Friday, July 31, 2009

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Joseph A. Palermo: Warfare Over Health Care Top
We're being taken for a ride. The Blue Dogs and other fellow travelers ask us to be frugal when considering the general health of our citizens. But where were these spendthrift "deficit hawks" when Congress pushed through the lavish Pentagon spending bill and the operating budgets for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan? No nation on Earth could afford to garrison 130,000 soldiers in one country and 57,000 in another for years and years, and pile these expenses on the biggest military budget in the world without suffering some kind of fiscal catastrophe. Well, welcome to George W. Bush's "New World Order." It was President Reagan who called Afghanistan the Soviet Union's "Vietnam" (which is odd since he also called the Vietnam war a "noble cause"). Now Afghanistan is our "Vietnam." Those cunning mujahadeen fighters and their allies and descendants, who Reagan called "freedom fighters," are no different today. If anything, they're a lot tougher. They utilize the difficult terrain of their barren, balkanized country, as well as clever guerrilla tactics (as the Vietnamese did) to vanquish would-be occupiers. The U.S. "coalition," in most Afghans' eyes, probably looks like the same old bunch of white guys trying to impose imperial control over their lands. The U.S. policy of escalation and targeted drone killings in the border regions will do little to deter "terrorists" from attacking the United States but does a lot to promote political instability inside nuclear-armed Pakistan. In Iraq, the violent jockeying for real power has already begun between the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad and the Sunni and Kurdish minorities. Once the fighting escalates to a certain level there'll be loud yelps in the corridors of power in Washington for a renewed U.S. military effort in Iraq. (We can only imagine what will leap from the lips of Newt Gingrich and Liz Cheney). But President Obama has shown that in the area of foreign policy, at least, he is clearly in the driver's seat. I'm confident that whatever acts of barbarity occur in Iraq as U.S. soldiers are slowly withdrawn he's not stupid enough to listen to the advice of the Kenneth Pollacks and the Michael O'Hanlons and re-invade the country. The Halliburton/KBR/Brookings Institution party in Iraq is over. On Afghanistan I'm not so sure. In Congress, those who wanted to keep the F-22 jet fighter boondoggling along raised an uproar over cutting a measly $1.5 billion out of a military budget that has swelled to over $630 billion. And there are many voices in this same Congress that tell us we cannot afford to spend a fraction of that sum on the health of our citizens, even while fifty million of us have no health coverage at all. The staggering costs of maintaining a global empire is eating away at the innards of this country. Nothing illustrates this point more than the debate on health care that's going on right now in the Senate Finance Committee. Senators are wrestling with saving a penny here and a penny there when they're aimed at bolstering people's health, but they believe the sky is the limit so long as the money is being funneled into imperial pursuits and foreign occupations. Most obscene of all is seeing the same men and women who called for wasting the nation's blood and treasure on occupying Iraq now become misers when Americans are clamoring for a sensible health care system. More on Afghanistan
 
Bill Maher Issues Warning On Birthers: They Can Take Over "Like Crab Grass Or Cirque Du Soleil" (VIDEO) Top
Tonight on HBO, Bill Mahar took on the "birther" movement because, in his words, "In America, you know what, if you don't immediately kill errant bullshit no matter how ridiculous, it can grown and thrive and eventually take over like crab grass and cirque du soleil." "In America," Mahar explained, "There is no idea so patently absurd that it can't catch on." The idea catching on here is that Obama is an undocumented alien, with no U.S. birth certificate, and his presidency is, thus, "illegal." "Lou Dobbs said recently that people are asking a lot of questions about the birth certificate." Mahar continued. "Yes. The same people that want to know where the sun goes at night. And... where to put the stamp on their email. And you Dobbs, are their new king." More on CNN
 
Fox and G.E. Reach Deal to End O'Reilly-Olbermann Feud Top
It was a media cage fight, televised every weeknight at 8 p.m. But the match was halted when the blood started to spray executives in the high-priced seats. For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel and accused Fox of journalistic malpractice almost nightly. Mr. O'Reilly in turn criticized Mr. Olbermann's bosses and led an exceptional campaign against General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC. More on MSNBC
 
Disgrasian: What's the Difference Between Miss Universe Japan's Garter Belt and a Bikini? Top
That's Emiri Miyasaka (Miss Universe Japan) below, in a brand-spankin'-new national costume, which she will apparently be wearing to the big galactic competition on August 23 of this year . Perhaps on first glance (if you didn't just splooge yourself) you reacted as I did: "Ugh. God. Awful." Or like the handful of angry readers that posted comments documented by Itai News (highlighted by Japan Probe , from whom we're borrowing translation)--which accused her of mocking her home culture, then labeled her as "a national disgrace," "perverted," and a "stupid person" wearing a "stupidly designed costume." Leave it to my trusty partner-in-crime, Jen, to approach the outfit slightly more thoughtfully: "Yeah, it's really pervy, but we are talking a beauty pageant "--an event where coating one's teeth with Vaseline, shoving one's tits up their chin with tape, and spouting ignorant drivel from the stage are all kosher, if not recommended. Jen also ventured that the outfit might even be evidence of progress: maybe the Miss Universe Japan people are boldly stepping ahead of the curve, finally recognizing that the world kinda views the Japanese as pretty... pervy, and they're beating everyone to the punch. How forward-thinking of them! After all, what's the real disgrace here? That she's wearing lingerie ? Hell, we've seen Rachael Ray in skivvies before, for crying out loud. Total NBD (no big deal). Conservative Middle America still loves the woman. I could take her or leave her, but that's hardly the point. That turkey might think Ray is a disgrace, but he's probably the only one. And if we're talking about being scantily clad, let's not forget that Miyasaka will be obliged to trot around in an itty-bitty two piece for the competition, as will all of her competitors. I mean, check out the evening's performers, for crying out loud: Nothin' but class in this act By comparison, Miss Universe Japan looks covered up and downright bookish! At the end of the day, regardless of its cosmic reach, we are in fact talking about a BEAUTY PAGEANT, not a post-doctoral graduation ceremony. Others may disagree, but in my eyes, this pageant is about as legit and respectable and culturally relevant as Star Magazine (perhaps less so). It's a boiling cauldron of disgrace. It's a disgrace diet shake. Final thoughts: One thing I really, really, really, truly-ooly respect is Miyasaka's hot legs. They're awesome. Gotta give respeck where it's due, y'know? Diana is co-author of DISGRASIAN.com. More on Japan
 
House Health Bill Clears Last Committee Before Floor Vote, Recess Top
After nearly two weeks of delays, a health care bill passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday night, setting the stage for a full floor vote in the lower chamber -- but not for more than a month, as the House will be on vacation until Sept. 8. The committee passed its reform bill 31 to 28, with five Democrats joining every Republican in voting no. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders said at a press conference earlier Friday that they will spend much of their August recess working to reconcile the Energy and Commerce bill with the stronger bills passed by the Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees on July 17. Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) had been furiously negotiating with warring Democratic factions since negotiations broke down early last week. "Today is a historic moment for the House of Representatives and a defining moment for our country," Waxman said in a statement. "It is a significant victory that all three committees in the House have worked together to pass comprehensive health reform legislation for all Americans. This bill will deliver the results the nation's health care system so desperately needs: lower costs, better quality, and broader coverage. I hope that when we return from recess, the House will act expeditiously to enact this bill into law." The seven conservative Blue Dog Democrats on Waxman's committee stood as the primary obstacles to the bill throughout the past two weeks. The five Democrats who ultimately voted against the bill included three of those seven -- Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Bart Stupak of Michigan -- plus Reps. John Barrow of Georgia and Rick Boucher of Virginia. The four Blue Dogs who voted to support the bill were Reps. Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Baron Hill of Indiana, Zack Space of Ohio and frontman Mike Ross of Arkansas. With the aid of Obama administration officials, Waxman and those four struck a deal Wednesday that delayed the full House vote past August, weakened the bill's public health care option and cut $100 billion over 10 years, much of it in subsidies for uninsured members of the middle class who would be ineligible for the public plan. Those concessions prompted an outcry from House progressives, 57 of whom signed a letter to House leadership and the three committee chairmen protesting the Blue Dog deal. Waxman struck a deal between the progressives and Blue Dogs early Friday morning that left the public option delinked from Medicare and forced to negotiate its own rates, but restored the middle-income subsidies by shifting funds from existing federal health care programs. The deal also slightly reduced the cost of premiums for the uninsured, from 12 percent of a household's annual income to 11 percent. Alongside that agreement, Pelosi promised a floor vote on a single-payer health care system that would be fully government-run, Waxman told the committee Friday night. After Waxman's announcement, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) agreed to withdraw his single-payer amendment from consideration in the Energy and Commerce bill. Weiner then high-fived Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who with Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) helped cut the deal with Pelosi. Though Republicans were sidelined throughout the private negotiations among Democrats, they managed to briefly delay the incorporation of the intraparty Democratic deals as the committee debate stretched into Friday night. Finally Waxman overrode the procedural complaints of ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) and forced a vote on the Blue Dog agreement. First, however, Republicans expressed disappointment that the Blue Dogs were unable to water the bill down more or cut the public option entirely. "You allowed them to pick the color of the lipstick that's going on this pig," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) grumbled to Waxman shortly before the amendments were added to the bill. The final Energy and Commerce vote was even closer than the votes in the two other two House committees. Education and Labor passed its bill by a vote of 26 to 22, opposed by all committee Republicans and three Democrats -- Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Penn.), Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.). The Ways and Means markup, which includes tax increases, passed 23 to 18. There, too, three Democrats joined the united Republican opposition: Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.). While the House has now cleared its last remaining obstacle to a full floor vote, things are moving more slowly in the Senate. Ted Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed its bill two weeks ago under the stewardship of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), but Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters Thursday that he would not have a final version of the Finance bill before the Senate leaves for vacation at the end of next week. Both parties are already sharpening their knives in preparation for each member's monthlong battle for public opinion back home. Republican talking points leaked Friday argue that reform will simultaneously hurt both the insurers and the insured. "During a recession that has seen the loss of 6.5 million jobs, Democrats propose a government takeover of health care that will lead to increased costs, fewer jobs, higher taxes and less health coverage," the Republican memo reads. "Democrats appear ready to leave town for the August recess with a so-called deal in hand. I think it's safe to say that, over the August recess, as more Americans learn more about their plan, they're likely to have a very, very hot summer," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday. For their part, Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders sought this week to unite their party against the insurance companies Pelosi deemed the real "villains." "The glory days are coming to an end to the health insurance industry in our country," Pelosi said at a press conference Friday afternoon, calling the industry's profits "obscene." In a conference call with reporters immediately before the press conference, Pelosi lieutenant Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) condemned the Republican "campaign of lies." The White House is reaching out to help its allies in Congress frame the debate. Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod and Office of Health Reform head Nancy Ann DeParle held a closed-door messaging strategy meeting with House Democrats Friday morning, and Pelosi said Friday afternoon that the president will continue to stump for the forthcoming reform bills during the recess.
 
Michael Jones: 'In the Loop' a Must-See Movie Top
It was after my "I have to remember that line to tell people" software crashed from too many great lines to remember and my grin-o-meter clicked over to four hundred in a half hour that I realized that I was watching a seriously good movie. A seriously good, topical, deadly satiric, tell-all-your-friends-immediately-to-go-see-it, extremely funny movie. Good enough in its writing and dialogue delivery to make me think of His Girl Friday . Pay attention when you see it, the words are spoken at warp speed. The great knife of satire, sharp as a Hattori Hanzo blade, slices and dices the political classes of London and Washington with special attention to the media and its manipulators. Unfortunately named, especially for Chicago, the movie title is the only "off" thing associated with In the Loop . It's a British take on the run up to the Iraq war filmed as if a documentary. But, it is much, much more, putting the moviegoer in the midst of the action as ambition and character are tested by events great and small. Small steps, the movie indicates, are all that are needed to go from getting face time on camera to making decisions that could lead to thousands of deaths. And, it is all too believable. As is oftentimes said, never sit too close to a ballet and never ever watch sausage being made. In the Loop is a cautionary tale, a morality play by way of "The Colbert Report." It is, among many other things, the best Iraq War movie yet made. Its tone so insanely sardonic and so inclusively insulting that, whether pro- or anti-war, you'll laugh rather than chalking up political points to argue. Democrat or Republican, you will know in your heart of hearts at movie's end, that this is, indeed, how great events play out in real time. It's told, for the most part, from the point of view of a feckless, spineless, British Cabinet member who flutters toward the media's bright light like a moth on steroids. Then there is his PR staff, and the PM's PR guy, and Americans aplenty: State Department bureaucrats clawing each others eyes out in an endless contest for access and positioning, a corpulent Army general playing both sides against his rather substantial middle, and an English view of the White House, a house they will remind you they burned to the ground on a whim, that is so caustic and funny that it must be true. The easy to believe venalities of political access and power displayed with such style and fun are but part of the masterful plot and screenplay. The British system, the American system, the clueless UN, the A to B of how easily the press becomes but a pawn, the power politics of getting things done, love and lust, ambition and angst, bombast and betrayal, whoosh...and the movie seems over before you're settled in your seat. Fantastic performances all around with Peter Capaldi playing an incendiary PR fixer working directly for the prime minister, trying to control all messaging in a world of "all media all the time," dominating every scene he is in. His character's ongoing diatribe against anything in his path is the greatest display of invective in movie history. His is a Niagara Falls of insults, as he attempts to herd cats toward the government's approved "strategy." First movie ever to use Frodo in an alliterative put down (think 'f' with a 'ing') and that, in itself, is worth the price of admission. There were hints throughout of a recent great, overlooked movie as well: Tristam Shandy, A Cock and Bull Story . The same cinema verite style, the moving camera making the viewer part of it all, the behind-the-scenes vibe...very Cock and Bullish. The great Steven Coogan, who played Tristam, in a minor role here, as the action veers from the March to War to a constituency problem back in Merrie Olde. Maybe it was just the uber-literate script that connects the two, yes, the spirit of Tristam was somewhere there. I looked up In the Loop on IMDb and the director, Armando Iannucci, did the BBC television program The Thick of It on which this movie is loosely based, but also I'm Alan Partridge with Steven Coogan as Alan. I have read previously that Tristam owed a lot to the pseudo realistic style of that BBC show. So in an odd way, all roads lead back to Mr. Parsons. A friend texted me after she saw the movie: Run don't walk to see this movie! It was great advice. I pass it on to all Huffington Post readers.
 
Corazon Aquino Dead: Former Philippines President Dies At 76 Top
MANILA, Philippines — Former President Corazon Aquino, who swept away a dictator with a "people power" revolt and sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years, died on Saturday, her son said. She was 76. The uprising she led in 1986 ended the repressive 20-year regime of Ferdinand Marcos and inspired nonviolent protests across the globe, including those that ended communist rule in eastern Europe. Aquino rose to power after the 1983 assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. She was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year and confined to a Manila hospital for more than a month. Her son said the cancer had spread to other organs and she was too weak to continue chemotherapy. For the past month, supporters have been holding daily prayers for Aquino in churches. "She was headstrong and single-minded in one goal, and that was to remove all vestiges of an entrenched dictatorship," Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, said earlier this month. "We all owe her in a big way." But Aquino struggled in office to meet high public expectations. Her land redistribution program fell short of ending economic domination by the landed elite, including her own family. Her leadership, especially in social and economic reform, was often indecisive, leaving many of her closest allies disillusioned by the end of her term. Still, the bespectacled, smiling woman in her trademark yellow dress remained beloved in the Philippines, where she was affectionately referred to as "Tita (Auntie) Cory." Her son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, said she died at 3:18 a.m. Saturday (1918 GMT Friday). Requiem Masses were scheduled for later Saturday, and yellow ribbons were tied on trees around her neighborhood in Quezon city. Aquino's body will lie in state at the De La Salle Catholic school in Manila from Saturday evening to Monday morning, and she will be buried beside her husband at the Manila Memorial Park in a private ceremony Wednesday, her son told reporters. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is on an official visit to the United States, remembered Aquino as a "national treasure" who helped lead "a revolution to restore democracy and the rule of law to our nation at a time of great peril. "She picked up the standard from the fallen warrior Ninoy and helped lead our nation to a brighter day," Arroyo said. The Philippines will observe 10 days of national mourning, she said. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would accord full military honors during Aquino's wake, including gun salutes and lowering flags to half-staff. TV stations on Saturday ran footage of Aquino's years in power together with prayers while her former aides and supporters offered condolences. "Today our country has lost a mother," said former President Joseph Estrada, calling Aquino "a woman of both strength and graciousness." Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, who was the military's vice chief of staff when he broke with Marcos and embraced Aquino, said the former leader "represented the best of the Filipino of the past and the future." Exiled Communist Party founder Jose Maria Sison, whom Aquino freed from jail in 1986, paid tribute from the Netherlands. President Barack Obama was deeply saddened by Aquino's death, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "Ms. Aquino played a crucial role in Philippines history, moving the country to democratic rule through her nonviolent 'people power' movement over 20 years ago," Gibbs said. "Her courage, determination, and moral leadership are an inspiration to us all and exemplify the best in the Filipino nation." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wrote to Aquino last week, and Sen. Richard Lugar from Indiana also praised Aquino's courage. Lugar headed a team of American poll monitors who declared the February 1986 elections flawed, a significant turning point in Marcos' ouster. Aquino's unlikely rise began in 1983 after her husband was gunned down at Manila's international airport moments after soldiers escorted him from a plane on his arrival from exile in the United States to challenge Marcos, his longtime adversary. The killing enraged many Filipinos and unleashed a broad-based opposition movement that thrust Aquino into the role of national leader. "I don't know anything about the presidency," she declared in 1985, a year before she agreed to run against Marcos, uniting the fractious opposition, the business community, and later the armed forces to drive the dictator out. Maria Corazon Cojuangco was born on Jan. 25, 1933, into a wealthy, politically powerful family in Paniqui, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Manila. She attended private school in Manila and earned a degree in French from the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York. In 1954 she married Ninoy Aquino, the fiercely ambitious scion of another political family. He rose from provincial governor to senator and finally opposition leader. Marcos, elected president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972 to avoid term limits. He abolished the Congress and jailed Aquino's husband and thousands of opponents, journalists and activists without charges. Aquino became her husband's political stand-in, confidant, message carrier and spokeswoman. A military tribunal sentenced her husband to death for alleged links to communist rebels but, under pressure from U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Marcos allowed him to leave in May 1980 for heart surgery in the U.S. It was the start of a three-year exile. With her husband at Harvard University holding court with fellow exiles, academics, journalists and visitors from Manila, Aquino was the quiet homemaker, raising their five children and serving tea. Away from the hurly-burly of Philippine politics, she described the period as the best of their marriage. The halcyon days ended when her husband decided to return to regroup the opposition. While she and the children remained in Boston, he flew to Manila, where he was shot as he descended the stairs from the plane. The government blamed a suspected communist rebel, but subsequent investigations pointed to a soldier who was escorting him from the plane on Aug. 21, 1983. Aquino heard of the assassination in a phone call from a Japanese journalist. She recalled gathering the children and, as a deeply religious woman, praying for strength. "During Ninoy's incarceration and before my presidency, I used to ask why it had always to be us to make the sacrifice," she said in a 2007 interview with The Philippine Star newspaper. "And then, when Ninoy died, I would say, 'Why does it have to be me now?' It seemed like we were always the sacrificial lamb." She returned to the Philippines three days later. One week after that, she led the largest funeral procession Manila had seen. Crowd estimates ranged as high as 2 million. With public opposition mounting against Marcos, he stunned the nation in November 1985 by calling a snap election in a bid to shore up his mandate. The opposition, including then Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, urged Aquino to run. After a fierce campaign, the vote was held on Feb. 7, 1986. The National Assembly declared Marcos the winner, but journalists, foreign observers and church leaders alleged massive fraud. With the result in dispute, a group of military officers mutinied against Marcos on Feb. 22 and holed up with a small force in a military camp in Manila. Over the following three days, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos responded to a call by the Roman Catholic Church to jam the broad highway in front of the camp to prevent an attack by Marcos forces. On the third day, against the advice of her security detail, Aquino appeared at the rally alongside the mutineers, led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramos. From a makeshift platform, she declared: "For the first time in the history of the world, a civilian population has been called to defend the military." The military chiefs pledged their loyalty to Aquino and charged that Marcos had won the election by fraud. U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a longtime supporter of Marcos, called on him to resign. "Attempts to prolong the life of the present regime by violence are futile," the White House said. American officials offered to fly Marcos out of the Philippines. On Feb. 25, Marcos and his family went to the U.S.-run Clark Air Base outside Manila and flew to Hawaii, where he died three years later. The same day, Aquino was sworn in as the Philippines' first female leader. Over time, the euphoria fizzled as the public became impatient and Aquino more defensive as she struggled to navigate treacherous political waters and build alliances to push her agenda. "People used to compare me to the ideal president, but he doesn't exist and never existed. He has never lived," she said in the 2007 Philippine Star interview. The right attacked her for making overtures to communist rebels and the left for protecting the interests of wealthy landowners. Aquino signed an agrarian reform bill that virtually exempted large plantations like her family's sugar plantation from being distributed to landless farmers. When farmers protested outside the Malacanang Presidential Palace on Jan. 22, 1987, troops opened fire, killing 13 and wounding 100. The bloodshed scuttled talks with communist rebels, who had galvanized opposition to Marcos but weren't satisfied with Aquino either. As recently as 2004, at least seven workers were killed in clashes with police and soldiers at the family's plantation, Hacienda Luisita, over its refusal to distribute its land. Aquino also attempted to negotiate with Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines, but made little progress. Behind the public image of the frail, vulnerable widow, Aquino was an iron-willed woman who dismissed criticism as the carping of jealous rivals. She knew she had to act tough to earn respect in the Philippines' macho culture. "When I am just with a few close friends, I tell them, 'OK, you don't like me? Look at the alternatives,' and that shuts them up," she told America's NBC television in a 1987 interview. Her term was punctuated by repeated coup attempts – most staged by the same clique of officers who had risen up against Marcos and felt they had been denied their fair share of power. The most serious attempt came in December 1989 when only a flyover by U.S. jets prevented mutinous troops from toppling her. Leery of damaging relations with the United States, Aquino tried in vain to block a historic Senate vote to force the U.S. out of its two major bases in the Philippines. In the end, the U.S. Air Force pulled out of Clark Air Base in 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced its evacuation and left it heavily damaged. The last American vessel left Subic Bay Naval Base in November 1992. After stepping down in 1992, Aquino remained active in social and political causes. Until diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2008, she joined rallies calling for the resignation of President Arroyo over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption. She kept her distance from another famous widow, flamboyant former first lady Imelda Marcos, who was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991. Marcos has called Aquino a usurper and dictator, though she later led prayers for Aquino in July 2009 when the latter was hospitalized. The two never made peace. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Oliver Teves contributed to this report. (This version CORRECTS attribution to Gibbs from Obama in 18th paragraph).)
 

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