On July 22, 2005, Special Forces Colonel Patrick Lang said before a congressional committee that, as a result of the exposure of Valerie Plame, our ability to know when terrorists would "carry 10-pound bags of explosive in subway stations" would "go right down the drain." The media never reported this. Instead it was chasing the spin that Plame was not "really" a covert agent. It was crucial to the White House that Plame's job description be fogged up.
Scott McClellan now says not only Karl Rove and Scooter Libby told him to lie about their involvement in the Plame betrayal but Vice President Cheney, presidential Chief of Staff Andrew Card and President Bush himself.
At the time of the leak even right-wing talkingheads were saying this was one scandal from which the administration might not recover. Playing hardball with critics like Joe Wilson was one thing. Exposing an undercover informant network was another...
The upcoming week is going to be a busy week of listening and learning. I have 3 important meetings to attend that will give me the chance to discuss important issues in the north central region.
On Monday June 2nd, I am scheduled to meet with Kirk Johnson to discuss issues surrounding the Allegheny National Forest. Mr. Johnson is the founder of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and he contacted me several weeks back to request a meeting to discuss the future of the Allegheny National Forest. I have been a supporter of the PA Wilds tourism promotion initiative and I recognize that the Allegheny National Forest is large attraction for tourism in the PA Wilds region. I look forward to speaking with Mr. Johnson and learning more details about the ANF.
Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig spoke at the dedication of a new Veterans Clinic in Idaho on May 30, 2008, as part of a Memorial Day presentation. The local paper, the Lewiston Morning Tribune, contains the following story where Senator Craig claims to continue to be the "ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee--see excerpt-
Introductory rambling: So much to write about these days, what with the rules committee hearing going on in DC (moot in any case), the war, the Democratic Convention in Augusta, the Celtics, international disasters--it's all been on my mind to comment, disparage or celebrate. Instead, I'm going to write about Memorial Day.
I've been thinking about this since I went to Portland's parade on Monday, and links sent by a friend have kept it in the front of my mind. Last night I had pizza and beer with my city councilor and we chatted about it as well. Time to write.
Portland's Memorial Day Parade was pathetic. Embarrassing, actually, on several levels. It was thinly attended. The delegations were small. The community was not represented. The American Legion and VFW were predictably bitter. I was pissed.
I shot off a text message to the three city councilors who I know, and they all had the same general response. It is the VFW and the American Legion who organize the parade, and they only talk to each other. I don't mind beefing with those guys--you have to involve the community. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:
On Memorial Day, Americans honor the fallen. Soldiers whose faces will never appear before us again are remembered for their service. Only the few, friends and family, will recall the life of those young men and women who passed from this world into another.
OK so while it's no secret that FOX News is filled with people of... questionable journalistic standards... you would at least expect them to understand the difference between an editorial piece and an article.
It looks like the White House may not be able to tell the difference either - with cries of "Bias!" coming from both the FOX & Friends hosts and the Bush administration over a New York Times editorial over the weekend. The editorial titled "Mr. Bush and the G.I. Bill" criticized Bush & McCain for their lack of support for Jim Webb's GI bill.
The FOX & Friends crowd doesn't seem to understand that an editorial is an OPINION PIECE which is SUPPOSED to be biased. Thats what an editorial IS! It really is unbelievable how clueless they seem... does anyone working there understand basic concepts of journalism?
Watch the video and keep in mind the name of the editorial -
I inadvertently attended a Memorial Day ceremony today.
I was at the cemetery for an entirely other, personal reason and found myself caught up in a massive traffic jam: People arriving for the annual Memorial Day ceremony held at this particular southern California location.
"Shall we stay?" I inquired of my companion and we agreed it was something we were probably meant to do. My oldest nephew is with the Special Forces and arrived for an eighteen-month tour in Iraq about two weeks ago. For him and for all who have served, we felt it was a meaningful way to spend the morning.
I have started a fund to support those Senatorial candidates running against incumbent Senators this fall that did not support the GI Bill. What I found in doing my research is that generally most of these Senators do not support veterans period.
Donate by clicking on this thermometer
I am going to match whatever I can raise on here. I am simply asking that each peson that vote also donate $1.01 or more to the Candidate listed. Please spread the wealth to all of these candidates if possible. Plus who ever recieves the most votes, I will donate $25.01 of my own money to this week.
We have to count the victims of Post Traumatic Distress Syndrome, what we used to call being shell-shocked, as victims of the war. The number of those victims has been covered up.
Dr. Ira Katz, chief of mental health services for the Department of Veterans Affairs, sent an e-mail to a VA colleague this past February that read:
"Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before somebody stumbles on it?"
Margolis charges that Katz covered up this startling statistic, showing 12,000 attempted suicides a year while in VA care, when he testified before Congress.Have 30,000 veterans died of suicide in the past 5 years? Have 60,000 tried to? Shouldn't these deeply depressed men and women be added to the casualty tolls? Is war a plague on the mind of those who fight it?
Margolis writes,
120 veterans commit suicide every week.
1,000 veterans attempt suicide while in VA care every month.
Nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately 300,000) have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms or major depression.
19 percent of post-Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with possible traumatic brain injury, according to a Rand Corp. Study in April.
A higher percentage of these veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder than from any previous war because of "stop loss" or an involuntary extension of service in the military (58,300), multiple tours, greater prevalence of brain injuries, etc.
19 percent of returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan would also be nearly 300,000 persons, suffering from traumatic brain injury.
Editor and Publisher's Greg Mitchell has been chronicling some of these stories here at Daily Kos on an almost daily basis. It's a heartbreaking litany of tragedy, of lost potential.
Support the troops indeed. Sweep those who return most damaged under the rug. House them in deplorable conditions. Vote against increasing budgets their benefits, their healthcare. Refuse to honor their sacrifice by giving them the opportunity to get a college degree. It's the Republican way, the Bush and McCain way.
Remember and honor the fallen, but don't ever forget the living. However misguided and unjust this war has been, those who've fought it deserve the very best that the government that put them in harm's way can provide.
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. All weekend, I saw veterans honored on television, the newspapers, parades, etc. I saw more than my share of yellow ribbons, American flags, 21-gun salutes and more. But something was missing, something I wish would be covered every Memorial Day, voices of dissent, especially from those who served our country.
This is a repost of a diary I put up yesterday. I think it stayed on the list for about 5 minutes as things were moving quickly. I usually post at night (Pacific Time) because y'all are so quick back East. I thought I'd give this a retry as it's timely for today.
So, on this Memorial Day, and approaching (unbelievably) the seventh anniversary of 9/11, I saw a story in the NY Times from Reuters which made reflect on the fact we haven't hunted down and captured and/or killed Osama Bin Laden yet.
