the-peoples-patriot, a political Blog: 08/08/2004

Friday, August 13, 2004

CHENEY CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) for suggesting that America
needs to fight "a more effective, more thoughtful,
more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war
on terror."[1] Cheney said, "America has been in
too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of
them was won by being sensitive."[2] Cheney
neglected to mention that President Bush and other top
administration officials - including Cheney himself -
have publicly called for "sensitive" use of
American military power. Here is a selection:

On 3/4/01, at the christening of the U.S.S. Ronald
Reagan, President Bush said, "because America is
powerful, we must be sensitive about expressing our
power and influence."[3]

On 1/7/03, Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the
president's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the
administration asks "our troops to go out there and
be, on the one hand, very sensitive to cultural
issues, on the other hand, be ready to respond in
self-defense to a very ticklish situation."[4]

On 4/13/03, Cheney said, "We recognize that the
presence of U.S. forces can in some cases present a
burden on the local community. We're not insensitive
to that. We work almost on a continual basis with
the local officials to remove points of friction and
reduce the extent to which problems arise in terms
of those relationships."[5]

Sources:

1. "Cheney blasts Kerry for 'sensitive' remark,"
Chicago Sun-Times, 08/13/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50430.
2. Ibid.
3. "Remarks by the President at Christening
Ceremony for the USS Ronald Reagan," The White House,
03/04/01,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50431.
4. "DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen.
Myers," U.S. Department of Defense, 01/07/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50432.
5. "Remarks by the Vice President at the Washington
Post-Yomiuri Shimbun Symposium," The White House,
04/13/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50433.

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Nader News

This is a very big day for Nader/Camejo 2004!

A federal court decision found the Federal Election Commission acted contrary to the Federal Elections Act by ignoring evidence that the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a partisan political organization. This is the first official acknowledgement that the CPD is maintained by a biased and exclusionary partisan group acting in a partisan fashion and it is a step in the direction of getting Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo in the presidential debates.

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Thursday, August 12, 2004

BUSH IGNORES HIS OWN PROMISES ON WETLANDS

Last week, President Bush said he is working to
"restore, improve and protect at least 3 million
wetland acres over the next five years."[1] But
according to a new report released today, the Bush
administration has actually done the reverse by using a key
court ruling to encourage a severe degradation of
wetlands throughout the country.

As the Washington Post reports, the Bush
administration "has allowed developers to drain thousands of
acres of wetlands under a policy adopted last
year." The study, which documents the administration
policy, was conducted by four nonpartisan
environmental watchdog groups and based on documents acquired
through the Freedom of Information Act. It found
that the Bush administration's interpretation of a
2001 Supreme Court decision has ensured that
developers are allowed to run roughshod over previous
efforts to protect fragile wetlands.[2]

You can read the full report online at
www.nrdc.org.

Sources:
1. "Supporting America's Farmers and Conserving
America's Land," The White House, 08/04/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50132.
2. "Report Says U.S. Is Draining Wetlands," The
Washington Post, 08/12/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=50133.

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New Book by Noted Journalist Skewers Bush on Environment

More than 30 years ago, prize-winning journalist Ed Flattau began writing the country's first nationally syndicated column on the environment, and for the past four years he has occupied a ringside seat at George W. Bush's assault against nature.

Now Flattau has written a new book, Peering Through The Bushes (Xlibris Publishing), that dissects the administration's assault on the environment and exposes the many fallacies on which the President bases environmental policy.

Flattau understood the nature of the Administration early on. Quoting from a diary he kept in the first months of the Bush presidency, he wrote in July 2001, "In the six months that Bush has been in office, he has managed to make us one of the most despised nations in the world." Two months earlier, he wrote "One wonders if he is capable of ever conceding he is wrong."

Flattau reviews Bush's deplorable record on the environment as governor of Texas, when that state was 49th in spending to acquire new parklands. In 1999 Houston became the city with the nation's worst air quality, passing Los Angeles. In his entire two terms as governor, Bush never once proposed clean air legislation.

As governor, Mr. Bush allowed oil, gas, and chemical companies to avoid mandatory emission reductions, calling instead for voluntary reductions. Surprise: fewer than 10 percent of those companies heeded his call. Describing the President's practice of favoring industry over the environment at every juncture, Flattau writes that the President talks like a populist but acts like a plutocrat.

Under the banners of "balance" and "sound science," Flattau documents how the President and his cohorts have worked to undo almost every aspect of the nation's environmental progress of the past 40 years.

Wherever possible, the administration cloaks its attack on the environment in soothing words like "healthy forests initiative" and "clear skies initiative," while delivering the opposite. Flattau describes how the administration scorns UN and other international treaties designed to protect the environment, leaving many countries to conclude that the U.S. has virtually become a rogue nation.

Flattau also shows how the President has stacked scientific advisory boards with scientists whose views often lie well outside the mainstream, and how he has chosen top-level advisors who have spent their professional careers working to roll back environmental progress.

A case in point is Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who couches her ultraconservative ideological approach in such low-key ways that she has escaped close public scrutiny.

Even though Secretary Norton is charged with protecting America's public lands, she has led the administration's battle to open the biologically rich coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- and other irreplaceable sites -- to oil drilling. Flattau recounts how Norton suppressed a U.S, Geological Survey report concluding that oil development in the Refuge would seriously harm wildlife populations.

Peering Through The Bushes ends with Flattau's conclusion that George W. Bush is the worst environmental president in the nation's history, "surpassing the previous titleholder, Ronald Reagan."

Still, Flattau finds hope in a growing grassroots upsurge of opposition to the President's environmental policies-- opposition even from Mr. Bush's core constituencies, such as ranchers and sportsmen in the Rocky Mountain region, who prize their wildlife, clean rivers, and glorious scenery.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Bumper sticker of the year:

"If you can read this, thank a teacher and, since it's in English, thank a Serviceman!"

Why do I have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments
cannot be displayed in a federal building?

How come we choose from just two people to run for
president and 50 for Miss America?

Why is it that our children can't read a Bible in school, but they can
in prison?

Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the
difference.

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BUSH IGNORES HIS OWN LETTER FROM 1992 ON SMEAR ADS

With one of his top donors airing a dishonest and
discredited attack ad against Sen. John Kerry's
military record, President George W. Bush is refusing
to denounce the tactics. Not only is Bush ignoring
calls from his own top Republicans to intervene, he
is directly contradicting his own demands during
the 1992 presidential campaign.

Specifically, according to the July 14, 1992
Washington Post, George W. Bush authored a letter to more
than 85,000 Republican donors on behalf of his
father's presidential campaign urging them to stop
funding sleazy and dishonest attacks on Bill
Clinton.[1] Now, however, Bush is remaining silent as his top
Texas fundraiser Robert Perry[2] bankrolls ads
against Kerry, which independent academic institutions
have discredited.[3] Even as Sen. John McCain (R)
demands the White House issue a statement denouncing
the tactics,[4] Bush refuses. Even as one of the
veterans' in the ads apologizes for his attacks,[5]
the President who talks so much about restoring
"civility" has said nothing.[6]

Sources:

1. "Bush Camp Files Complaint Against Horton Ad
Maker" The Washington Post, p. A9, 07/14/92.
2. "Top Texas Donor's Influence Far More Visible
Than He Is," Los Angeles Times, 08/08/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49993.
3. "Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War
Record ," FactCheck.Org, 08/06/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49994.
4. "McCain: Denounce smear," New York Daily News,
08/06/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49995.
5. "Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry," The
Boston Globe, 08/06/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49996.
6. "President George W. Bush's Inaugural Address ,"
The White House, 01/20/01,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49997.

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Administration to Sacrifice Western Wilderness to Oil and Gas

In a familiar refrain favoring development over conservation, the Bush Administration is ramping up to sacrifice some of America's finest Western wilderness to oil and gas development.

On July 15 the Bureau of Land Management proposed leasing the South Shale Ridge near DeBeque, Colorado, for oil and gas drilling. South Shale Ridge, a proposed wilderness area, provides critical habitat for Colorado wildlife, including more than a dozen endangered, threatened, or sensitive species.

According to the Colorado Environmental Coalition, South Shale Ridge contains "miles of washes, arroyos, and canyons that hide a seemingly endless array of hoodoos, geologic curiosities, and ancient stands of junipers and pinion pines." [1] BLM's decision was made without meaningful public involvement, despite years of commitments that public input would be considered before leasing.

Also slated by BLM for oil and gas development is the pristine Jack Morrow Hills area of southwest Wyoming. Under BLM's proposal, this 622,000-acre area, which contains seven wilderness study areas, the largest migratory game herd in the lower 48 states (50,000 pronghorn antelope) [2], Mormon pioneer trails, and numerous American Indian holy sites [3], would be laced with 205 oil and gas wells and 50 exploratory coalbed methane wells. And, under some studies cited by BLM, up to 1,077 natural gas wells, and 543 coalbed methane wells may be drilled in the area.

But even if all of the technically recoverable oil and gas in the Jack Morrow Hills were extracted, it would only provide the U.S. with 9 weeks of natural gas and 39 minutes of oil. [4]

###

TAKE ACTION
Public comments on South Shale Ridge must be received by BLM no later than August 12. Send comments through the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
Public comments on the proposal to develop the Jack Morrow Hills area are due by August 16. Send comments to BLM Director Bob Bennett and Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

###

SOURCES:
[1] Colorado Environmental Coalition.
[2] The Wilderness Society web site.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Biodiversity Conservation Alliance web site.

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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

The best way to start a day for a positive outlook

How to start each day with a positive outlook
1. Open a new file in your PC.
2. Name it "George W. Bush."
3. Send it to the trash(empty).
4. Empty the trash.
5. Your computer will ask you, "Do you really want to get rid of George W. Bush?"
6. Answer calmly, "yes," and press the mouse button firmly.
7. Feel better.....

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BUSH LEAK ALLOWED TERRORISTS TO ESCAPE

President Bush has promised his administration is
"doing everything we can" to fight the War on
Terror.[1] He has also said, "I've constantly expressed
my displeasure with leaks"[2] and said, "whether
they happened in the White House or happened in the
administration or happened on Capitol Hill [leaks]
can be very damaging."[3] But according to a new
report, the White House's leak of secret information
for its own political gain has undermined the War on
Terror because it allowed key al Qaeda suspects to
escape.

According to government and security officials, the
disclosure by the White House "of the arrest of an
al Qaeda computer expert allowed several wanted
suspects from Osama bin Laden's terror network to
escape." Specifically, the White House told the media
it had apprehended Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a
25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer who the
administration said was a terrorist.[4] But according to
MSNBC, Khan was a key intelligence source for U.S.
and Pakistani authorities and "had been actively
cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch
al-Qaida operatives."[5] In other words, the White
House blew the cover of a U.S. intelligence mole in
order to publicly justify raising the terror alert
level one week after the Democratic National
Convention. In the process, it allowed terrorists who
threaten America to evade capture.

If there was any doubt about who leaked Khan's name
and compromised U.S. national security, those were
put to rest this weekend. On CNN's "Late Edition
with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday, National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice admitted it was the Bush
administration that leaked Khan's name.[6]

Sources:
1. "President's Remarks at Marquette, Michigan
Rally," The White House, 07/13/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49795.
2. "President Discusses National, Economic Security
in Cabinet Meeting," The White House, 10/7/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49796.
3. "President Holds Press Conference," The White
House, 10/28/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49797.
4. "Leak allowed al-Qaeda suspects to escape," USA
Today, 8/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49798.
5. "Pakistan: U.S. Blew Undercover Operation,"
Truthout, 8/6/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49799.
6. "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," CNN, 08/08/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49800.

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Monday, August 09, 2004

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last
week, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had
published in a newspaper an
offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American,
any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to
let everyone know what
an American is, so they would know when they found
one. (Good on ya,
mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian,
Irish, German, Spanish,
Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be
Canadian, Mexican,
African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Australian, Iranian, Asian, or
Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also
be a Cherokee, Osage,
Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the
many other tribes known as
native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish,
or Buddhist, or Muslim.
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in
Afghanistan. The only
difference is that in America they are free to
worship as each of them
chooses. An American is also free to believe in no
religion. For that he
will answer only to God, not to the government, or
to armed thugs claiming
to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in
the history of the
world. The root of that prosperity can be found in
the Declaration of
Independence, which recognizes the God given right
of each person the
pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped
out just about every
other nation in the world in their time of need.
When Afghanistan was
overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans
came with arms and
supplies to enable the people to win back their
country.!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had
given more than any other
nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products,
the best books, the best
music, the best food, the best athletes. But they
also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of
Liberty, welcomes your tired
and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming
shores, the homeless,
tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who
built America. Some of them
were working in the Twin Towers the morning of
September 11, 2001 earning a
better life for their families. I've been told that
the World Trade Center
victims were from at least 30 other countries,
cultures, and first
languages, including those that aided and abetted
the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.
Hitler did. So did
General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and
every bloodthirsty tyrant in
the history of the world. But, in doing so you
would just be killing
yourself. Because Americans are not a particular
people from a particular
place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit
of freedom. Everyone who
holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Author unknown

Pass this around the World.

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Author Seeks to Reframe Environmentalism in Post-9/11

In the newly published The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror (Island Press), David Orr aims to reframe the U.S. environmental movement in the post-9/11 landscape. He is concise, lucid, and angry about the Bush administration's refusal to act on "the connections between real security, prosperity, climate stability, environmental protection, and fairness." Orr advocates for a redefinition of "living well" to include living within the world's natural means.

Environmentalists and other progressives, many forced into a reactive, 'emergency' mode by the Bush administration, may find Orr's ideas useful for putting their work into a larger, more hopeful context.

Orr offers inspiration for thinking the big thoughts that sustain political and social change. While some of these are certain to provoke controversy, they enrich the public conversation about where to take the movement.

Orr takes special aim at the scientific dishonesty of Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist -- a favorite read of Vice President Dick Cheney and The Economist magazine. He argues that the libertarian, "go it alone" strains in American culture have outlived their usefulness in a world where pollutants flow across national boundaries.

Orr describes the "Great Work" of our time: the transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy resources; from extractive to regenerative economies; from social and economic inequity to fairness for all peoples; from violence to nonviolence. He considers this the true patriotism. Many activists will likely be eager to reclaim that much-abused term for their own.

Progressives will find grist for debate in The Last Refuge. Orr's enthusiasm for a "global spiritual revolution" may make secular readers uneasy. And he eschews deep examination of the transformative potential of new communication and green technologies.

Most likely to prompt discussion will be Orr's overall anti-urban bias, best expressed in his celebration of writer Wendell Berry's agrarian ideals. Such a bias is no longer considered realistic or useful by many greens. Megacity living is not for everyone, but as his fellow environmental philosopher, New York University professor Andrew Light recently noted, "residents of New York consume less energy per capita than any other Americans and so make less of a contribution to some of our most critical problems, such as the production of greenhouse gases... [U]rban density is a key to sustainability." [1]

Orr's ultimate frustration is that we—the collective 'we'-- can and should do better: at sustainability, economic equity, basic fairness and respect for all life. Both comforting and controversial, The Last Refuge may be a touchstone for articulating a larger vision.

###

SOURCES:
[1] "Trip the Light Fantastic: Andrew Light, an enviro-academic, answers Grist's questions," Grist Magazine, Jul. 26, 2004.

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Author Seeks to Reframe Environmentalism in Post-9/11

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ADMINISTRATION EXPOSES SECRET SOURCE

The Department of Justice has strenuously argued
that it could not release the names of detainees -
even those who had not been charged or accused of
terrorism - because doing so would harm national
security. In a sworn affidavit, James Reynolds, then a
top Justice Department official, argued that when
people detained as part of a terrorist investigation
are publicly identified, "terrorist organizations
with whom they have a connection may refuse to deal
further with them. This could eliminate valuable
sources of information for the investigation. It
would similarly impair the government's ability to
infiltrate terrorist organizations engaged in ongoing
criminal activities."[1] Apparently, this does not
apply if the disclosure suits the administration's
political agenda.

Last week, the administration was desperate to
justify their decision to raise the threat level to
orange in three states based on activity that occurred
over three years ago. National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice admitted yesterday that the
administration - during a background briefing to reporters -
identified Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan as the source
of the information that prompted the terror
alert.[2] According to Reuters, Khan "had been actively
cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch
al-Qaida operatives when his name appeared in U.S.
newspapers"[3] His identification by the
administration likely "cost the United States a valuable
source."[4]

Sources:

1. "James Reynolds Affidavit," Chief, Terrorism and
Violent Crime Section, Criminal Division, DOJ,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49605.
2. "CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer," CNN,
08/08/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49606.
3. "Pakistan: U.S. Blew Undercover Operation,"
MSNBC, 08/06/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49607.
4. "U.S. Says Man Had Ties to Plot to Disrupt
Vote," New York Times, 8/8/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=49608.

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the-peoples-patriot, a political Blog

Friday, August 13, 2004

CHENEY CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK

Nader News

Thursday, August 12, 2004

BUSH IGNORES HIS OWN PROMISES ON WETLANDS

New Book by Noted Journalist Skewers Bush on Environment

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Bumper sticker of the year:

BUSH IGNORES HIS OWN LETTER FROM 1992 ON SMEAR ADS

Administration to Sacrifice Western Wilderness to Oil and Gas

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

The best way to start a day for a positive outlook

BUSH LEAK ALLOWED TERRORISTS TO ESCAPE

Monday, August 09, 2004

To Kill an American

Author Seeks to Reframe Environmentalism in Post-9/11

Author Seeks to Reframe Environmentalism in Post-9/11

ADMINISTRATION EXPOSES SECRET SOURCE

Agree or not, talking it over is better...

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