Read more at the Daily Farce

June 26th, 2004

Warning: This Movie Contains Opinions

Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' confronts viewers with a challenging, controversial point of view. If you find that threatening, don't worry. Confusion Road tells you what to think.

So you're thinking about going to see Michael Moore's new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. But what can you expect? Is the movie a must-see for politically conscious Americans? Or does it contain dangerous lies concocted by a left-wing lunatic? As a public service, Confusion Road offers the following warnings to help you understand the risks. WARNING: This movie contains opinions. These opinions may be different from the ones you currently hold. You will not know for sure whether you agree with the opinions expressed in this film until the closing credits. (To save time, sneak in at the end of the movie and watch the closing credits only.) DANGER: This film contains opinions that are considered controversial. "Controversial" means that they are not simplistic or obvious, like "war is bad" or "children are the future." If you prefer those kinds of opinions, consider watching the Miss America pageant instead.

read more at confusionroad.com

by Michael K. Smith

BAGHDAD, Iraq (GWB) -- Iraq's interim, provisional, temporary satellite government #14 was sworn in Monday after the United States returned sovereignty to its favorite C.I.A. agent two days ahead of schedule.

The official handover of sovereignty occurred at 10:26 a.m. (2:26 a.m. ET), when former coalition civil administrator L. Paul Bremer gave interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi a leather-bound transfer document and a bullet-proof vest before fleeing the country in fear for his life.

Iraqis not on the U.S. payroll dismissed the event as meaningless as long as U.S. troops occupy the nation, but those on Uncle Sam's gravy train said the handover was a step in the right direction.

Iraqi flags lined the U.S. military bunker at the swearing-in ceremony, where Allawi and other members of the new government placed their hands on the Koran and prayed not to fall into the hands of the Iraqi resistance. All promised to serve Washington with shameless sincerity.

With the U.S. occupation ripping the country apart Allawi called national unity behind President Bush's leadership "a sacred duty." He then solemnly announced the names of his new cabinet, including the Minister of Rubble and Urban Collapse, the Chief Negotiator of Hostage Affairs, the Secretary of Car-Bombings in the Ministry of Grief, Chief Liaison Officer to the Pentagon's Department of Sexual Abuse, and the Minister of Decapitation Response. Allawi confidently predicted this team would get Iraq headed "in the right direction."

The interim-provisional-temporary Prime Minister admitted that "the transformation from an Islamic society to American-style consumerist order" is "a major task" likely to take many years, not to mention "one hell of a marketing strategy."

Asked by reporters attending the handover ceremony why the event was carried out in secret two days ahead of the announced schedule, an Iraqi official said Allawi requested it because "the Iraqi resistance was closing in" and cabinet leaders did not relish the prospect of getting blown up at the swearing-in ceremony.

At a NATO summit Monday in Turkey, President Bush said the day was one of "great hope for Iraqis." Iraqis on the ground in Baghdad agreed, saying they are desperately hoping they will survive the Bush years.

"After decades of brutal rule by a terror regime we fully supported, the Iraqi people have their country back in the hands of a man who boasts of having taken money from 15 different intelligence agencies," Bush added. "If that's not patriotism I don't know what is."

Bush reiterated his promise that the U.S. military "will stay as long as there is oil in the ground and not a moment longer."

Although the Defense Department "is going to be very heavily involved" -- with close to 140,000 troops sowing murder and mayhem around the country -- this will not affect the exercise of Iraqi sovereignty, Bush declared. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, who supervised the extermination of tens of thousands of Nicaraguans as Pro-Consul of Honduras in the 1980s, arrived in Baghdad on Monday as the chief U.S. official in Iraq. Iraqi funeral homes expect a huge increase in business as a result of his presence.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the early handover, saying it was an attempt to "seize the initiative" by carrying out a meaningless ceremony at an undisclosed location. "We obviously welcome it because it's the C.I.A. taking control. What's important now is that the Iraqi people see Iraqi officials licking the boots of the Americans. It's worked for me and it'll work for them, too. "

Other developments

* Most respondents to a new poll released Monday predicted that the new puppet government of Iraq will consider relocating to Jupiter within a few months.

* Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Istanbul that the early transfer of sovereignty is "a sign we were ready to take up our responsibility even before June 30th. After all, we had our families stashed abroad long ago."

* Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told The Associated Press on Monday that the State Department will assume the dominant role in teaching the Iraqis the art of self-government "without kicking us out."

* Vice-President Dick Cheney, accepting an award as the "most corrupt" government official in history, said the outlook is bright for his investment portfolio no matter how things turn out in Iraq.

Michael K. Smith is the author of "The Madness of King George" (illustrations by Matt Wuerker), available from Common Courage Press

Fahrenheit 9/11 Discussion Community

I spent most of the past week building out a discussion forum community for Michael Moore's new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, which hits theatres on June 25.

http://www.fh911.com/

Why did I build this? For a variety of reasons:

1. Other than the popular Rotten Tomatoes and IMdb forums, I found very few discussion forums dedicated to a single cause, like Moore's new movie
2. I realized that this movie is going to be HUGE and I wanted there to be a place online for fans (and critics) to talk about this movie on equal terms.
3. Moore's Internet people never emailed me back - even after several attempts - so I can only assume they have no plans for building an online community into fahrenheit911.com
4. I wanted to see how easy it would be to add/modify a Forums module to the Content Management Framework I'm learning
5. I wanted a showpiece community site for my new company, BlogLabs, Inc.

Feel free to use the site, but assume that over the next day or two that small things on the site will change as I iron out any more bugs I find. For instance, I haven't tested the site completely in IE/Windows. Any bugs can be reported in the comments for this entry or sent to me through my contact form.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to "f--- off" or "go f--- yourself," the aides said.

"I think he was just having a bad day," Leahy was quoted as saying on CNN, which first reported the incident. "I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor."

Director Michael Moore promoting his film in Toronto. (Aaron Harris/The Associated Press)

By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune

    In the run-up to today's nationwide opening of "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore has done what a filmmaker is supposed to do with a new film: promoted it relentlessly.
    To sell tickets for his cinematic pounding of George W. Bush's war policy, Moore has appeared on Letterman, "The Today Show" and "This Week with George Stephanolopoulos" -- and was scheduled for last night's "The Daily Show" and today's "The Early Show." He loudly protested Disney's order to Miramax not to distribute the film (Lions Gate and IFC took on the job), and loudly (to no avail) appealed the MPAA's R rating.
    Others, intentionally or not, are also drumming up publicity. A former California legislator started a Web campaign, Move America Forward, that urged people to e-mail theater owners urging them not to show a movie it calls "a political advertisement that defames our military, insults our troops and attempts to undermine the public's support for the War on Terror." On the other end of the Web's political spectrum, the progressive group MoveOn.org is arranging house parties across the country Monday night to mobilize Moore's fans.
 

Read More about what Ray Bradbury says about it!

Cosmic Monarch Role Spells Trouble

by Michael K. Smith

President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic God-intoxication and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides express growing concern the president has snapped.

"We always knew he was one taco short of a combination plate," said one White House intern, "but lately he makes Nixon look like a rock of stable integrity." In meetings the President goes from spouting the Bible to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats, France, the Pope, and the Dixie chicks, classifying them all as "enemies of freedom."

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man over the edge, contemptuous of those who question his Divinity and paranoid of a public that stubbornly refuses to get enthusiastic about permanent war and fiscal catastrophe. In interviews with a number of hostages on the White House staff, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be "God's will" and instructs aides to "fuck over" opponents of the administration. Anyone who fails to swoon at his mindless incantations is subjected to a public tongue lashing, dismissed as "unpatriotic,""anti-American," and increasingly, "fucking assholes."

"We're at war, there's no doubt about it," says a troubled White House aide. "Bush has a battalion of secretaries drawing up enemies lists. They're all logging 90 hour weeks and still the president screams at them that the lists are incomplete. It's not enough to list every Democrat who ever lived, they've also got to name everyone who ever 'harbored' a Democrat for an overnight stay or an evening meal. The task is endless."

Aides also say the President gets hung up on minor details, like sequencing his next dozen wars and arguing the finer points of his "Leave No Tree Behind" Act. Then he kisses off meetings on economic policy, yelling that "we can always invade Japan and Germany" if they stop funding our deficits. Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves cleaning cowchips off the White House carpet. Colin Powell is reportedly running elevators at the State Department.

According to experts in deviant psychology, Bush's world view is straight out of the Dark Ages. Everything boils down to a conflict of God versus the Devil. People who don't devote themselves to making him happy are defined as "evil" and "against God." People who shower him with praise and cash are seen as embodiments of the Soul, Church, and God. Because Bush has been unable to ignite the kind of mass hysteria common to the Middle Ages he is more convinced than ever that the Devil has taken control of this"permissive" society.

In Bush's mind the solution is obvious: exorcise the Devil embodied in the Bill of Rights, the "liberal media" and the proliferating citizen movements against injustice. He calls this Compassionate Exorcism. The president classifies all human behavior and the workings of the universe - stars, planets, tricky pretzels, and unfavorable polls - as God-given or Devil-ridden. To question or explore deeper reasons for things is heresy and evil. To further confirm and explain the Divinity of George W. Bush is the only legitimate scholarship, journalism, and politics. Everything else is witchcraft and will be punished by Ashcroft and the secret tribunals.

Unlike Salem, though, this time the burnings at the stake will not be public.

© Copyright 2004 The Daily Demon

Michael K. Smith is the author of "The Madness of King George" (illustrations by Matt Wuerker) from Common Courage Press

President Is "A Genius" Comedians Insist

by Michael K. Smith

Thanks to the brilliant surrealist language that has become his trademark, President Bush was rated the top stand-up comic in the country by a panel of comedians today, which hailed his stand-up routine as the work of genius.

"There's no question, he's the best in the business," said an awestruck Robin Williams. "I can't come close to that level of material." George Carlin concurred, calling Bush the greatest ever. "I've said in that sometimes a little brain-damage can help in this business. But just look at what LOTS of brain damage has done!" A despondent Will Durst saw little point in continuing his career: "I can't watch him anymore. He's just too good. I feel so inadequate after seeing him work an audience. If he steals another four years it may be time for me to call it quits."

Bush keeps his audiences in stitches with brilliantly innovative material that appears to be limitless. While most comedians settle for thirty minutes of solid material as the basis of their performing career, Bush has stored up hours of hilarious punchlines on every conceivable political topic. And comedians insist that his impersonation of a brain-dead automaton who becomes president is nearly flawless.

Among Bush's side-splitting punchlines reaping major public attention are the following:

"I know how hard it is to put food on your family." ----- GW on the struggle to make ends meet

"[A] pretty good political handbook." -----GW on the Bible

"This CRUSADE, this war on terrorism is going to take a while." -----GW soothing the Muslim world just before attacking Afghanistan

"Kim Jong Il is a pygmy." -----GW showing his penchant for diplomacy (with North Korea)

"I hope this [Iraq situation] will not require military action." ----- GW as he prepared to invade Iraq

"Feels good!"

-----GW pumping his fist and launching the invasion of Iraq.

"The responsibility to show up and do your job."

-----GW, on what the National Guard taught him. His whereabouts for the last year-and-a-half of his Texas Air National Guard duty are unknown.

"This [Iraq] regime is seeking a nuclear bomb and, with fissile material, could build one within a year."

-----GW in September 2002. Iraq had dismantled its nuclear program years before.

"No comment, asshole."

----GW expressing an early form of compassionate conservatism to reporters during his father's run for the presidency

"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."

-----GW on education, 2000 </>

"Incarceration is rehabilitation."

-----GW on his crime policy as Governor of Texas

"It's going to take a while to transition to a system where personal savings accounts are the predominant part of the investment vehicle. This [plan to privatize Social Security] is a step toward a completely different world . . ."

-----GW in May 2000

"The Healthy Forests Initiative."

-----GW on his policy of converting forests to tree stumps

"The Clear Skies Initiative."

-----GW on his policy of freeing polluters from regulations on air quality

"No Child Left Behind."

-----GW on his unfunded education mandate, which leaves EVERY child behind.

"I value you as a person and I value you as a human being, and I want you to know, Glen, that what I say publicly about gay people doesn't pertain to you."

-----GW as Governor of Texas, explaining his gay-bashing to Texas state representative Glen Maxey

"Incredibly positive news."

-----GW on his ballooning federal deficits, theorizing that trillions of dollars in red ink would restrain government spending on social programs

"We will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and other generations."

-----GW in his 2003 State of the Union address. His own administration projects a $44 trillion shortfall in revenues as a result of his fiscal policy.

"By far the vast majority of the help goes to the people at the bottom end of the economic ladder."

-----GW on his tax cuts for the rich, second debate with Al Gore, 2000

"Those in the greatest need should receive the greatest help."

-----GW displaying his "big lie" technique while running for president. In his tax plan, those in the greatest need turn out to be people with annual incomes exceeding $373,000.

" . . . intended to promote work . . ."

-----The Bush Administration explaining its motive behind proposing a raise in rents in public housing.

Michael K. Smith is the author of "The Madness of King George" (illustrations by Matt Wuerker) available from Common Courage Press

Confused ? Having difficulty telling the good guys from the bad guys ? Use this handy guide to keep yourself morally upright:

TERRORISTS: Supposed leader is the spoiled son of a powerful politician, from extremely wealthy oil family

US GOVERNMENT: Supposed leader is the spoiled son of a powerful politician, from extremely wealthy oil family

TERRORISTS: Leader has declared a holy war ('Jihad') against his 'enemies'; believes any nation not with him is against him; believes God is on his side, and that any means are justified.

US GOVERNMENT: Leader has declared a holy war ('Crusade') against his 'enemies'; believes any nation not with him is against him; believes God is on his side, and that any means are justified.

TERRORISTS: Supported by extreme fundamentalist religious leaders who preach hatred, intolerance, subjugation of women, and persecution of non-believers

US GOVERNMENT: Supported by extreme fundamentalist religious leaders who preach hatred, intolerance, subjugation of women, and persecution of non-believers

TERRORISTS: Leadership was not elected by a majority of the people in a free and fair democratic election

US GOVERNMENT: Leadership was not elected by a majority of the people in a free and fair democratic election

TERRORISTS: Kills thousands of innocent civilians, some of them children, in cold blooded bombings

US GOVERNMENT: Kills (tens of) thousands of innocent civilians, some of them children, in cold blooded bombings

TERRORISTS: Operates through clandestine organization (al Qaeda) with agents in many countries; uses bombing, assassination, other terrorist tactics

US GOVERNMENT: Operates through clandestine organization (CIA) with agents in many countries; uses bombing, assassination, other terrorist tactics

TERRORISTS: Using war as pretext to clamp down on dissent and undermine civil liberties

US GOVERNMENT: Using war as pretext to clamp down on dissent and undermine civil liberties

* * *

Very significant differences lie NOT in the ideological plane, but elsewhere:

Bin Laden's active combatant force numbers in the hundreds if not thousands. Many are willing to sacrifice themselves for what they believe in, and they are armed with essentially black market equipment, homemade weapons and whatever they can capture and use against those whom they view as the enemy.

The US Government's active combatant force numbers in the millions. By and large --especially at the top-- they are not willing to die for what they believe in, they are only willing to kill for what they believe in. They are armed with every weapon of murder, mayhem and genocide ever invented in the entire history of the human race and have a very convincing record of a willingness to use them, not just in one spectacular action but with the humdrum ruthless efficiency of a soulless bureaucracy that handles "tasking" the annihilation of what turns out to be a peaceful rural hamlet as one more piece of paperwork. They view any number of civilian casualties and any amount of misery visited upon a nation's population as the merely inevitable, acceptable "collateral damage" inflicted by the Fates of War.

by Michael K. Smith

Vice President Cheney's Christ-like leadership is inspiring admiration around the world, with devotees everywhere expressing gratitude for his long-standing efforts to do the right thing regardless of personal advantage.

Unlike selfish politicians, Cheney has always worked hard to promote the general welfare of the U.S., and indeed, the entire human race.. As a Congressman he voted against the Equal Rights Amendment, against funding for Head Start, against a House resolution calling for South Africa to release Nelson Mandela from prison, against federal funding for abortion even in cases of rape or incest, against a ban on cop killer bullets, against restrictions on plastic guns that could easily be slipped through airport security, against safe drinking water standards, against establishing the federal Department of Education, against a waiting period for handgun purchases, against the Panama Canal Treaty, and against imposing sanctions on apartheid South Africa (but only 10 times). When pressed, he indicated that budget pressures induced many of these votes, which makes sense. There's no telling how much it would have cost to release Mandela from prison.

Ethics experts are unanimous in stating their conviction that this record demonstrates Cheney is a towering moral figure, probably the most inspiring in history.

Take Equal Rights for women. If we implemented that kind of nonsense, women who do thousands of hours of unpaid labor in the home every year might actually get some help from the government in return for their contributions. What kind of world would that be? Try not to think about it.

Or take keeping Mandela locked in jail for 27 years, which obviously made the world a better place. If Cheney hadn't taken the stand he did, support for white supremacy might be even weaker than it is today, and who could stomach that? Horrible as it is to consider, without people like Cheney, skin color might be no more significant than the presence or absence of freckles for God's sake, and what kind of civilization would even be possible if that happened?!!!?

And I really don't understand why anyone would want to ban cop killer bullets. We should treat our policemen just as shabbily as we do our troops in the field and thankfully Cheney does both admirably. Why should bullet manufacturers lose profits just to keep policemen alive? Thank God Cheney has our priorities straight.

And denying abortions to rape and incest victims is a principled stance that very few are willing to take. But Cheney, worth more than Gandhi and Dr. King put together, is the kind of take charge guy that makes the tough choices. He knows very well that a baby conceived in utmost brutality ought to be just as precious to the mother as one she chooses to have. And as soon as Roe v. Wade is struck down, Cheney's moral convictions will have the force of law. Doesn't that just make you want to jump up and cheer?

Voting against federal safe drinking water standards was a prudent choice, too, and I'm very grateful Dick made it. I mean, which is more important, a non-toxic glass of water for your child or a convenient dumping place for rocket fuel? It's a no-brainer and Dick made the right choice for all of us.

Not to mention that the pollution issue is a non-starter. U.S. industry determined years ago that the "solution to pollution is dilution," which means that toxic chemicals and radioactive waste must be dumped in or on our rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, picnic grounds, parking lots, housing lots, and farmlands. What other choice is there?

Let's give Cheney a life term!

Michael K. Smith is the author of "The Madness of King George" (illustrations by Matt Wuerker) available from Common Courage Press

: UNPARDONABLE

Unpardonable The Bush record of 'compassion' began long before his sojourn in D.C. BY LUCIUS LOMAX   Sharon Stewart spent five years in TDCJ on a 90-day sentence. photo by Jana Birchum     It's an interesting theory – but very difficult to document from the actual Bush record. It's conventional among some Texans to say that George W. Bush became more extreme as president than he had been as governor. He didn't try to invade Mexico on his Texas watch, after all. He didn't brazenly curtail civil liberties in the state, nor try to ban abortion, did he? According to bar talk and casual philosophizing, W.'s more extreme tendencies were held in check at the Texas Capitol by the last men standing in the Democratic leadership. With their remaining strength, Texas Dems kept W., people say, from being W. – that is, what we see in the White House, a WASP avenging angel, determined to smite the infidel and right liberal wrongs.

the rest of the story

The president plays cordial host at a
ceremony for the Clintons' White House portraits.
He even plugs that new book.

By BILL ADAIR, Times Staff Writer
Published June 15, 2004
 

	[AP photo]
	With a bow, former President Bill Clinton joins his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a White House unveiling of their portraits Monday.

WASHINGTON - As the alumni from the Clinton administration gathered at the White House on Monday, they whispered about the menu. Would they get shrimp?

The Bush administration invited more than 100 Clintonites to see the unveiling of the official portraits of President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Afterward, the group was treated to lunch in the State Dining Room.

At the White House, like so many places, food tells you where you stand in the pecking order. Some people only merit cold cuts and a bowl of punch. Others get a full buffet with shrimp. The Clintonites didn't get shrimp, but they did get an elegant buffet that included salmon and crab cakes.

"Many of us noted that the lunch offering was quite lavish and quite generous," said Thurgood Marshall Jr., a former Clinton aide.

The event - and the cuisine - symbolized a momentary thaw in the frigid relations between the Bush White House and the Democrats.

At the unveiling ceremony, Bush offered a glowing tribute to Clinton, who defeated President Bush's father to win the White House in 1992. Clinton was also the man to whom the younger Bush had referred when he promised to "to restore honor and dignity" to the presidency.

But all that was a distant memory Monday.

Instead, Bush said the Democrat "showed a deep and far-ranging knowledge of public policy, a great compassion for people in need, and the forward-looking spirit that Americans like in a president."

Bush praised Clinton's determination and optimism, noting that he had run the presidential campaign for liberal George McGovern in the conservative state of Texas. Bush joked that, "You've got to be optimistic to give six months of your life running the McGovern campaign in Texas."

Bush even gave a plug for Clinton's memoirs, which will be published next week.

"I could tell you more of the story," Bush said with a smile, "but it's coming out in fine bookstores all over America."

Clinton, stepping to the familiar White House podium after the portraits were unveiled, recalled how editorial cartoonists had depicted him over his career. When he was a young governor in Arkansas, he was shown in a baby carriage, then riding a tricycle and then a bicycle.

When he became president, the cartoonist "put Hillary and me in a pickup truck with a huntin' dog."

Clinton made it clear how unusual it was to have a cease-fire in the partisan battles.

He said, "I hope that I will live long enough to see American politics return to vigorous debates, where we argue who's right and wrong, not who's good and bad."

Hundreds of more articles on this

President Bush spent last week in the shadow of Ronald Reagan.
 
 Then he spent the weekend in the shadow of his father, who turned 80
 by throwing himself a big party and jumping out of a plane.
 
 And today, Bush is the warm-up guy for Bill Clinton, who kicks off a
 massive book tour and publicity blitz by storming into the White House
 for the unveiling of his official portrait.
 
 Normally, when you're president, you're the star of the show. But
 again and again this month, Bush is being upstaged by his predecessors.
 
 Journalists and other pundits continue to debate whether the week-long
 swoon over Reagan underscored what Bush and Reagan had in common, or
 ways in which Bush falls short.
 
 But Bush neither relishes nor has much to gain from comparisons to his
 father. Obliged to show up at the birthday festivities, Bush gave a
 speech that must rank among his shortest and least lofty, and features
 what may be his lamest joke ever.
 
 And now, enter the Clintons. There's no margin there for Bush at all.
 Bill is Back
 
 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/>
 

A label from a laptop computer bag that is made by a small American company for overseas customers:

Here is the translation from the French:

Wash with warm water.
Use mild soap.
Dry flat.
Do not use bleach.
Do not dry in the dryer.
Do not iron.
We are sorry that our President is an idiot.
We did not vote for him.

via Corpus Callosum

Bush Reagan compared

And yet--even if we considered a much longer list of Reagan's "accomplishments"--I cannot avoid the feeling that even Reagan was a much less dangerous president than the current incumbent.

Reagan funded military shenanigans around the world (including the "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan who later mutated into the Taliban and Al-Qaeda) and showed contempt for international law, yet never committed American soldiers to a major war abroad or launched a systematic campaign to deceive the American people to win approval for major military action.

Likewise, Reagan gutted numerous domestic programs while slashing taxes for the rich, yet he never seriously challenged the basic pillars of the New Deal (including Social Security) in the way that Karl Rove and like-minded members of the reigning conservative coalition now envision.

Most importantly, as president Reagan demonstrated, in a mild but significant degree, one leadership quality which George W. Bush sorely lacks: namely, a capacity for maturation and moral growth.

Posted: June 11, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

 

Unfortunately, in the national chorus of tribute to former President Reagan, there was one discordant note. And it didn't come from Democrats – most of whom, like John Kerry, found nothing but good things to say about Reagan.

National Press Club 'Morning Newsmaker': Diplomats, Military Commanders for Change on June 16

6/13/2004 10:44:00 AM

To: Assignment and National desks

Contact: Susan Roth, 301-330-2587 or 202-997-5672, or Connie Coopersmith, 202-408-4998 or 202-460-4156 or Peter J Hickman, pjhickman@hotmail.com, for the National Press Club

News Advisory:

Members of Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired career ambassadors and senior military officers, will release a statement and discuss the need for change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy.

WHO:

-- Ambassador Phyllis Oakley (spokesperson) (Former Asst. Sec of State for Intelligence and Research)

-- Ambassador Donald Easum (Former Asst. Sec of State for African Affairs)

-- Ambassador Chas. Freeman (Former Amb. to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

-- Ambassador Bill Harrop (Former Amb. To Guinea, Kenya and Seychelles, Zaire and Israel)

-- Ambassador Allen Holmes (Former Asst. Sec of Defense for Special Operations)

-- Ambassador Bob Keeley (Former Amb. to Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Greece)

-- Ambassador Princeton Lyman (Former Asst. Sec of State for Int. Organization Affairs)

-- Ambassador Don McHenry (Former Amb. and U.S. Permanent Rep. to the United Nations)

-- General Merrill A. "Tony" McPeak (Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force)

-- Ambassador David Newsom (Former Sec. of State, ad interim, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs)

-- Ambassador Dan Phillips (Former Amb. to Burundi and the Republic of Congo)

-- Ambassador Mike Sterner (Former Amb. to the United Arab Emirates)

-- Ambassador Alexander F. Watson (Former Asst. Sec of State for Inter-American Affairs, Former Amb. to Peru

-- and other Ambassadors and retired military leaders who will be available via conference call and online interviews)

WHAT: News Conference and Q&A session

DETAILS: An unprecedented bipartisan coalition of 26 career chiefs of mission and retired four-star military leaders will launch a nationwide campaign to press for the need for change in U.S. foreign and defense policy because they are deeply concerned by the damage the Bush Administration has caused to our national and international interests.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 16. Doors open 8 a.m. Conference begins 9 a.m.

WHERE: National Press Club, Zenger Room, 529 1th St. NW Washington, D.C. 20045 202-662-7525

Paid for by the Committee of Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee

by Michael K. Smith

(GWB) President Bush hailed former President Reagan as a national hero yesterday, calling on Americans to review his life and never forget what he stood for.

Candid News Network (CNN) immediately filed this report on the Gipper: "He had only the foggiest idea what the policies of his own Administration were. When not programmed by his staff he talked nonstop about Hollywood or whiled away the days watching T.V.

Bored with his duties, he came to work reluctantly and nodded off in cabinet meetings or amused himself doodling. His solution for every problem was a dismissive one-liner and an amiable grin. . . .

"He came alive only for the camera, and appeared coherent thanks to the constant assistance of a Teleprompter. Unchoreographed moments left him babbling like a small child. With curious vehemence and farcical regularity his aides announced that he was in charge and understood what was going on. . . .

"He thought by anecdote and debated with sentimental homilies. He blotted out facts with self-justifying stereotypes: of Soviet beachheads, of sponging welfare queens, of educational aid recipients turned stock brokers, of voluntary ghettoes, of Communist hordes descending on Texas, of rich kids getting free school lunches. To mobilize support for unpopular budget cuts, he cited anonymous letters from altruistic blind, elderly, and disabled citizens urging him to slash their benefits for the good of the country. . . .

"One of his children disclosed the secret of his phenomenal success: 'He makes things up and believes them.'"

A FOND LOOK BACK: REAGAN IN HIS OWN WORDS

Vice President Cheney, eulogizing former President Reagan, stated that, "If Ronald Reagan ever uttered a cynical, or cruel, or selfish word, the moment went unrecorded." Of course, Big Dick is entitled to his opinion, but perhaps a trip down memory lane will lead the American people to a different conclusion. Many might consider his gas bombing of the UC Berkeley Campus during the People's Park crisis a bit cruel, and reasonable people could find it somewhat cynical that he thought the best way to handle campus militants was the following: "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with."

Then there was Reagan's blessing of the genocidal Guatemalan General Efrain Rios-Montt in December 1982, extended in his usual charming, humorous, and polite way, of course. With Guatemalan security forces butchering tens of thousands of Indians Reagan traveled to Guatemala to pat his client on the back and declare that Rios-Montt was getting a "bum rap" and was "totally dedicated to democracy." That sounds a tad cynical to me.

A grateful Rios-Montt replied that, "We have no scorched earth policy - we have a policy of scorched Communists." This was just a few months after he had announced a state of siege so the government could "kill people legally." According to Amnesty International, the idealistic General had practiced "widespread killing, including extra-judicial execution of large numbers of rural noncombatants, including entire families as well as persons suspected of sympathy with violent or nonviolent opposition groups." This was the fruit of Reagan's much celebrated "optimism" and "Morning in America" philosophy.

But judge for yourself: Here is Reagan in his own words . . . . "I've just signed legislation outlawing the Russians forever. The bombing begins in five minutes." -----President Reagan, "joking" before a radio broadcast, unaware that he was connected to the press room.

"We should declare war on North Vietnam . . . We could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it, and still be home by Christmas." -----Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965.

Question: "Do you think there could be a battlefield [nuclear] exchange without having buttons pressed all the way up the line?" President Reagan: "Well, I would - if they realized that we - if we went back to that stalemate, only because our retaliatory power, our seconds, or our strike at them after their first strike would be so destructive that they couldn't afford it, that would hold them off." -----October 17, 1981.

"I could see where you could have the exchange of tactical [nuclear] weapons against troops in the field without it bringing either one of the major powers to pushing the button." -----President Reagan, explaining "winnable" nuclear war, October 17, 1981.

"Those [nuclear weapons] that are carried in ships of one kind or another, or submersibles, you are dealing there with a conventional type of weapon or instrument, and those instruments can be intercepted. They can be recalled." -----President Reagan, May 13, 1982.

"The scriptures are on our side in this." -----President Reagan, citing Luke 14:31 to justify his massive nuclear weapons build-up.

"This whole progressive tax system is a foreign import - spawned by Karl Marx a century ago." -----Ronald Reagan, Screen Actor, 1959.

"Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders." -----Ronald Reagan, April 28, 1966.

"Is it news that some fellow out in South Succotash someplace has just been laid off?" -----President Reagan, complaining of media coverage of the soaring unemployment rate, March 16, 1982.

"Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal." -----Candidate Reagan, August 17, 1980.

"They were victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps." -----President Reagan, April 18, 1985, referring to Nazi soldiers and announcing his intention to lay a wreath in a military graveyard where 49 former members of the Nazi S.S. were buried.

"Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources." -----President Reagan, accusing trees of polluting the air, September 10, 1980.

"Growing and decaying vegetation in this land are responsible for 93% of the oxides of nitrogen." -----President Reagan, sticking his foot in deeper, October 9, 1980.

"A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?" -----Ronald Reagan, March 12, 1966.

"There is today in the United States as much forest as there was when Washington was at Valley Forge." -----President Reagan, failing to notice a 70% reduction in forest land, March 5, 1983.

"The people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice." -----President Reagan, explaining a sudden national preference for living in the Great Outdoors, January 31, 1984. "

Well, I learned a lot. . . . I went down [to Latin America] to find out from them and [learn] their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries." -----President Reagan, December 6, 1982.

"The moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French resistance." -----President Reagan on the Nicaraguan "Contras," mostly ex-Somoza National Guardsmen famous for torture, rape, and murder, March 1, 1985.

"Reagan without an audience was . . . NOTHING."-----Reagan biographer Edmund Morris.

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Michael K. Smith is the author of "The Madness of King George" (illustrations by Matt Wuerker) from Common Courage Press

The New York Times describes Dubya's announcement of the Tenet resignation thusly:

Mr. Bush announced the resignation in a way that was almost bizarre. He had just addressed reporters and photographers in a fairly innocuous Rose Garden session with Australia's prime minister, John Howard. Then the session was adjourned, as Mr. Bush apparently prepared to depart for nearby Andrews Air Force Base and his flight to Europe, where he is to take part in ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Normady invasion and meet European leaders — some of whom have been sharply critical of the campaign in Iraq.

But minutes later, Mr. Bush reappeared on the sun-drenched White House lawn, stunning listeners with the news of Mr. Tenet's resignation, which the president said would be effective in mid-July. Until then, Mr. Bush said, the C.I.A.'s deputy director, John McLaughlin, will be acting director.

The president praised Mr. Tenet's qualities as a public servant, saying: "He's strong. He's resolute. He's served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a, he's been a strong leader in the war on terror, and I will miss him."

Then Mr. Bush walked away, declining to take questions or offer any insight into what Mr. Tenet's personal reasons might be.

the full Times story...

Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.) Remarks at CDI Board of Directors Dinner, May 12, 2004, presented a scathing critique as to the strategic and tactical failures which the Bush Administration committed in regards to the Iraq War:

1) the belief that containment as a policy doesn't work....  
2) the strategy was flawed....  
3) creating a false rationale for going in to get public support....  
4) failure to internationalize the effort....  
5) underestimating the task....  
6) (maybe the biggest one), propping up and trusting the exiles....  
7) lack of planning....  
8) insufficiency of military forces on the ground....  
9) the ad hoc organization we threw in there....  
10) a series of bad decisions on the ground....  

"I just came back from giving a lecture at UCLA yesterday, and the lecture was on the Middle East.  I tried to ... for the students there, step back and take a more strategic view of the Middle East and the issues out there and maybe give them a perception of the problems and issues from the eyes of those that live with it day-to-day, the Arabs, Israelis, all those that make up the peoples of the Middle East. 

via Washinton Monthly

According to the news account, for 14 months, between May 16, 2002, and July 22, 2003, the GOP hired India's Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies to make the cold calls trolling for dollars. (Actually, the GOP hired the Washington-based Capital Communications Group, which then tapped New Delhi for the job.) "The mandate for the teams was to mobilize support for President George W.
 Bush and solicit political contributions.

The voters' database was provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the party's
 premier political organization," reported the Times. The team of dialers contacted 200,000 voters in the States, with the paper concluding that, "Going by conservative estimates, at least funds worth
 $10 million were committed for President Bush through the [call] centers in India."
 
 -- Eric Boehlert
 
 http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room//index.html

May 12, 2004

Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush

By JIM RUTENBERG
 

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Bush Declares 'Major Sexual Operations Are Over'

'Mission Accomplished,' says President As U.S. Moves From Saddam to Sodomy

Monday, May 3, 2004 Posted: 10:13 PM EDT (0213 GMT)

By Michael K. Smith

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Photographs showing Iraqi prisoners being sexually degraded and humiliated at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison confirm the country is fully liberated, said President Bush on Monday.  "Sexual liberation is the ultimate freedom," he explained, "and our fine men and women in uniform are doing a fabulous job over there."

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