Four years ago, I watched TV all day and into the night. I saw the famous, fascinating yet horrible

footage over and over again. I listened to the noise, straining for information. I wondered who would do such a thing, why, and

what we should do in response. I’m not sure I would have done anything the way we as a nation have done it.

I wish President Bush

had said then: “Today, thousands of innocent people were murdered by a very small band of insane religious fanatics. We will do

everything we can to bring to justice those who helped them commit this murder. We know the entire world joins us in repudiating this act

and no one can believe this assault served anyone’s interests. But ours is a great nation that cannot be shaken by a handful of thugs.

We will not let your violence change us.”

Instead, we changed everything. We let the tragic deaths of a few thousand at the hands

of two dozen change our nation and the world. We have done almost nothing correctly and yet we continue on the same course.

Today,

this fourth anniversary is being officially marked by a Pentagon-sponsored rally. Participants had to pre-register and gather behind

fences. Those attempting to join the rally without pre-registering will be arrested.

Is this a great nation or what? mjh

Tight Constraints on

Pentagon’s Freedom Walk By Petula Dvorak

What’s unusual for an event on the Mall is the combination of fences,

required preregistration and the threat of arrest.

Park Police officials … said they have approved a permit for

a small group of protesters that plans to stand along Independence Avenue.

U.S. Can Confine

Citizens Without Charges, Court Rules
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer

A federal appeals court yesterday

backed the president’s power to indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil without any criminal

charges, holding that such authority is vital during wartime to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.

Standing in the Way Of a Good Story By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer

When NBC anchor Brian

Williams and his crew were trying to take pictures of a National Guard unit securing a Brooks Brothers shop in downtown New Orleans, a

sergeant blocked the footage by ordering them to the other side of Canal Street.

“I have searched my mind for some justification

for why I can’t be reporting in a calm and heavily defended American city and cannot find one,” Williams said yesterday. “I don’t like

being told when I can and cannot walk on the streets and take pictures.” …

There have been other moments of tension. At a fire

near the French Quarter, Williams noted in a posting on NBC’s Web site, a police officer from out of town “raised the muzzle of

her weapon and aimed it at members of the media . . . obvious members of the media . . . armed only with notepads.” He also

noted that the National Guard is barring journalists from the city’s convention center and Superdome, the very facilities that evacuees

were barred from leaving last week.

“I saw many fingers on triggers,” Williams said yesterday, producing such a

sense of being in a foreign land that he repeatedly caught himself saying, “When I get back to the States.”

Fort St. John – canada.com network
Ex-SP journalist feels wrath of New Orleans police
Daniel Jungwirth
The

StarPhoenix

Reporters Without Borders raised concerns over police violence against journalists covering the aftermath of

hurricane Katrina. A second incident involved a New Orleans journalist who was detained and had his equipment smashed.

“We understand that the security forces are overwhelmed and we are aware of the great tension and the difficult conditions under which

they are having to work in areas hit by Katrina, but it is very worrying that this is reflected in violence against journalists,” the

press freedom organization wrote in a press release.

ABQjournal: Letters to Outlook

Fireworks are not bought or used for the purpose of annoying neighbors. And, for the most part, fireworks are annoying only to those who wish to be annoyed.

The reason for fireworks is to show exuberance. … We set off fireworks to celebrate that we live in a prosperous nation. We celebrate liberty and justice. …

Yes, I know you can hear them going off. You can hear many other things that will annoy you if you so desire ? trains, planes and freeway traffic.

There are always people weeping to the city council about how annoying fireworks are to themselves and their dogs. They talk about how their dog shivers under the bed. I do not make any points with them when I ask, “So what about thunderstorms? You have to speak to a higher authority than the city council about thunderstorms scaring your dog, don’t you?”

My advice: Get your dog earmuffs or doggie downers and don’t go to the city council….

Michael Swickard
Radio talk-show host
Las Cruces

The Fourth of July was weeks ago and, yet, every day I hear fireworks nearby. This is beyond exuberance and celebration. It is pure selfishness. The callous Michael Swickard, who doesn’t realize “radio talk-show host” is as much an honorific as “high school dropout,” spins the new American mantra: “don’t like what I’m doing? Screw you then.” What a bogus comparison of fireworks to thunderstorms, designed to distract from personal responsibility.

Mr Swickard, have one hell of a fine time on July 4th. But if you or anyone else shoot off fireworks long before or after, don’t kid yourself with notions of liberty and justice. Your behavior is simply selfish and antisocial. As is your attack on those you harm. mjh

Update 8/3/05 – ABQjournal: Las Cruces Banning Noisy Fireworks

Let’s see Trever’s latest gem:

What we get from the ever clever Trever is a useful insight into the thoughts of opponents of a fair and living minimum wage. This view puts the individual above all (every man for himself) and belittles anyone’s effort to improve the good of more than himself. The loud and clear message of Trever’s latest screams: “Hey, kid, it’s stupid to try to elevate an entire class. Come on, get selfish, get self-serving!” All wrapped up tidily, of course, with over-arching ridicule for caring or trying. He represents the Albuquerque Journal to a T. The Chamber of Con-men should give him an award. mjh

USNews.com: John Leo: A regrettable limit on life (4/4/05)

Think of the Terri Schiavo case as another red-versus-blue issue. Congress, Republican-dominated and therefore mostly red, asked the federal courts to take a fresh look. The federal judiciary, in its customary imperial blue, contemptuously told Congress to take a hike. It wouldn’t delay the execution for even a few days. For that, you need to be a convicted cop killer. …

Terri Schiavo, who is severely damaged, but not in pain or dying, not brain dead, and in no position to protest her own execution on grounds that other people consider it best for her. …

She has never been given a PET scan, one of the most sophisticated tests used to diagnose PVS, apparently because her husband refused to allow it. The killing of Schiavo is a scandal successfully redefined as unexceptional and therefore moral.

Somebody needs to represent the brain-dead and John Leo is certainly qualified.

I read Leo in part because it’s good for me, just like a small amount of arsenic or a few leeches might be. If Leo is one of the deep thinkers, they are indeed a shallow bunch. His regular appearance is ample proof the “liberal media” hasn’t been very effective in shutting out the Radical Right (we’re just not as effective as fascists as they will be). Of course, you might argue that Leo is a straw man, a liberal writing as stupidly as possible to make all conservatives look bad. It’s working.

In what I am sure won’t be the last Schiavo column, even though she is now dead, Leo does it all. He misrepresents, distorts, and distracts. Just one of his lies: calling the judiciary ‘blue’ when conservatives have appointed more judges than liberals. The fascist end-game involves destroying the third branch of government — from within or without doesn’t matter to them.

While the vast majority of those surveyed — on the left and the right — said “keep the government out of Schiavo’s fate,” Leo says it is another Red vs Blue issue (and you know who the good guys are). That’s a bald-faced lie told to split people and exploit that split. Typical behavior for Leo and his ilk.

Leo knows little about the facts of Schiavo’s condition and less about medicine. Either he has gone out of his way to stay ignorant or he’s denying the truth.

If Leo is a sincere disability advocate, where has he been? How often has he spoken out on behalf of people in irreversible comas or persistent vegetative states?

The silver lining to Terri’s cloud is that many people are taking the time to talk with their loved ones about how they want to be treated if they should ever end up in such a condition. Don’t just talk — put it in writing. mjh

Column: Not right time for gay rights
by Dane Roberts
Daily Lobo columnist

I wish the debate on gay marriage could be put on hold. … [P]ushing for legalized gay marriage might do more damage than it’s worth to progressive causes.

I disagree with Dane Roberts about waiting for change.

Thirty years ago, some said, ‘just wait until we have power — then marijuana will be legal and taxed!’ Hasn’t happened — even though so many people in power have direct experience with grass.

We need to realize the Radical Right doesn’t care one iota what we think about them, their agenda, or their tactics. They are righteous; they are certain; they are resolute. Liberals worry about timing and others’ views.

I agree with Roberts that the pendulum will swing. But our belief in equality, justice and freedom cannot wait. “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi. Don’t wait for permission. mjh

[printed 3/23/05 in the Daily Lobo]