Bush picks a Foxy spokesperson

Newly appointed spokesperson
Tony Snow (L), the Bush and former
press sec'y Scott McCllelan(R)
(Stephen Crowley/The New York Time)

Quelle surprise! Someone who works for the Fox "News" Channel is going to be speaking for the Dick and the Bush. I guess he's had a lot of practice doing that. Did someone say symbiosis?

Or as Josh Micah Marshall says on TPM, "the joke [Tony Snow's appointment] sort of tells itself."

(NYT, NYT, ABC, John Nicholls in The Nation)

April 29 * UPDATE * April 29

ACTION ALERT from UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
| 212-868-5545

March for Peace, Justice and Democracy
Saturday, April 29 -- New York City
Assemble beginning at 10:30AM -- 22nd Street & Broadway
March steps off at noon
Grassroots Action Festival in Foley Square, 1:00PM-6:00PM
Maps:
Assembly Area & March Route
Festival


"Five days from now, people from diverse communities, from all walks of life, will fill the streets of Manhattan with outrage at our country's current policies and hope for a better future. Unified in our determined opposition to the ongoing war in Iraq, we are also demanding new priorities and a new direction for our government.

"As Bush's approval ratings keep sinking to historic lows, we need to turn the widespread unhappiness with this administration into action for change. Will you be there with us on Saturday, April 29? Will you help us in these last few days as we spread the word far and wide?

"The early weather forecast looks great (low to mid 60s, mostly sunny), but rain or shine, we are marching! Puppets, marching bands, street theater groups, and other performers will all be participating in the march. We encourage you to bring musical instruments, banners, and other things you create to help express the messages of the day. (Reminder: The NYPD only allows signs and banners to be carried on cardboard poles; wooden, metal, and fiberglass poles are prohibited.)

"We still need people to volunteer with every aspect of the day -- please sign up on our website or call our office at 212-868-5545.


"A powerful array of activities are planned both before and after the march. Some highlights:

"* Pre-March Labor Rally: 10:30 am, 19th Street between Park Ave. South and Broadway
A very large turn out is expected from the labor movement, and as people gather for this contingent, there will be a rally with representatives of the many unions involved in this effort. As part of the Festival at the end of the march, there will be a Labor tent that will help you get more involved in connecting the labor and antiwar movements.

"* Pre-March Interfaith Religious Service: 9:40 am, 19th Street, between Broadway and Fifth Ave.

People from many faiths and religious traditions will gather for a shabbat service before the march begins. Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq is also organizing an afternoon of activities at their tent at the Festival after the march.

"* Grassroots Action Festival: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Foley Square.
http://www.april29.org/article.php?id=3233
The festival will feature 19 themed tents, providing resources from hundreds of groups and campaigns. You'll find information about a wide variety of ways to take action against the war -- from pressuring legislators to resisting military recruitment efforts to engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. You'll find displays and materials that will highlight the connections between the war and the struggles for women's rights, for racial justice, for immigrant rights, and for a sustainable environment. There will also be a special tent with peace activities for children, and much more.

"If you are still looking for transportation to NYC, please check the Transportation Board
on our website.
There are some offers of housing available on our Housing Board,
and if you live in the NYC area and can offer housing, we encourage you to post your information right now.

"While a great deal of work has already been done to get the word out, there is still more to do -- and we need your help. Wouldn't it be a shame to get calls on Sunday from people telling you they would have marched but they didn't know about the demonstration? In these next few days we can make sure that doesn't happen:

"1) Send this email -- or your own message -- to your friends, relatives, and every appropriate email list. And be sure to send that out today!

"2) Tell your friends, family, and people you work with or go to school with. There are leaflets you can download from the website, and we encourage you to make as many copies as you can and get those out to folks.

"3) If you are part of a group or an organization, make sure they are contacting their members and posting the information on their websites.

"4) Call in to a radio talk show over the next few days, and talk about why you are coming to NYC. Be sure to mention www.april29.org, so everyone can get the information!

"Finally, we hope you will be able to make a financial contribution to this effort --whether or not you are able to participate. We need to cover the costs of the mobilization and we want to come out of this financially strong enough to move us into the next phase of our work. Please be as generous as you can, but remember -- every donation, no matter how small or large, helps!

"You can donate by credit card online
or call 212-868-5545 to donate by credit card over the phone. Donations can also be made payable to United for Peace and Justice and mailed to April 29 Protest, c/o UFPJ, P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10108."

Some things just never change - U.S. working against election of Daniel Ortega

From Upside Down World

"On Monday, April 17 the US Ambassador in Nicaragua met with right wing parties in the country to discuss their opposition strategy against Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in the November 5 presidential elections. Support for Ortega is growing, and many expect him to win the race. The US has called on Nicaraguans to not vote for Ortega."

The Bush celebrates Earth Day

William Wehrum
"President Bush has asked the Senate to approve nominees for two important federal posts with great influence over environmental policy. Neither candidate is particularly good news. One should certainly be rejected."

Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorn e

For rest of NYT editorial;
Also see Unknown News on Wehrum

Ann and Si Kahn

Photo by Dan Cohen  

Ann and Si Kahn, executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, at its 25 anniversary fundraiser two weeks ago.

Si is also the co-author (with Elizabeth Minnich) of The Fox in the Henhouse: How Privatization Threatens Democracy

Iran, Iraq redux?

In 2000, The Bush, the Dick and the Rum-dum-dummy stole an election. In 2003, they were on the virge of losing again and they invaded Iraq. This year, they may lose one or both houses of Congress and they are rattling their nukes at Iran. Can you say "deja vue all over again?"

See: Zbigniew Brzezinski and Seymour Hersh

Whatever happened to "The truth shall set you free"?

None of the following should come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Everything the Dick, the Bush and the Rum-dum-dummy believe in is at stake. From the moment they engineered a Supreme Court coup to take power, democracy and Constitutional rights have never been on their agenda. These people are not like any with who we have previously dealt. - Dan

FromRobertParry at Consortium News:

"Over the past five-plus years, the American people have gotten a taste of what a triumphant George W. Bush is like, as he basked in high approval ratings and asserted virtually unlimited powers as Commander in Chief. Now, the question is: How will Bush and his inner circle behave when cornered?

"So far, the answer should send chills through today’s weakened American Republic. Bush and his team – faced with plunging poll numbers and cascading disclosures of wrongdoing – appear determined to punish and criminalize resistance to their regime.

"That is the significance of recent threats from the administration and its supporters who bandy about terms like sedition, espionage and treason when referring to investigative journalists, government whistle-blowers and even retired military generals – critics who have exposed Executive Branch illegalities, incompetence and deceptions."

(Also seeEric Alterman)

Spring cleaning won't change anything

Karl Rove

Don't think even for a moment that the moving around of furniture in the West Wing will change anything. It's all designed to fool people into giving the Republicans
another chance - despite everything. Just remember as long as the Dick and the Bush are in the White House nothing will change - Dan

The latest from CBS5:

"White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove gave up some of his responsibilities and White House press secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation Wednesday, continuing a shake-up in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff.

Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections."

(For more on this) (also see)

Gratuitous celebrity photo: Annette O'Toole

Photos by Dan Cohen  

I took these photos of Annette O'Toole, Clark Kent.'s mom on Smallville, the other (Monday) morning very early. She's really a sweetheart.

  

The Bush says, "I decide what's best."

Aren't the calls for Donald Rumsfeld's head just a distraction from the real issue dumping the Dick and the Bush before they do any more damage? [Dan]

Listen too The Nation's John Nichols

"While there is much attention this week to the call from an ever widening circle of former military commanders in the failed Iraq War and other recent U.S. misadventures -- including a half dozen retired generals -- who have called for Rumsfeld's firing, how much sense does make to get rid of the Secretary of Defense when his actions have been so clearly a reflection of goals and strategies developed by the president and vice president?

"No doubt, Rumsfeld has mishandled the Iraq invasion and occupation. But would another Secretary of Defense chosen by Bush and Cheney do any better?

"Doesn't the current crisis have more to do with the administration's misguided project of regime change and nation building than with the approach that Rumsfeld has taken to it?

"If the problem is with the project, then shouldn't the focus be on the serious task of removing Bush and Cheney, rather than the cosmetic change of names of the office of the Secretary of Defense?

"While there is no question that Rumsfeld should go, there ought to be some question about whether extracting one rotten apple from the barrel will cure what ails this administration."

Shouldn't we take The Bush at his word? Well, just this once.[Dan]

"President Bush adamantly defends his secretary of defense Tuesday, saying, 'I decide what's best.'"

Also see E.J. DIONNE JR.

Neil Young calls for Bush impeachment

According to Andrew Buncombe (The Inde
pendant), One of rock's greatest icons Neil Young has had enough:

"It started as a rumour - gossip shared by fans on internet chat sites. Could it [be]true, they asked? Could Neil Young, a cultural lodestone for a generation of country rock fans, really be turning his attention to President George Bush and the war in Iraq? Now Young himself has confirmed it. Not only has he recorded an entire album about the conflict, but in one of the songs he spells out who he thinks is to blame for the ongoing chaos and violence and what the consequences for that person should be. That track is called 'Impeach the President'.

"'I just finished a new record - a power trio with trumpet and 100 voices,' the 60-year-old says in a ticker-tape message posted at the bottom of his official website. 'Metal folk protest? It's called Living with the War.'

Further details about the album came from Jonathan Demme, the film maker who produced the recently released documentary Heart of Gold about the singer-songwriter. 'Neil just finished writing and recording - with no warning - a new album called Living With War,' he told the music magazine Harp by e-mail. 'It all happened in three days ... It is a brilliant electric assault, accompanied by a 100-voice choir, on Bush and the war in Iraq ... Truly mind blowing. Will be in stores soon.'"

"That was all Cheney." says Colin Powell - now

"That was all Cheney."

That's what Colin Poweell told Robert Scheer last week when Scheer asked him why the president ignored "the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate [which] showed that his State Department had gotten it right on the nonexistent Iraq nuclear threat."
Scheer goes on to say:

"A convenient response for a Bush family loyalist, perhaps, but it begs the question of how the president came to be a captive of his vice president's fantasies."

There is much we need yet to learn about the dark recesses of the Bush regime and the manipulation of information to "justify" the invasion of Iraq; but the role of Cheney and the neocon game is becoming more and more clear. - Dan

(For more on this) also important Evelyn J. Pringle on Bushwatch (4/17/)

Fair & Balanced Dream

I was reading Bill O'Reilly's column on Fri. (4/14) and he said:

"These days in America money is a driving force, and many of us have been personally betrayed by people seeking our money.It is also quite common for people to use other people in pursuit of currency. In fact, I believe the love of money is the root of much evil. ...."

And I thought, my god, he's going to talk about the Republican Congress and the indictments. But he went on nattering about Judas.

And then I woke up. Ah, well.

April 29 UPDATE April 29 UPDATE

Saturday, April 29
March for Peace, Justice and Democracy


Assemble: 22nd Street and Broadway,
10:30AM onward

March: At noon down Broadway to Foley Square

Grassroots action festival
1:00-6:00PM,
Foley Square

Christianity and politics - from progressive to right wing

I am not a Christian, but I was very moved today (Thursday, April 13th) when I read of the death of the Rev. William Sloane Coffin. Rev. Coffin was "a civil rights and antiwar campaigner who sought to inspire and encourage an idealistic and rebellious generation of college students in the 1960's from his position as chaplain of Yale University" and "reveled in the role of lightening rod thrust upon him by officials and conservatives who thought him and his style of dissent dangerous," according to the NYT.
He remained committed to anti-racist and anti-war politics throughout his life, even when he moved from Yale to New York City's Riverside Church. The Church under his guidance provided space for much of the progressive movement over the years.

How different an expression of religiousity from today's right-wing form that is seemingly expressed by people like Ruth Malhotra who confuse christianity with Republican politics.

According to Stephanie Simon, LATIMES.com

"Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.

"Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

"Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.

"With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all."

Who is Malhotra?

According to Simon:

"She [Malhotra] caused another stir with a letter to the gay activists who organized an event known as Coming Out Week in the fall of 2004. Malhotra sent the letter on behalf of the Georgia Tech College Republicans, which she chairs; she said several members of the executive board helped write it.

"The letter referred to the campus gay rights group Pride Alliance as a 'sex club … that can't even manage to be tasteful.' It went on to say that it was 'ludicrous' for Georgia Tech to help fund the Pride Alliance.
The letter berated students who come out publicly as gay, saying they subject others on campus to 'a constant barrage of homosexuality.'

"'If gays want to be tolerated, they should knock off the political propaganda,' the letter said."

Well, it would seem that Malhotra might just be motivated as much (if not more) by politics as by deeply held religious beliefs.

As Jeremy Gunn, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief says it's a right-wing fundraising ploy. "They're trying to develop a persecution complex," he said. And that is a fundamental aspect of thde contemporary right-wing movement. Unless the Republican party can keep its constituency in a constant state of anxiety and fearful of discrimination, why would they support a bunch of incompetents and thieves.

It's also interesting to note how quickly Malhotra - in her letter - is willing to deprive gays and lesbians of their freedom of expression. Some people's politics seems to depend on which foot the shoe is on.

It would also be interesting to know whose financing Malhotra's law suit and others like it. Simon in the LA Times article says: "...the Christian Legal Society, an association of judges and lawyers, has formed a national group to challenge tolerance policies in federal court. Several nonprofit law firms — backed by major ministries such as Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ —already take on such cases for free."

Kevin Phillips on Bush's Republican party or the emerging Republican minority

Forty years ago, at the dawn of the fledgling right-wing movement, Kevin Phillips was its political commissar. He was that period's Karl Rove. While Richard Viguerie provided the mechanics to build the movement, Phillip's The Emerging Republican Majority provided its ideology. Here's how he describes it:

"I have a personal concern over what has become of the Republican coalition. Forty years ago, I began a book, The Emerging Republican Majority, which I finished in 1967 and took to the 1968 Republican presidential campaign, for which I became the chief political and voting-patterns analyst. Published in 1969, while I was still in the fledgling Nixon administration, the volume was identified by Newsweek as the 'political bible of the Nixon Era.'"

Kevin Phillips no longer considers himself a Republican. Here's why"\:


Oil, debt and God: Three pillars have become central in an unnatural coalition that supports the Republican Party

By Kevin Phillips
(Special to The Washington Post)

"Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.

"We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before - in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.

'Indeed, there is a potent change taking place in this country's domestic and foreign policy, driven by religion's new political prowess and its role in projecting military power in the Mideast.

'The United States has organized much of its military posture since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks around the protection of oil fields, pipelines and sea lanes. But U.S. preoccupation with the Middle East has another dimension. In addition to its concerns with oil and terrorism, the White House is courting end-times theologians and electorates for whom the Holy Lands are a battleground of Christian destiny. Both pursuits - oil and biblical expectations - require a dissimulation in Washington that undercuts the U.S. tradition of commitment to the role of an informed electorate.

'The political corollary - fascinating but appalling - is the recent transformation of the Republican presidential coalition. Since the election of 2000 and especially that of 2004, three pillars have become central: the oil-national security complex, with its pervasive interests; the religious right, with its doctrinal imperatives and massive electorate; and the debt-driven financial sector, which extends far beyond the old symbolism of Wall Street."

{To read the rest of Phillip's article, click here)

Phillips expands on this in his recently published American Theocracy.

April 11: Victoria's Secret: Time to Pull Out of International Paper!

Victoria's Secret: Time to Pull Out of International Paper!

April 11, 4:30-6:30 PM (longer if folks are motivated to stay)

Victoria's Secret, 6th Avenue at 34th Street

Victoria's Secret prints 1 million catalogs every day using nonrecycled (virgin) paper supplied by International Paper, a company with a devastating record of forest destruction.

Come out and express your outrage with activists from Wetlands Activism Collective, BarnardEarth and Columbia University's Students for Environmental and Economic Justice!

Feel free to dress up in robes or pajamas or underwear or anything else that looks like Victoria's Secret type stuff. Anything in pink is especially encouraged. Of course, even if you can't dress up, you should still show up!

Contact: Wendy (718) 473-5171

Learn more about Victoria's forest destruction at

April 29: Marcb for Peace, Justice and Democracy

The March for Peace, Justice and Democracy will kick off in Manhattan, just north of Union Square and proceed south along Broadway to Foley Square, where there will be a Peace and Justice Festival.

10:30 am - 12 noon: Assembly along Broadway, north of 18th Street. Contingents will form in the area from 18th Street to 22nd Street, between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue South. (Details about where particular contingents will be gathering will be posted here soon.)

12 noon: March begins and proceeds south on Broadway. The march will turn left (east) on Worth Street and continue into Foley Square.

1 pm - 6 pm: The Peace and Justice Festival will be held at Foley Square from 1 pm to 6 pm. A map of the festival area will be available here soon.

(For more info)

Fukuyama changes his mind

Francis Fukuyama has demonstrated that occasionally even people on the right think for themselves, unlike those like Charles Krauthammer, who never thinks, just gets his White House memo and rushes to his computer to write another column.
Here's what Fukuyama has to say after he has been vilified by the Krauthammers:

"SEVEN WEEKS AGO, I published my case against the Iraq war. I wrote that although I had originally advocated military intervention in Iraq, and had even signed a letter to that effect shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I had since changed my mind.

"But apparently this kind of honest acknowledgment is verboten. In the weeks since my book came out, I've been challenged, attacked and vilified from both ends of the ideological spectrum. From the right, columnist Charles Krauthammer has accused me of being an opportunistic traitor to the neoconservative cause — and a coward to boot. From the left, I've been told that I have 'blood on my hands' for having initially favored toppling Saddam Hussein and that my "apology" won't be accepted.

"For the record, I did change my mind, but in the year preceding the war — not after the invasion."

(The complete Fukuyama response}

Hey, Naveen, we don't commit them, we elect them

Lost's Naveen Andrews, who's playing Moses' stepbrother Menerith in the new version of The Ten Commandments says "If Moses was around now --- if someone came to you and said they'd just been talking to a burning bush and they think it's God, you'd have them committed."


Unfortunately, Naveen, he'd probably be elected president.

Hail! Hail! To Old Notre Dame

My friend Vagina Monologues
author Eve Ensler at a "Shut Down
Guantanamo" action last July 4th
Photo by Dan Cohen
Acording the NYT:

"The University of Notre Dame will continue to allow a gay film festival and the play "Vagina Monologues" on campus, its president announced [last Wednesday]. The decision was a sharp turnaround from a speech that the president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, gave to faculty members and students in January questioning the appropriateness of such events on a Roman Catholic campus"

....

"After hearing from hundreds of students, faculty members, alumni and administrators in the last 10 weeks, Father Jenkins said he saw "no reason to prohibit performances of 'The Vagina Monologues' on campus." The gay film festival will also continue."

(For more on this: NYT,CT)

The Dick and the Bush "hit new lows"

"President Bush has hit new lows in public opinion for his handling of Iraq and the war on terror and for his overall job performance. Polling also shows the Republican Party surrendering its advantage on national security.
The AP-Ipsos survey is loaded with grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power. Nearly 70% of Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction — the largest percentage during the Bush presidency and up 13 points from a year ago."

(For more on this)

McCain joins the extreme right

()AP Photo/Meet The Press,
Alex Wong)
According to NYT columnist Paul Krugman:

"Last month Mr. Falwell issued a statement explaining that, in his view, Jews can't go to heaven unless they convert to Christianity.... Senator John McCain obviously believes that he can't get the Republican presidential nomination without Mr. Falwell's approval. During the 2000 campaign, Mr. McCain denounced Mr. Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance." But next month Mr. McCain will be a commencement speaker at Liberty University, which Mr. Falwell founded. On Meet the Press [last Sunday], Mr. McCain was asked to explain his apparent flip-flop. 'I believe, he replied, 'that the Christian right has a major role to play in the Republican Party. One reason is because they're so active and their followers are. And I believe they have a right to be a part of our party.'"

It seems to me that McCain is absolutely right (in every meaning of the term). The extreme Christian right not only has "a right to be a part of the [Republican] party," but for all intents and purposes is the Republican party today. It is an admission that no one can win the Republican nomination without the approval of its most extreme sectarian forces. Any lingering nonsense about McCain the independent or the maverick should finally be put to rest next month when he stands shoulder to shoulder with one of the most extreme right-wing Christian bigots. If McCain's hunger for power is so great that he can't stand up to someone as extreme as Falwell, he fits in perfectly with the worst elements in his party. - Dan

Delay (Exit Right)

"Rep. Tom DeLay, whose iron hold on the House Republicans melted as a lobbying corruption scandal engulfed the Capitol, told TIME that he will not seek reelection and will leave Congress within months. Taking defiant swipes at 'the left' and the press, he said he feels 'liberated' and vowed to pursue an aggressive speaking and organizing campaign aimed at promoting foster care, Republican candidates and a closer connection between religion and government."

(Also see Evan Derkacz on AlterNet)

Did Condi deliver a message from the Dick and the Bush?

Last week U.S. Sec'y of State Condoleeza Rice met with her British counterpart, Jack Straw. And now, according to the News: Telegraph:
"The [British] Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.

"A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran."

Hmmm, suspicious?

Have they no shame? Tom DeLay

From:The Dallas Morning News

"In an astoundingly cynical performance at a 'War on Christians' conference in Washington this week, Rep. Tom DeLay urged religious conservatives to stay on the attack against hostile forces out to get Christians like, well, Tom DeLay.

"'We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened' Mr. DeLay told the crowd. 'The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won.' The Texas evangelist who organized the conference likened Mr. DeLay's legal and ethical woes to – wait for it – the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

"But lest the faithful prematurely canonize Mr. DeLay as a martyr for the faith, they should consider how Team DeLay, with its paladins of public piety, has specifically manipulated sincere Christians for personal gain."

Gratuitous celebrity photo: Cillian Murphy

Photo by Dan Cohen  

I took this photo of Cillian Murphy one morning during last fall's New York Film Festival as he was going to a press conference to promote Breakfast on Pluto ' He also recently appeared in Batman Begins and Red Eye.
Enjoy.