The new GOP Campaign Slogan

Cheney Defends Use Of Four-Letter Word
So I guess "Go Fuck Yourself" is now going to be the new Republican slogan. It is very apt, since that is essentially what the Bush administration has been telling just about everyone about just about everything for the last three years -- Concerned about the impact of the Patriot Act on cherished civil liberties? Go fuck yourself! Questioning the stated reasons for the Iraq war? Go fuck yourself! Wondering what can be done about the federal deficit? Go fuck yourself! Worried about global warming? Go fuck yourself!
Has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? And better yet, it saves Bush and everyone else from any boring policy work, working out any response that actually addresses the issues.
I'm looking forward to seeing it plastered all over the campaign bus and the posters. The campaign can use it as a tag line, too "Yes, America Can - go fuck itself!"

Bravery

This news story Canadians honoured for bravery reminded me that today 35 Canadians (two from Saskatoon) were recognized for bravery. Here are their stories. Scroll down to the Citations, starting about half way down the site.
Clarkson said "You remind us of the best that lies within the human heart ... I wish that every Canadian could be in this room today." I wish so, too. You know, I think each of us wonders whether, in such a moment, we would meet the test. Its inspiring to read about those who do.
I also checked the GG's website -- people who receive the Star of Courage can put S.C. after their names, while those receiving the Medal of Bravery can put M.B. after their names.

No, no, not any more! For the love of humanity, please, no. . .

Oh, God, she's back! So poor little Monica is boo-hooing now about how she has been rejected again -- Lewinsky rebuffs Clinton's claims And all along, while she was blabbing everything to her wired girlfriend, she thought it was "true love" that brought them together, not just her thongs?
I have an announcement to make, on behalf of the entire free world and all the ships at sea -- now that you all, Bill, Hillary and Monica, have written your books, will you all please shut up!

This is the war that never ends

Reading the most recent reports from Iraq -- Attacks in 5 Iraqi Cities Leave More Than 100 Dead -- reminded me of what must be the world's most annoying song:
. . . This is the song that never ends.
It goes on and on my friends.
Someone started singing it not knowing what it was,
and they'll continue singing it forever just because . . .
There's a CNN poll now on their website that asks whether the media is protraying Iraq as better or worse than it is -- a surprising number have voted for the "worse" side. I suppose these dreamers didn't read the latest NYT story, particularly this cheery little sentence "Across the country, Western security consultants are warning foreign workers not to set foot outside their compounds and to brace themselves for a major offensive."
And it goes on and on, my friends.

Use the word, Al -- the "F" word

Gore's powerful speech -- "Democracy itself is in grave danger" -- pulls it all together. Read it. He concludes:
"In the end, for this administration, it is all about power. This lie about the invented connection between al-Qaida and Iraq was and is the key to justifying the current ongoing constitutional power grab by the president. So long as their big flamboyant lie remains an established fact in the public's mind, President Bush will be seen as justified in taking for himself the power to make war on his whim. He will be seen as justified in acting to selectively suspend civil liberties -- again on his personal discretion -- and he will continue to intimidate the press and thereby distort the political reality experienced by the American people during his bid for re-election. "
The word which Al could have used, the F word, is FASCISM.
And the next step is impeachment.

Your vote is an endorsement, nothing more, nothing less

I keep seeing these TV interviews with voters whining "I don't support seperatism but I'm voting for Duceppe because I want to send the liberals a message" or "I don't support what the conservatives want to do but I'm voting for Harper because of the sponsorship scandal" or "I like Paul Martin but I'm not voting for him because the Liberals are too arrogant."
It's just dumb. If you want to send Martin a message, write a letter, or phone a talk show, or start a blog. Your vote is not a message, it's an endorsement.
Everyone who votes for the Bloc is voting for separatism. Period.
Everyone who votes for Harper is voting to support the Conservative agenda, open and hidden. Period.
That's how the parties will read your vote -- it's how they should read it. No winning politician, even someone who wins by one vote, ever says "Yes, I know I won, but the voters didn't really support my platform, so I'm not going to enact it after all." Nope -- quite rightfully, they view their win as an endorsement of their party's beliefs.
So if Duceppe wins in Quebec, and if Harper wins in the rest of Canada, I don't want to hear any whining on June 29 about how the result doesn't really mean increased support for separatism, or increased support for conservatism. That's only what it means. That's exactly what it means. Period.

Liberals by a nose?

I haven't posted much about our election lately -- I guess I don't have much to complain about now that the Star Phoenix is covering some local stories (not a lot, but some) and the national media is holding leaders' toes to the fire over their platforms instead of publishing just cutesy gonzo stories -- and I say this despite the "Harper-the-brave" story in today's Mop & Pail, just for pitching a high, short one -- did Harper take Monday off just to practice?
Anyway, it looks like it will come right down to the wire, now that the polls show the Liberals ahead again in Ontario. But it will still be a Perils of Pauline finish:
Will Martin's latest "hardball" tactic --"if you want me then you have to vote for me" -- beat Harper's softball?
Will Ontario believe that Ralph Klein really doesn't intend to do anything that would challenge the Canada Health Act? Or can we expect that Ralph will remember after the election that he had a few more ideas?
Will Landry's musings about another referendum frighten any Quebec voters back to the liberals?
Did Harper actually get any secret briefings from the RCMP about the Arar case or was he just trying to make himself look important in front of the TV cameras?
Will anyone come up with any more "confidential" Harper policy memos?
Will the NDP disappear?
Stay tuned.

Plain speaking

In Grand Delusion, Cohen states it plainly -- "The fact remains that Hussein's fingerprints are not on the attacks of Sept. 11 and that the United States went to war for stated reasons that have simply evaporated -- weapons of mass destruction and that vaporous link between two very bad men. "

"If I go crazy, I'm taking you with me!" *

What connects most of the US news lately -- Justice department memos justifying torture, pretentions to presidential imperial power, the Patriot Act, Gitmo, CIA secret prisons and ghost prisoners, airline no-fly lists, the Plame leak, colour-coded threat levels, the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, roundups and deportations of Muslims by Homeland Security, the preemptive war doctrine, the hysterical attempt to connect Saddam with Al Qaida -- is its overall craziness.
The Bush administration went crazy after a terrorist attack within US national borders -- an attack which, but for the bravery of a few airline passengers, could have killed them all. And their craziness is getting worse, not better.
Now, over the last 30 years or so, dozens of other countries have suffered hundreds of other terrorist attacks, including Canada with the FLQ. Britain with the IRA, India, Pakistan, France with the communists, Spain with the Basque separatists, Italy and Germany with the Red Brigades, Russia with the Chechnians, Indonesia, Malasia, Mexico, most of south and central america, Japan, not to mention Israel - the list goes on and on. And I suppose every one of these countries went crazy for a while -- Canada did too -- remember the October Crisis and the War Measures Act?
But it ended. Most of the time, nations came to their senses and figured out a combination of police and policy to deal with it. They healed, and their national life went on.
But in the United States, supposedly the greatest, strongest, democracy in the world, the craziness has now lasted three years and counting.
Maybe its because neither the police nor the policy responses have been very effective or competent. Judging by the cases reported by the Justice department, the "police" response has been pretty minimal. And America's two wars have both failed to make America feel any more safe or secure, less so in fact. And the "policy" response hasn't gone anywhere -- the Bush administration has not taken the lead on any national dialogue because they refuse to discuss any of their policies, responses, tactics, strategies, or philosophies.
So American national life now seems to consist of a lot of crazy people screaming all the time.
My hope for Kerry is that he will help America heal, in a way the Bush Administration has been incapable of doing.

*This was, by the way, Catherine O'Hara's best line from Beetlejuice.

Just a reminder about why John Kerry should be elected president

Blogger Tristero quotes author Scott Turow on why John Kerry will make a good president:
Scott Turow’s remarks on John Kerry and why he is the right person to be President:
(John Kerry) is running against a man who was not fit for duty in 1968 and is not fit for duty today, a man who lacked the qualifications for the office when he was elected and has demonstrated it. We have been through a skein of national disasters, for which he accepts no blame, because he literally doesn’t understand enough about the job to realize how a better President would have responded. John Kerry has been in public life for 35 years. He was a prosecutor when GWB was running an oil company into the ground. And he was already a seasoned United States Senator when GWB decided it was time to give up abusing substances. JK has a sharper grasp of foreign policy, and more experience with it, than any candidate for President in the last 50 years, with the possible exception of GHWB (see today’s NYT). His dedication to the cause of our military and veterans is long established. And his commitment to economic and social justice for all Americans cannot be doubted. A man can’t be the committed liberal Bush sometimes maintains Kerry is, and also the unprincipled waffler. Life and public service are complicated, as GWB doesn’t understand. JK does. He has a sense of nuance, and the experience and values to improve the life of the country.

Whiskey Bar: What's In a Name?

Whiskey Bar: What's In a Name?
Billmon summarizes the issues very well. When Jon Stewart interviewed Stephen Hayes on The Daily Show last night, Hayes approached it as the usual book puffery interview, chuckling along with Stewart's jokes, and defending his book as just another piece of journalism. Then Stewart got serious on him, told him that preemptive war, if it was to be justified as a US doctrine, simply had to achieve a higher standard of truth than the mighta-coulda-shoulda chain of circumstantial rumours and mythical stories of which the assertions of an Iraq connection to 9/11 presently consist. It was a terrific interview.

"White House Disavows Interrogation Memo" but does it anyway?

This is an odd story -- the Associated Press story is titled White House Disavows Interrogation Memo but then the story lead sentence states "President Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture laws and treaties covering prisoners of war after the invasion of Afghanistan, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized guards to strip detainees and threaten them with dogs, according to documents released Tuesday." So what, exactly, did the White House disavow? Just the memo? But the torture itself is still OK?
Maybe the AP headline writers were scared of more Dick Cheney nitpicking criticism after he raked the New York Times headline writers over the coals on the weekend..
UPDATE -- so, when I clicked back to the story, the headline had changed. It now reads, accurately, "Bush Claimed Right to Waive Torture Laws". Quick work, AP.

A disappointing report

Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform
Apparently the FSIN isn't happy with the Commission's final report. Now, I don't know what the FSIN will say -- they're having a press conference tomorrow -- but in skimming through the report, I think there are two main flaws. From the FSIN perspective, the report doesn't acknowedge First Nations governments and their role in the justice system. From my own perspective, the report only reluctantly acknowledges that the problems have been caused primarily by racism.
For example, here is the section of the FSIN brief to the Commission which lays out simply and eloquently the present situation for most Aboriginal peope:
The everyday life of a First Nations person involves accepting the fact that he\she will eventually have contact with police. Those individuals on the street such as addicted people and youth have a greater chance of negative police contact because they are lower on the socio-economic scale and thus more vulnerable. This reality impedes First Nations people from attaining their goals in life. Put simply, it is a crime to be First Nation. Many First Nations people, particularly those who are socially marginalized, have had to deal with clashes with police. Although there have been inquests and analyses of the deaths of two men on the outskirts of Saskatoon in 2000, many First Nations people believe the truth has not come to light. It is difficult to be confident in a system that does not use transparent and accountable procedures through its own policies and practices. It has been cited in many documents, that police hide behind the “Blue Wall”, primarily in investigating alleged misconduct of each other. This practice severely hinders the chance of uncovering any wrongdoing by officers, which cumulatively erodes any existing confidence in the current accountability mechanisms. The fact that the police force is so untouchable leads to a multitude of problems for the overall structure and daily operating rocedures designed to ensure safety within First Nations communities.
In response, the Committee report comes across as patronizing, denying responsibility. For example, there is this:
The justice conditions faced by First Nations and Metis people in Saskatchewan today are both a crisis and a tragedy. Yet, no amount of intervention, however well intentioned, will return First Nations and Metis people to the well-being they once enjoyed. What external forces cannot bring about, however, First Nations and Metis people can achieve for themselves. Developing First Nations and Metis leadership is essential in bringing about the major improvements that are required.
And the reports's recommendations are namby-pamby. No targets, no performance measures, no management expectations, just blather like this one: Recommendation 6.32: This Commission recommends that the options of alternative measures, bail, probation and conditional sentences be employed instead of the use of remand and incarceration wherever possible.
After a lengthy discussion of police violence against Aboriginal people, the Commission can come up with only two recommendations:
Recommendation 5.9
5.9.1 This Commission recommends the increased use of video recording equipment by RCMP and municipal police services.
5.9.2 This Commission recommends that an Aboriginal liaison worker or volunteer individual be available for First Nations and Metis people upon their arrival at a police station or detachment office.
Note that rather than being the responsibility of police management, the prevention of racist violence in police stations is somehow the responsibility of Aboriginal people, volunteers even, who will have to hang around police stations 24/7 - yeah, who wouldn't want to do that?
Then, at the end of this section, which should be the strongest section of their report, the Commission appears to say that "vision", rather than good management and good policy, will be enough to turn the tide:
Many individuals, organizations and government leaders have said that this Commission was created in response to the actions of police officers in Saskatoon. The Commission acknowledges this fact. The Commission also acknowledges that in order to transform the justice system a new vision must be put into place in Saskatchewan, not singling out police, but including them. The focus of this vision must be on justice as a means of providing healing, compensation and understanding, instead of the traditional goals based on punishment and retribution. In this way, a focus on returning justice to the community will benefit all citizens of Saskatchewan, including First Nations and Metis people.
Sorry, folks, but the police have to be singled out -- they've been the problem and there is no way around that.

Is anyone surprised?

U.S. Said to Overstate Value of Guantanamo Detainees
This is not surprising in the least. In future histories of the 21st century, Gitmo will be considered to exemplify the depths to which the US could sink, even more than Abu Gharib, because this was created as a deliberate US policy. How can Bush keep praising Rumsfeld for his so-called leadership when this mess is what his Pentagon created.
In particular, note the descriptions of how the US army handled Gitmo for the first year -- what a bunch of Keystone Kops. Then, deciding to "blame the victim" for their own failures, they started systematic torture. Now, they're too embarassed and ashamed to just send everyone home.
Its shameful.

Will there be another shot heard round the world?

PLAN B
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
This is a major, major story -- Hersch tracks the confusing web of alliance and betrayal between Israel, Syria, Turkey, the Kurds, Iraq, and Iran with the United States caught in the middle. The rickety structure of Middle East allegiances is really nothing more than a scatter of pick-up-sticks, piled high and dry, waiting for the spark.
And it reminded me how the First World War began -- which, by the way, started 90 years ago this summer. Lord help us!