Speaking Out - various examples

Me

Yesterday I spoke for the second time at the Pasadena City Council meeting. For some reason I was much more nervous. Probably because last time I ran out of time and this time I brought my stopwatch and was reading while watching the stopwatch. I was also naming names on those who directly benefit from the road project I oppose when most people do not benefit. I had been exploring why when over 90% of Pasadena citizens do not want this project the elected officials support it eight to one. Afterwards there were no comments on my speech and I realized they didn't believe me when I ran down who benefits from the road project. Particularly they didn't believe that 1st Baptist Church owned the property where 2nd Baptist Church stands, documented in 16 years of Harris County tax records, and that they will have the largest property value increase.

A Republican Speaks Out

Bush’s “talk nice about Kerry’s service record” is the latest strategic ploy by the President’s political advisor, Karl Rove.

The swift boat vet surrogates, led by a longtime GOP operative and financed by two Bush friends, have done their job by attacking Kerry’s record with lies, distortions and ever-changing stories. Now the President can appear to be above all that by saying nice things about Kerry.

But by attempting to equate his laughable record in the Texas Air Guard with real military service, Bush insults every American who fought for his or her country.

The most pathetic irony comes when you realize that the man who used Guard service to avoid fighting in a war later became the President who now sends more Guard and Reserve units, per capita, to fight and die in a far-off land than any administration in history.

Yes, my dear, George W. Bush’s statements on the Today Show over the weekend shows us, without a doubt, what kind of man he is: A pathetic, lying coward surrounded by pathetic hangers-on and cheered on by pathetic, partisan morons.

Enjoy your convention this week honey. I’m going fishing.

(Reporter and columnist Bill McTavish is a registered Republican and a veteran who served three deployments in Vietnam)

Krugman finds analysts speaking out about the Bush disaster in Iraq

Serious security analysts have begun to admit that the goal of a democratic, pro-American Iraq has receded out of reach. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies - no peacenik - writes that "there is little prospect for peace and stability in Iraq before late 2005, if then."

Mr. Cordesman (smart guy - el) still thinks (or thought a few weeks ago) that the odds of success in Iraq are "at least even," but by success he means the creation of a government that "is almost certain to be more inclusive of Ba'ath, hard-line religious, and divisive ethnic/sectarian movements than the West would like." And just in case, he urges the U.S. to prepare "a contingency plan for failure."

Fred Kaplan of Slate is even more pessimistic. "This is a terribly grim thing to say," he wrote recently, "but there might be no solution to the problem of Iraq" - no way to produce "a stable, secure, let alone democratic regime. And there's no way we can just pull out without plunging the country, the region, and possibly beyond into still deeper disaster." Deeper disaster? Yes: people who worried about Ramadi are now worrying about Pakistan.

NPR now helping those Leading the Charge to War with Iran

Speaking Out about coming out

After Illinois Republican Senate candidate Alan Keyes said that Vice President Cheney's lesbian daughter is "by definition" a "selfish hedonist," the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party reaffirmed the party's support for him.

More Republicans speak out to urge a change in direction of party

[Mainstream Republicans] ran a full-page ad in the New York Times on Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention in New York City. The message opened: "As Republican former Governors, Senators and public officials, we urge our party to renew its allegiance to the proven, common sense values which unite America." Among the values outlined in the ad are fiscal responsibility, safety for all Americans, health as a priority, protection for the environment, partnership with international allies and respect for the Constitution.

The ad specifically called for Republicans to clear the way for embryonic stem cell research, return to Teddy Roosevelt-era protections of air, water and public lands, and take steps to further secure chemical and nuclear plants and shipping containers from terrorist threats.

Spreaking out from the grave

President Reagan said, "Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears."

Arianna Huffington always speaks out

Here then, for your voting-booth convenience, is a quick overview of President Bush's "great record":

Since he took office, 1.2 million people in America have lost their jobs, bringing the total to 8.2 million.

The number of Americans living below the poverty line has increased by 4.3 million to 35.9 million -- 12.9 million of them children.

The number of Americans with no health insurance has increased by 5.8 million -- with 1.4 million losing their insurance in 2003. The total now stands at 45 million.

Forty percent of the 3.5 million people who were homeless at some point last year were families with children, as were 40 percent of those seeking emergency food assistance.

Median household income has fallen more than $1,500 in inflation-adjusted terms in the last three years, and the wages of most workers are now falling behind inflation.

Average tuition for college has risen by 34 percent, while 37 percent of fourth graders read at a level considered "below basic." One third of the president's $1.7 trillion in tax cuts benefits only the top 1 percent of wealthiest Americans.

President Bush also failed to fulfill his pledge to get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive," traded the moral high ground for preemptive war and the horrors of Abu Ghraib, never attended a funeral or memorial service for any of the 975 soldiers killed in Iraq, pulled out of the Kyoto agreement on global warming, gutted the Clean Air Act, initiated the rollback of more than 200 environmental regulations, backed a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriages, and refused to follow through on his promise to extend the assault weapons ban.

So let's get one thing straight: Anyone who is lauding George Bush at the Republican Convention -- and, yes, that includes you Rudy, Arnold, Governor George and Mayor Mike -- is endorsing his disastrous and wholly immoderate record. Thus, by definition, all these Bush strokers have surrendered their moderate credentials -- no matter how warm and fuzzy their positions on social issues. The president's record betrays both courage and compassion, and no amount of lofty rhetoric will change that.

Molly Ivins Always Speaks Out

Death toll mounts, economic numbers get worse, Ashcroft won't let you read the law, and 'God is in the White House'

Speaking Out for Statistical Forecasts

A projection based on the polls from each state shows Kerry winning with at least 298 electoral votes and carrying Oklahoma and Arkansas but not Nevada, West Virginia, or Ohio.