Friday, March 26, 2004

Posted here Friday, March 26, 2004 at 2:58:51 PM     it is continuously worthwhile to try to understand the motives behind apparently divergent political positions in the U.S. . My own belief, having now poked around quite a bit , is that the values on the right and left have some remarkable similarities in each project the evils of "system" onto the other . This book review is a good place to start in finding some sympathy with the other side . Wealth, Poverty, and Human Destiny http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article3219.html He argues that the market >my, with its emphasis on production, consumption, and the riring of wealth acts, in the intrinsic sense, to separate man m God, his friends, and family thus casting him into a condition omelessness.' ********

Posted here Friday, March 26, 2004 at 2:41:22 PM     From the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1178658,00.html The fact that the Pentagon pulled the fighting force most equipped for hunting down Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan in March 2002 in order to pre- position it for Iraq cannot be denied. Fifth Group Special Forces were a rare breed in the US military: they spoke Arabic, Pastun and Dari. They had been in Afghanistan for half a year, had developed a network of local sources and alliances, and believed that they were closing in on bin Laden. Without warning, they were then given the task of tracking down Saddam. "We were going nuts on the ground about that decision," one of them recalls. "In spite of the fact that it had taken five months to establish trust, suddenly there were two days to hand over to people who spoke no Dari, Pastun or Arabic, and had no rapport." Along with the redeployment of human assets came a ********

Posted here Friday, March 26, 2004 at 1:00:59 PM     From Columbia journalism review's campaign desk http://www.campaigndesk.org/ Yesterday Brad Delong made Campaign Desk proud by picking up the telephone to question New York Times White House correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller about her coverage of the Bush administration's response to the Richard Clarke revelations. Specifically, Delong wanted to know about Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that Clarke was "out of the loop," which Condelezza Rice later denied. Delong felt Bumiller had offered readers "A simple 'she (Rice) said, he (Cheney) said': one-against-one, with no clues as to who is more credible." Delong asked Bumiller why she didn't stack the article with quotes to discredit Cheney's statement; Bumiller replied that she, "doesn't write opinion," that "the news was Rice contradicting what Cheney had said to Rush Limbaugh," and that she "only had 300 words." Delong pressed on: "My assertion that whether Clarke was out-of-the-loop or was the loop itself is a matter of fact, and that a reporter has a duty to ascertain and to report to her readers such matters of fact, did not meet with a response." Perhaps Bumiller is angling for Scott McClellan's job? ********

Posted here Friday, March 26, 2004 at 9:14:25 AM     poem our language Our language Phrases like stones polished in the flowing streams of thoughts bursted out in speech Phrases in words That Caress our throats as we caress the air Pushed from our lungs What I say we both hear In shared objective Subjectivity. We must bless each word And honor the uses made In anger, hope, guile, Or just saying "hello" Short for "hell not be over you" And "good bye" "God be with you Until I can again look you in the eye" And all the other words whose Mud earth gut origins Have been left behind in bath after bath Of use And repression Leave us Still the word Pearled in use Polished But still serviceable. As you utter Let the thought sink Into the recesses of your body And come forth more resonant With human feeling Animal feeling Tide and storm and spring Feeling Made into honest art As you speak to one You must love Because they can hear you. ********

Billmon on clark and the miasma broken Posted here Friday, March 26, 2004 at 8:24:28 AM     From Billmon this morning  www.billmon.org Still, the fact that the general embargo on critical thinking about 9/11 has been broken is very encouraging. The truth -- the whole truth -- is probably too much to expect, given the narrow limits of what's considered "legitimate" debate in this country, and the powerful forces lined up in defense of ignorance. But at least people are asking questions, and looking for answers. Compared to where we were just a few months ago, that's an encouraging sign. Which means that whatever the accuracy, or completeness, of Richard Clarke's story, he's done a great public service simply by breaking the strange spell of public apathy that's been choking off debate about what happened on 9/11 -- and why -- for the past two and a half years. ********