JUSIPER
Friday, April 30, 2004
Elton John: American Idol racist... or is it America?
Good for him.
John — who rehearsed with the show's wannabe pop stars during a recent week in which they performed his songs — said three performers he was really impressed with "happened to be black, young female singers and they all seemed to be landing in the bottom three."
"These three girls would have the talent to be members of The Royal Academy or Juilliard," the British singer-songwriter told reporters.
"They have great voices. The fact that they are constantly in the bottom three, and I don't want to set myself up here, I find it incredibly racist."
7:48 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Matt Drudge on C-SPAN this morning
He's been criticizing Google News: "If we put billions of dollars into computers selecting news, I don't know where this journalism business is heading."
I don't either, Matt. But I do know you're a model for truthtellers everywhere.
8:20 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Kerry and outreach
He better fix this, and fast. He should have done so in February or March. And if the base isn't fired up by Election Day, don't expect him to get more than 100 electoral votes.
8:14 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Thursday, April 29, 2004
Graduation ceremonies are no place for political diatribes
JUSIPER salutes students at Florida State University for their proactive approach to Dick Cheney's impending visit to campus.
I wonder what honorary degree Cheney will be receiving. Doctor of Deception? Master of Mendacity?
No doubt Cheney expects to be welcomed with garlands. We know how good he is at predictions of that sort.
8:57 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
President Al Gore, Benefactor
Those $6 million will sure come in handy.
3:00 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Sabato on the Pennsylvania primary
Sabato expects Specter to win in November unless Toomey demands a recount; he also buys the line that Specter will help Bush win Pennsylvania. I am agnostic on both scores. He closes with this kicker:
This narrow victory for Specter proves again that the moderate wing of the GOP is dying, even in the Northeast. It's very comparable to the death of the conservative wing of the Democratic party in the South and Rocky Mountain states. Democrats are liberals almost everywhere and Republicans are conservatives almost everywhere, and that will be even more true in ten years than it is today.
9:19 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Former Senator Arlen Specter
Don't bother waiting for the results. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Philly voters are staying home.
Voter turnout was light in primary election races across the Philadelphia region this morning despite blue skies and a U.S. Senate contest that could shift the balance of power in Washington.
10 pm UPDATE: With 66% of the vote in, Specter is ahead 61-39. Lots of egg on my face, and a lot to unpack when detailed results come in.
11 pm UPDATE: Diebold at work? It's 52-48 now, with 73% reporting.
4:16 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Brad DeLong on Plan of Attack
It doesn't take a genius to know the Bush Administration is basically evil; indeed, the proportion of Americans hold that opinion is roughly equivalent to the proportion who think he is the very epitome of Christian virtue.
Most journalists, lacking formal training in any specific field, therefore just try to be "fair" and split the difference between the two political parties.
But it takes a lot of specialized knowledge to know precisely how evil the Bush Administration is; the more you know, the worse it is. As a result, some of the strongest policy critiques of this Administration have come from the likes of Paul Krugman. He was trained enough to recognize the disastrous impact of the GOP's uncommonly regressive redistributive policies in 2001 itself, but as an outsider, he was easily marginalized and ignored.
Hence the pathos in Brad DeLong's comments on the prospect of reading Woodward's book.
I don't know when I'll read it: I don't think it would be healthy for me to get depressed to any further extent. And close engagement with the details of this administration--on any issue--is always depressing.
1:21 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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A thought
Consumer confidence improved in April. Many have focused on the notion that Bush has remained competitive despite all the bad news from Iraq because he does better when the issue is foreign policy rather than the economy.
Fair enough. But might it be that Bush has remained competitive in spite of the bad news from Iraq because the economy is improving?
12:53 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Pete Coors--class act
So according to Pete Coors, a murderous Klansman is better than John Kerry. How amusing.
And he would have to. After all, he does love his daddy, a Republican stalwart and paragon of its values; surely he too was a better man than John Kerry.
In 1984, in a speech to a minority business group in Denver, William Coors said if they considered it 'unfair' that 'their ancestors were dragged here in chains against their will, I would urge those of you who feel that way to go back to where your ancestors came from, and you will find out that probably the greatest favour that anybody ever did you, was to drag your ancestors over here in chains, and I mean it.'
UPDATE: Petey's a big LOSER.
9:40 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Watch it while you can
John Edwards' site has the Wisconsin primary night speech that a savvy John Silber-inspired John Kerry pre-empted. It's short (just five minutes) and sweet, but it wouldn't have changed history.
8:56 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Monday, April 26, 2004
An excellent question for Scott McClellan
From Amy Sullivan:
Ask him whether the President thinks his Director of Homeland Security should be allowed to take communion.
11:45 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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"Not only is the public turning against the war ...
... it's turning against it fast." You read it right. The words of the eminent and ever-reassuring Ruy Texeira.
10:56 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Those tax cuts
Matt Bivens of The Nation breaks down the breakdown.
9:47 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Coal politics
Kerry's environmental positions could cost him in West Virginia and Ohio, even though they will presumably win him little support from Greens.
9:15 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Guess who won't be invited to dinner at Cardinal Egan's?
You only get one guess. For more on the Cardinal, read Peter's Easter post.
2:34 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Civil war on the ground in Pennsylvania
Who is stronger? The Bush field operation or the FRC's?
2:24 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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High crime and misdemeanor?
Oh I forgot, that's only for sex (scroll down to "Primer: Why Bush Secretly Moving $700 Million Violates The Law").
12:41 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Upcoming hot reads
I think you all know which of these three books I'll be reading, fond as I am of Joseph Wilson and our last legitimately elected president:
Next month, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV - the former administration envoy who contradicted some details of Mr. Bush's case for war in the State of the Union address - is expected to publish a critical memoir of his own. Bill Clinton is trying to publish his memoir over the summer.
Perhaps most sensationally, Doubleday recently scheduled 'The Family,' a gossipy history of the Bush dynasty by the celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, for publication in September, on the eve of the election.
12:36 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
2000 was proof
Here is N*der's message for 2004:
I believe the only vote you waste is when you vote for someone you don't believe in. If everybody voted his or her conscience, we would have a better government.
3:11 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Rural Oregon
Oregon is far from locked up (and if polling is to be believed, trending Republican), which makes this Los Angeles Times piece pretty important.
2:57 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Putting polls to work
Why don't television news programs and networks put public opinion polls to work by gearing their coverage to teaching, using the polls as a sort of curriculum? If a large share of the public believes, for instance, that some nation had certain weapons that it never had, and it's been proven that this nation never did, and it's clear that the mistaken impression has had large consequences for the lives and livelihoods of hundreds, nay thousands, of people, why don't producers perform a public service and educate members of the public about their errors?
2:36 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Jeb's Evangelical Prison
A lot to think about here.
Don't you figure Jeb will try to give these felons the vote in an attempt to look compassionate by 2008? What a master stroke that would be.
2:10 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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First resort
Any chance Move On can get get some cash from these folks?
2:05 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Eggs in a basket
Hope this is the right decision:
Kerry's three-man team. Kerry campaign now wholly owned subsidiary of firm of Shrum, Devine, and Donilon. Handling all of Kerry's TV and message work. Shrum is speechwriter, Tad Devine is expert on electoral votes and delegates, Donilon is pollster. Nice of Kerry to let them handle media for what he calls 'most important election of our lifetime.'
2:03 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Proceed without Delay
Bob Novak's Sunday column is always required reading. This time he breaks a couple of very interesting stories, notably this hopeful item.
DeLay is a Republican hero for orchestrating the off-year congressional redistricting that promises to produce six additional House seats for his party. However, District Attorney Ronnie Earle in Austin may bring an indictment against DeLay for alleged illegal cash payments in connection with the redistricting fight. That would force DeLay to step aside as majority leader at least temporarily.
DeLay predicts there will be no indictment, but concedes the old saw that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if the prosecutor so desires. Earle indicted Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 1993 on trumped-up charges, but he dropped the case after the trial judge's ruling indicated that, in effect, there was no case.
1:39 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Saturday, April 24, 2004
Cropped pics
of John Negroponte from JUSIPER friend Brian at The Consulate.
9:53 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Church's attacks on Salazar
Colorado Luis (via Latino Pundit) reports on the backlash among Hispanics.
9:05 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Brazilian priests
They sure seem to have some interesting views. And lives.
9:03 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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What's in a name
Thanks to the magic of Google, you have to imagine that this webpage will never have more hits than it had in the last few days.
8:58 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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VH-1 Classic
It was just added to our cable lineup, and I am delighted. It's less about the opportunity for cultural history (understanding Asia's demise, for example, by seeing the video to "Don't Cry"), although it's certainly a plus, than the chance to see rare live footage of pre-MTV artists, which the channel's archivists seem to have done a fantastic job digging up. Now if only Don Cornelius would let them license the sacred archives of the hippest trip in America.
8:37 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Repugs' Ohio Ground Game
I'm glad to hear the cynicism regarding it out in Kosland. But anyone who believed MYDD in 2002 and felt as if they had been kicked in the gut for a month afterwards ignores the GOP's ground effort at his or her own peril. In the meantime, Rove's Christian soliders have a few extra tricks up their sleeves.
7:52 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Kerry and the Church, part CXVII
Atrios weighs in, with some help from Body and Soul's excellent thinkpieces on the subject.
7:32 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Bloodba'ath
At least five more U.S. soldiers died today in Iraq. In the meantime, Paul Bremer has decided to bring former Ba'ath party officials in the police force and army. This Financial Times piece tells the story about everything that is wrong about our presence in Iraq from so many angles that I don't know where to start:
Paul Bremer, the senior US administrator in Iraq, announced on Friday an easing of the purge on officials from Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party.
De-Ba'athication was a good policy, but the way it is implemented should be changed, he said in a televised speech to Iraqis.
More military officers who previously served in the army but have clean records would be allowed to join the new army being constructed from scratch by the coalition, he said. Thousands of former Ba'athist army officers and teachers would also be given back in their jobs.
The move, which reverses one of the coalition's most controversial post-war policies, has been welcomed by most Iraqi leaders, who saw the purge as a mistake that fuelled the anti-US insurgency.
But allowing in members of Saddam's disbanded party to return to their posts is unpopular with Kurdish and Shia leaders who were brutally suppressed by the previous
regime.
The policy shift was described on Friday by Ahmad Chalabi, a leading member of the US-appointed governing council, as akin to putting back Nazis in charge of Germany.
'This is like allowing Nazis into the German government immediately after World War Two,' said Mr Chalabi, who heads a committee charged with purging the administration of the upper ranks of the party.
'This policy will create major problems in the transition to democracy, endanger any government put together by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and cause it to fall after June 30,' he told Reuters news agency.
[..] The shift will be seen as a big concession to the two Sunni-dominated pillars of Mr Hussein's rule, whose frustration at their marginalisation has fed Iraq's growing insurgency.
Implementation of the US reversal has already begun in two towns that this month briefly fell to forces loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
So wait, we are putting Republican Guard officers in charge of Shi'ite towns that fell to al-Sadr? Are we on crack? Are we going to send them to Kurd-dominated areas, just to make sure that everyone hates us? Does anyone still believe a word that Chalabi says? Is giving American military equipment to back to Saddam's minions really going to make our troops safer, given how many of the supplies are making their way to the black market?
Inquiring minds want to know; well, they would, if they thought there was anything sincere, security-minded, idealistic or reformist about our Iraq policy.
7:17 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Stay the course
Jeffrey Rosen's advice for advancing gay rights, which I hope activists will follow:
Rather than rushing to court ... gay marriage supporters in California and elsewhere should make their case in the political arena. And California itself provides a model for legislative victories at the local level. A few weeks before his recall by the voters last year, Governor Gray Davis, without any judicial nudging, decided to consolidate his support among gay voters by persuading the California legislature to enact a domestic partnership law that gave gay and lesbian couples all the benefits of civil unions. The experience in Europe suggests that, when victories for gay equality come from legislatures rather than courts, they can eventually grow into something more: The legislature in the Netherlands initially recognized civil unions and, several years later, granted gays and lesbians the full benefits of marriage. Unless they are forced by courts to recognize gay marriage before the public is ready, state legislatures may move through the same progression, recognizing first civil unions and eventually gay marriage. For the moment, the best thing for judges to do is the thing they're most likely to do, which is very little.
This comes at the end of his article in The New Republic. For the details, you'll want to read the rest, online via subscription or on paper at your local newsstand or library.
5:29 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Best music video since, well, their last one
Insane, funny, stylish, retro in every which way and yet as fresh as videos seemed in the days of Martha Quinn: "Roses," by OutKast.
12:11 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Friday, April 23, 2004
Pope-in-waiting: No Communion for Kerry, but lots for the bashers!
Cardinal Arinze began round 45 of his succession campaign today by saying pro-choice politicians like John Kerry, Mario Cuomo and Tom Ridge should be denied communion.
The Vatican issued a series of rules today aimed at stopping what it called 'habitual abuses' in the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass, and the chief cleric responsible for the restrictions said a politician who supports legalized abortion must be denied Holy Communion.
Cardinal Francis Arinze would not single out U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry by name. But when asked in general terms if a priest should refuse to give communion to a Catholic politician who supported abortion rights (like Kerry), Arinze gave an emphatic yes.
[...] The exchange came during a news conference at the Vatican called to unveil a long-awaited document commissioned by Pope John Paul II that orders a strict following of church norms for holding Mass and giving and taking communion, the central rites in Catholicism.
[...] The document — 71 pages in its English translation — was watered down from an earlier draft that reportedly forbade altar girls, applause, dance and some music.
[...]Initially, Arinze was asked if Kerry should be denied communion because he supports the right to abortion, a mortal sin in the church's view. Arinze said it was up to U.S. bishops to interpret the rules. But later, asked more broadly if priests should refuse communion to a politician with such views, he said yes. 'Objectively, the answer is there,' he said.
He who smites can also reward. Presumably, then, a few very special indulgences will be in order for those who have performed exceptional acts of Christian virtue, such as the coalition of Republicans and Catholics who actually succeeded in passing this legislation in Michigan:
Gays and lesbians are wondering if doctors and nurses who object to homosexuality could deny them treatment or prescription drugs under bills passed this week by the Michigan House.
The bills would allow health care workers, facilities and insurers to refuse to perform a procedure, fill a prescription or cover treatment they object to for moral, ethical or religious reasons, except in medical emergencies.
"As written, this law would allow a health care provider to not provide health care services to someone based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation," said state Rep. Chris Kolb, the Michigan Legislature's only openly gay lawmaker. "It's very worrisome and disturbing."
[...] The measures are strongly supported by the Michigan Catholic Conference, which says the bills promote the constitutional right to religious freedom.
But the policy director for the Triangle Foundation, a gay rights advocacy group in Detroit, said the issue isn't religious freedom but conservative GOP politics. Sean Kosofsky expects the legislation will be challenged in court if the Senate passes it and it isn't vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
"It's completely radical, completely unconstitutional and violates every ethic in the medical profession," he said.
[..]A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema of Wyoming said he expects most of Sikkema's fellow GOP senators will support the measure when it comes out of committee.
9:47 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Why hasn't Bush dropped to the 30's in polling
Actually, today's Fox poll suggests that he nearly has! But there is still that larger question, and Howard Fineman, rarely worth reading, suggests a few answers. Real Clear offers a similar perspective.
9:39 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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NH winnable
It's within the margin of error, with Kerry up by two. Bush's negative ads must have done their job; both Bush and Kerry are viewed favorably by only 50% of the electorate. It should be noted, however, that Rasmussen does not poll for Nader, although it allows a vote for "Other," which received 4%.
Every battleground state matters, but New Hampshire and Florida have special resonance. Had 6000 of Ralph Nader's 26,000 votes in the state changed hands, New Hampshire's three electoral votes would have gone to Gore, under whom our country would have been would have been unquestionably more secure. Our treasury would have remained unplundered, our civil rights and environment less ravaged. And our troops (few of whom were rich, wealthy, or, as Naderite rhetoric would have it, savvy or educated enough to vote for him), still alive.
6:16 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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It didn't even take one cycle
The parties have managed to find their way out McCain-Feingold during its very first campaign cycle. John McCain talked about campaign financing incessantly but always called public financing a bad idea. unlike, say, Bill Bradley. Would McCain be ready to take that second step now now? Or does courage have its limits?
Two other things about the rules independent campaign expenditures. First, it would probably be a blessing for no one in the Kerry campaign to be involved in the making of his ads. Second, in 2002 the GOP proved the power of its grass roots organizing. I hope Democrats' desire for strength on the air doesn't diminish their strength on the ground.
8:14 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Cringeley was right
That $603,000,000 fine that the European Commission imposed on Microsoft really is a drop in the bucket.
8:05 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Weather affecting turnout
Last night's Jennifer Hudson debacle, it turns out, may have been linked to the tornadoes. Hudson's success clearly depended on a strong turnout from her geographical base, assuming the fix wasn't in:
The syndicated TV entertainment newsmagazine Extra said that storms leading to a power outage in Hudson's Chicago hometown meant that some 15,000 fans were unable to watch Tuesday's performances or phone in their votes afterward.
Randy Jackson, one of the three "Idol" judges, told Extra in an interview that the power outage could have been a problem with Hudson's hometown votes.
"It was the closest votes ever in the season but I don't know if that was enough," Jackson said, describing Hudson's departure, which visibly upset several of the other finalists, as "crazy", "nuts" and "insane".
Delicious additional coverage, from E!
10:11 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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What Catholicism has come to
This ought to be enough for Mel Gibson to return to the Church. Meanwhile, the law may soon be amended.
5:18 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Seven days of Barbara
One of America's great treasures is Barbara Walters' weekly 20/20 email, which I have been read faithfully for over a year now. Barbara's departure from the show, sadly will mean the end of the emails. They rarely got me to watch this show--hell, even The View is more newsworthy--but they were felt 100% Barbara. This week's is typical, though note the melancholy concealed so cleverly in the first paragraph.
3:53 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Truthtelling
The Raging Critic speaks out on yesterday's American Idol outrage. I'm waiting to see what Sandie and Shonda say.
In the meantime, there's Cara DiPasquale's hometown rage in the Chicago Tribune:
Proving that popularity contests last well beyond high school, America booted Chicago supersinger Jennifer Hudson off of 'American Idol' last night, leaving the judges, contestants and many viewers surprised and outraged.
In the paraphrased closing words of the never-been-wiser Ryan Seacrest: Remember, America, this is a talent contest--a sentiment echoed by the judges.
1:52 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Rasmussen NJ Poll
Looks like that odd poll was probably aberrant. New Jersey should be safe.
1:47 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Country Music Awards
Such the right host, and such the wrong winner.
If Dolly Parton ran for President, she would run as a Democrat and we would win West Virginia, her home state of Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Missouri, Georgia, among other states. By my count she would win 396 electoral votes.
8:39 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Latin America Losing Faith in Democracy
I wish I could tell these folks not to give up on democracy. I used to live under a legitimately elected government, and I remember its being a good thing.
8:34 AM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Tone deaf
Kerry is great in many ways, but I have a feeling that this piece on his somniferous college tour is right on the money.
6:56 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Depressing
I wanted to post about something that wasn't those depressing Pennsylvania numbers. But then the only thing that occurred to me was that Marvin Gaye died twenty years ago this month.
4:00 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Gov. Kay or Gov. Karen
Two married and, by all accounts, heterosexual women may be seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Texas in 2006. Neither is likely to be significantly worse than the present occupant. One of them even spoke to a living legend about it:
Ms. Richards said Mr. Bush's educational policies rely too much on standardized testing. And she poked fun at the president's occasional bumbling of the English language.
'To quote the president, 'Is our children learning?' ' she said.
Ms. Hutchison countered with a Bushism of her own.
'Don't misunderestimate him,' she said.
5:19 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Good read #2 today
I hope really, really hope that Josh's suggestion in the last paragraph is way off the mark.
5:08 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Toomey or Specter?
Bush is pulling out all the stops, and apparently the Republicans are using this as an attempt to test their field operation. Do you think bringing out the base is really going to help Specter? I have my doubts. Polling has shown Toomey just five points behind, with Specter unable to break 50 (and with 51% calling him "too liberal"). The most enthusiastic voters have got to be with Toomey. I don't see too many hardcore Republicans going out of their way to help pro-choice, big spending Specter, but I could be wrong
Toomey is good on TV, and if he is the nominee there is no reason to think his right wing views will sink him; Pennsylvania's junior senator, after all, Mr. Man on Dog himself. I suspect we're better off with a bruised Specter than Toomey's aw-shucks act. The Bush folks, on the other hand, believe they will lose Pennsylvania if Toomey is the nominee.
Either way, we'll know the results a week from tonight. In the meantime, here's Novak's withering attack on Specter.
4:22 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Fifty worst
Blender has just printed the names of the fifty worst pop songs of all time but hasn't put the list online. In the meantime, we will have to content ourselves with their list of the fifty worst artists. Almost all of those listed more or less deserve to be there, but there are so many deserving candidates.
How about special awards for those exceptionally long fallow periods during which geniuses like Bob Dylan (1976 to 1997), Van Morrison (1993-), Prince (1996-), Elvis Costello (1987-), The Who (1978-), and Stevie Wonder (1985-) inflict horrendous product (with an exception or two) on completist suckers?
And does a candidate that never made any pretense to being good deserve to be there? I mean, why bother putting Latoya Jackson in the list at all, much less all the way up at #11? Doesn't it make a greater statement to rank tuly overrated artists like Mick Jagger (#13) a bit higher? And where's Paul McCartney? His solo career, though not as short and sour as Mick's has been similar in quality to, say, that of Celine Dion (#26).
Whom would you add to the Blender list? Leave your suggestions as a comment.
4:17 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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For groupies only
Those of you who memorize these things will be thrilled at Brad Delong's secret geek celebrity dish.
I have it on good authority that Paul Krugman drinks nothing but diet coke; and that Fareed Zakaria, desperate to reduce America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil, drives a Honda Insight.
12:30 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Today's required reading
for nonspecialists like myself: Krugman on interest.
12:21 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Monday, April 19, 2004
Our Man in Baghdad
I know the news media has its plate full of Bush scandals right now, but overload is no excuse for giving a pass to the man the Administration wants to make the U.S. ambassador to Iraq after June 30: John Negroponte.
John Negroponte? Yeah, John Negroponte – say it the way Chris Rock used to say "The mayor is on the pipe!" about Marion Barry. Negroponte is the guy who, as Ronald Reagan's amabassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985, oversaw the arming and training of Contras in that tiny, impoverished country. And who stood by as its military built up death squads, including the notorious Battalion 316, that ran amok torturing and shooting anyone they didn't like.
But Wolf Blitzer just ran down Negroponte's resume on CNN – former aide to Henry Kissinger, NSC staff member, U.N. Ambassador – without managing to mention any of that.
As a result of the massive buildup that took place under Negroponte, more than 240 Americans worked at the U.S. embassy in Honduras, a nation of just 4 million people, in the early '80s. And they ran a full-fledged but secret war. My old boss Richard Reeves was there in 1981, and was once stopped at a roadblock 20 miles outside Tegulcigalpa, next to a U.S. Army truck driven by a sergeant. "The name patch on his uniform read 'Kelly,'" Reeves wrote later:
Suddenly two old C-47s, twin-engined transports, came in view over the low mountains in front of us, and 30 paratroopers jumped out and floated toward the road ahead.
"Who are those paratroopers?" I asked.
"What paratroopers?" said Sgt. Kelly with a grin.
I don't care how many times the Senate has confirmed Negroponte before, or how many related flunkies (Elliot Abrams, Otto Reich) the Bush Administration has managed to resurrect. Negroponte is a man who has demonstrated vividly that he is willing to follow orders to pursue dirty military ends, U.S. law and local citizens be damned. They called Negroponte "the proconsul" in Honduras; he shouldn't be allowed to earn that nickname again in Iraq.
Any senator on the Foreign Relations Committee with a shred of principle should use this moment to ask the Bush Administration what the hell kind of game it's planning to run in Iraq, and should reject Negroponte's appointment. The place to start: Reeves' 2001 report, based on digging through Reagan's archives, that Negroponte's signature "is on November 1983 documents recommending secret and illegal arms transfers to anti-Sandinista forces."
UPDATE: Covering Bush's announcement of the new appointment, ABC's evening news broadcast didn't mention Negroponte's background in Latin America, either.
5:58 PM | Post or Read Comments (0)
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Sunday, April 18, 2004
Rude crude
OPEC has, as usual, been unable to enforce its production limits on member nations. Indeed, "output from the 10 OPEC members with quotas fell by just 75,000 bpd to 25.9 million bpd -- some 1.4 million bpd above the formal ceiling in place in March."
This article suggests that it is high