Mulligan Stew

"People Rise Up!" A Protest Photo Essay

2006-02-05T09:53:00.000-05:00

I just returned from the World CanÂt Wait rally. I have to say, it was the smallest best protest I have attended. There werenÂt very many World CanÂt Wait staff and volunteers but since so few people attended, partially due to the rainy weather, they seemed to do a good job managing things. It was a very intimate organic atmosphere. Not very many grandstanders or major celebrity. The energy was damned good for a rained out event, and as the weather grew worse the crowd only got bigger. Twelve buses from D.C. arrived late, not long before the march around the White House began. I met people from Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida and Hawaii. I have never been good at crowd estimates (which I had to do all the time as a cop reporter) but I would say there were between 1,000 and 3,000. That seems like a wide enough range.

There were actually a whole two news reports about the protest, one from Washington Post. Of course, what wasn't fair is that it was on page C-5 of the Sunday paper, but hey, I expected nothing. There is also video available here, from an ABC affiliate.

There was a 30-foot effigy of Bush made from wire and huge printouts of his ugly head.

The energy was totally focused. The message was consistent with each speaker: Bush is dangerous, no one is going to be our savior, we must take matters into our own hands. This was the place to ponder and give voice to the unthinkable, the thing that everybody in the ÂrealÂ (faith-based) world cannot or refuses to fathom. They are the Âpeople passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined,Â according to WCWs call to action. Randi Rhodes said it well the other day: America is not only headed down a bad road, weÂre at a major fork.

As I proceeded from the Metro station to the Ellipse (I did stop by the Caribou Coffee where some folks were supposed to meet up but I was so very late that I stayed for 15 minutes and left), the streets were empty of protesters until I got to the northwest corner of the Mall. This was somewhat deflating.

There was a stage with a pretty good sound system set up, and a few tents to coordinate volunteers and sell the usual merchandise at dissent gatherings: ÂRibbons for the Rest of Us,Â ÂRevolutionary Books,Â bumper stickers, pins. But I grew even more deflated as I walked toward the front of the stage. There were a few hundred people on the Mall. I was pissed that people would let the rain (or other things, keep reading) keep them home; but as my sneakers slid in the mud and water crept in through the seams, I thought, Âwho can blame them?Â However, lots of people, like this guy, did a great job of keeping people's spirits high:

The WCW organizers came prepared with colored plastic whistles and noisemakers and plenty of bullhorns, in addition to hundreds and hundreds of their bright, urgent green signs with the slogan ÂDrive out the Bush Regime!Â They mounted the signs on cardboard tubes, but after half an hour the signs became soggy and folded over, and most people just tossed them in the refuse bins.

For folks who have a problem with the Âfreaky lookingÂ crowd, 1) I donÂt know what you think you look like, but I bet someone somewhere thinks you look like a freak! and 2) you canÂt come out to a protest against an evil regime with that attitude. If youÂre more comfortable in front of your keyboard than having to be exposed to people different from you Â fine, please stay home. As I have said before, many of my best friends have been freaks, and at this protest, punks, goths, queers, hippies and the like abound. As Michael Franti sang: "All the freaky people make the beauty of the world." My guess is most of them were college students as WCW is particularly focused on growing the student movement. The crowd was colorful, diverse, and energetic despite the circumstances. When I got there, a DJ was spinning Public EnemyÂs ÂDonÂt Believe the Hype.Â

Here are some of the signs from the rally:

The first two speakers, whose names I am sorry I didnÂt catch (didnÂt take many notes because I was bogged down with an umbrella, a humongous digital camera, and a purse, and plus pens do not work on wet paper), read WCWs call to action, which is here, and it really riled up the crowd. One by one, speakers approached the mic and the crowd constantly roared back. People were really angry and perhaps even more so because it was cold, wet and muddy.

One of the best speakers was Rebecca Shaefer, one of the Georgetown Law Students who turned their backs on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. She said that many of the students who stood up and turned their backs weren't even in on the protest plans - they just stood up and joined.

When I say the energy was focused, I mean it. I saw one Free Mumia sign, one Palestine sign, one ÂNo war for IsraelÂ sign, and a few general antiwar signs. Everything else was something about the Emperor or King George or wiretapping Â something specifically directed toward the Bush administration. I have heard some people say they donÂt want to be associated with WCW because it is a ÂcommunistÂ organization. I can guarantee that it is not, there are people of all stripes involved in World CanÂt Wait. One of the main organizers is Sunsara Taylor who is a writer for The Revolutionary newspaper and a follower of Bob Akavian of the Revolutionary Communist Party. I will let WCWs FAQ speak for itself:

Q: But aren't there communists in World Can't Wait?
A: Yeah, there are. Supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party helped initiate it. They have said they're in it because they think it's absolutely urgent to get rid of this regime, that it would both lift a huge burden from the world and would also give people a sense of their own potential power, and they think all that would open up avenues to get to the society they want. Same as a whole lot of other people in World Can't Wait - which, by the way, includes Greens, Christians, Republicans, anarchists, Muslims, Jews, feminists, Democrats, pacifists, and people who claim no affiliation - who also think it's urgent to drive out the Bush Regime and who also think it can help lead to bigger changes that they want in society, coming from their own viewpoints.
But to turn the question around, if you refuse to pitch in to building this movement to drive out the Bush regime, when you know that this is what has to be done, just because there are communists in it, then you need to think about how well that worked back in Nazi Germany (when the many forces opposed to Hitler could not find the ways to unite). And how exactly would you explain your particular brand of "abstinence only" policy to a prisoner at Abu Ghraib or a teenager in Tennessee who desperately needs an abortion or someone whose mother was killed at a checkpoint near Falluja? And then after you think about that, you need to actually start working on driving out this regime. To stand aside at this point is really unconscionable.

So anyway, onto the fun stuffÂspeakers, speakers, speakers, more rain, more mud, more speakers, even more rain meant that eventually the electricity had to be shut off. With six speakers left and only a couple of megaphones, the organizers tried to finish their program but they ceded to the groaning audience. By this time, my jeans are soaked to the knee, my sneakers are covered in mud and my socks are soaking wet. Before we set upon the march to the White House there was a Saddam Square-style toppling of the wire Bush effigy accompanied by the burning of the flag of the United Corporations of America (thatÂs the flag that looks like the American flag but has corporate logos instead of stars). I have never been in the presence of a burning flag and when I felt the heat across my face I was grateful because it was so cold but I also felt like I was in Palestine or Pakistan. It was very exciting and edgy and I felt as if I should remove my sneaker and start beating myself with it, or at least beat the effigy. Then when the effigy of Bush came down, it came toward me. As I backed up, people descended upon it and kicked it, stomped it, beat it and screamed at it. I gave it a weak kick, but I kept my sneaker on.

We queued up:

and moved along...

When we got here, everyone stopped and basically had a freak out session. Everyone was screaming and chanting and jumping up and down. The police looked on - did I detect amusement in some of those faces? Empathy? Hmmm...

In the meantime, another protest raged across the street:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HA HA HA! What a bunch of pathetic losers. Didja know that's Karl Rove's extended family?

As the march carried on from the White House back to the Mall, Sunsara Taylor, flanked by two rather handsome men, and the crew from WCW did an awesome job. (Hey, if this is what commies today look like - sign me up! j/k) They all got in the bed of a pickup truck with a microphone, two megaphones, and a few drums. They had good chants such as:
"Bush step down, people rise up!"
"Killer in the White House, time to get his ass out!"
"Join us, join us, the World CanÂt Wait! Drive out the Bush Regime!"

All in all, the day was a gathering of people focused on one goal. The speakers, the organizers, the attendees all come from different places geographically, ideologically, ethnically, nationally, but we have this one thing in common. It's more important than ever that we learn to set aside our differences to get this task accomplished.

My one problem with the event is that while the energy was organic, the formation was not. There was the march route, and my guess is that the organizers were probably told that we could spend a predetermined amount of time in front of the White House. We were really far from the White House, and Bush wasn't even in there. I want to storm the gates and make him come out and answer to his crimes, then shackle him and send him to Guantanamo. But hey, this is a start and at the least, it keeps me energized enough to keep going to my local Dem meetings and trying to get involved from the inside. I just can't fathom another three years of this. It's going to reach a critical point very soon.

Tax cigarettes, not clothes

2006-01-29T18:22:00.000-05:00

I was glad to hear that Corzine's budget advisors advised against a clothing sales tax in New Jersey, according to the Star-Ledger. The lack of sales tax IMHO is one of the things that helps keep New Jersey viable for consumers and businesses, especially out-of-state consumers. I come from the perspective of someone who grew up in Westchester County and used to go shopping in Paramus several times per year because of the lack of sales tax. Not only do out-of-state shoppers buy clothing, they eat in restaurants, buy gas in New Jersey, and pay tolls on the Parkway and Turnpike.

But the Republicans who are railing against any taxes are playing politics and not living in a reality-based world. New Jersey is going to have to attack our $5 million deficit from many directions. A gas tax is not out of the question, but I think the best way to increase revenues is to bump up the cigarette tax. Yes, New Jersey is already second in the nation when it comes to our cigarette tax (we tax a whopping $2.40 per pack, second only to Rhode Island which taxes $2.46 per pack), but why not be number one in something? With the law making it illegal to smoke in bars and restaurants taking effect in April, it makes sense. It is not only a matter of revenues but a matter of public health. Smokers cost the state $2.9 billion each year in health care costs.

The tax is regressive in a way, because a higher percentage of working class people tend to smoke cigarettes, so it will take a larger chunk of their income than rich smokers. But as a smoker who is trying to quit, I see the use not only in terms of health but also in terms of money. I'm struggling, but in the past week I've bought only two packs of cigarettes, compared to the usual four or five, and it makes a difference in my wallet. I believe that cigarettes should be illegal anyway, so a cigarette tax is a logical move for me and I advocate a sharp increase - perhaps to $2.60. That would be a significant increase in revenues each year, provided people keep smoking.

One argument for raising the cigarette tax is that New Jersey ranks 46th in the number of adults who smoke each day. I have no data that show a correlation between that figure and our high tax, but it can't hurt to raise the tax some more.

More information on the cigarette tax can be found here at the Policy Research Institute for the Region at Princeton University.

MSNBC boycott

2006-01-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Had some free time today and I made several calls, to Turbo Tax (don't use them this year, go to H&R Block), Toyota, Verizon, and several calls to MSNBC regarding the irresponsible Chris Matthews, a supposed journalist who doesn't even correct his mistakes and equates liberals with terrorists (O'Reilly beat him on that one long ago). Visit Open Letter to Chris Matthews for more information and contact numbers.

Don't forget that these media companies are using the PUBLIC'S airwaves, and should answer to us before any corporate board of directors. They have an obligation to keep us informed with accurate, reliable information. As far as Chris Matthews' Hardball is concerned, MSNBC is failing miserably.

Crimes Against Humanity Hearings and How I Met An American Hero

2006-01-22T17:33:00.000-05:00

So I met Ray McGovern, a retired CIA veteran analyst of 27 years.

Mr. McGovern isn't very tall and he is very soft-spoken. But I was star-struck nonetheless.

I was sitting on the floor of a large multipurpose room at Riverside Church in Manhattan. My friend and I went there to hear the testimony to the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration. I hadn't been there for more than five minutes - practically every seat was taken as Barbara Olshansky from the Center for Constitutional Rights spoke about the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. I was sitting on my wool coat when two older white-haired men walked by and I immediately recognized McGovern. He has been a hero of mine since I first saw him, which I believe was in the movie "Uncovered" by Robert Greenwald - a fabulous documentary. McGovern then went on to impress me as he sat next to a then-relatively-unknown Cindy Sheehan at the basement hearings on the Downing Street Minutes led by Rep. John Conyers, another American hero.

McGovern speaks truth to power and he does it so well. I love him. He was so nice and about two hours after I briefly introduced myself and thanked him for everything he's done, he spoke to me and my friend for a few minutes about how much work it is going to take to get the war criminal out of the White House. McGovern will go to Washington on Feb. 2 for the "Presentation of the Verdicts" with the rest of Not in Our Name.

Anyway, I couldn't take notes at the hearings because I stupidly left my notebook at home. It was okay cause I was so star-struck by McGovern (what does that say about me that I am a groupie for a retired intelligence analyst?) that I doubt I could have controlled my pen.

Fortunately, a lot of the testimony was nothing new to me, especially the testimony of Janis Karpinski, the brigadier general once in charge of Abu Ghraib and other detention centers in Iraq. What was new to me from her was hearing just how out of the loop she was and how meetings and investigations were conducted behind her back, simply because she was a woman with experience who played by the rules. When she first saw the Abu Ghraib photos, the ones we all have seen - the naked piles, the leash, the dogs - she could not believe what she saw.

Also, she said that women U.S. soldiers were forced to cross the barracks late at night to go to the bathroom and there was a lot of sexual assault as a result. Of course, no one would see to it that a closer restroom could be built. So to keep from having to make the dangerous trek, these women would not drink after 4 p.m. Problem is, it's hot as hell in Iraq and some of them would die of dehydration! And not just that, but General Sanchez asked people not to list the cause of death anymore as dehydration. This is all according to Karpinski. She received a standing ovation, and I'm thinking of purchasing her book, "One Woman's Army."

For me the most fascinating testimony came from Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, that paragon of human rights that is our close ally in the war on terror (or maybe the war in Iraq, or maybe the Global Struggle Against Extremism). He said that 1 of every 8 people in Uzbekistan is a member of a police force or secret police, so they spy on each other...during interrogations, when you get dipped in boiling liquid, it's only to your chest, so you're conscious the whole time (I thought maybe they just threw you in there - one woman received her husband's body in a sealed coffin, Murray said; when she opened it, he had been battered and you could see that his whole body from the chest down was scalded). America last year, or the year before, or annually (this is why I wish I had my notebook) gave $500 million to Uzbekistan, and that was more aid than we gave to every sub-Saharan West African country combined. And $80 million of that went straight to the Uzbek secret police. GREAT. Oh, and we use bad intelligence ALL THE TIME from Uzbekistan. intelligence that was obtained via torture. So while they were torturing long before the CIA entered the picture, the CIA and USA are creating a demand for this (bad) intelligence, and hence keeping the torturous cycle in Uzbekistan going.

Poor Uzbeks. Uzbekistan, Murray said, is the world's second largest exported of cotton, and a huge fraction of Uzbeks work on cotton plantations. They can't leave, they make 7 cents a day and they work 12 hours a week, six hours a day.

Secret police, forced labor, torture, citizen spies...sounds like a lovely place, no? And these are our allies. It's quite disgusting.

I bought a black T-shirt at the event that says "WANTED FOR MASS MURDER" then has photos of Tweedledee (Cheney) and Tweedledum (Bush), Condi Rice, and Mike Chertoff. I wore it home and kept it on when I went to this little Italian deli in Emerson. Got many looks, but no one said anything. I also bought a button that says "Fascism Happens," and took a roll of stickers from the World Can't Wait folks, who are buzzing about organizing for their State of the Union events and subsequent rally in D.C. Bush - you's outta here!!!

As usual, Kos hits the nail on the head

2006-01-16T19:45:00.000-05:00

...in this post responding to Andrew Sullivan's disparaging remarks.

What idiots like Sullivan don't understand is that institutions like MoveOn and Daily Kos are a reaction to the Right Wing's tactics for the past 20 years. We are a reaction to the politics of personal destruction pioneered by the right's Clinton-hating brigades, the vile and corrosive rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and company, and the politics of demonization which the Right practices against blacks, immigrants, and gays.

But when someone on the left fights back, it's the end of the fucking world.

I understand that it was easier for right-wing hacks to ply their trash when liberals unilaterally disarmed and took it with nary a peep. I understand they pine for those days when the best we could offer in rebuttal was Alan Colmes.

But they created the environment we now play in. They wanted a "culture war", an ideological fight, a partisan rumble in which only one side brought guns to the game. Those days are over.

Freeway blogging is cool

2006-01-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

Going to make some freeway blogging signs today. Check out the Impeach Project and Freeway Blogger. Then spread the word. You gotta do your part.

This week, I have called, faxed, and e-mailed Sen. Lautenberg's office, called Sen. Specter's office, called and e-mailed Sen. Feingold's office, attended a meeting and volunteered time to my county Democratic organization. I passed out flyers about World Can't Wait. Not to mention the daily news reading and analyzing on blogs. It has been a busy week. But, I believe, we are at a critical moment.

What have you done?

Saw this one coming

2006-01-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

Posted by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse at Daily Kos. Just in time for Feb. 4. Damn, these motherf'ers are really serious about this fascism shit. The question now is, are you willing to go down to defeat these people or will you submit to their will?:

Bush wants to create the new criminal of "disruptor" who can be jailed for the crime of "disruptive behavior." A "little-noticed provision" in the latest version of the Patriot Act will empower Secret Service to charge protesters with a new crime of "disrupting major events including political conventions and the Olympics." Secret Service would also be empowered to charge persons with "breaching security" and to charge for "entering a restricted area" which is "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." In short, be sure to stay in those wired, fenced containments or free speech zones.

Time for some vicious campaign commercials

2006-01-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

Man, if I don't see some viciousness in the upcoming 2006 campaign cycle - from the Democrats - I'm going to be pissed.

F*#k the high road. F*#k the middle road. We need to get LOW.

I don't want to see any color commercials from the DNC. I want all slow, grainy black-and-white footage of Jack Abramoff coming out of court looking like a 1930s hitman.

In a split-screen shot, I want DeLay waltzing out of court with that smarmy smile on his face. And I want a low, growling voice that says, "These old and dear friends took $1 million from the Russians and helped Moscow bail out that country's economy. All the while letting your children foot the bill - potentially $2 trillion - for the war in Iraq. Whose side are they on?"

I want a grainy ad of Ralph Reed, campaigning, hand-shaking, smarming it up, and then I want our friendly voice to chime in - "This supposed religious leader took money to stop a casino from being built, just so another one could go up. How did he do it? - 'We want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them. The wackos get their information from the Christian right." Republicans - they use your religion to line their pockets."

I want an ad with a crown imposed on W.'s head. Then our friendly voice chimes in: "George Bush makes and follows his own rules. When he doesn't like a law, he signs a piece of paper saying he doesn't have to obey it. He's done this 500 times. 'If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.' George Bush doesn't listen to Congress. Which means George Bush doesn't listen to YOU."

Another one: "Republicans think suspending the Constitution is a good idea. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt said so herself (in huge courier font) 'We're at war...suspending the Constitution is sometimes necessary.' (then pounding graphics come in with that sound, like iron hitting steel) Freedom of Speech. Right to Privacy. Right to Bear Arms.
REPUBLICANS. They hate your freedoms."

I don't want to see any lying down by the Democrats this year. I want every commercial to reflect the nastiness that is the Republican party. Every single Republican Congressman should get tarred and feathered with the taint of the culture of corruption. Every single one.

I'm from New Jersey. I want a campaign like the Corzine-Forrester one - except, oh about 20 times worse.

We've got them on family values, moral values, defense (hundreds of soldiers could be alive today had they proper body armor), foreign policy, domestic policy (has the Bush administration gotten ANYTHING accomplished in the past year?), civil liberties, the budget...so let's go out there and fight like we mean it!

We can craft ideas for copy and images in the ads, and also make a list of all the particularly shameful episodes in the last two years of the Republican party that need highlighting and exploiting.

So...I'd be curious to see other people's ideas for nasty, takedown ads that hold nothing back. They can be general ads tarring the Republican party and the president. And they can be ads specific to your Congressional race. That would be very enlightening, cause I don't know the best way to attack in every district or according to each congresscritters sins.

A rant and the senators who voted to convict Clinton in 1999

2006-01-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

A hat tip to Kossack rerutled at the Daily Kos. These senators voted to convict President Bill Clinton on articles of impeachment in 1999, for lying under oath about matters of national security...no sorry - for lying about sex!

Alabama, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Sen. Richard Shelby; Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens; Arizona, Sen. Jon Kyl, Sen. John McCain; Colorado, Sen. Wayne Allard; Iowa, Sen. Charles Grassley; Idaho, Sen. Larry Craig, Sen. Mike Crapo; Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar; Kansas, Sen. Sam Brownback, Sen. Pat Roberts; Kentucky, Sen. Jim Bunning, Sen. Mitch McConnell; Mississippi, Sen. Thad Cochran, Sen. Trent Lott; Missouri Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond; Montana, Sen. Conrad Burns; Nebraska, Sen. Chuck Hagel; New Hampshire, Sen. Judd Gregg; New Mexico, Sen. Pete Domenici; Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine, Sen. George Voinovich; Oklahoma, Sen. James Inhofe; Oregon, Sen. Gordon Smith; Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum; Tennessee, Sen. Bill Frist; Texas, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison; Utah, Sen. Robert Bennett, Sen. Orrin Hatch; Virginia, Sen. John Warner; Wyoming, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. Craig Thomas.

Do these same senators feel that Bush's illegal actions with regard to the NSA spying scandal rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor? I mean, come on. FLIP-FLOPPERS! In refusing to get a warrant before surveilling the communications of legal American citizens, Bush broke the law, plain and simple. National security doesn't come into play specifically because the law, when it went into affect in 1978, allowed intelligence authorities to get retroactive warrants up to 24 hours. It was extended to 72 hours - three whole days - as part of the Patriot Act. So if you are so pro-Patriot Act and you want to extend it forever, why is 72 hours still not good enough? So bad that you decide you just don't have to obey the law.

Not just that, in 2004 FISA rejected no applications for warrants. Three were withdrawn and some 1,700 were approved. I saw all this on C-SPAN today - Washington Journal, 1/2/2006. So if Bush and his crew try to argue that they couldn't risk that FISA wouldn't grant them the warrants, that just doesn't fly. Especially if there is a good reason for them to believe they were surveilling al-Qaeda. Today Bush said he was listening to calls involving al-Qaeda suspects inside and outside the United States. Okay, fine, why would you think the FISA court wouldn't grant a warrant for that?

Maybe the FISA court is full of liberals and activist judges. So when something bad happens to one of them it turns into, "hey, I'm not saying it's okay, but I understand." Some people are just so vicious, so blinded with hate and rage because they are inadequate in some way, that they refuse to acknowledge what is before them or they just really cannot see it. I listen to these people on C-SPAN who call in from different parts of the country and yell "how come the Democrats don't do anything about it, how come they don't pass a law?" You dummy, it's kind of hard to get anything done if you can't call any hearings, can't issue any subpoenae, can't chair any committees, can't get a majority vote on any of your bills - it's amazing to me how Republicans finally have all-encompassing power, the type which our system should be able to roll back, and the dittoheads are still looking to the Democratic party for leadership? What does that say about the leadership in the Republican party?

Those people are hopeless, but the rest of America has got to wake up. So what if you really think "you have nothing to hide" (you really do though - nobody wants their entire life on display for invisible eyes) - what if there is a flaw in a data mining program and you're info is hit by the wrong keyword, or if the pattern of your behavior in one particular week matched that of some person or persons authorities are tracking? And then they swoop down on your ass and extraordinarily render you to a secret CIA prison camp where you are starved, shackled and beaten for weeks?

I mean, if that is okay with you, fine - you are hopeless too. If that's not okay with you, you really have to start thinking about the potential implications here. And let's not delude ourselves. They've already spied on PETA, vegans and Quakers. Because that is who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.

And I don't ever want to hear anything about 9/11 from someone who lives in Montana, Alabama, Idaho, Utah, Nebraska, or any other state in which terrorists are just completely uninterested. I live in the chemical armpit of the United States - central Jersey. If terrorists attack those chemical plants, refineries and other smelly shit 10 miles north of where I'm sitting now, I'm dying or my health is severely messed up. Not just that, yeah, I love America. That might be hard to believe that a non-pickup truck owning, non-gun owning, anti-military and prison complex, anti-jingoistic, twisted blue state values-having young woman of color actually loves her country, but it's true. I don't want to get attacked again either, you morons.

My first collard greens

2005-12-30T15:32:00.000-05:00

Long a soul food lover, I've never actually made any. I guess as a northern raised urbanite/suburbanite, I never thought I had the "soul" required to make soul food. But this was my second Christmas in a row at my house, and although last year's fish with mango salsa was a hit, it wasn't quite the traditional fare that everyone in my family or my boyfriend's family is used to. So I decided to kick it up a soul notch and make that soul food staple: collard greens. Those, some easy stewed cabbage, baked mac and cheese provided by my bf's mom, and a huge honey glazed ham made for my first holiday soul food dinner.

So here is what I did:

As a rule of thumb, I'd say one large bunch of greens will serve six to eight people.

First, I bought two raw pork hocks, weighing about 1.2 pounds together.

Some people use smoked. I only used raw because the grocery store I went to didn't have smoked. They had smoked turkey necks, but I don't like seeing necks in my food. Don't ask me what a hock is - it just looks more palatable. Besides, greens ain't greens without pork. In the end, my mother said she preferred the raw hocks because you get more pure pork flavor and less smoke flavor. So that accident worked in my favor.

I boiled the hocks for two or three hours. There is no set time - you just have to keep checking on them every 45 minutes or so. They are done when the meat falls away from the bone. Take the skin off the hocks about halfway into cooking, or whenever it looks ready to fall away from the meat. It's so fatty and if it's not smoked, it's really pretty gross. As the water evaporates, simply fill the pot back up with water.

When the (skinless) hocks are ready, tear the meat away from the bone and break it up into pieces. I left the bones in my greens. I think they add more flavor.

While the hocks are cooking, you should empty and clean your sink, separate the greens leaf by leaf, and soak them in cold water. Drain the sink, fill it again, and give them a second good soaking and rinsing. This is to get rid of any soil that may be left on the greens.

Take about five or six leaves, roll them up, and slice them into 1 or 1.5 inch slices.

Then, put the sliced greens right into the pot with the water and the hock meat and bones. They should wilt down somewhat quickly, allowing you to put more greens in as they do.

Once all the greens are in, it's pretty easy. Cook them until they're done to your desired tendency. Some people like them cooked all the way down until they are soupy and soggy. Some people like them a little more crisp. I like them somewhere in the middle. So I cooked them for about 45 minutes to an hour, over medium or medium-low heat.

The key to tasty collard greens is SEASONED SALT (SS). At least it was for me. The brand I used was Spice Classics Seasoned Salt. You can get this in the dollar store and it tastes better then Lawry's Seasoned Salt, which is the most well-known brand. I cannot tell you how much to use. The way I seasoned the greens was every fifteen minutes, I would add about five or six shakes of SS, wait five minutes, then taste the greens. I found that they were to my liking after about four rounds of this.

Make sure you have hot sauce on hand - preferably Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot - for those who like to heat up their greens before eating. Take the greens out of the water and put them in a bowl for serving, but don't empty that pot! One of the most delicious treasures is in there - pot likker. It's a soup made up of the flavored water, ham hock bits, and collard green shreddings left over from the making of the greens. A bowl of this as an appetizer is great and it is superb on a cold, cold day, especially when you've just come in from shoveling the walk.

My collards were a hit. It was the only dish that was completely gone by the end of the night. Maybe I didn't make enough, but everybody wanted seconds.

My next soul food mission is baked macaroni and cheese and a dessert - perhaps peach cobbler? Nope - sweet potato pie. My favorite.

Renewing the powers of COINTELPRO

2005-12-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

A hat tip to ThugLifeArmy.com, via Davey D, and props for their great interview with U. S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney from Georgia. This basically supports my view that we are up against the same forces as before. The New York Times reported the other day that the NYPD (maybe others?) deliberately provoked fights and mass arrests during the Republican National Convention protests. One has to wonder if this was isolated; it may be that one would be naive to assume it was.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney - Some records are already released that throw doubt on the officially unsolved murder of Tupac and the police version of the death. It seems clear that Tupac, who came from a family of very militant Black Panther activists, would himself have been followed and surveilled if not attacked by the FBI and their counter-gang programs. In the past this sort of surveillance was called COINTELPRO or Counter-Intelligence Program and aimed at peace, civil rights and militant activists who were working for social change. It not only surveilled people but it infiltrated groups with informants and provocateurs, created fights within groups, spread rumors about leaders, and created the conditions that led to political assassination, framing and imprisonment or destruction of progressive organizations. Senator Frank Church and others held hearings in the 1970s that exposed and made illegal some of the excesses of the FBI, CIA and military intelligence agencies. Soon Church and others on his committee were voted out of office with the help of intelligence agency support for other candidates. Even before 9/11 ongoing programs against Central America activists and youth culture musicians and leaders that looked exactly like COINTELPRO were exposed. After 9/11 Atty General Ashcroft and others called to renew the powers of COINTELPRO and even tried to pretend 9/11 happened because the CIA. FBI and DIA had their hands tied behind their backs the the Church committee rules. If the released records reveal that federal, state and local government agencies and police were violating Tupac's rights or setting the stage for his murder, there should be an outcry for a full investigation, criminal charges, demotions or firings of intelligence agents involved, and a change in the power of intelligence agencies to continue these practices.

The highlighting in italics relates more to the concept of intelligence agencies controlling our elections. That is just scary to me.

Reassurance for those who are told they are crazy

2005-12-26T20:22:00.000-05:00

Often I am regarded as crazy or somehow abnormal for my seeming obsessive interest in politics. Maybe not in so many words. But there are the little things that indicate as much, like at parties where people have no interest not just in talking politics but no interest in politics, or the news. Or there are people who are interested but think that your recitation of facts and news stories and poll numbers and government acronyms is just a little weird. And they think that you are taking it too far.

For example, I have been participating in the IMPEACH guerrilla marketing project at the Daily Kos, spearheaded by the energetic Kagro X. It has taken off in an amazing way. The energy is just there this time. Impeach Bush web sites and coalitions and PACs have probably existed since 2001, but they have always seemed part of the fringe. Now that the "I-word" has finally entered the traditional media fray, all the pent-up energies are bursting forth. I am exhilarated that this moment has arrived.

I've encountered people who think that the stickers are a bit much. With cajoling, I convinced them that they've gotta be part of this movement. I've had friends accuse me of being a blind liberal and called me "Al Franken." Not that there's anything wrong with that. Others ask me "Oh my gosh, when did you become so political?"

You know what, this is who I am. I am deeply inspired by the movements that came to a head in the 1960s. When I think of these movements, I think of people whom I admire and inspire me, like Paul Robeson, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks. They all became aware at various points in their lives and realized the urgency of what they faced. Really, it's these same forces, still alive, that they struggled and rebelled against, that we are facing now. This resonates with me because I was born in the late 1970s. I had no consciousness of what had happened before me, and I was told that things had gotten a lot better. Indeed they had, but I thought that meant "all better," that there was nothing to worry about. It just took that one night in November of 2000 to trigger that realization and then the consequences - September 11 and its aftermath - changed me forever.

I am sure I am not the only one who's experienced this change. Blogs and the Internet tell me I am not alone, because for some reason it is inapropos to start a political conversation on the street these days (maybe to avoid physical fights, which I can understand). So for those of you who have - let's just admit it - been right from the very start of these dark years, and those of you who are just catching on - maybe those of you who came across an unexplained "IMPEACH" sign on the highway or sticker on the mailbox - let me offer some solace. You're not crazy. You're informed and empowered. It's your job to inform and empower others, even those who are proud never to read a newspaper. The uninformed, unaware, uninterested electorate is partly to blame for the current state of affairs in this country. It's crazy - insane, self-destructive - NOT to be informed. So keep on keeping on. Follow the IMPEACH movement, do your weekly protests, write letters, organize and volunteer while the energy is here and abundant.

Feingold for President

2005-12-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

I am officially endorsing Russ Feingold for President in 2008...as a result of this endorsement, I am sure he will see the campaign dollars start flying in (/snark).

Feingold has distinguished himself from the rest of the hopeful pack simply by standing up for American freedoms. Who would have thought it could be that easy? And who would have thought he'd be the only guy to think of such a novel idea?

Plus, he meets my standards for attractiveness in selecting a presidential candidate. I was really taking a step down from Bill Clinton when I voted for Kerry. Sorry.

To learn more about Senator Feingold, follow these links:

Russ Feingold's Senate Web page
Bush Backs Down on Patriot Act
Bush to Continue Domestic Spying

No More Palmas Del Mar

2005-12-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

I sent a letter to Palmas Del Mar, a Puerto Rico resort I went to last year with my family. The service was so-so, but the actual resort and accomodations were fabulous. I felt like a fat cat.

Well surprise, surprise, it turns out that real fat cats go to Palmas Del Mar. I read this about Tom DeLay - a standup guy - in an AP article:

Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press tell the story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts with lush fairways; 100 flights aboard company planes; 200 stays at hotels, many world-class; and 500 meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.

The meals and trips for DeLay and his associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign committees, political action committees and children's charity the Texas Republican created during his rise to a top spot in Congress.

Put them together and a picture of an opulent lifestyle emerges.

"A life to enjoy. The excuse to escape," Palmas del Mar, an oceanside Puerto Rican resort visited by DeLay, promised in a summer ad on its Web site as a golf ball bounced into a hole and an image of a sunset appeared.

The Caribbean vacation spot has casino gambling, horseback riding, snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and private beaches.

"He was very friendly. We always see the relaxed side of politicians," said Daniel Vassi, owner of the French bistro Chez Daniel at Palmas del Mar. Vassi said DeLay has eaten at his restaurant every year for the past three, and was last there in April with about 20 other people, including the resort's owners.

The restaurant is a cozy and popular place on the yacht-lined marina at Palmas del Mar. Dishes include bouillabaisse for about $35.50, Dover sole for $37.50 and filet mignon for $28.50. Palmas del Mar is also a DeLay donor, giving $5,000 to his Americans for a Republican Majority PAC in 2000.

Using money from a children's charity to live it up in fancy restaurants and golf clubs? The man is going to hell.

Anyway, here is my letter:

Director of Marketing & Communications
Palmas del Mar Properties, Inc.
PO Box 2020
Humacao, PR 00792-2020

In October 2004, my parents, my boyfriend, and I enjoyed a weeklong stay in a Club Cala villa at your resort. Although the services were only fair, the setting and the accommodations were excellent. At the end of the week, we all agreed that we would absolutely return, perhaps in the next year or two.

I am afraid that is no longer going to happen as long as the ownership of Palmas Del Mar continues to support U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay from Texas. I was very troubled to read the following in the Associated Press article headlined “Donors Underwrite DeLay’s Deluxe Lifestyle”:

[text as quoted above]

As you may well know, Mr. DeLay is currently under indictment in Texas for money laundering and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Beyond these charges, Mr. DeLay has been censured by the House of Representatives on three occasions for ethical lapses. He has received money and gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is under indictment and reportedly working out a deal to plead guilty – and is connected to a murder investigation in Florida surrounding his purchase of a floating casino. Further, Mr. DeLay has tainted the political process in Washington by allowing lobbyists to craft business-friendly legislation affecting all Americans, and threatening legislators of both parties in order to secure passage of some of his key votes.

As an American business, perhaps it is in the interest of Palmas Del Mar to subsidize Mr. DeLay’s pattern of corruption in order to ensure that federal laws – meant to protect the people – instead protect corporations. However, I have made it a commitment not to patronize businesses and enterprises that support the Republican party’s culture of corruption nor individual legislators that clearly act not only against the interests of people, but also in a criminal manner. It is simply unacceptable.

Unless representatives from Palmas Del Mar communicate to me – personally – that they will no longer support the present culture of corruption in Washington, please be assured that neither my family nor I will return to your resort. I will continue to seek out and patronize only those businesses that support ethical and responsible government.

Carl Levin says NO to divisive Pentagon shill

2005-12-17T07:29:00.000-05:00

He sounds like just the right guy for the job of Pentagon spokesman, doesn't he?

J. Dorrance Smith, the nominee, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in a closed session to answer questions about an opinion article in which he accused U.S. television networks of helping terrorists through their partnerships with Al-Jazeera.

But silly Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan is being a liberal obstructionist:

"I have deep concerns about whether or not he should be representing the United States government and the Department of Defense with that kind of attitude and approach," Levin said after Tuesday's hearing.

[...]

Levin called Smith's comments in the article "extreme" and "over the top."

In an opinion piece published in April in The Wall Street Journal, Smith wrote: "Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and al Qaeda have a partner in al-Jazeera and, by extension, most networks in the U.S. This partnership is a powerful tool for the terrorists in the war in Iraq," he wrote.

Smith also singled out U.S. networks, saying "Al-Jazeera has very strong partners in the U.S. _ ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN and MSNBC. Video aired by Al Jazeera ends up on these networks, sometimes within minutes."

Republican Sen. John Warner from Virginia said he would forward Smith's nomination to the full Senate later in the week, but there is no published report of that happening as of yet.

From the administration perspective, of course J. Dorrance Smith is the perfect man for the job. He comes with "liberal media" credibility having worked at the radically progressive ABC, and he did time under L. Paul Bremer, former head of the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority, so he is probably well-trained in incompetence, which is a must as part of the administration bureaucracy.

I am so tired of the evasion, lying, obfuscating, taunting, deception and misleading that Scott McClellan and his ilk are so good at. The press represent us. They deserve to be treated with respect. The worst is seeing Scott McClellan figuratively spit on Helen Thomas. The woman is 85 years old. Show her some respect. Treat her like she is old enough to be your grandmother, because she is. McClellan repeatedly impugns Helen Thomas's patriotism and infers that she is on the side of the terrorists and stands against the American people. And they actually let him out of that room. He should be locked up in there and forced to apologize to Helen, and that's Mrs. Thomas to you.

So now they want to install someone at the Pentagon who has already publicly stated that not just Helen Thomas but also all of the mainstream media, including Fox (a ringer, I guess) are in league with the enemy. Why not let's just get this over with and impose the state-run news service starting now? Because that's where we are headed with this attitude and approach.

Cheers to Carl Levin for attempting to get a hold on this nominee. After all, Donald Rumsfeld or George W. Bush are not hiring him, WE are, and we are paying his salary. We shouldn't hand over our hard-earned money to someone who is going to LIE to us and tell us how UNPATRIOTIC we are, and ATTACK our democracy by demonizing the press. That's just foolishness.

So here are the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. You can click here to find your Senator and tell them that we are not going to hire someone whose main job is to lie to us and hide information:

DEMOCRATS

Carl Levin, Ranking Member (Michigan)
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia)
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska)
Mark Dayton (Minnesota)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)

REPUBLICANS

John Warner, Chairman (Virginia)
John McCain (Arizona)
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Pat Roberts (Kansas)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Susan M. Collins (Maine)
John Ensign (Nevada)
James M. Talent (Missouri)
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia)
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina)
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
John Thune (South Dakota)

Religious division as corporate policy - DISGUSTING

2005-12-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

I hope that the population intersected by American (and now Canadian) Christians and Fox News viewers wakes up soon enough and that this dismal, awful spewer of covert and overt propaganda disappears one day. A former producer from Fox News says that (cough) "journalists" were regularly instructed to divide American media consumers - YOU - by invoking religion and questioning people's faiths. Can ya say fascist tyrants?

But what really separates Fox from the competition is its unabashed use of religion as a divisive weapon. Common sense -- and common courtesy -- have long dictated that personal religious beliefs be kept out of news reporting unless the story at hand involves religion. But on Fox, it's not uncommon for an anchor to raise the issue of a guest's religion, or lack thereof, a propos of nothing.

The most glaring example I can recall is a 2002 interview with a guest who had been cited for his charitable acts. At the end of the discussion the anchor said (paraphrasing here), "So I understand you're an atheist." The guest acknowledged that this was so. "Well," said he anchor, "we're out of time now, but I'd be glad to debate you anytime on the existence of God," and, with that, ended the segment.

Well, thanks for the invitation. How sweet.

That's the kind of information I need to know when I get home from work at 6 o'clock - does God exist? Yeah.

Ain't that America?

2005-12-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

Well isn't this a shocker. Donald Rumsfeld may be spying on Americans. Honestly, I already just assumed he was. I mean, he wanted to do it to Seymour Hersh back in the 1970s when Hersh was causing all sorts of trouble for young Rummy (or middle-aged Rummy, I guess). I am sure my name is on some domestic terrorist watchlist, my photo snapped at the recent war protest in Washington D.C. Doesn't bother me one bit. Because I gave up the notion that Americans are truly free, and that the American government is truly good, a long, long time ago.

As evidenced by this article. So now in addition to watching your back while flying, you'll have to worry about being shot on the commute to work. Commuting while brown? Hmmm...

We can't have Codey cause he's too good

2005-12-02T18:15:00.000-05:00

In a way, I can't blame Dick Codey for not wanting to ascend to governor or senator in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger wrote about Codey's night in the Greystone mental health facility. He brought pizza, threw a Christmas party, spent the night and stayed for breakfast. I wish that the Star-Ledger would post the photos from the newspaper on that awful Web site they have. They show Codey singing along with a patient, having a chat with two residents, and pulling off his sweater to get ready for bed in a barebones mattress and frame.

A political stunt? For what? He's refused to accept a nomination to the Senate, to the sorrow of many New Jersey residents, and he stepped aside and allowed Corzine to purchase the governorship. He doesn't have to grandstand to improve public opinion - he's got a tremendous approval rating and garnered thousands of write-in votes in the recent election. Everyday there is a headline in the newspaper bemoaning his return to president of the state Senate.

But maybe he realizes he can help more people in that position rather than soiling himself and shoving his convictions to the side just to work with the sleazy New Jersey political establishment. As I was writing this post I listened to a caller from New Jersey to the Randi Rhodes show talk about how he, a self-described "radical lunatic," became co-chairman of his Democratic municipal committee. He said that when they voted to endorse a Dem in the 2004 primary, Dean received a majority of the vote but partybrokers told the media they unanimously endorsed Kerry.

Governor Codey is too good for these people. It's a shame. It's not so bad that Corzine is the best we can do, but what is the point if the people cannot choose who governs them. Things have to change. As the radio caller said, we need to stop listening to the radio, sitting on the computer and get involved in local politics. I have procrastinated but I know it is something I have to do. I'll report back later.

Until then, Governor Codey, you've won us over.

The War on Journalists, quite literally

2005-11-25T11:24:00.000-05:00

Journalists in Washingon better recognize that they are covering for people who would sooner intimidate and yes even kill journalists before having the truth come out.

A senior executive of the Arabic news channel, al-Jazeera, is seeking an urgent meeting with Tony Blair over a report that George Bush discussed bombing the satellite channel's headquarters in Qatar.

Wadah Khanfar, al-Jazeera's director general, is flying to Britain this weekend after newspaper reports that President Bush made the comments during a face-to-face meeting with Mr Blair at the White House on April 16 last year.

Mr Bush's alleged comments about bombing al-Jazeera's building in Doha are reported to be contained in a note of the meeting. The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, has warned newspapers they could be charged under the Official Secrets Act if they publish further material from the note.

Seymour Hersh: 'We've got serious problems folks'

2005-11-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

I posted this diary on Daily Kos (my favorite web site) and it went to the top of the recommended list.

Here is a link to my diary with all of the 259 comments

And here is the piece I wrote:

*********************

At a lecture Oct. 26 in New Jersey, Seymour Hersh spared no criticism of George W. Bush and his neocon cabal.

"How do eight or nine cultists manage to take over the government . . . and take us away from a legitimate war?" the veteran investigative reporter asked the audience at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. "How did [Dick] Cheney, who was never a neocon, get bought off?"

Hersh has been uncovering stories of wrongdoing for more than 30 years, from the cover up of the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War to the systemic torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

He began his talk, "From Abu Ghraib to 9/11," by telling the packed house that he had good news - there were only 1,181 more days left to the Bush administration.

Then the bad news about Iraq: "Our best day was yesterday . . . it's only going to get worse."

Worse than what we do know, Hersh said, is what we do not know. "We don't know how much bombing they're [U.S. forces] doing, how many sorties they're doing," he said. In northern Iraq, military operations go on day in and day out, bombing towns and villages filled with mostly Turkic peoples. When the Turkish Red Crescent moves in to provide relief, they are turned back, Hersh said. Hundreds of thousands of people have been put in camps. Hersh called it "near genocide."

The bombings will only intensify next year following a pullout of some 60,000 American troops. "We are going to replace American troops with American bombs," Hersh said.

We also do not know for certain the extent of American casualties, including the number wounded. "There are casualties in the elite forces we don't know about," Hersh said, mentioning Delta Forces, Navy SEALS and Special Forces.

Although Hersh had much criticism for the American news media, he explained that it is nearly impossible to get good reporting done in Iraq these days. "Any guy that tries to get out of the Green Zone gets whacked," he said. Still, the U.S. news media could pick up dispatches from the European and Arab press that show the horrors wrought upon civilians every day, but they don't. Hersh said he doesn't know why.

Killing is not limited to bombings and firefights, Hersh said. Soldiers leading supply convoys fearful of explosive devices and ambushes plow down dark highways in Iraq at 90 and 100 miles per hour, not stopping to check for pedestrians. The audience gasped at the description.

Hersh said that most soldiers, frustrated with a faceless enemy, take out their anger on innocent civilians. But he doesn't blame the troops. "The officers are in loco parentis," Hersh said, and too often they are not doing their jobs.

The Iraq war has been characterized by a gross lack of planning and a dearth of good leadership, Hersh said. He called General Tommy Franks, who retired soon after the invasion rather than move up in the ranks, "one of the worst leaders we've had."

Likewise, General Ricardo Sanchez, who was once commander of ground forces in Iraq, is an "overrated" general, who has conducted the war with a general lack of sensitivity to Muslims, Hersh said, drawing parallels to the treatment of Vietnamese in the My Lai massacre and throughout the Asian conflict.

At the top of the heap is George W. Bush himself. "What did President Bush do after he was told about Abu Ghraib? Nada. Nothing," Hersh said. "This was his own system telling him this is a serious problem."

The military first learned of the actions at Abu Ghraib months before Hersh published his story in the New Yorker magazine and CBS broadcast photos in April of 2004. The actions at Abu Ghraib, Hersh said, were designed - from the top - to shame Muslim men into providing intelligence to the U.S. military, which was battling an "insurgency" of Baathists who had retreated upon the initial invasion. The naked piling of men, sexual harassment of Iraqi women, and vicious dog bites, Hersh said, was visited upon a prison population that military officials themselves estimated was about 70 percent innocent - civilians corralled in street sweeps. Not only have the published photos from Abu Ghraib created new insurgents; so have the phone calls from Iraqi women asking their brothers and fathers and husbands to kill them because they have been shamed.

"If you think someone from West Virginia thought this up, fine, you can have that thought," Hersh said, referring to Private Lynndie England, the torture poster girl scapegoated in the scandal.

Hersh provided valuable insight into tensions between ethnic groups in Iraq. By writing the Sunnis out of the recently approved constitution - in a vote Hersh called "meaningless" like the January elections and the upcoming elections on Dec. 15 - the insurgency has nothing to gain and no reason to negotiate.

Not that that would happen anyway. Bush doesn't talk to the insurgency, to Iran, to Syria, "because he doesn't like them." Bush, Hersh said, is a man with "no ability to perceive how wrong he is . . . there is nothing more dangerous."

The best thing that could have happened in the constitutional vote, Hersh said, would have been a defeat followed by a redrafting giving the Sunnis more participation. The constitution as it stands "emasculates the Sunnis," Hersh said.

Sunnis indigenous to Iraq make up a majority of the insurgency, Hersh guessed. He uses the term "insurgency" for lack of a better description. "Most of the world thinks the insurgents are us," he said.

Corporations throughout the Arab world are fueling sectarian violence . "In the Sunni world, there is not a major construction company not funneling money to the insurgency," Hersh said. To those companies, it is an honor to support the insurgency. On the other side, the Shia in southern Iraq are dominated by Iran. Political groups Dawa and SCIRI who are putting up candidates in elections fought on the side of Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. "Iran right now is the winner . . . the Sunnis are up in arms over the spread of the Shia." Turkey's commitment to the Turkic population and their refusal to accept Kurdistan threatens to turn the Iraq war into a much larger regional conflagration.

Baghdad, considered the "jewel of the Arab world" with the best wine and the cleanest streets, has become a city carved into turfs ruled by gun-toting gangs and militias in back alleys. "There is a whole world out there we don't see. It's a turf operation," Hersh said.

Democracy in America is unrecognizable, Hersh said. The administration is rogue and the news media are lapdogs. Private companies are hired to kidnap people and render them to countries where they are tortured and murdered. Retired lawmen are paid thousands of dollars a week to be hired guns in Iraq. Unlike trained elite forces, "they're not doing for the constitution," Hersh said.

With Congress, "the big issue for me on any given day is whether they are supine or prone," Hersh said. "Where are we with our democracy? What does it mean?" The only recent hope has been the investigation headed by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. "Fitzgerald may come and save the republic . . . he might just shake up the doldrums," Hersh said.

Hersh is the son of European Jews who immigrated to Chicago in the 1920s. "My parents came here from the old country many years ago to get away from what this guy [Bush] is doing," Hersh said. "He is deconstructing the constitution, he's deconstructing our rights."

UNITY 2004 - Oh the Shame!

2004-08-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

So this past week was the first time I attended a journalism convention without being a journalist. Quite interesting, especially since the UNITY 2004 convention was historic in other ways: it was the largest meeting of journalists ever (reportedly more than 8,000 people registered), and we graciously hosted presidential candidate John Kerry and President George W. Bush.

Well, the "graciously hosted" part is in dispute. I may have been one of the biggest offenders of journalistic decorum at this year's convention in Washington D.C., where we so warmly received John Kerry and snickered, rolled our eyes, laughed and heckled George W. Bush.

I was loving it. See, this is the freedom I was looking for when I left the journalism business not even three months ago. The freedom to support any political candidate of my choosing, the freedom to use my very limited funds to influence some policy, the freedom to volunteer for a political or advocacy group. The freedom to not just document abuses, but fight against them. Not just to report injustice, but to join forces with people to ensure justice. And most importantly, the freedom to decorate my car with the bumper stickers of my choosing and stake signs in my lawn without fear of being castigated!

I've read dozens of articles questioning the political bias of the journalists at the convention, whether the convention attendees should have cheered when John Kerry said he would have left that Florida classroom immediately or laughed at George W. Bush as he stumbled over a non-answer. But I have to reveal one very important fact: we were not all journalists.

A working journalist just three months before, I left the business and now work for a very prestigious public university. So I felt no guilt when I raised my hands above my head to applaud Kerry's denouncement of media consolidation. I felt no guilt when I screamed at the top of my lungs at the end of his speech. Likewise, I felt no guilt when I rolled my eyes at Bush's recounting of his alleged successes with the unfunded No Child Left Behind act.

I was free.

I hate to break it to the people looking to use the convention as evidence of a clearly partisan, liberal media, but I'm not a journalist and I wasn't the only one. There were public relations practitioners in attendance. There were advertisers, television talent agents, marketing professionals, volunteers, Democratic Party officials, exhibitors, merchants, partisan columnists and reporters.

I would like to offer some insight into why I left the business and why that is so closely linked with the events at Unity last week. It's very personal and by no means am I preaching. I applaud most individual journalists; I can't applaud the industry as it stands now, but that's another topic.

For me, after some time, my "journalist" identity became an obstacle to my development as a full participant in society. I had concerns as a journalist; I just found my concerns as a woman came first. My concerns as a taxpayer. As a black woman. As a Puerto Rican woman, and as a multicultural woman. As a friend of gays and lesbians, as a registered voter, as a believer in justice and American goodwill.

All of those identities have been offended by President Bush and the rest of his clan. I'm going to evoke a bit of Barack Obama now, but when Bush props up a constitutional amendment discriminating against gay marriage, I take it personally. When he wins an election at the cost of 1 million African Americans having their voting rights squelched, I'm offended. When those in his administration seek the medical records of women who have gone to Planned Parenthood for abortions, I'm offended. When innocent Arab and Muslim men are locked up for more than a year, I am extremely offended. When we're paying for a war using a government credit card and the rich get to keep more and more of their money, I'm offended.

And as a former journalist, I would venture to say that many of those reporters, editors, producers, broadcasters, publishers, researchers, writers, whatever, were offended as journalists by the Bush administration. Offended by the lies they told in order to lead us into an awful, questionable war. Offended by the limited information coming out of daily press briefings. Offended by the president and vice president testifying about one of the worst disasters in history behind closed doors. Did you all forget that? Maybe they are offended by a White House clan that questions the ethnicity of a photographer before allowing the women to take photos. As a former journalist, I am very offended.

So to all you holier-than-thou journalists who think my behavior and that of others was embarrassing and shameful, do your job and take the time to analyze a complex issue instead of staking out a position and not hearing out the other side. I happen to know more than a few people in the industry who believe that newspeople should be more forthcoming about their true ideological leanings instead of feigning an unattainable level of objectivity. It's like the guy who makes Black and Puerto Rican jokes at home and then smiles in my face at work. I'd rather he tell the jokes to my face. At least I know where he's coming from.

Maybe the journalists and other communications professionals at the convention were making a statement. In laughing off President Bush, maybe we were saying we are sick of him misleading us - lying to us - as journalists, women, people of color, defenders of civil liberties and human rights. In cheering John Kerry, maybe we were sending a message to him that we're looking for an administration that does not hide behind lies and use the media to promote wedge issues and divide Americans when we are most vulnerable.

It's obvious minority journalists are mad at Bush for something. Do your job and ask why.

My favorite web sites

2004-08-03T20:41:00.000-05:00

www.airamericaradio.com
www.orwellrollsinhisgrave.com
www.blackelectorate.com
www.allhiphop.com

Welcome

2004-06-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

The creation of this blog was inspired by the movie "Control Room," so many thanks to director Jehane Noujaim, a very courageous woman for putting this movie out in a hostile country run by gangsters, criminals, and ne'er-do-wells. Yes, I mean the current administration!

It's on the people to seek out information. Don't just take the evening news at face value, whether you're watching Faux News or Al-Jazeera (the subject of Noujaim's documentary). Take it from me, a former journalist. I know how trends are invented, how press releases are rewritten as news, how some stories make the front page and others never make it at all. I'm not disparaging the entire profession, there are still some noble practitioners out there. But the number within the mainstream media are dwindling.

Go see Control Room instead of Shrek 2. Or in addition to. Sneak into Control Room after Shrek 2 is over. I don't care how you do it, just do it. You need to see the footage of dead soldiers and bloody Iraqis, the footage you'll never find on Fox or CNN. You need to see the Arab TV journalists, laughing, smoking, cracking jokes, like human beings. They are actually human beings, not some machines pumping out lies like Rumsfeld refers to them. I think he must have been looking in the mirror when he made that claim.

Then watch the human Arab TV people die when "coalition" forces bomb their Baghdad headquarters. Mistake? Think not, because Al-Jazeera gave the U.S. military their coordinates so that kind of thing wouldn't happen...

I could go on and on but I am at work. I'll be back though. The point is, we have to up the ante in these months running up to the war for the White House. You, me, and we.