Mike and I are covering the same two items from Democracy Now! so make a point to visit Mikey Likes It! to see his take on them.
Thousands of Students Say No To Recruiters in Boston (Democracy Now!):
The Boston Globe is reporting that more than 5,000 high school students in five of Massachusetts' largest school districts have removed their names from military recruitment lists. In Boston, about 3,700 students, or 19 percent of those enrolled in the city's high schools, have removed their names from recruiting lists. At Cambridge Rindge and Latin School more than half the student body, ordered the school system not to give their names to the military this year.
As Mike said on the phone, "This is reality." It is too. It's what's going around in the country, catching fire, word of mouth, turning against this war and the notion that we are the subjects of the royal Bully Boy. It's all over now, Bully Boy.
Which brings up something C.I. passed my way. I got an e-mail about how it was too busy to note something at The Common Ills and that I might be interested in it.
Absolutely.
I hadn't heard of this, maybe you have?
"Going Inside the Debate" (Danny Schechter, News Dissector):
You have all read this story by now I would guess:
"GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline."
It broke in Capitol Hill Blue and probably shocked very few us us which is in itself a comment on the low regard many hold this administration. Wrote Publisher Doug Thomspson:
"A confidential memo circulating among senior Republican leaders suggests that a new attack by terrorists on U.S. soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of President George W. Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people."
"The closely-guarded memo lays out a list of scenarios to bring the Republican party back from the political brink, including a devastating attack by terrorists that could "validate" the President's war on terror and allow Bush to "unite the country" in a "time of national shock and sorrow."
Funny thing about this story is that this scenario is layed out in Larry Beinhardt's must read novel The Librarian, a political thriller about a plot to steal an election. Beinhart wrote an earlier novel that inspired the movie "Wag the Dog." I quote from the book in my report from Amsterdam. Scroll down.
Can you imagine what would happen if a Democratic memo was discovered with that kind of message? The headlines of every paper would scream, it would lead on the evening news, Ted Koppel would devote a full Nightline to it. There would be a lot of clucking about how shameless this is and a lot of talk about whether the Democrats were doing more talking, more than hoping.
The Republicans compose this memo and I knew nothing of it until C.I. passed it along in the e-mail. I watch the news, I read a daily paper, I listen to the news on the radio.
So where's the outrage over this?
The Republican Party can just do whatever it wants to, apparently. The White House seems to think that they can as well.
White House Tries To Alter Transcript of Press Briefings (Democracy Now!):
The White House has been accused of trying to rewrite history after requesting Congressional Quarterly and the Federal News Service to alter the transcript to a October 31 press briefing. Both news agencies reported White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan responded to a question about the CIA leak case by saying "that's accurate." But the White House insists he said, "I don't think that's accurate." So far both Congressional Quarterly and the Federal News Services have refused to change their transcripts but the White House website now claims McClellan said "I don't think that's accurate."
If you listen to Democracy Now! today, you'll hear the actual exchange. What did Scott McClellan say? "That's accurate." But the White House thinks it's okay to rewrite reality. Which is Why Bully Boy's launching his latest attacks. It's wrong, according to the Bully Boy, for those who criticize him, in Congress, to do so if they voted for the war.
I'm the last to defend the war hawks who rushed to rally behind Bully Boy. But they didn't vote on war and he's lying (again) when he implies that they did. They were also led to believe that we'd try for, if not get, a UN resolution. That idea got trashed as well. Bully Boy wanted this war and lied us into it. If some in Congress have woken up, good for them.
But in Bully Boy's you're with me or you're against me world, we're all his enemies. Has anyone ever felt more persecuted and yet done more to turn the entire world against him?
If you missed it, here's an excerpt from a news article on the topic.
"Bush Takes Fresh Shot at Iraq War Critics" (Terence Hunt, Associated Press):
Iraq and other problems -- from the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina to the indictment of a senior White House official in the CIA leak investigation -- have taken a heavy toll on the president's standing. Nearing the end of his fifth year in office, Bush has the lowest approval rating of his presidency and a majority of Americans say Bush is not honest and they disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and the war on terrorism.
In his prepared Alaska remarks, Bush noted that some elected Democrats in Congress "have opposed this war all along.
"I disagree with them, but I respect their willingness to take a consistent stand," he said. "Yet some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past. They are playing politics with this issue and sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy."
As someone who disagreed with the war before it was launched, I'll state that I disagree with Bully Boy (and most bullies and liars) and that I do not respect the Bully Boy. Of course, he's not concerned with my opinion. Or your's. We're all part of the "none that matter" as Cokie Roberts so infamously called us.
Bully Boy wants to be worshipped like a king. He wants to live in a fantasy world where he walks on water and we all stare in awe. There's been no cause for awe from the "leadership" he's offered America. He doesn't grasp that because he doesn't address reality.
"Peace Quotes" (Peace Center):
The real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
Thich Nhat Hanh
democracy now
the common ills
mikey likes it
danny schechter