The Bush administration continues to ignore Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs more troops and more supplies in order to gain control of the Southern and Eastern portion to that country. The deadliest fighting occurred on Thursday and Friday. Over a hundred people dead.
When are we going to finish a war?
Tom Delay is the star of a documentary which follows Delay through his redistricting of Texas for republican advantage. I’m not sure if the film is fair and balanced but I bet it is accurate.
The Dixie Chicks had fame and fortune and talent in 2003. They had the nerve to stand up against the president and the Bubba wing of the Republican Party at a time when most people were not speaking out. As progressives, whether we like their music or not, we should embrace them. They spoke truth to power and they were right. I wouldn’t be surprised if Karl Rove was behind the boycott of the Dixie Chicks albums and music.
With Democrats finally making some headway against the Republican juggernaut, Congressman Jefferson needs not to be a distraction. The Democratic Party seems to be getting some play with the American people with the “culture of corruption” phrase. Although Congressman Jefferson (Democrat from Louisiana) has not been found guilty of anything, it’s clear that he is under FBI investigation. The Democratic Party clearly does not need a scandal to divert any attention away from the Republicans. The honorable thing for Congressman Jefferson to do would be to resign.
Whether you like Barry Bonds or not, he has accomplished a milestone that only a couple of accomplished before him. Steroids or not, he continues to be an extraordinary athlete. He is almost as pleasant as a porcupine but his accomplishment should be acknowledged nonetheless.
714, CONGRATULATIONS!
Whenever discussion begins with Republicans have you noticed that your are ready on the defensive? Usually that is because you’re using their terminology which helps them win their argument. The phrase “illegal alien” or “illegal immigration” these are all Republican phrases. How can you argue for something that is illegal? How can you argue for something that is alien?
The term that I’m going to use from now on is “economic refugee.” This term, in my opinion, truly describes what is going on. It clearly describes the desperate situation that people feel that they are in when they make a decision to come to the United States. Economic refugee. These are people who tried local solutions have found no answers, or at least, no answers suitable to them. They come here looking to make a better life — like a refugee.
Economic refugee. This term also points out how we can really fix the problem. The problem cannot be fixed by building walls. The problem cannot be fixed by putting more people at the border (although that is necessary). The problem can be fixed by improving the economic conditions in their home country. If there are adequate jobs in Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Costa Rica and other Latin American and South American countries, there is little or no reason for these economic refugees to come here. Now, this is a solution you will not see from the Bush administration.
The US Senate voted to turn back the pages of time yesterday. They voted to make English our official language. This has nothing to do with closing our borders or balancing the budget or the Iraq War – pressing issues. This was simiply a waste of time and paper.
There is always at least 2 sides to every story. There is a group of Americans that see Spanish at the ATM, Spanish spoken on the downtown street corner and Spanish (or any other language) spoken in the back room of a restaurant. they see this as evidence that English is being challenged. What they do not see is the thousands of English classes being taught throughout the country that are all full. What they do not see are the waiting lists for all of those English classes. What they do not see is the highest English literacy rate among second-generation immigrants that we’ve ever seen in this country.
Those that want to succeed will learn English. Economic refugees come here, not to fail, but to succeed. We do not need a special law to give these hard-working people more incentive to do what they already want to do — provide a better life for their family.
FBI Acknowledges: Journalists’ Phone Records are Fair Game
May 16, 2006 12:25 PM
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
The FBI acknowledged late Monday that it is increasingly seeking reporters’ phone records in leak investigations.
“It used to be very hard and complicated to do this, but it no longer is in the Bush administration,” said a senior federal official.
The acknowledgment followed our blotter item that ABC News reporters had been warned by a federal source that the government knew who we were calling.
The official said our blotter item was wrong to suggest that ABC News phone calls were being “tracked.”
“Think of it more as backtracking,” said a senior federal official.
But FBI officials did not deny that phone records of ABC News, the New York Times and the Washington Post had been sought as part of a investigation of leaks at the CIA.
In a statement, the FBI press office said its leak investigations begin with the examination of government phone records.
“The FBI will take logical investigative steps to determine if a criminal act was committed by a government employee by the unauthorized release of classified information,” the statement said.
Officials say that means that phone records of reporters will be sought if government records are not sufficient.
Officials say the FBI makes extensive use of a new provision of the Patriot Act which allows agents to seek information with what are called National Security Letters (NSL).
The NSLs are a version of an administrative subpoena and are not signed by a judge. Under the law, a phone company receiving a NSL for phone records must provide them and may not divulge to the customer that the records have been given to the government. (more…)
A photocopy of Cheney’s New York Times from July 6, 2003 was filed as evidence on Friday by Fitzgerald’s office. Cheney made hand-written notes in the margins. Notes like “or did his wife send him on a junket?” Well, this removes all doubt. Cheney knew that Valerie Plame was the wife of Joe Wilson when Wilson wrote his July 6th Op-Ed which told the truth that Iraq was not seeking uranium from Niger. This is new information and clearly shows Cheney’s state of mind.
So, when is Rove going to be indicted? How about Cheney? This just keeps getting better.
Recent Gallup polls show that Bush isn’t that popular with conservatives. This isn’t a surprise to anyone who is paying attention. Bush has done more to sink the Conservative cause than any Democrat in history, IMHO.
EJ Dionne from the Washington Post wrote today that he agreed with Dick Cheney. Vice president Cheney stated that Russia had fallen back from some of the principles of democracy (no real surprise. We’ve noticed this for over three years). I guess the real surprise is the fact that the Bush administration noticed.
Foggo the number 3 at the CIA has resigned. Porter Goss either stepped down or was pushed out on Friday. There are conflicting reports. one story has to do with Randall Cunningham the disgraced congressman from California. The story involves the Watergate Hotel, poker and hookers. The other story has to do with incompetence. For reasons that have not been specified, Porter Goss lost every major battle with the Director of National Intelligence. It is unusual for President Bush to give up on someone that he thinks was “right” for the job.
Volz is one step closer to Rep Bob Ney (R-OH). He is also the 4th to point the finger at Ney. If he stays out of a court room I want his attorney’s phone number!
MSNBC reported last night that they were sure that Rove was going to be indicted for lying to the jury.
Libby then Rove. Wonder who will be next? Cheney? Naw, that’s asking too much.
An outstanding piece of work by Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.
Did you see MSNBC running with the story that Valerie Plame was involved in monitoring Iran’s nuclear weapons program when the White House outted her? Wow!!
A friend of mine sent this to me. I thought that it was worth posting.
Open Letter to CNN and Other Mainstream US Media Outlets:
1. The vast majority of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. (75 percent of us) were born and raised here, including many of us who have roots here that predate the arrival of the pilgrims.
2. “Immigrant” is not synonymous with “Latino” and the media should stop pretending they mean the same thing.
3. The CNN analyst who said today “Keep in mind, Latino voters are LEGAL immigrants, not illegal immigrants” should be FIRED for sloppy thinking. MOST LATINOS ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS AT ALL, PINCHE CABRON.
4. Immigrants to contemporary USA come from EVERYWHERE. There are, for instance, 100,000 Nigerians in Houston, and tens of thousands of ILLEGAL Irish in Boston and other parts of the nation. If this debate is truly about immigration, as opposed to racist portrayals of Latinos, please curb your coverage to be more responsible.
5. Just because someone waves a Mexican or Colombian flag at a peaceful demonstration does not mean the demonstration is a “riot” or the people unAmerican. Lou Dobbs should get his panties out of a knot and realize it is no different than someone waving an Irish flag in Southie or an Italian flag on Columbus Day. These flags are not waved as proof of national allegiance; they are waved in solidarity with a person’s cultural heritage.
6. You can be a Mexican American and never have had an ancestor come over the US border; vast portions of the United States of today USED TO BE MEXICO or SPAIN. If you failed to learn this in high school, your teachers should be fired.
7. The vast majority of Hispanics/Latinos in the US speak English as a first language. The Pew Center for Hispanic research shows that, by the third generation, all Latin American immigrant descendants – 100 percent of them – are English-first, English dominant. Zero percent speak Spanish as a first or primary language by the third generation.
8. The US has TWO international borders, not ONE. To date, not a single terrorist has gotten to the US through Mexico; to date, at least two suspected terrorists have arrived here through Canada. In fact, I would not be surprised if, while the media and xenophobes are focused on the Mexican border, terrorists figure out that it might be a good idea to walk over from Vancouver to Seattle for a latte. Oh, and all international anti-American terrorists who have come to the U.S. so far have been *smart* enough to come with passports and other documents supplied to them by the deep pockets of their organizations. Do you really think a terrorist from Saudi Arabia is going to think it’s a good idea to swim over the border to Texas or Arizona with a bunch of Mexicans? How stupid is that?!?
9. Not all Hispanics/Latinos are Mexican or of Mexican origin in the U.S., and most people of Mexican extraction in the US were born in the UNITED STATES.
10. Please check for plans to give Haliburton the contract to build a wall along the Mexican border before caving in to the right-wing propaganda about a “crisis” in immigration from Mexico.
11. Please be careful when you discuss these issues not to stereotype or overgeneralize. The anti-Latino frenzy you’re creating is leading to a racist backlash against tens of millions of native-born Americans who happen to have Spanish names.
12. The following are also Spanish names: California, Arizona, Florida, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas. Why does CNN allow states, cities and rivers with Spanish names to be American, while disallowing American people with Spanish names the same right…? Mister Dobbs, you may no longer say the names of most states in the United States, because only SEVEN U.S. states have English names; the rest are Spanish or Native American. English-only, sir. Make up new names, change your rhetoric, or stop talking about Los Angeles altogether.
13. Please tell us what the problems are that are caused by illegal immigrants. Don’t just say there is a “debate”. Tell us in concrete terms what the risks and dangers are being brought to the US by “illegal” immigrants. Now tell us how these problems, if any, differ from the problems caused by U.S. citizens of all other backgrounds. Be precise. Can’t find any? Thought so.
14. Please remember that the least legal and least assimilable of American immigrants were…the English. And the only people who can claim to be true “Americans” are Native Americans.
15. Most Mexicans are Native Americans.
16. Shut up about this non-issue and get back to BEING JOURNALISTS, covering the REAL issues, like the illegal war in Iraq and the lies that got us there; the record-setting trade deficit; Bush’s bankrupting of America; NSA’s illegal wiretapping of American citizens; the fact that our public schools are MORE segregated than they were before Brown vs. the Board of Education; the fact that we as a nation have now slipped to having only the 27th freest press in the world; the Plame leak and the consequences of it being that Americans are much less safe than we were before Cheney and his friends played “revenge”; the disappearance of the American middle class and unions; the sorry state of the FAA; the rapid devaluation of the American dollar on the world market thanks to idiot leaders; the dismantling of the endangered species act by our administration; the rapid and unprecedented rise of a white underclass (the fastest rise in poor whites in American history has occurred under Bush); the enormous and growing gap between rich and poor in America.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, full-time sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
