I was reluctant to address a topic, Iraq, about which Armando writes so often and well. SusanHu has also given us a series of great diaries on the administration's unlawful treatment of detainees. But there is something else that I felt I had to address.
Many of us have been saying "I support the troops but I don't support the war" or something close to that.
Here's my question: Is it possible that some of the US troops have acted so harshly towards the Iraqis that they have betrayed our support? Do the tactics of the US military and the abuse prisoners reflect a deeper problem among certain members of armed services?
[editor's note, by KdmfromPhila] Title changed 08:24 PST
[editor's note, by KdmfromPhila] Title revised again at 9: 28 PST. I may yet get it right.
Lakoff's discussion of the war on terror raises questions that he doesn't address adequately. He is right that "if you are to deal responsibly with terrorism, you must deal effectively with all its causes: religious, social, and enabling." The problem, is that he addresses the process but does not paint a convincing picture of the outcome of that process. It's no coincidence that Lakoff himself admits to a serious challenge confronting progressive who want to formulate a foreign policy based on their values: progressives can inadvertently sound like Bush:
"There is... an apparent overlap between the nurturant norms policy and an idealistic vision of the Bush administration's new war. That overlap is, simply, that it is a moral norm to refuse to engage in or support terrorism. "
We will cede too much ground to the conservatives who are abusing American ideals until we start working on our own vision.
And it's only with such a vote(i.e. unanimous opposition from the Democrats, kdm) that Dems will be able to communicate how their values on torture dramatically differ from the GOP, and how implicitly condoning torture hurts our ability to fight terrorism.
He points out that Sen. Diane Feinstein could, unfortunately, support Gonzalez.
Scher urges the grassroots to get involve (and Kossacks in California will be important in these efforts) to contact to Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee.
List of Senators on the Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov/members.cfm
Contact Information: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Here's my letter below that I sent to all of the Democrats on the Committee. Let's fill their inboxes!
Iraqi Prime Allawi is, as most people will agree, nothing more thana US puppet. So when he steps up his verbal attacks on Iran and Syria, we can be sure that the neo-conservatives in Washington are getting restless. Allawi's latest warnings to Iran and Syria sound ominously like an ultimatum as he stated that Iraq is 1. getting impatient and 2. a strong country. (You can't make up things like number 2.) All of this points to a deliberate strategy of blaming Iran and Syria for potential violence on the Iraqi election day. Read the extended entry and see if you agree that the violence would suit the purposes of the US administration.
I am a member of the national and PA Rapid Response Network: I urge all of you to join:
www.rapidresponsenetwork.org
I just found an email urging its members to write about Social Security. In the meail, they explicitly commend the work and ideas of our Jeffrey Feldman. That shows you that we do make a difference- keep up the work: write LTEs and contact every media outlet you can think of.
Why is this president considered pro-military? It boggles the mind when you consider how poorly this administration has treated some soldiers. Last night, CBS reported that the Pentagon is greatly underreporting the casualties from Iraq:
Today, Schneider walks with a limp, on his artificial leg. But even though he was injured while on a mission in a war zone - and even though he'll receive the same benefits as a soldier who'd been shot - he is not included in the Pentagon's casualty count. Their official tally shows only deaths and wounded in action. It doesn't include "non-combat" injured, those whose injuries were not the result of enemy fire.
"It's a slap in the face. Although it was through no direct hostile action, I was on a mission that they'd given me in hostile territory. Hostile enough that we had to have a perimeter set up at the time of my accident to prevent from an ambush or an attack," says Schneider. "For those of us that were unfortunate enough to get injured. Whether it was hostile action or not, we're all paying the same price."
elevated by DemFromCT. See also France and Iraq. Use as an Iraq Open Thread
Things just keep getting worse in spite of the US victory in Fallujah. According to this report at Yahoo violence breaks out all over Baghdad, the troops and the Iraqi police can't even pretend to keep the capital safe.
Baghdad exploded in violence Saturday, as insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol and a police station, assassinated four government employees and detonated several bombs. One American soldier was killed and nine were wounded during clashes that also left three Iraqi troops and a police officer dead.
I need your help. I have to get more active to ward off the depression that the election has caused. While the discussions of values, Lakoff and the DNC chair are im- portant, they aren't the place where i can make a contribution. I have joined DFA and am writing more LTEs than before.
But many of you are more active than I am. What are other productive ways of getting involved? I want to use what little time I have efectively.
Hello to everyone who has take the time and energy to respond. And an especially warm greeting to dfields.
Since not many of us want to get together this week, I will NOT try to have a meeting this week, or for that matter, before Thanksgiving.
But a number of people seem interested in meeting to plan for the PA senate race in '06. Let's do that before X-mas.
By the way, dfields is working an a site that might interest PA Kossacks:
http://p073.ezboard.com/bpennsylvaniakossacks
It's worth a look.
There are 2 pieces in the web that indicate that fraud probably decided the outcome of the vote in Ohio. The evidence of fraud is growing and the number of newspapers in Ohio that are reporting is increasing as well. We've got to push this story.
You should check out Cliff Schechter's piece in the Gadflyer.
He refers to a piece here which presents in stunning clarity that the vote in Ohio was stolen.
The day after his concession, Kerry drew 3,893 votes closer to Bush when a computerized voting machine "glitch" was discovered in an Ohio precinct. A machine in ward 1B in the predominantly Republican Gahanna, Ohio, recorded 4,258 votes for George W. Bush when only 638 people cast votes at the New Life Church polling site. Buried on page A6 of theColumbus Dispatch, the story also reported that the voting machine recorded 0 votes in a race between Franklin County Commissioners Arlene Shoemaker and Paula Brooks. Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder told the Dispatch that the voting machine glitches were "why the results on election night are unofficial."
I would like to thank all of those who responded to my diary last week. A number of you want to maintain the energy and momentum from the campaign.
If you didn't respond, we'd still love to have you join us.
Someone suggested the Khyber Pass in Phila. as a meeting place. It works for me.
What about the time? Friday evening (Nov. 12)? Let me know which days are good or bad if Nov. 12th isn't feasible.
BTW, Paul Krugman will be speaking at the US Constitution Center on Thursday Nov. 18, so I have to keep that date open.
I noticed in today's NYTimes that Bush won Florida by appealing to small towns. It raised several questions.
Are we losing in small towns because people in small towns don't see how Democratic policies have helped them?
Are we losing because democratic policies have historically failed to help them?
Are we losing because Democratic policies that have helped weren't geared towards them and were therefore never sold to them?
How do we close the gap in terms of policy and activism, not just and terms in values?
Does one or the other candidate for the chair of the DNC have an answer?
Part of the problem, it seems to me, is that in my home state PA some towns have been devastated by the collapse of small industries, and globalization (outsourcing). I don't think either party has addressed globalization and I hope that the Dems. need for large contributions from powerful individuals and corporate executives has not already prevented them from coming up with an effective and credible response.
A piece by David Wessel in the WSJ, via Brad DeLong on Nov. 4, highlights several important topics that we've been talking about: Bush's destructive (economic) policies and the damage they will do to ordinary families. The quote below illustrates how "families" is a big opening for us (yes, I'm channeling Lakoff): the policies hurt real families (actual people) while underscoring how on a metaphorical level, Bush is an irresponsible father.
Would it make sense to have a Meetup to build some solidarity and momentum for the future?
Many of us worked for K/E, MoveOn, ACT or other groups. It would be useful to exchange ideas so that we can improve our work in those organizations in the future. More specifically, we could develop ideas for our precinct leaders or supervisors so that the organizations can better coordinate their efforts in the future.
Some other questions that might be useful to explore in a group could be:
Now that we have contacted voters, how do we stay in contact with them?
What didn't we do this time? What do we have to do next time?
How do we get our ideas out? For example, how do we start challenging the fiction of a mandate?
How can we begin now to work on the 2006 elections? Here in PA, we have a Democratic governor up for reelection as well as Rick Santorum?
If anyone else thinks this is a good idea, leave a comment for me.
We need to stop blaming Kerry's defeat on fraud or the quality of his campaign. Make no mistake, electoral fraud should be investigated vigorously. Some have criticized Kerry's campaign but in most of the last 5 presidential elections, the Democratic contenders have had to overcome some of the same problems that haunted Kerry, i.e. appealing to the working class and the middle class at the same time, the rise of the religious right in the South, etc. Here's my belief; the candidates, for all of their individual weaknesses, are forced to face the problems that the weakness of the party has been causing for the last 30 years or so.
Like many of you, I have been appalled by the brazen attempts by Republicans and their cronies to suppress the vote. Today, Bob Herbert has a great editorial in the NYT in which he furnishes a quote from state representative John Perzel (PA): He in effect admits that his party is trying to keep African Americans away from the poll? If they are stating their intent this openly, is it not possible to take them to court?
Is there anyone out there who knows how well organized MoveOn's "Leave No Voter Behind" is? I am in suburban Phila and was attracted to the project because I don't like phone bank work and because I could talk to a Democratic voters. But among my friends and acquaintances who have attended in local LNVB, there is a sense that MoveOn's project is disorganized. I can't commit a lot of time to canvassing_ are there better options for someone like me?
Am I paranoid or is it time to think about possible counterattacks?
Karl Rove is working on an October surprise according to Newsmax
Karl Rove: 'We've Got a Couple of Surprises' for Kerry
President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, said Wednesday that the Bush-Cheney campaign is planning some October "surprises" for challengers John Kerry and John Edwards.
"We've got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring," Rove told ABC radio host Sean Hannity while explaining that he intends to wage an aggressive campaign no matter what the polls show.
Story Continues Below
"It's 34 days [till the election] and that's a long time in politics, and when you get complacent you lose," the top White House adviser said.
"We've got to stay on the offense. We've got to continue to press the battle onto the turf that they won in 2000: the Pennsylvanias, the Michigans and the Wisconsins and Iowas and Minnesotas and New Mexicos and Oregons.
"And we've got to make sure that we lose none of the close states that we won in 2000 - Florida or Ohio or Colorado or Nevada or New Hampshire.
"And you've also got to have a couple of surprises - and we've got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring."
Asked if he expected the Kerry-Edwards campaign to engage in dirty tricks, Rove cited Democrat claims in recent days about a secret Bush plan to reinstate the draft.
