Barack's 'catty girl' problems

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & TY'S DESK AT THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

THE FUN NEVER ENDS WITH BAMBI.

FRESH FROM ANOTHER DAY OF PROVING HE COULD BE JUST AS "BITCHY" AS TRUMAN CAPOTE, FRESH FROM HIS ATTACKS ON BLACK FATHERS, FRESH FROM HIS BANNING MUSLIM WOMEN FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, BARACK DECIDED TO RESPOND TO RALPH NADER'S CRITIQUE OF OBAMA'S CORPORATIST POSITIONS BY BEING . . . WELL, BITCHY.

HILLARY SAID IT TAKES A VILLAGE BUT BARACK SETS HIS SIGHTS MUCH LOWER AND WORKS IN THE GUTTER.

THE BI-RACIAL CANDIDATE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET ANYONE POINT OUT THAT HE IS NOT, IN FACT, BLACK. SO HE WORKS REALLY HARD, OVER AND OVER, TO ATTACK ANYTHING THAT MIGHT WEAKEN THAT POSITION -- THE TRUMP CARD HE TRIES TO PLAY WHENEVER HE'S CRITIQUED.

"BUT I'M BLACK!" HE WHINES.

BLACK WHEN HE WANTS TO BE.

WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARACK TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "I THINK I WAS FUNNY WHEN I SAID RALPH WAS JUST DESPERATE AND ALL OF THAT. I WAS ASKING MYSELF, 'HOW WOULD ALEXIS CARRINGTON HANDLE IT?' I'M REAL TIRED OF THE UNITY CAMPAIGN AND HAVE STARTED THE BITCHY CAMPAIGN. I'M HOPING TO GET SOME OF JOAN COLLINS' OLD JACKETS, WITH THE SHOULDER PADS. I'LL BE SMOKING THEN!"

IN OTHER NEWS, WEB CESSPOOL RACIALICIOUS, FRESH OFF THEIR ATTACKS ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS ANTHEM "KUMBAYA," DECIDED TO THE WAY TO HANDLE THE ISSUE WAS TO SPIT ON AN ARAB-AMERICAN AND HAVEN'T THEY HAD IT EASY? IT'S NOT LIKE THEY WERE THE ONES TARGETED IN THIS COUNTRY FOLLOWING 9-11, RIGHT? RACIALICIOUS, CREATING A BIGOT A TIME ONLINE. HOW PROUD THEY MUST BE READING OVER THE 54 COMMENTS TO THEIR POST -- ESPECIALLY THE MOST RACIST ONES.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Starting with war resistance. The War Resisters Support Campaign notes:

With less than 16 days remaining until U.S. warresister Corey Glass' scheduled deportation, three parliamentary parties andAmnesty International are urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Citizenshipand Immigration Minister Diane Finley to cease deportation and removalproceedings against Glass and U.S. war resisters seeking refuge in Canada.The federal government's July 10 deportation order against Glass is stillin effect, creating enormous stress, anxiety and turmoil for him and all warresisters and their families who are hoping the government will be guided bythe expressed will of Parliament. The successful passage of a June 3 landmark parliamentary motion calledon the Conservative government to allow U.S. war resisters who have refused orleft military service related to the illegal invasion of Iraq, and theirimmediate family members, to stay in Canada and be able to become permanentresidents, and to immediately cease any removal or deportation actions thatmay have already commenced against such individuals. A poll carried out in June 2007 by Stratcom Ltd., showed that 64.6% ofOntarians agreed that the war resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada.

They will be holding a "Rally to Stop the Deportation of Parkdale Resident Corey Glass" July 3rd, begins at 7:00 p.m. (with doors opening at six p.m.) at the May Robinson Building, 20 West Lodge, Toronto: "In 2002, Corey joined the Indiana National Guard. He was told he would not have to fight on foreign shores. But in 2005 he was sent to Iraq. What he saw there caused him to become a conscientious objector and he came to Canada. On May 21, 2008, he got his final order to leave Canada by July 10, 2008. Then on June 3 Parliament passed a motion for all the war resisters to stay in Canada. However the Harper government says it will ignore this motion." To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

[. . .]

Turning to the US presidential race, Paul Farhi (Washington Post) profiles independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader: "Joan Claybrook, who has known Nader since 1966 and worked with him on his pioneering auto-safety crusade against General Moters, says he reads 10 books a week and speaks seven languages (Chinese, Portugese, Italian and Arabic among them) well enough to converse with native speakers. . . . 'Ralph is really a charming guy,' says Claybrook, who heads the advocacy group Public Citizen. 'He has a great sense of humor. If the public knew him really well, they would be enthralled with him'."

Meanwhile Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) scores Barack: "Give AIPAC everything they want and then some. Check. Slander black men. Check. Continue illegal government surveillance. Check. Endorse conservative white Congressman against black progressive challenger. Check. . . . Obama is held to no standard at all. He is free to do exactly as he pleases to black people, who are all too happy to go along with any treatement that he chooses to mete out. This sorry state of affairs is the result of years of black political inaction and misleadership. The Congressional Black Caucus long ago gave up the fight, the movement tat gave black Americans full citizenship has been derided as a relic from a past age, instead of being seen as a blueprint for present da action. It is little wonder that the Obama campaign 'come-to-Jesus' meeting is consider a substitute for true political organizing." Slander Black men? As Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report via ZNet) explained, "The Democratic presidential nominee-apparent seldom speaks directly to Black people, but when he does it is usually to denounce individuals once close to him or to criticize The Race in general for some moral failing. Thus it was no surprise that Barack Obama used the occassion of Father's Day to give Black males the back of his hand, no doubt to the delight of millions of potential white supporters. Black males have 'abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men,' said Obama, citing statistics on female-headed households. 'You and I know how true this is in the African-American community.' Even the New York Times could see through Obam's transparent bid for white approval at Black people's expense. Reporter Julie Bosman noted that Obama 'laid out his case in start terms that would be difficult for a white candidate to make' -- terms (such as boy?) that 'his campaign hopes [will] resonate among white soical conservatives in a race where these voters may be up for grabs'." And see Cedric and Wally's "Bambi attacks" and "THIS JUST IN! BARACK ATTACKS AGAIN!". That's something to keep in mind because something true was said about Saint Obama and it's time for The Cult of Saint Obama to start screaming.

Rocky Mountain News' M.E. Sprengelmeyer asked Ralph Nader if he thought there was a difference between Barack Obama and the 2000 candidate Al Gore (or any other Democratic candidates in the recent past)? Here for audio of the first half, here for full transcript.


Ralph Nader: No. I mean, he's deceiving people. He takes, he takes -- in this very building he would take money from corporate lawyers who are not registered lobbyists but whose desks are across the aisle from corporate lawyers who are register lobbyists in the same law firm -- that's been reported more than once in the mainstream press. Six out of seven industrties as of a month ago have given more money to Obama than they have to McCain. Only transportation industry was more equal opportunity corruption . Look at the health care industry which has poured money into his campaign. The Secuirty industry. Defense industry. No. There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comees to being a Democratic presidential candidate he's half African-American. Wheter that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk White? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards. I think his main problem is that he censors himself he knows exactly who has power, who has too much, who has too little what needs to be done right down the community level but he has bought the advice that if you want to win the election you better take it easy on the coproation abuses and do XYZ and when I hear that I say Oh I see. So he's doing all this to win the eleciton and then he'll be diferent? Well let's see if it worked. Did it work for Mondale? Did it work for Dukakis? Did it work for Clinton? Yes, but only because of Perot? Did it work for Gore? Did it work for Kerry?

M.E. Sprengelmeyer: Do you think he's trying to, what was your term, 'talk white'?

Ralph Nader: Of course. I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a Black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law. Haven't heard a thing. I mean, the amount of economic exploitation in the ghettos is shocking. You'd think he'd propose a task force to at least study it. I mean, these people are eroded every day. The kids, bodies are asbestos and lead, municipal services discriminate against them because it's the poor area, including fire and police protection and building code enforcement. And then the lenders, the loan sharks get at them, and the dirty food ends up in the ghettos, like the contaminated meat. It's a dumping ground for shoddy merchandise. You don't see many credit unions there. You don't see many libraries there. You dont's ee many health clinics there. This is, we're talking 40-50 million Americans who are predominatly African-Americans and Latinos. Anybody see that kind of campaigning? Have yous ee him campaign in real poor areas of the city very frequently? No, he doesn't campaign there.

M.E. Sprengelmeyer: What do you think the purpose of that is?

Ralph Nader: He wants to show that he is not a threatening, a political threatening, another politically-threatening African-American politician. He wants to appeal to White guilt. You appeal to White guilt not by coming on as a Black is beautiful, Black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the White power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up.

And the response? Muted from the Obama campaign . . . at first. They set out their Holler Monkeys to yet again scream "RACISM!" All the usual crew was there yet again. Latoya Peterson (Racialicious) needs someone to explain to her that Nader is not White. Not that facts matter to her. At Josh Michah Marsh's Hairy Crack, Eric Kleefeld at least has more sense than Peterson (he doesn't call Nader "White"). Kathy (LeftField) plays dumb -- it's playing right? -- and stresses Barack is a "black presidential candidate." Barack Obama is bi-racial. The Christ-child's lineage must not be questioned. See, there was never the conversation on race that the press told you was talking place. It never could take place because it would mean facing the fact that Barack was bi-racial, not "Black." And look, there's Ben Wyskida of The Nation, the arm pit sniffing Benny-boy, making cracks about Nader's race ("deeply black"). Does Ben think saying that to someone of Arab descent is 'funny' because that sounds pretty RACIST.

Isn't it cute that the publicity director for The Nation should blog at PINKOMAG.COM -- it's only natural, right? Pinko? Oh, it's a joke? Like Sam Graham-Felsen 'pretending' to be a Marxist? (And Ben, that's not a hint for you to bother/bore me again.)The push back's really important because the Christ-child has to be seen as Black. Even though he isn't. (It's the White guilt vote that Nader gets at.) So all the usual Holler Monkeys are recruited into service of the lie. Including 'plays mainstream journalist' Don Frederick whose ass should be fired from the Los Angeles Times -- in fact they should all be fired, all their 'political bloggers.' Having stated that John McCain was having a "hissy fit" over campaign finance should have made it clear how in the tank for Obama the paper is and, guess what, that's exactly what a MSM outlet CAN NEVER BE SEEN AS.

If the paper won't police their own, it may be time for others in Real Media to point out the problems. This is how the charges of bias get started (and they are true in LAT's case) and it these charges amplify and grow and soon all MSM outlets are tarred and feathered due to the actions of one outlet. It's unacceptable.

Sunday at Third, interesting feature that will be a docu-drama piece on the Christ-child's miracle birth and other things. Noting that allows me to pull six paragraphs and get the snapshot reduced to a reasonable size. Julie Bosman (New York Times) reports Nader's spokesperson Chris Driscoll said there would be no apology. Nor should their be. Bosman quotes Driscoll reading a statement attributed to Ralph Nader, "Obama's abstract campaign has been delusional and irresponsible when it comes to avoiding concrete policies that truly defend and empower the 100 million Americans living in poverty or near poverty." Sugar (Sugar N Spice) notes that Barack's made clear that he doesn't "care about inner-city crime and poverty" and notes his 'joke' "in Philadelphia last week. A city so plagued with murders and mayhem it is now commonly called Killadelphia. He stated, 'If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun . . . Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I've seen Eagles fans.' He thought it was cute. I think it akin to telling folks in a Cancer ward, 'I guess we better not take any of you guys on a tour of Chernobyl site anytime soon, huh? Heehee."


RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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"Justice Dept., impeachment, Ralph"
"Barack has no clue"
"Justice Dept, Ballot Access"
"Iraq, Nader"
"From the dessert tray"
"THIS JUST IN! BETTY CROCKED CAKE MIX!"

Katty and Betsy drop in

I had just returned from the road where I was speaking for Ralph Nader. I'd wanted to catch the two events this week in NYC but no sooner had I entered my apartment, kicked off my shoes and taken a breath then my doorbell rang.

Katrina vanden Heuvel and Betsy Reed breezed in without so much as a "May I."

"It's so wonderful!" gushed Katty-van-van apparently in mid-conversation. "They call me Money-bags and now I can use that!"

Betsy looked glum and repeatedly scratched her arms and shoulders. She'd caught scabies while in jail. She's lucky that's all she caught.

As Katty-van-van kept chattering away and Betsy worked on removing several skin layers, I realized the topic was Barack.

"I'm voting for Nader," I shouted, hoping that might shut Katty-van-van up.

"Yes, Thomas told me that."

How did my husband Thomas Friedman know? I started to get lost on that but thought, "Wait, Betinna, you want these women out of your home."

I was still standing by the door, holding it open in fact, and I gestured for Katty and Betsy to leave but Katty was plopping herself on the sofa and Betsy had gone over to the doorframe to the hall and was rubbing her back up and down against it.

"It's not a scratching post, Betsy. Stop fidegting," instructed Katty. "Now, Betinna, I'm here to talk to you about your vote. As a Black woman, you need to support the Black candidate."

"I wanted to," I replied, "but Cynthia McKinney's only running for 5% of the vote, not for the White House."

Betsy went into convulsions at the mention of Cynthia's name, reminding me of how The Nation refused to defend Cynthia and how one of the jerk-off Aris had even blogged that they weren't going to defend Cynthia back when she was harassed by the DC police.

I remembered how damn little Katty and her crew gave about Black America.

"Barack's bi-racial, Katrina."

"That's right! He's got something for both of us! For me, he's educated and, for you, he's probably eaten a watermelon."

"You and your racist ass can get the hell out of my apartment."

"What!" Katty-van-van sputtered. "How is that racist? At my mansion in Harlem, every summer, I make a point to stand outside and give away free watermelons. You're people love them!"

Betsy had disappeared and I made a note to immediately disinfect the bathroom as soon as I got them both out of here.

"Betinna, Barack is bringing people together," Katty-van-van insisted. "People like you and me who would normally never speak to one another because we inhabit different social worlds -- for instance, I inhabit one! -- can come together and enjoy the greatness that is Barack. Worshipping Barack is better than any stinking democracy."

"Guess what Katty, I don't want to get along with you, I don't want . . ."

My voice trailed off as Betsy returned carrying my butcher knife.

Those two whack-jobs weren't planning to kill off all non-Barack voters in order to fix the election for him, were they?

I wouldn't put it past them but, fortunately for me (and unfortunately for my good knife), Betsy was merely using it as a scratching device as she plunged it down the back of her shirt.

"I'm voting for Ralph and you need to leave," I ordered.

"Ralph? He's a loser! He has no bumper sticker-like uplifting slogans! He actually stands for things, Betinna. America doesn't freedom and choice, they need Barack. If you surrender to Barack -- give up all your beliefs and standards -- you will find the path to peace. Barack will lead you. He is creamy chocolate goodness."

I grabbed Katty by her big nose and used her body to push Betsy out the door. I then locked the door and ignored the knocking.

"What about your knife?" called Katty-van-van.

"Keep it!" I holler back. "I'm sure it's already crawling with something!"

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday, June 20, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, today is World Refugee Day, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Matthew Chiroux was the subject of a broadcast CBS 23 News (WIFR, link has text and video) last night:

Mike Garrigan: 24-year-old Matthis Chiroux says he will not deploy to Iraq. The young soldier was asked to report to duty June 15th but he refuses, calling the war in Iraq and illegal war. Chiroux has been in the US army for five years and has completed a tour of Afghanistan; however, he says he has no intentions of returning.

Matthis Chiroux: My decision was entirely based on my desire to no longer continue to violate my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation.

NBC's WAFF 48 also reported on Matthis last night (link has text and video):

Kimberly Essex: An army Sergeant is refusing to deploy from Iraq and his family is dealing with his decision to do so. WAFF 48 reporter Eric Sollman joins us now and, Eric, you spoke with the soldier's father.

Eric Sollman: Yes, Kim, and being a military man himself, Robert Chiroux, he has mixed -- mixed reactions to the whole ordeal. His son Matthis, a military photo journalist, is one of thousands of military ready reserve troops recalled to combat and now, according to army officials, he's one of about 700 called from this group that have failed to report in the last seven years. Last time Matthis Chiroux made local news was when [clip from December 2004 shown] was four years ago. The story involved his girlfriend at the time and a car break-in. Now this US army Sergeant is making national headlines for refusing to redeploy to Iraq. He's not hiding his protest and his family isn't dodging questions either.

Robert Chiroux: My son made the decision not to report. He feels that the war in Iraq is unconstitutional and unjust.

Eric Sollman: His father Robert is a navy veteran who lives in Huntsville [Alabama]. He said his son was to report to Fort Jackson Sunday for reactivation from the Individual Ready Reserve. Matthis refused.

Robert Chiroux: My son has certainly indicated that if he had been called back from the Inactive Ready Reserve to active duty to serve in Afghanistan, he would not have hesitated to go. So I know that my son -- inspite of things that I have heard said of him -- he's certainly not a coward. He just has decided that he feels this war is illegal and he's taking a stand.

Eric Sollman: While Robert doesn't necessarily agree with his son's stand, he stands by him.

Robert Chiroux: My son asked me to come to Washington [DC] to be with him on Father's Day. I had some reservations about standing behind my son while he made his statement but he's my son and, of course, I love him and I'm going to stand with him.

Eric Sollman: And Robert says he would gladly take his son's place and serve if he could and, Kim, of course there were a lot of issues that we talked about that we couldn't fit into the story so we put his interview in its entirity on our website at waff.com.

Kimberly Essex: Well your heart just goes out to this father because he really is in a tough position. He wants to support his son but it doesn't coincide with maybe what he really believes.

Eric Sollman: And he says it's something that only a parent could understand.

WAYYTV's Brett Haas notes, "The 24-year-old is in Washington lining up support from like-minded members of Congress." AFP explains, "Chiroux served five years in the army, with tours in Afghanistan, Japan, Germany and the Philippines."

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Today is World Refugee Day. The United Nations' IRIN notes that "Iraqi experts have been urging the government and international community to do more to help the large number of Iraqi refugees in the Middle East" and quote Iraqi Parliamentarian Abdul-Khaliq Zankana stating, "Day after day Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries are getting more frustrated by the harsh conditions in which they live. Sooner or later they are going to have a negative impact on the stability of the whole region." Amnesty International has released Iraq: Rhetoric and Reality: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis (here for HTML and here for PDF) this week. Picking up with obligations: "Under international law a duty exists to not send or force a person to return to a situation where they would be at risk of serious human rights abuses. This principle attaches to all states as a principle of customary international law, as well as to state parties to the ICCPR, Convention against Torture and Refugee Convention and Protocol." But as the report points out the resposibility isn't just to host countries, the international community has an obligation to provide assistance as well.

The report repeatedly stresses that refugees cannot be returned to Iraq because the country is not stable. On Northern Iraq, they note: "There have been acts of political violence between Iraqi Arabs and Iraqi Kurds and against members of the Yazidi religious minority in several areas along the border between Kurdistan and Nineweh (Mosul) governorate. Tension and insecurity also increased when attacks by a Turkey-based armed group, the Kurdistand Workers Party (PKK), against Turkish troops stationed near the border with Iraq were followed in October 2007 by Turkish military operations against PKK bases in northern Iraq." When even the highly touted 'safe' region of Iraq is not safe, there's no 'safe' area. Despite that reality, many countries are attempting to send Iraqi refugees back to Iraq.

Norway was attempting to do that but, the report notes, it appears to have stopped. Other countries continue attempting deportation. Among the offenders are Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece and the Netherlands.

"Instead of avoiding the reality," the report notes, "the international community should be confronting a medium- to long-term displacement crisis, in view of the likelihood that Iraqi refugees will need sancturay for years to come. Recognition of the on-going nature of the crisis must be grasped now if the suffering of the millions of displaced Iraqis is to be ameliorated. Host nations need to be provided with on-going assistance and support from the international community through increased and sustained funding."

US senators Hillary Clinton and Ben Cardin and House Representatives Alcee Hastings and John Dingell sent a letter to the White House today on the refugee issue (Barack Obama refused to sign on). Here's the letter sent to the White House:

As you know, the Iraq War and subsequent ethnic and sectarian conflict has caused the displacement of millions of Iraqis. While we have great concerns about the United States response to this humanitarian crisis, we write to you about a specific population of especially vulnerable Iraqis: those who have worked for our government and American organizations in Iraq and whose lives have been placed in grave danger because of that service. Recent statistics and reports have indicated that the current system of identifying and resettling our Iraqi allies has structural complications and procedural inefficiencies. Since March 2003, the United States has admitted fewer than 8,000 Iraqi refugees in total. Your Administration's goal of admitting 12,000 Iraqi refugees during this fiscal year seems an unlikely goal, given that less than 6,000 have been resettled to date. At a recent Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) briefing, one panelist, an attorney providing pro bono legal services to help resettle Iraqi refugees noted, "unresponsiveness and protracted delays in interviews and processing have themselves contributed to…individual emergencies…The cost in human lives and suffering due to institutional breakdowns in such aberrational instances speaks to the pressing need to ensure that our system is better equipped to respond to these challenges." The role our own government has played in prolonging the suffering of our courageous Iraqi allies who risked their lives to assist our country is troubling and simply unacceptable. To better understand why the Administration continues to delay processing our Iraqi allies for resettlement, we respectfully request that you provide us with the necessary information in response to the following: • While we are pleased that the United States has opened a processing center in Baghdad to assist Iraqis at risk in applying for resettlement to the United States, we remain concerned by reports that the office lacks the necessary personnel and resources at this time to quickly and efficiently process those Iraqis who are in imminent danger. It is most troubling that only Iraqis with sufficient connections to enter the Green Zone are able to receive help. What is the Administration's immediate and long-term strategy to improve and increase the efficiency of the current processing system? • At the Baghdad center, in particular, significant problems inhibit expeditious and efficient processing of our Iraqi allies. For example, logistical and security issues prevent access to the Green Zone for many applicants and contribute to complications with assisting applicants with medical conditions. In light of the inherent difficulties of in-country processing, what is the current status of a proposal by State Department officials to allow the Department of Defense to airlift Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants for expedited processing to a central processing center at the United States Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait? As you know, this past April, England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered an airlift of British-affiliated Iraqis to a military airfield in Oxfordshire, England in order to expeditiously and safely process them there. Denmark also evacuated and resettled 370 Iraqi interpreters and other Iraqis who worked for Danish troops prior to the Danish contingent's departure from Iraq last year. We strongly urge your consideration of a proposal similar to those that are now being successfully implemented by our Coalition partners. • The appointment of Ambassador James Foley at the State Department and Lori Scialabba at the Department of Homeland Security as senior coordinators within those agencies with respect to Iraqi refugee issues was an important and useful step. However, it appears as if there are still problems with respect to interagency cooperation. One particular problem that has been identified is that FBI background checks, even for those Iraqis who have been working directly with the United States military in Iraq, are subject to inordinately lengthy delays. To address this ongoing issue, we strongly urge you to appoint a Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues in the White House. • When will the Department of Homeland Security issue its policy directive to implement the provisions of Sections 1241-1249 of Public Law 110-181, the "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act," for which it is responsible? • What is your Administration's policy regarding medical parole for those Iraqis whose cases are of high priority due to serious medical conditions? Our government has a moral responsibility to provide aid and protection to those courageous Iraqi allies who have risked their lives and the lives of their families to assist American efforts to build a democratic and stable Iraq. We are deeply concerned that, to date, you have not acknowledged their sacrifice or effectively marshaled the assets of our government to help them. We urge you to speak out about the service of our brave Iraqi allies and direct the appropriate agencies in your Administration to take immediate steps to provide them with the attention and resources they desperately need and deserve. Each day, more Iraqi allies face increased danger or even murder for their service to the United States. To ensure that more do not suffer because they chose to help us, a prompt response to these concerns is appreciated and we believe appropriate. Sincerely,
Alcee L. Hastings, M.C.
Benjamin L. Cardin, U.S.S.
John D. Dingell, M.C.
Russell D. Feingold, U.S.S.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S.S.
Robert P. Casey, Jr., U.S.S.
John W. Olver, M.C.
Janice D. Schakowsky, M.C.
G.K. Butterfield, M.C.
James P. McGovern, M.C.
Timothy H. Bishop, M.C.
Joseph Crowley, M.C.
Diane E. Watson, M.C.
Earl Blumenauer, M.C.
Peter Welch, M.C.
Hilda L. Solis, M.C.
Ike Skelton, M.C.

Repeating, Barack elected not to sign. Consider it another skipped vote -- or, dropping back to the Illinois state legislature, a "present" one. William C. Mann (AP) observes, "A half-million Iraqis fled their embattled country in 2007, the third consecutive year more Iraqis were displaced than any other nationality, a survey of the world's refugees reported Thursday." The organization is US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) and they also rank the ten worst countries. For Iraq, they note: "Shia militias in Iraq have particularly singled out Palestinians for retribution since the fall of the Hussein regime in 2003. From 2004 to 2007 more than 85,000 Palestinians fled targeted violence, leaving only 15,000 in Iraq. Gunmen in Ministry of the Interior uniforms have killed Palestinians, firing on UN buildings in the process. Insurgents have tortured Palestinians to death and fired mortars into Palestinian neighborhoods." IRIN notes the UNHCR's findings that 50% of the 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Lebanon are children. Citing the International Organization for Migration, Kim Gamel (AP) explains, "But women and children who have been forced to flee their homes are particularly vulnerable because the men in the family have often been killed or abandoned them in a conservative Islamic society that generally doesn't value women in the workplace." Adnkronos International notes the Spanish Commission of Refugee AID (CEAR) which found that "All 1600 refugees who sought asylum in Spain in 2007 were rejected by the government."


On refugees, the Times of London's Deborah Haynes won an award from Amnesty Interntaional for her coverage of Iraqi collaborators who face obstacles to safe harbor from the United Kingdom. Haynes wrote multiple articles on the topic. As noted before, we're not concerned with the plight of the collaborators. They have their champions -- such as Haynes.

Meanwhile, the invasion of Amara continues with Iraqi troops and US troops taking part in the 'crackdown.' Hannah Allam and Ali al Basri (McClatchy Newspapers) quote Faiq Hanoun declaring yesterday, "The city is quiet even though the operation has started, and I haven't heard a gun-shot or the sound of a plane. Life is going on in the normal fashion. Markets are open and movement in and out of the city hasn't stopped." Ernesto London and Aahad Ali (Washington Post) note the arrest of the vice governor which "angered followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr . . . Sadrist leaders in Maysan have vowed to cooperate with Iraqi troops but have suggested that the government is trying to expand its presence in Sadr strongholds to weaken the movement politically before provincial elections scheduled for the fall." Alissa J. Rubin and Suadad Salhy (New York Times) discover, "There were reports of rough treatment and especially of arrests of eminent followers of Mr. Sadr. It was unclear whether the units making the arrests had warrants, as required under Iraqi law. If so, Mr. Sadr's followers said they would not protest the detentions. However, Mr. Sadr's supporters protested at least two cases in which Iraqi troops seized family members of wanted figures when they could not find the person they were seeking. Iraqi military leaders responded that they had arrested only one relative of a wanted man. The American military has used similar tactics, drawing criticism from Iraqis in and out of the government." ANTARA NEWS and AFP explain that today saw the arrests of five more aides to al-Sadr. Aref Mohammed (Reuters) quotes Adnan al-Selawi ("head of the Sadr movement's office in Amara) stating that "we found many breaches and violations" in the 'security sweep.'

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 3 lives and left seven people wounded, a Nineveh roadside bombing left eleven Iraqi soldiers wounded, a Mosul car bombing left six police officers wounded and, dropping back to yesterday, Diyala Province home bombings left one person wounded.

Corpses?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse was discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 2 corpses discovered in Iskandariya.

Meanwhile, in the US, Robert O'Harrow Jr. (Washington Post) reveals that the Democrats have set up a panel to investigate the contracts 'awarded' throughout the illegal war. The press release at US Senator Jim Webb's online office notes, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have named a co-chair and three additional commissioners to the Commission on Wartime Contracting. Established as the result of legislation introduced by Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) last spring and signed into law January 28, 2008, the Commission is charged with addressing the systemic problems associated with the federal government's wartime-support, reconstruction, and private security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan."



Today the US military announced: "One Soldier was killed and five wounded in three roadside bomb attacks on Coalition force patrols in Diyala province June 20. All casualties were evacuated to a Coalition hospital."

Turning to US politics, Barack Obama's decision to opt out of public financing [see Wally's "THIS JUST IN! DNC OR GOP? WHO CAN TELL?," Cedric's "Extreme DNC Makeover!," Mike's "LAT and Barack -- liars liars pants on fire," Ruth's "Barack sells out, Matthis stands firm," Kat's "Glen Ford, Kevin Zeese" and Rebecca's "the liar barack" and yesterday's snapshot] leads the New York Times to editorialize "Public Funding on the Ropes" and Team Nader notes:
Ralph Nader stands for shifting the power from the big corporations back to the people.
Period.
Full stop.
End of story.
Contrast that with Senator Obama.
The old Obama said that he thought NAFTA was a "big mistake."
The new Obama isn't so sure.
The old Obama said he would abide by public spending limits in this election.
The new Obama he says he won't.
The old Obama said he was for a change in foreign policy and surrounded himself with innovative thinkers with a chance to make a difference.
The new Obama has surrounded himself with veterans of the military industrial complex status quo.
The old Obama talked economic populism.
The new Obama talks corporate-speak and surrounds himself with economists from the Chicago School.
You know where Nader and Gonzalez stand on corporate power.
And that isn't changing.
We're at six percent nationwide in the most recent CNN poll.
We're going to be on ten state ballots by the end of June.
And we're shooting for 40 by the end of the summer.
Together, we are moving forward.
And together, we will make a difference in November.
Onward.

Non-Iraq related, independent journalist David Bacon continues to explore the issue of immigration. And his latest is "HOW DO YOU SAY JUSTICE IN MIXTECO?" (TruthOut). NOW on PBS (airs tonight in most markets) asks: "Will a booming worldwide middle class drive up consumer costs?" PBS' Washington Week will include AP's Charles Babington, Los Angeles Times' Doyle McManus and CNBC and the New York Times' John Harwood.


iraqmatthis chiroux
mcclatchy newspapershannah allemali al basrithe washington posternesto londonoaahad alidavid baconalissa j. rubinthe new york times
washington weekpbscharles babingtondoyle mcmanusnow on pbs

Pack it in Ms. Magazine, you're pathetic

No, Betinna tonight. I'm enraged and not in the mood to write a chapter. C.I. and Kat were listening to my draft over the phone. I came to my third joke with no reaction. They are always the best audience.

They are generous with their praise and laughter. (And will suggest that some step is left out when it is or any number of things that keep me focused.)

I asked, "Hey, are you two there?"

They immediately apologized and explained they were furious and not the best audience right now. I asked what was up?

This is what is up, "Sexist Campaign Coverage Continues"

Sexist coverage of the election did not end when Senate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) suspended her campaign. Earlier this week, Fox News ran a blatantly sexist and racist graphic referring to Michelle Obama as Senator Obama's "Baby Mama."

The crap continues but that's more than enough of it. It's from Ms. Magazine's Feminist Wire Daily and they've got a lot of nerve using "Continues" in their heading when their ASSES STAYED SILENT AS HILLARY WAS ATTACKED EVERY DAMN DAY.

Michelle Kort, you're a bad writer and I'll leave at that (while hoping C.I. outs your ass).

You LIED and told people, when confronted on YOUR SILENCE over the sexist attacks on Hillary, that Ms. couldn't comment. They weren't allowed to because of their tax status.

LIE.

LIE and you are a LIAR.

Ms. didn't comment because you didn't want to help the first female candidate for president who had a real shot and the reason is because you love you some Barack.

Let me make it real clear to Whiteys out there, it is offensive to this Black woman that Barack is repeatedly called "Black." He is bi-racial. There is nothing wrong with being bi-racial but it is not Black.

I am the mother of three children, they all grasp that Barack is not Black. Not because I told them but because they are Black and they have eyes. They know what Black looks like.

Barack has his grandfather and mother's chin, their ears, their eyes. (His father's eyes would have been a curse.) He has his grandfather's ears. Maternal grandfather.

In your White eyes he may be Black but my children could spot reality.

Your little lies that this is what a Black man (note the 'man') can achieve is bull.

It's what a bi-racial man can achieve. My children can not pass for White or mixed or half. They know what they look like and we don't need you well meaning Whites, so quick to erase your guilt (over what, I don't know, maybe it's a collective, historical guilt), telling us that he's Black.

We didn't need Hillary Hater Donna Brazile being allowed to pose in the magazine as someone who's fair. But Ms. doesn't need a closet case writing for it to begin with.

I don't know what Donna's problem. In Atlanta, our guess is that her mother told her, "Fine you're gay but I don't need to know about it!"

I don't care what her excuse is. She's a lesbian stuck in the closet. That's not a strong message to women and she doesn't need to doodle for Ms. magazine.

So now Ms. wants to pay attention to sexism . . . when it effects Michelle Obama.

A presidential candidate they can't defend, a possible First Lady they can. How 'traditional.'

Ms. is making itself a piece of crap. It has let down feminism, it has let down women.

And considering Michelle's sexist comments about Hillary, it's laughable that you now want to defend Michelle. While staying silent month after month on Hillary.

It's too little, too late, Ms.

LIE FACE Melissa Harris-Lacewell told Bill Moyers in 2007 that Barack is Black because anyone who could have been a slave all those years ago in the US should be considered Black. Of course liar Melissa is part of the Barack campaign, a detail she loves to conceal in her interviews and people like Charlie Rose and Amy Goodman help her conceal.

Black history apparently didn't take with Melissa who never grasped that "octoroon" uses the same insulting thinking she does.

The word is bi-racial. He had a White mother, he had a Black father. That's a fifty-fifty split and Melissa wants us all to know he's Black?

One of the most disgraceful episodes for my community in the late 90s was some 'leaders' rejecting bi and multi-racial as categories.

(Michelle Obama is Black, in case anyone doesn't know or is wondering.)

It appeared to all come down to recognition and funding. It was disgraceful.

Bi and multi-racial people already exist in this country and their numbers will only grow. Insisting that they are one race and denying the other(s) is racism.

I was a teenager in the nineties and one of the exciting things about that was seeing a shift to diversity. I didn't even realize that was what I was witnessing. I just thought, "Wow." I was too young to know about the battles until the backlash started at the end of the 90s.

Barack Obama put homophobes on stage in South Carolina to scare up their votes. He did it by appealing to a very real homophobia that is sadly strong in some parts of the Black community. Feminists avoided called him out for it by and large. Feminists said it was okay to use homophobia with their silence.

The LGBT community and the bi and multi-racial communities were among the first tossed under the bus to push Barack.

Michelle's use of sexism was only echoed by her brother's remarks to The New Yorker.

Now I'm supposed to feel sorry for her?

Grow up.

No, it's not nice when sexism is used against anyone.

But Michelle used it.

And her husband sure did. "99 problems but a bitch isn't one of them." Does anyone not get how offensive that 'celebration' song Barack's campaign used in Iowa was?

Maybe they figure it's a "Black thang" and so it's okay.

Let me make it clear for feminists of all colors, you're not helping Black women by refusing to call out Barack's use of sexism. What wa she said about Hillary that sometimes when she's periodically feeling down, she feels the need to lash out? That the claws come out?

If his wife, who didn't just stay silent but used sexism herself, gets payback now, I won't shed any tears.

Barack's campaign has been built on homophobia, false charges of racism and sexism.

Unlike Barack or Father Micheal Pfleger, I actually am Black. I know racism when I see it.

Racism is not Bill Clinton calling Barack's Iraq claim a "fairy tale." Barack's story is a fairy tale. He gave a speech against the Iraq War before it started, voted for funding it in the Senate, told The New York Times in 2004 he didn't know how he would have voted on the resolution. Repeated that to The New Yorker in 2007. Vanished his 2002 speech from his campaign website when he ran for the US Senate.

Racism is not Bill Clinton saying Barack would be a roll of a dice. We say "craps."

Racism is not someone pointing out that Barack did drugs anymore than it was racism when Bill Clinton's pot use was raised in the 1992 campaign.

Barack did drugs. I'm not crackpot Dave Lindorff, a White man who supports Barack because Barack "risked jail as a Black man to do drugs."

Life was hard for Barack in the inner city of Hawaii where he attended his posh prep school in the late seventies. That's why he did pot.

Is that the lie we're all supposed to believe?

Barack wrote about using pot and coke in his two books. He cracked jokes about his pot use with Jay Leno (he inhaled, he insisted to big laughs). But no one else can point out that Barack did drugs without it being racism?

What a load of crap.

As my father always points out, it's these false charges that hurt the Black community. There is very real racism in the US and when a bunch of crap is called racism and it's not, it backfires not on the White community, but on the Black community.

I'm getting really tired of Barack posing as Black for his own political gain -- and the media declaring every thing about his life off limits because he's "Black" -- while he offers the Black community nothing.

He is the White get out of jail free card. Vote for him and racism is over.

Only for those of us who are Black, it's not.

But that's the lie his campaign is built around. A vote for the bi-racial man means you never have to do anything about the very real racist inequalities in society.

And, lucky bonus, Barack loves to call out Black people. Whether he's attacking Black fathers and how 'irresponsible' they are or promoting a 'post-racial' view, he's dismissing Black existance.

Now maybe if I were bi-racial posing as Black, I'd be all in the post-racial Kool-Aid.

But not only am I responsible for me, I'm responsible for my three children.

They're going to grow up in a racist society and if a miracle allows Barack to win the general election, they're still going to be living in a racist society while Whites congratulate themselves on how racism is over and all wounds are healed.

It's a lie but that's all Barack's ever had to offer.

Lies, empty slogans.

I'm supporting Ralph Nader.

I wish I could say I was supporting Cynthia McKinney but her campaign has posted the crackpot woman hating Ishmael. And she's defined victory not as the White House but as five-percent of the vote. And, most important, she stayed silent throughout the sexist attacks on Hillary.

I didn't. I knew damn well that as a Black woman, my pointing out the sexism could carry more weight for a few people because wasn't the lie that sexism was no big deal?

We heard it over and over. We heard it from racists Robert Parry and Robert Scheer. Two elderly White men that need to leave the public stage. But they hate Hillary (in 2007, Scheer said he'd vote for Nader if Hillary was the nominee -- while screaching at Nader not to run). So they were happy to scream racism and belittle the very real sexism.

Jesse Jackson is Black.

Jesse Jackson experienced real racism in his runs. I don't mean from the nutty right wing. That's a given. And all today's 'critics' have to offer as examples of racism against Barack. I mean from the MSM. They didn't do that this go round. They loved Barack -- the candidate of Wall Street.

Instead they used sexism to destroy Hillary. They was the MSM like Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, David Schuster, Tim Russert, and many more.

They was also Matthew Rothschild, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Betsy Reed, Laura Flanders (another self-loathing lesbian), Danny Schechter (who attacks all women who don't 'know their place' -- hence, his non-stop war on Katie Couric for how many years now?), David Corn, John Nichols, Sharon Smith, Jeremy Scahill (I loved it when Scahill was whining -- Hillary was proposing outlawing contractors in Iraq and that wasn't good enough, Barack was proposing nothing but it was 'difficult' for Barack), Amy Goodman, Allan Nairn ('yes, Barack takes money from big business, but out of fear' argued Nairn), and so many more.

Make a list of all the people using racism against Barack in 2008, all the media outlets and, after you cross off the right wingers, it's going to be a short list. You didn't have Randi Rhodes screaming vile names at him into a microphone, that was Hillary she attacked.

And through it all, Ms. magazine wanted to stay silent.

Now they want to fret over Michelle.

It's bulls**t.

When it mattered, they didn't say a word.

I happen to know (because Ava passed on both articles) that two rank, vile and disgusting articles were written about Cindy McCain this week. But Ms. isn't calling that out, are they?

But we're all supposed to feel sorry for Michelle Obama?

Forget it. She made her bed, she needs to lie in it. If there are bed bugs, oh well.

It's real funny how pathetic Ms. magazine has become. It has nothing to say to women period and this crap that they're going to rush to defend Michelle is nothing but crap.

Where were they when the "nut crackers" of Hillary were being sold? Being sold at MSNBC stores in airports?

No where.

Baby's Mama?

They're idiots.

They're White idiots.

Hello Feminist Wire Daily, let me introduce you to Prince. "Future Baby's Mama." It's a song by Prince. It's about a woman he's attracted to and, if you missed it, Prince is in a heavily Christian phase for about ten years now. It's a song about a woman he wants to date, wants to marry, wants to have a child with.

You're so White, you don't even know that.

You're so White, you're insisting it's slang for an unmarried woman who has a baby.

You're so pathetic and so disgusting.

Apparently you all saw Tina Fey's pathetic movie and that was the first time you ever heard the phrase.

From Julie Turner's "Where Do 'Baby-Daddies' Come From?" (Slate):

Celebrity gossips are not known for their contributions to English letters. In tabloids, the copy is breathless, the headlines are stunningly literal, and the "hand-written" photo captions seem to toggle between "Awww!" and "Ew!" But as they zero in on celebrity mating and breeding rituals, the magpies keep breaking new linguistic ground. First they imported the British term bump, a noun used to refer to the protruding abdomen of a pregnant starlet. Then they awarded celebrity couples mash-up nicknames like "Bennifer," "Brangelina," and "TomKat." Now they've seized upon baby-daddy and baby-mama, two useful terms that have long appeared in hip-hop and R&B lyrics, and are slowly stripping them of their emotional fangs.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines baby-daddy as "the father of a woman's child, who is not her husband or (in most cases) her current or exclusive partner." The baby-mama entry follows the same template with the genders reversed. But some gossip writers have been adopting the first part of the definition and ignoring the second. Salon recently called Tom Cruise "Katie Holmes' baby-daddy," even though the couple is engaged. And Gawker refers to Keven Federline as "Britney Spears' baby-daddy," even though the couple has been married for more than a year.

Get it, pathetic? The use grew sometime ago. And if you can't grasp it, that article was published in May of 2006. But here's the culturally blind Ms. magazine jumping on the Barack bandwagon. The campaign hollers and the stooges come running.

I'm sick of it. And Ms. needs to pack it in. It's not serving the cause, it hasn't. It stayed silent while Hillary was accused of "pimping out" her daughter. It stayed silent when Keith Olbermann said she should be taken into a room by a man and only "he" emerges. It stayed silent month after month with Michelle Kort insisting they would lose their tax exempt status if they didn't.

Michelle Obama gets called a Baby Mama and suddenly it's time for Ms. to man the cannons!

Pathetic.

Screw you, Ms. magazine.

You've done nothing for women all year and now you want to prop up a potential First Lady? And expect anyone to take you seriously when you don't even know what you're talking about?

This is so typical of the press and so typical of the Barack campaign. Barack's bi-racial so maybe he truly is ignorant of Black culture. But Michelle damn well knows better. Ms. should have as well. But Ms. should have been at the forefront calling out the very real sexism Hillary faced day after day. And Ms. didn't. Because they're pathetic. Because the 'feminist' magazine is in the tank for Barack and because Michelle Kort is a sorry excuse for a human being.

One more thing. They never called out the sexism launched at Katie Couric for two years now. They really are that DAMN PATHETIC. And Katie's commentary this week? 'Feminist' Wire Daily couldn't tell their 'readers' (all two?) that the only female anchor called out the sexism used against Hillary. Way to go, way to take one for the 'ladies,' you pathetic piece of crap.

Also see: "Ms.went from playing dumb to outright insulting" and grasp that Ava and C.I. could call out sexists while Ms. stayed silent. While Ms. played useless. While Ms. betrayed women. We all worked on "Norman Solomon remembers 'the ladies'" but Ava and C.I., at our request, punched it up and made it the strong and hilarious commentary it is. Ms. never called out any of the 'left' males showing up to lecture women that they shouldn't vote for Hillary out of gender identity. As a Black woman, I'm fully aware that Solomon, Mark Karlin, Robert Scheer, et al, never urged Blacks not to vote for Barack out of racial identiy. But they could lecture the 'ladies' (of all races). Where the hell was Ms.? Condoning this crap with their silence. You can also refer to the two other pieces we wrote Sunday: "Piggies on parade" and "What Did You Do In The War, Mommy?" and while I do not want to put pressure on Ava and C.I., I would strongly encourage you to check out their TV commentary this Sunday. I know it's going to be something.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday, June 13, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, SOFA talks break off (or do they?), Laura Bush sees a mending, al-Sadr issues instructions to resistance fighters, and more.

Starting with war resistance. As Dusti Fansler (Wellington Daily News) explains, "Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. While the totals are still far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect, they show a steady increase over the past four years and a 42 percent jump since last year." Sunday Matthis Chiroux is order to deploy to Iraq. This despite the fact that he was discharged and is in the IRR.

Chiroux made his decision public May 15th and Iraq Veterans Against the War carried his statements (text, video):

Good afternoon. My name is Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, and I served in the Army as a Photojournalist until being honorable discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines. As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and filter servicemember's stories, I heard many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors and crimes taking place in Iraq. For fear of retaliation from the military, I failed to report these crimes, but never again will I allow fear to silence me. Never again will I fail to stand. In February, I received a letter from the Army ordering my return to active duty, for the purpose of mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thanks in great part to the truths of war being fearlessly spoken by my fellow IVAW members, I stand before you today with the strength, clarity and resolve to declare to the military and the world that this Soldier will not be deploying to Iraq. This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment in support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being, but in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army if they so wish to pursue them. I refuse to participate in the occupation of Iraq.

Courage to Resist has posted an interview with him (audio only). At the end of last month, California's New University weighed in on the issue, "Whether you have signed up for the military, are currently enlisted, are open to the idea or are violently opposed to serving, what remains clear is that if you are tapped to serve in Iraq, just don't go. First, the conflict has proven to be aimless, as little has gone smoothly since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Second, because so many individuals are already unwilling to serve in Iraq, the U.S. army is ready to send just about anyone, whether they are prepared or not. Lastly, make no mistake that Iraq is a war zone. Despite the invasion being invalid, this illegal war can have the same effect on its soldiers as any credible conflict. . . . Over the years, the objectives of the war in Iraq have changed from toppling a dictator to finding harmful weapons to flat-out nation-building. As such, the Baush administration or its successor may attempt to shift the aim of the conflict again, to something that is anybody's guess. Still, know that the war in Iraq is an illegal and aimless conflicts and that soldiers such as Chioux should be applauded for their refusal to support it." May 23rd, he explained to Leia Petty (US Socialist Worker), "I didn't like the war from the start. I always thought it smelled fishy, but I knew at the time, the Army owned my ass for at least the next four-and-a-half years. So I got in line like most soldiers, and prayed night and day that I could trust American civilians to end the war. I was so disappointed when my prayers went unaswered. . . . I do want to be clear though that I did not make this decision to benefit any movement or serve anyone's agenda. I made this decision for myself, based on an intense personal conviction that what I am doing is not only right, but the only decision possible for me as a person and a veteran."

Two years ago this month, Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. He cited the illegality of the Iraq War. In August 2006, an Article 32 hearing was held. In February 2007, a kangaroo court-martial took place. Over defense objection, Judge Toilet (John Head) ruled a mistrial. Toilet insisted that a new court-martial would take place immediately (March 2007 was when Head said it would take place). It has never
taken place. The Constitution forbids double jeopardy and the US military has been trying
to get around the Constitution but were stopped last November by US District Judge Benjamin Settle. Tara McKelvey (American Prospect) reports:

Watada, 30, is an unlikely icon of war resistance. At 5 feet 7 inches, he is unimposing and even shy, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals, with his dark hair cut Army-short and his ears sticking out. He was raised in Honolulu, where his father, Bob, worked for decades in campaign-finance reform, and his mother, Carolyn Ho, was a high school guidance counselor. Watada, an Eagle Scout,
joined the Army in March 2003, his senior year at Hawaii Pacific University and,
like everyone who enlists, pledged an oath that members of the U.S. military have taken since 1789. "It doesn't say, 'I, Ehren Watada, will do as I'm told.' It says I will protect the Constitution," Watada says. He supports war in principle and is not a conscientious objector--in fact, he offered to go to Afghanistan (his commanders turned him down). "I'm against the Iraq War," he says. "By law, the war is
wrong."

Pacific Citizen Staff reminds: "It was seven months ago that a federal judge blocked the U.S. Army from conducting a second court-martial of Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq with his unit in June of 2006. U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle ruled that a second
trial would violate Watada's constitutional rights, essentially agreeing with the officer's attorneys who argued double jeopardy -- that a person could not be tried twice for the
same crime." And Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) spoke with one of Watada's two civilian attorneys, Ken Kagan, and reports that Kagan believes "federal judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma will probably take up the matter early this fall. . . . Kagan said he expects the case to eventually go before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where it may take up to three years before a decision is rendered."

May 21st was when Corey Glass was told he would be deported. Iraq War vet and a US war resister Corey Glass was to be deported yesterday, however he's been 'extended' through July 10th. June 3rd Canada's House of Commons voted (non-binding motion) in favor of Canada being a safe harbor for war resisters. The Laval News quotes War Resisters Support Campaign's Lee Zaslofksy stating, "This is a great victory for the courageous men and women who have come to Canada because they refuse to take part in the illegal, immoral Iraq War, and for the many organizations and individuals who have supported this campaign over the past four years." In the US, the press has played mute with few exceptions. Already noted last week were Bloomberg News and the Los Angeles Times which did report the historic vote. Sunday, Jim Fox (Tampa Bay Times) included it in news roundup. Liam Lahey (Ontario Mirror Guardian) profiled Corey Glass this week noting, "Glass, who arrived in Canada in August 2007 and resides in a modest apartment in Parkdale, hails from Fiarmount, Ind. He voluntarily joined the National Guard in 2004 believing he could help in disaster zoen scenarious or to defend American soil should the country fall under an enemy attack and quotes Glass explaining, "It got to me one day after something that happened and I can't go into that detail but I had to quit. I didn't feel (the war) was the right thing to do from the beginning and I definitely didn't feel we should be doing this to the Iraqis." Dan Glaister (Guardian of London) notes, "A former US national guardsman will learn next month whether he can remain in Canada, where he has sought refuge from military service in Iraq." Mary MacCarthy (FRANCE 24) reports, "Corey joined the National Guard hoping to do humanitarian work, but ended up being sent to Iraq to work in military intelligence."

To keep the pressure on, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca").

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Turning to Iraq. The White House wants to push through a treaty with Iraq (the UN authorization expires at the end of this year). Steve Negus and Harvey Morris (Financial Times of London) report that the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki, declares talks over a Status Of Forces Agreement is at a "dead end" and they noted the White House attempts to play down the news: "Zalmay Khalilzad, US envoy to the UN, told the Financial Times the Bush administration remained optimistic that a bilateral aggreement would be reached." At the US State Dept, they were spinning yesterday as well with press flack Gonzalo R. Gallegos insisted on denying to reporters that there was in prolbem in negotiations on the SOFA and declared, "I think that the UN mandate does run through the end of the year, we've got about six more months to get to that point. I believe that we had Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker up here last week. He spoke very clearly about his concerns that this be done -- more important to him, this be done right, be done correctly than quickly. There's time left. We're continuing with our discussions with the government of Iraq. It's important to us that this be done correctly and we will see where we got with that."
In Brussels today US Secretary of State Robert Gates was caught by surprise when confronted with the "dead end" remarks declaring, "I had not heard that and I'm not quite sure what the exact circumstances are. So I will have to, when I get home, find out what the status of those negotiations is, and whether there's a difference between what's actually going on in negotiations and the public posture. I just don't know the answer at this point." Which actually might be a wise position to take. Patrick Worsnip (Reuters) reports Hoshiyar Zebari (Foreign Minister of Iraq) states the talks are still ongoing.

Meanwhile AP reports Moqtada al-Sadr issued a statement today declaring that resistance fighters battling the illegal occupation of Iraq "should be limited to a select group" (AP not al-Sadr quoted) and (al-Sadr quoted) "weapons will be in the hands of this group exclusively and will only be directed at the occupier." Mike Tharp (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Sadr's statement was issued to his Mahdi Army militia and is the latest evidence that he is reacting to pressure from the U.S. and Iraqi military to disarm his followers, estimated at some 60,000. In August last year, he called for a cease-fire by his supporters, which was renewed in February for six months."

In the United States, Ben Pershing (Washington Post) documents that the war between Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) and Harry Reid (Senate Majority Leader) continues well after she trashed the Senate to the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board. At issue? The supplemental spending for the illegal war. Despite the fact that continuing to fund the illegal war continues the killing and Pelosi's Show Dancing of Opposition to the Iraq War, she insists that Congress must send Bully Boy something before July 4th: "I have made clear to the White House ... that we want to pass a bill that will be signed by the president, and that will happen before we leave for the 4th of July. I feel confident that will happen. . . . . We don't have that much time left. There are two and a half weeks left until the recess, and we will have a bill sent to the president by then, and it will have to be a bill that will pass in the House and the Senate." However, Pershing notes that US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid states there's no rush, "They [the Pentagon] have enough money till the end of July, so we're not really that panicked about it."

Today US First Lady Laura Bush gave the press conference on Air Force One while it headed to France. During the press conference, she spoke warmly of France, Italy and Slovenia (but didn't cite Germany by name -- read the transcript of the press conference, I'm being kind) before agreeing with a reporter that the relationship between the US and Europe is mending ("I think it -- yes, I think it's on the mend, and --" at which point someone told Laura Bush the conference was over). If Germany was frosty, Sunday doesn't appear to be shaping into a church social either. UK's Socialist Worker gets instructive with, "Tell George Bush: 'Go to hell!'" and notes, "He will land in Britain this Sunday 15 June and his final stop will be Belfast. Since he stole the US elections in 2000, Bush has brought untold disaster on the world. He has launched wars without end, run a worldwide regime of kidnapping and torture, and brought death and ruin to every corner of the world." And they also note:

Socialist Worker is calling on anti-war activists to defy a police ban on the George Bush Not Welcome Here demonstration.
A Stop the War Coalition (StWC) statement says, "We are calling on those who care for our democratic rights to come to Parliament Square at 5pm on Sunday 15 June. Some of those who signed statements accusing Bush of war crimes will be leading this protest."
StWC convenor Lindsey German said, "George Bush has been dictating British foreign policy for many years. Now it appears his security services are determining our rights of protest. This is a disgrace and we will challenge the ban."
Playwright Harold Pinter commented, "The ban on the Stop The War Coalition march in protest at the visit of President Bush to this country is a totalitarian act. In what is supposed to be a free country the Coalition has every right to express its views peacefully and openly. This ban is outrageous and makes the term 'democracy' laughable."

Turning to some of what Bully Boy (and Dems who refuse to stand up to him) have brought Iraq . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed 1 life and left three injured and a Baiji roadside bombing wounded a police officer.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the male in charge of an "Awakening" council in Uthaim was shot dead as were his 2 guards. CBS and AP report: "U.S. troops killed five suspected Shiite gunmen and detained two others Friday in a raid south of Baghdad, according to the U.S. military, and Iraqi police said two civilians were killed when they were caught in the crossfire."

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad.


Turning to the US political race for president, will sexism ever be seriously examined? Let's not even consult Magic 8ball, it's too depressing. But Katharine Q. Seelye and Julie Bowman offer "Critics and News Executives Split Over Sexism in Clinton Coverage" today on the primary season. Women's Media Center -- not mentioned in the article -- is holding a panel on this topic Tuesday in NYC, free and open to the public. From nine in the morning until noon at The Paley Center for Media (25 West 52nd Street, NYC) and participants will include Juan Gonzalez, Christiane Amanpour, Sue Carroll, Courtney Martin, Celinda Lake, Mika Brzezinski, Catalina Camia, Geneva Overholser, Ron Wlaters, Dr. Kathy and Patricia Williams. "Sponsored by The White House Project, The Women's Media Center and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, the forum is free of charge and open to the press and the public." Click here for the announcement and for information on registering.

Staying with the US political race, Team Nader issues the following:

2008 Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader discusses a remark made to him by a fellow alumnus at a recent Princeton reunion. Watch the video here, read the transcript below.
Do you think Ralph Nader should run? If so, let him know now with your contribution. (Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.) - The Nader Team
****
I was at my Princeton reunion the other day, and a young alumnus came up to me - he was very kind - and he said "You know, I really like what you're doing - I like what you did - but please don't run."
I said "Do you realize what you are saying?"
And he said "Yes, I said please don't run."
I said "You're telling me not to use my First Amendment rights of speech, assembly, and petition inside the electoral arena. You're telling me to shut up. Are you aware of what you're saying?"
He said "I understand, I understand, I like what you're doing, but please don't run."
So I went through and I said "Well, would you tell those voters instead of trying to determine which one was worse between the Democrats and the Whigs, the two major parties in the 19th century, and instead cut out and voted for the Liberty Party, which was the anti-slavery party - would you say to those candidates, 'Don't run'?"
And he sort of paused.
And I said "How about the people who refused to go least-worst between the Republicans and Democrats on women's suffrage? Would you tell those candidates 'don't run'? What do you say to that?"
And he paused.
And I took it up to date and I said "Would you tell Buchanan not to run?"
And he said "I understand what you are saying, but please don't run."
And I said "You know, unwittingly, you are engaging in a politically bigoted statement. Because you can oppose, and you can support, any candidates you want. But when you are saying to someone 'don't run' you are saying to someone 'do not speak, do not petition, do not assemble inside the electoral arena.'"
Now I'm saying this because I'm sure you've had these conversations with people. Look at the word spoiler. Spoiler is a contemptuous word of political bigotry. They do not accuse George W. Bush of being the spoiler in 2000, and last I heard he got more votes than I did, vis-a-vis Al Gore. It's only the independent and third parties that are called spoilers.
And think of the hubris here - these two parties have spoiled our elections, they've spoiled our government, they've spoiled our politics - and to have the temerity to say to someone who wants to reform the process that they are spoilers - they have no sense of humor - I mean, how do you satire satire?
- Ralph Nader, New York City, May 31, 2008 - Watch the video
"Ralph Nader should run for President so we all have a better choice in November. Please accept my support!"

iraq
iraq veterans against the war
matthis chiroux
tara mckelveyehren watada
gregg k. kakesako
jim fox
liam lahey
ben pershingthe washington post
mcclatchy newspapers
the new york timeskatharine q. seelyejulie bosman

Found on TV

The video below is from last night's CBS Evening News: