We [fascists] uphold moral and traditional values...Fascism conceives of life as a struggle in which it behooves a man to win for himself a really worthy place, as for the individual, so for the nation. Fascism wants man to be active and to engage in action with all his energies; it wants him to be manfully aware of the difficulties besetting him and ready to face them. It conceives of life as a struggle in which it behooves a man to win for himself a really worthy place, first of all by fitting himself (physically, morally, intellectually) to become the implement required for winning it.
This positive conception of life is obviously an ethical one. It invests the whole field of reality as well... No action is exempt from moral judgment; no activity can be despoiled of the value which a moral purpose confers on all things. Therefore life, as conceived of by the Fascist, is serious, austere, and religious.... The Fascist disdains an "easy" life
Benito Mussolini
The Doctrine of Fascism, (1932).
When the talk turns to working to
improve oneself, we need to understand that fascists actually want
people to
labor for the State. By becoming more and more dependent on the
Corporations we become slaves to them and to the State. Where liberals
want everyone to have work that allows them to improve their status,
fascists want everyone to work for the nation's status. Where liberals
want corporations to operate for the good of the employees by provide
safe working conditions and equitable wages, the fascist wants everyone
to work so the company, its owners, and managers can thrive. The meme
of economic slavery has been one of the most powerful in
history. If we are made more dependent on the health of the companies
we work for then we will be willing to give up more and more to ensure
the
health of the corporations. While most company managers' goal seems to
be,
first to ensure for them the maximum gain, while showing some
growth for investors. The workers are the ones left out of the
equation. There was a time in this country when companies operated for
their employees and now, more and more, employees are forced to operate
for their companies.
P. K brought this from the
philosophical to physical reality by pointing out the Problems
with Industry-written Regulations, part X. It seems P.K. took a cue
from "Star Wars" by having "Part X" come out first since the history
doesn't show any other parts. Back to the issue at hand; Human Rights
Watch, the same people who condemned the continuing torture in Iraq,
has also released
a report harshly criticizing the meat packing industry in the United
States.
They found
that jobs in many beef, pork and poultry plants were so dangerous that
the industry violated international agreements promising a safe
workplace. This is where all industries are headed when cutting cost's,
increasing market share, increasing profits, and uncontrolled corporate
level salary inflation are all pilled on the head of the
employees.
These are the
main Diaries,
with commentary, from the last few days that relate, in my opinion,
to the possibility that this country is becoming a Corporate
Nationalistic Anti-Communistic State. Historically the Fascist state,
which was Italy under Mussolini, bears
remarkable resemblances to the country in which many Republicans are
trying to create. This Diary only covers Sunday
though Wednesday due to the number of listing if you missed the
previous versions click
here for them. I have moved my Midweek Editions to Thursday due to
the concentration of diaries that get posted at the end of the week.
Gianik brought us our
supporter of the week in Corporatism/Fascism
Continued. This diary shows us that we have a high profile advocate
in Robert Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr's.
statements were reported in an article on CommonDreams.org
about an interview with Russell Mokhiber and
Robert Weissman about Kennedy's book "Crimes
Against Nature:"
Kennedy also
quotes
Benito Mussolini's insight that "fascism should more appropriately be
called
corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power...
The
biggest threat to American democracy is corporate power," Kennedy told
us. "There is vogue in the White House to talk about the threat of big
government. But since the beginning of our national history, our most
visionary political leaders have warned the American public against the
domination of government by corporate power
I feel very proud to have some of the
same
views of Robert Kennedy Jr. And I hope you do too.
Teacher Ken
presented us with some
thoughts about fascism. This is a very good opinion piece from a
secondary teacher history teacher that has to present fascism and the
holocaust to his students annually. He combined both of the stories
from this weekend on Rumsfeld's private Special Ops and intelligence
operations in his opening. His conclusion:
Clearly in those
high profile elections that will occur this year, in Virginia and New
Jersey and New York City, we must organize to turn them into referenda
on what this administration is doing, to defeat badly anyone who is
unwilling to denounce the destruction of American democracy and the
loss of respect and honor this nation used to have. We need to place
maximum pressure on all members of Congress and as many media figures
as possible to prevent further descent down the slippery slope.
I also want to urge us to keep going
with what we are doing. We may not be able to persuade anyone that what
is happening is actually fascist but if we can get some serious
attention we may be able to make the people leery enough to take a
stand that keeps us from going any further. To use Ken's analogy, of
the frog in a slowly heated tank, we may
be able to get the heat turned off and then later (06, 08) get some ice.
1. Powerful and continuing
expression of nationalism.
Descrates believes
he has discovered that The Left is
America's Solution to Anti-Americanism. His diary is about how our
actions and rhetoric during the last four years has contributed to the
increasing belief in American Exceptionalism. Where the right sees this
as a good thing the rest of the word sees this as a threat to repeat
the errors of the early twenty first century that led to many horrors.
You need to go see the whole story. I tried to find a good quote
but
decided the entire essay was just too much to place here.
PSoTD discovered that a
North Dakota State Representative Bette Grande, R-Fargo wants students
to be able to say "You Sound
Funny, Gimme My Money Back." This seems to be another one of those
"Republican ideas" intending to keep outsiders away from the children.
There it is! Another attempt to limit teaching and teacher's assistant
positions to foreigners as well as Americans, who for whatever reason
have accents, from access to positions at our post secondary schools.
Forget diversity, Conformity or Bust!
Media Girl picked
up on this comment from CNN Correspondent Lou Dobbs: UN
Arrogant for Criticizing US. When a country decides they are above
criticism from the international community it can be called a rouge
country. So that's what we have become.
2. Disdain for the importance of
human rights.
Mule Driver brought
us a review of Andrew
Sullivan's "Atrocities in Plain Sight" M.D. says that "You
won't find a
better or more succinct overview of the "detainee"
torture and abuse scandal than Andrew Sullivan's book
review in the
January 23, 2005 New York Times". Hono Lulu included
two other NY Times
reviews with her take on Atrocities
in Plain Sight -NYT Book Review.
Pacific City,
whose husband serves in Iraq, broke the story for us on how Torture
and Murder are Whitewashed by the US Army. Again those freedom
hating ACLU trial lawyers (/snark) have received more documents on
abuse and torture and how the defense department is ignoring or, at the
least, failing to investigate and prosecute instances of alert.
It actually took a court order to get the defense department the
release the documents. Go and give Pacific City some encouragement.
Spiderleaf; has
found the real reason for democratizing the Middle East. The goal
seems to be is 'Remaking'
Islam: the neocons goal (I'm serious). The main thrust of the
most recent argument by Reverend
James Schall,
Professor of government at Georgetown University and a Jesuit priest is
that Islam is a misguided religion and that it's 'truths' are based on
faulty and undemocratic logic. And if we just "ignore" and
disavow the parts of the Qu'ran we don't agree with, Islam might be
okay. Actually this is the most believable explanation I have seen
for
our foreign policy towards the Middle East.
Susan Hu brought us
the sad tale of how a Prostitute
was used in Guantanamo torture of Habib. This is a hard tale to
read since it details many of the ways the Muslim's were exposed to
sexual perversions as part of their torture. There are many other
incident reports from others to corroborate the story. See the whole
story if you can handle it.
As of Wednesday Evening there were at
least seven diaries on the Margaret Spellings and "Postcard
from Buster" incident. The most replies were in Georgia 10's take on
the story about the Education Departments Biggest
Threat: More Gay Cartoons! That's how it seems since the new
Secretaries first action is to attack Buster. Jeffrey Too has the
best editorial on this issue where he concludes that the Education
Secretary Has Wrong Priorities As She Condemns Cartoon Characters.
Plutonium Page
had a disturbing diary about today's release of four British
"detainees" from Guantanamo Bay. Hey,
Gonzales! One of the 'Guantánamo Four' speaks. I want to
ensure our Senators have a chance to see this diary and hope they take
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to task for what his departments
opinions to the President has led too.
Kos started the ball
rolling this week concerning the Human Rights Watch report on Torture
in Iraq. Soj
added much more information with HRW report
on Iraqi torture: what the MSM isn't telling you followed closely
by Ivolsky
showing us that In Iraq,
torture is routine. This weeks report on the increased prevalence
of torture cuts the last thread in the unraveling tapestry of the
Administrations justifications for the war in Iraq. Now instead of
Saddam's torture chambers we have are U.S. subsidized torture chambers
along with the U.S. operated ones.
3. Identification of
enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
Ordinary Vanity
presented a Disheartening
article about religion and politics (w/ poll). It seems the
Fundamentalists are more energized then ever before to push their
agenda both in the public and the private spheres. This is a result of
blaming everything on others. Now that they feel they have been
legitimized due to recent election gains they will be more likely to
commit acts based on their bigotry. This is the kind of thing that can
grow out of control unless actions are imposed to stop it. Ensuring
sexual identity is included in hate crimes legislation is a good first
step. Let's hope the next step isn't more discriminatory legislation.
Heavy J. found this gem
by Tom
Friedman: Muslims suck. Blame France. That's right folks! Now it
seems that the whole problem is that the EU is not on our side in Iraq.
Fleet Admiral J.
brought us the scary story of a new Book to
Kids: Liberals are crazy evil communist atheists. This is the kind
of thing that was used to demonize many groups in the past prior to
atrocities. Now conservatives are not only indoctrinating their
children that liberal ideas are bad but that liberals are equivalent to
monsters that must be feared. I wonder if that's the next book Bush
will read to kindergarteners.
James B.3 let us know
how much the Education
Secretary rails against PBS, 'gay lifestyle'. Since an upcoming
episode of the Arthur spin-off Postcards from Buster has an upcoming
episode featuring 2 children from Vermont and their lesbian parents,
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has warned PBS three times which
included saying that "this was deplorable. Many people do not want
their
kids exposed to 'such lifestyles.'" Now PBS seems to have caved in and
cancelled distribution of these episodes. That's it folks, the woman in
charge of education doesn't want to show tolerance since some people
don't want to see it. How can we educate people if we take that
attitude? Some people don't want to see Algebra, Science, and Biology
textbooks either, so let's just pull them too.
4. The supremacy of the
military/avid militarism.
Plutonium Page
let us know things are getting out of control when there's even Criticism
of Bush from the Nixon Center. That's right folks the people who
are supposed to know the Granddaddy of neocon rhetoric best are even
saying that Bush's rhetoric is going to far
Ptolemy seems to have
been first with the story of Rumsfeld's
special ops here AT HOME. That's right folks Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld has his own clandestine special operations units.
Three senior Defense Department and Bush administration officials
confirmed the existence of the plan and mission...One of the officials
said the units operated in the United States under
"special authority" from either the president or the secretary of
defense." It's official, we now have Special Forces and Military
Intelligence operating inside the United States. I gave them a pass
when these type units were accused of operating in Iran because that is
part of the militaries mission; it was however a diplomatic blunder,
but now we
have soldiers and agents with limited oversight admittedly operating
on U.S. soil. Blog Dog
added his
take on this story with Rummy's
Commandos at Inauguration - codename Power Geyser. According to Deafmetal
this diary is presented more dynamically and has a dash more zing!
Now
add to the Special Ops units FLS's
diary that a Washington Post's Source
confirms clandestine intelligence unit. Where this diary look at
the fact this unit exists the bigger problem is where they can operate.
According
to CNN; "The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency since 2002 has
run an
intelligence-gathering and support unit that has authority to operate
clandestinely anywhere in the world where it is ordered to go in
support of anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism missions, a senior
defense official said Sunday." My question, and hopefully yours, is;
are these units authorized against "Domestic Terrorists?" I saw a
definition from the patriot act that anyone who tries to use fear or
coercion
to influence political action could be considered "domestic
terrorists." I resemble that remark.
Cosmic Debris
wishes to start a series on Mess-O-Potamia:
Rocking the Cradle of Civilization to Rubble - Part I. This is
about the wanton destruction of archeological treasures in the wake of
the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Due to the Hague Conventions
which the U.S. signed this issue could also lead to prosecution of
America's leadership abroad
The coalition
military forces are now causing irreparable damage
themselves: they have transformed the historical city of Babylon
in
southern Iraq into a military base, despite promises from former U.S.
overseer of Iraq Paul Bremer in late June to dismantle the base.
Here is another case where we have to
be concerned that the world community will soon start major reprimands
against the United Sates, due to the actions of those under the Bush
Administration's control.
Consta seems to have
been first with the story of Robot
Warfare Coming to Iraq. Add that to Ptolemy's diary about
how Bush
introduces RoboCrusader and you see that we are actually going to
arm remote controlled robots for deployment in Iraq. I can see the
logic in protecting our troops but nothing can replace a man on the
ground because of our unique abilities that no remote controlled robot
will be able to match. Just wait till the insurgents start showing
video of these things shooting innocents or being destroyed by guerilla
tactics.
5. Rampant Sexism.
Thinking Out
Loud has found a Republican who has a plan for Social
Security & Women: Another 69 cents on the dollar. I t seems
that since statistically women live longer Rep. Thomas is floating the
idea that women's social security payments should be reduced. Women
already get less social security because their lower wages cause them
to have lower benefits. Now just because their average life expectancy
is longer they want to make them live that longer time on less money.
If this was a private corporation this would be a breach of contract.
Social Security has been considered a contract with the American people
and the Republicans are trying as hard as they can to breach that
contract. Everyone in the reality based community knows the actual
crisis that Social security faces is that the Government can't afford
to start paying back what they have been borrowing from social security
under Republican leadership.
Regeneration Man
tells us that a Utah State GOP Lawmaker
wants POLYGAMY de-criminalized. We have some prescient writers who
did three diaries over the weekend on the topic of polygamy. Now Utah
State Rep. David Zolman wants to decriminalize polygamy and says a
public apology for polygamist
roundups conducted decades ago would erect a "peace bridge" to isolated
fundamentalist communities, and end decades of hostile
confrontation. And the Fundies say gay marriage is a threat to
"traditional family values." I just want to make sure Utah gets rid of
the arranged marriages for 14, 15, 16 and 17 year olds.
Regeneration Man
has apparently started a crusade on the subject this week so grab your
lances and banners, or pens and keyboards, and sign on. His research
has led to identifying the fact that HHS Nominee
Leavitt met with POLYGAMISTS to get support for his gubernatorial
candidacy during the 1980's. Also he found that Sen. Hatch
Won't Save Abused POLYGAMY Girls. The issue here is not alternative
lifestyles it is forcing 14 year old girls into sexual relationships by
having one "family" legally marrying off their daughters to other
"families."
There were at least 7 diaries on Lawrence
Summers' comments during the last week. Plus the Front Page
diary by Armando
which received over 600 comments. In case anybody missed it Summers
the President of Harvard University said that "research in behavioral
genetics is showing that things people
attributed to socialization" might actually have a biological basis as
a possible explanations for the small number of women who excel at
elite levels of science and engineering. These statements ignited a
firestorm that needs to be seen.
Julie Ide let us know
that the Virginia
House Attempts to Outlaw Adoption for Gays and Lesbians. This not
only applies to adoption applications by couples made jointly,
but also by adoptions of new partners of parents that wish to complete
their family legally through adoption. She lists several action items
for Virginians too use to fight this. Remember you can adopt a Virginia
town as your home when sending E-mails.
6. A controlled mass media.
Soj presented the most
thorough account of the HRW
report on Iraqi torture: what the MSM isn't telling you. The Human
Rights Watch has determined that conditions in Iraqi detention facility
are equal to before Saddam Hussein's downfall. Reuters leads with "Iraqi
authorities
routinely torture prisoners." they cite the fact
that many prisons and detention facilities are operated by the same
people that Saddam Hussein used. Did anyone hear this on the "News?"
All we hear about is how bad the "insurgents" are and there is no
reporting about how bad our bought and paid for Iraqi Security forces
are. Kos posted a link
to this on the Front Page
that got 99 comments if you want to see what the community had to
say.
Progressive
brought us the surprising admission that the "Moonie
Times" Admits Hit on Dean. It's the admission that is the surprise.
We here in the reality based community know that the Republicans were
frightened by the grassroots support that Howard Dean was receiving.
Let's keep them scared.
Scorpio rising
seems to believe that CNN endorses
Pentagon Secret Spy Unit. From reading the transcript I tend to
agree. You need to see how CNN's anchor, Jamie Pilgrim, was leading
former assistant defense secretary under President Reagan Frank
Gaffney the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy
with questions and commentary that made the newly revealed Strategic
Support Branch look like the best thing since sliced bread instead of a
blatant disregard for congressional oversight.
Saint brought a sordid
tale in ohhh....
this one's going to hurt a bit. It seems that the new host of NBC
nightly news Bryan Williams went on record in an interview with Brian
Lamb, CEO of C-Span, he said that Rush Limbaugh has yet to gain "the
credit he is due." Well I guess I can't even watch NBC Nightly News in
good conscience anymore. I do agree Rush hasn't gotten his due. Let's
see
5 to 10 for drug crimes, $100's of millions for libel and defamation of
character and much more I bet you all could think of.
The real Cervantes
had a good observation about the relationship between ABC News and
Iraq: Reality begs to differ. ABC news is reporting that "Overall,
nearly one in five urban households and three in five rural
households still do not have access to safe drinking water, according
to recent reports". He mentions the blogging of Riverbend who
says water has been cut of for almost a week. But last weekend C.S.
Kendrick did a comprehensive diary on Iraq's
Riverbend: No Water for Six Days in Baghdad where he shows
corroboration from four sources on the water shortage throughout Iraq.
Rimjob had the best
presented diary of the three about how
Ted Turner
Calls It Like He Sees It. Ted made some pointed remarks at a
meeting of the National
Association for Television Programming Executives. This proves that
Ted is a member of the reality based community. I just wish he was
still at the helm of CNN. Euro Dem's diary about
how Turner
Compares Fox's Popularity to Hitler did get a few more comments in
case you're interested in the communities' response.
R.Y. Griffin 333
found a case study from CNN:
"Democracy finds hope in Iraqi town." Seeing the headline you would
think things were good and the whole town was hopeful. But reading the
whole story you see an area where people don't know the when, where,
how or who about the election. There were a few people who were hopeful
but most were complaining about the conditions, including one family
whose house was destroyed in Falluja. Maybe CNN was playing both sides
of the fence. The reporter was putting out a good story about people's
thoughts leading up to the election while the editor put as rosy as
headline up as he could find.
7. Obsession with national security.
Even dismissing the things which
Condoleezza Rice has done to support the President and his agenda, the
very fact that the person in charge of national security has now been
elevated to the Nations chief diplomat speaks loudly about this
countries priority in international relations.
Catnip presented us
with the fact that the US
Government Denies Justice for Canadian Torture Victim (w/poll).
Again, we have told the world that our security depends on no one
proving the fact that the Administration has condoned torture. I
guess they confuse George Bush and company's security with national
security.
8. Religion and ruling elite are
tied together.
Uncle Bub let us know
that It's
official, God gave us freedom! George W. Bush has made a
proclamation that January 16, 2005 is religious freedom day. Looks like
Bush threw the fundamentalists a bone, now the fundamentalists need to
come back with Social Securities Wall Street Welfare package.
Tom Kertes did an
excellent job in finding Bush's
hidden Bible passages & hidden immoral agenda. From Tom's
conclusions:
Finally, when we
fail to assert our moral case for what this war is wrong, we cede the
moral discussion to President Bush and other neoconservative
Republicans. Since they know that moral values are what appeal to the
American people, they hide their deeply immoral and troubling agenda in
a mask of morality... If the neoconservatives alone speak of morality,
then the Americans will have little reason to doubt claims that the
invasion of
Iraq on false pretenses, in violation of US and international law are
moral and just. The deaths of over 101,000 Americans and Iraqis will
seem like moral sacrifices, the torture as for a good cause and the
death of American democracy as God's calling. We must, therefore, wake
up to the fact that we are the one's who are just, moral and the
patriots on whom the defense of the republic itself rests.
Go see how Bush stuffed his speech with
Biblical references and understand that he was trying to speak in code
to the religious right.
9. Power of corporations protected.
Miss Jones, in
her first diary, told
us how The
EPA
helps end the era of the small farmer: an update to RFK Jr's Story.
This is more from RFK Jr's book "Crimes
Against Nature" From Miss Jones:
A group of
lobbyists
representing corporate farms
requested that the EPA alter the pertinent Clean Air and Clean Water
regulations and the
EPA quickly moved to give them what they wanted, including a provision
that
allows such corporate polluters to pass their waste on to contract
farmers, who will then be responsible for the waste. Since these
contract farmers have no money, there is no way to fine them when the
waste ends up polluting air and water. In a nutshell, the big corporate
farms can go on freely polluting, with unfair competitive advantage
over the family farmer granted by the very government organization paid
for by the U.S. taxpayer for protection against polluters.
Go give her a tip and a comment so she
will be encouraged to keep up the excellent work.
At first I didn't expect to list David NYC's
treatise on Surprise!
Chilean Private Accounts Are a Failure. But the last line changed
all that. "Chile's biggest companies have benefited from this
enormous
investment and Chile's brokerage firms profited immensely from the
same - all while its ordinary citizens get screwed. Sound like the
priorities of any American president you know?" The President touts
Chile's program as an example of privatized accounts. Chile actually
allows people to completely opt out of the States system and invest 10%
of
their income into private accounts. Now after 25 years people who are
retiring find out their retirement is 30% to 50% less than those who
maintained the public system. The difference may be that Chile actually
invests their public funds which helped create the highest sustained
economic growth rate in the hemisphere. Another thing of interest is
that private accounts were introduced in Chile under the totalitarian
dictatorship of Pinochet. Now our President wants to copy their system,
good grief.
10. Power of labor suppressed or
eliminated.
It looks like Chris Bowers' work is
paying of in a great labor story (for me as a writer it's great). Phil in
Maine got hold of a rare labor story with the fact that the BUSH
LABOR DEPT is BUSTING ITS OWN UNION. There has been a labor dispute
with the, uh, Department of Labor (who could have guessed. The
dispute was settled by the Federal Service Impasses Panel. The panel
which is full of Bush Appointee's ruled in favor of management on 12
of the 13 issues. The link provided in the Diary is bad so I provided
the Washington
Post link here.
11. Disdain for the arts and
Intellectuals.
Coigue let us know that
a WaPo
story
describes how administration seeks to silence global change scientist.
This is a separate instance from Dr Rajendra Pachauri remarks on global
warming. In this case NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
told climatologist James E. Hansen in a 2003 meeting that he shouldn't
talk about humans' influence on the atmosphere. Hansen said "I have
never seen anything approaching the degree to which information
flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as
it has now."
Bald Andy added
another scientist where the Bush regime
is trying to fire a whistleblower scientist. This time the target
is Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, who was hired in 2003 to
improve patient safety practices in the NIH related to AIDS research.
Fishbein was targeted for firing within days of raising allegations
last February of interference and a hostile work environment against
AIDS Division Deputy Director Jonathan Kagan. Fishbein was recommended
for a cash award for his job performance, and
all was well until he started talking to Congress about shoddy
practices and poor patient practices.
I am sure everyone has an opinion on
the report by Dr Rajendra Pachauri concerning the need to do something
immediatley or face uncontrollable climate change. There were at least
6
Diaries on this Monday morning.
*Take
Action:
Countdown to global catastrophe by S. Basaman which
concentrated on the lack of RWCM coverage.
*Bush
Appointee: Cut Pollution ASAP or Adios to Humanity by Plan9
which got little attention
*Bush's
Leading Climate Expert: Global Warming at Critical Moment by G factor
that was almost totally missed
*Want to
see
a real crisis? Global Warming heating up by Virginia Dem which
got a whole lot of attention
*10 Years
to
Armageddon. by Expat Briton
which was missed due to Virginia's popular diary
*Want to
see
a real crisis? A *partial* counterpoint by Yertle, who is an
actual climatologist, presented an excellent method of framing the
issue that uses both divergent viewpoints and still provides an
effective call for action. I recommend both Yertle's and Virginia's. I
will hold my commentary till we see if we get a reaction from the
Republicans.
12. Obsession with crime and
punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
Frederick
Clarkson wants to know if you agree that the Republican
Spoils System Spoils the Schools). He has prepared an excellent
piece on how the Republicans go from "think tanks" where they recommend
charter schools to the State Administration to prepare
legislation for voucher programs and finally to the schools as
administrators where they collect the funds. Another trick involves
standardized tests in which Charter School students are exempted so
they actually prefer that public schools perform poorly so that they
can
push more voucher funds.
How do they do
it? In
part by a revolving door between the Pioneer
Institute, Republican administrations and private companies holding
no-bid charter contracts. For example, the authors report that "the
chair of the state Board of (public) Education is the former executive
director of Pioneer. Another former executive director serves alongside
him on the Board. The head of the Department of Education's Office of
Charter School Accountability arrived at the job directly from Pioneer.
These appointments continue the revolving door pattern between Pioneer
and the Administration."
After reading this you will understand
why Republicans push Private Schools. It's the money as usual. The
Religious Right are blind to this because with the limited regulation
of Private and Charter schools they get their cut and can "properly
indoctrinate" the children.
Tom P was first with
the news about Gonzales'
lies to keep quiet Bush's DUI. It seems that the judge on the trial
where Alberto Gonzales got Bush out of jury duty has contradicted
Gonzales' statement that he did not arrange a back room deal to get
Bush out of jury duty.
In separate
interviews, Travis County Judge David Crain along with Wahlberg and
prosecutor John Lastovica--told NEWSWEEK that, before the case began,
Gonzales asked to have an off-the-record conference in the judge's
chambers. Gonzales then asked Crain to "consider" striking Bush from
the jury. [snip] "In public, they were making a big show of how he was
prepared to serve," said Crain. "In the back room, they were trying to
get him off."
Someone needs to get a transcript of
Gonzales' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and see if
these statements actually contradict with what he said. I'm sure the
Republicans think lying before the Senate isn't as bad as lying about a
"Job."
14. Fraudulent elections.
J. M. Knapp has
presented some interesting charts in More exit
polls, stage right. It seems that the analysis of the completion
rates for exit polls verses the margin of victory for George W. Bush
show that those in Bush states were more likely and not less likely to
participate in exit polls. While this is not conclusive evidence it is
an interesting trend that makes the reported excuse that Bush voters
were less likely to complete exit polls more suspect. In any other
country the international community would be screaming fraud with
results like we had in 2004. The biggest hypocricy in the world was our
Administration screaming fraud in the Ukraine while ignoring a greater
discrepancy in our own country.
It's seem Jam Boi and John Dean, Bozos
Rnot4 Bush, have been following Larisa Alexandrovna's story on RawStory.com that broke
Wednesday about some recount monitors who have filled sworn affidavits
attesting to suspicious activity by both the Republican and
Democratic election officials in Clermont County, Ohio. It's seems the
failed to coordinate their diary posts. See John Dean's
diary about OHIO
ELECTION FRAUD - STICKERS ON BALLOTS - RAW STORY BREAKS THIS BOMBSHELL!
Class Warfare.
Ivolsky has some
predictions that Bush's 2006
budget will bring big cuts in domestic programs. This is based on a
Washington
Post article from May 2004 where the Administration warned
government agencies of upcoming budget cuts in the event of
Bush's re-election.
Bonddad has analyzed
the data
and has determined that Arnold Wants
Teachers to Retire in Poverty. It seems that California Governor
Arnold Swartzenegger wants to make major changes in retirement
programs for State employees including the teachers. I truly don't
thing
the Govenator wants them to retire in poverty but, like our President,
he doesn't care if they lose everything as long as corporate CEO's have
plenty of investors to pay for their golden parachutes.
Just Plain Propaganda.
Azindy has the details
on todays Sunday's show appearance by Iraqi Ambassador John Negroponte:
Talk About Remaking Reality. It appears that our Ambassador to Iraq
made many questionable statements Sunday on the talk show circuit. My
favorite from Azindy:
Russert quoted
information about the secret election campaigns, secret
candidates, unknown polling places, an election held in an environment
of death threats and the concern for election security likely to
depress turnout. Negroponte contradicted that security is good and
therefore expects a large voter turnout.
Russert quoted a recent analysis of
intelligence that indicated that
elections are likely to further destabilize Iraq. Negroponte
responded, "I don't subscribe to that prediction."
Negroponte basically says consider the
source. This guy is a
candidate for political office and cannot be taken seriously. Overall,
Negroponte again and again denied the reality of bad news coming
out
of Iraq and promoted the administration's redefinition of reality.
I want the actual quote that last
statement was based on. How about you?
Delphis reported
that NPR
ignores
the Democrats' agenda. It seems that National Public Radio had a
piece on the new Bills proposed for the new Senate where they totally
ignored the proposals by the Democrats. If you listened to this segment
you would think the Democrats didn't even have an agenda in the
Senate.
On Wednesday Delphis Added another instance where NPR shills
for the administration (day 2). That one was about how they are now
repeating Social Security propaganda that's been debunked without any
dissenting opinions.
Cwech let us know about
the Supreme
Court Ruling on drug sniffing dogs at traffic stops. This is
another increase in police powers designed to further whittle down the
Constitutional guarantee's we thought we had.
Georgia10 showed us
how the military is using Fuzzy Math:
Unreported Suicides at Gitmo. This details the reported instances
of suicide attempts for the last 2 1/2 years at camp x-ray in
Guantanamo
Bay. It seems the spokesmen for the Pentagon keep coming up with
different numbers as to how many people have attempted suicide.
Tom Kertes
interpreted for us a DOD Press
Release: Today's Orwellian History Lesson. Can you believe that a
Pentagon spokesman has issued a press release trying to compare the
Iraqi constitutional process with what happened to the United States
while forming its government after the revolutionary war? I guess the
officials at the Pentagon have been reading too much of their own
propaganda and not enough history.
Trix has the scoop on how
a National
Review Columnist Was Paid to Promote Bush Agenda. Syndicated
columnist Maggie Gallagher has admitted to receiving $21,000 dollars
from the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the
President's Marriage Initiative. This is just the next shoe to drop in
the Payola. I could have put this under sexism seeing she was paid only
8% of what Williams got. Pit viper added a
diary Calling for Action on
an American
Progress alert: Stop the payola, fire Gallagher! Please Come
and Join the No Pundit
Left Behind Yahoo user group that is trying to come get some FOIA
actions to determine who else in being paid off. We have been offered
assistance by the SDCC.
PoliSci
major to be found that the Parks department under BUSH edits
tapes of MLK speech! Calm down everyone; it seems that the tape
that is shown at the Lincoln Memorial depicting previous protests is
not being edited to remove Martin Luther King's speech. But there is
suspicion that it is being edited to remove war protestors and
anti-abortion protestor. A suit has been filled to determine what
changes are being made and whether or not pressures was put on the
Parks Department to pursue political objectives in making the changes
People For the
American Way Foundation (PFAWF) and Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit in federal court today to force
the National Park Service to release the documents.
There is hope! Here are some
articles on a way to fight back.
This section is devoted to
those who have done something and are sharing their stories, those
who have suggestions for ways to be active, and those who cry out for
immediate action. I do what little I can. I am becoming active in my
local blue county in the biggest red state. I plan to do as much as I
can when called upon. I'm sure I missed many of these Diaries this
week so my apologies to all.
Manyoso wants us to Co-Sponsor
the Senate Democrat's Opposition Agenda. GO and sign on. We need to
show solidarity with our party. Let's get out there and show we can
unite if for any other reason then to fight the fascist outcomes that
the Republicans wish to achieve.
Mr. Boma brought to our
attention that fact that Kerry asks
for citizen co-sponsors for kids' insurance act. Kerry is acting
more and more like a leader and is using his vast E-mail base to
request more and more action. I can help him in our causes; I just wish
he would ask for our opinions.
Firedog lake let
us know that the WaPo Printed
his DKos Diary LTE! Firedog did a diary on the issue raiding the
social security trust fund and summarized it in a LTE that got printed.
Is anyone else concerned that the crisis is based on the fact that the
Government seems to think that paying back what it borrowed is the
crisis.
Kossacks in Action: Running for
Office or Working for Candidates.
Byron Miller is posting as Byron
M. His first two Diaries are Path
to Congress and I've
got the Pitts; where he asks for help from the kossack researching
power. Go help him out for Pennsylvania's 18 Congressional District.
Byron's web site is ProgressiveAmericans.org
Tim, ttagaris,
Tagaris started working with Chuck
Pennacchio for US Senate. Chuck even answered some questions in
the Beating
Santorum - Pennacchio for Pennsylvania and Penn
for Penn threads. Check out Chuck's
Website, but give them some slack; Tim's still working on it.
Thank you so
much was the first diary from Senator Barbara Boxer,
who is now an official Kossack. You need to subscribe in
order to not miss any of her posts
The Senate
Democratic Communications Center has started posting on DKos and
actually asked us Where's the
plan? I subscribed
to them so I would not miss out on anything they post. And so
should you.
Some Excellent Series'
J.R.
Monsterfodder is still doing his new series on how Wal-Mart
Deceives the American Public
MH
in PA has started PILR: Progressive Infogeek Listserv Roundup.
Scott
Bateman is good for a laugh and some thought with Today's
Bateman cartoon
Pam
in Durham has her weekly LGBT News Roundup. This provides news on
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual war fronts against the
right wing Republicans and other bigots.
Pastor
Dan has started a "Whats in the Bible" series to
go with his weekly sermon.
Coturnix`sLakoff
Series is a must read for anyone who has to communicate with our
opposition. Be sure to catch up on the whole series.
Jeffrey
Feldman'sFrameshop is open again.
Seattle
Liberal has started the Nerd Network News (This Week's Science
Diaries) .to try and keep everyone on top of the Nerd's. Go see
what's there.
RubDMC'sIraq
War Grief Daily Witness (photo) series if you "can handle
the truth" and give mojo too.
"The Goebbels
Diaries" by Youngblood
Kaufman gives us some insight into how Fascism was achieved in
the past. See the whole set.
Newsie8200
Does an excellent job with Newsie's Week In Reviewsies and Newsie's
Media News Monday!
While I stand by my
comments as my opinion based on available evidence I cannot vouch for
the opinions expressed in any diary titles since they were presented
as quotes from the Authors. Unless otherwise noted I do not
necessarily endorse the opinions contained within the diaries I have
listed.