It's vacation time -- snoopy dance -- it's vacation time -- snoopy dance! That means the next RWN update will be on Wednesday, July 7th. While I'm gone, may I suggest that you check out my advertisers listed below **** Please **** and the blogs that I'll be putting up in the daily news section later tonight. Have a fantastic week-end!
Although I'm going to be out of town for the 4th, I thought I could at least put together a few posts and articles from the archives that would be appropriate for the occasion. Enjoy!
"(U)nhinged and creepy lunacy is spreading like a virus through the left and not just on the fringes. Snapping them out of it is nearly impossible. Reminding them of 9/11 doesn't help, it's already an irrelevant historical event to them that no longer has anything to do with what we're doing today. They will generally admit that Saddam Hussein is dangerous, but their words have the hollow ring of a mental patient telling a doctor that, 'I really don't think I'm Jesus anymore so can you please take the straitjacket off?' They're so paranoid that Conservatives can never get through to them. In fact, just mentioning this editorial to them will probably cause them to start screaming, "police state, police state, police state" while they start looking for the brown shirts who they believe are about to haul them away to a FEMA internment camp." -- John Hawkins
Little did I know back in October of 2002, when I wrote that, how thoroughly that "unhinged and creepy lunacy" would permeate the ranks of the Democratic Party. Back then, for the most part, I was talking about left-wing columnists and forums. But today, the Democratic elite, Congressmen, Senators, even John Kerry, the Democrat's candidate for President, are drifting deeper into the fever swamps of the left.
If you want evidence of this, you need look no further than the reaction to Michael Moore. Moore's books sell like wildfire and his latest film, "Faherenheit 9/11," spent a week at the top of the box office. Without question, Moore is talented, witty, and funny. He's also a conspiracy nut who not only believes that we went to war with Afghanistan for oil, but that the US government is deliberately letting Osama Bin Laden run free. He has also claimed that there is no "terrorist threat in this country," that Americans "are possibly the dumbest people on the planet," and he has also compared the insurgents in Iraq, you know the ones that are sawing people's heads off, to the Minutemen from the Revolutionary War. In short, Michael Moore is an America hating whack-job. (Cont)
Saddam Hussein Escapes Transfer, Assumed To Be Finding Real Evil Dictator By Steve Tanner
Saddam Hussein, the ousted Iraqi leader, was to appear before a special tribunal yesterday to hear charges arising from his 23-year dictatorship. Authorities say Saddam’s bus was struck by a train, overturned, tumbled, twisted, broke, spun, which in turn allowed him to flee captivity.
Hussein was captured by U.S. soldiers in December near his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. The 12 defendants were served with arrest and detention papers yesterday after they were placed under Iraqi legal jurisdiction.
“We believe he is still in the area.” Claimed US Marshal Samuel Gerard. “We have a calculated location where he might be, and we are taking the necessary procedures to catch him. But keep in mind, we will catch him.”
“Hussein is wearing orange prison garbs, and no longer had the beard he sported when he was caught, His hair is black, not gray, and he might be running really, really fast.”
Jacque Chirac, Friend and former co-worker of Mr. Hussein, says he questions the charges against the fugitive. “Saddam confided in me the existence of a real evil dictator. He gave mention of a one armed man who brutally murdered thousands of innocent lives while he ran a small shelter for abandoned animals in Tikrit. I believe Saddam in completely innocent. I also believe you shall never catch him, for he is too smart.”
“Is he as smart as you?” asked Mr. Gerard.
“Smarter”
If you enjoyed this satire by Steve Tanner, you can read more of his work at Broken Newz.
"Filmmaker Michael Moore, writer/director of the new Bush-bashing documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," has made quite a career out of marketing himself as a man of the people, a populist everyman who fights passionately for the little guy.
That's why we wanted to make sure "little guys" could let Moore know exactly what they think about his new movie.
So, if you have an opinion about the film -- in which Moore plays fast and loose with the facts to build a case that President Bush is an idiot and the war in Iraq is all about oil profits -- we suggest you send it to the following address:
Michael Moore
[ADDRESS REMOVED BY N.P.]
New York, NY 10024
That's his home -- a condominium this man of the people, so critical of capitalism, spent $4.5 million on seven years ago. And please don't worry that it's wrong to use this address; it's public record, obtained through New York State mortgage records and Federal Election Commission filings.
Besides, Moore himself endorses the publication of this kind of information: In "Fahrenheit 9/11," in fact, he projects on screen the private office number of a congressman whose views he opposes -- and urges viewers to call it."
Yes, Moore may have given out the "private office number of a congressman". Moreover, according to a reader at The Corner, Michael Moore once let an audience hear the cell phone number of radio host Lars Larson which led to death threats for Larson and his wife. Had Larson or the congressman given out Moore's number or address, I'd say "what's good for the goose is good for the gander," and I'd write it off as just desserts for Moore.
However, Michael Moore is an obnoxious conspiracy nut. What's Dobson's excuse?
You don't give out people's home addresses or numbers in this sort of situation to let the "little guys" have their say, you do it to encourage harassment, abuse, and threats towards that person. That a pile of monkey spit like Michael Moore would do something like this is to be expected, but we should expect better from James Dobson...
***Update #1***Allah, whose website I highly recommend, says the following in the comments section,
"There's a street fight on and you're following Queensberry rules, Hawk. Kind of like Israel vis-a-vis the Palis. I hope having the high ground compensates for all the extra shots you're going to take because of it."
I'll be the first person to tell you that politics is like a knife fight in a phone -- savage, nasty, and vicious. If you don't understand that, you're not going to last and make an impact.
But, on the other hand, you've got to draw a line somewhere and decide that come hell or high water, you're not going to cross it. If you decide that you're going to sink as low as it takes to match the left, then next thing you know you'll be making political speeches at memorial services, publicly cheering on the deaths of your enemies, and rooting for your own country to lose a war so it'll benefit your political party. Do we really want to go there?
As far as giving out people's home addresses and phone numbers goes, I'd recommend that people be very careful about that sort of thing. I say that, because if we cheer Dobson on for doing this to Moore, what do you say if a left-winger were to give out Ann Coulter's personal information? What happens if some oddball who happened to get hold of Dobson's email were to wait outside of his condo and hurt Michael Moore? Then what do you say if that whole cycle is repeated with a prominent conservative pundit like let's say Charles Krauthammer?
Maybe you think Michael Moore deserves it, maybe you don't, but before you start giving the Ok to putting out people's home addresses and phone numbers, you should seriously consider the possible consequences.
PS: Check out 'Saddam's Taxicab Confessions' on Allah's blog. Hehe...(some bad language though for those of you who are bothered by that sort of thing)...
Publisher Revokes Hillary's Advance for Common Good By Scott Ott
In the same week that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, told a San Francisco audience that future President John Forbes Kerry will take money away from wealthy Americans "on behalf of the common good", the former First Lady's publisher announced it would not pay the $5.3 million deferred advance it owes for her book Living History.
"To get the publishing industry, and our company in particular, back on track, we're going to cut that short and not give it to you," a spokesman for Simon and Shuster reportedly told Mrs. Clinton. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Mrs. Clinton's office released a statement saying she was "delighted to help cover the publisher's losses from unpopular books by other authors, bad management decisions and bureaucratic waste."
She suggested that her husband, who served with her in the White House during the 1990s, would like to do the same with his $10 million advance from Knopf.
If you enjoyed this satire from Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface.
"Cool Site of the Week - Right Wing News - It's the Fourth of July Weekend, you're in a great mood, Iraq is now a sovereign nation, and all is right with the world (almost). All that's left is a trip to Right Wing News, the online magazine for anyone who isn't an America-hating piece of dung. John Hawkins is a gentleman and a scholar. His articles are often funny, poignant, and ALWAYS dead-on accurate."
"RWN -- The online magazine for anyone who isn't an America-hating piece of dung!"
John Hawkins of Right Wing News has been amazingly kind to me the past two days. He placed my "Love In A Dangerous Time" post on the front page of RWN and sent a lot of new blood over here to RTG. Mucho gracias, John. You're a rockstah!"
Ah, the 'You're a rockstah' part just made that =D
Also, she wasn't kidding about the "new blood" heading over to see the Love In A Time Of Danger post either.
When I posted that column on RWN -- after getting her permission of course -- it had one trackback from another website going to it. Today it has 19.
I'm just happy that I could help get the word out about such a remarkable column.
After a bit of prodding via email from RWN reader Rachael Anderson, I've decided to do a 2nd edition of RWN's fave South Park quotes (version 1 is here). Do keep in mind that South Park is an obscene & deliberately offensive show. If that sort of thing bugs you, you may want to skip these quotes. Otherwise, enjoy! (Cont)
Much as it pains me to do so, I'm forced to agree with the French on this sure to be controversial issue....
"PARIS France intends to changes its laws to allow terminally ill patients to opt for death over further treatment without legalizing euthanasia, Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Wednesday.
.
Douste-Blazy, speaking after a parliamentary report called for new laws to assure patients a dignified and painless death, said the National Assembly had a duty to clarify the rules for treating the terminally ill. The report said France should not simply copy the voluntary euthanasia now legal in Belgium and the Netherlands but that it should let patients or their families choose to end treatments that are simply delaying death. This would lift from doctors the threat of being charged with a crime if they stop caring for a terminal patient. PARIS France intends to changes its laws to allow terminally ill patients to opt for death over further treatment without legalizing euthanasia, Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Wednesday.
Douste-Blazy, speaking after a parliamentary report called for new laws to assure patients a dignified and painless death, said the National Assembly had a duty to clarify the rules for treating the terminally ill. The report said France should not simply copy the voluntary euthanasia now legal in Belgium and the Netherlands but that it should let patients or their families choose to end treatments that are simply delaying death."
I suspect that a majority of people reading RWN are not going to agree with me on this and I can certainly understand why. Allowing people to take their own lives does cheapen respect for life, there's always the slight chance of a "miracle cure", I'll be the first to agree that the primary proponent of this, Jack Kervorkian, comes across as a creepy, death obsessed loon, and there's certainly the possibility that euthanasia is a step down a slippery slope.
However, in the end, I simply cannot look at someone with a terminal disease, whose life is down to nothing but fitful sleep, drug induced stupors, and sheer agony and say, "Sorry, you have to live through that torture until your body gives out on you".
To wake up, every single day, knowing that you're dying, knowing that today, like yesterday, like tomorrow, is going to be nothing more than an attempt to endure anguish and torment as your body betrays you...nobody should have to live through that if they don't want to.
Nor should someone in that situation be put in a position where they have to commit suicide. If someone asks for help in ending their own life in that situation, I think the humane thing for society to do is to allow it to be provided. At that point, it's just an act of mercy...
Spider-Man 2 Conspires to Silence Michael Moore By Scott Ott
Spider-Man 2 is part of "a web of deception, a conspiracy to silence" Oscar-winning documentarist Michael Moore, according to the filmmaker whose Fahrenheit 9/11 is America's current number one box office smash.
"It's not just the cynical timing of the release of Spider-Man 2," said Mr. Moore, "but the movie endorses the unilateral and so-called righteous use of power to overcome so-called evil. This is a thinly-veiled rebuttal of Fahrenheit 9/11 and the entire security plank of the Democrat National Committee platform."
Mr. Moore added that buying a ticket to Spider-Man 2 is "tantamount to voting for George Bush."
If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface.
Frank Advice On Putting Saddam On Trial By Frank J.
Now that Saddam has been turned over to Iraqis, it's time for a trial. Is there anything cooler than that? A once oppressed people now get to put on trial their former dictator; that's a meme I hope spreads.
Being the humanitarian I am and much smarter than that bafoonish Eugene Volokh who's never linked to me (even I've linked to me), I'm going to give the Iraqis advice on how to conduct their trial:
* Don't shoot Saddam before he at least gets in his plea or there may be some cries that the trial is illegitimate.
* Invite people to be character witnesses for Saddam; anyone who speaks up for him should be the next target for trial and execution.
* Whether you let cameras in the courtroom or not should be based on how much you want this to be labeled the "Trial of the Century." Just a reminder: since we're less than five years into this century, this trial has a pretty good shot.
* Remember to wear black robes and nicely powdered wigs because it will make anything you do seem official.
* Saddam deserves his own defense attorney for a fair trial; you can always put his lawyer on trial later for helping a murderous dictator.
* Body slamming Saddam into a table doesn't officially count as cross-examination, but it should leave a lasting impression on the jury. Would a prosecutor body slam an innocent man?
* Though the videotape of him having a kitten tossing contest is somewhat damning, focus mainly on the mass graves.
* It will be funny if you shave off Saddam's mustache at put on a table labeled as "Exhibit A".
Well, I'll laugh.
* If Saddam shouts, "You can't handle the truth!" be careful continuing; he might not be bluffing.
* If some Amnesty International types say that execution is barbaric, tell them that Iraqis law states that anyone objecting to execution also gets executed. No one knows what Iraqis law is; they'll fall for it.
* Don't allow any rhyming in the closing statement; that seems to have an irrational effect on juries.
* Before the jury goes out to deliberate, have the judge remind them that Saddam is a murderous dictator and deserves to die.
* If Saddam isn't found guilty and sentenced to death, you messed up and need to start over and try again.
Now have a fun trial, Iraqis; you deserve it!
If you enjoyed this satire by Frank J., you can read more of his work at IMAO.
-- If the election were held today, George Bush would win and it wouldn't even be all that close. Starting with the red/blue 2000 electoral vote totals -- Bush gets 271 & Gore had 267. Then make the adjustments for the census data -- states Bush carried in 2000 added 7 more electoral votes and those carried by Kerry lost 7. So we're at 278 - 260. Then looking at the latest battleground state polls...
Bush Adds: Michigan (+17), Pennsylvania (+21), Wisconsin (+10)
Kerry Adds: Arkansas (+6), New Hampshire (+4),
So that's a net gain of +38 electoral votes for Bush. That puts it at Bush 316 vs. Kerry 222.
Don't get overconfident, but like I've been saying all along, Bush, not Kerry, is in the catbird's seat.
-- Quite frankly, newspapers have no business trolling through a candidate's divorce papers. As far as I'm concerned, it's an invasion of privacy. It was wrong when they did it to Jack Ryan in Illinois and it'll be wrong if it's done to John Kerry.
When it comes to the issue of divorce papers, a person's "right to privacy" should trump the public's "right to know," especially given the fact that not only are children often involved, but all sorts of unsubstantiated allegations can be included. This is nasty business that I suspect is going to start becoming routine and that's too bad.
-- Speaking of "nasty business," why did Jimmy Carter have to figuratively use a 13 year old boy's coffin as a soapbox to attack George Bush?
"(Carter) attended the funeral yesterday of Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a Rockville boy-turned-national hero who struggled for years with a form of muscular dystrophy and wrote books of inspirational poems that climbed the bestseller charts, topping even Carter's memoir. He died last Tuesday at Children's Hospital in Washington.
...In his eulogy, Carter told the congregation that throughout his long and varied public life, which has included shaking millions of hands, traveling to more than 120 countries and knowing "kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers," Mattie was "the most extraordinary person" he has ever known.
...(S)oon after, the former president received a letter from his then-12-year-old friend: "I feel like President Bush made a decision long ago about the war," Mattie wrote. "Imagine if he had spent as much time and energy . . . planning peace."
The letter continued, "Even though I want to talk to Osama bin Laden about peace in the future, I wouldn't want to be alone with him in his cave." The congregation dissolved into laughter.
"In the same letter," Carter added, "he asked if I would join him."
Wellstone's Memorial Service, trashing Reagan after he died, and now Carter taking digs at Bush during a 13 year-old's funeral. Whatever happened to common decency on the left?
-- Victor Davis Hanson has some wise words for one of his readers who mistakenly believes Islam is the enemy in the war on terrorism...
Isn’t the enemy in the Middle East Islam? To end this war, should US policy be the destruction of the religion?
Hanson: No. I don’t think so. Look at India, Malaysia, and Indonesia where we don’t have a great deal of trouble with Muslims. Rather, the problem is in the Middle East, where a reactionary Islam, Arab tribalism, post-Soviet Baathism and statism, combined with failed states and autocratic governments, create this lethal brew of Islamofascism. Those who say our war has nothing to do with Islam are as wrong as those who swear it is with Islam itself. Islamic fascism has the same position in the Middle East as the KKK once did in the South circa 1920 or so—generally derided, but not to the degree that average folks would wipe it out, given their own ambiguous views about race and their historic hatred of Yankees. But once the KKK was discredited, its members jailed, and its reputation soiled, no one wanted anything to do with it.
Exactly. As Iraq becomes free & prosperous, more terrorists are captured and killed, & the terrorists continue to murder other Muslims, you will start to see a sea change in the attitude of "moderate" Muslims towards terrorism. If you want to see an example of what I mean by that, take a look at part of a post from StrategyPage on June 22nd...
"The death of Saudi Arabian al Qaeda leader Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, and three other al Qaeda members, was unique in several respects. This killing of Islamic terrorists was openly applauded by most Saudi, with the police being cheered in the neighborhood where the four were hiding out and killed. That had never happened before. The general population saw the murder and beheading of Paul Johnson as crossing some kind of line.
It will take time, continued leadership from the United States, & more blood and treasure than we'd prefer to spend, but we are going in the right direction in the war on terror. Today, it may seem controversial, but if, as expected, Bush wins another 4 years and stays the course, it'll be Reagan redux. A decade or two from now we'll probably have liberals talking about how obvious it was terrorist groups with global reach couldn't survive and they'll insist that George W. Bush had nothing to do with making it happen....
As I told The Raw Story last Friday when they asked me for a quote about this,
"The ad features clips of moveon.org ads comparing Bush to Hitler in an effort to show how far out of the mainstream John Kerry and his political allies are. To claim that the ad is some kind of attempt to compare Democrats to Hitler seems like a bizarre and tortured interpretation of the commercial to me. In fact, I'm not sure how anyone could even come to the conclusion that complaining about Democratic portrayals of Bush as another Hitler is the same thing as equating Democrats to Hitler. That sort of thinking defies all logic."
As per usual, when you expose the left's spin for what it is, they don't miss a beat, they just move on to the next piece of spin.
In this case, I've heard lefties making the case, as William Saletan does, that MoveOn.org isn't responsible for the content they post on their own website =D...
"Six months ago, MoveOn.org held a contest to find the best amateur ad against President Bush. The group invited people to make ads and submit them to its Web site. Some idiot spliced images of Bush together with images of Adolf Hitler, evidently trying to make Bush look like a warmonger. His submissions, which arrived with 1,500 others—too many to be screened quickly—were posted on the contest Web site. As soon as MoveOn.org leaders realized what was in the ad, they removed and denounced it.
That is quite a fascinating interpretation of events.
First of all, Saletan & MoveON (who originally peddled this story) expect us to believe that every video that was sent to them was simply put up on their website without being screened. So, theoretically, I could have sent in a video called "Democrats are poopyheads" that had nothing but photoshopped images making fun of Bill & Hillary Clinton on it, and MoveON would have actually posted it on their contest website. Hands up -- who really believes that?
Furthermore, that's not all of the story. You see, as I noted at the time, one of those Hitler ads was actually posted to MoveON's front page! Given that, isn't it kind of hard to argue that they didn't realize "what was in the ad"? Moreover, MoveOn didn't yank the ad out of the goodness of their hearts. The ad was "removed and denounced" shortly after the RNC publicly flayed them alive for comparing Bush to Hitler and not before.
The second piece of "spin within the spin" that I'm hearing is that John Kerry has nothing to do with MoveOn, so why should he be tarred with the ad? Well, as I expect the Democrats are going to discover with Michael Moore at some point, you can't have it both ways.
MoveOn has spent more than $17 million dollars on ads attacking Bush or promoting Kerry, John Kerry hired "Zach Exley, the director of special projects for the MoveOn PAC" to work for his campaign, Kerry sent letters to MoveOn members, and Teresa Heinz Kerry wife was handing out 'Asses of Evil" buttons at a MoveOn campaign event.
After all of that, Kerry can't simply say, "Whoa, those guys have absolutely nothing to do with me" when their radicalism becomes embarrassing. Whether Kerry likes it or not, he made his bed with MoveOn and now he's gonna have to lie in it.
The Left Had Nothing To Do With Stopping Torture In Iraq
Prepare yourself, because this is just an unbelievably horrible story about what used to go on in Iraq before George Bush put a stop to it...
"Ibrahim Idrissi has mixed feelings about the recent uproar caused by the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib under the US occupation. "As a humanitarian organization, we oppose this," he says. "But these are soldiers who have come to Iraq to fight, not to be prison guards. It was to be expected. Of course, if there are innocent people in there ... it is possible, I guess, that some of them are innocent."
If Idrissi seems a bit callous about the fate of the Iraqis in US-run jails, he has probably earned the right to differ. He recalls a day in 1982, at the General Security prison in Baghdad:
"They called all the prisoners out to the courtyard for what they called a 'celebration.' We all knew what they meant by 'celebration.' All the prisoners were chained to a pipe that ran the length of the courtyard wall. One prisoner, Amer al-Tikriti, was called out. They said if he didn't tell them everything they wanted to know, they would show him torture like he had never seen. He merely told them he would show them patience like they had never seen."
"This is when they brought out his wife, who was five months pregnant. One of the guards said that if he refused to talk he would get 12 guards to rape his wife until she lost the baby. Amer said nothing. So they did. We were forced to watch. Whenever one of us cast down his eyes, they would beat us."
"Amer's wife didn't lose the baby. So the guard took a knife, cut her belly open and took the baby out with his hands. The woman and child died minutes later. Then the guard used the same knife to cut Amer's throat." There is a moment of silence. Then Idrissi says: "What we have seen about the recent abuse at Abu Ghraib is a joke to us."
The Idrissis, and many families like them, feel that people in Iraq have too quickly relegated the horrors of the old regime to the annals of history. "But it is not the past to us," says Idrissi. "The mother of the person who was killed, his brothers and sisters, they are alive. We are still living the nightmare every day."
Keep that in mind when people like Al Gore & Ted Kennedy try to claim that we're just as bad as Saddam. When you hear people like John Kerry, Ted Rall, Michael Moore, & Nancy Pelosi trying to tell you that Bush is a rotten guy, remember that if they had been in charge, Saddam's torture chambers & rape rooms would be open for business and manned by the same sort of people who are sawing the heads off of helpless hostages in Iraq. Better that pregnant women get gang raped and murdered in front of their husbands than for Bush to be the one to get credit for stopping it....
How The GOP National Convention Really Ended Up In New York City
RWN reader (believe it or not) blahblah posted the following in the comments section of the Love In A Time Of Danger post...
"oh, i forgot future acts of profiteering - like the future republican convention.
Honestly, partisan politics aside. Holding the convention at ground zero is in very very poor taste. It would be like doing a speech about iraq during the funeral of a 9/11 victim.
In fact, thats what it is."
That's not the first time that line of nonsense has been tossed out and you can expect that you'll hear it a lot more as we get closer to early September date for Republican National Convention.
But, how the GOP convention ended up in the liberal Mecca of NYC is a telling tale. One that I think says something about the character of both the GOP and the Democratic Party and the left's penchant for rewriting history to suit their own purposes.
You see, not only was the Democratic Party given an opportunity to hold their 2004 convention in NYC, the Dems were seriously considering it -- and with good reason.
The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, was making a heck of a pitch...
"In search of a lift for the city's sinking economy and morale, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is staging an extraordinarily lavish series of events designed to persuade Democratic National Committee officials to bring their 2004 convention to New York.
Mr. Bloomberg has also enlisted the help of a transplanted New Yorker--Bill Clinton--who has recorded a video message with a lower-lip-biting reminiscence of the 1992 Democratic convention in the city, officials involved in planning the events have told The Observer. The video will be shown on a giant screen for party officials during their tour of Madison Square Garden on July 30.
When the D.N.C.'s site-selection committee arrives for a three-day tour on July 29, the officials say, party members will dine on catered delicacies from Nobu, Union Square Cafe, Tribeca Grill and Tabla--all at one sitting. They will enjoy a bus tour of the city narrated by New York documentary filmmaker Ric Burns. They will sip cocktails in a rooftop garden atop Rockefeller Center. They will have a private breakfast at Mr. Bloomberg's mansion on East 79th Street. They will be serenaded by actress Sandy Duncan, of Peter Pan fame, who will sing a song written especially for the occasion entitled "The Winning Way."
Moreover, out of the four cities the Democrats were looking at, the Big Apple was pledging the most money...
"New York had pledged $72 million, and Miami $40 million and Detroit $50 million (and Boston 49.5 million) respectively.
So what happened? Why aren't the Democrats doing their "convention at ground zero" as blahblah calls it?
Well, there was one little hitch. You see, in an effort to help revitalize NYC after the 9/11 attacks, New York wanted BOTH PARTIES to hold their conventions in the Big Apple. And you have to admit, there's a certain charm to the idea, non? It would give a big financial boost to the city, show that NYC was still the most prestigious in the world, show American unity between both parties -- it was a grand idea.
But, you know the Democrats -- everything is viewed through a partisan lens -- even when we're talking about helping NYC recover from 9/11. The New York Post fills in the details...
"The mayor asked both parties to hold their conventions in the same city for the first time since 1972. At the time, we thought it a great idea - one that would serve as a vote of confidence in New York's future after 9/11.
Indeed, Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe was approached first, with former Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo actively backing the city's efforts.
But McAuliffe wasn't interested - unless the Democrats were given an exclusive and the GOP shut out, that is.
In other words, McAuliffe wanted to make sure that only his party could reap whatever political benefits might accrue from holding a convention here.
But when Bloomberg rightly wouldn't play that game, McAuliffe made a few snide remarks about how the mayor should rejoin the Democratic Party and then shuffled off to Boston - home of the Red Sox (and Teddy Kennedy).
Meanwhile, the Republicans - to their credit - understood the symbolic importance of selecting their candidate in New York. And so Team Bush - which had wanted to hold the convention in Texas - switched gears."
So there you go. Today it's "Oh, the GOP is trying to exploit 9/11 by holding a convention in New York," but back then it was "we'd love to help you recover from 9/11, but only if you'll screw the GOP".
Remember how that actually played out because it'll come in handy over the next few months...
But, They Say There Was No Relationship Or Ties Between Iraq & Al-Qaeda
Ahem...there are those in the left who claim that contrary to what the Bush administration says, there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda. You know what I say to that?
"Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq." -- From a Clinton Administration Justice Department indictment on Nov. 4, 1998
But, they say there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda.
"The vice president is saying, I think, that there were connections between Al Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein government. We don't disagree with that. What we have said is what the governor (Commission Chairman Thomas Kean) just said, we don't have any evidence of a cooperative, or a corroborative, relationship between Saddam Hussein's government and these Al Qaeda operatives with regard to the attacks on the United States." -- Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic congressman who is the 9/11 commission's vice chairman
But, they say there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda.
"(Abu Musab al) Zarqawi was said to have received medical treatment in Baghdad in May and June of 2002 after being wounded in Afghanistan during the war. His leg was amputated, U.S. officials say, by a surgeon in Iraq. Before the war, Secretary of State Colin Powell pointed to Zarqawi's al Qaeda-affiliated group that he said was operating inside Baghdad, as evidence of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq." -- Today, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who was in Iraq before the war began, is leading terrorist attacks against the Coalition and Iraqi people.
But, they say there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda.
"There's Mr. Yasin, who was a World Trade Center bomber in '93 (an attack attributed to Al-Qaeda) who fled to Iraq after that. And we've found since, when we got into Baghdad, documents showing that he was put on the payroll and given housing by Saddam Hussein after the '93 attack-in other words, provided safe harbor and sanctuary." -- Dick Cheney
But, they say there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda.
"Credible reporting states that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs." -- CIA Director George Tenet in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 7, 2002
They say there was no relationship or ties between Iraq & Al-Qaeda. However, they're wrong.
It's Hard To Cover What's Happening In Iraq From A Baghdad Hotel Room
It practically goes without saying that the coverage of the war in Iraq has been so bad that most people can learn more about what's actually going on from letters written by soldiers in theatre than they can from the New York Times or CNN.
But, why is that the case? Is it liberal bias? Are left-wingers who hate the military and hope Bush will fail deliberately slanting the news to hurt their ideological adversaries? Could it be myopic reporters who see every conflict as Vietnam?
I'm sure all of those things factor into the miserable job the mainstream press has done covering the war. However maybe the problem is that the press in Baghdad might as well be in Akron, Ohio if they're NOT GOING TO LEAVE THEIR HOTEL.
Just read this Johnny-on-the-spot report from Janet Reitman at Rolling Stone and you'll understand...
"When I arrive in Baghdad in April, most American journalists are holed up in their rooms, reporting the war by remote: scanning the wires, working their cell phones, watching broadcasts of Al Jazeera. In many cases, they've been reduced to relying on sources available to anyone with an Internet connection. Editorial writers might like to compare Iraq to Vietnam, but reporters on the ground say there's no comparison. In Vietnam, journalists rode Hondas to the front. In Iraq, they rarely venture into the streets. When they do, they hide behind the smoked windows of their armored vehicles, called "hard cars." At least nine Western journalists have been killed since the occupation began, not because they are reporters but simply because they are Westerners. Fear has become an accepted part of life in Baghdad, as inevitable as military roadblocks. While Arabic and European media such as The Guardian and Le Monde manage to cover the war on the ground, American reporters seldom interview actual Iraqis. Instead, they talk to U.S. officials who are every bit as isolated as they are, or rely on local stringers and fixers, several of whom have been killed while working for Americans. "We live in a bubble," grumbles one AP reporter. "If we know one percent of what's going on in Iraq, we're lucky."
Most of the journalism coming out of Baghdad is produced within the fortified compound that contains the Sheraton Ishtar and the Palestine Hotel. Together, the two buildings house the bureaus of Fox, CNN, several major newspapers and wire services, as well as a rotating crew of photographers and independent journalists of all stripes. Towering side by side over the Tigris River, the hotels are a virtual fortress, ringed by coils of razor wire and surrounded by fifteen-foot-high cement barriers known as "blast walls." To enter the compound, one must endure body searches at two checkpoints, navigate a corridor that runs alongside a fortified lane for armored vehicles and answer questions posed by the U.S. troops that patrol the compound day and night."
Whatever you call sitting in your hotel room, surfing the internet, talking to other liberal reporters, & watching Al Jazeera, it sure isn't reporting the news. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know how many reporters are sending back news from Iraq without talking to any Iraqis except the maids who are cleaning their rooms and the bartenders who are serving them drinks? Oh, but they're in a Baghdad hotel room so they just ooze credibility...
Sean does not like it when I call him a 9/11 Victim. He tells me he's not a victim. His coworkers who died were victims. His wife of ten years was a victim. He was just there when it happened.
When we are together, I ask him questions about her. He is patient with me, explaining their relationship, not diminishing it just because she is no longer here, which I appreciate. I listen, trying to understand how it must feel to be in his skin and to live through that day and the thousand days that have passed. A few weeks ago, while in New York, I sat on the counter of his modern kitchen while he poured glasses of red wine. On the fridge was a snapshot of his wife and their son taken in Central Park that September. She's tiny, with a brown ponytail, bright brown eyes, and a natural, genuinely happy grin. I didn't feel like an interloper, exactly. Maybe an observer. A witness. Had things been different, she is the kind of woman who might be one of my best friends.
One day last week, I posted all the blogs that I visited during that day.
Of course, the massive numbers of blogs (& websites) I visit each day (S-Fri) are constantly changing. Some websites I hit every day, some multiple times per week, some once a week, and a few every once in a while.
Here are the political blogs and websites I currently consider to be "must see," the ones that I hit every Sun-Fri...
Dennis Prager In Quotes -- June 24, 2003 -- June 22, 2004
If you're not familiar with Dennis Prager's superb columns, you're in for a treat. I went back through a year of Prager's work and pulled the most poignant quotes. Read and enjoy...(Cont)
