| christian grantham | |||
| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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December 16, 2004
Joshua Speed, David Derickson, Billy Greene, Henry Whitney. Were these men gay lovers of our 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln? In "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," to be published next month, psychologist and author C.A. Tripp says yes.
Here are a few excerpts from a New York Times book review. The author, who died weeks after finishing the book last year, will certainly cause a lot of controversy with the new book.
BILLY GREENE and HENRY WHITNEY
Tripp charts Lincoln's relationships with other men, including Billy Greene, with whom Lincoln supposedly shared a bed in New Salem, Illinois. Herndon said Greene told him that Lincoln's thighs "were as perfect as a human being could be."Lincoln's fellow lawyer Henry Whitney observed once that Lincoln "wooed me to close intimacy and familiarity."
DAVID DERICKSON
Donald also takes issue with the conclusion that Lincoln had a sexual relationship with Derickson, his bodyguard at his presidential retreat, the Soldiers' Home, outside Washington. Tripp writes that their closeness stirred comment in Washington, and cites a diary entry from Nov. 16, 1862, by Virginia Woodbury Fox, wife of Gustavus Fox, assistant secretary of the navy. She recounted a friend's report: "'There is a Bucktail soldier here devoted to the president, drives with him, and when Mrs. L. is not home, sleeps with him.' What stuff!" But Donald writes that "What stuff!" meant she was dismissing the rumor.Tripp cites a second description of the relationship in an 1895 history of Derickson's regiment, the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, by Thomas Chamberlain, Derickson's commanding officer: "Captain Derickson, in particular, advanced so far in the president's confidence and esteem that, in Mrs. Lincoln's absence, he frequently spent the night at his cottage, sleeping in the same bed with him and - it is said - making use of his Excellency's night-shirts!"
[Seeking gay threads in Lincoln's legend - NYT via IHT - 12-17-04]
also read: Was Lincoln an Ass-Bandit??
filed under: For The Record
December 01, 2004
It looks like there never was a gag order on Matthew Shepard's killers. Something tells me even a gag order wouldn't have stopped ABC's 20/20 from promoting the murderer's revised version of events.
Juliette Rule of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in Cheyenne reported that while trial Judge Barton Voigt questioned McKinney in chambers about the lifelong gag on discussing the murder, which was included in a sentencing agreement between his public defenders and the prosecution, the clause was not made part of the official orders sentencing and imprisoning McKinney.The issue of the supposed lifelong gag order stirred a furor among Wyoming newspaper editorialists and civil libertarians when it was first reported in 1999. A Tribune-Eagle story at the time suggested the gag order had been signed by the judge, an assertion that went unchallenged for five years until "20/20" announced earlier this month that it would air an investigation that would include a prison interview with McKinney, who is serving a double life sentence for the murder.
[Surprise: There Never Was a 'Gag Order' in the Matthew Shepard Case - Editor & Publisher - 11-30-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 30, 2004
I'm glad to see the Solomon Amendment challenged. For nearly 10 years, the federal government has granted the U.S. military an exclusive exception to campus nondiscrimination policies. If the U.S. military's ability to recruit is significantly affected by following the rules of hundreds of campus policies, it is yet another reason to consider whether Don't Ask, Don't Tell is truly in the best interest of our national security.
A federal appeals court yesterday prohibited the government from withholding funds from colleges and universities that refuse to cooperate with military recruiters because of the Pentagon's discrimination against gays in the armed forces.In a 2 to 1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia blocked the government from enforcing a law known as the Solomon Amendment, which punishes universities that refuse to allow military recruiters on campus. The law was originally passed by Congress in 1996 but was not actively enforced before the beginning of President Bush's administration.
[U.S. Loses Ruling Over College Bans on Military Recruiters - Washington Post - 11-30-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 26, 2004
The Bush Administration has a funny way of justifying abstinence-only sex education. Who needs science? Despite the fact that nearly 100% of sexually mature humans will have sex, telling them not to changes all that. Just ask Wade Horn whose "biology" kept him a virgin until he was married.
"We don't need a study, if I remember my biology correctly, to show us that those people who are sexually abstinent have a zero chance of becoming pregnant or getting someone pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease," said Wade Horn, the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in charge of federal abstinence funding.Those who say schools also should be teaching youths how to use contraceptives say Horn's argument ignores reality. Surveys indicate that roughly 50 percent of teens say they have sex before they leave high school. While the nation's teenage pregnancy rate is declining, young people 15 to 24 account for about half the new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States each year.
[Bush Seeks Funds for Abstinence Education - AP -11-26-04]
To get a sense of where the White House is going on this issue, check out the White House press briefing from 11-17-04. Bush's nomination of Margaret Spellings for Secretary of Education puts an abstinence-only advocate in position to strip sex education down to simply telling kids not to have sex.
filed under: For The Record
November 23, 2004
Almost half (six of 14) of hate crime murders in 2003 were due to sexual orientation. Here are some numbers for comparison.
|
|
Hate Crimes Reported |
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation |
Percentage of crimes based on sexual orientation |
|
1994 |
5,932 |
685 |
11.5% |
|
1995 |
7,947 |
1,019 |
12.8% |
|
1996 |
8,759 |
1,016 |
11.6% |
|
1997 |
8,049 |
1,102 |
13.7% |
|
1998 |
7,755 |
1,260 |
16.2% |
|
1999 |
7,876 |
1,317 |
16.7% |
|
2000 |
8,063 |
1,299 |
16.1% |
|
2001 |
9,730 |
1,393 |
14.3% |
|
2002 |
7,462 |
1,244 |
16.7% |
| 2003 | 7,489 | 1,239 | 16.4% |
filed under: For The Record
November 20, 2004
This morning, I got a weird form email from Senator John Kerry. For some reason, Senator Kerry wants me and other supporters to click here, watch a video, then sign on as a co-sponsor of a child health care bill.
Health care for children sounds like a great idea, and I love Kerry's proactive effort. But shouldn't I be able to read the text of the bill I'm supposed to be co-sponsoring? Senator Kerry must not have noticed how angry we Democrats were with Republicans in the past few months for engaging in this car salesman tactic of withholding language of bills being debated.
In an October 14 debate with President Bush, John Kerry said his dying mother left three words with him: integrity, integrity, integrity. It would be nice not to hear his opponents remind him of that when Kerry touts a hundred thousand co-sponsors who never even read his bill.
filed under: For The Record
November 17, 2004
What would the men and women of law enforcement know about Ashcroft's self-adulating assessment of America's security?
A day after Attorney General John Ashcroft told the nation's largest association of law enforcement executives that the Bush administration had made the nation more secure from terrorist attacks and violent criminals, the group lashed back at the White House on Tuesday.The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that cuts by the administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever to public safety threats. The 20,000-member group also said in a statement that new anti-terrorism duties for local cops — which have come as state and local budgets have declined and historically low crime rates have crept upward — have pushed police agencies to "the breaking point."
[Police scoff at Ashcroft speech - USA Today - 11-17-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 16, 2004
Mark Ridolfi went to NGLTF's Creating Change conference for the Quad City Times hoping to reveal both the secret and real gay agendas.
Real Gay Agenda:
I’d intended to schmooze with the activists and distill the secret gay agenda from informal conversation. No need. They passed out copies of it at a workshop entitled, “How to advance a proactive gay agenda in the next presidential administration.” The 12-point draft agenda laid it all out. Protection from discrimination. Beefed up hate crime enforcement. Prescription drug reform, with an emphasis on making HIV drugs more affordable. Modified adoption laws that give gay couples a better chance to be parents. Federal employee health benefits for domestic partners. Improved Medicaid funding for nursing homes, since older gay people are twice as likely to live alone and four times more likely to have no children to care for them.
Secret Gay Agenda:
It’s apparent with almost everyone I spoke with. Life. Love. Family. A good job. Growing old with someone special. It’s the same agenda almost everyone has. It only has to be a secret when you’re gay.
[In search of the hidden gay agenda - Quad City Times - 11-15-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 05, 2004
Students at Oregon's North Eugene High School can't wait to vote. In the meantime, they're expressing America's deep-rooted sense of morality with their feet.
More than 100 students walked out of their classes Thursday to protest the approval of Measure 36, the proposal to ban gay marriage that was decisively approved by Oregon voters.Kristin "Khushi" Shrestha, 16, said the protest grew out of the frustration students felt Wednesday morning.
"Everybody came to school and they were so depressed," she said. "Our world is changing before our eyes. Our rights are going down the drain, and there's nothing we can do about it because we can't even vote yet."
The students marched to a busy intersection, holding banners while chanting "Equal rights! Equal rights!"
[Students walk out to protest gay-marriage ban - Register-Guard - 11-05-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 05, 2004
Pat Buchanan, whose fiery speech at the Republican National Convention in 1992 demanded moral leadership in America, feels vindicated. Does Rush Limbaugh want Buchanan, Knight and others to stop using exit poll data to make their case for a moral majority victory? Don't count on it. The winds are blowing.
Pat Buchanan yesterday declared Mr. Bush's re-election — with 22 percent of voters naming moral issues as most important — a victory in the "culture war" that was the subject of Mr. Buchanan's famous 1992 Republican convention speech."George W. Bush was re-elected president because he turned this election into a triumphal, epic battle of the cultural war as his father refused to do in 1992," said Mr. Buchanan, who challenged the first President Bush in the 1992 Republican primaries. "The son stuck by his party's platform and themes as his father did not."
[Conservatives urge Bush to go his own way - Washington Times - 11-05-04]Robert Knight of the Culture and Family Institute called the success of the marriage amendments a reaction to the Massachusetts court ruling that legalized such unions in Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry's home state.
"What Bush should do first," Mr. Knight said, "is to send a bouquet of flowers to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, whose clinically insane ruling against marriage ... set the tone for the showdown that occurred [Tuesday]."
[Conservatives urge Bush to go his own way - Washington Times - 11-05-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 04, 2004
Less than 24 hours from his victory speech, President Bush expressed freedom to spend the capital he's earned on his own agenda. Notice the items Bush pledges to spend capital on exclude the threat of "gay marriage" sold to his Christian conservative base as the most important election year issue.
QUESTION: Do you feel more free?PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, in terms of feeling free. Well, I don't think you'll let me be too free. There is -- there's accountability and there are constraints on the presidency, as there should be in any system.
I feel -- I feel -- I feel it is necessary to move an agenda that I told the American people I would move. Something refreshing about coming off an election, even more refreshing since we all got some sleep last night. But there's -- you -- you -- you go out and you make your case and you tell the people, "This is what I intend to do." And after hundreds of speeches and three debates and interviews and the whole process, where you keep basically saying the same thing over and over again, that when -- when that -- when you win, there is a -- a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view. And that's what I intend to tell the Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as the president; now let's work -- and the people made it clear what they wanted -- now let's work together. And it's one of the wonderful -- it's one of the -- it's like earning capital.
You ask, do I feel free? Let me put it to you this way. I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in -- after the 2000 election. I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election, and I'm going to spend it for -- for what -- what I told the people I'd spend it on, which is -- you've heard the agenda -- Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror.
We have an obligation in this country to -- to continue to work with nations to help alleve poverty and disease. We will -- we will continue to push forward on the HIV/AIDS initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account. We will continue to do our duty to help feed the hungry. And I'm looking forward to it, I really am.
[President's Post-Election Press Conference - LA Times Transcript - 11-04-04]
filed under: For The Record
November 01, 2004
What does John Kerry know about defending our country?
"When I turned my boat in Vietnam into an ambush and I went straight into the ambush and overran it, I didn't see George Bush or Dick Cheney at my side," Kerry said. "So I'm not going to take a second seat to anybody in my willingness to be tough to defend the United States of America. I did it when it mattered, and as president I will defend the United States of America with everything I have."
[Kerry: Election Will Resonate Worldwide - Providence Journal - 11-01-04]
also read: BoiFromTroy
filed under: For The Record
October 22, 2004
How was Republican Senate candidate Jim Bunning supposed to know about soldiers refusing orders?
When reporters told him that the unit's refusal was a national news story and involved a soldier from Louisville, Bunning said, "Let me explain something: I don't watch the national news, and I don't read the paper. I haven't done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information."
[Bunning unaware of Iraq story - Courier Journal - 10-22-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 21, 2004
I cannot believe the continued audacity of the Republican controlled Congress. Not only do Republicans routinely exclude the elected Democratic representatives of half the nation, Republicans despise the balance of power, engage in unprecedented unethical behavior, and are now obstructing bi-partisan reforms to Intelligence.
This bill was supported by the families of victims of 9-11, yet Republicans are stalling these much needed reforms while also excluding Democrats from the process. This is outrageous, and America has to stand up to this egregious abuse of power.
Talks to produce a final intelligence restructuring bill hit a rocky patch Wednesday when House Republicans revealed that they've been privately crafting a compromise without input from Democrats.The announcement followed two hours of speeches in which lawmakers of both parties pledged a bipartisan effort to hammer out a consensus.
The revelation of a unilateral bill, being drafted with White House input, angered some of the Sept. 11 victims' families present for the House-Senate negotiators' first meeting.
[Dems angry at shutout from intel bill - Dallas Morning News - 10-21-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 21, 2004
The prospects of a draft would be even more pressing if the reported 65,000 gays and lesbians serving above and beyond the call of duty left the United States military. It is time for a sensible policy allowing our country to catch up with our "coalition of the willing."
Counting the homosexuals serving in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military has been nearly impossible in the past. To get its figures, the Urban Institute spent six months mining data from the 2000 census, where privacy laws opened the door for more honesty from the people who make up a household. The census analysis offers an unprecedented peek into the military’s “invisible minority,” said Gary Gates, author of the study. Homosexuals are prohibited from serving openly in the military.
[Study finds 65,000 gay men, women in the military - Virginia Pilot - 10-21-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 20, 2004
Since his lesbian daughter's face and name is now prominently affixed to a favored conservative punching bag, Dick Cheney is at a loss for words when it comes to issues of morality. When told yesterday by a conservative voter that Dick needs to distinguish the differences on morality in this campaign, Dick could only say, "All right; thank you, sir."
Even Dick Cheney finds this Administration's positions on morality indefensible.
"As we listen to these debates and the debatable issues such as health care, I see such little difference in the parties," the man, who didn't identify himself, told Mr. Cheney at a "town hall" meeting in an airport hangar in Fairfield County.He told the vice president he feared that if Mr. Bush lost the election, the "moral majority" in America would also be lost. "I implore you and the President during the next two weeks to show us the difference," he told Mr. Cheney.
"All right; thank you, sir," replied Mr. Cheney, and he went on to the next question.
[V.P. quizzed about fate of the 'moral majority' - Toledo Blade - 10-20-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 20, 2004
Liz Cheney can't stand people who embrace her lesbian sister. The Cheney's were silent while Mary Cheney was politically slandered and attacked by conservative Republicans. Regrettably, the Cheney's prefer to sacrifice Mary to those who hate her before allowing Mary to be embraced by those who love her for who she is.
In her latest missive, Liz Cheney laments her sister being an election year issue.
Dick Cheney, with Lynne at his side, was the first person to specifically mention Mary Cheney is a lesbian in direct reference to the Bush Administration's election year issue of denying Mary Cheney equal marriage rights.
At the Republican National Convention, Liz wasn't bothered by purposefully excluding Mary Cheney and her partner from the preferred "family photo." Liz was very comfortable immorally expending her sister for cheap and tawdry political purposes.
When Liz's daughters ask their mommy where Aunt Mary was in this photo, what lies did Liz tell them to justify her party's bigotry and her complicit role in it?
"I was surprised that Senator Kerry would raise it and I think it is unprecedented for a candidate for the presidency to sort of exploit the child of one of his opponents for political gain," Liz Cheney said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That did surprise me. I thought that was out of bounds, and I think what you have seen as a result of that is a lot of folks across the country really wondering what sort of a person would do that. It was sort of an insight into the character of Senator Kerry."Liz Cheney said her sister Mary's lifestyle should not be an election issue.
"I don't think Mary should be part of this campaign. I think issues having to do with the war on terror, having to do with the economy, having to do with health care, those are all critically important issues and those are the ones we're spending a lot of our time focused on," she said.
[Liz Cheney: Sister Not an Election Issue - AP - 10-19-04]
filed under: 2004 Debates
, For The Record
, Political Subterfuge
October 19, 2004
With all the attention on early voting in a few states, people who either didn't vote in the previous election or have never voted are lining up to cast their ballot. One of those people is a friend of mine in Texas who is a registered Republican.
At the last minute, I helped make sure he was registered to vote in Texas. Luckily, we found stuff online that quickly processed his registration. He barely made it onto the voter roll. I didn't care that he was a Republican. I figured Texas was solidly Bush country, anyway. I cared that he was an American, and the right to vote is one of the most precious rights we have.
On the way to the voting booth today he called me. He was excited about voting and told me he's made up his mind and that nothing was going to change it. Surprisingly, the last election he recalls voting in was 1988, and he voted for George H. Bush. My friend, who would kill me if I mentioned his name, is a fairly successful businessman. When I asked him who he was voting for, he would only tell me that he's lost more money in the last four years than he has in his entire life.
If America were a business, and the shareholders were meeting to go over the record of our CEO, George Bush would be fired. Nothing personal. That's just what smart businesses do.
also read: Dick Cheney, YOU'RE FIRED!, Donald Rumsfeld, YOU'RE FIRED!, Dr. Condi Rice, YOU'RE FIRED!, Political Animal
filed under: For The Record
October 15, 2004
Here's what the White House said was George W. Bush's excuse for not following orders to take a physical required to continue flying while serving in the National Guard.
White House officials have said there was no reason for Bush to take the annual physical required of fighter pilots because there were no suitable planes for him to fly in Alabama, where he applied for "substitute training" to replace his required service with the Texas National Guard.
[Records Say Bush Balked at Order - Washington Post - 09-09-04]
When Army Revervists in Iraq tried that excuse, they were arrested.
A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday.The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq — north of Baghdad — because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.
[Platoon defies orders in Iraq - Clarion Ledger - 10-15-04]
also read: Political Wire
filed under: For The Record
October 12, 2004
When Kerry suggested he'd convene a summit to attract support for the work ahead in Iraq, President Bush and conservatives bristled at the idea. What could Kerry possibly do that Bush didn't? Try diplomatic leadership.
Germany would certainly attend, Mr Struck said. "This is a very sensible proposal. The situation in Iraq can only be cleared up when all those involved sit together at one table. Germany has taken on responsibilities in Iraq, including financial ones; this would naturally justify our involvement in such a conference."
[Germany in rethink on Iraq force deployment - Financial Times - 10-12-04]
filed under: 2004 Debates
, Catastrophic Success
, For The Record
October 12, 2004
Without a Presidential campaign to support, the Log Cabin Republicans are putting their money to good use.
Lawyers on behalf of Log Cabin Republicans are filing suit this morning against the United States government seeking to overturn the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which requires the discharge of gay and lesbian service members. Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America will be filed in the United States Federal District Court for the Central District of California.Log Cabin is filing the suit on behalf of its gay and lesbian members currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. “Public opinion, the experience of our allies, and the national security interests of our nation all lead to the inescapable conclusion that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly and honestly in our military,” said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.
“A lawsuit should not be necessary, when public opinion overwhelmingly favors gays and lesbians serving openly and honestly. A lawsuit should not be necessary when the experience of our allies in the war on terror, including Great Britain, Israel and Australia, all allow gays and lesbians to serve openly and honestly. A lawsuit should not be necessary when our military has lost thousands of needed military personnel under this policy. However, under these circumstances, where we are a nation at war fighting a global war against terrorism, we can no longer sit by and wait for our elected officials to find the political courage to do the right thing,” said Guerriero.
[Log Cabin Republicans - Press Release - 10-12-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 08, 2004
If you've wondered how Senator Ted Kennedy and Folk singer Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) got on the federal government's "no-fly list," just ask the GAO.
One heavily blacked-out document, a report by the General Accounting Office, says getting on a list is guided by two "primary" principles: One is whether various intelligence agencies view an individual as a "potential threat to U.S. civil aviation." The other is whether the agency requesting someone be put on a list has provided enough information to identify the person to be flagged at the check-in counter.
[Feds: No 'hard and Fast Rules' for Developing Secret No-Fly List - AP - 10-08-04]
filed under: For The Record
October 08, 2004
Today's Salon.com reports on this mysterious buldge on President Bush's back during the first Presidential debate. The story echoes blogger speculation President Bush was wearing an earpeice with someone feeding President Bush lines. You can see this image at minute 23 in video of the debate.
The campaigns negotiated that no cameras be placed behind the candidates. You might recall President Bush uttering "let me finish" during the debate when it was clear no one was interupting him, fueling speculation someone was feeding him lines.
The White House and the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign are refusing to comment.
Suggestions that Bush may have using this technique stem from a D-day event in France, when a CNN broadcast appeared to pick up -- and broadcast to surprised viewers -- the sound of another voice seemingly reading Bush his lines, after which Bush repeated them. Danny Schechter, who operates the news site MediaChannel.org, and who has been doing some investigating into the wired-Bush rumors himself, said the Bush campaign has been worried of late about others picking up their radio frequencies -- notably during the Republican Convention on the day of Bush's appearance. "They had a frequency specialist stop me and ask about the frequency of my camera," Schechter said. "The Democrats weren't doing that at their convention." [Bush's mystery bulge - Salon - 10-08-04]
Another blogger points out an audio file from a June 5, 2004 press conference, still available on the White House website, clearly picks up someone giving President Bush answers to questions from reporters he then repeats (minute 22:40). (thanks Donald)
UPDATE: Bush/Cheney '04 Media Director Mark McKinnon tells Rory O'Connor, "Unfortunately, the truth is not nearly as interesting. The answer is, 'The President has never been assisted by any audio signal.'"
UPDATE 7:03PM: On MSNBC's Countdown this evening, Bush Campaign spokesperson Tucker Eskew told host Keith Olbermann the "bulge" was Bush's "strong back bone, that's about all." George Bush might want to have that looked into.
filed under: 2004 Debates
, For The Record
October 07, 2004
In the wake of a cold dose of reality over President Bush's "miscalculation" in Iraq, President Bush presented a brand new reason for the war. According to our Commander-in-Chief, America went to war because Saddam Hussein was cheating the U.N. Oil For Food program.
The new justification after the fact "is a reason to help the Iraqis but it's not a reason to put American kids' lives at risk, certainly not on the scale we did it." Does that sound familiar? That's because President Bush's architect of the war in Iraq, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, said that. I guess President Bush lost the debate over Iraq to him, too.
President Bush and his vice president conceded Thursday in the clearest terms yet that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, even as they tried to shift the Iraq war debate to a new issue - whether the invasion was justified because Saddam was abusing a U.N. oil-for-food program.Ridiculing the Bush administration's evolving rationale for war, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry shot back: "You don't make up or find reasons to go to war after the fact."
[Bush, Cheney Concede Saddam Had No WMDs - AP - 10-07-04]
filed under: Catastrophic Success
, For The Record
October 06, 2004
Charles Duelfer, special adviser to the director of Central Intelligence for weapons of mass destruction, dealt a final blow today to years of blatantly selective truths sold to the American people by the Bush Administration. Don't count on Dick Cheney believing a single word.
Iraq did not possess stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and its program to develop nuclear arms was in decay by March 2003, the CIA said in a report that undercuts a central argument by the Bush administration to justify the invasion.Iraqi President Saddam Hussein never abandoned his ambition to develop weapons, the report says. Research and development were stopped in an effort to persuade the United Nations to lift sanctions imposed after the 1991 Gulf War, Charles Duelfer, special adviser to the director of Central Intelligence for weapons of mass destruction, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in testimony on the report.
``The analysis shows that despite Saddam's expressed desire to retain the knowledge of his nuclear team and his attempts to retain some key parts of the program, during the course of the following 12 years Iraq's ability to produce a weapon decayed,'' Duelfer said.
[Iraq Had no Weapons Stockpiles or Nuclear Program, CIA Says - Bloomberg - 10-06-04]
filed under: Catastrophic Success
, For The Record
October 01, 2004
The next President might have an unprecedented opportunity to appoint U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Do conservative really want either candidate to nominate justices who advocate sexual orgies?
"I even take the position that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged."
[U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia - Harvard University - 09-29-04]
One audience member also asked the judge "whether you have any gay friends, and, if not, whether you'd like to be my friend," the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported."I probably do have some gay friends, but I have never pressed the point," Justice Scalia responded. He offered no clue to the logic behind his claim that orgies eliminate social tensions.
[Orgies are the way to ease social tensions, claims US judge - Guardian - 10-01-04]
filed under: For The Record
September 30, 2004
The letter was released by the White House on the eve of the first presidential debate, in Miami on Thursday, between Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.In the one-page "Tender of Resignation," Bush hand-wrote the following reason for resigning: "Inadequate time to fullfill (sic) possible future commitments."
[Document: Bush Leaves Military Service - Reuters - 09-30-04]
We need a Commander in Chief with a life pattern of making time to fullfill committments.
also read: Why the debate over Vietnam matters
filed under: For The Record
September 28, 2004
Not all things said in Vegas, stay in Vegas. Here is what President Bush told the National Guard Association in Las Vegas September 14 about what he's doing for them in exchange for their service.
BUSH SPIN
"We're improving benefits and the quality of life for our nation's citizen-soldiers. We have expanded health care benefits for Guard and Reserve forces and their family members, giving them access to the military's TRICARE system for up to 90 days before they report and 180 days after deactivation -- and I will ask Congress to make that expansion permanent."
[President's Remarks to the General Conference of the National Guard Association of the United States - 09-14-04]
What the President failed to tell those serving our country is the truth, that President Bush refused to do as much as Democrats wanted. Instead of spending $10 billion over 5 years to take care of America's National Guard and their families through TRICARE, President Bush chose a miscalculated and reckless path that left those serving our country uninsured.
FACTS
The Graham-Daschle amendment again passed the Senate’s version of the FY 2005 Defense Authorization bill by a 75-to-25 margin, and again the Bush administration came out forcefully against it. The amendment contains two provisions, one which would make reservists and their families eligible for TRICARE coverage regardless of their mobilization status, and another that would require the Department of Defense to pay civilian health-care premiums for active-duty reservists, along with their dependents, who elect to maintain their civilian health-care plan.In all, the Pentagon estimates that this would cost a little less than $2 billion per year for the next five years. Though this is a relatively small amount by Pentagon standards, the Bush administration has expressed its hostility toward allocating Defense Department funds to pay for these provisions. In a letter to the Senate Arms Services Committee dated June 28, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz claimed that the costs of the Graham-Daschle amendment "could only come at the expense of other higher-priority defense needs."
[Some Gratitude - American Prospect - 09-28-04]
Do tax cuts count as higher priorities than taking care of the people who serve our country on the battlefield, Mr. President? What sacrifices are being asked of America's wealthiest 2% to take care of the families of the National Guard?
filed under: For The Record
September 28, 2004
Crawford, TX, reporting for duty.
The Lone Star Iconoclast, which has a weekly circulation of 425, said in an editorial dated Sept. 29 that Texans should rate the candidates not by hometown or political party, but by where they intend to take the country."Four items trouble us the most about the Bush administration: his initiatives to disable the Social Security system, the deteriorating state of the American economy, a dangerous shift away from the basic freedoms established by our founding fathers, and his continuous mistakes regarding Iraq," the editorial said.
[Tiny Crawford Newspaper Endorses Kerry - AP - 09-28-04]
also read: Kicking Ass
filed under: For The Record
September 28, 2004
If you are wondering why President Bush hasn't called up OPEC to jawbone them to open their spigots, stand in line. I think Bush plans to actually follow through on his own brilliant advice only after we've tapped our national reserves and oil in well above $50 a barrel.
BUSH TALK
"What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots. One reason why the price is so high is because the price of crude oil has been driven up. OPEC has gotten its supply act together, and it's driving the price, like it did in the past. And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price."
[First in the Nation: The New Hampshire Debates -- GOP Presidential Candidates Square off - CNN - 01-26-00]BUSH WALK
"The president is disappointed in today's decision," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "Producers should not take steps that harm American consumers and our economy."
[UPDATE 1-White House expresses displeasure with OPEC - Forbes - 03-31-04]
filed under: For The Record
September 27, 2004
The arch of justice bends.
Thomas M. Finneran - arguably the most viciously anti-gay Democrat in Bay State politics - is out as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Finneran announced his resignation Monday morning, amid a federal investigation into Finneran's role in the redrawing of the state's legislative districts."We're ecstatic,'' said Arline Isaacson, co-leader of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. "While this certainly does not guarantee a change in the outcome [of a proposed consitutional amendment], it sure as heck helps.''
[Stonewall Democrats United - 09-27-04]
filed under: For The Record
September 24, 2004
An America with gays and lesbians is one the Republican party can do without. During the 2004 Republican National Convention, the Cheney family photo included Dick Cheney's wife, their daughter Liz and her husband and children. Curiously missing was Dick's lesbian daughter, Mary, and her partner, Heather.
Tess Fields is the latest example of how a family's rejection of her lesbian relationship fuels a radically anti-gay agenda in Georgia. Sadie Fields has made it her life's mission to pass laws denying her own daughter the rights afforded to many American families. Sadie's disagreement with her daughter's "choice" has driven Sadie to embrace hate and push the Republican party to strip her daughter from the American family portrait.
Sadie Fields, state chair of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, shepherded a constitutional ban on gay marriage through the General Assembly earlier this year — despite having a lesbian daughter.Fields is estranged from her daughter, Tess Fields, 35, who now lives in Portland, Ore., with her partner and child, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Political Insider column on Sept. 20.
“I want to confirm my existence,” Tess Fields told the newspaper, noting that she did not want to engage in a public battle with her mother.
Contacted by Southern Voice, Tess Fields had only one statement.
“I hope that Georgians don’t let hate and bigotry divide their state the same way they have divided my family,” she said.
[Christian Coalition leader has lesbian daughter - Southern Voice - 09-24-04]
filed under: For The Record
September 24, 2004
It is a shame the Bush Administration has so many misunderstandings over enforcing Executive Order 13152. If the Bush Administration only agrees with the order when the public is paying attention, they should rescind it.
Social Security Commissioner Jo Ann Barnhart on Sept. 22 intervened in labor negotiations between her top staff and representatives of the American Federation of Government Employees and directed her negotiators to agree to retain the sexual orientation protections, spokesperson Mark Lassiter said late Wednesday.“She felt it was based on a misunderstanding, that it was never her intention or this agency’s intention to allow this type of discrimination,” Lassiter said.
[Agency abandons plan to drop gay protections - Washington Blade - 09-24-04]
also read: Bush Administration deleting protections for gays
also read: Kicking Ass
filed under: For The Record