Saturday, July 31, 2004
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/31/dems.radio/
Retired general: Bush foreign policy a 'national disaster'
Saturday, July 31, 2004 Posted: 11:15 AM EDT (1515 GMT)
(CNN) -- A former Air Force chief of staff and one-time "Veteran for Bush" said Saturday that America's foreign relations for the first three years of President Bush's term have been "a national disaster" but that the president's Democratic rival was "up to the task" of rebuilding.
Retired Gen. Tony McPeak, the Air Force chief of staff during the first Gulf War, delivered the Democratic radio address supporting implementation of the 9/11 commission's recommendations for national security.
"As president, John Kerry will not waste a minute in bringing action on the reforms urged by the 9/11 commission," McPeak said of the Massachusetts senator nominated by the Democrats this week. "And he will not rest until America's defenses are strong."
The president, on the other hand, "fought against the very formation of the commission and continues to the present moment to give it only grudging cooperation, no matter what he says," the general said. "Why should we believe he will do anything to institute the needed change?"
Administration officials have said that Bush could approve some of the commission's suggested changes by early next week.
McPeak, a former fighter pilot who campaigned for Bob Dole in 1996 as well as Bush in 2000, said Bush's inability to craft a true allied coalition was a serious deficiency.
"The report of the 9/11 commission makes this clear: Fighting terrorists alone just doesn't work," he said. "If our enemy hatches a terror plot in Rome, we will need help from the Italians. If German intelligence knows the whereabouts of a senior al Qaeda member, America must have that information."
Instead, he said, Bush has "alienated our friends, damaged our credibility around the world, reduced our influence to an all-time low in my lifetime, given hope to our enemies." . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retired general: Bush foreign policy a 'national disaster'
Saturday, July 31, 2004 Posted: 11:15 AM EDT (1515 GMT)
(CNN) -- A former Air Force chief of staff and one-time "Veteran for Bush" said Saturday that America's foreign relations for the first three years of President Bush's term have been "a national disaster" but that the president's Democratic rival was "up to the task" of rebuilding.
Retired Gen. Tony McPeak, the Air Force chief of staff during the first Gulf War, delivered the Democratic radio address supporting implementation of the 9/11 commission's recommendations for national security.
"As president, John Kerry will not waste a minute in bringing action on the reforms urged by the 9/11 commission," McPeak said of the Massachusetts senator nominated by the Democrats this week. "And he will not rest until America's defenses are strong."
The president, on the other hand, "fought against the very formation of the commission and continues to the present moment to give it only grudging cooperation, no matter what he says," the general said. "Why should we believe he will do anything to institute the needed change?"
Administration officials have said that Bush could approve some of the commission's suggested changes by early next week.
McPeak, a former fighter pilot who campaigned for Bob Dole in 1996 as well as Bush in 2000, said Bush's inability to craft a true allied coalition was a serious deficiency.
"The report of the 9/11 commission makes this clear: Fighting terrorists alone just doesn't work," he said. "If our enemy hatches a terror plot in Rome, we will need help from the Italians. If German intelligence knows the whereabouts of a senior al Qaeda member, America must have that information."
Instead, he said, Bush has "alienated our friends, damaged our credibility around the world, reduced our influence to an all-time low in my lifetime, given hope to our enemies." . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, July 29, 2004
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/
The 9-11 Commission Report
Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Official Government Edition
The Commission’s Final Report provides a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. It also includes recommendations designed to guard against future attacks. Below you will find the official Government edition of the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
The Full Report (4.4 MB, 585 pages) has been made available in its entirety, as a single PDF file. The report is also available as a collection of smaller PDFs arranged in a browse table based on the Final Report's table of contents. An Executive Summary (344 KB, 35 pages) of the Final Report is also available.
Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 9-11 Commission Report
Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Official Government Edition
The Commission’s Final Report provides a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. It also includes recommendations designed to guard against future attacks. Below you will find the official Government edition of the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
The Full Report
Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64984-2004Jul20.html
Origin of the Species
Up from the ooze, into the mud -- a brief history of American political evolution
By David Von Drehle
Sunday, July 25, 2004; Page W12
Once upon a time in America, there was a political party that believed in a strong central government, high taxes and bold public works projects. This party was popular on the college campuses of New England and was the overwhelming choice of African American voters.
It was the Republican Party.
The Republicans got started as a counterweight to the other party: the party of low taxes and limited government, the party suspicious of Eastern elites, the party that thought Washington should butt out of the affairs of private property owners.
The Democrats.
The fact that our two parties have swapped platforms, rhetoric and core ideals so completely might be spun, by some people, as a shortcoming. Some people might paint the stark soullessness of our parties -- which appear happy to argue the opposite tomorrow of what they argued yesterday, if that's what it takes to keep the argument going -- as somehow a bad thing. After all, party-bashing is a surefire crowd pleaser. . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origin of the Species
Up from the ooze, into the mud -- a brief history of American political evolution
By David Von Drehle
Sunday, July 25, 2004; Page W12
Once upon a time in America, there was a political party that believed in a strong central government, high taxes and bold public works projects. This party was popular on the college campuses of New England and was the overwhelming choice of African American voters.
It was the Republican Party.
The Republicans got started as a counterweight to the other party: the party of low taxes and limited government, the party suspicious of Eastern elites, the party that thought Washington should butt out of the affairs of private property owners.
The Democrats.
The fact that our two parties have swapped platforms, rhetoric and core ideals so completely might be spun, by some people, as a shortcoming. Some people might paint the stark soullessness of our parties -- which appear happy to argue the opposite tomorrow of what they argued yesterday, if that's what it takes to keep the argument going -- as somehow a bad thing. After all, party-bashing is a surefire crowd pleaser. . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, July 25, 2004
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/25/MNG6S7SR421.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, July 25, 2004 Philip Shenon, Douglas Jehl, David Johnston, New York Times
Report shatters conventional wisdom about 9/11 Bin Laden didn't pay for attack; 13 hijackers entered U.S. illegally; Bush briefed the month before
Washington -- When the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States set to work early last year to prepare the definitive history of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, it seemed that much of the hard work of the so- called 9/11 commission was already done, because so much of the horrifying story seemed to be known.
At the time, it was understood that all of the hijackers had entered the country legally and done nothing to draw attention to themselves; Osama bin Laden had underwritten the plot with his personal fortune but had left the details to others; U.S. intelligence agencies had no warning that al Qaeda was considering suicide missions using planes; President Bush had received a special intelligence briefing weeks before Sept. 11 about al Qaeda threats that focused on past, not current, threats.
But 19 months later, the commission released a final, unanimous book- length report on Thursday that, in calling for an overhaul of the way the government collects and shares intelligence, showed that much of what had been common wisdom about the Sept. 11 attacks at the start of the panel's investigation was wrong.
In meticulous detail, the 567-page report, including 116 pages of detailed footnotes in tiny, eye-straining type, rewrote the history of Sept. 11, 2001, correcting the historical record in ways large and small and shattering myths that might otherwise have been accepted as truth for generations.
The commission's report found that the hijackers had repeatedly broken the law in entering the United States, that bin Laden may have micromanaged the attacks but did not pay for them, that intelligence agencies had considered the threat of suicide hijackings, and that Bush received an August 2001 briefing on evidence of continuing domestic terrorist threats from al Qaeda. . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, July 25, 2004 Philip Shenon, Douglas Jehl, David Johnston, New York Times
Report shatters conventional wisdom about 9/11 Bin Laden didn't pay for attack; 13 hijackers entered U.S. illegally; Bush briefed the month before
Washington -- When the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States set to work early last year to prepare the definitive history of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, it seemed that much of the hard work of the so- called 9/11 commission was already done, because so much of the horrifying story seemed to be known.
At the time, it was understood that all of the hijackers had entered the country legally and done nothing to draw attention to themselves; Osama bin Laden had underwritten the plot with his personal fortune but had left the details to others; U.S. intelligence agencies had no warning that al Qaeda was considering suicide missions using planes; President Bush had received a special intelligence briefing weeks before Sept. 11 about al Qaeda threats that focused on past, not current, threats.
But 19 months later, the commission released a final, unanimous book- length report on Thursday that, in calling for an overhaul of the way the government collects and shares intelligence, showed that much of what had been common wisdom about the Sept. 11 attacks at the start of the panel's investigation was wrong.
In meticulous detail, the 567-page report, including 116 pages of detailed footnotes in tiny, eye-straining type, rewrote the history of Sept. 11, 2001, correcting the historical record in ways large and small and shattering myths that might otherwise have been accepted as truth for generations.
The commission's report found that the hijackers had repeatedly broken the law in entering the United States, that bin Laden may have micromanaged the attacks but did not pay for them, that intelligence agencies had considered the threat of suicide hijackings, and that Bush received an August 2001 briefing on evidence of continuing domestic terrorist threats from al Qaeda. . . .
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 23, 2004
LAST CHANCE
... Our work to ensure that John Kerry has the ability to compete toe-to-toe with George Bush isn't over -- not by a long shot.
In fact, we are facing the biggest challenge ever. Here's why: George Bush and his campaign will have an enormous August advantage. Because the Republican convention is so late, the Bush campaign can keep raising and spending tens of millions of dollars all through August.
To get our final seven days off to a strong start, everyone who contributes between now and Saturday night will receive two free Kerry-Edwards bumper stickers. Please make a secure contribution by visiting:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com/contribute.html?pid=0012&team=4569
This is your chance -- your last chance -- to help the Kerry primary campaign deliver a powerful message. Let's tell the Bush-Cheney campaign: "If you think you're going to overwhelm us in August, think again."
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager
***
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... Our work to ensure that John Kerry has the ability to compete toe-to-toe with George Bush isn't over -- not by a long shot.
In fact, we are facing the biggest challenge ever. Here's why: George Bush and his campaign will have an enormous August advantage. Because the Republican convention is so late, the Bush campaign can keep raising and spending tens of millions of dollars all through August.
To get our final seven days off to a strong start, everyone who contributes between now and Saturday night will receive two free Kerry-Edwards bumper stickers. Please make a secure contribution by visiting:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com/contribute.html?pid=0012&team=4569
This is your chance -- your last chance -- to help the Kerry primary campaign deliver a powerful message. Let's tell the Bush-Cheney campaign: "If you think you're going to overwhelm us in August, think again."
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager
***
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, July 19, 2004
Common Cause, MoveOn.org, and a bunch of other organizations have launched a campaign to force the FTC to stop Fox Broadcasting from continuing to claim its partisan news is "fair and balanced."
By any objective measure, FNC’s programming is not “Fair and Balanced.” To the contrary, recent research and studies of the network’s programming demonstrate that:
· Network management instructs line producers and correspondents to structure their coverage of events in a way that specifically promotes the positions of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party.
· The network makes no effort whatsoever to achieve any semblance of balance on its many interview shows. For example, a study of the interview show “Special Report with Brit Hume” for the last six months of 2003 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive guests five to one; and a similar study of the program in 2002 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive ones, 14 to one.
· The network’s coverage of current events is grossly distorted and biased. For example, a recent survey showed that much higher percentages of viewers whose main source of news is FNC have misperceptions about indisputable facts about the war, than do viewers of other news outlets.
Go to:
http://www.moveon.org/fox/
and sign the petition!
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By any objective measure, FNC’s programming is not “Fair and Balanced.” To the contrary, recent research and studies of the network’s programming demonstrate that:
· Network management instructs line producers and correspondents to structure their coverage of events in a way that specifically promotes the positions of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party.
· The network makes no effort whatsoever to achieve any semblance of balance on its many interview shows. For example, a study of the interview show “Special Report with Brit Hume” for the last six months of 2003 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive guests five to one; and a similar study of the program in 2002 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive ones, 14 to one.
· The network’s coverage of current events is grossly distorted and biased. For example, a recent survey showed that much higher percentages of viewers whose main source of news is FNC have misperceptions about indisputable facts about the war, than do viewers of other news outlets.
Go to:
http://www.moveon.org/fox/
and sign the petition!
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, July 18, 2004
CLASS WARFARE
This is the Fight of Our Lives
By Bill Moyers
Keynote Speech -- Inequality Matters Forum, New York University
Thursday 3 June 2004
... There's no question about it: The corporate conservatives and their allies in the political and religious right are achieving a vast transformation of American life that only they understand because they are its advocates, its architects, and its beneficiaries. In creating the greatest economic inequality in the advanced world, they have saddled our nation, our states, and our cities and counties with structural deficits that will last until our children's children are ready for retirement, and they are systematically stripping government of all its functions except rewarding the rich and waging war....
If you're not really mad yet, read Moyers' speech at:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/071804J.shtml
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the Fight of Our Lives
By Bill Moyers
Keynote Speech -- Inequality Matters Forum, New York University
Thursday 3 June 2004
... There's no question about it: The corporate conservatives and their allies in the political and religious right are achieving a vast transformation of American life that only they understand because they are its advocates, its architects, and its beneficiaries. In creating the greatest economic inequality in the advanced world, they have saddled our nation, our states, and our cities and counties with structural deficits that will last until our children's children are ready for retirement, and they are systematically stripping government of all its functions except rewarding the rich and waging war....
If you're not really mad yet, read Moyers' speech at:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/071804J.shtml
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, July 15, 2004
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/040714Huffington.shtml
George W. Bush: Presidential or Pathological?
by Arianna Huffington
That is the highly provocative question being asked in “Bush on the Couch,” a new book in which psychoanalyst and George Washington University professor Dr. Justin Frank uses the president’s public pronouncements and behavior, along with biographical data, to craft a comprehensive psychological profile of Bush 43.
It’s not a pretty picture, but it goes a long way in explaining how exactly our country got itself into the mess we are in: an intractable war, the loss of allies and international goodwill, a half-trillion-dollar deficit.
Poking around in the presidential psyche, Frank uncovers a man suffering from megalomania, paranoia, a false sense of omnipotence, an inability to manage his emotions, a lifelong need to defy authority, an unresolved love-hate relationship with his father, and the repercussions of a history of untreated alcohol abuse.
Other than that, George Bush is the picture of psychological health.
One of the more compelling sections of the book is Frank’s dissection of what he calls Bush’s “almost pathological aversion to owning up to his infractions” — a mindset common to individuals Freud termed “the Exceptions,” those who feel “entitled to live outside the limitations that apply to ordinary people.”
Limitations like, for instance, not driving while drunk. Or the limitation of having to report for required Air National Guard duty. Or the limitation of having to adhere to international law. . . .
. . . At the end of his analysis, Dr. Frank offers the following prescription: “Having seen the depth and range of President Bush’s psychological flaws … our sole treatment option — for his benefit and for ours — is to remove President Bush from office.”
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George W. Bush: Presidential or Pathological?
by Arianna Huffington
That is the highly provocative question being asked in “Bush on the Couch,” a new book in which psychoanalyst and George Washington University professor Dr. Justin Frank uses the president’s public pronouncements and behavior, along with biographical data, to craft a comprehensive psychological profile of Bush 43.
It’s not a pretty picture, but it goes a long way in explaining how exactly our country got itself into the mess we are in: an intractable war, the loss of allies and international goodwill, a half-trillion-dollar deficit.
Poking around in the presidential psyche, Frank uncovers a man suffering from megalomania, paranoia, a false sense of omnipotence, an inability to manage his emotions, a lifelong need to defy authority, an unresolved love-hate relationship with his father, and the repercussions of a history of untreated alcohol abuse.
Other than that, George Bush is the picture of psychological health.
One of the more compelling sections of the book is Frank’s dissection of what he calls Bush’s “almost pathological aversion to owning up to his infractions” — a mindset common to individuals Freud termed “the Exceptions,” those who feel “entitled to live outside the limitations that apply to ordinary people.”
Limitations like, for instance, not driving while drunk. Or the limitation of having to report for required Air National Guard duty. Or the limitation of having to adhere to international law. . . .
. . . At the end of his analysis, Dr. Frank offers the following prescription: “Having seen the depth and range of President Bush’s psychological flaws … our sole treatment option — for his benefit and for ours — is to remove President Bush from office.”
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOP Governor Blasts Bush Administration
Associated Press [Excerpt]
WASHINGTON (July 14) - Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney criticized the Bush administration on Wednesday, saying the government engages in wasteful spending and often gives money to ensure Republican votes.
The government doles out money "based on who will vote for us or for our party: in effect, we buy votes," Romney said in remarks prepared for delivery. "We fund programs that don't work. We tolerate abuse and cheating in the multiples of billions of dollars."
Gee, who knew? He also took a shot at Kerry -- at:
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=20040714143009990001
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press [Excerpt]
WASHINGTON (July 14) - Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney criticized the Bush administration on Wednesday, saying the government engages in wasteful spending and often gives money to ensure Republican votes.
The government doles out money "based on who will vote for us or for our party: in effect, we buy votes," Romney said in remarks prepared for delivery. "We fund programs that don't work. We tolerate abuse and cheating in the multiples of billions of dollars."
Gee, who knew? He also took a shot at Kerry -- at:
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=20040714143009990001
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Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Letterman's Top Ten List:
Dubya's Top Ten Complaints About "Fahrenheit 9/11":
10. That actor who played the President was totally unconvincing
9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election
8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words
7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported
6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger
5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true
4. Not sure - - I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe
3. Where the hell was Spider-man?
2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth
1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball
***
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dubya's Top Ten Complaints About "Fahrenheit 9/11":
10. That actor who played the President was totally unconvincing
9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election
8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words
7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported
6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger
5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true
4. Not sure - - I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe
3. Where the hell was Spider-man?
2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth
1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball
***
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, July 05, 2004
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=72386
Casey: Dear John Kerry
By Helen Marie Casey / Local Columnist
Sunday, July 4, 2004
It isn't enough to be "Anyone but Bush." As the old philosophers would say, it's important but not sufficient. You bruised yourself in Boston when you opted out and Gov. Romney took your place. You're falling into the same trap that President Bush falls into. You're seeing the world as a series of either-or propositions when you ought to be looking at how you can convert your choices into both-and propositions. You know, win-win deals. . . .
. . .We don't want someone at the helm who lies to us (or to himself). We don't want language used that flies in the face of reality. We don't want someone who mistakes a display of power for strength. We want a leader for whom we do not have to apologize, a leader who brings out the best that is in us, who makes others wish that they, too, were Americans.
So, John Kerry, take a deep breath. Keep your eye on the one thing most of us want: be straight with us. Be unwavering on the fundamentals. We'll forgive a great deal if we're convinced that you have the courage of your convictions.
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Casey: Dear John Kerry
By Helen Marie Casey / Local Columnist
Sunday, July 4, 2004
It isn't enough to be "Anyone but Bush." As the old philosophers would say, it's important but not sufficient. You bruised yourself in Boston when you opted out and Gov. Romney took your place. You're falling into the same trap that President Bush falls into. You're seeing the world as a series of either-or propositions when you ought to be looking at how you can convert your choices into both-and propositions. You know, win-win deals. . . .
. . .We don't want someone at the helm who lies to us (or to himself). We don't want language used that flies in the face of reality. We don't want someone who mistakes a display of power for strength. We want a leader for whom we do not have to apologize, a leader who brings out the best that is in us, who makes others wish that they, too, were Americans.
So, John Kerry, take a deep breath. Keep your eye on the one thing most of us want: be straight with us. Be unwavering on the fundamentals. We'll forgive a great deal if we're convinced that you have the courage of your convictions.
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 02, 2004
They just don't know right from wrong --
Bush Seeks Church Membership Data
By David Morgan, Reuters
WASHINGTON (July 1) - President Bush, seeking to mobilize religious conservatives for his reelection campaign, has asked church-going volunteers to turn over church membership directories, campaign officials said on Thursday.
In a move sharply criticized both by religious leaders and civil libertarians. . . .
A copy of the guide directs religious volunteers to send church directories to state campaign committees, identify new churches that can be organized by the Bush campaign and talk to clergy about holding voter registration drives....
the Rev. Richard Land, who deals with ethics and religious liberty issues for the Southern Baptist Convention, a key Bush constituency, said he was "appalled."....
But I'll bet a lot of people do it. Details at:
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=20040701193109990003
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bush Seeks Church Membership Data
By David Morgan, Reuters
WASHINGTON (July 1) - President Bush, seeking to mobilize religious conservatives for his reelection campaign, has asked church-going volunteers to turn over church membership directories, campaign officials said on Thursday.
In a move sharply criticized both by religious leaders and civil libertarians. . . .
A copy of the guide directs religious volunteers to send church directories to state campaign committees, identify new churches that can be organized by the Bush campaign and talk to clergy about holding voter registration drives....
the Rev. Richard Land, who deals with ethics and religious liberty issues for the Southern Baptist Convention, a key Bush constituency, said he was "appalled."....
But I'll bet a lot of people do it. Details at:
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=20040701193109990003
End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
