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Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Republican

There is an old saying that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice makes to virtue. By that definition, Republican Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota has delivered a magnificent tribute with his demand for full disclosure of details of the so-called U.N. oil-for-food scandal, and the immediate resignation of Secretary General Kofi Annan. You don’t hear Coleman nor any other member of the Greedy Old Party insisting that Vice President Cheney and his friends at Halliburton reveal the full extent of their looting of Iraq at a cost of 100,000 innocent Iraqi lives and billions of American dollars, and that Cheney should immediately resign his office. I cannot recall any member of America’s supermajority party taxing President Bush to reveal all the details of his war-for-oil program, which resulted in the invasion of Iraq and will undoubtedly lead to a preemptive war against Iran; nor has any member of that illustrious tribe called for Bush's impeachment, conviction and removal. 

Dirty work at the Philly polls

In Philadelphia, the Republican Party hired local people including down-and-out addicts as neighborhood poll watchers, paid the poll watchers to challenge their neighbors' voting, and sent visiting teams of burly enforcers in window-tinted vans in a mixed strategy of intimidation, pay and misinformation to suppress voting on November 2, according to a Brooklyn law student who worked as a poll monitor. "I witnessed the difficulties of getting out the vote firsthand, exacerbated by the Republican Party's operations in urban, predominantly Democratic communities," she says.

New issue article

Hello,

I read the article "Disinformation and depleted uranium" by Tadit Anderson with interest, as I've just completed a course in radiation protection for biomedical use here in France. As usual for the articles posted at the Free Press, I found it very well-written and agree with the author's conclusions about the cynical use of this radioelement (although I have not followed the Ohio discussions about this issue).

I simply wanted to correct a tiny error that made it in, relative to two quotes (but it relates to a very common misconception):

"when the particles are embedded in living tissue, it can do considerable damage to the adjacent cells and their molecular components including the genetic codes of the nucleic acids which will release cancers and cause birth defects."

and

"U.S. soldiers who have been medically harmed by their exposure to "depleted" uranium weapon contamination, have contributed to medical harm to their partners, and have by their contamination experienced a high level of genetic birth defects among their children."

As Ukraine celebrates democracy, it's being denied in Ohio

As demonstrators cheer the restoration of democracy to their beleaguered country, Ohio officials continue to deny it.

In the face of obvious fraud, Ukraine's Supreme Court has thrown out an apparent coup for the incumbent and ordered a new election. That's what needs to happen here.

But despite growing national pressure and a major demonstration scheduled for tomorrow, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell continues to stonewall a true recount in the state that allegedly gave George W. Bush another term.

Reverend Jesse Jackson and Congressman John Conyers will be among the speakers at a statehouse rally tomorrow demanding explanations for apparent irregularities in the November 2 Ohio vote.

Conyers is Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. He's being joined by fellow US Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Melvin Watt, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, William Delahunt, Robert Wexler, Tammy Baldwin, Anthony Weiner and Linda Sanchez in demanding that Blackwell respond to a wide range of complaints about irregularities in the Ohio vote.

Glimmers of Sanity

How about some "Glimmers of Sanity" in the U.S.?  In your editorial (Nov.30) you discuss the fraudulent outcome of the elections in the Ukraine, but inexplicably, there has been very little mention of  mounting allegations of fraud and abuse surrounding the presidential election at home. While on election night, national exit polls showed Kerry winning the election by 51% –48%, they were widely discredited, once the tallies for Bush, surprisingly, increased. But according to republican pollster Dick Morris, "Exit polls are almost never wrong…to screw up one exit poll is unheard of. To miss six of them [in Florida, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado] is incredible…and invites speculation that more than honest error was at play here."

President Hamlet? Never Happen

“Kerry Team Seeks to Join Fight to Get Ohio County to Recount”, reads the header to an article in today’s (December 1, 2004) Washington Post. After reading the article, I can honestly say that the title is an accurate depiction of what the “Kerry Team” (0-1) is attempting to do in the Buckeye State. To the extent that John Kerry had control of his own destiny in the election, this was where he failed: he sought to join the fight, he never actually threw a punch. He did not want to become President of the United States. He wanted to play Hamlet. “To be or not to be” will always be trumped by “Stay the course”, no matter how stupid or evil that course may be.

Nevada

Flash back to 1984. Walter Mondale is pronounced the loser in that election several hours before the polls even OPEN much less before they close.

A later lawsuit by Democrats is WON because they are able to DOCUMENT that network coverage skewed the election results well in advance of poll closing in western MI, NM, IL (where lines were still in place).

Other data since then have indicated money was paid by the Reagan/Bush campaign to black ministers in New Jersey to NOT deliver voters to the polls in several precincts (as virtually admitted to by Ed Rollins in 1988, after NJ GOP Gov. Christie Whitman's campaign had been accused of that: "Oh, yes." said Rollins to a dinner group. "That was quite common up there. It's called "walking around money.;" the total context of his phrasing made it clear it had been practiced prior to the 1988 campaign; NJ reporter Ed Baumeister also noted that off-duty police officers had apparently been used to intimidate African-American voters in some precincts in NJ in 1988--and, by all indications, in 1984, since the practice seemed to have already been "in place" by 1988.)

HRC releases World AIDS Day report card

"The failing grade in prevention means thousands of needlessly infected people," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg

WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign released a report card today reflecting the U.S.'s response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic to mark World AIDS Day.

"The failing grade in prevention means thousands of needlessly infected people," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "As we face a global pandemic, our response to it isn't making the grade." The first annual report card rates the U.S. government's response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in four key areas: research; care and treatment; global AIDS; and prevention.

"We need to aggressively pursue a coordinated and comprehensive approach to stop this pandemic," said Stachelberg. "We must harness all possible resources to prevent new infections, provide meaningful access to quality care and treatment, boost research to find a cure, and address the global crisis. It is important to note that there are many leaders who have courageously and diligently championed HIV/AIDS issues. This report card does nothing to take away from the good work that they

Kerry should reconsider

To the Editor:
      I believe that John Kerry should reconsider his concession in light of  mounting allegations of fraud and abuse in the presidential election in the United States. In many states and especially in the swing states of Florida and Ohio, thousands of affedavits have been filed regarding voting irregularities and an outright effort by partisan election officials to surpress the vote. There is already a  recount underway in Ohio and if Kerry withdrew his concession, his action would add legitimacy and weight to the proceedings in such a way that the mainstream media would be forced to report on the story .  So far, inexplicably, they have basicaly refused to cover it.  If they did, and if the American people were informed about what could amount to massive election fraud in election 2004, we might see them spilling into the streets the way people  in the Ukraine have. They might decide not to tolerate the assult on their democracy that a rigged election represents.  

Katie Jacob
Birmingham, MI

The problem of American torture

AUSTIN -- It is both peculiar and chilling to find oneself discussing the problem of American torture. I have considered support of basic human rights and dignity so much a part of our national identity that this feels as strange as though I'd suddenly become Chinese or found Fidel Castro in the refrigerator.

One's first response to the report by the International Red Cross about torture at our prison at Guantanamo is denial. "I don't want to think about it; I don't want to hear about it; we're the good guys, they're the bad guys; shut up. And besides, they attacked us first."

But our country has opposed torture since its founding. One of our founding principles is that cruel and unusual punishment is both illegal and wrong. Every year, our State Department issues a report grading other countries on their support for or violations of human rights.

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