|
For The Trees
A weblog for Liberals who are FED UP with Bush and the Right! About the Authors: Dave Johnson John Emerson Richard Reich Thomas Leavitt 
Recent Posts: BEST OF STF: Dave's: Articles not at STF: The ATLA Speech on building a progressive infrastructure Lowering the Bar The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law Who's Behind the Attack on Liberal Professors On the Right and their communications infrastructure: Why Republicans Win Win or Lose The "Conventional Wisdom" Machine Some History of the Conservative Movement HOW TO FIGHT BACK An Amplifier Of Our Own Don't Blame the Democrats How They Do It 1 2 3 4 Getting Rolled Other: You're Gonna Get Drafted Scalia and Self-Government Who is Our Economy For? Voting Machine Story Link Collection What's Wrong with this Picture? (Voting Machines) Like Meat in the Supermarket Get Active Thin Line 1 2 3 Fixing Social Security Seeing the Forest I, II, III "Incredibly Positive News" The Breadth of It The Republican Crony Club Moon Bush Ralph Nader is a Scab John's Best Of: Kerry Smear Page Bandar Bush 9/11 Commission Report Damages Bush -- if you read it Florida Goon Squad Intimidated the Supreme Court The Use and Abuse of George Orwell Zizka's Archives (John's previous identity) Zizka Sampler News Sources: AlterNet BuzzFlash Common Dreams Cursor Drudge Retort Information Clearing House Smirking Chimp TruthOut What REALLY Happened Links to Other Weblogs: |
 Saturday, July 31, 2004 Balloon Drop 
Here's a "stitched" photo of the balloon drop. --- Posted at 10:53 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post  
What The Republicans Are Encouraging DEM'S MARINE MISFIRE , in a Republican newspaper: John Kerry's heavily hyped cross-country bus tour stumbled out of the blocks yesterday, as a group of Marines publicly dissed the Vietnam War hero in the middle of a crowded restaurant.John Kerry is a United States Senator, and recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, three purple hearts and many other honors. Yes these active-duty Marines -- SOME IN UNIFORM! (thanks, Ollie) -- felt free to act this way toward him in public. I can't imagine members of the armed forces acting this way toward an honored veteran OR a U.S. Senator before the Republican hate machine started cranking out its horrible, divisive smear and fear campaigns. If Kerry becomes President I have a feeling he will finally, finally do something about the right-wing takeover of the military culture. It's bad for the military, bad for our country, bad for our traditions, and dangerous for democracy. --- Posted at 3:44 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
STF in Best Ten Posts List! 2004 DNC Bloggers : The Ten Best List @ Radio Free Blogistan --- Posted at 3:13 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Weblog Still Looks Funny The blog still looks really funny, text crowded up against the edges, etc. I think it is because some of the pictures posted below are interfering with the template. I'm still working on it. Apologies. --- Posted at 3:10 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Republican Tactic Remember what I wrote about Repubolicans accusing their opponents of what they are, in reality, actually themselves guilty of, as a tactic? Bush Questions Kerry's Record: "President George W. Bush launched his counterattack against John Kerry on Friday, saying his Democratic rival has spent 19 years in the U.S. Senate with 'no signature achievements.'" --- Posted at 12:43 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
An IM Conversation Him: what about the promised stuff about the convention!!!!!????????????? Me: that's so last week... Him: then blogging failed at the convention Me: I'm joking Him: everybody's been saying: "see, i dont have no stinking deadline, so i'll write a great piece later, and you'll all love it" Him: so now it's like last week. Him: you guys are even worse than the pros. Him: at least they write some shit. Me: I just f*****g woke up. Got home late, just woke up Him: you just promise to right something good and then don't even write SH*T? Him: i didn't say you had to do it now. Him: you just sadi you weren't goinbg to do it AT ALL. Me: I also said I was joking --- Posted at 12:31 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Moore C-SPAN seems to have found it. Update - That link doesn't seem to work. For now, try this. [Dave] --- Posted at 1:13 AM by richard Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Friday, July 30, 2004 Nader I wonder if the Greens here have seen the Let Nader Debate ad over on the right there. --- Posted at 11:13 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?" Reuters, quoting Susan Sheybani, "an assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt." When questioned about this, her response: "Oh, I was just kidding." Yeah. Sure. Saw a pointer to this in the Salon article on John Kerry's speech to the DNC. Thought it deserved more play, as an example of the underlying attitudes held by the Bush/Cheney campaign. --Thomas Leavitt, posting from Santa Cruz, CA --- Posted at 2:00 PM by Thomas Leavitt Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Seeing the forest: a "greenwash" example. So, one of the first things that Dave made me hip to was how the right has spent billions creating a vast array of "front" organizations to push it's message - and that one of the first things I should do whenever I see something suspect was to check it out on MediaTransparency.org. So, I got this in my mailbox today (a posting to the Politech list):
*** $$$ for environmental films/ads... sounds pretty cool, right? Well, maybe... but: "innovative approaches to environmental challenges, including utilizing market solutions and property rights" raises a red flag for me. These are right wing key words (as I'm sure most readers of this blog know). ... and Declan has some pretty strong libertarian tendencies. So, let's see what MediaTransparency has to say...
... and how much moola has been rained on these folks? $5,600,500 Makes you wonder why they're being so cheap about the prize money, eh? :) --Thomas Leavitt, posting from Santa Cruz, CA --- Posted at 1:19 PM by Thomas Leavitt Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Last Post from Boston Heading for the plane. Brilliant analysis later... --- Posted at 1:12 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Yet Another Smear Kerry's exploits in Vietnam are disputed in best seller. Smear after smear after smear. Kerry volunteered to go to Vietnam, was wounded, and got serious medals. Bush ... --- Posted at 1:11 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
NLRB erodes worker rights. Excuse: terrorism. Saw this on the Labor Greens mailing list list: Friends, Below is a blurb and and a link to my recent article on a new NLRB decision which cuts back on what are called Weingarten rights in labor law. Weingarten rights are the watered-down version of Miranda rights you have not to incriminate yourself when you are arrested under the criminal law. Under Weingarten, you have the right to demand the presence of a co-worker if your employer is interrogating you for possible discipline. The new ruling holds that Weingarten applies only to union employees. The stated reason: Terrorism since 9/11/01. Ellis *********************** Labor Board to Non-Union Workers: "You're On Your Own When You Face The Boss" by Ellis Boal Reversing course for the fourth time in 30 years, in June the NLRB announced it would no longer protect the right of a non-union worker to refuse to participate in an investigatory interview without the assistance of a co-worker. Read about the history of your Weingarten rights and what rationale the NLRB has used this time. http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/08/articles/b.html *** The author notes that the NLRB, under Clinton in 2000, had established the previous rule. It will be interesting to see if this decision is reversed (and worker's rights restored), under the Kerry Administration (and if it takes eight years to do so). --Thomas Leavitt, posting from Santa Cruz, CA --- Posted at 12:57 PM by Thomas Leavitt Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
$175,700 a year not enough (for a Republican) to put kids through college. Tom Ridge, our Secretary of Homeland Security, is considering resigning from office, because he "needs to earn money in the private sector to put his teenage children through college", say others in the Bush Administration according to CNN. Also, according to CNN, Ridge's decades of public service have left him with "relatively little savings" - this after six years as Gov. of Pennsylvania, where he earned $138,316 a year. He owns an $873,000 home with a $784,000 mortgage, and his financial disclosure reports from 2003 show that he owned between $122,000 and $787,000 in equities. This prompts the question: if a man currently making $175,000 a year, who has been earning a six figure salary for almost a decade can't manage to accumulate enough savings to finance the college education of two kids, what hope do the rest of us have? Or perhaps the question should be: has the ruling political class in our country had its expectations so distorted by close association with private sector potentates that they've lost all perspective? Seems like it to me. --Thomas Leavitt, posting from Santa Cruz, CA (and earning well under six figures a year, with two kids). --- Posted at 12:18 PM by Thomas Leavitt Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Go See the Novak Picture! Go read the Burnt Orange Report about Natasha and Novak, and see the picture of Novak just before he turned into a bat and flew away. I was there, too, and Natasha of Pacific Views chased Novak down the street, holding out a microphone, saying "Mr. Novak, do you have any comment on the aftermath of your outing of Valerie Plane?" It was something to see, especially coming from us HAYSEEDS! Us HAYSEEDS didn't get the memo saying not to ask, what Michael Moore calls, THE QUESTIONS.) --- Posted at 12:08 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
"Anti-American" Marketing Campaign? This came in an urgent emergency e-mail from Heritage Foundation's Town Hall, in its entirety (please, sue me, and get FOX to sue me, too!): To: Conservative FriendsThis is "attacking Americans in a time of war." What this REALLY is, is flat-out intimidation. It looks to me like Subway's check was late and they're being made an example of. Seriously, there are probably meetings going on between the organization putting out this letter and Subway management, looking for a $500,000 contribution. --- Posted at 11:42 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
The Greatest Band in the World Today "Amelia" is a classy indie band whose self-released CD is getting some airplay (reviews below). If you just hate alt country or anything that's called "retro", you won't like them, but if you like that kind of thing they are in the top rank. Their lyrics tend toward the edgy and dark. I love their stuff but then, I've never been known for my objectivity. This link should take you directly to free Rolling Stone downloads: http://tinyurl.com/66dup You can find out more here: http://www.ameliaband.com Buy here: http://www.ameliaband.com/store.html REVIEWS: "Sultry and sophisticated cabaret pop with just a whisper of twang that flits in and out like a friendly ghost. The music of Amelia is a staggeringly cool exercise in understatement". Clay Steakley, "Performing Songwriter" "'After All' opens with the sound of a needle being dropped into the groove of an LP, or maybe an old 78, telegraphing Amelia’s retro approach to their music, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about their playing, songwriting or the smoky confidence of lead singer Teisha Helgerson." Waxed J. Poet (?), "No Depression" "Subtle bands like Amelia usually count on such audience diligence, but the indie group from Portland, Ore., is immediately addictive with 'After All.'" Chuck Campbell, Scripps A couple of years ago I swore I'd never use my awesome blogging powers for selfish purposes, but sooner or later each of us must fall. My disclaimer: my son plays on this album and wrote some of the great songs. Amelia's disclaimer: they like me fine but they are not terribly political and would rather not be identified with my vivid persona. --- Posted at 11:01 AM by John Emerson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Lots of dirt on Bush from the 9/11 report While everyone else has been having fun in Boston, I've been plugging away at the 9/11 Commission report (*sniff*). I've come up with some results. Bush doesn't look good in the report, but you have to search things out. If the facts were embarassing for Bush or for Clinton, the bipartisan commissioners reported them without spelling out their significance. And while they did leave stuff out, there's a lot to work with in there. 1. Despite many urgent warnings, Bush took almost no action on terrorism before 9/11. On August 6 he was informed by PDB that Osama Bin Laden intended to strike within the U.S. He left for a month-long vacation the next day, and did not talk with anybody about this new information until after the 9/11 attack had taken place. http://tinyurl.com/44hfo (Text of Bush's Aug. 6 PDB) http://tinyurl.com/53nsl 2. Easy-to-get Saudi visas made Osama's job a lot easier. The problem was bipartisan, but Bush made it worse and, for fear of offending the Saudis, was very slow to correct the situation. There are some very odd twists and turns in this story. For example, how did Armenia get lumped in with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan? http://tinyurl.com/3kurx 3. Bush and Ashcroft have a propensity for fibbing and passing the buck. http://tinyurl.com/4st9a 4. Contrary to the media spin, the 9/11 report is devastating for Bush. Where comparisons can be made, Clinton's pre-9/11 performance was definitely better than Bush's (which was wretched). http://tinyurl.com/6ypjt 5. Before 9/11 Ashcroft had no interest in terrorism and took no action on it whatsoever, despite repeated attempts to talk to him about the subject. The day before 9/11 he denied a request for additional counterterrorism funds. http://tinyurl.com/6w64x Revised 10:46 PDT --- Posted at 9:19 AM by John Emerson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Balloon Drop I think being there for a balloon drop is one of the more wonderful experiences in life. Here's one picture. More later, but it might be tomorrow, after I get home. 
Actually, I named this picture "BD1" when I uploaded it. Is that too Hayseed? Should I have given it a longer name? --- Posted at 7:28 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Info For the Hayseeds Through Dave Winer I found Cybertourists in Boston. It's full of great professional journalism like: With a few exceptions, most of the credentialed bloggers came off like cyberhayseeds in the big city. Many dared for the painfully obvious as they updated their posts. Most of the blogging entries I have read ranged from the insufferably pedantic to the sublimely mediocre. There were exceptions, of course, but the see-me, hear-me tenor of their reporting was only exceeded by the vapidity of the banal commentaries peddled as analyses.The thing is, pretty much every insult he flings at the bloggers I took as compliments! Seriously! Meanwhile, Paul Krugman writes about the Big City journalists today: The failure of TV news to inform the public about the policy proposals of this year's presidential candidates is, in its own way, as serious a journalistic betrayal as the failure to raise questions about the rush to invade Iraq.It says a lot that Charles Cooper COVERS things like bloggers, yet he is so far from "getting it." People who read Seeing the Forest and other weblogs learn a lot more about what is happening to their country than people who get their information from the Big City professionals. I mean hard, factual information that is important for citizen participation in a democracy. But that isn't all that blogging -- at least THIS blog -- is about. It's ABOUT the "hayseed" perspective. It's ABOUT being told what it's like to actually BE in a convention for the first time, and meet famous people, and what a balloon drop is like from the balcony. It's ABOUT seeing things through the eyes of SOMEONE WHO IS LIKE THEM. Scroll down and read the interview with the anarchist, including the invitation to Ricky to leave a comment to make sure his perspective is voiced correctly, and the rest of the comments and tell me where you're going to find anything like that in a Big City paper. Then scroll down a little further and look at the pics starting with the one FROM THE BALCONLY -- only a Hayseed would show THAT -- and the rest of the pics, and tell me which Big City journalist would have posted those. And then tell me if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm getting plenty of e-mail from other hayseeds asking for more just like that. I don't know if I have any Big City readers, though, since that's what counts. I'm working on a serious piece about all of this, but like I said a few days ago, I gotta get home, walk the dogs, eat actual food at actual mealtimes, etc. before I can really digest what I have seen this week. --- Posted at 6:29 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Thursday, July 29, 2004 Finally Mike Malloy at AAR. Yeah. At last. --- Posted at 8:19 PM by richard Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
More Pics - Late Thursday More pics: 
Randi Rhodes 
An extra Randi Rhodes. And yes, I got you an Air America Radio pen. You know who you are. 
Jesse Jackson. 
Democratic Party Donky at the Ritz Carlton. 
Espresso, home, not waiting. --- Posted at 6:30 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Oh, Please! U.S. Lacks Records for Iraq Spending: "U.S. civilian authorities in Baghdad failed to keep good track of nearly $1 billion in Iraqi money spent for reconstruction projects and can't produce records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for, a new audit concludes. "However, spending in restaraunts in Washington and Dallas, and orders for private jets are WAY up. --- Posted at 4:53 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
The Fear III Fear of Death Wins Minds and Votes, Study Finds: "President Bush may be tapping into solid human psychology when he invokes the Sept. 11 attacks while campaigning for the next election, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.Roosevelt: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Bush: "Be afraid. I want you all to be afraid." "In one we asked half the people to think about the September 11 attacks, or to think about watching TV," Solomon said. "What we found was staggering."Gosh, you don't think the Bush campaign has employed psychologists who already figured this out,, do you? Nah - no one would do that to other people on purpose, just to get elected, would they? The volunteers were aged from 18 into their 50s and described themselves as ranging from liberal to deeply conservative. No matter what a person's political conviction, thinking about death made them tend to favor Bush, Solomon said. Otherwise, they preferred Kerry. --- Posted at 3:24 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
An E-mail I Received Here's an e-mail I just received (from Frances Cherman -- with a 'C') about the convention center: Why is the security-conscious Democratic party holding its national convention at Boston's FleetCenter when everyone knows Fleet is public enema #1? --- Posted at 2:32 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Interview With an Anarchist I'm posting from a Starbucks on Boylston, about a block and a half from a park where several anarchists are gathered. I just interviewed a young man named Ricky, who says to use the last name "Fight Capitalism!" He's from New Jersey. He's one of two holding a banner that says, "MAKE KERRY WALK THE PLANK". He's wearing a mask. Ricky says he will check here later and post comments if I don't accurately convey our conversation. Also, Ricky, please feel free to ADD anything you want to say. I know I always think of things later that I wanted to say. I start by asking, "Why?" Ricky: "There's really no difference that matters. Both support the war. Both probably support the draft. They are both funded by the corporate elite. Both of the party campaigns are financed by the corporate elite." I asked if he had heard about what Moore is saying here, in Boston, asking the Greens and Nader voters to support Kerry anyway in this election because it is so important. Ricky: "It's bullshit." (He doesn't mean that what I'm saying Moore said is bullshit.) "It's all pay to play. The only way to make it work is to have more candidates and more parties. If Moore was a real liberal he'd support 3rd parties because of the corporate financing. He's done a lot of good with his movies, but he's just a reformer." He repeated "just a reformer" but I don't have the exact quote. I asked about the Dean campaign, funded by lots of people giving small donations. Ricky: "That's really cool, the whole idea." He asked me to say that the reason he is wearing the mask is because "the cops are swarming us, FBI, cops, taking pictures to put in files, so we wear the masks for our own security." I told him I was doing what he's doing now, back in the 60's with Vietnam, and they certainly were taking pictures and keeping files back then. 
Ricky is on the left side of this picture. It happens that I KNOW some of the major funders of the Democrats, both from a past life as a Silicon Valley person, and from my day job, which is trying to help start organizations that will be a "Progressive infrastructure" to counter the massive communications/propaganda machine that the Right has in place, that is much of the reason they have become so successful in elections. (For more info on this, please read this transcript of my recent talk at the national Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) convention. Get past the parts that are specifically about trial lawyers -- this is happening to ALL of us!) I am sure that Ricky would be very surprised to learn that when I talk to people who are major funders of the party, (I was talking to one ten minutes before I met Ricky), they pretty much agree with him that the corporate influence is a danger to people and to our democracy. They are all VERY concerned about what is happening! This is WHY they are funding Kerry and the Democrats! Think about this, if they wanted corporate rule in America, wouldn't they just put their money into Bush at this point? What would be the POINT of giving money to the Democrats NOW if you want more, not less, corporate influence over our government? So the question is, how do the Democrats get the word out to people like Ricky? I also understand how Ricky feels. I used to be a Green. I realized it was a mistake. Note - I had to rewrite this completely from scratch. I promise that the first draft was much better. ;-) I lost 45 minutes of typing because Blogger burped. This happens all the time. And these guys are going to sell STOCK for $130 a SHARE???? --- Posted at 10:03 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Pics, Thursay Morning This is Dave from Boston. Here are some new pictures: 
This is the crowd going nuts for Edwards, from where the bloggers are sitting. 
This is me with the next Governor of California. (Taken by Bill from Liberal Oasis using my camera.) 
This is Buddy, back home, all alone, waiting... --- Posted at 8:42 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Favoritism to the Saudis: Visas (A non-Conventional report from John in Portland) It takes a Kremlinologist's skills to decode the 9/11 Commission's bipartisan, exquisitely tactful report. Take these two sentences, for example: That same day [June 22], the State Department notified all embassies of the terrorist threat and updated its worldwide public warning. In June, the State Department initiated the Visa Express program in Saudi Arabia as a security measure, in order to keep long lines of foreigners away from vulnerable embassy spaces. The program permitted visa applications to be made through travel agencies, instead of directly at the embassy or consulate. (VIII, p. 257) That looks pretty good, doesn't it? Protecting the embassy -- good idea! What they don't tell you here -- though that information can be found elsewhere in the report -- is that that the convenient Saudi visas made the terrorists' job much easier. And in this case, it isn't bipartisanship that's the problem, since most of the terrorists entered the U.S. during the Clinton administration. Apparently the Commission decided that the only objective, neutral course would be never to blame anybody at all, as if they were running a daycare center. The 9/11 report is like a series of jokes with all the punchlines removed. Travel issues thus played a part in al Qaeda’s operational planning from the very start. During the spring and summer of 1999, KSM realized that Khallad and Abu Bara, both of whom were Yemenis,would not be able to obtain U.S. visas as easily as Saudi operatives like Mihdhar and Hazmi......Yet because individuals with Saudi passports could travel much more easily than Yemeni, particularly to the United States, there were fewer martyrdom opportunities for Yemenis. (V, p. 156) Hazmi and Mihdhar were ill-prepared for a mission in the United States. Their only qualifications for this plot were their devotion to Usama Bin Ladin, their veteran service, and their ability to get valid U.S. visas. (VII, p. 215) Jarrah was supposed to be joined at FFTC by Ramzi Binalshibh, who even sent the school a deposit. But Binalshibh could not obtain a U.S. visa. His first applications in May and June 2000 were denied because he lacked established ties in Germany ensuring his return from a trip to the United States. In eptember, he went home to Yemen to apply for a visa from there, but was denied on grounds that he also lacked sufficient ties to Yemen. In October, he tried one last time, in Berlin, applying for a student visa to attend “aviation language school,” but the prior denials were noted and this application was denied as well, as incomplete. (VII, p. 225) The majority of the Saudi muscle hijackers obtained U.S. visas in Jeddah or Riyadh between September and November of 2000. (VII, p. 235) The problems with the terrorists' applications weren't trivial, such as punctuation or spelling. Omitted information included home addresses, means of financial support and travel plans while within the United States. Only three forms listed a "Name and Address of Present Employer or School," and only one of the 15 applicants listed an actual destination address in the United States. The rest of the hijackers put down vague locations such as "California," "New York" and "Hotel." One simply wrote "No." Only two were given oral interviews, which are common for applicants from poorer or less stable countries or those whose written applications require clarification. (Sen John Kyl) Getting an American visa in Saudi Arabia had already been easy, partly because of corruption: A single Foreign Service Officer in the Jeddah consulate issued 10 of the visas to the Saudi hijackers. Yet GAO investigators told House staffers that no one from State ever interviewed that officer after 9/11 to learn what might have gone wrong. We've also had a scandal about foreign nationals working in the U.S. Embassy in Qatar, who sold at least 71 visas, including three to people with al Qaeda connections. (Wall Street Journal)But the Visa Express program made getting a visa even easier. It essentially allowed Saudis to pick up their visas at the travel agency along with their plane ticket, without any control whatsoever. The general rule under both Clinton and Bush was to give the Saudis everything they wanted, mostly for business reasons: "Melendez-Perez said that leading up to Sept. 11, customs officials were discouraged by their superiors from hassling Saudi travelers, seen as big spenders who made frequent visits to theme parks in the Orlando area. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia." (LA Times, Jan. 27, 2004) And according to the WSJ piece, it wasn't just politics: the professionals within the State Department were a big part of the problem. (Ray Mabus, the only American diplomat who stood up to the Saudis on visa questions, was a Clinton political appointee whose policies were reversed by the professionals once he left office -- the issue was American women married to Saudis who were unable to leave Saudi Arabia because they could not get exit visas.)
They were slow to do anything at all. According to the WSJ, the Visa Express program was still in effect in June, 2004, nine months after the attack, and it took over a year to add Saudi Arabia to the list of nations to which "Special Registration" visa rules appled. nefore 9/11 this list included Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Syria. (North Korea and Cuba were on a separate list of countries to and from which travel was entirely forbidden.) The Special Registration rules required the fingerprinting, photographing, and interviewing of applicants, and established special ways of tracking individuals from the countries listed who were travelling on student or tourist visas. On November 22, 2002 -- over a year after the 9/11 attacks -- were thirteen countries added to the original five on the Special Registration list: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. But unbelievably, Saudi Arabia, the place of origin of most of the attackers, was not listed then! Nor was Pakistan, which was heavily implicated with the Taliban. Only on December 16, 2002 were these two countries finally added -- along with Armenia. (There's a little twist here. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had, in fact, already been secretly added to the list on September 5, 2002. Presumably this original secrecy was to save these two nations from public embarassment, whereas the later public announcement was because of U.S. public outcry. Conjecturing further, perhaps Armenia was listed at the same time for the same reason that North Korea was added to the Axis of Evil -- in order to make it slightly less obvious what was actually happening. In any case, Armenia was removed from the list two days later.) This is a genuinely bipartisan issue. How often do you see Rep. Dan Burton Henry Waxman working together? (And how often do you see me citing the WSJ editorial page?) It seems clear enough that, if the Saudis had been treated like Yemenis instead of like Canadians, Osama bin Laden's job would have been much more difficult. And while the Bush administration was indeed unduly soft on the Saudis, the Clinton administration and the State Department pros were almost as bad.And some of this is in the 9/11 report, sort of. If you read like a Kremlinologist. More on the Visa Express program: USN&WR 9/11 Commission Report (Substantial editing, revision, and expansion until 3:40 PDT.) --- Posted at 8:28 AM by John Emerson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Remember to See The Forest In the Washington Post, Kerry Returns to Boston With 'Band of Brothers': "Surrounded by 12 veterans of the Swift boats he captained in Vietnam and by Jim Rassmann, a Green Beret he rescued from a river in the Mekong Delta, Kerry crossed the Boston Harbor aboard the LuLu E taxi ship, which was adorned in red, white and blue."Keep in mind why all this "showboating" (sorry) about Kerry's military service is necessary. The Republicans are doing everything they can to smear Kerry's record. Remember, the smears are the trees. See the big picture, see the forest, Kerry went to Vietnam, served with distinction, and went on to a brilliant and honorable career serving US. Bush didn't. Period, end of story. I wrote this on my second day as a blogger: "Let's see if we can see the forest. Look back to the 2000 election. Step back and look at the candidates. The Democrat's candidate was a well respected, well liked, extremely experienced, Vietnam vet, former seminary student, character beyond reproach, faithfully married family man, foreign policy expert, with many accomplishments including being the person in the Congress most responsible for advancing the Internet... The Republicans ran a foul-mouthed thoroughly inexperienced scandal-ridden (Harken oil, Rangers stadium, recipient of bribes directed at his father) failed businessman, continuously bailed out of jams by his father's connections, draft-dodger (worse, he got into the Nat. Guard through connections and then played hooky!), former drunk, probable drug-user, kids constantly in trouble, with a campaign entirely financed by large corporations obviously looking for favors.Now we KNOW what they do. Don't let this happen to Kerry. --- Posted at 7:41 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Two Ways to get your Blogs This is interesting. It's a live feed of weblog coverage from the convention, putting on the screen in large type the beginnings of the very latest posts from the convention, sort of like a stock ticker crawl... and you can click on it to get the full posting. Sort of by-the-second coverage... If you want to receive a digest of THIS weblog, containing summaries of the day's posts, sent to you at the beginning of the next day, scroll down on the right side and enter your e-mail address. I think NEXT WEEK is when the most useful blogger observations begin. Friday I'll be heading home, walking the dogs, and eating actual food at actual mealtimes. And thinking. --- Posted at 7:30 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Big Anti-Kerry Hit Piece Today ABCNEWS.com : Is Dems' Biggest Money Man Mob-Connected? --- Posted at 6:58 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Michael Moore's Speech Transcript Here's a transcript of Michael Moore's speech the other day, from AlterNet. Just awesome, but if you can actually SEE it... there was a power in the WAY he said thing, but it wasn't like prepared remarks, it was like he was sayingwhat he was feeling at the moment. Remember what I said about the women on both sides of me crying - one with a brother in Iraq and one with a daughter-in-law there and her son in the Guard on his way over there. To the press: You do us no service by hopping on a band wagon, by becoming cheerleaders, by looking the other way, because you know that's the safest way to play it if you want to keep your job. Or, you are just afraid of being accused of being un-American if you were to ask a hard question to the President or his administration. That's not un-American. That's pro-American! To ask the questions. That's patriotic! But I know it was rough. I know in those first days of the war, I know. I stood on an Oscar stage five days into the war. I know what the mood was like. It was not easy to say we are being led to war for fictitious reasons. Right?And read what he says about Kerry and the war. It's important. At least now you can forward this transcript to people, so they can forward it. But I'll make sure to post where to find it if I find out it is online. Everyone should read this, just like everyone should see 9-11. --- Posted at 6:44 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 More Good News! Huge deficits coming. More "Incredibly Positive News!". From my post then: Let me help sort this out, and note the date as he tries to blame 9/11. New York Times, August 25, 2001President Bush said today that there was a benefit to the government's fast-dwindling surplus, declaring that it will create "a fiscal straitjacket for Congress." He said that was "incredibly positive news" because it would halt the growth of the federal government. --- Posted at 6:34 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Interviewing Non-Bloggers Now the people sitting here who AREN'T bloggers are being interviewed by the press.... One guy is a blogger who snuck into the area. --- Posted at 5:56 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Graham Who did Bob Graham piss off, that he has to follow Al Sharpton? Can't even hear him - somehow the blogger area has become swamped with people... can't move, can't work, can't hear. --- Posted at 5:47 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
More Wednesday Pics 
Jessamyn West of Librarian.net. 
This is the crowd outside of the Ritz Carlton, just standing around watching famous people coming in and out. 
Right-wing porn. How come nothing about war or death penalty? (Or charging interest, etc.) It's not a sin if Republicans do it? | ||||
