Librarian's Rant

Some excerpts from Senator Byrd's (D-WV) speech last week:

That so many have sacrificed during this war in Iraq is reason enough to ask questions about our government's policy in that faraway country. Our troops continue to shed their blood, and our nation continues to devote enormous sums of our national wealth, to continue that war. Whether one supported or opposed the war at its outset: no American must ever surrender the right to question the government.

The Constitution protects the American people from unjust laws that seek to stifle the patriotic duty to question those who are in power, but it is the courage of the American people that compels them to actually speak out when those in power call for silence. If anything, attacks on the patriotism of freedom-loving Americans may result in even more Americans fighting against attempts to squelch the Constitutional protections of freedom. [emphasis is mine, outrage is pure Byrd]

MoveOn.org is trying something new to fight the latest budget nonsense, in particular the cuts to services specifically directed at the growing poor in our country: They're putting a face on it (link takes you to their Flickr page).

Interesting idea. Reminds me of Sorry Everybody following the elections last year.

Outrage perhaps? Dismay? And yet all I feel when I read this...:

American Faces Charge of Graft for Work in Iraq

In what is expected to be the first of a series of criminal charges against officials and contractors overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq, an American has been charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to American occupation authorities and their spouses to obtain construction contracts, according to a complaint unsealed late yesterday.

...This is the first case, but it won't be the last," said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office. Mr. Mitchell said as many as a dozen related cases had been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

...is a great sense of...resignation, I guess? I'm not even remotely surprised. Which makes me sad. Yes, I guess that's my predominant feeling: Sadness. Of course graft is nothing new, but the blatant, unapologetic scope of it is disheartening. Because you can be sure that everyone knew about it, and it was considered SOP by our government. Sad. We can do so much better. We can be so much better.

...nearly identical 'opinion pieces' which express a remarkably similar opinion. From Democratic Underground.

This has hit my email like three times today:

Q: What is George W. Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans

Want to feel grateful for your life today? Read John Scalzi's blog post on Being Poor. And before you assume you know why folks stayed in New Orleans, read his post and think a bit.

And Barbara Bush should have this post tattooed on her arm to remind her to shut her trap.

From Daily Kos:

Physician who told off Cheney lost home in Katrina, detained, selling video on eBay .

"The truth is even with all our losses, we are still luckier than many people down here because at least we didn't die," Marble wrote. "But I thought I could try to raise some awareness to the bad policies of the Dubya Gump administration and also possibly raise some money to replace the many things we lost, and so I decided I would auction the videotape my friend shot of the event. I will also grant an interview to the winner if so desired."

The President, in his infinite wisdom (???) has called for a National Day of Prayer. Now, it's a nice thought, I guess, though he seems to forget that a huge proportion of Americans consider themselves agnostic, if not outright atheist. But of course, they don't matter, right? But really, most of us who were paying attention were praying/hoping/meditating/mobilizing DURING the crisis--all the crises, in fact.

Here's an idea: how about a National Day of Volunteering? On September 16th (or that weekend), take a day, even half a day, and spend it doing something for your community. It doesn't have to be hurricane-related, though if you can help load up a few semis full of water and food and clothing, all the better. But whatever you can do, do. And imagine...if even half the country stood up and gave some time over a three-day period, imagine what we could accomplish for each other!

There's my Pollyanna thought for the day. Now back to your regularly scheduled despair at the state of the world.

I thought Dennis Hastert's comments (see the Top 10 Quotes post below) were idiotic. But this takes the frigging cake:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this [she chuckles slightly] is working very well for them."

-- Barbara Bush, quoted by on American Public Radio's Marketplace program, on New Orleans residents evacuated and re-located to the Astrodome in Houston.

From http://politicalwire.com/archives/2005/09/05/quote_of_the_day.html

Thanks to Chris Z. on LU.

I ran across this story in a Planned Parenthood missive. This is from a woman named Sabina Yates in California.

"I have a booth at the farmers' market in Benicia, CA. I have a list of the petitions laid out in front of me. They always pick up the Roe [petition] on their own. There's a lot of support for Roe. People wouldn't give it up easily.

"I'm 76 years old, and I drag my table and files and chairs down every week. This week I'm working on another batch. It's quite a thing!

"I've never had a chance to do anything before. For so many years I felt political but never felt like I could express an opinion.

"I don't feel pro-abortion or anti-abortion. This should be a personal choice. If women don't have the right to make their choice, I feel like we might as well be in Iran. This is really an important civil right."

Which reminds me--Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa sent me an email a few days ago asking for help at a local event... What? You think I just talk about it? It's not enough.

Thanks to JD at LU for pointing me towards this blog entry from Archie Levine: Rush Limbaugh, I dare you to accuse me...

[Questions for President Bush:] If we've spent every single day since 9-11 preparing for a catastrophic terrorist attack with Weapons of Mass Destruction, why weren't we better prepared for the massive destruction caused by this natural disaster? Katrina gave us a lot more warning than the terrorists will.

From Common Dreams:

National Guard troops don’t belong in Iraq. They should be rescuing and protecting in Louisiana and Mississippi, not patrolling and killing in a country that was invaded on the basis of presidential deception. They should be fighting the effects of flood waters at home -- helping people in the communities they know best -- not battling Iraqi people who want them to go away.

I think we're going to be hearing a lot of this in the next few days. I'd like to see actual numbers before and after deployment, and how it affects the clean-up, safety and rescue efforts on the Gulf Coast.

JaBba had it first.

Interesting new poster at Project for the Old American Century (liberal news site).

Thanks to James Q. of LU for the link.

Jenna Freedman, of LU and the Radical Reference group, sent the link to this great new bag at CafePress.

Rock on.

...is violence. Seems the Brits gunned a guy down the other day cuz he might have been a terrorist. Sound familiar? Seems we've managed to make the Brits ridiculously paranoid and trigger-happy, too. Well done us. I mean, mistakes happen, but there are ways to keep this crap to a minimum.

Of the fast-unfolding developments, the most overwhelming for many Londoners, was the police admission that an apparently innocent man had been gunned down in full public view - a killing that left the city even more rattled after a wave of attacks, alarms, scares and shootings that, in a brief three weeks has propelled London from the euphoria of the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park to a sense of embattled siege.