Friday, January 6, 2006

This is the list of recipients of campaign donations from Abramoff since the year 2000.  Enjoy! http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010506Z.shtml 3:31:18 PM    comment []

Word that Bush had "quietly reserved the right to bypass" a new law banning torture of detainees, did not sit well with three GOP senators, but 'the torture never stops.' [Cursor.org] 2:39:47 PM    comment []

After a press briefing where Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace accused Rep. John Murtha of hurting troop morale and recruiting, Murtha observed that "the military had no problem recruiting directly after 9/11," adding that "Peter Pace told me this last night: They know militarily they can't win this." [Cursor.org] 2:38:43 PM    comment []

Steve Cobble: Impeachment Rocks the House. I went to northern Virginia Rep. Jim Moran's Town Hall with Rep. John Murtha last night. It was a huge crowd--the overflow room overflowed, and they had to turn hundreds of people away!--and the crowd gave Rep. Murtha a very warm welcome. The most interesting thing that happened all night, however, was the spontaneous, loud, sustained applause that erupted from the crowd when one questioner said the word "impeachment". It reminded me of a similar response from the crowd last July, in Oakland, California, when Rep. Barbara Lee sponsored a panel on the Downing Street Minutes, on which I was honored to be included. The same thing happened. The crowd wanted to end the war, and most of them were demanding investigations into the lies that took the nation to war. Grassroots progressives want some answers, some investigations, some justice. People are not willing to accept that we have to put up with an America where the President and Vice-President can lie us into a war, torture, spy without a warrant, out CIA agents, aggressively act "above the law" on purpose, unilaterally abrogate treaties, insult and intimidate the rest of the world, and violate the principles of Nuremberg and Geneva. All without oversight or penalty. Imho, this is beyond politics now. It's beyond polls, even though this Ipsos poll and this Zogby poll and this Rasmussen poll are favorable (and check out MyDD, where Chris Bowers is taking progressive polling one big step further). This demand for accountability is deeply felt, going to the heart of what progressives care about--the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the U.S. as a reluctant warrior rather than an aggressor, being a "good neighbor" as well as a strong one, telling the truth as the basis for "consent of the governed", giving peace a chance, respecting and protecting the right to vote. If the Democratic leadership does not get this, it will miss its best chance to energize its voting base in next November's lower-turnout, off-year elections. [Here and here are some good reports on the town hall (including some audio and pictures). And there are 147 more town halls all over the nation this weekend, as we push "National Out of Iraq" events--check this site to find one near you.] [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 2:37:14 PM    comment []

Robert Dreyfuss: Foreign Policy Gurus Line Up Like Children. Former secretaries of state and defense aren't supposed to be poodles and patsies, but I've gotta wonder. What were they thinking? They all linked up like kindergartners for the photo op with the prez in the Oval Office, a baker's dozen of 'em by my count: Albright, Baker, Carlucci, Cohen - line up according to height please, and no pushing - and for their pains got a grand total of five to ten minutes of actual dialogue time with Bush. During that time, they were mostly polite and held their tongues. And they came out to say basically this: Well, some of us think that invading Iraq was the cat's pajamas, and some of us think it was way dumb, but now that we are there it pretty much looks like the president is doing the right thing. For their pains they were treated to a 40-minute dog and pony show by Ambassador Zal Khalilzad and Gen. Peter Pace, who (I am sure) had on their full-tint rosy eyeshades. Here's my favorite quote from the gathering of the Next Best and Brightest. From Mel Laird, the Vietnam-era defense chief: "He listened to us." Yes, but did you say anything? In five minutes, with 13 people? My calculator says that it divides up to precisely 23 second per person. Oh--wait. Colin Powell didn't say a word. That gave each of the other twelve 25 seconds a piece. And that's not counting Bush's reportedly "feisty" replies. The Times says that Madeleine Albright was one of the few who challenged Bush in the 25 seconds availabklet o her, making some sort of comment about Bush's lack of attention to foreign policy problems beyond Iraq. And Bush jumped on her for that. "I can't let this comment stand," he said, according to the Times. The event yesterday is in stark contrast to the meeting in March, 1968, when the tribal elders of the foreign policy establishment gathered to chastise LBJ for his errors in Vietnam. That meeting, which included luminaries such as Averell Harriman and Clark Clifford, convinced Johnson that he had to reverse the disastrous U.S. course in Vietnam. The meeting in the Oval Office was, instead, a public relations stunt staged by the White House as part of its weeks-long domestic offensive to recapture the political initiative over Bush's failed war in Iraq. It remains pathetic how unwilling the Democrats are to confront the president on Iraq. The clock is ticking, the election is getting closer, and the Democrats are still waffling on the single most important issue of 2006. What voters want is a clear choice. They want someone to tell them how the United States is going to get out of Iraq. Bush has his answer: We'll get out when we win. What is the Democrats' answer? Jack Murtha has his. Nancy Pelosi has hers. But the Democratic party is floundering--and it's starting to look silly. [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 9:12:16 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 Patricia Thurston.