jamiroguy1

Then maybe we (the us gov't) should stop pretending to be spreading democracy if that's not what it is. "The sons of the Iraqi people want a political system based on direct elections and a constitution that ensures justice and equality for everyone," -Hashem Awadi, a representative of Sistani. Why not give it to them. The shiites hold the key to Iraq's stability.

Honoring the Wisdom of the Opposition By William Raspberry Monday, January 19, 2004; Page A21 "Every man knows enough Bible to fit his own pistol," my late father used to say. Or, I might amend, enough King. Dad's observation dates to the time when debaters would turn to the scriptures for support of their point of view -- whatever it happened to be -- on the issues of the day. My amendment acknowledges that I may be doing something similar when I use the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "Declaration of Independence From the War in Vietnam" as a commentary on America's presence in Iraq. King, remember, was known until that 1967 sermon at New York's Riverside Church primarily as a civil rights leader. His Nobel Peace Prize, awarded three years earlier, was largely in recognition of his nonviolent advocacy on behalf of black and poor Americans. And he was roundly criticized by those -- black and white, conservative and liberal -- who thought he was overstepping his boundaries and jeopardizing the cause of civil rights. King himself thought, as many of us do now, that it was the war that put the interests of the poor in jeopardy. Listen: A few years ago there was a shining moment. . . . It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the Poverty Program. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. Even the harshest critics of the war in Iraq acknowledge that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant and a brute. But they also believe that our government made military action against him seem unavoidable when it might have been avoided. King saw the same thing -- can it really be? -- 37 years ago when, as he put it, "America has spoken of peace and built up its forces . . . speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor, weak nation more than 8,000 miles from its shores." Full Editorial http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28302-2004Jan18.html

That's not democracy.

This one is superbowl bound.

Why the US is running scared of elections in Iraq Washington's plan to transfer power without a direct vote is a fraud Jonathan Steele Monday January 19, 2004 The occupation of Iraq continues to get worse for George Bush and Tony Blair. The deaths of at least 20 people in a suicide bomb attack outside the coalition headquarters in Baghdad yesterday morning underlines the spiralling unrest in the country. The toll of US casualties since Saddam Hussein's capture is higher than in the same period before it. Angry protests over unemployment and petrol shortages have erupted in several cities in the south, in areas under British control. Above all, Washington's plans for handing power to an unelected group of Iraqis is being strongly challenged by Iraq's majority Shia community. The occupiers who invaded Iraq in the name (partly) of bringing democracy are being accused of flouting democracy themselves. Oh yes, and then there's the small matter of the weapons of mass destruction on which Saddam increasingly appears to be the man who had truth on his side. When he said he had destroyed them years ago, he, rather than Bush and Blair, was the man not lying. While the Hutton inquiry looms as the main Iraq worry for the prime minister, the primary problem for Bush is the chaos in Iraq. His plans for minimising Iraq as an election issue are in tatters. They relied on three things: the capture of Saddam; a reduction in the toll of US dead and maimed; and the start of a process of handing power to Iraqis. Full Article http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1126178,00.html

The Philadelphia Story: Futility No town in sports is as heavy as Philadelphia. It's the city of dead weight, of bad memories, of easily lost faith and inbred accusation. Philly fans make fatalistic Bostonians look like they just left a seven-day positive-thinking seminar. Every athlete here, especially the perpetually overburdened Eagles, might as well wear saddlebags. The bigger the game, the more "weight" of hometown negativity must be carried. When a trip to the Super Bowl is at stake, each Iggle might as well have a bowling ball strapped to each ankle. They could have told you before this NFC championship game began. Call it a special form of bitter precognition. The result had to be this way -- a raw, futile, disgusting choke job. They knew that Donovan McNabb would throw three interceptions, tying his worst total ever. And all of the picks would be thrown to a rookie. By the end, McNabb would be so battered he couldn't play the last quarter. And, for the third straight year, the Eagles would lose the NFC championship game. No trip to the Super Bowl. No NFL title for the 43rd straight year. Worst of all, the Panthers, whoever they are, got an ugly 14-3 victory. Full article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28238-2004Jan18.html

Sharon admits separation fence harms Palestinians By Aluf Benn and Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondents The government will examine already constructed portions of the separation fence for ways to reduce the burden they impose on nearby Palestinian villages, and will consider changing the route of portions that have not yet been built, according to the government's planned submission to the High Court of Justice in response to several petitions against the barrier. At a meeting of the "kitchen cabinet" Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said any discussion of changes in the fence's route "will happen, if it happens," because of second thoughts on the cabinet's part, not in response to demands by the Palestinians, the United Nations or the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He added that the experience to date of the fence has been both "good and bad": It has been successful in preventing terror attacks, but "unsatisfactory in the harm it does to Palestinians' daily lives." Full article http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/384226.html

Well maybe we should just forego the whole voting process all together, since you believe Bush is getting re-elected.

9/11 Panel Unlikely to Get Later Deadline Hearings Being Scaled Back to Finish Work by May; Top Officials Expected to Testify By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 19, 2004; Page A09 President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time to an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, virtually guaranteeing that the panel will have to complete its work by the end of May, officials said last week. A growing number of commission members had concluded that the panel needs more time to prepare a thorough and credible accounting of missteps leading to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But the White House and leading Republicans have informed the panel that they oppose any delay, which raises the possibility that Sept. 11-related controversies could emerge during the heat of the presidential campaign, sources said. Full Article http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28025-2004Jan18?language=printer ****** It's pretty obvious this Bush wants the investigation over and done with, especially since this an election year.

Coalition faces new battlefront BORZOU DARAGAHI IN FALLUJAH POP music was always meant to be subversive but in Iraq it is proving to be too subversive for the coalition. As Americans flood Iraq’s airwaves with radio stations playing harmless Western and Arab pop tunes, the young are turning elsewhere for their musical inspiration. They turn to artists like Sabah al-Jenabi who sings: "America has come and occupied Baghdad. The army and people have weapons and ammunition. Let’s go fight and call out the name of God." Banned from the air, such songs are proving increasingly popular in the CD and tape shops of Baghdad, Fallujah and Ramadi. As anti-United States rebels shoot down helicopters at a rate of about one a week in the Fallujah area, al-Jenabi’s tunes ring out in the bazaars of central Iraq. "The men of Fallujah are men of hard tasks," he sings in an Arabic dialect only people from Fallujah and Ramadi can decipher. "They paralysed America with rocket-propelled grenades. May God protect them from [united States] planes." Even Iraqis generally supportive of the US occupation admit they’re attracted to the music. Driver Ahmad Hossein plays al-Jenabi’s cassettes in his car. "I like the music and the lyrics," says Mr Hossein, a member of Iraq’s Shia majority, which was oppressed under Saddam. "I don’t know why. I don’t agree with what it’s saying. It just makes me feel good." Full Article http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=64722004

The leak that went awry By Daniel Schorr WASHINGTON- The making of a coverup, like the making of a sausage, is not always pleasant to watch. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who rarely recuses himself from anything, has suddenly decided to get out from under the investigation of who leaked the identity of a CIA covert officer. And Mr. Ashcroft, who rarely misses his turn on camera, left it to Deputy Attorney General James Comey to make the announcement - and also to disqualify himself. Why would the Justice Department pass off what looks like a quintessentially Washington investigation to the US attorney in Chicago? Perhaps for that very reason. Fingering CIA officer Valerie Plame after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson exploded the administration's African-uranium-to-Iraq theory, smacked of typically Washingtonian bureaucratic revenge. Who in the White House could have picked up the telephone and made that vengeful call to columnist Robert Novak? The FBI has presumably interviewed a lot of officials and subpoenaed a lot of telephone records for the week of the leak last June. Mr. Comey says that what led to the attorney general's withdrawal was "an accumulation of facts." If those facts point to someone in the White House who has a personal relationship with the attorney general, it could present a perceived conflict of interest. Full Article http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p11s03-cods.html

Listening to some of Dr. Martin Luther King's speaches today, regarding race relations, I can't help but to notice how his words still ring true even today. What's your opinion? Is racism, prejustice, and injustice based on race still a problem in the United States? Your thoughts?

War created slavery, fascism, nazism, and communism. It was political solutions that brought about the end of slavery, facism, nazism, and communism. Remember, fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.

What is war good for? The Carlye Group profits. Killing Innocent People. Winning the election for Bush in 2004.

Just call it racism. There is no such thing as "reverse racism" I hate that term.

My point is... show me an example of this happening?? When has this happend and to who? We can sit all day and make up stories where people are being overlooked but until we have examples of it, it's all bullshit. I can show you examples where black people are discriminated against all day because no affirmative action policy is in place. I await your response.

I just don't see it where white people are missing out on opportunity because of affirmative action. It just doesn't make sense. Yes, we've come a long way at intergrating our society but the truth is, enough hasn't been done. Do you really think that black people that are unsuccessful in school "worship gansta rap and basketball players".

It's pretty obvious that both sides are commiting terrorist acts, the israeli government and hamas. It's pointless to pick sides and is more helpful to agree that terrorism on both sides must end.

Well said.

Racism still exists. It's more of an economic racism now.

Howardstone...Humor is definetly appreciated.... but not when someone is trying to have an intelligent discussion. You confirm ignorance to your side of the arguement so sometimes it's better to just shut your pie hole and save yourself further embarrasment and exposing yourself for what you really are.

Uh... Dude. It ended in 1867. That's not 400 years ago. Maybe you got confused on how long it when it on, 400 years that is.

They're already is a WET. It's every other channel other than BET.