it was not a good day for bambi. you can always tell it was a really bad day for bambi when michelle obama makes headlines. today she was insisting that every 1 needed to shut up about jeremiah wright so that 'issues' could be addressed. barack never addresses issues. he just offers those empty bumper sticker slogans over and over.

they're empty, they're phony, they're are fraudlent. and you have to wonder how stupid is the campaign that they honestly thought they could make it into a general election on nothing but a lot of chants about 'hope' - meaningless, unspecified hope.

his act is tired.

and the scandals are hurting him as the new york times reports. the polls coming out are before barack's little stunt yesterday. a lot of people are not taken in by barack's sudden change of heart. we all remember full well how he could smear his grandmother as a racist (his grandmother was acosted by a man at a bus stop and didn't want to take the bus the next day which barack has turned into racism this year although in his own book he didn't see it that way.) 'aching slow steps' is how david broder words barack's 'denouncement' of jeremiah wright. and look how long barack allowed it to fester. look how he refused to address it (except by minimizing it repeatedly). this is some 1 who can withstand the gop smear machine? no.

that'll be it for tonight. it's late and i keep getting a message about some adobe script that's running. i hit 'abort' (and have no idea what adobe script is running) but my computer is moving so slow. so let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, April 30, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, figures for April refute claims of a slow-down in violence, Robert Gates tries to happy talk it, and more.


Starting with war resistance. Iraq War resister Ehren Watada will be the topic Friday at Carleton College (1 North College Street, Northfield, MN). Esther Pak (Carleton News) reports:

Dr. Vijay Prashad will present a convocation entitled "Watada's Election: Asian Americans and These Asian Wars" on Friday, May 2 at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. Prashad's presentation will examine Asian Americans, the Iraq War, and the upcoming election, with reference to Hawaii-born First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who was the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the Iraq War and occupation. Following the convocation, Prashad will sign copies of his books, which will also be available for purchase at the event at a 15% discount. Prashad's appearance is free and open to the public.

The presentation is scheduled to last one hour. In February 2007, Watada was court-martialed and Judge Toilet (aka John Head) ruled a mistrial over defense objection as the defense was about to present their side (Watada was taking the stand and suddenly Head felt a stipulation both the defense and the prosecution had agreed to, one Head has not only signed off on but explained to the jury, was 'prolbematic,' Watada was prepared to testify, Head stopped the trial). Due to Judge Toilet's ruling, the Constitution's provision against double-jeopardy should have kicked in. Judge Toilet immediately announced a new court-martial would take place in March (2007) but, of course, it didn't. A civilian court found (in November) the double-jeopardy argument compelling and Watada's legal status is currently in limbo. He continues to report for duty on base despite the fact that his service contract expired in December 2006. It's long past time for the military to stop their persecution of Watada and discharge him.

While he waits, so do US war resisters in Canada who are hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


In Iraq, the assault on Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood, continues. AFP reports that the central (puppet) government in Baghdad is pleased: "'There were 925 martyrs in Sadr City and 2,605 others have been wounded,' in the firefights that began on March 25 and are still continuing, said Tehseen Sheikhly, a spokesman for the government's Baghdad security plan." Prior to the press conference, outlets, such as the BBC, were going with 400 for the death toll. CBS and AP note: "Previous Interior Ministry casualty figures for the past month had indicated that less than 400 people had perished. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting figures. Officials at the Baghdad military operations center said they could not confirm al-Sheikhly's count." Al Jazeera notees Sadr City residents testimonies that they were attacked by an air assault today and the US military's claim that "only rockets" were used because "a sandstorm had grounded US helicopters." For those who've forgotten the assault on Sadr City was supposed to be the sideshow. The main story was supposed to be the assault on Basra and the world was supposed to watch in awe of the awesome powers of Nouri al-Maliki -- the puppet installed by the US as prime minister in the spring of 2006 who has done nothing to ease tensions (let alone violence) in Iraq. al-Maliki was seen as puppet and an ineffective one at that having failed to offer up anything save for the never-ending "crackdowns" that began in June of 2006 when the Green Zone was almost breached. As two years of 'leadership' was being reached, the assault on Basra was supposed to be a for-show measure that would instill global faith in al-Maliki.

It was Easter Weekend -- Bully Boy declared in March 22nd radio address that it was a "special and holy time" -- and what better way to 'celebrate' than beef up the assault on civilians? Monday, March 24th, at the White House, Dana Perino, White House flack, was insisting that the "vast majority" of relatives who'd lost loved ones were insisting that the White House continue the Iraq War and, with the 4,000 mark having been passed, that wasn't going down as easy with the press as it had before. Helen Thomas had questioned that assertion and asked how Perino could make that claim "with certainty?" Perino's answer was that the Bully Boy had "said that repeatedly" so, apparently, it must be true.Thomas then asked if "he takes responsibility for a war that he started without provocation that led to 4,000 deaths and 30,000 dramatically injured for life?" Perinos shoved that question aside and, pressed by Thomas, stated, "I think that he knew that the war was going to require sacrifices and that --"


Helen Thomas: By who?

Dana Perino: Well, of course by our soldiers.

Helen Thomas: There's nobody in his family or this administration in this war.

Dana Perino: Helen, these are all questions we have dealt with before. I've given you an answer in the President's reaction to the 4,000 and I'm going to move on.

While Perino was 'moving on,' al-Maliki was making headlines for going to Basra in a for-show role that was supposed to convince the world that he was leading the assault on Basra. Basra, like Sadr City, is seen as a strong-hold of support for cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and many believe that the assaults were also intended to prevent al-Sadr's bloc from coming to power in the (currently) scheduled elections on October 1st. As al-Maliki has seen his support within the Iraqi Parliament crumble, al-Sadr's support has appeared to increase. If it wasn't increasing, the assault certainly made sure it did as al-Sadr became the public voice in Iraq against the assault on Iraqi civilians. It was a disaster in every way for the US puppet, it was a disaster in lives lost, it was a disaster in the attempts to build up al-Maliki's image and it made al-Sadr (who had been laying low and had renewed a cease-fire/truce with the US) even more popular.

On April 8th, The Petraeus and Crocker Variety Hour began their two days of testimony to the US Congress. They opened at the US Armed Services Committee where chair Carl Levin was asking serious questions about Basra, including whether it was correct that US was not informed ahead of time about the planned assault on Basra (which led to uprising in Sadr City, hence the assault on Sadr City)? "It is, Senator," Petraeus had declared, "We had a Friday night heads up." That would be Friday, March 21st. Petraeus went on to state that they were informed more of the assault (that would begin Sunday) at a meeting on Saturday. Levin: "It was not something that you recommended?" "No," Petraeus had replied. He went on to speak of concerns he stated he had about utilizing resources and appeared to indicate that there was a US plan for Basra but that al-Maliki had jumped the gun.

US Senator Hillary Clinton noted, "In response to a question by Senator Levin regarding when you knew of Prime Minister Maliki's plan to go into Basra, and I was struck by it so I wrote it down." Clinton was referring to the fact that Basra had been under British control until recently and that Petraeus' comments were vague. "What did you mean," she asked, "by the resources you were planning to deploy and over what length of time?" Petraeus' remarks cleared up any ambiguity on the subject. "A plan was being developed," he admitted, but instead of waiting to develop it, al-Malik was "moving up the time table and compressing . . . the resources."

This was April 8th and already the illusion that al-Maliki was leading the assault and that Iraqi troops were on the front lines had falled apart. Senator Susan Collins questioned "why should America combat troops continue to take the lead" considering all the time and money already provided since March of 2003? Petraeus tried to manuever his response by noting that the "US didn't take the lead in Basra." No, al-Maliki did. And al-Maliki failed. And Iraqi troops defected and deserted (two different categories) so US troops who were supposed to be present in only a supportive role were now on the front lines. The same was true of Sadr City and has only become more true.

Taking Petraeus at his guarded word, al-Maliki basically grabbed a US plan, ignored the timeline, rushed it into operation, did so when Iraqi troops were far from ready, hustled down to Basra for what he hoped would be his defining photo-ops and all this was done to shore up his weak image as an ineffective puppet. As a result of al-Maliki's actions, the US is now on the front lines backing up what his big mouth couldn't. Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reported today that US forces and Sadr City residents engaged in "[a] four-hour battle" yesterday that resulted in the deaths of "28 Iraqis" leading to "one of the bloodiest days in a month of sustained street fighting. The clashes underscored how deeply U.S. forces have been drawn into heavy combat in the huge Shiite district since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unexpectedly launched an offensive in southern Iraq last month against Shiite militias, primarily the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Until Maliki's push into the southern city of Basra, U.S. troops were not intensely engaged in Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood of roughly 3 million people that was among the most treacherous areas for U.S. forces early in the war." Today's assault on Sadr City, risking the lives of so many Iraqis and so many US service members, is nothing but the result of al-Maliki's photo-op that backfired. His attempts to prove he wasn't 'weak' is why the dying in Sadr City continues. In the April 8th hearing, Clinton noted that among al-Maliki's critics were General David Petraeus himself and referenced Cameron W. Barr's "Petraeus: Iraqi Leaders Not Making 'Sufficient Progress'" (Washington Post). In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the same day (April 8th), chair Joe Biden would note that the 'surge' was not working and had not been working (a point that many senators and representatives would make throughout the two days of testimony from Petraeus and Crocker) and he raised the issue of how there was no government and what was happening was the US was 'taking sides' -- supporting the 'leadership' of al-Maliki. That's a lot of deaths for one person's 'leadership' --- consider the puppet to be just like his puppet master in the White House. As Howard La Franchi (Christian Science Monitor) observes, "The American military's participation in the war declared by Iraqi authorities on Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia -- a fight that in recent weeks has been carried out through intense street battles -- has led to an uptick in US deaths." Along with shoring up the puppet, the assault was also supposed to shore up the Bully Boy and his plans for continued war. The assault was timed to take place before the for-show testimonies to Congress by Petraeus and Crocker that were supposed to convince the American public that the so-called 'surge' was working and deserved more time. Mark Kukis and Abigail Hauslohner (Time magazine) report, "The shell-shocked Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City in east Baghdad epitomizes the tragedy and terror that continue to grip Iraq five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Around 2 million people cluster in homes often shared by as many as six families, caught in the crossfire of an ongoing confrontation between the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr and U.S. and Iraqi forces, streets cluttered with garbage and the rubble of recent battles." They also note that people are fleeing their homes (which will increase the number of Iraqis who are internally and externally displaced).

It's the end of the month and a number of outlets will be looking back. CNN notes: "The number of Iraqi civilians killed and wounded nationwide continued to increase during April. According to Iraq's Interior Ministry, 969 civilians died and 1,750 were wounded during April. In March, the total was 923 civilians killed and 1,358 wounded -- a sharp increase over February, when 633 died and 701 were wounded." Those are the puppet government's official figures and the actual figures are probably much higher. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is in spin mode. Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Tuesday acknowledged that a seven-month lull in U.S. troops deaths in Iraq has come to an end and blamed the bloodshed on Shiite Muslim militiamen who have bombarded the Green Zone and key parts of Baghdad with rockets and mortar rounds." Gates was speaking in Mexico, transcript here. Gates rejected the notion that things were "getting worse" in Iraq. He claimed that the "spectacular act" always catches attention. Apparently nothing -- including losing an illegal war -- catches the White House's attention. Asked about the US being drawn into the middle of a war of "two Shi'a factions," Gates responded that the conflict was "between the Iraqi government and lawless elements" -- echoing al-Maliki's line -- and further claimed that the 'elements' did not want to be "part of the political process." That would be "part of the puppet process." He stated that it has been "made clear" that al-Sadr's supporters are welcome in the political process and that's a falsehood because al-Maliki has threatened them with being barred from participating in the October elections. Further spinning, Gates claimed al-Maliki had "the vocal support of virtually all elements of the government." While he has the support of those on his payroll, his own cabinet is not full and members of the Iraqi Parliament participated in Sunday demonstratrations against the continued assault in Sadr City. Gates ignored that in his reply. He claimed that assaulting Iraqi civilians (that's what's happening in Sadr City) was creating "an Iraqi government more unified". He claimed al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sadrists were the enemies and it was pointed out to him that the White House continues to say that al Qaeda in Iraq is weaker. [al Qaeda in Iraq is largely non-existant.] Gates noted al-Sadr's cease-fire but avoided noting that al-Maliki's actions had overturned it. He began gas bagging at length -- and couldn't get his dates correct ("you will probably recall in either early March or late February, sometime in there") -- and stayed with the issue of al-Sadr. He never addressed the issue of why the White House continues to say al Qaeda in Iraq is a threat and responsible for the violence while also stating that al Qaeda in Iraq is on the decrease. Confronted with that inconsistency, Gates elected to ignore it. He did state that al-Maliki would make decisions regarding Sadr City which is suprising since it is US forces patrolling -- US troops held hostage by policy was a point senators made throughout Crocker and Petraeus' testimonies earlier this month and Gates, unwittingly, appears to be validating their point.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a mortar attack on the Green Zone, a Baghdad mortar attacks that wounded eight people, a Diyala Province roadside bombing wounded six women and a Hawija roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and left two more wounded (all Iraqi security forces).

Shootings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the "[p]ronounced presence of gunmen in al-Amin and al-Mashtal . . . forced the schools to send the students home." Reuters notes a home invasion in Kut that claimed the life of 1 woman.

Corpses?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses discovered in Baghdad today (2 found in Tikrit last night).


Today the US military announces: "A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldier was killed from wounds sustained when he was attacked with small-arms fire by insurgents at approximately 8:50 p.m. April 29 in northwestern Baghdad." And they announced: "A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldier was killed after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device at approximately 10:15 p.m. in northwestern Baghdad April 29." And, PDF format warning, they announced: "A Multi-National Division - North Soldier was killed as a result of an explosion occurring near the Soldier's patrol in Ninewah Province, April 30." And they announced: "Two Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldiers were killed when their patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device in southern Baghdad at approximately 4:15 p.m. April 30." And they announced: "A Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldier was killed from wounds sustained by an improvised explosive device during a dismounted patrol in northern Baghdad at approximately 1 a.m. April 30."
The number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war is 4063, the number of deaths announced this month so far is 51 which makes April the deadliest month since September when 65 deaths were announced. More deaths for April may or may not be noted over the next few days.

Turning to the US presidential race, this morning on NBC's Today Show, Andrea Mitchell reported on Barack Obama's speech and remarks yesterday on his mentor, friend, and pastor of 20 years Jeremiah Wright. Mitchell noted the changes in tone throughout Obama's remarks on Wright since Barack declared his intent to run for the Democratic presidential nomination and noted, "Critis say he should known better" regarding Wright. On CBS' The Early Show, Bob Schieffer explained, "The question now is will people him?" Him is Barack. Schieffer listed the questions people would be asking such as, "Why didn't he know about all this before? Why didn't he stop going to the church?"; and wondered, "Will this be enough?" Meanwhile Carol Marin (Chicago Sun-Times) noted of Barack, "And he still had nothing new to say, just what he'd said before, that some of Wright's comments 'offended me, and I understand why they have offended the American people'." Marin observed:This isn't the first time the campaign has waited out a problem, declining to take a controversy by the horns. It took a relentless chorus of Chicago media almost a year to finally get Obama and his people to deliver long-asked-for documents and answer what were, at best, incompletely answered questions about his former friend and now-indicted fund-raiser, Tony Rezko. He finally did so in March. There are judgment questions, fair ones, to be asked about Obama's past dealings with controversial people. Barack spoke out against Wright only because he was tanking in the polls over Wright and because he was offended by what Wright said of him:

What I had heard was that he had given a performance. And I thought at the time that it would be sufficient simply to reiterate what I had said in Philadelphia. Upon watching it, what became clear to me was that it was more than just a -- it was more than just him defending himself. What became clear to me was that he was presenting a world view that -- that -- that contradicts who I am and what I stand for. And what I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing. Anybody who knows me and anybody who knows what I'm about knows that -- that I am about trying to bridge gaps and that I see the -- the commonality in all people.

Desperado (Houston Chronicle) notes that unanswered questions and the "many different versions of answer" that Barack has provided, before declaring: "A focal point is Wright being "uninvited" to the announcement of Obama's presidential candidacy. In an interview with the New York Times, Wright had this recollection of the disinvitation, from RealClearPolitics:
'Mr. Wright said that in the phone conversation in which Mr. Obama disinvited him from a role in the announcement, Mr. Obama cited an article in Rolling Stone, "The Radical Roots of Barack Obama." According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, 'You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we've decided is that it's best for you not to be out there in public'." The Rolling Stone article was from the February 22. 2007 issue and was entitled 'The Radical Roots of Barack Obama', a title later changed to 'Destiny's Child'". Dan Balz (Washington Post, link has text and video) notes that US Senator Evan Bayh (Hillary supporter) has warned that the Republicans would try to make an issue of Wright in the general election. Of course they will. Last week North Carolina's GOP began running ads on Wright. John McCain, the presumed GOP nominee, may or may not call for the ads to cease but North Carolina ignored him (as is their right) and others will as well. The damage isn't just to the top of the ticket if Obama is the Democratic nominee. The North Carolina GOP targeted Obama supporters. That will take place across the country in a general election should Obama be the nominee. The people he has brought in from outside the Democratic Party have proven repeatedly that at least 30% of them are unwilling to vote in other Democratic races -- they show up, vote for him and leave the rest of the ballot blank. That's bad news for every Democratic race in November 2008. That's before others are smeared for Barack's lack of proper judgement. (To put it mildly.) He is a drag on the entire ticket, he runs off the base and his nomination risks the Democratic control of Congress and Democratic state and local offices across the country. A new CBS News - New York Times poll finds Obama's negatives on the rise and Hillary faring better in a match-up against John McCain. In 2004, Dems just knew they'd reclaim the White House. They didn't. Having reclaimed control of both houses of Congress in 2006, they party needs to smarten up and realize what a drag on the ticket Barack will be. Wright is not going away, not during the Democratic primary and not, were Barack the nominee, during the primary. The only way to put the matter to rest is to back the candidate Democrats are overwhelming backing, Hillary Clinton. CBS and AP report (text and video):

Clinton also reiterated her previous remarks about Wright that she would not have stayed in the church after hearing the comments. She said it was up to voters to decide how the controversy over Wright impacts the campaign. O'Reilly asked Clinton to describe how she felt "when you hear a fellow American citizen say that kind of stuff about America." "Well, I take offense," Clinton said. "I think it's offensive and outrageous. I'm going to express my opinion, others can express theirs. It is part of just, you know, an atmosphere we're in today." Meanwhile, Obama was scrambling on Wednesday to put his presidential bid back on track a day after a public denouncing of Wright and both Democratic candidates pushed onward in a nomination struggle that appears to be dividing the party.
Here's Howard Wolfson's "HUBdate: Making Trade Work" (HillaryClinton.com):

Previewing Today: This morning, Hillary commuted to work with a sheet metal worker, stopping to fill up at a South Bend gas station. Later today, she highlights her trade agenda at events throughout Indiana.
Easley for Hillary: Yesterday, "North Carolina Gov. [Mike] Easley endorse[d] Clinton for president"...."'There's a lot of 'yes, we can' and 'yes, we should' going around' Easley said. 'Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver. That's the difference. She's ready to deliver today. Immediately.'" Read more and more.
Superdelegate Watch: Superdelegate and Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri endorsed Hillary yesterday "because of her support in rural America, her commitment to national security, and her dedication to U.S. troops." Read more.
By the Numbers: A new Gallup poll shows Hillary now leading Sen. Obama nationally (47-46). "This situation marks a loss for Obama, who had generally been in the lead over [Hillary] for the last month." Read more.
Real Solutions for Fort Bragg: The front page of the Fayetteville Observer reports that Hillary is calling for a congressional hearing into reports of poor living conditions at Fort Bragg. "Something went terribly wrong here…We've asked these young soldiers to risk their lives and bear brutal living conditions... and when they return home, the least we can do is offer them decent, clean living conditions." Read more.
Gas Tax Holiday: Yesterday, Hillary "toured the Miller Veneers wood manufacturing company in Indianapolis and said a lot of people in Indiana would benefit from a gas tax holiday...Clinton said it may not mean much to Obama, but it means a lot to people who are struggling." Read more.
On the Air: In a new Indiana ad, Hillary tells viewers, "My father served in the Navy and ran a small business. My mother taught Sunday school and took care of us... I carry with me not just their dreams but the dreams of people like them all across our county, people who embrace hard work and opportunity... who never stop believing in the promise of America. It's a promise I intend to keep." Watch here and Read more.
"Hillary Thrills Hobart" Last night, Hillary met with Johnnie Parker, "an organizer with the Sheetmetal Workers Union Local 20, and his family for a hourlong kitchen table discussion on the economy." Parker called Hillary "down-to-earth and upfront about economic issues facing Americans." Read more.
"Where's Our Debate?" In the past five days, over 5,000 Oregonians have signed an online petition calling on Sen. Obama to join Hillary in Oregon for a debate. "Sen. Obama is currently spending millions of television ads across our state. Certainly he can spare a day or two to let Oregonians know what he believes beyond his 30-second ads." 6,200 North Carolinians have signed a similar petition for a debate in their state. Read more.
On Tap: Tomorrow, Hillary holds a town hall in Jeffersonville, IN and a rally in Terre Haute, IN.
If You Watch One Thing Today: Clinton appears on Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor" tonight.

okay, let's start with howard wolfson's "HUBdate: NC Gov. Mike Easley Endorses Hillary" (hillaryclinton.com):

NC Gov. Mike Easley Endorses Hillary: This morning, Hillary received the endorsement of North Carolina Governor and superdelegate Mike Easley. Read more.
Stronger Against McCain: In a new poll released by AP-Ipsos, Hillary leads Sen. McCain by 9 points (50-41) while Sens. Obama and McCain are statistically tied (46-44). The poll also shows Hillary faring better than Sen. Obama against McCain among independents (50-39) and has sizeable leads among seniors and Catholic voters. Clinton also pulls 2/3 of voters under 30 versus McCain, which is better than Obama does with that group. Read more.
Addressing Soaring Prices at the Pump: Hillary unveiled an aggressive plan yesterday to address the problem of skyrocketing gas prices. "Record oil prices are contributing to higher energy prices, food prices and a squeeze that is making many middle class families feel like they are falling further behind. American families are hurting now. They need a President who will focus every day on ensuring that they can make ends meet." Read more and more.
If You Read One Thing Today: "As Clinton Seeks Gas Tax Break for Summer, Obama Says No." "'At the heart of my approach is a simple belief,' Mrs. Clinton said. ‘Middle-class families are paying too much and oil companies aren’t paying their fair share to help us solve the problems at the pump.'" Read More.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: "Hillary Clinton's economic leadership has been key to her victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania and will be the focus of her campaign in the run-up to the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. As [yesterday's] New York Times reports, Senator Clinton is demonstrating her leadership on core economic issues by laying out the boldest and most specific plan to help create jobs of any candidate in this race - and she is the only candidate with comprehensive proposals to reduce our dependence on foreign fuels in the long run and provide relief for consumers in the short term." Read more..
"Clinton Accepts Missoula Debate Offer" Meanwhile, "Obama [is] still mulling [the] offer." Read more.
Charming Charlotte: In Charlotte, Hillary "got a star's welcome" from "more than 4,000 supporters" at the Time Warner Cable Arena yesterday "as she entered to a darkened arena with spotlights dancing over a crowd cheering and waving signs." Read More.
Mellencamp in Indiana: Hoosiers for Hillary announced yesterday that legendary Hoosier singer and songwriter John Mellencamp will perform on stage at an event with Hillary in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 3.

okay. 1st up, Meeting Resistance is a great documentary and comes out on dvd next month. i will note that at some point this week but it was cranky baby day today. i don't know if there was a bad dream during nap-time or what but it was be-on-top-of-mommy all day. (i mean that literally. crawling out of my arms to climb around on my shoulders.) i'm not griping. i'm just noting i am worn out. and the big new thing is crying - when it's time to go to sleep - unless mommy's hair can be held. this is apparently not that uncommon and my sister, who called today, said she had a doll made with her hair for her youngest kid.

(if you're new, i don't give out my baby's name here. i use 'bejing,' suggest by my readers. and i don't give out my baby's gender. i am a fairly open person - i've talked about many of marriages and divorces here, for example - but i don't want to post specifics on my baby.)

but meeting resistance is a great documentary. i'll post a press release on it later in the week.

tonight, i couldn't even follow reading it. no reflection on them. they had it lined out very well - in terms of form & style. i am just too drained from the day. and was so tempted, when the baby was finally asleep, to just lie in the bed and go to sleep.

on monday's i've really gotten hooked on Medium (NBC) and that link will allow you to visit the show's website and even watch episodes (for free). monday was the beginning of another multi-arc storyline. in terms of allison's husband joe, his partner has the hots for him. he doesn't know. in terms of allison, she had a nightmare at the start which featured some narration and if you've never seen the show and wondered why patricia arquette won an emmy for this role, check out the opening scene. she ended up with a new (used) car and it turned out that a woman had died in the car (not spoiling it for you, i promise). so that was her case for this episode.

i really do like that show. so does flyboy. a good monday is we have the baby down and are able to watch the show. we've tried tivo-ing but it just piles up. so if we don't watch it 'live,' we don't catch it. for the record, we do take turns with the baby. (not tonight. tonight was his night but the baby just wanted mommy. again, i assume there was a nightmare or maybe a tooth is coming in or something, i don't know.)

and that's going to be it, i really am tired. let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the refugee crisis continues, guess who got tossed under the bus, and more.


Starting with war resistance. Iraq War veteran Agustin Aguayo is a war resister whom the US military resisted/refused to give CO status to although he clearly met the conditions for it. Aguayo took his case to the civilian courts and it was winding through them when he was informed he was being sent back for another tour of Iraq. Aguayo self-checked out to demonstrate how serious he was. Though he turned himself in and did so in less than thirty days, the US military elected to court-martial him for desertion. Aguayo is cureently appealing to the Supreme Court on his CO status. He and his wife Helga Aguayo spoke with the International Socialist Review (no writer credited by the magazine for the article in the March/April Issue).

In it, Agustin Aguayo explains, "When I first went to prison, people started to know who I was because they had read the newspapers, but I didn't want to give myself too much importance at the time. I was really focused on getting out. I got a few letters from active-duty soldiers being very supportive. One person in my unit who was recovering from health problems contacted me. He said that he was told that he would be redeployed again soon and that he wasn't ready, so he decided to go to Canada. I'm not going to say that I completely inspired him to make his decision, but I think he thought about what I went through." Helga Aguayo shares, "It reached outside the peace movement. We got letters from lieutenants saying that they too were fighting -- but they were doing it quietly. There are a lot of soldiers, lieutenants, and captains fighting across the board. I think the most touching one was from a wife. She said that her husband had just had a heart attack and that they still wanted to deploy him. And she said, 'We didn't know it was possible to resist'." It's a very strong interview (and Helga's response to a question right after the section we excerpted is a must-read).


Meanwhile, in Canada, many US war resisters are currently hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Ann Wright, with Susan Dixon, is the author of DISSENT: Voices of Conscience. She is also retired US State Dept (she resigned over the illegal war) and retired military (Army Col.) At ZNet, Wright explores the realities for many women in the service: "The Department of Defense statistics are alarming -- one in three women who join the US military will be sexually assaulted or raped by men in the military. The warnings to women should begin above the doors of the military recruiting stations, as that is where assaults on women in the military begin -- before they are even recruited. But, now, even more alarming, are deaths of women soldiers in Iraq and in the United States following rape. The military has characterized each death of women who were first sexually assaulted as deaths from 'noncombat related injuries,' and then added 'suicide.' Yet, the families of the women whom the military has declared to have committed suicide strongly dispute the findings and are calling for further investigations into the deaths of their daughters. Specific US Army units and certain US military bases in Iraq have an inordinate number of women soldiers who have died of 'noncombat related injuries,' with several identified as 'suicides.' Ninety-four US military women have died in Iraq or during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Twelve US civilian women have been killed in OIF. . . . Of the 94 US military women who died in Iraq or in OIF, the military says 36 died from noncombat related injuries, which included vehicle accidents, illness, death by 'natural causes' and self-inflicted gunshot wounds, or suicide."

Turning to the subject of Iraqi refugees. In Geneva today, Jennifer Pagonis, the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee, explained the UNHCR's latest survey of Iraqi refugees living in Syria found "that 95 percent had fled their homeland because of direct threats or general insecurity and that only 4 percent currently had plans to return to Iraq. . . . The survey revealed that of all those interviewed, only 39 out of 994 people -- or four percent -- are planning to return to Iraq. Of the 39 people, 31 percent plan to return with the next 12 months and the remainder have not set a date." That's Syria. IRIN notes, "A study published in March by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the mental state of Iraqis in Jordan and Lebanon has pointed to mounting social and economic problems as the cause of increased domestic violence." IRIN makes clear tha the half a million in Jordan are facing few job prospects which is a problem since "middle class" Iraqis were more apt to settle in Jordan and the money is gone or going. This comes over a week after the UNCHR pointed out that Bulgaria appears to be making it more difficult for Iraqi refugees to receive status. AAP reports a problem for being granted citizenship in Australia is a fear of "failing Australian's citizenship test test is stopping refugees from applying to become citizens" and "the fail rates" for Iraqis have been "up to 20 per cent, compared to 5 per cent fail rates overall." The UNHCR notes there are 4.7 million Iraqi refugees -- 2 million living outside of Iraq and 2.7 million living within Iraq." Of those outside of the country, the UN notes that 44% of them left "between 2003 and 2006, while 54 per cent left after 2006." It should also be noted that puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki, has gone out of his way to avoid paying assistance to the neighboring countries that have taken in Iraqi refugees. With Serbia writing off $3 billion in Iraqi debt, it'll be interesting to watch al-Maliki come up with his next excuse for not giving aid to those neighboring countries taking in Iraqi refugees. Meanwhile England's Banner Theatre stages a multi-media musical entitled "The get free mobiles . . . don't they?" Keith McKenna (Great Britain's Socialist Worker) reviews the musical and explains, "It is a story of refugees fleeing communities disrupted by the West, told in a series of exciting songs and humorous sketches. These frame filmed interviews with people who have arrived in Brimingham from Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Iraq. The show systematically demolishes the myths about asylum seekers."

In Iraq, the assault on Sadr City continues. Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports, "A four-hour firefight between U.S. forces and militiamen today near the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City left at least 28 people dead, bringing to 73 the number of gunment the U.S. military said it had killed in three days." AFP puts the Sadr City death toll at 37 for today and notes the armed clash Susman describes, adding that four US service members were injured "in the fighting." BBC notes, "Doctors in the area's two hospitals said on Tuesday that they had received a stream of casualties throughout the day, the BBC's Patrick Howse reported from Baghdad. More than 50 people had been injured in the fighting, the doctors said." CBS and AP explain, "AP Television News footage showed men helping women cross the street and children running for cover behind blast walls amid gunshots. Men helped carry several blood-soaked injured people onto stretchers to a local emergency hospital. Outside the hospital, the dead were placed inside plain wooden coffins." Raviya H. Ismail and Shashank Bengali (McClatchy Newspapers) report: "Residents said that the American rocket attacks leveled three houses. Eyewitnesses reported seeing body parts scattered atop the smoldering rubble. Officials at Al Sadr Hospital, one of the main hospitals in the slum, said that 43 injured victims were brought in Tuesday afternoon, including six children and four women. 'In addition (there are) many victims we cannot reach because of the bad security situation,' said a hospital emergency worker who identified himself only as Mohammed. Another hospital official, who asked not to be identified because of security concerns, said that 1,190 injured victims have arrived at the hospital since March 25."

In some of today's other reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Baghdad mortar and rocket attacks claimed 2 lives and left ten people wounded, a Baquba bombing attack on the "Awakening" Council in which a woman detonated a bomb killing herself and claiming the live of 1 "Awakening" Council member and wounded five others, a Baquba roadside bombing that wounded three Iraqi soldiers, a Sadiyah bombing that wounded Samir Al Sadi ("director of Sadiyah town"), claiming the life of 1 of his bodyguards and wounded two more people, a Mosul truck bombing that claimed the life of the trucker and left and Iraqi solider wounded and a Mosul car bombing that claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left five more wounded. AFP notes two Kirkuk bombings -- one in an Iraqi military equipment store calimed 3 lives and left seven people wounded while another claimed the life of 1 person as well as leaving eight injured.

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Dheya al Jodi ("director of the projects in the ministry of labour and social affairs") was shot dead in Baghdad (3 people shot dead in Baquba). (Reuters states he did in a Baghdad roadside bombing.)

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 6 corpses discovered in to the "east of Baquba". Reuters notes 2 corpses discovered "just outside Kirkuk".

Yesterday's snapshot included this: "Zachary Coile (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that House Democrats are tacking on items to the Iraq war spending bill which would indicate there's not going to be an effort to cut off funding. Colie notes it 'is expected to fund the war through the end of the Bush presidency and for nearly six months into the next president's term'." Today Deidre Walsh (CNN) reports that in addition to adding to the war spending bill, a timeline for withdrawal may be added: "Another Democratic aide said the House could probably pass a bill with a timeline and funding for the other domestic items, but the Senate would likely strip out most of them." So, at best, a wash is what's being described. Gordon Trowbridge (The Detroit News) reports on the war budget in terms of the other house of Congress, "The Pentagon will rescind part of a $610 million request for Iraq reconstruction spending that Sen. Carl Levin had described as "unacceptable," Levin's office announced Tuesday. In a letter to Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the department would withdraw a request to spend $171 million of the money on construction of Iraqi police stations. Gates said he would ask the Iraqi government to pay for the police stations."

Turning to US presidential politics. Jeremiah Wright's publicity tour continues to draw attention. Alessandra Stanley (New York Times) observes, "Mr. Wright's demystification process began on PBS on Friday. Bill Moyers, the host who knows and obviously admires Mr. Wright, gave the pastor every chance to elaborate on his bona fides . . . Mostly, he gave his guest a chance to show his softer side". Howard Kurtz (Washington Post) points out, "Moyers's question after this diatribe: 'When people saw the sound bites from it this year, they thought you were blaming America. Did you somehow fail to communicate?' Thought he was blaming America? Where did anyone get that idea? 'You cannot do terrorism on other people and not expect it to come back on you,' Wright said yesterday. For good measure, he also defended Louis Farrakhan. I sure wish Moyers had found time during his hour to ask Wright why he's pushing the lie that the government created the AID virus to kill blacks." [Ava and I address the nonsense of Wright & Moyers here.] Dana Milbank (Washington Post) covers Wright's speech to the National Press Club yesterday (link has text and video):

From the moment he entered the room, Wright seemed to be looking to stir controversy; he was escorted by Jamil Muhammad, a leader of the Nation of Islam, which contributed to the minister's prominent security detail. Speaking before an audience that included Marion Barry, Cornel West, the New Black Panther Party's Malik Zulu Shabazz and Nation of Islam protocol director Claudette Muhammad, Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, defended the view that Zionism is racism, accused the United States of terrorism, repeated his belief that the government created AIDS to extinguish racial minorities, and stood by his suggestion that "G** damn America."

Deliah Boyd (A Scriverner's Lament) traces the Sunday-Monday evolution of Barack Obama from some of the comments by Wright have offended him to Barack's refusal to "look reporters in the eye and defend" Wright while he spoke. Andrea Mitchell's report on NBC's Today this morning (link is just video) demonstrates how Barack refused to make contact and spent the bulk of the time while speaking staring at the ground. Frank James (Baltimore Sun) reminds, "The problem for Obama is that he has already said that he can't or won't disown Wright. In his race speech in Philadelphia, he essentially said he could no more break with Wright than he could African-Americans generally" -- or his own 'White grandmother' -- "After such declarative statements, Obama is pretty much stuck with a Wright who has already absolved himself of any further damage he may do to his former congregant. Wright basically was announcing his conscience will be clear." ABC News' Jake Tapper noted this morning, "Democratic sources tell ABC News that Wright is unquestionably worrying superdelegates about Obama's electability." And CNN's Eliott C. McLaughling explained this morning, "Wright, who performed Obama's marriage and baptized both of his children, appears unremorseful about the fiery sermons that made their way on to YouTube and led to his ouster from an advisory committee the Obama campaign."

This morning? Barack Obama, eye on the White House, held a press conference today where he declared that was "outraged" by Wright's remarks and attempted to claim, "The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive" blah blah blah. His comments yesterday (what Milbank covered) were no different than his comments in the clips ABC's Good Morning America aired last month. The ones that led Mr. Pretty Words to give his big speech in Philadelphia about love-love-hope-hope. And yet now they're offensive? He sat through those remarks for 20 years. How stupid does he think (hope?) voters are? Larry Johnson (No Quarter) is terming it "Barack's triple back flip". Taylor Marsh breaks it down: "So today, Obama in a press conference stated he was "shocked" about Rev. Wright's statements yesterday. Is Senator Obama really saying that he didn't realize that Wright was spewing anti-American sentiments all this time? That he was unaware of Wright's political leanings from the pulpit? It defies credibility." VastLeft (Corrente) keeps it simple, "Welcome, Reverend Wright!" (implying Wright should join all the others Barack's thrown under the bus).

The other Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton is in the news as well. Fernando Suarez (CBS News) notes that North Carolina Governor Mike Easley endorsed her today and stated, "I never, never thought the United States of America could get in as much trouble as we have over the last seven or eight years. It's going to take someobdy special. Somebody smart, somebody who understands it, somebody who has experience to get in there, turn it around immediately and she can do that." Meanwhile Jo Mannies (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) reports that "U.S. Rep Ike Skelton, D-Lexington" has endorsed Hillary as well. Skelton is the chair of the House Armed Services Committee. Meanwhile Mike Glover and Beth Fouhy (AP) report:

Democrat Barack Obama dismissed his rivals' calls for national gas tax holiday as a political ploy that won't help struggling consumers. Hillary Rodham Clinton said his stance shows he's out of touch with the economic realities faced by ordinary citizens.
[. . .]
Clinton, who toured the Miller Veneers wood manufacturing company in Indianapolis, said "there are a lot of people in Indiana who would really benefit from a gas tax holiday.
"That might not mean much to my opponent, but I think it means a lot to people who are struggling here, people who commute a long way to work, farmers and truckers," Clinton said. She has called for a windfall tax on oil companies to pay for a gas tax holiday.
"Senator Obama won't provide relief, while Senator McCain won't pay for it," Clinton said. "I'm the only candidate who will provide immediate relief at the pump, with a plan."

Clinton's exactly right and it's one more sign of how Barack doesn't get rural or Small Town voters -- the bulk of whom have to drive elsewhere to work (or drive elsewhere as part of their work -- whether taking cattle to auction, driving a truck, what have you). Hillary details her plan here. At her campaign site, Jamie Radice interviews Jim Stammerman to find out why he's supporting Hillary:

Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I'm from Louisville, born and raised. I grew up in a blue-collar family where politics was always discussed. I went to Bellarmine College and then University of Kentucky for graduate school. I actually ended up being Vice President of the Jefferson County Young Democratic club. One of my most prized possessions is an autograph from JFK.
Q: So is everyone in your family interested in politics:
A: I'm actually a third generation precinct captain. My older brother Bill was the County Co-Chairman for Hillary in Dallas County, Iowa. I actually went out to Iowa in January and helped him volunteer. My other brother Ken served 27 years in the U.S. Foreign Service.
Q: What's the first campaign you volunteered on?
A: Kennedy. We actually chased the Kennedy caravan down Forth Street (laughter). There was a big parade and he spoke in front of the County Courthouse to about 25,000 people. We made signs, wore JFK hats and buttons, it was exciting.
Q: Why are you a Democratic?
A: I think the Democratic Party does more for the common good. I think a lot of the things that are really great about America came out of the Democratic Party leadership: social security, medicare, wage protection.
Q: Why are you supporting Hillary?
A: I think she's a very intelligent person, a very experienced person. There is no doubt in my mind that she'll make a great leader.
Q: What's a typical day like volunteering?
A: There really isn't a typical day. I like meeting people so this works well for me. However, we have all sorts of things for volunteers to do, make signs, call voters, there really is something for everyone.
Q: Why do you think the people of Kentucky should vote for Hillary?
A: Hillary shares the same values as most of the people of Kentucky. For example, Hillary is very involved in education and Kentucky needs a good education President. I worked in higher education for more than 30 years so this has always been an important issue for me.

opening with howard wolfson's 'MEMO: Economic Leadership = Jobs, Jobs, Jobs' (hillaryclinton.com):

Hillary Clinton's economic leadership has been key to her victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania and will be the focus of her campaign in the run-up to the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.
As today's New York Times reports, Senator Clinton is demonstrating her leadership on core economic issues by laying out the boldest and most specific plan to help create jobs of any candidate in this race -- and she is the only candidate with comprehensive proposals to reduce our dependence on foreign fuels in the long run and provide relief for consumers in the short term.
Today, she will unveil a plan to suspend the gas tax paid for out of oil company profits in order to give drivers price relief during the upcoming peak driving months of summer. Unlike Senator McCain, Senator Clinton's plan is paid for and will not raid the highway trust fund. Senator Clinton also has the most detailed, comprehensive trade agenda to ensure that trade is not a race to the bottom and has a bold housing agenda that would freeze foreclosures and create a moratorium on subprime resets. And she would take away $55 billion in special interest tax breaks and put that money back in the pockets of middle class Americans.
While Senator Obama retools his stump speech to reach middle and working class voters, Senator Clinton is going to continue doing what she has successfully done in Ohio and Pennsylvania -- reach out to those Americans who work hard for a living and need a champion in the White House to help them in this difficult economy.
In Pennsylvania, 55% of voters identified the economy as their number one issue -- Senator Clinton won that group 59-41. In Ohio, 40% of voters said the economy was poor -- Senator Clinton won that group by 16 points. Senator Clinton's specific economic plans -- on green collar jobs, on tax relief, on reducing fuel costs for consumers and taking on the oil industry -- has clearly resonated with the voters most concerned about the state of the economy.
By contrast, Senator Obama continues to perform poorly with blue collar voters, raising serious concerns about his ability to successfully compete in key industrial swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. He does do well with those voters who say the economy is good (7% of the electorate in Pennsylvania) or those who are not at all worried about the state of the economy (12% in Texas), but as the economy worsens that group will likely continue to diminish.
Indeed, it is the leadership that Senator Clinton demonstrates on this critical issue that accounts in part for her consistent success in winning over those voters who decided in the last 3 days of the campaign (18 point margins with those voters in both Pennsylvania and Texas). As voters consider the serious challenges facing the nation and the next President in the closing days of these contests, they are choosing the candidate they believe can best be the steward of our economy in rocky times.
As this campaign continues, Senator Clinton will continue to stress the economy in her stump speech and will make clear that, unlike Senator Obama, she knows consumers need relief from gas taxes and deserve a President who has consistently been willing to take on big oil as opposed to awarding it billions in giveaways -- as Senator Obama did when he voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill.

that's the smart candidate, let's turn to the loser. this is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working Class Barack"



poor bambi. what a loser.

dana milbank at the washington post has been all over jeremiah wright's 'victory' tour and i think this may be milbank's best piece on the topic. here's a bit of it:

Most problematic for the Democratic presidential front-runner was Wright's suggestion that Obama was insincere in distancing himself from his former pastor. "He didn't distance himself," Wright announced. "He had to distance himself, because he's a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American." Wright spoke of friends who told him that "we both know that if Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected," and he said of his past parishioner: "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls."
And that apparent decision by Obama to exclude Wright from his presidential kickoff announcement? Didn't happen. "I started it off downstairs with him, his wife and children, in prayer."

has any 1 thought about this? in terms of obama, i mean. jeremiah wright is repugnant and wallowing in that. (bill moyers must feel like a real idiot right now - and should. read ava and c.i.'s 'TV: Mission Impossible') he has to denounce wright. he has to say wright does not speak for him. and he has. but the question is why it's taken so long. wright is being wright. and barack obama was more than okay with it for 20 years.

that's the wall he's going to slam into with voters. jeremiah wright is disgusting. he's enjoying being disgusting. it has to be called out. but it's who jeremiah wright was and is. and barack was a-okay with that for 20 years. he was happy to have that man educating his children. he was happy with jeremiah wright.

it's the same jeremiah wright. barack's planned run for the presidency should have included picking a new church. he should have left that church a long time ago, no question. but once he was planning his run (long before he announced), he should have gone shopping for a new church. then he could say, 'i left that church.' instead, he's the man who stayed and the excuse that wright was retiring this year is no excuse at all, not after 20 years.

now north carolina's governor endorsed hillary today.

it may or may not be related. i think hillary's the best person for the presidency.

but it is true that the republicans put an ad online (that the cable and broadcast 'news' couldn't stop running for free) that makes it clear that those standing with barack are not standing with america.

that's an important point whether you agree with it or not. that charge is going to be made repeatedly in the coming weeks and, remember c.i.'s point back in january? super delegates are not 'pledged.' they can change their votes at any time. that's what really happens at real party conventions. deal making, trading, etc. there is no 'counting' of the super delegates before the final vote. forget it. it can all change.

and as people find themselves having to explain to their constituents, people who are super delegates and holding elected office, they may start flipping.

wright is out of the mainstream. wright is tied to barack.

if i lived in a state where this could hurt my own election, i'd be thinking about withdrawing my support for barack. be honest, not many are going to go down for the good of barack. those with their own elections to worry about are looking at the press and wondering exactly when this is blowing over? it's not blowing over. and if barack gets the nomination, it will be in the general election. it won't just be used to smear barack.

____ wants to be our ___ and yet s/he supports barack obama, the man whose preacher damned america, the man who .... roll clips. it's a nightmare.

and if they stay with him, they will be risking their own elections.

this is a nightmare for barack's campaign.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Monday, April 28, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, the assault on Sadr City continues, and more.

Starting with war resisters. On Friday Leif Kamunen was arrested. Who? The Kamunen brothers first show in the June 4th 2007 snapshot. Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) reported on Luke Kamunen who "began to wonder if he'd made a mistake the moment he arrived for basic training" as did his brother Leif and "Jan. 2, the twins, age 21, and their brother Leo, 20, went AWOL from the Army. All three failed to return to basic training after Christmas break in northern Minnesota." Luke had been arrested, "jailed in Carlton Country for a week and then flown to Fort Knox, KY., where he was given an 'other than honorable discharge'." Joel Bleifuss (In These Times) observed then, "For the Kamunens, blood is thicker than oil. And they are not alone in knowing that living at home beats dying in Iraq." From the June 13th snapshot:

Kim Johnson, Duluth's WDIO, reports on Luke Kamunen who, like his two twin brothers Leo and Leif, self-checked out of the US military on the Christmas break and notes, "The brothers' story is not an isolated one. In fact, the Department of Defense reports desertions have risen 35 percent in the past two years -- from more than 2,400 in 2004 to about 3,300 in 2006" and notes that Luke Kamunen "was surprised" to encounter many others who had done the same "when he was detained by the military".

Now you may be noting MSM outlets plus Joel Bleifuss and that's correct. Dropping back to the November 9, 2007 snapshot:

It's also worth noting that many other resisters went public in the wake of Watada: Darrell Anderson, Agustin Augyo, Kyle Snyder, Mark Wilcox, Ricky Clousing and . . . stop there. Stop there and don't continue because that's how All Things Media Big and Small, with every few exceptions, have treated 2007's crop of war resisters. Despite the fact that 2007 is set to be a record year -- according to the military's own official numbers -- for war resistance, emerging war resisters fell off the media map. James Burmeister was the strongest example. Either you followed Canadian media or you caught NOW with David Brancaccio or you didn't have a clue. Too bad for everyone because the last week of September "kill teams" (US service members setting out equpiment as traps to shoot Iraqis) would become a huge story but Burmeister was telling the story when he went public in June of 2007. Eli Israel would remain "Eli Who?" to All Things Media Big and Small despite the fact that he became the first war resister resisting publicly while stationed in Iraq. The Kamunen brothers? In These Times could find them when no one else in independent media could or would. The mainstream media showed some interest because three brothers -- Leo, Leif and Luke -- all electing to self-checkout over the same Christmas 2006 holiday was news . . . to some.

That was true then and it's true now. War resisters going public in 2007 (Class of 2007) were completely ignored by Panhandle Media and that hasn't changed a bit -- not even when they try to sell a really bad 'book' (just out this month, and already stinking up shelves) that claims how much they care about "standing up" and covering war resisters. Yeah, we're talking Amy Goodman and today's program continues her long, long silence on the Kamunen brothers. Will the silence be unbroken, Amy, will the silence be unbroken? It takes a lot of nerve to hype your cut and paste 'book' on the backs of war resisters when you refused to cover anyone emerging in months. (It starts with Ivan Brobeck -- see "The Full Brobeck" -- who turned himself in on election day 2006 and Goody had no time for her. She would later interview Kyle Snyder -- on the run at the time -- but Snyder had already been discussed on the program, by an attorney, before The Full Brobeck.) Since November 2006, Amy Goodman has not introduced any new war resister to her audience (and, let's be clear, that's not due to the fact that she's been chatting non-stop with Ehren Watada -- she's not been. In fact, she 'covered' Watada's Feb. 2007 court-martial by broadcasting a video report made by Truthout and posted at Truthout. Goody's had other things to do. So she misses Eli Israel (the first service member to publicly resist while stationed in Iraq), James Burmeister (who remember has turned himself in), Skylar James, Ross Spears, Brad McCall . . . It's a long, long list. War resistance didn't stop -- only the coverage did.

Over the weekend (Friday, 11:29 p.m.), Randy Furst (Minnesota Star Tribune) reported that
Leif was arrested "when he and his girlfriend pulled out of the Cartlon driveway on Friday morning in her grandfather's red Tacoma pickup truck. His girlfriend, Angela Martini, said that Leif, 22, had gotten wind the military was after him and was planning to turn himself in to an Army office in Duluth after being AWOL for nearly 16 months." AP notes: "Leif Kamunen's girlfriend, Angela Martini, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Friday that Leif had assumed that the Army would not have him arrested. She said he had spoken with someone in the Army last year who told him there was nothing in the Army computer about him and he should just go about living his life."

Meanwhile, in Canada, many US war resisters are currently hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

In Iraq, the assault on Sadr City continues. CNN notes 8 deaths and twenty-eight injured from Friday night to Saturday morning. CNN notes the US military claims 7 Iraqis killed from Saturday night to Sunday morning. Today Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports that the US military states ("since Sunday") they have killed 38 people in Sadr city while officials in Sadr City state "they have received 24 dead and more than 100 wounded since 8 a.m. Sunday. The victims included women and children, they said." AFP notes the number dead has risen to 45. CNN notes that Sadiq al-Rikabi ("adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki") has stated the assault on Sadr City will continue: "the militias must hand in all heavy and medium weapons; hand over people wanted for arrest; and keep out of the affairs of Iraqi security forces, government institutions and reconstruction projects." Alissa J. Rubin and Erica Goode (New York Times) report that Qassim Atta ("an aide to Mr. Sadr in Najaf") stated the central government in Baghdad was attempting "to resolve political differences by force." Sunday saw people power and natural forces. On the latter, Sholnn Freeman (Washington Post) reported "a sandstorm blanketed Baghdad on Sunday" and, despite US claims that attacks on the Green Zone were "nearly eliminated," the cover of the sandstorm allowed mulitple mortar attacks to be launched on the Green Zone while Slobodan Lekic (AP) observes, "The near-daily shelling of the Green Zone has become acutely embarrassing for both Iraqi authorities and the U.S. military." . On the former, Hussein Kadhim and Raviya H. Ismail (McClatchy Newspapers) reported, "About 50 leaders representing a variety of Iraqi political blocs took to Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, a stronghold of firey religious leader Muqtada al Sadr, to protest the U.S.-led siege of that area" and quoted Nassar al Rubaie explaining, "We have a delegation meeting with Maliki to let him know the real situation going on in the city. We have lawmakers from different blocs and parties to come and watch the situation on the ground." Rubin and Goode quote Azzad Barbani ("a member of Parliament from the Kurdistan Democratic Party") explaining, "What is different about this delegation is that it is composed of all kinds of Iraqis" and the reporters note, "At stake is the outcome of October provincial elections in which other Shiite parties in the government stand to lose seats to Mr. Sadr's supporters." And that wasn't the only gathering taking place on Sunday. Farah Stockman (Boston Globe) reports that, in Helsinki, behind closed doors, "a group of rival members of Iraq's parliament and tribale leaders" met throughout the weekend "for the first time for a futher round of talks that they hope will lay the foundation for peace in their troubled country." Reuters notes the following participants at the Helsinki meeting: "Minister of Dialogue and National Reconciliation Akram al-Hakim, chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee Sheikh Humam Hamoudi, Fouad Maasoom of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union (PUK), Shi'ite Dawa Party parliamentary leader Ali al-Adeeb and Osama al-Tikriti from the Sunni Arab Iraqi Islamic Party". Colin O'Carroll (Belfast News Letter) explains that the group was "advised on peace-making by former sworn enemies Jeffrey Donaldson and Martin McGuinness."

Another continue action is the fighting between the PKK in northern Iraq and the Turkish military. Reuters notes, "Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq are 'unfortunate' and will do little to address Ankara's concerns about security, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said on Monday." Hurriyet reports, "Turkey expects an increase in the contacts with the Kurdish administration of northern Iraq in the coming days, Turkey's foreign minister said on Monday. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan added such contacts could occur at various diplomatic levels and are important for fighting terrorists and for Iraq as a whole. Babacan's remarks signalled a softening of the Turkish stance towards Iraqi Kurds." AFP points out how long the Turkish military's attacks have been going on and notes tensions lowered following Jalal Talabani (Iraq's President) visiting Ankara and stating he would join Turkey in rooting out the PKK, "But Turkey's ties with the administration of northern Iraq, led by Massud Barzamo, remain chilly and the United States has often called on both sides to mend fences. The PKK has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives." In the midst of this ("amid Iraq's highest mountains between the Iranian and Turkish borders"), Sam Dagher (Christian Science Monitor) reports on Kurdish Taha Barwari ["minister of sports and youth for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)"] who hopes the creation of "33 recreational centers around the region" will ease some of the tensions within the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Ghassan Charbel (Dar Al Hayat) offers this analysis of Turkey's interests: "Turkey looks at the region and becomes anxious. Its Iraqi neighbor wallows in the midst of a bloody storm; occupation, terrorism, resistance and sectarian conflict. Any permanent disintegration in Iraq would carry the Kurdish fires into the Turkish house. Iraq's unity controls the liminits of federalism and curbs Iran's ability to pull the strings in Iraq. This is why Turkey has an interest in a united and democratic Iraq with no room on its territories for a small independent Kurdish state or for the tiny state of al-Zawahiri."

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Baghdad mortar attacks wounded ten people today, a US air bombing in Baghdad that wounded two people, a Baghdad motor cycle bombing that claimed 1 life and left three people wounded, 3 Baghdad raodside bombings that wounded ten people.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash in Diyala Province that claimed the lives of 5 "Awakening" Council members while "a Sadrist leader" was shot dead in Basra and his wife was wounded.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 6 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
is no longer available online. Today the US military notes that the corpses of 2 Iraqi police officers "were discovered in Tikrit, April 27. The two policemen were reportedly off-duty traveling in a privately-owned vehicle when they were fired upon by another vehicle." Aseel Kami (The Scotscman) reports 50 corpses were discovered in Diyala Province Sunday.

CBS and AP report: "The U.S. military says three American soldiers have been killed in a rocket or mortar attack in eastern Baghdad." AP adds, "A fourth U.S. soldier was killed by a shell in western Baghdad, the military said." That brings the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4056 with 44 for the month so far making it the deadiest month for US service members since last September.


Turning to the US, Zachary Coile (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that House Democrats are tacking on items to the Iraq war spending bill which would indicate there's not going to be an effort to cut off funding. Colie notes it "is expected to fund the war through the end of the Bush presidency and for nearly six months into the next president's term." Noting press reports, Team Nader writes, "Nader-Gonzalez would set a six-month deadline to get out of Iraq. McCain/Clinton/Obama would not. This past weekend, Ralph Nader toured Hillary Clinton's home state of New York. From Buffalo to Syracuse to the north country, Nader made the point -- time to get out of Iraq. Nader is in Connecticut today, and then on to Vermont. As Ralph Nader continues his 50-state peace campaign, our supporters are working to get Nader-Gonzalez on ballots all across this country. From Maine to California, and Florida to Alaska. Come November, we hope to give the citizens of the United States a choice." At the end of March, Team Nader took on independent media. They have also taken to task others including Medea Benjamin who chose to respond and Nader's 2004 running mate Peter Camejo has responded to Benjamin:

I was stunned to see Medea Benjamin complaining to the Nader/Gonzalez campaign because the campaign had used the word "shameful" in referring to "progressive" Democrats who had supported the pro-war, pro-Patriot Act, anti-labor, and anti-environmental candidate John Kerry in 2004.
I have great personal admiration for Medea Benjamin for many of the stands and actions she has taken through the years. But her capitulation to the Democratic Party has been truly disappointing.
Medea Benjamin eventually joined the "progressive" Democrats and has become an active supporter of the Democratic Party.
Without the Democratic Party's support, Bush's war policies could never have been implemented. The Democrats voted in Congress a resolution that included the phrase, "unequivocal support for George Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq."

Turning to an idiot. Natalee Holloway (not the idiot) is a young woman who disappeared in Aruba and has never been found. Her parents are hopeful that she'll be found. Keep that in mind while you read this: "One 18-year-old white girl from Alabama gets drunk on a graduation trip to Aruba, goess off and 'gives it up' while in a foreign country, and that stays in the news for months! Maybe I am missing something!" The brains to butt the hell out of a tragedy instead of using it for your own cheap gain, instead of talking smutty and thinking you're cute. That trash being quoted? Jeremiah Wright. He is trash and he owes the Holloway family a public apology. And Barack Obama needs to condemn very loudly this nonsense. But he won't. He never does. It's why he keeps being asked about Wright. Bill Moyers was happy to gloss over facts while sitting down with Wright last week. As Ava and I noted, Natalee's name wasn't once raised by Bill Moyers. "Garlic noses" wasn't raised by Bill either. Nor did Moyers explore Wright's claim that AIDS was a government plot to destroy African-Americans. We did get to find out that Wright and Moyers are both idiots who believe the Jewish faith includes the New Testament. We did get to hear Wright express disgust of sodomy. We got to hear the allegedly 'educated' man reject a slogan that doesn't exist ("My government right or wrong" -- he meant "My country right or wrong"), It was all a lot of nonsense. Joan Walsh (Salon) addresses the damning of America here as well as Wright's comparing the attacks on 9-11 to a slave rebellion. On the program and in the near constant press since, Wright's described himself as lynched, crucified, and just about everything you can think of. To buy any of that, you'd have to believe the greatest victim of Wright's trashy and hateful mouth is Jeremiah Wright. William Branigin (Washington Post) reports that Wright appears to now be questioning Dick Cheney's patriotism. While the president of vice is greedy, questioning his patriotism hardly seems the way to win people over to your side. Dana Milbank (Washington Post) evaluates today's performance at the National Press Club, "It seemed as if Wright, jokingly offering himself as Obama's vice president, was actually trying to doom Obama; a member of the head table, American Urban Radio's April Ryan, confirmed that Wright's security was provided by bodyguards from Farrakhan's Nation of Islam" and Milbank picks that performance as the one people may point back to "months from now" if Obama's campaign tanks. Milbank also notes that Wright "renewed his belief that the government created AIDS as a means of genocide against people of color". Larry Johnson (No Quarter) weighs in on Wright here. Obama has his other problems including stabbing every supporter in the back on Fox "News" yesterday. The best take on that is also the funniest, VastLeft (Corrente) has transcribed the conversation with editorial comments.

Former President Bill Clinton is on the campaign trail of Senator Hillary Clinton. Scott Zumwalt (HillaryClinton.com) notes Bill Clinton's trip to Oregon resulted in over 10,000 Oregonians turning out. Toby Harnden (Telegraph of London) quotes Bill Clinton on why Barack Obama refuses to debate her, "I think I know the answer to the question why only one candidate wants to debate, because I saw the debate in Pennsylvania. And afterwards, 41 per cent of the voters watched it, and by 52 per cent to 22 per cent they said Hillary won." Lexi Cribbs has a photo essay of Hillary campaigning in Jacksonville, North Carolina. We'll close with this from Howard Wolfson's "MEMO: Economic Leadership = Jobs, Jobs, Jobs:"

Hillary Clinton's economic leadership has been key to her victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania and will be the focus of her campaign in the run-up to the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.
As today's New York Times reports, Senator Clinton is demonstrating her leadership on core economic issues by laying out the boldest and most specific plan to help create jobs of any candidate in this race -- and she is the only candidate with comprehensive proposals to reduce our dependence on foreign fuels in the long run and provide relief for consumers in the short term.
Today, she will unveil a plan to suspend the gas tax paid for out of oil company profits in order to give drivers price relief during the upcoming peak driving months of summer. Unlike Senator McCain, Senator Clinton's plan is paid for and will not raid the highway trust fund. Senator Clinton also has the most detailed, comprehensive trade agenda to ensure that trade is not a race to the bottom and has a bold housing agenda that would freeze foreclosures and create a moratorium on subprime resets. And she would take away $55 billion in special interest tax breaks and put that money back in the pockets of middle class Americans.
While Senator Obama retools his stump speech to reach middle and working class voters, Senator Clinton is going to continue doing what she has successfully done in Ohio and Pennsylvania -- reach out to those Americans who work hard for a living and need a champion in the White House to help them in this difficult economy.

Actually, one more thing. NOW on PBS has won the 3008 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best TV Documentary for their investigative report "Child Brides: Stolen Lives" which was reported by Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa. The episode can be viewed online here. So congratulations to NOW on PBS, Hinojosa and everyone else working on the half-hour program which airs on Friday nights on most PBS stations (check local listings).

The Miami Herald reports:
Rallies are planned Saturday in seven Florida cities, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, to demand that the national party count Florida's delegates. Hundreds of activists are also expected to ride buses to Washington to rally Wednesday. .
"This has to do with our civil rights," said Millie Herrera, a potential Clinton convention delegate and the president of the Hispanic Democratic Caucus of Florida. "No one has the right to invalidate our votes."

that's from tennessee guerilla women's 'Count Our Votes: Florida Protests Begin this Week' and florida is fighting for what they deserve. after 2000, no democrat should attempt to deprive florida or disenfranchise them.

i was forwarded the piece of crap laura santina wrote about hillary. santina's not a democrat and she's also an idiot. i've linked to her before when she's had something to say. but she has nothing to say today. she wants to play 'i know now so this was wrong then!' she's 1 more useless piece of trash and goodness knows panhandle media is nothing but a toilet these days. laura santina's the thing you need to flush down. though, no doubt, she would argue that flushing is bad and oppressive and imperalistic. she embraces crap.

i guess it's a case of like attracting like.

i was talking to others trying to post tonight and we're all having the same problem which is we'd really love to let it rip but jim thinks we've got a strong edition coming at third. c.i. and ava are sick as dogs, they are coughing, they are sneezing. i hope jim's not thinking there's going to be a miracle cure between now and tomorrow night.

but i'll pull my punches here because if they are still sick, we're going to need to really focus. ava and c.i. do so much. they are heavy hitters. jim and dona are as well. and every 1 is strong but we all do say, 'oh well, ava and c.i. will fix it.' or 'ava and c.i.'s tv commentary will save the edition.'

they were speaking about iraq tonight to the study group and they did a great job but then they were asked to talk about hillary's win this week. and they did a great job of that but i could tell they were about to fall over. c.i.'s already said, 'if it's not iraq, it's not going up at the common ills tomorrow. i'm too tired.'

that doesn't refer to the hubdate but it does refer to other things that usually get noted.

speaking of crackpots, dave lindorff has a hideous piece of trash article (trash writes trash) at common dreams. i'm tempted to link to it for the comments (dave gets louder and more shrill in his comments) but i'll just repost some to demonstrate that it's people like dave lindorff who are destroying their christ-child with their non-stop lies and, in the process, destroying panhandle media.

Jacob Freeze April 24th, 2008 1:11 am
Dave Lindorff keeps talking about how Obama’s “supporters” are going to make him more progressive after he gets elected, but it’s “supporters” like Dave Lindorff with his ludicrous hate speech about Hillary Clinton that turned a lot of us against the Obama campaign.
“She’s also a crook and a greedhead.”
Where does Mr. Lindorff get off with his miserable hate speech about a Democratic Senator from New York and the first viable woman candidate for President?

yeah, that's davy. here's some 1 calling lindorff out for his hypocrisy:

common_cracker April 23rd, 2008 5:29 pm
i find it somewhat ironic that the guy who wrote a book entitled “the case for impeachment” supports a candidate who has done nothing to impeach bush. oh, that’s right, it’s “off the table.” why are you giving BHO (or HRC) your vote for free?

yeah people are waking up.

Kernel April 23rd, 2008 4:27 pm
So Hillary beats Obama by 10% in Pennsylvania and his supporters never think of blaming him for a poor campaign.Instead, it is Hillary`s fault that she won. Maybe Obama should have realized that just wasting enormous sums of money on ads can be overdone. People want some real ideas in a candidate, not just talk.

true that.

COMarc April 23rd, 2008 3:20 pm
I’m still amazed at this con the Dems are trying to run of trying to get people to support Obama not on the basis of what he’ll say he’ll do, but instead on the complete fiction that he’ll be a secret revolutionary who’ll reform everything if only we have the faith to elect him.
I know this. Wall St has poured millions into his campaign. I rather doubt that they are giving away millions to put a secret revolutionary into the White House.
Have we really sunk so low that the con the Dems are running is to try to get people to vote for their Wall St backed candidate on the mythical belief that he’s really someone completely different than anything he’s shown as a candidate or a senator? Absolutely amazing.

comarc, you don't know how low dave lindorff has sunk. here he is explaining why he's for barack and how barack's different:

the more so a black candidate who has risked jail by doing drugs, and who has relatives TODAY living in the Third World (Kenya).

yeah, dave lindorff is for barack because he 'risked jail by doing drugs'! go davey, show your stupidity. it's the death of your career. go davey, bury yourself.

Rich Griffin April 23rd, 2008 12:21 pm
He outspent her 3-to-1; he had 10,000 t.v. ads; he gets away with being unspecific as to what he would actually DO; the media loves him; she allegedly can’t catch up delegates-wise; she’s evil and he’s a hero!; he’s a man and she’s an evil woman… and he still LOST! By 10 points!
He is pro-military spending, pro-war, pro-corporate politics as usual, has shown ZERO leadership as a U.S. Senator; has, by his own admission, no real passion; he IS elitist; he’s a MALE and she’s an evil FEMALE; he wants “civility” (read: tilt rightward) - oh, yes, we MUST vote for him.
Say “NO” to the cult of Barack Obama!

it really is a cult and dave lindorff is a lowly peon trying out for high priest.

this is howard wolfson's 'HUBdate: Fair is Fair' (hillaryclinton.com):

Fair is Fair: In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Clinton campaign strategist Geoff Garin writes: "The bottom line is that one campaign really has engaged in a mean-spirited, unfair character attack on the other candidate -- but it has been Obama’s campaign, not ours. You would be hard-pressed to find significant analogues from our candidate, our senior campaign officials or our advertising to the direct personal statements that the Obama campaign has made about Clinton." Read More.
$$$: "Hillary Clinton raised $10 million in the 24 hours after winning the Pennsylvania primary, aided by contributions from 80,000 new donors." Read more and keep it going at http://www.hillaryclinton.com/.
An Open Letter From Dr. Maya Angelou: Poet and activist Dr. Maya Angelou wrote an open letter about her commitment to Hillary’s candidacy. "Hillary does not waver in standing up for those who need a champion.... I am supporting Hillary Clinton because I know that she will make the most positive difference in people's lives and she will help our country become what it can be." Read More.
In Case You Missed It: Paul Krugman writes in today's NYT: "From the beginning, I wondered what Mr. Obama's soaring rhetoric, his talk of a new politics and declarations that 'we are the ones we’ve been waiting for' (waiting for to do what, exactly?) would mean to families troubled by lagging wages, insecure jobs and fear of losing health coverage. The answer, from Ohio and Pennsylvania, seems pretty clear: not much. Mrs. Clinton has been able to stay in the race, against heavy odds, largely because her no-nonsense style, her obvious interest in the wonkish details of policy, resonate with many voters in a way that Mr. Obama’s eloquence does not." Read more.
Bringing Troops Home with Honor: Yesterday, Hillary highlighted policies for veterans at "Solutions for America" events in Fayetteville and Asheville, NC. It's rare for a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to endorse a candidate but General Hugh Shelton is backing HRC. In NC yesterday, he said: "Unlike any other candidate, [Hillary] understands that maintaining a well-prepared armed forces goes beyond providing dollars....She is the only candidate who has offered a responsible plan for bringing our troops home with honor." Read more.
Electable…Without FL or OH? The Obama campaign released a memo yesterday on electability, but as Chris Cilizza highlights, "two states that are not mentioned in the Obama memo are Florida, the key battleground in the 2000 presidential race, and Ohio, the Florida of the 2004 contest." Read more.
Debate Watch: Hillary is willing to debate Sen. Obama in North Carolina, Oregon, and Indiana while Sen. Obama continues to resist. His excuse today: "It’' not clear that another debate is going to be the best use of our time." Meanwhile Sen. Evan Bayh said this yesterday: “We have thousands of people in Indiana who...deserve an opportunity to see both candidates stand side by side...We in Indiana don’t want to be treated as second-class citizens." Read more and more.
Today on the Trail: In North Carolina, Hillary hosts a "Solutions for America" event in Jacksonville, NC. In Indiana, she hosts "Solutions for the American Economy" events in Bloomington, East Chicago, and Fort Wayne. She also meets with steelworkers to discuss creating and protecting jobs in Gary.

so that's going to be it tonight. hope every 1 has a great weekend. remember hillary won. and it's driving the crackpots even more nutty!

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Friday, April 25, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, an oversight exploration announces Iraqi Forces figures are wrong, the VA scandals continue and more.

Starting with war resistance. Claudia Feldman (Houston Chronicle) reported a week ago on consientious objector Hart Vines and his participation at Iraq Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier (IVAW's Ronn Cantu who started the first IVAW chapter in Texas, at Fort Hood, is also covered in the article). Feldman reports:

One of his jobs in Iraq was to stand guard with a .50-caliber machine gun while his buddies searched houses supposedly inhabited by insurgents and enemy combatants. At the conference, searches of that kind were described vividly. Sometimes soldiers kicked in the front doors. Sometimes they upended refrigerators and ripped stoves out of walls. Sometimes they turned drawers upside down and broke furniture.
One day Viges was instructed to search a suspicious house, a hut, really, but he couldn't find pictures of Saddam Hussein, piles of money, AK-47s or roadside bombs.
"The only thing I found was a little .22 pistol," Viges said, " ... but we ended up taking the two young men, regardless."
An older woman, probably the mother of the young men, watched and wailed nearby.
"She was crying in my face, trying to kiss my feet," Viges said. "And, you know, I can't speak Arabic, but I can speak human. She was saying, 'Please, why are you taking my sons? They have done nothing wrong.' "

And, dropping back to a September 2005 speech he gave, here's what happened once he returned to the US:

And after I came home I've come to realise that we've got to make better choices, I applied for Conscientious Objector [status]. I was able to remember the Sermon on the Mount. I'm a Christian, what was I doing holding a gun to another human being? Love thy neighbour. Do good for him. Pray for those who persecute you, don't shoot them. I get my Conscientious Objector packet approved. I'm alone. I'm free, I'm done. It's all gone now, right? No! I still swerve at trash bagsfireworks. I'm looking at everyone's hands and faces [tonight] to see who's going to want to shoot me. I can't express anything, I can't express love. All my relationships are falling apart because they can't f**king understand me. How do they know the pain that I've gone through or the sights that I've seen, the dead bodies? The innocence gone, stripped, dead? I couldn't do it myself. I couldn't stand the pain. People were leaving me. I was alone. I couldn't cut my wrists. So I called the police. They come stomping through my door. I have my knife in my hand. "Shoot me. Shoot me". All of a sudden I was the man with the RPG, with all the guns pointed at him. Misled, miseducated, thinking that "Yes, we can solve all the world's problems by killing each other". How insane is that? Lucky enough I lived through that episode as well. See, you can't wash your hands when they're covered in blood with more blood. It's impossible; the wounds carry on. Families are destroyed.

Meanwhile, in Canada, many US war resisters are currently hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Turning to the Dept of Veteran Affairs. Pia Malbran (CBS News) reports that, "While on the stand in California federal court" yesterday, "where the VA is facing a lawsuit filed by veteran advocates who are demanding better health care, Dr. Michael Kussman, the VA's Under Secretary for Health, said, 'I Disagree with the premise that there was some effort to cover up something.' On March 10 of this year, Everett Chasen, the chief communications officer for the VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) sent an e-mail message to several top agency officials including Kussman. At the time, CBS News was preparing a report about attempted suicides among VA patients. Chasen wrote, 'I don't want to give CBS any more numbers on veteran suicides or attempts than they already have -- it will only lead to more questions'." CBS News has been covering this story for some time. Today Peter Hart (FAIR's CounterSpin) explained:

Sadly, there's no end of examples of US journalists accepting and parroting official government statistics without challenge so when we find a case of an outlet actually questioning an official source and bringing that challenge to the public it seems worth taking note of. Last year CBS Evening News reported what they and others have called an "epidemic of suicides" among those who have served in the US military. The network noted that there were more than 6,200 such suicides in the year 2005. Those numbers were challenged however by the Department of Veterans Affairs head of mental health Dr. Ira Katz who insisted that CBS had it wrong, the suicide rate for vets was actually no higher than normal. In a distrubing April 21st follow-up, however, CBS provided evidence that those numbers were not wrong and evidently that's why the VA didn't want the public to know them. CBS reporter Armen Keteyian noted that the VA recently provided date indicating just 790 attempted suicides by vets in all of 2007; however, Keteyian had access to an e-mail Katz sent to his top media advisor in which the VA official said something dramatically different acknowledging that "our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities." That's pretty far removed from the 790 a year the VA had reported to CBS and consequently to the public. Even more disturbing is the evidence that Katz knows he's actively misinforming the public on this critical issue. His e-mail was titled "Not for the CBS News interview request" and the opening line was "Sh!" The note closed with Katz' concern: "Is this something we should carefully address before someone stumbles on it?" Clearly this is a story that will require further follow-up to find out what else the VA would like to hide from the public about yet another of the devastating impacts of the war on Iraq. We certainly hope CBS will continue in the way they've started out and that they won't be alone.

Note on the above, all links in Peter Hart's commentary go to CBS News which has text and video for each link and the e-mail itself, PDF format warning, is here. Bob Egelko (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that Kussman stated on the stand yesterday, "The number of patients who have adjustment reactions to the experience that they have in Afghanistan or Iraq is very important, but we don't believe that's mental illness. It would be unfair and inappropriate to stigmatize people with a mental health diagnosis when they are having what most people believe are normal reactions to abnormal situations." There is no care or concern, just a desire to cut down on expenses. Diagnosis the mental health disorder requires that it be treated. Dropping back to IVAW's Winter Soldier Investigation last month:

Adrienne Kinne: And then they went to go to the next step, to actually make this happen. And I was actually on a conference call when someone said, "Wait a second. We can't start this screening process. Do you know that if we start screening for TBI there will be tens of thousands of soldiers who will screen positive and we do not have the resources available that would allow us to take care of these people so we cannot do the screening." And their rationale was that medically, medical ethics say if you know someone has a problem, you have to treat them. So since they didn't have the resources to treat them, they didn't want to know about the problem.
That's the reality for refusing to diagnose, Kinne's point that the VA would then be ethically bound to treat. If you missed Winter Soldier you can stream online at Iraq Veterans Against the War, at War Comes Home, at KPFK, at the Pacifica Radio homepage and at KPFA, here for Friday, here for Saturday, here for Sunday. Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz were the anchors for Pacifica's live coverage. Kinne testified Friday afternoon. Wednesday saw the VA's deputy chief Gordon Mansfield facing questions from the Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee. Armen Keteyian and Pia Malbran (CBS News, link has text and video) reported that Senator Patty Murray questioned him about how anyone could have faith in statements from the VA since "every time we trun around we find out that what you're saying publicly is different from what you're saying privately?" Les Blumenthal (Seattle Times) quotes Murray stating, "I used to teach preschool, and when you bring up a 3-year-old and tell them they have to stop lying, they understand the consequences. The VA doesn't. They needed to stop hiding the fact this war is costing us in so many ways." Murray also noted, "I am very angry upset that we find out this week that several inernal VA e-mails that were made public -- not becuase you wanted them to, but because of a lawsuit that ws ongoing -- showed that the VA downplayed significantly the number of suicides and suicide attempts by veterans in the last several years. Just a few months ago in November the VA was confronted with an analysis that said there were 6,250 veterans who had committed suicide in 2005 an average of 17 a day. VA officials said that number was inaccurate, it was much lower. These e-mails that were uncovered this week show that Dr. Katz, who is the VA's top mental health official, not only backed up those alleged numbers but he acknowledged that the numbers were much higher than that. So what they were telling us in November and December was that the number was lower but inside the VA everyone knew it was higher. And there are e-mails saying that and showing that". Thursday on the Senate floor, during a vote on the Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act, Murray stated the following:


And just this week, we got more evidence that the Administration has been covering up the extent of the toll this war has taken on our troops. Internal e-mails that became public in a court hearing show that the VA has vastly downplayed the number of suicides and suicide attempts by veterans in the last several years. Last November, an analysis by CBS News found that over 6,200 veterans had committed suicide in 2005 -- an average of 17 a day.
When confronted, VA officials said the numbers were much lower. But according to the internal e-mails from the VA's head of Mental Health -- Dr. Ira Katz -- 6,570 veterans committed suicide in 2005 -- an average of 18 a day. The e-mails also revealed that VA officials know that another 1,000 veterans -- who are receiving care at VA medical facilities -- attempt suicide each month.
Mr. President, these numbers offer tragic evidence that our nation is failing thousands of veterans a year. And they reflect an Administration that has failed to own up to its responsibilities, and failed even to own up to the true impact of the war on its veterans.
What is most appalling to me is that this is not the first time the VA has covered up the problems facing veterans who sacrificed for our country. Time and again, the VA has told us one thing in public -- while saying something completely different in private. It is outrageous to me that VA officials would put public appearance ahead of people's lives. Yet, Mr. President, it appears that is what has happened again.
When we -- as members of Congress -- sit down to determine the resources to give the VA, we must have a true picture of the needs. And if there's a problem, we have to act. It's our duty -- and the duty of the Administration -- to care for veterans. By covering up the true extent of that problem, the VA has hindered our ability to get those resources to the veterans who need them. That is irresponsible, and it's wrong.

Senator Daniel K. Akaka has joined Murray in calling for Ira Katz' resignation. Meanwhile C.W. Nevius (San Francisco Chronicle) reports on the attorney handling the lawsuit against the VA, Gordon Erspamer: "He's a rainmaker attorney for a major firm in the city who has set aside time to take legal action that doesn't earn a penny. And besides that, he's got a compelling and personal back story and a chip on his shoulder to prove it. Erspamer's cause since the late '70s has been the rights of armed forces veterans, and this week's trial has the VA squirming over a shocking rate of suicides among vets and has captured the national spotlight." Aimee Allison and Aaron Glantz hosted a live report on KPFA about the trial Tuesday and Gordon Erspamer was interviewed in the first hour.

Yesterday, the Office of the Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction released a report entitled [PDF format warning] "Intermim Analysis of Iraqi Security Force Information Provided By The Department Of Defense Report, Measuring Stability And Security In Iraq." Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reports, "The U.S. military does not have an accurate tally of the number of Iraqi security forces who have been trained or who are present for duty . . . The study says some Iraqi soldiers and police who were killed or wounded in action remain on the payroll so their families can receive financial compensation, skewing the statistics. . . . Reinforcing earlier findings, Special Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr. and other officials said the data being provided to the U.S. military were inaccurate." William H. McMichael (Army Times) adds that "thousands of others counted as present for duty are not showing up for work because they're injured, on leave or absent without leave . . ." The 21-page report (13 of text and then additional notes) also states, "Evolving changes in reporting methodology make it difficult to compare information from one report to earlier reports." Page five notes of the Defense Dept's most recent report, "Although the March 2008 Section 9010 report, as well as earlier ones, presents an array of numbers, other information in the 9010 reports and elsewhere indicates (1) uncertainty about the number of Iraqi personnel who are present for duty at any one time; and (2) uncertainty about the capabilities of the police force because the police have greater capacity to recruit that to train -- this limits the number of police on the rolls who have been trained. In addition, shortages of officers and/or non-commissioned officers in both the police and defense forces remain a significant long-term challenge that could take a decade to address."

Which fits in with Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times of London) observation that Nouri al "Maliki's campaign" assault on Basra "has resulted in US troops deploying to Basra and left the UK with no choice but to provide additional support to the operation. One person familiar with US military planning in Iraq said the 'fiasco' started by Mr Maliki had 'forced the hand of the British' to support the Iraqi government, in addition to the current core mission of training Iraqi forces." And the strain comes as Daniel Bentley (The Scotsman) reports, "British troop numbers in Iraq will only be futher reducded 'if conditions allow', Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said yesterday." The numbers also matter in terms of The Petraeus & Crocker Variety Hour earlier this month. Repeatedly the numbers now known to be non-reliable were cited as 'proof' of 'advances'. Gen David Petraeus' seven-page prepared remarks always cited the numbers of Iraqi Forces:

A number of factors have contributed to the progress that has been made. First, of course, has been the impact of increased numbers of Coalition and Iraqi Forces. You are well aware of the U.S. surge. Less recognized is that Iraq has also conducted a surge, adding well over 100,000 additional soldiers and police to the ranks of its security forces in 2007 and slowly increasing its capability to deploy and employ these forces.[. . .] A second factor has been the employment of Coalition and Iraqi Forces have grown significantly since September, and over 540,000 individuals now servein the Iraqi Security Forces. The number of combat battalions capable of taking the lead in operations, albeit with some Coalition support, has grown to well over 100 [Slide 10]. These units are bearing an increasing share of the burden, as evidenced by the fact that Iraqi Security Force losses have recently been three times our own. We will, of course, conduct careful after action reviews with our Iraqi partners in the wake of recent operations, as there were units andleaders found wanting in some cases, and some of our assessments may be downgraded as a result. Nonetheless, the performance of many units was solid, especially once they got their footing and gained a degree of confidence, and certain Iraqi elements proved quite capable.Underpinning the advances of the past year have been improvements in Iraq's security institutions. An increasingly robust Iraqi-run training base enabled the Iraqi Security Forces to grow by over 133,000 soldiers and police over the past 16 months. And the still-expanding training base is expected to generate an additional 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and 16 Army and Special Operations battalions throughout the rest of 2008, along with over 23,000 police and 8 National Police battalions.

Meanwhile AFP reports, "Iraq's hardline Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday called upon his followers and security forces to stop the bloodshed a week after he warned of 'open war' against the government." Deborah Haynes (Times of London) quotes him stating, "I call upon my brothers in the army, police and al-Mahdi Army to stop the bloodshed. When we threatend an open war, it was meant against the occupation and not against our people. There will be no war between Sadrists and Iraqi brothers from any groups." And the UN human rights envoy, Radhika Coomaraswamy declared today of Iraqi children, "Many of them are no longer go to school, many are recruited for violent activitis or detained in custody, they lack access to the most basic services and manifest a wide range of psychological symptoms from the violence in their everyday lives."

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Tikrit car bombing that claimed the life of 1 police officer, a Falluja mosque bombing that claimed 1 life and left four people wounded and notes two US air bombings of Baghdad after night fall yesterday that claimed the lives of 13 people and wounded forty (those numbers are US military numbers).

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash in Baghdad with three Iraqi soldiers wounded and 5 "gunmen" killed. CBS and AP report: "Assailants on Friday gunned down an Iraqi journalist who had been working for a local radio station run by a Shiite political party that is the chief rival of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the station and police said. Jassim al-Batat was killed by gunmen in a speeding car as he left his house in the town of Qurna in his own car, said Adnan al-Asadi, the head of the local al-Nakhil radio station based in the southern city of Basra. Qurna is 55 miles north of Basra." Reuters quotes al-Asadi explaining, "His only concerns were his work and his family. He was liked by all his colleagues, and we don't know any reason why he should be killed." Reuters also notes 1 adult male shot dead outside his Iskandariya home, 1 fisherman shot dead in Mosul (another injured), 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul and 2 people shot dead in Iskandariya.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

The US military announced today: "A Multi-National Division -- Center Soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device attack south of Baghdad, April 24." The announcement brings to 4052 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.

Turning to US politics. First up, Wednesday's snapshot referenced Big Tent Democrat's post (TalkLeft) on the nonsense of Tom Hayden -- the latest nonsense from a lifetime of nonsense but the link was wrong. My apologies. The correct link is here. Wednesday night, Elaine provided the letter Hayden needs to write -- the public letter -- and why no woman need listen to him until he does. (Not that they need to listen to him after, for that matter.) Wednesday night, Taylor Marsh also weighed in on Tom's nonsense and, let me repeat something here, Tom invents things. He invents conversations that allegedly happened years ago when he needs them for modern times. We've avoided commenting on his current wife here because who knows what the woman did or didn't know. Tom loves to embellish a tale. But the point is that he's a longterm sexist and no women needs him speaking for her. On the topic of sexists, Keith Olberman of MSNBC, as Jeralyn (TalkLeft) points out, made a comment on air that has some wondering if he was calling for Hillary Clinton to be assaulted or murdered: "Hyperbole? A figure of speech? Sexist? Or a call to snuff her out?" Joan Walsh (Salon) explains Olberman has 'apologized' -- he still doesn't get how offensive his statement was and how his add-on only more so. He gets that it sounded to some like murder but he still doesn't get (and Walsh doesn't appear to either) that the "apology" is still stating a woman needs to be taken into a room and forced "politically" out of the race. It's undemocratic and, with his pattern, it's sexist. Susan UnPC (No Quarter), writing before the 'apology,' gets it very clearly, "Take notice of his use of the pronoun 'he'." Meanwhile Paul Krugman (New York Times) examines the working class support for Hillary Clinton and how Obama still -- all these months later -- can't connect with those voters? Jonathan Mann (CNN) explains, "Hillary is back. Until now, Hillary Clinton's campaign hd one consistent quality -- it kept coming up short. . . . The biggest question about her campaign was when it would finally succumb to being so second-place. This week that changed. She won the Pennsylvania primary by 10 percentage points, a margin that convinced contributors to flood her Internet site with $10 million."

Seth Bringman (HillaryClinton.com) explains "Hillary Clinton's Plan to Address the Student Loan Crisis:"

Over a year ago, Hillary Clinton called on the Bush Administration to address the growing problems in the subprime mortgage market. Instead of listening, President Bush stood by as the subprime crisis spiraled into a larger housing and credit crisis that is driving our economy downward. This economic crisis now threatens to claim another victim: student loans. As the result of the credit crunch, more than 50 student lenders, accounting for almost 14% of private student-loan volume, have already withdrawn from the guaranteed student loan program [Wall Street Journal, A3, 4/24/08]. Hundreds of thousands of students who are actively considering how to finance their college educations could be left in the lurch, without the ability to pay for college. And when those students are not able to college, that is not only tragic for them but a loss for our economy as a college graduate earns $1 million more over the course of their lifetime than someone with a high school diploma.
Now is the time to act to prevent a student lending crisis. In Indiana, where six of every ten students graduate with debt, and that debt averages $21,000, it is vital that we ensure that every Hoosier student can count on the loans they need to attend school in the fall [Project on Student Debt]. Today, Hillary laid out her plan for addressing the student loan crisis. She urged the Bush Administration to support her plan, and act swiftly to head-off this growing crisis.

That's the opening use the link for the itemized list. Marlon Marshall offers a photo essay of Hillary at the "Solutions for the American Economy" in Indianapolis. And we'll go out with this from Geoff Garin's "Fair Is Fair" (Washington Post):

What's wrong with this picture? Our campaign runs a TV ad Monday saying that the presidency is the toughest job in the world and giving examples of challenges presidents have faced and challenges the next president will face -- including terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mounting economic dislocation, and soaring gas prices. The ad makes no reference -- verbal, visual or otherwise -- to our opponent; it simply asks voters to think about who they believe is best able to stand the heat. And we are accused, by some in the media, of running a fear-mongering, negative ad.The day before this ad went on the air, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief strategist, appeared with me on "Meet the Press." He was asked whether Hillary Clinton would bring "the changes necessary" to Washington, and his answer was "no." This was in keeping with the direct, personal character attacks that the Obama campaign has leveled against Clinton from the beginning of this race -- including mailings in Pennsylvania that describe her as "the master of a broken system."So let me get this straight.On the one hand, it's perfectly decent for Obama to argue that only he has the virtue to bring change to Washington and that Clinton lacks the character and the commitment to do so. On the other hand, we are somehow hitting below the belt when we say that Clinton is the candidate best able to withstand the pressures of the presidency and do what's right for the American people, while leaving the decisions about Obama's preparedness to the voters.Who made up those rules? And who would ever think they are fair?

iraq
bob egelkogeoff garinadrienne kinne
kpfa
iraq veterans against the war
aimeee allisondavid solnit
aaron glantz
armen keteyianpia malbranles blumenthal
c.w. nevius
julian e. barnesthe los angeles timeswilliam h. mcmichael
paul krugmanthe new york times

let's open it with howard wolfson's 'HUBdate: The Tide is Turning' (hillaryclinton.com):

Today on the Trail: Hillary highlights policies for veterans at "Solutions For America" events in Fayetteville and Asheville, NC. Hillary will be joined on the campaign trail by American hero and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Hugh Shelton, Ret.
$$$: USA Today reports "One day makes $10 million difference for Clinton." Keep going to www.hillaryclinton.com. Read more.
Superdelegate Watch: Congressman John Tanner announced his support of Hillary: "in my opinion, the best person to lead this critical effort is Hillary Clinton...Hillary is a smart, pragmatic leader who understands the grave situation our country faces" Read more.
"No Brainer" OH Gov. Ted Strickland said on a conference call yesterday: "This is for me a no-brainer...If we're going to plan to win in November, we need to choose the candidate that has the greatest strength in the states that are necessary to get us the electoral votes we need...I hope the superdelegates are paying attention." On the same call, NY Gov. David Paterson said "I don't think the tide is turning, I think the tide has turned." Read more and more.
Sen. Obama Calls Debates a "Game:" The Indianapolis Star is calling on Sen. Obama to accept an invitation to debate Hillary in the Hoosier State....In OR, Clinton "proposed two debates, including one on the challenges facing rural Oregonians." Sen. Obama responded "call[ing] Clinton's challenge 'an old, Washington game.'" Since when did debating the issues and giving voters a choice become a "game?" Read more and more. Watch the challenge here.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Yesterday in Indianapolis, Hillary said: "This campaign for me in Indiana is about jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs...This is not about speeches. It is about solutions." Read more.
Oregon Compact: Yesterday, Hillary "issued the most detailed, on-paper description to date from any of the presidential candidates on their intentions for Oregon. The 13-page document gave specific descriptions of how she intended to deal with each issue." Read more.
Montana Momentum: "Montana for Hillary announced the endorsements of seven more Montana legislators, leaders and Democratic activists, demonstrating [Hillary’s] growing support throughout Montana.'"Read more.

okay, now how about the snapshot today? yes, there's important stuff in it as usual (and i'm sure c.i. will be 1 of 10 in the entire country that will note the senate committee meeting on the national security state) but what about that section on the man accusing hillary of being vain?

jesse jackson jr. couldn't stop lying about hillary. she cried! (she didn't cry.) she cried about her appearance! (she didn't cry about her appearance.) and the reality was jesse jackson jr. is a fat ass who had surgery to drop 50 pounds.

fat boy went under the knife to lose weight and wants to call any 1 else vain?

i mean, come on.

how ridiculous.

jesse jackson was trying to find something to smear hillary with and the only thing he could think of was his own deepest secret: he's vain so he accused her of it.

think about it, by the way, 50 pounds.

we're not talking 100 pounds. we're not talking life threatening obesity. a doctor (a real 1, not a quack) would have told him, 'cut back on the sweets and get some exercise.' but that was too much work for fat boy. instead, he goes under the knife to lose 50 pounds.

the vanity on that man.

i have no idea how long c.i.'s been sitting on that 1. but i know the attitude now is that all these liars about hillary need to be cut off at the knees.

an attitude i fully support.

but i was laughing so hard. i had no idea that jesse jackson jr. was so vain he had surgery to lose weight. i noticed the weight loss and assumed he'd been working out or something. he wasn't fat to begin with. (i actually think he looked better before the surgery. he had a nice healthy glow back then. and he seemed to have a body that fit him. his face looked real.) how much vanity does some 1 have to have to go under the knife to lose 50 pounds?

seriously.

you don't take surgery lightly if you're a smart person.

and you have to wonder how much self-loathing there was prior to the surgery that he could make such a drastic decision for 50 pounds?

then fat boy wants to falsely accuse hillary of vanity?

that's hilarious.

i saw something that reminded me of points we all try to make but that ruth and marcia make most strongly: hillary will fight for all americans. this is 'Montana for Hillary Announces Lena Belcourt as Indian Affairs Coordinator: Belcourt hails from Rocky Boy Reservation' (hillaryclinton.com):

Billings, MT -- The Clinton campaign today announced that Lena Belcourt, a Chippewa Cree Tribal member, is the new Indian Affairs Coordinator for Hillary Clinton's campaign in Montana. Belcourt is a health policy analyst and consultant who advises elected Tribal Leadership on local, state and national policymaking.
Belcourt makes her home on the Rocky Boy Reservation in north central Montana.
"Indian people need a candidate who will hit the ground running, who has links to Indian Country and has supported legislation important to Indian Country. We need someone who knows who we are. That's Hillary Clinton."
In 2004 Belcourt served on then Governor-Elect Schweitzer's transition team as a policy advisor, and in 2005 she was detailed by the Chippewa Cree Tribe to the Office of the Governor of Montana, serving as the Governor Schweitzer's Policy Advisor on Health and Disability. Belcourt also staffed Alvin Winy Boy, Sr., former Chairman of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, on his health policy agenda.
Belcourt intends to make Indian healthcare a focus of her work for Montana for Hillary.
"We as Indian people have been left out of the American dream by our lack of access to accessible, affordable healthcare. I believe in accessible, quality healthcare for Montana Tribes and I know that Hillary Clinton will work her hardest to make it a reality."
Belcourt assisted the Northern Arapaho Tribe in the planning and development of their SAMHSA Indian Country Methamphetamine Initiative in 2006-2007. She has also worked on the development of the Chippewa Cree Tribe's Medicaid Eligibility Determination contract, the CCT Medicaid Administrative Match Cost Allocation Plan and the CCT's SAMHSA Indian Country Methamphetamine Initiative.
Belcourt attended the University of Montana and the University of North Dakota.

barack talks about his 'unity' campaign but it really seems to translate as deluded & weak leftists and republicans who love him. hillary's got the real unity campaign. latinos, native americans, working class americans, women, the lgbt community. she's running to be the president of america, not just the president of the elites.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Thursday, April 24, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, the National Security State is addressed in the Senate, whose the man calling a woman vain when he's had surgery to reduce his weight, and more.

Starting with war resistance. In June 2006, Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the Iraq War. He cited the war was illegal and his duty to the Constitution. For his bravery, the US military brass attempted to railroad and an embarrassing court-martial was staged in February 2007. Judge Toilet (aka John Head) called a mistrial (over defense objection) and then tried to railroad through another one. The Constitutional provision against double-jeopardy should prevent another court-martial. While that matter is settled, Watada waits and continues reporting on base every day even though he was supposed to discharge out of the military in December 2006. Watada has made history. As such, he is often cited. "I'm not another Watada," Sabrina M. Wiener tells Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) and she isn't. She isn't against the war. She was ordered to go to Iraq but didn't feel her Navy training prepared her so she refused. She's already been discharaged. Meanwhile, Robert L. Jamieson Jr. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) feels required to state school teacher Carl Chew "just pulled 'a Watada'" for refusing to give a standardized test (one mandated by the hideous No Child Left Behind aka No Child Left Time To Learn). Becoming a cultural reference is a sure sign of just how much you have permeated a society.

In Canada, many US war resisters are currently hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Apparently breaking news. This is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's statement from yesterday:

The next CENTCOM commander and field commander in Iraq will have to help the next President with a number of critically important challenges: making America more secure, restoring America's power and influence in the world, fixing our costly strategy in Iraq, and articulating a more effective strategy for winning in Afghanistan and defeating Al Qaeda in Pakistan.
Our ground forces' readiness and the battles in Afghanistan and against al Qaeda in Pakistan have suffered as a result of the current costly Iraq strategy. These challenges will require fresh, independent and creative thinking and, if directed to by a new President, a commitment to implementing major changes in strategy.
The Senate will carefully examine these nominations and I will be looking for credible assurances of a strong commitment to implementing a more effective national security strategy.


Harry Reid is the US Senate Majority Leader. His statement is neither a power grab nor an attempted coup; however, reading today's press you might wonder. William M. Arkin (Washington Post) actually knows the beat he covers and a thing or two about American democracy which is why he grasps that Gen David Petraeus has been nominated. But it's far too much for many to grasp. We'll be kind and not note all the Brits who get it wrong (US democracy may not be their natural area expertise) but let's point out that Australia's ABC understood what many did not -- including many US reporters for US outlets. Ann Scott Tyson and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) also grasped the difference between nomination and confirmation. Gordon Lubold and Howard LaFranchi (Christian Science Monitor) don't grasp it. They also miss that news reporting is documenting what happened and seeing into the future is left for the likes of a psychic and a 'life coach.' (Petraeus, they write, "will now be promoted to command the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan). It's, sadly, a very long, long list of reporters who don't grasp US democracy. (We noted Nancy A. Youssef's article this morning.) The even sadder thing is some outlets report that US Secretary of Defense Gates has promoted them. US Senator Joe Biden also issued a statement on Petraues' nomination:

I have great respect for General Petraeus and the job he has done in Iraq. But if confirmed, Gen. Petraeus' mission will no longer be just Iraq -- it will be the entire region, including the Afghnistan-Pakistan border area where those who actually attacked us on 9-11 have regrouped, where our Ambassador to Iraq [Ryan Crocker] acknowledged to me that Al Qaeda is a bigger threat, and where we do not have enough troops because of Iraq. Congress must ensure that Gen. Petraeus does not bring an Iraq bias to his new job, at the expense of America's broader security needs.

US Senator Hillary Clinton's statement on the nomination:General Petraeus has been an able and respected leader in Iraq under incredibly difficult circumstances. In this new role, General Petraeus will face responsibility broader than Iraq. It will be critical that he takes a wide view of the serious challenges facing the Central Command area of operations, including the threat posed by Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I look foward to considering his nomination and hearing from General Petraeus how he will meet these important changes.

Senator Barack Obama does not serve on the Armed Services Committee and maybe that's why he's issued no statement? Senator John McCain does serve on the committe and, like Barack, he has issued no statement. Senator Russ Feingold did issue a statement yesterday:

During his testimony before Congress, General Petraeus stated that since his focus has been on Iraq, he was unable to comment on why the threat from al Qaeda has increased, specifically in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As CENTCOM Commander, General Petraeus will be responsible for assessing the entire region, including the impact our presence in Iraq is having on our ability to combat al Qaeda and its affiliates throughout that region. The truth is our perceived occupation of Iraq is destabilizing the region while the administration's myopic focus on Iraq has overlooked the rising threat of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. General Petraeus's predecessor, Admiral Fallon, understood the need for a comprehensive strategy for the Middle East which extended beyond Iraq. As he begins the confirmation process to become the next commander of CENTCOM, General Petraeus must answer the most important question we face, which is not whether we are winning in Iraq, but why we are not defeating al Qaeda.

Senator Ted Kennedy also issued a statement:

In his new position, General Petraeus will have a much larger regional and strategic responsibility especially as to how our mission in Iraq affects Afghanistan and our role in the Middle East as a whole. For too long, President Bush has pursued an open-ended commitment of our troops in Iraq, with no regard for the impact it has on them, their families or other critical national security challenges. That's not a plan for success. It's simply a delaying tactic to hand off the problem to the next President. I look forward to hearing the views General Petraeus has on these and other important questions during his confirmation hearing.

Hopefully, the process is now grasped by all. No "promotion" has taken place unless the nominee is confirmed (or unless Petraeus were to be a recess-appointment). What has many curious (to use the mildest term) is that the White House is doing this with a goal of confirmation by the end of May. Bully Boy is a Lame Duck and why he would want to tie the future president's hands to Petraeus is seen as curious (mildest term possible). While he focuses on personalities, real problems are ignored. And Petraeus is an interesting choice considering the April 9th Congressional performance:

US House Rep Ellen Tauscher noted the opposition to the Iraq War, that more people are saying (in polls) that the Iraq war was "not worth it) and how "my constituents repeatedly tell me that we can't sustain" the costs (human and monetary). Tauscher noted that a new president would be elected in November and sworn in at the start of 2009. "If you report to a commander-in-chief . . . that wants a plan" for withdrawal "what would you advise?" Petraeus stated, "My response would be dialogue again on what the risk would be." He then tried to take the curtness off his response by noting the US military is under civilian control: "we are not self-employed, we take orders and we obey."

[. . .]

He [Brad Sherman] asked Petraeus, "Will you begin on November 5th . . . to prepare plans to execute the policies of the incoming president or alternatively, will the incoming president . . . find a dilemma where if they order immediate withdrawal it will be an unplanned withdrawal" which would lead to more of the same currently going on (stuck in a quagmire).

Petraeus: Congressman, I can only serve one boss at a time.

"As a transition approaches," he continued, "obviously there is going to be back and forth to facilitate and not me, this will be the Secretary of Defense, the chair of the Joint Chiefs and, at some point, there will be contingency plans directed."

Brad Sherman asked, "So you would expect to get contingency plans?" And David Petraeus replied, "I'm very uncomfortable candidly describing" this. He spooks so easy.

That's whom Bully Boy wants to put in charge of Centcom, a post he would begin in the fall -- the same fall that the 2008 elections will be held in.

Today the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing that should receive a great deal of attention but may not. The title was "Implementing Smart Power: Setting an Agenda For National Security Reform." Committee chair Joe Biden explained the importance in his opening remarks:

Today the Committee on Foreign Relations holds the second in a series of hearings on smart power. It is part of a larger effort to reexamine our nation's foreign policy and present a new vision for policy makers. As the current administration ends, we face a multitude of new challenges. The emergence of China and India as major economic powers. The resurgence of Russia floating on a sea of oil revenue. A unifying Europe. The spread of dangerous weapons and leathal diseases. The shortage of secure sources of energy, water and -- as witnessed by rioting in several countries -- even food. The impact of climate change. Rising wealth and persistent poverty. A technological revolution that sends people, ideas and money hurling around the planet at ever faster speeds. The challenge to nation states from ethnic and sectarian strife. The struggle between modernity and extremism. That's a short list of forces shaping the 21st century. These challenges raise the question: Do we have the right non-military instruments, the right institutions and the right relationships among those institutions to deal with new threats and opportunities?

Senator Richard Lugar is the ranking Republican on the committee and he noted in his opening statements:

It is clear that the US government is paying insufficient attention to fundamental questions about whether we are building national security capabilities that can address the threats and challenges we are likely to encounter in the future. Although our defense, foreign affairs, homeland security, intelligence, and energy budgets are carefully examined from the incremental perspective of where they were in the previous year, our budget process gives neither Congress nor the Executive Branch the ability to adequately evaluate whether the money flowing to these areas represents the proper mix for the 21st Century. In the process, funding for diplomacy and foreign assistance persisently falls short.

Richard L. Armitage and Joseph S. Nye Jr. appeared on the first panel and anything Armitage has to say judged of interest (ask Valerie Plame) usually leaks to the press. Note that the hearing is archived online. The issue Lugar was raising about funding was an issue that the second panel addressed and it was the more informative of the two.

Due to a vote about to take place on the Senate floor, many senators had to leave during the second panel so it was mainly Biden and the two witnesses -- James R. Locher III and Gordon Adams -- involved in an exchange. Locher noted in his opening statement a concern, "the lack of prepardeness of civilian departments and agencies to rapidly deploy their expertise overseas. The problem of the underfunding and under-preparedness of civilian departments and agencies stem in part from our outdated concept of national security." Adams' concerns included:

First, our civilian national security tools -- primarily diplomacy and foreign assistance -- are weak, poorly focused, and dispersed. Diplomacy is not adequately linked to foreign assistance, and the foreign assistance agencies are scattered and poorly coordinated. Strategic planning is not used, and both strategy and budget planning are not pulled together. And, they are woefully understaffed and underfunded.

"The National Security State" is a phrase many writers have long used (long before 9-11) and there seems to be some idea on the part of some that, were a renewal of that 1947 Act to take place, we'd play closer attention this time. That time has come and -- like Petraeus' nomination -- this could have huge implications for the future.

To tie it into Iraq, Biden spoke of the raw sewage he saw in Sadr City and how the US government has a half-billion dollar contract to fix it and that may happen -- years on down the line. But there are people on the ground who think they could fix it right now. He spoke of the issue of potable water in Iraq and noted he was told, "Senator we produce and built the biggest water fountain in the world." He was told that because "it's not hooked up to anything. Not a joke. Not hooked up." Which means the people of Sadr City who need potable water are required to go out with a bucket. Biden spoke of how "Iraq used to be the breadbasket of the Middle East in the fifties" and how some on the ground feel that investing strongly in farming right now would mean that the militias would shrink. He spoke of how the best diplomats he sees in the field tend to have stars on their shoulders (meaning military) and he feels their hands are too often tied. "Is there a need for a change," he asked, "in the culture at the State Dept? Is there also a need for us to go out and attract something other than -- and we haven't even been attracting them -- the typical foreign service mentality?" He wanted to exploring changign the curriculum, changing the training, for the foreign diplomatic staff.

Locher noted, "There is no intergancy culture" at the Dept of Defense and Biden wondered, "What do we do change that? . . . It goes back to the president -- the next president choosing the Secretary of State and Defense." Biden was running for the Democratic presidential nomination until recently and he noted that if he were president, "The single most important task" he'd have "would be to make sure my Secretary of State and Defense were on the same page."


Adams felt that the recruiting process was key and how those recruited for the foreign diplomatic service were rearded and moved up but "the problem here is developing that capacity both near term and long term" and that the job is "develop program, budget program, implement program and evaluate program." All those steps, Adams argued, must be taken while looking at today's needs as well as tomorrow's. He also explained that while he was at OMB he used to budget first for State and then Defense and, though he says it was a minor tool, it was an important one becuase "you need to take some of the key purposes" and ensure that they are focused on. Biden asked him to conceptualize these needs into a document and noted that "they" -- Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama -- "all think of this . . . they all get a sense of this" and how important it is to the future of the United States.

Biden noted that earlier reforms "didn't contemplate then that we might be deploying for xis and up to twelve months our national reserves. . . . They are breaking. . . . We're a hundred billion dollars short now in equipment for the states in terms of them responding to national emergencies -- you saw what happened to the town in Kansas that had that tornado that just devasted the town. They didn't have the trucks. They're in Iraq." Across the US, "you're talking about these governors being over a hundred million dollars short just to handle national disasters or, God forbid, another terrorist attack."

The discussion should be of interest to everyone because it does have to do with what future is being charted for the US and, again, many writers have warned of the National Security State. So this is something to follow. What was agreed upon -- Biden was the sole committee member attending the hearing in full -- was that the two witnesses would visit with him and other senators "to get much deeper into the weeds" as they continued to explore the topic.

Turning to some of today's reported violence in Iraq . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing injured three members of the Iraqi military, a Baghdad roadside bombing wounded two Iraqis, a Baghdad bombing claimed 3 lives and left fifteen wouned, a Baghdad car bombing claimed 1 life and left six injured, another Baghdad car bombing claimed 1 life and wounded three and a Baghdad mortar attack left two people wounded. Reuters notes that the US military called in an airstrike at "the al-Rashad mental hospital near Sadr City" and that at least 4 'fighters' were killed and that US airstrikes (by the US military's own statements) claimed 6 other lives throughout Baghdad and that a Baghdad rocket attack "hit Poland's embassy inside the Green Zone" resulting in at least one guard being wounded.

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 police officer was shot dead in Mosul and a drive by shooting in Diyala province left District Commissioner Wayis Mohammed Zaidan and his driver injured.

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

Today the US military announced: "Two Multi-National Division -- North Soldiers were killed when their vehicle rolled onto its side during movement to a combat outpost in Salah ad Din Province, April 23. Another Soldier and one interpreter were injured in the incident and taken to Coalition force medical facilities for treatment." The deaths bring the total for the month to 38 and the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4050.

Turning to US presidential politics and the always chatty independent Douglas Wilder. Let's repeat that because he keeps being credited as "a former Democratic governor" when he is in fact a former Democrat. There's no lie to big for Wilder (who executed 14 people and feels damn good about that). When Bill Clinton rightly noted Barack Obama was telling a fairytale about his Iraq stand, independent -- read, not part of the Democratic Party, he left the Democratic Party -- started insisting that Bill Clinton had called Barack a fairytale and that fairytale was racist. Give it a rest, tired and old, give it a rest. He left the Democratic Party so what does or does not happen in a Democratic primary really should be none of his damn business. But that hasn't stopped him.

On CBS' Face The Nation in February (link has text and video) Wilder declared that if Barack was not given the nomination there would be "chaos" -- "there will be chaos at the convention. And if you think 1968 was bad, you watch; in 2008, it will be worse." For those who can't grasp what Wilder was doing (PDF format warning: click here for full transcript), the last guest, Roger Simon clarified: "My impression is that Doug Wilder came close to predicting riots in the streets, literally if Barck Obama is not -- enters the convention with the most elected delgates but that decision is overturned by superdelegates." Doug Wilder's not a super delegate and he's not one because he left the party. So he really needs to butt the hell out of what the Democratic Party does or does not do while THEY select their candidate. Like anyone else, he's welcome to support in a general election. But, having left the party, what the party itself does is really none of his damn business and when the press interviews him these days, they need to make it very clear that he's not a super delegate and clear as to why he is not one. He left the party in 1994 -- 14 years ago. Old and tired, non-Democratic Party member Wilder is race baiting yet again. Heidi Przybyla (Bloomberg News) quotes tired and old saying Barack experiences more "ingrained difficulty" than Hillary Clinton in the race and Wilder goes on to offer stereotypes and distortions which is all the old fool has left to offer: "hissy firts," "the crying and the weeping". There was no reason for Bloomber or any other outlet to run the garbage. Wilder's a sexist and has long been one (born in 1931). Hillary did not "cry" or "weep". She did tear up -- not, as Jesse Jackson Jr. has repeatedly lied, over her appearance. Let's review that because it wasn't something we covered in the snapshot but since LIARS are going to repeat it, let's clear it up. Hillary didn't cry and she didn't cry about her appearance but guess what Vain Male Peacock (never afraid to parade) smeared her with those lies?

Hillary Clinton: And I couldn't do if it I just didn't passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know I have so many opportunities from this country [the eyes tear] I just don't want to see us fall backwards. You know? So. This is very personal for me. It's not just political, it's not just public. I see what's happening and we have to reverse it. And some people think elections are a game, it's like, who's up and who's down. It's about our country, it's about our kid's futures, and it's really about all of us together. You know some of us put ourselves and do this against some [sardonoic voice] difficult odds, and we do it, each one of us because we care about our country. But some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us are ready and some of us are not. Some of us know what we will do on day one and some of us haven't really thought that through enough. And so when we look at the array of problems we have and the potential for really spinning out of control, this is one of the most important elections America has ever faced. So [smiling] as tired as I am, and I am, and as difficult as it is to keep up what I try to do on the road like occassionally exercise, and try to eat right, it's tough when the easiest food is pizza, I just believe so strongly in who we are as a nation. So I'm going to do everything I can to make my case and then the voters get to decide.

That's the reality of what happened and there were no tears streaming down her face ever. No tear even spilled over the eye lid. Her eyes moistened. Doug Wilder should not be allowed to repeat his lies but no one stopped Jesse Jackson Jr. Junior refuses to call Hillary "Senator Clinton" -- then again, he struggles with "Clinton," and stumbles out "Crinton". But he managed to go on MSNBC and LIE to Norah O'Donnell. Here's kind of what he said -- he lacks his father's speaking ability --

Not in response to voters resp-, uh, not-not in response to Katrina, not in response to uh-uh other issues that have devastated the American people, the war in Iraq, we saw tears in response to her apprearance. So her appearnance brought her to tears --

No, Jesse Jackson Jr., that never happened and your lies and attacks were and are embarrassing. Hillary wasn't worried about appearances but, of course, Jesse Jr. was.

Junior's the former fatty who had surgery to lose weight while serving in the US Congress. Originally he claimed he "got shots in the butt once a week for three months to boost my metabolism" and apparently that claim fell by the wayside as concerns about "juice"ed athletes became a big deal. Ebony reported he had "undergone bariatric surgery in 2004 . . . He began to tell me about the procedure he went through, something called a DS or duodenal switch." For those not up on the surgery, you're getting rid of two-thirds of your stomach because you're unable to STOP PIGGING OUT and they then rearrange your small intestine. So Mr. Vanity Jesse Jackson Jr. -- who didn't want to be a fatty but couldn't put the fork down or get off the couch -- had a costly operation to lose weight quickly. And Mr. Vanity then wants to LIE and claim Hillary cried about her appearence? Waist Deep in a Big Fatty looked in the mirror, found his greatest fear and then attempted to smear Hillary with it. (The proper term is "projection.")

We were going to note Cynthia McKinney today. I would be happy too. It's on hold and will be decided tonight (in the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin). What happened? A man went on a program yesterday and stated McKinney knew she couldn't be elected president, that she's only running to get 5% of the national vote. That wasn't an issue yesterday because, who cares what a supporter says? But now her campaign has posted a link to that interview with the headline that he "speaks for Cynthia McKinney." Most likely we are done with Cynthia McKinney presidential coverage because we are covering candidates who are trying their hardest to win. When Dennis Kucinich gave his supporters away (or tried to) in Iowa (to Barack), he lost all community support. Those who aren't running to win aren't going to be covered. Life is too short and we all have better things to do.

Ralph Nader's running for president. (Tip, Ralph, curb Matt Gonzalez before he ticks off more potential voters by weighing in on topics that have already caused offense.) Team Nader documents the rise in the polls Nader's experiencing including one in March that found "one in seven voters (14 percent) would seriously consider voting for Ralph Nader for President in November" (that would be less than a month after he declared his intent to run) while a new poll finds 4% of Pennsylvania voters cite Nader as their choice and it "could potentially quadruple, as 17 percent of Democratic respondents said that if their first choice does not get the Democratic nomination, they may vote for Nader." Ralph Nader's campaign has also just opened their Nader Store where you can purchase buttons, etc. Nader is a independent run so I have no problem noting his store. In fairness, we'll also note that Hillary's store is here. John McCain's is here. Cynthia McKinney doesn't appear to have one (I couldn't find it and the friend I'm dictating this too can't) and Obama says any orders may take two to three weeks to fill -- they're low on stock. That was a one-time only where everyone could have had their stores noted. Yet again, the Obama campaign appeared to be on vacation. Dr. Maya Angelou gets the last word. From her piece at the Clinton campaign:


I am writing to tell you about my friend, Hillary Clinton, and why I am standing with her in her campaign for the presidency. I know the kind of president Hillary Clinton will be because I know the person she is.
I am inspired by her courage and her honesty. She is a reliable and trustworthy person. She is someone I not only admire but one for whom I have profound affection.
Hillary does not waver in standing up for those who need a champion. She has always been a passionate protector of families. As a child, she was taught that all God's children are equal, and as a mother, she understood that her child wasn't safe unless all children were safe. As I wrote about Hillary recently in a praise song: "She is the prayer of every woman, and every man who longs for fair play, healthy families, good schools and a balanced economy."
It may be easy to view Hillary Clinton through the narrow lens of those who would write her off or grind her down. Hillary sees us as we are, black and brown and white and yellow and pink and relishes our differences knowing that fundamentally we are all more alike than we are unalike. She is able to look through complexion and see community.
She has endured great scrutiny, and still she dares greatly. Hillary Clinton will not give up on you, and all she asks is that you do not give up on her. She is a long-distance runner. I am honored to say I am with her for the long run.
I am supporting Hillary Clinton because I know that she will make the most positive difference in people's lives and she will help our country become what it can be. Whether you are her supporter, leaning towards her, undecided, or supporting someone else, I believe Hillary Clinton will represent you -- she will be a president for all Americans. It is no small thing that along the way we will make history together.
Vote for Hillary Clinton and show your support at www.hillaryclinton.com. I know she will make us proud.

that's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Big Cry Baby" and it is hysterical because it's sooooooooooo true! the cry baby bambi. can't win a big state and he refuses to do another debate. he's a scared little baby. oooh, poor baby, poor wee little baracka.





hillary won. she won by 10%. she is the fighter we have been waiting for.





this is 'HUBdate: The Tide is Turning - More People Have Voted For Hillary Than Any Other Candidate:'





More People Have Voted For Hillary Than Any Other Candidate: "After last night's decisive victory in Pennsylvania, more people have voted for Hillary than any other candidate, including Sen. Obama. Estimates vary slightly, but according to Real Clear Politics, Hillary has received 15,095,663 votes to Sen. Obama's 14,973,720, a margin of more than 120,000 votes. ABC News reported this morning that 'Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama' in the popular vote. This count includes certified vote totals in Florida and Michigan." Read more.


The Tide is Turning: "The voters in Pennsylvania have spoken. America is listening. And the tide is turning…Despite making an unprecedented financial investment in his Pennsylvania campaign, including millions on negative ads ...Sen. Obama again failed to win a state that will be vital to a Democratic victory in November."


Read more.$$$: The campaign has raised more than $3.5 million since PA polls closed last night...last night's fundraising total the was the strongest ever.Fighting for You: In last night's victory speech, Hillary told voters, "I'm in this race to fight for you, to fight for everyone who has ever been counted out ...I need your help to continue this journey. This is your campaign and this is your victory tonight. Your support has meant the difference between winning and losing." Watch here and read it here.


In Case You Missed It: The Washington Post reports that "unable once again to score a knockout, Sen. Barack Obama is likely to make his new negative tone even more negative." Read more.


Closing the Deal? The AP asks: "Why can't Barack Obama close the deal? ...Unfortunately for Obama…it's a question that bears repeating... The loss, despite a massive cash infusion and robust campaign presence in the state, underscores the persistent problems he’s had winning over many of the voters who form the traditional Democratic party base." Read more.


On Tap: Hillary attends an event in Indianapolis, IN today...Tomorrow -- joined by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Hugh Shelton - she returns to North Carolina for stops in Jacksonville, Fayetteville, and Asheville. On Friday and Saturday, Hillary campaigns in Indiana.On the Air: In a new NC Ask Me ad, Hillary responds to veteran David Eichhorn from Hickory, NC: "It is one of the highest obligations of our president and Commander-in- Chief to take care of our veterans. We owe everything to those who have served us." Watch it here... "Jobs," airing in IN, emphasizes that "the next president has to begin putting the American people first. Your jobs, your health care, your futures." Watch it here.

i was supposed to be on the road this week but ava and c.i. have a nasty cold and advised me to join next week (with flyboy and the baby). which ended up being good because my mother-in-law came by today. she wanted to talk face-to-face.

it was politics. she said, 'c.i.'s an untouchable, but make sure every 1 else knows what they're facing.' she means, due to family & money & history, no 1 can go after c.i. that's in the 'club' of insiders (old money) but make sure that every 1 else grasps how dirty the non-democrats (the closeted 1s pretending to be democrats) can play. i mean, c.i.'s relatives are big money, congress, etc. go after c.i. and you'll find out just how much old money sticks together. (and my mother-in-law, who was very tight with c.i.'s mother, will be 1 of the 1st to destroy you.) but she's thrilled with the way c.i.'s hitting hard. she said no 1 else could call them out and they need to be called out - these 'i'm a democrat and i'm supporting barack' types giving endorsements that are nothing but closeted communists.

she said it's all any 1 who follows politics is talking about and the old guard of established democratic power makers think c.i. has drawn the line very well.

1) be who you want but stay out of the democratic primary if you're not a democrat

2) or get your ass outed.

she said the tying it to the democratic party, in 2004, outing ralph nader's republican supporters underscores the point that this isn't 'beat up on the commies.' it's not. it's about fakes and frauds trying to hijack the party. and they've tried it before many times but old money is really offended (and offended at the new rich that are either closeted communists or assisting them in their lies) by how much the closet cases have upped the ante.

c.i. can schmooze super delegates already. but my mother-in-law said she doesn't even think c.i. realizes how grateful so many are for the steps c.i.'s taking right now.

that closeted faction really is trying to subvert the democratic process. they've destroyed their own party into multiple factions and splinter groups because they don't play nice and now they're trying to take over the democratic party through deception and they think obama's going to owe them for their work and they'll be able to call in favors.

she said she was so proud of c.i. i am as well. but my mother-in-law is like the dowager of the moneyed set.

anyway, she listed people who had attempted this in the past and how they failed and how the way c.i.'s set it up this isn't going to fail. she'd been on the phone with the head of a network who wanted to know what obama was doing hiring sam graham-felsen?

that's a huge story right now. and if it goes public, it will influence others but the set that matters is already recoiling. (by 'set that matters' i'm referring to the 1s obama would need for support in a super delegate battle.)

it's really funny because c.i. doesn't give a damn if some 1's communist, republican, whatever. and c.i. didn't plan to even weigh in this election cycle in any manner. but the little liars set out to destroy hillary. c.i. thought they were just focusing on her because she was the front runner and that they'd get to obama at some point and then people would see how lousy he was. but that didn't happen and when it became obvious that wasn't happening, they'd succeeded in pissing off c.i. you don't want c.i. pissed off.

there's a little red right now who thinks he can hide behind 'college professor' who's taking to use the term 'high tech lynching' to distort the fact that barack's not getting fawning press. i know for a fact the struggling at work professor's is the subject of much discussion with the dean of the university. lie in public, pay a price.

all they had to do was play fair. they didn't.

and it's hilarious to hear someone (a communist pretending to be a democrat, naturally) whine 'this is red-baiting!' uh, no, it's noting where the support is coming from. the same way obama wants to scream 'rush is influencing the primaries!' rush isn't but if we're going to talk about who's influencing, at least rush is trying to do so openly. if the reds are scared, they have no 1 to blame but themselves for thinking they could trick people into believing they were democrats. there was no reason for them to hide who they were. and they're not get away with it.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, April 23, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Turkey apparently bombs Iraq, Hillary wins Pennsylvania, Petraeus gets a non-acting nomination, and more.

Starting with war resistance, war resister Camilo Mejia will join Shontina Vernon, Viggo Mortensen, Staceyann Chin, Sarah Levy and others for a May 5th reading of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States at the First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park Ave in Portlan Oregon. Kristi Turnquist (The Oregonian) notes that tickets are $20 (ten dollars for students) and posts a video of Mortensen providing a voice over to illustrations of Howard Zinn's life. Camilo is among the first known war resisters. Along with being the first known Iraq War veteran to resist and being the chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War, he documented his story in Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia.

In Canada, many US war resisters are currently hoping to be granted safe harbor status and the Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (http://us.f366.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (http://us.f366.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (http://us.f366.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Turning to Iraq, AFP reports that Lt Gen Lloyd Austin ("number two commander of US forces in Iraq") wants Moqtada al-Sadr's help in the ongoing assault on the Sadr City section of Baghdad, "We hope that Moqtada al-Sadr will influence his elements to stop violence and that he will work in favour of peace." The only problem with that request is that US Secretary of State Condi Rice stood in Baghdad Sunday calling Moqtada al-Sadr a coward. Did anyone think about that before she made that talking point? It was an effective one for the White House to make if they were completely turning their back on al-Sadr but if Austin's now publicly asking for al-Sadr's help, there is a problem. And it's a problem Crispin Thorold (BBC News) explains: "It is now clear that although the initial military planning was Iraqi, US and British forces are deeply involved. In the capital's neighbourhood of Sadr City, US infantry troops are fighting alongside Iraqi soldiers, to try to secure areas that were once firmly under the hold of the Mehdi Army, which is loyal to the Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr. Reports suggest that US combat units have also been deployed at short notice to Basra from elsewhere in Iraq and the Middle East." It would appear the puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki has yet again been exposed as inept. Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) quoted Moqtada al-Sadr's statement over the weekend: "I am giving my last warning and my word to the Iraqi government to the Iraqi government to take the path of peace and stop violence against its own people, otherwise it will be a government of destruction. If it does not stop the militias that have infiltrated the government, then we will declare a war until liberation." The assault on Basra last month turned Moqtada al-Sadr from possible waning influence to the face of Iraqi pride. On the assault on civilians that al-Maliki thought would increase his (and the Iraqi military's) own standing, Sean Rayment (Telegraph of London) reported Monday that unnamed "British commanders" were scathing in their critique: "incompetent officers and unattrained troops . . . sent into battle with inadequate supplies of food, water and ammunition," "unmitigated disaster at every level," Iraqi General Mohan Furayji is characterized "as a 'dangerous lunatic' who 'ignored' advice" and al-Maliki was responsible for the "disaster which felt as though an amateur was in charge." William S. Lind (UPI) observes, "When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent his 'army' to fight the Mahdi Army in Basra, U.S. President Bush called it 'a defining moment.' It turned out instead to be a confirming moment. It confirmed that there is no state in Mesopotamia -- the geographical territory known as the nation of Iraq." Pakistan's The Post notes, "Since Sadr issued his threat, which could unravel months of security gains in Iraq, on Saturday the US military says it has killed around 65 militiamen in Sadr City and other Shi'ite parts of Baghdad." The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a field report today on Sadr City noting that "several hospitals have exhausted their stocks of medical supplies as a result of the ongoing fighting. The ICRC has had difficulty transporting food and medicines where they are needed because of the ongoing fighting. Earlier today the ICRC managed to distribute some three tonnes of medical items to Sadr City General Hospital, Al Imam Ali General Hospital and Ibn Al Baldi Paediatric Hospital in Sadr City. The items included equipment for intravenous infusion, injection and dressing materials, and anaesthetics."

Meanwhile the continuing assaults on Basra and Sadr City aren't the only continued operations. Turkey and PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) continue to have ongoing tensions. AFP reports that Ahmed Danis (PKK spokesperson) states that northern Iraq was bombed by Turkish airplanes today: "The bombing began at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) and continued for an hour. The bombardment targeted old rear bases in the district of Kharkurk near the Turkish border." AP notes that Turkey has not confirmed the bombings. Reuters cites an unnamed "Turkish military source" declaring that there were four war planes taking part in the bombing which lasted for about a half hour. Hurriyet notes that yesterday US Secretary of State Condi Rice termed the PKK "an enemy of stability and therefore an enemy of Iraq, Turkey and the United States."

In other reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing wounded two people this morning and two Baghdad roadside bombings wounded nine people in the afternoon and five were wounded in the evening by a Baghdad roadside bombing, a Mosul bomber killed himself right before a car bombing and 2 other people were killed with nine wounded, a Mosul car bombing wounded seven people, a Mosul roadside bombing wounded four people and a Mosul mortar attack wounded four people and a Kirkuk roadside bombing wounded two police officers. Reuters notes a US drone killed 2 Iraqis with a Hellfire missile.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Jalal Khorsheed (a teacher) was wounded by gunfire in Salahuddin Province today. Reuters notes the US military killed 6 Iraqis suspected of being "gunmen" and 7 suspected of being "militants," and 2 man shot dead in Mosul (his wife injured), 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses were discovered in Baghdad today, 4 in Muqdadiyah and 38 were discovered in Kirkuk. Reuters notes 5 corpses received by Baghdad's Al Imam Ali hospital (Sadr City -- twenty-two people were also treated for injuries), 3 corpses discovered in Mosul and 2 "close to Tirkrit."

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldier was killed when he was attacked by small-arms fire while his patrol was conducting operations in eastern Baghdad at approximately 2:20 p.m. April 23."

Turning to the US, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been receiving a great deal of attention for statements made this week. William M. Arkin (Washington Post) evaluates the statements and evaluates Gates tenure in his post finding, "Gates' problem in the end is not just a military institution that resents being held to task for the sins of the civilian ideologues and amateurs. It is that, if the military were doing all of what he and others wanted, we still would not be 'winning' in Iraq. If the military smartly saluted and aggressively implemented all of the civilian plans, the world would not be transformed back in either a pre-9/11 state of contentment or an immediate-post-9/11 age of solidarity. . . . When Gates is gone, too little progress will have been made in resolving these problems." Today Gates also announced that Gen David Petraeus (currently in charge of US operations in Iraq) would become the nominee to head of Centcom. Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times of London) explains, "Gen Petraeus who has been praised for his oversight of the military 'surge' that has helped reduce violence in Iraq, will replace William Fallon, who resigned abruptly last month after a magazine article that portrayed the navy officer as publicly opposing President George W. Bush over Iran policy. Admiral Fallon rejected the charge, but said the perception had made it impossible to do his job." At the Pentagon today, Gates declared, "I do not anticipate General Petraeus leaving Iraq until late summer or early fall" and that Lt Gen Ray Odierno (who has schilled so hard to bring about war on Iran) will be the nominee to replace Petraeus in Iraq. Despite the fact that Petraeus would not be leaving "until late summer," Gates also attempted to strong arm Congress on both nominations by declaring, "I respectfully ask the Senate to move on them expeditiously, hopefully by Memorial Day, so their families and we can plan appropriately." Asked in the conference by AP about Senate support, Gates maintained he has kept Senators Carl Levin, John McCain and Senator John Warner in the loop. Other Senators were apparently unimportant. Gates was also asked whether or not he expected to serve out his term (which would appear to mean "Do you think the White House might replace you") through January 20, 2009 and he replied, "I certainly expect to. Hope so." [Reuters appears to think the question was about whether Gates would serve in the next administration. They're off their rocker. The original question to Gates was: "Speaking of continuity and staying the course, do you anticipate continuing to serve as Defense secretary through January 20th of next year?"] Petraeus statement released today on the nomination is (in full): "I am honored to be nominated for this position and to have an opportunity to serve with America's Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coastguardsmen, and Civilians." At the White House today, White House spokesperson Dana Perino echoed Gates by declaring, "We ask that the Senate move as expeditiously as possible and ask that they act by Memorial Day." She also cited the "families" but "expeditiously" appears to be the talking point they want in all media coverage since both stressed it. Perino was also asked if the nomination of Petraeus meant (if confirmed by the Senate) that the July assessment delivered to Congress would be done by someone other than Petraeus and she responded "I understand that Secretary Gates believes that will be General Petraeus. . . . And so that assassment will take -- will be done by General Petraeus."

Levin made no public mention of knowing the nomination was coming; however, AP states he intends "to use a major defense policy bill to expand federal hate crimes laws to protect gays and bring troops home from Iraq. The Michigan Democrat says he also wants to use the bill to force the Iraqi government to pay more toward reconstruction costs." Pauline Jelinek (AP) reports that, as oil prices are close to $120 per barrel, Stuart Bowen ("special inspetor general for Iraq reconstruction") has informed the AP that Iraq's oil revenues for the year could be as high as $70 billion. Gordon Lubold and Howard LaFranchi (Christian Science Monitor) report that US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "appeared to reserve judgment" on the nominations announced by Gates and quotes Reid declaring, "Our ground forces' readiness and battles in Afghanistan and against al-Qaida in Pakistan have suffered as a result of the current costly Iraq strategy. These challenges will require fresh, independent, and creative thinking and, if directed by a new president, a commitment to implementing major changes in strategy."

Turning to US presidental politics. Pressed for time, we're only focusing on Democrats today. Cynthia McKinney has a lot of new content up at her site and she'll be noted in tomorrow's snapshot (McKinney is running for the Green Party's presidential nomination).
Yesterday in Pennsylvania, primaries were held. There was big news on the Republican side and on the Democratic side. Let's start with the GOP (all Penn. results are with 9,219 ouf of the 9,264 districts reporting). 215,812 voters went for Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul (Paul has 125,810). That is almost half the number who voted for John McCain (576,088). Not a strong endorsement for McCain -- the presumed GOP nominee barring death or scandal -- from Pennsylvania. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama. Clinton leads by 10% of the vote. The percentage is 45.4% for Barack (rounded down to 45%) and 54.6% for Hillary (rounds up to 55%). Click here for totals. Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos and Emily Friedman (ABC News) report, "Basking in her 10-point victory in yesterday's Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton told ABC's Good Morning America today that her win gave her a great 'vote of confidence' moving forward." With yesterday's vote, Hillary Clinton now leads Barack Obama in the popular vote by 120,000. Big cry baby Barack says that's not fair to count Florida and Michigan. The press HAS to count them because THEY VOTED. This isn't about delegates, it's about the popular vote. The DNC may not know what to do about Florida and Michigan in terms of delegates but those states held primaries. In Michigan, Barack took his own name off the ballot (others -- Clinton, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich) did not. In Florida, he had the same chance to win as Hillary. He may not like the results but he's the one who refused a revote. The press HAS TO COUNT those results. They took place. The press isn't the DNC and their job IS TO REPORT WHAT HAPPENED. Barack may not like it but, guess what, it's not about what he wants, it's about what happened. (Taylor Marsh explains it here.) The only way the results don't count is if new primaries are held and the one preventing that is Barack Obama. Wasn't Hillary supposed to drop out? Wasn't Barack the Democratic choice (yeah, laugh at that one, we'll come back to it)? He couldn't win Penn and he's got a million and one excuses but if you are the choice, if you are the candidate, if you are all the hype said you were, you would have won. You didn't. Susan UnPC (No Quarter) breaks it down here. Following her victory, the Clinton campaign experienced record donations with $3 million raised by this morning and ten million currently.

Meanwhile Tom Hayden never tires of embarrassing himself (what else is honestly left for him?). Big Tent Democrat (TalkLeft) notes that Tom-Tom wants Hillary out of the race and is pinning it off on his wife -- that's the current wife and (me speaking) don't expect that to last any longer than usual. Tom-Tom tells you his wife is screaming these days -- well who wouldn't if they had to stare at that pockmarked face in the morning? Seriously, Tom Hayden needs to watch himself when it comes to writing about women. When you went through a marriage treating your step-daughter like crap, destroying her self-image, making her feel unwanted, the only thing you ever need to write about women is a piece entitled "Vanessa, This Is My Public Apology To You." Until that piece gets written and published, he really needs to find a topic other than women to write about.

On the issue of the pathetic males, yeah, we caught it. Ava and I never laughed so hard. Add "community" to "movement." Nine times out of ten, someone claiming they decided to support Barack for either is a Communist hiding in their closet. "Red baiting"? Ava and I never laughed so hard. We can't link to it, we can't comment on it because we're really not in the mood for Communist Party members who pose as Democrats today. But let's be really clear, the CP and the DNC are two different parties. When you are CP and you interject yourself into a DNC primary, calling you out is not out of bounds. The general election is open to all. The Democratic Primary is not supposed to be influenced by Communists or, for that matter, Socialists or Greens or anyone not of the Democratic Party. If you're not a Democrat and you're deciding to endorse Barack, it's not "red baiting" to clarify that an outsider is attempting to hijack a political party. As a comedy reel, it was wonderful to listen to. As anything resembling journalism? Not so much. (No surprise.) Funniest line: "Senator Clinton can't have it both ways!" Uh, she's not the Communist going on a broadcast today pretending to be a Democrat. It takes a lot of nerve for a Communist pretending to be a Democrat to accuse Hillary of trying to have it both ways. Again, it's a Democratic Party primary. If you're not a Democrat, butt out. If you don't, closet doors can come down and you brought it on yourself by lying. You and you alone. (And it's not "red baiting" anymore than the Democratic Party, in 2004, noting that Ralph Nader was getting support from some Republicans was "conservative baiting". Get real. It's about frauds trying to trick people.) You can endorse whomever you want in a general election but a Democratic Primary is for Democrats and, of course, the Closeted know that which is one reason they pretend to be Democrats. Not playing that game here.


Carolyn Lochhead (San Francisco Chronicle) observes:Yet the campaign has exposed Obama's glaring weakness among the working-class whites Democrats need to win the presidency."If I told you somebody was winning California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan and Florida and was not winning the nomination, you'd say something was wrong," said Democratic consultant Doug Schoen, who is unaligned in the race. "And something arguably is not right."

And Mike will address the claims of some others quoted in the article tonight. Meanwhile Hillary picked up an endorsement from US House Rep John Tanner, "I do not remember a time when our nation has faced the financial peril that confronts all Americans. To me, this election is not about politics as usual. I believe nothing less than our financial liberty and economic freedom are at stake."


iraq
camilo mejia
iraq veterans against the war
anthony arnovehoward zinn
kristi turnquistviggo mortensen
mcclatchy newspapers
william m. arkinthe washington post
carolyn lochheadthe san francisco chronicle
damien mcelroy
mikey likes it

Yet the campaign has exposed Obama's glaring weakness among the working-class whites Democrats need to win the presidency.
"If I told you somebody was winning California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan and Florida and was not winning the nomination, you'd say something was wrong," said Democratic consultant Doug Schoen, who is unaligned in the race. "And something arguably is not right."
If Democrats had the same winner-take-all process that catapulted McCain toward the GOP nomination despite close victories in a fractured field, Clinton would have all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination on Feb. 5., when she took four of the six largest states, including California by a nine-point margin.
The Electoral College is a similar winner-take-all system that would seem to play to Clinton's strengths and prey on Obama's weaknesses.

that's from carolyn lochhead's article in the san francisco chronicle and kat passed it on. democratic party needs to grasp there won't be any caucuses in november. there won't be any special goose for the nominee. they'll be on a winner-takes-all for a vote in each state, a private vote. remember that latina on cnn during iowa? the 1 that said she wasn't switching to obama (she was for bill richardson) each time the precinct capt. came by and tried to make her switch? they won't be able to use those pressure tactics in a general election. and dennis kucinich and others won't be on the ballot and saying at the last minute 'don't vote for me, vote for ___.'

barack can't win. that's obvious. you need x from the electoral college to win and bambi can't deliver that. this really is like 1972 when the idiot george mcgovern got the nomination. like bambi, he was throwing people under the bus (though people forget that now) and he had the 'youth' appeal. didn't do a damn thing for him at the ballot box.

oh that's cute. tom hayden thinks any 1 cares what he or his unfamous wife have to say. i just told kat and she's showing c.i. who i can hear yelling. tom may find out soon (tomorrow?) what it's like when no 1 feels the need to cover for his treachery anymore.

he really is a piece of scum. i'm not talking about his bad writing (or his bad skin - yuck!), i'm talking about him. i've known that trash casually and he is scum, SCUM in all caps.

speaking of trash, katrina vanden heuvel writes: ' I hate the sexism that has been a factor in this historic primary campaign; yet I also resent a spouse who sometimes, sadly, seems more eager to defend his own legacy of Clintonism than be a valuable campaigner for his partner.' no link to trash, especially not faux democratic trash. katrina when's the last time you called out sexism?

you posted tom hayden's nonsense and i have a strong feeling that c.i. will be addressing the sexism and how tom is the last person in the world to hide behind what 'women think'. she's all upset, we're supposed to believe her red mouth (and, yes, my mother-in-law says she's a red, i know c.i. says she's not, but i'll go with my mother-in-law on this), that bill said something. but when is she ever upset when michelle obama says anything? how about when michelle obama said - before texas & ohio - that she didn't know if she could vote democratic if hillary got the nomination?

red katrina's an idiot. she probably still pisses her panties. she was not a little kid when she was still doing that. it was really embarrassing as was her hair problem. (if you don't know about the hair issue, check out her forearms, she was like a little gorilla.)

this is howard wolfson's "HUBdate: Election Day in Pennsylvania" (hillaryclinton.com):

Previewing Today: This morning, Hillary visits Pennsylvanians as they go to the polls. Tonight, Hillary will celebrate Election Day in Philadelphia, PA at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia."Who Do You Think Has What it Takes?" An ad released yesterday offers Hillary's closing argument to Pennsylvania: "It's the toughest job in the world. You need to be ready for anything – especially now, with two wars, oil prices skyrocketing and an economy in crisis. Harry Truman said it best -- if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Who do you think has what it takes?" Watch here.Who is Hillary Clinton? From the Huffington Post: "If you want to know what Hillary believes in, what she stands for, and what’s in her heart, then look at what she’s been fighting for her whole life: she’s been fighting for people who need help... And Hillary's supporters are standing up for her, because they know she will stand up for them as President, as their advocate abroad and their champion at home. They are standing up for her, because they know she will work her heart out for them. And they know that, because that's what she's been doing her whole life." Read more.
If You Watch One Thing Today: Hillary tells Larry King, "I think it's important that we have an election that asks people who they would hire for the toughest job in the world." Watch here and here.
Madame President: "Joined by her husband and daughter,...Hillary...wrapped up her final Pennsylvania campaign push last night at a passionate rally at the packed and sweltering Palestra. [Hillary said:] 'This has been an extraordinary campaign, and it has been for all the right reasons,' Clinton told the audience...who frequently drowned her out by stomping on the old bleachers of the University of Pennsylvania's arena." Read more.
Hoosiers for Hillary: Across Indiana, Hillary supporters will participate in phone banks today to reach out to Pennsylvania voters during the final hours of the primary there.Oregon for Hillary: 20 prominent Oregonians have joined Hillary's state steering committee. These supporters know Hillary "understands Oregon's needs and who has the experience to work with our state to get things done," said Steering Committee Chair Josh Kardon. Read more.
On Tap: Tomorrow, Hillary returns to Indiana. She will make stops across the Hoosier state through Saturday, sharing her plans to jumpstart the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the middle class.

hillary won another big state. barack doesn't appear to be able to do that, does he? good thing that big states don't have more electoral votes, right? what's that? oh, yeah, they do.

barack's a loser, the democratic party needs to tell him to get lost. he outspent hillary 4 to 1 and he still couldn't buy the victory. tell the loser bye-bye.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Tuesday, April 22, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, the VA gets sued, Patty Murray calls for a resignation, Condi Rice continues to fail at diplomacy and more.


Starting with war resistance. All who self-checkout of the military are not war resisters; however, in reporting on a husband and wife who self-checkedout and have now returned,
Rick Rogers (San Diego Union-Tribune) notes, "For a variety of reasons, at least 640 Marines based in California -- most of them from Camp Pendleton -- have landed in military court since June 2005 because they went AWOL, according to an analysis of Marine dockets by The San Diego Union-Tribune. Those records showed at least 30 AWOL proceedings in the past month." That is significant in and of itself (and Rogers notes that most do not end up in court so they aren't included in the public count). It's all the more significant when you grasp that the figures given to the public repeatedly have been of the US Army. Repeatedly the public has been told that this is just a problem for the army and that the marines don't have any problem with AWOLs or desertions.

Let's turn to known war resisters. The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Last month Iraq Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier took place -- you can stream online at Iraq Veterans Against the War, at War Comes Home, at KPFK, at the Pacifica Radio homepage and at KPFA, here for Friday, here for Saturday, here for Sunday. Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz were the anchors for Pacifica's live coverage. Today Allison and Glantz hosted a live report on KPFA about the trial where veterans are being represented by Gordon Erspamer in their lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dropping back to yesterday's snapshot:


This morning Paul Elias (AP) reported on the lawsuit against the US Department of Veterans Affairs alleging that they were not "doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for the Americans who have served in the armed forces" -- a charge the government, naturally, denies. CBS News' Armen Keteyian reports (link has text and text and video to past reports) that despite the government's denials in court today of problems and a rise in suicide risks, an e-mail exists, written earlier this year by the Veterans Affairs' head of Mental Health, Dr. Iraq Katz, which states "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities." Keteyian explains, "Katz's email was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attemped suicides in all 2007 -- a fraction of Katz's estimate" and that when US House Rep and chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Bob Filner was shown Katz' e-mail by CBS, Filner stated, "This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans. They do not want to come to grips with reality, with the truth."


Allison and Glantz began the broadcast with some highlights from Winter Soldier and then began speaking with Gordon Erspamer who sketched out how few cases ever make it as far as this one has because the VA moves to dismiss. An 86-year-old Nixon appointee agreed to hear this case despite the VA's efforts to dismiss the case. The VA showed up with seven attorneys and a press flack. Glantz revealed that while Erspamer was making points, the flack was repeatedly whispering into the ear of the New York Times reporter assigned to cover the case. The VA was invited on the broadcast but they refused to send anyone, including their flack. The flack was played via a taped interview where, when asked about the fact that approximately 18 veterans are attempting suicide every day, she insisted "We care very, very much" while also saying that's only about 21% of the rate for the entire US. The most amusing moment in the first hour of the broadcast came from a reporter for a weekly explaining how important this was. That was all the funnier when testimony was played from Winter Soldier and he dubbed it "tragic." Tragic was his outlet's refusal to print a story on Winter Soldier. Why was he there? He said it was an important issue. The reality is that CBS is all over this story so everyone else is rushing to get onboard as well. The reality is that it's follow the leader as opposed to any bravery. The reality is it's an easier story to cover because it can be turned into "Oooooh" and clucking as opposed to something that really challenges.

Reality is also that pathetic job the Veterans Affairs Dept has done. They were happy to trot out their suicide prevention work on The Diane Rehm Show and others late last year. And one of their big things, their big improvements, was their new toll free number to provide assistance for veterans contemplating suicide! They didn't do crap. The number is 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) and, guess what, that's the National Suicide Prevention Hot Line. That's the number that's always been in existance for ALL US citizens. The VA's total contribution to the crisis is that the National Suicide Prevention Hotline now allows you, at approximately 20 seconds into the automate message, to press "one" and identify yourself as a veteran. That's the sum total of what the VA has done -- they've hopped on board the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

One person who is calling the Veterans Affairs Department out, Pia Malbran (CBS News) reports. is US Senator Patty Murray who is calling for the resignation of the VA's Dr. Ira Katz. Senator Murray released the following statement today:

"It is imperative that the individual responsible for providing top notch mental health services to our veterans be open and honest about the VA's needs.
"Doctor Katz's irresponsible actions have been a disservice to our veterans and it is time for him to go. The number one priority of the VA should be caring for our veterans, not covering up the truth.
"I have spoken with Secretary Peake and I have asked him to take immediate action to restore the faith of our veterans in the mental health care provided by the VA.
"The epidemic of veterans' suicide is horrifying but it should also be preventable. In order to ensure that it is, the VA must be honest about the numbers and the needs. It is time for the VA to own up to the true cost of the war and ensure our heroes aren't lost when they come home."




Turning to the 'diplomatic front,' US Secretary Condi Rice's trip to the Middle East has producded no photo-ops and no results. AFP reports: "Rice failed to clinch any firm Arab pledges on debt relief or diplomatic presence at talks in Bahrain earlier on Monday but took her campaign to Kuwait for a meeting Tuesday with Iraq, Arab states, Turkey, Iran and world powers. Speaking after a meeting in Bahrain with counterparts from six Gulf monarchies, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, Rice said the talks covered relieving Iraq debt and sending ambassadors to the war-torn nation. But she did not report any decision on either score." Why has Rice's charm-assault failed so badly? It probably doesn't help you make your case when you rely on lies that the US press might bite their tongues but foreign governments have to reaspon to. Today in Kuwait, she included this following in her speech, "I would just note that violence in Iraq has decreased. Iraq's leaders have certainly made progress in passing legislation on the budget, provincial powers, de-Baathification reform, pensions and amnesty. They have significantly improved Iraq's budget execution and they are now allocating more of Iraq's own budget to build the infrastructure and provide the services that the Iraqi people expect from their elected government." Neighboring countries don't have oceans between themselves and Iraq, they are fully aware of what the puppet government in Baghdad hasn't done and probably find it insulting when Rice thinks she can spin them as if they were the press corps.. The de-de-Baathifciation (actual de-Baathification was started by Paul Bremer, overturning that would be de-de-Baathification) 'reform'? Nothing's happened on that. A laughable piece of legislation was passed, never implemented and considered by most, impossible to do so. "Provincial powers" translates as the issue of Kirkuk and Iraq's neighbors pay a lot closer attention to that struggle over who get claim to Kirkuk than the US does. The puppet-government sits on millions of dollars for reconstruction, none of which it is spending and neighboring countries are as aware of that as they are of the number of Iraqi refugees trying to enter their countries. Despite the fact that puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki became a worldwide joke for his attempts at 'commanding' the assault on Basra, Rice not only wanted to cite that as 'success,' she wanted to imply that those attending were too stupid to grasp that with remarks such as, "And here, I want just to underscore that we need to really understand what happened in Basra." Everyone understood what happened. Not content selling failure as a success, she then wanted to encourage Iraqi's neighbors to back failure, "This is something that the Iraqi Government needed to do, and we all need to support what has been done there." On the subject of Iraqi refugees her remarks were just insulting. The US government has not met their (tiny) stated goals for admitting Iraqi refugees and the Iraqi government has not paid neighboring countries any reasonable amount of money so the last thing Iraq's neighbors needed to hear was Rice babbling on about 'success' on that front and all the money Iraq is investing to aid its citizens.. In fact, on Monday, Tom Casey, US State Dept' spokesperson, was asked about the puppet government not spending the oil revenues on the Iraqi people ("they're investing in US treasuries") and the best that Casey could respond was to state he didn't have the information in front of him and then the standard talking point of how "Iraq is investing in its own people." Casey ignored the reference to January's GAO report. James Glanz (New York Times) reporting on that report at the start of this year noted the White House claimed in September 2007 (when asking for more war funding) that Iraq had increased their spending on infrastructure, "The Iraqi government had been severely criticized for failing to spend billions of dollars of its oil revenues in 2006 to finance its own reconstruction, but last September the administration said Iraq had greatly accelerated such spending. By July 2007, the administration said, Iraq had spent some 24 percent of $10 billion set aside for reconstruction that year. As Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, prepared in September to report to Congress on the state of the war, the economic figures were a rare sign of progress within Iraq's often dysfunctional government. But in its report on Tuesday, the accountability office said official Iraqi Finance Ministry records showed that Iraq had spent only 4.4 percent of the reconstruction budget by August 2007. It also said that the rate of spending had substantially slowed from the previous year." Despite that reality, Casey in the US and Rice in Kuwait, were eager to spin. Rice's most laughable claim -- in the midst of the continued assault on Sadr City -- may have been maintaining "that the Iraqi government is working now to establish the trust of all of its citizens". Earlier this month, US Senator Chuck Hagel asked US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker about the alleged diplomatic 'surge,' what they were doing and how Rice was not looking "Kissinger-esque." Nothing from her current trip abroad would suggest any reason to stop questioning those claims.



"At the southern entrance to Sadr City several Iraqi men on the US military's payroll are sweeping the street in the latest attempt to stop al-Mahdi Army militia from recruiting new fighters," explains Deborah Haynes (Times of London) of the realities in the Baghdad neighborhood loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr. Just to repeat "Iraqi men on the US military's payroll". That would be the turncoats who turned with coin was tossed at them. As US Senator Barbara Boxer noted in the April 8th US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, "You are asking us for millions more to pay off the militias and, by the way, I have an article here that says Maliki recently told a London paper that he was concerned about half of them" out of doubts about their loyalty --- loyalty that the US pays $18 million a month, $182 milliion a year for.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that left five people injured, a Baghdad car bombing claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers and left eighteen civilians and two soldiers wounded, a Baghdad bombing wounded two Iraqi police officers, a Baghdad mortar attack claimed 5 lives and left eight more people injured, a Ramadi truck bombing claimed the lives of 4 people and left twenty-one injured, a Kirkuk bombing wounded a PUK party member "and three of his guards," a Mosul car bombing claimed 1 life and left ten more injured, a Mosul roadside bombing wounded a father and his daughter and a Baquba bomber killed herself "near the police station of Jalawlaa" as well as 8 others ("including five policemen") while wounding seventeen more. AFP notes, "The attack was the second by a woman in as many days in Diyala". Reuters notes a Baghdad rocket attack that claimed 6 lives and left ten injured, ups the Mosul car bombing by 1 to two killed and the injured count to twenty. And CBS and AP note: "In Basra, a senior aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani died on Tuesday, a week after being seriously injured in an assassination attempt. Two other al-Sistani representatives were injured in separate ambushes. The attacks came just days after a top aide of al-Sadr was killed in Najaf, suggesting the violence could be part of an internal Shiite power struggle."

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "an employee of Baghdad municipality" was shot dead in Baghdad, a Baghdad shooting left one Iraqi soldier wounded. Reuters reports today that "Gunmen wounded a reporter and cameramn from local television station Biladi and their driver on Monday in a drive-by shooting" in Baghdad.

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.


Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Force -- West Marine was killed by an improvised explosive device in Basra, Iraq, April 21. Additionally, one Marine was injured in the attack." On that death, AFP notes, "This is the first US military loss in Basra since Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown against Shiite militiamen there on March 25." CBS and AP add: "AP Television News footage from Basra on Monday showed thick smoke rising from a military vehicle burning on a highway overpass." And the US military announced: "Two Multi-National Force -- West Marines were killed when a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at an entry control point in the vicinity of Ramadi, Iraq, at approximately 7:30 a.m. April 22. The SVBIED attack wounded three other Marines. Two Iraqi Police and 24 local Iraqis were also wounded in the attack." The announced deaths bring to 4044 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.

In other US military news, Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reports in the increased used of moral waivers by the US army to meet recruiting goals, the increase of approximately 1/4 in the number now admitted under the waivers ("8,129 in fascal 2006 to 10,258 in fiscal 2007" for the army), "In particular, the Army accepted more than double the number of applicants with convictions for felony crimes such as burglary, grand larceny and aggravated assault, rising from 249 to 511, while the corresponding number for the Marines increased by two-thirds, from 208 to 350. The vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses. Most involved theft, but a handful involved sexual assault and terrorist threats, and there were three cases of involuntary manslaughter."

In US presidinatila campaign news, the state of Pennsylvania is voting today. Though John McCain is considered the GOP presidential nominee, the race continues for the Democratic nomination with US Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama the last two standing and tied in a dead heat. Fernando Suarez (CBS News) reports Hillary raised the obvious question about the media favorite Barack, if after outspending her (3 to 1 or 4 to 1) in Penn, he can't win the primary, the question on everyone's minds should be: "Why can't he close the deal?" Meanwhile CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic reports that Barack is upset that some question his patriotism and that he doesn't understand why they would? Being close to two members of the Weather Underground -- Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dorhn -- who declared war on the US and have refused to renounce their past acts of violence might be one reason. Another might be the online face of his campaign: Sam Graham-Felsen who is the Obama's campaign official blogger and who, less than a year prior to taking that post, was publishing in a periodical that explained: "The Socialist Workers Organization was formed to advance the revolutionary Marxist political program in the United States. . . . The capitalist ruling class of the United States exercises a virtual dictatorship not only over American society, but also over the entire world. This capitalist class rule is the basic cause of the poverty, wars, and the degradation of the natural environment." What was the vetting process in that hire? Is it a lack of judgement? Is Barack endorsing that point of view? What's going on there? Susan UnPC (No Quarter) previews how the Bambi Groupies will attempt to spin a Bambi loss. And the Clinton campaign released this statement:

The Obama campaign is attempting to pre-spin the results from tonight's Pennsylvania primary by suggesting that Sen. Clinton should -- and will -- win.
But after the Obama campaign's "go-for-broke" Pennsylvania strategy, after their avalanche of negative ads, negative mailers and negative attacks against Sen. Clinton, after their record-breaking spending in the state, a fundamental question must be asked: Why shouldn't Sen. Obama win?
Sen. Obama's supporters -- and many pundits -- have argued that the delegate "math" makes him the prohibitive frontrunner. They have argued that Sen. Clinton's chances are slim to none. So if he's already the frontrunner, if he's had six weeks of unlimited resources to get his message out, shouldn't he be the one expected to win tonight? If not, why not?
As the phrase goes, watch what they do not what they say.
There's a reason Sen. Obama and his campaign have ratcheted up their year-long assault on Sen. Clinton's character and ended the Pennsylvania campaign with a flurry of harsh negative attacks. It's because they know that a loss in Pennsylvania will raise troubling questions about his candidacy and his ability to take on John McCain in the general election. And it's because they know that the race is neck and neck and tonight's contest is a measure of where the campaign stands.
The reality is this: both candidates need a combination of pledged and super delegates to secure the nomination -- and either candidate can reach the required number. The press and the pundits have repeatedly counted Sen. Clinton out and she has repeatedly proved them wrong. The vote in the bellwether state of Pennsylvania is another head to head measure of the two candidates and of the coalition they will put together to compete and win in November.
No amount of spin from the Obama campaign will change that -- nor will it explain away anything less than a victory by Sen. Obama.

'granny panties.'

that's what c.i. said to me on the phone this afternoon. i called and called and couldn't get an answer. so i called ava's cell and she explained they were driving to the next speaking gig and kat was behind the wheel with c.i. in the backseat 'asleep with a fever.' (jim had a nasty cold and passed it on - not intentionally -- over the weekend.) i said i'd call back, but she said it was actually the time they promised to wake up c.i. so a groggy c.i. takes the phone and says 'granny panties.'

i was laughing and asking who had granny panties?

c.i. said that woman on your show, the 1 trying to kill roger. c.i. was so out of it. i was just about to say 'guiding light' (in the early 80s, i was addicted to the guiding light and would tape it every day - i also bored friends recounting storylines). as c.i. woke up, it was clear it was a dream and it wasn't roger. david corn had been killed or wounded by some woman (or man in a dress) wearing blue boxers? corn laid out of all his change at the start of the day - in rows - and the killer/wounder had taken the change and was tossing it into a wishing well.

c.i. said, 'i have no idea what that means, i'm burning up with a fever.' i said, 'i'm opening with that.'

this is howard wolfson's 'HUBdate: Pennsylvania Primary Eve' (hillaryclinton.com):

Previewing Today in PA: Hillary hosts "Solutions for Pennsylvania" rallies in Scranton, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. She is joined by former President Bill Clinton in Pittsburgh and later in Philadelphia.
"Answer:" In response to increasingly negative attacks from the Obama campaign, the Clinton campaign unveiled "Answer" a new 30-second TV spot: "There are more and more questions about Barack Obama. Instead of attacking, maybe he should answer them." Read more.
“A Few Last Words” for Pennsylvanians: In an op-ed in the Philadelphia Daily News, Hillary writes: "Traveling across this state today, I see that same Pennsylvania spirit my family instilled in me -- that wonderful combination of resilience, patriotism and optimism. A spirit that says anything is possible when we roll up our sleeves and get to work. That is the spirit I'm bringing to my campaign, and the spirit I will bring to my presidency." Read more.
"Almost Obscene Spending:" Gov. Rendell said yesterday the "the race has tightened because of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's 'almost obscene’ spending." Read more.
Details Matter: "ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton was fired up [yesterday] evening at her final stop...[Hillary said:] 'I think we have to...get beyond the generalities, get beyond the speeches, because when the cameras disappear and the lights are turned off you’re electing a president to solve problems, not to give speeches.'" Read more.
Praising McCain?: Sen. Obama suggested yesterday that Sen. McCain would be a better President than Bush. Hillary’s response: "Sen. McCain would follow the same failed policies that have been so wrong for our country the last seven years." Read more and more. Read Hillary's full response here.
Grit to Lead: "Hillary Clinton supporter Kathleen Kennedy Townsend answered a few questions from The [South Bend] Tribune: ...We want somebody who's got the grit to get down in the details and solve problems. I want somebody who knows that we are in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, who understands what that requires, and who has a grasp on how to solve these problems." Read more.
Surrogates in the States: Ted Danson spent yesterday in Terre Haute, IN: "If I tell Hillary about a problem I'm having I'd better be ready for her to fix it." Read more... Sean Astin campaigns in the Tar Heel state today.
In Case You Missed It: "Electability: Why Hillary Is More Likely to Beat McCain" Read more.

i'm really pulling for hillary tomorrow. she really is the only 1 who can win in november. if you doubt that, read mike's 'Are Democrats writing off the police vote?' that really goes to how out of touch panhandle media is. they don't even grasp that a group responsible for the deaths of police officers isn't really some 1 they want close to their candidate of choice. barack obama is not the nominee. i believe weather members killed 4 police officers and you better be sure the police unions are not going to back barack. you better be sure that they will actively protest.

if the police unions take a position it makes it hard for the fire fighters not to take 1 and that make it hard for the e.m.t. workers not to take 1.

but apparently that's not a concern to panhandle media.

maybe they love cop killers?

i don't know.

i just know barack obama is a public relations disaster and the dems are begging for trouble if they make him their nominee. he can't close the deal, obviously, and he has too much baggage. the second the weather underground association came along, the democratic party leaders should have told him, 'nice run, announce you're dropping out.'

but they didn't. so they must want to lose. if they give him the nomination, they are begging for protests and nightmares. barack can't win. his appeal was never to democrats. he had appeal to independents prior to jeremiah wright. when the mccain campaign gets ahold of the weather underground and really runs with that, you better believe barack could very easily lose all 50 states.

and, guess what, the realities have yet to emerge on barack. if you think this has been a revealing portion of the campaign, most people are sitting on things that would really expose him.

hillary's the candidate we know.

she's the 1 who's stood for us and will continue to do so.

the barack chewing gum has lost its flavor and it's time for the dnc to get real and explain to him that he needs to drop out.

all mccain's going to have to do is put the families of the dead police officers in a commercial - him or a group supporting him - and that's it for bambi. no superior judgement and most americans, given the choice to stand with him or the families of police officers killed in the line of duty will choose to stand with the familes.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Monday, April 21, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Robert Gates delivers an attention getting speech, Condi Rice goes through the motions, the US Veterans Affairs Dept did know about the increased suicide risks (and hid it), Panhandle Media skirts the law and risks their tax status, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Lou Michel (The Buffalo News) reported Sunday on US war resister Patrick Hart who is seeking safe harbor in Canada and explains, "This is home for me now. I love Canada. A lot of us have been here a few years and planted roots." Hart is an Iraq War veteran who was stationed in Iraq from 2003 (April) to 2004 (March) and who self-checked out and went to Canada in August of 2005. He, his wife Jill and their son Rian have made Canada their home. Michel notes that, "The Canadian House of Commons is expected to vote soon on a resolution that would allow him and the other deserters to seek residency there. It's considered a last resort -- a political solution -- because the Canadian courts have determined they lack the jurisdiction to rule on deserters' claims that the war in Iraq is illegal and make them eligible for asylum as refugees."

The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Last month Iraq Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier took place and KPFA has a live program coming up April 22nd: Live On Air and Online at kpfa.org!
April 22 from 10am-1pm Join us on April 22nd for this very important follow up to Pacifica's groundbreaking Winter Soldier live coverage. We will be following the San Francisco trial involving wounded vets and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this first class action lawsuit U.S. Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder sue the VA, alleging a system wide breakdown in the way the Government treats those soldiers.During this special broadcast we will be bringing our listeners live updates from the San Francisco federal courthouse, we'll speak with wounded Veterans attorney Gordon Erspamer, (taking this case pro bono because his father was permanently disabled in World War II and never received proper health care) and speak with Veterans advocates including Veterans for Common Sense, and Vets for America.Read more about the broadcast here.

That announcement will appear in the snapshots until the broadcast. If you missed Winter Soldier you can stream online at Iraq Veterans Against the War, at War Comes Home, at KPFK, at the Pacifica Radio homepage and at KPFA, here for Friday, here for Saturday, here for Sunday. Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz were the anchors for Pacifica's live coverage.


Today William Branigin (Washington Post) reports, "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates chided the U.S. armed forces today for not providing enough intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance help to troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying it has been 'like pulling teeth' to get the services to change old habits." Gates was speaking at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and he opened with memories that drew (intentional) laughter -- four times at the start of his speech. Getting more serious, Gates began pushing counter-insurgency: "Furthermore, the counterinsurgency manual issued by the Army and Marines is over 200 pages long and yet only four pages are dedicated to air, space and cyberspace. Not long ago, the Air Force published a doctrine document on irregular warfare, but as future leaders of air power, you should consider whether there is more the service might do to articulate and codify the unique role of air power in instability operations." He pushed predators and other "unmanned systems" (they "cost much less and offer greater loiter times") which is only surprising if you missed the hard sell done by the military last week (Thursday) in the US House Armed Service Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee when THAAD was being pushed hard. If you caught that hearing, you know drones are being pushed hard by the military which is being creative with the funding aspect. Mark Thompson (Time magazine) observes, "Gate's comments richoeted at supersonic speed around the Pentagon and across broader defense networks, as officers -- and contracters -- tried to parse their implications. His bottom line: The Air Force ought to be less concerned with buying more $350 million F-22 fighters for use in future wars that may never happen, and do more to deliver what is needed to fight the wars currently underway 'while their outcome may still be in doubt'." Of course the pitch may have been undercut by the fact that a US drone crashed today in Musayyib. Gates also took a swipe at the intelligence communtiy noting that "the intelligence community has wrestled with this over the years and, I would say, mostly unsuccessfully. And one example is the role of the national intelligence officer for warning. Now, this is supposed to be the out-of-the-box thinker who spots the threat coming down the road that nobody else can spot. But since most of the time, most threats don't materialize, eventually that person gets sidelined, and they don't play a constructive role." Okay, who's job was national security on 9-11? Condi Rice. Her title was National Security Advisor. Today she's the US Secretary of State and she just finished a for show trip to Iraq.

Staging three press events there yesterday, she conveyed that the State Dept had accomplished nothing with her recent visit, that 'progress' in Iraq is not a foward motion and that a for-show trips needs to provide something you can show. The trip was a failure on all fronts and did not respond to US Senator Chuck Hagel's critique of Rice's performance on the job being far from "Kissenger-esque." Rice went through the usual song and dance: she promised $100 million in reconstruction aid to Basra and another $100 million to Sadr City. She got the administration's talking point across by calling Moqtada al-Sadr a "coward" and that may have been her sole 'sucess' from the White House's viewpoint. Directly questioned about the reconstruction aid and the 'progress' she babbled unconvincinly about how "there have been problems" which requires she either spell them out (implying to everyone that now the aministration has learned a lesson) or that she turn the issue around. She did neither. From all three press events, the only thing she had to show was that she had reviewed "election plans" for the fall elections. Yes, that 'work' could have been done in the US. It was a very large embarrassment for Rice and, most of all, she failed to convey appreciation for those in the State Dept working in Iraq. As head of the State Dept doing that was her cheif responsibility -- at any time, but especially when State Dept staff is balking at being stationed in Iraq and there are threats that they will be assigned there regardless. Her trips was a disaster.

Following Gates speech today, he took questions and one was about the New York Times' report Sunday "about the number of retired senior officers who are commentators but who also serve on boards for companies that are profiting from the war. Sir, what do you think about all these senior officers who are now retired influencing public opinion about the Department of Defense and the war effort?" Gates tried to merge the issue with the issue of political campaigns referring to retired generals ("these guys") who are "eithering up for different candidates or as media experts and so on". Gates stated, "I did read the article, and frankly, I think that -- I couldn't quite tell how much of it was an implied political conflict of interest, an implied finanical conflict of interest or what." He did allow "I think that the one service they owe everybody is making clear that they're speaking only for themselves."

Sunday's front page article was written by David Barstow and he noted:

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivy, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found. The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynmaic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to asses on air.

No, Gates really didn't answer the question.

Saturday and Sunday saw at least 80 reported deaths of Iraqis. In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports three Baghdad bombings that wounded three people, a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed 1 life and left five more people wounded, a Baghdad mortar attack that wounded two people and a Baquba bombing where a woman killed herself outside "one of the popular committees headquarters at Mafraq in Baquba" and took the lives of 3 other people as well as leaving four more wounded. Reuters notes a Mosul roadside bombing that left two police officers injured and a Kirkuk roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 police officer and left four more injured.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports armed clashes in Baghdad that claimed the lives of 6 people and left five wounded. Reuters notes 1 man shot dead in Basra.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes Sadr City hospitals stated today that they had taken in 14 corpses and fifty-six injured people in the last 24 hours.


Today the US military announced: "Two Multi-National Division -- North Soldiers were killed when an improvised explosived device detonated during operations in the Salah and Din Province April 21. Two Soldiers were also wounded in the attack, as well as two Sons of Iraq members and a civilian interpreter. The wounded were transported to a Coalition force medical facility for treatment." The announcement brings to 4041 the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.

This morning Paul Elias (AP) reported on the lawsuit against the US Department of Veterans Affairs alleging that they were not "doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for the Americans who have served in the armed forces" -- a charge the government, naturally, denies. CBS News' Armen Keteyian reports (link has text and text and video to past reports) that despite the government's denials in court today of problems and a rise in suicide risks, an e-mail exists, written earlier this year by the Veterans Affairs' head of Mental Health, Dr. Iraq Katz, which states "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities." Keteyian explains, "Katz's email was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attemped suicides in all 2007 -- a fraction of Katz's estimate" and that when US House Rep and chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Bob Filner was shown Katz' e-mail by CBS, Filner stated, "This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans. They do not want to come to grips with reality, with the truth."


Turning to the cesspool that is Panhandle Media. On Thursday, after screaming like a holler monkey in a conference call, David Corn felt the need to put his ignorance into print: "When it came time for questions for Wolfson, I asked an obvious one: Did Hillary Clinton believe that it had been appropriate in 2001 for President Bill Clinton to have pardoned two members of the Weather Underground as he left office?" David Corn is an idiot and if Mother Jones is going to treat a community member like crap, we're not going to be nice. David Corn is acting very imbalanced and very non-professional. Possibly the guilt over Gary Webb's suicide is finally taking hold because David Corn's laughable 'journalism' is responsible for ending the career of Gary Webb. Were it not for people like David Corn, people who repeated spin from the CIA as fact, people who never corrected the record while Webb was alive, Gary Webb wouldn't have been destroyed. For many people, David Corn has blood on his hands. And maybe the guilt's finally kicking in and that's why he's behaving in such an irrational manner?

Or maybe he's just bound and determined to be a hack? Mother Jones apparently doesn't care about corrections. Several community members e-mailed the magazine using their generic contact form last week to give them a heads up about Corn's HUGE ERROR. As of Monday afternoon, they still haven't corrected it. A community member called them today and his e-mail's been read to me. All I can tell you is that Panhandle Media is so totally incompetent, refuses to take responsibility and so unprofessional that they could never work in the real world of journalism. The member's a tax attorney and says they are in violation of the tax status.

Yes, they are. So is KPFA, so is Democracy Now!, so is The Progressive. It's a point Ava and I have been making repeatedly this year. Because they can't make money on what they do, they form, in effect, a shelter through which their 'news' is conveyed. For most, that's a 501 (c) (3). They are forbidden from endorsing candidates. Endorsement does not just mean that they cannot say "I endorse . . ." It also means that they cannot have the cumaltive coverage read as endorsement. At The Progressive, Ruth Conniff, the closest to sympathetic (forget supportive) of Hillary Clinton's campaign rendered a one-word judgement when Hillary won New Hampshire: "Yuck." It is not only smart in a two-person race for an outlet to have people favorably covering both candidates (it increases your likely audience), it is needed to avoid losing your tax status. Equally true is that Cynthia McKinney's run has been ignored and Matthew Rothschild has dismissed Ralph Nader's run. There is no way the magazine can argue that their coverage has not been an endorsement of Obama. Their tax status could be pulled instantly. Now KPFA could lose their license over the entire coverage but especially over the Larry Bensky hosted two hour post-debate coverage which featured only Barack Obama supporters. Not only did it feature those people who had already publicly endorsed Obama, Benksy didn't disclose that fact to the listening audience. KPFA not only has a tax status, it has a broadcasting license and it receives government money. The little stunt Bensky pulled, the little slanted one-sided echo chamber could get KPFA knocked off the air.

They cannot do an echo chamber and maintain their tax free status while pretending they are not endorsing a candidate. Their coverage is slanted and it's outrageous. Churches are in trouble right now for allowing one candidate to speak. By the same token, sticking with KPFA, inviting on only Obama supporters -- people who have publicly endorsed Obama -- to dissect a debate is an endorsement. It's an echo chamber and it's an endorsement. Regardless of whom gets the Democratic nomination, people should be paying attention and, yes, they could file complaints with the federal government.

They can't do this on your tax dollar. They cannot enlist in a campaign. But that's exactly what the coverage has been. It's why Amy Goodman's in trouble with NPR stations currently because, leaving her tax stastus aside, her decision to bring on Barack supporters and people with his campaign and not identify them as such to the audience is in complete violation of NPR's guidelines for programming. If someone has a conflict of interest -- and Melissa Harris-Lacewell being part of the Obama campaign is a conflict of interest -- Amy Goodman's required to disclose it on air. She didn't do that. Now the second time when she wanted to attack Gloria Steinem (when she plotted with Melissa on that), she did reveal. But she failed to do so when she had Melissa on as an "objective" commentator who just happened to catch a speech by Barack and was wowed by it.

Amy Goodman's also in trouble for allowing John Nichols to smear a governor of a state. Goodman made no effort to get a comment from the governor (a Democrat, by the way) but allowed Nichols to repeat whispers about her. That's not journalism. Nothing that Panhandle Media has produced in this election cycle (which they began in 2006) passes for journalism.

In Mother Jones case, just last week you had idiot Justy posting again about Hillary's prayer group. Forget that the story has been ridiculed by the real press, the fact remains that Barack participates in the same activities. But Mother Jones doesn't tell you that and wants to pretend that they are somehow doing journalism? They're not doing journalism. They're endorsing a candidate. They are non-stop smearing one candidate to advance another and, yes, that is an endorsement and, yes, they can lose their tax status.

If they or any other outlet loses that tax status, the government doesn't say, "We're pulling it, nah-nah." They have to pay fines, they've been operating in violation of their tax status. For Mother Jones that would mean losing their mailing status and having to pay back monies from when they first went into the tank for one campaign. Some may wrongly equate what they're doing with what Rush Limbaugh does on a daily basis. Rush Limbaugh is a for-profit radio program. He's not taking a tax shelter. He does hideous work but he does it for-profit. The left rushed to the non-profit status thinking that would save it and it really hasn't. But if they're going to grab that status, if they're going to get those tax breaks, then they need to follow the rules and they are not in compliance.

Again, Ava and I have tried to kindly issue those warnings but if this is the step people want to pursue, have at it. Complain to the IRS. They are in violation, they should have to pay fines, they should lose their status, all of them. They're disgusting. They can't turn a profit so they hop on board that tax status that requires all Americans pay for their crap and yet they don't want to follow the basic rules. You can't have it both ways. You can't get your tax ememptions and not follow the guidelins required for that exemption. In fact, as late as May 2006, Matthew Rothschild was explaining the tax status to readers of The Progressive on the letters' page. It's a real shame he forgot it. But, no, they don't deserve that tax status. If they want the freedom that comes with a for-profit magazine, then they have to ditch their tax status. If they want to mainatin the tax status, they have to cover both. (Peggy Simpons' WMC article last week does not take sides and WMC has posted pro-Hillary and pro-Barack stories. Equally true, they have reported stories that just reported what happened.)

Here's what David Corn -- who needs to have that wart removed from his face -- wrote in his infamous blog post:

Wolfson went on to accuse the Obama campaign of trying to conflate the pardons and the Ayers issues. And indeed it is. The Obama campaign did disseminate email about the Weather Underground radicals pardoned by Bill Clinton. Wolfson then maintained the critical difference here is that Ayers had been a "key supporter" of Obama.

Guess what David Corn, it's not your job to repeat Obama campaign spin. THERE WERE NO PARDONS. You got caught doing the Obama campaign's job for them. You are not a journalist, you gave up the right to call yourself that when you refused to check out claims by the Obama campaign and instead ran with them. You embarrased yourself in that Thursday media conference call bellowing about the pardons -- the pardons THAT NEVER TOOK PLACE. You then shamed yourself further by taking to the MoJo blog to brag about yourself and what a great job you did. You did a s**t poor job because you're supposed to be a journalist. Your open hostility towards the Clinton campaign, your admission that you are using talking points furnished by the Obama campaign and your body of work -- such as it is -- are in complete violation of Mother Jones' tax status.

There were NO PARDONS. As Ava and I explained on Sunday:

Despite Professor Patti Williams public orgasms over Barack's legal 'knowledge,' we've long noted the man's an idiot who can't even grasp what "verus" in the title of a court case means. We have no idea how he ended up president of the Harvard Law Review (not much of a credit in our eyes) but it was due to something other than a grasp of the law. So we'll assume that he wasn't trying to lie, he just truly doesn't know (idiot) whether Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg. He commuted them. They were not pardoned. We pointed that out Thursday morning. Sadly, it required pointing out again Thursday night. No pardons took place. But if you need a better example of the bias the press has in favor of Obama and against Clinton, you need look no further. Barack declared that Bill Clinton "pardoned or commuted" and the press ran with what? Pardoned. Given the choice to run with either, they went for the one that painted the Clintons badly and excused Barack's friendship with a domestic terrorist.That tells you a lot. What a journalist actually does -- a real one -- is examine that charge, research it. In doing so, it would have been obvious that the two women had their sentences commuted, not that they were pardoned. But why bother to actually do your job when it's so much easier to repeat a lie -- one that benefits Barack and one that his campaign repeated on Thursday and as late as Friday. Barack's campaign is lying, there was no pardon.


It does tell you exactly about the bias in favor of Obama. His campaign makes a claim and the press runs with it as fact, never bothering to check it out. And no one looked like a bigger idiot than David Corn, disgracing himself on that media conference call as he yelled and screamed about pardons that never took place.

Turning to the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, Liz Sidoti (AP) reports on the losing campaign of Barack Obama who yesterday gave any undecideds a reason to vote for the GOP's John McCain:Democrat Barack Obama, who often argues that John McCain is the same as President Bush, said Sunday that the Republican presidential candidate would be an improvement over Bush's eight-year reign."You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain. And all three of us would be better than George Bush," Obama said.A sure sign of the ineffective campaign he'd run if he got the nomination. He lacks experience, maturity and, as he demonstrates above, common sense. I could see him doing like Jared Ball in the Green Party debate, stopping mid-debate with John McCain to announce he was dropping out. (Ball announced it and that he was supporting Cynthia McKinney.) Here's "Hillary Clinton Responds to Sen. Obama's Suggestion that Sen. McCain Would be a Better President than George Bush:"Hillary Clinton responded today to a statement made by Sen. Obama suggestion that Sen. McCain would be a better President than George W. Bush.In Reading, PA, Sen. Obama's said: "You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain...And all three of us would be better than George Bush." Read more. Hillary Clinton's response from Johnstown, PA (For an actuality of the audio, click here):"Sen. Obama said today that John McCain would be better for the country than George Bush. Now, Sen. McCain is a real American patriot who has served our country with distinction, but Sen. McCain would follow the same failed policies that have been so wrong for our country the last seven years."Sen. McCain thinks it is okay to keep our troops in Iraq for the next 100 years. Is that better than George Bush?Audience: No!"Sen. McCain will continue the failed economic policies of George Bush that have brought us deficit and increasing debt. Is that better than George Bush?Audience: No!"Sen. McCain does not have a health care plan that will cover every American. In fact, we will have more and more uninsured Americans. Is that better than George Bush?Audience: No!"Sen. McCain has no plans to end the housing foreclosure crisis or cut the cost of gas at the pump. Is that better than George Bush?Audience: No!"We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain, and I will be that nominee."

Rebecca: I'm Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude and tonight we've got a roundtable. Participating are Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review, Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ, Trina of Trina's Kitchen and The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona and Ava. The Third Estate Sunday Review also includes Jim, Jess and Ty. They aren't participating but in case they're mentioned, FYI. For the same reason, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Mike of Mikey Likes It! and Wally of The Daily Jot are being noted now. In case they are mentioned. C.I. and Ava are responsible for typing this and we can knock out those links right at the start and not require them later on. This is a rush transcript. We're going to be talking about a number of topics including the prospective presidents, Iraq and more.I actually did some planning ahead of time. I have questions from e-mails that we'll hopefully get to. In addition, in honor of Tuesday night's debate we have two hot seats. Everyone was informed of that ahead of time and asked to vote. The 'winners'? Elaine and C.I. As moderator, I wasn't eligible. So I will periodically go to them, or that's the plan. Betty's participating by phone and I think that gets all the background out of the way. First hot seat moment. I have a number of readers at my site who hate my guts and enjoy e-mailing me to tell me just how much they hate me. Yes, they are all men. And I generally ignore them but I e-mailed them to inform them of this debate. TrickRick self-describes as a White male, 23 y.o., Republican. He states, "We" meaning the GOP "will wipe the floor with BO" Barack Obama "but the only reason you're for Hillary is because she's a woman. My question is are you ready to lose?"

Elaine: C.I. is pointing to me. If I was just supporting Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary today because she was a woman, I would've voted for her in my state primary. I didn't. I voted Super Tuesday for Mike Gravel due to his past work regarding the Pentagon Papers and ending the draft. Best of luck to him in his new party but it's not a left party and I won't be supporting him in the general election. The non-stop attacks on Hillary Clinton bothered me. I had made the decision, weeks ahead of time, that Mike Gravel stood up in the past and, if nothing else, my vote said, "Thank you. It was appreciated." I've called out Hillary Clinton at my site before for any number of things. I suffer no illusions that she's perfect. I also know she's not the anti-Christ. I also know that there are standards and they weren't applied. I also know what blatant sexism is and am happy to list the 'left' participating in that. It would include "There's no such thing as global warming!" crackpot Alexander Cockburn, the pathetic Matthew Rothschild who thought a word that rhymes with "runt" was apparently delightful, the insane Robert Parry who claims to be a journalist but thinks he can resort to some form of spousal tea leaf reading to peer into Hillary's soul and see things with no backing, David Corn who will let no fact interfere with his need to rip apart Hillary, the twin punks Ari of the Nation who think the thing for a 'left' magazine to do is repeat false charges from the 90s that the right-wing started . . . It's a very long list and along with these evil and overt sexist, you need to include the bystanders. The ones who sat on the sidelines and did nothing. Include Ms. magazine on that list and the laughable lie that they can't cover a race because it would hurt their tax status. I don't know which is worse, that lie or that they hired a homphobe.Donna Brazile's little public snit fit against gays and lesbians means her ass needs to be fired. Let me be clear, Ms. wasn't saved repeatedly so that it could be this -- on the sidelines or publishing a homophobe. Dona Brazile needs to be fired. And a number of us who have given big money have decided next time Ms. is in trouble, tough s**t. We didn't support that magazine, we didn't donate all that money, so that they could ignore women running for president. But that's what they've done, that's what they're doing. And don't even get me started on Bill Moyers. Ava and C.I. have documented how he has refused to explore sexism but every other damn week it's time for him to wallow in his own White guilt and pretend to explore racism. I blame the ones on the sidelines. I'm not standing on the sidelines. I'm for Hillary and I can give you a hundred reasons and, trust me, the fact that she's a woman doesn't even enter into it for my support. The fact that she is a woman and that Ms. won't explore her candidacy does piss me off. But my support for her is not predicated on her historical run. I was able to note that history being made and not support her earlier. I was able then, as a non-supporter, to do that. Some may support her because she's a woman and if so more power to them. Candidates have been selected for far less worthy reasons.

Rebecca: C.I.?

C.I.: Well I could repeat what Elaine just said or I could expand on it and since she did such a wonderful job, I'll expand on it. Elaine and I honestly planned to sit this out. Electoral politics wasn't anything we were interested in writing about. We assumed that Hillary would rise or fail on her own. We assumed there would be some level of fairness. We assumed that Barack Obama would be probed. We actully assumed that if that happened in depth -- and it still hasn't -- he would be out of the race. He's not qualified and he's a fraud and Elaine and I know that very well. I assumed the race would come down to Clinton, Edwards and Biden. And, of the three of them, I assumed the battle would be between Edwards and Biden who represent two different aspects of the Democratic Party. Hillary might or might not have benefitted from that but that's what I assumed would happen. I wasn't following it. I was paying attention to Iraq. I had no idea about Iowa until after the caucus. Now Real Media, the kind who are trained, has a million and one excuses for why they didn't probe Barack. And Ava and I can back up the fact that they promised over and over that they would publicly. On chat show after show. It's coming. We're going to do it, they'd say. But they really didn't. America still doesn't know Barack Obama. Now that's Real Media. Panhandle Media? They claimed they had standards and that they were higher standards than Real Media. We saw something completely different, didn't we? We saw KPFA do two hours after the Texas debate, two hours of allegedly free speech radio, where every guest was pro-Obama. Not only were they pro-Obama, they had already endorsed Obama. But Larry Bensky and KPFA didn't feel the need to inform the audience of that. Probably not a good idea to inform the audience that you've rigged the show before you started broadcasting. Amy Goodman is disgusting filth. Ava and I will be taking on that beggar in Sunday's commentary. But she did 'roundtables' where no one was supporting a candidate. The guests all came to the conclusion that Hillary was Pure Evil. Of course, disclosing that your guests are supporting Barack would have allowed the audience to factor in all the Hillary hatred. Frances Fox Piven endorses him, then goes on Democracy Now! and is an 'objective' and 'impartial' guest who just happens to think Hillary's done poorly on something. Listeners and viewers had a right to know FFP had already publicly endorsed Barack Obama. Amy Goodman likes to talk a lot about Michael Gordon and Judith Miller's 'ethics,' but she has none of her own. She flaunted that again this week but Ava and I are taking that on, so I'll bite my tongue here.

Rebecca: Elaine?

Elaine: I didn't realize we were going back and forth. I hope this isn't boring for anyone. I meant participating but reading as well. Let me pick up with Amy Goodman. People were calling me, friends, saying, "I've told C.I." That Amy Goodman was willingly slanting the show. C.I. was giving Amy the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn't, she's a total fraud. It's always great when a beggar grew up 'nicely' and enriches herself but continues begging. But Ava and C.I. both were hearing the warnings. Then, the week before Goody created her Geraldo moment, how proud her pathetic family must be, a mutual friend presented Ava and C.I. with proof of how close Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Goody were. Melissa Harris-Lacewell had just been on Goody's show. Goody had presented her as a professor not vested in any candidate. That was a lie. Melissa was actively campaiging for Obama and had been for months and Amy Goodman knew that. But Amy didn't disclose it to her audience. Not only did she not disclose it, she allowed Melissa to lie to viewers by bragging -- as a disinterested party -- on a speech by Barack. Now I want everyone to absorb that because that's the sort of thing that gets people fired. Amy Goodman knew Melissa was part of the Obama campaign. She didn't tell her audience. When Melissa bragged about Barack, Amy still didn't tell them. Now tell me what world Amy Goodman thinks she lives in that what she did, that her actions, are allowed? They aren't allowed. That's not journalism and she can never lecture anyone on ethics without being laughed at by real media because she is hypocrite.

Rebecca: C.I.?

C.I.: Like Elaine, I assumed we'd speak a bit and then you'd move on. Well what followed that -- the immediate following was I was sick to my stomach -- was that Ava, Elaine and I did 'reporting' -- we started working everyone we knew, we started speaking to people and we started finding out just how deep this goes. And where it's coming from. And my attitude today is, "If I burn your Red Playground down, oh well." This is a campaign driven by closet Communists. They have no business in a Democratic primary.

Rebecca: Trina's nodding so I'll toss to her.

Trina: My father smelled it from the start. My father's a Socialist. Never been in the closet on that. Never hidden even when it cost him. Who are the ones who made sure he paid a price during the witch hunt years? The ones who betrayed him were closet Communists. And that's because the rats always save their own asses. That's a rat by defintion. For awhile, there was a big rumor going around that Barack was a Socialist. Barack's a corporatist Democrat. But his benefactors were feeling like they weren't getting their due and they didn't like the shadows so they started whispering that lie. But the mania, the devotion, the whole thing had cult of personality written all over it and today people may, for example, criticize the fact that it built up around Putin but it built up because that system requires a cult of personality. Or it requires from those people. They are the same ones that created "Uncle Joe" -- and refused to later get honest about Stalin's crimes. Maybe this will change in this country because of the young. But, I mean, I knew this growing up. I knew these people, these rats, they lived in our neighborhood. They were authoritarian. They needed a daddy figure. And each daddy had to destroy the previous one. That's one of the reasons that it falters today. They disown to embrace the newly selected leader. They run off a Trotsky, they rewrite history. They need that daddy. And that daddy must be supreme. And we would see their hand picked candidates running for local office -- sometimes labor offices -- and we would know just from the campaign, just from the slogans, just from the fact that a new 'man of the people' had sprung up and the devotionals and the testimonials, just from that we'd know who was backing this candidate. We'd find out we were correct at some point, but just the way the campaign was being run, we'd know. So it's not a surprise to me.

Betty: I hope I'm not stepping on anyone who was about to talk but think about what Trina just said about the way those campaigns were run and tell me she didn't just describe the Obama campaign.

Dona: I was actually thinking the exact same thing.

Marcia: I agree and, if I can take the conversation in a different direction, and you know I can, I'm a lesbian. I'm out of the closet. I can't imagine the self-hatred involved in placing yourself in a political closet. Myself, I have no respect for any gay person who stays in the closet. At some point, you need to step out or admit you're a fraud and a fake. So I really don't have any respect for these closeted Communists. David Corn's not a Communist, here's where I go off topic --

Rebecca: That's fine we'll probably return to this later.

Marcia: Well I mean what kind of sick mind thinks that setting bombs and serving on the board of Wal-Mart is the same thing?

Ava: I need to step in here. This topic isn't a problem, pursuing it, isn't a problem with C.I. or I but we're addressing it Sunday in our commentary so we're not going to be able to say much on it if anything at all. Just to explain that.

Marcia: Sure. To me that's the perfect example of how biased Panhandle Media has been. You can argue the complexities all you want and I have no problem listening to them. However, at the very basic level, Weather Underground set boms. They wanted an armed revolution that would overthrow the country.They broke laws. What did Hillary do? A new member of the Wal-Mart board, before Bill was president so we're going way back into the past, focused on areas she thought she could have an impact on? I mean, do we all get that? Do we get that Hillary's being slammed for not using her junior position on the board to go after every flaw in Wal-Mart? And we're talking about things that weren't even known as flwas at the time. Two decades after she joined the board, we're holding her accountable for everything the company did?

Betty: Well, let's offer that perspective. You're talking the Reagan and Poppy Bush presidency when jobs were in decline and times were tough. Wal-Mart was a job creator. It wasn't perfect but, like Marcia's saying, what the left emphasizes about Wal-Mart now wasn't big news then. What was she supposed to do? I don't really understand that and, if David Corn wrote that, he is an idiot. He's made a non-stop embarrassment of himself for some time now and I don't read him. Ruth's ignored him because he lies on NPR.

Ruth: Oh, does he. I thought he was a journalist. He slants everything. He is not supposed to be on as a columnist. He is presented as a reporter. How about telling the facts then? I have no respect for him and the snapshot today is hilarious. Mr. Corn insisting "everyone knows" that Bill Clinton gave a pardon to two members of the Weather Underground when President Clinton never did any such thing. He should probably hang his head in shame. He was shouting in that conference. He came off not just like a jerk, but like an ignorant jerk and, sadly, that has happened far too often lately.

Rebecca: It really has and I actually have him in my prep work. He's been working overtime to lie for Samantha Power. Was Power fired, C.I.?
C.I.: No. Barack should have fired her. He didn't. I was told that by friends of Power and by friends in the Obama campaign. Samantha Power resigned. She did not resign strictly for calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." She also insulted Gordon Brown. Which was a big deal in England although you didn't hear about it from Corn or John Nichols --

Rebecca: Let me stop you for a second. You noted that John Nichols in his sob-fest for Sammy Power LIED and stated that Power knew Hillary "for years" and that wasn't true. You quoted her on The Charlie Rose Show and in October 2007 stating she'd only met Hillary once. For the record, The Nation has never corrected their LIE.

Ava: Do they ever? Come on, they never corrected their lie about John Kerry where they slammed him for saying something at the DNC convention that he never said at the DNC convention and they knew about that lie, the writer of the piece even admits it's wrong. But they never corrected it. They just lie. They have no standards, they just lie and they lie again. And they don't seem to grasp that all these lies build and build until no one believes a word they say.

Elaine: Well look at who's in charge. I can remember her pissing her panties and lying about that. Foul, foul odor -- you had to wonder what the child was drinking -- and she'd lie and say she hadn't.

C.I.: We are off topic. I'm laughing because it is true. But, back to the topic. Samantha Power couldn't stop spilling the beans. Rebecca's referring to David Corn writing that 'everyone knows' that Obama saying he's going to end the illegal war is just a "proposal" and not a "plan." Everyone knows that, Corn? Just like everyone knows there were pardons for Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans? When there were no pardons? David Corn's made himself a joke, he's far from alone, but it's embarrassing to see. I'd be very happy to go through life without calling Corn out. I know the thing you're talking about Rebecca, it was a post to his own website/blog. I just ignored it. But I'm not going to ignore the Constitution and that's not an option with me. I thought he was smarter. I mean, it's stupid to write about "pardons" without researching to find out if pardons actually took place. But to be so arrogant about it when you are so wrong. I mean, the next time he calls in, instead of yelling over the phone, he needs to immediately apologize and Mother Jones needs to issue a correction.

Dona: Can I talk about corrections a minute? Years ago, Ava and C.I. had nothing to write about one weekend and an actress called them, a friend of their's, who had been on a program and the program had turned a rapist into a boyfriend. They wrote the commentary on that. And then it turned out that he was drugged or something, I don't remember. They heard about it as soon as the commentary went up. Now, just so you know, we're working at The Third Estate Sunday Review starting Saturday night until we drop. We were all going to bed when the phone rang on that. Ava and C.I. didn't blow it off. They stayed up and worked three hours on a new commentary. As soon as they knew it was a mistake, they wrote a note at the posted piece explaining that. They then rewrote and posted every half hour as they finished the piece. They were completely transparent. They took full responsibility for it. And that's what you do. Mistakes will be made. That's a given, my degree's in journalism, it's a given. But what blows your credibility is refusing to make corrections.

Kat: I agree with Dona and to talk about that, there was a difference of opinion. Jim wanted a correction note at the end and thought they were making too big of a deal out of it. But Ava and C.I. acknowledged their mistake. They rewrote the entire piece. The opening they wrote acknowledges the mistake and then they explore the plot twists. The piece actually was stronger and that's got to be in part because they owned their mistake.

Dona: And I'm trying to remember the title. Ava and C.I. won't because Jim comes up with the titles to Ava and C.I.'s commentaries. And our archives at Third are so screwed up. I can't even remember the show.

Ava: Veronica Mars.

C.I.: "TV: We're losing ground and now is not the time for silence." We actually did write that title. I don't remember if it was the original title or not.

Ava: But we made a mistake. As Dona pointed out, it does happen. And the test is how you handle that. Do you do so honestly or do you do it dishonestly? I agree with Kat that it was stronger because of the entire process. But I also know I said to C.I., "I don't know if I'm writing another one." That had nothing to do with the mistake. It had to do with having to stay up throughout the rewriting of that piece. We didn't just insert a correction. We completely rewrote that piece. Because we did, Jim argued that the correction, which we put at the top in all caps, could be dropped. He said it could be added to his note to the readers. But our feeling was that it was our mistake and we owned it. And I think you saw Hillary do that in the debate Tuesday by the way but I have to bite my tongue there because that's one of the topics we have on our list that we're hoping to address Sunday. I can say that if you think you're infallible, you've got problems. I remember C.I. freaking out in a cab one day. I'll let Elaine pick up that story if she wants.

Elaine: Well, C.I. called my office and I was between sessions. Sunny hollers, and she's not a screamer, for me to grab the phone. Because C.I. was so upset. I pick up and C.I. asks, "What is Dorn's first name?" I'm thinking, "Dorn who?" It was Bernardine. C.I. and I both know Bernardine and have known her for years. Some radio program --

C.I.: Pacifica's From The Vault.

Elaine: Thank you, I didn't listen, had an announcer repeatedly call her "Bernadine." And C.I. was thinking, "I've insulted her for decades by getting her name wrong. I don't even know her name." While I'm saying, "No, you've got it right," Bernardine's speaking and says, "This is Bernardine." I say, "See." But I mean, C.I. doesn't operate under a "I'm right!" philosophy. C.I. never has a problem saying, "I was wrong." And when someone's so sure of themselves, like that announcer was to that Women's History program back in March, C.I. will immediately go to, "I must be wrong." And I know the argument there will be, "Well, they do have a staff and they're just compiling tapes so if they're saying 'Bernadine,' maybe they're right?"

Kat: And when C.I. wrote the thing Thursday night, Ava and C.I. had already covered this topic in the morning and C.I. was still making sure it was right -- how there were no pardons -- even though C.I. knew it for a fact.

Marcia: If I can add to that, I once corrected C.I. in an e-mail. This was like March 2005. I got an e-mail back saying, "I'm so sorry. I'll fix it and note the correction and credit you." I was, this was before my blog obviously, pleased. I felt really good. That's what I expect when I'm reading something. The sad part comes after. I feel so good and mention it to my mother and she says, "Marcia, you're wrong." And I was wrong. I had to immediately e-mail C.I. with a heading of "911! You were right!" But I didn't have a problem admitting to that and, obviously, C.I. had no problem owning a mistake that, it turned out, wasn't one.

Dona: What ticks me off is when you go to the trouble of explaining how something's not an error -- I don't do this anymore and don't do it because it was Pig Male Journalist the last time and I said never again -- and they still want to argue. There have been court cases that Ty and I -- we read the bulk of the e-mails at Third -- have had to research because someone's convinced that Elaine and C.I. are wrong. So we research and find out they were right, provide the section of the majority opinion and someone still wants to argue. But in terms of Piggy, I went out of my way to be nice --

Kat: Always a mistake.

Dona: Agree. And he writes back to Jim. Not to me and basically calling me "emotional." Look, Middle Aged Man, if I want to get emotional, I'll tell you what I think of you. I went out of my way to be kind to you even though there is NO defense for a man who beats a woman. A man who beats a woman repeatedly, throughout their marriage. And, for anyone who doesn't know this, Jim and I are a couple. So it wasn't just offensive that he's running to Jim about how 'emotional' I am, it was stupid.

Rebecca: Men or women, who are the worst in e-mails?

Betty: Men. No woman has ever called me the n-word. No woman has ever threatened me.

Ruth: To use the word Dona was accused of being, "emotional," disagreements in e-mails I have received from men have been vrey "emotional." Women who disagree with me tend to write a basic, matter of fact e-mail. Men can be very threatening. Wally was really helpful to me when I started my site and has been since. But when I got the worst e-mail I have ever received, he listened and did not try to fix it, just let me vent, and then explained to me that Cedric gets screamed at in e-mails and he never gets those. He and Cedric are doing joint-posts and the same men, writing both of them to complain, call Cedric vile names but with Wally act like the picture of maturity.

Betty: It's the race. It really is. I mean Marcia had to delete over 30 comments to her Kovco post because the people were using the n-word as they screamed at her or Keesha and Latrice, community members who had left comments. And if you talk to Cedric -- who has written about Kovco and written with the exact position Marcia expressed -- he gets that in private. Cedric allows comments at his site and his mirror site. But they won't call him the n-word at his site. They'll call Marcia that, they'll call her a "lez" and other things. I can only imagine what her e-mails must be like.

Marcia: They're actually not as bad as the comments I deleted to the post where I was defending Judy Kovco, the mother of Jake Kovco, the first Australian soldier to be killed in Iraq.

Kat: Well we all know the story of Ava and C.I. In January 2005, The Third Estate Sunday Review starts up. For three or four weeks, all of them -- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. -- are writing the TV commentaries. No threatening e-mails. Some people disagree but no cursing, no threats. Ava and C.I. start doing those all by themselves and it's not announced that it's just them. Still no problem. The first time Jim gives credit and notes they are writing it by themselves, e-mails start pouring in with threats. There are certain categories of people that apparently allow for attacks.

Rebecca: Kat's right because that is the perfect example. No problems when everyone was writing. No problems when readers thought everyone was writing, the second it's identified that Ava and C.I. are writing them, it's non-stop attacks. There's not a better example. I find that in my e-mails as well, by the way. And why not when the males of Panhandle Left -- and the women -- have declared open season on Hillary Clinton and will tell any lie, use any smear, to attack? Trina?

Trina: I really don't get a lot of hate mail. If you need a lot of men, or a certain type of men, I may drive them away automatically due to the fact that I'm offering recipes. Of the small number of vile e-mails I have received, I believe all but one was from a man. My biggest problem is a lot go into the spam folder and I always forget to check that so I'm writing someone back two weeks late because I never saw their e-mail until I happened to remember to check the spam folder.

Dona: Can I say something here regarding e-mails?

Rebecca: Go for it. I think I know what you're going to say.

Dona: Don't ask for a highlight if you've slammed Hillary since the start of 2008 unless you've also slammed Barack Obama. I don't mean you've smeared Hillary and said, "Maybe Bambi's really not a peace candidate?" That's not equal standards. I'm getting damn tired of all the e-mails to Third begging for links, especially from third parties, who think they can slam Hillary and then beg us for a link. Reality is the bulk of the beggars have never done s**t for Third. They've never linked to us. But they regularly ask for links.

Ruth: I agree with Dona and understand this was actually a discussion.

Dona: It was. Everyone helps out at Third and we thank them for that. But, at the end of the day, Jim, Ty, Jess, Ava, C.I. and I am responsible. So we did have a discussion and our feeling is that we've done enough to help others at this point. I'm talking about repeat e-mailers. And we also held to a standard. We've explored Hillary. We were doing it in real time. Third exists as a corrective. When the whole world's bashing Hillary, when we're not highlighting your site if you're doing that. We're not interested. There has been no equal standard and we're sick of it.

Trina: I agree with that. I have been very tough on Hillary and I am glad I was. Because I was using a standard. I applied to all the candidates. Now? I've played fair. I'm not going to lie for Hillary -- who I am supporting and who I voted for on Super Tuesday -- but you're b.s. nonsense that you rehash the same points while excusing Barack, I'm not interested. I don't even reply to those people. I just delete their e-mails.

Betty: There was a topic raised in the roundtable we did for the gina & krista round-robin this week. I thought we could talk about that but I feel like Ava should address it because of Jess.

Ava: Sure. Jess, my boyfriend, brought it up. It was bubbling under but no one was mentioning it. Jess is a Green Party member. I think that's all the backstory anyone needs. But Barack Obama made comments that offended many Small Town Americans. This week, Amy Goodman interviewed Matt Gonzalez whom Ralph Nader has picked as his running mate. Always eager to advance Barack's political campaign, Amy asked Matt about Barack's offensive comments. Matt Gonzalez said it wasn't a big deal. That sets it up. Jess isn't going to be angry with any comment made here, he thinks Matt Gonzalez needs to apologize, so say what you want, no one's going to offend him.

Betty: Okay, well he's not here and none of us want to hurt Jess. I thought that was the most stupid thing in the world. I agree with Jess that Matt Gonzalez needs to apologize and, if he can't, I don't know where Ralph Nader thinks he has the right to expect any votes.

Elaine: I have group on Thursday nights so, unless the roundtables are done at another time, I never participate. If it's okay, I'll comment first?

Rebecca: Go for it.

Elaine: Well Matt Gonzalez may think it's no big deal. That may be his opinion. But it really doesn't matter what Matt Gonzales thinks. What matters is that people are offended. Ralph will need every vote he can get. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Ralph won't get those votes. If Barack gets the nomination, a number of Democratic voters will go elsewhere or leave the spot blank. Ralph Nader is known for his work on issues that impact the lives of working Americans. He also has name recognition. That was a stupid remark by Matt Gonzalez. It was already known that Barack's statements had offended and for Matt, running on the Nader-Gonzales ticket, to interject himself in there and say what he did was offensive. And it was stupid because the problem was known. If I can add something else, it is not the "Nader/Gonzalez" ticket. It is the "Nader-Gonzalez" ticket. Otherwise, you're implying the ticket is "Nader or Gonzalez." I'm sorry to bring that up but we all use "Nader-Gonzalez." However, the campaign's site uses "Nader/Gonzales" and I have received e-mails on that.

Rebecca: It's like the polls by CBS and the New York Times. They do that as well, implying it's a CBS or NYT poll. No, it's a joint poll. You use a dash. I believe the Washington Post uses a dash for their joint polls with ABC News. But what Elaine said is exactly true. A third party candidate needs votes and you're not going to get them by defending comments that have already been seen as offensive. In fact, you are saying -- Matt Gonzalez was saying -- "You're feelings do not matter." I don't think a vice presidential candidate is picked to run off voters. It was a mistake.

Betty: It really was and when Jess brought it up, everyone came up alive. We're not noting Ralph until Monday -- community wide -- at the earliest. The campaign's not being noted. C.I. imposed that for The Common Ills and Jess carried it over to Third. It has offended people and no one's promoting Ralph right now as a result. Cynthia McKinney could be promoted but probably won't be because all she's offered is a video at her campaign site. And let me speak for Hilda and other hard of hearing and deaf community members, a video with no text may as well not go up. Whatever message you think you're conveying, you're adding an addition one: "You don't matter if you can't hear." Hilda's Mix has really opened my eyes to how many barriers exist for the disabled.

Ruth: I would agree with you on that. I really think Hilda's done an amazing job. And now there are two Hilda's Mixes. There's the newsletter in text and there is an audio version. I think all the newsletters add to the community but the focus on the disabled really has made a big impression on me.

Kat: I think it has on all of us. And what's really amazing to me is that we've got two wars going on, going on for years, and veterans are returning disabled and there's so little awareness of that in the press coverage. To focus on hearing issues, ringing of the ears and loss of hearing are very much a part of the Iraq War and where is the coverage? I mean, C.I. can and does cover the Congressional hearings. Where are the news outlets? Where is The Nation? They've got time to smear Hillary several times each day but do they offer anything of value ever? Is that what they want to be remembered for?

Rebecca: Good point. Hot seat time. There were questions for everyone from Weston who didn't provide his age or stats even after I had asked. But for the two of you. Elaine, I'll start with you. "She never writes a word about her life. I would assume she's been married. I don't know why everything has to be such a big secret. Is she the Queen of England?"

Elaine: Yes, I am the queen of the England. What the heck kind of question is that? I mean how tired is that phrase? I don't write about my personal life. Rebecca has written about her personal life before. That's her comfort area. I have no interest in putting my personal life online. If I have been married, if I have children, I will never write about it. I really have nothing more to say on the issue. I don't talk about my personal life outside of my circle of friends. I've acknowledged that I'm in a relationship with Mike. Mike respects my privacy and doesn't blog about that at his site. He'll mention it or me but he's not blogging about us.

Rebecca: Okay. Weston notes that he knows C.I. was married -- "at least I know that. But I have a problem. What's with the not talking about religion?"

C.I.: Like Elaine, there are topics I'm not going to discuss.

Rebecca: That's it?

C.I.: You can ask any question, I don't have to answer. Which, for the record, Barack Obama, if he was so offended in the debate Tuesday could have done.

Rebecca: Well then let me substitute. Something was pulled from today's snapshot, so will you talk about that?

C.I.: Sure. That was only pulled as a result of space. I'm assuming we're back to the closet topic, right?

Rebecca: Yes.

C.I.: We, this was what was in the snapshot, will highlight Socialists and Communists. I have no problem with that. We're a site for the left. But we don't highlight closeted types. I explained that Ava and I grew tired of one man and we don't include him. Ava noted it was going to blow up in everyone's face and we weren't taking part in that. The man is a Communist and he hides that to the public. We don't include him on the list of war resisters. He's really not one though some other sites count him as one. His story is fake. He was against the illegal war and signed up. Why did he do that? I think we're all smart enough to figure that out. Despite the fact that he has considerable advanced education, he tries to play like he doesn't and tries to speak as if he's a high school drop out. I'm not putting forward the lie -- any of those lies. Ava publicly noted, at Third, two years ago that we're not getting behind that nonsense. We knew he was a member of the Communist Party. We weren't bothered by that. Then we heard the interview where he was playing like he was politically naive and playing like he wasn't a college graduate and that was it. Go tell your lies somewhere else. Go advance your crap somewhere else. There is not a "no Communist" policy at The Common Ills. They are part of the left, we're a left site. But I'm not interested in closeted types. And I may start doing that across the board.

Marcia: Carl Webb is a radical and he's open about it and someone who does get highlighted but I want to toss this in, I'm not highlighting MySpace for anyone, I'm not signing up for Facebook or highlighting Facebook. I want to mention that because I did get a Facebook something from him. I respect him. I don't respect Facebook. I get Facebook stuff in my e-mails all the time. I don't believe in that and am not taking part in it. I believe that's true of all sites. In terms of what C.I.'s saying, if they had stayed out of electoral politics, the closeted types, that would be one thing.

Trina: But they didn't stay out. They lied and called themselves "progressives," or presented themselves as "Democrats." They're not. And I agree that if you're endorsing a candidate in a primary, it needs to be your own political party's primary or you need to be upfront about who you are politically.

Kat: That's just basic. It's political primary. If you're not a member of the primary, butt the hell out. The general election, as C.I. notes, is open to all. There's no reason for non-party members to be endorsing.

Dona: I think that's true. I -- it's basic. But if they were open about who they were their endorsements would not only be meaningless to many people, they would also taint Barack. His "Democratic" support among the gasbags isn't Democratic. But if they don't present themselves as Democrats, then people would be making this very point: "It's not your party, butt the hell out." It really is amazing how they're trying to subvert and control the Democratic Party. If they're allowed to, they'll destroy it the same way they splintered their own party.

Rebecca: This has been a long roundtable and we'll probably wrap up in a second so I want to give everyone a chance to bring in anything on this that they want.

Ava: I'll go next because I want to touch on what Dona was saying as well as the point C.I. made. It is a Democratic primary. Not a Democrat? Stay out of it. It doesn't concern you so there's no reason for you to be endorsing. You're a liar and I have no respect for you. In terms of the non-war resister. I'm not going to be around for when that explodes. Someone against the Iraq War chooses to enlist and then does attention getting stunts while telling the world that he's apolitical and he's a member of the Communist Party? I'm not interested in your 'work.' Trickery and deceit do not interest me but, no surprise, the closet cases would resort to that. They've build up Barack through trickery and deceit, it's all they have to offer. In terms of the 'war resister,' when he lies he risks everyone being seen as a liar if he's exposed. I'm sick of it. There are war resisters of all political types. The ones who aren't closeted -- regardless of what they belong to -- add to the fabric of the movement. The ones who are closeted and go around lying risk the entire movement being called liars.

Ruth: Which is the damage that could result from it. And that same damage could result from their promotion and endorsement of Obama. In either case, they brought it on themselves. No one forced them into closets.

Betty: I'm going to grab that and go somewhere else. The closeted Communists think the Civil Rights are their story. They think, these White Communists, that they gave Black people a gift. They didn't. We fought for our rights. I have no problem giving Communists -- especially Black Communists -- credit for their part in the Civil Rights struggle, but there is a preening attitude about some. You saw it during Jena 6 as well. You saw the lie that reduced it to a town with all the Blacks on one side and all the Whites on the other. As Ava and C.I. pointed out ("Stop the madness!" cry the Goodmans, "You first," reply Ava and C.I. ), that wasn't the case and they did it by pointing to what Amy and David Goodman left out of their book but what Amy Goomdan broadcast on her show. I think the White, closeted Communists think they're going to "give" Black people another gift: Barack! That really is all they have to latch onto, the Civil Rights struggle. But they go back to that over and over, the early days, before MLK emerges. They seem to think they birthed MLK. They didn't. Nor did they give Black people rights. We fought for the rights we have. I don't know how clear I'm being here because I'm condensing many points but my point is that White, closeted Communists may think Black people are tickled pink -- or is it Red? -- that they're doing all this for us. They're not. And they need to get off their high horses because no one considers them an "honorary Black" or even honest.

Marcia: That's such a strong point. You really can trace it back there. These good Whites, these northern Whites, so helpful, saving us Black people from the mean White folk. Reality is that Black people fought for their rights. Reality is the Black people died doing so. Reality is MLK was interested in addressing the racism in the north but that offended some people. Reality is that you have your own problems in your "People's Republic of" whatever. I think we anyone who paid attention grasped which Whites were Communists and which weren't by the way they amplified their lies. Some were at least honest about it like that White woman going on her speaking tour to 'get out the word' and bending most facts while doing so. I'm sick of it and I'm sick of them. Their faux missionary work among the alleged savages. I'm sick of their simplistic b.s. and how they lie and it's African-Americans left holding the bag. And I'm sick of Bill Moyers. Next week, Mr. White Guilt sits down with Jeremiah Wright. Yes, Bill, the world has been waiting for that interview. Not. Be a yeller and screamer or a shuck and jive artist and Bill Moyers will invite you onto his show. Be a competent person and forget it. In fact, the way he's set up his show this year, the conservative Shelby Steel came off better than any other African-American because he was intelligent and not putting on a ministrel act for the White folk. He doesn't do that with White people, does he? But his White viewers are left with the impression that we're either yellers or shuck & jive artists. It's insulting. I can make my point without raising my voice or without mentioning Jesus every other word. Look at who Bill Moyers has booked. I'd call it Prissy, from Gone With The Wind, but it's all men. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the show telling White America that African-Americans are all a bunch of screaming, superstitious people. It's insulting.

Kat: I would agree with you and Betty and I talked about one of his screaming guests and how, no matter what the man said, who gave a damn? He was so loud that who wanted to hear him? You're in a TV studio. Bill Moyers might not respect you but there's no reason for you to disrespect yourself by putting on a ministrel show for Bill and his audience's benefit. I really think if we had an actual movement, a lot of shows would be the focus of protests and I'd put Bill Moyers program on the list as one to picket.

Rebecca: Trina?

Trina: Sorry, I'm watching Ava and C.I. take notes and thinking about how long this is going to take to type up. The point's been made before, by Ava, C.I. and Dona, but I think history will not be kind to a number of women who have taken part in these attacks on Hillary or stayed silent while they went on. It went beyond criticism, it was a non-stop bashing. It continues and still some women stay silent. All women are not feminists. Even those who claim to be. C.I. would you talk about the idiot who writes for The Seattle Times?
C.I.: Not this week but last, she felt the need to self-describe as a feminist and explain why she was supporting Barack. She explains, in her column, that she doesn't think there's a butter knife's bit of difference between Hillary and Barack. She also explains that she's tired of Hillary, Hillary's been around too long, she argues. She uses the term "goldenboy" to describe Barack. And she wants to claim to be a feminist. There is nothing feminist about that argument. That argument says a young man comes along and you toss aside a woman with experience and you do so happily because he's a "goldenboy." It says that experience doesn't mean anything. It says that you valued "newness" more. There's nothing feminist about it.

Trina: Thank you. I think women willl like that will be exposed for the non-feminists they were when it mattered. I want to plug Paul Krugman really quick because it was his going over the differences between Hillary and Barck's healthcare plans that led me to vote for Hillary on Super Tuesday. While I thank him, I think it's very disturbing that a number of female voices didn't write that column. I think it's very disturbing and I'm all for revoking membership in the club. I also think it's hilarious that C.I. worked to ensure an event by a Hillary hater was ignored by the press. I know no one else will mention that but I thought that was wonderful. You can't say you're pro-woman, let alone a feminist, stage your crappy event on the backs of African-American's misfortune, hide in your political closet and get away with it. And C.I. worked overtime calling in favors to make sure your 'big event' was a non-event. That's exactly what you deserved for your attacks on Hillary while claiming you were pro-woman. Don't expect anyone to take your "I want to help the women of the world!" lies seriously. You're nothing but a semi-closeted Communist. You play like you're not a Communist to the rest of the world and hope and pray no one reads the pieces you've written for Communist 'art' magazines. Those things do have a low circiulation, granted, but I thought it was wonderful how C.I. did a little press package assembling all your crappy writing that most people are unware of.

Elaine: C.I.'s not going to comment on that but I will say I agree with Trina 100%. And that little self-styled leader better grasp how many women no longer support her. As for women stabbing Hillary in the back, and that's what a lot of this is, Ava and C.I., in one of their TV commentaries, mention the disgusting George McGovern and note the scars of Miami. Those are scars you don't know about because you have worthless gender traitors like Amy Goodman who bring McGovern on and fawn all over him. McGovern lost and he lost big time. And Amy Goodman who published in Larry F**nt's skin magazine H**tler never tells you the reality about his campaign. When the battles in Miami went down and, over and over, women were losing -- not just on abortion by the way -- it destroyed his campaign. McGovern and his people were shameful. Today he's as disgusting as he always was and that's only a surprise if you bought into the Amy Goodman Truth which, hate to break it to you, is never the truth. It's never reality. But I don't remember Robin Morgan mentioning Miami in her wonderful essay "Goodbye To All That (#2)." She may have and I may be remembering wrong. But Robin Morgan certainly knows what happened in Miami and, briefly, what happened was a significant number of women joined men in selling women out. Women were thrown under the bus for McGovern. So those little namby pamby women today who want to criticize Robin Morgan, get your facts first, find out about Miami. We saw it happen then, what's going on now, we saw little girls posing as women betray us. It wasn't pretty and payback was hell. Again, that's not part of the 'official' McGovern story as told by Panhandle Media today.

Rebecca: We're going to close and I'll just note, Amy Goodman isn't the one to ever go to for the truth. She gets her facts wrong accidentally -- such as this week when she made a real howler -- and she gets it wrong intentionally because she's not working in journalism, she's serving a higher 'calling.' As for Elaine's points about Miami, exactly right. And battle lines are being drawn. Gender traitors -- especially those who are serial gender traitors -- better grasp that regardless of what happens in the Democratic primary, life as they know it is over. There is no 'let's forget about it' as too many sellouts had to learn following Miami.

---
here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Friday, April 18, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces a death, Sadr City remains under assault, Bambi threatens to take his marbles home, what's up with the closeted Communists' interest in a Democratic primary and more.

Starting with war resistance. Chris Carr (KBS Radio) reports the latest on Kyle Snyder. Before the latest, Kyle Snyder self-checked out of the military after serving in Iraq (and being lied to repeatedly -- before joining and after). He then moved to Canada. Following Darrell Anderson's returning from Canada to the US and turning himself in, others wondered about that. Ivan Brobeck would be among the ones who did. Kyle did as well. At the end of October 2006, he came back to the US and turned himself in under the agreement that had been worked out. The military that lied to him before had lied again. Kyle self-checked out again. He went on a speaking tour. The unit that tracks AWOL and deserting soldiers (the one that doesn't exist to read most press accounts) phoned in a tip to the local police on the West Coast hoping to have Kyle arrested while speaking out. Kyle was too smart for them and when they showed up, he showed up to speak by phone. He went back to Canada to reclaim his life. He was set to be married and the US military was getting antsy. With the help of the Nelson police, they managed to get him arrested. Right before his wedding. Drug him off in handcuffs, his robe and underwear. The Nelson police changed their story multiple times. Kyle had to be released because he was arrested on trumped up charges.

Coming at the same time as the US military crossing into Canada and posing as Canadian police to locate US war resister Joshua Key, it helped create an incident. There would be an investigation! And of course the best person to investigate what happened in Nelson was . . . the best friend of the Nelson police chief. It was always going to be a white wash.
Carr reports that the white was has found charges "unbsubstantiated." What a shocker. Kyle Snyder did get married. He is now the husband of a Canadian citizen. Translation, the US military can't touch him.

However, in Canada, other US war resisters are waiting to find out whether they will be granted safe harbor. The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Last month Iraq Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier took place and KPFA has a live program coming up April 22nd: Live On Air and Online at kpfa.org!
April 22 from 10am-1pm Join us on April 22nd for this very important follow up to Pacifica's groundbreaking Winter Soldier live coverage. We will be following the San Francisco trial involving wounded vets and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this first class action lawsuit U.S. Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder sue the VA, alleging a system wide breakdown in the way the Government treats those soldiers.During this special broadcast we will be bringing our listeners live updates from the San Francisco federal courthouse, we'll speak with wounded Veterans attorney Gordon Erspamer, (taking this case pro bono because his father was permanently disabled in World War II and never received proper health care) and speak with Veterans advocates including Veterans for Common Sense, and Vets for America.Read more about the broadcast here.

That announcement will appear in the snapshots until the broadcast. If you missed Winter Soldier you can stream online at Iraq Veterans Against the War, at War Comes Home, at KPFK, at the Pacifica Radio homepage and at KPFA, here for Friday, here for Saturday, here for Sunday. Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz were the anchors for Pacifica's live coverage.


Yesterday at the Pentagon, US Defense Dept flack Geoff Morrell did a song and dance before reporters. Reuters Kristin Roberts asked a question:

Can you help me understand how it is that there are 163,000 troops in Iraq now that you're even beyond the halfway point of pulling the surge brigades out? And 163,000 is even higher than what was originally expected when the surge was announced, for all five BCTs [Brigade Combat Teams]. Now you have three out out. How do you have 163,000 troops?

Yes, how does Morrell explain that? By ignoring it and stating he isn't "the best person to ask in terms of the daily numbers as to where we are in terms of forces in Iraq." He concluded with, "I'm sorry if that's not a satisfactory answer. I'm just not the expert on that one." Numbers are hard for Geoff. No doubt they're hard for the Bully Boy as well which must why the press avoided asking him about them during his joint press conference yesterday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Gordon Brown -- apparently chafing at his lack of nickname (Tony Blair was "poodle") -- kissed up big time: "The world owes President George Bush a