Friday, September 24, 2004
And Even More Stuff That No One Will Read, Though Everyone Should
Kerry: Allawi's Take on Iraq Unrealistic
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that Iraq's Ayad Allawi was sent before Congress to put the ``best face'' on Bush administration policy.
Shortly after Allawi, the interim government's prime minister, gave a rosy portrayal of progress toward peace in Iraq, Kerry said the assessment contradicted reality on the ground.
``The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story,'' Kerry said. (cont'd)
Bush at the U.N.: Sugarcoating Failure
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t Perspective
Friday 24 September 2004
In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, Bush spoke of spreading "freedom" and "human dignity" in Iraq and Afghanistan. He decried dictators who "believe that suicide and torture and murder are fully justified to serve any goal they declare." He accused the terrorists of seeking to destroy the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But he failed to say that the UDHR declares: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." And he forgot to mention the torture and murder of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Bush claimed "the people of Iraq have regained sovereignty." But he omitted any reference to the 150,000 U.S. troops on the ground there, who enjoy immunity from prosecution for any crimes they might commit. (cont'd)
President Bush's Lead Balloon
Published: September 22, 2004
We did not expect President Bush to come before the United Nations in the middle of his re-election campaign and acknowledge the serious mistakes his administration has made on Iraq. But that still left plenty of room for him to take advantage of this one last chance to appeal to an increasingly antagonistic world to help the Iraqis secure and rebuild their shattered nation and prepare for elections in just four months. Instead, Mr. Bush delivered an inexplicably defiant campaign speech in which he glossed over the current dire situation in Iraq for an audience acutely aware of the true state of affairs, and scolded them for refusing to endorse the American invasion in the first place. (cont'd)
A Great PDF File Explaining How the Presidential Debate System Is Corrupt
Executive Summary
For the last sixteen years, the general election presidential debates have been controlled
by a private, tax-exempt corporation – the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) –
that has deceptively served the interests of the Republican and Democratic parties at the
expense of the American people.
In 1986, the Republican and Democratic National Committees ratified an agreement for
the “parties to take over the presidential debates.”i Fifteen months later, then-Republican
Party chair Frank Fahrenkopf and then-Democratic Party chair Paul Kirk created the
CPD, which immediately seized control of the debates from the genuinely nonpartisan
League of Women Voters.
Still co-chaired by Frank Fahrenkopf and Paul Kirk, the CPD secretly submits to the
demands of the Republican and Democratic candidates. Behind closed-doors, negotiators
for the major party nominees jointly draft debate contracts called Memoranda of
Understanding that dictate precisely how the debates will be run – from decreeing who
can participate, to selecting who will ask the questions, to ordaining the temperature in
the auditoriums. Masquerading as a nonpartisan sponsor, the CPD obediently implements
and conceals the contracts. (cont'd)
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election
This article is mostly full of crap. The writer claims that refusing voting rights to felons is racial disenfranchisement.
Additionally, Florida is one of 14 states that prohibit ex-felons from voting. Seven percent of the electorate but 16 percent of black voters in that state are disenfranchised.
In other swing states, 4.6 percent of voters in Iowa, but 25 percent of blacks, were disenfranchised in 2000 as ex-felons. In Nevada, it was 4.8 percent of all voters but 17 percent of blacks; in New Mexico, 6.2 percent of all voters but 25 percent of blacks.
In total, 13 percent of all black men are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, according to the Commission on Civil Rights.
Ok, maybe it's bad law to still disallow felons from voting, after all, as the author points out, the laws have roots in the post-Civil War 19th century and were aimed at preventing black Americans from voting. We all know that any post-Civil War 19th century laws are evil and unusable, right? And I'm sure that only black felons are not allowed to vote in the above states due to their felon status, all white felons are probably allowed to vote of course.
Another complaint from the author:
Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail.
"African Americans are four to five times less likely than whites to have a photo ID," Overton said at a recent briefing on minority disenfranchisement.
This I just do not get. If they ask for an ID and that is not lawful, you don't show it and you call the cops to come and set things right. Or just show the old man or woman your stinking license. Why don't blacks have photo IDs? This must be another white conspiracy to steal the black identity. You know, like Eminem.
Why We Must Leave Iraq
Jonathan Schell makes a decent case.
The bubble boy
The ever-brilliant Sid Blumenthal bashes dum Dubya about something or other.
|
Kerry: Allawi's Take on Iraq Unrealistic
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that Iraq's Ayad Allawi was sent before Congress to put the ``best face'' on Bush administration policy.
Shortly after Allawi, the interim government's prime minister, gave a rosy portrayal of progress toward peace in Iraq, Kerry said the assessment contradicted reality on the ground.
``The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story,'' Kerry said. (cont'd)
Bush at the U.N.: Sugarcoating Failure
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t Perspective
Friday 24 September 2004
In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, Bush spoke of spreading "freedom" and "human dignity" in Iraq and Afghanistan. He decried dictators who "believe that suicide and torture and murder are fully justified to serve any goal they declare." He accused the terrorists of seeking to destroy the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But he failed to say that the UDHR declares: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." And he forgot to mention the torture and murder of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Bush claimed "the people of Iraq have regained sovereignty." But he omitted any reference to the 150,000 U.S. troops on the ground there, who enjoy immunity from prosecution for any crimes they might commit. (cont'd)
President Bush's Lead Balloon
Published: September 22, 2004
We did not expect President Bush to come before the United Nations in the middle of his re-election campaign and acknowledge the serious mistakes his administration has made on Iraq. But that still left plenty of room for him to take advantage of this one last chance to appeal to an increasingly antagonistic world to help the Iraqis secure and rebuild their shattered nation and prepare for elections in just four months. Instead, Mr. Bush delivered an inexplicably defiant campaign speech in which he glossed over the current dire situation in Iraq for an audience acutely aware of the true state of affairs, and scolded them for refusing to endorse the American invasion in the first place. (cont'd)
A Great PDF File Explaining How the Presidential Debate System Is Corrupt
Executive Summary
For the last sixteen years, the general election presidential debates have been controlled
by a private, tax-exempt corporation – the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) –
that has deceptively served the interests of the Republican and Democratic parties at the
expense of the American people.
In 1986, the Republican and Democratic National Committees ratified an agreement for
the “parties to take over the presidential debates.”i Fifteen months later, then-Republican
Party chair Frank Fahrenkopf and then-Democratic Party chair Paul Kirk created the
CPD, which immediately seized control of the debates from the genuinely nonpartisan
League of Women Voters.
Still co-chaired by Frank Fahrenkopf and Paul Kirk, the CPD secretly submits to the
demands of the Republican and Democratic candidates. Behind closed-doors, negotiators
for the major party nominees jointly draft debate contracts called Memoranda of
Understanding that dictate precisely how the debates will be run – from decreeing who
can participate, to selecting who will ask the questions, to ordaining the temperature in
the auditoriums. Masquerading as a nonpartisan sponsor, the CPD obediently implements
and conceals the contracts. (cont'd)
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election
This article is mostly full of crap. The writer claims that refusing voting rights to felons is racial disenfranchisement.
Additionally, Florida is one of 14 states that prohibit ex-felons from voting. Seven percent of the electorate but 16 percent of black voters in that state are disenfranchised.
In other swing states, 4.6 percent of voters in Iowa, but 25 percent of blacks, were disenfranchised in 2000 as ex-felons. In Nevada, it was 4.8 percent of all voters but 17 percent of blacks; in New Mexico, 6.2 percent of all voters but 25 percent of blacks.
In total, 13 percent of all black men are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, according to the Commission on Civil Rights.
Ok, maybe it's bad law to still disallow felons from voting, after all, as the author points out, the laws have roots in the post-Civil War 19th century and were aimed at preventing black Americans from voting. We all know that any post-Civil War 19th century laws are evil and unusable, right? And I'm sure that only black felons are not allowed to vote in the above states due to their felon status, all white felons are probably allowed to vote of course.
Another complaint from the author:
Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail.
"African Americans are four to five times less likely than whites to have a photo ID," Overton said at a recent briefing on minority disenfranchisement.
This I just do not get. If they ask for an ID and that is not lawful, you don't show it and you call the cops to come and set things right. Or just show the old man or woman your stinking license. Why don't blacks have photo IDs? This must be another white conspiracy to steal the black identity. You know, like Eminem.
Why We Must Leave Iraq
Jonathan Schell makes a decent case.
The bubble boy
The ever-brilliant Sid Blumenthal bashes dum Dubya about something or other.
|
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