Still Fighting

Activism

Representative John Conyers (D-MI) has been around for awhile. 19 terms, to be exact. Conyers has served in Congress through eight presidents now, and he knows BS when he hears it. That's why Conyers has been relentless in his pursuit of the truth about the Downing Street Memo. He wrote a letter to Bush demanding answers. He delivered over 560,000 signatures to the White House from American citizens who want answers. He's held hearings to hear testimony (even though Republicans relegated the basement and turned the lights out on him). Now, he's organizing town hall meetings across the country to discuss the DSM. Although specific cities have not been announced (other than Detroit, Conyers' constituency), we encourage you to go to John Conyers website and sign up to attend. Oh, and you can bank on these meetings being true town hall meetings - no screened attendees here. The meetings will take place on Sunday, July 23rd.

News

Republican Lawmakers Fire Back at Judiciary. Well, of course they do. After all, Republicans in Congress are the be-all, end-all of government. They always have the final say. Just look at what the Supreme Court ruled on this week. Among other things, the Court ruled that the government could claim private property for economic development. On Thursday, the House voted 231-189 to "approve a measure that would prohibit federal financing for property seizures." (There are 232 Republicans and 206 Democrats in the House). It now goes to the Senate. The Court also ruled that the Ten Commandments monument outside of the Texas Capitol could stay, but the written, framed copies in the corridors of two Kentucky courthouses could not. Also on Thursday, Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) announced a constitutional amendment that would "protect displays of the Ten Commandments, in Kentucky as well as in Texas. . . It will protect the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. It will protect the ability for schoolchildren to pray at school, individually or together. It will protect our national motto of 'In God we trust.'" He was supported by 109 House members, including three Democrats (there are only 58 Catholic Republicans in the House of Representatives). So, now that we've ascertained that Republicans in Congress control all, what's next? A constitutional ban on abortion? Legislation that would require anyone who makes an annual salary under $30,000 to move to Canada? Republicans truly are drunk with power. How much more damage will they do before they lose the majority?

Canadian's Lawyers Blame U.S. You may recall the ugly incident from 2002, when Canadian citizen Maher Arar, flying through New York, was arrested by U.S. agents, questioned for 12 days, then sent to Syria for more than 10 months where he was "allegedly" tortured. He was then released with the equivalent of an "our bad." Even if Arar was guilty of anything, his "alleged" treatment was heinous. Now, Canadians could bring criminal charges against those U.S. agents. Canadian law defines torture as "illegal anywhere it occurs," which means that when Arar was sprinted to Syria and "allegedly" tortured, the U.S. knowingly violated that law. But hey, why are we surprised? Bushco and the Patriot Act supporters don't care much for our laws and rights, nor do they tolerate those who stand up for those rights, so why should Canada be treated any differently?

Settlers In Gaza Stone Palestinian. The Middle East is truly a mess right now. Soldiers are still dying in Afghanistan. Smuggling continues daily in Iraq, giving the insurgents more chances to enter the country from Syria. Iran has elected a militant president who has it out for America. But no story shows the failure of U.S. diplomacy more than the title article. If you recall, last week Condi Rice, Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas announced a withdrawal plan for the Gaza Strip. Gaza is the most highly contested area between Israel and Palestinians. Israel seized Gaza in 1967, and the two sides have been fighting since. Rice's mediated "plan" calls for the resettlement of 8,500 Israelis who live there, the removal of all Israeli soldiers, and the demolition of 1,200 Israeli homes starting in August. The plan was announced last Friday, and it's already causing massive tension. Highway traffic is being stopped by dissidents, mostly ultra-national youths. Israeli soldiers who refuse to assist in the destruction of their countrymen's homes are being jailed. In response to the title article, about youth dissidents throwing stones and injuring several people, Israel lifted its blockade of the soon-to-be destroyed settlements. In many of the altercations, Hezbollah could be seen, either as victim or aggressor. With their recent sweep of election seats in Southern Lebanon, there has been talk of Hezbollah disbanding its militia. With the escalating tensions in Gaza, we doubt we'll see Hezbollah throwing away their weapons anytime soon. Rice should have known what the fallout of her mediated decision for Israel to leave Gaza would be. Rice said during her press conference, "One of the reasons I'm here is to encourage the parties to actively now concretely solve these problems...There is no more time to simply put problems on the agenda." Well, how about you try to find a solution to the religious differences between Israelis and Palestinians? You know, the conflict that has been going on for many, many years? Maybe that would be a solution, instead of resettling 8,500 Israelis, destroying their homes and causing the cease-fire to end.

Editorials

Command Responsibility. It's amazing how blame escapes Bushco. Americans don't like Bush's Social Security plan? It must be because of all the liberal propaganda. Bushco didn't tell Americans how much the prescription drug plan would cost? It was all right there; you should have read it closer! And let's not forget the biggest blame shift of all - Iraq. As Andrew J. Bacevich writes, "Who 'lost' Iraq?" Certainly not Rumsfeld or the Army. No, it was those damn insurgents, and lack of Iraqi support, and missing money, and unhappy troops, and liberal bias and the media stirring up trouble. Bacevich calls it like it is - the blame for the debacle (dare we say quagmire?) that is Iraq lies squarely at the feet of Donald Rumsfeld and Army leadership, although Bush will not acknowledge that fact, you know, because they are never wrong. Quite the opposite. For example, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is going to be nominated for his fourth General's star. We offer him congratulations. Or rather, we would, if he weren't the senior commander in Baghdad when the Abu Ghraib story broke. The Pentagon found no fault with Sanchez, and he accepted no responsiblity. But, as Bacevich so astutely points out, that is moot. Sanchez shouldn't qualify for his fourth star because "[h]e failed to accomplish his assigned mission in Iraq." It's that simple. Bacevich goes on to detail Sanchez's job, and why he failed. So why is Sanchez getting rewarded? Would that happen in your office? Can you imagine an employee being assigned a rather large project, that employee fails at the project miserably, to the point where he hit two of his thirty goals, and then that employee is promoted by the boss. Then again, we shouldn't be that surpised; it's the Bushco M.O.: Be a loyal party member, and no matter how badly you screw up your job (see Bolton, John; Rice, Condoleeza; Wolfowitz, Paul; Tenet, George; Goss, Porter; Negroponte, John; Gonzales, Alberto; Owen, Priscilla; and Owen, Priscilla) there will always be a place for you to be rewarded and/or advance to in the Bush Administration. Just ask Molly Ivins, who details Bush's high office appointments.

Reality Rains Down on the Republicans. Most Presidents would care if their approval rating was currently the lowest it's ever been in their presidency. Not Bush. Not Bushco. Not Republicans. Bush has held the presidency for 1,258 days now, and, as Sterling Newberry writes, people are finally beginning to see that there are problems with Bush. He's not a leader. He's not Presidential. He's the face and spokesman of a religious movement sweeping across America, and it's working. It's clear that Bush went into office with a specific plan of what he wanted to do; cut taxes for the top 1%, invade Iraq and change Social Security to benefit the wealthy. Only, it didn't quite work out that way. Bush got his tax cuts, but he's failed miserably with Iraq and Social Security. No wonder his approval rating is the lowest in his presidency, at 43%, according to Zogby. Not even his Ft. Bragg "rally the troops" speech had any effect. What's even more interesting about the Zogby poll is that 42% of Americans "would favor impeachment proceedings if it is found the President misled the nation about his reasons for going to war with Iraq." No wonder they don't want to talk about the Downing Street Memo. How does it feel to have public opinion so heavily against you, Mr. President?

The Party of Abortion Rights. Let it not be said that we don't cover breaking news! As you're probably aware of by now, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has stepped down from the bench. And that might give you cause for despair, as we all know that Bush is likely going to nominate some loon, and then maybe the "nuclear option" will occur after all. But Atrios gives us a little perspective. First of all, even if Roe vs. Wade gets overturned in the short term, a large majority of Americans favor abortion rights. And while we hope this doesn't happen, maybe more citizens need to start losing their rights before they get really upset and stand up for them. While we don't want things to get worse, maybe it's necessary in order for them to finally really start getting better. Let's hope that one way or the other, they do.