Patty Murray Strives to Find the Truth

Casey,

And this is the same man who I mentioned in the last thread head article.

Thanks for writing about Patty Murray, "the mom in tennis shoes," and a great role model! We love her here in Washington state!! Let's keep her, and Maria Cantwell too & Governor Gregoire.

Following the lead of Belgium & the Netherlands, Canada and Spain have legalized gay marriage.

Beautiful relationship is gone in one fell swoop

Protest Letter from Vancouver, BC

Gays and lesbians have now been granted equal access to a fundamental pillar of our society, and, as some had predicted, my traditional marriage has now been ruined! A beautiful relationship crafted upon a strong foundation of love, understanding and respect -- apparently so fragile that it is now gone, in one fell swoop.

Now that gays and lesbians can marry, I can no longer function in any familial setting. My wife and I sit staring at one another, unable to communicate, unsure of whether or not we should be setting the table for dinner, or finding some more men and women to marry.

Pat Truelove

-----------

Some Say Al Gore Invented the Internet, but I think it was LBJ!!

LYNDON JOHNSON: I think we must consider new ways to build a great network for knowledge - not just a broadcast system - but one that employs every means of sending and of storing information that the individual can use.

LYNDON JOHNSON: The country doctor getting help from a distant laboratory or a teaching hospital; a scholar in Atlanta might draw instantly on a library in New York; a famous teacher could reach with ideas and inspiration into some far-off classroom, so that no child need be neglected. Eventually, I think this electronic knowledge bank could be as valuable as the Federal Reserve Bank, and such a system could involve other nations. It could involve them in a partnership to share knowledge and to thus enrich all mankind. A wild and visionary idea? Not at all. Yesterday's strangest dreams are today's headlines, and change is getting swifter every moment. 

From: http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/
transcripts_062405_chopping.html

----

I've continued to think about Iran, particularly as the story about the "lookalike" hostage taker and new Prez grows legs, including credibility with Scott McClellan - a possible way to stir up anti-Iranian hysteria in the US that would be useful were we to get involved there.

Remember?

October Surprise is the allegation (as well as the title of a book on the subject by Gary Sick) that representatives of the 1980 Ronald Reagan presidential campaign arranged the Iran-Contra deal well in advance of the 1980 election in which Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter.

The alleged conspiracy was to postpone the release of the hostages held by Iran until after the election, thus preventing an "October surprise" that would have aided Carter, the incumbent. The most public face of the story is that in October 1980, an agreement was reached, after long negotiations, to unfreeze Iran's monetary assets for the safe return of the hostages - but not until after Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981. In the event, the hostages were released minutes after Reagan was sworn in as President.

..and..I don't want revisionist history to sanitize Shah Reza Pahlavi, as he was a tyrant and torturer, with his dreaded secret police, SAVAK. By supporting him, the west may have facilitated the Iranian revolution leading to theocracy rather than a less fanatical type of government.

Payback is great....Found this on LUTD

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/#23272

The Museum of Just Desserts
Posted by Matthew Wheeland on June 29, 2005 at 3:18 PM.

In a particularly snarky (and timely) move, a developer in New Hampshire has asked for permission to develop a hotel, museum and cafe at 34 Cilley Hill Road in the town of Weare.

The main catch is that particular address is the site of Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

The would-be developer, Logan Darrow Clements, said he is entirely serious about the plan, devised in response to Souter's vote in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, Conn. The case, decided last week, allows city governments to seize land from private parties and give it to another private party for development, if the transfer "will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner."

Clements' proposed development would include the Lost Liberty Hotel, featuring the Just Desserts Cafe and a public museum dedicated to an exhibit about the loss of freedom in America.

Powerful (courtesy Andree) - note the analogy with 12 Step programs

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF30Ak02.html

Why withdrawal is possible

(snip out many paragraphs and this is the end..)

Certainly, the president's speech before the troops at Fort Bragg offered no hint of remorse for the pain and suffering the invasion brought to Iraq.

Such knee-jerk patriotism disappears, however, when you actually visit Iraq, as I did (that is, without a massive security detail and living with Iraqis), and see the disaster that the occupation has produced first-hand. Observed close up, without the filter of an obsequious news media, the overwhelmingly negative consequences of the occupation become impossible to ignore: the 100,000 dead (the majority of them civilians); wide-scale violations of human, political and civil rights; the destruction of the country's health, education and other crucial social systems; the massive unemployment; a violent and destabilizing insurgency that is likely to last a generation or more; the rending of a delicate social fabric that managed to survive a bloody British occupation, several wars, and the even bloodier rule of Saddam Hussein (which we should never forget was made possible in good measure by decades of support from administrations as far back as President John F Kennedy).

In Alcoholics Anonymous, apologizing and making amends for the hurt one has done to others are among the most important steps in the long path toward sobriety. Clearly, Bush, who believes Iraqis should "put the past behind them", isn't about to engage in soul searching about the mission and consequences of our Iraq adventure. But if Americans can admit to - and in doing so, comprehend - the damage our government has wrought in Iraq in our name and with our consent, we will take an important first step in ending our addiction to an unsustainable corporate-led, consumer-driven culture, and the wars and systematic violence, oppression and exploitation it requires world-wide. In doing so we will begin the long but necessary task of building a sustainable and peaceful future, for Iraq, for ourselves, and for the world at large.

Posted by: battlebob at June 30, 2005 10:27 PM

I hope Logan Darrow Clements is 'supremely' successful in his endeavors.... then maybe the high court would go back to the Fifth Amendment and comprehend what it means when it says "...nor shall private property be taken for PUBLIC use, without just compensation."

It's one thing to take property for PUBLIC use, but the case they decided was most definitely one where the developer was building condos and a mall for private profit, which hardly constitutes taking property for public use.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050630/silenced_and_sidelined_again.php

Silenced And Sidelined, Again
Nell Greenberg and Chris Michael
June 30, 2005

meNell Greenberg and Chris Michael work on the Democracy Program at Global Exchange .
Confidence in our democracy is slipping and our electoral systems are urgently in need of repair. It is in this context that a new Commission on Federal Election Reform has been created and will have the second of two hearings in Houston today, June 30. Co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III, this bipartisan commission is charged with recommending improvements to the nation’s federal election system. While a commission committed to spearheading electoral reform is welcome, this closed-door commission embodies several of the severe flaws and shortcomings of our current electoral system: insufficient transparency and marginal civic participation.

In its first hearing in April, only panelists invited by the American University’s Office of International Affairs had the opportunity to make presentations to the commissioners, and access by the general public was limited to a select audience that watched the hearings on a TV screen in a separate room. In addition to the lack of citizen participation and transparency, the choice of James Baker III has drawn criticism from election reform advocates. Baker—as no one can forget—is the man responsible for blocking the 2000 Florida recount on behalf of the Bush/Cheney campaign team. Appointing a leader with such a direct role in this nation’s biggest election controversy undermines the legitimacy of the commission’s proceedings and subsequent recommendations.

[Click on link to read entire article.]

NonnyO
From my voting rights activist friend, Elizabeth:

Check out 'Phony GOP 'Voting Rights' Group ACVR Continues Attempts at Defrauding American Voters' at:

http://www.BradBlog.com/archives/00001486.htm

She thinks it's a farce.

Posted by: DiAnne at June 30, 2005 11:41 PM

"All talk, no action" is what I think has been done about voting rights....

There is MUCH that could have been accomplished if our legislators hadn't sat on their hands after the 2000 Selection. All they ever seem to do is have conferences and yak at committee meetings, and nothing, absolutely nothing, has been accomplished. What are they waiting for??? PAC money from someone who can figure out how to legally rig elections by odd laws put on the books? How difficult could it be to just dump the danged e-voting machines that can be hacked into and have paper ballots, paper trails??? Or are they trying to get profits to companies that provide those machines??? Profit for corporations is NOT what voting rights are about.

All talk and no action will get precisely NO voting reform done!!!

NonnyO
Just checkin' out the Mailbag & Forum over at http://www.blackboxvoting.com
http://www.bradblog.com
http://velvetrevolution.us

ElectionAssessment.org's Hearings -
held in Houston yesterday, prior to the Baker/Carter National Election Reform Hearing in the same city today.

ElectionAssessment.org's Hearing featured the real Election Reform experts and advocates and witnesses to what went horribly wrong in Election 2004 that the Baker/Carter Commission should have invited to testify at their hearings!

Unfortunately, the Baker/Carter Commission has now irrevocably discredited themselves by stacking the deck with Partisan Operatives and Voting Machine Company Representatives.

So it's up to groups like ElectionAssessment.org to present the honest testimony required for any commission to make real recommendations for Election Reform in the United States of America!

http://www.electionassessment.org

NonnyO and DiAnne,

I have been looking all over for the Bush connection to electronic voting machines. I know I saw something posted by Wild Salmon during the '04 campaign on one of the brothers having an investment in electronic voting machines.
Haven't found what I was looking for yet, but
found something very interesting on apparent Bush brothers' ties to contracts in Iraq. Have sent
it to each of you, it will be in your inbox.

For anyone else interested in seeing how the Bush brothers appear to be profiting from the Iraq war, here is the link:

http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=10336&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

DiAnne!

For you Love...you asked for this a while ago...

...it works...

http://www.thebattleforamerica.com/the-battle-for-america-large.html

Indy,

I have been sending that video to many people over the last several weeks. As I have seen Bushco starting to disintegrate, people are starting to find their voices and courageously move past the sadness of November, 2004. People are less afraid to say that they don't agree with the war, and that they don't agree with Bu$hco propagnda and the policies of the Administration. That video is inspirational.

OC...

That video is the truth as has not been spoken upon this continent in decades...

... "Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

~Thomas Paine

Got Principles?

America Baby!

It's where it's at...

The Constitution was not written for Americans...but for Humanity.

Share the love...

...of Truth.

Unfortunately, the Baker/Carter Commission has now irrevocably discredited themselves by stacking the deck with Partisan Operatives and Voting Machine Company Representatives.
Posted by: DiAnne at July 1, 2005 12:13 AM

Which was my point.... Corporations selling e-voting machines have no danged business attending a conference like that. They're looking to make a profit or have some say-so in writing laws which will somehow keep them getting tax dollars in perpetuity - as well as be able to rig elections. Not good!!!

Months ago I wrote about the simple voting registration process in MN which can be done even on election day itself at the precinct (with proof of residency). There's even a voter registration form in the phone book, and that can be filled out any time and mailed to the county courthouse. Registration is super-simple, and as long as you don't move to a new precinct, your name is on the computer printout every year in the same precinct when you arrive to vote. The person at the polling place asks if your info is still correct on the printout, hands you a ballot, you vote.

The voting forms are filled out in black felt tip pen, the form is inserted into a machine that reads the places that are filled in. If a re-count is called, the paper ballots are right there and can be counted by hand. (I know of two recounts over the years for local offices, at least one was decided by precisely one vote.)

Unbelievably simple, utterly practical. It works in both urban and rural areas.

Voting reform ought not to be legislated to the corporation who stands to profit the most from placing e-voting machines in every precinct. Too many things can go wrong, and it's too easy to steal elections. The whole process of voting needs to be kept as simple and practical as possible... and a paper ballot needs to be mandatory.

Oregon had the highest voter turnout in the last election. All-absentee voting. That could work, too, although mainstream media would have a hissy fit over not being able to project winners based on exit polls (which have been correct until the 2000 and '04 elections when they "somehow" were not correct).

Still, voting is too important a priviledge to turn over to corporations to muck up...!!!

..... She writes... from the state that just shut down at midnight for the first time in its history because the Dem-controlled Senate and Repuke House and Repuke Gov couldn't agree on the budget. The Repukes want a casino set up at the horse-racing track down by the Cities and want to add 75 cents to each pack of cigarettes, but the wealthiest people in the state got a tax cut. The lot of them (all legislators and gov) who are in special session, which is costing money, too, did pass an emergency bill that allowed the state parks to be open over the long holiday weekend, at least. The Repukes have been pushing for a bill to fund the cost of building a stadium for the spoiled brat football and baseball players, altho the guy who owns the baseball team is on the Fortune 500 list of richest people every year and could afford to build his own stadium with a retractable roof; so far, every time that bill comes up for a vote, it's defeated. No one mentions the fact that all other governments that have financed stadiums have lost a lot of money... (as in TX where they financed Georgie's team's stadium).

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050701/ap_on_re_us/minnesota_shutdown
Minn. Government Shuts Down; 9,000 Jobless

Recognizing the Female Peacemakers: The Nobel Cause
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0630-22.htm

The Lobbyists' Scandal: The Secret World of Washington
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0630-20.htm

Norman Solomon | Memo to Iraq War: This Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Death
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0630-20.htm

CODEPINK: California National Guard Caught Spying on Women's Peace Groups
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0630-07.htm

John Stauber | Oprah Not "The Only Mad Cow In America" Thanks to Texas Governor
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0630-24.htm

Molly Ivins | Eminent Development
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/063005O.shtml

Lynn N. Hargis | When China Owns Our Utilities
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/063005Y.shtml

Canada Is Drafting Regulations to Curb Bulk Drug Exports to US
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/063005HB.shtml

TORTURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation
The public and the press, working together, can hold the Bush administration and the U.S. military accountable for the torture at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/23283/

I have to say that the habit of calling Republicans by names such as rethuglicans, Repukes, Repellicans, etc. is very inappropriate. We have people within this organization who are members of the Republican party. They are dismayed at what has happened with the leadership of the Republican party. They support the principles of DCP. I would ask that if one must do name-calling, please be more precise about what label is being attached to whoever and leave party affiliation out of it.

Minnesota government shuts down - 9,000 jobless:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050701/ap_on_re_us/minnesota_shutdown

Check Five Minutes today and front page--fun things to do.

Victoria--sounds like you have some time on your hands for a bit--let's do some democracy-building this weekend!

Team Bush paid MILLIONS to Nathan Sproul-and tried to hide it!

A huge expense
In the months before the presidential election, a firm called Sproul & Associates launched voter registration drives in at least eight states, most of them swing states. The group-run by Nathan Sproul, former head of the Arizona Christian Coalition and the Arizona Republican Party-had been hired by the Republican National Committee.

Sproul got into a bit of trouble last fall when, in certain states, it came out that the firm was playing dirty tricks in order to suppress the Democratic vote: concealing their partisan agenda, tricking Democrats into registering as Republicans, surreptitiously re-registering Democrats and Independents as Republicans, and shredding Democratic registration forms.

The scandal got a moderate amount of local coverage in some states--and then the election was over. Now anyone who brought up Nathan Sproul, or any of the other massive crimes and improprieties committed on or prior to Election Day, was shrugged off as a dealer in "conspiracy theory."

It seems that Sproul did quite a lot of work for the Republicans. Exactly how much did he do? More specifically, how much did the RNC pay Sproul & Associates?

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2005/06/team-bush-paid-millions-to-nathan.html

When I was at my mom's, the library wouldn't let me open this columnist's work:

Burn, Canada And Spain, Burn!
Look to the skies, see the wrath of God rain down on married gays! Will hockey and tapas survive?

By Mark Morford

Oh, but it will be fun to watch Spain and Canada burn in hell. I mean, we're right next door to Canada. We have the best possible view.

It will be fun to watch their societies crumble, their moral fiber rend and shred, their sense of justice and humanity wither and die in the white-hot sun of sin and impudence and blasphemy, Canada's no-longer-manly hockey teams spontaneously combust into a billion meaty bloody God-splattered bits, Spanish children drop their jamon sandwiches in terror and scream and shriek and turn into instant puddles of fiery confused goo.

Why all the vicious carnage? Why the reign of terror? Simple, silly: Canada and Spain have done the unthinkable, the unconscionable. They have legalized gay marriage, everywhere, in their respective countries. Oh my God, they are so going to burn.

It's true. The good news was a bit buried under stories about BushCo's latest mangled speech, wherein the Bumbling One once again debased the tragedy of 9/11 in a desperate attempt to convince war-weary Americans that his vicious string of lies about Iraq are justified and all those dead Americans are worth it and all the tens of thousands of innocent civilians we've killed are just a pesky afterthought to our snarling machinations of pillage and empire, but there it is, shining like a beacon, a ray of hope from those godless heathens up north and across the globe. ...

(click here to read the rest)

(Full URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2005/07/01/notes070105.DTL&nl=fix)

P.S. Everyone one I know who supported Bush in 2000 has re-registered and changed parties and do more dissing than any one.
Both parties are heavily influenced by corporate lobbyists and
both have Senators who largely voted for the war and the Patriot
Act. The Democrats are more willing to engage in domestic spending
for projects that benefit the greater good. It's sad that we are
a country far enough to the right that we have just these two big
monoliths, and our 3-way balance of power is in jeopardy.

Bill Clinton & Bush Sr. - The Odd Couple - Opposites Attract

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1518759,00.html

oncall,

I saw that just now as well--Sproul is worthy of further investigation, no doubt.

Call me cynical, but I think this is coming out now because the 2000 and 2004 election questions are clearly memed with the "left wingnut" sandwich board.

The people I know who were focusing on the election issues have decided to move on into other, more fruitful arenas of the general incompetence and arrogance of this administration.

I think, in my mind, that what happened in 2004, was an expansion and demarcation of what they utiized in 2000. In other words, there will be no trail back to the RNC, Rove, or the White House for any of the efforts such as the ones Sproul engaged in, because all the "tricks" were isolated and unrelated. There were many, many "Nathan Sprouls", I am sure of it. Each one will lead only to one person connected with the administration.

We can follow the money all we want; it will reveal a pattern, but no hard evidence. All communications were informal and undocumented.

It makes me sad and furious, but that is my conclusion after months of talking with people who have tried to follow up on all this. Unless someone will blow the whistle, and a RICO case is built, we will have to continue along our road here of educating, and fostering democracy.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has just announced her retirement..........

Posted by: dwahzon at July 1, 2005 08:47 AM

Dwahzon,

I agree. As a friend once said, "We are all AMERICANS" and we need to refrain from labeling people.

Everyone here at the DCP is a patriot, fighting for the good of our country. And as they said at the Rainbow Push Conference, "We're all a little purple."

hmmm...ok, maybe I'm confused. Maybe that was Barney the Dinasaur who said that, but the point remains the same: We're all a little red and a little blue--PURPLE! (Or as Barack Obama said, We're the red, white, and blue!)

P.S. Everyone one I know who supported Bush in 2000 has re-registered and changed parties and do more dissing than any one.

Posted by: not my president at July 1, 2005 09:45 AM

I've found a different situation where I live, which is in a very red town. Many Republicans are disappointed in this administration, but they are still Republicans and while they may disagree with (and diss) the administration, they don't appreciate anyone dissing their party. They're decent people who are also concerned with same issues as me and are willing to acknowledge and admit that this administration is a mistake. I respect them for that. There are, after all, other government positions with Republicans in office who are doing a decent job.

I'm with dwahzon on this one. Name-calling based on party affiliation does more damage than good. I have been guilty of name-calling myself, but I'm working on mending my ways and trying to be a adult about it to look beyond party affiliation and look towards the ultimate goal: putting the right people in positions of power.

Bu$h says we're staying in Iraq.
why?
his answer: [cartoon]

http://www.buzzflash.com/bradenton/05/06/bra05038.html

new thread.

It's a holiday weekend but we need to stay on this judicial appointment...

karen: this sad news about O'Conner is probably the most important news story in the last 30 years since the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Its impact is even more significant b/c Republicans control Congress. We are not going to win the battle other than choosing among a myriad of extreme jurists, we can only hope to use this fight to put pressure on Senators and vulnerable Congresspeople district by district, with the message that voters are carefully watching(Santorum are you listening)that our opposing political party (being careful to not name them) once again overreach and gets slapped down. But this summer is going to be real fireworks. W is probably happy to have something other than Iraq to have voters pay attention to. But this is definitely a scary story. Especially for 20 year olds who will have to deal with the impact of a new right wing Supreme Court when many of us are old.