15 dead, 55 wounded in another Baghdad bombing

Bush's failure empowers our enemies. Read the rest of this post...

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 1/26/07

Another Week. More preposterousness to report.

Do you hang out at "the club" with assless guys named Chip who claim "it's not the heat it's the humidity" while puffing on a Cellini and blurting out how it'd be just "smashing" if workers could find a little more of that "can do spirit," instead of relying on government guarantees--like say the minimum wage?

You don't? Well then the Republican Party hates you.

Because, under the cloak of an amendment only 56 words in length, the friendly coward Sen. Wayne Allard -- who's not running for reelection in 2008, because he knows Colorado likely won't reelect someone who's to legislating what ABC's Isaiah Washington is to prime time ratings -- tried to eliminate the federal minimum wage. Yup, you read that right.

Not keep it where it is. Or lower it. But eliminate it completely, like it's that last stubborn firing neuron left in Ted Nugent's obtuse skull that just hasn't gotten the telegram from his fallen comrades.

28 Republicans voted for this effort to strip hard-working Americans of one of their few protections, one which should be enhanced by at least 75% and maybe would be, if not for drooling cretins like Allard. This distinguished list of supporters also includes such compassionate conservatives as "Double-Talk" McCain, Brokeback Sam and Sunununununu (better get those heavy breathers ready for some ample phone jamming in 2008!). Sadly though, with 80% of Americans supporting a raise in the minimum wage, they've got the atta boy of as much of the public on this issue as they do for the "Surge To Nowhere."

But, hey, David Broder thinks it's not important when Republicans lie, cheat and steal, and who am I to question someone who hasn't gotten anything right since Greta Garbo played Mata Hari?

Then there are the spit-suckle tards at that dime-store Pravda... Disney/ABC (and you thought I was going to say "FOX News"). In fact, they're quickly upping their furrowed brow bona fides by the week. From the anti-gay, anti-Muslim Glenn Beck (who fantasizes about assassinating Michael Moore - seriously) to "The Path to 9/11" this company is trying to hide the fact that Mickey Mouse sent Mark Foley a pic by allowing Fox to air scenes from that defamatory piece of revisionist 9/11 bile they aired prior to the 2006 election.

Does Disney/ABC understand what "public good" means? It is ostensibly the purpose for their existence, which I would assume means not cozying up to the irrational right-wing segmented worms who have turned American families into Baghdad fodder. Maybe the new Democratic Congress should take a look at whether Disney/ABC is living up to the expectations of holding a broadcast license in this country.

Or at the very least make John Stossel shave his Geraldo/Ron Jeremy stache.

From minimum wage to minimum talent, what a week it's been in the uber-moronic hi-jincks of a political movement befouled by the stench of death. Read the rest of this post...

Bush defense secretary says GOP Senator John Warner (R-VA) is "emboldening the enemy" in Iraq

Why do Republicans Senate leaders hate America? Read the rest of this post...

Progressives and the military

This piece, titled "Love the Warrior, Hate the War", is an extremely important one, explaining how progressives support the military while opposing bad military policy. For years conservatives have propagated the lie that opposition to policy is tantamount to opposing our troops (except, of course, when they were doing it during the Clinton years), and it's a fallacy that needs correction.

The military is a unique organization, and one that is, at once, misunderstood, fetishized, scapegoated, and underestimated by various groups and individuals. There's virtually nothing inherent or intrinsic about a group of nearly 1.5 million people, and while any group that large will have some outlying bad apples, my interaction with servicemen and -women is largely in line with the observations of the author, Lorelei Kelly.

Ms. Kelly, it should be noted, is no DINO, and currently advises the Progressive Caucus on national security and foreign policy matters. She explains,

Today, nearly every general that testifies before Congress claims that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan do not have purely military solutions. This sea change means that many members of the military and progressives are philosophically much closer than either believes and they are both hurt by the lack of meaningful interaction. Understanding and aligning with the military around shared concerns could be a crucial new strategy for the left.

Many priorities are shared by progressives and soldiers alike, and despite historic wariness between these groups, the disaster of Iraq has shown clearly that the military cannot blindly put its faith in conservatives and progressives who lack a meaningful understanding of the military cede their rightful voice on national security. As Ms. Kelly points out,

Despite their ability to wield tremendous physical force, the military is vulnerable when it comes to protecting itself in the domestic policy process. The armed services’ professional ethic forbids interference in political decision-making. Hence their fate is often influenced most by those poised to gain in the short-term, either financially or politically, and who encounter no similar professional barriers —i.e., defense industry lobbyists, members of Congress and an executive branch obsessed by domestic politics.

This strategy is not unrealistic. Today’s antiwar movement is leagues more sophisticated than the one that ended the Vietnam war. Today’s liberal activist has learned how to be anti-war without being anti-warrior.

What’s more, liberal philosophy shares many values with the military: looking after the general welfare, shared risk, sacrifice for common goals and long-term planning. Liberals value public service, and the military is our largest public institution.

A variety of progressive national security groups are working doggedly on these issues, and rightly so. Check out the entire article. Read the rest of this post...

President Clinton contacting head of Disney over rekindled "Path to 9/11" controversy

President Clinton's office has just informed me that they're "taking it all the way to the top at Disney to find out why they're not enforcing copyright" in this matter.

You'll recall that not only is FOX planning on broadcasting the false and defamatory scenes that were cut from Disney/ABC's error-riddled documentary "Path to 9/11," but Disney/ABC have announced that they have no intention of enforcing their copyright in this matter, and demanding that FOX not rebroadcast Disney/ABC's scenes without permission. In fact, ABC's Entertainment president has said that he believes the already-proven-wrong documentary is 100% factual.

It's interesting to note that Disney/ABC had no problem shutting down a liberal blogger who was concerned about hate speech on an ABC radio station in California. In that case, when the blogger posted hateful content from ABC's radio show, ABC's lawyers got the blogger's site pulled down, claiming copyright infringement. But in this case, ABC is no longer so interested in copyright. Of course, this is the same ABC that keeps a known homophobe on the payroll at "Grey's Anatomy," and the same ABC that has decided to employee another extremist at Good Morning America, a man who has used the word "faggot" on the air, a move criticized by the largest gay anti-defamation organization in America, and a man who has claimed that every Muslim-American needs to prove that they are not working with the terrorists.

It's also interesting to note that this latest controversy is all Disney/ABC's doing. The man who directed the inaccurate documentary has been traveling around the country, publicly showing the inaccurate scenes that were cut from the TV show. Disney/ABC has seemingly had no concern whatsoever that this man has been broadcasting scenes that they intentionally cut from their film. And it was at one of these broadcasts that FOX conveniently filmed what they're going to show Sunday night. Had Disney/ABC not tacitly agreed to let the director show the cut scenes around the country, this scandal seemingly would not be back in the news (except of course for the fact that Disney/ABC is permitting people to post the scenes on YouTube, so they clearly have no desire to control the dissemination of the inaccurate and defamatory information).

This is the new ABC. The channel of revisionism, lies, and hate. Someone needs to tell ABC that hate is not a family-hour value.

PS Here's some background on the lies that Disney/ABC put in this fake documentary.

1. Disney/ABC blame American Airlines, falsely - this was kept in the film.
2. A scene where former National Security advisor Sandy Berger pulls the plug on a clear chance to take out Osama Bin Laden. According to the 9/11 Commission report, this never happened.
3. A scene where Madeleine Albright overrules military commanders and insists on informing the Pakistanis about a missile strike on a suspected Bin Laden hideout. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, this never happened.
4. A scene indicating Bush demanded aggressive action after receiving the August 6 Presidential Daily Brief entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in USA." According to Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission, this never happened. (The last 3 points I got from ThinkProgress, just copied them directly as they were quisuccinctint.)
5. Disney/ABC hired evangelical activist who sought ttransformorm Hollywood."
6. Even conservative Reagan Administration official Bill Bennett said Disney/ABC should correct the inaccuracies.

Read the rest of this post...

ABC Entertainment president personally attacks Sandy Berger, says error-riddled "Path to 9/11" was totally true

I am simply astounded that after it was proven categorically that Disney/ABC screwed up the history of 9/11, as proven by the 9/11 Commission's own report, that Disney/ABC are now not only still claiming that there were no errors, but they're now launching personal attacks on President Clinton's former National Security Adviser.

[ABC Entertainment president Stephen] McPherson said the network "loved" the film and stands by it. He also denies that it was irresponsibly fictionalized or at all driven by any campaign to distort the facts.

"Everything in that movie is backed up tenfold," he insists. "We think it was a really important thing to air. And you know, it's unfortunate that, for other agendas, people tried to squash it." When it was pointed out that ABC tried to backpedal with its last-minute alterations on 'Path to 9/11,' McPherson shot back, "We didn't backpedal. We aired the movie. We didn't change anything for those guys. We aired it as planned on the dates that were planned.

"I mean, it's a little odd to have (former National Security Advisor for the Clinton Administration) Sandy Berger telling you about what's truthful or not when he was indicted for stuffing documents into his pants on this very subject."

In fact, we already know for a fact, via the 9/11 Commission Report, that the scene about Sandy Berger was entirely false. So what's a little odd is that the head of ABC Entertainment, the president himself, is outright lying about the history of September 11, and using Republican talking points while so doing.

This is beyond sickening. It's an outright effort by Disney/ABC to not only rewrite the history of 9/11, but to influence the presidential race against Hillary Clinton. That is the only reason these allegations are again coming up the week that Hillary announces her presidential run. Disney/ABC are getting involved in politics, trying to influence our presidential elections. And that, my friends, is going to be their end of their company. Someone needs to remind Disney/ABC of just who is in charge of Congress, and just who is very likely to win the presidency in less than 24 months. Read the rest of this post...

"I'm the decision-maker"

Uh huh, and we live in a democracy. The last time I checked, Congress -at least now that the Democrats are in power- has some say in what the government can and will do. Ever hear of that "balance of power" thing that our founding fathers included in the Constitution? Ever hear of the Constitution? You will be learning about it over the next two years. Read the rest of this post...

FOX to broadcast false 9/11 story from Disney/ABC's fake documentary - Disney/ABC refuse to assert their copyright, YouTube illegally broadcasts video

FOX and far-right Republican activist Sean Hannity are planning on broadcasting the portions of the Disney/ABC "documentary" about 9/11, "Path to 9/11," that were deleted from the film because they were shown to be inaccurate (Disney/ABC left other inaccurate storylines in the "documentary," including alleging that American Airlines let Mohammad Atta board his flight even though they had warning that he was a possible terrorist.)

Disney/ABC is refusing to assert their copyright, which is something the mouse has never been afraid to assert before. They claim that the rebroadcast of the segments is "fair use."

ABC officials and a spokeswoman for Berger declined to comment, as did Nowrasteh.

Jay Berger, executive director of the California Central Coast chapter of the World Affairs Council, said that though Nowrasteh's talk to his group was interesting, he was surprised that Fox News was doing a piece on the unaired footage.

"I can't imagine what the news is here," he said.

An early version of the miniseries that ABC distributed to television critics is readily available on YouTube.com and other websites.

Fox News does not have ABC's permission to broadcast the unaired footage, but an attorney for the network said officials there believed that the newsworthiness of the material put it under the fair-use exception to the copyright statute.

So Disney/ABC don't care about the truth, though we already knew that. And why pray tell have Disney/ABC and YouTube refused to take down the video of the show that is STILL on YouTube to this day? It's a clear copyright violation, and we know how overzealous YouTube is about its purported copyright violations. And Disney is NOTORIOUS for asserting its copyright rights, yet in this case, Disney doesn't care. And for some reason, YouTube isn't so zealous about enforcing its own policy about illegally broadcasting video when the target is a Democrat. Isn't that interesting. You can see an example of YouTube's illegal rebroadcast here.

Please, for the love of God, someone from the Clinton camp sue these people - and even better, you can now sue FOX News. The clips that FOX will show include the defamatory segment about Sandy Berger, a segment that was proven to be a total fabrication. If FOX doesn't clearly explain that the segment is false, then my legal education tells me they could very well be liable for the defamation contained therein because THEY KNOW the segment to be false, and THEY KNOW that airing it without a disclaimer will mislead their viewers. That makes them negligent.

As an aside, this example perfectly illustrates how ethically corrupt Sean Hannity and FOX News really are. Conservatives simply can't stick with the truth because they know they don't win with the truth. This is what Republicans have become. And as for FOX News, we always knew they were simply a Republican propaganda organ, but it's still nice for them to publicly expose themselves as the hacks they really are. Read the rest of this post...

Pelosi and Murtha are in Iraq

Good move:

A U.S. embassy official said Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the House, had arrived in Iraq at the head of a six-member congressional delegation for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. officials but did not plan any public appearances.

The delegation includes John Murtha, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, who has also been vocal in his criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the war.

Murtha has been saying for a long time that the American people are way ahead of the politicians on Iraq. He's been right the whole time. Read the rest of this post...

White House press strategy: we control Russert, no one sees news from Friday afternoon

The Scooter Libby trial provided an illuminating look at the inside world of the Bush press machine yesterday. Verified some of the things we thought -- and helped further undermine the credibility of one of the witnesses at the trial, Tim Russert. Inside the White House, they think Russert is a pushover:

Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you.

This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions. Option 1: "MTP-VP," she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under "pro," she wrote: "control message."

"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used," Martin testified. "It's our best format."

Also, Ms. Martin verified that the White House uses the trick of putting out bad stories late on Friday afternoon:

And bad news is dumped before the weekend for the sole purpose of burying it.

With a candor that is frowned upon at the White House, Martin explained the use of late-Friday statements. "Fewer people pay attention to it late on Friday," she said. "Fewer people pay attention when it's reported on Saturday."

Yes, it works over and over and over because the media never caught on. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Watched Chuck Hagel on the Today Show. Because he's being honest about Iraq, Hagel is under attack from the GOP. That's always been a main emphasis of the Bush Iraq policy: to fight opponents of the war here in the U.S. Bush has never been reined in. This is going to get ugly, really ugly. As Bush would say: Bring it on.

So, bring it on. Read the rest of this post...

Ryszard Kapuscinski died

I have very fond memories of his book "The Shadow of the Sun" about his experiences traveling across Africa as a journalist over many years. A very kind woman at a guest house in Constantia (outside of Cape Town) gave us the book while hanging out down the road from Constantia Utsig and I've leant it to other friends and would recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in experiencing what a fascinating place Africa is. Kapuscinski was a Polish journalist who traveled the globe but is especially well known to me for his writings about Africa. Read the rest of this post...