Monday, August 2, 2004

FEATURED ARTICLES - Iraq Funds Are Focus of 27 Criminal Inquiries, LA Times - Kerry's War Didn't End in The Mekong, by Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian - Kerry Does His Duty, by David Corn, The Nation QUOTE OF THE DAY "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." - - Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics (testifying in 1937 to Congress on why marijuana should be made illegal) KNOW YOUR HISTORY:  August 2nd 1937 - Marijuana Tax Act signed (effective October 1, 1937) 1990 -- Iraq invades Kuwait, following grievance over oil, loans & land, after discussing plans with US Ambassador April Glaspie. RHINO HERE: The Dem convention's over, the Repubs are spinning it as negatively as they can & the shrub gang's yelling, "Look yonder East!  There's terrorists a comin'!"   They say they know their opponents will accuse them of trying to overshadow Kerry's lead in the polls but they just have to do what's right, inform the people of the risks & take their lumps.  They didn't have much  in the way of suggestions for the people who work in the supposedly targeted buildings or their families. They also didn't mention how convenient the higher terror alert will be in keeping any protests at the Repub Convention down to a dull roar. Meanwhile,  the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority's inspector general has so many criminal investigations into dirty dealings of US officials & their contractors in Iraq, that they can barely keep track of them all. "SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN!" Iraq Funds Are Focus of 27 Criminal Inquiries by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2004 WASHINGTON - A comprehensive examination of the U.S.-led agency that oversaw the rebuilding of Iraq has triggered at least 27 criminal investigations and produced evidence of millions of dollars' worth of fraud, waste and abuse, according to a report by the Coalition Provisional Authority's inspector general.  The report is the most sweeping indication yet that some U.S. officials and private contractors repeatedly violated the law in the free-wheeling atmosphere that pervaded the multibillion-dollar effort to rebuild the war-torn country.  More than $600 million in cash from Iraqi oil money was spent with insufficient controls. Senior U.S. officials manipulated or misspent contract money. Millions of dollars' worth of equipment could not be located, the report said. MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0730-03.htm The Rhino gets an awful lot of email these days, including many suggestions for articles to include in the blog.  Since advocating support for the Kerry-Edwards ticket, many friends & readers have sent me articles painting John Kerry as everything from a hypocrite to a war criminal.  Investigative journalist , Greg Palast wrote relatively scathing review of Kerry's convention speech but he made an important point.  He said, "Asking if Kerry is as bad as Bush is like asking if a slap in the face is as painful as a brick to the skull."   The Rhino couldn't have said it better myself, except to say that the American electoral system is all about power, not principles.  So given that it's gonna be either Bush & Company or Kerry & Company, who do you want to have the power for the next 4 years.  The next article provides cause for hope in a Kerry administration. Sidney Blumenthal is former senior adviser to President Clinton & author of "The Clinton Wars." Here he looks at John Kerry's history of whistle blowing on US presidential law breaking. Kerry's War Didn't End in The Mekong Tarred as a flip-flopper by Bush, he hasn't wavered since Vietnam by Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian, July 22, 2004 John Kerry's political education is far deeper than that of senators who have merely legislated. He has journeyed to the heart of darkness many times and emerged to tell the tale. It was not simply that Kerry's commander in Vietnam was the model of the blood-thirsty bombastic colonel in Apocalypse Now. Kerry's combat experience didn't end in the Mekong, but moved into the dangerous realm of high politics. From his first appearance on the public stage, giving voice as a decorated officer to the anti-war disillusionment of Vietnam veterans, when Richard Nixon and his dirty-tricks crew targeted him, he has uncovered cancers on the presidency. This is why the Bush administration fears him. He has explored the dark recesses of contemporary history, often without political reward. Tarred as a "flip flopper" by Bush's $85m TV ad campaign, Kerry in fact is one of the most consistent politicians of his generation.  In his first month as a senator, in January 1985, he discovered the thread that would unravel the Iran-contra scandal - the creation of an illegal foreign policy apparatus run out of the national security council by Reagan's military aide, Oliver North, and the CIA director, William Casey... MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1266305,00.html Today's BOTTOM LINE is The Nation's David Corn's review of Kerry's speech. 8:38:00 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Kerry Does His Duty Kerry Does His Duty by David Corn, The Nation, 07/30/2004 When John Kerry appeared at the convention for the MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH OF HIS LIFETIME, he showed how the screw can turn. What was his not-so-secret weapon? Vietnam. For decades, conservatives have used Vietnam the Metaphor to whack Democrats, to argue they are not serious about national defense, to claim they cannot be trusted to safeguard the United States, and even to suggest that Democrats (at least the liberal ones) are blame-America-firsters.  No more. Kerry, the war-hero-turned-war-foe, wore his Vietnam service as a bloody shirt. And he wrapped his entire party in it. Before Kerry said a single word, his swift boat crewmates stood together on the stage. Former Senator Max Cleland, a veteran who lost three limbs in Vietnam, called Kerry "an authentic American hero." Kerry's daughter, Alexandra, recalled a moment when her father drove her to college ten years ago. While she was brooding away, he remarked that it was a lovely sunny day and said, "I know men your exact age, who thought they had the same future you have. Whose families were never born, who never again walked on American soil. They don't feel this sun. Ali, if there's something you don't like, something that needs to be changed, change it." Jim Rassmann, the Marine lieutenant whose life Kerry saved in Vietnam, told the crowd, "Nobody asked me to join this campaign. I volunteered." It was a reference to Kerry's own decision to volunteer for Vietnam. And in his best speech of the 2004 campaign, retired General Wesley Clark declared, "John Kerry fought a war, and I respect him for that. And he came home to fight a peace, and I respect him for that, too. " Vietnam--it works both ways. Kerry was a courageous leader in the face of danger. And, as Kerry said in a biographical film, he "felt the government had not been truthful with the American public," and he challenged that government. Vietnam is no longer a test of foreign policy machismo. John Kerry has transformed it into a test of character and credibility... MORE: http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&;pid=1651 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:54:33 AM    comment

© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.