bumped -- cho

A Nation that sends its Sons and Daughters into Occupations?

A C-17 Airforce Transport plane arrives in Kandahar, Afghanistan to receive the bodies of five U.S. service members killed. Though more than 1,000 US and coalition forces were on hand to participate in the "ramp ceremony," a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer were asked to leave the area by a military public affairs officer. A Pentagon policy banning coverage of this particular event was cited as the reason. [Photo: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times]

Iraq

There have been 4,426 coalition deaths -- 4,113 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, 5 Georgians, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq as of July 1, 2008, according to a CNN count. { Graphical breakdown of casualties }. The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. The list also includes seven employees of the U.S. Defense Department. At least 30,275 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. View casualties in the war in Afghanistan.

Capt. Philip J. Dykeman 38 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division Brockport, New York One of three Marines killed during combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq, on June 26, 2008

Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai 42 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division Pago Pago, American Samoa One of three Marines killed during combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq, on June 26, 2008

Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme 23 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division North Miami Beach, Florida One of three Marines killed during combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq, on June 26, 2008

The Audacity of Arrogance

Joel S. Hirschhorn

Anyone who doubts the downside of hubris should think of the losing campaign of Hillary Clinton. Like cholesterol in arteries, extreme arrogance can block seeing political realities.

And Barack Obama is exhibiting horrendous hubris by, for example, flip-flopping on his pledge to use federal campaign financing for the general election, and for displaying an Obama seal in public events that closely resembles the official presidential seal.

Welcome to the audacity of arrogance.

But there is a lot more to this Age of Hubris.

This was a piece I posted on DailyKos yesterday that I thought people might enjoy, so I'm crossposting it here today.

I like writing.

Writing, typing, blogging, crafting -- I enjoy words. Sometimes I'll edge toward biting, caustic sarcasm and other times I'll slip over to goofy, inane and warped. Once in a while I'll swim through a pool of surrealism and other times I'll delve deeply philosophical, or at least what I'll think of as "deep" and "philosophical." There are the times for deadly serious, sonorous tones or passionate ranting phrase-paintings.

I don't always know what I'll end up with, but I do know when I'm "in the zone" instead of merely tapping out thoughts -- both of which differ from the times I'm simply "zoning." Why does this matter? Because words are how we express ourselves -- they convey thoughts, feelings and emotions. The way we string them together, the manner in which we punctuate the written word or articulate the spoken phrase, all form the basis for one of the deepest forms of communication we have outside of the touch shared between lovers, friends or family. Words are how we define ourselves, our relationships, our culture, our society and our government. And while actions speak louder than words, the two acting together form the basis of something powerful. Combined with knowledge and experience, reinforced by action, the power of words to do good or ill is nearly infinite.

route66 has a diary up about today, Flag Day here in these United States.

I was going to post up something I found recently that attempts to explain some recent occurances on the meaning of 'Patriotism', and a tie in with 'route66' diary is appropriate on this day.

Poisonous Plutocracy Pushes Economic Inequality

Joel S. Hirschhorn

The biggest political issue receiving no attention by the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates is the powerful plutocracy that has captured the government to produce rising economic inequality.

That's the question asked by The Real News Network

Back on Thursday, May 15, 2008 I asked a question as well: PEACE Is A Political Statement?.

promoted by carol. While I profoundly disagree with you, I recognize that you speak for a tendency with the progressive movement.

What Are We Waiting For?

Joel S. Hirschhorn

Long before the disastrous George W. Bush administration, I had been waiting for profound, systemic changes in our political system. Perversely, I saw the upside of Bush as motivating more Americans to demand political change. And that happened. But the national yearning for change was co-opted by Ron Paul on the right and Barack Obama on the left while John Edwards with the most authentic populist change message fizzled out early.

According to dictionary.com a democracy is:

de·moc·ra·cy /dɪˈmɒkrəsi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-mok-ruh-see]–noun
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

As far as democracy goes (to quote Jon Stewart) we are "pushers not users".

An ongoing tags:

• democracy
• eligible voters
• voter turnout