On a day when lawmakers in Washington were engaged in an intense debate over whether to withdraw troops from Iraq, Mr. Bush thanked the Hungarians for "playing a vital role" in Operation Iraqi Freedom, neglecting to mention that Hungary withdrew its own troops more than a year ago.
-- Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Bush Sees Iraq Echo in '56 Hungary Revolt," The New York Times, June 23, 2006
(Don't say we've never said anything nice about the paper of no record.)
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Bonus: Iraq Snapshot
Bonus added Sunday night.
Iraq snapshot
The Associated Press is reporting that Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, "offered an olive branch to insurgents who join in rebuilding Iraq and said Sunday that lawmakers should set a timeline for the Iraqi military and police to take control of security nationwide." The AP reports maintains that there's no timeline. Discussing this news on Sunday's RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders noted how key events are disappearing from the reporting as the story continues to get covered and Dahr Jamail offered his opinion that the news of setting a timeline for foreign forces to withdraw from Iraq has led to some exchanges between D.C. and Baghdad. Steve Negus (Financial Times of London) reports that: "Mr Maliki’s initiative was less detailed than some Iraqi politicians had earlier implied it might be, and did not spell out how key points such as an amnesty for some insurgents and a timetable for Iraqi troops taking over security might be implemented." Tom Hadyen (Common Dreams) notes the Senate posturing last week on the issues of who will and will not receive amnesty while pointing out: "In their quest to be macho, however, Democrats may be undercutting an avenue towards peace. All military stalemates end in agreements between enemies who have fought and suffered. If there can be no consideration of amnesty for those the US is fighting, then there can be no settlement short of US military victory. " Paul Reynolds (BBC) reports that the plan is "part of a grand strategy by the Bush administration to stabilise Iraq -- or to stabilise the perception of Iraq - in advance of the mid-term elections for Congress in November." Tom Hayden concludes:
Most likely, a contradiction is unfolding within the American political hierarchy and national security establshment over whether this war is winnable. It also is a question of maintaining the American power posture, or its appearance. Those who know the war will end in defeat or quagmire favor a political strategy aimed at cutting losses, channeling the insurgency into talks and removing the issue from American politics in 2006. Others cling to the goal of eventually subduing the insurgency militarily and maintaining 50,000 troops permanently in Iraq.
This as Autralia's ABC reports that Japanese troops have begun their withdrawal from Iraq. Meanwhile, Australia's ABC reports that Australian Peter Lockwood "has been selected as the next commander of up to 2,000 coalition naval forces in the northern Persian Gulf." This as an investigation is launched into the shooting death of a bodyguard to Iraq's Trade Minister by Australian forces.
In Baghdad on Saturday, Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) notes a bomb killed two Iraqi police officers and wounded at least five more while a car bomb killed five and wounded at least eleven people. Also on Saturday, the AP reports, a corpse was discovered in Baghdad ("handcuffed, bound by the legs . . . shot to death").
On Sunday, Baghdad was rocked by explosions. Al Jazeera reports that a bombing in a maket (clothing market) resulted in at least six deaths while a mini-van bomb took two more lives.
Reuters reports mulitple killings and bombings -- two dead thirteen wounded from a car bomb near Mosul, two shot dead "in a poultry store" in Hawija, "police General Hussein Abdul-Rahman" and two other police officers shot dead while in their car in Baquba, also in Baquba, an attack on a checkpoint led to five Iraqi soldiers being killed, a carpenter killed in Mosul, a "municipal council employee" killed in Baiji, an Iraqi soldier killed in Tikrit . . .
The AFP reports that, over the weekend, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq released a videotape claiming to have killed the four Russian diplomats kidnapped on June 3rd in Baghdad. The Russian government notes that the deaths of Fyodor Zaytsev, Rinat Aglyulin, Anatoly Smirnov and Oleg Fedosseyev have not been confirmed.
Reuters reports that: "Gunmen have abducted 16 employees of a government institute north of Baghdad, in the second mass kidnapping in the area in a week, police say."
As operations take place outside the media eye in Ramadi, Dahr Jamail and Ali Fadhil (IPS)report on Falluja which suffered similar seiges in 2004. They report that the city remains surrounded by checkpoints (biometrics measure decide whether you enter or not), the rebuilding is a joke (hospital officials note that they'll all be dead before the supposed construction of a new hospital is completed), unemployment is rampant, and as to the US "the promised compensation funds, of the 81 reconstruction projects slated for the city, less than 30 have been completed and many others will most likely be cancelled due to lack of funding."
Though the mainstream press continues to show little interest in Falluja, they were full of happy talk last week about new training and guidelines resulting in less deaths at US checkpoints in Iraq. Despite those claims, questions remain unanswered about the shooting of journalist Giuliana Sgrena's car which wounded her and killed Nicola Calipari. Fritzroy Sterling (IPS) details some of the questions in the incident. Some questions may never be answered because, as Sgrena told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on Thursday's Democracy Now!, the US military maintains that they have destroyed the logs of the events. Italian prosecutors are attempting to try US Army Specialist Mario Lozano for the death of Calipari.
This as Wil Cruz (Newsday) reports that National Guard Sgt. Milton Ortiz Jr. is being "charged for his role in planting an assault weapon near the slain body of an unarmed Iraqi civilian whom another guardsman had just fired upon." In addition, Cruz reports that "Nathan Lynn, 21, of South Williamsport, Pa., is accused of fatally shooting the unarmed man in front of a home near Ramadi, where Lynn was on security detail for members of his unit, the military said."
Elswhere, Brian Conley's Alive in Baghdad posts a video interview with an Iraqi woman who states that the US military killed her son in Samarra 'in cold blood.'
On the issue of "we were all wrong," one disputing answer is emerging reports the AFP (noting a Washington Post) article, Colin Powell's laughable claims to the UN were vetted and items removed. Tyler Drumheller, a CIA veteran, told The Post's Joby Warrick that the section of the speech relating to mobile biological weapons labs was crossed out by the agency -- despite that fact, it ended back in the speech when Powell delivered it.
What does "AWOL" stand for? Ann Wright reports that, more and more, it now stands for "Against War of Lies" as she documents the efforts to support war resistors. Noting the eight-thousand who are AWOL, Wright also notes: "Individual non-public resistance in the military generally results in an administrative discharge without publicity. Thousands have turned themselves in to military authorities and have been administratively discharged from the military. US military bases discharge dozens of war resisters each week."
In related news, Courage to Resist notes that Tuesday is a national day of action for war resister Ehren Watada and provides a list of national events.
"On the other hand I knew that we were not fighting for Democracy, we were not fighting just terrorist, we were fighting an indigenous insurgency who was resisting our occupation. And many loves were being sacrificed for what I thought was nothing. I came to the point where I could no longer look at the pain and suffering of so many members of the armed forces, so many families being devastated by these loses, and the grief and suffering of Iraqi citizens and all for what I felt was an intentional deception, to wage a war without any purpose, without any noble purpose."
"So, I came to the point to where I believed as a person, not only as a human being, not only as a citizen of this country, but as a member of the military, that I could make a difference in helping to end this illegal war."
[. . .]
Two websites about this courageous stand:
Courage To Resist
Thank You Lt
Many thanks to Courtney Scott for producing this interview. This file is 10 minutes in length.
Lt. Ehren Watada, RealPlayer
Lt. Ehren Watada, MP3
The above is Ehren Watada speaking. You can read about it in Jim Lockhart's "AUDIO FILE: Local Interview With Lt. Ehren Watada" (Portland Indymedia and noted by community member Portland) and you can also use the links to listen to the interview conducted by Courtney Scott. Please note that Tuesday, June 27th is a day of action where there's a call to stand up for Watada. To find out more, click here.
Snapshot (Jim's statement) "Written by C.I. with help from Rebecca, Mike, Jess, Ty, Ava, Dona and Jim."
Iraq snapshot
The Associated Press is reporting that Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, "offered an olive branch to insurgents who join in rebuilding Iraq and said Sunday that lawmakers should set a timeline for the Iraqi military and police to take control of security nationwide." The AP reports maintains that there's no timeline. Discussing this news on Sunday's RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders noted how key events are disappearing from the reporting as the story continues to get covered and Dahr Jamail offered his opinion that the news of setting a timeline for foreign forces to withdraw from Iraq has led to some exchanges between D.C. and Baghdad. Steve Negus (Financial Times of London) reports that: "Mr Maliki’s initiative was less detailed than some Iraqi politicians had earlier implied it might be, and did not spell out how key points such as an amnesty for some insurgents and a timetable for Iraqi troops taking over security might be implemented." Tom Hadyen (Common Dreams) notes the Senate posturing last week on the issues of who will and will not receive amnesty while pointing out: "In their quest to be macho, however, Democrats may be undercutting an avenue towards peace. All military stalemates end in agreements between enemies who have fought and suffered. If there can be no consideration of amnesty for those the US is fighting, then there can be no settlement short of US military victory. " Paul Reynolds (BBC) reports that the plan is "part of a grand strategy by the Bush administration to stabilise Iraq -- or to stabilise the perception of Iraq - in advance of the mid-term elections for Congress in November." Tom Hayden concludes:
Most likely, a contradiction is unfolding within the American political hierarchy and national security establshment over whether this war is winnable. It also is a question of maintaining the American power posture, or its appearance. Those who know the war will end in defeat or quagmire favor a political strategy aimed at cutting losses, channeling the insurgency into talks and removing the issue from American politics in 2006. Others cling to the goal of eventually subduing the insurgency militarily and maintaining 50,000 troops permanently in Iraq.
This as Autralia's ABC reports that Japanese troops have begun their withdrawal from Iraq. Meanwhile, Australia's ABC reports that Australian Peter Lockwood "has been selected as the next commander of up to 2,000 coalition naval forces in the northern Persian Gulf." This as an investigation is launched into the shooting death of a bodyguard to Iraq's Trade Minister by Australian forces.
In Baghdad on Saturday, Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) notes a bomb killed two Iraqi police officers and wounded at least five more while a car bomb killed five and wounded at least eleven people. Also on Saturday, the AP reports, a corpse was discovered in Baghdad ("handcuffed, bound by the legs . . . shot to death").
On Sunday, Baghdad was rocked by explosions. Al Jazeera reports that a bombing in a maket (clothing market) resulted in at least six deaths while a mini-van bomb took two more lives.
Reuters reports mulitple killings and bombings -- two dead thirteen wounded from a car bomb near Mosul, two shot dead "in a poultry store" in Hawija, "police General Hussein Abdul-Rahman" and two other police officers shot dead while in their car in Baquba, also in Baquba, an attack on a checkpoint led to five Iraqi soldiers being killed, a carpenter killed in Mosul, a "municipal council employee" killed in Baiji, an Iraqi soldier killed in Tikrit . . .
The AFP reports that, over the weekend, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq released a videotape claiming to have killed the four Russian diplomats kidnapped on June 3rd in Baghdad. The Russian government notes that the deaths of Fyodor Zaytsev, Rinat Aglyulin, Anatoly Smirnov and Oleg Fedosseyev have not been confirmed.
Reuters reports that: "Gunmen have abducted 16 employees of a government institute north of Baghdad, in the second mass kidnapping in the area in a week, police say."
As operations take place outside the media eye in Ramadi, Dahr Jamail and Ali Fadhil (IPS)report on Falluja which suffered similar seiges in 2004. They report that the city remains surrounded by checkpoints (biometrics measure decide whether you enter or not), the rebuilding is a joke (hospital officials note that they'll all be dead before the supposed construction of a new hospital is completed), unemployment is rampant, and as to the US "the promised compensation funds, of the 81 reconstruction projects slated for the city, less than 30 have been completed and many others will most likely be cancelled due to lack of funding."
Though the mainstream press continues to show little interest in Falluja, they were full of happy talk last week about new training and guidelines resulting in less deaths at US checkpoints in Iraq. Despite those claims, questions remain unanswered about the shooting of journalist Giuliana Sgrena's car which wounded her and killed Nicola Calipari. Fritzroy Sterling (IPS) details some of the questions in the incident. Some questions may never be answered because, as Sgrena told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on Thursday's Democracy Now!, the US military maintains that they have destroyed the logs of the events. Italian prosecutors are attempting to try US Army Specialist Mario Lozano for the death of Calipari.
This as Wil Cruz (Newsday) reports that National Guard Sgt. Milton Ortiz Jr. is being "charged for his role in planting an assault weapon near the slain body of an unarmed Iraqi civilian whom another guardsman had just fired upon." In addition, Cruz reports that "Nathan Lynn, 21, of South Williamsport, Pa., is accused of fatally shooting the unarmed man in front of a home near Ramadi, where Lynn was on security detail for members of his unit, the military said."
Elswhere, Brian Conley's Alive in Baghdad posts a video interview with an Iraqi woman who states that the US military killed her son in Samarra 'in cold blood.'
On the issue of "we were all wrong," one disputing answer is emerging reports the AFP (noting a Washington Post) article, Colin Powell's laughable claims to the UN were vetted and items removed. Tyler Drumheller, a CIA veteran, told The Post's Joby Warrick that the section of the speech relating to mobile biological weapons labs was crossed out by the agency -- despite that fact, it ended back in the speech when Powell delivered it.
What does "AWOL" stand for? Ann Wright reports that, more and more, it now stands for "Against War of Lies" as she documents the efforts to support war resistors. Noting the eight-thousand who are AWOL, Wright also notes: "Individual non-public resistance in the military generally results in an administrative discharge without publicity. Thousands have turned themselves in to military authorities and have been administratively discharged from the military. US military bases discharge dozens of war resisters each week."
In related news, Courage to Resist notes that Tuesday is a national day of action for war resister Ehren Watada and provides a list of national events.
"On the other hand I knew that we were not fighting for Democracy, we were not fighting just terrorist, we were fighting an indigenous insurgency who was resisting our occupation. And many loves were being sacrificed for what I thought was nothing. I came to the point where I could no longer look at the pain and suffering of so many members of the armed forces, so many families being devastated by these loses, and the grief and suffering of Iraqi citizens and all for what I felt was an intentional deception, to wage a war without any purpose, without any noble purpose."
"So, I came to the point to where I believed as a person, not only as a human being, not only as a citizen of this country, but as a member of the military, that I could make a difference in helping to end this illegal war."
[. . .]
Two websites about this courageous stand:
Courage To Resist
Thank You Lt
Many thanks to Courtney Scott for producing this interview. This file is 10 minutes in length.
Lt. Ehren Watada, RealPlayer
Lt. Ehren Watada, MP3
The above is Ehren Watada speaking. You can read about it in Jim Lockhart's "AUDIO FILE: Local Interview With Lt. Ehren Watada" (Portland Indymedia and noted by community member Portland) and you can also use the links to listen to the interview conducted by Courtney Scott. Please note that Tuesday, June 27th is a day of action where there's a call to stand up for Watada. To find out more, click here.
Snapshot (Jim's statement) "Written by C.I. with help from Rebecca, Mike, Jess, Ty, Ava, Dona and Jim."
A Note to Our Readers
Hey --
Quickly. (Technical problems swamped us in the last two hours when all we had to write was this note and post the already written stuff. Everyone's tired.)
No note, last week. All the usual suspects contributed. (C.I. and Ava wrote the TV commentary.) Due to the personal bad news, no one wanted to do a note last week. We had planned to do it Monday but C.I. was flying to Rebecca's at the last minute and, again, no one wanted to regroup for it.
Highlights? We have the following (and thank you to everyone for their permission to reprint):
Blog Spotlight: Elaine weighs in on Hillary, Bully Boy & LGBT Pride Day
NYT Critique: C.I. on Kate Zernike's drive-by taxi hit on John Kerry
Blog Spotlight: Rebecca, always a fighter
Blog Spotlight: Cedric noting Law and Disorder's coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal and David Gilbert
Blog Spotlight: Mike summarizing part-two of Law and Disorders look at tasers
Irak declara estado de emergencia; mueren mas de dos docenas de personas
Absurdist Spotlight: Bully Boy Press & Cedric's Big Mix team up to take on the news
Humor Spotlight: Betinna explains that her husband "Thomas Friedman Wants It Hot"
Humor Spotlight: Wally on the Psychic General
Blog Spotlight: Rebecca's mid-party post
Cooking Spotlight: Burritos in the Kitchen
Blog Spotlight: Kat covers Sander Hicks appearnace on KPFA's Guns and Butter
Thank you to Dallas, for links.
Along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim;
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man;
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review;
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills);
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix;
Mike of Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz;
and Wally of The Daily Jot.
New content? The following:
Left Eye for the Moderate Guy what to do when an aging rocker in decline realizes his audience is dwindling?
New Millenium Songbook for War Hawks and Other Vile Creatures -- a humorous feature we had a great deal of fun with. There are three online. The print version contains nine. Again, we had a lot of fun with our rewrites of popular songs to make them appealing to War Hawks and Other Vile Creatures.
Hope was the theme for RadioNation with Laura Flanders Saturday -- This was the post we were working on when the trouble started it. It was longer. "Recover post" allowed us to grab a third of it. That's what we've published (in print and online).
Where he leads, she will follow, any place that he tells her to -- short item.
Radio highlights for Sunday -- things you can listen to today.
TV review: The Simpsons -- Ava and C.I.'s latest. Different in the print version by many paragraphs (the viewpoint remains the same). The original is there in saved form, it just won't pull up. They attempted to type it up from the print edition but both say they're eyes were too tired to follow it. The biggest difference is where Bill Clinton enters into the commentary. Also, the print version includes three times as many quotes from the show. We think the online version actually reads snappier.
Editorial: Ehren Watada standing up, are you? -- this wasn't our planned editorial. When tech problems began, we made it the editorial because it was already completed. We think it works as such. (The editorial that isn't? It was on Guantamo. Stand up for Watada this week.)
Truest statement of last week -- we actually debated several. We ended up going with this one because who knows if or when the paper of no record will even be in the running. (That's not to downgrade the statement. It's worthy of noting. )
That's it for this week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Quickly. (Technical problems swamped us in the last two hours when all we had to write was this note and post the already written stuff. Everyone's tired.)
No note, last week. All the usual suspects contributed. (C.I. and Ava wrote the TV commentary.) Due to the personal bad news, no one wanted to do a note last week. We had planned to do it Monday but C.I. was flying to Rebecca's at the last minute and, again, no one wanted to regroup for it.
Highlights? We have the following (and thank you to everyone for their permission to reprint):
Blog Spotlight: Elaine weighs in on Hillary, Bully Boy & LGBT Pride Day
NYT Critique: C.I. on Kate Zernike's drive-by taxi hit on John Kerry
Blog Spotlight: Rebecca, always a fighter
Blog Spotlight: Cedric noting Law and Disorder's coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal and David Gilbert
Blog Spotlight: Mike summarizing part-two of Law and Disorders look at tasers
Irak declara estado de emergencia; mueren mas de dos docenas de personas
Absurdist Spotlight: Bully Boy Press & Cedric's Big Mix team up to take on the news
Humor Spotlight: Betinna explains that her husband "Thomas Friedman Wants It Hot"
Humor Spotlight: Wally on the Psychic General
Blog Spotlight: Rebecca's mid-party post
Cooking Spotlight: Burritos in the Kitchen
Blog Spotlight: Kat covers Sander Hicks appearnace on KPFA's Guns and Butter
Thank you to Dallas, for links.
Along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim;
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man;
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review;
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills);
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix;
Mike of Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz;
and Wally of The Daily Jot.
New content? The following:
Left Eye for the Moderate Guy what to do when an aging rocker in decline realizes his audience is dwindling?
New Millenium Songbook for War Hawks and Other Vile Creatures -- a humorous feature we had a great deal of fun with. There are three online. The print version contains nine. Again, we had a lot of fun with our rewrites of popular songs to make them appealing to War Hawks and Other Vile Creatures.
Hope was the theme for RadioNation with Laura Flanders Saturday -- This was the post we were working on when the trouble started it. It was longer. "Recover post" allowed us to grab a third of it. That's what we've published (in print and online).
Where he leads, she will follow, any place that he tells her to -- short item.
Radio highlights for Sunday -- things you can listen to today.
TV review: The Simpsons -- Ava and C.I.'s latest. Different in the print version by many paragraphs (the viewpoint remains the same). The original is there in saved form, it just won't pull up. They attempted to type it up from the print edition but both say they're eyes were too tired to follow it. The biggest difference is where Bill Clinton enters into the commentary. Also, the print version includes three times as many quotes from the show. We think the online version actually reads snappier.
Editorial: Ehren Watada standing up, are you? -- this wasn't our planned editorial. When tech problems began, we made it the editorial because it was already completed. We think it works as such. (The editorial that isn't? It was on Guantamo. Stand up for Watada this week.)
Truest statement of last week -- we actually debated several. We ended up going with this one because who knows if or when the paper of no record will even be in the running. (That's not to downgrade the statement. It's worthy of noting. )
That's it for this week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Ehren Watada standing up, are you?
I am the mother of Lt. Ehren Watada, an officer stationed at Ft. Lewis. He is part of a Stryker brigade unit that deployed today to Iraq. Despite an unflinching commitment to his men and to democratic ideals, he chose not to accompany his men. His decision came through much soul-searching and through research and consultation with experts across disciplines, inside and outside of the military and the government.
After weighing the evidence, he came to the conclusion that he could no longer be silent while atrocities were committed in the name of democracy. He could no longer be a tool of an administration that used deception and lies to make the case for pre-emptive war.
As a member of the armed forces, sworn to uphold the US Constitution, he refuses to blindly participate in a war of aggression, an illegal war that undermines who we are as a nation and violates international law. Implicit in his oath as an officer is the duty to disobey all unlawful orders, for to carry out these orders renders him an accomplice to a criminal act. Furthermore, to order his men to participate in a war of aggression multiplies his guilt a thousandfold. His conscience will not permit him to do so. He believes that he can best serve them by taking a stand against the war. In so doing, he demonstrates that one does not relinquish the freedom to choose what is right, even in the military, and that the freedom to choose what is right transcends the allegiance to man and institutions.
-- Carolyn Ho, "Open Letter From Mother of Lt. Ehren Watada, Resister of Illegal War" (Truthout)
We learned of Ehren Watada on the morning of June 7th via The Common Ills (C.I. notes, "Via Joan who found the article.") Democracy Now! summarized the breaking news as follows:
Army Lt. Refuses Iraq Deployment
Meanwhile, a US army officer has announced he's refusing his deployment to Iraq slated for later this month. The officer, First Lt. Ehren Watada, says he first asked for permission to resign his position in January. He says he wrote: "I am whole-heartedly opposed to the continued war in Iraq, the deception used to wage this war, and the lawlessness that has pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership." Lt. Watada is believed to be the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq since the invasion. Simultaneous news conferences by his supporters are expected to be held today in his home state of Hawaii and in Olympia, Washington. Military officials told Watada he cannot attend the news conference because he is barred from speaking publicly about his case while on duty at the base.
The following day, Amy Goodman interviewed him on Democracy Now!:
EHREN WATADA: Probably the maximum penalty I face, when I refuse orders to board the plane to go to Iraq, would be anywhere from two to five years, maybe more, in a military stockade. Dishonorable discharge and loss of all pay and allowances. There could be other punishment.
AMY GOODMAN: I was wondering, Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada, what your response was to the protest that resulted in I think something like 22 arrests in Olympia, Washington this past week as peace activists tried to stop a ship from moving out of port with striker vehicles and troops.
EHREN WATADA: I think that we all have a duty as American citizens for civil disobedience, and to do anything we can within the law to stop an illegal war.
The military refused to let him give any interviews during 'working hours.' Fortunately, that wasn't a hindrance to big media which had decided to ignore the story. Despite what was obviously a national story (the first commissioned officer to refuse to serve in the illegal war), you only heard of the story from certain media (such as Democracy Now!, WBAI's Wakeup Call, Sarah Olson reporting for Truthout.org, KPFA's Flashpoints, RadioNation with Laura Flanders, regional media -- Joan is a community member who lives in Hawaii --, etc.). One of the big media outlets you never heard about if from (to this day) is The New York Times. This would be the same New York Times that, as Ruth points out, noting FAIR and CounterSpin's coverage, was more than happy to print an op-ed that couldn't survive a basic fact check but did falsely attack the peace movement. Faced with an actual news story, the paper of no record chose to, yet again, shove its head in the sand.
That we can't count on big media comes as no surprise. The fact that Ehren Watada can't may not be surprising either but hopefully it underscores how much your help is needed. Visit ThankYouLt.org and find out what you can do. Make time to bring up the issue in your day to day conversations. Use your voice to bring attention to this issue. Big media doesn't want Watada's case to garner attention and, if they have their way, it won't. It's up to all of us to get the word out.
C.I. offered this update Friday:
In peace news, Will Hoover (The Honolulu Advertiser) reports on Ehren Watada's refusal to ship to Iraq when his unit left Fort Lewis, Washington yesterday (6:45 am), he refused to board. Ehren's father Bob Watada tells Hoover of the three officers that spent hours on Wednesday trying to convince Ehren to change his mind: "They put the full-court press on him. They were telling him, 'You know, you're facing 10 to 15 years in jail, and do you want to do all of that?'" The Army issued a statement saying that charges wouldn't be filed "until the commander has had a chance to review all of the facts of the case and consult with the Staff Judge Advocate." Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that the gag order placed on Watada has been "rescinded . . . allowing Watada to talk to anyone." As Alex Fryer (Seattle Times) notes, "Peace groups around the nation plan a day of protests and vigils in support of Watada on Tuesday." For more information, click here.
He followed through. If you're opposed to the war, you should back him up. There have been enough people taking brave stances that you might not have heard of until it was too late to make any difference. You can make a difference now. Laura Flanders (RadioNation with Laura Flanders) rightly says, "Don't leave politics to the politicans." We agree 100%. We also think you don't leave the news to big media -- they'll fail you every time.
TV review: The Simpsons
Last week's commentary got its praise and its slams in the e-mails, Ty informed us. He also said we (Ava and C.I.) had to read one e-mail. We read it. Let's share it:
Love how you trash everything if it's not some liberal Hollyweird fantasy. Bet you two drool over The Simpsons every Saturday. Word to you feminazis, the only girl on the show that's any good is Maggie [who] knows how to suck good, shoot a gun and can't talk.
Maggie being an infant, we found the e-mailer sufficiently creepy. (Maggie sucks on a pacifier. We know where the e-mailer's mind is headed with "knows how to suck good.") We also wondered what universe he lived in? New episodes of The Simpsons air Sundays on Fox. Maybe he's referring to syndication and those episodes only air on Saturdays in his area?
Regardless, hate to piss on his perv-ade, but no, we aren't huge fans of The Simpsons.
The show got its starts as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show and Ullman was shut out (by the courts) of any syndication money. Back then, it largely avoided weighty issues and just dealt with (crudely drawn) Lisa and Bart's childhood problems (such as what to watch on TV and stopping Maggie from changing the channel). (An early Simpson short is available on the video cassette of Mike Nichols' Working Girl starring Melanie Griffith.) Julie Kavner was a regular on Ullman's show and that's how she ended up voicing Marge. The shorts ran from April of 1987 until May of 1989 (plus summer reruns of Ullman's show -- over forty shorts in all) and then, on December 17, 1989, the half-hour versions of The Simpson's began airing.
They're three years short of twenty years. Two decades. We don't see a lot to show for it.
Yes, we all know The Little Red Dress episode, where Lisa starts her own newspaper (hilarious joke about where Ralph ends up writing after Lisa's paper shuts down and amusing joke when Milhouse reveals where he really filed his international coverage from). Montgomery "Monty" Burns, the Mr. Potter of this It's A Wonderful Life, is buying up all the TV and radio stations as well as all of the printed press. It was an interesting, it just wasn't an issue exclusive to the left. Media consolidation impacts everyone and that's why opponents to it come from a wide range of points on the political spectrum.
We don't see much left on the show.
Apu is a stereotype and the fact that the United States isn't 100% White, yet The Simpsons has had so little criticism of their portrayal of Apu (or his wife), is surprising. Or take the fact that only two African-Americans (in a show populated by hundreds of characters) seem to exist and play any sort of significant part on the show.
Or let's deal with the issue of women. Where are the working women who are also mothers? We aren't seeing them. They can cop out and claim, "Well Maggie's only one-year-old!" Yes, and she always will be. So what? Many mothers of one-year-old children work.
But where are the mothers that work on this show? LuAnn doesn't seem to have a job (Milhouse's mother). Nelson's mother may "work" but look at how he turned out (town bully when not bursting into tears). (Marge takes pity on him due to his home life.)
You've got Marge's sister Patty or Selma, which ever adopted the baby from China.
Want to talk about gay portrayals? (One of Marge's sister is a lesbian.) How about the fact that casting the voice for a gay character has become increasingly problematic as people refuse to take part in reinforcing stereotypes?
How about the way the working class is portrayed? All the adults are lazy and that's why they can't get ahead. (Working adults.) That is the message. Homer's not smart, he's got no drive, he's a lousy father, stupid, a drunk, and much more. That lazy lower class -- yet another stereotype the show reinforces.
But we think the most telling detail may be in the way they handle presidents of either party. Poppy Bush and Bill Clinton for example.
Poppy's big appearance comes when he moves across the street from the Simpsons and ends up the George Wilson to Bart's Dennis the Menace. Poppy's cranky and old. The jokes come from that. (This is after he's no longer president. In another appearance, he'll snarl "loser" at Jimmy Carter.)
And Bill Clinton? He's a liar, a huckster, and a pervert.
The show demonstrated how eager they were to crawl into the gutter when they made the then-president Bill Clinton a pig f**ker. A pig f**ker.
Clinton (to Marge): I know you don't think you're good enough for me, but believe me, you are. Hell, I done it with pigs. Real, no fooling, pigs.
Poppy Bush gets to be George Wilson. Clinton is a pig f**ker -- coming on to Marge.
In another appearance, aired while Clinton was still in office, he'll confess, "Hey, I'm a pretty lousy president."
And Poppy Bush is just the grumpy old neighbor across the street, Iran-Contra, arms for hostages, not withstanding.
We guess that's the sort of thing that had Jonah Goldberg praising the show for its "even-handness"?
Or take the episode everyone will toss out, when the Simpsons get ensared due to the Patriot Act. Bill Clinton's hauled out for some more nonsense. But note who helps them escape -- "I'm the last tax-and-spend Democrat! Tax-and-spend! Tax-and-spend!" cries an old man.
Now both parties tax and both parties spend. But it's so much better, and so much more New Republican, to reinforce a stereotype.
Repeatedly the ones on the losing end are the left. (Goldberg noted Homer's mother, so we won't.) Take Lisa who some, no doubt see, as the equivalent to Meathead on All in the Family. We think that's an apt comparison because there are some on the left who will embrace Lisa, as they did Meathead; there are some on the right who will boo and hiss her; and there are some in the mushy center who find her too "strident."
The last point isn't surprising when you consider how much the character's political convictions are loathed by everyone on the show (from "Monty" Burns on through to her own parents). Marge is forever worrying that Lisa might have a career when she grows up or making comments like, "Lisa, normally, I would say that you should stand up for what you believe in, but you've been doing that an awful lot lately . . ."
We don't see it as a left show. We think it crossed a line with the pig f**ker joke since there's been nothing similar for Poppy Bush (or the Bully Boy). They toss out a love pat here and there to Republicans and kick Democrats to the gutter. (And does anyone not get who Quinby is supposed to be?)
It's a show where women are rarely the focus and mothers don't work. It's a show where people of color largely don't exist. It's a show that's frequently homophobic, that portrays the working class (Carl, Lenny, Homer . . . ) as lazy.
What's in it for the left?
Is it sometimes funny? Yes. Is it a left show? No.
And it shouldn't have required Jonah Goldberg praising the show for anyone to pick up on that.
Most damaging has been the show's success. With few exceptions, every show since has had a stay-at-home mother. They've modeled themsevles on The Simpsons (with a twist! always with a twist!) to attempt to recreate its success. (One noteable exception is King of the Hill which we're not calling left but are noting was quite a bit more original than any of the knock-offs Fox has aired.)
Bill Clinton isn't the left anymore than Poppy Bush (or Bully Boy) are the right. But we've seen the treatment of both on this show. Bill Clinton? Pig f**ker. We didn't think it was funny and we didn't think there was an equivalent aired with regard to either Bush.
What we did see was yet another trashing of the working class (that's where Homer resides and what Clinton rose from). Lot of cheap laughs at the working class. Left? No.
Love how you trash everything if it's not some liberal Hollyweird fantasy. Bet you two drool over The Simpsons every Saturday. Word to you feminazis, the only girl on the show that's any good is Maggie [who] knows how to suck good, shoot a gun and can't talk.
Maggie being an infant, we found the e-mailer sufficiently creepy. (Maggie sucks on a pacifier. We know where the e-mailer's mind is headed with "knows how to suck good.") We also wondered what universe he lived in? New episodes of The Simpsons air Sundays on Fox. Maybe he's referring to syndication and those episodes only air on Saturdays in his area?
Regardless, hate to piss on his perv-ade, but no, we aren't huge fans of The Simpsons.
The show got its starts as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show and Ullman was shut out (by the courts) of any syndication money. Back then, it largely avoided weighty issues and just dealt with (crudely drawn) Lisa and Bart's childhood problems (such as what to watch on TV and stopping Maggie from changing the channel). (An early Simpson short is available on the video cassette of Mike Nichols' Working Girl starring Melanie Griffith.) Julie Kavner was a regular on Ullman's show and that's how she ended up voicing Marge. The shorts ran from April of 1987 until May of 1989 (plus summer reruns of Ullman's show -- over forty shorts in all) and then, on December 17, 1989, the half-hour versions of The Simpson's began airing.
They're three years short of twenty years. Two decades. We don't see a lot to show for it.
Yes, we all know The Little Red Dress episode, where Lisa starts her own newspaper (hilarious joke about where Ralph ends up writing after Lisa's paper shuts down and amusing joke when Milhouse reveals where he really filed his international coverage from). Montgomery "Monty" Burns, the Mr. Potter of this It's A Wonderful Life, is buying up all the TV and radio stations as well as all of the printed press. It was an interesting, it just wasn't an issue exclusive to the left. Media consolidation impacts everyone and that's why opponents to it come from a wide range of points on the political spectrum.
We don't see much left on the show.
Apu is a stereotype and the fact that the United States isn't 100% White, yet The Simpsons has had so little criticism of their portrayal of Apu (or his wife), is surprising. Or take the fact that only two African-Americans (in a show populated by hundreds of characters) seem to exist and play any sort of significant part on the show.
Or let's deal with the issue of women. Where are the working women who are also mothers? We aren't seeing them. They can cop out and claim, "Well Maggie's only one-year-old!" Yes, and she always will be. So what? Many mothers of one-year-old children work.
But where are the mothers that work on this show? LuAnn doesn't seem to have a job (Milhouse's mother). Nelson's mother may "work" but look at how he turned out (town bully when not bursting into tears). (Marge takes pity on him due to his home life.)
You've got Marge's sister Patty or Selma, which ever adopted the baby from China.
Want to talk about gay portrayals? (One of Marge's sister is a lesbian.) How about the fact that casting the voice for a gay character has become increasingly problematic as people refuse to take part in reinforcing stereotypes?
How about the way the working class is portrayed? All the adults are lazy and that's why they can't get ahead. (Working adults.) That is the message. Homer's not smart, he's got no drive, he's a lousy father, stupid, a drunk, and much more. That lazy lower class -- yet another stereotype the show reinforces.
But we think the most telling detail may be in the way they handle presidents of either party. Poppy Bush and Bill Clinton for example.
Poppy's big appearance comes when he moves across the street from the Simpsons and ends up the George Wilson to Bart's Dennis the Menace. Poppy's cranky and old. The jokes come from that. (This is after he's no longer president. In another appearance, he'll snarl "loser" at Jimmy Carter.)
And Bill Clinton? He's a liar, a huckster, and a pervert.
The show demonstrated how eager they were to crawl into the gutter when they made the then-president Bill Clinton a pig f**ker. A pig f**ker.
Clinton (to Marge): I know you don't think you're good enough for me, but believe me, you are. Hell, I done it with pigs. Real, no fooling, pigs.
Poppy Bush gets to be George Wilson. Clinton is a pig f**ker -- coming on to Marge.
In another appearance, aired while Clinton was still in office, he'll confess, "Hey, I'm a pretty lousy president."
And Poppy Bush is just the grumpy old neighbor across the street, Iran-Contra, arms for hostages, not withstanding.
We guess that's the sort of thing that had Jonah Goldberg praising the show for its "even-handness"?
Or take the episode everyone will toss out, when the Simpsons get ensared due to the Patriot Act. Bill Clinton's hauled out for some more nonsense. But note who helps them escape -- "I'm the last tax-and-spend Democrat! Tax-and-spend! Tax-and-spend!" cries an old man.
Now both parties tax and both parties spend. But it's so much better, and so much more New Republican, to reinforce a stereotype.
Repeatedly the ones on the losing end are the left. (Goldberg noted Homer's mother, so we won't.) Take Lisa who some, no doubt see, as the equivalent to Meathead on All in the Family. We think that's an apt comparison because there are some on the left who will embrace Lisa, as they did Meathead; there are some on the right who will boo and hiss her; and there are some in the mushy center who find her too "strident."
The last point isn't surprising when you consider how much the character's political convictions are loathed by everyone on the show (from "Monty" Burns on through to her own parents). Marge is forever worrying that Lisa might have a career when she grows up or making comments like, "Lisa, normally, I would say that you should stand up for what you believe in, but you've been doing that an awful lot lately . . ."
We don't see it as a left show. We think it crossed a line with the pig f**ker joke since there's been nothing similar for Poppy Bush (or the Bully Boy). They toss out a love pat here and there to Republicans and kick Democrats to the gutter. (And does anyone not get who Quinby is supposed to be?)
It's a show where women are rarely the focus and mothers don't work. It's a show where people of color largely don't exist. It's a show that's frequently homophobic, that portrays the working class (Carl, Lenny, Homer . . . ) as lazy.
What's in it for the left?
Is it sometimes funny? Yes. Is it a left show? No.
And it shouldn't have required Jonah Goldberg praising the show for anyone to pick up on that.
Most damaging has been the show's success. With few exceptions, every show since has had a stay-at-home mother. They've modeled themsevles on The Simpsons (with a twist! always with a twist!) to attempt to recreate its success. (One noteable exception is King of the Hill which we're not calling left but are noting was quite a bit more original than any of the knock-offs Fox has aired.)
Bill Clinton isn't the left anymore than Poppy Bush (or Bully Boy) are the right. But we've seen the treatment of both on this show. Bill Clinton? Pig f**ker. We didn't think it was funny and we didn't think there was an equivalent aired with regard to either Bush.
What we did see was yet another trashing of the working class (that's where Homer resides and what Clinton rose from). Lot of cheap laughs at the working class. Left? No.
Left Eye for the Moderate Guy
So you were the toast of the town for years and years and then your ego got to be too much, sending the fans fleeing. You managed to pull a comeback out of your ass by making your album sound exactly like what you were recording two decades prior. Now you've got yourself in hot water again and fans are drifting off.
Subject: Bono
Age: 46
Shape: Pear but prone to orange
Hair: Stringy
Face: In need of shave
Body: See "Shape" and note that subject sweats profusely at all times
Reason for killing off "The Fly?": Noted on the Zooropa tour that even Adam Clayton was attracting more groupies
Prone to: Self-important statements and self-promotion
Music Most Closely Resembles: Cher
Sell-By Date: March, 1997
When Bono waddled in, we put down our copies of LeftTurn and CounterPunch and reached for wallets thinking a homeless person had wandered in. As he started grabbing for our dollars, promising that he'd send merchandise bearing his likeness, we put away our wallets and asked him what he needed.
"No one loves me anymore!" he whined between deep breaths (he was winded from walking up the flight of stairs).
That's not true, we pointed out, the Bully Boy loves him. Imagine how fortunate the Bully Boy is to have what the mainstream press sees as the 'most political rock star' in the world silent on the issue of Iraq? This is the man who once toured for Amnesty, spoke out against South Africa, and many other noble things many, many, many years in the past.
"No one loves me anymore!" he panted again causing one of us to run for a bottle of water and another, noting the sweat cascading from his enlarged pores, to turn a fan on him.
As soon as the breeze got blowing and we got a sniff of the air, we all moved upwind of him. Leather is an unforgiving fashion choice for him, not only due to emphasizing every roll of fat but also due to the fact that it doesn't breathe and tends to trap odors.
He was handed his bottle of water and quickly gulped it down while we, again, noted his massive girth. Standing before us was a middle-aged, pudgy, male who thought stubble, which had now gone gray, was attractive and that the build up of days of sweat made for a personal scent.
"What did I ever do wrong?" he asked wiping his mouth furiously.
Well maybe it was when he said that Africa needs more globalization? Or maybe it was his joining Elevation Partners which, as The Wall Street Journal noted, is into "buyouts and investments in media and entertainment company, seeking to profit from turmoil in those sectors"? It all sounds so predatory and creepy and, honestly, Republican.
Bono waved his hand wildy while we all begged him to put it down. He stunk and he was wearing a shirtless, leather vest, after all.
"I am helping in Africa!" he insisted.
Ah, yes, that. In bed with the religious right. Taking their monies and programs. Giving cover to the Bully Boy who still hasn't provided the long promised funding but, most importantly, using that money or any other to go from educating a medical approach for the disease to one of "Just say no." How much confusion will result from that mixed message? How many lives will be lost due to that?
He started to wave his hand again but stopped when we threatened to evict him immediately.
Frowning, he told us that, "I am Africa!"
We were a bit skeptical and then he mentioned a recent poll that found his actions were hurting the group U2.
"I can still sing!" he said defensively. "I can sing my anthems! Cher sings anthems!"
Yeah, but she's got a body that people pay to see and marvel over. Bono's the flip-side of the coin, the ugly side of aging. Plus Cher's got that natural sob in her voice that grabs the listener and Bono's voice is so sterile.
He interrupted us with, "Regardless, the kids will always come to my concerts!"
We didn't know how to break it to him.
"Kids" haven't made up the audience of U2 concerts since the eighties. That might have something to do with the fact that when the average ticket price is $96.94, not a lot of kids are going to be able to attend. It's also true that even the comeback album (All That You Can't Leave Behind) didn't storm the singles chart. Mainly it's due to the fact that the illegal war is an issue on campuses (high school and college) and Bono's inability to voice an opinion (a first!) on the war makes him look like the cheap carny barker he's become.
"So what are you saying?" he asked, a puddle sweat forming at his feet.
Someone would have to clean that up later.
What we were saying was that he has remnants of the 80s and 90s college audience. Judging by the sales of the last studio album, not in large numbers. Because the group is still seen as an event, it can probably make it through one more big tour. After that, it's "Hello Vegas!" where he can share the stage with the personality his own nature most closely resembles: Wayne Newton.
He shuddered. We worried he might faint and that one of us would have to perform CPR. We all took turns pointing to one another and shaking our own heads "no."
"I've been written off before and come back!" he insisted.
Yeah, but that was when you were just seen as pompous. Now you're seen as a hypocrite and the music, honestly, doesn't cut it anymore. Maybe U2 could get a new vocalist?
While we were tossing out potential names, he screamed and stomped his foot causing the entire building structure to shake and sway.
He roared, "I came here for help!"
Yeah, well, we're really not about helping the moderates try to fool the left. But we understand they're having another training session on that just down the street at The New Republic. If he hurries, he can still make that seminar?
Dejected, he asked us if we validated? We told him "no" and sent him on his way.
About a minute later, we wished we'd stopped him. Asked him to clean up the sweat puddles he'd left on the floor. Somebody crack a window.
Subject: Bono
Age: 46
Shape: Pear but prone to orange
Hair: Stringy
Face: In need of shave
Body: See "Shape" and note that subject sweats profusely at all times
Reason for killing off "The Fly?": Noted on the Zooropa tour that even Adam Clayton was attracting more groupies
Prone to: Self-important statements and self-promotion
Music Most Closely Resembles: Cher
Sell-By Date: March, 1997
When Bono waddled in, we put down our copies of LeftTurn and CounterPunch and reached for wallets thinking a homeless person had wandered in. As he started grabbing for our dollars, promising that he'd send merchandise bearing his likeness, we put away our wallets and asked him what he needed.
"No one loves me anymore!" he whined between deep breaths (he was winded from walking up the flight of stairs).
That's not true, we pointed out, the Bully Boy loves him. Imagine how fortunate the Bully Boy is to have what the mainstream press sees as the 'most political rock star' in the world silent on the issue of Iraq? This is the man who once toured for Amnesty, spoke out against South Africa, and many other noble things many, many, many years in the past.
"No one loves me anymore!" he panted again causing one of us to run for a bottle of water and another, noting the sweat cascading from his enlarged pores, to turn a fan on him.
As soon as the breeze got blowing and we got a sniff of the air, we all moved upwind of him. Leather is an unforgiving fashion choice for him, not only due to emphasizing every roll of fat but also due to the fact that it doesn't breathe and tends to trap odors.
He was handed his bottle of water and quickly gulped it down while we, again, noted his massive girth. Standing before us was a middle-aged, pudgy, male who thought stubble, which had now gone gray, was attractive and that the build up of days of sweat made for a personal scent.
"What did I ever do wrong?" he asked wiping his mouth furiously.
Well maybe it was when he said that Africa needs more globalization? Or maybe it was his joining Elevation Partners which, as The Wall Street Journal noted, is into "buyouts and investments in media and entertainment company, seeking to profit from turmoil in those sectors"? It all sounds so predatory and creepy and, honestly, Republican.
Bono waved his hand wildy while we all begged him to put it down. He stunk and he was wearing a shirtless, leather vest, after all.
"I am helping in Africa!" he insisted.
Ah, yes, that. In bed with the religious right. Taking their monies and programs. Giving cover to the Bully Boy who still hasn't provided the long promised funding but, most importantly, using that money or any other to go from educating a medical approach for the disease to one of "Just say no." How much confusion will result from that mixed message? How many lives will be lost due to that?
He started to wave his hand again but stopped when we threatened to evict him immediately.
Frowning, he told us that, "I am Africa!"
We were a bit skeptical and then he mentioned a recent poll that found his actions were hurting the group U2.
"I can still sing!" he said defensively. "I can sing my anthems! Cher sings anthems!"
Yeah, but she's got a body that people pay to see and marvel over. Bono's the flip-side of the coin, the ugly side of aging. Plus Cher's got that natural sob in her voice that grabs the listener and Bono's voice is so sterile.
He interrupted us with, "Regardless, the kids will always come to my concerts!"
We didn't know how to break it to him.
"Kids" haven't made up the audience of U2 concerts since the eighties. That might have something to do with the fact that when the average ticket price is $96.94, not a lot of kids are going to be able to attend. It's also true that even the comeback album (All That You Can't Leave Behind) didn't storm the singles chart. Mainly it's due to the fact that the illegal war is an issue on campuses (high school and college) and Bono's inability to voice an opinion (a first!) on the war makes him look like the cheap carny barker he's become.
"So what are you saying?" he asked, a puddle sweat forming at his feet.
Someone would have to clean that up later.
What we were saying was that he has remnants of the 80s and 90s college audience. Judging by the sales of the last studio album, not in large numbers. Because the group is still seen as an event, it can probably make it through one more big tour. After that, it's "Hello Vegas!" where he can share the stage with the personality his own nature most closely resembles: Wayne Newton.
He shuddered. We worried he might faint and that one of us would have to perform CPR. We all took turns pointing to one another and shaking our own heads "no."
"I've been written off before and come back!" he insisted.
Yeah, but that was when you were just seen as pompous. Now you're seen as a hypocrite and the music, honestly, doesn't cut it anymore. Maybe U2 could get a new vocalist?
While we were tossing out potential names, he screamed and stomped his foot causing the entire building structure to shake and sway.
He roared, "I came here for help!"
Yeah, well, we're really not about helping the moderates try to fool the left. But we understand they're having another training session on that just down the street at The New Republic. If he hurries, he can still make that seminar?
Dejected, he asked us if we validated? We told him "no" and sent him on his way.
About a minute later, we wished we'd stopped him. Asked him to clean up the sweat puddles he'd left on the floor. Somebody crack a window.
New Millenium Songbook for War Hawks and Other Vile Creatures
In all our focus on finding music that spoke to the times and against the war, we overlooked the fact that War Hawks need tunes too. So we've altered a few well known songs so that they can make them their own.
For landlords, slumlords, and sadists of all kinds, "The Poor Man's Shack:"
Well, I went down to the poor man's shack
Went down to the poor man's shack
And I stole back what he earned from me
Stole back what he earned from me.
Well I went down to the poor man's shack
I stomped on his dignity
I spat on humanity
And now he's under my feet
Under my feet
Under my feet
Ain't no one gonna talk equality.
Well I went down to the poor man's shack
Went down to the poor man's shack
And I stole back what he earned from me
Stole back what he earned from me . . .
For corporate media and all its supporters, "Sister It's All Mine:"
My papa told me stomp on their dream, be obscene,
When there was land to grab, pockets to clean.
My papa told me stomp on their dream, take it all
Why should I wait in line, when it was all mine?
Once I owned a paper, then a radio station, a TV station
Once I owned a paper, now I own it all. Sister, it's all mine!
Once I was one stadium, now I'm on a roll
Once I was a little big fish, now I swallow them whole, Sister, it's all mine!
Once in Armani suits, gee I looked swell
Full of the 'war is good' talk.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
And I was the kid holding the stocks.
Say, don't you know, they call me Sir; it is Sir on all the blocks.
Why, don't you remember, I own it all! Sister, it's all mine!
Once in Armani suits, gee I looked swell
Full of the 'war is good' talk.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
And I was the kid holding the stocks.
Say, don't you know, they call me Sir, it is Sir on all the blocks.
Why, don't you remember, I own it all! Sister, it's all mine!
For the disenchanted War Hawk bothered by the ever thinning herd but determined to continue selling the war, "Where Have All The War Hawks Gone?":
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts are rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts are rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Petey Beinart's knees have buckled.
Oh when will Petey ever learn?
Oh, when will Petey ever learn?
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts keep rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts keep rising.
Petey, Robert Kagan, every one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Where's big business gone?
Still supporting!
Where's big business gone?
Still supporting!
Where's big business gone?
They'll keep selling
Oh, we will see our return.
Oh, we will see our return.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
We don't give a damn.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Don't give a damn.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
They've gone to graveyards, every one.
Draft their daughters and their sons.
Draft their daughters and their sons.
Where have all the slogans gone?
We'll think up new ones.
Where have all the slogans gone?
Bring on the new ones.
Where have all the slogans gone?
Soaked in blood, discard them.
Oh, we've got a war to sell.
Still got a war to sell.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
They sold short.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
They sold short.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
You got to have big brass ones
If you want to see your return
If you want to see your return.
For landlords, slumlords, and sadists of all kinds, "The Poor Man's Shack:"
Well, I went down to the poor man's shack
Went down to the poor man's shack
And I stole back what he earned from me
Stole back what he earned from me.
Well I went down to the poor man's shack
I stomped on his dignity
I spat on humanity
And now he's under my feet
Under my feet
Under my feet
Ain't no one gonna talk equality.
Well I went down to the poor man's shack
Went down to the poor man's shack
And I stole back what he earned from me
Stole back what he earned from me . . .
For corporate media and all its supporters, "Sister It's All Mine:"
My papa told me stomp on their dream, be obscene,
When there was land to grab, pockets to clean.
My papa told me stomp on their dream, take it all
Why should I wait in line, when it was all mine?
Once I owned a paper, then a radio station, a TV station
Once I owned a paper, now I own it all. Sister, it's all mine!
Once I was one stadium, now I'm on a roll
Once I was a little big fish, now I swallow them whole, Sister, it's all mine!
Once in Armani suits, gee I looked swell
Full of the 'war is good' talk.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
And I was the kid holding the stocks.
Say, don't you know, they call me Sir; it is Sir on all the blocks.
Why, don't you remember, I own it all! Sister, it's all mine!
Once in Armani suits, gee I looked swell
Full of the 'war is good' talk.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
And I was the kid holding the stocks.
Say, don't you know, they call me Sir, it is Sir on all the blocks.
Why, don't you remember, I own it all! Sister, it's all mine!
For the disenchanted War Hawk bothered by the ever thinning herd but determined to continue selling the war, "Where Have All The War Hawks Gone?":
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts are rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts are rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Petey Beinart's knees have buckled.
Oh when will Petey ever learn?
Oh, when will Petey ever learn?
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts keep rising.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
Doubts keep rising.
Petey, Robert Kagan, every one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Where's big business gone?
Still supporting!
Where's big business gone?
Still supporting!
Where's big business gone?
They'll keep selling
Oh, we will see our return.
Oh, we will see our return.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
We don't give a damn.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Don't give a damn.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
They've gone to graveyards, every one.
Draft their daughters and their sons.
Draft their daughters and their sons.
Where have all the slogans gone?
We'll think up new ones.
Where have all the slogans gone?
Bring on the new ones.
Where have all the slogans gone?
Soaked in blood, discard them.
Oh, we've got a war to sell.
Still got a war to sell.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
They sold short.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
They sold short.
Where have all the War Hawks gone?
You got to have big brass ones
If you want to see your return
If you want to see your return.
Hope was the theme for RadioNation with Laura Flanders Saturday
Saturday on RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders explored a wide range of topics and issues. Janice Mathis of the Rainbow-Push Coalition (their general counsel and also director of the Atlanta branch) addressed the issue of voting.
Mathis noted the newly passed legislation in Georgia that will impact the July primary: voters must produce photo i.d. (generally driver's licenses are used). Mathis noted that 33.2 % elderly African-Americans and 20% of Whites over 65 don't have the i.d. They've traditionally voted by producing their voter registration cards. (A poll worker matches their signature at the polls with their signature on the card.) This is a new form of Jim Crowe that's spreading to other states in an effort to supress the voter turnout. (It will also effect some environmentalists who may not have acceptable photo i.d.s if they refuse to drive. Urban areas such as NYC would find many voters ineligable to vote should such guidelines be adopted.)
Mathis noted that Indiana and South Carolina are proposing similar legislation. She advises that people contact Alberto Gonzales since section five of the Voting Rights Act gives Gonzales authority of approval. Flanders asked how often Gonzales had been willing to side with minorities and Mathis noted it was so little that it wasn't worth counting.
Noting that the new legislation is "so outrageous, so over the top, I think people may wake up" and could galvanize a new movement. For more information, she suggested their website:
www.rainbowpush.org/
and also gave out the following phone number:
(404) 525-5663
Author and journalist (columnist for The Nation), William Greider addressed a number of issues including the non-recovering economy (Bully Boy's presided over the lowest job growth following a recession). Saturday's theme seemed to be hope. Mathis noted her hope that this hideous legislation would lead to a new energy being poured into voting rights. Greider noted that he thought what was being provided with our current economy was a very clear view of what was wrong with it placing us on the precipice of transformation (if we choose to act).
Activist, playwright, actress, Eve Ensler spoke of the hope she found in truth telling and in the shared stories of people she encountered who shared how The Vagina Monologues had given the nerve to tell their own stories. (As many, including Gloria Steinem, have noted, if one day every woman told the truth about her own life, the world as we know it would forever change.)
Current V-Day events are being held to raise awareness and to raise funds for women's shelters and to combat the abuse of women. Ensler also spoke of the effect that the abuse could have men, noting several men who were staging events and how one grew up seeing his father beat his mother. How does that effect a person and what kind of toll is the continued violence against women taking on all of us?
It was Saturday so there was time for the arts (actually two spots were reserved for the arts -- Ensler being the first -- there doesn't have to be a line between activism and the arts as Flanders repeatedly demonstrates each weekend) and this Saturday it was Lila Downs discussing her new album La Catina (Entre Copa y Copa). It was a lively mix.
Tonight, get ready for more (swiping from Kat) :
The one and only Dahr Jamail. You've got to listen. (Awarded "Embedded in our hearts" in the 2004 year-in-review and only more so today. Listen!)
Need more reasons? Holly Sklar who always has something worth hearing on the economy and, guess what, talk of the economy includes much more than stock tips. Holly keeps it real.
And a name we've grown familiar with at this site, Sharon Smith -- a woman who's not afraid to ask the questions about the illegal war that need to be asked. Subterranean Fire: A History of Working Class Radicalism in the United States is her latest book. I'm adding it to my reading list and you will add it to yours if you remember some of her strong writing that's appeared in/at CounterPunch.
That's tonight on Air America Radio's RadioNation with Laura Flanders from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm EST.
Not enough for you? Laura Flanders will be filling in this week (from Monday, June 26th to Friday, June 30th) for Mike Malloy on his The Mike Malloy Show. which airs live on Air America Radio from ten p.m. to one a.m. EST. If she's planning on hosting new shows next weekend, that means Flanders is on for nine days straight, three hours a night.
Mathis noted the newly passed legislation in Georgia that will impact the July primary: voters must produce photo i.d. (generally driver's licenses are used). Mathis noted that 33.2 % elderly African-Americans and 20% of Whites over 65 don't have the i.d. They've traditionally voted by producing their voter registration cards. (A poll worker matches their signature at the polls with their signature on the card.) This is a new form of Jim Crowe that's spreading to other states in an effort to supress the voter turnout. (It will also effect some environmentalists who may not have acceptable photo i.d.s if they refuse to drive. Urban areas such as NYC would find many voters ineligable to vote should such guidelines be adopted.)
Mathis noted that Indiana and South Carolina are proposing similar legislation. She advises that people contact Alberto Gonzales since section five of the Voting Rights Act gives Gonzales authority of approval. Flanders asked how often Gonzales had been willing to side with minorities and Mathis noted it was so little that it wasn't worth counting.
Noting that the new legislation is "so outrageous, so over the top, I think people may wake up" and could galvanize a new movement. For more information, she suggested their website:
www.rainbowpush.org/
and also gave out the following phone number:
(404) 525-5663
Author and journalist (columnist for The Nation), William Greider addressed a number of issues including the non-recovering economy (Bully Boy's presided over the lowest job growth following a recession). Saturday's theme seemed to be hope. Mathis noted her hope that this hideous legislation would lead to a new energy being poured into voting rights. Greider noted that he thought what was being provided with our current economy was a very clear view of what was wrong with it placing us on the precipice of transformation (if we choose to act).
Activist, playwright, actress, Eve Ensler spoke of the hope she found in truth telling and in the shared stories of people she encountered who shared how The Vagina Monologues had given the nerve to tell their own stories. (As many, including Gloria Steinem, have noted, if one day every woman told the truth about her own life, the world as we know it would forever change.)
Current V-Day events are being held to raise awareness and to raise funds for women's shelters and to combat the abuse of women. Ensler also spoke of the effect that the abuse could have men, noting several men who were staging events and how one grew up seeing his father beat his mother. How does that effect a person and what kind of toll is the continued violence against women taking on all of us?
It was Saturday so there was time for the arts (actually two spots were reserved for the arts -- Ensler being the first -- there doesn't have to be a line between activism and the arts as Flanders repeatedly demonstrates each weekend) and this Saturday it was Lila Downs discussing her new album La Catina (Entre Copa y Copa). It was a lively mix.
Tonight, get ready for more (swiping from Kat) :
The one and only Dahr Jamail. You've got to listen. (Awarded "Embedded in our hearts" in the 2004 year-in-review and only more so today. Listen!)
Need more reasons? Holly Sklar who always has something worth hearing on the economy and, guess what, talk of the economy includes much more than stock tips. Holly keeps it real.
And a name we've grown familiar with at this site, Sharon Smith -- a woman who's not afraid to ask the questions about the illegal war that need to be asked. Subterranean Fire: A History of Working Class Radicalism in the United States is her latest book. I'm adding it to my reading list and you will add it to yours if you remember some of her strong writing that's appeared in/at CounterPunch.
That's tonight on Air America Radio's RadioNation with Laura Flanders from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm EST.
Not enough for you? Laura Flanders will be filling in this week (from Monday, June 26th to Friday, June 30th) for Mike Malloy on his The Mike Malloy Show. which airs live on Air America Radio from ten p.m. to one a.m. EST. If she's planning on hosting new shows next weekend, that means Flanders is on for nine days straight, three hours a night.
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