From Bob Herbert's op-ed this morning:

He mentions Marian Wright Edelman's contention that

since the murders of Robert Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, well over a million Americans have been killed by firearms in the United States. That’s more than the combined U.S. combat deaths in all the wars in all of American history.

Herbert concludes by stating the obvious,

Those who are interested in the safety and well-being of children should keep in mind that only motor vehicle accidents and cancer kill more children in the U.S. than firearms. A study released a few years ago by the Harvard School of Public Health compared firearm mortality rates among youngsters 5 to 14 years old in the five states with the highest rates of gun ownership with those in the five states with the lowest rates.

The results were chilling. Children in the states with the highest rates of gun ownership were 16 times as likely to die from an accidental gunshot wound, nearly seven times as likely to commit suicide with a gun, and more than three times as likely to be murdered with a firearm.

Only a lunatic could seriously believe that more guns in more homes is good for America’s children.

Impeach Cheney Now

The American people and the world are being held hostage by a cabal of well-financed, special interest, unpopular politicians and their appointees.

Vice President Cheney has never operated in the interest of the American people, but has repeatedly and demonstrably thwarted the public interest in order to serve instead the special, big money, military and corporate interests that have effectively promoted and sustained his entire career, including his "installation" in the White House.

If the Articles of Impeachment as submitted by Congressman Kucinich are not sufficient to move the Committee and the Congress, then we will immediately provide additional persuasive, irrefutable evidence.

Impeach Vice President Cheney now.

Thank you.

Naomi Wolf, "Fascist America In 10 Easy Steps"

This article appeared in today's Guardian, enumerating the ten easy steps for dismantling a democracy in the United States. (Complements of kpete at DU)

Wolf begins by referring to the coup in Thailand last year, in which certain clearcut, definite measures were taken to ensure the success of the government overthrow and the survival of the junta.

[T]here is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

And just what are those steps?

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded. Something has changed profoundly that weakens us unprecedentedly: our democratic traditions, independent judiciary and free press do their work today in a context in which we are "at war" in a "long war" - a war without end, on a battlefield described as the globe, in a context that gives the president - without US citizens realising it yet -the power over US citizens of freedom or long solitary incarceration, on his say-so alone.

"Doublethink," I Thought

The NY Times reports that the phrase, "the Long War," is being taken out of official parlance.

As it turned out, however, the long war turned out to be surprisingly short-lived, at least at the command that pioneered the term. After taking over last month as the head of Central Command, Adm. William J. Fallon quietly retired the phrase.

Military officials said that cultural advisers at the command had become concerned that the concept of a long war alienated Middle East audiences by suggesting that the United States would keep a large number of forces in the region indefinitely.

Terms such as, "snafu" and "radar" entered common parlance to stay during World War II. What makes the language of today's military so much less residual? It's top-down. They tried to shove it down our throats in order to control the way we think about what they're doing.

The phrase was coined by Gen. John P. Abizaid before he retired as head of the Central Command. It was intended to signal to the American public that the country was involved in a lengthy struggle that went well beyond the war in Iraq and was political as well as military.

It would be a test of wills against “Islamofascism,” as President Bush once put it. It would also be a historic challenge that spanned generations much like the battles against Communism.

How can you justify a half a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of US casualties?

Oh! It's an EPIC struggle! A LONG WAR!

Man the barricades! ...

... Upf!... Wait a minute ...

We've changed our minds (or, your minds). (We Pentagonists never believed that baloney anyway ... it was just for civilian intelligence op objectives ... so... nevermind ... the war'll be over by October after next ... right in time for the elections.)

Still Thinking

The Pentagon is also trying to make up its collective overmind about Iraqi security, especially as far as some of the gory details of the Baghdad surge are concerned, at least, that's what Alissa J. Rubin wants us to think.

By late in the day, the American military, under pressure from the Iraqi government, appeared to be rethinking the plan. “This one was obviously one in which the people in the area expressed some concern,” said Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Pentagon. “There are aspects of this that the Iraqi government feels at this point are not productive. We’ll continue to work with them on this and other tactics,” he said

Don't worry, guys. Just because because the NY Times says it, doesn't mean it's true. It's a liberal media smear-job. After a few dozen more truck bombs everybody will forget all about the wall and we can move on to the next mendacious and temporary justification for spending your grandchildren's money to kill innocent poor people somewhere half way around the world.

What's To Investigate?

The article by Tom Hamburger in today's LA Times, Low-key Office Launches High Profile Inquiry, suggests that there's a possibility the White House has violated the Hatch Act.

The most restrictive measure was brought about by Republicans in the Senate. It dictates that persons below the policymaking level in the executive branch of the federal government must not only refrain from political practices that would be illegal for any citizen but must abstain from "any active part" in political campaigns.

It sounds like footdragging to me. What is there to investigate? Convene the grand jury, already! The evidence is in the public domain.

Let's hand down the indictments yesterday.

Tell Congress to Keep Postal Rates Fair!

Not surprisingly, the new scheme was drafted by Time Warner, the largest magazine publisher in the nation.

Because the Post Office is a monopoly, and because magazines must use it, the postal rates always have been skewed to make it cheaper for smaller publications to get launched and to survive. The whole idea has been to use the postal rates to keep publishing as competitive and wide open as possible. This bedrock principle was put in place by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. They considered it mandatory to create the press system, the Fourth Estate necessary for self-government.

What the Post Office is now proposing goes directly against 215 years of postal policy. The Post Office is in the process of implementing a radical reformulation of its mailing rates for magazines. Under the plan, smaller periodicals will be hit with a much larger increase than the big magazines, as much as 30 percent.

What the Post Office is planning to do now, in the dark of night, is implement a rate structure that gives the best prices to the biggest publishers, hence letting them lock in their market position and lessen the threat of any new competition. The new rates could make it almost impossible to launch a new magazine, unless it is spawned by a huge conglomerate.

Win A Year's Supply of Ben & Jerry's!!!!!

Merely the guess the correct departure date and time of don Gonzo.

Click here for more info.