Hi. I got lots of comps for the story on Bobby Kennedy Jr., so here's the actual article, thanks to Neighbors Website. It's great! http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen/print
Now, Molly's insights on headlines of the week and the system which keeps them 'acomin', plus some humor that fits in, IMO: Ed --- http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/01/ivins.haditha/ Creators Syndicate Thursday, June 1, 2006 No excuses this time By Molly Ivins Austin, Texas -- So, Haditha becomes another of the names at which we wince, along with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and My Lai. Tell you what: Let's not use the "stress of combat" excuse this time. According to neighbors, the girls in the family of Younis Khafif -- the one who kept pleading in English: "I am a friend. I am good" -- were 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1. What are they going to say? "Under stress of combat, we thought the baby was 2"? "We have a Haditha every day," said Muhanned Jasim, an Iraqi merchant. "Were (those killed) the first Iraqis to be killed for no reason?" asked Ghasan Jayih, a pharmacist. Well no, but we Americans don't count collateral damage unless we're forced to. We prefer to ignore collateral damage, especially if they're under 5. Someone else with a greater taste for the ironies of technology will have to explain why it's funny that this "Haditha" was uncovered in part by a solider taking photos with his cell phone. Good work by Time magazine and Col. Gregory Watt. Apologies are owed by any on the right to Rep. John Murtha, who warned of Haditha early, though none of us is holding a breath. The attacks on Murtha's patriotism were despicable. When will that tactic wear out? Meanwhile, back at the full-force fun festival known as Washington, here's a moment to cherish. Two weeks ago, Amir Taheri had an op-ed article in the Canadian National Post claiming the Iranians have a law requiring Jews to wear yellow badges. It turned out to be a complete fabrication and has been the subject of much contempt among bloggers. So Tuesday, Taheri was invited to the White House along with other "experts" to give the president their "honest opinions." With advice like that, our war in Iran will be a slam dunk. Speaking of slam dunks, Bud Trillin of the Nation is on a tear about Bush's picks for the Medal of Freedom. First, he gave it to old "Slam Dunk" George Tenet himself, after pushing him out as head of the CIA. Then, Paul Bremer got the medal. Remember him? Guy who screwed up Iraq beyond recall in the first year. We're lurching into the ludicrous. So we're thinking, who else belongs on this distinguished roster? "Heckuva job Brownie" Brown, of course. The guy in charge of implementing the Social Security drug plan. Rumsfeld! By golly, there's a man who never made a mistake. I think that lets out Tony Blair, who joined Bush in a mistake-admitting- athon last week. (The Prez is sorry he talked "too tough" to the terrorists.) Neither of them thought to name "the war in Iraq," for example, as a mistake. But, as The Economist rather unkindly put it, their meeting was "The Axis of Feeble." Ever hopeful that some good might yet be pulled from the rubble, the appointment of Henry Paulson as treasury secretary raises hope among the never-say-die crowd. He's good on global warming -- how's that for a change? But the real irony is that the administration had to bring in someone who can "soothe Wall Street," which is said to be "nervous." This whole administration has been run to favor, and grant tax breaks to, "Wall Street." How dare the ungrateful louses be "nervous"? --- http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060530_molly_ivins_reform_the_system_or_lose_the_democracy/ Published on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 by TruthDig Reform the System or Lose the Democracy by Molly Ivins A Houston jury convicted both Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, despite the fact that Kenny Boy packed his Bible to the courtroom every day. Since it is a long and noble Texas tradition for the accused to fight all allegations by finding Jesus, this indicates a major degree of guilt. (While on trial for murder, T. Cullen Davis, the Fort Worth millionaire, not only found Jesus but also threw a big party to celebrate at the mansion, with piles of shrimp and BBQ and a soundtrack that announced over and over throughout the grounds that night, "The son of Stinky Davis has found the son of God.") Meanwhile, Houston reacted as though the Rockets had won the NBA championship. Many a thoughtful analyst has given us to understand that Lay and Skilling are guilty of arrogance and hubris. Actually, they were convicted of fraud-massive, overwhelming and monstrous fraud. They also stole money and looted pension funds. They rigged energy markets and almost drove California (seventh-largest economy in the world) into bankruptcy. And all along the way, this monstrous fraud was connected to government. Enron bought the politicians who bent the rules that let them steal, con and gyp. Lay and Skilling talked state after state into following the California model and deregulating electricity. Happy summer, everyone. And then, of course, there was the thumbing-the-nose thievery, the offshore partnerships tricked out with the clever names so insiders would know how slick they were. As the late Rep. Wright Patman Sr. observed: "Many of our wealthiest and most powerful citizens are very greedy. This fact has many times been demonstrated." The interesting thing about Lay and Skilling is they weren't trying to evade the rules, they were rigging the rules in their favor. The fix was in-much of it law passed by former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, whose wife, Wendy, served on the board of Enron. Where does that sense of entitlement come from? What makes a Ken Lay think he can call the governor of Texas and ask him to soften up Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania on electricity deregulation? Not that being governor of Texas has ever been an office of much majesty, but a corporate robber wouldn't think of doing that if it were Brian Schweitzer of Montana or Bill Richardson of New Mexico. The extent to which not just state legislatures but the Congress of the United States are now run by large corporate special interests is beyond mere recognition as fact. The takeover is complete. Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay put in place a system in which it's not a question of letting the head of the camel into the tent-the camels run the place. It has all happened quite quickly-in less than 20 years. Laws were changed and regulations repealed until an Enron can set sail without responsibility, supervision or accountability. The business pages are fond of trumpeting the merits of "transparency" and "accountability," but you will notice whenever there is a chance to roll back any of New Deal regs, the corporations go for broke trying to get rid of them entirely. I'm not attempting to make this a partisan deal-only 73 percent of Enron's political donations went to Republicans. But I'll be damned if Enron's No. 1 show pony politician, George W. Bush, should be allowed to walk away from this. Ken Lay gave $139,500 to Bush over the years. He chipped in $100,000 to the Bush Cheney Inaugural Fund in 2000 and $10K to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund. Plus, Enron's PAC gave Bush $113,800 for his '94 and '98 political races and another $312,500 from its executives. Bush got 14 free rides on Enron's corporate jets during the 2000 campaign, including at least two during the recount. Until January 2004, Enron was Bush's top contributor. And what did it get for its money? Ken Lay was on Bush's short list to be energy secretary. He not only almost certainly served on Cheney's energy task force, there is every indication that the task force's energy plan, the one we have been on for five years, is in fact the Enron plan. Lay used Bush as an errand boy, calling the governor of Texas and having him phone Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to vouch for what swell energy deregulation bills Enron was sponsoring in states all over the country. It seems to me we all understand this is a systemic problem. We need to reform the political system, or we'll lose the democracy. I don't think it's that hard. It doesn't take rocket science. We've done it before successfully at the presidential level and tried it several places at the state level. Public campaign financing isn't perfect and can doubtlessly be improved upon as we go. Let us begin. Molly Ivins's latest book is "Who Let the Dogs In?" --- It was the first day of school and a new student named Pedro Martinez, the son of a Mexican restaurateur, entered the fourth grade. The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American history. Who said, 'Give me liberty, or give me death.'?" She saw a sea of blank faces except for Pedro who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, 1775." "Very good!" said the teacher. "Now, who said, 'This government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth'.?" Again, no response except from Pedro: "Abraham Lincoln, 1863." The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Pedro, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do." She heard a loud whisper: "Screw the Mexicans!" "Who said that?" she demanded. Pedro put his hand up. "Jim Bowie, 1836." At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke." The teacher glared and asked, "All right! Now, who said that?" Again, Pedro answered, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991." Now furious, another student yelled, "Oh yeah? Suck this." Pedro jumped out of his chair waving his hand and shouting to the teacher, "Bill Clinton to Monica Lewinsky, 1997." Now, with almost a mob hysteria, a voice said, "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you." Pedro frantically yelled at the top of his voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001." The teacher fainted, and as the class gathered around her on the floor, someone said, "Oh shit, we're in BIG trouble now!" Pedro whispered, "Saddam Hussein, 2003." Finally, as someone threw an eraser at Pedro, someone shouted, "Duck!" The teacher, just waking, asked "Who said that?" Pedro: "Dick Cheney 2006!" ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get to your groups with one click. 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