Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Does this look familiar? “Astroturf” continues
New job figures and other recent economic data show that America’s economy is strong and getting stronger – and that the President’s jobs and growth plan is working. The Labor Department announced that employers added 288,000 new jobs in April. In total, over 1.1 million jobs have been added since August, with 8 consecutive months of gains.
I’ve heard/seen this template countless times- several letters-to-the editor and Administration spokespersons cite it, invariably word-for-word. If you Google it, you’ll find upwards of 60 letters-to-the-editor in U.S. papers.
Its origin: The Bush campaign website. http://www.georgewbush.com/Economy/WriteNewspapers.aspx?AgendaID=2
They are very organized and methodical…
What’s Happening, Iraq: Democracy in Action?
The prime minister is a bully; now, troubling reports as to the attitude of the police. Where are the U.S. media? This dispatch from a second-tier paper in Australia.
IRAQI police have threatened to kill every journalist working in the holy city of Najaf, where US forces are locked in a tense stand-off with Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army.After a series of veiled warnings to leave on Sunday, two marked police cars pulled up at dusk outside the Sea of Najaf hotel on the outskirts of town, where Arab and Western journalists are staying.
Ten uniformed policemen walked into the hotel and demanded that the al-Arabiya, Reuters and AP correspondents go with them.
Journalists told them they were not there, but the policemen found and arrested Ahmed al-Salahih, the al-Arabiya correspondent, who the day before had been given a special exemption from the earlier eviction orders.
A uniformed lieutenant then told the assembled journalists and hotel staff: "We are going to open fire on this hotel. I'm going to smash it all, kill you all, and I'm going to put four snipers to target anybody who goes out of the hotel. You have brought it upon yourselves." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10478772%255E401,00.html
James Carroll: Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War. His latest book. Assuming Garry Wills is on the mark: "The war in Iraq has been a victory of moral fervor over moral clarity. The first without the second is a curse on itself and others. James Carroll brings to bear — I hope not too late — the moral clarity we so badly need."
The Powells.com pitch:
A devastating indictment of the Bush administration's war policies from the bestselling author and respected moral authorityWith the words "this Crusade, this war on terror," George W. Bush defined the purpose of his presidency. And just as promptly, James Carroll-Boston Globe columnist, son of a general, former antiwar chaplain and activist, and recognized voice of ethical authority-began a week-by-week argument with the administration over its actions. In powerful, passionate bulletins, Carroll dissected the President's exploitation of the nation's fears, invocations of a Christian mission, and efforts to overturn America's traditional relations-with other nations and its own citizens. Crusade, the collection of Carroll's searing columns, offers a comprehensive and tough-minded critique of the war on terror. From Carroll's first rejection of "war" as the proper response to Osama bin Laden, to his prescient verdict of failure in Iraq, to his never-before-published analysis of the faith-based roots of current U.S. policies, this volume displays his rare insight and scope. Combining clear moral consciousness, an acute sense of history, and a real-world grasp of the unforgiving demands of politics, Crusade is a compelling call for the rescue of America's noblest traditions.A cry from the heart, a record of protest, and a permanently relevant analysis, Carroll's work confronts the Bush era and measures it against what America was meant to be. http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=8-0805077030-0&partner_id=28466
What Kerry Didn’t Say
Nebraska Republican Representative Doug Bereuter announced that the Iraq war was “a mistake,” that it was a “dangerous, costly mess” that was “not justified”, that as a result, “our country's reputation around the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened."
From the Lincoln Star Journal:
"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action," Bereuter wrote in a letter to constituents in the final days of his congressional career.That's especially true in view of the fact that the attack was initiated "without a broad and engaged international coalition," the 1st District congressman said."Knowing now what I know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD (weapons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified." http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/18/top_story/10053833.txt
Kristof: The Nuclear Shadow:
Held onto this for several days…for obvious reasons. Nick had two articles on this, as he notes, but this is an election year, so we don’t focus on issues.
As I wrote in my last column, there is a general conviction among many experts - though, in fairness, not all - that nuclear terrorism has a better-than-even chance of occurring in the next 10 years. Such an attack could kill 500,000 people.
Yet U.S. politicians have utterly failed to face up to the danger.
"Both Bush administration rhetoric and Kerry rhetoric emphasize keeping W.M.D. out of the hands of terrorists as a No. 1 national security priority," noted Michèlle Flournoy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "And when you look at what could have been done in the last few years, versus what has been done, there's a real gap."
So what should we be doing? First, it's paramount that we secure uranium and plutonium around the world. That's the idea behind the U.S.-Russian joint program to secure 600 metric tons of Russian nuclear materials. But after 12 years, only 135 tons have been given comprehensive upgrades. Some 340 tons haven't even been touched. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/opinion/14kristof.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fNicholas%20D%20Kristof&pagewanted=print&position=
Plame Investigation:
The subpoenas are still going out, now to reporter Judith Miller, her second. Results, please!
Bank of America summarily fires Fleet workers Wednesday’s paper:
Bank of America Corp. plans to lay off hundreds of tellers and other branch employees at Fleet banks today, asking them to leave the building immediately as part of the process, according to documents obtained by the Globe and Fleet branch managers told of the decision.
The layoffs will affect nearly every city and town in which Fleet does business, as the North Carolina bank continues to absorb the Boston-based FleetBoston Financial Corp. Bank of America plans to convert Fleet's 1,500 branches to its own model, which for the most part uses fewer full-time staff members per branch, the Fleet workers said.
In addition to the layoffs, Bank of America plans to move some employees from branch to branch and to reduce some staff members' hours. Branch managers learned of the planned cutbacks at a meeting in late July, but staff members are expected to be told today. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/08/18/hundreds_of_fleet_layoffs_expected?mode=PF
Health Care: Bob Kuttner on the ‘drugs from Canada’ issue
Kuttner zeroes in on our accepting the frame of the politicians and the pharmaceutical lobby. They get us to focus on whether we can import Canadian drugs and whether they’re safe. The issue that matters is not the importation of drugs, but whether we can import the Canadian health care system… or something similarly comprehensive and cost-efficient, with controlled drug prices.
There is something quite lunatic about the entire debate on whether to permit imports of drugs from Canada. It's not as if Canada manufactures drugs more cheaply. Nor are drugs like trees, or bauxite, or hydro power, which just happen to be naturally plentiful in Canada.
No, the cheaper Canadian drugs are the same ones sold at higher prices in the United States, and either exported or licensed for manufacture in Canada.
Why are they cheaper up north? Because Canada has a policy of controlling drug prices through its national health insurance system. As Deborah Stone, a health policy expert at Dartmouth, has observed, it's not the drugs we should be importing, it's the policy. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/08/18/canadian_drugs_arent_the_cure/
Bush Flip Flops: via Al Franken
George W. Bush has a funny way of flip-flopping on the issues.
He was against a Homeland Security Department. FLIP
Then he was for it. FLOPHe was against the McCain Feingold campaign finance bill. FLIPBut then he was for it. FLIP-FLOP Bush said he was for free trade. FLIPPITY
But then he put on steel tariffs. FLOP
Then he was against the tariffs again. FLIPPITY FLOP
Bush said the states should decide about gay marriage. FLIPPITY
Then he was for changing the Constitution. FLIPPITY FLOP, OR IS IT FLOPPITY FLIP?
Bush said he would put mandatory caps on Carbon Dioxide. FLOOPITY
Then he said he wouldn’t. FLOOPPITY-FLEE
Bush said he’d leave no child behind. FLOPITTY
But refused to fund it, leaving millions of children of behind. BYE BYE POOR CHILDREN, WE’RE LEAVING YOU BEHIND, SORRY. OH, I CAN’T SEE YOU NOW, YOU’RE SO FAR BEHIND. I’VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU.
Bush said he against an independent 9/11 commission. FLIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
But then reluctantly agreed to one. FLOPPITY FLOOP
Bush said we were going to war in Iraq to disarm Saddam Hussein. FLIPPITY
But when it turned out there weren’t any WMD’s, he said the war was to fight al Qaeda. FLIPPITY-FLOPPITY
But then he admitted there was no evidence of ties between Saddam and al Qaeda FLIPPITY-FLOOPITY-FLOOP
So then he said the war was to bring Western style democracy to the entire Middle East. FLIPPITY-FLOOPITY-FLOP, FLOP FLOP FLOP FLOP
He said he wouldn’t invade Iraq without a vote in the UN. FLIP
But then he invaded without a vote. FLOPPITY FLOOP http://209.208.176.243/bin/blogExcerpts.cfm?blogId=1&prg=3
Polls: Zogby terms Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia to be swing states.
And, more evidence of how close it is. Nevada and Colorado in play. Wisconsin was Gore’s. As the Republican convention is upcoming… well, it’s still basically tied.
And:
Nevada: Bush 47%, Kerry 46% (Rasmussen)
Colorado: Kerry 47%, Bush 47% (Survey USA)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48%, Bush 43% (Quinnipiac)
Michigan: Kerry 48%, Bush 42% (Strategic Vision)
Wisconsin: Kerry 47%, Bush 46% (Strategic Vision)
Also, a very tight Senate race:
Colorado: Coors (R) 48%, Salazar (D) 47% (Survey USA)
-R
New job figures and other recent economic data show that America’s economy is strong and getting stronger – and that the President’s jobs and growth plan is working. The Labor Department announced that employers added 288,000 new jobs in April. In total, over 1.1 million jobs have been added since August, with 8 consecutive months of gains.
I’ve heard/seen this template countless times- several letters-to-the editor and Administration spokespersons cite it, invariably word-for-word. If you Google it, you’ll find upwards of 60 letters-to-the-editor in U.S. papers.
Its origin: The Bush campaign website. http://www.georgewbush.com/Economy/WriteNewspapers.aspx?AgendaID=2
They are very organized and methodical…
What’s Happening, Iraq: Democracy in Action?
The prime minister is a bully; now, troubling reports as to the attitude of the police. Where are the U.S. media? This dispatch from a second-tier paper in Australia.
IRAQI police have threatened to kill every journalist working in the holy city of Najaf, where US forces are locked in a tense stand-off with Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army.After a series of veiled warnings to leave on Sunday, two marked police cars pulled up at dusk outside the Sea of Najaf hotel on the outskirts of town, where Arab and Western journalists are staying.
Ten uniformed policemen walked into the hotel and demanded that the al-Arabiya, Reuters and AP correspondents go with them.
Journalists told them they were not there, but the policemen found and arrested Ahmed al-Salahih, the al-Arabiya correspondent, who the day before had been given a special exemption from the earlier eviction orders.
A uniformed lieutenant then told the assembled journalists and hotel staff: "We are going to open fire on this hotel. I'm going to smash it all, kill you all, and I'm going to put four snipers to target anybody who goes out of the hotel. You have brought it upon yourselves." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10478772%255E401,00.html
James Carroll: Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War. His latest book. Assuming Garry Wills is on the mark: "The war in Iraq has been a victory of moral fervor over moral clarity. The first without the second is a curse on itself and others. James Carroll brings to bear — I hope not too late — the moral clarity we so badly need."
The Powells.com pitch:
A devastating indictment of the Bush administration's war policies from the bestselling author and respected moral authorityWith the words "this Crusade, this war on terror," George W. Bush defined the purpose of his presidency. And just as promptly, James Carroll-Boston Globe columnist, son of a general, former antiwar chaplain and activist, and recognized voice of ethical authority-began a week-by-week argument with the administration over its actions. In powerful, passionate bulletins, Carroll dissected the President's exploitation of the nation's fears, invocations of a Christian mission, and efforts to overturn America's traditional relations-with other nations and its own citizens. Crusade, the collection of Carroll's searing columns, offers a comprehensive and tough-minded critique of the war on terror. From Carroll's first rejection of "war" as the proper response to Osama bin Laden, to his prescient verdict of failure in Iraq, to his never-before-published analysis of the faith-based roots of current U.S. policies, this volume displays his rare insight and scope. Combining clear moral consciousness, an acute sense of history, and a real-world grasp of the unforgiving demands of politics, Crusade is a compelling call for the rescue of America's noblest traditions.A cry from the heart, a record of protest, and a permanently relevant analysis, Carroll's work confronts the Bush era and measures it against what America was meant to be. http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=8-0805077030-0&partner_id=28466
What Kerry Didn’t Say
Nebraska Republican Representative Doug Bereuter announced that the Iraq war was “a mistake,” that it was a “dangerous, costly mess” that was “not justified”, that as a result, “our country's reputation around the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened."
From the Lincoln Star Journal:
"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action," Bereuter wrote in a letter to constituents in the final days of his congressional career.That's especially true in view of the fact that the attack was initiated "without a broad and engaged international coalition," the 1st District congressman said."Knowing now what I know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD (weapons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified." http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/18/top_story/10053833.txt
Kristof: The Nuclear Shadow:
Held onto this for several days…for obvious reasons. Nick had two articles on this, as he notes, but this is an election year, so we don’t focus on issues.
As I wrote in my last column, there is a general conviction among many experts - though, in fairness, not all - that nuclear terrorism has a better-than-even chance of occurring in the next 10 years. Such an attack could kill 500,000 people.
Yet U.S. politicians have utterly failed to face up to the danger.
"Both Bush administration rhetoric and Kerry rhetoric emphasize keeping W.M.D. out of the hands of terrorists as a No. 1 national security priority," noted Michèlle Flournoy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "And when you look at what could have been done in the last few years, versus what has been done, there's a real gap."
So what should we be doing? First, it's paramount that we secure uranium and plutonium around the world. That's the idea behind the U.S.-Russian joint program to secure 600 metric tons of Russian nuclear materials. But after 12 years, only 135 tons have been given comprehensive upgrades. Some 340 tons haven't even been touched. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/opinion/14kristof.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fNicholas%20D%20Kristof&pagewanted=print&position=
Plame Investigation:
The subpoenas are still going out, now to reporter Judith Miller, her second. Results, please!
Bank of America summarily fires Fleet workers Wednesday’s paper:
Bank of America Corp. plans to lay off hundreds of tellers and other branch employees at Fleet banks today, asking them to leave the building immediately as part of the process, according to documents obtained by the Globe and Fleet branch managers told of the decision.
The layoffs will affect nearly every city and town in which Fleet does business, as the North Carolina bank continues to absorb the Boston-based FleetBoston Financial Corp. Bank of America plans to convert Fleet's 1,500 branches to its own model, which for the most part uses fewer full-time staff members per branch, the Fleet workers said.
In addition to the layoffs, Bank of America plans to move some employees from branch to branch and to reduce some staff members' hours. Branch managers learned of the planned cutbacks at a meeting in late July, but staff members are expected to be told today. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/08/18/hundreds_of_fleet_layoffs_expected?mode=PF
Health Care: Bob Kuttner on the ‘drugs from Canada’ issue
Kuttner zeroes in on our accepting the frame of the politicians and the pharmaceutical lobby. They get us to focus on whether we can import Canadian drugs and whether they’re safe. The issue that matters is not the importation of drugs, but whether we can import the Canadian health care system… or something similarly comprehensive and cost-efficient, with controlled drug prices.
There is something quite lunatic about the entire debate on whether to permit imports of drugs from Canada. It's not as if Canada manufactures drugs more cheaply. Nor are drugs like trees, or bauxite, or hydro power, which just happen to be naturally plentiful in Canada.
No, the cheaper Canadian drugs are the same ones sold at higher prices in the United States, and either exported or licensed for manufacture in Canada.
Why are they cheaper up north? Because Canada has a policy of controlling drug prices through its national health insurance system. As Deborah Stone, a health policy expert at Dartmouth, has observed, it's not the drugs we should be importing, it's the policy. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/08/18/canadian_drugs_arent_the_cure/
Bush Flip Flops: via Al Franken
George W. Bush has a funny way of flip-flopping on the issues.
He was against a Homeland Security Department. FLIP
Then he was for it. FLOPHe was against the McCain Feingold campaign finance bill. FLIPBut then he was for it. FLIP-FLOP Bush said he was for free trade. FLIPPITY
But then he put on steel tariffs. FLOP
Then he was against the tariffs again. FLIPPITY FLOP
Bush said the states should decide about gay marriage. FLIPPITY
Then he was for changing the Constitution. FLIPPITY FLOP, OR IS IT FLOPPITY FLIP?
Bush said he would put mandatory caps on Carbon Dioxide. FLOOPITY
Then he said he wouldn’t. FLOOPPITY-FLEE
Bush said he’d leave no child behind. FLOPITTY
But refused to fund it, leaving millions of children of behind. BYE BYE POOR CHILDREN, WE’RE LEAVING YOU BEHIND, SORRY. OH, I CAN’T SEE YOU NOW, YOU’RE SO FAR BEHIND. I’VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU.
Bush said he against an independent 9/11 commission. FLIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
But then reluctantly agreed to one. FLOPPITY FLOOP
Bush said we were going to war in Iraq to disarm Saddam Hussein. FLIPPITY
But when it turned out there weren’t any WMD’s, he said the war was to fight al Qaeda. FLIPPITY-FLOPPITY
But then he admitted there was no evidence of ties between Saddam and al Qaeda FLIPPITY-FLOOPITY-FLOOP
So then he said the war was to bring Western style democracy to the entire Middle East. FLIPPITY-FLOOPITY-FLOP, FLOP FLOP FLOP FLOP
He said he wouldn’t invade Iraq without a vote in the UN. FLIP
But then he invaded without a vote. FLOPPITY FLOOP http://209.208.176.243/bin/blogExcerpts.cfm?blogId=1&prg=3
Polls: Zogby terms Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia to be swing states.
And, more evidence of how close it is. Nevada and Colorado in play. Wisconsin was Gore’s. As the Republican convention is upcoming… well, it’s still basically tied.
And:
Nevada: Bush 47%, Kerry 46% (Rasmussen)
Colorado: Kerry 47%, Bush 47% (Survey USA)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48%, Bush 43% (Quinnipiac)
Michigan: Kerry 48%, Bush 42% (Strategic Vision)
Wisconsin: Kerry 47%, Bush 46% (Strategic Vision)
Also, a very tight Senate race:
Colorado: Coors (R) 48%, Salazar (D) 47% (Survey USA)
-R
