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December 29, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
What's happened to political discourse in this country? When Bill O'Reilly can endorse a terrorist attack on San Francisco, and no one bats an eyelash, that's a gigantic problem. We're here to bat a few eyelashes, and do a bit more than that. The problem is not so much that Bill O'Reilly said those things, although it's quite sickening. No, the problem is that his rhetoric has become the norm on the right, and that there are actually people out ther who take his words to heart. But maybe we can make O'Reilly and those of his ilk realize just how irresponsible they're being. It won't be through logic - they threw that out the window long ago. Rather, we'll hit 'em in the wallet. Go here and get a list of some of O'Reilly's sponsors, as well as local stations that carry his shows. Then, make sure they know the type of commentary they're endorsing, and that they won't be receiving any of your business. It's time we stopping blowing off O'Reilly and his buddies as kooks, and started treating them as real threats that need to be stopped.
News
Amman Bombings Reflect Zarqawi's Growing Reach. How much more proof do we need that our approach in Iraq is doing more harm than good? The loss of innocent life is disturbing enough. But on top of that, we should make no mistake about it - the emergence and success of Zarqawi is our fault. We don't repeatedly state that Bush's War has inflammed terrorism because we want to prove him wrong. We say it because it's true and we want him to change course before the problem is entirely out of control. The article outlines how Zarqawi already may have "eclipsed al Qaeda's founder, Osama bin Laden, in terms of prominence and appeal to Islamic radicals worldwide." He has been able to attract thousands of fighters to Iraq, which maybe be the sign of the "emergence of another Afghanistan." His goal is likely the elimination of Israel, and he's well on his way. Way to go, George. How many more people must die for your political gain?
House Bill Counters Eminent Domain Ruling. Hey, once in a while, we see good news come out of Washington. Of course, it's become a little more recent, with the collapse of Bush's political support, and Republicans jumping ship. Maybe they realized that the Supreme Court ruling that allowed "local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue," wasn't something that went over too well with the public. Maybe they realized that given all their recent woes, it's not too wise to give local governments more power, if they weren't going to be controlling those local governments. So the House passed a bill 376-38, which "would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses." Works for us. While it can be true in some cases, we're sick of the argument that somehow commercial interests are the same as public interests. It's nice to see the House give Americans (back) rights once in a while.
Civil Rights Focus Shift Roils Staff At Justice. It looks like Republicans are now going out of their way to pit themselves against Democrats and the American public. How else can you explain the purge of lawyers at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division? One-fifth of all the division's lawyers left in FY2005, in part because the administration is trying to push out those that don't agree with "conservative civil rights" values. At the same time, the number of actual discrimination cases that Justice is handling has dropped. This entire affair is ridiculous, and it shows conservative "values" once again in action: we don't care about the little guy. How much more is Bush going to try and mold the government into an image of himself, and how much more are Americans going to suffer?
Editorials
Framing the Poor. Tim Wise writes a long, but incredibly detailed and enlightening article on the state of the poor in New Orleans, and why Katrina affected them the way it did. Of course, the conservative narrative was one that framed "low-income black folks in the streets of New Orleans as a collection of deviant criminals." Wise details some lies that were perpetuated post-Katrina. Some were pushed by the media, and some were just circulated over email, but all painted the picture that the victims, "had, ultimately, gotten what they deserved." Wise then thoroughly debunks these myths, including the idea that many of these victims were on welfare. Our government has systematically marginalized these people, and to then blame them for this tragedy is almost as cruel as the suffering they had to endure in the hurricane.
Repairing Journalism. Sydney Schanberg, of the Village Voice, writes about how Plamegate exposed some serious flaws in journalism, and how it's high time we fix them. How do reporters put together a news story? Mostly, off of a government press release. But the building of a story has always remained shrouded in mystery, and it often times hampers the story. In Plamegate, for example, Tim Russert spoke with Scooter Libby about information that wasn't classified; that was, in effect, public knowledge. So why did Russert give Libby confidentiality? It's obvious that journalism has become just another Washington "give and take," and that's why our MSM has been so unreliable.
Blogger Commentary
Reminder of GOP Attacks on Clinton's Motives & Honesty re: Iraq & Kosovo. We provide you with links like this not to "prove" that Democrats are right, but rather so that you can feel empower with the facts. Every day, you might encounter someone that blithely asserts that "Democrats had the same intelligence that Bush did when going to war with Iraq." or that "Questioning the war undermines the morale of the troops." It might be tempting to let such ignorance go in the name of harmony, but should you choose to dispel such falsehoods, we want you to be well-armed with facts and confident. So, as Democrats finally force the issue of why we went to war, Republicans label such questioning as unpatriotic. Glenn Greenwald provides a nice rebuttal to those that claim that implying the President went to war for anything other than the purest of reasons is somehow anti-American. He incriminates them with their own words about the war in Kosovo. Hypocrisy, thy name is GOP.
On Bush, the Dems, Jon Stewart, Hunter Thompson, Bill Moyers, and King (not Don). John Cusack is just like you or me. He's an American citizen, and he's entitled to his opinion. So his piece on the Huffington Post is pretty interesting, all things considered. Cusack is asking the same question we're trying to ask: Where are the Democrats? Sure, the closed-door Senate session was a good start, but that's all it was: a start. Even this week's elections were the beginning of something, but again, only the beginning. Cusack cuts through a lot of the BS, and leaves us wondering the same things: when 2008 rolls around, will we be doomed for another four years of Republican leadership?
|
December 29, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
What's happened to political discourse in this country? When Bill O'Reilly can endorse a terrorist attack on San Francisco, and no one bats an eyelash, that's a gigantic problem. We're here to bat a few eyelashes, and do a bit more than that. The problem is not so much that Bill O'Reilly said those things, although it's quite sickening. No, the problem is that his rhetoric has become the norm on the right, and that there are actually people out ther who take his words to heart. But maybe we can make O'Reilly and those of his ilk realize just how irresponsible they're being. It won't be through logic - they threw that out the window long ago. Rather, we'll hit 'em in the wallet. Go here and get a list of some of O'Reilly's sponsors, as well as local stations that carry his shows. Then, make sure they know the type of commentary they're endorsing, and that they won't be receiving any of your business. It's time we stopping blowing off O'Reilly and his buddies as kooks, and started treating them as real threats that need to be stopped.
News
Amman Bombings Reflect Zarqawi's Growing Reach. How much more proof do we need that our approach in Iraq is doing more harm than good? The loss of innocent life is disturbing enough. But on top of that, we should make no mistake about it - the emergence and success of Zarqawi is our fault. We don't repeatedly state that Bush's War has inflammed terrorism because we want to prove him wrong. We say it because it's true and we want him to change course before the problem is entirely out of control. The article outlines how Zarqawi already may have "eclipsed al Qaeda's founder, Osama bin Laden, in terms of prominence and appeal to Islamic radicals worldwide." He has been able to attract thousands of fighters to Iraq, which maybe be the sign of the "emergence of another Afghanistan." His goal is likely the elimination of Israel, and he's well on his way. Way to go, George. How many more people must die for your political gain?
House Bill Counters Eminent Domain Ruling. Hey, once in a while, we see good news come out of Washington. Of course, it's become a little more recent, with the collapse of Bush's political support, and Republicans jumping ship. Maybe they realized that the Supreme Court ruling that allowed "local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue," wasn't something that went over too well with the public. Maybe they realized that given all their recent woes, it's not too wise to give local governments more power, if they weren't going to be controlling those local governments. So the House passed a bill 376-38, which "would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses." Works for us. While it can be true in some cases, we're sick of the argument that somehow commercial interests are the same as public interests. It's nice to see the House give Americans (back) rights once in a while.
Civil Rights Focus Shift Roils Staff At Justice. It looks like Republicans are now going out of their way to pit themselves against Democrats and the American public. How else can you explain the purge of lawyers at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division? One-fifth of all the division's lawyers left in FY2005, in part because the administration is trying to push out those that don't agree with "conservative civil rights" values. At the same time, the number of actual discrimination cases that Justice is handling has dropped. This entire affair is ridiculous, and it shows conservative "values" once again in action: we don't care about the little guy. How much more is Bush going to try and mold the government into an image of himself, and how much more are Americans going to suffer?
Editorials
Framing the Poor. Tim Wise writes a long, but incredibly detailed and enlightening article on the state of the poor in New Orleans, and why Katrina affected them the way it did. Of course, the conservative narrative was one that framed "low-income black folks in the streets of New Orleans as a collection of deviant criminals." Wise details some lies that were perpetuated post-Katrina. Some were pushed by the media, and some were just circulated over email, but all painted the picture that the victims, "had, ultimately, gotten what they deserved." Wise then thoroughly debunks these myths, including the idea that many of these victims were on welfare. Our government has systematically marginalized these people, and to then blame them for this tragedy is almost as cruel as the suffering they had to endure in the hurricane.
Repairing Journalism. Sydney Schanberg, of the Village Voice, writes about how Plamegate exposed some serious flaws in journalism, and how it's high time we fix them. How do reporters put together a news story? Mostly, off of a government press release. But the building of a story has always remained shrouded in mystery, and it often times hampers the story. In Plamegate, for example, Tim Russert spoke with Scooter Libby about information that wasn't classified; that was, in effect, public knowledge. So why did Russert give Libby confidentiality? It's obvious that journalism has become just another Washington "give and take," and that's why our MSM has been so unreliable.
Blogger Commentary
Reminder of GOP Attacks on Clinton's Motives & Honesty re: Iraq & Kosovo. We provide you with links like this not to "prove" that Democrats are right, but rather so that you can feel empower with the facts. Every day, you might encounter someone that blithely asserts that "Democrats had the same intelligence that Bush did when going to war with Iraq." or that "Questioning the war undermines the morale of the troops." It might be tempting to let such ignorance go in the name of harmony, but should you choose to dispel such falsehoods, we want you to be well-armed with facts and confident. So, as Democrats finally force the issue of why we went to war, Republicans label such questioning as unpatriotic. Glenn Greenwald provides a nice rebuttal to those that claim that implying the President went to war for anything other than the purest of reasons is somehow anti-American. He incriminates them with their own words about the war in Kosovo. Hypocrisy, thy name is GOP.
On Bush, the Dems, Jon Stewart, Hunter Thompson, Bill Moyers, and King (not Don). John Cusack is just like you or me. He's an American citizen, and he's entitled to his opinion. So his piece on the Huffington Post is pretty interesting, all things considered. Cusack is asking the same question we're trying to ask: Where are the Democrats? Sure, the closed-door Senate session was a good start, but that's all it was: a start. Even this week's elections were the beginning of something, but again, only the beginning. Cusack cuts through a lot of the BS, and leaves us wondering the same things: when 2008 rolls around, will we be doomed for another four years of Republican leadership?
|
December 29, 2005
What's happened to political discourse in this country? When Bill O'Reilly can endorse a terrorist attack on San Francisco, and no one bats an eyelash, that's a gigantic problem. We're here to bat a few eyelashes, and do a bit more than that. The problem is not so much that Bill O'Reilly said those things, although it's quite sickening. No, the problem is that his rhetoric has become the norm on the right, and that there are actually people out ther who take his words to heart. But maybe we can make O'Reilly and those of his ilk realize just how irresponsible they're being. It won't be through logic - they threw that out the window long ago. Rather, we'll hit 'em in the wallet. Go here and get a list of some of O'Reilly's sponsors, as well as local stations that carry his shows. Then, make sure they know the type of commentary they're endorsing, and that they won't be receiving any of your business. It's time we stopping blowing off O'Reilly and his buddies as kooks, and started treating them as real threats that need to be stopped.
News
Amman Bombings Reflect Zarqawi's Growing Reach. How much more proof do we need that our approach in Iraq is doing more harm than good? The loss of innocent life is disturbing enough. But on top of that, we should make no mistake about it - the emergence and success of Zarqawi is our fault. We don't repeatedly state that Bush's War has inflammed terrorism because we want to prove him wrong. We say it because it's true and we want him to change course before the problem is entirely out of control. The article outlines how Zarqawi already may have "eclipsed al Qaeda's founder, Osama bin Laden, in terms of prominence and appeal to Islamic radicals worldwide." He has been able to attract thousands of fighters to Iraq, which maybe be the sign of the "emergence of another Afghanistan." His goal is likely the elimination of Israel, and he's well on his way. Way to go, George. How many more people must die for your political gain?
House Bill Counters Eminent Domain Ruling. Hey, once in a while, we see good news come out of Washington. Of course, it's become a little more recent, with the collapse of Bush's political support, and Republicans jumping ship. Maybe they realized that the Supreme Court ruling that allowed "local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue," wasn't something that went over too well with the public. Maybe they realized that given all their recent woes, it's not too wise to give local governments more power, if they weren't going to be controlling those local governments. So the House passed a bill 376-38, which "would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses." Works for us. While it can be true in some cases, we're sick of the argument that somehow commercial interests are the same as public interests. It's nice to see the House give Americans (back) rights once in a while.
Civil Rights Focus Shift Roils Staff At Justice. It looks like Republicans are now going out of their way to pit themselves against Democrats and the American public. How else can you explain the purge of lawyers at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division? One-fifth of all the division's lawyers left in FY2005, in part because the administration is trying to push out those that don't agree with "conservative civil rights" values. At the same time, the number of actual discrimination cases that Justice is handling has dropped. This entire affair is ridiculous, and it shows conservative "values" once again in action: we don't care about the little guy. How much more is Bush going to try and mold the government into an image of himself, and how much more are Americans going to suffer?
Editorials
Framing the Poor. Tim Wise writes a long, but incredibly detailed and enlightening article on the state of the poor in New Orleans, and why Katrina affected them the way it did. Of course, the conservative narrative was one that framed "low-income black folks in the streets of New Orleans as a collection of deviant criminals." Wise details some lies that were perpetuated post-Katrina. Some were pushed by the media, and some were just circulated over email, but all painted the picture that the victims, "had, ultimately, gotten what they deserved." Wise then thoroughly debunks these myths, including the idea that many of these victims were on welfare. Our government has systematically marginalized these people, and to then blame them for this tragedy is almost as cruel as the suffering they had to endure in the hurricane.
Repairing Journalism. Sydney Schanberg, of the Village Voice, writes about how Plamegate exposed some serious flaws in journalism, and how it's high time we fix them. How do reporters put together a news story? Mostly, off of a government press release. But the building of a story has always remained shrouded in mystery, and it often times hampers the story. In Plamegate, for example, Tim Russert spoke with Scooter Libby about information that wasn't classified; that was, in effect, public knowledge. So why did Russert give Libby confidentiality? It's obvious that journalism has become just another Washington "give and take," and that's why our MSM has been so unreliable.
Blogger Commentary
Reminder of GOP Attacks on Clinton's Motives & Honesty re: Iraq & Kosovo. We provide you with links like this not to "prove" that Democrats are right, but rather so that you can feel empower with the facts. Every day, you might encounter someone that blithely asserts that "Democrats had the same intelligence that Bush did when going to war with Iraq." or that "Questioning the war undermines the morale of the troops." It might be tempting to let such ignorance go in the name of harmony, but should you choose to dispel such falsehoods, we want you to be well-armed with facts and confident. So, as Democrats finally force the issue of why we went to war, Republicans label such questioning as unpatriotic. Glenn Greenwald provides a nice rebuttal to those that claim that implying the President went to war for anything other than the purest of reasons is somehow anti-American. He incriminates them with their own words about the war in Kosovo. Hypocrisy, thy name is GOP.
On Bush, the Dems, Jon Stewart, Hunter Thompson, Bill Moyers, and King (not Don). John Cusack is just like you or me. He's an American citizen, and he's entitled to his opinion. So his piece on the Huffington Post is pretty interesting, all things considered. Cusack is asking the same question we're trying to ask: Where are the Democrats? Sure, the closed-door Senate session was a good start, but that's all it was: a start. Even this week's elections were the beginning of something, but again, only the beginning. Cusack cuts through a lot of the BS, and leaves us wondering the same things: when 2008 rolls around, will we be doomed for another four years of Republican leadership?
