Balls and Walnuts
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Jill Carroll: shout her to the rafters, people
A few weeks ago, I followed Blue Gal’s lead in drawing your attention to the plight of reporter Jill Carroll. Jill was kidnapped in Iraq and is still being held hostage. Three deadlines have passed for her released. I’ve been remiss lately in banging the drum, but Jurassic Pork’s Assclowns of the Week fired me up.
Hey, I don’t want to be an assclown. Not even a liberal assclown.
From JP’s post:
Jill Carroll’s third deadline had come and gone a week ago today without any sense of alarm or even a mention from the major blogs and most of the smaller ones. This nonchalance over the plight of the UMass @ Amherst graduate is puzzling even when one factors in the Revenge Brigade’s nonexistent credibility. However, the refusal of the major “liberal†blogs and its surrogates to take my cue, much less to take their own initiative to mobilize people to put pressure on the WH and the State Dept., and their willingness to put more time and energy into flaming me for calling them on this, gets them the top spot this week.
Now, one could craft a plausible-sounding argument, as did Mrs. JP this morning, that the State Dept. is doing all they can to secure Jill Carroll’s release and would prefer to do so under the media’s radar in order to help keep her alive. My response? Allow me to redirect you to this.
This is a State Dept. that has lied, lied and lied to the media, to the 9/11 Commission, to Congress and to the American people. Only Terri Schiavo would be so naïve as to trust the State Dept. wouldn’t continue lying on behalf of George Bush to shore up sagging support for this war. Only a complete idiot would be content to sit back and not give more than a token thought to Jill Carroll, secure in the belief that a fucking liar like Condoleezza Rice, who was on Broadway and 5th Avenue while her native region was getting destroyed, would place Jill’s life above partisan interests and an unwillingness to give the Revenge Brigade credibility.
And speaking of complete idiots, this is where the major “liberal†bloggers come in, the ones like Aravosis, Hamsher, Amato, Kos, Atrios and the rest who couldn’t be bothered to spend a few precious minutes at their keyboards to mobilize their readers to raise a big stink and to make phone calls, write emails and send faxes to the WH and the State Dept. to let them know that Jill Carroll is not forgotten.
There’s more. Read the rest here.
What can you do?
Write to the Christian Science Monitor, Jill’s newspaper, to show your support.
You can email the US State Department at here.
See my “Pol Watch” sidebar? Head on over to Atrios, and Kos, and Firedoglake, and all those other cozy liberal bastions, and urge them to champion Jill’s cause. As JP rightly points out, we exercised more than a little muscle over the Alito nomination. Why can’t we do the same for Jill?
D.
[…] Doug, Blue Gal, and Jurassic Pork have all been thinking about Jill as well. In fact, they’re the reason I’m doing this again. I realize I only have five or six regulars, but every little bit helps, so please pray for Jill. Write to your Representative, Senator, and our State Dept. Stand up and be counted, people. Each voice matters, let’s do all we can to make sure that another isn’t silenced forever. Explore posts in the same categories: Politics, Prayer Requests, Antiwar Thoughts […]
I read the Christian Science Monitor every day – it’s the only newspaper with continual news (or non-news, as it may be) about her.
And spare a moment of thought for Ingrid Betancourt, 4 years now a captive in Columbia.
http://www.educweb.org/Ingrid/indexFr.htm
Four years — good heavens. Is there an English language version of that site, Sam?
Fuck Firedoglake (see my last post). If you go there and start beating the drum, you’re just as likely to get banned as me.
But thanks for your support. It’s nice to know that I’m achieving something worthwhile.
Again, fuck Firedoglake. Pass the word.
If you roll your mouse over the flags, you can see which language it represents and switch it to English that way. It’s the third flag from the left.
Thanks, Doug. I pray for her everyday, though with a different approach than Jurassic’s (more prayer, less prop) I think all of it helps. I hope we’re not waiting years for her release. The attention span of msm is shorter than my 2yo’s.
Where, O where is Firedoglake’s blogroll? I’m looking under the couch cushions, behind the chair. Jane, Jane? Ollie Ollie oxen free!
Thanks for this show of support, Doc.
Blue Gal, me too. Did the msm ever take notice of Jill? I first heard about her at your place.
JP, I have no patience for hypocrisy. IMO, FDL’s faux feminism reeks of it. It’s not so much support for you (although I don’t mind supporting you) but my loathing of hypocrisy that got ’em axed. Not that they’ll care, or notice.