Thanks to my friend, John, for sending the ditty below:
Sing along to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it,
clap your hands"...C'mon, everybody sing...
If you cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets are a drama, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq.
If we have no allies with us, bomb Iraq.
If we think someone has dissed us, bomb Iraq.
So to hell with the inspections,
Let's look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq.
It's "pre-emptive non-aggression", bomb Iraq.
Let's prevent this mass destruction, bomb Iraq.
They've got weapons we can't see,
And that's good enough for me
'Cos it's all the proof I need
Bomb Iraq.
If you never were elected, bomb Iraq.
If your mood is quite dejected, bomb Iraq.
If you think Saddam's gone mad,
With the weapons that he had,
(And he tried to kill your dad),
Bomb Iraq.
If your corporate fraud is growin', bomb Iraq.
If your ties to it are showin', bomb Iraq.
If your politics are sleazy,
And hiding that ain't easy,
And your manhood's getting queasy,
Bomb Iraq.
Fall in line and follow orders, bomb Iraq.
For our might knows not our borders, bomb Iraq.
Disagree? We'll call it treason,
Let's make war not love this season,
Even if we have no reason,
Bomb Iraq.
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Read Joe Conason's Journal for January 16, 2003:
The president opposes affirmative action. So how does he defend the institutional favoritism that got him into Yale? Plus: More on bad "legacies."
"(According to Cecil Adams, who writes the Straight Dope column, Bush's score was almost 200 points lower than the average for Yale freshmen circa 1970.) Bush's middling SAT score, incidentally, is roughly the same as that for most of the black students admitted to selective schools in a major Mellon Foundation study that began in 1976."
The president opposes affirmative action. So how does he defend the institutional favoritism that got him into Yale? Plus: More on bad "legacies."
"(According to Cecil Adams, who writes the Straight Dope column, Bush's score was almost 200 points lower than the average for Yale freshmen circa 1970.) Bush's middling SAT score, incidentally, is roughly the same as that for most of the black students admitted to selective schools in a major Mellon Foundation study that began in 1976."
Saturday, January 11, 2003
I have to share this satirical little response from pal, Russell Mangum (I am a Republican by Joel S. in a January 1, 2003 reader commentary seen on Buzzflash) when I sent him "And the State of the Union Is ... None of Your Business" (along with his own preface and postscript*):
Deanna,
Thank you for sending me more of your left-wing pinkoid dribble. I have never understood why you lefties insist on trying to blame everything that has happened in the past 2 years on Bush when the rest of us know full well that everything is Clinton's fault. Well, unless it's good of course, then it's either Bush's or Reagan's doing. Don't you know that questioning authority is treasonous? It is only my love for you as a friend that prevents me from turning you in to John Poindexter. (An intellectual West Coaster like you is worth BIG points in the revised TIPS point scale).
Oh, I'm sorry. Is all this shocking to you? Didn't you know all along that I was a Republican? Here, let me explain:
I am a Republican.
I am pro-life, as long as it's in the womb. I could care less about it the second it's out of the womb, which is also why I'm pro-death penalty, and anti-welfare. I believe in an ideal world, and people shouldn't be having sex. Especially if they can't deal with the consequences.
I support the Second Amendment. I don't care if we have already have a number of well-regulated militias. I don't want the government to tell me what type of weapon I can have. I need armor-piercing rounds in the event that I need to defend myself against some of those pesky armor-wearing law enforcement types. I should be able to buy a Howitzer if I can afford one. I don't want the government to check my background - they might find something that would prevent me from owning a gun.
I believe in the War on Drugs. I think a silly slogan - "Just say no" - goes a long way in preventing kids from using drugs. It doesn't matter to me that the War makes the drugs thousands of times more profitable, and provides that much more incentive to dealers and gangs. Forget rehabilitation; you reap what you sow. As I said before, I am an idealist.
I am pro-welfare. As long as it goes to Corporations that don't need it. If it goes to lazy individuals who got laid off, then I'm against it. There are too many people taking advantage of the system. No, not in the Corporations, I mean the welfare people. I don't care if you are lazy and rich. I only care if you are lazy and poor. I don't care if the crime rate will go up if people do not have options. I have a gun.
I believe that freedom of religion is one of the things that make this country great. That is why I believe it should be crammed down everyone's throats all the time. I believe it is my duty to save your soul. Even if this interferes with your religious freedom. While I care so much for your soul - I could care less about any other part of you. I don't want my tax dollars going to help the disadvantaged, but I don’t mind if they are used in public institutions to help "educate" the masses. I don't care if Jesus wanted to help the poor and the meek. I only look at the parts of the Bible that benefit me personally.
I don't care about the environment. I will disregard the scientific evidence, because it is only a "theory." Besides, I will be dead before the consequences affect me. My children are good Republicans, survival of the fittest, you know. Even though I don't believe in evolution, I believe they will adapt. It doesn't matter to me that the only reason not to regulate companies involved in environmental abuse is only a matter of their bottom line.
I believe that tax cuts will stimulate the economy. I believe that assisting corporations and wealthy individuals is good for job growth. It doesn't bother me that CEO's will cut jobs before they cut their salary. They earned it. I don't believe that the wealthy typically accumulate wealth through continuous investment, and rarely spend the way the middle class does. This holding of assets creates jobs and is good for the economy, right? The wealth disparity in this country doesn't bother me. We all have the same opportunities, right?
I am tired of immigrants coming to this country and taking our jobs. I know a lot of hard-working American lettuce pickers. It doesn't bother me that our corporations are shipping our jobs to other countries for cheaper labor and to avoid labor regulations. I can also sympathize with corporations who profit in this country but operate assets offshore to avoid paying taxes.
I'm tired of minorities whining. They have the same opportunities as every one else. I don't want more educated minorities to have more opportunities. I don't care if they underwent, or still undergo a variety of racial prejudices and injustices. That was in the past; get over it.
I don't want to hear any more pinko-socialist garbage. It doesn't matter to me that the military is provided to me by the contributions of all taxpayers, and defends me as it defends all. I don't care if the Interstate Highway System was built in this manner as well. Or law enforcement. Or any other number of public institutions. I could care less about Social Security, even if I neglect to realize that it will be there for me whether I need it or not. Hopefully.
I believe in a strong military. I believe in our right to pre-emptively defend ourselves, even if that is an oxymoron. Except when the country proves to be a real threat, like North Korea. I believe that this military should be composed exclusively of volunteer minorities and rural poor whites. I believe dying for oil is a noble cause for our brave minority and poor soldiers. I don't care if our leaders were able to obtain deferments in past wars, and children of affluence will be able to do the same for the next war. Clinton was a draft-dodger and wagged the dog in Iraq. President Bush served in the Air National Guard heroically protecting the bars of Abilene, Texas. Nor can it be proved that he went AWOL, even though he wasn't there his last year. And he is not wagging the dog in regards to the Iraq situation for political or financial profit for his associates in the energy industry. Or the defense industry. Speaking of which, I do not care if a missile shield has proven unreliable. We need it to defend ourselves against terrorists, whether it works or not.
I believe that our moral decay, and almost all of today's problems, can be traced back to one man - Bill Clinton. It doesn't matter to me that he was elected: twice. It doesn't matter to me that 50% of our nation's marriages end up in divorce, a high percentage due to infidelity. It doesn't matter that almost all politicians lie to various degrees. They shouldn't be lying about their personal lives. Keep the lying in the realm of policy and issues, thank you very much. I will credit the Republican Congress and former Republican Presidents for various achievements when it is convenient. The Democrats hold the blame for everything. Especially Clinton.
I am a Republican, and have forgotten what it means to be an American.
*I forgot to add the conclusion - "God Bless America - and Fuck Everyone Else!"
Deanna,
Thank you for sending me more of your left-wing pinkoid dribble. I have never understood why you lefties insist on trying to blame everything that has happened in the past 2 years on Bush when the rest of us know full well that everything is Clinton's fault. Well, unless it's good of course, then it's either Bush's or Reagan's doing. Don't you know that questioning authority is treasonous? It is only my love for you as a friend that prevents me from turning you in to John Poindexter. (An intellectual West Coaster like you is worth BIG points in the revised TIPS point scale).
Oh, I'm sorry. Is all this shocking to you? Didn't you know all along that I was a Republican? Here, let me explain:
I am a Republican.
I am pro-life, as long as it's in the womb. I could care less about it the second it's out of the womb, which is also why I'm pro-death penalty, and anti-welfare. I believe in an ideal world, and people shouldn't be having sex. Especially if they can't deal with the consequences.
I support the Second Amendment. I don't care if we have already have a number of well-regulated militias. I don't want the government to tell me what type of weapon I can have. I need armor-piercing rounds in the event that I need to defend myself against some of those pesky armor-wearing law enforcement types. I should be able to buy a Howitzer if I can afford one. I don't want the government to check my background - they might find something that would prevent me from owning a gun.
I believe in the War on Drugs. I think a silly slogan - "Just say no" - goes a long way in preventing kids from using drugs. It doesn't matter to me that the War makes the drugs thousands of times more profitable, and provides that much more incentive to dealers and gangs. Forget rehabilitation; you reap what you sow. As I said before, I am an idealist.
I am pro-welfare. As long as it goes to Corporations that don't need it. If it goes to lazy individuals who got laid off, then I'm against it. There are too many people taking advantage of the system. No, not in the Corporations, I mean the welfare people. I don't care if you are lazy and rich. I only care if you are lazy and poor. I don't care if the crime rate will go up if people do not have options. I have a gun.
I believe that freedom of religion is one of the things that make this country great. That is why I believe it should be crammed down everyone's throats all the time. I believe it is my duty to save your soul. Even if this interferes with your religious freedom. While I care so much for your soul - I could care less about any other part of you. I don't want my tax dollars going to help the disadvantaged, but I don’t mind if they are used in public institutions to help "educate" the masses. I don't care if Jesus wanted to help the poor and the meek. I only look at the parts of the Bible that benefit me personally.
I don't care about the environment. I will disregard the scientific evidence, because it is only a "theory." Besides, I will be dead before the consequences affect me. My children are good Republicans, survival of the fittest, you know. Even though I don't believe in evolution, I believe they will adapt. It doesn't matter to me that the only reason not to regulate companies involved in environmental abuse is only a matter of their bottom line.
I believe that tax cuts will stimulate the economy. I believe that assisting corporations and wealthy individuals is good for job growth. It doesn't bother me that CEO's will cut jobs before they cut their salary. They earned it. I don't believe that the wealthy typically accumulate wealth through continuous investment, and rarely spend the way the middle class does. This holding of assets creates jobs and is good for the economy, right? The wealth disparity in this country doesn't bother me. We all have the same opportunities, right?
I am tired of immigrants coming to this country and taking our jobs. I know a lot of hard-working American lettuce pickers. It doesn't bother me that our corporations are shipping our jobs to other countries for cheaper labor and to avoid labor regulations. I can also sympathize with corporations who profit in this country but operate assets offshore to avoid paying taxes.
I'm tired of minorities whining. They have the same opportunities as every one else. I don't want more educated minorities to have more opportunities. I don't care if they underwent, or still undergo a variety of racial prejudices and injustices. That was in the past; get over it.
I don't want to hear any more pinko-socialist garbage. It doesn't matter to me that the military is provided to me by the contributions of all taxpayers, and defends me as it defends all. I don't care if the Interstate Highway System was built in this manner as well. Or law enforcement. Or any other number of public institutions. I could care less about Social Security, even if I neglect to realize that it will be there for me whether I need it or not. Hopefully.
I believe in a strong military. I believe in our right to pre-emptively defend ourselves, even if that is an oxymoron. Except when the country proves to be a real threat, like North Korea. I believe that this military should be composed exclusively of volunteer minorities and rural poor whites. I believe dying for oil is a noble cause for our brave minority and poor soldiers. I don't care if our leaders were able to obtain deferments in past wars, and children of affluence will be able to do the same for the next war. Clinton was a draft-dodger and wagged the dog in Iraq. President Bush served in the Air National Guard heroically protecting the bars of Abilene, Texas. Nor can it be proved that he went AWOL, even though he wasn't there his last year. And he is not wagging the dog in regards to the Iraq situation for political or financial profit for his associates in the energy industry. Or the defense industry. Speaking of which, I do not care if a missile shield has proven unreliable. We need it to defend ourselves against terrorists, whether it works or not.
I believe that our moral decay, and almost all of today's problems, can be traced back to one man - Bill Clinton. It doesn't matter to me that he was elected: twice. It doesn't matter to me that 50% of our nation's marriages end up in divorce, a high percentage due to infidelity. It doesn't matter that almost all politicians lie to various degrees. They shouldn't be lying about their personal lives. Keep the lying in the realm of policy and issues, thank you very much. I will credit the Republican Congress and former Republican Presidents for various achievements when it is convenient. The Democrats hold the blame for everything. Especially Clinton.
I am a Republican, and have forgotten what it means to be an American.
*I forgot to add the conclusion - "God Bless America - and Fuck Everyone Else!"
Thursday, January 09, 2003
These are awesome and much overdue: The SUV Ads
Script for Ad #1:
"Talking Head/Parody": 30
"I helped hijack an airplane."
"I helped blow up a nightclub."
"So what if it gets 11 miles to the gallon."
"I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country."
"It makes me feel safe."
"I helped our enemies develop weapons of mass destruction."
"What if I need to go off-road?"
"Everyone has one."
"I helped teach kids around the world to hate America."
"I like to sit up high."
"I sent our soldiers off to war."
"Everyone has one."
"My life, my SUV."
"I don't even know how many miles it gets to the gallon."
WHAT IS YOUR SUV DOING TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY?
DETROIT, AMERICA NEEDS HYBRID CARS NOW.
www.thedetroitproject.com
Paid for by The Detroit Project
Script for Ad #2:
"George/Parody" : 30
"This is George. This is the gas that George bought for his SUV. This is the oil company executive that sold the gas that George bought for his SUV. These are the countries where the executive bought the oil, that made the gas that George bought for his SUV. And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his SUV."
OIL MONEY SUPPORTS SOME TERRIBLE THINGS. WHAT KIND OF MILAGE DOES YOUR SUV GET?
www.thedetroitproject.com
Paid for by The Detroit Project
Now, go and think about that big terrorist donation you're driving!
Script for Ad #1:
"Talking Head/Parody": 30
"I helped hijack an airplane."
"I helped blow up a nightclub."
"So what if it gets 11 miles to the gallon."
"I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country."
"It makes me feel safe."
"I helped our enemies develop weapons of mass destruction."
"What if I need to go off-road?"
"Everyone has one."
"I helped teach kids around the world to hate America."
"I like to sit up high."
"I sent our soldiers off to war."
"Everyone has one."
"My life, my SUV."
"I don't even know how many miles it gets to the gallon."
WHAT IS YOUR SUV DOING TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY?
DETROIT, AMERICA NEEDS HYBRID CARS NOW.
www.thedetroitproject.com
Paid for by The Detroit Project
Script for Ad #2:
"George/Parody" : 30
"This is George. This is the gas that George bought for his SUV. This is the oil company executive that sold the gas that George bought for his SUV. These are the countries where the executive bought the oil, that made the gas that George bought for his SUV. And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his SUV."
OIL MONEY SUPPORTS SOME TERRIBLE THINGS. WHAT KIND OF MILAGE DOES YOUR SUV GET?
www.thedetroitproject.com
Paid for by The Detroit Project
Now, go and think about that big terrorist donation you're driving!
Thursday, January 02, 2003
Here's the article I read that got me back to the blog. That...and a good friend responded to my frustration with a note that included questions to several friends and colleagues,
"Hey Paul, still think you can be a disinterested centrist?
Hey Neal, what is your definition of fascism?
Hey Quinton, I still forgive you.
Hey Dan, why did Bush's grandfather have his assets seized during WWII?..."
...and , of course, my favorite...
"Hey Deanna, hang in there. We're smarter than they are."
...Thanks, Russell.
2002: The Good, The Bad, The Worst
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
December 19, 2002
As years go, they don't get much worse than 2002. The year's main saving grace - that we haven't yet invaded Iraq - suggests that, believe it or not, 2003 could be even worse.
A year that came on the heels of 9/11 was probably doomed from the start. Yet the ongoing War on Terrorism that most characterizes our times has cast a muddy shadow on public life that hints of the paranoia and knee-jerk nationalism of the 1950s.
Although we have experienced no acts of domestic terrorism in the 15 months since the Sept. 11 attacks, our country is becoming increasingly unrecognizable - constricted by fear, hysteria, xenophobic intolerance and a whole new set of laws and government intrusions that most of us couldn't have imagined in the relatively rosy days of pre-9/11.
One of the year's biggest blows was the loss of Senator Paul Wellstone, killed with his wife and daughter in a plane crash on Oct. 25. Wellstone was a role model whose integrity and conscience showed us what American politics could really be like.
Looking back, it is impossible to list the myriad events, scares and arrests that dominated the constant media flow in '02. And our immediate future is teeming with unknowns: Will we invade or will we wait? How draconian are the Patriot Act and the new Homeland Security Department? How intrusive will Total Information Awareness be? We are faced with a new, strikingly conservative reality, and let's face it: Life in the USA is a whole lot less fun than it used to be.
While it's a stretch to try to find the silver lining in these dark clouds, all is not yet lost. Artists, writers, politicians, union workers, activists and countless others are using all means available to speak up - be it through the Internet, a newspaper column, the judicial system, or just good old-fashioned grassroots organizing.
Listed below are 10 threatening themes we have identified from the right-wing quagmire, followed by 10 genuine reasons for hope and celebration. Weak as the rays of hope may seem in contrast to the darkness, they are the brightest spots on the progressive horizon.
The Dark Side
1) The Conservatives' 50-Year March to Victory
The conservatives are in the middle of a successful half-century effort to transform the nation. Many credit arch-conservative Grover Norquist for bringing together fellow right-wingers along with big buck funders to create think tanks and market the plan. Their modus operandi has been consistent and deadly: Discredit the service side of government, deregulate industry, undermine trade unions, erode liberties and democratic values and trash long-standing principles of foreign policy. As U.C. Berkeley cognitive scientist George Lakoff points out, the sum of their plan is far greater than the parts: "This isn't just about taxes, or social programs, or prescription drugs, or the Iraq war. It is an attempt to take over the American mind."
2) The Politics of Fear
A majority of Americans disagree with conservative Republicans on most issues. Yet the climate of fear promoted by the Bush Administration is having wide effect. Without a clear alternative message from the Democrats, the GOP won big in the midterm elections. The constant use of scare tactics and the demonizing of Saddam Hussein dominate the public discourse at the expense of many other important issues. As Herb Chao Gunther, head of the Public Media Center notes, anxious people "have a tendency to look for the 'tough cop on the beat' to take care of them." In a recent political address to fellow Dems, Bill Clinton echoed his analysis: "When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody who's strong and wrong than somebody, who's weak and right."
3) Let's Call It the Conservative Corporate Media
Whack Them Lefties, once the occasional pastime of bitter conservatives, became a televised national sport in 2002 with the help of Rupert Murdoch and his Fox "news" channel. Bill O'Reilly, the Mike Tyson of liberal-bashing, used progressive ideas and commentators as handy straw men, pounding them into a bloody pulp in rigged debates that bore an uncanny resemblance to WWF programming. This cult-like phenomenon unfortunately gained journalistic legitimacy thanks to the mainstream media, which mindlessly echoed every frivolous right-wing theory or allegation under the guise of news reporting. The U.S. media today resembles a funhouse hall of mirrors, reflecting a distorted reality that serves corporate rather than public interest.
4) The Return of the Living Dead
Who said there are no second acts in American politics? We naively believed that congressional hearings drove a stake through the heart of the Reagan-era Iran/Contragate scandal. But 15 years later, a zombie-like gallery of rogues have arisen from the dead to haunt our political landscape. Elliot Abrams, John Poindexter, John Negroponte and Otto Reich, all key Contragate players, now all occupy high positions in the White House. Fortunately, the resignation of Henry Kissinger as head of the 9/11 investigation committee signals the return of at least one zombie to the crypt. True to form, Kissinger departed not because of his shoddy track record of human rights violations, abuse of power or clandestine warfare, but because he was unwilling to reveal the client list of his precious consulting firm.
5) Big Brother on Steroids
You'd think people would have figured it out by now: Huge government bureaucracy simply doesn't work, no matter what the ideology behind it. But the current occupants of the White House are determined to repeat grievous errors of the past. During this year, they have created gargantuan institutions whose size and powers are unprecedented in U.S. history. The Homeland Security Act consolidates 22 wildly divergent agencies, 170,000 civil servants and $37 billion worth of goods and services, making it the largest non-military department in the government. From the USA PATRIOT Act, to the Homeland Security Act and Total Information Awareness (complete with the official logo of an unblinking eye), security has never sounded so scary, or to use the "F" word, fascist.
6) Bush's Reign of Eco-Terror
From day one of his administration, it was clear the environment was high on the President's "Things to Destroy" list. His appointments for Energy Secretary, Secretary of the Interior, heads of the EPA and the USDA, not to mention the man himself and his titular second-in-command, are all buried deep in the muck of the oil, logging, mining and chemical industries. Bush repeatedly refuted global warming, but when his own EPA released a report saying that it was most definitely a real threat, he admitted its existence, but dismissed the report as a work of bureaucracy and urged Americans to adapt to changes rather than give up their SUVs. Bush has gutted the Clean Air Act, loosened restrictions on drilling, mining or logging on public lands and pushed to open many of our National Parks to his friends in private industry. Now he plans to offer 9.6 million acres of pristine Alaskan coastline for drilling in 2004.
7) The Corporate Reform That Wasn't
Corporate accountability crashed and burned in 2002, sending an already flailing economy spiraling downward. The Enrons, WorldComs and Tycos of the world destroyed $175 billion in retirement savings. But the march to war in Iraq has pushed plans of corporate reform into virtual obscurity, though it remains high on most Americans' list of priorities. In response, Democrats have made economic recovery a party priority, but in the post-November elections era, the Dems are outnumbered (and perhaps outwitted) by the Republicans. As columnist Robert Scheer warns: "We ought to wake up to the reality that business greed is subverting the American way of life - and hurting the image of American capitalism and democracy - more effectively than the ploys of any foreign enemy."
8) The Body Politic
2002 may well be remembered as the year when medical science was turned on its ear. Over the last 12 months, many of our long-held health and dietary views were refuted or reversed. Hormone replacement therapy was convincingly proven to harm as much as it helped; arthroscopic knee surgeries, which generate over a billion dollars per year in medical revenue, were shown to be less effective in curing knee problems than are placebo operations; and the low-fat diet that is the darling of the medical establishment was targeted as a primary cause of the obesity epidemic. E. coli, salmonella and listeria outbreaks around the country were traced back to poor conditions at meat-packing plants and factory farms, causing many to question the safety of American agriculture.
9) Racism Goes Mainstream
One of the big winners this year was racism with a capital R. Along with other social scourges like Kissinger et al., racial profiling made a stellar comeback in the name of national security. Scarves, turbans and beards lost favor, but mocking, abusing, or sometimes physically attacking anyone with the wrong name or skin color gained in popularity. Xenophobia became a respectable middle-class virtue this year - with cheery blonde-haired soccer moms talking freely about the need to keep America safe from "those people." No wonder Trent Lott is feeling nostalgic.
10) Foreign Policy Goes Back to the Future
If the Homeland Security agency sparked fears of an Orwellian future, U.S. foreign policy turned retro - returning to long-discarded policies of the past. The Bush administration's "war on terror" heralded the return of Cold War chic. In 2002, assassinating "enemies" (a list that includes American citizens), nuclear warfare, Star Wars programs, staggering defense budgets and cozying up to a new crop of bloodthirsty tyrants became cool again. But this is just the beginning of an unprecedented new paradigm in post-WWII U.S. foreign policy that is driven by dangerous visions of imperial power. Cheney, Rumsfeld and their various protégés plan to take us back a lot further in history - all the way back to the golden age of the British Empire. Hail to the King!
The Silver Lining
1) The Rapid-Response Peace Movement
One of the most encouraging signs of the year was the lightning-quick organization of a deep-rooted, nation-wide peace movement. On Oct. 26, hundreds of thousands congregated in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and other cities to protest Bush's proposed war for oil. And most heartening, the fledgling movement is made up of a coalition of unlikely allies. Teachers, Teamsters, healthcare unions and countless other labor organizations are working together. Veterans were among the first to speak out: From current enlisted soldiers in all of the Armed Forces to those who witnessed the realities of the first War on Iraq, military voices eloquently reminded the nation of the horrors of war. The movement also includes African-American and Latino organizations, hundreds of campus antiwar groups, religious groups, celebrities (including Sean Penn, who traveled to Baghdad) and scores of Just Plain Folks who never attended a protest in their lives.
2) Michael Moore: The People's Filmmaker
Radical filmmaker Michael Moore's star soared to new heights this year with "Bowling For Columbine," a funny, courageous, bittersweet documentary on gun violence in America. The film, currently in the widest-ever national release of a documentary, is enjoying both critical acclaim and popular success. Moore is arguably the only artist in America asking the big question: Why is America so violent? Moore's book "Stupid White Men" is in its ninth month on the NYT bestseller list and was 2002's biggest selling nonfiction book. Eric Demby writes in the Village Voice that Moore's popularity "has extended beyond the liberal fringe and represents the fruits of a grassroots movement that corporate America and potentially the government can no longer ignore." Go get 'em, Mike!
3) The Power of the Web
When the web bubble burst, dotcom businesses went belly-up, but the Internet didn't go away. It's still here, and just as useful as ever. In 2002, activists took to the web to mobilize in the largest numbers ever. Web sites like UnitedforPeace.org, VeteransforCommonSense.org and AntiWar.com all became resources and organizing centers for the peace movement, while WorkingForChange.com and True Majority.org helped connect people with their elected representatives. It took MoveOn.org mere days to collect more than 175,000 signatures and over $300,000 in donations to buy antiwar advertisements in national media outlets. MoveOn's success shows how much power is created when we connect like-minded people online - a power we've just begun to tap.
4) Writing Truth to Power
No journalist puts a bee in Dubya's bonnet quite like Paul Krugman, the Princeton economics professor who writes a twice-weekly column in The New York Times. Of all our major pundits, Krugman most forcefully illuminates what Nicholas Confessore in the Washington Monthly called "the seamless melding of corporate, class, and political party interests at which the Bush administration excels." He is a fearless and brilliant critic who has persistently pointed out the administration's deceptive economic policies, most memorably the Bush tax cut. Krugman and other left-leaning political columnists like William Greider, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, Farai Chideya and Arianna Huffington have become the truthtellers of progressive America. They are all, in Confessore's words, "essential reading for the Age of Bush."
5) Leading the Charge
Luckily, there is no shortage of inspirational leaders fighting the good fight. Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, is helping to raise the visibility of rights abuses across the land and educating Americans on what the Patriot Act and the new Homeland Security department could do to our basic constitutional rights. Fifty thousand Americans joined the ACLU after 9/11, bringing the organization's membership to a whopping 330,000. Other leaders aggressively and effectively bucking the conservative trend include Greenpeace head John Passacantando; Van Jones of the Books Not Bars campaign; Martha Honey, who runs the highly influential Foreign Policy in Focus; Billy Wimsatt, who organizes "young rich kids" for social change; SEIU organizer Jane McAlevey, leading union organizing across the country for quality public health care; and far too many others to list. Those who stand out include philanthropist Rob McKay, who invested millions in a major campaign to expand voter participation with Prop. 52, Election Day Voter Registration in California; and Paul Hawken, whose anti-corporate speech at the Bioneers conference this fall rocked the 3,000-strong audience with power and passion.
6) Conscious Hip Hop Comes Home
From The Coup to Dead Prez, from Mos Def to Talib Kweli, Sarah Jones and Danny Hoch, 2002 was a powerful year for progressive hip hop. Black August, the independent hip hop benefit for political prisoners, grabs larger crowds each year. The Hip Hop Theater All Stars - a socially conscious crew including Danny Hoch, Suheir Hammad and Sarah Jones - made its way from sold-out shows on both coasts to MTV. While there have long been radical and revolutionary individual hip hop artists, 2002 saw the emergence of a conscious hip hop community keeping it real while keeping the beat.
7) Elected Officials We Can Respect
Elections often disappoint us, but electoral politics is essential to change. Though so many of our leaders failed us on the crucial Bush/Iraq war vote, there were many who didn't. Let's support our best and help bolster the courage of their convictions: Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Minority Leader in the House; Dennis Kucinich, the brilliant working class hero from Cleveland; Senators Barbara Boxer and Carl Levin; stalwarts Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, Jon Corzine and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin; and virtually the entire Black and Hispanic caucuses. Other progressive pols who deserve props are Barbara Lee of Berkeley; Bernie Sanders in Vermont; Jerry Nadler on the Westside of Manhattan; Jan Shakowsky in Chicago; and John Conyers of Detroit.
8) Carter's Nobel Coup
If you interpreted the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to humanitarian Jimmy Carter as a direct challenge to Bush's warmongering ways, you weren't far off the mark. Bestowing the honor upon the former pres, Nobel committee chairman Gunnar Berge pulled no punches. He declared the award "should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken. It's a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States." Carter has been an articulate and persistent critic of Bush's foreign policies, and with the prestige of the Nobel behind him, we hope his diplomatic efforts will bear even more fruit in the future.
9) Noam and Naomi
It's good to know who you can count on. In 2002, both Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein published smart books ("Manufacturing Consent" and "Fences and Windows," respectively) and continued their habit of speaking truth to power - both eloquently and often. Whether analyzing the roots of corporate excess, breaking down the motivations for U.S. military action or speaking as firm supporters of global justice protests, they are sometimes bellicose and bombastic, but always passionate and clear on who holds power and how it is being used. Noam Chomsky wins our Lifetime Achievement Award. Long may he carry the torch.
10) Leading the Union Movement
Among trade unions, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) stands out as a union investing serious resources in organizing, with the willingness to develop a broad-based ambitious campaign for national health insurance. The 1.5 million-member union is working on solutions that will ensure quality care, reduce the costs of prescription drugs, and enable families to take back control from the HMOs. Given the more than 40 million Americans who are uninsured, no issue is more important to the public today.
AlterNet staff Lakshmi Chaudhry, Tai Moses, Rachel Neumann, Omar J. Pahati, Derek Powazek and Matt Wheeland contributed to this article.
"Hey Paul, still think you can be a disinterested centrist?
Hey Neal, what is your definition of fascism?
Hey Quinton, I still forgive you.
Hey Dan, why did Bush's grandfather have his assets seized during WWII?..."
...and , of course, my favorite...
"Hey Deanna, hang in there. We're smarter than they are."
...Thanks, Russell.
2002: The Good, The Bad, The Worst
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
December 19, 2002
As years go, they don't get much worse than 2002. The year's main saving grace - that we haven't yet invaded Iraq - suggests that, believe it or not, 2003 could be even worse.
A year that came on the heels of 9/11 was probably doomed from the start. Yet the ongoing War on Terrorism that most characterizes our times has cast a muddy shadow on public life that hints of the paranoia and knee-jerk nationalism of the 1950s.
Although we have experienced no acts of domestic terrorism in the 15 months since the Sept. 11 attacks, our country is becoming increasingly unrecognizable - constricted by fear, hysteria, xenophobic intolerance and a whole new set of laws and government intrusions that most of us couldn't have imagined in the relatively rosy days of pre-9/11.
One of the year's biggest blows was the loss of Senator Paul Wellstone, killed with his wife and daughter in a plane crash on Oct. 25. Wellstone was a role model whose integrity and conscience showed us what American politics could really be like.
Looking back, it is impossible to list the myriad events, scares and arrests that dominated the constant media flow in '02. And our immediate future is teeming with unknowns: Will we invade or will we wait? How draconian are the Patriot Act and the new Homeland Security Department? How intrusive will Total Information Awareness be? We are faced with a new, strikingly conservative reality, and let's face it: Life in the USA is a whole lot less fun than it used to be.
While it's a stretch to try to find the silver lining in these dark clouds, all is not yet lost. Artists, writers, politicians, union workers, activists and countless others are using all means available to speak up - be it through the Internet, a newspaper column, the judicial system, or just good old-fashioned grassroots organizing.
Listed below are 10 threatening themes we have identified from the right-wing quagmire, followed by 10 genuine reasons for hope and celebration. Weak as the rays of hope may seem in contrast to the darkness, they are the brightest spots on the progressive horizon.
The Dark Side
1) The Conservatives' 50-Year March to Victory
The conservatives are in the middle of a successful half-century effort to transform the nation. Many credit arch-conservative Grover Norquist for bringing together fellow right-wingers along with big buck funders to create think tanks and market the plan. Their modus operandi has been consistent and deadly: Discredit the service side of government, deregulate industry, undermine trade unions, erode liberties and democratic values and trash long-standing principles of foreign policy. As U.C. Berkeley cognitive scientist George Lakoff points out, the sum of their plan is far greater than the parts: "This isn't just about taxes, or social programs, or prescription drugs, or the Iraq war. It is an attempt to take over the American mind."
2) The Politics of Fear
A majority of Americans disagree with conservative Republicans on most issues. Yet the climate of fear promoted by the Bush Administration is having wide effect. Without a clear alternative message from the Democrats, the GOP won big in the midterm elections. The constant use of scare tactics and the demonizing of Saddam Hussein dominate the public discourse at the expense of many other important issues. As Herb Chao Gunther, head of the Public Media Center notes, anxious people "have a tendency to look for the 'tough cop on the beat' to take care of them." In a recent political address to fellow Dems, Bill Clinton echoed his analysis: "When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody who's strong and wrong than somebody, who's weak and right."
3) Let's Call It the Conservative Corporate Media
Whack Them Lefties, once the occasional pastime of bitter conservatives, became a televised national sport in 2002 with the help of Rupert Murdoch and his Fox "news" channel. Bill O'Reilly, the Mike Tyson of liberal-bashing, used progressive ideas and commentators as handy straw men, pounding them into a bloody pulp in rigged debates that bore an uncanny resemblance to WWF programming. This cult-like phenomenon unfortunately gained journalistic legitimacy thanks to the mainstream media, which mindlessly echoed every frivolous right-wing theory or allegation under the guise of news reporting. The U.S. media today resembles a funhouse hall of mirrors, reflecting a distorted reality that serves corporate rather than public interest.
4) The Return of the Living Dead
Who said there are no second acts in American politics? We naively believed that congressional hearings drove a stake through the heart of the Reagan-era Iran/Contragate scandal. But 15 years later, a zombie-like gallery of rogues have arisen from the dead to haunt our political landscape. Elliot Abrams, John Poindexter, John Negroponte and Otto Reich, all key Contragate players, now all occupy high positions in the White House. Fortunately, the resignation of Henry Kissinger as head of the 9/11 investigation committee signals the return of at least one zombie to the crypt. True to form, Kissinger departed not because of his shoddy track record of human rights violations, abuse of power or clandestine warfare, but because he was unwilling to reveal the client list of his precious consulting firm.
5) Big Brother on Steroids
You'd think people would have figured it out by now: Huge government bureaucracy simply doesn't work, no matter what the ideology behind it. But the current occupants of the White House are determined to repeat grievous errors of the past. During this year, they have created gargantuan institutions whose size and powers are unprecedented in U.S. history. The Homeland Security Act consolidates 22 wildly divergent agencies, 170,000 civil servants and $37 billion worth of goods and services, making it the largest non-military department in the government. From the USA PATRIOT Act, to the Homeland Security Act and Total Information Awareness (complete with the official logo of an unblinking eye), security has never sounded so scary, or to use the "F" word, fascist.
6) Bush's Reign of Eco-Terror
From day one of his administration, it was clear the environment was high on the President's "Things to Destroy" list. His appointments for Energy Secretary, Secretary of the Interior, heads of the EPA and the USDA, not to mention the man himself and his titular second-in-command, are all buried deep in the muck of the oil, logging, mining and chemical industries. Bush repeatedly refuted global warming, but when his own EPA released a report saying that it was most definitely a real threat, he admitted its existence, but dismissed the report as a work of bureaucracy and urged Americans to adapt to changes rather than give up their SUVs. Bush has gutted the Clean Air Act, loosened restrictions on drilling, mining or logging on public lands and pushed to open many of our National Parks to his friends in private industry. Now he plans to offer 9.6 million acres of pristine Alaskan coastline for drilling in 2004.
7) The Corporate Reform That Wasn't
Corporate accountability crashed and burned in 2002, sending an already flailing economy spiraling downward. The Enrons, WorldComs and Tycos of the world destroyed $175 billion in retirement savings. But the march to war in Iraq has pushed plans of corporate reform into virtual obscurity, though it remains high on most Americans' list of priorities. In response, Democrats have made economic recovery a party priority, but in the post-November elections era, the Dems are outnumbered (and perhaps outwitted) by the Republicans. As columnist Robert Scheer warns: "We ought to wake up to the reality that business greed is subverting the American way of life - and hurting the image of American capitalism and democracy - more effectively than the ploys of any foreign enemy."
8) The Body Politic
2002 may well be remembered as the year when medical science was turned on its ear. Over the last 12 months, many of our long-held health and dietary views were refuted or reversed. Hormone replacement therapy was convincingly proven to harm as much as it helped; arthroscopic knee surgeries, which generate over a billion dollars per year in medical revenue, were shown to be less effective in curing knee problems than are placebo operations; and the low-fat diet that is the darling of the medical establishment was targeted as a primary cause of the obesity epidemic. E. coli, salmonella and listeria outbreaks around the country were traced back to poor conditions at meat-packing plants and factory farms, causing many to question the safety of American agriculture.
9) Racism Goes Mainstream
One of the big winners this year was racism with a capital R. Along with other social scourges like Kissinger et al., racial profiling made a stellar comeback in the name of national security. Scarves, turbans and beards lost favor, but mocking, abusing, or sometimes physically attacking anyone with the wrong name or skin color gained in popularity. Xenophobia became a respectable middle-class virtue this year - with cheery blonde-haired soccer moms talking freely about the need to keep America safe from "those people." No wonder Trent Lott is feeling nostalgic.
10) Foreign Policy Goes Back to the Future
If the Homeland Security agency sparked fears of an Orwellian future, U.S. foreign policy turned retro - returning to long-discarded policies of the past. The Bush administration's "war on terror" heralded the return of Cold War chic. In 2002, assassinating "enemies" (a list that includes American citizens), nuclear warfare, Star Wars programs, staggering defense budgets and cozying up to a new crop of bloodthirsty tyrants became cool again. But this is just the beginning of an unprecedented new paradigm in post-WWII U.S. foreign policy that is driven by dangerous visions of imperial power. Cheney, Rumsfeld and their various protégés plan to take us back a lot further in history - all the way back to the golden age of the British Empire. Hail to the King!
The Silver Lining
1) The Rapid-Response Peace Movement
One of the most encouraging signs of the year was the lightning-quick organization of a deep-rooted, nation-wide peace movement. On Oct. 26, hundreds of thousands congregated in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and other cities to protest Bush's proposed war for oil. And most heartening, the fledgling movement is made up of a coalition of unlikely allies. Teachers, Teamsters, healthcare unions and countless other labor organizations are working together. Veterans were among the first to speak out: From current enlisted soldiers in all of the Armed Forces to those who witnessed the realities of the first War on Iraq, military voices eloquently reminded the nation of the horrors of war. The movement also includes African-American and Latino organizations, hundreds of campus antiwar groups, religious groups, celebrities (including Sean Penn, who traveled to Baghdad) and scores of Just Plain Folks who never attended a protest in their lives.
2) Michael Moore: The People's Filmmaker
Radical filmmaker Michael Moore's star soared to new heights this year with "Bowling For Columbine," a funny, courageous, bittersweet documentary on gun violence in America. The film, currently in the widest-ever national release of a documentary, is enjoying both critical acclaim and popular success. Moore is arguably the only artist in America asking the big question: Why is America so violent? Moore's book "Stupid White Men" is in its ninth month on the NYT bestseller list and was 2002's biggest selling nonfiction book. Eric Demby writes in the Village Voice that Moore's popularity "has extended beyond the liberal fringe and represents the fruits of a grassroots movement that corporate America and potentially the government can no longer ignore." Go get 'em, Mike!
3) The Power of the Web
When the web bubble burst, dotcom businesses went belly-up, but the Internet didn't go away. It's still here, and just as useful as ever. In 2002, activists took to the web to mobilize in the largest numbers ever. Web sites like UnitedforPeace.org, VeteransforCommonSense.org and AntiWar.com all became resources and organizing centers for the peace movement, while WorkingForChange.com and True Majority.org helped connect people with their elected representatives. It took MoveOn.org mere days to collect more than 175,000 signatures and over $300,000 in donations to buy antiwar advertisements in national media outlets. MoveOn's success shows how much power is created when we connect like-minded people online - a power we've just begun to tap.
4) Writing Truth to Power
No journalist puts a bee in Dubya's bonnet quite like Paul Krugman, the Princeton economics professor who writes a twice-weekly column in The New York Times. Of all our major pundits, Krugman most forcefully illuminates what Nicholas Confessore in the Washington Monthly called "the seamless melding of corporate, class, and political party interests at which the Bush administration excels." He is a fearless and brilliant critic who has persistently pointed out the administration's deceptive economic policies, most memorably the Bush tax cut. Krugman and other left-leaning political columnists like William Greider, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, Farai Chideya and Arianna Huffington have become the truthtellers of progressive America. They are all, in Confessore's words, "essential reading for the Age of Bush."
5) Leading the Charge
Luckily, there is no shortage of inspirational leaders fighting the good fight. Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, is helping to raise the visibility of rights abuses across the land and educating Americans on what the Patriot Act and the new Homeland Security department could do to our basic constitutional rights. Fifty thousand Americans joined the ACLU after 9/11, bringing the organization's membership to a whopping 330,000. Other leaders aggressively and effectively bucking the conservative trend include Greenpeace head John Passacantando; Van Jones of the Books Not Bars campaign; Martha Honey, who runs the highly influential Foreign Policy in Focus; Billy Wimsatt, who organizes "young rich kids" for social change; SEIU organizer Jane McAlevey, leading union organizing across the country for quality public health care; and far too many others to list. Those who stand out include philanthropist Rob McKay, who invested millions in a major campaign to expand voter participation with Prop. 52, Election Day Voter Registration in California; and Paul Hawken, whose anti-corporate speech at the Bioneers conference this fall rocked the 3,000-strong audience with power and passion.
6) Conscious Hip Hop Comes Home
From The Coup to Dead Prez, from Mos Def to Talib Kweli, Sarah Jones and Danny Hoch, 2002 was a powerful year for progressive hip hop. Black August, the independent hip hop benefit for political prisoners, grabs larger crowds each year. The Hip Hop Theater All Stars - a socially conscious crew including Danny Hoch, Suheir Hammad and Sarah Jones - made its way from sold-out shows on both coasts to MTV. While there have long been radical and revolutionary individual hip hop artists, 2002 saw the emergence of a conscious hip hop community keeping it real while keeping the beat.
7) Elected Officials We Can Respect
Elections often disappoint us, but electoral politics is essential to change. Though so many of our leaders failed us on the crucial Bush/Iraq war vote, there were many who didn't. Let's support our best and help bolster the courage of their convictions: Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Minority Leader in the House; Dennis Kucinich, the brilliant working class hero from Cleveland; Senators Barbara Boxer and Carl Levin; stalwarts Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, Jon Corzine and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin; and virtually the entire Black and Hispanic caucuses. Other progressive pols who deserve props are Barbara Lee of Berkeley; Bernie Sanders in Vermont; Jerry Nadler on the Westside of Manhattan; Jan Shakowsky in Chicago; and John Conyers of Detroit.
8) Carter's Nobel Coup
If you interpreted the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to humanitarian Jimmy Carter as a direct challenge to Bush's warmongering ways, you weren't far off the mark. Bestowing the honor upon the former pres, Nobel committee chairman Gunnar Berge pulled no punches. He declared the award "should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken. It's a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States." Carter has been an articulate and persistent critic of Bush's foreign policies, and with the prestige of the Nobel behind him, we hope his diplomatic efforts will bear even more fruit in the future.
9) Noam and Naomi
It's good to know who you can count on. In 2002, both Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein published smart books ("Manufacturing Consent" and "Fences and Windows," respectively) and continued their habit of speaking truth to power - both eloquently and often. Whether analyzing the roots of corporate excess, breaking down the motivations for U.S. military action or speaking as firm supporters of global justice protests, they are sometimes bellicose and bombastic, but always passionate and clear on who holds power and how it is being used. Noam Chomsky wins our Lifetime Achievement Award. Long may he carry the torch.
10) Leading the Union Movement
Among trade unions, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) stands out as a union investing serious resources in organizing, with the willingness to develop a broad-based ambitious campaign for national health insurance. The 1.5 million-member union is working on solutions that will ensure quality care, reduce the costs of prescription drugs, and enable families to take back control from the HMOs. Given the more than 40 million Americans who are uninsured, no issue is more important to the public today.
AlterNet staff Lakshmi Chaudhry, Tai Moses, Rachel Neumann, Omar J. Pahati, Derek Powazek and Matt Wheeland contributed to this article.
Okay, the holidays were good and fortunately we got TiVo for Christmas so we don't have to watch Shrub and hear his bullshit. Anyway, the following piece is a much more accurate reflection of the state of the union than we'll get from Duh....
And the State of the Union Is ... None of Your Business
By Charles Sheehan-Miles, AlterNet
December 30, 2002
Soon George Bush will deliver his second State of the Union address. As we all know, it's been a tough couple of years, so as we approach the President's second address, I think it's time to take a careful look at our current condition.
The U.S. economy is sliding into a double-dip recession, with possible deflation, and this isn't good. It would be intellectually dishonest to blame this only on the Bush administration: I vividly recall the week in April 2000 when my E-Trade account, heavy in high-tech and telecommunications stocks, cut its value in half overnight. However, nearly three years later the tidal waves of layoffs are still hitting companies as varied as WorldCom and McDonalds.
More worrisome is an ominous trend reported in the New York Times recently. Despite a 5-year-old HUD program designed to curb home foreclosures, national foreclosure rates are the highest in 30 years. Lenders foreclosed on 135,000 family home mortgages, or about four out of every thousand, in the second quarter alone. Is the real-estate bubble about to burst, too?
If so, hundreds of thousands of working families may find themselves upside-down on their mortgages just as companies nation-wide are laying off even more employees. This invites predatory real-estate investors and lenders who snatch up the foreclosed properties on the cheap and rent them. This creates a vicious cycle: Homeowners become renters and property values deflate sharply.
What exactly is the Bush administration doing about all this? Not a lot. After eight years of shrinking government, reduced budget deficits, and a record boom economy, the Bush administration ballooned government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars while cutting taxes for corporations and the rich. Who pays for the massive Bush debt? We all will, and our children, and their children.
Moving on from the economy, let's take a look at the new White House foreign policy. The U.S. is becoming a forward-deployed militaristic empire that makes little distinction between friends and foes. The U.S. threatens preemptive military action against anyone even slightly offensive to us.
The war drums for Iraq were beating within seconds of the new administration taking office. The tragic events of September 11 gave the hawks new impetus. The Bush administration openly says the U.S. will invade Iraq regardless of what Congress, the U.N., or the American people want.
Not much attention has been paid to other U.S. deployments, but since last year, American troops deployed all over the globe; with new military bases in the former Soviet Republics, troops deployed in Indonesia, the Philippines, South Asia and the Horn of Africa.
Despite all the military and diplomatic activity, the people who actually attacked us, al-Qeada and Osama Bin-laden, are still at large.
All over the world, many people wonder who's next on the U.S. invasion list, and how soon will they see U.S. tanks outside their doors? Soon, other countries will be asking themselves, what will appeasement (or a lack of it) to the U.S. mean?
Sober patriots among us ask: is the U.S. on the road to starting a third World War where the U.S. acts as the aggressor? Let's pray it isn't so.
On the home front, things are just as worrisome. The grossly misnamed Patriot Act codified the most severe assault on American Constitutional liberties since the dreaded McCarthy Era.
"Terrorist organizations" are redefined as any group of two or more people who have threatened to use violence for any reason. Terrorism is defined as any attempt to use coercion to influence political activity. If you give money to a local health care clinic which is also funded by a foundation which also gives money to Hamas, you are associated with terrorists.
If you go to a political rally and participate in civil disobedience where the police arrest you, the law calls you a terrorist. The new definitions are overly broad and subject to wide abuse.
Of course, in the new America, you don't have to be a terrorist to get locked up. Today, there are American citizens being held without access to attorneys, without charges, without benefit of constitutional protections, solely on the word of the attorney general. While one of those was captured on a battlefield, another was arrested in an American city. I'm not aware of any exceptions in the Constitution that say the basic fundamental rights of Americans apply only until the President says otherwise.
Here is a list of a disturbing collection of too much power concentrated in one branch of government:
-Today, right now, the government can search your home without telling you, and without a warrant.
-Today, the government can find out what you've read at the library and what you've bought at the bookstore, again without a warrant.
-The government can arrest the local librarian for telling you the government asked about your reading habits.
-The government can listen in on conversations between you and your attorney and use the information against you.
-The government can declare an emergency and forcefully vaccinate you and your family, without exception, using both approved and experimental drugs. And if you, as a civilian, get sick from the shots (as thousands of Gulf War veterans did), you won't have any legal recourse.
-The government has a new Homeland Security Department rivaling the powers of the KGB. There is little oversight. There are no labor law protections for the workers who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse. Like the KGB, the work of Homeland Security will be conducted in secret, as the Freedom of Information Act was gutted last year.
Today, we have a government more concerned with secrecy than open government, more concerned with corporate rights than human rights, and more concerned with dishing out huge defense contracts to campaign contributors than assisting unemployed workers facing foreclosure.
In January of 2003, President Bush will tell you things are good, that the U.S. is standing tall. He will say the economy is good. He will say the war on terror is on track. He'll say invading and occupying Iraq, even with all the death and destruction, is good for the U.S. national interest and our need for oil.
He'll say Osama is no big deal anyway, the real perpetrator of 9/11 was Iraq, and killing Saddam Hussein is good. He will portray himself as our benevolent father figure and protector during these difficult times.
Maybe he'll tell us that War is Peace, and Freedom is Slavery.
Be very concerned. We the people need to stand up and demand accountability and stop Bush's outrages. Unless we do, by 2004 the State of the Union may be classified: Our freedom will be eroded, and the status of our foreign wars and our beleaguered economy will be a secret; it won't be any of our business.
Charles Sheehan-Miles, a Gulf War veteran and a co-founder of Veterans for Common Sense, is a former president of the National Gulf War Resource Center and the author of "Prayer at Rumayla" (XLibris, 2001).
And the State of the Union Is ... None of Your Business
By Charles Sheehan-Miles, AlterNet
December 30, 2002
Soon George Bush will deliver his second State of the Union address. As we all know, it's been a tough couple of years, so as we approach the President's second address, I think it's time to take a careful look at our current condition.
The U.S. economy is sliding into a double-dip recession, with possible deflation, and this isn't good. It would be intellectually dishonest to blame this only on the Bush administration: I vividly recall the week in April 2000 when my E-Trade account, heavy in high-tech and telecommunications stocks, cut its value in half overnight. However, nearly three years later the tidal waves of layoffs are still hitting companies as varied as WorldCom and McDonalds.
More worrisome is an ominous trend reported in the New York Times recently. Despite a 5-year-old HUD program designed to curb home foreclosures, national foreclosure rates are the highest in 30 years. Lenders foreclosed on 135,000 family home mortgages, or about four out of every thousand, in the second quarter alone. Is the real-estate bubble about to burst, too?
If so, hundreds of thousands of working families may find themselves upside-down on their mortgages just as companies nation-wide are laying off even more employees. This invites predatory real-estate investors and lenders who snatch up the foreclosed properties on the cheap and rent them. This creates a vicious cycle: Homeowners become renters and property values deflate sharply.
What exactly is the Bush administration doing about all this? Not a lot. After eight years of shrinking government, reduced budget deficits, and a record boom economy, the Bush administration ballooned government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars while cutting taxes for corporations and the rich. Who pays for the massive Bush debt? We all will, and our children, and their children.
Moving on from the economy, let's take a look at the new White House foreign policy. The U.S. is becoming a forward-deployed militaristic empire that makes little distinction between friends and foes. The U.S. threatens preemptive military action against anyone even slightly offensive to us.
The war drums for Iraq were beating within seconds of the new administration taking office. The tragic events of September 11 gave the hawks new impetus. The Bush administration openly says the U.S. will invade Iraq regardless of what Congress, the U.N., or the American people want.
Not much attention has been paid to other U.S. deployments, but since last year, American troops deployed all over the globe; with new military bases in the former Soviet Republics, troops deployed in Indonesia, the Philippines, South Asia and the Horn of Africa.
Despite all the military and diplomatic activity, the people who actually attacked us, al-Qeada and Osama Bin-laden, are still at large.
All over the world, many people wonder who's next on the U.S. invasion list, and how soon will they see U.S. tanks outside their doors? Soon, other countries will be asking themselves, what will appeasement (or a lack of it) to the U.S. mean?
Sober patriots among us ask: is the U.S. on the road to starting a third World War where the U.S. acts as the aggressor? Let's pray it isn't so.
On the home front, things are just as worrisome. The grossly misnamed Patriot Act codified the most severe assault on American Constitutional liberties since the dreaded McCarthy Era.
"Terrorist organizations" are redefined as any group of two or more people who have threatened to use violence for any reason. Terrorism is defined as any attempt to use coercion to influence political activity. If you give money to a local health care clinic which is also funded by a foundation which also gives money to Hamas, you are associated with terrorists.
If you go to a political rally and participate in civil disobedience where the police arrest you, the law calls you a terrorist. The new definitions are overly broad and subject to wide abuse.
Of course, in the new America, you don't have to be a terrorist to get locked up. Today, there are American citizens being held without access to attorneys, without charges, without benefit of constitutional protections, solely on the word of the attorney general. While one of those was captured on a battlefield, another was arrested in an American city. I'm not aware of any exceptions in the Constitution that say the basic fundamental rights of Americans apply only until the President says otherwise.
Here is a list of a disturbing collection of too much power concentrated in one branch of government:
-Today, right now, the government can search your home without telling you, and without a warrant.
-Today, the government can find out what you've read at the library and what you've bought at the bookstore, again without a warrant.
-The government can arrest the local librarian for telling you the government asked about your reading habits.
-The government can listen in on conversations between you and your attorney and use the information against you.
-The government can declare an emergency and forcefully vaccinate you and your family, without exception, using both approved and experimental drugs. And if you, as a civilian, get sick from the shots (as thousands of Gulf War veterans did), you won't have any legal recourse.
-The government has a new Homeland Security Department rivaling the powers of the KGB. There is little oversight. There are no labor law protections for the workers who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse. Like the KGB, the work of Homeland Security will be conducted in secret, as the Freedom of Information Act was gutted last year.
Today, we have a government more concerned with secrecy than open government, more concerned with corporate rights than human rights, and more concerned with dishing out huge defense contracts to campaign contributors than assisting unemployed workers facing foreclosure.
In January of 2003, President Bush will tell you things are good, that the U.S. is standing tall. He will say the economy is good. He will say the war on terror is on track. He'll say invading and occupying Iraq, even with all the death and destruction, is good for the U.S. national interest and our need for oil.
He'll say Osama is no big deal anyway, the real perpetrator of 9/11 was Iraq, and killing Saddam Hussein is good. He will portray himself as our benevolent father figure and protector during these difficult times.
Maybe he'll tell us that War is Peace, and Freedom is Slavery.
Be very concerned. We the people need to stand up and demand accountability and stop Bush's outrages. Unless we do, by 2004 the State of the Union may be classified: Our freedom will be eroded, and the status of our foreign wars and our beleaguered economy will be a secret; it won't be any of our business.
Charles Sheehan-Miles, a Gulf War veteran and a co-founder of Veterans for Common Sense, is a former president of the National Gulf War Resource Center and the author of "Prayer at Rumayla" (XLibris, 2001).
