Via Oliver Willis, who reminds us that the Bush Legacy marches on. War notoriously robs parents of their sons, but it also steals husbands and fathers, and increasingly wives and mothers. The Pentagon doesn’t keep these statistics, but using figures compiled by the Scripps-Howard News Service and other sources, NEWSWEEK has calculated that as of last week 1,043 American children … Read More
“I Don’t Know”
That’s what I was once told to say when I didn’t know. I re-learned that lesson as a young lawyer: if a judge asks you a question, and you don’t know the answer, admit that you don’t know the answer. That is how you maintain your credibility. Sadly, the Bush Administration didn’t do that with respect to WMDs in Iraq. … Read More
Great Ad
This is a great advertisement that you will probably never see on American television because it concerns an issue that does not affect Americans. Which is too bad, because the ad itself is specifically designed to speak to Americans.
America is #1?
I hate to burst the bubble of America’s rah-rah-nothing-wrong-here types, but this country needs improvement. From the Minneapolis-St. Paul News come this list of where America really ranks: The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004). The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, … Read More
Vermont Resolution
Resolution of [the Town of ] Concerning the Vermont National Guard and the War in Iraq Whereas, in October 2002 the United States Congress adopted a Joint Resolution to Authorize the use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, relying on statements that were untrue, when in fact the United States: * was … Read More
Like Father, Like Son
The New York Times tell us that the apple doesn’t far from the tree. I knew that. I guess the odd thing is that the tree is criticizing the apple: U.S. Cites Array of Rights Abuses by the Iraqi Government in 2004 By BRIAN KNOWLTONInternational Herald Tribune Published: March 1, 2005 ASHINGTON, Feb. 28 – The State Department on Monday … Read More
The Hidden Cost
A side of the Iraqi War that you rarely read about: Jesus Bocanegra was an Army infantry scout for units that pursued Saddam Hussein in his hometown of Tikrit. After he returned home to McAllen, Texas, it took him six months to find a job. He was diagnosed with PTSD and is waiting for the VA to process his disability … Read More
Iraq Report Card
P.S. One mile lines for gasoline? In an oil-rich country? Ouch.
Hypocrisy of the Right – Part I
If the Clinton Adminstration had done something like this . . . U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers are conducting secret talks with Iraq’s Sunni insurgents on ways to end fighting there, Time magazine reported yesterday, citing Pentagon and other sources. … the right wingers would run the word "appeaser" into the ground. But it is Bush, so they don’t. Hypocrisy … Read More
We Told You So (Again)
And yet again: The insurgency in Iraq continues to baffle the U.S. military and intelligence communities, and the U.S. occupation has become a potent recruiting tool for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, top U.S. national security officials told Congress yesterday. "Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists," CIA Director Porter J. Goss told the … Read More
Recycled Nuclear Photos
This might be tough to follow. But here goes . . . Yesterday, an eagle-eyed blogger realized that CNN was using the same photo in two different stories. One story, from February 9, was about Iran‘s purported nuclear program; the other story, from February 12, was about North Korea‘s purported nuclear program. But . . . both stories carried the … Read More
NOW They Tell Me!
Last week, a dozen of the top American law journals announced their commitment to reducing the length of law review articles. (Source) P.S. Speaking of academics, here’s a pretty good honors thesis.
More Iraqi Civilian Abuses
From MSNBC: There are new allegations that heavily armed private security contractors in Iraq are brutalizing Iraqi civilians. In an exclusive interview, four former security contractors told NBC News that they watched as innocent Iraqi civilians were fired upon, and one crushed by a truck. The contractors worked for an American company paid by U.S. taxpayers. The Army is looking … Read More
Who Told The Truth: Clarke or Condi?
"The unraveling of Richard Clarke is proceeding nicely," boasted a winger blogger with whom I sometimes lock horns on group blog known as Freespeech.com. That was in March 2004. At that time, the right-wing blogosphere journalistic community was seeking to destroy the credibility give a fair and objective assessment of Richard Clarke, who was appearing before the committee looking into … Read More
More Lies and/or Incompetence
Condi Rice to the 9/11 Committee (quote): "I was in a press conference to try and describe the August 6th memo [the one entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike U.S." – KRA], which I’ve talked about here in my opening remarks and which I talked about with you in the private session. And I said, at one point, that this … Read More