Crawford Newspaper Endorses Kerry

In case you missed it, the local newspaper in Crawford, Texas, Bush's adopted home away from the White House, has endorsed John Kerry for President. They make a pretty good case.

Kerry Will Restore
American Dignity

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
  
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.
  
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
  
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
  
• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
  
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
  
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.
The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda.
Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

Of all the lame excuses:
Sorry, we thought you were "Youssouf," not "Yusuf" Islam

First the Transportation Safety Administration, under the auspices of the Department of Fatherland Security, detained and then expelled Cat Stevens, who was bound for New York on a flight from London. Now they're claiming that it was an honest, administrative error -- a spelling mistake -- and that this isn't the first time they've done it. In other words the TSA is saying, we fucked up, and we've fucked up before. The implication is that they will likely fuck up again.

According to aviation sources with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly registry, though there is a "Youssouf Islam." The incorrect name was added to the register this summer, but because Islam's name is spelled "Yusuf" on his British passport, he was allowed to board a plane in London bound for the U.S. The Transportation Safety Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied; British foreign minister Jack Straw said the TSA action "should never have been taken."

The incident points up some of the real problems facing security personnel as they try to enforce the "no-fly" list. One issue is spelling; many foreign names have several different transliterations into English. And the sheer size of the list is daunting; thousands of names have been added in the last couple months, says one government official, bringing the total up to more than 19,000 names to look out for. That makes it difficult for airlines and government agencies to check all passengers. Within the past six months, several people on the no fly list have been mistakenly allowed to fly.

Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly put on the "no-fly" list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his name from the list.

I don't buy it. Cat Stevens was allowed to enter the country earlier this year, but that was before he re-released a new version of "Peace Train," and became a more vocal critic of the American-Anglo invasion and occupation of Iraq. It doesn't take a genius to see the politics involved here. As is so often the case, this backfired on the Keystone Kops in the Bush administration. But their excuse is one for the ages, as it so neatly sums them up: incompetent fuck-ups who make lame excuses for their ineptitude.

Why Cat Stevens' Detention & Expulsion Matter

Mansoor Ijaz writes in today's Christian Science Monitor:

But Mr. Islam's expulsion from the US shows how ill-equipped the Bush administration still is - three years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - to ferret out the real terrorists from the quirkier followers of a religion that is increasingly the target of Islamophobes. For Muslims like me who have worked tirelessly to bring moderate voices forward as our religion is seized by extremists from within and put under siege by Islam's detractors from without, the Yusuf Islam episode is mostly counterproductive because it not only increases the rage in rational segments of Muslim society, it violates the fundamental principles by which America holds itself out as a beacon of freedom and liberty to the rest of the world. We have to be better if we are to hold others accountable for their misdeeds.

Either Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge should make the evidence against Mr. Islam public and detail it sufficiently that all can see his sins in an objective light, or they should issue an official apology to the peace activist and explain how American laws got hijacked in such a cavalier manner. The Patriot Act's provisions, it seems, have run amok.

He has also spoken out repeatedly against terrorism since Sept. 11. ... Oh, and he also so happened to re-record his 1970s hit, "Peace Train," last year to protest the Iraq war. Which is why Thursday's events reek of political retribution of the very worst kind.

Actions by US authorities in Bangor, Maine, where the United Airlines flight was diverted Tuesday, demonstrate the failure of American domestic and security policy, both tactically and strategically, to discern who the bad guys really are.

I have argued vigorously before on these pages and in other international media that our responsibility to stand up as citizens in a time of war and crisis takes precedence over enjoying the civil rights afforded us by the sacrifices of those who have given their lives so we can live free. But when the type of global citizenship displayed by Mr. Islam, which goes to the very heart of what humanity is about, is struck down by artificial and arbitrary implementation of US antiterrorism statutes, it's time to reexamine those laws, and to reexamine the license to practice of those who are charged with protecting our civil liberties.

Yusuf Islam is a beacon of light and hope in a sea of fear, chaos, and uncertainty that was extinguished this week out of fear and paranoia that seemingly have no end. If Mr. Ashcroft is willing to take Yusuf Islam off that plane, then next time he'd better be willing to take me off as well.

It is time to take back America's civil rights from those who would abuse it for their own narrow political agendas.

Cat Stevens a National Security Threat

A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine on Tuesday when it was discovered passenger Yusuf Islam — formerly known as singer Cat Stevens — was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country, federal officials said.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy identified the passenger as Islam. "He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," Murphy said, and would be put on the first available flight out of the country Wednesday.

National security grounds?! Come on, now. I've certainly had my fill of "Morning Has Broken," but I don't think the man who wrote "Peace Train" is a terrorist. In fact, he's on record as being a pacifist, and condemned the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

"Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Islam issued a statement saying: "No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."

So what is really going on here? Why would Cat Stevens be considered a threat to national security? Maybe John Ashcroft knows. I certainly don't.

Another Republican for Kerry

"Do Unto Others: An Honest Look at George Bush's Record"

IN HIS SERMON on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

In sharp contrast, George Bush led America into a war of choice based on a single page of false justification. The catastrophic toll so far: nearly 1,000 U.S. dead, 7,000 U.S. wounded, 12,000 Iraqi dead, 40,000 Iraqi wounded, untold misery and heartbreak among surviving families, and no end in sight to the violence. Iraq has become a rallying cry and breeding ground for a new wave of bin Ladens. John McCain and others predict that U.S. troops will be fighting to stabilize Iraq for at least 10 more years.

more here

How to beat them at their own silly game

"The rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitive. In the long run basic results in influencing public opinion will be achieved only by the man who is able to reduce problems to the simplest terms and who has the courage to keep forever repeating them in this simplified form, despite the objections of the intellectuals." ~Josef Goebbels

It’s obvious to even the most casual observer that this is exactly what Rove & Co. have been doing for years. Reduce problems to their simplest terms and keep repeating the simplified version until it becomes believed as the truth. Never admit error. Never admit mistakes. Demonstrate resolve. THIS is how a village idiot like Bush comes to the point of possibly actually winning an election.

So, what are the intellectuals to do? Goebbels was no Einstein, but he did know propaganda. If the intellectuals play along, they will lose. If they try to object by presenting ACTUAL facts, they lose their primitive audience. Intellectuals can not play the “dumb it down and drone on” game either because, quite frankly, they don’t do it very well. Does that mean the fascists win? Does the team that makes the people feel the dumbest automatically win? I believe there is a way to counter this movement, but it takes planning and effort. It’s not enough to know the facts, you have to get them through the fog of right-wing propaganda.

Phase 0 (Preparation) – Know the facts. Know the issues. Be able to reduce the facts to a simpler form that the numbed minds will be able to grasp. Don’t respond reactively without first carefully considering your message.

Phase 1 (Break the spell) – Reveal the insult. Point out the Goebbelian nature of the right-wing argument and make your audience aware of the insult. “They are treating you like children who are incapable of understanding the complexities of reality. We’re smarter than that.” Get rude if you have to. “What a bunch of horse shit. How stupid do you think we are?!” “You might be as stupid as Bush, but don’t assume that we are.”

Phase 2 – Reinforce the intelligence of the people. Having revealed the right for their talking point driven simplicity, underscore the idea that we deserve better. We ARE capable of discussing these problems and we are robust enough to live with complex answers to complex problems. We are not as stupid as Karl Rove and Rupert Murdoch want us to be.

Phase 3 – Restate the problem. Go back to the root of the discussion, whatever the issue. The environment, economy, deficit, education, international relations, drugs, the role of government, fuel efficiency, corporate ethics, the Constitution, stem cell research, truth, justice, equality, religion… Be able to restate the original question, not repeat the fascist condensation of it.

Phase 4 – Present the alternative. It is possible to present ideas that are not overly simplified without sounding like the “elitist intellectual” the right has painted us out to be. Ann Richards and Molly Ivins do a wonderful job of this.

Phase 5 – Prepare the audience for the fog. When you build up the belief of the people in their ability to understand things, the right will have to work again to reduce us all to the primitive rank and file that willingly accepts their propaganda. Warn the people to demand more intelligent answers. I have reduced right-wing drones to drooling puddles simply by asking what their little catch phrases mean. “You keep saying that. What does that mean exactly? Please restate that using different words.” That’s the funny part – making them use different words. They’re programmed to stay on message and are mentally incapable of thinking on their own. It’s fun to watch.

So, there’s the simple answer to the Goebbel playbook the neo-fascists are using.
1. Know the issues and the facts.
2. Reveal the insult.
3. Reinforce the intelligence of the people.
4. Restate the problem.
5. Present the alternative solution.
6. Prepare everyone for the Stupid to come.

Let’s see, now I need to reduce this down to a simpler form that we can repeat forever….

three years later and Bush still can't find his heart ...

Thank God for the (Pro-Labor) Republicans!
Part 6 in a series

story

Democrats, united against the rules, were joined by 22 Republicans in voting for the amendment to a $142.5 billion health and education spending bill.


The vote was Bush's second election-season defeat in Congress in two days. On Wednesday the Senate disregarded a White House veto threat and voted to prohibit Bush from giving federal immigration jobs to private workers.


"The administration has chosen this time to institute new regulations which for the first time in 80 years scale back workers' entitlement to overtime pay," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., a sponsor of the overtime proposal.


Democrats sought to depict the issue as an election-season example of the Bush administration's insensitivity to worker rights, saying the overtime privileges of up to 6 million workers were at risk.


"This is the place where making ends meet happens because people have overtime pay. Republicans cannot grasp that," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Democrats and pro-labor Republicans have fought for more than a year to stop the Labor Department from going ahead with the proposed rules. The administration said they were needed to adjust to changing working conditions and clear up confusion that has led to lawsuits against employers.

Thank God for the (Maverick) Republicans!
Part 5 in a series

South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb said today he may vote against George W. Bush in the Electoral College, even if the president carries West Virginia's popular vote.

Robb, long known as a maverick Republican, said he is considering using his position as one of the state's five Republican electors to protest what he believes are misguided policies of the current administration.

Robb, who said he might reconsider if Bush changed his foreign and domestic policy priorities, said he is researching his options under state law.

"I know that among some in my own party, what I'm discussing would be considered treasonous," Robb said. "But I'm not going to cheerlead us down the primrose path when I know we're being led in the wrong direction."

Robb's complaints about Bush center on what the mayor believes was a misguided policy on Iraq and the swelling budget deficit.

"I only started to really rethink my position seriously after the accusations about Kerry's service in Vietnam, though," Robb said. "I served in Vietnam, and I think Bush's surrogates, and I think really the Bush campaign, went beyond the line with those ads."

Forget about his vote as an elector, whom do you think Robb will vote for as a citizen?

Cheney Says A Vote for Kerry is a Vote for Being Attacked

I've had enough. I'm tired of trying to educate voters. Anyone who is stupid enough to believe Dick Cheney or George W Bush should go ahead and vote for them in November, and get the government they deserve.

Vice President Dick Cheney says the United States will risk another terrorist attack if voters make the wrong choice on Election Day, suggesting Sen. John Kerry would follow a pre-Sept. 11 policy of reacting defensively.

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States," Cheney told supporters at a town-hall meeting Tuesday.

Democrats reacted quickly.

"Dick Cheney's scare tactics crossed the line today, showing once again that he and George Bush will do anything and say anything to save their jobs," said a statement issued by vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

"Protecting America from vicious terrorists is not a Democratic or Republican issue and Dick Cheney and George Bush should know that. John Kerry and I will keep America safe, and we will not divide the American people to do it."

Bush on Tuesday accused Kerry of changing positions on the Iraq war by adopting the language of one-time presidential candidate Howard Dean when Kerry called the conflict "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kerry "woke up yesterday morning with yet another new position, and this one's not even his own; it is that of his one-time rival, Howard Dean," Bush told thousands of supporters Tuesday at a rally in Lee's Summit, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City.

Bush said Kerry "even used the same words Howard Dean did back when he supposedly disagreed with him. ... Senator Kerry flip-flops. We were right to make America safer by removing Saddam Hussein from power."

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?
What about your neighbors or other Americans?

I don't buy the newspaper very often, but last week a USA Today front page caught my eye. On the big front page picture was Bush speaking at his convention. To the right of his head was a headline that read, Census: Poverty rose by million. The juxtapositioning was rather poetic, I thought.

So, what does that census report really say? View the Census Bureau Briefing Room.

Real median income peaked in 1999, was unchanged in 2000, declined over the next 2 years (by a cumulative 3.3 percent), and was unchanged in 2003.
For the third consecutive year the poverty rate rose, from 12.1 percent in 2002 to 12.5 percent in 2003. The number of people in poverty increased also, by 1.3 million, to 35.9 million in 2003.

So, what is the administration's response? How does Bush react to the announcement that 1/8 of the U.S. population is now officially in poverty? He shrugs his shoulders and lies:

Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans will announce a new economic Indicator on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004. The new economic indicator will be released by the U.S. Census Bureau and will be used as an additional tool to better understand the trends of the services sector of the U.S. economy. It is the first new economic indicator to be introduced by the Census Bureau in 40 years.

Blessed are the poor ...

Betting on Kerry

If you're the gambling kind, I have a hot tip for you: John Kerry is going to beat George Bush soundly on November 2. I'm not saying that out of wishful thinking. I'm not saying that because the polls favor Kerry -- they don't. I'm not saying that because Kerry is finally talking tough on the campaign trail.

You can buy futures on the election, thanks to the University of Iowa Business School's Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) 2004 US Presidential Winner Takes All Market, "a real-money futures market where contract payoffs will be determined by the popular vote cast in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election."

Click "IEM Current Quotes" for current prices. Right now the market is betting on Bush to win, by a margin of .551 to .444. In other words, a contract on Kerry winning in the amount of $444 will pay $1000 when he wins. Buy your contract now, since Bush got a nice bouce from Zell Miller's keynote address at the convention and Kerry is going on the offensive. Kerry won't look like so much of a bargain when he's trading ten points higher.

Stop the World, I Wanna Get Off!
Apologies to Bricusse & Newley
"Fellow members of the Motor Scooter Association, I'd like you to meet the Opportunist candidate, Mr. Littletree."

"Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Tickety bubarb yak yak yak
Mumbo jum red white and bluebarb,
Poor America's on her back.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Nothing newbarb cha cha cha.
Mumbo Jumbo Castro's Cubarb.
I think someone's gone too far!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Voulez-vousbarb avec moi?
Mumbo Jumbo entrez-nousbarb
Bridget Bardot ooh la la!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Has Red China got the bomb?
Velly soon now if it's truebarb
We'll be blown to kingdom come."

Chinese Chorus:   You've got a bomb, We've got a bomb, All God's children got bombs.

"Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Democrats more cash.
Helps the nation, stops inflation.
How's your father?  Wall Street crash.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Prostitubarb off the streets.
We will fight them on the beaches
But we'll lose between the sheets.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Common Market can't go wrong.
Washday Mondays?  Send your undies
Chinese laundry in Hong Kong.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Africans their rights.
Colored people are free toobarb
Though not quite as free as whites!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Up your flubarb, Liberty Hall.
And, dear friends, if I'm elected,
I'm all right, Jack--screw you all!"