Happy Birthday to Us!

Can't be prouder of what we've done and what we've become.

I look forward to more and better--we're a very capable, articulate community of leaders who teach each other and our communities well. Its because of DCP that I've become more articulate and involved politically. It's helped me refine my "voice", and that's a good thing!

Happy Birthday DCP!!

What a year...

Happy Birthday DCP!

Thank you so much for making me connected to the political process, and for allowing me to speak out. Without you, I don't think I could've gone to the pro-peace rally of September 24th.

Here's to another year of successful grassroots movement.

I see a bad case of the Terrible Two's on the horizon... ya know, where we don't take NO for an answer!

And in a related story... Bush-Cheney are playing "Pin The Tale On the Donkey" today.

An interesting perspective... there are a few MSM papers still doing some investigative work worth reading.

Congress reduces its oversight role
Since Clinton, a change in focus

By Susan Milligan, Boston Globe Staff | November 20, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Back in the mid-1990s, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, aggressively delving into alleged misconduct by the Clinton administration, logged 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether former president Bill Clinton had used the White House Christmas card list to identify potential Democratic donors.

In the past two years, a House committee has managed to take only 12 hours of sworn testimony about the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

The jarring comparison reflects the way Congress has conducted its oversight role during the GOP's era of one-party rule in Washington.

While congressional committees once were leaders in investigating the executive branch and powerful industries, the current Congress has largely spared major corporations and has done only minimal oversight of the Republican administration, according to a review of congressional documents by The Boston Globe.

Read more here...
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/20/congress_reduces_its_oversight_role?mode=PF

What a group we are, aging hippies, young radicals, mothers, fathers, daughters and sons. Has it really been only a year? I almost can't remember a time when I didn't come here to learn, to rant, to be connected to the process. Thank you Dick and Karen for giving us this online home. As '06 approches let's continue to be here for one another.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!!

In the last year I have gotten a great education,
thanks to the patriots here who have been willing to share knowledge and information with me, been there to answer questions, and tolerated me working things out verbally on the blog, over the phone, through emails, etc.

As a result, I have found my voice. My neighbors and co-workers tell me I even sound a bit radical at times, but a well-grounded, informed radical, they say.

My last year has changed my life in many ways. I have different goals and priorities now. I have moved from the ultra right wingnut fringe of society.

New goals are blended with prior ones, as I intend to become even better informed, and to share my knowledge with all I meet (when the atmosphere is conducive to sharing), and to be
an activist as often as I can. This is an incredible learning experience for me, and I haven't peaked yet, but anxiously await the future!!!

Thanks everybody!!!

I don't say this too often but this post by Steve Clemons at The Washington Note gives a summary about a Rolling Stone Magazine article that is MUST reading for those who want to understand just how the US public and Congress was manipulated and our intelligence agencies' functions outsourced and privatized to behind-the-scenes firms beyond Congressional oversight.

Steve's intro and background that puts the RS article in perspective is here...
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001098.html

Kos poster Unforgiven has a good intro too:

This article in the Rolling Stone by James Bamford is a must read:

Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war

It tells the history of the PR/Propaganda master that's been selling wars since Panama invasion.

Rendon is a man who fills a need that few people even know exists. Two months before al-Haideri took the lie-detector test, the Pentagon had secretly awarded him a $16 million contract to target Iraq and other adversaries with propaganda. One of the most powerful people in Washington, Rendon is a leader in the strategic field known as "perception management," manipulating information -- and, by extension, the news media -- to achieve the desired result.

His firm, the Rendon Group, has made millions off government contracts since 1991, when it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions for the removal of Hussein from power."

Read the Rolling Stone article, "The Man Who Sold the War" here...
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/8798997?rnd=1132607704961&has-player=false

thank you karen, dick,suz,defarge and others who have kept us from each others throats during our year of growth. Our ability to be civil and to avoid the diatribe I have seen on other blog sites is a credit of our great moderators who know that our bloggers are serious, thoughtful folks. Hey I have even had some civil discussions with Indy at times even though we come from different perspectives. defarge my only suggestion would be be to create some kind of connections to campaign activity events; Hackett/Casey/Ford and others while staying within our tax exempt status. I see politics as a continuous campaign and while this site can not endorse candidates we certainly need better communications about campaign events like the Tim Kaine and California referendum votes. Engaging the issues is vital to this site but so is electing folks that share our values.

Thanks, DCP, for being not only a wonderful, educational place to hang out, but also, for being there for all of us who's lives were changed by the last election. I honestly feel like I have not been the same since then. Some days that doesn't feel so good, but it is a true blessing to have a place to come and dialogue with others who had the same experience.

We've come a long way, and we've got miles to go, but I wouldn't do it anywhere else!!!

Happy birthday!

I'm writing this after a very long day, weekend, week, in which the hard work of political change is taking its toll on my brain, but my heart was lifted by seeing this thread header!

First of all, madame defarge, thanks for noticing today is our birthday! I am far too foggy to have registered that. I know our Articles of Incorporation were filed in December, but I did not remember when we first put the blog up.

I do remember WHY we put the blog up before we did anything else--we knew the Kerry-Edwards bloggers needed a place to work forward. On election night, the blog disappeared, and the irc had to suffice. Special thanks to pcdoc, madame defarge, dwahzon, and others who kept it going during the discussions that led to the DCP.

As I look back over the past year, I feel pretty good about what we have accomplished thus far:

We have really good writers here. I am so proud of everyone who contributes.

We have evolved better and better ways of solving differences, agreeing to disagree, and appreciating the particular and often peculiar individual styles and approaches of the DCP regulars.

We have been able to draw on the lessons learned to advise other, newer organizations as to how to manage a blog, a forum, an irc chat room, etc.

We have learned so much from each other that I can give a talk (as I did Saturday evening) and feel quite clear about my knowledge base and my understanding of where we stand and wish to go.

We have found deep friendships and support systems here. Hopefully we have been good friends and have supported each other as we could. This has become a true learning community, with emphasis equally and strongly on LEARNING and COMMUNITY.

Thank you, all of you, truly...

Happy Birthday DCP. Indeed. It's been quite a year. I still wonder.....what might have been, and where we would all be right now, had things turned out differently. It's been a year of anger and frustration and outrage on so many topics.

It didn't have to be like this.

There has been too much fear and hate and lies and deception. Enough to last several lifetimes. Too many lives lost. Too much ugliness. Too many tears.

I'll say it again--it didn't have to be like this.

There have been countless days that I've wondered how anything will ever get fixed. What a MESS!!! What a sick, sad, disgusting mess. And, the politics goes on and on and on. I've shouted at my teevee a zillion times. SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING!!!!! When it stops being about politics and starts being about people, maybe then something will make a difference.

I am sick of red people and blue people. How about the dead people? They aren't any color, are they? They don't vote, but if someone can stand on a dead person and get a vote, that's fine and dandy. OH, NO!! NO, you do not have my permission to get your votes from dead soldiers and dead hurricane victims. No more talking points.

Happy Birthday DCP. To all of those who have made this place a home, a visit, or a learning space, I hope we've all grown. Perhaps the coming year will bring healing and change. It won't be easy. Nothing worth having comes easily.

So, hello year two. Let's keep moving.

...who have kept us from each others throats during our year of growth.
Posted by: Ira at November 21, 2005 04:39 PM

Ira,

Your choking me up!

No..seriously, I'm sure the deep respect we all have for each other's ethics and hard work has been the greatest way we've been able to try to stay on track.

Madame, thank you for noticing it was our birthday today. It hardly seems possible, but it's been a tough year emotionally but we've hung tight to get over the bumps and continue along the path.

Everyone, thank you for giving us your voice, your energy and your heart.

The road we're on may swerve, it may have bumps and obsticles, but we will be able to maintain our focus because we're a bunch of stubborn and determined people.

So Peace be with you as we continue to follow this bumpy road.

And for a birthday gift, here's a good chuckle

I won't even post a snip, ya just gotta read the whole thing...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10054116/

OY, LT!

Wow, what a year it's been! I remember this day last year... Happy Birthday, DCP!

A saying from Buddha that seems appropriate for our birthday...

"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."

Thank you to all of you, my DCP virtual friends, for sharing the road on our journey to truth & peace.

Only one year? How come it feels like twenty?

Congratulations to Karen, Dick and all the others who had the foresight to create a site dedicated to enabling others to work within their communities to enact change. The fact that this site is a 501(c)(3) is testimony to the role that it has played and will continue to play in our apolitical futures. That we can look at the issues from a non-partisan perspective is clearly what America yearns for. It has been an evolutionary process on this site. We came together as down hearted individuals stung by the realization that America was destined to continue making the same mistakes it had since 2000. After that, the site became one dedicated to enacting postive change based on values inherent to individual rights and freedoms. From there it has worked tirelessly to inform and educate others about what was happening around them and what individuals could do to make a difference for their communities. What comes next?

I have "met" wonderful people on this site-some whom I have personally met. The relationships I have made here will last me a lifetime, and that is something for which I am truly grateful.

Congratulations.

Some people may be found raising a figurative glass in the irc...

feel free to join us!!

Karen, Dick, my deep abiding love and thanks for the journey only getting better. So many of us here, and through the campaign, have found connections to our world we will never forget or stop nurturing.

My thanks to all of you.

And....

Thanks to Dick and Karen at the helm, Dwahzon at the control panel, Jeff in the chat, Defarge for all her contributions, Suz for her great PR, Matt for your wonderful teachings that have taught me that nothing is black and white (they have touched me deeply), and everyone else on the crew and who contribute. (Polly, am waiting for an update on your clandestine meetings with "Mr. X".)

For us all at the DCP

~Happy Birthday

Beatles - Birthday Lyrics

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

I would like you to dance--Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance-Birthday
I would like you to dance--Birthday
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Posted by: oncall at November 21, 2005 06:58 PM

Hey...speaking of virtual friends...I've missed you!

Glad to see you're back.

Happy Birthday Democracy Cells!

Happy birthday Democracy Cells from a regular lurker.

Great job!!

Happy Birthday DCP ...

You had me at "hello".

"Revival"
by The Allman Bros.

People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you hear it? love is in the air.
We’re in a revolution. don’t you know we’re right.
Everyone is singing. yeah! there’ll be no one to fight.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
Love is everywhere.
Love is everywhere.
Love is everywhere.
Love is everywhere.
Love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.
People can you feel it? love is everywhere.

A year of Bush II has made for a very long year, but just think of how different things are now compared to where we were a year ago. When we started the DCP, we were lighting one of those proverbial "candles in the darkness." We had all worked so hard together, and despite the bitterness of loss, if loss it even was, we had found a core fighting spirit that transcended loss. If it were not possible for people to find that transcendent flame, and keep it alive in the dark times, human beings would not be the strange amalgam of the earth and the divine.

We knew that the best man had lost the official race. And by "best," I do not mean that John Kerry was the best person I could ever imagine as president. I know that we all got tired of dealing with people who were constantly complaining about this or that aspect of the campaign, or about Kerry himself. We live in the system we live in, and in 2004, the choices we finally had were between these two men. But compared to Bush, there was never any doubt in my mind that John Kerry would be a better president, that he would never turn his back on the lives of the poor, as Bush and the Republican Congress have done again and again and again.

As a 60s survivor, when I get on this line of thought, I sometimes hear that Rolling Stones singing "You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you get what you need." We didn't get what we wanted in 2004, but we kept on trying, and here we are, one year later, with relationships and connections and understandings that none of us would have had without working together on the DCP. One of our own, Mark Poloncarz, has made it all the way into political office, running and winning an upset campaign in New York to serve as Erie County's new comptroller, where he will be taking on the unenviable task of cleaning up a big fiscal mess.

And in the meantime, the wheels are falling off the neocon juggernaut, as reality finally, finally, catches up with the Bush crew, although we are still far from the end. I can never forget that when Nixon was elected in 1968 with his secret plan to end the war, there were plenty of people who really thought he did have a plan to end the war. At least half the names on the Vietnam Memorial date from after Nixon's election, plus untold perhaps several million across Vietnam, Laos, and the killing fields of Cambodia.

I'm sure there's some military strategy book that talks about redoubling your efforts when your opponent staggers, and the tragic dangers of relaxing when history seems to be turning in your direction.

The last five years have already taken a terrible toll on our country, from the deaths in Iraq to FEMA's pathetic bumbling in New Orleans. The executive branch departments have been staffed with the unqualified and the criminal, and thousands and thousands of civil servants who cared about the American people have been forced out. We have a hollowed out military, and a hollowed out civil service. It will be the work of at least one generation to repair the damage.

But before we can begin repairing, we have to finish the educational work that we began on this site a year ago, to listen to our fellow citizens, and to do everything we can to meet them where they are and move together toward understanding the difficult and complex choices we should be making on our networked, globally warming little planet.

So thank you to everyone who has given so much over this past year to nourish the community here, and the visitors who come and stay.

Where will we be this time a year from now?

Posted by: Mass at November 21, 2005 08:47 PM

Mass,

Thanks for being a regular lurker!

I've often felt your 'angelic' presence keeping us safe from bad policies.

;)

Home to Seattle from San Diego via Phoenix - long day. Uploading photos & reading this groovy blog!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DCP!!! I remember we started as soon after the "election" as could & we've done great so far!!!

I read something about chatting in the IRC but that doesn't work for me - it did for awhile on Safari rather than Internet Explorere since I have a Mac, then doesn't work now that I have a new operating system.

Anyway, hello in there!

Happy Birthday DCP!

The Sword of Truth

As I read what has been posted here tonight...I recall the events and comments made over a year ago...we all live in hopes never to derail the revolution of conscience begun here...on this very site...this great expression of freedom.

I am reminded why we have all gravitated to this place.

I sit in a broken house...in a broken city...within a broken country.

Our Country.

Our Country...our people...who have been desolated and desecrated and violated by the current administration.

I look out every day...watching...waiting...wondering...asking...begging the question...

What shall become of us? Our Nation...our communities...our people...and yet...there is hope.

I look across a devastated landscape of aged buildings and contemporary apathy...a foolish menagerie...a twisted fate of time and circumstance.

And still there is hope.

There is hope that the bell clanging in the wilderness is not my own voice crying out for empathy and understanding...that there are others who share my solitude...my wretched emptiness for that which once was...my longing for what could be...for what MUST be...

For OUR City to survive...for our Nation to not only exist but to fulfill our promise to our noble past and our beloved future.

We do not stand at the precipice of some eternal damnation, nor will we allow such negative connotations to be uttered or spoken.

We are a living breathing soulful people striving for the right to survive within this indescribable destruction...and we shall overcome...we shall not only survive, but thrive and improve upon not only our governance...but our perception of ourselves.

We dare to have the courageous conversations...

We decree from this day forward to be united...as Americans...with the conviction and courage and passion that founded and forged this great Nation from the blood and sacrifice of the willing who believed and do believe the truth of our existance...

That all of humanity was born to live free.

Peace, Love and Compassion from New Orleans, Louisiana, The United States of America.

Indy