Paul Luvera Journal

In spite of the election results, it appears President Bush has the same view about Iraq as he did before the election returns. He was quoted this week as saying: "There’s one thing I’m not going to do, I’m not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete…We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren." It’s misguided business as usual for the adminstration regarding Iraq. This President, as commander in…

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"Doublespeak" means the use of words to disguise actual facts. To make it appear things are different then they actually are. The word is usually connected to George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four, but the novel really doesn’t use that word which was coined in the 1950’s. However, the novel clearly expressed the idea and did use words like "doublethink." The concept certainlly applies to this administration. Politicians and government have always used double talk, but this administration has demonstrated…

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Some 17 years ago, the Rev. Pat Robertson founded the Christian Coalition of America and worked with Ralph Reed to make it a powerful Republican political force. At the same time Republican strategists targeted fundamentalist, Pentecostal and evangelical churches to expand the base of the party. In fact the Coalition website says that it is the largest and most active "conservative grassroots political organization in America." It claims to offer "people of faith the vehicle to be actively involved in…

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The New York Daily News has reported that there is a drive to raise $500 Million for a Presidential Library to house George W. Bush presidential materials. The presidential library system is administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It was formed in 1939 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt donated his presidential materials. While the libraries are run and funded by the NARA, the building costs must be funded by…

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1912 as honorable organization to help American business interests. Today, however, it has become a front organization to influence the election of judges and to engage in a national covert campaign to influence the outcome of judicial and other elections but at the same time, keeping the real source of the money it uses, secret. It’s purpose is to cripple the American civil justice system in favor of big business. It has…

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Democrats sweep U.S. elections, Rumsfeld resigns

Joseph Goebbels taught: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth…

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I think it obvious that John Kerry was trying to be witty in his California speech, but once again flubbed his script lines as he did so many times when running for office. I think it equally obvious he would not plan to say something demeaning about the troops while helping Democractic candidates running for office, but rather said something that came out different then he intended. But, unfortunately, he unnecessarily became a huge distraction the Republicans seized upon to…

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Gary Trudeau has an amusing comic strip while courageously commenting on political issues as he sees them. His strips make fun of illogical spins. His comic strip is not only funny, but right on the mark. He recently focused on the idea that  2,700 dead and 20,000 wounded troops flies in the face of the mantra that the war is a "small price to pay to make the world a less dangerous place to live." He also attacked the idea…

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FRAMING THE ISSUES UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff has written articles and published books on the significance of using language to frame issues and in particular how the Republicans and right wing conservatives have employed this technique to conceal their true intent. Frank Luntz wrote the play book for the Republicans on framing has developed many of the popular Republican framing of issues. For example, the Republican frame for "trial lawyer" is "frivolous lawsuits" that run up the cost…

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