If a protest happens in Iraq and no one reports on it, does it make any noise?

Le Monde, France's "paper of record" covers the anti-occupation rallies in Iraq this Monday, complete with video- it bears noticing that this story doesn't make it into the top stories on CNN.com, FoxNews.com, or MSNBC.com despite taking place TODAY and being a non-violent protest which drew thousands of participants. It's a sidebar on the New York Times website and made it onto the BBC homepage, but it's certainly not highlighted as a top story. We wonder why so many Americans are uninformed about what's going on Iraq- perhaps because no one bothers to do any actual reporting?

Say It Loud, Say It Proud

Chairman of the DNC Howard Dean says exactly what needs to be said in the Dem's weekly radio address (full text/audio here):

We have a new Congress in Washington. The American people have elected us to hold President Bush and the Republicans accountable for the incompetence in Iraq, the mismanagement at Walter Reed, the purging of Justice Department officials for partisan gain. We will do what the American people have asked us to do. We will bring our troops home.

step by step, lie by lie

as the rhetoric between the administration and iran grows and my boyfriend and i argue over the likelihood of war with iran, it seems worth revisiting this excellent timeline from mother jones, which chronicles in excruciating detail the run-up to the iraq war. they call it "lie by lie" for a good reason...even though we all lived through it, and many of us saw it coming, you'll be shocked to look back and see how much it all fits together in retrospect. it's a disturbing echo of current events, and worth a look for anyone interested in revisiting exactly how we got ourselves into this mess. it's also (nerd alert) a great use of flash and really well put together from a design perspective, if any of that matters to you political junkies. i believe it's also searchable, paper writing folks.