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Archive for the 'Scandals' Category

HE UTTERLY MISSED THE MOMENT

January 17th, 2009, 11:08 am by Dan Lehr

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I’m in 100% agreement with David Broder :

“I thought the most damaging to the American people — both those living now and those yet unborn — was placing the entire cost of Bush’s ambitious, if not misguided, national security policy on the tiny fraction of American families with loved ones in the armed services.

Iraq and Afghanistan are the main fronts in the fourth major war of my lifetime, following World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and the first in which nothing was asked of the civilian population — no higher taxes, nothing to disrupt the comfort of daily life.

But in that moment [after 9/11], when the country was truly unified and the people were more than ready to sacrifice, Bush asked for . . . nothing. He spoke of the need for “patience” and “resolve,” but at a news conference at Camp David on Sept. 15, 2001, he was asked, “Sir, how much of a sacrifice are ordinary Americans going to have to be expected to make in their daily lives, in their daily routines?”

Bush’s first words were: “Our hope, of course, is that they make no sacrifice whatsoever. We would like to see life return to normal in America.”

Over the next few years, families of active-duty, National Guard and reserve volunteers sacrificed mightily in the form of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and involuntary extensions of tours of duty, not to mention deaths and wounds by the thousands.

As for other Americans, as John McCain repeatedly noted last year, the only thing they were asked to do was “go shopping.”

I’m convinced that had he done more than this, had he called for a shared American sacrifice across the board 8 years ago - rekindling a common sense of national spirit not seen since World War II - he would be remembered as a far greater president today & in the future, even with the disasters of Katrina & Iraq.

He blew it.

FURTHER READING: Bob Woodward on the 10 lessons of the Bush Presidency any future president from any party would do well to heed.

IN THE AIR OR IN YOUR HEAD?

January 14th, 2009, 12:04 pm by Dan Lehr

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Above: Erin Brockovich last week at the site of the Kingston, Tennessee coal ash spill (clip courtesy of the Knoxville News Sentinel).

[UPDATE/12:44pm: Obama will order a review of all coal ash dump sites.]

(photo: AP Photo/Greeenpeace, Wade Payne)

Brockovich recently wrote about her experiences in Roane County:

“This corner of Roane County Tennessee is off the beaten path. It is remote, distant from any main street and city noise. It is easy to see the beauty of rolling mountains, lakes, rivers, comfortable family homes. It is serene, a piece of heaven on earth. This was a safe place to raise kids, to teach them to fish and swim, to enjoy family and have barbecues or sit quietly to watch the sunset on warm summer nights. I could see why people live there. Over the past couple of weeks we have had the opportunity to speak with people about life both before December 22. Life in the Kingston/Harriman area was idyllic. It was a place people chose as their home. It was a place that, even if jobs took people away in their youth, they awaited the day they could return and did so as soon as possible. It is a beautiful place, with water bodies everywhere. There are green meadows laced among the waters. These shared memories come to life in the “before” photographs that residents showed us. The pictures show children diving from docks into the lake, people canoeing along the rivers, families tubing in the hot summer sun and children and their dogs walking along the shore. A favorite scene of many residents is the sunset over the water, with the soft nighttime colors glistening on the lake. It went from pristine to profaned overnight.”

She makes a lot of good points, but NewsChannel 9’s John Madewell, upon reading the piece, remarked on this passage:

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FOOTNOTE DENIED FOOTHOLD

January 6th, 2009, 1:07 pm by Dan Lehr

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Now this is just plain silly.

Does this guy deserve to be Senator?

Not from where I sit.

But Harry Reid et al are only accomplishing having the spotlight move from the pathetic Burris storyline to their own chamber, & fanning the flames of this story.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has a great post about the reasoning Burris & his supporters are using to justify his appointment:

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A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

January 5th, 2009, 4:40 pm by Dan Lehr

“How did we transform from champions of human dignity and individual rights into a nation of armchair torturers? One word: fear.

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WHAT’S IN THE WATER?

January 2nd, 2009, 2:17 pm by Dan Lehr

The EPA says today that arsenic levels downstream from the Kingston coal ash spill are 149 times the federally accepted level.

This whole story has added quite a disturbing element to the new year, particularly since I live downstream.

We have a web poll up on NewsChannel9.com’s main page (which I wrote) that asks if you trust TVA to give you full truth about the extent of the damage.

Guess what a majority is saying?

(UPDATE: the poll’s now closed. 82% of you said you don’t trust the TVA.)

And if you prefer to sleep soundly at night, I highly recommend not looking at this site, which goes into great detail (& is well-sourced) about all the chemicals that are in the coal ash mix.

(shudder)

Also: Erin Brockovich says she’s on the way.

LIKE SANDS THROUGH THE HOURGLASS…

December 30th, 2008, 3:40 pm by Dan Lehr

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(keep repeating clip 2 as you watch clips 1 & 3).

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(h/t Kim Fields for the idea)

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(click here for details on the story in case you haven’t heard)

INTERNAL BLAGO REPORT RELEASED

December 23rd, 2008, 4:43 pm by Dan Lehr

Read the report here (PDF file).

The gist:

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“DO YOU LIKE KIPLING?” “I DON’T KNOW, I’VE NEVER KIPPLED.”

December 21st, 2008, 2:49 pm by Dan Lehr

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Above: Rod Blagojevich quotes Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” (about 1:22 in).

David Brooks, on Friday’s PBS NewsHour:

“..to me, the emotional highlight, he said all this stuff, and then he quotes Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If,” which is, if you’re being hated, you don’t give in to hate. If people are lying about you, but you don’t get into lies, keep your head…

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NEWT TO RNC: SHUT UP

December 16th, 2008, 4:28 pm by Dan Lehr

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Above: an ad from the Republican National Committee attempting to tie Barack Obama to the Rod Blagojevich scandal.

Newt Gingrich was not pleased. Read his rip-roaring response, in full, after the jump.

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BLAGO WAS A NIXON GROUPIE

December 16th, 2008, 2:32 pm by Dan Lehr

It sort of makes more sense to me now.

From Gawker:

“In 1980, a vacationing Rod Blagojevich camped in front of Richard Nixon’s home, with a friend, until the pariah ex-president emerged and this picture was taken.”

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OUR GREATEST POST-9/11 DEFEAT, PART 2

December 16th, 2008, 10:56 am by Dan Lehr

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Note this quote in the above exchange from Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

KARL: Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

CHENEY: I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency, in effect, came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it.

That’s not true, according to last week’s bipartisan Senate report (PDF file) on the topic:

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OUR GREATEST POST 9/11 DEFEAT

December 15th, 2008, 12:31 pm by Dan Lehr

[above: Iraqi detainees suffering at the hands of the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib.]

Do these pictures upset you?

I hope so.

& even more upsetting than that is this bipartisan Senate report (PDF file) on detainee abuse & how it became national policy.

It wasn’t just ‘a few bad apples,’ as was reported at the time.

No, the responsibility lays squarely at the feet of this man:

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BLAGOJEVICH BLUSTER IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

December 10th, 2008, 10:25 am by Dan Lehr

Happy Birthday, loser!

Boy, what a creep this guy is, huh?

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

December 9th, 2008, 12:43 pm by Dan Lehr

[above: sunset, Loess bluffs, northwest Missouri, December, 1977. photo by my father]


“I don’t believe there’s any cloud that hangs over me, I think there’s nothing but sunshine hanging over me.”
.

Who said it?

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NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT

November 24th, 2008, 3:04 pm by Dan Lehr

DETROIT (AP) - When the CEO of General Motors heads back to Washington to seek a federal bailout, he won’t be flying on a private jet.
But that’s all that GM is saying about the travel plans of Rick Wagoner. He and the heads of the other two auto giants were criticized and ridiculed for using private jets to go to Washington last week to ask for federal help for their companies.
A Chrysler spokesman won’t comment on CEO Bob Nardelli’s travel plans. Ford says no decision has been made on how CEO Alan Mulally will go.
But they might decide to carpool.
Auto industry officials have been e-mailing and discussing how to set up a giant car caravan that would carry the CEOs and others back to Washington to ask for help from Congress.
The head of Dura Automotive Systems says the idea “really picked up momentum over the weekend.”
Congressional leaders called on the auto executives to come back and show how the industry would use the federal bailout to survive. President-elect Obama today said he’s surprised the CEOs didn’t have a better proposal in place the first time.
.

Read more here.

Now: is it too much to ask THEM to drive?

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