History

I'm into genealogy. Following in my mom's footsteps, which is probably appropriate in this field of interest. And I've got a lot of family to work on, as several branches of the family tree have never been explored. So I perk up whenever genealogy is mentioned in the news. And I just finished reading a very interesting article on DNA testing.

The article discusses how DNA testing is being used to determine family ethnic and racial origins, for a myriad of reasons. My dad actually took one of these tests, as we are also victims of the American Indian Princess Syndrome. Ours is Princess Star in the Sky who, if she indeed exists, is my great, great, great, great grandma. Unfortunately, the DNA did not indicate ANY Native American background. But there are new and more accurate tests out. We may try again, as we are very invested in being related to Princess Star in the Sky.

Being interested in genealogy, old papers are important to me, too. I prize my copies of various ancestors' birth certificates and wills. And I am so grateful to have access to these documents. So it makes me kinda jumpy when I read that The National Archives allowed the CIA, Air Force, and other public agencies to secretly classify previously declassified documents. These are documents dating back to the 1940s and 50s. Why on God's green earth would national security, the usual suspect and given reason for the reclassification, be threatened by these ALREADY RELEASED documents?

And I wonder why my son is so paranoid about our government? Perhaps he should transfer his paranoia to the print media today. Cheney throws out the first pitch at the DC Nationals home opener yesterday. He's booed off his keister. Listen to the video yourself. Yet reports from both the Washington Post and Reuters missed the mark totally (like Cheney's shooting, I guess).

The Post described booing as a reaction to Cheney's poor aim. And Reuters actually said "The boos appeared to be little louder than the cheers at RFK Memorial Stadium." A little louder? Try deafening. So, instead of reclassifying history to avoid it, here we have an example of actually trying to change history by misreporting it. Nice. Thanks, guys. I expect of WaPo, whose editorial board has been nothing short of spectacularly pro-Bush of late. But Reuters?

At least we're getting good reporting now from WaPo on the continuing deluge of Bush's lies revealed. The newest one? Back to his favorite topic, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now we've got more solid evidence that, even as Bush announced trailers that were found were mobile labs for WMD, US intelligence knew otherwise. In fact, a report was issued two days prior to Bush's announcement saying there was no connection between the trailers and WMD.

So far, no one wants to talk about it. There's an ongoing investigation surrounding it. Nope. Oops. Wrong lie situation. It's classified. But Howard Dean attempted to redeem himself with me this morning by calling to declassify the documents surrounding this lie.

History is important. It informs our past, present and future. It will be interesting, to say the least, where this historical fabrication will lead the nation. It's already led us into war and thousands of lives lost. Will it lead us to finally take action against Bush and his Administration? Will Finegold look a little less loony in his censure push?

Later,
Liz