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Feingold Gets Backbone Award!
Russ Feingold spoke in Seattle today on behalf of a local candidate. This is a "mixed bag" community when it comes to politics, so the pre-speech eavesdropping and conversations proved to be interesting.
Before the speeches, I noticed Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign heading out the door with a large gold backbone! (The Backbone Campaign is a grassroots effort to embolden citizens and elected officials to stand up for progressive values.) I followed him outside and he told me they had been relegated to the area near the chain link fence ("like at the convention," he said, probably because the Backbone Campaign also give "Spineless Awards").
Luckily it was the route Feingold would use to come into the school building where the event was held. It appeared that he really appreciated his Backbone and he certainly deserves it. He opposed the Patriot Act, opposed the Iraq War, and proposed censure of Bush, before any of these positions were politically trendy or safe.
I learned also that Feingold once won by 31 votes (in an even closer election than our governor, who won by 126 votes). I learned that Feingold was once endorsed by Elvis Presley. He has not taken "soft money" and has spearheaded Campaign Finance Reform. He holds the seat of Senator Gaylor Nelson, who started Earth Day.
From local speakers, I learned more about my community and how to next take a direction. There is the possibility of burning shoe leather in more "purple" or "red" districts. We have those running who came from the grassroots, who left careers to help steer the country back in the right direction.
The quote of the day:
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves and can not under God retain it."
Abraham Lincoln
(Elizabeth, voting rights activist, Seattle)
Please go here and join some discussion:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/21/101034/586
(Actually, please start some!)
"WE are effective Karen. There are just a whole bunch of people running with a 'D' next to their names, who had better take up the CAUSE, don't you think?
Posted by: tutterfly at May 21, 2006 04:17 AM"
While I worship at your feet, sweet Tut, I question this. Watching the films last night, after spending the afternoon at PDA (where I am today as well) reminded me, painfully, that the stakes now are at LEAST as high as they were back in the days of the Vietnam War; maybe higher.
But the commitment to change is not there.
Back then, the changes did not come from the Congress. In "Sir, No Sir" there were many stories about soldiers simply putting down their weapons. They went to jail and they changed the direction of their own lives.
I don't want to lose my lifestyle; I happen to like it. But I am losing it whether I act or not.
Right now there is a panel here where people are discussing speaking up.
Terry Lierman used to run the budget for the U.S Senate. But before that, he was a CO in the Vietnam War and he thought about going to Canada. He was saved by his draft number and he did not leave. Or have to.
He lives his life as a "Left-leaning liberal bastard" (Baltimore Sun statement). He strongly objects to the word "leaning".
Terry is the Dem. Party Chair in Maryland and he tells people not to vote for Dems if you do not agree with them.
He helped draft the Common Sense Budget Act. He wants people who support that, but he wants people who will carry the message and be advocates for it. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Talk the issues; money will follow issues. In doing that, we must reach out and touch people. Really and truly touch them.
Tony Trupiano (candidate in Michigan) talking about change--and he embodies it; he IS it. He says people need to be smart, and tough, and to be willing to donate, walk, talk to people and understand, as he does, that the 5-6 people he has coffee with every day, after they talk, have hope. We have not lost hope; we have lost our WAY.
Michael Smith Reports That Bush and Blair Are Ready to Pull (Some) Troops Out of Iraq
"Mentoring" the "Transition" in Iraq
By Michael Smith
As predicted last week on this blog, the withdrawal from Iraq is about to begin. Tony Blair and George Bush will announce that they are to start withdrawing troops from Iraq at a summit in Washington as early as this week. The process appears to have been carefully choreographed in an attempt to bolster the popularity of Bush and Blair, both of whom are desperate to boost their poll ratings which have plummeted to record levels with Iraq seen as a major factor in both cases.
READ MORE:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/10919
Saudi Arabia promised to clean up their inflammatory textbooks which foster hate but did no such thing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769.html
Posted by: karen at May 21, 2006 11:16 AM
The drawdown (aka redeployment) has been on the class boards for a while.
With the $1 billion new US Embassy (aka military base) near completion in Iraq, it only means that we are civilianizing our forces...Blackwatering them down if you will.
Veritas,
Or moving them to Iran?
Posted by: DiAnne at May 21, 2006 11:23 AM
With allies like these, who needs enemies.
Posted by: karen at May 21, 2006 12:31 PM
Not yet, we cannot position troops within the country. However the new billion-dollar base (with much of it underground) could be a convenient place to hide a buildup.
Among the many issues I've got with the ongoing "Blackwaterization" (aka "mercenarization") of our armed forces activities field are:
(1) It costs many times as much (if not more) to deploy "civilian contractors" in the field as it does to deploy actual troops;
(2) It demoralizes the actual troops to see so many mercenary contractees getting paid so much more than they are, and usually with better gear as well, for doing similar and often cushier jobs;
(3) It removes the mercenary contractees' accountability from the chain of command to civilian "authority" and that leaves way too much room for error and abuse in the field.
There's more, but I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir on this topic anyway.
hired guns are loose cannons,
Otter
BTW - Steven's stateside. Momma is happy. Life is good.
Posted by: abqjohn at May 21, 2006 08:11 PM
Congrats abq...that's fantastic.
GREAT news, John! Welcome home Steven!
I just noticed that Elizabeth is wearing a Zendik t-shirt--we have a bumper sticker on our car that says the same thing!
I want the t-shirt too, now!
It was nice to go to Cirque du Soleil for a little escapism - absolutely beautiful!! (Varekai) & then the U District Street
Fair, which looks the same as in 1978 when i moved here &
I guess goes back quite a bit further than that!
http://www.zendik.org/Zendik_Store/shirtstickers.html
Karen - you deserve that shirt !
Yes, John, I do. I deserve it and so much more...
So what's everyone up to tonight? I am avoiding reading papers from graduate students. Undergrad papers are completed, but I am futzing around with the grad. papers....
Meanwhile, that photo DiANne took of Bill Moyer is great--what a cutie!
Posted by: tutterfly at May 21, 2006 04:17 AM
(from previous thread)
Tutter -
I've gotten emails almost exactly worded like you've "imagined" from Candidate Schmuckalovitz... Delete is a handy button to hit for them, and that's exactly what I do: Delete. They p!$$ me off no end when they do that, or send me these same vaguely-worded candidate-speech-type replies to emails I've sent about issues that concern most of us. I'm still waiting for the day when I get simple short declarative sentences in any reply (flash: he!! will freeze over before that happens, and I know it).
If any Progressive or Dem legislators actually DO something - anything - that will get sustained and positive Lamestream Media attention to stop the stupid wars and torture (all of which are illegal war crimes) as just the FIRST STEP in putting this country back on track to restoring our civil and human rights (among other things like our reputation world-wide which is now ruined, thanks to the current administration), I will be looking for a glacier forming in the back yard waiting for news of the next glacial ice age starting, instead of the news from in-state weather forecasters about record-setting warm temperature averages for last year and the first five months of this year that have broken records over a hundred years old (since records began to be kept, that is).
I still do not know who is running the show at Guantánamo. There's always a lot of hype when military personnel from this state and adjoining states who get the same TV stations get killed in Iraq or Afghanistan (sound bytes from family and/or friends for the funerals, etc.), but I find it VERY curious that there is NEVER any news about/by/from anyone who has ever served at the US military base at Guantánamo. So, who's running the show? Has that US military base been turned over to mercenaries? If it's a US military base, which US laws or which US military laws apply at Gitmo? Why was it opened as a concentration camp in the first place? Why has Halliburton built added jails/camps there and why didn't Lamestream Media talk more about that fact? Why, for that matter, hasn't Lamestream Media broadcast the news about Halliburton building "detention facilities for illegal immigrants" in California? Will Halliburton be building the fences between Mexico and the US? Why are Halliburton and/or their subsidiaries the companies most likely to be awarded no-bid contracts to run or supply the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Besides Russ Feingold, will there ever be any legislators who will vote against things like the Patriot Act (consistently, always) or the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq? Will any legislators be courageous enough to stand up to the assumed war powers given to The Cretin after 9/11... and get sustained and positive Lamestream Media attention for such a courageous act? (I'm assuming the neocons will always smear legislators who vote against illegal, unethical, immoral, unjust, dishonorable war as unpatriotic, when voting against war, IMHO, is the most patriotic thing anyone can do because it would mean no one would get killed for the sake of stupid illegal wars and corporations who profit from those wars.)
Will legislators (male or female) ever arrive at the conclusion that women have brains and can make up their own minds about what to do about their own bodies and/or any pregnancies they may or may not have? Will legislators then repeal all those antiquated and stupid laws about abortion and leave medical decisions about pregnancy - or any other kind of medical decisions - to women? Will they leave decisions about contraception to the people affected by thoses decisions (women who might want a tubal ligation or men who might want vasectomies)? The world is over-populated as is; people need to be left alone to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to have children (and I do include men in that opinion, since some may wish to have vasectomies without a government dictating whether or not they can do so). There's new flap about vaccinating pubescent girls against some cancer-causing virus now. Will legislators leave that decision to the parents or the pubescent girls, or will they be unreasonable and make it mandatory before any extensive testing can be done on the efficacy of the vaccination?
Sheeple (and Lamestream Media) in this country are just too eager to jump on the latest false-hysteria-driven pananoid bandwagon before thinking about things or even asking questions about it.... Like avian flu which can only be gotten by handling feces of diseased birds and can't yet pass from human to human; ergo there is no current danger of an avian flu pandemic - but nightly snooze anchors sure read scripts that sound like it's going to start tomorrow, maybe even overnight, every time they mention avian flu - and DumDum wants homeland security [sic!] and the military to have people prepare for an avian flu pandemic (what a waste of time and money!)....
Will legislators demand an immediate withdrawal of our military from Iraq and Afghanistan and let those countries govern themselves as they see fit without dictatorial control by the current administration? We can pay reparations and let them rebuild their own countries.
Will legislators vote against any illegal attack of Iran that the current administration is sure to propose? Or will they buy into more LIES by this current bunch of criminals in the White House without asking - and getting - honest answers? (If DumDum and RumDum and Dead-Eye Dickie are allowed their way, it would be all-out nuke, and we all know that in advance. Bad for any life-forms on the ground, including humans, in that case.) To do that, legislators will first have to demand and enforce their own Constitutional duties and Congress is the only body allowed to determine whether or not we go to war for any reason (and we all know pre-emptive wars are illegal war crimes by international law). Are any of our legislators strong enough to form a majority against the current administration's unwise policy decisions about illegal pre-emptive attacks on other countries?
Will legislators seek to sign on to censure or impeachment proceedings against the current administration?
Will legislators repeal the Patriot [sic] Act(s)?
Will legislators vote to dismantle that gargantuan money pit known as Homeland Security and leave federal law enforcement agencies to their individual jurisdictions, but let them talk to each other and share information about criminals?
Will legislators stop the illegal snooping and spying on US citizens and abide by the Fourth Amendment?(Seriously. Let's get real. Adamant non-violent peaceniks who do not own guns or any other kind of weapon and haven't the vaguest idea how to build bombs or poison people are no threat to anyone. They just want to live with good health in a clean environment with clean air, in peaceful and amiable co-existence with their neighbors and lead productive lives while pursuing happiness for themselves and their families. Is that too much to ask? Isn't that basically what we all want for ourselves and other family and friends?)
Will legislators force manufacturers to abide by clean environmental standards (air, water, earth)?
Will legislators force auto makers to build smaller cars with high-mileage rates and use alternative energy?
Will legislators encourage or fund alternative energy research and development (for electricity for our homes and businesses and for vehicles)?
Will legislators leave the internet alone and not put any limits on it? (I get spying on and catching child and sexual predators and abusers and favor that, but leave the internet alone otherwise.)
Will legislators go back to demanding First Amendment strict separation of church and state and cease funding religious-based charities?
Will legislators demand that our elections not be rigged by voting machines in the future, and that every vote will be counted, and that recounts in disputed election results will happen, no matter what?
In any case, those are a few of my opening questions. I could go on and on and on, but that would hog the blog. I'm sure everyone else can think of their own questions.
The point of my rant is this: IF/WHEN a legislator - or candidate - can give me a yes or no answer to questions that only require a yes or no one-word answer (no maybes allowed), or give me a short 10-word-or-less definitive answer to my questions - without asking me for money which they won't get unless they first work for it! - they need to think again about their priorities and why they even sought to be elected to their positions in the first place (aside from greedily wanting PAC money from mega-rich corporations soliciting favors while getting beneficial tax breaks, that is). I am sick to death of legislators who roll over like scared little puppies wetting themselves who give de facto dictator Georgie everything he's ever wanted, and more.... I also don't care if it's the current Cretin-in-Chief or any president in the future... I don't want any US president acting like a dictator and I expect our congressional members to stop such nonsense and not tolerate dictatorial behavior by any president, now or in the future. I expect presidents and congressional members and supreme court judges to be responsible law-abiding adults who will abide by our Constitution and their sworn oaths of office. Period.
How about the Founders' party?
They could restore us to the dignity and honor and intelligence and guts and constitutionality of our country's founders.
Minus the racism and sexism, please.
Jeremy Scahill | In the Black(water)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052106I.shtml
Jeremy Scahill writes "Tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims remain without homes. The environment is devastated. People are disenfranchised. Financial resources, desperate residents are told, are scarce. But at least New Orleans has a Wal-Mart parking lot serving as a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center with perhaps the tightest security of any parking lot in the world. That's thanks to the more than $30 million Washington has shelled out to the Blackwater USA security firm..."
{{{The other war profiteer - besides Halliburton - scooping up our tax dollars by the billions, both in this country and in DumDum's war in Iraq.... Oh, and there's another TO article about how formaldehyde in trailers is hazardous to the health of Katrina survivors in Mississippi and Louisiana.... Formaldehyde is a carcinogen, BTW, and it is used in processed woods, like plywood, which is often in trailers, and in enclosed spaces it concentrates, not dissipates, in intensity.}}}
And I've figured out why the terrorists haven't attacked us in five years.
They hate our freedom, right?
Ah but now, we are well on the road to religious fundamentalism (with a nice dash of corporate capitalism a la some of the Arab oil-rich cities). Individual rights aren't worth the paper our Bill of Rights was printed on, women and non-whites are restricted by popular disapproval and by law, education is stunted, politics - ripe with vote fraud and perfumed by jingoism - has become a one-party system, and we are engaged in perpetual war for no good reason other than to stroke the egos of our leaders.
Forget Iraq becoming the 51st state. We are quickly becoming a Middle Eastern nation.
Veritas?
What is the Founders' Party? I've never heard of it.
Chuck in Houston
PS: Parties have to solicit donations because it is very expensive to run candidates these days (link from the DCP home page):
http://www.just6dollars.org/
If the Democratic Party, for example, didn't go about looking for money, how do you think it might fund all the activities necessary to prepare for the mid-terms?
Posted by: chuck at May 21, 2006 10:18 PM
Chuck, I made it up. But why not have one?
Posted by: Veritas at May 21, 2006 09:59 PM
I could be persuaded to sign on to a party with that name. As far as I'm concerned, George Washington's and John Adams' approach to foreign policy is looking better and better all the time.
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at May 21, 2006 10:23 PM
Not to mention the long-forgotten concept of true states' rights. I've been reading The Federalist papers with an undeniable sense of longing...
I'm not sure that I share the enthusiasm for States' rights. In that respect, I'm much more sympathetic to the Federalist/Whig/radical Republican position than the Jeffersonian/Jacksonian Democratic view.
It strikes me that States' rights is an idea that failed the test of time - in that it became the legal basis for an attempt at nullification of the self-evident principles set out in the Declaration.
Matthew:
If I recall correctly, Jackson fought the Nullifiers (led by SC and Calhoun, I think). Also, as far as Adam's and foreign policy goes, wasn't he the one that promulgated the Alien and Sedition acts, which was one of the things Jefferson fought him on? That's my recollection anyway.
Chuck in Houston
More Yellow Dog than Ever
I took a nap.
Oh my God - what happened?
I have not opened the link yet.
Rove Post Overloaded Server!
Many of you have been trying for hours to bring up our latest update on the Karl Rove indictment story. It was posted at 12:00 noon pacific time at: http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2006/5/21/115826/135
Unfortunately, many other sites have linked to the article, and while we are quite grateful for the attention, our server is totally overwhelmed.
I waited & finally got it.
Information Sharing on the Rove Indictment Story
By Marc Ash,
Sun May 21st, 2006 at 11:58:26 AM EDT :: Fitzgerald Investigation
I'd like to break this posting into two categories: What we know, and what we believe. They will be clearly marked.
We know that we have now three independent sources confirming that attorneys for Karl Rove were handed an indictment either late in the night of May 12 or early in the morning of May 13. We know that each source was in a position to know what they were talking about. We know that the office of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald will not confirm, will not deny, will not comment on its investigation or on our report. We know that both Rove's attorney Robert Luskin and Rove's spokesman Mark Corallo have categorically denied all key facts we have set forth. We know we have information that directly contradicts Luskin and Corallo's denials. We know that there were two network news crews outside of the building in Washington, DC that houses the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm that represents Karl Rove. We know that the 4th floor of that building (where the Patton Boggs offices are located) was locked down all day Friday and into Saturday night. We know that we have not received a request for a retraction from anyone. And we know that White House spokesman Tony Snow now refuses to discuss Karl Rove - at all.
Further, we know - and we want our readers to know - that we are dependent on confidential sources. We know that a report based solely on information obtained from confidential sources bears some inherent risks. We know that this is - by far - the biggest story we have ever covered, and that we are learning some things as we go along. Finally, we know that we have the support of those who have always supported us, and that must now earn the support of those who have joined us as of late.
We now move on to what we believe. (If you are looking for any guarantees, please turn back now.)
We believe that we hit a nerve with our report. When I get calls on my cell phone from Karl Rove's attorney and spokesman, I have to wonder what's up. "I" believe - but cannot confirm - that Mark Corallo, Karl Rove's spokesman gave Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post my phone number. I believe Howard Kurtz contacted me with the intention of writing a piece critical of our organization. I know that Anne Marie Squeo of the Wall Street Journal attacked us and independent journalism as a whole in her piece titled, "Rove's Camp Takes Center of Web Storm / Bloggers Underscore How Net's Reporting, Dynamics Provide Grist for the Rumor Mill." We believe that rolling out that much conservative journalistic muscle to rebut this story is telling. And we believe that Rove's camp is making a concerted effort to discredit our story and our organization.
Further - and again this is "What We Believe" - Rove may be turning state's evidence. We suspect that the scope of Fitzgerald's investigation may have broadened - clearly to Cheney - and according to one "off the record source" to individuals and events not directly related to the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. We believe that the indictment which does exist against Karl Rove is sealed. Finally, we believe that there is currently a great deal of activity in the Plame investigation.
We know that this story is of vital interest to the community, and that providing as much information as we can is very important to our readers. We want you to know that this is challenging territory and that we are proceeding with as much speed as the terrain will allow.
Adams certainly signed the Alien and Sedition Acts - which apparently Abigail, who was his closest advisor as President, supported much more strongly than he did. But according to the historians that I've read, he didn't initate it. But that's what we remember - as opposed to Thomas Jefferson's payments to James Callender to print scandalous and completely false charges about Adams in one of the partisan newspapers of the day. Callender eventually decided that he had not been sufficiently paid for his efforts, and was the person to first publically print the stories of Jefferson's liason with Sally Hemmings.
People often don't remember that Adams kept the United States out of a war with France - a war that the Federalist party was hot to pursue, during a period when Vice-President Jefferson may have actually committed treason by advising the French Ambassador that his country would likely get a better deal when he was President. And that Adams' successful diplomatic efforts led to the Hamiltonian wing of the Federalists abandoning him, and sabotaging his chances for re-election.
And they don't remember that the advocate of strict construction, Thomas Jefferson, was the first President to send the nation to war - against the Barbary Pirates - immediately upon assuming the Presidency, at a moment there was no urgent reason to do so without the assent of Congress.
As for Jackson, to me, he is one of the most loathesome Presidents in American history - actually defying a ruling of the United States Supreme Court when Chief Justice John Marshall sided with the Cherokee Indians in the Federal goverment's attempt to evict them from their land, even though they had fulfilled every qualification that Jefferson had asked of the native peoples of North America. This alleged democrat's actions led to the infamous "Trail of Tears".
Bill O'Reilly has actually described Dubya as a modern day Andrew Jackson. He may be on to something.
I went to Daily Kos & found nothing so posted the TruthOut thing under Open Thread.
I went to Democratic Underground and they linked to TalkLeft
& they claim Corallo is vehemently denying everything.
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/014903.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1251492
This is the discussion the mods are allowing - too many posts - they've discouraging "what I think" posts.
Andrew Jackson was a raging populist, yes. But he was also a truly world-class doink.
just one otter's e-pinion,
Otter
I went to Daily Kos & all I got was this Conspiracy Theory:
Did Gonzalez Pull Rove Indictments?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/21/184052/881
They also have a story about how Attorney General will be punishing those reporters who have written stories related to national security.
That is here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/21/121612/665
Did Gonzales Kill Fitz's Rove Indictments?
Last Friday, Judge Reggie Walton, the presiding judge in the Libby trial, deliberated over a case titled "SEALED v. SEALED." There is growing speculation that sealed v. sealed is Fitzgerald v. Gonzales' Deputy, Paul McNulty (Fitzgerald's direct superior).
The Wayne Madsen Report and the Chris Matthews Show have both floated the theory that Fitzgerald had secured indictments against Rove, but Gonzales --via McNulty-- came in at the last second and used his power as Fitzgerald's superior to kill the indictments.
IF, this theory is true, Fitzgerald would have likely challenged McNulty's decision in court, pointing to an earlier administrative directive from then acting Attorney General James Comey that gave Fitzerald the "authority of the Attorney General." Comey is long gone, however, and was replaced by McNulty. The question then becomes what, if any, value does Comey's administrative directive have today.
One unfortunate realty of this scenario is that if the judge sides with McNulty, we will never know what really happened, because it will remained sealed. Which, is one explanation about why Rove is acting so smug these days and why the White House has not pulled back his public schedule.
transcript for Hardball not up yet
Versions of this thread header up at Daily Kos & Silenced Majority (which is the blog for Bert in MN & myself)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/21/235737/644
That's the link if you want to comment.
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The federal government appears to have the authority to prosecute journalists or newspapers for publishing classified information, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Sunday.
"'There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,' Gonzales said told ABC's 'This Week,' when asked if the government could prosecute journalists for publishing classified information."
Well, ya know, that seems fair.
I mean, if we're insisting that citizens can (and should) prosecute government officials for leaking classified information in the first place, well...
what's cooked for the goose is sauce for the gander,
Otter
Matthew:
That's interesting -- Adams went against his party to stay out of war and then against his VP (Jefferson) on the Alien and Sedition thing, while Jackson bucked his VP (and to an extent his party) on Nullification, to go for a compromise engineered by a rival (Clay-Federalist). (I'll admit I'm hazy on the precise facts -- though I do realize that back then VP often went to a rival, rather than a "running mate."). I guess politics has always been convoluted.
Anyway, I need to read up on Jackson. My great great great grandfather was a sargeant in his army, and named my great great grandfather Andrew Jackson, so I admit I'm prejudiced. I also admit the Trail of Tears is one of the great stains on our people. But I suspect that once I look into it deeper Jackson won't come out as the main villain (I am sure there is plenty blame to go around).
On another track, that Rove thing is getting curiouser and curiouser.
Good night all and hang tough!
Chuck in Houston
We're showing "Forrest Gump" - had forgotten that it had quite a Vietnam message.
"There was a man wearing a shirt made out of an American flag, and he like to say the F word - a lot. & for some reason every time he said it, the people, well they cheered."
That movie was made in 1994, with real period soundtrack.
Hendrix right now, at a supposed Black Panther party.
From an online article by John Nichols at:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=84876
==========
It's an election year, so, quick, let's amend the Constitution.
Absurd as it sounds, that is the thinking of the Senate Republican leadership, which is rushing to draft, debate and endorse a whole new section of the Constitution by the week of June 5.
Why the hurry to tinker with the 219-year-old document?
Poll numbers for Congressional Republicans are in a bad place, so bad that there is serious talk about the prospect that the party could lose the House or Senate, or perhaps both chambers, in November. And the approval ratings for President Bush, the party's campaigner-in-chief, are trolling in Nixon-during-Watergate depths that suggest he may not be able to rally the conservative base as he did so effectively in 2002 and 2004.
Hence the hurry to dig up the next big-bang issue for the GOP.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, thinks he has struck political paydirt. He wants to amend the Constitution to declare that, along with freedom of speech, assembly and worship, Americans also have the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Frist wants the Constitution to declare not just that "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman" but that "Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
So much for state's rights. And you can forget about that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness business.
The Grand Old Party's in trouble, so someone is going to have to pay, and in this case it's same-sex couples who dare to fall in love and then seek the same basic protections for their relationships that everyone else expects.
[snip]
==========
that's why feingold has a backbone and frist is spinefree,
Otter
Bill O'Reilly has actually described Dubya as a modern day Andrew Jackson. He may be on to something.
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at May 21, 2006 11:11 PM
Yep. Was he saying that as a point of pride though?
Hmm. Is it that "he may be on to something," or that "he may be on something?"
when prides of liars stalk the wild savannah,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at May 22, 2006 06:45 AM
I thought Savannah was a rather refined place. Never been there though (at least not yet).
My we are up early today! And with pithy, albeit snide remarks too!
I love the smell of wit in the morning...
New Five Minutes a Day on p. 1 and let's get going...
Reality As I see it.
Everyone even Democrats in this country need to wake up. Years ago during the civil rights movement there was a group that splintered off from mainstream dems. They called themselves the Dixicrats, they did not believe in civil rights and host of other issues that the Democratic party at the time embraced, they may have been at opposite ends of the spectrum but they were for all intents and purposes like the so called Progressives. They believed their views were more important than those of the majority of the party and in the end they weakened the party. I have always been proud of the huge tent the Democratic Party has where people with many different opinions and view points can come together.
I know none of you care but the reason I quit participating in this group is because while I agree that there are some so called Democrats that aren’t really (Lieberman) I also realize that there are some who may not always agree with me that are still at the end of day wonderful assets to this party free thinkers who love this country and her people over party identity, when we elect someone to represent us we are electing someone to represent our part of the country in a way consistent to the beliefs in our area, During the Robertson and Alito confirmations one representative did this I did not agree with his choice however I did agree with his reasoning. On these boards he was put on a list of people who needed ousted because of their vote. Byrd has shown himself overtime and a long time I may add to be a free thinker who does things even the hard things for the right reasons, he does not vote on issues because the party tells him to, he votes not only his conscience but that of the state he represents, if we had more people like him representing us we would not be in the shape we are today.
Tutterfly is right, about everything in her thread but we need to remember when we promote the kind of divisiveness we do we hand every Bush Republican out there the win and they don’t even have to spend any money, we do the attacking for them.
Bush is writing the end of the Republican Majority as we type he is moving his party so far towards not the right but the neither reaches of hell(the neo con agenda) he is even scaring his own people. As he does this we need to keep in mind that this party our party the party that values all Americans and their right to think and feel the way the do, draws more and more to our cause, but when they come and they stop into a new and terrifying place for them the DCP or other such groups we don’t want to terrify them away because we are every bit as extreme as what they have come to fear from their own party.
Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Conservative, Progressive all these groups just mean one thing America, what we need to keep in mind is there is only one group out there that cares nothing for this country or how it feels on every issue and believe it or not that group resides right here its not some Muslim extremist group, it is the Neo Cons who are running this country today. When we all realize this everyone will win.
John Kerry to Hold Press Conference on Iraq Today
Boston, Massachusetts -- Today marks the deadline in the Iraqi constitution for the Iraqis to have a government. Senator John Kerry set forward a firm deadline for U.S. troop redeployment and has repeatedly said that if the Iraqis form a unity government by the deadline, then the U.S. should immediately begin working with Iraqi officials to redeploy all American combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this year.
Senator Kerry will speak about these developments in Boston today.
April
I agree with your call to unity (in effect & support for free thinking. Stick around. People need challenges to any kneejerk responses & to learn not to take their positions personally but defend them with logic.
I have had to wince, at times, at the single-mindedness of some liberals & progressives when it comes to "their" issues. There was a bad period in there where people were "punished" for their votes. I don't believe in bad-mouthing or punishing politicians publicly. I think it's good to write to them, call them, withold money maybe, but don't give Rove more ideas than he already has, right where he can read them. & don't splinter the party.
Where I live, those who were against the war from day one (like me) sometimes won't associate with those who support a candidate (like Cantwell) who voted for the IWR. I think those people are shooting themselves in the foot because her opponent is supported by Ted Stevens, McCain, Cheney & would sell out our resources & water quality, for Big Oil.
Feingold voted against the IWR. He still supports Cantwell because of her magnificent work on energy & on campaign finance reform. I can support both of them easily without agreeing with their position on every single issue. Why is it so hard to look at the big picture when we are headed to a one-party state otherwise?
McDermott got into trouble with Gingrich because he leaked something to reporters. That is something where the Attorney General and Administration right now are cracking down on reporters, officials & even whistleblowers to the point where the truth can NOT get out, is hidden & where the lst Amendment (& several others) are endangerred. It has gotten to the point where trumpeting around about "liberating" people and a "free society" elsewhere sounds SO hypocritical!
Anyway, Clinton is going to support McDermott, even though they are not really at the same place on the spectrum. McDermott has lived in my district, which is ultraprogressive, so he is "safe" and has spoke out for years. That's why the right want to get rid of him & get him hundreds of thousands in debt. Clinton realizes it's about preserving the First Amendment.
THE BIG PICTURE
THE BIG PICTURE - Freedom of the press is at risk. Freedom of speech is at risk. Freedom of assembly is at risk. The right to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness is certainly at risk.
Freedom of the Press at Risk
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052206Z.shtml
The government has the legal authority to prosecute journalists for publishing classified information, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday. "There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Mr. Gonzales said on the ABC News program "This Week."
TRUTHOUT's site is still running slowly because of the link about Rove (the fear is that he could have been indicted but then the indictment may have been blocked or the case sealed).
THE INDEPENDENT, in the UK, recently let Bono be Editor for a day & put anything he wanted into RED. I'd love someone to do a story on the "Red Campaign."
For this I might watch tv, because I believe it is something other than propaganda or multimedia junkfood.
This Tuesday evening, May 23, for the first time in history, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams will broadcast live from Africa.
This special report will follow Bono on his much-anticipated trip through some of the world's poorest nations.
In a year, over two million of Americans have formed one of the nation's largest grassroots organizations, to fight global poverty.
Alot of them are young people.
America should not be silent in the face of staggering poverty.
At the G8 summit, ONE convinced world leaders to commit a$50 billion per year in life-saving assistance by 2010. Congress increased funding to combat extreme poverty and AIDS.
http://www.one.org has a blog.
I do not want to hear more people talking about how we can't afford to take care of our own people in this country. We should not KILL people in other countries, but if we would STOP, we would have plenty of money to help eradicate poverty!
Posted by: Veritas at May 22, 2006 06:30 AM
Yep.
An UnWelcome Visitor
A healthy commentary on how Bush & Blair are controlling the "puppet strings" of the new Iraqi government & how this could play with the Iraqi people, as life outside the Green Zone remains in relative chaos.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_jenkins/2006/05/post_110.html
Article on the Dixie Chicks new album that will cause me to go out & buy it in support. Besides, they're really good. TIME magazine puts them on the cover, and this article disses them but somewhere in there says they have the "biggest balls" in the music business, sort of a compliment, I guess.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/21/cover.story.tm
Reported mostly in Canadian & Australian press, Israel's leader flies to Washington to push his position that Iran is months away from developing nukes. Weapons inspectors & weapons experts have predicted that we have about a decade before they could do it. Now this, on top of Richard Perle bringing an Iranian "dissident" to Washington (the new Chalabi), looks to me like buildup to a new war. We have neither the money, the personnel nor the support to try this madness.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=5d9e843a-c055-4dab-87f4-ca2a2c8ead42&k=18256
& then Merkel (more conservative successor to the antiwar Schroeder) visits China in hopes of convincing them that Iran is up to no good.
I have the uncomfortable feeling we're expanding our war. If the administration is talking about moving any personnel out of Iraq, they could probably end up in Iran. & there will be plenty of work left in Iraq for expensive government contractors & their security personnel & at our taxpayer expense.
DiAnne:
There are already quite a number of much better, more supportive articles on the Dixie Chicks out there than the rather shallow Time magazine piece you referenced -- some of which which I'll post links to here as soon as I can find them again this morning, having read an online three-pager of one just last night -- and ABCNews' overtly-gushy "Good Morning America" program even featured snippets of an interview with them this morning as a teaser to their doing a full story and live concert segment on them this coming Friday. So that ought to say something about what a diff'rence three years make.
I've always been big fans of the Chicks' music anyway, even without the extraneous fooferah. And you can damn well bet I'm buying their new album too -- in fact, by the time you read this, I will probably have gotten through the checkout line and already done so.
Even Bogus-Bill O'Reilly found himself backing down off his holier-than-thou perch a couple of weeks ago when he complimented Natalie Maines on their new single during a live appearance at a Time 100 event a couple of weeks ago, and followed it up in his online column with about as close to an apology as a professional choadhead like him will ever make in public:
"Natalie Maines has paid the price for her remarks. Her life has been threatened and she remains under siege. That is wrong as well. The woman has a right to believe what she wants to believe. You have a right to reject her beliefs and not to buy her stuff. But to punish her further is not in the spirit of America."
talk about praising with faint damns there bill-boy,
Otter
Hmm. May take me longer than I thought to dig back through all of my online and offline news sources and find the big comprehensive article I was remembering... but here are a handful of other related links for y'all to chew on in the meanwhile...
http://tinyurl.com/juxf6 (Boston Globe)
http://tinyurl.com/lxgyw (Miami Herald)
http://tinyurl.com/gn8xn (Orange County Register)
http://www.dailynews.com/cdreviews/ci_3838726
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/051506.html
Oh, and the Dixie Chicks will be the featured interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program this coming Sunday, too.
not too shabby for three bleeding-heart leftist liberal anti-american blonde bimbos huh?,
Otter
Otter
Thanks for the articles.
This won't hurt the career of the Dixie Chicks at all
& they'll get world exposure.
P.S. -- did I ever happen to mention that Bill O'Reilly also is a truly world-class doink, on the half-shell, with extra stoopid-sauce on the side??
OT... an education in Saudi education practices from the washingtonpost.com
This is a Saudi textbook. (After the intolerance was removed.)
Saudi Arabia's public schools have long been cited for demonizing the West as well as Christians, Jews and other "unbelievers." But after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis -- that was all supposed to change.
A 2004 Saudi royal study group recognized the need for reform after finding that the kingdom's religious studies curriculum "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the 'other.' " Since then, the Saudi government has claimed repeatedly that it has revised its educational texts.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, has worked aggressively to spread this message. "The kingdom has reviewed all of its education practices and materials, and has removed any element that is inconsistent with the needs of a modern education," he said on a recent speaking tour to several U.S. cities. "Not only have we eliminated what might be perceived as intolerance from old textbooks that were in our system, we have implemented a comprehensive internal revision and modernization plan." The Saudi government even took out a full-page ad in the New Republic last December to tout its success at "having modernized our school curricula to better prepare our children for the challenges of tomorrow." A year ago, an embassy spokesman declared: "We have reviewed our educational curriculums. We have removed materials that are inciteful or intolerant towards people of other faiths." The embassy is also distributing a 74-page review on curriculum reform to show that the textbooks have been moderated.
The problem is: These claims are not true.
read the rest here...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769_pf.html
--------------
There are excerpts from the different grade level text books at the end of the article. Check it out.
Oh, yeah, here we go -- the link to that NY Times article what I was trying to remember earlier, in re those pesky darn pinkie-hippo Hanoi-Dame Chicks:
http://tinyurl.com/pznco
[Excerpt:] The next day on "The O'Reilly Factor," Mr. O'Reilly acknowledged that Ms. Maines had "chided" him. He mentioned the radio boycott but did not endorse it. "Not Ready to Make Nice" is "a pretty good song," he said. "There's no reason not to play it."
you *go* grrlz,
Otter
Kerry Business Conference Helps Cut Red Tape, Provides Disaster Recovery Info
LAWRENCE – Today Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) hosted a regional procurement conference and business expo with the Merrimack Chamber of Commerce to help small businesses navigate the process of getting federal contracts and to provide disaster recovery information on the heels of the region’s worst flooding in 70 years.
“Our goal is to help small businesses understand the contracting system and cut through the red tape so they can do what they do best – provide top notch goods and services, create jobs, and drive our economy,” said Kerry. “The entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to hard work is inherent in the small business owners throughout Massachusetts and it was an honor to see that spirit first hand here in Lawrence today.”
Kerry also organized a panel with experts from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Small Business Administration to talk about state and federal aid programs designed to help businesses recover and rebuild after a disaster.
“Unfortunately, after the most devastating floods I’ve ever seen in this region, many businesses are struggling to recover, rebuild and stay open,” Kerry said. “We need to get our businesses back in business by getting them grants and low-interest loans quickly. That’s why I’ve called on Governor Romney to work directly with the SBA now to remove uncertainty and delay in getting these businesses the assistance they need.”
This conference offered an opportunity for more than 500 small business owners, contractors and entrepreneurs who attended the conference to meet with more than 60 exhibitors about opportunities to work with their organizations. Exhibitors included procurement, contract and small business development offices from federal, state, and local government, as well as a variety of hospitals, public utilities, colleges and universities, prime contractors and independent franchisers.
“As a small business owner I am grateful to Sen. Kerry for hosting this business conference with the Merrimack Chamber. There are so many opportunities out there for us, but many of us just don't know where to start. In particular, Sen. Kerry's leadership in organizing the business disaster assistance panel comes at a crucial time. It will take us a while to get our communities and businesses back in top shape, so Sen. Kerry’s assistance in getting this information out there so swiftly is very helpful,” said Sal Lupoli, owner of Sal's Restaurant and Riverwalk complex in Lawrence.
Posted by: dwahzon at May 22, 2006 12:29 PM
Thanks for sharing.
These people - the Saudis - are NOT our friends. Yet they control us, through oil, and through their puppet W.
The face of hatred and bigotry is the same, whether it's Christian (W) or Muslim (the Saudis).
not too shabby for three bleeding-heart leftist liberal anti-american blonde bimbos huh?,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at May 22, 2006 12:00 PM
Good for them!!!
These girls were anti-BushCo shennanigans in Country before being anti-BushCo was popular in Country, or (as is becoming) the norm in our society. They paid a high price for speaking truth to power three years ago.
What goes around comes around, and I am happy for them!!! Instead of death threats, I hope they get some roses thrown at their feet. They deserve them.