February 26, 2003
Incontinence
Is the Bush Administration losing its grip on the world? This second installment of promising items in the news suggests that he may be.
Here on the home front, the Administration's smallpox immunization plan is "as close to stalled as you can get" as "hundreds of hospitals, a half-dozen major unions and even some public-health departments have refused to participate." In another welcome demonstration of spine some booksellers are openly defying the "PATRIOT" act's authorisation of the Feds to seize patron records -- by destroying the records before the goons have a chance to come get them. Moving right along, prominent Senators have put in a bid to check the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act with a new bill that would at least rein in Ashcroft's Holy Warriors.
Bush's war plans are taking on more water, too. As, "Many people in the world increasingly think President Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein," and U.S. embassies report that, "There is an absence of any recognition that Hussein is the problem," (imagine that!), so to have some of the President's closest advisors begun "urging the President to consider complying with the UN position or to look for other 'face saving' ways to avoid war with Iraq." Finally, 20-year diplomat John Brady Kiesling has resigned in protest of the Administration's "fervent pursuit of war."
Meantime, activists in the Bay Area shut down a military recruitment centre for a while; and more than one million phone calls, faxes, and e-mails in from opponents to war "left Capitol offices overwhelmed Wednesday."
What about our allies? Well, as Tony Blair has been dealt the "biggest backbench revolt of his premiership" so to are Italian anti-war protesters "vowing to block all movement of US arms by rail between American bases in Italy," and dock workers saying they will "boycott the loading and unloading of all shipments of US arms in and out of Italian ports." War Resisters International is calling for nonviolent actions at military bases on April 5th and 6th, while down Under, Condelo Bulk Wholefoods is going to withhold a portion of its taxes to protest the war. And Germany's Carnival festival is shaping up as a 10-million strong war protest!
The moral of the story? Same as last week, only with greater urgency as war grows nearer: we can stop this war. The Administration is feeling the strain, even as it grows ever more desperate to initiate the slaughter. Let's get on it.
Posted by Eddie Tews at February 26, 2003 04:12 PM
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