Month: March 2004

FRIST VS. CLARKE

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date March 27, 2004

Excerpts from Floor Speech by the Senate Majority Leader attacking the former counter-terrorism chief’s testimony (3-26-2004)

There has been much fulminating in the media and by some senators on the other side about a new book by a former State Department civil servant named Richard Clarke. In this book, released for sale by the parent company of the CBS network, Mr. Clarke makes the outrageous charge that the Bush administration, in its first seven months in office, failed to adequately address the threat posed by Osama bin Laden. . . .

There are five points that I find absolutely inexplicable about Mr. Clarke’s performance this past week.

First, in an e-mail to the national security adviser four days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Clarke expressed alarm that when the era of national unity begins to crack, an effort to assign responsibility for the 9/11 attacks will begin. In that e-mail, Mr. Clarke proceeds to lay out in detail a defense of his own actions before the attack and those of the entire administration.

Mr. Clarke was clearly consumed by the desire to dodge any blame for the 9/11 attacks, while at that same moment rescuers were still searching the rubble of the World Trade Center for survivors. In my mind this offers perfect insight as to what drove him to write his book.

Second, in the August of 2002 interview I just referred to [a background briefing Mr. Clarke gave to reporters], Mr. Clarke gave a thorough account of the Bush administration’s active policy against Al Qaeda. Mr. Clarke now explains away that media performance by suggesting that he was simply telling lies in an interview as a loyal administration official.

A loyal administration official? Does Mr. Clarke understand the gravity of the issues being reviewed by the 9/11 commission and the gravity of the charges he has made? If, in the summer of 2001, he saw the threat from Al Qaeda as grave as he now says it was, and if he found the response of the administration as inadequate as he now says it was, why did he wait until the Sunday, March 21, 2004, to make his concerns known?

There is not a single public record of Mr. Clarke making any objection whatsoever in the period leading up to or following the 9/11 attacks. No threat to resign. No public protest. No plea to the president, the Congress, or the public, to heed the advice he now says was ignored. If Mr. Clarke held his tongue because he was loyal, then shame on him for putting politics above principle. But if he has manufactured these charges for profit and political gain, he is a shame to this government.

I, myself, have fortunately not had the opportunity to work with such an individual who could write solicitous and self-defending e-mails to his supervisor, the national security adviser, and then by his own admission lie to the press out of a self-conceived notion of loyalty only to reverse himself on all accounts for the sale of a book.

Third, Mr. Clarke has told two entirely different stories under oath. In July 2002, in front of the Congressional joint inquiry on the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Clarke testified under oath that the administration actively sought to address the threat posed by Al Qaeda during its first seven months in office.

It is one thing for Mr. Clarke to dissemble in front of the media. But if he lied under oath to the United States Congress, it is a far more serious matter. As I mentioned, the intelligence committee is seeking to have Mr. Clarke’s previous testimony declassified so as to permit an examination of Mr. Clarke’s two different accounts. Loyalty to any administration will be no defense if it is found that he has lied before Congress.

Fourth, notwithstanding Mr. Clarke’s efforts to use his book first and foremost to shift blame and attention from himself, it is also clear that Mr. Clarke and his publishers adjusted the release date of his book in order to make maximum gain from the publicity around the 9/11 hearings. Assuming the controversy around this series of events does in fact drive the sales of his book, Mr. Clarke will make quite a bit of money for his efforts.

I find this to be an appalling act of profiteering, trading on his insider access to highly classified information and capitalizing upon the tragedy that befell this nation on Sept. 11, 2001. Mr. Clarke must renounce any plan to personally profit from this book.

Finally, It is understandable why some of the families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks find Mr. Clarke’s performance appealing. Simple answers to a terrible tragedy; to the very human desire to find an answer why; why on that beautiful fall day two and one half years ago a series of events happened that shattered their lives forever.

In his appearance before the 9/11 commission, Mr. Clarke’s theatrical apology on behalf of the nation was not his right, his privilege or his responsibility. In my view it was not an act of humility, but an act of supreme arrogance and manipulation. Mr. Clarke can and will answer for his own conduct, but that is all.

Opinion Viewpoint

Shredded

Post author By Richard Cohen
Post date March 26, 2004

Pity poor George Bush. For some reason, he has been beset by delusional aides who, once they leave the White House, write books containing lies, exaggerations and — this is the lowest blow of all — do not take into account the president’s genius and all-around wisdom.

The latest White House aide to betray the president is Richard Clarke, who was in charge of counterterrorism before and after the attacks of 9/11. He says Bush “failed to act prior to September 11 on the threat from al Qaeda.”

As with former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, another fool who had somehow risen to become chairman of Alcoa, Clarke’s account of his more than two years in the Bush White House was immediately denounced by a host of administration aides, some of whom — and this is just the sheerest of coincidences — had once assured us that Iraq was armed to the teeth with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

Among them, of course, was Condoleezza Rice, who on Monday insisted in a Washington Post op-ed essay that Bush not only did everything just right, but so, really, did Bill Clinton. Both administrations “worked hard,” she writes.

Clarke, however, says the Bush administration not only belittled the terrorist threat — China and missile defense were its initial preoccupations — but took its own sweet time coming to grips with al-Qaeda.

From the start, he says, certain White House aides were fixated on Iraq, and after September 11th, apparently so was Bush. He said he encountered the president the next night in the Situation Room. “See if Saddam did it,” the president ordered.

“But Mr. President, al-Qaeda did this,” Clarke says he replied. The president persevered: “I know, I know, but … see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred.”

As Rice did prior to her Post article, Vice President Cheney’s chief aide, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, virtually blamed the Clinton administration for September 11th. In a New Yorker interview in 2002, he listed terrorist attacks on U.S. or allied interests going back to 1993 and concluded that America had shown only weakness in response.

The United States did do precious little. But it took awhile to stir the U.S. and pinpoint bin Laden. That juncture was reached during the Clinton administration when, among other things, an attempt was made to kill bin Laden with missiles. If the Clinton administration had indeed acted slowly, what can then be said about the Bush administration, which had been specifically warned by Clinton aides about al-Qaeda? Clarke says he asked for a Cabinet-level meeting or access to the president to discuss the al-Qaeda threat. For eight months, he got neither.

Instead, he says, the administration was obsessed with Saddam. As did O’Neill, Clarke says that the September 11th attacks were viewed by some high administration officials as an opportunity (pretext?) for going after Saddam. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz wondered out loud why so much attention was being paid to bin Laden when Iraq was the clear danger. Iraq was on the table by September 12th.

The White House has opened its guns on Clarke. He is being contradicted and soon, as with poor O’Neill, his sanity and probity will be questioned. It’s getting to be downright amazing how former White House aides tell the same tale — a case, the White House wants us to believe, of hysteria or unaccountable betrayal. I’d like to believe my president, but as Clarke quotes him in a different context, “I’m looking for any shred.”

As with Saddam, it doesn’t exist.

Richard Cohen is a columnist for The Washington Post.

Editorial Opinion

Word to the Wise

Post author By Editorial
Post date March 26, 2004

First-term City Council member Carol Chumney, who either knows something the rest of the political world has forgotten or is showboating to the point of reckless self-caricature, was a surprise add-on to the aftermath of the County Commission’s Monday-morning committee vote approving the University of Memphis basketball Tigers’ move to FedExForum.

After Shelby County mayor A C Wharton, University of Memphis president Shirley Raines, and university athletic director R.C. Johnson had each faced the mass of cameras, mikes, and reporters in a packed hallway, Chumney took her turn — saying, in essence, that the council would give the matter, including some controversial financial proposals, proper consideration.

That Chumney chose to speak, in essence, on behalf of the council was, to say the least, an irony and probably a presumption. The former state legislator has angered several of her council mates by the combination of her general assertiveness, unusual for a newcomer, and specific criticisms of what she considered her colleagues’ “petty” behavior in their ongoing, now largely dormant, conflict with Mayor Willie Herenton. She has also been accused of overworking and abusing the council staff.

For all of the above, she took a highly public verbal walloping last week — first, in a committee meeting from Councilman E.C. Jones and council chairman Joe Brown, and later, in the council’s regular public session, from Edmund Ford, who was angered by Chumney’s challenge to a council move channeling federal funds to Clayborn Temple AME Church as a historic site.

That stand, like her proposal last week to abolish liberal pension arrangements for city employees, had at least a surface logic. On the Clayborn matter, she expressed concern about the use of public money on behalf of a church and wanted assurances the public would somehow gain additional access from the expenditures. (Plans are apparently under way to convert the antique facility, famous for being one of the venues hosting Dr. Martin Luther King in the days before his 1968 assassination, into a community resource center.) And Chumney is right to challenge a three-year-old pension arrangement that is a potential boondoggle for political appointees, allowing anyone with 12 years’ service, appointive or elected, to qualify for full city pension benefits.

The problem with these and other proposals is that they are, for better and for worse, almost inextricably bound up with the personality and impact of Chumney herself, who in the best of circumstances cannot be accused of bashfulness and is all too vulnerable these days to accusations of grandstanding. In her self-publicizing efforts, indeed, she sometimes appears to be the deer who races in front of the headlights and chooses to stare into them. Giving Councilwoman Chumney the benefit of the doubt as to motive, we would nevertheless urge her to exercise both caution and collegiality in the pursuit of her goals.

And we wish she had stayed around to observe some of the later commission business on Monday — notably, an extended discussion by commissioners on the eligibility requirements for youths seeking county-funded summer employment. Some thought a minimum grade-point average was necessary. Others discounted altogether the need for such a provision, on the grounds that already underprivileged applicants would be further handicapped by a GPA requirement. The arguments on all sides got very sophisticated indeed, and they crossed all party and racial lines. In the end, after a good deal of eloquent and impassioned exploration of the very purposes of publicly provided summer jobs, a compromise was reached which seemed to satisfy the entire body.

Nobody ego-tripped. Nobody insisted on getting his or her way. Nobody was dismissive of the motives or actions of anybody else. And they finally agreed.

Music Music Features

Sound Advice

Post author By
Post date March 26, 2004

At first glance, local singer-songwriter S.J. Tucker (aka Skinny White Chick), with her long brown hair and petite frame, looks like a nice, shy girl — the type of girl who lives in your apartment complex and only quietly mumbles hello when you run into her in the parking lot. But when she straps on her acoustic guitar and opens her mouth to sing, you can see her almost morph into a magical fairy creature with a voice so bold she demands the attention of all the animals in the forest.

On Sunday, March 28th, she’ll be releasing her first full-length album, Haphazard, with a kick-off party at the Beethoven Club, followed by an after-party at the Memphis Lesbian and Gay Community Center.

Oft-compared to Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, and Joni Mitchell, Tucker’s music is a mix of haunting lyrics and folksy guitar. She classifies herself as a pagan singer-songwriter, and many of her songs touch on goddess-oriented, Earth-worshipping themes. Think of it as the equivalent of gospel music, minus the out-of-tune congregation and bad choir robes.

Tucker first picked up her mom’s guitar at age 3 in her hometown of Dumas, Arkansas. By 12, she had learned to play, and at 14, she wrote her first song. Before her move to Memphis in 2001, she recorded a six-song demo to hand around town. She was quickly discovered by Zarr Entertainment, which helped her put out another demo. The sales of that demo provided her with the funds to record Haphazard.

She’s now flying solo, handling everything from marketing her CDs to arranging and promoting her shows, and she says Sunday’s show promises to be the biggest one yet. So, head on over to the Beethoven Club, sit back, and be enchanted. — Bianca Phillips

Many artists have attempted to mine the rich musical tradition of Weimar Germany. The Doors brought the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht into the rock idiom, and after her voice became ravaged and raw, Marianne Faithfull became perhaps the greatest modern interpreter of Weimar-era song since Lotte Lenya. With the release of Swordfish Trombones (and later The Black Rider, Alice, and Blood Money), Tom Waits proved that he was a master of this style, with a ragged sound as modern as it was primitive. But even the incomparable Waits was still doing an imitation of the original masters.

The Dresden Dolls — a jarring but brilliant piano and drum duo with powerful female vocals and a remarkably sophisticated song bag — have embraced the lurching, angular rhythms of Weill/Brecht and the decadent spirit of post-WWI Berlin, but there is nothing retro or imitative about their sound. Blending willful silliness with pathos and a ravenous carnality, they comment on modern love, hate, and everything in between. And they do so in ways both grand and unexpected. “Coin Operated Boy” is hands down the most whimsical ode to loneliness since Mo Tucker sang, “If you close the door, the night could last forever.” If you’re sick of the same-o, don’t miss the Dresden Dolls when they play the Caravan on Friday, March 26th.

If you’ve been looking for a band that can conjure up the spirit of the Voidoids, the Velvet Underground, and maybe even a little bit of Motown all in the span of one two-minute pop assault, then you’ll want to see The Ponys at the Hi-Tone on Friday, March 26th, with The Lost Sounds. Or for a similar kick you might want to make the CD-release party for The Used To Be, who slouch a little more in the direction of the Dead Boys. They’ll be at the Hi-Tone on Saturday, March 27th, with The Subteens. If, on the other hand, you’ve been looking for a group that kinda-sorta reminds you of the Cult, then you’ve got to see Yes No Maybe at Newby’s on Saturday, March 27th. For something completely different, there’s Dani Linnetz, who sounds a wee bit like Natalie Merchant doing a tribute to every folk-tinged chick-rocker of the 1990s. She’ll be at Java Cabana on Friday, March 26th.

Halfacre Gunroom may not be the next big thing in Memphis, but they should be. Irresistible Southern-flavored pop melds seamlessly with traditional country influences (think Big Star meets Haggard) to create a sound that is altogether unique in the Mid-South. To make a fairly lame comparison, Halfacre has the same appeal as early R.E.M., and their shows are positively jubilant. They will be at the Young Avenue Deli on Friday, March 26th, with Dex Romweber of Flat Duo Jets fame. Go give these new kids on the block a little love. They’ll give it right back. — Chris Davis

Music Music Features

A Breath of Fresh Air

Post author By Bianca Phillips
Post date March 26, 2004

House DJ legend Dave London is on the turntables when I step into Stop 345. A guy in a leopard costume is hugging on a couple of glittered-up girls in skimpy outfits. Another guy, sporting silver face paint and dressed as some sort of Aztec Sun God, wanders through the crowd, holding his oversized headpiece to keep it from falling off. NRGLuv Productions is throwing a party called “How Memphis Got Its Groove Back,” and throughout the building, kids are partying.

But I’m not here for that. I’m on a mission to find a good rush — an oxygen rush. Local entrepreneurs Kelly Derscheid and Robin Kendall of Oxygen Rush have set up their mobile oxygen bar at the club, and I’m here to give it a try.

There’s no one sitting at the eight sleek silver chairs positioned in front of the bar, so I plop down. An attendant takes my five dollars and hands me a lime-green nose cannula that looks like one of those plastic things you see in people’s nostrils in the hospital. He hooks it to a small silver machine with four tubes of brightly colored liquid.

In the tubes are four different flavors of oxygen — Eucalyptus, Cloud Lime, Lavender, and the Beach (a wisteria blend) — and the attendant tells me I’ve got five minutes to try them all. By flipping a switch underneath each tube, I can turn each flavor on or off at will.

I place the cannula in my nostrils and turn on the eucalyptus. A surge of mentholated air shoots up my nose, and I’m whisked back to my childhood days of Vicks VapoRub. Next I try the lavender and a soothing calm comes over me. Give me a pillow and I could probably go to sleep if it weren’t for that bass-pumping techno blasting in my ears. The lime and wisteria flavors are crisp and tropical, but I just keep going back to that invigorating eucalyptus.

A guy walks up to the bar, takes a look at me, and giggles. At that point, I realize how silly I must look hooked to a machine by my nose. Then he hooks up too. My five minutes are over, and I stand up feeling slightly more energized.

Oxygen bars have been popular for a while in larger cities, but in Memphis, the trend is just getting started. For the past year, Derscheid and Kendall have run the only mobile oxygen bar in the city, setting up at various nightclubs and parties on the weekends.

“Nightclubs like it because it keeps people awake and wanting to party longer,” says Derscheid. “It doesn’t change your blood alcohol level by any means, but as you drink, you get tired, and the pure oxygen helps you stay energized, especially when you’ve been dancing for 30 to 45 minutes.”

Breathing the flavored air has been touted as a way to gain energy, reduce stress, and help ease headaches. Normally, we breathe in 16 to 21 percent oxygen but while hooked up to a recreational oxygen-dispensing machine, the dose is much higher: 87 to 92 percent. Fans claim it’s this higher percentage of oxygen that creates extra energy, though a recent article in FDA Consumer Magazine dismisses the assertion due to a lack of scientific evidence.

“We get the occasional skeptic, and if you don’t like it, that’s fine,” says Kendall. “But at least try it before you make a judgment on it. Most people who actually do sit down and try it end up liking it.”

Kendall says Oxygen Rush makes no medical claims because they’re not dealing with medical-grade oxygen, which is generally 99 to 100 percent pure. And while there may not be any real health benefit, a statement from the American Lung Association claims “there is no evidence that oxygen at the low-flow levels used in bars can be dangerous to a normal person’s health.” Oxygen bars, however, are not recommended for people with certain health conditions, such as heart disease or asthma. Oxygen Rush has a license from the FDA to dispense oxygen, which is supplied by an oxygen-bar supply company.

The oxygen comes in 32 water-based flavors such as mint-rosemary or sugar cookie. Derscheid has even designed a special menu to help customers find flavors that complement their cocktails — for example, Death By Chocolate oxygen is a good match with a chocolate martini.

Oxygen bars also have become staples at day spas and salons. The Hi Gorgeous Salon in Midtown recently opened one. Derscheid and Kendall say they have dreams of opening a fixed location too.

“People are always asking us where they can find us so they can come and breathe anytime,” Derscheid says. “We know there’s an interest here, and we’ve got some ideas about how we want to work it. It wouldn’t just be an oxygen bar. We’d probably have drinks and some laid-back live music.”

The Oxygen Rush bar will be set up at Club 152 (152 Beale St.) on Friday, March 26th. For more information, go to OxygenRush.net.

Theater Theater Feature

An Unclean Grape

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date March 26, 2004

Is A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams’ best play? Not really. Like so much of Williams’ work, it’s grossly overwritten. Williams attempts, with much success (but also a little failure), to wring every sweaty bead of poetry from the garish, hardscrabble streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Even when the play opened in 1947, Brooks Atkinson, writing for The New York Times, said, “By the usual Broadway standards, A Streetcar Named Desire is too long; not all those words are essential.” And it’s not gotten any shorter or less verbose with the passing decades.

In spite of its flaws, this play, the subsequent movie, and the original cast of both have impacted our culture immeasurably. Mention A Streetcar Named Desire in a crowded room sometime and watch what happens. Fifty-seven years after its debut, young 21st-century men drop to their knees, tear at their collars, and howl, “Stella! Steeeeeeella!” For better or worse, A Streetcar Named Desire defined American masculinity for the second half of the 20th century. Very likely, it also defined desire.

Theatre Memphis’ production is beautiful to look at. Michael Walker’s richly detailed set captures both the grit and the European grandeur of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Brandon Fischer’s soft, shadowy lighting is all gaslight flicker and purple neon haze, making everything that much more exotic. Director Jerry Chipman has assembled a talented and energetic cast every bit as handsome as Walker’s set to fill the grimy space, and every actor brings something meaty to the table. But the chemistry is way off. Scenes that should sizzle barely heat up, and it is difficult to find a sympathetic character in the bunch.

Christina Wellford Scott’s Blanche is a complete cipher. She is a raw nerve and a tough femme fatale all at once. She’s pitched her voice into its lowest register and given it that raspy quality that only comes from too much whiskey, too many cigarettes, and too many all-night parties. It’s a bit like Joanne Woodward’s performance in The Fugitive Kind with a little Marlene Dietrich tossed in just for flavor. But because of this toughness bordering on meanness, we are never allowed to watch as Blanche’s greatest survival instinct — her ability to keep up appearances — fails. Scott wears her weariness and her hurt like she wears her pretty dresses and her rhinestones. We know her obsessive bathing has less to do with relaxing than washing away her secret sins, and a sick carnality is present in virtually everything she says and does. We know she’s had a tragic time of it, but we also know that her ape-like brother-in-law, Stanley, is right about her from the start.

Lanky and rippling, sporting a chest and belly of thick black hair, Greg Boller looks like a Stanley to be reckoned with. And when he strikes a brooding pose, it can make you forget that Marlon Brando ever played the role. Except for the post-fight moment when he bellows for Stella to come back, however, he speaks in a pinched, nasal whine with no gut in it whatsoever. He doesn’t come off as unrefined but vindictive, weak, and cruel. Scott’s Blanche is so much more grounded, earthy, and dangerous than Stanley that it throws the entire play off kilter.

As lonely and worried as he is, it’s hard to imagine Barclay Roberts’ Mitch ever being attracted to Scott’s Blanche. Roberts has made Mitch, a quiet man whose good manners far exceed his ability to think, into a nebbish who’s timid and unassertive. In his quiet way, Mitch is as volatile as anyone in the play, and though he is given to backing down, he’s physically powerful and not easily intimidated. Roberts’ performance is sweet and endearing. Even his failed attempt to rape Blanche is somehow sad and adorable. But that’s not Mitch’s function. Like the Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie, he represents a kind, tainted hope: a prize that might cause more harm than good. Roberts’ Mitch is a gem, entirely unable to do the wrong thing.

Stella has to know she’s made certain sacrifices for those “things that happen in the dark that make everything else okay.” And Stanley’s blows have to take some toll. Her self-destructive relationship is like that of a moth to a flame. Katherine Albrecht’s Stella is light as a feather and likable but generally too upbeat. Stella’s driven to Stanley, and she makes his excuses with conviction. But everyone, even Stella, knows that they are excuses.

So many near misses in one production are unfortunate but not completely tragic. This is still a beautifully realized production, and the actors have more than enough personal magnetism to keep you watching and enjoying. There’s just not much chemistry to keep things exciting.

Through April 4th.

News News Feature

Spinning the Past

Post author By Norman Soloman
Post date March 26, 2004

Political aphorisms don’t get any more cogent: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”

George Orwell’s famous observation goes a long way toward explaining why — a full year after the invasion of Iraq — the media battles over prewar lies are so ferocious in the United States. Top administration officials are going all out to airbrush yesterday’s deceptions on behalf of today’s. And tomorrow’s.

The future they want most to control starts on Election Day. And with scarcely seven months to go in the presidential campaign, the past that Bush officials are most eager to obscure is their own record. In late 2002 and early last year, whenever the drive to war hit a bump, they maneuvered carefully to keep the war caravan moving steadily forward.

There is no doubt they were a hard-driving bunch. The most powerful squad of the Bush foreign-policy team ran on the fuel of certitude at such a prodigious rate that even their momentum had momentum — maybe, in part, because their lives’ trajectories seemed to demand it: War had been declared first within themselves.

Such steeliness has been almost boilerplate in history. Excuses for aggressive war have never been hard to come by. In this case, media pundits, academics, and other commentators could do little more than shed light on the fact that the people in charge had had war in mind from the outset.

Civic engagement — or demonstrations — against the war scenario were, in effect, attempts to impede leaders who had already gone around the bend. A very big bend. But it was taboo for American mass media to suggest the possibility that the lot of them — Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and, yes, Powell — were in their pursuit of war on Iraq significantly deranged.

Working from their initial conclusion of war’s necessity, top Bush administration officials — with assistance from many reporters and pundits — were hell-bent on getting the invasion under way well before the extreme heat of summer.

There was also political weather to be navigated. The electoral storms would soon be starting for the 2004 presidential contest, and a secured victory over Iraq well in advance seemed advisable.

In the months before the invasion, journalists kept writing and talking about the “chances” of war, as though President Bush hadn’t already made up his mind to order it. Yet, what Bush said in public was exactly opposite to reality — a “one-eighty.” As he talked about preferring to find an acceptable alternative to war, he and his advisers were actively seeking to bypass and discredit every such alternative.

Despite the obstacles, which included vital activism and protests for peace, the chief executive easily got his war — the best kind, to be fought and endured only by others.

Eighteen months ago, looking out at Baghdad from an upper story of a hotel, I thought of something Albert Camus once wrote: “And henceforth, the only honorable course will be to stake everything on a formidable gamble: that words are more powerful than munitions.” Later, any and all words were to be vastly outmatched by the big guns trained on Iraq.

One afternoon, 14 months ago, inside a little shop in Baghdad’s crowded souk, a young boy sat behind an old desk, brown eyes wide, quietly watching his father unfurl carpets for potential customers. I wondered: Will my country’s missiles kill you?

Nearly 10,000 Iraqi civilians have died because of the war during the past year.

Key questions of the past are also crucial for the future. Can the United States credibly wage a “war on terrorism” by engaging in warfare that terrorizes civilians? Does the mix of mendacity and deadly violence from the Oval Office really strike against terrorism or does it fuel terrorist cycles?

And, in the realm of news media, how many journalists are willing and able to go beyond reliance on official sources to bring us the truth about lies that result in death?

Norman Solomon is co-author with Reese Erlich of Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You.

Sports Sports Feature

Dry the Tears

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date March 26, 2004

This is about winning basketball. If winning basketball, the way we play it right is not good enough, then we go to the next season. It’s not life or death for me, folks. Won’t ever be. I’ve won enough games, done enough good things, I’ve taken this program to another level — completely — from when I took over.”

— Memphis coach John Calipari’s postgame comments after his Tigers beat Charlotte January 17th

It’s time for the University of Memphis basketball program to “go to the next season,” and a little sooner than Tiger fans would like. But having won 22 games, shared a regular-season conference title, and spanked an SEC foe in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Calipari would be right to dismiss any whining or finger-pointing in the aftermath of the Tigers’ whipping at the hands of Oklahoma State last Sunday in Kansas City.

Once the pain of a season-ending loss subsides — and remember, such is the fate for 64 of the 65 teams in the Big Dance — the time comes for self-evaluation, from head coach to third-stringer. There is more to feel positive about with Tiger basketball than there has been in years, but Calipari would be the first to emphasize that the mission has hardly been completed. So what to expect for 2004-05?

™ Be true to the ones you love. Calipari simply has to step up and declare his intentions for next season. The St. John’s rumors have some legs (just like those at Pitt not so long ago), and Calipari is the only man who can summarily take them out. The Memphis coach is as savvy in his media relations as he is in his substitution patterns. And despite having already received a six-figure raise and contract extension, Coach Cal is going to drive his ticket price as high as the market will allow … and leave every door open that may have a bidder behind it. As much good as he’s brought the U of M program, this waffling every spring is damaging. Calipari demands fierce loyalty from his team, his fans, his student body. He bristles when the local media “turn” on him and his program. He had the chance to eliminate doubts in Kansas City and ducked. Our arms are extended, Coach.

™ Build around Banks. You want a silver lining to the second-round dismissal in the NCAAs? Look no further than Sean Banks falling out of the national spotlight (having scored all of 17 points in the two games). Banks will be the most talented returning Tiger since Lorenzen Wright in 1995. Conference USA’s reigning Freshman of the Year will be a favorite for All-America honors next season, and his team’s humbling this month may simply accelerate his development. Unlike his coach, Banks has said the right thing when asked about the possibility of his leaving the program for the NBA draft (“no”). He’ll be desperately needed to offset the loss of Antonio Burks, more in terms of leadership and guts than in his role on the court.

™ Find strength from within, not from Conference USA. Isn’t it ironic that not one of the celebrated C-USA programs on their way out after 2005 survived the tournament’s first weekend, while little ol’ UAB knocked off the top-ranked team in the country and will carry the conference flag into the Sweet 16? All of Tiger Nation — particularly those of us in the media — need to quit the nostalgic fretting over what the U of M will do without Louisville, Cincinnati, and Marquette. Little can be done to reverse the mass exodus, and the fact is, these aren’t the programs against which Memphis should be measured. Calipari was somewhat prophetic on the eve of the Tigers’ season opener last November at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York. Said Coach Cal, “The whole point of coaching college basketball — aside from teaching life skills and getting these kids prepared for life after basketball and helping them develop their game for their pro aspirations — is to get in the NCAA tournament and advance. To be in a great league, but be in the weakest situation … it hurts you.” Ask Nevada how important a great league is.

™ Help is on the way. Presuming Calipari’s incoming recruits are academically eligible, the roster for 2004-05 may be a good deal more complete than the seven- or eight-man rotation of this past season. Kareem Cooper, a 6’11” center from Washington, D.C., should bring some offensive presence to the post that was sorely lacking this year. Hamilton High’s Shawne Williams is a taller version of Banks, if not equipped with the same skills. As for the void at point guard, Darius Washington of Orlando will compete with Clyde Wade (assuming the latter can put his legal troubles behind him) for playing time. With so much new blood being introduced, the value of stalwarts Anthony Rice, Rodney Carney, and Jeremy Hunt can’t be overvalued.

Letters To The Editor Opinion

Postscript

Post author By Flyer Readers
Post date March 26, 2004

R.I.P. The Pig

To the Editor:

Thanks to Chris Herrington for the Local Beat article on 107.5 The Pig (March 18th issue). I knew something was up when the playlist started to change this past winter. And when they finally switched formats, it was like a kick in the you-know-where. The Pig was second only to WEVL as the most unique and free-flowing station in Memphis.

As the article stated, no one should be too surprised, considering the screwed-up legacy of Flinn Broadcasting. I don’t have to look any further than the late WTCK 1210 AM, which played some of the most incredible deep soul and blues I’ve ever heard. It went off the air due to the megastorm of last July, and now in its place is another sorry-assed golden-oldies format.

When the end finally came, I had nowhere and no one to turn to, until I saw your article. And by the way, contrary to the mention of the “white-folks-world” of The Pig’s format, I am black.

If you can find me a station in Memphis that has the Clash, U2, B.B. King, R.E.M., Ani DiFranco, Bob Marley, the Cure, the Rolling Stones, and Al Green on its regular playlist, please let me know.

David Moore

Memphis

To the Editor:

The now-defunct radio station The Pig filled a distinctive niche on the commercial end of the radio dial. Unfortunately for its fans, The Pig was a business, and as such it was answerable to the bottom line.

I have been the volunteer host of “House Bayou” on WEVL-FM 89.9 for the past five years. WEVL has regularly featured local and regional artists throughout its 28-year history. We have done so without commercial interruption due to the generosity of our listener members. WEVL programmers are knowledgeable and passionate about the type of music they play, genres that include Americana, jazz, gospel, and zydeco. WEVL remains dedicated to featuring diversified programming with a special emphasis on music of the South. Tune in.

Susan Maakestad

Memphis

A Runaway Train?

To the Editor:

I want to compliment the Flyer for your excellent editorial (“A Runaway Train?,” March 18th issue) opposing the light-rail line from downtown Memphis to the airport. It makes no sense at all, for the many reasons made clear in the editorial.

I believe the Madison Avenue trolley line to the so-called Medical Center was a big mistake too. As past president of the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce, I am convinced we need to plan ahead more logically. Let’s have more good things like FedEx and Graceland and our wonderfully restored downtown.

James L. Fri

Memphis

To the Editor:

As a Midtown resident, I am thrilled with the new Madison trolley line. I’ve been riding it to work at UT every day, and I’ve ridden it downtown twice. As a former San Francisco resident, I’m aware of the ride appeal of trolleys and cable cars.

To get Midtowners to leave their cars at home and take public transportation, the ride has to be pleasant. Smelly, noisy busses just can’t compete with cars, while trolleys can. In San Francisco, the trolleys and cable cars are tourist attractions in themselves.

I agree with your editorial (“A Runaway Train?,” March 18th issue), however, that the line needs to be extended further east. The $19 million that is left might be able to extend the line to McLean and Overton Park. With a bit more money thrown in from the city, county, and state, we might get to Overton Square.

I agree that express busses would be better for getting to the airport, but a trolley line connecting the various entertainment areas would be a tremendous addition to the city.

Herbert D. Zeman

Memphis

Bush, Bush, Bush

To the Editor:

Last week, President Bush rolled out his reelection campaign ads. They were attack ads. Why must a sitting president campaign by attacking his opponent rather than relying on his record? He has held this job for more than three years.

Worse, if you check the facts, the Bush ads are misleading to the point of lying. John Kerry has never discussed “raising taxes.” He wants to let Bush tax-cuts expire on people making more than $200,000 thousand a year and give tax breaks to the middle class — the hard-working majority that drives our economy.

Without some tax relief, we are unable to be the consumers this country needs to drive our economy and create jobs.

Please listen closely to these ads: John Kerry wants to weaken security? Bush is creating new jobs? The Medicare Reform Bill is good for seniors? Please.

Mack Greenslade

Memphis

To the Editor:

I know that Iraq is better off without Saddam Hussein, but removing him from power was never the reason for a ”preemptive” war.

The American people and the world were told of imminent danger, an active nuclear weapons program, and stockpiles of chemical and nerve agents. To date, we’ve found exactly nothing, and I don’t think it’s from a lack of looking.

There sure were intelligence breakdowns, and who’s ultimately to blame? Look no further than George W. Bush, who has yet to account for his miscalculations and rush to war.

Dr. Gerard J. Billmeier Jr.

Memphis

To the Editor:

On the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, we should all remember the more than 500 families of American soldiers who have lost a loved one.

We also should not forget that the Bush administration rushed us into this conflict without an exit strategy or the help of the international community. We should not forget that the Bush administration told the world that Saddam had stockpiles of chemical weapons, nerve agents, mobile WMD labs, and the delivery systems to strike our allies. We should not forget that this administration told us there was an imminent threat to American lives. We should not forget that al-Qaeda, not Saddam, was behind the 9/11 attacks.

As Americans, we need to hold President Bush accountable for misinformation and find out with certainty if this administration deliberately misled us.

Laura A. Perry

Memphis

To the Editor:

The Pentagon’s 2005 budget doesn’t contain any money for military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. The White House won’t ask Congress for that money until January 2005 — after the November presidential election.

The Bush administration needs to face accountability for its actions. Even Bush’s own top weapons inspector, David Kay, called on the administration to admit that there are no weapons of mass destruction: “I think in this case the evidence is out there to the extent that the president really needs to say to the American people, ‘We made a mistake.'” [NBC News 3/15/04]

Congress has a responsibility to hold the president accountable for his actions and should censure him for misleading the American people.

Corey Mesler

Memphis

To the Editor:

It’s well known that President Bush doesn’t believe that global warming is much of a threat or even a real phenomenon, ignoring the consensus of atmospheric scientists the world over. On the other hand, Bush has advocated spending billions on an antiballistic missile system, again ignoring the advice of scientists who question its efficacy.

So what do these issues have in common? Andrew Marshall. Mr. Marshall is the defense department planner at the Pentagon who was the prime mover of the ballistic missile defense system. He has headed a think tank to evaluate risks to national security since 1973 and was personally picked by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to lead a review on smart weapons.

Late last year, an unclassified report was released by the Pentagon on the national security implications of drastic climate change. The report was commissioned by Marshall and authored by CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch Shell, Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall of the Global Business Network. In brief, the report states that increases in greenhouse gases, instead of gradually warming us, will melt Arctic ice, changing ocean currents and indirectly cause an abrupt cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. This will result in droughts and all sorts of extreme weather, which in turn will create such severe social disruption that it becomes a national security concern.

If Marshall is so trusted by the Bush administration, then Bush has an obligation to explain why he has done nothing about global warming. If Marshall is not to be taken seriously, then why did the administration put so much stock in his opinion on ballistic missile defense?

Bush can’t have it both ways. The American people deserve an explanation.

Bill Runyan

Memphis

To the Editor:

John Kerry is challenged by Vice President Cheney to disclose the names of foreign leaders who hope the Democratic candidate will defeat Bush in November.

The irony is amazing. Congress has been trying to cut through the Cheney armor of deception and secrecy regarding who attended the Veep’s energy policy meetings. Cheney won’t tell the courts, Congress, or investigating committees. Cheney is playing a far more serious game of hide-and-seek than Kerry.

Never underestimate the power of the Bush administration to deflect attention away from the real issues.

Ron Lowe

Nevada City, California

The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.