Frank Rich: Bush assault on press the "antithesis" of July 4 meaning

Via E&P;:

No sooner were the flag burners hustled offstage than a new traitor was unveiled for the Fourth: the press. Public enemy No. 1 is The New York Times, which was accused of a 'disgraceful' compromise of national security (by President Bush) and treason (by Representative Peter King of New York and the Coulter amen chorus). The Times's offense was to publish a front-page article about a comprehensive American effort to track terrorists with the aid of a Belgian consortium, Swift, which serves as a clearinghouse for some 7,800 financial institutions in 200 countries.

"It was a solid piece of journalism. But if you want to learn the truly dirty secrets of how our government prosecutes this war, the story of how it vilified The Times is more damning than anything in the article that caused the uproar....

"Representative King, so eager to label others treasonous, has humiliating headlines of his own to counteract: he's the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee who has so little clout and bureaucratic aptitude that he couldn't stop the government led by his own party from stripping New York City, in his home state, of 40 percent of its counterterrorism funding. If there's another terrorist attack, he may be the last person in New York who should accuse others, as he did The Times on the House floor on Thursday, of having blood 'on their hands.'

"Such ravings make it hard not to think of the official assault on The Times and The Washington Post over the Pentagon Papers. In 1972, on the first anniversary of the publication of that classified Pentagon history of the Vietnam War, The Times's managing editor then, A. M. Rosenthal, reminisced in print about the hyperbolic predictions that had been made by the Nixon White House and its supporters: 'Codes would be broken. Military security endangered. Foreign governments would be afraid to deal with us. There would be nothing secret left.'

"None of that happened. What did happen was that Americans learned 'how secrecy had become a way of life' for a government whose clandestine policy decisions had fomented a disaster.

"The assault on a free press during our own wartime should be recognized for what it is: another desperate ploy by officials trying to hide their own lethal mistakes in the shadows. It's the antithesis of everything we celebrate with the blazing lights of Independence Day."

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Iraq rape/murder story gets worse

This story gets more disturbing with every revelation:

Investigators believe a group of U.S. soldiers suspected of raping an Iraqi woman, then killing her and three members of her family plotted the attack for nearly a week, a U.S. military official said Saturday.

Up to five soldiers are being investigated in the March killings, the fifth pending case involving alleged slayings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.

The Americans entered the Sunni Arab's family home, separated three males from the woman, raped her and burned her body using a flammable liquid in a cover-up attempt, a military official close to the investigation said. The three males were also slain.

The soldiers had studied their victims for about a week and the attack was "totally premeditated," the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The family had just moved into the home in the insurgent-riddled area around Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Americans are just learning about this horrific incident. No doubt it's made it through the grapevine in Iraq already. The accumulation of these attacks on innocent Iraqis by U.S. soldiers on Iraqi citizens puts the rest of our soldiers in greater danger -- as if the danger isn't already great enough. Read the rest of this post...

Wash Times blasts Bush over sending National Guard to the border with Mexico

Guess what? Apparently Bush's plan isn't working because the National Guard troops aren't available to even go to the border.

The president's order assigning the National Guard to enforce border security, such as it is, has been suspect from the beginning. The order sounded forceful and dramatic, but was received with considerable skepticism because on second thought it sounded as mostly sound and little fury, signifying not very much. The president's heart is with amnesty, by whatever they're calling it at the White House, and sending weary and exhausted National Guardsmen to "assist" the Border Patrol will neither secure the border nor staunch the gusher of desperate illegals, mostly Mexicans, pouring into the country in search of work. Immigration reform is as elusive as ever. Counting on the National Guard to render the politics harmless is merely blowing more smoke.

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While the Republicans debate gay marriage and flag burning, guess who is still alive and kicking?

Tell me again what the Republicans are doing to try to catch the man who murdered 3,000 Americans? Read the rest of this post...

Bush is bouncing backwards

All that spinning and hoping for a big Bush bounce -- it ain't happening. He's headed down in the latest Time magazine poll:

A spate of good news at home and abroad has so far failed to boost how Americans feel about President Bush's job performance. Bush's approval rating slipped to 35% in a TIME poll taken this week, down from 37% in March (and 53% in early 2005). Only 33% of Americans in the survey said they approved of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq, vs. 35% in March, and 47% in March 2005. His management of the U.S. economy lost supporters, too, as 36% approved, compared with 39% three months earlier. Bush's handling of the war on terror saw a slight gain in support, from 44% to 45%.

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Americans growing less interested in government "promoting moral values"

Big drop in ten years. From the National Journal:

Values: Legislating Morality
Another release from the Gallup poll on Americans' values reveals a divide about the role of government in modeling morality. When respondents were asked whether the federal government should "be involved in promoting moral values in our society," 48 percent said it should and 48 percent said it shouldn't.

Poll numbers from a decade ago -- May 1996, about six months before Bill Clinton won a second term in the White House -- show more of a desire for institutional participation. Six in 10 said the federal government should be involved in promoting moral values in our society, more than 10 points higher than the current survey. Thirty-eight percent said the government shouldn't be involved.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Sure, it's Saturday morning. But, we still need to know what's going on. So what is? Read the rest of this post...

Carnage in Iraq

How is the Bush administration going to spin this as more progress?:

A parked car bomb exploded at a popular outdoor market Saturday in a Shiite slum in Baghdad, killing at least 66 people and wounding dozens, authorities said. It was the bloodiest attack to hit Iraq since the death of terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The blast, which occurred around 10 a.m. when the Sadr City market was packed with shoppers, destroyed the stalls where food and clothes are peddled and sent up a plume of gray smoke. Flames shot out the windows of several scorched cars.

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Christian right continues to infiltrate the UK

Yet another bond between Bush and Blair. The English used to be so level headed but the Blair years continue to drag them down. The latest episode is the British Medical Association turning back the clock and voting against support for euthanasia after a massive so-called christian assault on their previous neutral or positive position on the issue.

Being quite familiar with the subject from recent family events, I can recognize that sure, the argument that terminal patients are concerned about the impact both emotionally and financially on their family, but that is minor compared to the considerably more powerful argument that each day is pure misery, suffering and agony where the patient wakes up each day wondering if this is the day. I don't see that as a christian value nor do I see any benefit in the continuing suffering of someone who is terminal and has absolutely no chance of recovery if that person chooses euthanasia as an option. Let the Bill Frists of the world worry about their own problems because as we see, they have plenty of them.

How much more is the UK and US going to take from these religious extremists? Read the rest of this post...