jaded ranting

Bush's Popularity Reaches New Low

2005-11-04T11:18:00.000-05:00

I know I said I was taking a break, but I had to post this:

For the first time in his presidency a majority of Americans question the integrity of President Bush, and growing doubts about his leadership have left him with record negative ratings on the economy, Iraq and even the war on terrorism.

On almost every key measure of presidential character and performance, the survey found that Bush has never been less popular with the American people. Currently 39 percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 60 percent disapprove of his performance in office -- the highest level of disapproval ever recorded for Bush in Post-ABC polls.

Bush's approval ratings have been in decline for months, but on issues of personal trust, honesty and values, Bush has suffered some of his most notable declines. Moreover, Bush has always retained majority support on his handling of the U.S. campaign against terrorism -- until now, when 51 percent have registered disapproval.

The CIA leak case has apparently contributed to a withering decline in how Americans view Bush personally. The survey found that 40 percent now view him as honest and trustworthy -- a 13 percentage point drop in the past 18 months. Nearly 6 in 10 -- 58 percent -- said they have doubts about Bush's honesty, the first time in his presidency that more than half the country has questioned his personal integrity. [whole article]

hiatus

2005-11-02T16:39:00.000-05:00

i've decided to take a break from the serious blogging i've been doing to focus my energy on a couple of other things i've neglected. it's been incredible fun debating, but it's just too time consuming at a point in my life when i need to get some shit together.

hopefully i'll be able to post here and there and get back to more serious blogging soon.

round 2?

2005-10-31T11:41:00.000-05:00

Bush Selects Alito for Supreme Court:

President Bush today named appeals court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito, 55, serves on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where his record on abortion rights and church-state issues has been widely applauded by conservatives and criticized by liberals.

Miers: 3rd and Out

2005-10-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. President:
I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. I have been greatly honored and humbled by the confidence that you have shown in me and have appreciated immensely your support and the support of many others. However, I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country. [entire letter]

I'm not really sure how to read the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination, other than another embarrassment for George Bush. Has he really lost touch even with his base? Because it seemed to me that most of the dissent was coming from the right. I guess James Dobson's insider information and threats from Pat Robertson weren't enough to convince conservatives:

They're going to turn against a Christian who is a conservative picked by a conservative president, and they're going to vote against her for confirmation? Not on your sweet life, if they want to stay in office

Alas, another misstep by our "great" leader. Another manifestation of this country's lack of confidence in this man.

I must say, however, that I do agree with W's persistent protection of his right to privacy with his lawyer. A president should be able to discuss things under executive privilege and not have them revealed to the public, even when it comes to something as important as a Supreme Court nomination. Again from Miers' letter:

I have been informed repeatedly that in lieu of records, I would be expected to testify about my service in the White House to demonstrate my experience and judicial philosophy.

I guess I can also understand her hesitancy to speak honestly and openly about her judicial philosophy in front of the Senate. I mean, when was the last time anyone in the Bush White House said anything that was honest and open? Ouch, maybe that was a bit unfair.

But seriously, criticism from both sides of the isle said that she was unwilling or unable to give any sort of substantive answer to almost any question regarding constitutional law. And when she says "I believe that my lengthy career provides sufficient evidence for consideration of my nomination," this is simply not true. I'm not asking her to say how she would decide future cases, no one should do that, but at least give some idea what your philosophy is. And it didn't seem like W wanted her to say anything either. Sen. Charles Schumer on PBS Newshour 10/18/05:

When she saw me at about 1:30 yesterday, she said that she had no opinion of Griswold or Meyer, two of the seminal cases that established the right to privacy in the Constitution. She then went to Senator Specter and according to him said, yes, she does support those cases. And then three hours later the White House put out some memorandum saying no, she doesn't, and Senator Specter misinterpreted it. Senator Specter is a darned good lawyer; I don't think he did misinterpret it, although I wasn't there.

Well, maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. Maybe this is part of a scheme to get the real nomination through the process.

Judith Miller is an Embarrassment, as is the Times

2005-10-26T20:42:00.000-04:00

I'm tired of people hailing Judith Miller as some First Amendment heroine for remaining in jail instead of releasing her sources. A couple points:

First off, she claims that the reason she decided to finally testify and give up her source (Scooter Libby) after he told her it was OK, and that he felt bad for keeping her in jail. However, that doesn't seem to be accurate:

Over the course of the investigation, Libby had freed several other reporters from any obligation to keep their conversations with him secret -- and his lawyer had apparently told Miller's lawyer more than a year ago that she was free to talk, as well. So what was Miller doing in jail? Was it all just a misunderstanding? [whole article]

The truth is that Miller just wanted the publicity, and to turn herself into some superhero.

Secondly, Miller's history is far from a saintly journalist. Her front page article on September 8, 2002 she reported the following:

More than a decade after Saddam Hussein agreed to give up weapons of mass destruction, Iraq has stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb, Bush administration officials said today. In the last 14 months, Iraq has sought to buy thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes, which American officials believe were intended as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium. American officials said several efforts to arrange the shipment of the aluminum tubes were blocked or intercepted but declined to say, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence, where they came from or how they were stopped. Mr. Hussein's dogged insistence on pursuing his nuclear ambitions, along with what defectors described in interviews as Iraq's push to improve and expand Baghdad's chemical and biological arsenals, have brought Iraq and the United States to the brink of war.

The unnamed Bush administration officials she sourced in this article probably never existed, and the conclusions drawn about the potential use of these tubes was were also manufactured. This article was directly referenced by Rice, Powell, and Rumsfeld as one of the justifications for going to war.

Later, on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (one of my favorite NPR shows, btw), she had this to say:

"Well, I think they found something more than a smoking gun. What they've found is a silver bullet in the form of a person, an Iraqi individual, a scientist, as we've called him, who really worked on the programs, who knows them, firsthand, and who has led MET Alpha people to some pretty startling conclusions."

This also turned out to be a blatant lie.

Finally, the idea that she's protecting a whistle-blower is inaccurate. Ambassador Joe Wilson was a main critic of the Bush push for war in Iraq. Valerie Plame is Joe Wilson's wife. Plame's name was dropped to punish Wilson for his dissent. "Miller isn’t protecting a whistle blower. She is protecting someone who retaliated against a whistle blower."

It's just frustrating that this woman, who obviously only cares about personal success and her pending million dollar book deal and nothing about journalistic integrity, is being lauded as this heroine. Someone who would say and write anything for just a bit more fame, Miller is a perfect example of how reporters should not get too close to those they are reporting on.

She should return the Pulitzer Prize she was awarded, as she is nothing but an embarrassment to reporters everywhere. She also won an award on October 18 for protecting freedom of the press. The New York Times should also be embarrassed for having such a devious person on their staff for so long and for continued cover-up of her role in the leak.

Condoning Torture

2005-10-26T12:06:00.000-04:00

The Bush administration has proposed exempting employees of the Central Intelligence Agency from a legislative measure endorsed earlier this month by 90 members of the Senate that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoners in U.S. custody.

The proposal, which two sources said Vice President Cheney handed last Thursday to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the company of CIA Director Porter J. Goss, states that the measure barring inhumane treatment shall not apply to counterterrorism operations conducted abroad or to operations conducted by "an element of the United States government" other than the Defense Department.

The provision in question -- which the Senate on Oct. 5 voted 90 to 9 to attach to its version of the pending defense appropriations bill over the administration's opposition -- essentially proscribes harsh treatment of any detainees in U.S. custody or control anywhere in the world. It was specifically drafted to close what its backers say is a loophole in the administration's policy of generally barring torture, namely its legal contention that these constraints do not apply to treatment of foreigners on foreign soil.

Other sources said the vice president is also still fighting a second provision of the Senate-passed legislation, which requires that detainees in Defense Department custody anywhere in the world may be subjected only to interrogation techniques approved and listed in the Army's Field Manual.
[whole article]

Alright, this is just getting ridiculous. Does this White House have any shame at all? With all the reports of human rights abuses by American soldiers, one would think that W and his buddies would try and fix the issue, not legalize it.

For a country that is supposedly spreading freedom and democracy throughout the world, it is just absurd that our leaders are defending torture and abuse as appropriate behavior.

2000

2005-10-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

Military Has Lost 2,000 In Iraq

Goodbye to a Heroine

2005-10-25T12:18:00.000-04:00

Rosa Parks, the dignified African American seamstress whose refusal to surrender a bus seat to a white man launched the modern civil rights movement and inspired generations of activists, died last night at her home in Detroit, the Wayne County medical examiner's office said. She was 92. [whole article]

What Rice Can't See

2005-10-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

An interesting piece on Condi, here are some excerpts:

Like a lot of African Americans, I've long wondered what the deal was with Condoleezza Rice and the issue of race. How does she work so loyally for George W. Bush, whose approval rating among blacks was measured in a recent poll at a negligible 2 percent? How did she come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans? Is she blind, is she in denial, is she confused -- or what?

It's as if Rice is still cosseted in her beloved Titusville, the neighborhood of black strivers where she was raised, able to see the very different reality that other African Americans experience but not to reach out of the bubble -- not able to touch that other reality, and thus not able to really understand it.

Rice's parents tried their best to shelter their only daughter from Jim Crow racism, and they succeeded. Forty years later, Rice shows no bitterness when she recalls her childhood in a town whose streets were ruled by the segregationist police chief Bull Connor. "I've always said about Birmingham that because race was everything, race was nothing," she said in an interview on the flight home.

When she reminisces, she talks of piano lessons and her brief attempt at ballet -- not of Connor setting his dogs loose on brave men, women and children marching for freedom, which is the Birmingham that other residents I met still remember. A friend of Rice's, Denise McNair, was one of the four girls killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. That would have left a deep scar on me, but Rice can speak of that atrocity without visible emotion.

One of the things she somehow missed was that in Titusville and other black middle-class enclaves, a guiding principle was that as you climbed, you were obliged to reach back and bring others along. Rice has been a foreign policy heavyweight for nearly two decades; she spent four years in the White House as the president's national security adviser. In the interview, she mentioned just one black professional she has brought with her from the National Security Council to State.

It's really just tremendously disappointing that someone with her status is so out of touch with these issues. The fact that someone with such intelligence and power has this mindset is depressing. She really is an embarrassment. She could do so much good for women and minorities, but in her mind being inclusive is out of her way.

I wonder if she even cares about the fact that 2 percent of blacks approve of Bush. When she was on meet the press, she questioned the validity of the poll. I'm in social science, and there's no way to mess with poll data or implementation that much. She is in complete denial of the reality clear to the rest of black America, which is, as Kanye so eloquently put it, "George Bush doesn't care about black people". She's content being a puppet for this man who has mesmerized her.

I really hope she doesn't run for president.

Finally, some good news

2005-10-23T22:15:00.000-04:00

Young Democrats Sharpen Tactics Against Old Rivals:

With the Capitol all but deserted last Monday night, the Democratic "30-Something Working Group" seized the House floor and took aim at their Republican adversaries.

As C-SPAN cameras beamed their performance around the country, Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, 32, of Ohio and Rep. Kendrick Meek, 39, of Florida recited a litany of GOP misdeeds -- mismanaging Hurricane Katrina and neglecting education and health care, for example -- and offered the Democrats' alternatives.

Their conversation even veered to religion, a subject many Democrats are afraid to touch. Ryan described the problems of the poor as a moral obligation and asked of Meek: "Where is the Christian Coalition when you are cutting poverty programs? They are fighting over Supreme Court justices."

It's nice to hear this group is taking some leadership , as my faith in the Democratic Party is a bit shaken. I'm also glad that they're offering their own solutions, instead of the same old complaining.

As part of the new approach, House and Senate Democrats are devising an alternative agenda of key policies. Ryan is pushing proposals aimed at drastically reducing the number of abortions over the coming decade by offering support and services to pregnant women. Others are crafting a plan for reducing U.S. dependence on imported oil by using more domestic agricultural products, an approach that would have significant appeal to Midwestern voters.

"We can't be Dr. No to everything Republicans do," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "We have to provide our own positive ideas."

With republican embarrassments becoming more and more common, this is the time for the dems to show people that they have good ideas about how to run the country, which is something they haven't done for the past decade.

More American War Crimes

2005-10-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

Report: U.S. Soldiers Burnt Bodies of Captured Taliban Fighters:

This news on Afghanistan - an Australian TV program has aired footage of U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters. The program also aired footage of a U.S. Army psy-ops unit caught on tape broadcasting news of the burning to local residents. The message read : "You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burnt. You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be... You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Taliban but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are." On Wednesday the Pentagon announced it would investigate the incident. [source]

More Guantanamo Bay Disgrace

2005-10-20T17:36:00.000-04:00

Lawyer: Guantánamo Detainees Tortured, Force-Fed, Induced to Vomit:

Meanwhile at Guantanamo Bay, detainees are accusing guards and medical officials of mistreating prisoners taking part in a camp-wide hunger strike. Detainees said large feeding tubes were forcibly shoved up their noses and down into their stomachs, with guards using the same tubes from one patient to another. The force-feedings reportedly resulted in prisoners vomiting up "substantial amounts of blood." The detainees say no sedatives were provided during these procedures, which they allege took place in front of U.S. physicians, including the head of the prison hospital. The accusations were made to New York-based attorney Julia Tarver of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Tarver says one client told her QUOTE: "now after four years in captivity, life and death are the same." [source]

All children left unaffected

2005-10-19T21:27:00.000-04:00

Reading scores among fourth- and eighth-graders showed little improvement over the past two years, and math gains were slower than in previous years, according to a study released yesterday. The disappointing results came despite a new educational testing law championed by the Bush administration as a way to improve the nation's schools.

Though the tests have been taken by fourth- and eighth-grade students about every two years since 1990, the latest NAEP scores were the first tangible testing numbers available since the implementation of No Child Left Behind -- the Bush administration's premier and controversial education initiative requiring all states to test students annually as a prerequisite for receiving federal funds. [whole article]

Iraqi Constituion and Women's Rights

2005-10-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, on Democracy Now, Yanar Mohammed, Director of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, a group that works to stop atrocities against Iraqi women and defend their rights, discussed how the Iraqi Constitution discriminates against women:

In other words, we are not allowed to independence. We are not allowed to decisions in our lives, and we not speaking here about only appearances of wearing veil or not veil, but we are speaking about women having choices in their lives. We have lost those, and it is by constitution now. There is no other way to it, because no article that contradicts with Islamic Sharia will be allowed in the family law, and there isn't much elaboration about following the international conventions of ending the discrimination against women to prioritize them over religion. It says very clearly the priority is that the laws will not contradict with Islamic Sharia. So, there you go, all of the women are second-rate citizens in Iraq.

and has promoted religious and ethnic segregation and civil war:

So, we are speaking about Iraq being divided into bits and pieces, where in the south the Shiites will be prioritized to any other religion, and in the north, the Kurds will have priority to Arabs and to Turkmens. We are speaking about a very serious declaration of a civil war

Out of his way?

2005-10-16T21:23:00.000-04:00

On today's Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Condoleezza Rice what she thought of the fact that only 2 percent of African Americans think George Bush is doing a good job, while 84 percent don't. Condi's response: "What I do know is that this has been a president who has gone out of his way to be inclusive."

Out of his way?

It's disappointing that the leadership in this country considers it an inconvenience to be inclusive. It's even more disappointing that a black woman considers this an acceptable situation. I mean, I know that all us black folks are running around busting caps in peoples' asses and pimping hoes and shit, but seriously.

I'm really resisting the urge to go into another rant about how divided this country is and how most of the people benefiting from the divide either refuse to or are incapable of acknowledging it. I've been doing that a lot lately, and it's just depressing.

I just can't believe that the leaders in this country find it difficult to be inclusive, one of the most important attributes for a functional society. Where are these people from? Do they have any knowledge of the history of this country? Or the current state of this country?

We need leaders who are inclusive, not those that struggle to be.

Split on Right a Chance, Choice for Democrats

2005-10-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

An interesting article on Miers and Democratic strategy:

The conservatives' noisy split over the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination has largely obscured the fact that Senate Democrats could control her fate in a way that was never possible in the confirmation battle over Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

While the turmoil on the right offers Democrats a tantalizing opportunity, party strategists said, it also will confront them with a difficult choice: Confirm a conservative with close ties to President Bush, or oppose her and join ranks with hard-right activists who historically are their archenemies. [full article]

Credibility? Honesty? Bueller? Bueller?

2005-10-14T16:35:00.000-04:00

W embarrassed himself and our country once again by staring in a television show, I mean candid conversation with freedom fighters yesterday. W wanted to prove to Americans that the troops did in fact support his decision to unjustly go to war, and that they enjoy risking their lives every minute of every day to fight ~~the 9/11 hijackers~~
~~Osama~~
~~weapons of mass destruction~~
~~terrorism~~
for democracy, yeah that works. Apparently, even the Iraqi's are glad we invaded their country too, as Sgt. Maj. Akeel Shaker Nassir, who is in charge of the Iraqi army training facility in Tikrit, had this to say: "Thank very much for everything. I like you." Unfortunately, the video feed also showed the soldiers prepping and rehearsing their lines before the leader of the free world came out of the green room.

At the end of the transmission, he turned to the camera and said "In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night."

I love how the right immediately scurries to defend him, including this tidbit from Right On!:

Big darned fricking deal people. Every President who has ever understood the power of the press has staged photo op’s to make them look good. It works, and that is why they do it.

What they fail to acknowledge is that the White House lied. Again. The fact of the matter is this was scripted and staged propaganda that was marketed by the White House as candid and factual. This was simply a lie. Does this administration care about credibility or honesty at all?

What’s even more ridiculous is when reporters asked W’s press secretary about it, he accused them of being against the broader war on terror. The continuing propagandizing of the media by the White House is insulting and embarrassing.

Burn all the books!

2005-10-12T21:41:00.000-04:00

somewhere in the blogosphere i stumbled upon a link to a list of the American Library Association's 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books. "A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." Most of the books on this list really make you think about who would ask to ban them. I realize a bunch have "scary" sex stuff or "pagan" stuff, but many of these are books that deal heavily with issues of race, like Kaffir Boy, The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Even more of these books ask questions about how a society should function, like The Giver and Brave New World. Most of these complaints were made at schools. I guess people don't want their kids to learn. I've listed a bunch here (bold one's I've read).

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright

I need to read more of these...

Black and White America

2005-10-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

Once again, Katrina is being used as an example to illustrate the racial divisions in this country. Spike Lee was on CNN earlier discussing the possibility that the levee protecting the poor, black 9th ward was purposely destroyed to save the richer, whiter areas of the city. The Boondocks comic below makes light of this theory:

While I'm sure this is untrue, it is just another one in a series of differences in perception of this tragedy. Look again at how the reaction to Katrina is split along racial lines. Much of the black community in America feels personally insulted by how this whole mess was treated by those who were supposed to protect us. People are insulted, and rightfully so.

This country is split. What can be done?

SCOTUS and the Great Hypocrisy

2005-10-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

W and his cronies are trying to pull some crazy hypocritical BS in pushing Harriet Miers to the SCUTUS. During the Roberts nomination and approval processes, the public (mostly those of us on the left) were assured over and over again that his religion would not dictate or at all influence his decisions on the bench. With Miers, her religious practices seem to be the only tangible and provable credentials W seems to be willing to market. He has rallied several right wing religious leaders, including James Dobson and Pat Robertson, to convince those republican leaders who might be skeptical of Miers' qualifications and moral standing.

The hypocrisy of this administration knows no bounds.

New Orleans Police Officers Charged with Beating Man

2005-10-10T20:21:00.000-04:00

I just saw the videos of this incident on CNN, and they are absoluelty disgusting. You can see them by checking out this article. What I saw was a man standing up, with his face pinned up against the wall, being punched repeatedly by an officer. The officers continued to kick him while he was lying on the ground, handcuffed, in a pool of his own blood. One of the officers later went after a man working for the AP.

The man was charged with public drunkeness? He was drunk? That's it? A peice of his own flesh was hanging off of his face!

I can't even begin to understand the stress these officers are under, but this is just unacceptable.

Stop Defending Abu Ghraib

2005-10-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

Now I know this is old news, but I still don't understand how people can defend the torture and prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, as OTTMANN does in comments on his post about Bush's speech last week. Also, any criticism of these horrible acts is painted as unpatriotic and a sign that you don't stand with the American troops. As OTTMANN says:

The "tortures" were nothing compared to terrorists cutting off prisioners heads! Those terrorists' being held want nothing less than to kill YOU and me and every single American. How about you go talk to those radial jihadist's and see if they let you leave alive, eh? I'll even buy the plane ticket. Where do you get your priorities?

I just don't think these people get it. First off, most of the prisoners were not terrorists. The unlucky man in the photograph above was charged with carjacking, not terrorism. It's ridiculous for us to invade a country and then label those natives fighting to defend themselves "terrorists." They're enemy combatants, not Jihadists. And even if they were, that's no justification for this abuse.

Secondly, how does it make sense to hold the actions of the United States and those of radical religious groups to the same moral standard? Didn't we commit to Operation Iraqi Freedom to bring democracy and justice to this country and region? America is supposed to be a bastion of hope and fairness, not an embarrassing example of physical, sexual, and emotional torture. Troops also murdered prisoners, according to Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick. While there is no defending the brutal tactics some of the radical groups the United States are fighting commit, an eye for an eye is just not how we do things around here.

"'Do you pray to Allah?' one asked. I said yes. They said, '[Expletive] you. And [expletive] him.' One of them said, 'You are not getting out of here health[y], you are getting out of here handicapped. And he said to me, 'Are you married?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'If your wife saw you like this, she will be disappointed.' One of them said, 'But if I saw her now she would not be disappointed now because I would rape her.'" [...] "They ordered me to thank Jesus that I'm alive." [...] "I said to him, 'I believe in Allah.' So he said, 'But I believe in torture and I will torture you.'" — Ameen Saeed Al-Sheik [full article]

How can you not criticize this behavior? I support our troops and I wish them all a safe trip back home. This does not give them all a free pass to do whatever they want. There are rules, even in times of war. As a civilized society, we have a responsibility to promote justice, not torture.

"We will take the fight to the enemy" -W

2005-10-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

I've borrowed this quote from Bush because it sums up the point of this post pretty well. I also love the spoof below on one of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings (Norman Rockwell is just amazing by the way) from Project for the Old American Century:

Some of my friends have asked me why I started linking to conservative blogs here. I've decided to, in the words of our president "take the fight to the enemy." So, I've begun to spend much more of my energy commenting on these sites, as opposed to simply preaching to the choir on liberal sites. I also hope to draw some of them to my site, which has already happened a bit.

To those visitors from these sites, I say "Hello!" If you want to me to link to your site, let me know.

To those of you who fall on the left side of the spectrum, I encourage you to join me in this crusade. I've started posting on a couple of the sites I've linked to. A couple of them are a bit scary for me, so I'm building up my courage (I'm referring to the one's I've labeled "exceptionally insane".) But seriously, we're not changing any minds by talking to each other. We need to convert the non-believers.

Let's do some good.

WWJD? Spread some hate!

2005-10-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

I found this site while surfing the conservative blogosphere. On it, I found a link to this book Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), which promotes the following points:

You think you know about Islam. But did you know...
Islam teaches that Muslims must wage war to impose Islamic law on non-Muslim states
American Muslim groups are engaged in a huge cover-up of Islamic doctrine and history
Today's jihad terrorists have the same motives and goals as the Muslims who fought the Crusaders
The Crusades were defensive conflicts Muslim persecution of Christians has continued for 13 centuries–and still goes on...
When PC (politically correct) propagandists assure us that jihadist terror doesn't reflect "true," "peaceful" Islam, they're not only wrong, they're dangerous -- because they lull America and the West into letting their guard down against their mortal enemy. And not only do self-appointed "experts" lie elaborately and persistently about Islam -- they have also replaced the truth about Christian Europe and the Crusades with an all-pervasive historical fantasy that is designed to make you ashamed of your own culture and heritage -- and thus less determined to defend it.

I didn't know that all Muslims carried around AK-47s. Not only does this fly in the face of historical fact, but promotes the outright hatred of Muslims. When will the religious right come to grips with reality and stop spewing political propaganda. From American Vision's about us page:

For the past 25 years, American Vision has produced hundreds of educational resources designed to help Christians build a biblical worldview and reclaim the culture for Christ.

Hmm, I'm far from a devout Christian, but I never heard of Jesus professing such hate for others, especially hate based on such obvious and insulting lies. This just sickens me.

High School Project Considered Threat to Bush

2005-10-07T11:41:00.000-04:00

(09/24/05 - CURRITUCK) - A high school student's class project on freedoms in the U.S. attracted Secret Service agents to his school this week. The agents visited Currituck County High School Tuesday after receiving a report that a student had created potentially threatening photographs of President Bush.

Sandy Kinzel, a school spokeswoman, said the Secret Service questioned the student about a photograph he had taken for a class project on freedoms. In the student's photograph, a photograph of Bush is shown fastened to a wall with a thumbtack. Over the picture of Bush is a "thumbs-down" sign. The thumbtack in the photo was apparently placed somewhere on Bush's head, Kinzel said.

Concerned that the thumbtack might represent a potential threat to the president, the company that developed the student's film notified authorities. [whole article]

an NPR story said that the student took his film to WalMart for printing, where someone in the photo processing department reported this high school student to law enforcement agencies.

this is just insanity, when a picture of the president with a thumbtack in his head is considered a threat to the country's security. how are we so quick to judge and report fellow citizens for this? when did criticism of the president turn into treason?

art and free expression is under attack in this country. the thought police are coming.