Good evening. We'll kick things off with Democracy Now!
Bush Won't Meet With Sheehan, But He'll Talk About Her
President Bush emerged from his ranch in Crawford, Texas yesterday and addressed for the first time the rapidly growing antiwar protest outside of his property. What began as a one woman vigil has now grown into the central antiwar action in the US. Before this week, there was very little coverage in the corporate media of antiwar families whose loved ones have been killed in Iraq, but now Cindy Sheehan--whose son Casey was killed in Iraq-- has grabbed international headlines by camping out in Crawford.
President Bush, speaking to reporters on Thursday:
"This is America. She has a right to her position, and I thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so."
President Bush has thus far refused to meet with Cindy Sheehan at his ranch, instead sending emissaries. Sheehan has vowed to remain in Crawford until Bush agrees to meet her. She has also indicated she may camp out at the White House once Bush returns from yet another vacation. He has taken more than 320 days of vacation since assuming the presidency 5 years ago.
I want to jump in here on this. 320 days of vacation when there are like 365 days in a year. So for working five years he basically gets a year off? Has he done a great job? Okay, take Afghanistan where parlimentary elections are coming up and the violence is only increasing and we're losing troops there. Like John Kerry pointed out, we didn't finish the job there. Now take our occupation of Iraq, did he do a good job there? No and only like 38% of us approve of the job he's doing there. Okay well what about keeping us safe? The warnings that an attack may be coming should remind us all that 9/11 happened on his watch. So did Enron's collapse. His people outed Valerie Plame. I see a lot of mistakes and I'm sure they cause a lot of grief and stress but I think most people that screw up like that get fired and not a year's vacation. And he's not done yet. He'll take his Thanksgiving vacation and his Christmas vacation. Just like he takes his daily naps when he is working. "It's hard work" he likes to tell us. If he's working hard it still ain't doing no good because he keeps screwing up. And he's too chicken to meet with Cindy Sheehan.
Now let's go to another thing from Democracy Now!
Bush Denies Iraq Withdrawal 'Rumors'
On Iraq, Bush said he has made no decision on whether to increase or decrease U.S. troop levels there, calling reports of coming reductions "speculation" and "rumors." But he did say that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is looking at whether to add troops at the time of the next scheduled Iraqi elections in December. Bush also predicted that the draft constitution would be finished in time for a Monday deadline.
Flip-flop, flip-flop, and it don't stop. We're not withdrawing. I told you we weren't. Bully Boy can't admit a mistake. C.I. passed me a Zogby poll and there were questions in there about do you support a draft or a requirement for national service and should it be tied into attending college or to getting student loans. So don't think the draft isn't being thought of. Need to see the Zogby questions? Here they are (courtesy of C.I.):
Are you aware that a part of the "No Child Left Behind" education act of 2001 requires secondary schools that receive federal money, to release personal information about their students to military recruiters?
Yes
No
Not sure
Do you agree with this provision?
Yes
No
Not sure
Are you aware that you can opt your child out of this only by making a request to your school district in writing?
Yes
No
Not sure
Are you aware that the Pentagon is creating a database that will contain names, contact information, and other personal details about approximately 30 million 16-25 year olds for military recruiting purposes?
Yes
No
Not sure
Do you support the development of this database?
Yes
No
Not sure
Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that such a database is a violation of a child's right to privacy?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with re-instituting the draft as a source of additional military troops?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
If Americans were under attack on our home soil, would you then support a draft?
Yes
No
Not sure
Some have suggested that two years mandatory military service in the armed forces should be required of all American citizens upon graduation from high school. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with requiring mandatory military service?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Some have suggested that two years mandatory national service in a variety of settings, such as the armed forces, national parks, health clinics, and failing schools should be required of all American citizens upon graduation from high school. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with requiring mandatory military service?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Would you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose making national service a requirement for college admissions?
Strongly favor
Somewhat favor
Somewhat oppose
Strongly oppose
Not sure
Would you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose making national service a requirement for college loans?
Strongly favor
Somewhat favor
Somewhat oppose
Strongly oppose
Not sure
So let's dip into the e-mails.
Sondra writes in about her boyfriend and says she hopes "this isn't a silly question." I like silly questions. She says her boyfriend's not bow legged but lately "like yesterday afternoon, we're standing outside waiting on the bus and he's got his feet planted way apart and I started thinking how he's been doing that a lot lately so I ask him is there a reason you know like you're hurt and he shakes his head and doesn't talk about it."
Sondra, this is my guess and my guess only. I'm basing it on what I do. If I'm outside and wearing jeans or pants and not a pair of shorts, I'm burning it up and that includes my groin. Like especially my groin. If I'm standing for a bit outside in the sun, I'm not keeping my knees together because the heat's just too much. I've got to spread my legs out some to lessen the heat.
That's my guess and I'm going by what I do. I'll toss this out to see if anyone else has any other ideas. Part of the fun for me is taking questions like this. I don't think it's silly because it made Sondra wonder and I bet worry if she asked her boyfriend if he was hurt.
Mick wrote to say he will hang tough. He goes he wishes he didn't have to and that recruiters would take a no for an answer but he can hang tough as long as he has to.
I want to pass on something from Michael Bronner's "The Recruiters' War" from Vanity Fair:
In June, the Pentagon went a step further, contracting a private marketing firm to compile a databse of high-school students aged 16 to 18 and all college students -- listing personal information from birth dates to Social Security numbers, grade-point averages, ethnicities, e-mail addresses, and interests -- to help identify potential recruits. There is a growing opposition among parents to these lists, but recruiters consider them invaluable. Not that they helped Lowry much -- it seemed he just couldn't connect with the local kids. But he wasn't allowed to leave the office and go home to his wife. Natalie, and their baby until he had at least three appointments confirmed for the following day, a task which often took as many as 150 calls. The threat of being fired hung constantly over his head.
So that explains why they call like they do and pester like they do and you gotta be like Mick and just hang tough and say "no" over and over.
I'll be working with The Third Estate Sunday Review tomorrow. I'm hoping to get something up tomorrow or Sunday. But if I don't, everybody have a great weekend. And if I didn't plug my buddy Cedric already, get over to his site and check out his "Anybody talking about John H. Johnson? Why not?"
