DiAnne's Excellent Bush Adventure

Amazing, DiAnne! What fun! I especially like the Cheney mask.

On a side note, I just called Senator Durbin's office and told them that I supported the senator and know that he supports our troops and that I didn't think there was any need for him to apologize. The person I talked to seemed very greatful for my call. If anyone would like to do the same: 202-224-2152

My Republican relatives are here right now quoting me how Bush told us that he prepared the country for a long difficult war and that his statement on the battleship about major combat activities being over was accurate; and that the 16 words in the state of the union were twisted by progressives. yea right

Does anyone here have a link of Bush's exact quotes regarding being welcomed as liberators and statments telling us how easy the Iraq war would be?

Their hero: Zell Miller. Just trying to learn this week about what make the other side tick. Its not an easy task. I was also told of Patty Murray's statment to a Seattle high school. A twisted story Drudge is pushing. I printed out the entire Seattle Times AP story and my relatives were shocked to learn that Murray's statement was taken out of context and clipped just like Durbin's something common with Drudge.

Bert and Dianne's excellent adventure with chimp people..what a concept!!
I listened to Dean's event on c-span early this am and woke up my hubby with my laughter and glee sounds of joy. Now there's a concept!!

Dianne I gather that Minneapolis and St Paul are 2 sides of the political coin. Except for the winters, Minneapolis and Lakes Minnetanka and Calhoun are wonderful visits.

Let us know the reactions to an Al Franken Senate run and to their worthless Senator Coleman.I believe Franken said he has bought a house in Minneapolis and is seriously considering running for the US Senate.

DiAnne thanks for the travelogue.

Ira, good work showing your family the complete article. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Sorry, but I don't have the exact quotes.

My Republican visitors have given me a book called Black Rednecks and White Liberals, by Thomas Soewell. His thesis, that whites suffered the majority of lynchings.You would think that was a joke but its not what I am hearing. I have also heard constant chatter of how Republicans were responsible for passing Civil Rights; even though the Dixicrats and Thurman did everything to filibuster it tod death. I was reminded that Dems controlled 61 votes in the Senate so 4-5 Republican Senate votes in the 60s made up almost 20% of Republican vs 50 something Dems in the 1960s. But Civil Rights Reveisionism is definitely on the right's radar screen. They had not heard of Senators Edward Dirkson and Chuck Pearsly who were probably to the left of Howard Dean today. Can't win arguments with these folks but I am using it as a learning session of what the right and Ken Mehlman are planning for the next election cylce. Appealing to minority voters with disinformation is the sense that I am picking up.

I was informed that they had crossed over and voted for Mark Warner. So I am trying to learn more about Warner's appeal to conservative voters and what we should be taking from that, oncall.

Ira,
I'll look for you. BRB

This is a really smart and important article about organizing in the Midwest...

http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/22271/

Ira try this...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0502/p01s04-woiq.html

Ira,

Mark Warner is a hunk. Do you think that's his appeal?

Ira,

2002 State of the Union address:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html

Suz sorry as a guy I think he is kind of ugly. He's got a consultant called mudcat who knows southern politics and should have been involved in the JK campaign and had Warner sponsoring of Nascar events and connecting to the rural voters is just smart politics. I really think that the Dem Party needs to do more to appeal to Virginians. They are southern with a midwest/eastern mindset.Warner is a real up and comer though.

Thanks for the info Suz. I will print it but doubt they will pay attention.That really doesn't bother me much.

Ira:

More stuff!

What did George Bush lie about? by danny_mack on Aug 17, 2004 1# "Saddam would not let the inspectors in." Bush has repeated this claim. It came as quite a surprise to the hundreds of U.N. inspectors that were in Iraq in 2003 and were told by the U.S. to get out or get bombed. Oh yes, they also had full access to the palaces and elsewhere, no holds barred six months before the invasion. 2# Both Bush in his 2003 State of the Union speech and Colin Powell at the United Nations read through a laundry list of horrors that was quantified down to the milliliter. Powell called these charges "facts" that were unassailable. Yet we have still not found a drop. 3# Drones that could attack the USA. True, if they were launched from Padre Island. The truth is that the neighbourhood kids have a more sophisticated remote control airplane than Saddam did. 4# Yellow cake uranium from Niger. The Italian press thought those documents were fake. Let me repeat that: the ITALIAN PRESS thought they were forgeries! 5# “We will be welcomed as liberators”. Those are bullets, roadside bombs and RPGs, not roses. 6# "We have found WMDs in Iraq." Bush and others have made this claim regarding an ever so dangerous weather tracking truck. 7# Bush has consistently claimed that he is against tax increases. Yet, as Governor, his 1997 tax plan would have forced tens of thousands of business to pay franchise taxes that previously did not have to pay. According to the GOP School of Taxes playbook, that's a tax increase, no if ands or buts about it. 8# Throughout the 2000 campaign and through 2001, Bush claimed that his mega tax cut for the mega rich was actually a tax cut for the working folks. In fact, he said "the vast majority" would go to "the bottom." As Al Franken has so ably pointed out, "by far the vast majority" usually means more than 14.7 percent that the bottom 60 percent received. Consider that "fuzzy math." 9# On Meet the Press, Bush claimed that government spending has actually dropped under his tenure. The truth of the matter is that federal spending has exploded under George W., just as spending exploded in Texas while he was governor. 10# Bush reportedly told the Dallas Morning News in 1999 that he was never arrested after 1972. Of course, as we all learned, he was arrested for drunk driving in 1978, with his younger sister and Australian tennis star John Newcombe, in the car. According to NBC News, Bush was also arrested for another DWI in Midland after 1972. So, that’s twice. Shows his personality that he’ll lie about even the little things. 11# During the 2000 presidential debates, Bush claimed he supported the Patient Protection Act. The truth is Bush vetoed the Patient Protection Act in 1995. 12# "I signed the hate crimes bill". This was when he was a governor. Now Bush had won re-election mere months before with nearly 70 of the vote. If he wanted a bill passed, he got it. But, Bush ordered his legislative minions to kill the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, less than one year after the most gruesome hate murder of the post-Civil Rights era. The guy who was the leader in killing the bill? State Senator David Sibley (R-Waco), a man who had supported the same legislation just a few years earlier. You might recognize Sibley; he's the guy you see driving Bush's golf cart whenever Bush is back in Crawford playing golf. 13# "I will fight the war on terror." despite numerous reports on the vulnerability of the USA's ports, little has been done to make them more secure from terrorism. Also, despite a serious congressional study, media scrutiny and an on-going non-partisan investigation, little has changed regarding how the USA’s intelligence is gathered and analyzed to avoid making the same mistakes. In fact, little has changed beyond making several bureaucracies into one huge bureaucracy under the banner of the Department of Homeland Security. And, in perhaps the most bizarre example of sleeping at the wheel, the 2004 Bush budget offers NO FUNDING for biothreat detection at Post Offices. This after the White House said they foiled a mail attack to the White House and days before Ricin was mailed to Senator Bill Frist's office.

Suz, my dear --

How about a couple of paragraph breaks in the longish posts? The old and far-sighted will thank you for it:)

Thank you.

Excellent post over at driftglass.com about the conviction of Edgar Ray Killen. Worth reading.

Almost $9 Billion in Iraq Reconstruction Funds Missing -

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/22/time-to-investigate-iraq-contracting-boondoggle/

Will Norm Comeman demand an accounting of these funds? Don't hold your breath.

Bush Wants More Nuclear Power Plants Built in U.S.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050622/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_nuclear_power

Since Texas is big in the energy area, I think they should build the new plants in Crawford, near the President's ranch.

Hi! I got my mother to drop me off at the Public Library, then I'll walk home. I envisioned watching cable news in order to keep up, but I couldn't handle it. I just watch the nightly local broadcasts & then read the Jamestown Sun & the Fargo Forum & "read between the lines." It's a matter of being able to spot the slant.

I took a photo in which the headlines from the 2 newspapers are juxtaposed - for the SAME Associated Press story. The more progressive Fargo Forum (serves a college town on the MN border) headlined "Bagdad Bombing Kills 23" whereas the more conservative Jamestown Sun's headline said "Suicide Bomber Strikes in Iraq," presented with a photo & quotation from Condoleezza Rice, supporting Bush's war position.
The AP story was identical but the conservative version is clearly more in keeping with the simplistic view.

The town looks rather idyllic on the surface, but then I see that the flags and yellow ribbons are in place because the local Guard was called to Iraq & it's been a hardship on the community and on the families. A look at the fine print in the local paper shows me the high rate of bank foreclosures, meth busts.

This is a "red" state but does have two Democratic Senators. I'm sure there is a plot to do what was done with Daeschle in SD. There is no advantage to this state in being "red." I lived in SD for many years & it's not that different, economically or culturally.

I have seen one Kerry/Edwards sticker - on a truck at the mental hospital (healthcare staff). On the other hand, I've seen only one Bush/Cheney sticker (Walmart parking lot). I did see a woman wearing a shirt with a flag-patterned cow on it there as well.

I have just been told that my time is up (apparently there's a one hour limit). I'll be back!

Posted by: KerryOn62 at June 22, 2005 12:56 PM

I was just about to post the same article... it's ok for US to go nuclear, but other countries can't? Iran wants to build nuclear power plants too ya know. So do lots of other countries. Hell, Cheney went to China last year on behalf of GE to sell new nuclear power technology... to CHINA!

See, herein again lies the hypocrisy of this administration, and why it is so incredibly dangerous to lose the trust of the entire world.

... and again, it's political theatre, as the heat (pun intended) gets turned up on issues like global warming and the environment.

But leave it to this guy to solve the energy and air quality problems he's helped to mushroom by goin' nookular.

speaking of which...

DOWNING STREET!

This Bu$h protestor faces up to a year in prison:

Anti-Bush Protester on Trial for RNC Convention Action
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0622-05.htm

Rush says I am not going to talk about the Downing Street Memo b/c "I am just not interested in it". He then goes on to wrongly state that the originals were destoyed. In fact the originals were returned and xerox copies of the original were kept. The facts were being fixed around the policies from the MI6 in meetings with Jack Strong according to the memo.

Something I have learned this week from conservatives which I really find annoying. They quite often start their conversations by saying you know I was once a Democrat. Certainly there is no way to disprove that point so that by making that statement they somehow think it gives them added credibility. I find it to be so disenguous at best and a phrase the right loves to repeat. Any others here experience that comment.

Victoria,

I'm old and far-sighted and I can see things quite well!

For instance, I can see that in the near distant future people are going to be really angry at this regime and will say, "Enough is enough!"

BUT...in terms of that LOOOOONG post and no breaks...sorry, but I copied it from the author exactly as he wrote it. Besides, I know Ira has better visiona than I do and so I think he probably scanned right through it. (just teasin' Ira)

Suz its interesting that you post about our fine state of Texas and the Bush debacle as governor. In 2000 before blogs were in fashion I warned as many people as I could that Bush was not a moderate just b/c Rove came up with his famous I am a Uniter phrase, but unfortunately too many people bgt into that nonsense; even many moderate Republican women in Dallas and Houston.
There are many Texans here that can remind folks that when Bush succeeded Ann Richards as governor he was left with a $2 billion dollar rainy day fund that within a year in the governor's office blew right through and put us in a state deficit something our state constitution prohibits(sound familiar). He cut property taxes by a billion dollars (I am sure intende as a gift to his real estate pals and as a platform for national office)but my $11,000/year property tax bill went down by a mere $55 per year and Crescent Realtors owned by a personal Texas friend of Bush named Rain, saved $28 million in taxes on his Texas properties.

The Byrd story was all over our newspapers and Bush's opposition was evidence that he felt that racially driven crimes like assault or arson should not be given an additional criminal penalty. Bush's argument to us Texans was well if someone murders a black or a Muslim its still murder and they can still get the death penalty. Problem with that argument was that assaults and arsons that were also hate driven were not given additional pen time and usually skated with light probation terms. My attorney and d.a. friends understood that, but as of today Texas still does not have a crime statute thanks to you know who. And of course those of us in Texas were not shocked to see Bush run through Clinton's budget surplus exactly like he did as governor.

Posted by: Ira at June 22, 2005 02:35 PM

It's the Electorate... stupid.

(...it's "hard work" to keep 'em that way)

Ira,

So I hear....is it true? You were once a republican?

Ira,

I have had that experience as well. I have had several different responses depending on the situation. For friends that I can joke with: a)"So when are you coming back to your senses?" b)Does your mom know about this? c) "Oh, that was when you spoke like you knew what you were talking about". For people I have never met before: a)You know, democratic values-with a small d-haven't changed, why have you? b) Well, America actually prospered when the Republicans were not in control-don't you agree? c) That's good to know. Now we both understand why our government is such a mess, and your perspectives can help both of us.

oncall: certainly there are folks that do not have party loyalty and don't vote the straight party line(it is rare here in Texas), but that is fine.My point is that many of the same people I used to run into as a college kid that would tell me Richard Nixon didn't do anything wrong, now take down your protest sign, sit down and shut up, are some of the same people that tell us now "well you know I was once a Democrat". If you think about it that rhetorical argument by the right makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The Dem party of LBJ, Humphrey, McGovern and MCarthy were proud to call themselves liberals. So if these same conservative folks were Dems back in the 60s they were liberal Dems. which would makes absolutely no sense and is fact dissembling.I still recall folks like Everett Dirkson and Charles Persy and Rockefellow proclaiming they were liberal Republicans.

I am just trying to report rhetorical tricks and methods that am picking up being used by conservative followers of Rush, Drudge and others who try and be persuasive and credible. Their insenserity reeks. I see nothing wrong with saying you are a physician and contrary to many of your colleagues you are educated enough to understand the logic of being a Progressive.

Ira, when I was planning to work for Senator Murray, I wanted to first get the whole story on the high school speech issue. I contacted her constituency office and obtained a copy of the speech. It was full of all the things America used to be about - tolerance, compassion, generosity, understanding, reason. What she said about bin Laden in Saudi Arabia was essentially that he built schools. People appreciate that. That's why they support him. She said something like "imagine how different things would be if WE had been building the schools." Something like that.

Britain a few years back voted the Beatles" "All you need is love" as the best song in history. I think Senator Murray would agree with that.... in my view, her message in that speech, if you read the whole thing, was "Love is what we need."

Naturally, the extreme right don't like to hear that particular message. As with Senator Turbin this week, the right wing attack machine went into full force. These people live to find the one phrase in every progressive utterance that can be twisted and ridiculed. It is their full time occupation to be examining every word said by a Democrat and as quickly as possible find the one sentence to use for an attack. They've got it all down to a fine art.

Suz, I was "raised" Republican. But I wasn't in the US, so didn't really have a grasp on what was happening here.

I did think Clinton was a good pres. But my family tradition was Republican and I favor fiscal responsibility - you know, "pay-go"; I think George Bush Sr. was a decent president, too, and I'm not alone among Democrats, I have discovered, with that thought. This present Bush is undoubtedly the worst president in history - completely without relevant experience, lacking even a modicum of wisdom, this guy has let corporate greed dictate the direction of our country, and has taken us into an endless unjust war because HE was afraid, destroyed our fiscal health, and threatened our environment. It's remarkable, when you think about it, that one man could do so much damage in so short a time. Remarkable. Well, he wanted to go down in history, and he will. Waaaaay down.

I had a humorous experience today - I told a colleague with whom I was lunching that I am a Dem PCO. Her response: "You're a DEMOCRAT??? Holy cow, I thought for SURE you were a Republican, so I've never told you how much I hate this administration!" She says I look very Republican! (Perhaps it's the shaved legs...?)

Needless to say, we had a much longer lunch than anticipated. She went home armed with the DCP url and a few other important links. I'm sure I'll have her working on things before long....

lol--Amy

amy...no further hairy comments from me!

Posted by: Suz at June 22, 2005 10:06 PM

LOL
Well, as you know, when hair is in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can become quite a distraction....

:-D

Suz and Amy,

I had a somewhat similar experience. A colleague of mine was surprised and delighted to learn that I was totally against the Iraqi war. She thought I was definitely a right wing conservative. Our conversation got started because one of our colleagues had served as a surgeon in the Army in Iraq. We were both struck by how supportive he was of the Administration before he left for Iraq (we have not had a chance to ask him his opinion now). As our conversation moved on, she told me that she was so outnumbered in her department by her right wing colleagues, she was afraid to say anything political. I printed out the fourteen points of fascism, and the url for the dcp. As I left, I reassured her that there are more than 52 million other Americans who feel the way she does and that she is not alone.

This is awesome!
watch this video clip
Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Howard Dean on PBS's News Hour

Howard Dean is asked about his inflammatory comments and he doesn't back down. He is asked about Senator Durbin's recent comments and refuses to be drawn into this trick. He also mentions the recent DNC election report and focuses on the issue of voter suppression.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/06/22.html#a3582

Worries Raised on Handling of Funds in Iraq

A hearing details the transfer of $2.4 billion in $100 bills to Baghdad in 2004 and the billions more sent before. U.S. oversight is questioned.

by T. Christian Miller Published on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 by the Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — It weighed 28 tons and took up as much room as 74 washing machines. It was $2.4 billion in $100 bills, and Baghdad needed it ASAP.

The initial request from U.S. officials in charge of Iraq required the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to decide whether it could open its vault on a Sunday, a day banks aren't usually open.

"Just when you think you've seen it all," read one e-mail from an exasperated Fed official.

"Pocket change," said another e-mail.

Then, when the shipment date changed, officials had to scramble to line up U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes to hold the money. They did, and the $2,401,600,000 was delivered to Baghdad on June 22, 2004.

It was the largest one-time cash transfer in the history of the New York Fed.

Disclosure of the frantic transfer in the final days of U.S. control over Iraq came during a daylong hearing Tuesday that indicated growing worry from Congress over U.S. oversight of spending in Iraq.

continue here~
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0622-04.htm

Oncall, all the doctors I've encountered since moving to the US are liberal types. Every time I hear about how right wing the doctors are here, I have to adjust my thinking. I'm wondering if it's the HMO, or the Pacific Northwest location, or just my good fortune? Anyway, it boggles my mind - how can anyone who cares about humanity the way doctors supposedly do support this administration?

This Adminstration focuses the consciousness of the Nation as it sees fit. Evidence is created, fear and terror are manipulated and an agenda is realized. Patriotism is a tool and soldiers become expendable. Our rights become secondary, freedom and liberty become goals, not realities.
This is what the world sees as well, and waits for Americans to rise up and take their Government back.

As long as we allow this Administration to control the game board, this will continue and worsen. Wresting control is easy, we have been looking at it the last few months.

This DCP is one of many groups springing up across this Nation, indeed the world. (i think this is the best one) We share concern for what the future brings, and decided to actively create a better one.

Does anyone doubt the talent reporting back from the TBA conference, or any of the reporting? And the passion we read on these posts.... people organizing and working to create that better future....this is not an ideal, we are creating the reality we believe in.
We will grow stronger, contribute what we can when we can, and make the DCP a force to be reckoned with at the National level.

There was a great line on another post; we are the people we have been waiting for.

Posted by: Amy at June 22, 2005 11:14 PM

Amy,

It is your good fortune to have politically liberal doctors where you live. To answer your question, it humbles me to say that most of the doctors I know that support this administration are motivated by their fundamentalist religious beliefs. You must remember, that I live in a fundamentalist Christian area. There are some who are motivated purely by their support of Bush's economic policies, and the increased money that ends up in their pockets because of that policy.

Good morning... heading to the airport shortly, but I just got this in my email from a fellow musician at my church (koolaid chugger)... he now has his own blog... pls go post! His very first post was an attack on Durbin... (vic, I posted your retraction!)

His email read...

"Click here or type in to read this week's nugget of infinite wisdom, empathy,
and love of fellow man."

http://barlett.blogspot.com

Monkey,

Good morning. Here is a quote from Howard Dean, who, by the way, said he is a Christian but he just doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve.

a quote to tote

I don't want to hear any lectures about Christian values from the Republican Party -- they are the Pharisees and the Sadducees. - Howard Dean

Have a good day.

Well, I'm off to meet DiAnne.

Truth have fun

Truth--

Sounds like some more Dean bashing with that quote along the way. Or...perhaps they won't repeat it as they don't want to remind people of its validity.

http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/

He has a website now!

Suz,

Thanks! I talked to her on the phone and she sounds like alot of fun! I am excited to see her and have a gabfest over lunch, and meet her mom. Her mom tells it like it is, so I am sure there will be chuckles.

I am taking DiAnne an 8 by 10 photo of Edwards and Kerry my dad sent to me right before the 04 election. My mom sent them some money and they sent her back the photo with a thank you letter. My dad knew I was gonzo over Kerry so he mailed it up to me. (I hate to part with it, but I know it will mean alot to DiAnne.) I had to chuckle at my mom last fall. She had had a slight stroke so for awhile she was a bit disoriented, and she would sit on the couch and say "G.D. liar" whenever Bush came on t.v. (Turret's Syndrome?) hah. My parents and most of my siblings voted for Kerry/Edwards last ticket.

It's a two and a half hour drive one way to get to DiAnne, but I am excited and we will have fun.
Thanks for the good thoughts. :-)

Re: Dean

I think you are probably right, they might not want to touch that one! Might wake up some sheeples.

OT but relevant to a discussion on a thread from last week.

Received this from a different group I belong to; one of the member's husbands did this as a reading in church last week.

Because:
by Mark Belletini

And so one of the members of the search committee (group of church members of the Unitarian Church that hires new ministers) asks me "But why do you people"-he really said that, "you people"-"have to talk about it?" Right.

Well, because
Because if I fell in love,
you know, with sonnets and everything,
and wanted to name all the stars of heaven
one at a time with a goofy smile on my face
I'd like to be able to.
Because, if I didn't fall in love,
I'd like to grouse a bit,
or work up a bitter Theory
to explain it.
Because if my lover got run over
by a drunk driver (it happens, you know,
remember blue-eyed Stewart?)
I'd like to be able to take a few days off work
to cry and stuff, OK?
Because, if my partner-in-life
whom I can't legally marry because
it upsets someone's stomach or something
suddenly developed an infection
and got Job's sores all over his body
and had to go to the hospital
(you know, just like my friend Stephen)
I'd kind of like to take him there
and hold his hand for a few days
and still get paid on family emergency leave
so I could eat food and pay rent and all.
Because if my lover left me
after fifteen years I'd like to be able to sob
without consolation
and feel suitable depressions
and not have to smile a lot
and pretend to be stunned for months.
Because lying all the time is still wrong isn't it?
Oh, and because, whether you believe it or not,
my life is just as important to me as yours is to you.