Nobody Cares About Democracy

post from LiberalOasis : The Blog on 03 October 2007 01:56:00 AM. © LiberalOasis : The Blog

Forgive the pessimism, but the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar appears to be achieving its objective.

The AP reports: "the streets [are] cleared of protesters, the Internet [is] down and many residents [are] too fearful to go out."

Despite the supportive rhetoric, no world leader is doing much to support freedom.

Bush has made some moves to pressure the military leadership. Not for the sake of democracy, but because Burma supplies energy to China -- with which the Bushies have long engaged in a cold resource war.

Further, Bush is doing little to get other Myanmar customers like India , Thailand and France to squeeze the junta.

Bush has little economic leverage with Myanmar, and forget about moral authority. There's little expectation Bush can do very much, or will try all that hard.

Meanwhile, there's a pro-democracy movement rising in Pakistan that Bush really doesn't care about (and is attracting less media attention).

Lawyers were beaten by police after protesting a Supreme Court ruling letting the dictatorial Musharraf "run" for re-election, despite what it says in Pakistan's Constitution.

The weakened Musharraf looks like he will enter into some agreement with his exiled political rival Benazir Bhutto, but this is a defensive move to stay in charge, not one allowing for real democracy.

This looks to undermine Bhutto's democratic cred, not strengthen Musharraf's.

This was the deal the Bushies wanted, short-circuiting the Pakistani grassroots push for democracy, in favor of propping up leaders they like.

As we see in Myanmar, the triumph of fossil fuel over freedom is not monopolized by Bush.

But this will be Bush's legacy.

The so-called leader of the free world, squandering his nation's moral authority by practicing democracy hypocrisy, and presiding over a backslide in the quest for freedom.

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http://www.liberaloasis.com/2007/10/nobody_cares_about_democracy.php

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US Papers Wed: 'Put them back on the wire'

post from IraqSlogger.com on 03 October 2007 01:55:24 AM. © IraqSlogger.com

- "Oh man, we shot some of our own guys" - Mark I Human Eyeball invaluable to war effort - War surtax threatened in House It's a very heavy news day today, quite the slog, really, with Blackwater dominating the news cycle.

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http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/4530

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Little Big Horn, Baghdad, what's the difference

post from the field negro on 03 October 2007 01:48:00 AM. © the field negro

I never really liked those old Cowboy and Indian movies because I never got off on watching those Cowboys kill a bunch of Indians. The Cowboys always had guns and the Indians had bow and arrows. I mean how fair was that shit? Besides, I guess even at a young age I had this profound sense of fairness and a love for the underdog.

I must be one of just a few people in America who think Custer got what he deserved at Little Big Horn. After all, weren't we the ones intruding into sacred native American land in the Black Hills? What, you think a bunch of Sioux and Cheyenne decided to combine forces to fight the U.S. Calvary for nothing? George Armstrong Custer might have been a civil war hero but he fucked with the wrong Indians that day.

Which leads me to another George. This one not so much of a hero, although I am sure he considers himself very much a Cowboy. Just as we did with the Indians and their land back in 1876, this George invaded and intruded into what the people of Iraq consider their land, it pisses them off, and they are fighting back.

The Sunnis and the Shiites haven't combined forces like the Sioux and the Cheyenne yet but they will. And when they do, Little Big Horn will pale in comparison. I know people like the cheerleaders over at FAKE NEWS like to keep score and a running tally of the bad guys we have killed. "Sixty insurgents were killed by coalition forces today...." but that shit means nothing to me. I keep thinking about those old Cowboy and Indian movies and I can't help but wonder when this latest George is going to get his Little Big Horn. Althought when you think about it; with almost 4,000 American lives lost and many more to come, you have to wonder if George hasn't gotten his Little Big Horn already.

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http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2007/10/little-big-horn-baghdad-whats.html

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My Dog is Smarter Than Our President

post from Librocrats - Designed Intelligent on 03 October 2007 01:30:00 AM. © Librocrats - Designed Intelligent

More Satire for your lifted pleasure.From the Humor Gazette:Education Accomplished! "Childrens do learn"Mission accomplished! As recently as three years ago, America's education system was in a shambles. Millions of childrens did not[...]

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http://librocrat.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-dog-is-smarter-than-our-president.html

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Late Late Nite FDL: The Same Old Madness Every
Day

post from Firedoglake on 03 October 2007 01:00:21 AM. © Firedoglake

I can?t find the joy within in my soulIt?s just sadness taking holdI wanna come in from the coldAnd make myself renewed againIt takes strength to live this wayThe same old madness everydayI wanna kick these blues awayI wanna learn to live[...]

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/02/late-late-nite-fdl-the-same-old-madness-eve
ry-day/

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Rush's Phony Defense

post from MyDD on 03 October 2007 12:54:52 AM. © MyDD

VoteVets has a new ad ripping Rush Limbaugh for his "phony soldiers" remarks. Per VoteVets' Brandon Friedman at dailyKos: [The ad] will air both Wednesday and Thursday on FOX News and CNN. We've also prepared a radio version of the ad that[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/164519345/8021

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General Wesley Clark: Censor Rush Limbaugh From
Armed Forces Radio; The GTL Disagrees

post from The Gun Toting Liberal? on 03 October 2007 12:46:00 AM. © The Gun Toting Liberal?

That’s right, I disagree with General Clark’s call to censor the IDIOTIC Rush Limbaugh, who has been digging his overweight, pasty, white BUTT into deeper and deeper trouble after referring to the sixty-plus percent of us as “phony Soldiers” who serve in the U.S. military but refuse to identify ourselves as Republicans (source: Military Times). [...]

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http://guntotingliberal.com/?p=1965

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Hillary Opens a Wide Lead Over Obama and Edwards

post from The Francis L. Holland Blog on 03 October 2007 12:45:00 AM. © The Francis L. Holland Blog

The Washington Post reports today that for the first time Hillary Clinton is polling with over half of the Democratic and Independent voter electorate supporting her, and opening up a wide lead against Obama and Edwards, with all other candidates in single digits:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her place as the front-runner in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, outpacing her main rivals in fundraising in the most recent quarter and widening her lead in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

For the first time, Clinton (N.Y.) is drawing support from a majority of Democrats -- and has opened up a lead of 33 percentage points over Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Her popularity, the poll suggests, is being driven by her strength on key issues and a growing perception among voters that she would best represent change.

( . . . )

Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 53 percent support Clinton, compared with 20 percent for Obama and 13 percent for former senator John Edwards (N.C.).

video details and more

Despite rivals' efforts to portray her as too polarizing to win the general election, a clear majority of those surveyed, 57 percent, said Clinton is the Democratic candidate with the best chance on Nov. 4, 2008. The percentage saying Clinton has the best shot at winning is up 14 points since June. By contrast, 20 percent think Edwards is most electable and 16 percent think Obama is, numbers that represent a huge blow to the "electability" argument rivals have sought to use against her. Washington Post

The question now is, "What can Obama and Edwards do that will best assure a Democratic victory in 2008?" Although they may be tempted to try to drive up Hillary's negatives in advance of the Iowa caucuses, they should instead focus on the positive and try to position themselves for the vice presidency or other important positions in a new Democratic administration. For either of them, being perceived as a spoiler now could end their political viability for the future.

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http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2007/10/hillary-opens-wide-lead-over-obama-an
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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Some light reading for your Tuesday night... yeah, right! Enjoy some of the best that the last 24 hours has to offer, and don't forget to subscribe to authors whose work you particularly enjoy.

Tonight's rangers are Got a Grip, vcmvo2, grog, hhex65, shayera, and Elise with pico spinning around in the editor's chair:

Prompted by watching Ken Burns' "The War", puakev compares and contrasts the differences between two very different wartime presidents, Franklin Roosevelt and George W. Bush, in "The War" and Today's Wars: A Difference in Leadership. (Got a Grip)

In another saga of your government ~~letting you down~~ working hard for you, dcvote explains OSHA's ~~pitiful~~ rapid response to the problem of a butter flavoring chemical destroying the lungs of workers in popcorn factories in When Trouble Pops Up, OSHA Ignores It. (Got a Grip)

Bill Prendergast reports in NPR on "THE" Religious Right's third party challenge that the Council for National Policy (CNP), or the heart of the evangelical political movement, is not thrilled with the prospect of a Rudy Guiliani presidency. (vcmvo2)

In There Must be Something in the Water- More Legal Overreaching with Black Youth, dkos diaristshanikka explains the injustice in accusing a 10 year-old boy of murder. (vcmvo2)

wclathe describes the personal and political evolution of a friend in How to turn a Republican into a Democrat in 6 easy steps. (vcmvo2)

RH Reality Check walks us through the latest assault on reproductive rights as they pertain to women seeking prenatal care in Woman vs. Fetus Myth: Fetal Rights Used to Punish Pregnant Women (grog)

Rape, forced marriages and religion as a weapon are all tied together in Theology and Power in the Warren Jeffs Case, part 1 in a series by irishwitch detailing the power an absolute religious leader can wield over his flock. (grog)

BENAWU provides an update on contested '08 house races in 342 House Races have Dem Candidates. (hhex65)

cumberland sibyl invites people to check out solar houses in This Saturday is National Solar Tour Day. (shayera)

Deep Harm shares with Daily Kos some of the scary new plans that the NSA and the Administration have in plan for us in New domestic intel plans scariest of all. (shayera)

GreyHawk reminds us of of the importance of one of our greatest rights in Open Letter To My Fellow US Citizens -- Your Vote Is Your Voice; Silence Is Deadly. (shayera)

jillian talks about the one thing that brings us all together in her diary, For the love and rememberance of..... (Elise)

sardonyx has tonight's Top Comments.

Feel free to add your own and use as an open thread.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/164513399/1734

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Win One For the Box Turtles

The gift that keeps on giving.

...adding that back in the day I had a little fantasy about how a young disgraced conservative might find the path to redemption. It involved enlisting in our armed services. God I'm an idiot.