The pope and other churches around the world are united in condemning this war on Iraq, saying among other things: “This war will kill and wound men and women already burdened by years of embargo and tyranny… This war was not necessary, because other paths were open.”
Or I should say, non-coverage…. because there was nothing on but a picture of the Baghdad skyline and a bunch of guys yammering about how they didn’t know anything about what was going on, but we might not have hit Saddam. Or we might have because that video might be one of his body doubles. But they talked for hours about absolutely nothing and it got on my damn nerves big time.
“Daschle practically blamed the impending war on Bush, rather than Saddam Hussein:
I’m saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we’re now forced to war. Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn’t create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. You’re an idiot and a failure Mr. President, and history will look back at this time in horror and remorse. You’ve turned us into everything our enemies have always claimed we were. Those claims weren’t justified until now.
So having failed at diplomacy, the president has catapulted us into war. And his first attack to kill Saddam failed, too. Let’s hope he has better luck for the rest of this ill-begotten conflict. I just hope that our soldiers keep their heads down, work hard, and come back alive. And I hope we don’t kill too many children.
Looks like my suggestion that France might take back the Statue of Liberty is being taken seriously by some Americans who want to give the Statue back to France. There’s nothing more ironic and, well symbolic of the moronic nature of the right-wing that this. I tell ya, if the statue goes to France, I’m going to put my house on rollers, load it on a ship and sail over there with the statue. I’m not kidding. I’ll learn French.
Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks was forced by her record company to apologize for her remarks in London about President Bush. While on stage in London, she said, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” They made her take it back, but no one can tell me what opinion to have… so here goes:
I’m ashamed of President Bush. I’m ashamed we have a moron for President. I’m ashamed that we’re going to bomb a country comprised of almost 50% children just so some oil baron assholes can profiteer off the oil they seize. I’m ashamed that the Democrats are so damned lame they’re doing nothing to combat this injustice. I’m ashamed that my own city voted to support the White House’s unjustified and probably illegal actions. I’m ashamed that all of our basic civil rights are being thrown out the window. I’m ashamed that the American People are so damned gullible that they roll over and play dead when the government raises the “terror alert” to try to create panic and submission. I’m ashamed of what this year, this decade will look like to folks forty, fifty, a hundred years in the future.
I’m proud to be an American. I just wish every else would remember what that really is supposed to mean.
Now we have congressional hearings suggesting that if you download mp3s from the internet, you’re funding Terrorism. Yeah, Right.
Crap, I thought I was only riding with Hitler and channeling Satan. I guess now I’m also funding the terrorists. Looks like the folks at Modern Humorist were ahead of their time.
A Florida congresswoman, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite is proposing legislation to enable families of war dead who are buried in France to exhume their bodies and bring them home to be buried in the United States. Her explanation: “I, along with many other Americans, do not feel that the French government appreciates the sacrifices men and women in uniform have made to defend the freedom that the French enjoy today.”
Never mind that the reason we enjoyed any of the freedom we used to have in this country is because the without the help of France, we would never have won the revolutionary war. That’s the reason Eisenhower sent a message to the French on the eve of the D-Day invasion: “Lafayette, I’m coming.” And General Lafayette, the Frenchman who came to our aid, loved America so much that he wanted to be buried on American soil.
The Memory Hole: ” The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known. The emphasis is on material that exposes things that we’re not supposed to know (or that we’re supposed to forget).”
Unknown News: “The news you need, whether you know it or not. We try to spotlight news that hasn’t gotten enough (or appropriate) attention.”
Both these news sites monitor and record big news reports, and in the case of The Memory Hole, when a newspaper censors itself for some reason, they will take note of the original writing and how it’s been changed. For example, check out how the New York Times deleted mention of Police Snipers at a recent anti-war protest.
Here’s what it is: leaders of the GOP will send out canned letters to select constituents in key media markets across the country, and these constituents will then turn around and e-mail them to the “letters to the editor” section of various local newspapers and magazines as well national publications. Many of these media outlets are pretty gullible and will print these astroturf letters routinely, and end up being nothing more than unpaid advertisers for the Republican party. The Indianapolis Star has one in it’s pages nearly every day, because, well, they aren’t the brightest bulbs in the socket.
But if you can find the letters ahead of time, like this blogger has, you can have fun with Google and spot the letters in papers all over the country.