Global

Mr. Wasserman has so aptly exposed the Arnold Schwarzenegger follies. What disturbs me is that this pseudo-actor idiot might win. However, since the Calif. economy is so bad, would he be re-elected, and can the Republicans really take control?  There are still voters out there who can see patches of light.  Thanks.

Marc Widershien, Boston

Let's start with a passage from Alan Dershowitz's latest book, "The Case for Israel," now slithering into the upper tier of Amazon.com's sales charts. On page 213, we meet Dershowitz, occupant of the Felix Frankfurter (FF) chair at Harvard Law School, happily walloping a French prof called Faurisson, charged by the FF prof from Harvard U as being a fraud and a Holocaust denier: "There was no extensive historical research. Instead there was the fraudulent manufacturing of false antihistory. It was the kind of deception for which professors are rightly fired -- not because their views are controversial, but because they are violating the most basic canons of historical scholarship."

SEATTLE -- Life rolls on in George W. Bush's America, forcing us to invent a new word -- greeed, with three E's in the middle -- to cover cases like that of Richard A. Grasso, who recently resigned as chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange.

            Grasso has been doing such a swell job of policing any corporate irregularities -- surely you've noticed -- that his board members felt he should be rewarded with a pay package worth $139.5 million. But, hey, he was willing to kick back $8 mill. What a guy.

            Now, those sophisticated folks at The Wall Street Journal keep pointing out that Grasso did nothing wrong -- he merely accepted a pay package that was foisted upon him by a board of directors who happened to be handpicked by Grasso, who were close friends of his and who kept their decisions secret. How could there be anything wrong with that? What a splendid example of open, transparent corporate governance and independent directors.

Arnold Schwarzenegger could ensure another White House win for George W. Bush.

Especially now that the courts say it's ok for large numbers of citizens to have their votes not counted---votes that, in another tight election or two, could give Arnold and Bush final control of California and the nation.

Anyone who thinks that the White House and Karl Rove are not behind the Schwarzenegger assault is not paying attention.

The Republican juggernaut now controls the governorships of New York, Texas and Florida. With California they'd have the state houses of America's four biggest states, plus the White House, Congress, the Judiciary and the media. Is there another word for one party rule?

AUSTIN, Texas -- Among the more amusing cluckings from the right lately is their appalled discovery that quite a few Americans actually think George W. Bush is a terrible president.

Robert Novak is quoted as saying in all his 44 years of covering politics, he has never seen anything like the detestation of Bush. Charles Krauthammer managed to write an entire essay on the topic of "Bush haters" in Time magazine, as though he had never before come across such a phenomenon.

Oh, I stretch memory way back, so far back, all the way back to -- our last president. Almost lost in the mists of time though it is, I not only remember eight years of relentless attacks from Clinton-haters, I also notice they haven't let up yet. Clinton-haters accused the man of murder, rape, drug-running, sexual harassment, financial chicanery and official misconduct, and his wife of even worse.

What questionable military program did both former President Clinton and current resident President W. Bush support wholeheartedly?  The National Missile Defense (NMD) program.   This program is a highly suspicious use of our tax dollars and should be immediately scrapped. The technology will continue to be extremely expensive to produce and may never work, and allegations of scientific dishonesty in this program have been made and merit close examination.  Finally, this project is not worth its social and monetary costs.    Any Republican (or Democrat, even) member of Congress who is actually not a hypocrite should be screaming bloody murder over the taxes being siphoned down the drain by this program.

There is a general concept among the liberal media in this country that the  surrendering of  nearly all the civil liberties to the Big Father in Washington happened so fast because our society is paralyzed by fear.  The horrible attack on 9/11 resulting in mass casualties in the middle of the most powerful country in the world destroyed the American sense of omnipotence and unlimited safety, created a vacuum in the heads and hearts of the electorate and  initiated the wave of irrational feelings, which brought  us to the  authoritarian plutocracy.

 Considering this premise it would be only prudent to reveal the possible consequences of these actions, so that, hopefully, the real fear of those will replace the currently ruling fear of   illusion.

 1.        What will happen on the foreign theater.

In the end of the 19th Century  capatin Alfred Dreyfuss, the Jewish Employee of the French General Staff was arrested and accused of espionage and treason. It took twenty years to exonerate him and  restore him in his rights. He owed his life and honor to the International Community and especially to Emile Zola, the French writer, who sparkled the sympathy to Dreyfuss through his pamphlet J'accuse ( I accuse), where he tore to pieces the original government accusations. Now  Emile Zola is buried in the Honorable Patheon of the greatest French People and the portrait of Alfred Dreufus is right on the  wall facing  his tomb.  

Freep Hero - Richard Land

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, pointed out the obvious concerning the Ten Commandments monument controversy in Alabama. When people seek to impose their religious morality on others using the coercive power of the state and public resources and facilities, they are “practicing religious apartheid in public places while ignoring that we are a nation of many faiths.” Amen!

Freep Hero - Alaska

The state of Alaska understands that the government should not be breaking into people’s houses if they’re only holding 4 ounces or less of marijuana. Smoking dope during the long Alaskan winters makes more sense than becoming part of Prozac Nation.

The Free Press Salutes

Local activist awards recipients

Congratulations to the following local people and local organizations:

Fall is hunting season, and in central Ohio certain manly men are salivating over “controlling the deer population,” i.e., viciously murdering helpless, non-threatening Bambis. Call me a wuss, but hiding in the forest, spying an innocent fawn or buck, using a bullet or arrow to kill it without a fight and bragging later seems unsportsmanlike and cowardly to me. But hey, we live in a country that thought our military bombing Iraq with shock and awe was a “war.”

The only awe I feel is the beauty of the forest and the quiet, gentle creatures who live in harmony within it. If you ask me, it’s the homo sapiens species that needs controlled -- sprawling suburbs, paving concrete and asphalt, clear cutting, polluting, corrupting nature.

I found some interesting arguments against hunting on the Internet (yes, I know how to surf the web, though the hooves are a bit wide for the keys). The following is a good answer to the question:

Doesn’t hunting control wildlife populations that would otherwise get out of hand?