The Blue State

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Lieberman labels Lamont a racist

Word is circulating all over the blogosphere today that the Lieberman Campaign is using Rove-like tactics to court black voters.  According to a few sources on the ground in Connecticut, Lieberman is distributing flyers that are being placed on the windshields of cars outside black churches implying that Ned Lamont is a racist:

It was placed on windshields of cars parked in church parking lotsduring services. It was accompanied by a standard piece of Liebermanlit.

The bottom of the flyer said that it was authorized and paid for byFriends of Joe Lieberman and printed "in-house with volunteer labor".(Yet again the Lieberman campaign avoids patronizing union copy shops.)

The front of the flyer had a picture of Lieberman with Clinton andmentioned Lieberman's civil rights accomplishments of 40 years ago -marching with MLK and working on voting rights in Mississippi.

The back was about Ned Lamont cancelling his membership in theexpensive Round Hill Country Club in Greenwich, including a quote fromthe New York times in which Ned acknowledged that most of the membersof the club were white. The contrast was obviously implying that NedLamont is a rich racist.

The flyer was on the windshield of my family's car at a Catholic church.

There's only one week to go before the election, and Joe Lieberman is getting desperate.  Will these actions encourage Connecticut voters to hold their heads high and be proud of their incumbent senator?  Things are getting dirty.

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Other blogs writing about this story: Firedoglake, Connecticut Blog, Daily Kos.

Take this job and ship it

In the Monday morning edition of the Washington Post, Jeffrey Birnbaum wrote about North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan's call for populism in his new book Take this Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America.

Birnbaum gives a general thesis of Byron Dorgan's book:

He blames many of the nation's woes on the avarice of largemultinational companies -- a tack that few politicians, dependent oncampaign contributions, are willing to take these days. He also basheslobbyists, which is for him a somewhat hollow declaration. His wife,Kimberly Olson Dorgan, is the chief lobbyist for the American Councilof Life Insurers.

Dorgan heaps particular scorn on pharmaceuticaland oil companies. He accuses drugmakers, for instance, of bending thecountry's laws in ways that hurt consumers and bloat their bottomlines. In response, he would repeal laws that bar the government fromnegotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices and thatprohibit the importation of less-expensive prescription drugs fromcountries such as Canada.

These are not the freshest of ideas, particularly coming from aliberal Democrat. But Dorgan delivers them with real sting. He claims,for example, that Tommy G. Thompson, then-secretary of the Departmentof Health and Human Services, told him privately that Dorgan was"right" to favor allowing prescription drugs to cross into this country-- a position at odds with that of Thompson's boss at the time,President Bush.

Dorgan also sounds what has become a majorrallying cry for the political left -- a full-throated assault on thenation's largest retailer. "Wal-Mart," he writes, "is the poster childfor what has gone so terribly wrong in this global economy." Hecomplains that the company "trades American jobs for cheap foreignlabor" and "pushes wages down here in the United States."

With poverty up, the number uninsured up and median wages down, the Democratic Party has a lot to learn from this book.

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Other blogs writing about this book: North Dakota Democratic Party Blog, Daily Kos, Voice of Dakota, Democratic Talk Radio Blog, Dayton Politics, Democrats.com.

Whistleblower subpoenaed ahead of his testimony before Congress

Alberto Gonzales and President Bush are using NSA whistleblower Russel Tice as an example to all those who might want to leak anything to the press in the future.  Tice says that nothing he leaked was classified.  Still, the FBI showed up at his door:

NSA whistleblower Russell Tice says he was visited on Wednesday by twoFBI agents who handed him a federal subpoena instructing him to appearbefore a grand jury next week in Virginia.

Tice is being charged with violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 793.  This comes right before he is set to testify in front of Congress about the unconstitutional use of power by the Executive Branch:

Tice says he considers the subpoena a form of intimidation by thegovernment to keep him from testifying before Congressionalinvestigators about what he knows about the surveillance systems.

According to the conservative National Review, it may have been Tice who tipped off Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R) about NSA procedures that President Bush failed in his constitutional obligation to brief the Congress on.  But until that is proven, the whole Hoekstra-Tice connection is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

Russell Tice is scheduled to appear before a 23-member grand jury in Virginia this week.

It should also be said that a few months ago the Supreme Court ruled that government whistleblowers are no longer protected from retaliation from their employers.

Don't tell my generation that money is not a factor

As a political writer on this web site, you will often notice a "generation y" bias, especially when it comes to issues involving the deficit.  Shortly after September 11th, 2001, I had the naive notion (as did other young Americans entering college) that our goal should be to fight all terrorism regardless of the monetary cost.  Well, more than about $1 trillion worth of debt later, most among my generation including myself are worried about how far in the red we are.  Banks in the Middle East and Asia that are buying shares of our debt now have us by the boot-straps.  It's easy for Republicans and some Democrats to just throw money at each military bill for Iraq -- after all, they won't even be alive to pay for it.

Also, just about every economist says the same thing: as GDP-adjusted U.S. debt increases, the greater likelihood that the dollar decreases in value.  If banks who invest in the U.S. dollar forecast a long-term decline in its value, then they will start charging more interest.  Usually when their rates go up, the U.S. has to raise interest rates as well in order to keep up -- that hurts consumers.

So when it comes to our foreign policy, yes, our monetary ability to wage the war against terrorism is a finite one.  Time Magazine's Lisa Beyer alluded to that very point in her article published for this week:

However grand it may be to fight all global terrorists, though, thesimple fact is that we can't: we don't have the troops, the money orthe political will. That means it may make sense to limit our hit listto the groups that actually threaten us.

I completely agree with that statement.  It does not mean we should shy away from condemning anti-Semitic groups like Hamas, nor does it mean we can't cut off private U.S. funds that find their way to violent groups.  It does mean though that our energies ought to be fixated on making the most of our resources to protect what are true threats, and provide taxpayers with the transparency needed remain in the loop.

When you hear politicians discard the birth tax (National Debt) as just a number, the chances are that they won't even be around in 30 years when the rest of us have to worry about it.
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Other blogs writing about Bush's Foreign Policy: Media Matters, Donkey Path, Nemesis News, American Entropy, A Daily Briefing on Iran, Bravene World, Scrapple Face, Liberal Pro.

Fmr US Soldier: I came over here because I wanted to kill people

Even before I go any further, let me say that I know a number of individuals that are either currently or formerly in the military.  For example, a former political science classmate of mine is now in Iraq.  Another, who I was friends with all throughout elementary school, just got back last year. 

So, the soldier who said this is among a small fringe within the military.

With that said, the web site Editor and Publisher refers to a Sunday Washington Post story about Steven Green, who is accused of raping and murdering a 15-year-old Iraqi girl.  Before the attack on the girl occurred, Green actually was interviewed by the Washington Post back in February about what life was like as a soldier in Iraq.  He said that killing Iraqis was like "squashing an ant."

Editor and Publisher explains:

Writing in Sunday's Washington Post, AndrewTilghman, a former correspondent for the military paper Stars andStripes, said he interviewed Green several times in February south ofBaghdad.

"I came over here because I wanted to kill people," hequoted Green as saying. "The truth is, it wasn't all I thought it wascracked up to be. I mean, I thought killing somebody would be thislife-changing experience. And then I did it, and I was like, 'Allright, whatever.'

"I shot a guy who wouldn't stop when we were out at atraffic checkpoint and it was like nothing," Green was quoted assaying. "Over here, killing people is like squashing an ant.

"I mean, you kill somebody and it's like, 'All right, let's go get some pizza.'"

Green is under arrest in Kentucky for the March 12murders of the Iraqi girl and three of her relatives. He was honorablydischarged from the military for a "personality disorder," has pleadednot guilty.

Steven Green is a 19-year-old high school dropout who had three misdemeanor convictions prior to his service in Iraq.

The rape case is still pending.  But a gag order has been issued in order to keep the media from knowing the specific details about the killing.
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Other blogs writing about this issue: Cut to the Chase, Mike's Thoughts, Kate's Ramblings and Waunderings, World News, Innisfree, The News Blog, Steve's Soapbox, Blogger News Network, Cranky Daze.

Bill Frist fools Iowans on health care

In his last year as Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist took a trip to Iowa over the weekend as he pondered a possible 2008 presidential bid.  The doctor-turned-Republican Senator focused on the affordability of health care, which he considers to be his number one strength.

While speaking in front of Iowans, he claimed to be an advocate of lower health care costs:

"If we can't address that (health care) thataffects our global competitiveness ... we are in real trouble," Fristsaid at a forum on the topic with several prominent physicians andhealth care executives and Iowa GOP House candidate Mike Whalen.

Bill Frist, as is the case with others in politics, correctly relates health care costs to our ability to compete in that sector worldwide.

But if the Iowans who attended that speech took a good look at Bill Frist's health care record in the Senate, then they probably would have had looks of disgust on their faces while listening to him.  Back in 1996, Frist opposed medical savings accounts.  In 1999, Frist voted against a bill that would have guaranteed a patient's bill of rights.  In 2000, he voted no on a bill that would have established a prescription drug program through the Medicare Health Insurance Program.  In 2005, Frist even opposed a measure to allow the government to negotiate with drug manufacturers to ensure the best possible prices for consumers.  And just this year, as seniors groups nationwide begged the President to have the Medicare enrollment deadline extended, Frist opposed it.

Even though he consistently votes against the interests of patients, he does stick his neck out for other lawmakers.  In October of 2004, he used his Senate office as a make-shift clinic to give his colleagues flu shots.  This was during the same year that the country faced a severe shortage of flu vaccines.

As most of us know, part of the problem with health care costs being so high is that median wages are so low.  I bet you know where I am going with this one!  Frist opposes a minimum wage increase, while at the same time advocating for a repeal of the estate tax that only impacts the richest 0.5% of the country.

So please, if you are a health care voter, please think twice before listening to this man spin his record on health care.  It is a dismal one!

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Other blogs writing about the Republicans and their record on Health Care: Entertainment News, This side of the railroad tracks, The Examined Life, Dos Centavos, The Future was Yesterday, Democratic Governors Association, Steve Sailer Sucks, Politics in Mudville, Cato-at-Liberty, State of the Division, Confined Space, Equality for Feingold.

$2.9 billion worth of hard power to Saudi Arabia

Hard power has to do with the capacity to coerce and defeat your enemy through military power.  Soft power is your country's appeal to the world, and the ability to promote your values.  Foreign policy expert Joseph Nye says that while both are important, it is best to have a balance between the two. 

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson echoed that opinion during yesterday's weekly Democratic radio address:

"..military power and diplomacy arenot alternatives to one another, but rather are complementary sourcesof strength. What the Bush Administration has failed to understand isthat while diplomacy without power is weak, power without diplomacy isblind."

The problem right now, as many would agree, is that we are placing too much of an emphasis on hard power and not enough soft power.  So it comes as no surprise that the middle east is in the midst of a hard power confrontation.  International politics is becoming too polarized.

The Bush war cabinet does not understand that we need a balance between hard and soft power.  Today the Administration announced the approval of a $2.9 billion sale of Abrams Tanks to Saudi Arabia.  This was all part of a much larger $4.6 billion military package to a group of moderate Arab states.  While supporting some of those states is helpful, like Jordan and Bahrain, tanks and air power alone will not be enough to prevent the massive Arab street uprising that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are trying to achieve.  The war on terrorism is mostly an asymmetrical struggle.  It's too bad that Bush's war cabinet continues to have a Cold War mindset about it all.

The child prisoner issue in Iraq

U.S. officials are complaining that not enough troops are in the Iraqi capital to calm the chaos.  If we had invoked the Powell Doctrine and sent overwhelming force in at the beginning and not disbanded the Iraqi army, maybe things might at least be a "little" different today.

This comes at the same time as a controversy has erupted over how the military is keeping underage prisoners.  Human rights officials object to our current policy of putting child prisoners in the same facilities as adults.  One 14-year-old boy who was just released after having been detained for seven months for being near a car bomb explosion said what prison life was like:

Omar said the experience of being in prison was terrifying, "and I was crying day and night for my family."  The trauma of the experience remains with him: "I would rather die than go there again."

Obviously no one would object to arresting anyone that even tries to harm our soldiers, regardless of how young they are.  But do children deserve the same prison treatment as older men?  That is the debate at hand.

Meanwhile, more violence rocked Baghdad and all across Iraq today.  Here are the security incidents for July 30th:

*DIWANIYA - Seven police wounded in a joint U.S.and Iraqi raid against members of the Mehdi Army, a powerful militialoyal to Shi'ite firebrand Moqtada al-Sadr. The incident took place inan eastern neighbourhood of the town of Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles)south of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

*NEAR TIKRIT- A woman was killed and two others wounded when a mortar hit a housein al-Alam, a small town near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north ofBaghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Twelve people wounded in a grenade attack as they queued for temporary work in central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Six people, including three policemen, wounded by a roadsidebomb near a police patrol in the capital's northern al-Wazeriyadistrict, police said.

SUWAYRAH - Police said they pulled twoheadless corpses wearing military uniform from the Tigris river in thetown of Suwayrah, 60 km (38 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

One can only have sympathy for what our troops are going through in Iraq, especially with the 109 degree weather in the month of July.
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Other blogs writing about this Iraq: Impolitical, Details, Left 404, Buffalo Meat, Bone Drone, The Guerrilla Campaign, Terrorism News, Crawl Across the Ocean.

Who are really the fear mongers after all?

Okay, so 60% of the United States is in a drought.  Studies this summer at different universities all over the country are saying that global warming is responsible for earlier melting seasons, which makes land drier in the summertime and more susceptible to wildfires.

Yet, some like John Stossel (who wants to legalize cousin marriages by the way) claim that global warming theorists are just trying to make everyone slaves to fear.

Please, let's ask ourselves who has the power here: environmental activists or oil lobbyists?  Concerned citizens or companies like Exxon that just reported a three-month profit of $10 billion?  Let's ask who is really in control here?

If oil advocates like John Stossel or Michael Crichton want to travel around the country with the backing of the American Enterprise Institute and give speeches scaring people into believing environmentalists are socialists, then fine.  But blogs like this one are going to call those people on it each and every time.