Thousands take to the streets to oppose the inauguration of George W. Bush
Tens of thousands protest the Inauguration of George W. Bush
Thousands took to the streets of Washington, DC to protest the inauguration of George W. Bush. The International Action Center organized contingents from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Raleigh, and many other cities to participate in the demonstrations, hand out literature, and distribute placards.
Thousands took to the streets of Washington, DC to protest the inauguration of George W. Bush. The International Action Center organized contingents from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Raleigh, and many other cities to participate in the demonstrations, hand out literature, and distribute placards.
They Doth Protest Too Little
As President Bush gave the second inaugural address of his career, you could see something besides mourning in the eyes of Democrats everywhere. Confusion is what it looked like, and rightly so. The question echoes from blue coast to bluer coast: What has reduced post-election Democrats to such ineffectual pussyfooters?
True, there have been muffled objections -- to the certification of Bush's reelection, and to the impending confirmations of cabinet hopefuls Alberto Gonzales and Condoleeza Rice. Sen. Barbara Boxer, along with a few Congressional Democrats, challenged the Ohio election results earlier this month. And during Gonzales' hearings, Sen. Patrick Leahy described administration policies as "tantamount to torture." Later, Sen. John Kerry and Boxer both voted against Rice's confirmation, while Sen. Joe Biden gave her an impressive dressing down.
But these Democrats weren't making history. They were making footnotes to it.
True, there have been muffled objections -- to the certification of Bush's reelection, and to the impending confirmations of cabinet hopefuls Alberto Gonzales and Condoleeza Rice. Sen. Barbara Boxer, along with a few Congressional Democrats, challenged the Ohio election results earlier this month. And during Gonzales' hearings, Sen. Patrick Leahy described administration policies as "tantamount to torture." Later, Sen. John Kerry and Boxer both voted against Rice's confirmation, while Sen. Joe Biden gave her an impressive dressing down.
But these Democrats weren't making history. They were making footnotes to it.
What, do you want to insult Condoleezza Rice's integrity?
AUSTIN -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helpfully explained it all for us. The problem is that we are living in an alternative reality. What we think we know is not true. We have always had enough troops in Iraq. There are 120,000 trained Iraqi soldiers ready to take over. The president has condemned torture, so what else is there to say? Why torture happened, whose fault it is and why it is still happening at Guantanamo is not a problem because the president has condemned it. Secretary Rice also condemns it, so why raise questions about the fact that she wrote a letter to get an anti-torture clause in the intelligence appropriation bill taken out?
What, do you want to insult her integrity?
Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.
What, do you want to insult her integrity?
Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.
New links
A few of links have come to our attention lately that we don't think you've seen before.
Check 'em out:
http://www.votersunite.org/MB2.pdf
http://home.att.net/~m.standridge/AR04graph.htm#h1
rememberohio.org
Check 'em out:
http://www.votersunite.org/MB2.pdf
http://home.att.net/~m.standridge/AR04graph.htm#h1
rememberohio.org
The Politics of SpongeBob
Conservative Christian organizations have accused a children’s cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, of being part of a secret agenda to promote homosexuality. The character appears in a music video, produced by the non-profit We Are Family Foundation, which was established following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to promote greater cultural understanding. The video, which is being distributed to 61,000 elementary schools, features SpongeBob, Winnie the Pooh, and other popular children’s characters. Although the video does not mention sexuality, the website of the foundation asks people to take a tolerance pledge by respecting those of different abilities, beliefs, culture, sexual identity, and race.
J. Kenneth Blackwell: The “J” is for Judas
Ohio Secretary of State J.
Kenneth Blackwell is perhaps
the single most opportunistic politician in the history of Ohio. His career began in Cincinnati in the 1970s and progressed to statewide office until today. Along the way, he metamorphed from a charter reform Democrat, into a Carter Democrat, then a New Democrat, then an Independent, then a moderate Republican, then a conservative Republican, and is now the state’s leading reactionary right-wing Republican.
Blackwell has always represented opportunism in search of a political position. His flamboyant rhetorical style has never changed, as he has gone from arguing for civil rights to recently comparing himself to Gandhi and King as he offered himself up for arrest in defiance of a federal court ordering him to count provisional ballots cast within a voter’s county.
Blackwell has always represented opportunism in search of a political position. His flamboyant rhetorical style has never changed, as he has gone from arguing for civil rights to recently comparing himself to Gandhi and King as he offered himself up for arrest in defiance of a federal court ordering him to count provisional ballots cast within a voter’s county.
We will not concede, or get over it, but we shall overcome
A great historical victory occurred
on January 6, 2005. The first
formal challenge to an entire state delegation in the electoral college signals nothing less than the rebirth of a new 21st century voting rights movement.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was instrumental in kicking open Congressional doors, helping to persuade U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Cleveland to challenge Ohio’s electoral certification and Senator Barbara Boxer to sign on. U.S. Rep. John Conyers’ report “Preserving Democracy: What went wrong in Ohio” stands as a lasting monument to the massive irregularities in Ohio that led to Bush’s tainted victory.
Those who tell Free Press staffers to “get over it,” “your guy Kerry lost,” and “quit whining,” are missing the point. What they are asking us to “get over” are basic principles of democracy.
When you allow elections to happen where the machines are provided by private corporations whose CEOs are partisan supporters and fund-raisers of Bush – that is not democracy.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was instrumental in kicking open Congressional doors, helping to persuade U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Cleveland to challenge Ohio’s electoral certification and Senator Barbara Boxer to sign on. U.S. Rep. John Conyers’ report “Preserving Democracy: What went wrong in Ohio” stands as a lasting monument to the massive irregularities in Ohio that led to Bush’s tainted victory.
Those who tell Free Press staffers to “get over it,” “your guy Kerry lost,” and “quit whining,” are missing the point. What they are asking us to “get over” are basic principles of democracy.
When you allow elections to happen where the machines are provided by private corporations whose CEOs are partisan supporters and fund-raisers of Bush – that is not democracy.
Alternate reality
AUSTIN -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helpfully explained it all for us. The problem is that we are living in an alternative reality. What we think we know is not true. We have always had enough troops in Iraq. There are 120,000 trained Iraqi soldiers ready to take over. The president has condemned torture, so what else is there to say? Why torture happened, whose fault it is and why it is still happening at Guantanamo is not a problem because the president has condemned it. Secretary Rice also condemns it, so why raise questions about the fact that she wrote a letter to get an anti-torture clause in the intelligence appropriation bill taken out?
What, do you want to insult her integrity?
Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.
What, do you want to insult her integrity?
Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.
A Shaky Media Taboo -- Withdrawal from Iraq
The latest polls show that most Americans are critical of the war
in Iraq. But the option of swiftly withdrawing all U.S. troops from that
country gets little media attention.
So far this year, many news outlets have lapsed into conjecture on what George W. Bush has in mind for the Iraq war. At the end of a recent lengthy editorial, the New York Times noted that “there’s speculation about whether President Bush intends to use the arrival of a new elected government [in Baghdad] as an occasion to declare victory and begin pulling out American troops.”
Right now, that kind of speculation amounts to a smokescreen for a war-crazed administration. Its evident intention is for large numbers of U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for a long time.
So far this year, many news outlets have lapsed into conjecture on what George W. Bush has in mind for the Iraq war. At the end of a recent lengthy editorial, the New York Times noted that “there’s speculation about whether President Bush intends to use the arrival of a new elected government [in Baghdad] as an occasion to declare victory and begin pulling out American troops.”
Right now, that kind of speculation amounts to a smokescreen for a war-crazed administration. Its evident intention is for large numbers of U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for a long time.