VSPACE="0">My Great Grandpa and my Grandpa and another Stepp and a Suttlemeyer taken c. 1900.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Some Letters to an Editor.
Monday, September 24, 2007 E-mail this | Print page
War opponents react to conservative complaints and arguments
Turnabout is fair play
"I have read with interest the many letters slamming MoveOn.org for their letter in The New York Times questioning what they say is the "integrity" of Gen. David Petraeus.
All they do is whine about the liberal media. How ironic. They can dish it out, but they sure can't take it.
Following are just a few of the GOP-enabling organizations and their greatest hits: 1) attacks on Ann Richards as a lesbian (when she was running against George W. Bush for governor of Texas); 2) the whisper campaign in the run-up to the 2000 GOP nomination for president that John McCain had fathered a black baby ; 3) and who could forget the "Swift-boating" of both former Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee, and Sen. John Kerry, both veterans who served and were wounded in Vietnam. Max Cleland's face actually morphed into Saddam Hussein in GOP-backed attack ads.
Petraeus seems like an honorable man who is being used as another ploy by Bush to buy time for his ill-fated war until he is out of office. The bottom line is that those same people -- the Republican-backed Rove attack dogs -- made this game very dirty, and now when we -- should I mention that terrible "liberal" block? -- do the same they have the audacity to get mad.
Grow up, guys. You are the ones who supported this joke of a president and his merry band of thieves and liars. Now it is time for some payback in the media and at the polls. You wanted to play dirty. Game on!"
PAM GERSH
Louisville 40241
Exploited military
"I am overwhelmed with anger every time I see these horrible TV propaganda pieces -- exploiting our wounded service personnel and the parents of the deceased men and women that have served our country -- to try to explain the immoral invasion of Iraq.
Let's set the story straight. There were no WMD in Iraq. Al-Qaida was not in Iraq. Iraq had no responsibility for 9/11. At the time of our invasion, we had the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis separated, with Saddam Hussein in hiding. Why didn't President Bush leave it that way and capture the real villain, Osama bin Laden?
Now what do we have? 3,800 dead Americans. 100,000 or more dead Iraqis. 10,000 or more service men and women with lifetime mental and physical injuries. Thousands of terrorists now in Iraq. Billions and billions of dollars flushed down the drain with our children's future. And an increased chance of another 9/11 event on our soil. We also get to enjoy the periodic videos from Osama bin Laden.
The citizens that oppose this unjust, unholy and ill-conceived war are the real patriots. We want our young men and women home with their families. Our service personnel should never be used for a president's personal vendetta. Bring our kids home!"
STEVE NORRIS
Louisville 40214
War opponents react to conservative complaints and arguments
Turnabout is fair play
"I have read with interest the many letters slamming MoveOn.org for their letter in The New York Times questioning what they say is the "integrity" of Gen. David Petraeus.
All they do is whine about the liberal media. How ironic. They can dish it out, but they sure can't take it.
Following are just a few of the GOP-enabling organizations and their greatest hits: 1) attacks on Ann Richards as a lesbian (when she was running against George W. Bush for governor of Texas); 2) the whisper campaign in the run-up to the 2000 GOP nomination for president that John McCain had fathered a black baby ; 3) and who could forget the "Swift-boating" of both former Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee, and Sen. John Kerry, both veterans who served and were wounded in Vietnam. Max Cleland's face actually morphed into Saddam Hussein in GOP-backed attack ads.
Petraeus seems like an honorable man who is being used as another ploy by Bush to buy time for his ill-fated war until he is out of office. The bottom line is that those same people -- the Republican-backed Rove attack dogs -- made this game very dirty, and now when we -- should I mention that terrible "liberal" block? -- do the same they have the audacity to get mad.
Grow up, guys. You are the ones who supported this joke of a president and his merry band of thieves and liars. Now it is time for some payback in the media and at the polls. You wanted to play dirty. Game on!"
PAM GERSH
Louisville 40241
Exploited military
"I am overwhelmed with anger every time I see these horrible TV propaganda pieces -- exploiting our wounded service personnel and the parents of the deceased men and women that have served our country -- to try to explain the immoral invasion of Iraq.
Let's set the story straight. There were no WMD in Iraq. Al-Qaida was not in Iraq. Iraq had no responsibility for 9/11. At the time of our invasion, we had the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis separated, with Saddam Hussein in hiding. Why didn't President Bush leave it that way and capture the real villain, Osama bin Laden?
Now what do we have? 3,800 dead Americans. 100,000 or more dead Iraqis. 10,000 or more service men and women with lifetime mental and physical injuries. Thousands of terrorists now in Iraq. Billions and billions of dollars flushed down the drain with our children's future. And an increased chance of another 9/11 event on our soil. We also get to enjoy the periodic videos from Osama bin Laden.
The citizens that oppose this unjust, unholy and ill-conceived war are the real patriots. We want our young men and women home with their families. Our service personnel should never be used for a president's personal vendetta. Bring our kids home!"
STEVE NORRIS
Louisville 40214
Billions more sought for war!
You remember how the Fifth District voted to "stay the course", like most of the Congressional Districts of Kentucky last year? Now, the Republicans in Washington want $42.3 billion more dollars, and 1,500 more American soldiers' lives to prop up the Shiite regime in Iraq that is aligned with the Shiite regime in Iran that wants to nuke Israel. The following story appeared in the Sept. 27 Lexington Herald-Leader:
"Billions more sought for war
"Request largest yet from military
"By Josh White And Ann Scott Tyson
"THE WASHINGTON POST
"WASHINGTON --Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress Wednesday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration's 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion -- the largest single-year total for the wars so far.
The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere.
"The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Casey said yesterday. "We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."
The administration's funding request, if approved, would boost war spending this year by nearly 15 percent and would bring the total cost of both conflicts to more than $800 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The request comes two weeks after President Bush announced a limited troop drawdown from Iraq starting in December and the continuation of the troop buildup strategy through next summer.
In the days since, congressional Democrats have failed to force a shift in war policy on troop rotations or withdrawal time lines. But the debate over war funding offers another opportunity for opponents to push for a change of course.
Senate Democrats yesterday expressed dismay at the administration's consistently rising "emergency" requests for war funding, calling it "habit-forming" and open-ended, while others said they believe the wars are breaking the military. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., chairman of the Appropriations Committee, before which Gates testified, called the war "nefarious" and "infernal."
"We can not create a democracy at the point of a gun," Byrd said. "Sending more guns does not change that reality. This committee will not rubber-stamp every request that is submitted by the president."
As lawmakers expressed concern over rising war costs and the strain on U.S. forces, Gates said he believes it is critical to continue the war until conditions on the ground permit a larger drawdown.
"It's very important that we handle this drawdown in a way that allows us to end up in a stronger position in Iraq in terms of a more stable country, one that is an ally in the war on terror and one that is a blockade to Iranian influence in the region," Gates said. "I don't know what that time line looks like."
Gates said the additional money is needed to pay for the duration of President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq and to purchase thousands of new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to shield U.S. forces from insurgent bombs.
Yesterday's request for $42.3 billion came on top of $141.7 billion requested in February and in a separate request for $5.3 billion for mine-resistant vehicles earlier this year. Gates said the new request, to be submitted to Congress by President Bush, will include:
• $6 billion to support the Army and Marine units currently in Iraq;
• $14 billion for force protection including mine-resistant vehicles;
• $9 billion to ensure critical equipment and technology is available for future missions;
• $6 billion for training and equipment to improve the Army's readiness for future deployments. Another $2 billion would go toward U.S. facilities in the region and to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
Gates reiterated Bush's concept of a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq, but said it probably would be a smaller force focused on countering Al-Qaida in Iraq, training Iraqi forces, and acting as a bulwark against Iran. He said he envisions a long-term force -- possibly for many years -- of roughly one-quarter the current U.S. force there, or slightly more than 40,000 troops.
"We're at a point where the pacing of all of this is really what is at issue, and quite frankly my biggest worry is if we handle this aspect of it, if we handle this next phase badly, then all bets are off as far as what our commitments in the region may be," Gates said.
Casey, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time as the Army's top officer, expressed deep concern over the impact on the service of the wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In an unusual move, Casey asked for the hearing so that he could explain the strains the Army faces, according to committee chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
"Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as we can build it," Casey said, explaining that U.S. soldiers lack enough time at home to train for full-scale combat operations and equipment is wearing out "at a far greater pace than expected."
"I believe we can put this back in balance in three or four years," Casey said, "but it's going to take that long."
In his testimony, Gates also urged Congress to approve State Department requests for additional war funding. Though Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said in the hearing that his department will seek money beyond the $3.3 billion it has already requested, he offered no details."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Billions more sought for war
"Request largest yet from military
"By Josh White And Ann Scott Tyson
"THE WASHINGTON POST
"WASHINGTON --Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress Wednesday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration's 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion -- the largest single-year total for the wars so far.
The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere.
"The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Casey said yesterday. "We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."
The administration's funding request, if approved, would boost war spending this year by nearly 15 percent and would bring the total cost of both conflicts to more than $800 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The request comes two weeks after President Bush announced a limited troop drawdown from Iraq starting in December and the continuation of the troop buildup strategy through next summer.
In the days since, congressional Democrats have failed to force a shift in war policy on troop rotations or withdrawal time lines. But the debate over war funding offers another opportunity for opponents to push for a change of course.
Senate Democrats yesterday expressed dismay at the administration's consistently rising "emergency" requests for war funding, calling it "habit-forming" and open-ended, while others said they believe the wars are breaking the military. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., chairman of the Appropriations Committee, before which Gates testified, called the war "nefarious" and "infernal."
"We can not create a democracy at the point of a gun," Byrd said. "Sending more guns does not change that reality. This committee will not rubber-stamp every request that is submitted by the president."
As lawmakers expressed concern over rising war costs and the strain on U.S. forces, Gates said he believes it is critical to continue the war until conditions on the ground permit a larger drawdown.
"It's very important that we handle this drawdown in a way that allows us to end up in a stronger position in Iraq in terms of a more stable country, one that is an ally in the war on terror and one that is a blockade to Iranian influence in the region," Gates said. "I don't know what that time line looks like."
Gates said the additional money is needed to pay for the duration of President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq and to purchase thousands of new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to shield U.S. forces from insurgent bombs.
Yesterday's request for $42.3 billion came on top of $141.7 billion requested in February and in a separate request for $5.3 billion for mine-resistant vehicles earlier this year. Gates said the new request, to be submitted to Congress by President Bush, will include:
• $6 billion to support the Army and Marine units currently in Iraq;
• $14 billion for force protection including mine-resistant vehicles;
• $9 billion to ensure critical equipment and technology is available for future missions;
• $6 billion for training and equipment to improve the Army's readiness for future deployments. Another $2 billion would go toward U.S. facilities in the region and to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
Gates reiterated Bush's concept of a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq, but said it probably would be a smaller force focused on countering Al-Qaida in Iraq, training Iraqi forces, and acting as a bulwark against Iran. He said he envisions a long-term force -- possibly for many years -- of roughly one-quarter the current U.S. force there, or slightly more than 40,000 troops.
"We're at a point where the pacing of all of this is really what is at issue, and quite frankly my biggest worry is if we handle this aspect of it, if we handle this next phase badly, then all bets are off as far as what our commitments in the region may be," Gates said.
Casey, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time as the Army's top officer, expressed deep concern over the impact on the service of the wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In an unusual move, Casey asked for the hearing so that he could explain the strains the Army faces, according to committee chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
"Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as we can build it," Casey said, explaining that U.S. soldiers lack enough time at home to train for full-scale combat operations and equipment is wearing out "at a far greater pace than expected."
"I believe we can put this back in balance in three or four years," Casey said, "but it's going to take that long."
In his testimony, Gates also urged Congress to approve State Department requests for additional war funding. Though Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said in the hearing that his department will seek money beyond the $3.3 billion it has already requested, he offered no details."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Let's Ditch Mitch and bring ourt troops home from this Asian War.
Let's Ditch Mitch and bring our troops home from this Asian War.
Fiscal Insanity
by georgia10
Sat Sep 22, 2007 at 03:48:18 PM PDT
President Bush, on his handling of the U.S. economy:
"You need to talk to economists [about a possible recession]. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low, and being fiscally responsible with the people's money."
First, it was a "C-", not a "B." But grade inflation aside, the President's claims of fiscal responsibility are shattered by this reality:
CHICAGO, Sept. 21 -- The money spent on one day of the Iraq war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for 423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee, which displayed those statistics on large banners in cities nationwide Thursday and Friday.
The war is costing $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute, according to the group's analysis of the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes.
The estimates made by the group, which opposes the conflict, include not only the immediate costs of war but also ongoing factors such as long-term health care for veterans, interest on debt and replacement of military hardware.
"The wounded are coming home, and many of them have severe brain and spinal injuries, which will require round-the-clock care for the rest of their lives," said Michael McConnell, Great Lakes regional director of the AFSC, a peace group affiliated with the Quaker church.
The $720 million figure breaks down into $280 million a day from Iraq war supplementary funding bills passed by Congress, plus $440 million daily in incurred, but unpaid, long-term costs.
The Iraq War, according to current Republican policy, is essentially a permanent war. With no exit plan, no clear mission, and no clear and attainable objective for our presence in that nation, the war will continue to drain billions from the U.S. economy annually. But what else to expect from the Republican party. Trillions are pocket change when you're dead set on pursing the ultimate and unattainable goal of validating the policy of pre-emption. And the thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded? As the Republican Minority Leader plainly stated, those are just a "small price."
The cost of war? There is no "cost" large enough or irrational enough or horrific enough, in trillions and in lives, that will force these morally bankrupt Republicans to bring the troops home.
Permalink :: Discuss (133 comments)
Let's Ditch Mitch and get our troops home from this Asian War.
Fiscal Insanity
by georgia10
Sat Sep 22, 2007 at 03:48:18 PM PDT
President Bush, on his handling of the U.S. economy:
"You need to talk to economists [about a possible recession]. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low, and being fiscally responsible with the people's money."
First, it was a "C-", not a "B." But grade inflation aside, the President's claims of fiscal responsibility are shattered by this reality:
CHICAGO, Sept. 21 -- The money spent on one day of the Iraq war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for 423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee, which displayed those statistics on large banners in cities nationwide Thursday and Friday.
The war is costing $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute, according to the group's analysis of the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes.
The estimates made by the group, which opposes the conflict, include not only the immediate costs of war but also ongoing factors such as long-term health care for veterans, interest on debt and replacement of military hardware.
"The wounded are coming home, and many of them have severe brain and spinal injuries, which will require round-the-clock care for the rest of their lives," said Michael McConnell, Great Lakes regional director of the AFSC, a peace group affiliated with the Quaker church.
The $720 million figure breaks down into $280 million a day from Iraq war supplementary funding bills passed by Congress, plus $440 million daily in incurred, but unpaid, long-term costs.
The Iraq War, according to current Republican policy, is essentially a permanent war. With no exit plan, no clear mission, and no clear and attainable objective for our presence in that nation, the war will continue to drain billions from the U.S. economy annually. But what else to expect from the Republican party. Trillions are pocket change when you're dead set on pursing the ultimate and unattainable goal of validating the policy of pre-emption. And the thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded? As the Republican Minority Leader plainly stated, those are just a "small price."
The cost of war? There is no "cost" large enough or irrational enough or horrific enough, in trillions and in lives, that will force these morally bankrupt Republicans to bring the troops home.
Permalink :: Discuss (133 comments)
Let's Ditch Mitch and get our troops home from this Asian War.
Letters to an editor
THE PETRAEUS REPORT
HEADING FOR A QUAGMIRE
It's time to dust off those old Vietnam War protest songs. President Bush has come up with yet another excuse to continue the disastrous war he started in Iraq.
He claims that the only reason we lost the Vietnam War was that we left too soon. If we had sacrificed more young men, we would have won, and Osama bin Laden would have been disemboldened or something like that.
Gen. David Petraeus tells Congress that it's going to take a decade to win in Iraq. We all know that Bush is listening to this general since he hasn't fired him -- yet. We also know we don't have enough troops to do that because not enough people are volunteering for military service.
The only way to get the boots on the ground needed to win is a draft. But don't worry. If there is one, it will allow the children of the have-mores in our society to avoid serving, just as Bush did.
The only burden will be on those in the middle- and lower-economic classes.
Maybe you can be the first on your block to have your kid come home in a box. If you're not willing to do that, maybe you ought to let your U.S. representative and senators know how you feel. Otherwise, start singing:
"And it's one-two-three
"What are we fighting for?
"Don't ask me, I don't give a damn.
"Next stop is Iraqnam."
David Midgett
Richmond
LET'S GET OUT NOW
Gen. David Petraeus couldn't say whether the Iraq war is making us safer. If we are not clearly safer, then there is no excuse for the lost lives.
If we have any decency, we must get out.
Charlie Perkins
Georgetown
HEADING FOR A QUAGMIRE
It's time to dust off those old Vietnam War protest songs. President Bush has come up with yet another excuse to continue the disastrous war he started in Iraq.
He claims that the only reason we lost the Vietnam War was that we left too soon. If we had sacrificed more young men, we would have won, and Osama bin Laden would have been disemboldened or something like that.
Gen. David Petraeus tells Congress that it's going to take a decade to win in Iraq. We all know that Bush is listening to this general since he hasn't fired him -- yet. We also know we don't have enough troops to do that because not enough people are volunteering for military service.
The only way to get the boots on the ground needed to win is a draft. But don't worry. If there is one, it will allow the children of the have-mores in our society to avoid serving, just as Bush did.
The only burden will be on those in the middle- and lower-economic classes.
Maybe you can be the first on your block to have your kid come home in a box. If you're not willing to do that, maybe you ought to let your U.S. representative and senators know how you feel. Otherwise, start singing:
"And it's one-two-three
"What are we fighting for?
"Don't ask me, I don't give a damn.
"Next stop is Iraqnam."
David Midgett
Richmond
LET'S GET OUT NOW
Gen. David Petraeus couldn't say whether the Iraq war is making us safer. If we are not clearly safer, then there is no excuse for the lost lives.
If we have any decency, we must get out.
Charlie Perkins
Georgetown
"Mitch" job approval rating at 47 per cent.
The following newspaper report shows that "Mitch" McConnell's job approval rating is 47%. He'd better gain more public support before November 2008 or he'll be ditched, out of office, and out of a job!
"Louisville, KY – Today Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (Ret.), Spc. Brian Smith, Sgt. Bill Zubeaty, Kentucky veterans and military families will gather outside Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville office to protest his continued support for President Bush’s failed Iraq war policy. Kentuckians are urging Sen. McConnell to stand up to President Bush and vote to bring a safe and responsible end to the war in Iraq.
Sen. McConnell once again blocked an end to the war today, voting against legislation offered by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI). The measure was an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill, would have begun the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq within 90 days and wrapped up the process within nine months.
Even before today’s vote, Sen. McConnell has been feeling the heat from his constituents for his continued support of the President’s reckless Iraq war policy. A recent poll by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Action News 36 showed that majority of Kentuckians – 55 percent of those polled – oppose Sen. McConnell’s continued support for the war and 57 percent said the cost of the war has been too high in terms of expense and loss of life. The poll also indicates that his reckless Iraq position is hurting Sen. McConnell’s credibility with Kentuckians: his approval rating has sunk to 47 percent, with 44 percent disapproving."
GET OUT THERE AND LET MITCH KNOW
"Louisville, KY – Today Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (Ret.), Spc. Brian Smith, Sgt. Bill Zubeaty, Kentucky veterans and military families will gather outside Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville office to protest his continued support for President Bush’s failed Iraq war policy. Kentuckians are urging Sen. McConnell to stand up to President Bush and vote to bring a safe and responsible end to the war in Iraq.
Sen. McConnell once again blocked an end to the war today, voting against legislation offered by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI). The measure was an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill, would have begun the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq within 90 days and wrapped up the process within nine months.
Even before today’s vote, Sen. McConnell has been feeling the heat from his constituents for his continued support of the President’s reckless Iraq war policy. A recent poll by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Action News 36 showed that majority of Kentuckians – 55 percent of those polled – oppose Sen. McConnell’s continued support for the war and 57 percent said the cost of the war has been too high in terms of expense and loss of life. The poll also indicates that his reckless Iraq position is hurting Sen. McConnell’s credibility with Kentuckians: his approval rating has sunk to 47 percent, with 44 percent disapproving."
GET OUT THERE AND LET MITCH KNOW
$100,000 to Ditch Mitch.
An Eastern Kentuckian has promised to attempt to raise $100,000 to Ditch Mitch. MoveOn has already forked over $100,000 to run a Ditch Mitch television advertisement. The following newspaper report explains:
MoveOn Launches New 'Betrayal' Ad
September 21, 2007 02:16 PM ET | Permanent Link
MoveOn.org has launched the latest edition in its "Betrayal" campaign, this time targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
The group's much-discussed first ad ran ahead of Gen. David Petraeus's congressional testimony last week and said: "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"
The new ad takes aim at McConnell for leading Republican opposition to an amendment that failed to pass the Senate this week. That amendment, sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, would have mandated that troops spend an equal amount of time at home as they do in combat and would have sped up a redeployment of forces from Iraq.
Republicans and Pentagon officials said that it would harm the mission in Iraq and hamstring the military's rotation of troops. The ad, focusing on McConnell, says: "Republicans voted against a plan that would give our soldiers reasonable time to spend with their families before having to return to war. This week, Republicans who brought us this awful war turned their backs on the men and women who fight it. Mitch McConnell. The Republicans. A betrayal of trust."
MoveOn is spending $100,000 on the ad buy, which is airing in Kentucky and on CNN nationally.
—Silla Brush
Let's Ditch Mitch.
MoveOn Launches New 'Betrayal' Ad
September 21, 2007 02:16 PM ET | Permanent Link
MoveOn.org has launched the latest edition in its "Betrayal" campaign, this time targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
The group's much-discussed first ad ran ahead of Gen. David Petraeus's congressional testimony last week and said: "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"
The new ad takes aim at McConnell for leading Republican opposition to an amendment that failed to pass the Senate this week. That amendment, sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, would have mandated that troops spend an equal amount of time at home as they do in combat and would have sped up a redeployment of forces from Iraq.
Republicans and Pentagon officials said that it would harm the mission in Iraq and hamstring the military's rotation of troops. The ad, focusing on McConnell, says: "Republicans voted against a plan that would give our soldiers reasonable time to spend with their families before having to return to war. This week, Republicans who brought us this awful war turned their backs on the men and women who fight it. Mitch McConnell. The Republicans. A betrayal of trust."
MoveOn is spending $100,000 on the ad buy, which is airing in Kentucky and on CNN nationally.
—Silla Brush
Let's Ditch Mitch.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Mitch and Hal make "most corrupt" list.
McConnell, Rogers on ‘Most Corrupt’ list
Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, R-5th District, have made it onto a national “Top 22” list that does not necessarily deem distinction.
“Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (And Two to Watch),” was released Tuesday by CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington).
The third annual report can be viewed at www.beyonddelay.org. The site offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions, full-length profiles and all accompanying documentation.
Reports for McConnell and Rogers are similar in that they claim each was using his power in government to benefit themselves, their families and their campaigns.
Most of the report’s accusations against McConnell can be traced back to his former chief legal council, G. Hunter Bates, who served McConnell from 1997-2002. Bates, of Louisville, is chairman of the Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents.
He later formed Bates Capitol Group LLC (or “Bates Capitol) and clients included: E-Cavern, Voice for Humanity, Appriss Inc. and Boardpoint LLC, all of which have received (funding) earmarks from McConnell, according to CREW’s report.
“All of these companies have made substantial contributions to Sen. McConnell’s campaigns,” the report states. It also accuses the Bates Capitol Group of hiring former McConnell staffers including: Holly Piper, wife of Sen. McConnell’s chief of staff Bill Piper, and former McConnell aides Patrick Jennings and Lesley Elliot.
One thing that concerns Don Stewart, a press secretary for McConnell, is the timeline of the allegations.
“All the things they mention (in the report) are from 2002 or prior,” Stewart said. “It makes you wonder why this year, the year they happen to be up for re-election.
“I think this list is made up of 18 Republicans and four Democrats,” Stewart said. “My guess is that there is some kind of coincidence here. I think most of the people on (the list) are up for re-election.”
The CREW report insists that “Rep. Rogers’ ethics issues stem from misuse of his position to steer millions of dollars in earmarks to campaign contributors, including a company that employs his son.”
The full report includes these accusations: “In 2004, a Virginia-based company, BearingPoint, selected Senture, a call-center service provider, to set up a call center for a test of a prototype transportation worker card. Just before the contract was awarded, Senture hired Rep. Rogers’ son John as a computer systems administrator.
Then in 2003, Senture won an unrelated $4 million contract with DHS to field calls from truckers. Between 2002 and 2005, officials from Senture, BearingPoint and its lobbyist, Van Scoyoc, donated $41,989 to Rep. Rogers’ campaign committee and PAC.”
Rogers may have violated the bribery statute and/or received illegal gratuities and violated House ethics rules, according to the report.
Rogers could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
“Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. “With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them.”
Along with McConnell and Rogers, others among the “corrupted” list include: Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.; Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M.; Rep. John T. Doolittle, R-Calif.; Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla.; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.; Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La.; Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.; Rep. Gary G. Miller, R-Calif.; Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va.; Rep. Timothy F. Murphy, R-Pa.; Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa.; Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M.; Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.; Rep. David Scott, D-Ga.; Rep. Don Young, R-Ark.; Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill.; and Rep. Heather A. Wilson, R-N.M.
The two who received the title of “Dishonorable Mention” (And Two to Watch) were Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
Visit www.beyonddelay.org for more details and to review full reports about each senator and representative on the CREW list.
CREW is a non-profit, legal “watchdog” group concerned with governmental accountability. Visit www.citizensforethics.org for more information about the organization.
The report stated: “Sadly, despite an election in which Democrats ran on a platform of eradicating the “culture of corruption” and the fact that voters overwhelmingly turned against members with ethics problems, very little appears to have changed. Members of both parties have boasted of Congress’ progress on this front, yet only tepid ethics reforms were passed and no new enforcement mechanisms were added.
“The bi-partisan House ethics task force, originally charged with reporting back by May 1, 2007, has yet to issue any recommendations, and the ethics committees in both Houses remain loathe to consider the unethical conduct of their colleagues unless, of course, gay sex is involved as we learned watching the Senate Republicans’ radically disparate treatment of the crimes committed by Sen. Craig and Sen. Vitter.
“As we said last year, if Congress is not going to police itself — and the evidence continues to demonstrate that it is not — the ethics committees should be disbanded and the charade ended. Thankfully, the Department of Justice does not share Congress’s willful myopia to corruption.”
To create this report, CREW stated that it reviewed news media articles, Federal Election Commission reports, court documents and members’ personal financial and travel disclosure forms. “We then analyzed that information in light of federal laws and regulations as well as congressional ethics rules.”
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.
• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, R-5th District, have made it onto a national “Top 22” list that does not necessarily deem distinction.
“Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (And Two to Watch),” was released Tuesday by CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington).
The third annual report can be viewed at www.beyonddelay.org. The site offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions, full-length profiles and all accompanying documentation.
Reports for McConnell and Rogers are similar in that they claim each was using his power in government to benefit themselves, their families and their campaigns.
Most of the report’s accusations against McConnell can be traced back to his former chief legal council, G. Hunter Bates, who served McConnell from 1997-2002. Bates, of Louisville, is chairman of the Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents.
He later formed Bates Capitol Group LLC (or “Bates Capitol) and clients included: E-Cavern, Voice for Humanity, Appriss Inc. and Boardpoint LLC, all of which have received (funding) earmarks from McConnell, according to CREW’s report.
“All of these companies have made substantial contributions to Sen. McConnell’s campaigns,” the report states. It also accuses the Bates Capitol Group of hiring former McConnell staffers including: Holly Piper, wife of Sen. McConnell’s chief of staff Bill Piper, and former McConnell aides Patrick Jennings and Lesley Elliot.
One thing that concerns Don Stewart, a press secretary for McConnell, is the timeline of the allegations.
“All the things they mention (in the report) are from 2002 or prior,” Stewart said. “It makes you wonder why this year, the year they happen to be up for re-election.
“I think this list is made up of 18 Republicans and four Democrats,” Stewart said. “My guess is that there is some kind of coincidence here. I think most of the people on (the list) are up for re-election.”
The CREW report insists that “Rep. Rogers’ ethics issues stem from misuse of his position to steer millions of dollars in earmarks to campaign contributors, including a company that employs his son.”
The full report includes these accusations: “In 2004, a Virginia-based company, BearingPoint, selected Senture, a call-center service provider, to set up a call center for a test of a prototype transportation worker card. Just before the contract was awarded, Senture hired Rep. Rogers’ son John as a computer systems administrator.
Then in 2003, Senture won an unrelated $4 million contract with DHS to field calls from truckers. Between 2002 and 2005, officials from Senture, BearingPoint and its lobbyist, Van Scoyoc, donated $41,989 to Rep. Rogers’ campaign committee and PAC.”
Rogers may have violated the bribery statute and/or received illegal gratuities and violated House ethics rules, according to the report.
Rogers could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
“Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. “With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them.”
Along with McConnell and Rogers, others among the “corrupted” list include: Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.; Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M.; Rep. John T. Doolittle, R-Calif.; Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla.; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.; Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La.; Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.; Rep. Gary G. Miller, R-Calif.; Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va.; Rep. Timothy F. Murphy, R-Pa.; Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa.; Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M.; Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.; Rep. David Scott, D-Ga.; Rep. Don Young, R-Ark.; Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill.; and Rep. Heather A. Wilson, R-N.M.
The two who received the title of “Dishonorable Mention” (And Two to Watch) were Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
Visit www.beyonddelay.org for more details and to review full reports about each senator and representative on the CREW list.
CREW is a non-profit, legal “watchdog” group concerned with governmental accountability. Visit www.citizensforethics.org for more information about the organization.
The report stated: “Sadly, despite an election in which Democrats ran on a platform of eradicating the “culture of corruption” and the fact that voters overwhelmingly turned against members with ethics problems, very little appears to have changed. Members of both parties have boasted of Congress’ progress on this front, yet only tepid ethics reforms were passed and no new enforcement mechanisms were added.
“The bi-partisan House ethics task force, originally charged with reporting back by May 1, 2007, has yet to issue any recommendations, and the ethics committees in both Houses remain loathe to consider the unethical conduct of their colleagues unless, of course, gay sex is involved as we learned watching the Senate Republicans’ radically disparate treatment of the crimes committed by Sen. Craig and Sen. Vitter.
“As we said last year, if Congress is not going to police itself — and the evidence continues to demonstrate that it is not — the ethics committees should be disbanded and the charade ended. Thankfully, the Department of Justice does not share Congress’s willful myopia to corruption.”
To create this report, CREW stated that it reviewed news media articles, Federal Election Commission reports, court documents and members’ personal financial and travel disclosure forms. “We then analyzed that information in light of federal laws and regulations as well as congressional ethics rules.”
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.
• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
Friday, September 14, 2007
There is no nation of Iraq--only three warring factions.
Democratic Leadership: There Is No Such Thing as Iraq
by DHinMI
Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 06:46:05 PM PDT
Sure, look on a map, and it exists. It’s got a seat in the United Nations. The electrical grid is national, and the people who live within the geographic boundaries are considered, by other nations, "Iraqis." But George W. Bush is trying to fool a nation and a world in to thinking that there is a nation known as Iraq.
There isn’t.
There are Kurds, and they don’t want to be in a nation that includes Sunni Arabs, whose leadership they blame for the genocidal policies known as the Anfal. Expecting Kurds to remain part of the Iraqi nation-state is like expecting Jews to have gotten a national homeland adjoined to Germany after the Holocaust, but expecting the Jews to make nice with the Germans and let bygones be bygones. Most Americans probably don’t realize that it’s ILLEGAL to fly the flag of Iraq in Kurdistan. The Kurds are Kurds. They are not Iraqis, and they never will be.
Iraqs Sunni and Shia Arabs have been in a civil war for several years. In southern Iraq, rival blocs are vying for power in a Shia-Shia conflict. In Anbar--which is NOT a success, and is NOT relevant to the "surge"--we can expect a lot more Sunni-Sunni violence like what we saw today. And if you’re reading this, you know that Baghdad has and remains a horrifically violent place; any minor reductions in violence have as much to do with the "success" of ethnic cleansing as anything else. It’s like declaring Srebrenica a success story because the ethnic cleansing ended.
What’s busted and not working in Iraq isn’t because of Iran, or Syria. It’s because of Iraq. When we invaded and clumsily occupied Iraq—a country that had no cohesive nationalist identification before Winston Churchill and the British drew it on a map after WWI—we unleashed forces beyond our capacity to contain and control, especially as long as we continue to occupy Iraq and be distrusted by ALL factions in the country. Sure, one would have to be naïve to think Iran wasn’t meddling in Iraq. Same thing with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and a bunch of other countries. But they’re only bit players. There’s no functioning government. There’s no "Iraqi" military, there are only units comprised entirely of single ethnic/religious groups; there are Kurdish units, there are Shia Arab units, there are Sunni Arab units. But there are NO multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian units.
Iraq is Humpty Dumpty, but we pushed him off the wall, and all the king’s Armored Cavalry and all the king’s mechanized brigades will not put him back together again. The president said this war in Iraq is "just, and right, and necessary." No, the war in Iraq is futile. The American people have figured that out. Now, it’s time to stop talking about leaving our troops in Iraq to train Iraqi military units, because there aren’t any. It’s time to stop expecting progress and the achievement of benchmarks by the Iraqi government, because there’s no Iraqi government that has legitimacy with the population of Iraq. It’s time to stop thinking that we can put Iraq back together again. It’s time to face the reality that Iraq no longer exists, start making plans to remove our troops, and get the leadership of the Iraqi factions and the leadership of the surrounding nations to engage in trying to mitigate the suffering and chaos that will ensue when we leave, but will also happen if we stay.
There’s no good solution for Iraq. There is no Iraq. It’s time to get our troops the hell out.
Permalink :: Discuss (241 comments)
by DHinMI
Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 06:46:05 PM PDT
Sure, look on a map, and it exists. It’s got a seat in the United Nations. The electrical grid is national, and the people who live within the geographic boundaries are considered, by other nations, "Iraqis." But George W. Bush is trying to fool a nation and a world in to thinking that there is a nation known as Iraq.
There isn’t.
There are Kurds, and they don’t want to be in a nation that includes Sunni Arabs, whose leadership they blame for the genocidal policies known as the Anfal. Expecting Kurds to remain part of the Iraqi nation-state is like expecting Jews to have gotten a national homeland adjoined to Germany after the Holocaust, but expecting the Jews to make nice with the Germans and let bygones be bygones. Most Americans probably don’t realize that it’s ILLEGAL to fly the flag of Iraq in Kurdistan. The Kurds are Kurds. They are not Iraqis, and they never will be.
Iraqs Sunni and Shia Arabs have been in a civil war for several years. In southern Iraq, rival blocs are vying for power in a Shia-Shia conflict. In Anbar--which is NOT a success, and is NOT relevant to the "surge"--we can expect a lot more Sunni-Sunni violence like what we saw today. And if you’re reading this, you know that Baghdad has and remains a horrifically violent place; any minor reductions in violence have as much to do with the "success" of ethnic cleansing as anything else. It’s like declaring Srebrenica a success story because the ethnic cleansing ended.
What’s busted and not working in Iraq isn’t because of Iran, or Syria. It’s because of Iraq. When we invaded and clumsily occupied Iraq—a country that had no cohesive nationalist identification before Winston Churchill and the British drew it on a map after WWI—we unleashed forces beyond our capacity to contain and control, especially as long as we continue to occupy Iraq and be distrusted by ALL factions in the country. Sure, one would have to be naïve to think Iran wasn’t meddling in Iraq. Same thing with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and a bunch of other countries. But they’re only bit players. There’s no functioning government. There’s no "Iraqi" military, there are only units comprised entirely of single ethnic/religious groups; there are Kurdish units, there are Shia Arab units, there are Sunni Arab units. But there are NO multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian units.
Iraq is Humpty Dumpty, but we pushed him off the wall, and all the king’s Armored Cavalry and all the king’s mechanized brigades will not put him back together again. The president said this war in Iraq is "just, and right, and necessary." No, the war in Iraq is futile. The American people have figured that out. Now, it’s time to stop talking about leaving our troops in Iraq to train Iraqi military units, because there aren’t any. It’s time to stop expecting progress and the achievement of benchmarks by the Iraqi government, because there’s no Iraqi government that has legitimacy with the population of Iraq. It’s time to stop thinking that we can put Iraq back together again. It’s time to face the reality that Iraq no longer exists, start making plans to remove our troops, and get the leadership of the Iraqi factions and the leadership of the surrounding nations to engage in trying to mitigate the suffering and chaos that will ensue when we leave, but will also happen if we stay.
There’s no good solution for Iraq. There is no Iraq. It’s time to get our troops the hell out.
Permalink :: Discuss (241 comments)
"Kentucky at War" by Bob Moser
article | posted September 13, 2007 (October 1, 2007 issue) of The Nation magazine:
Kentucky at War
Bob Moser
Senator Mitch McConnell has become the toast of YouTube with this spoof of his love affair with the Bush White House.
Louisville
Carol Trainer could hardly process what was happening. To her, a 60-year-old grandmother and Vietnam veteran, of all people. On Memorial Day, of all times. Arrested for protesting the war at, of all places, Abbey Road on the River, an annual five-day Beatles tribute that had adopted a fortieth-anniversary Summer of Love theme for 2007.
Forty years ago, when the Louisville native married Air Force officer Harold Trainer, Carol wouldn't have gone near anything associated with the Summer of Love. "I wasn't an activist; just the opposite, in fact." But since 2002, when the Trainers--he retired from twenty-three years in the Force, she from eleven years as a Northwest Airlines flight attendant--found that they couldn't keep quiet about the catastrophe that was poised to unfold in Iraq, they've been unlikely stalwarts in one of the country's feistiest grassroots antiwar movements.
At Abbey Road, Carol had joined cohorts from the Louisville Peace Action Community (LPAC), passing out end-the-war pamphlets to incoming patrons--many of them young folks duded up for the occasion in flowers, beads and peace signs. Early that afternoon, she'd decided to join the fun inside, have a couple of beers and dance along to the music she'd missed in the '60s. After spotting a couple of youngsters holding up peace-symbol signs, she figured it would be OK to walk around with her bright blue End the War! sign. The festival's producer gave her explicit permission to do so. After all, it was perfectly in tune with the spirit of a festival whose grand finale would be a musical production called "Hell No, We Won't Go."
Trainer didn't make it that far. As she was dancing and singing along to the strains of psychedelic nostalgia, holding her sign off to the side of the main festival stage, an oversized sheriff's deputy came stalking toward her. "He comes up to me and says, 'Drop your sign,'" Trainer recalls. "I said, 'Why?' He said, 'I told you to drop your sign.' He grabbed it out of my hand when I didn't drop it. That kind of started me. I thought, What's going on here? I kept asking why and he wouldn't tell me." The only explanation Trainer received, after her arrest, was that offended patrons had complained that she was harassing them and ruining their fun. She says that while dozens of people thanked her for the message, she had been confronted by four patrons, including one veteran "who said, 'This is Memorial Day--we're here to enjoy ourselves.' I said, 'When do the people in Iraq get to enjoy themselves?'" Crying and struggling with the deputy, she tried appealing to Mayor Jerry Abramson, who was watching the show nearby, but he "just stared and glared at me and didn't say a word." The deputy and a Metro Police officer dragged her off forcefully in handcuffs. "I did not go quietly," Trainer acknowledges, and she ended up charged not only with disorderly conduct at the festival but also with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. (Two of the charges were ultimately dropped; on the advice of LPAC's attorney, she agreed to do forty hours of community service for the resisting-arrest charge without admitting guilt.)
"You don't think that this could happen in the United States, you know," says Trainer. "One thing that irritates me is when some military people come up and say, 'I'm over there so you can do this. So you have the right.' And I'll say, now, after this, 'No, I don't have the right.'"
While protesting the war has alienated the Trainers from many of their old military buddies--"They tend to think we've left the reservation," says Harold--they've become fast friends with "peace people" they once despised. "They've really accepted us very well as partners in the peace effort," Harold says, "even though we're military." While LPAC, a spinoff of Louisville's large and active Fellowship of Reconciliation, includes its fair share of hard-core pacifists, the group--like so many other peace efforts around the country--has flung its tent wide open. "When Harold and Carol joined us," says longtime activist Judy Munro-Leighton, "it elevated our credibility about 1 million percent. When people came up to us at the state fair, or wherever we were demonstrating, and said, 'Yeah, what the hell do you know about it? You've never fought in a war,' we could point to Carol and Harold and say, 'They have.'"
Carol Trainer's twelve hours in jail kicked off the most raucous summer yet for Kentucky's antiwar movement--a vibrant microcosm of the coalition of peace activists, military veterans and families, blue-collar hard hats and college professors, old and young and (mostly) middle-aged, who've been spurred to action by the disaster in Iraq.
PAGE 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 NEXT
Kentucky at War
Bob Moser
Senator Mitch McConnell has become the toast of YouTube with this spoof of his love affair with the Bush White House.
Louisville
Carol Trainer could hardly process what was happening. To her, a 60-year-old grandmother and Vietnam veteran, of all people. On Memorial Day, of all times. Arrested for protesting the war at, of all places, Abbey Road on the River, an annual five-day Beatles tribute that had adopted a fortieth-anniversary Summer of Love theme for 2007.
Forty years ago, when the Louisville native married Air Force officer Harold Trainer, Carol wouldn't have gone near anything associated with the Summer of Love. "I wasn't an activist; just the opposite, in fact." But since 2002, when the Trainers--he retired from twenty-three years in the Force, she from eleven years as a Northwest Airlines flight attendant--found that they couldn't keep quiet about the catastrophe that was poised to unfold in Iraq, they've been unlikely stalwarts in one of the country's feistiest grassroots antiwar movements.
At Abbey Road, Carol had joined cohorts from the Louisville Peace Action Community (LPAC), passing out end-the-war pamphlets to incoming patrons--many of them young folks duded up for the occasion in flowers, beads and peace signs. Early that afternoon, she'd decided to join the fun inside, have a couple of beers and dance along to the music she'd missed in the '60s. After spotting a couple of youngsters holding up peace-symbol signs, she figured it would be OK to walk around with her bright blue End the War! sign. The festival's producer gave her explicit permission to do so. After all, it was perfectly in tune with the spirit of a festival whose grand finale would be a musical production called "Hell No, We Won't Go."
Trainer didn't make it that far. As she was dancing and singing along to the strains of psychedelic nostalgia, holding her sign off to the side of the main festival stage, an oversized sheriff's deputy came stalking toward her. "He comes up to me and says, 'Drop your sign,'" Trainer recalls. "I said, 'Why?' He said, 'I told you to drop your sign.' He grabbed it out of my hand when I didn't drop it. That kind of started me. I thought, What's going on here? I kept asking why and he wouldn't tell me." The only explanation Trainer received, after her arrest, was that offended patrons had complained that she was harassing them and ruining their fun. She says that while dozens of people thanked her for the message, she had been confronted by four patrons, including one veteran "who said, 'This is Memorial Day--we're here to enjoy ourselves.' I said, 'When do the people in Iraq get to enjoy themselves?'" Crying and struggling with the deputy, she tried appealing to Mayor Jerry Abramson, who was watching the show nearby, but he "just stared and glared at me and didn't say a word." The deputy and a Metro Police officer dragged her off forcefully in handcuffs. "I did not go quietly," Trainer acknowledges, and she ended up charged not only with disorderly conduct at the festival but also with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. (Two of the charges were ultimately dropped; on the advice of LPAC's attorney, she agreed to do forty hours of community service for the resisting-arrest charge without admitting guilt.)
"You don't think that this could happen in the United States, you know," says Trainer. "One thing that irritates me is when some military people come up and say, 'I'm over there so you can do this. So you have the right.' And I'll say, now, after this, 'No, I don't have the right.'"
While protesting the war has alienated the Trainers from many of their old military buddies--"They tend to think we've left the reservation," says Harold--they've become fast friends with "peace people" they once despised. "They've really accepted us very well as partners in the peace effort," Harold says, "even though we're military." While LPAC, a spinoff of Louisville's large and active Fellowship of Reconciliation, includes its fair share of hard-core pacifists, the group--like so many other peace efforts around the country--has flung its tent wide open. "When Harold and Carol joined us," says longtime activist Judy Munro-Leighton, "it elevated our credibility about 1 million percent. When people came up to us at the state fair, or wherever we were demonstrating, and said, 'Yeah, what the hell do you know about it? You've never fought in a war,' we could point to Carol and Harold and say, 'They have.'"
Carol Trainer's twelve hours in jail kicked off the most raucous summer yet for Kentucky's antiwar movement--a vibrant microcosm of the coalition of peace activists, military veterans and families, blue-collar hard hats and college professors, old and young and (mostly) middle-aged, who've been spurred to action by the disaster in Iraq.
PAGE 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 NEXT
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
19 Year-Old Kentucky Soldier killed in Iraq.
More about the cost in human life of "staying the course" in Iraq. It is approaching 4,000 United States soldier deaths as the price of "staying the course" in Iraq. Probably none of PFC. Phillips' relatives are Republicans, but death on the battlefield is no respecter of party affiliation. The stray bullet, or the stray shrapnel can kill anyone on a battlefield, regardless of that person's opinion about why we have men dying on an Iraqi battlefield. Let's Ditch Mitch, Ditch Hal, and bring all our men and women home from the Iraqi battlefields.
VINE GROVE MAN KILLED AS MILITARY VEHICLE OVERTURNS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP/Kentucky National Guard
Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips graduated from North Hardin High.
Sign a guestbook for Mr. Phillips
FRANKFORT --A 19-year-old Kentucky National Guard soldier died Monday in Iraq when his vehicle overturned during a mission.
The crash that killed Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips of Vine Grove also injured two other Kentucky guardsmen, military officials said yesterday.
The injured soldiers were not identified.
Phillips' unit commander, Capt. Robert S. Mattingly, said Phillips was "an excellent soldier who had unlimited potential."
"I never met a person that didn't like Sammie Phillips," Mattingly said.
Laura McGray, a former teacher and assistant principal at North Hardin High School, remembered the 2006 graduate. "He was an outgoing young man and was always ready to help someone," she told The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown. "He would go out of his way to help someone."
Phillips was assigned to Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based in Carlisle. He joined the Kentucky Army National Guard last year and deployed with his unit last month.
Phillips is survived by his wife, Ashley; his mother and stepfather, Rachel D. and Donnie Crutcher; and his father, Ronald E. Phlilips.
Kentucky's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Donald C. Storm, said Phillips was riding in a military vehicle headed to a traffic control point when a civilian vehicle swerved into its path. The military vehicle took "evasive action," struck a culvert and overturned, he said.
Funeral arrangements for Phillips are pending.
Phillips was the 16th Kentucky guardsman killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
He was the third Kentucky guardsman to die in about two weeks.
Staff Sgt. Nicholas Carnes died Aug. 26 during a firefight in Afghanistan, and Staff Sgt. Delmar White died Sept. 1 in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded.
VINE GROVE MAN KILLED AS MILITARY VEHICLE OVERTURNS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP/Kentucky National Guard
Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips graduated from North Hardin High.
Sign a guestbook for Mr. Phillips
FRANKFORT --A 19-year-old Kentucky National Guard soldier died Monday in Iraq when his vehicle overturned during a mission.
The crash that killed Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips of Vine Grove also injured two other Kentucky guardsmen, military officials said yesterday.
The injured soldiers were not identified.
Phillips' unit commander, Capt. Robert S. Mattingly, said Phillips was "an excellent soldier who had unlimited potential."
"I never met a person that didn't like Sammie Phillips," Mattingly said.
Laura McGray, a former teacher and assistant principal at North Hardin High School, remembered the 2006 graduate. "He was an outgoing young man and was always ready to help someone," she told The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown. "He would go out of his way to help someone."
Phillips was assigned to Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based in Carlisle. He joined the Kentucky Army National Guard last year and deployed with his unit last month.
Phillips is survived by his wife, Ashley; his mother and stepfather, Rachel D. and Donnie Crutcher; and his father, Ronald E. Phlilips.
Kentucky's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Donald C. Storm, said Phillips was riding in a military vehicle headed to a traffic control point when a civilian vehicle swerved into its path. The military vehicle took "evasive action," struck a culvert and overturned, he said.
Funeral arrangements for Phillips are pending.
Phillips was the 16th Kentucky guardsman killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
He was the third Kentucky guardsman to die in about two weeks.
Staff Sgt. Nicholas Carnes died Aug. 26 during a firefight in Afghanistan, and Staff Sgt. Delmar White died Sept. 1 in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded.
Further collapse of the Kentucky Republican Party (KRP).
Speaker confirms Rep. Dedman's party switch
FRANKFORT -- House Speaker Jody Richards confirmed today that state Rep. Milward Dedman Jr. of Harrodsburg is switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party.
Richards, D-Bowling Green, hinted that another party switch to the Democratic fold is likely, probably Friday, but he would not say if that possible switch is Rep. Melvin Henley of Murray.
House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said earlier this year that he had been trying to persuade Dedman and Henley to stay with the GOP.
"I don't think we will be getting all 38," Richards said of the number of Republicans in the 100-member House after Dedman's defection.
Richards said he met with Dedman earlier in the day in Harrodsburg and that Dedman is switiching parties "for the purest of reasons" -- to help his 55th House District that covers Anderson, Mercer and Spencer counties.
See Thursday's Herald-Leader for more about this story.
--Jack Brammer
FRANKFORT -- House Speaker Jody Richards confirmed today that state Rep. Milward Dedman Jr. of Harrodsburg is switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party.
Richards, D-Bowling Green, hinted that another party switch to the Democratic fold is likely, probably Friday, but he would not say if that possible switch is Rep. Melvin Henley of Murray.
House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said earlier this year that he had been trying to persuade Dedman and Henley to stay with the GOP.
"I don't think we will be getting all 38," Richards said of the number of Republicans in the 100-member House after Dedman's defection.
Richards said he met with Dedman earlier in the day in Harrodsburg and that Dedman is switiching parties "for the purest of reasons" -- to help his 55th House District that covers Anderson, Mercer and Spencer counties.
See Thursday's Herald-Leader for more about this story.
--Jack Brammer
Contribute to the Democratic Party candidate for Mitch's job now.
(crossposted at BlueGrassRoots)
A new fundraising page is at Act Blue:
BlueGrassRoots: Let’s Ditch Mitch!
This page is within the well-known and well-respected Act Blue, and all funds will go to whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the 2008 senate race against Mitch McConnell. So whether your horse is Greg, Andrew, Ben, Crit or Charlie, the funds will all go to whoever Democrats decide should take on Mitch.
Feel free to click on the link and contribute. Mitch will have an absolute fortune to spend (such are the privileges of being a whore for corporate America), so we need to start fundraising early and often in order to be on a more level playing field.
We can beat Mitch McConnell. We will beat Mitch McConnell. Let’s start the fight right now.
A new fundraising page is at Act Blue:
BlueGrassRoots: Let’s Ditch Mitch!
This page is within the well-known and well-respected Act Blue, and all funds will go to whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the 2008 senate race against Mitch McConnell. So whether your horse is Greg, Andrew, Ben, Crit or Charlie, the funds will all go to whoever Democrats decide should take on Mitch.
Feel free to click on the link and contribute. Mitch will have an absolute fortune to spend (such are the privileges of being a whore for corporate America), so we need to start fundraising early and often in order to be on a more level playing field.
We can beat Mitch McConnell. We will beat Mitch McConnell. Let’s start the fight right now.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
1,825 violent deaths a month in Iraq in 2007.
So you agree with the Republicans and want the U.S. to "stay the course" in keeping U.S. troops in combat in Iraq? Consider this observation from Daily Kos:
"No matter how often Petraeus and other administration apolgists claim that violence is down, the fact remains that in 2006, an average of 1,380 Iraqis a month were killed, while in the first 8 months of 2007, that number has risen to 1,825 violent deaths a month."
You can count the bodies in the morgues in Iraq and conclude that violent deaths are up sharply over last year. It is a civil war between Muslim religious factions. The U.S. has no business having troops in Iraq. The sooner we bring the boys (and girls) home from Iraq, the better. A vote for the Republicans is a vote for continued mayhem and violence. Vote for the Democrats and let's Ditch Mitch and bring the troops home.
"No matter how often Petraeus and other administration apolgists claim that violence is down, the fact remains that in 2006, an average of 1,380 Iraqis a month were killed, while in the first 8 months of 2007, that number has risen to 1,825 violent deaths a month."
You can count the bodies in the morgues in Iraq and conclude that violent deaths are up sharply over last year. It is a civil war between Muslim religious factions. The U.S. has no business having troops in Iraq. The sooner we bring the boys (and girls) home from Iraq, the better. A vote for the Republicans is a vote for continued mayhem and violence. Vote for the Democrats and let's Ditch Mitch and bring the troops home.
Trend out of Kentucky.
KY-Gov: Big lead; Party switching in Kentucky
by kos
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 08:51:14 AM PDT
Big news day out of Kentucky.
First of all, Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher is still headed for a big November trashing.
SurveyUSA. 9/8-10. Likely voters. MoE 4.3% (8/4-6 results)
Fletcher (R) 39 (37)
Beshear (D) 58 (58)
Meanwhile, two Republican state House members have seen the writing on the wall of their own party and have decided to switch to the Democratic Party. The two join a bevy of party switchers in Kansas and Missouri -- a trend that seems to be accelerating as the GOP continues its slow, nationwide (outside of Georgia and Louisiana) collapse.
Race tracker wiki: KY-Gov
Permalink :: Discuss (147 comments)
by kos
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 08:51:14 AM PDT
Big news day out of Kentucky.
First of all, Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher is still headed for a big November trashing.
SurveyUSA. 9/8-10. Likely voters. MoE 4.3% (8/4-6 results)
Fletcher (R) 39 (37)
Beshear (D) 58 (58)
Meanwhile, two Republican state House members have seen the writing on the wall of their own party and have decided to switch to the Democratic Party. The two join a bevy of party switchers in Kansas and Missouri -- a trend that seems to be accelerating as the GOP continues its slow, nationwide (outside of Georgia and Louisiana) collapse.
Race tracker wiki: KY-Gov
Permalink :: Discuss (147 comments)
Trend out of Kentucky.
KY-Gov: Big lead; Party switching in Kentucky
by kos
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 08:51:14 AM PDT
Big news day out of Kentucky.
First of all, Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher is still headed for a big November trashing.
SurveyUSA. 9/8-10. Likely voters. MoE 4.3% (8/4-6 results)
Fletcher (R) 39 (37)
Beshear (D) 58 (58)
Meanwhile, two Republican state House members have seen the writing on the wall of their own party and have decided to switch to the Democratic Party. The two join a bevy of party switchers in Kansas and Missouri -- a trend that seems to be accelerating as the GOP continues its slow, nationwide (outside of Georgia and Louisiana) collapse.
Race tracker wiki: KY-Gov
Permalink :: Discuss (147 comments)
by kos
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 08:51:14 AM PDT
Big news day out of Kentucky.
First of all, Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher is still headed for a big November trashing.
SurveyUSA. 9/8-10. Likely voters. MoE 4.3% (8/4-6 results)
Fletcher (R) 39 (37)
Beshear (D) 58 (58)
Meanwhile, two Republican state House members have seen the writing on the wall of their own party and have decided to switch to the Democratic Party. The two join a bevy of party switchers in Kansas and Missouri -- a trend that seems to be accelerating as the GOP continues its slow, nationwide (outside of Georgia and Louisiana) collapse.
Race tracker wiki: KY-Gov
Permalink :: Discuss (147 comments)
9/11 Anniversary, by Hunter
Anniversary
by Hunter
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 01:05:16 PM PDT
The patriotism of this particular national anniversary is still sharp-edged and opaque, and seems to happen in complete isolation to whatever happens in the days before or since. It is an uncomfortable day for anyone who remembers watching the event, and most certainly not a good day to watch television: a national scar threatening to become crass celebration, a cross between Halloween and the Fourth of July, a day to frighten ourselves with the tales of the dead, and wave flags over their memories.
It is not a healing day. It will likely never be a healing day, at least not until we pass the point of needing to be healed. It is, instead, a flag-plastered day of mourning, a day with custom graphics and musical cues, a branded and packaged day for a branded and packaged world. Nuance is buried; decency teeters toward the same shallow grave.
by Hunter
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 01:05:16 PM PDT
The patriotism of this particular national anniversary is still sharp-edged and opaque, and seems to happen in complete isolation to whatever happens in the days before or since. It is an uncomfortable day for anyone who remembers watching the event, and most certainly not a good day to watch television: a national scar threatening to become crass celebration, a cross between Halloween and the Fourth of July, a day to frighten ourselves with the tales of the dead, and wave flags over their memories.
It is not a healing day. It will likely never be a healing day, at least not until we pass the point of needing to be healed. It is, instead, a flag-plastered day of mourning, a day with custom graphics and musical cues, a branded and packaged day for a branded and packaged world. Nuance is buried; decency teeters toward the same shallow grave.
Who is the war hero?
Well, you probably did not guess it. I wouldn't have. That's Hannibal from the A-Team. I used to enjoy those episodes with Hannibal, B.A., Murdock and Face stopping the bad guys. Maybe the Democrats will be as effective as the A-Team, when we Ditch Mitch in Nov. 2008.
Hiking in Kentucky.
My favorite hobby, when I'm not blogging, is hiking the mountain trails of Kentucky. We got a new trampoline, and I enjoy bouncing on the trampoline, too. What is your hobby? Kenneth Stepp
College for Everyone.
Kenneth Stepp believes in "College for Everyone". Where does Mitch McConnell stand on "College for Everyone"?
Well, if you guessed “making sure they can afford a college education”, you would be wrong. As we mentioned earlier this week, McConnell was one of only 12 Senators that voted against the new student aid investment bill, giving families a much needed resource as tuition rates continue to skyrocket, along with health care costs.
Apparently, Mitch would rather have kids take other avenues to college, if they can’t afford it. How about joining the military after high school? They’ll pay your way through college. Oh, and thanks to Mitch’s shameless rubber-stamping of Bush’s foolish Iraq policy, there’s plenty of demand for your kid.
So, as long as your child isn’t killed, maimed or psychologically damaged in Iraq fighting in the middle of a religious civil war with no exit strategy, everything works out in the end, doesn’t it Mitch?
AAEI gives us a glimpse of Mitch’s plan in their new ad.
read comments (0)
Well, if you guessed “making sure they can afford a college education”, you would be wrong. As we mentioned earlier this week, McConnell was one of only 12 Senators that voted against the new student aid investment bill, giving families a much needed resource as tuition rates continue to skyrocket, along with health care costs.
Apparently, Mitch would rather have kids take other avenues to college, if they can’t afford it. How about joining the military after high school? They’ll pay your way through college. Oh, and thanks to Mitch’s shameless rubber-stamping of Bush’s foolish Iraq policy, there’s plenty of demand for your kid.
So, as long as your child isn’t killed, maimed or psychologically damaged in Iraq fighting in the middle of a religious civil war with no exit strategy, everything works out in the end, doesn’t it Mitch?
AAEI gives us a glimpse of Mitch’s plan in their new ad.
read comments (0)
More about $8.3 million for Mitch & Co.
Page One did a great job in capturing the video of WHAS’s coverage of Insight’s backtracking and now airing the recent ad by the Public Campaign Action Fund on Mitch McConnell assisting his former Chief of Staff-turned lobbyist Hunter Bates in recieving a government contract to send iPod-like devices to Afghanistan and voting against body armour for our troops:
More about $8.3 million
behind Sen. Mitch McConnell’s iPods-for-Afghanis initiative
September 10th, 2007 Matt Gunterman
So, while some in the press have been spending all their time deconstructing and parsing the words of the new Public Campaign Action Fund’s latest television spot that highlights the sketch way in which Senator Mitch McConnell (R) and his goons got $8.3 million of taxpayer funds allocated to a Kentucky-based corporation that sends $50 audio players to Afghanis with recorded messages about democracy and other civic lessons, others have been searching out the whole story about the operation behind this ludicrous scheme is coming out.
Here’s what CorpWatch had to say:
Pink “iPods” for Democracy!
by Fariba Nawa, Special to CorpWatch
The employees of Voice for Humanity, in a fever of righteous idealism, traveled six hours on donkeys and horses through the remotest parts of the Afghanistan countryside. They were on a mission: to deliver what they thought was an invaluable literacy tool for Afghans. Pink for women, silver for men.
They were custom digital audio players which function like the trendy iPod although they look more like generic radios or MP3 players. They are made in China and filled with public service messages on topics including human rights, women’s rights, Afghanistan’s election process, and health.
The aid workers distributed 65,800 recorders, which cost $50 each, to remote villages and some of the most dangerous and volatile areas in the country. The staff of Voice for Humanity, a non-profit humanitarian aid agency that claims to be dedicated to developing literacy in the world, says it has trained tribal chiefs and other community leaders to listen to the recorders and then pass them on to individuals and families.
The pseudo-iPods were funded by a group of U.S. government funders that included the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). An $8.3 million contract was awarded to Kentucky-based Voice for Humanity, a small group run by two Lexington businessmen, to use its audio players to “promote democracy” in advance of the 2004 Afghan presidential election as well as to similar projects in Nigeria
How VFH got the contract is a matter raising some skeptical eyebrows in the aid community. When the two founders needed to sell their idea to the federal government, they turned to a lobbying group run by Hunter Bates, the former chief of staff to Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell, it turns out, chairs the senate subcommittee that controls the money allocated to USAID.
Critics say it was those connections that resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars going to an ineffective and laughable program of throwing trendy technology at serious international issues.
“It shows how foolhardy people can be when they’re not thinking practically,” said Patricia Omidian, an aid worker heading the American Friends Service Committee.
There are further questions about the propriety of the US government distributing “public service messages” about an election in which it openly backs one candidate over the others. VHF has gone to great lengths to ensure that the recorders “have no US footprint,” despite the fact they are funded by the U.S. government and distributed by an American NGO.
Assuming that the content of the recorded audio on the players was purely educational and did have value as a literacy tool, it would have been cheaper and more affective to provide these communities with radio transmitters, which cost about $500 total. Radio programming would have reached more people, and is already how most Afghans get their information. Further, the information could be updated on the fly, whereas the VFH recorders must be rounded up and fitted with new chips bearing new material, and then redistributed. Each new chip costs $10, plus the cost of labor and travel.
¨Why not radios?¨ said one aid worker critical of the deal. “You see this time and time again to what (the politicians) think makes political sense regardless of feasibility or viability.”
Yet Pete McLain, director of Voice for Humanity, said that Afghan focus groups and surveys have shown that the recorder has educated the public about pertinent material they had no access to before.
¨Some of the work can be done with the radio. We’re different because of the depth and the fact that it can be repeated whenever you want it, like in the kitchen, in the field. There’s an ability to listen to it as a group and rewind it. Radio is good for soundbites,” McLain said. “This is about training. We don’t want to compete with radio. It’s apples and oranges. This is supplemental. We see some synergy.”
VFH has hired Altai Consulting to audit the project for efficiency and effectiveness. Its results will be presented to USAID to bolster VFH’s claim that the program is successful.
In Kabul, VFH’s staff of 40 is entirely Afghan. The supervisor, Abdul Wakil, is a firm believer in the product and its utility. He recalled a case where the device was played at a wedding in front of 500 women in Logar province. The program included information on women’s right to vote, including instructions on how to go about it. Although the women had been warned by traditionalists not to vote, many of them had the courage of conviction to register upon hearing the messages, Wakil said.
“It’s a school for them,” he added.
The Women’s Affairs Directorate in Logar confirmed that the players had provided beneficial information before the election, but that it was an impractical means of educating their communities. At their offices, a child could be seen playing with one of the audio players, switching the buttons like it was a toy.
In Khoshi, one of the districts in Logar where the player was distributed before elections, men in shops said they had listened to the material on the tape and gained some insight into the election process but afterwards, the digital device became a toy for their children.
The color-coded idea for the players emerged when VFH learned that men had taken the devices from women and were using them for themselves. Then the Ministry of Women’s Affairs suggested changing the color of some of the silver recorders to pink so that men would be too embarrassed to carry them around. So VHF ordered more players, this time in pink.
Wakil sat in his guesthouse in his pressed black suit showing me the recorder’s features. It’s a set with a solar charger and a hand crank. The programming now includes informational dispatches and dramatic performances read in the Afghan languages of Dari and Pushto.
Wakil said VFH is now lobbying to receive more grants so that it can continue making new chips with additional information on health, counter narcotics and children and eventually, build a library of data.
But many at USAID aren’t buying it. “We had to play it politically so we gave them some money. But they could not leverage us to give them too much,” said another USAID source.
read comments (1)
September 10th, 2007 Matt Gunterman
So, while some in the press have been spending all their time deconstructing and parsing the words of the new Public Campaign Action Fund’s latest television spot that highlights the sketch way in which Senator Mitch McConnell (R) and his goons got $8.3 million of taxpayer funds allocated to a Kentucky-based corporation that sends $50 audio players to Afghanis with recorded messages about democracy and other civic lessons, others have been searching out the whole story about the operation behind this ludicrous scheme is coming out.
Here’s what CorpWatch had to say:
Pink “iPods” for Democracy!
by Fariba Nawa, Special to CorpWatch
The employees of Voice for Humanity, in a fever of righteous idealism, traveled six hours on donkeys and horses through the remotest parts of the Afghanistan countryside. They were on a mission: to deliver what they thought was an invaluable literacy tool for Afghans. Pink for women, silver for men.
They were custom digital audio players which function like the trendy iPod although they look more like generic radios or MP3 players. They are made in China and filled with public service messages on topics including human rights, women’s rights, Afghanistan’s election process, and health.
The aid workers distributed 65,800 recorders, which cost $50 each, to remote villages and some of the most dangerous and volatile areas in the country. The staff of Voice for Humanity, a non-profit humanitarian aid agency that claims to be dedicated to developing literacy in the world, says it has trained tribal chiefs and other community leaders to listen to the recorders and then pass them on to individuals and families.
The pseudo-iPods were funded by a group of U.S. government funders that included the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). An $8.3 million contract was awarded to Kentucky-based Voice for Humanity, a small group run by two Lexington businessmen, to use its audio players to “promote democracy” in advance of the 2004 Afghan presidential election as well as to similar projects in Nigeria
How VFH got the contract is a matter raising some skeptical eyebrows in the aid community. When the two founders needed to sell their idea to the federal government, they turned to a lobbying group run by Hunter Bates, the former chief of staff to Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell, it turns out, chairs the senate subcommittee that controls the money allocated to USAID.
Critics say it was those connections that resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars going to an ineffective and laughable program of throwing trendy technology at serious international issues.
“It shows how foolhardy people can be when they’re not thinking practically,” said Patricia Omidian, an aid worker heading the American Friends Service Committee.
There are further questions about the propriety of the US government distributing “public service messages” about an election in which it openly backs one candidate over the others. VHF has gone to great lengths to ensure that the recorders “have no US footprint,” despite the fact they are funded by the U.S. government and distributed by an American NGO.
Assuming that the content of the recorded audio on the players was purely educational and did have value as a literacy tool, it would have been cheaper and more affective to provide these communities with radio transmitters, which cost about $500 total. Radio programming would have reached more people, and is already how most Afghans get their information. Further, the information could be updated on the fly, whereas the VFH recorders must be rounded up and fitted with new chips bearing new material, and then redistributed. Each new chip costs $10, plus the cost of labor and travel.
¨Why not radios?¨ said one aid worker critical of the deal. “You see this time and time again to what (the politicians) think makes political sense regardless of feasibility or viability.”
Yet Pete McLain, director of Voice for Humanity, said that Afghan focus groups and surveys have shown that the recorder has educated the public about pertinent material they had no access to before.
¨Some of the work can be done with the radio. We’re different because of the depth and the fact that it can be repeated whenever you want it, like in the kitchen, in the field. There’s an ability to listen to it as a group and rewind it. Radio is good for soundbites,” McLain said. “This is about training. We don’t want to compete with radio. It’s apples and oranges. This is supplemental. We see some synergy.”
VFH has hired Altai Consulting to audit the project for efficiency and effectiveness. Its results will be presented to USAID to bolster VFH’s claim that the program is successful.
In Kabul, VFH’s staff of 40 is entirely Afghan. The supervisor, Abdul Wakil, is a firm believer in the product and its utility. He recalled a case where the device was played at a wedding in front of 500 women in Logar province. The program included information on women’s right to vote, including instructions on how to go about it. Although the women had been warned by traditionalists not to vote, many of them had the courage of conviction to register upon hearing the messages, Wakil said.
“It’s a school for them,” he added.
The Women’s Affairs Directorate in Logar confirmed that the players had provided beneficial information before the election, but that it was an impractical means of educating their communities. At their offices, a child could be seen playing with one of the audio players, switching the buttons like it was a toy.
In Khoshi, one of the districts in Logar where the player was distributed before elections, men in shops said they had listened to the material on the tape and gained some insight into the election process but afterwards, the digital device became a toy for their children.
The color-coded idea for the players emerged when VFH learned that men had taken the devices from women and were using them for themselves. Then the Ministry of Women’s Affairs suggested changing the color of some of the silver recorders to pink so that men would be too embarrassed to carry them around. So VHF ordered more players, this time in pink.
Wakil sat in his guesthouse in his pressed black suit showing me the recorder’s features. It’s a set with a solar charger and a hand crank. The programming now includes informational dispatches and dramatic performances read in the Afghan languages of Dari and Pushto.
Wakil said VFH is now lobbying to receive more grants so that it can continue making new chips with additional information on health, counter narcotics and children and eventually, build a library of data.
But many at USAID aren’t buying it. “We had to play it politically so we gave them some money. But they could not leverage us to give them too much,” said another USAID source.
read comments (1)
Act Blue and Ditch Mitch
There is a new fundraising page at Act Blue:
BlueGrassRoots: Let’s Ditch Mitch!
This page is within the well-known and well-respected Act Blue, and all funds will go to whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the 2008 senate race against Mitch McConnell. So whoever is your choice to Ditch Mitch, the funds will all go to whoever Democrats decide should take on Mitch.
Feel free to click on the link and contribute. Mitch will have an absolute fortune to spend (such are the privileges of being a whore for corporate America), so we need to start fundraising early and often in order to be on a more level playing field.
We can beat Mitch McConnell. We will beat Mitch McConnell. Let’s start the fight right now.
BlueGrassRoots: Let’s Ditch Mitch!
This page is within the well-known and well-respected Act Blue, and all funds will go to whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the 2008 senate race against Mitch McConnell. So whoever is your choice to Ditch Mitch, the funds will all go to whoever Democrats decide should take on Mitch.
Feel free to click on the link and contribute. Mitch will have an absolute fortune to spend (such are the privileges of being a whore for corporate America), so we need to start fundraising early and often in order to be on a more level playing field.
We can beat Mitch McConnell. We will beat Mitch McConnell. Let’s start the fight right now.
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