By: Birdman  

In the old Peanuts comic strip Linus (the one with the blanket) believed in what he called the Great Pumpkin. The GP was supposed to arise from the pumpkin patch every Halloween and distribute toys to boys and girls. Linus went to the patch every year and of course the GP never showed up, although sometimes Linus would find Snoopy masquerading as the Great Pumpkin.

The reason I think of the Great Pumpkin this year is because in recent weeks, in fact since September 11, we Americans - especially the press and media pundits - have started to become Linus. We're maintaining an irrational belief in something that just plainly isn't there. Let's call him the Great Bumpkin.

By: Eugene Kane  

There's been some grumbling nationwide about the unimpressive performance of our current secretary of health and human services.

That's no surprise here in Wisconsin. We've seen Tommy Thompson's act before; it's old news.

"Certainly the probability that we are in a recession has gone up, there's no denying that, but I think it's much too early to tell whether we're formally in a recession."

- Glenn Hubbard, chief White House economic adviser 'beating round the BUSH'

"The administration has concluded, based on information developed, that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against United States interests over the next week. The administration views this information as credible but unfortunately it does not contain specific information as to the timing or target."

- Attorney General John Asscroft, stating absolutely nothing

Those Who Forget History Are Condemned To Go Back To Yale And Repeat It

By: Lisa Kadonaga  

Most historians, whether they are professionals or dedicated amateurs, have an appetite for information and delight in sharing it. They also tend to be multidisciplinary: a typical conversation might range from Victorian novels and post-Impressionist art to theology, physics, forest management, constitutional law, and the ethical implications of reading someone else's diaries.

So even though people were bemoaning the presumed idiocy of the man selected to be the American president, I tried to remind myself that he had, after all, graduated in history - with an 80% average in those particular courses, if the transcript posted at the American Politics Journal website is genuine.

"We believe that the country must stay on the alert, that our enemies still hate us"

- President Weak & Stupid, stating the obvious

"Love of country must spring from willing hearts and free minds..."

- Justice Hugo Black, 1943

By: Cynthia McKinney  

Almost two weeks ago, I introduced legislation to override the recently signed executive order by President Bush that would deny our servicemen their overtime pay after 400 days of deployment within two years. The administration pushed through a $15 billion airline industry bailout, but refuses to pay our national guardians overtime. Despite the importance of this issue, it has received little or no coverage in the press.

Yet on Oct. 12, when I wrote a letter to a Saudi prince asking for help for America's poor, and after the letter was made public by my staff, I received 32 calls from the media in just four hours.

Why the difference?

In the first letter I was merely fighting for powerless Americans who are putting their lives on the line to protect our nation and our freedoms. In the second letter, I had the temerity to communicate publicly with an American ally who has expressed the opinion that the United States should reevaluate its policy toward the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

By: Bill C. Davis  

The text being read at us defies all logic and yet somehow that protects it from criticism. George W. is the complete model for that phenomenon. Our acceptance of what is being shoved at us is much like the response of a hostage who is being told to agree to whatever his captor says; or a drill sergeant barking insults at a new recruit. Whatever insult the drill sergeant hurls at the recruit his only response can be, "yessir".

By: William Rivers Pitt  

We are losing this war, not because of the actions of a clever enemy, but because of dangerously poor leadership in Washington D.C. As William Shakespeare said, "When valour preys on reason, it eats the sword it fights with". There is little reason for the actions George Bush's government has taken to date, valorous or otherwise. In the end, we may all be forced to eat the sword he is wielding in so cumbersome a fashion.

Anthrax deaths, straying bombs and squabbling politicians - every day, things get a bit worse. Meanwhile, the president promotes his pen pal plan.

By: Joan Walsh  

On Thursday morning (10/25), when the U.S. war on terrorism was beginning to look alarmingly leaderless at home and abroad, I turned on CNN and found President Bush where he always seems most comfortable: among schoolchildren.

"This bill [USA PATRIOT Act] was carefully drafted and considered essential not only to pursuing and punishing terrorists, but also preventing more atrocities in the hands of the evil ones." - the pResident in Thief

By: Dr. Shepherd Bliss  

I come from a fighting family. We gave our name to Ft. Bliss, Texas. I enlisted and became on officer in the U.S. Army during Vietnam.

When you kill someone, it is forever. They die, but the killing continues - inside you. When your nation kills people, especially innocent women and children, it is forever. The killing can continue, within you, when it is done in your name.

Our nation is still not over Vietnam, the war of my generation, or Iraq, the war of another generation. Now your generation, those of you of fighting age, has its own war.

"The most striking feature of the Reagan Doctrine was the way in which Washington itself came to be a promoter and organizer of terrorist actions. The mujaheddin in Afghanistan, UNITA in Angola and the Nicaraguan Contras were all responsible for abominable actions in their pursuit of "freedom" - massacring civilians, torturing and raping captives, destroying schools, hospitals and economic installations, killing and mutilating prisoners... Reagan was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people through terrorism."

- Professor Fred Halliday, the London School of Economics

By: Android  

That our elected leaders are allowing us to lose our identity as U.S. citizens in this battle, a battle with a group which may not even be the enemy, is outrageous. That our elected leaders voted to give up our freedoms in the panicked call for security, and gut our economy to pay off corporate giants for allowing GW to steal his office is unacceptable.

By: Ed Vulliamy  

Neo-Nazi extremists within the US are behind the deadly wave of anthrax attacks against America, according to latest briefings from the security services and Justice Department.

Experts on 'survivalist' groups and extreme-right 'Aryan' militants have been drafted into the investigation as the focus shifts away from possible links with the 11 September terrorists or even possible state backers such as Iraq.

"We've been zeroing in on a number of hate groups, especially one on the West Coast", a source at the Justice Department told The Observer yesterday. "We've certainly not discounted the possibility that they may be involved."

Big weapon sought, jury told:
A dealer testifies the blast suspects eyed a grenade launcher.

By: Denny Walsh  

A former firearms and explosives dealer testified Thursday that only the lack of money kept Charles Kiles and Kevin Patterson from buying a grenade launcher to blow up two huge liquid propane storage tanks in Elk Grove.

Ronald Rudloff testified in Sacramento federal court that he nearly sold the rocket-propelled launcher to the pair at a January 1999 Las Vegas gun show where he was a vendor.

By: Tim Francis-Wright  

Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and their staff all fill vitally important jobs, and are all subject to threats that most Americans never have to face. Accordingly, among the perquisites of these jobs is a certain level of security to combat some of those threats. The Secret Service and the Capitol Police protect the President and the federal legislators. Limousines, helicopters, and airplanes are at the disposal of the President as part of his normal duties. One effect of these trappings of power is the insulation of the highest level of government from the rest of the populace.

Recent events, however, illustrate how the highest level of government can become insulated from very real threats to the populace itself. When ordinary Americans are subject to threats that the President and the legislative branch are not, then anger at, and distrust of , the government are logical consequences. The trappings of power can easily become the traps of power.

By: Arthur Joel Katz  

Confession, they say, is good for the soul, so here I go with a public confession. I am a L. . .

Sorry, I can't do it. It is like admitting to being a masticator; lots of people are not sure what the word means, but they know it is not a good thing to be.

Back when I was young, not only were most of my friends masticators - they masticated three times a day, most of them - but they were also L. . .

"...let's not forget that the most secure person in the nation is a guy serving life in solitary confinement at Sing Sing."

- George McEvoy, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, commenting on the new 'anti-terrorism' law

A Win for Fear, a Loss for Freedom

By: John Nichols  

"Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny", British parliamentarian Edmund Burke explained in 1800.

Two centuries have passed, but legislatures continue to reinforce the link between bad law and tyranny. The U.S. Congress did so this week, with the passage of the ambitiously named Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act.

Rare are the moments in American history when a Congress has surrendered so many cherished freedoms in a single trip to the altar of immediate fear.

Crafted in Attorney General John Ashcroft's little shop of legal horrors from the remnants of past assaults on the Constitution, the "USA PATRIOT ACT" is a legislative Frankenstein's monster.

By: Paul Krugman  

Cynics tell us that money has completely corrupted our politics, that in the last election big corporations basically bought themselves a government that will serve their interests. Several related events last week suggest that the cynics have a point.

Drug: Chloral Hydrate Clinical class: hypnotic, sedative-hypnotic Action: central nervous system depressant DEA Schedule: IV FDA approved indications: insomnia Preparations: Noctec, Somnos, Somnote Street Names: jellies, jelly beans, joy juice, knockout drops, Mickey, Mickey Finn, Peter, torpedo

By: Frank Rich  

Welcome back to Sept. 10.

The "America Strikes Back" optimism that surged after Sept. 11 has now been stricken by the multitude of ways we're losing the war at home. The F.B.I. has proved more effective in waging turf battles against Rudy Giuliani than waging war on terrorism. Of the more than 900 suspects arrested, exactly zero have been criminally charged in the World Trade Center attack (though one has died of natural causes, we're told, in a New Jersey jail cell). The Bush team didn't fully recognize that a second attack on America had begun until more than a week after the first casualty. The most highly trumpeted breakthrough in the hunt for anthrax terrorists - Tom Ridge's announcement that "the site where the letters were mailed" had been found in New Jersey - proved a dead end. And now the president is posing with elementary-school children again.

AP (10/27/01) - The government spent more than $15 million defending convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh - $1.3 million of it as his lawyers tried to delay his execution after he was sentenced. According to records released previously, the Justice Department spent $82.5 million to investigate and prosecute the case.

By: Molly Ivans  

We had one of those "What was he thinking?" moments with Texas Gov. Rick (Goodhair) Perry the other day. The only governor we've got decided to bring back that old bone of contention: prayer in the schools. Nice timing, guv.

And now to the less sublime, those heroes of the U.S. House are about to pass a bill that would help wreck the economy in the name of boosting it. Even the Bush administration is against the pointless tax cuts - what we need is a temporary stimulus. Eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax does nothing to stimulate investment, and it will cost $25 billion next year.

"He's one of those guys who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple."

- Paul Begala, on Dubya's attitude

"He doesn't know much, and he hasn't done much, but everybody likes him."

- Molly Ivans, desribing Dubya

By: John Tirman  

All wars have unintended consequences. No matter how cautious generals and political leaders are, war sets in motion waves of change that can alter the currents of history. More often, generals and political leaders are not troubled by long-term side effects; they are sharply focused on achieving a victory and war's aims. The result is that the unseen and unintended occur, at times as a bitter riptide which overwhelms the original rationales for engaging in armed combat.

This unpredictable cycle of action and reaction has thwarted U.S. policy in southwestern Asia for 50 years. It began with attempts to contain the Soviet Union and control the oil-rich fields of the Persian Gulf, and continues today in the popular assault in Afghanistan to destroy the al-Qa'ida terrorist network. In that half century, nearly every major initiative led to an unexpected and sometimes catastrophic reaction, for which new military remedies were devised, only again to stir unforeseen problems. The cycle, regrettably, may be repeating again.

By: Jack Rabbit  

They are lying to us. They have told us that they would. So why are we listening?

This isn't the first time they have lied to us. There were the lies they told during the Vietnam War. They told us that we had the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people - well, the people of South Vietnam, anyway. They told us the Viet Cong had no widespread support in the countryside. And yet, with such a large contingency of American servicemen fighting the war, the Viet Cong launched a major offensive in February 1968.

They have promised us a secret war. We should believe them. According to David Talbot, writing in Salon.com (Democracy Held Hostage, September 29), a Pentagon official flatly told a reporter for the Washington Post: "We're going to lie about things." So why are we listening?

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough, without ever having felt sorry for itself."

- D.H. Lawrence

House Readies $100B Stimulus Bill

By: Curt Anderson  

House Republicans say a $100 billion economic stimulus package focused on business and investment tax cuts is the right tonic for the ailing economy. Senate Democrats are countering with greater assistance for laid-off workers and more spending on homeland security.

With President Bush urging them on, congressional leaders are attempting to come up with a package to address an economic downturn worsened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The House was expected to approve the GOP plan Wednesday.

"Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."

- Justice Stevens' dissent, Bush v. Gore, December 12, 2000

By: J B  

Did you know your government is considering the adoption of torture as a means of gaining information from suspects detained without charge and without trial concerning the September 11 attacks? Talk about blowback. Did you know that the anti-terrorism law that is being advocated would allow torture by foreign nations to be used as legitimate evidence in a US court of law?

Did you know that the idea of using torture ourselves and extraditing suspects to torture-using nations is being openly discussed to representatives of the Times (of London) and the Washington Post, whether or not new laws are passed?

Did you?

I'll be blunt. I'm in no mood to play word games here. The FBI has gone too far. Bush has gone too far here by getting so many people who supported Guatemalan death squads and torturers and covered up their crimes for the sake of the Cold War that I cannot whatsoever be sure that he does not have the distinct desire to import death squads to the United States, creating real Gestapos and not pretend ones, which will have the legal ability, indeed, the duty and obligation, to use torture against American citizens... as long as they're suspicious.

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