If you think that the war you're seeing on Fox News or on the cover of Time magazine is the REAL war, you're wrong. The US media is purposely not showing the carnage that is the Iraq War.
The much vaunted "free press" of America and their GOP golf buddies know that most Americans want the feel-good over the truth. They'll pick the glittery fantasy over the naked fork of reality every...single...time. This is one of the main reasons King George is now safely perched atop the Gilded throne for a second time...
Red Staters love to see themselves as Christian Saviors who are bringing Jesus' Democracy to the heathen towelheads. Well, democracy is nowhere to be seen, neither in Iraq nor in this country.
So far, what the average American Red State couch potato has seen is a shiny, happy TV war with lots of footage of brave soldiers striking poses similar to iconic Life magazine photos from WW 2 complete with maps and fancy graphics that show how we're actually WINNING despite the fact that a whole country is rising up against it's invaders. Every month brings another "Mission Accomplished" Potempkin Village of lies. The emperor is buck naked but through the magic of television, he sits enthroned, resplendent in the finest ermines.
Don't fool yourselves...children are dying over there, folks. For every "insurgent" taken out by the US military, scores of innocent children and other civilians are being killed or crippled. On top of that, many more are starving or dying from bad water and all the other ills that fall on the heels of War...
To counter-balance the lop-sided US media Disneyland coverage, one person has taken upon themselves to provide us with a BLOG OF the images that are too much of a downer for those Red Staters.
Fallujah in Pictures
Pictures from Fallujah that probably won't be on your television.
(WARNING: extremely graphic pictures NOT for Children or myopic Republican zealots. )
http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/
So many dead...
Every time the US military accidentally kills someone's child, father, or best friend, it creates another insurgent. I'm reminded of the line spoken by the Dominican priest in George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead," he said, "We must stop the killing, or lose the war..."
How the war is being sold to the US public is a thorny topic. Exactly how many people ARE dying in Iraq? When do the lies end and the truth begin? The numbers reported by the military in the US media conflict greatly with numbers reported by aid workers and the Iraqis themselves.
Here's one take on the issue of casualties and how they're reported:
How They Count the Enemy Dead
http://www.slate.com/id/2109871/
In the battle of Fallujah, U.S. military commanders say they killed between 1,000 to 1,200 or 1,200 to 1,600 enemy fighters, depending on your news source. However, embedded correspondents in the field reported that Army and Marine Corps units found fewer enemy bodies in Fallujah than they expected. How exactly does the military determine its body counts?
As a matter of policy, the U.S. military does not officially track enemy killed in action. But the headquarters responsible for an individual campaign—the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in the case of Fallujah—often does compile such figures, which explains why they sometimes appear in the papers. After a campaign, the headquarters will pull together reports from every unit in the fight to create one big estimate of the enemy's casualties for the entire operation.
Individual units send in several kinds of reports. The lowest-tech—and most reliable—way to determine enemy KIA is to physically count dead enemy corpses. After a military unit seizes an area, such as Fallujah, the troops will report to their headquarters the number of bodies they see left behind. However, this number usually undercounts the dead because most militaries try not to leave their fallen on the ground. This count also misses wounded soldiers who were evacuated for medical treatment and died later, and enemy soldiers directly hit by high-explosive ordnance, such as an artillery shell or 2,000-pound bomb. In such instances, there's little left to count when the battle's over.
In other words, the numbers of civilian dead can very easily be added to the total body count of alleged insurgents, either by incompetence or design. In this way the military can up the number of dead "bad guys" and diminish the numbers of innocents caught in the line of fire. Figures lie and liars figure, same old story.
CNN reported yesterday that the Marines had discovered the former hideout of Abu "Zowie" Zarqawi boogie man number two in Fallujah. The US government and many news agencies report that Iraq is swarming with al Qaeda freedom fighters from all over the world, yet that might not be the case according to John Hendro of the LA Times:
-------
Few Foreigners Among Insurgents
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111704C.shtml
Tuesday 16 November 2004
Judging from fighters captured in Fallouja, all but about 5% are Iraqi, U.S. officials say.
Fallouja - The battle for the city of Fallouja is giving U.S. military commanders some insight into this country's insurgency, painting a portrait of a home-grown uprising dominated by Iraqis, not foreign fighters.
Of the more than 1,000 men between the ages of 15 and 55 who were captured in intense fighting in the center of the insurgency over the last week, just 15 are confirmed foreign fighters, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. ground commander in Iraq, said Monday.
There was evidence that an organized force of foreign fighters was present. One dead guerrilla bore Syrian identification. A number of insurgents believed to be foreigners wore similar black "uniforms," each with black flak vests, webbed gear and weapons superior to those of their Iraqi allies.
But despite an intense focus on the network of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Zarqawi by U.S. and Iraqi officials, who have insisted that most Iraqis support the country's interim government, American commanders said their best estimates of the proportion of foreigners among their enemies is about 5%.
The overwhelming majority of insurgents, several senior commanders said, are drawn from the tens of thousands of former government employees whose sympathies lie with the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, unemployed "criminals" who find work laying roadside bombs for about $500 each and Iraqi religious extremists.
"Over time, it's the former regime elements that are the threat," said Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Casey for a visit to bases in Baghdad and outside Fallouja before meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
"DO YOU FEEL THAT COLD DRAFT?" DEPT.
Okay, I'm currently taking bets on which month of 2005 will be the one when the GOP controlled Congress passes the "Emergency Draft BIll of '05" ...I'm puttin' money on March 2005...
Why? The Bush War machine has seemingly run out of eager young bodies and is now rounding up hesitant, old ones. Hope all you strappin' Red State A-rab hatin' Jesus Freaks are ready to put down those X-Box controls and pick up an M-16 'cause...YOU ASKED FOR IT (or at least your mommies and daddies did...assholes...)
Former G.I.s Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go
By Monica Davey
The New York Times
Tuesday 16 November 2004
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111704A.shtml
The Army has encountered resistance from more than 2,000 former soldiers it has ordered back to military work, complicating its efforts to fill gaps in the regular troops.
Many of these former soldiers - some of whom say they have not trained, held a gun, worn a uniform or even gone for a jog in years - object to being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan now, after they thought they were through with life on active duty.
They are seeking exemptions, filing court cases or simply failing to report for duty, moves that will be watched closely by approximately 110,000 other members of the Individual Ready Reserve, a corps of soldiers who are no longer on active duty but still are eligible for call-up.
In the last few months, the Army has sent notices to more than 4,000 former soldiers informing them that they must return to active duty, but more than 1,800 of them have already requested exemptions or delays, many of which are still being considered.
And, of about 2,500 who were due to arrive by Nov. 7 at military bases for refresher training, 733 had not shown up.
Army officials say the call-up is proceeding at rates they anticipated, and they are trying to fill needed jobs with former soldiers as they did in the Persian Gulf war of 1991.
Still, the resistance puts further strain on a military that has summoned reserve troops in numbers not seen since World War II and forced thousands of soldiers in Iraq to postpone their departures when their enlistment obligations ended.
I'm not the only one to compare the current atmosphere in Washington to our former "arch-enemy", the Soviet Union.
Sidney Blumenthal sees the fall of Colin Powell and the ascendancy of Condaleeza Rice as the ultimate move in the creation of a one-party Neoconservative Republican state.
Bush's Night of the Long Knives
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/11/17/regime/print.html
The fall of Powell and the rise of Rice reveal the true face of this strange, Soviet administration, where bureaucratic fear and blind loyalty reign supreme.
In this strange Soviet Washington, a system of bureaucratic fear and one-party allegiance has been created in which only loyalists are rewarded. Rice stands as the model. One can never be too loyal. And the loyalists compete to outdo each other. Dissonant information is seen as motivated to injure the president -- disloyalty bordering on treason. Success is defined as support for the political line, failure as departure from the line. An atmosphere of personal vendetta and an incentive system for suppressing realities prevail. This is not an administration; it does not administer -- it is a regime.
Wanna REALLY feel like you're living in a bad science fiction movie? The argument that the Blue States should secede and either become part of Canada or separate entities is being seriously discussed in many parts of the US. There's a spirited discussion of the topic on the Seattle Indymedia site. Wonder how long before the Feds start taking a dim view of such public discussions? (HINT: They probably already have...) but...until then, here's the discussion:
Awaken Cascadians!
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/242978.shtml
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/242978.shtml
Awaken Cascadians!
author: Alexandros of Cascadia
Nov 08, 2004 18:47
Should breaking away be the next move?
Klahowya ("greetings" in Chinook Jargon the trade
language that once marked an unique aspect of Pacific
NorthWest life and still remains in place names, can
still be found in slang and spoken by the elders in
both the First Nations or Native Americans and the
peoples that have resettled here within the last
hundred years).
Cascadia is geographically the Columbia River
Watershed and the area around the Cascade Range.
Cascadia's farthest extent is from northern California
to the Alaskan Panhandle and from the Pacific to the
Continental Divide. Cascadia Minor tends to be the
states of Northern California, Oregon and Washington
with the province of British Columbia. The Scottish
naturalist David Douglas named the Cascade mountain
range after the powerful waterfalls that carved out
this land and gave it so much biomass.
Cascadia may or may not ever be a nation-state as
others have pushed for, but She is a bioregion. Some
may ask if this idea is another "breakaway" movement..
well that is really up to Cascadians. The term
"Cascadian" can be found back the era of the Civilian
Conservation Corp (CCC) for the art style in the
Pacific NorthWest. This art style of the CCC build
was examplified in monumental structures in the
Cascade Ranges like Timberline Lodge that emphasized
and blended into the natural surroundings. Cascadian
style was characteristically rustic, natural material
and massive with themes being focused on Nature local
or cultural imagery. The movement to form the state
of Jefferson in the mid 20th century may have
contributed to the idea of political separation. The
Sample Comments:
right on
Posted by: duffy at Nov 08, 2004 20:19
right on! We need to get started.
this is a must
Posted by: woolf at Nov 09, 2004 03:03
i agree with your stuff but we need to organize
Try it.
Posted by: OH yeah at Nov 09, 2004 08:13
Try it and I will put a bullet in your head. Its treason, and I won't stand for it.
So...Washington State, my beloved former home, seems on the verge of being under the control of the Red State Zombies, at least if the Gubernatorial re-count goes in favor of Republican dipshit Dino Rossi. Talk of secession in the Evergreen State could therefore soon be considered politically incorrect and perhaps treasonous.
To make the "legitimacy" of Red State Rossi even more interesting...According to the Washington constitution, a tie can literally be decided by a coin toss(!)
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/178673
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/178673
If the gubernatorial race ends in a tie, a coin flip or another game of chance will decide whether Christine Gregoire or Dino Rossi will be the state's next governor.
Following an automatic recount, state law requires elections ending in ties be broken ``by lot,'' which could include a coin flip or drawing playing cards, said Joanie Macke, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Sam Reed. The statute isn't specific, she said.
``We haven't even thought of that,'' Macke said.
Wanna bet that the Republicans show up with a two-sided coin with Karl Rove's face on it?
So who is this person who could be Washington's first GOP governor in 20 years?
Well, according to the Seattle Times, he's a former arch-Conservative turned cuddly "moderate." (Sound familiar? *cough* buuuusssshhhh *cough*)
One has to sell one's self as a "moderate" to even consider running for office in mostly liberal Washington. However...
Dino Rossi: Message shifts to the middle
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002071440_rossi24m.html
In his Bellevue campaign office, there's a talking action-figure doll of conservative commentator Ann Coulter. Press her back and she flings verbal daggers at liberals.
President Bush's adviser Karl Rove had a hand in recruiting Rossi to run for governor, and Vice President Dick Cheney was the featured guest a few months ago at one of Rossi's fund-raisers.
In 1992, one newspaper article said he supported a GOP platform plank that called for teaching both creationism and evolution in schools. (Rossi said recently he has "no recollection" of ever taking such a position.)
Today, in his campaign for governor, Rossi goes out of his way to avoid discussing his views on social issues.
He still says he is opposed to gay marriage, but is often quick to add, "I'm not running on that issue."
His position on abortion remains unchanged: He opposes it except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. But he never brings it up on his own.
And, when pressed, he points out that he never sponsored any anti-abortion bills in the Legislature and contends he wouldn't have much say on the issue as governor because the courts have deemed abortion legal.
Instead of those hot-button issues, Rossi now talks almost exclusively about improving the state's business climate and creating jobs. Rossi's critics contend he hasn't moderated his views, he's just stopped talking about them.
One suspects that Washington will find about plenty about his TRUE positions if he should be successful at assuming the governorship.
If Rossi does to Washington what Bush is doing to the US, liberal Seattle could very well just pack up and move piecemeal to Vancouver...tech industry and all...
The much vaunted "free press" of America and their GOP golf buddies know that most Americans want the feel-good over the truth. They'll pick the glittery fantasy over the naked fork of reality every...single...time. This is one of the main reasons King George is now safely perched atop the Gilded throne for a second time...
Red Staters love to see themselves as Christian Saviors who are bringing Jesus' Democracy to the heathen towelheads. Well, democracy is nowhere to be seen, neither in Iraq nor in this country.
So far, what the average American Red State couch potato has seen is a shiny, happy TV war with lots of footage of brave soldiers striking poses similar to iconic Life magazine photos from WW 2 complete with maps and fancy graphics that show how we're actually WINNING despite the fact that a whole country is rising up against it's invaders. Every month brings another "Mission Accomplished" Potempkin Village of lies. The emperor is buck naked but through the magic of television, he sits enthroned, resplendent in the finest ermines.
Don't fool yourselves...children are dying over there, folks. For every "insurgent" taken out by the US military, scores of innocent children and other civilians are being killed or crippled. On top of that, many more are starving or dying from bad water and all the other ills that fall on the heels of War...
To counter-balance the lop-sided US media Disneyland coverage, one person has taken upon themselves to provide us with a BLOG OF the images that are too much of a downer for those Red Staters.
Fallujah in Pictures
Pictures from Fallujah that probably won't be on your television.
(WARNING: extremely graphic pictures NOT for Children or myopic Republican zealots. )
http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/
So many dead...
Every time the US military accidentally kills someone's child, father, or best friend, it creates another insurgent. I'm reminded of the line spoken by the Dominican priest in George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead," he said, "We must stop the killing, or lose the war..."
How the war is being sold to the US public is a thorny topic. Exactly how many people ARE dying in Iraq? When do the lies end and the truth begin? The numbers reported by the military in the US media conflict greatly with numbers reported by aid workers and the Iraqis themselves.
Here's one take on the issue of casualties and how they're reported:
How They Count the Enemy Dead
http://www.slate.com/id/2109871/
In the battle of Fallujah, U.S. military commanders say they killed between 1,000 to 1,200 or 1,200 to 1,600 enemy fighters, depending on your news source. However, embedded correspondents in the field reported that Army and Marine Corps units found fewer enemy bodies in Fallujah than they expected. How exactly does the military determine its body counts?
As a matter of policy, the U.S. military does not officially track enemy killed in action. But the headquarters responsible for an individual campaign—the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in the case of Fallujah—often does compile such figures, which explains why they sometimes appear in the papers. After a campaign, the headquarters will pull together reports from every unit in the fight to create one big estimate of the enemy's casualties for the entire operation.
Individual units send in several kinds of reports. The lowest-tech—and most reliable—way to determine enemy KIA is to physically count dead enemy corpses. After a military unit seizes an area, such as Fallujah, the troops will report to their headquarters the number of bodies they see left behind. However, this number usually undercounts the dead because most militaries try not to leave their fallen on the ground. This count also misses wounded soldiers who were evacuated for medical treatment and died later, and enemy soldiers directly hit by high-explosive ordnance, such as an artillery shell or 2,000-pound bomb. In such instances, there's little left to count when the battle's over.
In other words, the numbers of civilian dead can very easily be added to the total body count of alleged insurgents, either by incompetence or design. In this way the military can up the number of dead "bad guys" and diminish the numbers of innocents caught in the line of fire. Figures lie and liars figure, same old story.
CNN reported yesterday that the Marines had discovered the former hideout of Abu "Zowie" Zarqawi boogie man number two in Fallujah. The US government and many news agencies report that Iraq is swarming with al Qaeda freedom fighters from all over the world, yet that might not be the case according to John Hendro of the LA Times:
-------
Few Foreigners Among Insurgents
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111704C.shtml
Tuesday 16 November 2004
Judging from fighters captured in Fallouja, all but about 5% are Iraqi, U.S. officials say.
Fallouja - The battle for the city of Fallouja is giving U.S. military commanders some insight into this country's insurgency, painting a portrait of a home-grown uprising dominated by Iraqis, not foreign fighters.
Of the more than 1,000 men between the ages of 15 and 55 who were captured in intense fighting in the center of the insurgency over the last week, just 15 are confirmed foreign fighters, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. ground commander in Iraq, said Monday.
There was evidence that an organized force of foreign fighters was present. One dead guerrilla bore Syrian identification. A number of insurgents believed to be foreigners wore similar black "uniforms," each with black flak vests, webbed gear and weapons superior to those of their Iraqi allies.
But despite an intense focus on the network of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Zarqawi by U.S. and Iraqi officials, who have insisted that most Iraqis support the country's interim government, American commanders said their best estimates of the proportion of foreigners among their enemies is about 5%.
The overwhelming majority of insurgents, several senior commanders said, are drawn from the tens of thousands of former government employees whose sympathies lie with the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, unemployed "criminals" who find work laying roadside bombs for about $500 each and Iraqi religious extremists.
"Over time, it's the former regime elements that are the threat," said Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Casey for a visit to bases in Baghdad and outside Fallouja before meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
"DO YOU FEEL THAT COLD DRAFT?" DEPT.
Okay, I'm currently taking bets on which month of 2005 will be the one when the GOP controlled Congress passes the "Emergency Draft BIll of '05" ...I'm puttin' money on March 2005...
Why? The Bush War machine has seemingly run out of eager young bodies and is now rounding up hesitant, old ones. Hope all you strappin' Red State A-rab hatin' Jesus Freaks are ready to put down those X-Box controls and pick up an M-16 'cause...YOU ASKED FOR IT (or at least your mommies and daddies did...assholes...)
Former G.I.s Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go
By Monica Davey
The New York Times
Tuesday 16 November 2004
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111704A.shtml
The Army has encountered resistance from more than 2,000 former soldiers it has ordered back to military work, complicating its efforts to fill gaps in the regular troops.
Many of these former soldiers - some of whom say they have not trained, held a gun, worn a uniform or even gone for a jog in years - object to being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan now, after they thought they were through with life on active duty.
They are seeking exemptions, filing court cases or simply failing to report for duty, moves that will be watched closely by approximately 110,000 other members of the Individual Ready Reserve, a corps of soldiers who are no longer on active duty but still are eligible for call-up.
In the last few months, the Army has sent notices to more than 4,000 former soldiers informing them that they must return to active duty, but more than 1,800 of them have already requested exemptions or delays, many of which are still being considered.
And, of about 2,500 who were due to arrive by Nov. 7 at military bases for refresher training, 733 had not shown up.
Army officials say the call-up is proceeding at rates they anticipated, and they are trying to fill needed jobs with former soldiers as they did in the Persian Gulf war of 1991.
Still, the resistance puts further strain on a military that has summoned reserve troops in numbers not seen since World War II and forced thousands of soldiers in Iraq to postpone their departures when their enlistment obligations ended.
I'm not the only one to compare the current atmosphere in Washington to our former "arch-enemy", the Soviet Union.
Sidney Blumenthal sees the fall of Colin Powell and the ascendancy of Condaleeza Rice as the ultimate move in the creation of a one-party Neoconservative Republican state.
Bush's Night of the Long Knives
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/11/17/regime/print.html
The fall of Powell and the rise of Rice reveal the true face of this strange, Soviet administration, where bureaucratic fear and blind loyalty reign supreme.
In this strange Soviet Washington, a system of bureaucratic fear and one-party allegiance has been created in which only loyalists are rewarded. Rice stands as the model. One can never be too loyal. And the loyalists compete to outdo each other. Dissonant information is seen as motivated to injure the president -- disloyalty bordering on treason. Success is defined as support for the political line, failure as departure from the line. An atmosphere of personal vendetta and an incentive system for suppressing realities prevail. This is not an administration; it does not administer -- it is a regime.
Wanna REALLY feel like you're living in a bad science fiction movie? The argument that the Blue States should secede and either become part of Canada or separate entities is being seriously discussed in many parts of the US. There's a spirited discussion of the topic on the Seattle Indymedia site. Wonder how long before the Feds start taking a dim view of such public discussions? (HINT: They probably already have...) but...until then, here's the discussion:
Awaken Cascadians!
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/242978.shtml
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/242978.shtml
Awaken Cascadians!
author: Alexandros of Cascadia
Nov 08, 2004 18:47
Should breaking away be the next move?
Klahowya ("greetings" in Chinook Jargon the trade
language that once marked an unique aspect of Pacific
NorthWest life and still remains in place names, can
still be found in slang and spoken by the elders in
both the First Nations or Native Americans and the
peoples that have resettled here within the last
hundred years).
Cascadia is geographically the Columbia River
Watershed and the area around the Cascade Range.
Cascadia's farthest extent is from northern California
to the Alaskan Panhandle and from the Pacific to the
Continental Divide. Cascadia Minor tends to be the
states of Northern California, Oregon and Washington
with the province of British Columbia. The Scottish
naturalist David Douglas named the Cascade mountain
range after the powerful waterfalls that carved out
this land and gave it so much biomass.
Cascadia may or may not ever be a nation-state as
others have pushed for, but She is a bioregion. Some
may ask if this idea is another "breakaway" movement..
well that is really up to Cascadians. The term
"Cascadian" can be found back the era of the Civilian
Conservation Corp (CCC) for the art style in the
Pacific NorthWest. This art style of the CCC build
was examplified in monumental structures in the
Cascade Ranges like Timberline Lodge that emphasized
and blended into the natural surroundings. Cascadian
style was characteristically rustic, natural material
and massive with themes being focused on Nature local
or cultural imagery. The movement to form the state
of Jefferson in the mid 20th century may have
contributed to the idea of political separation. The
Sample Comments:
right on
Posted by: duffy at Nov 08, 2004 20:19
right on! We need to get started.
this is a must
Posted by: woolf at Nov 09, 2004 03:03
i agree with your stuff but we need to organize
Try it.
Posted by: OH yeah at Nov 09, 2004 08:13
Try it and I will put a bullet in your head. Its treason, and I won't stand for it.
So...Washington State, my beloved former home, seems on the verge of being under the control of the Red State Zombies, at least if the Gubernatorial re-count goes in favor of Republican dipshit Dino Rossi. Talk of secession in the Evergreen State could therefore soon be considered politically incorrect and perhaps treasonous.
To make the "legitimacy" of Red State Rossi even more interesting...According to the Washington constitution, a tie can literally be decided by a coin toss(!)
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/178673
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/178673
If the gubernatorial race ends in a tie, a coin flip or another game of chance will decide whether Christine Gregoire or Dino Rossi will be the state's next governor.
Following an automatic recount, state law requires elections ending in ties be broken ``by lot,'' which could include a coin flip or drawing playing cards, said Joanie Macke, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Sam Reed. The statute isn't specific, she said.
``We haven't even thought of that,'' Macke said.
Wanna bet that the Republicans show up with a two-sided coin with Karl Rove's face on it?
So who is this person who could be Washington's first GOP governor in 20 years?
Well, according to the Seattle Times, he's a former arch-Conservative turned cuddly "moderate." (Sound familiar? *cough* buuuusssshhhh *cough*)
One has to sell one's self as a "moderate" to even consider running for office in mostly liberal Washington. However...
Dino Rossi: Message shifts to the middle
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002071440_rossi24m.html
In his Bellevue campaign office, there's a talking action-figure doll of conservative commentator Ann Coulter. Press her back and she flings verbal daggers at liberals.
President Bush's adviser Karl Rove had a hand in recruiting Rossi to run for governor, and Vice President Dick Cheney was the featured guest a few months ago at one of Rossi's fund-raisers.
In 1992, one newspaper article said he supported a GOP platform plank that called for teaching both creationism and evolution in schools. (Rossi said recently he has "no recollection" of ever taking such a position.)
Today, in his campaign for governor, Rossi goes out of his way to avoid discussing his views on social issues.
He still says he is opposed to gay marriage, but is often quick to add, "I'm not running on that issue."
His position on abortion remains unchanged: He opposes it except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. But he never brings it up on his own.
And, when pressed, he points out that he never sponsored any anti-abortion bills in the Legislature and contends he wouldn't have much say on the issue as governor because the courts have deemed abortion legal.
Instead of those hot-button issues, Rossi now talks almost exclusively about improving the state's business climate and creating jobs. Rossi's critics contend he hasn't moderated his views, he's just stopped talking about them.
One suspects that Washington will find about plenty about his TRUE positions if he should be successful at assuming the governorship.
If Rossi does to Washington what Bush is doing to the US, liberal Seattle could very well just pack up and move piecemeal to Vancouver...tech industry and all...
posted by eusephus at 7:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home