Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Generally speaking, I know that referring Salon.com articles is of marginal value, because it's a Premium subscriber service and most of my readership doesn't subscribe.  But in this case, I can't resist. The cover story today is about the continued obstructionism of the Bush administration as it relates to investigations into 9/11.  Besides their long-term refusal to allow any investigation at all, they have underfunded the project, dragged feet on appointments, refused to release information, and generally done everything possible to make sure that a thorough investigation of the events of that tragedy does not occur.  I'll paste in  lengthy  comparative section from the article here: For instance, on April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, killing approximately 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. According to historians, Titanic survivors began disembarking in New York at 10 o'clock on the night of April 18. The next morning at 10:30, a special panel of the Senate Commerce Committee was gaveled into session inside the ornate East Room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Last year, when Cheney called Daschle to urge him to limit any hearings into 9/11, the V.P. argued it would drain sources away from the war on terrorism. By contrast, just 11 days after Japanese bombers hit the U.S. with a sneak attack killing nearly 3,000 people, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating a commission to "ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941 ... and to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned." It was the first of eight government-led investigations into the Pearl Harbor. The Warren Commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, was formed just seven days after President Kennedy was assassinated. Last February, after seven astronauts died when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated 200,000 feet above Texas, NASA's Columbia Accident Investigation Board was created 90 minutes after the incident; $50 million was immediately set aside for the probe. And in just four months, the board has already made public significant findings about the crash investigation. By contrast, nearly two years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the 9/11 commission only recently opened up its New York City office. The commission's budget has been increased to $14 million, but many experts say that's still far short of the sum needed to do the job right. What in the world is this about?  How can the GOP continually use the 9/11 hammer and get away with this?  The article extensively quotes family members of victims, who are livid about the way the administration has blocked investigations.  Does Bush have something to hide?  In the past, I've written about this website: http://www.unansweredquestions.org/timeline/ The site is pretty conspiracy heavy, but it's an impressive bit of research.  I don't think Bush's lackeys carried out 9/11--that's preposterous.  But given that they're doing everything they can get away with to prevent an investigation from succeeding, am I the only one with a sliver of doubt about the veracity of standard accounts of that day? These are dark times for America. 2:18:11 PM    Let's hear it. []

Last night, I finally saw Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers.  It closes in DC in two days, so it was a lucky thing to have caught it.  I loved it, unsurprisingly.  It's not the equal of the first film in terms of emotional impact, I think, and Jackson takes more liberties with the plot, but I'm not a purist and the changes work for me.  It's a transition film, of course, which means it's inherently going to sort of hang there, but it does it incredibly well. The burden of the film is literally and figuratively increasingly on Elijah Wood as Frodo--his transition from happy hobbit to beleaguered ringbearer is working extremely well.  His ability to sort of turn-on the evil side is impressive as anything--the scene in which he puts a sword to Sam's neck carries the film. Gollum is really unbelievable.  Gimli is sometimes funny, often annoying.  I could do without the comic relief most of the time.  At least, after the warg scene, they turn him into more of a badass and less of a jackass.  I have to lay very, very high praise on the Ents.  I had been told by a number of sources that the Ents are disappointing.  What in the world?  I thought the Ents were really great, particularly when they all march to Isengard.  Blessedly, we didn't have to get subjected to too much Merry and Pippin, especially the latter. The bad guys are really the bomb.  Nazgul, wargs, Uruk-Hai.  All great. Much has been said about Helm's Deep, and it certainly didn't disappoint.  The best moments involved those fantastically huge ladders. I loved it.  I think, in Dubai, I won't have to wait to see The Return of the King for too much longer than anyone here.  I predict I'll see it in January. 8:40:24 AM    Let's hear it. []