"Happy Christmas"

"So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas"
--John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Gary Webb: "Important Enough to Suppress"

"And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job.... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress."
-- Gary Webb, 1955 - 2004

Marc Cooper has written a piece about the LA Times obituary of Gary Webb, "Kicking a Dead Man."

First the L.A. Times helped kill off Gary Webb's career. Then, eight years later, after Webb committed suicide this past weekend, the Times decided to give his corpse another kick or two, in a scandalous, self-serving and ultimately shameful obituary. It was the culmination of the long, inglorious saga of a major newspaper dropping the ball journalistically, and then extracting relentless revenge on an out-of-town reporter who embarrassed it.

Webb was the 49-year-old former Pulitzer-winning reporter who in 1996, while working for the San Jose Mercury News, touched off a national debate with a three-part series that linked the CIA-sponsored Nicaraguan Contras to a crack-dealing epidemic in Los Angeles and other American cities.

Says (veteran reporter) Bob Parry: "The Times reporter who called to interview me ignored my comments about the debt the nation owed Webb and the importance of the CIA's inspector-general findings. Instead of using Webb's death as an opportunity to finally get the story straight, the Times acted as if there never had been an official investigation confirming many of Webb's allegations."

Gary Webb's work deserved to be taken seriously and to be closely scrutinized precisely because of the scope of his allegations. As more-objective critics than the Times have pointed out, Webb overstated some of his conclusions, he too loosely framed some of his theses, and perhaps (perhaps) overestimated the actual amount of drug funding that fueled the Contra war. And for that he deserved to be criticized.

The core of his work, however, still stands. When much of the rest of the media went to sleep, Gary Webb dug and scratched and courageously took on the most powerful and arrogant and unaccountable agencies of the U.S. government. His tenacious reporting forced those same agencies to investigate themselves and to admit publicly – albeit in watered-down terms – what he had alleged.

Webb's reward was to be drummed out of the profession. After his editors cowardly recanted his stories (which they had vetted), he was demoted to a suburban bureau. After a year, Webb quit and wrote up his findings into a book. The book was mostly ignored by the press.

Recently, Webb was interviewed for a book profiling 18 journalists who found themselves discredited or censored. Let his own words be a more fitting epitaph than the hack-job L.A. Times obituary:

"If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me... I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests....

"And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job.... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress."

For chrissakes, Mr Rumsfeld, you've got to be kidding

It's not like the occupation of Iraq is as bloody as Vietnam. I mean, signing the condolence letters would have been a full-time job for Robert McNamara.

But you can't take time out of your schedule to sign the letters going out to the loved ones of the 1,200+ soldiers who've given their lives for a mistake, nay, your mistake?

Granted, that would have meant signing 4-5 letters every day for the last 2+years. How long would that take, 25, maybe 30 seconds at the most?

And don't give me any lame excuses about efficiency. You know as well as we do that your excuse is horseshit.

Over the weekend, Mr. Rumsfeld's critics gained some new ammunition with the disclosure that the defense secretary had not personally been signing condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq.

In a statement first issued to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, Mr. Rumsfeld said he would now begin signing the letters himself. A Defense Department official said Sunday that Mr. Rumsfeld had used an automated signing machine, a tool commonly used by public officials, but only to ensure that families received their letters quickly. But the outcry has fueled the complaints of those who say the blunt-talking defense secretary is insensitive to soldiers and their families.

So who stood up to crassly defend you, Mr Rumsfeld? None other than Senator Saxby Chambliss, who ran a shameful campaign against triple amputee and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland, accusing him of not being "patriotic."

"This secretary is very sensitive to the needs of the military," Senator Saxby Chambliss, Republican of Georgia, told CBS News in defending Mr. Rumsfeld. "He seems insensitive when he makes comments. And that seems to be what gets him in trouble."

Bernard Kerik, A Man of Values: Adulterer, Tax Evader, Mob Ally

As we all know, the GOP is the party of moral values in American politics. Their leaders are all moral and virtuous men. Disagree with their policies, but don't impugn their values.

On December 3, at the behest of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, President Bush nominated former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik to replace Tom Ridge as head of the Department of Homeland Security, calling Kerik a "dedicated, innovative reformer who insists on getting results" and "superbly qualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security."

Democratic New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton also praised the selection of Kerik.

Kerik would have been an unlikely person to serve in a presidential Cabinet. "He is a high school dropout (who has since earned a GED and a mail-order bachelor's degree), and the son of a murdered prostitute." I suppose that his lack of formal education didn't necessarily rule out his qualifications for the job.

Kerik withdrew his name last Friday, supposedly over concern that he hadn't paid taxes for a nanny, and his nomination could embarass President Bush. The mainstream media dutifully reported Kerik's lame excuse, but enquiring minds want to know whether any other moral lapses Kerik might have suffered could have made his nomination process difficult.

News outlets are slowly picking up reports by the New York Daily News:

Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik conducted two extramarital affairs simultaneously, using a secret Battery Park City apartment for the passionate liaisons, the Daily News has learned.

The first relationship, spanning nearly a decade, was with city Correction Officer Jeanette Pinero; the second, and more startling, was with famed publishing titan Judith Regan.

Kerik, 49, married with two children from his current marriage, withdrew his name from consideration in a sudden and unexpected call to the White House on Friday night.

Kerik said that questions about the immigration status of his family's former nanny and failure to pay taxes prompted his decision to walk away from the job. But speculation has continued that there were deeper and more controversial reasons.

Yesterday, The News reported that a six-month investigation showed Kerik had accepted thousands of dollars in cash and gifts without proper disclosure, and had ties to a construction company that investigators believe is linked to the mob.

Kerik's affair with Pinero is at the center of two lawsuits against the city, both brought by correction employees who claimed Kerik retaliated after they crossed her.

The city settled one last year for $250,000, The News reported at the time.

The second suit, in which Pinero and Kerik were deposed last week, was filed by former Deputy Warden Eric DeRavin 3rd, who claims Kerik quashed his promotion after he reprimanded Pinero. The city demanded a gag order on both depositions.

Newsday also reports:

Retired Correction Department supervisor Eric DeRavin III claims in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court that Kerik passed him over five times between 1998 and 2000 in retaliation for reprimanding Correction Officer Jeanette Pinero.

"This whole situation could have been changed with an apology, a handshake, and a guarantee that I would get promoted and get subsequent promotions as long as I didn't do anything wrong," said DeRavin, 51, of the Bronx, who served 20 years at Correction before retiring in August 2000. "I wasn't asking for anything more than what I deserved."

DeRavin is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and served nine months in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 as a military intelligence and civil affairs officer. He has a doctorate in criminal justice management. He also has taught at Hofstra University and teaches at Fordham University.

DeRavin said his experience makes him question Kerik's fitness for the Homeland Security job. "He's not a credible man," DeRavin said.

Journalist With Powerful Enemies Commits Suicide (?) -
Gary Webb Is Dead

From The Nation -

He was the journalist who wrote a famous--or infamous--1996 series for the San Jose Mercury News that maintained a CIA-supported drug ring based in Los Angeles had triggered the crack epidemic of the 1980s. On Friday, the 49-year-old Webb, who won a Pulitzer Prize for other work, apparently shot himself. His "Dark Alliances" articles spurred outrage and controversy. Leaders of the African-American community demanded investigations.

From Brasscheck -

Now that Gary Webb joins Mark Lombardi, J.H. Hatfield, and Danny Casalaro as the fourth 'suicide' by a researcher who had a detailed understanding of the structure and function of the Bush crime family, the math on the odds of the Bush suicides have changed. The new math: "Examining the male U.S.suicide rate for recent years , we can extrapolate a conservative estimate of 17 male suicides per 100,000 people, or 0.017%. The odds of 4 specific, male biographers committing suicide would be the 4th power of 17/100000, or 8.3521 4.913 x 10^-17...roughly 1 chance 10,000,000,000,000,000. About as good a definition of impossible as you can get. A person would stand a better chance of playing the Canadian lottery 6/49 exactly twice in one's lifetime and winning the grand jackpot BOTH TIMES! (That is, picking 6 numbers out of 49 possible numbers and matching all 6 numbers out of 6 random draws, on 2 separate occasions, and having only purchased two Canadian lottery tickets ever.) This calculation should be regarded as a conservative estimate: the actual odds against such a "coincidence" would be much greater. For example, if any of the biographers were female, the odds would be even greater." The press hasn't even bothered with the usual 'he was known to be depressed' stories yet.

Is it at all possible that those who challenge the powerful are put to death?

The 2004 Election Continues

For those paying attention to the numbers, the margin of Bush's victory in Ohio shrank from 136,000 to 118,775 votes since last month's election. Depending on how you look at it, either Bush still won by a sizeable margin, or the change in such a close margin raises questions about how and whether votes were accurately counted.

Ohio election officials certified their state’s election results Monday, giving George Bush the state by a margin of 118,775 votes and setting the stage for a recount. There’s no indication that this coming recount will overturn the result; but the prevalence of voting discrepancies, logistical problems and allegations of dirty tricks have made Ohio a living testament to the urgent need for voting reform.

Some conservatives have told liberals to get over it. They should appreciate that this isn't just sour grapes about losing another close presidential race. Shouldn't we all want to know that our elections are fair and legal and that every vote is being counted?

Apparently not, as evidenced by attendance at the election hearings called for by Rep. Conyers and held last week:

"It looked like a real hearing but it wasn’t, because despite the issuing of invitations by the Democratic Minority members to their GOP Majority brethren on the Judiciary Committee, not one Republican congressman bothered to show up or give their blessing to the proceedings. Judiciary staffers from the Minority office told me the GOP majority would not even allow this hearing to be videotaped on the television equipment that came with the hearing room, and so they were forced to pester C-SPAN into showing up. They did, along with a number of other media outlets, but the effect was a quieting of the entire event."

Do Tell, Tommy, How Easy Is It?
8 out of 15 Cabinet Members Resigned Since Nov 2

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, announced Friday that he was resigning, and he expressed grave concern about the threat of a global flu epidemic and the possibility of a terrorist attack on the nation's food supply.

"For the life of me," he said, "I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do."

Thompson, the eighth member of Bush's Cabinet to resign since the Nov. 2 election, said he tried to resign a year ago but agreed to stay at the request of the White House.

Playing For Keeps in the Ukraine


Ukranian opposition leader
Viktor Yushchenko, as seen
in pictures earlier this year (L)
and more recently (R)


In the Ukraine, the government knows how to deal with its political opposition: poison them. What else would explain the horrific change in Yushchenko's appearance?

Bush Picks Kerik to Head Homeland Security

US President George W. Bush with Former
New York City Police Commissioner Bernard
Kerik (R), who has been chosen as the new
US homeland security secretary.

Isn't it ironic that Bush has chosen the Police Commissioner from New York City to head the Department of Homeland Security? In last month's election, New York City voters demonstrated their overwhelming faith in Bush's ability to keep them safe from harm by voting for John Kerry by a margin of 82% to 17%.

Boots
Rudyard Kipling

We're foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin' over Africa -
Foot-foot-foot-foot-sloggin' over Africa -
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Seven-six-eleven-five-nine-an'-twenty mile to-day -
Four-eleven-seventeen-thirty-two the day before -
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Don't-don't-don't-don't-look at what's in front of you.
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again)
Men-men-men-men-men go mad with watchin' em,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

Try-try-try-try-to think o' something different -
Oh-my-God-keep-me from goin' lunatic!
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Count-count-count-count-the bullets in the bandoliers.
If-your-eyes-drop-they will get atop o' you!
(Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again) -
There's no discharge in the war!

We-can-stick-out-'unger, thirst, an' weariness,
But-not-not-not-not the chronic sight of 'em -
Boot-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

'Taint-so-bad-by-day because o' company,
But night-brings-long-strings-o' forty thousand million
Boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again.
There's no discharge in the war!

I-'ave-marched-six-weeks in 'Ell an' certify
It-is-not-fire-devils, dark, or anything,
But boots-boots-boots-boots-movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!

Network TV Continues Downward Spiral Into Obsolescence

from SFGate.com

When NBC and CBS are outshined by Fox on being tolerant, the final death knell is ringing...

A new national television commercial promoting the United Church of Christ says that "Jesus didn't turn people away," but two major networks have turned away the ad itself, saying it violates their policy of airing commercials on hot button topics -- such as tolerance toward gays and lesbians.

CBS and NBC rejected the 30-second ad, which depicts a pair of stern bouncers barring people of various ethnic types as well as a female -- perhaps lesbian -- couple from entering a fictitious church.

The networks' rejection of the ad has spawned fresh controversy about religion and the media in the politically charged marketplace of moral values and ideas.

The ad, which will run on the Fox Network and various cable channels through Dec. 26, arrives at a time of heightened sensitivity to religion's societal role in everything from gay marriage to abortion.

I wonder why the networks get pummeled by cable. Oh, Fox is a basic channel. It's official - they lose to everybody.