TOM TOMORROW

Don't need to say anything here.

?????????????

So..........is anybody else posting here, or what? I feel like I'm back in the closet! It's dark and quiet!

Is anybody breathing out there???

Jeez!

Etan Thomas Anti-War, Anti-Bush, Anti-GOP Rally Speech

Hey, EVERYBODY!

This is a MUST READ speech delivered at the Anti-war rally in Washington the other day by Etan Thomas. For those of you not familiar with him, Thomas plays in the NBA. He's the power forward for the Washington Wizards. He is also the author of a book of poems called "More Than An Athlete". With this speech he may just have launched himself into a whole new realm of achievement. The speech has been playing on "Democracy Now!" on Free Speech TV, and it's the talk of the Blogosphere.

I'm re-printing the entire transcript here:

***************

“Giving all honor, thanks and praises to God for courage and wisdom, this is a very important rally. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts, feelings and concerns regarding a tremendous problem that we are currently facing. This problem is universal, transcending race, economic background, religion, and culture, and this problem is none other than the current administration which has set up shop in the White House.

In fact, I'd like to take some of these cats on a field trip. I want to get big yellow buses with no air conditioner and no seatbelts and round up Bill O'Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Trent Lott, Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush, Bush Jr. and Bush Sr., John Ashcroft, Giuliani, Ed Gillespie, Katherine Harris, that little bow-tied Tucker Carlson and any other right-wing conservative Republicans I can think of, and take them all on a trip to the ‘hood. Not to do no 30-minute documentary. I mean, I want to drop them off and leave them there, let them become one with the other side of the tracks, get them four mouths to feed and no welfare, have scare tactics run through them like a laxative, criticizing them for needing assistance.

I’d show them working families that make too much to receive welfare but not enough to make ends meet. I’d employ them with jobs with little security, let them know how it feels to be an employee at will, able to be fired at the drop of a hat. I’d take away their opportunities, then try their children as adults, sending their 13-year-old babies to life in prison. I’d sell them dreams of hopelessness while spoon-feeding their young with a daily dose of inferior education. I’d tell them no child shall be left behind, then take more money out of their schools, tell them to show and prove themselves on standardized exams testing their knowledge on things that they haven’t been taught, and then I’d call them inferior.

I’d soak into their interior notions of endless possibilities. I’d paint pictures of assisted productivity if they only agreed to be all they can be, dress them up with fatigues and boots with promises of pots of gold at the end of rainbows, free education to waste terrain on those who finish their bid. Then I’d close the lid on that barrel of fool’s gold by starting a war, sending their children into the midst of a hostile situation, and while they're worried about their babies being murdered and slain in foreign lands, I’d grace them with the pain of being sick and unable to get medicine.

Give them health benefits that barely cover the common cold. John Q. would become their reality as HMOs introduce them to the world of inferior care, filling their lungs with inadequate air, penny pinching at the expense of patients, doctors practicing medicine in an intricate web of rationing and regulations. Patients wander the maze of managed bureaucracy, costs rise and quality quickly deteriorates, but they say that managed care is cheaper. They’ll say that free choice in medicine will defeat the overall productivity, and as co-payments are steadily rising, I'll make their grandparents have to choose between buying their medicine and paying their rent.

Then I'd feed them hypocritical lines of being pro-life as the only Christian way to be. Then very contradictingly, I’d fight for the spread of the death penalty, as if thou shall not kill applies to babies but not to criminals.

Then I’d introduce them to those sworn to protect and serve, creating a curb in their trust in the law. I’d show them the nightsticks and plungers, the pepper spray and stun guns, the mace and magnums that they’d soon become acquainted with, the shakedowns and illegal search and seizures, the planted evidence, being stopped for no reason. Harassment ain’t even the half of it. Forty-one shots to two raised hands, cell phones and wallets that are confused with illegal contrabands. I’d introduce them to pigs who love making their guns click like wine glasses. Everlasting targets surrounded by bullets, making them a walking bull's eye, a living piñata, held at the mercy of police brutality, and then we’ll see if they finally weren’t aware of the truth, if their eyes weren’t finally open like a box of Pandora.

I’d show them how the other side of the tracks carries the weight of the world on our shoulders and how society seems to be holding us down with the force of a boulder. The bird of democracy flew the coop back in Florida. See, for some, and justice comes in packs like wolves in sheep's clothing. T.K.O.'d by the right hooks of life, many are left staggering under the weight of the day, leaning against the ropes of hope. When your dreams have fallen on barren ground, it becomes difficult to keep pushing yourself forward like a train, administering pain like a doctor with a needle, their sequels continue more lethal than injections.

They keep telling us all is equal. I’d tell them that instead of giving tax breaks to the rich, financing corporate mergers and leading us into unnecessary wars and under-table dealings with Enron and Halliburton, maybe they can work on making society more peaceful. Instead, they take more and more money out of inner city schools, give up on the idea of rehabilitation and build more prisons for poor people. With unemployment continuing to rise like a deficit, it's no wonder why so many think that crime pays.

Maybe this trip will make them see the error of their ways. Or maybe next time, we'll just all get out and vote. And as far as their stay in the White House, tell them that numbered are their days.”

NY Times: Ashcroft Called To Testify

I'm having waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too much fun these days! LOL!

I wonder when George's mom is going to be charged, investigated, or called to testify about something. HA!

From the NY TIMES.

Tina Fey

HA!

"It was reported that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay took several ethically questionable golf trips paid for by foreign lobbyists and that his wife and daughter were paid $500,000 from his own political action committee. DeLay referred to the allegations as 'just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me with my own actions words and illegal doings."

—-Tina Fey

William Rivers Pitt: Hey! Woody Guthrie! I wrote You A Song.

Martin Scorsese has just finished compiling and directing a 3 1/2 hour film on Bob Dylan for PBS. It's great, by the way. Full of great live performances, lots of interesting interviews, and moments of real genius and inspiration. See it if you get the chance.

The film's first part was shown last night. This evening, as Part Two concluded and the credits began to run with Dylan, alone with his guitar, playing in the background, I came to the computer to see what had come in on the feeds and in e-mail. The first thing I pulled up was this article by William Rivers Pitt via TruthOut. I actually felt a little chill up my spine as it opened up on my screen.

In the first line, the title line, the name "Woody Guthrie" jumped out at me. Then I saw that the title itself was actually a line from a great Bob Dylan song called "Song For Woody". Further down, but before the body of the article itself, was this quote from that song:

" I'm out here a thousand miles from my home,
Walkin' a road other men have gone down.
I'm seein' your world of people and things,
Your paupers and peasants and princes and kings.

Hey, hey, Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song
'Bout a funny old world that's a-comin' along.
Seems sick and it's hungry, it's tired and it's torn,
It looks like it's a-dyin' an' it's hardly been born.

-- Bob Dylan, "Song for Woody"

It seemed like a moment of "serendipity", or "Fate", or (a couple of you will get this.....) Syzygy. Then I read the article, with Dylan in the background, and I had that distinct feeling of being seventeen years old again, as if I'd been transported back about thirty years. I also knew I had to pass this article on.

I moan and bellow a lot about how it seems we're being forced, by those with no respect for history (or even reality, I might add), to re-live history that happened within my lifetime, and that any fool with moderate eyesight and mediocre hearing should be able to remember and analyze. Pitt has said the same thing often. This article lays the truth out bluntly, but it also foresees a coming sea change in public opinion and the resultant political reality. He speaks of the nearly 500,000 people who descended on Washington D.C. over the last few days to join various groups in different locations for several days of anti-war protests and demonstrations. He also references all of the outrageous scandals now coming home to roost in the White House and at GOP Headquarters.

He concludes with the observation that the anti-war movement, which the Administration and the GOP are dismissing with Johnsonian myopia, has gained strength and momentum very quickly. His inferred hope is that, perhaps, the period between the rise of the anti-war movement and the actual ending of the war and re-shuffling of the political deck, might be shorter than the last time we went through it. He also intimates his feeling that the beginning of this great change might be just around the bend, might be, in fact, beginning right now.

Perhaps he's correct. At least, I hope he is.

LINK

American Progress Action Fund: Progress Report

Here's a link to today's Progress Report. There's a bunch of good stuff in there today, along with lots of links to other goodies. Check it out!

Progress Report

Molly Ivins: Breaking The First Commandment Of Government

From AlterNet, comes this GREAT piece by Molly "I'm-from-Texas-and-I've-been-telling-you-he-was-a-schmuck-all-along" Ivins. I love this woman. She really nails it here. Corporate criminals are using your tax dollars to reward their friends and feather their own nests.

If Thomas Jefferson was alive today, he'd turn over in his grave.

LINK

DELAY INDICTED

Tom Delay has been indicted on conspiracy charges by a Texas grand jury. He announces he will step down as Senate Majority Leader. (the blogger said while trying not to chortle with glee)

CNN

Robert Scheer: When Connected Turns Into Corrupted

Here's another really good one from Robert Scheer, also from this AM's LA Times.

LINK

David Barash : The Stubborn Pull Of Dogma

David P. Barash is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. This article is an op-ed piece from this AM's LA Times. Very interesting.

LINK.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Quote of the Day

Bill Maher : "New Rule: the next major destructive storm must be called, 'Hurricane George.' You've earned it buddy! Congratulations, you're officially a Category 5 president."

GOD (or at least some human's conception of what that might mean) - Bad For Your Society's Health

Oh I DO like to make you uncomfortable.

How's this one....???????????

A major study released today finds that strongly religous societies are, not to put too fine a point on it, all effed up!

“In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.
“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”

From the LONDON TIMES

George & Laura Do A Bait and Switch On AIDS

While Laura Bush does her standard "Stepford-Spin", husband George's administration's positions on world-wide AIDS problems are devastating Sub-Saharan Africa.

I've said it before......here we are again: Africa lacks the only two things the Bush Administration really does care about: Oil and White People. Without those, and it's more obvious every day, you pretty much end up on the "enemies list". That, after all, is the true meaning of: "If you're not with us, you're against us", a phrase uttered all to often by this president. Well, being non-white and oil-less puts most of Africa on the other side of the fence.

From ALTERNET.

CNN: Cindy Sheehan Arrested

Just re-living a little more history here....................CNN.

OMG FUNNY!

This is one from my friend Mix..........who I wish would get involved here, but..oh, well.

******************

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying, "Yesterday, three Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"Oh, no!" the President exclaims, "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

CNN: "Huge Rally against Iraq War"

A few days ago I posted an item that quoted Bush's Brain (Karl Rove) as saying, "Cindy Sheehan is a clown. There is no real anti-war movement. No serious politician, with anything to do with anything, would show his face at an anti-war rally...".

It's weird how, as we get older, time seems to telescope down in a strange way. Seems like it was just a few years ago when both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were quoted regurgitating the same kind of drivel.

Excuse me, guys. You wanna do a quick comparison between this "huge" gathering, organized to voice opposition to your murderous oil-for-blood exchange, with the feeble exhibition you staged with the Pentagon on 9-11 of this year? Yeah, maybe part of the reason no one showed up was the discomfort they felt at your brazen and arrogant use of the 9-11 anniversary to stage your "Pro-War" event. But I'd bet just about anything that most of the folks who managed to avoid your shindig made their decisions based on questions of a much more basic nature. Hell, I'd bet that they were turned well off their feed long before the question of bad taste ever even came up.

Sorry, guys, but it doesn't look too good for you. If we've learned anything from history at all, we should be able to look at these things and see that it all adds up only one way: You Lose!

CNN

Whadda Ya Think?

So............how do you like it?

Next come the links and the RSS feed. What a Pain!

Let me know what you think........(I think).

Rosa Brooks: It All Adds Up To Something

Wow! Something's wrong with the photo posting system on Blogger tonight. Took me 20 minutes to get that one in there. Then I look at it and realize................it wasn't worth it! HA!

Anyway, here's one by Rosa Brooks from this AM's LA TIMES.

LINK.

One more! Couldn't Resist!

Watching Bill Maher on HBO, and I couldn't resist passing these on:

"Something else besides natural disasters has people on edge this week. On Saturday, Vice-President Dick Cheney will undergo surgery, and while he is under anesthesia, a man named George Bush will be in charge of the country"

"The Pope issued a "bull", or order, this week, barring all gays from the priesthood. Now, I find that ironic...........the Catholic Church now has a gay bar."

Effin' Spammers!

OK, everybody. As per Rick's suggestion, I turned off "Word Verification" on our site here to make it easier for folks not registered with Blogger to leave comments and get involved. Within ten minutes we received our first spam comment. Spam comments are disguised as actual comments, but are actually come-ons to get you to visit some web site where they try to sell you stuff. Usually the message goes something like, "Hey! Great blog! I'm going to be sure to visit often! By the way, if you're interested in marital aids for your cat, check out my web site at ............." . You get the idea.

Well, I've deleted seven spam posts today, and I'm sick of it. So, "Word Verification" is back on. Sorry if it's inconvenient, but deleting this crap all day long is just too much. So........there we are.

L8!

Jack Cafferty: Gotcha, Wolf!

Jack Cafferty cracks me up. Here's a great clip where he makes one remark and completely fuddles Wolf Blitzer.

VIDEO.

Bush Drops The Ball.........And His Dog.

OK............Maybe this is unfair........

Screw it!

Sen. Harry Reid: "I Have Yet To Hear A Legitimate Argument Against An Independent Commission To Investigate Katrina".

From The Huffington Post, here is an open letter from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to Senate Majority Leader Bill "What Stocks?" Frist. Here's hoping that Harry and Pelosi can keep up the racket so the Republicans can't whitewash the entire thing.

LINK.

UK Environmental Chief: This Is Global Warming

From The Independent out of the UK comes this story. Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution says that the increase in the occurance of hurricanes in the Gulf, and the corresponding increase in intensity they've displayed, is the "smoking gun" of global warming. You've thought it, I've thought it, and neither one of us are scientists. That's how plain it is. The only folks who just can't see it are the oil-dependant energy corporations we've put in control of the House, Senate, and White House.

Here's the LINK.

MSNBC: Republican House and Senate Leaders Both Under Investigation

This would be hilarious, if it wasn't such a sorry indicator of the gullibility of the American voter. Tom Delay, the Republican House Majority Leader, and Bill Frist, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, are BOTH now under investigation for possible ethics violations. Delay's problems have to do with allegedly illegal fund raising activities, while Frist is under investigation by the SEC for possible insider trading violations.

(For any readers here who might be of a Republican persuasion and therefore at a loss to decypher the meaning here, Webster's Dictionary defines "ethics" as: "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation." Just thought I'd give you a little help.) :>

Here's the LINK to the MSNBC story.

Arianna Huffington: The Strange Case Of Abdul Amir Younes Hussein

Once again, Arianna Huffington gives us the real poop on a story that our illustrious government and the military don't really want you to hear. Abdul Amir Younes Hussein is a freelance cameraman employed by CBS news and working in Iraq. Well, not actually working much. The US military arrested him while he was filming the aftermath of a car bombing. Since then he's been in custody........for five months.

Here's the LINK.

Rick Wants True Anarchy!

Well....we let him in, and now it's come to this! HA!

Following a suggestion from Ricardo Pessimisto (SoCali dialect), I've eliminated the need to use "word verification" when posting comments. This means you don't even have to register to comment. The main reason for using it is to eliminate blog spamming by advertisers, which is becoming a problem out there.

However, in the interest of true Anarchy, it's gone!

Also, Rick's taller and more butch than me (although the lavender pumps are a bit questionable).

So...........comment AWAY! Whoever the hell u are! HA!

LA Times: Bush Favors One-Time Fixes

From this morning's LA TIMES comes a News Analysis article that's kind of heavy reading for the lazy and stupid among us (I don't think they stay here long, anyway), but is really informative when it comes to understanding just what we're dealing with in our currently malformed political culture. The Bush administration has put the brakes on nearly every good idea relating to Katrina recovery, while it talks like FDR to the public.

Get this...........what they consider their best option for assistance to those diplaced by the recent disaster(s), is the creation of trailer park ghettos!

Hey.........I hope nobody suggests concentration camps for the poor! That'd be right down their alley!

LINK.

Molly Ivins: Bush Governs By Temper Tantrum

Here's an absolute MUST READ just in from Molly Ivins. You might think that the Bush appointment of Michael Brown as head of FEMA, a man whose only real experience was getting himself fired from the US Arabian Horse Association, was some kind of anomaly. Well, think again. Bush has just appointed a new head of the Women's Health section of the Food And Drug Administration, and (Ladies, are you ready????) he's picked.......(insert drum roll here).....a VETERINARIAN.

Ivins lays out a whole list of what she terms "incompetents or anti-competents" that now head federal agencies and hold important federal posts.

Here's the LINK.

Progress Report: Who's a Porker & Who's Not

From the American Progress Action Fund, today's Progress Report has an interesting list. Here's their introduction:

"All around the country, Americans are debating how best to pay for reconstruction efforts in the Gulf Coast. We've taken a sample of opinions -- from members of Congress, Bush administration officials, and Americans around the country -- to help you figure out who's more interested in clinging onto pork and tax cuts than in responsible fiscal policy and shared sacrifice."

They approached members of Congress asking if they would be interested in broaching the idea of their individual states returning some of the pork projects spread around with the passage of the recent "Energy Bill". That bill contained more than 6,000 items of pure pork. One glaring example is the now infamous "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. Under the terms of the bill, the US Taxpayer will pay $400million to construct a bridge from the Alaskan mainland to an island containing only residential structures with a population of 50! This boondoggle will be constructed to replace ferry service that the residents of the island say is sufficient for their needs...........even they don't want the bridge. It's simply payback from their state senator to the construction and energy companies that paid for his campaign.

Anyway...........read the Progress Report. Lots of good stuff there today.

LINK.

Letter From Ramsey Clarke At ImpeachBush.org

Wanted to post this for anyone wanting to get involved. A lot of you probably already know, but former Attorney General Ramsey Clark is spearheading a group called "VoteToImpeach.org". I've been following their stuff for a while, I have contributed in the past, and now I'm passing on this letter to you guys.

**************************
Impeach Bush.org

Sign-up for email updates

One Day to Go
Help Cover the White House Landscape with the Message of Impeachment

Dear Steve,

FINAL PUSH!

We need your support to bring Impeachment to the White House door!
Please make a much needed contribution now for the growing costs of this demonstration - from many thousands of signs and flyers to buses to help get people to DC. Help us fill the streets with ImpeachBush banners and placards - and people!

Click here to donate.

It is no surprise that George W. Bush’s spokespersons have announced that the “President will not be in town,” when ImpeachBush and antiwar demonstrators flood the area around the White House in a sea of protest tomorrow.

Richard Nixon too used the same tactic. He claimed that he didn’t notice the 500,000 people outside of the White House during the Vietnam war because he was “watching the football game.” This sort of delusional politics didn’t save the Nixon presidency. Under the shadow of impeachment, Nixon resigned in August 1974.

With the help of thousands of volunteers, organizers and those who have made a financial contribution, this movement has come of age. On September 24 hundreds of thousands of people will be in the streets in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere with a clear message: we, the people, repudiate the criminal actions of the Bush administration. Instead of basking in glory, thumping his chest and arrogantly proclaiming, “I have a mandate,” it will be the specter of impeachment that will dominate the political landscape.

Immediately following the mass protest tomorrow we will launch the September 26 National Impeachment Lobbying day. We hope that everyone joins in this easy-to-use campaign, which will allow ImpeachBush.org members to directly communicate with members of Congress to demand the immediate filing of articles of impeachment.
Help support this mass mobilization - your generous contribution right now can make a difference at this critical hour. And for those who cannot make it to the demonstration, your financial support will help amplify the message of those who can. We are also urgently requesting donations and contributions for the signs, banners, and transportation for September 24 demonstration and the newspaper ads campaign. We are a truly massive, grassroots movement and we can do all this work because of the generous contributions by people who believe that impeachment is a critical step in the defense of the Constitution.

To make a contribution, please click here, where you can also find information to write a check.

Remember: if you want to volunteer with the ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach.org contingent this Saturday you should come to the ImpeachBush.org tent on the Ellipse on the South side of the White House. That’s where you can pick up leaflets, ImpeachBush petitions and other materials. People will begin arriving as early as 8:00 am on the Ellipse/White House on buses coming from more than 200 cities.

Again, if you cannot join us in Washington D.C., but would like to continue to support the effort, you can help by making a financial contribution.

Click here to donate.

Sincerely,

Ramsey Clark

Hey, Bush! Can You Take A Hint?

OK.........I know this is probably bad taste, but I'm thinking of Bill Maher tonight. His recent routine on his TV show included a bit where he listed the "things we've lost......." during the Bush Administration. Things like, ".....the surplus, all our allies, two trade centers, four airlines, most of our health insurance, and the city of New Orleans.......". Now that's not an exact quote, but it's close. You get the idea. He continued, addressing Bush, "Did you ever think.........maybe you just aren't lucky!"

Later in the same routine he said, "You often tell us that God speaks to you. Well, I think he's speaking to you, too. And he's saying...........Take a hint!"

I hope the folks in Galveston have learned from recent events, and that they now know that the Republican (and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the Democratic) party policy of "starving the beast of government" actually translates as trading death for wealth. That's YOUR death for THEIR wealth. I hope they've learned this, because I fear that they, like the residents of NO, are all on their own...........at least as far as our federal government is concerned.

So..........Here's the weather report...........CNN.

Joshua Holland: It's The Governance, Stupid!

Joshua Holland is a staff writer for AlterNet. Here's a concise, slashing evaluation of the pig-sucking butt-slimes our fellow Americlods have put in charge.

Click HERE.

Analee Newitz: Evolved Again!

From AlterNet, comes this blog re: evolution vs. some idiot's design.

I like it.

Here's the LINK.

ACLU: Best Web Commercial EVER!

Hey, Mix! Thanks for this one!

I'm not gonna say ANYTHING. Just check THIS out!

OK........You're Reading...so, now what??

OK, I've spoken with EIGHT (that's 8) people during the course of today that have told me that they read our new blog EVERY DAY, and that they really like and appreciate it. My only question is: "Why have NONE of them ever commented?"

Now, I do need to do this for myself.........if I didn't I'd just stand there and yell all this crap at myself in the mirror. I thought, however, that it would be more educational and fun to actually engage in conversations about this stuff with people both like-minded and opposed. At first I thought that people simply weren't going to the site. Over the last few days I've discovered that's not true. There are actually quite a few of you out there. The problem stems from the fact that YOU'RE NOT SAYING ANYTHING! Even the folks who have joined on the "Contributor" level are silent.

So........here it is. SPEAK UP. I'll do this by myself for only so long. After a certain amount of time (and I can't tell how long that would be) though, I'll get bored and just say "eff it". If you'd like this to keep going, please get involved. I've gotten loads of encouraging comments personally, including e-mails and phone calls. All the people who made those comments have read and read this blog............hso comment and post, already!

OK...........venting done. What follows is up to you.

Steve

Jimmy Breslin: Black and White and Wet All Over

Surprised I didn't find this earlier as well.

Jimmy Breslin is back.........and Bush has given him good fodder for "Breslinisation"! LOL!

From NEWSDAY.

Iraqi Finance Minister: $1BILLION Stolen In Reconstruction Process

Very soon after George Bush's "Mission Accomplished" stunt on an aircraft carrier in San Diego Harbor, the administration admitted that aprox. $2BILLION had gone missing during the invasion process. Now the Iraqi Finance minister reports that another $1BILLION has been "stolen during the reconstruction......".

Just in from CNN.

Frozen FEMA Fiasco

From the Glouster Daily Times in Glouster, MA, comes this winner. FEMA may have a new boss, but the systemic dysfunction has been deeply planted over the last five years. After all this time, they're STILL acting like the Keystone Cops!

Click HERE.

O'Reilly Is A Lyin' Sack Of Crap!

I don't think the headline here is anything new. However, this piece from Bob Cesca via The Huffington Post clears up some of his baldfaced lying from last night.

Click HERE.

Robert Scheer: New Storm On The Right

And here's one from Robert Scheer from this AM's LA Times. This is good.

Click HERE.

Bush Administration Continuing War On Science

From this morning's LA Times, comes this Op-Ed piece by Chris Mooney, author of the book "The Republican War On Science".

Click HERE.

Village Voice: NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan

All morning I've been coming across different news outlets versions of the shutdown of an anti-war rally in NY's Central Park where Cindy Sheehan was the featured speaker. All of them seemed to be pussy-footing around certain questions. They gave conflicting reports, for instance, on whether Mrs. Sheehan had completed her talk, how many people were there, why the police shut down the rally, etc. Until a few minutes ago I had five different accounts that seemed to describe five different events.

Well, I should have known. In fact, I should have remembered. When anti-war sentiment was growing during the late 1960's, there were only one or maybe two sources you could rely on for the truth. "Screw" magazine ceased publishing in 2004, and now exists as a pornographic web site with no connection to its founder, Al Goldstein. So, for the real skinny on this rally thing, we'll go to the other vanguard for truth left over from the '60's and '70's............

This just in from the Village Voice.

Reid: No On Roberts

Harry Reid announces he will vote "NO" on the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Here's the article from the NY TIMES.

Bill Moyers: 9/11 And The Sport of God

I'm surprised I didn't come across this sooner, but it's no less forcefull today than it was on the anniversary of 9/11. Through "CommonDreams.org" comes a transcript of Bill Moyers' brilliant speech given that week at Union Theological Seminary in NY. This is a lengthy read, but Moyers, as usual, has a lot to say. It's worth every bit of the effort and more.

I'd like to carve it in Pat Robertson's head.

Click HERE.

William Rivers Pitt: The Blood Of The Righteous

Here's today's great op-ed piece from William Rivers Pitt at TruthOut.org. This one's good enough that I'm pasting the whole thing here:

************

The Blood of the Righteous
By William Rivers Pitt t r u t h o u t Perspective

Monday 19 September 2005

During the Vietnam war, a number of anti-war activists were prosecuted and jailed for taking direct action against recruiting stations and draft board offices. Files were burned and blood was poured on records. Few activists during this time were as dedicated, or as prosecuted, as the brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan.

In 1967, Philip Berrigan poured his own blood on Selective Service records in Baltimore, and handed out Bibles while waiting to be arrested. In 1969, Berrigan used home-made napalm to incinerate 378 draft files in Catsonville, Maryland. In 1980, the Berrigan brothers entered a General Electric nuclear missile factory in Pennsylvania, hammered on the nose cones, again poured their own blood, and again were arrested.

In every instance, the Berrigan protest actions were grounded in their Christian beliefs. Both brothers were Roman Catholic priests. After the 1969 Catsonville action, Philip Berrigan said, "We confront the Catholic Church, other Christian bodies, and the synagogues of America with their silence and cowardice in the face of our country's crimes. We are convinced that the religious bureaucracy in this country is racist, is an accomplice in this war, and is hostile to the poor."

As the American people grew more and more hostile towards the Vietnam war, actions of conscience taken by people like the Berrigan brothers became more and more threatening to those in government who wished to see the war continue. Punishments became harsher, threats became more dire, all in an effort to derail a popular wave of resistance against the war, and against those who pushed the war.

The wheel has come around again.

Today in New York, a Federal trial has begun against four anti-war activists who went into an Ithaca recruiting office on St. Patrick's Day in 2003 and poured their own blood on the walls, windows and the American flag. The protesters - Daniel J. Burns, 45; Clare T. Grady, 46; her sister, Teresa B. Grady, 40; and Peter J. De Mott, 58 - believed the young would-be recruits in the office had been seduced by video games and government propaganda videos, and wanted to remind them what war was really about. All four opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. All four are members of the Catholic Worker movement, and model their activism after their heroes, the Berrigan brothers.

"War is bloody," said the four protesters in a statement they read after their action in Ithaca. "The blood we brought to the recruiting station was a sign of the blood inherent in the business of the recruiting station. Blood is a sign of life, which we hold to be precious, and a sign of redemption and conversion, which we seek as people of this nation. The young men and women who join the military, via that recruiting station, are people whose lives are precious. We are obligated, as citizens of a democracy, to sound an alarm when we see our young people being sent into harm's way for a cause that is wholly unjust and criminal. Blood is a potent symbol of life and death."

"Blood is the sacred substance of life," they continued, "yet it is shed wantonly in war. As Catholics, when we receive the Eucharist, we acknowledge our oneness with God and the entire human family. We went to the recruiting center using what we have - our bodies, our blood, our words, and our spirits - to implore, beg, and order our country away from the tragedy of war and toward God's reign of peace and justice."

This trial is not the first time the St. Patrick's Four have faced prosecution for their 2003 action. Initially, they were tried in Tompkins County for felony criminal mischief in April of 2004. All four were offered a plea bargain to avoid trial, and all four refused. The trial itself, to the dismay of the local prosecutor, became a forum on the Iraq war. The four plaintiffs represented themselves. After hearing at length the motivations and life stories of the protesters, the jury in the trial deadlocked, with nine members voting for acquittal.

The prosecutor knew he could not win a re-trial, and referred the case to Federal authorities. Today, the protesters face a variety of serious charges including damaging government property and conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States. If convicted, the four face up to six years in prison and fines of $250,000. Many fear that if the St. Patrick's Four are successfully prosecuted, it will set a national precedent which would allow non-violent protesters to be charged with conspiracy in Federal courts.

So many aspects of this situation are compelling. One cannot help but be moved by four people who went beyond protest marches, pamphleteering and writing letters to the editor, and decided to take direct non-violent action. One cannot help but be gladdened that these four, representing themselves, convinced a jury that their actions were not worthy of prison time. One cannot help but be terrified by the implications of a potential Federal conviction of these four, which would further marginalize the citizen right of protest in a time when more actions, not fewer, are desperately needed.

Yet perhaps the most significant aspect of all this is the simple fact that these four protesters are working to take back the mantle of Christianity from the brigands and radicals who have hijacked and polluted it. When men like Pat Robertson and George W. Bush are allowed to stand as avatars for all things Christian, when hate and fear replaces love and tolerance and violence becomes the chief focus of the so-called faithful, it is all too clear that the words and teachings of Jesus Christ have been subsumed by low people who have more in common with the Taliban than with the fellow called the Prince of Peace.

"Herein lies a riddle," said Philip Berrigan about the very people who have stolen Christianity and perverted it for their own ends. "How can a people so gifted by God become so seduced by naked power, so greedy for money, so addicted to violence, so slavish before mediocre and treacherous leadership, so paranoid, deluded, lunatic?"

One day, perhaps, we will have a solution to that riddle and a cure for the disease which birthed it. In the meantime, four Catholic peacemakers stare down the barrel of a prosecutorial gun today in New York. If you stand against the war, if you stand against the so-called Christians who have so perverted both that religion and our nation entire, if you happen to be the praying type, now would be a good time to put in a word on their behalf.

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know and The Greatest Sedition Is Silence.

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