Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....

[cowboyangel]

THE LIBERAL MEDIA by Eric Alterman
Better Red Than Dead?



T he United States government is currently run by a group of people for whom verifiable truth holds no particular privilege over ideologically inspired nonsense. For members of the mainstream media, trying to maintain a sense of self-importance and solemnity and to keep the wing nuts from crowing for more scalps, this requires a series of stratagems to keep up the scripted charade, no matter how foolish it makes them look or feel while doing so.

The easiest of these stratagems is simply to stack the coverage with political partisans and give them free rein to spout GOP propaganda. That's what the cable news networks do, as Media Matters for America demonstrated. Consistent with cable inauguration coverage, for example, MSNBC offered viewers of its State of the Union commentary eleven right-wing pundits and just two Democrats or liberals in response.


A second technique is more often deployed on network television, where such naked partisanship is frowned upon, but executives are, if anything, even more worried about appearing unsympathetic to the red-state, red-meat offerings of George W. Bush. This is to ignore the substance and focus on the spectacle, the "feelings" and the atmosphere. CBS's Bob Schieffer, on his best post-Dan Rather behavior, for instance, marveled, "One of the best-delivered speeches that I have heard President Bush make. He was confident, he was direct, he drove his points home."

On ABC, Cokie Roberts found herself enthralled with a faux-dramatic--and most likely fully staged--embrace between an Iraqi woman seated next to Laura Bush and the mother of a soldier who died for Bush's folly in Falluja, gushing, "To have that completely spontaneous hug was something that leaves you with goose bumps." Tim Russert--who, like so many Democratic pols who transition to media megabucks, is committed to proving his bona fides by kowtowing to Republicans at every opportunity--professed, "You can feel...in this town" that Democratic "nerves are frayed." Russert was reacting to a rare display of Democratic spirit during the speech--booing when Bush sought to mislead the country into dismantling the most successful government program ever attempted in America: Social Security. To Russert and much of the permanent Washington establishment, the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat--or at least one who's willing to act that way.

The standard for this kind of contentless coverage is set, per usual, by the reporting of the New York Times. If the lead reporter of the newspaper of record can ditch the substance part, well then, so can everybody else. Reporter Todd Purdum marveled at Bush's "penchant for thinking big, or speaking grandly." He then referred to Bush's "first State of the Union address three years ago...he stunned the world with his denunciation of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an 'axis of evil,' and his warning that he would 'not wait on events while dangers gather.'" Purdum failed to note what was obvious to any "reality based" observer: that the "axis" idea was logically incoherent, and the arguments vis-à-vis Iraq were based on evidence later deemed imaginary. Instead, Purdum explained that Bush "has long since proved both the extent, and the limits, of his ability to match his actions to his words," which is an awfully nice way of saying that the man is full of it.

Times editors might have taken a lesson from the Boston Globe, a paper with whom they share a common owner, which provided a presidential "fact check" demonstrating Bush's willingness to mislead the nation in the service of his ideological obsessions. In the Knight Ridder newspapers--a chain whose coverage of the leadup to war, by the way, puts to shame that of almost every other paper, particularly that of the Times's credulous correspondent Judith Miller--Kevin G. Hall had the honor and honesty to report that the President was seeking to destroy Social Security on the basis of calculations that were transparently phony. He wrote, "President Bush's warning that Social Security faces a looming financial crisis is based on the assumption that the U.S. economy will grow by only 1.8 percent each year, on average, for most of the next 75 years. Since 1950, the U.S. economy has grown, on average, by 3.5 percent per year." However, he noted, "If the economy continued to grow over the next 50 years at a rate anywhere near the past pace, Social Security wouldn't face a financial crisis, though it would require small adjustments to balance its income and costs." (Perhaps this is the kind of reporting of which the oh-so-smart folks at ABC's The Note complain, "Can we stop reading those repetitive, boring, and incomplete journalistic Q&A's on how private accounts would work, blah blah blah, how the system is currently funded, blah blah blah, what the President is proposing, blah blah blah?")

Of course, journalism is by definition a process of selection and omission, so it can be a little unfair to single out what reporters failed to report about Bush's speech. But the unhappy fact is that almost everything this Administration tries to sell to Americans is snake oil, and the mere act of reporting it without comment implicates the media in the fundamental dishonesty that is this President's modus operandi. When he says "freedom," he means the freedom of the United States and its allies to jail and torture anyone they choose. When he says "liberty," he means the liberty of other governments to profess to share the alleged aims of US foreign policy and then--like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Egypt--jail and silence all critics without inconvenient criticism from the United States. (If you play the game right, you can even provide weapons to anti-American terrorists and fund anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda on behalf of the terrorists, all the while remaining a close friend of Bush & Co.)

This is apparently what NBC's Andrea Mitchell had in mind when she spoke of the Administration's "democracy agenda that Condi Rice is going to be bringing to Europe and the Middle East." Or perhaps she meant an American invasion of Iran; or the destruction of Social Security. It's hard to know in a post-truth society what anything means anymore, except more nonsense and lies, dutifully reported.

[DVD Burner]

http://airamericaradio.com
Today Randi Rhodes focuses on the explosive news that the F.A.A. ignored 52 warnings about possible Al Qaeda suicide hijackings before September 11th. Listen to Randi today to hear more about the Classified document that was part of the 9-11 Commission Report. Did the Bush Administration want 9-11 to happen as outlined in the Project for the New American Century? And the mainstream media are onto the "Jeff Gannon" pesudo-reporter story. But are they asking the right questions? Tune into The Randi Rhodes Show today.

Lets see now......how full of shit is this government?

Hmmmmmm......

now, the event below happened before 9/11.

Payne Stewart dead in plane crash
Three-time Major winner Payne Stewart was among five people killed when his Learjet crashed in a remote area of the United States.
The Dallas-bound jet flew uncontrolled over part of the US for several hours before crashing in South Dakota.
The twice US Open champion and member of the US Ryder Cup team which defeated Europe recently was a co-owner of the jet which was believed to have experienced a pressurisation failure. Three passengers and two crew were on board the jet which was believed to have been flying at 43,000ft.
It had taken off from Orlando, Florida, and contact was lost with those on board at Gainesville.
US Air Force F-16 and F-15 fighters followed the jet and reported seeing no activity on board.British aviation expert David Learmount, of Flight International, said depressurisation at that altitude would have resulted in the crew and passengers becoming unconscious within seconds.
He told Sky News: "The F-16 fighter pilots have looked at the windows and they have said that they appear to be frosted over which indicates a very, very low temperature inside the aircraft and that might mean depressurisation at a very high altitude.
"We understand the Learjet was at 43,000ft which is well above what most airliners fly at.
"If the aircraft did depressurise at that height literally you wouldn't have time to get an oxygen mask to your face before you passed out from lack of oxygen."
The golfer's mother, Bee Stewart, she did not know if her son was on the plane but confirmed he was a co-owner.
Gene Abdallah, of South Dakota Highway Patrol, confirmed that the plane had crashed about two miles west of Mina, in the north-central part of the state.
There was no confirmation as to the identities of other people on the plane.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said US President Bill Clinton was informed of the situation during a meeting with his economic advisers.
Two Federal Aviation Administration officials were dispatched to the scene of the crash, as had a National Transportation Safety Board representative.
Planes that fly above 12,000ft are normally pressurised, because passengers would have difficulty breathing the thin air above that altitude.
If there is a pressurisation problem, those aboard the aircraft could slowly lose consciousness and, if not returned to a normal altitude, die.
Once reaching a cruise altitude, pilots often switch on the autopilot. If they passed out, the plane would cruise until it ran out of fuel.



So let me get this straight..........The F.A.A. sent the Air force to find out what was going on with this GOLFERS little jet in no time flat like white on rice?

(Just hurrying as best as possible before the powers that be and wanna be cut off this thread and other threads because they are having a problem whit what is being said here and otheres think what I've just posted has no substance.)

[samtzu]

...Paranoia strikes deep..

CSN

This is old news (not the Payne Stewart angle, but "the Govt. knew about it" angle). Sheesh... Next you're going to tell us that Oswald was a patsy... as if we didn't already know...

[cowboyangel]

Oswald was not Patsy Kline

[cowboyangel]

n a travesty of justice and after a seven-month trial progressive New York attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted today on conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism charges

Lynne Stewart Falsely Convicted on Aiding and Abetting Terrorism Charges!

In a travesty of justice and after a seven-month trial progressive New
York attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted today on conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism charges

Co-defendants Mohammed Yousry and Abdel Sattar also convicted.

Defendants face 20-40 years in jail.

Stewart has announced plans to appeal.

Stewart is currently free on bail but limited to travel in New York
State.

Lifelong progressive attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted on frame-up
conspiracy charges of aiding and abetting terrorism, of defrauding the
U.S. government and of violating a government Bureau of Prisons Special Administrative Order (SAM) when she released a press statement from her 1995 client, the Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rachman.

Rachman was convicted of conspiracy charges to blow up New York City
landmarks. Stewart's co-counsel in the Rachman case was former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who testified for Stewart at the recent
trial.

Stewart has announced her intention to appeal the charges against her.
She is currently free on $500,000 bail but limited to travel within New York State.

During the course of Stewart's seven-month trial government prosecutors failed to produce a single witness or piece of evidence linking Stewart to a single act of terrorism or to any other illegal activity.

Stewart repeatedly stated that the duty she owed to her client, Sheik
Rachman, required diligent and forceful advocacy on her part that was
not in conflict with government regulations or U.S. law.

Stewart's conviction demonstrates the continued erosion of fundamental
civil liberties in an era where the protections of the Bill of Rights
have been subordinated through new legislation to a fear generated by the government's insistence that terrorists are everywhere.

The government admitted that it had engaged in 85,000 acts of
wiretapping of Stewart's emails, faxes and phone calls. The government
eavesdropped, through hidden cameras and microphones, on Stewart's meetings with her client.

Stewart's national and local defense committee will continue to work
for the reversal of her conviction.

Details of the conviction will be presented at the media conference.

Representatives of the San Francisco legal community will be present at the media conference.
------------------------------------------------
Urgent note: An emergency defense committee meeting is set for: 298
Valencia Street at 14th Street, San Francisco at 7 pm, Sayurday,
February 12.

Press Conference/Media Conference
-for immediate release-

Date: Friday, February 11, 10:30 am
Location: Law offices: Van Der Hout, Brigagliono & Nightingale
180 Sutter at Kearney, Fifth Floor
San Francisco

Contact person: Jeff Mackler 415-255-1080

Media conference speakers:
-Attorney Mark Van Der Hout
-Attorney Stephen Bingham, former defendant in the San Quentin 8
-Carlos Villarreal, Executive Director, SF National Lawyers Guild
-Riva Enteen, KPFA Local Advisory Board
-Jeff Mackler& Larry Felson, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
------------------------------------------------
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
298 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
415-255-1080 <[email protected]>
February 10, 2004
-------------------------------------------------
www.socialistaction.org/

[joel the ornery]

I have faith in the system

So do I, and that is why she was found guilty.


I am curious why there weren't any "malicious stupidity" charges.

She won't be seeing any of my money for her apeal, however I am glad to stroke a check to the ferderal government to ensure justice prevails.

[cowboyangel]

n a travesty of justice and after a seven-month trial progressive New York attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted today on conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism charges

Lynne Stewart Falsely Convicted on Aiding and Abetting Terrorism Charges!

In a travesty of justice and after a seven-month trial progressive New
York attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted today on conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism charges

Co-defendants Mohammed Yousry and Abdel Sattar also convicted.

Defendants face 20-40 years in jail.

Stewart has announced plans to appeal.

Stewart is currently free on bail but limited to travel in New York
State.

Lifelong progressive attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted on frame-up
conspiracy charges of aiding and abetting terrorism, of defrauding the
U.S. government and of violating a government Bureau of Prisons Special Administrative Order (SAM) when she released a press statement from her 1995 client, the Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rachman.

Rachman was convicted of conspiracy charges to blow up New York City
landmarks. Stewart's co-counsel in the Rachman case was former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who testified for Stewart at the recent
trial.

Stewart has announced her intention to appeal the charges against her.
She is currently free on $500,000 bail but limited to travel within New York State.

During the course of Stewart's seven-month trial government prosecutors failed to produce a single witness or piece of evidence linking Stewart to a single act of terrorism or to any other illegal activity.

Stewart repeatedly stated that the duty she owed to her client, Sheik
Rachman, required diligent and forceful advocacy on her part that was
not in conflict with government regulations or U.S. law.

Stewart's conviction demonstrates the continued erosion of fundamental
civil liberties in an era where the protections of the Bill of Rights
have been subordinated through new legislation to a fear generated by the government's insistence that terrorists are everywhere.

The government admitted that it had engaged in 85,000 acts of
wiretapping of Stewart's emails, faxes and phone calls. The government
eavesdropped, through hidden cameras and microphones, on Stewart's meetings with her client.

Stewart's national and local defense committee will continue to work
for the reversal of her conviction.

Details of the conviction will be presented at the media conference.

Representatives of the San Francisco legal community will be present at the media conference.
------------------------------------------------
Urgent note: An emergency defense committee meeting is set for: 298
Valencia Street at 14th Street, San Francisco at 7 pm, Sayurday,
February 12.

Press Conference/Media Conference
-for immediate release-

Date: Friday, February 11, 10:30 am
Location: Law offices: Van Der Hout, Brigagliono & Nightingale
180 Sutter at Kearney, Fifth Floor
San Francisco

Contact person: Jeff Mackler 415-255-1080

Media conference speakers:
-Attorney Mark Van Der Hout
-Attorney Stephen Bingham, former defendant in the San Quentin 8
-Carlos Villarreal, Executive Director, SF National Lawyers Guild
-Riva Enteen, KPFA Local Advisory Board
-Jeff Mackler& Larry Felson, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
------------------------------------------------
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
298 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
415-255-1080 <[email protected]>
February 10, 2004
-------------------------------------------------
www.socialistaction.org/

I guess you missed this my dear ole bowl man....try taking off your harsh father figure hat for a moment and check her web site out. She will win on appeal.

[joel the ornery]

piss on her, she is a convicted felon.

she has had her 15 minutes of my time.

[geekster]

Jesus Christ: Democrat Candidate for 2008?
Liberal Scientists Hope to Have Bisexual, Left-Leaning Christ Fully Lab-Grown for Next Election

With hot button moral value issues continuing to make headlines and presidents, the Democrat party needs a bold new strategy to win Bible Belt votes if it is to remain viable in the 2008 election.With such a growing decency divide, how can the left put a candidate forward who appeals to both sides of these heated issues? Today's progressive liberal scientists say they have the answer.

"Thanks to advancements in cloning and stem cell research, we extracted DNA samples from what what we hope is the shroud of Turin," explains Liberal researcher Dr. Howard Faber, a genetic scientist at Cornell and longtime proponent of cloning fetuses for abortion. "By advancing the growth stage through gene manipulation and fetal tissue injections, we're confident a new and improved Jesus Christ could be a viable Democratic candidate for 2008."



This solution to bridging the red-blue gap comes at a time when the nation has never been more divided. Liberal criticism has reached a fever pitch, with Dems alleging Bush invaded Iraq for oil when more cost-effective methods are available, such as using ground-up fetuses from unwanted pregnancies for fuel or powering automobiles from the friction created by homosexual love-making. The red states, typically, objected to both, claiming that these natural alternative were somehow unnatural.

"A 2008 Dem candidate must appeal to the morals of fundamentalist Christian Conservatives," explains Democrat advisor Carl Paulson, "but at the same time, not alienate any blue states, who have chosen to turn their backs on God. Jesus is probably the only solution to that. With Christ as a Democrat candidate, we can put forward the entire liberal agenda and know the red states will have to back it or deny the will of their God."

We here at MoveOnPlease were overjoyed at the idea of running a simulation of the son of God under the Dem ticket in 2008. However, the process has not been without obstacles. For instance, though we're pretty sure Jesus was a Liberal, what if this particular breed of Lord and Savior doesn't lean left?

"It's too soon to tell, but God willing," said Faber, winking,"we think we've managed to make Jesus bisexual."

[Patience]

Huh. My dad's name is Howard Faber.

[cowboyangel]

piss on her, she is a convicted felon.

she has had her 15 minutes of my time.

I forgive you, so I guess that means that Mahavir forgives you too

[DVD Burner]

Posting this one here real quick before Joel decides to use this one as an excuse:

http://www.custerbattles.com/press/pr101504.html

Setting the Record Straight:

Custer Battles Dismisses Baseless Allegations

October 15, 2004 – Middletown , Rhode Island Various articles about Custer Battles have been published relying on incorrect information published in other documents and news articles. This release addresses the erroneous information that has been published about Custer Battles.

Allegation: Custer Battles was a nine month old company when it was awarded its first contract in Iraq in June 2003.

FACT: Custer Battles LLC was originally incorporated in October 2001 and has been running a profitable business since inception.

Allegation: Custer Battles won a ‘No-Bid Contract' to provide security for the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), beginning June 2003.

FACT: Custer Battles competed for the BIAP security contract in June 2003 with at least two other reputable security firms, Dyncorp and Global RSM. In late June 2003, Custer Battles was awarded a 1-year, firm-fixed price contract in the amount of $16.8 million. Under a firm-fixed price contract, the contractor is obligated to perform tasks in accordance with the contracted statement of work. The numbers of personnel required or the costs incurred to perform these contracted tasks are the full responsibility of the contractor. In the event that the contractor under-estimates the costs at the beginning of a firm-fixed price contract, the contractor is obligated to continue performing at a reduced profit margin or loss. Likewise, should the contractor perform the tasks outlined in the contract to standard at a lower than anticipated cost, the contractor is considered to have performed successfully and is entitled to any savings earned.

Custer Battles met all requirements of the contracted scope of work. Due to its performance, Custer Battles was given an “Exceptional” rating and received an endorsement from a senior CPA advisor, “Custer Battles is one of the best firms I have dealt with in my 34 years of government service.” Custer Battles was disappointed that the contract was not renewed, as its price to the Iraqi government was more than 50% less than the price the current contractor charges for performing the same services.

Allegation: Custer Battles overcharged Washington Group International (WGI)

FACT : Custer Battles was awarded a firm-fixed price sub-contract with WGI for guarding the most high-risk power lines in Iraq . WGI approached several other security firms in Iraq requesting immediate security services for their project employees and infrastructure. None of the firms were able to meet the timeline required to fulfill WGI's contract. Custer Battles submitted a firm-fixed price proposal to immediately assume security for over 500 kilometers of power lines through hostile territory (including Fallujah) for 90 days. WGI accepted this proposal with the stipulation that Custer Battles begin guarding the power lines within 24-hours and have more than 650 guards in place within one week. Custer Battles met this stipulation when no other contractor in Iraq was capable of meeting their requirements. At a time when other power lines in the country were being destroyed and workers killed by insurgents, Custer Battles successfully guarded the assigned power lines for 90-days without loss or injury to our client's personnel and without damage to infrastructure. At the completion of this contract, in April, 2004, WGI and Custer Battles entered into a separate and distinct 30-day fixed price contract that was subsequently extended through Jun 26, 2004. This second contract not only included Power Line Security, but also Protective Security Details (PSD) for WGI and Army Corps of Engineer personnel.

Under the firm-fixed price contract, Custer Battles was not being paid to provide guards, but rather to secure infrastructure. The risks associated with ensuring the security of the infrastructure was assumed by Custer Battles, and at various points throughout the contract Custer Battles used 30% more guards than originally budgeted. Additionally, Custer Battles had to self-insure all loss of vehicle, equipment and injuries to local staff. These risks were accepted by Custer Battles, and despite significant cost overruns on the project, Custer Battles was not entitled to any additional payments by WGI. While there are some comments in published reports that attempt to approximate Custer Battles' costs based on the salaries paid to Iraqi guards, this is not germane to the Custer Battles contract. Custer Battles was paid a fixed price to perform a service, and the costs associated with that service are the responsibility of the contractor, while the determination of “reasonableness of price” is the responsibility of the selecting authority.

Custer Battles was audited by the Defense Contract Audit Agency during their audit of WGI. The audit report states “the offeror [Custer Battles] has submitted adequate cost or pricing data. The proposal was prepared in accordance with appropriate provisions of FAR and the DoD FAR Supplement (DFARS). Therefore, we consider this proposal to be acceptable as a reasonable basis for negotiation of a fair and reasonable price.”

Allegation: Custer Battles was awarded Cost-Plus Contracts.

FACT: Custer Battles has never entered into a “cost-plus” contract with any entity since its inception.

Allegation: Four Custer Battles personnel were killed in Iraq .

FACT: To clarify, two expatriate independent contractors and one Iraqi independent contractor have been killed in Iraq since Custer Battles began operations in June 2003. These individuals were killed while serving on Iraqi reconstruction projects, and their loss has had tremendous impact on Custer Battles, its officers and all employees.

The numbers of casualties sustained by Custer Battles in Iraq is significantly lower than other contractors with the same scope and size of Custer Battles. While Custer Battles does take significant measures to protect the welfare of our staff, we attribute our low casualty figures directly to the professionalism and dedication of our world-class security operators. These men and women have proven themselves time and again to simply be the best in the world at what they do.

Finally, there are several websites either run by, or posted to, by former, disgruntled employees. Custer Battles has an Office of Corporate Integrity, headed by a former criminal investigator, which is charged with investigating and reporting every allegation to our general counsel (who has an ethical obligation to report any criminal activity). To date, all of the allegations posted on these various websites have been proven to be baseless, inaccurate, and the result of disgruntled former employees.

Custer Battles is the leading provider of tailored risk management solutions. Their suite of services is designed to allow senior management teams to understand the risk environment and identify profitable courses of action to maneuver with minimal exposure to risk. Client service offerings including business intelligence, global risk consulting, due diligence and litigation support, are designed to cover the full spectrum of risk management and mitigation, which can be applied collectively or individually to fit the client's specific needs.

For more information, please contact (401) 848-7500.





Oh man!

I tell ya these macho guys just crack me up.

Hey, lets play cowboys and Indians.

[cowboyangel]

Are you scared outta yer witts by Kim Jong-il?????
Afraid he's gonna launch a 'first" strike on the good ole USofA????
Worried that the Axis of Evil's star Rogue Nasty-Man has pre-emptive iinclinations???
Worry no more..Kim is Mickey Rooney's bastard love child from Nancy Reagan......they can control their kids.........

[cowboyangel]

Negroponte's Dark Past
02/17/2005 @ 1:43pm
E-mail this Post

How many times can I write the same piece about John Negroponte?

Today George W. Bush named him to the new post of Director of National Intelligence. Previously, Bush had hired Negroponte to be UN ambassador and then US ambassador to the new Iraq. On each of those earlier occasions, I noted that Negroponte's past deserved scrutiny. After all, during the Reagan years, when he was ambassador to Honduras, Negroponte was involved in what was arguably an illegal covert quid pro quo connected to the Iran/contra scandal, and he refused to acknowledge significant human rights abuses committed by the pro-US military in Honduras. But each time Negroponte's appointment came before the Senate, he won easy confirmation. Now that he's been tapped to lead the effort to reorganize and reform an intelligence community that screwed up 9/11 and the WMD-in-Iraq assignment, Negroponte will likely sail through the confirmation process once again.

His previous exploits, though, warrant more attention than ever. He has been credibly accused of rigging a human rights report that was politically inconvenient. This is a bad omen. The fundamental mission of the intelligence community is to provide policymakers with unvarnished and valuable information-even if it causes the policymakers headaches. But there's reason to believe that Negroponte did the opposite in tough circumstances. If that is the case, he would not be the right man to oversee an intelligence community that needs solid leaders who are committed to truth-finding. Rather than rewrite my previous work on Negroponte, I am posting below the article I did after Bush named him the viceroy of Baghdad. It's more relevant today than when it first appeared. But I doubt Negroponte's dark history will finally trigger a confirmation debate within the Senate. He has skated in the past; he'll likely do so again.

Bush's New Iraq Viceroy

by DAVID CORN

May 10, 2004 issue

Like dirty money, tainted reputations can be laundered, as the Administration fervently hopes in the case of John Negroponte. Now UN ambassador, Negroponte has been chosen by George W. Bush to be the first ambassador to post-Saddam Iraq. When Bush selected Negroponte to be his UN representative in 2001, Negroponte was one of several Iran/contra figures being resurrected by the Bush crowd. As Honduras ambassador in the early 1980s, Negroponte, a career diplomat, participated in a secret and possibly illegal quid pro quo in which the Reagan Administration bribed the Honduran government with economic and military assistance to support the contras fighting the socialist Sandinistas of Nicaragua. Perhaps more significant, while Negroponte served in Honduras, he denied or downplayed serious human rights abuses by government security forces. This past threatened his confirmation as UN ambassador. But 9/11 rescued Negroponte. At the time of the attack, his nomination was pending, and the Senate moved quickly to approve him.

******

Don't forget about DAVID CORN's BLOG at www.davidcorn.com. Read recent postings on why Republicans fancy G. Bush more than G. Washington, the growing connection between K Street and Wall Street, and David Horowitz's bad history.

*******

These days Negroponte's tenure in Honduras is old news. The Washington Post's front-page story on his nomination did not mention his stint there. Senate staffers say that his record in Honduras won't be a focus of the confirmation hearings. But his tour of duty there is worth scrutiny, for it raises questions about his credibility and his ability to handle tough situations and inconvenient truths. While he was in Honduras and for years afterward, Negroponte refused to acknowledge the human rights abuses. In a 1982 letter to The Economist he said it was "simply untrue to state that death squads have made their appearance in Honduras." The next year he maintained, "There is no indication that the infrequent human rights violations that do occur are part of deliberate government policy." And during his 2001 confirmation he stated, "I do not believe then, nor do I believe now, that these abuses were part of a deliberate government policy. To this day, I do not believe that death squads were operating in Honduras." How then does he account for a 1997 CIA Inspector General investigation that concluded, "The Honduran military committed hundreds of human rights abuses since 1980, many of which were politically motivated and officially sanctioned" and linked to "death squad activities"?

Not only has Negroponte declined to acknowledge the obvious; when he was ambassador, the State Department rigged its Honduras human rights reports to Congress. As a 1995 Baltimore Sun series noted, "A comparison of the annual human rights reports prepared while Negroponte was ambassador with the facts as they were then known shows that Congress was deliberately misled." The Sun reported, "Time and again...Negroponte was confronted with evidence that a Honduran army intelligence unit, trained by the CIA, was stalking, kidnapping, torturing and killing suspected subversives." But this didn't make it into State Department reports. Had Honduras been found to be engaging in systematic abuses, it could have lost its US aid--thwarting the Reagan Administration's use of Honduras to support the contras.

Negroponte has claimed "there was no effort to soft pedal" abuses in Honduras. Yet in public statements he repeatedly conveyed a misleading appearance, and in the years since he has held tight--in the face of compelling evidence--to the view that the abuses that did occur were merely unfortunate exceptions. Negroponte's confirmation hearing will provide senators a chance to probe Bush's plans (or lack thereof) in Iraq. But if Negroponte's record as an abuse denier is not questioned, as seems likely, he will once again be able to escape his haunted past.

*******************

IT REMAINS RELEVANT, ALAS. SO DON'T FORGET ABOUT DAVID CORN'S BOOK, The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception (Crown Publishers). A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An UPDATED and EXPANDED EDITION is AVAILABLE in PAPERBACK. The Washington Post says, "This is a fierce polemic, but it is based on an immense amount of research.... t does present a serious case for the president's partisans to answer.... Readers can hardly avoid drawing...troubling conclusions from Corn's painstaking indictment." The Los Angeles Times says, "David Corn's The Lies of George W. Bush is as hard-hitting an attack as has been leveled against the current president. He compares what Bush said with the known facts of a given situation and ends up making a persuasive case." The Library Journal says, "Corn chronicles to devastating effect the lies, falsehoods, and misrepresentations.... Corn has painstakingly unearthed a bill of particulars against the president that is as damaging as it is thorough." And GEORGE W. BUSH SAYS, "I'd like to tell you I've read [ The Lies of George W. Bush], but that'd be a lie."

For more information and a sample, go to www.davidcorn.com. And see his WEBLOG there

[Bob]

[Bob]

[Bob]

[cowboyangel]

and your point Bob?......Milarepa killed , some think, about a hundred people....

[cowboyangel]

seems like time for a class action lawsuit....oh oh.......


Hurt Troops Often Denied Pay, Benefits

Fri Feb 18, 7:55 AM ET

Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

By John Hendren Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of Army Reserve and National Guard troops returning home after being wounded in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) have gone months without pay or medical benefits they were entitled to receive, military officials and government auditors said Thursday.





Because of a bureaucratic mistake, about 1,000 reservists and Guard members were removed from the active-duty rolls once home, even though their wounds entitled them to extended care, according to a Government Accountability Office study released Thursday.

"This is the equivalent of financial and medical 'friendly fire,' " Rep. Thomas M. Davis (news, bio, voting record) (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites), told military officials at a hearing.

The disclosures represent the latest in a list of problems confronting many returning war veterans, including shortages of physicians, a lack of mental healthcare and spotty medical treatment.

As the number of returning troops grows, Congress has increasingly focused on addressing their problems.

Defense officials and the GAO blamed the wartime crush of wounded part-time troops for overburdening a military health system that has not seen such an onslaught since World War II.

"This is clearly an example of not being able to handle the kind of operational tempo that we have today," said Gregory D. Kutz, director of the GAO's financial management and assurance office.

Lawmakers said they were fielding many calls from wounded Reserve and Guard troops who might have been wrongly denied their benefits. In one GAO sample of 38 wounded reservists who had trouble getting the Army to recognize them as being entitled to benefits, 24 went weeks or months without pay and benefits, according to the agency, the investigative arm of Congress. They confront a "convoluted and poorly defined process" to obtain benefits, the GAO said.

"A lot of the guys can't deal with the bureaucratic problems," said Sgt. 1st Class John Allen of Blairstown, N.J., wearing an eye patch and leaning on a cane as he testified at the congressional hearing. "They give up somewhere in the process and just go home."

Several wounded troops testified before the House panel Thursday. A Special Forces soldier who lost a leg to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan said he did not receive $5,000 in paychecks. Another veteran with knee and back injuries said he was forced to move in with his in-laws after missing paychecks totaling $3,886.

Allen, a 14-year Army veteran who serves with the National Guard's 20th Special Forces Group, has a brain injury and other injuries to his legs, back, neck and eyes resulting from a helicopter accident and a grenade blast.

But Allen said it wasn't until he returned home for extended treatment that his "real troubles began."

He had to reapply for coverage every 90 days and was at times denied pay, medical coverage and access to his military base.

After visiting his family in New Jersey for a week after his yearlong combat tour, his leave was cut short and he was ordered back to Ft. Bragg, N.C., because a commander could not find his paperwork.

When his wife went into premature labor in August 2003, she was turned away from a military hospital because his active-duty extension had not yet been approved, Allen said.

Allen was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in January 2004 for continued care. Once there, he was referred to an outside physician. Allen was about to run out of coverage again in mid-December when he met Davis at Walter Reed. The congressman offered to help the war veteran cut through red tape. Eventually, the Army paid Allen more than $12,000 in overdue earnings.

Army officials told the House hearing that they had resolved many of the problems cited in the GAO report related to benefit eligibility for part-time troops. Daniel B. Denning, acting assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, said the influx of wounded was "loading our system like it hasn't been loaded since World War II."



The Army's Human Resources Command processed 15,000 disabled Reserve and Guard members in 2004, said Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, the Army's head of personnel. That's more than at any time since the Vietnam War.

In other problems cited at the hearing, one soldier who injured his foot in combat said he was forced to use his retirement savings to live on because the Army declined to pay him for 101 days. Another Afghanistan veteran who needed counseling for medical and financial stress said he was repeatedly refused medical treatment.

For part-time soldiers who are not wounded, medical benefits stop after their active-duty status ends. Soldiers requiring medical treatment are granted extensions so they can qualify for continued benefits. However, many soldiers were only extended for 30 days, then were required to apply to renew those extensions. Many lost benefits awaiting processing of their paperwork.

The GAO found the regulations for caring for wounded Reserve and Guard troops murky. It said the Army lacked a central means of tracking the wounded veterans, and many Army officials lacked the training and education to help them navigate their way through the system. Some soldiers and their families were forced to travel long distances every 30 days to extend their service.

Army officials noted that they had recently begun automatic 179-day extensions of pay and benefits for returning Reserve and Guard troops.

"As far as soldiers dropping off orders and dropping off pay, I believe we have fixed those problems," said Chief Warrant Officer Rodger L. Shuttleworth, head of the Reserve Component Personnel Support Services Branch of the Army Human Resources Command. "We're about 90% there."

However, the GAO found that recent changes had not resolved underlying management control problems. In September and October, for example, the Army did not know how many soldiers were on medical extensions or how many had returned to active duty, the study said.

[joel the ornery]

CA, you are a day late and a dollar short on this issue.
this has been an issue since i got into the military in 1979... glad you caught up with the issue in time (not)

it really comes down to this... either you pay for the defense of the constitution or you don't... and right now, no one is willing to pony up the resources... not the right at this time 'cause it isn't politically expediant, certainly not the left, 'cause they would rather give the funds away to anyone capable of casting a vote for the left.

personally speaking, i think it is time for a national service corps... not the military, but something akin to it with discipline, identified principles, values and mission.

i have stated it elsewhere, but a national medical service corps, a national resources service corps, a national infrastructure service corps as an example... but are you, and 51% of the population ready to pay for such a organization? i doubt it.

for the most part, i might as well be barking at the fucking moon... i get the same results.

[cowboyangel]

wrong... I like your national Service Corps idea...sounds alot like Kennedy to me....remember...."ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"

[cowboyangel]

wrong on the left supporting vets. The Late Sen. Paul Wellstone was a strong advocate for increasing vet benefits and services. His republican "colleuges" voted his proposals down....

[joel the ornery]

wrong on the left supporting vets. The Late Sen. Paul Wellstone was a strong advocate for increasing vet benefits and services. His republican "colleuges" voted his proposals down....

credible cites?

[cowboyangel]

http://vetcor.tripod.com/ca.html

there's more just paste Wellstone+Veterans Benefits into your browser

[joel the ornery]

very credible cite for the 109th Congress.

Bill Summary & Status for the 109th Congress

although I don't agree with their position, this cite does a nice synopsis of voting records

Peace Action

and just so you understand what i consider a less than credible cite, i include this one...

The Conservative Caucus



by the way, Wellstone shouldn't have gotten on the aircraft... "when the ducks don't fly, you shouldn't either."

ok, CBA... let your hair catch on fire.

[cowboyangel]

I know..I had a friend once who left at night during a snow storm over the Sierras, the plane went down. Everybody died. Why do people fly in small craft during inclement weather, I'll never know...

[joel the ornery]

I know..I had a friend once who left at night during a snow storm over the Sierras, the plane went down. Everybody died. Why do people fly in small craft during inclement weather, I'll never know...

error in judgment

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[cowboyangel]

ya just couldn't resist could ya? ya leftist radical lurker....where's your pirate costume?