Author: philinmaine

Today, today, today, but not tomorrow.

Today, in a field, in a town called Blue Hill

1,685 little white flags were picked up

in alternate rows and

the grass, various plants and even new (small) trees

was mowed

and the flags were replaced

only now there were 1,702.

I picked up flags and I put flags back.

I wondered, was it one less dead and one more alive?

As placed back, did they die again?

Each flag was in a row with other flags

many flags, many lives.

The sign in the front of the natural, mowed field has a sign with new numbers

1,702 American soldiers, 25,178 Iraqi civilians. The old numbers almost visible behind the new ones.

What if one were my son, your son, anyone’s?

How many more?

www.paxchristimaine.org

First, a little background. Mount Desert Island aka Acadia and site of a gazillion (by Maine standards) tourists in summer is more progressive than most of Maine. Our tourists tend to come from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic but from all over as well. The editorial ‘says it all’.
A groundswell for peace (Mt. Desert Islander)

It ran through the crowd, a spontaneous, rolling wave of solidarity more than two miles long. In total it lasted for more than an hour.

While Fourth of July parade entries with a decidedly political bent are nothing new in Bar Harbor, the reaction Monday to a group protesting the loss of life in Iraq was different. In the past, peace activists usually were greeted with stony silence. As they marched Monday, carrying banners adorned with scores of small American flags and the names of more than 1,400 Americans who have died in combat, several dozen protesters were instead greeted by a wave of applause from crowds of spectators on both sides of the street. It followed the group for most of the route.

When people talk politics, they often dismiss minority opposition by saying it may be broad but “it is only an inch deep.” In Bar Harbor on Monday, a broad cross section of people from all over the country made a profound statement of unity with those audacious enough to publicly question whether or not the price we are paying for the war in Iraq is worth it. On America’s most nationalistic holiday, this public push for peace, and the solid support it received, was a decidedly patriotic act.

In recent months, many of the same leaders who pushed this country into war by fanning the fires of fear about Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism have been grumbling that those who opposed the war are not supporting the troops. But unlike the Vietnam era, the people of today know all too well it is our leaders, not the men and women on the front lines, who bear the responsibility for the present situation. Support for the war may be weakening, but support for our men and women in uniform has been, and will continue to be, unswerving.

Politicians in Washington D.C., don’t need expensive opinion polls to see how deep the erosion of public support for the war in Iraq has gone. All they needed to do Monday was to watch events unfold on the streets of a small town in Maine on the Fourth of July.

PS
For another Maine action take this link and scroll down to the Blue Hill War Memorial. A field of white flags to honor the fallen
http://www.paxchristimaine.org/

I realized recently I’ve been getting some pretty decent political gossip, quotes and semi-inside stuff from a one way (not quite) a blog.

This site has entries from MSM political reporters and sometimes they let some gems out. They’re actually ‘on vacation for a week’ but here are some recent examples:

3. “George Allen is football analogies and chewing tobacco. That is an image he has carefully cultivated over the years . . Frist is doctor and AIDS in Africa. One is a career politician and one is a citizen legislator.” — A “source supportive of Frist” quoted in Chris Cillizza’s classic Must Read on alleged Frist-Allen tensions, which will be gobbled up by the Gang of 500 and very few others. LINK

“But, Mr. President, I will not be lectured about civility by the Junior Senator from Pennsylvania who has repeatedly disrespected veterans. Three times he opposed funding for veterans, votes in committee and here on the Senate floor. I ask consent that his voting record be submitted in the record on those issues.” — Sen. Harry Reid, in response to Santorum. (Per ABC News’ Ed O’Keefe.)
The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi says that top Democrats are too easily buying into the President’s plan on the war in Iraq.

“If you listen carefully, you realize Democrats like Kerry and Biden are saying that this war is being fought the wrong way, not that this is the wrong war. They have bought into the Karl Rove argument that might makes right. LINK

Paul Kane of Roll Call reports that Sen. Trent Lott has a proposal to change the Senate ethics rules to allow Sen. Tom Coburn to continue practice medicine, and by extension, allow other Senators to keep their outside careers.

Mary Ann Akers of Roll Call reports that the yacht on the Washington waterfront where Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham lives (owned by defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who bought Cunningham’s house and sold it for a whopping loss) is up for sale.

The fifth and sixth paragraphs of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s story on Gov. Taft’s final budget signing event of his tenure: LINK

“The usually celebratory event comes, however, amid questions about why the governor failed to disclose golf outings with people doing business with Ohio, including rare-coin dealer Thomas W. Noe. Noe is under state and federal investigation for up to $13 million in investments he lost for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the alleged laundering of contributions to President Bush’s campaign.”

“During Taft’s last three encounters with reporters, in Mansfield, Port Clinton and at the Statehouse, reporters pelted him with questions about whom he golfed with and who paid. He has declined to answer specifics on the advice of his criminal attorney, William Meeks.”

By now you have the idea. I’ve strung you along long enuf. Here’s the site:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=899103

Let’s be clear. I’m no Bill, I can’t do what he does with C&J and thank goodness, I’m not trying to. I’m just cutting and pasting the ‘best’ from other places. We all need humor to get us through these times..sit back and enjoy, then get back to building freedom from the ground up..local action, party building, wever will change this country…

UPDATE: Bush has another bike accident only this time he hit a cop. Let’s see, first there was the eat a pretzel and fall down, then there were two bike ‘accidents’ out on the ranch, now he hit a PO in Scotland. Listen, just don’t let this guy near the suitcase with the Big Button.

“Starting tomorrow to improve his popularity President Bush  
is going to jump up and down on Oprah’s couch.”  
–David Letterman  

“Despite protests from conservatives, this week President  
Bush appointed an openly-gay man as his assistant secretary  
of commerce. … Bush claimed that the gay man is perfect  
for the Commerce department because quote ‘those people  
love to shop.'”  
–Conan O’Brien  

“The Army announced this week they are now training mine-  
sniffing dogs to go to Iraq. How bad do you have to screw  
up at obedience school to get that job?”  
–Jay Leno  

“Support for the Iraq war is at an all-time low, and some  
Republicans blame the media and its ’24/7 news coverage of  
car bombs,’ which ‘tends to leave a certain impression.’  
You know, that’s so true. You never hear about the cars  
that don’t blow up.”  
–Jon Stewart  

“There was one embarrassing moment at the White House yesterday. … I guess when they brought out the Declaration of Independence President Bush kept looking for the treasure map on the back.” –Jay Leno
“Even if the flag burning amendment does become law, the larger problem will remain of how to respectfully dispose of older, tattered flags. Well, fortunately the U.S. official Flag Code has a suggestion about this. Quote: ‘The flag, when it is in such a condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.’ Owwwwcchh. In response, the House Republicans are calling for tattered flags to be kept alive via a feeding tube.” –Jon Stewart

“The guards who watch Saddam Hussein say he sits around all  
day eating Doritos. And, of course, in this country we call  
that college. ”  
–David Letterman  

“The Supreme Court ruled that the government has the right  
to seize your land. And today Native Americans said, what  
else is new?”  
–Jay Leno  

“The Trade Bank of Iraq has issued the country’s first ever  
credit card today. Catchy slogan – ‘The Bank of Iraq Card.  
It’s everywhere you don’t want to be.'”  
–Jay Leno  

“Mattel has announced they are taking auditions for the role  
of Barbie in a Barbie musical. This announcement answers that  
old question – what could be gayer than Ken?”  
–Conan O’Brien  

“Government officials in California now have to pay a one  
dollar fine when they use a word that’s hard for taxpayers  
to understand. In a related story Arnold now owes $50,000.”  
–Conan O’Brien  

“A number of U.S. colleges are going to start having dorms  
for alcoholics. I believe those are called….dorms.”  
–Craig Ferguson  

“Well the big story, the Los Angeles Police Department  
announced they will no longer arrest famous people who  
break the law. What’s the point?”  
–Jay Leno

“Today President Bush sent a congratulatory message to the  
new president of Azerbaijan. Bush also wished the president  
of Azerbaijan good luck in his fight against Harry Potter.”  
–Conan O’Brien  

“According to a recent Bureau of Justice survey, night is  
the most dangerous time for law enforcement officers. Second  
most dangerous time: day.”  
–Jimmy Fallon  

“Just 72 hours after President Bush met with Crown Prince Abdullah and held his hand, oil prices fell to under $50 a barrel. Boy, imagine if President Bush had let him get to second base — we’d be paying like a buck-ten a gallon now.” –Jay Leno

[From the diaries by susanhu.] A few weeks ago, I lamented the passing of Earth Day (it’s hardly `celebrated’ any more) and now Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day has passed away. I met Sen. Nelson a few years ago and a more passionate and committed environmentalist would be hard to find. He was also a bit of a curmudgeon, something we could use a bit more of. He also worked with Republicans, volunteered for the Army so Let’s take a look at this man and his times:
Sen. Nelson grew up in Wisconsin, the son of a thrifty country doctor who wrote his prescriptions on the back of drug ads. As a young boy he remembers learning to love the outdoors. Possibly ironically, his home town of 700 people is named Clear Lake. His father was mayor of Clear Lake and his mother was involved in community service. His great-grandfather helped found the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Nelson remembers wanting to be in politics since he was 8 or 9 when his dad took him to hear Robert “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, leader of the Progressive Party, speak from the back of a train. Nelson remembers being impressed by the gestures and speech and when his dad asked him if he wanted to be in politics he said: “Yes, but I’m afraid by the time I grew up Bob LaFollete would have settled all the problems and there will be nothing for me to do.” Never fear Gaylord, there’s still plenty to do.
Gaylord Nelson first learned about politics when at 14 he organized campaign to plant trees along the five roads leading into Clear Lake. Nelson was not successful and faced his first, but not last, defeat in politics.
Gaylord joined the Army and served honorably during WW2. He returned to Wisconsin and married an Army nurse in 1947. Is this starting to sound like a `Father Knows Best’ story? I can see it all playing out on a B&W TV set. Well, Nelson ran for the Wisconsin legislature as a Progressive Republican in 1946. He lost. He ran for the state Senate as a Democrat in 1948 and this time he won and served ten years before being elected Governor in 1958.
One disappointment in his life was his father’s death shortly after he had been nominated for governor but before he had been elected. In one of his last conversations with his father, his dad surprised him, recalling their conversation when Gaylord was a boy, by asking him “So do you think Bob LaFollete left you enough problems to work on when you will be governor?”

Nelson was elected Senator in 1962 and took his passion for liberal causes to Washington. Nelson aligned himself with liberal Democrats supporting the Great Society legislation of the Johnson Administration. He took a special interest in education programs, highway safety, and health care and was one of the first Senators to oppose the Vietnam War. In 1965, Nelson introduced the first legislation to ban DDT. On January 19, 1970, Senator Nelson delivered a major speech in the Senate presenting his “environmental agenda,” consisting of 11 items many of which he accomplished during his career. The first item was his proposal for a constitutional amendment that read: “Every person has the inalienable right to a decent environment. The United States and every State shall guarantee this right.” OK, he didn’t get that one. He proposed creating a new environmental advocacy agency to involve citizens in environmental policy activities. Richard Nixon, a Republican President established the EPA a few years later. Next, he proposed that immediate action “to rid America in the 1970s of the massive pollution from five of the most heavily used product of our affluent age.” These five are: internal combustion engine, hard pesticides, detergent pollution, aircraft pollution, and nonreturnable containers. We’re still working on some of these. He also persuaded President Kennedy to take a nationwide tour talking about ways to help the environment. Imagine a President doing that? Gaylord then about all the `teach-ins’ about the Vietnam war and thought, why not have them on the environment as well? Thus, on April 22, 1970 was born Earth Day; A way for citizens to help and teach each other to take care of our environment. The idea went over very well.
An estimated twenty million people participated in educational activities and community events demonstrating their interest in the environment that April day. Get this: Congress recessed for the day so that House and Senate members could speak about the environment and attend community events. In New York City, Mayor John Lindsay closed Fifth Avenue to automobile traffic and 100,000 people attended an ecology fair in Central Park.
In Earth Day ceremonies at the University of Wisconsin, Senator Nelson declared:
Our goal is an environment of decency, quality, and mutual respect for all other human creatures and for all living creatures. . .The battle to restore a proper relationship between man and his environment, between man and other living creatures will require a long, sustained, political, moral, ethical, and financial commitment- -far beyond any effort made before.”
We’re still on that path Sen. Nelson. We appreciate all you’ve done and re-dedicate ourselves to making better choices in how we live our lives and to push our government to live up to the ideals you so eloquently expressed. Thank you and Goodbye.

For some time, no matter how strong their opposition to the war, very few politicians have said (out loud) the USA should leave Iraq sooner rather than later. One of the accepted maxims of the past two years plus has been..We made the mess, we have to fix it. On the face of it, it makes sense. We’re Americans, we messed up, we’re the leaders of the free world and we live up to our responsibilities. We can’t just walk out of Iraq and leave the millions of civilians to whatever will come next. So let’s take a close look. (crossposted at Dkos but diaries stay so short)
What would happen if we left? Seems likely the various major factions will fight and civil war will break out. Hundreds if not thousands of Iraquis will die every month. Most likely a theocracy similar to Iran would emerge for much of the country. Or a dictator who would hold power by brutal force. Now what exactly would be so different than the current situation?

Many people have said we need to build a real coalition and bring in Arab partners to help maintain security and allow the Iraquis time to be able to handle their own security. Let’s get one thing straight. To the Arab world we are the invader, the oppressor. Any government, Turkey and Jordan and Saudi Arabia included would be asking for instant mass demonstrations if they sent troops to support the Americans. What would we do if we were in their shoes.

None of the analysts, on TV or in government have said we can leave within the next two years and more likely five. Who really knows? What if we’re there for ten years? The situation certainly hasn;t gotten better over the past two years. We’ve had more casualties in the forst two weeks ofthis month than the entire month of June last year. One of the most dangerous routes in Iraq runs from the airport to Baghdad. Six miles and there are attacks and bombs on pretty much a daily basis.

So what if we’re there long enough to lose 10,000 service people and 50,000 wounded? Will we elect a President who is bigger and tougher and promises to fix the problem. How do we fix the problem?

What if we left? We announce we’re going to leave  and just like we did in Vietnam, we leave. We left there on short notice. What if Iraq becomes a theocracy? We’ve existed with one in Iran and Europe gets along with Iran more or less.

The likely answer will be..the MidEast will explode. Everything will go to hell in a handbasket. Will it? Isn’t it already there? Do the American people really want to  stay in Iraq and occupy it for however long it takes to achieve what Karl Rove said is ‘total victory’? What does ‘total victory’ look like? It’s possible withdrawing may look better inside 5 years than ‘total victory’. Your turn.

For some time now I’ve been tracking AOL polls. Without going into great detail the AOL using audience tends to skew more conservative than the public at large. They support the war, almost split but still a majority favor Bush and so forth. But just as we’ve seen polling at large changing, it’s changing even faster at AOL.

There are two items in particular that seem to be driving it. War and ‘personal’ economy. The constant bad state of affairs in Iraq, the constant news of death, the drip of ‘whistleblowers’ and now the DSM memos are starting to penetrate the mainstream. What will Bush do? read on
First, these AOL polls..highly unreliable, only good at showing a broad trend and the trend over the past month has become clear. Trust in Bush is evaporating faster  than a mud puddle in Phoenix in June. Polls that used to run 60-40 in his favor are now running 80-20 against him. It’s possible that some of his dis-spirited supporters are no longer voting in the polls but that also means they may not be quite so quick to pick up the phone and call their Reps and Sen. (All the more reason for us to keep it up)

So what is the WH response? To keep pounding the bad stories by sending President Bush out to ‘campaign’ for them. He’s going to tell us why he’s ‘optimistic’ and how everything is going to be OK and he’s going to bring gas prices down and just trust me ok? What’s next? More town hall vetted and guarded meetings?

Here’s the headline from some of the MSM folks:

“The Note: I Know I Messed It Up Before But Baby I’m Gonna Change”

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238

<< I can’t figure out the blockquote stuff so << is it….<<2. With Americans increasingly discontented with the war in Iraq, President Bush is set to begin talking more publicly about the conflict to reassure both voters and congressional Republicans about the White House’s plans, VandeHei reports in a separate solo treatise. Mr. Bush will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari at the White House next week, and he’ll talk about the war in several speeches, including a “major address on the first anniversary of Iraq’s sovereignty this month, White House officials said.” LINK

“Bush will streamline his message on the two issues White House strategists blame for the president’s lower-than-ever poll numbers. ‘In the coming weeks, the president will sharpen his focus on the two big issues facing the American people: growing our economy and winning the war,’ (Dan) Bartlett said.”

“A top White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Bush is not dropping Social Security, but believes he needs to show voters he has a plan to lower gasoline prices and prevail in Iraq. ‘These are two powerful forces’ shaping views of Bush, the official said.”

“Bush, however, offers a generally optimistic view of Iraq that aides say comes from what he sees as substantial long-term progress. The president considers the January elections that allowed the United States to turn over more control of security one of the biggest triumphs of the broader battle against terrorism. He also believes the Iraqis are moving closer to a deal to form a new government and are creating a functioning security force that will eventually allow the United States to pull out.>>

Are you kidding me? That’s their solution? To keep preaching at Americans who are already losing trust and confidence in this ‘presidency’? It’s not going to work. What will work (for us) is to repeat some very simple messages:

I’m an American. I believe in my country. I do not believe in torture. We are better than that.

I’m an American. I think for myself. I have growing doubts and I think I’ve been at best mis-led, at worst lied to. I don’t trust those guys anymore.

I’m an American. I know creating 3 million jobs over 5 years is terrible. Before Bush there were 21 million jobs created. I just see the rich getting richer and fewer chances for me.

Bottom line: Bush’s smirks and condescending talk is getting under my skin. Can’t believe we elected him and his partners in Congress. They haven’t made things better.

Note: Cross posted at dkos. Since the beginning of this war on the Middle East aka NAA (naked American Aggression) former military analysts have been all over the TV screens explaining what’s going on. They have charts, maps, and are treated well by the press.

Who are these guys? They’re former high ranking military officers. They can pick up the phone and talk to almost anybody in the military, especially their comrades in arms who are still serving active duty. In one sense it’s like having Arthur Andersen report on how Enron is doing…or is it?
At the beginning of the war most of the analysts were pretty gung ho and sounding much like the Pentagon itself. Glowing praise was passed off as analysis and we all wondred what they were smoking. Well, wonder no more:

Here’s Jack Jacobs on Obermann (and he’s been on Fox, Imus, etc etc):

Our biggest worry is that we just can`t recruit the numbers that we need.  Even the Marine Corps, who typically has no problem recruiting people, has had difficulty the last few months or so.

Not only that, we rely so heavily on Guard, National Guard, and Reserve troops, because they provide us with the military occupational specialties that are in short supply in active duty ranks, and we require them there for the Guard and the Reserve people to perform extended duty in Southwest Asia.

If we rely so heavily on them, and their recruitment goals are not being met, we`re going to have a very big problem a couple of years down the road.

<<In other words, the system he loves and supports is in deep trouble. People flat out do not support this war and parents are not allowing their kids to go.>>

OLBERMANN:  To speculate about that time, Army recruiting down 42 percent in April, they lower the quota by 18 percent for May, still miss the quota by a quarter.  Can you do the rough math here?  At what point do we run out of the personnel required just for the commitments we already have?

JACOBS:  Well, I think we`re probably at the limit now.  I think we may have if–another six months or so before things really get dire, and something significant is going to have to be done.

It`s difficult, I think, for the Defense Department to come up with solutions, however.  They`re going to have to do things like you suggested earlier, keeping people we would otherwise throw out, lower the standards for people we do bring in.

You know, we`ve had an all-volunteer army.  We`ve had nothing but high school graduates, fairly high standards, for the duration of the all-volunteer Army.  And now we`re at a point where we`re going to have to lower the standards if we want to make the numbers, and it`s going to be extremely difficult to do so without turning the Army into what it was in the `70s, after the war in the Vietnam, a really ineffective fighting force.

And that`s unfortunate, for two reasons.  First of all, I don`t like to see my Army denigrated like that.  And secondly, we have enormous worldwide commitments that we will not able to satisfy with that kind of force.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8155830/

<<They’re screwing up in the worst way, they (BushCo) are ruining the services and it sucks. <p> Jacobs isn’t the only one. This is the sort of thing we’re hearing from all the analysts. We’re now hearing from active duty officers this war is unwinnable, that we will have to leave and the civil war that is already going will erupt. It’s going to get worse. We have Poured men and materials in there and we can’t get control. Even BushCo knows they are in over their heads (how’s That for scary?) and their hollow denials aren’t working. Our so-called leaders don’t have a plan and the military knows it (and doesn’t like it) There is no plan just as there are no freedom fries. Bush can’t find the exit from Iraq because their plan was to exit via Iran or Syria.

They don’t have a plan. We do. But we need to talk about it. What would you do if you were on the WH staff? What plan would you suggest? Don’t give me (well, you can if you want to) the pack your bags and leave because that does mean more civilians will get killed but practically, realistically, what would you do? Let’s hear it. I’m off to a planning mtg for the fall election so won;t be around to pimp this diary. Help me out, please and thank you.>> And I suck at doing the grey boxes so the << were my comments.