January 2005 Archives

Well, that didn't take very long! On January 28, 2005, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) sent a letter to Congress asking for a new military draft. PNAC, you may recall, was the neocon organization that first laid out the disastrous foreign policy strategy that President Bush has pursued (helped along by the many PNAC staffers who are now in the Bush Administration.)

I must have some sort of reality repellent earplugs that fly into the sides of my head when I am not looking. I say this because everytime I think I have heard it all from the Washington DC outpost of Pravda, known as the White House Press Room, there is some new horrible truth, piercing past the plugs, speeding its way to make my ears bleed with fresh, vein-bursting disbelief.

When I first came across this story, I admit it seemed a small tale of annoyance and inconvenience and disrespect towards reporters that has become business as usual for the Stalin-styled McClellanites. But the more I thought about it, the more I found to be scary, not just for the facts of the story, but the underlying meaning and the casualness with which that meaning will no doubt be regarded.

What exactly is Howie Kurtz's job at the Washington Post? Media critic? Because if it's "media critic", as his employers would suggest, someone needs to send him a job description. Immediately.

There are a lot of things we put off last year to work toward regaining our Democratic majority. At our house, it was plumbing repairs and all but essential medical issues. Many a night I sat at the computer after rushing home from work and munched on corn chips or microwave popcorn. Many a night I drove straight to a meeting, hassled by few parking spaces and no dinner or again, junk food.

I had a few more thoughts on a recent Washington Post poll. I was listening to Richard Morin, the co-author of the article on what the poll data means, and I was struck by his spirited and lively conclusion on one matter in particular--how the American people think the Democrats in Congress ought to behave. I went back to the original article and here's the passage that caught my attention:

In February, the DCP Book Chat will be focused on the much talked about book by George Lakoff, "Don't Think Of An Elephant." Personally I think it's a mind-blowing book and a must read for anyone interested in developing democracy cells.

Much of the buzz about the book has been focused on how Dems can get better at framing. And I think framing is exceedingly important. The Republicans are great at developing "constructs" and then using framing techniques and language to shape the debate about the issues to fit their constructs.

A couple of days ago DCP posted a blog piece about the race for the DNC Chair. It provided links to information about the various candidates, as well as links to assist you in contacting your state's Democratic party and your Congressional Representatives - so you could contact them and let them know who you support and why.

I've found myself wondering why the media prints and broadcasts all the Republican talking points without analysis. These short, direct sound-bites describing a problem or solution are in the mainstream media constantly. They become an "echo chamber", as if they repeat the points often enough, regardless of whether they are true or not, these points will enter into the belief systems of the listeners. These sound bites serve to reinforce the thought patterns of the Republicans to the under-informed.

The sound bites appear to consist of two short, distinct points threaded together. Every day, without fail, there is at least one pundit in the media repeating the daily talking point. Before the election, they often added "John Kerry is a flip-flopper”, as the second part of a sound bite.

On the heels of his expose of both the Armstrong Williams scandal, and what passes for journalist integrity on CNN’s Crossfire, Frank Rich returned to the New York Times Magazine this week with yet another blistering critique of broadcast and cable news.

For the past month or so we've had some interesting discussions on the DCP blog about the various candidates running for Chair of the Democratic National Committee and what direction the Democratic Party should take. Obviously it's something we all have a stake in so...

Do we all know what the governing body of the DNC does? Well, if not, here's a definition from the DNC Web site (I'll have to confess that I only had a vague idea.):

How can I add any more to the latest news on the Bush administration's flaunting of the law under the guise of its thuggist “ends justify the means” initiatives? In this case, the Secretary of Defense is bullying his way into the spy business in direct competition to the CIA. Don’t we have laws? Isn’t the SECDEF supposed to abide by those laws? Here is the article; you judge for yourselves:

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker said on Sunday his U.S. Senate committee would look into a reported move by the Pentagon to reinterpret U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld broad authority over spy operations abroad.

Dear Polly Sigh:

I had to write to you after watching the confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice, in her proposed role as Secretary of State. It’s well known that Colin Powell sometimes expressed disagreement with President Bush’s foreign policy decisions. I do not think Ms. Rice will ever express disagreement with George Bush, even if she believes his actions are wrong. I don’t think this is good for the country. What do you think?
Signed,
Concerned in Arkansas

Dear C.I.A. –

Are you impugning the credibility of Ms. Rice? That’s appalling. You must be one of those angry partisan hacks I’m always hearing about.

Remember the good old days of the campaign when we lived and died by the poll numbers? Remember when we had to talk some of our otherwise, sane, sensible and stable friends in off of the ledge when our candidate dropped two points in the 18-25 female demographics and we were worried about the trendlines?

Remember when we used to use the word trendline and it never occurred to us what incredible geeks we were for doing so?

Well, fasten your seatbelts, the polls are back!

Anytime you're looking for some negative political inspiration, take a look at one of the religious right's websites. I was thinking about today, January 22, being the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, when I wandered into the American Family Association, which featured an email link to the President demanding that he appoint 'Strict Constructionist Judges'.

The limos are gone, back to wherever the herds of stretch limos hibernate between Republican bacchanals. The buses and snow plows that blocked off large sections of downtown are gone.

The bleachers which lined the parade route are still there; I did not know until today that the U.S. Park Service had essentially turned over the sidewalks along almost the entire parade route to the Republican inaugural committee.

Remember last summer when you had to sign a loyalty oath just to get into a Bush event?(And god help you if you were wearing anything that a Republican operative might interpret as critical of Bush?) Well this time, to get a seat in the bleachers, you needed a ticket issued by Bush's committee. And woe unto you if you'd had any medical radioisotope treatments lately (see below).

Minks. Ermines. Foxes. Just about every kind of fur-bearing animal was on constant display around the clock yesterday. My shutter finger twitched each time another fur glided into view, as visions of a monster slide show slid by in my head.

But I resisted. As Ronald Reagan might have said, "If you've seen one fur coat, you've seen them all."

I never had any interest in seeing any part of George Bush's second inauguration. But having been to several previous inaugurations, I was interested in seeing the level of security for today's event. I spent some time around the security perimeter of the Inaugural this afternoon, looking to see what you could see without going through the various checkpoints, starting on the Union Station side, and going along the north side of the mall. The perimeter was pushed at least two or three blocks back from Pennsylvania Avenue itself, further in some places. Here are some shots from the first few blocks.

A gleaming line of motorcycles opposite the
Robert Taft Memorial. The officers with these cycles
were nowhere to be seen.

Do these ticket color codes match
the Department of Homeland Security's system?

Looking through the security fencing
at the National Archives across the
Navy Memorial. The Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence are in the Archives.

My husband is a scientist. He one of those brainiac types who solves the problems that other scientists have.

He tells the story of a new manager at his laboratory who came into his office one day to find my husband sitting with his feet on his desk, hands behind his head, staring out of the window. Again. The new guy asked him, "Dr. Morris, I come in here a couple of times a week and find you daydreaming. How come you have the time to daydream instead of working?" My husband looked at this man, at least twenty years his junior, and said, "I am working." And went back to work, staring out of the window, daydreaming.

I am sure eveyone is thinking about tomorrow. Personally, it will be a day of prayer, mourning, and protest for me.

My democracy cell will be participating in Not One Damn Dime Day. There are a number of protests planned, both in Washington and cities around the country, including Turn Your Backs On Bush, Wear Blue, et cetera. Not One Damn Dime Day is simply the one that we chose.

On her first day of confirmation hearings, Condeleeza Rice was regurgitating the old weapons of mass destruction threat to justify the U.S. preemptive war in Iraq.

The high point--the questioning by Senators Kerry, Boxer and Biden. You can watch the video of Boxer and Kerry's questioning.

As Senator Boxer points out, Dr. Rice frequently changes her story on the reason for the Iraq War, contradicting the President, the Vice-President, the Duelfer Report and even herself. So stay tuned, her story may change again tomorrow.

UPDATE: Condi now states that the reason we needed to oust Saddam Hussein is that "he cavorted with terrorists". In Bushspeak, that would mean that he engaged in merriment-related program activites.

Stay tuned.

The city of Washington is wracked by the preparations for the inauguration this Thursday. The landscaped is marred by miles of chainlink fencing that has suddenly appeared around almost every federal building, as well as vast segments of the Mall. On the ground, SWAT-team armored troops, some with video-cameras bolted to the tops of their helments, wander through the Capital grounds. Overhead, the helicopters are omnipresent, buzzing for hours at a time. Every day the paper carries stories of more grotesque extravagances at the proliferating number of parties for the wealthy special interests that backed Bush's campaign.

But today is different. Today is a very different kind of national holiday, when we commemorate the life of Martin Luther King, a man whose words and works shame the self-centered, ethically challenged, torture-committing Administration.

[Editor's note: on January 17th, President Bush said: "We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections, the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."-my emphasis,DB]

I live in semi-rural America, ten minutes from a mall, but I still can't get a major metropolitan newspaper delivered to my door the same day. So I do what I imagine a lot of people do and read the New York Times online.

This is the 2nd in a weekly series for the tired, poor, huddled masses who dot the charred American political landscape. I have read your letters and feel your pain. May god bless you all. You are my people.
-- Polly

Dear Polly Sigh:

I live in Texas, and last week my 4-car garage house burned to the ground in a really bad barbeque accident. I don’t have insurance since I lost my job at Enron. I hate those pansy liberals that are always lookin for a government handout, but I don’t know what else to do. If we can give millions of dollars to that place where they had the giant sununu a couple weeks ago, why can’t I get some help? I’m a real American in need.

Signed,
Scared of Barbeque in Texas

[Editor's note: the core mission of this site is to help progressives understand HOW to be more effective organizers. In this remarkable post, Washingtonian DiAnne Grieser gives us a richly detailed report on recent efforts in Washington State of one group of people who have chosen to work to reform the state's Democratic Party. As DiAnne notes, this Washington effort is not necessarily a model for every state. But it showcases how a small group of people can move quickly to organize for signficant changes at the state level.--Dick Bell]

This is the story of my remarkable discovery of my true democracy cell.

After the election, a seminal article was published in a Seattle weekly called The Stranger and was republished in several other sources. The cover of that issue hangs as a poster now on walls all over the country.

Have you heard the audio clip of President Bush talking about tsunami aid?

In it, he says that the generosity of America comes not from the government, but from the hearts of its people.

Is this just another saccharine statement, or is there something more at work here? There's evidence it's the latter in the new Social Security scam.

Dr. Helen Johnston, 80, is a nice little old lady. She is also a nice little old retired pediatrician. Like many retired physicians, she still carries medical malpractice and umbrella coverage insurance. At least she did until her umbrella coverage was cancelled.

It wasn't cancelled because of a frivolous lawsuit.

It wasn't cancelled because of some mythical crisis within the medical community brought on by skyrocketing malpractice or umbrella insurance premiums.

Dr. Johnston's malpractice insurance was cancelled because Dr. Johnston had the audacity to excercise her first amendment right to free speech.

In a column appearing in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine (but available online now), the Gray Lady’s cultural columnist Frank Rich takes up the urgent cause of Media Reform.

In the aftermath of the growing Armstrong Williams scandal, Rich savagely points the finger at his own profession, and even his own newspaper.

But his primary focus in this blistering essay is an embarrassing recent episode of CNN’s Crossfire, featuring Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Republican apologist Robert Novak, and the ethically challenged Mr. Williams. Apparently, there is an unwritten Code of Honor involving both thieves and media pundits (or bloviators, as Rich phrases it). And, as Rich concludes, that’s terrible news for fans of Jeffersonian Democracy. I could say more, but better that I cut to the chase, and let Rich's words speak for themselves.

It's not the most eloquent of phrases, but it's certainly colorful and evocative enough to suit the subject matter at hand, circumventing campaign finance laws by give enormous and unrestrained sums of money to the Bush Inaugural Committee. And it's the first phrase that came to mind when I was giving this issue some thought.

With nary a glance backward, the weapons inspectors have returned from Iraq. All 1500 managed to sneak past the entire White House Press Corps without even one of them noticing.

Nearly two years after the Bush administration insisted there was "no question" that Iraq was a threat to the United States and possessed weapons of mass destruction, all of the analysts and weapons hunters arrived home in time to spend Christmas with their families.

[Editor's Note: Speaking as a resident of the District of Columbia, I would like to remind everyone reading this item that the good citizens of Washington DC are not represented in the Congress of the United States. That's right: more than 500,000 people, with no Representatives and no Senators. We pay the same federal taxes that everyone else in the United States pays. We are constantly being jerked around by members of Congress who have oversight over the District. It's no joke when people refer to DC as "the last plantation."--Dick Bell]

Just when you think you have seen the full measure of the excess to which the Bush Inaugural Committee can reach, there's more.

Over the last couple of years, I've become a regular user of the sites of the Independent Media Center, one of the more interesting types of "new" media on the Internet. If you haven't hit an IMC site before, let me give you a little background about the history and politics of the IMC, and why you should check them out. Since they specialize in covering things the mainstream media tend to avoid, there's plenty of "controversial" subjects. I don't always agree with everything I read on IMC sites, but I'm still glad that I'm getting different perspectives.

Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist was sent to tour the tsunami ravaged region of Sri Lanka this week. He was assigned the duty of giving a fresh shine to the Bush White House's self-acclaimed reputation for mega-compassion.

As we heard from the President's vacation spokeperson, Trent Duffy, it took the White House three days to respond to the world's largest natural disaster because "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "

Nope. No empty gestures of symbolism from these people. They care and they want the world to know it.

Of course, it would be a lot more convincing if the person in charge of the caring weren't Bill Frist. We pick up the story of his tender mercies from the Associated Press:

Just before his helicopter lifted off, Frist and aides took snapshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.

``Get some devastation in the back,'' Frist told a photographer.

Ok, now let's apply our Karl Rove inversion rule: can you imagine what the Republicans and the mainstream media would be saying if any Democratic Senator were ordering up a little "devastation in the back?"

Armstrong Williams hinted today that there were other journalists on the take from the Bush Administration. Williams is the right-wing journalist already in hot water for secretly taking $240,000 from the Bush Education department to promote the No Child Left Behind Act in his writings and his TV and radio appearances.

I was curious how the "compassionate conservatives" had responded to the tsunami disaster, since true Christians should obviously respond to human misery and those in need.

I first went to the website of the Trinity Broadcasting Network - "Largest Worldwide Religious Network" and found that they had donated $140,000 to the Red Cross during the Florida hurricanes but I saw no apparent link or reference to tsunami victims. The Southern Baptist Convention, "Reaching the World for Christ," donated 1.4 million, slightly more than actress Sandra Bullock.

Reverend Pat Robertson had many foreign and political references on his website, such as where the location of Iraq in the Bible and how this related to our business there, but I saw nothing about donations to tsunami displaced.

A standing joke in my house is the fact that my daughter proudly proclaims her intention to become "The Supreme Ruler of the Universe! (muahahahaha)" and like a force to be reckoned with, pursues her interests with passion and complete dedication. Though being the supreme ruler of the universe is just a little bit too high of a goal, the fact remains that one person in pursuit of a dream can make a huge difference and can begin to RULE our world--one step or one person at a time.

You may not believe it, but you too share her dream of becoming the "Supreme Ruler of the Universe." It began when you signed up to be a blogger and then you carried the skills you learned there out into the real world. Why did you do that? To bring change! Later, that same passion brought you to the DCP where you recognize your bloggin' efforts and your cell building at home will bring democracy back to our country. That's what happened to me, too!

This is the first in a weekly series for the tired, poor, huddled masses who dot the charred American political landscape. I have read your letters and feel your pain. May god bless you all. You are my people.
-- Polly

Dear Polly Sigh:

I recently joined a support group for disenfranchised voters, and we had our first meeting last week. We burned some sage, and after backrubs and cocoa, we discussed the recent changes to the ethics rules by congressional Republicans. There is a “Young Republican Poetry Slam” fundraiser on our college campus next month to raise money for the Tom DeLay legal defense fund. We are deeply angered by the hypocrisy of the Republican leadership. What can we do?
Signed,
Guardian of Democracy

If you ever doubted the danger of the growing confluence of conservative political power, money, and media, today’s story in the New York Times should serve as a suitable wake-up call. It seems that Armstrong Williams, presenting himself as a working journalist, had been secretly taking money on the side to parrot the Bush administration's propaganda line on the increasingly notorious "No Child Left Behind" Act.

The Bush administration has already had crossed the line between propaganda and journalism several times in its effort to defend "No Child Left Behind." There was a video sent to TV stations that looked like a news story; but there was no notice that the "reporter" in the video was being paid by the government. The Government Accountability Office has on-going investigations into this and simililarly shaky promotions for NCLB.

It’s ethically marginal for a political commentator like Armstrong Williams to also serve as a consultant to a political organization when the commentator has disclosed the financial relationship, and regularly publishes a disclaimer with this conflict-of-interest information.

It’s quite another for an allegedly “independent” voice like Williams to be secretly on the payroll of the Federal Government – while advocating for its failing policies.

Jesse Jackson and Reverend Bill Moss from Columbus, OH

David Lytel, founder of RedefeatBush.com, one of the principal organizers of the fight to object to Ohio's electoral votes

Gregory Donelson from Columbus, OH does the rally in style.
He expects people to go to jail for vote fraud in Ohio.

Marching for democracy; in the background is the weather-enclosed reviewing stand in front of the White House on what used to be Pennsylvania Avenue.

Paddy Shaffer from Colombus, OH. Her response to this election: "I've decided to run for Congress in the 12th Congressional District."

I'm just back from a rally in front of the White House, and a march down Pennsylvania Avenue to a 2nd rally outside the Congress. And while the numbers were modest, the crowd almost floated down the parade route on the news that there would be a successful objection to accepting the electoral votes of Ohio.

Forcing the Congress to debate the legitimacy of the Ohio election is a trumph of grassroots mobilization, a dramatic demonstration of the power of the Internet to coordinate the activities of millions of Americans.

More news and photos from the rally soon. In the meantime, tune in to C-span 1 and C-span 2 for the 2 hour debate in the House and Senate, the first time that the Congress has debated whether to reject the electoral votes of an entire state. (In 1969, there was an objection and debate to one electoral vote.)

From Dick Bell:

For everybody who has been phoning, faxing, and e-mailing your Senators asking them to sign on to Rep. Conyers objection to counting the Ohio electoral votes tomorrow, you are doing an unbelievable job.

UPDATE: The House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff (Rep. Conyers is the ranking minority member) has just issued its special report on why Ohio's electoral votes are suspect:
"Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio." The first principal finding of this report is:

"(1) consistent with the requirements of the United States Constitution concerning the counting of electoral votes by Congress and Federal law implementing these requirements, there are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the State of Ohio."

I spent today making the rounds of Senate offices with a group of pro-democracy, pro-fair vote organizers and activists. Everywhere we went, two and three phones were ringing off the hook at the receptionists' desks...and the calls were running almost 100% in support of signing the Conyers onjections.

As I have written about earlier, Rep. Conyers wants to take advantage of an 1887 campaign reform law that would force the House and the Senate to conduct a special two-hour debate (in each House) about whether to accept Ohio's electoral votes. Conyers' objection to accepting these votes is that the massive number of irregularities across the State of Ohio on Election Day make it impossible for the Congress to accept those electoral votes as "regularly given."

Tomorrow is the day for our Senators and Congressmen to show they are for Democracy or against it. We urge everyone to spread the word and to immediately send faxes to the following officials:

The Honorable Bill Frist
28 White Bridge Road
Suite 211
Nashville, TN 37205
VIA FACSIMILE
615-352-9985 (fax)

======================
Congressman J. Dennis Hastert
D.C. Office
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
VIA FACSIMILE
Fax: 202-225-0697

======================
Congressman J. Dennis Hastert
Batavia District Office
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510
VIA FACSIMILE
Fax: 630-406-1808

======================
Dixon Regional Office
119 W. First Street
Dixon, IL 61021
VIA FACSIMILE
Fax: 815-288-0743

Below is a sample letter you may follow or you may write your own.

{your address here}

January 5, 2005

The Honorable Senator Bill Frist
United States Senate
461 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
VIA FACSIMILE
202-228-1264 (fax)

To the honorable Senator Frist,

SUBJECT: ELECTORAL REFORM

I am deeply concerned about the problems voters encountered in our recent election. The widespread reports of voting irregularities and voter intimidation are shameful occurrences in a country as great as America. In a society that can expect a clear paper trail for any monetary transaction, it is disturbing that our government has yet to devise a system for voters to verify that their votes were counted, and counted correctly. The voices of the disenfranchised must be heard and a response is required of our leaders. I urge you to encourage discussion about the Ohio vote tomorrow, and to foster legislation that will bring about the needed changes.

Congress must commit itself this year to reforming the electoral system. Having different standards in different states for casting and counting votes is not effective. We need a national federal standard to solve the problems that occurred in the 2004 election. I urge you to support legislation for election reform.

How do you propose to re-establish the confidence of the electorate that every vote counts? What is your position on electoral reform? I would appreciate your response to these questions.

Sincerely,

Back in the days when your community consisted of your neighbors, geography was destiny, as far as loved ones were concerned. In the day of the Web, however, we are not limited by geography. Our community consists of people who work together passionately, not to build a barn or a new house, but to build a better country.

And on a December afternoon, our online community lost a member; one we all knew about through her Mom’s bubbling stories. Angelica Maurer, age 17, was killed in a traffic accident. Her Mom is our own April.

Back in late November, April sent us a letter Angie had written to Senator Kerry. We forwarded it. Here it is:

In all the reading and talking I've done about Rep. John Conyers' plan to challenge the electoral votes from Ohio on January 6th, I got to wondering just how history-making it would be if Conyers succeeded in getting a Senator to join his objection and force a vote on the validity of the outcome in Ohio. In listening to Democrats disparaging Conyers' initiative, you would think that he was setting out on the most radical and unknown of courses. Were Democratic Senators hanging back in part because this law (the Electoral Count Act of 1887) had never been used before?

With the Congress poised to certify George Bush's election on January 6th, Representative John Conyers announced that he planned to formally object to the certification of the electoral votes from Ohio.

In a letter to Senators, Conyers writes that he "and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law." (The full text of Conyers' letter is below.)

I have been avoiding coverage of the tsunami disaster on television. It's enough for me to read about the tragedy of children being pulled from the arms of their parents in the newspapers.

Until today. I tuned in for some late Sunday morning windbaggery and happened upon CNN. Given the breadth of the tsunami disaster, they opted to bump the reliably Unreliable Sources in favor of an early Late Edition and two more hours of commercial interrupted disaster porn.

Hello to 2005 from everyone at the Democracy Cell Project!

We welcome new and old friends to this ever-growing community of active agents for change. This is a learning community; we teach each other, and then take what we have learned to our various communities.

Over the next few days, you will notice that this site will become more than a Blog—the Democracy Cell Project is truly evolving!

Notice, for example, the button on the lower left nav bar that says “Grow Your Democracy Cells”. We are a now a non-profit corporation and can accept tax-deductible donations. Already many of you have provided much needed support for the development of the website, and we appreciate it so much.

Next up: a new front page, with links to the Blog, a forum for online organizing and resources, the IRC chat, and to a new venture: an audio webcast that will be an occasional feature here at the DCP:

I was talking over the meaning of life with my twenty-year-old niece during her holiday visit. Since I am both ancient and not one of her parents, in her world-view, I am automatically endowed with wisdom for which I have no other qualifications. She is at a difficult time in her life when she is trying to figure out how much she owes to herself, and how much she owes to her parents and the world at large.

Striking the balance between needs and wants, responsibilities and freedom, family and community is an evolving and lifelong process for each of us. We talked about the concept of context in the decision making process at length. How you make choices can and should be responsive to the context of the situation.