Sergeant tells Iraqis he can’t give them fresh water or electricity…

or fix their sewage systems. Then he asks how else he can help them.  What a stunning statement coming from a sergeant in the US military which is occupying Iraq.

Through two wars on their country we destroyed their infrastructure, and now we say we can do nothing for them about fresh water or electricity? Nothing about the raw sewage in the streets?

It makes the title of this US News article even stranger.

Putting a Human Face on the American Military Presence in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Michael Duquette speaks with the slow and methodical cadence familiar to most old New England Yankees. He sports a salt and pepper mustache and uses silence as a soft cudgel to manage a conversation. While some of the more impetuous young infantry lieutenants will badger people into telling them something, even to the point of putting words into their mouths, Duke holds back. He lets the Iraqis fill the intervening silence with their thoughts and worries. It’s an old trick–pause long enough, and someone will step in and say something, say anything to break the uncomfortable silence.

But the words he speaks first are very telling.  He says we can do nothing for you in the way of life’s necessities….so what else bothers you.

When Duke enters a large house in one of the formerly wealthy neighborhoods of Baghdad, he does so with a purpose. Tonight, it’s nothing more than to greet the neighbors, hear their concerns, and provide a human face to the American occupation of Iraq’s largest city. “I can’t fix your sewer, give you more electricity, or make fresh water run out of your taps,” he tells the Iraqi interpreter. “Let’s get that clear upfront.” He waits for the translator to finish and then pauses, allowing his hosts to size him up.

“What’s troubling you the most?”

So they speak of their lack of lack of employment, their lack of security and their fears of being killed by bombs.

Then comes the punch line, that we can help them with that because it would benefit us as well.

Duke nods. “We are doing all we can,” he says. “But we can’t change the government; that’s way above my pay level,” he says, pointing to his sergeant’s strips.

…””We live at the base right up the road,” says Duke, referring to Joint Security Station Thrasher, which his platoon shares with the Iraqi Army and the local concerned citizens group. “We don’t like the violence either. We don’t like driving around and worrying that we are going to get blown up. You guys are the only ones who can tell us who the bad guys are and where they are hiding. Remember, we share these streets too.”

…”As the soldiers leave, after more than an hour of talking with the three Iraqis, Duke unfastens one of his Velcro pockets and removes a printed business card with a telephone number on the back. “That number goes directly to Americans, not the Iraqi Army,” he says. “That means that if you call us and give us information, we can be sure that it remains anonymous. If you see someone bad planting bombs around here, give us a call, and that’s something we might be able to do something about.”

Maybe someday the country that used to be one of the most respected in the world can figure out how to give the Iraqi people more than one hour a day of electricity.  Perhaps we could even figure out how to give them fresh water.

We have become a mere shadow of what we used to be.

Robert Kagan: The embarrassment of the NIE will be fleeting.

This is the ultimate spin.  It is starting pretty quickly, geared to make it look not so bad after all.

Time to talk to Iran

Regardless of what one thinks about the National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003 — and there is much to question in the report — its practical effects are indisputable. Bush administration cannot take military action against Iran during its remaining time in office, or credibly threaten to do so, unless it is in response to an extremely provocative Iranian action. A military strike against suspected Iranian nuclear facilities was always fraught with risk. For the Bush administration, that option is gone.

That sort of translates into “I don’t really believe that report, but I have to pretend I do.”

With its policy tools broken, the Bush administration can sit around isolated for the next year. Or it can seize the initiative, and do the next administration a favor, by opening direct talks with Tehran.

Very sensible, Mr. Kagan.  Why didn’t we think of that sooner?

This is as good a time as any. The United States is not in a position of weakness. The embarrassment of the NIE will be fleeting. Strategic realities are more durable. America remains powerful in the world and in the Middle East. The success of the surge policy in Iraq means that the United States may be establishing a sustainable position in the region — a far cry from a year ago, when it seemed about to be driven out. If Iraq is on the road to recovery, this shifts the balance against Iran, which was already isolated.

It’s like seeing who gets out there first with the best way to save face with this devastating document.

They never cease to amaze me.

The most honest answer belongs to Mike Huckabee.  Just think, he is actually leading in Iowa last I heard.  And remember he doesn’t believe in evolution either.

From Think Progress:

Huckabee Clueless On Iran NIE: Never Heard Of It

Reporter: I don’t know to what extent you have been briefed or been able to take a look at the NIE report that came out yesterday …

Huckabee: I’m sorry?

Reporter: The NIE report, the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. Have you been briefed or been able to take a look at it –

Huckabee: No.

Reporter: Have you heard of the finding?

Huckabee: No.

And now that he has heard of it he doesn’t really believe it.

“I don’t know where the intelligence is coming from that says that they suspended the program and how credible that is versus the news that they actually are expanding it,” [Huckabee] said. “And then I’ve heard the last two weeks supposed reports that say that they are accelerating and could be having a reactor in a much shorter period of time than originally they thought.”

Fox News is having hissyfits according to Newshounds.

No joy in FOXville

It was actually quite entertaining watching the FOX true believers spinning like tops trying to put a happy face on the dismal news that the President and Vice President of the United States of America engaged in a callous, deliberate campaign to attack Iran, knowing full well that the reasons they enunciated for military action were utterly false. With video.

…”Watch the faces of these men. I believe what you are seeing is the beginning of the end of the Bush regime. While many may not agree with me, what I think I see on those faces is anger and the realization that Bush and Cheney played them for suckers.

I am not a Chris Matthews fan, but I shared his joy in the interview with Andrea Koppel.  He was just plain happy we were not going to have WW III.  Me, too.

Florida Democrats emailing members to stop donations to DNC

Florida Democrats are emailing members to stop donations to the DNC.  This is just wrong.  They have not been honest about their primary efforts, and they are wrong to try to break down the DNC.  

In Florida, Democrats laughed their own primary amendments off the floor.  On the floor of the Florida Senate a few months ago, a Democratic senator introduced an amendment to move the primary to Feb. 5 where it would have kept all delegates for Florida.  It followed the rules set down by the DNC.

That Florida Senator in May wrote Governor Dean about the amendment he had offered.  There is an “out” for states with Republican majorities who “try” to fight back.  

The DNC had the transcript from the floor that day and knew better.  They knew the offer had not even been taken seriously by the senator who proposed it, Steve Geller.
There was laughter on the floor and he made it clear he was introducing the amendment because they would later pretend to the DNC they had tried to do something.  Florida’s Geller personally joked about his amendment and there was “sarcasm and audible laughter in chamber”.

The amendment was of course voted down.   That was only one of several tries to pacify the DNC and make them think they would abide by their rules.   The final vote on moving the primary to January 29th was in March of 2007, and the vote was a whopping 115 to 1. One Democrat, Jack Seiler voted no, stating that the move would hurt candidates with lesser resources.  

Here is part of Geller’s letter to Governor Dean in May, say they were “outvoted” on the amendment.   They were not outvoted, they themselves laughed it off the floor saying they would use it to show the DNC they tried.

The Democratic Leadership in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives attempted to adhere to the rules of the DNC by offering amendments to keep the presidential preference primary on February 5, 2008.  A copy of the amendment offered by myself and the Senate Democratic Leader Pro Tempore is included with this letter. An identical amendment was filed by the House Democratic Leader and the House Democratic Leader Pro Tempore. But as we are still the minority party in a Republican controlled Legislature, our amendments were overwhelmingly defeated.   Simply put–we were outvoted, a scenario which – I’d like to caution – will be difficult to change should you move forward with any sanctions because of the primary date change.

Geller’s letter to Howard Dean in Orlando Sentinel

So they were not outvoted, they “laughed” the amendment off the floor.

The Rules Committee was pretty well informed when they met last Saturday.   They had much information on which to make their decision.   This is only one instance.    This is from Adam C. Smith’s blog at the St. Pete Times.  

Thurman tried valiantly to argue that Democrats tried to stop the Jan. 29 date, and that lawmakers even made a motion to move the date to Feb. 5 but in the end they could not vote against paper trails. It didn’t help their case. The DNC members had handouts that included quotes by House Minority leader Dan Gelber brushing off Howard Dean, and the following transcript of Steve Geller making the motion to move the primary to Feb. 5:

Geller: “…So the Democratic leader and the Democratic leader pro tem are jointly making this motion, which we will duly show them later, that we tried not to have the election on, um, before (Feb. 5).

President: “And so Sen. Geller are you urging a negative vote or would you like us to pass this vote?”

Geller: “Oh no sir. We really, really want this. Don’t we senator? (sarcasm and audible laughter in chamber).

Both Florida parties wanted to have the earlier primary.    Another Democrat in the Senate, Jeremy Ring made his purpose clear in March when the House voted yes.  He was one of the ones who introduced the bill.  

Florida House votes for earlier primary

The Florida Senate is waiting to see what happens in other states before moving forward with a date, said Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, who is leading the effort in that chamber.

“It gives us a chance to really watch the landscape,” Ring said. “When we’re done Florida will be relevant.”

The House had its agenda also.  Here is part of the info sent to some in Florida of what was entering into the rules committee’s decision.  

Florida House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber stated, after offering an amendment to move the primary to February 5th, that the only reason he offer it was “to show that there was an attempt to stay within the Democratic Party rules.” The amendment failed on a voice vote with no debate being offered.

I would love an earlier primary.   Many of us would.   This is not the way to go about it.   There are rules to be changed, yes, but not this way.  Not dishonestly with the people of Florida not really hearing the truth.

The Florida party via the county parties are sending around an email for Florida Democrats to call the contribution line of the DNC….and they are not asking them to donate, believe me.

That is an orchestrated attack on the national party by a state party who really did not try to add those amendments.   Questioning the party leaders here gets us nowhere.  

Idaho swooning for Glenn Beck..even the governor and senator.

This is without doubt one of the weirdest articles I have read.  It is absolutely drooling about Glenn Beck’s visit, with the govenor and the senator included.  There is nearly a whole article dedicated to him.  Sickeningly sweet.  

Then way way way down at the bottom…there is teeny weeny little biddy paragraph about the chairman of the Democratic Party going to Pocatello for a fundraiser next week.  Way down at the bottom after they gushed over Beck.

I would love to meet this reporter Kristy Kircher someday. She is quite the little propagandist.  
This is not journalism.  This is a local TV news station doing this.  This is the reporter doing a propaganda piece.  This is sickening.

Television Host Glenn Beck Visits Idaho Falls

Popular radio and television host Glenn Beck made a guest appearence at the Riverbend Ranch for this years Grand Old Party fundraiser.

“I care about our country, I believe in God, I believe in our founding fathers, I believe in our constitution and I believe in our neighbors. But I no longer believe in Washington,” says Beck. Beck is a conservative, non-Republican having much in common with some of the reddest folks in our nation.

“It’s time for all of us who are looking at each other everyday going what the heck is going on in Washington? Maybe it’s time we send fewer politicians and more farmers to Washington,” says Beck.

Beck recently returned from the white house, where he had an off the record conversation with President Bush.  During that visit, Beck recalls the true courage lying behind our leader that followed September 11.

Well, I don’t want to leave out the chairman of the party….so I scrolled way way way down to the end.

On August 8, 2007 chairman of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean will be speaking at Bonneville Park in Pocatello.

I believe this is the first time a Democratic chairman has visited Pocatello in many years.  I gather he is an unwelcome afterthought.  

Do I detect an odor of paid journalism here? I think I will check out other articles by Ms Kristy Kircher.  

Florida police chief admits to arresting multiple 6 year old kids.

Bob Herbert’s column in the New York Times contains an amazing statement by the police chief in Avon Park, Florida.  

“The student became violent,” said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police. “She was yelling, screaming — just being uncontrollable. Defiant.”

“But she was 6,” I said.

The chief’s reply came faster than a speeding bullet: “Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we’ve arrested?”

6-Year-Olds Under Arrest

More from Herbert’s column which is NYT Select.  

The child’s tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28 at the Avon Elementary School. According to the police report, “Watson was upset and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let them study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities.”

After a few minutes, Desre’e was, in fact, taken to another room. She was “isolated,” the chief said. But she would not calm down. She flailed away at the teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one woman’s hair. She was kicking.

I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. “Yes,” he said. At least one woman reported “some redness.”

The child was having a temper tamtrum, and by this time she was hiding under a table from the police.  They were trying to grab her legs, and she was resisting.  You can’t get the whole picture in just a few paragraphs.  

She was handcuffed, arrested and taken to jail and charged.

Herbert included in his column something that got my attention, about resarch being done in Florida schools.

Last spring a number of civil rights organizations collaborated on a study of disciplinary practices in Florida schools and concluded that many of them, “like many districts in other states, have turned away from traditional education-based disciplinary methods — such as counseling, after-school detention, or extra homework assignments — and are looking to the legal system to handle even the most minor transgressions.”

Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood misbehavior is criminal behavior, it’s easy to start seeing young children as somehow monstrous.

I wrote about this new pattern of arresting children in a post here at Booman earlier.  It is a pattern.  A scary one.  Behavioral modification by arrest.

Handcuffing, arresting, charging children and those who feed homeless.

And here are Herbert’s closing words, the words from the mouth of Avon Park’s police chief who has arrested more than his share of 6 year olds…

“Believe me when I tell you,” said Chief Mercurio, “a 6-year-old can inflict injury to you just as much as any other person.”

Thankful to Bob Herbert for keeping on with this issue.  

Handcuffing, arresting, charging children and those who feed homeless.

How did this country become one in which we arrest children and arrest people who feed the homeless?  These are just a few of the instances recently.  

13 Year Old Arrested In School For Writing On Desk
13 year old arrested

“The “suspect,” Chelsea Fraser, says she’s sorry for scribbling the word on her desk, but both she and her mother are shocked at the punishment.

“I’m appalled, because here we have rapists, murderers, and you’re taking a 13-year-old kid? Wasting valuable manpower to arrest a child who wrote on a desk?” Fraser’s mother Diana Silva told CBS 2.

It was the word “Okay” that she wrote.  There is a video.
Arrest is first under homeless-feeding law (Orlando Sentinel)
Arresting someone for feeding the homeless

A long-simmering dispute between homeless advocates and Orlando officials intensified Wednesday with the arrest of an activist feeding transients in Lake Eola Park downtown.

Eric Montanez, 21, is the first to be arrested under the city’s controversial ordinance that bars feeding large groups of people in downtown parks without a special permit.

This law is going to hurt many good people.

Two Florida cities know just how to deal with those pesky 5 and 6 year old girls.
Arresting kindergarteners

From 2005: CBS/AP) An attorney says he plans legal action against St. Petersburg (Fla.) police officers who handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old girl after she acted up in her kindergarten class.

From 2007:AVON PARK, Fla. — Police arrested a 6-year-old Florida girl and even handcuffed her when she acted out in class. Police officers said Desre’e Watson, a kindergarten student at Avon Elementary School in Highlands County, had a violent run-in with a teacher on Thursday.

Not much to say to that.

Third grader cuffed arrested in front of class at request of parents.
Arresting third graders

“Shady Cove Police Chief Rick Mendenhall wants everyone to know that criminal behavior has tough consequences. That’s why, at the request of parents, he took a third-grade girl at Shady Cove Elementary School out of class in handcuffs and home to her mother for a talk about theft this week.

Mendenhall said the parents, whom he declined to identify to protect the girl’s privacy, asked him to “arrest” their daughter after she was caught stealing for a second time.

“The parents are trying to instill responsibility and show consequences,” he said. “This was my first request like this, but I would do it for any parent.”

On Tuesday, Mendenhall went to a third-grade classroom, handcuffed the girl, whose age Mendenhall didn’t have, and took her home in a police car. No charges were filed, he said. He and the girl’s mother warned the youngster that if she continued to steal, she really would be arrested and have to face theft charges in the juvenile justice system”.

The parents wanted her arrested in front of the class.  What can I say to that?  I could try to analyze all this, but it would not make sense.  It appears to be using fear of arrest and jail as the method of behavior modification now.

I don’t know when it happened here in my country.

The NIE was kept in a locked room where Congress could read it, but few did

I was reading Booman’s post about not reading the Patriot Act.   Seems to be habit.

From The Dark Side, a PBS special about Dick Cheney:

NARRATOR: The NIE was kept in a locked room where Congress could read it, but few did. In mid-October, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Iraqi war resolution. A declassified version of the NIE, known as the “white paper,” was prepared by the CIA and released three days later.

Ah, can you imagine what would have happened if only all the Senators had done as Senator Bob Graham begged…and read the NIE about the WMDs in Iraq?  Imagine if we had been right instead of being strong and wrong.
From a dead link at the Palm Beach Post…Graham was passionate before the IWR vote.  They should have listened becase my governor and senator was actually very hawkish, not prone to passion at all, soft-spoken.

…”On Oct. 9, 2002, Graham — the guy everyone thought of as quiet, mild-mannered, deliberate, conflict-averse — let loose on his Senate colleagues for going along with President Bush’s war against Iraq.

“We are locking down on the principle that we have one evil, Saddam Hussein. He is an enormous, gargantuan force, and that’s who we’re going to go after,” Graham said on the floor. “That, frankly, is an erroneous reading of the world. There are many evils out there, a number of which are substantially more competent, particularly in their ability to attack Americans here at home, than Iraq is likely to be in the foreseeable future.”

He told his fellow senators that if they didn’t recognize that going to war with Iraq without first taking out the actual terrorists would endanger Americans, “then, frankly, my friends — to use a blunt term — the blood’s going to be on your hands.”

It was a watershed moment. Gone was the meticulous thinker who would talk completely around and through a problem before answering a question about it…

(I can not get the Palm Beach Post link to work in the post…it keeps giving error.  Will keep trying.)

And even General Tommy Franks was talking to Graham, though he later denied it.  Imagine if they had been listened to at the time. This is from the Frontline site at PBS…the transcript of the Dark Side.  I can NOT get links to appear correctly today.  

Narrator: How did you hear about it, that they were headed in this direction in February of 2002?

Graham: Well, I heard about it during a briefing at Central Command , which is located in Tampa, Fla., on the Afghanistan war. The briefing was very positive. Things were going well; victory appeared to be close at hand. Then I was told in a private meeting that no, that wasn’t the case; that in fact, we were beginning to recede from the war in Afghanistan precisely to get ready for Iraq.

Narrator: Who told you?

Graham: Gen. Tommy Franks.

Narrator: Take me into the meeting. What’s happening? …

Graham: The general said, “Senator, I would like to speak with you privately.” We went into his room, and he proceeded to tell me that they weren’t fighting a war in Afghanistan; that they were, in fact, beginning to redeploy assets. He particularly mentioned special operations personnel and the Predator unmanned aircraft as examples of assets that were being redeployed from Afghanistan to get ready for Iraq.

He then laid out what he thought the strategy should be for victory in the war on terror: Finish the job in Afghanistan; move to other areas that had large numbers of cells of Al Qaeda — Somalia, Yemen being number one and number two. He went on to say that Iraq was a special case, that our intelligence there was very poor, and that the Europeans knew more about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction than we did.

Narrator: The head of CENTCOM, a four-star general, is telling you this information. How do you react?

Graham: I was stunned…

What if all this talk was made more public?  What if they had listened to Graham and actually read the NIE before voting for the war.

Graham was angry.  He told them the classified version did not support all the claims being made.  He asked them to read the 90 classified pages instead of just the 25 unclassified.  

The cafe format permitted a lengthier explanation than in the debate’s 90-second answer, so I discussed the classified intelligence contrasted with unclassified at the time of the Iraqi war vote in October 2002, when Sen. Bob Graham begged his colleagues on the floor of the Senate to read the 90 page classified NIE on WMD (as opposed to the 25 pages of declassified materials).

“Friends, I encourage you to read the classified intelligence reports which are much sharper than what is available in declassified form,” Sen. Graham reports stating on the floor of the Senate in October 2002.

“We are going to be increasing the threat level against the people of the United States.” He warned: “Blood is going to be on your hands”

Sen. Graham has explained that the classified version did not support the later claim by George Tenet that the WMD issue was a “slam dunk.” The former Florida senator has also explained that the 25-page declassified document didn’t accurately represent the classified NIE; “gone” were the assessments of Saddam Hussein’s intentions to use WMD, omitting “a huge component” selectively removed.

http://www.radnofsky.com/blog.php?items_id=1238

If they read and listened they would have been better informed.  Just imagine if our Democrats read what they voted on all the time.  The online forums knew, before the vote.  They did not listen, they did not read.  And this was only 90 pages, not as long as the Patriot Act.  

Perhaps Clinton’s view it was better to be “strong and wrong” than to appear weak and right had a lot to do with it.  

How the Religious Right took over the Republican party…precinct by precinct. Observe the tactics.

First this paragraph that jumped out at me on this long documented page from Theocracy Watch….how they took over Iowa and moved on to other states.

As can be seen from the documentation on this page, one of their tactics was to tie up the meetings for hours until people left. Then they appointed themselves leaders and made key decisions. Once they took over the local leadership throughout the State of Iowa, they could control the state party apparatus. After their success in the Iowa ’88 primary, they used the same tactic in several other states — precinct by precinct.

They use this tactic on the floor of Congress as well. After hours stuff, getting others to leave, etc.

I thought of this today while listening to State of Belief on AAR.  Welton Gaddy said any celebration of the death of the right wing Christians was premature.  I agree.
They not only took over parties that way, but they gained control of churches without good people realizing it.  Some saw it, but not soon enough to stop it.  

Taking Over the Republican Party

There is so much on these pages, so I will only post a few.

The GOP’s Religious War, Joan Lowy of Scripps-Howard News Service:

Until last spring, Jo Martin was a relatively non­political Houston housewife. Today she’s on the front lines of a religious war that has fractured the Republican Party. Martin, a 52-year-old mother of three, and her husband David, a stockbroker, are lifelong Republicans but hadn’t been active in party politics for many years until they happened to attend a local GOP meeting last spring.

They were appalled by what they found. The party apparatus had been taken over by religious activists intent on bringing “biblical principles” to government: outlawing abortion, ostracizing homosexuals and teaching creationism in public schools, among other things. “We honest to goodness felt like we had fallen through a time warp into a Nazi brown-shirt meeting,” Martin said.

1994 was a big year for them.  Not just Congress but control of the State Houses.  Then they could gerrymander.  I don’t mention Howard Dean at this site anymore, but that is one of his main goals.  State houses, get control of them so we control the redistricting, not their party. We won a number of them back in 2006, so kudos are in order.  

By election time in 1994 Christian Coalition had distributed 40 million copies of the “Family Values Voter’s Guide” in more than 100,000 churches nationwide. 1994 was the year Republicans took control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. It was also the year that Republicans made a huge gain in State Legislatures.

The purpose of focusing on state legislative races was to enable Republicans to gerrymander Congressional Districts. To be sure, both parties have used the practice of gerrymandering to their advantage, but, in recent years, Republicans have elevated this practice to new heights.

And here is part of how they did it in 2004.  They used the Southern Baptists to elect Bush and Cheney.

Ralph Reed, former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, relied on stealth tactics throughout the nineteen nineties. He no longer needs to use stealth. As a senior official of the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, Reed attended the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention to ask pastors explicitly for their help in winning votes.

More on Reed’s visit from the NYT, a dead link but a good paragraph.

Mr. Reed delivered his remarks at a Bush-Cheney “pastors reception,” paid for by the Bush campaign. The hosts were the departing president of the Southern Baptists and three other prominent leaders, and the reception was in a conference room of a hotel adjacent to the convention. As the pastors came in, a campaign aide collected about 100 signatures and addresses from ministers pledging to endorse Mr. Bush’s re-election publicly, to “host a citizenship Sunday for voter registration,” to “identify someone who will help in voter registration and outreach” and to organize a ” ‘party for the president’ with other pastors” on specific dates closer to the election. (New York Times, June 18, 2004)

I’m with Gaddy on this.  We have to be on guard.  They are still working for their agenda.  If Bush fails them, they will work for another.  Using the same divisive wedge issues, and going on unnecessary wars if needed to keep their base.

My congressman was named "Worst Person in the World".

We clapped and cheered when we heard this on Countdown.  Keith Olbermann called our red-headed congressman..Adam Putnam…the Worst Person in the World.  It is an award he deserves.  

Olbermann clearly laid out the reason for this prestigious award.  Here is the statement. First, please note that he beat out Neal Boortz and Sam Johnson of TX for the award.

Countdown awards for the worlds’ top three worst people

The bronze to Neal Boortz, one of the Right Wing Water Carriers on radio. Explaining now that American teachers unions are quote “much more dangerous than Al-Qaeda.”

The silver medal, regrettably, to Representative Sam Johnson of Texas, the Vietnam POW now badgering for a vote on a quote “binding measure to prevent cutting or restricting money for the war,” and accusing Congressman Murtha of planning such cuts and restrictions. Unfortunately a quick search of the Congressional Record brands Mr. Johnson as a high-octane hypocrite.

And finally to Adam Putnam’s award.

But our gold-medalist Congressman Adam Putnam of Florida — chairman of the House Republican Conference Committee, one of the guys who ran with, and pushed, the phony Nancy Pelosi plane request story.

He’s now admitted to the Tampa Tribune newspaper that he not only doesn’t know if the story was true… he doesn’t care.

He read it in the Moonie Paper in Washington.

Don’t know if it’s true…don’t care if it’s true.

Watch this man. He could be nominated for President some day.

Congressman Adam Putnam of Florida… today’s Worst Person In The World!

Here’s the video. Enjoy.

Video of Worst Person in the World Awards

Adam Putnam is also very very famous for something else.  I wrote about it here several months ago.  

Putnam says they lost because white rednecks did not vote for them

“White rednecks” who “didn’t show up to vote for us” partly cost GOPers their cong. majorities, Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) told fellow Republicans today. And Putnam, seeking the post of GOP conference chair, chided ex-Chair J.C. Watts (R-OK) for ruining the conference’s ability to serve its members.

Three Republicans in the room independently confirmed to the Hotline the substance and context of Putnam’s remarks. But Putnam’s chief of staff insists that the remarks were taken out of context.

Examining the 2006 midterms, Putnam blamed the GOP defeat on “the independent vote, the women vote, the suburban vote.” He said that “heck, even the white rednecks who go to church on Sunday didn’t come out to vote for us.”

Congratulations to Adam Putnam for a well-deserved accolade.  

This Land is your Land, but not really…not anymore.

I did not know this was going on.  I just happened on this article tonight about how the government is quietly gaining control of Western states’ land.  AND restricting access to it.  

Is this true?  Have I been under a rock?

This land is your land…Not so much any longer

This land is your land, this land is my land. Not so much any longer. Today Woody Guthrie would not be allowed to set foot in many areas claimed by the government. His song is a reminder of what We the People have lost to the infringement of a government that thinks it knows better how to manage our country than we do.

It appears to be taking place mostly in western states.  

The federal government has vast acres of land that it claims and into which no American may enter. Some may be designated as certain use parcels, but the government controls how they are used. Most of the Western states are heavily controlled by either the federal, state or local government. For instance, Utah alone is 75%, Nevada is 88%, Idaho is 70%, Wyoming is 56%, New Mexico is 47%, Colorado is 43%, Montana is 38% and California is 50%

It appears to have been done quietly without the knowledge of most Americans.  

Many lands have been set aside rather quietly and most Americans don’t realize that their country is so heavily owned and regulated by government. However, in September of 1996 the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was declared by President Bill Clinton and put under the management of the Bureau of Land Management, the first national monument to be managed by the B.L.M. The monument area is 1.9 million acres. The ceremony marking the designation was heavily covered by newspaper press and shown several times on TV.

The president at that time in 1996 used the antiquities law.  Maybe there was a better reason of which I am not aware.

This designation was announced in the thick of the 1996 presidential election campaign and was controversial from the start. The ceremony was held at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona instead of the state of Utah, where the monument lies. Perhaps this was because the state governor and the Utah congressional delegation were notified only 24 hours in advance. As with most things Clinton did, this was seen to be a political ploy to gain votes in the contested state of Arizona. It paid off, as in November Clinton won Arizona by a margin of 2.2%, but lost Utah by 21.1%.

The President used the Antiquities Act for this land set-aside. The Antiquities Act of 1906 was passed by Congress, giving the president authority to restrict the use of designated public land which was owned by the federal government, by executive order. The act was meant to protect prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts from those who were removing such objects and destroying ruins.

This could be a smear piece, it easily could.  But why would people not be allowed on parts of this land.  I wondered when I read this because this is happening in Florida at state level…buying up land to preserve it.  

I guess we just have to hope they do preserve it.