the downing street memo

Yesterday, as I often do on Thursday afternoons, I was flipping through The Portland Mercury, a "fuck you!" alt-weekly here in Portland, Oregon.

I love page five.

There's the hilarious "One Day at a Time," Ann Romano's tongue-in-cheek take on the events of the past week. (What has happened to Lindsay Lohan's boobs??) In the upper-right we find the everchanging guest columnist. This week? "Seven More Secrets of Highly Effective People." (Take it from Creflo Knight, president of Servo Oil in Pensacola, Florida: going to church with a buttplug up your ass is funny shit!!) And my favorite, "Troubletown," the wonderfully subversive comic just catercorner in the lower left. This week's title is "Did you know...?" I hate to admit it but I didn't.

I didn't know anything about the Downing Street Memo, first published in London's The Sunday Times on 1 May. I didn't know anything because American media outlets have been practically silent about this memo that provides damning evidence of the Iraq War's illegality. It mentions how Iraq's "WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran," something we are all well aware of now. Evenso, Bush was intent on removing Saddam from power as early as summer 2002 and "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." If they can do that to a head of state (albeit a rogue state), think of what they could do to you. And mainstream America knows nothing of it??

You might expect me--a self-described liberal--to be feeling a bit smug right now. But no... disgusted is the better word...

More information and updates can be found at downingstreetmemo.com. If there is an Air America station on your radio dial (or if you have internet-streaming capability), Randi Rhodes has been talking about this situation on her show. Also, be sure to read the letter, sent to the White House by 89 members of Congress, demanding an explanation of the memo's revelations. Bush has not replied.

Please take the time to learn more about this disquieting memo and spread the word to liberal, conservative, and moderate alike.