Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Don't Politicize Terrorism By David Ignatius of the Washington Post. Tuesday, August 17, 2004; Page A15 The mixing of anti-terrorism policy with the 2004 presidential campaign is becoming destructive. It is creating a vicious cycle of hype, skepticism and mistrust that puts the country's security at risk. The dangers of politicizing terrorism were clear in this month's announcement about potential attacks on financial centers in the New York area and in Washington. When Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge disclosed the threats on Aug. 1, he faced immediate skepticism about whether the intelligence was valid. Sadly, the Bush administration had helped create this climate of public suspicion by overusing its elaborate, color-coded system of terrorism warnings. After a terrorism advisory by Attorney General John Ashcroft last spring was pooh-poohed the same day by Ridge, some people wondered whether these warnings were being used for political effect. In the administration's eagerness to demonstrate the seriousness of the threat against financial centers, something terrible happened. An official in Washington or Pakistan, it's not clear which, leaked the name of the captured al Qaeda operative who was a main source of the information -- a 25-year-old Pakistani named Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. His name was leaked to the New York Times on Aug. 1, the same day the terror warning was issued, in a seeming attempt to bolster the credibility of the intelligence report. Whatever the reason for the leak, it was disastrous for intelligence operations. 10:17:38 PM    comment []

People of faith ask: How would Jesus vote?.  excerpt: Just a few miles from George W. Bush's former office at the state Capitol, a panel of religious experts Tuesday weighed a question with relevance to many people of faith: How would Jesus vote? Conservative pastors such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "would have us believe that morality is all about where you stand on abortion, how you treat homosexuals. I think that is simply wrong," said John D. Moyers, senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for American Progress. The Rev. Timothy Tutt, pastor of United Christian Church in Austin, declined to say whom he will support in November. But Tutt, board president of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, which includes Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Christians, balked at the perception that Bush is the only choice for people of faith. "As I read the Scriptures and as I understand faith, God's side is the group that's feeding the poor, caring about children, making sure that people have enough food to eat — not killing others," said Tutt, who opposes the war in Iraq. [USATODAY.com Politics - Top Stories] 7:37:08 PM    comment []

Paul states the obvious once again. Saving the Vote By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: August 17, 2004 veryone knows it, but not many politicians or mainstream journalists are willing to talk about it, for fear of sounding conspiracy-minded: there is a substantial chance that the result of the 2004 presidential election will be suspect. Yet the behavior of Gov. Jeb Bush's officials with regard to other election-related matters offers no justification for such faith. First there was the affair of the felon list. Florida law denies the vote to convicted felons. But in 2000 many innocent people, a great number of them black, couldn't vote because they were erroneously put on a list of felons; these wrongful exclusions may have put Governor Bush's brother in the White House. This year, Florida again drew up a felon list, and tried to keep it secret. When a judge forced the list's release, it turned out that it once again wrongly disenfranchised many people - again, largely African-American - while including almost no Hispanics. Full article Yesterday, my colleague Bob Herbert reported on another highly suspicious Florida initiative: state police officers have gone into the homes of elderly African-American voters - including participants in get-out-the-vote operations - and interrogated them as part of what the state says is a fraud investigation. But the state has provided little information about the investigation, and, as Mr. Herbert says, this looks remarkably like an attempt to intimidate voters. Given this pattern, there will be skepticism if Florida's paperless voting machines give President Bush an upset, uncheckable victory. 8:09:30 AM    comment []

Poll: Most Americans Think Church Should Steer Clear of Politics Analysis By Dalia Sussman June 4, 2004 — Most Americans say religious leaders should not try to influence politicians' positions on the issues, and abortion is no exception: Nearly seven in 10 — including most Catholics — oppose denying Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who support legal abortion. Sixty-eight percent of Americans oppose denying communion to such politicians; that includes 72 percent of all Catholics and a similar number of churchgoing Catholics. Even among Americans who oppose legal abortion, 57 percent reject the idea of denying communion to Catholic politicians who hold the opposite view. These sentiments fit with broader public views: Nearly-two thirds of Americans say religious leaders in general should not attempt to influence politicians' positions on the issues. Article 7:54:13 AM    comment []

Do we see a pattern here? Interrogating the Protesters or several weeks, starting before the Democratic convention, F.B.I. officers have been questioning potential political demonstrators, and their friends and families, about their plans to protest at the two national conventions. These heavy-handed inquiries are intimidating, and they threaten to chill freedom of expression. They also appear to be a spectacularly poor use of limited law-enforcement resources. The F.B.I. should redirect its efforts to focus more directly on real threats. NY Times full article FBI, N.Y. police track activists. NEW YORK -- The men who showed up at John Young's door were courteous and professional. Also intimidating. They were, after all, from the FBI. With the Republican National Convention less than two weeks away, federal agents and city police are keeping tabs on activists and others they believe might try to cause trouble. They are making unannounced visits to people's homes, conducting interviews, and monitoring websites and meetings. 7:19:46 AM    comment []