Ms. Goodman Comes to Washington

Off topic, but not really...

The president, for one, said "millions of Americans are saddened" by Schiavo's death. “The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak,” he added. “In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in favor of life.”

"I appreciate the example of grace and dignity they have displayed at a difficult time," the president said. "I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others."

Other Washington figures who were deeply involved in the extraordinary federal intervention in Schiavo's case also weighed in on her passing.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, said her death was a "regrettable loss of life" that deeply saddened him. "May God bless her memory," he said.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, called Schiavo's death a "moral poverty and a legal tragedy."

"This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change," DeLay said. "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another."

House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, called on Congress to pass legislation to help others going through similar legal battles.

Is this what passes for a charm offensive from the bugman??!!

DeLay Goes Off The Deep End
DeLay just released this statement:

Mrs. Schiavo’s death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo’s friends in this time of deep sorrow.

Posted by: Marc Trager at March 31, 2005 01:11 PM

We were essentially shot in the back when Jesse Jackson decided to make this a cause celebre for himself. So what are we to do? We have to keep exposing the current administration and their supporters as hypocrits.

We need to walk away from the Schiavo debate also. We have to make, as our main focus, all the injustices and inequities that this administration is guilty . We have had some important victories. Social Security is going nowhere for the President, the White House has been exposed as a propaganda mill, many Americans feel that Iraq was a mistake, and the President's approval is the worst it has ever been. Let's focus our efforts on those issues that really matter to people. For example, we all need to communicate the death grip that ending the filibuster will have on this country. I know that I am preaching to the choir, but let's move on and tackle the issues that will effect our daily lives.

what does it avail a man
to gain an office
and lose his soul?

WMD Commission Issues Scathing Report
A presidential commission said Thursday that America's spy agencies were "dead wrong" in most of their pre-war assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and that the United States knows "disturbingly little" about threats posed by many its most dangerous adversaries.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Weapons inspector accuses CIA

March 29, 2005 - 4:40PM

A former Australian weapons inspector today accused the CIA of blatantly attempting to change the findings of an interim report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Rod Barton, a former Australian defence official and expert on biological weapons joined the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) in late 2003 to assist in the hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

By early 2004, the ISG had reached the conclusion that there were no WMD to be found. Its final report said there had been no WMD in Iraq and no programs since the end of the 1991 war.

However, removing Saddam Hussein's WMD was the key justification advanced by the US, Britain and Australia for the 2003 invasion.

Mr Barton said he believed the final ISG report, presented to the United States Congress in October last year, was frank and honest.

"As far as I am aware there was no attempt by any government to censor or in other any interview with the conclusions," he told a Senate committee today.

"Unfortunately this was not the case with respect to an interim report that I was involved with in March 2004."

Mr Barton said he was responsible for coordination and oversight of the interim report which was circulated to Canberra, London and Washington for comment.

He said the Australian comments were constructive and largely editorial.

"London, however, suggested that we add certain material," he said. "I believe these additions were designed to leave the impression that WMD may yet be found. This would have been contrary to our views.

"The CIA also sent suggested amendments. Many of these were quite useful but there were two amendments that were blatant attempts to change our findings.

"To the credit of Charles Duelfer, the head of the ISG, these attempts at changing the nature of the report were rejected."

Mr Barton said it was still a poor report as it did not say what the ISG knew by this time - that there were no WMD.

He said he resigned from the ISG as soon as a the final draft of the interim report was completed.

"In my view the report was symptomatic of a wider malaise in the ISG," he said.

"At that time there was no real objectivity in the investigation and it seemed to me that a lot of the direction, particularly in the chemical and biological areas, was coming from Washington."

-AAP

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Iraq/Weapons-inspector-accuses-CIA/2005/03/29/1111862380183.html

Great piece on framing.........

STOP Using THEIR Frame: "Culture of Life"
By Tom Ball
Have we learned nothing?

Prior to the era of all-Schiavo all the time, the hottest topic on the Progressive Web was framing -- how critical it is that we embolden ourselves and begin re-framing the issues to suit our agenda. Over and over again, we recited the rules: Know your values. Choose your frames based on your values, etc, etc, and whatever you do, for God sake DO NOT USE THEIR LANGUAGE.

Bam! Along comes Terri Schiavo and all mentions of framing are replaced with the "Culture of Life". Everywhere I look on the Progressive web, it's blinding, "Culture of Life", "Culture of Life", "Culture of Life", "Culture of Life".

Whose frame do you think that is? Ours? It's their frame. THEIR FRAME.

http://www.politicalstrategy.org/

Advertisement
Show the world your perspective on life in Iraq. If you are an American on duty in Iraq, The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com invite you to submit your photos of everyday life in the region. In the coming weeks, a selection of these photos will be published. Submit photos

ANYONE GOT PHOTOS TO SEND OFF I HAVE PLENTY THAT I DO NOT THINK THAT THEY WILL LIKE, PLENTY THAT I BET THEY DONT POST
EVERY DAY LIFE IN THE REGION
HAVE THEY ABSOLUTELY GONE OFF THE DEEP END
AMERICAN MEDIA LOSING IT THE TOOLS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

So Tom DeLay's at it again, speaking of "moral poverty."

At least they found an authoritative source.

Shouldn't there be a political price for Grassley and Leach to pay for their stubborn insistance on privatizing SS? Shouldn't these otherwise moderates be reminded that they are up for re election soon and that voters will remember where they stood on SS, even you Senator Grassley.
"Afterward, Grassley told reporters he would push for private accounts even if a majority of the public does not appear behind the idea. "The president knows one of the rules of politics is repetition," he said.

The Children in Iraq were better off under Sadaam..

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/033105Z.shtml

Scandal man..
tom DeLay in all his glory...

http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/delaycasefile/index.html

Ira,
Carlos Watson speculates on a far more insidious way for shrub to get his way on private accounts.

The ace up his sleeve
NEW YORK (CNN) -- This past weekend, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the influential chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, seemed to throw cold water on President Bush's hopes for major Social Security change. And recent polls have shown that the public is also cool to the idea of private accounts, arguably the central element of President Bush's Social Security plan.

snip.......

Indeed, even without broad Congressional or public support, President Bush just may have an ace up his sleeve. How might he enact his private accounts idea without such support, you may ask? By executive order.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/29/ace.up.sleeve/index.html

"And while President Clinton was sometimes criticized for his bold use of executive orders, he had to be at least somewhat politically cautious because of the risk that Congress or the courts might overturn him. President Bush has less risk in that regard because of Republican dominance in both arenas. And thus, he may indeed be more aggressive in using the executive order to implement private accounts if his legislative efforts fail."

Nancyjane if Congress did not then step in and stop Bush I think we could all but be guaranteed a major shift in Congress in 2006. That would be political suicide for the Republican party.Personally I don't think that Grassley or Hasstert would stand for that.

Nancyjane,

As we can see, each time the president uses his power of executive order, he inevitably screws things up. We have to make the public aware of this option and create an enviroment so unpleasant for Bush and the Republicans that it would be political suicide to create private accounts with an executive order.

From the article in the above post:

By the way, if President Bush uses the tool to change Social Security, it will be the fourth major arena in which he has meaningfully advanced policy using presidential directives. Indeed, he has almost single-handedly created his multi-billion dollar faith-based initiative through executive orders, allowing churches and religious institutions access to taxpayer money for drug treatment, mentoring and other social service programs.

Second, as The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh and others have reported, presidential directives have guided much of the covert war on terrorism. Third, President Bush has significantly relaxed regulations and oversight of a number of large business industries via executive order.

DCP Book Club peeps:

Tonight I would really like to delve into the types of ACTIONS that Zinn writes about, especially those in the Civil Rights and Vietnam eras.

What actions do you think were justifiable, given the times and the contexts?

I am asking about this IN PART because of the types of protests that have been conducted around the Schaivo case. What is the difference between those times and these? Those actions and these?

Why do we think the Schaivo protests have received so much coverage, when the antiwar protests of a few weeks ago did not?

What would the Freedom Fighters of the 60s say to us now about ACTIONS?

Grab your books and join us in the Forum and/or in the irc at 9.

Karen: The Zinn books is very slow reading, I think I am up to the 1800s and Bacon's abuses of slaves in Virginia. I will join you in a week or so.

Sorry, I know it's time to move on from this story, but this is the swill that our "media" has become, and it does highlight the very hypocrisy that permeates this Banana Republican... and send Joe a note and tell him what you think of some of the comments below (oh, and ask him how his wife knows what kind of person Mrs. Schiavo was...)

Terri deserved better from us all
by Joe Scarborough, MSNBC

In the time I have been in Congress and a member of the media, I have never worked on a story that has had the personal impact of Terri Schiavo's fight for life.

Why is that?

Thousands have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But no single death has drawn American's attention to their TV sets like Terri's.

Three thousand Americans were slaughtered on September 11th, but I cannot think of a single victim from that epic day whose death came close to grabbing the attention that Terri garnered over the past few weeks.

You probably would have to go back to the death of John Lennon to find a person who was not a president or a princess whose passing stirred up such interest.

So again I ask, why?

What was it about Terri's life and death struggle that divided families, political parties, and religious leaders?

I would like to be able to explain to you what it was about this story that got me more emotionally involved than any political election or vote that I ever took in Congress.

But I can't.

I have a few guesses.

First, the President's involvement in this case this month got the forces of the Left involved in a very personal way. This is, after all, a group whose own thought leaders had suggested of late that many in the movement hated George Bush so much that they were even cheering against American efforts in Iraq.

And then there was Tom DeLay.

Liberals despise Majority Leader DeLay in a way not seen since, well, since George Bush, or Rush Limbaugh, or Ann Coulter, or Mel Gibson, or anyone else with whom they disagree.

Add to the checklist the fact the evangelical and pro-life communities got involved, and suddenly it seemed inevitable that a political gangland war was waiting to happen.

My wife commented this morning that the real tragedy of this case is the fact that Terri Schiavo seemed to be a very shy, unassuming woman who would have deplored the kind of attention that was thrown on her the last few weeks of her life.

I explained to her that there was a bigger issue involved here. The government was allowing the killing of a young, helpless woman without clear and convincing evidence.

She stared at me as if to say that I was missing her point completely.

Sadly, I think Susan's point has been lost on most of us — even those who were fighting for Terri's life because of the shocking truths connected with her death.

This has been a tragedy for all concerned.

But on this day when the debate starts to wind down, it is important that we stop to remember the young woman who was caught in the middle of this ugly political fight.

Goodbye, Terri.

You deserved better from us all.

Marc,Scarborough was right about this comment:

Goodbye, Terri.

You deserved better from us all.

If anyone watched Terri's 2002 video yesterday we know that this was a very tragic situation and how hurtful all this publicity was to the soul of Terri Schiavo.

requiescat en pace, terri...

Ira,

Sweetie--wrong book! We are reading his autobiography: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN. It is MUCH faster, but certainly not as comprehensive as The People's History--which is what you appear to be reading. Don't stop! But run out and get the shorter book too--it is very good reading.

Karen there was only one beaten up copy of The People's History of America in our entire library system and it took me a week to get it. Same for Don't Think of an Elephant.I chose to read People's History first b/c Dick interviewed Howard Zinn and posted on it a week or so ago. Its impt but slow and deliberate reading. The public library finally got in 5 copies of God's Politic's by Wallis(There are a dozen others waiting for it) that I am to pick up this weekend. I will look for Can't be Neutral, hopefully it won't be as hard to find. Perhaps we should just be buying these books on Amazon etc. I would like to start posting quotes and short excerpts from some of these books to share with our bloggers. Trying to keep up with our reading list Karen.

Ira,

I used the link to Powell's Books that is provided on the dcp homepage to buy my copy of Zinn's book. I received my book in just a few days.

The Schiavo case is "idealogical"..PERSONIFIED!! The Vietnam war was about gov't deception and coverup!! BTW>>>Jane Fonda will be on AIR for one hour coming next Tues.,hopefully will clear this mess up once and for all!!
Just heard Ed Schultz on AIR with Carlos Watson and Watson saying :"Bush may have found a way into SS W/O the need of a vote." WOW,don't we live in the scariest of times!! To think of what might have been instead of this bush agenda is enough to keep one ill for the next four years!

I just received what appears to be a hand typed response from Sen Chafee's office regarding my advocating that he vote against John Bolton. I strongly urge others here to contact Senator Chafee's office at the address below. Without his continued votes there are many fights we will not win in the Senate.

William R. Facente
Treasurer
Chafee for Senate
P.O. Box 7329
Warwick, RI 02887
(401) 921-1920
treasurer@chafeeforsenate.com

Patti,

Leslie Stahl's interview with Jane Fonda will air on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday at 7 EST:

Jane Fonda: A Few Regrets
March 31, 2005

Jane Fonda has no regrets about her trip to North Vietnam in 1972 - with one big exception: her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down U.S. pilots.

She says her appearance there, which earned her the epithet "Hanoi Jane," was a "betrayal" of the U.S. military, its soldiers and "the country that gave me privilege."

She regards the event as one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Fonda speaks to Lesley Stahl in her first interview about her upcoming autobiography, "Jane Fonda: My Life So Far," for a 60 Minutes report to be broadcast Sunday, April 3, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter...sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal...the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine," says Fonda.

MORE: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/31/60minutes/printable684295.shtml

Culture of Life?
Culture of Hypocracy is more like it.

We need to do more exposing of this guy's track record in Texas.

Common sense Republicans are also working to fight the nuclear option:

http://www.savethefilibuster.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=cpLIJSOwHmE&b=487553

I plan to go see Jane Fonda. I love the obscure movie, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" - about marathon dancing during the depression. She has a nice husky voice & I always thought she was a good actress. When she had her fitness tapes, she marketed workout clothes that were US union made. I admired both Tom Hayden and Ted Turner, for different reasons. As for old business during the Vietnam era, I always figured some was smear campaign & I knew that anything she did or didn't do was small potatoes compared to the immorality of the war in general. I would like to meet her. Notice too that the rightwing demonizes women whenever it can - Jane Fonda, Hillary Clinton, Teresa Kerry - anyone innovative or outspoken? It's so ironic that Laura Bush is in Afghanistan promoting women's literacy (that's the PR angle, probably dreamed up by Karen Hughes). Granted there was a time when Laura Bush worked for Eugene McCarthy (something we have in common) and she was a librarian, an honorable profession. Somewhere along the line, she took a very wrong path (choice in men).

So Hot Tub Tom said: "This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most."

This dude is an evil hypocritical idiot. Life support is removed by spouses and other family members everyday without the existence of a living will. Hmmm....Seems like his family did that very thing.

Let us not forget that tongues are just as murderous as a gun. If anything happens to Michael Schiavo or his family I hold the Schindlers, DeLay, Frist, Jeb, and all the lying right wing hacks that went on tv to spread lies and innuendos about MS responsible. They all will have blood on their hands. So much for the culture of life.

Re: Carlos Watson - Don't worry about Carlos Watson's great prediction of Shrub signing an exec order to shove private accounts down our throats. If this had come from any other source I'd believe it but coming from him I take it with a grain of salt. His predictions never really pan out. I just hope this column doesn't give Rove any ideas.

As for Joe Scarborough, I suggest we do what most Americans do in regards to him -- pretend he does not exist. The guy's show barely makes a blip on the ratings map.

Do you know where your tax dollars are tonight?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4906005,00.html

Funding a teen abstinence website?

If it were possible for Bush to use Executive Order to privatize Social Security, we ought to go on general strike and withold our labor & also our tax money - millions of us.

The two-minute protest..

http://capwiz.com/aauw/home/

hot votes: judical nominations that put women's rights at risk..

protect the filibuster..

Bush Executive Orders to date:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/

An odd bit of wisdom found on the TruthOut blog:

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

Jimi Hendrix

'Nightline' Host Koppel to Leave ABC in December

Veteran journalist Ted Koppel, the face of 'Nightline' for 25 years, will leave ABC when his contract expires in December, the network said March 31, 2005. Koppel (C) is seen with Peter Jennings (L) and George Stephanopoulos during an ABC 2004 Summer Press Tour in Los Angeles, California July 12, 2004. Photo by Reuters

Reuters
Mar 31, 2005 — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Veteran journalist Ted Koppel, the face of "Nightline" for 25 years, will leave ABC when his contract expires in December, the network said on Thursday.

"Ted and I have discussed a number of options under which he might have remained at 'Nightline' or in some other capacity at ABC News, but Ted believes this is the right time for him to leave," ABC News President David Westin said in a statement posted on ABC's Web site.

Koppel's retirement comes at a time of big changes in the news departments of the three major new networks.

Tom Brokaw stepped down as anchor of the "NBC Nightly News" in December, followed closely by Dan Rather, whose 24-year term at CBS ended this month. ABC's main anchor Peter Jennings is the only one of the top network anchors of the past 20 years who remains in the chair.

Koppel, who has worked at ABC for 42 years, attracted controversy last year when he devoted an edition of "Nightline" to broadcasting the names and pictures of soldiers killed in Iraq, raising criticism from conservatives who called it anti-war propaganda.

As far as Jane fonda goes,I'm sure we "ALL" had lapses in judgement during those nam war years. It was a disturbing time in that time line and now seems like a blur!
I just finished watching today's Oprah about swinging couples,the article in Newsweek,and couples w/o any scruples. Found it "disturbing" that most of these couples are conservatives in "red" states voting on the "values" issue. It was hypocrisy personified IMO.
I just got an article from a friend about the hypocrisy about the Pope and the crisis in the church very well written by Hans Kung. When I get this computer fixed I will post it here. Also check out Common dreams.org for a great article by Arrianna Huffington on the Schiavo case. She's "on it"! We had grand baby here for for a week and she sure messed up my tools!
Dianne,I thought back to the convention in Boston when we met that talk show host,that should have given us a clue and heads up about the "values"issue and it was going to be HUGE!!

A different view on the happenings of the last couple weeks. Definitely worth reading.

The Progressive Disability Perspective
By Josie Byzek, AlterNet

Posted on March 30, 2005, Printed on March 31, 2005 http://www.alternet.org/story/21624/

It's been a hard week for disability rights activists like me who have strong feelings about Terri Schiavo's situation. Personally I am shocked that the revulsion I feel about how lightly the president and the U.S. Congress hold our Constitution isn't universally shared by my fellow disability rights activists, most of whom, like me, are card-carrying members of various progressive organizations. Some of my colleagues want to "save Terri at all costs," but I don't think anyone's life is worth even a ding on the U.S. Constitution.

There has been a lot of dialogue in the disability community this week, though, and that painfully open dialogue has helped me frame how I understand what I think needs to happen next regarding situations like Terri Schiavo's.

I have personally known people who were thought to "not be there" who suddenly dropped in. The first time was back in 1990 when I worked at the center for independent living in Pittsburgh. We had a contract to get severely disabled people out of institutions and there was this one guy they'd park across from my desk ... talk about vacant stares. I always said, "Hi, Henry," when I saw him and one day he said "hi" back. I jumped and spilled my coffee. That was the first time I saw how wrong we can be about whether severely cognitively-disabled people are "there" or not.

My experience with Henry is practically a rite of passage in the disability rights movement and hopefully explains why many of us don't think non- disabled people know enough about our lives to determine whether we should live or die. It was non-disabled medical professionals who told our agency not to waste time with Henry, as he wouldn't know anyway. Our agency was owned and operated by disabled people at the time – all the top management positions were held by people with such significant disabilities as spina bifida and blindness – so they knew to set aside what the non-disabled medical professionals thought about such people as Henry.

Hopefully this anecdote shows how our movement's perspective developed around the issues raised by the Schiavo case. It is a unique perspective, and one that I think is more in line with the progressive camp than the anti-choice camp. The problem is our perspective looks very similar to the anti-choice stand. The main difference is anti-choicers say "life at all costs" and we say, "don't assume our lives aren't worth living." Please note the difference.

I'd say the majority of us in the disability community who support disability rights activist group Not Dead Yet's (NDY) positions are pro- choice. Many of us are gay or lesbian, including some in NDY leadership roles. Many are atheist or agnostic. Who we are collectively ought to be enough to differentiate NDY from the pro-life camp. But it seems – seems, I'm not sure this is accurate – that progressive groups are so locked into the debate as defined by the anti-choicers that they're not willing or are unable to give weight to our perspective on these issues in their internal policies. Even though these issues primarily affect our community more than any other group of people.

Personally I don't think we try hard enough to articulate our perspective to progressive leaders. I think this is because it puts us in the uncomfortable position of defending our lives. But then along come these anti-choicers who learn our lingo and dance our dance steps and it gets even more confused.

I was invited to speak at a "Save Terri" rally in Central Pennsylvania., along with Pennsylvania's pro-life leader and my choices were a) speak and get the NDY perspective in or b) NOT speak and NOT get the NDY perspective in. So I went. The leader of national NDY was even more concerned than I was about me speaking at the same venue as a prominent anti-choice leader, but we worked on my remarks and thought we found a good balance. But I still worry that anyone who caught the coverage went away thinking NDY is allied with anti-choice groups, and that we share a common perspective, which we do not. I'm sure you see the dilemma.

So what do I think about Terri Schiavo's situation? I think the Schindlers' pain led them to become anti-choice patsies and their advisors ought to be ashamed of themselves for how they've used that family's anguish to push their political agenda. I think Mike Schiavo's probably a stand-up guy, very much like the working-class men in my own family. I've not seen anything credible to suggest he's the wife abuser some propagandists make him out to be and I've seen no credible proof that he wants Terri dead "for the money." I wish Michael had divorced Terri and let Terri's parents take over. That didn't happen, and in the end, despite the typically reckless actions of this president, the law was followed. But the law was followed using tainted data; the common assumption that people as seriously, severely and completely disabled as Terri would certainly not want to live.

I ask my fellow progressives to tweeze the disability perspective out of the culture war rhetoric of either "life at all costs" or "better dead than disabled." Don't let the right wing continue to frame this issue and instead help us articulate the nuances of our perspective in the public debate.

Specifically, there will be agitation for changes and overhauls to the guardianship laws in our nation and in our states. I ask any of you who follow this kind of thing to set aside all framework of pro-life/pro-choice and instead help us stamp these laws with the progressive value of self- determination. Help ensure these laws reflect the disability community's perspective. Otherwise I shudder to think what may happen.

© 2005 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/21624/

Dick have you been looking for Ms. Goodman?

If you get the joke HA HA...if not...think about it...

Happy Birthday to Marc Trager wherever he may roam...

Monkey Man
The Rolling Stones

I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
All my friends are junkies
That's not really true

I'm a cold Italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
Would you do?

But I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you, babe?

Well, I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey woman too

I was bitten by a boar
I was gouged and I was gored
But I pulled it on through

Yes, I'm a sack of broken eggs
I always have an unmade bed
Don't you?

Well, I hope we're not too messianic
Or a trifle too satanic
We love to play the blues

Well I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey, monkey woman too, babe

I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey...

Patti
The swinging couples are red state Republicans?
LOL That goes along with the pedophile priests & scout leaders, the moralist politician who get caught with strippers (Wilbur Mills) or with gambling addiction (Bennett). Doesn't the Bible address hypocrisy? Poor fools ..

There is a lot of post-millenium kookiness - fanaticism & superstition. I think the last election capitalized on it but I still think the Diebold & Siena machine rigging happened bigtime.

I am still trying to get people to read here & post here. This person is one step closer. This story reminds me of red-baiting in the McCarthy era. It's like to Bushies, Deaniacs are commies.

She writes, "This was on Blog for America: I am not sure I know how to move the whole story into the Cell project blog."

News from the Fargo 42 (Fargo North Dakota)

This morning, we shared the story of the Fargo 42˜a group of 42 people who were blacklisted from a North Dakota event featuring President Bush
speaking about his plan to dismantle Social Security. Most of those listed had one thing in common˜they were all members of the same
Democracy for America Meetup group.

The story was reported on the North Dakota news and one prominent member of the blacklist,
Fargo City Commissioner Linda Coates, vowed to attend the event and get an explanation if she was not admitted.

Right after the story broke, DFA supporters from across the country mobilized to contact local, national and online media to demand
accountability for the creation of this list. Thanks to your help calling news outlets and exposing this story, the White House was shamed
into abandoning its plans to keep anyone critical of the president from attending the speech. Commissioner Coates told Democracy for America
staff today that she was hurried into the event with an apology and the blacklist was explained away as the work of an overzealous staffer.

There is still no official word on who created the list and why Democracy for America supporters appear to have been targeted˜and this story shouldn't be allowed to fade from visibility without those answers. Fargo-Moorhead Democracy for America Meetup host, Brian O'Shea, will be on WDAY (ND local news) tonight to discuss the blacklist, and you can tune in online to view the segment after it airs.

Looks like Canada & the EU are both imposing trade sanctions against the US, & oil prices could go over $105/barrel.

Looks like Canada & the EU are both imposing trade sanctions against the US, & oil prices could go over $105/barrel.

Posted by: DiAnne at April 1, 2005 09:41 AM

PLEASE, tell me that is an April Fools joke of some strange, twisted kind?

Happy Birthday Marc...
A birdy told me you were 40,
so I dedicate this song to you,
for your first 40,
and the next 40 too.

Still Crazy After All These Years!

I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy afler all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years

I'm not the kind of man
Who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on
Old familiar ways
And i aint no fool for love songs
That whisper in my ears
Still crazy afler all these years

Oh, still crazy after all these years

Four in the morning
Crapped out, yawning
Longing my life a--way
I'll never worry
Why should i?
It's all gonna fade

Now i sit by my window
And i watch the cars
I fear i'll do some damage
One fine day
But i would not be convicted
By a jury of my peers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy
Still crazy
Still crazy after all these years

Artist: Paul Simon
Album: Still Crazy After All These Years
Title: Still Crazy After All These Years

Words & music by paul simon

Hey did everyone get this email from JK yet?

Dear Supporter,

Within a matter of days, the Senate could face a truly momentous decision - one with consequences that will reverberate across America for decades to come.

Senator Frist, the Republican Majority Leader, has a plan to make President Bush's judicial nominations immune to a Senate filibuster. If he can convince enough Republican Senators to go along, the nomination and confirmation of judges will become a tightly-controlled, one-party affair.

We're working hard to make sure the Senate doesn't cross this dangerous line. Here's how you can help.

Please Call Your Republican Senator Now!

Please contact Senator Martinez now. In polite and respectful language, make it clear that as one of his constituents you are counting on him to oppose Senator Frist's dangerous plan to deny millions of Americans any meaningful voice in decisions vital to America's future.

Senator Martinez's office can be reached at:
Orlando 407-254-2573

To help us track the number of calls our campaign is generating and know where we need to place our efforts, please let us know you've made the calls.

http://www.johnkerry.com/callreport

There is so much on the line in this debate. And, I am convinced that if we mobilize as quickly and effectively as possible, we can prevent the Senate from taking the dangerous course that Republican leaders have called for. Remember, we're fighting for the strength and vibrancy of democracy itself.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. If you need extra incentive for making those calls:

Imagine a world in which every appointment to the federal judiciary is a tightly-controlled, one-party exercise.
Imagine the kinds of judges that will sit on the federal bench - even on the Supreme Court -- if George W. Bush never needs a single Democratic vote.
Imagine the kind of decisions those judges will make that will directly affect your life and your constitutional rights.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARC! :)

Happy Birthday Marc....may there be much joy and many more.
Ignore the sore joints...It gets worse with time...

A funny from Sojourners...

Nothing says "thanks" like warplanes
by Ed Spivey Jr.

After the White House approved the sale of 24 fighter-bombers to Pakistan this week, international response was greatly divided, running the gamut from "this was a bad idea" to "No, this was a really bad idea." Administration officials quickly defended the decision, explaining that the sale was a reward for Pakistan's help in the war against terror, help which, to date, has resulted in not finding Osama bin Laden, not ending regional support for al Qaeda, and not seriously punishing its top scientist for selling nuclear secrets to rogue nations.

Indian government officials, in particular, questioned why the U.S. would express its gratitude with nuclear-capable warplanes when a large basket of fruit would have sufficed. Other diplomats agreed, suggesting that a nation with a long history of supporting terrorism might better qualify for some coupons from Outback Steakhouse, or even a simple friendship ring. "Just find out Pervez Musharraf's birthstone," a helpful U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan suggested, "then throw in a couple chocolate biscotti from Godiva, and call it even."

Other U.N. officials pointed out that Hallmark has a new line of Coalition of the Willing thank you notes - with matching envelopes - that cover all manner of occasions with a quiet thoughtfulness simply not found in fighter jets bristling with lethal firepower. Lockheed Martin, the warplane's builder, strongly disagreed, however, noting that each aircraft will be shipped with complimentary cockpit potpourri. (This month's scent: lilac.)

For its part, Pakistan will redouble its efforts in the war against terror, promising twice-monthly press releases chronicling another near-capture of bin Laden and at least one blurry videotape of what could be Mullah Mohammad Omar, the elusive former Taliban leader who, through a spokesman, still insists that his beard is better than bin Laden's. (Omar: "The guy looks like a pelican, for cryin' out loud! And what's with the pill box hat? Who does he think he is, Jackie O?")

But more important, Pakistan will continue to impose the harsh conditions under which scientist A.Q. Khan is being punished for selling nuclear technology on the international black market. Khan is in his third year of a life sentence of house arrest, handed down by Pakistan's stern judicial system which sees dining in as more than enough punishment for helping North Korea and Iran with their nuclear weapons programs. That said, however, we can only hope the domestic staff serves his meals with an appropriate scowl of condemnation - perhaps even a raised eyebrow of disapproval as they present the week's selection of video tapes - to express the full weight of international disapproval he has earned.

Another funny Sojourners...
Thanks to Bush doctrine, Middle East trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.

by Charles "The Hammer" Krauthammer

Admit it, liberal whiners. Bush deserves credit for positive developments in the Middle East, such as photosynthesis. If it were up you, we'd all be choking on our own toxic exhalations.
Lebanese protests against Syrian influence aren't the only revolutionary movements taking place in the Middle East. Startling anecdotal evidence suggests that the country's famed cedars, like vast numbers of other trees in the region, are actually taking the carbon dioxide exhaled by humans and emitted by internal combustion engines, and converting it to oxygen to be inhaled by grateful millions.

As with all other positive developments in the Middle East - elections in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan; Libya's relinquishing of WMDs; stymied proliferation of nuclear weapons (except for Pakistan and Israel); and of course, Lebanon's laudable "shaking off" (in Arabic, intifada) of Syrian domination - credit must be given to the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war.

Thus inspired by the toppling of Saddam's regime, Middle Eastern trees have now also finally risen up against the oppressive forces of carbon dioxide, overthrowing them in favor of oxygen in an irrepressible photosynthetic orgy of freedom. I don't hear Muhammad Q. Islam complaining either, so I'm only going to say this once: You're welcome.

I must also say to every liberal peacenik hand-wringer who ever questioned the Iraq war policy - the vast numbers of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed and maimed; the damage to America's global reputation; the complete absence of WMDs; abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib; the "bring it on" attitude of the Bush administration; and "all options on the table" statements directed toward Iran - each and every one of you now owes every oxygen-breathing man, woman, and child in the entire region an apology. We neo-con hawks and our plan for world domination - I mean democratization - were right. You were wrong. While you're eating crow, I suggest a balsamic and sage marinade.

And if any critics try to suggest that nonviolent protests in Lebanon demonstrate how regimes can be toppled without war, or that Saudi Arabian and Egyptian "elections" are insubstantial window-dressing, or that the Palestinian elections were merely the result of Arafat's death, or that Iraq remains a quagmire where a majority of the population resents U.S. occupation, well...they're a bunch of stupid-heads who must hate oxygen. And freedom.

The last Sojourner funny..

Howard Dean gets religion - the old school kind

Hallelujaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!
Following the 2004 electoral defeat, no member of the Democratic party showed greater openness to religious and moral values issues than newly elected party chair Howard Dean. His previously best-known comment on religious issues was his embarrassing pick of Job as his favorite New Testament book, and Judas as his favorite disciple. Not only is Job not in the New Testament, but he pronounced it with a short "o" sound, as in, "I need a job." Despite frantic corrections by aides, including assurances that "he meant the other Judas," the damage was done.

But during a dark night of the soul immersed in polling data, demographic reports, No-Doz, and late-night televangelists, Dean recently experienced what he describes as a "touch of Holy Ghost power" as he prayed for God to grant him and his party political success. Friends speculate it may have just been an unusually strong static shock that resulted when Dean knelt before his 56-inch projection television and placed his hands on the screen as instructed by TV preacher Robert Tilton.

But whether zapped by the Holy Spirit or excess electrons, Dean's already boisterous speaking style has been imbued with a religious fervor and a penchant for God-talk rivaling opponents on the Right, as demonstrated at a recent press conference: "Bush's plan for social security is ill-conceived and must be rejected. Puh-raise Gawd! Amen. Hallelujah. Next question - thank you JEE-ah-sus-ah!"

"I'd like to believe he's sincere, but it just feels like one-upsmanship," muttered Rev. Jerry Falwell irritably. "I mean, he's already added two extra syllables to his pronunciation of the Lord's name - where most of us settle for a mere JEE-sus-ah. Who's he trying to impress?"

Friends on the Left also have concerns. "True, we wanted Howard to embrace a moral and religious vocabulary," said one NCC operative who declined to be named. "But now he keeps quoting this King James smack from Revelation about beasts and crowns and cups of wrath. We wanted MLK lite - not Oral freakin' Roberts."

While insiders debate his life expectancy as party chair, other members of the progressive religious community are offering their perspective. Jim Wallis' newest book, God's Politics II: Why the Right Still Gets It Wrong, and the Left Got Too Much and Is Weirding Out Its Friends and Isn't Invited to Parties Anymore is already a New York Times best-seller.

Another Sojourner's funny...I can't stop...

Bush to replace Wolfensohn with Wolfowitz at World Bank; cites 'experiences,' similar name

When challenged as to Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz's fitness to replace James Wolfensohn as president of the World Bank, President Bush carefully detailed a long and distinguished list of qualifications: "...[H]e's a man of good experiences. He helped manage a large organization. The World Bank is a large organization; the Pentagon is a large organization - he's been involved in the management of that organization [actual quote]." Bush also added, "His proven ability to orchestrate the destruction of a country like Iraq and then predicate its re-development on the enrichment of U.S. corporations is proof enough of his ability to lead an organization with a record like the World Bank's."

When pressed further as to why other more qualified candidates were overlooked, and whether Wolfowitz's confirmation yesterday as World Bank president, combined with the appointment of U.N.-basher John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, could be seen as giving the finger to the rest of the world with both hands, Bush grinned sheepishly while answering: "Well, it was also because their names are alike - Paul Wolfywitz and that Wolfysohn guy there. I think names with 'Wolf' in them are cool. They're ferocious and powerful animals, and can strike at any second. That's important - whether you're helping poor loser countries get their act together, or making the Middle East safe for democracy. That's why I'm also naming Wolf Blitzer of CNN as Paul's replacement for Deputy Secretary of Defense. Otherwise I might have picked someone from Fox News - those guys are awesome. A fox is also a dangerous animal, but not as dangerous as a wolf, because wolfs [sic] are bigger. They're scary, and you don't mess with 'em. If I had a son, I would name him Wolf, or maybe Cougar."

More Sojourners funnies...I can't stop myself..

Hummer hybrid a slightly less socially irresponsible status symbol

The new Hummer hybrid: It's earth- friendly, so you don't have to be.
With the introduction of its new gas/electric hybrid, Hummer hopes to reach the niche market of motorists who want to appear concerned about the environment, but for whom the popular Toyota Prius just doesn't turn enough heads with its sedan body and measly $20,000 MSRP. The $60,000 Hummer Laverde (a contraction of the Spanish words lava and verde, literally meaning "green-wash") will go three times farther on a single fill-up than previous Hummers - due mostly to a far larger gas tank - while its advanced hybrid technology gets twice the mileage of behemoth SUV competitor Ford Excursion at two miles per gallon highway, zero city. (Because two times zero is still zero.)

Option packages include advanced armor plating unavailable even to U.S. troops in Iraq. Though the armor's weight nullifies the hybrid's added fuel economy, you're assured that in a collision your load of overpriced organic groceries will remain unscathed - unlike the driver of the Mazda Miata you just backed over in the Whole Foods parking lot, who will require reconstructive surgery and lifetime of rehab.

In a limited-time offer intended to boost initial sales, your first tank of gas will come from pristine petroleum drilled in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and your first 100 kilowatt-hours will come from "clean coal" power plants. "We hope the Laverde will be more popular and less of a transparent PR stunt than our hydrogen-powered H2H model," said Elizabeth Lowery, GM Vice President of Environment and Energy. The H2H was unavailable for public sale but given as a gift to actor and muscle-man Arnold Schwarzenegger - who is also governor of California - no kidding.

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The Sedentary Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know when the best I can do is to stay up watching X-Files reruns with a bucket of KFC, a pint of Haagen Dazs, and a carton of Marlboros.

Top ten reasons you're voting for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008

10. To prove to my feminist girlfriend that I'm, like, into her issues.

9. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes name recognition to raise a campaign war chest.

8. Her moderate rhetoric on abortion and religious values shows she that has the sincerity and integrity - or savvy B.S. - to connect with the American voter. I don't care - whatever it takes to get universal health care.

7. Can't wait to see what wacky hijinks Bill gets himself into around the White House without presidential duties to distract him.

6. Settling into a nice Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton rotation will make it much easier for America's school children to memorize the presidents.

5. She'd challenge chauvinistic Muslim governments with a progressive example of women's leadership - oh wait, Pakistan had a female head of state 17 years ago. And a woman became Indonesia's prime minister in 2001.

4. Afraid if I don't I'll end up like Vince Foster.

3. To demonstrate that American political dynasties aren't just patriarchal father-son affairs, but can also pass from philandering husbands to their embittered wives.

2. I've already ordered 10,000 "A woman's place is in the house - the White House" bumper stickers.

1. One word: Hillary-ous.

Ok, who put extra quarter's in the battlebob?

Wrapping up with a touching Benson about Terri...

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

I am done (finially).

Now back to our regular scheduled Bush Bashing..

DeLay isn't just an April fool, he is a fool all the time..

DeLay Threatens Judges in Schiavo Case

April 1, 2005

On a day that should have been reserved for the Schiavo and Schindler families, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay again thrust himself into the limelight to issue a thinly veiled threat against judges. Following Terri Schiavo's death, DeLay released a statement warning that "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today." This vague and provocative comment came in the midst of a broadside of attacks against those judges – several of them self-described conservatives appointed by conservative presidents – whom DeLay said typified "an arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary." With attacks on judges increasing across the country, DeLay's rhetoric is the height of recklessness and poor judgment.

Judges in the Schiavo case have already been threatened by extremists. Florida Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer has been "under 24-hour protection by two U.S. marshals due to increased threats against his life by those unhappy with his handling of the Schiavo case," according to CNN. Last Thursday, police arrested an Illinois man they said robbed a Florida gun store as part of an attempt to "rescue Terri Schiavo." The next day, FBI officials took into custody a North Carolina man for placing a $250,000 bounty "on the head of Michael Schiavo" and another $50,000 to murder Judge Greer. And police yesterday said they had "logged several bomb threats" to the hospice where Schiavo died and "the circuit and federal courts that refused to order her feeding tube restored."

The House Majority Leader has no place threatening other members of government or encouraging others to seek retribution against judges. Such incendiary statements are even more inappropriate considering the recent high-profile acts of violence against judges, including the March 11 killings of a federal judge and several others at an Atlanta courthouse. Sen. Edward Kennedy called DeLay's statement "irresponsible and reprehensible," and urged that "at a time when emotions are running high, Mr. DeLay needs to make clear that he is not advocating violence against anyone. People in this case have already had their lives threatened." Tom DeLay should disavow this irresponsible rhetoric and end his personal attacks on the men and women who serve as America's judges.

DeLay's comments are indicative of the extreme, personally vindictive sentiments of right-wing leaders across the country. Dr. James Dobson, founder of the right-wing Focus on the Family, said "the judges who would not stop the removal of Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube were guilty not only of judicial malfeasance - but of the cold-blooded, cold-hearted extermination of an innocent human life." Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention said of those who opposed congressional intervention in the case, "If they want to be vigorous defenders of Michael Schiavo and his right to have his wife killed by starving and dehydration, my words to them are 'Go ahead, be Michael's defenders' - and I wish on each of them a son-in-law like Michael Schiavo."

Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund

for more:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=134667&tr=y&auid=800348

Thanks Bob for the funnies. We need more quarters for the Battle Bob funnies!

Health and Advocacy Organizations Seek Removal of 4Parents.gov
1 April 2005

A contingent of advocacy groups have called on the federal government to take down its new Website, 4Parents.gov. The groups contend that it gives biased and inaccurate advice to parents and guardians on how to talk to their kids about sex. Among their concerns are the stress of abstinence programs and the claim that “sexual orientation as an ‘alternative lifestyle.’”

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=654

Pat Buchanan Gets Doused as Demonstrator Says: “Stop the Bigotry!”

Pat Buchanan most likely was not thinking about April Fools Day last night when “an opponent of his conservative views doused him with salad dressing.” And, it appears he is not the only conservative to be slammed recently with food.

“Stop the bigotry!” the demonstrator shouted as he hurled the liquid Thursday night during the program at Western Michigan University. The incident came just two days after another noted conservative, William Kristol, was struck by a pie during an appearance at a college in Indiana.

More & Photo - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=656

Anyone know what kind of pie?
I hate to waste a good chocolate or coconut cream or berry pie on such a low-life.
If a pie is to be thrown let it be rhubarb or even a fruit cake.

Amid all the sturm and drang, the media ignores our still stagnant economy...

Job Growth Sluggish

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7356113/

But Victoria, the media has jobs. Why should they care about job numbers?

Now, the real question is, considering the way they've been doing their jobs, should they keep them?

I say no.

As for Joe Scarborough, I suggest we do what most Americans do in regards to him -- pretend he does not exist. The guy's show barely makes a blip on the ratings map.

Posted by: florida dem at March 31, 2005 10:47 PM

I so hope that you're right. Joe deserves ratings that rival public access rants.