Long Term Presence in Iraq ... No way

Check out this link for a look at plans for the $500 million US Embassy in Iraq: bergerdevineyaeger.com/planning/usembassy.html#

No. really. We don't want to occupy your country. We just need a simple pied a terre to rest our feet when we are in town.

Let the Record Be Clear

Just so the record is crystal clear, I think Hugo Chavez has been a much needed check to western interests in Latin America. I think some of his policies have proved salutory antidotes to the decades of neo liberal hooskow that proceeded them. That said, he is a thug and a dictator.

Avoid the Mirror at All Costs

How is it, you may ask, that we tried to impeach President Clinton for lying about sex, but we have allowed President Bush to sally on even though he lied about war? In this piece, http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/05/22/impeachment/, Goerge Kamiya argues that we have resisted impeaching the most failed and fraudulent President in history because to indict him, we would have to take a close look at why we allowed his misdeeds to pass, and that may not equal a very flattering self portrait. Worth the read.

Gingrich gets Goddy

There can be little doubt that the death of Jerry Falwell last week will open the floodgates to all sorts of horribly mush-mouthed nonsense. Few Republicans will be able to resist the temptation to use Falwell's demise as an excuse to position themselves in front of his well heeled and politically active followers. Newt Gingrich -- the great undeclared candidate -- is no exception. This weekend he spoke at Falwell's indoctrintation center, Liberty University:


"Basic fairness demands that religious beliefs deserve a chance to be heard ...It is wrong to single out those who believe in God for discrimination. Yet, today, it is impossible to miss the discrimination against religious believers."

What complete palaver.

How is it that religious folk are discriminated against? Precisely what opportunities are they denied because of their faith? Last I checked, religious discrimination is illegal under federal law and moreover, the corridors of power in America have more than their share of god worshippers. It seems that religious faith is an unwritten requirement for any elected office in America. This country has 100 Senators. 98 of them identify themselves as Christians. One is a conservative Jew and another a practicing Muslim. For the past eight years we have had the goddiest President in history. He has told us repeatedly that he prays for inspiration and serves a "Higher Father." His minions have advocated -- at time successfully -- everything from abstinence education to creationism and the White House even has an Office of Faith Based initiatives. Workplaces are now chock full of prayer groups urging the almighty to deliver a successful first quarter. Every time you turn around, there is an athlete, CEO, or motivational speaker extolling his (and it is usually a he) personal relationship with the Almighty.

If this is discrimination, it is unlike any other type of discrimination I have ever seen.

So where is this horrible discrimination? What doors have been closed to religious folk? The answer is: precisely none. What Gingrich and others are reacting to is that religion, is now the subject of criticism, most pointedly through a string of popular books. It seems that some Americans have seen a bellyful of religion in the last decade, be it of the Muslim, Christian or Jewish variety, and are beginning to doubt its beneficial powers.

"Criticism" however, is not "discrimination." No. The term "discrimination" is used in a very calculated way here. You see, people who are discriminated against are victims. Victims have a certain claim to the moral high ground that Mr. Gingrich here wants very desperately to take. Moreover, victimhood can be an effective rallying call, a way to muster the troops. So even if you are not a victim, claiming to be one has certain benefits. Gingrich's strategy is not unlike that used by right wing radio talk show hosts who constantly describe an America in which the rich, white and god fearing are under virtual siege from feminists, left wing academics, terrorists, users of the internet and assorted other trouble makers. It is, of course, so much BS.

So, at least from my view, religious people are not being discriminated against. They are being criticized by people who believe they are misguided, hypocritical, or just plan wrong. If they do not want to be criticized for the views they openly express, and at times seek to impose on others, they are living in the wrong country. There are indeed countries in which religious belief is shielded from any criticism, but we are at war with most of them.

Memorial Day Protest

I see that John Edwards is encouraging his supporters to call for an end to the Iraq War on Memorial Day. I further see that some folks, like the American Legion, have criticized him because they believe Memorial Day should be about celebrating America's achievements, the grandeur of our freedom and generally basking in the promise of our land.

Isn't that pretty much what we do the other 364 days? Has anyone ever used the words "America" and "introspection" in the same sentence?

I also read last night a post from a woman in the midwest who stated that, although she detests the war, she is uncomfortable advertising that fact on a button, bumpersticker, yard sign or showing up to a demonstration. Oh sweetie. Its called having the courage of your convictions, a/k/a fortitude. It was displayed by people with names like Churchill, Connolly, Ghandi, Lowenstein, More, King, Day, Reuther Berrigan and Harrington. It is what separates us from lemmings.

Fortitude's opposite is cowardice. Cowardice was and is displayed by a bunch of people whose name we do not know because their lives were of no import whatsoever.

(I could not help but notice she posted anonymously.)

This Week In the News

This week, news from the world of fashion. It seems Tommy Hilfiger, the fashion brand known for its colorful take on preppy staples, is literally filthy rich. More precisely, Hilfinger recently fired its entire New York cleaining crew,(each of whom made $19/hr) and hired another crew (each of whom makes $8/hr). Reached for comment Sonny Rollins, a Vice President at APAX Partners (who bought Hilfiger recently) noted, "Listen, this brand has net sales of a mere $85 million a year, we bought it for $1.4 billion Tommy [Hilfiger] got $66 million of that plus another $14.5 million a year as a consultant. How are we supposed to sell people clothes that make it look like they prepped at Milton and summer in Newport when we are shelling out $40,000 a year to a janitor? Our brand is about creating the appearance of prosperity, not creating actual prosperity. Except for us. For us it is definetley about actual prosperity. Which is another reason we ain't payin' no broom pusher 19 bones an hour."

This week, GOP presidential candidates had a televised debate. The upshot: they are all just like Ronald Reagan, all of them hate terrorism, don't mind torture,* just love the USA in gushy, sentimental and calculated ways, and hate taxes. Oh. And Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of NYC on 9/11. (He mentioned that few times.) On the tax point, the proclamations of Sen John McCain were particularly pathetic. In 2000, McCain told anyone who would listen (including Tim Russert) that he disagreed with cutting taxes and in fact, believed that any projected budget surplus should be used to pay down the defecit and invest in social security. Now he bloviates that further tax cuts are needed to stimulate the economy and shrink federal spending. We caught up with McCain just as he was hopping aboard his magical candor car, The Straight Talk Express. As always, the bus' innate truth telling powers cast a spell on the Senator from Arizona: "Oh sure we talk about stimulating the economy and such, but the bottom line is greed. After 20 years of tax cut fever, the American people do not like the idea that they have to pay for anything, or worse that they may pay for something that benefits someone other than themselves. We have been overindulged and now resemble fat and spoiled children, cranky at the least notion of sacrifice. So that's what I gotta work with." As we left McCain to his reverie, we were reminded by a rather burly aide that the Senator's remarks were "so off the record you cannot even see the record from where he made them. SeewhatImean?"

Notably absent from the recent Republican debates has been any recognition that the current President is actually a Republican. While many pundits assume the current crop of GOP hopefuls is trying to distance themselves from W, TWN found out otherwise. While visiting the men's rooms of the Colombia, SC airport, our reporter came across a discarded memo from the President addressed to the candidates. Titled, "Secrets to My Suces[sic]" the handwritten memo offered the following advice:

Be goddy. Invoke prayer and Bible. Old Testament only. New Testament
too liberal.

Repeat often that government is the problem not the solution. Reinforce message with extraordinary acts of incompetence.

Repeat often that government spends too much money. Reinforce message with no bid contracts to political contributors.

When confronted with inconvenient facts, squint.

There is a fine line between having "resolve" and having "your head up your
ass." Results are same either way.

Cultivate family friends into big money and fancy jobs. People will assume you were good at something at sometime.

Pick obscure quasi moral issue like abstinence or stem cell research. Act like it is actually important. Rovester calls this "wedge issue."

Visit with Republican base often. No sharp objects in visiting rooms. Bring marbles and other shiny things.

Remember, Europe is filled with people who want to avoid war and give everybody health insurance. Keep your distance.

The middle east and central asia have lots of different people and cultures in them. None of them like us, so don't bother trying to figure it out.

That Presidential Daily Briefing sometimes has important sh-t in it.

Avoid events where you read to young children. In my experience, bad things will happen.

This week, former Wisconsin Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson proclaimed tha the US' Healthcare system is "the absolute best in the world." (real quote) Thompson appears to be one of the few people who think so as the Commonwealth Institute this week issued a report indicating that when the quality of care received by middle income citizens is examined, the US ranks last among Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Interestingly, Canada, which placed fifth, spends half as much per capita on healthcare but delivers more service to majority of its citizens. Apprised of the study Thompson explained, "Obviously when I talk about healthcare, education or just about anything else, I am not talking about the experience of ordinary Americans, but the experience of privileged folks like me. And let me tell you, we have fabulous healthcare, education, golf courses and other stuff. If you want to be privileged, this is the country to be privileged in. "

*In all fairness, McCain was the exception here. McCain openly said that torture was ineffective and probably not a great policy for the US to follow. Everyone else was in Jack Bauer land, virtually busting through their codpieces to tell Americans how willing they were to do virtually anything to some dark skinned fellow tied to a chair. Such remarkable courage on display....

Comey's Testimony

If you have not checked out the transcripts of Deputy Attorney General Comey's testimony, you should. A few revealing conclusions:

Alberto Gonzalez is a sad and pathetic man. The writer hereby rescinds any benefit of the doubt given to Gonzalez. I do not like John Ashcroft, but what kind of man tries to strong arm a colleague when they are having a near fatal attack of pancreatitis. Al 'the Bootboy" Gonzalez that is who. (Apparently Gonzalez felt that he could never take Ashcroft in a fair fight, but when the guy was getting oxygen through his nose, the odds were a little more in his favor.)

If Comey is correct, the President continually authorized a domestic spying program that his own (insanely right wing) Department of Justice had determined was illegal.

If Comey is right, Alberto Gonzalez lied when he testified that there was no dissension over the warrantless wiretapping program.

By the way,I see Chuck Hagel (R Neb) is now the fourth republican Senator to call for Gonzalez' resignantion.

This Week In the News

This week, Chevron Oil Co. announced that it will pay fines of up to $30 million and admit that it should have known that it was paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein in exchange for oil shipments. The kickbacks were paid as surcharges and fees associated with the U.N. Oil for Food Program by oil traders working for Chevron. According to the CIA, Saddam was able to amass a fortune of over $228 million from similar kickbacks involving major oil companies. A chagrined Chevron spokesman soberly stated. "This is really a double loss for us. First, we liked to portray the failures of the Oil for Food program as a UN failure and not just simple corporate malfeasance. Second, we do try to distract people from the connections between multinational corporations and repressive political regimes throughout the world. When it gets out that we are supporting this dictator or that warlord in order to get at some oil, some copper or some cheap labor its bad mojo all around."

Also this week, Purdue Pharma and three of its executives agreed to pay $600 million to settle claims that they intentionally misled doctors and the FDA about the addictive qualities of Oxycontin, a narcotic pain reliever that made the company nearly $2 billion since its inception. According to evidence in a federal lawsuit, Purdue Pharma was well aware of the powerfully addictive qualities of its drug and understood that the drug's time release formula offered little shield against addiction. Asked for comment, department of Justice Spokesman Mike 'Mikey" Weire stated: "Dude. Serious rain clouds on this one, man. Its like. Here is someone we like, a big fat corporation that gives a lot of money to Republicans so they can go unregulated. And we are cool with that because we are all like against burdensome regulation and how it like ... kills the magic of the marketplace. But then they go and do stuff that helps people get high, which is like, something we are really against on the count of the War on Drugs and all.... Its like when you send your girlfriend out for some Doritos and she goes out and gets them but eats them all on the way back. You love her because she is your girl and all, but man.... you really wanted those Doritos. Actually.... its really not like that ... but you get it ... "

Last week, British intelligence officials announced that they were investigating an Al Queda plan to carry out large scale act of mass destruction somewhere in the West. True to form, the Bush Administration announced that the US would respond to any such attack by immediately invading Iceland.

This week, V.President Cheney visited Baghdad. While there he urged the Iraqi Parliament (all ten of them) to cancel their planned two month summer vacation in light of the dire situation in their country. Vice would not commit on whether he is delivering the same advice to the vacation prone President Bush.

This week, Pope Benedict the XVI landed in Sao Paolo, Brazil to begin a week long visit to the home of over half the world's Catholics. Even before his plane touched down in one of the world's poorest cities, the Pope was talking up an issue of vital importance to his papacy: abortion. Even though abortion was all but illegal in Brazil (about 2 million abortions are performed illegally each year), Benedict gave a press conference inwhich he suggested that any Catholic supporting abortion rights had effectively excommunicated themselves. The Pope's position may cause friction with Brazil's President Lula De Silva who personally opposes abortion but favors decriminalizing the procedure. According to sources within the Vatican, in order to avoid a rift, the Pope has promised to avoid excommunicating Da Silva during his visit. In return Da Silva promised to refrain from referring to the Catholic clergy as "boy lovers" or "pedarests" and Catholic doctrine as "the best the Middle Ages has to offer."

This week, we spotlight a rags to riches story. Our subject is Monica Goodlow, a 1999 graduate of Oral Robert's Regent University Law School. Goodlow, who has been out of law school only eight years and has little legal experience was, until recently, an aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. In that position, she worked with Presidential Advisor Karl Rove in determining what US Attorneys would be fired and which should be retained. Asked how a graduate of a marginal law school* with little legal experience could be asked to judge the performance of career federal prosecutors, a Department of Justice spokesman noted, "It used to be that the top level of the DOJ were reserved for proven legal professionals with top credentials and impressive experience. That was before we discovered the magic of little known and barely accredited evangelical law schools. Yeah. These folks may lack a big picture intellect, but they are ideologically committed and they do what they are told without question. Plus they get to the essence of a legal question --what does God want?" without a lot of falderall and legal wrangling. Heck, we have taken 150 folks from Regent alone. Good little soldiers all."

*Regent is ranked in the fourth tier (no 136) by US News & World Report. In 1999, only 40% of its graduates passed the bar exam. Interestingly, in 2002, then AG John Ashcroft removed the requirement that all DOJ staff attorneys be interviewed and approved by permanent DOJ civil servants. Approval was left to political appointees. Ashcroft now teaches at Regent.

What Does it Matter

If you are think that the US Attorney scandal now unfolding is somehow of no consequence, that it is byzantine, difficult to understand, and not worthy of Congressional attention, in otherwords, if you don't get it, check out John Conyer's comments to the Senate Judiciary Commitee yesterday. They are availble at: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/. Then, see if you still think this is some sort of political distraction.

Maybe a Little Humane Vitae for the Rest of Us

Reading the combined editorial pages of the Sunday Free Press and Detroit News is always a treat. The juxtaposition of the pro business News and the more populist Free Press always proves interesting and today was no exception.

As every Michigander knows, the state is in the midst of a budget crisis which has begat a budget battle. On one side sits Governor Granholm, who proposes balancing the budget with a mix of budget cuts and increased taxes. On the other side is the state Republican Party whose plan involves only budget cuts and who oppose any tax increases. Today the water of the state GOP was carried by News editorialist Nolan Finley. Finley, a libretarian, argued that state residents cannot shoulder any more taxation and that the Governors' plan only benefited "unions and special interests."

Meanwhile, on the Free Press editorial page a group called Catholics for the Common Good argued that the state cannot balance its budget by further cutting vital programs such as Medicaide, education, foster care and education spending. These programs -- and these are the programs at issue-- the CCG argued, have already been paired to the bone and further cuts would only imperil the millions of Michiganders who rely on them. Michigan residents should all sacrifice for the common good and nothing would be gained by creating a virtual third world state on the Great Lakes.

Two points arise. First kudos to the CCG for resurrecting the idea of the common good. While you would never know it from the recent state of things, Catholicism used to be a fighting faith when it came to social justice. From the 1930s through the 1950s (the so called Golden Age of American Catholicism), the Church was a strong supporter of organized labor, social welfare spending and progressive taxation. This spirit waned in the 1960s when Catholics -- with notable exceptions (some named Berrigan) -- largely sat out the civil rights and anti war movements. By the 1980s many Catholics had shifted to the Republican Party and adopted that party's beliefs that the poor are poor because of their indolence, social welfare programs only rob the poor of their "initiative," the income of the rich should be spared taxation because their investment would "trickle down" on the rest of us, and government should be shrunk to the size of a small rodent. From 1980 until the present, Catholic social activism was limited to outlawing abortion, enforcing sexual abstinence and making sure homosexuals remained the object of scorn and discrimination. (Three issues on which, oddly, the gospels are nearly silent.) Perhaps the CCG is just the beginning of a movement within the Church to embrace the Sermon the Mount with the same gusto it embraced the Republican Party platforms of 1980 through 2002. (Catholic voters shifted a bit toward John Kerry in 2004 perhaps in recognition of the fact that they could not trumpet a "culture of life" while making preemptive war in Iraq. At least not with a straight face.)

Point two. At the same time the CCG was rousing the dormant concept of the common good, Nolan Finley would have us believe that children in foster care, prisoners in jail, recipients of Medicaide, families with children in the public schools and unionized wokers are just "special interests." As the CCG pointed out -- they are not. They are all of us.

For too long, the Finleys of the world have led us to believe that even the smallest investment in the lives of people other than ourselves was, if not creeping socialism, at least a serious threat to our economic vitality. Not so Nolan, look at Germany, look at France (both of whose economies are growing faster than ours) and look at Minnesota (whose income tax is nearly double ours and whose economic landscape makes us look like Bangladesh). For too long, we have let the Finleys of the world define "special interest" in way that excludes the uber wealthy and their constant search for less taxation and greater privilege and amazingly excludes anyone who relies on any benefits administered by the state -- which is virtually all of us at one time or another.

Huzzah to the CCG for putting the lie to this shibboleth.

Get Your Kicks Above the Waistline Sunshine

I see that Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias was forced to resign after prosecutors revealed he utilized a call girl. (He says for massage only. Whatever.)

While there is always some juicy hypocrisy when an official from an Administration pledged to celibacy (and Tobias' work with international AIDS prevention required that he push the celibacy party line) gets caught getting a little somethin' somethin with a professional somethin'er the larger picture is just a cautionary tale.

More pointedly, Tobias is now a pariah, we will have a high profile and expensive prosecution that portends to involve the disclosure of all sorts of names from the allged madame's black book (or blue blackberry as the case may be). These men will suffer similar embarassment and damage to their career and family life. Worse, their friends and acquaintances will involuntraily picture them en flagrante. Never a good thing. And the societal benefit to all this is what exactly? (And no, the ability of some folks to feel morally superior does not count as a societal benefit.)

Don't get me wrong. Tobias appears to be the worst kind of corporate hack appointed to push some very sketchy diplomatic initiatives. At the same time, I am not sure he needs to be sacrificed at the uniquely American alter of sexual puritanism. Maybe it is just time to say the heart wants what the heart wants and consenting adults can consent to, and pay for, whatever they want without fear of public embarassment. That would put an end to the periodic public convulsions of self righteousness and hypocrisy.


Wait... that makes too much sense.

Appy Polly Logee

My apologies, but I have been away on business all week and not able to post.

I did take a moment to read Charles Krauthammer's pieces in the Post about George Tenent's book. (www.washingtonpost.com) Listen, if his 60 Minutes appearance is any indication Tenent does do some pathetic cover seeking but the evidence suggests he is dead on in suggesting that the invasion of Iraq was a foregone conclusion. (I have little sympathy for Tenent because, as my mother would say, that is what you get for hanging with the wrong crowd.)

I notice that Charles makes the following statements in his attempt to undermine Tenent:

Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are not neo conservatives. No. They just believe everything neo cons believe and hire prominent neo-cons into their Administration.

Thomas Friedmann is a liberal. Why? Because he doesn't kick puppies?

Iraq was a major threat to our national security after the 1992 Gulf War. Oh please. Iraq was a paper tiger with no military capabilities. (Remember our collective chuckle over Saddam's vaunted Republican Guard?) It was constantly patrolled and at times bombed by US and British war planes, it was the subject of almost punitive sanctions that left it so isolated it had to rely on the "oil for food" fiasco to feed its people (and line Saddam's pocket).

He also suggests that there was an internal debate within the Administration because the President acknowledged that "some people" disagreed with him. So there was a debate because the President said so? Oh well. I feel better now.