I am re-reading William Manchester’s narrative history of America, 1932-1972, which provides an excellent counterpoint – and many parallels – to today’s political scene. The notion that Bush is the worst president ever comes easily to our lips, yet Hoover’s outmoded laissez-faire policies plunged the country into a period of privation and dark despair which soft-bellied Americans of today would simply not survive.

Roosevelt’s presidency before the war was more tumultuous than anything we’re seeing today. A conservative Supreme Court blocked reforms on behalf of Big Business, for whom total exploitation of workers was a State of Nature with which no politician ought to interfere; Americans shot other Americans dead on American soil as the union movement struggled to life; Fascism considered by some a viable political philosophy; Father Coughlin made Rush Limbaugh sound like Peter Pan. And on and on. Yeah, Bush has been a crap president by every measure and has poisoned a few wells that will have to be mucked out over time. But people have never been better off than Americans are today and thank Dog the bad guy has been exposed and we are starting to lurch off down the road in a better direction. Until the next big fuckup, of course.

Where Have America’s Patriots Gone?

Liviu Librescu, a 76 year old engineering professor and Holocaust survivor born in Rumania gave his life at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007, protecting his students from a gunman’s murderous rampage. As a younger man, he had adopted America with its promise of liberty and justice, and believed in his ultimate responsibility to others, giving his own life as evidence of this commitment. He was not only a hero but also an American patriot.

Two weeks after Librescu’s death at Virginia Tech, a former CIA director published a book about his experiences at the CIA, and states that he did not brief the President about the absence of intelligence supporting the planned invasion of Iraq because the President did not ask him about it. He apparently shirked a fundamental responsibility to give the President all sides of the intelligence information, a requisite part of his job. Had he performed his sworn duty the deaths of 3350 U.S. troops in Iraq might have been prevented. He does not qualify as an American patriot. He is undeserving of the Medal of Freedom that he received and it should be returned with a public apology to the American people.

Similarly, a former Secretary of State played the good soldier and proceeded in lock-step to deceive the American people and the world community about Iraq by not doing the required due diligence he was sworn to perform. This behavior contributed to the deaths of 3350 American soldiers in Iraq. He does not qualify as a patriot.

In 2002 the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, both Republicans and Democrats, knew from secret intelligence briefings that the information they were told was significantly different from the information being told to the American people by the administration in order to create a climate of support for the rush to war in Iraq. These Senators chose to keep the secrets at the expense of 3350 American lives in Iraq. None of these Senators could qualify as patriots.

The leaders of the present administration from the top down to the bottom developed and perpetuated this rush to war in Iraq. This White House does not know the difference between right and wrong. They bear the full responsibility for the deaths of 3500 Americans in Iraq and the untold numbers that will die the longer American troops remain. This is unacceptable. None of these individuals could ever qualify as patriots.

It is now known that the new troop surge in Iraq that started in January, 2007 and the call for a war czar are strategies perpetrated by the White House with the sole intent to prolong America’s involvement in Iraq long enough to run down the clock so that the next president bears the blame and the consequences for ending this ill-fated and mismanaged war.

Contrasting one man’s actions at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007 with those of the former CIA director, the general, the Senators and the President, the American people can justifiably ask: where have America’s patriots gone?

Dr. Saul B. Wilen is CEO, International Horizons Unlimited (IHU) [www.intlhorizons.com, (210) 692-1268] an educational consulting and resources consortium. Dr Wilen is a recognized authority in prevention strategies. He directs the IHU terrorism prevention initiatives.

Copyright © 2007 International Horizons Unlimited. All Rights Reserved.

"After last weekend’s correspondents’ dinner, The Times decided to end its participation in such events."

More support for sea change?

Absolutely. Any sign that the media might be embarrassed about its incestuous relationship with the pillars of power is indeed further proof that something fundamental is shifting in our political and social culture.

Years ago, I realized that an argument or an allegation more often has a deferred effect than an immediate one. I found that, even when a person with whom I argued refused to concede a point, often he or she would move closer to my position by the next time we talked. Particularly when one has a very good point -- as did Colbert a year ago at the Correspondents Dinner -- that point often has a way of sinking in some time later, once the resisting person has a chance to reflect on it.

That's why so much of this sea change, as it is being called here, seems so belated. There's a great deal of institutional and psychological inertia (denial) within the people and forces that most need changing -- but strong arguments have a way of gradually insinuating themselves into the dominant position, eventually.

>>Try again: Belly Up to the Bar.<<

Stop it! I'm pregnant and not meant to think about drinking! Can I drink ginger beer at the bar?

RE: Love

"Republicans for Voldemort"

I am sending your computer happy synapse vibes. My neighbor just waved to me. I pass the karma to you. Happy computer, happy.

Excerpt from Frank Rich's Op-Ed mentioned by Denning, below.

Before there was a Woodward and Bernstein, there was Halberstam, still not yet 30 in the early 1960s, calling those in power to account for lying about our “progress” in Vietnam. He did so even though J.F.K. told the publisher of The Times, “I wish like hell that you’d get Halberstam out of there.” He did so despite public ridicule from the dean of that era’s Georgetown punditocracy, the now forgotten columnist (and Vietnam War cheerleader) Joseph Alsop.

It was Alsop’s spirit, not Halberstam’s, that could be seen in C-Span’s live broadcast of the correspondents’ dinner last Saturday, two days before Halberstam’s death in a car crash in California. This fete is a crystallization of the press’s failures in the post-9/11 era: it illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows. Such is literally the case at the annual dinner, where journalists serve as a supporting cast, but it has been figuratively true year-round. The press has enabled stunts from the manufactured threat of imminent “mushroom clouds” to “Saving Private Lynch” to “Mission Accomplished,” whose fourth anniversary arrives on Tuesday. For all the recrimination, self-flagellation and reforms that followed these journalistic failures, it’s far from clear that the entire profession yet understands why it has lost the public’s faith....

The current White House, weakened as it is, can still establish story lines as fake as “Mission Accomplished” and get a free pass.

http://donkeyod.wordpress.com/2007/04/28/all-the-president%e2%80%99s-press