Daily Archives: June 3, 2004

9 posts

Republican Leader Defends Torture

2 June 2004 | DemocracyNow! Trent Lott Defends U.S. Actions in Abu Ghraib Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi has defended some of the interrogation tactics used by the U.S. in Iraq that have been condemned by human rights groups around the world. During an interview with a Jackson Mississippi TV station, the former Senate Majority leader said there is “nothing wrong with holding a dog up there, unless the dog ate him.” Later when the news anchorman noted that a prisoner died at Abu Ghraib, apparently after a beating, Lott responded, “This is not Sunday school; this is interrogation; […]

Fahrenheit 9/11 to Debut in US!

by Brendan Lalor Michael Moore announced yesterday, We finally have a distributor in America! Actually, two of them! Lions Gate and IFC Films have agreed to aggressively distribute “Fahrenheit 9/11″ in theaters all across the country beginning on Friday, June 25th.” The trailer can be seen at fahrenheit911.com.

SD’s Herseth Looks Like Good News

by Brendan Lalor As the wires report today that “Democrat Stephanie Herseth was sworn in Thursday as South Dakota’s lone representative in the House,” many wonder just who this farm-stater is. According to John Nichols’ brief on her from August, 2002, she’s a 31-year-old Georgetown Law grad, scoring points as a modern-day prairie populist willing to take on corporate agribusiness and the lobbyists who push free trade schemes like NAFTA. Where some farm-state Democrats remain unquestioning backers of free trade schemes, Herseth bluntly calls for a new direction. ?Undeniably, NAFTA has had devastating effects on our state?s manufacturing and agriculture […]

Bush Campaign Seeks Help From Congregations

[ In the related story from the 1 July Washington Post by Alan Cooperman: The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign has sent a detailed plan of action to religious volunteers across the country…. The instruction sheet … lists 22 “duties” to be performed by specific dates. By July 31, for example, volunteers are to “send your Church Directory to your State Bush-Cheney ’04 Headquarters or give [it] to a BC04 Field Rep” and “Talk to your Pastor about holding a Citizenship Sunday and Voter Registration Drive.” and, as the Associated Press reports (3 July), even the Southern Baptist Convention is perturbed: The […]

Bush Knew About Illicit Leak, and Did Nothing — Sources Say

[ CIA agent Valerie Plame was illegally “outed” — identified as an agent — by an unidentified member of the Bush Administration, presumably as retaliation against her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, who determined that “Bush Administration claims that Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from Niger [were] untrue.” This follows up other stories which appeared here. –BL ] Bush Knew About Leak of CIA Operative’s Name Jun 3, 2004 | Capitol Hill Blue by Staff and Wire Reports Witnesses told a federal grand jury President George W. Bush knew about, and took no action to stop, the release of a covert […]

Enron Tapes: Market Manipulation & Bush Connections

[ More of the truth has been coming out about Bush’s nasty friends at Enron, who have contributed to Bush between $736,800 and $25 million. From the article: The tapes … confirm traders deliberately drove up prices by ordering power plants shut down…. Before the 2000 election, Enron employees pondered the possibilities of a Bush win. “It’d be great. I’d love to see Ken Lay Secretary of Energy,” says one Enron worker. That didn’t happen, but they were sure President Bush would fight any limits on sky-high energy prices. “When this election comes Bush will f——g whack this s–t, man. […]

Bush Campaign Ads Riddled with Lies

Bush ads heavy on attack, light on fact, experts say June 01, 2004 | The Washington Post by Dana Milbank and Jim VandeHei WASHINGTON — It was a typical week in the life of the Bush re-election machine. Last Monday in Little Rock, Ark., Vice President Dick Cheney said presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry “has questioned whether the war on terror is really a war at all” and said the senator from Massachusetts “promised to repeal most of the Bush tax cuts within his first 100 days in office.” Tuesday, President Bush’s campaign began airing an ad saying Kerry […]

The Puppet Regime in Baghdad and the Administration’s Rhetoric of “Sovereignty”

by Brendan Lalor Although U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell claims that after the June 30 “transfer of power,” “[t]he Iraqi people will … see that their destiny is in the hands of their own leaders,” George Gedda reports, The interim Iraqi government that takes power then, however, will be more caretaking than autonomous, unable to do basic functions such as make laws or control military forces. Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to former President Carter, says … No government can be fully sovereign while its country is “still being occupied by a foreign army, 140,000 men, subject to our […]