Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Choose Your Favorite Flavor
Last night Bush claimed he couldn't think of a specific mistake he'd made since 9/11. The Center for American Progress has thought of five, and is inviting us to vote for the one we think is the biggest. The choices: invading Iraq without a plan for the aftermath; telling the American people that Iraq definitely possessed WMDs; failing to send U.S. troops into Tora Bora to capture Osama Bin Laden in November 2001; disparaging Gen. Eric Shinseki when he said more troops would be needed in Iraq; and focusing on missile defense while ignoring repeated warnings of an imminent Al-Qaeda attack before 9/11.
Not since my last trip to Baskin-Robbins have I had this much trouble making a decision.
I've been pretty much proven right in my supposition of yesterday that the Bush press conference was scheduled in part to take the focus away from John Ashcroft's testimony before the 9/11 commission. Even though some observers characterized his appearance as a snoozer devoid of fireworks, there was plenty of evidence that he, too, was asleep at the switch during the Summer of Threat. To get an idea of how bad it was, click here. When we're calling Bush the Worst President Ever, let's keep in mind that on the Worst-Ever list, Ashcroft is definitely number one-A. (His attempt to blame the 9/11 attacks on Bill Clinton was priceless.)
Also in the news today, MoveOn.org is running a couple of online petition drives worth noting. I know, I know, I've said before that online petition drives are pretty close to useless, but MoveOn has had some success with them, starting with its drive against relaxed TV station ownership caps last summer. MoveOn's latest drive calls on Bush to transfer management of the Iraq authority to the United Nations. It's also running one with the Campaign for America's Future calling on Bush to fire Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
(The thing I love about MoveOn.Org is that it does the sort of viral marketing campaigns only the cool kids would think of. It announced last week it's holding a nationwide bake sale on Saturday to help fund MoveOnPac's campaign to take back the White House. Yesterday, the group announced its Great Goals forum, where likeminded progressives can discuss issues and shape MoveOn's future direction.)
I like the way Clickback America does its online petitions, too. James Carville sent me an e-mail yesterday about Clickback's inagural campaign. If you want to read it, go here. Also on the petition front, the Kerry campaign wants you to join its drive to "bill" the Bush/Cheney campaign for using taxpayer funds to run for reelection.
Recommended reading: You've heard about the famous PDB of August 6, 2001. You may even have read it. What you may not have seen is Bush's own personal copy of it, which has surfaced at Whitehouse.org.
Last night Bush claimed he couldn't think of a specific mistake he'd made since 9/11. The Center for American Progress has thought of five, and is inviting us to vote for the one we think is the biggest. The choices: invading Iraq without a plan for the aftermath; telling the American people that Iraq definitely possessed WMDs; failing to send U.S. troops into Tora Bora to capture Osama Bin Laden in November 2001; disparaging Gen. Eric Shinseki when he said more troops would be needed in Iraq; and focusing on missile defense while ignoring repeated warnings of an imminent Al-Qaeda attack before 9/11.
Not since my last trip to Baskin-Robbins have I had this much trouble making a decision.
I've been pretty much proven right in my supposition of yesterday that the Bush press conference was scheduled in part to take the focus away from John Ashcroft's testimony before the 9/11 commission. Even though some observers characterized his appearance as a snoozer devoid of fireworks, there was plenty of evidence that he, too, was asleep at the switch during the Summer of Threat. To get an idea of how bad it was, click here. When we're calling Bush the Worst President Ever, let's keep in mind that on the Worst-Ever list, Ashcroft is definitely number one-A. (His attempt to blame the 9/11 attacks on Bill Clinton was priceless.)
Also in the news today, MoveOn.org is running a couple of online petition drives worth noting. I know, I know, I've said before that online petition drives are pretty close to useless, but MoveOn has had some success with them, starting with its drive against relaxed TV station ownership caps last summer. MoveOn's latest drive calls on Bush to transfer management of the Iraq authority to the United Nations. It's also running one with the Campaign for America's Future calling on Bush to fire Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
(The thing I love about MoveOn.Org is that it does the sort of viral marketing campaigns only the cool kids would think of. It announced last week it's holding a nationwide bake sale on Saturday to help fund MoveOnPac's campaign to take back the White House. Yesterday, the group announced its Great Goals forum, where likeminded progressives can discuss issues and shape MoveOn's future direction.)
I like the way Clickback America does its online petitions, too. James Carville sent me an e-mail yesterday about Clickback's inagural campaign. If you want to read it, go here. Also on the petition front, the Kerry campaign wants you to join its drive to "bill" the Bush/Cheney campaign for using taxpayer funds to run for reelection.
Recommended reading: You've heard about the famous PDB of August 6, 2001. You may even have read it. What you may not have seen is Bush's own personal copy of it, which has surfaced at Whitehouse.org.
