How to Get an "A"

NativeTexan4kerry:

Hope you told this student about the DCP because we're going to continue the
fight for our democracy, for fair and transparent elections, for media
reform, and while we're at it, we're going to leap over tall buildings.

Wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and Peace, Courage and Hope
for the coming year.

I've been reading the back threads and, first of all, thank you Dick for
taking the time to write such lovely blog threads and keeping things going.
I'm glad you, Karen and your family had a good Christmas.

It looks like there is a lot of positive activity going on. We may have a
Democratic governor in Washington State and Conyers and the Ohio Dem party
are zeroing in on Blackwell and the fraud he orchestrated.

To add icing to the cake, Ron and others have posted a link to an article
with an incredible picture of Kerry - discussing the fact that Kerry's legal
team in Ohio is about to file papers that will challenge the legality of the
Ohio election process. (I think many of us are afraid to get our hopes up -
but I am fascinated by what may transpire in the next three weeks.)

NativeTexan4Kerry - you should feel proud that your student trusted you
enough to hand in that essay. I hope you were able to reassure the student
that all is not lost and the pendulum does swing the other way. I remember
feeling discouraged when Nixon was elected in 1968 and then reelected in
1972. But as we all know - Nixon was undone by his own paranoia and his
administration's subversion of democracy.

For some reason this was a very 60's/70's Christmas. My sister wanted The
Last Waltz and I also gave her the Woodstock DVD. Ironically, my sister &
her husband gave me the book "Hippie" which has gotten great reviews. My
daughters dug up some old Donovan and Byrds CD's (listen to the lyrics of
the song - Universal Soldier - by Buffy St. Marie- it will chill you to your
toes). And to top it off, the radio station we were listening to while
driving to and from Christmas events kept playing Lennon's Christmas song
"Happy Xmas(War is Over)."

So as Dick said earlier - it is sad that the Bush administration seems to
have learned nothing from the Vietnam war - and it is sad that we have been
plunged into NeoCon and Religious Right hell - but I think positive will
come from this horrible state of affairs. We are mobilized - we have purpose
- and people now realize just how easy it would be to lose our democracy -
if we all don't stand up and do our civic duty.

Just as the counter culture in the 60's rose from the sexual repression,
conformity and fear of anihilation by the Soviets during the 50's - I
predict the pendulum will swing to a period of enlightenment and a
resurgence of democracy. I know I'm an optimist, but I'm also a student of
history. To borrow a phrase from Bush Senior - "this will not stand."

HAPPY XMAS (War Is Over)
(Lennon/Ono)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

Chorus:
A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

Chorus

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

Chorus

War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas

Thanks guys!

Yes, I was very proud of my student; she is one of the smartest kids I have
taught. =) ...and I will certainly let her know that there are places like
the DCP out here on the "internets" where she could contribute a lot!

Tomorrow I am leaving Texas to visit New York for a few days, and then to
visit family in Chicago. It will be a large family-gathering type thing. All
my family are Democrats, but I am not sure how directly involved they are. I
plan to tell them about the DCP and other ways that they can become more
active! ...and I am taking the laptop with me so I dont miss I single day
here! ;-)

I wanted to stop in for a minute and thanks everyone for the lovely emails
and cards I have recieved from you all. Hopefully I will be back soon and I
may log into to IRC tommorrow or the next day for a bit to visit. Love April

Native,

Come visit me at the Center for Jewish History at Union Square, NYC, if you
have time.

Just dropped by to wish you all a happy holiday season. We had a great "blue
roof" Christmas down here in Florida. Despite the election, I'm resolving to
try and stay cheerful, at least during this time of the year. My son gave
me a gift for Christmas of George Carlin's new book, which I immediately
unwrapped and took into my bedroom to hide (so my 82 year old mom couldn't
see what I'd asked for as a gift :-) At any rate, I found this interesting
quote in the book, and wanted to share it with everyone on here:

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the
country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag
the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a
parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have
to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for
lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
Hermann Goring at the Nuremberg Trials

Just thought I'd share that with you all. Happy Holidays, Huh???? Keep
Hope Alive in the New year.

OMG,ALL the voices of reason have returned to to the Dick Bell blog!! HAPPY
HO-HO E1.It's a cold as a witches tit here tonight,but not as cold as the
NE. Let's pray for a V_I_C_T_O_R_Y over the next few days. I know,I
know..... it's a LONG shot but worth the effort.

So glad to see Linda Enterkin and April here!

I know this was a hard holiday for so many of us--getting through the sense
of loss to look for hope seems to be a recurring theme.

We had a quiet and reflective two days "off" and tomorrow morning we start
again on the DCP buildup.

Our warmest thoughts to all of you reading this. We love our extended
family too!

A job very well done spreading the word and sending out encouragement,
NativeTexan! :)

See you online!

This is an extremely interesting article which I think deserves a good read.

href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/01/01_451.html">http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/01/01_451.html

Good News.... Now if only our media could be as concerned about the
corruption in the November 2004 election...

Ukraine's Yushchenko Declares Victory

20 minutes ago

By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared victory Monday
in Ukraine's fiercely contested presidential election, telling thousands of
supporters they had taken their country to a new political era after a
bitterly fought campaign that required an unprecedented three ballots and
Supreme Court intervention against fraud.

"There is news: It's over. Now, today, the Ukrainian people have won. I
congratulate you," he told the festive crowd in Kiev's central Independence
Square, the center of weeks of protests after the fraudulent and
now-annulled Nov. 21 ballot in which Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had
been declared the winner.

"We have been independent for 14 years but we were not free," Yushchenko
said. "Now we can say this is a thing of the past. Now we are facing an
independent and free Ukraine."

With ballots from just over 87 percent of precincts counted, Yushchenko was
leading with 54 percent compared with Yanukovych's 42 percent. Yushchenko
did not appear to be making inroads in his opponent's territory so much as
solidifying his dominance in places that had already supported him.

href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041227/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_election">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041227/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_election

What do you think of this?? Again, did the media drop the ball on this
issue? Why wasn't this "suggestion" made prior to the election?

The article goes into a lot of detail - addresses the drooling, the
accidents and gives a comprehensive chronology of Bush's bizarre accidents -
the photos are also very convincing.

Of particular interest are the list of symptoms related to strokes,
dementia, atrial fibrillation and hyperthyroidism - Yikes!
****************************************

PHOTOS Show George W. Bush Seriously Ill Physically

by C L Hallmark

21 Dec 2004

George W. Bush apparently is wearing a medical device for "persons at risk
of cardiac arrest." It is a LifeVest wearable defibrillator. He started
using it sometime after his January 2002 fainting spell, which was
attributed to choking. Based on photos showing him wearing the device, one
can conclude the fainting was due to atrial fibrillation (AF), which his
father also had.

His father's AF was caused by Graves' hyperthyroidism, which his mother also
has. Bush likely has AF and less likely Graves', based on his family history
and symptoms. The AF may have caused a stroke or TIA (mini-stroke), of which
physicians watching the debates detected symptoms. Observers have noted
psychological symptoms consistent with this and with Wernicke-Korsakoff
disease.

href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/136872/index.php">http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/136872/index.php

I am a speech pathologist. For some time I have noticed that Bush has left
facial droop, consistent with TIAs to the right hemisphere.

Wernicke's aphasia would involve the temporal area & speech fluency & ease,
word retrieval. If there is a syndrome like this associated with Korsakoff
that would implicate drinking history too.

Sounds plausible - have been wondering about the speech, the look, the
thinking, the box, the falls, the choking, the delusions for a long time.

Hello & Happy Holidays To All Of You

Haven't posted in a while. Had to back away at the beginning of December to
process the catastrophe that was the 2004 election. Still trying to
regroup- haven't figured out where I want to apply me efforts and energies.
I'm sure alot of you have been having similar experiences! Anyway= I hope
everyone enjoyed a very Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas.

Elizabeth

a few Bensons

href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/pics/122704bbenson379.gif">http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/pics/122704bbenson379.gif

href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/">http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/pics/122704dbenson397.gif">http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/pics/122704dbenson397.gif

Stopping in to wish everyone Happy Holidays. I was on the Kerry/Edwards blog
and found this site via commongroundcommonsense. Hope we all have a HAPPY
NEW YEAR TOO!

Linda, Elizabeth, and Jani:

Wecome back. Of course we were all disappointed in the election results
just like you. However, as time has passed, we've been able to compile more
information that this election was rampant with fruad, suppresson,
intimidation, and everything "undemocratic."

Though right now we are hoping to make calls, sign petitions, and make sure
the democrats stick to together in disputing this presidency, we are also
committed to working on election reform and media reform too. Now is the
time to take away his "political capital" and to make sure we work on
getting dems elected in 2006.

Regardless of this election, many republicans are already experiencing
buyer's remorse. We will be working hard here to make sure they KNOW the
truth. And if any cheery though is needed, Richard Nixon also won his
second term before being impeached, so we can hope that Nixon jr here sees
the same results. I suppose we'll have to tackle that job too!

Anyway, keep your eye on us, because we're trying to get a bunch of
interactive things happening with this site which will help us spread the
word in our local cells too.

Glad to see you all here.

Got this of the Al Gore site.

Drug companies issue Michael Moore alert
LOS ANGELES (AP) Ñ Some pharmaceutical companies are telling their
employees to look out for the scruffy guy in the baseball cap. The Houston
Chronicle reported Saturday that at least six drug companies have released
internal communications telling employees to be wary of filmmaker Michael
Moore.
href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-12-26-michael-moore-warning_x.htm">http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-12-26-michael-moore-warning_x.htm

Good morning to all. DiAnne asked a few days ago what Wes Clark is up to.
Several months before the election he started an organization called WesPac,
and is soliciting contributions for worthy democratic causes, such as the
recount effort up in Washington. You can find Wespac online and keep up with
all of his efforts there. He and Gert went to California to celebrate the
holidays with their son and his family. They have a grandson who is a year
old this month.
Anyway- I wrote a letter to our local paper this week expressing my real
feelings about this election, and I'm sure it will anger a lot of people who
read it. What I feel is that we still have a lot to be grateful for this
season, because we worked so hard for the things that we know are important.
We won't have to feel guilty when we see the death of another American
soldier in Iraq- we will all feel the sorrow, of course, but we will know
that we are not responsible. I wrote to my local paper that I do not know
how Bush voters can sleep at night, knowing they share the responsibility
for the deaths of so many young Americans. These people voted for a man who
they knew had lied to us about weapons of mass destruction, and who took us
into a needless war where thousands of young Americans have been injured or
died. We are not responsible- they are, and our consciences are clear. We
cannot hope to always be in control of the forces that govern our world- the
best that any person can hope for in life is the knowledge that he or she
followed the dictates of their conscience. We all did that, and we can be
proud of it.
Sleeping well at night has it's own rewards. And so does being able to look
at yourself in the mirror in the morning when you wake up.
We have to continue to fight, even if we lose again, for the sake of our own
self respect. In the long run, I feel like as long as we keep up the fight,
we'll always be the real winners. So happy holidays to all from the
Southland. And, as the Rev. Jesse always says, Keep Hope Alive.

Bush Left in the Cold by Climate Allies
href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1226-01.htm">http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1226-01.htm

Jet Is an Open Secret in Terror War
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27826-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27826-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email
"... the agency is flying captured terrorist suspects from one country to
another for detention and interrogation.
The CIA calls this activity "rendition." "

Shopping for War
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/opinion/27herbert.html?th">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/opinion/27herbert.html?th
Excerpts - click on link for full story:
"You might think that the debacle in Iraq would be enough for the Pentagon,
that it would not be in the mood to seek out new routes to unnecessary wars
for the United States to fight. But with Donald Rumsfeld at the apex of the
defense establishment, enough is never enough.

So, as detailed in an article in The Times on Dec. 19, Mr. Rumsfeld's
minions are concocting yet another grandiose and potentially disastrous
scheme. Pentagon officials are putting together a plan that would give the
military a more prominent role in intelligence gathering operations that
traditionally have been handled by the Central Intelligence Agency. They
envision the military doing more spying with humans, as opposed, for
example, to surveillance with satellites.

Further encroachment by the military into intelligence matters better
handled by civilians is bad enough. Now hold your breath. According to the
article, "Among the ideas cited by Defense Department officials is the idea
of 'fighting for intelligence,' or commencing combat operations chiefly to
obtain intelligence."

That is utter madness. The geniuses in Washington have already launched one
bogus war, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and provoked levels of
suffering that are impossible to quantify. We don't need to be contemplating
new forms of warfare waged for the sole purpose of gathering intelligence."

[Paragraphs about Boykin who would head up intelligence in the military....]

"It's also time to rein in Mr. Rumsfeld. As The Times noted in a recent
editorial, "The last time Mr. Rumsfeld tried to force himself into the
intelligence collection and analysis business, he created a boutique C.I.A.
in the bowels of the Pentagon under the command of Douglas Feith, the under
secretary of defense for policy. The office essentially fabricated a link
between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden - a link used to justify the Iraq
invasion, and one that Mr. Rumsfeld was not getting from the C.I.A."

As Mr. Rumsfeld sees it, if the professionals won't give you what you want,
find someone who will. What the Bush administration wanted from its
intelligence sources was a reason to go to war. Mr. Rumsfeld's shop was more
than happy to oblige.

The war in Iraq was the result of powerful government figures imposing their
dangerous fantasies on the world. The fantasies notably included the weapons
of mass destruction, the links between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, the
throngs of Iraqis hurling kisses and garlands at the invading Americans, and
the spread of American-style democracy throughout the Middle East. All
voices of caution were ignored and the fantasies were allowed to prevail.

The world is not a video game, although it must seem like it at times to the
hubristic, hermetically sealed powerbrokers in Washington who manipulate the
forces that affect the lives of so many millions of people in every region
of the planet. That kind of power calls for humility, not arrogance, and
should be wielded wisely, not thoughtlessly and impulsively.

This latest overreach by Mr. Rumsfeld is a sign that the administration,
like a hardheaded adolescent, has learned little or nothing from the tragic
consequences of its wrongheaded policies. The second term is coming, so
buckle up. It promises to be a very dangerous four years."

'Ecstasy' Use Studied to Ease Fear in Terminally Ill
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27716-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27716-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email

Bush Likely to Cut Healthcare Spending
href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122704J.shtml">http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122704J.shtml

The Bigger Problem
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28009-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28009-2004Dec26.html?referrer=email
[i.e. Medicare... and shrubbie's good buddies in the pharmaceutical industry
are raking in profits as a result of legislation the drug industry wrote.
That being the case, the fact that Medicare will be in dire straits long
before Social Security will never be addressed, IMHO, because shrubbie is
inventing a crisis in SS that doesn't exist so that he can reward his
buddies in Wall Street while putting the US in debt to the tune of two
trillion or more....]

MAKING VOTES COUNT
Setting Standards for Fair Elections
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/opinion/27mon1.html?th">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/opinion/27mon1.html?th
[If I'm reading the proposed changes correctly, special interests will still
have too much to say in writing any changes to voter laws....]

God or Darwin, the Battle Heats Up
href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122704K.shtml">http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122704K.shtml

I do not remember whether this was posted before, but just in case...

href="http://69.9.171.129/contest.html">http://69.9.171.129/contest.html

Somebody else who got an A:

A couple of weeks ago, I was preparing the final exam for one of my courses,
while peeking every now and then here to see what's going on. Somebody
(forgot who, sorry!) posted a link to a interseting list of quotes about
politics & the Internet. Since the course I was writting the exam for was
about the legal, social, and ethical implications of technology, and I was
running out of ideas for meaningful questions to ask, I just attached a
printout of that page to the exam, and asked my students to chose a few
quotations to briefly discuss. This is what one of my students wrote. He is
an OK student, not one of the best in the group, very quiet, but I was very
happy to be able to give him an A.

"Daniel Weintraub's article about the Internet helping grassroots
organizations is very true. I have seen first hand the number of
organizations that have been created and actually became very big due to the
Internet. Moveon.orgstarted as a very small grassroots group with probably
just a few members, but as the last election got closer it grew to include
millions of memebres in all 50 states. More recently, another group that I
am a member of (turnyourbackonbush.org) went from 2 guys in their house
with an idea to protest the inauguration of a person that they did not feel
was fit to lead our country went from two members to thousands in a little
over a week. This is incredible because many groups have great causes and
ideas, but simply do not have the budget to do the things they want to. The
Internet makes it all possible."

Irina (and everyone),

We checked out that site you linked to and there is no way to tell who owns
that site. It MAY be an e-mail harvesting scam, or a money gathering scam.

As always, we try to investigate what we can here--the tools we need to use
to create change have to be transparent too.

Try to find out who is funding a site and who the players are before giving
your e-mail or money to anyone soliciting online.

href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=676&e=5&u=/usatoday/20041227/ts_usatoday/gopsetsupsenatecollisiononjudges">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=676&e=5&u=/usatoday/20041227/ts_usatoday/gopsetsupsenatecollisiononjudges
GOP sets up Senate collision on judges
[Similar stories have appeared about this in the last couple of weeks in
various online news web sites. Between shrubbie and DeLay, it sounds like
they're setting things up for BushCo to be a dictator, while they're setting
Congress up to rubber-stamp approval for anything shrubbie wants.... My
questions: Given the fact that so many Dems have in the past four years
caved in to whatever shrubbie wants, shrubbie gets, do any of them have the
balls to stand up to the BushCo administration and halt them on the road to
fascist dictatorship...??? Given the fact that the media is now wholly
controlled by the right-wingers, does the media have anyone with enough
balls - and credibility - to fairly present the news accurately, and not
make it sound like Dems are being unpatriotic and disloyal Americans when
they see the disastrous results of the BushCo administration???]

if he did it here -- why not there?
href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/20021315...">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/20021315...
A spokesman for Iraq's election commission yesterday rejected a suggestion
from the Bush administration that it adjust the results of next month's vote
to expand the Sunni Arab presence in the new legislature and government if
low turnout in the volatile Sunni areas means Shiites win an exaggerated
majority in the new 275-seat assembly.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Shiite leaders had been
discreetly approached about the idea by American officials, who argued that
including the Sunnis, who make up about 20 percent of the population, would
diminish the chances of post-election violence against the Shiites, who are
60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population.
Calling the U.S. overtures unacceptable interference, Electoral Commission
spokesman Farid Ayar said: "Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is
the way it will be in the election.
----------------
in other news of the future:
Bush wins Iraqi Election
Pre-tallied exit polls, vote-switching machines, and pre-punched ballots
have determined George W. Bush is the new President of Iraq.
Speaking from Camp D'Avid, the newly elected President Bush declares he has
a mandate. When asked about reports of vote tampering, President Bush said
"err, yeah, well it's just a few bad guys trying to , ummm, you know,
destroy our freedoms."

Karen:
Here is what I found about the site I mentioned earlier
href="http://www.checkdomain.com/cgi-bin/checkdomain.pl?domain=thepen.us">http://www.checkdomain.com/cgi-bin/checkdomain.pl?domain=thepen.us
Do you have other tools for checking these things out? Just trying to
learn...
It might indeed be fishy, I tried to call the listed number, and only got a
recorded message saying that the PCS number is temporarily not in service.
By the way, I did give them my email, but defnitely not money :-).

href="http://69.9.171.129/contest.html">http://69.9.171.129/contest.html
under href="http://thepen.us/contest.html">http://thepen.us/contest.html

Irina and Karen, I remember seeing this same thing on our cell, as something
that is one step messaging to Congress. Maybe everything is getting some
money now.

Lady from Louisiana just came to visit our Center for Jewish History, a
public access facility with millions of archives, programs, etc, not
necessarily heavy on religious. Some Jewish in her ancestry, she's curious,
but we ended up talking about how the evangelical movement now is fascist.
She grew up in it, and what we have, she says, it not religion. A little
commonality with down south, and talking of continuing the dialogues.
Encouraging.

23,500 dead
3 Americans

23,500 dead
3 Americans

Posted by: Irina | December 27, 2004 12:37 PM

Added precaution.... if you don't already have a "throw away" email address
through hotmail or yahoo to use for things like that, may I suggest you get
one? I have four email addresses, and two are through my ISP because they
come with free web space for my genealogy web sites, the yahoo address I had
before I got my own computer, and the hotmail address is because I
occasionally chat on Messenger with a genealogy contact. However, I figured
out a long time ago that the anti-spam filter my ISP uses rejects even
e-newsletters I have signed up for, so I have to use the two others for
e-newsletters I genuinely want. And because email addresses can be 'mined'
from sites like this, I use the 'throw away' email addresses... and delete
unopened everything that I know didn't come from someone I know (like other
people I 'know' on this blog). Even for web sites I trust (within reason),
I never, never, never give out personal numbers that can be used for
identity theft. My computer guru who is the one who said to never give out
info had his visa number stolen from a "trusted' web site, he had to go
through hassles to change stuff....

The link above I've seen before. Altho I didn't check it out past the first
page, the idea that just clicking on something and someone else would send
my legislators emails on my behalf sounded... odd. So, I looked up stuff
myself and got the email addresses and web sites I needed to get to.
Sometimes it's just better to do things for one's self.....

Death toll rising:

HOW TO HELP

* To find out how to donate to World Vision, visit www.worldvision.org or
call 888-562-4453.

* To find out about supporting Northwest Medical Teams, call 800-959-4325 or
visit www.nwmedicalteams.org.

* To make a donation to Mercy Corps, go to www.mercycorps.org.

* Also accepting donations is Seattle-based World Concerns, which plans to
provide water, sanitation and shelter in Thailand. Visit
www.worldconcern.org.

Death toll rising:

HOW TO HELP

* To find out how to donate to World Vision, visit www.worldvision.org or
call 888-562-4453.

* To find out about supporting Northwest Medical Teams, call 800-959-4325 or
visit www.nwmedicalteams.org.

* To make a donation to Mercy Corps, go to www.mercycorps.org.

* Also accepting donations is Seattle-based World Concerns, which plans to
provide water, sanitation and shelter in Thailand. Visit
www.worldconcern.org.

Thanks, Diane, I'll post to my group. I'd add Oxfam, which always does
effective work and has started its relief in Asia.

To support AmeriCares relief efforts in Southeast Asia, log onto href="http://www.americares.org">http://www.americares.org or call
1-800-486-HELP (4357).

To support Save the Children's emergency response efforts, contributions
should be made to: Save the Children, Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief
Fund, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880, or call 800-728-3843.

I am really not interested in anything else today. Most of the relief
agencies are in cities. Bush spoke so much of compassion over Christmas.
He has so far made a minimal & general comment re this tragedy. Who is
surprised ..

To support AmeriCares relief efforts in Southeast Asia, log onto href="http://www.americares.org">http://www.americares.org or call
1-800-486-HELP (4357).

To support Save the Children's emergency response efforts, contributions
should be made to: Save the Children, Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief
Fund, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880, or call 800-728-3843.

I am really not interested in anything else today. Most of the relief
agencies are in cities. Bush spoke so much of compassion over Christmas.
He has so far made a minimal & general comment re this tragedy. Who is
surprised ..

Nonny:

The story regarding Bush's plans to resubmit his judicial appointments is
significant for more reasons than the fact that these appintments, represent
right wing phislospohies which are not in tune with mainstream Americans,
but the method by which Republican seek to obtain their appointments.

Frisch's plan to overturn a 200 year Senate tradition of allowing
filibusters in the advise and consent trdition of the Senate, is I belive
the most important issue we face in 2005. The idea that Republicans,
especially their freshmen Senators, are willing to so easily undermine the
balance of power between Congress and the the Whitehouse is a topic and
discussion that deserves our utmost attention. The foundation of our
Democracy is at risk whenever either party seeks to play fast and lose with
the Constitution or Congressional rules and we should have a strategy to
deal with this issue.

Everyone Sign the Revote Fla & Ohio Petition?

If not, go here and sign!

href="http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Revote">http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Revote

The goal is 50,000 signatures - forward to everyone you know who may be
interested, and maybe the mods could send out to everyone on the email list?

Thanks!

Action Alert: List of Agencies for Donations to Aid Asia

href="http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=168">http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=168

Bush spoke so much of compassion over Christmas. He has so far made a
minimal & general comment re this tragedy. Who is surprised ..

Posted by: DiAnne | December 27, 2004 01:45 PM

Those Southeast Asians are either Buddhists or, worse, Muslims. No wonder
Bush doesn't care. He only cares about Christians.

The foundation of our Democracy is at risk whenever either party seeks to
play fast and lose with the Constitution or Congressional rules and we
should have a strategy to deal with this issue.
Posted by: Ira | December 27, 2004 02:01 PM

Like you, Ira, I consider it an issue of major importance. Ever since I saw
the first news article about it there have been warning flags going off in
my head.... changing the rules for the Senate or House of Representatives to
suit the BushCo agenda is nothing short of setting up a dictatorship (IMHO).
Like it or not (and I don't like it!), BushCo has already made us a
fascist nation by shoving legislation through during those first days and
weeks after 9/11, and he's continued to push his selfish agenda down our
throats ever since with patriotic rhetoric.... He doesn't ask; he tells us
we have a crisis (all lies, like the SS thing most recently, which would
only enrich his buddies if he manages to shove it down our throats), invents
these various crises and imbues them with religious and patriotic rhetoric,
and it has ticked me off badly that so many Dems go right along with all of
the BushCo crap and never stand up to the administration on behalf of the
American people.

BushCo has already abused the extra power he was granted after 9/11 by a
trusting Congress and the citizens of this country who were mourning and not
paying enough attention to what was going on behind the scenes at the time.
Enough is more than enough at this point after all the lies we've been told,
and lies about the lies....

Conservatives cherish and protect the Constitution. Conservatives honor our
forefathers and the delicate balance of powers b/w the Executive and
Legislative Branch. Conservatives promote Democracy here at home, they don't
seek to undermind it. The current Republican Party is not being lead by
Conservatives who seek to protect or defend the US Constitution. Could not a
reasonable argument be made that Democrats are the true Conservatives?

We tried making that argument, Ira, during the election, but no one heard us
through the noise machine.

We tried making that argument, Ira, during the election, but no one heard us
through the noise machine.

Oops, caught the DiAnne bug.

Marjorie:

You are right. We tried and failed to make that argument during the
election. Perhaps it is incumbent upon us to make that argument more
coherently and more forcefuly.

Its called co-opting your opponent's message. Just a thought that we should
do everything we can now that Republicans have signaled that it is their
clear intent to undermind the Constitution. Perhaps we need to turn to folks
like Bob Barr and encourage the few Libertarians and true Conservatives to
attack the Republican party as not being Conservative. We lost the cultural
definition of being Conservative. But perhaps we can establish the
Democratic party as the economic and constitutional conservative party with
the message that republicans have abandoned the concept of being
conservative with the economy, budget, civil liberties and the constition.
Perhaps we need to re embrace our founding fathers. This fight over the
balance of powers b/w the legislative and executive offers us that
opportunity.

Relief Effort Begins, With U.S. Contributing Millions

By AMY WALDMAN

Published: December 27, 2004

MADRAS, India, Dec. 27 - The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years
erupted underwater off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday and sent
walls of water barreling thousands of miles, killing more than 19,000 people
in half a dozen countries across South and Southeast Asia, with thousands
more missing or unreachable.

href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/international/asia/27CND_quake.htm">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/international/asia/27CND_quake.htm

20,000 people wiped out and we give millions? Big deal, we should be giving
100s of millions.

That gives me hope, Pamela, but Bush tends to get the spotlight for big
promises, like towards AIDS, then no one notices when he defaults. Just when
he is looking the worst, he gets disasters to make points, like the FL
hurricanes. For those, and with everything to gain, he gave plenty.

And Ira, co-opting is like Clinton triangulation and a dirty word to current
progressives, but we have to show the neo-con danger and false message. I'm
for reasonable and protection, which sounds too traditional for a rebellion
cry! We have all levels of heat right now in our anger and protest, which we
don't want to cool. Hopefully we can soon get going with what works, and
full speed ahead.

Ira,

This was on page 2 of the NYTimes piece I posted the snip and link to:

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said United States
ambassadors in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India and Indonesia have already
made a total of $400,000 available for immediate assistance, with $4 million
to follow very soon. And Ed Fox, the assistant administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development, said still another $10 million
would be contributed in the near future.

href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/international/asia/27CND">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/international/asia/27CND

I think that the whole world is evaluating the situation in Asia and jumping
in to be of help as fast as humanly possible.

There is a long list of organizations that are helping on the LUTD Blog. I
am updating the list as more organizations announce their participation.

Tsunami relief effort - How you can help

India: Prime MinisterÕs National Relief Fund ( href="http://pmindia.nic.in/relief.htm)">http://pmindia.nic.in/relief.htm)

Blogger Ramdhan Kotamaraja ( href="http://www.ramdhanyk.com/movabletype/archives/thoughtprocess/001337.html)">http://www.ramdhanyk.com/movabletype/archives/thoughtprocess/001337.html)
is collecting donations online;

Niranjani ( href="http://perspicuous.typepad.com/niranjani/2004/12/nightmare_in_so.html)">http://perspicuous.typepad.com/niranjani/2004/12/nightmare_in_so.html)
provides contact numbers of relief workers in Chennai (Madras). (They need
essential items like non-perishable food, clothing and essential drugs like
antibiotics, paracetamol and pain-killers) .

Sri Lanka: Reliefweb ( href="http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/f8bd0416c9d6bb36c1256f76004072b1?OpenDocument)">http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/f8bd0416c9d6bb36c1256f76004072b1?OpenDocument)
United Nations office

Maldives: Relief center telephone contacts Saabe +(960) 776805, Eva +(960)
782747, Faya +(960) 776142 or Ziyad +(960) 772598; they need food, clothes
and basic necessities

Malaysia: Bloggers have set up a fund ( href="http://www.brandmalaysia.com/movabletype/archives/2004/12/stand_up_for_pe_2.html)">http://www.brandmalaysia.com/movabletype/archives/2004/12/stand_up_for_pe_2.html)
for those affected in the Malaysian state of Penang

International NGOs: Online donations accepted by the US Red Cross ( href="http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072,0_312_3870,00.html)">http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072,0_312_3870,00.html)
,Singapore Red Cross ( href="http://www.redcross.org.sg/help_fdonation.htm)">http://www.redcross.org.sg/help_fdonation.htm)
,Oxfam ( href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/give_to_oxfam/donate/asiaquake1204.htm)">http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/give_to_oxfam/donate/asiaquake1204.htm)
and Care ( href="http://www.careaustralia.org.au/donate_now.asp)">http://www.careaustralia.org.au/donate_now.asp)
(Australia)

I agree that Dick Morris is a squirel and we dislike his association with
our strategies, but I am trying to go beyond past concepts and past
strategies. Like it or nor Clinton was the first Dem in our lifetime to win
re election. Bush promoted a phony but effective message of being a
compasionate conservative which we all know was bs.
My thought is to come up with a phrase catchword for a new Democratic Party
that will help reposition our party. Yes we are Progressives, but many of my
Dem friends are Conservative when it comes to balancing the budget and
defending the Constitution and Civil Liberties. We are always associated
with the left leaning ACLU(which I belong to) but our message needs to reach
cultural conservatives with a phrase like the New Conservative Dems, not in
the traditional Lieberman conservatitism. I know this will upset many here
but I came to this site specifically to help move the party and like minded
bloggers towards winning future elections.I never want to feel like I did on
November 3.

Posted by: Sam Park | December 27, 2004 04:54 PM

Sam

Your links are not working... I wanted to add them to my list on LUTD, can
you email them to me?

Ira, I'm with you in everything you say. I'm not for feel good progressive
sound bites, but for positioning of real policy that defends, builds and
unites us. I was that way in the 60s, so it isn't generational.

I'm going to the 'progressive' conference in DC over inaugural weekend with
the usual cast of characters. Once we wade through the rhetoric and
knee-jerk reactions, I hope I come away with a better sense of what works,
for me at least, and what we can sell, while still being true to our
wonderfully caring, rational and humane values.

At the end of all our searching, we had better look for the end game of
organization by what unites us and not divides us.

I would like to be at that conference but unfortunately I just can't leave
my business right now. Could you please report as much info from this
conference as possible for us all. Sounds like our thoughts are similar. It
would be nice if some of our thoughts and ideas posted here made it up to
the DNC. Let us know what roll Kerry plays at your conference. I know many
of us would like to be in the planning roll of this party but unfortunately
we are left to just expressing opinions.

Ira, this will be a feel-good take over the world kind of conference, I'm
sure, with Tom Hayden, Amy Goodman, John Conyers, and some folks from our
own Congressional districts to help with grassroots. Definitely not Kerry
quality. This may be more cheerleading to rouse the troops, a la Howard
Dean, but the potential is there to learn and our needs are great enough to
give it a try.

~~hi everyone...been reading past threads & posts, trying to catch
up....just ran across this item, AP breaking story today, but over-shadowed
by tsunami disaster...anyone else heard about Russia & China (and possibly
India) pairing up for war games? THIS sounds ominous, if these 2 or 3 powers
decide to team up to counter U.S. as the world's "only" superpower"...

Russia and China to Hold Joint Maneuvers

2 hours, 47 minutes ago World - AP
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Once-bitter rivals Russia and China will hold a massive joint
military exercise on Chinese territory next year involving submarines and
possibly strategic bombers, Russia's defense minister said Monday as the two
nations move to bolster already burgeoning military ties.
snip~
"For the first time in history, we have agreed to hold quite a large
military exercise together with China on Chinese territory in the second
half of the year," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a Cabinet session
chaired by President Vladimir Putin, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
snip~
After decades of rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what they call a
strategic partnership since the Soviet collapse. China has become the No. 1
customer for Russia's struggling defense industry, purchasing billions of
dollars worth of fighters, missiles, submarines and destroyers.

Officials with Russia's state arms-trading company, Rosoboronexport, said
last week that China was expected to sign new contracts next year to
purchase Russia's most advanced fighter jets.

Both nations frequently have spoken about their adherence to a "multipolar
world," a term that refers to their opposition to a perceived U.S.
domination in global affairs.

~~continue~~
http://tinyurl.com/6e742

Posted by: Marjorie G | December 27, 2004 05:54 PM

Marjorie G

I just learned last night that Tom Hayden is speaking at a Townhall Meeting
here in Jan, at our local Dem Cell group, Neighbors for Peace & Justice. I'm
looking forward to it, I've always admired Tom Hayden.

Have there been any senators who have shown enough courage to join with a
congressman/woman to protest the electoral college when they meet in early
January?

How to End the Iraq War

By Tom Hayden, AlterNet. Posted November 23, 2004.

The anti-war movement can force the Bush administration to leave Iraq by
denying it the funding, troops, and alliances necessary to its strategy for
dominance.
[SNIP]

href="http://www.alternet.org/story/20571/">http://www.alternet.org/story/20571/

Pamela and Bob, of course we want to end the war, but I still resent the
anti-war faction thinking it was so easy for Kerry to stop the train at the
beginning, now, or getting elected as anti-war in a pro-security country,
scared witless. Most voters didn't know why we were in Iraq because of our
media noise machine, or knew it and believe in war anyway.

Easy for our perennial anti-war Hayden to knock Kerry, which he will do at
the conference I'm attending in January, so I'm getting my defenses up now.
Like the saying no to drugs. How wonderful if it could be that simple.

Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence
href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804V.shtml">http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804V.shtml

History will show U.S. lusted after oil
Linda McQuaig
A year-and-a-half into the U.S. occupation of Iraq, with the carnage over
there spiraling ever more out of control, don't expect media discussions of
Iraq to stray much beyond the issue of "fighting terrorism."
href="http://207.44.245.159/article7555.htm">http://207.44.245.159/article7555.htm
[I've said the same thing from the beginning - actually, during the 2000
debates I journaled that if bush won the US would invade Iraq so he could
finish his daddy's war and that we would go into a recession.... To me it's
all as plain as the ugly nose on shrubbie's face and I've never understood
why so few fail to see what's under all the crap he keeps shoving at us....
]

Naomi Klein : Yes, you must pull out - but also pay for the damage :
The US isn't protecting or feeding Iraqis, it's stoking violence and
hardship
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1379892,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1379892,00.html
http://snipurl.com/bm99

Helen Thomas: Bush wants to break promise of Social Security:
President Bush is proposing to erode the Social Security system by
privatizing part of it, making Wall Street the big winner of a huge
financial windfall.
href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/205166_thomas26.html">http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/205166_thomas26.html
~~~~~

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be
indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard Shaw

Marjorie G

Enjoy your ability to put things in perspective!
Looking forward to your report.
Keeping this short in case it post twice ..

Marjorie G

Enjoy your ability to put things in perspective!
Looking forward to your report.
Keeping this short in case it post twice ..

DiAnne, you're twice as good at any length.

Well, it's my perpective, Diane, and not necessarily good for anyone else. I
am trying not be cyical as we good forward to yet another cycle of the same,
just much worse.

I don't know which comment you are referring to, but when I see the same
anti-war crowd, I think of the rock stars on the golden oldies circuit, like
Dion or Frankie Avalon. Not to take away their rep or sincerity, it's just
their way of earning of a living or being famous.

LOL Maybe the casinos on the rez can book them

Yikes, DiAnne, plus another typo - cynical

Absolutely, Gov. Pataki thinks he can get re-elected by promoting five
casinos in the Catskills, through the tribes. I think they played fast and
loose with the campaigns this year, with both sides. There's always war, so
we'll book them there.

Pataki has no where to go, no one wants him, and Spitzer looks the winner,
but he's trying.

Posted by: Marjorie G | December 27, 2004 07:25 PM

JK tried to walk a tight wire. Maybe... just maybe if he came out directly
against the war from the very beginning of the campaign, and simultaneosly
called for withdrawal of all troops there wouldn't have been a perception of
a muddled message. I concede he could have lost with that type of rhetoric.
Or he could have said we are going back to Afghanistan to capture OBL.

He walked into a trap with his comments at the Grand Canyon. His arguments
were subtle and too obtuse for most to grasp. Surely the arguments weren't
covered fairly by the media. Truly the whole mess is bushco's creation. He
could have used bush's line, "maybe you don't agree with me but you know
where i stand and what i plan to do." Don't get me wrong, i understand the
politics and the logic of his statements and have supported him throughout.
But all of that is in the past. I feel confident that I will continue to
support him while he is in the Senate.

I agree that the staunch anti-war faction will hammer away at JK as a means
to enhance their image with their constituency.

Posted by: Marjorie G | December 27, 2004 08:52 PM

I would be so happy to see Pataki out of there. How did that damp rag get
elected?

href="http://www.kenblackwell.com/news.asp?formmode=release&id=49">http://www.kenblackwell.com/news.asp?formmode=release&id=49

Ken Blackwell running for Gov. of Ohio in '06

oncall, Pataki happened because mediocrity sells.

Yes, the anti-war will hammer at JK. Dean certainly got mileage from the
anti-war alternative. Only ifs and hindsight are great and easy, though.

Posted by: resolute | December 26, 2004 09:34 PM

Good post, thanks!

Blackwell has also compared homosexuals to barnyard animals.

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Blackwell">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Blackwell

This guy has to be stopped. He is so far right he makes Alan Keyes look like
a progressive liberal. If we don't do something about this, he will become
the poster child for Republicans who claimed to have opened their party to
minorities.

Marjorie,

don't get me wrong. there a a million "coulda shoulda woulda's" we can pine
over. i was only commenting about your post and agree that he was in an
untenable situation. my example was for purposes of showing how difficult a
position his campaign was in. i guess i didn't say it as well as i would
have liked.

Remember, too, oncall, what if shock and awe didn't go as badly. People
never would have rethought the morality and legality, or the rest of the
neo-con horror if the Iraq disasters hadn't become so hard to hide. Voters
still not thinking bigger issues. Another view is that Bush had to continue
the war, but also not as badly, just to be a war president,

Hard to predict from the beginning, so straddling doesn't look so
unrealistic.

JK had to get in, big picture, and the anti-war will never concede that.
We're so darn righteous and perfect.

You're always well-spoken, oncall!

Marjorie G

My interest in hearing Tom Hayden speak has nothing to do with anything he
says or does not say about JK. He's done a lot of good things for CA and I
have always admired him for that. I'm not happy with him taking shots at JK,
so I will be there to voice my disapproval if need be!

Neighbors for Peace & Justice has known me to stand up and defend JK on many
occassions to the more adamant anti-wars of the group. I'm not afraid to
voice my opinion to them and won't be afraid to voice my opinion to Tom
Hayden either.

Someday we need to talk about the monikers that aren't names. Is oncall a
doctor, med student, and tutterfly must explain to me.

I've updated the list of Org's taking donations for Tsunami Relief:

href="http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=168">http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=168

Pamela, I know that Hayden was a working pol, and did good things.

Blackwell has also compared homosexuals to barnyard animals.

This guy has to be stopped. He is so far right he makes Alan Keyes look like
a progressive liberal.

Posted by: oncall | December 27, 2004 09:32 PM

Too many liberals give Keyes, Blackwell, Moon, and others the benefit of the
doubt because they are minorities.

Hate does NOT discriminate. Anyone can be a hatemonger, not just whites.
I've had enough of the right-wing minorities getting free rides from both
the right (because they're right-wing) and the left (because they're
minorities).

News: Election 2004: In Stunning Display of Cowardice, Ohio Secretary of
State Pleads with State High Court Not to Let Contest Lawyers Interview Him
By ADVOCATE STAFF
href="http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/">http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/

scroll down to this too!

News: Election 2004: Ten Earth-Shaking Headlines Which Could Have Been
Front-Page News in the Times Today, But Won't Be
By ADVOCATE STAFF

All this from a single blog entry from MSNBC anchorman Keith Olbermann (see
link, below, for full text). What does that say about the size and scope of
the Votergate scandal?

Marjorie,

I just sent you an e-mail.

Posted by: SkinnyLawyer (AKA AllyMcLesbian) | December 27, 2004 09:50 PM

Exactly Skinny. Hopefully enough African Americans are so pissed off about
the last election they will never consider Blackwell

All this from a single blog entry from MSNBC anchorman Keith Olbermann (see
link, below, for full text). What does that say about the size and scope of
the Votergate scandal?

Posted by: sparrow | December 27, 2004 09:52 PM

Hey Sparrow,

Wow, wow, wow, wow. I read Olbermann's list of statements that should have
been headlines - unbelievable.

What's going to happen? This is really getting interesting. I saw the video
taken of the various polling places in Ohio and I thought about you handing
out scarves, etc. to the cold, wet people who had been standing in line for
hours.

I challenge anyone who scoffs at the idea of voting irregularities to watch
one of the videos of what went on voting day in Ohio. Blackwell should be
striped of his position and thrown in jail.

It made me want to cry to see so many folks waiting cheerfully in line -
hour after hour - determined to vote. It reminded me of an experience I had
when canvassing in West Palm Beach the end of October. It was a blistering
hot day and I was walking past some strip malls with my canvassing partner,
walking to our next neighborhood. An elderly African American gentleman got
off of a metro bus and asked us which way to the polling place. I was blown
away at the fact that this man (using a cane) had used public transportation
on an ungodly hot day - to go vote. He was holding his voting information
sheet in his hands and looked determined.

We owe it to all the people who missed worked, endured heat, cold, rain,
harrassment, etc. so they could exercise their right to vote - to fight to
ensure each and every vote is counted. No one in the United States is should
ever be intimidated or tricked into not casting their vote - and yet our
current Supreme Court Justice started his legal/political career doing just
that.

Where's the outrage over this?

And what can we do to jump up & down and make the media take this seriously?

Very frustrating.

href="http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1355&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1355&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Media refuse to cover exit poll data etc - this relates to above question by
Resolute

Posted by: resolute | December 27, 2004 10:26 PM

Resolute,

We have done everything to get the media to report. They don't want to. We
have to get out there ourselves and make our neighbors aware. We have to
fight for a system that all of us can have faith in. We have to use the
electoral process to hold accountable those who trample on the rights of
others. We have to form a network of cells that will be a steam roller. I am
so pissed about all of this. I could go on forever.

more fraud stuff, same source - interesting

ballots pre punched for Bush?

href="http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1351&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1351&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

oncall- I just wanted to say I agree with you 100% about JK's comments at
the Grand Canyon. They are what cost him the election. I don't believe it
was the swift-boaters, though they did have some influence. That much is
certain. But Kerry's own resistance to just saying "I was wrong in my vote,
and knowing what I know now, I would NOT have voted the way I did," is what
I really believe cost this election. You cannot be both for and against a
war, and, whether it was true or not, the American people believed that
Kerry voted in favor of the war. They were not intelligent enough to
understand the nuances of his stance on the war- it was just that simple.
And what he said at the Grand Canyon was that, essentially, there's no
difference at all between my stance on this war and George W. Bush's. It
alienated a lot of young voters who were eager to come out and vote for him-
they just didn't show up at the polls. We can blame Carl Rove all we want
to- but there were huge mistakes made in this campaign by our own party, and
the media exploited them.
Maybe the real truth was that even though John Kerry is ten times the man
George W Bush is, he just is not the politician that the president is. We
also need to face the fact that charisma is an absolute necessity in winning
the White House nowdays. We can't continue to deny that and continue to
believe that the American people will vote on the issues alone. They won't.
Quite frankly, most of them just aren't that bright. It IS frustrating, but
two years is a short time, and we can take back congress in only two years
if we continue to work hard enough. I'm just praying that all the Supreme
Court justices will hang in there at least that long.

Hi all,

Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday--I have been with family and friends
and thought I would share this here--among friends--this is why we supported
Kerry, this is why we continue to fight--Our Democracy will live on--thanks
for being my support for the last six months of this year.

The statistics in this one are really sad.

More than 40 fathers died without seeing their babies.

href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804W.shtmlÉ">http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804W.shtmlÉ

Post from DNC--

and the real crooks are running our mis-administrationÉgotta love itÉ

href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&...É">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&...É

Martha Stewart's Christmas Message Katrina vanden Heuvel

Looking for some good news this holiday season. Check out Martha Stewart
(news - web sites)'s Christmas 2004 message. The old Martha would have been
instructing America's women how to wrap those presents, trim their trees and
bake those holiday cookies. The new Martha has issued a different tip: a
smart call for sentencing reform.

A realist might say that battlefield conversions don't last once the war is
over. But Martha is no fool and her eyes seem to have been opened to the
reality of how our society has come to use prisons.

Millions have followed Martha's advice when it comes to recipes. I hope some
of them will listen to her call for a makeover of the criminal justice
system. (snip)

An Open Letter From Martha Stewart

Dear Friends,

When one is incarcerated with 1,200 other inmates, it is hard to be selfish
at ChristmasÑhard to think of Christmases past and Christmases
futureÑthat I know will be as they always were for meÑbeautiful! So many
of the women here in Alderson will never have the joy and well-being that
you and I experience. Many of them have been here for yearsÑdevoid of
care, devoid of love, devoid of family (snip)

I've been out of touch for a while -- busy doing the holiday thing, but it
looks like things are about where they were. I agree that it's frustrating
and like Oncall, I am pissed.

However, I'm reminded of one of my Dad's favorite sayings, "If you give a
fool enough rope, he will hang himself." The neocons, with their refusals
to look at reality of voter fraud, may do just that. It may be a very short
four years.

Linda, glad to have you back where you belong! Can you hear me singing?

Really tough being the anti-war at heart in a country that isn't, and in the
middle of the war. Kerry is not the most natural of politicians, closest
friends will say that. However, he is sure of his positions, which were not
where the country was. Something Teresa said, too, about Grand Canyon, and
she usually doesn't cover, but he had trouble hearing that day, so true or
not may have accounted for clumsy. That war position was untenable for all
of them, even the articulate and wonderful, Wes. He was both sides, but
promoted more as anti-war who didn't have to vote. They all became pretzels
over this, trying to ride the tiger.

Interesting post from Democratic Underground--seems like many of us are
thinking the same thing--the karmic energy is huge. This may even be the
momentum we need to get voter reform.

TruthIsAllÊ (1000+ posts)
Mon Dec-27-04 09:44 PM
Original message

Kerry's lawyer was being truthful when he said no fraud. Right.

... ...

So, all you Repukes out there. Don't worry about a thing. Kerry is a lousy
lawyer. He doesn't care about America's future. He doesn't even want to be
President.

Right.

href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/du...É">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/du...É

By the way, is there a new link to chat room? I checked in earlier and
while the link worked, no one was there.

Heartland,

I checked also and no one was there--I am not sure what is going on--doc was
on a long drive, but I am not sure if that made a difference or not.

latina,

i can't connect to the link you posted.

chat is working, but very little activity there. i was there earlier today.

So how do I get into the chat room? Never have, through the entire almost
year and a half, and would appreciate, slowly, how I access whatever
software or downloadables I need. PCDOC (sp?) tried too quickly, so I'm
still lost. Where do we set up shop, mostly here and sometimes there?

href="http://www.winbeta.org/irc/kerry.php">http://www.winbeta.org/irc/kerry.php

link to chat. type handle in box in lower right hand corner. it seems that
the role of chat is evolving

Some good new thought -- I hear that on thrid recount, Gregoire now has the
Governor's race in Washington

Marjorie- Maybe it was a difficulty hearing that day that caused Kerry's
gaffe at the Grand Canyon, but I do think it was the turning point in the
campaign. Wes was never for the war- he was branded a flip-flopper early on
just as Kerry was. Matt Drudge took sections out of the testimony he made
before congress back in the Fall of the year before the invasion, and
doctored the tapes to make it sound like Clark was really in favor of the
invasion. Those tapes were played by Limbaugh and the right-wing media for
about a week until Clark's campaign was doomed. Candy Crowley got on the
bandwagon and played them too, because CNN basically wanted Clark out of the
race. It came out later, of course, that the tapes were doctored, but people
never really show any interest in those little details, do they? The media
controlled this entire election process- from the Drudge tapes to their one
millionth replay of Howard Dean's scream, and the news media was responsible
for the choosing of the Democratic party candidate. I'm sorry it happened
that way, but the truth is the truth. No other candidate had a chance after
Iowa- JK was anointed by the media as the candidate and Democrats nationwide
just accepted it. I'm not saying JK was a bad candidate, and he's a heckuva
man, with a positively wonderful wife. But he was chosen by the media to be
our candidate, and we allowed them to do it. My real belief is that the
media knew Kerry's anti-war activity in the 70's would be detrimental to his
campaign, and they certainly revelled in replaying the swift-boater's ads
over and over during their "so called" news analysis shows. What they wanted
all along was a Bush victory- they orchestrated it. Their corporate owners
wanted Bush to remain in office, and they got what they wanted. The
newscasters went along, because they were, and still are, dreaming of a
Hillary-Jeb contest in 2008, and they didn't want any little nuisance like
the election of John Kerry to interfere with their dreams. And mark my
words- if Hillary decides to run in 2008, she WILL be the candidate of the
Democratic party, no matter what we want. Jeb will be on the cover of Time
in 2006 with the headline "Is this the next President," and they'll glorify
him in the media until he agrees to run. It'll be the election of all
elections, and the media will be on Jeb's side.
Speaking of being depressed, that's what's depressing me.
I can only hope that one of the two will refuse to run, no matter what.
Otherwise, it's all a done deal.