We've Got a Great New Poet Laureate

"I have tried to live very quietly, so I could be happy, " U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan told The Christian Science Monitor in 2004.

On July 17th, 2008, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the appointment of Kay Ryan as the Library’s 16th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2008-2009. Her duries begin in the fall, opening the Library’s annual literary series Oct. 16 with a reading of her work. She also will be a featured guest at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in the Poetry pavilion Sept. 27 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Billington explained that the Laureateship is uniformly awarded for the highest quality of poetry.

"Kay Ryan is a distinctive and original voice within the rich variety of contemporary American poetry," Billington said. "She writes easily understandable short poems on improbable subjects. Within her compact compositions there are many surprises in rhyme and rhythm and in sly wit pointing to subtle wisdom."

Ryan has been described as "a miniaturist", which I personally found very encouraging because it promises that she won't waste your time (not being naturally blabby like myself). In the sparest language, with gentle humility, she reveals complex philosophical matters. She has described her own poems as "an oyster that takes shape around an aggravation."

Here's are two entries from THE NIAGARA RIVER, her sixth (and most recent) book:

GREEN HILLS

Their green flanks

and swells are not

flesh in any sense

matching ours,

we tell ourselves.

Nor their green

breast nor their

green shoulder nor

the languor of their

rolling over.

THE NIAGARA RIVER

As though

the river were

a floor, we position

our table and chairs

upon it, eat, and

have conversation.

As it moves along,

we notice — as

calmly as though

dining room paintings

were being replaced

—the changing scenes

along the shore. We

do know, we do

know this is the

Niagara River, but

it is hard to remember

what that means.

How Many Lies Did it Take to Start a War?

We have an official answer; at least 935! From CNN, the "lie audit":

Bush, Aides Made 935 False Statements in Run-up to War

WASHINGTON (CNN) President Bush & his top aides publicly made 935 false statements about the security risk posed by Iraq in the two years following September 11, 2001, according to a study released by two nonprofit journalism groups.

"In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated & that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003," reads an overview of the examination, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and its affiliated group, the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

According to the study, Bush & seven top officials, including VP Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell & then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years. The study was based on a searchable database compiled of primary sources, such as official government transcripts and speeches, and secondary sources -- mainly quotes from major media organizations.

The study says Bush made 232 false statements about Iraq and former leader Saddam Hussein's possessing weapons of mass destruction, and 28 false statements about Iraq's links to al Qaeda.

Bush has consistently asserted that at the time he and other officials made the statements, the intelligence community of the U.S. and several other nations, including Britain, believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He has repeatedly said that despite the intelligence flaws, removing Hussein from power was the right thing to do.

The study, released Tuesday, says Powell had the second-highest number of false statements, with 244 about weapons and 10 about Iraq and al Qaeda.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Press Secretary Ari Fleischer each made 109 false statements, it says. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made 85, Rice made 56, Cheney made 48 and Scott McLellan, also a press secretary, made 14, the study says.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al Qaeda," the report reads, citing multiple government reports, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the 9/11 Commission and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, which reported that Hussein had suspended Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to revive it.

The overview of the study also calls the media to task, saying most media outlets didn't do enough to investigate the claims. "Some journalists -- indeed, even some entire news organizations -- have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical," the report reads. "These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq."

The quotes in the study include an August 26, 2002, statement by Cheney to the national convention of the VFW~ "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."

Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/23/bush.iraq