Spanish prosecutors will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzales and five high-ranking Bush administration officials for sanctioning torture at Guantánamo.
Spanish prosecutors have decided to press forward with a criminal investigation targeting former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five top associates over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo, several reliable sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Beast.
So began Scott Horton's "The Bush Six to Be Indicted" (The Daily Beast) on Monday, April 13th. He went on to say the charges would come down the next day. It is now April 26th and, Scotty, in the words of Diana Ross, "I'm still waiting . . ."
This wasn't the fish that got away, this was the wolf no one else saw.
But we saw this play out before. In 2006. Jason Leopold stated Karl Rove would be indicted. That never happened. Columbia Journalism Review called him out, Alexander Cockburn called him out (riding a high horse, Alex seemed unaware that CounterPunch had published Jason's stories online many, many times), Crooks & Liars, and the list was endless.
So, the question is, when will this year's Scott Horton be called out?
Are people waiting to see if charges come along? They haven't in the time frame he told us they would.
Translation, Scott Horton's a liar.
He said they'd be charged on April 14th and they weren't. That makes him a liar. Or a weatherman and, while he's packed on the pounds, he's not yet in Willard Scott's division.
We saw the way this played out with Leopold. We're not in the mood to wait around and we don't have to. April 14th was the day Horton said it would happen and April 14th came and went with nothing.
If you read Horton's increasingly disjointed writing at Harper's, you'll grasp why he's become so unmoored. He's going to all the Kool-Aid sites, all the propaganda sites, watching all their programs and he's caught up in their non-stop hate.
He fed on it, he ingested it and now it's in him.
It's why he's become completely unhinged.
And here's the thing.
He's worse than Jason Leopold. Scott Horton's a practicing attorney. He knows how the criminal justice system works and he knows better to say someone's going to be charged before they are. He can say they will supposedly be charged or allegedly but to say that they will be charged? No sane attorney would make such a statement and present it as fact.
Scott Horton, this year's Leopold. Only worse.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Why does Barbara Ehrenreich hate women?
Back in May, professional hate monger and stooge Barbara Ehrenreich demonstrated that the stupid child doesn't fall far from the stupid parent as she ranted against Susan Faludi (among others) and foamed, "But did we really need another lesson in the female capacity for ruthless aggression? Any illusions I had about the innate moral superiority of women ended four years ago with Abu Ghraib. Recall that three out of the five prison guards prosecuted for the torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners were women. The prison was directed by a woman, Gen. Janis Karpinski, and the top U.S. intelligence officer in Iraq, who also was responsible for reviewing the status of detainees before their release, was Major Gen. Barbara Fast. Not to mention that the U.S. official ultimately responsible for managing the occupation of Iraq at the time was Condoleezza Rice." ("Hillary's Gift To Women," May of 2008)
Poor Barbara Ehrenreich's lived her life as though it were an alternative Laura Nyro song: "No one hurries home to ugly women . . ." And you don't get much ugly than Democratic Socialist Babsie. No, folks, that's not a form of a Democrat. It's a Socialist and as a non-Democrat, Babsie really didn't have a reason to endorse in a Democratic Party primary but that's a whole other layer of ugly.
So unable to tackle Faludi's points, Babsie tried to switch the topic and bring up Abu Ghraib. Why? Not because she gives a damn about Iraq. She doesn't. Any more than that ugly daughter of Babsie's cares about a free press. (Rosa Brooks left LAT as they were about to fire her and took up with Barack's White House where she's issued the cry for licensing of all journalists. What a proud moment for Babsie.)
We'll get to Karpinski. Let's start with Babsie's claim Recall that she claimed three out of the five prison guards prosecuted for the torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners were women.
Babsie always felt facts worked best when 'improved' on. What others might call lying, Babsie (and Rosa) terms "journalism."
Three of the five guards prosecuted?
1) Charles Graner
2) Joshua Lee Betts
3) Ivan Frederick
4) Javal Davis
5) Jeremy Sivits
6) Armin Cruz
7) Sabrina Harman
8) Megan Ambuhl
9) Lynndie England
10) Santos Cardona
11) Roman Krol
12) Michael Smith.
We're counting twelve. Joshua Lee Betts was tried . . . and found innocent of all charges. He was prosecuted. So there were 12 prosecuted and one of the 12 was found innocent. There are three women on this list and, no, Babsie, they do not make up half the ranks. Three out of twelve. Our confusion was her "prosecuted for the torture and sexual humiliation." If you look at the charges when they faced their court-martial, you'll see that "sexual humiliation" didn't always make it on to the list. We're not disputing that sexual humiliation took place, we're just attempting to understand Babsie's cracked mind. Looking over which each was charged with (forget convicted of -- except Betts who was found innocent), you won't find that listed for all. Also no one was charged with "torture." We don't disagree that torture took place. But we're attempting to enter Babsie's cracked head.
Three out of twelve is not half, it's a third.
As usual, when the facts aren't good enough for Babsie, she gets creative. Which is how she gets "three of the five." She's not done being creative, though.
Remember, she also wrote, "The prison was directed by a woman, Gen. Janis Karpinski, and the top U.S. intelligence officer in Iraq, who also was responsible for reviewing the status of detainees before their release, was Major Gen. Barbara Fast." Yes, Janis Karpinski was sort of in charge. She wasn't in charge of the section of the prison where abuse took place (military intelligence was in charge of that). It's amazing that in 2009, Babsie didn't 'know' that. It's amazing she wasn't aware of what Major General Geoffrey Miller did and ordered in Iraq. Or that she wasn't offended that while Gen Karpinski was busted down to Col, Miller retained his rank. Last week, the chair of the Senate Arms Committee, Carl Levin released a report entitled [PDF format warning] "INQUIRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES IN U.S. CUSTODY." Miller is featured in it a great deal. He wasn't the saint he (and the Bush administration) claimed. (Start reading the report on page 76.) What the report finds backs up what Karpinski has maintained all these years.
April 5th, retired Army Col and retired State Dept diplomat Ann Wright told Cindy Sheehan on Cindy's Soapbox that Janis Karpinski was made the fall person for Abu Ghraib. (Wright also spoke of how Karpinski fought back, like no one she'd seen do, refusing to be silent while the military did their 'investigation'.) Last week, Karpinski appeared on The Early Show (CBS) and repeated that the torture was brought in and not something the people serving under her came up with on their own. Samira Simone (CNN) observed, "She said was a scapegoat. She said she was just following orders. She said she was demoted unfairly. Now, retired Army Col. Janis Karpinski can say: I told you so. . . . Today, Karpinsi has found validation in a few Bush-era memos released last week by the Obama administration." While Ruth asks, "So are they going to restore her rank? They should. They busted her down when she was innocent," Babsie falsely smears the woman.
That's really all Babsie ever does. The next sentence is equally appalling: "Not to mention that the U.S. official ultimately responsible for managing the occupation of Iraq at the time was Condoleezza Rice." The buck stops with the person occupying the Oval Office. More importantly, the person under the president who would be in charge of Iraq would be the Secretary of Defense. At the time of Abu Ghraib, that was Donald Rumsfeld. Condi did not become Secretary of Defense after him. She did become Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is not over "managing" any occupation, Babsie. But, most importantly, when Abu Ghraib's torture took place and when it was revealed, Condi was the National Security Advisor. Of the US, not Iraq's National Security Advisor.
In other words, she was never an official "responsible for managing the occupation of Iraq" at any time during her White House career.
Babsie loves to 'create' facts. But, if you paid attention, all the creation went to attacking women. So it's past time Babsie was asked why she hates women so? Equally important is asking The Nation and The Progressive why they run Babsie factually challenged ravings?
The Nation ran that garbage and, click here for Google cache, you'll note they never ran a correction to any of Babsie's 'errors.' We zoomed in one paragraph, that's far from the only problem. The question is how did The Nation miss noting these obvious factual errors? Remember that the next time you read something at The Nation.
Poor Barbara Ehrenreich's lived her life as though it were an alternative Laura Nyro song: "No one hurries home to ugly women . . ." And you don't get much ugly than Democratic Socialist Babsie. No, folks, that's not a form of a Democrat. It's a Socialist and as a non-Democrat, Babsie really didn't have a reason to endorse in a Democratic Party primary but that's a whole other layer of ugly.
So unable to tackle Faludi's points, Babsie tried to switch the topic and bring up Abu Ghraib. Why? Not because she gives a damn about Iraq. She doesn't. Any more than that ugly daughter of Babsie's cares about a free press. (Rosa Brooks left LAT as they were about to fire her and took up with Barack's White House where she's issued the cry for licensing of all journalists. What a proud moment for Babsie.)
We'll get to Karpinski. Let's start with Babsie's claim Recall that she claimed three out of the five prison guards prosecuted for the torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners were women.
Babsie always felt facts worked best when 'improved' on. What others might call lying, Babsie (and Rosa) terms "journalism."
Three of the five guards prosecuted?
1) Charles Graner
2) Joshua Lee Betts
3) Ivan Frederick
4) Javal Davis
5) Jeremy Sivits
6) Armin Cruz
7) Sabrina Harman
8) Megan Ambuhl
9) Lynndie England
10) Santos Cardona
11) Roman Krol
12) Michael Smith.
We're counting twelve. Joshua Lee Betts was tried . . . and found innocent of all charges. He was prosecuted. So there were 12 prosecuted and one of the 12 was found innocent. There are three women on this list and, no, Babsie, they do not make up half the ranks. Three out of twelve. Our confusion was her "prosecuted for the torture and sexual humiliation." If you look at the charges when they faced their court-martial, you'll see that "sexual humiliation" didn't always make it on to the list. We're not disputing that sexual humiliation took place, we're just attempting to understand Babsie's cracked mind. Looking over which each was charged with (forget convicted of -- except Betts who was found innocent), you won't find that listed for all. Also no one was charged with "torture." We don't disagree that torture took place. But we're attempting to enter Babsie's cracked head.
Three out of twelve is not half, it's a third.
As usual, when the facts aren't good enough for Babsie, she gets creative. Which is how she gets "three of the five." She's not done being creative, though.
Remember, she also wrote, "The prison was directed by a woman, Gen. Janis Karpinski, and the top U.S. intelligence officer in Iraq, who also was responsible for reviewing the status of detainees before their release, was Major Gen. Barbara Fast." Yes, Janis Karpinski was sort of in charge. She wasn't in charge of the section of the prison where abuse took place (military intelligence was in charge of that). It's amazing that in 2009, Babsie didn't 'know' that. It's amazing she wasn't aware of what Major General Geoffrey Miller did and ordered in Iraq. Or that she wasn't offended that while Gen Karpinski was busted down to Col, Miller retained his rank. Last week, the chair of the Senate Arms Committee, Carl Levin released a report entitled [PDF format warning] "INQUIRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES IN U.S. CUSTODY." Miller is featured in it a great deal. He wasn't the saint he (and the Bush administration) claimed. (Start reading the report on page 76.) What the report finds backs up what Karpinski has maintained all these years.
April 5th, retired Army Col and retired State Dept diplomat Ann Wright told Cindy Sheehan on Cindy's Soapbox that Janis Karpinski was made the fall person for Abu Ghraib. (Wright also spoke of how Karpinski fought back, like no one she'd seen do, refusing to be silent while the military did their 'investigation'.) Last week, Karpinski appeared on The Early Show (CBS) and repeated that the torture was brought in and not something the people serving under her came up with on their own. Samira Simone (CNN) observed, "She said was a scapegoat. She said she was just following orders. She said she was demoted unfairly. Now, retired Army Col. Janis Karpinski can say: I told you so. . . . Today, Karpinsi has found validation in a few Bush-era memos released last week by the Obama administration." While Ruth asks, "So are they going to restore her rank? They should. They busted her down when she was innocent," Babsie falsely smears the woman.
That's really all Babsie ever does. The next sentence is equally appalling: "Not to mention that the U.S. official ultimately responsible for managing the occupation of Iraq at the time was Condoleezza Rice." The buck stops with the person occupying the Oval Office. More importantly, the person under the president who would be in charge of Iraq would be the Secretary of Defense. At the time of Abu Ghraib, that was Donald Rumsfeld. Condi did not become Secretary of Defense after him. She did become Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is not over "managing" any occupation, Babsie. But, most importantly, when Abu Ghraib's torture took place and when it was revealed, Condi was the National Security Advisor. Of the US, not Iraq's National Security Advisor.
In other words, she was never an official "responsible for managing the occupation of Iraq" at any time during her White House career.
Babsie loves to 'create' facts. But, if you paid attention, all the creation went to attacking women. So it's past time Babsie was asked why she hates women so? Equally important is asking The Nation and The Progressive why they run Babsie factually challenged ravings?
The Nation ran that garbage and, click here for Google cache, you'll note they never ran a correction to any of Babsie's 'errors.' We zoomed in one paragraph, that's far from the only problem. The question is how did The Nation miss noting these obvious factual errors? Remember that the next time you read something at The Nation.
The Dumbness Hurts
Since the elections, we've seen Gloria Steinem and Kim Gandy called out for endorsing Barack Obama in the Democratic Party primary. No, they didn't endorse Barack. They endorsed Hillary but facts are facts and it's so much more fun to 'invent'!
Why are some on the left so damn stupid? Because they're truly uneducated. They think they aren't, they think they are so smart that they apparently don't feel they need to do any of the actual work to be informed. Case in point: "Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro" That's the voice MakeThemAccountable and, lucky for The Nation, Caro's stupidity never will.
They didn't trash Hillary?
Is Caro unfamiliar with Betsy Reed's little screech against Hillary? With Laura Flanders' non-stop trashing of Hillary? With the one-two punch of John Nichols and Katrina vanden Heuvel when Barack made an ass out of himself in 2007 so they -- in one of the first illuminating moments of "the sun is green because we says so" power of the Cult of Barack -- attacked Hillary. (The squabble had seen Nichols squaring off with David Corn. Corn served him his lunch. At which point, Barack supporter behind the scenes Katrina vanden Heuvel disregarded the fact that, as editor and publisher for the magazine, it wasn't her place to say "X is right and Z" is wrong. She said Corn was wrong. Corn now reports and investigates for Mother Jones and The Nation has nothing to offer but bad columnists with bad musing.) Is Caro unaware that The Nation led the war against Hillary? Is she unaware that they began their 2008 presidential campaign coverage before the 2006 mid-term and that they printed one lie and smear against Hillary after another?
Has Caro ever read the work of The Two Aris? Does she not know the way they trashed Hillary?
Is she unfamiliar with the fact that Jeremy Scahill wrote a dumb ass article about Hillary and Barack not calling for an end to contractors in Iraq? An article where he REFUSED to attempt to speak to Hillary's campaign but spoke with Samantha Power (unnamed in the article) who explained Barack 'needed' the contractors if any US troops were to leave Iraq. Is Caro unaware that the article was 'updated' because Hillary did make a promise and so Jeremy did a second installment for The Nation where he again . . . attacked Hillary.
When you're that dumb, it doesn't just hurt you, it hurts everyone. It needs to stop.
Bob Somerby always teases out about how the war on Al Gore was started by the likes of vanden Heuvel and her ilk at The Nation. But he never really bears down on it. He never really takes these liars to task.
And they keep coming back, each election cycle, determined to do more damage. In "2008: The Year of Living Hormonally," it's noted that in 2003, John Nichols went on Democracy Now! and he predicted Wesley Clark wanted the nomination in order to lose, in order for the Democratic Party to lose, so that Hillary could win in 2008. Amy Goodman offered her own 'information' which was that Hillary would strong-arm people at the 2004 convention and force them to make her the nominee. John Nichols and Amy Goodman's fear and hatred of Hillary Clinton, their willingness to engage in right-wing crackery, was on display in 2003 so what the two pulled in 2008 is not at all surprising in retrospect.
And you can read that year-in-review (filled with links) to find out more of John Nichols lies and of the lies of his Nation magazine co-horts. You can find out how when Samantha Power was telling the BBC that Barack didn't intend to stand by his 16-month pledge (which he didn't stand by), John Nichols was distracting (and with lies -- claiming Hillary and Samantha were friends when they had only met once by Sammy Power's own words).
A magazine with a woman as editor and publisher (and with so many women in 'power' positions, as The Nation informed us) might be expected to call out the sexism spewing from MSNBC towards Hillary. Didn't happen. Katrina, to her credit, called out David Shuster's "pimping" remark. She was the only one who did (the magazine has multiple blogs, not just Katrina's). Katha, of course, confessed in one of her own blog posts that 'as a feminist,' she was doing the 'good thing' and not calling out sexism.
"Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro"
You need to say a lot of things, chief and foremost, "I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, I'm just blowing it out of my ass right now."
Bob Somerby spends forever on cable television. He hints from time to time that he's going to expose the sewer of Panhandle Media but he never does.
What's not being grasped here is that it was the one-note echo chamber of FAIR, The Nation, The Progressive, CounterSpin, Extra!, Democracy Now! and on and on that ripped apart Hillary and pimped Barack.
It was 'the women of The Nation,' Katrina's phrase, who ripped Hillary apart as a feminist, who repeatedly insisted she wasn't one. Every time women showed up for Hillary in a primary, it was time for The Nation to send out one of their so-called 'feminists' to explain how Hillary really wasn't one. "The women of The Nation" never called Keith Olbermann but they claimed to know all about feminism.
"Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro"
Did Caro ever read the primary and caucus blogging The Nation did?
The Nation needs to be called out for what they did. They are far from alone in needing to be called out. And Caro needs to grasp that if she's not informed on a topic, she doesn't need to weigh in. It is exactly this "Oh, it's The Nation, I don't read it, but it's The Nation, so it must have been good for the left and good for all of us on the left" which allows it to pull the stunt it does repeatedly.
Is Caro unaware that when nutty Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to trash Hillary for religious practices, she did it at The Nation website? She also did it at Aging Socialite's Cat Litter Box which is where Bob Somerby saw it and he offered this, "There ought to be a special circle in hell for hustlers like Barbara Ehrenreich."
And it ought to be right next to the ring of people who peddle stupid.
Why are some on the left so damn stupid? Because they're truly uneducated. They think they aren't, they think they are so smart that they apparently don't feel they need to do any of the actual work to be informed. Case in point: "Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro" That's the voice MakeThemAccountable and, lucky for The Nation, Caro's stupidity never will.
They didn't trash Hillary?
Is Caro unfamiliar with Betsy Reed's little screech against Hillary? With Laura Flanders' non-stop trashing of Hillary? With the one-two punch of John Nichols and Katrina vanden Heuvel when Barack made an ass out of himself in 2007 so they -- in one of the first illuminating moments of "the sun is green because we says so" power of the Cult of Barack -- attacked Hillary. (The squabble had seen Nichols squaring off with David Corn. Corn served him his lunch. At which point, Barack supporter behind the scenes Katrina vanden Heuvel disregarded the fact that, as editor and publisher for the magazine, it wasn't her place to say "X is right and Z" is wrong. She said Corn was wrong. Corn now reports and investigates for Mother Jones and The Nation has nothing to offer but bad columnists with bad musing.) Is Caro unaware that The Nation led the war against Hillary? Is she unaware that they began their 2008 presidential campaign coverage before the 2006 mid-term and that they printed one lie and smear against Hillary after another?
Has Caro ever read the work of The Two Aris? Does she not know the way they trashed Hillary?
Is she unfamiliar with the fact that Jeremy Scahill wrote a dumb ass article about Hillary and Barack not calling for an end to contractors in Iraq? An article where he REFUSED to attempt to speak to Hillary's campaign but spoke with Samantha Power (unnamed in the article) who explained Barack 'needed' the contractors if any US troops were to leave Iraq. Is Caro unaware that the article was 'updated' because Hillary did make a promise and so Jeremy did a second installment for The Nation where he again . . . attacked Hillary.
When you're that dumb, it doesn't just hurt you, it hurts everyone. It needs to stop.
Bob Somerby always teases out about how the war on Al Gore was started by the likes of vanden Heuvel and her ilk at The Nation. But he never really bears down on it. He never really takes these liars to task.
And they keep coming back, each election cycle, determined to do more damage. In "2008: The Year of Living Hormonally," it's noted that in 2003, John Nichols went on Democracy Now! and he predicted Wesley Clark wanted the nomination in order to lose, in order for the Democratic Party to lose, so that Hillary could win in 2008. Amy Goodman offered her own 'information' which was that Hillary would strong-arm people at the 2004 convention and force them to make her the nominee. John Nichols and Amy Goodman's fear and hatred of Hillary Clinton, their willingness to engage in right-wing crackery, was on display in 2003 so what the two pulled in 2008 is not at all surprising in retrospect.
And you can read that year-in-review (filled with links) to find out more of John Nichols lies and of the lies of his Nation magazine co-horts. You can find out how when Samantha Power was telling the BBC that Barack didn't intend to stand by his 16-month pledge (which he didn't stand by), John Nichols was distracting (and with lies -- claiming Hillary and Samantha were friends when they had only met once by Sammy Power's own words).
A magazine with a woman as editor and publisher (and with so many women in 'power' positions, as The Nation informed us) might be expected to call out the sexism spewing from MSNBC towards Hillary. Didn't happen. Katrina, to her credit, called out David Shuster's "pimping" remark. She was the only one who did (the magazine has multiple blogs, not just Katrina's). Katha, of course, confessed in one of her own blog posts that 'as a feminist,' she was doing the 'good thing' and not calling out sexism.
"Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro"
You need to say a lot of things, chief and foremost, "I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, I'm just blowing it out of my ass right now."
Bob Somerby spends forever on cable television. He hints from time to time that he's going to expose the sewer of Panhandle Media but he never does.
What's not being grasped here is that it was the one-note echo chamber of FAIR, The Nation, The Progressive, CounterSpin, Extra!, Democracy Now! and on and on that ripped apart Hillary and pimped Barack.
It was 'the women of The Nation,' Katrina's phrase, who ripped Hillary apart as a feminist, who repeatedly insisted she wasn't one. Every time women showed up for Hillary in a primary, it was time for The Nation to send out one of their so-called 'feminists' to explain how Hillary really wasn't one. "The women of The Nation" never called Keith Olbermann but they claimed to know all about feminism.
"Need I say that The Nation was one of the hopium pushers during last year's primary? But at least they didn't trash Hillary the way some others did.-Caro"
Did Caro ever read the primary and caucus blogging The Nation did?
The Nation needs to be called out for what they did. They are far from alone in needing to be called out. And Caro needs to grasp that if she's not informed on a topic, she doesn't need to weigh in. It is exactly this "Oh, it's The Nation, I don't read it, but it's The Nation, so it must have been good for the left and good for all of us on the left" which allows it to pull the stunt it does repeatedly.
Is Caro unaware that when nutty Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to trash Hillary for religious practices, she did it at The Nation website? She also did it at Aging Socialite's Cat Litter Box which is where Bob Somerby saw it and he offered this, "There ought to be a special circle in hell for hustlers like Barbara Ehrenreich."
And it ought to be right next to the ring of people who peddle stupid.
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"Iraq snapshot" and "I Hate The War" -- That's C.I.'s Friday snapshot and Thursday night entry. Ty told us there was one vote's difference between the two as most requested highlight to those e-mailing in to this site (thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com). We would agree so. We'd in fact, go even further and toss in some other snapshots. Which we in fact are doing.
"Iraq snapshot" and "Iraq snapshot" -- Tuesday and Wednesday's snapshots. Our picks for favorites of the week. In each of them, C.I.'s reporting on a Congressional hearing. You didn't read about those hearing anywhere else. [Ty note added Monday, 4-27, they meant C.I.'s Wednesday and Thursday snapshot, here's the link to Thursday's snapshot.] Except maybe . . .
"Subcommittee hearing" -- Kat attended Tuesday's hearing with C.I. and she, Ava and Wally attended the Wednesday hearing as well. Here she writes a few impressions of the Wednesday hearing.
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Court-ordered" -- The media's lost but Nelson gets it in this comic by Isaiah. And at his own site, Isaiah dipped into the comic archives to highlight "The 'Fashionable' Condoleeza de Vil."
"Quick post" and "Diary entry" -- Betty's folks are visiting so we're all being cleared extra early. (Betty's folks should visit more often!) She explains some of her hopes and fears in these posts.
"Austism" and "Autism" -- April is Autism Awareness Month and Ruth did two posts on the topic to do her part.
"THIS JUST IN! STRUMMING HIS FATE!" & "Good thing he didn't face Simon Cowell" -- Cedric and Wally on Fidel's review of Barry.
"Fudge Brownies in the Kitchen" -- Trina ways in on the torture memos and offers an easy brownie recipe.
"Ban Ki-moon's homophobia" -- Marcia notices that while Ban Ki-moon issues statements of outrage over nearly every death in Iraq, he never expresses outrage over the murders of gay men. Never.
"The Harman trap," "Jane Harman" and "e-mails" -- Marcia, Stan and Rebecca. Rebecca kicked it off by answering e-mails. One was about Harman and Rebecca offered her take and asked C.I. for a take as well. The next day, Stan and Marcia offered their own. What they covered stands for all of us. Is charges are dropped or the transcript or wire tap is released, we might have something to say. Right now it is just unsourced allegations on something that, if true, would be criminal. We'll wait and see.
"We need prosecution" -- Elaine on torture.
""Matthis Chiroux," "clive james," "Clive Jones," "4274 killed since the start of the illegal war," "Iraq & Clive James," "The say anything Danny Schechter," "War widows" and "Clive Jones" -- the Tuesday night theme post. And questions came in. Ty passed some on. First off, what book did we drop at the last minute? A book of essays by Robert Fisk. Why? Turns out the Nation Books published it. We're not in the business of supporting Katrina. Second, who didn't want to participate? A number of you felt someone was opposed and most of you guessed Rebecca. We can't imagine why you'd guess Rebecca. The person who didn't want to do it was also the woman who got his name wrong. It is Clive James. In fairness to Ruth, Mike also went with Jones. Why didn't Ruth want to do it? She'd read a book she loved as part of our non-fiction theme and was eager to write on that. She did write on it and slid it over to Hilda's Mix.
"The pervs sniffing Eliot Spitzer" -- Marcia, she makes us laugh! :D Well said, Marcia.
"He doesn't understand the law" & "THIS JUST IN! THE LAW CONFUSES BARACK!" -- Cedric and Wally on Barack's inability to grasp things he allegedly taught. (Though Robert Gibbs recently snapped in a White House press briefing that Barry wasn't, in fact, a Constitutional Law professor. Maybe Gibbs was having another one of those bad days.)
"Iraq snapshot" and "I Hate The War" -- That's C.I.'s Friday snapshot and Thursday night entry. Ty told us there was one vote's difference between the two as most requested highlight to those e-mailing in to this site (thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com). We would agree so. We'd in fact, go even further and toss in some other snapshots. Which we in fact are doing.
"Iraq snapshot" and "Iraq snapshot" -- Tuesday and Wednesday's snapshots. Our picks for favorites of the week. In each of them, C.I.'s reporting on a Congressional hearing. You didn't read about those hearing anywhere else. [Ty note added Monday, 4-27, they meant C.I.'s Wednesday and Thursday snapshot, here's the link to Thursday's snapshot.] Except maybe . . .
"Subcommittee hearing" -- Kat attended Tuesday's hearing with C.I. and she, Ava and Wally attended the Wednesday hearing as well. Here she writes a few impressions of the Wednesday hearing.
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Court-ordered" -- The media's lost but Nelson gets it in this comic by Isaiah. And at his own site, Isaiah dipped into the comic archives to highlight "The 'Fashionable' Condoleeza de Vil."
"Quick post" and "Diary entry" -- Betty's folks are visiting so we're all being cleared extra early. (Betty's folks should visit more often!) She explains some of her hopes and fears in these posts.
"Austism" and "Autism" -- April is Autism Awareness Month and Ruth did two posts on the topic to do her part.
"THIS JUST IN! STRUMMING HIS FATE!" & "Good thing he didn't face Simon Cowell" -- Cedric and Wally on Fidel's review of Barry.
"Fudge Brownies in the Kitchen" -- Trina ways in on the torture memos and offers an easy brownie recipe.
"Ban Ki-moon's homophobia" -- Marcia notices that while Ban Ki-moon issues statements of outrage over nearly every death in Iraq, he never expresses outrage over the murders of gay men. Never.
"The Harman trap," "Jane Harman" and "e-mails" -- Marcia, Stan and Rebecca. Rebecca kicked it off by answering e-mails. One was about Harman and Rebecca offered her take and asked C.I. for a take as well. The next day, Stan and Marcia offered their own. What they covered stands for all of us. Is charges are dropped or the transcript or wire tap is released, we might have something to say. Right now it is just unsourced allegations on something that, if true, would be criminal. We'll wait and see.
"We need prosecution" -- Elaine on torture.
""Matthis Chiroux," "clive james," "Clive Jones," "4274 killed since the start of the illegal war," "Iraq & Clive James," "The say anything Danny Schechter," "War widows" and "Clive Jones" -- the Tuesday night theme post. And questions came in. Ty passed some on. First off, what book did we drop at the last minute? A book of essays by Robert Fisk. Why? Turns out the Nation Books published it. We're not in the business of supporting Katrina. Second, who didn't want to participate? A number of you felt someone was opposed and most of you guessed Rebecca. We can't imagine why you'd guess Rebecca. The person who didn't want to do it was also the woman who got his name wrong. It is Clive James. In fairness to Ruth, Mike also went with Jones. Why didn't Ruth want to do it? She'd read a book she loved as part of our non-fiction theme and was eager to write on that. She did write on it and slid it over to Hilda's Mix.
"The pervs sniffing Eliot Spitzer" -- Marcia, she makes us laugh! :D Well said, Marcia.
"He doesn't understand the law" & "THIS JUST IN! THE LAW CONFUSES BARACK!" -- Cedric and Wally on Barack's inability to grasp things he allegedly taught. (Though Robert Gibbs recently snapped in a White House press briefing that Barry wasn't, in fact, a Constitutional Law professor. Maybe Gibbs was having another one of those bad days.)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Truest statement of the week
The Obama mantra on crimes of the Bush administration since before he was elected has always been, “We're looking forwards, not backwards.” This is why people think Obama is arrogant, because he must think we are all idiots. Pointing out the logical absurdity of this statement is not enough when the intent is clear: Obama is arguing for immunity for his own continuation of the crimes he is trying to cover up.
-- Adam Kokesh, "Obama Looks Forward, Sees More Torture" (Revolutionary Patriot).
-- Adam Kokesh, "Obama Looks Forward, Sees More Torture" (Revolutionary Patriot).
Truest statement of the week II
If the CIA agents and other responsible for torture are not prosecuted, then the message is sent to the whole world that torture is ok. And if torture is ok, then God help us all. What kind of monsters have we become?
-- NLG member and GI Rights Attorney James M. Branum, "Why I regret voting for Obama" (JMBzine.com).
-- NLG member and GI Rights Attorney James M. Branum, "Why I regret voting for Obama" (JMBzine.com).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Another edition completed. First up, last week's note had this added:
Ava, C.I. and Ty: We have added "Truest statement of the week III" Monday, April 13, 2009 because we thought Wally and Kat's comments qualified. We missed those until Monday morning just because we were tired. Be sure to check out their truest.
We were all okay with that. The reason it's Ava, C.I. and Ty is they were the only ones up that early in the morning (it was around five o'clock -- Ava and C.I. are up that early Mondays because they're getting ready to hit the airport to fly out and hit the road). Jess would have sided with Ava even if he didn't agree (Jess and Ava are a couple). So that's four votes (Jess, Ava, C.I. and Ty) and even if Dona and I (Jim) had disapproved, we would have been outvoted. But, for the record, we were asleep (as was Jess) which is why our names weren't on it. C.I. and Ava had to act quickly because they'd be leaving for the airport shortly and, short of waking us up, a decision had to be made. Ty was up and the three of them posted the addition. We are all fine with it and we'll just echo C.I. in saying we wished we had caught Wally and Kat's remarks in time to have posted them last Sunday.
So with that out of the way, onto this week's edition. Along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
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,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
We thank everyone.
And our content?
Truest statement of the week -- Adam Kokesh. This was an obvious once C.I. and Dallas clued us into it. Which was good because we had huge debates over the truests this week.
Truest statement of the week II -- Jim Branum was among the ones we had debates over. Another statement by him was also up for truest. This one emerged and there was no more debate. However the other statement had tied in multiple rounds with an activist (female), a journalist (female), an attorney (male) and a journalist (male). We would probably still be debating this had the statement we went with not been noticed.
Editorial: Media Whores and Medea Whore -- This wasn't our planned editorial but then we were checking the e-mails and, oh no, she's bothering us yet again. We really do not make a point to think of her. And some said, "Don't even open it." But we did and ay-yi-yi. At least we got an editorial out of it.
TV: Broken or fixed? -- There's so much we planned to cover this edition and didn't have time for. The economy is one example, Social Security is another. By the way, tonight Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers: "401K Recession. Never created to be a mainstay of workers' retirement funds, 401ks became just that to millions of Americans who are now facing uncertain futures because of the devastating losses in the stock market. Steve Kroft reports." We had this as a topic and an illustration. We may write it up next week. But Dona wisely realized, while we were making our list of topics at the start of the writing edition, that there was no way we were going to cover everything. What could we farm out to Ava and C.I., she wondered? She took the list to them and they said they'd be happy to handle Iraq's LGBT community but noted that Marcia and Betty and Cedric really were vocal on that topic (which is why we have two features on that this edition). They looked over the rest and said torture and prosecution ("responsibility") would fit with what they were covering because (a) they could grab PBS on this and (b) it is about responsibility and imparting lessons so it does fit with the sitcom they were planning to tackle. But, they added, check and see if others are wanting to work on this topic before they grab it. No. Everyone that wanted to had weighed in Thursday and/or Friday at their own site. Ty, Jess, Dona and I (Jim) were happy to let Ava and C.I. run with it. And that was before we knew what they were going to write. They did not disappoint. This really is a must-read and it's hard, reading it (I've read it three times now), to grasp that they hadn't planned to cover torture all along. Who else but Ava and C.I. would catch that PBS was silencing dissent and silencing the American courts? Amazing. So strong I was tempted to pull out sections on torture and use them for our editorial (Dona said I'd be sleeping on the floor if I did that). Hats off to Ava and C.I. because I know when we were all discussing our torture feature at the start of this edition, we had nothing like this planned. I am truly blown away by this.
Tea Parties -- When everyone gloms on with an attack, Third tends to stick up for whatever's being attacked. That's not me speaking, that's reader Josie who e-mailed Thursday asking if we were going to cover the Tea Parties? She figured we would in some way because of what she'd detected. She was correct. We thank a Dallas community member for the long quote and we thank her daughter for the three photos. You need to look at the large version of the photos (click on them) to see the people between the trees, for instance, in one picture. It is a sizeable crowd.
Papers and David Carr Stuck In The Box -- The David Carr article ticked off C.I. and Ava and me (but me later because I read it after they had already left -- they had circled paragraphs three, four and five in red lipstick -- indicating they were pissed and I should read it). To all of you who have repeatedly complained about NYT's delivery services, we did listen. Dona and I took it into a roundtable for Polly's Brew last October. This was the first time we could work it into an article here but we have all discussed the e-mails and have paid attention to them.
Civil Rights history including 'Now!' -- I like this and I think we all do. We see it as one of the things we do, correct the record. And, honestly, none of us knew all of this (except C.I.) so it was really great. Betty called her father about the song, as we note in the article, and we were all saying, "Do you realize how late it is in Georgia?" She said he'd still be awake and, when he found out it was a musical and Civil Rights issue, he'd want to have been called. He did recognize the anthem once Betty gave him the first lines. Ty's grandmother read it when it went up this morning and has already called to tell us that "back then, everyone knew that song. You couldn't escape it."
The Shirley goes to . . . -- Marcia was the one who suggested this but we were all in agreement with her. Polis earned the honor.
Greta Garbo -- Elaine and Rebecca played around online Saturday and found these photos at the Library of Congress. They brought it in as a possibility. Dona went for it immediately because we have some readers (at least three) who are always asking us to write something about Greta Garbo. So we wrote some copy and tried to include less well known stories and details when possible. The photos are the real focus, however.
Lt. Muthana Shaad's Gay Boy Chronicles -- This is our serial. We probably won't do it every week but we will continue this. Iraq's LGBT community is under assault and we will do our part to draw attention to it and we will do our part to call out those who aid or add to the assualts. (In real life, Lt. Muthana Shaad is a presumably straight police officer in Iraq who is a homophobe.)
Yesterday's Morning Glory Naomi Klein -- We loved Information Clearing House's comments on a Klein article and wanted to include them so we wrote a quick wrap around. Thank Betty and C.I. for the wrap around if it works for you. They are the ones who can remember every line of a movie (in this case, Katharine Hepburn's Morning Glory).
Matthis Stands Tall April 21st -- PSA on Matthis Chiroux. Remember this Tuesday.
Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Kat, Betty, Ruth, Rebecca, Stan, Cedric, Marcia and Wally wrote this and picked out the highlights unless otherwise noted. We thank them for it.
I could go on forever but Dona says I already have. So that's it and we'll see you next week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Another edition completed. First up, last week's note had this added:
Ava, C.I. and Ty: We have added "Truest statement of the week III" Monday, April 13, 2009 because we thought Wally and Kat's comments qualified. We missed those until Monday morning just because we were tired. Be sure to check out their truest.
We were all okay with that. The reason it's Ava, C.I. and Ty is they were the only ones up that early in the morning (it was around five o'clock -- Ava and C.I. are up that early Mondays because they're getting ready to hit the airport to fly out and hit the road). Jess would have sided with Ava even if he didn't agree (Jess and Ava are a couple). So that's four votes (Jess, Ava, C.I. and Ty) and even if Dona and I (Jim) had disapproved, we would have been outvoted. But, for the record, we were asleep (as was Jess) which is why our names weren't on it. C.I. and Ava had to act quickly because they'd be leaving for the airport shortly and, short of waking us up, a decision had to be made. Ty was up and the three of them posted the addition. We are all fine with it and we'll just echo C.I. in saying we wished we had caught Wally and Kat's remarks in time to have posted them last Sunday.
So with that out of the way, onto this week's edition. Along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
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,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
We thank everyone.
And our content?
Truest statement of the week -- Adam Kokesh. This was an obvious once C.I. and Dallas clued us into it. Which was good because we had huge debates over the truests this week.
Truest statement of the week II -- Jim Branum was among the ones we had debates over. Another statement by him was also up for truest. This one emerged and there was no more debate. However the other statement had tied in multiple rounds with an activist (female), a journalist (female), an attorney (male) and a journalist (male). We would probably still be debating this had the statement we went with not been noticed.
Editorial: Media Whores and Medea Whore -- This wasn't our planned editorial but then we were checking the e-mails and, oh no, she's bothering us yet again. We really do not make a point to think of her. And some said, "Don't even open it." But we did and ay-yi-yi. At least we got an editorial out of it.
TV: Broken or fixed? -- There's so much we planned to cover this edition and didn't have time for. The economy is one example, Social Security is another. By the way, tonight Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers: "401K Recession. Never created to be a mainstay of workers' retirement funds, 401ks became just that to millions of Americans who are now facing uncertain futures because of the devastating losses in the stock market. Steve Kroft reports." We had this as a topic and an illustration. We may write it up next week. But Dona wisely realized, while we were making our list of topics at the start of the writing edition, that there was no way we were going to cover everything. What could we farm out to Ava and C.I., she wondered? She took the list to them and they said they'd be happy to handle Iraq's LGBT community but noted that Marcia and Betty and Cedric really were vocal on that topic (which is why we have two features on that this edition). They looked over the rest and said torture and prosecution ("responsibility") would fit with what they were covering because (a) they could grab PBS on this and (b) it is about responsibility and imparting lessons so it does fit with the sitcom they were planning to tackle. But, they added, check and see if others are wanting to work on this topic before they grab it. No. Everyone that wanted to had weighed in Thursday and/or Friday at their own site. Ty, Jess, Dona and I (Jim) were happy to let Ava and C.I. run with it. And that was before we knew what they were going to write. They did not disappoint. This really is a must-read and it's hard, reading it (I've read it three times now), to grasp that they hadn't planned to cover torture all along. Who else but Ava and C.I. would catch that PBS was silencing dissent and silencing the American courts? Amazing. So strong I was tempted to pull out sections on torture and use them for our editorial (Dona said I'd be sleeping on the floor if I did that). Hats off to Ava and C.I. because I know when we were all discussing our torture feature at the start of this edition, we had nothing like this planned. I am truly blown away by this.
Tea Parties -- When everyone gloms on with an attack, Third tends to stick up for whatever's being attacked. That's not me speaking, that's reader Josie who e-mailed Thursday asking if we were going to cover the Tea Parties? She figured we would in some way because of what she'd detected. She was correct. We thank a Dallas community member for the long quote and we thank her daughter for the three photos. You need to look at the large version of the photos (click on them) to see the people between the trees, for instance, in one picture. It is a sizeable crowd.
Papers and David Carr Stuck In The Box -- The David Carr article ticked off C.I. and Ava and me (but me later because I read it after they had already left -- they had circled paragraphs three, four and five in red lipstick -- indicating they were pissed and I should read it). To all of you who have repeatedly complained about NYT's delivery services, we did listen. Dona and I took it into a roundtable for Polly's Brew last October. This was the first time we could work it into an article here but we have all discussed the e-mails and have paid attention to them.
Civil Rights history including 'Now!' -- I like this and I think we all do. We see it as one of the things we do, correct the record. And, honestly, none of us knew all of this (except C.I.) so it was really great. Betty called her father about the song, as we note in the article, and we were all saying, "Do you realize how late it is in Georgia?" She said he'd still be awake and, when he found out it was a musical and Civil Rights issue, he'd want to have been called. He did recognize the anthem once Betty gave him the first lines. Ty's grandmother read it when it went up this morning and has already called to tell us that "back then, everyone knew that song. You couldn't escape it."
The Shirley goes to . . . -- Marcia was the one who suggested this but we were all in agreement with her. Polis earned the honor.
Greta Garbo -- Elaine and Rebecca played around online Saturday and found these photos at the Library of Congress. They brought it in as a possibility. Dona went for it immediately because we have some readers (at least three) who are always asking us to write something about Greta Garbo. So we wrote some copy and tried to include less well known stories and details when possible. The photos are the real focus, however.
Lt. Muthana Shaad's Gay Boy Chronicles -- This is our serial. We probably won't do it every week but we will continue this. Iraq's LGBT community is under assault and we will do our part to draw attention to it and we will do our part to call out those who aid or add to the assualts. (In real life, Lt. Muthana Shaad is a presumably straight police officer in Iraq who is a homophobe.)
Yesterday's Morning Glory Naomi Klein -- We loved Information Clearing House's comments on a Klein article and wanted to include them so we wrote a quick wrap around. Thank Betty and C.I. for the wrap around if it works for you. They are the ones who can remember every line of a movie (in this case, Katharine Hepburn's Morning Glory).
Matthis Stands Tall April 21st -- PSA on Matthis Chiroux. Remember this Tuesday.
Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Kat, Betty, Ruth, Rebecca, Stan, Cedric, Marcia and Wally wrote this and picked out the highlights unless otherwise noted. We thank them for it.
I could go on forever but Dona says I already have. So that's it and we'll see you next week.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Media Whores and Medea Whore
We truly try to avoid the attention seeking behaviors of Medea Benjamin who (along with Jodie) has turned a once strong organization into CODESTINK. We truly do. But she's so desperate for attention, it's near impossible.
We're going through the inboxes and see she's sent out an mini-opus on her latest 'brush with fame.' Seems Medea, the Foundation Queen and don't we all know about foundations and their actual links, decided to play reporter and show up at a press conference Barack was holding. He brushed her aside but she managed to tease it out. That's not surprising. She's an Attention Whore. And she lacks the talent to be a performer and the looks to be a model so what's left but town crank?
"The only way we will force Obama and Congress to change course in Afghanistan is if we are able to turn public opinion against this war, as we did in the case of the Iraq war," huffs Medea.
What has she been smoking?
Does that idiot actually want to stand by that?
She's saying that if 'we' (somehow she's never the one to do the grunt work, is she?) turn public opinion against the Afghanistan War, Barack and Congress will be forced to end the Afghanistan War "as we did in the case of the Iraq war." Notice that the chicken shit can't even make it "Iraq War." That's how little it means to her. What a pathetic closet case.
Medea, you make it so easy to hate you and we honestly don't until we hear from you and then the waves of repulsion start rolling all over again.
The Iraq War hasn't ended you fool. Do you grasp that? You're telling people to do what they did on Iraq -- not what you did because you dropped Iraq in the summer of 2006 -- and the Afghanistan War will be stopped . . . when the Iraq War continues.
What an idiot.
What a damn fool.
The Iraq War may end at the end of 2011 (more likely it will continue but Barack will tell people it's only 30,000 troops and what does it matter -- it matters to 30,000 US families and it matters to Iraqis). It may not. It sure is sweet of the supposed 'anti-war' 'leaders' to 'moveon' to other topics and allow Barack to do whatever the hell he wants.
Barack's 'promise' is nothing but the Status Of Forces Agreement. The one Bully Boy Bush, Condi Rice and John Bolton strong armed Iraq into taking.
So if Medea's fine and dandy with the dates of the SOFA, she ought to be fingering herself and calling out "George W.! George W.!" over and over.
Nothing changed (but the SOFA can be changed). So Barack presents Bully Boy's plan -- the same plan -- and suddenly it's acceptable? In what damn world?
That should scare the hell out of you regardless of which issue you rank as the most important.
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and it's acceptable?
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on (destroying) Social Security and it's acceptable?
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on war on Africa (it's coming) and it's acceptable?
This weekend, we learned the latest about Kristoffer Walker. He took a stand and found himself standing alone. He called out the Iraq War as illegal and immoral. He stated he wasn't going back. And where was CODESTINK? Where were any of the organizations? Kristoffer was left to stand alone.
He had no support from anyone. Not even from Courage to Resist despite the fact that (a) Kristoffer was demonstrating courage and (b) Kristoffer was resisting. A US soldier home on leave chooses to publicly resist and did you notice how quickly all our 'peace' orgs suddenly started humming, shuffling their feet and averting their eyes?
It was disgusting.
And, sadly, no surprise at all.
We have a lot of Media Whores desperate to get press on themselves. We have very few genuine leaders. One gets the idea that Medea and the rest are okay with the Iraq War lasting well into 2016 as long as they keep getting clippings for their scrapbooks.
If you're not getting how pathetic it is, we've noted war resister Andre Shepherd here and he's been noted community wide repeatedly. For the first time in months, he has actual coverage and . . .
it comes from the BBC.
But, hey, Medea got close to Barack and isn't that what really matters?
We're going through the inboxes and see she's sent out an mini-opus on her latest 'brush with fame.' Seems Medea, the Foundation Queen and don't we all know about foundations and their actual links, decided to play reporter and show up at a press conference Barack was holding. He brushed her aside but she managed to tease it out. That's not surprising. She's an Attention Whore. And she lacks the talent to be a performer and the looks to be a model so what's left but town crank?
"The only way we will force Obama and Congress to change course in Afghanistan is if we are able to turn public opinion against this war, as we did in the case of the Iraq war," huffs Medea.
What has she been smoking?
Does that idiot actually want to stand by that?
She's saying that if 'we' (somehow she's never the one to do the grunt work, is she?) turn public opinion against the Afghanistan War, Barack and Congress will be forced to end the Afghanistan War "as we did in the case of the Iraq war." Notice that the chicken shit can't even make it "Iraq War." That's how little it means to her. What a pathetic closet case.
Medea, you make it so easy to hate you and we honestly don't until we hear from you and then the waves of repulsion start rolling all over again.
The Iraq War hasn't ended you fool. Do you grasp that? You're telling people to do what they did on Iraq -- not what you did because you dropped Iraq in the summer of 2006 -- and the Afghanistan War will be stopped . . . when the Iraq War continues.
What an idiot.
What a damn fool.
The Iraq War may end at the end of 2011 (more likely it will continue but Barack will tell people it's only 30,000 troops and what does it matter -- it matters to 30,000 US families and it matters to Iraqis). It may not. It sure is sweet of the supposed 'anti-war' 'leaders' to 'moveon' to other topics and allow Barack to do whatever the hell he wants.
Barack's 'promise' is nothing but the Status Of Forces Agreement. The one Bully Boy Bush, Condi Rice and John Bolton strong armed Iraq into taking.
So if Medea's fine and dandy with the dates of the SOFA, she ought to be fingering herself and calling out "George W.! George W.!" over and over.
Nothing changed (but the SOFA can be changed). So Barack presents Bully Boy's plan -- the same plan -- and suddenly it's acceptable? In what damn world?
That should scare the hell out of you regardless of which issue you rank as the most important.
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and it's acceptable?
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on (destroying) Social Security and it's acceptable?
Barack presents Bully Boy's plan on war on Africa (it's coming) and it's acceptable?
This weekend, we learned the latest about Kristoffer Walker. He took a stand and found himself standing alone. He called out the Iraq War as illegal and immoral. He stated he wasn't going back. And where was CODESTINK? Where were any of the organizations? Kristoffer was left to stand alone.
He had no support from anyone. Not even from Courage to Resist despite the fact that (a) Kristoffer was demonstrating courage and (b) Kristoffer was resisting. A US soldier home on leave chooses to publicly resist and did you notice how quickly all our 'peace' orgs suddenly started humming, shuffling their feet and averting their eyes?
It was disgusting.
And, sadly, no surprise at all.
We have a lot of Media Whores desperate to get press on themselves. We have very few genuine leaders. One gets the idea that Medea and the rest are okay with the Iraq War lasting well into 2016 as long as they keep getting clippings for their scrapbooks.
If you're not getting how pathetic it is, we've noted war resister Andre Shepherd here and he's been noted community wide repeatedly. For the first time in months, he has actual coverage and . . .
it comes from the BBC.
But, hey, Medea got close to Barack and isn't that what really matters?
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