Rumsfeld: I Stopped Reading About the Civil War Because There Were So Many Americans Killed
At a Pentagon townhall meeting today, outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he began reading books about the U.S. Civil War, but “turned away from that” because “there were so many people killed and wounded, and they were all Americans.” Rumsfeld said he began reading books about World War II instead. Insight about how fascist minds like Rumsfeld’s work. Numbers killed: Civil War: 600,000; WWII: 30,000,000 (est.) - but at least they weren’t Americans!
Frist in Farewell Address: ‘Let Us Not Allow… Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’
Today, with Vice President Cheney presiding over the Senate chamber, Bill Frist delivered his farewell address, urging his colleagues not to be influenced by “destructive partisanship.”
An odd statement coming from Frist, who in his four years as Majority Leader allowed one polarizing issue after another to divide the Senate and the nation. ThinkProgress recounts some of Frist’s partisan ploys:
Frist Pushed Gay Marriage Ban. “Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday he plans a vote in early June on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, a move likely to fail but sure to spark a fiery election-year debate.”
Frist Pushed Flag Burning Amendment. “Amending the Constitution to prohibit flag burning may be considered political posturing in the nation’s capital, says Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, but it’s not pandering to the GOP’s conservative base to pursue such protection. ‘It’s important to the heart and soul of the American people,’ said Frist.”
Frist Lumped Minimum Wage Hike With Estate Tax Cut. “The only opportunity this year to increase the minimum wage and renew popular tax breaks will be linked to a reduction in the estate tax, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday. … ‘It’s now or never,’ Frist said.”
Frist Bucked Bush On Immigration, Proposed Enforcement-Only Bill. “Maneuvering toward a pre-election showdown on immigration, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Sunday said he would seek passage of legislation to secure the borders and predicted Democrats would resist. ‘Right now I got a feeling the Democrats may obstruct it,’ said Frist.”
Frist Offered False Medical Diagnosis From Senate Office. “Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon before becoming Senate majority leader, went to the floor late Thursday night for the second time in 12 hours to argue that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terri Schiavo is in a ‘persistent vegetative state.’ ‘I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office,’ he said.” (Terri’s rarely mentioned autopsy revealed otherwise.)
Frist Advocated Teaching Intelligent Design. “Echoing similar comments from President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said “Echoing similar comments from President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said ‘intelligent design’ should be taught in public schools alongside evolution.”
Full transcript:
I think, as a consequence, we are moving toward a body that has too much of a two-year vision, governing for that next election, rather than a body with a 20-year vision, governing for the future. As we consider the future of the institution, I urge that we ask ourselves what it is that our forefathers envisioned. Is today’s reality what they foresaw?
I urge that we consider our work in this chamber. What is it really all about? Is it about keeping the majority? Is it about red states versus blue? Is it about lobbing attacks, in some way, across the aisle, back and forth? Is it about war rooms, whose purpose is not to contrast ideas but to destroy? Or is it more?
[…]
I think we need to remember this vision of the Senate: that the framers established the Senate to protect people from their rulers and as a check on the House and on the passions of the electorate. And let us not allow these passions of the electorate be reflected as destructive partisanship on this floor.
Inhofe Hearing Accuses Media of ‘Hyping Scientifically Unfounded Climate Alarmism’
Among scientists, there is no doubt humans are responsible for climate change. One of the few remaining doubters is Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
In his last week as chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, Inhofe said goodbye “with a final hearing aimed at spanking the press for its coverage of climate change.” A few lowlights from Inhofe’s hearing:
- Inhofe: “Poorly conceived policy decisions may result from the media’s over-hyped reporting. Much of the mainstream media has subverted its role as an objective source of information on climate change into the role of an advocate. … Rather than focus on the hard science of global warming, the media has instead become advocates for hyping scientifically unfounded climate alarmism.”
- Dan Gainor, Director, Business & Media Institute: “We’re here to discuss the media coverage of the climate change debate. But there’s only one problem, there is almost none of that debate actually in the media. … This goes against the basic tenets of journalism to be skeptical of all sides of an issue.”
- Dr. David Deming, University of Oklahoma: “There is an overwhelming bias today in the media regarding the issue of global warming. In the past two years, this bias has bloomed into an irrational hysteria. … As a result, the public has become vastly misinformed on this and other environmental issues.”
The media does deserve to be criticized for its climate change coverage; for years, reporters have tried to show “journalistic balance” by injecting more doubt than can be supported by scientific evidence. The media watchdog FAIR explains why the concept of “fairness” applies differently to scientific issues than it does to political issues:
The professional canon of journalistic fairness requires reporters who write about a controversy to present competing points of view. When the issue is of a political or social nature, fairness - presenting the most compelling arguments of both sides with equal weight - is a fundamental check on biased reporting. But this canon causes problems when it is applied to issues of science. It seems to demand that journalists present competing points of view on a scientific question as though they had equal scientific weight, when actually they do not.
Journalists have long inserted doubt into their reporting on climate change. A FAIR study found that between 1988 and 2002, “53 percent of articles in the mainstream media” cast doubt on global warming science.
ISG Report: Bush Administration ‘Significantly Underreporting the Violence in Iraq’
The Bush administration has consistently bashed the media for ignoring all the “good news†in Iraq. In Oct. 2003, President Bush said, “And, listen, we’re making good progress in Iraq. Sometimes it’s hard to tell it when you listen to the filter. We’re making good progress.”
But according to the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report released yesterday, the Bush administration has actually been filtering out the bad news in Iraq by underreporting violence “in order to suit the Bush administration’s policy goals.” From pp. 94-5:
In addition, there is significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq. The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases. A murder of an Iraqi is not necessarily counted as an attack. If we cannot determine the source of a sectarian attack, that assault does not make it into the database. A roadside bomb or a rocket or mortar attack that doesn’t hurt U.S. personnel doesn’t count. For example, on one day in July 2006 there were 93 attacks or significant acts of violence reported. Yet a careful review of the reports for that single day brought to light 1,100 acts of violence. Good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals.
In addition to manipulating statistics, the administration has spent $20 million “for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.”
Bush’s Carbon Legacy “In 2000, carbon dioxide emissions were rising less than 1% annually. Today they are rising more than 2.5% annually.†Greenhouse Gas Emissions Soar in Defiant US
Iraq is “quickly becoming the largest” refugee crisis in the world and could “soon overtake the refugee crisis in Darfur,” according to a new report by Refugees International. “Last month, the UN estimated that 100,000 people were fleeing the country each month, with the number of Iraqis now living in other Arab countries standing at 1.8 million.”
Rep. Kingston Defends 3-Day Work Week, Claims Members Can ‘Keep In Touch’ with Blackberrys
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) is upset that the new leadership of the 110th Congress plans to work five days a week. From Thursday’s Washington Post:
“Keeping us up here eats away at families,” said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. “Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families — that’s what this says.”
Thursday on Fox News, he defended his comments. “With BlackBerrys, cell phones, you can stay in touch with what’s going on in Washington.”
Congress has tried it Kingston’s way and it didn’t work. The 109th Congress — which has “been in session for a grand total of 103 days this year” — “failed to enact a host of once top-priority legislation on issues such as overhauling Social Security, immigration and lobbying laws.” Congress even failed its basic responsibility of providing a budget for the government, completing “just two of the 11 fiscal 2006 appropriation bills.”
Full transcript:
GIBSON: Congressman, you actually commented about this. Let me put your quote up here. You said, to a newspaper, I believe, keeping us here is eating away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families — that’s what this says. What did you mean by that?
KINGSTON: Well, members of Congress work 60 to 70 hours a week every week. I mean, the idea that we only work when we are in Washington, D.C., is ridiculous. When we’re back home, we’re visiting schools, we’re talking to groups, we’re meeting with constituents. We’re getting real information on the ground. We’re listening and we’re learning. I think there was a time when all the brains were in Washington. I don’t know when that was. But it’s certainly not the case anymore. With BlackBerrys, cell phones, you can stay in touch with what’s going on in Washington. But you know, when you’re back home with the real people, folks can grab you by the collar and say, what in the heck did you guys do when you passed that bill?
GIBSON: Congressman, what about — let me put up this graphic, this reality check is going to mean a new calendar for you guys. There you’re going to be five days a week. Most Americans work five days a week. And most Americans, as I recall, were pretty ticked to Congress in the last election. What did you guys get done in the 109th Congress?
Mary Cheney’s Partner ‘Will Have No Legal Relationship with Her Child’ Under Virginia Law
The Washington Post reported today that Mary Cheney and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, are expecting a baby. The right wing is already on the attack:
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as “unconscionable.”
“It’s very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father,” said Crouse, a senior fellow at the group’s think tank. “They are encouraging people who don’t have the advantages they have.” …
Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family: “Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
Cheney and Poe will also face discrimination from Virginia state law. According to Equality Virginia:
While there are no specific Virginia laws addressing the custody and adoption rights of gays and lesbians, Virginia courts have routinely discriminated against gays and lesbians by finding that the parent’s status as gay or lesbian is not in the “best interests” of the child.
The result, according to Jennifer Chrisler of Family Pride, is that Poe will “have no legal relationship with her child.”
“In the state of Virginia, it’s very difficult for lesbian couples to have children together,” says Chrisler. “Heather Poe will have no legal relationship with her child. She can’t adopt as a second parent. She won’t have her name on the birth certificate.“
Asked what the couple could do to give Poe some legal rights as a parent, Chrisler advised: “Move to Maryland.”
UPDATE: AmericaBlog has more.
Bush V. Harry Truman
McClatchy describes Friday’s meeting between Bush and congressional leaders:
Bush began his talk by comparing himself to President Harry S Truman, who launched the Truman Doctrine to fight communism, got bogged down in the Korean War and left office unpopular.
Bush said that “in years to come they realized he was right and then his doctrine became the standard for America,” recalled Senate Majority Whip-elect Richard Durbin, D-Ill. “He’s trying to position himself in history and to justify those who continue to stand by him, saying sometimes if you’re right you’re unpopular, and be prepared for criticism.”
Durbin said he challenged Bush’s analogy, reminding him that Truman had the NATO alliance behind him and negotiated with his enemies at the United Nations. Durbin said that’s what the Iraq Study Group is recommending that Bush do now - work more with allies and negotiate with adversaries on Iraq.
Bush, Durbin said, “reacted very strongly. He got very animated in his response” and emphasized that he is “the commander in chief.”
(Via Washington Monthly)