Where's the Outrage?

Former Senator John Edwards is on the Countdown. He comments on Blackwater and Iraq policy. Here’s the transcript:

OLBERMANN: Given how stretched the U.S. military already is because of Iraq, if men and women are in uniform are going to take over the Blackwater missions and the other private contractor missions there in Iraq, does that mean, as you suggested today, that the drawdown of current force levels is an inherent part to your proposal?

EDWARDS: It is absolutely crucial part of the proposal. The answer to this is to get American troops out of Iraq, which is why I’m committed to getting our combat troops out of Iraq, stopping combat missions, doing it the right way.

But these things that are going on with Blackwater, they worry all Americans. I hear it everywhere I go. You know, people wonder, first of all, why a company that—whose executives gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush and to Republicans are getting these no-bid contracts with hundreds of millions of dollars. There is something wrong with this picture.

Then, on top of that, why are they usurping what the American voluntary military normally does in providing security? I mean, it doesn‘t make any sense. It has got to stop. I will stop it as president. [Read more →]

John Edwards is on Countdown [ 9:42 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Countdown, Election 2008, Iraq by ecthompson md
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A group of White Louisiana college students smear mud on themselves and and then try to reenact the Black students beating up a White student.  The person who filmed this  can barely control her laughter.  May be it is just me but I don’t find it all that funny.

The best part is that these knuckleheads actually posted this on their Facebook page.  Only later when they were getting undesirable comments did they decide to take down the movie and the associated pictures.  (more…)

Jena 6 Reenactment [ 1:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Race by ecthompson md
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Ah, the gift that keeps on giving – Larry Craig. Senator Larry Craig announced today that he was not leaving the Senate. I couldn’t be happier. Sometimes when you are trying the think of the latest example of Republican hypocrisy you can’t come up with the right on. Some examples are too old. Some didn’t get enough press for everyone to know what you are talking about. Larry Craig on the other hand, can be pointed to as the best example of someone who opposed gay rights but clearly acted on gay impulses. You can’t convince me that this is the first time that he had gone to that bathroom. (more on Larry Craig – here and here)

So, now the judge in Minnesota says no way Jose to Larry Craig’s petition to have a re-trial. TPM has a great paragraph that sums up this whole case -

So Craig’s fellow Republicans basically do everything short of physically forcing him to resign. He “resigns”. Only it’s not a resignation. Rather, it’s a rather ingenious ploy to let the temperature ease off on the story, a post-dated resignation. Then it’s not a resignation. He’s going to fight the guilty plea — something of a novelty in the annals of jurisprudence. He’ll stay in office if he can get his plea withdrawn. And now he can’t get his guilty plea withdrawn so, well, too bad. He’s staying anyway.

It is kind of remarkable that it is the Republicans that look impotent for once.

Craig's plea for a re-trial is denied [ 1:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Congressman Mark Foley, House of Representatives, Senate, Senator Larry Craig by ecthompson md
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Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik.

To mark the day, here is a picture of the Earth.

The Earth is where you and I and all our brothers and sisters live.

The Earth is all we have. No transporter beam or stargate is going to take you anywhere else. If you believe in some sort of afterlife, that’s great. But as far as I know, the Earth is all we’ve got.

The big problems we have today— climate change, global economics and living standards, and issues of war and peace— are problems that transcend borders.

We need to get our imaginations around the fact that we are dependent on others. We need to work with other nations and other people far away from what we narrowly define as our our homes.

Sputnik was an act of the Cold War. Yet our imaginations allow us to see Sputnik as a first step in calling our attention to the fact that we share this planet and we must live in a way that respects the value of all people.

That is the power of imagination. Politics is at core an act of imagination.

Tags: General by Neil Aquino
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There has been no greater example that has debunked the Muscular Amero-centric Bush policy of “my way or the highway” than North Korea. The Bush Administration threw out the Agreement Framework of the Clinton administration. They began the inflammatory finger pointing. They refused to talk with North Korea. North Korea escalated their nuclear program and threw out the IAEA. North Korean exploded something. John Bolton was removed from the negotiation process. Christopher Hill began to actually talk with North Korea. The hard neocons – Rumsfeld and Cheney – got fired or marginalized and magically North Korea began to come around. Yesterday an agreement of economic cooperation was signed. As important, is an agreement to end the Korean War. South Korean never signed that treaty.

I think that this is a significant development.  Kind of like where we were at the end of the Clinton administration before Bush screwed it up.

———–

From USAToday:

The South Korean president signed a commitment with North Korea Thursday to seek a formal end to the Korean War, ending a historic three-day summit during which he was snubbed by his host and upstaged by a nuclear agreement 600 miles away in Beijing.

South Korea never signed the cease fire that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War; so the two Koreas have remained technically at war ever since. In their declaration Thursday in the northern capital Pyongyang, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il agreed to pursue a permanent peace. South Korea has said it will need to work with the other combatants in the Korean war — China and the United States — to reach a formal peace deal. President Bush has said there can be no permanent peace on the Korean peninsula until North Korea gives up nuclear arms. (more…)

Korean Agreeement [ 2:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, North Korea by ecthompson md
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More and more polls are showing that Americans aren’t so sure about the Republican party. The Wall Street Journal reported that more and more businesses are giving to the Democratic party. A poll of Republican Christians reports that they aren’t happy with anyone in the Republican field. There are literally hundreds of polls showing American’s discontent for the Republican party.

Democrats need to beware. This is not a time of celebration. This is time to put your nose to the grind stone and get some work done. The Republican party has to over come a veto on SCHiP, Blackwater and the Iraq War yet the Democrats still can’t override a veto for Children’s Health. Democrats have to get a few major things done or they will be out also.

Will post a video as soon as I can get my server and internet connection to work right.

YooHoo!!  Internet is now working!

Cafferty files - GOP [ 2:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Party Politics by ecthompson md
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On Friday a forum with the candidates running for Asheville City council will be hosted at the .  Admission is free.  I will be the moderator for the event.  I’m looking forward to hearing what the candidates have to say.  Friday, October 5th at 7 pm.

Tags: State and Local Politics by ecthompson md
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