Today's American Progress Cartoon + 'Under The Radar'

[Breeze54]

From: Center for American Progress Action Fund
Date: Tuesday, October 02, 2007

www.americanprogressaction.org

ETHICS -- BLACKWATER CEO ERIK PRINCE'S RIGHT-WING TIES RUN DEEP: Erik Prince, the CEO of Blackwater USA, is set to http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=cqMCs5LUzhFRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today, after the committee issued a http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=VbATKmXoDo1RQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">stinging memo yesterday revealing that Blackwater employees who engaged in shooting incidents in Iraq had http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CT9%2FkgxBnwCQ%2FcPN1oSMGV1%2FkI5fDGD%2B">fired first 84 percent of the time. The controversial firm, which was involved in a shootout in Iraq last month that left 11 Iraqis dead, has http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZHukHTa20chRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">long-standing ties to right-wing causes. Prince's father, Edgar Prince, "was instrumental in the http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=zt82z1c5ufxRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">creation of the Family Research Council, an influential right-wing Christian group. Furthermore, Erik Prince is the vice-president of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, a group founded by his parents that "http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=zGLtlNKHlANRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">gave at least $470,000 to the FRC and $531,000 to Focus on the Family," a conservative Christian group run by James Dobson. Prince has also donated http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=oxSTdgcq40lRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative causes including the American Enterprise Institute and the Prison Fellowship Ministries.


IRAQ -- ANALYSTS' ASSESSMENT OF IRAQ CONTINUES TO DIFFER FROM PETRAEUS: When Gen. David Petraeus testified before Congress, his statistics on violence in Iraq differed greatly from those of http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jUy584jJ4NBRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">government watchdogs and http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YlcTN5RBs8BRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">press accounts. Bloomberg reports today that defense analysts continue to question the http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=RHTkBQmOgVhRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">administration's portrayal of the situation in Iraq, particularly in the southern part of the country. For example, Petraeus "told two Senate committees that Shiites in the south were working out an 'Iraqi solution' to their problems and the British had done a 'good handoff' to Iraqi troops in Basra." But currently, there is a sectarian struggle for power in Basra and the "security environment in southern Iraq took a notable turn for the worse in August." The Shiites "are struggling for money and power in a form closer to criminal gangs than religious or political groups," observed Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In contrast, Petraeus stated, "There is an http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ONprG26z0NBRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">accommodation down there right now that is the kind of Iraqi solution to problems in the South that, you know, is mildly heartening." http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DHi7g0Owld5RQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">"I don't know which source he's using," said Government Accountability Office Comptroller David Walker last month of Petraeus's statistics.


ADMINISTRATION -- PUBLIC OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSES BUSH'S FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC PRIORITIES: A http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8gLN3%2BqeEV5RQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">Washington Post-ABC News poll released today shows that almost seven in ten Americans "http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LhoIzlCgTUJRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">oppose fully funding President Bush's $190 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....with 46 percent wanting it cut sharply or entirely." The poll shows most Americans are upset by Congress' inability to pass meaningful legislation to change policy in Iraq, but "by a 2 to 1 margin, those who see little accomplishment in Congress's first nine months blame the inaction on Bush." The poll also highlights the strong bipartisan support for the recently passed State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion. "Eighty-one percent of Democrats, 69 percent of independents and http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JsOe1ycpLOlRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">61 percent of Republicans are in favor" of the legislation that http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tQpcbcTaFJxRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">Bush has threatened to veto. These positions place Bush on the "http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LL6TwD8hdwdRQDIvBhdIezkrS5AZ4NXn">wrong side of public opinion on upcoming foreign and domestic policy battles." The poll also measured "Bush's approval rating at 33 percent, equal to his career low in Post-ABC polls."

[Breeze54]

1. Ok, be that way! I thought it was funny! Here's the other cartoon--

:P