Fact-esque

And Lennon Laughs Approvingly

You have probably read the story of the 1.2 million copies of the prank NYT being handed out in NYC. Don't miss this video of reactions to the paper.  And whom exactly did the NYT send out to talk about it?  Or was it just some random (and apparently really dumb) worker who decided to jump into the breach to defend the Gray Lady's honor?  Note to random dumb guy: defending what isn't there is a zen exercise at best and takes more commitment than what you show.

New York Times Special Edition Video News Release - Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo.

Bush Keeps Gitmo Open...Because It Might Embarrass Him to Close It

I kid you not.

A story by Steven Lee Myers in today's NYT signals a turnaround (we hope) in the NYT's 8-year "Cheerleaders for Bush" Phase because he doesn't even begin to pull punches, spin the truth so it sounds better for Bush, or ignore the implications. The fire is in the very first graf.

Despite his stated desire to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere, according to senior administration officials.

Is that a departure from the usual semi-quasi-propaganda the NYT has been dishing out under Nagourney and the like, or what? Myers avoids actually calling Bush a liar by simply connecting the dots made by facts (something the blogs have had to do since the day the would-be Emperor was selected because the press was too afraid to): he said he was going to close Gitmo and then didn't. What is that if it wasn't a lie? Confirmation: he didn't even bother to look at the plans the Pentagon drew up for the demobbing.

This is the sort of stuff that, until recently, you had to go to the foreign press to get. All of a sudden the NYT, which granted was never the war and Bush booster the WaPo has been, allowed somebody to lay out the facts without manipulating them or whitewashing Bush and His Gas House White House Gang. I was beginning to think I wouldn't live to see one of our last remaining major papers turn back to genuine journalism. It was a very pleasant surprise to be wrong - assuming, of course, that this isn't a one-off that slipped by the publisher's blue pencil.

I'd like to see a lot more 'cause it gets better.

Get Out of Afghanistan

We never should have sent troops into Afghanistan:

A coded French diplomatic cable leaked to a French newspaper quotes the British ambassador in Afghanistan as predicting that the NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban will fail. That was not all. The best solution for the country, the ambassador said, would be installing an “acceptable dictator,” according to the newspaper.

“The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting worse, so is corruption, and the government has lost all trust,” the British envoy, Sherard Cowper-Coles, was quoted as saying by the author of the cable, François Fitou, the French deputy ambassador to Kabul.

The two-page cable — which was sent to the Élysée Palace and the French Foreign Ministry on Sept. 2, and was leaked to the investigative and satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné, which printed excerpts in its Wednesday issue — said that the NATO-led military presence was making it harder to stabilize the country.

“The presence of the coalition, in particular its military presence, is part of the problem, not part of its solution,” Sir Sherard was quoted as saying. “Foreign forces are the lifeline of a regime that would rapidly collapse without them. As such, they slow down and complicate a possible emergence from the crisis.”

Within 5 to 10 years, the only “realistic” way to unite Afghanistan would be for it to be “governed by an acceptable dictator,” the cable said, adding, “We should think of preparing our public opinion” for such an outcome.

The Brits pushed for a strongman in Iraq but somehow that idea got derailed.  I guess it would make complicate the Eternal War doctrine if regime change happened too easily.   As for Afghanistan, nobody wins in Afghanistan.  It makes me crazy when I hear Obama going on about sending more troops there to "win."   Just stupid.  But he's got to get his war on somewhere.

Million Doors for Peace in Levittown, PA

Better to Get Goin'

There's an excellent and sensible post about Million Doors for Peace at the HuffPo.   In short it says that it's better to get up and do something than to sit around feeling bad.   Participating in MDP will get you outside walking around talking to people about stopping the murder and maiming of other people.  Good use of your time no matter what the assholes who are continuing this crime say or do.  And maybe the activist bug will bite you and you'll be out putting pressure on President Obama very soon, helping him to put the brakes on the careening destruction of our country.

If you live in or near Bucks County, join the  MDP canvass I'm running in Levittown. 

Million Doors for Peace in Beatiful Bucks County!

Penn Action and BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action are teaming up to run a Million Doors for Peace event in Levittown.   We're putting the focus on getting the anti-war message to our neighbors AND having fun while doing it.   Get some breakfast!  Meet new people who, like you, want the madness in Iraq to end.  I'm the one in charge of building the walk lists so I can promise you that they've been put together to be the easiest to walk in the shortest amount of time.  Your time is valuable to you and us and we won't waste it. 

Show up tomorrow, Sept. 20, between 8:45am and 9:00am and bring a friend! 

Bonus: Thanks to our exclusive contract with a local soceror, every door you knock on is guaranteed to make George Bush and Dick Cheney cry!

Leave a comment here with any questions. And don't worry about Obama -  you can canvass for him and Patrick Murphy in the afternoon.

WHAT: Million Doors for Peace Event in Levittown, PA
            Short training and breakfast buffet included
WHERE:  UCC Levittown
              8525 New Falls Road
              Levittown, PA
WHEN:   Saturday, Sept. 20
             8:45am - about noon

Growing the Movement

I've been using the Million Doors for Peace walklist generator to set up a canvass Penn Action is running in Lower Bucks County.  (Show up at 9:00am : 8525 New Falls Road, Levittown 19054!) It really is a neat tool and very easy to use.  If you were part of Move On's Leave No Voter Behind campaign in 2004, you have an idea of how this works but the bugs have been worked out of the technology making this a much smoother experience. 

Million Doors for Peace is a turnkey operation that will let you and a friend (don't go door-to-door alone!) run a canvass like old pros.  You can preview your walklist to see what it looks like.  If you choose it, you can map it with Google Maps.  You can print the walklist/petition from the same page.  When you're done with the canvass, you come back and enter the results in the database, which should take you twenty minutes tops. 

If you have an interest in seeing the occupation of Iraq end, then please take about hours this Saturday to walk around your neighborhood (or another one of your choosing) to identify voters who want the same thing and may even be willing to help us all work for it.

UPDATE: Thomas has some good advice.   

The Bush War Crimes Conference

Since Rev Nancy of the Church of Political Expediency took impeachment of Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors "off the table", we have all been talking about Truth & Reconciliation Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals and wondering how long it would take Europe to get around to indicting this gang of criminals in the world courts.

We were looking in the wrong place. Over the weekend, Dean Lawrence Velvel of the Massachusetts School of Law (my home state, I'll have you know) chaired a conference on just that subject: "[T]he goal...was to plan the prosecution of Bush Administration officials." (H/T to TMiss)

The 'Bush war crimes conference,' according to its organizers, is a "throwback to the framers of the constitution," which aims to establish "necessary organizational structures" to pursue those guilty of war crimes "to the ends of the Earth."

"The framers didn't trust the federal government either," said Velvel. "And oddly enough, over the years and decades, a strong distrust of government was once a Republican position. It was, at least, in theory. And then Bush came along and there's this, well, my country, love it or leave it in the GOP."

***

"This is not a campaign event," said Professor Christopher Pyle of Mt. Holyoke College, during his speech to the conference. "It is a conference about how to restore governmental accountability in the wake of a criminal administration. It addresses the most serious crisis in our nation’s history -- the claim that the president and his secret agents can get away with torture, kidnapping, and even manslaughter."

Of Course the Surge Worked...Didn't It?

Despite what George Bush, Dick Cheney, the Washington Post, John McCain, and FoxNews tell you, maybe not. (Via Avedon)

It is the most dangerous city in the world's most dangerous country, a sad, half-empty relic whose rich and middle classes have long since fled. To reach it, one has to travel incognito in convoys of rundown small cars whose drivers conceal their walkie-talkies and weapons under the seats. Their bodyguards sometimes switch to dented taxis with shattered windshields as an extra disguise.

Mosul - the de facto capital of northern Iraq - should have been as safe as Basra and Baghdad if a massive military offensive by Iraqi and US forces, which was launched in May, had succeeded. But most al-Qaida insurgents slipped away before it began - and they are now slipping back. "They use car bombs and roadside bombs, and target areas which used to be very safe. Now they are assassinating people with pistols that have silencers. The offensive was not as successful as expected," said Doraid Kashmoula, the provincial governor.

In June, the Americans trumpeted the killing of Abu Khalaf, who they described as al-Qaida's local kingpin, and the "emir of Mosul". "Killing this man didn't help. When the security forces kill one emir, they have 10 others to replace him," the governor added.

Mosul's offensive, known as Operation Mother of Two Springs, began well, cutting insurgent attacks by 80% in the first few days. It didn't last. In the past month, dozens of people have been killed in violence ranging from roadside bombs to random shootings, car bombs and attacks targeted at specific individuals. On Saturday, four employees of a Dubai-based television station, including the head of its office in Mosul, were abducted and killed.

As on Wall Street: Illusion Rules, Reality Sucks.

September 20 - MillionDoorsForPeace.org

So you canvass for Million Doors for Peace in the morning and hit the streets for Obama in the afternoon. Win/Win! You can sign up for a Million Doors for Peace canvass here.