Durbin's remarks were not aimed, not even implicitly, at Holocaust victims or at your average soldier on patrol in Baghdad. He did want to say both directly and indirectly that all people under U.S. detention, no matter what we happen to think about their guilt or innocence, should not be subjected to certain kinds of treatment. But by construing his remarks as innuendo, Durbin's opponents were able to sidestep that discussion.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
The Beauty of Innuendoes
Friday, July 01, 2005
Impeachment's just another word...
...unless Dean, Biden, Reid, et al, grab this opportunity to keep the idea alive and in the news.
The latest Zogby poll included a question about impeachment and a healthy 42% agreed that Congress should impeach George Bush if he misled the country into going to war in Iraq. And that included 25% of Republicans responding to the survey. (IF he misled the country? Were his lips moving?)
These numbers will grow alongside our ballooning deficit and, unfortunately, the number of casualties in the "war on terra."
We have nothing left to lose.
...unless Dean, Biden, Reid, et al, grab this opportunity to keep the idea alive and in the news.
The latest Zogby poll included a question about impeachment and a healthy 42% agreed that Congress should impeach George Bush if he misled the country into going to war in Iraq. And that included 25% of Republicans responding to the survey. (IF he misled the country? Were his lips moving?)
These numbers will grow alongside our ballooning deficit and, unfortunately, the number of casualties in the "war on terra."
We have nothing left to lose.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Dear Democratic Leadership
Please stop apologizing for telling the truth. We must focus on the midterm elections. We must capitalize on Bush & Co. falling poll numbers. They have made a mess in Afghanistan and Iraq, and made a sham of our democracy.
I understand we do not have the votes to impeach right now. But if Republicans and Democrats who face midterm re-election can be made to feel the growing disillusionment of Americans, they may see their way clear to stand up against this administration. We cannot let them get away with the criminal incompetence and corruption of the last four and a half years.
Please get tough and stop criticizing each other. You all should have closed ranks around Senator Durbin and focused on the abuse and torture he was condemning, not on a metaphor blown out of proportion to distract attention from the abuse and torture.
Keep your eye on the ball!
Sincerely,
a true-blue Democrat.
Please stop apologizing for telling the truth. We must focus on the midterm elections. We must capitalize on Bush & Co. falling poll numbers. They have made a mess in Afghanistan and Iraq, and made a sham of our democracy.
I understand we do not have the votes to impeach right now. But if Republicans and Democrats who face midterm re-election can be made to feel the growing disillusionment of Americans, they may see their way clear to stand up against this administration. We cannot let them get away with the criminal incompetence and corruption of the last four and a half years.
Please get tough and stop criticizing each other. You all should have closed ranks around Senator Durbin and focused on the abuse and torture he was condemning, not on a metaphor blown out of proportion to distract attention from the abuse and torture.
Keep your eye on the ball!
Sincerely,
a true-blue Democrat.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Drunk on Freedom
That's exactly what you are if tonight between 7pm and 8pm CST, you watched any of the big three networks, cable news, or CSPAN; played a drinking game; AND picked the correct word: FREEDOM as your cue. According to Think Progress, that is.
The latest propaganda event brought to you by Karl Rove and his Flying Feces Productions, gave the chimp another chance to listen to the sound of his own voice bring tears to his beady eyes in front of another captive military audience.
When that little bastard tears up you just know that he's touched, not by real courage and bravery of true heroes and patriots, but by the momentary illusion of his own fake humanity. When he thinks of you he touches himself.
I may vomit.
That's exactly what you are if tonight between 7pm and 8pm CST, you watched any of the big three networks, cable news, or CSPAN; played a drinking game; AND picked the correct word: FREEDOM as your cue. According to Think Progress, that is.
The latest propaganda event brought to you by Karl Rove and his Flying Feces Productions, gave the chimp another chance to listen to the sound of his own voice bring tears to his beady eyes in front of another captive military audience.
When that little bastard tears up you just know that he's touched, not by real courage and bravery of true heroes and patriots, but by the momentary illusion of his own fake humanity. When he thinks of you he touches himself.
I may vomit.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Strategery = Abduction & Torture
Last week when Karl Rove criticized liberal responses to 9/11 for presumably wanting "to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," he specifically singled out MoveOn.org as one of the targets of his criticism. Eli Pariser was said by the New York Times to have responded by asserting that MoveOn had not opposed military action in Afghanistan. Pariser then rightly criticized the administration for trying to deflect attention from its own failures and problems.
What's wrong with the first part of Pariser's response is that it plays the administration's game inadvertently. In deriding a desire to prepare indictments Rove is attempting to discredit a more effective response to terrorism than the dubious war strategy Bush & Co. have embraced. If you doubt me, follow the details of the arrest orders against 13 CIA officials issued by an Italian Judge for their role in kidnapping an Egyptian cleric in Milan who was taken to Egypt and allegedly tortured.
Although there's alot to be said here, my key point is that the rendition of this terror suspect reportedly "disrupted Italian efforts to identify his connection to a terror network believed to have active operations throughout Europe," and that in other countries the effort to capture and convict terrorists has been stymied and undone by the Bush regime's lack of cooperation. Bush & Co. are not merely deriding effective legal responses to terrorism, they are actively subverting them.
We should not forget that the rush to unity after 9/11 was an attempt to make war, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq apear to be the only justifiable alternative.
Thanks to the Professor.
Last week when Karl Rove criticized liberal responses to 9/11 for presumably wanting "to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," he specifically singled out MoveOn.org as one of the targets of his criticism. Eli Pariser was said by the New York Times to have responded by asserting that MoveOn had not opposed military action in Afghanistan. Pariser then rightly criticized the administration for trying to deflect attention from its own failures and problems.
What's wrong with the first part of Pariser's response is that it plays the administration's game inadvertently. In deriding a desire to prepare indictments Rove is attempting to discredit a more effective response to terrorism than the dubious war strategy Bush & Co. have embraced. If you doubt me, follow the details of the arrest orders against 13 CIA officials issued by an Italian Judge for their role in kidnapping an Egyptian cleric in Milan who was taken to Egypt and allegedly tortured.
Although there's alot to be said here, my key point is that the rendition of this terror suspect reportedly "disrupted Italian efforts to identify his connection to a terror network believed to have active operations throughout Europe," and that in other countries the effort to capture and convict terrorists has been stymied and undone by the Bush regime's lack of cooperation. Bush & Co. are not merely deriding effective legal responses to terrorism, they are actively subverting them.
We should not forget that the rush to unity after 9/11 was an attempt to make war, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq apear to be the only justifiable alternative.
Thanks to the Professor.
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