Her good doctor

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Today a good man, a good doctor was murdered by a rightwing fanatic, a—yes—domestic terrorist.

Dr. George Tiller was beloved by his community, his patients, because he was far more than the shallow stereotype label, "abortion doctor," we've come to expect from the cynical politicians who trade in emotional manipulation and the shallow stenographers of the media who let the Rethug blast faxes dictate their reporting.

We've seen the tradmedia fall in line this past week as they let Rush and Newt dictate their news coverage on Sonia Sotomayor.

Will we see the same distortion and half-truths about Dr. Tiller in the news coverage this week?

Perhaps the breathless coiffed anchorbots and their producers and corporate owners should take a look at another big story this week, the GM bankruptcy, and realize that business as usual is the road to business-end.

It'd be nice to hear the full story reported on Dr. Tiller and his cold-blooded killer and those who incite such acts. Instead of the verbal wrestling that is some phony "fair and balanced."

Maybe a class action lawsuit against the inciters would get their attention. It worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center against Tom Metzger. Maybe it's time to hit these media hatemongers where it hurts the most...in their wallets.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Prairie Recommends: Glenn on American Aparthood

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Glenn Smith takes a look at the differences between Republicans and Democrats through the metaphor of ladders and bridges. Powerful commentary. Careful...this is lucid writing for thinking people. Could be contagious....
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She's Home

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The governor summed it up in calling Roxana Saberi a Daughter of North Dakota. And friends, neighbors, colleagues and the Governor and North Dakota's lone Congressman, Earl Pomeroy, were there amid maroon and gold balloons, the Concordia College colors, to welcome back at long last our fellow Fargoan.

The local newspaper, the Forum, promises full coverage in their Sunday issue. But here's a preview of the emotional homecoming of Roxana.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Enough Blame to Go Around?

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Frank Rich poses a question for his Sunday column: Who is to blame for the next attack against us? And goes on to posit that the Republicans will seize on such a happening--nay, are hoping for it in some quarters--as the only chance they have to gain ground against President Obama.

The column makes for strong food for thought, and I recommend you read it. [I'll wait....]

For me, the column edged around a strong truth--the Bush Administration, the Republicans could not have operated as they did without the collaboration / collusion / cooperation -- call it what you will, of the very self-important traditional media.

And just in case the NYT mod decides not to publish my comment, here it is:

The underpinning of too much of the mess we were left by "the bums" is the media that turned a willful blind eye to facts, cosied up to fearmongers and enabled their drumbeat to War in Iraq and torture.

The McClatchy reporters are [the] best example of a dying breed: journalists who dig out the truth and refuse to pass along spin as fact...they are to be saluted, and cherished, for their like in mainstream media is rarely seen.

Instead we are treated to tabloidized everything--from the singing Scotswoman to the new Supreme Court Justice. All coverage dumbed down and manipulated for "Mortal Combat" controversy.

No wonder people are turning away from traditional media. You are "the bums," too.

Craven, cowardly Democrats who routinely cave to the least little pressure from Repuglican spinmeisters [see any comment by Lanny Davis] deserve the scorn Rich gives them.

"I would hope" that we will see better from the Dems...but also from those who purport to be journalists yet do little more than regurgitate the spin o'the day.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

From A to W — A Short Herstory of Rightwing Screeders

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From Ann Coulter to Wendy Long, with a sidetrip via Liz Chee-knee and Laura Ingraham and all the other blondoids [yes, Monica Crowley, you are merely one of the other blondoids....] the right has inflicted on us in recent years, the prime unifying thread is their fast talking, overtalking screedarageousness against anything Democratic or liberal or progressive, or...may I finish??????...or American.

The rightwing has honed its blonde verbal bombthrowers to a fine edge over the years, using the tools of sexual subtext...flip that mane, sweetie pie...run those talons fingers through those oxidized locks...but just maybe the tide is turning.

I do believe I did actually hear Chris Matthews abruptly cut into Wendy Long's filibuster of nonanswerousness on Hardball. Could it be the era of drooling idiot male anchorishism [with a strong emphasis on "ish"] has run its course?

Maybe there are Mrs. Matthewses and Mrs. Stephanopouli and company out there who have finally stamped their feet and said ferchrissake you look like a damn pussy-whipped pimply faced kid fool out there. Snap out of it!

Time will tell. Maybe these anchors feel they have to act the part of the yes, I'm gonna say it, hornier demographic of their audience.

But this red-headed gramma for one is going to say: enough already, guys. Shape up or get left behind. And wipe your chin.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Zero Degrees of Separation

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Last time I saw Frank Luntz, before the recent Q&A in the New York Times [milepost courtesy Thinkprogress], he was on Bill Maher's Show, preening in his almost/just gained? doctoral degree.

And being his usual lumpen self...

So when I came across this line in the Thinkprogress post, I was compelled to follow the link to the NYT and read the whole piece:

I’m not a policy person. I’m a language person.

It's the kind of careful distancing we see often from the consultancy, if we look closely.

As if, somehow, the stench of those they work for doesn't rub off on them....that it's just "process" or "ain't beanbag" or....

Mike Rowe would have a field day with this crowd as they gabble around, endlessly circling from one news network to another, proffering the same predictable talking points, in a cotillion of dissembling and denial that follows the same patterns and only the costumes' names change.

Last week it was Chee-knee, this week it's attacks on Sotomayor. Next week? Who knows.

But we do know this...when you dance with the skunks, you stink, too. And all the fancy degrees or K Street digs or face time with Wolfie or Tweety or whoever's on the unwatchable network won't change that.

'cause if you are, in fact, a person, then you are policy...and language...either your own or that which serial language-abusers like Luntz put in your mouth.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Prairie's Reading: The Final Inspection

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john in sacramento posted this poignant poem over at Oxdown Gazette -- truly a fitting reminder of what this weekend represents.

The Final Inspection

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To my church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
"No, Lord, I guess I aint.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I've never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep ...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept manly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If You've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."

There was silence all around the throne,
Where the saints often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've born your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heavens streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

~ Author Unknown


follow the link to food for thought conversation, too. Me, I'm taking a little time out to remember the dads, Clarence, USMC, and Lyle, USN.

And if you can find it, this would be a good weekend to watch Taking Chance Home. Kevin Bacon's iconic portrayal of the soldier who brought the fallen soldier home reminds us of the awful responsibility we, the people, ask of our sons and daughters when we send them to war.
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Roxana's Return to Land of the Free

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She's back...in the USA. One step closer to home. And saying maybe it's corny but she's glad to be back in the land of the free.

Friends in her north Fargo neighborhood have already planted flowers at the family home to welcome them all back.

Need we mention the quiet heroism of her parents? Leaving the safety and relative obscurity of their quiet life in Fargo for the harrowing challenge of flying to Iran and resolutely staying and speaking out until Roxana Saberi was released.

On this Memorial Weekend, we salute all the men and women who work in every facet of our American government, military, State Dept., intelligence services, diplomatic corps, Congressmen and Senators and their staffs...working in public service for us all. Led by a White House working to restore the honor and dignity of this nation in the eyes of the world...and ourselves.

Working to assure, most days in obscurity, that we all truly live in the land of the free.

We have much to celebrate...and reflect on...this Memorial Day weekend.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Elizabeth Edwards Goes Public

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You have to sympathize with the demonstrable resilience of Elizabeth Edwards as she slogs up 'til last night through the obligatory book tour round of public appearances and the oh-so-smarmy blunt and subtle questions about her marriage and he-who-shall-not-be-named.

Last night on The Daily Show—admittedly the first and only of her tour appearances I've actually watched, not being in need of a fix of gossipy innuendo and titillation, I do have a life, thank you very much—Elizabeth had the opportunity to advocate that the new health care program must include a public option in order to function in the best interest of the American people.

I've a hunch she's put up with a lot of the media b.s. of late just so she could make that point. Kudos to her.

And Kudos to Jon Stewart for treating her with the respect she deserves. And the rest of us in the audience, as well.

Too bad the "journalisticalwrestling" contingent who look down their noses at such as bloggers and comics can't rise to the same standard.

UPDATE: PLEASE READ AND TAKE ACTION FOR THE PUBLIC OPTION:

Democracy for America is urgently calling for phone calls to Congress. Please read this email they’re sending and add your voice in support of the public option. While DFA provides suggestions and the national switchboard, I’ve always found it more effective to call homestate offices and speak for myself in my own words.

DFA says:

Republicans have figured out that they can’t beat us on healthcare reform if they fight inclusion of a public option head on. So, instead they are looking for different ways to kill a public option without actually calling it that.

This week they launched their first real attempt and it is already picking up a bit of steam among so-called Senate moderates.

They call it “the trigger.”

They want Americans to keep the same broken system we have now and give the insurance industry one more chance to fix it on their own. Then, if insurance companies fail, the bill would “trigger” the public option — you know, in like 7 years or so.

We need to act right now. Call your Senators and tell them that a so-called trigger is a no go.

Senate Switchboard
(202) 224-3121

Suggested script:
“I oppose the healthcare trigger. Please ask the Senator to stand up against the insurance industry and the so-called ‘trigger’ for a public option. We need the choice of a public healthcare option now, not more of the same broken healthcare system for years to come.”

REPORT YOUR CALL NOW

The real fight has begun. We need to act fast, make our position clear and fight for real reform. Please make your calls right now.

Tell Congress we didn’t vote to wait — We voted for change.

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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Repurposing Gitmo

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Now that the Rethuglicans have once again fearmongered and the spineless Democrats have caved and not even tried to put up an argument, much less a fight, and the Senate has refused to give the President the funding he needs to close down Guantanamo, I have a modest proposal.

As trials are held, as prisoners are transferred...as they inevitably will be...heck, many already have been transferred out or released....

As the prison cells empty out...

I propose we consolidate the remaining Guantanamo prisoners in one section where they can be carefully guarded.

And for the empty spaces, I suggest they be declared the designated prison for any federal officials convicted of war crimes. And any and all convicted war profiteers.

No real hardship, of course...we've been assured the current occupants have better food, better healthcare than mere Americans...and those wonderful tropical breezes.

What's that you say? It'll never happen?

Well, then, the empty cells will speak volumes, too.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Prairie Recommends: The Torture Thirteen

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Marcy Wheeler/emptywheel has compiled a comprehensive index to the most reprehensible of the Bush-Cheney Administration's torture team leaders. You can read about it over at salon.com

And diarist cbl2 over at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette gives a milepost Jaw Dropping: to a further detailed torture resource from Batocchio blogging as Vagabond Scholar.

With so much information "out there" and being indexed and compiled by the blogging community, you'd think the media elites of Teh Inbred Village of DeeCee would be all over this story. Instead, the dismissive-sniffery of the Usual Suspects [aka gasbag pundits and their ilk] have decried the blogs.

So now that MoDo's been caught cribbin' from Josh Marshall and his Talking Points Memo, maybe there's only one thing to say: it's a start....
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UPDATE: Froomkin adds another perspective to counter the torture apologists' ticking time bomb bamboozlement--call it the I-think-therefore-I-am-a-god complex most recently exemplified by the ridiculous and offensive torture lovefest of Chris Matthews and Donny Deutsch.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette: Blogosphere Chipping Away at Torture Apologists

Ganging up on Nancy

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Well, the torture boys are in full throated fingerpointing outrage at Nancy Pelosi, with loads of help from the starry-eyed media. Ooooh, food fight....

Nice try at diversion, guys. Who knows, maybe it'll poison the well...or the jury pool, as it were.

Even squeaky-voiced Newt has gotten into the act.

Ooooh, oooh, she knew, she was told, boogah-boogah...

Okay, let's say we assume she was. Let's say we assume she's covering her posterior. Let's assume, being the astute politician she is, she saw the only way she could change things was to take over the Congress, work to take over the White House. Hmmmm. Mission accomplished.

Now the Nancy bashers, on the other hand, for all their red-raced ranting, cannot cover up one clear, simple fact.

Torture was the policy of the Bush-Chee-knee White House. Torture was micromanaged from within the Bush-Chee-knee White House.

History will sort out the rest. And if Pelosi or any other Democrat should have acted differently, we'll ultimately find out.

But right now, do not insult our intelligence [or in the case of too many in the media, show your ignorance or culpability to cover-up] with partisan screeding spin a la Mr. Newtveau Catholique who already has such an excellent track record with women.

Pivoting to gang up on Nancy 'cause you can't lay a glove on Obama and you don't want people [i.e., the easily led media] talking about the fact that your boyo Rove was scheduled to be questioned in the U.S. attorney firings Friday really shows the desperate and pathetic state of the ReThug party these days.

Chee-knee, Rush, Newt, Rove.

The Four Horses A sses of the Apocalypse decade.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Speaks for Herself....Meanwhile

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In Vienna, Roxana Saberi briefly talked with reporters near the baggage carousel. She made only brief comments, and said that in recent days many had been saying things about her, but she would be speaking for herself in the future.

For all those who reported on or blogged or rallied for her release, there couldn't be a better wrap on this story.

I'm tempted to ask all the media who are circling around now eager for comments, where were you the long weeks she was imprisoned. What did you do to tell her story? Was it enough?

And where are you now about the two women journalists imprisoned in North Korea about to go on trial. What about their story? Who advocates for them? Who keeps people mindful of their dangerous circumstances? Who knows about them as people?

Who will speak for them until they are free?

Who knows their names?
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

The Whole Truth

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Over at Crooks & Liars, Jamie blogged about Scarborough's plucked-from-his-posterior positing that the FBI is out to "get" the CIA 'cause it's all about the turf wars.

And I had this to say:

Spare me the spin, the hype, the hyperventilating, the pivoting, the posturing, the fingerpointing.

I want the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth.

And, yeah, I can handle it.

And even as I was typing, in the background, MSNBC's Tamron Hall was talking about Chee-knee's allegedly microdictating [presidenting? deciderating?] when, who, and how much alleged terrorists should be tortured. Yes, I said tortured. It was torture. You and I both know it.

This story is now accelerating and the momentum's growing so strong that it seems to me there's only one solution, and that's for Attorney General Holder to step forward and announce that there are enough questions raised of alleged criminal activities, and to stop the rush by some to make this appear just partisan fingerpointing, he is appointing a special prosecutor to investigate—thoroughly and professionally—the issues and the facts being alleged.

Patrick "no leaks" Fitzgerald would be fine with me.

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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

One Clear, Simple Truth

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This morning, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on torture via emptywheel's liveblogging, we learned one clear, simple truth. A truth that cannot be knocked down by the weaselly lies of the Chee-knee family or the handwringing of the torture apologists who show up on all the pundit shows or the Republican hardwiring of the media in Teh inbred Village of DeeCee.

From the first person account of Ali Soufan, a trained professional FBI interrogator:

Information was gained in spite of torture,
not because of it.

There is only one hope for the GOP on this, and that's to get ahead of the Democrats and the American people, and demand indictments...and impeachment of Bush and Chee-knee to revoke all their post-presidential perks.

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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Prairie's Reading: Taibbi on Torture

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Matt Taibbi takes on the absurdity of the if-you're-not-with-us-you're agin-us argument on torture.

You know the one...the rightwing screeders use it all the time. If you're against torture, you're with the terrorists. Heard it as recently as tonight from the lips of Frank Gaffney on Hardball. [pssssst to Schuster...this guy makes me want to vomit a lot more than Miz Prejean Pressboobs does]

Now if you'll excuse me, folks, it's time to take the spaniels into the back yard for a dump...their toxic waste has kept the terrorists away for thirty years...I'm just sayin'.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Speaks

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From Tehran to Fargo, the joy at the release of Roxana Saberi from prison and espionage charges is heartfelt.

Roxana herself expressed gratitude to all those who supported her release, while new details of the case against her became public.

In her hometown of Fargo, neighbors and mentors spoke of their happiness after the long months of concern and fear for her safety.

Fargo will be waiting to welcome Roxana home... and will give her the space and place to regroup after her tumultuous spring. As our Red River settles back into its banks after the flood, we know, too, Roxana will find a wellspring of comfort in her home community.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Now Free

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Roxana Saberi is now reunited with her parents, Reza and Akiko, and is free from prison in Iran. I'll leave to the politicians...here and in Iran...to declaim who did what to assure her release.

Lesson learned: reasoned diplomacy can play a powerful role in positive outcomes.

Just added this comment over at FDL, where I've been crossposting about Roxana:

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read my posts about Roxana...lots of excitement around Fargo as you can imagine. Statements are already out by Senator Dorgan, Sec. of State Clinton. And hometown neighbors talking to talk radio. And each other!

Fargo, North Dakota's a beautiful place to come home to...the sandbagging's just about cleaned up...the Fargo Marathon Saturday was a big success...and the welcome home for Roxana will be exuberant.

But as we are reminded, journalists in Iran...and North Korea...still languish in prison for simply doing their job. These are the heroes of free speech and reporters of history-as-it-is-made, and we owe all of them a great debt.

Well-cushioned press princelings and princesses who preen in Teh Village and NYC would do well to take greater note.

Roxana's Release Imminent

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Roxana Saberi's prison sentence has been suspended, says the news report read on the Imus Show this morning. Report is that she will be released today.

UPDATE: Espionage charges dropped: US and Iran not at war, said the appeals court so charge did not apply. Sentence suspended.

msnbc now reporting Roxana has been released.

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MSNBC on-scene reporter saying this release is about internal Iranian politics and the upcoming election. And the expectation that Ahmedinejad's letter will benefit him among the young electorate in Iran.

Roxana Saberi Has Appealed

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For Roxana Saberi and her parents, this was no ordinary Mother's Day. Roxana's appeal hearing in Iran has taken place and a ruling is expected next week.

Roxana's attorney expressed cautious optimism. This case has prompted weighing-in from the highest level in Iran. And reporting from around the globe, including China News:

...the letter [from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] asked Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi to "personally make sure that the accused will enjoy all freedom and legal rights to defend (herself) against the charges and no small rights (of her) will be violated."


While Iran adapts a soft position with respect to the "amendments" on the issued sentence, the country's officials are sensitive about the foreign attempts to influence the country's authority over the decisions underway.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has asked the United States not to interfere with this issue, saying the case is a strictly domestic matter and other countries should end hyping the issue.

We wish the best of outcomes for Roxana and her parents through the painstaking path of the Iranian legal system.
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Book Your Mom

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Sunday is Mother's Day (yeah, I know, like you didn't know with all those flower ads blasting out of every teevee and radio).

Instead of the same ol' fast-fading flowers or nose-itchin' fragrance, give your Mom something she'll really enjoy...and can pass along and share.

Prairie (that would be moi) is in the wind for a coupla days, but before I go, I want to take a moment to recommend some reads I've got on my TBR list (to be read):

Teatime for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith. That's the latest in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Have you been watching the HBO series Sunday evening? It is fabulous. You don't have to be a mystery lover to enjoy these gentle and clever stories, set in Botswana.

Perfectly Imperfect by Lee Woodruff. When a member of the family needs caregiving, stepping up to the challenge isn't always easy. That's the life our family lives these days, and listening to Lee Woodruff discuss the challenges their family faced after husband Bob Woodruff's injury in Iraq whets my appetite to read more.

Sarah Susanka has a new book out, Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live. I'm an official slut for Susanka books...have 'em all. Including the Not So Big Life. Here is an architect who humanizes her profession and brings it to the scale of real people and real lives. The anti-Galt. We're tinkering a bit with tailoring our home this summer, so this will be a guidebook along the way. Whatever we do, there will always be an away space.

So step away from the keyboard and visit a bookstore. (Oh, all right, use the Amazon widget here if you insist.) And then on Mother's Day, take time to tune in the #1 Ladies. You'll both be the better for it! Now excuse me, Beagle Books and Sister Wolf Books are calling me....
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Prairie Recommends: Inhuman

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I just read a powerful post over at the Daily Dish—Inhuman.

Highly recommend you take the time to read. This is not a "lefty" bloggers issue as the torture apologists would weasel. This is at the heart of who we are as Americans. Sullivan writes a compelling piece.

The monsters, the real monsters as I said yesterday in my "Choice" post directly below, were the policy makers and their WHIG circle who pushed these actions from the very top.

To Inhuman, I hope we can say UnAmerican...because these are actions that must be unacceptable to us all.
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The Choice Not Taken

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Maybe it comes of having someone near and dear to me living with chronic leukemia and never being quite certain what the next week, the next month, the next year may hold...

Three disparate news items have caught my eye lately. This article from the Minnesota Independent about the University of Minnesota's ground-breaking research trials using embryonic stem cells. The success rate against cancer tumors? 100%. Admittedly a small study. All the more reason to push for more, soonest. Because a comparable trial using umbilical cord cells produced only 38%.

Don't know about you, but 100% odds sound a lot more appealing for my loved one than 38%.

And then, over dinner, we listened to Richard Haass on Hardball, author of War of Necessity, War of Choice, A Memoir of Two Wars in Iraq. Distilling Haass, Dubya mis-led us into war in Iraq without ever hearing any contrary discussions, only that which supported his agenda. And that agenda could be summed up thusly: Afghanistan wasn't grand enough, we didn't put on a big enough show, we didn't get Osama bin Laden, so we shifted ground and went for the ol' Shock and Awe.

Bushie needed to prove...what, exactly? That he was a real man because he could deciderate to cause enough carnage and damage and destruction that the whole world—well, the whole Middle Eastern world—would bow down and shower us in rose petals and candy and dancing children and.... ?

There is something so consummately monstrous in the whole mindset that led us into Iraq that it's almost beyond comprehension. The arrested adolescent President who took on the trappings of a demi-god.

How Napoleonic. Complete with the costume..."mission accomplished."

What mission, though?

And at what price?

Just imagine, if George W. Bush, who had the moment, had cast himself on the side of the angels, pushed for embryonic stem cell research, for example. Instead of joining the demons in a lust for empire and dictatorial power and the torture tactics that sank him and his ilk to the same level as those he professed to...hmmmmm.... I don't have a problem with dictatorships, as long as I get to be dictator. Don't ever say he didn't warn us.

Maybe, if the man of the "gentlemanly C" (methinks the "gentleman" doth profess too much, that's grade inflation if I've ever seen it) had focused on building a better world instead of his destructive path, then we wouldn't have circumstances like those that took Andy Rounds.

Or at least we'd be closer to a cure.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Saberi's Hunger Strike Ends

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Call this a personal appeal from this American mother to the government of Iran as Roxana's legal appeal draws near.
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News reports locally and nationally this morning announce that Roxana Saberi's hunger strike has ended. For health reasons, according to her father Reza Saberi.

We do not know if she ended the hunger strike, was persuaded by her family or others, learned of the 24-hour shifts of hunger strikes friends and supporters of hers had organized so that she would not have to refuse food. If the choice was hers, or made for her.

We do not know, because Roxana remains behind prison walls.

For news, we rely on her father. And occasional press events or comments by concerned representatives of the American government and recently, the Japanese government.

But mindful that Sunday is Mother's Day, I ask everyone to think of her mother, Akiko, too, as this long captivity drags on.

Meanwhile, reports are that Roxana's appeal hearing is to take place next week. I would ask that if there's a compassionate member of the Iranian government, they would use this weekend's Mother's Day to release Roxana pending appeal to share Mother's Day with Akiko.

We in her home community of Fargo-Moorhead don't care about the politics of this, the global diplomacy or the legal issues. We as a community just want to open our arms to welcome Roxana back home with her parents, Reza and Akiko.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Specter's Erratic Words

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WTF?

Specter says he's a loyal Democrat.
Says he never said he's a loyal Democrat.

Says the Minn Supreme Court should seat Norm Coleman...

It's time to ask: has Specter had a full medical work-up lately? These kinds of erratic words point to the man's "independent" streak, yes. They also point to a host of medical issues, not least recurrence of his cancer. I hope that's not the case. But it must be asked.

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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Developing...Torture Memos

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Word is former Bush Administration officials are trying to soften the Justice Dept investigation of the torture memos.

Bybee, Yoo and Bradbury.

Names in infamy? Or keys to those who sought and approved of the memos' cover for torture?

Truth must out. Wherever it leads. Whoever it indicts.
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Question....

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If just one more Republican joined Arlen Specter and switched parties, or opted for Independent-caucus with the Democrats...

Would Coleman persist in the Minnesota Senate race challenge?
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Succinct Sullivan

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Question The Village doesn't want to face:

If Charles Graner is in prison for following orders, why is no one accountable for giving them?
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Roxana Saberi's Persistent Murmur

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When the Iranian government denied that Roxana Saberi was on a hunger strike last week, she increased the intensity of her protest against imprisonment by refusing, as well, the sweetened water which has sustained her.

As a result, says Reporters Without Borders, she was briefly treated in the prison clinic.

We don't know whether that means she was coerced or cajoled into drinking water. Or whether that means she was forcibly re-hydrated by use of intravenous saline-water solution.

We do know that global voices are raised supporting her. Here in America, over there in Iran where her parents work for her release, in her mother Akiko's heritage land of Japan whose diplomats, too, seek her freedom.

We do know that Roxana Saberi is still confined in prison.

Some may not understand the point of a hunger strike. A local talk radio host had to have it explained to him by one of Roxana's professors, according to Fargo newspaper reporting.

Here's the point.

When your life is totally out of your control, when you are a captive, imprisoned, in despair, there is little you can control except whether you eat, whether you live.

We see this play out in countless ways, if we only will look. Suicide rates among Native Americans—where unemployment is extreme and alchoholism and meth addition are rampant—is woefully high in this country. Jihad and the appeal of suicide bombings rely in part on the despair of people like those living in Gaza and other impoverished swaths of the globe. When the politics of apartheit are practiced, the politics of hate and division and profiteering on war, then despair flourishes. We see it, too, in the rise of membership in internet hate groups.

In the era of selfishness which still clenches its tentacles deep in the fiber of the country, it is all too easy to let these realities stay mysterious, and just walk on by. Or continue to listen to the preachers of hate and division for vulgarian ratings and greed without asking anything of ourselves.

The lessons that would steer us in a new direction are before us all the time. For those who profess their Judeo-Christian values, the lessons are as close as "do onto others..." or the Good Samaritan. Yes, they hear those on Sunday but do not listen, turning instead to the venomous vulgarians who make an epithet of Samaritan, spitting it out as "socialist."

Sometimes the lesson is as close as a hometown girl choosing to starve herself. Will we look? Will we see? Will we speak out?

The persistent murmur of global voices that has risen against hate, and greed, and division, and selfishness in the era of the blogosphere must not be silenced, and must be heard by all of us. But that's not the end, that's only the beginning.

One woman's hunger strike—an act of despair. Or an act of defiance? We only know that even in a remote Iranian prison, she has still chosen to act.

We can, too. Whatever you care passionately about...you can act. Call your Congressman or Senator. Talk to your neighbors and friends. Write letters to the editor. Volunteer for social justice. Be the difference.

Be part of the persistent murmur that will break through the status quo, the selfishness, the lobbyist control, the Republican hardwiring, the concern trolling...be the mover of mountains.

By carrying away small stones, one murmur at a time.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Roxana Saberi: Not Graduation Day

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Today is graduation day at Concordia College, across the river in Moorhead from the community of Fargo where Roxana Saberi grew up.

The featured speaker is not Roxana Saberi.

Oh, she was supposed to be. Roxana was a graduate of Concordia, she was supposed to wrap up her own studies and living in Tehran and be back home in Fargo to take part in Concordia's graduation.

Yesterday, leaders of the community, members of many media organizations, former teachers and professors, and friends and neighbors of the community that she called home gathered at the Veterans Memorial Bridge to show their support for Roxana as she remains within prison walls in Iran.

The bridge's central memorial area is a fitting location, the bridge between the two communities that influenced her school years. Yet it's not an easy place to get to...there's no handy parking on a bridge, no easy access for the disabled. It requires an effort.

Just as it requires an effort for a woman like Roxana, herself a bridge between two cultures, holding dual citizenship here in her American birthplace and in the ancestral home country of her father.

She made the effort to use her skillset to communicate to people. She reported for the BBC, NPR and other media about the people and life in Iran. We surmise she did exactly the same there, tried to share understanding about the people and life in America.

Now her telling has been interrupted by the swift authoritarian actions of the Iranian judicial system. What the final chapter will be we do not yet know.

We only know that the community that is her American hometowns very much wants her here again, soon, to tell it.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Pandemic, a Reminder

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DemfromCT highlights an important reminder this ayem in his Pundit Roundup over at dKos.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl noted yesterday that the public may misunderstand the word "pandemic." The term refers to where an illness spreads, not its severity.


Pssssst, someone, clue in the cable/news networks.
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Where In the District Is Bachmann Lyin' Today?

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It's the weekend in Washington and on Wall Street and in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District.

So, where in the CD-6th is Michele Bachmann today? And what Big Lie is she tellin'?

Michele Bachmann—the gift who keeps on giving... c'mon, girl, we're counting on you....
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Roxana Saberi Vigil on Saturday

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Fargo-area journalists have organized a vigil for Roxana Saberi slated for Saturday, May 2, at 2 p.m. CT. The vigil will be on the Veterans Memorial bridge on Main Avenue, which links Fargo with Moorhead, North Dakota with Minnesota.

Roxana is in her second week of a hunger strike, her father has recounted. Iranian officials deny that. Last Sunday, she was allowed an additional visit by her parents, Akiko and Reza, because it was her 32nd birthday.

Details are frustratingly scant about Roxana these days. The national news media seem to have forgotten her story amid the "story of the day" overkill. You'd think they'd be more concerned about one of their own.

But Fargo has not forgotten. North Dakota has not forgotten. Her journalist colleagues have not forgotten. And Saturday, folks will gather, and wear yellow like the yellow ribbons that now flutter in her home neighborhood.

And we are mindful, also, that two journalists are held in North Korea. Their story, too, needs remembering...and reporting.

That's why I'm thinking that even if you can't participate right here in Fargo, on Saturday at 2 pm, wherever you are, pause and reflect on how important responsible journalism