It’s very concerning now. We progressive Democrats are demoralized by health-care passage in the Senate, while the Republican losers assert they’re happy campers and will go home to stir up more trouble than ever. This is exactly the reverse of the morale that ought to apply to these camps. There is, no doubt, some bravado and exaggeration on each side, but I think it’s generally a true portrait. Our side has to grow and change in a hurry, or we could slide down to a lower level for the next battle – the environment, which is even more important than health care. It’s the planet that’s at stake, not just a few million human beings and their crummy health.
For next steps I’m looking for tips from Organizing For America, from MoveOn, from Progressive Democrats of America; that is, from the Obama White House, from the grassroots liberal establishment, and from the PDA’s curious inside-outside mixture of being inside Congress (80-plus in the Progressive Caucus) and outside among people willing to demonstrate and occasionally be arrested.
As of this evening, OFA has sent out an email asking to thank the Senators who voted for the bill. MoveOn.org still has Joe Lieberman on its front page. PDAmerica.org is boasting that it was named by The Nation magazine as the most valuable political group of 2008. Yes, not a typo, of 2008.
So, let’s agree that they haven’t issued quick advice on how to think and act in order to salvage the historic presidency of Barack Obama. We are, nonetheless, thinking about this vital mission. Even if it is Christmas.
I do not think the progressive side will have to drag Barack Obama, kicking and screaming, to do the right thing. If he can be convinced that he will be re-elected, he’s for it. But what will be the right thing? The Hawaii vacation may have come at exactly the right time to refresh the president’s thinking and morale. This should be a time for bold action, not mealy-mouthed compromise. Open thinking and debate, not disgusting deals on Nebraska Medicaid.
A forthright approach would be to start a new tack altogether – get money out of politics. This is what has left us in a post-health-care funk. Let’s start thinking about fixing the root problem of our health care, the environment, our wars, our corruption. The people will thank us.
Showing posts with label Iraq War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq War. Show all posts
Friday, December 25, 2009
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Deep problem for South Florida Democrats: Republican 'allegiance'
This was a headline loaded with pain: “Democrats torn between party, GOP allegiances.” Page 1 of Sunday’s Miami Herald. I already knew about this, but seeing it there made me sick. Now is the time to look at this deep problem we have in South Florida, and see if we can fix it – well before we have to vote in November.
In a nutshell, as I see it: We have two Democratic members of the House of Representatives who will not do anything to help three fine Democrats run against the three Republicans who misrepresent about 1.5 million people in Miami-Dade, Monroe, Collier and Broward counties. Their two seats are so safe that Republicans run no one against them, yet they will not venture out to help fellow Democrats.
How wrong can things get? This is pretty far down the spectrum of why people do not understand politics and why they stay away. I’m not going to speculate here as to why Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) and Kendrick Meek (FL-17) do not support their local Democratic Party. It’s written about in the Herald, and I understand Ms. Wasserman Schultz was asked about it Sunday in Michael Putney’s show on ABC Channel 10.
What I want to look at here is the people they are in allegiance with, to use the Herald’s word in that headline. A disgusting thought, really, to be “in allegiance” with Lincoln Diaz-Balart, his brother Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, when you say, as our two Democrats say, that you’d like to end the Iraq war and to see expanded health insurance for children.
The Republicans voted with President Bush repeatedly on the war, and they voted to sustain his vetoes on the children’s health insurance bills.
Mario Diaz-Balart’s District 25 includes the Everglades, a treasure of great value on the environmental scale. He’s a creature of Big Sugar, which is one of the biggest problems for the Everglades. He’s a creature of the rock-mining industry, another big problem for the Everglades. This is a congressman who deserves defeat on his environmental record alone (15 percent rating by the League of Conservation Voters (www.lcv.org) in 2007, lower in earlier sessions). His opponent, Joe Garcia, is poised to take a pro-Everglades stance. Will he get help from Meek and Wasserman Schultz? They talk nice about the Everglades, but not about Joe Garcia.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) has an environmental record just as bad. And like his brother and Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), he votes for torture. And for immunity for telecoms and the president that tapped our phones illegally. And for the end of habeas corpus.
Yet our two Democrats in the U.S. House supposedly feel bound by some collegial allegiance – Oh, how I hate to see that word used to describe ties between Democrats and these three Republicans – and will not work to get Democrats elected in their place.
What about the Republicans’ rationale for voting against the SCHIP bills: It’s “an attack on the Cuban-American community,” Mario Diaz-Balart said last October (Herald link no longer works). What attack? It would hurt cigar-rollers by increasing tobacco tax.
That is the crap that passes for legislative thinking among the Republicans we’d like to see defeated. My eyes well up, but our two Democrats are not moved.
Mario Diaz-Balart even brags about this allegiance on national television. After Fidel Castro announced his resignation, Diaz-Balart was on CNN and, pressed by Wolf Blitzer about waning support from younger Cuban-Americans, he declared that his constituents supported his harsh policy on Cuban family reunions and that his two Democratic colleagues supported it, too. So it must be right, he implied. Well, there’s a logic to that. And that’s the problem.
Now let’s consider whether the Republicans feel bound, like the Democrats, to be nice to the opposition. Ros-Lehtinen is known for having raised or donated nearly $1 million in the 2006 election cycle to the Republican drive – in vain, thank goodness – to retain the R majority in the House. Our two Democrats run and do the same for Democrats in other parts of the country, but we in South Florida are … pounding sand.
And what about the Republicans’ national security thinking? I like to go back to an article Ros-Lehtinen wrote last fall, published in National Review Online Oct. 5, 2007. (Alas, I looked through the digital archives of the National Review for traces of this neo-con fantasy bylined Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and could not find it.} The title was “The Right to Survive,” and she was referring to the U.S. right to survive. As opposed to what? Answer: Iran’s supposed drive to get nuclear weapons.
Now, of course, we need to keep track of what Iran is up to. And our intelligence organs do just that, and they sometimes throw a wrench into the neo-cons’ works, as with the recent finding that Iran wasn’t really working on a nuclear weapons program.
Ros-Lehtinen’s article was published before that verdict, but she probably hasn’t changed her mind one whit. She wrote that military and civilian nuclear processes are about the same, and she makes it seem that we’re in a “suicide pact” to let Iran wipe us out – unless we take her admonitions to heart. ”For no ‘paper right’ should be allowed to trump our right to exist,” were her last words.
A path to war is many steps long. If we ever go to war with this fourth-rate country Iran, Ros-Lehtinen’s article will be one of the steps along that path. Why are prominent young Democrats in the House not trying to get her out?
I launched into this post only after consulting the three candidates to be chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, Daisy Black, Bret Berlin and Kevin Burns. I asked if they opposed airing this topic in this blog, which is in a way the creation of the county Democratic Party. They all said it was OK to bring it into the open, though I didn’t tell them exactly what I would write. In fact, I didn’t know what I’d write then, when I spoke to them. It was pretty clear, though, that I’d be critical of our two Democrats in the U.S. House. I regret that it’s necessary. But if you look at the on-line comments to the Herald article, you’ll see that I’m not alone.
And we’re attracting national attention: The Swing State Project blog picked it up on Sunday with a piece suggesting that our two Democrats were “all too eager to kneecap these Democratic challengers.” Read it here and weep at what folly seems to have fallen onto our political situation.
The question is: Why are Democrats in perfectly safe seats not showing political courage?
The question is: Why are Democrats in perfectly safe seats following a harsh policy on Cuban family reunions instituted by the worst president in U.S. history?
Tell me. This space is open to you. (Though I’ll say here that I’m not open to publishing comments alleging corruption. I don’t think that’s the issue, or appropriate.)
In a nutshell, as I see it: We have two Democratic members of the House of Representatives who will not do anything to help three fine Democrats run against the three Republicans who misrepresent about 1.5 million people in Miami-Dade, Monroe, Collier and Broward counties. Their two seats are so safe that Republicans run no one against them, yet they will not venture out to help fellow Democrats.
How wrong can things get? This is pretty far down the spectrum of why people do not understand politics and why they stay away. I’m not going to speculate here as to why Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) and Kendrick Meek (FL-17) do not support their local Democratic Party. It’s written about in the Herald, and I understand Ms. Wasserman Schultz was asked about it Sunday in Michael Putney’s show on ABC Channel 10.
What I want to look at here is the people they are in allegiance with, to use the Herald’s word in that headline. A disgusting thought, really, to be “in allegiance” with Lincoln Diaz-Balart, his brother Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, when you say, as our two Democrats say, that you’d like to end the Iraq war and to see expanded health insurance for children.
The Republicans voted with President Bush repeatedly on the war, and they voted to sustain his vetoes on the children’s health insurance bills.
Mario Diaz-Balart’s District 25 includes the Everglades, a treasure of great value on the environmental scale. He’s a creature of Big Sugar, which is one of the biggest problems for the Everglades. He’s a creature of the rock-mining industry, another big problem for the Everglades. This is a congressman who deserves defeat on his environmental record alone (15 percent rating by the League of Conservation Voters (www.lcv.org) in 2007, lower in earlier sessions). His opponent, Joe Garcia, is poised to take a pro-Everglades stance. Will he get help from Meek and Wasserman Schultz? They talk nice about the Everglades, but not about Joe Garcia.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) has an environmental record just as bad. And like his brother and Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), he votes for torture. And for immunity for telecoms and the president that tapped our phones illegally. And for the end of habeas corpus.
Yet our two Democrats in the U.S. House supposedly feel bound by some collegial allegiance – Oh, how I hate to see that word used to describe ties between Democrats and these three Republicans – and will not work to get Democrats elected in their place.
What about the Republicans’ rationale for voting against the SCHIP bills: It’s “an attack on the Cuban-American community,” Mario Diaz-Balart said last October (Herald link no longer works). What attack? It would hurt cigar-rollers by increasing tobacco tax.
That is the crap that passes for legislative thinking among the Republicans we’d like to see defeated. My eyes well up, but our two Democrats are not moved.
Mario Diaz-Balart even brags about this allegiance on national television. After Fidel Castro announced his resignation, Diaz-Balart was on CNN and, pressed by Wolf Blitzer about waning support from younger Cuban-Americans, he declared that his constituents supported his harsh policy on Cuban family reunions and that his two Democratic colleagues supported it, too. So it must be right, he implied. Well, there’s a logic to that. And that’s the problem.
Now let’s consider whether the Republicans feel bound, like the Democrats, to be nice to the opposition. Ros-Lehtinen is known for having raised or donated nearly $1 million in the 2006 election cycle to the Republican drive – in vain, thank goodness – to retain the R majority in the House. Our two Democrats run and do the same for Democrats in other parts of the country, but we in South Florida are … pounding sand.
And what about the Republicans’ national security thinking? I like to go back to an article Ros-Lehtinen wrote last fall, published in National Review Online Oct. 5, 2007. (Alas, I looked through the digital archives of the National Review for traces of this neo-con fantasy bylined Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and could not find it.} The title was “The Right to Survive,” and she was referring to the U.S. right to survive. As opposed to what? Answer: Iran’s supposed drive to get nuclear weapons.
Now, of course, we need to keep track of what Iran is up to. And our intelligence organs do just that, and they sometimes throw a wrench into the neo-cons’ works, as with the recent finding that Iran wasn’t really working on a nuclear weapons program.
Ros-Lehtinen’s article was published before that verdict, but she probably hasn’t changed her mind one whit. She wrote that military and civilian nuclear processes are about the same, and she makes it seem that we’re in a “suicide pact” to let Iran wipe us out – unless we take her admonitions to heart. ”For no ‘paper right’ should be allowed to trump our right to exist,” were her last words.
A path to war is many steps long. If we ever go to war with this fourth-rate country Iran, Ros-Lehtinen’s article will be one of the steps along that path. Why are prominent young Democrats in the House not trying to get her out?
I launched into this post only after consulting the three candidates to be chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, Daisy Black, Bret Berlin and Kevin Burns. I asked if they opposed airing this topic in this blog, which is in a way the creation of the county Democratic Party. They all said it was OK to bring it into the open, though I didn’t tell them exactly what I would write. In fact, I didn’t know what I’d write then, when I spoke to them. It was pretty clear, though, that I’d be critical of our two Democrats in the U.S. House. I regret that it’s necessary. But if you look at the on-line comments to the Herald article, you’ll see that I’m not alone.
And we’re attracting national attention: The Swing State Project blog picked it up on Sunday with a piece suggesting that our two Democrats were “all too eager to kneecap these Democratic challengers.” Read it here and weep at what folly seems to have fallen onto our political situation.
The question is: Why are Democrats in perfectly safe seats not showing political courage?
The question is: Why are Democrats in perfectly safe seats following a harsh policy on Cuban family reunions instituted by the worst president in U.S. history?
Tell me. This space is open to you. (Though I’ll say here that I’m not open to publishing comments alleging corruption. I don’t think that’s the issue, or appropriate.)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Strong line to use on Sen. McWar
Being a veteran, I get stuff in my inbox like this.
That is, being a Veteran for Peace ...
That is, being a Veteran for Peace ...
Friday, February 08, 2008
YouTube remedy for wavering on McCain
Keep watching to the end, where your distaste for John McCain will be reinforced.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
A great way to help wounded vets
Thanks to DailyKos for giving this story prominence today: an organization that helps wounded veterans get back into useful and fulfilling lives.
Here's a snip from the story:
Here's a snip from the story:
There are men and women out there who feel they are only approached to be put on a pedestal or used as props. If you want to thank a veteran for their service, offer them a job. Give them a chance to apply their skills, work ethic and values to the civilian workforce. Let them have the opportunities to take care of their families. They’re not looking for sympathy; they just want to contribute to the society they fought for. If you are a veteran with a disability from any branch of the military who is returning from Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hire Heroes USA is here for you. -- Sgt. Justin Callahan, 10th Mountain Division.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Congratulations to DFAM and VFP for Veterans Day coverage
Ana Menendez (left) with Carlos and Melida Arredondo
The Arlington South memorial is a touching reminder of the human cost of our failed
The VFP chapter worked hard to get Carlos and Melida Arredondo, whose son Alexander was a Marine who died in combat in
Miami Herald columnist Ana Menendez interviewed them about their son at the memorial site,
A single death becomes hard to comprehend when thousands of our own citizens, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, have lost their lives. Yet Ana Menendez is right. Look at any of the single memorials, think for a while, and realize a powerful truth in one person’s life lost.
The link to her column in Wednesday's Herald.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Veterans Day event
Sam Feldman and Dave Patlak were among the Democratic activists who set up the Arlington South memorial for this Veterans Day. Sponsors were Democracy for America Miami-Dade and Veterans for Peace.
There will be a memorial service at 5 p.m. Monday Nov. 12 in Bayfront Park, Miami, to conclude the three-day display of memorial tombstone replicas to the U.S. military personnel who have died in the Iraq war.
UPDATE: Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman has rung in with a statement honoring Veterans Day, concluding: "On this Veterans Day, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all those who have served our nation, both past and present. So, to every solider, sailor, marine, and airman: the leadership, staff and members of the Florida Democratic Party thank you wholeheartedly for your selfless service to this great country. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made. Thank you for continuing to make us safe. And thank you for making us proud."
COMMENT: This link takes you to today's NY Times editorial on the plight of veterans.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Rush drives Republicans to new low
Again DailyKos and its vast network of analysts have filled me in. I would have gone to bed ignorant of the fact that the Republicans now are using Limbaugh's "phony soldier" faux pas to raise money. But before putting the hood over the computer I looked in on DailyKos, and so I can let you, too, enjoy Olberman's calm evisceration of the guru of the golden microphone.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
How Blackwater and SCHIP fit together
Blackwater may soon rise to equal standing with SCHIP as major details in the collapse of the Republicans in the White House and Congress. You heard it here first.
Two developments hit my brain especially hard today. One was President Bush’s veto of the SCHIP legislation, the other was a pair of stunning revelations about Blackwater (in addition, of course, to their atrocities):
And thank goodness that we have DailyKos to connect the dots, to remember the stuff that was in the media a year or two ago, to fire up the search engines and to have accumulated hundreds of thousands of daily readers -- critical mass.
So after we do our demos tomorrow against the veto of SCHIP, let us plan how to get Blackwater off our public payroll. It would pay for SCHIP.
Footnotes:
Two developments hit my brain especially hard today. One was President Bush’s veto of the SCHIP legislation, the other was a pair of stunning revelations about Blackwater (in addition, of course, to their atrocities):
- The chief operating officer of Blackwater is the former Pentagon inspector-general, Joseph Schmitz, who retired from military service under fire for stonewalling investigations of malfeasance.
- Blackwater helped a convicted Iraqi-American to escape from an Iraqi prison where he was to serve time for corruption. Now the guy’s most likely in Chicago, pining for another appearance in the Oval Office with W (the pardoner).
And thank goodness that we have DailyKos to connect the dots, to remember the stuff that was in the media a year or two ago, to fire up the search engines and to have accumulated hundreds of thousands of daily readers -- critical mass.
So after we do our demos tomorrow against the veto of SCHIP, let us plan how to get Blackwater off our public payroll. It would pay for SCHIP.
Footnotes:
- This link to the Salon story on Schmitz and other Blackwater figures. Note that Cofer Black, infamous for pre-war CIA incompetence, is among them. And there's our old pal Ken Starr, too.
- The jail escape saga.
- SCHIP veto is all over the news. Please note that the president and a lot of Republicans in Congress are going against the opinion of 72 percent of the voting public.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Add 800 to U.S. death toll in Iraq: Blackwater
I have a comment on DailyKos this morning urging people to read what you may have seen on the front page of your Miami Herald, the story from Baghdad about Blackwater's wild men and their Sept. 9 atrocity. This DailyKos diary, where my comment is posted, includes a link to a YouTube report backgrounding Blackwater. First I'd heard that almost 800 private contractors have died in Iraq, in addition to nearly 4,000 military deaths. Don't neglect to watch the video.
This sort of thing is only possible with the intense secrecy that follows the Bush-Cheney way of government. This must be reversed.
Here's the link to the Herald's story, with my kudos to McClatchy for a better story than what you'd read in the Friday NY Times or Washington Post on Blackwater.
UPDATE: Busy day. Getting to p. 3 of the Herald only at 1 p.m., and here's a related article from McClatchy's Washington bureau on how Blackwater screwed up and tried to cover up. A familiar tale of incompetence and secrecy.
This sort of thing is only possible with the intense secrecy that follows the Bush-Cheney way of government. This must be reversed.
Here's the link to the Herald's story, with my kudos to McClatchy for a better story than what you'd read in the Friday NY Times or Washington Post on Blackwater.
UPDATE: Busy day. Getting to p. 3 of the Herald only at 1 p.m., and here's a related article from McClatchy's Washington bureau on how Blackwater screwed up and tried to cover up. A familiar tale of incompetence and secrecy.
Open letter to Mel Martinez
The following letter by Jody Finver was so well put that I'm posting it without any change.
Open Letter to Senator Martinez
Senator Martinez,
I think it is high time that someone define the function of your job as Senator of the United States from the State of Florida. (Mr. Nelson you could stand to take a lesson here as well so pay attention. Close attention.)
Your job is to represent the will of the people, the will of your constituents, the will of the voting public. Your job is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Technically, I am your boss. You work for me.
You do not work for the President. In fact, your job is to keep him in line and in check. You do not work for a political party. You work for the citizens of your State. Even the ones who don't have a right to vote or are not old enough.
Your performance thus far as my employee has been woefully lacking. Not only do you not listen, it appears that you do not care the slightest for the voting citizens back home.
If you did, you would stop hiding behind rhetoric and talking points and you would stop perpetuating flat out lies. You would fight tooth and nail to restore the Constitution. A Constitution that your parents prayed to be protected by and believed in so fiercely they sent you here for a better life.
Instead, you have turned your back on Floridians who want Habeas Corpus restored, Floridians that know the real body count in Iraq, Floridians who care more about our troops than your voting record reflects, Floridians that risked their lives for a Freedom you are not fighting to protect.
I honestly don't think you consider the will of the people, Mr. Senator. I think you are more concerned with raising money and raising fear. In fact, when I called your office about the Petraeus Report and asked your staffer if you were OK with lying to the American public as long as it served the needs of this Administration she said, "Yes." And I asked it twice.
Stop turning your back on the Constitution. Stop turning your back on the will of the people you are supposed to represent. Stop turning your back on our burned-out troops. And stop turning your back on the millions of Iraqi lives this country is responsible for taking.
The fact that the Senate wasted so much time over a print advertisement in the New York Times is infuriating. Shame on you all.
This is not what I am paying you for. Stop wasting my money, my time and my freedom.
Jody Finver
Miami, Florida
Open Letter to Senator Martinez
Senator Martinez,
I think it is high time that someone define the function of your job as Senator of the United States from the State of Florida. (Mr. Nelson you could stand to take a lesson here as well so pay attention. Close attention.)
Your job is to represent the will of the people, the will of your constituents, the will of the voting public. Your job is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Technically, I am your boss. You work for me.
You do not work for the President. In fact, your job is to keep him in line and in check. You do not work for a political party. You work for the citizens of your State. Even the ones who don't have a right to vote or are not old enough.
Your performance thus far as my employee has been woefully lacking. Not only do you not listen, it appears that you do not care the slightest for the voting citizens back home.
If you did, you would stop hiding behind rhetoric and talking points and you would stop perpetuating flat out lies. You would fight tooth and nail to restore the Constitution. A Constitution that your parents prayed to be protected by and believed in so fiercely they sent you here for a better life.
Instead, you have turned your back on Floridians who want Habeas Corpus restored, Floridians that know the real body count in Iraq, Floridians who care more about our troops than your voting record reflects, Floridians that risked their lives for a Freedom you are not fighting to protect.
I honestly don't think you consider the will of the people, Mr. Senator. I think you are more concerned with raising money and raising fear. In fact, when I called your office about the Petraeus Report and asked your staffer if you were OK with lying to the American public as long as it served the needs of this Administration she said, "Yes." And I asked it twice.
Stop turning your back on the Constitution. Stop turning your back on the will of the people you are supposed to represent. Stop turning your back on our burned-out troops. And stop turning your back on the millions of Iraqi lives this country is responsible for taking.
The fact that the Senate wasted so much time over a print advertisement in the New York Times is infuriating. Shame on you all.
This is not what I am paying you for. Stop wasting my money, my time and my freedom.
Jody Finver
Miami, Florida
Monday, September 17, 2007
Can Lobbyists stop the war?
This is a very long read in the NY Sunday Times Magazine but for me it was worth the slog. Some questions answered, such as:
- What's going on with the Democrats in Washington? We gave them Congress, why aren't they ending the war? Not enough votes, and some are afraid to appear to leave the troops in the lurch.
- Why aren't there giant demonstrations a la Vietnam? It's not only the lack of the draft, there's also a fear that civil society might break down. (I would add that we don't have the assault weapons.)
- What is Americans Against Escalation in Iraq? A coalition spearheaded by MoveOn but with many other groups.
- They all specialize in online movements and television ads and polls -- another reason for fewer big demos.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Fl-18 watch: fresh post at the link
Slide on over to Eye on Ileana for a challenge to those with video cameras.
9/11 reading hits the spot
DailyKos hit the spot this morning. One rather technical post on polling showed the way the public is trending against the war, and in it was the observation that the math in Congress requires that Republican members of Congress abandon the Bush warpath before we can end the war/pull troops back.
The very next post was fresh news that a Republican member of the House, Jim Walsh of NY-25, was abandoning the Bush warpath. Now that’s a satisfying read. And by the way, today is 9/11 of 2007.
The very next post was fresh news that a Republican member of the House, Jim Walsh of NY-25, was abandoning the Bush warpath. Now that’s a satisfying read. And by the way, today is 9/11 of 2007.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Gotta read Army Times for news on local Congressman
The Miami Herald sees the polls that say the public doesn’t respect Congress, and apparently they stop covering our members of Congress. So thanks to a Yahoo! Alert, I got news of the Army Times story today reporting how South Florida’s own Ileana Ros-Lehtinen follows the military-industrial-complex script in questioning a witness.
“Lawmaker criticizes GAO over war expertise” was the headline on the story, and you can read the whole thing at this link.
At one point she said, “I’m not saying you’re bean counters.” Translation: You are bean counters. This is called a cheap rhetorical trick.
Problem for her was, the Government Accountability Office is supposed to look into student loan programs, not the war in Iraq.
So when witness David Walker, the U.S. Comptroller General, reported that the Army is “stressed, stretched, strained,” our representative in Congress said, “What in the world qualifies you to say that?”
Well, hasn’t everyone in the Pentagon been saying that? Where has she been? I guess our representative in Congress was over at the Leadership Institute learning the script, because soon she brought out one of the biggest neo-con talking points: The Good War.
“I just can’t imagine at one point during World War II, if we would have gotten a report from the General Accountability Office about whether we’re meeting the benchmarks on D-Day,” she was quoted as saying, and here she must have wandered off in her mind because the Army Times report says she then wondered about the effect on public morale.
She attacks the credibility of the GAO rather than the war it was tasked (by Congress) to examine, and a Democrat from Texas, Gene Green, reminded her of that and added, “You’re attacking the messenger instead of the message.”
Yes, she was over there learning the neo-con script, which of course features attacking the messenger right up with cheap rhetorical tricks and mentioning The Good War in the chapter about pulling the wool over the public’s eye.
Maybe it’s too hard for the Miami Herald to write about this stuff without laughing. Problem is, though, it’s too serious. Thank you, Army Times.
UPDATE: Was I too quick to nag the Herald on this topic? One hour and 17 minutes after I put up this post the Herald's Naked Politics blog posted something, too -- noting that Ros-Lehtinen is catching heck from the blogs for her treatment of the GAO.
UPDATE II: My friend Dave Patlak invites all to assemble near Ros-Lehtinen's office next Tuesday, Sept. 11, and urge her to do the right thing when it comes time to vote on bringing the troops home. The time is 4-7 p.m. at 8660 W. Flagler St. (at 87th Avenue), Miami.
“Lawmaker criticizes GAO over war expertise” was the headline on the story, and you can read the whole thing at this link.
At one point she said, “I’m not saying you’re bean counters.” Translation: You are bean counters. This is called a cheap rhetorical trick.
Problem for her was, the Government Accountability Office is supposed to look into student loan programs, not the war in Iraq.
So when witness David Walker, the U.S. Comptroller General, reported that the Army is “stressed, stretched, strained,” our representative in Congress said, “What in the world qualifies you to say that?”
Well, hasn’t everyone in the Pentagon been saying that? Where has she been? I guess our representative in Congress was over at the Leadership Institute learning the script, because soon she brought out one of the biggest neo-con talking points: The Good War.
“I just can’t imagine at one point during World War II, if we would have gotten a report from the General Accountability Office about whether we’re meeting the benchmarks on D-Day,” she was quoted as saying, and here she must have wandered off in her mind because the Army Times report says she then wondered about the effect on public morale.
She attacks the credibility of the GAO rather than the war it was tasked (by Congress) to examine, and a Democrat from Texas, Gene Green, reminded her of that and added, “You’re attacking the messenger instead of the message.”
Yes, she was over there learning the neo-con script, which of course features attacking the messenger right up with cheap rhetorical tricks and mentioning The Good War in the chapter about pulling the wool over the public’s eye.
Maybe it’s too hard for the Miami Herald to write about this stuff without laughing. Problem is, though, it’s too serious. Thank you, Army Times.
UPDATE: Was I too quick to nag the Herald on this topic? One hour and 17 minutes after I put up this post the Herald's Naked Politics blog posted something, too -- noting that Ros-Lehtinen is catching heck from the blogs for her treatment of the GAO.
UPDATE II: My friend Dave Patlak invites all to assemble near Ros-Lehtinen's office next Tuesday, Sept. 11, and urge her to do the right thing when it comes time to vote on bringing the troops home. The time is 4-7 p.m. at 8660 W. Flagler St. (at 87th Avenue), Miami.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
War or anti-war. The question ...
This is a link to a short video about a right-wing ad campaign that tries to lobby members of Congress to support the war in Iraq. The counter-campaign asks us to petition CNN and Fox to stop showing the commercials. I sent off a message asking those two nets to stop taking blood money. Have a look and decide for yourself.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
This and that in the news
Regarding immigration, looks like the Roman Catholic church is on our side. At least in Miami this weekend.
Harry Reid sees enough Republican defections to try again and try harder to end the war by Congressional action, according to the New York Times.
Republicans are said to be tired of Cheney, too. Not to be missed in that article is the quote from Orrin Hatch praising the Veep as a "straight shooter." Is Hatch forgetting something?
Harry Reid sees enough Republican defections to try again and try harder to end the war by Congressional action, according to the New York Times.
Republicans are said to be tired of Cheney, too. Not to be missed in that article is the quote from Orrin Hatch praising the Veep as a "straight shooter." Is Hatch forgetting something?
Friday, June 29, 2007
Bush takes a whuppin'
Yet another article in the Florida press on how the Republicans are flailing. This one from the St. Pete Times.
And while we're at it, take a look at the LA Times today, which reminds us that W has taken two body blows now this week: first it was Sen. Lugar bowing out as a Republican backer of the failed Iraq policy, and then the Gang of 37 Republican senators said no to Bush on immigration.
Don't count him out, though. They found a bomb today in London. That should be good for a new round of fear-mongering.
Don't neglect to scroll down a couple items and check the related stuff about Fred Thompson.
And while we're at it, take a look at the LA Times today, which reminds us that W has taken two body blows now this week: first it was Sen. Lugar bowing out as a Republican backer of the failed Iraq policy, and then the Gang of 37 Republican senators said no to Bush on immigration.
Don't count him out, though. They found a bomb today in London. That should be good for a new round of fear-mongering.
Don't neglect to scroll down a couple items and check the related stuff about Fred Thompson.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Not getting enough news about Iraq? Try MyRaq.
Here's the answer to those suffering from a drought of war news. The Slogger link.
Buried down in one of the Arraf links therein is a clever new word: MyRaq. You know how Bush and a lot of Americans pronounce Iraq, like Eye-Rack. (It's more like ee-rock, but whatever.) I gather that it's a rhyme for MyRaq, which derives from an analysis in Ali Allawi's new book about his country, saying that Bush and the United States tried to impose "an imagined country" on the harsh realities of Iraq. That country, an official says, is called "MyRaq." Delicious.
The link.
Buried down in one of the Arraf links therein is a clever new word: MyRaq. You know how Bush and a lot of Americans pronounce Iraq, like Eye-Rack. (It's more like ee-rock, but whatever.) I gather that it's a rhyme for MyRaq, which derives from an analysis in Ali Allawi's new book about his country, saying that Bush and the United States tried to impose "an imagined country" on the harsh realities of Iraq. That country, an official says, is called "MyRaq." Delicious.
The link.
Monday, May 07, 2007
What's behind those calls for emails to Congress
The Sunday papers had some explanatory background to what’s going on with Congress and the public and the
The Sunday NY Times put it on the front page. Here's the link.
The Miami Herald put a version of the same article well inside, so maybe you saw that and were surprised to see them quoting from the sort of emails you get if you hear from MoveOn regularly.
MoveOn, it turns out, is allied with a bunch of other groups in a coalition called Americans Against Escalation in
The coalition meets often and has conference calls, and then the calls and emails go out to … Hey, that’s us! We get encouragement to call and email our congressmen, and to demonstrate.
So I’m sitting here at 11:30 a.m. on Monday and wondering whether they’ve had their meetings yet today and have decided what to suggest to us. And when will that email from MoveOn roll in to my inbox.
UPDATE: That email came at 12:24 p.m., MoveOn touting its VideoVets project with a TV ad made by Oliver Stone.
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