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Throw Yourself Like Seed
I found this poem held up by funky magnets on Karen & Dick's fridge when I visited them. It spoke to me.
Throw Yourself Like Seed
Shake off this sadness, and recover your spirit;
Sluggish you will never see the wheel of fate
That brushes your heel as it turns going by,
The man who wants to live is the man in whom life is abundant.Now you are only giving food to that final pain
Which is slowly winding you in the nets of death,
But to live is to work, and the only thing which lasts
Is the work; start there, turn to work.Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field,
Don't turn your face for that would be to turn it to death,
And do not let the past weigh down your motion.Leave what's alive in the furrow, what's dead in yourself,
For life does not move in the same way as a group of clouds;
From your work you will be able one day to gather yourself.Miguel de Unamuno
Its impact is profound. I wanted to know more about the author and found this thoughtful introduction in Michael Parker's blog at Salon:
Here is another of my favorite poems, "Throw Yourself Like Seed," by Miguel de Unamuno. Unamuno is a fascinating poet who was quite vocal in his criticism of Franco and fascism. At one point, one of Franco's generals stormed into the university at which Unamuno was teaching and demanded him to keep his mouth shut, if you know what I mean. What was Unamuno's reply?"At times to be silent is to lie. You will win because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince. For to convince you need to persuade. And in order to persuade you would need what you lack: reason and right."
The general shouted in reply:
"Death to intelligence! Long live death!"
The general then forced the elderly poet out of the university at gunpoint. Unamuno suffered a heart attack and died within the week.
The general's actions were a stark contrast to Unamuno's character, which I feel is present in his brilliant poem "Throw Yourself Like Seed."
His poetic entreaties are thoughtful and mystical. The message is enlightening. I love the image of people spreading (sharing) their lives, as if the action of spreading goodness and offering lovingkindness is like throwing seed onto fertile soil that one day can be harvested.
~snip~
Understanding and being accountable for our responsibilities, actions, and words not only enriches us but enriches the lives of others. Life ultimately is more consistently rewarding.
And regarding his wonderful last two lines?
"For life does not move in the same way as a group of clouds; / From your work you will be able one day to gather yourself."
The results of our actions are not random or fleeting as the everchanging formation of clouds. They are as solid and real as the grain and vegetables we gather at harvest time.
So shall we all throw ourselves like seed and recover our spirits?
Unfortunately, the data that I've been gathering this morning tends to be more dispiriting than not. I shall endeavour, however, to cultivate spiritually positive thoughts for the remainder of the day.
-----
The following numbers are current as of mid-January 2006 and, except for the first two itema in the list, are based on only partial information and/or best-guess estimates by informed experts and news organizations. Actual numbers are probably higher, in some cases much higher than those shown below. And needless to say, all these numbers are fluid and continue to grow larger with every passing day.
You do the math. Your mileage may vary. Contents may have settled during handling.
Any way you add it up, though...
...it is simply beyond reprehensible -- egregiously heinous, in fact -- that our current 'leaders' started this dishonest war of choice over three years ago and still continue to prosecute it today, despite all evidence of its failure and its ever-mounting human costs.
-----
Number of American military forces killed in Iraq war:
2242
Number of non-American coalition forces killed in Iraq war:
212
Number of Iraqi security forces killed in Iraq war:
4056
Number of non-Iraqi civilian contractors killed in Iraq war:
309
Estimated number of Iraqi civilians killed in Iraq war:
at least 30,000
Estimated number of Americans wounded in Iraq war:
16,420
Estimated number of Iraqis wounded in Iraq war:
at least 60,000
An end to the American-induced bloodshed in Iraq:
PRICELESS
-----
'peacemaking' is an active not a passive verb,
Otter
Woke up to friend emailing me that Bob Woodruff, news anchor, and his cameraman had serious head injuries, from an IED. & that 50,000 military are forced to re-deploy to Iraq & Afghanistan through "stop-loss", though "volunteers." An award-winning scientist is having his findings on global warming suppressed. & much more disheartening stuff..
I did also get a couple attachments I can't forward but hopefully you will see or can imagine:
Chuck Rangel photo next to really-dumb looking Bush photo - Rangel: "Well, I really think he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all"
Photoshopped version of Bush & Rumsfeld into "Brokeback Mountain" movie poster, only it says "Dumbf*ck Mountain"
Heading out for coffee with friend originally from Iran - am really scared about Israel & Iran (with US involved)
Remember to freeway blog tomorrow, if you can, and to make lots of calls & send faxes today, if you can get through.
Go here:
http://www.millionphonemarch.com/nuke_option.php
Posted by Ann Dietz at January 29, 2006 11:28 AM
Love the poem....!
Let's scatter our words in the blogosphere and leave their seeds in the inboxes of our legislators in hopes they find they do have spines and balls after all by tomorrow morning....
At this point in time with the threat of a full-blown dictatorship hanging over our heads (in words, not just the acts of a dictator that have been occurring for five long years), our legislators need to shake themselves out of the bubble they've been living in, too, and wake up and stand up for "we, the people."
Did anyone watch the Sunday morning talking heads? I have been doing research, ignoring all TV. I did go to see what my cat was meowing about and caught about two minutes of Barak Obama and wondered where the wonderful orator from the DNC disappeared. He was sounding so Republican Lite it gave me chills, and I don't even remember what he was saying....
Here are this weekend's tidbits and newsbytes and links, oh my, from one of my favoritest blogs: Tennessee Guerilla Women (which see at http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/ ...)
===========
FILIBUSTER MOMENTUM GROWING
http://tinyurl.com/d3rsk
Bob Fertik over at Democrats.com says, the senators are 'freaking out' cause they're getting so many calls for a filibuster. They've "turned off their DC phones and their voicemails are full." Fertik provides this page of local phone and fax numbers. Tell them to either support a filibuster or stay away from the senate on Monday!
POST-ROE WORLD: PUNISHING WOMEN FOR FAILURE TO BREED
http://tinyurl.com/ablsl
Lynn Paltrow has written an excellent, if unnerving, glimpse of the post-Roe world, a world we may soon find ourselves living in. As if we needed any more reasons to call senators and insist on a filibuster!
TED KOPPEL ON BROADCAST MEDIA
http://tinyurl.com/8x577
Ted Koppel shares his insight on broadcast media via a New York Times Op-Ed. Koppel says the media is not driven by a political agenda, rather it is driven by the number one American value, the all-consuming "fight for money."
SOTU PREVIEW VIDEO (heh)
http://tinyurl.com/9t5b5
Watch this funny preview of the State of the Union. James Adomian excels at playing Bushie. State of the Union 2006. (Hat tip to MYDD)
STUDY: JACKGATE IS A REPUBLICAN SCANDAL
http://tinyurl.com/bjmu9
Don't expect to hear it on CNN. The study was conducted by Dwight L. Morris and Associates, a non partisan research company that is commonly cited by all kinds of media, even the rabidly rightwing Fox News and World Net Daily. In an analysis entitled, Dems Don't Know Jack, the American Prospect reports, hey dummies, "it’s a Republican scandal."
FRIEDMAN: STATE OF THE UNION
http://tinyurl.com/dql3s
The only way we could hear the kind of State of the Union speech Friedman is dreaming of is if we heard it from President Gore. It's a great speech Friedman, but it's definitely a little on the green and innovative side for our Bushie. I'll count myself lucky if the pResident doesn't devote his State of the Union speech to laying out a plan for bringing on the End Times.
DOWD: OPRAH'S BUNK CLUB
http://tinyurl.com/79etx
We should have known the guy was not really a bad-boy, tattooed "It's time to throw down" brawler when he had to bring his mom on the Larry King show to protect him. On Thursday, the unmasked memoirist's proud mother was replaced by a punitive national matriarch. Watching Oprah flay Frey was riveting.
KRUGMAN: HEALTH CARE CONFIDENTIAL
http://tinyurl.com/a9k5f
American health care is desperately in need of reform. But what form should change take? Are there any useful examples we can turn to for guidance? Well, I know about a health care system that has been highly successful in containing costs, yet provides excellent care. And the story of this system's success provides a helpful corrective to anti-government ideology.
SURVEY SAYS: WE DO NOT LIKE THEE DR. FRIST
http://tinyurl.com/7gojp
Survey USA has released its new 50 state poll of job approval ratings for all U.S. Senators. Billy Frist has a net approval rate (approval minus disapproval) of 5 percent. That compares to a net approval of 54 percent earned by each of the two most popular senators, Daniel Inouye and Olympia Snowe.
DEAD TO THE WORLD -or- REALLY LEFT BEHIND
http://tinyurl.com/7he5g
Felix G. Rohatyn, former ambassador to France, weighs in on our country's failure to look to and learn from older and more ethically and morally advanced nations. There's no doubt about it, as a nation we are very much an adolescent and a heterosexual male one at that.
===========
because there are lots of other good blogs out there too,
Otter
NonnyO
Did anyone watch the Sunday morning talking heads? No, not since 1991 - not me.
No but I could listen to "Stop Making sense" CD or "Life During Wartime" or "Psycho Killer" by the real Talking Heads.
talking heads stuff from Faux -
if you want to know what the likes of Thune from SD had to say .. about Bush & Abramoff etc
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5579281,00.html
And from the Otterworld Jukebox just for DiAnne, who doesn't watch talking heads on TV but likes to listen to them anyway (and please note the final verse, ahem):
===========
BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
Watch out you might get what you're after
Cool baby strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
Hold tight wait 'til the party's over
Hold tight we're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house
Here's your ticket pack your bag; time for jumpin' overboard
Transportation is here
Close enough but not too far, baby you know where you are
Fightin' fire with fire
All wet hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown thieves walking in broad daylight
Three hundred sixty five degrees
Burning down the house
It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself
Gonna come in first place
People on their way to work say baby what did you expect
Gonna burst into flame
Go ahead
My house's out of the ordinary
That's right
Don't want to hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house
No visible means of support and you have not seen nothing yet
Everything's stuck together
I don't know what you expect staring into the TV set
Fighting fire with fire
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
==========
burn byrnie burn,
Otter
My Step-Son Steven called yesterday morning. He is embarking on a journey to Afghanistan for his second tour of duty. This tour will be more dangerous than his first tour there.
As Claudia said yesterday, Mr. Bush will speak on Tuesday and deliver the State of the Union Address. He will probably tout the economy as being strong even in the face of massive U.S. auto industry layoffs. He will probably talk about health care, but won’t mention that 46 million Americans have no health care at all. And he will no doubt skirt the issue of his failed policies in the middle east – Osama Bin Forgotten, a new-cue-ler Iran, and a ever growing civil war in Iraq.
Please join us on the IRC on Tuesday evening – we need to keep each other inspired to continue to fight for our country.
Posted by: Otter at January 29, 2006 12:17 PM
"Freaking out?!?" Really? Is that why the tight note of slight hysteria in that young woman's voice at Dayton's office when I called on Friday? She was a very pleasant young woman, said they had taken "hundreds of calls," but she also sounded... tense. Hmmmm.....
Heh, heh, heh... She said he supported the filibuster but hadn't made up his mind on cloture. I said "Please let the filibuster happen!" (I was nice, I didn't yell, I said please, and I kept the chat short.) I do believe I need to call back Monday morning and let my opinion be known again....
If all it takes to get senators to DO something - anything - to stop the Alito nomination, like phoning their offices to urge them to do so, I'll do it. I can help overload email inboxes, phone machines... etc.
Time for (yet another) reality check in the White House:
==========
President Bush's $15 billion effort to fight AIDS has handed out nearly one-quarter of its grants to religious groups, and officials are aggressively pursuing new church partners that often emphasize disease prevention through abstinence and fidelity over condom use.
Award recipients include a Christian relief organization famous for its televised appeals to feed hungry children, a well-known Catholic charity and a group run by the son of evangelist Billy Graham, according to the State Department.
The outreach to nontraditional AIDS players comes in the midst of a debate over how best to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The debate has activated groups on both ends of the political spectrum and created a vast competition for money.
Conservative Christian allies of the president are pressing the U.S. foreign aid agency to give fewer dollars to groups that distribute condoms or work with prostitutes. The Bush administration provided more than 560 million condoms abroad last year, compared with some 350 million in 2001.
Secular organizations in Africa are raising concerns that new money to groups without AIDS experience may dilute the impact of Bush's historic three-year-old program.
"We clearly recognize that it is very important to work with faith-based organizations," said Dan Mullins, deputy regional director for southern and western Africa for CARE, one of the best-known humanitarian organizations.
"But at the same time we don't want to fall into the trap of assuming faith-based groups are good at everything," Mullins said.
Full story here: http://tinyurl.com/dw6fp
==========
click here to acquire a clue mr. president,
Otter
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060129/ap_on_go_su_co/alito
Sen. Obama Criticizes Filibuster Tactic
WASHINGTON - To more effectively oppose Supreme Court nominees in the future, Democrats need to convince the public "their values are at stake" rather than use stalling tactics to try to thwart the president, said a senator who opposes Samuel Alito's confirmation.
"The general then forced the elderly poet out of the university at gunpoint. Unamuno suffered a heart attack and died within the week"
Posted by Ann Dietz at January 29, 2006 11:28 AM
What was the name of the General...and what was the name of the poet..?
We remember people that walk the true path, and forget those that stand in the way. Miguel De Unamuno lived his beliefs, more than i can say for hundreds of legislators republican and democrat alike.
There was a post here a few days ago referring to Frederick Douglass, one of my favorite Orators. In one of his many great speeches he states we must be willing to risk all for what we believe, That is the only path to effective change.
There is a lot of travelling by democrats, speeches and public meetings discussing the terrible acts of this white house.
Visiting the nation and wringing their hands of this administration will accomplish nothing.
When will a democrat....become a Democrat..?
When will someone finally say enough!!. I was elected to represent the interests of the people and protect the Constitution of the United States from Assault. I cannot allow the acts commited by the Executive branch to continue. I stand in opposition to the executive branch, to criminal acts committed, to abandonment of the American People in time of need. If it means my office, so be it. It is my obligation to the Constitution.
Where is the help promised the victims of Katrina? how many seniors have been tossed from the rolls of medicare in the last month? where are education dollars going? where is the aids budget? where is the money going to come from to pay off the iraqi war?
Stop travelling the nation and playing to core emotions. Your job is to stop the nonsense at its source; in the senate, in the congress.
If the government needs to be shut down, then do it. Its been done before, stop being so afraid to be a legislator. It is your job.
Let's scatter our words in the blogosphere and leave their seeds in the inboxes of our legislators in hopes they find they do have spines and balls after all by tomorrow morning....
LOL HA ha ha.
No One quite says it like NonnyO.
*********
When I called last night, every voice mail box was FULL except one.
Does anybody have a list handy they can post or email me where I would have all the Senator's emails addy in one convenient post?
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Posted by: abqjohn at January 29, 2006 12:45 PM
Yes, he will give glowing reports about the economy (when a person gets a job that pays minimum wage for four hours a week, that is considered obtaining employment by the DOL),
glowing reports about Iraq and the elections there so the people can be free to vote and a democracy and blah blah blah.
He most definately talk about how his new medicare plan takes even more money from paupers and widows and puts it in the pockets of pharmaceuticals. He won't mention every soldier killed and maimed in this quest for power the chickenhawks are wreaking upon this world.
I will definately keep your step son Steven in my thoughts and prayers.
If I am around I will join you all in the IRC Tuesday night. If I can find some people to make noise with I'll be out pounding on a pan with a big spoon. Would have to travel in that case and might not be back in time to come into the IRC.
If I can't find anybody to make noise with, I will still go out (just because I can) and bang that pot with that spoon. I am making a comment to the universe.
We don't want no DAMN WAR, and we don't want neocons running OUR country.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Posted by: Otter at January 29, 2006 02:27 PM
Thanks Otter, off to work I go on these emails!
Otter, that list is GREAT. Very, very handy!
Otter you've got mail.
Otter
Thanks for the lyrics!!
How about some Bob Marley:
CRAZY BALDHEADS
Them crazy, them crazy -
We gonna chase those crazy
Baldheads out of town;
Chase those crazy baldheads
Out of our town.
I'n'I build a cabin;
I'n'I plant the corn;
Didn't my people before me
Slave for this country?
Now you look me with that scorn,
Then you eat up all my corn.
We gonna chase those crazy -
Chase them crazy -
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town!
---
[Scat singing]
---
Build your penitentiary, we build your schools,
Brainwash education to make us the fools.
Hate is your reward for our love,
Telling us of your God above.
We gonna chase those crazy -
Chase those crazy bunkheads -
Chase those crazy baldheads out of the yown!
---
[Instrumental break]
---
We gonna chase those crazy -
Chase those crazy bunkheads -
Chase those crazy baldheads out of the yown!
Here comes the conman
Coming with his con plan.
We won't take no bribe;
We've got (to) stay alive.
We gonna chase those crazy -
Chase those crazy baldheads -
Chase those crazy baldheads out of the yown.
PLEASE, please, please read in full, then forward to senators, Lamestream Media news (in-state affiliates, news departments), friends, enemies, whomever.....
This is written by: "Paul Savoy is a former prosecutor and professor of constitutional law, and a past dean of the John F. Kennedy University School of Law." [That's what's written at the bottom of the page.]
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012906X.shtml
Mr. Smith Comes to Washington
How many senators does is take to launch a filibuster? If you said 41, you'd be wrong. It takes only one.
~~~~~~~
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter has defended Judge Alito's refusal to answer specific questions from Democratic senators aimed at showing the American people just how frightening a Justice Alito would be. The distinguished senator from Pennsylvania has declared that the nominee "has answered questions as far he could go." Judge Alito said it would not be "appropriate" for a judicial nominee to express his views on issues that might come before him if he were appointed to the Court. Well, it turns out that Judge Alito and Senator Specter are wrong. Who says? The Supreme Court. That's who says.
In 2002, the Supreme Court, in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765, declared that it is not only proper for a judicial candidate to express his views on disputed legal issues - the First Amendment guarantees him the right to do so. In an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, and joined by then-Chief Justice Rehnquist, and Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Thomas, the Court concluded that a Minnesota canon of judicial conduct which prohibited a candidate for judicial office from announcing his position on abortion rights and other controversial issues violated his right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
The Minnesota decision yields three fundamental constitutional principles:
First, a judicial nominee has a First Amendment right to express his specific legal views on controversial issues even if they are likely to come before him should he be confirmed.
Second, a necessary corollary of the nominee's right to express his views is the right of the people and their representatives in the Senate to know them. This right entitles the people to know not only a nominee's judicial philosophy or general legal views, but, according to the Court in the Minnesota case, how those views are "exemplified by application to a particular issue of construction likely to come before [the] court - for example, whether a particular statute runs afoul of any provision of the Constitution."
Third, and most important, in the absence of specific answers to senators' questions about a nominee's views, his confirmation would be a violation of the Constitution's Article II requirement that the Senate exercise its "Advice and Consent" function in an informed manner. This implication from the Court's Minnesota decision, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg explained in her dissent, is clear: "[B]y the court's reasoning, the reticence of prospective and current federal judicial nominees dishonors Article II, for it deprives the President and the Senate of information that might aid or advance the decision to nominate or confirm."
The Court specifically rebuffed the kinds of arguments Judge Alito's supporters have made in defense of his refusal to answer questions about whether he believes Roe v. Wade should be overruled, or if the President acted unlawfully when he ordered electronic eavesdropping on Americans without a warrant. Announcing his views, Alito's defenders argue, would compromise his impartiality. They say that a preconceived view about the law would make a judge less open-minded in deciding particular cases.
Resoundingly rejecting this argument, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority in the Minnesota case, said, "A judge's lack of predisposition regarding the relevant legal issues in a case has never been thought a necessary component of equal justice, and with good reason. For one thing, it is virtually impossible to find a judge who does not have preconceptions about the law."
Quoting from an earlier opinion by Rehnquist regarding the Supreme Court itself, Scalia continued: "Since most Justices come to this bench no earlier than their middle years, it would be unusual if they had not by that time formulated at least some tentative notions that would influence them in their interpretation of the sweeping clauses of the Constitution and their interaction with one another."
"Indeed, even if it were possible to select judges who did not have preconceived views on legal issues," Scalia declared, "it would hardly be desirable to do so." Quoting Rehnquist again, Scalia wrote: "Proof that a Justice's mind at the time he joined the Court was a complete tabula rasa in the area of constitutional adjudication would be evidence of lack of qualification, not lack of bias." The "blank mind" argument, Scalia quipped, "contemplates a federal bench filled with the unfit."
~~~~~~~~~
The prospect of an unconstitutional confirmation gives rise to "extraordinary circumstances" - the standard agreed upon by a bipartisan group of 7 Republican and 7 Democratic senators (the so-called Gang of 14) to justify a filibuster.
To defeat a "cloture" motion to end debate, supporters of a filibuster do not actually have to gather 41 votes to defeat the motion; they merely have to persuade enough colleagues to simply abstain from voting so that filibuster opponents do not achieve the 60 votes required for cloture. For example, a 59-29 vote to end debate, with 12 senators abstaining, would not be sufficient to carry a cloture motion, and Judge Alito's nomination could not be brought to an up-or-down vote.
The abstention option provides the necessary cover for Democratic senators who do not want to participate in a filibuster, but who can be persuaded to at least refrain from denying colleagues the Senate's more than 200-year-old privilege to speak on an issue for as long as a senator wishes. Respecting that privilege is imperative when, as here, a filibuster is conducted to (1) inform the American people of their First Amendment right to know a nominee's views, and (2) honor a senator's duty under Article II to block a judicial appointment that would be unconstitutional.
{{{I've cherry-picked the sections that screamed at me for attention, so these excerpts may look out of context. Please click on link and read for full comprehension. The senators need to be beaten over the head with this one so they understand that we KNOW the "Gang of 14" doesn't set the rules and speak for everyone. Constitutional Law and the previous SCOTUS decision in the MN case have set precedent... (and Scalia's words, BTW!!!)}}}
A Song from MJS over at Correntwire
My Little Magical Pen
Int. Oval Office, Day
Bush enters, throws back the curtains, plops down in his chair, and picks up his Magical Pen. He squints at it, smiles, and begins to sing:
I sure love you
My little magical pen
I can make you cross out everything
The who, the what and when
I can make disappearable
The rights of men
Oh, I love you
My little magical pen
(chorus, to be sung by Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Alberto Gonzalez, Dick Cheney & Condoleeza Rice)
Ooh, you got it
Ooh, it's good
Ooh, you got it
When you got it
You should use it
Use it good
I can make history
Into something new
I can take the factual
And turn it into goo
I sure love to cross out
Stuff that bugs me so
I crossed out the Geneva Convention
At Guantanamo
(repeat chorus)
Oooh, you got it
Ooh, it's good
Oooh, you got it
When you got it
You should use it
Use it good
Yes, I love it
My little magical pen
I will use it
On the Constitution
And if everyone
Had a magical pen
We could wipe out everything
And start all over again
(repeat chorus)
Oooh, you got it
Ooh, it's good
Oooh, you got it
When you got it
You should use it
Use it good
http://www.correntewire.com/george_bush_set_to_star_in_musical_part_i
I just got back from a long journey. I heard about 5 seconds of Fox news. Allegedly, it's only the far left that doesn't want Alito and Reid took a bribe from Abramhoff and changed his vote on casinos too--all according to Fox.
In the same breath, not one other particle of information about other groups opposed to Alito was given. And not one tiny spec of ALL the Republicans who accepted the Abramhoff bribes was given.
Now don't get me wrong, if Reid took this payback as they implied, then shame on him! However, Fox news was bashing both Kerry and Reid while letting every republican off the hook.
I sincerely hope average people can read the writing on the wall. Fox news is NOT a legitimate news organization.
I sincerely hope average people can read the writing on the wall. Fox news is NOT a legitimate news organization.
Posted by: sparrow at January 29, 2006 04:02 PM
Snark of the day,
Well bust my buttons, you don't say......
Posted by: sparrow at January 29, 2006 04:02 PM
Nor, it seems, are any of the others, if what Ted Koppel wrote on the above link someone else posted. I thought after 9/11 that his brain had atrophied, but he seems to be coming back to some kind of conscious thinking pattern since his retirement.
Contact the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) phone - 202-224-2447. Their fax is 202-969-0354. Their email is info@dscc.org. No money ever again unless there is a filibuster.
Thread music...
Wildflowers
by Tom Petty
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worries
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who appeared with Thune on “Fox News Sunday,”, said all White House correspondence, phone calls and meetings with Abramoff “absolutely” should be released.
“I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity,” Pence said. “The American people have profound confidence in him.”
Posted by: monkey at January 29, 2006 07:46 PM
Beautiful song. Whatever you do, don't let Georgie know of it, he'll have them blaring it over the loud speakers the Muslims use for corporate prayer. (You know, over there where them eevill doerrs live, where he's gonna smoke 'em out and hunt 'em down, an git 'em buhfore they git us, git 'em dead or alaahve, heh heh. Yeah, over there."
"I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity," Pence said. "The American people have profound confidence in him."
Posted by: monkey at January 29, 2006 08:14 PM
Do tell. Swear on a stack of bibles?
What IS it they have been drinking? I understand, mind you, that they have to self medicate in order to tolerate staying "in the club", but this guy sounds like he O.D.'d.
from MJS at CorrenteWire
Song In The Key Of A Well-Oiled Man
Submitted by MJS on Mon, 2006-01-09 23:55.
A Suit to Suit a Viper
I took a viper and I put him in a suit
I combed his hair across his head
To make him look real cute
I reminded him to keep his venom low
I taught him everything I know
Everything I know
I found a scorpion and trained him how to sit
He practiced tea and sympathy
His act was quite a hit
I took his stinger and wrapped it in a bow
I taught him everything I know
Everything I know
(chorus)
They sit angelic, composed and full of grace
They learn their lines by heart and keep a poker face
I know the world will benefit when they are truly free
To come and poison you and me
To come and posion you and me
I spied a vampire and put him to the test
Got him a lawyer and then
Sued God for damages
I told him: "be patient, blood will surely flow"
I taught him everything I know
Everything I know
I gussied up a tumor and took it to DC
And there it had a great career
It acted naturally
At the cocktail parties it always thanks the host
I taught it everything I know
Everything I know
(chorus)
They sit angelic, composed and full of grace
They learn their lines by heart and keep a poker face
I know the world will benefit when they are truly free
To come and poison you and me
To come and posion you and me
I took a viper and I put him in a suit
I combed his hair across his head
To make him look real cute
more.....
+++
One may smile and smile and be a villain
Hamlet
Wm. Shakespeare
http://www.correntewire.com/song_in_the_key_of_a_well_oiled_man
River of Freedom - Deeelite
We've been building this ship for years
'cause the river is made tears
And now we're drifting
down the river of freedom
And now we're on our way
on our way...
The sails are made from our dreams
there'll be better days downstream
And now we're drifting
down the river of freedom
And now we're on our way
on our way...
Please let our spirit last
we're raising up our last mast
And now we're drifting
down the river of freedom
on our way
on our way
on our way
just heard a story about Roy Blunt and a $5,000 campaign contributor who runs a 900 sex line.
Lets hope that he and Ralph Reed become the face of the the Republican Party this year with their so called moral values and their betrayal of faith and trust.
As Jo Connason recently wrote about the Abramoff scandal, "rarely has the contrast b/w the rhetoric of the religious right and the behavior of its leaders been so starkly exposd." Hopefully that hypocrisy and wedge within evangelical voters will truly be exposed by our efforts.
It is that betrayal of faith based voters we should start exploring; especially here in the south.
I agree that the filibuster is more than uphill, and the media never informed what was really said during the hearings. But the hearings, generally, weren't that effective, and with the kabuki and coaching never can be.
Looking at Obama's reluctance above, the Senators don't like being shamed into this, when the public could really use this education at what is at stake. They felt it safer to not rock the boat into midterms. We did that in 2002, badly.
They seem to be taking a rally around the wagons against Kerry on this. This after the election was stolen from him. What's going on there?
A big snarky.
"I'm one who believes that more is better, in terms of disclosure and transparency," said Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. "And so I'd be a big advocate for making records that are out there available."
snip
"The president has refused to reveal how much access Abramoff had to the White House, but has said he does not know Abramoff personally. Bush has said federal prosecutors are welcome to see the records of Abramoff's contacts if they suspect something inappropriate, but he has not released them publicly."
"Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, who appeared with Thune on "Fox News Sunday,", said all White House correspondence, phone calls and meetings with Abramoff "absolutely" should be released."
CNN All Politics
Then why doesn't Congress or a Special Prosecutor, start, by demanding the immediate release of the notes b/w Abramoff and the Bush trasition team. This story was resported last week by E. J. Dionne in the Washington Post where he said:
"This careful judge of what it means to be an "honorable public servant" had reason to prefer the Bush administration's taste in appointees. After the 2000 election, Abramoff was named to the Bush transition team for the Interior Department, which regulates the Indian casinos that paid Abramoff his inflated fees."
this was a really great quote I read on Daily Kos by Bob Beckel about how a filibuster can be seen as the right strategy:
"Sometimes politicans do things out of conviction and many Democrats are supporting a filibuster because they really believe that he should not be on the Supreme Court."
snip
" This may look like a ragged strategy in some respects, but it is good for us to be seen doing things that have no obvious political advantage and for which we can legitimately claim to have taken the moral high ground."
I like the ring of the phrase of " Doing Things that have No Obvious Political Advantage". Isn't that what we are constantly being told that Democrats are unwilling to do? Taking bold stands even knowing there is no political advanatge. We call that Backbone.
As Jo Connason recently wrote about the Abramoff scandal, "rarely has the contrast b/w the rhetoric of the religious right and the behavior of its leaders been so starkly exposd." Hopefully that hypocrisy and wedge within evangelical voters will truly be exposed by our efforts.
It is that betrayal of faith based voters we should start exploring; especially here in the south.
Posted by: Ira at January 29, 2006 09:14 PM
Boy, Ira, that is so true. If we only had a way to get to the rural areas and to their churches the same way Rove did. I would be happy to man the thing if anybody has any ideas, please let me know. I would take it on as my baby!
Couldn't do it 40 hours a week, but probably could do 30 hrs. per week well.
We need finances, printers, fax machines, a phone bank, and in last resort, snail mail like Dobson and Robertson mail. The real mail is frought with cost challenges.
I really honestly would do it if I could team up with someone I'd give it my all. I could use some help from others in giving input to how to get it started, etc.
I missed hearing from Polly Sigh this week. Hope she is okay.
She's probably on a secret rendevous with Mr. "X".
Been sending emails like crazy, folks. They should be in tonight because they vote tomorrow, don't they? Tomorrow morning?
truth mabe we or the DNC could start an independent site called "Betrayl of Faith" with stories about Ralph Reed, Roy Blunt, The Dukester. just kidding.
Better Yet why don't we make that a headlines for discussion here.
That's the best poem I ever read. Period.
Bush's speechwriter calls his office the "bat cave"
Bush adviser Dan Bartlett said on CNN’s “Late Edition” that prosecutors investigating Abramoff have not asked for any White House records. “They haven’t done that because they’re not relevant,” Bartlett said.
He rejected Democratic calls for an independent prosecutor to investigate. “Were going to let the career prosecutors do their job and I’ll bet they get to the bottom of it,” Bartlett said.
truth mabe we or the DNC could start an independent site called "Betrayl of Faith" with stories about Ralph Reed, Roy Blunt, The Dukester. just kidding.
Better Yet why don't we make that a headlines for discussion here.
Posted by: Ira at January 29, 2006 09:45 PM
I would do it, I swear. Suz has been telling me she thinks I should set up a website for people who need to know the truth about how they have been deceived. Startin with Reed, and Delay. Halalooloo and all that jazz.
That's the best poem I ever read. Period.
Posted by Victoria Ellen at January 29, 2006 10:03 PM
Which one was that, Vic?
Oh, a lonely little blogger am I. I have no one to play with. No one to play with.
I like the ring of the phrase of " Doing Things that have No Obvious Political Advantage". Isn't that what we are constantly being told that Democrats are unwilling to do? Taking bold stands even knowing there is no political advanatge. We call that Backbone.
Posted by: Ira at January 29, 2006 09:37 PM
Ira,
I was thinking about the situation earlier today. We are all in this together. We have a responsibility to support the Senators as well. The more e-mails, faxes, and phone calls we deliver to their offices, the more strength we provide them in this very difficult time. Similarly the greater the communication we have with those Senators who have not committed to supporting the filibuster, the less likely they are to get in the way of our efforts to save the Supreme Court from a political appointee. Also the less likely they are to say something foolish about the filibuster. As the Senators see more people personally invested in this effort, the more likely they will understand that the movement is beyond politics.
Hello everyone!
I love that poem- I copied, printed and it is now on MY refridgerator.
I wanted to share a diary I posted at Dailykos. I comment alot on the threads, but never post a diary entry. This one is on the Jack Abramoff-Gale Norton-Bush White House (via the DOI)-Tom DeLay-GOP web.
It is a compilation of links and excerpts but it tells quite a story. A story of GOP corruption writ large!
You can check it out here
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/29/224644/068
After reading those archived news stories, I can only say I am totally and utterly disgusted at the depths to which this GOP will sink for a freaking buck.
It's just sick.
I now understand why Bush won't give up his photos with Abramoff- this scandal and no doubt criminal investigation is going deep into the White House via the DOI.
Ironically, and sadly, the DOI oversees the BIA, which is supposed to be fulfilling the federal government's trust responsibilities to federally recognized Indian tribes. Unfortunately under Bush, this DOI is all about exploiting tribes for money and GOP power.
It was a long and busy weekend, and I checked in today to see if there words I could lend to the cause.
What I found here was renewed inspiration for me.
Today is a very challenging day: teaching, delivering thank you notes and more to Sen. Kerry's office (no bribes though! We just don't do that on our side...), dropping in on 2 different Cindy Sheehan events, rehearsal, planning for tomorrow night in front of the Capitol...
I felt a little weary this morning, truth be told. But reading this thread--well, to ALL of you:
In Washington, we have your backs this week. And keep the support and phone calls and faxes, and great words coming.
Love, peace, and justice for all.
And on that poem that Ann posted up top--it was sent to me by none other than Ms. Casey, the DCP Blog Editor, on a day last year when I really, really needed it.
And she knew it...thanks.