archived: 23 - 29 May, 2004 Back Next
JUNKIE EDITOR MICHAEL
CARMICHAEL
“Bush 41 Comes To Londontown”
On the lovely evening of Tuesday, the 18th of May, George Herbert Walker Bush,
the 41st President of the United States, came to Londontown. The ex-president
was in London to meet with a group of mega-wealthy ex-patriate Americans to
raise funds for the presidential campaign of his son, George Walker Bush.
The media was tightly restricted to a sliver of pavement fifty meters away from
the front entrance to the five star Landmark Hotel, the site of the fundraising
event. Hundreds of demonstrators were tightly packed into a tiny island even
more distant from the hotel than the media.
The
crowd was well behaved; however, the London Metropolitan police provided ample
security - just in case.
I counted over twenty police vans, and there were dozens of officers on duty.
The demonstration was thoroughly peaceful, but police saw fit to arrest at least
three demonstrators.
Bush arrived in a small motorcade of two police outriders and two escort
vehicles - one in front and the other behind - his American SUV. When Bush
arrived the demonstrators chanted, "Bush, Blair, CIA, How many kids you killed
today?"
MP George Galloway addressed the demonstration with a fiery speech characterizing Bush 41 and Bush 43 as mass murderers who had sanctioned the macabre torture regime at Abu Ghraib.
No
further details about the event or the amount of money raised are available.
Why? Because, the press and media were blacked out of the event.
Rumors are, however, circulating. It is rumored that the event raised several
million dollars from extremely wealthy ex-patriotic Republicans. The recipients
of the event are alleged to have been the Republican National Committee, and
other right-wing political organizations.
In other words, the participants were not confined to the $2,000 per person
limit on presidential campaign contributions, because they were actually making
much larger contributions to committees supporting the Republican ticket. This
sort of fundraising is what is becoming known as, legally right, but ethically
lite.
On Thursday night, there was a fundraiser in London for John Kerry, which raised
a paltry five figure sum for his campaign, but all of the money raised for the
Democrat was not only legal, it was also ethical.
Quaint, isn't it?
JUNKIE
“Fog of War”
If you have not seen “Fog of War,” you have missed what is perhaps one of the best documentaries of all time.
Robert McNamera served in WWII. As Secretary of Defense under Pres. Kennedy and Johnson, he was the chief architect of the handling of the Cuban missile crisis and the war in Viet Nam. McNamera distills the lessons he has learned into “11 Lessons.”
I saw the documentary for the first time with my wife, Ms. Cathy, and was simply astounded. McNamera, who was 84 at the time the documentary was made, obviously is trying to come to “terms” with himself over Viet Nam and to impart lessons from the mistakes that were made.
Immediately after watching the documentary at a local theater, I tried to write down the 11 lessons. I was so overcome by what I had seen that I simply could not remember them all.
Days later, I returned to see “Fog of War” with my son, James. Taking a package of sticky notes with me, I carefully transcribed the lesson headings, which I keep in front of me at the computer every day. I asked James his impression of the documentary and he simply said, “WOW!” An accurate but short review.
“Fog of War” is a must see. More importantly, every parent should show the documentary to their children. It is certainly a documentary that one could only wish Bush and his neoconservative minions had seen and heeded prior to undertaking the war in Iraq.
BuzzFlash, one of TPJ’s favorite websites, is offering “Fog of War” on its website. BuzzFlash has been bringing readers news of Bush for several years, being one of the first websites demanding that the Democrats stand firm against Bush and Republican policies.
The documentary costs a bit more on BuzzFlash, but TPJ recommends that you purchase the documentary from BuzzFlash to not only obtain a documentary that should be seen but to support a great website that has done much to bring Democrats to the cause of opposing the neoconservatives. To order “Fog of War,” click on the hyperlink below:
Last Update: 03/23/2006