T-shirts for sale in Georgia compare Obama to ‘Curious George.’
T-shirts for sale in Georgia compare Obama to ‘Curious George.’
Mike Norman, a bar owner in Marietta, GA, who is peddling t-shirts that feature “a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with ‘Obama in ‘08′ underneath” claims that the shirts are “not meant to offend,” despite his acknowledgment of “the imagery’s Jim Crow roots“:
Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey.
“We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him…the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.”
Radar notes that Norman could have been inspired by listening to Rush Limbaugh, who apologized on-air earlier this year after laughing at a caller’s suggestion that Obama “looks like Curious George.”
ThinkFast: May 14, 2008
By an eight-point margin, Democrat Travis Childers won a GOP-held House seat in northern Mississippi yesterday, “leaving the once-dominant House Republicans reeling from their third special-election defeat of the spring.” The seat had been held by Republicans since 1995; in 2004, Bush won the district with 62 percent of the vote.
In an interview yesterday, President Bush said he wasn’t “misled” into invading Iraq. “You know, ‘mislead’ is a strong word; it almost connotes some kind of intentional — I don’t think so. … Intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment. And so I was disappointed to see how flawed our intelligence was,” Bush said. “Do I think somebody lied to me? No, I don’t.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is now reaching out to Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) “in the hope of finding a compromise on a GI Bill that would eliminate a potential embarrassment for the Arizona Republican’s presidential campaign.” Yesterday, there were also “discussions” between Webb and McCain ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), along with “a staff meeting that lasted more than an hour.”
On Tuesday, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers predicted that “her constitutional clash with Congress over executive privilege” may not be settled until after Bush leaves office. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it extended beyond this administration,” said Miers, who was cited for contempt by Congress after refusing to testify about her role in the U.S. attorney scandal.
President Bush said that when he leaves the White House, the first thing he’ll do is resume e-mailing his buddies. “I can remember as governor, I could stay in touch with all kinds of people around the country firing off e-mails at all times of the day to stay in touch with my pals,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Pentagon said O’Reilly, Malkin had ‘thoughtful’ views on Guantanamo.
Pentagon said O’Reilly, Malkin had ‘thoughtful’ views on Guantanamo.
Last month, the Pentagon released a document collection on its military analyst propaganda program. In a July 2006 e-mail between Public Affairs official Jeffrey Gordon and other Pentagon officials, Gordon attached several articles on detention policy by right-wing talkers, including Bill O’Reilly and Michelle Malkin, that he said were “thoughtful.” In a later e-mail, Gordon said officials could use the articles “with military analysts as appropriate” (p. 5808). His initial e-mail lauded the right-wing voices (p. 5808):
From: Gordon, Jeffrey D LCDR OSD PA
To: Ruff, Eric, SES, OSD; Bryan Mr OSD PA; Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA; [Redacted] AFIS-HQ/PIA
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 6:38 PM
Subject: RE: articles on detaineesGentlemen,
As requested, attached document contains four thoughtful articles/columns about Guantanamo, from Charles Krauthammer, Bill O’Reilly and Michelle Malkin. I have a call out to OGC and DoJ to provide some inputs as well. I Envision that I will have more material tomorrow a.m.
What were the “thoughtful” remarks of Malkin and O’Reilly on detention policy? In the Malkin column, she said that a “far greater threat” than Guantanamo to America is the “unseriousness and hypocrisy of the terrorist-abetting left.” O’Reilly said there were only “minor cases of abuse” there. In fact, when news broke of suicides at the prison, Malkin’s reaction was “boo-freaking hoo.”
U.S.-Backed Head Of Iraqi Anti-Corruption Agency Now A ‘Destitute’ Undocumented Immigrant In U.S.
U.S.-Backed Head Of Iraqi Anti-Corruption Agency Now A ‘Destitute’ Undocumented Immigrant In U.S.
After the 2003 Iraq invasion, Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer created a major anti-corruption ministry in Iraq, the Public Integrity Commission (CPI). Last October, former CPI commissioner Judge Radhi al-Radhi, who was appointed by Bremer and whose work has been praised by top U.S. officials, told Congress about the “rampant” corruption in Iraqi ministries that had cost Iraq as much as $18 billion.
Radhi’s gripping account detailed how Prime Minister Maliki tried to subvert his commission and how nearly four dozen of his staff members were killed. Subsequently, he was forced to seek asylum in the United States.
But today, Radhi is living as an undocumented immigrant in Virginia. In a Democratic Policy Committee hearing yesterday, former State Department official James Mattil told Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that Radhi has no “official status” in the U.S. Currently, only a group of Quakers and Arthur Brennan, the former head of the department’s Office of Accountability and Transparency, are funding Radhi, he said:
DORGAN: And where is Judge al-Radhi at the moment?
MATTIL: Living in an apartment in Springfield, maybe for the rest of the month if they can get it worked out that somebody is going to pay for it. But he’s not allowed to work. He has no official status, so he’s not — he’s undocumented — I don’t know what he is. I mean, he’s lost. He’s a person without a country.
Watch it:
The State Department turned against Radhi, according to Mattil and Brennan. They “said a senior State Department official had ordered agency employees not to give al Radhi references or contact him” about the asylum. Radhi is “destitute” in his current situation, they noted.
An infuriated Dorgan slammed the administration’s neglect of an ally whose work it didn’t like. “This is about betrayal,” Dorgan declared. “[O]ur government turned against him. Our State Department and our embassy pulled the rug out from under him. … [W]e’re going to ask the State Department what in the hell are they thinking.”
The American asylum program for Iraqis who have aided U.S. forces in Iraq has “fallen far short of demand,” as the Washington Post noted in January. Even Iraq’s top anti-corruption official, who has “praised the U.S. invasion of Iraq,” is subject to complete abandonment.
Bush gives up golfing because of Iraq war.
Bush gives up golfing because of Iraq war.
In a new interview with the Politico today, President Bush says that he has given up golf because of the Iraq war, to show “solidarity” with U.S. troops and their families. He added that “playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal”:
Q Mr. President, you haven’t been golfing in recent years. Is that related to Iraq?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it really is. I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as — to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.
Evidently, Bush learned his lesson since this incident after 9/11. Watch it:
McCain Adviser Misleadingly Cites CBO Report, Says Webb’s GI Bill ‘Does Nothing To Address Reenlistment’
McCain Adviser Misleadingly Cites CBO Report, Says Webb’s GI Bill ‘Does Nothing To Address Reenlistment’
On Fox News’s America’s Election HQ yesterday, Nancy Pfotenhauer, a senior policy adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), disingenuously attacked Sen. Jim Webb’s “21st Century GI Bill,” in order to justify her boss’s opposition to the bill. Webb’s bill “does nothing to address reenlistment and retention,” charged Pfotenhauer.
Pfotenhauer cited a recent Congressional Budget Office report to support her specious claims:
Senator McCain has his own legislation, and by the way, he’s largely supportive of the goals of the Webb bill. The problem is, it doesn’t do enough — it doesn’t it quickly enough and it does nothing to address reenlistment and retention. In fact, CBO, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that if the Webb bill went through, we’d see a reduction in reenlistment rates of 16 percent.
Watch it:
But, as ThinkProgress has noted, the CBO report cited by Pfotenhauer actually shows that Webb’s bill would increase enlistment to such an extent that it would completely offset the loss in retention:
Literature on the effects of educational benefits on retention suggest that every $10,000 increase in educational benefits yields a reduction in retention of slightly more than 1 percentage point. CBO estimates that S. 22 (as modified) would more than double the present value of educational benefits for servicemembers at the first reenlistment point — from about $40,000 to over $90,000 — implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent. […]
Educational benefits have been shown to raise the number of military recruits. Based on an analysis of the existing literature, CBO estimates that a 10 percent increase in educational benefits would result in an increase of about 1 percent in high-quality recruits. On that basis, CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits.
Sen. John Warner (R-AZ), a co-sponsor of Webb’s bill who is also a veteran of World War II and Korea, has said that the flip side of the impact on retention is that “putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this.”
The Army is need of new incentives like Webb’s bill in order to attract higher quality recruits. Thus far, in 2008, 13 percent of the Army’s recruits have been granted “conduct” waivers for misdemeanor or felony charges, which is up from 11 percent in 2007 and 4.6 percent in 2004.
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
McCain on whether he’s still comfortable with Hagee’s endorsement: ‘I’ve accepted his endorsement.’
McCain on whether he’s still comfortable with Hagee’s endorsement: ‘I’ve accepted his endorsement.’
Earlier today, controversial pastor John Hagee issued an apology to the Catholic church for inflammatory comments he made in the past. But as ThinkProgress noted, Hagee has yet to apologize to other groups he has denigrated, such as the LGBT community. Asked today if he was still comfortable with Hagee’s endorsement, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) deflected the question, saying he merely “accepted” Hagee’s support and doesn’t embrace everything he says:
Look, as I’ve said many times I’ve accepted his endorsement. I didn’t endorse everything that he said. The point is that the fact that he has made an apology I think is very helpful.
But McCain didn’t just “accept” Hagee’s endorsement; he actively sought it. In fact, he “personally wooed Hagee for more than a year.” Hagee recently told the New York Times Magazine that “it’s true that McCain’s campaign sought my endorsement.”
Moore making ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ sequel.
Variety reports that Michael Moore is making a sequel to “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which was a “scathing indictment of George W. Bush’s war on terrorism and a hit at the worldwide box office.” The new film will reportedly pick up where “Fahrenheit” left off: “In the time since, President Bush’s popularity has plummeted, while the Iraq war continues and the economy falters.”
Charges Dropped Against ‘Dangerous’ Detainee Who Was Tortured At Guantanamo
Charges Dropped Against ‘Dangerous’ Detainee Who Was Tortured At Guantanamo
The AP reports today that the Pentagon has “dropped charges” against Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 who was alleged to have been the so-called “20th hijacker” on 9/11.
Known as Detainee 063, Qahtani was the subject of a 2002 meeting at Guantanamo that included former Bush lawyer Alberto Gonzales, Cheney’s lawyer David Addington, and former Rumsfeld lawyer Jim Haynes. The trio approved the interrogations at Guantanamo, with Donald Rumsfeld then authorizing the “First Special Interrogation Plan” specifically for Qahtani. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) noted that these methods included:
[F]orty-eight days of severe sleep deprivation and 20-hour interrogations, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, physical force, prolonged stress positions and prolonged sensory overstimulation, and threats with military dogs. The aggressive techniques, standing alone and in combination, resulted in severe physical and mental pain and suffering.
“This is a very dangerous individual who has provided us with valuable intelligence,” claimed former White House press secretary Scott McClellan in 2005. But as Marcy Wheeler notes, the dismissal raises questions about the credibility of torture-based evidence.
Renowned international lawyer Philippe Sands, who has extensively studied Qahtani, talked to PBS’s Bill Moyers about the interrogations of Qahtani on Friday. “And the bottom line of it was, contrary to what the administration said, they got nothing out of him,” Sands explained. Watch it:
In 2006, Qahtani recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured. In fact, “Qahtani never made a single statement that was not extracted through torture or the threat of torture,” CCR notes.
Records of the interrogations of Qahtani, however, were “mysteriously lost.” Cameras that “run 24 hours a day at the prison were set to automatically record over their contents,” the Guardian reported last month.
The inside scoop on Sunday show guests.
TVWeek recently interviewed producers, bookers, and moderators of the Sunday morning news talk shows and found out what they really think of their political guests. Some highlights:
THE HARDEST TO GET
Leading vote-getter: Vice President Dick Cheney. “He doesn’t give a s***. He’s checked out,” said one respondent. “I don’t know what he does all day,” said another.
DOESN’T MAKE THE NEWS THEY PROBABLY SHOULD
Leading vote-getter: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “never says anything.” “Everybody got really tired of the spin.”
A veteran newsmaker also commented that Rice is lying so low, “She’s under the rug in the living room.” Among the presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) are considered the “biggest gets,” and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is reportedly “great in a green room.” (HT: Jossip)
Feith Blames Public For Feeling Misled About Iraq: ‘I Think They Misremember A Lot’
Feith Blames Public For Feeling Misled About Iraq: ‘I Think They Misremember A Lot’
Last night, Iraq war architect Douglas Feith appeared on The Daily Show to discuss his war apologia, War and Decision. When Stewart said that many Americans feel the Bush administration misled them into war, Feith replied, “Errors are not lies. I think a lot of what the Administration said was correct.”
Feith insisted that the entire administration conducted a “serious consideration of the very great risks of war.” When Stewart reminded Feith that those risks were never presented to the public, Feith said he was wrong, and that people who felt that way simply “misremembered” the run-up to war:
STEWART: If you knew the perils, but the conversation that you had with the public painted a rosier picture, how is that not deception? The fact that you seemed to know all the risks takes this from manslaughter to homicide. […]
FEITH: When people read this book, I think people will be surprised to be reminded of what was actually said. I think a lot of people’s perceptions of what was said are filtered through the recent history. … I think they misremember a lot.
Watch it:
It’s Feith’s memory, not Americans’, that is faulty here. In January, a Center for Public Integrity study documented the more than 930 false statements made by the Bush Administration in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Feith has shut his eyes to the evidence for months, laughably claiming that the administration never said the war would be easy, even though the White House frequently — and famously — peddled just that notion.
As the Wonk Room’s Matt Duss puts it, “Doug Feith is only small part of a bigger story, an ideologically hidebound bureaucrat condemned to spend the rest of his life frantically and fruitlessly arguing against history’s overwhelmingly clear verdict on his incompetence and mendacity.”
Washington Post’s Balz: Media will scrutinize McCain ‘once the general election really begins.’
Washington Post’s Balz: Media will scrutinize McCain ‘once the general election really begins.’
During a Washington Post online discussion today, a questioner wondered why Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is running close to Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in polling despite “discontent” with the direction of the country and President Bush “at an all time high.” Post reporter Dan Balz cited McCain’s “maverick identity,” and — echoing one of his colleague’s sentiments — added that press scrutiny of McCain will come in time:
It’s been said repeatedly that McCain may be the only Republican who could win the White House, given the public’s disaffection with the president and the GOP. Both he and the Democratic nominee will get renewed scrutiny once the general election really begins.
NBC’s Tim Russert has also acknowledged that McCain has avoided press scrutiny because of a “grace period” the media have given him. As Atrios patiently noted, we’re “still waiting.”
Hagee Promises ‘Greater Compassion And Respect’ For Catholics; Will He Do The Same For Gay Community?
Hagee Promises ‘Greater Compassion And Respect’ For Catholics; Will He Do The Same For Gay Community?
Since February, when Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) accepted the long-sought endorsement of controversial Pastor John Hagee, the two have come under criticism for Hagee’s past descriptions of Catholicism as “‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’” On multiple occasions, McCain has distanced himself from Hagee’s anti-Catholic comments while still maintaining that he is “glad” to have his endorsement.
Now, as the media spotlight on him increases, Hagee is attempting to make amends with the Catholic community. The Wall Street Journal reports that he “will issue a letter of apology to the Catholic Church today for inflammatory remarks he has made”:
“Out of a desire to advance greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful,” Hagee wrote, according to an advanced copy of the letter reviewed by Washington Wire. “After engaging in constructive dialogue with Catholic friends and leaders, I now have an improved understanding of the Catholic Church, its relation to the Jewish faith, and the history of anti-Catholicism.”
In the letter, addressed to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League and one of Hagee’s biggest critics, Hagee pledges “a greater level of compassion and respect for my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ.”
But anti-Catholic comments are not the only reason Hagee has sparked controversy. Just last month, he reiterated his prior claim that Hurricane Katrina was punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade. Though he appeared to back away from the claim after McCain called it “nonsense,” he re-embraced it last week on a conference call with religious supporters.
Will Hagee issue a similar letter to the gay community pledging “a greater level of compassion and respect for my gay brothers and sisters in Christ?”
Washington University Law Professors: Rescind Honorary Degree For Anti-Feminist Phyllis Schlafly
Washington University Law Professors: Rescind Honorary Degree For Anti-Feminist Phyllis Schlafly
Washington University recently announced that it would be awarding right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly an honorary degree at its graduation ceremony on May 16. Schlafly is notorious for her outspoken belief that women should be homemakers and her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. In a statement, the university lauded Schlafly as a “national leader of the conservative movement.”
Opposition was swift. Two Facebook groups opposing the award immediately popped up and now have more than 4,000 members combined. Today, 14 faculty members of the Washington University School of Law also wrote a sharp letter asking school’s chancellor to rescind the award:
We are extremely disappointed that the University has chosen to honor Phyllis Schlafly with an honorary degree at this spring’s commencement ceremony.
We are fully committed to the principle of free speech, and we believe the University should encourage a discussion of diverse viewpoints. Commencement, however, is first and foremost a time of celebration of the intellectual accomplishments of our students. It is, we believe, a disservice to those whom we honor to inject into the proceedings a person who has devoted her life to staking out and promoting polarizing, anti-intellectual positions. […]
An even more important reason to rescind the degree offer to Ms. Schlafly is that her repeatedly expressed views are antithetical to some of the most fundamental principles for which this University stands.
As the professors note, Schlafly’s accomplishments include going after “the gay and lesbian agenda,” calling for the “impeachment” of Supreme Court justices, calling anyone who believes in evolution an “atheist,” and opposing the Violence Against Women Act. She has also claimed that women “are too emotional to handle intellectual or scientific debate” and described sex education as “in-home sales parties for abortions.”
E-mail Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton here to object to the Schlafly award. (Be polite.)
Media quoted ‘military analysts’ over 4,500 times since 2002.
Media quoted ‘military analysts’ over 4,500 times since 2002.
According to Media Matters, the so-called “military analysts” exposed in the recent New York Times article disclosing the Pentagon’s propaganda program were quoted in the media “more than 4,500 times” since Jan. 1, 2002:
A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in Barstow’s article — many identified as having ties to the defense industry — collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR in segments covering the Iraq war both before and after the invasion, as well as numerous other national security or government policy issues.
View Media Matters’s full spreadsheet of analysts’ appearances here.
How The Pentagon Propaganda Machine Worked: ‘are you telling me to tell a lie???? surely not! ;)’
How The Pentagon Propaganda Machine Worked: ‘are you telling me to tell a lie???? surely not! ;)’
The Pentagon document dump on its propaganda program reveals this interesting insight as to how the Defense Department worked with conservative allies to manipulate the media.
In a Feb. 16, 2006 email exchange, Pentagon media staffers discussed coordinating with the Heritage Foundation to identify someone to speak about detainee treatment at Gitmo. An anonymous employee suggested retired Army Sergeant Major Steve Short because “he seems to be on message and very articulate.”
Pentagon public affairs official Allison Barber responded by warning that the DoD could not officially “endorse” one particular speaker over another. “Important to remember that heritage can invite anyone to present and that we don’t really have an opinion on anyone,” Barber wrote.
The anonymous author then suggested he or she might lie and pretend not to have ever heard of Short:
Just two weeks after this email exchange — on March 1, 2006 — Short was invited by Heritage to participate on a panel entitled “GITMO: What You Read Vs. What You See.” And he was indeed “on message”:
The next day, UPI reported Short’s comments:
Jennifer Daskal, advocacy director for U.S. programs at Human Rights Watch, endorsed these charges. “Allegations of torture and abuse are pervasive,” she said.
However, Heritage speakers with firsthand experience of Guantanamo dismissed all claims of mistreatment. According to Steve Short, a retired Command Sergeant Major with the U.S. Army, “I can honestly say that when taking part in briefings, I never heard anything that indicated any inappropriate action was being taken against detainees.”
Short emphasized the extensive training received by military personnel running the base. U.S. soldiers “cared for detainees in much the same way that they would like to be cared for if the situation were reversed,” he said.
For the Pentagon propaganda machine – a mission accomplished.
ThinkProgress Awarded Sidney Hillman Foundation Journalism Award
ThinkProgress Awarded Sidney Hillman Foundation Journalism Award
ThinkProgress has been named best blog by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, receiving an award for journalism excellence. Sidney Hillman was one of the nation’s great labor leaders, founding a predecessor union of UNITE. Since 1950, The Sidney Hillman Foundation has recognized journalists, writers, and public figures whose work promotes social and economic justice.
Thank you to all the readers who visit ThinkProgress everyday for putting us on the map. The Foundation announced the awards in an advertisement in today’s New York Times. We’re extremely honored to join the company of the esteemed recipients below:
Talking Points Memo and The American Prospect’s TAPPED have previously won the blog award.
ThinkFast: May 13, 2008
A House Judiciary Committee deadline passed yesterday “with former White House adviser Karl Rove standing by his refusal to testify about allegations that he pushed the Justice Department to prosecute former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.” Rove instead sent a letter offering to respond to questions in writing, rather than testify publicly under oath.
With the housing crisis and volatile markets slowing the economy, the Treasury Department reported yesterday that “corporate income-tax revenue over the first seven months of the fiscal year” was 14.7 percent “lower than during the same period a year earlier” while “the federal deficit ballooned to $152 billion, 88 [percent] higher than the same period last fiscal year.”
$0.109: the cost that the average gallon of gasoline increased in one week, up to $3.722, setting a fourth consecutive record.
The House and Senate are expected to defy the White House today and pass legislation that would require the administration to halt oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “The strong bipartisan support represents a major shift for Republicans, who until now have generally followed the lead of President Bush.”
In order to “counter the Democratic push for change,” House Republicans have adopted a new message: “The Change You Deserve.” But “the change you deserve” is also the advertising slogan of Effexor XR, a drug used to treat depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults. Read the rest of this entry »
Conservatives Lash Out At Administration Guidelines On Terrorism Language: It’s ‘McCarthyism In Reverse’
Conservatives Lash Out At Administration Guidelines On Terrorism Language: It’s ‘McCarthyism In Reverse’
UPI’s Shaun Waterman reports today that congressional conservatives are riled up over new government guidelines shunning the use of terms like “jihadist” and “Islamo-fascism” to describe terrorists. On Friday, every Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted for a failed amendment to ban “the use of federal cash to produce documents like the terminology guidelines.”
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), who authored the amendment, attacked the guidelines as “McCarthyism in reverse“:
Mr. Hoekstra called it “sad that as we approach the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are still debating how to define our enemy.”
His amendment aimed to end what he called “McCarthyism in reverse” and “speech codes that encumber accurately describing the radical jihadist terrorists that attacked America.”
Hoekstra is missing the point when he lashes out at the guidelines as part of a debate over “how to define our enemy.” Even if terms like “jihad” are used accurately, the report concludes that “it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world.”
“A senior administration official” who spoke to UPI disagreed with the House GOP’s position, claiming “that President Bush had been ‘absolutely at the forefront’ of promoting and using the kind of language the guidelines recommend.” In order to support this claim, Waterman cited research by Duke University’s David Schanzer:
A search of the president’s speeches and other public comments on the White House Web site conducted by David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University in North Carolina, found that Mr. Bush — who has repeatedly spoken about America’s enemies — has used the term “Islamic terrorist” only once since the beginning of 2007.
Though President Bush appears to have made some effort, “Islamic terrorist” is not the only term whose use the guidelines caution against. As ThinkProgress has noted, President Bush referred to terrorists as “jihadists,” which is also seen as problematic by his administration, as recently as April 29.
Pentagon document dump: E-mailer suggested ’softball’ interview with top general.
Pentagon document dump: E-mailer suggested ’softball’ interview with top general.
Last month, the Pentagon released an extensive document dump with details on its military analyst propaganda program. TPM Muckraker notes that in a 2006 e-mail, someone (with a redacted name) e-mailed Pentagon officials stating that Jed Babbin, a participant in the analyst program, would be guest hosting for right-wing radio talker Michael Medved. Babbin requested an interview with Gen. George Casey, then top commander in Iraq. Pitching the request to interview Casey to the Pentagon officials, the e-mailer said: “this would be a softball interview and the show is 8th or 9th in the nation.” Allison Barber, a Public Affairs official at the Pentagon, responded:
Thanks for sending this.
Just fyi, probably wouldn’t put “softball” interview in writing. If that got out it would compromise jed and general casey.
The e-mailer wrote back: “check, check.”
Former State Dept. Official: Amb. Crocker Is Either ‘Negligent’ Or ‘Intentionally Misleading’
Former State Dept. Official: Amb. Crocker Is Either ‘Negligent’ Or ‘Intentionally Misleading’
Today, the Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing on the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq and corruption in the Iraqi government. Two former State Department employees testified, including Judge Arthur Brennan, the former director of the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT) in Iraq. He said that his office’s work “was ignored and demeaned by the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the government of Iraq.”
He also revealed the State Department completely altered a report he sent to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) that criticized an Iraqi watchdog agency as being a “disaster”:
MCCASKILL: And your testimony — I want to make sure that you have said the Department of State has negligently, recklessly and intentionally misled Congress, the American people and the people of Iraq. And you stand by that testimony, Judge?
BRENNAN: I stand by that testimony.
MCCASKILL: And so, what we’re learning today is that SIGIR, the information we’re getting from SIGIR is not, in fact, always factual, that sometimes it is being spun by Ambassador Crocker and that it is your testimony today that Ambassador Crocker knows the level of corruption in the Iraqi government and has failed to be honest with the American people about it.
BRENNAN: If he doesn’t know, then he’s negligent. If he does know, then he’s intentionally misleading Congress and the American public.
Watch it:
According to Brennan, when the House Oversight Committee requested a copy of OAT’s report on Iraqi corruption last fall, the State Department “then retroactively classified the report in an effort to prevent it from being made a subject of public knowledge and discussion.” The department also ordered all State personnel not to testify at the House committee hearing examining corruption in Iraq.
James Mattil, who worked with Brennan, agreed with Brennan’s assessment, blaming the Bush administration for failing to demand greater action on corruption: “It seems reasonable to conclude that the reasons are either, gross incompetence, willful negligence or political intent on the part of the Bush administration and more specifically, the Department of State,” he said.
Poll: Bush harmful to McCain’s presidential aspirations.
Poll: Bush harmful to McCain’s presidential aspirations.
A new Gallup poll shows that President Bush is so unpopular that he will do more damage to Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) chances of being elected president than will Rev. Jeremiah Wright to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):
GOP congressman bucks Bush on signing statements.
GOP congressman bucks Bush on signing statements.
President Bush has issued an “unprecedented number” of signing statements during his tenure. Today, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced “the Presidential Signing Statements Act” in an effort to provide some oversight of these practices. “To enable a more complete public understanding of our nation’s laws, the U.S. Congress should also be able to call for the executive’s explanation of the meaning and justification for a presidential signing statement,” Jones said. The Washington Post’s Ben Pershing notes that Jones’s bill “might provide House Democrats with nice fodder for more public excoriation of the Bush administration’s alleged hubris and secrecy.”
Fox News: ‘Blame Al Gore For Your Rising Food Prices’
Fox News: ‘Blame Al Gore For Your Rising Food Prices’
Yesterday on Fox News’s Hannity’s America, host Sean Hannity attempted to blame Al Gore for skyrocketing global food prices:
But how did the food shortage become so acute so fast? The growing consensus is that the crop deficit is directly related to the increased demand for production of, quote, “earth friendly” bio fuels, an effort pushed by none other than the vanquished vice president Al Gore and all in the name of quote, “saving the planet.”
Fox News also promoted the segment on its website with the headline, “Gore’s Grocery: Blame Al Gore for your rising food prices.” Watch it:
Hannity pins ethanol production — and hence, the entire food crisis — on Gore by pointing to a 1998 statement in which the then-vice president said he was “proud to stand up for the ethanol tax exemption when it was under attack in Congress.” But as Ellen at News Hounds