The inquisitors showed up again after the New Yorker's July 21 cover came to light. The cartoon, Barry Blitt's creation, depicts Obama, wearing a turban, and his wife, Michelle, sporting an Afro hairdo, as terrorists bumping fists in the Oval Office. A U.S. flag burns in the fireplace, and the image of Osama bin Laden peers over the fireplace at his handiwork.
In an e-mail message to the media, the New Yorker's editor, David Remnick, explained the meaning of the cover: "The cover takes a lot of distortions, lies, and misconceptions about the Obamas and puts a mirror up to them to show them for what they are. It's a lot like the spirit of what Stephen Colbert does — by exaggerating and mocking something, he shows its absurdity, and that is what satire is all about."
That's what satire used to be about. In the Obama era, however, satire may be satire only if it pokes fun at anyone except the Haloed One. If it pokes fun at Obama or subjects related to the Obamas, it's described as being "crude," "tasteless and offensive," "insensitive," "racist" and so on.
The hypersensitivity coming from Obama and his minions is dangerous. Does anyone who's half literate not know that the New Yorker, in its singularly liberal way, lampoons everything and everyone? Nothing, especially a flawed individual, is sacred. That's a good thing.
Wally's mother e-mailed the above to me. It's from Bill Maxwell's "Don't dare disagree with Obama" (St. Petersburg Times). And he's right, the faux outrage was a bit much, see "Editorial: Faux outrage drowns out actual news " that we wrote for Third. I am getting damn sick of Barack's White supporters screaming "racism!" every time the bi-racial candidate's race is noted. See, some of us who are actually Black, we don't see Black as a bad thing. And it is more than a little offensive to us that Barack's White Cult keeps treating any mention of his race as the supreme insult. I am also HIGHLY offended that a cartoon has been the object of so much mock outrage. The cartoonist for The New Yorker did not do anything offensive. It was a joke. If you didn't get that, you must really be afraid Barack's going to hang a picture of Osama bin Laden in the White House and burn the American flag there.
Maybe the racism that the White Mommas of NOW and Feminist Majority Foundation are 'seeing' is really their own racism?
This is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Three"
He did three comics yesterday. Talk about working your butt off. He was very offended by the attacks on a cartoonist. He was more offended when he found out NOW was calling for The New Yorker to destroy foreign edition copies, vanish the cover from online, etc. That's f**king censorship and NOW ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Again, all the Barack's Cult of Whities screaming their heads off? I think they were really revealing their own racist fears about Barack.
"TV: Gossip Girls and Barack's Bitches" is Ava and C.I.'s wonderful TV commentary this week. Epic? Jim calls it that. I think it is beyond epic. It feels weird to say "the way it usually goes . . ." because I just started my website this year and, when I did, I began helping out at Third. But there have been enough weeks that I can now say the way it usually goes. It usually goes that we have all these ideas that we never get to. I think we're all tired (and saddened about Hillary suspending her campaign as well as pissed at the jerk ass e-mail from a dumb ass in Canada). I feel really bad about that because the last two weeks at least, Jim has pushed the burden onto Ava and C.I. verbally and we have all pushed it onto them by really not being prepared or energized. We don't mean to. And Jim doesn't sit around thinking, "How can I put more pressure on Ava and C.I.?"
Their TV commentaries are the calling card for the site. That's regardless of if they're covering news or covering entertainment. But the last two weeks when we were just not at 100%, Ava and C.I. had to do some very heavy lifting. In this week's piece, they're covering the show Gossip Girl and using that as the jumping off point to talk about gossip and how gossip is being passed off as news by Panhandle Media. It's a topic C.I. carries over to today's snapshot so look for that near the end of the snapshot.
This is from Team Nader:
The AT&T Convention in Denver
Well, you did it.
We needed to raise $60,000 by midnight yesterday.
And you blew by that early in the weekend and almost hit $70,000 by last night.
Thank you.
Your generous support helped fund stage two of our ballot access drive – fifteen states by July 20.
As promised, we have now collected enough signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in 15 states. Click here to see our current ballot access map.
Last month, we laid out our ambitious ballot access timetable:
Ten states by July 6.
Fifteen states by July 20.
Thirty states by August 8.
Forty states by September 1.
Forty-five states by September 15.
Thanks to you, we have met the goals of stage one and stage two on time.
In Arkasas, our road trip team along with many volunteers collected more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.
In New Jersey, a dedicated group of volunteers helped us collect more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.
And in Massachusetts, we’ve collected more than 19,000 signatures--10,000 valid are required--and are now in the midst of turning in our petitions to hundreds of towns across the state to get them verified.
We are now entering our most difficult phase--the third phase, where we are facing deadlines in an additional 15 states by August 10.
If you have been thinking of dropping what you’re doing this summer and hitting the road for Nader/Gonzalez, the next three weeks are when we need you most.
Please contact mark@votenader.org today to find out what states you can help in now.
And click here to see our day-by-day live interactive map of how our road teams are doing.
Tomorrow we will be launching a contest to build our e-mail list.
There will be a whole lot of prizes -- including the grand prize of dinner with Ralph Nader.
Keep an eye on tomorrow’s e-mail for all the details.
And finally, when people ask you -- why is Ralph Nader running for President?
Here’s one way to answer:
Just show them the new Democratic Party Convention bag.
And Glenn Greenwald’s most recent article -- The AT&T Convention in Denver – here.
The two parties have been taken over by the corporations.
And the people need a candidacy to counter that of the two corporate parties.
That candidacy is Nader/Gonzalez.
Once again, thank you for your generous donations this week.
You helped power us over the finish line for stage two.
Onward to stage three.
The Nader Team
PS: Last week, we offered the DVD An Unreasonable Man--autographed by Ralph Nader--to anyone who donated $100 or more by yesterday midnight. Well, 242 of you came through. That offer is now closed. We will be shipping those DVDs out later this week.
Is that not wonderful? I was on the phone with Billie. She lives in the DFW area in Texas. I had a question and I picked up the phone and called her. That's so weird for me if I stop to think about it. Before The Common Ills, I didn't even know anyone in Texas (or, really, anything about the state). Now I feel like I know of so many members and some have become really good e-mail and phone friends. Billie voted for Hillary in the Democratic Party primary in March. Due to Texas' idiotic law (designed to keep third party candidates off the ballots), Billie signing a petition for Ralph to be on the ballot in Texas doesn't count. The 'law' is that if you voted in a primary, you can't sign the petition. All community members are voting for Ralph. So I was wondering what happens if he's not on the ballot. Billie says that she, Diane, Eddie and Sabina were talking about that last week (none of them can sign the petition due to voting in the Democratic primary) and they're planning to write Ralph in. But they really hope he gets on the ballot.
Ruth, her grandchildren and I had a great time at Mama Mia! and we discussed it in "Mailbag" (Third):
Ty: This works out well because this was a question for Ruth and Marcia who both noted they'd be seeing Mama Mia! with Ruth's family yesterday. Joanie wanted to know did they like it and should she make a point to see it. Joanie writes, "It's not like the last time I went to the movies was Cannonball Run but it feels that long ago. The commercials look good but I saw one review that trashed it and that's really all it takes these days to make me run from a film."
Ruth: Marcia and I loved it. Right?
Marcia: A great movie. Popcorn summer movie, yes, but a well done one. Ruth, I think Dona's expecting more from you.
Ruth: Okay. It is an uplifting film. My grandchildren wanted to see it and Marcia and I were taking them. The youngest was ten-years-old. Due to the plot, your own feelings might make you cautious about bringing children younger than that along. Although The Princess Diaries was marketed to young children and also dealt with a similar theme regarding fathers. If Joanie liked the commercials, her fear may be that the commercials do not represent the film. Sometimes the best moments are in the commercials and the rest of the picture drags. That is not the case with Mama Mia! and I really recommend it. Everyone on screen seems to be having fun -- Meryl Streep is great -- and you will have fun watching it.
Ty: Ava?
Ava: I haven't seen the film. So I'll just repeat that Latinos don't need a non-Latino speaking for them, let alone misrepresenting them. Rosa Clemente has made it very clear that she considers it an insult to be called a Latina, she has made it very clear that she's only embracing her self-identification as Black. So she needs to get the message that you can't then turn around and lie about the Latino community. We don't appreciate it. It's all the worse because Latinos, like every other community that's not White or Black, is rendered invisible on KPFA. If we cover McKinney's campaign in the future it will be without mention of Rosa Clemente. She owes the Latino community an apology and has for nearly a decade. Most of us long ago grasped that such an apology would not be forthcoming. But she creates new tensions when, after insulting us repeatedly, she wants to take to the airwaves and 'speak for' us. I'm not interested in mentioning her after this week. I'm done with her and that's the attitude of the Latinos I've spoken to in the Bay Area -- that's their attitude as well as a huge anger at KPFA for refusing to put us on air but allowing a self-defined non-Latina to 'speak for' us. It is not a minor issue. In fact, we had thought about doing a piece on Andrea Lewis' return to KPFA today. No offense to Andrea Lewis, whom we all like, but my attitude was, "How sweet. Another Black or White host from KPFA." The Bay Area is not Pleasantville. We have Latinos, we have Asian-Americans, we have Arab-Americans, we have this whole, huge cross-section that is repeatedly ignored by KPFA. And I'm honestly sick of it. Apparently, the height of 'radicalism' in 1950 was to add 'color' to the all White programming by bringing on African-Americans. In the 21st century, that's not good enough and I'm damn sick of all the communities being ignored regularly by KPFA to turn the world into a Black and White one. I don't know which is more insulting -- that Asian-Americans are ignored or that Latinos are ignored. We are both a huge section of the KPFA area. Asian-Americans have been a huge bulk of the Bay Area's population since before KPFA started so they should probably jump ahead of us in the complaint line. That's no complaint against Andrea Lewis, but they picked the wrong weekend to debut her after allowing Black and African-American speakers to speak for Arab-Americans and Latinos last week -- while denying both communities a seat at the table.
Mama Mia! is a wonderful film. You'll leave with a smile on your face. It's not great cinema and it will not change your life but it will lift your spirits. If you've sat through as many mediocre films as I have (I gave up on Keanu after the one-two disappointments of Johnny Neumonic and Chain Reaction which were really slow action films), you know that's very rare. So make a point to see Mama Mia! Soon.
I included Ava because I think what she says is very important. And if you caught Democracy Now! today, you know Rosa Clemente is in damage control. Rosa, who self-identifies as Black and has insulted Latinos by insisting categories like that are about speaking Spanish (slap in the face) and not about race or ethnicity, was yacking on and on about being Puerto Rican. I know why that is. Cynthia's not going to get a lot of African-American support.
That's no offense to Cynthia, just that so many African-Americans drank the Barack flavored Kool-Aid. Now that it turns out her 'Latina' running-mate actually has a huge problem with the Latino community, it's time for Rosa to stop running around screaming "I'm Black!"
They need Latino votes. They won't get many. I was having lunch today at my usual spot and a woman I sometimes say hello to and we sometimes talk when we both forget to bring books, walked over and said she read Third. She knows I do this blog. She said she wanted to thank Ava and C.I. for their TV commentary. She's Latina and her parents are from Puerto Rico. She loathes Rosa Clemente because of the last twelve years of insults Rosa's tossed at the Latino community.
I had no idea until last Monday that Rosa claimed Black. Or that she had such a hissy fit and offered so many insults to Latinos. When I read the comments C.I. included from that interview Rosa gave in the 90s, I was thinking, "Well my goodness." But this is apparently a very big thing in the Latino community. I'm guessing Big Red Rosa has a few Latino friends in NYC but outside of NYC, Latinos know her and do not like her. The woman was a Hillary supporter before Hillary suspended her campaign (which is one reason we started talking). She was not sure whether she was going to vote for Ralph or for Cynthia. Then Cynthia chose her running mate.
She said, "I have no great differences with either Cynthia or Ralph, but their v.p. picks makes it easy. I can vote for Nader - Gonzalez and vote for a great candidate at the top and one of my own [Matt Gonzalez] as v.p. Or I can vote for Cynthia, a great candidate at the top, and someone who insults my community. I'm voting Nader-Gonzalez."
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, July 21, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Amy Goodman can't stop lying, Barack blusters like a Bush, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Oregon Public Radio (OPB) has been reporting on US war resisters. Two reports they filed on Friday include this by Rachael McDonald (link has text and audio):
Rachel McDonald: James Burmeister was injured by a roadside bomb. He went AWOL while recuperating in Germany. Besides being given six months in jail, Burmeister was denied pay, reduced in rank to private and given a bad conduct discharge that will deny him veterans' benefits. Burmeister's mother Helen says the sentence was unfair.
Helen Burmeister: I'm very disappointed in the way they feel they can treat veterans of war. I think the reason that my son went AWOL was for a good reason and I don't think he deserves the punishment that he got.
Rachel McDonald: Helen Burmeister says she's unsure whether to appeal the ruling because it could prolong James' stay in jail. James Burmeister says he left because of military bait and switch tactics. Soldiers would plant equipment to lure Iraqis whom American snipers would then kill. I'm Rachel McDonald in Eugene.
Dee Knight (Workers World) clearly grasped what was done to Burmeister and why, hence the title "Army court-martials resister for blowing whistle on 'bait-and-kill'." Knight speaks to Erich Burmeister (James' father) who reveals the military attempted an deal where a guilty plea by Burmeister would result in 1 "year in military prison and a dishonorable discharge" which means -- looking at the sentence Burmeister received last week -- it was very smart to turn down that proffer. Knight also reports, "His parents have waged an unceasing struggle for the Army to release him. They called on their representative, Peter DeFazio, to launch a congressional inquiry into James's case, but have so far heard nothing." No surprise there. US House Rep DeFazio doesn't do a damn thing. Suzanne Swift was the victim of rape, abuse and harassment. DeFazio grabbed a lot of feel-good headlines before the 2006 elections and then refused to do a damn thing. As Sara Rich, Swift's mother, explained of DeFazio to Jennifer Zahn Spieler (Women's eNews) in December 2006, "His office gave us a lot of red tape. And he basically laughed at our petition. I walked away feeling rather humiliated by him."
Retired army Col and US diplomat Ann Wright (reposted at Securing America Community) reports, "The prosecution brought up the public statements and interviews Burmeister gave on 'bait and kill.' . . . He was taken from the court directly to jail."
Turning to US war resister Robin Long, Tom Banse (OPB, link has text and audio) filed this report on Friday:
Tom Banse: A spokesman for the army's Desertion Information Center says the punishment for the Boise native could fall within a wide ranger. At the light end: reprimand and return to duty; at the severe end: court-martial and jail time -- according to the army's Ryan Bruce.
Ryan Bruce: It would be treated more seriously if a soldier did desert his or her unit during a time of war, especially if that unit was at war or going to war, as opposed to a soldier who just deserted from initial entry training, for instance.
Tom Banse: Private Long fled to Canada to avoid deployment to Iraq. His unit went to war and has since returned to Fort Carson, Colorado. Instructive perhaps is the sentence handed down this week to a soldier from Eugene. Private 1st Class James Burmeister fled to Canada while on leave from his unit in Iraq. He got six months in jail after returning voluntarily to face punishment. I'm Tom Banse in Olympia.
Citing Fort Carson spokespersons Gregory Dorman and Karen Linne, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported Robin was in El Paso County Jail as of Friday night and "is being held on a military confinement order, jail records show." (The Denver Channel credited the paper for breaking the news, AP 'forgot' to give credit.) Jim Fox (St. Petersburg Times) 'reported' on Long Sunday without mentioning his name ("A U.S. Army deserter who fled to Canada was ordered deported from British Columbia . . .") and without getting his facts right (he was not "returned to his unit in Fort Knox, Ky." -- his unit at Fort Carson, CO). KBS Radio notes, "According to Bob Ages who is the chairman of the Vancouver war resisters campaign Robin Long was in Buckley which is South East of Seattle as of Friday, and was moved once again to a location that is unknown to the group." Ann Wright observes, "Ironically, war resister Long was handed over to US officials at the Peace Arch on the US-Canadian border, just north of Seattle, Washington." As noted here Saturday and at Third on Sunday, Robin Long was not deported, he was extradited. Deportation would be expelling him from the country, turning him over to the US government is extradition. Judge Anne Mctavish will have a lot of questions to answer if anyone's paying attention. W.E. (Bill) Belliveau (Times and Transcript) points out that Robin being expelled was "the first time a resister to the U.S. war effort in Iraq has been removed from this country by Canadian authorities." Workers World quotes Gerry Condon explaining, "This is a gift from [Canadian Prime Minister] Stephen Harper to George Bush. And it is a gift to the headline writers, who will trumpet that Canada is no longer a safe haven for AWOL GIs. But it is an illusion because this is not the first of many deportations. It may be the first and the last. A minority government that ignores the will of its people and its Parliament will not be allowed to rule much longer." Vietnam war resister Michael Hendricks informs the Toronto Star that the Haper government's decision to ignore the motion passed by Parliament and the huge support for war resisters means Canadians have to ask themselves a few things: "The questions we have to ask before the next federal election are: What is the government doing to the Canada that we treasure? Do we really want to live in a Canada built in the image of the present government?" Harris MacLeed (Hill Times) quotes War Resister Support Campaign's Lee Zaslofsky stating, "We've been trying to get a meeting with [Immigration Minister] Diane Finley and we've basically been told she'll be busy until she dies." Meanwhile apparent bar fly Karin Wilson (Kelowna Capital News) explains "one of those bar conversations I'll probably remember for a lifetime" and declares that the expulsion of Robin should have everyone "hanging our heads in shame. Here was someone willing to stand up for what he believed in and leave his country rather than fight in a war he believed was illegal." Wilson goes on to repeat the myth that leaves deserters out of the group Canada received during Vietnam hinting that it's best not to confine your research to bar room coversations.
Harris MacLeed (Hill Times) tells the story of Canadian citizen Andrei Hurancyk who decided (2005) to become an American citizen and enlist in the Iraq War. He began serving in Iraq in March 2007, then self-checked out and returned to Canada. He states "I just realized we're not fighting terrorists there, it's just the occupation of the country and a lot things go unreported there, things that are not supposed to be happening in a war zone, things being covered up." July 4th, Judge Robert Barnes' decision in US war resister Joshua Key's case was released. Tamam Ahmed Jama (Al-Ahram Weekly) quotes Josh's attorney Jeffry House explaining, "It's a huge victory for numerous soldiers who are here and maybe others who are thinking of coming here" and quotes Joshua remembering his time in Iraq, "Children cry, women scream at you; we were tormenting these people. We never found anything -- no potential terrorists, no cache of weapons, nothing. After a while, you start to ask yourself: 'Why are we continuing to do this?' . . . You're not supposed to have sympathy, you're not supposed to have a conscience. You're supposed to be the 'perfect' American soldier -- a killing machine who does as he is told. But I realised that it was my concern and it was my business, that I did have my conscience." Key tells his story in The Deserter's Tale (written with Lawrence Hill).
To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."
We've focused largely on US war resisters in Canada of late due to so much news in that region. There are a number of things that have been held. One was about IVAW's chair and US war resister Camilo Mejia. Earlier this month, Federico Martinez (The Muskegon Chronicle) reported on the popularity of State Radio and "Camilo" at Michigan's music festival and noted, "State Radio's song is about Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who in 2003 spent six months in combat in Iraq, but then refused to return from a two-week furlough because he objected to a war that was 'illegal' and 'immoral.' Chad Stokes, lead guitarist and vocalist for State Radio, tried to explain the song's popularity during a pre-festival interview. 'It's just a human story,' said Stokes. 'It's about a human connection. It's symbolic, but it's still his individual story. I think that's why people connect to it." The video can be found on YouTube here. A portion of the lyrics directed to the White House:
Your words just a bloody fallacy
A house of cards you painted white
You tried to recreate Normandy
But you made up the reason to fight
And now red oil is spillin' down on the street
And your eyes so big for the belly is weak
Will you not refuse this currency
Or is blood money just money to you
Is blood money just money to you
News of an event that Camilo Mejia will be appearing at, "A faith-based nonprofit organization hopes to inspire attendees at the annual convention of a major religious denomination to make ending the war in Iraq their major focus for the rest of the 2008 political year. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), an international human rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass., will be hosting a series of training sessions and workshops at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association to be held from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 29, at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida." Mejia will be a speaker on June 25th as well as on June 28th. More information can be found here.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq, Sabrina Tavernise and Jeff Zeleny (New York Times) report on puppet of the occupation Nouria al-Maliki attempting to play a 'do-over' as he "tried to step back Sunday from comments in an interview" with Der Spiegel published on Saturday where al-Maliki appeared to voice support for Barack Obama's limited non-promise that he might withdraw US combat troops (only combat troops -- leaving behind an estimated 50,000 other US troops) in 16 months were he to be elected president. Tavernise and Zeleny tell you that al-Maliki's surrogates insist he was misquoted; however "the interpreter for the interview works for Mr. Maliki's office, not the magazine." From Der Spiegel's interview:
SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.
SPIEGEL: Is this an endorsement for the US presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?
Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.
The New York Times listened to tape of the interview and had it translated:
Nouri al-Maliki: Obama's remarks that -- if he takes office -- in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq. . . . Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.
Der Spiegel notes the controversy over the story and that "SPIEGEL stands by its version of the conversation." Nobody bothers to note that al-Maliki is either more stupid than anyone thought or joining in the lie passed off as truth that Barack's talking withdrawal. Combat troops only. And his 'promise' isn't a promise -- he told CNN on June 5th he'd decide what to do after he became president (such an ego) which echoes what War Hawk Sammy Power told the BBC in March. Bambi spoke to CBS' Lara Logan (Face The Nation) yesterday -- transcript here, video here -- and declared, "There's starting to be a broad consensus that it's time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan. And I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now's the time for us to do it." Barack wants to fight a war that should never have started and will be seven years shortly. He wants to "withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq" and send them to Bully Boy's other misbegotten war. He's not a dove, he's not a peacenik and he's not anti-war. Despite the false claims by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Tom Hayden, Laura Flanders, Jeremey Scahill and oh-so-many others, Barack again demonstrated that he has no respect for any other country's national soveriegnty: "What I've said is that if we had actionable intelligence against high-value al-Qaeda targets, and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets, that we should. My hope is that it doesn't come to that - that in fact, the Pakistan government would recognize that if we had Osama bin Laden in our sights that we should fire or we should capture him." Translation, if Pakistan doesn't act on US intelligence (whether it's valid or not or -- remember the start of the Afghanistan War -- whether or not it's shared with Pakistan), Barack's happy to bully his fat belly to the bar and go-it-alone. (For those who do not remember, the US asked the Taliban -- then in control of Afghanistan -- to turn over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban asked for proof. Then US Secretary of State Colin Powell stated they would get the proof after they turned over bin Laden. They refused to, the bombing began.) Check the interview and wonder if the real reason Barack Obama won't produce his birth certificate is because, under father, it reads "George W. Bush"? He sounds exaclty like the Bully Boy when Logan asks him to define what would be 'success' for him in Afghanistan: "Well, a 'mission accomplished' would be that we had stabilized Afghanistan, that the Afghan people are experiencing rising standards of living, that we have made sure that we are disabling al-Qaeda and the Taliban so that they can longer attack Afghanistan, they can no longer engage in attacks against targets of Pakistan, and they can't target the United States or its allies." Terrorism is a crime and best addressed through the courts. Everything else our once-again-lip-glossed Senator is speaking of (sounding just like the current White House occupant) is not why the military exits and has nothing to do with a legal war.
Yesterday Hala Jaber (Times of London link has text and video) reported that the 5 contractors kidnapped in May 29, 2007 was allegedy down to four according to a videotape released by those holding the five men which asserts that "Jason" killed himself -- the group holding the men have called themselves The Shi'ite Islamic Resistance in Iraq and they state: "This proscrastination and foot-dragging and lack of seriousness on the part of the British government has prolonged their psychological deterioration, pushing one of them, Jason, to commit suicide on 15/5/2008. He surprised our brethren, who were taking care of him, with his suicide." AFP reports UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown used the opportunity to grandstand by declaring, "This abhorrent film will only add to the anguish of families who have suffered a great deal over a year for their loved ones who have been kept in captivity."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad house bombing (the home belonged to "the mother of Mithal al Alosi, a lawmaking in the Iraqi parliament"), a Baghdad car bombing that left five people wounded, a Diyala Province tractor bombing that claimed 5 lives and left eight more wounded, a Falluja residential bombing at the home "of the father of Falluja police deputy chief Lieutenant Colonel Esa Sayer" which left five wounded and another Falljua residential bombing at the home of "Asif Ghazi, an officerin Falljua police" with no reported wounded or dead but an addition two bombs were discovered "near the house and . . . detonated under control." Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing that killed the driver of the car and 2 bodyguards outside of the car.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 "Awakening" Council member shot dead in Diyala Province, sheikh Abdul Ghaffar Abdullah shot dead in Diyala Province. Reuters notes 2 people shot dead as they traveled in the car in Mosul and 2 brothers and 1 cousin shot dead while driving in their car in Mosul.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 1 corpses discovered in Mosul.
Turning to the US race for president. Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain has been turned down by the New York Times. Reuters reports McCain wrote a column and the Times (which just published Barack's ditherings last week) turned it down and turned it down with this nonsense "that a new draft should articulate how McCain defines victory in Iraq." Excuse me, McCain delcared victory in Iraq last week. Considering the bulk of the garbage that stinks up the NYT op-ed pages, it's never been apparent that anyone was turned down for any reasons other than political (such as when Alice Walker's column against the impending Iraq War was rejected). McCain's the presumptive GOP nominee. That means you run his column. In a real democracy, that would also mean you run columns by Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. The paper appears to think it's not well written. If so, let him embarrass himself but, again, the paper's only real reason for turning down columns is political. McCain should post the rejected column at his website, I'm sure many sites would be happy to repost it in full. And the New York Times should be called out loudly for that nonsense. (Before any drive-by e-mails, I have said since this site started in 2004, I will not vote for John McCain. This is not about my vote, this is about an informed society needed for a real democracy.) Meanwhile, in his addition to this morning's entry, Jim steered everyone to the July 14th snapshot for this point: "Leave it to Aileen Alfandary to bring in 'uninformed' which, for the record, she did on the first news break of KPFA's The Morning Show where she declared of the Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente ticket, 'This year's Green ticket marks the first time a US has nominated women of color for both president and vice-president.' Uh, no, Alfandary, it's not. From Friday's snapshot: "What About Our Daughters? explains that, if McKinney is the nominee, this is the third time two women of color would be on the ticket with the first being Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz in 1992 (New Alliance Party) and Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva (Workers World Party) in 1996." Dumb ass Amy Goodman (or maybe just liar) declared today that McKinney and Clemente (aka "Don't call me a Latina!") were "the first all-women-of-color presidential ticket in US history." During the interview, Goody couldn't stop lying: "What do you make of Senator Obama's trip to Iraq and Afghanistan to talking about a timetable for pullout, Nouri al-Maliki saying he shares his view, though he was castigated, it looks like, by the President, and Senator McCain saying Barack Obama has the most extreme record in the Senate, suggesting perhaps he's a socialist?" Amy Goodman needs to meet the truth one day. The recap of Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) interviewing McCain via Jake Tapper (ABC News):
At a town hall meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, had the "most extreme" record in the Senate.
Kansas City Star reporter Dave Helling later asked McCain about that comment.
"Extreme?" Helling asked. "You really think he's an extremist? I mean, he's clearly a liberal."
"That's his voting record," responded McCain. "All I said was his voting record, and that is more to the left than the announced Socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont."
Asked Helling: "Do you think he's a socialist, Barack Obama?"
"I don't know," McCain said with a shrug. "All I know is his voting record, and that's what people usually judge their elected representatives by.'"
No, LIAR Amy Goodman, McCain didn't suggest Barack was a socialist. He was asked it by Helling (who brought the issue up) and McCain said he didn't know. "Most extreme voting record"? McCain's referring to the National Journal labeling "Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007" at the end of January based on their examination of his record.
February 8th on CounterSpin, Janine Jackson demolished the claim. However, that was the same February 8th that Goodman allowed Robert Kuttner to cite that same study as reason to support Barack: ""I think it was National Journal recently came out with a rating that showed that Obama has the most left-of-center record." So when Kuttner cites it, Goodman raises no objection. McCain cites it and she's ripping him apart with lies. Get your act together. What a disgrace. [Jackson's demolishing of the National Journal and Kuttner's idiocy on Democracy Now! were covered Feb. 10th at Third.] Repeating, McCain referred to the National Journal 'finding' that Goody accepted on her show from Kuttner. He was then asked if he thought Barack was a Socialist. He didn't raise that issue, he was asked. When asked, he stated he didn't know. This is exactly the garbage Ava and I were talking about Sunday: gossip -- uninformed gossip -- passed off as news intended to make you enraged. In headlines today, Goodman pimped the same gossip: "In campaign news, Senator John McCain has accused Barack Obama of having the most extreme record in the Senate and suggested Obama might be a socialist. McCain was asked about his views in an interview with the Kansas City Star." No, McCain didn't ACCUSE Barack of having the most exterme record, he was referring to the National Journal study -- one Goody allowed to be cited Feb. 8th on her show without objection or question. And McCain NEVER suggested Barack was a Socialist. Get your damn facts right, Pravda on the Hudson.
Ralph Nader is running for president and Team Nader notes:
Well, you did it.
We needed to raise $60,000 by midnight yesterday.
And you blew by that early in the weekend and almost hit $70,000 by last night.
Thank you.
Your generous support helped fund stage two of our ballot access drive – fifteen states by July 20.
As promised, we have now collected enough signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in 15 states. Click here to see our current ballot access map.
Last month, we laid out our ambitious ballot access timetable:
Ten states by July 6.
Fifteen states by July 20.
Thirty states by August 8.
Forty states by September 1.
Forty-five states by September 15.
Thanks to you, we have met the goals of stage one and stage two on time.
In Arkasas, our road trip team along with many volunteers collected more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.
In New Jersey, a dedicated group of volunteers helped us collect more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.
And in Massachusetts, we've collected more than 19,000 signatures--10,000 valid are required--and are now in the midst of turning in our petitions to hundreds of towns across the state to get them verified.
We are now entering our most difficult phase--the third phase, where we are facing deadlines in an additional 15 states by August 10.
If you have been thinking of dropping what you're doing this summer and hitting the road for Nader/Gonzalez, the next three weeks are when we need you most.
Please contact mark@votenader.org today to find out what states you can help in now.
And click here to see our day-by-day live interactive map of how our road teams are doing.
Tomorrow we will be launching a contest to build our e-mail list.
There will be a whole lot of prizes -- including the grand prize of dinner with Ralph Nader.
Keep an eye on tomorrow's e-mail for all the details.
And finally, when people ask you -- why is Ralph Nader running for President?
Here's one way to answer:
Just show them the new Democratic Party Convention bag.
And Glenn Greenwald's most recent article -- The AT&T Convention in Denver -- here.
The two parties have been taken over by the corporations.
And the people need a candidacy to counter that of the two corporate parties.
That candidacy is Nader/Gonzalez.
Once again, thank you for your generous donations this week.
You helped power us over the finish line for stage two.
Onward to stage three.
The Nader Team
PS: Last week, we offered the DVD An Unreasonable Man--autographed by Ralph Nader--to anyone who donated $100 or more by yesterday midnight. Well, 242 of you came through. That offer is now closed. We will be shipping those DVDs out later this week.
robin long
opb
workers world
w.e. (bill)belliveau
andrei hurancyk
harris macleed
joshua key
jeff zeleny
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