Like Judas of Old, You Lie and Deceive
In the ongoing drama of Karl Rove and Valerie Plame, there are thousands of fascinating sub-plots:

The White House Press Corps suddenly waking up to the reality that hey, these guvamint types play politics sometime.

There’s the conspiracy buffs that are thrilled at the prospect of this going all the way to the president.

There’s the “liberal media” hiding Rove’s involvement with the reporters until after a judge ruled the papers be released.

But what’s being ignored in all of this is, what is the real impact of Plame’s outing? Was intelligence compromised? Were people with whom she had contact in other countries killed? Did we lose other spooks as a result of Rove’s ignorance of proper protocol?

These are the questions that will decide Rove’s fate. If nobody can point to any effect of Rove’s actions on anyone other then Plane, W won’t replace him. The arrogance of those in power in this country is astounding, and if there’s one thing they hate, its accountability. We’ll need more than a smoking gun to get Karl Rove out of power…unfortunately, we’ll probably also need a body.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 7:33 PM 1 comments

 
You don’t count the dead when, God’s on your side.

My deepest sympathies to anyone who had family or friends that were in London during the attack. Sadly, this attack should illustrate that none of us are 100% safe from a potential terror attack.

There was a lot of rhetoric from leaders around the world yesterday. Some of it good, all o fit sympathetic to the plight of Londoners. However, I thought the best was from the Mayor of London.

http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=5306

As long as they fail to divide us; Americans and British, Christians and Muslims, Asians and Arabs, they cannot defeat us. We cannot let the events of this week divide us.

- posted by Damien Newton @ 6:43 PM 0 comments

 
Knock Knock Knockin'



In our first obituary on this site. CBaWOH bids a fond farewell to Admiral James Stockdale. History will remember you as the last non-politician or billionare to compete in a national political debate. Your treatement at the hands of the media was a national disgrace for a veteran, POW, and true American hero; but on this blog you'll always be remembered fondly for showing the foolishness of the debate process by simply tuning out the answers of your opponents when they didn't answer the question.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 7:07 PM 0 comments

 
We Gazed Upon the Chimes of Freedom Flashing


I'm a bit late in commenting on this one, but with the 4th of July being today, a day we celebrate America's birthday and remember the best of our country, it seems like a good time to bring up an amazing day in New York last week.Last weekend, New Yorkers were given the oppurtunity to express true freedom in two ways. First, as made national news, The Reverend Billy Graham brought his message that 'Jesus Saves' to New York City for what would probably be the last time. The Reverend Graham is probably the best known and most popular evangelist in modern American history, and he is so because he kept politics out of his speeches. Sure, I would have preferred that he used his pulpit to further equal rights and acceptance of other religions; but Graham the man showed no signs of hostility towards those of different faiths, and in a post 9-11 world would defend Islam and the Muslim People if asked.
Of course, last Sunday was also the annual Gay Pride parade. A lesser speaker or religious leader would have used the parade as an excuse to go on the attack, but Graham did no such thing.
While I use this forum to complain about many of the stupid things this country's leadership does in our name, its good to every now and then remember that this is a pretty cool place to live. Any place where an evangelist and a gay pride parade can occupy the same city at the same time is pretty cool. Of course, we still have a long way to go, but on this holiday, I think I'm going to enjoy how far we've come.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 5:10 PM 1 comments

 
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin'
So Iran's elections are over. Think President Bush is still going to herald Iran as an example of his Democratic reforms moving across the Mid East? Anti-Americanism was certainly a factor in the election, and the new leadership has already made clear their determination to continue the nuclear program.A great editorial in the Beirut Daily Star ( http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&article_id=16421&categ_id=17) shows that Iran's neighbors are about as excited by the election results in Iran as Americans are. However, the deep distrust of America that exists in the Middle East; we cannot use this local fear of Iranian power to contain Iran as we contained and isolated communist states in the Cold War.

The situation in Iran is another illustration of the failures of our foreign policy in the Arab and Muslim world. We're not making friends. We're not winning the hearts and minds of the people that are making the decisions, and its not just a problem with our leadership at the top. There has been a xenophobic reaction to 9-11 in our media and popular culture; and our leadership has preyed on it to further unrelated causes in the Muslim world.

As much as I think we need to stay put in Iraq until the country has stabilized; I know we need a new plan, a more complete plan, to win the public relations battle that is a crucial borderline in the War on Terror.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 1:22 PM 0 comments

 
He stood so straight and tall, in his uniform and all
So last night was the president's speech commemorating the handover of power in Iraq to the interim government. As an army of leftist keyboardists have already pointed out, it’s nothing we haven't heard before.

9/11.
Iraq.
9/11.
Support our troops.
Buy a ribbon.
9/11.

I could go on, but if you really want to read the thing, Daily Kos has a transcript. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/28/195710/973Now the boilerplate speech really isn't that deserving of comment. As I said before, we've heard it before...But W did make it clear, once and for all, in his eye, its most important that we support our troops by supporting the ribbon and magnet industry:

In this time of testing, our troops can know: The American people are behind you. Next week, our Nation has an opportunity to make sure that support is felt by every soldier, sailor, airman, coast guardsman, and Marine at every outpost across the world. This Fourth of July, I ask you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom - by flying the flag ... sending letters to our troops in the field ... or helping the military family down the street. The Department of Defense has set up a website - AmericaSupportsYou.mil. You can go there to learn about private efforts in your own community. At this time when we celebrate our freedom, let us stand with the men and women who defend us all.

That's right, the way to support our troops is by buying ribbons and flying flags. It’s not supporting them by doing things like supporting veteran's hospitals, donating money for body armor, or heck, even making sure the yellow ribbon you buy is from the one that donates its proceeds to a veteran's group instead of the ones that are made in China.

The President inadvertantly highlighted for me the main problem we are having in the War on Terror. For those people that don't know someone actually fighting in Iraq, this war is one devoid of sacrifice for the citizenry. Instead of war bonds, we sell our debt to the Chinese (and buy their ribbons). Instead of raising monies for body armor and vehicle armor, we get a tax cut and we aren't even asked to have a bake sale. And heaven's forbid we actually ask people to conserve energy or do anything besides consume consume consume.

Scratch that, make that "consume and put a ribbon on the SUV." No wonder the poll numbers are so fluid when people are asked about the war in Iraq...as a country, most of us aren't in involved in a real way in the way this country is run or what we’re doing abroad.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 7:16 PM 0 comments

 
Man, how come you don't move
So I'm sure you heard about the Supreme Court's terrible decision to allow a city in CT to take away people's land to build a strip mall. Appalling. Shocking. Read here:http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8872948

Its one thing to need to build a highway, train station, police station, firehouse or some public project that serves the public good. But all we're seeing here is people wanting to build a mall. Redevelopment and tax revenue now trump personal rights? Not in the America I know.I know that this is going to become a Red vs. Blue issue, I've already seen some posts on the Internet to that effect, and with the Big Three conservatives on the court (Rehnquist, Scalie and Thomas) all voting for property rights and against developer rights, its not a surprise. Again I find myself agreeing with the conservatives. Thats twice already? Damm.

What use is owning property if the government can take it away for such a frivolous reason?My heart goes out to those who have lost not just a case, but their home today. I hope that everyone else involved finds a way to sleep with themselves at night....but they shouldn't have a problem. After all, they still have a roof over their heads.
- posted by Damien Newton @ 5:11 PM 0 comments