Duty to Warn

It’s a popular notion: TV sets and other media devices let us in on the violence of war. “Look, nobody likes to see dead people on their television screens,” President Bush told a news conference more than three years ago. “I don’t. It’s a tough time for the American people to see that. It’s gut-wrenching.”

But televised glimpses of war routinely help to keep war going. Susan Sontag was onto something when she pointed out that “the image as shock and the image as cliche are two aspects of the same presence.”

While viewers may feel disturbed by media imagery of warfare, their discomfort is largely mental and limited. The only shots coming at them are ones that have been waved through by editors. Still, we hear that television brings war into our living rooms.

Obama got a packed house and huge applause before saying anything about what he would do as president. For a while it was all about the influence of lobbyists in Washington, the tragedy of Katrina, the tragedy of Iraq, the need for a politics of the people, the need for hope and optimism. All opposition to the way things are, and the need for something vaguely better.

All feel good. And a lot of people clearly felt good in the room. A lot of people shouted "all right!" "you said it!"

But what did he say? He talked about what he did in Illinois. He talked about how bad things are. He said he believes in hope. But what would he do if he were president? For a while, Obama gave us no idea, other than hope, which he said is the cause he will work for every single day as president.

Finally, Obama got to some substance. He said he wants to bring together businesses and unions and insurance companies to solve our health care crisis. He promoted his "universal health care plan that covers every American." But his plan does not cover every American, and as long as it includes the insurance companies, how much hope can there be for it?

Boo-hoo! I made Tim Griffin cry.

He cried. Then he lied.

You remember Tim. Karl Rove's right hand (right claw?) man. The GOP's ragin' cagin' man.

Griffin is the Rove-bot exposed by our BBC Newsnight investigations team as the man who gathered and sent out the infamous 'caging' lists to Republican state chairmen during the 2004 election.

Caging lists, BBC discovered, were used secretly as a basis to challenge the right to vote of thousands of citizens - including the homeless, students and soldiers sent overseas. The day after BBC broadcast that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, sought our evidence on Griffin, Tim resigned his post as US Attorney for Arkansas. That job was a little gift from Karl Rove who made room for his man Griffin by demanding the firing of US prosecutor Bud Cummins.

Last week, our cameras captured Griffin, all teary-eyed, in his humiliating kiss-off speech delivered in Little Rock at the University of Arkansas where he moaned that, "public service isn't worth it."

Some people said they received thirty-nine copies of my last column.

That is enough to land me on the FBI "Most E-mails" List, and is a Class I felony in some counties of Connecticut.

I'm trying to use an address book to mail these out. Some people complained about having their address visible. I tried to hide those and for some reason I sent out thirty-nine copies.

Well, here goes again. I do mean to only send you one at at time.

I've got a few more I would like to send out.

I would imagine these flurries of emails will subside fairly soon.

I watched "The Weather Underground" last night after I got home from work about midnight.

I just can't help but be impressed by the commitment of those people. They actually fought the United States government. Nobody does that.

Can you imagine — just try to imagine — canceling your Survivor Party to fight the FBI toe-to-toe?

I cannot imagine postponing my stair-stepper workout to fight the United States government.

My wife and I once went "underground" in the 1980s for two weeks, pursued by the Omaha FBI office.

The current scandal involving the firing of U.S. attorneys cannot be separated from the Bush administration's scheme to suppress black, poor and working class voters. In order to divert attention from its voter suppression tactics that won Bush the White House in 2000 and 2004, the Bush administration created the myth of "voter fraud." Using fake "voting rights" organizations, obscure groups to finance civil suits and pressure on the U.S. Department of Justice to bring criminal charges against voter registration organizations, Karl Rove and his political operatives like Mark F. "Thor" Hearne have succeeded in undermining the United States' democracy.

"Hearne was one of the most important Bush operatives that almost nobody in America has ever heard of. He applied his vote-suppressing trade from coast to coast, behind the scenes, in a well-funded systematic effort to undermine democracy and keep voters – Democratic voters – from exercising their legal franchise," Brad Friedman, Editor of Bradblog, told the Free Press. Bradblog was the first to reveal Hearne's masquerade as a voting rights advocate.

Cindy Sheehan’s temporary withdrawal — in exhaustion and frustration — from a leadership role in opposition to the war that claimed her son has at least given the mainstream media something to talk about: the antiwar movement’s lack of a “face,” or celebrity void.

That’s news, I guess, while mere abysmal poll numbers, which indicate that the war is lost on the home front, seem to have little more than curiosity value. And, indeed, the American public’s two-to-one opposition to the war and a presidential disapproval rating of nearly 70 percent have so far barely caused a sputter in the Bush war machine. Its vigor and ability to intimidate Congress haven’t flagged, and plans for a 50-year occupation of Iraq proceed apace, under cover of impenetrable cliche: Our troops have to be allowed to complete their mission.

Mort Sahl is now 80 years old. He was a pioneer in stand-up comedy. He broke through the tradition of jokes about airplane food, Asian drivers and frigid wives, instead sharing his wit and insights about political hypocrisy, racism and monogamy. On June 28, there will be a tribute to Sahl--a benefit for the Heartland Comedy Foundation (heartlandcomedyfoundation.net) with tickets ranging from $100-$200--at the Wadsworth Theater in Brentwood. The roster of performers includes Bill Maher, Jay Leno, Paula Poundstone, Woody Allen (on tape), Richard Lewis, Albert Brooks, David Steinberg, Kevin Nealon, David Brenner, Shelley Berman, Jonathan Winters, Drew Carey and Jack Riley; Larry King will emcee. For information: (213) 365-3500 or ticketmaster.com/artist/1126875.

On Monday, Ted Koppel offered a report / commentary on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" which can be found online (  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10947954  ) with this headline: "A Duty to Mislead: Politics and the Iraq War," and this introductory text: "Democrats are telling voters that if they are elected, all U.S. troops will be pulled out of Iraq. But as Sen. Hillary Clinton privately told a senor military adviser, she knows there will be some troops there for decades. It's an example of how in some cases, politics can force dishonesty."

Well, someone is trying to force dishonesty.  I'm not sure it's politics.

Patrick Moore has called me a "jerk." He may not be Queen Elizabeth, but it feels like being made Knight of the Realm.

Moore is a supporter of nuclear power. He is also an advocate for clear-cutting forests, genetically modified foods and a wide range of other corporate eco-assaults. The companies behind them fund Moore's "consulting" agency, which appears to specialize in greenwashing.

Moore's mission also seems to include tagging the Greenpeace name onto things Greenpeace opposes. As a voting member of Greenpeace USA, my e-mail box is often filled with contemptuous messages about Moore's latest outrage, and anger about his claim to be a Greenpeace founder. Many advocate ignoring him.

I'm not of that faith. Based on his appearances, too many people ask me why Greenpeace now "supports nuclear power." It doesn't. Its opposition to atomic reactors is as strong and clear as it was when Moore made his brief appearance on the organization's staff list, decades ago.