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Video: Alternative Views
Censured Casualties
features rare footage of war crimes against the Iraqi people suffered during and after the Gulf War. The footage is from former Attorney General Ramsey Clark in his attempt to document the injustice of United States military actions in the region.

Censured Casualties
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Another Unknown War
features a film on the struggle of the indigenous people of West Papua to remain sovereign in the face of an Indonesian invasion backed by world capital. Footage of Noam Chomsky on Western involvments in the region and the relation to East Timor.

Another Unknown War
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Thursday, March 31, 2005

The New York Times >> Schiavo Dies Nearly Two Weeks After Removal of Feeding Tube

the first stage of the painful Schiavo tragedy ends as the media disgracefully invade the privacy of a dying woman and present endless pictures of her in a vegetative state, while different groups exploit the tragedy politically with the acquiescence of the media and her parentsThe New York Times > National > Schiavo Dies Nearly Two Weeks After Removal of Feeding Tube

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/31/2005 01:29:06 PM | Permalink

The New York Times > Panel Says 'Dead Wrong' Data on Prewar Iraq Demands Overhaul

another failure for US intelligence
The New York Times > Washington > Panel Says 'Dead Wrong' Data on Prewar Iraq Demands Overhaul

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/31/2005 01:18:31 PM | Permalink

Molly Ivins: 'Energy insanity'

Bush-Cheney energy policy is truly insane and corrupt showing a totally immoral adminstration (once again)
The Smirking Chimp: "Molly Ivins: 'Energy insanity'"

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/31/2005 07:26:21 AM | Permalink

Jonathan Alter: 'Bush's hypocrisy truly unbearable'

Bush's hypocrisy on the Terry Schiavo case is truly incredible: here is a man who carried out 152 executions when Governor of Texas, barely bothering to review the cases because he "trusted the courts." The Schiavo case is probably the most reviewed case in recent history by doctors and the courts and yet Bush and his hypocrits jumped in to exploit the issue with many rightwing "right to life" advocates spreading false medical information, defaming the husband carrying out his wife's wishes, and creating a quasi-fascist mob. This same mob doesn't care about state executions, the killing of over 100,000 civilians in Iraq, or other state-sponsored torture and murder but gets all wound up over a poor hopelessly vegetative and dying woman. Reaction against the mob and Bush has been encouraging but the wave of irrationalism, hyprocrisy, mob thuggery, and constant noise of the rightwing Republican media echo chamber is disturbing. The spectacle of Schiavo slowly dying is gruesome and macabre and media hyping of this event is highly disturbing...
The Smirking Chimp: "Jonathan Alter: 'Bush's hypocrisy truly unbearable'"

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/31/2005 06:50:29 AM | Permalink

The New York Times: I Spy a Screw-Up

Bush Gang botched and massaged intelligence on Iraq
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: I Spy a Screw-Up

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/31/2005 05:10:14 AM | Permalink

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Is No One Accountable?

No accountability in Bush administration where losers get rewarded and honor is assaulted
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/opinion/28herbert.html?hp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/29/2005 07:49:00 PM | Permalink

Two Months In and Still Foundering

Still no functioning democracy in Iraq....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11070-2005Mar29?language=printer

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/29/2005 07:48:00 PM | Permalink

Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend

Brazil vs Microsoft
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/technology/29computer.html

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/29/2005 07:44:00 PM | Permalink

What's Going On?

Paul Krugman goes after Repug extremists and calls a spade a spade
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/opinion/29krugman.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/29/2005 07:41:00 PM | Permalink

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Plug-pulling hypocrite: In 1988, Tom DeLay let his comatose father die

Right to Life fanatic and major hypocrite Tom DeLay pulled the plug on his own father and sued for corporate malfeascence, a right he voted against for the rest of us recently in Congress
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/27/2005 08:16:39 AM | Permalink

Bush's AntiGreen Politics

Tom Friedman attacks Bush's antienvironmental politics and the prices to be paid by future generations
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/opinion/27friedman.html?hp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/27/2005 07:15:00 AM | Permalink

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Florida officials attempt and fail to seize Schiavo

Evidently, the Bush Reich almost created a truly grotesque media spectacle to placate their ultra rightwing supporters; that Jeb Bush would even contemplate such a scene shows how desperate he is in the face of rightwing rage that he's not doing anything....
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/26/2005 07:27:13 AM | Permalink

Mark Morford: 'Is this a new Dark Age?'

we have fallen into a New Dark Age under the regime of Bush-Cheney that has been conjuring a Pandora's Box of horrors in the US through their continuous reign of error, as they did in Iraq
The Smirking Chimp: "Mark Morford: 'Is this a new Dark Age?'"

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/26/2005 06:28:20 AM | Permalink

washingtonpost.com: Schiavo Case Tests Priorities Of GOP

GOP demagogues overreached on Schiavo case and there is now a backlash; it is especially amusing watching Jeb Bush get attacked from the right for not taking action after he has so grossly exploited the poor family
washingtonpost.com: Schiavo Case Tests Priorities Of GOP

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/26/2005 04:36:35 AM | Permalink

The New York Times > Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths

US troops absolved from prosecution despite implication in Iraqi prisoner deaths; for the Bush-Cheney Gang murder in imperial conquest is business as normal
The New York Times > Washington > Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/26/2005 04:28:52 AM | Permalink

Friday, March 25, 2005

Yahoo! News - Polls Show Drop for Bush's Job Approval

Bush continues to lose support as people are waking up to the worst president in recent US history
Yahoo! News - Polls Show Drop for Bush's Job Approval

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/25/2005 11:01:00 AM | Permalink

The New York Times > The Era of Exploitation

Bush's policies against poor and working people represent a new form of class war and exploitation
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Era of Exploitation

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/25/2005 10:58:25 AM | Permalink

Blair faces backbench backlash as pressure mounts to publish war advice

Blair continues to take heat on illegality of Iraq war; several articles in this in London papers;
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=623450

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/25/2005 03:46:00 AM | Permalink

Scott Ritter: 'Hijacking democracy in Iraq'

Iraq elections used to hijack democracy
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/25/2005 02:58:57 AM | Permalink

Helen Thomas: 'Wolfowitz at World Bank another promotion for failure'

It seems that those members of the Bush administration with the worst record and most loyalty to the Bush-Cheney agenda get the promotions, while those who do not play rightwing hardball get booted....
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/25/2005 02:54:00 AM | Permalink

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Recruiting Woes

Recruiting woes for the army as the total numbers of recruits are well below monthly averages. More innovative strategies are in the works with a special emphasis on patriotism. As schools are a major market for recruiters the utilization of Section 9528 of the NCLB act that requires schools to hand over students personal information to military recruiters is now even more threatening.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/23/2005 01:22:00 PM | Permalink

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Shameless

A letter circulating within the GOP congress urges the republicans that the Terry Schiavo case a "great political issue" to energize their base. Even against the family and Terry Schiavo's expressed interest, the GOP has further taken on the role of moral legislator for this country. What happened to the conservative ethos of keep the government out of my personal life?

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/22/2005 01:22:00 PM | Permalink

Bush Selling Snake Oil

Bush continues to try to peddle his clunker social security plan. With the overwhelming majority of Americans not buying it, he is going to have a tuff time turning this untruth into delusional reality.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/22/2005 01:11:00 PM | Permalink

Monday, March 21, 2005

Indigenous Education in the Americas

In California, the important D-Q University which served Native students has closed its doors, while mourning the loss one of its founders, David Risling.
On a celebratory note, the first Indian university in Mexico which serves Mazahuas, Ottomi, Matlazincas, and Tlahuica students will hopefully provide the model for further indigenous educational projects in the region. Read more.

Posted by:
Dolores Calderon
at 3/21/2005 10:21:00 PM | Permalink

Ward Churchill Interview

Ward Churchill interview in Indian Country Today where he discusses his fight against academic repression and he responds to the lesser known attacks concerning his Indian Identity.

Posted by:
Dolores Calderon
at 3/21/2005 10:08:00 PM | Permalink

We care as long as you accept unilaterally what we say

Europe is fuming after the Wolfowitz appointment to head the WB by Bush. Appointing the most unilateral neo-con of the bunch signals to Europe that the U.S. government does not give a rat's ass about international sentiments. As if this is a big revelation.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/21/2005 12:37:00 PM | Permalink

Names for Money

More disputes about the provision hidden in the NCLB act that requires school's to hand over personal information to the military for recruitment purposes. If schools refuse to bow to this stipulation they risk receiving federal money for their schools; what a deal!

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/21/2005 12:26:00 PM | Permalink

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Manufacturing Democracy

More of the same in Iraq; deaths and unrest mount as democracy from the outside continues to fail.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/20/2005 02:03:00 PM | Permalink

Saturday, March 19, 2005

A Sure Sign of Fascism

This Nation article examines the shrinking space for dissenting ideas on university campuses. Professors and intellectuals who dare speak opposing views on the Bush administration's Iraq and Middle East policies are reminded that the university in the United States is diminishing as a place for critical discourse and diverse ideas.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/19/2005 12:49:00 PM | Permalink

Anti Military Recruitment on Campus

For many young people joining the military is more of a reality than continuing one's education. The military recruiters who pursue students at many of our community and city colleges are meeting resistance at schools job fairs where recruiters have been a persistent presence.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/19/2005 12:10:00 PM | Permalink

Friday, March 18, 2005

World Bank and the Wolf

More perspective on the WB and Wolfowitz.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/18/2005 01:11:00 PM | Permalink

Bring on the Propaganda

The Justice Department issued a memo on monday to federal agencies telling them to disregard the findings of the Government Accountability Office that found the government's airing of prepackaged news unethical. Prepackaged news from the government, as for now, in line with the Justice Department's memo, is not required to disclose the source of their video segments that air across the nation. The implosion of news into pure ideological chatter seems to be a trend that will continue to strengthen.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/18/2005 12:38:00 PM | Permalink

Thursday, March 17, 2005

"Committed to Development"

Bush's justification for the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz for head of the World Bank is quite impressive: "Paul is committed to development". Who could argue with this deep and thoughtful analysis?

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/17/2005 12:24:00 PM | Permalink

The "Nuclear Option"

GOP leaders take one step closer to forcing the "nuclear option". Bush and the GOP lead Senate Judiciary Committee are on the unilateral move to nominate high court judges without congressional check. The Nuclear Option, as the democrats are calling it, will cause an explosive reaction throughout the congress.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/17/2005 12:11:00 PM | Permalink

Wolfowitz and the World Bank

More on the Hawk's ascension to one of the developmental leaders of the world.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/17/2005 11:33:00 AM | Permalink

Wolfowitz and the World Bank

More on the Hawk's ascension to one of the developmental leaders of the world.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/17/2005 11:33:00 AM | Permalink

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Wolfowitz nominated for head of World Bank

Bush's nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank sends an explosive message to the colonized nations of the world. As one of the two governing bodies that allocates money to developing nations of the world, the World Bank is a nexus of power that determines the fate of billions of people's lives accross the globe. Dependacy and cheap labor pools has been the oporational model of the World Bank. With Wolfowitz at the helm this model will only be bolstered and extended through a heightened scale of neo-liberal ideology.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/16/2005 02:34:00 PM | Permalink

New FCC Chairman Appointed by Bush

Bush's newly appointed FCC chairman Kevin Martin slips into this incredibly powerful role without confirmation from the congress. He was also part of the team of lawers that fought the case for Bush's stolen election of 2000. He now will be the conservative front man for deregulation and censorship of the airwaves across the United States.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/16/2005 02:14:00 PM | Permalink

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Dictators and Democracy

Congress is now proposing a bill to ban all world dictators by the year 2025. Why don't we start now with our own dictator of the democratic form. Predatory democracy is certainly one form of democracy and it seems to be the one that the United States government has chosen to champion.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/15/2005 01:14:00 PM | Permalink

No Gas, No Problem

As Bush's energy policy remains in the dark ages, major wall street analysts at Herold Inc. (the same to company who first pulled back the curtain of the Enron scandal) project the imminent productive downfall of oil to come within the next few years for the world's largest oil companies. Of course this is no secret as it is well known that the oil, auto, and insurance industries have determined the fate of our means of transportation, roads, public space, and the health of our environment for the last century. Even hard sense financial predictions do not waver the blind faith of the ignoble.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/15/2005 12:34:00 PM | Permalink

Monday, March 14, 2005

Reason is still Flickering

A flicker of reason has emerged from the california supreme court as judges rule that the ban on same sex merriage is unconstitutional. It will be interesting to see how the religious right will respond to this "abomination" of a law.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/14/2005 04:29:00 PM | Permalink

War Profits

New pentagon audit of Halliburton reveals the huge numbers of war profit. It is clear that for american corporations making money from the spoils of war makes for good business...

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/14/2005 04:14:00 PM | Permalink

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Bush's Prepackaged News

Why wait for news to happen when you can just manufacture your own? The Bush administration has answered this question by simply buying journalists and stories for pro-administration stories.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/13/2005 01:02:00 PM | Permalink

Gates to the Rescue

Microsoft has just made a deal with a school in Philadelphia to create the school of the future. Privatization is the answer: streamlining schools through the corporate model is the trend that drives this movement. Public schooling is becoming less public as private interests are becoming more dominant.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/13/2005 12:32:00 PM | Permalink

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Debating Ohio Results in Congress

Good article on the debate in congress over the ratification of the electoral votes that gave Bush a second term. The suspect voting irregularities in Ohio was the topic of discussion as well as the need for a systemic overhaul of our nations electoral process.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/12/2005 09:38:00 AM | Permalink

More Prison Abuse Charges

Another prison abuse scandal for the Bush adminstration. The pattern continues to emerge as widespread practice for military prison protocol.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/12/2005 12:55:00 AM | Permalink

Friday, March 11, 2005

A Different Picture

Here is a more accurate perspective on the recent public uprisings in Lebanon. The Bush administration quick to point to democratic progress in the region must now recognize that the majority of the population is anti-bush government and not apart of the minority ruling class in Lebanon.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/11/2005 01:06:00 PM | Permalink

Trade Deficit up, Bush says Sign of Strength?

The U.S. trade deficit continues to grow while the Bush administration claims that it is a testament to the strength of our economy as an engine of global growth. The backwards logic that operates in the Bush administration has also grown to new proportions today.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/11/2005 12:40:00 PM | Permalink

Thursday, March 10, 2005

The Fourth Estate Under Bush

The Fourth Estate under the Bush regime has taken on considerable damage. Here is a good from article discussing the current administrations strategies to distort and control media in this country.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/10/2005 04:41:00 PM | Permalink

More of the Same in Iraq

Civil war ensues as Bush's democratic experiment continues to get bloodier.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/10/2005 04:09:00 PM | Permalink

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

IBlair broke code to keep war advice from Cabinet

Blair continues to get static over Iraq
Independent News

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/09/2005 12:47:44 PM | Permalink

Another Day of Absurdity

The trend of Carnage continues with the US occupation of Iraq. The long pain and suffering that lies ahead for US troops and Iraqi citizens seems to be unavoidable without major political changes here at home. Bush's common sense of punish and be punished reaches new levels of absurdity with each passing day.

Posted by:
Clayton Pierce
at 3/09/2005 12:22:00 PM | Permalink

It Will Take All Our Energy To Stand Still

the Bush administration wage a global assault on women's rights
It Will Take All Our Energy To Stand Still

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/09/2005 09:37:56 AM | Permalink

Monday, March 07, 2005

The New York Times > Washington > Bush Picks Critic of U.N. to Serve as Ambassador to It

Bush names an extremist antiUN unilateralist NeoCon to head the UN, what contempt for international law and discourse
The New York Times > Washington > Bush Picks Critic of U.N. to Serve as Ambassador to It

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/07/2005 12:52:39 PM | Permalink

more claims of US assassination attempts at US hostage

global media today is full again of accounts of claims that US attempted to assassinate the released Italian hostage in Iraq, with claims that there were no road blocks, that the car wasn't speeding and that US troops shot without warning
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2034&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Smirking Chimp is full of these stories today; here's Danny Schechter
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2034&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/07/2005 07:18:00 AM | Permalink

TEx-hostage disputes U.S. on shooting

the world papers have been presenting released Italian journalists' version of US troops firing on her in Iraq but few US media have addressed her complaints; last night CBS completely ignored the story and ABC quickly glossed over it
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/07/2005 07:00:18 AM | Permalink

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Assassination American Style?

More evidence is pouring it that either the US military made a big mistake in shooting at the just released Italian journalist in Iraq and then lied to cover it up, or it was an assassination attempt; while the story is getting minimal coverage in the US its big elsewhere as this commentary indicates
http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2005/03/benefit-of-dumb.html

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/06/2005 05:56:00 PM | Permalink

Blair Still Took Us to War On a Lie

turmoil in Britain over Blair taking country to war in Iraq illegally and on false pretenses
Blair Still Took Us to War On a Lie

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/06/2005 07:03:55 AM | Permalink

US Attack Against Italians in Baghdad was Deliberate: Companion

companion of freed Italian journalist claims that the US troops fired on her deliberately
US Attack Against Italians in Baghdad was Deliberate: Companion

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/06/2005 07:02:04 AM | Permalink

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Rob Zaleski: 'Voting glitches haunt statistician'

Voting irregularities continue to haunt analysts and those of us who worry about our democracy being stolen
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/05/2005 06:38:09 AM | Permalink

Steven Rosenfeld: 'The new voting rights movement begins here today'

without systematic voting reform, bye bye democracy in the US
The Smirking Chimp: "Steven Rosenfeld: 'The new voting rights movement begins here today'"

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/05/2005 06:33:27 AM | Permalink

Friday, March 04, 2005

The New York Times > > U.S. Forces Fired on Car Carrying Freed Italian Hostage in Iraq

another blunder by US forces in Iraq
The New York Times > AP > International > U.S. Forces Fired on Car Carrying Freed Italian Hostage in Iraq

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/04/2005 02:35:04 PM | Permalink

washingtonpost.com: Anatomy of a Flop

Bush's Social Security Scam is already anatomized as a Flop
washingtonpost.com: Anatomy of a Flop

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/04/2005 07:10:00 AM | Permalink

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Barbara Ferguson: 'Ann Coulter's Arab-bashing reaches low with Thomas slur'

Ann Coulter and George W Bush, poster brats for repulsive conservativism, show their true rancid colors in their treatment of Helen Thomas, once considered the Dean of practising journalists. Excerpt: "Coulter was, perhaps, taking a cue from the White House, which has slighted Thomas several times since 2003. During a televised news conference, President George W. Bush deliberately snubbed several reporters he ordinarily calls upon, including journalists from the Washington Post, Newsweek, and USA Today. But the most conspicuous recipient of the Bush freeze-out was Thomas, who has barbed and grilled every president since Kennedy and almost always gets to ask a question. Bush pointedly ignored her.

Bush then dealt Thomas a second slight. By custom, Thomas concludes White House press conferences at the president's signal by saying, "Thank you, Mr. President." Bush instead ended the conference with his own sign off, "Thank you for your questions," and killed a decades-old White House custom. Lastly, she was removed from her front row seat, and delegated to a back seat in the press choir.
Is this treatment due to the fact that Thomas has been critical of the Bush administration? She has condemned the terror-fighting Patriot Act and slammed Bush's domestic and international policies. She also called the Iraq war "a violation of international policy under any circumstance," and said it is "immoral."
But she has never been known to mince her words to any president.
There has been disappointingly little reaction in defense of their colleague by White House journalists."
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/03/2005 12:57:46 PM | Permalink

Salon.com | Recycled rhetoric

Sidney Blumenthal sees Bush going down big on social security and his attack on the New Deal
Text= "Recycled rhetoric
Bush's huge gamble on dismantling the cornerstone of the New Deal will fail. And if the Democrats remain disciplined, his defeat will be profound.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Sidney Blumenthal
March 3, 2005 | The coming defeat of President Bush on Social Security will be the defining moment in domestic policy and politics for his second term and for the future of the Republican Party. It will be a central, clarifying event because Bush alone chose to make this fight.

Campaigning in 2004 on the trauma of Sept. 11, he won by the smallest margin of any incumbent president in American history. The Electoral College map was little changed from the deadlock of 2000. While Bush barely took two states he had lost before (Iowa and New Mexico), he lost one to John Kerry -- New Hampshire. Bush's political advisor, Karl Rove, had forecast a fundamental realignment that would establish Republican dominance, but Bush's desperate political position required a series of tactics of character assassination against the Democratic candidate and culture war gambits on gay marriage, atmospherically organized around the fear factor of Sept. 11. The outcome was a strategic victory but not a structural one, and Bush's campaign further polarized the country.

In the chasm between his meager win and his grandiose ambition, Bush might have decided to form a government containing some moderate Republican and Democratic Cabinet members, claiming that the gravity of foreign crisis demanded national unity. But the thought never occurred to him. Instead, he bulled ahead in the hope of realizing the realignment that eluded him in the election.

Not since 1928, when Herbert Hoover was elected in a landslide, have the Republicans held the White House and such majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Bush acts with the urgency of a president for whom this political advantage must be seized now or lost forever. So he has decided to swing a sledgehammer at the cornerstone of the New Deal and the Democratic Party. The gamble would pay off in closely tying to the Republican Party the Wall Street banks that would finance the transition costs of privatization and the bond houses and stock firms that would be flush with new investments. But, most important, it would unravel the fact and idea of government insurance programs providing for the needs of the people as a whole. Once Social Security was cut into pieces, the Democrats would be left defensively representing the least politically powerful and most vulnerable -- literally the lame and the halt, the poor single mothers ("welfare queens") and minorities. The Democrats would be drawn and quartered on the wheel of broken entitlements.

Bush launched his initiative to privatize Social Security with a bang, promoting it in his State of the Union address and stumping the country at rallies. Rove has been put in charge of organizing the campaign as an extension of the 2004 effort. From the White House, Rove directs the lobbyists of K Street in Washington and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association and the religious right. Suddenly, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have reappeared as warriors against the pro-Social Security AARP, smearing the seniors organization as anti-military and pro-gay marriage. And Tony Feather, a Republican consultant with longtime ties to Rove, has reemerged with a war chest of millions to spend through a front group called Progress for America, just as he did against Kerry.

Even the Social Security Administration has been inducted in the campaign. Five years ago, it sent out a routine annual booklet titled "The Future of Social Security": "Will Social Security be there for you? Absolutely." Now a new booklet has been mailed to tens of millions warning: "Social Security must change to meet future challenges." And it suggests that Social Security should not be regarded as a "foundation on which to build your financial future."

And yet the more the public has learned of Bush's plan, the more it has buckled. Poll after poll reveals that increased information leads to heightened resistance. Growing majorities oppose Bush's program, Bush's favorability rating has plunged to the lowest level of any president at this point in his second term, and trust in the Democrats has steadily risen.

In the face of public rejection, Bush retreats and attacks at the same time. He has announced that he is uncertain when or even if he will propose his own bill before Congress, while the White House says that the president will stage new rallies for the Social Security initiative that has yet to take any practical form.

Republican leaders have become studies in hesitation and anxiety. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist declares that the "pacing" should be "determined by the American people." In a statement as fuzzy as he could manage, he explained, "In terms of whether it will be a week, a month, six months or a year as to when we bring something to the floor, it's just too early."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, rhetorically echoing Saddam Hussein ("mother of all battles"), called Social Security the "mother of all issues." He added, "And it is going to take a lot of dialogue with the American people." When Tom "the Hammer" DeLay, who hangs a whip on his wall, pleads for understanding, the problem must be that the American people understand too much already.

For Bush and the Republicans, the problem is salesmanship. If only they hone the pitch, convince the wary customers that they really mean well, saving them from a bad investment and delivering a bargain, they will clinch the deal. Frank Luntz, a Republican consultant who has made a specialty out of wordplay, has advised them on how to make friends and influence people. In a memo circulated among the Republican leadership last month, he urged that Republicans appeal to emotions, not facts. The public, Luntz writes, wants "empathy rather than statistical declarations ... It is tempting to counter-attack using facts and figures. Resist the temptation." He reemphasizes: Social Security "is a difficult subject because there are many obscure facts and figures. Stay away from them!!!" No fewer than three exclamation points!!!

Republicans, says Luntz, should never use the word "privatized." They should substitute "personalized." "And PLEASE remember that you are NEVER talking about privatizing Social Security, nor are you advocating INDIVIDUAL accounts. You are talking about creating PERSONAL retirement accounts." Republicans should also talk about "personalized accounts" as being about "the future," he says, and remind people that "Social Security was built for a different America."

Another problem, Luntz instructs Republicans, is that the public is familiar with the gyrations of the stock market. "There is a difficulty ... in talking too much about the stock market. The American people are sensitive to the ups and downs of the stock market." So, he urges, Republicans should claim that that Social Security is at "larger risk" if it is not "personalized."

When all else fails, Republicans should simply resort to the fear factor: "September 11th changed everything. So start with September 11th. This is the context that explains and justifies why we have $500 billion deficits, why the stock market tanked, why unemployment climbed to 6 percent ... Without the context of September 11th you will be blamed for the deficit ... Link the war on terror to the economy."

But Luntz's rhetorical twists and turns, adopted by Bush and the Republicans, are hardly innovative. They are as ancient as the earliest arguments made by Republicans against Social Security when it was first introduced. Social Security is in crisis, Social Security will not be there, only the Republicans can save the system by privatizing it -- all these themes were advanced in the 1936 Republican Party platform. This yellowing document reads like the most recent Republican declaration:

"Society has an obligation to promote the security of the people, by affording some measure of protection against involuntary unemployment and dependency in old age. The New Deal policies, while purporting to provide social security, have, in fact, endangered it." The 1936 Republican platform claims that the federal government will not be able to meet its financial obligations to pay retirement benefits and two-thirds of the people will be deprived. It also insists that "the fund will contain nothing but the government's promise to pay" and is "unworkable."

The Republican candidate for president against Franklin D. Roosevelt that year, Alf Landon, governor of Kansas, was the first to run on "reforming" Social Security, which he dubbed a "hoax." Roosevelt's victory seemingly settled the question of Social Security and the basic programs of the New Deal. In every election afterward, the GOP split internally between conservatives, who rallied behind their standard-bearer, Sen. Robert Taft, and those who called themselves modern Republicans. When Dwight Eisenhower defeated the eternally disappointed Taft for the 1952 nomination, the conservatives crawled to a corner, embittered and despairing. Conservatives were convinced that overthrowing the New Deal must be accomplished through a long march through the Republican Party, also overthrowing modern Republicanism.

At last, in 1964, the conservatives grabbed the Republican nomination, and their candidate, Barry Goldwater, thrilled them by declaring his opposition to Social Security. Goldwater advocated privatization to deal with what he claimed was the system's crisis: "It promises more benefits to more people than the incomes collected will provide," he said.

In the closing days of the 1964 campaign, as Goldwater faced overwhelming defeat, his campaign purchased television time to broadcast a speech by a Goldwater supporter who was felt to be a more convincing salesman than the candidate -- Ronald Reagan. Reagan's speech was his debut on the national stage and the effective launch of his political career. The image remains; the words are mostly forgotten.

In fact, much of his talk was devoted to making the well-worn case against Social Security. It faced "fiscal shortcomings." It was not "insurance" but really a "welfare program." It was deeply in debt. Young workers could "take out a policy that would pay more than Social Security. Now are we so lacking in business sense that we can't put this program on a sound basis, so that people who do require those payments will find they can get them when they're due -- that the cupboard isn't bare? ... Can't we introduce voluntary features?" To conclude his argument, Reagan warned that a medical program in France was bankrupt and that this fate would befall Social Security. "They've come to the end of the road."

But when Reagan became president he jettisoned his denunciation of Social Security. In 1983, he signed a bipartisan tax and benefits bill extending its solvency until 2060. The ultimate conservative had used anti-Social Security rhetoric to galvanize his conservative base to gain office, but as president he joined his Republican predecessors in supporting the system. With that, he took the issue off the table for years. In 1996, Sen. Bob Dole never mentioned a word against Social Security, proud of having been a co-sponsor of the 1983 bill Reagan had signed.

Now, George W. Bush has sought what Ronald Reagan would not. Only Bush as president has attempted to make good on the reactionary rhetoric against Social Security since its inception. He has tried to dress up his effort as a "reform," as a "new idea," but the language, upon historical examination, turns out to be recycled from the 1936 Republican platform, the Landon and Goldwater campaigns, and words that Reagan discarded as president.

Bush's impending defeat on Social Security is no minor affair. He has made this the centerpiece of domestic policy of his second term. It is the decades-long culmination of the conservative wing's hostility against Social Security and the Democratic Party. Projecting images of Roosevelt and Kennedy cannot distract from Bush's intent to undermine the accomplishments of Democratic presidents. The repudiation of Bush on Social Security will be fundamental and profound and will shake the foundations of conservative Republicanism. Bush's agony is only beginning, if the Democrats in the Senate can maintain their discipline"
Salon.com | Recycled rhetoric

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/03/2005 09:26:51 AM | Permalink

washingtonpost.com: CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment

CIA detention practices secret, growing stories of significant torture in Afghanistan before Iraq; the shame of a nation
washingtonpost.com: CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/03/2005 08:53:41 AM | Permalink

The New York Times > New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans

Bush out of step with US public and losing ground politically
The New York Times > Washington > New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/03/2005 08:50:31 AM | Permalink

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

AlterNet: MediaCulture: Gannon and the Bloggers

Bloggers vs Gannon and Bush
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Gannon and the Bloggers

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/02/2005 01:58:19 PM | Permalink

Margie Burns: 'George Walker Gollum'

Bush as vindicative hypocrit and Gollum: "What's fascinating is that he does this even in private. Even talking to a friend, someone who was giving him no challenge, not arguing with him, he keeps talking to himself, chewing over his line of thought, repeating the central idea as if to persuade himself. No wonder Bush couldn't handle those debates with John Kerry, or handle them without electronic assistance: he's been taking exactly this tack with himself for more than four years in the White House, cocooned with people subordinate to him or close to him, or both, brooking no serious challenge to any position he holds dear.

And as with all dried-out but not genuinely sobered individuals, one position he holds most dear is that, whoever suffers as a result of his actions, it must not be he. GWBush's entire treatment of America is much like the way an addict treats his wife.

It's plenty scary enough, in a sense. A note for you J. R. R. Tolkien/Lord of the Rings fans out there, however: comparisons of Bush to the Dark Lord are overblown. We're not there yet. A better comparison would be to Gollum, caught in a position beyond his capabilities, perpetually conflicted between Slinker and Stinker.

The Middle East is mine, yes it is my Precious. Yes yes we wants it. We must fight mean elderly people not rich who wants some money too. And they can't stop us, nasty hurting AARP and mean reporters won't stop us, no they won't. My family gave me foreign policcy; it's mine, and they can't steal it from me, no they can't the nasty public and the mean Internetss."
The Smirking Chimp

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/02/2005 10:53:56 AM | Permalink

The New York Times > > Car Bombs Kill at Least 12, a Day After Hussein Judge Is Slain

Killing Fields in Iraq still bloody
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Car Bombs Kill at Least 12, a Day After Hussein Judge Is Slain

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/02/2005 07:50:16 AM | Permalink

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Gannongate threatens to expose a huge GOP pedophile and male prostitution ring

Behind Gannongate lurks major scandal for the hypocrit GOP
Gannongate threatens to expose a huge GOP pedophile and male prostitution ring

Posted by:
Douglas
at 3/01/2005 07:50:17 AM | Permalink