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Countdown- Redux

Countdown Redux: Richard Clarke On Bush Administration - “We Can’t Let These People Back Into Polite Society”
Posted: 09 Jun 2008 08:45 AM CDT

C&L covered this segment from last Friday’s Countdown, but I thought an emphasis on Richard Clarke’s scathing remarks about the lack of, and the need for, accountability from the Bush administration for the countless lies they told their country and the world about pre-Iraq invasion intelligence, was well deserved.
I have been telling anyone who will listen, that we must watch out for these bad pennies when their names start to creep back into the political arena - names like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who both worked in the Nixon administration. Looking back, we find ourselves wondering how we didn’t see this disaster coming, or why more people didn’t speak out at the time. I fully agree with Richard Clarke’s statements; we must not allow these thugs back into civilized society — they should not be rewarded for perpetrating so many horrific and destructive crimes against their own people, and other places around the globe.
Clarke: “Well, there may be some other kind of remedy. There may be some sort of truth and reconciliation commission process that’s been tried in other countries, South Africa, Salvador and what not, where if you come forward and admit that you were in error or admit that you lied, admit that you did something, then you’re forgiven. Otherwise, you are censured in some way.”
“Now, I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite society and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards and just let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are 4,000 Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grievously wounded, and they’ll carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.”
You can rest assured, the day that names like Karl Rove, Tom Delay, Condoleeza Rice or those of anyone who served in the Bush administration creep into the public or political sphere, we, and the rest of the blogosphere, will sound the alarm to make sure none of these people are able to damage our country ever again. More from Think Progress.

Countdown - June 10th

Countdown: The Impeachment Of George W. Bush
Posted: 10 Jun 2008 09:15 PM CDT

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Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich spent some 290 minutes on the House floor Monday, reading Articles of Impeachment against President George Bush. Not that you would notice, as there was a virtual media blackout on the story, but Keith Olbermann ran with it right out of the gate on Tuesday’s Countdown.
Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley joined Keith to commend Kucinich and his impeachment bill, which is now co-sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler. While Turley says there are numerous crimes for which Bush could easily be impeached, the President’s greatest ally has been the Democratic Congress who have skirted their constitutional duties and consistently given him a pass rather than practice any oversight. It’s clear impeachment will remain off the table for the remainder of Bush’s term, but as Keith put it, problems like this will never be solved if people like Kucinich and Wexler don’t stand up and say something.
Olbermann: “I’ve often argued here, that even if you don’t think the words aren’t lead to any actions, say the words anyway, simply to get them on the record for history and simply because, nothing has ever changed from bad to good in this country without somebody first saying, this is bad. Assess the importance of what Dennis Kucinich did last night.”
Turley: “You know, it is very important. The fact is, that this is not supposed to happen the way it’s happened in the last seven years. The framers, I think, would have been astonished by the absolute passivity, if not the collusion of the Democrats in protecting President Bush from impeachment. I mean, they created a system that was essentially idiot-proof, and God knows we’ve put that to the test in the past few years, but I don’t think they anticipated that so many members of the opposition would stand quietly in the face of clear presidential crimes.”

Senate Report - Phase II

Jon Stewart Slams Media for Blacking Out Iraq War Lies Report
Posted: 10 Jun 2008 08:46 AM CDT
The Daily Show reports on the media’s failure to report on the Senate report that proves the Bush administration knowingly lied to us about the reasons for war. Surely the “Big Three” have more important things to cover.

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Stewart: “Let’s go back to the Big Three, that’s where real Americans get their news. Charlie Gibson, cover it!”
Gibson: “Something that doesnt happen every day, and certainly doesn’t happen twice..a well-know French daredevil named ‘Spiderman’…”
Stewart: “Yes, he was climbing the New York Times building. Perhaps looking to read the story about the administration leading us into a war that you didnt cover at all! At all!
For a “fake news” anchor, Jon Stewart sure does a better job reporting actual news than the entire mainstream media combined. I’m sure Stewart wouldn’t take offense when I say that that’s pretty sad.

Ovation Legend

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The Inside Of My Head

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They're Tearing It Down...

A personal side trip, if I may...

On June 16th, 2008 they will begin demolition of Fairmount Elementary School here in Bristol, TN. The school will be replaced by a much larger, more modern building which will swallow the contents of two older schools in the city.

A little history:

Fairmount Elementary School is located on a beautiful tree-studded campus on Cypress Street. This location once served as a campground for Native Americans traveling to the salt wells in what is now known as Saltville, Virginia. Later, this land provided camping for covered wagons that brought produce to the area from Shady Valley and Johnson City, Tennessee. As the community began to develop after the Civil War, in what was called the dense Fairmount Forest Park, the site of the present-day campus, a grand resort was planned. The elaborate Victorian Hotel Fairmount was constructed, and Fairmount Lake was developed for recreation. An elite residential section was planned around the famous hotel's grounds. By the turn of the century, the grand hotel had been destroyed by fire. Once again, the forest served as a short-term encampment site for the U. S. Army during World War I.

The original Fairmount School began serving this still elite and growing community in 1905. The first building was located on Kentucky Avenue, one block west of the present location. In 1925-1926, the present building was constructed on 8.83 acres, serving grades one through eight. In 1939, the gates were added at the front of the school with the sign honoring the name of the school and motto, "Character Above Intellect," adorning it. The original sign was replaced in 1991 with a colorful sandblasted design. The motto remains as a guiding principle of the school community. Three additions have been made to the building consisting of four classrooms in 1950, two classrooms and new gymnasium in 1960, and two classrooms in 1966. The entire "old" section of the school was renovated in 1972. The present building encompasses 62,984 square feet.

It is with mixed emotions that I consider the replacement of this grand old marker of many memories from my neighborhood of birth. On one hand, it has been far too long since Bristol proper has been bestowed with any new schools. On the other, this is where I attended elementary school, as did my siblings. My favorite uncle was once a teacher in the hallowed halls of Fairmount.

It is situated on a beautiful, wooded lot with many trees that share the aged wisdom of time gone by.

I have been trying to review my memories from those days but, alas, it was such a long time ago now. I have to admit that many of memories of my school days are blocked because, in many ways, my school days were not of a pleasant experience. I'll just leave it at that.

I was in this building when the word arrived to the world that John F. Kennedy had died from his wounds. We were sent home that day.

It was here that I discovered my dog "Pepper" and coaxed her to follow me home to become a member of our family for 16 years.

It was here that my neighbor, who had a somewhat wild reputation in those days, presented me with what turned out to be a "booby trap" in the bathroom one day. A booby trap was basically a firecracker that has a string coming out of both ends, when you pull them, BOOM ! I was very young and did not know that, so... well you can probably guess ahead from here. I wound up in after school detention for the first time in my life.

It was here, in the auditorium, that for no apparent reason that I can recall, the guy sitting next to me, who shall remain nameless, suddenly stabbed me in the leg twice with a pencil. To this very day I can show you the lead as it still remains.

It was here, in my final year, that they decided to no longer have graduation ceremonies which, they resumed in the next year that followed.

I remember the vaccinations doled out in sugar cube format.

I remember Mr. Wizard who would present his cool science show in the gym.

All these memories came back to me as I walked around the old school, inside and out, after a pre-bid conference the other day. Our company hopes to earn the right to supply equipment for the new cafeteria.

I learned at the meeting that they will preserve some of the trees in the front, which is wonderful news. They also intend to recycle the trees that must be taken, the plans are to salvage the wood and make "things" out of it, furniture or, who knows.

The P.T.A. will be selling bricks, I might just have to get in on that action.

Here's to Fairmount, a grand old building. They don't make them like that anymore.