ON FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF IRAQ INVASION FRONTLINE PRESENTS DEFINITIVE CHRONICLE OF BUSH'S WAR ON TERROR

FRONTLINE presents BUSH'S WAR
March 24 & 25, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

From the horror of 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq; the truth about WMD to the rise of an insurgency; the scandal of Abu Ghraib to the strategy of the surge -- for six years, FRONTLINE has revealed the defining stories of the war on terror in meticulous detail, and the political dramas that played out at the highest levels of power and influence.

Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, 2008, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). Veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (The Lost Year in Iraq, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richestarchives in broadcast journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reportson the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.

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North Texas peace activists participated in and some were also uh ---let's just say detained - at 5th year in Iraq War actions and rallies in Washington, DC as well as across the metroplex.

Cries Against War Sparse But Fierce

Fewer Than 1,000 Protest, 33 Arrested In Scattered Displays in the District By Michael E. Ruane

Washington Post Staff Writer hursday, March 20, 2008; Page B01

There was a brass band of protesters dressed in green. There was a woman in a pink bed being pushed through busy downtown D.C. intersections. There were demonstrators in black who lay down in the middle of the street. But in the end, there weren't that many of them, and yesterday's 12-hour protest of the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war created only minor disruptions across Washington and appeared to have been among the smallest such demonstrations in the city since the war began.

Dallas clergy reflect on Iraq war

Dallas Morning New

05:08 PM CDT on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By ERIN HAGAN / The Dallas Morning News

Local clergy gathered Wednesday on the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war to reflect on the toll of the violence and to hope for peace. The war has claimed the lives of almost 4,000 U.S. military members. More than 29,300 U.S. service members have been wounded, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.

About 50 protest war in Dallas' Dealey Plaza

11:54 PM CDT on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning News
A few dozen sign-toting war protesters, one in a monkey costume with a Bush mask. Not your typical fare for Dealey Plaza - even for Dallasites used to the curious onlookers and conspiracy theorists who dot the grassy knoll daily.

The 50 or so Dallas protesters were among a few hundred nationwide who blocked traffic and government buildings in Washington acted out a Baghdad street scene in Syracuse, N.Y., and banged drums in a parade through San Francisco on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  Dallas Air America photo here

Star-Telegram staff writer- ARLINGTON -- On the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, two groups faced off across Collins Street on Wednesday, one calling for military victory, the other for troops to come home as soon as possible

Both groups waved at passing motorists to honk their horns in support. Many motorists complied, but it was difficult to tell which side they were honking for.

The bring-them-home group included about three dozen people.

"We could do much better things with the money we are now spending on bombs and bullets," said Len Ellis, 58, co-director of the Arlington Peace and Justice Center.

**Dan reports in : Although I did not take pictures, Peace Action Denton hosted a fairly good event in front of Burgess office on March 19th. We got it posted on moveon.org, myspace and a few others.

WE have sponsored an action on every anniversary since the inception of this war. the first year we worked together with NTJP and Dallas Peace Center to hold a rally in Crawford. Later years we hosted a march or a rally at Denton Square. We typically had crowds of about 100. Last year we ran a Blood drive in conjunction with our rally. All blood collected went to the VA hospital.

This year we moved the action to Lewisville at Burgess office. We only had around 50 participates and 5 counter protesters. It was held from 4:00pm to 7:00 to catch the evening traffic slow down. With banners and 50 people spread across front of 1660 N. Stemmons, We made a nice looking rally. Considering there were about 5 other simultaneous actions across DFW area, I think a crowd of 50 was a decent turn out. I was hoping the democratic candidate running against Burgess would show up. Tim Barnwell , who ran against Burgess in 06, has freaquently supported our actions. We did have at least one candidate show up. John McClelland who is running for State Rep District 64  

Regards, Dan Burnam

Peace Action Denton / Veterans for Peace/ Precinct 116 Chair

Most people have the sense that there was something bizarre and surreal about the sudden coordinated FBI and US news media attack on New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Meanwhile, the US news media remained characteristically clueless about why Spitzer was taken out. It's simple.

He had the goods on Bush administration collusion with predatory lenders and was preparing a case that would have tied the administration directly to wide spread fraud and criminality in the lending business. 

Full details here exclusive to Brasscheck TV.

Our monthly services are held on the first Sunday of every month at theWyndham Hotel DFW Airport Northin Irving, located at the corner of Hwy. 114 (John Carpenter Freeway) at Esters Blvd. and we start promptly at 10:30 AM. (Visit our web page for more information).

Come visit the only church that teaches physics in its Sunday School, North Texas'Fellowship for Unbelievers!

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
As the board of election in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where Cleveland is located, launches an investigation into illegal crossover voting in the state's 2008 presidential primary, a big open question remains unanswered: Will county officials go after the ringleaders of apparently illegal electioneering where thousands of Republican voters swore -- under penalty of law -- allegiance to the Democratic Party in order to vote for Hillary Clinton?

In case you missed it, Rush Limbaugh, the nation's top-rated talk radio host, was urging Republicans in Texas and Ohio to skip their party's primary on March 4 and instead cast a vote for Hillary Clinton in order to prolong the fight between her and Barack Obama. And that Tuesday, as media in both states reported, thousands of Republicans did just what Limbaugh and others had suggested -- they changed parties to vote for Clinton.

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From a Dallas County Democratic Party email entitled: Rumor Control!

Did Republicans vote in our primary?

Yes, voter history lookups show about 9% of our voters had Republican primary histories. However, exit polls show they split almost evenly. Essentially they cancelled each other out, and let us make our own choice. They were no more competent at trying to interfere in our primary than they have been trying to run our economy.

We've heard a lot about Obama's former pastor,  Rev. Wright this week, but what do you know about "The Family" ?

Have you always thought the National Prayer Breakfast sounded nice ? Think again ---

"Just when we thought the Christian right was crumbling, Jeff Sharlet delivers a rude shock: One of its most powerful and cult-like core groups, the "Family," has been thriving and even drawing in Democrats like Hillary Clinton. Sharlet's book is one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you'll ever read-- just don't read it alone at night!"

--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Dancing in the Streets

They are "the Family"-fundamentalism's avant-garde, waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. They consider themselves the "new chosen," congressmen, generals, and foreign dictators who meet in confidential "cells," to pray and plan for a "leadership led by God," to be won not by force but through "quiet diplomacy." Their base is a leafy estate overlooking the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia, and Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have written from inside its walls.

The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power-not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the Far Right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host prayer breakfasts; in private they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao, the Family's currently leader declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

By Barbara Ehrenreich

Huffington Post

There's a reason why Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during
the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah
Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she's a lot more
vulnerable than Obama.

You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September
2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported
that "through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active
participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a
secretive Capitol Hill group known as the "Fellowship," aka The Family. But it
won't be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet's shocking exposé, The Family:
The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published
in May.

Read on

Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics

By Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet

Mother Jones
September 1, 2007

It was an elegant example of the Clinton style, a rhetorical maneuver subtle, bold, and banal all at once. During a Democratic candidate forum in June, hosted by the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, Hillary Clinton fielded a softball query about Bill's infidelity: How had her faith gotten her through the Lewinsky scandal?

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Meet 'The Family'

By Anthony Lappé,

Guerrilla News Network
June 13, 2003,

It sounded like a reality show on the PAX network: Six conservative politicians living in a DC townhouse owned by a fundamentalist Christian organization. What happens when you stop being polite and start finding Jesus?

In April, the AP broke the story that six U.S. congressmen were paying the bargain rate of $600 a month each to live together in a swanky DC townhouse owned by a secretive fundamentalist Christian group known as the Fellowship or the Foundation. Many, understandably, were curious. Who is this organization, and what is its agenda?

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Jesus plus nothing: Undercover among America's secret theocrats

By Jeffrey Sharlet

Harpers

March 2003

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

-Matthew 10:36

This is how they pray: a dozen clear-eyed, smooth-skinned "brothers" gathered together in a huddle, arms crossing arms over shoulders like the weave of a cable, leaning in on one another and swaying like the long grass up the hill from the house they share. The house is a handsome, gray, two-story colonial that smells of new carpet and Pine-Sol and aftershave; the men who live there call it Ivanwald. At the end of a tree-lined cul-de-sac, quiet but for the buzz of lawn mowers and kids playing foxes-and-hounds in the park across the road, Ivanwald sits as one house among many, clustered together like mushrooms, all devoted, like these men, to the service of Jesus Christ.

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rationalradio.org

 

Faces of the fallen: U.S. deaths in Iraq near 4,000

By Rick Hampson and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

One in six were too young to buy a beer. About two dozen were old enough for an AARP card. Eleven died on Thanksgiving Day, 11 on Christmas and at least five on their birthdays. One percent were named Smith.

As the nation approaches its 4,000th Iraq war fatality - on Thursday the toll stood at 3,983 service members plus eight Defense Department civilians - a USA TODAY analysis shows who gave their lives, where they came from and how they fell:

· Ninety-eight percent were male (compared with 99.9% of those lost in Vietnam). Three-quarters were non-Hispanic white (compared with 86% in Vietnam). The most common age was 21 (20 in Vietnam).

· Nine percent were officers, including 24 lieutenant colonels and six colonels.

· More of the fallen were based at Fort Hood in Texas than at any other military installation.

UNT to present debate between Terry McAuliffe, Dan Bartlett

What: "Presidential Race Outlook Debate" -- The University of North Texas Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring Terry McAuliffe, current chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and Dan Bartlett, former counselor to President George W. Bush.

When: April 1 (Tuesday), 8 p.m.

Where: Murchison Performing Arts Center, located on the north side of Interstate 35 East at North Texas Boulevard, UNT campus

Cost: $20 for members of general public. UNT faculty, staff members and students will each receive two free tickets with university identification.

Tickets available at the Union Information Center on the third level of UNT's University Union, (940) 565-3805, or at the Murchison Center box office, (940) 369-7802. Tickets must be picked up prior to the evening of the lecture.

Contact: For more information, call the Distinguished Lecture Series at (940) 565-4373.

Election '08: How Green Is Your Candidate?

Interviews, fact sheets, and other material "on the [2008] presidential candidates' energy plans and environmental positions." Includes details about voting records, comments, and positions on greenhouse gas emissions, coal power plants, nuclear power, fuel economy standards, and other energy and environmental topics. From Grist magazine; interviews are in conjunction with Outside magazine.

Economic Choices '08:
Compilation of reports, commentary, and blog entries providing "analysis of the business and economic impact of the 2008 [presidential] election." Some of the topics discussed are health care, NAFTA, mortgages and real estate foreclosures, investing, and taxes. From the "Nightly Business Report," a public television program that provides "business news in a fast-paced format."