Another day in Whopperland
Friday, May 12, 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
The lies just keep coming!
Let’s see if I have this right.
President Bush has the inherent right to ignore the law and wiretap Americans at will. President Bush has the inherent right to have Americans arrested and thrown into prison without benefit of a trial, without benefit of a lawyer and kept there indefinitely. The Bush administration has the inherent responsibility to ignore the Geneva Convention and torture prisoners of “war” if it is deemed necessary. President Bush has the inherent right to ignore the intent of congressional legislation if he signals a different interpretation when signing the law. President Bush has an inherent right to ignore the U.S. Constitution and start a war of his choice.
Boy, did my history and civics teachers ever get it wrong!
Let’s see if I have this right.
After the leaking of a CIA covert agent’s name, President Bush said:
“If there’s a leak in my administration, I want to know who it is.”
“I want to know the truth…leaks are bad things.”
He claimed not to know of “anybody in my administration who leaked classified information.”
At the time, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a “full” investigation by “career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving national security.”
Well, President Bush now knows “the truth”. It was President Bush who was responsible for the leak. But wait a minute! President Bush knew “the truth” back in 2004 when he made those statements. I guess he must have momentarily forgotten "the truth". That seems to be a habit with him.
President Bush has the inherent right to ignore the law and wiretap Americans at will. President Bush has the inherent right to have Americans arrested and thrown into prison without benefit of a trial, without benefit of a lawyer and kept there indefinitely. The Bush administration has the inherent responsibility to ignore the Geneva Convention and torture prisoners of “war” if it is deemed necessary. President Bush has the inherent right to ignore the intent of congressional legislation if he signals a different interpretation when signing the law. President Bush has an inherent right to ignore the U.S. Constitution and start a war of his choice.
Boy, did my history and civics teachers ever get it wrong!
Let’s see if I have this right.
After the leaking of a CIA covert agent’s name, President Bush said:
“If there’s a leak in my administration, I want to know who it is.”
“I want to know the truth…leaks are bad things.”
He claimed not to know of “anybody in my administration who leaked classified information.”
At the time, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a “full” investigation by “career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving national security.”
Well, President Bush now knows “the truth”. It was President Bush who was responsible for the leak. But wait a minute! President Bush knew “the truth” back in 2004 when he made those statements. I guess he must have momentarily forgotten "the truth". That seems to be a habit with him.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Away from the drawing board
I have been remiss at posting because I have been holed up working on a book of political essays, opinions and cartoons on the Bush administration, tentatively called Whopperland. And now,I will be gone for two weeks to Tennessee where my oldest daughter is about to undergo brain surgery for a tumor and fibrous dysplaysia. Hopefully will be back in gear in two or three weeks. Bill Sanders
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Heaven forbid we call a spade a spade!
Senator Russell Feingold’s candid and courageous attempt to hold our imperial President accountable for declaring himself inherently above the law with his domestic surveillance edict, has sent Republicans into apoplexy and short term memory loss. (Remember their vote to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about sex?)
Lead by Paul Weyrich, their right wing guru, "impeachment is coming"is their rallying cry going out to true believers around the country. Rush Limbaugh, right wing drug junkie, told his radio audience, "This is a gift.."! Of course Rush Limbaugh recently suggested that Bill Clinton might have had Slobodan Molosovich killed because he planned to subpoena Clinton as a witness at his trial—which puts Limbaugh on the same planet out in the whacko universe as Reverend Pat Robertson.
Feingold’s candor has set the other 43 democratic Senator’s timid hearts aflutter with nervous anxiety that if they actually hold Bush accountable, it might upset voters in the mid-term election.
Let’s see If I’ve got this right—--Bush is awash in the wake of a growing public awareness of his incompetence, a majority of the voters are disenchanted with the chaos and body count of a botched, never ending war--- record deficits, record debt, immigration non-policy and Bush's above-the-law hubris–-not to mention his bottom of the barrel poll numbers. Yet democrats are still like deer caught in the headlights!
Bush Administration national security incompetence
The Justice Department bears the ultimate responsibility for the screw-up regarding the rules of evidence violations at the trail of the only Al-Quaeda conspirator in this country.
The witnesses that were improperly exposed to forbidden material were key--- because to obtain the death penalty, the government must prove that Moussaoui’s actions resulted in at least one death on September 11.
It seems the prosecution’s witnesses would testify that they didn’t alert anyone about their suspicions because Moussaoui was devious and wouldn’t tell them that he wanted flight training because he was Al-Quaeda and intended to crash a 747 into the White House. Really? Wow–-and I thought all fanatics and criminals simply told the truth when questioned.
Too bad the Washington higher ups didn’t pay attention to the female FBI agent(whistle blower) in Minneapolis when she warned them about the suicide flight possibility!
Hello! The First Amendment applies in Illinois too!
The editor of the University of Illinois’ student newspaper The Daily Illini was fired because he ran the Muhammad cartoons that Muslim fanatics have been using as an excuse to riot and cause deaths.
The Illini Media Co. Board of directors, comprised of students and faculty, voted unanimously to fire the editor. Ostensible, their reason was because the editor Acton H. Gorton violated Illini policy of "thoughtful discussion and preparation for the publication of "inflammatory material". For anyone who really believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I will sell for 50 cents.
My wife’s uncle Gene Graham was my mentor when I started out in journalism. He won the Pulitzer for his book on reapportionment, "One Man One Vote", while an editorial writer for the Nashville Tennessean. Gene was also a professor of journalism at the University of Illinois before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died. He would be spinning in his grave to learn that the students and faculty at the university have such a dim view of the role of journalism and the First Amendment.
How can you possibly write (and publish) about riots and death as a result of cartoons—and NOT publish the cartoons? By all means, let’s not disrespect the feelings of right wing fanatics of Islam when we can be disrespectful to the bedrock of our democracy----the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Bill Sanders
Lead by Paul Weyrich, their right wing guru, "impeachment is coming"is their rallying cry going out to true believers around the country. Rush Limbaugh, right wing drug junkie, told his radio audience, "This is a gift.."! Of course Rush Limbaugh recently suggested that Bill Clinton might have had Slobodan Molosovich killed because he planned to subpoena Clinton as a witness at his trial—which puts Limbaugh on the same planet out in the whacko universe as Reverend Pat Robertson.
Feingold’s candor has set the other 43 democratic Senator’s timid hearts aflutter with nervous anxiety that if they actually hold Bush accountable, it might upset voters in the mid-term election.
Let’s see If I’ve got this right—--Bush is awash in the wake of a growing public awareness of his incompetence, a majority of the voters are disenchanted with the chaos and body count of a botched, never ending war--- record deficits, record debt, immigration non-policy and Bush's above-the-law hubris–-not to mention his bottom of the barrel poll numbers. Yet democrats are still like deer caught in the headlights!
Bush Administration national security incompetence
The Justice Department bears the ultimate responsibility for the screw-up regarding the rules of evidence violations at the trail of the only Al-Quaeda conspirator in this country.
The witnesses that were improperly exposed to forbidden material were key--- because to obtain the death penalty, the government must prove that Moussaoui’s actions resulted in at least one death on September 11.
It seems the prosecution’s witnesses would testify that they didn’t alert anyone about their suspicions because Moussaoui was devious and wouldn’t tell them that he wanted flight training because he was Al-Quaeda and intended to crash a 747 into the White House. Really? Wow–-and I thought all fanatics and criminals simply told the truth when questioned.
Too bad the Washington higher ups didn’t pay attention to the female FBI agent(whistle blower) in Minneapolis when she warned them about the suicide flight possibility!
Hello! The First Amendment applies in Illinois too!
The editor of the University of Illinois’ student newspaper The Daily Illini was fired because he ran the Muhammad cartoons that Muslim fanatics have been using as an excuse to riot and cause deaths.
The Illini Media Co. Board of directors, comprised of students and faculty, voted unanimously to fire the editor. Ostensible, their reason was because the editor Acton H. Gorton violated Illini policy of "thoughtful discussion and preparation for the publication of "inflammatory material". For anyone who really believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I will sell for 50 cents.
My wife’s uncle Gene Graham was my mentor when I started out in journalism. He won the Pulitzer for his book on reapportionment, "One Man One Vote", while an editorial writer for the Nashville Tennessean. Gene was also a professor of journalism at the University of Illinois before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died. He would be spinning in his grave to learn that the students and faculty at the university have such a dim view of the role of journalism and the First Amendment.
How can you possibly write (and publish) about riots and death as a result of cartoons—and NOT publish the cartoons? By all means, let’s not disrespect the feelings of right wing fanatics of Islam when we can be disrespectful to the bedrock of our democracy----the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Bill Sanders
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Monday, February 13, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
"..THOSE DAMN CARTOONS!"
As long as cartoonists have been drawing their opinions on issues and individuals, there have been politicians who would censure them, editors who would not print them and people who would hang them from the nearest tree limb. Violence and threats are not new to our profession.
Thomas Nast was the intended victim of an assassination attempt. He was also offered a $500,000 bribe to take an extended vacation abroad by boss Tweed, who said (given the literacy of the day) it didn’t make any difference what people wrote about him—"but they could understand those damn cartoons!"
Evangelicals were outraged by a cartoon of Jerry Falwell that appeared in Hustler magazine. The resulting lawsuit went to the U.S. Supreme Court where the decision came down on the side of the First Amendment. (I, for one would not bet on a similar ruling from today’s Court, however!)
When I was at the Kansas City Star, an outraged postman came storming across the city room towards my desk—knocking over file boxes and upending typewriters. The security guards were right behind him and caught him just as he reached into his satchel and threw a bunch of Ku Klux Klan flyers at me. They were drawings of blacks choking and molesting young white women.
Later at the Milwaukee Journal I received ominous letters accurately locating my parking space in our lot and suggesting I should be careful when I start my car.
Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Neo-Nazi party in the 70s, was shot and killed by one of his young followers who turned out to be the cartoonist for his propaganda magazine. The cartoon feature he drew was titled Whiteman—a take off on Superman—who battled the "evil" Coonman (black, of course) in defense of white womanhood. His reason for shooting Rockwell was never disclosed.
Below are three of the cartoons that Muslim fanatics claim have driven them to riot and violence. Of course it is a myth that any graphic depiction of Muhammad is always forbidden in their culture. (See, below, the second illustration from the top ) It is also likely that there is not much of an extemporaneous element in the mass demonstrations and destruction.
For those (of any religion) who are raised to believe they are keepers of the only truth–--it is not much of leap to accept the demonization of those who are not "true believers." As a result it is not only easy for true believers to hear the siren call of messianic demagogues, it is a sacred duty to dance to their tune. We are now reaping the whirlwind of Muslim nations who looked the other way as their madrassas (schools) were taken over by militant extremists who taught hatred and violence as the cutting edge of their fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. Their progeny are the ones fanning the flames of violent protests.
U.S. Foreign policy in that part of the world----particularly the war in Iraq—has been a contributing factor in giving a larger context to the discontent and anger among the world’s Muslim population. Likewise, moderate and progressive Muslims have been sitting on their hands as the worst elements of their religion commit brutal murders in the name of Muhammad----thus giving tacit approval to the mayhem.
Bill Sanders
LIPSERVICE WON'T DO IT!
Frankly, the most disturbing element in the current flap over the cartoons is the almost universal, gutless defense of the free press and the First Amendment here in the United States.
Leonard Downie Jr. , executive editor of the Washington Post said, "the very nature of depicting Mohammad (his spelling, not mine) editorially is not an ambiguous question. Either you do it or you don’t. It is never a concern over reactions. It is a concern over what the Washington Post decides to publish. We’re maintaining our standards." (Whatever that means!)
Other editors slid behind the old bromide of not wanting to be "gratuitously offensive".
John Diaz, editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "I don’t see the necessity to run them."
Well, John, let me see if I can shed some light on that for you. What is the biggest world wide NEWS story of the last few days?----right!—CARTOONS cause protests, riots, arson and deaths!It is a NEWS story, John--for goodness sakes. Not just A news story—it is a BIG news story—and you don’t see the necessity of including it’s most important element? If there were no cartoons, there would be no story to report. This is about giving your readers competent and accurate reporting on a major event. Yes, it may be offensive to some readers and may make others very angry. But we are not talking about the print media yelling fire in a crowded theater! We’re talking about journalism 101!
This self censorship puts print media in the position of being held hostage to the lowest common denominator of tolerance for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It adds more grease to an already slippery slope upon which our media is sliding.
The last 20 years had seen newspapers compromise their public watchdog role at an ever increasing rate. The reportorial standard of Who, What, When, Where , How and Why. Has steadily devolved to "He said! She said!" -----mimicking the faux-journalism of television. Editorials, if not dead---are mouribund. The only real opinions on editorial pages are found in the political cartoons--and cartoonists are getting the ax by publishers unwilling to pay for having their grey flannel comfort disturbed.
That decline and the failure of aggressively sounding editorial alarm bells has facilitated the diminution of civil liberties to the point where voters are deaf to the sounds of our Constitution crumbling out from under their feet.
Meanwhile, television—-which has no journalistic ethics to speak of–--has masterfully filled the void with a right-wing agenda propagated by talking heads (faux-journalists) who have little or no regard for facts or accuracy.
The result, to date, is an administration that has cynically convinced 50% of the population to eagerly hand over their civil liberties to a cadre of straw-men scenarios stuffed with a harvest of fear and bound with lies and deceptions.
Increasingly, the internet---even with its excesses and its prolific, whacky nature---is the only place for mining nuggets of courageous journalism.
Bill Sanders
Thomas Nast was the intended victim of an assassination attempt. He was also offered a $500,000 bribe to take an extended vacation abroad by boss Tweed, who said (given the literacy of the day) it didn’t make any difference what people wrote about him—"but they could understand those damn cartoons!"
Evangelicals were outraged by a cartoon of Jerry Falwell that appeared in Hustler magazine. The resulting lawsuit went to the U.S. Supreme Court where the decision came down on the side of the First Amendment. (I, for one would not bet on a similar ruling from today’s Court, however!)
When I was at the Kansas City Star, an outraged postman came storming across the city room towards my desk—knocking over file boxes and upending typewriters. The security guards were right behind him and caught him just as he reached into his satchel and threw a bunch of Ku Klux Klan flyers at me. They were drawings of blacks choking and molesting young white women.
Later at the Milwaukee Journal I received ominous letters accurately locating my parking space in our lot and suggesting I should be careful when I start my car.
Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Neo-Nazi party in the 70s, was shot and killed by one of his young followers who turned out to be the cartoonist for his propaganda magazine. The cartoon feature he drew was titled Whiteman—a take off on Superman—who battled the "evil" Coonman (black, of course) in defense of white womanhood. His reason for shooting Rockwell was never disclosed.
Below are three of the cartoons that Muslim fanatics claim have driven them to riot and violence. Of course it is a myth that any graphic depiction of Muhammad is always forbidden in their culture. (See, below, the second illustration from the top ) It is also likely that there is not much of an extemporaneous element in the mass demonstrations and destruction.
For those (of any religion) who are raised to believe they are keepers of the only truth–--it is not much of leap to accept the demonization of those who are not "true believers." As a result it is not only easy for true believers to hear the siren call of messianic demagogues, it is a sacred duty to dance to their tune. We are now reaping the whirlwind of Muslim nations who looked the other way as their madrassas (schools) were taken over by militant extremists who taught hatred and violence as the cutting edge of their fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. Their progeny are the ones fanning the flames of violent protests.
U.S. Foreign policy in that part of the world----particularly the war in Iraq—has been a contributing factor in giving a larger context to the discontent and anger among the world’s Muslim population. Likewise, moderate and progressive Muslims have been sitting on their hands as the worst elements of their religion commit brutal murders in the name of Muhammad----thus giving tacit approval to the mayhem.
Bill Sanders
LIPSERVICE WON'T DO IT!
Frankly, the most disturbing element in the current flap over the cartoons is the almost universal, gutless defense of the free press and the First Amendment here in the United States.
Leonard Downie Jr. , executive editor of the Washington Post said, "the very nature of depicting Mohammad (his spelling, not mine) editorially is not an ambiguous question. Either you do it or you don’t. It is never a concern over reactions. It is a concern over what the Washington Post decides to publish. We’re maintaining our standards." (Whatever that means!)
Other editors slid behind the old bromide of not wanting to be "gratuitously offensive".
John Diaz, editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "I don’t see the necessity to run them."
Well, John, let me see if I can shed some light on that for you. What is the biggest world wide NEWS story of the last few days?----right!—CARTOONS cause protests, riots, arson and deaths!It is a NEWS story, John--for goodness sakes. Not just A news story—it is a BIG news story—and you don’t see the necessity of including it’s most important element? If there were no cartoons, there would be no story to report. This is about giving your readers competent and accurate reporting on a major event. Yes, it may be offensive to some readers and may make others very angry. But we are not talking about the print media yelling fire in a crowded theater! We’re talking about journalism 101!
This self censorship puts print media in the position of being held hostage to the lowest common denominator of tolerance for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It adds more grease to an already slippery slope upon which our media is sliding.
The last 20 years had seen newspapers compromise their public watchdog role at an ever increasing rate. The reportorial standard of Who, What, When, Where , How and Why. Has steadily devolved to "He said! She said!" -----mimicking the faux-journalism of television. Editorials, if not dead---are mouribund. The only real opinions on editorial pages are found in the political cartoons--and cartoonists are getting the ax by publishers unwilling to pay for having their grey flannel comfort disturbed.
That decline and the failure of aggressively sounding editorial alarm bells has facilitated the diminution of civil liberties to the point where voters are deaf to the sounds of our Constitution crumbling out from under their feet.
Meanwhile, television—-which has no journalistic ethics to speak of–--has masterfully filled the void with a right-wing agenda propagated by talking heads (faux-journalists) who have little or no regard for facts or accuracy.
The result, to date, is an administration that has cynically convinced 50% of the population to eagerly hand over their civil liberties to a cadre of straw-men scenarios stuffed with a harvest of fear and bound with lies and deceptions.
Increasingly, the internet---even with its excesses and its prolific, whacky nature---is the only place for mining nuggets of courageous journalism.
Bill Sanders
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