Day of Shame posting has begun -- where are *your* recollections of 2/5/03?

[lwcon]

Each year, we commemorate -- on the anniversary of Colin Powell's UN presentation -- the political and media shame that brought us the Iraq War:

http://dayofshame.blogspot.com/

Where were you in '03? What do you remember, what did you think, what did you learn? And, most importantly, what does our country need to learn, so we never pass that way again?

Please share, K&R, etc., so that we never forget!

[Zywiec]

1. Isn't tomorrow the anniversary?

:shrug:

[lwcon]

2. Yup. But the holiday season is upon us!

In hopes that people will put together thoughtful recollections, I like to give y'all a heads-up.

Last year, the fifth anniversary, saw some great posting. I hope we can at least get a few more good ones to keep the political and media crimes away from the memory hole.

This year, my own posting consists of one today about Powell's brand getting burnished, and one tomorrow about my "brush with greatness" with Gwen Ifill, who is snottily unapologetic about the media's role in selling the war.

The first year (the fourth anniversary), I posted a more extensive slate of remembrances and analyses:
http://dayofshame.blogspot.com/2007/02/same-time-next-year.html

So... what did 2/5/03 mean to you?

[Rebubula]

3. Too many things to remember...

...This is one that I will forget.


There are so many other things to focus on these days.

How do we not get there again, you ask? Do not elect war mongering assholes to the highest office. Problem solved.

[lwcon]

5. Do not elect warmongering assholes like...

JFK and LBJ, for example?

Obama's VP and SoS whipped for the AUMF, and he hasn't exactly been a peacenik radical since his now-famous and then-obscure speech in 2002. In retrospect, he lurved The Surge, and he ran on a campaign of expanding the military, surge-ing in Afghanistan, unilateral strikes in Pakistan, promising that Jerusalem would be Israel's permanent capital, and claiming that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program (which even Bush's own intelligence apparatus couldn't get it up to claim) -- and all indications are that his brain trust would support unilateral attacks on Iran if those claims proved (or were otherwise believed) to be true.

So, sure, time to sound the all clear!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. I was sitting in my desk listening to his bullshit ass cartoon presentation.

It was a slow day day (or I guess I should say month) at the office so I spent the next 2 hours looking for information on the claims he made. By the time I got home that evenening I had concluded that it was all a combination of lies, half truths and weasel words.

[lwcon]

6. Boycott Globochem!?

But Pit Pat said he loves me!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. By "love" he means he wants to own you. ;-)

[lwcon]

9. Give up my Bag Hutch? Never!

Bag Hutch is made for bags!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

10. Well I have to admit that Ding Dong Burgers are fucking good. nt

[lwcon]

8. Are familiar with Bruce McCall, who does...

... a lot of almost-serious looking cartoons of ridiculous military gear, buildings, etc.?

Powell's graphics couldn't stop reminding me of those. It was almost like he wanted the whole thing to be a parody.

Then there was this graphic -- which was actually affixed atop his presentation on the White House website:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

11. Actually I'm not but I'm curious now. I'll see what I can find on him. nt

[lwcon]

12. Here are some samples of Bruce McCall's work

http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7307.html
http://us.macmillan.com/marveltown#interiors

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. Thanks. nt

[marlakay]

13. I remember watching and thinking he was lying

I didn't trust him.

[Lilith Velkor]

14. My best friend called me, sobbing, saying all is lost

I don't have a TV, so he told me what happened, and how all the media whores swallowed bullshit so transparent a child of 7 could see through it - my niece was 7 at the time, so that's how I know.

I became furious, and told him of my intention to march on the UN ten days later, and that I would buy him a bus ticket if he cared to join me. The next day, he said yes. Off we went.

Since then, I have learned that he was right that day, and that whatever the military industrial complex wants, it gets. Our country cannot learn otherwise, let alone stand up to it, because that would entail the destruction of at least one city to create another causus belli. (Never mind the destruction of our busiest port city, that was due to our resources being tied up in service to the MIC.)

Until and unless the empire falls, we will pass that way again and again.

[lwcon]

18. If you're not familiar with these blogs, you may find them up your alley

http://www.chris-floyd.com/
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/
http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/

[Lilith Velkor]

19. Silber rocks my world

I'll definitely check out the other two. :thumbsup:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

15. Right here on DU ---

reading the various posts that were destroying everything Powell was attempting to pass off on us. I remember that within 48 hours the entire presentation had been thoroughly debunked. :mad:

I tried to tell those around me what the truth was - they thought I had lost my mind. :(

What we need to learn as a country is the MSM is NOT out to act as a true informer of the American people -- they have an agenda, and that agenda in part is to keep us in the dark as much as possible while maintaining the illusion of journalistic credibilty.

We also need to understand that many of the leaders on our own "team" are willing to be complicit to maintain the power status quo.

And we need to pay attention even more to the Voices in the wilderness. These last 8 years showed us what real courage, real integrity, and real patriotism looks like -- those Voices will mostly be confined to the fringes of the Media, they will be made to look "crazy", they will most certainly be mocked the The Powers That Be, and they will stand strong and give hope to those who hear them for the truth they tell.

[lwcon]

17. How do you see things playing out under Obama?

There was an astounding culture of STFU during the primaries -- especially at DU -- for anyone who wanted more progressivism from Obama, which gave some of us a second dose of that "Voice in the Wilderness" feeling.

Now, a lot of people are scratching their heads about the post-partisanship, which was exactly what Obama promised, and one of many things one wasn't allowed to criticize.

And, other than the media losing their long enthusiasm for McCain during this election cycle, absolutely nothing has changed about them.

So, it seems like all we can do is hope that Obama will be a good president. There will be no legitimate accountability, simply noise and dirty tricks from the Republicans, and crap reporting -- and the risk that too many accommodations will be made to the failed "principles" of the Reagan Revolution.

We seem to have learned nothing, other than the public sending a clear message in the 2006 and 2008 elections that we're sick of the Republicans. The rhetoric and policies coming from the new administration and Congress so far are a mixed bag.

I'm not necessarily predicting that Obama won't generally "do the right thing," and Christ knows Rush Limbaugh's "rooting for him to fail" is completely repugnant. But it all seems so fragile, so weak on checks and balances, and the fucking Conservative agenda still hangs over far too much of the national debate.