A bumper sticker popular in the 2000 election and moreover a good question. I was reminded of that question recently when I posted the snippet from the boondocks cartoon. "What good is it having a smart bomb when you have a dumb president." One reader, a Republican, responded.

Bush is an average intelligence, not the smartest man in America but by no means the dummy some make him out to be. Now, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld, and most especially Rice, have intellectual credentials overflowing and intelligence to spare. As a loyal Republican, this approaches blasphemy, but Bush is basically just a figurehead for his advisors.

To which dende offered the following thoughtful commentary and that I felt deserving of a post.

I think that there are a lot of different kinds of dumb and a lot of different kinds of smart. Most people would agree that Bush is not what you might call 'book smart', or even 'life smart', not even in that area of learning that is related to politics. Most of his adult life, he had little to do with politics except for his dad's election campaigns.

And yet, many people insist that Bush is more intelligent than he seems, or more intelligent than people make him out to be. But that's not saying a lot, since he does in fact seem to be very dumb. In fact, I'd say that (in a tribute to the late, great senator from NY) Bush has "defined dumb down." W. makes Reagan and Dan Quayle look like a wise old sage and an intellectual boy wonder. Remember all that fuss about Quayle's "potatoe"? Goodness, we have to grimace and try to ignore more than that just about every time Bush opens up his mouth. He shows very little grasp of the ideas that he attacks and embraces, from nation-building to tax reform. He parrots the same reasons for his policies, without ever being able to put those reasons in more simple or more detailed terms on the fly. It's hard to think of one coherent thing he has said which could not have been coached into him. "Faith based initiatives stop the government discrimination against church charities." That's an interesting point, but could you say more about what you mean? "Didn't you hear me? We've got to stop the government discrimination against church charities!"

Reagan was always best with the script in front of him, but he could think on his feet, most notably in the presidential debates. Quayle made slips in grammar and seemed clueless at times, but he was a more sophisticated ideologue than Bush ever will be--he understood something of the roots and implications of his ideas.

During the 2000 campaign, the constant attacks on Bush's intelligence (especialy from idiots like Jay Leno) actually made him more sympathetic to me, since he seemed to me to be a more capable a politician than most of his critics. The attacks seemed like cheap shots by people who couldn't do any better. And in a sense, it's true that he never could have had success as a governor without some leadeship skills and sense for political strategy.

But being a good president takes more than that. Every president has advisors, and most policy ideas that come out of a given adminstration aren't cooked up by the chief himself. But without an above average level of critical intelligence, it's hard for an executive to say "that idea sucks" or at least "the reasons behind your position do not make any sense."
Bush's advisors may be intelligent, but they have differing opinions on many issues. Indeed, praising a president for his advisors is quite strange, since there's never any shortage of good and bad ideas trying to get the president's ear. The problem with putting our faith in the advisors is that they aren't always heeded (see Powell), they often act out of a desire to better their position in the administration (see almost everyone else), and they often hold very extreme positions because they have no electoral responsibility to worry about (see Wolfowitz). Your average cabinet is far from a marketplace of ideas, where the best ones rise to the top--its more like a power grab, especially when you have an exectutive who doesn't know he's being duped. To say that Bush's advisors are in charge is frightening indeed, for it means that most of the time, no one is in charge.

One more ironic aspect of intelligence is a kind of humility. If there is any common thread at all through the Bush presidency, it is the notion that stubbornness in holding to a position is a virtue. Nope, I haven't thought it through, I'm not going to reconsider, it doesn't matter if people think differently. 'Trying to see the other side of the issue? That's like making decisions based on focus groups.' Intelligent people may be full of themselves sometimes, but they can also comprehend arguments against their position, and then understand why someone could see differently. Sometimes, this understanding can cause smart people to waffle. This is bad, but like most other firm believers in the terrible potential of bad government, I'd rather have a president waffle between a pair of moderately good positions than charge blissfully ahead with very bad ideas, all the while speaking of truth and goodness.

Posted by Norm at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"War suits Baghdad"

It's like you're in a packed car -- or let's say, under the circumstances, an armored Humvee -- and you're heading for the train tracks and the locomotive, that big, black, ugly thing is bearing down on you. All you have to do to see it is look out the front windshield. And here's what you're discussing: the bleak scenery, the gas station you left miles back, the gas gauge at quarter-empty, the lack of a good meal, the insufficiency of your brakes. And here's the weird thing, as in any nightmare, you know what's about to happen and you can't turn back. You can only hope you'll wake up.

continued

Posted by Norm at 10:43 AM | Permalink

A staggering majority of Americans, who still believe Bush's lie that
Afghanistan has been "liberated" would do well to read some of Human Rights
Watch's excellent reports on the continually bad situation there. Not only
are the warlords re-implementing Taliban style repression of women, our war on
al-Qaida there has resulted in many civilian casualties and a new batch of
dangerous unexploded bomblets spread throughout the countryside. While our
main goal is attacking terrorists, we leave it to our allies (including 'old
Europe') to provide the country with basic security. And as you also know,
there is no new money in Bush's budget for Afghanistan's rebuilding. Based on
past experience, many in the administration know that the prophecy 'we will be
greeted as liberators' can be declared fulfilled no matter what actually
happens on the ground in Iraq. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the fiction is
only believed by Americans--the rest of the world knows better, and will know
better.

This article covers many aspects of the recent situation in Afghanistan:

Posted by at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Three British soldiers sent home after protesting at civilian deaths

Three British soldiers in Iraq have been ordered home after objecting to the conduct of the war. It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians.

Posted by Norm at 9:31 PM | Permalink

"There's no end to this. What we are dealing with is guerilla warfare. Are we prepared to obliterate the whole country. You can call it 'Search and Destroy' or 'Seize and Destroy'— Either way it's 'Destroy and Destroy'. There is no good way to end it. &mdash John Irving "A Prayer for Owen Meany" p.408

Posted by Norm at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Halliburton out of the running

I wish this could be taken as a sign of some sensitivity on the part of the administration, but I'm concerned that is not the case.

Halliburton, the energy and construction company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, is no longer in the running for a $600 million contract to rebuilt post-war Iraq, according to the United States Agency for International Development.
The development is likely to spare Cheney, who was Halliburton's CEO from 1995-2000, and the Bush administration from conflict-of-interest criticism.
Halliburton, which declined to comment, could still be awarded a sub-contractor role...
it was unclear whether Halliburton took itself out of the running for the contract, was asked by the Bush administration to do so, or whether its bid was simply not deemed competitive...
No decision has been made on who will be awarded it...

We have already lost the propaganda war in Iraq in my opinion and how we behave after the war will either exacerbate the situation or begin the long process of rebuilding U.S. credibility in the world. I think Ted Rall's suggestions about what we might do is a step in the right direction.

HOW TO SALVAGE THE IRAQ DEBACLE

The invasion of Iraq has deeply divided Americans. It has alienated our allies. It is already providing volatile new ammunition for Islamist terrorist groups searching for impressionable young men willing to blow themselves up just so they can take a few of us along with them. It's a grim situation, but it isn't too late for the Bush Administration to minimize the damage created by its reckless and illegal war, now that we're committed to it.

Posted by Norm at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"We can chase down all our enemies/Bring them to their knees/We can bomb the world to pieces/But we can't bomb it into peace."—Michael Franti & Spearhead

Voices raised for, against war Recording artists join debate, but some say stations shun protest songs from the Denver Post

Musicians who oppose the war complain that America's corporate-owned radio stations won't make room on the airwaves for dissenting voices, forcing them to find nontraditional outlets for their music. Station playlists published by Radio & Records, a trade magazine, reflect very few of the protest songs available on the Internet

"The giant corporations that own radio have a vested interest in not rocking the boat," said Mike Mills, bassist for the rock band R.E.M. "Thank God for the Internet, because we're fighting against a corporate culture that makes it practically impossible to get a protest song on the air."

Links to anti-war songs

Posted by Norm at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I've been downloading anti-war songs over the past few months and recently transferred them to a CD. These have all been converted from mp3 to aiff files playable on any CD. If any of my regular readers would like a copy simply send me an email with your name and address and it will soon be on its way. I'm willing to make twenty-five copies. First come first served, and since I only have 5 or 6 regulars if others would like to send me their names and addresses I'll continue to mail out CDs until I reach twenty-five.

1. The Price of Oil—Billy Bragg
   
2. CodePINK For Peace—Pat Humphries/Sandy Opatow
3. Bombs Over Baghdad—John Trudell
   
4. The Bell—Stephan Smith, Pete Seeger, Mary Harris, Dean Ween
   
5. My Hero Mr President—Paula Cole
   
6. To Washington—John Mellencamp
   
7. Jacobs Ladder—Chumbawamba (not in our name)
8. Bomb The World—Michael Franti and Spearhead
   
9. March of Death—Zack de la Rocha & DJ Shadow
   
10. A World Gone Mad...—Beastie Boys
    
11. The Final Straw—R.E.M.
    
12. We Want Peace—Lenny Kravitz
    
13. Life During Wartime—Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
    
14. We're the Enemy—The John Kasper Band
    
15. Freestyle Live From No Man's Land—Saul Williams (not in our name)
    
16. Perfectly Comfortable—Alan Fletcher
    
17. Bomb The World (Armageddon Version)—Michael Franti and Spearhead
    
18. Bush and Saddam—Everton Blender
    
19. Self Evident—Ani di Franco
    

Links to Anti-War Song Downloads and Lyrics

Posted by Norm at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)

Takoma the dolphin is Awol

THE US Marines have suffered an embarrassment with reports last night that one of their most prized investigators may have defected.

Takoma, the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin, had been in Iraq for 48 hours when he went missing on his first operation to snoop out mines.

update: The Dolphin is back and was interviewed by Paul Ford
An Interview with the Dolphin

Takoma is one of the U.S. Navy’s five mine-sweeping dolphins currently deployed under Operation Iraqi Freedom. He recently made international headlines when, on his first mission, he went AWOL for two days. At the end of his unexplained absence, Takoma returned to his post, offering no explanation for his absence. In light of the special circumstances of his service, a threatened court-martial was dismissed and Takoma was returned to duty.

Posted by Norm at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Missle in Kuwait American?

Some Kuwaiti officials who examined the fragments said they believed an errant American cruise missile had been fired from the Persian Gulf toward Iraq.

"It was an American cruise missile, we know from the markings and writing on it," said a Kuwaiti police colonel who did not give his name. "It doesn't go up, it comes in low from the sea, and that's why there was no alert."

Another uniformed Kuwaiti official said that he, too, believed the missile to have been American and said that it "came from the sea." He then added that "it was a mistake" that it had struck Kuwait.

Posted by Norm at 7:41 PM | Permalink

Report: Rumseld Ignored Pentagon Advice on Iraq

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armor would be needed to fight a war in Iraq, New Yorker Magazine reported...

"He thought he knew better. He was the decision-maker at every turn," the article quoted an unidentified senior Pentagon planner as saying. "This is the mess Rummy put himself in because he didn't want a heavy footprint on the ground."

It also said Rumsfeld had overruled advice from war commander Gen. Tommy Franks to delay the invasion until troops denied access through Turkey could be brought in by another route and miscalculated the level of Iraqi resistance.

"They've got no resources. He was so focused on proving his point -- that the Iraqis were going to fall apart," the article, by veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, cited an unnamed former high-level intelligence official as saying.

A spokesman at the Pentagon declined to comment on the article.

Posted by Norm at 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

"'Shock and awe' is nothing new. When our enemies do it we call it by its original name: 'terrorism' "—Clarence Page

Another War, Another Euphemism to Disguise the Horror of War

Posted by Norm at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

U.S. Orders 4-6 Day Pause in Iraq Advance-Officers

Use of gas-guzzling armored vehicles has been restricted to save fuel and food is also in short supply. In one frontline infantry unit, for instance, soldiers have had their rations cut to one meal packet a day from three.

Officials Denied

White House officials denied that war planners were caught off guard by Iraqi resistance and said second-guessing by news media and others was frustrating the American president who believed the war was progressing "on track."

The war may be on track in the broadest sense of that word, but to deny that they were not caught off guard is simply a lie.

"The enemy we'e fighting against is different from the one we'd war-gamed against." —William S. Wallace (Commander, V Corps on meeting unexpected resistance in sourthern Iraq)

Posted by Norm at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military
system, which I abhor. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be
abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence,
and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how
passionately I hate them!" — Albert Einstein

Posted by Norm at 7:06 AM | Permalink

" What good is a smart bomb if you have a dumb president"—BOONDOCKS

Posted by Norm at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Dende blogger writes:

Since I started studying Arabic a couple years ago, I have always admired the work that Aljazeera has done. They are far from perfect, but their independent voice stands out starkly from the general flow of authoritarianism in the Middle East. Thats why the Bush administrations and the US medias recent attacks on Aljazeera are quite inconsistent given their stated desire for freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

In defense of al-Jazeera Attacking the messenger, and our message at the same time By Michael Moran

One day in April 1996, as I headed for my desk in the newsroom at BBC Television Centre, I noticed an odd gathering of journalists in the space beside ours — the newsroom of BBC Arabic Television. There were tear-streaked faces, hugs among staff members and anger as the 250 journalists were told that the network, a BBC partnership with a Saudi company, would be shut down because the Saudis tried to censor a documentary on executions in their puritanical country. It was a devastating defeat for a brave group of journalists.

Posted by Norm at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Bush administration officials now say they never promised an easy war -- but the record shows otherwise Cakewalk via Salon or thisBush Aides Discounted Downside and my two cents worth

Richard Perle said when we asked
That support for Saddam was long past
We'll shock him
Then awe him
I know that he'll quickly collapse

Christopher Hitchens promised no war.
An intervention is all then we score
Emancipation I say
Will come in just days
I'm right now it's the left I deplore

Dick Cheney said we are not lacking
We'll send Republican Guards packing
They'll just step aside
It'll be a free ride
For Saddam a well deserved whacking

Donald said we never will veer
The course of the war is quite clear
We'll send in the tanks
On that you can bank
Saddam will run when we're near

Dub said Iraq I promise you this
Saddam will be gone I insist
I'll drop some JDams
I will get my man
If you don't survive you'll be missed

Posted by Norm at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Guardian Story

You may think the air of extreme witlessness impossible to mimic, but is the man on the podium the authentic Dubya, a trained stand-in or an animatronic lookalike?

Yesterday President George Bush made his first public appearance since the start of the war, speaking to service personnel at the MacDill airforce base in Tampa in an obvious bid to reassure Americans and boost the morale of the armed forces. But how do we know this is the real George Bush?

Later in the day a man who looked and sounded like Mr Bush appeared alongside Tony Blair at Camp David, leaving intelligence experts to ponder whether a lookalike had been used, and whether the same lookalike had been deployed on both occasions.

It has long been suspected that Mr Bush employs a string of lookalikes for difficult or dangerous speaking engagements, some of whom may have had their ears specially enlarged for the task.

Most of those who regularly monitor Mr Bush's speech patterns believe that it was the genuine article who spoke at Central Command HQ in Florida yesterday, pointing to a characteristic tendency toward quasi-biblical phrasing - "There will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing in near" - and an almost total absence of words of more than three syllables.

Other experts disagree, pointing out that these consistencies originate with speech writers rather then the president himself, and that Bush's main vocal technique - the bewildered pause - is only too easy to imitate.

Several observers noted that the president's eyes seemed too close together; others believed them to be too far apart (when viewed on a 21in TV screen, you shouldn't be able to fit a pound coin between them, according to one rule of thumb). It is telling, they say, that Mr Bush made his first appearance in front of combat service personnel, none of whom are likely to have known him closely during his days with the Texas National Guard.

So if it's not him, who is it? Some experts suspect that this might be a heretofore unknown Bush brother, a family sleeper who has been groomed to step in at times of crisis, or even George Bush Sr on his first outing following a recent toupee fitting and a course of Botox injections.

Yesterday's appearance has also given fresh credence to outlandish claims that Mr Bush's public outings have long been undertaken by an animatronic puppet especially built for Dick Cheney in the mid-1990s.

If this is true, then where is the real George Bush? Has he been killed or kidnapped, or is he just sitting at home talking back to the television?

It has been pointed out by several observers that Tony Blair, who has become close to Mr Bush over the course of many private meetings, would never be fooled by any sort of stand-in. It remains a distinct possibility, however, that Mr Blair has only ever met a particular lookalike, perhaps one who has been specially trained to appear committed to peace and international stability.

For now, Bush-watchers are refusing to say publicly whether or not this is the real president of the United States or a clever, surgically-altered lookalike.

Privately, however, they have carefully observed this confused-looking man, with his stiff, empty gestures and false gravitas.

They have noted his peculiar phrasing, which gives little indication that he understands the content of what he is saying.

They have examined his every doomsday platitude, scrutinised his baffled expression and noted that he seems uncomfortable and completely lost whenever the teleprompter is switched off.

And they have concluded that it must really be him.

Source Guardian

Posted by Norm at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rageboy does Limericks. The theme "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"
Each Limerick is accompanied by a picture and they are truly inspired. There are five posted so far. This is going to be fun.

Here is the first

There once was a hooker from Boulder
who charged way too much, and I told her.
She said, "Listen you creep,
you been gettin' it cheap!"
So I put her on ebay, and sold her.

Posted by Norm at 11:00 AM | Permalink

Jubilation turns to hate as aid arrives

The Guardian

The young man wearing the brown shawl summed it up succinctly: "We want you to go back home. We do not want your American and British aid," he said, his eyes flashing with anger...

Ali, however, seemed to realise the irony only too well. "They bomb. And now they want to give water and food. How can they do both? How?" It was then that the gunfire erupted.

The first attempt to deliver aid to the Iraqi people was, in all respects, a practical and logistical disaster.

They will eventually take our aid, what choice do they have, but if this is any indication it will not be thanks that we will receive. So far we are losing the war for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

Posted by Norm at 12:08 AM | Permalink

"We tend to overlook a basic rule: that people prefer bad rule by their own kind to good rule by somebody else" — Boston University historian David Fromkin

Posted by Norm at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Z-List Blogger Disses Kid for Kicks
and RageBoy calls him out.

Posted by Norm at 3:16 PM | Permalink

Although I think Bush is "a few Freedom Fries short of a Happy Meal" this piece applies the phrase to the press.

The Myth of Omnipotence

I have long held the belief that the American people are not stupid, though they are decidedly ignorant. By that, I mean that the fact that Americans' collective view of the world is not grounded in any sort of objective reality is due not to the fact that Americans have no capacity for critical thought, but rather to the fact that we are deliberately deprived of the information that we need to form a coherent world view.

I must say, however, that it is getting increasingly hard to cling to
that belief. After immersing myself for several days in the world of
cable 'news' - an activity that I usually avoid at all costs - I have
come to the conclusion that anyone who can watch this parade of fools
and not know that they are being lied to has to be a few Freedom Fries
short of a Happy Meal.

Posted by Norm at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Bush Administration's exhortations to Iraq to abide by International Law and the Geneva Convention ring hollow in light of United States Efforts to Undermine the International Criminal Court

The Bush Administration is attempting to negotiate bilateral impunity agreements with numerous countries around the globe. The goal of these agreements is to exempt U.S. military and civilian personnel from the jurisdiction of the ICC. The U.S. argues that such agreements are contemplated under Article 98(2) of the Rome Statute. Human Rights Watch disagrees. Such impunity agreements violate the Rome Statute and should be opposed. If State parties, as well as signatories of the Rome Statute, sign such agreements they would breach their legal obligations under the Rome Statute.

Posted by Norm at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Two Words

Posted by Norm at 10:47 AM | Permalink

'Many dead' after Baghdad shops hit

Eyewitness: Shock and anger
Fourteen civilians died and another 30 were injured in Baghdad when a shopping area was hit during an air raid by US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi authorities say.

An angry crowd of several hundred people gathered in the area following the strike, waving the shoes and clothes of victims.

They shouted: "Down with Bush" and "Long live Saddam".

Posted by Norm at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

REM The Final Straw

As I raise my head to broadcast my objection
As your latest triumph draws the final straw
Who died and lifted you up to perfection?
And what silenced me is written into law.

I can't believe where circumstance has thrown me
And I turn my head away
If I look I'm not sure that I could face you.
Not again. Not today. Not today.

If hatred makes a play on me tomorrow
And forgiveness takes a back seat to revenge
There's a hurt down deep that has not been corrected
There's a voice in me that says you will not win.

And if I ignore the voice inside,
Raise a half glass to my home.
But it's there that I am most afraid,
And forgetting doesn't hold.

It doesn't hold. Now I don't believe and I never did
That two wrongs make a right.
If the world were filled with the likes of you
Then I'm putting up a fight. Putting up a fight.
Putting up a fight. Make it right. Make it right.

Now love cannot be called into question.
Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon.
I do believe that I am not alone.

For this fear will not destroy me.
And the tears that have been shed
It's knowing now where I am weakest
And the voice in my head. In my head.

Then I raise my voice up higher
And I look you in the eye
And I offer love with one condition.
With conviction, tell me why.
Tell me why.
Tell me why.
Look me in the eye.
Tell me why.

more anti-war songs

Posted by Norm at 8:45 AM | Permalink

No dead bunnies, no dead soldiers

A Florida Web-hosting company pulls the plug on a site that dared to show graphic images of war.

Marquardt calls it "outright censorship" -- an attack on YellowTimes' ability to show that war has human consequences. "The mainstream media doesn't show the real effects of war," Marquardt told Salon. "They send in their embedded correspondents and they get all excited, and then people become excited by the image of war and not the truth."

Posted by Norm at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Six weeks have passed since ground hogs day and Dick Cheney has re-emerged from his bunker or has he?. The schism in America over the war extends not just to political parties but is also evident within families. This story if true would be a particularly ironic example. Dick, you have my sympathy as a father, and I certainly hope no harm comes to your daughter, but I must say I'm ROFLOL.

Cheney daughter - human shield in Baghdad
The London based Arabic daily Al Quds Al Arabi reported on Tuesday, March 25 that the American vice president, Dick Cheney, would soon head to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The newspaper claimed that the visit would be an attempt by Cheney to convince his daughter, who was in the Jordanian capital, to back down her decision to go to Baghdad within a group of volunteers who want to form human shields against the US led attacks on Iraq.

via Gamer's Nook

Posted by Norm at 12:19 AM | Permalink

Thank goodness for the Internet and the foreign press. War coverage by the American networks has been insipid, propagandistic, and not particularly informative. It has been more like a report on a new video game. I had to chuckle tonight at CNN's coverage. Several times during the evening they referred to the suspected line, that if crossed by "coalition forces", will precipitate a chemical weapons attack from Iraq as an imaginary line. I found myself thinking that if it were imaginary it was nothing to worry about. Let's hope they are right.

U.S. networks mix incoherence with triteness

Posted by Norm at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've been keeping a list of my reading since 1980 and consider keeping the list a little bit crazy though reading through it brings back fond memories of not only the books but what I was doing at that time of my life. Here is a fellow that has been keeping a list since 1974 that makes mine look like a pikers. He keeps track of number of books read 2032. Total number of pages 446102. The average length of each book 219.5 pages. The average time to read a book 5 days and average reading per day 44.33 pages. He keeps individual years, longest books, most frequently read authors, amazon sales rank. In addition he has a comprehensive set of charts and graphs quite remarkable. It looks like he has been slowing down a bit in recent years so perhaps I'll make a race of it. I won't however be adding charts and graphs to my list, that would just take away from my reading time. You can find a link to my list on the sidebar if you're interested.

Posted by Norm at 12:41 AM | Permalink

DEFEATED IN 2000, HE DENIES CANDIDACY ALLOWED GOP TO TRIUMPH
By Kaye Ross
Mercury News

Ralph Nader said his 2000 presidential candidacy -- which some say siphoned off votes that could have meant a Democratic victory -- is not to blame for President Bush or his war.

The war in Iraq developed instead, he said, from ``a messianic militaristic determination turned by a closed mind, facilitated by a cowering Congress and opposition Democrat Party and undeterred by a `probing' press.''

Bush is acting ``in effect as a selected dictator,'' Nader told the Mercury News in an interview Friday. The president has not listened to any of the many retired admirals, generals and foreign-policy experts who have warned against the war, Nader said. And the stated reasons for going to war ``have either been disproved or greatly distorted,'' he said.

The greatest danger will come, Nader said, after the war has been won. Bush, whom he called ``a hit-and-run president,'' will not stick with the difficult, protracted process of rebuilding Iraq and making it democratic, he said.

The warring factions Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has held at bay will dissolve into Shiite Muslims against Sunni Muslims against secular Baath Party loyalists, and Kurds fighting invading Turks, he said.

``For a cheap political advantage, the administration will destroy freedoms and civil rights, undermine our economy and destroy the position of the United States in the world,'' Nader said.

But it's not his fault, he said. In fact, people could just as easily blame David McReynolds, the Socialist Party candidate in 2000, for giving the key state of Florida to Bush, he noted. McReynolds polled 622 votes in the state, and Democratic Vice President Al Gore lost by 537 votes. Nader, who ran as the Green Party candidate, got 97,488 votes.

``When people ask me this, I say, `What would you have me do?' '' Nader said. ``Everybody has a right to run for office.''

[emphasis mine]

more from Ralph at Common Dreams

Posted by Norm at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (1)

Politically inspired fiction by Stephen Elliot

At night the world is a sandstorm. Like a light brown gauze over your face blocking the black velvet sky. We call it the edge, Anterim, Jordan, the Angor hotel. Here is where boats cross in the desert. Rusted buses bring troops and Shields to the border of Mesopotamia, heading into Iraq two days after the fighting has already started. These square dark hulls with their Argonauts, their windows cracked, their crazed cargo of idealists and warriors. A month ago the buses were clean, British double-deckers, like the kind you tour London in. We watch them now and shake our heads, our feet heavy on the earth, our clothing soaked in dull clay...

continued here

Posted by Norm at 12:57 AM | Permalink

War getting you down, need something to laugh about Try this

Posted by Norm at 1:55 PM | Permalink

Reuters Photo

Posted by Norm at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Norm at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Watching the coverage on CNN or MSNBC or Fox if you have the stomach for it, you get a picture that it's all smiling faces when the Americans arrive. Check out this report via via Oliver Willis
Reuters seems to be doing one of the better jobs reporting the war, unlike the CNN and Fox News embedded propagandists. This Reuters report portends a much longer and more difficult war than many had predicted.

Avoiding Big Pitched Battles, Iraqis Slow Advance

DOHA, Qatar (Reuters) - Iraqi forces apparently operating in small pockets or hit-and-run raids held up the U.S.-led advance into Iraq in at least four places on Sunday and captured their first U.S. prisoners on the fourth day of the war...

In Kuwait, former oil minister Ali al-Baghli, a Shi'ite, said he suspected the time taken to capture Umm Qasr might undermine any faith ordinary Iraqis had that the Americans had the ability to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The picture, despite some Iraqi surrenders, was of a more spirited fight by Iraq's troops than some analysts had predicted, slowing the invading forces' sweep from Kuwait through southern Iraq toward Baghdad.
"We are astonished that there is still resistance in Umm Qasr after all this time. It is a very small place.

"If it takes them this long to capture Umm Qasr, how long will it take to capture Tikrit or Baghdad?

And this confirmation of the difficulties from Daily Kos:

Talk about a rock and a hard place. British troops and US Marines laying siege to Basra are bogged down in house to house fighting. Not only is such fighting by its very naturextremely difficult, but it is being further slowed by the desire to avoid civilian casualties.

Urban combat in Basra

Posted by Norm at 11:41 PM | Permalink

The latest in French Bashing from a Warblogger.

An Open Letter to Jacque Chirac

My Dear Mr. President:

Should it be necessary, I wish to offer you all of my sympathies for the death of your best friend, Saddam Hussein. I am an American, and my country has a great deal of experience with death; the death of our friends, our sons and fathers, our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, our co-workers, and our husbands and wives. We lost 3000 such people on September 11, 2001.

I hope for your political health that Saddam's death was accompanied with the destruction of papers which demonstrate the connection between France and Iraq regarding the construction of chemical and biological weapons--weapons which were constructed with the assistance of your government, during your Presidency. We understand your political position on the issue of Iraq, and your actions in the Security Council of the United Nations during our work to enact an 18th resolution regarding Iraq. We remember our friends, and we remember our enemies as well. I give you my word.

At present, my country is advancing from victory to victory. We will preserve our national security, and we will achieve glory through the liberation of the Iraqi people. I know that you understand the significance of liberation--especially because France was liberated 59 years ago by the invasion of the American army at Normandy.

Thank you for your attention. Long live the United States of America. Long live France as well--but long live a courageous France, a France with honor. A France without your Presidency, and your political participation.

Yours truly,
Pejman Yousefzadeh

Thanks Pej, what a great idea a letter writing campaign. I think I'll send one to Donald.

An Open Letter to Donald Rumsfeld

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

Should it be necessary, I wish to offer you all my sympathies for the death of your former friend, Saddam Hussein. I am a fellow American, and as you know our country has much experience with death; the death of our friends, our sons and fathers, our brothers and sisters, our fathers (oops I already said father) and mothers, our co-workers, and our husbands and wives. We lost 3000 of our friends on September 11, 2001.

I hope for your political health that Saddam's death was accompanied with the destruction of papers which demonstrate the connection between America and Iraq regarding the construction of chemical and biological weapons--weapons which were constructed with the assistance of our government, during your service to our country. We understand your political position on the issue of Iraq, and your actions in the support of getting the War on. Particularly your disdain for the efforts of another former friend of yours, Jacque Chirac for trying to stop you. We remember our friends, and we remember our enemies as well. I give you my word.

At present, our country is advancing from victory to victory. We will preserve our claim on Iraqi oil, and we will achieve glory through the liberation of a work-force to support our continuing quest for an empire. I know you understand the significance of liberation--especially because the United States was liberated 227 years ago with the help French navy at Yorktown.

Thank you for your attention. Long live the United States of America, but the America that once valued friendship more than they valued profits that valued liberty more than they valued making the world safe for capitalism. Long live France, a France that taught us of Liberty, a France which we modeled much of what was great about America. May we learn from that model and make America once again a better place, one free from the participation of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld in government. We your fellow citizens anxiously await 2004.

Yours truly,
Norm Jenson

PS You can thank Pejman Yousefzadeh aka PejmanPundit for providing the template for this letter. I've taken a few minor liberties with the words, but it has retained the spirit in which it was originally written.

I didn't mail my letter to Donald Rumsfeld like Pejman apparently did to Jacque Chirac. I'm certain that Donald would ignore it just like he ignored the U.N. and all his former friends.

Posted by Norm at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Norm at 7:06 PM | Permalink

This is exactly the type of attack that I've been most worried about. Guerilla tactics used here and apparently Iraqi Soldiers are also causing problems in some cities of Iraq using the cover of the town and civilian clothing to snipe at the U.S. Military. This could get really nasty before it's over. I've been watching various news reports on the attack in Kuwait and invariably the commentators refer to it as terrorism. It seems to me that they are misusing the word. Here is an article from the Guardian I've extracted a few key quotes it would seem that what happened in Kuwait fails to meet the definition of terrorism. The definition by the way is that preferred by the U.S. State Department. Do you agree? Comments solicited.

Grenade Attack Injures 10 U.S. Troops in Kuwait

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Ten soldiers were injured in what U.S. military officials said on Sunday may have been a "terrorist" grenade attack at a U.S. military base in northern Kuwait.

A U.S. military spokesman said the attack happened at Camp Pennsylvania, one of the desert bases from where U.S. forces have launched a land invasion to try and overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Jim Lacey, a correspondent for Time magazine who was at the camp, told CNN that intruders rolled two grenades into the command tent.

The definition of terrorism from the Guardian

Using the definition preferred by the state department, terrorism is: "Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant* targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience." (The asterisk is important, as we shall see later.)

The state department regards attacks against "noncombatant* targets" as terrorism. But follow the asterisk to the small print and you find that "noncombatants" includes both civilians and military personnel who are unarmed or off duty at the time. Several examples are given, such as the 1986 disco bombing in Berlin, which killed two servicemen.

The most lethal bombing in the Middle East last year was the suicide attack on USS Cole in Aden harbour which killed 17 American sailors and injured 39 more.

As the ship was armed and its crew on duty at the time, why is this classified as terrorism? Look again at the small print, which adds: "We also consider as acts of terrorism attacks on military installations or on armed military personnel when a state of military hostilities does not exist at the site, such as bombings against US bases."

Definition of fragging:

Main Entry: frag

Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): fragged; fragged; frag·ging; frags; -s
Etymology: frag, noun
: to deliberately injure or kill (one's military leader) by means of a fragmentation grenade
- frag·ger

Posted by Norm at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Blair and Bush sitting in a tree k.... ah it's "Endless Love" Download Here

alternate download

Posted by Norm at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Richard Dawkins via the Guardian Unlimited

Bin Laden's victory

A political system that delivers this disastrous mistake needs reform

Osama bin Laden, in his wildest dreams, could hardly have hoped for this. A mere 18 months after he boosted the US to a peak of worldwide sympathy unprecedented since Pearl Harbor, that international goodwill has been squandered to near zero. Bin Laden must be beside himself with glee. And the infidels are now walking right into the Iraq trap.

There was always a risk for Bin Laden that worldwide sympathy for the US might thwart his long-term aim of holy war against the Great Satan. He needn't have worried. With the Bush junta at the helm, a camel could have foreseen the outcome. And the beauty is that it doesn't matter what happens in the war.

Posted by Norm at 9:05 PM | Permalink

Great satire from Salt Lake City Weekly

Divine Calling

George and his "imaginary friend" look for evil-doers.
by D. P. Sorensen

Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer announced today that God has taken up residence in the White House. “This should lay to rest all the doubt out there about where our Lord and Savior stands on the issue of Iraq,” said the obviously elated Mr. Fleischer. “God has informed President Bush in a private meeting that He is on our side. He said that He had never taken a shine to that Saddam Hussein fellow and was glad the United States was going to quote ‘whack him’ unquote.”

When reporters tried to question Mr. Fleischer as to God’s exact whereabouts in the White House, the cagey, balding spokesman had a quick response: “Surely you must know the Creator can’t be pinned down. He is omnipresent. He’s here, there and everywhere, though He seems to have a thing about the Lincoln bedroom.”

White House insiders say First Lady Laura Bush is not happy about the Lord hanging out at the White House. She has reportedly complained to friends that the president only has eyes for the Lord, and sometimes sits for hours with a beatific expression on his face. Laura tells friends it reminds her of the days when he’d get sloshed on Jack Daniels and stare at a football game on TV. At first Laura described God as Dubya’s “invisible friend” or “imaginary playmate.” These days, according to reports, she calls him “Harvey,” after the invisible six-foot-tall rabbit in the Jimmy Stewart movie.

The First Lady on several occasions has confided to close friends that she is increasingly frustrated with her husband’s “faith-based initiatives,” which are programs run by religions rather than the federal government. After a night out with the girls in a posh Georgetown watering hole, Laura was overheard saying, “I’d like to see some faith-based initiatives in our bedroom.” Friends have encouraged Laura to get in contact with Dr. Phil, who is scheduled to do a show called “My Husband is More Interested in God Than Me.”

Highly placed sources in the White House reveal that the First Lady is not the only casualty of her husband’s infatuation with the Almighty. The president is now totally oblivious to White House staff, whom in happier times he liked to horse around with or play pranks on. Jorge Menudo, a sous chef in the White House mess, smiled as he recalled how the president used to unscrew the cap on the salt shaker, and then collapse in laughter after Vice President Cheney, whose heart condition requires a low-salt diet, would empty the entire shaker on his chicken-fried steak. On other occasions, the president would sneak into the staff dormitory and short-sheet a few beds, or fill assorted shoes with Colgate shaving cream. By all accounts, the president’s favorite prank was sneaking up on the French ambassador and giving him a wedgie.

According to Mr. Menudo, those care-free days are no more. “President Bush fired my friend Arnie, who has been the White House barber for 30 years. He called Arnie an evil-doer after he took a little too much off the sides. And after Mr. Bush almost choked to death on that pretzel, the poor waiter was whisked off to an undisclosed location by the CIA.”

These days, instead of horsing around with the White House staff, Mr. Bush takes long walks on the South Lawn with the Creator of the Universe. On rare occasions, Bush and “Harvey” (the Secret Service has adopted the First Lady’s mocking moniker as the code word for the Lord) will head out to the local mall, where the president likes to try on baseball caps and look for evil-doers on the escalator.

When the president appears on public occasions, observers have noticed that he now wears a tiny earpiece. There is speculation that God is telling Mr. Bush what to say, using a celestial wavelength almost impossible for evil-doers to intercept. Some observers think the divine prompting via the earpiece explains the president’s propensity for verbal gaffes, such as his comment in February of 2000 that “there is madmen in the world, and there are terror.”

In an exclusive interview, the First Lady told City Weekly she longs for the days when George preferred Jack Daniels to Jesus. “I wish he’d go back to booze. He used to get drunk and pick a fight. Now he’s got religion and wants to start a war.”

Posted by Norm at 7:08 PM | Permalink

War coverage is depressing but the glee some seem to draw from it is beyond the pale. I heard a fox commentator last night lamenting that the shock and awe hadn't begun and then saying something about not wanting to spoil the suprise. This Salon piece sounds like a parody but just reflects such coverage. Don't miss it.

Shock and awe
"Baghdad is burning. What more can we say?"

Many buildings were ablaze in the heart of the city, with towering red, pink and brown clouds rising high into the night sky

In response, the Iraqis opened up with anti-aircraft bursts which winked in the darkness...

Al-Sahhaf lashed out at the "criminal George Bush and his gang."

..."They are superpower of villains. They are superpower of Al Capone," he said. "We will not allow them to get out of this quagmire which we trapped them in. They will see their end there."...

via
Salon

Posted by Norm at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

PATRIOT, n.

One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.

-Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Posted by Norm at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Before I take your questions, there's one item I would like to point out to you. The President would like to thank the growing number of nations that have joined in the coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein. As of today, there are more than 35 countries currently committed to the coalition, and that number is growing. Contributions from nations include direct military participation; logistical, intelligence and political support; specialized chemical and biological response teams; over-flight rights; and humanitarian and other aid. [emphasis mine]

The text above is a portion of Ari's statement at today's press conference. I've often wanted to be one of the press allowed to ask a question. Here is a possible exchange I would have had today with Ari.

Q I have a question and a follow up.
Mr. Fleischer: Go ahead
Q Am I correct in assuming that countries such as Turkey are members of the coalition because they are allowing over-flight rights?
Mr. Fleischer: Yes that is correct.
Q Since France is allowing over-flight rights do you also consider them a member of the coalition?
Mr. Fleischer: Well that's a complicated question duh ... next question please.

Posted by Norm at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

War has begun.

"Today I weep for my country," said West Virginia Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd. "No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. ... Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

"We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance," Byrd said, adding: "After war has ended the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe."

Today I also weep for my country and for those who will lose their lives in the days to come. I have removed my

graphic and replaced it with

May the war be short, may the casulaties be few, and may the rebuilding of what was once America soon begin.

Posted by Norm at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

BBC Bloggers in Baghdad, Amman, Qatar, Northern Iraq, Downing Street London and Washington report on the war.

Posted by Norm at 9:55 PM | Permalink

George submitted this poem to the Poets for the War site but it lost out to this go figure.

Never Misunderestimate Me
by George W. Bush

I'll take your Nukes
Your bugs your gas
I'll take it all
Shove it up your ass
You mess with me
You pay the price
Say good-bye Saddam it's paradise

You had your chance
You scorned inspections
I asked real nice
I asked you twice
You headed in the wrong direction

And now it ends
Your buds and you
I'll take your scuds
and do away with you.

The score now settled
My dad avenged
I love the taste
Of sweet revenge.

Now a word to those
Who dared to say
Oh George do it our way
I've got your names
I won't forget
I've put you on a short short list
We're almost there the job half done
I hope you get the gist
Enemy combatants it'll be fun

My name is George
I am the King
My name is George
I am the King
My name is George
I am the King

Posted by Norm at 7:00 PM | Permalink

Salt Lake City, Utah— Navy Corpsmen attached to the Marines meet stiff resistance

The resistance wasn’t Iraqi. Marines including Bubba and Billy Joe were delayed today at the Salt Lake International Airport when their Sea Bags set off alarms. A Homeland Security mandated inspection resulted in the search of said Corpsmen's bags. It was their Kevlar vests that were the source of the alarm. That is for all but one who's bag set off alarms, the suspicious item, candy his children had packed for him, Swedish Fish to me exact. Lucky for him they hadn't packed any french-fries.

Note: The soldier’s names have been changed in the interest of security..

Posted by Norm at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The President of France named Chirac
Gave Bush planned domination a shock
It's not either-or
Tis war I abhor
You're not the only kid on the block

Posted by Norm at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Fruitcakes in the White House
Fruitcakes on the Hill
Struttin' naked round the world
and the world's had its fill
Half baked plans are in the oven
Half baked leaders we can't trust
There's a time and place for fruitcakes but it ain't the White House bus.

to the tune of Fruitcakes chorus by Jimmy Buffett
listen to the tune

Thanks to this Jimmy Buffett Fan for introducing me to Buffett's music.

Posted by Norm at 12:01 AM | Permalink

When saying "we're all Palestinians" really means something

By Stephen Gowans

Do Americans who act as human shields, in places like the West Bank and Gaza and Iraq, believe their lives are so significant that Israeli bulldozers won't rumble over them and that American cruise missiles won't vaporize them?

If they do, they might be forgiven for thinking their lives are special. Millions of non-Americans die needlessly, countless foreigners die violently, and their deaths are hardly noticed. But 3,000 Americans died on Sept. 11, 2001 and Americans tell themselves the event has changed history, as if their deaths mean more than anyone else's.

It wouldn't be a surprise then if American human shields believed another American, the president, wouldn't give the order to fire cruise missiles into Baghdad, or allow Ariel Sharon to send bulldozers to squash them, because they were American and American lives mean more.

Isn't that the essence of the human shield? They'll kill Palestinians without batting an eye, sweep away hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and say its liberation, but they won't hurt us, because we're Americans.

What Americans fail to grasp is that the deaths of their 3,000 compatriots on Sept. 11 have a significance that transcends the significance of any tragedy of similar magnitude, because the deaths serve a purpose -- they justify conquest.

At one time, an explosion aboard the battleship Maine, at rest in Havana harbor, served the same purpose.

That event was seized on by the press of the day as having extraordinary significance, more momentous than any explosion aboard any other ship.

The explosion -- immediately chalked up to an enemy attack, but later attributed to spontaneous combustion in the ship's coal bunker -- was used to start the Spanish-American war, a war "to liberate Cuba from colonial oppression," but which simply replaced one master, Spain, with another, Washington.

Tomorrow, a war to liberate Iraq from Saddam's oppression will replace one dictator, Saddam, with another, General Tommy Franks, and later, with the dictatorship of US business interests

Roy MacGregor, a columnist with The Globe and Mail, points out that the American press's demonization of Spanish general Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau in 1898 bears striking similarities to the Bush administration's depiction of Saddam Hussein in 2003, right down to the use of the obloquy "The Butcher."

"Weyler the brute, the devastator of haciendas, the destroyer of families, the outrager of women...Pitiless, cold, an exterminator of men...There is nothing to prevent his carnal, animal brain from running riot with itself in inventing tortures and infamies of bloody debauchery" ("A nasty little war and bloodthirsty news outlets: The eerie parallels with 1898," The Globe and Mail, March 17, 2003 )

And Sept. 11 provided a pretext for Washington to penetrate Central Asia (destroying more Afghan lives in the process than were destroyed on Sept. 11) and to invade Iraq (which will destroy many times more lives than the Sept. 11 events Washington has tried so desperately to link to Saddam Hussein.)

But if there was a purpose in minimizing the deaths of 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11 (or of playing down the explosion on the Maine) that would have been done, too.

Imagine, if you will, that Washington wanted to demonize Israel. The death of Rachel Corrie, a young American who died after an Israeli bulldozer ran over her as she tried to protect Palestinian homes in Rafah, would have been splashed across the front-page of every newspaper. We'd know who she was, where she went to school, who her parents were, what her aspirations were, what her college marks were.

Her funeral would be attended by the president and various dignitaries, and calls would be made for Israel to be bombed. Palestinians would be turned into brave freedom fighters and Ariel Sharon's mask would be removed. He would be exposed for what he is: a war criminal and ethnic cleanser. Later, he would be branded a dictator "who allows just enough democracy to avoid the charge" (as is said today of elected foreign leaders Washington is seeking to undermine and overthrow.)

But as it is, Rachel Corrie's death will be quickly forgotten, if it were ever noticed, and the script will continue as the script-writers in Washington have written it: Sharon is a man of peace defending Israel from Palestinians, who are terrorists and would-be suicide bombers consumed by irrational hatred of Jews.

Where the truth is whatever Washington, and hence, the media, makes it, the only deaths that matter are those that can be used to justify more conquest. Carrie's death didn't make the grade. She becomes like the foreigners she sought to defend. Nonentities to be rolled over and crushed and soon forgotten.

Posted by Norm at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Girl With Yellow Flowers in Her Hair

by Lisa Walsh Thomas

She's the nightmare that's been clawing at your sleep
lately, George W, and she's ... coming to get you!

You may have caught electrifying glimpses of her on
television at one of the hundreds of huge protests
around the world in the past couple of months. Just
one of millions, of course, but what she's so good at
is enduring. Nightmares are bad, yes, but nightmares
that ENDURE are the stuff that brings down kings and
empires, and we're talking REAL kings, George.

She's been everywhere recently, just like in the old
days. You remember the sixties, long before Robert
McNamara finally came clean about it, and the
demonstrations against letting our classmates die in
the jungle in order to kill a million Vietnamese who
chose to be far left of center and ... well okay, so
she wasn't your kind of girl.

You weren't into protests or peace or causes, that
kind of thing. God was preparing you for grander
missions, some say. You were to be the messiah, others
speculate. In your idleness of those years, unknown
even to you, who would be designated THE implementing
tool, a malignant, dark plan was spawned.

But SHE, George, was busy all that time. Recently, I
watched her down in Austin, Texas, rising above the
restrained calls for sanity, starting to dance to the
beat of drums and chanting of the madding crowd. The
flowers in her hair may have been only a tribute to
bygone culture, but they were there, resurrected,
fresh as the blush on your face when you were told
that YES, Mr. Resident, there are black people in
Brazil, or NO, Mr. Resident, those aluminum tubes in
Iraq are not designed for nuclear weapons, or BUT
Chairman Bush, the U.N. members are objecting to our
bugging of their offices, or PLEASE Mr. Chairman, too
many people have found out that those reports of Iraq
seeking to buy uranium from Niger were FORGED.

After the rally in Austin on February 15, after the
long 10,000 person march from the capital, hundreds
stopped on a bridge in the middle of Austin to dance.
The seeming frivolity was a picture of people WIRED.
They weren't solemnly standing there. Imagine "Swing
Low, Sweet Chariot" in the mouth of Ozzie Osbourne.

It may be her growing omnipresence that's keeping you
awake, George, and who can blame you? There were
silent times, true, but her ability to resurrect
herself at will is uncanny, nearly apocalyptic. She
was there when Ronald Reagan tried to tell us that his
contra terrorists were "freedom fighters." She marched
around the U.S. embassy in Managua when the media back
home tried to tell us that an army might be needed to
"liberate" the people of Nicaragua, who had been given
guns by President Daniel Ortega in order to defend
themselves against invading forces from the north. She
helped stop that invasion as surely as she helped stop
the Vietnam War.

In recent years, she's marched in Seattle and Italy.
She helped overthrow the U.S.-backed coup in
Venezuela. She was in Guatemala a couple of years ago
when the people revolted against a new sales tax, and
she helped shut down that country for 24 hours that
the U.S. media forgot to report. She exposed General
Pinochet for the corrupt dictator we installed in
Chile after U.S. participation in the probable murder
of the democratically-elected Dr. Allende.

She's been in London lately to expose the lack of
support for Tony Blair. San Francisco, Paris, Rome,
Madrid, small towns with unpronounceable names and
strange languages. Even Antarctica. She spreads the
word: the most powerful country in the world along
with a Prime Minister who has no support from his
people, along with 50 soldiers from Bulgaria does not
a "coalition" make. It's a stretch to try to include
Spain and Portugal, who talk but provide no fighters.

When young people see her, when they grab their ink
markers and posterboard to recreate the time when they
told their elders to make love not war, they are
showing a value shift that we haven't seen in thirty
years, when we broke out of the stifling, material
smugness and intellectual vacuity of the fifties.

They are endorsing her as the greater cause- the peace
and justice that is not economically advantageous to
the corporate crowd. Those who are coming of age with
a world awareness agree with our girl, who considers
throwing live nuns out of helicopters in Honduras a
violation of human rights, even if it WAS of no
concern to Ambassador John Negroponte. So they are
looking at her, down into her soul, George W., and
what they're seeing is far more ablaze with
life-affirming veracity than what you ever DARED speak
of when you peeked into Mr. Putin's soul.

She was there to spit on the 88-to-2 Gulf of Tonkin
resolution for the lie it was based on. And the
would-be grandeur of that lust to kill finally drowned
in the spit she generated in those who followed her.
While some worried about Nebraskans having to speak
Chinese, she made certain that Laotians and Vietnamese
and Chinese and Mongolians didn't have to speak
English.

She goes way back, George, way back before the history
your advisors have tried to teach you in the past two
years. She marched in Selma, Alabama; she was in
Montgomery. She was hanging out with a Russian foot
soldier in World War I and helped him to make a U-turn
and head home to take his country from the czar. Some
say she was in Boston Harbor in 1774, dressed as a
Mohawk Indian, helping to heave almost ten thousand
pounds (sterling) worth of Darjeeling tea into the
water.

She's a mystery to you, George W., because you are an
intellectual and emotional and spiritual troglodyte,
able to know only that she's in your way, so you must
try to kill her. You are unable to fully comprehend
that she is the PEOPLE and that, in the end, however
long it takes, however many have to die for freedom
and justice, the PEOPLE triumph over the greed of
megalomaniacs who would despoil the planet to control
them.

You think that if she opens up her mouth to sing
aloud, you're going to hear only an old scratched LP,
a Woody Guthrie protest song. That thought belongs in
the bag with most of your expressed thoughts, Mr.
Chairman. When she opens her mouth, what you will see
are birds. Then you will see that they are doves. And
then you will see that even doves, when fighting for
their lives, can grow fangs.

Of COURSE you have to try to stop her. Within hours of
these words being written, you will probably have
given the green light to your killing machine and its
first 400 missiles, overkill for "liberating" the
cradle of civilization and a dying, defenseless
nation, half of which is children.

Somewhere near a river contaminated by your generals'
earlier waste products, a little girl will leave her
playthings abandoned as she runs for her mother, as
she hears her father call out for her little brother
amidst a roar of sound that is understood even in her
young mind as the sound signalling the final seconds
of her short life, the final seconds for her parents
to look at each other without the time to even say
goodbye, all for the oil that is beneath their little
hut, and for the stepping stone that oil is to world
control.

This little girl will probably be dead by the time
most people read this, and some in this country will
clap and cheer you on, calling you a war hero, and
you'll consider yourself victorious, and you can
return to strutting mode.

But in time this child will rise from the dead,
stronger, wiser, the maddening flowers reblooming in
her hair. You can tear off her limbs, and new ones
will be generated. You can blind her with your
poisons, and someone else will be her eyes. You can
use the greatest arsenal of killing material humankind
has ever imagined, and she will creep among the
mangled dead in some other wasteland, and she'll be
creeping toward YOU, George W.

You can stop her for awhile with 800 missiles and a
couple of MOABs, and you can stop her again with
nuclear weapons that can turn a Garden of Eden into
hell, and you can poison her and her family and her
neighbors with your own endless and illegal chemical
weapons. You can tear out her tongue and rape and
pillage and steal everything she holds dear. You can
tear her country wide apart and bury thousands in each
explosion that rips through her heart.

But you cannot kill her.

--------------------------------------------
Lisa Walsh Thomas is a veteran activist, poet, arts
critic, and political writer, wishing to dedicate
these particular words to the memory of Philip
Berrigan, who committed eight major acts of civil
disobedience between 1980 and 1999, always predicting
what we are now facing -- and to his friend, Compañero
Joe M, wherever he is.

Lisa can be reached at saavedra1979@yahoo.com
----------------------------------------------
Copyright 2001-2003 AmericaHeldHostile.com. All rights
reserved
http://americaheldhostile.com/ed031703-1.shtml

Posted by Norm at 6:57 PM | Permalink

A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War
by Michael Moore

George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC

Dear Governor Bush:

So today is what you call "the moment of truth," the day that "France and the rest of world have to show their cards on the table." I'm glad to hear that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having survived 440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn't sure if I could take much more. So I'm glad to hear that today is Truth Day, 'cause I got a few truths I would like to share with you:

1. There is virtually NO ONE in America (talk radio nutters and Fox News aside) who is gung-ho to go to war. Trust me on this one. Walk out of the White House and on to any street in America and try to find five people who are PASSIONATE about wanting to kill Iraqis. YOU WON'T FIND THEM! Why? 'Cause NO Iraqis have ever come here and killed any of us! No Iraqi has even threatened to do that. You see, this is how we average Americans think: If a certain so-and-so is not perceived as a threat to our lives, then, believe it or not, we don't want to kill him! Funny how that works!

2. The majority of Americans -- the ones who never elected you -- are not fooled by your weapons of mass distraction. We know what the real issues are that affect our daily lives -- and none of them begin with I or end in Q. Here's what threatens us: two and a half million jobs lost since you took office, the stock market having become a cruel joke, no one knowing if their retirement funds are going to be there, gas now costs almost two dollars -- the list goes on and on. Bombing Iraq will not make any of this go away. Only you need to go away for things to improve.

3. As Bill Maher said last week, how bad do you have to suck to lose a popularity contest with Saddam Hussein? The whole world is against you, Mr. Bush. Count your fellow Americans among them.

4. The Pope has said this war is wrong, that it is a SIN. The Pope! But even worse, the Dixie Chicks have now come out against you! How bad does it have to get before you realize that you are an army of one on this war? Of course, this is a war you personally won't have to fight. Just like when you went AWOL while the poor were shipped to Vietnam in your place.

5. Of the 535 members of Congress, only ONE (Sen. Johnson of South Dakota) has an enlisted son or daughter in the armed forces! If you really want to stand up for America, please send your twin daughters over to Kuwait right now and let them don their chemical warfare suits. And let's see every member of Congress with a child of military age also sacrifice their kids for this war effort. What's that you say? You don't THINK so? Well, hey, guess what -- we don't think so either!

6. Finally, we love France. Yes, they have pulled some royal screw-ups. Yes, some of them can pretty damn annoying. But have you forgotten we wouldn't even have this country known as America if it weren't for the French? That it was their help in the Revolutionary War that won it for us? That our greatest thinkers and founding fathers -- Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, etc. -- spent many years in Paris where they refined the concepts that lead to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? That it was France who gave us our Statue of Liberty, a Frenchman who built the Chevrolet, and a pair of French brothers who invented the movies? And now they are doing what only a good friend can do -- tell you the truth about yourself, straight, no b.s. Quit pissing on the French and thank them for getting it right for once. You know, you really should have traveled more (like once) before you took over. Your ignorance of the world has not only made you look stupid, it has painted you into a corner you can't get out of.

Well, cheer up -- there IS good news. If you do go through with this war, more than likely it will be over soon because I'm guessing there aren't a lot of Iraqis willing to lay down their lives to protect Saddam Hussein. After you "win" the war, you will enjoy a huge bump in the popularity polls as everyone loves a winner -- and who doesn't like to see a good ass-whoopin' every now and then (especially when it 's some third world ass!). So try your best to ride this victory all the way to next year's election. Of course, that's still a long ways away, so we'll all get to have a good hardy-har-har while we watch the economy sink even further down the toilet!

But, hey, who knows -- maybe you'll find Osama a few days before the election! See, start thinking like THAT! Keep hope alive! Kill Iraqis -- they got our oil!!

Yours, Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com

Posted by Norm at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

An open letter to Charles Taylor
No doubt about it -- you did distort history!

A response to his Dear Nader Voters

By Norm Jenson

Dear Charles,

How are you? It's been a while since I've heard such blatant bullshit. It hasn't been the two-and-a half-years since the Florida mess. Many have carried the banner in your stead. Nary a month goes by that someone doesn't trot out that tired old argument, the one that but for Nader Gore would have been elected. Yes many have carried the banner, and frankly, it is getting tiresome.

I'll address your argument in a moment, but first let me ask you why start with the voters? Why not put it squarely on Ralph's shoulders? If Ralph Nader had not run for president Gore would have been elected. You could even go further back than that. If the constitution had simply limited the number of candidates for president to two Gore would have been elected. You could place the blame squarely on the Founding Fathers for such a poorly thought out system of government. That's right George, Thomas if you hadn't ... Gore would have been elected president. I understand, your article would not have worked as well. When you reached the part where you wanted to send us all to fight because we "allowed" Bush to become president you would have found George and Tom not really in condition to fight.

So let's examine your proposition. Those who voted for Ralph Nader are somehow responsible for George Bush getting elected and the history that has followed. Your argument that if we hadn't voted for Nader Gore would have won is a counterfactual. That is a conditional proposition with a contrary to fact hypothesis. The problem with counterfactuals such as this one is there is no way to determine their truth. We cannot know whether a sufficient number of those that voted for Nader would have voted for Gore, since there were other alternatives. Some would have voted for other candidates some may even have voted for Bush, and still others might not have voted at all. Since we cannot go back and rerun the election there is no way to know whether enough would have voted for Gore. To argue that Nader, or Nader voters are responsible for George's victory is a very weak argument.

Finger pointing is easy isn't it? If Charles Taylor had written more, had taken more time to explain the issues, more people would have voted for Gore. Let's send Charles to Iraq. If all those with the means to provide financial support to Gore had simply provided a little more then more people would have voted for Gore. Lets send all those stingy bastards to Iraq. If all those that didn't vote at all had voted more would have voted for Gore... Are you with me yet? A better question is why should we blame those who voted against Bush why should they be singled out to fight his war or as the sole makers of history? Why aren't you arguing that all those that actually voted for Bush should be the ones fighting the war? That would be wrong but it makes more sense than the argument you present. The real question is what is the point of your blame game. Are you suggesting that we should only have two choices when we go to the polls. Are you going to spearhead the drive to amend the constitution to make it so? Are you suggesting that we march in lock step with the party, any party, is that democracy? The problem Charles is not multiple candidates but plurality voting. Let me suggest an alternative to plurality voting and your blame game. Let me suggest that you, and all Americans that want elected officials that more closely reflect their views to support approval voting. What is approval voting? Approval voting is a voting procedure in which voters can vote for, or approve of, as many candidates as they wish. Each candidate approved of receives one vote, and the candidate with the most votes wins. It is easy to play the blame game Charles it is more difficult to make a difference. So why don't you get off your butt and do something constructive. Volunteer to make it a better country not just criticize those who are trying. In this time of uncertainty and fear, your country needs you.

Ralph Responds

Posted by Norm at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)

From the Guardian

Tony Blair held an emergency 'war Cabinet' meeting yesterday to finalise plans for military action against Iraq and demand that the United Nations comes to a decision on the vital second resolution against Saddam Hussein within 24 hours... If it is clear Britain and the US cannot get the necessary nine votes to pass the resolution in the council, they will dump plans to put it to a vote and announce that Saddam is in 'material breach' of UN resolution 1441 passed last November.

That will be seen on both sides of the Atlantic as a trigger for war, which Ministry of Defence sources said would happen 'in short order'. It is expected that an air bombing campaign, followed by a massive ground offensive, would start within a few days.

It followed the disclosure by America yesterday that two US Air Force B-1 bombers knocked out truck-mounted anti-aircraft radar systems designed to alert Iraq to attack by British and US forces - a signal that war was imminent.

Posted by Norm at 12:25 AM | Permalink

The Christian Science Monitor has me ROFLOL. I think all the French bashers, the Wall Street Journal and a few thousand Warbloggers come to mind, should take this to heart. Lets set the deadline for March 18th by that day they should be able to write their stories Sans French. Do it because it is the RIGHT thing to do.


English Sans French via The Christian Science Monitor

The Franco-American dispute falling out over the best approach way to disarming Iraq take away Iraq's weapons has resulted in perhaps the highest level of anti-French feeling in the United States Lands since 1763.

A French-owned hotel innkeeping firm, Accor, has taken down the tricolor three-hued flag. In the House of Representatives Burghers, the chairman leader of the Committee Body on Administration Running Things has renamed named anew French fries "freedom fries" and French toast "freedom toast" in House restaurants eating rooms.

To which the question asking arises: Why stop with Evian, Total gasoline, and the Concorde (just only the Air France flights)? Let's get to the heart of the matter thing: A huge big percentage of the words in modern today's English are of - gasp! - French origin beginnings. What if, as a result of the current diplomatic dispute today's falling out between lands, the French demand ask for their words back? We could all be linguistic hostages captives.

It is time for English-speaking peoples folk to throw off this cultural imperialism lording-it-over-others and declare say our linguistic freedom. It is time to purify clean the English language tongue. It will take some sacrifices hardship on everyone's part to get used to the new parlance speech. But think of the satisfaction warm feeling inside on the day we are all able to can all stare the Académie Française in the eye and say without fear of reprisal injury: "Sumer is icumen in...."

Don't miss the discussion at Metafilter

Posted by Norm at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Kyle Banas doesn't post often enough but when he does it's a treat don't miss this on what many would consider the perfect job.

Job Description:

Quite honestly, we’re not sure what we want. We don't really believe in qualifications and requirements and interviews. Suits? Ties? Those little lint rollers? Fascists. Capitalist pigs.

We just know we have an awful lot of cash to throw around (People laughed when we invested in the emu, but we say to them now - flightless bird populations are where it's at). A lot of cash, and we're not sure where to put it.

Now Hiring:

We like writers. Clove cigarette smoking, introverted, witty quips with neoclassical pop culture references - rapid fire. A drinker. Reasonable stubble.

continued

Posted by Norm at 12:03 AM | Permalink

New York March 13 2003—U. N. Inspector Hans Blix announced the destruction of Iraq's 42nd Al-Soumoud missile today. This he said is good news it is the meaning of disarmament. Hans further reported that although much has been accomplished the inspections have been going more slowly than he would like. He attributes this to the poor quality of western intelligence. Many leads provided by the Americans have led nowhere some even seem to have been fabricated, with that in mind the U.N. beginning today will adopt the Dirk Gently method of detection. Dirk Gently, perhaps the best known detective in the world has theorized that everything in the universe is interconnected. Applying that theory U. N. Inspectors will be stationed all over Iraq and instructed to randomly pick individuals to follow. If the theory is correct they will eventually find any Weapons of Mass Destruction that exist. "Dirk's methods have never failed in the past, said Hans." "We are confident they will succeed this time." Americans pooh-poohed the announcement. "Thinking Dirk Gently's methods can solve these problems is a cruel fiction," said Donald Rumsfeld. " Last time Gently's methods were employed all that happened was that a cat died.

Posted by Norm at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tim van Gelder's Critical Thinking On The Web is probably the best site of its kind. It is overflowing with great information. One of the great things about this site are the links to related sites. Critical Reflections is the weblog section of the site. His latest entry is about common mistakes made in thinking about the Iraq problem, including an old favorite black-or-white reasoning.

The whole Iraq debate provides yet another tragic illustration of the inadequacy of our cognitive equipment (comprised of both our minds and our external tools) relative to what is needed for rational deliberation over complex real-world issues.

That said, even without fundamental change to our thinking equipment, thinking could be improved. Here are some of the most basic mistakes people are making all the time:

1. Black and white thinking. E.g., invading Iraq is either terribly wrong or a moral imperative. The idea that it is a moral "close call" due to multiple conflicting considerations pointing in different directions is rarely considered. B&W thinking crops up in myriad different forms. It is a kind of flight from complexity and shades of grey.

2. Gut-driven thinking. People's minds are made up for them in advance by their "gut" or intuition. All the rest is post hoc rationalization.

3. Tunnel vision. It is almost impossible to comprehend and synthesize all the relevant considerations. Most people don't even try; they focus on those which support their position (see 2) and ignore the rest.

4. Know nothing? No problem. Most people feel entitled to an opinion with very little background knowledge and without doing even the most minimal research. Spot quiz: how many people are executed each month by Saddam's regime?

Posted by Norm at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

All the songs listed below are available for download by following the link. Those with "Download" are the direct links others require additional steps to download. All Links open in new windows.

• 20-20 Anyhow Download
• Joyce Anderson Filled With Love Download| Lyrics |
• Matt Aquiline Wrong Way Download wma | Lyrics |
• Ariel The Wartime President Song ! Download | Lyrics |
• Beanie The Singing Dog Beanie For Peace Download |
• Beastie Boys- In A World Gone Mad Download| Lyrics|
• John Beeney Enemy Stream Song | Lyrics |
• James Blundell Back It Up |Download | Lyrics |
• Everton Blender Bush and Saddam (reggae)Download |
• Blowback Body Bags Download (music link) | Lyrics |
• jonatha brooke War Download| Lyrics |
• Billy Bragg - The Price of Oil Download| Lyrics |
• Chris Brown and Kate Fenner Resist WarDownload|Lyrics |
• Chumbawamba - Jacobs Ladder (not in our name) Download| Lyrics|
• Paula Cole My Hero, Mr. President Download| Lyrics |
• The Compassionate Conservatives Another War (Drive My Car) Download | Lyrics |
• The Compassionate Conservatives Midnight Confessions Download | Lyrics |
• The Compassionate Conservatives In The Garden of Eden (War Crimes/DC Download | Lyrics |
• The Compassionate Conservatives In The Garden of Eden (Zinn-Fisk-Nader..) Download| Lyrics |
• The Compassionate Conservatives Guantanamo Bay| Download| Lyrics |
• Compassionate Conservaties | Check here for latest songs
• Crucial Crew We Want Peace No More War (original ragga riddim_demo)* Download| Lyrics |
• Donny Daley Kick Out The Republicans Download | | Lyrics | Play clip
• Zach de la Rocha and DJ Shadow March of Death Download| Lyrics|
• Disenfranchised Music.com Nation of Assholes | Download | Lyrics |
• Disenfranchised Music.com Genocide For The Holidays | Download | Lyrics |
• Disenfranchised Music.com Fallujah | Download | Lyrics |
• Disenfranchised.com | Check here for latest songs
• dreas bells of war '03 Download | Lyrics |
• Dubin'Dubya & the Steven Mays | "Yabba Dubya Doo" Download | Lyrics |
• Pat Flashman No More War DUB Download |
• Michael Franti Bomb The World & Bomb The World Armegeddon Version Download| Lyrics|
• Ani di Franco - Self Evident Download| Lyrics |
• Alan Fletcher Perfectly Comfortable Download| Lyrics
• Flying Folk Army - Duane Murrin Uncle Sam  | Download | Lyrics |
• Fredwreck Down With U.S. Download Dirty —|
• C.S. Fuqua Devil Disguised Download | Lyrics
• C.S. Fuqua We Used to Sing (My Country 'Tis of Thee') Download | Lyrics
• Sergent Garcia Stop Da War Download Spanish/French Bio Sergent Garcia|
• Green Day Life During Wartime Download| Lyrics |
• Brian and Joe Haynes No War Download (acoustic) Lyrics
• CodePINK For Peace by Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow Download| Lyrics |
• Donots & Anti-Flag Lyrics by Justin SaneDownload| Lyrics |
• Andrei Hauk Descendent Download |
• Lars Howlett Radio Sol Anti-War Remix streamed on Real Audio
• Eric Idle | The FCC Song Download | Alt Download | | Lyrics
• Jules Jackson   Gunner Joe Download | Lyrics |
• Jynkz We Don't Want Your War ( video and mp3) Download| Lyrics|
• John KasperWe're the Enemy Lyrics |
• Lenny Kravitz / Kadim Al Sahir We Want Peace Lyrics |
• LATO under AVOCADO CLUB VETO LIVE from BAGDAD & BAGDAD NOT IN MY NAME!* Download| Lyrics |
• Heather Lev What Have You Done Download |
• Live What Are We Fighting For (not an official site) Lyrics |
• Little Big Men Mr Bush, You Are Not The President Of This WorldDownload Alternate Download |
• Jay Mankita | They Lied | Download | Lyrics |
• Laura Martin One by One Download Lyrics |
• Dubin'Dubya & the Steven Mays | "Yabba Dubya Doo" Download | Lyrics |
• Brendan McCloud - Dancing with Armegeddon Download| Lyrics |
• John Mellencamp - To Washington Download| Lyrics |
• Maeran Fight No More Download | Lyrics |
• Maeran No Man Of War Download | Lyrics | Play clip
• Maeran Red And Gold Download| Lyrics |
• Willie NelsonWhatever Happened to Peace on Earth Listen Real Audio|Download | alt Download | Lyrics |
• Mox Nix | United Police States of America Download | Lyrics |
• Mox Nix | Weapons of Mass Deception Download | Lyrics |
• OutKast B.O.B Download| Lyrics|

The War Trilogy is available at peacesong and includes Baghdad Road is about the aftermath of the Iraq War for a U.S. soldier. Enemy Me takes on the Patriot Act's effect on freedom of expression and civil liberties. Sudden Sound looks at 'precision' bombing.

• PEACESONG Baghdad Road |Download|
• PEACESONG Enemy Me |Download| Lyrics |
• PEACESONGSudden Sound |Download| Lyrics
• PEACESONG Mark Foley has three new TUNES check em out.
• REM The Final Straw Streamed | Lyrics |
• roymond Zombie Son Download |
• roymond Just Blue Download |
• roymond Sunny Again Download |
• Dan Rheault Tonight I've Seen Tommorrow" | Download | Lyrics |
• rxmusic |Dick is a Killer Download |Lyrics |
• rxmusic | Sunday Bloody Sunday (George Bush cover) |Download | Lyrics
• rxmusic | Imagine-Walk on the Wild Side (George Bush vocals) |Download |
• Nathan Sloniowski Who Rules The World Download | Play clip
• Stephan Smith, The Bell * Download| Lyrics|
• Stephan Smith Business Download | Lyrics |
• Stephan Smith You Ain't A Cowboy Streaming Audio| Lyrics | Purchase 99¢ donation to TrueMajority.org|
• Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam Peace Train Lyrics |
• Michael Strasser The Corporate State of America Download| Lyrics
• The Used Johnnys The Agenda for Century 21 Download | Lyrics |
• John Trudell Bombs Over Baghdad Download| Lyrics|
• TVSMITH Not In Our Name Download| Lyrics|
• Uncle Ted's Garage DubAmerika Download | Lyrics |
• Uncle Ted's Garage A Political Song Download | Lyrics | Play Clip
• Uncle Ted's Garage A The Peace Chain Download | Lyrics
• Don Waller on the Randi Rhodes Show | You down with ABB Download| Alt Download
• John Warner Coalition of the Willing Download | Lyrics|
• Sputnik Weazel | New American Century Download | Lyrics |
• Saul Williams Freestyle Live in No Man's Land (Not in My Name) Download|Interview |
Additional Sources for Anti-War and Anti-Bush Songs
• Songs for World Peace An annotated collection of both pro-Peace and anti-War songs.
• Not In Our Name Music site
• Protest Records
• Centre for Political Song
• Anti-War Songs (comprehensive)
• ZNet's Selected Anti War Songs
• Anti-War Songs From Germany
• Sea Lions Records CD Compilation of 20 great ANTI-BUSH, ANTI-WAR songs
• Zearle.com/Left Made Music |    This Guy Really Hates George Bush
• This UNESCO-endorsed New Songs for Peace project is intended to encourage people to think about peace, talk about peace, and write a new song that we will collect and self-publish in a book. These new songs will promote peace, cultural acceptance and understanding for those who work towards peace throughout the world.

Here are some popular tunes with new anti-war lyrics.

• Everybody Must Get Bombed To the tune of Bob Dylan Rainy Day Woman
• World's Ruler It's Paradise to the tune of Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett
• Dubya Can't Wait to the tune of Friday I'm In Love by The Cure
• The Busher to the tune of Steppenwolf's The Pusher
• More Dead to Send Back Home to the tune of Four Dead in Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young |
• Sgt. Pepper Revisited Including John Ashcroft's Holy Gun Nut Band



Posted by Norm at 11:43 PM | Permalink

Beastie Boys anti-war Song

Beastie Boys Link to Dowload mp3

"This song is not an anti-American or pro-Saddam Hussein statement. This is a statement against an unjustified war."
- Adam Horovitz

In A World Gone Mad - Lyrics

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight

Mirrors, smokescreens and lies
It’s not the politicians but their actions I despise
You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day
With the cocaine and Courvoisier
But you build more bombs as you get more bold
As your mid-life crisis war unfolds
All you want to do is take control
Now put that axis of evil bullshit on hold
Citizen rule number 2080
Politicians are shady
So people watch your back 'cause I think they smoke crack
I don’t doubt it look at how they act

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight

First the ‘War On Terror’ now war on Iraq
We’re reaching a point where we can’t turn back
Let’s lose the guns and let’s lose the bombs
And stop the corporate contributions that their built upon
Well I’ll be sleeping on your speeches ‘til I start to snore
‘Cause I won’t carry guns for an oil war
As-Salamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam
Peace to the Middle East peace to Islam
Now don’t get us wrong ‘cause we love America
But that’s no reason to get hysterica
They’re layin’ on the syrup thick
We ain’t waffles we ain’t havin’ it

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight

Now how many people must get killed?
For oil families pockets to get filled?
How many oil families get killed?
Not a damn one so what’s the deal?

It’s time to lead the way and de-escalate
Lose the weapons of mass destruction and the hate
Say ooh ah what’s the White House doin’?
Oh no! Say, what in tarnation have they got brewing??!!!!???!!
Well I’m not pro Bush and I’m not pro Saddam
We need these fools to remain calm

George Bush you’re looking like

Trying to play tough for the camera
What am I on crazy pills? We’ve got to stop it
Get your hand out my grandma’s pocket
We need health care more than going to war
You think it’s democracy they’re fighting for?

In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight

Posted by Norm at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Chess is a mind game, the objective of which is to checkmate or kill the opposing king. Ultimately that is the only way to win, unless an opponent, staring inevitable defeat in the face, voluntarily opts to resign... Bush's huge buildup of troops in the Persian Gulf is a clear parallel with massing forces around the enemy king prior to delivering the checkmating blow. Usually this succeeds, but I have seen inexperienced players with a huge material advantage but unskilled in king-hunting chase a sole enemy king around the board only to blunder into stalemate.

Posted by Norm at 12:55 PM | Permalink

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Kasparov's outburst over beauty prize in Linares Justice should be blind, but should beauty? At the closing ceremony the prize for the most beautiful game went to Kasparov-Radjabov. The teen's win over the #1 was a landmark moment, but Radjabov had a losing position and it took a "??" move from Kasparov to create the upset. Kasparov erupted at the ceremony and went after the journalists who had voted. Who was wrong?

Posted by Norm at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

President Bush is doing a pretty good impression of the Grand Old Duke of York, marching his men up and down the hill to no great effect. And don't believe the line about this toing-and-froing all being a big favour to try to help Tony Blair get out of trouble in the UK. The American authorities have plenty of political problems much closer to home than London. The US establishment has lost its way in the world. Its identity crisis was in no way caused by 11 September, but the trauma caused by those terrorist attacks did help bring things to head. The underlying problem, as we discussed on spiked when the Iraqi crisis began, is that the US elite has long since lost its Culture Wars at home. The image of a self-confident USA bestriding the world has increasingly been called into question by doubts about everything from the history of slavery to the validity of the American Dream. The divided and indecisive state of the US foreign policy establishment today is a consequence of that loss of mission and purpose.

Posted by Norm at 11:59 AM | Permalink

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Posted by Norm at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Two young sons of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, are being held by the CIA to force their father to talk, interrogators said yesterday.

Profound changes have been taking place in American foreign policy, reversing consistent bipartisan commitments that for more than two centuries have earned our nation greatness. These commitments have been predicated on basic religious principles, respect for international law, and alliances that resulted in wise decisions and mutual restraint. Our apparent determination to launch a war against Iraq, without international support, is a violation of these premises.

Posted by Norm at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The toilet down the hall flushes: Kathryn rising from the seat, having patted her oily dark cleft with a pad of tissue. This downstairs water closet sometimes keeps running, the stopper balancing upright on its hinge and failing to fall, so that the water runs without filling the porcelain box and making the ball cock rise and shut off the flow. Hope listens for the telltale change of pitch in the toilet's murmur that signals a fallen stopper and a seal. She imagines she hears it, through the rush of an open faucet: Kathryn washing her hands. Had hope set out a clean hand towel? The other woman emerges with the curious stalking gait of hers, as if walking in her boots on uneven stepping-stones, a praying mantis gait. Hope wonders if she should follow the younger woman's example but foresees that the seat will be warm, an uncanny undesired intimacy, and decides she can wait. The tea will want out in an hour or less.

Posted by Norm at 1:18 PM | Permalink

He was steely, determined, resolute—and totally unconvincing to anyone who didn’t already agree with him.

How the president has skillfully used war with Iraq to advance conservative policies that in normal times would never survive legislative scrutiny

My biggest concern is not that Bush has already decided to go to war (You could tell that from the past tense he used: “I wish Saddam Hussein had listened”). It’s that he made the decision not this week or last but many months ago, and he never seemed to refine it. Now the consequences of the decision are about to be out of his control. “Events are in the saddle and tend to ride mankind,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote. Soon enough, we’ll know which direction.

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Anti-war songs have always been a catalyst for anti-war movements a rallying cry. There were many anti-war songs in the sixties. Here is a modern anti-war song in that tradition written by Stephen Smith and along with Stephen the voice of Pete Seeger. Comments from Seeger, the lyrics and additional comments by Howard Zinn follow. There is also a link to the mp3 at the end. Give it a listen. It transported me back to a time in the 60's when I realized as I do now that war is not the answer.
Anti-war Music by Stephen Smith

The war drums are beating. Many voices for peace are being heard but we need many more. Musicians I've worked with who have passed on would be singing with us today. People like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Phil Ochs, Malvina Reynolds, Richard Farina, and John Lennon.

Down with apathy and up with activism!

Recently I recorded an anti-war song, "The Bell," with a young musician and songwriter named Stephan Smith. I believe these lyrics will inspire you as they did me.—Pete Seeger

The Bell
By Stephan Smith

"Oh where are you going?" said the man at his desk
"I'm going to a new world," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I'm going to a new world," said the child and he stood

"Oh I'm sounding drums of war," said the man at his desk
"Oh, I will not fight your war," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I will not fight your war," said the child and he stood

"Oh, but don't you love your country?" said the man at his desk
"Yes, I do, but you don't," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I do but you don't," said the child and he stood

"Oh, but do you know the truth?" said the man at his desk
"Yes, you lie and call it truth," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"You lie and call it truth," said the child and he stood

"Oh, you must be scared to die," said the man at his desk
"No, I'm prepared and you're scared," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"I'm prepared and you're scared," said the child and he stood

"Oh, I think I hear a bell," said the man at his desk
"Yes, it's ringing you to hell," said the child and he stood
And he stood, and he stood, and t'were well that he stood
"Yes, it's ringing you to hell," said the child and he stood

Howard Zinn on ""he Bell":

"Stephan Smith's song THE BELL concentrates a world of meaning into its few lines. At the center of it is a child, which is perfectly fitting, because it is the children who are always the most heartbreaking victims of war, and who will be the victims of America's next war. The wisdom of the child stands in contrast to the platitudes uttered by the warmaker, "the man at his desk." The child sees through the false claim that to do to war means to love your country. The child sees through the Orwellian deceptions, in which lies are presented as truth. It is the child who challenges the call to war. And it is the child in the end who shows no fear, and it is the warmaker who must be afraid, because the courage of the child has a greater power than guns and bombs."

listen to the mp3

another anti-war song

Posted by Norm at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tried to defend my cowboy like habits
Did it several times a day
Took my time defeating people asking for peace
Lined up John Ashcroft asked him to take them away.

But at night I have these wonderful dreams
Some kind of stupendous feat.
Not diplomacy, words, or U.N. meets
But a big bunker buster that's really quite neat.

Ruling the world is paradise
Heaven on earth with weapons real nice
Not too particular, not too precise
I'm just the world's ruler it's paradise

Heard about a place called the U.N.
They say the same thing again and again;
All fear and dread I'll kill Arabs instead
Well, It reminds me of the men we are going to send.

But times have changed I don't need the U.N.
When I'm in charge I get what I need;
Not just the French, or Germans, or Iraqis
But that American arrogance on which I feed.

Ruling the world is paradise making the rules is really quite nice
Heaven on earth with weapons adds spice
I'm just the world's ruler it's paradise

I like wars with death and quick killin
Plenty of oil wells and lots of new drillin.
A sleek cruise missle and alcohol free beer
Well, good god Almighty I was chosen to steer.

For ruling the world is paradise
Makin' the rules is virtue not vice
Worth every damn bit of sacrifice
To be the world's ruler is paradise
To be the the world's ruler it's paradise
I'm just the world's ruler it's paradise

I like wars with death and quick killin
Plenty of oil wells and lots of new drillin.
A sleek cruise missle and alcohol free beer
Well, good god Almighty I was chosen to steer.

A clip of the first couple of verses of the original for those not familiar with the tune

Based on Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger In Paradise"
Do you think these things are clues?

Posted by Norm at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Norm at 12:49 AM | Permalink

Bad Moves: Absence and evidence By Julian Baggini "It depends on Saddam. If he co-operates with the inspectors in allowing them not just access but telling them what material he has and allowing them to shut it down and make Iraq safe and free of weapons of mass destruction then the issue is over, but he is not doing that at the moment." Tony Blair, 26 January 2003 (Source: the Guardian, 27 January 2003) The British and American governments have consistently claimed that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But they have not helped their case by rigging the rules by which their claim is tested. Here's the problem.

Posted by Norm at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I don't care if Saddam's blue
France is pissed and Germany too
Turkey I don't care about you
Its time to go to war

The Middle East can fall apart
Syria Egypt don't even start.
Our ratings will go off the charts
It's time to go to war

Dubya can't wait
Inspections suck its way too late
It's not our plan to hesitate

I don't care if we take some flack
The Ides of March we will attack
Winning never looking back
It's time to go to war

Democrats can sit and hold their heads
Remain at home just stay in bed
Or just pace the halls instead
It's time to go to war

Dubya can't wait
Inspections suck its way too late
It's not our plan to hesitate

Planes up in the sky
It's a wonderful surprise
To see the oil companies spirits rise
Throwing the gauntlet down
Watching bombs hit the ground
And as the Iraqis shriek
Lost and losing ground
Always do what's right
It's such a gorgeous sight
To see bombs burst in the middle of the night
You can never get enough
Enough of this stuff
It's time to go to war

A clip of the first couple of verses of the original for those not familiar with the tune

Thanks to Robert Smith of The Cure for the inspiration his lyrics to the song "Friday I'm in Love" provided, and my apologies for associating his good name with the Shrub, even satirically.

Posted by Norm at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

A little note from the author: Permission to Copy and Plagiarize Freedom of the Press and License, too "WE are often asked permission to reprint or duplicate or in some other way to circulate the pieces that appear in The Underground Grammarian. It always seems to us a good idea, and we always grant such permission. In fact, you may take this little notice as prior written permission to do likewise in any fashion that seems good to you. We neither ask nor expect any form of payment, but we would like to be cited as the source. But if admitting that you read this sheet will get you into hot water, we will be the first to understand. "One reader wrote recently to apologize for plagiarism, since he had woven some of our stuff into a speech he had given and made no attribution. Since then we have also had word of a man who wrote, to the editor of some newspaper, a letter that was, in fact, made entirely of our words. The paper caught him, chastised him, and barred him from their letters column forever. Somehow, we feel that something only sort of like justice has been served here. So now we have to add a new rule. Plagiarism is also permitted. Go ahead. Make our day."

Posted by Norm at 2:21 PM | Permalink

Posted by Norm at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)