[TheForge] Stupid comments (and my apologies)

[Steve Bloom]

Jeess I hate to do this but...

At 09:33 AM 4/30/2002 -0400, Bob wrote:
>Most of the liberals I know DO judge a book by its cover, and if you don't
>agree with them, they judge you to be an ultra-right-wing (insulting adjective
>inserted here) conservative.

bit stereotypic here, no?...'most of the liberals' ...really.  Exactly what 
percentage,
what were the error characteristics in the survey, etc...  It would be 
equivalent
to me saying 'most conservatives I know are homophobes and support gay
bashing' -- not tooo likely to be true in general, and probably far off in 
particular -
so it's not worth saying.

>I didn't hear about the unusual conditions in NJ,
>but I did hear about the polls being kept open (illegally) in certain heavily
>Democratic precincts in Missouri.

and there were State troopers near the polling places in Jax, Fl -- but only at
the polls in the predominately black areas plus a large number (57,700 )
of voters turned away because of being felons -- which turned out to be
generally erroneously - care to guess on the average shade of skin of
these folks?  (see below if you really want to get into this)

>Gore never won the election, he gathered more votes from a few very heavily
>populated areas in the country.

and if his brother, Jeb, hadn't come through, Al would be Prez and the right
wing smear folks would be busy trying to dig up dirt (you are familiar with
David Brock , e.g.. Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an
Ex-Conservative, aren't you?)

So the solution is obvious, everyone get the gun and hit the streets, a la
Beirut.  No?  If not, then we generally hold our nose (and tongues) a bit,
avoid too much 'in your face', try to remember that the 'idiot' is probably
a decent human being who just thinks and believes differently.  If the US
stands for anything, it's tolerance -- something that is sometimes more
difficult to practice than say - but nevertheless, it's worth the effort.

now back to the iron (which, thank god is less stubborn than the usual smith).

Steve Bloom

----if you really want to get into this, I've copied a tract that's making 
it's----
----way around. I'm not endorsing this but it's is presented here solely------
----as a potential source for research and 'proof' that I'm not just making---
----up some of the statements made above out of whole cloth              -----
----Think of it as a Rush Limbaugh treatise from the left (I 
do)             ------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2002 16:26:37 -1000
From: A Citizen <paulrevere@hotmail.com>
Subject: What the US media won't (or can't) tell us

In November 2000 Republicans stole from America our most precious right of 
all, the right to free and fair elections. In an organized manner, Florida 
Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary of State Katharine Harris created a 
list of convicted felons, 57,700 to be exact, to "scrub" from the state's 
voter roles. The names were created from Florida records and from lists 
provided by 11 other states, the largest list coming from Texas. We now 
know that most of the people on that list were innocent of crimes. The list 
was a phony. And worse, the majority of those rightful voters were people 
of color, and likely Democratic voters. Of the thousands who had their 
votes scrubbed, 80% are African Americans. Had they voted, the course of 
history would have changed. Harris declared Bush the victor by only 537 
votes. President Carter has said that the Carter Center would not certify 
the 2001 election had they been asked to do so. -- Georgia Congresswoman 
Cynthia McKinney
BBC TELEVISION INDICTS BUSH / CIA IN 9-11 TERROR COMPLICITY: 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/progs/newsnight/attack22.ram
Canadian Television: 9-11 Overview by Vision TV
Bush / CIA Complicity in 9-11, Real Player Video Stream at: 
http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/mediafile.ram
Reasonable Doubts About September 11th, 53 minute Real Player Video stream 
at: http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/03/118760.php
9-11 and Pearl Harbor, Real Player Video stream at: 
http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/visiontv1dial-up.ram
MAJOR NEWSPAPER EXPOSE' ON 9-11:
CANADA'S VANCOUVER SUN ARTICLE BLOWS THE 9-11 STORY WIDE OPEN! 
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=140623
FULL REPORTS ON 9-11 AND BUSH/CIA COMPLICITY IN THE TERROR:
SERENDIPITY EXPOSE ON 9-11 (VERY GOOD!) 
http://serendipity.magnet.ch/wtc.html#other_docs
That 140 page report is at both of these links. 
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0202/S00079.htm
*********************************
We have a hero in the demand for inquiry into 9-11 !! A Congresswoman from 
Georgia has begun DEMANDING that the Bush/Bin Laden connection and the 
bizarre fabrications making up the official story around the 9-11, WTC 
attacks, be FULLY INVESTIGATED.
-- Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reads her essay/commentary on the 
"war against terrorism" in an interview with Dennis Bernstein broadcast on 
Flashpoints on 3/25/02 -- 
http://www.flashpoints.net/realaudio/fp20020325.ram [go to minute 30:00]
Complete text of her (excellent) commentary can be found at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portside/message/2198 This is an excerpt, 
followed by Dennis Bernstein's questions and her response:
And so, with no concern at all for the effects on others of US supported 
terrorism the US, with its bombs and military, embarked on a world-wide 
crusade against terrorism that Bush said likely will last as many as 20 
years. The list of target countries is long, with Afghanistan, Somalia, 
Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, the Philippines, and Iraq offering the starters. 
But what of the fact that Henry Kissinger and the current new US Ambassador 
to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, both once lobbied Washington, DC on 
behalf of a US oil company, Unocal, and a softer policy toward the Taliban?
Whose war is this really?
In November 2000 Republicans stole from America our most precious right of 
all, the right to free and fair elections. In an organized manner, Florida 
Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary of State Katharine Harris created a 
list of convicted felons, 57,700 to be exact, to "scrub" from the state's 
voter roles. The names were created from Florida records and from lists 
provided by 11 other states, the largest list coming from Texas. We now 
know that most of the people on that list were innocent of crimes. The list 
was a phony. And worse, the majority of those rightful voters were people 
of color, and likely Democratic voters. Of the thousands who had their 
votes scrubbed, 80% are African Americans. Had they voted, the course of 
history would have changed. Harris declared Bush the victor by only 537 
votes. President Carter has said that the Carter Center would not certify 
the 2001 election had they been asked to do so
Consequently an administration of questionable legitimacy has been given 
unprecedented power to fight a war against terrorism. ....
Moreover, persons close to this administration are poised to make huge 
profits off America's new war. Former President Bush sits on the board of 
the Carlyle Group. The Los Angeles Times reports that on a single day last 
month, Carlyle earned 237 million dollars selling shares in United Defense 
Industries, the Army's fifth-largest contractor. The stock offering was 
well timed. Carlyle officials say they decided to take the company public 
only after the September 11 attacks. The stock sale cashed in on increased 
Congressional support, a hefty defense spending including one of United 
Defense's cornerstone weapons program.
Now is the time for our elected officials to be held accountable. Now is 
the time for the media to be held accountable. Why aren't the hard 
questions being asked?
We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11. 
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, delivered one such warning. Those 
engaged in unusual stock trades immediately before September 11 knew enough 
to make millions of dollars from United and American airlines, certain 
insurance and brokerage firms' stocks. What did this administration know 
and when did it know it, about the events of September 11? Who else knew 
and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were 
needlessly murdered.
September 11 erased the lines between "over there" and "over here." The 
American people can no longer afford to be detached from the world, as our 
actions abroad will have a direct impact on our lives at home. In 
Washington DC, decisions affecting home and abroad are made, and too many 
of us leave the responsibility of protecting our freedom to other people 
whose interests are not our own.
 >From Durban to Kabul to Atlanta to Washington, what our government does 
in our name is important. It is also now clear that our future, our 
security, and our rights depend on our vigilance. [end of essay]
DB: Well, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, it is great to have you with us 
on Flashpoints. I wanted to follow up on that very powerful commentary with 
just a few questions that come off speeches you have made from the House 
floor on related information. First of all, why do you oppose the Rumsfeld 
48.1 billion dollar increase in the military budget? What is most troubling 
about this for you?
CM: It was incredible sitting in the room on the day that secretary 
Rumsfeld gave his presentation to members of the Armed Services Committee. 
Of course I serve on the House Armed Services Committee, and every year the 
Secretary of Defense comes before that Committee with a statement on the 
budget.
Now, the 48.1 billion $ increase that Secretary Rumsfeld requested was 
interesting because basically what he said was we can afford it. 
Notwithstanding the fact that the Pentagon has lost 2.3 trillion dollars 
that we very well cannot afford to have lost
DB: Lost it? Where did they lose it?
CM: That's a darn good question. You would think that Arthur Anderson is 
their accountant over there. They have lost 2.3 trillion dollars, and they 
don't know where to find that money. And of course the Secretary 
acknowledged the fact 2.3 trillion dollars remain unaccounted for, but in 
his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, the Secretary said 
that the US can afford it. Now, he also said that we have a responsibility 
in this brave new post September 11 world, to make sure that we can 
adequately defend ourselves. And what he used as a justification for this 
unprecedented hike, the biggest hike in a generation, was the fact of the 
events around September 11. But as you know, and I know, it wasn't the 
military that failed. It was a failure of people who had information to act.
We know that there were several warnings that were given prior to the 
events of September 11. From people in Germany to people in the Cayman 
Islands to people even, now we learn about the owners of the pilot school. 
People were calling in to the FBI and the CIA and they were giving 
information that was critical.
Even prior to these warnings we had the trial itself from the 1993 World 
Trade Center bombing. And we had the trial from the American embassy 
bombing... And now the US government is being sued by survivors of the 
embassy bombings, because it is clear that America had warnings and did 
nothing. Did nothing to protect the lives of the people who serve in our 
foreign service and who serve us in other ways in our embassies around the 
world. Now the US government is being sued, and we're gonna have to pay for 
that, as those families are now paying every day with the loss of their 
loved ones
There was adequate warning. There were people who failed to act on the 
warning. And that's what ought to be investigated. But instead of 
requesting that Congress investigate what went wrong and why, we had 
president Bush (painful for me to say that, but) we had president Bush 
placing a call to Majority Leader Senator Tom Daschle asking him NOT to 
investigate the events of September 11, And then, hot on the heels of the 
president's phone call was another phone call from the vice president 
asking that Tom Daschle also not investigate the events that lead to 
September 11.
My question is, What do they have to hide? And why is it that the American 
people are being asked to make tremendous sacrifices now in our civil 
liberties. And the fact that we got this request for an unprecedented hike 
in -- the hike alone of 48.1 billion dollars is more than any one of our 
allies spend total on their defense.
And then the other issue that saddens me is the fact that the former 
President, president Bush's daddy, sits on the board of the Carlyle Group. 
And so we get this presidency, of questionable legitimacy, requesting a 
nearly unprecedented amount of money to go into a defense budget for 
defense spending that will directly benefit his father.
Where are the brakes on transparency and corruption that I see happening as 
a result of the fact that the president's father stands to make money off 
of the very requests that the president has made, on what I would call a 
specious argument saying that we need to increase defense spending because 
of Sept 11, when we now know that there was enough warning that we didn't 
have to even experience September 11 at all; at least that's the way it is 
now beginning to appear.
DB: How would the father make money on this budget?
CM: the father sits on the board of an organization called the Carlyle 
Group. Now when we had Frank Carlucci come to testify at the House 
International Relations Committee shortly after George W was sworn in,
DB: former Defense Secretary
CM: former Defense Secretary -- and we have a requirement that 
organizations that come before our committee, the House International 
Relations Committee, have to disclose Federal contracts. And so I requested 
of our chairman, Chairman Hyde, whether or not the Carlyle Group would be 
subjected to that requirement, since everyone else has to do it. And of 
course the Carlyle Group was NOT required to make any disclosure as to the 
Federal contracts that it had. That in itself means that they are skirting 
the rules of the House.
Notwithstanding that, the fact that the father sits on the board of the 
Carlyle Group, which is one of the highest level defense contractors in the 
country. I think they're number 11 or 12 in defense contracts. And they 
have at least one program, the Crusader, which doesn't work, it's a weapons 
system that doesn't work, has experienced tremendous cost overruns, and yet 
it continues to be funded, and we can only think that it's the heavy hand 
of very well-placed lobbyists that make sure that weapons systems that are, 
that have a connection with the Carlyle Group get funded. And even building 
contracts: bases abroad, all of the bases that we are now looking at, new 
bases going into Uzbekistan. The positioning of troops in former Soviet 
Georgia -- those troops are going to have to be housed, fed, and the 
weapons systems are going to have to be contained, and all of that is 
money. And sadly the Carlyle Group will benefit from this increase in 
funding that has been requested by the president.
Interestingly also, and probably the scariest of all, was the new mission, 
as identified by the Secretary, for our Armed Services. And that is that a 
major role now for the US military will be to occupy an opponent's capitol 
and displace its regime.
Now, if that's the mission -- and we've been told that there are as many as 
60 countries around the world that host terror cells that we need to go in 
and flush out -- then basically what we're talking about is expanding US 
military presence all over the planet. And that is a frightening experience 
and a frightening thought for me because I know that if we provide weapons 
they get used. And if our troops are there, they are going to use those 
weapons and those weapons that we provide might even be used against our 
own troops; we have to be very careful about that.
But interestingly the Secretary said that they intend to "drain the swamp", 
and it's interesting to me that it appears to me that this new mission of 
our military to go into a capitol and take it over was started in 
Washington DC.
DB: Final question, Congresswoman McKinney. These are mighty powerful 
thoughts you're expressing here. I'm wondering how much support you have in 
Congress, and perhaps you have heard from people who are quite unhappy with 
your voicing these kinds of very strong, controversial thoughts
CM: It's always good to hear from people who think like you. I definitely 
hear from people who don't think like you. And that's healthy. It's a part 
of the American process. But just as it's healthy for me to hear from 
people who don't think like me, it's also very healthy for people like me 
to have a voice and to be willing to speak. And it's totally inappropriate, 
I believe, for my patriotism to be questioned, my feelings of attachment 
and loyalty for America to be questioned
DB: Has it been questioned?
CM: You would be surprised at the hate mail that I get in the Congressional 
office.
DB: What do people say to you?
CM: I wish I had a piece right here and I'd read it to you. We got one 
piece that told me that I needed to go back to Africa and take Jesse with 
me. it seems that the people who write in find it impossible to omit the 
fact that I'm black. And so the racial aspect of the hatred also comes out. 
I can accept people who disagree. But I don't know that we need thought 
police in our universities, because our universities are supposed to teach 
freedom of thought. And I don't know that we need thought police and speech 
police inside the US Congress, because the Congress is supposed to 
represent Americans of all stripes and all ideologies. And I know that 
there is a very powerful peace movement in this country . I hear from them, 
I know they're out there. I'd love to hear a little bit more from them.
DB: Well, we have very much appreciated hearing from you today. 
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, reading her essay "Thoughts on our war 
against terrorism", and then speaking with us on Flashpoints here on 
Pacifica radio. We thank you so much for your time and your good 
information and commentary.
CM: Thank you very much and I look forward to talking with you again.
http://www.house.gov/mckinney/
I suggest sending colorful, happy cards (postcards?) that can be displayed 
at her office: 124 Cannon Building Washington, DC 20515 ph 202 225 1605 fax 
202 226 0691
--------------------Please - if you feel the need to write hate mail, try 
to understand that it is not helpful right now. We may have little time to 
stop what is happening, and your hate mail will not help. If you disagree, 
that is your right, but please don't choose the side of the Bush traitors 
in Washington and the Pentagon.


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