I am pleased to welcome another writer to EdgeWise. She writes under the nom
de plume of Walking Raven. We can expect her wide interests to
contribute an ecclectic perspective to our blog collective. mjh
Monthly Archives: January 2004
Citizen Dean
There’s A Little Bit Of Dean in Me by Paul Vitello, Newsday.com
Dean has spoken for me. Whether I ever get to vote for him or not, Dean has captured the real frustration in me, and I suspect millions of people, as citizens of a country gone nuts. …
Dean is the only one who ever voiced the level of anger and alienation I’ve felt since the launch of the war in Iraq. [mjh: many would say ‘since the 2000 election.’] …
The angry Citizen Dean was right on all counts:
President George W. Bush launched the war on Iraq without evidence that Iraq played any role in 9/11 or in any other terrorist attacks against the United States.
Bush’s government virtually suppressed intelligence from within its own agencies warning us that there was no hard evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Bush insisted on this massive expenditure on this unnecessary war while the economy was in the tank.
Bush thumbed his nose at the United Nations and our European allies when our own intelligence community – and probably our own State Department – knew that their doubts about the war were justified.
Bush insisted on a second massive tax cut in two years, primarily for the wealthy, in the midst of this vastly expensive and needless war.
The capture of Saddam Hussein did not make the world safer from terrorism.
This is just the bill of particulars in foreign affairs. Dean has made a strong case against the Bush government’s domestic policies, too. But the point is, he did it first and he did it resoundingly. He said the war was wrong, and he never added a “but … “
Think for Yourself
I’m so tired of the Media determining what is
acceptable or not. Reporters have become critics. Too lazy to do their real job of digging for facts the public needs to be informed
(and cannot get at ourselves), Media people instead pontificate, imply, enjoin, sneer; they digest the few facts any of us have access to
and spit out their own interpretation as definitive and final.
Two weeks ago, the Media declared Howard Dean the certain nominee of
the Democratic party. Now, after a single incident (in which I see nothing improper or even worthy of comment) these same Noble Lords
declare him dead and done for.
I don’t know if that’s true or not — I don’t believe anyone will know before we all know. But I do
know the Media is not doing the job of the Press any longer; they’re all critics and spinners reading cue cards written by
people we probably should not trust.
The Press has let us down, quite possibly for the last time. Our democracy is in
peril because of that. All that is left is to see for yourself, read for yourself, think for yourself. mjh
‘Favorable Treatment’
FactCheck.org Bush A Military ‘Deserter?’ Calm Down, Michael
Reporters Dig In
After the Globe story, partisan websites denounced Bush as ‘AWOL’ and worse. One is even named AwolBush.com . But other news organizations dug in and came to much milder conclusions.
George Magazine reported in October of 2000:
It’s time to set the record straight . . . . Bush may have received favorable treatment to get into the Guard, served irregularly after the spring of 1972 and got an expedited discharge, but he did accumulate the days of service required of him for his ultimate honorable discharge.
The New York Times reported Nov. 3, 2000:
But a review of records by The New York Times indicated that some of those concerns (about Bush’s absence) may be unfounded . . . . A review by The Times showed that after a seven-month gap, he appeared for duty in late November 1972 at least through July 1973.
The Washington Post also reviewed records and concluded:
It is safe to say that Bush did very light duty in his last two years in the Guard and that his superiors made it easy for him.
Ironically, this issue blew up in Wes Clark’s face as Peter Jennings tried to make a big deal out of it. Media should report; let the bloggers spin. ;-) mjh
The GOP is Spying on Everyone
Boston.com / News / Nation / Infiltration of files seen as extensive
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff, 1/22/2004
WASHINGTON — Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.
From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. …
[T]he scandal highlights GOP dirty tricks that could result in ethics complaints to the Senate and the Washington Bar — or even criminal charges under computer intrusion laws. …
After the contents of those memos were made public in The Wall Street Journal editorial pages and The Washington Times, Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, made a preliminary inquiry and described himself as “mortified that this improper, unethical and simply unacceptable breach of confidential files may have occurred on my watch.”
Hatch also confirmed that “at least one current member of the Judiciary Committee staff had improperly accessed at least some of the documents referenced in media reports.”
No one should be surprised that zealous Republicans will spy and steal — that’s becoming two of the planks of the GOP. I almost feel sorry for Hatch, who might have a trace of decency. More shocking is the blasé way one of the criminal-staffers brushes this off. And note the role of Robert Novak, who helped the White House betray a CIA agent. mjh
Impeach Scalia, Part 2
Leahy And Lieberman Query High Court On Ethics Of Scalia Vacation With Cheney
Dear Chief Justice Rehnquist:
It is with regret that we write to inquire about published reports that Justice Antonin Scalia recently spent extended time with Vice President Richard Cheney on an out-of-town trip. Coming just three weeks after the Supreme Court voted to grant a petition for certiorari in a case in which the Vice President is a principal party, this trip raises questions. When a sitting judge, poised to hear a case involving a particular litigant, goes on a vacation with that litigant, reasonable people will question whether that judge can be a fair and impartial adjudicator of that man’s case or his opponent’s claims. …
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN
Ranking Member
Committee on Governmental Affairs
mjh’s Dump Bush weBlog: Impeach Scalia!
But Scalia rejected that concern Friday, telling the Times, “I do not think my impartiality could reasonably be questioned.”
A Great Society (for the Radical Right)
On other economic matters, the president sounded less credible. He called for Congress to act as ”good stewards of taxpayer dollars.” But this Republican Congress has spent more than any Democratic Congress in recent memory. And this president has not used his veto pen even once to force Congress to be better stewards of the people’s money. An omnibus spending bill that awaits passage is full of enough pork to gag a sow.
As the Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial the morning of the speech, the GOP has been on a spending spree that exceeds by far Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. During Bill Clinton’s administration, non-defense discretionary spending rose just 2.5 percent. During President Bush’s three years in office, it has jumped 8.2 percent. Having tasted such huge amounts of pork, Congress is not likely to listen to the president’s call for limiting the growth in discretionary spending to less than 4 percent and reducing wasteful spending.
So, Republicans are spending more money than Johnson, who did so well with his two wars against poverty and Vietnam. Is this a Great Society, or what? mjh