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By demosthenes, on June 30th, 2005
Opinions, like showers, are generated in high places, but they invariably descend into lower ones, and ultimately flow down to the people as rain unto the sea. —Charles Caleb Colton
Bush’s Tuesday night speech was, as many have noted, long on platitudes and short on substance. This shouldn’t come as a surprise—the administration has . . . → Read More: A Higher Opinion of You: The Dangers of Talking Down to America
By Weldon Berger, on June 28th, 2005
Following is the full text of the speech delivered tonight (6/28/05) from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The sections in bold type are as received from the White House press office. Our commentary on the speech is here.
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Subject: REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE WAR ON TERROR
From: “White House Press Releases”
To: WH Press Releases
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Fort Bragg, North Carolina)
_____________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 28, 2005
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE WAR ON TERROR
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
8:02 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Good evening. I’m pleased to visit Fort Bragg, “Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces.” It’s an honor to speak before you tonight.
My greatest responsibility as President is to protect the American people. And that’s your calling, as well. I thank you for your service, your courage and your sacrifice. I thank your families, who support you in your vital work. The soldiers and families of Fort Bragg have contributed mightily to our efforts to secure our country and promote peace. America is grateful, and so is your Commander-in-Chief.
The troops here and across the world are fighting a global war on terror. The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001. The terrorists who attacked us — and the terrorists we face — murder in the name of a totalitarian ideology that hates freedom, rejects tolerance, and despises all dissent. Their aim is to remake the Middle East in their own grim image of tyranny and oppression — by toppling governments, by driving us out of the region, and by exporting terror.
Continue reading Full text of the president’s speech from Fort Bragg
By Weldon Berger, on June 28th, 2005
There were other things in the speech but they weren’t in boldface so we didn’t read them. Haha. Just kidding. We’re not really journalists here; we read the whole thing. . . . → Read More: Osama, Iraq, September 11: It’s all a blur
By Weldon Berger, on June 27th, 2005
Have you ever wanted to ask the president or his press secretary a question? Now’s your chance: BTC News is soliciting questions from our readers and we’ll send the best of them to the press room with Eric Brewer, our White House correspondent. We can’t guarantee that your question will get asked and even if it does the answer may not be entirely comprehensible, but we’ll give it our best shot. . . . → Read More: Ask the White House
By demosthenes, on June 27th, 2005
We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don’t it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions. –Jessamyn West
I watch with increasing dismay the way that we consistently see the triumph of style over substance on the issues. The thing that bothers me the most about this . . . → Read More: Fixing the Facts for Factions…
By Weldon Berger, on June 26th, 2005
Whether he meant to or not, senior Bush advisor Karl Rove challenged Americans to pick a side when he accused Democrats, and in particular Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, of deliberately endangering the lives of US troops. On one side is Rove and the White House he speaks for, with a dark vision of a . . . → Read More: Pick a side: Karl Rove’s or America’s
By Publius, on June 26th, 2005
The wingers are having a very hard time trying to make up their minds.
On the one hand, political hate speech is bad. What Democrats say about George Bush etc. is just reprehensible and antithetical to a well-functioning democacy. Just look what they did to poor Dick Durbin.
On the other hand, liberals . . . → Read More: Conservative Schitzos
By Weldon Berger, on June 25th, 2005
Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist, scam artist and political fixer who is about to die for the sins of a corrupt Congress, is the victim of a wicked parody in the neoconservative flagship magazine, The Weekly Standard.
Among the Abramoff documents that surfaced this week is an email from Abramoff to to Rabbi Daniel . . . → Read More: The Weekly Standard tees off on besieged lobbyist/con man Jack Abramoff
By Weldon Berger, on June 24th, 2005
Although the damage to US interests from the spectacle of a baker’s dozen CIA agents arrested by a staunch ally and standing trial for kidnapping a foreign national off the streets of Milan and delivering him to Egypt for torture may be somewhat less than that done by Senator Dick Durbin’s insistence that the US hold itself to a higher standard than the worst despots and totalitarians of the twentieth century … it isn’t going to help. . . . → Read More: Chickens return to roost: Italy charges CIA agents with kidnapping
By demosthenes, on June 24th, 2005
Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.
–Eric Hoffer
In the wake of a compromise cut by the Senate moderates and the Minority leader that curiously cut out majority leader Frist, the House passed legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Bush, for his part, has threatened to veto any such legislation should it pass, though he may find himself to be the next Dr. Frist (both in terms of competency and marginalization) should he do so as a majority (57%) of Republicans support embryonic stem cell research and achieving override may be easier than anticipated.
This is an issue that I have both some experience in and a vested interest in, so I’m going to address this from several perspectives because the administration makes it a point of pride to display its disdain for both science and metaphysics more complex than a first grade Sunday school primer.
As it happens, I have adopted one of those frozen embryos in a fertility clinic that this debate whirls around. My son—my six month old baby boy—is the blessing of embryonic adoption and that has without question transformed my life. It is troubling to hear so many talk about the disposition of these embryos when so few actually have any exposure to the process. So, having actually done more than talk about those frozen entities and done something about it, I’d like to take the opportunity to inform those who insist on meddling in the very private matters of those of us involved in these processes.
Continue reading Stemming the Flows of Compassion & Hypocrisy…
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Word of the Decade Ignoranus: An ignorant asshole.
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A Higher Opinion of You: The Dangers of Talking Down to America
Opinions, like showers, are generated in high places, but they invariably descend into lower ones, and ultimately flow down to the people as rain unto the sea. —Charles Caleb Colton
Bush’s Tuesday night speech was, as many have noted, long on platitudes and short on substance. This shouldn’t come as a surprise—the administration has . . . → Read More: A Higher Opinion of You: The Dangers of Talking Down to America