[This post was compiled by Demetrika and myself.]
Black History Month wasn't always a month. It was originally a week. And though some people may or may not be familiar with Carter G. Woodson and his accomplishments (1875-1950), he deserves highlighting.
From Bio-Bibliography Dorothy E. Lyles:
Carter G. Woodson was born in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia, to former slaves Anne Eliza (Riddle) and James Henry Woodson. Although his parents could neither read nor write, Carter G. Woodson credits his father for influencing the course of his life. His father, he later wrote, insisted that "learning to accept insult, to compromise on principle, to mislead your fellow man, or to betray your people, is to lose your soul."
From "Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History" by Lerone Bennett, Jr.:
At 17, the young man who was called by history to reveal black history was an untutored coal miner. At 19, after teaching himself the fundamentals of English and arithmetic, he entered high (secondary) school and mastered the four-year curriculum in less than two years.
At 22, after two-thirds of a year at Berea College in West Virginia, he returned to the coal mines and studied Latin and Greek between trips to the mine shafts. He then went on to the University of Chicago, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees, and Harvard University, where he became the second black to receive a doctorate in history.
From "Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson and the Observance of African History" by Runoko Rashidi:
Dr. Woodson was a member of the Niagara Movement and a regular columnist for Marcus Garvey's weekly publication--the Negro World. He was the founder, in Chicago in 1915, of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In the same year he founded the Journal of Negro History--a publication still in existence. As a contributing writer for the the Journal of Negro History, Woodson wrote more than a hundred articles and 125 book reviews.
Carter Godwin Woodson was the founder of Associated publishers, founder and editor of the Negro History Bulletin, and the author of more than thirty books. Probably Woodson's best known book is The Mis-Education of the Negro, originally published in 1933 and still relevant today. In the Mis-Education of the Negro Dr. Woodson stated that:
When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.
From "Why Black History Month?" by Sean Gonsalves:
Woodson believed the study of black history, using the tools of scholarly research and writing, could serve a dual purpose. It could be used to counter white racial chauvinism, which was used to rationalize the oppression of black people in America.
The distortions and deletions in the American historical record as it pertains to race matters, Woodson believed, was detrimental to the health of a nation whose inherent promise is life, liberty and justice for all.
Perhaps more importantly, Woodson knew that in a society where black intelligence and moral worth is incessantly demeaned and devalued, studying black history would serve as a psychological defense shield for black students against the assaults of white supremacy.
So he embarked on a quest to establish a national celebration of black heritage. In 1926, Negro History Week was born.
"Besides building self-esteem among blacks, (Black History Week) would help eliminate prejudice among whites," Woodson concluded.
From "Carter Godwin Woodson" (a profile available at African Within):
The broad spectrum of the life of Africans in America was of central interest to Woodson. He studied all facets of their experiences and rich cultural contributions. These included myths, patterns of migration, roles as wage earners, entrance into medicine, work in rural America, inventions and writings, and their unique history. In 1926, during the zenith of the Harlem Renaissance, he launched a movement to observe "Negro History Week." Woodson felt that an annual celebration of the achievements of the African American should occur during the month of February, since both the gifted abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln were born in that month. In the 1960s what was once only a week of recognizing the outstanding achievements of Americans of African heritage to science, literature, and the arts became transformed into "Black History Month."
From Afro-American Almanac's entry on Woodson:
Dr. Woodson was often ridiculed for his efforts. At one time, large foundations were encouraged to withdraw funding of over $100,000 in support of the ASNLH, which evolved into the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASNLH). Taking full burden of his cause, with perseverance and vision, Dr. Woodson researched, sorted and compiled voluminous information about the American Negro. The ASNLH held its first meeting in Chicago in 1915. The following year, from this association sprung the publication of the Journal of Negro History, a scientific quarterly. Dr. Woodson served as director and editor of this publication until his death.
From 1919 to 1920, Dr. Woodson served as dean of the School of Liberal Arts and head of the graduate faculty at Howard University. For the next two years, he was dean of West Virginia Collegiate Institute. In 1922, he retired from college teaching and spent the rest of his life writing, editing and promoting Black history. On April 3, 1950, Dr. Carter G. Woodson died. Although he produced no offspring, he fathered the recording of a people’s history and nurtured its growth and development into recognition and acceptance.
From Ebony's obituary of Woodson:
Looking back on this pageant of endurance and creativity, W.E.B. DuBois said that Woodson's achievements were staggering by any standard, adding: "He literally made this country, which has only the slightest respect for people of color, recognize and celebrate each year, a week [now a month] in which it studied the effect which the American Negro has upon life, thought and action in the United States. I know of no one man who in a lifetime has, unaided, built up such a national celebration."
From that obit, here's a quote from Woodson:
"When I arrived in Washington, D.C., in 1909 and began my research," he said late, "the people there laughed at me and especially at my 'hayseed' clothes. At that time I didn't have enough money to pay for a haircut. When I, in my poverty, had the 'audacity' to write a book on the Negro, the 'scholarly' people of Washington laughed at it."
Creative Quotations has a page of Woodson's quotes. Here's one:
Truth must be dug up from the past and presented to the circle of scholastics in scientific form and then through stories and dramatizations that will permeate our educational system.
Bob Bankard has a strong piece in PhillyBurbs about Woodson and the importance of Black History Month (also, if you click on the link, you can see the Carter Godwin Woodson stamp):
The truth is, Woodson began the yearly observance as 'Negro History Week' in 1926, and specifically picked the week inclusive of February 14th, the birthdate of Fredrick Douglass. It was not until 1976, nearly 30 years after Woodson's death, that the observance was expanded to 'Black History Month'.
Douglass had a great impact on Woodson's life - he was a contemporary, certainly one of the leading lights of Black Culture in the late 1800s. Woodson was first a pupil of, then the principal of Douglass High School in Fayette. Certainly Woodson could empathise with Douglass' past, it being the same past as his own parents, as well as the toil of self-taught learning, which he had himself endured. It should not come as a suprise that Carter Woodson should choose to so honor a man who was in many ways his role model.
Is there a need for a 'Black History Month' now? As long as one recognises that there is 'Black History', absolutely. Even if the text books were completely homogeneous, a spotlight upon the contributions of one facet - any facet - of American Culture enriches our understanding of the whole.
The Long Island University has "African Americans : Books and Personalities" which is a great resource of Woodwin and books by him as well as books written about him.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
AW Review: In Iraq "30% of the population did not register and over 40% of those registered did not vote"
Abstentionists: 30% of the population did not register and over 40% of those registered did not vote.
Polling centers were largely empty all day in many cities of the Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji, The Associated Press reported. In Baghdad's mainly Sunni Arab area of Adhamiyah, the neighborhood's four polling centers did not open, residents said. '
Dexter Filkins of the NYT wrote, ' In the town of Baji in northern Iraq, election officials did not show up. In Ramadi, where Iraqi officials set up a pair of polling places just outside the city, a total of just 300 ballots were cast, many of them by police officers and soldiers.
'The idea, mentioned by Condoleeza Rice on Sunday, that any significant number of Fallujans voted, is considered by many absurd. Most of the 250,000 Fallujans are still in exile, and the city is still occasionally the scene of fighting. There are reports of some voting in refugee camps outside the city. Many believe that is motivated by a desire to have a legitimate, elected government that could effectively demand a US withdrawal.
The more than a dozen parties and organizations calling to boycott the elections – including mostly Sunni parties and clerics, but also Christian and left leaning nationalist groupings as well as women's and human rights' groups -- will claim, no doubt, the allegiance of 50% of the Iraqi population.
A more objective assessment would establish that they, in fact, represent around 30% of all potential voters in Iraq.
"Iraq: Who voted and who didn't and why" by the staff of Frontlines working "with material from agencies"
Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, reports on the crowning of the Bully Boy in "Thirty-six hours in the capital during the inauguration." Here's the start of that piece:
WASHINGTON, DC -- January 19, 6:30 p.m. The inauguration turns DC into a Republican prom. For the next two evenings, the capital city will be a slushy blur of recently retouched highlights, high heels, shiny patent-leather shoes, unwrinkled tuxedos, conservatively tailored suits, strapless dresses, black ties, top-shelf liquors, thick tweed pants, angular bow ties, pouffy Southern hair, twangy Texas accents, rolling limousines, and excited voices. There’ll also be more than a zoo’s worth of fur: mink, rabbit, chinchilla, fox, lynx, marmot, sheared beaver, longhaired beaver, reversible lambskin, Mongolian lambskin -- all wrapped around a special breed of well-to-do women.
10:45 p.m. On Inauguration Eve, the predominant protest form is art. Anti-war poets read in Maryland; anti-corporate troubadour David Rovics performs at a place called the Electric Maid; there's an underground hip-hop show on 14th Street; outside the "Black Tie and Boots" ball, a creative coterie of protesters dons cowboy hats, pink ball gowns, and pig snouts to demonstrate against war profiteers.
Also weighing in on the crowning is Eugene Weekly:
Three activists from Eugene -- Carol Melia, Willow Rose and Peter Chabarek -- traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in protests of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President George W. Bush. "We could not sit on the sidelines for the coronation of mad King George, so off we went," Chabarek says. "We are just ordinary folks with draft age kids who are extremely upset with what this administration is doing. We planned a little surprise for Mr. Bush and his guests."
Last fall, Melia and Chabarek protested at the Republican National Convention and disrupted Bush and Cheney campaign rallies in Oregon with dramatic anti-war messages. Although Chabarek initially hesitated over the prospect of another grueling protest mission, unpaid time off work, and the threat of attack or arrest, he finally packed up his heavy winter gear and guitar and headed to D.C.
"This was a chance to shame and embarrass the administration in their moment of supposed triumph," he says. The activists nabbed seats about 60 yards from the podium for the swearing-in ceremony on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. Just as Supreme Court Justice Renquist was about to deliver the oath of office, they stepped into the aisle and started screaming, "Stop the war! Bring home the troops!" Melia had a video camera rolling. The activists could hear their voices echoing off the Capitol Building, so they felt sure they were being heard.
Although military ushers guarded the aisles, Chabarek describes a slow response from security personnel. "The military ushers next to us were stunned," he says. "They didn't seem to know what to do. They decided not to do anything."
The above is from Kera Abraham's "Taking the War to Bush: Eugene activists disrupt inauguaration ceremonies."
Geov Parrish, in Seattle Weekly's "Next Stop: Tehran," explores the "war on terrorism":
"It's a global free-fire zone." So says a source in a sweeping article last month by The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, who reports, among other things, that the U.S. military has already begun covert operations in Iran in preparation for a military strike or invasion there.
The source is referring, narrowly and broadly, to the attitude of the Bush administration in the wake of its November re-election. Last-minute changes in the intelligence bill passed in December by Congress emasculated the CIA and allow for sweeping new powers for the Pentagon to conduct covert ops, without the oversight of Congress. More broadly, the vision of a sweeping democratic revolution in the Middle East continues to hold sway in Bush's second term, despite the disastrous experience in Iraq, and the "global war on terrorism" will be prosecuted aggressively anywhere and everywhere.
In the Syracuse New Times, Walt Shepperd weighs in on legal developments there that could effect the country in "Syracuse could be spearheading a nationwide dialogue regarding the unfair casualties from America's war on drugs:"
Can one city impact America's drug law madness? The question blared in a Jan. 3 Washington Post headline and amplified a Neal Peirce column: "Can a single city do anything to change drug policies that are delivering terror to our inner-city streets, diverting police, clogging our courts, breaking up families and making a once-proud America quite literally the incarceration capital of the world?"
A way tall order, he admitted, given the intransigency of state and federal drug laws. But Peirce also noted that with a detailed 2003 analysis of the drug laws' impact by outgoing City Auditor Minch Lewis, followed by a series of Common Council public hearings, Syracuse was "courageously asking tough questions and searching for alternatives."
Peirce also credited inspiration for Lewis' audit to local activist Nicolas Eyle, executive director of ReconsiDer: Forum on Drug Policy. "I've always felt that money was the key," Eyle says. "Money was the thing that would get everybody's attention in this issue. There have been many books published about all the suffering and the inordinately long prison sentences, but when it comes down to it, it's an incredible waste of money. You read in the paper about drug busts with 50 and 100 officers and three-month investigations. They must cost a mint."
Also addressing an important local issue with national implications is Pamela White with "A right to know" from this week's Boulder Weekly:
One-millionth of a gram of plutonium will kill you. The stuff has a half-life of 24,400 years, meaning that even the tiniest particles of plutonium will be dangerously toxic long after the United States of America has ceased to be even a memory. Most of us, if we had the choice, would rather avoid any exposure to plutonium. And we sure as hell would want to know if we were at risk of exposure.
That's why Boulder County residents need to support House Bill 1079. The bill, carried by newly elected Rep. Wes McKinley, would require the public to sign informed-consent waivers before entering the soon-to-be-opened Rocky Flats site for recreation. HB 1079 would also require that information about the history of Rocky Flats and the health risks of plutonium be available on site.
McKinley is a genuine Colorado cowboy, and he lives nowhere near Rocky Flats. He might seem an unlikely person to carry a bill like this—except that he served as foreman of the special Rocky Flats grand jury that spent three years probing environmental crimes at the former nuclear weapons plant. For their hard work, McKinley and jury members were placed under a gag order and their indictments and presentment were ignored and sealed from the public's eye—together with thousands of key documents.
To put it simply, McKinley knows things about Rocky Flats that you and I will probably never be allowed to know. Stuck between the gag order and his pressing desire to share the truth, he ran for office, was elected and is now pushing to make certain that when the site is opened for public recreation, people won't become unwitting victims of deadly contamination.
For those who are new to the topic, Rocky Flats once produced plutonium pits—triggers for nuclear bombs. During that time, there were two documented plutonium fires, as well as whispers of secret research and willful environmental contamination. In 1989, the FBI raided the facility, gathering documents and interviewing countless witnesses about alleged environmental crimes committed by people working for Rockwell, the company that managed the facility. Although Rockwell was eventually fined as part of a plea agreement, no one was charged with a crime contrary to the grand jury's indictments, which remain secret as part of what critics say is a government cover-up.
And we'll close with The New York Observer's "The Democrats Go Dean Crazy; Hil Tacks Right" by Lizzy Ratner and Ben Smith where Ratner and Smith address the DNC chair race andHillary Rodham Clinton's speech:
Should he win the final vote on Feb. 12, Dr. Dean will join Mrs. Clinton as two of the most prominent leaders of a party struggling to define itself.
The duo will pull the party between two ideological poles: Mrs. Clinton's conciliatory, pro-war centrism, and Dr. Dean's strident rejection of George W. Bush’s White House. But if Dr. Dean wins, he might be put in the unlikely situation of shepherding Mrs. Clinton through the 2008 Presidential campaign.
The two are already signaling how differently they will approach retaking the White House.
"We cannot be Republican lite if we want to win," Dr. Dean said, sounding the defiant themes that defined his run for President as he stood before a cheering crowd of D.N.C. members that had gathered in New York last weekend. "We can talk about our faith, but we cannot change our faith. We need to be people of conviction."
Mrs. Clinton has been talking about faith too, but in a very different way. Her new status as the nation’s first Democrat has made her characteristically cautious musings on such controversial subjects as faith (she's "a praying person") and abortion (she wants to seek "common ground") big news.
. . .
Even as Dr. Dean seeks to define a clear Democratic message, Mrs. Clinton is perfecting a new Clintonian magic trick. Her husband moved right while appearing to stay still. She appears to move toward the center, when in fact she’s been there all along.
Now the symbols of the Democratic Party’s two poles are approaching each other warily. The last time they fought, the Clintons backed Gen. Wesley Clark against Dr. Dean in the Democratic Primary. Both lost.
[Note: Thanks to Billie, Jimmy and ??? for sending in their choices. All three choices are included above.]
Polling centers were largely empty all day in many cities of the Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji, The Associated Press reported. In Baghdad's mainly Sunni Arab area of Adhamiyah, the neighborhood's four polling centers did not open, residents said. '
Dexter Filkins of the NYT wrote, ' In the town of Baji in northern Iraq, election officials did not show up. In Ramadi, where Iraqi officials set up a pair of polling places just outside the city, a total of just 300 ballots were cast, many of them by police officers and soldiers.
'The idea, mentioned by Condoleeza Rice on Sunday, that any significant number of Fallujans voted, is considered by many absurd. Most of the 250,000 Fallujans are still in exile, and the city is still occasionally the scene of fighting. There are reports of some voting in refugee camps outside the city. Many believe that is motivated by a desire to have a legitimate, elected government that could effectively demand a US withdrawal.
The more than a dozen parties and organizations calling to boycott the elections – including mostly Sunni parties and clerics, but also Christian and left leaning nationalist groupings as well as women's and human rights' groups -- will claim, no doubt, the allegiance of 50% of the Iraqi population.
A more objective assessment would establish that they, in fact, represent around 30% of all potential voters in Iraq.
"Iraq: Who voted and who didn't and why" by the staff of Frontlines working "with material from agencies"
Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, reports on the crowning of the Bully Boy in "Thirty-six hours in the capital during the inauguration." Here's the start of that piece:
WASHINGTON, DC -- January 19, 6:30 p.m. The inauguration turns DC into a Republican prom. For the next two evenings, the capital city will be a slushy blur of recently retouched highlights, high heels, shiny patent-leather shoes, unwrinkled tuxedos, conservatively tailored suits, strapless dresses, black ties, top-shelf liquors, thick tweed pants, angular bow ties, pouffy Southern hair, twangy Texas accents, rolling limousines, and excited voices. There’ll also be more than a zoo’s worth of fur: mink, rabbit, chinchilla, fox, lynx, marmot, sheared beaver, longhaired beaver, reversible lambskin, Mongolian lambskin -- all wrapped around a special breed of well-to-do women.
10:45 p.m. On Inauguration Eve, the predominant protest form is art. Anti-war poets read in Maryland; anti-corporate troubadour David Rovics performs at a place called the Electric Maid; there's an underground hip-hop show on 14th Street; outside the "Black Tie and Boots" ball, a creative coterie of protesters dons cowboy hats, pink ball gowns, and pig snouts to demonstrate against war profiteers.
Also weighing in on the crowning is Eugene Weekly:
Three activists from Eugene -- Carol Melia, Willow Rose and Peter Chabarek -- traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in protests of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President George W. Bush. "We could not sit on the sidelines for the coronation of mad King George, so off we went," Chabarek says. "We are just ordinary folks with draft age kids who are extremely upset with what this administration is doing. We planned a little surprise for Mr. Bush and his guests."
Last fall, Melia and Chabarek protested at the Republican National Convention and disrupted Bush and Cheney campaign rallies in Oregon with dramatic anti-war messages. Although Chabarek initially hesitated over the prospect of another grueling protest mission, unpaid time off work, and the threat of attack or arrest, he finally packed up his heavy winter gear and guitar and headed to D.C.
"This was a chance to shame and embarrass the administration in their moment of supposed triumph," he says. The activists nabbed seats about 60 yards from the podium for the swearing-in ceremony on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. Just as Supreme Court Justice Renquist was about to deliver the oath of office, they stepped into the aisle and started screaming, "Stop the war! Bring home the troops!" Melia had a video camera rolling. The activists could hear their voices echoing off the Capitol Building, so they felt sure they were being heard.
Although military ushers guarded the aisles, Chabarek describes a slow response from security personnel. "The military ushers next to us were stunned," he says. "They didn't seem to know what to do. They decided not to do anything."
The above is from Kera Abraham's "Taking the War to Bush: Eugene activists disrupt inauguaration ceremonies."
Geov Parrish, in Seattle Weekly's "Next Stop: Tehran," explores the "war on terrorism":
"It's a global free-fire zone." So says a source in a sweeping article last month by The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, who reports, among other things, that the U.S. military has already begun covert operations in Iran in preparation for a military strike or invasion there.
The source is referring, narrowly and broadly, to the attitude of the Bush administration in the wake of its November re-election. Last-minute changes in the intelligence bill passed in December by Congress emasculated the CIA and allow for sweeping new powers for the Pentagon to conduct covert ops, without the oversight of Congress. More broadly, the vision of a sweeping democratic revolution in the Middle East continues to hold sway in Bush's second term, despite the disastrous experience in Iraq, and the "global war on terrorism" will be prosecuted aggressively anywhere and everywhere.
In the Syracuse New Times, Walt Shepperd weighs in on legal developments there that could effect the country in "Syracuse could be spearheading a nationwide dialogue regarding the unfair casualties from America's war on drugs:"
Can one city impact America's drug law madness? The question blared in a Jan. 3 Washington Post headline and amplified a Neal Peirce column: "Can a single city do anything to change drug policies that are delivering terror to our inner-city streets, diverting police, clogging our courts, breaking up families and making a once-proud America quite literally the incarceration capital of the world?"
A way tall order, he admitted, given the intransigency of state and federal drug laws. But Peirce also noted that with a detailed 2003 analysis of the drug laws' impact by outgoing City Auditor Minch Lewis, followed by a series of Common Council public hearings, Syracuse was "courageously asking tough questions and searching for alternatives."
Peirce also credited inspiration for Lewis' audit to local activist Nicolas Eyle, executive director of ReconsiDer: Forum on Drug Policy. "I've always felt that money was the key," Eyle says. "Money was the thing that would get everybody's attention in this issue. There have been many books published about all the suffering and the inordinately long prison sentences, but when it comes down to it, it's an incredible waste of money. You read in the paper about drug busts with 50 and 100 officers and three-month investigations. They must cost a mint."
Also addressing an important local issue with national implications is Pamela White with "A right to know" from this week's Boulder Weekly:
One-millionth of a gram of plutonium will kill you. The stuff has a half-life of 24,400 years, meaning that even the tiniest particles of plutonium will be dangerously toxic long after the United States of America has ceased to be even a memory. Most of us, if we had the choice, would rather avoid any exposure to plutonium. And we sure as hell would want to know if we were at risk of exposure.
That's why Boulder County residents need to support House Bill 1079. The bill, carried by newly elected Rep. Wes McKinley, would require the public to sign informed-consent waivers before entering the soon-to-be-opened Rocky Flats site for recreation. HB 1079 would also require that information about the history of Rocky Flats and the health risks of plutonium be available on site.
McKinley is a genuine Colorado cowboy, and he lives nowhere near Rocky Flats. He might seem an unlikely person to carry a bill like this—except that he served as foreman of the special Rocky Flats grand jury that spent three years probing environmental crimes at the former nuclear weapons plant. For their hard work, McKinley and jury members were placed under a gag order and their indictments and presentment were ignored and sealed from the public's eye—together with thousands of key documents.
To put it simply, McKinley knows things about Rocky Flats that you and I will probably never be allowed to know. Stuck between the gag order and his pressing desire to share the truth, he ran for office, was elected and is now pushing to make certain that when the site is opened for public recreation, people won't become unwitting victims of deadly contamination.
For those who are new to the topic, Rocky Flats once produced plutonium pits—triggers for nuclear bombs. During that time, there were two documented plutonium fires, as well as whispers of secret research and willful environmental contamination. In 1989, the FBI raided the facility, gathering documents and interviewing countless witnesses about alleged environmental crimes committed by people working for Rockwell, the company that managed the facility. Although Rockwell was eventually fined as part of a plea agreement, no one was charged with a crime contrary to the grand jury's indictments, which remain secret as part of what critics say is a government cover-up.
And we'll close with The New York Observer's "The Democrats Go Dean Crazy; Hil Tacks Right" by Lizzy Ratner and Ben Smith where Ratner and Smith address the DNC chair race andHillary Rodham Clinton's speech:
Should he win the final vote on Feb. 12, Dr. Dean will join Mrs. Clinton as two of the most prominent leaders of a party struggling to define itself.
The duo will pull the party between two ideological poles: Mrs. Clinton's conciliatory, pro-war centrism, and Dr. Dean's strident rejection of George W. Bush’s White House. But if Dr. Dean wins, he might be put in the unlikely situation of shepherding Mrs. Clinton through the 2008 Presidential campaign.
The two are already signaling how differently they will approach retaking the White House.
"We cannot be Republican lite if we want to win," Dr. Dean said, sounding the defiant themes that defined his run for President as he stood before a cheering crowd of D.N.C. members that had gathered in New York last weekend. "We can talk about our faith, but we cannot change our faith. We need to be people of conviction."
Mrs. Clinton has been talking about faith too, but in a very different way. Her new status as the nation’s first Democrat has made her characteristically cautious musings on such controversial subjects as faith (she's "a praying person") and abortion (she wants to seek "common ground") big news.
. . .
Even as Dr. Dean seeks to define a clear Democratic message, Mrs. Clinton is perfecting a new Clintonian magic trick. Her husband moved right while appearing to stay still. She appears to move toward the center, when in fact she’s been there all along.
Now the symbols of the Democratic Party’s two poles are approaching each other warily. The last time they fought, the Clintons backed Gen. Wesley Clark against Dr. Dean in the Democratic Primary. Both lost.
[Note: Thanks to Billie, Jimmy and ??? for sending in their choices. All three choices are included above.]
Democracy Now!: Phyllis Bennis addresses Bush's speech; Paul Krugman debates Eric Engen, Chertoff's confirmation hearing; and from BuzzFlash, Cindy Sh
Democracy Now! always worth watching (as Marcia says).
Headlines for February 3, 2005
- Bush Warns Syria and Iran on Terrorism
- Bush: No Timetable For Withdrawal of 150,000 Troops in Iraq
- Durbin: Can't Reward Gonzales After Abu Ghraib
- At Least 20 Die In Iraq in Bloodiest Post-Election Day
- Marine Lt. Gen. in Iraq: "[It's] Fun to Shoot Some People"
- Influential Sunni Group: The Iraq Vote Was Illegitimate
- Bush Taps Elliot Abrams to Promote Democracy
- GE Joins Halliburton In Pulling Out of Iran
- Aristide Supporters To Boycott Upcoming Haitian Elections
State of the Union 2005: Bush Pushes Aggressive Foreign Policy of "Spreading Democracy"
President Bush used his 2005 State of the Union address to reinforce his inauguration theme of spreading democracy around the world. In addition to hailing the elections in Iraq and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Bush issued warnings to Iran and Syria. We speak with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies.
The New Bush Agenda: A Debate on Social Security with Paul Krugman vs. the American Enterprise Institute
President Bush devoted a large portion of his State of the Union address to his push to restructure Social Security, kicking off a campaign to advocate for the privatization of the system. We host a debate with Paul Krugman of The New York Times and Eric Engen of the American Enterprise Institute. [includes rush transcript - partial]
Chertoff's Role in Aug. 2002 Torture Memo Called into Question at Confirmation Hearing
At the confirmation hearings for President Bush's Homeland Security chief nominee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) questioned Michael Chertoff about his role as head of the criminal division of the Justice Department in the formulation of the Aug. 2002 so-called "torture memo" that provided a very narrow definition of torture. We hear an excerpt of the hearing.
Also, thanks to Tony for e-mailing that I'd left out the link to Cindy Sheenan's BuzzFlash commentary last night. I'll fix that post tonight at home. In the meantime, here's the link:
Not Worth My Son's Sacrifice
This link should have been in last night's "Link Report":
Over at BuzzFlash, there are many wonderful things as always. We'll highlight this BuzzFlash contribution from Cindy Sheehan whose son (Spc Casey Austin Sheehan) died in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan was ready to address the issue of what Iraq's election did or didn't mean but shefound herself bumped from Larry King's CNN show last night as the focus shifted instead to the very "pressing" "news" of the Michael Jackson case:I would have asked Mr. King if he would want to sacrifice one of his children for sham elections in Iraq. Would he or George Bush send their children to be killed, or maimed for life, for a series of lies, mistakes and miscalculations? Now that every lie has been exposed to the light for the invasion and occupation of Iraq -- why are our sons and daughters still there? NOT ONE MORE DROP OF BLOOD SHOULD BE SPILLED FOR THIS PACK OF LIES.
__________________________________________________
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Headlines for February 3, 2005
- Bush Warns Syria and Iran on Terrorism
- Bush: No Timetable For Withdrawal of 150,000 Troops in Iraq
- Durbin: Can't Reward Gonzales After Abu Ghraib
- At Least 20 Die In Iraq in Bloodiest Post-Election Day
- Marine Lt. Gen. in Iraq: "[It's] Fun to Shoot Some People"
- Influential Sunni Group: The Iraq Vote Was Illegitimate
- Bush Taps Elliot Abrams to Promote Democracy
- GE Joins Halliburton In Pulling Out of Iran
- Aristide Supporters To Boycott Upcoming Haitian Elections
State of the Union 2005: Bush Pushes Aggressive Foreign Policy of "Spreading Democracy"
President Bush used his 2005 State of the Union address to reinforce his inauguration theme of spreading democracy around the world. In addition to hailing the elections in Iraq and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Bush issued warnings to Iran and Syria. We speak with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies.
The New Bush Agenda: A Debate on Social Security with Paul Krugman vs. the American Enterprise Institute
President Bush devoted a large portion of his State of the Union address to his push to restructure Social Security, kicking off a campaign to advocate for the privatization of the system. We host a debate with Paul Krugman of The New York Times and Eric Engen of the American Enterprise Institute. [includes rush transcript - partial]
Chertoff's Role in Aug. 2002 Torture Memo Called into Question at Confirmation Hearing
At the confirmation hearings for President Bush's Homeland Security chief nominee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) questioned Michael Chertoff about his role as head of the criminal division of the Justice Department in the formulation of the Aug. 2002 so-called "torture memo" that provided a very narrow definition of torture. We hear an excerpt of the hearing.
Also, thanks to Tony for e-mailing that I'd left out the link to Cindy Sheenan's BuzzFlash commentary last night. I'll fix that post tonight at home. In the meantime, here's the link:
Not Worth My Son's Sacrifice
This link should have been in last night's "Link Report":
Over at BuzzFlash, there are many wonderful things as always. We'll highlight this BuzzFlash contribution from Cindy Sheehan whose son (Spc Casey Austin Sheehan) died in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan was ready to address the issue of what Iraq's election did or didn't mean but shefound herself bumped from Larry King's CNN show last night as the focus shifted instead to the very "pressing" "news" of the Michael Jackson case:I would have asked Mr. King if he would want to sacrifice one of his children for sham elections in Iraq. Would he or George Bush send their children to be killed, or maimed for life, for a series of lies, mistakes and miscalculations? Now that every lie has been exposed to the light for the invasion and occupation of Iraq -- why are our sons and daughters still there? NOT ONE MORE DROP OF BLOOD SHOULD BE SPILLED FOR THIS PACK OF LIES.
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