Avedon Carol of The Sideshow directs readers to Joe Vecchio for an explanation of libertarianism. Would she link to Ken Mehlman for an explanation of liberalism? Joe writes, “What we’re witnessing now in this country is a shadow of what went on before the New Deal: in the days before there were child labor laws, minimum wage laws, etc. Did you think liberalism was created out of a vacuum? It was a direct result of the failures of the unregulated market: the reason government had to step in in 1932 is because a few people got together to rig the system for their own benefit, and now that liberalism has been publicly humiliated we’re seeing it happen all over again.”

The gist of what Joe is saying is that social liberalism arose to protect the working class from the menacing onslaught of the wealthy. He doesn’t say how negotiating a contract between a disenfranchised white labour pool and the gov’t's business cronies furthered individual rights. How can liberalism ever be rescued from its “humiliation” when its origins are denied, hijacked by indentured servants of a cruel master they legitimise over and again in those curious aberrations referred to as elections, thereby ensuring the social misery they purport to relieve?

Vecchio continues, “All this is falling on deaf ears, of course. Knowing nothing about history, and less about the true nature of humans (or perhaps understanding it all too well), the Libertarians will never understand how wrong they are. They’re being played for suckers by people who are looking to make a profit at their expense.”

Here’s a little history lesson liberals like Joe never mention:

Katznelson concludes that most government social policies during the 1930s and 1940s were, in effect, part of a vast affirmative action program for whites that left blacks further behind than they had been at the beginning of the period. He makes a chilling case.

Who’s the sucker?

Libby the indicted, Rove the snitch?

NPR reports that Karl’s lawyers are “deep in negotiations” with Fitzgerald’s staff. Naming names, likely. Weasels.

p42:

“Many Americans appear to believe that our constitution has been a model for the rest of the democratic world.’ Yet among the countries most comparable to the United States and where democratic institutions have long existed without breakdown, not one has adopted our American constitutional system. It would be fair to say that without a single exception they have all rejected it.”

How Democratic is the American Constitution
by Robert A. Dahl
Yale University Press, 2003, paper

Sunday 04 January 2004

A member of the Likud party has proposed “massive ethnic cleansing” of non-Jews in Palestine-Israel as a “final solution” of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Uzi Cohen, a member of Ariel Sharon’s right-wing party and a deputy mayor of the town of Raanana, told Israeli public radio on Sunday there was widespread support in Israel for “the idea of ethnic cleansing”.

“Many people support the idea but few are willing to speak about it publicly,” he said.

[...]

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has so far been circumspect about the idea of banishing the Palestinians from their ancestral land.

Last year, when members of his Likud party approached him with the idea, Sharon reportedly told them: “The international situation wouldn’t be conducive to expelling the Palestinians.

And the international community was silent.

“Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians. There are cases in which the overall final good justifies harsh and cruel acts that are committed in the course of history.”

- Benny Morris

…like a direct mailer scorned.

So long, Harriet.

Miers withdraws Supreme Court nomination
By Stephanie I. Cohen
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Bush withdrew Harriet Miers’ nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court on Thursday, the White House said. Miers sent a letter to Bush requesting her nomination be withdrawn. Bush said he would “reluctantly” accept her request. The nomination had run into opposition from conservative lawmakers.

HomeFromIraqNow.org is a national campaign to end the war in Iraq by using binding statewide ballot initiatives around the country to pressure the administration to bring our troops home now.

We are currently placing an initiative on the November 2006 ballot in Massachusetts to prevent the Governor from sending any more National Guard troops to Iraq, and we are actively exploring similar initiatives in other states…

What about other states?
Including Massachusetts, 24 states have a voter-sponsored ballot initiative process. They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming. If you’re interested in getting an initiative on the ballot in one of these states, email campaign@HomeFromIraqNow.org.

A Look At Those Who Died In Iraq. The NYT‘s cares?

Pentagon Clearance for Judith Miller Questioned

Senator Byron Dorgan, speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, pondered the rules governing authorized access by reporters to classified information.

His reflections were prompted by an assertion from New York Times’ Judith Miller that she had held a security clearance for access to classified information while embedded with a military unit in Iraq. That assertion was later modified to indicate that Ms. Miller had signed some kind of non-disclosure agreement.

“How can you give a nondisclosure form to a reporter and then show them secret or top secret material? Take a look at the law, which I will read tomorrow in the Senate. That is not what is allowed,” Senator Dorgan said. See his remarks here.

Rising Civilian Toll Is the Iraq War’s Silent, Sinister Pulse by Sabrina Tevernise relies heavily upon Anthony Cordesman’s opinion concerning the rising death toll of Iraqi civilians. He calls Iraq Body Count “the best guesstimate in town,” while the NYT‘s reports he also said “the figures were far from complete.”

The attack on Monday night was the sixth in Wisam Salah’s neighborhood, in Firdos Square near the hotels. On Tuesday evening, Mr. Salah, who is Beshir’s cousin, was on the street near his home clearing rubble and hanging a door back on its hinges. He spoke angrily about foreigners. They make the area more dangerous for Iraqis, he said.

“They want us as armor for their bodies,” he said, his face hard. “They are responsible for this.”

An offer of canned beans, rice and sugar from American troops on Tuesday afternoon felt particularly insulting. “Are they making fun of us?” he said, angrily. “Will this bring back those we lost?”

Civilians do appear to be dying at a faster pace. Mr. Cordesman found in a recent analysis of American figures that more than 60 Iraqis were killed daily this year, up from 40 last year.

Adult males make up 82 percent of all Iraqis killed since the American invasion, according to a study released by Iraq Body Count in July. Children account for about 10 percent of the total and women about 8 percent, according to the study.

IPA offers the following:

KATHY KELLY: http://www.vcnv.org
Co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kelly said today: “From now until Oct. 28, in locations across the U.S. and the U.K., bells will toll in remembrance of the more than 100,000 Iraqis who have died as a consequence of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In 100 locations listed at http://www.iraqmortality.org, participants in the ’100,000 Rings’ campaign will ring a bell once a minute, for 1,000 minutes, to express grief and condolence for every life lost as a result of the U.S. bombing, invasion and occupation of Iraq.” Kelly is author of the book “Other Lands Have Dreams” and the recent article “For Whom They Toll.”

MILAN RAI: http://iraqmortality.org/iraq-mortality
Rai is author of the book “War Plan Iraq” and the recent article “Iraq Mortality,” which examines the various major studies on the subject and concludes that “When we take account of the different categories being measured by the United Nations Development Program’s Iraqi Living Conditions Survey, the Lancet study, and the Iraq Body Count reported death toll, and the different time periods that they measure, the three estimates seem to be mutually reinforcing rather than mutually contradictory.”

American Progress on others hardly mentioned:

“More than 15,220 also have been wounded in combat, including more than 7,100 injured too badly to return to duty,” and thousands more “have been hurt in incidents unrelated to combat.” Many of the American service members who have fought in Iraq volunteered for the war “because they burned with conviction in the rightness of the mission. Others were driven by powerful loyalty to units and friends. For some it was simply their job.” Whatever their reason, their sacrifice has been ultimate, and we honor it today. (Watch this moving interactive photo essay of 27 funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.)

A Celebration in Search of an Occasion
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, October 26, 2005

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who, like Bush, had the political judgment not to dress in formal attire, took an innovative view of recent days. “This has been an incredible fall!” he announced, pointing to the approval of a constitution in Iraq, elections in Afghanistan, confirmation of a new chief justice and education reforms.

“Yaaaaay,” a lone woman in the audience yelled.

Was her name Harriet Miers?

It was refreshing to hear Richard Viguerie of ConservativeHQ tell Washington Journal viewers this morning that conservatives have “bit their tongues” while gov’t spending has spiraled out of control under the Bush administration but they will not abide this nomination.

There you have it. Big gov’t is fine so long as it’s a theocracy. If you don’t sing the tune, thou shalt be swiftboated.

Brian Concannon Jr.
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti

If you like films: Two excellent films on Haiti have been released recently. Both are receiving rave reviews, but because they challenge the foreign policy of wealthy countries, both are having trouble getting into theaters. They need your help, so try to organize a showing, for your community or your church, solidarity or school group. It is not necessary to attract a huge crowd to each showing (although it would help), it is important that there be a lot of showings. As they say in Haiti, men anpil, chay pa lou (many hands makes the load light).

Haiti: The Untold Story by Kevin Pina, chronicles the brutal daily human rights violations committed against democracy supporters in Haiti since the February 2004 coup d�etat. The film focuses on abuses in poor urban neighborhoods by the Haitian National Police and United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) troops in Haiti, especially the July 6, 2005 Cite Soleil massacre. It was produced at great personal risk by journalist/filmmaker Pina, who has covered the grassroots democracy movement in Haiti for the past ten years. It contains stunning footage not available elsewhere. For more information, or to view a trailer.

Aristide and the Endless Revolution
by Nicolas Rossier
(Baraka Productions)

�An hour south of Miami, the elected president of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation has twice been forced from office with the complicity of the international community. “ARISTIDE and the Endless Revolution” investigates the tragic events that led to the second violent expulsion of Jean Bertrand Aristide from Haiti. This documentary reveals the tangled web of hope, deceit, and political violence that has brought the world’s first black republic to its knees.� For more information or to view a trailer. The film will be shown in New York from November 17-23 (pdf).

A third film, Pote Mak Sonje: the Raboteau Massacre Trial (Christine Cynn and Harriet Hirshorn) is a few years old, but is an important reminder of the possibilities of democracy in Haiti. The film chronicles the tenacious, non-violent and ultimately (but temporarily) successful fight for justice by the victims of the 1994 Raboteau Massacre. The victims took risks for justice, because they saw it as a way of breaking Haiti�s cycle of violence and transforming the justice system from an instrument of repression into an instrument of liberation. They succeeded in convicting the top paramilitary and military leadership of murder in a trial hailed as �a landmark in the fight against impunity.� After the film�s release, all those convicted were freed following the February 2004 coup d�etat. For more information.

via AfterDowningStreet.org

For Immediate Release: October 25, 2005
Contact: Michael Mershon (202) 225-6101

As the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq reaches 2,000, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) this week will introduce legislation to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to deploy United States Armed Forces to Iraq. The bill will allow funds to be used for the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops; for transitional security provided by other countries � including international organizations like NATO and the United Nations; and for continued support for Iraqi security forces and international forces in Iraq � as well as funding for reconstruction efforts.

Attached below is a statement Rep. McGovern gave on the House floor today.

�Mr. Speaker, CNN reported today that two thousand American troops have now lost their lives in Iraq. It is time to end this war. Let�s bring our troops home and restore U.S. credibility in the world community.

�This war was based on fiction. That is a fact that is no longer disputed. There were no weapons of mass destruction and no ties to Al Qaeda. There was no imminent threat. This Administration � with the acquiescence of Congress � rushed into a war that according to Secretary of State Colin Powell�s former chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, has made our country more vulnerable, not less, to future crisis.
Continue reading →

It’s time to bring the troops home — now. Not one more U.S. serviceperson should give his or her life to this senseless war. Not one more Iraqi should be killed. Not one more U.S. dollar should be spent sustaining this war and occupation.

All around the country, people will gather tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26, to honor the dead and call for the troops to come home. We urge you to join one of these events — or organize one in your community if none has yet been planned.

UFPJ is supporting the call made by UFPJ member groups — American Friends Service Committee, Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out — for these actions.

Visit http://www.afsc.org/2,000/ for a list of events being planned, or to list your own event. More than 400 activities are currently planned.

Update: (via actforchange) Remembrance Weekend: If you are part of a faith tradition, please ask the leaders of your house of worship to participate in “Remembrance Weekend” on October 29 or 30. Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other houses of worship are being asked to join in this national observance by recognizing this tragic milestone during their worship service. A moment of silence, a prayer or the ringing of bells are among the many ways to participate. Join congregations around the country in this nationwide observance. Interfaith resources for this weekends remembrance are available at www.faithfulamerica.org/soldiers.html.