American Politics Journal -- Attack of the DINOs

Attack of the DINOs
Selling out country and party -- just because they can!
PLUS! Tamara Reviews the JulieFest 2002 Video
by Tamara Baker

June 22, 2002 -- This was originally going to be a column on the excellent Kent Bye/Bartcop JulieFest 2002 video, which is available at Bartcop.com. And I will get around to talking about it. But I just saw something this morning that made me so angry that I have to deal with that first.

You see, dear reader, up until about fifteen minutes ago, I actually thought that John Edwards might make a good Democratic candidate for President.

Not anymore.

Not after reading Joe Conason's barn-burner of an article in this morning's Salon.

Here's the deal:

Several voices, Republican and Democrat, have asked for an independent commission, free of any partisan taint, to study the events before and after 9/11. Instead, we are getting -- and will, unless we make ourselves heard, continue to get -- a closed-doors Congressional "probe" that will likely be about as useful as teats on a boar hog, given the history of the Congressional oversight committees in charge of intelligence and security.

The thousands upon thousands of survivors in New York City and Washington, DC -- not to mention the next of kin of the passengers on the hijacked airplanes -- want an independent commission.

Experts in the intelligence and security fields want an independent commission, because, as Conason states, "the limited scope of the congressional investigation will fail to address important concerns such as transportation security and immigration, among others."

So why is John Edwards so dead-set against it?

Because then he and certain of his Senator buddies, like Florida's Bob Graham of Florida, Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Dianne Feinstein of California, won't be able to control the investigation.

And if they can't control the investigation, they can't get all that lovely free face time on national TV.

I can understand why the Dems, traditionally outfunded and outspent by the GOP, would want extra free face time to give them a boost in their Senate and Presidential campaigns. But to do it at the expense of our national security?

As I mentioned earlier, I actually liked John Edwards.

But now, now that he has been revealed to be yet another DINO -- "Democrat in Name Only" -- I wouldn't vote for him for dogcatcher. People like John Edwards are what makes it so easy for Nader, using the millions in TV ads and other aid given him by Republican interests, to attack the Democrats for being identical to the GOP. As long as John Edwards and his fellow DINOs continue to put their own agendas well ahead of their country's safety, I cannot in clear conscience support them.

Now, on to a much more pleasant subject:

If you haven't done so already, go send in your $25 (more, if you can -- and you should!) to Bartcop so you can pick up the JulieFest 2002 video, which was filmed by up-and-coming independent filmmaker Kent Bye.

I wasn't able to make JulieFest because of family issues, and watching this tape only made me that much more upset that I wasn't there.

Here are the highlights, as I saw them:

David Brock talking about how Julie, despite everything, can actually sleep at night with a clear conscience because she did the right thing. As Brock says, with a "been there, done that" look on his face, he knows of several members of the right-wing attack machine, the machine of which he used to be a big part, that have trouble sleeping at night because of the things they've done, and still do.

Joe Conason taking the podium -- and the look of surprise on his face to hear a friendly crowd yelling his name. (Joe, as most of you know, has spent a lonely career being the Diogenes of the US media. He's not used to receiving well-earned adulation.)

Julie's little boy, Adam, caught off-guard with a mouthful of food, being called up to the podium, and shyly holding onto his mom. (Adam's the little boy that Ken Starr tried to take away from Julie.) Julie told the crowd about how Adam was picked on at school by the other kids in Richmond, on orders from their Republican parents.

There's much, much, MUCH more -- including seeing Bartcop for the first time (Bart blushes so becomingly when Julie hauls his Okie butt onto the podium!).

Anyone who wants a copy of this tape should send $25 to
      JulieFest 2002
      PO Box 54466
      Tulsa, OK 74155
or PayPal to bartcop@bartcop.com. All the proceeds are going straight to Julie.

Plus, as an extra added bonus, Kent Bye has included another of his masterpieces, the film "Handicamp". "Handicamp" describes a week in the lives of several persons at a Lutheran-run camp for the mentally retarded. It's a funny, poignant and wonderful film. If you liked JulieFest, you'll like this film, too.