I was drawn to this week's Rolling Stone, by its cover, which posed two questions I was eager to learn the answer to: Is George Bush the worst president in history (the answer: quite possibly), and is the new Bruce Springsteen CD worth checking out (the answer: of course). But it was another article that proved to be the must read of the issue, and one that I will not soon forget.

The article, by Paul Solotaroff, tells the story of Iraq Sgt. Scott Thorne, who, in September of 2004, was shot in the skull while in combat and remarkably survived. The article details the effects of his injury, both physically (he's partially blinded, suffers from seizures and has trouble stringing sentences of more that 5 words together), and on his loved ones (his wife and he divorced and his mother has been forced to leave her job to care for both her son and granddaughter).

She just doesn't get it. It's not the planning, it's the lying,
Mrs. C.

The U.S. illegally invaded Iraq in a war based on lies. Members of the administration are under indictment (Libby) and investigation (Rove) for their actions in trying to prevent the exposure of Bush's lies about WMD.

Yet all the junior senator from New York wants to know is, how we can plan better for future wars. From the AP:

Clinton, D-N.Y., who walks a political tightrope within her own party on the issue of the Iraq war, did not call for Rumsfeld to go, saying instead it is more important to find out what did or did not go wrong in planning the war....

While normally we wouldn't take a Fox News poll seriously, today we'll make an exception and offer our whole-hearted congratulations to George Bush as he hits a new low. Fox has him at 33% approval, with Republicans defecting in droves. With numbers like this, why do centrist Democrats continue to support his screwball policies?

In particular, why is the junior Senator from New York joining in the rush to war with Iran? When the President mumbles that "all options are on the table," including the nuclear option, it is the responsiblity of sane people to stand up and say NO. As RJ Eskow noted, " It will increase terrorism against us and spark a wider Holy War that will last for generations. Yet she's prepared to take that risk to increase her electoral chances. Is there no end to her cynical ambition?"

Join Us on Saturday, April 29, in New York City

Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic policies wreaking havoc at home. The times are urgent and we must act!
http://www.april29.org/

Next Saturday thousands of New Yorkers will take to the streets to stand up for what we believe in and voice our outrage at the disastrous policies enacted by a criminal administration and a complicit Congress.

The UFPJ March for Peace begins near Madison Square at noon and finishes near City Hall. The Tasini Team will be out in full force. Please join us. We'll meet at 23rd and 7th at 10:00 a.m. Call the office for details.

It's going to be a beautiful day!

Today's announcement that Scott McClellan is stepping down as press secretary and that Karl Rove will see a reduced role in terms of determining policy, is welcome news. After all, McClellan has spent the last 3 plus years trying to avoid answering any questions the press asks of him (and then not answering truthfully when actually taking a question), while Rove has brought playing dirty to a new art form. However as Howard Fineman notes, shuffling the deck isn't going to save this administration; only changing policy will, and if the last 6 years have taught us anything, it is that we won't be seeing a change in policy anytime soon.