Krugman

is an absolute must-read today. "Let's say the obvious. By making Iraq a playground for right-wing economic theorists, an employment agency for friends and family, and a source of lucrative contracts for corporate donors, the administration did terrorist recruiters a very big favor. "

Abriendo Caminos

This is part of Bush's outreach to Latinos. A website called "Opening Paths" has a sign-up page. As the WaPo reports, This webpage contains a sign-up sheet.

Signing up promises Spanish-speaking folks that President Bush and the GOP will "send you weekly news about the topics that most interest you." The sign-up page asks the usual stuff -- name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. You are to check which of many listed topics -- immigration, health, Social Security, corporate responsibility, crime prevention and so on -- are of most interest. Then it asks what you are. There are four options: war veteran or retired military; teacher or educator; senior citizen; or farmer or rancher. That's it. Nothing for lawyers, doctors, engineers or corporate executives to check. Not even a box for "otro?"

Enron: red-handed

Tapes reveal what we all already knew. That Bush & Cheney's second-favorite energy conglomerate, Enron, deliberately manipulated the energy market artificially to create an energy crisis in California in 2000. Despicable. Coincidentally, some of these conspirators are heard to be hoping for a Bush win in 2000. What a surprise. "It'd be great. I'd love to see Ken Lay Secretary of Energy," says one Enron worker.

Haven't been posting much

Spring is here, and my thoughts have wandered pretty far from politics. Honestly, this country is, in my opinion, in the midst of a pretty bad period, and it seems to me as if no one cares. Let's take a journey of the mind. It's 1998, and Bill Clinton is President. - Gas prices are routinely at $2.13/gal for regular. - We are engaged in an urban guerrilla war that we chose to fight as an aggressor. - Over 800 US servicemen and women have died in that war. - Although the war itself went swimmingly well, the postwar occupation has been a tactical disaster. It was poorly planned and executed with a blind, arrogant bravado. -- We have successfully alienated a great portion of the local population with our incompetence. - The deficit has returned with a vengeance. - There is a prison scandal in the occupied nation, which has brought great shame on the US. - The government justifies its shameful prison scandal by arguing that at least it isn't as bad as it was under Saddam; thus lowering the bar of decency and humanity to "better than a murderous dictator". I could go on, but why bother? Could you imagine the cacophonous clammer from the right if any one of those items had happened under Clinton? Amazingly, many on the right blame the whole thing on Clinton and the Democrats anyway, so their credibility is in the toilet. In any event, New York is pretty solidly in Kerry's corner, so all that's really left to do is raise some money and get out the vote. That doesn't really matter until the fall, the way I see it, so I think I can take a well-deserved break from campaign matters until then. I'll post when time and news permits.

How charming

This from the infamous Lucianne Goldberg she of Lewinsky/Tripp infamy, and a woman who is best compared with Ursula the Sea Witch from Disney's Little Mermaid: Under a photograph of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), she adds this quote: "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." -President Abraham Lincoln Just another example of the rise of blatant fascism in the "conservative" movement. I prefer this quote: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience…Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring" -- Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950

"Broken Engagement " by Gen. Wesley Clark

Wes Clark brilliance. Check it out here. Here's an excerpt: "During 2002 and early 2003, Bush administration officials put forth a shifting series of arguments for why we needed to invade Iraq. Nearly every one of these has been belied by subsequent events. We have yet to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; assuming that they exist at all, they obviously never presented an imminent threat. Saddam's alleged connections to al Qaeda turned out to be tenuous at best and clearly had nothing to do with September 11. The terrorists now in Iraq have largely arrived because we are there, and Saddam's security forces aren't. And peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which prominent hawks argued could be achieved 'only through Baghdad,' seems further away than ever. "

Zell Miller the wingnut.

According to Zell Miller, what went on at Abu Ghraib is nothing more serious than what goes on in school locker rooms across the country. As Pandagon comments, the school locker room can be an intimidating place, but "since nobody locked the door, put a bag over my head, beat me, sodomized me with broomsticks and light sticks, forced men into sexual acts with other people, threatened my life, and took pictures of the whole thing for their amusement, I never thought to compare it to what happened in Iraq, because it wasn't even in the same galaxy of occurences". Indeed.

Pathetic.

Bush likes to go around visiting factories, (mostly those run by his supporters) and making a big point about just how successful and helpful his tax cuts, etc. are for manufacturers. This is an especially important point in battleground rust belt states like Ohio and Michigan. A visit to Counterspin Central will reveal that a factory in Canton, OH, which Bush visited in 2003, and where he gave a self-congratulatory speech in front of a "Jobs and Growth" banner similar to the now-infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner. Well, that plant's been shut down.

A glimpse

of John Ashcroft's America. Who would have thought that the pride and flag-waving jingoism of 2002 would give way to utter shame and disgust in 2004?

If you didn't already think Bush & Co needed to go...

The GAO investigates and discovers that 28 top (read: executive-level) federal workers sport bogus "diploma-mill" degrees. Including some who work in the TSA, and three managers at the office that handles nuclear weapons safety. Let's not forget about the Abu Ghraib scandal. Could you IMAGINE the headlines and the unbridled venom that would be spewing from the mouths of people like Limbaugh, DeLay, etc. if this had happened under, say, Clinton? Well, there are some new as-yet-unreleased pictures, and the question isn't whether, but when they'll be made public. Apparently, some of the photos depict soldiers having sex with each other. Apparently, other photos depict US troops sodomizing Iraqi prisoners with glow sticks What's also striking is that, all of a sudden the very "black and white" world of conservative punditry has opened itself up to the wonders of moral relativism.

Yaay. My LTE is published

Here's the link. Here's the text: We'd be better off with Kerry at helm 5/5/2004 Recent letters to The News attacking Sen. John Kerry are misguided and ironic. One letter touted Bush's tax cuts, yet criticized Kerry supporters for demanding more government programs, using the old canard that Democrats are tax and spenders. The Bush administration's idea of wealth redistribution involves cutting taxes, while spending the people's money with unbridled enthusiasm. Wealthy individuals and big corporations get huge tax breaks on the backs of middle-class taxpayers. In place of a huge budget surplus, we now have a record deficit. The Republican federal government is all about spending without actually paying the bill. That's not guts. It's irresponsibility. Kerry wants to decrease the federal deficit. He believes that a strong economy can coexist with sound environmental policies. He knows firsthand what war is like, and will not be cavalier when putting our men and women in harm's way. Kerry will make it easier for middle-class kids to get a college education. He will stop giving tax breaks to companies that take their headquarters and jobs overseas. By the way, last year, I was a Republican, too. ALAN BEDENKO Clarence Center

Great new website

Everyone remember David Brock? Back in the early 90s, he was a shill for the conservatives - he was, in fact, their darling. He wrote the "Real Anita Hill", and broke the Clinton "Troopergate" story, among others, working for the ultra-right-wing "American Spectator." Turned out, Brock is gay. Turns out, the ultra-right-wing conservative movement doesn't much care for gays. So, now Brock has changed his ways and is turning his undeniable talents against his former masters on the right. He is the editor of this new website: Media Matters for America. Please go check it out. There's too much good stuff about ..ahem.. lying liars there, and it seems to be updated regularly.

GOP Strategery

According to Oliver Willis, here's a paraphrase of GOP strategy: "Senator Kerry, please explain to us what you did with the medals you won for being shot at and for saving lives during your service for our country, while President Bush and Vice President Cheney were avoiding the draft. Senator Kerry, release your military records so we can reveal your excellent performance reviews and compare them to President Bush's middling and missing ones."

Nightline controversy

According to Poynter Online, The Sinclair Broadcast group, which owns several ABC affiliates, mainly in the Southeast, will refuse to air Friday night's Nightline. Why? Because Ted Koppel will read the names of the servicemen and women who have died in Iraq. Here's part of Sinclair's reasoning. It's flawed. Click the link above for the whole disgusting thing: "The ABC Television network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30th edition of Nightline will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq." Thankfully, ABC responds, in part: "We respectfully disagree with Sinclair's decision to pre-empt "Nightline's" tribute to America's fallen soldiers which will air this Friday, April 30. The Nightline broadcast is an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country. ABC News is dedicated to thoughtful and balanced coverage and reports on the events shaping our world with neither fear nor favor -- as our audience expects, deserves, and rightly demands. Contrary to the statement issued by Sinclair, which takes issue with our level of coverage of the effects of terrorism on our citizens, ABC News and all of our broadcasts, including "Nightline," have reported hundreds of stories on 9-11. Indeed, on the first anniversary of 9-11, ABC News broadcast the names of the victims of that horrific attack."

People just don't trust Bush anymore

Just click here and check it out.

Clark op-ed in NYT

Check out Wes Clark's brilliant defense of Kerry's Vietnam War Record in today's New York Times. "When John Kerry released his military records to the public last week, Americans learned a lot about Mr. Kerry's exceptional service in Vietnam. They also learned a lot about the Republican attack machine." "The evaluations were uniformly glowing. One commander wrote that Mr. Kerry ranked among 'the top few' in three categories: initiative, cooperation and personal behavior. Another commander wrote, 'In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, Lt. j.g. Kerry was unsurpassed.' The citation for Mr. Kerry's Bronze Star praises his 'calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire.'" "In the United States military, there's no ideology - there are no labels, Republican or Democrat - when superiors evaluate a man or woman's service to country. Mr. Kerry's commander for a brief time, Grant Hibbard, now a Republican, gave Mr. Kerry top marks 36 years ago." "Now the standards are those of politics, not the military. Despite his positive evaluations, Mr. Hibbard recently questioned whether Mr. Kerry deserved one of his three Purple Hearts. In the heat of a political campaign, attacks come from all directions." Go check out the rest.

LTE

A letter of mine will be printed in the Buffalo News shortly. I'll link if I can find it.

"I watched Kerry throw his war medals"

The slime du jour is the old charge that Kerry-claimed-he-threw-his-medals-but-never-really-threw-them. Tom Oliphant pretty much puts an end to this latest GOP nonsense in today's Boston Globe. "ON THE WAY to the fence where he threw some of his military decorations 33 years ago, I was 4 or 5 feet behind John Kerry." "As he neared the spot from which members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were parting with a few of the trappings of their difficult past to help them face their future more squarely, I watched Kerry reach with his right hand into the breast pocket of his fatigue shirt. The hand emerged with several of the ribbons that most of the vets had been wearing that unique week of protest, much as they are worn on a uniform blouse." The point is that "medals" and "ribbons" was interchangeable back then. The ribbons one wore on one's uniform symbolized, among other things, medals that the soldier had won. Obviously, unless you're a member of the Soviet Politburo, you don't go around wearing medals all the time. They get cumbersome, you know. So, because Kerry said he threw his "medals" when, in fact, he kept the metal medal but threw the ribbon instead, the GOP is trying to paint Kerry as a liar and, probably, a murderer of small animals. Next.

Honor. Duty.

We're fighting two old-fashioned wars overseas. We're fighting a newfangled war against terrorism. Things are, by most accounts, not going swimmingly. In the middle of all of this, the right-wing attack squads are all over John Kerry's military record. Release it all! they scream. That first purple heart was for a mere flesh wound! they yell. Well, Kerry released his entire military file. Bush still can't account for a good chunk of his service. In any event, here is something to consider: From George W. Bush's file: From John Kerry's file: 'Nuff said, really. Thanks to The Washington Monthly for the quick info.

Honestly.

We're the wealthiest country in the world. Bush has about $150 million in his campaign treasury. Don't you think that any 13-year old with a PC and photoshop could have done a better job than this juvenile, tacky background? It looks like "protection" is most important. it appears, in one form or another, seven times. Next comes "prevention", which appears five times. Bringing up the rear is "enforcement", which merits only four entries. I like how there is uneven spacing between "prevention" and "enforcement" on the second row. I also like that "protection" appears next to itself on the fourth row down. Finally, note how the words are arranged in such a way as to perfectly surround the President's head. That's quite creepy.