More Random Observations
By Anthony Wade
Again this month we see several news stories, all of which deserve to be mentioned and noted. This is not to demean their importance, but rather to ensure that we do not miss them in the scope of all the "headlines".
The "It's About Time" Honest Politician of the Week: This award goes to Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. The story goes like this; the government called up a reservist who had already served his six-year commitment. The current Iowa police officer, Rodell Nydam, was called up by using the military's "stop loss" exemption, which can extend duty in wartime. Senator Harkin called on the President to stop this practice often used by the Bushies due to their "go-it-alone" policies where Americans shoulder the burden of the "war on terror".
These days, too often we see the folks as "politically correct" in their opposition to Bush and his neo-con policies. Senator Harkin, whether politically correct or not expresses his frustration and concern with the neocon's push for war.
"The part of the U.S. code that provides for this anticipates major wars, major national emergencies. That is not what we're confronting right now. You think about using this law only in (extreme cases), only when we're really in dire, dire need."
"Maybe the president should go back into the military. He didn't do much when he was young. How about Cheney? During the Vietnam War, Vice President Cheney said he had five deferments and he had other priorities. When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil. Those of us who served and those of us who went in the military don't like it when someone like a Dick Cheney comes out and he wants to be tough. Yeah, he'll be tough. He'll be tough with somebody else's blood, somebody else's kids. But not when it was his turn to go."
Amen, Senator Harkin! Amen, and welcome to the fight! The GOP's response, although historically typical, I find disingenuous.
"Sen. Harkin's attacks and negative pessimism diminishes the importance of the 30 countries that are part of the coalition serving in Iraq,"
First of all, certainly Palau will forgive Senator Harkin since NO soldiers were committed to the fray. Basically at this late date, the "coalition" consists of Britain and the bribed. Not to sound merely pessimistic, but I see a culturally, constitutionally, and militarily out-of-touch president and vice president with a dangerously frightening "bring it on" mentality. And similarly Harkin merely states the truth, no pessimism.
I highly recommend that all grateful citizens send Senator Harkin a thank you for finally speaking openly and honestly about this administration. Please use this link to send Harkin a message of support: http://harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
The George W. Bush Police State of America Moment of the Month: This was an easy one. Veteran 60 minutes anchorman Mike Wallace was not only issued a summons in New York last week, he was handcuffed and dragged downtown. The Taxi and Limousine Commission said Wallace became "overly assertive and disrespectful" and interfered with the inspectors, according to WCBS. At one point, Wallace lunged at one of the inspectors, according to the commission. The other inspector then handcuffed Wallace and drove him to a police station, where he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct. Here is the punch line for those of you who may not know Mike Wallace, he is 86 years old. Wallace who has been reported to have said, "I can't lunge into bed", was out picking up an order of meatloaf for dinner from a local restaurant when the dispute occurred. The restaurant manager who witnessed the altercation said that the officers manhandled Wallace. In response, Tom Ridge has announced a new terror alert saying that al Qaeda plans using meatloaf as a potential terror weapon at the upcoming Republican National Convention. Wallace is on record as saying that regardless of the terror alert, the meatloaf was "superb".
The Fuzzy Math Award of the Month: This also was easy, as it goes to the Bushies for their transparent manipulation of numbers to try and put a positive spin on the record deficit. You see six months ago the administration had predicted a deficit of 520 billion dollars. Now, this was a ridiculous prediction whose only purpose was to make the real number when it came out look so much lower, so thus the economy is not doing as badly as predicted. Very clever. The deficit still sits at 440 billion and how that can be spun "optimistic" or indicative of "turning a corner" is anyone's guess. Thanks to the Center on Budget Policy Priorities for pointing out this scam.
The Greedy War Profiteering of the Month Award: Believe it or not it does not go directly to Cheney! No, it goes to ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch/Shell who made $5.8 Billion in profits in just THREE MONTHS. That's right America, as our kids die every day, and oil prices eclipsed the $44 dollar per barrel, these two patriotic companies have buckled down and really raked it in, at our expense of course. Don't worry Dick; we all have confidence that you will win the title back next month!
The Fuzzy Math Award Runner-Up: Ahh, this one does go to Cheney as Halliburton managed to again avoid prosecution for more shady accounting practices. The SEC investigation stemmed from a time that Cheney actually ran the company and not just the deferred stock options he now enjoys. How much to avoid the truth? Why it only cost Halliburton 7.5 million dollars in fines! A fair price to pay to ensure that Cheney does not get exposed, besides I am sure they will get another billion dollar contract any day now to make up for it.
The "Gee, Michael Moore May Have Been On To Something" Story of the Month: Flying directly under the radar this past month was the release by the State Department's Office of Protocol which highlighted that the Saudis last year lavished George and Laura Bush with $130,000 worth of gifts. This included a lovely matching set of diamond and sapphire earrings, bracelet and necklace presented to First Lady Laura Bush by Crown Prince Abdullah. I don't know about you, but I can't tell you the amount of times I have gotten such a gift from someone who doesn't feel really indebted to me. All the time really, I am wearing a pair of sapphire earrings right now, I swear.
Honest Politician of the Month: Goes to Bush, so don't let anyone say I am not fair. The quote that demonstrates the President's candid nature of course was:
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,"
Bravo George, this is a real step forward in your progress. It is so refreshing to see a politician embrace his policies with such forthrightness.
The "What the Hell is Going on in Florida" Stories of the Month: We got a couple this month. First up is the "People of Color United" scandal. This "advocacy group" sounds good in principal until you discover they are actually funded by the insurance magnate and large Bush backer, Patrick Rooney of Indiana. What Mr. Rooney, who is quite white, has done is buy radio ads in Florida condemning Kerry, from the perspective of blacks. The actual quotes are as follows:
"Our community doesn't need another wishy-washy, rich, white politician and boy does Kerry come across as rich, white and wishy-washy."
"His wife (Kerry) says she's an African-American. While technically true, I don't believe a white woman, raised in Africa, surrounded by servants, qualifies."
Keep in mind that Rooney, who is not from Florida and does not live there, is WHITE. This is the level of discourse we can expect from the Bushies the rest of the way. We have seen the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush lying about Kerry's service, and now a rich white millionaire from Indiana is telling African-American Floridians that Kerry is too rich and white for them. I never realized that Bush was now going to run as the poor black candidate. For the flip-flop record of GW Bush, please see this informative link:
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=42263
The second story has agents at the behest of Jeb Bush harassing elderly African-American voters for potential voter fraud from a Mayoral election held in March. In another strange twist of coincidence, some of the questioned citizens were active in "get out the vote" campaigns. An exchange between journalist Bob Herbert and the law enforcement rep went like this:
I asked Mr. Morales in a telephone conversation to tell me what criminal activity had taken place.
"I can't talk about that," he said.
I asked if all the people interrogated were black.
"Well, mainly it was a black neighborhood we were looking at - yes,'' he said.
He also said, "Most of them were elderly."
When I asked why, he said, "That's just the people we selected out of a random sample to interview."
As Mr. Herbert points out, "Not surprisingly, many of the elderly black voters who found themselves face to face with state police officers in Orlando are members of the Orlando League of Voters, which has been very successful in mobilizing the city's black vote."
Ahh, there is nothing like a little voter suppression by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Combine this with the fact that Florida still is refusing to have paper trails for the new computer voting machines supplied by republican companies, and well, lets just hope it all does not come down to the Sunshine State again.
The Let's All Keep This in Mind Story of the Month: Remember that Kerry's record will be scrutinized and distorted by attacks as we get closer to November. During the 11-year record of Dick Cheney the Congressman, he passed TWO laws, that's right TWO. One was a bill to establish a federally declared floodway for the Colorado River below Davis Dam and the other was a bill for the relief of Lawrence K. Lunt. Great job Dick, quite a record to stand on.
The Impending Whitewash Warning of the Month: The 911 report won this award earlier in the year, but get ready, because this week the "investigation" of Abu Ghraib is coming out. What leads me to be so cynical you ask? Well, the Pentagon conducted the "investigation". Hmm, what are the chances that this result will not implicate Rumsfeld, or any one significant above the seven charged front line folks? Why in the world would anyone trust the Pentagon to investigate itself? Don't fall for this when it comes out. The brass did not only condone the torture policy but it was ordered. According to Brig-Gen Janis Karpinski, formerly of Abu Ghraib, documents yet to be released by the Pentagon would show that Mr. Rumsfeld personally approved the introduction of harsher conditions of detention in Iraq. We already know that Bush had lawyers hash out a legal weasel-way-out of the Geneva Conventions. We must continue to DEMAND an independent investigation and a release of all relevant documents, especially in light of the recent developments, which implicate the US in the systematic abuse and torture of children. For a longer article about this see:
http://www.opednews.com/wade_080704_silence_torture.htm
Most Informative Email of the Month: I received an email from a reader who was discussing Bill O'Reilly and stated the following:
"but now all my emails to O'Reilly (oreilly@foxnews.com) are sent back as undeliverable. In other words, he has programmed his server to reject emails from dissenting views (like my own)."
Imagine my shock and horror.
The "God Did Not Say That Award": Goes of course to our Crusader in Chief, GW Bush. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has published transcripts of last year's negotiating session between Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas, faction leaders from Hamas and other militant groups and Bush - who stunned everyone present by saying, "God told me to strike at al-Qaeda and I struck them, and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East." [Moscow Times June 27/03]
I just wanted to clarify for everyone, God did not tell Bush this, I checked with God who said, "George who?" No, it was Cheney who told Bush to strike al Qaeda and Saddam. Since Bush views Cheney as"well, lets just say that the quote from Bush was at least honest from his perspective.
Funniest Link of the Month: Jon Stewart, comedic genius and political savant gives us this brilliant debate between Bush the Governor-Candidate from 2000, with President Bush from 2004. Bush's own words against him:
That's it for this month folks. Join us again in September and if you think you have an interesting blurb, story or link please feel free to email it to me at the address below.
Anthony Wade is co-administrator of a website devoted to educating the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and seeking his removal from office. He is a 36-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive, and professional counselor, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
Anthony Wade's Archive: http://www.opednews.com/archiveswadeanthony.htm
Email Anthony: takebacktheus@gmail.com
