Darfur: UPDATE

Time for Benson on Snow...

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

Hello, it's Monday May 1. Do you know what your government is doing today?

Check out today's FIve Minutes A Day. We, your fellow citizens, need your help--anyone reading this.

If we do not continue to work together, to act in concert, to stay focused, we risk losing this life, this planet, and our children's future.

I know how easily it is to become overwhelmed--happens to me all the time. But we are the people we have been waiting for and we must continue the fight.

The democracy cell notion is one of agency and action, participation and accountability. We need those five minute actions, and each of us must figure out how to do our part. If everyone acts, no one has to do it all.

Please let us know what actions you are taking today--on Darfur, impeachment, against torture, the war, Iran...

Actions I'm taking today: staying home, not spending any money, not using any gas, reading up & arming myself with knowledge & info needed to deal with national/global/political issues, making calls/writing letters to Congress RE: those issues...

BTW, there seemed to be a theme in many of the articles I read yesterday online & in printed media: Know who you are as a liberal, be proud of it, and act on it.

The NYTimes obit of Galbraith was inspiring, IMHO, because it emphasized how rational his theories were and how well they can work, if implemented. http://tinyurl.com/zwnxy = NYTimes

Another article in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine section called "The Rehabilitation of the Cold-War Liberal" discussed political theories of Reinhold Niebuhr & George F. Kennan as well as how conservatives have destroyed the true American spirit & how liberals can win it back... Here's one paragraph that struck me, but I highly recommend reading the entire article...

"But before Vietnam, and the disappointment and confusion it spawned, liberals did have a clear story of their own. In the late 1940's and 1950's, intellectuals like Reinhold Niebuhr and policymakers like George F. Kennan described America's cold-war struggle differently from their conservative counterparts: as a struggle not merely for democracy but for economic opportunity as well, in the belief that the former required the latter to survive. Even more important, they described America itself differently. Americans may fight evil, they argued, but that does not make us inherently good. And paradoxically, that very recognition makes national greatness possible. Knowing that we, too, can be corrupted by power, we seek the constraints that empires refuse. And knowing that democracy is something we pursue rather than something we embody, we advance it not merely by exhorting others but by battling the evil in ourselves. The irony of American exceptionalism is that by acknowledging our common fallibility, we inspire the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/magazine/30liberal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

And finally, Josh Marshall @ TPM talked about how to win political battles and how Dems & liberals need to be on the offense, not defense as we near mid-terms. The GOP/Bush regime's poll numbers are tanking & they'll use any political trick in the book to regain any footing they can -- including escalating the situation with Iran. As Marshall says...

"With respect to what's coming on Iran, what is in order is a little honesty, just as was the case with the Social Security debate a year ago. The only crisis with Iran is the crisis with the president's public approval ratings. Period. End of story. The Iranians are years, probably as long as a decade away, and possibly even longer from creating even a limited yield nuclear weapon. Ergo, the only reason to ramp up a confrontation now is to help the president's poll numbers."
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/008333.php

That's my 2 pesos worth for the day. Now off to do what I said I'd do...

I bow down to you, madame. You are a force!

Bolten made no promises of pulling up President Bush's all-time low approval ratings, but he said he and Bush have decided they want to be more open with the media and the public.

"We've taken advice from a lot of folks that we ought to put the president out more in ways that the American people can see what he's really like," Bolten said on "Fox News Sunday."

-snip-

Josh Bolten, who said Bush calls him "Yosh" and several other unrepeatable nicknames, said he has the benefit of experience with Bush and is prepared to deliver Bush bad news he may not want to hear sometimes.

"He doesn't necessarily change his mind, but there's no penalty internally for disagreeing with the group or with the president," Bolten said. "But I say internally, because he's very much a CEO, and when he makes a decision, then everybody within the White House should salute and get in line, at least publicly, with that decision."

http://tinyurl.com/jc5sa

Heel clicking or tap dancing?

Karen - I'm humbled. You are the master.

‘Mission Accomplished’ By The Numbers

On May 1, 2003, President Bush stood underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner and announced that “Major combat operations have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

Here’s a look at the situation then compared to the situation now, by the numbers, compliments of Think Progress:

U.S. Troops Wounded
May 1, 2003:542
Today: 17,469

U.S. Troops Killed
May 1, 2003: 139
Today: 2,400

Size of U.S. Forces
May 1, 2003: 150,000
Today: 132,000

Size of Iraqi Security Forces
May 1, 2003: 7,000-9000
Today: 250,500

Number of Insurgents
May 1, 2003: 5,000
Today: 5,000-20,000

Insurgent Attacks Per Day
May 1, 2003: 8
Today: 75

Cost to U.S. Taxpayers
May 1, 2003: $79 billion
Today: $320 billion

Approval of Bush’s Handling of Iraq
May 1, 2003: 75%
Today: 37%

Percentage of Americans who Believe The Iraq War Was “Worth Fighting”
May 1, 2003: 70%
Today: 41%

Bush’s Overall Job Approval
May 1, 2003: 71%
Today: 38%

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/01/mission-accomplished-by-the-numbers/

Heel clicking or tap dancing?

Posted by: monkey at May 1, 2006 11:44 AM

Musical chairs and snake dancing.

Posted by: madame defarge at May 1, 2006 09:29 AM

Excellent material, thanks. Might I add, as we all know, Ergo, the only other reason to ramp up a confrontation now is to help the Neocon's profit margins.

I cannot believe it as I watch the news. They are using the SAME EXACT phrases, word for word, that they used in the prelude to the Iraq war, only this time it's Iran. SAME EXACT.

Deja-voo-doo

Just for the heck of it I watched a whole two hours of Faux Snooze over the weekend. You would think I was living on a different planet! The President Bush I saw on there was clever, smart, and doing a heckuva job. Wonder if Faux Snooze's ratings are tanking as bad as their fearless leader's.

Casey, these wonderful words today in your header fill me with hope. If we can unite to end human suffering in Darfur, we can do it to end human suffering elsewhere.

If we fix our problems here at home the best we can, as Chuck was saying last night - get the jalopy running, we might go somewhere. We would be free to help others.

Greatness begins inside ourselves, then inside our communities and then in our collective community. Grassroots out, but only when we are great and stable are we truly free and able to help others as we would like to.

Immigration and Darfur are valid issues. I am pleased to see get behind the message and take it to the streets. I do wonder, however, if part of the organization of such could be a Rovian ploy to divert our focus and attention. Beware.

Truth Shall Prevail
I think our task is to keep our focus on all of the issues we can at once & try to connect the dots. I think we can do that without Rove or anyone else directing the show.

& as for Mission Accomplished, here is more:

Cindy Sheehan | Mission Accomplished Day
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050106A.shtml
"The Mission Accomplished Day (or Operation Codpiece) public relations dream for the presidential pelvic zone has turned into a frighteningly real nightmare for so many people around the world who have had sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and oftentimes entire families wiped out and devastated by the strutting and smirking terrorist who was feeling mighty "chipper" last night at the Washington Correspondent's annual dinner as the 2,400th soldier was being killed and as the 2,400th Gold Star Mother was falling on the floor screaming for her child," writes Cindy Sheehan.

Operation Codpiece - don't you love it?!!

Chicago police are reporting an estimated 400,000 people have gathered in Grant Park for the immigration day protest.

Way to go, Chicago!!!

BTW...there are many great photos from yesterday's Darfur all over the internets...

Here's one site that has 92 of them...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88987769@N00/sets/72057594121546568/show/

And here's one I love (and you'll know why once you open it...) that shows a son's absolute pride & love for his father...
http://snsimages.tribune.com/media/photo/2006-05/23212979.jpg

Here are pictures from today's immigration rally in SF:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=5&f=/c/a/2006/05/01/MNGICIIC5Q23.DTL

If I came from another planet & read reader comments such as from the supposedly-liberal Seattle P-I (on immigration issue), I could concluded that I had dropped into a racist, hateful & selfish planet. I'm hoping the thing was "freeped" - if not, I am horrified.

There was one I agreed with (I realize the person is generalizing because there are plenty of immigrants who are white, such as from Ukraine, & there are plenty of minorities & immigrants who are negative toward certain immigrants, especially if they don't have legal status. & I am thinking back to when I was a nursing home contractor in health care - we had East African nurses' aids, Ethiopian nurses, Hispanic & Filipino kitchen help. I had no idea what people's legal status was, but I saw who applied for the jobs & these people were NOT taking jobs away from anyone, as they were generally the only applicants.
_____________________________________________________________
So this is from the newspaper comments & the only comment that didn't piss me off, as I do realize the privilege conferred on one by being native to this country.

"Yes (sarcasm) the biggest problem in the USA today is a bunch of Hispanic people working the most crappiest jobs you could imagine for literally change.

I would say the biggest problem is a bunch of Lottery ticket holding white people who feel because they are BORN in America that they are ENTITLED to an easy job, a big house in the suburbs, 3 weeks vacation, an SUV with $1.50 gas, and the right to pig out to such an extent that our nation is the fattest group of people who ever inhabited the planet.

Well due to many circumstances, mostly economic, these days are in the past for many people.... So what do they do? They look for an easy scapegoat -- "Ahh The problem is for us dumb whities, is all the HARD WORKING South American people running around this country working all of these crap jobs for peanuts that no fat, lazy, entitled American wants to work"

Most of these "Illegals" are just here to work. We are benefitting tremendously from their labor. Most of these people are also living in fear. Think about it -- What a life, 60 hours of week of hard work in fast food restaurants, yards or housekeeping or meat processing plants and the rest of the time they live in fear of getting caught.

Savvyman is here to tell you, America has so many more problems that are more important to deal with then beating up on the hardworking, south american immigrants that we are benefitting greatly from their being here."

Posted by: madame defarge at May 1, 2006 09:29 AM

Thanks for that roundup and inspiration, madame.

What I did today...sadly, used gas to get to work. Refrained from purchasing food at the grocery store.

Armed myself with knowledge by reading your great post.

Posted by: sparrow at May 1, 2006 06:44 PM

Ya gotta do whatcha ya gotta do... And you do so much good.

OT, but I've read a lot today on the internets about Stephen Colbert's magnificent performance at the WH press dinner. Here's one analysis I found that I think really gets it... (I apologize for posting the entire piece...)

Colbert is a flipping genius and no one's "Monkey".
Posted by mikelewis

It took me a few times of watching Stephen Colbert's performance at the Yearly Press Presidential Love-Fest before I finally understood what I was watching. The first time I watched it, I was severely un-impressed. It wasn't extremely funny. Save for a few well-aimed zingers, the performance did not appear to be comedy genius.

I watched his speech last night on the net and then caught it again today on C-Span. I managed to watch most of the program this time however as the net only had Stephen's performance (or at least, that's all I cared about seeing.) As I sat and watched our beloved Press Corp lavish praise on themselves for doing a "heckuva" job and Bush's "charming dummy" impersonation, I found myself looking forward to Stephen's performance; not because I knew he was going to make me laugh but because I knew he wasn't going to be their "Monkey".

Stephen didn't go up there to make people laugh, he went up there and showed them EXACTLY how some people see Them. He went up as a sycophantic Republican Bush boot-licker and rubbed shit right in everyone of their faces. And as I sat looking forward to his speech, I remembered Jon Stewart on Crossfire and that's pretty much when I understood the brilliance of Stephen Colbert. When Jon was on Crossfire, he took the opportunity to hold an open forum on how our shitty, shitty press is "hurting America". Jon sat down and side-swiped two terrible TV government salesmen and left them flabbergasted and stammering. Ironically, they were canceled shortly thereafter, go figure, hopefully Stephen will be as influential.

When Stephen began to speak, all these thoughts were sort of swirling around in my head and I figured out what I was about to watch. As his masterful performance unfolded, I realized he was not only raising up every sleazy, scandalous issue he could dredge up from the memory hole, he was also intentionally insulting every "important person" in the room. All of them except Helen Thomas. For her, he saved a special honor, he showed everyone in the room how tenacious and true Helen has been not only to her profession but to her country. The image of little ol' Helen Thomas chasing the Administration around all by her lonesome may have went right over the heads of those "journalists" in the room but I got it and thought is just as fitting a tribute as a room full of roses. From Jeff Gannon to Dick Cheney to Scalia to General Pace to Rumsfeld to the entire Press Corp, he showed them their own hypocrisy. Not understanding, they all sat with fake smiles and polite laughs while he skewered every one of them. But of course, he saved the most lavish disdain for Bush. As the speech dragged knives through the room, everyone of them was aimed at Bush, like daggers to the heart. As the camera would dare, from time to time, to catch a brief glimpse of our "decider" in Chief, you could see that he was most certainly not amused. In fact, he looked a bit insulted. After Bush's wonderful "see-I'm-charming-idiot" routine where he tried to show the world what a "nice" dictator he can be, Colbert burst his imaginary balloon and then kicked shit in his face.

When the lights came back on and the room sat in "shock and awe" at the humiliation they were forced to endure with fake smiles still plastered on their faces, I cheered. I thought to myself, "Holy shit." A more remarkable show of bravery and contempt I have never seen. When Jon knocked the legs out from under Crossfire, I thought it'd be a long time before I saw a show it's equal. Stephen wasn't their "Monkey" either and he showed them up by turning a mirror on many of the lies we've all had to live with. He showed them how disgusting fawning for favor or cowering in fear really is. He showed them how we see them and now they understand why we don't like them.

Few events like this have happened in these last five years. In the end, his performance was all "Sound and fury, Signifying nothing", yet watching the bravery of one who stood so close to a pack of demons and had the courage to honor an Angel seems a sight I probably won't see again for some time. I would like to thank Stephen for having the guts to pull off this stunt. He said everything I've always wanted to say to these asses and he did it in a way I never could, even if I had the guts to try. Good Job Stephen Colbert, you rat-bastard Republican media whore, and thanks for the laughs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1069064

Have not spent anything anywhere for any reason. I support what the immigrants are doing and I support stopping the horrors in Darfur.

However, I can't help wondering if the same amount of people, or even the same people, would also amass and march in the same numbers to protest DumDum's Iraq/Afghanistan war , and/or protest attacking Iran who won't have nuclear weapons capability for at least ten years, and the illegal detention and torture of people.... Only time will tell, but as long as people are in a demonstrating mood, and if the weather stays good (it's been raining here today), would people also come out to protest the horrors of the administration and the de facto dictator "leading" this country...???

NonnyO
I think protesters for all 3 causes (Darfur, Iraq war, immigrant rights) should join into one movement. After all, human greed & consumption make all 3 problems happen - the poverty & starvation, war & exploitation. & the same outfit profits all the time - the greedy corporations & the CEOs at the pig trough. Then poor average Joe votes to make it all possible.

Imagine if the internet had been available during the Vietnam war & the Civil Rights movement, not to mention the rise of environmentalism & the resurgence of feminism & gay rights!
Activism & backlash wuold both have been amplified!

I had coffee today with an artist that I met at our B&B in NYC only she lives in our neighborhood, but I never knew her in Seattle. She was comparing the plights of gays, women, immigrants, minorities & poor - in all their overlap. She said there are people who wish we would return to a time of SHAME when groups did not seek their rights but kept their silence & stayed in their place (slave, guest worker, subjugated wife, closet case etc.) I think she made a good point!

I think there are parallels in all the social justice movements & I think that globalization & greed are behind everything that everyone is fighting.

Posted by: DiAnne at May 1, 2006 07:02 PM

I agree; these issues cross lines - all have a bottom line involving economics.

I have tried to catch some infotainment snooze in Lamestream Media, and they're actually covering the immigrant marches, sometimes in depth. It's caught me by surprise, actually, since it was the lead story on in-state news, and on at least one national news network. I didn't really think they'd cover it much, but believed they would shunt it to the background and dismiss it like they have the anti-war and anti-torture marches the last few months.

So, it leaves me wondering what's in it for Lamestream Media if they cover immigrant marches, but not anti-war and anti-torture & illegal detention protests.... And, quite frankly, it's really hypocritical of the US to send anyone to Darfur to tell them what to do regarding human rights abuses when we have illegal detention centers and prisoners are being tortured at those same places. We lost our "moral high ground" when DumDum was installed as our 'leader' and started an illegal war and sanctioned torture in *our* names (even if we disagree and deplore those actions), so 'we' have zero wiggle-room to tell anyone from any other country what to do or how to treat its people....

We need to clean up our own back yard and clean our own windows before casting stones....

Vermonters deliver impeachment resolutions to Congress
By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian

Posted May 1, 2006

WASHINGTON — An effort that began in March culminated Monday when three Vermont communities delivered a message to House Speaker Dennis Hastert: Start the process to impeach Pres. George Bush.

Six Vermont towns passed resolutions on Town Meeting Day calling for Bush’s impeachment. On Monday, Ellen Tenney, a bookstore owner from Rockingham, hand delivered petitions to Hastert, an Illinois Republican.

Neither Hastert nor his chief of staff was there when the office opened, as many members of Congress are not in Washington on Mondays. Tenney described the meeting with Hastert’s staff members who were in the office as “bland and not very friendly.”

She said it should have been no surprise that the petitions would be delivered.

“I had called and told him that we were coming, but I couldn’t get anyone to call me back to set up an actual appointment,” said Tenney, who was joined by representatives from AfterDowningStreet.org and ImpeachPAC.org, two web-based organizations that have been encouraging Bush’s impeachment. She was also joined by Julia DeWalt, daughter of Newfane Selectman Dan DeWalt, and a chief author of that town’s resolution, which sparked interest by other towns in Vermont.

Julia DeWalt handed the first of the petitions, that of Newfane’s, to Hastert’s staff.

“It feels like my child's first steps,” Dan DeWalt told the Guardian, “simultaneously a huge event, and painfully reflective of the enormous distance yet to go.”

After meeting with Hastert’s staff, Tenney delivered copies of the resolutions to Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, where an impeachment probe must originate in Congress.

Tenney said she paid those visits to ensure others in Congress knew of the Vermont towns’ intentions, and to keep them apprised of the process from here.

She hopes to enlist volunteers in the coming weeks to deliver copies of the resolutions to every member of Congress.

Messages left by the Guardian with the offices of Hastert, Conyers and Sanders were not immediately returned.

Tenney said no major media outlets covered the event at Hastert’s office, even though one news organization, Reuters, had said it would send a reporter and photographer.

“In some ways it might have been better to have waited until we had them all in hand, but I think it might be better to have them trickle in from all over the place instead of one big bang, and as the numbers get larger as more resolutions get passed, perhaps the press will start turning their heads,” said Tenney.

She added that she did not expect “wild” or “massive” press coverage. “But, this is the little people, this is the grassroots and going to Conyers office symbolized the coming together of the grassroots with the people on the inside,” she added.

more...
http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/052006/ImpeachmentPetitions.shtml

Calling all women. Calling all women.

Join the White House Project and get going now.

http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/

http://www.voterunlead.org/campaigns/inviteawoman/index.cfm

Go Vermont! Right on!!!!

My friend Henry is a Thai immigrant, up from Portland.
We went to the park where the march originated & got an idea of the size. We made an estimate of 20,000, maybe more. I know the march stretched 8 city blocks & traversed about two miles. Everyone dressed in black, many with American flags & it was a silent march. We found & photographed a "Buddha car" - more on that later, & then ended up in a massive traffic jam as we tried to leave & found the only route was traversed by mucho marchers. We saw a very young east African woman in a veil, stranded in traffic with an over-heating car. Then we saw a succession of emergency vehicles & when we got home, we found out that some idiot had run an SUV right through the crowd. What we had seen from a distance, we saw via overhead helicopter on tv.

Just now noticing that in the Netherlands they have an interesting test for immigrants - they are to watch a video about how permissive Dutch society is & if they can't handle it, they are not to come. Maybe we need something like that, but there are probably some who already live here & were born here who would decide to leave!!

Funny - all these people trying to get INTO America, & many conversations I have with friends are when, how and whether we want to be expats, if so, what is the trigger event that will make us decide we've had enough & then the critical question - Canada, Mexico or elsewhere & will they have us? Or should be just be illegals?!

On another note, am hoping the city & community impeachment resolutions will pick up steam, even if largely symbolic, like the ones on not invading Iraq & not observing the Patriot act.

We did hear Bush on NPR, in his usual whining nasal tones, going on about the anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" and how the freed & liberated citizens of Iraq can soon realize their dreams. It didn't even make sense, really.

TV just said WA has perhaps the highest concentration of Hispanic immigrants.

NPR mentioned the Pew survey while we were driving home - they broke it down by occupational group - percentage of food workers, drywallers, etc etc that are Hispanic in the US. Only 5% or less of the total population, but some occupations are as high as 30% Hispanic workers. These are not taking jobs that other people want & if we did not have these people doing these jobs, it would create a vacuum. I have been a dishwasher & I have been a nurse's aid but like many others, it was only temporary. I certainly don't feel like I had to compete for those jobs with someone who was going to come in & squeeze me out.

This is a nation of immigrants & it's always easy for someone to scapegoat another group or race. As was pointed out on NPR, some people are children of immigrants & they do want to support their parents. Babies do not choose where they are born. I certainly didn't!

Oh - here is the Pew site

http://pewhispanic.org/factsheets/factsheet.php?FactsheetID=17

Good to have the facts as there is alot of hearsay and BS going around.

In the interests of not being biased, I'm studying this amazing white rights site. They think that leftists want more Hispanics so there will be more leftwing voters. Actually, they must have read my mind (only I'm afraid of the kind of backlash that AllyMcL talks about re Koreans & Cubans too, because of social conservatism - but enough repression & discrimination may nip that in the bud)

http://www.whitecivilrights.com/

(CBS) With gas prices sky-high and no end of the Iraq war in sight, President George W. Bush's approval rating hits an all-time low in a new CBS News poll.

Only 33 percent approve of his job performance, Mr. Bush's lowest approval rating yet in CBS News polls. A majority – 58 percent of those polled – say they disapprove of the president. Mr. Bush appears to be losing support from his own party. His approval rating among Republicans has dropped to 68 percent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/01/opinion/polls/main1567675.shtml

By the way...I heard on Ed Schultz that a school district in E. Tennessee had to shut down for 2 days this week because of the gas crisis. I guess there are many more children left behind while Bush and the NeoCons continue to let the war profiteers plunder our national security and now our education system too.

High gas prices may be good for our diet.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060429-9999-1b29fast.html

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. May 1, 2006 (AP)— Rush Limbaugh must submit to random drug tests under an agreement filed Monday that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against the conservative commentator after 18 months if he complies with the terms.

He also must continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers and he cannot own a gun.

The agreement did not call for Limbaugh to admit guilt to the charge that he sought a prescription from a physician in 2003 without revealing that he had received medications from another practitioner within 30 days. He pleaded not guilty Friday.

"This is a common sense resolution and the appropriate way the state should treat people who have admitted an addiction to prescription pain medication and voluntarily sought treatment," Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, said in a statement Monday to The Associated Press.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=1909842

"We're going to let you destroy your life. We're going to make it easy and then all of us who accept the responsibilities of life and don't destroy our lives on drugs, we'll pay for whatever messes you get into."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec. 9, 1993

"I'm appalled at people who simply want to look at all this abhorrent behavior and say people are going to do drugs anyway let's legalize it. It's a dumb idea. It's a rotten idea and those who are for it are purely 100 percent selfish."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"If (Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders) wants to legalize drugs, send the people who want to do drugs to London and Zurich, and let's be rid of them.
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

Oh..I love this article! Lot's of calls jamming up Republican's phone lines telling them how ridiculous their 100 dollar gas rebate is!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/us/01gas.html?hp&ex=1146456000&en=955f00e0facbf1e6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

I think I'll put that on my to-do list tomorrow, as well as nagging Schwartz to call for impeachment hearings.

Rush Limbaugh belongs in jail where he's sent everyone else guilty of the same crime. And wasn't it Jeb's daughter who did the same thing and got away with it.

My o my...it sure pays to be a neocon when it comes to crime!

This one's for the monkey...

...this humorous rewrite of 'Strange Brew' to him by Cream. (Disraeli Gears, 1967) with apologies to Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and E. Clapton. Enjoy!

Bush brew, kills what’s inside of you

He’s the Prez of us in electric red
If he has his way we may all end up dead
Boo-Hoo,,, now what ya gonna do
Bush Brew, Y2K did it to you

On a vote in the middle of a raging sea
He whipped Al’s a%&, that’s the way it must be
Although,,, Gore really won the score
Bush brew, stir up the right wing stew

Bush and Cheney even Tom DeLay,
They will teach us all how the big boys play
Dems lose,,, reduced to clowns and booze
Bush brew, he didn’t give Kerry a clue

Mephistophoeles aka Karl Rove
On his advise into Iraq we dove
Hey wow,,, Redux: Apocalypse Now
It hurts, his name must really be Kurtz

Bush brew, kills what’s inside of you

(found it at The Swamp... http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/05/a_dinner_likely.html#more )

Just think of all the mugshots being snapped this election year. DeLay, Abramoff, Limbaugh, Cunningham.

5x7 Glossy Cell

Monkey

Rove has to be next.

Monkey
NewsMax has an anticle called "Limbaugh 'Arrest' Reports Bogus." They are desperate.

Oh, excuse me NewsMarx, Rush "turned himself in" to authorities prior to his being picked up like a common criminal.

I'll take bogus news organizations ending with the letter "X" for $1000, Alex.

aka Give It Arrest

http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/052006/ImpeachmentPetitions.shtml
Posted by: monkey at May 1, 2006 09:16 PM

I wish I knew someone from Vermont so I could give them a 'giganormous' hug for 'doing the right thing' and starting impeachment proceedings per Jefferson's handbook. Looks like the brave people are from our smaller states....

I wrote a letter to the editor to thank the Vermonters, sent the link & story to in-state media (though in-state media are all wacko about state legislation to force taxpayers to fund stadiums for the spoiled brats playing pro sports and college sports, so they're not paying attention to more important things right now).

Thanks for posting the link, monkey!!! :-) I'd wondered what happened after Vermont voted for it, and now I know... Big hug to you for keeping us informed!!! :-)

No time to get online much yesterday and last nite, got up to take some ibuprofen and decided to check the blog while I waited for it to kick in (got an owie from my graceful swan dive a little while back).

So, to:

Posted by: Nonny at May 1, 2006 07:37 PM

Pretty much my summarization of the situation, too. I fear the reason they are being shown on Faux News is because the election is coming up, and Faux News spent a lot of time and footage on it. They pander to the right base. It wouldn't be on all the networks, in my opinion, if they weren't playing to the right base, and also if they weren't trying to divert the left base from fixing home.

What would have been on the news if the demonstrations weren't going on? Rove's deposition, New Orleans' mess, more of Brownie telling everyone how inept, unorganized, inefficient, and stupid Georgie is, etc.

They will do ANYTHING to divert eyes off themselves right now.

Dianne,

It's not that I object to everyone protesting if they believe in these issues, and feel strongly enough to do something about them.

What I am saying is this: I still feel in my gut that part of this whole immigration deal is a Rovian ploy. I know tinfoil is not a truly valued commodity, but I must say that when I feel something as strongly as this I am almost always right.

I have personally been harmed by the illegal immigrants. Not because I was a lazy poor white worker. Because I was a middle class working single woman trying to make a go of it in a place where the influx of migrants from California caused by the influx of illegal immigrants into California, and as a result caused prices to skyrocket out of control for MANY middle class American people in my hometown, which has been turned over from being a middle class decent place to live, work, raise children, to a transient, crime ridden, congested high priced mess. The way it has been handled has been harmful to our middle class. I am still living through the effects of it, and I'm not thrilled about it. Far from it.

I think perhaps this is the one and only issue we have disagreed this strongly about, but I am honest and upfront with my views, as you are, and I respect every single person's right to their viewpoint, as I know you do too.

My point is, really, that all causes that are unfair to people are indeed important. There was a post the other day here that said that the trade laws being fixed could boost the Mexican economy so they could support themselves. In my mind, granting amnesty only exacerbates the problem and ruins our middle class. Boost Mexico's economy. Fix the trade agreements. Don't put a band-aid on the problem, pour lye on the roots of it. Get rid of the corrupt governments in America first and then maybe there wouldn't be as many deals made with corrupt people in Mexico, who keep their money and enjoy sending their poor to our land instead of taking responsibility for them themselves.

I don't trust the Neocons. They love them to work for them, then near election they claim they don't want them here. Someone told me the other day that it is the two different sides of the Republican party that seem to be divided on this issue. I believe some of them are truly divided on it, but I think it is a Rovian ploy that is campaigning already for '06. Give them lots of balls to juggle, eggs to fry, and make the middle class mad at the liberals for siding with the illegal immigrants.

BTW, the Democrats are divided on this issue, too.

Divide, divide, I say divide, and conquer. It's the Rove pattern again.

I'm glad a lot of you can get involved in all the issues. I personally can get involved in a few that I care about the most. The situation in Darfur is truly tragic. But unless we fix America first, we won't be helping ANYBODY.
And AMERICANS are killing their OWN children and other innocent civilians in Iraq right now. As NonnyO said, we need to clean up our own backyard.
First.

Dianne, you say you think we can focus on all the balls in the air, on all the eggs. We haven't been able to focus on the issues I care the most about: What happens to me and my children, what happens to Americans and their children, and what happens to the innocent people that die in wars from America's hand. If we don't take care of OURSELVES and America's mess, Rove, Pappa, Dead Eye Dick, Rummy and all the rest of the rich corporate piggies laugh all the way to the bank, while they see us marching for every cause under the universe besides getting them OUT OF OFFICE.

THE ONLY THING WE HAVE LEFT IS OUR PEOPLE POWER.

If we can gather the Clean Up America First campaign, take it to the streets, the busta*dos fall.

If we can join the anti-war group with the immigration group and the Darfur group that would give us more people power, but I don't think you would get illegal aliens on the streets to fight for our children and our country. They are fighting for THEIR children. And they are tapping our social services mightily, while the elderly and the sick and the poor in our country go without needed medical care, decent pay for a hard day's work in many instances (the working poor), and LIVING AND DYING IN FREEZING WEATHER PUSHING SHOPPING CARTS PAST THE HUGE CORPORATE TOWERS IN NEW YORK CITY. I saw it with my own eyes. I just can hardly disagree with you more.
We MUST be humane to our own, and clean up our own sewer before we worry about every one else getting an equal opportunity. WE don't have an equal opportunity. THEY are enroute to KILLING US if they have to, one dollar at a time. (I'm talking about the Neocons here.) Can I tell you how SICK it made me feel to see a poor old woman pushing a shopping cart in front of a magnificent corporate tower tantamount to GE a year ago on a cold winter's night in Manhattan?

I see it as putting your oxygen mask on first, then the baby's.

Maybe I'm just not seeing it clearly yet, but this is how I see it right now. DiAnne, if you can 'splain it to me Lucy, I am willing to look at other angles of it.

They will do ANYTHING to divert eyes off themselves right now.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at May 2, 2006 04:41 AM

AGREED! I think the neoCons are "allowing" the immigrants to demonstrate and get all the publicity just specifically to divert attention away from the LONG list of other things WE (mostly informed) people know is going on, or suspect is going on. That what they are doing, or I suspect they are doing, is criminal, of that I have no doubt whatsoever. We won't know the full extent of their criminal activities until after they're thrown out of office.

Also, if the neoCons stay in power after the '06 election, I also have no doubt the immigrants (illegal or otherwise) will be rounded up and put in Halliburton's nice new "illegal immigration detention centers" that they are building right here on our own soil.

Oh... as regards that tin foil hat: If you are doing a Yankee Doodle Dandy style, the feathers that work best for good reception are pheasant and peacock, and you have to tilt the hat slightly to the left at a rakish angle to get the vibes and radio waves to come in clearly.... ;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4964872.stm
Three Guilty of The Scream Theft

Link for all those who follow events in the art world....

Pix of The Scream included in the article, that iconic image of existential angst. Munch painted three or four versions of The Scream, but even after convictions, the one version of The Scream and Madonna are still missing. I hope they're found....

I don't think the government can orchestrate something like whether people demonstrate in the streets. All they can do it restrict access to the media & restrict access to the streets, both of which they've done with peace activists before. I'm sure Fox benefits from publicizing the immigrant rallies - they're controversial & alot of their audience are xenophobes & eat the idea up of being "invaded."

I think something like the Kennedy/McCain Bill might be good, but certainly not the Sensennbrenner one which has caused all the protest in the first place. There may be a need to limit immigration at some point - American has done it at many times in the past, such as with immigrants who then went to Canada.

It's the exploitive companies that are creating the market for cheap labor. Walmart is the biggest food supplier in some sectors - think what that means - people don't support Walmart, they don't eat.

Imagine the cost of produce, chicken, or a hotel room or restaurant meal (no pickers, pluckers & packers, bedmakers or dishwashers) if there were currently no immigrant labor. It's the cheapskate companies who set up the system. Imagine if Mexico itself had an environment which supported a better lifestyle & people didn't need to flee to the rich country next door.

& what type of systems do our government support - those that support our big business. Check out NAFTA and CAFTA and think about the implications. Look what has happened in the EU, similar. Think this all has nothing to do with globalisation & outsourcing, think again.

It's wrong to blame the immigrants or the Chinese workers or Indian call center people for what is the work of the corporations.

As far as being personally hurt by immigrants vis a vis competing for low-level jobs, I had to compete with military wives in Rapid City South Dakota, home of Ellsworth Air Force Base. & it got to the place where many could not buy homes anymore in Seattle, thanks to dot.com millionaires in their 20s in bidding wars, before the dot.com meltdown. People were literally building casles on the eastside, all on stock options not real cash.

We may need to stem the tide but I don't think militias of combat-hungry macho men in lawn chairs along the border is the way to do it. & I think it's immoral to deport parents who have been working & paying taxes for 18 years, 24 years etc. (as I just heard on NPR).

Support all the workers. Amnesty where deserved. Support unions not exploitive companies. In the interim, blame the company not the worker.

Truth Shall Prevail
I don't think we really disagree that much, reading what you've written. I think you have your finger on the people who cause the problems of the homeless, working poor & immigrants all - exploitive corporations & neocons. They love this system. I also agree immigration is the next perfect wedge issue, after homosexuality and abortion.

I think there would be enough money for all if we did not spend it on oil wars. I'd like to see amnesty for those who are deserving under the Kennedy/McCain Law & then convince them to vote Democrat, to change the system in so many ways.

I've seen recent photos of those who died in Iraq & Afghanistan & a disproportionate number are Hispanic & black. Some are children of immigrants or are even given citizenship after serving if not citizens. I wouldn't be surprised if the warmongers look forward to more poor Americans (via Mexico) so as to have more cannon fodder.

If people are truly working and not just draining the social services system, then they will also increase the money going into Medicare & Social Security - we need this as we Boomers age. The demographics dictate that we think ahead on this. We actually need more young workers to pay into the system. Immigrants are certainly not the only ones draining the social services around here. This is a pretty representative community & I do see alot of poor whites, born in America. Their poverty & lack of educational opportunities have the same root causes as for the poor minorities here & that is a system that does not try to raise the general living standard so the lowest common denominator is actually higher.

By the way, Al Gore is in town today for a private screening of his environmental documentary. & when I saw military aircraft headind up this way & thought it was about Hu meeting Gates at Boeing, I was wrong. It was a Cheney fundraiser - that's why people told me about the closing off of airspace & use of Air Force Two. Now it all makes sense. The skies got a little darker too.

Posted by: NonnyO at May 2, 2006 09:57 AM

NonnyO,

HA!!! Maybe that's whats the matter. I've been using porcupine quills for reception, and tilting to the right too far. :-)

Posted by: DiAnne at May 2, 2006 10:44 AM

You DID 'splain it to me Lucy!!! DiAnne, I see now that we are NOT that far apart actually at all. Thanks for the great explanation. I almost totally agree with you. :-)

Oh, and DiAnne, I just have to tell you this!!!
Eeeek!!! I wrote long DETAILED letters to my Senators about a month ago about people's attitudes in this state that I hear more often than not on a DAILY basis. Just had another similar discussion with a man this morning as I was out and about. I am finding SO MANY MORE PEOPLE ARE SMARTER and WISER than I thought they could ever be about the reality of this administration. The man today cried for America. CRIED. Then I cried, too.

But, listen to this: this is what was on our local NBC news broadcast last night. Local, mind you, and I am sure they go by a script sent to them from NBC headquarters for national news. Get this, and Nonny0, listen too!!!:

Just specially for our very red and very rural red state, after I send my Senators detailed letters telling them the entire population almost thinks we went to war in Iraq on false pretenses, the following was broadcast in our local nightly news broadcast last night:

A former Iraqi Army General, Gen. Sada, visited OUR red state the past couple of days, to tell the people that "Iraq is going to be a free democratic country, and the people there are VERY HAPPY about it, and we here in America need to be patient and give it time to happen." Then he said that "There WERE WMD's in Iraq, but they were disguised and sent to Syria, and that's why they weren't found."

I wanted to go up and kick my tv screen in. The WMD's were disguised and sent to Syria? Is that why the weapons inspectors who were there so long didn't find them?

It scared me, some. That if I write a letter to my Senator telling him something specific the public here is saying, I turn around and three weeks later we get a visit from an ex-Iraqi General that tells everyone that Saddam hid the WMD's, and that the people in Iraq are so grateful we are there.

Oh, and guess where they had General Sada appear? Hold onto your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen: The First Evangelical Free Church.

Truth Shall Prevail

That's good to hear - about ND - when I visit my mom, I hope to see some of this, which she also reports. She is also speaking out more, but for her, the older she gets the less she hesitates to do that!

Truth Shall Prevail

That is outright use of propaganda - I hope enough people can recognize it.

I heard on NPR that Merkel is releasing alot of German papers that belonged to the Nazis. Wish this govt would release alot of papers belonging to Cheney!

Secrets & secrets!