Friday, September 28, 2007

Rudy’s Biggest Headache - Brave New Films

Just when you thought that there was hope for Democracy in America. This morning, I was thrown out of a Rudy Giulliani press conference in Santa Monica, California after being told I was welcome to attend. The reason? They found out I worked for Brave New Films.

We were all curious as to why Rudy Giuliani did not think it was important to attend the Republican presidential debate tonight at Morgan State University in Baltimore, a historically black college. The debate, hosted by Tavis Smiley will focus on issues important to minority communities. Giuliani’s campaign suggested there were “important scheduling conflicts”. So, we decided to see what was more important than listening to and addressing the concern’s of African-American voters.

We discovered that Giuliani’s schedule today was to include campaign stops in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and Lancaster, California. According to the Bay Area Center For Voting Research,

Lancaster, California ranks among the top 25 conservative cities in the country. It’s population is also 63% white and 16% African-American. 

Clearly it was more important for Rudy to go pander to his white, conservative base in Lancaster, then to listen to and engage African-American voters nationwide.

The first stop in Santa Monica at 10AM was to be a press conference where he was to receive the endorsement of former Republican Governor of California Pete Wilson. Well we thought why not go and see if we could ask Pete and Rudy a polite question or two. So I called Giuliani’s press officer in New York, Alexis Garcia, who assured me and I quote,

The press conference was open to all interested parties and that no press credentials were needed.
I also confirmed this with the Fairmont Miramar hotel before I left, wearing a nice suit jacket and dress shirt. I arrived at the hotel at 9:45AM and checked in at the front door with a nice young woman with Giuliani’s campaign team. She wrote my name down on a legal pad and I again asked to make sure that no press credentials were needed. She smiled and said no, go right on in. I did and found myself a seat in the second row and waited for the press conference to begin. A few minutes later another woman, blond, tall and not looking happy came up to me and asked me who I was and who I was with. I told her my name is John Ehrenfeld, I am a writer for Brave New Films and my blog the Policy Room. She immediately said and I again quote,
I am going to have to ask you to leave.
I asked why and referenced all the other people in the room with no credentials hanging around their neck; she just glared and said again that I was going to have to leave. Security soon escorted me from the room, no histrionics, no muss no fuss. I was polite and did as I was asked and left the room. I was then approached by a reporter from KPCC radio Frank Stoltze who interviewed me. I have since has another conversation with Mr. Stoltze, on the phone, after the event ended. He told me someone in the roon, possibly with the Guiliani party said I had not identified myself. I suppose giving my name at the door and again when I was asked was not enough. What I think they really meant to say was, we don't like Brave New Films because they produced 'The Real Rudy' which exposed Rudy's lies and distortions on and after 9/11.

I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee and proceeded to sit down on a couch in the hallway to make a few phone calls. Immediately security came up to me, even though I was well outside the room, in a public place, sitting on a couch talking on the phone. They told me that this was now “an incident” and that if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. They firmly escorted me through a side door of the hotel and barked out to the valet parking folks to get my car and to make sure I left the premises immediately.

It was rather an illuminating experience to see the power that Brave New Films and the free alternative press has and the perceived threat they present to the right-wing in this country. I can only imagine what a Giuliani presidency would be like.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Debate Is No Longer A Reasonable Undertaking

It was encouraging to see the American people take to the streets this weekend to loudly denounce the Iraq war and the policies of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Until the people make it clear by their actions that the status-quo is no longer acceptable; nothing will change. Mass demonstrations and civil disobedience is what helped bring the outcry against the Vietnam war to critical mass and that's what will be needed now if there is any hope of effecting change.

Debate is under most circumstances reasonable. But not when it comes to the astoundingly deplorable policies of this administration. Not anymore. There can be no reasonable debate as to whether or not the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the subsequent carnage it caused was warranted. There also can be no reasonable debate on whether the Bush administration’s assault on the Constitution and our civil liberties is warranted.

To do so would be to suggest that there are plausible and defensible positions to take in support of this administration's policies thus according them theoretical legitimacy. That's just not credible, and delusion whether intentional or not isn’t an appropriate state-of-mind for an individual and it’s certainly not a sound foundation for making decisions as to the future of this country.

One does not have a debate whether the criminal who lied his way into a home and held up a family at gunpoint was justified. One does not debate whether a child abuser was justified. Some things are egregious enough assaults on human decency that they don't warrant "debate".

George Bush and Dick Cheney's immoral, unnecessary and unjustified invasion and occupation of Iraq and the subsequent bloodbath that followed, was the biggest foreign policy disaster in US history and an assault on human decency. That's not open for reasonable debate. This administration's illegal and unjustified support of torture, illegal imprisonment and warrant less wiretapping are among the most blatant executive branch assaults on our freedom and civil liberties we have ever seen and an assault on human decency. That's not open for reasonable debate.

Many on the right suggest that debate on these issues is a sensible procedural path to take. That’s just not appropriate anymore.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Gates Says Bush Should Veto Troop Relief Bill

Well, looks like another back-stabbing assault on US troops by those they trust to look out for them. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he is against a Senate proposal to give battle-weary US troops in Iraq more rest between tours of duty. Gates also said that he would recommend that Bush veto the proposal if passed. Incredible!

Gates hesitated and stumble his way through Chris Wallace's softballs and then Joe Biden clearly and articulately lay waste to Gates's position. When are those Republicans who claim to care for and support the troops so much going to wake-up and realize that no one supports the troops less than this administration! Inadequate body armor and Humvees, atrocious conditions for the wounded at Walter Reed and contaminated drinking water supplied by Halliburton's KBR subsidiary for 60 million dollars, demonstrate the contempt that the White House has had all along for our military in Iraq. Not to mention sending them to die for an immoral, unjustifiable war based on lies, oil and the enrichment of Bush and Cheney's war profiteer buddies. This is just another reprehensible example of the same.

Friday, September 14, 2007

General Betrayous Lies Through His Teeth To Congress

Don't believe a word that prevaricating Bush flunky said to Congress on Monday about the lessening of violence in Iraq and the success of the surge. He's an unapologetic liar.

The respected and impartial Associated Press writer Steven R. Hurst reported the real truth about Iraqi violence on August 25th, 2007. He said,

"The death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago. The figures are considered a minimum, the actual numbers are likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted."

He continued,

"Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year, an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year."
"Nearly 1,000 more people have been killed in violence across Iraq in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2006. So far this year, about 14,800 people have died in war-related attacks and sectarian murders."

"Baghdad has gone from representing 76 percent of all civilian and police war-related deaths in Iraq in January to 52 percent in July, bringing it back to the same spot it was roughly a year ago."

No, the right-wing would rather believe General Betrayous and Ryan Crock Of *hit, two biased, administration sycophants whose future as wealthy lobbyists for the war munitions industry depended on the lies they told Congress and the American people Monday.

It's a time-honored tradition after all in the Bush/Cheney administration. They lie and people die.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Bush Credits Thirty-Five Coalition Partners

Who knew!

The dictator-in-chief said in his speech tonight that a mighty coalition of thirty-five countries are fighting bravely alongside the US military in Iraq.

So, how about a shout out to those . . 12 brave ordinance specialists from Moldova, 29 courageous engineers from Kazakhstan and 35 studly munitions specialists from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wonder what the payoff was?

What a deceitful propagandist this smirky Texas twit is to suggest that there is an enthusiastic world-wide effort in support of his immoral war of agression in Iraq. I wonder if that makes the families of the 3,700+ Americans killed and 27,000+ Americans wounded feel better tonight knowing that Borat's naighbor Nushuktan Tulyiagby is fighting at their loved one's side.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Bush Shares His Greedy Retirement Dream - As He Sends Thousands To Die In Iraq

The unbelievable audacity and arrogance of this embarassing, crass, pathetic excuse for a leader! As he continues to send thousands to die in Iraq for his war profiteer and oil industry buddies, Bush says he's looking forward to going out on the speaking circuit after leaving office to reap a financial windfall!

The New York Times on Sunday published excerpts from interviews with Bush for a book by Robert Draper to be published on Tuesday. No humility, no thoughtfulness, no sobering perspective on things, he just wants to get obscenely rich. Here are a few excerpts of what Bush said,

"I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.”

and then he added,

“I don’t know what my dad gets, it’s more than fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars a speech, and Clinton’s making a lot of money".

I guess Bush's 21 million dollars in the bank isn't enough for him. Perhaps Bush and Miss Teen South Carolina can go out on the road together. They can call it "The Articulation Tour 2009".

Monday, September 03, 2007

Former Reagan Deputy Attorney General Fein Says Impeach Bush

Well, maybe when the Reagan folks start clamoring for Bush's impeachment, even the fly-over states may take note. Bruce Fein a constitutional lawyer and Reagan's Deputy Attorney General said the following in an esssay published in Slate,

"President Bush's apparently criminal authorization of a warrantless wiretapping program is grounds for the House to begin an impeachment inquiry".

He went on to add that if Congress doesn't go ahead with impeachment, then it will become a,

"virtual dead letter".

Finally! Someone thinking about the long term effects of executive branch criminality on the future of our political process. It's critical to our democracy to establish clearly that no branch of government is above the law, that checks and balances do mean something and most importantly to make sure a precedent isn't established that the President of The United States can ignore the constitution and rule like a king in America.

Can't wait to see how Hannity et al tries to swift-boat this Reagan conservative. I'm seein' a Coulter/Malkin snake attack on Fox Noise any day now.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Leaked Red Cross Report - Possible Preparations For Bush War Crimes Trial!

According to Nat Hentoff of The Village Voice, a leaked Red Cross report  shows the accumulation of reams of evidence in possible preparation for an eventual Bush administration war crimes tribunal.

He quotes the New Yorker's Jane Mayer as having sources who have seen accounts of the Red Cross interviews with inmates formerly held in CIA secret prisons. In "The Black Sites" (August 13, The New Yorker). 

It's a sad state of affairs that the United States of America's leaders are being investigated for perpetrating the same crimes that have been committed by some of the most heinous, evil figures in history.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Bush In New Orleans To Celebrate His Katrina Lies And Attempt At Ethnic Cleansing – What A Disgrace!

Bush will fly into New Orleans on Tuesday to feign concern about the plight of New Orleans residents once again, two years after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people, destroyed or severely damaged more than 200,000 homes, made more than 800,000 people homeless overnight and left thousands of poor, black and other minority American citizens to die. Two weeks after Katrina, Bush stood in Jackson Square and promised a massive reconstruction effort. What a liar.

At this very moment in New Orleans, large parts of the city are still in ruin. Crime, poor health care and crumbling infrastructure are still the norm and insurance companies are still doing their best to keep from paying. All this while hotels and casinos are buying up the land for pennies on a dollar that used to contain people’s homes.

Bush, his horse trainer Brownie and personal mortician Chertoff were all guilty of a woefully inadequate and indifferent immediate response to the disaster and then compounded their guilt by not devoting enough time, money and energy to the aftermath and cleanup. What a record of incompetence.

Astoundingly, George Bush continued with his vacation for four days after Katrina came ashore, reminiscent of him sitting paralyzed for eight minutes reading “My Pet Goat” after being informed America had been attacked on 9/11. He then flew to Arizona to eat birthday cake with John McCain while thousands were drowning or stranded on rooftops in New Orleans.

On course no worries, he had put Brownie and other incompetent political buddies in charge of FEMA who had no experience in coping with disasters other than the birth of a foal.

Remember, Bush also had cut federal spending by eighty percent for repairs on the New Orleans levees despite the Army Corps of Engineer’s strenuous objections and had sent three-thousand 3,000 members of Louisiana’s National Guard and two-thirds of the their vital equipment to Iraq to fight his immoral war of lies. All this while cutting $50 billion in food stamps, Medicare and energy assistance shifting hurricane relief onto the backs of the poor.

Bush has proven that he could have cared less about poor minority residents of New Orleans losing everything, as he continues to support government plans to rebuild New Orleans as a richer and whiter city. He cut taxes on the wealthy yet he also

Of course as with everything Bush, there are the lies. These are the biggest lies the Bush Administration told concerning Katrina.

1. Bush, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees". That was a lie!

On the September 1st broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America, President Bush told Diane Sawyer, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that protected New Orleans from flooding.

Bullshit! According to the St. Petersburg Times of 8/30/05, National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield talked about the force of Katrina during a video conference call to President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas on August 28th!  The Washington Post quoted Mayfield as saying,  "They knew that this one was different. I don't think Mike Brown or anyone else in FEMA could have any reason to have any problem with our calls. They were told. We said the levees could be topped.

2. Michael Chertoff defended Bush, claiming the levee breaks and massive flooding came as a surprise. That was a lie!

This was more than 12 hours after local media reported them. The New Orleans Times-Picayune on August 29, 2 p.m. CT, reported, "City Hall confirmed a breach of the levee along the 17th Street Canal at Bellaire Drive, allowing water to spill into Lakeview."

This initial report on the Times-Picayune web site was followed throughout the afternoon and evening of August 29 by reports of other levee breaks and massive flooding.

3. Brown said. "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day". That was a lie!

NBC News photojournalist Tony Zumbado reported on MSNBC, “I can't put it into words the amount of destruction that is in this city and how these people are coping. They are just left behind. There is nothing offered to them. No water, no ice, no C-rations, nothing, for the last four days.

They were told to go to the convention center. They did, they've been behaving. It's unbelievable how organized they are, how supportive they are of each other. They have not started any melees, any riots. They just want food and support. And what I saw there I've never seen in this country. We need to really look at this situation at the convention center. It's getting very, very crazy in there and very dangerous. Somebody needs to come down with a lot of food and a lot of water.

4. Chertoff said, "Apparently, some time on Wednesday, people started to go to the convention center spontaneously". That was a lie!

On the September 1st broadcast of ABC's Nightline, there was footage of a law enforcement official instructing survivors to go to the Convention Center. Beginning Aug. 31, other reports of survivors at the convention center emerged:

5. Chertoff pointed fingers: "New Orleans officials and the state officials ... called for the Superdome to be the refuge of last resort".

In his Sept. 4 interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Chertoff attempted to place blame for the conditions at the Superdome solely with state and local officials. Chertoff said, "My understanding is, and again this is something that's going to go back, we're going to go back over after the fact . . .is the plan that the New Orleans officials and the state officials put together called for the Superdome to be the refuge of last resort."

The Washington Post reported on September 3, a FEMA official acknowledged participating in meetings in which the plan to use the Superdome as a shelter for thousands of evacuees was discussed:

For years, said another senior FEMA official, he had sat at meetings where plans were discussed to send evacuees to the Superdome. "We used to stare at each other and say, 'This is the plan? Are you really using the Superdome?' People used to say, what if there is water around it?

6. Chertoff falsely minimized federal government's role in Katrina response as subordinate to states. That was a lie!

The Bush administration has responded to criticism of its role in the Katrina disaster by attempting to deflect blame onto state and local officials in Louisiana. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security's December 2004 National Response Plan clearly indicates that in these situations, the federal government will pre-empt state and local efforts and provide immediate assistance to the affected area.

7. Wash. Post, Newsweek, Gingrich claimed that Blanco did not declare a state of emergency. That was a lie!

On Saturday Sept. 3rd, a senior Bush administration official said, “Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency". In reality, Blanco declared a state of emergency on August 26th.

8. Newt Gingrich claimed that Nagin could have kept water pumped out of city had he ensured that pumps worked. That was a lie!

In fact, New Orleans had 22 "notoriously fickle" pumping stations, according to an August 31st New York Times article. The Times also reported that, according to Dr. Shea Penland, a coastal geologist, "When the pumping systems are in good shape, it can rain an inch an hour for about four to six hours and the pumps can keep pace. More than that, the city floods."

A June 2002 Times-Picayune article, part of a series exploring the probable consequences of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans, indicated that New Orleans' pumps would have been overwhelmed by the rapidly rising floodwaters.

What this administration did and didn’t do was unconscionable at best and criminal at worst,