Moussaoui: Basic Background info. It's too early in the morning for much comment.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Monday, March 21, 2005
NATIONAL ELECTION REFORM CONFERENCE
From: Bernie Ellis
Date: 03/21/05 10:48:00
To: undisclosed-recipients:,
Subject: Peeling back the mandate: Keeping the spotlight on a fraudulent election (& what you can do) 7
THE NATIONAL ELECTION REFORM CONFERENCE IS HAPPENING IN NASHVILLE ON APRIL 8-10. THIS GRASSROOTS EVENT WILL BE HISTORIC. YOU NEED TO REGISTER AND COME!!IF YOU CAN HELP US WITH CONFERENCE PLANNNG/EXECUTION, WE'LL BE MEETING EVERY WEDNESDAY AT BONGO JAVA AT 6:00 PM. FROM NOW UNTIL APRIL 6. COME HELP US MAKE THIS A SUCCESSFUL GATHERING. Greetings to everyone on my email list: Over the past six months, our paths have crossed as we all learned about the 2004 election fraud and communicated with each other -- virtually or face-to-face -- about our concerns. Since our first public rally (our first Gathering To Save Our Democracy) in Nashville on December 12 (on the steps of the State Capital), we have held 24 similar Gatherings in middle Tennessee. The second Gathering, on December 19, was back on the State Capital steps, but this time we were bundled against the high teens sub-arctic wind and cold like concerned Ukrainians. Since then, we've held Gatherings with civic and political groups and with groups of concerned citizens, of all political persuasions and life circumstances. Our January 2 Gathering at Benton Chapel on Vanderbilt University's campus drew over 125 people for three hours of speeches and discussion. In just the past two weeks, we've met with three different county Democratic organizations (from the largest counties to the smallest) to devote over two hours to review and discuss the evidence for malfeasance in the 2004 election and the need for immediate election reform and election justice. And while we've continued to discuss our concerns here in Tennessee and on the internet, there has been a steady drumbeat of concern that has continued to build inside and outside the mainstream media. These four links are recent examples (all of them call the 2004 election results in question): 1)Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair, "Ohio's Odd Numbers" http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/050214roco052) Steven Freeman and Josh Mitteldorf (In These Times): A Corrupted Election: Despite what you may have heard, the exit polls were right -- http://www.inthesetimes.co--m/site/main/article/1970/3) In The Northwest: Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't lost her outspoken way (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/214744_joel07.html4) Robert C. Koehler (Chicago Tribune columnist) Peeling Back the Mandate: Voting rights are once more at the forefront of the civil rights movement http://www.commonwonders.com/archives/col285.htmI wanted to review briefly where we are and what we've been able to accomplish so far as a way to announce to all of you that our most ambitious Tennessee Gathering to date -- a national conference on the 2004 election and the need for election reform -- is going to happen. Our small grassroots group of election reform volunteers here in Tennessee has pulled together a phenomenal two day conference (April 8-10), with the encouragement, help and active involvement of many of the country's most prominent names in the fight to protect and defend our democratic franchise. I want to invite you, and everyone you know, to come join us for some or all of this historic event.The web-link to the conference registration is at www.freepress.org/conf.php You can go on-line and read more about the conference and you can also register to attend and donate to help us cover conference expenses. Don't be deterred by the $30 registration fee. We view that registration fee as a suggested donation only, and we welcome serious election reformers of any and all means. You can register and come to the conference free if need be and certainly without having to pay anything that you cannot afford. We want you there, and everyone you know who remains seriously concerned about these issues. (Some of you have already registered, and we are looking forward to seeing many of you in early April.) I hope this long memo has whetted all of your appetites for what we are working to accomplish here in middle Tennessee in less than three weeks. If you are interested in coming, the main sessions are at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church (2708 Jefferson Street) from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm on Friday night, April 8; and from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 9. (The pre- and post-conference discussion groups will occur at Tennessee State, Vanderbilt and Fisk.) I have attached a one page flyer on the conference and the tentative conference agenda that I would encourage you to send on to your like-minded friends. I have also attached a list of the supporting individuals and organizations, as of yesterday. But I want to show you below the people who have agreed to come to Nashville and speak (in rough order of first appearance): Civil rights leaders, Tennessee: Tex Thomas, Sonnye Dixon, Charles KimbroughMichael Grant, TN NAACP Statewide coordinator, Voting Rights Act celebrationsCliff Arnebeck, Ohio, Moss v. Bush Bob Fitrakis, Ohio, Moss v. Bush, www.freepress.org Leatrice Tolls, Ohio recount volunteerR.H. Phillips, Ohio election fraud researcher Joanne Roush, Wisconsin, Ohio recount volunteer Bernard Windham, Florida, Data Analyst, national election data sets (including EIRS) Judith Alter, New MexicoPaul Lehto, Washington stateJohn Gideon, Washington state, votersunite.orgAndrew Silver, North Carolina Kathy Dopp, Utah, USCountVotesJonathan Simon, Massachusetts, exit poll researcherRobert Koehler, Illinois, syndicated columnist, Chicago TribuneBrad Friedman, California, BradBlog/Velvet RevolutionR. Lee Wrights, North Carolina, Vice-Chairman, Libertarian National Committee David Cobb, California, 2004 Green Party Presidential candidate Barbara Burt, Maine, Common Cause Lara Shaffer, California, Open Voting Consortium (OVC)Phil Fry, Ohio, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections-Ohio Larry Quick, Illinois, National Ballot Integrity Project Teresa Hommel, New York, Where’s The Paper/OVCLarry English, Tennessee, Information Impact International Lowell Finley, California, Help America RecountDavid Lytel, Washington, DC, Honest Elections CampaignSusan Truitt, Ohio, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE)-AmericaClinton Curtis, Florida, Whistle-Blower(and others to come) So far, we have people coming from 24 states. As mentioned earlier, the plenary sessions for the conference in Nashville will be from 5:30 pm Friday, April 8 until 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 9. However, we are also scheduling pre-conference (Friday afternoon, 1-4 pm) and post-conference (Sunday morning, April 10, 9-noon) discussion groups on topics of interest to the election reform and election justice movement, to give us even more time with these national experts. Topics will include: 1. Worthy (or emerging) state-level election reform models 2. Conducting an election audit: what is required? 3. Be the media: Strategies for increasing public awareness of election reform 4. A status report on Tennessee’s election reform legislation5. Essential elements of a free, fair and verifiable election 6. Thinking & Acting for the Country: National Election Reform Strategies & Movements 7. Election Statistics 301 – An even more detailed review of the “data” 8. Electronic voting – the good, the bad and the really bad (and what to do about it) 9. Legal strategies for election justice (Sunday only) ------------So folks, here's your chance to be part of an historic event, right here in the mid-South in the early spring. Come join with the other Tennessee election reform activists and others from throughout the country on April 8-10 as we update ourselves, the media and the world about our urgent need for election reform and election justice here in the United States. Come listen to the people leading this fight, people who have much to say. Please join with us in promoting, attending and supporting this national Gathering in Nashville on April 8-10. Reminder: If you live in middle Tennessee: we will be meeting each Wednesday from now to the conference to make all the arrangements for a successful national Gathering. If you live in Nashville or the surrounding area and you can help at all with conference logistics, please come to Bongo Java (across from the International Market) at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays and pitch in. We could really use your help. Thanks. Once again, you can go on-line for more information and to register/donate at www.freepress.org/conf.php Once you register, if you live outside middle Tennessee, we'll send you a list of hotels, the updated program and other stuff. We hope to see you in Nashville in early April (if not at Bongo Java beforehand). If we don't see you soon, let's all keep spreading the word and working for free, fair and verifiable elections. If we do, we might just take our country back. Bernie Ellis
Date: 03/21/05 10:48:00
To: undisclosed-recipients:,
Subject: Peeling back the mandate: Keeping the spotlight on a fraudulent election (& what you can do) 7
THE NATIONAL ELECTION REFORM CONFERENCE IS HAPPENING IN NASHVILLE ON APRIL 8-10. THIS GRASSROOTS EVENT WILL BE HISTORIC. YOU NEED TO REGISTER AND COME!!IF YOU CAN HELP US WITH CONFERENCE PLANNNG/EXECUTION, WE'LL BE MEETING EVERY WEDNESDAY AT BONGO JAVA AT 6:00 PM. FROM NOW UNTIL APRIL 6. COME HELP US MAKE THIS A SUCCESSFUL GATHERING. Greetings to everyone on my email list: Over the past six months, our paths have crossed as we all learned about the 2004 election fraud and communicated with each other -- virtually or face-to-face -- about our concerns. Since our first public rally (our first Gathering To Save Our Democracy) in Nashville on December 12 (on the steps of the State Capital), we have held 24 similar Gatherings in middle Tennessee. The second Gathering, on December 19, was back on the State Capital steps, but this time we were bundled against the high teens sub-arctic wind and cold like concerned Ukrainians. Since then, we've held Gatherings with civic and political groups and with groups of concerned citizens, of all political persuasions and life circumstances. Our January 2 Gathering at Benton Chapel on Vanderbilt University's campus drew over 125 people for three hours of speeches and discussion. In just the past two weeks, we've met with three different county Democratic organizations (from the largest counties to the smallest) to devote over two hours to review and discuss the evidence for malfeasance in the 2004 election and the need for immediate election reform and election justice. And while we've continued to discuss our concerns here in Tennessee and on the internet, there has been a steady drumbeat of concern that has continued to build inside and outside the mainstream media. These four links are recent examples (all of them call the 2004 election results in question): 1)Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair, "Ohio's Odd Numbers" http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/050214roco052) Steven Freeman and Josh Mitteldorf (In These Times): A Corrupted Election: Despite what you may have heard, the exit polls were right -- http://www.inthesetimes.co--m/site/main/article/1970/3) In The Northwest: Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't lost her outspoken way (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/214744_joel07.html4) Robert C. Koehler (Chicago Tribune columnist) Peeling Back the Mandate: Voting rights are once more at the forefront of the civil rights movement http://www.commonwonders.com/archives/col285.htmI wanted to review briefly where we are and what we've been able to accomplish so far as a way to announce to all of you that our most ambitious Tennessee Gathering to date -- a national conference on the 2004 election and the need for election reform -- is going to happen. Our small grassroots group of election reform volunteers here in Tennessee has pulled together a phenomenal two day conference (April 8-10), with the encouragement, help and active involvement of many of the country's most prominent names in the fight to protect and defend our democratic franchise. I want to invite you, and everyone you know, to come join us for some or all of this historic event.The web-link to the conference registration is at www.freepress.org/conf.php You can go on-line and read more about the conference and you can also register to attend and donate to help us cover conference expenses. Don't be deterred by the $30 registration fee. We view that registration fee as a suggested donation only, and we welcome serious election reformers of any and all means. You can register and come to the conference free if need be and certainly without having to pay anything that you cannot afford. We want you there, and everyone you know who remains seriously concerned about these issues. (Some of you have already registered, and we are looking forward to seeing many of you in early April.) I hope this long memo has whetted all of your appetites for what we are working to accomplish here in middle Tennessee in less than three weeks. If you are interested in coming, the main sessions are at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church (2708 Jefferson Street) from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm on Friday night, April 8; and from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 9. (The pre- and post-conference discussion groups will occur at Tennessee State, Vanderbilt and Fisk.) I have attached a one page flyer on the conference and the tentative conference agenda that I would encourage you to send on to your like-minded friends. I have also attached a list of the supporting individuals and organizations, as of yesterday. But I want to show you below the people who have agreed to come to Nashville and speak (in rough order of first appearance): Civil rights leaders, Tennessee: Tex Thomas, Sonnye Dixon, Charles KimbroughMichael Grant, TN NAACP Statewide coordinator, Voting Rights Act celebrationsCliff Arnebeck, Ohio, Moss v. Bush Bob Fitrakis, Ohio, Moss v. Bush, www.freepress.org Leatrice Tolls, Ohio recount volunteerR.H. Phillips, Ohio election fraud researcher Joanne Roush, Wisconsin, Ohio recount volunteer Bernard Windham, Florida, Data Analyst, national election data sets (including EIRS) Judith Alter, New MexicoPaul Lehto, Washington stateJohn Gideon, Washington state, votersunite.orgAndrew Silver, North Carolina Kathy Dopp, Utah, USCountVotesJonathan Simon, Massachusetts, exit poll researcherRobert Koehler, Illinois, syndicated columnist, Chicago TribuneBrad Friedman, California, BradBlog/Velvet RevolutionR. Lee Wrights, North Carolina, Vice-Chairman, Libertarian National Committee David Cobb, California, 2004 Green Party Presidential candidate Barbara Burt, Maine, Common Cause Lara Shaffer, California, Open Voting Consortium (OVC)Phil Fry, Ohio, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections-Ohio Larry Quick, Illinois, National Ballot Integrity Project Teresa Hommel, New York, Where’s The Paper/OVCLarry English, Tennessee, Information Impact International Lowell Finley, California, Help America RecountDavid Lytel, Washington, DC, Honest Elections CampaignSusan Truitt, Ohio, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE)-AmericaClinton Curtis, Florida, Whistle-Blower(and others to come) So far, we have people coming from 24 states. As mentioned earlier, the plenary sessions for the conference in Nashville will be from 5:30 pm Friday, April 8 until 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 9. However, we are also scheduling pre-conference (Friday afternoon, 1-4 pm) and post-conference (Sunday morning, April 10, 9-noon) discussion groups on topics of interest to the election reform and election justice movement, to give us even more time with these national experts. Topics will include: 1. Worthy (or emerging) state-level election reform models 2. Conducting an election audit: what is required? 3. Be the media: Strategies for increasing public awareness of election reform 4. A status report on Tennessee’s election reform legislation5. Essential elements of a free, fair and verifiable election 6. Thinking & Acting for the Country: National Election Reform Strategies & Movements 7. Election Statistics 301 – An even more detailed review of the “data” 8. Electronic voting – the good, the bad and the really bad (and what to do about it) 9. Legal strategies for election justice (Sunday only) ------------So folks, here's your chance to be part of an historic event, right here in the mid-South in the early spring. Come join with the other Tennessee election reform activists and others from throughout the country on April 8-10 as we update ourselves, the media and the world about our urgent need for election reform and election justice here in the United States. Come listen to the people leading this fight, people who have much to say. Please join with us in promoting, attending and supporting this national Gathering in Nashville on April 8-10. Reminder: If you live in middle Tennessee: we will be meeting each Wednesday from now to the conference to make all the arrangements for a successful national Gathering. If you live in Nashville or the surrounding area and you can help at all with conference logistics, please come to Bongo Java (across from the International Market) at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays and pitch in. We could really use your help. Thanks. Once again, you can go on-line for more information and to register/donate at www.freepress.org/conf.php Once you register, if you live outside middle Tennessee, we'll send you a list of hotels, the updated program and other stuff. We hope to see you in Nashville in early April (if not at Bongo Java beforehand). If we don't see you soon, let's all keep spreading the word and working for free, fair and verifiable elections. If we do, we might just take our country back. Bernie Ellis
Hill Senate Now
Hill Senate Now
All proceeds will go to television and print advertisements which will direct the public's attention from the lies and the cover-up to the facts, the physics and the truth of the betrayal of America on 9/11.
All proceeds will go to television and print advertisements which will direct the public's attention from the lies and the cover-up to the facts, the physics and the truth of the betrayal of America on 9/11.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Jude Wanniski: Wolfowitz at the World Bank
Jude Wanniski: Wolfowitz at the World Bank: "A Perfect Fit
Wolfowitz at the World Bank
By JUDE WANNISKI"
Wolfowitz at the World Bank
By JUDE WANNISKI"
Tom Reeves: Exposing the Coming Draft
Tom Reeves: Exposing the Coming Draft: "A Draft By Any Other Name...Is Still Wrong
Exposing the Coming Draft"
Exposing the Coming Draft"
Scary US Immigration Behavior
Don't say "blogger" to U.S. Immigration -- or else
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Don't say 'blogger' to US Immigration
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 04:48:03 -0600 (CST)
From: William Knowles
Organization: C4I.org - http://www.c4i.org
To: Declan McCullagh
http://www.nevon.net/nevon/2005/03/dont_say_blogge.html
17 March 2005
Don't say 'blogger' to US Immigration
This sounds like an unbelievable story, but it happened to Canadian
blogger Jeremy Wright last week.
As already reported on quite a few blogs, Jeremy was detained and
interrogated by US Immigration when he arrived in New York last week
for a meeting with McGraw-Hill to discuss a great business opportunity
for Jeremy in the area of blogging.
It appears that the immigration people simply did not believe that
Jeremy could make a living as a blogger. And they gave him the third
degree - including an humiliating strip search - as a result for some
hours. And banned him from entering the US.
Incredible. Jeremy wrote detailed commentary on his blog about his
experience, but he's now pulled those posts (this post explains why).
While the details aren't yet clear on exactly why Jeremy had such an
awful experience at the hands of the guardians of freedom and liberty
(hard to get true irony here), this appears to be disgraceful
behaviour on their part.
I met Jeremy in the US in January. Shel and I interviewed him for a
podcast. You couldn't meet a nicer and more honourable bloke!
Hang in there, Jeremy. I bet McGraw-Hill will find a way to have that
meeting with you.
Update 17 Mar: Jeremy has posted The End of The Story.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Don't say 'blogger' to US Immigration
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 04:48:03 -0600 (CST)
From: William Knowles
Organization: C4I.org - http://www.c4i.org
To: Declan McCullagh
http://www.nevon.net/nevon/2005/03/dont_say_blogge.html
17 March 2005
Don't say 'blogger' to US Immigration
This sounds like an unbelievable story, but it happened to Canadian
blogger Jeremy Wright last week.
As already reported on quite a few blogs, Jeremy was detained and
interrogated by US Immigration when he arrived in New York last week
for a meeting with McGraw-Hill to discuss a great business opportunity
for Jeremy in the area of blogging.
It appears that the immigration people simply did not believe that
Jeremy could make a living as a blogger. And they gave him the third
degree - including an humiliating strip search - as a result for some
hours. And banned him from entering the US.
Incredible. Jeremy wrote detailed commentary on his blog about his
experience, but he's now pulled those posts (this post explains why).
While the details aren't yet clear on exactly why Jeremy had such an
awful experience at the hands of the guardians of freedom and liberty
(hard to get true irony here), this appears to be disgraceful
behaviour on their part.
I met Jeremy in the US in January. Shel and I interviewed him for a
podcast. You couldn't meet a nicer and more honourable bloke!
Hang in there, Jeremy. I bet McGraw-Hill will find a way to have that
meeting with you.
Update 17 Mar: Jeremy has posted The End of The Story.
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: March 13, 2005 - March 19, 2005 Archives
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: March 13, 2005 - March 19, 2005 Archives
More annoying tripe from David Brooks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 19, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Do-Nothing Conspiracy
By DAVID BROOKS
f you want an image that captures what American politics will be like over the next few decades, imagine two waves crashing down upon us simultaneously, each magnifying the damage caused by the other.
The first wave is the exploding cost of the entitlement programs. The second wave is the ever-increasing polarization of the political class. The polarization will make it impossible to reach an agreement on how to fix the entitlements problem. Meanwhile the vicious choices forced on us by entitlement costs will make the polarization even worse.
The realities of the first wave - the looming fiscal crisis - are pretty well known. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will consume 14 percent of national output in 2030 and 21 percent in 2075 - up from about 8 percent today. Partly as a result, the federal government will have to come up with an extra $50 trillion just to pay for the promises it's made as of today.
To cover these costs, federal officials will have several options, all of them horrible. If they acted immediately, according to the economists Kent Smetters and Jagadeesh Gokhale, they could increase federal income taxes by 78 percent; they could double payroll taxes; they could cut Social Security and Medicare in half; or they could do some combination.
Tax increases on that scale would decimate the economy. Benefit cuts would cause pain. Doing nothing would lead to enormous deficits, an immobilized government and stratospheric interest rates. It would mean the end of the United States as a great economic power.
The realities of the second destructive wave - polarization - are also widely recognized. They can be measured by the increase in party-line voting in Congress, the bitter political atmosphere in Washington, the political segmentation of media outlets and the emergence of rigid donor and activist bases in each party that use their power to inflict Stalinist party-line orthodoxy on potentially independent leaders.
We're seeing polarization in action in the Social Security debate. It's a straightforward problem compared with Medicare, but Congress is deadlocked. We see polarization in action in the looming fight over judges, which is producing talk about nuclear options and threats to shut down the Senate. A political class that can't make a deal on a few judges is not going to be able to cooperate when it comes to filling a $50 trillion hole.
Over the next several years, the parties will differ violently over what to do about the entitlement problem while doing very little to actually address it. This past Thursday the Senate even rejected a proposal that would have made a sliver of a trim in the growth of Medicaid.
But over time, the entitlements crisis will begin to transform politics. The parties will grow less cohesive. The Democrats are held together by the common goal of passing domestic programs that address national needs - like covering the uninsured. But with all the money going to cover entitlements, there will be no way to afford new proposals. Republicans, meanwhile, owe their recent victories to the popularity of tax cuts. But those will be impossible, too. Both parties will lose a core reason for being.
At the same time, Americans will grow even more disenchanted with the political status quo. Not only will there be a general distaste for the hyperpartisan style, but people will also begin to see how partisan brawling threatens the nation's prosperity. They'll read more books like "The Coming Generational Storm" by Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns and "Running on Empty" by Peter Peterson. They will be more aware of the looming disaster. As the situation gets worse, the prospects of change get better, because Americans will not slide noiselessly into oblivion.
The party alignments have been pretty stable over the past few generations, but there's no reason to think they will be in the future. The Whig Party died. The Progressive movement arose because the parties seemed stagnant a century ago. I wouldn't be surprised if some anti-politician emerged - of the Schwarzenegger or Perot varieties - to crash through the current alignments and bust heads.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of today's politicians decided to reorient their careers. I meet too many who are quietly alarmed by the looming fiscal catastrophe and who know that if their party doesn't tackle this problem, it simply won't be relevant to the issue that will dominate politics for years to come.
E-mail: dabrooks@nytimes.com
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top
More annoying tripe from David Brooks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 19, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Do-Nothing Conspiracy
By DAVID BROOKS
f you want an image that captures what American politics will be like over the next few decades, imagine two waves crashing down upon us simultaneously, each magnifying the damage caused by the other.
The first wave is the exploding cost of the entitlement programs. The second wave is the ever-increasing polarization of the political class. The polarization will make it impossible to reach an agreement on how to fix the entitlements problem. Meanwhile the vicious choices forced on us by entitlement costs will make the polarization even worse.
The realities of the first wave - the looming fiscal crisis - are pretty well known. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will consume 14 percent of national output in 2030 and 21 percent in 2075 - up from about 8 percent today. Partly as a result, the federal government will have to come up with an extra $50 trillion just to pay for the promises it's made as of today.
To cover these costs, federal officials will have several options, all of them horrible. If they acted immediately, according to the economists Kent Smetters and Jagadeesh Gokhale, they could increase federal income taxes by 78 percent; they could double payroll taxes; they could cut Social Security and Medicare in half; or they could do some combination.
Tax increases on that scale would decimate the economy. Benefit cuts would cause pain. Doing nothing would lead to enormous deficits, an immobilized government and stratospheric interest rates. It would mean the end of the United States as a great economic power.
The realities of the second destructive wave - polarization - are also widely recognized. They can be measured by the increase in party-line voting in Congress, the bitter political atmosphere in Washington, the political segmentation of media outlets and the emergence of rigid donor and activist bases in each party that use their power to inflict Stalinist party-line orthodoxy on potentially independent leaders.
We're seeing polarization in action in the Social Security debate. It's a straightforward problem compared with Medicare, but Congress is deadlocked. We see polarization in action in the looming fight over judges, which is producing talk about nuclear options and threats to shut down the Senate. A political class that can't make a deal on a few judges is not going to be able to cooperate when it comes to filling a $50 trillion hole.
Over the next several years, the parties will differ violently over what to do about the entitlement problem while doing very little to actually address it. This past Thursday the Senate even rejected a proposal that would have made a sliver of a trim in the growth of Medicaid.
But over time, the entitlements crisis will begin to transform politics. The parties will grow less cohesive. The Democrats are held together by the common goal of passing domestic programs that address national needs - like covering the uninsured. But with all the money going to cover entitlements, there will be no way to afford new proposals. Republicans, meanwhile, owe their recent victories to the popularity of tax cuts. But those will be impossible, too. Both parties will lose a core reason for being.
At the same time, Americans will grow even more disenchanted with the political status quo. Not only will there be a general distaste for the hyperpartisan style, but people will also begin to see how partisan brawling threatens the nation's prosperity. They'll read more books like "The Coming Generational Storm" by Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns and "Running on Empty" by Peter Peterson. They will be more aware of the looming disaster. As the situation gets worse, the prospects of change get better, because Americans will not slide noiselessly into oblivion.
The party alignments have been pretty stable over the past few generations, but there's no reason to think they will be in the future. The Whig Party died. The Progressive movement arose because the parties seemed stagnant a century ago. I wouldn't be surprised if some anti-politician emerged - of the Schwarzenegger or Perot varieties - to crash through the current alignments and bust heads.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of today's politicians decided to reorient their careers. I meet too many who are quietly alarmed by the looming fiscal catastrophe and who know that if their party doesn't tackle this problem, it simply won't be relevant to the issue that will dominate politics for years to come.
E-mail: dabrooks@nytimes.com
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top
Friday, March 18, 2005
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
The former Ukrainian interior minister, scheduled to meet in just a few hours with prosecutors to give testimony in a high-profile case of political murder, aimed a gun at his chin and fired, sending a bullet ripping through his cheek and out his upper jaw. Then he aimed it at his temple and fired again.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Email to NPR
Date: 03/13/05 18:49:09
To: corrections@npr.org
Subject: MSNBC.com Article: No evidence al-Qaida knew of Madrid plot
On Friday afternoon I was listening to the hourly NPR news in Nashville TN. I was simply astonished when the newscast said that the Madrid bombing was the biggest Al Quaida attack since 911, or something to that effect.
Please note this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7158191/
Hearing this news story presented as it was on the radio is a sad reminder of how NPR has progressed toward having no serious independence from the vicious fascist lies of the MSM.
I don't believe this email (or any other appeal) to NPR will make even a tiny bit of difference. Your organization must be wholly compromised.
If there is a way to redeem yourself, it would be to start by reviewing the outrageous lies told by the US Govt. and the MSM about 09/11/2001.
To: corrections@npr.org
Subject: MSNBC.com Article: No evidence al-Qaida knew of Madrid plot
On Friday afternoon I was listening to the hourly NPR news in Nashville TN. I was simply astonished when the newscast said that the Madrid bombing was the biggest Al Quaida attack since 911, or something to that effect.
Please note this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7158191/
Hearing this news story presented as it was on the radio is a sad reminder of how NPR has progressed toward having no serious independence from the vicious fascist lies of the MSM.
I don't believe this email (or any other appeal) to NPR will make even a tiny bit of difference. Your organization must be wholly compromised.
If there is a way to redeem yourself, it would be to start by reviewing the outrageous lies told by the US Govt. and the MSM about 09/11/2001.
.... warning small rant to be had here...... The primary purpose of this blog, more than anything else is to record news about our sad America unraveling (as Krugman puts it). The thing is: Krugman doesn't write about the real horrors; I'm not sure he knows. The other purpose of this blog is to point out to others the news stories and issues that I see that I think deserve our attention. In this endeavor, I have to admin that hardly anyone seems to be viewing this blog. Perhaps I don't realise those of you who may have me as part of your RSS feeds. I know if right wingers were reading my posts, there would be mean comments. In any case, I have hestitated to include gruesome photos. At least for a while, I'm going to start including the related photos that show the results of our tax dollars and corrupt murderous leaders.
Nevertheless, I replied to the notice by inquiring if organizers had been adequately briefed on the latest revelations about 9/11, and if they hadn't, I offered to happily volunteer my services. After all, it doesn't take a genius to realize that if 9/11 hadn't happened, the bogus Iraq invasion wouldn't have happened.
I hadn't visited the www.professorbainbridge.com blog for a good while. Here's one post I noticed: it's proof positive that a PHD, a Professorship at major U., and a record of (possibly) reliable legal and business analysis does not guarantee a open mind to the sad reality of our corrupt govt.: The claim is so transparently bogus that one wonders how anyone could believe it
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Hariri reportedly assassinated to make way for large US air base in Lebanon
Wayne Madsen | March 11 2005
According to high-level Lebanese intelligence sources—Christian and Muslim—former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was reportedly assassinated in a sophisticated explosion-by-wire bombing authorized by the Bush administration and Ariel Sharon's Likud government in Israel.
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