READER COMMENTS ON
"'Worst of the Worst'?: Gitmo's Youngest Prisoner, the 'Forgotten Child,' Released Without Charges"
(57 Responses so far...)
COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
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Soul Rebel
said on 6/11/2009 @ 6:30 pm PT...
Child El-Gharani, meet The Shining City on the Hill.
I cannot even put into words the visceral disgust and shame I feel after reading this story.
So are we just dropping him off back in Chad, pushing him out of the back of a C-130 with a parachute? "Sorry mate, our bad."
What can we do as Americans to in some way make up for what we have done to this poor young man? And the rest of them that are still being held in this way?
I don't believe in Gods or Souls, but if I did, this would be one of those "May God have mercy on your Soul" moments.
COMMENT #2 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 7:49 pm PT...
YOU AREN'T supposed to just go forward. It's vital to know the general parameters of what happened..but to what degree do you push this mass mea culpa before threatening national security?
I'm not sure the country has the luxury of such multi tasking right now..SEIZE THE MOMENT ,ACKNOWLEDGE THE PAST ..BUT DON'T FORGET THE MORE PRESSING NEED FOR MOMENTUM ON MANY FRONTS.
COMMENT #3 [Permalink]
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Agent 99
said on 6/11/2009 @ 8:24 pm PT...
I don't think there can be a more pressing need for national security than to prosecute war criminals, and make reparations to those they tortured. And if they have time to fuck with the tobacco companies, they can fucking well deal with the pressing needs too, or instead. Even if they don't have the time, they can fucking well work overtime. They can fucking well give it over to a special prosecutor.
COMMENT #4 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 6/11/2009 @ 8:31 pm PT...
Christine asked:
but to what degree do you push this mass mea culpa before threatening national security?
Perhaps it hasn't occurred to you yet, but it is national security itself, I would argue, that is threatened if we don't bring accountability for actions past.
Might I recommend our own Ernie Canning's "Prosecute or Perish: Why the survival of our Constitutional Democracy may hinge on factually justified criminal prosecutions of the Bush/Cheney cabal" written a month or two ago, but still likely fresh enough.
We are, in fact, looking forward by looking back. If accountability is not brought, the bar has been forever lowered, and just as Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and friends returned from exile after the Nixon years to up to their ante in Bush and Bush II, so too will the next zealots, likely from the Right, who see the precedent set in the Bush Era, in which torture, lies to justify war, suspension of habeas corpus, exposure of covert CIA assets, etc. etc. was found perfectly "legal", as even the Democrats, and yes, even Christine Craft, all agreed to that fact, by their unwillingness to hold criminals accountable, or even call their acts themselves a crime. (And if you do call it a crime, then how do you justify not prosecuting those crimes, among the world's most egregious?)
The U.S. and their European allies didn't have the "luxury" of bringing accountability in the aftermath of WWII either (arguably, when Europe was in far worse shape, literally, than the U.S. is today). And yet, to let the criminals at Nuremberg off, for lack of the ability to "multitask" would have been unthinkable. Much as it should be now.
If "Prosecute and Perish", short and sweet as it is, doesn't convince you, you can start digging into Ernie's 4-part (actually, soon 5-part) series on the 50 year history of this crap, and how it will never stop, until our society, once and for all, says enough, and puts action and accountability behind those words.
Else, the Cheneys of the world will lie in wait, and rest assured, they. will. be. back. Twice over. And with an ever lowered bar, and a chilling precedent of irresponsible enabling that came of doing nothing whatsoever when we had the chance.
COMMENT #5 [Permalink]
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Agent 99
said on 6/11/2009 @ 8:48 pm PT...
... If accountability is not brought, the bar has been forever lowered...
No, no, pardon me, but you mean "dropped", I'm just sure of it.
If they can get away with that shit, there is no crime they can't commit, no flouting of the Constitution too dire. If they're not prosecuted, "rule of law" is a euphemism for "survival of the nastiest"... which is the way the rest of the world perceives our bullshit exceptionalism already.
COMMENT #6 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 8:53 pm PT...
YES BRAD..it has occurred to me..it has also occurred to me..congruently..that a significant portion of those howling loudest for that mass mea culpa..naked in the global spotlight..are NOT ROOTING FOR AMERICA TO BE MADE STRONGER BY THE PROCESS That , of course is a view to which I am entitled. I wonder what most Americans think?
COMMENT #7 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:01 pm PT...
BRAD..AS FAR AS alberto gonzalez and habeas corpus is concerned..I led a demonstration at my alma mater law school on the occasion of Mr. Gonzalez'S visit and lecture. We had a teach-in on the anti-torture provisions in international law...and many students and my radio listeners brought hundreds of well produced signs..lipstick red on gloss white..thrust right in alberto's humiLiated and furious face as he exited the black escalade to a locale presumed non-confrontational.'HEY ALBERTO, HABEAS THIS, BABY'' It was one of the first direct alberto protests in the nation.
COMMENT #8 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:05 pm PT...
AND IF YOU FIND YOURSELF..in the same reception hall as Condoleeza Rice, simply turn your back on her....as in extreme social opprobrium. Brad..would you put condoleeza in a foreign prison?? would you think that was appropriate?
COMMENT #9 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:08 pm PT...
AND YES BRAD..survival of the fittest or/and the nastiest is a principle that only is found in the U.S......right?
COMMENT #10 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:11 pm PT...
Christine -
Re: your comment @7, I don't doubt your progressive/protesting creds, which makes the rest of your thoughts all the more beguiling.
In 6, you say:
YES BRAD..it has occurred to me..it has also occurred to me..congruently..that a significant portion of those howling loudest for that mass mea culpa..naked in the global spotlight..are NOT ROOTING FOR AMERICA TO BE MADE STRONGER BY THE PROCESS
As an aside I don't think it's a mea culpa you're looking for, but none the less, and to not be overly syntactical (with deference to you, a woman of the bar), I don't care what "significant portion" of anybody is howling, or not howling for.
As you'll recall, a "significant portion" (huge majority) of the U.S. also believed Saddam was responsible for 9/11 and was in possession of WMD. It didn't make them right, just mis- under- dis-informed, largely by the same folks that are mis- under- dis-informing now.
You'll let me know if you still think we should be sanctioning, by lack of action, scissors to the genitals (as in the story above), after you read tomorrow's document dump.
If you do, as you say, that "is a view to which [you are] entitled", just as you are entitled to be wrong about said view
I wonder what most Americans think?
See above. Don't know. Don't care. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. And it's only gonna get worse from here if nothing is done now.
COMMENT #11 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:19 pm PT...
RIGHT IS RIGHT ..WRONG IS WRONG...NUANCE IS EVERYTHING.
COMMENT #12 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:25 pm PT...
i HAVE NO INTEREST in wearing some crown of progressive prominence or being in the in crowd that always thinks predictably. Would you want bush and cheney prosecuted at the world court? ..with a sentence handed down by such a foreign court..do you think that would be good for America..I mean right is right..right? As long as you are right, it doesn't matter how much you MIGHT ACTUALLY HARM THE COUNTRY ( you are sure it wouldnt//I am not) because right would be right..right?? always right? smart?
COMMENT #13 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:28 pm PT...
MEA CULPA, BRAD..MEA MAXIMA CULPA...FORGIVE US AS A NATION FOR WHAT EVIL WE HAVE DONE...that's a mea culpa...as any good catholic girl would know.
COMMENT #14 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:34 pm PT...
Christine @ 8 asked:
Brad..would you put condoleeza in a foreign prison?? would you think that was appropriate?
I'd much prefer to put her in a prison here, if she was found guilty, after being given due process, of breaking either U.S. or International law.
But, as our treaty obligations require us to either prosecute or extradite War Criminals, if Condi was accused of same (and she's as much as admitted, at the very least, to conspiracy to commit War Crimes in her comments at Stanford a few weeks ago), then yes, I have no problem with rebuilding Spandau to let her take her place with any other American war criminal that we failed to meet our obligation of prosecuting in this country.
(For the record, I'd also fight as hard for her humane imprisonment, as I would for anybody else's.)
COMMENT #15 [Permalink]
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Soul Rebel
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:42 pm PT...
Until Americans can do something positive with their strength, something less selfish and more compassionate, why do they (we) deserve to have it? I am no longer convinced that America is a force for good in this world *gasp* - blasphemy!
Look at the record, expecially the recent record. Maybe it's time to pass the torch. I'm thinking Denmark.
Seriously, what do we make here anymore? Rich executives, we're pretty good at making those - of course, that comes at the expense of everyone who works to keep those executives rich. Fear. We're pretty good at frightening people, I would say. We can make some good weaponry, lots of stuff to kill people with. WMD in particular. Which is often tied to rich executives.
Here's what we don't make: a good health care system. A good public education system. Food and water that doesn't cause cancer. Clean elections, we don't make those, right?
Do we have a "God Given" right to be forever number one?
So how about a little fucking humility perhaps? Perhaps if we had that, we wouldn't be in this shitstorm to begin with. Maybe that's asking too much. Na ja, I guess you can put me in with O'Reilly and Hannity's "Blame/Hate America First" crowd.
America: Land of Small-Minded People Hollerin' about their Rights, without a Second Thought to their Responsibilities.
COMMENT #16 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:45 pm PT...
Christine @ 12:
Would you want bush and cheney prosecuted at the world court? ..with a sentence handed down by such a foreign court..do you think that would be good for America..
I would have absolutely no problem with that. None.
I mean right is right..right? As long as you are right, it doesn't matter how much you MIGHT ACTUALLY HARM THE COUNTRY
If you wish to make a case that trying Bush/Cheney at the Hague would somehow "HARM THE COUNTRY", I'd certainly be open to your making that case.
Christine @ 13:
MEA CULPA, BRAD..MEA MAXIMA CULPA...FORGIVE US AS A NATION FOR WHAT EVIL WE HAVE DONE...that's a mea culpa
Ah, well, maybe that's the disconnect here. I have no interest in hoping for forgiveness for what we have done. (Thus, I had no clue how mea culpa had anything to do with it.) I have an interest in bring accountability to criminals so that their crimes are far less likely to ever happen again. As mentioned (and associated with the above-linked "Prosecute or Perish"), I see our national security as far more damaged in the future by not taking action now.
Mea culpas have nothing to do with what I seek...as any nice Jewish boy would know.
COMMENT #17 [Permalink]
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Sam
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:51 pm PT...
Christine Craft wrote this drivel:
"I'm not sure the country has the luxury of such multi tasking right now."
--------------------------------
I wasn't aware that protecting, defending and upholding the US Constitution was considered a "luxury."
When these politicians take the oath FOR the US Constitution, the person administering the oath doesn't say, "but you only have to do this for the US Constitution if you have the luxury or time to do it." That part is never added. I can't imagine any credible attorney saying what Christine barfed out here.
Most of us have to multi-task (and then some!) every day. Why can't these parasite war criminals (both D and R) who charade as politicians do so?
Christine, you need a new keyboard or something. It would appear that your "Caps Lock" key is stuck in the down position. Pssssst: on the Internet that is considered shouting, just so you know.
COMMENT #18 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 6/11/2009 @ 9:57 pm PT...
Sam - Favor please. Do your best to debate respectfully here. As a "public figure" (for those who know who Christine is), you may hit her with personal attacks, just as you may hit me, without violating our very few rules here. But it doesn't mean you have to.
These are important discussions/debates to have. So let's see if we can do so as civilly as possible. Please? Thanks!
COMMENT #19 [Permalink]
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GWN
said on 6/11/2009 @ 10:32 pm PT...
Let's not forget another kid, Canadian Omar Khdar who had just turned 15 when he was captured. He was/is charged with throwing a grenade and killing a US soldier. Seems that's what the Military record says...but apparently he was shot in the back
and nearly dead, but was still able to throw a grenade.
Sadly though our own government doesn't care...
(Canadian) Omar will soon be approaching the seventh year of his detention in Guantanamo. And his government, which accepts that abuses faced by others at such places are very real, will do nothing for its own citizen, who was bought there in chains as a child.
Link
Graphic picture
COMMENT #20 [Permalink]
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Soul Rebel
said on 6/11/2009 @ 11:23 pm PT...
Christine's arrogance is the arrogance of EMPIRE. It is our undoing.
COMMENT #21 [Permalink]
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Agent 99
said on 6/12/2009 @ 12:02 am PT...
I'm just stumped. I've been trying really hard to figure out how prosecuting war criminals and locking them up, wherever, by whomever, and no matter what their status in our government may have been, or even still be, could possibly be "harmful to our country".
It couldn't be more humiliating than it already is, and actually could only be a source of some gloomy pride that we were strong enough to live up to our own Constitution. Doesn't it occur to people that prosecuting the perpetrators might actually deter the people who will certainly, as it stands, use our torture of prisoners as their excuse to torture our people?
I know the exceptionalist attitude is alive in the left, but can it be that the "losing face" thing we ridicule in other countries is really threatening us? That just blows my mind. We've completely lost face! Our pants are down! We are virtually naked on a plane of light in front of the world, and can anyone believe that doing the right thing would be harmful to us?
We didn't have the least compunction about calling these guys every awful thing we could possibly think up while they were in office, and now we think we will be harmed if they are prosecuted for heinous felonies they admit they committed?
I don't get it.
COMMENT #22 [Permalink]
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blubonnet
said on 6/12/2009 @ 1:43 am PT...
Well, likely anyone here knows what the Downing Street memo is, so that, along with much other info, we know it was a Tony Blair, GWbush collusion, massive deception, etc. in the oily works preceding the Iwreq war, well, another glimpse of what level of misery, and deception, our governments have been up to, listen to this woman who was in the MI5 for Britian for years, and she has some mind blowing things to share. It is long, but try to find a time catch this, and share it if you can with anyone with an active, discerning, but enlightened enough to "get it" kind of mind.
http://www.911blogger.co...ode/20356#comment-209879
I hope Brad can make that a live link. Thanks.
COMMENT #23 [Permalink]
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Lisa
said on 6/12/2009 @ 6:47 am PT...
I'm with poster number 21.
Our country was robbed of its constitution and dignity with the last administration. As an American living overseas and about to return, I find it scary and laughable that anyone would defend them. The Europeans I know LOVE America and Americans. They HATE Bush, Cheney, Blair, Rumsfeld, Rice etc. How do I know? Because, without asking, they told me on several occasions in the past 2.5 yrs.
It's time we let the world know that these criminals will be tried for invading Iraq, torturing children, killing innocent citizens and our so-called prisoners, making corporations rich, ruining the economy around the world causing massive unemployment and distress for billions of people.
Our Iraqi refuges/tennants in London want their country back. They fled to London to keep their kids alive. We keep the rent affordable and pay the rest of the mortgage so they can survive. We are leaving Germany this summer and I don't have time to discuss their views on right wing nazi's killing innocent museum guards.
I will do everything possible to get the Bush criminals arrest, jailed and tried for their crimes against America and humanity. They and Fox News have turned my conservative sister into a neo-con who asked me this week if she should start hoarding ammo. Yup, the right wingers have brainwashed her and I don't even recognize her.
This story enrages me.
Brad, thanks for posting.
COMMENT #24 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/12/2009 @ 7:32 am PT...
COMMENT #25 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/12/2009 @ 7:33 am PT...
LISA..SO YOU WANT TO PROSECUTE FOX NEWS AND YOUR SISTER TOO?
COMMENT #26 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/12/2009 @ 7:37 am PT...
WELL SAM i DO HAVE A FUNKY KEYBOARD AT HOME..AND I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO BE SO OFFENDED THAT YOU MISS THE POINT...HMMMM.GUESS YOU CAN'T MULTI-TASK.IE SEE BEYOND THE ERRANT CAPS KEY.
COMMENT #27 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/12/2009 @ 7:40 am PT...
LISA..i'd be willing to bet that if the shit hit the fan in this country..and people needed to use their second amendment rights for self-defense..you'd be scrambling to your sister's house for protection in one big trembling hurry..you know..she's the one with the ammo..or wait..you'd just stand there and say come and get me..I'm peaceful.I would never defend myself with anything other than my peace slogans..good luck.
COMMENT #28 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/12/2009 @ 7:42 am PT...
tonight at 10.on the radio
COMMENT #29 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:13 am PT...
"if the shit hit the fan in this country..and people needed to use their second amendment rights for self-defense."
It shouldn't need get to that point,
1. if we could actually have public oversight of our elections with an unbroken chain of custody, 2. if officials obeyed their oath of office, and it is clarified what to do when they break their oath, currently this is impossible with invisible electronic signals in all electronic vote tabulation devices
3. if Senators actually controlled the monetary system like they are supposed to,
4. the U.S. Constitution is restored
5. if corporate media could be held accountable by the fcc and the public using their public files to deny them frequency allocation and station license.
Also, with corporate media the way it is currently, it will be unclear when or if such a time comes to pass.
But if it does get to that point, your little 45ACP, or pump shotgun is not going to do a damn thing against troop/leo checkpoints, gas/bio/nukes, or 2000 lb bombs from the sky via gps from our children in the USAF.
They already have lists of who has weapons. While it would be bloody to go through those lists door to door, it could be argued it would be easier to just drop stuff from the sky on the correct address.
The problem we have is one of knowing right from wrong and acting appropriately. It's vague, it's un-clarified, it's against what us older generations grew up knowing in the heart.
I have forgot Christine, if you served or not. I have to agree with Brad, as veteran these people took oaths, to protect the U.S. Constitution, and it has been turned to a symbolic relic only to be followed when it's not interfering with corporate or publicly un-audit-able "state secret" agenda.
Back when I served there was a little word on my Military ID, it said "Geneva" --- it's basically an agreement that you don't do that crap to others and they won't do that crap to you.
Now we have guys like this being turned loose, after they have been through hell. You don't think he's pissed off? Should we start finding our soldiers with their penis cut off and sewed into their mouths hanging from the palm trees with propane torch marks and vice-grip pinches, no nails, and no teeth who is to blame?
Furthermore, who is profiting?
COMMENT #30 [Permalink]
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Lisa
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:14 am PT...
Christine,
I've been following this blog for about a year and I've never seen your comments until recently. Why pick a fight with every poster? So I had a typo, guilty...as you are.
Take a pill woman. You embarrass yourself, just like my sister.
Brad, thank you for your postings. Sorry I can't contribute right now. My husband and I are about to move and will be spending what's left of our 401k to get back to the states. We're non-military so we have to pay for this ourselves.
COMMENT #31 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:32 am PT...
"tonight at 10.on the radio"
I really ain't trying to pick a fight but...
Which radio frequencies?
Where?
Does it stream on the web?
The link is broken. christinecraft2yahoo.com/
COMMENT #32 [Permalink]
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CHRISTINE CRAFT
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:45 am PT...
LISA..I DON'T TAKE PILLS..other than the old daily aspirin.
about your misfortune in having to spend money to move back this country....you whine about the inconvenience and unfairness of it all..did you think America owes you the ticket back??
as for the radio tonight..just google.
COMMENT #33 [Permalink]
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CHRISTINE CRAFT
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:50 am PT...
AND ONE MORE THING LISA.. you say you've been posting for a long time ..good for you ..but are you some kind of time queen? I'll tell you what ..you decide for yourself when you are embarrassed and I will determine when I am..I'm not intimidated or embarrassed. buh-bye
COMMENT #34 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:54 am PT...
COMMENT #35 [Permalink]
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Paul McCarthy
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:37 am PT...
There is some happier news. Worthington reports that four of the detained Guantánamo Uighurs - the hapless Muslims from China who got caught up in the sweep and were never a part of anything --- have been resettled in Bermuda! That has got to be the most bizarre story that they'll be telling to their grandchildren --- "and this is how our family came to be living in Bermuda---" Worthington reports that the British Foreign office is making a big stink about it that seems to be puffery.
COMMENT #36 [Permalink]
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wow E.
said on 6/12/2009 @ 11:07 am PT...
'too old, too unattractive, and doesn't defer to men'----THAT Christine Craft?
COMMENT #37 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 11:07 am PT...
as for the radio tonight..just google.
Do I detect arrogance? (let's waste phil's time, not even say thanks, he works for free.)
Or is it apathy? (I don't give a fuck about my own show, either find it yourself or screw you.)
I can't believe this thread, but then I haven't exactly been perfect myself over the years. Then again, I haven't seen so many lies over the years.
It's kind of nasty to bitch about someone's 401k when effectively it's been turned into a 201k by thieves, ponsi schemes, banksters, over leveraging, lack of transparancy, corporate media lies, and not only was this fraud allowed by congress, but actually they promoted the fraud to happen more.
(Sarcasm)
But hey those green shoots are looking good now eh? The recession will be over by summer. There's no sub-prime problem, no prime problem, no math problem.
(/sarcasm)
I actually have a lot of respect for you Christine,
I followed you from Cesar Chavez Plaza to the steps of the capital. I made a music video for you. (you never followed up on that)
I know all this crap must make you angry, It does me too. But remember, in my opinion Brad basically started this blog because of electronic voting machines in the beginning. Cause we've effectively lost the right to vote because we can't count the vote. I've yet to hear most of the stations you've worked for in the past, shine a light on this problem...Contrarily they seem to now be promoting internet voting. (I am not saying you are the problem, I actually enjoyed your shows, and if I recall you seemed genuinely concerned about voting at the time.) and I got most of my respect for you during the small segment of time when KSAC went/was "progressive" but while a lot of us have grown immensely since then, we have watched as the results of election after election have erased the U.S. Constitution, allowed for wars, theft, torture and all manner of corruption which has moved into nearly every government agency now. We have had many dirty tricks play out on us, and some of us have died since then, yet those unconstitutional machines are still in place, subverting our constitutional republic, allowed more turds in the punch bowl.
Frankly I haven't heard your voice since the KSAC segments and programming, I figured you were taking care of your father. Glad to see your back. You've put more into this civics crap than I ever will. Only wish more people with access to broadcast frequencies would shine a light on the root of all these problems--electronic vote tabulation devices.
It would be nice to not have a fight with you on a website which has been beneficial to you over the last four or so years. Leave that nonsense for idiots like me who get drunk from frustration and the pain from no health care for 20+ years and spout off about it. I only have a non-profit (or a minus profit) public access show. The only way you can really tell that I care is by the title of my episodes, or the closing thanks at the end of my show.
I doubt half corporate media could survive, if they had to get their ass out there with a camera their self (no camera person), then edit their self, then render their self, then pay for their own website, and manage their own server, create their own art. Give me a tower, an RF transmitter, and an army of skilled editors, and a multi-million dollar budget, several servers, hundred thousand dollar HD cameras, trucks, satellites, and hell of bandwidth on the backbone and you would see electronic voting machine problems at 5PM, 10PM and streaming 24/7 . You would see light on corruption, a counter opinion to CNBC, Bloomberg, MSNBC,FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC and yeah even PBS. You'd hear what engineers are saying about the buildings that came down on September 11th. Problem is anyone who has that much money and power is going to be challenged by these blacklisted topics.
Essayons or BOHICA?
COMMENT #38 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 11:14 am PT...
'too old, too unattractive, and doesn't defer to men'----THAT Christine Craft?
Unbelievable... But yeah she put up with some of the nastiest shit in media back in the day.
COMMENT #39 [Permalink]
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Lizinbklyn
said on 6/12/2009 @ 12:49 pm PT...
I always knew Bush and Cheney were lying about the war and that's why I marched with other protesters on a really hot August day in Manhattan.
I don't want the photos released because I believe it will be used as recruitment and thus death to innocents, BUT I know the photos must be released. Torture was sanctioned and encouraged under Bush. Haven't we all been taught that 'no man is above the law' in this country?!!
Why do conservatives have a problem with truth on so many issues. V.P. Spiro Agnew was tried and convicted and leaders of other countries have been convicted of crimes. The world did not end and it won't end if Mr. Cheney's new residence winds up in Florence, Colorado!
COMMENT #40 [Permalink]
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CHRISTINE CRAFT
said on 6/12/2009 @ 1:15 pm PT...
well phil...you can listen to my show tonight at www.kgoradio.com 10p pdt. streaming or available in western third of Us, mexico, canada..on 810 am. all my colleagues who are lawyers in my office think they should be prosecuted too.
COMMENT #41 [Permalink]
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CHRISTINE CRAFT
said on 6/12/2009 @ 1:20 pm PT...
hey phil..i took care of my navy captain daddy til he died last year at age 92..he was 6'5" and in diapers for the last seven years..He lived in a perfectly sized cottage on my property here and we had lots of fun for the fourteen years he lived with me. I am a california applicant's attorney now..representing workers injured on the job against insurance companies like AIG..wanted to strangleoneof them this week. While the bush/cheeny team was in office..I fought them with every ounce of my being..now that the reeps have been defeated..I think it changes the equation..for example should obama be prosecuted for allowing renditions to continue? /Would that be good for the country?? should he be prosecuted for violating constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure..think the wiretaps that continue to this day? and yes, I am just a Navy brat..sworn to uphold the constituion as part of my oath administered by a federal judge when I passed the bar.
COMMENT #42 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 8:52 pm PT...
Sorry to hear about your father, I kind of thought your father might have been the real reason you left the air.
To be honest I don't agree with the "creeps" having been defeated. Their actions now speak louder than the (D) or (R) in front of their names. Effectively I don't see the difference.
There's only two senators I trust currently. Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul obviously neither one represents California. 2006 was the final straw for me voting party line for Senate, between Pelosi, Feinstein, and Matsui.
And in 2008 that did it for me for President.
Rendition must be stopped. yes.
Warrantless wiretapping must stop. yes.
DHS should be deactivated as they have done nothing but put us on lists, drive fear through state secrets.
Bush should have been impeached. And I have no problem with him facing a world court for war crimes.
Of course this is just my opinion. (as everything I say here is)
Sorry to see this thread go off there a bit, hopefully we are not fighting. But I think if folks knew you a little better, they would show some love. I kind of wanted to light a fire under ya for not posting your show info. Did it work? o)
Hey, Get a website!
(One not owned or controlled by your station)
For you, considering you have a lot of important history to talk about, I suggest a combination of static pages, and a small blog. It could just be show notes or what you are currently working on for the blog part. I am sure a lot of folks would be interested in hearing about the trying times you went through back at that station. (something other than wikipedia) Maybe even a loving dedication section to your father, and what all he did. Might deserve a website all on it's own. It's not something you'd have to (or even want to) do all at once, as I do understand your pretty busy already.
here's ol phil telling ya you need yet another set of bills and another giant confusing project in your plate --- AAAAAAACK!!
Seriously though, you have an interesting life. I bet folks would love to hear about it in more detail. Don't shut yourself off in your wise years, and don't allow other's to control your image. Be like me... Wreck it all on your own.
COMMENT #43 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 9:15 pm PT...
One other thing Christine, My cat and dog, and family thank you for the info on where to get clean food back when the melamine thing happened. At the time they were going through one of those bags of the bad stuff ™
Thanks. Seriously.
COMMENT #44 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:27 pm PT...
Yes. You go after Obama too!
COMMENT #45 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:29 pm PT...
No more D vs R.
It's RIGHT VS WRONG.
COMMENT #46 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:31 pm PT...
Obama inherited this crap. He has a choice to do the right thing. 100 days are up. Actions are the new measure.
COMMENT #47 [Permalink]
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Coleen Rowley
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:35 pm PT...
As Walter Mondale so aptly put it a few weeks ago: "the situation with torture is that we've put a loaded gun on the kitchen table for anyone to walk by and pick up." As he said this, there were at least a dozen--maybe I'm naive and there are several dozen--John Yoo wannabes in various law schools and law firms who are writing law reviews and "academic" papers expanding on the use of "dark side" tactics including targeted assassinations that Seymour Hersh warned about. These "dark side" tactics were previously considered to be illegal under international law or extremely murky and therefore risky if caught.
The wrong lesson that is unfortunately being learned from lack of accountability is that the "golden shield" legal memos will work to protect such wrongdoing.
COMMENT #48 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:47 pm PT...
The Torture photo's expose lack of discipline and accountability.
The discipline and accountability of which one of sound mind, and free will expects of someone taking an oath of loyalty, the discipline and accountability of someone who walks planet earth with the power to turn you into ash.
HONOR ITSELF.
Should we all just "Aim High" and start a shootin?
If not now when?
COMMENT #49 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:47 pm PT...
Yeah Defend Guns too.
We need Weapons.
COMMENT #50 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:48 pm PT...
It's not complex, it's right vs. wrong.
COMMENT #51 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:50 pm PT...
CLARIFY THE OATH OF OFFICE.
I rather see them prosecuted IN this country, but I wouldn't refuse externals who have a valid reason to extradite.
COMMENT #52 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 10:57 pm PT...
a jury of your "peers" if your peers are all corrupt is not a jury at all.
COMMENT #53 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 11:01 pm PT...
a jury of corrupt peers is a building block for fascism
Compare the comments to the time in your show.
TTYL Christine
COMMENT #54 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/12/2009 @ 11:07 pm PT...
TRT: 10:00 PM --- 11:00 PM
COMMENT #55 [Permalink]
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christine craft
said on 6/13/2009 @ 3:10 am PT...
no phil..i never left the air..I've been at kgo for sixteen years plus..i did the little local show..during the last three years of my father's life...getting a caretaker in for those few hours daily..locally..so I had some little time away from the pressures of constant caretaking, catheters, bathing, feeding, cleaning...etc. it almost killed me..but I adored my dad.
COMMENT #56 [Permalink]
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Phil
said on 6/13/2009 @ 5:52 am PT...
no phil..i never left the air..I've been at kgo for sixteen years plus
I didn't know.
My understanding was "progressive talk radio" died in Sacramento after KSAC went south with their wonderful programming changes. Remember this was just shortly after we lost our "Air America" station to ESPN. Frustrated, I made a how-to stream stations from the web through their homes via FM radio. I wasn't going to be listening to Rush, Savage, Beck, and all the others. I needed my Mike Malloy, Tom Hartman, Peter B, and Brad fix.
Currently there are zero progressive voices in Sacramento (I know of) on radio AM and FM. (With the possible exception of George Noory which is really a class all of it's own.) After KSAC went south, I started streaming "540 kHz (KXRA)", NOVA-M and Air America (less so) not everyone can do this for obvious reasons. With my radios now tuned to my home FM station, I wouldn't be looking for skip on AM, specifically KGO.
Many folks get only ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS. So it's no wonder there's no outrage and 95% of people on the street don't know what an "electronic vote tabulation device" is or how it's dangerous because it's exploitable.
All in all you had a pretty good show. Your right there are implications of prosecuting acting officials, but the message we send if we don't do anything is they can do anything they want. Not acceptable.
during the last three years of my father's life
Do me a favor one day Christine, sit and write some stuff about your father some time. Maybe the good stuff he did, Career, Childhood, and happier times you had with him, his message to the world, to us, etc. I am not saying leave out the reality of the hard ship at the end, perhaps balance it some.
My dad was a jerk, sperm donor. No story there other than what I just said in one incomplete sentence, I won't write about him. I have no opportunity like you. Occasionally, I write things about friend's lives. (Usually after they pass)
COMMENT #57 [Permalink]
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Fan of Coleen Rowley
said on 6/16/2009 @ 7:43 am PT...
Thank you, former FBI agent Rowley, for your very astute post which explains in a nutshell why these crimes need to be prosecuted ASAP. You are a real American.