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December 29, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Thursday's Links
Happy Inauguration Day! Only 1461 days left in the Bush Administration. Don't worry, we're sure they'll fly by, as long as you don't lose your job, or get drafted, or need to retire, or need prescription medication, or...
Activism
Tonight is the big gala - Bush's inauguration. So, since you can't crash any of the nine parties, do the next best thing; sign John Kerry's petition to get Donald Rumsfeld removed from office. If you remember last week, we talked about how Bush said that there were no failures in Iraq, and "the moment of accountability" had passed. Clearly, Bush is wrong, and we need your help to show him that as a leader, especially when you're waging a war and lives are at stake, you need to be accountable at every single moment, for every single action. We accept nothing less.
News
The big news today is obviously the confirmation hearings of Condi Rice. On Monday, the Washington Post ran a good story on how difficult her transition will be (assuming she is confirmed as Secretary of State). There were a lot of softball questions lobbed at Rice on the first day, but Senator Barbara Boxer wasn't going to back down as easily. We absolutely recommend that you go here to read the transcript of their first day exchange. If more Democrats had stood up like Boxer (and Biden), it's entirely possible she might not be confirmed. Tomorrow, we'll bring you day two of that exchange. It's nice to know that there's at least one person on Capitol Hill who is standing up for truth and integrity.
Where Have You Gone, Richard Cheney? A name conspicuously absent from the news for the last few weeks is Vice President Dickie Cheney. Turns out Cheney has been revving up the old domestic machine, and has been a guiding force behind Social Security privatization, the rewriting of the tax code, and other issues of domestic policy. A lot of his work seems to deal with economics, and that should come as no surprise, since John Snow (Secretary of the Treasury) stayed on for an additional four terms, throwing a wrench into the plans of the rest of the administration. Bush and company seem determined to ramrod their agenda through, regardless of who they have to run over to do it, or the detrimental effects it will have on the American people that aren't billionaires.
No Threats of Attack on Inaugurations. Last week, Tom Ridge told reporters that there is no credible evidence of a planned attack for the inaugurations. All that hooplah nine months ago was more focused for the elections, and not the inaugurations. Does this mean that the administration, knowing this, still decided to stick DC with a $12 million security bill? The article goes on to discuss why Al Qaeda's "calendar" does not usually coincide with the western calendar of events, and how Homeland Security's warning system is under attack for uselessness. Additionally, it further underscores the earlier assertion many made that the color-coded nonsense was simply a method to exploit the public's fear of terrorism for political gain.
Editorials
Long Division. Alex Johnson makes a great case: Americans are not irreconcilably divided over politics. Politicians are irreconcilably divided over America. Think about it. Most people choose to be a Democrat or Republican because one particular party agrees with most of their views. But they don't avoid their neighbors or co-workers if they are of the opposite party. The parties themselves have grown further apart, thus polarizing the country. It is an interesting take, and we encourage you to read Johnson's column.
Misleading Information? From the White House?? Paul Krugman's latest Social Security column starts off with a parable about accountability, which he transitions to the Iraq war, and then into SS, the logic for both seems to be both eerily parallel and disturbingly misguided. When you're finished reading Krugman's column, make sure to follow the link to Roger Lowenstein's Sunday column, and you'll see a more detailed explanation of why we're so mad about this.
Get It Right or Get Out. Matthew Yglesias of the American Prospect clearly and concisely explains why things need to change in Iraq, and quick. We cannot continue to stay the course as we have been doing, and continue to lose American and Iraqi lives because of our petulance. At this point, any change would be beneficial, whether it's withdrawing as soon as possible, or increasing troop strength drastically. This article underscores precisely why Senator Boxer's confrontation of Condi Rice was so appropriate - for us to have any chance in Iraq, we need to first acknowledge that our approach there has been less than effective, and then we need to change it.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
The Other Inaugural. Democracy for America is hosting a series of house parties around the country tomorrow. You can go to their site to find one near you, or even host one yourself! These house parties are a great way for you to start getting involved on a local level.
News
A Tale of Two Polls. The Washington Post conducts poll and reports that "Political Divisions Persist After Election", which is pretty accurate. Only 45% said they wanted the country to go the way Bush would lead it. (Although only 39% said that Democrats would let it in the proper way - that's what we've got to change.) 55% expect Bush to do a better job than his first term. We wonder how many of those believe that he can't possibly do worse. (Never underestimate his capacity for failure.) CNN has done their own poll, and they report "Americans upbeat about next four years". In their poll, a majority believe he will improve security, keep the country prosperous, improve education, and increase moral values. Yet only 53% believe the country will be better off in four years. The strangest thing is that only 46% believe that Bush cut their taxes - maybe the incorrect 54% are the ones who are so optimistic. (Or maybe they are earning so much less that it doesn't seem like he cut their taxes.) If you're interested in more polling data, here's a set of detailed polls on Social Security, showing that Americans still don't know the status of social security, but at least by and large they realize that Bush is gonna screw it up.
High-Ranking Officers May Face Prosecution in Iraqi Prisoner Abuse, Military Officials Say. Well, wouldn't the be nice? We clearly can't condone the acts of the lower-ranked perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib atrocities, as we all know that performing an illegal act is wrong (and illegal) even if one was ordered to do it. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that this wasn't just the case of some rogue officers acting alone, and it'd be nice to see someone at a higher level held accountable, just this once. Certainly, there's the question of justice, which even our detainees deserve. But there's also the issue of upholding our standards and defending the rights of every human, and showing the world that every once in a while, we'll stand up for what's right, even when it's inconvenient. Let's hope (but don't hold your breath) that the Pentagon continues their investigations and actually hold someone of a higher rank accountable? (We can shoot the moon and think about Rumsfeld, but we know that's not gonna happen.)
Va. Educators Seek 'No Child' Waiver. It's almost time to add another state to the pile of seven that are now exempt from No Child Left Behind. Margaret Spellings (new Secretary of Education) came in, promising to bring attention back to NCLB, and hold all states accountable. Well, she's certainly trying, but states like Virginia, when faced with the odious financial and administrative requirements of NCLB, look at their own productivity and say, "Hey, we're in good shape. We've improved from last year. Why should we spend the money and time to implement a whole new strategy, when ours is working just fine?"
Editorials
What's $13 Million Among Friends? Bush tends to blame a lot of problems that occurred on his watch on Clinton's administration. One of those problems was the issue of corporate executives defrauding their own employees and investors out of billions of dollars, including, of course, the infamous Enron scandal. Bush claims to have cracked down on the loopholes that allowed these crooks to get away with their larceny, but has anyone really been held accountable? C'mon, that would be so out of character! 10 former Enron executives (out of 18 being sued) have to pay a grand total of $13 million dollars to settle a class action suit against them. Seems like a large amount, right? Well, it is...until you consider that they get to pocket $117 million dollars in post-tax profits. Boy, we bet they learned their lesson.
Neocon 101. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie: "Neocon". Maybe it's some evil robot that will stop at nothing less that global domination. If you were to think that, you wouldn't be far off - just replace "robot" with "philosophy". We throw about the term "neocon" to talk about people like Rumsfeld and other Iraq war architects, but what do we really mean? This article does a nice job of describing the central philosophies of neoconservatives, and how they came about. "Benevolent global hegemon", our collective ass.
The rule of law, and judicial politics. Every now and then, we at Still Fighting like to stray off the beaten path, and find stories that aren't reported by the mainstream media, or even by the mainstream bloggers. And while it takes a bit longer to find worthwhile material, often when we do finally find sometimes, we're left standing with our mouths gaping. Once we shut our mouths and get back to typing, we're stunned that these stories haven't been spread more widely. This particular case focused on a young lady in Alabama, who was seeking an abortion. She was trying to petition a judge to waive the state-required parental notification, but her case was rejected. Read the story - we can't quite do it justice - and then next time Bush talks about "liberal activist judges", think about what happened in Alabama.
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Monday, January 17, 2005
Monday's Links
Happy MLK Day!
Activism
Rick Santorum (R-PA). The Senator who lives in Virginia, and whose children attend school in Virginia, but represents Pennsylvania. Santorum, who is certainly the most outspoken Senator in favor of a constitutional amendment to bad gay marriage. Santorum, who is running again in 2006. We need to do everything possible to ensure that this heinous American does not get re-elected. You can go here to find a list of organizations you can donate to that oppose Santorum. We also recommend you sign up for their newsletter. As we get closer to this election, you can bet we'll be giving you many more opportunities to help get Santorum out of office.
News
Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Bush gave a 35 minute interview. Among the multitude of items discussed, the most distressing is his belief that America's decision to elect him president for a second term means that Americans are solidly behind the administration's policy on Iraq, which is why none of the "decision makers" are being held accountable. Surely he can't believe this, can he? If we started listing all of the things that went wrong in Iraq, and all of the ways he approached the "war on terrorism" incorrectly, we'd still be writing this post on Thursday. Thankfully, the Democrats don't believe it either. In fact, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) went so far as to call the idea "ridiculous". Kennedy was on "Face the Nation," and we applaud the Dems for getting their act together and responding to this nonsense so quickly.
Ah, Roemer, We Hardly Knew Ye. Tim Roemer, the self-proclaimed anti-abortionist attempting to become the next DNC head, lashed out over the weekend as reports of his anti-abortion views were turning Democrats against him. He doesn't want to be litmus-tested, and he points to the Republican party, saying that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani both have prominent roles in the GOP and are pro-abortion. Sure, Tim, but neither of them is the head of the GOP. Whether or not you like our choice for DNC Chair (Howard Dean), it's a bad idea for Roemer to even be considered for the position. It's not that Democrats can't have a "big tent", but we should make sure that at least our leaders will stand by our fundamental principles as a party, one of which is a woman's right to choose.
You Mean, There Isn't A Problem With Social Security? There's no denying that the USA Today is one of the nation's most-read papers. Heck, you can find it in every hotel in America. But when the USA Today releases an editorial about Social Security that is riddled with falsehood, all aimed at advancing Bush's plan, it makes us angry. Sure, we're happy that Media Matters has uncovered the truth, but that likely won't be an effective counter to the millions of people that read the USA Today paper on Friday.
Editorials
Thomas L. Friedman is one of the most intelligent columnists of our time. He also has a way of writing that takes very complex issues and boils them down to easy understanding. In his Sunday column last week, Friedman explains why the Muslim world won't see the "generosity" of our Tsunami aid efforts, and how difficult it is going to be to get to a place where we can co-exist peacefully. We absolutely recommend you read this column.
T-Minus 12 Days and Counting. Adriana Lins de Albuquerque and Alicia Cheng have a very short piece in Sunday's New York Times, detailing the (at least) 202 deaths in Iraq, since January 1st. What's most telling is the chart (which is linked in the article) that shows who and where and when. Keep in mind that 202 number does not include all American casualties (due to the need to inform families or Iraqi civilians. We are now less than two weeks away from elections, and it's becoming very clear that it will be close to impossible to have the results of this election reflect the views of the entire country.
We Dropped the Ball. Again. We have to give Bush credit. If there's one thing he's shown, it is that he never succeeds in rising to the opportunity. Take the tsunami disaster. Bush had a chance to spearhead the aid relief. By coming out quickly and taking a decisive stand, Bush could have helped give America receive positive goodwill from abroad. Instead he took a few days to respond, and then initially wrote a check for less than half the cost of his inauguration. Eventually the aid amount rose, and he appointed Clinton and Bush Sr. to oversee relief efforts, but it was too little too late. The U.N. is now organizing the relief effort, and while we are not saying America would have done a better (or worse) job than the U.N., this is just another example of an opportunity wasted, not only to help out tsunami victims, but to show how we can be effective diplomats, and work together with Asian countries for our common good.
Humor
A bit of humor to start your Monday off. The Weekly Standard presents their Inauguration 2005 Parody special. Personally, we're hoping that someone will buy us a couple of dozen Ashcroft and Rumsfeld mugs. We could use them for target practice.
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December 29, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Thursday's Links
Happy Inauguration Day! Only 1461 days left in the Bush Administration. Don't worry, we're sure they'll fly by, as long as you don't lose your job, or get drafted, or need to retire, or need prescription medication, or...
Activism
Tonight is the big gala - Bush's inauguration. So, since you can't crash any of the nine parties, do the next best thing; sign John Kerry's petition to get Donald Rumsfeld removed from office. If you remember last week, we talked about how Bush said that there were no failures in Iraq, and "the moment of accountability" had passed. Clearly, Bush is wrong, and we need your help to show him that as a leader, especially when you're waging a war and lives are at stake, you need to be accountable at every single moment, for every single action. We accept nothing less.
News
The big news today is obviously the confirmation hearings of Condi Rice. On Monday, the Washington Post ran a good story on how difficult her transition will be (assuming she is confirmed as Secretary of State). There were a lot of softball questions lobbed at Rice on the first day, but Senator Barbara Boxer wasn't going to back down as easily. We absolutely recommend that you go here to read the transcript of their first day exchange. If more Democrats had stood up like Boxer (and Biden), it's entirely possible she might not be confirmed. Tomorrow, we'll bring you day two of that exchange. It's nice to know that there's at least one person on Capitol Hill who is standing up for truth and integrity.
Where Have You Gone, Richard Cheney? A name conspicuously absent from the news for the last few weeks is Vice President Dickie Cheney. Turns out Cheney has been revving up the old domestic machine, and has been a guiding force behind Social Security privatization, the rewriting of the tax code, and other issues of domestic policy. A lot of his work seems to deal with economics, and that should come as no surprise, since John Snow (Secretary of the Treasury) stayed on for an additional four terms, throwing a wrench into the plans of the rest of the administration. Bush and company seem determined to ramrod their agenda through, regardless of who they have to run over to do it, or the detrimental effects it will have on the American people that aren't billionaires.
No Threats of Attack on Inaugurations. Last week, Tom Ridge told reporters that there is no credible evidence of a planned attack for the inaugurations. All that hooplah nine months ago was more focused for the elections, and not the inaugurations. Does this mean that the administration, knowing this, still decided to stick DC with a $12 million security bill? The article goes on to discuss why Al Qaeda's "calendar" does not usually coincide with the western calendar of events, and how Homeland Security's warning system is under attack for uselessness. Additionally, it further underscores the earlier assertion many made that the color-coded nonsense was simply a method to exploit the public's fear of terrorism for political gain.
Editorials
Long Division. Alex Johnson makes a great case: Americans are not irreconcilably divided over politics. Politicians are irreconcilably divided over America. Think about it. Most people choose to be a Democrat or Republican because one particular party agrees with most of their views. But they don't avoid their neighbors or co-workers if they are of the opposite party. The parties themselves have grown further apart, thus polarizing the country. It is an interesting take, and we encourage you to read Johnson's column.
Misleading Information? From the White House?? Paul Krugman's latest Social Security column starts off with a parable about accountability, which he transitions to the Iraq war, and then into SS, the logic for both seems to be both eerily parallel and disturbingly misguided. When you're finished reading Krugman's column, make sure to follow the link to Roger Lowenstein's Sunday column, and you'll see a more detailed explanation of why we're so mad about this.
Get It Right or Get Out. Matthew Yglesias of the American Prospect clearly and concisely explains why things need to change in Iraq, and quick. We cannot continue to stay the course as we have been doing, and continue to lose American and Iraqi lives because of our petulance. At this point, any change would be beneficial, whether it's withdrawing as soon as possible, or increasing troop strength drastically. This article underscores precisely why Senator Boxer's confrontation of Condi Rice was so appropriate - for us to have any chance in Iraq, we need to first acknowledge that our approach there has been less than effective, and then we need to change it.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
The Other Inaugural. Democracy for America is hosting a series of house parties around the country tomorrow. You can go to their site to find one near you, or even host one yourself! These house parties are a great way for you to start getting involved on a local level.
News
A Tale of Two Polls. The Washington Post conducts poll and reports that "Political Divisions Persist After Election", which is pretty accurate. Only 45% said they wanted the country to go the way Bush would lead it. (Although only 39% said that Democrats would let it in the proper way - that's what we've got to change.) 55% expect Bush to do a better job than his first term. We wonder how many of those believe that he can't possibly do worse. (Never underestimate his capacity for failure.) CNN has done their own poll, and they report "Americans upbeat about next four years". In their poll, a majority believe he will improve security, keep the country prosperous, improve education, and increase moral values. Yet only 53% believe the country will be better off in four years. The strangest thing is that only 46% believe that Bush cut their taxes - maybe the incorrect 54% are the ones who are so optimistic. (Or maybe they are earning so much less that it doesn't seem like he cut their taxes.) If you're interested in more polling data, here's a set of detailed polls on Social Security, showing that Americans still don't know the status of social security, but at least by and large they realize that Bush is gonna screw it up.
High-Ranking Officers May Face Prosecution in Iraqi Prisoner Abuse, Military Officials Say. Well, wouldn't the be nice? We clearly can't condone the acts of the lower-ranked perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib atrocities, as we all know that performing an illegal act is wrong (and illegal) even if one was ordered to do it. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that this wasn't just the case of some rogue officers acting alone, and it'd be nice to see someone at a higher level held accountable, just this once. Certainly, there's the question of justice, which even our detainees deserve. But there's also the issue of upholding our standards and defending the rights of every human, and showing the world that every once in a while, we'll stand up for what's right, even when it's inconvenient. Let's hope (but don't hold your breath) that the Pentagon continues their investigations and actually hold someone of a higher rank accountable? (We can shoot the moon and think about Rumsfeld, but we know that's not gonna happen.)
Va. Educators Seek 'No Child' Waiver. It's almost time to add another state to the pile of seven that are now exempt from No Child Left Behind. Margaret Spellings (new Secretary of Education) came in, promising to bring attention back to NCLB, and hold all states accountable. Well, she's certainly trying, but states like Virginia, when faced with the odious financial and administrative requirements of NCLB, look at their own productivity and say, "Hey, we're in good shape. We've improved from last year. Why should we spend the money and time to implement a whole new strategy, when ours is working just fine?"
Editorials
What's $13 Million Among Friends? Bush tends to blame a lot of problems that occurred on his watch on Clinton's administration. One of those problems was the issue of corporate executives defrauding their own employees and investors out of billions of dollars, including, of course, the infamous Enron scandal. Bush claims to have cracked down on the loopholes that allowed these crooks to get away with their larceny, but has anyone really been held accountable? C'mon, that would be so out of character! 10 former Enron executives (out of 18 being sued) have to pay a grand total of $13 million dollars to settle a class action suit against them. Seems like a large amount, right? Well, it is...until you consider that they get to pocket $117 million dollars in post-tax profits. Boy, we bet they learned their lesson.
Neocon 101. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie: "Neocon". Maybe it's some evil robot that will stop at nothing less that global domination. If you were to think that, you wouldn't be far off - just replace "robot" with "philosophy". We throw about the term "neocon" to talk about people like Rumsfeld and other Iraq war architects, but what do we really mean? This article does a nice job of describing the central philosophies of neoconservatives, and how they came about. "Benevolent global hegemon", our collective ass.
The rule of law, and judicial politics. Every now and then, we at Still Fighting like to stray off the beaten path, and find stories that aren't reported by the mainstream media, or even by the mainstream bloggers. And while it takes a bit longer to find worthwhile material, often when we do finally find sometimes, we're left standing with our mouths gaping. Once we shut our mouths and get back to typing, we're stunned that these stories haven't been spread more widely. This particular case focused on a young lady in Alabama, who was seeking an abortion. She was trying to petition a judge to waive the state-required parental notification, but her case was rejected. Read the story - we can't quite do it justice - and then next time Bush talks about "liberal activist judges", think about what happened in Alabama.
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Monday, January 17, 2005
Monday's Links
Happy MLK Day!
Activism
Rick Santorum (R-PA). The Senator who lives in Virginia, and whose children attend school in Virginia, but represents Pennsylvania. Santorum, who is certainly the most outspoken Senator in favor of a constitutional amendment to bad gay marriage. Santorum, who is running again in 2006. We need to do everything possible to ensure that this heinous American does not get re-elected. You can go here to find a list of organizations you can donate to that oppose Santorum. We also recommend you sign up for their newsletter. As we get closer to this election, you can bet we'll be giving you many more opportunities to help get Santorum out of office.
News
Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Bush gave a 35 minute interview. Among the multitude of items discussed, the most distressing is his belief that America's decision to elect him president for a second term means that Americans are solidly behind the administration's policy on Iraq, which is why none of the "decision makers" are being held accountable. Surely he can't believe this, can he? If we started listing all of the things that went wrong in Iraq, and all of the ways he approached the "war on terrorism" incorrectly, we'd still be writing this post on Thursday. Thankfully, the Democrats don't believe it either. In fact, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) went so far as to call the idea "ridiculous". Kennedy was on "Face the Nation," and we applaud the Dems for getting their act together and responding to this nonsense so quickly.
Ah, Roemer, We Hardly Knew Ye. Tim Roemer, the self-proclaimed anti-abortionist attempting to become the next DNC head, lashed out over the weekend as reports of his anti-abortion views were turning Democrats against him. He doesn't want to be litmus-tested, and he points to the Republican party, saying that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani both have prominent roles in the GOP and are pro-abortion. Sure, Tim, but neither of them is the head of the GOP. Whether or not you like our choice for DNC Chair (Howard Dean), it's a bad idea for Roemer to even be considered for the position. It's not that Democrats can't have a "big tent", but we should make sure that at least our leaders will stand by our fundamental principles as a party, one of which is a woman's right to choose.
You Mean, There Isn't A Problem With Social Security? There's no denying that the USA Today is one of the nation's most-read papers. Heck, you can find it in every hotel in America. But when the USA Today releases an editorial about Social Security that is riddled with falsehood, all aimed at advancing Bush's plan, it makes us angry. Sure, we're happy that Media Matters has uncovered the truth, but that likely won't be an effective counter to the millions of people that read the USA Today paper on Friday.
Editorials
Thomas L. Friedman is one of the most intelligent columnists of our time. He also has a way of writing that takes very complex issues and boils them down to easy understanding. In his Sunday column last week, Friedman explains why the Muslim world won't see the "generosity" of our Tsunami aid efforts, and how difficult it is going to be to get to a place where we can co-exist peacefully. We absolutely recommend you read this column.
T-Minus 12 Days and Counting. Adriana Lins de Albuquerque and Alicia Cheng have a very short piece in Sunday's New York Times, detailing the (at least) 202 deaths in Iraq, since January 1st. What's most telling is the chart (which is linked in the article) that shows who and where and when. Keep in mind that 202 number does not include all American casualties (due to the need to inform families or Iraqi civilians. We are now less than two weeks away from elections, and it's becoming very clear that it will be close to impossible to have the results of this election reflect the views of the entire country.
We Dropped the Ball. Again. We have to give Bush credit. If there's one thing he's shown, it is that he never succeeds in rising to the opportunity. Take the tsunami disaster. Bush had a chance to spearhead the aid relief. By coming out quickly and taking a decisive stand, Bush could have helped give America receive positive goodwill from abroad. Instead he took a few days to respond, and then initially wrote a check for less than half the cost of his inauguration. Eventually the aid amount rose, and he appointed Clinton and Bush Sr. to oversee relief efforts, but it was too little too late. The U.N. is now organizing the relief effort, and while we are not saying America would have done a better (or worse) job than the U.N., this is just another example of an opportunity wasted, not only to help out tsunami victims, but to show how we can be effective diplomats, and work together with Asian countries for our common good.
Humor
A bit of humor to start your Monday off. The Weekly Standard presents their Inauguration 2005 Parody special. Personally, we're hoping that someone will buy us a couple of dozen Ashcroft and Rumsfeld mugs. We could use them for target practice.
|
December 29, 2005
Activism
Tonight is the big gala - Bush's inauguration. So, since you can't crash any of the nine parties, do the next best thing; sign John Kerry's petition to get Donald Rumsfeld removed from office. If you remember last week, we talked about how Bush said that there were no failures in Iraq, and "the moment of accountability" had passed. Clearly, Bush is wrong, and we need your help to show him that as a leader, especially when you're waging a war and lives are at stake, you need to be accountable at every single moment, for every single action. We accept nothing less.
News
The big news today is obviously the confirmation hearings of Condi Rice. On Monday, the Washington Post ran a good story on how difficult her transition will be (assuming she is confirmed as Secretary of State). There were a lot of softball questions lobbed at Rice on the first day, but Senator Barbara Boxer wasn't going to back down as easily. We absolutely recommend that you go here to read the transcript of their first day exchange. If more Democrats had stood up like Boxer (and Biden), it's entirely possible she might not be confirmed. Tomorrow, we'll bring you day two of that exchange. It's nice to know that there's at least one person on Capitol Hill who is standing up for truth and integrity.
Where Have You Gone, Richard Cheney? A name conspicuously absent from the news for the last few weeks is Vice President Dickie Cheney. Turns out Cheney has been revving up the old domestic machine, and has been a guiding force behind Social Security privatization, the rewriting of the tax code, and other issues of domestic policy. A lot of his work seems to deal with economics, and that should come as no surprise, since John Snow (Secretary of the Treasury) stayed on for an additional four terms, throwing a wrench into the plans of the rest of the administration. Bush and company seem determined to ramrod their agenda through, regardless of who they have to run over to do it, or the detrimental effects it will have on the American people that aren't billionaires.
No Threats of Attack on Inaugurations. Last week, Tom Ridge told reporters that there is no credible evidence of a planned attack for the inaugurations. All that hooplah nine months ago was more focused for the elections, and not the inaugurations. Does this mean that the administration, knowing this, still decided to stick DC with a $12 million security bill? The article goes on to discuss why Al Qaeda's "calendar" does not usually coincide with the western calendar of events, and how Homeland Security's warning system is under attack for uselessness. Additionally, it further underscores the earlier assertion many made that the color-coded nonsense was simply a method to exploit the public's fear of terrorism for political gain.
Editorials
Long Division. Alex Johnson makes a great case: Americans are not irreconcilably divided over politics. Politicians are irreconcilably divided over America. Think about it. Most people choose to be a Democrat or Republican because one particular party agrees with most of their views. But they don't avoid their neighbors or co-workers if they are of the opposite party. The parties themselves have grown further apart, thus polarizing the country. It is an interesting take, and we encourage you to read Johnson's column.
Misleading Information? From the White House?? Paul Krugman's latest Social Security column starts off with a parable about accountability, which he transitions to the Iraq war, and then into SS, the logic for both seems to be both eerily parallel and disturbingly misguided. When you're finished reading Krugman's column, make sure to follow the link to Roger Lowenstein's Sunday column, and you'll see a more detailed explanation of why we're so mad about this.
Get It Right or Get Out. Matthew Yglesias of the American Prospect clearly and concisely explains why things need to change in Iraq, and quick. We cannot continue to stay the course as we have been doing, and continue to lose American and Iraqi lives because of our petulance. At this point, any change would be beneficial, whether it's withdrawing as soon as possible, or increasing troop strength drastically. This article underscores precisely why Senator Boxer's confrontation of Condi Rice was so appropriate - for us to have any chance in Iraq, we need to first acknowledge that our approach there has been less than effective, and then we need to change it.
The Other Inaugural. Democracy for America is hosting a series of house parties around the country tomorrow. You can go to their site to find one near you, or even host one yourself! These house parties are a great way for you to start getting involved on a local level.
News
A Tale of Two Polls. The Washington Post conducts poll and reports that "Political Divisions Persist After Election", which is pretty accurate. Only 45% said they wanted the country to go the way Bush would lead it. (Although only 39% said that Democrats would let it in the proper way - that's what we've got to change.) 55% expect Bush to do a better job than his first term. We wonder how many of those believe that he can't possibly do worse. (Never underestimate his capacity for failure.) CNN has done their own poll, and they report "Americans upbeat about next four years". In their poll, a majority believe he will improve security, keep the country prosperous, improve education, and increase moral values. Yet only 53% believe the country will be better off in four years. The strangest thing is that only 46% believe that Bush cut their taxes - maybe the incorrect 54% are the ones who are so optimistic. (Or maybe they are earning so much less that it doesn't seem like he cut their taxes.) If you're interested in more polling data, here's a set of detailed polls on Social Security, showing that Americans still don't know the status of social security, but at least by and large they realize that Bush is gonna screw it up.
High-Ranking Officers May Face Prosecution in Iraqi Prisoner Abuse, Military Officials Say. Well, wouldn't the be nice? We clearly can't condone the acts of the lower-ranked perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib atrocities, as we all know that performing an illegal act is wrong (and illegal) even if one was ordered to do it. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that this wasn't just the case of some rogue officers acting alone, and it'd be nice to see someone at a higher level held accountable, just this once. Certainly, there's the question of justice, which even our detainees deserve. But there's also the issue of upholding our standards and defending the rights of every human, and showing the world that every once in a while, we'll stand up for what's right, even when it's inconvenient. Let's hope (but don't hold your breath) that the Pentagon continues their investigations and actually hold someone of a higher rank accountable? (We can shoot the moon and think about Rumsfeld, but we know that's not gonna happen.)
Va. Educators Seek 'No Child' Waiver. It's almost time to add another state to the pile of seven that are now exempt from No Child Left Behind. Margaret Spellings (new Secretary of Education) came in, promising to bring attention back to NCLB, and hold all states accountable. Well, she's certainly trying, but states like Virginia, when faced with the odious financial and administrative requirements of NCLB, look at their own productivity and say, "Hey, we're in good shape. We've improved from last year. Why should we spend the money and time to implement a whole new strategy, when ours is working just fine?"
Editorials
What's $13 Million Among Friends? Bush tends to blame a lot of problems that occurred on his watch on Clinton's administration. One of those problems was the issue of corporate executives defrauding their own employees and investors out of billions of dollars, including, of course, the infamous Enron scandal. Bush claims to have cracked down on the loopholes that allowed these crooks to get away with their larceny, but has anyone really been held accountable? C'mon, that would be so out of character! 10 former Enron executives (out of 18 being sued) have to pay a grand total of $13 million dollars to settle a class action suit against them. Seems like a large amount, right? Well, it is...until you consider that they get to pocket $117 million dollars in post-tax profits. Boy, we bet they learned their lesson.
Neocon 101. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie: "Neocon". Maybe it's some evil robot that will stop at nothing less that global domination. If you were to think that, you wouldn't be far off - just replace "robot" with "philosophy". We throw about the term "neocon" to talk about people like Rumsfeld and other Iraq war architects, but what do we really mean? This article does a nice job of describing the central philosophies of neoconservatives, and how they came about. "Benevolent global hegemon", our collective ass.
The rule of law, and judicial politics. Every now and then, we at Still Fighting like to stray off the beaten path, and find stories that aren't reported by the mainstream media, or even by the mainstream bloggers. And while it takes a bit longer to find worthwhile material, often when we do finally find sometimes, we're left standing with our mouths gaping. Once we shut our mouths and get back to typing, we're stunned that these stories haven't been spread more widely. This particular case focused on a young lady in Alabama, who was seeking an abortion. She was trying to petition a judge to waive the state-required parental notification, but her case was rejected. Read the story - we can't quite do it justice - and then next time Bush talks about "liberal activist judges", think about what happened in Alabama.
Activism
Rick Santorum (R-PA). The Senator who lives in Virginia, and whose children attend school in Virginia, but represents Pennsylvania. Santorum, who is certainly the most outspoken Senator in favor of a constitutional amendment to bad gay marriage. Santorum, who is running again in 2006. We need to do everything possible to ensure that this heinous American does not get re-elected. You can go here to find a list of organizations you can donate to that oppose Santorum. We also recommend you sign up for their newsletter. As we get closer to this election, you can bet we'll be giving you many more opportunities to help get Santorum out of office.
News
Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Bush gave a 35 minute interview. Among the multitude of items discussed, the most distressing is his belief that America's decision to elect him president for a second term means that Americans are solidly behind the administration's policy on Iraq, which is why none of the "decision makers" are being held accountable. Surely he can't believe this, can he? If we started listing all of the things that went wrong in Iraq, and all of the ways he approached the "war on terrorism" incorrectly, we'd still be writing this post on Thursday. Thankfully, the Democrats don't believe it either. In fact, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) went so far as to call the idea "ridiculous". Kennedy was on "Face the Nation," and we applaud the Dems for getting their act together and responding to this nonsense so quickly.
Ah, Roemer, We Hardly Knew Ye. Tim Roemer, the self-proclaimed anti-abortionist attempting to become the next DNC head, lashed out over the weekend as reports of his anti-abortion views were turning Democrats against him. He doesn't want to be litmus-tested, and he points to the Republican party, saying that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani both have prominent roles in the GOP and are pro-abortion. Sure, Tim, but neither of them is the head of the GOP. Whether or not you like our choice for DNC Chair (Howard Dean), it's a bad idea for Roemer to even be considered for the position. It's not that Democrats can't have a "big tent", but we should make sure that at least our leaders will stand by our fundamental principles as a party, one of which is a woman's right to choose.
You Mean, There Isn't A Problem With Social Security? There's no denying that the USA Today is one of the nation's most-read papers. Heck, you can find it in every hotel in America. But when the USA Today releases an editorial about Social Security that is riddled with falsehood, all aimed at advancing Bush's plan, it makes us angry. Sure, we're happy that Media Matters has uncovered the truth, but that likely won't be an effective counter to the millions of people that read the USA Today paper on Friday.
Editorials
Thomas L. Friedman is one of the most intelligent columnists of our time. He also has a way of writing that takes very complex issues and boils them down to easy understanding. In his Sunday column last week, Friedman explains why the Muslim world won't see the "generosity" of our Tsunami aid efforts, and how difficult it is going to be to get to a place where we can co-exist peacefully. We absolutely recommend you read this column.
T-Minus 12 Days and Counting. Adriana Lins de Albuquerque and Alicia Cheng have a very short piece in Sunday's New York Times, detailing the (at least) 202 deaths in Iraq, since January 1st. What's most telling is the chart (which is linked in the article) that shows who and where and when. Keep in mind that 202 number does not include all American casualties (due to the need to inform families or Iraqi civilians. We are now less than two weeks away from elections, and it's becoming very clear that it will be close to impossible to have the results of this election reflect the views of the entire country.
We Dropped the Ball. Again. We have to give Bush credit. If there's one thing he's shown, it is that he never succeeds in rising to the opportunity. Take the tsunami disaster. Bush had a chance to spearhead the aid relief. By coming out quickly and taking a decisive stand, Bush could have helped give America receive positive goodwill from abroad. Instead he took a few days to respond, and then initially wrote a check for less than half the cost of his inauguration. Eventually the aid amount rose, and he appointed Clinton and Bush Sr. to oversee relief efforts, but it was too little too late. The U.N. is now organizing the relief effort, and while we are not saying America would have done a better (or worse) job than the U.N., this is just another example of an opportunity wasted, not only to help out tsunami victims, but to show how we can be effective diplomats, and work together with Asian countries for our common good.
Humor
A bit of humor to start your Monday off. The Weekly Standard presents their Inauguration 2005 Parody special. Personally, we're hoping that someone will buy us a couple of dozen Ashcroft and Rumsfeld mugs. We could use them for target practice.
