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Stonewalling 9/11

The White House continues to stonewall the presidential commission investigating 9/11, apparently withholding key documents that could reveal what the president and his advisors knew about the possibility of a terrorist attack and when they knew in the weeks and months running up to September 11, 2001. From the heroic efforts being made to keep the information under wraps we have to assume that there is material there that would be highly embarassing to the current occupant of the Oval Office should it see the light of day.

We are not talking about a dirt road land deal here, folks, or some purloined billing papers from a cracker law firm in Little Rock. This is about the security of the nation. Where is the outrage?

posted by Jerry Bowles 8:02 PM

Use it or lose it

Considering what John says below, and what the Bush administration is doing to impede states efforts to achieve verifiable voting the folks at www.verifiedvoting.org remind us that HR 2239 becomes even more important. The bill calls for all electronic voting equipment to provide a verifiable paper trail. Hate to see a big electromagnetic cloud heading toward earth wipe out the data on those voting machines come judgment day. Weather "forcasters" say a new one is disturbing communications right now, as I write. If that doesn't send your vote into the ether, maybe Shrubby's appointment of former GOP general counsel Michael Toner to the Federal Electoral Commision will.

posted by Groom 9:52 AM

Good News, Not Great News

Senate Adds $1B For Election Fixes
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2003

Intent on avoiding a repeat of the 2000 presidential election debacle, the Senate has added $1 billion to the president's request for funds to carry out improvements in the national voting system.

"In a time when we are committing billions of dollars in federal resources to build democracies around the world, we simply cannot afford to shortchange our own," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., before the Senate voted 63-31 Thursday to waive budget caps and increase funds for election reform in fiscal year 2004 from $500 million to $1.5 billion.

For the rest of this story, see CBS News .

The not so great news is that HAVA, the Help Americans Vote Act, remains grossly underfunded at the state level, and the necessary legislation has either been killed or is still bogged down in too many state legislatures.

posted by John 9:00 AM

Hear! Hear!

So, all right, already. It doesn't say anything that a lot of us don't already believe. But it sure bears repeating.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM JOHN & ELAINE MELLENCAMP

As the echo of the war drums fades away and the angry masses calling for blood slowly disperse, we, as a nation must now confront the truth. We face the unpleasant reality of an uncertain future, compromised safety, a failing economy, and the question of how a society of otherwise reasonable citizens was systematically lied to and manipulated into backing the political hijacking of Iraq.

Before a single bomb was ever dropped, some of us,formerly called the anti-American and unpatriotic, have questioned or opposed this war.… Now, each day, as the dust settles and the truth slowly surfaces, more and more people come to the inevitable conclusion of what a debacle this whole war was....

39,000 bombs later, no weapons of mass destruction uncovered, no dangerous dictators captured, no connection to Sept 11. What have we gained but relentless media coverage of a fallen statue and some stolen oil fields -- the spoils of this misadventure. Not to mention lucrative corporate payoffs and an enormous price tag of over 80 Billion dollars . . . some tax cut.

But what have we lost? We have lost the lives of over 300 Americans.… Approximately 2 U.S. troop deaths each day, 193 deaths since the war was declared over. In total, an estimated 20,000 people have died, thus far, in this conflict.

In addition to the lives given for this effort, our nation has suffered the loss of respect within the world community, particularly the United Nations.… We have managed to squander any goodwill we once had to now succeed in solidifying our image as the globe's leading bully.… Arrogant and thoughtless.

The word Democracy means literally by the people. This is the basis of our government and society.… It is what this country was founded upon and what makes us American.… It is not just our right but also our duty to speak out and voice our thoughts and opinions.… How, then,was it possible that, in the land of freedom, those who opposed the common opinion were called un-American?… Resentfully, we wonder.…

The song To Washington was met with criticism and was labeled an anti-war song.….That was not at all the case or intention; it was merely a report of the political climate, in the age-old tradition of the troubadour spreading the news through song and story. Professionally, we, the Mellencamps, have the opportunity to travel extensively, and we take full advantage of that by talking to, listening to, and experiencing the diversity our vast country has to offer.… The lyrics of To Washington are not just a personal opinion, but also the view from a very wide horizon.

Who is to say what is or isn't patriotic?… Do the flags that wave from every minivan really offer any support?… Where is the support for the thousands of service men and women who return to the states to see their benefits cut, their health problems ignored, their jobs gone and their families living in poverty?… How are they repaid for their efforts; for risking or losing their lives?… So far, dismally.

This nation was founded to enable freedom and diversity of opinion, and many lives have been lost to secure that liberty.Paradoxically, some still resist the open mindedness that is the very foundation of this country.

The Governor of California was removed from office based on finance troubles. And yet George W Bush has lied to us, failed to keep our own borders secure, entered a war under false pretense, endangered lives, and created financial chaos.… How is it that he hasn't been recalled?… Perhaps this time we could even have a real election . . . but that wouldn't fit the Bush administration's take what you want and fire people later policy.… Take an election; take an oil field; take advantage of your own people -- a game of political Three-Card Monte.

The fight for freedom in this country has been long, painful, and ongoing.… It is time to take back our country. Take it back from political agendas, corporate greed and overall manipulation.… It is time to take action here in our land, in our own schools, neighborhoods,farms, and businesses. We have been lied to and terrorized by our own government, and it is time to take action.… Now is the time to come together.

posted by John 12:20 AM

Friday, October 24, 2003

Stick the Pin in George Tenet

Poor George Tenet. The guy is starting to look like a pinata. Now, Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is railroading through a blisteringly critical report that will pin the intelligence failures of the Iraq war squarely on Tenet and the CIA. The point, of course, is to absolve the White House and the Pentagon from any blame for exaggerating the threats of WMDs or of ignoring evidence that pointed to more benign explanations for Saddam's behavior. The Washington Post quotes Roberts as saying "the executive was ill-served by the intelligence community." What a staggering piece of hubris. Dick Cheney was over at Langley poring his hot little ferret breath down the collars of analysts, Condi was out promising us mushroom clouds, Shrub and Tony Blair were claiming Saddam could hurtle WMD-filled missles onto his neighbors in 45 minutes or less, and Pat Roberts thinks the "executive was ill-served." Have you no decency, sir?

posted by Jerry Bowles 9:57 PM

Being and More Being

I bring glad tidings, friends. The vast majority of Americans continue to believe that there is life after death, that everyone has a soul, and that Heaven and Hell exist as actual physical places, according to the latest survey from Barna Research Group. Eight out of 10 Americans (81%) believe in an afterlife of some sort, another 9% said life after death may exist, but they were not certain. Just one out of every ten adults (10%) contend that there is no form of life after one dies on earth. Just one-half of 1% expect to go to Hell upon their death—which hardly seems a large enough number to accommodate even the Bush administration.

I love George Barna’s polls. Many pollsters have an agenda but Barna is on a mission from God. (Read my earlier post on Barna’s methodology.) An evangelical Christian and former minister, Barna believes there are certain core beliefs that distinguish “evangelicals,” the true believers who currently comprise only about 5% of the adult population from the “born-agains,” those misguided souls who believe that “confessing their sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their savior” is enough to earn them eternal life. About 41% of adult Americans consider themselves “born-again.”

Barna’s mission—through his research—is to show these half-assed Christian “born-agains,” and other insufficiently spiritualized, the error of their ways. He has no patience for the American cut-and-paste approach to religion: “Americans’ willingness to embrace beliefs that are logically contradictory and their preference for blending different faith views together create unorthodox religious viewpoints.” For instance, he points out that 10% of born agains believe that people are reincarnated after death, 29% claim it is possible to communicate with the dead, and 50% contend that a person can earn salvation based upon good works.

“Many committed born again Christians believe that people have multiple options for gaining entry to Heaven. They are saying, in essence, ‘Personally, I am trusting Jesus Christ as my means of gaining God’s permanent favor and a place in Heaven – but someone else could get to Heaven based upon living an exemplary life.’ Millions of Americans have redefined grace to mean that God is so eager to save people from Hell that He will change His nature and universal principles for their individual benefit. It is astounding how many people develop their faith according to their feelings or cultural assumptions rather than biblical teachings.”

If you’re interested in discovering the mishmash of superstition, fairy tales, outright lies, bad history, self-help books, Oprah, Dr. Phil, Shirley MacLaine, wishful thinking and the boogeyman that comprises the average American’s understanding of religion, Barna’s the place to look.

posted by Jerry Bowles 5:38 PM

Coalition of the chilling

First Turkey stiffs us on airbases to help establish the fabled “northern front” in Iraq. Then, after a major US public diplomacy offensive they finally agree to provide troops to help the Bush administration “win the peace” in Iraq. Now the government in Ankara is saying that Washington has asked them to “hold off” on sending their soldiers. No problemo…most of the troops can chill for a while, make money moonlighting to protect this year’s opium crop.

posted by Groom 2:03 PM

Rumsfeld Leaker Found

The New York Times editorial page has a pretty good idea who leaked Donald Rumsfeld's gloomy memo on Iraq and the war on terror. The leak that he is said by some to be "livid" about. "Mr. Rumsfeld is a canny player who knows exactly what he is doing when he drafts internal memos and makes them public," the Times writes this morning. The Times seems to think it may have something to do with getting more power or money for the Defense Department. I suspect that it is far more petty than that--it's a shot upside the head of the president's woefully underqualified Stepford national security adviser who embarassed him publicly and a warning shot across the bow of the S.S. Shrub.

posted by Jerry Bowles 9:54 AM

The Poll Police

The headlines giveth, the sampling details taketh away. Seemingly anyone can generate a poll these days, publish the findings, garner headlines and rev us up or down. Polls have run amok. They are everywhere, in politics, business, entertainment, sports, public policy and community life. But not all polls are created equally, and therein lies the mischief.

Take, for example, a recent posting on these pages about Hispanics in Arizona abandoning Senor Bush. On these Dean/Clark friendly pages we loved it, BUT the sample is wrong if we are to rely on the results. The sample in this case is adult Hispanics, not registered voters (although a subset of registered voters was included), and more importantly not registered voters who are "likely to vote," in other words--do what they tell the polltaker they are going to do. Why is this an important distinction? Let's take the recent California election as an example. Ar-huld's victory is based on only 17 percent of registered voters, which translated into 45 percent of those who actually voted. The opinions of "likely to vote" respondents are more reliable than "register to vote" respondents, which, in turn, are more reliable than the opinion of "adults" who have not even bothered to register. If we must poll, let's poll better, or like drug ad disclaimers, disclose all the shortcomings and limitations, not just the sampling errors of plus or minus x-number of percentage points.

The Arizona poll does one thing well: it samples over a period of time, in this case a week. This avoids the obvious limitations of instant voting (think CNN and live sports programming trying to be interactive) or over-night tracking polls that many corporations and POLLiticians use. Much beyond a week and too many intervening variables begin to crop up. Beware the instant poll.

The ideal lead time for a reliable political poll is about 6-8 weeks before the election: there is little change after that. For example, in California, the last-minute disclosures about Gropegate did not impact Ar-nuld voters because they had made up their mind "a month or so ago."

Another example of how properly drawing the samples impacts results are the latest Nielsen Media Research findings that have TV network executives quaking about the mysterious disappearance of 20 percent decline of male viewers 18-24--a key demographic group for the big advertising bucks. This sudden and dramatic drop has executives scrambling for explanations and researchers peddling for answers. The ramifications are big-time losses of revenue. Of all the quirky spins, Nielsen is even suggesting that some of the men who were suppose to be in this cohort, were called to active reserve duty in Iraq, suggesting that Iraq is becoming a convenient scapegoat for a lot of things gone wrong.

Hey, let's do a poll on that.

posted by Josh 8:46 AM

Parser-in-Chief

The strong reaction to Jerry's post yesterday on George Will's ludicrous argument that the Bushies didn't mislead the American public because “none of them actually ever said” that Iraq posed an "imminent" threat, is understandable.

But I hate to remind us that this is part of Clinton's legacy. In the "depends on what you mean by said" department, Slick Willie makes Bush look like a piker and Bush is getting away with it (so far) because Clinton did. Where do you think Rove got the strategy from, along with all the other plays he stole right out from under Gore's big head? Note how Ar-huld benefited from the Clinton parsing!

I say, let the boys continue to deny it, because part of the denial is retelling the lie. Reminds me of a reportedly true story about LBJ. In one of his heated campaigns for the senate he called in his press aide to issue a release saying that "my wooorthy opponent has carnal knowledge of animals." The press aide immediately says, "Senator, you can't call your opponent a pig-fucker."

"Aaaaah," Lyndon says, "I just want to hear him stand up and deny it."

posted by Josh 8:34 AM

Thursday, October 23, 2003

Getting Rummy

So let me see if I've got this straight. Someone in the White House keeps feeding Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief of the New York Daily News tidbits about the president being steamed at Rumsfeld for a variety of offenses--most recently, his we're-really-not-winning-the-war-on-terror memo. This is the same Thomas M. DeFrank who co-authored The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace 1989-1992 with former Secretary of State James Addison Baker a few years back. Could there be a little Bush One/Bush Two payback scenario going on here?

We get a few visitors from bakerbotts.com Maybe, someone can enlighten us.

posted by Jerry Bowles 5:57 PM

Yo, Wes, if you wanna win, talk to us...

It's bad enough that his campaign handlers have circled the wagons, creating a cordon sanitaire between their candidate and the media. What's worse is that Wes Clark is running as a candidate from the state of Arkansas. Growing up there when it was a third world country- they were putting electrodes on the testicles of prisoners at the Tucker Prison Farm- and ringing them up with "long distance calls" back when the general was in junior high school. Slick Willie was imprinted by this feudal political environment too. Maybe fear of the "long distance call" was one reason the Slickster was such a good boy and didn't turn into a car jacking thug like congressman Darrel Issa. Senator Bill Fulbright created scholarships and opposed the Vietnam war and liberals glommed on to him like white on rice. Never mind that he put up with the racist machinations of governor Orval Faubus. Finally, "rancher" Winthrop Rockefeller got involved, became governor, took over the state, and transformed it. Thomas Merton, a prison reformer was brought in to clean up the penal colony, did away with the "Tucker telephone". Suddenly Arkansas started to experience some of the "sun belt" economic miracle. The Stevens & Company investment crew. Tyson Chicken. Wal-Mart. The Rose Law Firm. To my mind, the more I hear Clark waffle and do his "human factor" number while strategically pirouetting around the issues, the more he sounds like Arkansas homie Bill Clinton. Having Clinton retainer Eli Segal as the campaign chief operating officer and Mark Fabbiani as top strategist is just too much deja vu. And you don't need to be Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura to realize that Wes (like Willie ) has "daddy abandonment" issues running in the background, which can help drive political behaviors like waffling and hanging people out to dry and maye a little denial on issues like those twenty journalists and technicians who got blown away in the bombing of Serbian state television headquarters on orders from General Clark. If I was Wes Clark, I'd leave the Razaorback state to closet racists like Frank Broyles and carpetbag up to Illinois. If my daddy wanted to be a Prohibition-era alderman in Chicago's Capone-controlled 4th ward back in 1927 (south of Clark St. was Capone territory, north of Clark was Bugs Moran), that's what I'd do. Hang with the Daleys and ex-Clinton bagman and current US congressman Rahm Emanuel. Maybe outflank Gephart on the labor front. It would make me feel more like a politician and less like an entitlement presidential candidate.

posted by Groom 12:58 PM

Price-Gouging for Fun and Profit

Halliburton today responded to charges by Rep. Henry Waxman, (D-CA), and Rep. John Dingell, (D-MI). that vice president Dick Cheney’s old firm has been price-gouging by charging American taxpayers 65 percent to 88 percent more than Iraq's own State Oil Marketing Organization, called SOMO, to truck in much-needed gasoline, oil for cooking and other petroleum products to the oil-rich nation.

Not so, Halliburton claims:

KBR has been directed to acquire, transport and distribute fuel through a hostile environment and deliver it on a reliable and timely basis to various locations within Iraq. KBR was tasked with importing fuel in the region untiltransition to "in country" companies such as Iraq's state-owned oil company, State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), is feasible and reliable.

It has been reported that SOMO can provide these services for a lower cost. A key element of this contract is not just cost, but a reliable source. KBR is bound by guidelines in its contract to negotiate fuel prices on a short term basis only, from suppliers acceptable to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Contractually, KBR has been prevented from procuring fuel contracts for longer than a 30-day period. In addition, all services and their associated costs to execute the mission are subject to the same 30-day procurement limit including trucks, trailers, depots and labor. Simple economics dictate that companies who are not bound by these guidelines, and are able to negotiate price on a long-term contract basis, can negotiate lower prices.

Halliburton then goes on the attack:

Based on the entire picture, to allege that KBR is overcharging for this needed service, insults the KBR employees who are performing this dangerous mission to help bring fuel to the people of Iraq. The drivers transporting the fuel face the real risk of being killed or wounded, and vehicles and contents being destroyed. The contract allows for billing solely for costs incurred plus a two percent fee. The company's two percent fee is less than the markup for products at a local gas station or supermarket.

Waxman and Dingel are not persuaded: "SOMO buys its gasoline from the same countries as Halliburton, transports its gasoline into Iraq by truck just like Halliburton and delivers its gasoline to the same central depots as Halliburton," the lawmakers wrote.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:44 PM

You Don’t Need a Weatherman

George Will mounts a disingenuous defense of Shrub, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell this morning with the ludicrous argument that they did not mislead the American public on Iraq because “none of them actually ever said” that Iraq posed an "imminent" WMD threat to the United States.

As I recall, neither Hitler nor any of his murderous henchmen ever actually said publicly “kill the Jews” either.

posted by Jerry Bowles 11:01 AM

Elmo Gives Peace a Chance

Today's program is brought to you by the letter "J," as in "jihad." Well, maybe not, but in an effort to bring messages of hope, respect and understanding to the Middle East's children, specially written episodes of Sesame Street are about to take on a trouble spot where so many others have failed. With the financial support of the European Union, the Ford Foundation and a host of other contributors, the Sesame Workshop -- the educational organization behind "Sesame Street" -- is working with Palestinian, Israeli, and Jordanian producers to make 78 episodes of "Sesame Stories" for children aged four to seven.

Deutsche Welle reports that "Writers from the Sesame Workshop have collaborated closely with child psychologists and educational advisors in making the programs, which will be broadcast by Israel's HOP! TV, Jordanian JRTV, and the Palestinian Ma'an Network. The shows have been showing in Israel since September, and will begin in the Palestinian territories and Jordan on October 26."

What a terrific idea. Let's get some re-runs of Mr. Rogers going too.

posted by Jerry Bowles 8:35 AM

Is OPEC on borrowed time?

Only 9 percent of the world’s oil is in the hands of countries ranked free by Freedom House

Widespread corruption, the growing US military presence in West Africa and Southern Asia and political instability caused by inequitable income distribution could all help facilitate the implosion of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the world’s most successful anti-free trade cartel.

OPEC produces only 40% of the world’s oil but they hold 80% of the planet’s proven reserves, 85% of which are located in the Middle East. While oil is fungible, purchasing it from OPEC nations helps finance the ongoing jihad that most of us, and our elected leaders, prefer to deny.

According to a study by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, twenty two percent of the world’s oil is in the hands of OPEC nations who are state sponsors of terrorism and operating under international sanctions. Only 9% of the world’s oil is in the hands of countries ranked free by Freedom House.

Nigeria’s petro class, paying lip service to Sharia courts and madras schools, prefer to drive Bentleys and live on the shores of Lake Geneva than to be like Dick Cheney or the made-in-the-USA Halliburton crew who are helping keep the oil flowing.

As James Brown would say, democracy makes OPEC break out in a cold sweat.

posted by Groom 6:43 AM

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Students Fight E-Vote Firm
By Kim Zetter

A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems.

The students are protesting efforts by Diebold to prevent them and other website owners from linking to some 15,000 internal company memos that reveal the company was aware of security flaws in its e-voting software for years but sold the faulty systems to states anyway. The memos were leaked to voting activists and journalists by a hacker who broke into an insecure Diebold FTP server in March.

Diebold has been sending out cease-and-desist letters to force websites and ISPs to take down the memos, which the company says were stolen from its server in violation of copyright law. It has been using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, to force ISPs to take down sites hosting the memos or sites containing links to the memos.

Diebold did not respond to Wired News' requests for comment.

For the rest of this story go to Wired.com

posted by John 11:22 PM

We don't speak the language

Pity the grunts in the streets of Baghdad, who can't understand a word of what the Iraqis they are working with say. But don't be surprised. We've been here before.

On the front page of this morning's International Herald Tribune is a story by John Tierney headlined "Cultural gaffes of GI's lead to isolation in Iraq." Scanning through it I find myself reading the following words.

When Americans do venture out of their compounds, they find that Iraqis are remarkably hospitable. "Welcome" is probably the most widely used English word here. Even if his kitchen has just been destroyed by a car bomb, an Iraqi host will apologize to a visitor for not offering the ritual cup of tea.

But Americans often do not know how to reciprocate politely. They routinely offend Iraqis by plunging bluntly into business instead of paying respects to the host and asking questions about his well-being and that of his family.

I feel a sense of deja vu as I think how often I heard old hands talk about American businessmen screwing up their first contacts with the Japanese. That was back in 1980, just after we came to Japan.

My mind drifts back to a class at Cornell, where the late Lauriston Sharp, anthropologist and expert on mainland Southeast Asia remarked that when the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed, there were only three American scholars who knew Vietnamese...and two of them were archeologists.

When will we ever learn...Oh, when will we ever learn...

posted by John 9:02 PM

Two Kinds of Bandits

In a Bangkok Post op-ed piece reprinted in this morning's Asahi Shimbun, Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has this to say.

Perhaps it is prudent to recall economist Mancur Olson's warning about banditry in liberalized economies. He mentions two kinds of bandits: the roving kind who will expropriate all movable properties and depart, and the stationary kind who have "an encompassing interest" or incentive to create an environment conducive to the ultimate enrichment of themselves.

One should, therefore, be wary lest the mantra or privatization and deregulation turns out to be mere noise to cover up the sale of state enterprises to cronies in order to form new monopolies, which will charge exporbitant rates and levies--to mention only the most obvious manifestations of oppression. These consequences would be the antithesis of what economic cooperation ought to aim for, which is efficiency and all its benefits, including wider choices and lower prices.

Ibrahim's topic is market liberalization in Asia. But I can't help thinking, "Enron...Andersen...Worldcom...Halliburton..." And I can't help recalling my brother-in-law, an engineer in his forties, who helped to set up a plant in Mexico and has now been restructured. Those bandits who "expropriate all movable properties and depart" seem to be all too common these days.

posted by John 8:50 PM

Shrubby stonewalling 9-11 report isn't playing in Cincinnati

As Jerry points out below, students are suspicious that our minority-elected leader is hiding something, maybe a few things. They’re right, according to the bellweather conservative Cincinnati Post. You know there's trouble in River City when they editorialize that the White House is stonewalling the Kean Commission investigation into the whole 9/11 mess. You may remember this is the commission that the White House did not want to appoint, then named Henry “call me Heinz” Kissinger to do the right thing. Henry decided to exit stage right after his connections with the Saudis and others got outed. Then the hot potato was dropped on former Republican New Jersey governor Tom Kean.

In question is the release to the commission of the critical 29 minutes of information controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) between the time the FAA knew the American Airlines flight that eventually hit the Pentagon had been diverted and notification of the North American air defense command.

Because it could provide ammunition to next year’s opponent(s) the White House (and all its Saudi friends) doesn’t want that information released to the commission or to the families of the 9/11 victims. Recently the White House counsel’s office indicated that all organizations should be more cooperative. But the deadline for the Kean Commission report is next May 27th and even the Cincinnati Post wonders if the Bush administration is trying to run down the clock. It’s up to Congress to extend the deadline. This one could get real ugly, real fast. Considering how the White House has politicized and stonewalled the "leakgate" investigation, it should.

posted by Groom 3:33 PM

Where Is Mario Savio When You Need Him?

Sixty-one percent of college students approve of the President's job performance, about ten points higher than the general public, according to a poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

However, there is some good news: 87 percent (including 70 percent of Republicans) say "members of the Bush Administration" have been "hiding some things" or "mostly not telling the truth" about the situation in Iraq. And one-third report that their trust in the President has gone down over the last year, about double the number who say their trust in the President increased. A majority of college students believes the U.S. should either begin withdrawing troops (48 percent) or completely withdraw (8 percent) now.

posted by Jerry Bowles 2:56 PM

Now He Tells Us

"It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog." Internal memo, Donald Rumsfeld, October 16, 2003

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:08 AM

Get Smart

Do you think I could get fired by ESPN if I said I thought Ed Smart was a money-grubbing sleazebag for turning his daughter's kidnapping and rape into a new line of the family business? Would I be branded an anti-mormite if I said I find the whole Mormon enterprise a little weird with its emphasis on huge families and multiple wives (I know, I know; they don't do that anymore) and teenage daughters traded like breeding stock between clans. Not to mention the holy underwear.

What if I added that I think our whole fascination with the Elizabeth Smart episode reflects a prurience that is unbecoming to a "Christian" nation? We want to know what happened after the teenage virgin was carried off by the beast. You can bet your ass we're not going to find out the dirty bits from Ed Smart's carefully orchestrated media blitz. I might add that dozens of chubby little black girls go missing everyday and nobody much cares.

We are a nation of hypocrites and Ed Smart is our patron saint. It's little wonder the poor kid didn't seem that anxious to be found.

By the way, I don't actually do any work for ESPN but I could use the attention. Hey, Eisner. Fat boy. Over here.

posted by Jerry Bowles 8:46 AM

Sea Farts Sink Ships?

Methane bubbles from the sea floor could, in theory, sink ships and may explain the odd disappearances of some vessels, Australian researchers reported Tuesday.

The huge bubbles can erupt from undersea deposits of solid methane, known as gas hydrates. An odorless gas found in swamps and mines, methane becomes solid under the enormous pressures found on deep sea floors.

The ice-like methane deposits can break off and become gaseous as they rise, creating bubbles at the surface.

David May and Joseph Monaghan of Monash University in Australia said they had demonstrated how a giant bubble from one of these deposits could swamp a ship.

See full story at Wired.com.

posted by John 8:37 AM

Arizona Hispanics say hasta la vista to Bush

On the heels of the poll Jerry discussed yesterday, the Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll has released a survey indicating that, among Hispanic voters in Arizona, support for president George W. Bush has dropped 25% since he landed on the aircraft carrier and proclaimed an end of hostilities in Iraq. His overall support, at 60% in the spring, now stands at 46%. Only 30 percent of the Hispanic voters in Arizona over age 45 think Bush is doing a good job. Among Hispanic voters between the ages of 35 to 45 just half (50 percent) think Bush is doing his job well. The poll, taken across Arizona from Sept. 23-25 was published in the October 21 edition of the Tucson Citizen and claims a margin of error of plus or minus 6.5 percentage points.

posted by Groom 6:24 AM

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

California dreamin’

With Shrubby set to veto a move by Congress to make a portion of his $87 billion Iraq pork bill a loan, the Los Angeles Times is weighing in on the side of the prez. The logic, here, they say is that “loans would set a precedent and give ammunition to opponents of the occupation who claim the US aims only to profit from Iraq’s oil, making it more difficult to get other countries to pitch in.”

One wonders about a far more nefarious precedent, namely, when a vehicle of public trust like the Los Angeles Times watches idly as the current president and his inner circle lie to the American people to propagandize the conditions for the “occupation” in the first place.

posted by Groom 6:21 PM

Why Are We in Iraq?

There is a scene in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood--Men in Tights where Richard Lewis, as the neurotic (naturally) king, says to the Sheriff of Nottingham: "I had a good night's sleep, a good BM. I don't want to hear any bad news." Pretty much sums up the Bush administration's approach to evaluating intelligence on Iraq--except the Bushies didn't want to hear any good news. Seymour Hersh has the gory details in this week's New Yorker.

In an online interview about the article, Hersh says:

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in particular, came to the office openly suspicious of the intelligence community and the bureaucracy. They thought they were too soft on Iraq, not tough enough with Saddam, not able to make the decisive choices. So what you have is a bunch of people who weren’t lying; they simply had fixed the system so it couldn’t give them information they didn’t want to hear.

posted by Jerry Bowles 4:58 PM

Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels

Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets.

To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases. Dana Milbank, Washington Post, October 21, 2003

It's more "fair and balanced" this way.

posted by Jerry Bowles 3:32 PM