licentious radio

Friday, February 28, 2003
[10:45:46 AM]

Cooking the books: did you notice that Estrada's good recommendation was instigated by a partisan hack pretending to be 'fair and balanced'? So when Bush says Estrada is well-qualified, that really only means that one of Bush's minions conspired to *label* Estrada 'well-qualified'.

The role of the Senate is to judge -- based on information, not cooked books. Keep the filibuster going until Estrada comes clean. Then if he's really hiding what he appears to be hiding, vote him down.

[10:28:19 AM]
Good news of the day: China and Russia say flat out that we should avoid war, and that there's no rush. Russia says it's willing to veto a Security Council resolution.

Bad news: Powell thinks he has a lock on the votes of Cameroon, Angola, Guinea for cheap:

'Last November, Mauritius recalled its UN ambassador and gave him a public scolding for failing to speak out forcefully enough in support of US-sponsored Security Council Resolution 1441 against Iraq. UN expert Phyllis Bennis notes that Mauritius made this move to avoid falling afoul of a provision of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which states that US aid recipients should not "engage in activities contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests." The Administration will seek to exert similar leverage over Guinea and Cameroon, both of which are recipients of US aid under AGOA.'

We don't have to *give* the blacko countries anything, because they know we'll take away everything we already give them if they don't go along:

'The United States is notorious for bullying nations over key Security Council votes. In 1990, when Yemen voted against authorizing war on Iraq, a US diplomat told the Yemeni ambassador, "That was the most expensive no vote you ever cast." Three days later, all US aid to Yemen was canceled.'

Note that *today* the good news trumps the bad news. Blue skies and sunshine in Menlo Park.

(Excerpts from Buying a Coalition [thenation.com].)

[10:13:30 AM]
Long knives at work:

Glenn Hubbard, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, knifed.

Alan Greenspan, for not trumpeting the need for a tax cut and for warning that we need to fix Social Security *now* -- dead man walking. They've wrecked the economy to the point where the Fed can't fix it, so Big Al is unimportant. Will Al retire quick, or will he hold out in case a Democrat is elected (and gets into the White House) in 2004 -- someone who might appoint a responsible Fed Chairman? Note to Al: don't hold your breath. Another note to Al: stay out of small airplanes.

[9:56:17 AM]
Star Witness on Iraq Said Weapons Were Destroyed [fair.org]: 'In the transcript (p. 13), Kamel says bluntly: "All weapons-- biological, chemical, missile, nuclear, were destroyed." '

The problem with government secrecy and lies.... Here we have evidence -- supposedly from a supposedly trustworthy source -- that Bush is lying about Iraq's so-called 'weapons of mass destruction'. In a recent poll, more than half of Americans said they believe Bush would lie to make the case for war. We've seen many lies and distortions from Bush. Perhaps this is the smoking gun -- that the core case is also a lie.

It might *not* be an accurate quote, or accurate information. But we citizens will never know, unless we just believe the CIA or Bush when they say the transcript is phony.