I don’t really care what Pelosi wears on her head, I just had to have this picture, because I love it.
Mmmmm… Audrey
It’s a Good Life!
Well it is, if all you look at are corporate profits.
Via Kevin Drum, I discovered this report from the Economic Policy Institute. It analyzes current economic growth (4th quarter 2006) compared to economic growth averaged across previous economic cycles. The snapshot shows several areas including GDP, employment growth, and business investment, and all areas are below normal growth, except for one
Can this be true?
Along with several other bloody attacks in Iraq today, we have this:
The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.
I certainly hope these murders are not connected to the visit by our government officials, but it’s impossible not to wonder.
Yes. This is Democracy in Action.
I don’t always agree with Howard Kurtz, but I like this point he makes today. In discussing Bush’s presser yesterday, and the “political dance” the two parties are engaged in, he writes:
Here’s the part that bothers me. The president accuses the Democrats of being mainly interested in fighting “political battles” and engaging in a “political dance” (that seemed to be his metaphor du jour). Why is it not politics when he makes the case for a war in which he passionately believes–after years of using the war on terror as a partisan club–but it’s politics when Democrats try to end a war they believe has been an abysmal failure? Isn’t this precisely the kind of debate we should be having in a democracy?
And that’s exactly right.
I listened to several news shows last night, and nearly all the reporters were quivering with anxiety over this “showdown” over funding for the Iraq occupation. But there’s nothing dangerous or scary going on here. Our nation is not imperiled by an aggressive debate and confrontation over the great issue of our time.
Recent Congresses were dominated by Republicans and completely, happily subserviant to Presidential whim. Now we have a Congress with a mind of its own and
President Pissypants Makes Demands
I suppose that if the Dems don’t give him what he wants he’ll hold his breath until his face turns blue.
I liked Reid’s response, which is short and to the point.
Washington, DC
Security and Insecurity in Baghdad
The NYTimes has a follow-up today on McCain’s visit to that Baghdad market. The reporter asked merchants in the market about McCain’s visit, and about the security situation there overall.
A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad
John McCain’s Bullshit Adventure
What John McCain Didn’t Tell You
While John McCain was excoriating the press in Baghdad yesterday for not presenting the “full story” about how swell things are in Iraq he neglected to mention the pre-visit security sweep that made that neighborhood stroll so safe. I am sure you have already heard about the 100 soldiers, the three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships that accompanied his entourage, but did you hear about the soldiers who swept the area before the American legislators and their security team showed up? Who cares about those mooks? They are expendable.
John McCain and Lindsey Graham put American soldiers’ lives at risk just so they could have a photo op. That’s the bottomline….
U.S. soldiers entered the neighborhood before the delegation arrived for its stroll. They searched for explosives, sent informants into the crowd, set up a perimeter, and secured the area before the Senators showed up with their 100 armed guards. And for what? To keep McCain, Graham and others safe. What happened to the Iraqi utopia John McCain so confidently insisted was there for eveyone to see? If the “true” picutre of Iraq was simply a matter of getting the news cameras pointed in the right direction then why did he need a security detail? If the peace and prosperity the Iraqi people are celebrating in safe neighborhoods is genuine then why wear body armor?
You know why? Because John McCain is completely full of shit….
Really, that’s all there is to say. So thanks, Larry, for laying it all out so well, in detail, and with the appropriate fury. McCain is shameless.
Emphasis added.
UPDATE: The aftermath.
Just another day at the market. And even though McCain cited a drop in violence, Agence France Presse on Sunday quoted an Iraqi official who reported a 15 percent increase in violence across Iraq in March. According to their tally, 2,078 civilians, cops and soldiers were killed last month, 272 more fatalities than in February.
In any case, it didn’t take the insurgents long to send their reply. Less then 30 minutes after McCain wrapped up, a barrage of half a dozen mortars peppered the boundaries of the Green Zone, where the senators held their press conference.
Emphasis added.
Friday Funnies
Restore the Constitution
In this clip, Chris Dodd discusses his proposed legislation, the Restore the Constitution Act of 2007, which defines the characteristics of enemy combatants, defines who can be tried by military tribunals, outlines the types of evidence that can be used against them, and most importantly restores the right of habeas corpus to all persons detained by the United States.
You can read the full text of the Act at the link above, and sign on as a citizen co-sponsor. The Act itself is rather long and technical, and one problem with the web site is that it doesn’t give a very good non-technical discussion of the ramifications of the many sub-sections of the Act. But the primary purpose is clear
Guantanamo detainee #940
Adel Hamad, husband and father, aid worker and teacher, continues to be detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, despite efforts to clear his name and return him to his family in Sudan.
Guantanamo Unclassified
More information at Project Hamad.
See also this article at Slate, The YouTube Defense: Human rights go viral.
UPDATE: Eric Alterman shares a report from a human rights activist who followed up on several Guantanamo detainees who were sent home.
Here is part of her report:
Former Guantanamo detainees who were sent home to Russia in 2004 experienced torture and other abuse despite Moscow’s pledge to the U.S. government that they would be treated humanely, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
The Russian prisoners’ experience illustrates why the United States should stop relying “diplomatic assurances” of fair treatment to justify sending prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to countries where they are at risk of torture.
The seven Russians were all detained soon after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and eventually spent about two years in Guantanamo. Although they complained of mistreatment by the Americans, all of the detainees repeatedly asked authorities at Guantanamo not to be returned to Russia because they expected to be treated worse there. And indeed, three of them experienced serious torture and ill-treatment after being arrested in Russia. Two of them were convicted at unfair trials; and all of them have been harassed and hounded by Russian law enforcement….
So much for the rule of law. The Alterman post contains a link to her entire report (43 pg. PDF file).