8/24/2004
The Spite Vote
Digby found this, and I think it just NAILS why a lot of non-rich white males vote Republican and listen to Limbaugh. Just nails it. It's kind of long, but you'll enjoy every line.
Soros vs. Scaife
The Bush team has very deftly redefined the debate over his discredited Swift Boat Liars as a debate about soft money and 527s, and the media seem to be buying his line of bullshit. One name that comes up a lot in the debate is the sinister billionaire George Soros, who (as fully disclosed) has given a lot of money to Move On, an independent group which supports Kerry the way the Swiftboat Liars support Bush (albeit more honestly).
Republicans seem to think that Soros is a villain, and they use his name that way in speeches, but Soros is actually a good guy in a very big way. Like the Republican sugar-daddy Richard Mellon Scaife, he's a billionaire, but the comparison ends there. Soros earned his money, whereas Scaife inherited his, and Soros, unlike Scaife, is mentally stable.
So let's compare the two. Scaife's one accomplishment in life has been the Clinton impeachment. He gave millions of dollars to various slanderers and to investigators who ultimately came up with very little that was solid, but his investments in publicity and propaganda succeeded in keeping the fake scandals alive and almost succeeded in toppling Clinton. He apparently (according to David Brock) had an unhealthy interest in Hillary Clinton's supposed lesbian relationships, and one of the few reporters ever to succeed in talking to him left hurriedly after he called her a "Communist cunt" and threatened her.
But for all his looniness, Scaife has been a powerful force in American politics for well over a decade. A high proportion of America's most noxious right-wing disinformation is produced on his dime, and most of the important contemporary conservatives of our time are deeply in Scaife's debt.
Salon Scaife links / Washington Post on Scaife / Scaife foundations / Scaife bio
George Soros grew up very precariously in WWII Hungary (ruled by a Fascist allied with Hitler), and after the war escaped from Communist Hungary to live in London. He studied there under Karl Popper, his hero, but was not able to continue his studies and went into finance. He has been very successful, turning a few hundred thousand dollars into billions.
Over the last two decades, starting in Poland well before the Berlin Wall fell, he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Open Society Foundation, the purpose of which was to help the ex-Communist world to develop democratic institutions. Soros is anti-Communist, anti-Fascist, and pro-democracy, but he also fears the Christian nationalist free-market fanaticism which dominates the Republican Party.
Soros bio / Soros bio / Soros in Fascist Hungary (search "Soros")
So his new project is to get George W. Bush out of office. The Republicans think that we should be ashamed of Soros' involvement, but we should be proud instead.
Soros is a billionaire, but how can the Republicans possibly complain about that? When he compares the present moment to proto-Fascist Hungary, he isn't just blowing smoke -- he's talking about something he remembers and was lucky to survive. We're in very good company with Soros at our side, and (as you can see below) Soros' Republican critics are in very bad company indeed.
Soros' political activities / Soros' Open Society efforts / Open Society Institute site / Defence of Soros (Eric Alterman, The Nation) / Defence of Soros (Matt Welch, Reason)
Soros' Enemies:
Soros has enemies to be proud of: post-Communist dictators, neo-fascist nationalists, anti-Semites, Likudniks, LaRouchies, and miscellaneous wackos. Here are a few of the dozens of links I have seen.
Especially creepy guest attacks Soros on O'Reilly / Long, creepy American attack on Soros / Uzbek attack / Soviet attack and defence /Ukrainian attack / Macedonian / Serbian attack / Muslim anti-Semitic attack (Mahathir) / Likudnik attack I /Likudnik attack II -- weird accusations / Wacko attack I / Wacko attack II / Wacko attack III / Freeper / Ukrainian attack / Anti-semitic attack I / Anti-semitic attack II
Republicans seem to think that Soros is a villain, and they use his name that way in speeches, but Soros is actually a good guy in a very big way. Like the Republican sugar-daddy Richard Mellon Scaife, he's a billionaire, but the comparison ends there. Soros earned his money, whereas Scaife inherited his, and Soros, unlike Scaife, is mentally stable.
So let's compare the two. Scaife's one accomplishment in life has been the Clinton impeachment. He gave millions of dollars to various slanderers and to investigators who ultimately came up with very little that was solid, but his investments in publicity and propaganda succeeded in keeping the fake scandals alive and almost succeeded in toppling Clinton. He apparently (according to David Brock) had an unhealthy interest in Hillary Clinton's supposed lesbian relationships, and one of the few reporters ever to succeed in talking to him left hurriedly after he called her a "Communist cunt" and threatened her.
But for all his looniness, Scaife has been a powerful force in American politics for well over a decade. A high proportion of America's most noxious right-wing disinformation is produced on his dime, and most of the important contemporary conservatives of our time are deeply in Scaife's debt.
Salon Scaife links / Washington Post on Scaife / Scaife foundations / Scaife bio
George Soros grew up very precariously in WWII Hungary (ruled by a Fascist allied with Hitler), and after the war escaped from Communist Hungary to live in London. He studied there under Karl Popper, his hero, but was not able to continue his studies and went into finance. He has been very successful, turning a few hundred thousand dollars into billions.
Over the last two decades, starting in Poland well before the Berlin Wall fell, he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Open Society Foundation, the purpose of which was to help the ex-Communist world to develop democratic institutions. Soros is anti-Communist, anti-Fascist, and pro-democracy, but he also fears the Christian nationalist free-market fanaticism which dominates the Republican Party.
Soros bio / Soros bio / Soros in Fascist Hungary (search "Soros")
So his new project is to get George W. Bush out of office. The Republicans think that we should be ashamed of Soros' involvement, but we should be proud instead.
Soros is a billionaire, but how can the Republicans possibly complain about that? When he compares the present moment to proto-Fascist Hungary, he isn't just blowing smoke -- he's talking about something he remembers and was lucky to survive. We're in very good company with Soros at our side, and (as you can see below) Soros' Republican critics are in very bad company indeed.
Soros' political activities / Soros' Open Society efforts / Open Society Institute site / Defence of Soros (Eric Alterman, The Nation) / Defence of Soros (Matt Welch, Reason)
Soros' Enemies:
Soros has enemies to be proud of: post-Communist dictators, neo-fascist nationalists, anti-Semites, Likudniks, LaRouchies, and miscellaneous wackos. Here are a few of the dozens of links I have seen.
Especially creepy guest attacks Soros on O'Reilly / Long, creepy American attack on Soros / Uzbek attack / Soviet attack and defence /Ukrainian attack / Macedonian / Serbian attack / Muslim anti-Semitic attack (Mahathir) / Likudnik attack I /Likudnik attack II -- weird accusations / Wacko attack I / Wacko attack II / Wacko attack III / Freeper / Ukrainian attack / Anti-semitic attack I / Anti-semitic attack II
O'Neill Was In Cambodia
O'Neill in Cambodia. This is the guy who has been saying that Kerry is a liar for saying he was in Cambodia and that if Kerry WAS there he should have been courtsmarshalled.
So, of course, now they found a tape of O'Neill, from before all of this Kerry smear stuff, saying he was in Cambodia.
But I'm not pasing this along to refute the Swift Boat liars. I'm passing this along to remind you of the bigger picture: THEY JUST LIE!
THAT is all you have to remember when dealing with the Right. THEY JUST LIE!
From March:
Maybe I could put a tune behind that. What would I name it? How about ... wait for it ...
THEY JUST LIE!
So, of course, now they found a tape of O'Neill, from before all of this Kerry smear stuff, saying he was in Cambodia.
But I'm not pasing this along to refute the Swift Boat liars. I'm passing this along to remind you of the bigger picture: THEY JUST LIE!
THAT is all you have to remember when dealing with the Right. THEY JUST LIE!
From March:
Listen, there is something we all need to get through our heads. They just lie.In March I said everything you needed to know to be ready for this current smear. "YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THE CHARGES THEY WILL MAKE TOMORROW AND NEXT WEEK ARE FALSE. OK?"
If the Bush people did a focus group and found out that people would vote against him [Kerry] because he owns a miniature green Chinese monkey with an earring, THEN WE WOULD BE HEARING THAT KERRY HAS A MINIATURE GREEN CHINESE MONKEY WITH AN EARRING! They are making it up, they are lying, they are going to say and do ANYTHING. OK? They just lie. Get used to it.
They just lie. So don't be surprised and don't be shocked. And most of all, don't start responding by trying to disprove their charges and going through all the points and specifics and particulars! YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THE CHARGES THEY WILL MAKE TOMORROW AND NEXT WEEK ARE FALSE. OK?
They just lie. What have I been telling you since day one of Seeing the forest? THEY JUST LIE. See the Forest, don't get bogged down with trees. See the bigger picture. If you get all bogged down trying to argue each point or disprove each lie you are going to be 100 lies behind by the time you refute the first point of the very first lie.
They just lie. Remember the lead-up to Iraq, all nicely timed for the 2002 election? They just lie. Remember what they said about why we need tax cuts? They just lie. Remember what they said about Al Gore? They just lie. Remember what they said about Clinton?
They just lie. We know it. So when do we figure out that they just lie? When we do figure it out, THEN maybe we can start responding effectively, instead of getting all bogged down in the lies each and every time. The public needs to understand that they just lie, and the things they say should just be ignored. THAT is where we should be spending our time.
(Does repetition work? Tell me what they do.)
Maybe I could put a tune behind that. What would I name it? How about ... wait for it ...
THEY JUST LIE!
See ya after the game
I posted the message below on our comments in response to a well-intended undecided visitor who thought we were acting a little hostile:
"One thing you should remember is that we're in approximately the middle of the third quarter, and we're two points ahead of a team that we think won by cheating the last time we played, and we are worried that the referees are siding with the other team.
So if we seem a bit touchy, it's because we are.
And I think that most of us think that this is the most important election since at least 1980."
As Newt Gingrich explained long ago, we're in a war. In the heat of battle sometimes we snap on people a bit more quickly than we should.
I snap on people a LOT, and I suppose I'm wrong 5-10% of the time. As Newt Gingrich explained long ago, we're in a war. I try to avoid collateral damage, but now and then I screw up.
"One thing you should remember is that we're in approximately the middle of the third quarter, and we're two points ahead of a team that we think won by cheating the last time we played, and we are worried that the referees are siding with the other team.
So if we seem a bit touchy, it's because we are.
And I think that most of us think that this is the most important election since at least 1980."
As Newt Gingrich explained long ago, we're in a war. In the heat of battle sometimes we snap on people a bit more quickly than we should.
I snap on people a LOT, and I suppose I'm wrong 5-10% of the time. As Newt Gingrich explained long ago, we're in a war. I try to avoid collateral damage, but now and then I screw up.
Daily Summary E-Mailed to You
You can have a daily summary of Seeing the Forest e-mailed to you. In the right-side column, scroll down until you see "Enter your email address below to subscribe to Seeing the Forest!", enter your e-mail address into the text-entry area, and click the "Subscribe" button.
"Smearing the President"
On radio and cable TV all the Republicans are repeating today's talking point -- Kerry is "smearing the President."
Jeeze.
Jeeze.
Look What I Found
I just came across a site called Exxon Secrets, How ExxonMobil funds the climate change skeptics.
Here's an August 10 op-ed, In the Cold War, Kerry Froze, implying Kerry committed treason:
He is on the faculty of the Institute of World Politics. Funded by, of course, the usual suspects..
Smearing George Soros in the Wall Street Journal,
adjunct scholar The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Some of their fiunding is shown here.
"Reagan also put the U.S. on the ideological offensive when he branded the Soviet Union an "evil empire." But Kerry's harshest words were reserved for our own country, which he accused — during his years as an antiwar leader — of "crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
He is on the faculty of the Institute of World Politics. Funded by, of course, the usual suspects..
Smearing George Soros in the Wall Street Journal,
"Cold as he is toward the Jewish people, Mr. Soros is not much warmer toward his adopted country. [. . .] This self-imagined messiah has now come to save the world from the America of George W. Bush and its war against terrorism."
adjunct scholar The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Some of their fiunding is shown here.
Let's Review the Big Picture
Let's see the forest, instead of nitpicking the trees for a minute, and look at some of the bigger pictures.
Kerry volunteered to serve, volunteered to go to Vietnam and then volunteered for Swift Boat duty. Bush's view of service was, quote, "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
Republicans smear people.
Kerry volunteered to serve, volunteered to go to Vietnam and then volunteered for Swift Boat duty. Bush's view of service was, quote, "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
Republicans smear people.
The Daily Kerry
When John Kerry decided it was time to do his first national TV interview since the Swift boaters for Bush launched their attack on the senator's Vietnam War record, he did not choose CBS's "60 Minutes," ABC's "Nightline" or "NBC Nightly News."
Kerry picked Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," where he will appear tonight in an extended interview. Now I bet you feel terrible that you dismissed as fools those TV critics who, back in July, collectively crowned "The Daily Show" the year's best news and information program. I know I do.
An E-mail
An e-mail I received:
Bill's cuckoo clock stopped keeping time correctly, so he took it to a repair shop. The old shopkeeper asked in a heavy German accent, "Vat sims to be ze problem?"
Bill replied, "It doesn't work right. Instead of going tick tock tick tock, it just goes tick tick tick."
The old German rummaged behind the counter. He pulled out a flashlight and walked over to the clock. Shining the beam directly on the clock face, he said in menacing tones, "Ve haff vays of making you tock!"
Soros, Scaife, and 527's
The Swift Boat Veterans's initial foray was not really well recived, mostly because it was full of lies and because and number of new witnesses (not just the Kerry people) have come forward to denounce it. The Bush administration have has responded by making a generic attack on 527's and "soft money" -- without criticizing the SBV's. This is pure deception -- the Republicans like soft money just fine -- but a lot of the media swallowed it, so many people now believe that Bush has distanced himself from the Swift Boat Liars.
P.S. The attacks on Kerry's medals, etc., were just round one, of course. They were only intended to set up the attack on Kerry's post-service opposition to the Vietnam war (which Sen. Dole recently kicked off). This is a legitimate political issue for a change, though we can still expect gutter politics from the Bush team.
I also think that this is an issue which could blow up in Bush's face. The people who hate Kerry for his opposition to the Vietnam War are mostly over fifty, and almost all of them are already in Bush's camp. Kerry's anti-war activity is something he can be proud of, and now that the war fever has died down and we can see what a failure Bush's Iraq War is, it seems to me that Kerry can turn this one around too.
P.S. The attacks on Kerry's medals, etc., were just round one, of course. They were only intended to set up the attack on Kerry's post-service opposition to the Vietnam war (which Sen. Dole recently kicked off). This is a legitimate political issue for a change, though we can still expect gutter politics from the Bush team.
I also think that this is an issue which could blow up in Bush's face. The people who hate Kerry for his opposition to the Vietnam War are mostly over fifty, and almost all of them are already in Bush's camp. Kerry's anti-war activity is something he can be proud of, and now that the war fever has died down and we can see what a failure Bush's Iraq War is, it seems to me that Kerry can turn this one around too.
Update on Protest Plans for the Convention
If you're here for the convention and need a break, check out this show:
PEACE SIGNS
The Anti-War Movement Illustrated
Chisholm Gallery
56 West 22nd Street, 2nd Fl.
New York City, NY 10010
Opening Reception August 24th, 7-9 PM
August 24 - September 3
An exhibition of more than 40 images, including international poster art from the book "Peace Signs: the Anti-war Movement Illustrated.
I'll post more about what's happening later. Meanwhile, however, I promised that I'd say something about the New York City police department. Having already been intimidated by vivid news reports of drills to prepare for breaking heads, we're now being intimidated by news reports featuring an army of police that has already been assigned to the area around Madison Square Garden. This doesn't exactly make the NYC department look particularly benign or helpful. This is not their fault. They have to go where they are assigned -- and do what they are assigned to do.
In spite of this, it's quite safe to ask a NYC policeman for help or directions. The department has certainly had its bad moments, but the police here are the best educated, the best trained you'll find anywhere. Right now they are serving in spite of the fact that they haven't had a contract for two years. Neither has the fire department. This is how we treat our heros! Considering their service and sacrifice on 9/11, they deserve a lot better treatment than they are getting. This city got through the period immediately after 9/11 largely because of the calm, professional -- and remarkably helpful -- service of the police department, in spite of their terrible, unnerving losses on that day. There was no panic and no looting. We were living in wartime conditions, especially down here where i live, and we wouldn't have made it through without their help.
I lost a good friend on 9/11, an upstairs neighbor, a policeman who, among other services, had served for a year in Special Forces in Bosnia, returned home, and was on the bomb squad, about the most dangerous job available. We were evacuated and the super said don't worry, Danny will take care of us, he'll be back soon, but of course he never came back. We still all miss him and feel a lot less safe without him here. I've never met a sweeter, nicer guy -- but I do know others on the police force who are just as good as he was.
So be nice! Instead of deliberately antagonizing the police here, try talking to them. They're not the enemy. They're just people, just like the rest of us. And like the rest of us, they're being used as pawns in this political battle.
PEACE SIGNS
The Anti-War Movement Illustrated
Chisholm Gallery
56 West 22nd Street, 2nd Fl.
New York City, NY 10010
Opening Reception August 24th, 7-9 PM
August 24 - September 3
An exhibition of more than 40 images, including international poster art from the book "Peace Signs: the Anti-war Movement Illustrated.
I'll post more about what's happening later. Meanwhile, however, I promised that I'd say something about the New York City police department. Having already been intimidated by vivid news reports of drills to prepare for breaking heads, we're now being intimidated by news reports featuring an army of police that has already been assigned to the area around Madison Square Garden. This doesn't exactly make the NYC department look particularly benign or helpful. This is not their fault. They have to go where they are assigned -- and do what they are assigned to do.
In spite of this, it's quite safe to ask a NYC policeman for help or directions. The department has certainly had its bad moments, but the police here are the best educated, the best trained you'll find anywhere. Right now they are serving in spite of the fact that they haven't had a contract for two years. Neither has the fire department. This is how we treat our heros! Considering their service and sacrifice on 9/11, they deserve a lot better treatment than they are getting. This city got through the period immediately after 9/11 largely because of the calm, professional -- and remarkably helpful -- service of the police department, in spite of their terrible, unnerving losses on that day. There was no panic and no looting. We were living in wartime conditions, especially down here where i live, and we wouldn't have made it through without their help.
I lost a good friend on 9/11, an upstairs neighbor, a policeman who, among other services, had served for a year in Special Forces in Bosnia, returned home, and was on the bomb squad, about the most dangerous job available. We were evacuated and the super said don't worry, Danny will take care of us, he'll be back soon, but of course he never came back. We still all miss him and feel a lot less safe without him here. I've never met a sweeter, nicer guy -- but I do know others on the police force who are just as good as he was.
So be nice! Instead of deliberately antagonizing the police here, try talking to them. They're not the enemy. They're just people, just like the rest of us. And like the rest of us, they're being used as pawns in this political battle.
8/23/2004
Best Blog Nominations
The Washington Post is taking nominations for Best Blog, in a number of categories.
Click here:
Click here:
Headline of the Week!
A great headline over at BuzzFlash: "Senate Republicans Weigh Dismantling CIA. Last Week, They Were Going to Dismantle the IRS. Hey, How About Dismantling the Republican Party. "
Not Yet
I left a comment somewhere, about the Swift Boat stuff. I think we're all being a little bit too self-referential here in the blogosphere when we think we're making headway against this smear. This is not how I felt listening to the radio over the weekend. Anyway, here's the comment:
Do you think the veterans, who have shown a 24-point swing away from Kerry in the polls in the last couple of weeks, are even hearing ANY of the counter-smear stuff we are all so happy about? Or the swing voters in swing states? Not many.
I think the "Democratic Establishment" have failed to address the real problem -- that the Right has spent decades learning how to influence and persuade large segments of the public. I think this happened "under the radar" of the Washington Democrats, and they still do not understand why they have been losing elections. They do not understand how thoroughly much of the public has bought into the Right's ideology.
Taking this beyond the current swift-boat smear and into the broader context of the problem the Democrats have been having reaching the public -- when you appeal to people's desire for "fairness," "equality," "Democracy" and "sense of community" you had better first be sure that they understand and WANT these things. I think that the Right has changed the equation. It is no longer a safe assumption that Democracy, community, fairness and equality are basic, common, shared values in America. It is no longer safe to assume these are shared premises upon which you can base your arguments.
I'm surprised how few on "our side" understand what is happening here. We are still losing this.Half the public thinks Iraq was behind 9/11. (Another poll last week - the same poll? - also showed that half the public believes that Iraq HAD weapons of mass destruction before the war.) This should tell you that half of the public not only is not getting their information from the same sources as you and me, they are not even getting their information on the same PLANET as you and me!
Tune in your AM radio today and see what I mean. It DOESN'T MATTER what editorial writers say. It DOESN'T MATTER what mainstream press people write. This is not where the people who are Bush's TARGET AUDIENCE are getting their info.
Remember, a poll LAST WEEK showed that 50% of the public still believes that Iraq was either behind 9/11 directly, or was a principal partner with al-Quaida. This demonstrates that we are not understanding the channels through which about half of America is getting its information, and the Republicans do.
Do you think the veterans, who have shown a 24-point swing away from Kerry in the polls in the last couple of weeks, are even hearing ANY of the counter-smear stuff we are all so happy about? Or the swing voters in swing states? Not many.
I think the "Democratic Establishment" have failed to address the real problem -- that the Right has spent decades learning how to influence and persuade large segments of the public. I think this happened "under the radar" of the Washington Democrats, and they still do not understand why they have been losing elections. They do not understand how thoroughly much of the public has bought into the Right's ideology.
Taking this beyond the current swift-boat smear and into the broader context of the problem the Democrats have been having reaching the public -- when you appeal to people's desire for "fairness," "equality," "Democracy" and "sense of community" you had better first be sure that they understand and WANT these things. I think that the Right has changed the equation. It is no longer a safe assumption that Democracy, community, fairness and equality are basic, common, shared values in America. It is no longer safe to assume these are shared premises upon which you can base your arguments.
Meat-Eaters Soak Up the World's Water
Meat-Eaters Soak Up the World's Water:
"Western diets, which depend largely on meat, are already putting great pressures on the environment. Meat-eaters consume the equivalent of about 5,000 liters [1,100 gallons] of water a day compared to the 1,000-2,000 liters used by people on vegetarian diets in developing countries. All that water has to come from somewhere.And never forget the cruelty with wchich we raise and kill the animals in our factory farms.
The consensus emerging among scientists is that it will be almost impossible to feed future generations the typical diet eaten in western Europe and North America without destroying the environment. "
The Republican Party as a Cult
Ideology -- following any ideology -- is, to some extent, a retreat from reality.
Have you ever tried to argue with a neo-conservative? It's hopeless. Utterly hopeless. It's possible to argue with Roman Catholics, even about touchy subjects like abortion, and get reasonable explanations. It's possible to argue with even the most devout members of other mainstream religions, to argue with members of the various New Age groups. But don't bother to try arguing, or even discussing, anything with members of the more extreme evangelical groups. It's like talking to the Living Dead. I don't know where the figure "40% of the population" comes from, but this is being used for the number of people in the US who now belong to these groups, and they are assumed to be the Republican base. If this is correct, we're in real trouble, because there's no rational way to get through to them without deprogramming them.
What are the characteristics of cult members? Using the members of the extreme evangelical groups as the primary example, above all, a self-justified feeling that everyone else is wrong and they are right. They know the truth, the whole God-given truth, and those who don't believe them are going to Hell or worse. Thus they withdraw as much as possible from the rest of society because society is corrupt and may corrupt them. These are the home schoolers whose children must not be exposed to corrupt society, and they have established their own colleges and universities, so generations of them have no idea how the rest of society functions. These are usually very nice people, extremely helpful because being helpful is usually part of their belief system, kind to their families and friends -- but God help you if you inadvertently trample on any of their beliefs or refuse to be converted. You have shown that you are one of the Damned, worthless, to be despised and exploited.
At various times and places spirituality has included, and can still include, such practices as human sacrifice, using the sacrificed as fertilizer, murder, suicide, suicide and mass murder by crashing planes into buildings, cannibalism, animal sacrifice, various forms of physical mutilation including circumcision, castration, burning oneself alive, walking across burning coals, whipping oneself until one bleeds, ritual bloodletting often involving tongue or penis, sleeping on a bed of nails, lust for apocalyptic end times, martyrdom, being joyfully fed to lions, disposing of one’s possessions, becoming a beggar, purposefully living in total isolation under extreme conditions in caves, on top of poles, in cells, in the desert, living with lions or other dangerous wild animals, identification with wild animals or birds, becoming a hermit, not speaking for the rest of one’s life, sitting in one spot for days, extreme self-denial, fasting to the point of death, banning particular foods, sexual abstinence, sexual excess, sexual ecstasy, various forms of intoxication, exorcism of various kinds of demons or spirits of the dead, and the list goes on and on. Make no mistake about it; however crazy these practices may seem to us, many of these practices continue in various societies, including ours, to this day, and vestiges of them continue in even the most civilized spiritual practices, often barely noticed and rarely commented on. Also, make no mistake about the fact that all these practices have been considered to be of extreme spiritual value, many still are – and, within the context in which they were experienced, they probably did have extreme spiritual value. One could argue that religion exists as a means of controlling the irrational -- and, at other times, for making expressing the irrational socially acceptable.
So -- what is the relationship between the Republican Party and this particular kind of religious group? Those of us who don't belong to groups of this type, and have little contact with them except to be occasionally baffled, have no idea what's really going on. G.W. Bush himself was converted by such a group and attributes his sobriety to them. What does this mean for foreign policy? I haven't read any of the popular novels about the Rapture, with a macho Christ vengefully punishing the Unbelievers while the Believers blissfully float heavenward, but I do know that one of the main tenets of belief in the End Times is that the Jews must be in Israel. We are still so close to the year 2000 and its irrational expectation of the End Times that apocalyptic visions as the basis for foreign policy are especially dangerous. NYC's democratic ex-Mayor Ed Koch is planning to vote for Bush because he believes that Bush will stand firmly behind Israel. Perhaps he should look into the reasons why Bush is likely to do this and consider the value of a more rational approach to solving the problems of the Middle East than the beliefs of those who are capable of blowing up the world, not just the Middle East, thinking they are bringing about the Rapture.
An equally dangerous aspect of the attitude of G.W. Bush and his fellow believers is that they are convinced that they have the TRUTH, and that if they have any doubts they have only to use their direct pipeline to God to get the TRUTH. Anyone who disagrees with anything they believe, no matter how minor or silly, is thus absolutely wrong, an unbeliever, and damned. Thus their total vindictiveness. This attitude allows for no correcting errors, no reality testing. The fact that other members of the administration are not members of evangelical groups makes little difference. Many of them are firm believers in the philosophy of Leo Strauss and thus cynically believe they should encourage and exploit the "believers" because, to them, religion IS the opiate of the people, and the "masses" should be kept sedated so they will be easier to manipulate. And just who are the "masses?" That's us, folks, you and me, and everybody we know who is not a member of that select elite. On the one hand despised as damned if we don't "convert," and on the other hand cynically manipulated.
Have you ever tried to argue with a neo-conservative? It's hopeless. Utterly hopeless. It's possible to argue with Roman Catholics, even about touchy subjects like abortion, and get reasonable explanations. It's possible to argue with even the most devout members of other mainstream religions, to argue with members of the various New Age groups. But don't bother to try arguing, or even discussing, anything with members of the more extreme evangelical groups. It's like talking to the Living Dead. I don't know where the figure "40% of the population" comes from, but this is being used for the number of people in the US who now belong to these groups, and they are assumed to be the Republican base. If this is correct, we're in real trouble, because there's no rational way to get through to them without deprogramming them.
What are the characteristics of cult members? Using the members of the extreme evangelical groups as the primary example, above all, a self-justified feeling that everyone else is wrong and they are right. They know the truth, the whole God-given truth, and those who don't believe them are going to Hell or worse. Thus they withdraw as much as possible from the rest of society because society is corrupt and may corrupt them. These are the home schoolers whose children must not be exposed to corrupt society, and they have established their own colleges and universities, so generations of them have no idea how the rest of society functions. These are usually very nice people, extremely helpful because being helpful is usually part of their belief system, kind to their families and friends -- but God help you if you inadvertently trample on any of their beliefs or refuse to be converted. You have shown that you are one of the Damned, worthless, to be despised and exploited.
At various times and places spirituality has included, and can still include, such practices as human sacrifice, using the sacrificed as fertilizer, murder, suicide, suicide and mass murder by crashing planes into buildings, cannibalism, animal sacrifice, various forms of physical mutilation including circumcision, castration, burning oneself alive, walking across burning coals, whipping oneself until one bleeds, ritual bloodletting often involving tongue or penis, sleeping on a bed of nails, lust for apocalyptic end times, martyrdom, being joyfully fed to lions, disposing of one’s possessions, becoming a beggar, purposefully living in total isolation under extreme conditions in caves, on top of poles, in cells, in the desert, living with lions or other dangerous wild animals, identification with wild animals or birds, becoming a hermit, not speaking for the rest of one’s life, sitting in one spot for days, extreme self-denial, fasting to the point of death, banning particular foods, sexual abstinence, sexual excess, sexual ecstasy, various forms of intoxication, exorcism of various kinds of demons or spirits of the dead, and the list goes on and on. Make no mistake about it; however crazy these practices may seem to us, many of these practices continue in various societies, including ours, to this day, and vestiges of them continue in even the most civilized spiritual practices, often barely noticed and rarely commented on. Also, make no mistake about the fact that all these practices have been considered to be of extreme spiritual value, many still are – and, within the context in which they were experienced, they probably did have extreme spiritual value. One could argue that religion exists as a means of controlling the irrational -- and, at other times, for making expressing the irrational socially acceptable.
So -- what is the relationship between the Republican Party and this particular kind of religious group? Those of us who don't belong to groups of this type, and have little contact with them except to be occasionally baffled, have no idea what's really going on. G.W. Bush himself was converted by such a group and attributes his sobriety to them. What does this mean for foreign policy? I haven't read any of the popular novels about the Rapture, with a macho Christ vengefully punishing the Unbelievers while the Believers blissfully float heavenward, but I do know that one of the main tenets of belief in the End Times is that the Jews must be in Israel. We are still so close to the year 2000 and its irrational expectation of the End Times that apocalyptic visions as the basis for foreign policy are especially dangerous. NYC's democratic ex-Mayor Ed Koch is planning to vote for Bush because he believes that Bush will stand firmly behind Israel. Perhaps he should look into the reasons why Bush is likely to do this and consider the value of a more rational approach to solving the problems of the Middle East than the beliefs of those who are capable of blowing up the world, not just the Middle East, thinking they are bringing about the Rapture.
An equally dangerous aspect of the attitude of G.W. Bush and his fellow believers is that they are convinced that they have the TRUTH, and that if they have any doubts they have only to use their direct pipeline to God to get the TRUTH. Anyone who disagrees with anything they believe, no matter how minor or silly, is thus absolutely wrong, an unbeliever, and damned. Thus their total vindictiveness. This attitude allows for no correcting errors, no reality testing. The fact that other members of the administration are not members of evangelical groups makes little difference. Many of them are firm believers in the philosophy of Leo Strauss and thus cynically believe they should encourage and exploit the "believers" because, to them, religion IS the opiate of the people, and the "masses" should be kept sedated so they will be easier to manipulate. And just who are the "masses?" That's us, folks, you and me, and everybody we know who is not a member of that select elite. On the one hand despised as damned if we don't "convert," and on the other hand cynically manipulated.
8/22/2004
Did the Swiftboat story get turned around?
Granted that TV and talk radio are more important than print, and granted that some of the mud always sticks, tonight's Google News front page Kerry headline group is mostly pro-Kerry / anti-Swiftboat Vets. If the story can be turned around -- "Attempt to Slander Kerry Fails" rather than "Questions Raised about Kerry's Record" -- then Kerry wins.
There were a handful of neutral and negative headlines, but here are twelve of the first fifteen stories (about 7:30 PM PDT, August 22nd):
Kerry accuser 'has no proof'
Eyewitnesses only proof for claim Kerry lied - Vietnam vet
Fellow skipper throws Kerry lifeline
Bush campaign denies 'smear tactics'
Bush campaign aide resigns amid controversy over campaign ads
Kerry ad calls on Bush to 'denounce the smear'
Vietnam Vet Says Has No Proof for Claim Kerry Lied
Vietnam vet rises to defend Kerry
Dallas PR maven helps vets make case against Kerry
Comrade vouches for Kerry valor in Vietnam
Volunteer aide to Bush campaign quits
Kerry Challenges Bush to Halt `Smear Campaign' by Vietnam Vets
Google News: Kerry Story
(P. S. I unconsciously plagiarized the concept of this post from from Digby.)
There were a handful of neutral and negative headlines, but here are twelve of the first fifteen stories (about 7:30 PM PDT, August 22nd):
Kerry accuser 'has no proof'
Eyewitnesses only proof for claim Kerry lied - Vietnam vet
Fellow skipper throws Kerry lifeline
Bush campaign denies 'smear tactics'
Bush campaign aide resigns amid controversy over campaign ads
Kerry ad calls on Bush to 'denounce the smear'
Vietnam Vet Says Has No Proof for Claim Kerry Lied
Vietnam vet rises to defend Kerry
Dallas PR maven helps vets make case against Kerry
Comrade vouches for Kerry valor in Vietnam
Volunteer aide to Bush campaign quits
Kerry Challenges Bush to Halt `Smear Campaign' by Vietnam Vets
Google News: Kerry Story
(P. S. I unconsciously plagiarized the concept of this post from from Digby.)
Talking Points: Kerry's vs. Bush's Military Service
While I've been "retired" I've spent some time sliming around on comment boards. One winger talking point that's going around is "Why won't Kerry sign a Standard Form 180 to release all his military records?"
As it happens, as of Aug 18, Scott McClellan was unable to say whether Bush had signed a Form 180 or not either. Wingers claim (August 20) that Bush's Presidential order to release his records was equivalent to signing a Form 180, but somehow I find that hard to believe. (If it true, however, all Bush has to do is sign a Form 180 and the issue will disappear.)
To counterattack, ask about Bush's final DD-214. This is a complete service summary which is given to every serviceman upon discharge. If Bush's is ever found, it will do a lot to lay the AWOL story to rest (if Bush is telling the truth, that is). Most veterans keep their DD214's as a record and memento of their time in service (it is necessary to recieve veteran's benefits) but apparently Bush didn't -- and in any case it hasn't been released to the public. (*But see PPS below*)
(Other things to ask for are: any pages from Bush's flight log; records from the Flight Inquiry Board convened after Bush was suspended as a pilot; any evidence of Bush's reclassification into another AFSC after suspension as a pilot; any photos of George Bush in a military uniform after 1972; anything at all from any Alabama unit with Bush's name on it; Any copies of form 44a from the Alabama National Guard certifying attendance; and anything proving service -- not just receipt of pay -- by Bush between May 1972 and May 1973. Thanks to Dr. Morpheus on Kevin Drum's comments).
A lot of Kerry's records have been posted, and my winger friends have been unable to tell me what, if anything, is missing. (Some say that it's parts of his medical record). All in all this seems to be a pure fishing expedition, just like the attempt to get records from Kerry's divorce proceedings. And above all, of course, the whole thing is a standard noise distraction meant to discourage voters, confuse people, and divert attention from (among other things) Bush's weak record in the Guards.
At worst, Kerry was a bold, above-average naval officer. At best, Bush met the minimum standard in the National Guard. And as for the honorable discharge Bush brags about so much – even with time in the brig (twice) the Beltway Sniper John Allen Muhammed got an honorable discharge.
P.S. My winger friend Al came up with a link for the Washington Post FOIA request for Kerry's military records. If you look at the numbers, it seems that the Post is asking mostly for the same records that Kerry has posted. Presumably they think that the Kerry people held something back.
Kos has a piece suggesting that Bush may have not received on of the medals Guardsmen recieve just for showing up, and that he possibly may have worn a medal he never was awarded.
PPS. The part above about the DD 214 isn't as killer as I thought. The other questions remain valid, though, AFAIK). The relevant form for the NG is the ANG form, not the DD214. Bush's is here.
(August 22, 5:00 PDT: Blogger garbling fixed, I hope).
Creative Plans to Demonstrate
The New York Times doesn't do much with local news, so many of the city's neighborhoods have thriving local papers. I get a llocal weekly newspaper, The Villager which has some good articles about events related to the upcoming convention. This week they have several long articles about upcoming events planned for the coming Republican Convention.
One front page article, with the headline: Just two guys who don?t want G.O.P to have a grand old time, is about Shut it Down, already described in another blog here. Describing themselves as "accidental activists",
Another great project, RingOut, reported with the headline: For whom the bells toll: Anyone but Bush, please! Is being planned by a group of nine headed by Christian Herold.
One of the more interesting aspects of this event, which they are planning to hold around Ground Zero, is that they are not applying for a permit. If they are blocked from using the sidewalks, they will put the bell-ringers in kayaks on the Hudson. I hope they do that, and kayak past my place!
One front page article, with the headline: Just two guys who don?t want G.O.P to have a grand old time, is about Shut it Down, already described in another blog here. Describing themselves as "accidental activists",
Gary Boston and Jeff Adler are encourging actors, musicians, servers, retail salespeople and hotel staff from across the city to call in sick on Sept. 1, the day before President Bush's speech accepting the Republican Party?s nomination. Boston and Adler have declared the day a citywide holiday and said participants will help send a clear message to Republicans flooding Manhattan that the current administration?s policies are unacceptable.
The primary message we want to send conventioneers is how far out of the mainstream we think the party has moved them, said Boston, one of the two self-proclaimed "just two guys with a computer."
Another great project, RingOut, reported with the headline: For whom the bells toll: Anyone but Bush, please! Is being planned by a group of nine headed by Christian Herold.
Certain of a deep well of anger among New Yorkers at the Republican decision to come to the city, Herold, 47, formed RingOut this spring. Combining his professional background in sound artistry, and enlisting the help of renowned avant-garde composer Pauline Oliveros, Herold organized the group's two-hour event, which will be divided between a memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks and a performance of a composition by Olivaros entitled "Ringing for Healing." In which at least 3,000 people are expected to ring school, sleigh and cow bells.
One of the more interesting aspects of this event, which they are planning to hold around Ground Zero, is that they are not applying for a permit. If they are blocked from using the sidewalks, they will put the bell-ringers in kayaks on the Hudson. I hope they do that, and kayak past my place!
8/21/2004
Another Discouraging Poll
Many Still Link Iraq With WMD,
Half believe Iraq was either closely linked with al-Qaida before the war (35 percent) or was directly involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on this country (15 percent).What is there to say?
What The Republicans Are Up To
David Horowitz is one of the main strategists behind Karl Rove's success. He wrote a book, The Art of Political War, that is used as a key strategy document by Republicans across-the-board, state and local. The following is from an article about Karl Rove by Sander Hicks: (alternate source)
Again, with current news in mind, let's take a look at some of the other components of Horowitz' recommended strategies. (While reading, understand that Horowitz often says that the things he is writing about are things that "Liberals" do as tactics, which is itself just another tactic of persuasion, to make his right-wing readers feel like victims who must adopt these tactics.) In April, 2000, Horowitz wrote Full-Contact Politics. In it, Horowitz writes,
** Extra Credit: Read what Media Transparency has to say about Horowitz, with a focus on his use of racism.
(Update - Edited, and a quote added, shortly after posting)
"Horowitz wrote The Art of Political War to call on Republicans to create a politics that appealed to the masses: the working families, gays, unions, etc. Karl Rove praised The Art of Political War as indispensible and provided the cover blurb. ("A perfect pocket guide to winning on the political battlefield"-Karl Rove") It is recognized today as the genesis of "Compassionate Conservatism" and is used nation-wide by the Republican Party Chairs in 32 states."From The War at Home:
"During the 2000 presidential and congressional elections, every Republican member of the U.S. Congress received a free pamphlet, compliments of Congressman Tom DeLay, the party's majority whip. Written by conservative activist David Horowitz, the pamphlet was called The Art of Political War: How Republicans Can Fight to Win. It came with an endorsement on the cover by Karl Rove, the senior advisor to then-candidate George W. Bush. According to Rove, The Art of Political War was "a perfect pocket guide to winning on the political battlefield from an experienced warrior." In addition to DeLay's gift to members of Congress, the Heritage Foundation, one of the leading conservative think tanks in Washington, found Horowitz's advice so impressive that it sent another 2,300 copies to conservative activists around the country." [emphasis added]Take a look at what Horowitz says, writing about the "romance of the underdog." From this review of Horowitz' work (go to page 2):
"Horowitz argues that it's necessary "to manipulate the public's feelings in support of your agenda, while mobilizing passions of fear and resentment against your opponent." This is best accomplished, he says, by capitalizing on the "romance of the underdog" and painting oneself as a victim."Keeping in mind that Horowitz' book is considered the "Bible" of Republican strategists, take a look at this news story today:
"Republicans said they would seek to turn any disruptions to their advantage, by portraying protests by even independent activists as Democratic-sanctioned displays of disrespect for a sitting president."In case you hadn't already noticed, portraying themselves as victims is an important component of the Right's strategy.
Again, with current news in mind, let's take a look at some of the other components of Horowitz' recommended strategies. (While reading, understand that Horowitz often says that the things he is writing about are things that "Liberals" do as tactics, which is itself just another tactic of persuasion, to make his right-wing readers feel like victims who must adopt these tactics.) In April, 2000, Horowitz wrote Full-Contact Politics. In it, Horowitz writes,
"3. In political wars, the aggressor usually prevails. [. . .] By striking first, you can define the issues and define your adversary. Definition is the decisive move in all political wars. Other things being equal, whoever winds up on the defensive will generally be on the losing side.Please take a moment to read David Horowitz: Beating the Dems by Going on the Attack. I'll be writing about this later. There will be a test. I think it is especially useful to read the full text of each of the articles cited, to gain understanding of what the Republicans are doing in this election.
4. Position is defined by fear and hope. The twin emotions of politics are fear and hope. Those who provide people with hope become their friends; those who inspire fear become enemies. Of the two, hope is the better choice.
But fear is a powerful and indispensable weapon. If your opponent defines you negatively enough, he will diminish your ability to offer hope. [emphasis added] [. . .] Symbols are so powerful that if you manipulate them cleverly, as liberals do, you can even launch mean-spirited attacks on your opponents and pretend to be compassionate while doing it.
6. Victory lies on the side of the people. This is the bottom line. You must define yourself in ways that the people understand. You must give people hope in your victory, and make them fear the victory of your opponent. You can accomplish both by identifying yourself and your issues with the underdog and the victim, with minorities and the disadvantaged, with the ordinary Janes and Joes."
** Extra Credit: Read what Media Transparency has to say about Horowitz, with a focus on his use of racism.
(Update - Edited, and a quote added, shortly after posting)
8/20/2004
Swift Slime
MediaMatters has posted an analysis of the current brouhaha about "Unfit for Command", comparing it to an earlier book on Bush.
I heard Hatfield interviewed by Amy Goodman on the Pacifica network radio show 'Democracy Now' about six months ago. A transcript is posted here. It was a rather haunting interview, as it was aired after his suicide. He must have been an unstable character, having been convicted of trying to hire someone to kill his boss, and then killing himself after this fact came out in the press. Of course this doesn't reflect on the merit of his allegations about Bush. Personally I think if Bush has committed drug felonies, it needs to be exposed, to expose his hypocrisy, if nothing else.
But comparison of "Unfit for Command and "Fortunate Son..." reveals more illuminating similarities than differences. I was shocked to learn that Hatfield was in some sense seduced into this story. He was contacted by others. Sources were open with him who were not open with others. And why is that? Hmmh. It seemed that none other than Karl Rove had picked the messenger, in this case. It appeared that Rove understood that the message would be discredited by the flaws of the messenger. Who better to break it to the American public that brutish Bush was a former cokehead, than someone whose own flaws would make any tale they told impossible to believe.
In other words: "Fortunate Son..." was plotted by the Republicans, in order to insulate Bush from his own sleazy past. "Unfit for Command" was also plotted by Republicans, in order to turn Kerry's asset, his war-hero sheen, into sleaze.
What have the Democrats plotted?
Such cynicism and manipulation the Kerry campaign must prove itself equal to. At this point they are stuck in a sort of dog paddle of name calling and defensiveness. What is the strategy? It is not enough to poke holes in the other guys argument. That just won't cut it in this election, I fear. Kerry has to demolish Bush, period. Morally, politically, intellectually, economically.
Right now the Kerry campaign is trying to stay positive. They are not flinging political slime. That means no political slime will stick to Bush. Is that going to defeat Bush?
Look at the 'Swift Veterans' campaign, especially at its network of advisors. This was very well planned. They've trotted out spurious charges, in a format that makes them hard to dismiss. When one person makes a statement which is false, or that contradicts his previous statements, it is easy to dismiss that person. When you get a herd, such as that pack of 'Swift Veterans', one's first impulse is to say, Well they couldn't all be lying. That first impulse might be enough to deliver a close election. Of course what really happened is the Texas political sleaze machine worked those Veterans very carefully. They were 'handled' by the masters, who gave the vets a chance to revenge themselves on the anti-war movement.
This incident has really shown what kind of machine Kerry is dealing with. I hope plans for a counter-attack are in the works. This kind of insinuation, that is staged more than argued, that corrupts the climate of opinion despite the fact that the claims are false, may require a response which is intended to slime -- to morally obliterate -- Bush.
In 1999, St. Martin's Press published a book by author James H. Hatfield called "Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President." The book, which contained allegations that then-candidate George W. Bush had used cocaine in the 1970s, received barely any media coverage -- until Hatfield's own past came into question, at which point Hatfield, not the allegations in his book, became the media's primary discussion topic during the story's short life.
I heard Hatfield interviewed by Amy Goodman on the Pacifica network radio show 'Democracy Now' about six months ago. A transcript is posted here. It was a rather haunting interview, as it was aired after his suicide. He must have been an unstable character, having been convicted of trying to hire someone to kill his boss, and then killing himself after this fact came out in the press. Of course this doesn't reflect on the merit of his allegations about Bush. Personally I think if Bush has committed drug felonies, it needs to be exposed, to expose his hypocrisy, if nothing else.
But comparison of "Unfit for Command and "Fortunate Son..." reveals more illuminating similarities than differences. I was shocked to learn that Hatfield was in some sense seduced into this story. He was contacted by others. Sources were open with him who were not open with others. And why is that? Hmmh. It seemed that none other than Karl Rove had picked the messenger, in this case. It appeared that Rove understood that the message would be discredited by the flaws of the messenger. Who better to break it to the American public that brutish Bush was a former cokehead, than someone whose own flaws would make any tale they told impossible to believe.
In other words: "Fortunate Son..." was plotted by the Republicans, in order to insulate Bush from his own sleazy past. "Unfit for Command" was also plotted by Republicans, in order to turn Kerry's asset, his war-hero sheen, into sleaze.
What have the Democrats plotted?
Such cynicism and manipulation the Kerry campaign must prove itself equal to. At this point they are stuck in a sort of dog paddle of name calling and defensiveness. What is the strategy? It is not enough to poke holes in the other guys argument. That just won't cut it in this election, I fear. Kerry has to demolish Bush, period. Morally, politically, intellectually, economically.
Right now the Kerry campaign is trying to stay positive. They are not flinging political slime. That means no political slime will stick to Bush. Is that going to defeat Bush?
Look at the 'Swift Veterans' campaign, especially at its network of advisors. This was very well planned. They've trotted out spurious charges, in a format that makes them hard to dismiss. When one person makes a statement which is false, or that contradicts his previous statements, it is easy to dismiss that person. When you get a herd, such as that pack of 'Swift Veterans', one's first impulse is to say, Well they couldn't all be lying. That first impulse might be enough to deliver a close election. Of course what really happened is the Texas political sleaze machine worked those Veterans very carefully. They were 'handled' by the masters, who gave the vets a chance to revenge themselves on the anti-war movement.
This incident has really shown what kind of machine Kerry is dealing with. I hope plans for a counter-attack are in the works. This kind of insinuation, that is staged more than argued, that corrupts the climate of opinion despite the fact that the claims are false, may require a response which is intended to slime -- to morally obliterate -- Bush.
Pre-Convention Jitters
Dave has asked me to blog about the Republican Convention. Of course I'm not going to be at the convention, will probably not be allowed anywhere near the convention, so I'll only be able to give you my impressions of the effect the convention is having on the city. Well, that's going to be a story in itself. It already is. Manhattan feels like it is under threat, and with good reason. We're treated to news reports of the police preparing to deal with protesters. They're holding drills. Like they need to. They handle dozens of major events every year, so why all this special preparation? Intimidation, of course.
There's just no telling what conditions are going to be like in the city during the convention. They announce something, the public screams, they change it. One choice bit -- there's a huge apartment complex near Pen Station (the Garden is on top of the station -- what a nutty place to put the convention considering the security requirements) called Pen South. It's not a housing project but the city subsidizes it somewhat so a lot of retired people live there -- but so does every other kind of middle-class family; it's not a retirement community. They're not really that close to the station. I never considered it even the same neighborhood. They were given official notice that they should stock up on food and plan to stay inside during the convention! Naturally, being New Yorkers, they immediately took this to the media and are not planning to comply with the instructions. Especially, it turns out, the elderly. There are going to be plenty of those peace sign, cane waving, little old ladies picketing the convention.
It sounds like the plan is to cut the city in half, so a lot will depend on where the Dead Zone is and whether I can get transportation, since the subways they're planning to cancel happen to be all the west side lines because they run under the Garden -- and the busses on the west side are going to be routed to Hell and back. As though that isn't enough, I may well be trapped right here, in my apartment or at least on my block, assuming I'll even be able to walk around the block! I've been planning to lay in food, just in case. The demonstrators are being routed -- right here, on the West Side Highway, which of course means out front. If so, there should be an army of police out front, hostile and demanding ID. I go through a minor version of this every year with the Gay Pride March, so I have some idea what to expect, and just stay inside all day, cursing. This should be like that, only 10 times worse. Of course, that would be a blog in itself. I'll have a ring-side seat.
Assuming the police show up instead of carrying out their proposed sick-out, they're going to be in a terrible mood. They've been following Bloomberg around threatening him because they haven't had a contract for two years. Neither has the fire dept. I expect lots of cracked heads from the demonstrations. I hope not, but that's the mood. A lot of that will probably be up at Central Park, where they're sure to go because they've been refused a permit. Frankly, I'd rather just get out of here while the damned convention is on. The question of where the protestors will go is in court right now. We'll probably know on Monday whether they'll be allowed to use Central Park or end up in front of my place.
I am sure that no groups of demonstrators anyone knows about are planning violence. Everyone is expecting violence. Anyone planning to be here should get a copy of "The People's Guide to the Republican National Convention." Republican, Democrat, demonstrator, or innocent bystander. I've been in situations like this before. How are you going to prove you're a good Republican if the cops pick you up? What if they decide your Convention ID is forged? The Guide is in subway map format, includes a map, and is full of good information and advice. It will easily fit into a purse or pocket. Even if you live here, get a copy. I don't know how to get legal help in a hurry, or where all the free bathrooms are, for example, so I'll keep my copy with me. If you're even thinking of coming here, check out their website. It contains all the information that's in the Guide. Even if you've read through the website, you'll still want to have the Guide with you.
The Guide includes a calendar of events. These started today. An amazing number of events are planned, now through the convention, including live music, films, marches, walks, vigils, ferry rides, rallys, many events in parks, many in churches. Plenty of street theater, too. Major subversive events like the planned Reading of the Constitution and the reading of the names of those killed in Iraq. More about events coming up later.
There's just no telling what conditions are going to be like in the city during the convention. They announce something, the public screams, they change it. One choice bit -- there's a huge apartment complex near Pen Station (the Garden is on top of the station -- what a nutty place to put the convention considering the security requirements) called Pen South. It's not a housing project but the city subsidizes it somewhat so a lot of retired people live there -- but so does every other kind of middle-class family; it's not a retirement community. They're not really that close to the station. I never considered it even the same neighborhood. They were given official notice that they should stock up on food and plan to stay inside during the convention! Naturally, being New Yorkers, they immediately took this to the media and are not planning to comply with the instructions. Especially, it turns out, the elderly. There are going to be plenty of those peace sign, cane waving, little old ladies picketing the convention.
It sounds like the plan is to cut the city in half, so a lot will depend on where the Dead Zone is and whether I can get transportation, since the subways they're planning to cancel happen to be all the west side lines because they run under the Garden -- and the busses on the west side are going to be routed to Hell and back. As though that isn't enough, I may well be trapped right here, in my apartment or at least on my block, assuming I'll even be able to walk around the block! I've been planning to lay in food, just in case. The demonstrators are being routed -- right here, on the West Side Highway, which of course means out front. If so, there should be an army of police out front, hostile and demanding ID. I go through a minor version of this every year with the Gay Pride March, so I have some idea what to expect, and just stay inside all day, cursing. This should be like that, only 10 times worse. Of course, that would be a blog in itself. I'll have a ring-side seat.
Assuming the police show up instead of carrying out their proposed sick-out, they're going to be in a terrible mood. They've been following Bloomberg around threatening him because they haven't had a contract for two years. Neither has the fire dept. I expect lots of cracked heads from the demonstrations. I hope not, but that's the mood. A lot of that will probably be up at Central Park, where they're sure to go because they've been refused a permit. Frankly, I'd rather just get out of here while the damned convention is on. The question of where the protestors will go is in court right now. We'll probably know on Monday whether they'll be allowed to use Central Park or end up in front of my place.
I am sure that no groups of demonstrators anyone knows about are planning violence. Everyone is expecting violence. Anyone planning to be here should get a copy of "The People's Guide to the Republican National Convention." Republican, Democrat, demonstrator, or innocent bystander. I've been in situations like this before. How are you going to prove you're a good Republican if the cops pick you up? What if they decide your Convention ID is forged? The Guide is in subway map format, includes a map, and is full of good information and advice. It will easily fit into a purse or pocket. Even if you live here, get a copy. I don't know how to get legal help in a hurry, or where all the free bathrooms are, for example, so I'll keep my copy with me. If you're even thinking of coming here, check out their website. It contains all the information that's in the Guide. Even if you've read through the website, you'll still want to have the Guide with you.
The Guide includes a calendar of events. These started today. An amazing number of events are planned, now through the convention, including live music, films, marches, walks, vigils, ferry rides, rallys, many events in parks, many in churches. Plenty of street theater, too. Major subversive events like the planned Reading of the Constitution and the reading of the names of those killed in Iraq. More about events coming up later.
One Volunteered, The Other Smears Him For It
The bigger picture. One went, the other hid.
Digby says,
He also said,
Finally, Digby says,
Digby says,
"The sad thing, of course, is that Kerry will never have his reputation back and at a time when Vietnam veterans were finally beginning to receive their due for their service a bunch of self righteous, petty old men stepped in to cast doubts on them all over again. Nice bunch of patriots selling out their brothers toward the end of their lives to protest a man they claim sold them out when they were young. By any means necessary I guess. "Yep.
He also said,
"However, there is an interesting example of how a smear can be fought to a standstill (although with your reputation forever shredded.) That is the method by which Clinton fought the Monica frenzy. He turned it into an attack on Ken Starr. And it largely worked because people instinctively recoil at the idea of nosy creeps like Starr rifling through other people's underwear drawers.But don't forget, it worked against McCain.
There are elements of the same thing here if the Democrats can correctly keep the frame where they want it to be. A man who maneuvered his way out of Vietnam is now ruthlessly tearing down the war record of one who volunteered for combat. That just doesn't sit well --- it breaks the unwritten rules we have about military service. Just as with the Starr counter attack, the rabid GOP base will become even more agitated and wild. But, the majority of the country will likely begin to see through the smokescreen to what is really going on. And it could end up hurting Bush more than Kerry."
Finally, Digby says,
"I am e-mailing the following quote to members of the press today. And, I think that all talking heads should have it on a 3x5 card and repeat it everytime they face a swift boat liar or one of their mouthpieces. Everybody needs to be reminded of what the real contrast is here. It's not between Kerry the hero vs Kerry the alleged liar, but rather, the combat volunteer vs the chickenhawk smear artist.Read that quote again. Bush, the war supporter. But for him, serving wasn't even one of the options to be considered. Only ways to get out of it. Sounds like the story of his life, doesn't it? How to get around the hard parts.“I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes." George W. Bush on why he joined the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, 1990.
Go Read About Big Goverment
Go read about Big Government over at The Stakeholder: The Stakeholder :: A Word on "Big Government".
But of course this pales in comparison to the now-famous memo regarding interrogations claiming the right of the President to "set aside" both domestic law and international treaties. In this memo, the administration's lawyers attempted to essentially sever the bonds holding the executive to the will of the people, arguing that the executive transcended the citizenry. Sovereignty no longer rested with the people, but with the President, who now was uninhibited from expressing his will not only over Americans, but over the entire human race. Perhaps the words "Big Government" are not strong enough.Stakeholder, by the way, is the blog of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Informed and Not Informed
(Trying again, after Blogger ate the great post I had been working on...)
In case you were wondering...
Poll: Many Still Link Iraq With WMD:
This is why things like Bush's Swift Boat smear are so effective. We look at it and think, "How could anyone fall for something like that?" MOST people get their information through channels that are very different from what you and I would think. The e-mail chain letter, the "joke" with the premise that Kerry is a flip-flopper, a comment by the DJ on the FM station...
You and I (like to think that we) get information from many sources, and balance what we learn with what we know about the sources, and weigh the evidence, and we think that logical arguments lead to conclusions. But that is not how it works for most people. The Right understands this, so they study the process. They learn how people DO receive and process information, and use that. The Right, like the marketing industry, has been studying this for 30 years. Books like 'The Tipping Point' or 'Why We Buy' or 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' are excellent sources of info on persuasion.
The instant I saw the Swift Boat smear ad I knew it was going to be effective. But I was looking at where and how it was being spread. I think maybe the people at the top of the Kerry campaign were looking at what they saw in the mainstream papers, and the mainline pundits, and thought that having McCain denounce the ad would be enough. I think they were seeing the world through their logical, reasoning eyes.
Do you remember some time ago I wrote about a flurry of letters-to-the-editor and talk-show call-ins claiming that Kerry pushes in front of people in lines and says, "Don't you know who I am?" One I heard was on a financial call-in program and out-of-the-blue a caller says she was in a drugstore and Kerry pushed his way into the front of the line... (The second time I wrote about it was here. Can't find the first.)
Here is another example, from an e-mail a friend innocently forwarded to several people, including me, the other day:
In case you were wondering...
Poll: Many Still Link Iraq With WMD:
"More than half of Americans, percent, continue to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or a program to develop them before the United States invaded last year, according to a poll released Friday."I keep saying, you and I are different. We read blogs, we follow the news, WE ARE INFORMED. We listen to all the evidence and then weigh it, deciding what we think about the sources, and finally all of that leads us to reason out a conclusion. But this is not how most people learn about what is happening in politics.
This is why things like Bush's Swift Boat smear are so effective. We look at it and think, "How could anyone fall for something like that?" MOST people get their information through channels that are very different from what you and I would think. The e-mail chain letter, the "joke" with the premise that Kerry is a flip-flopper, a comment by the DJ on the FM station...
You and I (like to think that we) get information from many sources, and balance what we learn with what we know about the sources, and weigh the evidence, and we think that logical arguments lead to conclusions. But that is not how it works for most people. The Right understands this, so they study the process. They learn how people DO receive and process information, and use that. The Right, like the marketing industry, has been studying this for 30 years. Books like 'The Tipping Point' or 'Why We Buy' or 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' are excellent sources of info on persuasion.
The instant I saw the Swift Boat smear ad I knew it was going to be effective. But I was looking at where and how it was being spread. I think maybe the people at the top of the Kerry campaign were looking at what they saw in the mainstream papers, and the mainline pundits, and thought that having McCain denounce the ad would be enough. I think they were seeing the world through their logical, reasoning eyes.
Do you remember some time ago I wrote about a flurry of letters-to-the-editor and talk-show call-ins claiming that Kerry pushes in front of people in lines and says, "Don't you know who I am?" One I heard was on a financial call-in program and out-of-the-blue a caller says she was in a drugstore and Kerry pushed his way into the front of the line... (The second time I wrote about it was here. Can't find the first.)
Here is another example, from an e-mail a friend innocently forwarded to several people, including me, the other day:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?Innocuous? You tell me.
A:
GEORGE W BUSH -- We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either against us or for us. There is no middle ground here.
GEORGE W BUSH -- America is a safer place today because we stopped these chickens in their tracks. Sure, they wanted us to leave - that's because these chickens hate freedom - have you seen their coops?? But we ran 'em out. Smoked 'em out. You might say we fricaseed ?em (if I could pronounce a word that big). And now the'?re crying fowl. But the next time some evildoers think about crossing America's streets, they'll remember our little pullet surprise.
JOHN KERRY-- Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against allowing the chicken back to the other side, unless our international allies agree to escort it.
RALPH NADER -- The chicken's habitat on the other side of the road had been polluted by unchecked industrial greed. The chicken did not reach the unspoiled habitat on the other side of the road because it was crushed by the wheels of a gas-guzzling SUV.
RUSH LIMBAUGH -- I don't know why the chicken crossed the road, but I'll bet it was getting a government grant to cross the road, and I'll bet that somebody out there is already forming a support group to help chickens with crossing-the-road syndrome. Can you believe this? How much more of this can real Americans take? Chickens crossing the road paid for by their tax dollars. And when I say tax dollars, I'm talking about your money, money the government took from you to build a road for chickens to cross.
MARTHA STEWART -- No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
SIGMUND FREUD -- The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.
BILL CLINTON -- I did not cross the road with THAT chicken.
AL GORE -- I invented the chicken!
COLONEL SANDERS -- Did I miss one?
Violence at Republican Convention
I'm 100% sure that provocateurs and police will coordinate their activities for maximum prime-time coverage, and that the leaders of previously-unknown violent anarchist groups will mysteriously disappear at the key moment, leaving their hapless followers to battle the police and eventually do hard time.
A significant proportion of the violence during the 60's was found afterwards to have been instigated by undercover agents posing as protestors. If it is not supported by the great majority of the population, "direct action" has a polarizing effect which helps the right wing. The right-wingers will produce their own anarchists if none show up naturally.
Provocateurs played a role at the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia, where there were many arrests -- arrests which were aggressively prosecuted.
Police also have the ability to turn a peaceful demonstration into a violent one by crowding in on demonstrators who have no way of escape. Some of the demonstrators will resist, allowing the police to say that the demonstrators started the whole thing.
Anarchists are by definition not Kerry supporters; as far as that goes, they really can't be Nader supporters either. This is an example of a case when the Kerry team should have a media response ready to go instantly at any hint of trouble, and it wouldn't do any harm to put out a preemptive statement disavowing disruptive activities. We can be sure that the Bush team has something ready to go blaming everything on an "anti-war left" defined nebulously enough to seem to include Kerry supporters.
Sample anarchist story
Philadelphia Convention I
Philadelphia Convention II
(Based on a comment I left at The Talking Dog. I will now return to my retirement).
A significant proportion of the violence during the 60's was found afterwards to have been instigated by undercover agents posing as protestors. If it is not supported by the great majority of the population, "direct action" has a polarizing effect which helps the right wing. The right-wingers will produce their own anarchists if none show up naturally.
Provocateurs played a role at the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia, where there were many arrests -- arrests which were aggressively prosecuted.
Police also have the ability to turn a peaceful demonstration into a violent one by crowding in on demonstrators who have no way of escape. Some of the demonstrators will resist, allowing the police to say that the demonstrators started the whole thing.
Anarchists are by definition not Kerry supporters; as far as that goes, they really can't be Nader supporters either. This is an example of a case when the Kerry team should have a media response ready to go instantly at any hint of trouble, and it wouldn't do any harm to put out a preemptive statement disavowing disruptive activities. We can be sure that the Bush team has something ready to go blaming everything on an "anti-war left" defined nebulously enough to seem to include Kerry supporters.
Sample anarchist story
Philadelphia Convention I
Philadelphia Convention II
(Based on a comment I left at The Talking Dog. I will now return to my retirement).
Overtime Pay Goes Away
New Overtime Rules to Take Effect Monday:
"The Labor Department says as many as 107,000 workers could lose overtime eligibility under its new rules, but about 1.3 million will gain it. The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington think tank, says 6 million will lose, and only a few will get new rights to premium pay for working more than 40 hours a week."Coming, if Bush wins in November, end of minimum wage and right to join unions, no more vacations. Think I'm kidding?
Edwards
Question - Why is the news media completely ignoring Edwards? I have not heard a word about him since the convention. What's he doing? What's he been saying?
8/19/2004
washingtonpost.com - Best political blog contest
washingtonpost.com - Best political blog contest, blogs about politics and elections, top bloggers. They are taking nominations (hint, hint).
Kerry Responds to Smear -- And It's Good!
Kerry finally responded directly to Bush's "Swift Boat Veterans" smear. And he did well. I hope this is just the start of a coordinated response that takes it straight back to Bush, making Republican smears an issue in this campaign.
There is a new ad that addresses the smear itself. To see it, go to the Kerry website and watch "Rassmann." The ad is good, addresses one of the main points by saying "Today he still has shrapnel in his leg from his wounds in Vietnam." This is a good approach. The ad itself doesn't get bogged down in detail, it just puts the lie to the heart of the smear that his wounds were not real. If he still has shrapnel in his leg, that makes Bush a liar for smearing his Purple Hearts. Short, simple, forest (big picture) not trees (details). The Kerry website is stressing the response, as well as a strong press release that details the lies, AND the money behind the smear. Definitely worth a read! (This is the right place for details, where those who care can find them.)
Today, addressing firefighters in Boston, Kerry said,
I hope they keep this up, and make the Republican tactic of smearing the issue in the campaign. Take it back to Bush, talk about the history of Republicans smearing opponents, and make THAT a big issue in this campaign. That makes it hard for them to try another smear, and gets them on the defensive about this on an issue they really can't defend. It's what they DO! So make them pay for it.
Update - Just saw it on CNN. They showed part of Kerry's speech, where he was laying it straight on Bush! It was GOOD, it was STRONG!
Reuters headline at My Yahoo: Bush Uses Surrogates for 'Dirty Work,' Kerry Says
There is a new ad that addresses the smear itself. To see it, go to the Kerry website and watch "Rassmann." The ad is good, addresses one of the main points by saying "Today he still has shrapnel in his leg from his wounds in Vietnam." This is a good approach. The ad itself doesn't get bogged down in detail, it just puts the lie to the heart of the smear that his wounds were not real. If he still has shrapnel in his leg, that makes Bush a liar for smearing his Purple Hearts. Short, simple, forest (big picture) not trees (details). The Kerry website is stressing the response, as well as a strong press release that details the lies, AND the money behind the smear. Definitely worth a read! (This is the right place for details, where those who care can find them.)
Today, addressing firefighters in Boston, Kerry said,
"...Over the last week or so, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been attacking me. Of course, this group isn't interested in the truth -- and they're not telling the truth. They didn't even exist until I won the nomination for president.They're doing everything right today. The ad is going to get this in front of the people that matter -- the people the smear campaign was targeted to -- people like this veteran, from a San Jose News story this morning,
But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the President won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know -- he wants them to do his dirty work.
Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented my service in Vietnam and awarded me the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam.
As firefighters you risk your lives everyday. You know what it?s like to see the truth in the moment. You're proud of what you've done--and so am I.
Of course, the President keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that. Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: "Bring it on."
I?m not going to let anyone question my commitment to defending America--then, now, or ever. And I'm not going to let anyone attack the sacrifice and courage of the men who saw battle with me.
And let me make this commitment today: their lies about my record will not stop me from fighting for jobs, health care, and our security -- the issues that really matter to the American people."
"The pro-Kerry talk elicits guffaws from the other end of the bar.Two weeks ago I wrote,
"I think a lot of Kerry's Vietnam service was fabricated to build him up," said Frank Martinez, 57, who did two tours of duty there and is still offended the Massachusetts Democrat was a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. "Kerry is just like Jane Fonda. I think Bush is qualified to lead the nation again."
"And now a big Kerry smear arrives. What response has Kerry prepared? To me, this is the question of the election. What does Kerry have ready in response? Did I say that we all knew it was coming. This is what Bush Sr. did to Dukakis. This is what Bush did to Gore. The Big Smear. This is what Republicans do.Well, it looks like the Kerry campaign is starting to respond effectively. The ad talks to the people who are questioning Kerry. The campaign is taking it straight to the source -- BUSH. It is STRONG, and done well. Go see the ad and read the release. You'll feel better, you'll like Kerry a lot more, and you'll feel like he will do the job. You'll feel like this guy will protect us from the Republicans as well as foreign threats -- something I think a lot of us have worried about (remember things like Lieberman in 2000 caving, saying it was OK to count illegal absentee ballots?)
Since Bush Sr. effectively used these tactics on Dukakis the Democrats must have been preparing a response. Right? Or at least since they did it to Gore. Right? They must have had teams of psychologists, linguists, advertising pros, etc. doing the necessary research on how to most effectively respond to this kind of smear. Right?
To me, this goes beyond the campaign. This goes beyond protecting their own political careers. This goes to protecting us. What is the criticism of Bush for 9/11? That all the signs were there that we were going to be attacked, and they ignored it.
Does Kerry have a devastating response ready for The Big Smear? To me this is the same question as: Is Kerry ready to be president?"
I hope they keep this up, and make the Republican tactic of smearing the issue in the campaign. Take it back to Bush, talk about the history of Republicans smearing opponents, and make THAT a big issue in this campaign. That makes it hard for them to try another smear, and gets them on the defensive about this on an issue they really can't defend. It's what they DO! So make them pay for it.
Update - Just saw it on CNN. They showed part of Kerry's speech, where he was laying it straight on Bush! It was GOOD, it was STRONG!
Reuters headline at My Yahoo: Bush Uses Surrogates for 'Dirty Work,' Kerry Says
"Kerry said a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has attacked the Massachusetts senator's war record via television advertisements, was funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor in Texas, Bush's home state.AP headline at My Yahoo: Kerry: Bush Lets Groups Do 'Dirty Work'
"They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work," Kerry told a convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a politically active union which backs Kerry."
"Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush on Thursday of relying on front groups to challenge his record of valor in Vietnam, asserting, "He wants them to do his dirty work."Oh, I'm happy today!
Fighting back, Kerry said if Bush wants to "have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: 'Bring it on.'"
8/18/2004
Effect of Ad
I just caught a poll reported on MSNBC that says about 30% of independent-swing voters who had been leaning to Kerry change their mind after seeing the "Swift Boat Veterans" ad.
It's working -- big time.
So I turn to Fox, and guess what - they're repeating the story. And, as I said, it's the ONLY story on any AM radio station you tune to.
Meanwhile, new polls show Bush catching up. DUH!
When is the Kerry campaign going to figure out that they need to respond?
It's working -- big time.
So I turn to Fox, and guess what - they're repeating the story. And, as I said, it's the ONLY story on any AM radio station you tune to.
Meanwhile, new polls show Bush catching up. DUH!
When is the Kerry campaign going to figure out that they need to respond?
8/17/2004
Bush Says Kerry Soft On Weather
Bush Says Kerry Soft On Weather:
"Electing Kerry Is Just What Terrible Weather Wants, Says GOP
President Bush, while touring hurricane-ravaged Florida today, called John Kerry "soft on weather" and claimed that "bad" bad weather" would be absolutely thrilled to see Kerry in office this November."
Ads
Bill at LiberalOasis points out that Kerry is "conserving money for the 10-week homestretch after Labor Day" and that groups like MoveOn.org and The Media Fund are running ads in the swing states.
I don't live in a swing state so I decided to go to The Media Fund's website to see some of the ads. You can even contribute money to help them put these ads on the air!
Also, MoveOn.org is running an ad responding to the Bush smear on Kerry's Vietnam service. Go see it. And, of course, give them some cash to help get this ad on the air.
I don't live in a swing state so I decided to go to The Media Fund's website to see some of the ads. You can even contribute money to help them put these ads on the air!
Also, MoveOn.org is running an ad responding to the Bush smear on Kerry's Vietnam service. Go see it. And, of course, give them some cash to help get this ad on the air.
Mad As Hell!
Beat the Press by Air America co-founder Sheldon Drobny:
"I want everyone to go to their windows open them and scream out "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" or words to that affect. Since we all cannot do that at the same time, there is an effective way to fight the media and demand news that is useful, informative and somewhat independent. People who are upset with these media giants have to stop watching them until they change. Get your families together and start talking to each other. Read books or listen to CDs and alternative forms of entertainment. Rent or buy videos. Watch the History Channel or the Food Channel. Do anything but do not watch CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC or any of their affiliates. It is a very small sacrifice to save your country. Our fighting men in Iraq have sacrificed their lives, limbs, and families to fight this illegal war that an independent media could have prevented. It is a very small sacrifice, but if you really care and participate, the media giants will have no choice but to change. They will be on their knees begging for the liberals that they demonize so much to start watching again. And the liberal audience is the most lucrative for the networks in spite of how terrible we are treated. That audience is the Jon Stewart, David Letterman group that the networks are so hungry to get. "Take action!
More on the Swift Boat Mess
I seem to have hit a nerve.
Of course I'm saying that Kerry was a hero. A double hero. First, during his service under fire. Second, for his outspoken service in VVAW. As we are about to find out once again, it takes genuine guts to openly oppose an oppressive government. At this moment, the FBI is VISITING -- not just investigating but VISITING THE HOMES of those they expect to turn up in NYC to protest the Republican Convention and questioning them. One person I've seen on TV who was "interviewed" by the FBI was a nice old guy whose neighbors were pissed off and turned him in because he has anti-Bush posters in his window! Now, that's like Nazi Germany or the worst days of the Soviet Union. Neighbors turning in neighbors -- and the government acting on it, instead of telling them to mind their own business. Things are getting pretty bad, folks. We're going to need our heroes, and we're going to have to examine our own supply of courage and how willing we are to personally take risks. The Bush crowd has made it very clear that they're a nasty, vindictive bunch. Get out of line, say anything that angers them, and they're going to get you. The shocker is that this isn't just at the higher political levels. It's starting to reach into ordinary people's homes and lives.
By now we've pretty much forgotten how much courage it took to join VVAW. Or any of the other groups opposing the draft and the war. I had friends who escaped to Canada after being mauled by police dogs. Some are still there. Yeah, things sometimes really got that bad back then. I saw plenty of heads being cracked, too, and I'm afraid I'm going to see lots more of that during the Convention.
At the same time, it is not a sin to be willing to serve your country. There were those who believed then, and those who sincerely believe now, that the government is doing the right thing. This is America, folks, and they have a right to believe that. That's not the problem. The problem is that feelings on both sides are running very high, and those feelings are being exploited in the most cynical ways possible by people like Rove for political gain. This should be a dialog, not overwhelming hatred for each other. That's what has happened to the Swift Boat crowd. Whether they're right or wrong in their feeling that Kerry betrayed them is ultimately beside the point; they do feel that way, and that feeling comes from 30 and more years of emotional pain. I'm not a bleeding-heart liberal saying we have to forgive them. They're acting like a bunch of jackasses and allowing themselves to be exploited. What I'm trying to say is that things are rarely as simple or one-dimensional as they look on the surface and we're ALL being manipulated. To the extent we're aware of this, we can fight back. There's really no reason for well-meaning Americans to be at each other's throats -- we've been manipulated into it.
As for the soldiers now fighting in Iraq, that isn't all that one-dimensional, either. We already know they're not going to be treated very well -- by the Bush administration. Yeah, we have a volunteer army. Yeah, some will have enlisted because they're maniacal killers at heart, but these things go on a sliding scale. What about those who enlisted for economic reasons? There just aren't that many good jobs out there, and many have enlisted, during peace time, for the traditional reasons of learning a trade and maybe "seeing the world". And how about the reserves and the National Guard? Nobody expected to be fighting a war in Iraq. The cold war had ended, remember, and we were at peace. Undoubtedly, some even enlisted because of patriotic feelings of being of service to their country. If we dispose of values like honor, patriotism, and service, because that cynical crowd in the Bush administration has turned these into dirty words, what will we have become? We can't let these robbers destroy us.
Of course I'm saying that Kerry was a hero. A double hero. First, during his service under fire. Second, for his outspoken service in VVAW. As we are about to find out once again, it takes genuine guts to openly oppose an oppressive government. At this moment, the FBI is VISITING -- not just investigating but VISITING THE HOMES of those they expect to turn up in NYC to protest the Republican Convention and questioning them. One person I've seen on TV who was "interviewed" by the FBI was a nice old guy whose neighbors were pissed off and turned him in because he has anti-Bush posters in his window! Now, that's like Nazi Germany or the worst days of the Soviet Union. Neighbors turning in neighbors -- and the government acting on it, instead of telling them to mind their own business. Things are getting pretty bad, folks. We're going to need our heroes, and we're going to have to examine our own supply of courage and how willing we are to personally take risks. The Bush crowd has made it very clear that they're a nasty, vindictive bunch. Get out of line, say anything that angers them, and they're going to get you. The shocker is that this isn't just at the higher political levels. It's starting to reach into ordinary people's homes and lives.
By now we've pretty much forgotten how much courage it took to join VVAW. Or any of the other groups opposing the draft and the war. I had friends who escaped to Canada after being mauled by police dogs. Some are still there. Yeah, things sometimes really got that bad back then. I saw plenty of heads being cracked, too, and I'm afraid I'm going to see lots more of that during the Convention.
At the same time, it is not a sin to be willing to serve your country. There were those who believed then, and those who sincerely believe now, that the government is doing the right thing. This is America, folks, and they have a right to believe that. That's not the problem. The problem is that feelings on both sides are running very high, and those feelings are being exploited in the most cynical ways possible by people like Rove for political gain. This should be a dialog, not overwhelming hatred for each other. That's what has happened to the Swift Boat crowd. Whether they're right or wrong in their feeling that Kerry betrayed them is ultimately beside the point; they do feel that way, and that feeling comes from 30 and more years of emotional pain. I'm not a bleeding-heart liberal saying we have to forgive them. They're acting like a bunch of jackasses and allowing themselves to be exploited. What I'm trying to say is that things are rarely as simple or one-dimensional as they look on the surface and we're ALL being manipulated. To the extent we're aware of this, we can fight back. There's really no reason for well-meaning Americans to be at each other's throats -- we've been manipulated into it.
As for the soldiers now fighting in Iraq, that isn't all that one-dimensional, either. We already know they're not going to be treated very well -- by the Bush administration. Yeah, we have a volunteer army. Yeah, some will have enlisted because they're maniacal killers at heart, but these things go on a sliding scale. What about those who enlisted for economic reasons? There just aren't that many good jobs out there, and many have enlisted, during peace time, for the traditional reasons of learning a trade and maybe "seeing the world". And how about the reserves and the National Guard? Nobody expected to be fighting a war in Iraq. The cold war had ended, remember, and we were at peace. Undoubtedly, some even enlisted because of patriotic feelings of being of service to their country. If we dispose of values like honor, patriotism, and service, because that cynical crowd in the Bush administration has turned these into dirty words, what will we have become? We can't let these robbers destroy us.
The Swift Boat Mess
The Kerry campaign has to have known that it was waving a red flag when Kerry's Vietnam war record was made the focus of the campaign. They couldn't possibly have overlooked the bitterness that still exists among veterans because of his leadership role in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, could they?
The sad truth is, the vets have a point. Attacking Kerry's war record makes little sense, but they're cynically being led to do that by the corrupt group behind the attack. It was the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Kerry's role in it, that finally turned public opinion against the war. The result was that the returning vets were treated HORRIBLY, and they blame Kerry for it. To them, Kerry was a traitor to his fellow vets. Yes, they really were treated horribly, and they should have at least been treated with respect.
I remember one night, returning by plane from New York to Detroit. There were some crippled veterans, in uniform, on the plane, and they were derided and made fun of by other passengers during the entire flight.
One of the vets, in uniform and on crutches, happened to be the son of a neighbor, so we decided to share a cab. It was a rainy night, late. NO cab would stop for us. Crowds from other flights appeared and cabs took them away. I finally moved away from him, got a cab immediately, and forced the driver to take him home. Not funny.
I was avidly opposed to the war and took part in every demonstration against it I could. Even so, I knew many of the vets and saw how horribly they were treated -- for years afterward. The war was not their fault, and no wonder they are still bitter. Kerry's message about the war is double-edged. Yes, he was undoubtedly a hero. Yes, the vets consider him a traitor who caused them incredible pain. Both are true.
This is a far more complex problem than most of us realize. Yes, it's also true that Kerry's stand against the war was as heroic as his war service. It had a huge impact on public opinion and helped end the war. That's certainly a good thing. Turning against the soldiers who had served their country was a horrible thing to do. They not only had no parades, no welcome when they came home, which all other returning soldiers in our history had received, but were treated with contempt. This was as shocking and damaging to many of them as the war itself.
Dismissing them as a bunch of evil, worthless drunks doesn't cut it. It's true that the vets returning from Vietnam had a rougher time than any previous group of soldiers adjusting to civilian life. Vast numbers of them never did adjust. The homeless population is filled with Vietnam vets, even now. Isn't this largely because they were treated so badly instead of being welcomed home and helped to adjust, as all other groups of returning soldiers had been? Of course plenty of them are still bitter. And of course this bitterness is being exploited by the Republican party. Aren't they cynically being made victims once again?
The question is, what to do about this now? I can't help wondering whether the Democratic leadership didn't cynically know that stressing Kerry's war record, while ignoring his stand in Vietnem Veterans Against the War, was bait, that the result would be irrational, frothing-at-the-mouth attacks they could ultimately use to their advantage to make the Republicans look as nutty and evil as possible -- thus victiming the vets once again, and submitting them to even more abuse from both sides. Life is never as black/white or as one-dimensional as we like to think it is. Another sad truth is that we're making the same mistakes in Iraq that we made in Vietnam -- setting up a puppet government, turning the mess we've created over to them to handle, while we pull the puppet strings in the background. Just so this time we remember how these troops got to Iraq and don't treat them as badly as the Vietnam vets were treated when they come home.
The sad truth is, the vets have a point. Attacking Kerry's war record makes little sense, but they're cynically being led to do that by the corrupt group behind the attack. It was the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Kerry's role in it, that finally turned public opinion against the war. The result was that the returning vets were treated HORRIBLY, and they blame Kerry for it. To them, Kerry was a traitor to his fellow vets. Yes, they really were treated horribly, and they should have at least been treated with respect.
I remember one night, returning by plane from New York to Detroit. There were some crippled veterans, in uniform, on the plane, and they were derided and made fun of by other passengers during the entire flight.
One of the vets, in uniform and on crutches, happened to be the son of a neighbor, so we decided to share a cab. It was a rainy night, late. NO cab would stop for us. Crowds from other flights appeared and cabs took them away. I finally moved away from him, got a cab immediately, and forced the driver to take him home. Not funny.
I was avidly opposed to the war and took part in every demonstration against it I could. Even so, I knew many of the vets and saw how horribly they were treated -- for years afterward. The war was not their fault, and no wonder they are still bitter. Kerry's message about the war is double-edged. Yes, he was undoubtedly a hero. Yes, the vets consider him a traitor who caused them incredible pain. Both are true.
This is a far more complex problem than most of us realize. Yes, it's also true that Kerry's stand against the war was as heroic as his war service. It had a huge impact on public opinion and helped end the war. That's certainly a good thing. Turning against the soldiers who had served their country was a horrible thing to do. They not only had no parades, no welcome when they came home, which all other returning soldiers in our history had received, but were treated with contempt. This was as shocking and damaging to many of them as the war itself.
Dismissing them as a bunch of evil, worthless drunks doesn't cut it. It's true that the vets returning from Vietnam had a rougher time than any previous group of soldiers adjusting to civilian life. Vast numbers of them never did adjust. The homeless population is filled with Vietnam vets, even now. Isn't this largely because they were treated so badly instead of being welcomed home and helped to adjust, as all other groups of returning soldiers had been? Of course plenty of them are still bitter. And of course this bitterness is being exploited by the Republican party. Aren't they cynically being made victims once again?
The question is, what to do about this now? I can't help wondering whether the Democratic leadership didn't cynically know that stressing Kerry's war record, while ignoring his stand in Vietnem Veterans Against the War, was bait, that the result would be irrational, frothing-at-the-mouth attacks they could ultimately use to their advantage to make the Republicans look as nutty and evil as possible -- thus victiming the vets once again, and submitting them to even more abuse from both sides. Life is never as black/white or as one-dimensional as we like to think it is. Another sad truth is that we're making the same mistakes in Iraq that we made in Vietnam -- setting up a puppet government, turning the mess we've created over to them to handle, while we pull the puppet strings in the background. Just so this time we remember how these troops got to Iraq and don't treat them as badly as the Vietnam vets were treated when they come home.
8/16/2004
Bad Faith
With the Bush administration, we have a government that runs on a toxic combination of faith and greed. The first covers the amorality and corruption of the latter. Have you heard any the exchanges at Dubya's prayer meetings - Oops, I mean intimate gathering with Christians - Oops I mean voters. "I want to thank you for stepping up," the faithful declare, and our prez chuckles. Oh he is loved by his flock: "Thank you for taking on the immorality of the secularists, the gays, the scientists, Thank you!"
No wonder their policies are so incompentent, in such a staggering variety of ways. Faith greases a lot of human endeavor, not just the struggles of the spirit. It's a grease for reason, argument, it motivates the drive to find common ground. Faith turns insight into policy, but it is, fundamentally, faith in reason. This administration has turned its back on that faith. "Harumph," says Laura Bush, "Who knows whether this stem cell science will result in any useful treatments at all!" Yes, who knows - and if you don't believe in science, not knowing the result of the experiment is sufficient reason to cancel it.
A corollary to this disdain for reason is the incredible arrogance of one administration official after another in hacking data in order to feed the base & accumulate power. A good example is from the disheartening current series in the WashPo, called "The Fine Print", in which they introduce
Using perversion of technical standards to gut policies that are based on technical standards! Over and over at the heart of it all there's just a staggering amount of bad faith: Government as charade. It's as if they don't think they live in a real world. Certainly the lack of planning for post-war Iraq showed an extraordinary disdain for the world outside their talking points. Condi and Dubya have their 'chemistry' - so how could it matter that neither knows a thing about the Middle-East. Pshaw on such quibbles. The Administration hired for the Occupation from a stack of resumes acquired by the Heritage Foundation, with no screening for any other qualification. Of course they dumped the State Department studies on the the post-war challenges, which were put together by many knowledgeable people.
The most potent mystery is how our country could have produced such a bunch of idiots and swallowed their lies for so long. Is it the corporate media? Suburban culture? 9-11 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
No wonder their policies are so incompentent, in such a staggering variety of ways. Faith greases a lot of human endeavor, not just the struggles of the spirit. It's a grease for reason, argument, it motivates the drive to find common ground. Faith turns insight into policy, but it is, fundamentally, faith in reason. This administration has turned its back on that faith. "Harumph," says Laura Bush, "Who knows whether this stem cell science will result in any useful treatments at all!" Yes, who knows - and if you don't believe in science, not knowing the result of the experiment is sufficient reason to cancel it.
A corollary to this disdain for reason is the incredible arrogance of one administration official after another in hacking data in order to feed the base & accumulate power. A good example is from the disheartening current series in the WashPo, called "The Fine Print", in which they introduce
the Data Quality Act, a little-known piece of legislation that, under President Bush's Office of Management and Budget, has become a potent tool for companies seeking to beat back regulation.
Using perversion of technical standards to gut policies that are based on technical standards! Over and over at the heart of it all there's just a staggering amount of bad faith: Government as charade. It's as if they don't think they live in a real world. Certainly the lack of planning for post-war Iraq showed an extraordinary disdain for the world outside their talking points. Condi and Dubya have their 'chemistry' - so how could it matter that neither knows a thing about the Middle-East. Pshaw on such quibbles. The Administration hired for the Occupation from a stack of resumes acquired by the Heritage Foundation, with no screening for any other qualification. Of course they dumped the State Department studies on the the post-war challenges, which were put together by many knowledgeable people.
The most potent mystery is how our country could have produced such a bunch of idiots and swallowed their lies for so long. Is it the corporate media? Suburban culture? 9-11 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Arianna
NEWSFLASH: THERE WILL BE NO MODERATES SPEAKING AT THE GOP CONVENTION!
If I read one more article talking about all the "moderate Republicans" who are going to be speaking at the upcoming GOP convention, I'm going to have a seizure.
Let's get one thing straight: anyone who is backing George Bush in the 2004 election is, by definition, not a moderate -- no matter how warm and fuzzy their position on abortion and gay rights.
Social issues like choice, gay rights, and gun control are not the defining issues of this campaign. The defining issues are: how the war on terror is being prosecuted, the wisdom (to say nothing of sanity and morality) of slashing taxes in a time of war, and the blatant irresponsibility the GOP has shown by saddling our children with a national debt that will reach $12 trillion over the next ten years. Period.
The Smear
I've been very busy today, but have checked in to right-wing radio and news a bit, only to find that the Kerry smear is the ONLY story. Today they are portraying the Swift Boat Veterans, the organization DOING the smearing, as VICTIMS of smears and unfair attacks. Their regular talking points are that Democrats are trying to shout them down, smear them, etc...
Here are some more smear-related stories:
Swimming From Cambodia
And new smears emerge:
"Kerry: I Wouldn't Respond to Nuclear Attack"
Here are some more smear-related stories:
Swimming From Cambodia
"John Kerry is desperately trying to slide safely away from the collapse of his "Christmas in Cambodia" fairy tale. Two embarrassing "failures of memory" now permanently scar Senator Kerry's campaign to gain trust and demonstrate strength as he tries to move from war hero to war president.Kerry Made False Cambodia Claim 50 Times
In March, reliable witnesses came forward who placed John Kerry at a November 1971 Kansas City meeting where the Vietnam Veterans Against the War secretly voted on a proposal to kill six pro-war senators. This appeared especially odd because Kerry had told two historians, Gerald Nicosia and Douglas Brinkley, that he was not there and that he had resigned from the organization before the meeting was held. He denied eyewitnesses' accounts as well, even when six witnesses had appeared, several of whom were working for his presidential campaign."
"It won't be all that easy for John Kerry to revise his demonstrably false claim that he spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia, since he's on the record more than 50 times making the assertion, according to former Vietnam Swift Boat commander John O'Neill."Christmas in Cambodia?
"Kerry’s Christmas-in-Cambodia claims were first noted in the widely read instapundit.com on Aug. 6. As this is written, on Aug. 13, not a word about them has appeared in The New York Times or The Washington Post, nor have they been discussed much or at all on ABC, CBS or NBC News. This is a vivid contrast with the treatment by these news organizations of the charges -- false charges -- by Michael Moore and Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe that George W. Bush was AWOL while in the National Guard."Kerry's quagmire:
"If Kerry didn't fabricate, he exaggerated. Or misspoke. Or got confused. Or something. But whatever the differences among versions, the story is part of a larger narrative that may matter more than the details.Democrat Attacks Help Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Raise Money
It is a story of naked ambition and grandiosity, the narrative of a self-absorbed man who always needed to be best and first, whether captain of the boat in Vietnam or winner of the debate in school. Who, when accidentally knocked off his snowboard as an adult fumed, "I don't fall down."
"Rather than address the substance of the organization's charges, which are backed by 254 riverboat vets, many of whom served alongside Kerry in Vietnam, Kerry's campaign falls back on the hackneyed claim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
And new smears emerge:
"Kerry: I Wouldn't Respond to Nuclear Attack"
"John Kerry told Democrats gathered in Boston two weeks ago that he defended his country as a young soldier in Vietnam and he would defend it again as president.Brothers band together against Kerry
But as Michael Dukakis' lieutenant governor, Kerry authored an executive order that said the state of Massachussetts would refuse to take part in any civil defense efforts in response to a nuclear attack on America."
"After three months of combat, Kerry had collected enough film footage for his political campaigns, so he went home. He even shot three different endings to the episode where he chases down a VC guy after test audiences thought Kerry shooting a wounded teenager in the back was too much of a "downer." After filming his last staged exploit, Kerry reportedly told a buddy, "That's a wrap. See you at the convention in about 35 years."AIM Report: Kerry Subverted Reagan's Pro-Freedom Policies
"While Kerry was trying to defeat aid to the Contras through a smear campaign, Senator Tom Harkin and several liberal House members were raising money for pro-Sandinista and other communist front organizations in the region. One such group, "Medical Aid for El Salvador," provided surgery for a captured communist guerrilla leader whose organization had assassinated U.S. Embassy Marine guards in El Salvador in 1985."So the question is, when does the Kerry campaign move to stamp these out. Even if he wins, these stories show the intensity of the internal opposition he will face. This is about more than winning this election, these right wing nutcases are fomenting nothing less than civil war.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)