Hannah's Blog

A DOZEN DOUBTFUL DEMOCRATS

Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Miller (D-GA), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Yea
Daschle (D-SD), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Breaux (D-LA), Yea

In addition to all the Republicans, there are now a dozen Democratic Senators whom the women of America can no longer rely on to make a clear distinction between fetal tissue and a real live human being--at least not when it comes to recognizing legal "rights".

That's what the Senators from Louisiana(Breaux and Landrieu), North and South Dakota (Conrad, Dorgan and Daschle), Delaware (Carper), Minnesotta (Dayton), Nebraska (Nelson), Arkansas (Pryor), Nevada (Reid), West Virginia (Rockefeller) and, of course, Georgia's Zell Miller did last week when they voted to provide the same level of protection to fetal tissue as to the woman in whom it happens to reside.

Of course, given the low level of protection women normally receive from the federal government, that might not mean much in practice. But the legal precedent being set by this legislation--making a part equal to the whole--is upsetting, just because it is so illogical.

While we have become used to irrational argument from radical Republicans, the realization that, in addition to the renegade Zell Miller, so many Democrats are no longer committed to legislating on a rational basis makes clear, once again, that our representatives in both houses of Congress are in dire need of direction from common sense citizens.

There shouldn't be any doubt that the whole is greater (and therefor more important) than its parts.

Blogger's Dilemma

CAMPAIGN GEAR

HAIL TO THE CHIMP?

Kerry/Dean

Thank you for joining me in our fight to change America. We are united, and we?re going to win this. We're determined to put people ahead of special interests, provide healthcare to every American, protect our environment, and use energy wisely. We share a strong commitment to make America safe and secure. And we will put the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during George W. Bush's presidency back to work. Working together, I know we will turn our country around. Please act today, and spread the word.

John Kerry

P.S. - Join us for a rally with Howard Dean webcast LIVE on Thursday, and a LIVE web chat with Howard Dean himself at 1pm.

Plausible Deniability

Ok, if we accept that the coroporate media are a monolith in the sense that everyone knows what's going on, then it seems obvious that the fact that the Clarke book was in the pipe-line had to have been known for some time.

And if that's the case, if everyone knew that the sh*t was about to hit the fan, then that would explain why the Rove machine was so eager to start the popular campaign, in the sense of influencing the public, so early. They wanted to be in full campaign mode so they could claim that the Clarke revelations are simply "political"--i.e. intended to influence the election and without merit. As they are trying to do.

And, if it's the case that the Clarke revelations were in the works for a good period of time, then their publication this week in concert with the 9/11 testimony of the Administration's big fish is not a coincidence. Neither is it a coincidence that the presumptive Democratic nominee has been out of town, snowboarding in Idaho and that Governor Howard Dean was still on the airwaves making those outrageous claims from which the Democratic Party had distanced itself long ago.
Not only is the person making the claims about the Administration's failures to prosecute the war against terrorism with appropriate vigor and resolve a Republican, but the Democrats have been most united for months now in discrediting the one Democrat who had been sounding the alarm.

Now that's what I call plausible deniability. Who knew that crazy wild man from Vermont was on the right track?

So what I want to know now is how many more people are going to have been "out of the loop." First there was Paul O'Neill and then Christy Whitman (?), followed by that Wilson fellow whose wife was thrown on the pyre and now we have Richard Clarke. Will Dr. Rice be next and then Secretary Powell when questions have to be asked about our "good ally" assassinating an Islamic Sheik? God forbid they used one of the missiles we gave them.

Somehow, I don't think denial is going to be plausible for the Republicans this time around. No wonder Ollie North was out and about trying to put the fires out.

Iraq Body County

PR7 - Thursday March 19th 2004

700 named in Iraq's death toll after a year of slaughter

As the anniversary of the Iraq invasion approaches, Iraq Body Count has been able to establish the names of almost 700 civilians killed in Iraq between March 19th 2003 and February 29th 2004 as a direct consequence of the US/UK invasion and subsequent occupation.

The list, periodically updated and permanently available on the Iraq Body Count website http://www.iraqbodycount.net/names.htm , details (where known) name, age, gender, place of death, cause of death, and the media sources from which they were obtained.

Although this list provides details for less than 7% of the 10,000 civilians reported killed during the same period (see http://www.iraqbodycount.net/bodycount.htm ), it is the closest so far to a truly comprehensive accounting and memorial for the civilian dead in Iraq. Among the 692 deaths listed there are 106 females, 421 males and 94 known to be under 18 years of age.

As world opinion increasingly turns against the US-led coalition for the lies that forced war on a powerless country, and for the chaos into which Iraq has now sunk, the human details pieced together in the Iraq Body Count list paint in graphic and poignant form the terrible, true cost of this war: the pointless loss of husbands, wives, sons and daughters of a proud but suffering people.

John Sloboda, co-founder of Iraq Body Count said "We hope that many organisations, agencies, and web-sites will wish to refer to this list and carry a link to it. Now, in this anniversary week, it has never been more important for us to offer the respect to those victims of war and civil disorder that has been denied them by the US and UK governments, as well as by the officials in Baghdad that they control."

For further information please email press@iraqbodycount.org

Deanfest

*Forwarded Deanfest update*

Hi all,

We have had a very productive weekend. On Friday, I went to HQ in Burlington and met with
Gov. Dean. He made it very clear that he wants to speak at Deanfest, and he is willing to have his new organization, Democracy For America, help us with marketing. He expressed
his desire to have this be an event that is a bit larger than we had originally planned. He would like 100,000 people to attend!!!

This seemed a little ambitious to me, but, after considering his suggestions for
speakers and performers, it does seem realistic. He also said he would attend if held north of Boston but suggested that we look for a location closer to Boston and close to a major airport; so the speakers, entertainers, and attendees would have easier access. The Governor's support is very important to this endevor; and, therefore, I told him we would reconsider the location.

Friday night, Al, Charlene and I attended an award's dinner in Burlington with Gov. Dean and Sen. Leahy as the featured speakers. (There is information about this on the DFA blog.) We made many contacts and circulated flyers about Deanfest.

We visited one of our venue choices in Highgate on Saturday. We discussed possible attendance figures and we were told that they would only be able to accomodate up to 40,000 people. Our professional event planner is looking for new venue possibilities for us. We've asked for it to be an outdoor venue, near a hub, be able to accommodate a significant crowd, and have camping facilities nearby. We gave him some background on what our searches had already revealed. For instance, flying into Boston isn't an option because of the Convention and Loudon, NH, has a NASCAR race that weekend.

We are going to need quite a bit of money. We will do our best to get many sponsors for the event and will recover some expenses with ticket sales, but we must have money from the grassroots for two reasons: to keep the event economically accessible to all by keeping the
ticket price low and to put deposits on many things (such as the venue) before we begin selling tickets.

Thanks,

Jessica

It is important that we don't let Gov. Dean down.
We must make this an event
he is proud to have his name on. Please give what
you can at www.myvoteismyvoice.com

Thank you,
Jessica

Ollie North?

There is some really weird stuff going on. I was using Google and this is what I found.

Washington D.C., 26 February 2004 - Diaries, e-mail, and memos of Iran-contra figure Oliver North, posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive, directly contradict his criticisms yesterday of Sen. John Kerry's 1988 Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee report on the ways that covert support for the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s undermined the U.S. war on drugs.

Mr. North claimed to talk show hosts Hannity & Colmes that the Kerry report was "wrong," that Sen. Kerry "makes this stuff up and then he can't justify it," and that "The fact is nobody in the government of the United States, going all the way back to the earliest days of this under Jimmy Carter, ever had anything to do with running drugs to support the Nicaraguan resistance. Nobody in the government of the United States. I will stand on that to my grave."

The Kerry subcommittee did not report that U.S. government officials ran drugs, but rather, that Mr. North, then on the National Security Council staff at the White House, and other senior officials created a privatized contra network that attracted drug traffickers looking for cover for their operations, then turned a blind eye to repeated reports of drug smuggling related to the contras, and actively worked with known drug smugglers such as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to assist the contras. The report cited former Drug Enforcement Administration head John Lawn testifying that Mr. North himself had prematurely leaked a DEA undercover operation, jeopardizing agents' lives, for political advantage in an upcoming Congressional vote on aid to the contras (p.121).

Among the documents posted today are:
Mr. North's diary entries, from the reporter's notebooks he kept in those years, noting multiple reports of drug smuggling among the contras. A Washington Post investigation published on 22 October 1994 found no evidence he had relayed these reports to the DEA or other law enforcement authorities.
Memos from North aide Robert Owen to Mr. North recounting drug-running "indiscretions" among the contras, warning that a known drug-smuggling airplane was delivering taxpayer-funded "humanitarian aid" overseen by Mr. North.
Mr. North's White House e-mails recounting his efforts to spring from prison a Honduran general who could "spill the beans" on the secret contra war, even though the Justice Department termed the Honduran a "narcoterrorist" for his involvement in cocaine smuggling and an assassination plot.
Mr. North's White House e-mails and diary entries on his personal meeting on 22 September 1986 with Noriega, following up Noriega's offer to "take care of" the Sandinista leadership if the White House would help "clean up his image."
The text of the Kerry subcommittee report. Pages 145-146 directly quote 15 North notebook entries related to drug trafficking.

Also in the posting is Peter Kornbluh's detailed critique - the January/February 1997 cover story in the Columbia Journalism Review - of news coverage of the contra-drug allegations, including the controversial San Jose Mercury News series.

Dean in Seattle

Download file

GOAT TRUMPS TOWERS

Bush listens to the Pet Goat story.

(9:06 - 9:16 a.m.) Bush, having just been told of the second WTC crash (see (9:06 a.m.)), does not leave the Sarasota, Florida, classroom he entered around 9:03. Rather, he stays and listens as 16 Booker Elementary School second-graders take turns reading a story called Pet Goat, about a girl's pet goat. [AFP, 9/7/02] They are just about to begin reading when Bush is warned of the attack. One account says that the classroom is then silent for about 30 seconds, maybe more. Bush then picks up the book and reads with the children "for eight or nine minutes." [Tampa Tribune, 9/1/02] In unison, the children read out loud, "The - Pet - Goat. A - girl - got - a - pet - goat. But - the - goat - did - some - things - that - made - the - girl's - dad - mad." And so on. Bush mostly listens, but does ask the children a few questions to encourage them. [Washington Times, 10/7/02]

At one point he says, "Really good readers, whew! ... These must be sixth-graders!" [Time, 9/12/01] In the back of the room, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer catches Bush's eye and holds up a pad of paper for him to read, with "DON'T SAY ANYTHING YET" written on it in big block letters. [Washington Times, 10/7/02]

Otherwise, Bush is completely cut off from outside developments. CNN reported in 1999, "Only the president has the authority to order a civilian aircraft shot down." [CNN, 10/26/99] The pilot of one of the planes flying to catch Flight 175 notes that it wouldn't have mattered if he caught up with it, because only Bush could order a shootdown, and Bush is at a public event at the time. [Cape Cod Times, 8/21/02] If that fighter had caught up to Flight 175, would thousands have needlessly died because Bush didn't leave this classroom? (Note that three articles claim that Bush leaves the classroom at 9:12 [New York Times, 9/16/01 (B), Telegraph, 12/16/01, Daily Mail, 9/8/02], but the video of Bush in the room lasts longer than that. That video also has edits and ends before Bush leaves. The above time is a rough guess based mostly on the Tampa Tribune estimate).

Bush with his "Pet Goat" book in Sandra Kay Daniels' elementary school classroom. [Eric Draper]

(9:16 a.m.) Bush leaves the Sarasota classroom where he has been since about 9:03. The children finish their lessons and put away their readers. [Sarasota Magazine, 9/19/01] Bush advises the children to stay in school and be good citizens. [Tampa Tribune, 9/1/02, St. Petersburg Times, 9/8/02 (B)] He also tells the children, "Thank you all so very much for showing me your reading skills." [ABC News, 9/11/02]

One student also asks Bush a question, and Bush gives a quick response on his education policy. [New York Post, 9/12/02] A reporter asks, "Mr. President, are you aware of the reports of the plane crash in New York? Is there any..." This question is interrupted by an aide who has come into the room, saying, "All right. Thank you. If everyone could please step outside." Bush then says, "We'll talk about it later." [CBS, 9/11/02 (B)] Bush then tells school principal Gwen Tose-Rigell, who is in the room, about the terror attacks and why he has to leave. [Washington Times, 10/7/02] He then goes into an empty classroom next door and meets with his staff there. [ABC News, 9/11/02]
Bush's program with the children was supposed to start at 9:00 and end 20 minutes later. [Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 9/16/01] So he leaves the classroom only a couple of minutes earlier than planned, if at all (as the goodbyes and questions on the way out may have taken another minute or two).

Peace Vigil

Kumbaya Dammit

French Perspective

Opérations psychologiques
La fin de quelle guerre ?

Le « déboulonnage » d'une statue de Saddam Hussein le 9 avril a unanimement été présenté par la presse comme le symbole de la chute de Bagdad. Cet événement très télégénique constitue une métaphore de la « guerre de libération de l'Irak » telle que la conçoit l'état-major états-unien : le renversement du régime d'Hussein par le peuple irakien avec l'aide de l'armée états-unienne. Mais un examen précis de cet épisode révèle qu'il s'agit d'une véritable mise en scène répondant exactement aux objectifs de l'Office of Global Communication, l'organe britanno-états-unien de guerre psychologique.

15 avril 2003

Personne n'a échappé, le 9 avril 2003 au « déboulonnage » d'une statue de Saddam Hussein sur la place Fedaous de Bagdad. Cet évènement a unanimement été décrit par la presse comme symbolisant la chute de la capitale irakienne. Cependant, il convient de replacer cette scène de liesse populaire dans son contexte pour en saisir le déroulement exact et la vraie nature.
Une première dépêche AFP signale qu'un regroupement de véhicules militaires US (une douzaine, précise Reuters) a eu lieu à 12h40 GMT sur la place Fedaous, à proximité de l'hôtel Palestine où résident la plupart des journalistes occidentaux. Ce n'est qu'une heure plus tard que Reuters signale la présence d'une « foule approbatrice de plusieurs dizaines de personnes » (transformée en plusieurs « centaines de manifestants » par Associated Press).

La place Fedaous
Un plan large de la place Fedaous révèle la mise en scène : la place est encerclée par des véhicules militaires états-uniens et « la foule » se limite à quelques dizaines de personnes.

Dès le début du rassemblement, Associated Press Television Network (APTN), l'agence de presse vidéo états-unienne, filme en plan serré la place Fedaous et retransmet les images en direct sur son réseau, comme si elle savait que quelque chose allait se produire. Le fait que la manifestation se déroule à proximité de l'hôtel Palestine est une véritable aubaine pour les quelques 200 journalistes, dénombrés par Associated Press, qui ne tardent pas à se masser sur la place. Les manifestants, a proximité desquels Indymedia a identifié un membre de la milice d'Ahmed Chalabi (les « Free Iraqi Forces »), peuvent commencer la mise en scène.
Acte 1 : Le peuple, impuissant, mais motivé
Un manifestant s'approche du piédestal et entreprend de l'attaquer à la masse. L'entreprise est vouée à l'échec et présente même un caractère dérisoire étant donné le volume du socle de la statue. Peu importe, cette image en évoque une autre pour les téléspectateurs : celle de la chute du Mur de Berlin, en 1989, où chacun apportait son marteau et son burin pour détruire symboliquement le mur. Dès les premières dépêches, Reuters souligne à l'attention des journalistes qui auraient mal compris l'allusion que la scène « rappelle la chute du Mur de Berlin ».
img alt="doc-802.jpg" src="http://www.smith-family.com/hannah/archive/doc-802.jpg" width="180" height="220" border="0" />

Acte 2 : Le recours à la puissance états-unienne
Ayant essayé, sans succès, de tirer la statue d'Hussein à l'aide d'une corde, « les Irakiens demandent l'aide d'un char américain, un symbole dans le symbole », rapporte TF1. La valeur symbolique de l'événement n'a échappé à personne, pas même à France 2 : « n'y arrivant pas seuls, et c'est la tout un symbole, les Irakiens vont faire appel à un char américain ». Par chance, un blindé états-unien, équipé pour la circonstance d'un dispositif le transformant en grue est justement stationné à côté. Il s'approche de la statue.

Acte 3 : L'effacement des États-Unis
Le Marine Edward Chin, du 3eme bataillon de Marines, monte sur la statue afin d'y attacher le câble. Il en profite pour recouvrir la tête de la statue d'un drapeau états-unien, rapidement remplacé par un drapeau irakien de manière à montrer que les États-Unis réfrènent leur toute-puissance et cèdent la place aux Irakiens.

Acte 4 : La chute
La statue est arrachée de son socle. C'est la chute de Saddam Hussein et son lynchage symbolique par les manifestants.

Très rapidement, les principaux officiels états-uniens se saisissent de l'événement et en soulignent l'importance à destination des journalistes qui l'auraient sous-estimée en n'y voyant que la destruction d'une statue par l'armée américaine. C'est bien plus que cela, explique Donald Rumsfeld : « On ne peut s'empêcher de penser à la chute du Mur de Berlin et l'écroulement du rideau de fer ». Moins d'un heure plus tard, le porte parole de la Maison-Blanche, Ari Fleicher, souligne l'importance de ce qui vient de se produire.

La réaction des médias est à la hauteur de la mise en scène. Tous les networks états-uniens relaient l'information. Sur LCI, bien que l'envoyé spécial ne soit pas sur place, on commente en direct les images d'APTN : « Le peuple se précipite pour lyncher la statue ». Plus tard, au journal de 20h sur France 2, on annonce également que c'est le « peuple » qui « se précipite pour lyncher, autre symbole, la tête » de bronze. Pourtant la chaîne de service public dispose d'un recul plus important et a forcément lu la dépêche Reuters précisant que le « peuple » en question se résume à quelques dizaines de personnes.
Le lendemain, aucun quotidien n'a échappé à l'image choc, comme en témoigne cette impressionnante collection de Unes des journaux du monde entier, le 10 avril. Le message est passé : avec cette statue, c'est le régime de Saddam Hussein qui est tombé. La guerre a duré 21 jours, elle est terminée, les États-Unis ont gagné, ils ont libéré les Irakiens.

Comment la coalition britanno-états-unienne a orchestré la mise en scène
Fin mars, le Bureau des communications globales (Office of Global Communications - OGC), a requis une étude sur la manière de rehausser l'image de la Coalition dans les médias internationaux. L'OGC réunit chaque jour à la Maison-Blanche les responsables états-uniens de la propagande et par vidéo-conférence ceux du 10 Downing Street. Le rapport remis à l'OGC a été réalisé par le Groupe tactique d'opérations psychologiques (Psychological Operations Tactical Group - PsyOpsTG) du Commandement des forces spéciales d'infanterie basé au Koweït (ARCENT-Koweit). Il a été intercepté par le FSB russe et transmis aux officiers qui réalisent « à titre privé » le site iraqwar.ru.

Dans ce rapport, le PsyOpsTG préconisait de réunir devant la presse les prisonniers de guerre irakiens de manière à ce que la vision d'un groupe nombreux face croire que les redditions étaient massives. Surtout, le PsyOpsTG a proposé de mettre en scène la « libération de Bagdad » et des « manifestations de liesse populaire » de manière à corriger l'image coloniale de la Coalition. C'est chose faite grâce avec l'épisode de la place Fedaous.
Si une guerre s'est terminée le 9 avril 2003 ce n'est pas celle de l'information.

Jack Naffair

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JOBS LOST? --Not

Every time the President promises to "create" more jobs it makes my blood
boil. Not because he's mislead us about the 2.3 million jobs that have
been "lost" since he started to lead us, but because the problem isn't jobs
"lost" or "created." In fact, it's not even about jobs.
A job is work that someone pays you to do. When someone looks after your
kids and you pay them, they're doing a job. When you stay home and look
after them yourself, that's not a job and you don't get paid.
The problem, as I said, isn't "lost" or "found" jobs. Except for the truly
incompetent, people don't lose jobs; they have them taken away. Or, more
correctly, the money to pay them is sent somewhere else. More often than
not, the work still needs to be done. It's just being done for nothing.
So, the problem is that there's not enough money, not enough dollars to pay
people for the work they do. And why is that? Where has the money gone?
Well, there's about twenty-five percent going into the federal government's
accounts. Of course, it doesn't just sit there. Under normal conditions
those dollars come right back out to pay road builders and harbor masters
and all those people who make us safe--the police, the teachers, the food
inspectors, and, yes, our soldiers.
But, suddenly, there's not enough to pay them either. Why? Because so
many of the dollars are being exported over-seas. Yes, even a big chuck of
the money the military spends is being spent in foreign lands--"creating"
jobs in other countries. "Creating" because the dollars are paying for
work many of us don't even want done.
And, oh yes, a good percentage of that is going into the pockets of the
middlemen, like Halliburton, who are in no hurry what-so-ever to bring
those dollars home. After all, being a big pooh-bah in the Persian Gulf is
so much more fun.

Do I Feel Safe?

I saw my first shrub ad last night. Well, not really. Since I have this automatic cut-off in my head whenever there's an ad incoming, I had to be alerted by the spouse that our dinner wasn't being interrupted by another ad for viagra or antacids or the newest machine at the hospital--that it was a George and Laura ad. So, maybe because I tuned in late, the only thing I really remember is the ending where the shrub says "I'm President Bush and I approved this message" and my brain said "Yeah, right."
But then my brain corrected. I wasn't feeling cynical at all; I was feeling really cheerful. Because the ad is SO BAD.
Who's idea it was to have him announce himself as President Bush--like we didn't all know it already--I don't know. But it's weird. I mean who else uses his title when introducing himself to people he presumably wants to serve? Or did Howard Dean refer to himself as Governor Dean in his ads?
Anyway, given the smarmy visuals that preceeded that tag, the brain's automatic response was "you've got to be kidding. THIS is our president?"
I really can't remember much more. Which probably demonstrates why things have to be repeated over and over again. We just don't get stuff the first time around when we're not expecting it.
But, overnight the brain did process something and I THINK the message I was supposed to get was that my president understands that I want to feel safe, and I agree with that. And that he's going to protect me to make sure I feel safe. And that's where we have a parting of the ways. Because

I do not feel safe, when other people here at home or in other countries are being attacked.

I do not feel safe, when my neighbor loses his job.

I do not feel safe when my neighbor's children fall ill and have to be taken to the emergency room because they have no regular doctor.

I do not feel safe when my town tells me to have my well water tested because it might be contaminated with cancer causing chemicals.

I do not feel safe when I go to an airport to pick up a friend and hundreds of people are being patted down and have to take off their shoes in public.

I do not feel safe when buzzers and whistles and sirens go off in public spaces because they remind me of the sounds of bombs being dropped from way up high when I was a very little child. People say dropping bombs don't make any noise, but I heard them. Still do whenever an ambulance races down to road. You never get over being scared as a kid.

I do not feel safe when I read press reports about taser guns being issued to police all around the country to subdue people who might object to being told to "move on," when all they want is to make a statement and voice their disagreement in public.

I do not feel safe knowing that to challenge an illegal order is to risk being being arrested for "obstruction" and being shot on the spot for "resisting"--i.e. defending myself from assault.

I do not feel safe when I see electronic voting machines without a paper trail being installed in a state (Florida) where lightning shorts out electric circuits on a weekly if not daily basis and I know how easy it is for the insides of a computer to get fried.

I do not feel safe when I am told that all my fears will be gone just as soon as the war on terror is done, because a few crazy people blowing themselves up and taking some innocent people with them don't terrify me nearly as much as all of the stuff that's being done to protect me.

I do not feel safe because the people in charge when the terrorists actually struck weren't able to protect anyone then and there's no reason to think they are any more competent now. And that's the truth.

All Things Dean

This is a sample of what's to be found at:

http://www.cafeshops.com/all_things_dean

Granny D

Granny D Wakes Up the Vote

By Doris "Granny D" Haddock, AlterNet
March 8, 2004

Doris "Granny D" Haddock, 94, is on a 15,000-mile voter registration trek through the swing states. The following is a speech she gave in Gainesville, Florida on March 7.

I am on a long trek across our beautiful country to see what one person and a few friends might do to engage more citizens in this democracy and to have them participate in the coming election in a way that will provide us with leadership that we will all have had a hand in selecting. That may seem like boring old politics, but it is much more than that, at least to me. And my journey is a great joy.

On the farms where I have stayed, and in the poorest corners of our poorest neighborhoods, I have met so many people who are kind and generous and full of dreams for their lives and for their community and for their country. It is heartbreaking sometimes to see how far their reality is from their dreams. Can I do anything to be of assistance? It is a simple question.

I am not an expert. I have no special university degrees or training that might suggest I have a role to play. And yet I do have a role to play, and so do we all. To be a citizen of the United States of America is a very big job but it takes no special qualifications other than a capacity for love and a determination to take your part.

In my travels, I have found communities waiting for ideas and leadership and hope. In the poorest communities of Tampa and Fort Myers and Miami I have met people who are alienated from our democracy. They live in another nation, almost. They long for respect, inclusion, prosperity, dignity. They search for it in their own way.

Remarkably, they have the power to bring great resources to their communities and their families if they would vote as a community – not only for senators and presidents, but for city councilmen and county commissioners. Getting them to do that is like dragging someone from a gas-filled house: they are too overcome sometimes to do anything but lay down.

So we have, with the leadership of those areas, conceived ways to drag people into the fresh air where they might find their power over their own lives.

Let me tell you about one program we are building, called "Vote for Me."

It began when the young artist traveling with me put out poster boards and blank bumper stickers and crayons at a block fair in a poor neighborhood of Miami. She asked the kids to make a "Vote for Me" poster or bumper sticker. All were different and all were beautiful, creative, surprising. We presented these treasures to their parents with the message that the adults are indeed voting for their children when they vote, and that they are voting against them when they fail to vote. There are too many education, health, economic opportunity and justice issues in play to think that who we vote for does not affect our children's lives. It is a message that people instantly understand.

This idea connected with an idea that sprung up in Fort Myers. An African-American leader worried with us that all the coming voter registration programs will fall on deaf ears in the poorest neighborhoods, especially among the youngest voters. Even if they are registered, they will do on election day whatever their peers are doing. Few of us, at that age, are stronger than the tides of our peer group.

But, we thought, what if, when those young people were registered to vote, they were given a bracelet with the name of someone who gave their life for freedom or for equality – someone who can no longer vote for themselves, but for whom the wearer of this bracelet might vote. The bracelet will come with the story of that person, and it will say, "Vote for Me." This emotional bond may become important enough to this new voter that he or she will break away from the normal activities of November 2, 2004 and show some respect for this name.

Within those same communities, we are working with gospel churches to create a "Wake up and Vote" gospel music tour, and we are working on a program called "Stretch the Vote," in which stretch limousines will shuttle between the poling places and the neighborhoods on election day. Whatever it takes to wake up the spirit, generate a smile, make it a day of fun and liberation, we shall do. There are many programs from other organizations, too: Arrive with Five, Mi Familia Vota, and many more.

It is a time to look at the deep needs of such communities. During the Clinton Administration, some 100,000 new police were put on our streets in an effort to make America safer. It did so, but at a great expense. Would some of that money have been better spent on community programs to improve life in poor areas? Perhaps. But the cities were made safer. Sometimes young people were stopped for a broken tail light and were found to be in possession of something that led to a felony arrest. It is hard for them to get their voting rights back after they have paid the price for that error. It is also a problem for them when they apply for jobs – they are stuck for life, it seems, at minimum wage.

We need a "clean slate" program to erase these criminal records after a period of lawful behavior. No judge intended these to be lifetime sentences, and that is what they are in terms of job prospects. If we provide leadership in areas such as this, believe me, the mothers and grandmothers of the housing projects will become very interested in politics and voting and all that comes with it. It is no good for the Democrats or anyone else to show up in these communities a few minutes before each election and ask for votes, when poverty and agony are never improved by it.

These people see the elites of the right fighting with the elites of the left. And that is all it is, usually. Even when the elites of the left are elected, there are never enough resources provided to really solve problems of the poor on the required scale. Unless we address this failing on our part, we have no right to ask people in poor communities to register just because we want them to. Part of waking up the vote is waking up our own moral sensibilities.

Now, I am telling you all this because I think it is amazing what can be done – what can be well started – when you come and you have your eyes and your ears wide open. I need hearing aids, you know, but I can still listen and I do. My eyes are old but they see injustice very clearly. My legs are frail but they can walk me through hard places where beautiful people live and dream.

What can one person do? What can you do? Anything and everything. You will not believe it, but the world is waiting for your ideas, your creative energy, your love, and your courage. It is your world, and you are remarkably more in charge than you can imagine. Have the courage to dream, to lead and to follow. I include the word "follow" because the progressives, of which I am one, are rather leadership-averse, and they would sometimes rather trade emails back and forth and draft long statements of their precious positions on this or that than to actually pick a leader, be good followers and get things done that need doing in the world. And real progress is always an occasion for shoe leather more than email.

Just do it, friends. It's all out there and it's beautiful beyond description.

Let me say one more thing. I am hoping all the progressives who have had candidates in the presidential race will join forces in a new progressive organization, and I hope that can begin this month. I specifically hope Mr. Kucinich and Gov. Dean will have a conversation about that soon. In person yesterday, I have asked Mr. Kucinich if he will call the Governor about joining forces for a new progressive organization, and he said he would make that call.

Politics is a means of creating social change. The most important word in politics is the word "energy," because energy is needed to overcome inertia of rest, to lift us forward out of the old ruts in which the wagons of civilization get bogged down.

There are two kinds of political energy: joy and fear. Too often, we progressives succumb to using the politics of fear, which is the specialty of our opponents. The politics of joy is more powerful.

We live the free, creative, just and sustainable life we would hope will spread to others. Our events and our words and our campaigns must be expressions of this better world. Our politics must be grounded in the joyful present moment, not dragged from a fearful future. Even our most progressive candidates project fear of the future when they should operate from the joy of the present. That is who we are. We are about life, in all its flowering forms, and we are about love. We celebrate this. We are fearless of the future, for if we make too much space in our hearts for fear, we lose the joy that is the energy we need to move our people forward.

So break out the food and the drinks and the kites and the music and the art and the creative juices of the moment. We must create a moving feast, a moving celebration of life. We must put the party back in party politics, and you will see who joins us.

Thank you.

Read Granny D's weblog at GrannyD.com.

Windfall of War

Under the heading "Windfalls of War" the Center of Public Integrity reveals
this about a NC outfit known as Zapata Engineering:

The Center has learned that Zapata Engineering has a contract worth a
maximum $120 million to provide ordnance and explosives management services
worldwide, including in Iraq. In response to Freedom of Information Act
requests for copies of contracts for Iraq, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
provided the Center a copy of a $3.8 million task order on this contract
for services specifically in Iraq, dated Sept. 30, 2003.

For $3.8 million, Zapata Engineering will provide one year of ordnance and
explosives management services of five Zapata staff members?one liaison
officer and four program managers?who will work for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers' Captured Enemy Ammunitions program in Iraq. The task order
negotiated a salary based on an 84-hour work week for the liaison officer
at a rate of $159.47 per hour, or $696,564.96 for 52 weeks. Each program
officer receives the rate of $119.26 per hour, or $520,927.68 for 52 weeks.
In total, $2.8 million of the $3.8 million task order could be spent just
for the salaries of the five-person team. The task order also breaks down
estimated total costs, including Zapata's profit, at $1,098,650 for the
liaison officer and $2,740,308 for the four program managers.

During the Center's initial six-month investigation, which ended in October
2003, Zapata Engineering did not appear on any of the lists of American
contractors in Iraq provided by several Defense Department agencies.

Further clarification from USACE has revealed that the contract originally
was awarded on August 25, 2000. According to a Defense Department press
release, the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract was
competitively bid and awarded collectively to six firms at a total value of
$200 million, with no single firm permitted to receive more than $60
million through the life of the contract, ending August 2005. In 2003 all
six companies had their individual contract ceilings increased to $120
million. The first $10 million increase was approved by USACE in April
2003, with an additional $50 million later approved by the U.S. Army.

Note that this contract was awarded more than 12 months BEFORE September
11, 2001. No wonder we had to drop a lot of ordinance on Iraq. There was
already a contract to clean it up.

Whether this Zapata Corporation is related to the company of the same name
that was owned by George H.W. Bush to drill for oil in the Carribbean is
not known. It is known, however, that unlike other defense contractors who
have made significant investments in the form of campaign contributions
Zapata Engineering only put up about $500.

A Healthy Shrub?

HOWARD DEAN ENCOUNTERS THE BUSH CEREBELLUM--

Don't know how many of you read Tom Oliphant yesterday, but he ended his column on the shrub's credibility with this direct quote: "God loves you and I love you. And you can count on the both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about the future can hear."
The import of this quote was sort of hidden by the fact that Oliphant split the quote into two parts and then ended his column with "Huh?"

OK, that's the first thing. The second thing that obviously stuck was that video ginny directed us to where the faces of GWB are given the bodies of a bunch of girls in somewhat erotic poses. Perhaps because I'm female, the bodies didn't interest me much, but the many faces of George were startling. I recognize that they are all his, but taken together what they say to me is that a person who makes such faces is perhaps a bit insane.
Now, when you put that together with that cryptic comment by Paul O'Neill about "a blind man in a room full of deaf people," what do you get?
That description of Cabinet meetings has always bothered me because it didn't make any sense. Now what I think O'Neill meant was that GWB can't see himself and the people around him can't hear that he's, let's say, mentally incapacitated.
Are there any psychiatrists out there? What does one do when a person suffering from megalomania is actually the leader of the most powerful nation on earth? This isn't just a question of the emperor having no clothes.
Maybe my brain has sprung a gasket, but I sort of doubt it because at this point I'm not convinced either way. I just think it's something that has to be considered.
Posted by Monica Smith at March 8, 2004 09:37 AM

In the interest of full disclosure, I left something out of the previous post and that is that I know from experience that it is very difficult to recognize mental illness, such as manic depression. While the depression part is somewhat easier in one sense, because it's more obvious, it's deceptive because those who are close to the individual find the down side easier to live with--not as much energy needing to be expended.
The up swing is more difficult to recognize because, if one discounts the false premise on which all the action towards a particular goal is based, the agenda is entirely logical and consistent. Once a plan has been committed to, there's no real reason to stop and ask, why not?
Where the real problem comes from is that the people who have been sucked into an insane project are reluctant to get out because to do so would be to admit that they were giving aid and comfort to a ........ (can't bring myself to say it)
Posted by Monica Smith at March 8, 2004 10:12 AM

What I want to know now is the Rove machine intentionally putting out campaign material that is going to drop the polls into the cellar and give them a reason to replace the head of the ticket without having to admit that there's been a real problem, as there obviously was, in retrospect, with Reagan?
Has somebody decided to let Bush be Bush until he self-destructs?
It would be some comfort to think that somebody was concerned about correcting a big mistake. But, if they did, should the people who have been covering it up get away with it again?
Posted by Monica Smith at March 8, 2004 10:22 AM

Austin Visibility

Laura's Henry Alex

Donna and David have forwarded a link to Laura's Henry Alex Yongtao

Looks a lot like Susan Hillis at that age to me!!!!

Virginia Views

Haiti's Plight

BlackCommentator provides another perspective on the most recent U.S. invasion of Haiti.

http://www.blackcommentator.com

Update on March 7, 2004 as reported in the Daily Telegraph

With the marines playing a role normally left to government employees, locals have already started blaming Americans for the lack of basic services. "Why don't they turn the electricity back on?" asked Yves Delva, a maker of voodoo flags, as he watched another convoy, armed with surface to surface missiles, roll by. "It looks as though they are here on vacation."

In Memoriam

When I visited the Georgia Democratic Party site and located GlynnforDean, I came across the following. It falls into the category of small world, isn't it. We're all connected.

Gertrude M. Jones
Word has been received that Gertrude M. Jones, 81, passed away on August 25, 2003, under the loving care of the nursing aides of Heritage Manor of Mandeville, Louisiana. She was a native of Lebanon, KY. She was a retired Vice President of Georgia International Life Insurance Company of Atlanta, GA. Her husband, Warren K. Jones predeceased her. Two daughters survive her: Dawn Hunt and her live-in boyfriend, Roland, of Mandeville, LA; and Melba Kovalak and her husband, Drew Kovalak, of Woodbury, MN. Three sisters, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, also survive her. Funeral services were held in Louisville, KY. Memorial gifts may be made to any organization that seeks the removal of President George Bush from office.

Published in The Times-Picayune on 10/2/2003.

Who's a Who

The Whos down in Whoville liked people a lot,
But the Grinch in the White House most certainly did not.
He didn't arrive there by the will of the Whos,
But stole the election that he really did lose.
Vowed to "rule from the middle," then installed his regime.
(Did this really happen, or is it just a bad dream?)

He didn't listen to voters, just his friends he was pleasin'
Now, please don't ask why, who knows what's the reason.
It could be his heart wasn't working just right.
It could be, perhaps, that he wasn't too bright.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
Is that both brain and heart were two sizes too small.
In times of great turmoil, this was bad news,
To have a government that ignores its own Whos.

But the Whos shrugged their shoulders, went on with their work,
Their duties as citizens so casually did shirk.
They shopped at the mall and watched their T.V.
They drove a gas guzzling big S.U.V.,
Oblivious to what was going on in D.C.,
Ignoring the threats to democracy.

They read the same papers that ran the same leads,
Reporting what only served corporate needs.
(For the policies affecting the lives of all nations
Were made by the giant U.S. Corporations.)
Big business grew fatter, fed by its own greed,
And by whos who bought stuff that no who really needs.

But amidst all the apathy came signs of unrest,
The Whos came to see we were fouling our nest.
And the people who cared for the ideals of this nation
Began to discuss and exchange information:
The things they couldn't read, in the corporate-owned news,
Of FTAA meetings and CIA coups,
Of drilling for oil and restricting Whos rights.
They published some books, created Websites,
Began to write letters, and use their e-mail
(Though Homeland Security might send them to jail!)

What began as a whisper soon grew to a roar,
These things going on they could no longer ignore.
They started to rise up and reach out to all
Let their voices be heard, they rose to the call,
To vote, to petition, to gather, dissent,
To question the policies of the Who "President."

As greed gained in power and power knew no shame
The Whos came together, sang "Not in our name!"
One by one from their sleep and their slumber they woke
The old and the young, all kinds of folk,
The black, brown and white, the gay, bi- and straight,
All united to sing, "Feed our hope, not our hate!

Stop stockpiling weapons and aiming for war!
Stop feeding the rich, start feeding the poor!
Stop storming the deserts to fuel SUV's!
Stop telling us lies on the mainstream T.V.'s!
Stop treating our children as a market to sack!
Stop feeding them Barney, Barbie and Big Mac!
Stop trying to addict them to lifelong consuming,
In a time when severe global warming is looming!
Stop sanctions that are killing the kids in Iraq!
Start dealing with ours that are strung out on crack!"

A mighty sound started to rise and to grow,
"The old way of thinking simply must go!
Enough of God versus Allah, Muslim vs. Jew
With what lies ahead, it simply won't do.
No American dream that cares only for wealth
Ignoring the need for community health.

The rivers and forests are demanding their pay,
If we're to survive, we must walk a new way.
No more excessive and mindless consumption
Let's sharpen our minds and garner our gumption.
For the ideas are simple, but the practice is hard,
And not to be won by a poem on a card.
It needs the ideas and the acts of each Who,
So let's get together and plan what to do!"

And so they all gathered from all 'round the Earth
And from it all came a miraculous birth.
The hearts and the minds of the Whos grew and grew,
Three sizes to fit what they felt and they knew.
While the Grinches they shrank from their hate and their greed,
Bearing the weight of their every foul deed.

From that day onward the standard of wealth,
Was whatever fed the Whos spiritual health.
They gathered together to revel and feast,
And thanked all who worked to conquer their beast.
For although our story pits Grinches 'gainst Whos,
The true battle lies in what we daily choose.
For inside each Grinch is a tiny small Who,
And inside each Who is a tiny Grinch too.
One thrives on love and one thrives on greed.
Who will win out? It depends who you feed!

Author: Unknown

Bush tax

As regards the Bush tax cuts putting more money in the pockets of the rich: this was a classic bait and switch operation. The promise was that the dollars would be invested and generate more jobs here in the United States. The reality is that the dollars have been exported to generate more jobs in other countries where the profit margin is much greater because the costs of production, including labor, environmental preservation, education, health care and resource extraction are less.
Of course, since these foreign nations are likely to prove less stable as the promises of more pay for less work prove to be illusiory as well, the value of the dollars invested there is going to be discounted. We already see that in the value of the dollar having gone down at least 40%. It isn't going to go up by forcing the Iraqi oil to be sold for dollars instead of euros as the interim government has been ordered to do.
Why we should have believed that a failed business-man would be good for business is beyond me. The whole Bush clan has experienced one failure after another and keeps having to be bailed out by its cronies. I keep bing reminded of the untrustworthy steward in the Bible who dissipated his employer's estate by doing last-minute favors for his "friends."

Johnny he good

A note I sent to people on my Dean's List....

Dear Deaniac list members:
I?m emailing my list to Jamie Yu-Ramos so that he can combine this list with his for efficient dissimination of the Dean?s List newsletter he and his wife are putting together. Prior to this I was sending emails to this group so email addresses could not be seen; however, I felt that this was a good reason to uncover them so we can all benefit from Jamie?s new endeavor.

Remember ? the news about our gathering on Sat. is spreading. I?m sitting in a coffee shop right now. I have a Dean sticker on my laptop and someone felt compelled to walk over and ask me about the reason for the Dean rally on Sat. for a candidate that has dropped out of the race. I informed him and he proceeded to go over and tell his friends at his table. The gathering we had Saturday was unprecedented in modern day politics. We?ve managed to capture the attention and it appears that the 15,000 or so that saw Dean?s speech in Seattle may very well be curious about what we?re going to do next. Moreover, the membership list in our yahoo groups is growing ? slowly ? but they?re growing. As we continue to grow I?m sure efforts will be made to solidify and unify us so that we can make efficient use of our convictions and we will now have time to educate the masses. I?m getting the feeling that the campaign is being looked upon with increasing curiosity. The more we gather like we did on Sat., the more we continue to show our support for this movement, the more people will take a look and want to join.

Most of us are getting involved at this level for the first time ever. While I criticize my friends (under my breath), I cannot help but think that I was looking in a mirror at the same time. I was that way until I came back from a two year stint living in Canada where I got to see us (our country) from a different angle which I accredit for my increased interest in Dean?s message. But the good news is that Dean?s message got through and it will continue to grow as long as we stay together ? remain active and emphasize some of the key observations that I find very attractive about this. The fact that digitally we formed and are forming a very powerful community and we had a presidential candidate who, for the first time, was beholden to us ? not the corporations donating to his campaign. This point alone is just now getting out for some reason. When I tell people about it today they act like they?ve never heard of what is considered the hallmark of our campaign ? that it?s people powered ? and had an incredible showing of volunteerism.

What?s even more remarkable is what we did Saturday! Volunteerism of that nature is the most special display of caring individuals I?ve ever seen. We gathered, we planned, we raised money, we did all of these things for a NATIONAL cause ? something that has already been shown as a possibility due to the successes we experienced in the last few months. Raising $50million is only the beginning. Imagine if we had a base of 2 million Americans! Donating at $10 per person = $20 million and $100 = $200 million. This is what the DNC and the republicans were afraid of ? money like that can out-do what they?ve already done to us. We really can take back this country ? and it?s important that we not let down ? because we?ve already learned and we can make it work.

?We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect Union....? - You?re damn right we can!
Cheers,
JTS
--
Johnny T. Stine
Sr. Scientist
Posted by Johnny T. Stine Seattle at March 2, 2004 04:28 AM

Saddam

Before the Party

I get the feeling that this is like the time just before the party when you've got everything ready and you're waiting for the guests to arrive and you can't help thinking, "what if nobody comes?"

Well, I think somebody will come and I'll tell you why. I don't think there's anything more rewarding in life than the feeling you get when someone agrees with what you've been thinking without your having made any effort to convince them or even brought the subject up.

And the reason it's so rewarding is because when two people come to the same conclusion about something independently, it's the closest you'll ever get to knowing the truth. Each person's thought, arrived at through different perceptions, validates what the other has thought.

That, I think, is the reason Howard Dean has caught on with so many people. In expressing what so many people were thinking, and thinking they were alone in thinking, he's confirmed for them that they were right. What he's saying isn't true because they've been taught to believe it, but because it's what theyve experienced. They don't have to believe (that there are WMD or not); they KNOW. And the knowledge they shared first with Howard Dean and now with so many others, is the truth.

And that's why no matter how often Kerry, in particular, tells them the same thing, they are not going to believe him. Because they've already heard the truth and the truth doesn't know how to come out of John Kerry's mouth. Whether Edwards can speak the truth of experience is yet to be seen.

I'm pretty sure that this is the first thing I've ever written that's made me cry. It just feels so right.

CA WOMEN