Couple of musts (read/listen/watch)

First is the Scott Ritter's interview to Democracy Now!

Second is:
James Moore: The Most Important Criminal Case in American History | The Huffington Post

This wonderfully written article by James Moore underscores once again the true stakes in the leak investigation. Moreover it shows how much more is behind the story for all of us who thought of this affair as an impromptu or rush of the moment act of dirty payback by the political operatives. It gives us a glimpse farther down the rabbit hole....

... We may stand witness to a definitive American moment of democracy. The son of a New York doorman probably has in his hands, in many ways, the fate of the republic. Because far too many of us know and are aware of the crimes committed by our government in our name, we are unlikely to settle for a handful of minor indictments of bureaucrats. The last thing most of us believe in is the rule of law.

...Fortunately, there are good signs. Fitzgerald has reportedly asked for a copy of the Italian government’s investigation into the break-in of the Niger embassy in Rome and the source of the forged documents. The blatantly fake papers, which purported to show that Saddam Hussein had cut a deal to get yellowcake uranium from Niger, turned up after a December 2001 meeting in Rome involving neo-con Michael Ledeen, Larry Franklin, Harold Rhodes, and Niccolo Pollari, the head of Italy’s intelligence agency SISMI, and Antonio Martino, the Italian defense minister."

Read the rest to learn more.

Katrina: Blaming the "Welfare State" and more on Racism

Yesterday I was forwarded this disgustingly ridiculous article from a friend with the following expressions of outrage about it:

I don't want to take too much of your time, but the spin starts. Didn't really read this article (below)- didn't have to. My first thought was: this is the rhetoric of a conservative Bush supporting Republican. So I briefly checked this guy out- seems to be a white guy based out of North Carolina (and yes he's a conservative). This is a complicated issue, but this idiot seems to place all the blame squarely on the victims (and the local Democratic government). Bottom line: he's saying this disaster is the result of the poor not being able to help themselves, and its their fault. He highlights the looting and violence the media focused on as justification for his beliefs (violence that was perpetrated by the few- not the many). Most importantly, he makes no mention of any other long term issues that contributed to this disaster (ie. levees, erosion of the coast line over the decades, etc). Again, this is a complicated issue and I'm not ready to solely blame anybody yet, but tell me the statement below (quoted from the article below) isn't disgusting, pathetic, and the belief of many conservative white Americans:

With respect to the disaster that occurred at the Superdome: "People living in piles of their own trash, while petulantly complaining
that other people aren't doing enough to take care of them and then
shooting at those who come to rescue them...It is a perfect summary of the 40-year history
of the welfare state and its public housing projects."

P.S. The article below seems to "intellectualize" his argument- to me its just racism packaged a different way.

I had the following to say in response.

You are certainly right. The racism has many names and many faces. This is just one of them.
I learned about this article earlier from one of the blogs, but did not pay attention and was not surprised at all. This idea isn't new. Don't you know? the poor are poor because they are lazy, because they are sinners or perhaps (as the idea bellow seem to imply) because they are, well non-white...
The idea or rather belief has been advanced by the puritans long time ago. Poverty is a punishment from God, and wealth is a reward. It doesn't matter whether the wealth is gained in honest way or through fraud and crookery. You should not question the whether one is a crook or not, his wealthy and that means he is cleared by the almighty. The conservatives today are of' course the descendants of the same puritans (or pretty much their reincarnation).
For all their resentment of Darwin's theory of evolution, they seem to always embrace it's application to the realities of the society. They never have a problem with Social Darwinism.

There is a truth in this proposition of' course. The poverty and race, as we discussed earlier, were the major reasons for the magnitude of the human disaster and such a high level of human losses. But you are right when you say that the victims (the poor) are getting blamed as if it is an inexplicable fact why they are poor. As usual nothing about the causes of their predicament is being discussed nor will it be anytime soon... That's not sexy..that doesn't sell TV time or newspapers, moreover people "shouldn't care about it". Everyone for himself, remember? Wealth still trumps the commonwealth.

Grover Norquist - one of the main conservative ideologues who constantly lobbies of lower or no taxes, and hence for no social spending, has famously said that he would like to cut down the government to the size where "we can drown it in the bathtub". I don't think they cut down the government (actually just the opposite), but it looks like they found a big-enough tub instead... Sadly, it wasn't only the "government" that drowned there...

I heard even more disgusting reports through the independent media. The white residents from the New Orleans area (perhaps unaware of rolling camera), were expressing the pleasure that now all "those people" (black people) will be moved out of there and the place will much better without them. Some were also joking how Texas governor will be voted out in the next election for taking in "those people".
There is no race or class in America? Think again...

P.S. You are only wrong in one thing, when you say that the spin starts now. It has been going on for days now, when they realized that the TV appearance, forming task force and "projecting confidence" (read arrogance and ignorance) was not enough this time and that the press core surprisingly found its human side and expressed outrage. The Right-Wing Noise Machine is already cranking and will soon be at full throttle.
By the way, I don't mean to suggest that those were rumors, but the claims of rape and similar events in the Superdome were never confirmed. Authorities could not find anyone who came forward with those claims. It does however serve the bigger "spin" of "people living in piles of their own waste".

Zero Tolerance. Yes, I agree!

We have been hearing a lot about the zero tolerance policy in the recent days. Everyone from our always hawkish (or rather chicken-hawkish) commentators and pundits to state and federal government officials seem to suddenly turn fans of shoot-to-kill orders. As crazy and inhumane the idea is, what is more astonishing is that they can’t even get themselves to say that an exception should be made for the thousands strained without food, water and closing, who are resolving to the this last choice of “looting” to survive. No, it doesn’t seem to matter whether one carries out a TV set or other electrical appliance, or if it is water and snacks needed to stay alive, shoes to walk over the debris, closing to stay warm or diapers and other essential for so many infants and kids.
So much for compassionate conservatism of our leaders.

I have to admit that I agree with those advocating zero-tolerance policy in principle. However, our disagreement lies with the targets of that policy.
How about zero tolerance for:
- catastrophic incompetence,
- unbelievable carelessness,
- criminal negligence,
- heartless inaction and slow response
- unacceptable ignorance
- shifted priorities
- neglect of people
- lack of planning
- lack of personnel and equipment
- arrogant attitude toward environment
- unquestionable dismissal of Global Warming threats…

The list can go on and on, but how about zero tolerance for mistakes and failure of this magnitude of any leader and any administration.
No, the problem is not the hungry, scared and cold people fighting for their lives by taking what they can find in stores around them, not even those criminals among them that take advantage of the chaos for their gain by spreading violence and intimidation. No, it is those in charge that left the former ones behind in the predicament they are to face and fight the latter ones for a single modest goal – survival.

Simply beyond believe

I just like to share few responses I got from some of my friends after forwarding them this posting.

“…Even though you know where I stand politically, this is one of the most tragic and embarrassing disasters in our history and I blame our entire government. Just proves our American government is totally useless outside of pandering to special interest groups, the wealthy, and corporate America. The birthplace of Jazz and so much else gone (for now)- thousands dead or dying, looting, and we still haven't responded to the extent we need to! Everyone knew this was going to happen. New Orleans sounds like Iraq right now, or a third world country, not America! Did you hear the Mayor of New Orleans this morning- he's totally right. And to show just how out of touch these idiot politicians are with the American people, did you hear what Dennis Hastert said yesterday?”

“…I watched some television coverage on the disaster for the first time last night. There must be a silver lining to this dark cloud. Maybe in time it will bring a greater awareness to the vulnerability of the human race to the wrath of mother nature and to how we treat one another and value life and lives of others. As we each take on a greater personal responsibility to respect the earth, ourselves and others, there is hope of a mass conscious shift.”

My own subsequent reply was:

"Perhaps, in some strange and cruel way, this disaster will bring to the front all those commonly ignored issues of race and class...
People will stop pretending that these notions do not exist in America and will realize that they matter most in everyone's life and future. The things would undoubtedly be different if the racial and class makeup of the victims was different...
In any case, as horrible as the hurricane itself was, what followed after and is still going on is simply beyond comprehension.
So many people in other countries, who are watching what is unfolding now now, cannot believe what they see on TV..."Is this the richest country in the world?" the ask...
If anyone still had any lingering doubts about the priorities of the governing class, should be clear now.
It's profit over people...looks like it always has been."

Bolton doesn't waste any time...

The Independent - The US vs The UN

It appears that infamous by now US envoy to UN isn't wasting any time with proceeding with his "reforms" of the world body. However, it looks like his concerns were not limited to the administrative defects of the organization, as he claimed, but spreads over to the overall goals and principals, that have implications far beyond the UN itself. Mr. Bolton seems to be looking to change the number of UN plans, which will affect billions around the world, especially in poor and developing countries. According to this article from The Independent, he is objecting to everything from the Millennium Goals and Development aid to Global Warming to Nuclear arsenal reductions:

"America's controversial new ambassador to the United Nations is seeking to shred an agreement on strengthening the world body and fighting poverty intended to be the highlight of a 60th anniversary summit next month. In the extraordinary intervention, John Bolton has sought to roll back proposed UN commitments on aid to developing countries, combating global warming and nuclear disarmament.

...The [Bolton's] amendments are spelt out in a 32-page US version, first reported by the Washington Post and acquired yesterday by The Independent. The document is littered with deletions and exclusions. Most strikingly, the changes eliminate all specific reference to the so-called Millennium Development Goals, accepted by all countries at the last major UN summit in 2000, including the United States.

The Americans are also seeking virtually to remove all references to the Kyoto treaty and the battle against global warming. They are striking out mention of the disputed International Criminal Court and drawing a red line through any suggestion that the nuclear powers should dismantle their arsenals. Instead, the US is seeking to add emphasis to passages on fighting terrorism and spreading democracy."

So for everyone who still harbored any doubts about Bolton’s views and his intentions this should come as a final clarification.

""Very quickly, Mr. Bolton has given the answer to anyone still wondering whether his long and difficult journey to New York - President George Bush confirmed him to the post after the US Senate was unable to - would render him coy or cautious. Far from that, he seems intent on taking the UN by the collar and plainly saying to its face what America expects - and does not expect - from it."

Must Hear !

Yet another amazing lecture by great Bill Moyers.
The event took place in Seattle. The sobering analysis of current predicament of the country with straightforward, yet articulate, presentation of facts will undoubtedly send shivers down your spine.

Ranking of America. Number one?

Daily Kos :: America is Number One.

The link above provides and interesting compilation of various ranking results, where America is compared to Europe, Asia and other developed and not even developed countries. Makes you wonder what the "best" stands for in "the best country in the world"?

Some peculiar examples:

# 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, 2004).

# Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).

# "The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.

The actual list is much longer. Please make sure to check it.

Organize -The Battle For America

It is time to organize again. No time to finish healing or looking back. The wall is closer and closer and The Battle For America has indeed begun. Check this short movie for a jump-start.