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THE INARTICULATE MEETS THE UNEXPLAINABLE
You'd think that any self-respecting putz would hold onto his family jewels with both hands when the former head of the KGB comes a-courtin' -- but not Dubya. While Prez Putin insists on a marriage contract, Dubya giddily hands over his dowry, -us-, on a handshake. Frankly, we worry more about this dalliance than we ever did about President Clinton's.
We know that where our troops are involved there must be secrecy to protect them so we can understand the mixed messages from Afghanistan. It is the lies, damned lies and Constitutional fracturing here at home that confound us.
William Safire observes:"Misadvised
by a frustrated and panic-stricken attorney general, a president of the
United States has just assumed what amounts to dictatorial power to jail
or execute aliens. Intimidated by terrorists and inflamed by a passion
for rough justice, we are letting George W. Bush get away with the replacement
of the American rule of law with military kangaroo courts."
We've
wondered for a year now why the person in the White House got there despite
getting fewer votes than his opponent. He still seems incapable of lucid
communication in his mother tongue unless aided by a teleprompter. Now
we still don't have a winner despite the release of an investigative report.
A consortium of Media moguls got together
to weigh the November 2000 shenanigans in the Florida election and came
up with butkus. In short, their results claim that if X had happened,
Gore would have won and if Y had happened, Bush would have won.
Can we trust the majority of the media to tell us the truth especially
the way they have consistently cuddled up to Bush? Marc Ash writes concerning
the media conclusions: "What a spectacular abdication
of journalistic integrity, to admit clearly on the one hand that the people
of the state of Florida chose Al Gore, and at the very same moment to unilaterally
mask that with misleading headlines. This is for me the darkest moment
in the history of the American press. The Constitution guarantees freedom
of the press, but it does not guarantee a free press. What the press chooses
to do with its freedom is its own business -- today they have squandered
it." http://www.truthout.com/11.13A.recount.htm
Mickey
Kaus, writing for Slate, writes:
"Everything the New York Times Thinks About the Florida Recount Is Wrong! It turns out the U.S. Supreme Court really did cast the deciding vote..." http://slate.msn.com/?id=2058603Despite this, we are told that 47% of Americans believe Dubya won Florida. The irony of this is that the rest of the world does not, and wonders if we have lost our senses.
Now the Northern Alliance soldiers have overrun the capital of Afghanistan. They are acting just like the Taliban, killing and looting. True, we are shown pictures of women appearing in public and men shaving their beards. We see many happy people because the Taliban had prohibited both of these acts.
But look behind the happy faces of the liberated. The viciousness that was the hallmark of the Taliban is rampant in the Northern Alliance. The women of RAWA have told us that if the NA is in control that they will act no differently from the Taliban. Women will continue to be persecuted and that is indefensible. Our military were sent into Bosnia to prevent ethnic cleansing but we know from past experience that it will not interfere on behalf of women in peril for their lives. It is already making deals with the men of the various tribes that make up Afghanistan. Only men are engaged in the planning of a new Afghanistan government. Not one woman is present at these proceedings. Click on the following URL to send an e-mail to Secretary of State Powell to ask that women be included. http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=12336
How did we get in this whole terrorist
mess anyway? We know that threats were made and ignored by the Cheney/Bush
administration, but our media tends to back away from finding out any information
about this. Not so in other countries as their reporters have dug out masses
of material relating to hands off policies of the administration. "Officials
Told to 'Back Off' on Saudis Before September 11
"Greg Palast and David Pallister
"Wednesday November 7, 2001
"High-placed intelligence sources in Washington told the Guardian this week: 'There were always constraints on investigating the Saudis.' They said the restrictions became worse after the Bush administration took over this year. The intelligence agencies had been told to 'back off' from investigations involving other members of the Bin Laden family, the Saudi royals, and possible Saudi links to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Pakistan. 'There were particular investigations that were effectively killed.' " http://www.truthout.com/11.08C.Palast.htmMaybe Fox Mulder (X-Files) thinks the truth is out there, but Americans cannot rely on their free press to bring it to them. And why should they when corporate interests now own most all of the media, and Cheney/Bush own the corporate interests?
Finally, be of good cheer. There is always hope if we can keep laughing. http://www.funtown.com/talibangirls/talibangirls.cfm
