President Viktor A. Yushchenko dismissed his prime minister and the rest of the cabinet on Thursday as internal divisions and accusations of corruption splintered the political coalition that led last year's popular uprising against his autocratic predecessor.
Facing a widening scandal, Mr. Yushchenko replaced the prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, a populist reformer whose fiery oratory drove what became known as the "Orange Revolution" but whose leadership proved divisive and debilitating in government.
In somber remarks broadcast on national television, Mr. Yushchenko said he had acted to end internal struggles for power among those who rallied tens of thousands of people in protests that ultimately overturned a fraudulent presidential election last fall.
The above is from Steven Lee Myers' "Ukraine Leader Fires Cabinet as Reform Coalition Splits" in this morning's New York Times. Members have noted this here throughout the week as the Times has covered it in "World Briefings." Hopefully, we'll get other reports on this from other sources because, frankly, I don't have a lot of faith in Myers who strikes me as the Mr. Jones of the Times.
You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard
But you don't understand
Just what you'll say
When you get home
Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
-- "Ballad of a Thin Man" written by Bob Dylan (available on Highway 61 Revisted).
Worse than a Mr. Jones is a Mara Liason. Ruth wanted this item noted from Media Matters,
"NPR's Liasson: '[A]ny time there's a contentious exchange in the White House press room, it makes the press look bad:'"
On the September 7 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, National Public Radio (NPR) national political correspondent and Fox News political correspondent Mara Liasson stated that "any time there's a contentious exchange in the White House press room, it makes the press look bad."
Liasson's comment came in response to a video clip, aired by host Brit Hume at the top of the "All-Star Panel" segment of the show, depicting a heated exchange between White House press secretary Scott McClellan and NBC chief White House correspondent David Gregory during the September 7 White House press briefing. Liasson was NPR's White House correspondent throughout the Clinton administration.
Editiorial comments on Liasson:
Mara Liason is a professional hack that NPR should have fired long ago. Her actions on Fox "News" are disgraceful in and of themselves. She's supposed to be a "journalist" not an op-ed or editorial person. Her comments leave the frame work of what NPR should allow her to do. (Were she working for the New York Times as a reporter, there would be cause to write her up because she regularly breaks every guideline they have for their reporters appearances on TV.)
Her war rallying cries and condemnation of the Congress members who visited Iraq prior to the invasion were inexcusable and the half-assed apology for that which NPR let her slide by with was disgusting. But for those who need more reasons to loathe Liasson, please note that when Amy Goodman asked tough questions of Bob Kerrey (when 60 Minutes, the Times and others were exploring in the story in some manner) Liasson (a professional joke and village idiot) weighed in that Goodman's questions wouldn't have been asked in D.C. Liasson made that comment with pride -- not realizing what a lame brain she sounded like or how damning her own admission was. Liasson thinks she's something special. If being a joke is what she aspired to, she long ago achieved that. The only thing worse than being an old joke is being an old, dirty joke and Liasson long ago arrived at that status. Apparently working at NPR is a lifetime job for many. The network should have long ago sent her packing.
Since that appears impossible, they should at least sit her down and explain what her duties are and how she needs to conduct herself. There is no "wall" between her appearences on Fox "News" where she regularly editorializes and predicts and her so-called reporting duties on NPR.
Ruth's latest Ruth's Morning Edition Report will appear here tomorrow. For those who've wondered why it's not happening during the week, Ruth's gone from a summer with a house filled with grandchildren who could help her with Elijah (her infant grandson) to being on her own again with him during the day (due to school starting back up) and is adjusting to that. She hopes to return to 'during the week reports' soon (and she did one yesterday, which I hope everyone saw). We will continue to repost her weekend reports on Mondays in the meantime. (And if it works out better for her to work on these reports on Friday evenings, she can stick with that schedule. Whatever works best for Ruth is fine.)
Rod e-mails to note the topics for today's Democracy Now!:
Unembedded in New Orleans: In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, a number of journalists have been harassed by the U.S. Military.
A hurricane survivor gives an in-depth account of the Superdome in the days after the disaster hit New Orleans.
As we did yesterday, we'll note these upcoming Un-Embed the Media appearences by Amy Goodman:
* Amy Goodman in Baraboo, WI:
Sat, Sept 10
*TIME: 2:45 PM
Fighting Bob FestSauk County Fairgrounds
Baraboo, WI
"Free admission", $10 donation will be requested.
Pre-register at http://www.fightingbobfest.org/register.htm
For more information, visit http://www.fightingbobfest.org/index.htm
* Amy Goodman in South Hadley, MA:
Sun, Sept 11
*TIME: 2 PM
New York Stories: Before and After September 11
Mount Holyoke College
Check back for more details
*Amy Goodman in Philadelphia, PA:
Mon, Sept 12
*TIME: 6 PM
Bread and Roses 'Tribute to Change' Awards
Zellerbach Theater
Annenberg Center
3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $50, $25 fixed income, $5 students
For more information, visit www.breadrosesfund.org
* Amy Goodman in New York, NY:
Wed, Sept 14
*TIME: 7 PM
A debate between George Galloway and Christopher Hitchenson Iraq and U.S. and British foreign policy.
Moderated by Amy Goodman
Mason Hall at the Baruch College Performing Arts Center
17 Lexington Ave., enter on 23rd St.
New York, NY
Tickets $12 in advance through Ticket Central
www.ticketcentral.com
Phone: 212-279-4200
and at the door.
For more details on this debate and Galloway's U.S. tour September 13-24,visit
:www.mrgallowaygoestowashington.com
email: Galloway2005@comcast.net
or call 415-607-1924.
Presented by: The New Press, International Socialist Review, and the Centerfor Economic Research and Social Change
If you're in one of the areas, please consider attending. If you're not but have friends or family who are, please pass on the information to them.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.