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Sunday, December 28, 2003
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Another Foreign Journalist Busted, Stripped, Grilled, Humiliated, Denied Entry, Sent Home
Yet another rude awakening for a foreign journalist -- this time Sue Smethurst, associate editor for the Australian women's magazine New Idea, which she describes as "a cross between Good Housekeeping and People magazine. The most political thing we'd likely print was Laura Bush's horoscope." Too bad she didn't know that U.S. "immigration and customs people are arresting, detaining, and deporting journalists arriving here without special visas":
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?. [W]hen her Qantas flight from Melbourne, Australia, touched down at LAX around 8 a.m. on Friday, November 14, Smethurst found herself nightmarishly annoyed -- by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Smethurst was supposed to continue to New York and on Monday interview singer Olivia Newton-John. Smethurst had honeymooned in Manhattan last year and was looking forward to a long, free weekend "having a good walk through Central Park, getting a decent bowl of chicken soup and going Christmas shopping" ... An officer from the DHS's newly minted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bureau studied the traveler's declaration form Smethurst had filled out on the plane. ... What she didn't know was that her assignment and travel plans, along with the chicken soup and stroll through Central Park, had been terminated the moment she confirmed she was a journalist. ... At about noon, CBP informed Smethurst she would be denied entrée into the United States: While Australian tourists visiting the United States are visa-waived for 90 days, working journalists need a special I-Visa, which Smethurst had not been aware of and did not possess. She had, after all, flown into LAX on the same passport eight times previously without incident. Now she was being asked to raise her right hand and swear that her answers had been truthful, then was fingerprinted and photographed -- every time she comes to America, her swiped passport will bring up this documentation of her rejection. As Smethurst's inked fingers were rolled onto the government form, she noticed its heading: "Criminal." ... [Steven Mikulan, L.A. Weekly, December 19-25, 2003]
Read the rest of the article, and allow yourself to do a slow burn over the way Smethurst was handcuffed, held under armed guard, denied food after having not eaten for more than a day (both hot and cold tea "could be used as a weapon"), the questions she had to answer ("What sort of stories did she write? What kind of magazine was New Idea? Where was it published? What was its circulation? Does it print politically sensitive articles? When would her interview appear? Who would be reading it? Who was her father? His occupation? Her mother's maiden name and occupation? What were their dates of birth, where did they live?"), and how she was written up for tossing a rock-hard bread roll into a garbage can in disgust as she watched a guard enjoy a hot, fresh hamburger ("The CBP would later call this gesture a 'tantrum'"), among other indignities, including repeated strip searches.
A CBP spokesman claims Smethurst became "abusive" -- but didn't go into detail, as "he did not want to 'spend time on he-said, she-said charges.'"
Michael Fleming told the L.A. Weekly: "It's not our intent to parade passengers on a perp walk -- Sue Smethurst is not a criminal."
Then why did you treat her like one?
"It's important for journalists to know to enter the U.S. on assignment they cannot apply under the visa-waiver program. They have to do their homework."
Then why was "Smethurst's editor, who planned to visit the United States on business, inquired about obtaining an I-Visa ... told it would not be necessary"?
You know what's really crazy? Smethurst still says, "I adore America and love Americans."
Why, Ms. Smethurst? How can you still love us when we treat foreigners like animals? No, strike that -- at least there are laws in this country that mandate feeding animals in captivity.
Props to LGBTBinat for the heads-up, and Politics in the Zeros, which notes, quite accurately, that "in reality the problem was an out of control security apparatus with no checks and balances, staffed by officious little pricks."
Another Foreign Journalist Busted, Stripped, Grilled, Humiliated, Denied Entry, Sent Home 10:54:26 PM
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Je suis une canadienne.
Well, no, I'm not, but I may as well be, if you divide the world into Canadians and Americans. The very-fine Easter Lemming will explain it all for you, and then send you to a nifty place where you can take the "Fire and Ice Survey" yourself.
My diagnosed quadrant is Idealism & Autonomy. No surprise, that.
Also found at Easter Lemming: A selectsmart survey to help you find your philosophical bent. Yours truly is most in line with: Kant (100%), Prescriptivism (100%), Sartre (89%), and John Stuart Mill (82%).
Je suis une canadienne. 10:51:27 PM
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Speaking of Texas Justice (And We Were)
Interesting tidbit from The Shark Shack:
"69% of executions in 2003 took place in only 3 states: Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. Only 11 states executed people in 2003, the lowest number since 1993."
Speaking of Texas Justice (And We Were) 10:48:21 PM
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Something to Take Your Mind off Mad Cow
Ready to go vegetarian yet? How about temporarily, at least on your next trip to Guangzhou?
Chinese Diners Shrug Off SARS: Bring On the Civet Cat. GUANGZHOU, China - It was lunch hour at The First Village of Wild Food, and if anyone in the restaurant was worried that SARS might again be spreading in this city, they were not showing it. Huang Sheng was more worried about which of the small animals in black metal cages would become his midday meal. Patrons could choose from species of fowl, two dark-haired pigs, a tiny species of deer or several fat rabbits. Nearby, butchers were skinning a flying fox as blood seeped onto the floor. Mr. Huang pointed at two wide-eyed civet cats, the small mammal that some studies suggest may have caused the original SARS outbreak. "Very good, very good," Mr. Huang said of the civet's flavor. ... [The] wild game is kept downstairs. Patrons can select their animal or bird, then walk upstairs to the dining room. Butchers at cutting tables near the cages quickly kill and skin the animals. Blood and other fluids that spill onto the floor are washed with hoses into a drainage channel. One chef, denying any connection between wild game and the disease, said the restaurant slaughtered and prepared meat the same way it did before SARS became a household word. He said Guangdong Province residents had a reputation for eating exotic foods, a taste not even SARS could deter. "People have been eating this since the founding of the People's Republic of China," the chef said. "We're not worried." [Jim Yardley, New York Times, December 29, 2003]
Meanwhile, they're waiting to hear whether or not a 32-year-old patient a local hospital has SARS (and if so, his would be the first case on mainland China since last summer).
Something to Take Your Mind off Mad Cow 10:42:57 PM
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How Now, Mad Cow?
Life is just not as good as December was for the president.
-- Republican pollster Whit Ayres
Mad Cow Case Clouds Bush's Political Outlook. The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States could shift the political landscape at the start of President Bush's reelection year by injecting uncertainty into a fragile economy and drawing scrutiny to his handling of an industry that was a financial and political ally in the last election, analysts in both parties said yesterday. White House officials had sounded ebullient as they headed into the holidays at a time when economic indicators were turning up, Saddam Hussein was in captivity and a new Medicare law had just been signed. Now, the administration will start 2004 under the type of sudden economic threat that Bush aides had expected would come only from a terrorist attack. ... Bush has closer ties to ranching than to any other industry besides oil, and Democrats seized on this new avenue for attacking Bush as a captive of business. Howard Dean, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, said that it showed "the complete lack of foresight by the Bush administration once again." [Mike Allen, Washington Post, December 28, 2003]
Call it an "attack" if you like, but it's the truth: Getting caught with its pants down (or its beef diseased) is characteristic of an administration that forges ahead with an overly-ambitious global agenda, while treating domestic issues in desperate need of address with nothing more (or less) than utter negligence. (Or should that be udder negligence?)
And if you think the Left is merely latching onto a stroke of bad luck, wait until we delve further into the ongoing refusal of Bush's USDA to publicize the methods and results of its beef-testing program. (Yes, we'll get to it; there's a lot to sift through before I can pull the most salient points, instead of overwhelming you with a truckload of raw data.)
How Now, Mad Cow? 10:38:59 PM
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Try 'Worst of Last 43'
Gephardt: Bush worst president of last 5. Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt told cheering union workers Saturday that Oklahoma and its labor unions are an important part of his strategy to win the White House. "I'm going to win the Democratic nomination and I'm going to beat George Bush," Gephardt, standing on a stage in front of a large American flag, said during a campaign stop at the Teamsters Local 886 meeting hall. "I've served with five presidents and he is by far the worst. I'm nostalgic for Ronald Reagan," Gephardt said, drawing laughter from the crowd of about 300 union members and supporters ... [Tim Talley, Salon, December 28, 2003]
Imagine! Dickie thinks he's going to grow up and be president! Isn't that precious?
But, seriously, why stop at five? George W. Bush isn't the worst of the last five presidents (assuming, of course, you call him "President"; I don't). Frankly, there hasn't been a worse president. Frankly, King George makes me nostalgic for Ronald Reagan. Frankly, if I were twice my own age, I suspect he would make me nostalgic for Herbert Hoover.
Try 'Worst of Last 43' 10:33:23 PM
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No, But It's Been Great for India and China
For some reason, Bush thought it was OK for you to be double taxed, but not all right for Ken and his CEO friends.
-- John Atcheson
Has the Bush economy been good for America?. Imagine for a moment that you took all your credit cards and maxed them out. Now take your mortgage and borrow the maximum on it. Cash in the kid's college fund, your rainy day savings, your 401(k) retirement savings. While you're at it, stop paying for your health insurance and the maintenance on your house, your car and your yard. Now take all that money and spend it. Feeling pretty flush? Sure you are. You just pumped tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars into your pocket. But you'd never do that. Because you know that just because you'd be living large for the time being, you wouldn't be wealthier. In fact, you'd be getting poorer by the minute. And yet, that's exactly what Bush's recovery is -- a giant borrowing binge. But he'd rather you didn't know that. In February, the administration buried a report from its own Treasury Department that said our current fiscal policies, the ones Bush likes to claim are bringing on a "recovery," would create more than $44 trillion in chronic debt. ... The Democrats like to point out that we're still down some 2.5 million jobs since Bush took over and that, absent a miracle, Bush is likely to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to have fewer jobs at the end of his administration than when he took over. But the real story is, how can we not be living even larger, after borrowing all our children's assets and shrinking the Federal Reserve rate to the lowest level since 1958? What have we got to show for it? An essentially jobless recovery. Bush likes to say the jobs will come. They'd better. Because right now, all he's managed to do is spend about $350 billion of "your money" to hire 328,000 checkout clerks and greeters at the local Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, we've shipped some 2.6 million high-paying manufacturing jobs overseas since January 2001. Is this a success? ... [John Atcheson, Baltimore Sun, December 28, 2003]
Related article:
What Elephant? Part 2. [T]he next time some Bush-worshipping right-winger accuses you of being anti-tax-cut because you're anti-Bush [your] reponse is now spelled out for you: "I am against Mr. Bush's $350 billion tax cut because it contributes to the $44 trillion deficit projected by the 2002 Treasury Department report that Mr. Bush chose to ignore in order to push through his own agenda. In order to rectify the damage already done, we would need an immediate tax increase of more than 66%. If we do not reign in this recklessness right now, your grandchildren and mine will be spitting on our graves as they attempt to make up for our mistakes. Is that what you want?" ... [doublethink, May 29, 2003]
No, But It's Been Great for India and China 10:30:37 PM
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Why Michael Moore Wrote 'Stupid White Men'
Perhaps the linotype guy at the L.A. Times goofed, or ran out of room; surely, the original title must have been "FOR 2004, BUSH IS AN ICON OF HOPE FOR THE SAME WHITE MALES SO INSECURE IN THEIR MASCULINITY AND LIVING THEIR IMPOTENT LIVES VICARIOUSLY THROUGH ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER MOVIES THAT THEY VOTED FOR REAGAN AND BUSH I, TOO":
For 2004, Bush Has Strength in the White Male Numbers. President Bush's overwhelming strength among white men looms as a central obstacle between Democrats and the White House as 2004 approaches. In an election season heavily shaped by terrorism and national security, several recent polls suggest Bush could dominate white male voters as thoroughly as Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did during their three successive presidential victories in the 1980s. "Clearly, it is where the Democrats are going to have their biggest difficulty," said Ruy Teixeira, a public opinion analyst at the Century Foundation, a liberal think tank. In the modern political era, Democrats never expect to carry white men, who reliably tilt Republican. But the emerging threat to Democrats in 2004 is that Bush will win white men so decisively that the party can't overcome his advantage with other voter groups that lean in their direction, such as minorities and college-educated white women. Analysts in both parties agree that Bush is benefiting among white men from his aggressive use of force against terrorism and his alternately folksy and blunt "bring 'em on" personal style. Some senior strategists on both sides believe the risk to Democrats with white men could increase if the party nominates Howard Dean, whose opposition to the war, liberal positions on social issues and buttoned-down persona create clear contrasts for Bush. "That's the best situation for us, and the worst situation for them, with this group," said David Winston, a Republican pollster. White men compose just under 40% of the electorate, with white women just over 40%, and minorities composing the rest. ... [Ronald Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, December 28, 2003]
Which is why I have so much respect and affection for men who vote Democratic. A few, like, Tom Daschle, deserve a kick in the pants for being too mild, but Daschle isn't a regular guy. It's the regular-guy Democrats -- the ones who shave their heads because it feels good and looks better on guys like Moby, and not because it's a macho, Bruce Willis kind of thing to do -- who could teach the brain-dead Bushies so much by example. But then, you can't really teach the brain-dead anything, can you?
Therefore, the only option is to capture the voting blocs we don't have, or are losing. (And, frankly, if it weren't for the fact that the only chance we have of beating Bush is a Democratic candidate, the Dems would have lost my support to the Greens, a long time ago. This is one old lesbian who's tired of being sent not to the back of the bus, but to the rear bumper with the expectation that I'm supposed to push it all the way to my destination.)
So what's your New Year's resolution? How about volunteering to register minority voters? Seems to me that attempting to save the nation (and the world) by such a positive act would mean a lot more than dropping that extra five pounds you gained over the holidays.
Related article:
Faith-Based Surprises?. The bad news is that there's also been a shift toward the GOP among white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics. Our hope may lie in the Muslim community, which, understably, feels betrayed by the Bush administration. In 2000, notes Zogby, "Islamic leaders worked hard on behalf of Bush and the Republicans, and their leaders say their efforts were effective. But in the 2002 congressional races, a backlash among Muslim voters, angered by what many consider anti-Islamic foreign and domestic policies in Washington, led to an estimated 83 percent support level for Democratic candidates." Which is just fine; I for one welcome the awakening of Muslims who, according to Zogby, felt "politically isolated" prior to 9/11, and finally realize that BushCo is not their friend. ... [doublethink, December 19, 2003]
Why Michael Moore Wrote 'Stupid White Men' 10:27:37 PM
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The Pope's Nose, Where It Doesn't Belong
Pope Pushes Campaign Against Gay Marriages. Pope John Paul II pressed his campaign against gay unions Sunday, calling for greater defense of the institution of marriage between man and woman and saying a "misunderstood" sense of rights was altering it. ... [Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, December 28, 2003]
Listen, Pappa: You get married before you attempt to engage in a dialogue about something about which you know absolutely nothing -- such as love between two committed, caring adults.
As my father -- an extremely devout Catholic -- always used to say: What good is a man's judgment about marriage when he's never been married, sex when he's supposedly never had it, raising children when he isn't a father, or money troubles when he's taken a vow of poverty?
The Pope's Nose, Where It Doesn't Belong 10:21:39 PM
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That Other War Georgie Lost
You know all those snide remarks I've made about how Georgie's war in Afghanistan was a failure, and how the country is even worse off than it was before we supposedly "got the Taliban gone," and how the only safe place in the whole country was a few square miles of Kabul?
I was wrong. Kabul isn't safe either:
Afghan Suicide Bomber Kills 5 After Arrest. KABUL, Afghanistan - An apparent suicide bomber killed four intelligence agents, their driver and himself in the Afghan capital Sunday, the latest violent incident during a closely guarded convention drawing up the country's first post-Taliban constitution. ... [Stephen Graham, Associated Press, December 28, 2003]
Related articles:
The War Is Over... Again
doublethink, April 28, 2003
Lest We Forget: It's Not Over in Afghanistan, Either
doublethink, June 7, 2003
What Taliban?
doublethink, July 19, 2003
School Days, School Days, Just More life In Hell Days...
doublethink, August 25, 2003
Oh, Yeah - And Everything's Just Fine in Afghanistan, Too
doublethink, October 13, 2003
The Real Afghanistan
doublethink, October 24, 2003
So, We've Lost the "War" in Afghanistan - Again
doublethink, October 26, 2003
And That Makes Everything All Better, Does It?
doublethink, December 7, 2003
U.S. Not Responsible for Crushing Children to Death
doublethink, December 11, 2003
That Other War Georgie Lost 10:09:35 PM
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In West Bank, Talk Is Cheap
Israel to dismantle outposts, ease travel limits. Israel announced Sunday it will evacuate four settlement outposts in the West Bank and ease restrictions on Palestinians in Gaza. ... The Israeli Defense Ministry said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz signed an order Sunday to evacuate four outposts in the West Bank -- Bat Eyin, Havat Shaked, Hazon David and Ginot Arieh. ... Settlers have built dozens of what Israel calls "illegal outposts" without government permission in the hope of expanding Israeli territory in the West Bank. ... Under the road map, Israel agreed to freeze all settlement expansion and to dismantle illegal outposts built since March 2001. ... [Dawn Tamir, CNN, December 29, 2003]
Israel may have agreed to "freeze all settlement expansion" and "dismantle illegal outposts built since March 2001," but agreeing and doing are two different things. In fact -- and unless something has changed drastically in the past few months without hitting the newswires -- Israel has been building settlements in Palestine, while "dismantling" others for show.
Meanwhile, what's the point of evacuating settlements if you're still going to murder Palestinians who come near them? Guess this one wasn't evacuated yet:
Three Palestinians shot dead in Gaza. Israeli soldiers today killed three Palestinians near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli leaders signed orders to evacuate four settlement outposts in the West Bank, Israeli media reported. In the Gaza incident, Israel Radio said three armed Palestinians approached the isolated settlement of Netzarim, southwest of Gaza City, late today. Israeli tanks opened fire and killed them. The military had no immediate comment. ... [Associated Press, December 28, 2003]
Related article:
Sharon to Peace: @#&* You! What Do You Say?. [Ariel Sharon] says "Israel should continue building settlements -- but quietly -- despite his acceptance of a U.S.-backed peace plan that requires a construction freeze." ... He insists that certain outposts are "vital for Israel's security," according to an unnamed "senior Cabinet official." And Sharon's own mouthpiece Raanan Gissin agrees: "The decision to dismantle outposts will be judged on each outpost's merits." ... "Israel has pulled down 11 of more than 60 outposts in the past two weeks. However, Israeli peace activists say settlers have already erected eight new outposts since then." ... [doublethink, June 23, 2003]
In West Bank, Talk Is Cheap 10:02:12 PM
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Expect More Hankerin' for Swift Texas Justice
Saddam Threatens to Expose US. JEDDAH - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, now being grilled by American investigators, has reportedly warned US authorities that he will expose Washington's "political games" and its behind-the-scene role in the occupation of Kuwait. "Saddam threatened that if they continue to pressure him he will reveal startling facts -- about America's political games with his country -- that would shock the whole world," Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted a high-level European source as saying. ... According to the European source close to US investigators, Saddam also said that he would ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to try the United States for its crimes against the Iraqi people for allegedly using internationally prohibited weapons against the Iraqis during the last two wars against his country. "If the Americans want to try me in a court of law, they should also try high-ranking international officials," the source quoted the former Iraqi dictator as saying. Saddam has insisted that his statements are recorded verbatim, the paper said. ... [P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News, December 27, 2003]
Related article:
Why George May Rue the Day. You might think that Bush would want nothing more than to permit every possible second of The Trial of Saddam Hussein to be broadcast on every TV network in the world. ... But the last thing Bush & Co. want is exposure of any revelations Saddam may make. ... "One worry," [wrote Bryan Bender in the Boston Globe last August], "is that a host of embarrassing charges might be leveled at the United States. Washington supported Hussein's regime during Iraq's war against Iran between 1980 and 1988 -- including providing satellite images of Iranian military formations -- at a time when Iraqi forces used chemical weapons against troops and civilians. The United States may have even given Hussein the green light to attack Iran." ... [doublethink, December 14, 2003]
Expect More Hankerin' for Swift Texas Justice 9:52:23 AM
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In Case You Forgot Why They Hate Us...
From joy to despair: Iraqis pay for Saddam's capture. Ali Salman Ali was the first victim of Saddam's capture, but he died on Christmas Day. As his father Salman Ghazi, 71, tells it, Ali ... "shouted that the Americans had come to save us and liberated us from that terrible regime" ... "That same afternoon, they came for him," his father said. "He had gone out shopping to Kaddamiya in his car and they were in another car that caught him and overtook him and opened fire on him with rifles." And who were "they"', I asked? The father looked at another of his sons and then at a cousin who had muttered the word "wahabis". ... Then his father pointed a finger at my notebook. "We shall call his killers 'the terrorists'," he said. And who was I to disagree? As usual, there was no mention of Ali Salman Ali's death by the occupation authorities who list only Western victims of Iraqi violence. ... In a parallel street yesterday, an American-paid Iraqi cop was guarding the crumbling brick house in which the bodies of the newly dead are washed before being taken to the morgue. Inside were two new corpses, the dead of Christmas Eve, newly arrived from the town of Beiji. "Don't talk to the relatives," the policeman said. "Both men were killed by the Americans. One worked in a factory and was caught in the open when the resistance fired at American soldiers. The Americans shot everyone they saw. The people are angry because you look like an American." ... The cop wanted the last word. "Saddam brought us to this tragedy and the Americans used it," he said. "You want to know who is to blame? I say this: Fuck Saddam and fuck the USA." ... [Robert Fisk, The Independent, December 27, 2003]
In Case You Forgot Why They Hate Us... 9:48:09 AM
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No, Make That 17... Uh, 18?
Damn, it's hard to keep up this morning:
Blasts kill 2 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Roadside bombs killed two American soldiers in attacks Sunday in Iraq, U.S. military officials said. Eight other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attacks, military spokesmen in Baghdad said. Northeast of Fallujah, an improvised roadside bomb killed a soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division about 1 p.m. Sunday. Three other soldiers traveling in the convoy were wounded ... In an earlier attack Sunday, another U.S. soldier and two Iraqi children died when an improvised explosive device detonated along a crowded roadside in Baghdad ... [CNN, December 28, 2003]
Nice of CNN to mention the dead Iraqis. As you know, "We don't do body counts."
No, Make That 17... Uh, 18? 9:11:46 AM
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That's 15 This Week (We Think)
U.S. soldier killed in bomb attack west of Baghdad. A U.S. soldier was killed and three were wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb was detonated as their convoy drove past near a town west of Baghdad, the U.S. Army said. In a statement, it said the convoy was attacked northeast of the flashpoint town of Falluja, in the volatile "Sunni triangle" region where much of the resistance to occupying troops has been concentrated. The attack brought to 212 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. [Reuters, December 28, 2003]
That's 15 This Week (We Think) 9:08:43 AM
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Bremer Goofs, Tells Truth
Bremer contradicts Blair on mass destruction weapons in Iraq. The US civil administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer denied the existence of laboratories in Iraq making weapons of mass destruction for which British Prime Minister Tony Blair says US-led teams have massive evidence. But in a pre-taped interview scheduled for transmission here Sunday, Bremer retreated when he learned that it was Blair who had made the claim. Asked about the claim without being told first of the source, Bremer said: "I don't know where those words come from but that is not what (Iraq Survey Group chief) David Kay has said." ... "I have read (Kay's) reports so I don't know who said that," Bremer said in an interview on the British ITV1 channel with Jonathan Dimbleby. "It sounds like a bit of a red herring to me," the American continued. "It sounds like someone who doesn't agree with the policy sets up a red herring then knocks it down." But Bremer retreated when told the claims were made by none other than President George W. Bush's staunchest ally Blair. ... In an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service on December 16, Blair said: "The Iraq Survey Group has already found massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories, workings by scientists, plans to develop long range ballistic missiles." [AFP via Yahoo! News, December 27, 2003]
Bremer Goofs, Tells Truth 8:49:35 AM
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Where's George? Where Else?
Bush arrives in Texas for 2nd week of vacation. CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush began the second leg of his Christmas vacation Friday, shadowed by troubles on both the global and domestic fronts: another assassination attempt against an ally in Pakistan, a devastating earthquake in Iran and a mad cow discovery that could damage the American beef industry. ... The president was receiving regular briefings on the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in Washington state. He spoke to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman Tuesday and Wednesday. The mad-cow discovery had a particularly personal dimension for Bush, who runs cattle on the 1,600-acre ranch here. But the president planned to continue eating beef, McClellan said. ... The spokesman deflected questions about Bush's level of concern for the cattle that graze on his land. ... [Associated Press, December 26, 2003]
Also mentioned in an unrelated (but ironic) note is that "Bush often breaks up long visits here with a quick stop in the local coffee shop - where he invariably orders a cheeseburger." Let's see how confident he is in the nation's beef supply next time he's up around Yakima.
Also noted: "The Iran quake, which killed at least 5,000 people and injured 30,000, left the Bush administration scrambling to quickly formulate a humanitarian aid package for a country with which the United States maintains no diplomatic ties. Iran has also drawn Bush's ire recently for its alleged nuclear weapons ambitions. 'This is a terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured and the families of those who were killed,' McClellan said."
Yeah, whatever you say, Scotty. More likely, the whole administration's pissed off that the earthquake could set back plans to invade Iran for a while. God knows what a bully the U.S. would look like if we started bombing a country that already looks like a war zone.
Iranians may not think so, but perhaps the quake was a mixed blessing for Nation #2 on Georgie's Hit List.
One tiny consolation: At least Iran lost the Silk Road Citadel to Mother Nature, and not to George W. Bush.
(By the way, if you click the link to the citadel article, notice the word "millenniums" in the first sentence. That should be "millennia." I'm irritated by such a glaring goof in a major newspaper -- but chose this article for the before-and-after quake pictures.)
Where's George? Where Else? 8:22:52 AM
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