Hark, whom many of you may recognize from the comments section, emailed me recently to suggest that I make an open forum for readers to comment on events/articles/ideas that I didn’t get to in the course of the morning/afternoon. So, I thought we’d give it a shot.
What’s on your mind?
Something I’ve been thinking these last few days. Bush rush announced the Supreme Court nominee to distract from Rove’s criminal Plame leak. Additionally, everything I’ve read so far suggests that Bush chose a middle-of-the-road guy. While picking a conservative he liked, also picking someone who’s not that bad from a liberal point of view. As far as can be seen so far. So I suggest let’s not give him the pleasure and instead ignore most Supreme Court stories unless something truly startling presents itself and maintain focus on Rove and the leak investigation. What do you think, Carpetbagger?
I saw this letter to the editor yesterday and thought it was really good.
NOTHING IN the Bush administration happens ”by accident.” George W. Bush did not win two terms as president by accident. He did it with the carefully thought-out ideas of Karl Rove. Rove has never done anything in his political career without first considering all angles. He then acts when he believes it will further his or his boss’s political cause.
Bush has staked his integrity on having an administration that does not leak information. In fact, he has said that he would fire anyone who would do so. Yet he seems to have changed this criterion in the face of the fact that Rove did just that — leaked information that resulted in the outing of an undercover CIA agent…. By making it appear ”accidental” because he made a ”casual” remark, Rove has perhaps saved himself from going to prison for having committed a federal crime. But fact is fact: He leaked classified information.
So why has Bush not acted? It seems there are two possibilities. The first is that he is a man of his word only when it suits his interests. Rove has been instrumental in Bush’s political success. Perhaps Bush meant to say that he has one set of rules for his advisers and another for everyone else. The second, more disturbing, possibility is that Bush authorized, either explicitly or implicitly, the leak to retaliate against Joseph C. Wilson IV, who publicly presented evidence that the administration was distorting facts to sell the American people on going to war. Either way, the president has painted himself into a corner.
Yes he has.
[L]et’s not give him the pleasure and instead ignore most Supreme Court stories unless something truly startling presents itself and maintain focus on Rove and the leak investigation.
I’m very much inclined to agree. I saw someone today (I can’t recall who) say, “Roberts? Yeah, he’ll do. Now let’s talk about Rove…”
I find myself thinking the exact same thing. If something extraordinary about Roberts comes to Dems’ attention, then all bets are off and we’ll raise hell. But in the meantime, something extraordinary has already come to our attention about the White House — and there’s no way we’re letting go of this one.
Today, I had just one post about the Roberts nomination, and that was just to mock Orrin Hatch. In contrast, I had six about the Plame scandal. I didn’t plan that, exactly, but it fits into what Rian described.
I posted this url yesterday on the Bush-slippage-in-the-polls
topic, but it was late, and I doubt anyone saw it. I found it really
interesting:
http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm
It’s a graphical display of Bush’s approval ratings from
inception to 6-3-05. All major polls are represented, and
there’s a composite, 5 day average trendline as well. It
shows in rather stark terms how fickle and silly the
American public can be. It also shows what might bring
his poll numbers up: either another 9/11, another war,
capture of significant enemy (he got a big boost with
Saddam, so why isn’t he going after bin laden?), or a special
election called with John Kerry as his opponent, in that
order.
I t also makes tragically clear that John Kerry ran the worst
campaign in presidential history. He had it in the bag and
blew it. Just look at Bush’s trendline a year ago. He was
toast.
I’d still like to keep up with the news about Roberts. Thus far there has not been much of substance – mostly speculation on his
actual positions, which I guess was the result the White House wanted. However, something like a daily roundup of Roberts related
stories would be nice.
As for the Rove, I’m enjoying your posts on the topic. I am waiting for some dem to start connecting this to the greater story of
the White House manufacturing the reasons for going into Iraq. It seems Rove story resonates with the public because it is about
honesty and integrity, which for some reason Bush is believed to possess. Using this to further demonstrate the lack of either of those in their case for why to go into Iraq would change the story from being about Rove & Libby to being about the entire administration and their systematic use of deception.
On Roberts, for a different take from the bland, conciliatory
tone we’ve seen so far, try
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072105A.shtml
Marjorie Cohn has gathered quite a few troubling facts.
Very troubling indeed.
Heck I just think we should point out that Judge Roberts spent significant time in Massachusetts, getting edumacated there, and then point out what Rick Santorum thinks of folks like Roberts who live/are educated in Massachusetts, and their effect upon our social fabric.
CB, “thumbs up” to the occasional open forum.
On PBS tomorrow night, NOW will explore the question
of whether the Bush administration is rewriting science
on the subject of global warming. While global warming
gets a great deal of attention in the media, “peak oil,”
the theory that world oil production will peak in the next
few years, then decline over the next century, gets very
little attention. Yet both theories, together, if true, spell
global disaster, perhaps Armageddon, if dramatic
action is not taken by all nations in a concerted effort
to develop alternative, renewable energy.
Naturally, the oil industry and Bush administration deny
both theories, but global warming has indeed been
established by the scientific community. But what about
peak oil? Why doesn’t it receive the same media and
scientific attention? It’s just as serious, if not more so.
Those who believe peak oil is just ahead are not quacks
or doomsayers. For example, try this url:
http://www.dhushara.com/book/diversit/extra/oil/oil2.htm
This article was published by highly reputable oil experts
in Scientific American, in the March, 1998 issue. What’s
interesting besides all the facts and science presented, is
that they predicted peak oil to occur before 2010 – we will
soon know if they were correct.
Isn’t this an issue that the Democrats should take on?
Somebody better, and soon.
While I am delighted to that the pressure is on the White House over the Plame scandal, I await at least some public outcry in the US media over the latest news that Iran and Iraq are openly entering into agreements to share military and intelligent resources. So far, I have seen only Eschaton and Billmon blogs made note of the story. Think about information about US military operations in Iraq being passed onto the Iranians.
Today in the Wall Street Journal, Charles Krauthammer goes on at great length about the success of Bush’s neoconservative foreign policy. He extols the benefit of the Iraqi election and calls Iran a “deeply hostile and dangerous state” yet never mentions that the a consequence of those free elections is an Iraqi government partnering with a state sponsor of terror.
Here’s the link to Mr. Krauthemmer’s essay:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006921
Here some links to news about the Iraqi prime minister and defense minister in Tehran:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/19/2005&Cat=2&Num=010
I think the blogging that has been done such as pointing out and railing against the hypocracy and misdeeds of the right is a good thing, but these need to be translated into plans and actions by the left.
Corruption by congressman… we will weed out those elements and make everyone accountable for their actions or face discipline;
corruption with corporations,…we will lessen/eliminate the influence of corporate money and bring the government back to the people for the people;
WH leaking information, jeapordizing national security, making our “war on terror” more difficult and more dangerous… we will make the wise decisions and take the homeland security (over here not over there) steps necessary to minimize the vulnerability of our cities and give our military and intelligence community the tools necessary to stop terror before it begins, not fight a War over there;
prisoner abuse and dismissal of the Geneva Conventions… we will stop the abuse and make our service men and women safer by not sactioning this behavior of our enemies and not creating more in the process;
no exit strategy… we will set milemarkers/accomplishments (not necessarily time frames) by which we will begin our withdrawal from Iraq;
the global environment is being destroyed for corporate gain while ailments such as asthma, cancer, etc are on the rise… we will focus on new technologies to bring sustainable and cleaner energy, air, water, food and lifestyles to the country and preserve the public lands for use by the public while creating new industries and new technologies in the process by putting all industries (especially the fossil fuel industry) on even footing with solar, wind, tidal, biodiesel, etc.
They drive up record deficits…we will balance the budget, revoking the insane tax cut for the richest among us who earned their fortunes by the opportunities provided by this country, our country;
They insulate themselves from the world forum and alienate all other countries…we will work to make strong relationships across the globe, addressing famine, poverty, nuclear proliferation and making our economy stronger and all citizen safer in the process by focusing on the issues that create instability, violence and hopelessness.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. (Did I miss anything?)
Amnesia in America:
Whatever happened to the anthrax scare? Remember after
9/11, CNN ran the story gavel to gavel, wall to wall, 24/7 for
three weeks? Did we ever catch that guy? Does anyone
care? Did CNN forget to follow up?
Whatever happened to John Conyers’ second letter to Bush
on the Downing Street memo, signed by over half a million
Americans? Did he forget to write RSVP on the envelope?
Or is it just okay to ignore these pesky questions?
How is O.J. coming along with his lifetime pursuit of the
real killers? Or does he need a gentle reminder?
Why is NASA going full steam ahead with the manned mission
to the moon and Mars, when the American people tanked
the idea in the polls? Have they forgotten this?
I forget. Who did 9/11 again? Did we catch the sob? Then
who the hell is wreaking havoc in London?
Remind me. What are we doing in Iraq again?
Name one successful democracy we have implanted in
the middle east. You can ignore women’s rights, or religious
freedom in your answer. You can use the success in Iraq
as a model. Besides Israel.
What did the Iraqis vote for again?
How much of the Iraqi infrastructure has been rebuilt, and
what part of that by the oil revenues that were paying for
the whole deal?
That forged document that got Dan Rather fired. Who
forged it? What progress has the Bush administration made
going after the perpetrators of this smear job?
I forget. How many jobs beyond the 150,000 a month required
to keep pace with the increase in the labor market were
created by the Bush administration as a result of the super
supply side tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy? Hmm, seems
to me, 150,000 times twelve times 4 and a half years comes
out to be eight million. I thought Bush was crowing about
the actual figure of some three million.
Guess I just can’t remember things anymore.
Well, that Plame story never ceases to fascinate me. In the beginning I thought for sure the investigation would wither and die away. Then I thought that no way is this going to catch on with the public or the press. I thought it was only fascinating to left wing political junkies like me. But here it is, two years later, and yesterday a colleague of mine (who’s otherwise generally ignorant about politics) brought it up at our lunch. My double-take almost snapped my head off my neck. Huh? He didn’t know the latest twists and turns the story had taken, but he know Rove’s name and Valery Plame’s name. I’m beginning to think that the general public is quietly following this story closely.
How would Republicans explain “moral”, “Born Again,” President Bush’s shortage of commentary on the Supreme Court’s latest illegal ruling.
You know the one? The one which lets governments steal private property, usually at a profit for the government and a loss to the lawful landholder, and sell it to any one that can “legally” bribe that said government with higher tax revenue?
It’s the one that also let’s governments steal private land to use for their own pur… or should I say “public good purposes” sucha as “saving wetlands,” new ATF training grounds or new gulags.
I will readily admit that I don’t think a lot of Bush and that I surely voted for someone other than this guy. But, that aside, I still never thought even HE would be so silent on the single biggest destruction of God-given constitutional rights rights that hasn’t “legally” happened since 145 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 1 day ago!
I APOLIGIZE IF I’M SOMEWHAT INCORRECT… but I’ve tried to catch the news as often as I can, and I’ve heard plenty of comments and speeches featuring the president, and I honestly have not heard Bush’s name and that Suprme Court ruling spoken of at the same time. Can it be that the media has cleverly cut every bit of this out? I just can’t beleive that. If it’s true, wouldn’t Bush realize it and call a special live press conference or address? Special nationwide presidential speeches tend to be tricky to cover up. I guess we can’t expect a president to take 20 to 30 minutes out of his busy day for a little thing like poo-pooing the theft of our darned old God-given right to property. It’s not like he’s sworn to uphold the Constitution, much less verbally defend it anything right?
It’s funny that, with a Supreme Court nominee now named by Bush, that the focus is on “How does the president’s nominee view abortion.” I’m sure there are a bunch of rhetoric-softened Bush voters that will say “Protecting the life of the innocent should be protected above all else.” I am against abortion too…
Out of all the millions of people that live in The United States, you mean to tell me that Bush can’t find just one that supports property rights AND the right to life?” Has the President asked me? I’m nobody, but even think I could manage to hit Google for someone that qualifies!?
I am not going to try to invite you to my party or argue which party is best. I just want to help see that you’re really were you want to be and in the right party because all of this is puzzling me…
To you Bush supporters who find this ruling acceptable, I won’t argue the ruling with you. It’s ok. I JUST THINK YOU MAY BE IN THE WRONG PARTY. There’s a party that likely represents and advances your ideals fully. Actually two good workable choices come to mind: One’s called the American Nazi Party. Another excellent choice is the American Communist Party… the American Socialist Party… I can probably find more.
To those of you that oppose governments making slaves of private individuals: Why do you still stick up for this president? Bush an ultra-conservative? Please! What kind of limp-wristed moderate watches something like this and does or says nothing? Are you really, really sure you want property rights?? I beleive many of you do. I really do. I’m not here to attack your party. How can I attack something that NO LONGER EXISTS?! YOU HAVE NO PARTY! Maybe you hadn’t ought to support evle over Eville again in 2008?
Sincerely,
Clay Rains
I thought I was going to be the first with anthrax. Hark’s list is so comprehensive though, thanks.
Back to anthrax, there’s still a dude running around the country with a bucket of it, ready to strike I’m assuming. Unless the postal service has magically put in place all sorts of failsafes, which I’m pretty sure it hasn’t. You’re right, the fact that it was on TV for three straight weeks, and my desk was next to the mailroom made it a pretty big story to me , yet it completely dissappeared. I don’t know what to be outraged at, the crime, the government neglect or the media neglect.
From WaPo Media Notes regarding the mis-information surrounding Bush’s nominee:
Liberal academic Marty Kaplan spanks the press:
“All day long, administration leakers jerked the media’s chain. ‘It’s Judge Edith 1,’ they whispered, on double super duper background. Then: ‘No, it’s Judge Edith 2!’ If the day had been longer, no doubt the Bushies would have tossed even more red herrings to the clapping seals.
“The Washington press corps, nanoseconds after being forced to admit how humiliatingly it had been spun by Turd Blossom, just lapped it all up. Leak on me again, they begged their sweet sources. Hit me with another scoop, Scottie, hard! The media show all the signs of domestic abuse pathology: they’ve been repeatedly battered and lied to, yet they just can’t bring themselves to flee the lethally dysfunctional relationship.
“They don’t need a shield law; they need a 12 Step program.”
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