Fighting a Very Expensive House of Cards

From Light up the Darkness today:

Data arguing against Bush's ideas on health care (increasing out of pocket payments to reduce spending and health savings accounts)
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=289

News on Kerry and Edwards
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=286

Denial from Sponge Bob's creator that Sponge Bob is gay
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=288

Report on Diebold developing printer to maintain paper trail (plus other comments on fair elections)
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=287

Read more... http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0112-36.htm

Posted by: madame defarge at January 27, 2005 06:57 PM

Bumper sticker:

Republicans deny the truth

or

The Kitchen is Too Hot for the Republicans

[One of the best pieces of writing from recent days....]
http://207.44.245.159/article7893.htm
Why the Children in Iraq Make No Sound When They Fall

By Bernard Chazelle

01/27/05 "Information Clearing House" -- No one said that dying had to be dull. "Screaming with fear, paralyzed children at a shelter for the physically disabled and mentally ill in Galle, Sri Lanka, lay helplessly in their beds as seawater surged around them." The CNN report read like the screenplay of a horror film. A crippled girl grows up destitute in a home for the deaf, the blind, the insane, and, for good measure, the disabled elderly (what more could a kid wish for?) At the end of a short life spent wondering why no one ever looked out for her, the child reaches the final punctuation mark of her blessed existence and drowns glued to a wheelchair.

Tragedy should not be too clever. Mourning embraces the solemnity of death but recoils at an overzealous script. When fate appears to cross the thin line between cruelty and sadism, grief turns to anger. We expect the church organist at the funeral mass to interrupt Bach in mid-measure, look up to the sky, and shout "Come on!"

Voltaire had his "come on" moment in the wake of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, suggesting that God's supreme goodness perhaps was not all it was cracked up to be. Religious irreverence is not much in fashion these days. But piety was not always so docile. History has been improbably kind to all sorts of figures who've had cross words with the Almighty. Think of Job, Jonah, Jeremiah, and Jesus on the cross—and that's only for the J's. Once or twice, the dispute even got out of hand: Nietzsche killed God; and Richard Rubenstein saw in Auschwitz confirmation of his death. Admittedly, to reconcile the Holocaust with a just and omnipotent god is an interesting variation on squaring the circle—or, since Miklós Laczkovich actually succeeded in doing just that [1], let us say, merely a reminder that gods may die but theological debates just never do.

My own reaction to the CNN report was not nearly as elevated. "Why would God behave like Don Rumsfeld?" I wondered. As the crippled child writhed in agony, I pictured God murmuring "Stuff happens."

Woe unto me. To compare God to Rummy is worse than blasphemous: It's unfair. After all, God did not cow the media into decorating our TV screens with the beatific smiles of preening peacocks reassuring us that smart waves drowned the terrorists, spared the innocent, amused the children, and provided much needed water to drought-prone regions. God gets accused of many things, including being dead, but lying is rarely one of them.

Mendacity, on the other hand, is the reserve currency of this administration. Its marketing hook: "You give us your votes; we give you our lies." From the fictitious Saddam-al Qaeda axis to the rosy updates on the Switzerlandization of Iraq, from the bogus tales of WMD to the assurance that democracy is the future of the region (and always will be, would add the cynics), the giving has been, shall we say, generous.

The taking has been no less effusive. Although the hysterical rantings of prowar voices rarely exceeded, in dignity, the yapping of a chihuahua attacking a meatball, they met only the meekest resistance from an oleaginous mainstream media. The war hawks found powerful enablers in The New York Times, which was more than happy to echo the delusory yarn spun by the White House and pimp for Judith Miller's Best Little Whorehouse in Babylon (where bling bling spells WMD).

Pimping being the fickle business that it is, it won't be long before the In-Bush-We-Trust media gets in touch with its inner peacenik and points an accusing finger at the posse of visionary mediocrities who gave us a nasty case of Iraq syndrome. No doubt some of the neocons will balk at going to their graves with the word "loser" carved on a brass coffin plate; so watch for them to pull a McNamara on us and humbly beg for forgiveness. Being good souls, ie, suckers for smarmy group hugs, naturally we'll oblige.

Were it so simple.

The abject surrender of the media fed a slew of illusions to the public, none more craven than the belief that he whom we kill must be killed. Yeah, yeah, we occasionally obliterate the wrong house and incinerate its occupants, but that's just "friendly fire." (A lovely phrase if there's one: Let's hear the surgeon who amputates the wrong leg inform his patient of his "friendly amputation.") Minus the friendliness, however, our whiz-bang weapon wizardry never fails to separate the wheat from the chaff, the nursing mother from the crazed beheader. So goes the creed, anyway.

The Lancet—that well-known freedom hating rag—begs to differ. It estimates that our high-IQ, mensa-schmensa bombs have killed 100,000 civilians [2]. Iraq Body Count, which plays the lowballing game by shunning projections, reports the deaths of 600 non-combatants during our latest goodwill tour of Fallujah (by now primed to be renamed Grozny on the Euphrates) [3].

And then there is the Iraqi girl,hands soaked in her dead father's blood, whose little brother does not yet understand that his childhood has just come to an end. Fearing for their lives, US soldiers killed the parents in the front seat of the family car. Demons will likely haunt their nights. Stuff happens. Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, bless their souls, will sleep well tonight.

Wars never fail to produce their share of pithy lines. Tommy Franks made sure this one would be no exception. "We don't do body counts," crowed the general, who really meant to say that he does not do "dark-skinned body counts" (he counts the others just fine). Lucky for us that he doesn't run a Swedish newspaper, or it would have splashed the headline: "Tsunami kills 2,000 Swedes—and a few locals." To be fair, Franks remembered the last time he did body counts, Vietnam, and how well that ended. But today's tactical thinking packs a wallop of self-righteous denial. We don't tally the children we kill for the same reason monsters don't buy mirrors: That's how they go through life thinking they're angels.

We've snuffed out innocent lives in numbers that insurgents and terrorists could only dream of. But we avert our eyes. We bury our heads in the sand and turn a blind eye to our moral cowardice, thus pulling off the amazing feat of being ostriches and chickens all at once. We owe this marvel of ornithology to the inexorable fragility of human illusions. To quote James Carroll, "we avert our eyes because the war is a moral abyss. If we dare to look, as Nietzsche said, the abyss stares back." George Bush, the philosopher, has updated Berkeley's riddle: Do Iraqi children scream when the bombs fall if there is no one in the White House to hear them?

The celebrity of the month, the tsunami victim, has hogged newspaper headlines nationwide with stomach-churning photo spreads of wailing mothers and floating cadavers. Like his unsung Iraqi brethren, the victim has reminded us that calamity always strikes the poor, the sick, and the helpless first. It's invariably those with the least to lose who lose the most. At the great banquet of cataclysms, rich Westerners get served last. Bush would have us believe that we've suffered so much from terrorism the world owes us undying compassion. In truth, our induction into the Misery Hall of Fame is still a long way off. With our sustained assistance, however (coddling Saddam while he was gassing Iranians, slapping sanctions that killed half a million children, and fighting two wars in twelve years), Iraq made it on the first ballot. Who ever said that we didn't have a big heart?

Not Condoleezza Rice: "I do agree that the tsunami was a wonderful opportunity to show not just the US government, but the heart of the American people, and I think it has paid great dividends for us" [4]. And I just can't wait for the next one, our top diplomat might have added.

While watching Colin Powell, pocket calculator in hand, add up the geopolitical benefits of our generosity and tell us how shocked, shocked he was by the tsunami's devastation, I could almost hear the Beatitudes from The Gospel According to Dubya: "Blessed are the children whom the sea swallows, for they shall tug at our heartstrings. / Cursed are the children whom our bombs blow up, for they shall roam the dark alleys of our indifference." We've been Iraq's tsunami. But expect no charity drive, no minute of silence, no flag at half-staff: nothing that would allow shame to rear its ugly face.

With Bush's reelection, America now has the president it deserves. And should you find that Lady Liberty, all dolled up with the latest in fashion from Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, looks a bit like a used up hooker, you won't need to ask who hired her pimp: We did.

The liberation of Iraq began with smart flying bombs crashing over Baghdad. We should have known better. Liberations that start with a reenactment of 9/11 rarely end well.

Copyright © Information Clearing House. All rights reserved. You may republish under the following conditions: An active link to the original publication must be provided. You must not alter, edit or remove any text within the article, including this copyright notice.

Bernard Chazelle is Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University. Email - chazelle@cs.princeton.edu

[1] Laczkovich, M. Equidecomposability and discrepancy; a solution of Tarski's circle-squaring problem, J. Reine Angew. Math. 404 (1990), 77-117.

[2] 100,000 Civilian Deaths Estimated in Iraq, by Rob Stein, Washington Post, October 29, 2004.

[3] Iraq Body Count Falluja Archive, www.iraqbodycount.org, 2004

[4] Dr. Rice's senate confirmation hearing, Agence France Presse, Tuesday, January 18, 2005.

Copyright: Bernard Chazelle

We had our first cell meeting last night. Not surprisingly people expressed their shock and disappointment with the election results, and the course that our country is taking. At the end of the meeting, one of the participants asked all attendees to tell at least twelve other people about our meeting and the Democracy Cell Project. She said, "We are the media." We all committed to bringing at least one other person to our next meeting.

We are builiding a house made of brick and mortar.

Criminals the lot of us
The invasion of Iraq was a crime of gigantic proportions, for which politicians, the media and the public share responsibility
By Scott Ritter
When one looks at the situation in Iraq today, the only way that it would be possible to justify the current state of affairs - a once secular society now the centre of a global anti-American Islamist jihad, tens of thousands of civilians killed, an unending war that costs almost £3.2bn a month, and the basic principles of democracy mocked through an election process that has generated extensive violence - is if the invasion of Iraq was for a cause worthy of the price.
http://207.44.245.159/article7892.htm

Ashes to Ashes
The ashes of Auschwitz are still falling on the innocents being murdered today.
By Chris Floyd
Even the strongest democracy can be subverted by leaders bent on deception and aggression. Even the strongest democracy can give rise to a ruthless, corporate-driven war machine, to secret prisons, secret armies, torture regimens and mass slaughter.
http://207.44.245.159/article7896.htm

Prostitute used in Habib torture: lawyer:
Mamdouh Habib was the victim of atrocities fit for a concentration camp, including being tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him, his lawyer said yesterday.
http://207.44.245.159/article7891.htm

Third Columnist Caught with Hand in Bush Till
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Z.shtml

Bush Says Iraqi Leaders Will Want U.S. Forces to Stay to Help
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/politics/28prexy.html?th
"President Bush said in an interview on Thursday that he would withdraw American forces from Iraq if the new government that is elected on Sunday asked him to do so, but that he expected Iraq's first democratically elected leaders would want the troops to remain as helpers, not as occupiers."
[Yeah, and if you believe that, I have this fantastic historical bridge I'd like to sell you........]

U.S. Backs Off Relaxing Rules for Big Media
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/business/media/28media.html?th
[OK... paint me cynical after four dreadful years of BushCo just past and four more dreadful years of BushCo to come, but I smell a secret Executive Order being signed behind closed doors in the near future getting around this so BushCo can still get their repetitious propaganda out to everyone in all media forms so he can screw up Social Security, keep his fake and zealous patriotism on the front burner for everyone to hear and jump on his bandwagon for as justification to keep his war going, ETC......]

I'm with you, slugbug, on every bit of depression and neglect, usually hid behind my moving forward to cheer our volunteer troops at home.

Only thing I can't hide is the 25 lbs and clothes that don't fit, and the face that looks 25 years older. Definitely need to take hold of my health, and call the plumber for the bathroom. That problem is months old.

This weekend was the worst. At a convention and after the inauguration, facing only Dean and Kucinich unrealities, with nary a doubt, and only blame. Waiting for the Kerry bashing to stop, as if one clear path would have guaranteed success. Very hard to be our same hero and win this time. If only he knew then...

Encouraging steps by the Dems, though, with their feistiness, war room, and overall sense they can't wait any longer to make their repairs. Even some GOP sense the Bush run may be stopping. Wish they could have been more timely and gutsy in their defiance.

Very expensive and methodically planned house of cards. Still, with one piece, that wobbly apparatus comes falling down, easily. Here's to hope and lots of B-12, plus chromium and fenugreek.

thinking back to a few weeks ago, wasn't it frist that was looking for destruction in the background of his tsunami photos? maybe cheney would have liked them to fire up an oven to keep him warm......

Check out this conference and the line up of people...George Lakoff, Amy Goodman, Al Franken...sponsored by FreePress. Regular registration fee: $185, Reduced fee* for students, seniors, and lower-income activists: $85. Early Registration before March 31 - Regular: $135, Reduced fee for students, seniors, and lower-income activists: $60

Dear Media Reformer:

If you want to reform our broken media system, then please join us at the National Conference for Media Reform, in St. Louis from May 13th - 15th.

These are exciting times, as we witness an unprecedented explosion of interest in media issues. I invite you to join activists, educators, policy-makers, journalists, artists and concerned citizens as we converge for three days of learning, networking, strategizing and movement-building at the National Conference for Media Reform.

Registration is now open. Go to http://www.freepress.net/conference to find out more and register at the discounted early bird rate.

Shoddy journalism, government-funded pundits, lack of independent media and rampant consolidation are a few of the problems that will sabotage our democracy if left unchecked.

The conference is a unique opportunity for those new to media reform to learn more and plug into the movement, and a chance for those already engaged to discuss the range of media issues and share successful strategies for reform. We will focus on building momentum to advance positive media policies and engage more Americans in the fight for media reform.

The event will offer dozens of panel presentations, interactive workshops, speeches, film screenings and roundtable discussions on topics such as media ownership and consolidation, grassroots organizing, media literacy, public broadcasting, intellectual property, commercialism, community Internet, and much more.

It's easy to register online (or by phone or mail) -- click here (http://www.freepress.net/conference/=registration ) for more info. Register before March 15 to qualify for the early bird discount.

Among those already scheduled to speak at the event are FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, Al Franken, Naomi Klein, Juan Gonzalez, Janine Jackson, John Nichols, Amy Goodman, Arianna Huffington, George Lakoff, Robert Greenwald, Bill Fletcher and Eric Alterman. Activist leaders and members of Congress will be there as well.

That looks really really good - hope some of us can go! It's coming up .. or maybe we can take up a collection to send someone!!

Conference perfect for KJ as DCP & her newspaper reporter. I see an assignment here.

I think we all qualify for lower-income activist.

Tell Them, 'Because our Fathers Lied'
by Gilbert Jordan

"The master class has always declared the wars;
the subject class has always fought the battles...."
- Eugene Debs

Almost two years after our invasion of Iraq - an occasion that was to be 'a piece of cake,' one that would be celebrated by Iraqis strewing flowers before our troops - it is well past the point when we should recognize that the Iraq War has become the Vietnam of the 21st Century. As in Vietnam, The Mexican War, the Spanish American War, the pretext for going to war was manufactured by misrepresenting facts and whipping up public fury, usually a simple task when that well known toxin - patriotism - is in the air.

Many years ago Rudyard Kipling wrote in his Epitaphs of the War:
'If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.'

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0127-26.htm

Written by a friend, re. the children's show PBS didn't want to show - it showed briefly children with "two moms" & recently had shown children from a "fundamentalist Christian family" as well as all sorts of families.

(to WGBH)
I wish to commend you for refusing to bow down to those who would narrowly define the American family to exclude upstanding American citizens. I heard recently that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings publicly objected to the "Sugartime!" episode of "Postcards from
Buster", due to the presence of lesbian couples. As part of her objection, she requested that the funding for the show given by the government be refunded. Despite the actions of Pat Mitchell, who refuses to provide the show to PBS affiliates, you are willing to air the show as well as offer it to other PBS affiliates. As a show of thanks for the inclusion of American families in children's television, I am making this donation to WGBH. I know it is not enough
to even begin to defray the costs of producing an episode of this program, but I wanted to give you something more tangible than a letter to show my support. I hope that you will continue to produce fine children's television such as this, as you did for me when I was a child.

(to PBS)
When I heard that you had bowed down to pressure from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, I was sorely disappointed. PBS is the only place on television where children's programming is not
determined by corporate pocketbooks. By giving in to these political machinations you have corrupted your noble purpose of providing
educational programming for the children of America, leaving them subjected to the winds of the current political climate. Diversity is
one of the strongest aspects of American culture, and I am pained to see that the organization responsible for teaching me not only how to read and count, but also how to see similarities rather than difference, is failing to instill this most basic of American values.
I request that you distribute "Sugartime!" to your 349 affiliate stations, rather than leave WGBH alone in its efforts to demonstrate that we have not abandoned our principles in the name of political expediency.

---------On another note, my husband read an article about the FCC that said last year they got several million complaints and the year before that they only got 400 something, which was more typical in prior years. Almost all of the complaints were from fundamentalist Christian family types, complaining about things like Janet Jackson's anatomical revealings.

I happened to pick up a Focus on the Family related radio show on FM today and they talked about their related empire - "Sky Angel" I believe it was called - mentioned satellite broadcasting. They sounded truly organized.
Drove by "Vets for Bush" cars & houses that still have 10 American flags in their yard. I'll be doing karaoke up here tonight so expect to see the bizarre. It'll be nice to be back in the city where it's much bluer!

Kerry Denounces Healthcare Policies of Bush -
University of Washington Daily

http://thedaily.washington.edu/news.lasso?-database=DailyWebSQL&-table=Articles&-response=wnpage.lasso&-keyField=__Record_ID__&-keyValue=11675&-search

Campaign Managers from both parties discuss last election - college papers are doing a good job today - better than the "mainstream" press!!

http://www.theeagle.com/aandmnews/012705race.php

~watching Hardball w/ Matthews so you don't have to :)
He just interviewed Tim Russert about Russert interviewing John Kerry on Sunday's Meet the Press...Russert mostly saying he will be looking to see how clearly JK answers questions about some of the things that caused problems during the election (flipflopper tag/ swiftvets, etc.)
Russert is saying that the way JK answers those questions will give a clue to whether JK is planning to run again in '08.

Never mind that JK has said in several print interviews that its too early to talk about '08. I hope JK takes charge of the conversation & spends the time talking about his Kids First Healthcare and the united Dem party, taking on Bush on Soc. Sec. and Bush's war in Iraq quagmire.

I can barely stand to listen to either Matthews or Russert, but I confess, I WILL be watching MTP on Sunday, for the JK interview.

We are builiding a house made of brick and mortar.

Posted by: oncall at January 28, 2005 03:14 PM

That's great news about your cell project, Oncall! Keep up the good work.

Only thing I can't hide is the 25 lbs and clothes that don't fit, and the face that looks 25 years older. Definitely need to take hold of my health, and call the plumber for the bathroom. That problem is months old.

Posted by: Marjorie G at January 28, 2005 04:07 PM

Marjorie -

Can't tell you how many of us have the same post-election symptoms - it's amazing. So much emotion, anger, anxiety - as active as we all were we all ended up 25 pounds heavier. Like you, I'm working hard to get get back in shape and get this election weight off. It's almost as hard as losing baby weight.

Slugbug, what a great topic. Yes, I remember exactly where I was election night and what it felt like when it all started slipping away. Flew in to D.C. from West Palm Beach at around 5:00 a.m. In D.C. - which voted overwhelmingly for Kerry - people walked around in solemn tones and long faces for the days I was there visiting my daughter.

I have never seen so many sad, depressed people. People crying for days. People full of despair. Because we all knew what we had lost, and dreaded what was ahead.

Thank goodness for DCP and all the little cells I have been a part of since then. We keep each other going. We keep hope alive. We are all doing the right thing - talking, supporting each other, finding ways to work at the local level, finding ways to help those people who are being hurt the most by this admin, encouraging our Dem reps to stand up and be counted.

I think we all know we must be patient and work hard - we have a lot of ground to make up. But I also think we are making a difference and in the end we will prevail.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 28, 2005 07:46 PM

And once again, both parties ignored fraud, suppression, intimidation, election "garbage" in battleground states.

And they both ignored the repugnant republican media and propraganda machine.

Shame on Cahill for not being direct about this again!!!

I just have to vent about this:

Today a repug told me, with regard to the fact that most of the people we teach with are Democrats, "You don't know how easy you have it." I nearly flew off the handel. How "easy" we have it?! I live in repug infested TEXAS! Our party has been under attack for "hating America!" It's HIS party that controlls the house, the senate, the White House, and the media! He was basically complaining because he encounters a lot of people at work who are constantly criticizing bush and he doesn't have the courage to stand up to them. ...but now he was making himself into some sort of VICTIM, that he is forced to endure all of this.

I was just SICK that he had the nerve to tell me, "you dont know how easy you have it," untill i realized something: Unlike him, I will always have the courage to stand up for my principles no matter who is speaking against them, because I believe in them so strongly. I have great inspirational leaders to follow. He does not have that. And of course, I have this wonderful community of bloggers here who are working constantly for our values. In a way, we have a lot that this repug will never have. =)

...it still made me mad as hell that he said that, though!

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at January 28, 2005 08:44 PM
Tell him he too could have it easy if he'd just become a Democrat.

Posted by: madame defarge at January 28, 2005 08:48 PM

;-)

...you dont know this guy, though. Man, he's one of the most disgusting repubs you'll ever meet. "homosexuals are not human beings," "Nixon was dead right in Vietnam policy," "Rumsfeld is my hero".... etc. it's pretty bad. lol

...it still made me mad as hell that he said that, though!

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at January 28, 2005 08:44 PM

What did you end up saying to him?

It seems to me that right wingers are practiced at whining about being victims. They like playing that role better than being the responsible party in charge. And the flip side of that is - we Dems are shocked when we find ourselves not in power and the underdog. I don't think we like the role of "victim" one bit.

Shame on Cahill for not being direct about this again!!!

Posted by: sparrow at January 28, 2005 08:43 PM

I don't know why she would participate in a forum hosted by Bush Sr. And you're right, sparrow. I'm disappointed that she wasn't more honest about what went on during the election.

If people thought of Bush as a strong leader in the aftermath of 9/11 when they voted on November 2nd - it had much to do with the terror alerts, that appalling convention, the heartless manipulation of people's fears - the constant reminders (like that crass ad about the wolves) that the end of the world was right around the corner if they made the mistake of voting for Kerry.

So yes - I wish Cahill had been honest about the dishonest way that Bush and his campaign played the terror card.

Resolute,

I just told him something like "I have no sympathy for you. You have the house and the senate and the media in your pocket and you just won the election. I'm sorry if you can't defend your veiws or stand up for yourself at all." and tried very hard not to scream. =/

But I think you're right about repugs liking to go for the poor unfortunate victim role. Heck, they even try and tell us that poor bush was a victim of fate with 9/11.

Can someone do me a favor and post a link to just any piece of news regarding the second person (besides williams) who was payed by bushco to push their policies? It would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at January 28, 2005 09:19 PM

Here's one: http://www.suntimes.com/output/marin/cst-edt-carol28.html

Thank you!

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at January 28, 2005 09:19 PM

And here's a one from Maureen Dowd that's funny in a sad-but-true way: Love for Sale http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/opinion/27dowd.html?oref=login&hp=&pagewanted=print&position

Yet another crack in the facade appears....

Whitman: GOP Foiled Security Efforts
By Alexander Lane
The Star-Ledger

Friday 28 January 2005

Book says legislators helped lobbyists defeat rules for chemical plants.

Industry lobbyists worked with key Republican lawmakers to sabotage new security regulations for chemical plants after the 9/11 attacks, Christie Whitman alleges in her new book.

Many chemical plants, including dozens in New Jersey, could release toxic clouds that could kill tens or even hundreds of thousands of people in the case of an attack or a major malfunction. Their security became a prime concern of experts after 9/11, but proposed regulations requiring safety measures failed to pass in Congress.

In her new book, "It's My Party Too," former New Jersey Gov. Whitman, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency as the debate raged in Congress and the Bush administration -- placed the blame squarely at the feet of chemical-industry lobbyists and congressional Republicans.

Whitman wrote that she and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge crafted rules requiring the 15,000 most high-risk plants to "take reasonable steps to address those vulnerabilities, and report to the EPA that they had complied."

"Although both Tom and I agreed such legislation was necessary, strong congressional opposition, led by some Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to giving EPA even this modest additional statutory authority made it difficult to secure administration support," Whitman wrote, singling out Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) for blame.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Y.shtml

Dick Cheney's costume at the Auschwitz commemeration ceremonies is indicative of anti-semitism and heartless disregard for the dead-no matter what their religion. His disrespect at such a solemn event and place cannot be excused. What would the reaction be in this country if a foreign dignitary attended a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns dressed as casually as our vice president? We all know that our country is drifting into policies driven by Christian fundamentalists. Bushco fundamentalist supporters will cry about unfair accusations against the Vice-President if there is widespread protests and admonitions about his choice of clothing. There has to be a way to point out his insensitivity and anti-semitic behavior. Certainly many Christians and right wingers are troubled by his adolescent insensitivity.

Posted by: resolute at January 28, 2005 09:06 PM

She blew the chance for an upfront discussion about each of those misuses of the publics' trust. I like how lakoff attributes it to "Betrayals of our trust"

Demand Full Disclosure and Investigation of Bush Administration Torture Policies

Senate leadership is trying to steamroll the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, but senators still have an opportunity to demand that Gonzales appoint an independent special counsel to investigate the development and implementation of U.S. interrogation and torture policies and to fully release all torture-related documents.

Despite loudly repeated demands by Congress and the American people, the Bush Administration has successfully blocked the release of an array of documents related to policy changes that paved the way for the horrors of Abu Ghraib and other American-operated detention facilities. These documents -- such as those on the “Top Ten List” of torture-related documents requested by the ACLU -- would help ensure the public and Congress have complete information about the development of policies that inevitably led to the use of torture by Americans.

http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=17357&c=24

What's Lieberman going to do?....

Contact: Rabbi Brian Walt, 508-696-1880; Rabbi Gerry Serotta, 301-587-2273 ext. 105, both of Rabbis for Human Rights North America; Web: http://www.rhr-na.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Rabbis for Human Rights North America, an international rabbinic organization supported by several hundred rabbis from all Jewish denominations, called on members of the Senate Judiciary committee and all U.S. Senators to reject nomination of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General and to "completely repudiate and prohibit torture for any purpose in any instance."

The rabbis express deep concern that "that America's longstanding moral commitment and policies are being altered to remove the prohibition against torture of detainees in United States' custody." They write, "While the pictures from Abu Ghraib are shocking, most disturbing is that the documents that have been made public demonstrate that the use of torture has been approved at the highest levels of the administration, that commanders in the field have permitted much of this behavior, that directives from the Department of Defense appear to advocate the use of torture, and that even today the position of the Administration is that the members of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are not covered by the provisions of the Geneva Convention."

Citing the fundamental Biblical tenet that all human beings are created in God's image the rabbis describe how "torture shatters and defiles God's image." Drawing on Jewish ethical teachings regarding interpersonal humiliation and relationship to one's enemy they explain how torture violates central Jewish values. "Torture 'works' by attempting to deprive a human being of will, spirit, and personal dignity. The humanity of the perpetrators is inevitably compromised by the use of torture."

Pointing to the experience of Israel, they highlight that even in that country, where terror against men, women and children has become part of daily life, the Israeli Supreme Court has clearly prohibited the use of torture.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=42272

Dick Cheney's costume at the Auschwitz commemeration ceremonies is indicative of anti-semitism and heartless disregard for the dead-no matter what their religion.

Posted by: oncall at January 28, 2005 10:07 PM

Oncall,

I agree with you about Dick Cheney's choice of dress at that solemn ceremony. He was a representative of the Bush administration and their party. Unfortunately just another reminder of their blatant disregard for anyone, dead or living, who is not part of their "elite" base.

Or, as Forrest put it, "Stupid is as stupid does."

An Email was sent to Mike Maloy with a very good idea I thought, this Woman has come up with this idea. Florist name: Coast to Coast Florists

Phone Number 888501 rose: it is a dedication Line,. toll free number If you ring this number and follow the prompter.

For $10 you will get 3 roses they will be sent with an excellecnt message enmass for Valentine Day to Barbera Boxer for standing up in the senate.

They will be delivered FEB 12th to get there FEB 14th

The Person who has set this up is picking up the deliverary tab. The persons name is Stacey Davies@AOL, if anyone is wanting to check her out

Kangaroo

Friday, January 28, 2005

World needs to wage peace on war

ALGIE ABRAMS
GUEST COLUMNIST

At a Dallas-Fort Worth airport gate, when I was coming home from a trip to Guatemala, I saw several desert-fatigued non-coms who were heading to Sea-Tac Airport after returning from Iraq. I passed closely by two of them sitting on their baggage. Using a laptop commuter, the younger one was showing his buddy video clips that had been shot through his vehicle's night vision system.

The soldier narrated the scene of a truck blowing up after being hit by a heavy-duty round. Next, a human figure ran off, only to be shot by the soldier's machine gun. The soldiers were really pumped about what they were seeing; they could have been watching the Super Bowl.

As I walked on to my gate, I heard the younger soldier say, "Hey, look at this one, I put music to it." I did not want to hear or see any more. I sat down, stunned. Not only was this young man proudly displaying his kills, but he also had edited them into a music video. Killing to him was a video game.

I will never forget that moment. It was a rarified moment of complete, evil insanity and, regretfully, it was immersed in a world increasingly desensitized to it.

Everyone, when told about this, has expressed contempt and disgust for the individuals and what they were doing; my first emotions were the same. But the direction of my disgust changed the more I thought about it.

I believe that, given a set of choices and conditions, each of us has the capacity to be trained, detached and operated to exhibit those same behaviors we call evil. The military is about creating killers; it does its job very well, and today it continues to deliver its violence in more efficient, detached and sanitary methods. What else could explain how the average Joe, who could never be paid, convinced or coerced into bombing his family or his neighbor's homes and businesses, could do so every day in Iraq?

This violence seeps into our society from the periphery of war and supporting military-industrial-political complex. Perhaps the number of wars we fight is related to the ambient levels of violence and intolerance in our own country. Canada has one-tenth the murder rate of the United States and, as a country, has openly and readily debated and legitimized gay marriage. How many wars has Canada declared?

We must wage peace on war, until peace wins. This view is widely claimed, but not widely held. Most, who follow some of the wisdom of our holiest, ignore teachings that say we should stop all hostilities, lay down our arms, ask for forgiveness, become accountable, heal those we've harmed and do good.

Fear now holds our faith captive; most believers really don't act on what they say they believe, judging solely on what today's black hole of faith creates. But, faith unleashed allows us to be totally free, by being assuredly willing to bare ourselves to the brunt of our malefactor's ill intent until their own shame turns their hearts toward mercy. One does not create quietness by yelling "Silence!"

I saw evil that afternoon, but not in the original way. In Seattle, when the airline crew asked us to remain seated, allowing military men to exit first, the applause from the majority of passengers convinced me that the soldiers and the government were not responsible for these war crimes. Their applause told me that this evil is created, enabled and rewarded by most of our individual hearts, minds and actions. That is what scared me the most.

Algie Abrams of Snohomish is a digital artist; www.ovalrock.com.

A RESIDENT ALIEN SPEAKS OUT
St. Francis of Assisi once said:

O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love, with all my soul.
The first eighteen years of my life embodies the essence of the above prayer emphasizing within an educational model tendering towards self-correcting, self-governing, and self - regulation cultivating as I mature through life the highest sense of personal moral authority. Growing up in the Republic of Ireland I was introduced to American culture when I was twelve years of age embracing a regular imported diet of American mythic superhero who would always dispense justice. Through television I witnessed American men, pioneering traditionally American roles such as cowboys, sergeants, and astronauts. But at the heart of what appears to be simple virtues protecting and saving the good from evil, there is violence.

My recollection of those formative years became heightened with the arrival on the world political stage of George W. Bush in the White House. He is a man of simple minded virtue who perceives his Godly role of dispensing "justice" to evil doers in the world based on the assumption that he represents all that is good and virtuous.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 I had never before experienced a time of greater vulnerability. People opened their houses, their hearts, shared what they could, fed, clothed and showered those in need. It was a time of reflection, re-evaluation for many on direction in their lives. It was a time for re-prioritizing, decision making and choosing between what is important and what they thought was important. I observed people had more time for each other. Many absentee fathers decided to join their families by taking earlier buses or trains homes for many weeks. Many went trick or treating with their children for the first time. And Washington had the shared grief and sympathy of the rest of the world. There was no country, no cave that a man who requires dialysis twice weekly could have hidden. Had that cowboy in the White House not decided to write a different narrative Osama Bin Laden would have been delivered to us in double quick time.

Of course, on the other side, "yer man in the White House", as my Pa in Ireland calls him surrounded himself by neo conservatives, collectively known as "the crazies" - Rumsfield, Cheney, Rove, Wolfowitz, and Kristol to name but a few. (If you want to be really frightened refer to "Project for the New American Country.) These "crazies" were too right wing and reactionary for the father of yer man in the White House so he distanced himself from them. Now in a post 9/11 era the stage was set. There was a "crazy" and general demand for quick and determined government action that is the dominating element in the situation. The selected president seizes the opportunity to appeal frequently to the frightened masses of the knowledgeable ignorant to hunt down and smoke out the terrorists "to get things done" to be "strong and resolute" and "we will prevail".

On good authority I have learned that the U.S., this imperial power, spends 355 billion dollars annually on weaponry. This is more than the combined military budget of the rest of the Western World. We spend 32 billion dollars on kindergarten through twelfth grade, 34 billion on children's health and one billion on world hunger. Such military might ensures ongoing quest for global dominance.

Let us have a war on terror, a war incidentally "that cannot be won," says yer man in the White House. How is it that these politically and financially influential people get to project their evil into the world? I come from a perspective and belief that two wrongs never made a right. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" make some blind and others toothless. Lord Acton once said, "If we choose not to learn from history we are destined to repeat it." Bush finds himself surrounded by a group of people who are of a high degree of uniformity and similarity of outlook who reflect the lower moral and intellectual standards where the more primitive instincts and tastes prevail. It is, as it were, the lowest common denominator which unites the largest number of people. Whilst this country is polarized and isolated from the world, yer man has managed to obtain the support of the domestic gullible and docile, who have no strong differentiated or developed convictions of their own but are ready to accept a system of values if it is only drummed into them frequently enough. This has been achieved by controlling media outlets, only allowing information to be disseminated that is considered "safe". Of course, there are independent media outlets but to remain independent they are not beholding to corporatism.

The U.S. metes exemplary military action to carry out its doctrine. It has become a pretext to make war on nations that are actually no threat - Afghanistan and Iraq. The assertion of raw military yields economic hegemony. For twenty two years, I have been a physician of my soul and I have heard thousands of stories of internal conflict from people, who reflect the paradox of the human condition. We may be educating ourselves and our children but there is another "language" or educational component missing from our homes and curricular. That is the language of emotional fluency. Ninety six out of every hundred people I see, regardless, of their financial strength or weakness generally feel regretful, guilty, unforgiving and unhappy. As such there are millions of the walking wounded chasing dreams instead of living them, existing instead of living, being quiet and reflective instead of consuming and in general striving to "come home" to oneself. It seems to be a part of human nature to be easier for people to agree on a war program. To agree on hatred of our enemy rather than on a positive task, the enemy to be depicted as evil, faceless phantom-like people who would do us harm again. The myth of security means to further insularise our nation and continue to be vigilant and tolerate the temporary loss of personal freedoms.

At this stage of our evolution, it is my contention, that the controls exercised over fear and anger be manifestly obvious or suppressed are preventing us at this time from paying necessary attention to our inner frontiers. The quests for higher emotional intelligence will allow us to accept rather than control and foist perceived "better values" on those uncivilized beasts. A week before the 2004 Presidential Election we have an administration whose manipulation of the organs of government have concentrated all of its powers with the commander in chief. Yer man acknowledges no restraints upon his powers. He has invoked the leadership principle time and time again. The government is organized to operate the capitalist system and enable it to function under an immense bureaucracy. It is a government in which the military industrial complex is used as a conscious mechanism of government spending.

Imperialism is included as a policy inevitably flowing from militarism. Powerful resistance is always active. Agents of government will continue to keep alive the fears of many of the aggressive ambitions as our internationalism becomes synonymous with malignant interventionism. The American Heritage Dictionary (1983) defines fascism as: "A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."

Yer man in the White House has managed in a few short years to sow a legacy of hatred all around the world. One of the main reasons for this is existential. The United States structured the global economy to perpetually enrich itself and reduce non-western societies to abject poverty. How is it that such a powerful nation is so frightened? Constantly we are hearing powerful business and political figures proclaim that God is with them and history has called on them to act. Appropriating goodness to oneself and then doing evil smacks of hypocrisy to me. Yet, yer man who claims such ontological argument as a born again Christian. (I refer to him as a Christian Taliban) projects his own self righteous version of evil doing onto defenseless populations in Iraq killing 12,000 - 15,000 Iraqis to date, were they terrorists or resisters? I fail to see any moral distinction between what was done to us on that fateful day of 9/11 and what this administration is dispensing as justice.

Yer man's actions are illegal by all international legal standards and it is my sincerest wish that he, his "crazies" and Tony Blair find themselves in the dock on war criminal charges for rejecting Article 51 of the UN Charter. To the American people who are supporting yer man in the White House for another term do not let the leaders say how "lucky they were that masses of men and women do not think." (A. Hitler) When history is written avoid looking back wishing you were more informed and mindful. Take back your country now. Let us vote these "crazies" out of the political quicksand which is an illusion for security, freedom and democracy. Let us advance to a sound political footing both at home and abroad. We can then work with the next administration to bring new thinking to us and the world which ultimately will bring a redistribution of wealth in order that there may be peace.

Christie Harrington
October 27, 2004

NIGHTLY JOURNAL (Post-Karaoke)

The neocons write a new letter to Congress - to Hastert, Frist, Reid & Pelosi - requesting more militarization.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/defense-20050128.htm
________________________________________________

It's gotten so bad that even a Texas Republican is questioning King Shrub.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905B.shtml
________________________________________________

"Plame leaked by fake news source?

Did the White House dribble the Plame leak through its own fake mouthpiece news source?

Consider:
A fake news service employs a fake reporter who apparently was the only one "identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence." What leaked CIA memo, you ask? The one in which "Wilson ... suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Let's back this pony up and look at what's come out in the past week.

Media Matters for the past couple of days has been delving into the mysterious "Talon News Service" and its mysterious, oh-so-helpful shilling reporter at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon."

First, from Media Matters:

Talon News, a conservative company whose Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon is well-known for asking loaded pro-Republican questions at White House press briefings,appears to be more a political organization than a media outlet.

Media Matters for America recently highlighted three Gannon articles that were little more than reprints of Republican and Bush administration releases; Media Matters has also noted Gannon's role as White House press secretary Scott McClellan's lifeline and Talon editor in chief Bobby Eberle's partisan political activities. A more in-depth look at Talon,Gannon,and Eberle casts additional doubt on Talon's claim to be a media outlet and raises questions about whether Gannon should be a credentialed member of the White House press corps.

Eberle is also,as Media Matters has previously noted,president and CEO of GOPUSA,a "conservative news,information,and design company dedicated to promoting conservative ideals." Though Eberle has claimed on the September 13,2004,edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country that GOPUSA and Talon News are separate companies,they overlap heavily.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/28/203014/

Special Treatment for Gannon?

According to sources, Jeff Gannon's real name is not, in fact, Jeff Gannon. According to the same sources, his White House press credentials list him as "Jeff Gannon" - they let him use his pseudonym -- even though married female reporters, who use their maiden name professionally, are given credentials with their married name and aren't allowed to be credentialed under their maiden names...
...not sure why this isn't clear, but the point is that he's allowed to be credentialed under his professional pseudonym even though women whose "professional pseudonyms" are their maiden names aren't.

http://atrios.blogspot.com /
________________________________________________
William Rivers Pitt: 'Break the Prisoner's Reliance on God'
http://www.truthout.org/overview.htm

CIA's 'Ghost Prisoners' Spark Rights Concerns
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905A.shtml

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) | What If (It Was All a Big Mistake)?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905B.shtml

Dahr Jamail | High Anxiety
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905C.shtml

The Independent | Is the World Safer Now?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905D.shtml

Paul Krugman | Little Black Lies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905E.shtml

Maureen Dowd | Love for Sale
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905F.shtml

The Washington Post | A Warming Climate
http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml

Jean-Michel Thenard | Impossible Silence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905H.shtml

Coalition Pull-Out from Iraq Gathers Pace
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905I.shtml

FBI in Talks to Extend Reach
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905J.shtml

News Media Ignored Study of Iraqi Civilian Deaths
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905K.shtml

David Bacon | The Death of Hadi Saleh
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905L.shtml

Derrick Z. Jackson | Neglecting Mother Earth
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905X.shtml

GOP Sabotaged Security Efforts at Chemical Plants
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Y.shtml

Third Columnist Caught with Hand in Bush Till
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Z.shtml

Here's is the United Church of Christ reaction to James Dobson's latest misadventure. Gotta love the UCC!

http://accessibleairwaves.org/2005/01/no-matter-who-you-are-or-where-you-are.html

Posted by: kay at January 29, 2005 09:01 AM

Thank you, Kay. You made my morning! LOL

If you get a chance to listen to Michael Feldman's "Whad'ya Know" show on NPR today http://www.notmuch.com/ it's a riot. His monologue is funny and they're taking phone in votes for the election in Iraq. One guy wants to vote for Bush for President of Iraq. Now there's a thought...let's send him over there...

32 U.S. SENATORS SENT A LETTER TO GEORGE BUSH GIVING NOTICE THAT THEY INTEND FIGHTING FOR VETERANS BENEFITS.

Daniel Akaka, Max Baucus, Jeff Bingaman, Maria Cantwell, Kent Conrad, Mark Dayton, Christopher Dodd, Bryon Dorgan, Richard Durbin, Tom Harkin, James Jeffords, Tim Johnson, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Mary Landrieu, Frank Lautenberg, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Blanche Lincoln, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Benjamin Nelson, Bill Nelson, Barack Obama, Mark Pryor, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, John Rockefeller, Ken Salazar, Paul Sarbanes, Charles Schumer and Debbie Stabenow.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 29, 2005 01:06 PM

Boy - they are really coming out with all guns blaring. Makes me proud.

This and social security are great issues to reframe and take on Bush Co.

Tom Hayden's "Appeal to Global Conscience"
29 January 2005

Tom Hayden recently posted an An Appeal to Global Conscience, on his Blog, saying “together we can undermine the pillars of war and occupation, make it impossible for the American government to continue its course, and begin to plant the foundations of peace.”

More: http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=293

If you havent read this already (NY times) its quite good. Talks about bush's ridiculous "black people die sooner" idea for SS.

Little Black Lies
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: January 28, 2005

Social Security privatization really is like tax cuts, or the Iraq war: the administration keeps on coming up with new rationales, but the plan remains the same. President Bush's claim that we must privatize Social Security to avert an imminent crisis has evidently fallen flat. So now he's playing the race card.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/opinion/28krugman.html?ex=1107925200&en=ead68046b0dd82d9&ei=5070

Posted by: kay at January 29, 2005 09:01 AM

BEAUTIFUL!!! :-)

Posted by: DiAnne at January 29, 2005 01:06 PM

I love it when lists like this are posted. I want to continue to build, and widen, our pipelines to the people who are standing in their truth and standing up to BushInc's Robespierre agenda.

Bravo!

Slugbug, just read the blog post above. Thank you for writing and posting it!

I could go on about the many stages of denial I've been in since November 2, but it would take too long to describe. ;-)

I keep going back to one of my favorite women, who happens to be a writer, a storyteller and a Jungian therapist: Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Here's a link to her site: http://www.mavenproductions.com/estes.html

Her "Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times" "Normal Reactions to Loss, Injury, and Catastrophe" "Healing from Terrorism Sickness" and "Postscript from Dr. Estés and An Assignment for You from Dr. Estés"

are good tonics for me at 3 am, or 3 pm.

Marjorie G., I've gained 15 pounds since I saw you last. My doctor said, "I'm not even going to bother testing your cholesterol, it's obviously not where I'd like it to be. I'll see you again in 3 months."

I'm not even 1/4 down the page of this blog, and am reading things that are just blowing my mind.

Right blog, right time. Thanks to all.

Oh yes, I have to attend that conference in StL. No doubt about it. Looking into it now...

Please excuse me. I read the blog backwards, then forward, and sometimes start in the middle. Right now the scroll button on the trackball is flying! lol

Thanks everyone for contributing disparate news items and bringing them together on this blog.

Everyone take care of yourselves-- cholesterol included-- it's going to be a long fight for truth and justice during these turbulent times.

-AP

Posted by: Marjorie G at January 28, 2005 04:07 PM

Put me down for the 15 extra lbs club - that's why I've not been online much these days - I'm at the gym every day for two hours, (and it's an hour away!) frantically trying to shed the extra so I don't have to buy a whole new wardrobe. In the meantime, I'm wearing my husband's sweats. And just so no one thinks the added poundage came from sitting at the computer blogging, I'm wearing my husband's sweats because he can't - he also added poundage in the aftermath of Black Tuesday. And he seldom goes online.

Onwards and upwards. And this IS the best place to be online - the important info, with a bit of intelligent humor, and none of the whining and bashing each other. It's wonderful to come here. Thanks.

Meeting with county chair next Tuesday to try to get a cohesive cell together - right now we're just a few rural folk with lots of answers and no one to give them to!

kj, great links! I'm and Estes fan as well. Thanks for today's delights.

He's Still "That Man"
The Bushies' war on Franklin Roosevelt.

By Daniel Gross

The positive legacy of FDR

Why are today's Republicans so hellbent on changing Social Security? Clearly they're not driven by concern over government deficits. After all, they've engineered a taxing and spending regime that intentionally created record deficits. And it can't be that they oppose entitlement programs as a matter of principle. Medicare has an unfunded liability larger than Social Security's, and they just expanded it a couple of years ago with the prescription drug benefit.

Maybe it's because Social Security is an opportunity to refight—and perhaps win—a series of arguments the Republicans lost badly 70 years ago.
continue~
http://slate.msn.com/id/2112796/

Posted by: DiAnne at January 29, 2005 01:06 PM

DiAnne,

Add Hilary Clinton to the list of Senators who signed the letter to President Bush urging him to fully fund veterans' health care. There were 33 signers in all. From her website:

January 14, 2005
Senator Clinton Calls on President Bush
to Fully Fund Veterans' Health Care

New York, NY — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton joined thirty-two of her Senate colleagues today in calling on President Bush to ask for full funding for the veteran' health care system when the Administration presents its Fiscal Year '06 budget request to Congress in the coming weeks. [SNIP]

http://clinton.senate.gov/~clinton/news/2005/2005119625.html

Great couple of threads.

With each passing day, we read about one or two new positive developments amid the plethora of horror stories surrounding this corpo-fascist cult that has taken over our country.

We have progressive radio, and it's doing well. (Continue to support our advertisers there!)

We have a senate communications organization that looks promising.

Our honorable religious leaders are starting to speak out - finally, we get to hear from the sane ones!

A few good Republicans are finding their balls at long last. More to follow, we hope.

Barbara Boxer said "there's an elephant in the room." Good.

Lakoff told us not to think about the elephant in the room. Even better.

Our representatives are getting braver and more accountable by the minute.

We are finding out that there are some companies that share our values and want to uphold the principles of democracy. We can patronize them with confidence. (aside - news about Nike - first company in history to welcome unannounced inspections in all locations... read up! We're making a difference.)

A soldier - yes, a soldier! - found the courage to speak up. They have all been silenced for so long.

We may soon be getting rational, sane, honest TV through some of the more flush members of our community. Thank you Turner, Gore, Soros et all, in advance.

We are deconstructing the Republican strategy - taken right from Mein Kempf and Mussolini - and developing ways to fight it.

We are developing our own strategy for mobilizing our grass roots.

We are becoming the media, and challenging the yacking heads on BushCo TV.

All in all, not bad for two months' work. Congratulations, Progressive America! No sleeping going on here! No sour grapes, no resting after our defeat, no giving up. Even the bashing of our fellow progressives is dying down.

We are more united than ever, more passionate than ever, more solutions-oriented than ever. BushCo has united mobilized us like we haven't been since the Civil Rights Movement.

NEVER SURRENDER!!!

Amy, yes. Although she doesn't know it, Estes is my own, personal Godmother. :-) I love her work, I love her point of view, I love her ability to tell a story and I love the vision she lives.

ps. Amy, hope you join us in Book Club Chat. We're going to begin with Lakoff's "Elephant" book. It's only 120 pages... a quick, simple, powerful, insightful and brilliant piece of work that has blown away everyone I've talked to that has read it.

http://www.democracycellproject.net/forum/index.php?showforum=30

Posted by: Amy at January 29, 2005 04:41 PM

Wow Amy - what a terrific post!!! You pull it all together and it does look promising, doesn't it? I was so impressed and astonished at what happened starting late November. We all cried, we had our moments curled up in fetal positions (eating way too much comfort food) and felt cheated and in despair.

But it didn't last for long because we "picked ourselves up, brushed ourselves off, and started all over again."

We're doing it for ourselves, our terrific kids, our grandchildren to come. We're doing it for our country and the promise of our founding fathers, and for the rest of the planet - at least those who want to live in peace. And it's wonderful to see the list of accomplishment already made and those in the process of coming to fruition.

Amy

Also alot of organization was put together for the last election, record-breaking money was raised & it was a tough race for Bush. He had to dip into the public and corporate coffers (those Air Force One "business" trips) & pulled out a "victory" with smoke & mirrors not honest policy.

Need to keep this organization together and refine it, the message as well. There are still alot of mad/focussed, forward-looking people - millions, really. Internet is just the tip of the iceberg.

Bob Evans

Thanks for telling me about Hillary. That list said "32 other Senators" and I couldn't figure out what was missing - Hillary!

We need to thank them.

I called the national and local offices of Frist & Hastert & told them why I thought Gonzalez was not an appropriate Attorney General - that because he won't denounce torture, we are at risk for more terrorism if we have him in a high profile position. Common sense.

We only need 6 Republicans & all the Democrats & the 1 Independent & he can be stopped.

~there he goes again..liar, liar, pants on fire....bu$h will say anything, and I do mean ANYTHING to frighten Americans...bu$hlies, de-bunked again....

Does Social Security Cheat Blacks?

21 minutes ago U.S. National - AP
By MATT CRENSON, AP National Writer

Does Social Security cheat black Americans? Yes, President Bush insisted last week. But some Social Security experts say the answer is clearly "no."

The way Bush explained it to a group of black supporters last week, blacks are short-changed because they are more likely than whites to die before receiving their fair share of retirement benefits.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/5w5j8

A Leadership Gap on The Trade Gap

By Jim Hightower, AlterNet. Posted January 29, 2005.

In 2004, the American economy bought $600 billion more in products from foreign countries – especially China – than we sold to them. This is the exact opposite of a good business plan.

Let's shout out a message to Treasury Secretary John Snow: Yoo-hoo, Johnnie – next time you orbit anywhere near earth, call home.

This guy is farther out than Pluto. When it was announced recently that the U.S. trade deficit has set yet another record, Bush's top economic official rocketed off into deep space claiming like some alien goofball juiced up on jimson weed that – woo woo! – bad news is good news. In 2004, the American economy bought $600 billion more in products from foreign countries – especially China – than we sold to them. This is the exact opposite of a good business plan.

Yet, Snow, apparently snorting a noseful of intergalactic dust, proclaimed that this Grand Canyon of a trade gap "reflects the fact that Americans are becoming more prosperous," thus buying more foreign products. More Prosperous? Hey, Snow man – you Bushites are waving our middle-class manufacturing and high-tech jobs offshore, and American wages are not even keeping up with the cost of living, at the same time that your disastrous borrow-and-spend economic policies are sinking us into an unfathomable sea of federal debt. Just the interest on that debt now costs every American man, woman, and child $333 a year. This is prosperity?

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/21120/

I'm starting to get Christian spam - mortgages, message t-shirts etc. It's annoying!

On the other hand, I just got a digital photo from my friend Marc that he took of a Kerry/Edwards 2004 bumper sticker on a car he saw on Boulevard St. Germaine, Paris to day.