My Lips Are Moving but I'm Not Saying Anything...

oy.

First day of spring semester and already drowning here. Hi to all; I'll come here for air when necessary and possible.

Love,
Karen

Posted by: karen at January 25, 2006 02:25 PM

Breathe deeply and keep the knees loose.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_re_ca/canada_election
Bush Warming Up to Canada's Next PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_re_as/india_us_nuclear
U.S. Threatens India Nuclear Deal

{{{I think it's time for other countries to leave the US out of any discussions and manage their own governments as they see fit - but I do hope the trend toward other countries electing conservatives stops soon; the US is going off half-cocked in all directions, most illegal, unethical, or immoral, so we are NOT a country to emulate at the moment!!! ENOUGH already with Bu$hCo playing the role of king of the universe, breaking all kinds of laws, treaties, as well as moral and ethical standards that normal people in every other country lives by!!! He is in no position to tell the leaders of other countries how to rule their people. The only thing that will make Bu$hCo and the corporate fascists of his Criminal Cabal see reason (maybe) is if all other countries leave them out of the equation which could act as an economic sanction against the US. Is that what it would take for the corporate fascists to wake up and start to act like reasonable people??? Or will it take an all out WWIII to get the sheeple of this country to wake up and support impeaching Bu$hCo???}}}

I keep thinking about the average American who isn't getting their info from the net but is instead watching the fake pundants and the inept reporters.

Though a part of me would like to blame the pretty talking heads, the other part of me wonders if they've been bought or if they just are too stupid to get the whole picture.

I know we have to fight hard for this year's election. But I'm becoming more and more concerned when I hear that the Democratic Party is not going to fillibuster Alito. If they can't stand up now, then the fillibuster is forever gone. Also, our whole rights, our future, and the dreams of reform of THIS country (and not just the U.N.) will become even more difficult.

Then I fear that the moderate and liberal voices on the Supreme court will become lost.

What are we leaving our kids and grandkids? I know so many people who want to move out of the U.S.

Repost because, well, we're worth it!

Posted by: Veritas at January 25, 2006 01:40 PM
Posted by: chuck at January 25, 2006 01:51 PM

I think it is kind of like the sport of boxing. We may wear ourselves out bouncing around the ring deciding if we want to go left, moderate, or conservative, who should run, asking why our reps aren't doing more to protect/defend/represent us, talking about what the pig is doing (besides wearing lipstick), getting angry, mad, and depressed because the pig is still a pig and is still acting like a pig, and in the meantime the pig in the ring achieves his objective: he tires us out and deflates us and while we are scrambling to hold on he gives his knockout punch.

The answer has got to be that we need to get organized, and be PRO-ACTIVE. We can't afford to be passive, and we can't afford to be on the ropes reacting to everything the pig throws at us. They are very good at their mind games.

We have got to be PRO-ACTIVE and on the offensive. ALWAYS. We only had them on the ropes for a couple week period back when George's poll numbers went way down and John Murtha spoke up. They weren't used to us speaking from beyond our self-induced grave.

We need more leaders to be vocal and to tell it like it is....more Murtha's, more Kennedy's, more Gore's..............

We have GOT to come up with some ideas on how to get people off their butts, off the couches, out of their fear induced immobilization, and on the air, and in the streets.

The DCP is dedicated to that endeavor, that's why we are all here. When Rove comes out swinging I think we feel overwhelmed. We need to obliviate the Rovinator by dishing it out on the offensive, and refuse to react defensively.

One slogan of the DCP is: Educate, motivate, activate!!!!

Too funny, Victoria!

"We don't know, any of me." Heh, heh.

~snip "Anyway, today I also casually mentioned in passing that the Iraq War Resolution, oft cited by the Shrubmeister (heh heh), didn't actually reference domestic spying. Fortunately, this factette escaped the keen journalistic instinct of Mr. Lauer. Right across the bow, and not even a blink. Heh heh.

Oh, isn't he clever??? That's what you call covering your ass(es).

Hey VicEllen,

I LOVED the way NBC put the caption under McCain that said

"Straight Talk from Sen. John McCain"

like - just cause they wrote that, it was true. And like they knew what he was gonna say ahead of time. And like if it's John McCain it MUST be straight talk.

Give me a freakin' break.

Though a part of me would like to blame the pretty talking heads, the other part of me wonders if they've been bought or if they just are too stupid to get the whole picture.

Posted by: sparrow at January 25, 2006 02:45 PM

Good question Sparrow,

I pick too stupid, just like our President.

Though a part of me would like to blame the pretty talking heads, the other part of me wonders if they've been bought or if they just are too stupid to get the whole picture.
Posted by: sparrow at January 25, 2006 02:45 PM

I think they were bought off because they neglected basic high school education and they are thus too stupid to see how the LIES they currently believe are going to affect their own lives if The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal are not stopped from their continued abuse of power.... Money frequently dazzles stupid people.

Bush speaking from the NSA.

There are turrristss out there who want to do us harm, and we need to git 'em bufore they git us.

We are operatin' within the law, and steps are taken to assure yer civil liburties.

The Murkin' people jus' gotta unnerstan' that we've gotta learn the intenshuns of the enemy bufore they strike. We've gotta, fer the sucyurtie of the Murkin' people, ta learn the intenshuns of the terrrsts. Offishuls here learn about the plodders and planners.

(So don't impeach me, okay? Oh, and, heh, heh, go '06!)

Oh, and, on now live about Alito.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_go_co/congress_iran
Many in Congress Hawkish on Iran
WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration pushes to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, many members of Congress support keeping the use of military force as an option to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

{{{WHY?!?!?!???}}}

William Rivers Pitt: They Know They Broke the Law
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012506Y.shtml
William Rivers Pitt writes: Bush and the boys have taken to the road this week to defend the indefensible. To wit: spying on American citizens without a warrant is fine and dandy, because the President can do whatever he wants, because laws are meaningless in the main, because Osama may be under your bed sharpening his cutlass. The road trip started in Kansas and will wend its way hither and yon, spreading bad information and flat-out lies at every whistle-stop.

John Kerry on RIGHT NOW LIVE about Scalito.....

Victoria Ellen,

That is perfect. The Matt Lauer's of this world should hang their heads in shame. They do absolutely nothing to help people get a better understanding of our current mess. I think it says a lot about a "journalist" when his most famous interview is with a celebrity defending scientology.

Lots of interesting numbers in this one... hattip to kos poster Michael Burdick… http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/25/14567/1119

January 23, 2006

Special Report: Many States Shift Democratic During 2005

Rhode Island, Delaware most Democratic; Utah, Wyoming most Republican

by Jeffrey M. Jones
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of Gallup Poll data from 2005 shows that the Democratic Party made gains in party identification among the American public. The year marked new lows in President George W. Bush's job approval ratings amid difficulties in Iraq, high gas prices, and criticisms of the government response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Democrats made gains in party identification on the national level and more U.S. states had Democratic leanings in 2005 than any time in the last four years.

read the rest here...
http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=21004

The kos poster mentions that this may only be available for a limited time so if you want to peruse this later, you may want to copy it to your hard drive.

From the previous thread :
Posted by: chuck at January 25, 2006 12:03 PM

Hey Chuck,

I do think that it is worth it to filibuster. When, at any other time, are we going to need it as much as we need it now? And...if they go nuke, we shut down the congress anyway, so nothing on their agenda is going to get done. And, if it is so easy for them to eliminate the filibuster, then when we get congress back in '06, we just re-instate it. Maybe that's too simplified, but they play dirty and it looks like we have to too.

Blackmail is not the way our government should be run. We have the RIGHT to filibuster. Alito is bad, and it's about time the Dems in Congress stood up for us. I say let 'em go nuke.

And just maybe.....they're bluffing. At this point, it's a gamble worth taking.

Posted by: Carol at January 25, 2006 04:10 PM

I agree! Has everyone been calling them?

Posted by: NonnyO at January 25, 2006 03:43 PM

Them hawks have already broke the bank. Seems like they didn't learn to save their money for a rainy day and instead continue to throw money at the rich and at the corrupt.

I'm trying to remember what I read about the "Gang of 14" arriving at a "compromise" that gave away the Dems right to filibuster, and I don't remember the explanation. I do remember I once asked just which Dems were given the authority to compromise away the right to filibuster, and asking WHY they were so willing to compromise. I no longer remember what the "nuclear option" was or how it ever came into being.

This SCOTUS position is too important a position to stay silent. Dems NEED to filibuster for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren.

If the Dems do not filibuster, we can remember to keep them out of office if they are up for re-election in '06 or '08, and they can be replaced with Dems who will represent the people of this country.....

NonnyO,

They said they were 'saving it for the Supreme court and for a more important time.'

Well, here it is!

Save it and use it! OR LOSE IT!

Posted by: sparrow at January 25, 2006 04:16 PM

Save money for a rainy day?

They have been wasting and squandering millions over in Iraq.

From the New York Times:

Audit Describes Misuse of Funds in Iraq Projects

By JAMES GLANZ

Published: January 25, 2006

A new audit of American financial practices in Iraq has uncovered irregularities including millions of reconstruction dollars stuffed casually into footlockers and filing cabinets, an American soldier in the Philippines who gambled away cash belonging to Iraq, and three Iraqis who plunged to their deaths in a rebuilt hospital elevator that had been improperly certified as safe.

The audit, released yesterday by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, expands on its previous findings of fraud, incompetence and confusion as the American occupation poured money into training and rebuilding programs in 2003 and 2004. The audit uncovers problems in an area that includes half the land mass in Iraq, with new findings in the southern and central provinces of Anbar, Karbala, Najaf, Wasit, Babil, and Qadisiya. The special inspector reports to the secretary of defense and the secretary of state.

Agents from the inspector general's office found that the living and working quarters of American occupation officials were awash in shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills, colloquially known as bricks.

One official kept $2 million in a bathroom safe, another more than half a million dollars in an unlocked footlocker. One contractor received more than $100,000 to completely refurbish an Olympic pool but only polished the pumps; even so, local American officials certified the work as completed. More than 2,000 contracts ranging in value from a few thousand dollars to more than half a million, some $88 million in all, were examined by agents from the inspector general's office. The report says that in some cases the agents found clear indications of potential fraud and that investigations into those cases are continuing.

Some of those cases are expected to intersect with the investigations of four Americans who have been arrested on bribery, theft, weapons and conspiracy charges for what federal prosecutors say was a scheme to steer reconstruction projects to an American contractor working out of the southern city of Hilla, which served as a kind of provincial capital for a vast swath of Iraq under the Coalition Provisional Authority.

But much of the material in the latest audit is new, and the portrait it paints of abandoned rebuilding projects, nonexistent paperwork and cash routinely taken from the main vault in Hilla without even a log to keep track of the transactions is likely to raise major new questions about how the provisional authority did its business and accounted for huge expenditures of Iraqi and American money.

"What's sad about it is that, considering the destruction in the country, with looting and so on, we needed every dollar for reconstruction," said Wayne White, a former State Department official whose responsibilities included Iraq from 2003 to 2005, and who is now at the Middle East Institute, a research organization.

Instead, Mr. White said, large amounts of that money may have been wasted or stolen, with strong indications that the chaos in Hilla might have been repeated at other provisional authority outposts.

Others had a similar reaction. "It does not surprise me at all," said a Defense Department official who worked in Hilla and other parts of the country, who spoke anonymously because he said he feared retribution from the Bush administration. He predicted that similar problems would turn up in the major southern city of Basra and elsewhere in the dangerous desert wasteland of Anbar province. "It's a disaster," the official said of problems with contracting in Anbar.

No records were kept as money came and went from the main vault at the Hilla compound, and inside it was often stashed haphazardly in a filing cabinet.

~more~

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/international/middleeast/25reconstruct.html?_

Posted by: sparrow at January 25, 2006 05:15 PM

I couldn't agree more.

I'm listening to C-SPAN, the Dems are doing an overall excellent job of citing specific cases where Alito has (in their opinion) goofed. (Goofed in the eyes of many people, I might add, and it's Alito's previous decisions and legal opinions that show his character and indicate how he will vote if he is approved.) I've been laughing at the Repubs who have done nothing but whine about what was said about Alito in the media and on blogs and said by other senators. Me thinkst they protesteth too much....

I've also been sitting here wondering why the hell Dems compromised away any filibuster... and hoping someone will have the courage to stand up and start to talk.... and start a filibuster. All it takes is one senator with enough balls to do so and the rest would follow....

FILIBUSTER; IF NOT NOW..., WHEN???

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060125/shielding_big_pharma.php
Shielding Big Pharma
Last week, the federal agency supposed to protect consumers gave the pharmaceutical industry a big wet kiss.

Much as I'd like to see a filibuster, it's pointless unless they know for sure that they have 41 or 42 who will filibuster and not vote for cloture. And per Raw Story, they don't have that number right now.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Democratic_aides_admit_Alito_filibuster_long_0125.html

dwahzon: I just can't belive that I am reading that Dem constituents are disengaged in what will certainly be one of the most important votes of our lifetime. Its truly sickening. Haven't felt a groundswell of opposition b/c Dems are more concerned about NSA and spying?
I just can't believe this.

“The myopia among too many Senate Democrats is stunning,” the aide said. “They can’t see this is the fight for the future of the Supreme Court. Three years from now if Justice Alito has rolled back the right to choose, Democrats should want to be remembered for fighting tooth and nail to stop this guy.”

“This is a fight for history, you can’t just take the issue off the table,” the aide continued. “Does the country understand what’s at stake right now? Probably not. But they will when Alito does damage to our Constitution, and if we don’t fight now, voters will say a pox on both our houses.”

One aide said part of the problem is that Democratic senators haven’t felt a groundswell of opposition from constituents. Polls show that Alito’s nomination is supported by most Americans.

“People aren’t engaged in this fight,” one senior aide said. “The reality is this isn’t something that American people are calling in droves about. We’re getting more calls in on NSA spying than we are on Alito.”

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Espionage_and_Intelligence
Sen. Clinton Blasts Bush on Eavesdropping
WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called President Bush's explanations for eavesdropping on domestic conversations without warrants "strange" and "far-fetched" Wednesday in blistering criticism ahead of the president's State of the Union address. "Obviously, I support tracking down terrorists. I think that's our obligation. But I think it can be done in a lawful way," the New York Democrat said.

{{{Interesting. But, y'know, I heard her speech, too, and there are also several other senators who actually gave better speeches. Why does even internet media concentrate only on Hillary's speech??? IMHO, everyone is trying to coerce her and/or Dems into putting her up for presidential candidate. Not a good move this far out from the '08 campaign - and sure to lose the election if she does run. Why not look at other Dems to see who else would be better???}}}

Ira,

it is disheartening that the threat of Alito has been buried beneath the coverage of his wife's tears, etc.

My kids get it, everyone I talk to gets it. Just don't understand how the senators and representatives can be so disconnected from their constituents.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_re_eu/pope_encyclical
Pope: Church Duty Is to Influence Leaders
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said in his first encyclical Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church has a duty through its charitable work to influence political leaders to ease suffering and promote justice.
Excerpt:
Benedict stressed that the state alone is responsible for creating a just society, not the church. But he said the church has the right and the duty to be involved in politics by helping "form consciences in political life and stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest."

{{{Gee. Just what we need in this country to bolster the fundies and the Catholic justices on the Supreme Court who will make decisions based on "conscience".... (dripping sarcasm...). Oh, Scotty, where are you when we need you? Beam me up, Scotty!!! There is no intelligent life in this country!!!}}}

Just don't understand how the senators and representatives can be so disconnected from their constituents.
Posted by: dwahzon at January 25, 2006 06:14 PM

Me, neither. If you ever find out the answer, let me know.

However, come the '06 and '08 elections, I will remember how our Democrats have failed us. True, I'll never vote for a neoCon Republican..., but I also may abstain and/or just simply not vote for the Democrats who have so sorely disappointed their constituents, either....

Real quick I have a basketball game to go to, everyone tune into C-Span there are some great comedians on there!! Talking about the rule of law and how no branch should weild to much power in regards to the Alito vote they all happen to be Republicans who have no clue clue aboutt he rule of law and care nothing about power condenced in one place so long as its their party! Back later, dont forget to tune in for the laughs.

Sfexpat at D.U. has said she will match donations posted by tonight up to 100 dollars.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=235911&mesg_id=239832

Posted by: sparrow at January 25, 2006 06:41 PM

Oncall: $25

Rumsfeld disputes reports of stretched forces
Reports say U.S. military overextended by Iraq, Afghanistan deployments

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 3:34 p.m. ET Jan. 25, 2006

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday disputed reports suggesting that the U.S. military is stretched thin and close to a snapping point from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, asserting “the force is not broken.”

“This armed force is enormously capable,” Rumsfeld told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. “In addition, it’s battle hardened. It’s not a peacetime force that has been in barracks or garrisons.”

Rumsfeld spoke a day after The Associated Press reported that an unreleased study conducted for the Pentagon said the Army is being overextended, thanks to the two wars, and may not be able to retain and recruit enough troops to defeat the insurgency in Iraq.
Congressional Democrats released a separate report Wednesday that also concluded the U.S. military is under severe stress.

Democrats weigh in
A group headed by former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said Wednesday that it had concluded the U.S. military's ground forces are so stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that potential adversaries may be tempted to challenge the United States.

"If the strain is not relieved, it will have highly corrosive and long-term effects on the military," Perry, who served under Democratic President Clinton from 1994-97, told a news conference in Washington.

The group's 15-page report warned of looming crises in recruiting troops and retaining current ones, and said the problems threaten the viability of the all-volunteer military.

"We believe that the Bush administration has broken faith with the American soldier and Marine," the report said. It said there were too few troops in Iraq to accomplish the U.S. mission and inadequate equipment and protection for troops.

These failures cause "a real risk of 'breaking the force,"' the report said.

Rumsfeld: Comments out of date, misdirected
But Rumsfeld described the reports as "just not consistent with the facts.”

And, in an apparent shot at the Clinton administration, Rumsfeld said a number of components of the armed forces were underfunded during the 1990s, “and there were hollow pieces to it. Today, that’s just not the case.”

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11023499/

Psycho Killer
by The Talking Heads

I can’t seem to face up to the facts
I’m tense and nervous
Can’t relax
Can’t sleep ... bed’s on fire
Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire

Psycho killer
Qu’est que c’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho killer
Qu’est que c’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away

You start a conversation you can’t even finish it.
You’re talkin’ a lot, but you’re not sayin’ anything.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once, why say it again?

Psycho killer,
Qu’est que c’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away

For thosse interested on reading up on the nuclear option:

People for the American Way: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17881

snip

The "nuclear option" earns its alarming name for two reasons. First, it breaks the Senate rules in order to eliminate another rule: the filibuster. Under normal Senate procedures, it takes 67 senators, or two-thirds, to end debate on changing a Senate rule. The "nuclear option" would violate Senate rules and require only 50 senators plus the Vice President's tie-breaker. Second, the atmosphere in the Senate after this attack would resemble a "nuclear winter." All bipartisan cooperation would vanish and the Senate's legislative business could grind to a halt, only adding to the price Americans would pay for the right's reckless abuse of power.

lots of good info - go check it out.

More from the People for the American Way:

The "Gang of 14"

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) reached out to a number of colleagues on both sides to compromise by winning confirmation of some of the disputed nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, and Priscilla Owen) while preserving the judicial filibuster. [50] Their efforts succeeded on the evening of May 23, 2005, one day before the cloture vote. They announced an agreement by seven Republican and seven Democratic Senators to avert a vote on the nuclear option while preserving the filibuster for "extraordinary circumstances".[51]

The block of senators who agreed to the compromise included Republicans Lindsey O. Graham, John Warner, Olympia Snowe, Susan M. Collins, R. Michael DeWine and Lincoln Chafee; from the Democratic party, Joseph I. Lieberman, Robert C. Byrd, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Inouye, Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar participated. This group was quickly dubbed "the Gang of 14" in various blogs and news outlets.

The bipartisan group was large enough to prevent the nuclear option from succeeding, and also large enough to reach cloture on a Democratic filibuster. It states, in part:
..we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.

As a result of this agreement, Priscilla Owen was confirmed 55-43, Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed 56-43, and William Pryor was confirmed 53-45.

I'm in favor of a filibuster too, but we might as well be realistic about the next Supreme Court nominee. Whether it's Alito, or whoever it is, it will be an appointee of George W Bush. The American people, in all their supreme stupidity, saw to that in November of 2004.
The only reason I'm in favor of a filibuster is that our party leaders, in their compromise on the nuclear option issue, promised to save the filibuster for use in important appointments only. What IS more important than the appointment of a Supreme Court justice? I can't think of a thing.
The battle is lost, that much is sure, but we don't need the Repugs to say in the fall that we went down without a fight, or, even worse, that our side didn't even bother to protest the appointment of a man who isn't sure if women should be admitted to certain colleges or not.
And that is exactly what they will say when the issue is brought up this fall (after the American public is able to see what a right wingnut he is from his decisions on the court)- "Well, the Democrats really didn't object to this guy either. They didn't even bother to filibuster him."
I'll guarantee you, those will be the Republican talking points if Alito swings the court so far to the right that the people protest.
So we need to filibuster or, barring that, be sure that NO democrat votes in favor of Alito when the vote takes place. Even if someone has to bribe, threaten, or lock up Ben Nelson to be sure that happens. He's more useless to the Democratic party than even Joe Lieberman. And that's saying a lot.

Oncall: $25

Posted by: oncall at January 25, 2006 06:53 PM

Thanks oncall! I'm in too. (Mine is by snail mail, but I'll get it out tomorrow.)

Random thoughts:

To filibuster or not to filibuster? To take a stand for what one believes or not take a stand? If it were only that easy we all know that their would be no hesitation to filibuster this frightening nomination. Still it is inevitibly going to be a politically difficult time for the Democrats. Why was there an agreement to filibuster only when there are extraordianary circumstances? I really can't figure that one out. What in the hell does that really mean? The Democrats got totally out maneuvered on this one. If they do filibuster and the nuclear option goes into effect, then they will have to go all the way, and that means shutting down the business of the Senate. The Republicans did that once and suffered significant political fall out. How likely is it that the majority of voting Americans will understand the Democrats and why they did what they felt what necessary? How likely will Americans vote for Democrats who were willing to fight for what they believed in? Too many questions, and no way to accurately predict the outcome.

A solution:

Silently walk out of the State of the Union address. I would suggest that the Democrat giving the response (?Kaine) stay for the speech however. It would be a theatrical political moment with little long term repercussions.

Any thoughts?

Oncall,

I think America would stand up and cheer! And boy, would THAT drown out the Bush regime!

Everyone loves a gutsy move, and I think even the repugs who like Bush would grudgingly say it was a huge moment for the dems. it would hijack the whole event. And it would be in the news all over the world!

Well I have a thought. F**k the talking heads who would criticize the Democrats for protesting. I would hope that any Democrat who is challenged by the likes of Chris Matthews will go tell him to screw himself.

Another thought:

Write to the DSCC and as many Senators as you can and share this idea. I have to admit that this is William Rivers Pitts idea.
I have a wild and crazy idea.

George W. Bush's delivery of the State of the Union address will take place on Tuesday, January 31, a little more than a week from now. It is my strong belief that every single Democrat present in the House chamber for the speech should, at a predetermined moment, stand up and walk out. No yelling. No heated words. Every Democrat should simply stand silently and leave.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012206A.shtml

Vet arrested for freeway blogging

http://www.couplescompany.com/Features/Frontlines/VFP/Dissent.htm#Mike

Maybe my cancer survivor mother was right to refuse to sign up on this, out of principle:

Medicare Drug Bill Tied to Abramoff
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012506Q.shtml
In a letter to Speaker Hastert, Democratic Leader Pelosi, Democratic Whip Hoyer, and Ranking Member Waxman ask for a congressional investigation into the role played by the Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm closely linked to Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff, in the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act and the drafting of the budget reconciliation bill currently before the Congress.

Posted by: bert/diAnne at January 25, 2006 09:51 PM

DiAnne,

Mike Ferner's LTE was awesome. His letter is courageous and powerful.

Posted by: oncall at January 25, 2006 09:16 PM

I'm so bloody fed up with the Dems rolling over and playing dead for the last five years that if they shut down the senate with a filibuster, I'd dang near kiss the feet of the person who started it - but I'm thinking they're too damned cowardly to do so at this point because the cowardly status quo is too comfortable for them.

The vast majority of the Dems have compromised themselves to the point that it may be difficult for them to get re-elected in their home states at this point, or for good Dems to be elected for the first time in '06 or '08. All the slime machine needs now is the silent acquiescence of all the Dems to railroad more neoCons into office in both the House and the Senate in the next two election cycles. NeoCons will use the silent and docile acquiescence and the deal-making compromises (like what the gang of 14 did, dammit!) against the Dems by saying well, golly, look at him/her - not strong enough to stand firm for anything, so he/she falls for anything because he/she has no principles.... The voters will take anyone (even a dim-witted idiot with whom they basically disagree) who unequivocally states what he/she believes in because "they know where he/she stands on the issues" rather than vote for someone who compromises (or flip-flops on the issues and tries to gain the centrists or those few undecided voters) every time an important and genuine issues arises.

That strategy worked beautifully for The Cretin in '04 (with the help of rigged voting machines). Remember? Have we not learned our lessons from the debacles in 2000, and especially 2004?!?!?

There's nothing to lose for the Dems at this point if they filibuster Alito. And this nomination is more important than anything for the simple reason it will affect our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. If the Dems filibuster, they can "only" gain the respect of people like us bloggers who have been wondering where the hell their spines and balls have been since 2000.... Compromising has gotten Dems absolutely nowhere, no media attention, no respect from voters who haven't a clue where the Dems stand on any issues because too many of them are trying to say things that please all people all the time (a total impossibility, as the neoCons already know, but they gained the support of the "undecided" voters so they voted for The Cretin because "they knew where he stood"), certainly no respect from the neoCons who now expect the silent acquiescence from the Dems who are acting like battered spouses or battered children..., nothing!

We all know perfectly well that if the political balance were reversed that the neoCon Rethuglicans would have used the filibuster (and anything else at their disposal!!!) on Roberts and now again with Alito long before now, and everyone would call them principled and strong for standing up and telling truth to power. Do you really want a justice who will give The Cretin more power and authority than he's already taken and who would legitimize the illegal, unjust, immoral, and unethical things he's already done and plans to do in the future???

I suspect that 99% of the reason we do not have millions of protesters on the streets is the simple fact that not one Democrat has consistently stood up to The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal. All of them have failed the common people (we, the voters) by compromising over and over and over and over.... All of us on this blog and on other progressive blogs have lamented and wailed and ranted and raved and screamed that there is no strong Democratic leader to follow.

Well, what are the Dems we elected waiting for??? For Alito to be installed and then a majority of Supremes to legitimize The Cretin's "unitary executive" and then have him just as easily cancel all elections by '08 because of his stupid war on terror and install himself as dictator and legitimize all the abuses of power he's already grabbed and will abuse more in the future??? Just how far do Democrats have to bend before we break??? Before the whole republic and balance of power between the three branches of government that our Founding Fathers envisioned is broken beyond repair, without another civil war taking place right here in our own country???

We've hit bottom and there's nowhere to go but up. Filibuster; close the Senate; start impeachment proceedings in the House; whatever it takes to get Lamestream Media attention to get word out to the sheeples that they've been had to shock them out of their comatose state from having drunk too much kool-aid. To use the analogy I did a few threads back, I feel like Harry Potter being dangled by the leg by the troll, screaming "Do Something!!! Anything!!!"

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

Posted by: oncall at January 25, 2006 09:43 PM
I already did that, sent the article to my rep and my Dem senator. I think it's a "bloody brilliant" idea (to quote Harry Potter's friend Ron)!!! The Cretin's speech is prepared in advance and given to Lamestream Media talking heads. No need for the Dem who's supposed to give the post-speech rebuttal. They should ALL just silently get up and leave. Period.

Oops! What I meant to write in the 10:33 post:
"No need for the Dem who's supposed to give the post-speech rebuttal to stay until the end of The Cretin's speech." He will have been given a copy of the speech already anyway, since he will have to prepare a semi-polished rebuttal when Lamestream Media talking heads interview him with questions prepared in advance....

Exactly what do our Democratic Senators think they have accomplished with their so called gang of 14 compromise. Lets see they managed to have backed themselves in a corner to get:
Brown, Owens, and Pryor on the federal bench and now Alito on the US Supreme Ct. Wow what a feat.

"Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) reached out to a number of colleagues on both sides to compromise by winning confirmation of some of the disputed nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, and Priscilla Owen) while preserving the judicial filibuster. [50] Their efforts succeeded on the evening of May 23, 2005, one day before the cloture vote. They announced an agreement by seven Republican and seven Democratic Senators to avert a vote on the nuclear option while preserving the filibuster for "extraordinary circumstances".[51]

The block of senators who agreed to the compromise included Republicans Lindsey O. Graham, John Warner, Olympia Snowe, Susan M. Collins, R. Michael DeWine and Lincoln Chafee; from the Democratic party, Joseph I. Lieberman, Robert C. Byrd, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Inouye, Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar participated. This group was quickly dubbed "the Gang of 14" in various blogs and news outlets.

The bipartisan group was large enough to prevent the nuclear option from succeeding, and also large enough to reach cloture on a Democratic filibuster."

Why not just tell Graham to just go ahead and use the nuclear option. And when Hillary, JK, or JE send up their appointments don't come crawling back to us in 2 years begging us to change the rules back. The filibuster will be over, forever, no do overs, end of story. Lets see what Mr. Senate Institution Arlen Specter, Orin Hatch or Mark Warner have to say about participating in the destruction of their beloved institution called the US Senate, which they have given their lives to. Its beyond time to call their bluff. Hey Mr. Graham you want to destroy the US Senate go ahead and do it, lets see how the American public reacts.

Why is it that only Bill Clinton understood, when Newt tried, using the same childish tantrums to shut down Congress, that it was necessary to stand up to him. He said fine go ahead and shut down Congress lets see how the American public likes not getting their SS checks. Many of us here question Bill Clinton's leadership, but somehow I believe he understood that to allow the schoolyard bullies to have their way would accomplish only one thing, it would encourage them to keep doing the same thing over and over again, like Pavlov's Dog. Why in the world is it that only one Democrat has ever truly understood this?

I'm so bloody fed up with the Dems rolling over and playing dead for the last five years ......... I'm thinking they're too damned cowardly to do so at this point because the cowardly status quo is too comfortable for them.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 25, 2006 10:30 PM

I am really pissed off too. As the campaign slogan goes: Time for a change.

Ira
Very interesting perspective - makes sense!

oncall knows that I advocated that stand last year when we were debating the change to the filibuster with our Princenton friends. Oncall you thought i was nuts when I predicted this outcome then.

In the year since the so called compromise, absolutely nothing has changed except that Frist is getting exactly what he wants. And the schoolyard bullies are once again threatening to throw sand in our face if we don't go along and our response seems to be to cowar and plead if we let you have this one you wont ever do this again, will you. Yea right, its not over with this gang. The bullies will keep pushing and pushing. How do I know this? Again its from watching upclose the king of bullies Tom DeLay, have his way with our state legislature and one cowardly Tx Democratic State Senator, who's seat was threatened by Tom Delay, so he hightailed it back from New Mexico to end the walkout.

Its also a very basic principle we all supposedly learned in Psychologoy 101. Sounds like our Democratic leaders skipped class. How long are we going to keep this charade up?

Ira,

I don't recall thinking you were nuts, but it wouldn't surprise me if I did. If I disagreed with your position back then, it was probably because I didn't expect the Democrats would be so incompetent, and weak. I probably expected that at one point the Democrats would do what the Republicans would have done in the same situation.

I just received this e-mail:

From: activist.thepen@gmail.com
Subject: To Stand Alone If Necessary, That's What COURAGE Is
Date: January 25, 2006 9:31:20 PM CST
To:

URGENT: Our senators are looking for support especially by phone. If you are a member of MoveOn in particular, PLEASE appeal to them to mobilize their own participants on this.

Dear Friends and Activists,

Please note the updated action link below. Now that an Alito filibuster is looking increasingly likely, this new action deals also with the threat of an abusive Senate rule change, the so-called nuclear option.

Please distribute this inspirational piece as widely as possible.

BE YOUR OWN HERO, DEMAND A FILIBUSTER OF ALITO NOW

Even if you have already sent emails or made calls, the most powerful way for you to follow up is by calling and faxing the LOCAL district offices of your senators. You can get all their numbers in an instant with one click at

NEW ACTION PAGE: http://www.nocrony.com/no_nuke.php

The national toll free numbers are 888-355-3588, 888-818-6641 and 800-426-8073, just ask for any senator by name.

From time to time people will arise with the vision and the passion to inspire other people, and the bravery to take a stand for justice even if they have to do it alone. Sometimes tyranny maintains its power only by a kind of mental intimidation, a threat that would collapse entirely if it were just challenged. And whether those people are celebrated or not, all who take a stand against tyranny, in any way they can, deserve to be recognized as heros.

So it was with Rosa Parks. She was a simple seamstress who did not set out to be a hero. While she worked as a volunteer secretary for the NAACP, she did not see herself as a national leader. But on that day in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, she decided she would no longer suffer the humiliation and surrender her bus seat because of her race. In her own words, "The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed I suppose."

That one simple act of resistance precipitated the Montgomery Bus Boycott, perhaps the key pioneering event in the creation of the whole civil rights movement.

Today we have a Congress controlled by a numerical majority who operate as bullies. They hold votes open for hours at a time while they browbeat and threaten even their own party members. They disrespect and disregard long established rules of procedure and decorum. They exclude the participation of those representing at least half of the American people from any kind of meaningful decision making. And if ever opposed, they threaten they will not hesitate to further abuse their power by moving to abolish the right to filibuster.

Do they not fear the American people? Thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of our citizens are calling and emailing and faxing their senators right now to demand that Samuel Alito not be allowed to run our Supreme Court into some right wing ditch. And if you are asking, "Who will lead the filibuster that will stop this?" If you are asking yourself, "Who will stand up against the intimidation and the fear and expose those bullies for the fringe minority that they truly are?" The answer is . . . YOU are doing it right now.

With every personal message you send, you are telling our senators that it is time for we the people to take a stand. With every phone call you make, you are telling them it's time to take our country back. With every fax, YOU are a hero for democracy. The majority of the American people no longer believe in done deals. The other side has already lost, and the proof of it is that they are reduced to making empty verbal threats. They'll clean our clock one Republican senator was quoted yesterday as saying.

But privately the other side is telling its own few supporters that something dreadful has happened, that we actually think we can win, and that we will succeed unless they redouble their own lobbying efforts. And it's not working for them. On the Ed Shultz show yesterday, and Ed does not screen his calls, EVERY person who called in was demanding that there be a filibuster if necessary to save our Supreme Court from Samuel Alito.

There is only one way to deal with a bully. You must stand up to them. And we must keep standing up to them. We must keep calling our senators to tell them that the American people support them for taking a courageous stand. They must stand alone on the floor of the Senate, but we must continue rallying to their side. If the other side declares war on the filibuster we must call and call again to express our outrage. Each of us in our own way must find the courage to stand individually and declare, "The time has just come when I've been pushed as far as I can stand to be pushed."

NEW ACTION PAGE: http://www.nocrony.com/no_nuke.php

As more and more of us raise our voices together we are seeing the dawning of a new political day. And on this day, no longer will we have to live under the tyranny of intimidation and fear. Indeed, we have nothing to fear but defeatism itself. It's up to us alone.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at http://www.usalone.com/in.htm

Or if you want to cease receiving our messages, just use the function at http://www.usalone.com/out.htm

Powered by The People's Email Network
Copyright 2005, Patent pending, All rights reserved

My letter to my Senators (Durbin and Obama) and my LTE:

Americans are faced with an awesome choice. Either submit to the right wing agenda and allow Samuel Alito, a judge who favors the government over the individual citizen, to become the next Supreme Court Justice, or attempt to filibuster his confirmation and watch the Republicans break the traditional rules of the Senate and enact the "nuclear option". What has happened to our country? How did we allow our Constitution to become so threatened? When did Americans forget that this country is built upon the premise that those in opposition to the majority also have rights? Why do those who feel that they have every right to oppose Samuel Alito have to be fearful that by exercising that right, the Republican majority believes it can abandon the tradition of representative government by enacting the nuclear option? The nuclear option will silence all individuals who have any opposition to what the majority believes. If allowed to occur, eliminating the filibuster will be a death knell for a democratic society. What would stop a different majority party from enacting laws that a substantial portion of the population had no option to oppose?

I voted for my Senators to be my voice in the Congress. If that right is taken away from them, then it is being taken away from me.

Fellow DCPers.... I'm sending these (below) articles to my rep and senator with yet another appeal for a filibuster and the start of impeachment proceedings.... My last appeal to vote against the Patriot Act (which comes up again next month) to my rep resulted in a stupid poli-speak email reply a day or two ago that said gobbledegook nothing. I truly fear for this country if Alito's nomination is approved.

The case against Alito:
If the Senate accepts President Bush's nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, our nation will undergo profound legal changes, resulting in its transformation from a democratic republic to a corporatist dictatorship
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11670.htm
Excerpt (four short paragraphs in this story, but this is the most important paragraph):
The fact is that the unitary executive theory was developed by Carl Schmitt, the Third Reich's legal expert, to advance the appearance of a lawful dictatorial takeover of Germany. Arguing that an exceptional situation, like the Reichstag fire (or 9/11 in our case), gave the executive the right to decide law for himself, Schmitt's philosophy ushered in a reign of vicious authoritarianism. Recently, Schmitt's legal theories have been applied ferociously in signing statements and executive orders by Bush's legal team to liberate them from quaint restrictions like international treaties and domestic law.

New Frontiers for the Police State:
A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11660.htm

John Nichols | Feingold: Alito Would Be "Dangerous Addition" to Court
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0125-30.htm

Saint Louis Post-Dispatch | Domestic Surveillance: "You Shouldn't Worry"
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0125-27.htm

Iran's new bourse may threaten the dollar:
By Linda S. Heard
A growing number of experts believe Iran's new oil bourse is more of a threat to US interests than nuclear missiles.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11668.htm
{{{I have four other links I posted a couple of days ago about the Iranian Bourse set to open in March. One of those articles is briefly quoted by Heard. I highly suspect that The Cretin's warmongering rhetoric about Iran's alleged nuclear potential is a total diversion to bully Iran - and somehow get other nations to illegally attack Iran on some LYING premise, instead of the US illegally attacking this time... and what with the secrecy of this administration, probably the US is in worse financial peril than the administration has told the American people, and that's why The Cretin is pressing so hard for illegally attacking Iran....}}}

Bolton: Bush won't tolerate nuclear Iran:
According to Bolton, Bush worries that a nuclear-equipped Iran under its current leadership could well engage in a nuclear holocaust, "and that is just not something he is going to accept."
http://tinyurl.com/cyxbj

Paul Craig Roberts : US Orders Syria To Do the Impossible:
Is there a person anywhere in the world who still thinks there is an ounce of sanity in the Bush administration? If so, let that person read John Bolton’s orders to Syria in the January 24 online edition of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11665.htm

Tehran claims Britain behind bombings in Ahvaz:
Iran directly accused Britain of of equipping and directing those behind a twin bomb attack in the oil city of Ahvaz that killed eight people and wounded dozens more.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=105069

Speak As If No One Was Listening...

My fellow Americans...pray tell...

What do your letters and emails bring in the face of real change?

I have learned...YES...I HAVE LEARNED...that the true face of democaracy is not in reacting to every twisted whim of the populous...but in bending without breaking in the light of the true wisdom of the Constitution.

In New Orleans I have found many allies...many friends...many who were previously blinded by the adulterous promise of riches only to be thrown to the curb by the levelling power of Mother Nature...this...is a good thing.

Truth is that which we all seek in the shadows of ultimate darkness...yes truth...as it must be so...for without truth...a part of each of us dies each and every day.

The winds of change are growing stronger...and we are the chorus rising to change the world.

From 'Ulysses'

...Come, my friends,
`Tis not too late to seek a newer world...
for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset,...
and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

-Tennyson

This is our manifest destiny...our future...our greatest hope.

Carpe Diem!

Seize the day of our liberation...

For if we do not...than all things that were good and beautiful and righteous will surely perish from this Earth.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!

...I didn't expect the Democrats would be so incompetent, and weak. I probably expected that at one point the Democrats would do what the Republicans would have done in the same situation.
Posted by: oncall at January 26, 2006 12:24 AM

None of us expected the Dems in Congress would be so weak. That's why we've been living on some hope for change for five years, and why we cheered every small bleat of protest that ever made it to a sound byte in Lamestream Media, only to be sorely disappointed when those same senators and reps caved in to the neoCons. The Dems have become utterly predictable about caving in to the neoCons.

Worst of all, that silly Specter was on a News Hour sound byte urging Dems to stop being so partisan about their intent to vote 'no' on Alito. So, I screamed at the TV: And, since WHEN are the Repubs non-partisan in any of their voting?!?!? How about the Repubs not be so partisan and do what's best for the American people for a change?!? (Lucky I didn't have anything in my hand... the TV would be broken by now.)

I'm just sick to death of being repeatedly disappointed by the Democrats we elected.....

Yes, indeed: Time for a Change!!!

I suggest the Dems who are currently beholden to corporate PACS be urged to resign or not run for re-election, and nominate new Dems who aren't firmly entrenched in WA politics and see if they can actually get anything accomplished for a change.

Post from dkos:

All the Republicans you mention will vote for cloture, even if they don't vote for Alito.
Landrieu has said she'll vote no on Alito, but yes on cloture.
that give us 42 votes against cloture, 43 if you think Jeffords would vote against cloture which I'm not convinced of.
Then you have these Dems from the Gang of Fourteen (Nelson excluded because of his professed yes vote, Landrieu excluded because she says she'd vote for cloture), three or four (depending on Jeffords) of whom would have to vote against Cloture.
# Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut
# Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
# Daniel Inouye, Hawaii
# Mark Pryor, Arkansas
# Ken Salazar, Colorado
Byrd I think we could count in our corner, but I wouldn't bet money on any of the others. You can bet Harry Reid is talking to them, but if you actually want a filibuster, these are the men to persuade.
Then you have to keep the rest of the caucus unified.
Possible yes, but don't hold your breath.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/25/194144/862

Carole Joffe | Reproductive Regression
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012506WA.shtml
"Our local hospital tells me they see 12-20 patients per year, who have already self-induced or had illegal abortions. Some make it, some don't. They are underage or poor women mostly, and a few daughters of pro-life families ..." This quote is from a health care worker in today's American south where restrictions are already driving women to illegal abortions.

Medicare Drug Bill Tied to Abramoff
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012506Q.shtml
In a letter to Speaker Hastert, Democratic Leader Pelosi, Democratic Whip Hoyer, and Ranking Member Waxman ask for a congressional investigation into the role played by the Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm closely linked to Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff, in the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act and the drafting of the budget reconciliation bill currently before the Congress.

Stephen Pizzo | Shielding Big Pharma
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012506HA.shtml
Last week, the Bush FDA quietly slipped a multibillion dollar gift to the pharmaceutical industry into a widely touted consumer-friendly drug labeling rule change. The additional rule change would bar state courts from hearing individual or class-action liability suits against drug companies.

Doctors Urge Ban on Gifts from Drug Makers
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012506HB.shtml
The free gifts, drugs and classes that pharmaceutical and medical device makers routinely give doctors undermine good medical care, hurt patients and should be banned, a group of influential doctors say in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

None of the gang of 14 are my senators.

They do not speak for me. The gang had NO RIGHT to make a bargain with the devil and give away my Dem senator's right to filibuster. (The other one has his lips surgically attached to Bu$h's butt.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_domestic_spying
Bush: Bin Laden Should Be Taken Seriously
FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush, defending the government's secret surveillance program, said Wednesday that Americans should take Osama bin Laden seriously when he says he's going to attack again.

"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it," Bush told reporters after visiting the top-secret National Security Agency where the surveillance program is based. "I take it seriously, and the people of NSA take it seriously."
Excerpt:
Bush said he had the legal right to do whatever he could to prevent further attacks and that the NSA program "is fully consistent with our nation's laws and Constitution."

"I'll continue to reauthorize this program for so long as our country faces a continuing threat from al-Qaida and related groups," Bush said.

{{{The Voices coming from the ear pieces attached to my tin foil hat said next week's speech will be full of 'terra' talk and Bin Laden talk, and that these photo ops and the visit to NSA were deliberate attempts to guide sheeple's attention to where he wanted their attention to be - and away from touchy subjects he doesn't want to talk about. I did pause to wonder what "and related groups" means, however when the voices stopped screaming.... Amazing how conveniently talk about Bin Laden only crops up at the pleasure of the dictator wannabe, though, isn't it?!? Yes, Voices, I know! You can stop screaming now! I know it's Lamestream Media manipulation and just outright manipulation of the people of this nation and the world!!! I can think for myself sometimes!}}}

Palestinian PM quits after apparent Hamas win
Peace efforts in doubt; Hamas says recognizing Israel ‘not on our agenda’

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations Thursday as the Islamic militant group Hamas appeared to have captured a large majority of seats in the Palestinian elections — a shocking upset sure to throw Middle East peacemaking into turmoil.

“This is the choice of the people. It should be respected,” Qureia said. “If it’s true (the results), then the president should ask Hamas to form a new government. For me, personally, I sent my resignation.”

Under the law, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas must ask the largest party in the new parliament — presumably Hamas — to form the next government. Abbas was elected separately a year ago and remains president.

-snip-

The result could have a devastating effect on the peace process with Israel. Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official, said Thursday that recognizing Israel and negotiations with Israel are “not on our agenda.”

Israel, the United States and the European Union have classified Hamas, which has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in the Jewish state since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000, as a terrorist organization.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11009552/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11009552/

Great, just great. Another trump card for the Terror Presidunce to play. Isn't democracy in the Middle East a wonderful thing?

White House Dismissed '02 Surveillance Proposal

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 26, 2006; A04

The Bush administration rejected a 2002 Senate proposal that would have made it easier for FBI agents to obtain surveillance warrants in terrorism cases, concluding that the system was working well and that it would likely be unconstitutional to lower the legal standard.

The proposed legislation by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) would have allowed the FBI to obtain surveillance warrants for non-U.S. citizens if they had a "reasonable suspicion" they were connected to terrorism -- a lower standard than the "probable cause" requirement in the statute that governs the warrants.

The administration has contended that it launched a secret program of warrantless domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency in part because of the time it takes to obtain such secret warrants from federal judges under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

-snip-

"It's entirely inconsistent with their current position," said Philip B. Heymann, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration who teaches law at Harvard University. "The only reason to do what they've been doing is because they wanted a lower standard than 'probable cause.' A member of Congress offered that to them, but they turned it down."

-snip-

Under the NSA program, Hayden said, "the trigger is quicker and a bit softer than it is for a FISA warrant."

During Senate debate over DeWine's amendment in July 2002, James A. Baker, the Justice Department's counsel for intelligence policy, said in a statement that the Bush administration did not support the proposal "because the proposed change raises both significant legal and practical issues."

Baker said it was "not clear cut" whether the proposal would "pass constitutional muster," and "we could potentially put at risk ongoing investigations and prosecutions" if the amendment was later struck down by the courts. He also said Justice had been using FISA aggressively and played down the notion that the probable cause standard was too high.

A DeWine spokesman declined to comment on the issue yesterday.

Also yesterday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) sent a list of 15 sharply worded questions to Gonzales in preparation for a Feb. 6 hearing on the legality of the NSA program. Specter asks, among other things, why the government did not ask Congress for new legislation to allow the spying.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012502270_pf.html

Bush to GM, Ford: Make more appealing cars
President tells newspaper that he'd be reluctant to bail out nation's automakers.

January 26, 2006: 6:00 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. should develop more appealing products rather than look to Washington for help with their heavy pension burdens, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

In an interview Wednesday, Bush said he had not talked to the struggling companies about their finances but hinted that he would take a dim view of a government bailout of the top two U.S. automakers, the newspaper reported.

-snip-

"I have been very reluctant -- I'm mindful of the past where at one point in time, a predecessor of mine was faced with that same dilemma," Bush was quoted as saying. "I would hope I wouldn't be asked to make that decision."

Asked if he had spoken to GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner or Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr., Bush told the newspaper, "Not about their balance sheets."

-snip-

Asked if the government should take any pre-emptive action, Bush was quoted as saying, "I think it's very important for the market to function." Bush suggested that he felt optimistic about the companies' prospects, according to the newspaper.

Ford and GM have said they would close plants and cut tens of thousands of jobs. Competition, particularly from companies based in Asia, soaring health care and pension expenses and production costs have increased financial pressures on the unionized companies.

The newspaper said while neither GM nor Ford has sought a bailout, they have dropped hints they would welcome government help in areas such as coping with rising health care and pension burdens and the high costs of developing fuel-efficient vehicles.

According to the newspaper, Bush suggested that one way automakers could make more appealing products was to promote cars using alternative fuels, a topic he plans to mention in his State of the Union address next week.

"As these automobile manufacturers compete for market share and use technology to try to get consumers to buy their product, they also will be helping America become less dependent on foreign sources of oil," Bush told the newspaper.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/26/news/companies/bush_autos.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

I don't know about you, but I'm in dire need of some inspiration and motivation. I found this diary on Kos about an event in NC last night where Elizabeth Edwards spoke. We need a world filled with people like Elizabeth Edwards...or at least a government with people like her. What an amazing woman.

I Heard Elizabeth Edwards Speak Last Night
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/26/83027/4666

Help get her words out there by recommending the diary if you're a Kos member.

Even the NYT is calling for a filibuster!

Senators in Need of a Spine

Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.

It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination.
--snip--
A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/opinion/26thur1.html?_r=6&hp&oref=login

Nuclear energy plan would use spent fuel
Bush proposes to reprocess other countries’ fuel to promote nuclear power

The Bush administration is preparing a plan to expand civilian nuclear energy at home and abroad while taking spent fuel from foreign countries and reprocessing it, in a break with decades of U.S. policy, according to U.S. and foreign officials briefed on the initiative.

The United States has adamantly opposed reprocessing spent fuel from civilian reactors since the 1970s because it would produce material that could be used in nuclear weapons. But the Bush program, envisioned as a multi-decade effort dubbed the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, would invest research money to develop technologies intended to avoid any such risk, the officials said.

The program has been the subject of intense debate within the administration, and although a consensus has been reached about the direction, a senior official said it will not be ready for Bush to announce in his State of the Union address Tuesday. Even the discussion has stirred concerns among nuclear specialists and some members of Congress who consider it an expensive venture that relies on unproven concepts and could increase the danger of proliferation.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11033025/

(yeah, I trust them with this, as I'm sure the rest of the world does... one step closer to the brink)

Bush: Bin Laden Should Be Taken Seriously
Posted by: NonnyO at January 26, 2006 04:03 AM

Sorry .. I listen to "experts" on NPR who have written books on the subject and they say he's the tip of the iceberg & the govt doesn't know what to do.

How about Bin Laden of the Sahara?
a $500 million dollar adventure ..

http://villagevoice.com/news/0604,khatchadourian,71894,6.html

How many psychopaths does it take to screw on planet? (the hunted and the hunters)

I agree, Bin Laden is just the tip of the iceberg. And if you pay attention much closely, he is just in charge of "communication". he is the jihad PR's man!
This guy, in his "cave" knows more about your politics that mainstream Americans do. He is not THE danger, it's the ideas that he spread all over the Muslim world and elsewhere that are dangerous. The Us administration doesn't deem to get it and consequently a laaaarge part of the population.

As for nuclear energy, France is provided up to 82% of its need thanks to de Gaulle's decisions in the late 60'ies. Good, bad? For the time being we know that we don't depend on foreign states for private supply. The cars's fuel problem has still to be solved, but solutions are on the way.

BIG NEWS: WCW GOT THE SITE THEY PROMISED.

Travis and Marylou were called over to the Reflecting Pool area of the Capitol--the site they were promised in the first meeting--and they were given the permit for Jan. 31 there!!

(This is a victory)

"As these automobile manufacturers compete for market share and use technology to try to get consumers to buy their product, they also will be helping America become less dependent on foreign sources of oil," Bush told the newspaper.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/26/news/companies/bush_autos.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

Posted by: marc trager at January 26, 2006 08:33 AM

Oh come ONnnn! Please!!! Not gonna help Ford manufacturing companies stay afloat and tells them to go find a way to manufacture cars that run on alternative fuels????

Grrrr. The playground bully sets up his victim by making it impossible for him to pay his worker's wages, health care premiums, pensions, manufacturing expenses, research expenses to develop new cars that will burn other fuels,
and Bush tells them that they just need to hop to it and do it.

The only way the fascists will want the Pugs out of Washington is if and when it starts backfiring on them. A good example.