Friday, July 15, 2005
American Torture Report - It's Worse Than You Think
Don't miss Andrew Sullivan's exensive coverage of the "Schmidt Report" on treatment of prisoners at Gitmo.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
My Country
A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt.... If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake. --Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Taylor of Philadelphia, June 4, 1798, after passage of the Alien and Sedition Act)
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The Big Lies About Valerie Plame, by a Fellow CIA Agent
The Big Lie About Valerie Plame
From: TPMCafe Special Guests
The misinformation being spread in the media about the Plame affair is alarming and damaging to the longterm security interests of the United States. Republicans' talking points are trying to savage Joe Wilson and, by implication, his wife, Valerie Plame as liars. That is the truly big lie.
For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak. Novak's column was not an isolated attack. It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.
Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985. All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies. We had official cover. That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.
Jul 13, 2005 -- 12:47:20 AM EST
A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.
The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey. Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world. When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.
The Republicans now want to hide behind the legalism that "no laws were broken". I don't know if a man made law was broken but an ethical and moral code was breached. For the first time a group of partisan political operatives publically identified a CIA NOC. They have set a precendent that the next group of political hacks may feel free to violate.
They try to hide behind the specious claim that Joe Wilson "lied". Although Joe did not lie let's follow that reasoning to the logical conclusion. Let's use the same standard for the Bush Administration. Here are the facts. Bush's lies have resulted in the deaths of almost 1800 American soldiers and the mutilation of 12,000. Joe Wilson has not killed anyone. He tried to prevent the needless death of Americans and the loss of American prestige in the world.
But don't take my word for it, read the biased Senate intelligence committee report. Even though it was slanted to try to portray Joe in the worst possible light this fact emerges on page 52 of the report: According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on." Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.
The Republicans insist on the lie that Val got her husband the job. She did not. She was not a division director, instead she was the equivalent of an Army major. Yes it is true she recommended her husband to do the job that needed to be done but the decision to send Joe Wilson on this mission was made by her bosses.
At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Iowa's Record on Female Candidates
The Des Moines Register has a great article today - written by Mike Glover - on Iowa being such a hotbed for politics, yet hostile terrain for female candidates. What kind of "progressive" message are we sending when Iowa is just one of two states never to have elected a woman governor or send a women to Congress? (Mississippi is the other state.)
Dianne Bystrom - the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for the Study of Women in Politics at Iowa State University - points to surveys that she says show "older women tend to be less supportive of other women than younger women," and that's a tough fact to ignore, considering Iowa's predominat senior population.
Former Bettendorf mayor Ann Hutchinson cites barriers in attitudes, and asks, "Why is it that women don't want other women to succeed?"
This is a question we need to address. With Hillary considered a front-runner for the party's nomination in '08 and Iowa holding the nation's first caucus, what message will Iowa send other states looking to us for guidance and attitudes toward leadership?
As we forge our way through this next election cycle, we must ask some tough questions and take a hard and realistic look at the answers:
-- Who - and what - is holding us back?
-- How do we go about pushing through that roadblock?
-- What specific issues do we need to address with our state's graying population?
-- What concerted efforts can we take?
-- At what level do we begin, and how do we expand from there?
I still remember the quote used when I first learned to type, and never has it seemed more appropriate, with one minor change, of course:
"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to the aid of their party."
Dianne Bystrom - the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for the Study of Women in Politics at Iowa State University - points to surveys that she says show "older women tend to be less supportive of other women than younger women," and that's a tough fact to ignore, considering Iowa's predominat senior population.
Former Bettendorf mayor Ann Hutchinson cites barriers in attitudes, and asks, "Why is it that women don't want other women to succeed?"
This is a question we need to address. With Hillary considered a front-runner for the party's nomination in '08 and Iowa holding the nation's first caucus, what message will Iowa send other states looking to us for guidance and attitudes toward leadership?
As we forge our way through this next election cycle, we must ask some tough questions and take a hard and realistic look at the answers:
-- Who - and what - is holding us back?
-- How do we go about pushing through that roadblock?
-- What specific issues do we need to address with our state's graying population?
-- What concerted efforts can we take?
-- At what level do we begin, and how do we expand from there?
I still remember the quote used when I first learned to type, and never has it seemed more appropriate, with one minor change, of course:
"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to the aid of their party."
Top Ten George W. Bush Observations About Europe:
10. Europeans speak worse English than I do
9. That Eiffel Tower would make one mother of an oil well
8. Austria looks nothing like it looked on 'Survivor'
7. The time difference screws up your nap schedule
6. British beef not only tasty, it gave me a buzz I haven't felt since college
5. The Polish people tell some great 'Bush is dumb' jokes
4. In France, you don't have to say, 'French fries,' you can just say 'fries'
3. Due to the metric system, my ten-gallon hat is a whopping 37.84 liters
2. The Irish drive on the left side of the road, like I used to
1. One of these countries is where my dad urped on the king
Late Show with David Letterman
9. That Eiffel Tower would make one mother of an oil well
8. Austria looks nothing like it looked on 'Survivor'
7. The time difference screws up your nap schedule
6. British beef not only tasty, it gave me a buzz I haven't felt since college
5. The Polish people tell some great 'Bush is dumb' jokes
4. In France, you don't have to say, 'French fries,' you can just say 'fries'
3. Due to the metric system, my ten-gallon hat is a whopping 37.84 liters
2. The Irish drive on the left side of the road, like I used to
1. One of these countries is where my dad urped on the king
Late Show with David Letterman
