Hell is your house-bound husband only more so.
Following his ludicrous claim that Bully Boy was entering his third term, Thomas Friedman is on vacation. That's the pretty way of saying it. The ugly truth is he was placed on vacation by Gail Collins who told him, "Friedman? Try Free-Bland! I can't take anymore of the hate mail, the yelling callers. You can't get your facts right? You're on vacation!"
"You can't bench me!" Thomas Friedman bellowed. But obviously Gail Collins can.
What lit the fire under Ms. Nonsense & No Sensibility?
Davy Brooks came into her office ("In his shiny ass pants, Betinna! In his shiny ass pants!") and had a vacation request of his own that he repeatedly dropped on the floor necessitating that he repeatedly bend over in front of her. ("It was as though I had died and gone to Mansfield Park, Betinna! Mansfield Park!") With no lines cupping his butt and no lines near his upper thigh, Gail was convinced he must be wearing his sock. ("In another life, Betinna, I'd like to come back as that sock!")
Gail says she played it cool so I'll assume that besides sweat dripping from her forehead and her hands shaking, she managed to pull it together. She signed the request, granting his time off. Davy stood by her desk grinning. Then he asked her if she'd ever seen Disclosure.
Poor Gail, I had to explain that film to her. If it's not a book at least a hundred years old or something airing on Pax, she's lost.
Her idea of a pop culture ref is, "Betinna, what's wrong! You look like Beth on her death bed!"
I keep trying to explain to her that Jo and Marmie hardly trip off the tongues of kids today but she swears Kayne West's "Gold Digger" says not "When I'm in need" but "When I'm a reading Little Women." I've tried playing the song for her repeatedly but some people hear only what they want to. (Which does explain her editorials.)
Davy stood there grinning for a second and when she had no response because she didn't catch the movie reference, he turned to walk away.
"I touched it!" Gail gushed on the phone. "I was reaching out to stop him and I touched it!"
Go, Gail!
That's what I said. But she didn't touch his crotch, it turns out. So I was thinking she meant his butt. Wrong there as well.
"He has the most dainty wrists. I can't believe it. Then I noticed his hands, Betinna. ee cummings hasn't seen hands this tiny."
Lost? I was too.
"Point, Gail?"
"There was a spark. He was looking at me. I was looking at him. Then it's Bill Keller on the phone! I swear his nose picks up romantic tension."
Keller wanted her in his office. Yesterday!
So she had to leave Davy standing there ("in those magnificent ass pants!") to meet with Keller.
When she got back, Davy had split.
And what did Bill Keller want? To yell at her because he'd been getting calls all day. Complaints over Thomas Friedman's false claim that presidents in this country have three terms.
"Don't you fact check these things!" Keller roared at her.
"I have never felt so alone in my life," Gail told me. "I felt as if I were Gloria Gilbert."
"Do you mean the actress in Sudden Fear?" I asked referring to the old Joan Crawford film that also starred Gloria Grahame.
It's an old movie but it could be "hip" to Gail.
"No, Betinna, Gloria Gilbert. F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Beautiful and the Damned. Goodness, you must have been the awkward one at your high school dances!"
What's so sweet about Gail is that she honestly believes that in high school boys are checking out your ... literary references.
So Gail stormed out of Keller's office, found Davy had left her office and was big time pissed ("I was, honestly, forgive my French, ticked off"). That's when Thomas Friedman happened by and Gail tore into him.
I'm glad she's showing a spine. Truly, I am. Elaine and I really need help her work on her pop culture references. (For starters, get her to quit calling them "pop cultural references.")
But as happy as I am for her, I'm more than a little bummed at having to look at Thomas Friedman's face twenty-four seven. I'm really not interested in sitting around pondering the "global complexities" of Simon & Simon. (Thomas Friedman has convinced himself that the blonde brother represents America and that the one with the mustache represents "the Arab world." He started crying when I explained to him that Jameson Parker's career goes nowhere, but the other guy ends up starring in Major Dad.)
It's always drama with Thomas Friedman. Hell is your house-bound husband on house arrest with you serving the sentence.
Found in the paper:
"Target: the 9th Circuit (The Republican war on the judiciary continues)"
From the December issue of The Progressive, Ruth Conniff's "The Progressive Interview: Bernie Sanders:"
[Bernie Sanders]: In my view this happens to be one of the most dangerous moments in American history. These guys are not just reactionaries. They are changing the rules of the game so they will stay in power for the indefinite futere. We see this abuse of power on the floor of the House. They kept the voting rolls open for three hours to pass the Medicare prescription drug bill. I had an amendment, which won, on the Patriot Act. They kept the voting open twenty minutes longer to defeat it. They break the rules. It's like having a football game go into the fifth quareter because you don't like the results at the end of the fourth quarter. We know what DeLay did in Texas. They have taken chairmen -- yanked them out -- because they defy the leadership of the House. They are now attempting to destroy the judiciary system, which will have profound implications for the future of this country.
Note Sanders' last sentence, "They are now attempting to destroy the judiciary system, which will have profound implications for the future of this country." (The article's from the latest issue of the magazine and it's not available online at present.) Why note the last sentence? Zachary Coile's "A quiet move in House to split the 9th Circuit" (San Francisco Chronicle):
A little-noticed provision in the massive House budget bill would fulfill the longtime goal of conservatives to split the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, creating a new 12th circuit appellate court and allowing President Bush to name a slate of new federal judges.
Conservatives long have claimed that the Ninth Circuit is too liberal, and that reputation was reinforced by the court's 2002 ruling that reciting the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
But legal observers say the outcome of such a split is likely to be a more liberal court making decisions for California, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and a more conservative court serving seven other Western states now part of the Ninth Circuit -- Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.
In the article, Reagan appointee Judge Alex Kozinski is noted as testifying before the Senate last month:
Dividing a circuit should only take place when: one, there is demonstrated proof that a circuit is not operating effectively, and two, there is a consensus among the bench and bar and public that it serves that division is the appropriate remedy. Neither of those conditions exists today.
The article also notes that: "Of the 28 active judges on Ninth Circuit, only three have expressed support for splitting the court."Though Diane Feinstein opposes the plan, Bully Boy has signed on to it.
And who would pack the newly created circuit? (You know the answer.) It's thought that one of the states effected would be Oregon. (We have several members in Oregon.) Oregon hasbeen very active with measures that Bully Boy's Justice Department has opposed. For instance,Oregon's physician-assisted suicide. From CNN's "Federal judge upholds Oregon assisted-suicide law" (April 17, 2002):
In his ruling, Judge Robert E. Jones criticized U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft for seeking to nullify the state law, saying he "fired the first shot in the battle" and had sought to "stifle" a debate on the matter through a Nov. 6 directive.
Jones ordered the federal government to halt any efforts to prosecute Oregon physicians, pharmacists and other health-care providers who participate in assisted suicide of terminally ill patients under Oregon's law.
How bothered is the Bully Boy's Justice Department over this law? When the Ninth Circuit upheld Oregon's law, the Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court. The case that began as Ashcroft v. Oregon became Gonzales v. Oregon and the Court heard testimony on it in October. (Oral arguments before the Court can be found here.)
The article in the Chronicle focuses on the effects to California. This would impact much more than California. Bully Boy's Justice Department has often proved successful in circuit shopping their cases.
thomas friedman
gail collins
bill keller
david brooks
the new york times
the common ills
physician-assisted suicide
bernie sanders
ruth conniff
the progressive
death with dignity
ninth circuit
judiciary
gold digger
like maria said paz
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Headlines found in the paper
Found in the paper:
We've composed the following twelve headlines dealing with Iraq, peace, global warming, reproductive rights, Bob Woodward, Judith Miller, prisons, the Patriot Act, the media, fatalities and other topics.
1) From Dahr Jamail's MidEast Wire (Iraq Dispatches):
Monday in Iraq, US troops fired on a car in Ba'qubah, killing five, two adults and three children. The US military states that they feared the car "booby-trapped." The family had been returning from visiting relatives when a US convoy approached. The car was fired on from the front and the back. One Iraqi was quoted as saying, "The ones who brought in the Americans are at fault. Those who support them are at fault. All of them are at fault. Look at these. They are all children. All of them of are children. They killed them. They killed my entire family."
2) In the United States the Associated Press reports that Cindy Sheehan returned to Crawford, Texas Thursday and joined what some estimates say were 100 protestors and other estimates say as many as 200.
Cindy Sheehan stated, "I feel happy to be back here with all my friends ... but I'm heartbroken that we have to be here again," said Sheehan, who hoped to arrive earlier in the week, but was delayed by a family emergency. "We will keep pressing and we won't give up until our troops are brought home."
3) Since Sheehan and others last gathered at Camp Casey I and Camp Casey II, laws have been passed to prevent further gatherings in Crawford -- "local bans on roadside camping and parking." As protestors returned this week, they were advised they could be arrested. Among those arrested Wednesday were Daniel Ellsberg and US diplomat Ann Wright. Democratic Underground has a report from Carl who was also arrested Wendesday. Carl reports that "The entire [arrest & booking] process took 3.5 hours." Carl advises that the vigils will also take place on Christmas and New Year's Eve as well as that "Donations to the Crawford Veterans For Peace can be mailed to P. O. Box 252, Crawford, Texas, 76638-9998."
4) As the participation of psychologists and psychiatrists in the "BISQUIT" program and other 'interrogation' work raises ethical and professional questions today, CounterPunch is reporting that in WWII, United States anthropologists participated with the Office of Strategic Services in attempts to determine means to destroy the Japanese. David Price reports, in what is a clear betrayal of the profession, anthropologists were instructed "to try to conceive ways that any detectable differences could be used in the development of weapons, but they were cautioned to consider this issue 'in a-moral and non-ethical terms'." Price notes "Ralph Linton and Harry Shapiro, objected to even considering the OSS' request but they were the exceptions."
5) In legal news, as the prison industry has switched to a profit making business, prisoners have found themselves located far from relatives. The distance has proved profitable for long distance companies. The Center for Constitutional Rights argued in court Monday on behalf of "New York family members who pay a grossly inflated rate to receive a phone call from their loved ones in state prisons." CCR notes:
The lawsuit, Walton v. NYSDOCS and MCI, seeks an order prohibiting the State and MCI from charging exorbitant rates to the family members of prisoners to finance a 57.5% kickback to the State. MCI charges these family members a 630% markup over regular consumer rates to receive a collect call from their loved ones, the only way possible to speak with them. Judge George Ceresia of the Supreme Court of New York, Albany County, dismissed the suit last fall, citing issues of timeliness.
6) In other legal news, Cynthia L. Cooper reports for Women's enews that November 30th the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. At issue in this case, is whether or not bans on reproductive freedom enacted by state legislatures must take effect before they can be legally challenged or whether they can be challenged as soon as they are passed. The standard up to now has been that laws can be challenged as soon as they are passed. Cooper notes:
By changing the legal standard for when an abortion restriction can be challenged in court, anti-abortion laws could quickly entangle women across the country, without directly overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that held that states could not criminalize abortion in all circumstances.
7) The Guardian of London reports on a Rutgers University study that has found "[g]lobal warming is doubling the rate of sea level rise around the world, but attempts to stop it by cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be futile." Professor Kenneth Miller tells The Guardian's Ashraf Khalil, "This is going to cause more beach erosion. Beaches are going to move back and houses will be destroyed." This comes as the Climate Conference is gearing up to take place in Montreal from November 28th to December 9th. United for Peace and Justiceis issuing a call for action:
This fall let's mobilize a nationwide, grassroots education and action campaign leading up to mass demonstrations in Montreal and throughout the U.S. on Saturday, December 3rd. Help gather signatures for the Peoples Ratification of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/www.kyotoandbeyond.org), which will be presented in Montreal. Join Climate Crisis: USA Join the World! (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/www.climatecrisis.us) as we call for:
USA Join the World by Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol
Support and Export Clean, Safe, Non-Nuclear Energy Alternatives
End Government Subsidies for Oil and Coal Corporations
Dramatically Strengthen Energy Conservation and Fuel Efficiency Standards
A Just Transition for Workers, Indigenous and Other Communities Affected by a Change to Clean Energy
Defend the World's Forests; Support Community-Run Tree Planting Campaigns
8) With Congress out of session due to the holidays, a number of organizations are attempting to inform the public of pending legislation. The Bill of Rights Defense Center warns to "[e]xpect a vote [on the renewal of the Patriot Act]after Congress returns on December 12th." Of the bill, Lisa Graves of the ACLU states:
The Patriot Act was bad in 2001, and despite bipartisan calls for reform, it's still bad in 2005. Instead of addressing the real concerns that millions of Americans have about the Patriot Act, the Republican majority in Congress buckled to White House pressure, stripping the bill of modest yet meaningful reforms. Congress must reject this bill.
Both the ACLU and the Bill of Rights of Defense Center are calling for grass roots action.
Also asking for action is NOW. Congress failed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.You can make your voice heard via NOW's take action page. On their page, you have the option of e-mailing your representatives and/or signing a petition that NOW will present to Congress on December 5th.
9) Meanwhile, as November winds down, American military fatalities have reached 76 for the month, with the Department of Defense reporting 50 Americans wounded thus far this month. The total number of American military killed in Iraq, official count, has reached 2105. Scripps Howard News Service reports that, "U.S. commanders on the ground have already launched plans to close bases and withdraw troops in the coming year, according to two congressmen who returned from Iraq this week." The two congress members are John Kline and Mark Kennedy (Republicans, Minn.).
10) In other Congressional news, Ari Berman reports for The Nation that John McCain is in the midst of makeover. Meeting with The Arizona Republican Assembly in August, McCain slapped some new war paint on as McCain supported the teaching of so-called "intelligent design" side by side with evolution, the state's "ban on gay marriage that denies government benefits to any unmarried couple," hailed Ronald Reagan as "my hero" and was observed "strenuously defending . . . Bush's Iraq policy."
For those who have forgotten, McCain attended Mark Bingham's funeral. Bingham was one of the passengers of Flight 93 on 9/11 in immediate media reports. As the days wore on, Bingham appeared to disappear from many reports. Mark Bingham was gay. Whether that resulted in a "downgrading" by some in the media has been a source of speculation for some time.
11) Focusing on the media, at The Black Commentator, Margaret Kimberly addresses the issue of Bob Woodward, tying him and his editor to the journalistic behaviors of Judith Miller and her editors:
Miller, Sulzberger, Woodward and Bradlee are at the top of the corporate media food chain, and their behavior tells us why Americans aren't being told anything they ought to be told. Woodward uses his access to make a fortune writing about the Supreme Court or various presidential administrations. If a journalist's priority is writing best selling books based on the amount of access gained with the powerful, then truth telling goes out the window.
12) Also addressing the very similar behaviors of Miller and Woodward are Steven C. Day at Pop Politics, Ron Brynaert at Why Are We Back In Iraq?, and Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post. Though still vocal on Judith Miller and weighing in with the "latest," CJR Daily still can't find a connection between the "journalistic" styles of Judith Miller and Bob Woodward. In their most recent 'Judy report', CJR Daily ponders the question of why did Miller go to jail when Scooter Libby and his people maintain that they released her from confidentiality claims. Covering old news and working themselves into another lather over Miller, CJR Daily wonders"Why did Ms. Miller go to jail?" and maintains the question "has never been fully answered." The question has indeed been answered.
Whether CJR Daily approves of or believes the argument of Miller, Floyd Abrams, et al, is beside the point. For the record, the answer has been given many times. The argument was that Miller needed more than a form signed possibly under duress. Abrams and others have long been on the record explaining that they sought a release other than the form. In the front page report, Sunday October 16, 2005, Don Van Natta Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford J. Levy reported:
She said she began thinking about whether she should reach out to Mr. Libby for "a personal, voluntary waiver."
[. . .]
While she mulled over over her options, Mr. Bennett was urging her to allow him to approach Mr. Tate, Mr. Libby's lawyer, to try to negotiate a deal that would get her out of jail. Mr. Bennet wanted to revive the question of the waivers that Mr. Libby and other administration officials signed the previous year authorizing reporters to disclose their confidential discussions.
The other reporters subpoenaed in the case said such waivers were coerced. They said administration officials signed them only because they feared retribution from the prosecutor or the White House. Reporters for at least three news organizations had then gone back to their sources and obtained additional assurances that convinced them the waivers were genunie.
But Ms. Miller said she had not gotten an assurance that shefelt would allow her to testify.
Again, from the front page New York Times story on . . . October 16, 2005. Though this was not the first reporting on Miller's position, this front page story of the Times was commented in great detail including at CJR Daily here and here. The latter time by the same writer who now wonders "Why did Ms. Miller go to jail?" Repeatedly hitting the designated pinata with articles focusing on her conduct while reducing the conduct of Bob Woodward to asides (whispered asides?) doesn't appear to make for brave "watchdoggery."
Democracy Now! has a special presentation today. The headlines above were composed by The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim, Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review, Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Betty Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man, Wally of The Daily Jot and Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix. Thanks to Dallas for his help with links and tags.
We've composed the following twelve headlines dealing with Iraq, peace, global warming, reproductive rights, Bob Woodward, Judith Miller, prisons, the Patriot Act, the media, fatalities and other topics.
1) From Dahr Jamail's MidEast Wire (Iraq Dispatches):
Monday in Iraq, US troops fired on a car in Ba'qubah, killing five, two adults and three children. The US military states that they feared the car "booby-trapped." The family had been returning from visiting relatives when a US convoy approached. The car was fired on from the front and the back. One Iraqi was quoted as saying, "The ones who brought in the Americans are at fault. Those who support them are at fault. All of them are at fault. Look at these. They are all children. All of them of are children. They killed them. They killed my entire family."
2) In the United States the Associated Press reports that Cindy Sheehan returned to Crawford, Texas Thursday and joined what some estimates say were 100 protestors and other estimates say as many as 200.
Cindy Sheehan stated, "I feel happy to be back here with all my friends ... but I'm heartbroken that we have to be here again," said Sheehan, who hoped to arrive earlier in the week, but was delayed by a family emergency. "We will keep pressing and we won't give up until our troops are brought home."
3) Since Sheehan and others last gathered at Camp Casey I and Camp Casey II, laws have been passed to prevent further gatherings in Crawford -- "local bans on roadside camping and parking." As protestors returned this week, they were advised they could be arrested. Among those arrested Wednesday were Daniel Ellsberg and US diplomat Ann Wright. Democratic Underground has a report from Carl who was also arrested Wendesday. Carl reports that "The entire [arrest & booking] process took 3.5 hours." Carl advises that the vigils will also take place on Christmas and New Year's Eve as well as that "Donations to the Crawford Veterans For Peace can be mailed to P. O. Box 252, Crawford, Texas, 76638-9998."
4) As the participation of psychologists and psychiatrists in the "BISQUIT" program and other 'interrogation' work raises ethical and professional questions today, CounterPunch is reporting that in WWII, United States anthropologists participated with the Office of Strategic Services in attempts to determine means to destroy the Japanese. David Price reports, in what is a clear betrayal of the profession, anthropologists were instructed "to try to conceive ways that any detectable differences could be used in the development of weapons, but they were cautioned to consider this issue 'in a-moral and non-ethical terms'." Price notes "Ralph Linton and Harry Shapiro, objected to even considering the OSS' request but they were the exceptions."
5) In legal news, as the prison industry has switched to a profit making business, prisoners have found themselves located far from relatives. The distance has proved profitable for long distance companies. The Center for Constitutional Rights argued in court Monday on behalf of "New York family members who pay a grossly inflated rate to receive a phone call from their loved ones in state prisons." CCR notes:
The lawsuit, Walton v. NYSDOCS and MCI, seeks an order prohibiting the State and MCI from charging exorbitant rates to the family members of prisoners to finance a 57.5% kickback to the State. MCI charges these family members a 630% markup over regular consumer rates to receive a collect call from their loved ones, the only way possible to speak with them. Judge George Ceresia of the Supreme Court of New York, Albany County, dismissed the suit last fall, citing issues of timeliness.
6) In other legal news, Cynthia L. Cooper reports for Women's enews that November 30th the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. At issue in this case, is whether or not bans on reproductive freedom enacted by state legislatures must take effect before they can be legally challenged or whether they can be challenged as soon as they are passed. The standard up to now has been that laws can be challenged as soon as they are passed. Cooper notes:
By changing the legal standard for when an abortion restriction can be challenged in court, anti-abortion laws could quickly entangle women across the country, without directly overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that held that states could not criminalize abortion in all circumstances.
7) The Guardian of London reports on a Rutgers University study that has found "[g]lobal warming is doubling the rate of sea level rise around the world, but attempts to stop it by cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be futile." Professor Kenneth Miller tells The Guardian's Ashraf Khalil, "This is going to cause more beach erosion. Beaches are going to move back and houses will be destroyed." This comes as the Climate Conference is gearing up to take place in Montreal from November 28th to December 9th. United for Peace and Justiceis issuing a call for action:
This fall let's mobilize a nationwide, grassroots education and action campaign leading up to mass demonstrations in Montreal and throughout the U.S. on Saturday, December 3rd. Help gather signatures for the Peoples Ratification of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/www.kyotoandbeyond.org), which will be presented in Montreal. Join Climate Crisis: USA Join the World! (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/www.climatecrisis.us) as we call for:
USA Join the World by Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol
Support and Export Clean, Safe, Non-Nuclear Energy Alternatives
End Government Subsidies for Oil and Coal Corporations
Dramatically Strengthen Energy Conservation and Fuel Efficiency Standards
A Just Transition for Workers, Indigenous and Other Communities Affected by a Change to Clean Energy
Defend the World's Forests; Support Community-Run Tree Planting Campaigns
8) With Congress out of session due to the holidays, a number of organizations are attempting to inform the public of pending legislation. The Bill of Rights Defense Center warns to "[e]xpect a vote [on the renewal of the Patriot Act]after Congress returns on December 12th." Of the bill, Lisa Graves of the ACLU states:
The Patriot Act was bad in 2001, and despite bipartisan calls for reform, it's still bad in 2005. Instead of addressing the real concerns that millions of Americans have about the Patriot Act, the Republican majority in Congress buckled to White House pressure, stripping the bill of modest yet meaningful reforms. Congress must reject this bill.
Both the ACLU and the Bill of Rights of Defense Center are calling for grass roots action.
Also asking for action is NOW. Congress failed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.You can make your voice heard via NOW's take action page. On their page, you have the option of e-mailing your representatives and/or signing a petition that NOW will present to Congress on December 5th.
9) Meanwhile, as November winds down, American military fatalities have reached 76 for the month, with the Department of Defense reporting 50 Americans wounded thus far this month. The total number of American military killed in Iraq, official count, has reached 2105. Scripps Howard News Service reports that, "U.S. commanders on the ground have already launched plans to close bases and withdraw troops in the coming year, according to two congressmen who returned from Iraq this week." The two congress members are John Kline and Mark Kennedy (Republicans, Minn.).
10) In other Congressional news, Ari Berman reports for The Nation that John McCain is in the midst of makeover. Meeting with The Arizona Republican Assembly in August, McCain slapped some new war paint on as McCain supported the teaching of so-called "intelligent design" side by side with evolution, the state's "ban on gay marriage that denies government benefits to any unmarried couple," hailed Ronald Reagan as "my hero" and was observed "strenuously defending . . . Bush's Iraq policy."
For those who have forgotten, McCain attended Mark Bingham's funeral. Bingham was one of the passengers of Flight 93 on 9/11 in immediate media reports. As the days wore on, Bingham appeared to disappear from many reports. Mark Bingham was gay. Whether that resulted in a "downgrading" by some in the media has been a source of speculation for some time.
11) Focusing on the media, at The Black Commentator, Margaret Kimberly addresses the issue of Bob Woodward, tying him and his editor to the journalistic behaviors of Judith Miller and her editors:
Miller, Sulzberger, Woodward and Bradlee are at the top of the corporate media food chain, and their behavior tells us why Americans aren't being told anything they ought to be told. Woodward uses his access to make a fortune writing about the Supreme Court or various presidential administrations. If a journalist's priority is writing best selling books based on the amount of access gained with the powerful, then truth telling goes out the window.
12) Also addressing the very similar behaviors of Miller and Woodward are Steven C. Day at Pop Politics, Ron Brynaert at Why Are We Back In Iraq?, and Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post. Though still vocal on Judith Miller and weighing in with the "latest," CJR Daily still can't find a connection between the "journalistic" styles of Judith Miller and Bob Woodward. In their most recent 'Judy report', CJR Daily ponders the question of why did Miller go to jail when Scooter Libby and his people maintain that they released her from confidentiality claims. Covering old news and working themselves into another lather over Miller, CJR Daily wonders"Why did Ms. Miller go to jail?" and maintains the question "has never been fully answered." The question has indeed been answered.
Whether CJR Daily approves of or believes the argument of Miller, Floyd Abrams, et al, is beside the point. For the record, the answer has been given many times. The argument was that Miller needed more than a form signed possibly under duress. Abrams and others have long been on the record explaining that they sought a release other than the form. In the front page report, Sunday October 16, 2005, Don Van Natta Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford J. Levy reported:
She said she began thinking about whether she should reach out to Mr. Libby for "a personal, voluntary waiver."
[. . .]
While she mulled over over her options, Mr. Bennett was urging her to allow him to approach Mr. Tate, Mr. Libby's lawyer, to try to negotiate a deal that would get her out of jail. Mr. Bennet wanted to revive the question of the waivers that Mr. Libby and other administration officials signed the previous year authorizing reporters to disclose their confidential discussions.
The other reporters subpoenaed in the case said such waivers were coerced. They said administration officials signed them only because they feared retribution from the prosecutor or the White House. Reporters for at least three news organizations had then gone back to their sources and obtained additional assurances that convinced them the waivers were genunie.
But Ms. Miller said she had not gotten an assurance that shefelt would allow her to testify.
Again, from the front page New York Times story on . . . October 16, 2005. Though this was not the first reporting on Miller's position, this front page story of the Times was commented in great detail including at CJR Daily here and here. The latter time by the same writer who now wonders "Why did Ms. Miller go to jail?" Repeatedly hitting the designated pinata with articles focusing on her conduct while reducing the conduct of Bob Woodward to asides (whispered asides?) doesn't appear to make for brave "watchdoggery."
Democracy Now! has a special presentation today. The headlines above were composed by The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim, Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review, Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Betty Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man, Wally of The Daily Jot and Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix. Thanks to Dallas for his help with links and tags.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The tiger or the tiger
There I am, stirring the sweetened, condensed milk into the pumpkin pie filling, trying to keep an eye on the clock to make sure the pie shells don't overcook, trying to figure out how many skillets of corn bread I'll need for my dressing and the phone starts RINGING.
Thomas Friedman's on the couch, in shorty robe, watching TV.
"Could you get that?"
"This is really important," he whines.
"I don't have a spare hand!" I yell.
"But future Archie just met old Archie and Betty and is about to meet old Veronica! I can't walk away until they show Jughead!"
"Lug head," I snap, wiping my hands.
"No, Jughead!"
"I was talking about you," I muttered grabbing the phone.
"OHMYGODICANNOTDEALWITHTHISALLMORNINGIHAVEA
LIFEIHAVESELFRESPECTANDIHAVENEEDSANDTHEYDONOT
INCLUDETAKINGABUSEFORYOURHUSBAND!"
"Oh, hello, Gail."
It was Gail Collins, not taking in a breath, but she often seems oxygen deprived. Mall's open, but no one's shopping.
Gail was sobbing now. Something about her life should be Austen not Dickens, how hard it was for a woman of class and sophistication to compete with the "hotsy to trot tootsies in this damn town" and how she had the whole day planned, how she would drop subtle hints that she was "betwixed" to David Brooks.
That's the condensed version and I'm just throwing it out there like I tossed the condensed milk into the pumpkin pie filling. There's no need to reflect on it, it's sugary and taking it in straight will turn you diabetic.
"Gail, I've got four pie shells in the oven, cornbread cooking in the cast iron skillet and I'm in the middle of making pie filling. Get to the point?"
"No, Betinna, I can't come to Thanksgiving dinner," Gail said seeing an invitation where none was offered. "Thomas Friedman is destroying my day. He has ruined my day! Ruined!"
It was the damn column. Apparently people still read it, a small audience, but a vocal one. And they weren't pleased. It was as though they asked for turkey and dressing and got a plate of cabbage and candy corn. It wasn't what they wanted and what it was made everyone ill.
"Welcome to my world, Gail."
What did she expect? What did anyone?
"George Bush's Third Term"?
I mean come on. The brain dead have larger thought waves.
Thomas Friedman is an overstuffed ottoman with frill ruffles, stuffing falling out through the tear everyone notices but pretends not to.
"Look, Gail," I said checking the pie shells, "He write 'election day 2005.' I told him to use 'inaugurated.' Just point that out, say 'What the hell does he know anyway?' and I'm sure people will stop screaming at you over the phone."
"It's not just that --"
"Damn it!"
"Betinna, I really don't need attacks from you as well. Davy is wearing his ass pants today and I'm tense enough as it is," Gail sobbed.
"That wasn't at you," I said setting two pie crusts on top of the stove and sucking on a burned thumb.
"Betinna, Davy in his ass pants always gives me the strange tingles."
"Strange tingles." Elaine and I had so much work to do. But at least we'd been able to get her to abandon the term "rump pants." As Elaine told her, "It's an ass, not a roast."
I really didn't have time for this. I didn't have time for Thomas Friedman Monday night, stoked to the brain, bogarting the bong, and convinced that every word was "golden."
"Oh man oh man, I'm golden tonight!" he's squealed. "John Tierney is going to read this and need viagra! Nicky K will whimper like the little mongrel he is. And Bill Keller, oh my God, Betinna, 'The walrus is Paul!' I just got it! 'The walrus is Paul!' Do we have any cheese nips?"
That's how the column read.
I rewrote the whole thing but Thomas Friedman read it the next morning and said it read like Cindy Sheehan emerging from a Herbert Marcuse workshop.
He then worked himself in a tizzy because he had to "ride the wave" of public opinion but he wasn't sure where it was headed. He worked himself up so much he broke the bong.
It was interesting explaining to the attending in the ER how the glass got in his ass. What happened? He sat on it. Was it a bottle? No. Was it a knick knack? No. Was it -- It was a bong! A bong! He sat on his glass bong, now get the glass out of his ass.
The whole time Thomas Friedman just lay there asking, "Can I go now?"
We got back, I thought I could knock out the pies. But no.
As soon as he's stopped feeling guilty ("Did you see the way the doctor looked at me?") over being a "hop-head," Thomas Friedman needed more pot. He can't roll a joint because he gets the tip so wet it's as though it fell in the toilet. He remembers something about William Safire using a honey container shaped like a bear in college. So he's rummaging through the cabinets and cursing at me for buying organic honey in a glass jar.
He's freaking out because "the dude" is about to bid farewell.
"What will the world be without Ted Koppel's Nightline!" he screams over and over.
Finally Dexter Filkins happens by. He was home for the holidays, having caught a flight with Ahmed Chalabi.
"Everything in my life that matters, I can do in a toilet!" Dexter brags.
His mother must be so proud.
He grabs some aluminum foil, disappears in the bathroom for five minutes and emerges with a bong he's fashioned out of the cardboard from a roll of toilet paper.
They take hits on the couch, weeping, as they watch Koppel's final broadcast.
Then they pieced together Thomas Friedman's "George Bush's Third Term." Dexter used every creative writing technique he'd honed in Iraq. So Gail should really be screaming at Dexter. There I was with a burned thumb, food to cook, a huge spread to prepare for tomorrow and I'm dealing with Old Maid On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown.
Needing to get off the phone, I reminded Gail that when Davy wore his sock, his pants had a nice bulge in the front.
"Oh, Betinna," Gail half-giggled, half-panted, "you're so naughty. But I did notice a wiggle in front when he was walking --"
"Great, seize the day, Gail, seize the day! Call me tomorrow and let me know how it turned out,"
I said hanging up the phone.
Looking over, I saw Thomas Friedman had wandered into the kitchen and was using the good carving knife to scratch his back. Would that I could hang up on him.
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
nicholas kristof
thomas friedman
david brooks
john tierney
gail collins
the common ills
ted koppel
nightline
william safire
like maria said paz
dexter filkins
Thomas Friedman's on the couch, in shorty robe, watching TV.
"Could you get that?"
"This is really important," he whines.
"I don't have a spare hand!" I yell.
"But future Archie just met old Archie and Betty and is about to meet old Veronica! I can't walk away until they show Jughead!"
"Lug head," I snap, wiping my hands.
"No, Jughead!"
"I was talking about you," I muttered grabbing the phone.
"OHMYGODICANNOTDEALWITHTHISALLMORNINGIHAVEA
LIFEIHAVESELFRESPECTANDIHAVENEEDSANDTHEYDONOT
INCLUDETAKINGABUSEFORYOURHUSBAND!"
"Oh, hello, Gail."
It was Gail Collins, not taking in a breath, but she often seems oxygen deprived. Mall's open, but no one's shopping.
Gail was sobbing now. Something about her life should be Austen not Dickens, how hard it was for a woman of class and sophistication to compete with the "hotsy to trot tootsies in this damn town" and how she had the whole day planned, how she would drop subtle hints that she was "betwixed" to David Brooks.
That's the condensed version and I'm just throwing it out there like I tossed the condensed milk into the pumpkin pie filling. There's no need to reflect on it, it's sugary and taking it in straight will turn you diabetic.
"Gail, I've got four pie shells in the oven, cornbread cooking in the cast iron skillet and I'm in the middle of making pie filling. Get to the point?"
"No, Betinna, I can't come to Thanksgiving dinner," Gail said seeing an invitation where none was offered. "Thomas Friedman is destroying my day. He has ruined my day! Ruined!"
It was the damn column. Apparently people still read it, a small audience, but a vocal one. And they weren't pleased. It was as though they asked for turkey and dressing and got a plate of cabbage and candy corn. It wasn't what they wanted and what it was made everyone ill.
"Welcome to my world, Gail."
What did she expect? What did anyone?
"George Bush's Third Term"?
I mean come on. The brain dead have larger thought waves.
Thomas Friedman is an overstuffed ottoman with frill ruffles, stuffing falling out through the tear everyone notices but pretends not to.
"Look, Gail," I said checking the pie shells, "He write 'election day 2005.' I told him to use 'inaugurated.' Just point that out, say 'What the hell does he know anyway?' and I'm sure people will stop screaming at you over the phone."
"It's not just that --"
"Damn it!"
"Betinna, I really don't need attacks from you as well. Davy is wearing his ass pants today and I'm tense enough as it is," Gail sobbed.
"That wasn't at you," I said setting two pie crusts on top of the stove and sucking on a burned thumb.
"Betinna, Davy in his ass pants always gives me the strange tingles."
"Strange tingles." Elaine and I had so much work to do. But at least we'd been able to get her to abandon the term "rump pants." As Elaine told her, "It's an ass, not a roast."
I really didn't have time for this. I didn't have time for Thomas Friedman Monday night, stoked to the brain, bogarting the bong, and convinced that every word was "golden."
"Oh man oh man, I'm golden tonight!" he's squealed. "John Tierney is going to read this and need viagra! Nicky K will whimper like the little mongrel he is. And Bill Keller, oh my God, Betinna, 'The walrus is Paul!' I just got it! 'The walrus is Paul!' Do we have any cheese nips?"
That's how the column read.
I rewrote the whole thing but Thomas Friedman read it the next morning and said it read like Cindy Sheehan emerging from a Herbert Marcuse workshop.
He then worked himself in a tizzy because he had to "ride the wave" of public opinion but he wasn't sure where it was headed. He worked himself up so much he broke the bong.
It was interesting explaining to the attending in the ER how the glass got in his ass. What happened? He sat on it. Was it a bottle? No. Was it a knick knack? No. Was it -- It was a bong! A bong! He sat on his glass bong, now get the glass out of his ass.
The whole time Thomas Friedman just lay there asking, "Can I go now?"
We got back, I thought I could knock out the pies. But no.
As soon as he's stopped feeling guilty ("Did you see the way the doctor looked at me?") over being a "hop-head," Thomas Friedman needed more pot. He can't roll a joint because he gets the tip so wet it's as though it fell in the toilet. He remembers something about William Safire using a honey container shaped like a bear in college. So he's rummaging through the cabinets and cursing at me for buying organic honey in a glass jar.
He's freaking out because "the dude" is about to bid farewell.
"What will the world be without Ted Koppel's Nightline!" he screams over and over.
Finally Dexter Filkins happens by. He was home for the holidays, having caught a flight with Ahmed Chalabi.
"Everything in my life that matters, I can do in a toilet!" Dexter brags.
His mother must be so proud.
He grabs some aluminum foil, disappears in the bathroom for five minutes and emerges with a bong he's fashioned out of the cardboard from a roll of toilet paper.
They take hits on the couch, weeping, as they watch Koppel's final broadcast.
Then they pieced together Thomas Friedman's "George Bush's Third Term." Dexter used every creative writing technique he'd honed in Iraq. So Gail should really be screaming at Dexter. There I was with a burned thumb, food to cook, a huge spread to prepare for tomorrow and I'm dealing with Old Maid On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown.
Needing to get off the phone, I reminded Gail that when Davy wore his sock, his pants had a nice bulge in the front.
"Oh, Betinna," Gail half-giggled, half-panted, "you're so naughty. But I did notice a wiggle in front when he was walking --"
"Great, seize the day, Gail, seize the day! Call me tomorrow and let me know how it turned out,"
I said hanging up the phone.
Looking over, I saw Thomas Friedman had wandered into the kitchen and was using the good carving knife to scratch his back. Would that I could hang up on him.
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
nicholas kristof
thomas friedman
david brooks
john tierney
gail collins
the common ills
ted koppel
nightline
william safire
like maria said paz
dexter filkins
Monday, November 14, 2005
Thomas Friedman's mind is like a bowl of Chex mix
"So what's it's like being married to a pot head?"
That's the question Mrs. K asked me.
She wasn't taking an attitude. She knows Nicky K is desperate to get in "the circle" with Thomas Friedman and John Tierney. But Thomas Friedman says, "If we start passing to nerds, it won't be cool anymore."
Thomas Friedman mistakenly believes he's cool. He and John Tierney are talking about looking at "hogs." They're also talking about space missions. They've talked about how Amtrack could be shut down and the cars turned into sushi bars. And whether the swine flu shots of the seventies were an attempt by the government to control population. Or whether or not the CIA targeted Connie Francis for her "radical ways."
Thomas Friedman swears that if you play "Where The Boys Are" backwards, you will hear Connie Francis saying, "Out of Vietnam now! End segregation! Paul is dead!"
On that one I did attempt to interject. I said the Beatles hadn't even reached our shores when Connie Francis recorded "Where the Boys Are."
"Reached our shores!" Thomas Friedman and John Tierney cried out in unison. "The war reached our shores on 9/11!"
If you've read Thomas Friedman's latest column ("Thou Shalt Not Destroy the Center"), you're familiar with that Friedman "logic."
I don't read John Tierney. If Thomas Friedman didn't pester me all day until I read his columns, I wouldn't read them either.
He's having visions. And has taken to prayer.
It's the pot.
Tierney swears it's "da bomb, the finest, all the way from Encino!" I think it must be sprayed with paraquat.
That would explain why Thomas Friedman has seen Jesus.
While chowing down on an entire bag of Cheetos (he swears they must have Vitaim C or they wouldn't be orange), Thomas Friedman explained Jesus appeared to him and Tierney. At first, Thomas Friedman says, he thought it was . . .
"Yanni, but Tierney was all like, 'Man, no, it's JC.' and I was all like damn, why couldn't it be Justin, why we got to see a NSYNC dude no one wants to see? But Tierney goes like no, the big 'JC' and I'm all, no way, that is not Johnny Carson! Tierney goes 'Dude, buy a clue from like the uh like clue store or something, it's Jesus Christ.' And I was all 'no' and he was all 'yeah' and I was like 'nooooo' and he was all 'yeeeaaaah' so I go 'Jesus?' and the dude goes 'Totally' and me and Tierney are looking at each other wondering what we do now, I mean like what's the etiquette in this kind of mind blowing situation so Tierney offers him a hit."
Having convinced himself that he really did see Jesus, Thomas Friedman wanted to spread the word. So he wrote Friday's column opening with a prayer. Originally it was to Jesus and not "Lord" as it ran in the paper.
It took forever to get him to drop Jesus. I said, "Thomas Friedman, you are Jewish!"
"They have Jews for Jesus."
I asked, "What? You're on a Bob Dylan trip now? You're going from Jew to Christian and then what? Back and forth again? Thomas Friedman, you are already wishy-washy enough without this."
There was no convincing him. I even told him about how the LA Times were firing op-ed writers. He hadn't heard about it. I told him it was everywhere.
Still he didn't believe me. So I had to point out the obvious.
The only people applauding him these days are hard line Zionists. If Thomas Friedman pisses them off, he'll be out on his ass. No job, no money. No job, no Dollar China.
He gasped at the thought of losing Dollar China.
But, because I pointed it out, he immediately dismissed it.
"Betinna, Pat Robertson would be thrilled to know I found Jesus. He would give me a job."
"Yes, but will you be happy slaving away in a diamond mine in Goma?"
The thought of physical labor was what finally did the trick and made Thomas Friedman drop the Jesus references.
But all the mail and phone calls and digs from Davy Brooks about being an American hater have gotten to him. Probably the street attacks from elderly women haven't helped there either.
I think it's the pot but he's convinced himself that the AARP is working to undermine him. He calls it a "Gentile conspiracy." Which convinces me all the more that "Jesus" was a projection on his part and not an actual vision. At any rate, he's stopped singing "Spirit in the Sky" which I'm taking as a positive sign.
So Friday's column was like a bowl of Chex mix, which is what his mind's like now, a little bit of everything and not enough of one thing to satisfy you.
the common ills
robert scheer
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
nicholas kristof
thomas friedman
david brooks
john tierney
thomas friedman
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
That's the question Mrs. K asked me.
She wasn't taking an attitude. She knows Nicky K is desperate to get in "the circle" with Thomas Friedman and John Tierney. But Thomas Friedman says, "If we start passing to nerds, it won't be cool anymore."
Thomas Friedman mistakenly believes he's cool. He and John Tierney are talking about looking at "hogs." They're also talking about space missions. They've talked about how Amtrack could be shut down and the cars turned into sushi bars. And whether the swine flu shots of the seventies were an attempt by the government to control population. Or whether or not the CIA targeted Connie Francis for her "radical ways."
Thomas Friedman swears that if you play "Where The Boys Are" backwards, you will hear Connie Francis saying, "Out of Vietnam now! End segregation! Paul is dead!"
On that one I did attempt to interject. I said the Beatles hadn't even reached our shores when Connie Francis recorded "Where the Boys Are."
"Reached our shores!" Thomas Friedman and John Tierney cried out in unison. "The war reached our shores on 9/11!"
If you've read Thomas Friedman's latest column ("Thou Shalt Not Destroy the Center"), you're familiar with that Friedman "logic."
I don't read John Tierney. If Thomas Friedman didn't pester me all day until I read his columns, I wouldn't read them either.
He's having visions. And has taken to prayer.
It's the pot.
Tierney swears it's "da bomb, the finest, all the way from Encino!" I think it must be sprayed with paraquat.
That would explain why Thomas Friedman has seen Jesus.
While chowing down on an entire bag of Cheetos (he swears they must have Vitaim C or they wouldn't be orange), Thomas Friedman explained Jesus appeared to him and Tierney. At first, Thomas Friedman says, he thought it was . . .
"Yanni, but Tierney was all like, 'Man, no, it's JC.' and I was all like damn, why couldn't it be Justin, why we got to see a NSYNC dude no one wants to see? But Tierney goes like no, the big 'JC' and I'm all, no way, that is not Johnny Carson! Tierney goes 'Dude, buy a clue from like the uh like clue store or something, it's Jesus Christ.' And I was all 'no' and he was all 'yeah' and I was like 'nooooo' and he was all 'yeeeaaaah' so I go 'Jesus?' and the dude goes 'Totally' and me and Tierney are looking at each other wondering what we do now, I mean like what's the etiquette in this kind of mind blowing situation so Tierney offers him a hit."
Having convinced himself that he really did see Jesus, Thomas Friedman wanted to spread the word. So he wrote Friday's column opening with a prayer. Originally it was to Jesus and not "Lord" as it ran in the paper.
It took forever to get him to drop Jesus. I said, "Thomas Friedman, you are Jewish!"
"They have Jews for Jesus."
I asked, "What? You're on a Bob Dylan trip now? You're going from Jew to Christian and then what? Back and forth again? Thomas Friedman, you are already wishy-washy enough without this."
There was no convincing him. I even told him about how the LA Times were firing op-ed writers. He hadn't heard about it. I told him it was everywhere.
Still he didn't believe me. So I had to point out the obvious.
The only people applauding him these days are hard line Zionists. If Thomas Friedman pisses them off, he'll be out on his ass. No job, no money. No job, no Dollar China.
He gasped at the thought of losing Dollar China.
But, because I pointed it out, he immediately dismissed it.
"Betinna, Pat Robertson would be thrilled to know I found Jesus. He would give me a job."
"Yes, but will you be happy slaving away in a diamond mine in Goma?"
The thought of physical labor was what finally did the trick and made Thomas Friedman drop the Jesus references.
But all the mail and phone calls and digs from Davy Brooks about being an American hater have gotten to him. Probably the street attacks from elderly women haven't helped there either.
I think it's the pot but he's convinced himself that the AARP is working to undermine him. He calls it a "Gentile conspiracy." Which convinces me all the more that "Jesus" was a projection on his part and not an actual vision. At any rate, he's stopped singing "Spirit in the Sky" which I'm taking as a positive sign.
So Friday's column was like a bowl of Chex mix, which is what his mind's like now, a little bit of everything and not enough of one thing to satisfy you.
the common ills
robert scheer
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
nicholas kristof
thomas friedman
david brooks
john tierney
thomas friedman
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
Monday, November 07, 2005
From buffets to smokes
Thomas Friedman is obsessed with Chinese food.
Readers of his column, the brave few who stick with him, have probably deduced that from his constant mythical trips to China.
It's all he writes about now. I wonder if readers ask why that is? I know I did.
He's always running to what I call "Dollar China" -- a new buffett that hasn't yet kicked him out. It probably won't. It's a real dive. Run down. Desperate for customers and money. It's a place where no one ever disagrees with a customer so it's heaven for Thomas Friedman who loves to hold court and never be questioned.
"Yes, Mr. Friedman" is the oft repeated refrain while Thomas Friedman occupies the back booth smiling smugly.
He always has to sit with his back facing the wall. He says that's because "we live in terrorist times." I wonder if, pre-9/11, he invented a tale of being the victim of a potential mob hit?
The truth is, he sits with his back against the wall because he must be seen. He must face the room. I told him, "Thomas Friedman, I think the woman is supposed to face the room" and he told me I would crack from "that kind of pressure."
His concern for me is like his concern for his waistline -- something he occassionally gives lip service to but doesn't much sweat.
But anything that gets him out of his shorty robe is an improvement.
I know they're trying hard for business at "Dollar China" but I wonder what happens when Thomas Friedman leaves?
I'm thinking they talk about the "fat assed blow hard."
That was what one old lady called Thomas Friedman today as she struck him repeatedly with her handbag.
"'We deserve to lose.' We deserve to! America hater! Move to Russia!" the elderly woman screamed as she swung the handbag over and over.
I marveled at her upper body strength as well as her sheer deterimination.
Later, after Thomas Friedman stopped sobbings, he asked me why I did nothing to come to his aid?
"Betinna, it's almost as though you enjoyed it!" he whimpered.
"There is a lot of truth to that," I said for fun knowing I could get away with it because Thomas Friedman loves to be quoted.
That was the end of that because already Thomas Friedman was recasting the elderly woman who had accosted him into a young teenager from the Bronx in a "Hello Kitty t-shirt" who was taken with his "manly insight."
Within ten minutes, it was as though Thomas Friedman had forgotten I was present when he was attacked. By that point, "a dead ringer for Drew Barrymore" had stopped him in the street to say she regretted her mind wasn't as insightful as his because she found him very sexual attractive.
As I often do when Thomas Friedman's windbag still has a plentiful supply of air, I imagined a better life, one without him, one where people talked about real events and real people. Not made up visits to places and made up people who never existed. A place where no one passed off something as tired as "The World Is Flat" as pithy or worldly. Such a place has to exist, right?
I wonder about that. I also wonder what is up with his nonstop eating at Chinese buffets lately?
I wondered about that all last week. Then Saturday morning, the uberpacker John Tierney came over and he and Thomas Friedman went to Thomas Friedman's office and closed the door.
"We're working!" Thomas Friedman shouted as he closed the door.
I didn't think much of it. John Tierney's been coming over a lot lately. I figured they were working on something for the Sunday magazine when I bothered to think about it at all. Honestly, I was just glad to have Thomas Friedman out of my hair. The visits usually give me three to four hours of solo time.
And Thomas Friedman is usually so wiped out from the visits that he's too tired to do much, most importantly, too tired to pontificate. He'll usually join me in the living room after John Tierney leaves and he'll park it in a chair and just sit there in silence, staring off into space.
That worried me a little. As I told Mrs. K on the phone, "I think Thomas Friedman may be starting to think."
With all the damage he's done to our nation's public discourse writing on automatic pilot, the thought of what he might do with a little thinking actually frightened me.
I needn't have worried.
I was going to the bathroom and passed the office. Through the door, I could hear music pumped up loud and Thomas Friedman and John Tierney singing:
What if you were starving to death
And the only food was me
Thomas Friedman loves his classic rock. He's got a poster of Janis Joplin showing a boob and one of her clothed standing with Grace Slick (also clothed). So I wasn't surprised that he'd hauled out his vinyl copy of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's Sunfighter. Again.
Myself, I prefer something with more of a beat. I was thinking about a Kat's Korner review of Stevie Wonder's new album. The review was "A Time To Dance" but before I could remember more than the title, I stopped to sniff the air.
Something really stunk. At first I thought maybe someone had dropped off another one of Todd S. Purdum's smelly jock straps but then I remembered that it was hell to get him to part with the last one, the one he had delivered on poker night. Todd S. Purdum feels he's on a winning streak and, like a superstitious baseball player, he insists upon not washing the jock strap he's currently wearing until his lucky streak ends. Now I haven't seen anything that outstanding about his writing but if it makes him feel he can write, and as long as I'm not downwind of him, what does it matter to me?
Unless it's brought in my house. I tossed the last one out in the dumpster in the alley. It cleared out the homeless that had been living there and the stray cats as well. When the sanitation workers would finally come near the dumpster to empty it, they were wearing Hazmat suits.
The thought of another one of Todd S. Purdum's smelly jocks stinking up my home didn't please me.
So I opened the door and barged in.
It took a moment for them to notice me but it took me a moment to see them due to the fact that the room was in darkness except for an old strobe light Thomas Friedman had pulled out of the closet.
They were singing:
I say you better eat what you will.
Shove it in your mouth any way that you can.
And they were smoking.
I was just about to lecture Thomas Friedman and John Tierney about the dangers of smoking when I realized they were smoking grass.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
The staring off into space for hours after John Tierney left.
The locking themselves in the office and blasting old rock albums on the turntable.
Thomas Friedman's constant chowing down at buffets.
Most of all that hideous book The World Is Flat. At last, an explanation for the half-baked "theories" in that book.
Thomas Friedman was staring at me.
"We cool, man?" John Tierney asked.
grace slick
paul kantner
sunfighter
thomas friedman
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
john tierney
todd s. purdum
kats korner
stevie wonder
a time to love
Readers of his column, the brave few who stick with him, have probably deduced that from his constant mythical trips to China.
It's all he writes about now. I wonder if readers ask why that is? I know I did.
He's always running to what I call "Dollar China" -- a new buffett that hasn't yet kicked him out. It probably won't. It's a real dive. Run down. Desperate for customers and money. It's a place where no one ever disagrees with a customer so it's heaven for Thomas Friedman who loves to hold court and never be questioned.
"Yes, Mr. Friedman" is the oft repeated refrain while Thomas Friedman occupies the back booth smiling smugly.
He always has to sit with his back facing the wall. He says that's because "we live in terrorist times." I wonder if, pre-9/11, he invented a tale of being the victim of a potential mob hit?
The truth is, he sits with his back against the wall because he must be seen. He must face the room. I told him, "Thomas Friedman, I think the woman is supposed to face the room" and he told me I would crack from "that kind of pressure."
His concern for me is like his concern for his waistline -- something he occassionally gives lip service to but doesn't much sweat.
But anything that gets him out of his shorty robe is an improvement.
I know they're trying hard for business at "Dollar China" but I wonder what happens when Thomas Friedman leaves?
I'm thinking they talk about the "fat assed blow hard."
That was what one old lady called Thomas Friedman today as she struck him repeatedly with her handbag.
"'We deserve to lose.' We deserve to! America hater! Move to Russia!" the elderly woman screamed as she swung the handbag over and over.
I marveled at her upper body strength as well as her sheer deterimination.
Later, after Thomas Friedman stopped sobbings, he asked me why I did nothing to come to his aid?
"Betinna, it's almost as though you enjoyed it!" he whimpered.
"There is a lot of truth to that," I said for fun knowing I could get away with it because Thomas Friedman loves to be quoted.
That was the end of that because already Thomas Friedman was recasting the elderly woman who had accosted him into a young teenager from the Bronx in a "Hello Kitty t-shirt" who was taken with his "manly insight."
Within ten minutes, it was as though Thomas Friedman had forgotten I was present when he was attacked. By that point, "a dead ringer for Drew Barrymore" had stopped him in the street to say she regretted her mind wasn't as insightful as his because she found him very sexual attractive.
As I often do when Thomas Friedman's windbag still has a plentiful supply of air, I imagined a better life, one without him, one where people talked about real events and real people. Not made up visits to places and made up people who never existed. A place where no one passed off something as tired as "The World Is Flat" as pithy or worldly. Such a place has to exist, right?
I wonder about that. I also wonder what is up with his nonstop eating at Chinese buffets lately?
I wondered about that all last week. Then Saturday morning, the uberpacker John Tierney came over and he and Thomas Friedman went to Thomas Friedman's office and closed the door.
"We're working!" Thomas Friedman shouted as he closed the door.
I didn't think much of it. John Tierney's been coming over a lot lately. I figured they were working on something for the Sunday magazine when I bothered to think about it at all. Honestly, I was just glad to have Thomas Friedman out of my hair. The visits usually give me three to four hours of solo time.
And Thomas Friedman is usually so wiped out from the visits that he's too tired to do much, most importantly, too tired to pontificate. He'll usually join me in the living room after John Tierney leaves and he'll park it in a chair and just sit there in silence, staring off into space.
That worried me a little. As I told Mrs. K on the phone, "I think Thomas Friedman may be starting to think."
With all the damage he's done to our nation's public discourse writing on automatic pilot, the thought of what he might do with a little thinking actually frightened me.
I needn't have worried.
I was going to the bathroom and passed the office. Through the door, I could hear music pumped up loud and Thomas Friedman and John Tierney singing:
What if you were starving to death
And the only food was me
Thomas Friedman loves his classic rock. He's got a poster of Janis Joplin showing a boob and one of her clothed standing with Grace Slick (also clothed). So I wasn't surprised that he'd hauled out his vinyl copy of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's Sunfighter. Again.
Myself, I prefer something with more of a beat. I was thinking about a Kat's Korner review of Stevie Wonder's new album. The review was "A Time To Dance" but before I could remember more than the title, I stopped to sniff the air.
Something really stunk. At first I thought maybe someone had dropped off another one of Todd S. Purdum's smelly jock straps but then I remembered that it was hell to get him to part with the last one, the one he had delivered on poker night. Todd S. Purdum feels he's on a winning streak and, like a superstitious baseball player, he insists upon not washing the jock strap he's currently wearing until his lucky streak ends. Now I haven't seen anything that outstanding about his writing but if it makes him feel he can write, and as long as I'm not downwind of him, what does it matter to me?
Unless it's brought in my house. I tossed the last one out in the dumpster in the alley. It cleared out the homeless that had been living there and the stray cats as well. When the sanitation workers would finally come near the dumpster to empty it, they were wearing Hazmat suits.
The thought of another one of Todd S. Purdum's smelly jocks stinking up my home didn't please me.
So I opened the door and barged in.
It took a moment for them to notice me but it took me a moment to see them due to the fact that the room was in darkness except for an old strobe light Thomas Friedman had pulled out of the closet.
They were singing:
I say you better eat what you will.
Shove it in your mouth any way that you can.
And they were smoking.
I was just about to lecture Thomas Friedman and John Tierney about the dangers of smoking when I realized they were smoking grass.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
The staring off into space for hours after John Tierney left.
The locking themselves in the office and blasting old rock albums on the turntable.
Thomas Friedman's constant chowing down at buffets.
Most of all that hideous book The World Is Flat. At last, an explanation for the half-baked "theories" in that book.
Thomas Friedman was staring at me.
"We cool, man?" John Tierney asked.
grace slick
paul kantner
sunfighter
thomas friedman
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
the new york times
john tierney
todd s. purdum
kats korner
stevie wonder
a time to love
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Thomas Friedman, Living on the Five Finger Discount
Thomas Friedman is on a China kick. It all started when the new buffet opened up down the street. Thomas Friedman is nothing if not an all you can eat type of man, as any photo of him will attest.
I knew something was up last Thursday when he came strolling into the kitchen in sweat pants and a t-shirt that said "Baby Likes" on it. For Thomas Friedman, it was practically formal wear.
Rare is the day he squeezes into anything other than his silk shorty robe.
Leaping to my feet, I was scrubbing the kitchen floor, I immediately asked who died and what funeral we needed to attend. Thomas Friedman assured me that other than Bill Keller being "brain dead" all was right in the world, that a new establishment had opened up down the street and to grab my purse because we were going.
The hostess' name was Liang though Thomas Friedman insists upon calling her "Soon-Yi" repeatedly. He also insists upon telling the same lame joke each time we go, "Soon-Yi, in America we call this 'Chinese food' but in your country it would just be 'food!'"
Between that, his Soon-Yi comments, and just for being Thomas Friedman, Tuesday afternoon, Liang replied, "You know in China you would be called 'American bore' but in this country you are just a 'bore.'"
Thomas Friedman was furious.
"I will never come back to this communist cell!" he screamed as he piled his plate full of General Tso's chicken. As usual, he piled my purse full of shrimp which is bad enough but he tends to scoop it out of the ice with his hands and many ice chips fall in as well.
A lunch buffet to Thomas Friedman means you eat all you can there and swipe enough to have dinner on at home as well. He calls that "the free market at it's finest."
I have tried pointing out to him that what he's doing is hardly honest or honorable but he tells me I'm now "lost to the peaceniks." If I had any sense, he belives, I would have "catered" our dinner party last week by hitting a buffet with several large purses and backpacks.
What you or I might call free loading or, worse, theft of service, Thomas Friedman sees as "righting the market."
"The world is flat, Betinna," Thomas Friedman declared as I stared at his greasy mouth and the food flying around it. "Everything is fair game."
Everything?
Like on Wednesday morning when he flew into a fit as I tried to watch Democracy Now!?
He was grumbling throughout the interview but he grew enraged at this point:
AMY GOODMAN: In the interrogations, you told the BBC that you met an Israeli working as an interrogator at the secret intelligence center in Baghdad.
JANIS KARPINSKI: Well, in a separate facility, not under my control, where the task force was originally assigned, I was escorting a general officer, who was not assigned in Iraq, but was making his last visits to different units, because he was getting ready to retire, and he asked to go over to this facility, because he knew a lot of the people that were working over there. And when the sergeant major asked if he wanted to see -- tour the rest of the facility, if I wanted to go with them, I declined. I said I would wait there in the foyer. And there were three individuals there, three men, and they had D.C.U. pants on, one of them had blue jeans on, and different shirts.
AMY GOODMAN: D.C.U. means?
JANIS KARPINSKI: Desert camouflage uniform, the desert military uniform pants. And one of them had a pair of blue jeans on. So I said, "What are you guys doing here?" And I said to this one individual, who looked like he was an Arab, I said to him, "Oh, are you a translator? Are you from Kuwait? Are you from Iraq?" And he said, "No, I'm not a translator, and I'm not from Kuwait or Iraq. I'm from Israel. And I work in this facility." So, I never -- he never told me that he was an interrogator. But that facility was likely used for interrogation. So, if he worked in that facility, you could conclude that he had something to do with interrogation operations, but he never told me that.
Thomas Friedman had recently attempted to have the last word, as he is so fond of, on the subject of not one Israli being in Iraq. As with so many claims he makes in his columns, I always think he would be better off researching some of his claims but apparently veracity isn't a big deal at the New York Times. Thomas Friedman says "facts weigh thought down" and attempts to write with as little actual thought as possible -- a technique that grows ever more obvious, if you ask me.
When that came up in the interview, Thomas Friedman started screaming at me that I was a "flaming insurgent, bordering on an anarchist, with one hand on your dust mop and the other ready to spray paint a lovely mink!"
He blames the "radical feminist" Gail Collins partly for my transformation. He also blames the trip to D.C. with Elaine and Gail Collins. But most of all he blames The Common Ills which is a web site that he feels "worries too much about the little nothings of the world." Strangely, he doesn't blame Democracy Now! but that's largely because he sees it as "a developing market" on which he could plug his book The World Is Flat. He has taken to sending Amy Goodman's "notes" which she obviously ignores but I'm sure they provoke much laughter each time they arrive.
All his finger pointing should be very tiring but when he feels he has been wronged, he can always muster the energy for an attack such as his column Wednesday.
Things were already tense Tuesday but he was determined to finish his lunch, all five plates and two bowls of won ton soup.
"I will get my money's worth!" he insisted between slurps.
I just wanted to go home before things got worse. But Thomas Friedman decided that we needed new silver ware and after he shoved several settings into my purse, he felt we also needed more plates.
It was at that point that Liang walked over and wondered exactly what the hell Thomas Friedman was doing.
"Should I call the cops?" Liang asked pointing to my purse.
"That is your answer to everything!" Thomas Friedman shouted, spewing won ton soup across the white table cloth. "You want to enforce authoritarian rule on everyone! You and your planned economy of 'I will spend this much on plates and that much on food and it will all be just fine.' Well that's not the way it works, Soon-Yi, in this country, the market decides demand! I will accept no apology from you!"
"I'm calling the cops," Liang said.
"I said I would not accept your apology! Go now, Soon-Yi, go!"
While Liang went to call the police, Thomas Friedman grabbed my purse and high tailed it onto the street.
"This is living, Betinna!" Thomas Friedman cackled as I attempted to hurry him down the street. "Living Hand to Mouth! Nothing else is even close!"
the common ills
the new york times
thomas friedman
like maria said paz
democracy now
gail collins
amy goodman
janis karpinski
abu ghraib
I knew something was up last Thursday when he came strolling into the kitchen in sweat pants and a t-shirt that said "Baby Likes" on it. For Thomas Friedman, it was practically formal wear.
Rare is the day he squeezes into anything other than his silk shorty robe.
Leaping to my feet, I was scrubbing the kitchen floor, I immediately asked who died and what funeral we needed to attend. Thomas Friedman assured me that other than Bill Keller being "brain dead" all was right in the world, that a new establishment had opened up down the street and to grab my purse because we were going.
The hostess' name was Liang though Thomas Friedman insists upon calling her "Soon-Yi" repeatedly. He also insists upon telling the same lame joke each time we go, "Soon-Yi, in America we call this 'Chinese food' but in your country it would just be 'food!'"
Between that, his Soon-Yi comments, and just for being Thomas Friedman, Tuesday afternoon, Liang replied, "You know in China you would be called 'American bore' but in this country you are just a 'bore.'"
Thomas Friedman was furious.
"I will never come back to this communist cell!" he screamed as he piled his plate full of General Tso's chicken. As usual, he piled my purse full of shrimp which is bad enough but he tends to scoop it out of the ice with his hands and many ice chips fall in as well.
A lunch buffet to Thomas Friedman means you eat all you can there and swipe enough to have dinner on at home as well. He calls that "the free market at it's finest."
I have tried pointing out to him that what he's doing is hardly honest or honorable but he tells me I'm now "lost to the peaceniks." If I had any sense, he belives, I would have "catered" our dinner party last week by hitting a buffet with several large purses and backpacks.
What you or I might call free loading or, worse, theft of service, Thomas Friedman sees as "righting the market."
"The world is flat, Betinna," Thomas Friedman declared as I stared at his greasy mouth and the food flying around it. "Everything is fair game."
Everything?
Like on Wednesday morning when he flew into a fit as I tried to watch Democracy Now!?
He was grumbling throughout the interview but he grew enraged at this point:
AMY GOODMAN: In the interrogations, you told the BBC that you met an Israeli working as an interrogator at the secret intelligence center in Baghdad.
JANIS KARPINSKI: Well, in a separate facility, not under my control, where the task force was originally assigned, I was escorting a general officer, who was not assigned in Iraq, but was making his last visits to different units, because he was getting ready to retire, and he asked to go over to this facility, because he knew a lot of the people that were working over there. And when the sergeant major asked if he wanted to see -- tour the rest of the facility, if I wanted to go with them, I declined. I said I would wait there in the foyer. And there were three individuals there, three men, and they had D.C.U. pants on, one of them had blue jeans on, and different shirts.
AMY GOODMAN: D.C.U. means?
JANIS KARPINSKI: Desert camouflage uniform, the desert military uniform pants. And one of them had a pair of blue jeans on. So I said, "What are you guys doing here?" And I said to this one individual, who looked like he was an Arab, I said to him, "Oh, are you a translator? Are you from Kuwait? Are you from Iraq?" And he said, "No, I'm not a translator, and I'm not from Kuwait or Iraq. I'm from Israel. And I work in this facility." So, I never -- he never told me that he was an interrogator. But that facility was likely used for interrogation. So, if he worked in that facility, you could conclude that he had something to do with interrogation operations, but he never told me that.
Thomas Friedman had recently attempted to have the last word, as he is so fond of, on the subject of not one Israli being in Iraq. As with so many claims he makes in his columns, I always think he would be better off researching some of his claims but apparently veracity isn't a big deal at the New York Times. Thomas Friedman says "facts weigh thought down" and attempts to write with as little actual thought as possible -- a technique that grows ever more obvious, if you ask me.
When that came up in the interview, Thomas Friedman started screaming at me that I was a "flaming insurgent, bordering on an anarchist, with one hand on your dust mop and the other ready to spray paint a lovely mink!"
He blames the "radical feminist" Gail Collins partly for my transformation. He also blames the trip to D.C. with Elaine and Gail Collins. But most of all he blames The Common Ills which is a web site that he feels "worries too much about the little nothings of the world." Strangely, he doesn't blame Democracy Now! but that's largely because he sees it as "a developing market" on which he could plug his book The World Is Flat. He has taken to sending Amy Goodman's "notes" which she obviously ignores but I'm sure they provoke much laughter each time they arrive.
All his finger pointing should be very tiring but when he feels he has been wronged, he can always muster the energy for an attack such as his column Wednesday.
Things were already tense Tuesday but he was determined to finish his lunch, all five plates and two bowls of won ton soup.
"I will get my money's worth!" he insisted between slurps.
I just wanted to go home before things got worse. But Thomas Friedman decided that we needed new silver ware and after he shoved several settings into my purse, he felt we also needed more plates.
It was at that point that Liang walked over and wondered exactly what the hell Thomas Friedman was doing.
"Should I call the cops?" Liang asked pointing to my purse.
"That is your answer to everything!" Thomas Friedman shouted, spewing won ton soup across the white table cloth. "You want to enforce authoritarian rule on everyone! You and your planned economy of 'I will spend this much on plates and that much on food and it will all be just fine.' Well that's not the way it works, Soon-Yi, in this country, the market decides demand! I will accept no apology from you!"
"I'm calling the cops," Liang said.
"I said I would not accept your apology! Go now, Soon-Yi, go!"
While Liang went to call the police, Thomas Friedman grabbed my purse and high tailed it onto the street.
"This is living, Betinna!" Thomas Friedman cackled as I attempted to hurry him down the street. "Living Hand to Mouth! Nothing else is even close!"
the common ills
the new york times
thomas friedman
like maria said paz
democracy now
gail collins
amy goodman
janis karpinski
abu ghraib
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Sad news found in the paper
Yesterday, sad news.
"Rosa Parks: 1913-2005"
Rosa Parks, the Alabama seamstress whose refusal to sit down on a Montgomery bus sparked a year-long boycott that is considered the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, has died.
The above is from "Rosa Parks dead at 92" (Defenders News Service, The Chicago Defender).
From Bree Fowler's "Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92" (Associated Press):
The Montgomery, Ala., seamstress, an active member of the local chapter of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People' National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was riding on a city bus Dec. 1, 1955, when a white man demanded her seat.Mrs. Parks refused, despite rules requiring blacks to yield their seats to whites. Two black Montgomery women had been arrested earlier that year on the same charge, but Mrs. Parks was jailed. She also was fined $14.
Speaking in 1992, she said history too often maintains "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."
Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little-known Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who later earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
"At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this," Mrs. Parks said 30 years later.
"It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in."The Montgomery bus boycott, which came one year after theU.S. Supreme Court's landmark declaration that separate schools for blacks and whites were "inherently unequal," marked the start of the modern civil rights movement.
From Cassandra Spratling's "Rosa Parks, civil rights heroine, is dead" (Detroit Free Press):
This gentle giant, whose quietness belied her toughness, became the catalyst for a movement that broke the back of legalized segregation in the United States, gave rise to the astounding leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and inspired fighters for freedom and justice throughout the world.
Parks, the beloved mother of the civil rights movement, is dead, a family member confirmed late Monday.
But already it's evident that her spirit lives in hundreds of thousands of people inspired by her unwavering commitment to work for a better world - a commitment that continued even after age and failing health slowed her in the 1990s.
From Jannell McGrew's "Parks' quiet courage helped change the world" (Montgomery Advertiser):
"She's gone, but she has left her footprints on the sands of time," said local civil rights activist Johnnie Carr, a close friend of Parks, after hearing the news of her death Monday. "What she did contributed so much to the success of whatever we did in trying to break down the segregated rules and regulations we had in the community and the world."
Parks was selected by Time as one of the 100 Most Important People of the Century.
More today:
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913-2005
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. It was 50 years ago this December that she refused to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would spark the civil rights movement. The boycott would also help transform a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to national prominence. In 1958 King wrote "no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.''' Parks had been involved in the fight for freedom since the 1940s. She was active in the NAACP, helped raise money to defend the Scottsboro rape case and attended trainings at the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday ''She sat down in order that we might stand up. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.'' Henry Louis Gates Jr called her "the Harriet Tubman of our time." After he was freed from jail Nelson Mandela recalled how Parks had inspired him and others in the South African struggle against apartheid. We'll have more on Rosa Parks in a few minutes.
rosa parks
democracy now
the common ills
"Rosa Parks: 1913-2005"
Rosa Parks, the Alabama seamstress whose refusal to sit down on a Montgomery bus sparked a year-long boycott that is considered the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, has died.
The above is from "Rosa Parks dead at 92" (Defenders News Service, The Chicago Defender).
From Bree Fowler's "Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92" (Associated Press):
The Montgomery, Ala., seamstress, an active member of the local chapter of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People' National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was riding on a city bus Dec. 1, 1955, when a white man demanded her seat.Mrs. Parks refused, despite rules requiring blacks to yield their seats to whites. Two black Montgomery women had been arrested earlier that year on the same charge, but Mrs. Parks was jailed. She also was fined $14.
Speaking in 1992, she said history too often maintains "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."
Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little-known Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who later earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
"At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this," Mrs. Parks said 30 years later.
"It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in."The Montgomery bus boycott, which came one year after theU.S. Supreme Court's landmark declaration that separate schools for blacks and whites were "inherently unequal," marked the start of the modern civil rights movement.
From Cassandra Spratling's "Rosa Parks, civil rights heroine, is dead" (Detroit Free Press):
This gentle giant, whose quietness belied her toughness, became the catalyst for a movement that broke the back of legalized segregation in the United States, gave rise to the astounding leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and inspired fighters for freedom and justice throughout the world.
Parks, the beloved mother of the civil rights movement, is dead, a family member confirmed late Monday.
But already it's evident that her spirit lives in hundreds of thousands of people inspired by her unwavering commitment to work for a better world - a commitment that continued even after age and failing health slowed her in the 1990s.
From Jannell McGrew's "Parks' quiet courage helped change the world" (Montgomery Advertiser):
"She's gone, but she has left her footprints on the sands of time," said local civil rights activist Johnnie Carr, a close friend of Parks, after hearing the news of her death Monday. "What she did contributed so much to the success of whatever we did in trying to break down the segregated rules and regulations we had in the community and the world."
Parks was selected by Time as one of the 100 Most Important People of the Century.
More today:
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913-2005
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. It was 50 years ago this December that she refused to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would spark the civil rights movement. The boycott would also help transform a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to national prominence. In 1958 King wrote "no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.''' Parks had been involved in the fight for freedom since the 1940s. She was active in the NAACP, helped raise money to defend the Scottsboro rape case and attended trainings at the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday ''She sat down in order that we might stand up. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.'' Henry Louis Gates Jr called her "the Harriet Tubman of our time." After he was freed from jail Nelson Mandela recalled how Parks had inspired him and others in the South African struggle against apartheid. We'll have more on Rosa Parks in a few minutes.
rosa parks
democracy now
the common ills
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