was there really ever any doubt?

NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, presumably revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source, and what might happen to him or her. Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, top White House mastermind Karl Rove.
--source

Letter Of The WeeQ

President Bush's speech on the war in Iraq represents yet another chapter in this administration's governing strategy to stem the rising tide of public dissatisfaction through trite imagery that seeks to project strength and resolute "toughness," while ignoring or minimizing the concerns of the public.

Mr. President, the American people are not growing uneasy with this war because they lack patriotism, a sense of duty, or resolute "toughness" in the face of hardship. Our history contains countless examples where "ordinary" people made heroic sacrifices for the sake of the nation and others.

The American people's concerns are based on the administration's shifting justifications for going to war, the apparent lack of proper war preparation and seeming inability to anticipate post-war realities, and an unwillingness to level with the American public regarding the war's direction and potential costs (human and otherwise).

The people, Mr. President, are being asked to sacrifice their blood and precious resources for this war. Surely these sacrifices entitle them to raise hard questions about the direction and strategy of the war with an expectation that they will receive a direct, coherent and comprehensive reply.
- N. Brian Gentry
Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Thank you for an excellent editorial June 24, "Why Debate? Attack the Critic." If these "good Americans" had read any history, or even stopped to think, they would be unlikely to respond in the manner they do.

More than two centuries ago, it was the true Americans who complained (and acted) in response to the behavior and crimes of King George V and his administrators, the rulers at that time, who gained independence for our country. It was not the spineless element who told these patriots they were traitors to their lawful leader, and they should shut up and do as they were told.

It takes more than a bumper sticker or a cheap flag lapel pin, probably imported from China, to make a patriotic American. It takes people who recognize that a government that constructs prison camps and ships people, not even accused of a crime, to the prison camps or to countries that use torture, as being on a totally wrong track.

This country badly needs more people who care about it and are willing to speak out for a return to law and honorable, decent behavior and fewer who try to prove that torture is both legal and proper.
- Richard Bird,
Keosauqua.

--attribution

fuck up? get promoted

this just pisses me to all hell. people who have otherwise been guilty of everything from fraud to downright theft, getting promoted by the bushites. it's almost a requirement that you play evil dictator games.

WASHINGTON, June 28 - The Pentagon has promoted or nominated for promotion two senior Army officers who oversaw or advised detention and interrogation operations in Iraq during the height of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal.

--source

what a great birthday present

but then again, it's canada.

OTTAWA, June 28 -- The House of Commons voted Tuesday to guarantee full marriage rights to same-sex couples, reaffirming Canada's sharp difference with the United States over the issue of gay rights and promising an alternative destination for American gay men and lesbians to be married.

--source

i'm back

like i really ever left. but i caught this bug that had me wringing in pain that sent me to the E.R. but it's gone now, hopefully.

and so we're back with reviews of the speech last nite by him.

this is somewhat strange, and i wonder if there's something else going on. are journalists just getting in the way, or are they trying to get the truth?

A wire piece in the Journal says an Iraqi journalist was apparently killed by GIs after he didn't pull over as their convoy was passing; it is reportedly the third such killing of an Iraqi journalist in the last week.

--source