Category: Political

On Sunday the Seattle Times published a photograph of flag-draped coffins leaving Kuwait International Airport. Today the paper reports that the photographer, Tami Silicio, has been fired by her employer, a military contractor resupplying troops in Iraq. Taking such photographs, it turns out, violates Pentagon policy. In fact, according to government policy, the news media are forbidden to show any image of dead American soldiers. The Pentagon guidelines warns, “The prohibition includes…the movement of remains at any point” (quoted in USA Today).

Despite the chilling aura of censorship surrounding this case, I was delighted to find that the war-profitering contractor, Maytag Aircraft, is in no way related to Maytag Corporation, makers of my washer and dryer (and probably yours) and home of the affable Maytag Repairman.

Have I been too hard on the current administration? Is our White House more representative, more responsive, more attune to everyday Americans’ hopes and concerns than I give it credit for?

I was pleased to find today that you can email the White House and they’ll write back to you. They’ll even post the most critically important email questions and answers on the White House Interactive Home Page.

Let’s take a look at what kinds of hard-hitting, penetrating questions Americans ask of their president, and how he responds.

There’s Daphne from Fresh Meadows, New York, who wonders if it’s true that the first President Bush hated broccoli "so much he took it off the White House menu?"

Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m not sure Scott McClellan, the White House Press Secretary, can handle it. Oh, but wait, he doesn’t have to! When you are the product of a political dynasty founded on oil money and warmongering, you can always call up backup forces, and here, the original Bush answers the question. Yes, a cameo appearance by President H.W. Bush! Here’s what he answers to Daphne: "I never asked that it be removed from White House menus. I just vowed that I would never eat it again, and I have courageously stuck to that promise." Awesome!! Father, like son, sticks to his promises! That’s right, Mr. President, don’t back down now from that terrible broccoli threat. The green menace? Bring it on!!

Hmmm, what’s else have prodding Americans been asking the White House? Scrolling down the page, we see a very probing question, perhaps one of the most critical indictments of White House policy I’ve seen so far this election year. Tiffany from Canton, Ohio, bitterly writes, "Can you please move the President’s speech to another time? I want to watch American Idol. How about moving the speech to 9pm?" Ouch! If I were Scott McClellan I’d be hiding my tail between my legs after that ass-kicking. You’ve got to hand it to this White House, though, they’re brimming with irrepressible devotion to the truth, and McClellan admirably answers Tiffany’s concerns, saying,

I think we are going to stick to the 8:30pm time tonight. There are some important issues that the President wants to discuss with the American people at a time when most Americans will be able to hear what he has to say. The good news for American Idol fans is that FOX is moving tonight’s episode to tomorrow night at 8.

Sock it to ’em, Scott! How’s that for a White House comeback! Yes, you heard right, the White House is making official pronouncements about important domestic issues, such as our television schedules and the alarming number of bad singers whom millions of Americans can’t live without. Now if the White House can only help me get HBO.

A few notes about tonight’s Presidential Press Conference…

* This was only Bush’s third prime-time press conference in which he took questions from the press. The last one was a year ago, shortly before the Iraq War began.
* Bush used the word *embolden* twice. _Embolden: to render bold or more bold; to hearten, encourage_ (OED)
* Saying something doesn’t make it so. When Bush says he “honors” the troops who have fallen, it doesn’t actually perform any honoring. Unless you’re a priest saying “I pronounce you man and wife,” your words don’t actually perform any actions. For Bush to really honor the American soldiers and civilians who have lost their lives in Iraq, he needs to do something more than just saying he “honors” them. Allow their caskets to be photographed by journalists (rather than hiding the fact of their deaths). Attend their funerals.
* Bush is allergic to apologies. When he was asked directly whether he should apologize for his handling of the War on Terror, Bush dodged the question.
* Bush said “I believe that freedom is the deepest need of every human soul.” Two words: Patriot Act.
* Bush sees the transformation of Iraq from dictatorship to a democracy with free elections as central to the greater transformation of the Middle East. Bush is only promoting the rhetoric of democracy, however. What about Saudi Arabia? Any U.S. policy geared toward a democratic Middle East must address the problems of Saudi Arabia, a repressive monarchy whose citizens have very few civil liberties. As long as Saudi Arabia is our ally (in other words, supplying oil), the United States will overlook this black hole of democracy in the Middle East.

I know the White House’s policy in Iraq is schizophrenic, but this is getting ridiculous. On April 5th, Bush told reporters, “I believe we can transfer authority by June 30th.” Yesterday in El Dorado, Arkansas, Bush reiterated “We will pass sovereignty on June 30th. We will stay the course in Iraq. We’re not going to be intimidated by thugs or assassins.”

So June 30th is the date we “pass sovereignty”? I’m not sure Bush has taken a look at a calendar lately, but that date is only twelve weeks away. The war has been “over” for months and months, but the past week saw fighting worse than anything that ever occurred during the war itself. Months after Saddam Hussein was captured, armed insurgents are no longer shadowy forces, but solidified bands of guerillas, well-coordinated and with visible leaders. And so Rumsfeld is talking about sending more troops to Iraq? Yet Bush is insisting that we “pass sovereignty” is less than 90 days?

Of course, Bush’s blundering, wrongheaded, arrogant, sanguine obstinacy begs the question, to whom does the U.S. “transfer authority” on June 30th? All it takes is a quick scanning of the AP or Reuters newswires to see how fragile any kind of indigenous civil authority is in Iraq. For example, in the space of 24 hours last weekend, two police chiefs were assassinated. Elsewhere in Iraq, doctors, teachers, and professionals of all kind–anybody who might reasonably make up a moderate ruling class–are being targeted by both Sunni and Shiite fundamentalists.

Just ran across the clever “Terror Alert Banana” on victorisdead, which I in turn found from Andy Baio’s blog Waxy.org. The dancing banana changes colors whenever the Department of Homeland Security changes the terror alert level (right now it’s a nice, staid yellow). Here it is:

Makes me wonder about other “Homeland Hacks.” A lot of fun can be had on the DHS’s Ready.gov site, which features illustrative posters that tell the cowering U.S. citizenry what to do in cases of, among other things, nuclear attack. The Houston Coalition for Justice Not War has created its own satirical captions for these “What To Do in a Terrorist Attack” posters, such as this one:

Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy.
Also, they tend to rub their hands together manically.

Are there other Homeland Hacks out there? Let me know, and I’ll add them here.

On Sunday two formerly totalitarian states held free elections: Spain and Russia.

In Spain, democratic values were reaffirmed as the ruling conservative party was voted out of office. The Socialist Party did not need to take political advantage of last week’s tragic Madrid bombings (as Bush has shamelessly done with the 9/11 attacks in his own television ads) in order for Spanish voters to make a reasoned decision not to support the pro-Bush Aznar any longer. In an admirably democratic way, however, the conservative People’s Party admitted defeat, and the reins of government will be smoothly handed over. And this, in a country oppressively ruled by Franco’s iron fist for decades.

Meanwhile in Russia, President Putin, a former KGB bureaucrat, was solidly reelected. But is the democratic process in the former Soviet Union merely an illusion? Putin has crushed his opposition (namely, the country’s richest businessman, whom Putin had arrested) and the government controls the media. Did Russian voters really have any alternative?

Whereas the democratic spirit seems vigorously alive in Spain, it appears to be a ghost of itself in Russia, where its millions of citizens seem perilously close to buying into an authoritarian regime.

How significant is it that Putin’s campaign consisted of many of the same themes as Bush’s present campaign: stability, safety, security? Fear licenses power, and Bush is taking advantage of this fact, just as Putin so successfully managed to do.

I remember filmstrips from middle school. I wonder if our president does?

From “The Popularity Parade,” A Guidance Release, produced by Popular Science Audio-Visuals, Inc.

Image from the A/V Geeks Educational Film Archive.

He lied, lied, lied, lied, lied, and lied. He lied. Even way back then, he lied.

His right-hand man lied, lied, lied, and lied, and lied, lied, lied.

I’ve typed “lied” so many times now, I no longer recognize the word. Can we get a spell-checker in here?

CBS is refusing to air an ad sponsored by Moveon.org. It’s too “controversial,” CBS claims. CBS says that it avoids giving air time to “controversial issues of public importance.” Precisely because the commercial is of public interest is why it needs to be seen. Otherwise, CBS’s decision has a “chilling effect” on spirited public debate in this country.

The problem is not just with CBS. It’s much larger than that. CBS is owned by Viacom, a gigantic media corporation that either owns or has controlling interests in UPN, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Showtime, Simon & Schuster, Scribner, and Blockbuster Video.

If you don’t want this corporate megalith deciding for you what you can or cannot watch or read, then take action.