Some excerpts from reports and analyses over the history of ETS!

It is hard to find any issue involving money on which Clinton isn't at least arguably as bad as Reagan and Bush: environment, military, welfare, free trade, corporate welfare, civil liberties, prisons, drug war, bashing youth, supporting dictators, corruption, judicial appointments, ad nauseam. Moreover, unlike what you may have read in every mainstream paper in the country, this abysmal record isn't a cynical move to the right; Clinton has always been there. He was just as conservative as governor of Arkansas, just as conservative in founding the DLC and in his '92 campaign. There is absolutely no reason to believe a second term will be better.--Geov Parrish, 10-22-96, from 1996 election preview article.

* * *

If I attend another [demonstration] with the same 50 (small), 200 (medium), or 500 (large) people (95% white) in Victor Westlake Federal Park, I may nod off from sheer boredom: the same marches and speakers and gauntlet of eight competing Marxist groups (none of whom helped plan the thing) selling their newspapers and debating each other. The same comfortable social event where everyone circulates and then goes home and wonders why they aren't on the news, or why the policy in question that day didn't change.

Demonstrations have two purposes: to change policy or to be an organizing opportunity for people trying to change policy. The former rarely happens and the latter can't when the event is so damn predictable, dull, self-marginalized. Where's the creativity? Where's the joy? Where are the actions that people can take to be visible and make a difference? Where are the puppets, the theatre, the coordinated props, the focus, the new venues and audiences, the challenge, the rebellion, the risk, the advocacy, the conflict, the spirit, the relevance?

Many things could be done to zip up these events. As a modest initial contribution (we'll be happy to consider others), Eat the State! presents our top ten list of chants we never, ever, ever want to hear again:

Bonus Pick, Applicable Only To Seattle: "Go Back To Bellevue!" (if you stopped sneering at Bellevue long enough, you might find a lot of its residents agree with you; you might also find that the counter-demonstrators you're yelling at live in your own chic city neighborhood, or some working class district "the people" never go to)

The Top Ten:

10. "No Blood For Oil!" (presumably, starvation and disease for oil have been fine, and blood for petroleum substitutes is A-OK)

9. "We're Fired Up, Won't Take No More!" (until we go home in an hour)

8. "No Justice! No Peace!" (see 9.)

7. Anything in Spanish from a crowd more than 90% non-Spanish-speaking

6. "What Do We Want? (something) When Do We Want It? (timeline)"

5. "Power! Power! Power To The People..." (or anything else with "The People," a phrase freely and arrogantly substituted for "us")

4. "The People, United, Will Never Be Defeated" (if the people were united there would be no one to defeat, now, would there?)

3. "Two, Four, Six, Eight," anything after this that rhymes with "eight" (we're policy advocates, not Big Bird)

2. "Hey Hey, Ho Ho," anything after this, period. (we're policy advocates, not the Seven Dwarves)

1. "The Whole World Is Watching!" (the most embarrassingly and obviously false statement imaginable)--Geov Parrish, "The People United Still Can't Fill the Plaza," 10-29-96

* * *

In the hearing, also made public for the first time was a plan submitted to the city last month by the Downtown Seattle Association, the retail group that derailed the Reststop. The plan claims no public hygiene facility is needed. The reason? "Downtown Seattle already has enough restrooms." And the DSA helpfully supplies an exhaustive list of downtown toilets the public can use--including the ones at Nordstrom's, Niketown, and so on.

Lots of city and private agencies have long established the dire need for a project like the Urban Reststop. But as with the various other reasons offered, lack of need is a fig leaf for the real reason it died: the homeless should not exist, and offering services everybody needs simply encourages them to continue to exist.

But why not take the Downtown Business Association at its word? Let's use Nordstrom's.

Let's pick a day, and everyone in Seattle grab a towel, a washcloth, some soap and grooming supplies, and meet at Nordstrom's. Be sure to drink lots of liquids first. Who could object? It's the City Council's preferred solution, and everybody wants to be clean!!! If there are long lines, we could always try the facilities at Niketown, Planet Hollywood, Cineplex Odeon, and Westlake Mall. For that extra civic contribution, surely The Bon wouldn't mind a de-licing clinic near, say, women's cosmetics. The needle exchange could set up by the bear at FAO Schwartz, with a food line next door, in front of all the emaciated Barbies in the Barbie Boutique.

Plus all those plush new hotels. Oh, think of the camera angles!--Geov Parrish, 1-14-97, responding to an effort before city council to kill downtown restrooms. This demonstration actually happened, and was so successful (and fun) and got so much publicity that the council backed off of its plans--temporarily.

* * *

The judge's decision amounted to less than a slap on the wrist. In fact, it practically assures that Microsoft will continue unimpeded in its drive to control the Internet....Right now, if you can switch to a low-cost, local, small Internet service provider that uses Unix or Linux, you should do it, before these businesses disappear altogether or merge into larger behemoths, like America On-Line, Compuserve, AT&T, or the Microsoft Network....In another year or two, you won't have the wide range of choices you have now. Take advantage of them while you can.--Maria Tomchick, from "Microsoft World," 12-16-97, scoffing at the then-prevalent notion that the feds' anti-trust case against Microsoft would amount to something.

* * *

Global austerity is coming to the United States, and not just in the form of social service cuts. Two critical issues to watch for in 1998: utility deregulation and privatization of social security. Both are scams that could literally cost consumers and workers trillions. You know who wins.--Geov Parrish, just a tad early, from "Underreported Stories of 1997," 12-23-97.

* * *

As the drums beat louder for bombing Baghdad, it might be wise to ask what we're fighting for. Most of the official reasons are absurd on the face of it....The only compelling reason offered to destroy Iraq is that it has, and is willing to use, unconventional weapons of mass destruction. But if that's reason enough to destroy Hussein's palaces, then Washington, DC should have been leveled long ago.--Matt Asher, from "Rah Rah Rah You Fucking Assholes," 2-24-98

* * *

Forget about the Social Security fund going bankrupt; it's a lie being told by financial companies and politicians to push their own agenda. The real problem with Social Security is the Congressional/Wall Street assault on the Social Security trust fund.--Maria Tomchick, from "Social Security: Gambling on the Future," 7-22-98, long before George W. Bush became president.

* * *

The challenge of Seattle, for WTO oppositionists, is to make that alarm a mainstream affair. As such, talking heads holding press conferences won't do. Neither will a few hundred people in the rain at Westlake, listening to an endless program of the obligatory political rainbow of speakers parroting points of unity. Seattle organizers must do better on both scores. We must produce bodies--lots of them--demanding local control over corporate excess. That is a major, and primary, organizing job for the next ten months.--Geov Parrish & Maria Tomchick, "Bring on the WTO," 2-10-99, whipping up support for a then-obscure protest nearly a year away. It turned out pretty well.

* * *

[Former UN Oil for Food program head Denis] Halliday went one step further in claiming that a fascist, anti-Western (particularly anti-US) Islamic fundamentalist element may gain power in Iraq.--Maria Tomchick, "The Future of Iraq," 2-24-99, four years before George W. Bush's invasion helped them do it.

* * *

We must rapidly transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. The global climate crisis, perhaps the greatest challenge in the history of civilization, calls upon us to act decisively and without delay.--Patrick Mazza & Rhys Roth, "Global Warming: The Evidence," 6-2-99

* * *

Summer's finally here! And, as anyone who's lived in a desert knows, when it gets warmer, reptiles get more active. With the warm temperatures, fluid starts circulating through their cold-blooded brains, they become more alert, more alive, more prone to doing reptile-like things.

Slade Gorton sure has been busy lately.

Maybe it's just boredom, or that we somehow take Slade for granted. We see him sunning himself out on the riverbank and think, sure, he's dangerous, he'll eat a small child every now and then, but we like him. It's part of the local color.--Geov Parrish, "The Reptile House," 7-7-99

* * *

* Any "violence" that erupts will be the responsibility of the demonstrators. We will ignore the "nonviolent" horses, batons, mace, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and guns brought by security forces. That's crowd control, not violence.

* We will rely almost exclusively on "official" sources--WTO organizers, the police, elected officials, and other government employees. This isn't a lie, exactly. We'll simply report their spin on the facts as the objective truth, and not report any other spin or try to synthesize competing versions of events. This will give WTO advocates the most positive possible light.

* We will marginalize demonstrators wherever possible. Photos will show the most outrageous costumes, emphasizing that these are not normal people. Organizers are "paid organizers," although the Seattle Host Organization paid people, too. Foreign demonstrators will become "outside agitators." If necessary, we will redbait.

* We will emphasize conflict, property destruction, violence, and hostility. The 99% of peaceful, nonviolent demonstrators are boring. They are also much too responsible.--from "This Is How We Will Lie To You," by "the editorial staff at the big dailies," 11-17-99

* * *

Red Cross relief workers and other disaster agency volunteers filed early reports from the scene of the carnage suggesting that millions of Washington state residents may have died early this week in an unusual case of politician-induced torpor. The deaths came after voters had been trapped for weeks under a sea of pointless campaign rhetoric and lawn signs. Initial reports suggested that some survivors had tapped on the hull of their constructed obliviousness in a surprised and desperate plea for help, but officials are now saying the voters are likely to have died instantly following the impact of this year's Voters Pamphlet.--Geov Parrish, "Voters Bored to Death," 9-13-00

* * *

The Clinton/Gore administration is attempting to appease Congress (i.e., Ford and GM) by undermining the intent of the Kyoto Protocol. Part of that process is to point a finger at the Third World and demand that poor nations commit to making a bigger sacrifice (when, in fact, it's only fair that the United States makes the biggest sacrifice, because we are, literally, the biggest offender.) The US also wants to use "pollution credits" to offset emissions here at home. In other words, US businesses would pay companies in other countries to pollute less, thereby allowing US companies to continue to pollute unabated. Everyone else can tighten their belts, except for us.

Other industrial nations are beginning to cut their emissions and are likely to meet the goals specified in the Kyoto agreement (including most of the European Union). The US, however, is going in the opposite direction. Current Clinton/Gore policy, if continued, will undermine the treaty completely.

But here's the real shocker that puts the lie to Gore's environmental posturing: even if the US reversed policy and began to cut emissions, and if all nations in the world met their targets under the Kyoto Protocol, it wouldn't be enough. Scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have affirmed that we will soon need to make cuts of at least 60% in carbon emissions to alleviate global warming. Under these circumstances, Al Gore's boast is not only comic, it's hollow and sickening.--Maria Tomchick, "Gore Plays Kyoto," 11-22-00, more than five years before "An Inconvenient Truth."

* * *

For the last month, local Democrats and their allies repeatedly begged for demonstrations at Westlake Park or the Federal Court House; invariably, a couple of dozen people would show up--Geov Parrish, "Where Were the Torches?," 12-20-00

* * *

100. Harry Fucking Potter and the Ton Ton Macoute

99. Harry Fucking Potter and Mad Cow Disease

98. Harry Fucking Potter and the Office of Professional Accountability

97. Harry Fucking Potter and the Big Caesar Salad

96. Harry Fucking Potter and the Spiders from Mars

95. Harry Fucking Potter Wants to be a Millionaire

94. Harry Fucking Potter and the Colostomy Bag

93. Harry Fucking Potter and the Structural Adjustment Program

92. Harry Fucking Potter and the Joint Strike Fighter

91. Harry Fucking Potter and the New Ford Explorer

90. Harryfuckingpotter.com...ETS! Book Department, "The Top 100 Best-Selling Books of 2000," 12-20-00, and yes, there were 90 more--and 50 HFP films in 2001...

* * *

Q: "An American President, a British Prime Minister, and the President of Italy are stranded in the Australian Outback. Who will be the first to die?"

A: "An Iraqi infant."--Geov Parrish, "Eat These Shorts!," 7-11-01

* * *

Dear Taxpayer:

We are pleased to inform you that the United States Congress passed and our Beloved and Respected Comrade Leader President George W. Remedial Bush signed into law the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation For a Tiny Handful Of People Who Have Never Had to Fill An Ice Tray Without Assistance In Their Lives Act of 2001, which provides long-term relief for all Americans rich enough to retain high-end certified public accountants who can find the loopholes in the tax code designed to mitigate any responsibility they might theoretically have to forfeit even a tiny piece of their obscene wealth to pay for the infrastructure and corporate welfare that made their fortunes possible.

Oh, yeah, and we'll throw you a chicken bone. Don't choke on it.

The new tax law provides immediate tax relief and a boost in Dubya's poll numbers in 2001, but the real payoff comes when the top 1% of Americans receive checks directly from you on Tax Day for years to come. Their names and the addresses of their trust fund accounts will be mailed to you separately. Electronic payment options are available, as is phone payment at 1-877-DESTITUTE. Or, you can visit our web site: www.irs.gov\siphon\middleclass.

As part of the immediate tax relief, you will be receiving a check in the amount of $0.16 (Tajikistan dollars) during the week of 9/01/2644.

Endorsing the check will automatically change your long distance carrier to Time-Warner-AOL.--Geov Parrish, "Notice of Status and Amount of Immediate Tax Relief," 8-8-01

* * *

It's not a bad dream. The World Trade Center and the west side of the Pentagon are as destroyed as they were yesterday. This is a watershed event in US and world history.

For those of us who want that better, more just world, the terrain on which our effort must be fought has shifted dramatically with one bold act. We have an enormous amount of work to do, and a lot of work that needs to be done right now, today, immediately, before the United States government makes a bad situation much, much worse.--Geov Parrish, "Justice Not War: Talking Points," 9-19-01

* * *

What, then, will the War on Terrorism become? A worldwide, house-to-house search for those who would kill us, with the resulting loss of the very freedoms we're claiming to defend? Permanently? Because there's no land to seize, no government to topple, no surrender that will bring closure. Once begun, it can never end except unilaterally. And it cannot be won--only lost, because we haven't even begun to consider biological, chemical, or nuclear terrorism, and it only takes one to succeed.

Terrorism's strongest asset is the strength of motivation of its practitioners. It's best battled by taking away that motivation: the poverty, the dictatorships, the violence. It's best fanned by creating more martyrs.

The United States can't be that stupid. Can it?--Geov Parrish, "The War To End All Terrorism," 9-26-01

* * *

The new [Argentinian] president has, for now, renounced the neoliberal model and is preparing to reintroduce protectionist tariffs and other policies to salvage what remains of domestic industry. The IMF and the US, while denouncing this "populism," have declined to provide any sort of rescue package.

Throughout Latin America pundits and politicians are beginning to openly question the wisdom of US-sponsored globalization policies, including the proposed "Free Trade Area of the Americas." -Troy Skeels, "Don't Cry For Neo-Liberal Argentina," 1-18-02

* * *

Can it only have been a few short years ago that this country was laughing derisively at a president who could not bring himself to acknowledge what the word "sex" meant?

Now we have a much more serious, life and death problem: a president who cannot apparently bring himself, after declaring a war, fighting that war, and taking prisoners in the war, to describe them with the words "prisoners of war."

In Washington, covering up uncomfortable truths with misleading language is an art form--"collateral damage," "daisy cutter," and "USA PATRIOT Act" being only three of the notable current examples. It is the normal, repugnant first line of defense against accountability.

But Guantanamo Bay raises far more serious issues than mere semantics. From the Bush administration's standpoint, it has been caught trying to have it both ways: prosecuting a war in response to a crime, by calling that crime an act of war. Now, it claims it wants to investigate the "act of war"--September 11, and other ongoing Al Qaeda terror operations--as though it were a crime, by questioning, and holding indefinitely as material witnesses, its Guantanamo prisoners. This is its justification for the semantic game.

If the United States had gone into Afghanistan in pursuit of criminals--in a narrowly defined police action--it would have a leg to stand on. But it didn't, and it doesn't. Instead, the United States invaded an entire country, displaced its government, and captured troops employed by that government to defend its country against foreign invaders. The Geneva Conventions explicitly state that if there is any ambiguity over whether someone is a prisoner of war, they are. A tribunal must be held to determine otherwise. And in this case, there isn't even any ambiguity.--Geov Parrish, "Guantanamo Bay: Word Abuse," 1-30-02

* * *

Mexico, understandably for geographic reasons, has had only one qualifying team, the two-man bobsled, and nobody actually expected them to win. How was I supposed to make sense of the fact of millions of people sitting down to watch the [Winter] Olympics, without the slightest chance to dominate, let alone paint their faces red, white, and green and chant "Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!" in the most belligerent and embarrassing manner possible?"--Troy Skeels, "Eat These Shorts," 3-13-02

* * *

There are countless other examples, of course, of how very all-knowing and wise the Corporate State is. We could go on. We probably would go on. But there is no need. The television will go on for us; all we need to do is to keep repeating what we're told, as, eventually, you will as well. Embrace! Embrace! Everything is forgiven, our souls white as snow. There is the feeling of walking in sunlight, and armed guards at our back, as the long-hoped-for bullets enter our brains.

We are, finally, whiter, better, new, improved, longer-lasting, satisfied, free, our possessions the envy of our neighbors, our red, white, and blue electronic bracelets the proof of our obedience, our freedom a beacon for brown people everywhere and the envy of evil-doers. Everything is all right, the struggle is finished. We have won the victory over ourselves.

We love America. Is this a great country or what?--Winston Parrish, "We Were Wrong All Along," from "Embrace the State!," 4-1-02

* * *

I was pretty skeptical when [Boston Cardinal Bernard] Law and his colleagues came back from Rome, pronouncements in hand, and piously proclaimed that the Pope had prepared unprecedented procedures for removing predatory pedophiliac priests from positions of power. (Sorry if saying that sentence involved a lot of spitting.)--Geov Parrish, "Blaming the Tiny Victim," 5-8-02

* * *

Ramallah's May Day rally (about one thousand strong) had just dissipated when the call came. "Tomorrow we're going to the Church. There's a meeting tonight in Jerusalem. If you can't make it, be at Jaffa Gate at 2:00." I headed to an Internet cafe, shot out a quick e-mail saying I may be out of touch for a couple days, and punched in my bitter recollections of the Jenin Massacre (yes, it was a massacre) before cutting through the streets to Hurriya's house.

Hurriya is 12 years old, and we had set aside time over the next few days to work on the outline of her book. Thus far we had done a little art therapy with the other young folks from her apartment building, and she had interviewed them all multiple times. So our task then (and, sadly still today) was to map out a coherent story line. To that end, Hurriya had already thought up an opening, which goes something like this:

What is the meaning of this life? Is it to live with bullets breaking through your bedroom window? Is it to watch soldiers blindfold and beat and kidnap your father and brother? Is it to sit locked in your house without food, without electricity, without water? What is the meaning of this life?--Trevor Baumgartner, "Receiving the Call, Part One," 6-5-02

* * *

In a year or two, civil war will return to Afghanistan, unless the international community provides more assistance. The needs are clear, but the aid has not been forthcoming.--Maria Tomchick, "Trouble Brewing in Afghanistan," 7-3-02

* * *

There is, in fact, no compelling reason of any sort to go to war against Iraq. The only recent development cited by the Bush Administration is the claim that Iraq is developing new "weapons of mass destruction." That claim has consistently been considered patently absurd by the rest of the world, including a succession of United Nations officials charged with looking into such things. Several of the ones who've headed the "Oil for Food" program, or who've served as weapons inspectors in Iraq, have quit their jobs (and careers) and become full-time activists trying to counter White House propaganda (under both Clinton and Bush) and the steady, inexorable war drums of the past two years.

These experts--folks like Scott Ritter or Denis Halliday or Hans von Sponeck, in town yesterday--weren't invited to the Democratic-controlled Senate hearings. Nor were any prominent opponents, or even mild skeptics, of war plans. Instead, remarkably, the only opposition being offered by our pathetic excuse for an "opposition" party has been logistical: when to invade, whether to rely first on air or ground assaults, who to replace Saddam with after we kill him. It's been like this for over a year.--Geov Parrish, "Invasion On Autopilot," 8-14-02

* * *

Sometimes the worst ideas are the ones that are so widely accepted as sensible--or inevitable--that almost nobody actually examines them. So it is among our country's political elites with the notion of invading Iraq and displacing Saddam Hussein as President of Iraq. The idea is so entrenched that when, last week, Hussein gave the Americans exactly what they'd demanded--unconditional access for UN weapons inspectors--not only did George Bush, predictably, dismiss the offer out of hand as a "ploy" and a "lie," but so did Tom Daschle, Richard Gephardt, and the rest of the Congressional Democratic leadership.--Geov Parrish, "A Very, Very Bad Idea," 9-25-02

* * *

Ukbar, Urdish Republic--An otherwise harmless-appearing baby exploded Tuesday in an upscale shopping district, killing nine people. The powerful blast shattered storefronts and tore coconuts from the trees lining the plaza, turning them into deadly projectiles.

A few meters away from the smoking crater, a shattered baby rattle lay in a congealing pool of coconut milk, mute testimony to a world gone horribly wrong.

The Jihadist Zionized Unification Separatists (JZUS) claimed responsibility for the blast, the same group that took credit for a similar attack last week in the nation formerly known as Tangentalia. Responding to the attack from Washington, President Bush said, "I condemnify this bastardly attack in the strongest possible termination. It's distractful from the push for regime change in Iraq. The world should be focusing on my needs right now. I'm the President."--Troy Skeels, "Exploding Baby Kills Nine, Scores Injured, Saddam Still Evil," 1-1-03

* * *

Powell's presentation was full of allegations with few sources given. He did, however, provide some data, including satellite photos, taped phone conversations, film footage, diagrams, and the unattributed testimony of defectors and tortured detainees. None of this evidence holds up to close scrutiny.--Maria Tomchick, "Powell's Evidence Unravels, 2-12-03

* * *

When Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the UN, his background "visuals" consisted of blue draperies neatly trimmed by a row of flags. Few knew the draperies had to be installed that morning to cover over a work of art that normally stands there: a massive tapestry reproduction of Picasso's famous anti-war painting, "Guernica."

Speaking in defense of the cover-up of Picasso's image of dying women, children, and animals was UN spokesperson Stephanie Dujaric, who stated, "We needed the right background that would work on television."--Wayne Grytting, "American Newspeak," 3-12-03

* * *

War On Terror. n. A comprehensive marketing strategy to ensure the reelection of George Bush in 2004, by embroiling the United States in war for decades to come. Replaces these previous campaigns: "Compassionate conservative," "Fiscally responsible," "Education President," "He's really not as dumb as he looks." Precedes "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

Weapons of Mass Destruction. n. What they have. See: deterrent.

World. n. The collection of nations and peoples which thinks George Bush is out of his fucking mind.--Geov Parrish, "A Dubya War Glossary," 3-26-03

* * *

The Bush Administration swore to Congress, America, and the world that the legal justification for invading, conquering, and occupying Iraq was based on evidence that did not in fact exist. After a full year, the Bush Administration continues to make such assertions repeatedly. This is not simply an appalling campaign of lies. It is an impeachable offense.--Geov Parrish, "The Impeachable Offense," 6-18-03

* * *

While it's now apparent that the Pentagon made no substantial plans for how to run post-war Iraq, somebody else in Iraq has certainly made plans for how to sabotage US rule.--Maria Tomchick, "This is What Guerrilla War Looks Like," 7-2-03

* * *

At least with Clinton you knew that the most powerful man in the world had reached adolescence, if not much beyond it. But all current evidence suggests that the world is now being run by seven-year-olds.--Geov Parrish, "Romper Room," 7-30-03

* * *

It's not just that George W. Bush would have been impossible without Reagan. The presidency of Ronald Reagan himself was so bad, on so many levels, that as young adults a sizeable number of us could only sputter in impotent rage, a rage summed up nicely by the Crucifucks song "Hinckley Had A Vision."--Geov Parrish, "The Great Prevaricator," 6-16-04

* * *

As yet, all the activist, student, and parent concern about a resumed draft has no basis in reality. There's plenty of other bad things going on--in Iraq itself, for example--that should demand our attention instead.--Geov Parrish, "The Imminent Draft Myth," 9-15-04

* * *

Ho, ho, ho, my ass.

It's not that I don't want to be in the Christmas spirit. Quite the opposite. I like Christmas, Peace on Earth, a time of festiveness, and all that. It's just all the stuff.

It's the lingering suspicion that "ho, ho, ho" is now a registered trademark of the North Pole Corp., which has now been bought out by Wal-Mart and is henceforth doing business as Santa's Club. Always the fastest sleigh. Always.--Geov Parrish, "Deck the Malls," 12-8-04

* * *

Maybe there are good reasons to find Bush hateful or terrifying. But, if Bush is as dangerous as we all think he is, then hate and fear are luxuries that we cannot afford. Further, I submit that hate and fear are hindrances, and in many cases excuses, not to do anything about the real problems that we face. Taken to an extreme, "Bush" becomes the reason for everything that is wrong with the world and thereby allows us to wash our hands of it all, and just keep going about our lives without making any changes whatsoever.--Troy Skeels, "Stop (Hating) Bush, 2-16-05

* * *

Immediately following Iraq's elections in January, the Bush administration and its apologists declared that the "successful" elections in Iraq delivered a "body blow" to the insurgency. In March, General John P. Abizaid, commander of US forces in the Middle East, and Lt. General John F. Sattler, the top Marine officer in Iraq, both declared that the strength of the insurgency was waning thanks, in large part, to the elections. General Abizaid even went so far as to predict that by the end of 2005, Iraqi security forces would be leading the fight against the insurgents.--Ken Sanders, "In Iraq the Center Cannot Hold," 5-11-05

* * *

How many times must we hear this president, this administration, use 9-11 as a suggested free pass for pursuing any half-assed policy that comes to mind? How often is our intelligence going to be insulted by the vaguely racist insinuation that any war against a Muslim nation is justified because the 9-11 terrorists were Muslim? How many more American soldiers are going to die while this White House insists, against all evidence, that there's a "clear path to victory"? How many more Iraqis must die to sate the stubbornness of political leaders halfway around the world? I'm sick of it.--Geov Parrish, "A Clear Path to Ruin," 7-6-05

* * *

Even political analysts at the think tanks here in the United States and in the UK agreed that the Constitutional vote would almost certainly divide the Iraqi populace further along sectarian lines and lead to civil war, not the reconciliation that the Bush administration hopes for. The divide between Bush administration propaganda and the reality in Iraq is growing deeper by the day.--Maria Tomchick, "Eat These Shorts," 10-27-05

* * *

We know exactly what we're getting here: a judge who will act to roll back a century's worth of gains in individual rights and checks on corporate and government power. Alito's 15-year record on the federal bench is brimming with examples of his desires for rollbacks on abortion, on privacy, on equal rights for women and minorities, on rights of employees in the workplace, and on the authority of Congress itself. Alito would send Rosa Parks to the back of the bus, women into back alleys for abortions, and police into the bedrooms (and body cavities) of innocent Americans. Regardless of the political weakness and criminal malfeasance hanging over this White House--and, as outlined elsewhere in this issue, there remains much to do in Patrick Fitzgerald's probe--there is no greater priority for the future of this country than stopping the ascension of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He's that bad.--Geov Parrish, "Stopping Samuel Alito," 11-10-05 [Naturally, by the time Senate Democrats could be bothered to look any of this up, Alito's nomination was assured.]

* * *

In cynical Seattle, there's a certain savvy batch of activists who learned long ago to check for their wallets upon hearing a politician utter that suspiciously sugary word. Many still remember how "civility" was once used as a clever code for draconian social policies, advocated by certain Seattle city mothers and fathers, which in fact were designed to remove the city's poor and vulnerable from public view and in turn to make Seattle safe for the rich and boring.--Jeff Stevens, "How "Civil" is Mike McGavick?" 2-2-06

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Hanging chads: woof, roll over. Corporations writing government policy: woof, roll over. Made up evidence for the Iraq invasion: woof, roll over. Surpluses turned into monster deficits: woof, roll over. Tax breaks for the rich: woof, roll over.

Iraqi oil revenues paying for reconstruction, compassionate conservatism, torture, failed Iraqi reconstruction, not enough troops, Guantanamo, the Bill of Rights, the Prescription Drug Benefits Plan written for the pharmaceutical companies, decimated environmental policy, untraceable Diebold votes in Ohio, ruined international relations, military stop loss, politically outed CIA operatives, the joke that is the Dept. of Homeland Security, FEMA's response to the hurricanes, Al-Qaeda still exists, bin Laden is still out there, Iraq becoming a breeding ground for terrorists, Mission Accomplished, Enron, WorldCom, No Child Left Behind, oil prices, any questioning of Iraq being unpatriotic, sending suspects to foreign countries so they can be tortured, secret CIA prisons, DeLay, Cunningham, Abramoff, corruption, bribery, scandal, unarmored Humvees, no pictures of soldiers' caskets, military recruiters targeting the poor, military recruiters in schools, unwarranted tapping of phone calls and email, uninvolved in Sudan, uninvolved in the Isreali/Palestinian problem, ineffective with North Korea, a radicalized Iran, bankruptcy rules changed to suit credit card companies, predatory lending, thousands of dead US soldiers, tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians, toxic Depleted Uranium munitions, cutting VA funding while at war, planning for tactical nuclear options, CIA-led coup attempt in Venezuela, unsworn oil executives testifying before Congress, mind-numbing trade deficits, exporting US jobs to countries that promote slave labor, sweatshops and almost no worker rights, cutting college loan funding, slow and failing Gulf Coast reconstruction... (all this off the top of my head, forgive me, I know I'm forgetting a lot): woof, roll over.

And the capper, the Coup de Gras, the straw that has broken the camel's back: not one, but two, count them two, very young, very white, very male, very ultra conservative Supreme Court Justices.

Well, Democrats, at least you have preserved the right to use the filibuster for something really and truly important: woof, roll over.

It's over, I'm done. I don't know what's next, but I'm leaving you. Bitch.--Andrew Thoennes, "Woof," 3-16-06

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