Mike called early (for the time zone he's in, but what would be our regular time normally) to make sure I wasn't waiting to figure out items. Please visit Mikey Likes It! for Mike's commentary. Let me add that Rebecca will be blogging earlier tomorrow night or that's her plan. The reason? I'm off on Thursdays and people will either still be out West or making their way back tomorrow night. So go to her site and you'll have something up. "And the war drags on (indymedia roundup)" will go up at The Common Ills but that's a four to five hour thing to assemble each week and, in my time zone, it's usually up after I've gone to sleep. Rebecca will be discussing Flashpoints so you won't want to miss that. (That's a regular Thursday planned topic for her site Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude.)
Even before I spoke to Mike, I had already decided to stay silent on the topic of Katie Couric. I've read some of the criticism and they're really going to town on her. Ava and C.I. will tackle it on Sunday. When the "it's a girl!" b.s. started up, I figured it was only a matter of time before they tackled the topic. I don't know if this will be in place of their usual commentary or in addition to but I do know it will be worth reading.
"Report: Bush Admin. Suppressed Evidence Refuting Iraq WMD Claim" (Democracy Now!):
The Washington Post is reporting the Bush administration claimed to have found mobile weapons labs in Iraq after the invasion despite the explicit conclusions of a Pentagon-sponsored mission the claim was untrue. On May 29, 2003, President Bush cited the discovery of the trailers in an attempt to justify his decision to go war two months earlier. Bush said: "We have found the weapons of mass destruction." But just two days before, a Pentagon team sent to Iraq had concluded that the trailers were in fact "the biggest sand toilets in the world." One team member said: "Within the first four hours, it was clear to everyone that these were not biological labs." The Bush administration failed to make the findings public and continued with its faulty claim for more than one year.
You lied. You lied. You li-i-i-i-ed. I'm swiping from Aretha Franklin's "Baby I Love You."
But the press won't say that. If we've learned one thing from the last six years it's that the corporate press refuses to use "lied" when it comes to the Bully Boy. They also have a "no lie" clause with regards to Colin The Blot Powell. Bill Clinton? Al Gore? "Liar" can be used "liberally" but with regards to Republicans, they are much more "conservative."
That comes not from "journalistic standards" but as a result of the right-wing echo chamber and the right-wing working the refs for decades. That's why I firmly agree that the "tone" argument is nonsense. It's upset the corporate press, the way people call them out. They've gotten used to it from the right and, as they've demonstrated in 2000 and 2004, they'll walk lightly around Republicans. They'll save their "fun" to Democrats. For instance, if the below happened to a Democratic vice-president, I'm sure it would be front page news.
"Cheney Booed At Washington Baseball Game" (Democracy Now!):
And in Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney was greeted with loud boos Tuesday when he threw out the ceremonial pitch at the opener for Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. This wasn't the first time Cheney has gotten a hostile reception at a baseball game -- in June 2004, Cheney was booed at a Yankees game here in New York.
But aren't Cheney and Bully Boy beloved by the nation? No, they aren't. As Mike noted last night "World's waking up" and that includes this country. But waking up is just like admitting you have a problem. It's a start and nothing more if you don't follow it up.
We really need to be following up. That's demonstrating, that's making our Congress reps hear us, that's making the war an issue.
There is a great deal to make an issue of in the illegal war. There is the issue of an administration that treats veterans as though they're invisible while they serve and disposable when they return.
"Letters from Fort Lewis" (Kevin Benderman, Kevin Benderman Defense Committee):
Americans are going to have to break out of their apathy and start helping ensure that our government does the right thing by these veterans and active duty people who have done and continue to do what so many of the privileged among us refuse to do. If you are a person in America who has benefited from the sacrifice of a person who has served in this country's military with honor, then it is your responsibility to give back to the veterans and their families, because if it weren't for those veterans, you probably would not have been able to achieve the success in your businesses that you now enjoy, watch the movies that now entertain you, or run on the fields of the games you participate in.
So if you're someone late in waking up, someone who went along with Bully Boy because you thought you were helping the enlisted, you can make up for the error in judgement by focusing on the issue of the enlisted. You can remember that the best way to stand with the troops is to bring them back home and work towards that goal.
"Peace Quotes" (Peace Center):
Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
Edward Abbey
