Progressive Minds

Hurricane Katrina has disproportionately affected the poor in New Orleans.  One-third of New Orleans' residents live below the poverty line.  More than 700,000 reside in mobile homes, many of them African-American, and unable to afford transportation out of the city in advance of the hurricane.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1081329&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/ts_nm/bt_weather_katrina_poverty_dc

Ring wing radio has been filled with the conservative "you're own your own" crowd who say these people chose not to evacuate, and the government is under no obligation to help.

Perhaps they forgot Matthew 25:40 "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

When you were a child, more than likely your parents taught you not to be stingy.  You may have even heard the admonition "don't be so stingy" if you resisted sharing a favorite toy with a sibling or friend.

Well, that's a lesson that our government apparently still has yet to learn. 

A recent study by the Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy Magazine showed that the policies of many rich nations have helped improve the lives of poorer nations.  But it also showed that the United States and Japan were the stingiest in aid, considering the relative size of their ecomomies.

While the study revealed how poorly the United States government faired in aid to poor nations, it showed that the U.S. private sector did very well in this area.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050830/wl_nm/economy_aid_report_dc

George Bush is fond of the phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations," particulary when he goes before an African-American audience (imagine that!) to talk about the achievement gap in education.

Bush should know a lot about low expectations.  He's lowered any expectations that we might come out of the grip of his failed economic policies any time soon.

For the fourth straight year in a row, the poverty rate has increased.  There are now 37 million Americans living in poverty, in the richest nation on this earth.  The number of uninsured Americans also increased.

George Bush can talk about Iraq ad nauseam. Yet he hasn't offered one single solution to help lift the least among us out of poverty.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050831/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/census_poverty

Salon.com has a wonderful piece about Republican warmongerers and their unwillingness to send their children to the quagmire known as Iraq.

Republican Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) is an ardent supporter of the Bush non-policy in Iraq, and considered a presidential prospect in '08.  According to Salon, he was recently asked by a reporter from the Boston Herald about the possibility of his own children serving in Iraq, since he thinks the cause is so noble. 

He didn't much like that question.  (What a shocker!)  Romney responded: "No, I have not urged my own children to enlist. I don't know the status of my children's potentially enlisting in the Guard and Reserve."

The Boston Herald duly noted that Romney's voice became "tinged with anger" after being asked the question.

As I was writing this, I immediately thought of Elton John's song Sacrifice, which goes in part:

"But it’s no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It’s no sacrifice at all"

Quite appropre for the non-sacraficing warmongerers and their children.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/08/29/enlist/index.html

Today marks the 42 anniversary of the March on Washington, and one of the most famous speeches throughout history: Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Over the years, it's been interesting to watch as some on the conservative right have tried to use Martin Luther King's words on that historic day, to say he would be against some of the policies of the left.

They cite, for example, his expressed desire that his children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the quality of their character.  In their view, this means Dr. King would have been against affirmative action.

What they won't tell you, is that Dr. King believed in course correction, and believed in corrective programs.

Dr. King and those that fought for equality during the civil rights movement left a tremendous gift to the generations that followed.  Now it's up to us to decide what we will do with that gift.

The Bushies are playing defense when it comes to their fearful (yes, fearful) leader's time at the Crawford Ranch.

Seems they want us to know that El Shrubo really isn't on vacation!  White House spokesman David Almacy  says the only reason Bush is in Crawford is because the West Wing of 1600 is being renovated.  (Sounds like their story on Bush's vacation is changing as much as they've changed the case for war in Iraq).

Almacy said  "He's operating on a full schedule; he's just doing it from the ranch instead of from the White House. The only week he had officially off was this last week.

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~3023550,00.html

Bush and Co. are really feeling the heat from Cindy Sheehan's stint at Camp Casey in Crawford Texas.  And when the Bush White House gets desparate, the desparate get going.  Bush went looking for the anti-Cindy, and found it in Tammy Pruett.

Pruett has 4 sons currently serving in Iraq.  Her husband and another son returned from Iraq last year.  And she's become a cheerleader for the war in Iraq, saying "I know that if something happens to one of the boys, they would leave this world doing what they believe, what they think is right for our country. And I guess you couldn't ask for a better way of life than giving it for something that you believe in."

Of course she's entitled to her opinion, but I wonder if she would still feel that way if confronted with Cindy Sheehan's reality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/08/25/BL2005082500937.html

It used to be that the truth would set you free.  Now, it seems that it can also get you demoted on the job.

That's what happened to Lawrence A. Greenfeld, who George Bush named in 2001 to lead the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Greenfeld says he was demoted after he complained about senior politicos at the Justice Department.  It appears these politicos were trying to keep on the hush-hush a new report about the strong-arm tactics police used when pulling over African-American and Hispanic drivers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/politics/24profiling.html?pagewanted=print

This isn't the first time the Bushies have watered down or tried to keep federal reports on the low-low.  They watered down a Department of Health and Human Services report on racial disparities in health care, making the revised report less critical of the racial imbalances in health care.  They also edited the EPA's report on the air quality in and around Ground Zero after 9/11, deleting the EPA's cautionary statements, and inserting more re-assuring statements that did not have data to back it up.

http://www.cbcfhealth.org/content/contentID/2418

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/09/national/main567489.shtml

Don't you just a love a President that plays to your worst fears, and not your best hopes?  You know the type, the one who spreads fear when it suits their own political interests.  (If an image of George W. Bush just popped into your mind, congratulate yourself!  We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!)

Bushie knows he's in trouble.  Big time, as Dick would say.  His poll ratings are falling faster than you can say "boo."  Yesterday, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel actually used the "V" word, saying Iraq was looking more like Vietnam.

So today, Bushie trotted himself before Veterans of Foreign Wars' national convention, to do some explaining on Iraq.  During his speech, El Emperor Bush said "We're not yet safe. Terrorists in foreign lands still hope to attack our country. We must confront threats before they fully materialize."

Not so fast Bushie.  Wasn't it your man Dick Cheney who told us last year that you all were the only ones that could keep us safe?  That if we elected that evil man John Kerry, we would get attacked again, and worse than 9/11.  Now you say we are "not yet safe?"  Flip-flop!  Flip-flop!

Ok class, what have we learned?  We've learned that if one Presidential candidate is playing to your worst fears, and the other is trying to appeal to your best hopes, you better go with the one appealing to your best hopes.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/082205dnnatbush.9baa83cb.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/22/national/w065502D68.DTL&feed=rss.news

I never thought I'd thank George Bush for anything.  But well, you know the old saying! There's a first time for everything.

So tonight, I want to thank our esteemed Emperor in Chief for proving that he is indeed the miserable failure we all suspected he was.

All you freedom-loving folks who thought we might acutally be building a democracy in Iraq (gulp)- put on your brakes! You'll be proud to know that The War President (who then flip-flopped and said he wanted to be the Peace President) has helped build the next theocracy.

The Guardian reports:  "The United States has eased its opposition to an Islamic Iraqi state to help clinch a deal on a draft constitution before tonight's deadline.

American diplomats backed religious conservatives who threatened to torpedo talks over the shape of the new Iraq unless Islam was a primary source of law. Secular and liberal groups were dismayed at the move, branding it a betrayal of Washington's promise to advocate equal rights in a free and tolerant society."

Thank you George, Condi and Rummy!  Well done!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1553862,00.html

It's official!  W is the laziest of them all!  George W. Bush has taken more vacations than any President, breaking the Gipper's record of 335 days!

Way to go, Bushie!  I always knew you had the ability to be a miserable failure!

http://thedailypick.blogspot.com/2005/08/congratulations-president-bush-you.html

Members of the Klu Klux Klan will be glad to know that they've apparently got friends in high places. Or at least, that's the logical conclusion one could draw from John Roberts.

The Supreme Court nominee once advised the Reagan administration to remove language from a housing discrimination bill that referred to a "fundamental right to be free from discrimination."  Citing his opposition to that language, Roberts said "there of course is no such right."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/19/national/w144854D37.DTL

Today two great human beings celebrate their birthday: President Bill Clinton, and Mrs. Tipper Gore.

Nine years ago, on August 19, 1996, these incredible public servants celebrated their birthdays by helping rebuild an African-American church in Tennessee that had been burned.

We had a President willing to tackle the issue of race, and start a national conversation about race relations in this country.  Where is that kind of leadership in today's White House?

http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/081996-remarks-by-president-to-salem-baptist-church-community-tn.htm

Not only is buyer's regret settling in among some American voters who pulled the lever for Bush/Cheney last year, but it appears also to be happening among some former Administration officials as well.

A former aide to Colin Powell says that Powell's speech before the UN on Iraq's alledged WMDs was the lowest point in his life and he regrets his involvement in it.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson says "I wish I had not been involved in it.  I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life."

Hmmm...I'm glad you've come over to the reality-based community, Col. Wilkerson.  Maybe next time you'll remember to stay away from the kool-aid.  And maybe you'll remember it's more important to serve the interests of the American people; not the President (especially when he's wrong).

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/19/powell.un/index.html

As the paper trail on John Roberts' time in the Reagan Administration continues to be released, one can clearly reach the conclusion that he is nothing short of being a radical.

He told the Reaganites to take it slow when it came to supporting the goals of the Fifty States Project, which Roberts chided for addressing "perceived problems of gender discrimination."

Regarding women in the workplace, Roberts pontificated on whether "encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good."

In 1983, he also showed himself to be a proponent of a national ID card, because it would alleviate the "real threat to our social fabric posed by uncontrolled immigration." Immigration a threat to our "social fabric?"  Is John Roberts worried about becoming a minority in this country?  Oh, the horror of it all!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/18/supremecourt/main786870.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=Politics_786870

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/roberts

Just when you think you've heard it all from Rush "OxyContin" Limbaugh, he proves that it really is possible to be lower than a snake's belly.

Commenting on grieving mother Cindy Sheehan, The OxyContin Man said:

"Frankly, I'm also fed up -- not fed up. I retract that. I'm weary, ladies and gentlemen, of even having to express sympathy. 'Oh, she lost her son!' Yes, yes, yes, but (sigh) we all lose things."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/quicktakes/cst-nws-qt18.html

Thanks for clarifying that, Rush.  You're right, we all lose things.  So remind me, how many years has it been since you lost your heart?  And those brain cells that got knocked off?

Looks like some of those folks who pulled the lever for the Bush/Cheney ticket are regretting their purchase! 

Rasmussen Reports shows that Bush's approval rating is just 43%, the lowest the organization has ever recorded.

So what have we learned here? It usually helps to actually educate yourself about the issues, and the candidates, before you go into the voting booth!  Imagine that!

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Bush_Job_Approval.htm

Oh, how convenient! The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is missing a file folder that contained papers on John G. Robert's work in the area of affirmative action.

The papers, which would have shed more light on Roberts' views on affirmative action, were reviewed by lawyers from the Justice Department and the White House last month.  Archivists say the papers were returned, but now they are missing, and no duplicates were made before the lawyers started reviewing them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081601457.html?referrer=email

Now this is what I call speaking truth to power!  Families who have lost their loved ones in Iraq continue to speak out against this unjust, unecessary war.

Rosemary Palmer, whose son Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder II (a marine) was killed in Iraq, said "We feel you either have to fight this war right or get out."  Her husband Paul said "Our comments are not just those of grieving parents.  They are based on anger, Mr. President, not grief. Anger is an honest emotion when someone's family has been violated.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5215383,00.html

When I think of these families, I am reminded of the fact that George Bush used his own father's name to get out of going to Vietnam, though he was for the Vietnam war!  There you have it--The War President.

The Unfeeling President continues to show what a disgraceful human being he is.  Bush will take time time to ride with Lance Armstrong this weekend, when Armstrong visits the Crawford Ranch.  Yet he has no time to hug a grieving mother and answer her questions.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/bush_armstrong_dc

And since we're on the subject, let's take a look back to December 11, 2002 and the words that came out of George W's mouth that day:

"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug and that's me and I know what it's like."

It's amazing what you learn when a Supreme Court nominee's paper trail starts coming to light.  And today we've learned that John Roberts isn't a huge fan of equal pay.

The USA Today reports that in 1984, the Reagan administration received a letter from three Republican women in Congress.  In their letter, they told they Reaganites that the concept of "equal pay for an equal day's work" had not had a significant impact on women's wages, since many women were not in the same line of work as men.  So, they promoted the idea of "equal pay for different jobs of comparable value, based on factors such as skills and responsibility."

In response to the request from the Congresswomen, John Roberts wrote a memo to then White House Counsel Fred Fielding.  In part, he said "I honestly find it troubling that three Republican representatives are so quick to embrace such a radical redistributive concept. Their slogan may as well be, 'From each according to his ability, to each according to her gender.' "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050816/ts_usatoday/robertsscoffedatequalpaytheory

Seems like imprisoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller really does have friends in high places.

Arianna Huffington is reporting that Miller received a jailhouse visit from John "there is no United Nations" Bolton.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/arianna-huffington/the-judy-file-millera_5687.html

But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life ... I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy. And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so.''

Thanks for that clarification, W.  You have a "life to live."  Casey Sheehan, on the other hand, doesn't anymore!

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog

Looks like the Bushies just might be coming around to reality after all.  The Washington Post reports that "The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad."

Memo to Bush, Rummy and Condi: This is what happens when, on the eve of an invasion, you give military leaders on the ground a slide on post-war planning that says "To Be Prepared."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300853.html

A new survey by the Rasmussen Reports finds that only 38% of Americans believe that the United States is winning the war on terror, while 36% believe the terrorists are winning!

Come on, you pesky Americans! (Insert laugh here!)  Don't you know we have a resolute leader who's hunting down and smoking out the terrorists?!

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2005/War%20on%20Terror_Monthly_Update.htm

So, Emperor Bush is using the same language about Iran, that he used about Iraq in the lead up to the war. 

Asked about Iran on Israeli television, he responded: "All options are on the table. The use of force is the last option for any president and you know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/iran_bush_dc

"I'm George Bush, President of the United States and I understand that you have something to say to me in private."

These were the first words who else, George Bush, spoke to grieving mother Dolores Kesterton when he met her soon after her son Eric died in Iraq.  She asked if she could meet with Bush alone, and was told she had 3 minutes.

During her recent interview with Bill O'Reilly (or is that Bill O'Lielly?), Kesterton said that POTUS, ever the Big Kahoona, marched into the room and was "in my face."  She came away from the meeting feeling that Bush did not care about her loss.

This, mind you, is the War President (who then changed his mind and said he wanted to be the Peace President), the compassionate conservative, the one who said he would be everybody's President.

During last year's Repug Convention, Zell Miller told all of us he had looked into George Bush's soul, and "found somone home."  Zell, I've looked into Bushie's soul too, and found someone in need of a heart.

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/08/10/oreilly_cindy_sheehan_controlled_by_far_left_elements.php#more

If ever there were a true profile in courage for the 21st century, it is Cindy Sheehan.  Her son Casey gave his life in service to this country last year, when he was killed in Iraq.

And his mother has a few questions for George Bush.  Cindy Sheehan has gone to Crawford, TX hoping to speak with Bush about the situation in Iraq.  Bush, ever the coward, refused to meet with her.  Call me crazy (or even a radical leftist if you want, Bill O'Reilly) but I think Cindy Sheehan earned the right to speak to Bush the day her son layed his life down.

She has written a wonderful op/ed about Bush's accountability moment:

"This is George Bush's accountability moment. That’s why I’m here. The mainstream media aren’t holding him accountable. Neither is Congress. So I’m not leaving Crawford until he’s held accountable. It’s ironic, given the attacks leveled at me recently, how some in the media are so quick to scrutinize -- and distort -- the words and actions of a grieving mother but not the words and actions of the president of the United States."

Read her entire commentary here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050811/cm_huffpost/005472

Well, this story just made my entire day!!!  The Anti-Clinton Library that was established as a rebuttal to Bill Clinton's Presidential Library, is closing.  Richard Erickson, a Houston businessman who founded Counterlibe Inc. in 2004, told the Associated Press: "I'm giving up. I was very passionate about this, but also very naive as far as fundraising procedures go."

Well Dick, you know what they say about karma.  Suffice it to say, it's not pretty!

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/12361302.htm

On Aug. 10, 1981, Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts served his first day on the job as a Special Assistant to then Attorney General William French Smith.

So what, pretell, did Roberts do on his first day? In a strange twist of fate, he helped then Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O'Connor prepare for her confirmation hearings!

Now, Roberts wants to replace O'Connor.  Walk with me through a history lesson, will you, as we learn exactly what advice Roberts gave O'Connor.

In a memo to Ken Starr (yes, that Kenn Starr) Roberts said he told Sandra Day O'Connor to avoid any specific responses to questions about her views on cases which were expected to reach the Supreme Court.  In other words: be evasive.  After all, what right do those jokers on the Senate Judiciary Committee have to know about your judicial views, dear Sandra?

Roberts wrote in his memo to Starr: "The approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court, but demonstrating in the response a firm command of the subject area and awareness of the relevant precedents and arguments."

In a September 9, 1981 memo to Sandra Day O'Connor, Roberts told the nominee "The proposition that the only way senators can ascertain a nominee's views is through questions on specific cases should be rejected."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/court_roberts_dc

Homeland Security Michael Chertoff basically said in an interview that Americans need to get over themselves when it comes to privacy.

He said if Americans want to prevent terrorism, they need not worry about turning over certain personal information to the government.

Chertoff told the USA Today newspaper "The average American gives information up to get a CVS (drugstore discount) card that is far more in-depth than TSA's going to be looking at.  But I actually make that case that giving up a little bit more information protects privacy."

Mr. Secretary, I wonder what Senator Ted Kennedy, one of the most recognizable faces in this country, would say about your remarks.  You know, the same Sen. Kennedy who accidentally ended up on a government no-fly list!  Perhaps he would tell you that it also matters what the government does with the information it receives.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20050810/pl_usatoday/chertoffprivacyfearsnotjustified

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/06/terror/main610466.shtml

Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT) has rightfully criticized the Bush administration, saying that a civil liberties board mandated by Congress last year is "not a priority" for the Bushies.

There's a real shocker! Civil rights and liberties being a priority for Bushie?  Imagine that!

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was charged by Congress to help ensure civil rights and liberties in the age of terrorism.  George Bush eventually named five members to the board after a six month delay.  But the Board has received little if any support from the Administration, is underfunded, and has never met to discuss its job.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050804/pl_nm/security_usa_rights_dc

Tomorrow, August 6, will mark the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to help enforce the 14th and 15th amendments, and remove barriers like literacy tests, that many states put in place to keep African-Americans from voting.

Today, voting rights is once again at a crossroads. Key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are up for renewal in 2007, and George Bush has told the Congressional Black Caucus he is "unfamiliar" with the Act.  W doesn't have a clue about one of the key pieces of civil rights legislation of our time! Imagine that!

We've seen attempts to supress the African-American vote in the last two Presidential elections.  And we are now faced with a Supreme Court nominee who worked during the Reagan administration to water down the Act, saying that Congress, which wanted to make it easier to prove voting rights violations, would be creating "a quota system for electoral politics."  Roberts views on the Voting Rights Act make it doubtful that if elevated to the highest court in the land, he would work to protect the voting rights of Americans, especially minorities.

As Congress begins to consider renewal of the portions of the Voting Rights Act that are set to expire, it's important to remember that our right to vote has been washed in the blood of people like Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, and four little girls in Alabama.  And we must fight any attempt to either remove or water down these key provisions in the Act.

New light is being shed on the philosphical views and thinking of Supreme Court Nominee John G. Roberts. He has provided written responses to questions posed to him from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Regarding judicial activism and the role of the courts, he wrote that judges "Do not have a commission to solve society's problems, as they see them, but simply to decide cases before them according to the rule of law."

That one line immediately caught my eye.  Roberts has a point, of course, but he also needs to understand that sometimes the judicial branch is morally compelled to help solve society's problems.

I wonder where we would be as a society today, if the U.S. Supreme Court had not ruled that "separate but equal" was inherently unequal, and overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.  I wonder where we would be without the Court's decision in Brown v. Board, which overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050803/ap_on_go_su_co/roberts_12

An Associated Press article provides a heartbreaking update on the hunger crisis in Niger.

Many mothers who cannot afford to feed their children, bring them to feeding centers.  The article reports that some market stalls are filled with unaffordable food.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050802/ap_on_re_af/niger_hunger_2

For all of this Administration's talk about its compassion, why are they so eerily silent on the crisis in Niger?  I guess their only concern is whether Niger walked down the yellowcake road with Iraq.  Hungry children?  Who cares!

So, W went before the cameras yesterday to declare "complete confidence" in Karl Rove, whom he reportedly refers to as Turdblossom.

Bush said "Karl's got my complete confidence. He's a valuable member of my team."  He went on to say "Why don't you wait and see what the true facts are?"

Ok, so I have a note I want to pass on to Turdblossom's boss: You want us to wait until we see what the "true facts" are?  Why don't you wait until Patrick Fitzgerald has completed his investigation, before you go declaring confidence in your Boy Wonder, Your Brain, Your Turdblossom.  After all, you never know when an indictment could be coming down. 

Imagine my disappointment that Black Entertainment Television (BET) has cancelled its nightly news program.

Their explanation?  BET says that by the time their nightly news show aired at 11:00 PM EST, many people had already caught up on the headlines of the day, thanks to the internet and 24 hour news channels.

They say, however, that they plan to have news updates throughout the day.

Sure, BET is correct that by the time the 11:00 news rolls around, many people have already caught up on the major news headlines of the day.

The problem is, when I turn on my local news, I really don't see the headlines geared towards people like me: African-Americans. 

The beauty of the BET Nightly News was that it focused on the major issues of the day, from the African-American perspective.  Sadly, I'm not going to get that on MSNBC or CNN.

The state of black America is at critical mass right now: whether it's the African-American unemployment rate (10.3% in June 2005), or the increase in child poverty. If BET won't use its news program to focus on these issues now, who will?

I guess Air America Radio's Randi Rhodes was prophetic when she recently testified before John Conyer's hearing on media bias that "the news has been cancelled."

It didn't come as a big shock to anyone that today, Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton, to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

What amazes me though, is Bush's ability to lie to the American people about a matter of state, and do it with a straight face.

In announcing Bolton's recess appointment, Emperor Bush said “because of partisan delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up-or-down vote that he deserves.”

Sorry Mr. President, that's a lie!

Bush wants the American people to believe that a majority of Senators supported Bolton's nomination, and only a few partisan Dems were holding it up.  He doesn't want you to know that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent Bolton's nomination to the full Senate without an endorsement.  The Commitee could not endorse the nomination, due in part to Republican Senator George V. Voinovich, who made it clear he opposed Bolton.

He also won't tell you that Sen. Bill Frist, the Republican Majority Leader, voted with the Democrats in May to delay voting on John Bolton's nomination.

So now, we have as our representative to the U.N., the man who once said "there is no United Nations."  Thanks George W!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/01/bolton.appointment/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8758621/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201487.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7991303/

And here's a wonderful history lesson on recess appointments:

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS21308.pdf