Click here to hear a marvelous song "Kyrie - In their own Words" from the huffington blog thinkingblue
Well the hyenas at Fox News
are at it again... Still going after Clinton. I know this is
the same old strategy of the Rovetalkers on the right to GET
CLINTON OUT THERE IN PUBLIC DISPLAY, SO THEY CAN DESTROY HIM
OVER AND OVER AND WATCH HIM BLEED... which will take the heat off
of Bush and his ill-gotten war in Iraq. This fun game of
theirs, worked before why shouldn't it work now.
I know, that was what the neocon-movie "Path to 911" WAS ALL ABOUT... PUT THE BLAME ON CLINTON, make the very PERSUADABLES, (those who watch our shows, reverently and frighten ever so easily) believe this past president is/was responsible for all of America's woes. Then we, (the hyenas) will win again in November.
Well a note to you carnivorous mammals, who feed as scavengers and have powerful jaws at the Fox studio,l it may not work this time. Oh yes, you still have 911 as a weapon to scare the BEJESUS out of your flock but some of your sheep have opened their eyes and can see the reality of what you are up to! (AT LEAST I HOPE TO GOD, THEY CAN FINALLY SEE) thinkingblue
PS: One more thought to those who still believe, the republicans are the only ones who can protect America... Please tell me what it is going to take for you to come to your senses and see the harm the neo-con republicans are doing to us as a people? Will it take a STOCK MARKET CRASH or an utterly devastating DEPRESSION or maybe, a REALLY BIG WAR? As what did happened when FDR had to rescue our capitalism and our constitution from becoming HISTORY? I guess, we will have to wait and see and that is so very sad.
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A good read: Jonathan Alter's book, "THE DEFINING MOMENT"
Description: In "The Defining Moment," Jonathan Alter explores how President Franklin Roosevelt, during the first one hindered days in office, laid the foundation for national recovery after the Great Depression. The author also details the 1932 presidential election. This event was part of the 2006 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair.
“As the generation that endured the Great Depression passes on, it is essential to be reminded what this nation faced as FDR assumed office in 1933. At a minimum, a quarter of the workforce was unemployed. The threat of mass violence loomed as secure families saw their life savings wiped out. In both the U.S and abroad, liberal democracies were under siege from fascism on the Right and communism on the Left. Alter, a columnist and senior editor atNewsweek, eloquently captures the fevered, frightened state of the nation in 1933. In a brief biographical sketch of Roosevelt's life, Alter strongly emphasizes aspects that gave him a powerful will and supreme self-confidence. Alter recounts the flurry of the first 100 days of FDR's administration, which forever altered the relationship between American citizens and the federal government. This superbly researched and well-written work serves as a vital reminder of the importance of leadership during this great national ordeal.”
— Jay Freeman,
From Publishers Weekly
Newsweek senior editor Alter attempts to explore FDR's
famous first "hundred days" in office, when the president laid the
foundation for national recovery from the Great Depression.
Eventually, Alter succeeds in providing a brief consideration of
those key months. But exposition dominates: the early chapters
recite Roosevelt's biography up until his White House candidacy
(the well-known tale of privilege, marriage, adultery and polio).
Then Alter chronicles the 1932 election and explores the
postelection transition. Only about 130 pages deal with the 100
days commencing March [4], 1933, that the title calls FDR's
"defining moment." Alter attaches much weight to a few throwaway
phrases in a thrown-away draft of an early presidential speech—one
that could, through a particular set of glasses, appear to show
FDR giving serious consideration to adopting martial law in
response to the monetary crisis. Despite this, Alter goes on to
document FDR's early programs, pronouncements and maneuvers with
succinct accuracy. The book, however, contains misstatements of
historical detail (Alter suggests, for instance, that it was
Theodore Roosevelt, rather than Ted Jr., who served as a founder
of the American Legion). (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved.
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Some speeches
live forever, and Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address,
carried to tens of millions of Americans by radio at the lowest
depths of the Great Depression, remains among them. Eight days
later, FDR delivered his first "fireside chat." When a special
session of Congress adjourned after exactly 100 days, major
programs for economic regulation, relief, reform and recovery were
in place. Hope and optimism had been restored.
Jonathan Alter's The Defining Moment focuses on this brief period, but also ranges backward and forward in time to set the stage and assess the consequences. A Newsweek columnist, Alter has given us a "journalistic" take, in both the good and not-so-good aspects of that adjective. His narrative moves along well but will disappoint readers who expect new facts or interpretations. Neither a history of the New Deal nor a biography of FDR, the work is strongest when it focuses on personalities and political tactics, weakest when it describes policies. Alter has a reporter's eye for the good story but at times dwells on the sensational rather than the significant.
Those who know the extensive literature on Roosevelt will recognize familiar stories long since delivered by other authors -- the machine-gun emplacements on Inauguration Day and FDR's fear of house fires, to name two. More problematic is Alter's claim to an original discovery -- an unused sentence in a draft of an address to the American Legion: "As new commander-in-chief under the oath to which you are still bound I reserve to myself the right to command you in any phase of the situation which now confronts us." He takes this as evidence that FDR, or one of his speechwriters, was considering the establishment of "a makeshift force of veterans to enforce some kind of martial law." This, Alter writes, "was dictator talk -- an explicit power grab." Come now.
It only shows that the author is not quite at home in the world of the 1930s. One finds numerous misconceptions, mangled names and flubbed dates; for example, he moves Sen. Bennett Champ Clark from Missouri to Pennsylvania and refers to Eleanor Roosevelt's cherished cooperative community project, Arthurdale, as "Allandale." None of these errors is fatal, but the accumulation is unsettling.
Also unsettling are the present-day similes that create more confusion than understanding. We learn that Roosevelt's closest political adviser in the pre-presidential days, Louis McHenry Howe, was "FDR's Theodore Sorensen, Michael Deaver, and Karl Rove rolled into one." Roosevelt's success in forcing the rapid establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps inspires an assurance that if FDR had been president after 9/11, he would have needed only four months, not four years, to secure U.S. ports and make the FBI fix its computer system.
Alter recalls that at the age of 11 he wrote in a school essay that FDR "was not physically strong but his spirit was," and then declares "That's all you need to know." His biographical chapters give us no easy answers to the riddles of Roosevelt's complex personality, but they are absorbing and filled with plausible judgments. He excels in detailing how FDR played the Washington press corps and intelligently analyzes his radio appeal. Alter is spot-on when he declares that action was more important to Roosevelt than policy substance: Activism that attacked the Depression's symptoms was as effective politically as finding a cure.
His Roosevelt is not always attractive. In the days before that first inauguration, Alter writes, "It is hard to avoid the conclusion that he intentionally allowed the economy to sink lower so that he could enter the presidency in a more dramatic fashion." This is too harsh, but over the next several years FDR failed badly in his efforts to end the Depression and pursued some policies that surely made things worse. The author concedes that if World War II had not intervened, Roosevelt would be remembered as a much lesser chief executive. He also thinks there is no reason to believe any of the possible alternatives would have done better, and he may well be right.
Most Americans believe Roosevelt was a great man and a great president. Alter shows us that in the end magnificent rhetoric and action do not always bring concrete results. The historian Richard Hofstadter once described FDR's distant cousin Theodore Roosevelt as a "master therapist" whose "hectic action" preserved an existing order with the illusion of change. Did the talent run in the family?
Reviewed by Alonzo L. Hamby
American History Timeline
American Involvement in Wars from Colonial Times to the Present
|
Dates |
War in Which American Colonists or United States Citizens Officially Participated |
Major Combatants |
|
July 4, 1675
- August 12, 1676 |
King Philip's War | New England Colonies vs. Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Nipmuck Indians |
| 1689-1697 | King William's War | The English Colonies vs. France |
| 1702-1713 | Queen Anne's War | The English Colonies vs. France |
| 1744-1748 | King George's War | The French Colonies vs. Great Britain |
| 1756-1763 | French and Indian War (Seven Years War) | The French Colonies vs. Great Britain |
| 1759-1761 | Cherokee War | English Colonists vs. Cherokee Indians |
| 1775-1783 | American Revolution | English Colonists vs. Great Britain |
| 1798-1800 | Franco-American Naval War | United States vs. France |
| 1801-1805; 1815 | Barbary Wars | United States vs. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli |
| 1812-1815 | War of 1812 | United States vs. Great Britain |
| 1813-1814 | Creek War | United States vs. Creek Indians |
| 1836 | War of Texas Independence | Texas vs. Mexico |
| 1846-1848 | Mexican War | United States vs. Mexico |
| 1861-1865 | Civil War | Union vs. Confederacy |
| 1898 | Spanish-American War | United States vs. Spain |
| 1914-1918 | World War I | Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary vs. Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia. The United States joined on the side of the Triple Entente in 1917. |
| 1939-1945 | World War II | Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan vs. Major Allied Powers: United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia |
| 1950-1953 | Korean War | United States (as part of the United Nations) and South Korea vs. North Korea and Communist China |
| 1960-1975 | Vietnam War | United States and South Vietnam vs. North Vietnam |
| 1961 | Bay of Pigs Invasion | United States vs. Cuba |
| 1983 | Grenada | United States Intervention |
| 1989 |
US Invasion
of Panama |
United States vs. Panama |
| 1990-1991 |
Persian Gulf War |
United States and Coalition Forces vs. Iraq |
| 1995-1996 | Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina | United States as part of NATO acted peacekeepers in former Yugoslavia |
| 2003 |
Invasion of Iraq |
United States and Coalition Forces vs. Iraq |
War on Terror
In the War on Terrorism President Bush has used these war powers to justify several controversial acts, e.g. NSA electronic surveillance program. The administration has used a legal theory known as the unitary executive theory, to explain that in his duty as Commander-in-Chief the President, with his inherent powers, cannot be bound by law or Congress. In the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy this was used to suggest he was not required to abide by FISA.
Clinton, Fox anchor battle in interview
By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday,"
former President Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed
by Osama bin Laden, saying he tried to have bin Laden killed and
was attacked for his efforts by the same people who now criticize
him for not doing enough.
"That's the difference in me and some, including all of the
right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said in the
interview. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to
try, they did not try."
Clinton accused host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job" and
asked: "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration
you asked, 'Why didn't you do anything about the Cole?' I want to
know how many people you asked, 'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'"
He was referring to the USS Cole, attacked by terrorists in Yemen
in 2000, and former White House anti-terrorism chief Richard A.
Clarke.
Wallace said Sunday he was surprised by Clinton's "conspiratorial
view" of "a very non-confrontational question, 'Did you do enough
to connect the dots and go after Al Qaida?'"
"All I did was ask him a question, and I think it was a legitimate
news question. I was surprised that he would conjure up that this
was a hit job," Wallace said in a telephone interview.
Clinton said he "worked hard" to try to kill bin Laden.
"We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing
him than anybody's gotten since," he said.
He told Wallace, "And you got that little smirk on your face and
you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to
protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I
regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I
responsibly could."
The interview was taped Friday during Clinton's three-day Global
Initiative conference.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," also taped Friday and aired Sunday,
Clinton told interviewer Tim Russert that the biggest problem
confronting the world today is "the illusion that our differences
matter more than our common humanity."
"That's what's driving the terrorism," he said. "It's not just
that there's an unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict. Osama Bin Laden
and Dr. al-Zawahiri can convince young Sunni Arab men, who have —
and some women — who have despairing conditions in their lives,
that they get a one-way ticket to heaven in a hurry if they kill a
lot of innocent people who don't share their reality."
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Book Review: "Peace Mom" by Cindy Sheehan
Anyone who reads this site knows of Cindy Sheehan, who became the face of US anti-war protest after the 2004 death of her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Love her or hate her, Cindy unabashedly tells it like it is. No holds barred honesty. That's her impassioned genius as a reformer, leader and anti-war activist. And that's why she upsets and scares so many. She holds back nothing.
I just finished reading an advance copy of Cindy Sheehan's controversial first book, Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism, and I like and recommend it.
Briefly, Peace Mom is Cindy's heartfelt story of her conversion from "apathetic, ignorant, materialistic and TV-logged" wife and mother of four before Casey's death to internationally-feted anti-war activist and probable 2006 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
Have no doubts... Peace Mom will be controversial and much-maligned, loudly decried by rightwingers and some centrist Democrats. What I found particularly intriguing are Cindy's pull-no-punches accounts of personal meetings with President Bush and Senators John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and many others.
You can read my full review at Book Review: Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism by Cindy Sheehan. For your convenience, I've included price-comparison shopping links, so you can order your copy now. Peace Mom will be formally released on September 18. View my profile
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(IF YOU HAVE A GOOGLEPLAYER...PLEASE WATCH THIS VERY FRIGHTENING BUT ENLIGHTENING FILM. CLICK HERE... thinkingblue)
PROGRESSIVE LINKS MORE THINKING BLUE LINKS
CAROLYNCONNECTION.COM REAL PICTURES OF WAR
CAROLYNCONNETION - I've got a mind and I'm going to use it!
BlogRankings.com Progressive Women's Blog Ring
YOU CAN BEAM ME UP NOW, SCOTTIE. 
Thinkingblue