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December 29, 2005
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
Ask CPB Chairman Tomlinson to Stop Playing Politics with Public Broadcasting. The CPB is the Corporate for Public Broadcasting, and is supposed to be non-partisan, as good broadcasting should be. But Tomlinson has been anything but non-partisan as he has manipulated the CPB. This Joe Conason editorial provides some good insight into how Mr. Tomlinson operates. It shouldn't be a shock to you that a Bush appointee is trying to politicize another position that's supposed to serve the public, but it still should offend you. As a side note, is it surprising that most responsible journalism seems biased these days? The facts about the Bush administration are pretty damning. But that doesn't mean the public shouldn't be made aware of them.
News
Senators Call on White House to Establish Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board as Called For In Intelligence Reform Act. Does Bush do anything besides traveling all over the country pushing his crappy Social Security plan? Oh, that's right, sometimes he goes to other countries and tries to convince them that everything is going great in Iraq. But apparently what he's NOT doing is implementing the policies that Congress passes into law, and that he signs. In December of 2004, the President signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which called for the formation of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. As yet, the President still hasn't nominated a Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Board. They haven't even obtained office space yet! Actions speak louder than words, and Bush's actions clearly state that he doesn't give a damn about the privacy or civil liberties of Americans.
Review May Shift Terror Policies. The title of this article is misleading. It really should be: "Bush Has No Clue How To Fight Terrorism". Really, just as we asked in the previous post, what is Bush spending his time doing? It turns out that "many of the key counterterrorism jobs in the administration have been empty for months". And only now, it seems, nearly 4 years after 9/11, is the Administration realizing that you need to go after the root causes of terrorism, and find out what is driving people towards violent extremism. Haven't sensible people been saying this for years, only to be drowned out by those shouting that we shouldn't try to understand murderers? It's good that they're finally getting around to reviewing their policies - even that doesn't happen often enough. But here's the scary part: " 'They recognize there's been a vacuum of leadership,' said a former top counterterrorism official... 'There has been a dearth of senior leadership directing this day to day. No one knows who's running this on a day-to-day basis.' " Leadership? Isn't that the job of the President?
Hastert Directs Millions to Birthplace. Dennis Hastert, by the way, is Speaker of the House. It's easy to forget that, as usually Tom DeLay grabs all the scummy headlines, allowing Hastert to do the dirty legislative work. But, never fear, there's enough corruption to go around. It seems that in an era in which federal budgets need to be slashed, and Hastert is supposed to be a small-government conservative, it might make sense for him to cut a little smaller piece of the pie for himself. But instead of allowing his hometown to apply for grants based on merit, he's used his office to "earmark" millions of dollars in funds for Aurora, Illinois. It's one thing for Congressmen to do their jobs and represent their constituents, but it's another for them to abuse their power to the detriment of other communities all over the country that need help. Pork barrel politics is nothing new, from either side of the aisle, but that doesn't mean we should let it slide.
Editorials
Too Few, Yet Too Many. What is Krugman talking about? Well, believe it or not, this time it's not Social Security or Medicare, but rather the size of the military. As usual, he asks some important questions. For instance, what the hell is up with Bush's repeated insistence that his generals tell him they have enough troops? Apparently, it's because if they tell him anything else, they get canned. But it's so far from the truth that it's really abhorrent what Bush's refusal to somehow increase the size of the military is doing to out country. Our ability to have an all-volunteer army depends on those volunteers trusting that their willingness to serve won't be abused. Bush is not only hurting our efforts in Iraq, he may be crippling the Army's effectiveness for a long, long time.
The Honor Snatchers. Speaking of Bush hurting the Army, here's a good example of how his Administration is not just being neglectful by denying the need to chance their approach to staffing, but also being actively detrimental to the image of the Army. Pat Tillman truly was a hero, regardless of the details of his death. He wanted to serve his country, and he did. But then he was killed in a friendly-fire accident, and this Administration exploited him for political purposes, as they do with everything. It's getting tougher and tougher to find people willing to serve in our military, and it's not hard to understand why. Most likely if a person is still willing to die for his or her country, it's solely because they believe it's the honorable thing to do. But if the Administration insists on taking that honor from its soldiers, even after they've already given their lives, then why would those honorable volunteers still want to serve? Pat, we appreciate your service and dedication, even if those in powers only appreciated the political opportunity you provided them.
Unfriendly Fire. As long as we're still in a post-Memorial Day mood, we wanted to provide you with some food for thought, courtesy of the Bull Moose. It is pretty amazing how many Republicans in power avoided serving in Vietnam, a war to this day that they still claim was worthwhile. Beyond that, it's quite disgusting how many of those same leaders are willing to send others off to fight in yet another unjustified war, when they themselves were never willing to make similar sacrifices. But what's truly galling is the willingness of those who did not serve to attack those who did. Inevitably, when a true war hero (Kerry, Cleland, McCain) runs against a true war hawk, the hero's patriotism and honor ends up being called into question. The Moose asks if this will continue to happen when those who served in the Iraq war try to run, years from now. It truly is disgusting, and shows the contempt that the Republican "chickenhawks" really have for our military men.
|
December 29, 2005
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
Ask CPB Chairman Tomlinson to Stop Playing Politics with Public Broadcasting. The CPB is the Corporate for Public Broadcasting, and is supposed to be non-partisan, as good broadcasting should be. But Tomlinson has been anything but non-partisan as he has manipulated the CPB. This Joe Conason editorial provides some good insight into how Mr. Tomlinson operates. It shouldn't be a shock to you that a Bush appointee is trying to politicize another position that's supposed to serve the public, but it still should offend you. As a side note, is it surprising that most responsible journalism seems biased these days? The facts about the Bush administration are pretty damning. But that doesn't mean the public shouldn't be made aware of them.
News
Senators Call on White House to Establish Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board as Called For In Intelligence Reform Act. Does Bush do anything besides traveling all over the country pushing his crappy Social Security plan? Oh, that's right, sometimes he goes to other countries and tries to convince them that everything is going great in Iraq. But apparently what he's NOT doing is implementing the policies that Congress passes into law, and that he signs. In December of 2004, the President signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which called for the formation of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. As yet, the President still hasn't nominated a Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Board. They haven't even obtained office space yet! Actions speak louder than words, and Bush's actions clearly state that he doesn't give a damn about the privacy or civil liberties of Americans.
Review May Shift Terror Policies. The title of this article is misleading. It really should be: "Bush Has No Clue How To Fight Terrorism". Really, just as we asked in the previous post, what is Bush spending his time doing? It turns out that "many of the key counterterrorism jobs in the administration have been empty for months". And only now, it seems, nearly 4 years after 9/11, is the Administration realizing that you need to go after the root causes of terrorism, and find out what is driving people towards violent extremism. Haven't sensible people been saying this for years, only to be drowned out by those shouting that we shouldn't try to understand murderers? It's good that they're finally getting around to reviewing their policies - even that doesn't happen often enough. But here's the scary part: " 'They recognize there's been a vacuum of leadership,' said a former top counterterrorism official... 'There has been a dearth of senior leadership directing this day to day. No one knows who's running this on a day-to-day basis.' " Leadership? Isn't that the job of the President?
Hastert Directs Millions to Birthplace. Dennis Hastert, by the way, is Speaker of the House. It's easy to forget that, as usually Tom DeLay grabs all the scummy headlines, allowing Hastert to do the dirty legislative work. But, never fear, there's enough corruption to go around. It seems that in an era in which federal budgets need to be slashed, and Hastert is supposed to be a small-government conservative, it might make sense for him to cut a little smaller piece of the pie for himself. But instead of allowing his hometown to apply for grants based on merit, he's used his office to "earmark" millions of dollars in funds for Aurora, Illinois. It's one thing for Congressmen to do their jobs and represent their constituents, but it's another for them to abuse their power to the detriment of other communities all over the country that need help. Pork barrel politics is nothing new, from either side of the aisle, but that doesn't mean we should let it slide.
Editorials
Too Few, Yet Too Many. What is Krugman talking about? Well, believe it or not, this time it's not Social Security or Medicare, but rather the size of the military. As usual, he asks some important questions. For instance, what the hell is up with Bush's repeated insistence that his generals tell him they have enough troops? Apparently, it's because if they tell him anything else, they get canned. But it's so far from the truth that it's really abhorrent what Bush's refusal to somehow increase the size of the military is doing to out country. Our ability to have an all-volunteer army depends on those volunteers trusting that their willingness to serve won't be abused. Bush is not only hurting our efforts in Iraq, he may be crippling the Army's effectiveness for a long, long time.
The Honor Snatchers. Speaking of Bush hurting the Army, here's a good example of how his Administration is not just being neglectful by denying the need to chance their approach to staffing, but also being actively detrimental to the image of the Army. Pat Tillman truly was a hero, regardless of the details of his death. He wanted to serve his country, and he did. But then he was killed in a friendly-fire accident, and this Administration exploited him for political purposes, as they do with everything. It's getting tougher and tougher to find people willing to serve in our military, and it's not hard to understand why. Most likely if a person is still willing to die for his or her country, it's solely because they believe it's the honorable thing to do. But if the Administration insists on taking that honor from its soldiers, even after they've already given their lives, then why would those honorable volunteers still want to serve? Pat, we appreciate your service and dedication, even if those in powers only appreciated the political opportunity you provided them.
Unfriendly Fire. As long as we're still in a post-Memorial Day mood, we wanted to provide you with some food for thought, courtesy of the Bull Moose. It is pretty amazing how many Republicans in power avoided serving in Vietnam, a war to this day that they still claim was worthwhile. Beyond that, it's quite disgusting how many of those same leaders are willing to send others off to fight in yet another unjustified war, when they themselves were never willing to make similar sacrifices. But what's truly galling is the willingness of those who did not serve to attack those who did. Inevitably, when a true war hero (Kerry, Cleland, McCain) runs against a true war hawk, the hero's patriotism and honor ends up being called into question. The Moose asks if this will continue to happen when those who served in the Iraq war try to run, years from now. It truly is disgusting, and shows the contempt that the Republican "chickenhawks" really have for our military men.
|
December 29, 2005
Ask CPB Chairman Tomlinson to Stop Playing Politics with Public Broadcasting. The CPB is the Corporate for Public Broadcasting, and is supposed to be non-partisan, as good broadcasting should be. But Tomlinson has been anything but non-partisan as he has manipulated the CPB. This Joe Conason editorial provides some good insight into how Mr. Tomlinson operates. It shouldn't be a shock to you that a Bush appointee is trying to politicize another position that's supposed to serve the public, but it still should offend you. As a side note, is it surprising that most responsible journalism seems biased these days? The facts about the Bush administration are pretty damning. But that doesn't mean the public shouldn't be made aware of them.
News
Senators Call on White House to Establish Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board as Called For In Intelligence Reform Act. Does Bush do anything besides traveling all over the country pushing his crappy Social Security plan? Oh, that's right, sometimes he goes to other countries and tries to convince them that everything is going great in Iraq. But apparently what he's NOT doing is implementing the policies that Congress passes into law, and that he signs. In December of 2004, the President signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which called for the formation of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. As yet, the President still hasn't nominated a Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Board. They haven't even obtained office space yet! Actions speak louder than words, and Bush's actions clearly state that he doesn't give a damn about the privacy or civil liberties of Americans.
Review May Shift Terror Policies. The title of this article is misleading. It really should be: "Bush Has No Clue How To Fight Terrorism". Really, just as we asked in the previous post, what is Bush spending his time doing? It turns out that "many of the key counterterrorism jobs in the administration have been empty for months". And only now, it seems, nearly 4 years after 9/11, is the Administration realizing that you need to go after the root causes of terrorism, and find out what is driving people towards violent extremism. Haven't sensible people been saying this for years, only to be drowned out by those shouting that we shouldn't try to understand murderers? It's good that they're finally getting around to reviewing their policies - even that doesn't happen often enough. But here's the scary part: " 'They recognize there's been a vacuum of leadership,' said a former top counterterrorism official... 'There has been a dearth of senior leadership directing this day to day. No one knows who's running this on a day-to-day basis.' " Leadership? Isn't that the job of the President?
Hastert Directs Millions to Birthplace. Dennis Hastert, by the way, is Speaker of the House. It's easy to forget that, as usually Tom DeLay grabs all the scummy headlines, allowing Hastert to do the dirty legislative work. But, never fear, there's enough corruption to go around. It seems that in an era in which federal budgets need to be slashed, and Hastert is supposed to be a small-government conservative, it might make sense for him to cut a little smaller piece of the pie for himself. But instead of allowing his hometown to apply for grants based on merit, he's used his office to "earmark" millions of dollars in funds for Aurora, Illinois. It's one thing for Congressmen to do their jobs and represent their constituents, but it's another for them to abuse their power to the detriment of other communities all over the country that need help. Pork barrel politics is nothing new, from either side of the aisle, but that doesn't mean we should let it slide.
Editorials
Too Few, Yet Too Many. What is Krugman talking about? Well, believe it or not, this time it's not Social Security or Medicare, but rather the size of the military. As usual, he asks some important questions. For instance, what the hell is up with Bush's repeated insistence that his generals tell him they have enough troops? Apparently, it's because if they tell him anything else, they get canned. But it's so far from the truth that it's really abhorrent what Bush's refusal to somehow increase the size of the military is doing to out country. Our ability to have an all-volunteer army depends on those volunteers trusting that their willingness to serve won't be abused. Bush is not only hurting our efforts in Iraq, he may be crippling the Army's effectiveness for a long, long time.
The Honor Snatchers. Speaking of Bush hurting the Army, here's a good example of how his Administration is not just being neglectful by denying the need to chance their approach to staffing, but also being actively detrimental to the image of the Army. Pat Tillman truly was a hero, regardless of the details of his death. He wanted to serve his country, and he did. But then he was killed in a friendly-fire accident, and this Administration exploited him for political purposes, as they do with everything. It's getting tougher and tougher to find people willing to serve in our military, and it's not hard to understand why. Most likely if a person is still willing to die for his or her country, it's solely because they believe it's the honorable thing to do. But if the Administration insists on taking that honor from its soldiers, even after they've already given their lives, then why would those honorable volunteers still want to serve? Pat, we appreciate your service and dedication, even if those in powers only appreciated the political opportunity you provided them.
Unfriendly Fire. As long as we're still in a post-Memorial Day mood, we wanted to provide you with some food for thought, courtesy of the Bull Moose. It is pretty amazing how many Republicans in power avoided serving in Vietnam, a war to this day that they still claim was worthwhile. Beyond that, it's quite disgusting how many of those same leaders are willing to send others off to fight in yet another unjustified war, when they themselves were never willing to make similar sacrifices. But what's truly galling is the willingness of those who did not serve to attack those who did. Inevitably, when a true war hero (Kerry, Cleland, McCain) runs against a true war hawk, the hero's patriotism and honor ends up being called into question. The Moose asks if this will continue to happen when those who served in the Iraq war try to run, years from now. It truly is disgusting, and shows the contempt that the Republican "chickenhawks" really have for our military men.
