Day: September 6, 2006

Anniversary of the McKinley Assassination

Jon Ponder

On September 6, 1901, a Michigan-born man with a foreign sounding name, Leon Czolgosz (“shol-gosh”), an adherent to the anarchist cause, shot and killed President William McKinley:

McKinley was shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at 4:07 p.m. on September 6, 1901, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

The newly-developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but no one thought to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet, which might have saved his life. Also, ironically, the operating room at the exposition’s emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings at the extravagant exposition were covered with thousands of light bulbs. Doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight onto the operating table as they treated McKinley’s wounds.

McKinley’s doctors believed he would recover, and the President convalesced for more than a week at the home of the exposition’s director. But McKinley eventually went into shock. He died from his wounds at 2:15 a.m. on September 14, 1901, in Buffalo. He was buried in Canton, Ohio. Czolgosz was later found guilty of murder and electrocuted.

McKinley’s vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, was hiking in the Adirondacks where he was sworn in as president when McKinley died.

Has ‘Victory in Iraq’ Morphed Into the Unwinnable ‘War on Terror?’

Buck Banks

Fear factor: As George Bush continues his Scary Terror tour of American Legion conventions and gatherings of military folk to put the fear of Allah into Americans everywhere, it’s interesting to note that it was only last November that he had ginned up something called the “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.” He unveiled it at the U.S. Naval academy in a speech that is reminiscent of his current warlord warblings except for its focus on victory as opposed to a neverending slog through an ever deepening crisis in the Middle East.

By fighting these terrorists in Iraq, Americans in uniform are defeating a direct threat to the American people.
— G.W. Bush, Sept. 5, 2006

On Nov. 30, 2005, Bush described the enemy in Iraq this way:

The terrorists in Iraq share the same ideology as the terrorists who struck the United States on September the 11th. Those terrorists share the same ideology with those who blew up commuters in London and Madrid, murdered tourists in Bali, workers in Riyadh and guests at a wedding in Amman, Jordan. Just last week they massacred Iraqi children and their parents at a toy giveaway outside an Iraqi hospital.

This is an enemy without conscience, and they cannot be appeased. If we’re not fighting and destroying this enemy in Iraq, they would not be idle. They would be plotting and killing Americans across the world and within our own borders. By fighting these terrorists in Iraq, Americans in uniform are defeating a direct threat to the American people.

Yesterday, in his “War on Terror” speech, Bush described them this way:

The terrorists who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, are men without conscience — but they’re not madmen. They kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs that are evil, but not insane. These al Qaeda terrorists and those who share their ideology are violent Sunni extremists. They’re driven by a radical and perverted vision of Islam that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women and children in the pursuit of political power. They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call a “Caliphate” — where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology. Osama bin Laden has called the 9/11 attacks — in his words — “a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the Righteous… [Caliphate].”

This caliphate would be a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. We know this because al Qaeda has told us. About two months ago, the terrorist Zawahiri — he’s al Qaeda’s second in command — declared that al Qaeda intends to impose its rule in “every land that was a home for Islam, from [Spain] to Iraq. He went on to say, “The whole world is an open field for us.”

Is it me, or is Bush saying the same thing again? And it’s interesting to note that earlier versions of both of these “national strategies” were released in 2003 and have been updated annually. So what is it? the War on Terror or Victory in Iraq? According to an article today in the Boston Globe, both themes are defining Congress’ approach to the last full month of law-making until December as well as the midterms this fall:

… the Republicans have shelved high-profile bills on immigration and lobbying and ethics reforms for a streamlined agenda emphasizing domestic security.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate are planning votes this month on legislation concerning Pentagon spending, port security, bioterrorism, Bush’s controversial warrantless wiretapping program , and military tribunals for terror suspects. The goal: allowing the GOP to tout its credentials in fighting the threat of terrorism.

“The bottom line is that there have been no terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11, and that is the ultimate measure of success,” said Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. “Democrats have urged retreat from Iraq, and, as we all know, that has become the central front in this war on terror.”
[…]

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

We spend our lives doing things we detest, to make money to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like. We never want to be doing what we’re doing. When we eat, we read; when we watch TV, we eat; when we drive, we listen to music; when we listen to music, we work around the house. When we want to be with friends, we go to a noisy restaurant; when we want to party, we spend the evening trying to converse.

— Laurance Peter (1919-1990), American educator, creator of the Peter Principle

Plame Was the CIA’s Operations Chief of the Joint Task Force on Iraq When Bush Illegally Outed Her

Jon Ponder

Republicans have tried to portray CIA agent Valerie Plame as a desk jockey whose work was insignficant. But Michael Isikoff, in his new book, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War, says she was a key player in determining Iraq’s WMD capabilities during the run-up to war:

She was operations chief of the Joint Task Force on Iraq (JTFI), a unit of the Counterproliferation Division of the clandestine Directorate of Operations.

For the two years prior to her outing, Valerie Wilson worked to gather intelligence that would support the Bush White House’s assertion that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was loaded with WMDs. This means that Armitage–as well as Karl Rove and Scooter Libby–leaked classified information about a undercover CIA officer whose job it had been to look for evidence of Saddam’s WMD programs. Any irony here? During this part of her career, Valerie Wilson traveled overseas to monitor operations she and her staff at JTFI were mounting.

Poll: 65% of Republicans Still Believe Saddam Caused 9/11

Jon Ponder

Read it and weep. In the Muslim world, the mullahs spread lies about America to young men in order to foment terror for political gain.

Meanwhile, in America, rightwing radio spreads lies about terrorism to an eager audience of impressionable, un-smart Americans — in order to foment the fear of terror for political gain.

Which is more cynical, and which is more dangerous?