Global
Beating up on neocons used to be a specialized sport without
wide appeal. With all due false modesty, I offer myself as an earlier
practitioner. Back in the mid-to-late '70s, when I had a weekly column in
the Village Voice, I used to have rich sport with that apex neo-con, Norman
Podhoretz, editor of Commentary, I nicknamed him Norman the Frother and
freighted him with so many gibes that he made the mistake of publicly
denouncing me in Commentary, exclaiming that "Cockburn's weekly pieces have
set a new standard of gutter journalism in this country," a testimonial I
still proudly feature on the back of my books.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Sigh. You write an article advocating what you
think would be useful, constructive suggestions about Iraq, and you get an
avalanche of right-wing reaction about "failuremongers" and "nattering
nabobs of negativism."
Bill Safire is back at the same old stand after all these years, denouncing "merchants of dismay" trying to justify their "decade of appeasement."
Great, anybody who opposed this war in the first place was accused of lack of patriotism, and now anybody who points out that it's not going well is guilty of defeatism. If you raise your hand and ask where the weapons of mass destruction we were told were the reason for this war are, you're instructed to just Get Over It.
Well, I ain't gonna take it anymore. I am not shutting up for Bill O'Reilly or anyone else. I opposed our unprovoked, unnecessary invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it would be a short, easy war followed by the peace from hell. I predicted every terrorist in the Middle East would be drawn to Iraq like a magnet. I was right, and I'm not going to apologize for it.
Bill Safire is back at the same old stand after all these years, denouncing "merchants of dismay" trying to justify their "decade of appeasement."
Great, anybody who opposed this war in the first place was accused of lack of patriotism, and now anybody who points out that it's not going well is guilty of defeatism. If you raise your hand and ask where the weapons of mass destruction we were told were the reason for this war are, you're instructed to just Get Over It.
Well, I ain't gonna take it anymore. I am not shutting up for Bill O'Reilly or anyone else. I opposed our unprovoked, unnecessary invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it would be a short, easy war followed by the peace from hell. I predicted every terrorist in the Middle East would be drawn to Iraq like a magnet. I was right, and I'm not going to apologize for it.
The Bush administration never hesitated to exploit the general
public’s anxieties that arose after the traumatic events of September 11,
2001.
Testifying on Capitol Hill exactly 53 weeks later, Donald Rumsfeld did not miss a beat when a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the need for the United States to attack Iraq.
Senator Mark Dayton: “What is it compelling us now to make a precipitous decision and take precipitous actions?”
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld: “What’s different? What’s different is 3,000 people were killed.”
As a practical matter, it was almost beside the point that allegations linking Baghdad with the September 11 attacks lacked credible evidence. The key factor was political manipulation, not real documentation.
Testifying on Capitol Hill exactly 53 weeks later, Donald Rumsfeld did not miss a beat when a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the need for the United States to attack Iraq.
Senator Mark Dayton: “What is it compelling us now to make a precipitous decision and take precipitous actions?”
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld: “What’s different? What’s different is 3,000 people were killed.”
As a practical matter, it was almost beside the point that allegations linking Baghdad with the September 11 attacks lacked credible evidence. The key factor was political manipulation, not real documentation.
Just a week ago, Americans enjoyed a long weekend, in honor of Labor
Day. Now, as the busy season ramps up for most of us, President Bush
is threatening the very concept of the weekend.
That's right -- he's gutting the rules requiring overtime pay for people who work more than 40 hours per week.
Your Senators can stop him, but they need to hear from from you right away. They're both swing votes, and the Senate is expected to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9th.
Please call them now. [If you're in Ohio,] we've arranged for a special toll-free number:
Senator Mike DeWine Toll Free: 877-331-1224 Direct: 202-224-2315
Senator George V. Voinovich Toll Free: 877-331-1224 Direct: 202-224-3353
Make sure their staffers know you're a constituent, then urge them to:
"Please SUPPORT the Harkin amendment to protect our overtime pay."
Please let us know you're calling, at:
http://www.moveon.org/
That's right -- he's gutting the rules requiring overtime pay for people who work more than 40 hours per week.
Your Senators can stop him, but they need to hear from from you right away. They're both swing votes, and the Senate is expected to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9th.
Please call them now. [If you're in Ohio,] we've arranged for a special toll-free number:
Senator Mike DeWine Toll Free: 877-331-1224 Direct: 202-224-2315
Senator George V. Voinovich Toll Free: 877-331-1224 Direct: 202-224-3353
Make sure their staffers know you're a constituent, then urge them to:
"Please SUPPORT the Harkin amendment to protect our overtime pay."
Please let us know you're calling, at:
http://www.moveon.org/
I am a registered Democrat, & having read your
attack monologue on the
present politics of our country, & on our Pres.
Bush, I do believe that
you are providing our 9/11/01 enemies with untold
sanctuary & favor.
Further, our troops currently fighting for your rights to spew your venum on this country, & its COMINCH, Pres. Bush ought to be real proud of you. You are a true credit to the U.S.A. You compare our Pres. to a "Nazi" Shame on you sir!
Would that you should show some support for our country, rather than publish all that self agrandizing propaganda! I feel sorry for you & your kind!
Let us hope that there aren't too many of your type, that want to turn the American people into milk-toast-socialists.
Let me assure you I'm not a pessimist, & that I'm still looking for a wothwhile Democrat with a "PLAN" to lead our country into health & prosperity!
Thus far, the Democrat would be leaders, have emerged with too many false promises & pledges. They would tax us to smithereens to take care of their special interest causes, & programs.
Further, our troops currently fighting for your rights to spew your venum on this country, & its COMINCH, Pres. Bush ought to be real proud of you. You are a true credit to the U.S.A. You compare our Pres. to a "Nazi" Shame on you sir!
Would that you should show some support for our country, rather than publish all that self agrandizing propaganda! I feel sorry for you & your kind!
Let us hope that there aren't too many of your type, that want to turn the American people into milk-toast-socialists.
Let me assure you I'm not a pessimist, & that I'm still looking for a wothwhile Democrat with a "PLAN" to lead our country into health & prosperity!
Thus far, the Democrat would be leaders, have emerged with too many false promises & pledges. They would tax us to smithereens to take care of their special interest causes, & programs.
"Dear Colleague" letters-- when one member of Congress asks other members of Congress to sign a letter on a specific issue-- help keep the profile of an issue high even if there's no legislation on that topic being debated in Congress. On September 4, Rep. Tom Lantos of California, ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, sent the message below to other members of Congress. It asks them to sign a letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, urging Mr. Uribe to address the links between sectors of the Colombian military and paramilitary groups. It also highlights the need for accountability for human rights abuses as an element of the current peace talks with paramilitary forces. A copy of Rep. Lantos' message to Congress and the letter to President Uribe are below.
Members of Congress will have until September 12 to sign on to the letter, at which time it will be sent to President Uribe. In order to send a strong message that this issue is of concern to Congress, we need a good number of representatives listed as signers-- that's where you can help!
Members of Congress will have until September 12 to sign on to the letter, at which time it will be sent to President Uribe. In order to send a strong message that this issue is of concern to Congress, we need a good number of representatives listed as signers-- that's where you can help!
Is there any reason why H. Wasserman(in his "Bush to NY: Drop Dead) refers to the demise of the World Trade Center as 'explosions' and not an anti-US terrorist attack by Muslim extremists??? Yes I know why..LIBERAL SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(To America in the age of Ashcroft)
We live in the land of comfort,
too soft and satisfied to
understand the subtle threats that
chip away slowly
at the stony foundations of our love.
The tiny pinpricks of mistrust –
the wary eyes, are you listening there
on the other line or is this
phone tapped, is my e-mail being read?
I check your letters, read your notes,
read the messages you’ve sent
out into the vast wired grid of
knowledge – nothing is sacred
any longer, no bit of privacy too
important to breech.
I look over my shoulder, into
your eyes, wonder if it’s
you or me who’s crossed this line,
or maybe Gary next door or
Sid across the street.
How can I be sure?
We live in the land of comfort,
too soft and satisfied to
understand the subtle threats that
chip away slowly
at the stony foundations of our love.
The tiny pinpricks of mistrust –
the wary eyes, are you listening there
on the other line or is this
phone tapped, is my e-mail being read?
I check your letters, read your notes,
read the messages you’ve sent
out into the vast wired grid of
knowledge – nothing is sacred
any longer, no bit of privacy too
important to breech.
I look over my shoulder, into
your eyes, wonder if it’s
you or me who’s crossed this line,
or maybe Gary next door or
Sid across the street.
How can I be sure?
“for guns are the language of the strong to the weak”
-- Adrienne Rich, “Harper’s Ferry”
Look how blue the sky is
she says
and I think
yes, here, but
it is night in Kabul
black sky broken by
the tracer lines of
incremental rocket fire
American jets running
new missions across
the Afghan night.
*
Steven had called to
give us the news
they’re bombing the bastards
he said
finally
we should go all the way
and I said nothing
remembering burned rubble and
thousands dead or lost
but knowing, too, that
bombs can’t fix a world
that’s seen too much of guns and bombs
and the sour smell of hatred.
*
-- Adrienne Rich, “Harper’s Ferry”
Look how blue the sky is
she says
and I think
yes, here, but
it is night in Kabul
black sky broken by
the tracer lines of
incremental rocket fire
American jets running
new missions across
the Afghan night.
*
Steven had called to
give us the news
they’re bombing the bastards
he said
finally
we should go all the way
and I said nothing
remembering burned rubble and
thousands dead or lost
but knowing, too, that
bombs can’t fix a world
that’s seen too much of guns and bombs
and the sour smell of hatred.
*
I love the smell of quagmire in the morning. My, but it takes you back, doesn't it? The only thing left to say is that there is "light at the end of the tunnel." But everything else has already begun to play itself out. We have even seen the resurrection of that Orwellian mantra "winning the peace." If I had been just a few years older in the Vietnam era, the deja-vu might kill me.
As it is, I have to rely on crazy resources, like history, to feel the eerie similarities coming into focus. No real sense carpet-bombing the desert, so that's out-no trees to hide in. Napalm made a surprising rebound, though. They lied about it for months (gasp!) of course, but its comeback was all but assured given the recycled cast of characters. I'm beginning to think the only reason we haven't heard more about "Iraqization (Iraqicization... Iraqation...?) is that it's so much harder to spell than Vietnamization. The hubris of the Best and the Brightest is back with a vengeance, though-recast as The Most Dangerous Men on Earth.
As it is, I have to rely on crazy resources, like history, to feel the eerie similarities coming into focus. No real sense carpet-bombing the desert, so that's out-no trees to hide in. Napalm made a surprising rebound, though. They lied about it for months (gasp!) of course, but its comeback was all but assured given the recycled cast of characters. I'm beginning to think the only reason we haven't heard more about "Iraqization (Iraqicization... Iraqation...?) is that it's so much harder to spell than Vietnamization. The hubris of the Best and the Brightest is back with a vengeance, though-recast as The Most Dangerous Men on Earth.