Still Fighting

Activism

Exxpose Exxon. Ever since the Valdez oil spill, Exxon's been demonized as a company that doesn't care at all about the environment. And, since then, they've done nothing to dispel that label. It's well-known that many politicians are in the pocket of oil companies, and we deserve better from them. But what about the companies that buy them off? Shouldn't they feel some repercussions of their willingness to disregard environmental concerns in order to line their pockets? From drilling in ANWR, to increasing global warming, to maintaining our dependence on oil, Exxon's holding us back. Take action and let them know that you won't be buying Exxon products any time in the near future.

News

Congressman Suggests Way To Retaliate For Nuclear Terror. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Tancredo is a 4-term Senator from Colorado's 6th district, as well as the chairman of the 82-member bipartisan House Immigration Reform Caucus. Tancredo has what is certainly a uniquely stated idea of how to deal with Muslim extremists. On a radio show in Florida last week, Tancredo was asked how the country should respond if U.S. cities were attacked with nuclear weapons (a question which, unfortunately, is not nearly as hypothetical as it was 5 years ago), Tancredo replied, "Well, what if you said something like -- if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites." When asked if he meant Mecca, he responded "Yeah." Tancredo's aide tried to smooth things over by saying that Tancredo's statements were hypothetical. Hypothetical? Here we have an elected official of the United States Government being asked what is almost certainly a pre-screened question, and not only does he come up with an answer of sheer lunacy, but his aide has the gall to say that it was hypothetical. Does that mean he really doesn't believe that we should bomb Mecca? Then why did he say it? And if he does believe it, why the hell is he in office? This would be the same thing as saying an IRA attack should be responded to by bombing Dublin. Although Tancredo's comments (spoken publicly) are unique, his mindset is not. It's simply a mirror reflection of a large part of the right wing these days, with their adamant refusal to learn more about anyone else, and instead view the rest of the world as second class citizens.

Allawi: This Is the Start of Civil War. And speaking of narrow-mindedness, let's check in on what Bushco has done to Iraq. Remember Iyad Allawi, the Shi'ite former interim Prime Minister? The one who was very buddy-buddy with Bush? Well, turns out Allawi isn't too optimistic about Iraq's future. In fact, Allawi feels like Iraq is on the verge of a Civil War. According to Allawi, this is thanks to America's lack of "vision and clear policy" on Iraq. Well, no kidding. Welcome to the party, Mr. Allawi. Grab a chair, because it's going to be a long show. Since May, we've seen more Iraqi-Iraqi killings, especially between Shi'ites and Sunnis. With the resurgence of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the fighting is getting bloodier, and the stakes are getting higher. What does Bush need to see before he realizes how screwed we are?

Sunnis Suspend Participation in Iraqi Constitution Panel. And speaking of how screwed we are, Sunni Arabs have temporarily pulled out of the Iraqi Constitution panel, a day after two Sunni colleagues were shot to death. Sunnis maintain that the Shi'ite led government provides inadequate protection for Sunnis, and some extremist "hard-line" Sunnis are suggestion that Shi'ite leadership is behind this attack. We are now 26 days away from the self-imposed deadline of having the Constitution written, and this Sunni removal will not help in getting this tough process completed. Although it is unknown who is behind yesterday's attack, several members of the Iraqi government believe that al-Zarqawi was the mastermind, in light of his recent promise to kill any Sunni who is involved with the constitution-writing process. Good to see that we're doing well in quelling the insurgents, who are in their "last throes." Hey, Bushco, we've got three words for you: IT'S NOT WORKING!

Editorials

Rollback. One of the more amusing artifacts of the quite serious Rovegate investigate has been to watch White House Spokesfool Scott McClellan finally get his just desserts from the press. But Jay Rosen writes that this didn't come out of nowhere: It's a direct result of the Bush Administration's calculated and constant assault on the fourth estate. From day one, they've sought to "roll back" the press. Rosen outlines exactly how and why they've engaged in such tactics: It's part of a larger plan to politicize everything and create a reality based on assertion, rather than facts. The problem with this plan is that the press used to be a tool that informed the public and kept the government honest (more or less). Rovegate has finally given them a chance to fight back, but it may be too late. One more battle we need to keep fighting - a strong, independent press is critical to our democracy.

In Defense of Success. For years, the criticism of liberals is that they're interested in government giveaways, and do nothing to help the poor become self-reliant. And liberals, in a self-deprecating manner, seem to accept this criticism and half-heartedly acknowledge the need for welfare reform and the like. It's all well and good to acknowledge problems with government programs and work to improve the system, but as E.J. Dionne writes, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The CBPP released a series of reports yesterday regarding governmental policies that aid the poor. And guess what they found? They work! Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, WIC, they all do a good job of helping those less fortunate. It's unfortunate that more and more people need the safety net that the government is supposed to provide, but at least that net is there. Can you imagine how bad things would be these days if there was no safety net? Let's not find out.

Iraqi Troop Levels: Bush Lies. Not that you need more facts to prove that Bush lies to the American public, but Michael, over at AMERICABlog, debunks Bush's myth that there are 140,000 trained Iraqi troops. 90% of that number will not be effective in battle - only 2,500 have been fully trained to be self-sufficient. Another 8,900 can fight with our help. The rest, as Michael so eloquently puts it, "have been given an I'm an Iraqi soldier baseball cap and sent on their way." Why is Bush lying about this? Simply put, because he wants Americans to see that we've been effective over there. But we haven't. You'd think the "last throes" comment would have made him realize that he can't just lie about Iraq. Hell, you could extend that argument to every aspect of his so-called presidency. But he doesn't learn, and as long as Republicans continue to stand up for him, this country will continue to head in the wrong direction - down.