Friday, September 24, 2004
What’s Happening, Afghanistan: The Vote: Eric Alterman and Paul McLeary report on the sadly absurd claims about “voter registration”. The P.R. is so out of control.
{There’s been a] more successful registration campaign than even the State or Defense departments may wish to admit. While it's true that over 10 million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan, the untidy and largely unreported fact of the matter is that the country only has a voting age population of about 9.5 million overall. The 10 million figure has grown to the level of absurdity given the fact that a mere three months ago, President Hamid Karzai maintained that only five million names were on the electoral list, in response to reports from the Independent and the Christian Science Monitor of registration figures numbering between 1.6 and 3 million. So a registration figure of 10 million leads one to wonder whether, secretly, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris have emigrated to Afghanistan. http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=192754
What’s Happening, Iraq: Utter chaos, steadily worsening. Yet, bizarrely and predictably, Bush talks of progress. The public / media continue to struggle with handling reality. Case in point: MSNBC last night laid out the deteriorating scene, yet posted on its web site: "Violence surges even as conditions improve."
Israel And Iran: A Request is Made. Anticipating trouble…
The United States plans to sell Israel $139 million worth of air-launched bombs, including 500 "bunker busters" able to penetrate Iran's underground nuclear facilities, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday.
The Haaretz newspaper quoted a Pentagon report as saying the planned procurement sought "to maintain Israel's qualitative advantage and advance U.S. strategic and tactical interests."
The U.S. embassy in Israel had no comment, referring queries to Washington. Israel's Defense Ministry also declined comment.
But a senior Israeli security source who confirmed the Haaretz story told Reuters: "This is not the sort of ordnance needed for the Palestinian front. Bunker busters could serve Israel against Iran, or possibly Syria." http://www.iranexpert.com/2004/israel21september.htm
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, November, 2001.
The state department document, that listed the whereabouts of al-Qaeda cells around the world. It’s a treat. Hit the link and notice the 45 countries. Not one of them is spelled I-R-A-Q. http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/terrornet/12.htm
Summary of Rathergate: Tina Brown:
A further symptom of the nervous breakdown was the spectacle of the intrepid CBS producer Mary Mapes -- she who was set to win all the prizes for her Abu Ghraib exposé -- crossing the line between independent journalism and political intrigue when she gave in to her source's request to put him in touch with the Kerry campaign. The way things have unraveled must be Karl Rove's wet dream: a living, breathing example of ostensible liberal media bias with which to bludgeon the rest of the press into an even deeper defensive crouch.
Documents or no documents, everyone knows Bush's dad got him out of Vietnam. Everyone knows he thought he had better, funner things to do than go to a bunch of boring National Guard drills. (Only a killjoy like John Kerry would spend his carefree youth racking up high-minded demonstrations of courage and conscience, right?) Like O.J. Simpson's infamous "struggle" to squeeze his big hand into the glove, the letter was just a lousy piece of evidence that should never have been produced in court. Now because CBS, like Marcia Clark, screwed up the prosecution, Bush is going to walk.
Or maybe not. There are lies floating around that are a lot bigger than anything CBS or Bush is saying or hiding about what happened thirty-odd years ago in Texas and Alabama. They're about Iraq and they're about now, and Kerry is finally talking about them coherently enough to have a chance of getting some traction. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43478-2004Sep22?language=printer
If the CBS Bush Piece Hadn’t Aired…
In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same “60 Minutes” broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger…
Some CBS reporters, as well as one of the network’s key sources, fear that the Niger uranium story may never run, at least not any time soon, on the grounds that the network can now not credibly air a report questioning how the Bush administration could have gotten taken in by phony documents. The network would “be a laughingstock,” said one source intimately familiar with the story. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6073449/site/newsweek/
Soldiers for Kerry:
But bitterness over long, dangerous deployments is producing, at a minimum, pockets of support for Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, in part because he's seen as likely to withdraw American forces from Iraq more quickly.
"[For] 9 out of 10 of the people I talk to, it wouldn't matter who ran against Bush - they'd vote for them," said a US soldier in the southern city of Najaf, seeking out a reporter to make his views known. "People are so fed up with Iraq, and fed up with Bush."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p02s02-usmi.html
Republican Techniques:
The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that "liberals" seek to ban the Bible. It said the mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush.
The mailings include images of the Bible labeled "banned" and of a gay marriage proposal labeled "allowed." A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: "This will be Arkansas if you don't vote." A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/campaign/24bible.html?pagewanted=all
Tax Cuts for Whom?
Congressional negotiators beat back efforts yesterday to expand and preserve tax refunds for poor families, even as they added $13 billion in corporate tax breaks to a package of middle-class tax cuts that could come to a vote in the Senate today.
The House-Senate negotiations concluded last night with the approval of a five-year $146 billion tax cut, the fourth tax cut in as many years. By the end of this week, Republican leaders expect to pass extensions of three tax cuts primarily aimed at middle-income taxpayers -- a $1,000-per-child tax credit, tax breaks for married couples and a 10 percent income-tax bracket that was expanded last year.
But the fight over the child tax refunds during the negotiations revealed a split among GOP tax writers.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sided with Democratic leaders in pushing for changes in the child tax credit to ensure that millions of poor families would not see their credits shrink or disappear next year.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) opposed the move, as did Sens. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.). That effectively scuttled changes to existing law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43278-2004Sep22?language=printer
Corporate Taxes Plummet. Surprise!
America's largest and most profitable companies paid less in corporate income taxes in the last three years, even as they increased profits, according to a study released yesterday.
Companies have always used write-offs, depreciation, deductions and loopholes to lower their taxes, but the study, by Citizens for Tax Justice and its affiliate, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, suggested that tax breaks and subsidies enacted during the Bush administration had accelerated the decline in tax payments.
The study also cited the proliferation of abusive tax shelters and increasingly aggressive corporate lobbying as fueling the decline in tax payments by corporations.
The study was done by nonprofit research and advocacy groups that have been supported in part by labor unions. They contend that the tax system favors wealthy corporations and individuals.
The study, Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years, surveyed public filings by 275 of the nation's largest and most profitable companies, based on revenue from the Fortune 500 list of 2004. The 275 companies reported pretax profits from operations in the United States of $1.1 trillion from 2001 through 2003, the study said, yet reported to the Internal Revenue Service and paid taxes on half that amount.
Robert S. McIntyre, the lead author of the study, wrote, "The fact that America's companies were allowed to report less than half of their actual U.S. profits to the I.R.S., while ordinary wage earners have to report every penny of their earnings, has to undermine public respect for the tax system." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/business/23income.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position
That Unemployment Rate: Is it declining? (No) Helpful info. to give us perspective
In addition, the unemployment rate does not count all the people who are forced into part-time work because of the weakness in the labor market. In our increasingly agile labor market, many people are choosing to work part-time to balance their competing needs. But the number of people who, when surveyed, said they are working part-time only because they could not find full-time jobs has increased by 35 percent since Bush took office, the largest increase for any President on record. If we were to count these 4.5 million involuntary part-time workers as 'part-unemployed' the overall unemployment rate would increase further.
In August alone 150,000 workers left the labor force. They no longer tell surveyors that they are seeking work. They have given up the job hunt to help out at home, take classes or simply wait until a job hunt is more likely to produce results. When Bush took office, the labor force participation rate – which measures the fraction of the civilian population over 16 that is either working or looking for work – was 67.2 percent. Today that percentage has dropped to 66.0 percent. If the same share of the population had remained in the work force it would be 2.7 million workers larger than it is today. That would push the unemployment rate up to 7.1 percent. http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=186379
The Draft:
Kerry and Edwards said ‘no way’: Bush said, "No, I'm -- we don't need the draft. We don't need a draft at all." …but there is legislation out there. It calls for reinstatement for men and women, ages 18-34, not only for military service but also for linguists, medical workers and anyone else with skills the Government would find useful in war. This is not related to the bills filed by Democrat Charley Rangel.
This is the reality that feeds the possibility:
A Pentagon-appointed panel of outside experts has concluded in a new study that the American military does not have sufficient forces to sustain current and anticipated stability operations, like the festering conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other missions that might arise. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/24military.html?pagewanted=all
Old Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/171522_draft01.html
Who’s the Flip Flopper? Rare Media Clarification:
Despite Bush Flip-Flops, Kerry Gets Label [John F. Harris]
One of this year's candidates for president, to hear his opposition tell it, has a long history of policy reversals and rhetorical about-faces -- a zigzag trail that proves his willingness to massage positions and even switch sides when politically convenient.
The flip-flopper, Democrats say, is President Bush. Over the past four years, he abandoned positions on issues such as how to regulate air pollution or whether states should be allowed to sanction same-sex marriage. He changed his mind about the merits of creating the Homeland Security Department, and made a major exception to his stance on free trade by agreeing to tariffs on steel. After resisting, the president yielded to pressure in supporting an independent commission to study policy failures preceding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush did the same with questions about whether he would allow his national security adviser to testify, or whether he would answer commissioners' questions for only an hour, or for as long they needed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43093-2004Sep22.html
Polls:
*National polls consistently have Bush with a narrow lead.
*The good news remains Bush’s low approval. The bad news is that Kerry’s negatives are higher, and that Blue-Gore states have slipped, most notably, Wisconsin and Oregon.
Fox News poll-Bush ahead of Kerry by 45% to 43%.[within margin of error]
state polls:
Wisconsin: Bush 53, Kerry 43 (ABC News)
Oregon: Bush 48, Kerry 47 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 51, Bush 46 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 52, Bush 38 (Elway Poll)
Texas: Bush 58, Kerry 37 (Survey USA)
South Carolina: Bush 58, Kerry 38 (Survey USA)
Nevada: Bush 52, Kerry 43 (Gallup)
West Virginia: Bush 51, Kerry 45 (Gallup)
California: Kerry 55, Bush 40 (Los Angeles Times)
Florida: Bush 49, Kerry 41 (Quinnipiac)
Iowa: Bush 47, Kerry 45 (Research 2000)
Wisconsin: Bush 52, Kerry 38 (Badger Poll)
California: Kerry 51, Bush 39 (Public Policy Institute)
-R
{There’s been a] more successful registration campaign than even the State or Defense departments may wish to admit. While it's true that over 10 million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan, the untidy and largely unreported fact of the matter is that the country only has a voting age population of about 9.5 million overall. The 10 million figure has grown to the level of absurdity given the fact that a mere three months ago, President Hamid Karzai maintained that only five million names were on the electoral list, in response to reports from the Independent and the Christian Science Monitor of registration figures numbering between 1.6 and 3 million. So a registration figure of 10 million leads one to wonder whether, secretly, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris have emigrated to Afghanistan. http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=192754
What’s Happening, Iraq: Utter chaos, steadily worsening. Yet, bizarrely and predictably, Bush talks of progress. The public / media continue to struggle with handling reality. Case in point: MSNBC last night laid out the deteriorating scene, yet posted on its web site: "Violence surges even as conditions improve."
Israel And Iran: A Request is Made. Anticipating trouble…
The United States plans to sell Israel $139 million worth of air-launched bombs, including 500 "bunker busters" able to penetrate Iran's underground nuclear facilities, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday.
The Haaretz newspaper quoted a Pentagon report as saying the planned procurement sought "to maintain Israel's qualitative advantage and advance U.S. strategic and tactical interests."
The U.S. embassy in Israel had no comment, referring queries to Washington. Israel's Defense Ministry also declined comment.
But a senior Israeli security source who confirmed the Haaretz story told Reuters: "This is not the sort of ordnance needed for the Palestinian front. Bunker busters could serve Israel against Iran, or possibly Syria." http://www.iranexpert.com/2004/israel21september.htm
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, November, 2001.
The state department document, that listed the whereabouts of al-Qaeda cells around the world. It’s a treat. Hit the link and notice the 45 countries. Not one of them is spelled I-R-A-Q. http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/terrornet/12.htm
Summary of Rathergate: Tina Brown:
A further symptom of the nervous breakdown was the spectacle of the intrepid CBS producer Mary Mapes -- she who was set to win all the prizes for her Abu Ghraib exposé -- crossing the line between independent journalism and political intrigue when she gave in to her source's request to put him in touch with the Kerry campaign. The way things have unraveled must be Karl Rove's wet dream: a living, breathing example of ostensible liberal media bias with which to bludgeon the rest of the press into an even deeper defensive crouch.
Documents or no documents, everyone knows Bush's dad got him out of Vietnam. Everyone knows he thought he had better, funner things to do than go to a bunch of boring National Guard drills. (Only a killjoy like John Kerry would spend his carefree youth racking up high-minded demonstrations of courage and conscience, right?) Like O.J. Simpson's infamous "struggle" to squeeze his big hand into the glove, the letter was just a lousy piece of evidence that should never have been produced in court. Now because CBS, like Marcia Clark, screwed up the prosecution, Bush is going to walk.
Or maybe not. There are lies floating around that are a lot bigger than anything CBS or Bush is saying or hiding about what happened thirty-odd years ago in Texas and Alabama. They're about Iraq and they're about now, and Kerry is finally talking about them coherently enough to have a chance of getting some traction. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43478-2004Sep22?language=printer
If the CBS Bush Piece Hadn’t Aired…
In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same “60 Minutes” broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger…
Some CBS reporters, as well as one of the network’s key sources, fear that the Niger uranium story may never run, at least not any time soon, on the grounds that the network can now not credibly air a report questioning how the Bush administration could have gotten taken in by phony documents. The network would “be a laughingstock,” said one source intimately familiar with the story. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6073449/site/newsweek/
Soldiers for Kerry:
But bitterness over long, dangerous deployments is producing, at a minimum, pockets of support for Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, in part because he's seen as likely to withdraw American forces from Iraq more quickly.
"[For] 9 out of 10 of the people I talk to, it wouldn't matter who ran against Bush - they'd vote for them," said a US soldier in the southern city of Najaf, seeking out a reporter to make his views known. "People are so fed up with Iraq, and fed up with Bush."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p02s02-usmi.html
Republican Techniques:
The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that "liberals" seek to ban the Bible. It said the mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush.
The mailings include images of the Bible labeled "banned" and of a gay marriage proposal labeled "allowed." A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: "This will be Arkansas if you don't vote." A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/campaign/24bible.html?pagewanted=all
Tax Cuts for Whom?
Congressional negotiators beat back efforts yesterday to expand and preserve tax refunds for poor families, even as they added $13 billion in corporate tax breaks to a package of middle-class tax cuts that could come to a vote in the Senate today.
The House-Senate negotiations concluded last night with the approval of a five-year $146 billion tax cut, the fourth tax cut in as many years. By the end of this week, Republican leaders expect to pass extensions of three tax cuts primarily aimed at middle-income taxpayers -- a $1,000-per-child tax credit, tax breaks for married couples and a 10 percent income-tax bracket that was expanded last year.
But the fight over the child tax refunds during the negotiations revealed a split among GOP tax writers.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sided with Democratic leaders in pushing for changes in the child tax credit to ensure that millions of poor families would not see their credits shrink or disappear next year.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) opposed the move, as did Sens. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.). That effectively scuttled changes to existing law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43278-2004Sep22?language=printer
Corporate Taxes Plummet. Surprise!
America's largest and most profitable companies paid less in corporate income taxes in the last three years, even as they increased profits, according to a study released yesterday.
Companies have always used write-offs, depreciation, deductions and loopholes to lower their taxes, but the study, by Citizens for Tax Justice and its affiliate, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, suggested that tax breaks and subsidies enacted during the Bush administration had accelerated the decline in tax payments.
The study also cited the proliferation of abusive tax shelters and increasingly aggressive corporate lobbying as fueling the decline in tax payments by corporations.
The study was done by nonprofit research and advocacy groups that have been supported in part by labor unions. They contend that the tax system favors wealthy corporations and individuals.
The study, Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years, surveyed public filings by 275 of the nation's largest and most profitable companies, based on revenue from the Fortune 500 list of 2004. The 275 companies reported pretax profits from operations in the United States of $1.1 trillion from 2001 through 2003, the study said, yet reported to the Internal Revenue Service and paid taxes on half that amount.
Robert S. McIntyre, the lead author of the study, wrote, "The fact that America's companies were allowed to report less than half of their actual U.S. profits to the I.R.S., while ordinary wage earners have to report every penny of their earnings, has to undermine public respect for the tax system." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/business/23income.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position
That Unemployment Rate: Is it declining? (No) Helpful info. to give us perspective
In addition, the unemployment rate does not count all the people who are forced into part-time work because of the weakness in the labor market. In our increasingly agile labor market, many people are choosing to work part-time to balance their competing needs. But the number of people who, when surveyed, said they are working part-time only because they could not find full-time jobs has increased by 35 percent since Bush took office, the largest increase for any President on record. If we were to count these 4.5 million involuntary part-time workers as 'part-unemployed' the overall unemployment rate would increase further.
In August alone 150,000 workers left the labor force. They no longer tell surveyors that they are seeking work. They have given up the job hunt to help out at home, take classes or simply wait until a job hunt is more likely to produce results. When Bush took office, the labor force participation rate – which measures the fraction of the civilian population over 16 that is either working or looking for work – was 67.2 percent. Today that percentage has dropped to 66.0 percent. If the same share of the population had remained in the work force it would be 2.7 million workers larger than it is today. That would push the unemployment rate up to 7.1 percent. http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=186379
The Draft:
Kerry and Edwards said ‘no way’: Bush said, "No, I'm -- we don't need the draft. We don't need a draft at all." …but there is legislation out there. It calls for reinstatement for men and women, ages 18-34, not only for military service but also for linguists, medical workers and anyone else with skills the Government would find useful in war. This is not related to the bills filed by Democrat Charley Rangel.
This is the reality that feeds the possibility:
A Pentagon-appointed panel of outside experts has concluded in a new study that the American military does not have sufficient forces to sustain current and anticipated stability operations, like the festering conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other missions that might arise. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/24military.html?pagewanted=all
Old Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/171522_draft01.html
Who’s the Flip Flopper? Rare Media Clarification:
Despite Bush Flip-Flops, Kerry Gets Label [John F. Harris]
One of this year's candidates for president, to hear his opposition tell it, has a long history of policy reversals and rhetorical about-faces -- a zigzag trail that proves his willingness to massage positions and even switch sides when politically convenient.
The flip-flopper, Democrats say, is President Bush. Over the past four years, he abandoned positions on issues such as how to regulate air pollution or whether states should be allowed to sanction same-sex marriage. He changed his mind about the merits of creating the Homeland Security Department, and made a major exception to his stance on free trade by agreeing to tariffs on steel. After resisting, the president yielded to pressure in supporting an independent commission to study policy failures preceding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush did the same with questions about whether he would allow his national security adviser to testify, or whether he would answer commissioners' questions for only an hour, or for as long they needed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43093-2004Sep22.html
Polls:
*National polls consistently have Bush with a narrow lead.
*The good news remains Bush’s low approval. The bad news is that Kerry’s negatives are higher, and that Blue-Gore states have slipped, most notably, Wisconsin and Oregon.
Fox News poll-Bush ahead of Kerry by 45% to 43%.[within margin of error]
state polls:
Wisconsin: Bush 53, Kerry 43 (ABC News)
Oregon: Bush 48, Kerry 47 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 51, Bush 46 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 52, Bush 38 (Elway Poll)
Texas: Bush 58, Kerry 37 (Survey USA)
South Carolina: Bush 58, Kerry 38 (Survey USA)
Nevada: Bush 52, Kerry 43 (Gallup)
West Virginia: Bush 51, Kerry 45 (Gallup)
California: Kerry 55, Bush 40 (Los Angeles Times)
Florida: Bush 49, Kerry 41 (Quinnipiac)
Iowa: Bush 47, Kerry 45 (Research 2000)
Wisconsin: Bush 52, Kerry 38 (Badger Poll)
California: Kerry 51, Bush 39 (Public Policy Institute)
-R
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
What’s Happening, Iraq: Bush for withdrawal?
The “journalist” Robert Novak posits that the Administration will withdraw next year. Is this real? Hard to know, though Novak is well connected. Suffice to say that the Bushies have no plan and it would be smart to get out. Or, in view of the talk of massive military moves after the election, the “strategy” will be a reprising of Kissinger and Vietnam, 1972-3, when we escalated our bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong then got our troops out.
Inside the Bush administration policymaking apparatus, there is strong feeling that U.S. troops must leave Iraq next year. This determination is not predicated on success in implanting Iraqi democracy and internal stability. Rather, the officials are saying: Ready or not, here we go.
This prospective policy is based on Iraq's national elections in late January, but not predicated on ending the insurgency or reaching a national political settlement. Getting out of Iraq would end the neoconservative dream of building democracy in the Arab world. The United States would be content having saved the world from Saddam Hussein's quest for weapons of mass destruction. http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak20.html
What’s Happening, Iran:
Notable article, for the debate within the Administration and for the distortions that the author spits out, e.g. Saddam was developing nukes.
At a time when the violent insurgency in Iraq is vexing the Bush administration and stirring worries among Americans, events may be propelling the United States into yet another confrontation, this time with Iran. The issues have an almost eerie familiarity, evoking the warnings and threats that led to the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and stirring an equally passionate debate.
Like Iraq in its final years under Saddam Hussein, Iran is believed by experts to be on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb. In Iraq, that proved to be untrue, though this time the consensus is much stronger among Western experts.
In addition, as with Iraq, administration officials have said recently that Iran is supporting insurgencies and terrorism in other countries. Recently, top administration officials have accused the Tehran government of backing the rebels in Iraq, something that officials fear could increase if Iran is pressed too hard on its nuclear program. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/politics/21diplo.html
James Carroll: Good to have his voice back. He makes “us” uncomfortable, which is desirable.
In this political season, the momentous issue of American-sponsored death is an inch below the surface, not quite hidden -- making the election a matter of transcendent importance. George W. Bush is proud of the disgraceful history that has paralyzed the national conscience on the question of war. He does not recognize it for what it is -- an American Tragedy. The American tragedy. John Kerry, by contrast, is attuned to the ethical complexity of this war narrative. We see that reflected in the complexity not only of his responses, but of his character -- and no wonder it puts people off. Kerry's problem, so far unresolved, is how to tell us what we cannot bear to know about ourselves. How to tell us the truth of our great moral squandering. The truth of what we are doing today in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/09/21/why_americans_back_the_war/
Post CBS: In sum, this is what the flap is supposed to obscure.
None of the new paperwork addresses the lingering questions surrounding Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War, how Bush's own records indicate he missed mandatory duty for months at a time, or how he managed to go unsupervised for nearly two years. The federal court order stems from an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Associated Press in June to obtain all of Bush's relevant records. In February, when White House aides told reporters they had made public "absolutely everything" about Bush's military service, the AP noticed several obvious gaps and went to court to obtain additional documents. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/20/bush_guard_records/index_np.html
Washington Post op eds Change. Due to Kerry’s speech? Perhaps. The press has awaited more vocal opposition. Richard Cohen and George Will joined E.J. Dionne in their pessimism about the invasion/occupation, for the need to tell more truth about the worsening ‘situation.’
Dionne adds:
I'm as weary as you are that our politics veer away from what matters -- Iraq, terrorism, health care, jobs -- and get sidetracked into personal issues manufactured by political consultants and ideological zealots. But the Bush campaign has made clear it wants this election to focus on character and leadership. If character is the issue, the president's life, past and present, matters just as much as John Kerry's.
Dan Rather has answered his critics. Now it is Bush's turn. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37081-2004Sep20.html
Next Line of Attack on Kerry?:
Remember Gore and the Buddhist Temple fundraising issue? Well, Paul Harvey, the arch-conservative radio commentator (heard in Boston on WBZ, everywhere in The Heartland) has been talking of Kerry campaign fundraisers meeting with a “secret agent” from South Korea, broaching that question of whether a foreign government is trying to influence our election. Harvey threw in that two Kerry aides have “admitted” being part of the CBS memo deception. Let’s see if it has traction.
The AP report:
A South Korean embassy official who met with John Kerry fund-raisers to talk about creating a political group for Korean-Americans was in fact a spy for his country, raising concerns among U.S. officials that he or Seoul may have tried to influence the fall presidential election.
South Korean and U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Chung Byung-Man, a consular officer in Los Angeles, worked for South Korea's National Intelligence Service at the time he was meeting with Kerry fund-raisers.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Kerry-South-Korea.html
Decency and Winning: This election has underscored the dilemma for many liberals. Wanting to be decent and fair, punches are pulled, reasoning is emphasized. But their opponents are with no such inhibitions / scruples. They play by Karl Rove’s rules; they do what it takes to win. So now, and especially if Bush wins, the choice is to either (1) stay decent and lose; (2) risk a further degrading of the quality of debate / democracy by doing a variation on Rove, or (3) to at least effectively label and condemn what is being done, showing the Rove-Ailes pattern across the decades. Continuing to exercise #1 risks many of us acting on our thoughts of relocating to Toronto, Vancouver, Melbourne, etc.
While Kerry is speaking more bluntly and substantively- though his critique is on the deceit and execution, not on the policy- he still has not condemned what Rove has done, and he’s still behind.
Full Disclosure: I consulted to the Campaign and found them open to advice, both on technique (utilizing Talk Radio) and the crafting of their message, especially about Iraq. While they were successful meetings, it is a tad alarming that 6 weeks out they needed help with the message.
The “Debates”: Don’t Hold Your Breath.
If the stakes weren’t high, it would be another laughable situation. The Democrat’s negotiator, Vernon Jordan, Clinton friend, agreed to terms that do not allow the candidates to address each other, and in the Town Hall debate, the questioners are not allowed follow-up. Some debates. Good work Vernon. Did you learn your negotiation skills from Warren Christopher? Or, are you signed on for Hillary’s campaign?
Doing What’s Comfortable. It’s arguable that the Right continues to out-organize the Left as they work harder, are more disciplined and focused and are less competitive with each other. And, they never lose sight of their goal. Liberals can tend to do what’s comfortable and convenient and are prone to hand-wringing at the expense of action.
Noting some of this, Michael Moore urges action.
Enough of the handwringing! Enough of the doomsaying! Do I have to come there and personally calm you down? Stop with all the defeatism, OK? Bush IS a goner -- IF we all just quit our whining and bellyaching and stop shaking like a bunch of nervous ninnies. Geez, this is embarrassing! The Republicans are laughing at us. Do you ever see them cry, "Oh, it's all over! We are finished! Bush can't win! Waaaaaa!"
Hell no. It's never over for them until the last ballot is shredded. They are never finished -- they just keeping moving forward like sharks that never sleep, always pushing, pulling, kicking, blocking, lying.
They are relentless and that is why we secretly admire them -- they just simply never, ever give up. Only 30% of the country calls itself "Republican," yet the Republicans own it all -- the White House, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and the majority of the governorships. How do you think they've been able to pull that off considering they are a minority? It's because they eat you and me and every other liberal for breakfast and then spend the rest of the day wreaking havoc on the planet.
Look at us -- what a bunch of crybabies. Bush gets a bounce after his convention and you would have thought the Germans had run through Poland again. The Bushies are coming, the Bushies are coming! Yes, they caught Kerry asleep on the Swift Boat thing. Yes, they found the frequency in Dan Rather and ran with it. Suddenly it's like, "THE END IS NEAR! THE SKY IS FALLING!"
No, it is not. If I hear one more person tell me how lousy a candidate Kerry is and how he can't win... Dammit, of COURSE he's a lousy candidate -- he's a Democrat, for heavens sake! That party is so pathetic, they even lose the elections they win! What were you expecting, Bruce Springsteen heading up the ticket? Bruce would make a helluva president, but guys like him don't run -- and neither do you or I. People like Kerry run. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-09-20
Privatizing Social Security: Wall Street Bonanza
We knew that The Ownership Society was all about a further transfer of public funds to the private sector. It is being labeled thusly and the Kerry campaign promises to deal with it.
President Bush's push to create individual investment accounts in the Social Security system would hand financial services firms a windfall totaling $940 billion over 75 years, according to a University of Chicago study to be released today.
Sen. John F. Kerry plans to use the paper, by economist Austan Goolsbee, as he campaigns in Florida today, hoping to open a new line of attack against Bush. The Democratic presidential nominee is expected to say that Bush's Social Security plan is a sop to Wall Street donors, who are among the Bush campaign's biggest financial backers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39923-2004Sep21.html
Bill Moyers Speech: Too full to summarize. When you have the time… I enthusiastically recommend it. How he will be missed… I include but one theme.
Secrecy is contagious. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that "certain security information included in the reactor oversight process" will no longer be publicly available, and no longer be updated on the agency's website.
New controls are being imposed on space surveillance data once found on NASA's web site.
The FCC has now restricted public access to reports of telecommunications disruption because the Department of Homeland Security says communications outages could provide "a roadmap for terrorists."
One of the authors of the ASNE report, Pete Weitzel, former managing editor of The Miami Herald and now coordinator for the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, describes how Section 214 of the Homeland Security Act makes it possible for a company to tell Homeland Security about an eroding chemical tank on the bank of a river, but DHS could not disclose this information publicly or, for that matter, even report it to the Environmental Protection Agency. And if there were a spill and people were injured, the information given DHS could not be used in court!
Secrecy is contagious – and scandalous. The Washington Post reports that nearly 600 times in recent years, a judicial committee acting in private has stripped information from reports intended to alert the public to conflicts of interest involving federal judges.
Secrecy is contagious, scandalous – and toxic. According to the ASNE report, curtains are falling at the state and local levels, too. The tiny south Alabama town of Notasulga decided to allow citizens to see records only one hour a month. It had to rescind the decision, but now you have to make a request in writing, make an appointment and state a reason for wanting to see any document. The state legislature in Florida has adopted 14 new exemptions to its sunshine and public record laws. Over the objections of law enforcement officials and Freedom of Information advocates, they passed a new law prohibiting police from making lists of gun owners even as it sets a fine of $5 million for violation. http://www.alternet.org/story/19918/
Tax Bill: Another one in the works, and while it isn’t as tilted toward the extremely wealthy, it rewards comfortable families with tax cuts and increasingly harms the struggling via a rising income threshold.
The WaPost condemns and reminds us of the b.s. that occurred when it was passed:
The legislation would extend the three "middle-class tax provisions" set to expire next year: the $1,000 child tax credit, the marriage penalty fix and the 10 percent tax bracket. These provisions are expiring because lawmakers, in a gimmick-ridden feint at fiscal responsibility, insisted that the 2003 tax cuts couldn't cost more than $350 billion over 10 years. To keep the ostensible price tag down, lawmakers structured the most popular provisions to run out at the end of this year, knowing they would extend them later.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A37118-2004Sep20?language=printer
Housing Cuts Proposed: Hardly surprising
The Bush administration has proposed reducing the value of subsidized-housing vouchers given to poor residents in New York City next year, with even bigger cuts planned for some urban areas in New England. The proposal is based on a disputed new formula that averages higher rents in big cities with those of suburban areas, which tend to have lower costs.
The proposals could have a "significantly detrimental impact" in some areas by forcing poor families to pay hundreds of extra dollars per month in rent, according to United States Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican. That extra burden could be too much for thousands of tenants, "potentially leaving them homeless," Mr. Shays wrote in a recent letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/nyregion/22housing.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position
Integrity in Journalism Impressive to learn that Reuters drew a line, refusing to accede to the politicizing of their dispatches.
Having their bylines appear in newspapers is an unexpected bonus for news agency reporters. But now Reuters has asked Canada's largest newspaper chain to remove its writers' names from some articles.
The dispute centers on a policy adopted earlier this year by CanWest Global Communications - the publisher of 13 daily newspapers including The National Post in Toronto and The Calgary Herald, which both use Reuters dispatches - to substitute the word "terrorist" in articles for terms like "insurgents" and "rebels." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/business/media/20reuters.html
Polls:
*IBD/TIPP Bush over Kerry, 46% to 43%, among likely voters. Bush has a one point lead among registered voters.
*Zogby Battleground Poll, Kerry winning the electoral count, 297-241. *Electoral Vote Predictor: Kerry 239, Bush 256.
*Harris Poll: Bush’s ratings now 45% positive, 54% negative.
So, the race remains winnable.
Homeland Security in Action: Cat Stevens
He’s still on the Peace Train, so we needed to be protected from Cat Stevens, now Yusef Islam. The former folk singer was barred from entry into the U.S.- his London to D.C. flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine. Really! Then, since he wouldn’t promise to not record ever again, he was expelled “on national security grounds.” He was asked because of his dangerous sentiments, such as this posting after 9/11: “No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity.” Since Yusef Islam, a rather traditional Muslim, has been a spokesperson for understanding between the West and the Islamic world, his expulsion doesn’t counter the belief that the U.S. is waging war on Islam.
It is a Wild World, indeed. http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/index.shtml
-R
The “journalist” Robert Novak posits that the Administration will withdraw next year. Is this real? Hard to know, though Novak is well connected. Suffice to say that the Bushies have no plan and it would be smart to get out. Or, in view of the talk of massive military moves after the election, the “strategy” will be a reprising of Kissinger and Vietnam, 1972-3, when we escalated our bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong then got our troops out.
Inside the Bush administration policymaking apparatus, there is strong feeling that U.S. troops must leave Iraq next year. This determination is not predicated on success in implanting Iraqi democracy and internal stability. Rather, the officials are saying: Ready or not, here we go.
This prospective policy is based on Iraq's national elections in late January, but not predicated on ending the insurgency or reaching a national political settlement. Getting out of Iraq would end the neoconservative dream of building democracy in the Arab world. The United States would be content having saved the world from Saddam Hussein's quest for weapons of mass destruction. http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak20.html
What’s Happening, Iran:
Notable article, for the debate within the Administration and for the distortions that the author spits out, e.g. Saddam was developing nukes.
At a time when the violent insurgency in Iraq is vexing the Bush administration and stirring worries among Americans, events may be propelling the United States into yet another confrontation, this time with Iran. The issues have an almost eerie familiarity, evoking the warnings and threats that led to the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and stirring an equally passionate debate.
Like Iraq in its final years under Saddam Hussein, Iran is believed by experts to be on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb. In Iraq, that proved to be untrue, though this time the consensus is much stronger among Western experts.
In addition, as with Iraq, administration officials have said recently that Iran is supporting insurgencies and terrorism in other countries. Recently, top administration officials have accused the Tehran government of backing the rebels in Iraq, something that officials fear could increase if Iran is pressed too hard on its nuclear program. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/politics/21diplo.html
James Carroll: Good to have his voice back. He makes “us” uncomfortable, which is desirable.
In this political season, the momentous issue of American-sponsored death is an inch below the surface, not quite hidden -- making the election a matter of transcendent importance. George W. Bush is proud of the disgraceful history that has paralyzed the national conscience on the question of war. He does not recognize it for what it is -- an American Tragedy. The American tragedy. John Kerry, by contrast, is attuned to the ethical complexity of this war narrative. We see that reflected in the complexity not only of his responses, but of his character -- and no wonder it puts people off. Kerry's problem, so far unresolved, is how to tell us what we cannot bear to know about ourselves. How to tell us the truth of our great moral squandering. The truth of what we are doing today in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/09/21/why_americans_back_the_war/
Post CBS: In sum, this is what the flap is supposed to obscure.
None of the new paperwork addresses the lingering questions surrounding Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War, how Bush's own records indicate he missed mandatory duty for months at a time, or how he managed to go unsupervised for nearly two years. The federal court order stems from an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Associated Press in June to obtain all of Bush's relevant records. In February, when White House aides told reporters they had made public "absolutely everything" about Bush's military service, the AP noticed several obvious gaps and went to court to obtain additional documents. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/20/bush_guard_records/index_np.html
Washington Post op eds Change. Due to Kerry’s speech? Perhaps. The press has awaited more vocal opposition. Richard Cohen and George Will joined E.J. Dionne in their pessimism about the invasion/occupation, for the need to tell more truth about the worsening ‘situation.’
Dionne adds:
I'm as weary as you are that our politics veer away from what matters -- Iraq, terrorism, health care, jobs -- and get sidetracked into personal issues manufactured by political consultants and ideological zealots. But the Bush campaign has made clear it wants this election to focus on character and leadership. If character is the issue, the president's life, past and present, matters just as much as John Kerry's.
Dan Rather has answered his critics. Now it is Bush's turn. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37081-2004Sep20.html
Next Line of Attack on Kerry?:
Remember Gore and the Buddhist Temple fundraising issue? Well, Paul Harvey, the arch-conservative radio commentator (heard in Boston on WBZ, everywhere in The Heartland) has been talking of Kerry campaign fundraisers meeting with a “secret agent” from South Korea, broaching that question of whether a foreign government is trying to influence our election. Harvey threw in that two Kerry aides have “admitted” being part of the CBS memo deception. Let’s see if it has traction.
The AP report:
A South Korean embassy official who met with John Kerry fund-raisers to talk about creating a political group for Korean-Americans was in fact a spy for his country, raising concerns among U.S. officials that he or Seoul may have tried to influence the fall presidential election.
South Korean and U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Chung Byung-Man, a consular officer in Los Angeles, worked for South Korea's National Intelligence Service at the time he was meeting with Kerry fund-raisers.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Kerry-South-Korea.html
Decency and Winning: This election has underscored the dilemma for many liberals. Wanting to be decent and fair, punches are pulled, reasoning is emphasized. But their opponents are with no such inhibitions / scruples. They play by Karl Rove’s rules; they do what it takes to win. So now, and especially if Bush wins, the choice is to either (1) stay decent and lose; (2) risk a further degrading of the quality of debate / democracy by doing a variation on Rove, or (3) to at least effectively label and condemn what is being done, showing the Rove-Ailes pattern across the decades. Continuing to exercise #1 risks many of us acting on our thoughts of relocating to Toronto, Vancouver, Melbourne, etc.
While Kerry is speaking more bluntly and substantively- though his critique is on the deceit and execution, not on the policy- he still has not condemned what Rove has done, and he’s still behind.
Full Disclosure: I consulted to the Campaign and found them open to advice, both on technique (utilizing Talk Radio) and the crafting of their message, especially about Iraq. While they were successful meetings, it is a tad alarming that 6 weeks out they needed help with the message.
The “Debates”: Don’t Hold Your Breath.
If the stakes weren’t high, it would be another laughable situation. The Democrat’s negotiator, Vernon Jordan, Clinton friend, agreed to terms that do not allow the candidates to address each other, and in the Town Hall debate, the questioners are not allowed follow-up. Some debates. Good work Vernon. Did you learn your negotiation skills from Warren Christopher? Or, are you signed on for Hillary’s campaign?
Doing What’s Comfortable. It’s arguable that the Right continues to out-organize the Left as they work harder, are more disciplined and focused and are less competitive with each other. And, they never lose sight of their goal. Liberals can tend to do what’s comfortable and convenient and are prone to hand-wringing at the expense of action.
Noting some of this, Michael Moore urges action.
Enough of the handwringing! Enough of the doomsaying! Do I have to come there and personally calm you down? Stop with all the defeatism, OK? Bush IS a goner -- IF we all just quit our whining and bellyaching and stop shaking like a bunch of nervous ninnies. Geez, this is embarrassing! The Republicans are laughing at us. Do you ever see them cry, "Oh, it's all over! We are finished! Bush can't win! Waaaaaa!"
Hell no. It's never over for them until the last ballot is shredded. They are never finished -- they just keeping moving forward like sharks that never sleep, always pushing, pulling, kicking, blocking, lying.
They are relentless and that is why we secretly admire them -- they just simply never, ever give up. Only 30% of the country calls itself "Republican," yet the Republicans own it all -- the White House, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and the majority of the governorships. How do you think they've been able to pull that off considering they are a minority? It's because they eat you and me and every other liberal for breakfast and then spend the rest of the day wreaking havoc on the planet.
Look at us -- what a bunch of crybabies. Bush gets a bounce after his convention and you would have thought the Germans had run through Poland again. The Bushies are coming, the Bushies are coming! Yes, they caught Kerry asleep on the Swift Boat thing. Yes, they found the frequency in Dan Rather and ran with it. Suddenly it's like, "THE END IS NEAR! THE SKY IS FALLING!"
No, it is not. If I hear one more person tell me how lousy a candidate Kerry is and how he can't win... Dammit, of COURSE he's a lousy candidate -- he's a Democrat, for heavens sake! That party is so pathetic, they even lose the elections they win! What were you expecting, Bruce Springsteen heading up the ticket? Bruce would make a helluva president, but guys like him don't run -- and neither do you or I. People like Kerry run. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-09-20
Privatizing Social Security: Wall Street Bonanza
We knew that The Ownership Society was all about a further transfer of public funds to the private sector. It is being labeled thusly and the Kerry campaign promises to deal with it.
President Bush's push to create individual investment accounts in the Social Security system would hand financial services firms a windfall totaling $940 billion over 75 years, according to a University of Chicago study to be released today.
Sen. John F. Kerry plans to use the paper, by economist Austan Goolsbee, as he campaigns in Florida today, hoping to open a new line of attack against Bush. The Democratic presidential nominee is expected to say that Bush's Social Security plan is a sop to Wall Street donors, who are among the Bush campaign's biggest financial backers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39923-2004Sep21.html
Bill Moyers Speech: Too full to summarize. When you have the time… I enthusiastically recommend it. How he will be missed… I include but one theme.
Secrecy is contagious. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that "certain security information included in the reactor oversight process" will no longer be publicly available, and no longer be updated on the agency's website.
New controls are being imposed on space surveillance data once found on NASA's web site.
The FCC has now restricted public access to reports of telecommunications disruption because the Department of Homeland Security says communications outages could provide "a roadmap for terrorists."
One of the authors of the ASNE report, Pete Weitzel, former managing editor of The Miami Herald and now coordinator for the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, describes how Section 214 of the Homeland Security Act makes it possible for a company to tell Homeland Security about an eroding chemical tank on the bank of a river, but DHS could not disclose this information publicly or, for that matter, even report it to the Environmental Protection Agency. And if there were a spill and people were injured, the information given DHS could not be used in court!
Secrecy is contagious – and scandalous. The Washington Post reports that nearly 600 times in recent years, a judicial committee acting in private has stripped information from reports intended to alert the public to conflicts of interest involving federal judges.
Secrecy is contagious, scandalous – and toxic. According to the ASNE report, curtains are falling at the state and local levels, too. The tiny south Alabama town of Notasulga decided to allow citizens to see records only one hour a month. It had to rescind the decision, but now you have to make a request in writing, make an appointment and state a reason for wanting to see any document. The state legislature in Florida has adopted 14 new exemptions to its sunshine and public record laws. Over the objections of law enforcement officials and Freedom of Information advocates, they passed a new law prohibiting police from making lists of gun owners even as it sets a fine of $5 million for violation. http://www.alternet.org/story/19918/
Tax Bill: Another one in the works, and while it isn’t as tilted toward the extremely wealthy, it rewards comfortable families with tax cuts and increasingly harms the struggling via a rising income threshold.
The WaPost condemns and reminds us of the b.s. that occurred when it was passed:
The legislation would extend the three "middle-class tax provisions" set to expire next year: the $1,000 child tax credit, the marriage penalty fix and the 10 percent tax bracket. These provisions are expiring because lawmakers, in a gimmick-ridden feint at fiscal responsibility, insisted that the 2003 tax cuts couldn't cost more than $350 billion over 10 years. To keep the ostensible price tag down, lawmakers structured the most popular provisions to run out at the end of this year, knowing they would extend them later.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A37118-2004Sep20?language=printer
Housing Cuts Proposed: Hardly surprising
The Bush administration has proposed reducing the value of subsidized-housing vouchers given to poor residents in New York City next year, with even bigger cuts planned for some urban areas in New England. The proposal is based on a disputed new formula that averages higher rents in big cities with those of suburban areas, which tend to have lower costs.
The proposals could have a "significantly detrimental impact" in some areas by forcing poor families to pay hundreds of extra dollars per month in rent, according to United States Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican. That extra burden could be too much for thousands of tenants, "potentially leaving them homeless," Mr. Shays wrote in a recent letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/nyregion/22housing.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position
Integrity in Journalism Impressive to learn that Reuters drew a line, refusing to accede to the politicizing of their dispatches.
Having their bylines appear in newspapers is an unexpected bonus for news agency reporters. But now Reuters has asked Canada's largest newspaper chain to remove its writers' names from some articles.
The dispute centers on a policy adopted earlier this year by CanWest Global Communications - the publisher of 13 daily newspapers including The National Post in Toronto and The Calgary Herald, which both use Reuters dispatches - to substitute the word "terrorist" in articles for terms like "insurgents" and "rebels." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/business/media/20reuters.html
Polls:
*IBD/TIPP Bush over Kerry, 46% to 43%, among likely voters. Bush has a one point lead among registered voters.
*Zogby Battleground Poll, Kerry winning the electoral count, 297-241. *Electoral Vote Predictor: Kerry 239, Bush 256.
*Harris Poll: Bush’s ratings now 45% positive, 54% negative.
So, the race remains winnable.
Homeland Security in Action: Cat Stevens
He’s still on the Peace Train, so we needed to be protected from Cat Stevens, now Yusef Islam. The former folk singer was barred from entry into the U.S.- his London to D.C. flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine. Really! Then, since he wouldn’t promise to not record ever again, he was expelled “on national security grounds.” He was asked because of his dangerous sentiments, such as this posting after 9/11: “No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity.” Since Yusef Islam, a rather traditional Muslim, has been a spokesperson for understanding between the West and the Islamic world, his expulsion doesn’t counter the belief that the U.S. is waging war on Islam.
It is a Wild World, indeed. http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/index.shtml
-R
Monday, September 20, 2004
Iran: Many reports. The Meaning?
They’re Helping Sadr:
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have raised sharp complaints in recent days that Iran is providing support for the insurgency in Iraq, expressing concerns over what they say are Iran's attempt to shape Iraq's future.
Pentagon, State Department and military officials, describing intelligence reports that are fueling those concerns, say money, weapons and even a small number of fighters are flowing over the border from Iran to assist Shiite insurgents commanded by Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel cleric. But there is no consensus on the exact scale of Iranian activities. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/politics/20iran.html?pagewanted=all
War Games show that fighting Iran is no picnic:
…spy agencies have played out "war games" to consider possible pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and concluded that strikes would not resolve Washington's standoff with Tehran, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.
"The war games were unsuccessful at preventing the conflict from escalating," an unnamed Air Force source told the magazine in its latest issue.
The Central Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency played out the possible results US strikes, the magazine reported. http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040919183609.4c1exyea.html
They’re moving ahead on developing a nuclear capacity
Iran on Sunday rejected a call by the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency to freeze all its uranium enrichment programs and warned that it would drop out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if its case was sent to the Security Council.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, said at a news conference that his nation would not accept any outside limitation on its uranium enrichment programs and that "no international body can force Iran to do so." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/international/middleeast/20tehran.html?pagewanted=all
October Surprise: Iran or Iraq or?Bush may not need it, but speculation continues as to whether finding bin Laden, staging a crisis with Iran- such as setting a deadline for compliance with UN-based demands re nuclear development being October 30 or something in Iraq (though that’s beyond our control). More likely is what is being announced, both a step-up in intelligence here and (possibly) fighting there so as to assure the public that much is being done with the deteriorating situation
A U.S. official expressed alarm yesterday about a possible nuclear- weapons-related test site in Iran and accused the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency of keeping silent on its own concerns about the issue.The official's comments came as U.S. and European diplomats tentatively agreed yesterday to demand a new Iranian freeze on uranium enrichment as they fine-tuned a draft resolution meant to deprive Iran of technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons. The negotiations involved a resolution being prepared for the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. www.newsday.com
That other investigation: Niger documents: Nothing Doin’
Forgot that one? It’s been a while. Josh Marshall warns us to expect zip, as there is no investigation.
The truth, though, the dirty little secret, is that there’s never been any real investigation into where those documents came from. Don't look for status updates on it because it doesn't exist.
Yes, back in March 2003, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence asked the FBI to investigate the matter. And it was on the basis of this supposed investigation that the Committee decided not to investigate anything about the forged documents before they showed up at the US Embassy in Rome in October 2002. (See page 57 of the Committee report.) But again, despite claims to the contrary, the FBI hasn’t made any serious effort to find out who was behind the scam. www.talkingpointsmemor.org
CNN: al-Qaeda Seeks Bush Defeat
A pattern. CNN -Bill Schneider this time- repeats the Bush line. They are approaching Fox status.
Well I can guarantee that they don't like George Bush. Do they think there's a difference? I think Osama bin laden - the al qaeda network - who I'm certain follow american politics. Look at the messages coming out on their tapes, they seem to follow politics very closely. They would very much like to defeat President Bush. But the question is could they pull of the same trick they could pull off in Spain? What Dennis Hastert says is they'd better not try that, it won't work here. My guess is he's right about that." http://atrios.blogspot.com/
Sounds a lot like the Administration or its supporters: (AP)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage alleged Friday that insurgents have stepped up their deadly assaults in Iraq because they want to "influence the election against President Bush," a statement that drew a sharp condemnation from the campaign of Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.It is apparently the first time that a Bush administration official has linked the escalating violence in Iraq to an effort by insurgents to help defeat Bush in November.
What’s Happening, Iraq:Brits Cutting Back:
The British Army is to start pulling troops out of Iraq next month despite the deteriorating security situation in much of the country, The Observer has learnt. The main British combat force in Iraq, about 5,000-strong, will be reduced by around a third by the end of October during a routine rotation of units. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1307980,00.html
What’s Happening, Pakistan: Fighting
In the hidden ravines and forbidding, dust-colored mountains of a remote border region near Afghanistan, about 25,000 Pakistani troops are battling hundreds of well-armed foreign militants and Pakistani tribesmen in an increasingly violent confrontation that is imposing growing costs on civilians and prompting warnings of wider unrest. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34160-2004Sep19.html
Vanishing Middle Class. More confirmation. No, not the upper middle class…yet…
The jobs have had one thing in common: For people with a high school diploma and perhaps a bit of college, they can be a ticket to a modest home, health insurance, decent retirement and maybe some savings for the kids' tuition. Such jobs were a big reason America's middle class flourished in the second half of the 20th century.
Now what those jobs share is vulnerability. The people who fill them have become replaceable by machines, workers overseas or temporary employees at home who lack benefits. And when they are replaced, many don't know where to turn. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34235-2004Sep19.html
Bush, post November 2: If he wins…
Troops
``He won't tell us what congressional leaders are now saying, that this administration is planning yet another substantial call-up of reservists and Guard units immediately after the election,'' Kerry said. ``Hide it from people through the election, then make the move.'' Republicans said Kerry was making a baseless charge to cover up his inconsistent positions on Iraq. ``Desperate candidates are generally not the most accurate sources of information on these issues,'' said New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, adding that the Senate defense spending committee that he serves on hasn't been notified of any such plans. But Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., ranking member on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and a former Marine who served in Vietnam, said he had learned through conversations with Pentagon officials that beginning in November, ``the Bush administration plans to call up large numbers of the military Guard and Reserves, to include plans that they previously had put off to call up the Individual Ready Reserve.''
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040918%2F0623660856.htm&sc=1131&photoid=20040917DXF101&floc=NW_1-T
Polls: Why the confusing numbers. One explanation is that some polls have been asking more Republicans than Democrats. Gallup/CNN/USA Today seems the most guilty of this. The basic news: Bush up 2- 4 points, with notable gains in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Hampshire. As of now, he’d have a clear, though close electoral win.
Zogby: Bush 46-43%
Pew: Dead heat
State polls:
Missouri: Bush 48%, Kerry 41% (Mason-Dixon)
Arizona: Bush 50%, Kerry 39% (Mason-Dixon)
New Hampshire: Bush 49%, Kerry 40% (Mason-Dixon)
Ohio: Bush 49%, Kerry 40% (Mason-Dixon)
West Virginia: Bush 45%, Kerry 44% (Mason-Dixon)
Nevada: Bush 50%, 45% (Mason-Dixon)
Tennessee: Bush 53%, Kerry 37% (Mason-Dixon)
Kentucky: Bush 53%, Kerry 38% (Bluegrass Poll)
-R
They’re Helping Sadr:
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have raised sharp complaints in recent days that Iran is providing support for the insurgency in Iraq, expressing concerns over what they say are Iran's attempt to shape Iraq's future.
Pentagon, State Department and military officials, describing intelligence reports that are fueling those concerns, say money, weapons and even a small number of fighters are flowing over the border from Iran to assist Shiite insurgents commanded by Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel cleric. But there is no consensus on the exact scale of Iranian activities. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/politics/20iran.html?pagewanted=all
War Games show that fighting Iran is no picnic:
…spy agencies have played out "war games" to consider possible pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and concluded that strikes would not resolve Washington's standoff with Tehran, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.
"The war games were unsuccessful at preventing the conflict from escalating," an unnamed Air Force source told the magazine in its latest issue.
The Central Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency played out the possible results US strikes, the magazine reported. http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040919183609.4c1exyea.html
They’re moving ahead on developing a nuclear capacity
Iran on Sunday rejected a call by the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency to freeze all its uranium enrichment programs and warned that it would drop out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if its case was sent to the Security Council.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, said at a news conference that his nation would not accept any outside limitation on its uranium enrichment programs and that "no international body can force Iran to do so." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/international/middleeast/20tehran.html?pagewanted=all
October Surprise: Iran or Iraq or?Bush may not need it, but speculation continues as to whether finding bin Laden, staging a crisis with Iran- such as setting a deadline for compliance with UN-based demands re nuclear development being October 30 or something in Iraq (though that’s beyond our control). More likely is what is being announced, both a step-up in intelligence here and (possibly) fighting there so as to assure the public that much is being done with the deteriorating situation
A U.S. official expressed alarm yesterday about a possible nuclear- weapons-related test site in Iran and accused the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency of keeping silent on its own concerns about the issue.The official's comments came as U.S. and European diplomats tentatively agreed yesterday to demand a new Iranian freeze on uranium enrichment as they fine-tuned a draft resolution meant to deprive Iran of technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons. The negotiations involved a resolution being prepared for the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. www.newsday.com
That other investigation: Niger documents: Nothing Doin’
Forgot that one? It’s been a while. Josh Marshall warns us to expect zip, as there is no investigation.
The truth, though, the dirty little secret, is that there’s never been any real investigation into where those documents came from. Don't look for status updates on it because it doesn't exist.
Yes, back in March 2003, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence asked the FBI to investigate the matter. And it was on the basis of this supposed investigation that the Committee decided not to investigate anything about the forged documents before they showed up at the US Embassy in Rome in October 2002. (See page 57 of the Committee report.) But again, despite claims to the contrary, the FBI hasn’t made any serious effort to find out who was behind the scam. www.talkingpointsmemor.org
CNN: al-Qaeda Seeks Bush Defeat
A pattern. CNN -Bill Schneider this time- repeats the Bush line. They are approaching Fox status.
Well I can guarantee that they don't like George Bush. Do they think there's a difference? I think Osama bin laden - the al qaeda network - who I'm certain follow american politics. Look at the messages coming out on their tapes, they seem to follow politics very closely. They would very much like to defeat President Bush. But the question is could they pull of the same trick they could pull off in Spain? What Dennis Hastert says is they'd better not try that, it won't work here. My guess is he's right about that." http://atrios.blogspot.com/
Sounds a lot like the Administration or its supporters: (AP)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage alleged Friday that insurgents have stepped up their deadly assaults in Iraq because they want to "influence the election against President Bush," a statement that drew a sharp condemnation from the campaign of Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.It is apparently the first time that a Bush administration official has linked the escalating violence in Iraq to an effort by insurgents to help defeat Bush in November.
What’s Happening, Iraq:Brits Cutting Back:
The British Army is to start pulling troops out of Iraq next month despite the deteriorating security situation in much of the country, The Observer has learnt. The main British combat force in Iraq, about 5,000-strong, will be reduced by around a third by the end of October during a routine rotation of units. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1307980,00.html
What’s Happening, Pakistan: Fighting
In the hidden ravines and forbidding, dust-colored mountains of a remote border region near Afghanistan, about 25,000 Pakistani troops are battling hundreds of well-armed foreign militants and Pakistani tribesmen in an increasingly violent confrontation that is imposing growing costs on civilians and prompting warnings of wider unrest. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34160-2004Sep19.html
Vanishing Middle Class. More confirmation. No, not the upper middle class…yet…
The jobs have had one thing in common: For people with a high school diploma and perhaps a bit of college, they can be a ticket to a modest home, health insurance, decent retirement and maybe some savings for the kids' tuition. Such jobs were a big reason America's middle class flourished in the second half of the 20th century.
Now what those jobs share is vulnerability. The people who fill them have become replaceable by machines, workers overseas or temporary employees at home who lack benefits. And when they are replaced, many don't know where to turn. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34235-2004Sep19.html
Bush, post November 2: If he wins…
Troops
``He won't tell us what congressional leaders are now saying, that this administration is planning yet another substantial call-up of reservists and Guard units immediately after the election,'' Kerry said. ``Hide it from people through the election, then make the move.'' Republicans said Kerry was making a baseless charge to cover up his inconsistent positions on Iraq. ``Desperate candidates are generally not the most accurate sources of information on these issues,'' said New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, adding that the Senate defense spending committee that he serves on hasn't been notified of any such plans. But Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., ranking member on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and a former Marine who served in Vietnam, said he had learned through conversations with Pentagon officials that beginning in November, ``the Bush administration plans to call up large numbers of the military Guard and Reserves, to include plans that they previously had put off to call up the Individual Ready Reserve.''
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040918%2F0623660856.htm&sc=1131&photoid=20040917DXF101&floc=NW_1-T
Polls: Why the confusing numbers. One explanation is that some polls have been asking more Republicans than Democrats. Gallup/CNN/USA Today seems the most guilty of this. The basic news: Bush up 2- 4 points, with notable gains in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Hampshire. As of now, he’d have a clear, though close electoral win.
Zogby: Bush 46-43%
Pew: Dead heat
State polls:
Missouri: Bush 48%, Kerry 41% (Mason-Dixon)
Arizona: Bush 50%, Kerry 39% (Mason-Dixon)
New Hampshire: Bush 49%, Kerry 40% (Mason-Dixon)
Ohio: Bush 49%, Kerry 40% (Mason-Dixon)
West Virginia: Bush 45%, Kerry 44% (Mason-Dixon)
Nevada: Bush 50%, 45% (Mason-Dixon)
Tennessee: Bush 53%, Kerry 37% (Mason-Dixon)
Kentucky: Bush 53%, Kerry 38% (Bluegrass Poll)
-R
