion in war reparations that Iraq owes to Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion "may well be a casualty of this U.S. [debt relief] effort."
In the face of this threat, the consortium offers its services. Its roster of former high-level US and European politicians have "personal rapport with the stakeholders in the anticipated negotiations" and are able to "reach key decision-makers in the United Nations and in key capitals," the proposal states. If Kuwait agrees to transfer the debts to the consortium's foundation, the consortium will use these personal connections to persuade world leaders that Iraq must "maximize" its debt payments to Kuwait, which would be able to collect the money after ten to fifteen years. And the more the consortium gets Iraq to pay during that period, the more Kuwait collects, with the consortium taking a 5 percent commission or more.
The goal of maximizing Iraq's debt payments directly contradicts the US foreign policy aim of drastically reducing Iraq's debt burden. According to Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University and a leading expert on government ethics and regulations, this means that Baker is in a "classic conflict of interest. Baker is on two sides of this transaction: He is supposed to be representing the interests of the United States, but he is also a senior counselor at Carlyle, and Carlyle wants to get paid to help Kuwait recover its debts from Iraq." After examining the documents, Clark called them "extraordinary." She said, "Carlyle and the other companies are exploiting Baker's current position to try to land a deal with Kuwait that would undermine the interests of the US government."
The Nation also showed the documents to Jerome Levinson, an international lawyer and expert on political and corporate corruption at American University. He called it "one of the greatest cons of all time. The consortium is saying to the Kuwaiti government, 'Through us, you have the only chance to realize a substantial part of the debt. Why? Because of who we are and who we know.' It's influence peddling of the crassest kind."
In the confidential documents, the consortium appears acutely aware of the sensitivity of Baker's position as Carlyle partner and debt envoy. Immediately after listing the powerful players associated with Carlyle--including former President George H.W. Bush, former British prime minister John Major and Baker himself--the document states: "The extent to which these individuals can play an instrumental role in fashioning strategies is now more limited...due to the recent appointment of Secretary Baker as the President's envoy on international debt, and the need to avoid an apparent conflict of interest." [Emphasis in original.] Yet it goes on to state that this will soon change: "We believe that with Secretary Baker's retirement from his temporary position [as debt envoy], that Carlyle and those leading individuals associated with Carlyle will then once again be free to play a more decisive role..."
Chris Ullman, vice president and spokesperson for Carlyle, said that "neither the Carlyle Group nor James Baker wrote, edited or authorized this proposal to the Kuwait government." But he acknowledged that Carlyle knew a proposal was being made to the government of Kuwait and that Carlyle stood to land a $1 billion investment. "We were aware of that. But we played no role in procuring that investment."
Asked if Carlyle was "willing to take the billion but not to try to get it," Ullman answered, "Correct."
# posted by scorpiorising : 11:29 AM |
Voter Intimidation, from both sides
Democrats are adopting rethuglican tactics, if this article is accurate; very sad to see:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pglitch23oct23,0,3825651,print.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Early voting brings cries of bullying
By Brittany WallmanStaff WriterOctober 23, 2004
On Election Day, voters will be protected from campaign pressures by a 50-foot cone, an invisible barrier that campaign workers cannot breach. Not so for early voters.While the Voter's Bill of Rights in state law says they have a right to "vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or any other person," a glitch in the newer early voting law does not include the same 50-foot guarantee.As a result, with early voting taking place in busy public places like City Halls and libraries, voters are voicing complaints of being blocked by political mobs, or being singled out for their political views. Others say they have been grabbed, screamed at and cursed by political partisans of all stripes.Republican Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo said the antagonizers are "Kerry thugs" out to harass Bush voters."If you ask me whether I believe there is an organized effort to intimidate Republican voters, the answer is absolutely yes," said Feeney.The Republican Party is calling on the secretary of state's office for help, asking that early voting rules be clarified.The secretary of state's office has not yet responded. "Significant numbers of people have already been deterred from voting," wrote Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan to Secretary of State Glenda Hood, "and this will continue until corrective measures are taken."Democratic Party officials in Tallahassee said they've had some complaints, too."We have had incidents as well," said Christine Anderson, spokeswoman for the Kerry campaign. "We've had quite a few."She said the party hasn't taken affidavits from voters and found it shocking the Republicans were so focused on the issue rather than working to make sure people can vote."It's just absurd they would try to accuse us of intimidation efforts," said Anderson. Permits in Palm Beach County show that the SEIU union and other Democratic groups have been holding rallies at early voting locations, where they have a captive audience of voters standing in line. Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore said the lines are long because voters are brought in by the busload."Special interest groups are trying to whip everybody into a frenzy and get everybody upset," she said. "Campaigns and their observers are confronting the workers and the voters. Things have gotten nasty and ugly."LePore said the county has an ordinance that forbids interference in county business in the building and they are citing that law to the campaigners. Her attorney has told her that an area at each polling place can be set aside for solicitation so she planned to do so. LePore said campaign workers followed voters into polling places and handed out literature next to the voting machines. Other voters standing in line were told the machines don't work and that they should vote absentee.Gisela Salas, deputy elections supervisor in Broward County, said even though early voting "doesn't have that voter solicitation rule, so to speak," her office has posted signs saying "no campaigning beyond this point" and have had cooperation for the most part. Still, there were complaints in Broward.Florida Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, one of the co-sponsors of the early voting law, said it's a shame that everything must be spelled out."I wish people would use common sense in terms of how they approached these things," said Klein. "It's a new law. Certainly there's a few things we need to go back in the legislation and fix. We are going to have to go back and put more specific rules in about how early voting should work."State Rep. Irv Slosberg, a Democrat from Boca Raton, said he wasn't happy with the early voting, either, because the rules changed daily."Someone from the elections office has to come out rather than relying on the county library to make these decisions," said Slosberg. "That's what's happening. It's up to the library people. ... Every day's a new game."Republican Party senior adviser Mindy Tucker Fletcher said she had more than a dozen affidavits from voters around the state that would be forwarded to Hood's office.According to the affidavits Fletcher released:One woman who voted early in Boca Raton, at the Southwest County Regional Library, complained that as she stood in line, two men behind her were "trashing our president," Fletcher said, declining to identify the woman. She tried to ignore them. Then the man touched her arm and said, "Who are you voting for?" "I said, `I don't think that's an appropriate question,'" the woman said she responded."Uh oh! We have a Bush supporter here," screamed the man behind her.For the 2 1/2 hours she had to wait in line, she was heckled by the man. As they neared the voting room, someone in the rear of the line yelled, "I sure hope everyone here is voting for Kerry!" she reported.That's when the man behind her held his hand over her head and screamed, "We have a Republican right here!" There were "boos and jeers" from the crowd."I felt intimidated, harassed and threatened!" the woman wrote in her complaint to the Republican Party.Elaine Fandino complained to the Republican Party that she took her mother to vote on South Military Trail in Palm Beach County and was confronted by 25 people supporting John Kerry for president. The crowd was "very angry and used foul language," she reported. She said the man next to her said, "Where's my shotgun?"In Broward County, at the regional library in Pembroke Pines, a voter complained that Kerry supporters used abusive language about President Bush and had signs and banners within 50 feet of the entrance.Kerry supporters were "shoving anti-Bush propaganda at us," complained the voter, who said he shouted back "Vote President Bush!"A woman who voted in Plantation at the West Regional Courthouse said she was offended to see five or six people with "huge stick on badges" for Kerry/Edwards, standing near the voting machines."Never in all the years of voting do we remember being allowed to show a badge or poster or literature while inside the area where the voters are standing ready to cast their vote," she wrote.Juan D'Arce of Miami complained to the Republicans that he tried early voting in downtown Miami. He was wearing a Bush pin, but he couldn't stand the taunting, so he turned away and did not vote.Howard Sherman complained about his voting experience at North Shore Branch Library in Miami-Dade County. He found a crowd of Kerry supporters blocking the door."They were positioned directly in front of the entrance to the library in such a manner that it would be impossible to avoid them while entering the polling place," he reported.Sherman said he tried to slip through the thinnest part of the crowd, but a woman in a Kerry T-shirt grabbed his arm and asked if he was voting for Kerry."I seem to recall from civics class that this sort of electioneering is illegal," Sherman complained to the Republicans.Republican Lawrence Gottfried, who became a poll watcher in Delray Beach after what he thought was inappropriate behavior at the polls, said the things he saw upset him.Gottfried said that while working at the Delray poll, actor Danny DeVito and his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, showed up. Gottfried is a fan, but he didn't ask for an autograph."I said, `Look Mr. DeVito, I'm a big fan of yours and Rhea's, but you are blocking the entrance. You're campaigning, you've got a Kerry-Edwards button on, and it's not appropriate."Gottfried, who used to be a Democrat, said the things he saw were "ridiculous.""There is a time for partisanship and it's OK to have a different point of view, but don't violate the sanctity of the polling area," he said. Buddy Nevins contributed to this report.Brittany Wallman can be contacted at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pglitch23oct23,0,3825651,print.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Early voting brings cries of bullying
By Brittany WallmanStaff WriterOctober 23, 2004
On Election Day, voters will be protected from campaign pressures by a 50-foot cone, an invisible barrier that campaign workers cannot breach. Not so for early voters.While the Voter's Bill of Rights in state law says they have a right to "vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or any other person," a glitch in the newer early voting law does not include the same 50-foot guarantee.As a result, with early voting taking place in busy public places like City Halls and libraries, voters are voicing complaints of being blocked by political mobs, or being singled out for their political views. Others say they have been grabbed, screamed at and cursed by political partisans of all stripes.Republican Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo said the antagonizers are "Kerry thugs" out to harass Bush voters."If you ask me whether I believe there is an organized effort to intimidate Republican voters, the answer is absolutely yes," said Feeney.The Republican Party is calling on the secretary of state's office for help, asking that early voting rules be clarified.The secretary of state's office has not yet responded. "Significant numbers of people have already been deterred from voting," wrote Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan to Secretary of State Glenda Hood, "and this will continue until corrective measures are taken."Democratic Party officials in Tallahassee said they've had some complaints, too."We have had incidents as well," said Christine Anderson, spokeswoman for the Kerry campaign. "We've had quite a few."She said the party hasn't taken affidavits from voters and found it shocking the Republicans were so focused on the issue rather than working to make sure people can vote."It's just absurd they would try to accuse us of intimidation efforts," said Anderson. Permits in Palm Beach County show that the SEIU union and other Democratic groups have been holding rallies at early voting locations, where they have a captive audience of voters standing in line. Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore said the lines are long because voters are brought in by the busload."Special interest groups are trying to whip everybody into a frenzy and get everybody upset," she said. "Campaigns and their observers are confronting the workers and the voters. Things have gotten nasty and ugly."LePore said the county has an ordinance that forbids interference in county business in the building and they are citing that law to the campaigners. Her attorney has told her that an area at each polling place can be set aside for solicitation so she planned to do so. LePore said campaign workers followed voters into polling places and handed out literature next to the voting machines. Other voters standing in line were told the machines don't work and that they should vote absentee.Gisela Salas, deputy elections supervisor in Broward County, said even though early voting "doesn't have that voter solicitation rule, so to speak," her office has posted signs saying "no campaigning beyond this point" and have had cooperation for the most part. Still, there were complaints in Broward.Florida Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, one of the co-sponsors of the early voting law, said it's a shame that everything must be spelled out."I wish people would use common sense in terms of how they approached these things," said Klein. "It's a new law. Certainly there's a few things we need to go back in the legislation and fix. We are going to have to go back and put more specific rules in about how early voting should work."State Rep. Irv Slosberg, a Democrat from Boca Raton, said he wasn't happy with the early voting, either, because the rules changed daily."Someone from the elections office has to come out rather than relying on the county library to make these decisions," said Slosberg. "That's what's happening. It's up to the library people. ... Every day's a new game."Republican Party senior adviser Mindy Tucker Fletcher said she had more than a dozen affidavits from voters around the state that would be forwarded to Hood's office.According to the affidavits Fletcher released:One woman who voted early in Boca Raton, at the Southwest County Regional Library, complained that as she stood in line, two men behind her were "trashing our president," Fletcher said, declining to identify the woman. She tried to ignore them. Then the man touched her arm and said, "Who are you voting for?" "I said, `I don't think that's an appropriate question,'" the woman said she responded."Uh oh! We have a Bush supporter here," screamed the man behind her.For the 2 1/2 hours she had to wait in line, she was heckled by the man. As they neared the voting room, someone in the rear of the line yelled, "I sure hope everyone here is voting for Kerry!" she reported.That's when the man behind her held his hand over her head and screamed, "We have a Republican right here!" There were "boos and jeers" from the crowd."I felt intimidated, harassed and threatened!" the woman wrote in her complaint to the Republican Party.Elaine Fandino complained to the Republican Party that she took her mother to vote on South Military Trail in Palm Beach County and was confronted by 25 people supporting John Kerry for president. The crowd was "very angry and used foul language," she reported. She said the man next to her said, "Where's my shotgun?"In Broward County, at the regional library in Pembroke Pines, a voter complained that Kerry supporters used abusive language about President Bush and had signs and banners within 50 feet of the entrance.Kerry supporters were "shoving anti-Bush propaganda at us," complained the voter, who said he shouted back "Vote President Bush!"A woman who voted in Plantation at the West Regional Courthouse said she was offended to see five or six people with "huge stick on badges" for Kerry/Edwards, standing near the voting machines."Never in all the years of voting do we remember being allowed to show a badge or poster or literature while inside the area where the voters are standing ready to cast their vote," she wrote.Juan D'Arce of Miami complained to the Republicans that he tried early voting in downtown Miami. He was wearing a Bush pin, but he couldn't stand the taunting, so he turned away and did not vote.Howard Sherman complained about his voting experience at North Shore Branch Library in Miami-Dade County. He found a crowd of Kerry supporters blocking the door."They were positioned directly in front of the entrance to the library in such a manner that it would be impossible to avoid them while entering the polling place," he reported.Sherman said he tried to slip through the thinnest part of the crowd, but a woman in a Kerry T-shirt grabbed his arm and asked if he was voting for Kerry."I seem to recall from civics class that this sort of electioneering is illegal," Sherman complained to the Republicans.Republican Lawrence Gottfried, who became a poll watcher in Delray Beach after what he thought was inappropriate behavior at the polls, said the things he saw upset him.Gottfried said that while working at the Delray poll, actor Danny DeVito and his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, showed up. Gottfried is a fan, but he didn't ask for an autograph."I said, `Look Mr. DeVito, I'm a big fan of yours and Rhea's, but you are blocking the entrance. You're campaigning, you've got a Kerry-Edwards button on, and it's not appropriate."Gottfried, who used to be a Democrat, said the things he saw were "ridiculous.""There is a time for partisanship and it's OK to have a different point of view, but don't violate the sanctity of the polling area," he said. Buddy Nevins contributed to this report.Brittany Wallman can be contacted at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:25 AM |
Godess help us...
Ugh. Godess help our democracy survive this election. And may I ask one question of this article that no one has seemed to ask: why are republicans allowed to place thousands of poll watchers? Why isn't there an equal number for both parties, and a limited number at that?:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/politics/campaign/23vote.html?oref=login&hp&ex=1098504000&en=9f4420d7cc5a3720&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: October 23, 2004
Luke Palmisano/Associated Press, for The New York Times
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
Ohio Democrats were struggling to match the Republicans' move, which had been rumored for weeks. Both parties had until 4 p.m. to register people they had recruited to monitor the election. Republicans said they had enlisted 3,600 by the deadline, many in heavily Democratic urban neighborhoods of Cleveland, Dayton and other cities. Each recruit was to be paid $100.
The Democrats, who tend to benefit more than Republicans from large turnouts, said they had registered more than 2,000 recruits to try to protect legitimate voters rather than weed out ineligible ones.
Republican officials said they had no intention of disrupting voting but were concerned about the possibility of fraud involving thousands of newly registered Democrats.
"The organized left's efforts to, quote unquote, register voters - I call them ringers - have created these problems," said James P. Trakas, a Republican co-chairman in Cuyahoga County.
Both parties have waged huge campaigns in the battleground states to register millions of new voters, and the developments in Ohio provided an early glimpse of how those efforts may play out on Election Day.
Ohio election officials said that by state law, the parties' challengers would have to show "reasonable" justification for doubting the qualifications of a voter before asking a poll worker to question that person. And, the officials said, challenges could be made on four main grounds: whether the voter is a citizen, is at least 18, is a resident of the county and has lived in Ohio for the previous 30 days.
Elections officials in Ohio said they hoped the criteria would minimize the potential for disruption. But Democrats worry that the challenges will inevitably delay the process and frustrate the voters.
"Our concern is Republicans will be challenging in large numbers for the purpose of slowing down voting, because challenging takes a long time,'' said David Sullivan, the voter protection coordinator for the national Democratic Party in Ohio. "And creating long lines causes our people to leave without voting.''
The Republican challenges in Ohio have already begun. Yesterday, party officials submitted a list of about 35,000 registered voters whose mailing addresses, the Republicans said, were questionable. After registering, they said, each of the voters was mailed a notice, and in each case the notice was returned to election officials as undeliverable.
In Cuyahoga County alone, which includes the heavily Democratic neighborhoods of Cleveland, the Republican Party submitted more than 14,000 names of voters for county election officials to scrutinize for possible irregularities. The party said it had registered more than 1,400 people to challenge voters in that county.
Among the main swing states, only Ohio, Florida and Missouri require the parties to register poll watchers before Election Day; elsewhere, party observers can register on the day itself. In several states officials have alerted poll workers to expect a heightened interest by the parties in challenging voters. In some cases, poll workers, many of them elderly, have been given training to deal with any abusive challenging.
Mr. Trakas, the Republican co-chairman in Cuyahoga County, said the recruits would be equipped with lists of voters who the party suspects are not county residents or otherwise qualified to vote.
The recruits will be trained next week, said Mr. Trakas, who added that he had not decided whether to open the training sessions to the public or reporters. Among other things, he said, the recruits will be taught how to challenge mentally disabled voters who are assisted by anyone other than their legal guardians. In previous elections, he said, bus drivers who had taken group-home residents to polling places often helped them vote.
Reno Oradini, the Cuyahoga County election board attorney, said a challenge would in effect create impromptu courts at polling places as workers huddled to resolve a dispute and cause delays in voting. He said he was working with local election officials to find ways of preventing disruptions that could drive away impatient voters and reduce turnout.
State law varies widely on voter challenges. In Colorado, challenged voters can sign an oath that they are indeed qualified to vote; voters found to have lied could be prosecuted, but their votes would still be counted. In Wisconsin, it is the challenger who must sign an oath stating the grounds for a challenge.
"You need personal knowledge," said Kevin J. Kennedy, executive director of the Wisconsin State Elections Board. "You can't say they don't look American or don't speak English."
National election officials said yesterday that Election Day challenging had been done only sporadically by the parties over the years, mainly in highly contested races. In the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, they said, challenges occurred mainly after Election Day.
The preparations for widespread challenging this year have alarmed some election officials.
"This creates chaos and confusion in the polling site," said R. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, an international association of election officials. But, he said, "most courts say it's permissible by state law and therefore can't be denied."
In Ohio, Republicans sought to play down any concern that their challenging would be disruptive.
"I suspect there will be challenges," said Robert T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. "But by and large, people will move through quickly. We want to make sure every eligible voter votes." He added, "99.9 percent will fly right by."
Challengers on both sides said they were uncertain about what to expect. Georgiana Nye, 56, a Dayton real estate broker who was registered by the Republicans as a challenger, said she wanted to help prevent fraud and would accept the $100 for the 13 hours of work and training.
For the Democrats in Dayton, Ronald Magoteaux, 57, a mechanical engineer, said he agreed to be a poll watcher out of concern for new voters. "I think it's sick that these Republicans are up to dirty tricks at the polls," Mr. Magoteaux said. "I believe thousands of votes were lost in 2000, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen in Ohio."
Democrats said they were racing to match the Republicans, precinct by precinct. In some cities, like Dayton, they registered more challengers than the Republicans, election officials said. But in Cuyahoga County, where the Republicans said they had registered 1,436 people to challenge voters, or one in every precinct, Democrats said they had signed up only about 300.
The parties are also preparing to battle over voter qualifications in Florida, where they had until last Tuesday to register challengers. In Fort Myers, Republicans named 100 watchers for the county's 171 precincts, up from 60 in 2000. But Democrats registered 300 watchers in the county, a sixfold increase.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/politics/campaign/23vote.html?oref=login&hp&ex=1098504000&en=9f4420d7cc5a3720&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: October 23, 2004
Luke Palmisano/Associated Press, for The New York Times
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
Ohio Democrats were struggling to match the Republicans' move, which had been rumored for weeks. Both parties had until 4 p.m. to register people they had recruited to monitor the election. Republicans said they had enlisted 3,600 by the deadline, many in heavily Democratic urban neighborhoods of Cleveland, Dayton and other cities. Each recruit was to be paid $100.
The Democrats, who tend to benefit more than Republicans from large turnouts, said they had registered more than 2,000 recruits to try to protect legitimate voters rather than weed out ineligible ones.
Republican officials said they had no intention of disrupting voting but were concerned about the possibility of fraud involving thousands of newly registered Democrats.
"The organized left's efforts to, quote unquote, register voters - I call them ringers - have created these problems," said James P. Trakas, a Republican co-chairman in Cuyahoga County.
Both parties have waged huge campaigns in the battleground states to register millions of new voters, and the developments in Ohio provided an early glimpse of how those efforts may play out on Election Day.
Ohio election officials said that by state law, the parties' challengers would have to show "reasonable" justification for doubting the qualifications of a voter before asking a poll worker to question that person. And, the officials said, challenges could be made on four main grounds: whether the voter is a citizen, is at least 18, is a resident of the county and has lived in Ohio for the previous 30 days.
Elections officials in Ohio said they hoped the criteria would minimize the potential for disruption. But Democrats worry that the challenges will inevitably delay the process and frustrate the voters.
"Our concern is Republicans will be challenging in large numbers for the purpose of slowing down voting, because challenging takes a long time,'' said David Sullivan, the voter protection coordinator for the national Democratic Party in Ohio. "And creating long lines causes our people to leave without voting.''
The Republican challenges in Ohio have already begun. Yesterday, party officials submitted a list of about 35,000 registered voters whose mailing addresses, the Republicans said, were questionable. After registering, they said, each of the voters was mailed a notice, and in each case the notice was returned to election officials as undeliverable.
In Cuyahoga County alone, which includes the heavily Democratic neighborhoods of Cleveland, the Republican Party submitted more than 14,000 names of voters for county election officials to scrutinize for possible irregularities. The party said it had registered more than 1,400 people to challenge voters in that county.
Among the main swing states, only Ohio, Florida and Missouri require the parties to register poll watchers before Election Day; elsewhere, party observers can register on the day itself. In several states officials have alerted poll workers to expect a heightened interest by the parties in challenging voters. In some cases, poll workers, many of them elderly, have been given training to deal with any abusive challenging.
Mr. Trakas, the Republican co-chairman in Cuyahoga County, said the recruits would be equipped with lists of voters who the party suspects are not county residents or otherwise qualified to vote.
The recruits will be trained next week, said Mr. Trakas, who added that he had not decided whether to open the training sessions to the public or reporters. Among other things, he said, the recruits will be taught how to challenge mentally disabled voters who are assisted by anyone other than their legal guardians. In previous elections, he said, bus drivers who had taken group-home residents to polling places often helped them vote.
Reno Oradini, the Cuyahoga County election board attorney, said a challenge would in effect create impromptu courts at polling places as workers huddled to resolve a dispute and cause delays in voting. He said he was working with local election officials to find ways of preventing disruptions that could drive away impatient voters and reduce turnout.
State law varies widely on voter challenges. In Colorado, challenged voters can sign an oath that they are indeed qualified to vote; voters found to have lied could be prosecuted, but their votes would still be counted. In Wisconsin, it is the challenger who must sign an oath stating the grounds for a challenge.
"You need personal knowledge," said Kevin J. Kennedy, executive director of the Wisconsin State Elections Board. "You can't say they don't look American or don't speak English."
National election officials said yesterday that Election Day challenging had been done only sporadically by the parties over the years, mainly in highly contested races. In the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, they said, challenges occurred mainly after Election Day.
The preparations for widespread challenging this year have alarmed some election officials.
"This creates chaos and confusion in the polling site," said R. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, an international association of election officials. But, he said, "most courts say it's permissible by state law and therefore can't be denied."
In Ohio, Republicans sought to play down any concern that their challenging would be disruptive.
"I suspect there will be challenges," said Robert T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. "But by and large, people will move through quickly. We want to make sure every eligible voter votes." He added, "99.9 percent will fly right by."
Challengers on both sides said they were uncertain about what to expect. Georgiana Nye, 56, a Dayton real estate broker who was registered by the Republicans as a challenger, said she wanted to help prevent fraud and would accept the $100 for the 13 hours of work and training.
For the Democrats in Dayton, Ronald Magoteaux, 57, a mechanical engineer, said he agreed to be a poll watcher out of concern for new voters. "I think it's sick that these Republicans are up to dirty tricks at the polls," Mr. Magoteaux said. "I believe thousands of votes were lost in 2000, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen in Ohio."
Democrats said they were racing to match the Republicans, precinct by precinct. In some cities, like Dayton, they registered more challengers than the Republicans, election officials said. But in Cuyahoga County, where the Republicans said they had registered 1,436 people to challenge voters, or one in every precinct, Democrats said they had signed up only about 300.
The parties are also preparing to battle over voter qualifications in Florida, where they had until last Tuesday to register challengers. In Fort Myers, Republicans named 100 watchers for the county's 171 precincts, up from 60 in 2000. But Democrats registered 300 watchers in the county, a sixfold increase.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:39 AM |
What now, folks?
The greatest problem is feeling that no matter what you do, at this point, if it is a participation in the system, then you are part of the problem. It is back to the old 1960's manrta, if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
I manage a coffeehouse; coffee is part of the problem, unless it is grown pesticide free under shade trees, and the workers are paid adequately. Why dwell on this? Because it is what I do for the money.
It is the globalization of the employment/marketplace. What I drink and sell in the morning affects people and the environment thousands of miles away.
Now it is one thing to be against globalization, and it is another to be against it, and to continue to participate in its functioning, and it is still another concept altogether to be against globalization and to withdraw from participation in its structure and system. And there are various degrees of withdrawing.
Would I ever fly in a plane again?
Would I ever purchase an item from a munti-national chain such as Wal Mart?
Would I give up my car?
I can tell you that the biggest change I have made for myself, most recently, is the near complete elimination of animal products from my diet. I say nearly complete.
Meat tastes vile to me right now, poisonous and putrid. I am thinking of the relaxing of inspection standards in our slaughter houses and packing plants. Beware of meat.
I have decided to take acidopholus tablets, rather than consume yogurt, and the only yogurt I would choose to consume is organic.
I recognize that vegetarianism is not an easy decision for the average family raising children. My sister has three children, her oldest age twelve is a vegetarian. Now my sister must essentially plan two meals. And of course, vegetarianism is best applied when children are very young. (I remember loving my steak growing up. It's taken me a long time in this process).
My best advice to families is to begin simply, and simply begin. Have nuts available on a daily basis, as snackes, instead of processed foods. You'll be amazed at how quickly your children fall in love with peanuts, walnuts, cashews. Roast your own and put less salt on them than the commercially canned varieties.
Start simple. One or two meals per week of beans and brown rice, or macaroni and cheese.
My ultimate goal is: back to the garden; to rely on my gardening for food. I have several friends who desire the same thing; we are searching to find a way to this, as a life-long commitment.
I manage a coffeehouse; coffee is part of the problem, unless it is grown pesticide free under shade trees, and the workers are paid adequately. Why dwell on this? Because it is what I do for the money.
It is the globalization of the employment/marketplace. What I drink and sell in the morning affects people and the environment thousands of miles away.
Now it is one thing to be against globalization, and it is another to be against it, and to continue to participate in its functioning, and it is still another concept altogether to be against globalization and to withdraw from participation in its structure and system. And there are various degrees of withdrawing.
Would I ever fly in a plane again?
Would I ever purchase an item from a munti-national chain such as Wal Mart?
Would I give up my car?
I can tell you that the biggest change I have made for myself, most recently, is the near complete elimination of animal products from my diet. I say nearly complete.
Meat tastes vile to me right now, poisonous and putrid. I am thinking of the relaxing of inspection standards in our slaughter houses and packing plants. Beware of meat.
I have decided to take acidopholus tablets, rather than consume yogurt, and the only yogurt I would choose to consume is organic.
I recognize that vegetarianism is not an easy decision for the average family raising children. My sister has three children, her oldest age twelve is a vegetarian. Now my sister must essentially plan two meals. And of course, vegetarianism is best applied when children are very young. (I remember loving my steak growing up. It's taken me a long time in this process).
My best advice to families is to begin simply, and simply begin. Have nuts available on a daily basis, as snackes, instead of processed foods. You'll be amazed at how quickly your children fall in love with peanuts, walnuts, cashews. Roast your own and put less salt on them than the commercially canned varieties.
Start simple. One or two meals per week of beans and brown rice, or macaroni and cheese.
My ultimate goal is: back to the garden; to rely on my gardening for food. I have several friends who desire the same thing; we are searching to find a way to this, as a life-long commitment.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:49 AM |
Discovering Moscow Times
I recently discovered the Moscow Times online, and I don't know anything about the rag, but Chris Floyd seems to churn out some interesting commentary:
Friday, October 22, 2004. Page 112.
Global Eye
By Chris Floyd
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/10/22/120.html
"Now we come at last to the heart of darkness. Now we know, from their own words, that the Bush Regime is a cult -- a cult whose god is Power, whose adherents believe that they alone control reality, that indeed they create the world anew with each act of their iron will. And the goal of this will -- undergirded by the cult's supreme virtues of war, fury and blind faith -- is likewise openly declared: "Empire."
You think this is an exaggeration? Then heed the words of the White House itself: a "senior adviser" to the president, who, as The New York Times reports, explained the cult to author Ron Suskind in the heady pre-war days of 2002.
First, the top Bush insider mocked the journalist and all those "in what we call the reality-based community," i.e., people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." Suskind's attempt to defend the principles of reason and enlightenment cut no ice with the Bush-man. "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality," he said. "And while you're studying that reality, we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
Anyone with any knowledge of 20th-century history will know that this same megalomaniacal outburst could have been made by a "senior adviser" to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini or Mao. Indeed, as scholar Juan Cole points out, the dogma of the Bush Cult is identical with the "reality-creating" declaration of Mao's "Little Red Book": "It is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever." For Bush, as for Mao, "discernible reality" has no meaning: Political, cultural, economic, scientific truth -- even the fundamental processes of nature, even human nature itself -- must give way to the faith-statements of ideology, ruthlessly applied by unbending zealots.
Thus: The conquered will welcome their killers. The poor will be happy to slave for the rich. The Earth can sustain any amount of damage without lasting harm. The loss of rights is essential to liberty. War without end is the only way to peace. Cronyism is the path to universal prosperity. Dissent is evil; dissenters are "with the terrorists." But God is with the Leader; whatever he does is righteous, even if in the eyes of unbelievers -- the "reality-based community" -- his acts are criminal: aggressive war that kills thousands of innocent people, widespread torture, secret assassinations, rampant corruption, electoral subversion.
Indeed, the doctrine "Gott mit Uns" is the linchpin of the Bush Cult. Tens of millions of Americans have now embraced the Cult's fusion of Bush's leadership with Divine Will. As a Bush volunteer in Missouri told Suskind: "I just believe God controls everything, and God uses the president to keep evil down ... God gave us this president to be the man to protect the nation at this time." God appointed Bush; thus Bush's acts are godly. It's a circular, self-confirming mind-set that can't be penetrated by reason or facts, can't be shaken by crimes and scandals. That's why Bush's core support -- comprising almost half of the electorate -- stays rock-solid, despite the manifest failures of his administration. It's based on blind faith, on poisonous fantasy: simple, flattering ("We're uniquely good, God's special nation!"), comforting, complete -- so unlike the harsh, bewildering, splintered shards of reality.
This closed mind-set is constantly reinforced by the ubiquitous right-wing media -- evoking the threat of demonic enemies on every side, relentlessly manufacturing righteous outrage -- and by Bush's appearances (epiphanies?) at his carefully screened rallies, where even the slightest hint of demurral from his Godly greatness is ruthlessly expunged. For example, three schoolteachers were ejected from a Bush rally under threat of arrest last week. Not for protesting -- they hadn't said a word -- but merely for wearing T-shirts that read, "Protect Our Civil Liberties." Thus the faithful "create the new reality" of undivided loyalty to the Leader.
The dogma of Bush's godliness is no rhetorical flourish; it has been forged with blood and iron. Consider General Jerry Boykin, who, in uniform, toured churches across the United States, declaring openly that "George W. Bush was not elected by the majority of the American people; he was appointed by God" to lead his "Christian nation" against Satan and the "idol-worshippers" of Islam, as Salon.com reports. Bush then made Boykin the Pentagon's chief of military intelligence -- the point man for wringing information out of Islamic captives in the "war on terror." The result -- confirmed even by the Pentagon's own anemic investigations -- was a military intelligence system gone berserk, systematically torturing and occasionally murdering prisoners who, as the Red Cross notes, were overwhelmingly innocent of any crime. Bush signed orders removing these prisoners from the protection of U.S. and international law; Boykin's boys then visited divine wrath upon the heathens. But these atrocities cannot be crimes, because Bush and Boykin are, in the general's phraseology, "Kingdom warriors" in the "Army of God."
This isn't politics as usual -- not even an extreme version of it, not McCarthyism revisited, Reaganism times two, or Nixon in a Stetson hat. There's never been anything like it in American life before: a messianic cult backed by vast corporate power, a massive cadre of religious zealots, a highly disciplined party, an overwhelming media machine and the mammoth force of history's most powerful government -- all led by men who "create new realities" out of lies, blood, theft and torment.
Their "empire" -- their Death-Cult, their power-mania -- is an old madness rising again."
Friday, October 22, 2004. Page 112.
Global Eye
By Chris Floyd
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/10/22/120.html
"Now we come at last to the heart of darkness. Now we know, from their own words, that the Bush Regime is a cult -- a cult whose god is Power, whose adherents believe that they alone control reality, that indeed they create the world anew with each act of their iron will. And the goal of this will -- undergirded by the cult's supreme virtues of war, fury and blind faith -- is likewise openly declared: "Empire."
You think this is an exaggeration? Then heed the words of the White House itself: a "senior adviser" to the president, who, as The New York Times reports, explained the cult to author Ron Suskind in the heady pre-war days of 2002.
First, the top Bush insider mocked the journalist and all those "in what we call the reality-based community," i.e., people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." Suskind's attempt to defend the principles of reason and enlightenment cut no ice with the Bush-man. "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality," he said. "And while you're studying that reality, we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
Anyone with any knowledge of 20th-century history will know that this same megalomaniacal outburst could have been made by a "senior adviser" to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini or Mao. Indeed, as scholar Juan Cole points out, the dogma of the Bush Cult is identical with the "reality-creating" declaration of Mao's "Little Red Book": "It is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever." For Bush, as for Mao, "discernible reality" has no meaning: Political, cultural, economic, scientific truth -- even the fundamental processes of nature, even human nature itself -- must give way to the faith-statements of ideology, ruthlessly applied by unbending zealots.
Thus: The conquered will welcome their killers. The poor will be happy to slave for the rich. The Earth can sustain any amount of damage without lasting harm. The loss of rights is essential to liberty. War without end is the only way to peace. Cronyism is the path to universal prosperity. Dissent is evil; dissenters are "with the terrorists." But God is with the Leader; whatever he does is righteous, even if in the eyes of unbelievers -- the "reality-based community" -- his acts are criminal: aggressive war that kills thousands of innocent people, widespread torture, secret assassinations, rampant corruption, electoral subversion.
Indeed, the doctrine "Gott mit Uns" is the linchpin of the Bush Cult. Tens of millions of Americans have now embraced the Cult's fusion of Bush's leadership with Divine Will. As a Bush volunteer in Missouri told Suskind: "I just believe God controls everything, and God uses the president to keep evil down ... God gave us this president to be the man to protect the nation at this time." God appointed Bush; thus Bush's acts are godly. It's a circular, self-confirming mind-set that can't be penetrated by reason or facts, can't be shaken by crimes and scandals. That's why Bush's core support -- comprising almost half of the electorate -- stays rock-solid, despite the manifest failures of his administration. It's based on blind faith, on poisonous fantasy: simple, flattering ("We're uniquely good, God's special nation!"), comforting, complete -- so unlike the harsh, bewildering, splintered shards of reality.
This closed mind-set is constantly reinforced by the ubiquitous right-wing media -- evoking the threat of demonic enemies on every side, relentlessly manufacturing righteous outrage -- and by Bush's appearances (epiphanies?) at his carefully screened rallies, where even the slightest hint of demurral from his Godly greatness is ruthlessly expunged. For example, three schoolteachers were ejected from a Bush rally under threat of arrest last week. Not for protesting -- they hadn't said a word -- but merely for wearing T-shirts that read, "Protect Our Civil Liberties." Thus the faithful "create the new reality" of undivided loyalty to the Leader.
The dogma of Bush's godliness is no rhetorical flourish; it has been forged with blood and iron. Consider General Jerry Boykin, who, in uniform, toured churches across the United States, declaring openly that "George W. Bush was not elected by the majority of the American people; he was appointed by God" to lead his "Christian nation" against Satan and the "idol-worshippers" of Islam, as Salon.com reports. Bush then made Boykin the Pentagon's chief of military intelligence -- the point man for wringing information out of Islamic captives in the "war on terror." The result -- confirmed even by the Pentagon's own anemic investigations -- was a military intelligence system gone berserk, systematically torturing and occasionally murdering prisoners who, as the Red Cross notes, were overwhelmingly innocent of any crime. Bush signed orders removing these prisoners from the protection of U.S. and international law; Boykin's boys then visited divine wrath upon the heathens. But these atrocities cannot be crimes, because Bush and Boykin are, in the general's phraseology, "Kingdom warriors" in the "Army of God."
This isn't politics as usual -- not even an extreme version of it, not McCarthyism revisited, Reaganism times two, or Nixon in a Stetson hat. There's never been anything like it in American life before: a messianic cult backed by vast corporate power, a massive cadre of religious zealots, a highly disciplined party, an overwhelming media machine and the mammoth force of history's most powerful government -- all led by men who "create new realities" out of lies, blood, theft and torment.
Their "empire" -- their Death-Cult, their power-mania -- is an old madness rising again."
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:29 AM |
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
A request of John Kerry.
Published on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1012-23.htm
Kerry Must Say It's Wrong to Rush Into an Unprovoked War - Even With "A Plan to Win the Peace"
by Dennis Hans
If John Kerry blows the election, it will be because he fell in love with the most ridiculous, counterproductive soundbite of the 2004 campaign: "The president rushed our nation to war without a plan to win the peace."
George W. Bush did indeed do just that. But young Kerry didn't blast LBJ for "escalating the Vietnam War without a plan to win the peace." He didn't attack Nixon for "invading Cambodia without a plan to win the peace." Nor did he say, "I would have first reached out to our allies and THEN bomb Southeast Asia back to the Stone Age."
Kerry opposed those wars because they were unnecessary and unprovoked. They were wrong. Their wrongness - particularly the human devastation - was the theme Kerry hammered home. Audiences of that era had no trouble discerning Kerry's message.
To his credit, in recent speeches and debates Kerry has done a better job on Iraq, utilizing a "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" line and criticizing Bush for his failure to keep his pledge to go to war only as a last resort. Also, Kerry has occasionally noted, when detailing how he would have done "almost everything differently," that the result of a President Kerry allowing the U.N. weapons inspectors sufficient time to complete their work would have been a final report declaring Iraq free of WMD and WMD programs - thus no justification for war, thus no war.
But more often than not he rushes to his "rushed to war without a plan to win the peace" line, in the process sabotaging what should be his winning argument. Viewers don't get to hear from Kerry just what Bush did, or to reflect on the human consequences of that fateful and fatal decision.
The president, Kerry should thunder, misled the nation into an unnecessary war. The president took intelligence reports that overstated the danger posed by Saddam, then removed the ambiguity from those reports to present with great certitude a frightening but highly distorted picture. Two weeks before Bush launched the invasion, with weapons inspectors still on the ground, following the leads of U.S. and British intelligence yet finding absolutely no evidence of WMD or even WMD programs, the president went on national TV and described Iraq as a "direct" and "gathering threat," and a "true, real threat to America" (March 6, 2003 press conference). In fact, the WMD threat looked "puny and diminishing," and a few additional months of inspections would have proved it to be non-existent. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the context in which this president launched a war that has caused the needless deaths of more than a thousand Americans and 15 thousand Iraqis - a terrible toll that rises with each passing day. George W. Bush is responsible for each and every one of those deaths.
But listen to Kerry in Friday night's debate:
"I believe the president made a huge mistake, a catastrophic mistake, not to live up to his own standard, which was: build a true global coalition, give the inspectors time to finish their job and go through the UN process to its end and go to war as a last resort. I ask each of you just to look into your hearts, look into your guts. Gut- check time. Was this really going to war as a last resort? The president rushed our nation to war without a plan to win the peace."
Kerry makes good points as he builds up to what should be a devastating condemnation of Bush, then blows it by concluding with that idiotic, irrelevant tangent. It was wrong to launch this particular war even if Bush had had the perfect "plan to win the peace."
Kerry's spokespeople botch this all the time, and John Edwards did so October 10 on the Sunday morning shows. They need to stop. The campaign needs to put together a succinct message of why this war was wrong. Criticism of Bush's conduct of the war is certainly appropriate, but it should be clearly distinct from the more important critique of the decision to go to war.
The ineptitude of Kerry's hawkish, right-leaning foreign-policy team is demonstrated once more in the aftermath of the Duelfer Report, as Kerry has let Bush make hay out of Duelfer's irrelevant speculation on what Saddam might have wanted to do, had he remained in power and economic sanctions been lifted.
As Hans Blix pointed out Sunday in the British newspaper The Independent, "even if economic sanctions were lifted or watered down in the future, nothing suggests that the Security Council would relax its ban on Iraq acquiring WMD. Indeed, binding resolutions foresaw a 'reinforced system of monitoring and verification' without any fixed end."
Does the Kerry team even know this? More to the point, did Bush, prior to the war, know this? I would bet he didn't. This could be a devastating Kerry talking point: "The president says he went to war with great reluctance. Ladies and gentlemen, he was so gung-ho that he never bothered to ask his advisers what would follow if the inspectors were to declare Iraq free of WMD."
Bush actually had a valid point when he told ABC's Diane Sawyer that, as long as Saddam had the means to make WMD, it wasn't that big a deal if he didn't have stockpiles at the ready - valid, that is, if the end result of Saddam earning a passing grade from the inspectors was for the U.N. to remove all its monitoring equpment and forego the planned, on-site and indefinite follow-up inspections, leaving Saddam to pick up where he left off in 1990, free of oversight. But, as Blix says, that wasn't about to happen. The Security Council resolutions were in place, and the U.S. could veto any proposal to end the "reinforced system of monitoring and verification."
So there you have it, Senator Kerry - the key to a decisive electoral victory: Expose President Bush as being so eager to launch an unprovoked war that has killed a thousand Americans and many more Iraqis that he apparently never bothered to ask Secretary Powell or U.N. Ambassador Negroponte, "If Blix and elBaradei declare Iraq free of WMD, will intrusive, on-site monitoring continue?" Perhaps he was not prepared to take "Yes" for an answer.
Dennis Hans (Hans_d@mail.firn.edu) is a freelance writer who has taught courses in mass communications and American foreign policy at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg; he's also a basketball shooting instructor. Prior to the Iraq war, he penned the prescient essays "Lying Us Into War: Exposing Bush and His 'Techniques of Deceit'
© 2004 Dennis Hans
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1012-23.htm
Kerry Must Say It's Wrong to Rush Into an Unprovoked War - Even With "A Plan to Win the Peace"
by Dennis Hans
If John Kerry blows the election, it will be because he fell in love with the most ridiculous, counterproductive soundbite of the 2004 campaign: "The president rushed our nation to war without a plan to win the peace."
George W. Bush did indeed do just that. But young Kerry didn't blast LBJ for "escalating the Vietnam War without a plan to win the peace." He didn't attack Nixon for "invading Cambodia without a plan to win the peace." Nor did he say, "I would have first reached out to our allies and THEN bomb Southeast Asia back to the Stone Age."
Kerry opposed those wars because they were unnecessary and unprovoked. They were wrong. Their wrongness - particularly the human devastation - was the theme Kerry hammered home. Audiences of that era had no trouble discerning Kerry's message.
To his credit, in recent speeches and debates Kerry has done a better job on Iraq, utilizing a "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" line and criticizing Bush for his failure to keep his pledge to go to war only as a last resort. Also, Kerry has occasionally noted, when detailing how he would have done "almost everything differently," that the result of a President Kerry allowing the U.N. weapons inspectors sufficient time to complete their work would have been a final report declaring Iraq free of WMD and WMD programs - thus no justification for war, thus no war.
But more often than not he rushes to his "rushed to war without a plan to win the peace" line, in the process sabotaging what should be his winning argument. Viewers don't get to hear from Kerry just what Bush did, or to reflect on the human consequences of that fateful and fatal decision.
The president, Kerry should thunder, misled the nation into an unnecessary war. The president took intelligence reports that overstated the danger posed by Saddam, then removed the ambiguity from those reports to present with great certitude a frightening but highly distorted picture. Two weeks before Bush launched the invasion, with weapons inspectors still on the ground, following the leads of U.S. and British intelligence yet finding absolutely no evidence of WMD or even WMD programs, the president went on national TV and described Iraq as a "direct" and "gathering threat," and a "true, real threat to America" (March 6, 2003 press conference). In fact, the WMD threat looked "puny and diminishing," and a few additional months of inspections would have proved it to be non-existent. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the context in which this president launched a war that has caused the needless deaths of more than a thousand Americans and 15 thousand Iraqis - a terrible toll that rises with each passing day. George W. Bush is responsible for each and every one of those deaths.
But listen to Kerry in Friday night's debate:
"I believe the president made a huge mistake, a catastrophic mistake, not to live up to his own standard, which was: build a true global coalition, give the inspectors time to finish their job and go through the UN process to its end and go to war as a last resort. I ask each of you just to look into your hearts, look into your guts. Gut- check time. Was this really going to war as a last resort? The president rushed our nation to war without a plan to win the peace."
Kerry makes good points as he builds up to what should be a devastating condemnation of Bush, then blows it by concluding with that idiotic, irrelevant tangent. It was wrong to launch this particular war even if Bush had had the perfect "plan to win the peace."
Kerry's spokespeople botch this all the time, and John Edwards did so October 10 on the Sunday morning shows. They need to stop. The campaign needs to put together a succinct message of why this war was wrong. Criticism of Bush's conduct of the war is certainly appropriate, but it should be clearly distinct from the more important critique of the decision to go to war.
The ineptitude of Kerry's hawkish, right-leaning foreign-policy team is demonstrated once more in the aftermath of the Duelfer Report, as Kerry has let Bush make hay out of Duelfer's irrelevant speculation on what Saddam might have wanted to do, had he remained in power and economic sanctions been lifted.
As Hans Blix pointed out Sunday in the British newspaper The Independent, "even if economic sanctions were lifted or watered down in the future, nothing suggests that the Security Council would relax its ban on Iraq acquiring WMD. Indeed, binding resolutions foresaw a 'reinforced system of monitoring and verification' without any fixed end."
Does the Kerry team even know this? More to the point, did Bush, prior to the war, know this? I would bet he didn't. This could be a devastating Kerry talking point: "The president says he went to war with great reluctance. Ladies and gentlemen, he was so gung-ho that he never bothered to ask his advisers what would follow if the inspectors were to declare Iraq free of WMD."
Bush actually had a valid point when he told ABC's Diane Sawyer that, as long as Saddam had the means to make WMD, it wasn't that big a deal if he didn't have stockpiles at the ready - valid, that is, if the end result of Saddam earning a passing grade from the inspectors was for the U.N. to remove all its monitoring equpment and forego the planned, on-site and indefinite follow-up inspections, leaving Saddam to pick up where he left off in 1990, free of oversight. But, as Blix says, that wasn't about to happen. The Security Council resolutions were in place, and the U.S. could veto any proposal to end the "reinforced system of monitoring and verification."
So there you have it, Senator Kerry - the key to a decisive electoral victory: Expose President Bush as being so eager to launch an unprovoked war that has killed a thousand Americans and many more Iraqis that he apparently never bothered to ask Secretary Powell or U.N. Ambassador Negroponte, "If Blix and elBaradei declare Iraq free of WMD, will intrusive, on-site monitoring continue?" Perhaps he was not prepared to take "Yes" for an answer.
Dennis Hans (Hans_d@mail.firn.edu) is a freelance writer who has taught courses in mass communications and American foreign policy at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg; he's also a basketball shooting instructor. Prior to the Iraq war, he penned the prescient essays "Lying Us Into War: Exposing Bush and His 'Techniques of Deceit'
© 2004 Dennis Hans
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:30 PM |
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