Month: May 2007

From LexisNexis (May 2nd, 2003):

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: I’m Chris Matthews, let’s play HARDBALL.

We’ll have all the political news in the second half-hour. But first, “The Big “Story tonight, Scott Peterson has a new defense attorney. It’s Mark Geragos, the high-profile Los Angeles lawyer who represented Winona Ryder, Gary Condit and Susan McDougall. And he says Scott wants to bring the real killer to justice. We’ll have the latest on the Laci Peterson case.

Plus, after dramatic arrival and victory speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln yesterday, President Bush is turning his attention to reviving the nation’s economy.

And later, the president has brought down the Taliban, toppled Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda’s on the run. Can any of the Democrats beat the commander in chief? We’ll have the latest poll numbers and talk about the Democratic debate in South Carolina tomorrow in our “Political Buzz.”

And we begin tonight with the Laci Peterson case…

Mo’ Betta Mission Accomplished Day stuff below:

MATTHEWS: Arianna Huffington, I want you to compare what you just, the cut of their jib. You saw all the Democrats just now. Do any of them look right to you visually in that jumpsuit aboard the USS Lincoln?

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, AUTHOR: You know, anybody who wears the jumpsuit will look good in the jumpsuit. Even Carol Moseley Braun. You know there’s something about the office that bestows this aura of authority to whoever has the office, especially at a time of war. I don’t think that’s the problem, Chris. I mean Bush did not look particularly presidential when he started. It was September 11 and the way he handled it that has bestowed that aura.

MATTHEWS: Let me try that one. That’s a very powerful proposition. You say that the man’s election as president as narrow as it was, gave him swagger we just saw across the deck of the USS Lincoln and it wasn’t a personal appointment with God here.

Steve Hayes, your point. Do you think the president of the United States, the commander in chief last night, the matchable by any of those Democrats in the role he played last night?

STEPHEN HAYES, “WEEKLY STANDARD”: Well certainly not right now. And I disagree with Arianna. I don’t think anybody would look good in that jumpsuit.

That is so awesome!! Want some more?

MATTHEWS: let’s talk about Lieberman. I have thought for awhile now, not having been a big fan of him in the past, I didn’t think he ran a good campaign in 2000 at all. He seems to have something going for him. And I want to check this with you, Howard.

The fact that he was right about the war, not that it was morally right or morally not right, but he looks smart now. Because he said the war was going to work out and it did.

FINEMAN: Yes, I think so. And he didn’t equivocate on the matter, whereas John Kerry was trying to have it both ways. And even to some extent Howard Dean was. Joseph Lieberman has been straight down line.

That means there’s no debate over that and Lieberman can talk exclusively about domestic, economic issues. And Lieberman has a sense, a sense of surety and certainty. You know, he was quite energetic. Expectations were low for him, I think, but in this debate, he did well. Maybe it was the end of the Sabbath, his Sabbath rest. But for whatever reason, he was on his game and seemed reassuring as well as confident about who he was. And that always — that always works well on television and with voters.

MATTHEWS: Do you know, is it your hunch that — and it’s a hard question to ask a reporter. But as your right — Do you think he’s right about that hunch that no Democrat who isn’t tough on defense, who wasn’t for the war, basically for the war, has a prayer of beating Bush?

FINEMAN: On today’s circumstances, yes, Chris. Unless things turn really hellish in the region that we’ve been in militarily, I think the answer to that is yes. And I think that’s one thing that gave Lieberman confidence the other night and makes that argument between Dean and Kerry so vicious, because they’re really shades and gradations of thing that Lieberman doesn’t have to worry about.

MATTHEWS: As someone who did not like the war before it started and liked it while it was being fought, I agree completely with you. I think the bet for the war is the winning bet for the Democrats.

Ooh…I really like this one:

MATTHEWS: What do you make of this broadside against the USS Abraham Lincoln and its chief visitor last week?

LIDDY: Well, I — in the first place, I think it’s envy. I mean, after all, Al Gore had to go get some woman to tell him how to be a man.

And here comes George Bush. You know, he’s in his flight suit, he’s striding across the deck, and he’s wearing his parachute harness, you know — and I’ve worn those because I parachute — and it makes the best of his manly characteristic.

You go run those — run that stuff again of him walking across there with the parachute. He has just won every woman’s vote in the United States of America. You know, all those women who say size doesn’t count — they’re all liars. Check that out.

I hope the Democrats keep ratting on him and all of this stuff so that they keep showing that tape.

MATTHEWS: You know, it’s funny. I shouldn’t talk about ratings. I don’t always pay attention to them, but last night was a riot because, at the very time Henry Waxman was on — and I do respect him on legislative issues — he was on blasting away, and these pictures were showing last night, and everybody’s tuning in to see these pictures again.

LIDDY: That’s right.

MATTHEWS: And I’ve got to say why do the Democrats, as you say, want to keep advertising this guy’s greatest moment?

LIDDY: Look, he’s — he’s coming across as a — well, as women would call in on my show saying, what a stud, you know, and then guy — they’re seeing him out there with his flight suit, and he’s — and they know he’s an F-105 fighter jock. I mean it’s just great.

And my all-time favorite moment in punditry.

MATTHEWS: We have a visual while we’re looking here. In Hollywood, they say how did you get the part. I fit the costume. You know, it’s an old joke in Hollywood. I fit the costume…

(LAUGHTER)

NOONAN: Right.

MATTHEWS: … because they have the — this guy fits the costume, doesn’t he?

NOONAN: Yes.

MATTHEWS: I mean Bill Clinton — do you think they had jump-suits in Bill Clinton’s size?

NOONAN: Oh…

MATTHEWS: Just asking.

NOONAN: Oh, well, Bill Clinton used — you remember Bill Clinton landed on the Theodore Roosevelt back about 1993 or ’94 and he was in his bomber jacket. Do you know what I mean? It was lots of show business then.

The key with Bush, however, is that, you know, he seems like one of these guys and one of these gals because he’s just like them. He’s a regular American male. He also…

I’ve got to tell you what I think — can I tell what you I think the key to the great landing on the aircraft carrier was?

MATTHEWS: That’s why you’re here, Peggy.

NOONAN: All right. This is what I think it was. It wasn’t just it was showy, it was showbiz, it was “Top Gun,” it was Tom Cruise’s suit, it was all that wonderful stuff. It’s that the American president not only put himself in harm’s way going to see American troopers, but he showed them by coming in on that ship I trust you.

MATTHEWS: A little risk. Just a little bit of risk.

NOONAN: It wasn’t just risk. It was trust. It was faith. You’re going to take care of me. You’re going to hit that second trap, the third trap, or the fourth. I’m safe in your hands. It was a compliment, you know.

MATTHEWS: Even a daytime carrier landing is tricky.

NOONAN: Oh, absolutely. I mean it’s taking a chance. I’ll tell you one of the ways you know you’ve gotten a little old? If I’d been in the White House now I would have told them don’t do that, that’s a bridge too far, you’ve got to be crazy, and, instead, it turned out to be, I think, one of the brilliant moments…

MATTHEWS: It’s like knowing to bring…

NOONAN: … indelible political moments.

MATTHEWS: … a meg — to bring a bullhorn to ground zero on September 14, not to bring a mic. It’s that little difference. If he’d had a mic there, if he was like Wayne Newton with a mic or some show-business guy, he would have looked like a lounge act.

NOONAN: Barney Rubble.

MATTHEWS: Because he had that bullhorn, he was a guy like them. We’ll be talking more…

NOONAN: He was a guy with his arm around the…

MATTHEWS: … about this accoutrements of…

NOONAN: … other firemen.

MATTHEWS: … greatness with Peggy Noonan, an expert at the verbal discussing the pictorial.

And, later, our Friday night panel on what’s wrong with American teenagers. Are their parents to blame for their weird behavior? Look at this stuff. You’re watching it. And you certainly are. HARDBALL.

Happy Mission Accomplished Day!!

this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war

we have no sympathy for the devil

we acknowledge the power to act that is in us

cross-posted at MyLeftWing, BooMan Tribune, and my blog.

a personal note: I haven’t posted in two weeks. I’ll explain more in a later post.
Thanks, RubDMC

38 poultry farms in Indiana given tainted feed
Some chickens likely in food supply, but human risk is low, government says

I have called Tyson Foods that has a big confined chicken operation in Rush County Indiana just about 20 miles from me, and the reply was “no comment”, contact National Headquarters.

The MSNBC Story is below.  I have a sad feeling that this is the beginning and not the last we will hear about this.  Our government does not have a reputation for honesty after all.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government said on Monday 38 poultry farms in Indiana were given contaminated feed containing melamine in early February, with some of the animals likely to have entered the food supply.
The Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration said in a joint statement that officials learned of the link between the chicken feed and tainted pet food as part of the investigation into imported rice protein concentrate and wheat gluten that have been found to contain the industrial chemical melamine and related compounds.
The affected poultry farms and breeder poultry farms fed the contaminated feed to poultry within days of receiving it, the agencies said. Other farms will probably be identified as having received tainted feed, they added.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18405363/wid/11915773?GT1=10008

All the broilers believed to have been fed contaminated products have been processed, while the breeders are under voluntary hold by flock owners, the agencies said.
Birds that were given the contaminated feed will not be allowed to enter the U.S. food supply. Farmers will be compensated if they destroy the birds that consume the feed.
The agencies also said there was a “low-risk” to humans and no food recalls were expected at this time. They are uncertain how many chickens were involved, how many entered the food supply or where they went.
“We haven’t completed counting yet,” said USDA spokesman Keith Williams.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

The above is an old adage, usually attributed to Edmund Burke, a famous 18th Century political philosopher, lawyer and politician. And few would disagree with its message, regardless of political affiliation, because everyone understands that evil thrives when good people absent themselves from confronting it. The problem, as always, lies in the details.

For the last four decades, we have witnessed the growth of a religious and political movement in this country that has sought to encourage allegedly “good people of faith” to participate in politics in order to confront what they perceive to be the evils that exist in modern society. That movement, in large part has been driven by fear: fear of the other.

The others who they blame for society’s ills and who they claim must be opposed and defeated if America is to be reclaimed as a Christian Nation, number a vast array of diverse groups, including liberals, atheistic scientists, feminists, abortionists and secular humanists.

Yet, perhaps no one group has been so consistently vilified by the Christian Right, blamed for the decline of American society, and portrayed as a threat to “American values” as have gays and lesbians. To the leaders of the Christian Right, gays have been the principal scapegoat, and demonization of the LBGT community has been the primary tool which they have used to rally support for their political agenda. Under the guise which casts their bigotry in a “Hate the sin, Love the sinner” message, they have fostered a climate of increasing hatred and violence against anyone who is, or who is perceived to be, homosexual, bisexual or transsexual. As Chris Hedges writes:

(cont.)

On the morning of March 8 in Sioux Center, Iowa, a bus parked outside a hotel was found covered with anti-gay slurs, along with a hate-filled message on a piece of cardboard reading: “God does not love feary fags.”

The bus was one of two that were transporting some 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, along with supporters, on the start of a two-month trip to 32 Christian colleges with policies that discriminate against those who are not heterosexuals. The Equality Ride, as it is known, organized by Soulforce, had first traveled to Sioux Center to visit Dordt College, a school that counts “sexual activity with someone of the same gender” as possible grounds for “an employee’s discharge or a student’s dismissal.”

The harassment is not new. During a similar series of protests last year, someone in Cleveland, Tenn., scrawled “fags-mobile” on the side of the bus. Members of the Equality Ride have been arrested for trespassing, at the West Point military academy and elsewhere, and greeted at many of their stops with active hostility. The night before the buses were spray-painted with hateful slogans, three vehicles circled the hotel where the activists were staying to harass those inside.

The website has more on the ride, including pictures of the bus graffiti. But what is important is not this specific incident, or any other recent examples of public intolerance, but the seismic shift in public mood in much of the United States, a shift largely engineered by the radical Christian right. The Christian right has begun to strip gays and lesbians of their constitutional rights and render them second-class citizens. The gay rights movement, which made many gains over the past couple of decades, is reeling backward. And the mounting persecution of gays and lesbians is ominous not only for them but for the rest of society. […]

… The methods that will finally sever [gays] and their supporters from a Christian America are often left unmentioned, but the rhetoric makes clear that there will not be a place for them. Gays and lesbians, like other enemies of Christ, are not fully human. They are “unnatural.” And preachers in the movement argue that if America does not act soon to eradicate homosexual behavior, God will punish the nation.

I beg to differ on only one small point with the analysis of the inimitable Mr. Hedges. All too often, at rallies and conferences attended by members of the Religious Right, many speakers are not shy about what they see as the ultimate solution for the problem gays pose to their vision of a Christian America. Dr. Paul Cameron is an individual whose research James Dobson’s Family Research Council and other Christian Right organizations have frequently cited as support for their stereotypical and bigoted propaganda against gays (e.g., labeling them as more likely to be pedophiles who have sex with their own children). At a 1985 meeting of the notorious Conservative Political Action Conference (i.e., CPAC, the same organization whose attendees this year cheered on Ann Coulter’s “faggot joke” about John Edwards) Dr. Cameron had this message to impart to his fellow Christians in the audience:

“Unless we get medically lucky, in three or four years, one of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals.”

And Paul Cameron is not alone in his belief that the extermination of LBGT individuals is a legitimate option. Many, many religious right leaders, including some conservative politicians have remarked that under biblical law, the same law they hope someday to impose on all Americans, the mandatory punishment for homosexuality will be the death penalty.

“The Bible is clear on moral issues that are culture-killers: homosexuality, homosexual marriage, and abortion,” says [Gary] DeMar, who is closely allied with D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, where he frequently speaks.

While DeMar insists that homosexuals wouldn’t be rounded up and systematically executed under a “reconstructed” government, he does believe that the occasional execution of “sodomites” would serve society well, because “the law that requires the death penalty for homosexual acts effectively drives the perversion of homosexuality underground, back into the closet.”

Mr. Demar is hardly the only person to advocate this position. Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore (of Ten Commandments fame), in a 2002 legal opinion which denied a lesbian custody of her three children, wrote that homosexuality is so “heinous” and inherently “evil” that laws authorizing the execution of those who choose a “homosexual lifestyle” would be a good thing:

“The State carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle.”

This vision of state sponsored genocide is a goal that many who consider themselves to be “good people” espouse and which they are actively seeking to bring to fruition within our collective lifetimes. Why? Because they have convinced themselves that homosexuality is the greatest evil, and the greatest danger to their way of life. That fact that gays and lesbians are no more of a threat to their families than anyone else, and far less a threat than most, does not reach past the fear that has been drummed into them by those who would exploit their prejudices for political gain:

These attacks mask a sinister agenda that has nothing to do with sexuality. It has to do with power. The radical Christian right — the most dangerous mass movement in American history — has built a binary worldview of command and submission wherein male leaders, who cannot be questioned and claim to speak for God, are in control and all others must follow. Any lifestyle outside the traditional model of male and female is a threat to this hierarchical male power structure. Women who do not depend on men for their identity and their sexuality, who live outside a male power relationship, challenge this pervasive cult of masculinity, as do men who find tenderness and love with other men as equals. The lifestyle of gays and lesbians is intolerable to the Christian right because its existence is a threat to the movement’s chain of command, one they insist was ordained by God.

This hypermasculinity, which crushes the independence and self-expression of women, is a way for men in the movement to compensate for the curtailing of their own independence, their blind obedience to church authorities and the calls for sexual restraint. The images of Jesus often show him with thick muscles, clutching a sword. Christian men are portrayed as powerful warriors. […] Jerry Falwell, in a New Yorker interview, said Christ was not a gentle-looking, willowy man: “Christ was a man with muscles,” he insisted. Falwell and Gibson see real men, godly men, as powerful, able to endure physical pain and suffering without complaint. Jesus, like God, has to be a real man, a man who dominates through force. The language of the movement is filled with metaphors about the use of excessive force and violence against God’s enemies.

Yet, as Hedges points out, the leaders of the religious right mask their terrible agenda with the illusion that they are merely seeking to eliminate “special rights” for gays, and protect their families and marriages. It is a political strategy that over the last thirty years has slowly chipped away at the legitimate struggle of gays and lesbians for tolerance, acceptance and equal protection under the law:

The Rev. Mel White, who founded Soulforce and is one of our country’s most important if unacknowledged civil rights leaders, has spent most of his life, since coming out as a gay man, mounting nonviolent protests against these “Christian” bigots. But he and most gays and lesbians who resist usually resist alone.

“They [the Christian right] want to end homosexuality in America,” White told me, “and by doing that one step at a time, first the federal marriage amendment and then comes no adoption, no service in the military, the restatement of the sodomy laws and driving us back into our closets, or worse. They do not want to compromise, but they begin with compromise, after compromise, after compromise.”

So, what are we, who also believe ourselves to be “good people,” to do? What are we to do in the face of such a blatant and unambiguous assault on our fellow human beings, people who are denounced and discriminated against merely because their sexuality doesn’t neatly fit into the dominant heterosexual paradigm which the Religious Right would make the ultimate litmus test of whether you or I deserve a “right to life?” Well, perhaps we can start by confronting the bigots and their stereotypical attitudes about LBGT people in our own families, our own circles of friends and in our own communities, as these good people, to their great credit, recently did:

TROY — Erin Davies thought the plastic-wrapped envelope on her windshield was a parking ticket. Her heart dropped when she saw what was written on it: “Hero.”

“You are an inspiration,” said the letter inside, which included a $5 bill. “… I would give more if I could afford it.”

The writer was one of many people touched by Davies’ courage since she discovered someone had tagged the words “fAg” and “u r gay” in red spray paint on her Volkswagen Beetle.

The 29-year-old, openly gay for years, could have cleaned the paint and peeled off the rainbow sticker she believes provoked it. Instead, the Sage Graduate School student decided to showcase the defaced Beetle to raise awareness about homophobia.

On Monday, with the school’s permission, she drove it onto the Troy campus’ main quad. About 50 supporters with signs and rainbow flags rallied around her. Then they paraded around the neighborhood behind her car.

That’s all it takes, really. Standing up for our LGBT brothers and sisters when they need us. Even small things matter. Attend a rally in support of gay rights, write a letter to the editor in support of gay marriage or simply tell your next door neighbor that his faggot jokes aren’t funny and that you don’t want to hear them from him anymore.

Make the people in your world, the one in which you live, aware that you do not tolerate acts of violence and intimidation against fellow human beings, people who are just like us, no better, no worse, no different. Do this, and you will encourage other people to act on their beliefs, rather than standing by in uneasy silence while a minority of Christian fascists preach their gospel of hatred and violence. Do this, and you can change the world.

For it is not your beliefs, no matter how noble or compassionate, that make you a good person. It is the actions you take to demonstrate those beliefs to others, which are critical. It is those acts of love and kindness and justice which define you.

Let me close with a quote from another long dead political philosopher, Marcus Aurelius:

Waste no more time arguing what
a good person should be. Be one.

Good luck.

Christian Right

American Fascism

Christian Fascism

Hate Crimes

Homophobia

Genocide

Gay Rights

LGBT

CPAC

James Dobson

Paul Cameron

Gary Demar

Roy Moore

Hate Speech

Chris Hedges

When talking about trying to win the 2nd congressional district in Nevada, which encompasses almost all of Nevada except for the heavily populated parts of Clark County, you almost always encounter one argument: Democrats cannot win in the rurals.

Now, at first look that might be true, statewide Democratic candidates often lose the rural counties and often by a large margin. One reason for that might be that statewide Democratic candidates most often hail from Clark County and might not campaign too much in the rurals.

However, when you take a closer look you might come away shocked. Why? Because Democrats actually get elected in the rurals on a regular basis.
Just take a look at this list of current office holders who identified themselves as Democrats on the ballot:

Churchill County:

Vicky Tripp, County Recorder
John Serpa, County Public Administrator

Elko County:

Mike Nannini, County Commissioner

Esmeralda County:

Nancy Boland, County Commissioner
R.J. Gillum, County Commissioner
Karen Scott, County Auditor/Recorder

Eureka County:

Michael Rebaleati, County Recorder/Auditor

Lander County:

Gladys Burris, County Clerk

Lincoln County:

Bill Lloyd, County Commissioner
Leslie Boucher, County Recorder/Auditor
Kathy Hiatt, County Treasurer
Tommy Rowe, County Commissioner

Mineral County:

Ed Fowler, County Commissioner
Richard Bryant, County Commissioner
Cheri Emm-Smith, District Attorney

Nye County:

Gary Budahl, County Treasurer
Sandra Musselman, County Assessor

Pershing County:

Roger Mancebo, County Commissioner
Celeste Hamilton, County Assessor
Donna Giles, County Clerk/Treasurer
Darlene Moura, Recorder/Auditor
Dave Ayoob, County Commissioner

Storey County:

Harold Swafford, District Attorney

White Pine County:

Robert Bishop, County Assessor
RaLeene Makley, County Commissioner
Martha Rivera Sindelar, County Recorder

Now, that’s one impressive list. You know how I got this information? By skimming through the Secretary of State’s website and writing down each person who won an election in the last four years and was marked as a Democrat. By doing that I may have missed someone, and there may also be persons included who are registered as Democrats but might just be so called DINOs (Democrats in name only). But I have no way of knowing. Why? Because the Nevada State Democratic Party hasn’t actually advertised the fact that Democrats get routinely (and sometimes without even having an opponent) elected in the rurals. Just take a look at their page listing county commissioners. They list the five Clark County commissioners and Pete Sferrazza from Washoe County. That’s it. No mention of the county commissioners from Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Pershing, and White Pine counties.

What conclusions can be drawn from that list? Democrats can win in the rurals, so much is for sure. How do they win? My guess is by meeting the voters and proving that they’re more qualified for the job than their Republican opponent.

Ahead of her election as Chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, I asked Jill Derby about her experiences on the campaign trail. Here’s what she had to say:

I was able to connect with many people in all 17 of Nevada’s counties during my campaign for Congress. That experience provides me with a network of positive relationships with which to build the unity, focus, and cohesion which will be important to the Party in the year ahead. Democrats often talk about being the party of inclusion and I intend to make that happen by involving everyone – rural and urban, north and south. I also learned that many Nevadans are independent and not locked into strict party vote. I learned that reaching out and framing our message in ways that resonate beyond our traditional Democratic audience can bring support across party lines, and is particularly attractive to independent voters, of which there are many in Nevada.

In order for a Democratic candidate to beat Dean Heller next year, one can only encourage Jill Derby and hope she’ll focus more heavily on the rurals, highlight achievements in counties like Lincoln and Pershing, and set up a party structure in the rural counties.

Cross-posted from Helluva Heller, a group effort by Nevada bloggers to take on freshman Rep. Dean Heller (R, NV-02) and defeat him in 2008.

Happy May Day, aka International Workers’ Day. Celebrated in many countries around the world and inextricably wound up with the workers’ movement in the United States through the eight-hour day campaign and the incidents leading up to the Haymarket Massacre, the day is largely ignored here.

To mark the day here at the pond, I present to you the comments of several of our presidents regarding labor.  Make of them what you will.
Thomas Jefferson
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned — this is the sum of good government.

Abraham Lincoln
If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.

Franklin D. Roosevelt
No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level –I mean the wages of decent living.

Harry Truman
It is time that all Americans realized that the place of labor is side by side with the businessman and with the farmer, and not one-degree lower.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.

John F. Kennedy
The American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America.

Lyndon B. Johnson
For those who labor, I propose to improve unemployment insurance, to expand minimum wage benefits, and by the repeal of section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act to make the labor laws in all our States equal to the laws of the 31 States which do not have tonight right-to-work measures.

Richard M. Nixon
On Labor Day we pay tribute to the working men and women to whom America owes so much. On this day, we also give thanks for the fact that in our free society–more than anywhere else on earth–the laborer can enjoy’ the results of his labor and the freedom to choose where and how he will apply his skills. By working together, labor, management and government in America have achieved a standard of living and a climate of opportunity and individual rights unequalled in the history of man.

But in a competitive world, no matter how great our past achievements, we must not fall victim to complacency. The soul and sinew of American labor must continue to be a force for progress and productivity. The continuing vitality of our economy and, through it, of our entire way of life, rests in large measure on the willingness, understanding and cooperation of the working men and women of America. They have not failed us before and they will not fail us now.

Jimmy Carter
Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

Ronald Reagan
America’s workers continue to display the spirit, ingenuity, and adaptability to new conditions that labor and employers alike need if our economy is to continue to grow. This willingness to meet every challenge speaks volumes about the health and vitality of our way of life. Let us always remember that so much of what we are, we owe to working men and women. God gave us this land, but, under His good graces, the labor of our people has helped it flourish and pour forth its plenty for ourselves and the world.

William Jefferson Clinton
Workers are the heart and soul of our nation. Yet, we will only see wages grow and the number of jobs steadily increase for those workers if we emphasize education and training, partner-ship between labor and management, and responsibility by all for improving the quality of the goods and services we produce.

George W. Bush
Today, on Labor Day, we honor those who work, and we honor those who work because, in so doing, we recognize that one of the reasons why we’re the economic leader in the world is because of our work force. And the fundamental question facing the country is, how do we continue to be the economic leader in the world? What do we do to make sure that, when people look around the world next year, and 10 years from now, they say, the United States is still the most powerful economy in the world? I think that’s an important goal to have, because when we’re the most powerful economy in the world, it means our people benefit. It means there’s job opportunities. That’s what we want. We want people working.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane & My Left Wing

click to enlarge
You are in trouble when George Will and William F. Buckley begin to think not only is Bush’s foreign policy strategery flawed, but it is so horrid, it has the chance to sink the Republican Party back to where it was during the Great Depression.

George Will from ABC’s This Week:

They do not want to have, as they had in 2006, another election on Iraq. George, it took 30, 40 years for the Republican Party to get out from under Herbert Hoover. People would say, “Are you going to vote for Nixon in ’60?” “No, I don’t like Hoover.” The Depression haunted the Republican Party. This could be a foreign policy equivalent of the Depression, forfeiting the Republican advantage they’ve had since the ’68 convention of the Democratic Party and the nomination of [George] McGovern. The advantage Republicans have had on national security matters may be forfeited.

And from Buckley’s column (courtesy thesaurus link) :

The political problem of the Bush administration is grave, possibly beyond the point of rescue. The opinion polls are savagely decisive on the Iraq question. About 60% of Americans wish the war ended — wish at least a timetable for orderly withdrawal. What is going on in Congress is in the nature of accompaniment.

The vote in Congress is simply another salient in the war against war in Iraq. Republican forces, with a couple of exceptions, held fast against the Democrats’ attempt to force Mr. Bush out of Iraq even if it required fiddling with the Constitution.

President Bush will veto the bill, of course, but its impact is critically important in the consolidation of public opinion. It can now accurately be said that the legislature, which writes the people’s laws, opposes the war.

If Christopher Hitchens ever leaves the plantation, you might as well order the tombstone for the GOP.

As Israel’s Apartheid Wall continues its course, confiscating more and more Palestinian land, cutting off villagers from their farmlands and orchards, trapping Palestinian villages and towns on the “wrong” side of the Wall, imprisoning other cities like Bethlehem, Qalqiliya, Habla, and many others, to say nothing about the incessant military occupation/colonization, house demolitions, deaths, and further land grabs that continue elsewhere such as in the Jordan Valley, far away from the Wall….

it is hard to believe that some Palestinians can still find time to laugh.

These photos of Apartheid Wall art are reprinted by permission of Fayyad of KABOBFest. Fayyad lives in Jenin, Palestine and the photos were reportedly taken by his cousin.

http://kabobfest.blogspot.com/index.html

         

         

         

Thanks Fayyad.

There are so many instructive comparisons between the film classic The Wizard of Oz and the presidency of George W. Bush that it’s hard to settle on just one. Here’s a particular angle that I think deserves more attention.

Through memorable characters and adventures, The Wizard of Oz reminds us that too often we underestimate ourselves and fail to realize that we already possess the very qualities and virtues to which we aspire. The Scarecrow travels the Yellow Brick Road in the hope of obtaining a brain; at journey’s end he comes to realize that he had one all along. Similarly, the Tin Man wishes for a heart but ultimately learns that he was a compassionate woodsman from the start. And the Cowardly Lion heads to the Emerald City in pursuit of courage–yet he demonstrates his considerable valor along the way. All told, it’s an uplifting tale of unpresumptuous, accidental heroes who rise to the occasion in the face of adversity.

But now try to imagine an altered script, an upside-down Oz where the key players, rather than underestimating themselves, instead make outrageous and false claims (to themselves and to others) about their intelligence, compassion, and courage. And also try to imagine that over the course of their own harrowing journey these travelers learn…well, absolutely nothing. Of course, sadly this re-write doesn’t require much of an imagination at all. This is the Oz rendition that’s been playing in Washington and around the world since Bush, Cheney, and their neocon entourage took center stage. Although many examples are available, let’s focus on the Iraq War alone.

The Scarecrow’s Brain.  Intelligence is multi-faceted. It includes good judgment in developing goals, competence in their strategic execution, foresight in anticipating the consequences of one’s actions, and adaptability in the face of unexpected circumstances and challenges. But the reckless decision to invade Iraq (where no WMD were ever found), the inadequate plans for winning the peace after “shock and awe,” the innumerable blunders in addressing the growing strife and violence that have beset post-Saddam Iraq, and the latest unwelcome and ineffective “surge” of U.S. troops in Baghdad constitute overwhelming evidence that any Bush administration claims to “having a brain” have been little more than pretense and bluster.

The Tin Man’s Heart.  Compassion also takes many forms. But it always involves both the capacity to understand and “feel” the pain of others and the desire to alleviate their unwarranted suffering if at all possible. This empathy often requires tolerance toward and appreciation of those who are different from us, because otherwise we can’t really imagine what it’s like to “walk a mile in their shoes.” And certainly the truly compassionate go to great lengths to avoid being the actual perpetrators of harm. In their war in Iraq the President and his allies have fallen short on all of these counts, as demonstrated by insufficient regard for tens of thousands of civilian casualties (at least), inadequate concern for the physical and psychological well-being of our soldiers and their families, and the condoning or encouragement of torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

The Cowardly Lion’s Courage.  Courage too finds expression in a variety of different ways. Often it is revealed in those who elevate the truth and who embrace the risks and burdens of self-sacrifice for a noble cause over the temptations of self-interest. Frequently it can also be witnessed in those who step forward and acknowledge their mistakes–despite potential adverse personal consequences for doing so–and then change course in order to make amends. Bravery never appears as bullying, deceit, foolhardiness, or the shirking of responsibility. Thus, the Bush team fails the courage test as well. In promoting and prosecuting the war they’ve offered falsehoods whenever the truth has been “inconvenient,” they’ve passed the buck and hidden behind excuses whenever strategic or tactical errors have been uncovered, and they’ve refused to abandon their seemingly unquenchable warmongering ambitions despite catastrophic costs and massive domestic and international opposition.

Near the end of the original The Wizard of Oz, having gained self-awareness the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion become the newly appointed wise, caring, and courageous rulers of the Emerald City (and Dorothy returns to Kansas). In an ideal conclusion to the upside-down version, Bush, Cheney, and their dwindling supporters would come to the realization that they sorely lack the intelligence, the compassion, and the courage about which they have often boasted–and dramatic, constructive policy changes would quickly follow. Regrettably, of these two endings, one seems far more fantasy-like than the other.

As an addendum, in a recent online video entitled Resisting the Drums of War I specifically examine the Bush administration’s warmongering appeals and how to counter them. It’s available here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UKnb5zJbM.