Monday, February 16, 2004

Iraq Intelligence and Media Omissions New York Review of Books: Now They Tell Us. Beginning in the summer of 2002, the "intelligence community" was rent by bitter disputes over how Bush officials were using the data on Iraq. Many journalists knew about this, yet few chose to write about it. An indictment, deservedly. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] 10:25:14 PM

Right Wing Thugs Still Attacking Cleland The Center for American Progress offers what is the best analyis so far, shredding her misrepresentations and wondering if there's nothing too despicable for the right wing to try in this campaign. And this is only February. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] 10:24:41 PM

Ann Coulter's lies about Cleland torn to bits Ann "Nutcase" Coulter wrote a scathing editorial in which she made up a bunch of unforgivable lies about Max Cleland, a US senator who lost three limbs in Vietnam, by way of rebuttal to his criticism of the Bush administration. The Center for American Progress tears apart her editorial, identifying, lie-by-lie, just how full of shit she is. SAYING CLELAND WAS "LUCKY" TO HAVE LIMBS BLOWN OFF: Coulter said, "Luckily for Cleland…he happened to [lose his limbs] while in Vietnam" and said that had he been injured "at Fort Dix rather than in Vietnam, he would never have been a U.S. Senator." Of course, Cleland probably would not have been dealing with live grenades and enemy fire in the save haven of Ft. Dix. But, then, many top conservatives might not know this because they do not have firsthand knowledge of a combat zone. President Bush did not go to Vietnam because he was in the Texas National Guard. Vice President Dick Cheney did not serve in the military, saying, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service." According to the Houston Press in 1999, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) "tried to blame minorities for his lack of military experience" saying, "so many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks" like him. And Rush Limbaugh avoided service by apparently claiming his "anal cysts" prevented him from defending the nation. See more conservatives who attack veterans while avoiding military service themselves. Link (via Dan Gillmor) [Boing Boing Blog] 10:19:46 PM

Warning: Microsoft 'Monoculture' A security expert warns Microsoft's dominance of software is a set-up for global disaster -- and promptly loses his job. His comparison is to biology, where species with little genetic variation are vulnerable to catastrophic epidemics. [Wired News] 10:06:17 PM

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