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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
Greg Palast Tour Hits Washington DC, then the Windy City
Anti-Bush Protests
Get Your Tickets Now for an Evening with Julie Hiatt Steele!
Carville and Begala Bushwhack the Bullies on Crossfire, Leaving Them in a Collapsed
Heap
Thanks to Michael Moore's 'Stupid White Men,' Millions of Americans are Learning How
Bush Stole Election 2000
Use Your Mail to Remind the World that Shrub is Illegitimate!
Here's Another Dirty Bush Secret - Bush Relies on Polls to Deceive the Public About
his Policies
Bush's 'Nuclear Offensive' for Peace is Beyond Orwellian
Bu$h Ain't Exactly Dale Carnegie These Days
Bush Fiddles While the Middle East Burns
William Rivers Pitt: This Is Not Foreign Policy - It Is Chaos!
Instead of a Call to Arms, Dennis Kucinich Issues a Call to Peace
Bush's Homeland Security Pipeline
Andersen Lied About Its Insurance Coverage, Committing 'Treachery of the Highest Order'
Andersen is Broke, So Enron Investors Will Target Enron's Lawyers and Banks Next
Rich, White and Republican: The American Dream For Some, Paid for By the Rest of Us
And the Conservative Idiot Oscar Goes to ...
Human Rights Group Slams Bush Administration for Failing to Condemn Nigerian Massacre
Kissinger May Finally Be Held Accountable For His Role in Chilean Bloodshed
A Candid Interview with President Bush: A Fantasia of Hope
__Greg Palast Tour Hits Washington DC, then the Windy City
Investigative reporter Greg Palast had a hugely successful tour through the West
Coast, and is now on the East Coast. On Wednesday, April 3, Greg will be featured live
on C-Span's Washington Journal from 7:45-8:30 am. Then Greg will speak at the
Communications Workers of America, 501 3rd St. NW (3rd and E), at 12 noon. Then Greg
will speak at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 901 G Street NW, from 6-8 pm,
co-sponsored by Democrats.com. On Thursday April 4, Greg speaks at the University of
Iowa, 100 Phillips Hall. On Friday April 5, Greg speaks in Chicago at 3111 North
Ashland Ave. at 3 pm, then at the Jung Institute, 1567 Maple Avenue Evanston, IL at 7
pm, both sponsored by Buy Back our Government.
http://www.votermarch.org/Palast.htm
__Anti-Bush Protests
On Wednesday 4/3, protest Cheney in Denver CO. On 4/15, protest Bush in Cedar Rapids
IA. On 4/20, participate in major demonstrations against Bush's War in DC and SF.
http://legitgov.org/action.html
__Get Your Tickets Now for an Evening with Julie Hiatt Steele!
If you happen to be in the nation's capital on April 27th, join Bartcop.com at James
Carville's restaurant to thank Julie Hiatt Steele for "for letting us keep our last
legally elected President. Abraham Lincoln once asked us to appeal to the better
angels of our nature. Come meet one of them"! Get your tickets while they last.
http://www.bartcop.com/julie-inv.htm
__Carville and Begala Bushwhack the Bullies on Crossfire, Leaving Them in a Collapsed
Heap
Monday night James Carville and Paul Begala made their debut on CNN's Crossfire, and
made the more experienced Bob Novak and Tucker Carlson look like amateur bullies
masquerading as political analysts. If you missed it and don't want to pour through
the transcript then at least read our favorite exchange. Neither Carlson nor Novak can
manage to craft a coherent sentence in defense of the Bush Administration's incoherent
and indefensible policy toward the outbreak of full scale war in the Middle East. Way
to go, "Carvala"!
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6488
__Thanks to Michael Moore's 'Stupid White Men,' Millions of Americans are Learning How
Bush Stole Election 2000
In his BuzzFlash interview Michael Moore says, "The chapter that's received the most
attention in the book - and I'm kind of surprised... - is the chapter "A Very American
Coup"... We know all those facts about Florida and what Katherine Harris did, and the
private firm that took African-Americans off the voting rolls and prohibited them from
voting. But I've been surprised in this first week how many average Americans were not
aware of all of the trickery and deceit that took place in the year before the
election to fix it for George W. Bush. And if people read that - I mean, you should
see some of the letters I've received - they have the sickest feeling in their gut...
They cannot believe that the Bushes got away with this. And they're sick about it
because they're Americans, because it goes against everything we believe in. Because
they have people in their families who died for this country, for that very basic of
rights, which is the right to vote and have your vote counted."
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/2002/03/Michael_Moore_031302.html
__Use Your Mail to Remind the World that Shrub is Illegitimate!
Join PoliticalAmazon.com's "protest by mail" campaign. While supplies last, Political
Amazon will send you 30 Bush protest labels to adorn all your mail. Just send them a
self-addressed stamp envelope. While you're at it, you might want to order some of
their "Read My Lips: He Did Not Win" activist baseball cards, too!
http://www.politicalamazon.com/bush-label.html
__Here's Another Dirty Bush Secret - Bush Relies on Polls to Deceive the Public About
his Policies
Have you ever wondered why Bush emphasizes certain words in his sentences, like they
were manufactured? Wonder no more - they were! "A Washington Monthly analysis of
Republican National Committee disbursement filings revealed that Bush's principal
pollsters received $346,000 in direct payments in 2001. Add to that the multiple
boutique polling firms the administration regularly employs for specialized and
targeted polls and the figure is closer to $1 million. That's about half the amount
Clinton spent during his first year; but while Clinton used polling to craft popular
policies, Bush uses polling to spin unpopular ones---arguably a much more cynical
undertaking. Bush's principal pollster, Jan van Lohuizen, and his focus-group guru,
Fred Steeper, are the best-kept secrets in Washington... They toil in the background,
poll-testing the words and phrases the president uses to sell his policies to an
often-skeptical public." When will the media expose Bush's poll-manufactured
vocabulary?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0204.green.html
__Bush's 'Nuclear Offensive' for Peace is Beyond Orwellian
David Corn writes in Alternet, "Will someone please buy George W. Bush a dictionary?
It's not that he needs to expand his vocabulary -- though a synonym for 'evildoer'
might be useful -- but his administration has been misusing common words and, in the
process, perverting political discourse. Days ago, The Washington Post reported the
Bush administration's recently-drafted nuclear posture review -- the master plan for
developing and structuring the U.S. nuclear force -- notes that nuclear weapons will
be part of the U.S. 'offensive deterrence.' Offensive deterrence? Is this Orwellian,
or merely Strangelovian?"
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12737
__Bu$h Ain't Exactly Dale Carnegie These Days
Talk about "making friends and influencing people" - other than the campaign
contributors his policies cater to, Bush doesn't seem to be pleasing anyone these
days. From the European Union to the usually supportive, most right-leaning members of
his own party, Bush is as popular as a bee at a picnic. Party stalwarts like Trent
Lott have recently been openly critical of what he considers to be meddling in state
primaries, and even mild-mannered Dennis Hastert was quoted in the NY Times as saying
"One of the things the White House will find is that the nature of Congress is not to
stand up and applaud every time the White House does something. Do we need to send a
birthday card every time?" Ouch! You gotta love it when Bush can't even keep members
of his own party in Congress happy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/29/politics/29REPU.html
__Bush Fiddles While the Middle East Burns
As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupts into full-scale war, anti-American protests
are heating up in several Arab countries, and critics are taking Bush to task for
failing to stop the violence. If Bush spent a little less time planning an attack on
Iraq and a little more time brokering peace, perhaps the region wouldn't be in the
mess it's in now! Even former Reagan administration official Geoffrey Kemp, who ran
Mideast policy at the National Security Council, is criticizing Bush on his inaction.
"The supreme irony is that the greatest power the world has ever known has proven
incapable of managing a regional crisis. A 2-year-old could have seen this crisis
coming. And the idea that it could be brushed under the carpet as the administration
focused on either Afghanistan or Iraq reflects either appalling arrogance or
ignorance." How about both - Bush officials are both arrogant AND ignorant!
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-033102coma.story
__William Rivers Pitt: This Is Not Foreign Policy - It Is Chaos!
As William Rivers Pitt points out in a Truthout.com editorial, Bush is captain of a
"sinking ship of fools" when it comes to his foreign policy in the Middle East. "This
administration has allowed the Middle East to become a bloodbath as it attacks the
Stone-Age nation of Afghanistan, all the while failing to capture any of the agents
behind the September 11th attacks... Meanwhile, the administration plans for war in
Iraq while virtually ignoring Saudi Arabia, the birthing bed of international
terrorism, because of its interests in the oil game...This is not foreign policy. It
is chaos. If this is what happens when the adults are back in charge, the world yearns
for the rule of those children who believed constructive engagement served the
purposes of peace. We sail on dangerous waters, a jagged reef yawns before us, and no
one is steering the ship." Too bad the illegitimate crew of that ship would take us
all down with them.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.01A.WRP.Fools.htm
__Instead of a Call to Arms, Dennis Kucinich Issues a Call to Peace
As Shrub leads us into a new dangerous era of embracing war and "bunker busting"
nuclear weapons, House Progressive Caucus chair Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) calls for
clearer-thinking heads to speak out for peace. "We have reached a moment in our
country's history where it is urgent that people everywhere speak out... to protect
the peace of the nation and world within and without. We should speak out and caution
leaders who generate fear through talk of the endless war or the final conflict...
Because when one person thinks: fight! he or she finds a fight. One faction thinks:
war! and starts a war. One nation thinks: nuclear! and approaches the abyss. And what
of one nation which thinks peace, and seeks peace?" Write your representatives today
and urge them to support Kucinich's bill, HR 2459, to create a Department of Peace.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.30C.Kucinich.Peace.htm
__Bush's Homeland Security Pipeline
"George W. Bush has been keeping quite a few things secret in the name of homeland
security. After all, we need to stop terrorists from harming Americans on American
soil, don't we? Of course, I like to feel secure. And, if I felt Bush were drafting
energy legislation to help oil companies exploit Afghanistan, then I'd have to say he
allowed 9/11 to happen. 9/11 essentially cleared the way for Halliburton, Unocal,
Enron, and other oil and gas entities to make the Afghanistan pipeline possible. And,
9/11 enabled Bush to send U.S. troops to Afghanistan to clear away militant Taliban
forces that are hostile to this pipeline project." So writes Harry Neville.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6458
__Andersen Lied About Its Insurance Coverage, Committing 'Treachery of the Highest
Order'
The NY Times reports, "A recent settlement by Andersen in a separate fraud case
involving a former nonprofit client, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, appeared to
collapse. Andersen notified plaintiffs' lawyers and state officials by letter late
Thursday that an offshore insurer partly owned by the accounting firm had refused to
pay for the $217 million agreement, citing troubles with its own financial position...
'This is treachery of the highest order,' said John P. Coffey, lead trial lawyer for
the BFA Liquidating Trust, which took over the assets and businesses of the Baptist
Foundation. 'It's a second stab in the back to everyone who lost money.' Mr. Coffey
said that in mediation talks, Andersen lawyers had described Professional Services as
a company that was controlled by the firm and would follow through on whatever
agreement was reached." Yeah right - just one more big lie by Andersen, whose
executives deserve LONG prison terms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/30/business/30AUDI.html
__Andersen is Broke, So Enron Investors Will Target Enron's Lawyers and Banks Next
One week ago, two judges overseeing lawsuits against Arthur Andersen by Enron's
investors appointed a mediator. But "Andersen sent only one lawyer to the talks, and
the lawyer was unable to answer questions about the firm's finances." So the mediator
went to Andersen's HQ in Chicago, and apparently discovered Andersen is pretty much
broke (although the NY Times won't quite say it). That means Enron's investors have no
reason to settle, and will soon turn their fire to the pockets that appear to be
deeper - Enron's law firm, Vinson & Elkins, and its banks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/30/business/30LAWY.html
__Rich, White and Republican: The American Dream For Some, Paid for By the Rest of Us
Many Americans who "make it" join the GOP as if it were an exclusive country club.
"They see their voting card designation not as evidence of their right to stand up for
what they truly believe as Americans, but as their ticket into an exclusive club.
Instead of having a strong political philosophy founded on a personal belief system
and knowledge of their party's history, they simply ape the boss or the rich neighbor
down the street. When you question them too closely, you discover they don't really
have any clue what being a Republican really means, what the party's pathetic history
is. All they see is that 'rich powerful people are Republicans.' Therefore, if you
vote Republican, some riches and power might rub off on you, too." So writes Cheryl
Seal in Unknown News.
http://www.unknownnews.net/cdd033102.html
__And the Conservative Idiot Oscar Goes to ...
In honor of Oscar week, democraticunderground.com presents its "second annual Academy
Awards for Excellence in the Field of Conservative Idiocy." Trent Lott's momma should
be proud of his award as "Best Supported Hairpiece in a Losing Role", and Nixon must
be spinning in his grave to learn he's won the "Lifetime Achievement Award for
Paranoid Rants by Dead Presidents"!
http://democraticunderground.com/top10/
__Human Rights Group Slams Bush Administration for Failing to Condemn Nigerian Massacre
The Bush and Blair traveling snake oil show has once more come under fire for its
cavalier treatment of human rights in an ever-growing list of sites around the world.
In a new, hard-hitting report, Human Rights Watch says the U.S. and UK looked the
other way and remained silent after more than 200 unarmed civilians were massacred by
the Nigerian army. Why the silence? Because Bush and Blair view Nigeria as a "critical
strategic partner" and could care less about their human rights offenses. The attack
came just 6 weeks after 9/11 - during a period when Bush was trumpeting to the world
how all terrorism must be condemned and the perpetrators brought to justice. But only
when it's convenient and doesn't interfere with "strategic partnerships," eh Bush?
http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2002/04/01/FFXFHB28HZC.html
__Kissinger May Finally Be Held Accountable For His Role in Chilean Bloodshed
Just when you start to wonder if the bad guys will ever have to face the music, a ray
of light breaks through the darkness of impunity accorded the powerful. This week
Henry Kissinger has been formally asked by an investigating judge in Chile to respond
to questions about the killing of an American citizen, Charles Horman -- a journalist
and filmmaker whose disappearance was made famous in Costa Gavras' film "Missing,"
starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. There is overwhelming evidence that the U.S.
government was actively involved in the coup that overthrew Chile's democratic
government and the terror that followed (1973-1976). The evidence against Kissinger in
particular can no longer be ignored. Btw - guess who served as Sec. of Defense
1975-77, during the awful period of U.S. abuse of power overseas (including the East
Timor invasion)? Yep, Donald Rumsfeld. And BushDaddy was CIA Director -- with a
covered-up part in the car bombing of Orlando Letelier, Pinochet's adversary.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,675745,00.html
__A Candid Interview with President Bush: A Fantasia of Hope
President Bush seemed flustered by my question. "In our family," the President said,
with something of a pained smile, "that period and those episodes are regarded as
ancient, and somewhat embarrassing, history." "I certainly understand that, Madame
President," I persisted, "but surely you have a personal view of what happened at the
turn-of-the-century." There was a long silence. Her struggle to formulate an answer --
or even whether to formulate an answer -- was almost palpable.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6399
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