Filiblog the Fristibuster

Hey...the kids need tunes on the bus...

Young Americans

They pulled in just behind the bridge
He lays her down, he frowns
"Gee my life's a funny thing, am I still too young?"
He kissed her then and there
She took his ring, took his babies
It took him minutes, took her nowhere
Heaven knows, she'd have taken anything, but

All night
She wants the young American
Young American, young American, she wants the young American
All right
She wants the young American

Scanning life through the picture windows
She finds the slinky vagabond
He coughs as he passes her Ford Mustang, but
Heaven forbid, she'll take anything
But the freak, and his hype, all for nothing
He misses a step and cuts his hand, but
Showing nothing, he swoops like a song
She cries "Where have all Papa's heroes gone?"

All night
She wants the young American
Young American, young American, she wants the young American
All right
She wants the young American

All the way from Washington
Her bread-winner begs off the bathroom floor
"We live for just these twenty years
Do we have to die for the fifty more?"

All night
He wants the young American
Young American, young American, he wants the young American
All right
He wants the young American

Do you remember, your President Nixon?
Do you remember, the bills you have to pay
Or even yesterday?

Have you been an un-American?
Just you and your idol singing falsetto 'bout
Leather, leather everywhere, and
Not a myth left from the ghetto
Well, well, well, would you carry a razor
In case, just in case of depression
Sit on your hands on a bus of survivors
Blushing at all the Afro-Sheeners
Ain't that close to love?
Well, ain't that poster love?
Well, it ain't that Barbie doll
Her heart's been broken just like you have

All night
You want the young American
Young American, young American, you want the young American
All right
You want the young American

You ain't a pimp and you ain't a hustler
A pimp's got a Cadi and a lady’s got a Chrysler
Black's got respect, and white's got his soul train
Mama's got cramps, and look at your hands shake
I heard the news today, oh boy
I got a suite and you got defeat
Ain't there a man you can say no more?
And, ain't there a woman I can sock on the jaw?
And, ain't there a child I can hold without judging?
Ain't there a pen that will write before they die?
Ain't you proud that you've still got faces?
Ain't there one damn song that can make me
break down and cry?

All night
I want the young American
Young American, young American, I want the young American
All right
I want the young American
Young American
Young American, young American, I want the young American
(I want with you, I want with you want)
All right
(You want I, I want you want)
Young American, young American, I want the young American
(I want to want, to want, to want , to want I, I want you)
All right
(Lord I wanted the young American)
(young American)
Young American, Young American
I want the young Americans!

Indy
Good one - I just heard the lyrics to that the other day.

Here's a good media site:

http://www.mediachannel.org/reform/indy113.php

(Also posted under "Sites to See" in the Forum)

Amazing - Mark Morford's Scout leader was the recently-busted Mayor of Spokane!!

My Totally Gay Boy Scout Leader
The tormented Republican mayor of Spokane might have molested young boys. Boys like, well, Mark Morford
By Mark Morford

I was, in my youth, a Boy Scout of America. It's true.

This is my confession. I was a Boy Scout in the late '70s in Spokane, Washington, where I grew up, because I was a skinny-ass middle-class white-bread kid in suburban skinny-ass middle-class white-bread America and this is just what you did and for the most part it was fine and good and normal. What can I say. I am now fully recovered.

But here's the interesting part. Growing up, there was a man named Jim West who was our troop leader at the time and West was also, if I recall which I admittedly can't with perfect clarity, a pillar of the community. Upstanding. A Good Guy. All the boys knew him. Liked him. I know I did. ...

(click here to read the rest)

(Full URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2005/

Well, back to the grindstone! Catch you later.

Okay, I have e-mailed Josh Marshall, Echidne (Echidne of the Snakes) who is helping out over at Atrios while Duncan is out of town. I will post over at Oliver Willis, and the DCCC Stakeholder.

If everyone could post to five blogs, putting the blogs you are posting to here first, so we avoid overlap, that would be helpful.

Let's get the word out guys. Energy, energy!!

Thanks!

Let's get the word out guys. Energy, energy!!
Posted by: Casey Morris at May 11, 2005 09:19 AM

Yeah, I've had enough of this "Red Bull" to last me a lifetime.

Blue is cool... GO FRISTIBUSTERS!

I'm hittin' 5 blogs ...

Absolutely must reading today...

Guest blogger Attaturk highlights an editorial by Molly Bingham in this past Sunday's Louisville Courier-Journal on Eschaton by Atrios

Here's the link to Atrios' blog:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_05_08_atrios_archive.html#111580682275674108

Here's the link to Molly's article:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050508/OPINION04/505080346/1054/OPINION

If you need inspiration...(and happen to be on a bus where you can read a long article) please follow this link to a speech as poignant and vital today as it was when it was given.

Martin Luther King – Nobel Lecture.
The Nobel Lecture was given the day before being the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize December 11, 1964.

The Quest for Peace and Justice

It is impossible to begin this lecture without again expressing my deep appreciation to the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament for bestowing upon me and the civil rights movement in the United States such a great honor. Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Such is the moment I am presently experiencing. I experience this high and joyous moment not for myself alone but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth. Many of them are young and cultured. Others are middle aged and middle class. The majority are poor and untutored. But they are all united in the quiet conviction that it is better to suffer in dignity than to accept segregation in humiliation. These are the real heroes of the freedom struggle: they are the noble people for whom I accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man's scientific and technological progress.

Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

____________SNIP___________________

http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-lecture.html

Posted by: dwahzon at May 11, 2005 10:03 AM

Yes, that piece is EXCELLENT and a must read.

Glad to see some of the old time bloggers back and lots of new ones here this week.

Interesting editorial from my favorite beer-drinking, pick-up driving, country music -listening school of liberals in the hinderland favorite writer, Molly Ivins. A story she relates in an editorial entitled What's the Matter with this Picture? I belive sums up W's attitude toward the middle class voters who just re elected him.

"Diaglogue between President Bush and a citizen during a February meeting in Nebraska, where Bush was trying to sell his scheme to privatize Social Security:
Woman: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
Bush: You work three jobs?
Woman: Three jobs, yes.
Bush: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that (Applause) Get any sleep? (Laughter)".

Really funny.What's the Matter with this Picture Molly? Many of these same folks actually voted for him.

Bush: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that (Applause) Get any sleep? (Laughter)".
Posted by: Ira at May 11, 2005 10:46 AM

Hmmm.... he hardly works ONE job, and poorly at that, and goes to sleep like a baby without a care in the world promptly at 9pm every night.

Yep, he's a hoot ALL RIGHT.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, held the floor for more than an hour Tuesday as she went through the histories of several judicial nominees in the Clinton administration who were denied votes by the Republican majority, some because of secret "holds" put on nominations by a single senator.

"Which is better," Mrs. Feinstein asked, "a filibuster by 40 members on the floor openly declared, publicly debating an individual's past speeches, an individual's temperament, character, opinions? Or a filibuster in secret when one doesn't know who or why?"

Perhaps our Princeton friends could start reading Judiciary Committe testimony if there was any beyond these annomous holds, blocking Bill Clinton's judicial appointments.

Political animals sniff the winds of change
Wednesday, May 11, 2005

By Sally Kalson

Anyone looking for lofty constitutional principles underlying the battle between Senate Republicans and Democrats over President Bush's judicial picks can find them under such headings as "checks and balances," "separation of powers" and "advise and consent."

But the sheer level of chest-pounding and acrimony is best explained by a more practical maxim: Payback's a one-syllable word that rhymes with witch.

It's an established fact that Republicans blocked more of President Clinton's court appointments than Democrats have done with Bush's -- 80.4 percent of Clinton's district court nominees were confirmed compared with 94.9 percent of Bush's so far, as were 61.3 percent of Clinton's circuit court nominees compared with 67.3 percent of Bush's.

So conservatives are not fooling anyone with their professions of indignation that Democrats would have the gall to decline to act as rubber stamps for this particular group of nominees whom they see as beyond the pale.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05131/502284.stm

Ira--I thought about you the minute I started reading this article.

And then there is this too...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05131/502496.stm

The Santorums collected about $100k in school tuition paid by the Penn Hills School District, while the children lived in Virginia with their parents. The house they own in Pa. is a two bedroom bungalow and the Santorum family has NEVER lived there. The house is rented out. We have very good people here keeping the pot of outrage boiling.

PHONE REPORT FROM KAREN AT THE FRISTIBUSTER

The weather is gorgeous. The filibuster has started. There are a number of tents set up with tired Princeton students in them. Right now there’s a student from Trinity College reading passages from Virginia Woolf.

So it’s just getting going… we've heard rumors that Senator Lautenberg, Senator Corzine and Congressman Rush Holt will speak in the next 24 hours. If anyone knows anyone in the DC metro area, please call or email them and tell them to go down to the Third Street end of the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol and offer the students their support.

Karen will be sending in more updates shortly.

GO Princeton Kids, GO!!!!

Descend on them with Pizza and Reading Material!! And keep talking!

We're with you 100%!

(Will post the Princeton stuff on any site that doesn't already have it posted...)

GO PRINCETON & CO.!

Karen just called.

The Capitol Police have evacuated the Capitol. There was a low-flying plane that appeared to be headed for the White House, so they moved us all further down the Mall CLOSER TO THE WHITE HOUSE!!!

More will reports will come in throughout the day, and later on, Karen will get online and try to upload more of the pictures she is taking.

The Princeton kids are remaining calm keeping things orderly, and not losing focus!

Go PU students! We're all so proud of you guys!

George Allen doing expert commentary on the safety of general aviation returning to Reagan National Airport.

Oh, and he wants everyone to know that he cares about his staff's safety. That's why he's at CNN. But he said he cares about his staff safety three times so it must be true.

Update from PU's www.filibusterfrist.com blog

-----------
Rush Holt is speaking right now about the importance of defending the principle of deliberative government and minority protection.

We're expecting Senator Lautenberg @ 2pm.

Speaking of bad laws that are still on the books:

Article Date 05/11/2005
United Press Int'l

330-year-old law haunts Boston hospitality
BOSTON, May 11 (UPI) -- A 330-year-old law banning American Indians from entering Boston could mean the loss of a major convention for minority journalists.

Mayor Thomas Menino is leading the charge to get the 1675 state law repealed as quickly as possible in order not to lose out on hosting the 2008 convention of Unity: Journalists of Color Inc., which would attract millions in revenue and 8,000 to 10,000 minority journalists, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

Boston is a finalist city, along with Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Two state lawmakers are drafting the wording of a repeal of the law, which refers to Indians as "that barbarous crew."

They are aware of the need for speed, as Unity Executive Director Anna Lopez said Boston's bid would be hurt if the law is still on the books when the group's board meets next month to decide where to hold its convention.

The journalists' group represents Indians, blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans working in the news media.

Tom Ridge confirms that Terror Alerts Were Used to Manipulate America in Run-up to 2004 Election.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ridge-alerts_x.htm

The only thing about this that surprises me is that Ridge had the guts to come out with it.

Bravo Senator Lautenberg! You have long been a favorite of mine from the old, old, old days when we worked on the Clean Water Act renewal (Congressman Lautenberg, then) What a great Senator!

Go, Princeton!
meanwhile, social security debate continues today:

Dems Use United in Retirement Argument

WASHINGTON - House Democrats said Wednesday that United Airlines' success in winning court approval to terminate its employee pension plans underscores the need to preserve a traditional Social Security benefit.

snip~
Democrats have been near-united in opposing the administration proposal, arguing it is a stealth attempt to wean Social Security of its funding, and to shift a critical "leg" of retirement funding from the government to the individual. In particular, they have demanded that Bush drop his account proposal because it would require trillions in government borrowing — money needed to cover full benefit payments for existing retirees while younger workers divert a portion of their payroll taxes to start up the proposed personal accounts.

Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which on Thursday holds a hearing on Bush's proposal, said after leaving the Democratic caucus: "Mr. President, you have a lot of capital, but not enough to sell this doggone elephant to the people of America."

Rangel labeled the borrowing needed to start up the accounts as the "rape of the Social Security trust fund," and declared: "It's going to be middle-income people, the same people that are losing their pension benefits, who are going to be treated as though they're wealthy and be denied the benefits that they would've ordinarily deserved, while we try to entice the working poor people that they're going to get more than they normally would."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/social_security

The "Next Greatest Generation" has arrived. As a retired 64 year old, let me tell you I am very proud of your efforts.

"The Princeton Cannon"

In Princeton town we've got a team
That knows the way to play.
With Princeton spirit back of them,
They're sure to win the day.
With cheers and song we'll rally 'round
The cannon as of yore,
And Nassau's walls will echo with
The Princeton Tiger's roar:
(And then we'll)
Crash through that line of blue,
And send the back on 'round the end!
Fight, fight for ev'ry yard,
Princeton's honor to defend.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Tiger sis boom bah!
And locomotives by the score!
For we'll fight with a vim
That is dead sure to win,
For Old Nassau.

CNN is reporting that there is no evidence that the plane that flew over the Capitol is anything more than an accident, pilot unaware of the no fly zone, a boo boo.

Also, there is no evidence that this was a test of the security around D.C. no fly zone. This was not a test, but an actual perceived threat.

Now, I'm not a wild eyed conspiricy theorist or anything, but isn't it funny that ALL of the news outlets are currently going on and on and on and on and on and on about a boo boo?

They sure aren't covering the Fristibuster. Nope, not a word, no cameras, no reports, zip, nada, nothing.

Like I said, it's just a funny thing.

This is off topic, but for days, Air America has been talking about the Ohio Pension fund's $50 million program which has been illegally investing in collectable coins which is a violation of most pension rules. It appears that these investments are tied to some prominent Republicans in Ohio. Anyone surprised?
The story can be found in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1115760109228090.xml&storylist=cleveland

More about resignations in Ohio can be found at:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200550511002

Will be interesting to see if Blackwell can be tied to this scam.

CNN is reporting that there is no evidence that the plane that flew over the Capitol is anything more than an accident, pilot unaware of the no fly zone, a boo boo.

Tutt,

You're right, we had the same explanation on our news abroad. Just a "poor lonesome... pilot", no cow-boy.
The hand grenade in Tbilissi was true as well...except it didn't explode.
Can you imagine the mess?
Those kids in Washington are awsome!

Andree:

I worry that others may read our postings and urge post to please weigh your statement and their impact before being placed. No offense sir.

Ira,

That's the lawyer speaking, I understand...except that in the rest of the world we can speak as we want.
By the way, I'm not a he but a tiny she (who couldn't kill a fly), whose family was deeply involved in resistance. We hid English, Americans, Jewish people...and payed a tremendous price for it : 50 members of my family got killed, went to Nazi camps, or disapeared.
But today, I'm lucky enough not to live with Big Brother.

When I think of the Statue of Liberty????
I know what freedom and democracy mean

andre: that is the serious politican in me, not the lawyer in me. again no offense we are all on the same side here.unfortunately our politics here are often effected by big brother and we share your desire to change that culture and live the ideals of the Statute of Liberty.our expieriences with our families during WWII have a similar but certainly not as direct a heritage that we share. its a very long time until our next elections, but we are already planning and plotting what we can do to change this country's direction. part of that plan are our thoughts and strategies dveloped at this site. thanks for understanding.

For Andrée et al...

Power Exercised by the Majority in America upon Opinion

...the most absolute monarchs in Europe cannot prevent certain opinions hostile to their authority from circulating in secret through their dominions, and even in their courts. It is not so in America; as long as the majority is still undecided, discussion is carried on; but as soon as its decision is irrevocably pronounced, every one is silent, and the friends as well as the opponents of the measure unite in assenting to its propriety....[The majority] represses not only all contest, but all controversy.
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.
...Before publishing his opinions, [one] imagines that he held them in common with others; but no sooner has he declared them, than he is loudly censured by his opponents, while those who think like him, without having the courage to speak out, abandon him in silence. He yields at length, overcome by the daily effort which he has to make, and subsides into silence, as if he felt remorse for having spoken the truth.

--de Toqueville, "Democracy in America"

It seems that the only way the Princeton students will get media attention is for them to actually hijack Senator Frist and bring him to their protest site.

Very interesting de Toqueville quote - nice to see upon returning from the grindstone.

The Princeton kids might be thinking who cares?

We do and we thank you for sacrificing your time and energy in this most necessary protest.