BLOGDIAL : We are the best

Is America 'going over the top' with 'excessive zeal'?-- Critics across the spectrum viewed U.S. VISIT as the latest sign of U.S. "paranoia" which has culminated in treating all "foreigners like potential terrorists." Expressing a widespread view, a German public radio station termed it a "drastic measure" reminiscent of a police state and typical of the "usual cowboy mentality" of the Bush Administration. European and Canadian papers were especially uneasy about the "Orwellian" nature of the program and the potential for "misuse" of biometrics data. Asian, Pakistani and Latin writers suggested the program would, as Seoul's moderate Hankook Ilbo predicted, "arouse a sense of humiliation and antipathy toward the U.S." in affected countries.

Terrorism 'triumphs' because of these measures-- Some critics held that the new security measures and the issuance of continuous "vague threats" give more clout and "prestige" to terrorists who can "up the ante at will." Spain's conservative ABC worried that the U.S. was not only "risking a collapse of air traffic," but "rewarding terrorists with an invaluable psychological victory." Peru's center-left La Republica further suggested the measures "represent a victory of the insane fundamentalist minority over the sane...majority of people in the world."

"Freedom Too High A Price To Pay"-- Gillian Bowditch commented in the conservative Scotsman of Edinburgh (Internet version, 1/6): "The start of 2004 has been characterized by grounded flights, the decision to employ armed sky marshals on British planes and to photograph and fingerprint visitors to the U.S. If you had no fear of flying before, prepare to be terrified from now on. It is hard not to sympathize with these new procedures.... But it seems that we have become unable to talk sensibly about the terrorist threat without generating a form of social paralysis.... It is not just that these new controls force us to become suspicious, paranoid and jittery.... There is the prospect of visitors travelling to 'the land of the free' being treated as if they are potential terrorists. Civilized societies photograph and fingerprint suspects, not people who are guests in their country....

"U.S. Visit"-- Heinrich Graben commented on public broadcasting Hessischer Rundfunk radio (1/6): "It reminds us of a police state and control mania.... There is a bitter taste, because once you are registered in the great computer of the USA, you will remain there. It is absolutely unclear how data misuse can be prevented and how overreaction in cases of the same name can be ruled out. The Secretary for Homeland Security takes drastic measures in the usual cowboy mentality of the Bush administration. He thinks the more information you get about everything and everybody, the better it is. But this is not really working out. Most Islamic terrorists have no criminal record.... With the new border checks the U.S. has gone over the top."

CYPRUS: "Proof And Fingerprints"-- Right-wing, nationalistic Simerini declared (1/7): "The U.S. authorities are now implementing new measures in their effort to halt terrorism. In addition to the weird questionnaire that has to be filled out by those who wish to secure a visa for entry to the U.S., a new security system has been introduced at American airports. Upon arrival at American airports, you should expect to be welcomed by 'photographers' of the security authorities. They will take your picture, they will take your fingerprints and, if necessary, they might decide to subject you to a blood test. The Department of Homeland Security has clarified that this measure does not apply for the citizens of 28 countries, including the EU member-states, who arrive in the U.S. for a short period of time.... The question is whether these measures will avert possible terrorists from entering the U.S. It is very likely that a determined terrorist will not be stopped because of any security measures. A world-wide 'filing' system might have been more effective. However, even in that case not known terrorists could certainly try to enter [the U.S.]... As Asterix would have said, 'Are these Romans crazy or are they not?'"

"American Authorities Got Themselves In the Trap of Neurosis"-- Jiri Dolezal wrote in right-center Lidove noviny (1/7): "Safety is an extremely treacherous state, because it does not exist. Only various illusions of safety exist. And there is also a similar behavior which psychiatrists call neurosis. Starting this week, American authorities were caught in the trap of neurosis: they divided humankind between 'us' (U.S. citizens) and 'them' in order to secure safety. These measures mean that (aside from a few exceptions) the rest of the world is a priori suspected of terrorism.... But Timothy McVeigh would not appear on such a list of the a priori suspected.... Also the Japanese...would not have to have their fingerprints and photos taken...despite the fact that Japan is the only country where terrorists successfully used WMD. For the U.S. taxpayers money, U.S. authorities have created a perfectly irrational ceremony for elimination of anxiety, nothing more."

"With A Fingerprint Into The Home Of Freedom"-- Right-wing conservative Magyar Nemzet noted (1/5): “Although the system of electric forensic and biometric data gathering, a system that is hard to evade, is becoming more frequently used worldwide, it is another unpopular measure that fits well with the similarly unpopular trends, whereby the United States is losing prestige. These measures were up till now related to criminals and suspects. Because of the war in Iraq, the United States has lost a lot of its prestige and it turned for many from ‘the home of freedom’ to the ‘empire of arrogance’. If the United States loses its internal freedom and disrespects the rights of others, the terrorists can start rubbing their hands in satisfaction.”

IRELAND: "U.S. Plans To Retain Visitors' Fingerprints For 75 Years"-- Christine Newman observed in the center-left Irish Times (1/8): "Fingerprints taken from Irish citizens on entry to the U.S. will be retained indefinitely by the U.S. authorities, even after the visa-holder has left the country.... A spokesman in the Data Protection Commissioner's office in Dublin said: 'If the fingerprints are for the purpose of confirming entry to the U.S. and then again on departure, and that is the only reason, then they should be deleted.' If fingerprints were to be used in the long term, then the public should have the right to know so that they could choose whether they wanted to go to the U.S., the Dublin spokesman said.

PAIN: "Big Brother"-- Centrist La Vanguardia wrote (1/6): "There is no doubt that the new entry control procedures adopted January 5 by U.S. authorities is a step toward the conversion of that great country into a troubling copy of the societies controlled by Big Brother, one that ignores people's fundamental rights and imposes bureaucratic and police red tape. It is a sad paradox that the U.S., founded under the sign of freedom, is succumbing to a climate of fear and paranoia, conveniently stoked by the government itself.... Since September 11, the government of George Bush has implemented a series of preventive measures that seriously threaten the very foundations of its own society, when they don't openly violate international human and civil rights charters (such as the prisoners held at Guantanamo).... If other countries take similar measures, the obscene policy of security emanating from Washington could lead us to a world dominated by fear, mistrust of foreigners, and restrictions on civil rights and freedoms."

"Reciprocal Controls"-- Left-of-center El País wrote (1/6): "The origin of this initiative [US-VISIT] is the trauma of 9/11 and the anti-terrorist psychosis it caused, though it is by no means clear that measures such as these would have stopped those attacks. The logical response to these controls is reciprocity.... It would be logical for Europe to introduce reciprocal measures. It should be possible to create reasonable controls that do not disturb the delicate balance between security and freedom.... The passengers also must fill out a questionnaire which includes questions about religious beliefs, diet and political tendencies.... This is entering the area of personal privacy. All of this reflects that the U.S. does not know how to live without an enemy. After the end of communism, it has found one in the fear of a slippery, ubiquitous terrorism that the Bush Administration encourages because it believes that it favors it. But this could be the first triumph of the terrorists."

"The U.S. Isolated In Its Hyper-Security"-- Conservative ABC editorialized (1/5): "There is no doubt that getting our skies free of terrorists is in the common interest, but the U.S. pretension of handling the issue just as a domestic one is excessive. The U.S. is risking a collapse of air traffic...and definitely is rewarding terrorists with an invaluable psychological victory.... The biggest mistake that the U.S. might commit is to tie its own hands with a security fixation, and even worse to think that allies must follow. For any ally, it is always easier to share a justified war than an exaggerated obsession."

SOUTH KOREA: "Problems With Selective U.S. Fingerprinting"-- Moderate Hankook Ilbo editorialized (1/8): "Even though it is intended to counter terrorism, the U.S.-VISIT program will arouse a sense of humiliation and antipathy toward the U.S. among countries affected by the program.... In particular, it is absurd for the U.S. to include the ROK--an ally that hosts 37,000 American forces and is participating in its war on terrorism by deciding to send some 3,000 troops to Iraq in the face of dangers of terrorist attacks--among those countries subject to the program, while exempting 27 countries, such as EU countries, Australia and Japan, from it.... We cannot shake off our suspicion that Washington is openly dividing the world into 'reliable' and 'unreliable' countries.... The U.S.-VISIT program will prove counterproductive, only inviting hatred toward the Americans as it treats all but a few countries as hotbeds of terrorism."

"U.S.'s Fingerprinting Another Terror Against Human Rights"--The nationalist, left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun editorialized (1/6): "The U.S.-VISIT program violates human rights by regarding foreign visitors to the U.S. as potential criminals and forcing them to provide their biological information to U.S. authorities.... Furthermore, the program reeks of racism as the U.S. exempts Canada and 27 countries, including EU countries, Japan and Australia, with which it has signed visa-waiver agreements, from the program and targets countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America. In this regard, it is only natural that Brazil has begun fingerprinting and photographing all U.S. citizens entering that country.... Washington should work out procedures for visitors that dispel concerns about human rights violations and reduce inconveniencies for other countries as much as possible. If many foreigners feel displeasure [over U.S. immigration procedures], it itself amounts to aggravating the security environment."

INDONESIA: "Fingerprints Of Air Passengers"-- Independent Indo Pos/Jawa Pos of Surabaya opined (1/8): “We could tolerate a tighter security measure that is general in nature such as by deploying more security personnel on the streets and in busy public places. But it is intolerable to take the fingerprints of those on board an airplane. It is beyond logic. Therefore, other countries should remind the U.S. that its actions against terrorism should not be at odds with the comfort and privacy of foreign citizens. Terrorism is a threat to all human beings. But the efforts to ward it off must be conducted within the sense of solidarity and togetherness. Do not give the impression as if only the U.S. has an interest in terrorism, that only the U.S. is threatened by terrorism, and that only the U.S. is the most responsible for the efforts to fight terrorism.”

PHILIPPINES: "Fingerprinting"-- The editorial of the independent Manila Times read (1/8): "Will this new measure hinder travel to and trade with the U.S.? We don't think so.... Filipinos will continue to go to the U.S.... Filipinos will grin and bear the embarrassment.... What is most unfair is that nationals of countries where many terrorists are based are exempt from these 'enhancements'.... Brazil has retaliated by photographing and fingerprinting visiting Americans. Should be do the same for the sake of our internal security?"

PAKISTAN: "U.S. Visit Program To Humiliate Foreigners"-- The Islamabad-based pro-jihad Urdu daily Islam editorialized (1/7): "The new U.S. Visit program is a plan to humiliate foreign nationals in the U.S. This program illustrates that the U.S. has no respect and does not care for the people of other countries. Every person who comes to America is a suspected terrorist. The new visit program might affect U.S. relations with other states. Tourism and trade may also be affected as well.... According to some critics, this new procedure is a symbol of the mental bankruptcy of the U.S. administration and Americans are frightened due to their policies and imperialistic activities.... It is unfortunate that the U.S. leadership is steering America towards loneliness in the world."

SOUTH AFRICA: "Scanning For What?"-- The pro-government Star held (1/7): "The U.S. has reason to be concerned about safety and security.... But the real issue now is whether it is creating a safer world or one dominated by psychotic obsessions. Its war on terror has so far solved very little.... Now, in yet another aberration, Washington is insisting on foreign visitors with visas being fingerprinted and photographed.... In other words, the Americans will build up a gigantic database of the ordinary citizens of the world.... From America itself comes the warning that the introduction of biometric identifiers will mean the creating of surveillance society. Furthermore, civil liberty groups believe that this invasion of privacy is unlikely to lead to the bad guys being caught, but rather that immigrants will be trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare. Inevitably there is going to be retaliation.... We again ask, are we heading for a safer world?"

KENYA: "Dig Out The Roots Of Terror"-- Independent left of center Nation commented (1/7): “If Pearl Harbor was a turning-point because it sucked the U.S. into World War II, September 11 seems to have sounded the death-knell for civil rights. Armed escorts on planes, more armed guards sealing off airports--sounds like a declaration of war on citizens of the world. Perhaps a more appropriate way should be to focus attention on the root causes of rising terrorism, which can be traced to the unresolved Palestinian question. Arming soldiers to the teeth to watch over the people sounds like an extension of the explosive Middle East situation to a wider arena. By polarizing the world, the U.S. precautions are bound to lead to deeper suspicion and mistrust among races. No amount of photo-shoots and fingerprints can resolve global terrorism. A less painful way has to be sought.”

ECUADOR: "U.S. Psychosis"-- Sensationalist La Hora noted (1/7): "[This] humiliating and discriminatory provision [of fingerprinting and photographing visitors to the U.S.] that has begun at land and maritime borders in the U.S., is aimed particularly at citizens from the so-called Third World--rather ironic considering that the U.S. was nurtured throughout its history and even now is maintained by migrations from this region of the world. In an act of reciprocity, Brazil has imposed similar restrictive measures on Americans entering through its airports. Other Latin American countries should imitate this exercising of their right to safeguard their own national security.... September 11, 2001, with its burden or horror and death, has unleashed a demented psychosis.... A psychosis that is nearing hysteria among some U.S. political leaders, one that might bring unforeseeable consequences both for its own people and the rest of humankind."

PERU: "Are We All Terrorists"-- Center-left asserted La Republica (1/8): "A few days ago the U.S. Visit program has been implemented.… Of course every country is free to take the measures it considers necessary to guarantee its own domestic security...but since they affect so many millions of tourists and the vast majority of countries in the world --including Peru--, we must state our opinion.… Don't these measures, whose actual effectiveness to prevent attacks is relative, really represent a victory of the insane fundamentalist minority over the sane...majority of people in the world?…It should be possible to implement reasonable controls without breaking the sensitive balance between security and freedom… Since 9/11...there have been accelerated steps backward on the later… As it happened during the cold wa...times are back where personal privacy was invaded...they show that the U.S. cannot live without an enemy.… It is not communism anymore but something worse: omnipresent terrorism...whose [crimes] all of us have to pay for.… Therefore, we salute Brazil's decision to implemented a similar practice in reciprocity.… If we are suspects, U.S. citizens are too.… We have become potential terrorists."

Liberal Radio Network Hits Air With Left Jab

By Howard Kurtz

Al Franken set a lofty standard on his new radio show yesterday, casting it as "a battle for truth, a battle for justice, a battle for America itself."

"Not to be grandiose about it," he added.

Air America Radio didn't have a grandiose debut -- the signal was elusive in Los Angeles, its San Francisco station didn't materialize and its Internet feed kept breaking off -- but the fledgling liberal network managed to plant its flag in what has been overwhelmingly conservative turf.

With a preaching-to-the-converted tone, Franken ripped President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter ("a walking horror show," he called her), the target of several parodies in which the conservative commentator was portrayed -- in rather mean fashion -- as an ill-tempered, cursing, borderline racist.

A parade of liberal guests scored their partisan points on "The O'Franken Factor." But perhaps the most entertaining moment came when conservative talker and onetime Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy called in from his radio show.

"I know if someone comes after me, you'll kill them," Franken said.

"And not quickly," Liddy noted. "Slowly and painfully."

A comedian who made a name on "Saturday Night Live" and later wrote a book attacking Rush Limbaugh, Franken is the marquee draw for Air America, which launched on stations in New York, Chicago, L.A., Portland, Ore., and suburban southern California and on XM Satellite Radio. A station in Minneapolis, Franken's home town, is picking up his show. Air America is seeking a Washington station, but area listeners can access the network online at www.airamericaradio.com.

The venture was rushed on the air by Chevy Chase businessman Mark Walsh, a former executive at HBO and America Online who worked for John Kerry's presidential campaign last year, and Manhattan financier Evan Cohen. Walsh, the company's chief executive, says he expects the firm, which has fewer than 100 employees, to lose $30 million in the coming years but hopes to gain a foothold among liberal and independent listeners hungry for a left-leaning alternative on the radio.

Mindful that such liberal politicians as Mario Cuomo and Jerry Brown have flopped as radio hosts, Walsh has assembled a lineup that leans heavily on entertainers, from comedian Janeane Garofalo to rapper Chuck D to Lizz Winstead, co-creator of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

Conservative pundits have been dismissive. O'Reilly said on his Fox News show that "this whole liberal network scheme is just plain stupid. . . . These pinheads backing the venture will lose millions of dollars because the propaganda network is simply tedious and tedious doesn't sell."

Conservative radio host Jay Severin mocked the venture in the Boston Globe: "Yes, we know you believe with utmost sincerity that we are monstrous Neanderthals, but do you really believe your left-wing/pacifist/United Nations/French worldview will win a big middle-class audience? In America?"

Katherine Lanpher, formerly of Minnesota Public Radio, proved a useful foil as Franken's co-host on the noon program, chiding him for promoting his latest book and at one point telling him to "zip it." She did much of the heavy lifting during an interview with former senator Bob Kerrey, a member of the 9/11 commission, although Franken displayed detailed knowledge of the terrorism issue as well. When Franken referred to "Gorelick," Lanpher had to explain that he meant former deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick, also a member of the Sept. 11 commission.

A conspiratorial caller asked about rumors that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice had warned then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown not to fly on Sept. 11, 2001, which Kerrey dismissed as unsubstantiated. Franken made sure to add that "I don't believe for a second that they knew this was going to happen. . . . I do believe they were asleep at the wheel."

A good radio show has strong pacing and a deft mixture of ideology, confrontation and humor. Franken's "Factor" was meandering and discursive, almost NPR-like, sounding more like someone shooting the breeze at a dinner party than trying to persuade listeners. The "bumpers" between segments were soft and Muzak-like. With Franken speaking in a relatively low voice, the self-proclaimed "Zero Spin Zone" sometimes sounded like a zero energy zone.

An interview with liberal author and filmmaker Michael Moore wandered from the writing of his two-year-old book "Stupid White Men" to joking about connections between the Bush family and the Saudi royal clan to Moore reading letters from soldiers who don't like the president.

Half an hour into the interview, it was Lanpher who pressed Moore on why, while endorsing Wesley Clark for president, he called Bush a "deserter." Moore insisted it was an accurate description of Bush's allegedly spotty National Guard service.

Unlike Moore, Franken declined to engage a New Jersey caller named Eric who said that the war in Iraq would save thousands of lives over time.

A surprise call from Al Gore was frittered away as Moore offered an apology (for supporting Ralph Nader in 2000) so convoluted that the former Democratic nominee asked: "What are you saying?" Gore said he was making an exception to his no-interview policy because "your show is a really important show" and promised to return. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is slated for today.

Franken got off a good rant now and then, such as when he talked about Bush's television ads: "They can't show the carrier footage with him in front of 'Mission Accomplished' -- it just looked stupid. Now I think they can't do 9/11. The only thing they're going to be able to do is ads of him clearing brush."

But a mock news interview with an Arab man at the London airport who seemed to suggest he was bringing on board a dog who had swallowed box cutters seemed insensitive as well as unfunny.

The bombast level quadrupled with a burst of rock music when Randi Rhodes, a brassy Brooklynite and longtime Florida radio host, took over at 3 p.m. She served up red meat by the slab.

"We're here because you're smarter than George W. Bush," Rhodes declared. "The Bush family is just like the Corleones. . . . Jeb fixed his brother's election." Within 15 minutes she had worked in the word "penis," and after that "girls' panties."

Rhodes defended the former attorney general's response to terrorism, compared with her successor, John Ashcroft: "I know Janet Reno. . . . She's more man than he is."

Seeming to embody liberal anger, Rhodes launched into an extraordinary diatribe about why the president continued to speak to a second-grade class after two planes hit the World Trade Center, and said he then flew to Nebraska because he was "scared . . . Republicans have been drinking this Kool-Aid for a really stinking long time."

At 7 p.m. media analyst Marty Kaplan provided some comic relief by interviewing actor Larry David, who described how he was kissing an actress on his show for HBO, "Curb Your Enthusiasm." But even this had a political point: David abruptly stopped when he saw that the woman had a photo of Bush.

Garofalo, who emerged as an anti-Iraq war spokeswoman last year, engaged in stream-of-consciousness bar banter with her sidekick, actor Sam Seder. The 8 p.m. host slammed what she called "closet-bigot, homophobe, misogynist people who masquerade as Republicans," saying they practice "the politics of extreme belligerence, elastic ethics and very malleable and bendable truths." And she was just warming up.

Garofalo also groused about Fox News Channel anchor Brit Hume and his "Special Report" panelists -- "his Algonquin table of apologists" -- whom Seder half-jokingly characterized as "extreme right, far extreme right and very, very far extreme fascist right."

HBO talk show host Bill Maher told Garofalo it was inappropriate for conservatives to talk about putting Ronald Reagan's image on currency and even Mount Rushmore while he is still alive. Garofalo responded: "They want to put his name on everything -- airports, park benches, bidets."

Garofalo later complained about the "very vulgar things" said about Bill Clinton when he was trying to battle al Qaeda during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Maher, taking a swipe at the "lazy" and "stupid" press, offered Garofalo and her network words of encouragement. "There is not a liberal media," he said. "That's why I'm glad you guys are there."

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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