Welcome to 201k.com - A Commonwealth Perspective.

Sorry for not posting -- we're on a lighter schedule for the summer. Meanwhile here's an interesting email from Poor Reader Scott:

i'm guessing by the lack of blog updates that you're busy, but i just have what could either be a quick question or a long one. just reading thru the letters on salon's article by manjoo about some crackpot 9/11 conspiracy movie.

what do you think about 9-11 conspiracies? (i mean other than the fact that it was, by definition, a conspiracy - but i'm talking the 'we never landed on the moon' definition here)

i have an uncle and an aunt that both work(ed) at the pentagon. she was working that day - luckily not where the explosion was. honestly, if she hadn't been, i'd be a lot more skeptical about a plane crashing into it, given the (lack of) photographic evidence we've seen. i'm still not clear on it though, and as many incorrect news reports as there were in all the confusion taht morning, i can't get out of my head that the first thing i heard (either on cnn or a local station out here) was that it was a suicide bomber in a truck.

i'd like to think that the passengers of 93 brought it down before it could do damage to the capitol, but i do wonder if it was shot down. and i also don't necessarily think that would have been the wrong move, as much as i despise cheney with every fiber of my being.

but i think the point that these more wacko theories tend to overlook, and at worst, obfuscate, are the PDBs, Richard Clarke, the saudi money trail, and the administration not wanting a investigation (into what was possibly the greatest crime ever committed on american soil?); and then the subsequent limitations they imposed on the comission.

I certainly dont think the administration planned the attacks (at least not while i'm sober), but were they complicit? Bush because he didn't care, and the neo-cons 'cause they knew an attack like this would play into their plans, and so then didn't do anything with the warnings they were given?

i guess it was a long question. feel free to post it up for a discussion, i'm really curious as to what like-minded rational thinkers really think about this.

We'll think about this for a while; in the meantime, anyone have any thoughts?

Hey, did you hear that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is dead?

Perhaps you saw it in the New York Times Online, which currently has seven headlines about it on the front page.

1. Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Is Killed.

2. How the News Spread in the White House.

3. With Note of Caution, Bush Hails Killing of Zarqawi.

4. Analysis: Eliminating a Face of the Insurgency.

5. John F. Burns -- The Times's Baghdad bureau chief explains the impact of today's announcements in Baghdad.

6. A pop-up window for "Photographs -- Scenes from the aftermath of the airstrike in Iraq"

7. Forum Discussion -- How will Zarqawi's death change the climate in Iraq?

This is in addition to the "News Alert" email the Times sent out at 3:43 this morning.

Quite a send-off. We'll wait to see what relevance this story has three months from now.

A delegate to the Maine Democratic Convention sends us her impressions:

The most interesting thing that happened at the convention was the voting on what language to put in the platform. First the delegates vote to approve the bulk of the platform language that was recommended by the platform committee. Then any controversial language is voted on item by item.

We were supposed to be done voting by 4:30 on Saturday, because that's when Feingold was to speak. But the last and most controversial item, the impeachment language, was put off until after his speech. The problem is, right after his speech, many delegates started to leave, and unless you have a quorum, you can't have a vote. Also, all day the moderator should have followed Robert's Rules of Order (which I know from years of Union meetings) but didn't consistently do so, whether from ignorance or design, so for example, when I thought we were voting to close off debate, he had already jumped ahead and declared that we had voted on the item. So it was very confusing at times.

There were 2 choices of impeachment language, a brief one urging our Maine Congressional delegation to call for an investigation of Bush's various failings, and if necessary, to begin impeachment proceedings. The other language listed the failings item by item, ex. "has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraq citizens" etc. and bypassed a call for investigation in favor of simply calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. To tell the truth, I have no idea if we meant to vote yes on the stronger language or not (I don't think so), but that's what got gaveled through. Another delegate sitting next to me groused that the papers would have a field day calling us "Bush-bashers", but it turns out that 9 or so other states have voted in some sort of impeachment language too.

I will say that it was a fired-up crowd that leapt to their feet every time Feingold (or any other speaker) railed against the war, the Patriot Act, domestic spying, Bush's energy/environmental policies, etc. It was exhilarating to be in a crowd of 900+ other people who feel exactly the same way we do. Demographically, the crowd was mostly baby-boomerish or older, which was a little disconcerting to me....yes we are an "old" state, but we have also lost many young people to the Green party. It makes no sense to me, because the Maine Democratic party is so left-wing (by national standards) that the Greens are only screwing themselves (and us) by staying separate.

Feingold took the stage and received several standing ovations throughout his speech. He seems like a very genuine guy. He started off by saying that in most houses, you don't discuss religion and politics, but in his home growing up, that's all they ever talked about, so that's why he's a senator and his sister's a rabbi. He made the point that, even aside from the principles involved, it was just good political sense for the Democratic party to stand up and really be the opposition party.

He said that Wisconsin has 70+ counties, and that every year he holds a town meeting in every one of them, so he gets lots of voter feedback: and it is ALWAYS the same - Stand up to the Republicans! Grow a spine! Stop rolling over for Bush! And yet, when his fellow senators return to Washington, they start listening to the consultants again who say to play it safe.

Regarding his movement to censure the president, he said, "I don't want history to record a blank page, that when these abuses were going on, Russ Feingold stood by and did nothing!" He said he originally got elected by beating an incumbent, against long odds, because Wisconsin had at the time some sort of publicly financed elections, and he complimented Maine as one of the few (if not the only?) state with publicly financed elections today (for state and local offices only).

And after the speech I shook his hand and said to him, "Please run for president!" He smiled and said "I'm thinking about it!"

I read in our paper today that he addressed the New Hampshire convention with the exact same effect, and they passed impeachment language too. Dare we hope to regain control in November? I don't know, but at least it felt great to be part of a like-minded, united group of fellow Democrats. It was lots of fun, and I bought this really cute donkey pin that blinks obnoxiously. Also, I bought a "Donkey Card" for $35. that entitles me to discount home heating oil as well as discounts from various other left-sympathetic businesses and services. Super idea, to use our bulk buying power to negotiate fuel discounts!

That's it for now................

Right-wing websites and forums:

Dissent is not allowed. Reality is not allowed. Truth is not allowed. Only approved doctrine is allowed. Any posts contrary to doctrine will be deleted and the user responsible banned.

Posts to the right of approved doctrine are allowable ONLY if they conclude with the admission that "in the real world" only the approved doctrine will work.

Ad hominem attacks are permissible because only the strong will survive.

Left-wing websites and forums:

Everyone's opinion is equally valid, no matter how uninformed or irrelevant. Posters need not be familiar with the subject at issue to have a valuable opinion; skim-reading previous comments from other posters is sufficient.

No one can possible understand anything because we all have our own perceptions. All criticism is elitist, and possibly racist.

Ad hominem attacks are expressly forbidden unless directed at "the male power-structure".

The Vatican has issued some "sweeping condemnations".

June 6, 2006
Vatican Issues Sweeping Condemnations

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:27 a.m. ET

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican issued a sweeping condemnation Tuesday of contraception, abortion, in-vitro fertilization and same-sex marriage, declaring that the traditional family has never been so threatened as in today's world.

The document was issued by the Pontifical Council for the Family, whose head, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, is a strong opponent of the use of condoms under any circumstances.

However, the document did not mention an ongoing debate within the Vatican on whether the Roman Catholic Church could permit condoms to battle AIDS in a particular circumstance -- when one partner in a marriage has the virus.

The Vatican insists sexual abstinence is the only sure way to fight AIDS.

The document made a broad attack on what it said were threats to the ''the natural institution of marriage.''

No word yet on the Vatican's stance on "covering up pedophilia".

The questions continue.

June 05,2006 | GREENBELT, Md. -- The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from a fundamentalist Kansas church filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against the demonstrators Monday.

It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by a serviceman's family against Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members routinely demonstrate at military funerals around the country.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, is seeking unspecified damages. The younger Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Anbar province of Iraq. He was buried in Westminster, Md.

Members of Westboro say the military deaths in Iraq are God's punishment for America's tolerance of gays. They typically carry signs with slogans such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the roadside bombs used by insurgents.

Our question is: How do they know God isn't punishing America for invading Iraq?

In dealing with the sex scandals that have rocked the Church world-wide, the Vatican has promised to root out "evidence of homosexuality", but clearly they have a long way to go:

Catholic Priest Convicted of Raping Girl

May 31,2006 | DUBLIN, Ireland -- A Dublin jury convicted a Roman Catholic priest Wednesday of raping a 13-year-old girl.

During the six-day trial, the victim, whose identity was not make public, testified that Rev. Daniel Doherty raped her in a church sacristy twice in 1985.

Now the homos are even raping girls. The problem is out of control.