When Nancy Pelosi recently stated that she thought things were "going well" for the Democrats she was no doubt referring to polls that show the Democrats have a 16-point lead in 2006 congressional election preferences. But this confidence presumes that the Democrats will be able to mobilize the GOTV. The Republicans are very, very good at this and I hear a lot of defeatism amongst netroots Democrats that I am quite worried about. It only seems to grow worse as the Senate Democrats prove so deaf to the concerns of their base as evidenced in their petty, dismissive attitude toward Russ Feingold and his censure resolution. People have come to believe in the past five years that Karl Rove is all-powerful (he’s not), that Diebold can steal every election (they can’t), that it is just not worth fighting because defeat is inevitable. That is a very dangerous mindset amongst people upon whom you are counting for those 16 points. Digby:
If the Democrats lose in November, I’m sure [Eleanor Clift will] find plenty of reasons to blame Democrats, but it won’t occur to her that the reason people didn’t vote for the D’s was because the party listened to people like her and campaigned like a herd of neutered animals instead of listening to their hearts, their minds, their constituents and their leaders who were prepared to take a stand for what we believe in. No, they’ll blame the "extremists" who want a safety net and a sane terrorism policy — and leaders who defend the constitution. It couldn’t possibly be that their tired, stale reflexive passivity is to blame when half the base fails to turn out because they just. have. no. hope.
I’ll go beyond Digby. When half the country fails to vote because they realize they’re not represented by an political party. Almost half the country supports censuring the president. That’s not half the Democratic party, that’s half the country.
Voter disenfranchisement isn’t something you deal with in October, it’s something you deal with now. People need something to believe in, not politicians who shun their values and treat them like some sort of social disease as they dive for the cocktail weenies in the center. To presume voters will show up for you just because they think they other guy is worse is suicidal. (drawing by Matt Elder)
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Fitz!
What is GOTV?
get out the vote
thank you
The Republicans will run on national defense and national security.
We have to remind America that Republicans failed on national defense and national security on Sept 11, 2001. How in God’s name could anyone trust Republicans to defend America better than anyone when 3000 people died on their watch.
( click on my link to find out how to take America back )
The Republicans are very, very good at this and I hear a lot of defeatism amongst netroots Democrats that I am quite worried about.
And how do you know that? America no longer has free, verifiable, and open elections. The MSM “catapults the propaganda” that the repugs have an “energized base” and that they “win” because they show up at the polls in improbably or impossible numbers.
They have admitted that they represent a minority faction and will not represent the “will of the people”
GOTV is important — the smirking chimp is doing all he can to make American’s believe taht their vote doesn’t matter. We must fight them on that front — but the lie of the “energized base” is the cover they need for the vote-flipping software.
It is also the lie they need to distract us from talking about the issues that matter — there are only 2:
1. The economic issues that confront most American families (and children) NOTE: THE WAR IN IRAQ IS ACTUALLY A POCKETBOOK ISSUE FOR MOST AMERICANS BECAUSE IT IS BEING USED TO LOOT AND DEPLETE THE FEDERAL TREASURY
2. Free, open, and verifiable elections
There are many bad links in the Blog Roll listings. Below is only a sample.
You may want to correct them before you get too far:
http://http//www.anonymousliberal.com
http://http//www.cafepolitico.us/blog1
http://http//echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com
:)
And now for something completely different:
Laurie David:
Not too long ago, Oprah did a show about global warming and held up a lightbulb. Not just any lightbulb, but a compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb that uses 66% less energy than a standard bulb. If every household in America changed just five of their bulbs to a CFL, it would be equivalent to taking 8 million cars off the road for a year.
Ken Luna, an eighth grade science teacher in Babylon, New York saw Oprah and, along with his students, has come up with a very bright idea: give one CFL bulb to every K-12 student in America — all 50 million of them — and fight global warming one bulb at a time (not to mention saving the American people over $2.3 billion in electricity costs).
Home Depot has agreed to supply Mr. Luna’s class with enough CFL bulbs for every student in their district (that’s 5,500 free CFL bulbs). So on March 30th, in the west gym at North Babylon High School, they are having a party — clowns, music, food… and free lightbulbs.
If you are a teacher, start a similar project in your class. If you are a supplier or a retail store, donate bulbs. If you are part of the media, cover this worthwhile campaign. And if you are Oprah, know that your suggestion has sparked the ultimate in grassroots action — so please continue to follow this great story and spread the word
The defeatist attitude on the night of Ciro’s primary was very disheartening to me.
It sounded like people were giving up just like *that*. Many failed to notice that the Netroots made Ciro’s race actually a race. Without sites like DKos or FDL or Atrios or AmericaBlog, Ciro would have been completely obliterated.
As for the Feingold resolution, I am very disheartened by the reluctance of some senators to get behind him and fight, or fight at all, on almost anything. It sickens me.
The midterm election in November is like a fruit and ripe for the pickin’ but the Democrats keep staring at it and studying it while the whole party base is standing there scratching their collective head yelling “just pick it already!”
Kudos to the senators that have backed Feingold.
Hot damn! The blogroll is working now.
Everything looks great, kids.
Yes, this liberal is becoming demoralized by the Dem. party’s failure to be an opposition party.
OT: The new site’s RSS feeds appear not to be updating. I use Bloglines, and the last update is from Friday (The Political Tin Ear of Evan Bayh).
I live in Illinois and intend to vote against Dick Durbin–first in the primary, and, if he wins that, a Republican in November. Why?
1. Because he looked like (and was) a weak coward when he backed down from the FBI memo.
2. Because he refused to back Feingold’s censure resolution yet voted for censure of Bill Clinton.
Heck, even a neo-con Republican could have done that! My voting strategy has become one of throw out all incumbents until they become compliant enough to do the people’s work.
Democrats are considered weak because they repeatedly ignore their constituents and listen instead to consultants who have a proven track record of losing elections with idiotic “advice”. The only thing that will turn them into vertebrates is the real fear of losing their meal ticket.
These bastards voted for a “war” that was known to be demonstrably false at the time, voted in favor of the “Patriot” Act without bothering to read it, and have passed out blank checks like they stole them…
Eventually, we have to admit the fact that Reid, Pelosi and the rest of the so-called Democratic “leadership” do not and have not stood up for core Democratic values; and voting for them again, as the lesser of two evils, only encourages them to sell us all down the river once they’ve safely secured our vote. How does the saying go? “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me its raining…”
exactly. the defeatism fostered by the last two elections has made everyone–not just dem pols–fairly lackluster, at least up until the last 6-8 months. And more important, it has caused all congressional democrats, except Feingold, Murtha (who, above all, values representing his constituency), and a few others, to fall utterly out of touch with “the base.” A term meaning The Citizens Who Elected You.
Up until now, of course, “the base” of the democratic party has almost always been taken for granted, a problem exacerbated by Bill Clinton’s electoral and tactical successes. But from the evidence on this site and others, it’s clear that we simply can’t be taken for granted this year. If they want to take us to the prom, it’s going to have to be on our terms.
What I mean by that is: It can happen. Along with all the other fundraising support and mobilizing/GOTV action we do in the next 7 months, a very important part of it should be to hold meetings, conferences, and rallies that reintroduce national dems to the voters who hold their future in their hands. MEET YOUR BASE events should happen every month, across the country.
We must discover the ways in which the vocal, activist, powerful base, represented in large part by the left blogosphere, can influence not just Ciro, Ned, and a growing handful of other Lions, but also current Dem Senators and Representatives, and officeholders at all levels of government.
IT’S THE BASE, STUPID.
(And if this doesn’t work, I’m taking suggestions for the name of our new party.)
Back to the deadly grid:
.
Back to Home Monday, Mar 20, 2006
Iraqi police report details civilians’ deaths at hands of U.S. troops
By Matthew Schofield
Knight Ridder NewspapersBAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi police have accused American troops of executing 11 people, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant, in the aftermath of a raid last Wednesday on a house about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers’ animals and blew up the house, the document said
So would the likes of Ms. Clift prefer that I refrain from voting or vote third party? Because unless the Democrats find and put up real, true, strong Democrats like Feingold, that’s what I’ll have to do.
NOTE TO DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I don’t have to agree with the candidates on everything, I only have to know they’re reasonably ethical and will vigorously defending the Constitution. It’s a pretty low bar, if you ask me.
It’s early spring, when warm afternoons turn to frigid nights in a matter of minutes. Keep up the good work, the path opens before us.
It is so frustrating-to see the Dems whine and cower and do stupid things like not back Hackett in Ohio. The Hackett appearence on the Daily Show was right on and they DO NOT GET IT!
AGGGGHHHHHHHHH
I did not vote in ‘04 and will not use the ” lessor of evil ” theory ever again. Any evil is just wrong.
Sweet…at home in the new home. I love the new digs.
I just want to say thank you to Jane, Redd and the rest of the gang that make this such a fantastic blog. The posts, the commentary, it’s just fantastic. A wonderful group of folks!!!
Keep the pressure on Jane. Hopefully this week the Dems will get enough calls from us to wake up to the situation that anyone in the world can see.
Oh, and if you didn’t catch it, see if you can find the CSPAN feed of Gore’s speech on the 12th. It reran on CSPAN last night and he was, as always, fantastic. He has grown so much since 00. He’s saying the right things in the right ways. If he doesn’t run in 08 I’ll be heartbroken. He’s showing leadership that we so desperately crave.
After this past week of miserable silence, the Dems are clearly more interested in fringe reps and indys than the so called base. What polling or other data supports this approach?
No polling data supports that approach. Unless you count the BS that Pelosi is hanging her hat on. “Oh boy we’re 16% ahead…no one say anything and lets just hope it stays there.” Idiots.
No, they just keep listening to the same consultants that keep causing them to loose the big elections. They trust those consultants because they feel they helped them get the seat they are currently in. That may be true, but if they want to go further, they’ve got to get beyond that mold.
Hrm….mold is a good word for it too.
Just caught the C-SPAN show on Crooksandliers.com. I thought Christy was great. C-SPAN viewers don’t like sound-bite answers, so the responses were good for the venue. The so-called other attorney who was on didn’t recognize that, so for example, his meager offering in regard to preemptive strikes was that it would have been a good idea to preemptively hit the Nazis. Not really very thoughtful or responsive to the actual issue. I use the term “so-called” because there is no such thing as a “procedural” crime (as Christy recognized but didn’t get into). There are two kinds of crimes: substantive and inchoate. Inchoate crimes, as the name suggests, are those which are not quite fulfilled, such as attempt and conspiracy. One conspires to or attempts to commit the actual, substantive crime and although the attempt and the conspiracy are inchoate, they are still crimes. Crimes that are not inchoate, including perjury, are substantive. He no doubt makes the false distinction on his blog to make it seem that the charges against Libby are minor and unfair. Perjury can be relatively minor, like lying about an irrelevant affair in a civil case, but lying about the outing of an undercover agent is pretty serious.
Oh boy! Glenn is doing a book!
Jim wrote:
Yes, this liberal is becoming demoralized by the Dem. party’s failure to be an opposition party.
Well, this liberal has been demoralized for 20-odd years by the Dem party’s failure to be an opposition party … but what can we do? They are all we’ve got.
We need to nag the bad ones, and support the good ones. And if possible dump the bad ones. Adios Sr. Lieberman!
I just read “Crashing the Gate” – all about the Dem party’s failures. A very interesting read. I’d recommend it to anyone wondering why Dems tend to be so dumb.
Now this is the kind of Wake-up that is needed. Thankyou, thankyou. The solution however is in the hands of the unwashed and if the present power structure of the dems thinks that they are going to snap their fingers and the sheeple will appear they are out of their minds.
The unwashed was burned in 2000, 2004, and they ain’t just sitting aroud just waiting. In addition, they have been watching the continuous string of mistakes being made by “the Party” and guess what– It is alot easier staying home. Now please don’t try and tell anyone that their answers will change unless they see and feel the powers that be willing to think before they speak! I’m telling anyone that will listen that the dems are “looking down into the abyss” and I don’t know if they have the smarts to step back and begin down the road towards regaining control not of the congress but of the party.
They have to think before they speak. And by not supporting Sen Feingold they just don’t seem to have the brains functioning BUT I will tell all that ” Stay Home!” might just be the newest chant out there.
ruffian says:
March 20th, 2006 at 2:18 am
it is so frustrating-to see the Dems whine and cower and do stupid things like not back Hackett in Ohio. The Hackett appearence on the Daily Show was right on and they DO NOT GET IT!
AGGGGHHHHHHHHH
What if they DID get it though, Ruffian?
Sheer dumb incompetance has to give random results i.e. even a dumbass will get it right sometimes (true randomness would suggest 50% of the time).
What we are seeing, though, is some (most) Dems getting it wrong 90 – 100% of the time. Especially on the critical issues and votes.
I thought that SHUT UP AND DO YOUR JOB hit the right note. A pity it was revised.
good to be on the other side of the glass, I LOVE the instant preview, VERY NICE..anyway, back on topic
this is the same thing as not taking the ball down court once you’ve taken possession in basketball
you can take possession, but if you do nothing with that possession, you will get nowhere
the very reason democrats are gaining momentum is BECAUSE of the inept performance, the failed policy, the ego maniacal plans are finally becoming realized by the public at large
if we do NOTHING with that information, or just let it fester, then we are the same as the republicans that stand by and watch
the very reason we are gaining popularity is because the public EXPECTS something to be done to the people that did this to America.
she has GOT to understand WHY democrats are gaining popularity and she HAS TO STOP trying to reverse the momentum that is gaining in mass
Demoralized by the Democratic Party? Form your own party and stay in the Democratic Party also. This new party will form to boycott Republican contributors such as Walmart, Wendy’s, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Dominos pizza, Red Lobster, General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Eckerd, CVS, and Walgreens pharmacies and then make legislative demands of these CEOS.
We will make our own citizens legislature in which we vote with our purchasing dollars and if we want legislation we demand them from the CEOs of the companies that give money to the Republican party. This way we will have influence every day and not just at election day.
See details at the link pointed to my username buckfush
Harlin and others –
If anyone is basing disapproval of Durbin on the notion that he is hanging Feingold out to dry, you should read the following diary at Daily Kos:
AP: False Headlines on Durbin and Censure!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/20/2443/11112
These stories went out today, and they paint a totally false picture of Durbin’s response. Durbin supports Feingold.
These AP stories have been doing damage, since they have been picked up by other outlets, by local Chicago teevee news programs, for example.
Durbin is pissed about this, and the diarist at dKos is attempting to get folks to jump on the Associated Press for what is either sheer incompetence in reporting, or sheer malice.
Thought y’all would want to know about this.
Harlan –
Sorry I misspelled your name above!
On your old site I posted an email I sent Pelosi’s office. I can see it’s critical that I call her office tomorrow, since she is my House Rep.
I’m going to focus on the low bar that she must clear, just to have myself and my neighbors come out to support her.
I also will use this as an opportunity to let her know that the bending over for Karl Rove is why I haven’t (and am unlikely to) contribute to the party (vs candidates like Lamont or Bernie Sanders) again. The Green Party reality is aweful, but I am seriously considering it at this time. Why support any candidate who can’t clear the low bar of their oath to “protect and defend the Constitution”.
Harlan
Equally disappointed here in our ‘Blue State’ senators Obama and Durbin.
That said, Durbin’s spine was visibly growing in his appearance on Fox yesterday AM. I was impressed.
Of course, actions, ultimately speak loudest.
Feingold took a calculated risk (albeit not so large a risk as concern trolls would have you believe) to keep this discussion alive.
He has succeeded.
Regardless of the outcome, he has succeeded.
Kerry took a similar risk in the filibuster of Alito. Of course that was a one shot, finished with colture, whereas a failed censure motion could be a first shot.
But it is encouraging to see the voices of reason stand up to the nonsense we have endured for 6 years now.
Don’t waste too much energy hating the defeatests. Ignore them and shout the truth a little louder.
America is listening, and, slowly but surely, getting it.
btw – voting for a republican in illinois is tantamount to inviting a pedophile to your child’s sleepover
they don’t field real human beings in this state
Suggested motto, or shorter “let’s keep quiet and hope people turn against the Republicans”:
The Democratic Party: The least worst option.
I renewed by Driver License on Friday and while at the DMV changed my voter registration from “Democrat” to “
“Independant”…I am fed up with this culture of co-greed from the present two party system
someone better mail this data to nancy as ap
Harlan,
If you want to punish Durbin for being spineless, I can understand that.
But how does subsequently voting for a republican send the correct message to the Vichy Dems that you want them to be a true opposition party?
I lost the thread of your logic there.
I agree with Jane. Hey. I’m a Democratic activist and even I have had this thought recently…..”What’s the use of even trying to take over Congress? With the current Democratic leadership in charge, they STILL won’t do anything.
Investigate the Bush administration? Hold hearings? The DC Dems don’t act like they’d ever have the stomach for it. I mean, what would Chris Matthews say about them? Etc. The current Dems have so internalized the GOP talking points, I’m not sure they’d be very useful even if we made ‘em the majority in Congress again.
And then I tell myself to shut-up. That I can only do what I can do. So I go back to trying to get Dems elected at all levels. And trying to get Instant Run-off voting so that third party candidates don’t play the spoiler role.
But yes, our current Dem leadership is lame.
What’s the solution? Replace ‘em. This is a long-haul task, so we might as well roll up our sleeves and get going.
G*dd*mnitall, a post about avoiding defeatism that attracts defeatists!!!! I am busting my *ss out here in the grassroots, committed more than 30 hours every f*cking week across (6) different organizations to taking back my democracy, drag my kids along to meetings, p*ss off my indie spouse by not being home, and I have to read some so-called Democrat’s defeatist tripe threatening to vote Republican????? Yeah, that means YOU, harlan (10)…do you know what Durbin’s score is in the Senate??? Check League of Pissed Off Voters’ score card: http://indyvoter.voterpunch.org/
Durbin gets a 94.35% — better than either of my Senators here in Michigan. What a f*cking crybaby you are, harlan!!!
It takes more than a decade of sustained work — 30+ hours a week donated by all stripes of people — to make a g*dd*mned working political party, one with Senators that consistently vote in the 90th percentile. I don’t see how the hell voting Republican is going to do that. What happened in this country is that we left the party to take care itself, didn’t feed and nurture it like we’re supposed to, like the Republicans did theirs. I can tell you that in a state like Michigan, with a population of 10 million, ONLY 2000 PEOPLE MAKE DEMOCRACY WORK HERE. That’s it, an estimated 25 people in each county bust their *sses, show up, lead, get out the vote, constitute progressives in this state (that’s Dems, Greens, Libs, and issues groups combined). No wonder we don’t have a better stable of candidates, let alone incumbents who vote the way we want.
harlan, unless you are actually going to town halls and party meetings and talking mano-a-mano with Durbin, don’t even give me your crap about what a lousy job Durbin is doing for you. You’re doing a crappy job by him being a fairweather Dem, by showing up here and doing exactly what Jane said we need to avoid. Quit being a f*cking crybaby; most of the rest of the real Dems in this country would KILL to have a Senator like Durbin.
As for the whining about Hackett: Mr. Hackett is entirely welcome to move north to neighboring Michigan. We’ve got PLENTY of House targets just across the border, and I’d be only to happy to give him another 10+ hours a week of my time if he came here. And the DSCC would have NOTHING to say about it — nor would we let the DCCC screw it up.
What a way to start my week. Grrr… /rant
oh – and a repeated plug for TeddySanFran’s brilliant slogan:
Had Enough?
jumping in:
Jane, i’m not “defeatist,” i’m pragmatic. the democratic process in this country is how shall i say it? “on hold” for the moment. you can say “they can’t” when it comes to the evoting situation, but as i’ve blogged previously, the situation is fucked. a group can throw an eleciton by fucking with just a few key areas; which is what happened in both 00 and 04. i’m pretty sure it’ll happen in 06.
but even if i’m wrong: the democratic party today is really two parties. one looks out for people like me, the other for corporate interests. as the republicans also look out for the corporate interests 75% of the time or more (religious concerns taking up the other 25%) that means i have effectively, less than a quarter of the government acting in my interests. i’ll never have the $ to get anyone’s attention.
i’m all for netroots campaigns, they’re fun and invigorating. but when i tally the sum total of the last six, indeed well now 36 years of republican damage to the republic, i’m fairly confident that we’re in for a soviet style evolution and collapse. nothing less than that will motivate people to “do something” about their lawless, theocratic, oligarchic, pseudofascist, racist, imperialist warmongering government.
it’s funny, no? that today i can use all those words and not seem like a crazy trotskyite undergrad at a streetcorner kiosk.
…and kudos on the new site. we switched from blogger a while ago, and haven’t looked back. y’all will thrive here, i’m sure.
I would add to that statement;
“do you think your country can withstand anymore?”
I want to thank firedoglake for keeping us updated on the censure, and who is a lemming or a lion. I’ve got a “censure watch” posted at Howard-Empowered People now too–using a spine and a jellyfish.
I swear there are career politicians in the Democratic party who think that if they just “play the game” and don’t make waves, they will eventually get their turn. Don’t rock the boat, just “wait your turn”. Any time now, it will be their turn, and then they’ll get the perks of being in power. So why would they want to change the way the game is played. They just have to keep waiting patiently for “their turn”. Right? The Republicans in power *will* do the sporting thing and let them have their turn…any time now. Right?
Robert Fisk, a veteran Middle East reporter, demolished our corporate media yesterday in The Independent. This piece should be widely distributed.
The farcical end of the American dream
The US press is supposed to be challenging the lies of this war
By Robert Fisk
March 18, 2006
The Independent
It is a bright winter morning and I am sipping my first coffee of the day in Los Angeles. My eye moves like a radar beam over the front page of the Los Angeles Times for the word that dominates the minds of all Middle East correspondents: Iraq. In post-invasion, post-Judith Miller mode, the American press is supposed to be challenging the lies of this war. So the story beneath the headline “In a Battle of Wits, Iraq’s Insurgency Mastermind Stays a Step Ahead of US” deserves to be read. Or does it?
Datelined Washington – an odd city in which to learn about Iraq, you might think – its opening paragraph reads: “Despite the recent arrest of one of his would-be suicide bombers in Jordan and some top aides in Iraq, insurgency mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi has eluded capture, US authorities say, because his network has a much better intelligence-gathering operation than they do.”
Now quite apart from the fact that many Iraqis – along, I have to admit, with myself – have grave doubts about whether Zarqawi exists, and that al-Qai’da’s Zarqawi, if he does exist, does not merit the title of “insurgency mastermind”, the words that caught my eye were “US authorities say”. And as I read through the report, I note how the Los Angeles Times sources this extraordinary tale. I thought American reporters no longer trusted the US administration, not after the mythical weapons of mass destruction and the equally mythical connections between Saddam and the international crimes against humanity of 11 September 2001. Of course, I was wrong.
Here are the sources – on pages one and 10 for the yarn spun by reporters Josh Meyer and Mark Mazzetti: “US officials said”, “said one US Justice Department counter-terrorism official”, “Officials … said”, “those officials said”, “the officials confirmed”, “American officials complained”, “the US officials stressed”, “US authorities believe”, “said one senior US intelligence official”, “US officials said”, “Jordanian officials … said” – here, at least is some light relief – “several US officials said”, “the US officials said”, “American officials said”, “officials say”, “say US officials”, “US officials said”, “one US counter-terrorism official said”.
I do truly treasure this story. It proves my point that the Los Angeles Times – along with the big east coast dailies – should all be called US OFFICIALS SAY. But it’s not just this fawning on political power that makes me despair. Let’s move to a more recent example of what I can only call institutionalised racism in American reporting of Iraq I have to thank reader Andrew Gorman for this gem, a January Associated Press report about the killing of an Iraqi prisoner under interrogation by US Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jnr.
Mr Welshofer, it transpired in court, had stuffed the Iraqi General Abed Hamed Mowhoush head-first into a sleeping bag and sat on his chest, an action which – not surprisingly – caused the general to expire. The military jury ordered – reader, hold your breath – a reprimand for Mr Welshofer, the forfeiting of $6,000 of his salary and confinement to barracks for 60 days. But what caught my eye was the sympathetic detail. Welshofer’s wife’s Barbara, the AP told us, “testified that she was worried about providing for their three children if her husband was sentenced to prison. ‘I love him more for fighting this,’ she said, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘He’s always said that you need to do the right thing, and sometimes the right thing is the hardest thing to do’”.
Yes, I guess torture is tough on the torturer. But try this from the same report: “Earlier in the day … Mr Welshofer fought back tears. ‘I deeply apologise if my actions tarnish the soldiers serving in Iraq,’ he said.”
Note how the American killer’s remorse is directed not towards his helpless and dead victim but to the honour of his fellow soldiers, even though an earlier hearing had revealed that some of his colleagues watched Welshofer stuffing the general into the sleeping bag and did nothing to stop him. An earlier AP report stated that “officials” – here we go again – “believed Mowhoush had information that would ‘break the back of the insurgency’.” Wow. The general knew all about 40,000 Iraqi insurgents. So what a good idea to stuff him upside down inside a sleeping bag and sit on his chest.
But the real scandal about these reports is we’re not told anything about the general’s family. Didn’t he have a wife? I imagine the tears were “welling up in her eyes” when she was told her husband had been done to death. Didn’t the general have children? Or parents? Or any loved ones who “fought back tears” when told of this vile deed? Not in the AP report he didn’t. General Mowhoush comes across as an object, a dehumanised creature who wouldn’t let the Americans “break the back” of the insurgency after being stuffed headfirst into a sleeping bag.
Now let’s praise the AP. On an equally bright summer’s morning in Australia a few days ago I open the Sydney Morning Herald. It tells me, on page six, that the news agency, using the Freedom of Information Act, has forced US authorities to turn over 5,000 pages of transcripts of hearings at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. One of them records the trial of since-released British prisoner Feroz Abbasi, in which Mr Abbasi vainly pleads with his judge, a US air force colonel, to reveal the evidence against him, something he says he has a right to hear under international law.
And here is what the American colonel replied: “Mr Abbasi, your conduct is unacceptable and this is your absolute final warning. I do not care about international law. I do not want to hear the words international law. We are not concerned about international law.”
Alas, these words – which symbolise the very end of the American dream – are buried down the story. The colonel, clearly a disgrace to the uniform he wears, does not appear in the bland headline (”US papers tell Guantanamo inmates’ stories”) of the Sydney paper, more interested in telling us that the released documents identify by name the “farmers, shopkeepers or goatherds” held in Guantanamo.
I am now in Wellington, New Zealand, watching on CNN Saddam Hussein’s attack on the Baghdad court trying him. And suddenly, the ghastly Saddam disappears from my screen. The hearing will now proceed in secret, turning this drumhead court into even more of a farce. It is a disgrace. And what does CNN respectfully tell us? That the judge has “suspended media coverage”!
If only, I say to myself, CNN – along with the American press – would do the same.
Good morning, everyone. I’m really looking forward to closing down the winter home and having everyone in one place again. Lots of heartfelt appreciation to Jane and Redd and all the tech support, graphic design, and navigation nesters who have labored to create our new digs.
Here is a piercing summary of how and why Bush’s is becoming a buffoon on the world stage:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm…..34,00.html
I believe that all this bad news and loss of morale, difficult as it is to endure, is reaching the necessary critical point at which someone like Feingold can emerge as the ray of hope to help turn this terrible tide. I see light at the end of this tunnel and I refuse to give up. Despite the Pelosi’s and the Obama’s, I feel emboldened at this point in time. I remember how, after years of protest and struggle and demonstration, the American public began to see the Viet Nam War as a failure, and things finally broke loose. We can do this.
perusing the news this morning and found this. it’s worth it for the giggle it gave me: Looks like Matalin and Carville are gonna be on a reality show. from the Chicago Sun Times:
Many fans of Reese Witherspoon first noticed the newly crowned Oscar winner when she starred in “Election” — playing a driven high school student running for student body president in the acclaimed film, produced by Chicago native Albert Berger. Now veteran (and married) political operatives James Carville and Mary Matalin have signed on to counsel real candidates for high school prez in a new reality show for Lifetime TV, also titled “Election.”
Carville, of course, first found fame as a high-profile adviser to President Clinton, while his wife has long been a top conservative “talking head” and counselor to both Bush White Houses and Vice President Dick Cheney.
According to Time magazine, Carville and Matalin will advise their respective candidates at a Washington, D.C.-area school. “The real trick with any 61-year-old dealing with any 16-year-old is to get them to listen to a word you say. I’m remarkably unsuccessful with my own,” says Carville
“Click here to continue reading”
UGH
I want to read everything on one page, thank you very much. This is like The Next Hurrah, where you end up not being arsed to read the posts in their entirey because you’ll have 15 open tabs and no memory of the first 3 paras by the time you get around to reading them.
If you want to do this, at least have the option to turn it off through logging in.
Other than that, loving the redesign.
I’m certainly among those who have taken some satisfaction from the various polls that have Dems up by double digits, and show that Dems lead the GOP in areas that have usually been reserved for the GOP. I have to keep reminding myself that these are national polls that may not accurately reflect what is happening within individual states and within individual districts. While these numbers are encouraging, it should not be forgotten that they will be meaningless if they cannot and do not translate into Democratic wins of what are now GOP seats.
The only way this is going to happen is if the Dems stop buying into their underdog status, tap into the local sentiment on national issues and use them to project strength on local issues. They need to feed off the fear that is growing in GOP ranks, play into the growing divisiveness within the GOP, all the while showcasing how they – the Dems – represent a return to divided government and a check on absolute power. Rather than “piling on,†which casts the GOP as underdogs to be rooted on to victory, the Dems need to chip away at the underpinnings of the GOP, so that it collapses seemingly on its own.
Elections are head games, and the Dems need to figure out how to master them, instead of being on the receiving end of them. They need to understand that the talking heads combine the traits of the worst kinds of bandwagon-jumping sports fans with some of the worst kind of “reporting†that is really thinly disguised editorializing designed to affect public opinion.
The sad thing is that most people watch or listen to snippets of the nightly news, or glance at a headline in the paper, and mistakenly believe they are informed on current events. Dems need to get their message to as many people as possible, which is something the blogs can do quite well, and I think those that use the blogosphere this way will do much to counter the mealy-mouthed blather that passes for journalism these days.
Of course we’re demoralized,Jesus,who wouldn’t be in the midst of this craziness?
I also get the sneaking suspicion that if we could somehow get people to admit it,we’d find many,many familes and friendships that have been pretty much destroyed over this horrific division over religion and politics this country is facing today.Far more than we think.Maybe I’m wrong and biased,since this has happened to me(I sit here with NO family except my inlaws and ZERO friends now,because of my politics and my religious beliefs),but I can’t be the only one.
But that does not mean we haven’t a hope in hell of changing things.It’s called pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.And if you happen to have no boots,then grab my hand or someone else’s and let’s do this thing already.The time to raise hell should have been in 2000,but it’s not too late.Yet.Saving and preserving a democracy is a constant job,and sadly,in the last 20 years or so the people of this country have totally forgot that important principle.So we have some catching up to do,that’s all,we just gotta catch up and clean up.While we insist our representatives get a spine,we have to make sure our own spines are standing straight up and tall too.
It’s not just a matter of people like us voting.
Many of us are passionate and could be great at participating in activities that get other people to vote.
dannyboy, thanks very much for the Fisk article. The attitudes and assumptions about how this war is being reported need exposure at every turn. Americans are so programmed about the inherent superiority of our nation that we have become blind and deaf to the world that is turning against us.
I think we should also have an option to click if we want to “always open expanded”
maybe they can get that eventually
OT — the new site doesn’t appear to work with Mac OS-X Safari. Anyone else have this problem?
Passing Shot:
I am using Safari (with OS-X: 10.3.9) and things seem to be working fine, so far.
Good news!
Glenn Greenwald is making his full crossover to talkling head punditocracy via a book:
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot…..ct_20.html
Recall that many of the talking heads with whom we are now familiar made their debut during Clenisgate. The attack blondes, like Coulter. Jonathan Turley. Bob Barr. Many others.
Now, Christy has begun the crossover during the Great Republican Implosion of ‘06. Markos is touring with his book. Now Glenn.
Having a published book makes you something the esatblishment understands and can respect. Having a blog is not as strong as having a book.
The news of Glenn publishing a book set to come out in May is outstanding.
Passing Shot, I don’t seem to be having any problems.
I’m on Mac OS X 10.3.9, Safari 1.3.2 (v312.6). Have you downloaded the newest versions?
Morning gang — I’m a little behind this morning. It’s Fiona’s birthday today and I was on a cupcake run for her preschool class. I’ll have something fresh up soon, I promise.
Yay, Fiona!
I’ve seen pictures, guys. Fiona is a mini-me to Christy and is more cute than the law should allow.
Dems may have the lead… let’s just hope that once they realize this fact they act! Your Escape of it
Amen!
It seems that in so many elections the dems seem to be leading and then one month out, they just sit back and wait for victory. And they get sucker punched by robocalls, election hijinks, and slander campaigns. And then the final blow is diebold if the district has them.
And the dems wake up and go ‘oh no’ we weren’t leaning far enough right. Oh me of my. What a bunch of knownothings. Wake up and fight like your life depended on it. Well, actually the world depends on it. I really think the republicans all lower expectations and then whammo.
I live in California but I’ve never liked Pelosi, she is the poster child for the direction the party has been headed in. And that leadership position she holds was literally purchased, she set a new record for intercandidate donations to get that post.
Nancy Pelosi may be a craven hypocrite, but is she stupid as well? Surely she delved more deeply into the latest Pew poll — you know, the one that puts Bush at 33% approval. The same poll gave “Congressional Democratic leaders” a similarly dismal 34% approval. How this translates into things “going well” is beyond my understanding.
Beltway Dems seem to think they can sit tight, rock no boats, and the Republicans will implode all by themselves. They think they’ll become the default party for those few Americans who still have the heart to go to the polling booths. Why can’t they remember the old adage: When your enemy is drowning, throw him an anchor.
Chiaroscuro,
Yep. This rope-a-dope strategy is just idiotic. The Repubs are barely treading water, right now’s the time to throw them the anchor.
Just so you know…
Was temporarily unable to refresh this site due to’remote server error’. Happened at about the same time as the old site began automatic redirection to this one. Also saw this error:
WordPress
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In reading that post of Digby’s – I had a minor epiphany about a major concern .
I believe Repubs are going to lose ground in Nov – I’m not sure Dems will actively win, they’ll just not lose the battle of electoral attrition. There is plenty going against Rep.’s we’re not looking at b/c we’re focused on what Dems are doing or not doing at the moment
but it’s early and I digress – so Dems win
My concern is they will take it as a sign their strategy of doing nothing ‘worked’ and we’ll be stuck with more of the same – at a time when the country is going to need real leadership in it’s re building
If you accept this premise – what is t/b done btw now and November to disabuse them of any such notion ?
I do not have enough saavy or campaigning experience to know the answer – I’m thinking of course it is beyond imperative we are recognized as a bloc – but the actual nuts and bolts of accomplishing that is currently beyond me
anyone ?
Love your blog… but, your new server leaves a lot to be desired. No firedoglake logo at top..errors in pixels.. pictures are way slow, etc. Many, many readers still use dial up.
Can’t be too careful about keeping the full pantheon of readers by focusing only on the tech-elites.
New thread
Rayne (39), THANK YOU! I’m discouraged too by Democrats who have “strategy” as their main concern instead of principal (which would allow them to win). But subverting Democrats instead of helping them find their voice is tantamount to helping the fascists. Let’s find a way to reform the Democratic party without allowing (again, oh my god, not again) the election of Rethugs. Think of the lives lost because of Iraq, Katrina, etc., and think of the ignomony our country will suffer forever because of the “torture” proponents. If we continue to be Nazis after the next election, I’m going to have to throw myself onto a pyre at the WWII memorial. The Dems are frustrating and they need a spanking but don’t help the fascists. Please.
I agree we gotta fight but what’s the basis to say they can’t steal every election? Maybe they can’t and maybe they can.
Of course, we have to vote but from what I’ve seen, everyone who has looked at it who is not employed by Diebold or ESS or in their orbit of influence has said these machines are easily hackable.
Read the latest here:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
And how they stole 2004:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2…..exit_polls
Voting locations that used electronic or other types of voting machines that did not issue a paper receipt or offer auditability correlate geographically with areas that had discrepancies in Bush’s favor between exit poll numbers and actual results. Exit polling data in these areas show significantly higher support for Kerry than actual results (potentially outside the margin of error). From a statistical perspective, this may be indicative of vote rigging, because the likelihood of this happening by chance is extremely low. A study of 16 states by a former MIT mathematics professor places the likelihood at 1 in 50,00
I hope Dems win in November. I’m predicting they don’t. Bush was LOSING the election, badly, in the exit polls. Karen Hughes was basically condeding the election in the afternoon and up crops a winner.
I predict huge victory for Rethugs in November. Against all polls, against all data. Just like in 2002, Georgia installs Diebold machines and for the first time since the Civil War Republicans sweep statewide offices (gov) and take out Senator Cleland.
I am thinking more and more that Wittman, for sure, and Shrum and Carville and probably most of those creeps are in fact Republican moles. I also believe absolutely that the corporate media’s primary mission is to further intimidate Dems in office: the hell with news for the rest of us, We The People are hardly a blip on their radar screens. Daschle post-anthrax always looks like an animal caught in the headlights, and the other “leaders” act it, while they’re all owned by AIPAC , Big Pharma and the rest of the corporations who toss them crumbs and LOVE the Repubs.
So what to do/how to send them a message? How about turning out Pelosi as well as Lieberman and, well, why not an attack list? The other part of that is to GET ACTIVE in your own precinct/district, and start getting control of the local party machinery. This means canvassing, going door to door, phoning like crazy right around home to get out the vote, playing politics like these Dems never did learn how to do. It works, if you do it, and we’ve never needed it more than we do now.
Chicago Tom, 71: Yes.
And the other strategy we might as well develop NOW is what to do after they steal 2006. Might as well get the statistics now, while there’s time, and make sure there are registration and get-out-the-vote drives, poll watchers inside and exit pollers at the door of every precinct likely to be contested. Which means at minimum most minority areas, nationwide, if the past is any guide.
plame stuff
I’m afraid that they don’t really need to steal every election. If they can only steal a few, key ones (and there’s ample evidence that they can) that could be enough, given how many districts are gerrymandered into ’safe’ seats. After what happened to the Ohio election reform ammendments, it seems all too reasonable to assume that if polls predict Democrat gains in November, and the GOP instead strengthens their hand, journalists will trip over one another in haste to invent explanations of how “Rove’s brilliant GOTV operations” or somesuch “defied the polls.”
I’ll definitely vote; there’s nothing to lose there. But I’m not so confident in actually giving money to Democrats, as long as they do nothing about election integrity. Another stolen election feels too horrible to think about, I know. But it’s only going to keep getting worse the longer we put off confronting it.
What will be more demoralizing in the long run: Talking about the serious problems with e-voting security? Or ignoring them and firing up the base with great expectations, only to have their hopes “inexplicably” dashed by a sudden election day shift of votes to the GOP?
What all this talk about “our leaders”?
A leader would ALWAYS be a patriot first and a politician second.
My soul aches…my heart has numbed… for it has become shockenly apparent that we truly have no leaders, at least none that give a damn about our constitution, the bill of rights or the rule of law.
These truly are dangerous times. A leadership void exists.
History has taught us that from voids such as this acts of desperation spring, and that is what this cabal in power is now hoping for.
Rayne, great comment. While it is good for us to support progressives when we can, to throw up our hands and give up… when we have no progressive to vote for is crazy. Just as the folks here at FDL do not always agree 100% with each other, we cannot expect our representatives to have 100% our stands. If you want someone you agree with 100%, then run for office!
The Dems ar not perfect. I get irritated with Pelosi and the bunch, just as every one else does. But Geeze, try having Bond and Talent for you senators. Then you will know what yuck is. I still send them E-mails occasionally, just to let them know there are progressives left in Missouri.
As was famously said recently (Rumsfield).. you go to war with the army you have. Well folks, this is a war. And we have to go to it with the politicians we have. Do we need to keep recruiting, adding more like Hacket to our army/? Of course! Does that mean that we sit out 2006 because we don’t have the army we want. I don’t think so.
Let’s keep at it folks. Never give up, never. Without risk, failure is assured.
Thanks, GrandmaJ. Damn but that pisses me off to hear Dems whine that a single item will make them vote for the opposition. Were the opposition party Hitler’s Nazis, would they vote for them just because Durbin wasn’t on fire supporting Feingold? It ain’t Durbin that’s the damned problem; it’s far too many so-called progressives who’ve thrown away their votes so easily, who’ve not invested in ensuring an entire system that is majority material.
I can’t encourage folks enough to read Crashing the Gate for this reason alone.
I think you have to build strategy upon principle, and I see no shortage of principles that the Dems can run on. The strategy has to be one that will highlight our principles and at the same time contrast them with the reality of the at least the last five years.
The one thing they get us with every time, and which I wish we had a more prepared answer for, is “Well, what is the Democrats’ plan for (Iraq/the budget/Katrina/Medicare/Social Security/abortion)?†While I agree that as the minority party, it hasn’t mattered one whit what plans we’ve had, since nothing gets out of committee or fails on a party-line vote, that response just sounds like an excuse, and we have to do better than that.
Someone needs to have an answer for this. Maybe it has to be framed as, “We believe that…and that is why we introduced SB or HR whatever. I think it’s important to connect what we believe and what we stand for with evidence of our attempts to implement these things. We have to show the GOP as standing in the way of things that would have been better for the country, in favor of things that benefited only certain segments of society. We have to, for example, connect our belief in health care and the environment with what we tried to do in those areas, and contrast what we believe with what the GOP said and then what it did.
We have to show that our belief in the Constitution and long-standing principles of a democratic society are values that have allowed this country to survive countless crises and problems, highlight how we have attempted to protect these principles and how the GOP has acted to erode them in their quest for unitary power.
We can’t allow ourselves to sink into the same trap the Bush administration has fallen into on Iraq. They keep talking about our strategy in the war, but it seems empty. Why? Because it was built on an ever-shifting foundation, and had to change whenever the current rationale for the war proved not credible.
We have to identify our principles, provide concrete examples of how we fought for them, and build an election strategy that will focus on setting the country on a better track, and returning much-needed oversight to the executive branch. Where we disagree on specific issues, we have to come back to the foundation that allows us to disagree – the Constitution and the Bill of Rights – and imbues us with the responsibility to see that dissent is protected and all voices are heard.
Principles without strategy is a recipe for failure on election day; strategy without principles turns us into Republicans.
Eeek, I can’t load any page other than this one that’s been up for a while.
It gives an error message: This account has been suspended. Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible. The location is given as http://gator77.hostgator.com/suspended.page/
:(
How can anyone possibly imagine that voters have any enthusiam about Liberman, Pelosi or Biden. Our democracy is going down and the word of the day is “It is urgent to wait.”
Other that wanting to rid the country of this administration what is there to attract any young person? The democrats in Washington have decided on Hillary and want the children to go outside and play.
Pelosi is making a mistake, things are not going well for Democrats, they are going badly for Republicans. It is not the same thing.
Web page detail…..also upper left ad covers part of the text in my browser
Cocktail weenies in the corner. I’m being SHUNNED for cocktail weenies!