Another mission accomplished

AUSTIN, Texas -- As one on the liberal side of the chorus of moaners about the decline of civility in politics, I feel a certain responsibility when earnest, spaniel-eyed conservatives like David Brooks peer at us hopefully and say, "Well, yes, there was certainly a lot of misinformation about WMD before the war in Iraq, but ... you don't think they, he, actually lied, do you?"

Draw I deep the breath of patience. I factor in the long and awful history of politics and truth, add the immutable nature of pols -- fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly -- and compare Tonkin Gulf, Watergate and Iran-Contra with the piddly Curveball and Niger uranium. I prepare to respond like a reasonable person -- "Of course not actually lie, per se, in the strict sense" -- and then I listen to another speech about Iraq by either the president or the vice president and find myself screaming, "Dammit, when will they quit lying?"

I realize this is not helping the cause of civility. On the other hand, sanity has its claims, as well.

Big Brother Sam

Products for a New American Century

They put others' lives where their mouths are

The differences in the military experiences of our Democratic and Republican elected officials and pundits is pretty eye-opening. Check this out...

Democrats:

* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam. Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.

Christmas vs. PC

Recently, there have been a lot of complaints that some businesses and other organizations are "mounting a war on Christianity" by not mentioning Christmas or other reminders of the Christian aspect of Christmas. The people who are supposedly doing this are defending themselves by claming that they don't want to offend the Jewish or athiest populations by imposing another religion onto them. This is all done in the name of Political Correctness. I'm not trying to say PC is bad.  But this is not the PC version. One of America's Values is the diversity of its people. It is more politically correct to celebrate all religious holidays of our people; Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon... Besides, we'd have more holidays to get off from work. As for separation of Church from State, the Founding Fathers meant to stop the government from setting up a Church of America, not to stop us from worshiping and taking a few days off while we're at it. So, Merry Christmas!

Molly Ivins Dec. 1 piece

When Molly Ivins says “certitude is the enemy of clear thinking” is she certain about that?  Is she absolutely sure “’Never be absolutely sure’ is a useful motto”?

Those who wield the sword against others’ absolutes have interesting ways of falling on their own.

Cole Huffman
Memphis, Tennessee

Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council endorses Ted Strickland for Governor

Labor Unions Endorsing Strickland Now Represent
More than 200,000 Ohio Workers & Retirees

Note to radio: Audio clips of Strickland and Dwyer available at the following link: http://www.tedstrickland.com/multimedia

Columbus, Ohio - The Strickland for Governor campaign announced today that the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council has endorsed Ohio gubernatorial candidate Congressman Ted Strickland to be Ohio's next governor.

"The Building Trades are proud to endorse Ted Strickland for governor," said Mike Thomas, president of the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council. "Ted has always been a friend of ours.  We are going to work hard to get Ted elected because Ohio's working men and women deserve a leader who will champion their cause."

At the gates of San Quentin

No buzzards were gliding overhead, but several helicopters circled, under black sky tinged blue. On the shore of a stunning bay at a placid moment, the state prepared to kill.

Outside the gates of San Quentin, people gathered to protest the impending execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Hundreds became thousands as the midnight hour approached. Rage and calming prayers were in the air.

The operative God of the night was a governor. “Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption,” Arnold Schwarzenegger had declared. Hours later, a new killing would be sanitized by law and euphemism. (Before dawn, a newscast on NPR’s “Morning Edition” would air the voice of a media witness who had observed the execution by lethal injection. Within seconds, his on-air report twice referred to the killing of Williams as a “medical procedure.”)

But at the prison gates, there were signs.

“The weak can never forgive.”

“No Death in My Name”

“Executions teach vengeance and violence.”

Bush's troubles

Disregard the momentary uptick in his approval rating, and ask yourself, was there ever a president in worse shape a year after reelection than George Bush? Nixon, maybe. Was there ever a president more fortunate in the quality of the party opposing him? Bush wins that one in a walk. These days, the only Democrat who sounds like Sam Ervin is John Murtha, and if his fellow Democrats had cold-shouldered Ervin the way they have Murtha, Nixon would have served out his second term.

The list of Bush's adversities scarcely needs repeating. On every front he's in trouble: the unpopularity of the war; the onslaught by fellow Republicans on the rendition flights and secret torture centers; the humiliation of Condoleezza Rice in Europe; the abandonment of New Orleans amid the surfacing of more incriminating e-mail traffic from the White House in the early days of the emergency. Even Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in early December that the Bush administration was failing to live up to its obligations.

Pre-procrastination Christmas booklist!

AUSTIN, Texas -- Pre-procrastination Christmas booklist! Look at this, fellow procrastinators -- almost two weeks before the actual day, and here I am to solve all your shopping problems with the annual one-stop, hit-the-bookstore with less than 24-hours-to-go, all-purpose Procrastinator's List.

Now, the only challenge is to hang onto the list long enough to get to a bookstore, lest we ONCE AGAIN wind up as the last customer at the Jiffy Mart at 11:45 p.m. Christmas Eve, trying to decide whether our nearest and dearest would prefer a nice jug of STP 40W or the new hemorrhoid cure.

For a terrific read and a great political yarn, "An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas" is my nomination for best surprise book of the year.

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