"You Never Hear the Word 'PEACE" Anymore"

That is the coolest entry I've read in a long time.
We have a virtual Helen Thomas cult going here - spreading from WA & OR to MN & Colorado. This will definitely get passed on!! Helen Thomas is the Grande Dame of journalism.

I wrote this last April, & it was accompanied by a bouquet photo (Pike Market Tulips).

Flowers for a Grand Journalist

When Helen Thomas "grilled" President Bush during a recent press conference, I encouraged people to press for a Backbone Award. I don't know if this is in the works or not, but I did read that she got thousands of flowers. The roses kept coming and coming - 108 dozen - until they filled a large conference room to overflowing. They were the brainchild of a (mother-of-two from Utah.)

Helen Thomas asked the question no one has asked so directly: "Why did you want to go to war?". She said, "He could not answer my question. He kept referring to Afghanistan. He never articulated the reasons we're in Iraq. I don't think there's any justification for an unprovoked war against somebody who did nothing against us."

"It sure beats the brickbats," Helen said, referring to hundreds of vitriolic e-mails she's received since last week's encounter with Bush. "Some of them attack you ad hominem and call you a traitor and ask if you've ever been to Iraq," she said. Thomas also received hundreds of supportive emails immediately after she spoke.

According to The Hill, Thomas shared her roses with Hearst bureau chief Chuck Lewis and other colleagues and sent the bulk of them to wounded military personnel at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

Helen had the following note sent to the person who initiated the giving of the roses: "Blessed are the peacemakers. The bounty of beautiful roses from such wonderful people has lifted my heart and will remain in my memory for the rest of my life. Thank you for caring that others may live."

Everyone knows who Helen Thomas is. She has asked questions of presidents since John F. Kennedy was in office and was known for her tagline "Thank you, Mr. President." In researching Helen, I found her to be very controversial and in today's political climate, I think it's because she's one of the only journalists still doing her job.

Helen is a Senior White House Correspondant, born in 1920 in Kentucky, so two years older than my mother, and just as outspoken. Helen grew up in Michigan and attended public schools and Wayne State. She worked at UPI for 57 years and quit when Reverend Moon acquired it. Her customary beats were the White House and the FBI. She has since been a Hearst columnist. Helen went to China with Nixon. She traveled the world with Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton and GW Bush and has covered every Economic Summit. She has written three books.

She is rarely called on by President GW Bush. She has called him "the worst President ever."

Books:

* Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President : Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House (Scribner, 2003) ISBN 0743202260
* Front Row at the White House : My Life and Times (Scribner, 2000) ISBN 0684868091

Biographical information:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas

Flowers:
Fresh tulips, from Pike Place Market, Seattle
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/propagandacorporate_media/index.html

Great post ! Too bad rural America won't hold Bush and minions to account. Rural America,the one's that don't read or just tune into O'Liely,Hannity and Limbaugh get to set the agenda of guns -gays -and -god,then the CEO'S of pharamceuticals and big oil support their platform. No wonder we not only feel skunked...we are. In days past Nixon and Johnson were held to account for their misadventures, as Helen so pointedly described.
Anyone that has read Frank Rich's latest book :"Greatest Story Ever Sold" would have hairs standing up on back of necks. The info in that book is nothing new to DCPer's as we knew what was going on and the reason we worked so hard the last election cycle.
History tells us Bush may be in the last throes of an election cycle,but the culture in which it thrives is going to be with us a VERY long time. Work hard to TAKE IT BACK !
I'm out on the trail again today,working locally for John Austin and Kevin Van De Wege.Cantwell's a shoein here.
DiAnne, I wasn't aware of the war protest going on in Seattle yesterday,or I'd have come over the pond. Worked the local war protest here at the ferry dock. Those folks are to be commended as they have shown up every Sat.since the war began.
The weather's nice here today,windy for sure and a sign a sea change is a comin'.
GO - HELEN - GO,keep the pressure on Tony and the rest of those creepers.

Well, jeez, I mean, but doncha think that 'peace' is a really highly over-rated concept these days??

vote smart vote true vote blue,
Otter

Don'cha know Peace is for wimps, cowards and weaklings. Only the brave can attack with Big Ass Bombs and superior technology please Peace huh!

Peace.........It is soooooooo pre 9/11.................. Get with it.

Helen Thomas......Now there is somebody with real cajones.

A Shameless Appeal:

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/youdecide/

If I may put in a personal appeal for our local candidate, please consider voting for Tammy Duckworth (IL-6) when the "polls" open up November 1. She has received considerable financial support from JK, but she is losing in our district. As popular as she is with many of you, it is worth knowing she is getting creamed in T.V. ads in our district. The Republican candidate has effectively moved the debate from Iraq to taxes and immigration (the two ideal Republican talking points). When I phone bank, I am constantly asked about these two issues. The RNCC has bombed us with T.V ads in a 10 to 1 ratio. Duckworth has had so few ads on T.V, it is impossible for voters to really know that her opponent is lying about her position.

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/youdecide/

Helen is a true inspiration. She always
ASKS the questions that uncover the real truth
even if GW insists on evading them.

Hey Oncall,

Send this latest Ava video around - it can't hurt!

http://peacetakescourage.com/ads/votesupport.mov (quicktime)

other modes (I had trouble with windowsmediaplayer)
http://www.peacetakescourage.com/index2.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1161875995&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&page=blog

If you haven't read this letter from an American soldier in Iraq. You are really in for something special. Here is a snip:

Biggest Hassle — High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our briefs and commentary seem to have no effect on their preconceived notions of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they've been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1543658-3,00.html

Good thread header, Karen! Wow, Larry is handsome! :-)

I {heart} Helen Thomas!!! :-)

DiAnne has it right: Helen Thomas is the "Grand Dame of Journalism." And deservedly so (in my humble opinion).

In a world full of Lamestream Media idiots who never seem to be able to ask plain common-sense questions or demand plain common-sense answers (and then compound their lack of intelligence by never questioning the non-answers, and, worse yet, proceed to spin the non-answers into what they think Herr Boosh might have said, which later somehow becomse Bu$hSpeak fact in a dumbed down version of Newspeak - go figure), Helen Thomas shines like the beacon of light in Lady Liberty's torch.

We have so FEW (living) media heroines or heros to pay attention to nowadays. Helen Thomas is one person any budding writer might want to emulate.

Who is there to emulate besides the elder giants of journalism? We can count them on one hand, I daresay, and certainly we'd be hard-pressed to come up with ten heroes or heroines in any media outlet nowadays. Helen Thomas, Keith Olberman, and Molly Ivins are three people I respect and admire (and Ivins continues to write even as she is currently battling cancer again). William Rivers Pitt is good. Jon Stewart is more informative than most Lamestream Media snooze anchors, although he'd never lay claim to being a 'journalist.' So few for young writers to emulate....

US Investigates Voting Machines' Venezuela Ties
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102906Y.shtml
The federal government is investigating the takeover last year of a leading American manufacturer of electronic voting systems by a small software company that has been linked to the leftist government of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

{{{"Paper Ballots For Voting In All Elections!"... screamed the dist speck to the universe....}}}

GOP at a loss? Karl Rove has an 11th-hour plan to win
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rove29oct29,0,440699.story
BUFFALO, N.Y.-The top strategist shifts into high gear on the homestretch, making full use of federal resources. By Peter Wallsten.

Top Government Official Says US on Verge of Economic Disaster
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102906Z.shtml
There's a dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows, or at least should. The vast majority of economists and budget analysts agree: The ship of state is on a disastrous course, and will founder on the reefs of economic disaster if nothing is done to correct it.

The Way Out Of War
By George S. McGovern and William R. Polk
A blueprint for leaving iraq now
We should find a way to express our condolences for the large number of Iraqis incarcerated, tortured, incapacitated, or killed in recent years. This may seem a difficult gesture to many Americans. It may strike them as weak, or as a slur on our patriotism. Americans do not like to admit that they have done wrong.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15430.htm
{{{Grab a cuppa.... Food for thought.... I don't remember Lamestream Media commenting on this speech....}}}

Jon Sawyer: Iran Sounds an Awful Lot Like Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102906X.shtml
Four weeks ago, Congress enacted and President Bush signed the Iran Freedom Support Act, a resolution that mandates sanctions against any country aiding Iran's nuclear programs, even those to which that country is legally entitled under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. If the confrontation over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program ends in war - initiated by this administration or the next - you can bet this law will be cited as proof that Congress was onboard all along.

Yes, Sequoia has foreign ownership, and Rep Carolyn Maloney, NY, has been pursuing this.

More importantly, we can never protect ourselves against black box voting, even with open source software.

Sequoia blew up like an M80 in Cook County, IL, primaries, exposing lost, shifting and no votes. Lending this equipment to Colorado, performed the same way. Always blaming on isolated glitches and lack of poll worker training.

Poppycock! This electronic voting has never shown to work by any test. Certification is paid for by the vendors, and results kept secret. There is no federal regulation on this stuff.

States, such as NY, will never be able to determine if what they get is as purchased. Our law says no wireless, but our Board of Elections, which wants electronic, says it can't test for it.

Already reports of vote shifting in early voting in Missouri, Texas, and maybe Arkansas, over at Bradblog.

Nov 7 will be a long and bumpy night. Let's hope states take time to audit (while there has never been an electronic election audit), and litigate where necessary.

Sorry been absent, but trying to prevent e-voting in NY, the last state to become HAVA compliant. Our dysfunction as a legislature has finally done good.

Paper Ballots. Unsexy and unassailable.

spent the day calling back as many of the 1500 Undecided voters we have id in the last few weeks in Virginia as we could today; its slow and ardious b/c these people like to engage in long, often thought provoking conversations.One guy said he loves Webb, hates Allen but he will vote for Allen b/c he hates dems-brilliant.that was not the normal response,not to alarm.
What I found to be most interesting was how stubbornly proud these voters are to tell me that they are still undecided 9 days out like its a badge of honor. It reminds me of the bus driver in Columbus who told Peter Hart the night before the '04 election that she had not heard enough to make a decision. These folks blow my mind but often they are the 1-2% of the electorate who decide close races so you have to play nice and try to understand them. Its beyond real to understand how folks will wait until next Sunday or Monday to make their decision, so all we can do is try to persuade and fill their heads and mailbox with information. I guess its like the dad who goes out to the empty shelves at Targets on Christmas eve looking to find a toy for his child. It must be something in the water or their dna that makes people work like that, but yet there are still many under reported undecided voters who hopefully will break our way next weekend.

"GOP at a loss? Karl Rove has an 11th-hour plan to win"

Holy crumb. Read page 2. NEVER underestimate Karl's army.

I, too, have a shameless appeal for a candidate that was late to the race that seemed unwinnable, and the opponent unbeatable. Some scandals and decent reporting later, the Cong. (D) candidate who is decent and smart suddenly seems to have a chance in a race that was upgraded from (R) sure thing to leaning.

We have lever machines and could actually vote Steve Harrison in for a win. He appeared on Hardball last week, and suddenly hound dog Bubba will do a robo call on his behalf.

If you have some extra, this is a good opportunity for a win. www.harrison06.com

I like him.

read about Rove's 11th hour plan, but it will only give him 2-3 days good polling data. Fri-Sat-Sun news from Iraq will determine if this is a tsunami or not that will finally wash away Rove's stinch. That is when the voters we have been talking to will make up their minds.

PattiF
I think this close to the election what you're doing up there is probably very valuable. There will be more war protests. It was just "usual suspects" up at the Federal Building, bless their hearts! As for the peace groups in neighborhoods, some have been out there since 2001 or 2002, every single week!! There recently was an all-day drive to get even more people involved. Alot of people have been doing MoveOn phone work or for campaigns or WA Dems. Campaign work comes & goes but working for peace never ends. Helen Thomas is right - it isn't even discussed enough any more!

The Canadians in Vancouver BC are having a protest - they're tired of being in Afghanistan. Too much death - too little to show for it - not much in way of plan - & no end in sight. Since they were smart enough not to get involved in Iraq or Vietnam (sorry Anne Coulter - you are wrong - Canada was NOT in Vietnam) - they don't have the stomach for war.

US shouldn't either - there are just people here who still don't want to admit we LOST the Vietnam war. It may be that from here on out we will have to tuck our tail between our legs and cut and run from any conflict we start or join. How can we stay the course when we are living on borrowed money and time?!

Really good thought piece on how this year's election may and may not be like 1994 at

http://thepremise.com/archives/10/29/2006/509

I will summarize the main points:

Because of redistricting, population changes and reapportionment, changes in campaign finance laws, the explosion of punditry and political press coverage, and the national and international issues at stake in 2006, any comparison between 1994 and 2006 would be imprecise, if not apples and oranges.

There is one point of view, however, from which both elections are identical, and that’s the point of view of voter trust.

(snip)

,, Republicans were offering a contract. It was a guarantee that they wouldn’t end up just like the Democrats — a promise, in writing, that Republicans would not become as corrupt as those they were about to depose.
(snip)
Fast forward twelve years, and look at the result.

A majority of Americans do not trust Republican President George Bush. A greater majority do not trust Republican Vice President Dick Cheney or Republican Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And it is these three men who are charged with waging the war in Iraq.

Congress has been rocked by a culture of corruption orders of magnitude greater than anything the Democrats engaged in leading up to the 1994 election.
(snip)

Then there are the Republican accomplishments and legislative initiatives over the past six years. These include:

Allowing North Korea to build and test nuclear weapons
Preventing Medicare from negotiating for the best price of bulk drug purchases
Attempting to privatize, and thus destroy, Social security
Allowing the sale of our ports and port security to Arab nations
Trying to legislate the life and death of Terry Schiavo
Exploding the national debt by trillions of dollars
Giving the greatest tax breaks to the fewest numbers of Americans
Demonizing and punishing gay citizens
Failing to adequately fund No Child Left Behind

(snip)
Discussions about the war in Iraq always seem to begin with who voted for it, but the American people don’t care who voted for it. What they care about is whether we’re winning or losing, and why we’re winning or losing.

(snip)
Hurricane Katrina proved:
We went into Iraq with too few troops
Our troops were inadequately protected
There was no plan to win the peace
There was no plan to defeat an insurgency
There was no coalition of nations
After Hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast, those truths hardened in the minds of voters.

And that mistrust of what our government was telling us led to further realizations among the electorate in the past year:
Iraq is descending into civil war
The war we started has killed tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of Iraqis
Our 3000 dead American servicemen and servicewomen are 3000 too many.
Our standing in the world has been diminished
There is no exit strategy
The Bush administration cannot tell the truth to the American people
The war in Iraq is creating more terrorists and making us less safe
The war in Iraq is costing hundreds of billions of dollars that could have been spent elsewhere
Iran is stronger and closer to nuclear weapons because we invaded Iraq
Our military readiness is being destroyed
(snip)
The stage of power that the Republicans strode onto in 1994 is now a knife edge, kept sharp not by politics and persuasion, but by attack and manufactured outrage. Wielding the knife are fanatics like Ann Coulter, whose charges of treason against Democrats no longer make anyone laugh. The most recent embarrassment is Republican Rush Limbaugh’s belittling and bullying of Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease.
(snip)
As long as the potholes get filled and nobody starts a war we didn’t need to fight then voters aren’t likely to care that much about a little graft, a little corruption or trivial abuses of power.

But there is an end to what voters will take. And to my mind the Republican Party has reached that end. There’s a new meme in town, and the new meme is this:

The Republican Party is no longer trusted.

(snip)
Democrats are poised to take power not because they conceived a meme and pushed on it until the Republicans fell victim. The Republican Party did all of this to itself, and that’s going to make the damage a whole lot harder to undo.

Too, in 1994 Newt Gingrich was clearly the leader of the Republican Revolution. Today, Democrats have no politician leading the charge, because there is no charge to lead. The Republican Party has destroyed itself — and that’s true whether or not they retain control of the House and the Senate this year. No narrow electoral victory will erase the damage that has been done, or restore the trust that has been broken.

Which is why the most important thing that Democrats can do right now is to tell the truth about what’s happened.

(snip)
CNN is actually running a series called Broken Government because it’s so obviously true. Our government is broken, and it’s a Republican Government.

(read the rest at the link)

Is the site I listed for real or is it damn good satire? I wouln't be surprised if it were for real, but if it is, then there are more crazies out there than I thought.

http://www.liberalsmustdie.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

OnCall
My guess is satire .. there are plenty of collegiates who like to procrastinate on their studies!

This is what is wrong with our country:

"A University of Alabama freshman and National Guard member recently home from the Iraq war was shot dead Friday night after leaving the UA homecoming concert, police said.

[The man], 19, had attended [a] concert on the campus Friday night with some friends...[he] was a passenger in a maroon Nissan Pathfinder that rear-ended another vehicle while leaving the concert...

Someone who was in the car with the victim said that the suspect in the other car pulled a gun on them and words were exchanged...

The driver of the Pathfinder told officers that he drove home unaware that the other vehicle had followed him. He pulled into the driveway and heard a car horn blow twice. [The victim] got out of the Pathfinder and walked into the road.

The driver and passenger heard three gunshots and saw that [the victim] was dead in the street."

Why am I thinking that all this effort to vote Dem from certain GOP like Andrew Sullivan is to save some face, but also strategic. Convince that the good Conservative is not this radical form we have (only partially true). Grover Norquist, pay to play, corporate gods and policy for politics is what they always wanted. Just be careful what you wish for.

More importantly, with a Dem Congress, the media darling McCain will have an easier time, so not one party rule. And we'll have a lame duck Bush, but still as pres.

Posted by: V at October 29, 2006 08:20 PM

Yeah, page 2 got to me, too....

http://jasoncrane.org/2006/10/17/a-great-political-ad-from-the-september-fund/

I've seen the ad on the above link on in-state TV twice now, and finally saw who made it on the small print at the end. I like it..... I've no idea what septemberfund.org is (even after going to the web site). Maybe a 527 organization? Their official web site doesn't have any links, or even the ad. The above link seems to have downloaded the ad from YouTube. Give it a look-see and voice your opinion after you see the punch line....

In-state TV has actually had prime-time debates on for two days in a row now. The 'publican up for Dayton's senate seat comes off as an inept amateur actor. The Dem candidate was 15 points ahead in the polls (Amy Klobuchar) and seems like a shoe-in (I like her, but so far she's not as adamant about getting out of Iraq as I'd like to see). The Indy is a young man who speaks clearly and concisely, and I think he may come off better after the votes are counted than the 'publican amateur (who actually holds a Rep House seat at the moment).

In any case, it's nice to see live political debates on in-state TV in prime time, even if some of the questions are less than intelligent at times....

October 30, 2006
On Dangerous Footing in Iraq, Where Dancing Is a Courageous Act
By MICHAEL LUO

BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 — The members of the national dance troupe of Iraq are performers without an audience. They rehearse daily, but hardly ever put on a show.

Yet each turn of the hip and dip at the waist in their choreographed pieces has become weighted with a dangerous new reality, even as they wait for the chaos around them to subside so they can perform again. In today’s Iraq, with conservative religious parties and radical militias exerting growing influence over every aspect of life, even dancing is an act of bravery.

“Society is overwhelmed by these religious ideologies,” said Tariq Ibrahim, a male dancer in the Baghdad troupe, the Iraqi National Folklore Group. “Now a woman on the street without a head scarf attracts attention. What about a woman onstage dancing?”

Together they are a band of 10 women and 15 men from varied religious backgrounds. Once they toured the world together. Today they are simply trying to survive, hoping one day to thrive again as a troupe. But the religiosity sweeping Iraq does not bode well for their future.

Female participation in folk dancing is considered haram, or forbidden, in Islam. Ayatollah al-Sistani, the leading Shiite cleric in Iraq, has issued strict guidelines against dancing in various situations. The country’s Shiite-led government, the dancers said, is naturally trying to marginalize them.

“Religion in its essence does not match with art,” said Fouad Thanoon, the group’s director and lead choreographer. “So when religion and government come together, that will affect art very much.”

The group has more immediate worries about extremists. Recently one of its members, Bushra Yousif, 21, a petite woman with delicate features who has been with the group for six years, received a note at home warning her to leave within 48 hours. A bullet was included in the envelope.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/30/arts/dance/30danc.html

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at October 30, 2006 07:26 AM

Oh Matt,

This makes me so sad. I knew about the Iraqi dancers; there was an article about Fouad at the beginning of the invasion. I had wondered how they were faring and if they had fled.

Because of our clumsiness and lack of understanding, we have put an entire culture on death watch. WE have done this. These people have lost a civilization.

More rage, more and more every day...

Hmm. Doesn't sound very unclear to me, Nonny...

----------------

The September Fund (SF) is a new 527 political organization established to communicate with the public on issues of national and local importance in the 2006 elections. SF's efforts are designed to clarify the differences between Republicans and Democrats on the critical issues at stake in the midterm elections to ensure Democrats win control of state legislatures, prevail in key gubernatorial contests, gain control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and pass important ballot initiatives such as those that seek to strengthen the minimum wage.

SF intends to become an assertive voice defending against the negative, Republican media assault and ensure that the public understands the disastrous failures of the Bush Administration on issues such as national security, economic opportunity and effectively protecting the homeland.

SF intends to develop creative paid media and utilize innovative grassroots techniques to effectively communicate with the public. Specifically, SF will employ television, radio, direct mail, Internet, phone and grassroots organizing tools to accomplish its goals. Additionally, SF will support the efforts of likeminded organizations to accomplish its goals.

The September Fund is registered with the IRS as a 527. SF is not a federal political committee under the FEC’s longstanding definition of a “political committee” affirmed in November 2005. SF does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of any individual federal candidate or solicit funds to support any specific federal candidate.

SF will not expressly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate. Although SF is not a federal political committee, it is permitted under the law to refer to candidates and their positions on issues. SF will not coordinate its activities with any candidates or party committees.

SF can accept funds from individuals, corporations and labor organizations.

(From the top page of http://septemberfund.org )

---------------

the dawkins devil is in the details,
Otter

{The following is presented here for informational purposes only. Ahem.)

----------------

Boston Globe article link: http://tinyurl.com/ydkfr4

NEWTOWN, Pa. -- The military record of a Democratic House candidate was under attack. So, Senator John F. Kerry ventured to the Philadelphia suburbs last week to defend Patrick Murphy -- and deliver the kind of speech the senator never quite gave when his own wartime service was called into question in 2004.

"Attacking Patrick Murphy for his service is a little bit like Jessica Simpson attacking Albert Einstein's IQ," the Massachusetts Democrat proclaimed Thursday at a chilly outdoor rally at Bucks County Community College.

"A lot of these people in the GOP, the Republican Party -- they think somehow that they served because they played with GI dolls when they were little," Kerry said. "The guys who really served understand what it means, and we've had enough of these lies."

[snip]

Kerry insists that his work on behalf of congressional candidates -- including 15 veterans who are running for House and Senate seats -- has nothing to do with his presidential ambitions. After the 2004 campaign, he said, he vowed to use his political celebrity and campaign infrastructure to help Democrats win control of Congress.

Last week, he sent another $500,000 to the Democrats' House and Senate campaign arms, on top of the more than $11 million he had already raised or given to candidates for Congress.

But with Kerry poised to make a decision on seeking the presidency in the weeks after the Nov. 7 congressional elections, the 2008 overtones of his efforts are unmistakable.

[snip]

His stump speech is notably more liberal this time around. It has evolved into a concise recitation of longstanding Democratic priorities: energy independence, universal healthcare for children, even an assertion that President Bush was "selected" over Al Gore in 2000.

After a campaign in which he struggled to articulate his differences with the president on Iraq, he has become a full-throated war critic, calling for the United States to set a deadline of July 2007 to remove nearly all combat troops from the country.

"The war in Iraq is not making America safer. It's making America more exposed," Kerry said in Newtown. "What you have in Washington today is a house of lies, and we need to sweep that house clean."

Earlier this year, Republican pollster Frank Luntz conducted focus groups in New Hampshire and Iowa where he showed clips of the latest campaign-style appearances of nine Democrats who are thinking about running for president. Kerry came across as the best of the bunch, except for lingering resentment that he had not displayed the same fire two years ago, Luntz said.

"John Kerry's a new guy, a new man, a new candidate," he said. "He's got an agenda, he's got passion. He's an articulate critic of the administration. Their only complaint is, 'Why didn't he say these things two years ago?' The response is, 'Wow, that's not the John Kerry I remember.' It's a challenge for him to show that he should have a second chance."

[snip]

After that Newtown event, Kerry stopped by another Philadelphia suburb to appear on behalf of Joseph A. Sestak, the Democrat candidate who is taking on Republican Representative Curt Weldon.

There, Kerry got the kind of advice that he gets all the time these days.

"If you do run for president -- and I do hope you do -- fight like hell," one person at the fund-raiser told him.

"I'm in a fighting mood," Kerry responded. "We -- together -- lost to two lies: the lie about the war in Iraq, and the lie about me personally. And if you don't think that puts me in a fighting mood, you don't know John Kerry."

---------------

but I'll bet I'm not the only one here with K/E stickers still on my bumpers,
Otter

Letterman to O'Reilly: 'You bonehead'
October 30, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bill O'Reilly walked out for his appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show" with a plastic shield. He could have used it.

"That's cute, that's nice," Letterman said on Friday night's show. "You come out with toys."

Letterman and the Fox News Channel talk show host renewed their prickly confrontation from January, when Letterman told him "I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap."

Before O'Reilly even came out, Letterman made his feelings clear.

"I'm secretly hoping when Bill O'Reilly comes out here, I'll have the opportunity to call him a bonehead," Letterman said.

They discussed the Iraq war and the upcoming midterm election, with O'Reilly saying that Americans are depressed by the progress of the Iraq War, and that they'd rather watch escapist entertainment like "Dancing with the Stars" than the news.

He asked Letterman: "Are you going to be on 'Dancing with the Stars'?"

"Ha ha," Letterman said. "You bonehead."

Letterman said that like many Americans, he was so angered in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that he wanted to strike out, and didn't oppose the Iraq War at its beginning. As time has gone on, he said he has realized that was wrong.

Asked by O'Reilly whether he wanted the Americans to win the war, Letterman said he wanted a solution that would result in the least loss of American lives.

As part of their confrontation, O'Reilly said Letterman was guilty of oversimplifying a complicated situation.

"You're putting words in my mouth," he told Letterman at one point.

"You're putting artificial facts in your head," Letterman responded.

O'Reilly didn't get angry with Letterman during his appearance, although at one point he told an apparent heckler in the audience to "knock it off." He told the audience that he and Letterman were really friends. "This whole thing is a big act," he said.

Letterman never agreed with him.

"I have no idea what I'm talking about," Letterman said. "But I don't think you do, either."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/30/letterman.vs.oreilly.ap/index.html

Rumsfeld defense sparks a greater debate

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 30, 2006

WASHINGTON - The No. 2 leader in the House said yesterday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is "the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years," sparking a debate with Democrats who said the comments show why the GOP should be voted out of power.

Rumsfeld's leadership of the bloody mission in Iraq has become a divisive issue in the Nov. 7 elections. Many Democrats and a few Republicans are calling for his resignation, but President George W. Bush repeatedly has defended him.

So did House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) during an appearance yesterday on ABC's "This Week."

"I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years," Boehner said. "This Pentagon and our military needs a transformation. And I think Donald Rumsfeld's the only man in America who knows where the bodies are buried at the Pentagon, has enough experience to help transform that institution."

Boehner's assertion brought strong criticism from some Democrats. Speaking on CNN's "Late Edition," Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said voters will have their chance to show if they agree with Boehner on Election Day. "It's true President Bush may not be on the ballot, but people like Boehner and people who support Rumsfeld and Cheney and Bush, they're on the ballot," Rangel said.

"And that's why we only get two years. You don't have to wait to get the president. This is a referendum on the war and the incompetency of the Bush administration," he added.

Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic effort to win control of the House, quickly e-mailed a statement to reporters objecting to Boehner's comments and including quotes from seven military leaders criticizing the defense secretary.

"Congressman Boehner's defense of Donald Rumsfeld makes it crystal clear that we need change in Washington from the rubber stamp Republican Congress and their blind adherence to President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld's stay the course policy in Iraq," Emanuel's e-mail said.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, appearing with Rangel on CNN, said she has confidence in Rumsfeld. "I think it's a shame to take this complex issue of winning the international war on terror and putting it at the level of whether you like or not like Donald Rumsfeld, and whether you like or don't like President Bush's personalities and the statements that he's made," she said.

Another Republican, Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele, declined to back the Pentagon chief.

"He wouldn't be my secretary of defense," Steele said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And ultimately, that's going to be a decision that the president of the United States makes."

more...
http://tinyurl.com/ycs9jb

Speaking of Boehner:
Boehner v McDermott is heard at the Supreme Court tomorrow, Halloween.

It will be a very important Freedom of Speech case.

Posted by: karen at October 30, 2006 07:42 AM

It sure seems that way to me.

On a very side note, if anyone wants to see what I was doing in Bratislava, photos are here:

http://www.abp.sk/laban/laban_gallery/index.html

Army monitors soldiers' blogs, Web sites
Oversight operation checks for anything that may compromise security

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - From the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan to here at home, soldiers blogging about military life are under the watchful eye of some of their own.

A Virginia-based operation, the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, monitors official and unofficial blogs and other Web sites for anything that may compromise security. The team scans for official documents, personal contact information and pictures of weapons or entrances to camps.

In some cases, that information can be detrimental, said Lt. Col. Stephen Warnock, team leader and battalion commander of a Manassas-based Virginia National Guard unit working on the operation.

In one incident, a blogger was describing his duties as a guard, providing pictures of his post and discussing how to exploit its vulnerabilities. Other soldiers posted photos of an Army weapons system that was damaged by enemy attack, and another showed personal information that could have endangered his family.

"We are a nation at war," Warnock said by e-mail. "The less the enemy knows, the better it is for our soldiers."

In the early years of operations in the Middle East, no official oversight governed Web sites that sprung up to keep the families of those deployed informed about their daily lives.

The oversight mission, made up of active-duty soldiers and contractors, as well as Guard and Reserve members from Maryland, Texas and Washington state, began in 2002 and was expanded in August 2005 to include sites in the public domain, including blogs.

The Army will not disclose the methods or tools being used to find and monitor the sites. Nor will it reveal the size of the operation or the contractors involved. The Defense Department has a similar program, the Joint Web Risk Assessment Cell, but the Army program is apparently the only operation that monitors nonmilitary sites.

Now soldiers wishing to blog while deployed are required to register their sites with their commanding officers, who monitor the sites quarterly, according to a four-page document of guidelines published in April 2005 by Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15481832/

THE THIRTEEN SCARIEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA
Old Trout Magazine
From the scariest presidential candidate to the scariest billionaire to the scariest cop, these truly are the worst America has to offer.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/43586/

Jason Leopold: Bush "Upbeat" on Iraq?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/103006Z.shtml
While he was discussing the situation in Iraq and explaining the reasons the United States launched a pre-emptive strike against the country, Bush told the journalists that "I believe when you get attacked and somebody declares war on you, you fight back. And that's what we're doing." Jason Leopold argues that for President Bush to say publicly that the United States attacked Iraq because of 9/11 is an insult to the more than 2,809 men and women who have died in combat in Iraq and tens of thousands of other soldiers who were maimed, believing they were fighting a war predicated on finding weapons of mass destruction.

{{{We've all deconstructed Bu$hSpeak before, and there have even been half-hearted attempts to do so in Lamestream Media (I've a feeling they just gave up years ago, perfunctorily show up at "news conferences" and let Dumbya rant on nowadays... why bother to refute a person who never bothers to talk about anything but his delusions, never varies his script from previous lies?), but seeing it all again, so close to election, an election Dems (and maybe a few Indys) just might take (if e-voting machines aren't rigged - again), just feels... well... dirty. I need to go wash out my eyes....}}}

In order for this to be a truly tsunami election we must hear a national unified message that I had hoped would have started last night across the country. That message whatever it might be needs to be heard from Dianne in Washington to defarge and oncall in Illinois, to Bubba and chuck in Texas. In '94 it was vote for the contract on America; We pledge to bring ethics to Washington or you can boot us out (not a bad idea).

Any thoughts of a unified message my favorites would be:
1. The Winds of Change are Blowing
2. Its Time to make the Administration Accountable.
3. End the Rubber Stamp.
4. Absolute Power Corrupts

Undecided voters I spoke to this weekend are desperately looking for a closing message to seal the deal and push them over to support our candidates. Moderate Republican and Independent voters want to close the deal for Change but are yet to hear a unified message why that should happen. Has it happened or started to happen in any of your Districts yet? Nothing here yet and the clock is ticking.

Bubba
Do people care that we've had a 'do-nothing' congress?

No not really its a candidate by candidate issue how hard their rep has worked or represented the interest of their district. We want it to be on an overarching national referendum message. Some of the Undecideds in Va that I have spoken to have commented that they can't think of any productive legislation Allen has written; its not about how many days he was present but what he has done.

I don't think its so much a question of their working only 88 days this year its more of the bone headed things they have started like supporting a fence then not funding it, just don't think Do Nothing Congress Resonates. Its all about Iraq and Do you want A Change, but that is just my opinion, not worth 2 cents.I guess we have not heard a national message in the NW yet.

Posted by: Bubba at October 30, 2006 12:53 PM

Bubba, that reminds me exactly of the desperate undecideds that were visiting the pre-'04 election blog we were on right before the '04 election looking for something, anything, that could seal the deal in their minds.

Maybe the messages are a bit fragmented right now because as you say, it is a candidate by candidate race.

truth that is precisely why I posted my concern of needing a final national message this last week to close the deal with the undecided voter we are talking to like the ones we saw in Ohio in '04 the Hart focus group on Sunday before the election. We are all wkg our tails off trying to make that last final push to get us over the finish line. If not right now when will have that nationalized message? We want it to be a national referendum, Rove wants it to be a seat be seat contrast.Many elections are decided by less then 3% of the our local voters and many elections will actually be decided by 1% or less ask DiAnne.They have had 2 year to come up with a unified message.

perhaps we need to remind voters this week about the incompitence of FEEMA and Katrina. Seems like that has been forgotten and replaced by sexually appealing ads.

I have been out of the loop for the last month without internet or television coverage.

How's it going?

Bubba maybe we are making a big mistake to not make it a national referendum now, because that might stick with the voter's minds. You can be sure that if we take Congress Rove will make it a national referendum against Dems in '08.

Heard Bush on network news saying that if we pull out of Iraq before the job is finished the "terrorists" would follow us here. Shameless. I don't think the civil warriors of Iraq would be interested in duking it out here in the U.S.

Shameless lying.

Posted by: DiAnne at October 30, 2006 01:05 PM

I am not bubba but the voters I have been talking to have gotten very cynical even the young ones. Its like running into a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour, they really believe it does not matter who is in office and its going to be the same no matter what party is in. We are talking more than disenfranchised we are talking disheartend, and that is never a good thing.

Then there is the why should we vote thing, I do not know if you all remember because it got such little media coverage but NC was way up there with voting problems. We had wide scale breakdowns of equipment and a lot of votes were never counted because they were lost.

Its enough to make you sick. I believe we have become if not an apathetic nation and apathetic state. On the plus side Democratic signs are running 3 to 1 over republicans but as my 20 year old pointed out that could just mean Republicans arent owning up as much to being republicans it does not nessic. mean they are going to vote Democratic or that they are not going to show up at the polls and vote Republican, it just means they arent as visable in their support as they have been in the past.

I dont believe the pundits I believe this election is gonna be close and I think the republicans are gonna be sneaky. to win we will need wide scale turnout, in away that would immediatly bring any problems to light and show any fraud.

As an aside I voted already was kind of scared to vote early after last time but sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith.

Hunter prepares quest for Whitehouse and pardon of his friend Cunningham:

"Hunter was a close ally of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a California Republican who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison this year for accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. Hunter has accepted $46,000 in campaign donations from the same contractors at the center of the Cunningham scandal, Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade."

Poll: Stumping not boosting Bush popularity
October 30, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's popularity has not been buoyed by a series of public events in recent days, a new CNN poll has found.

Bush's approval rating still hovers in the high 30s, where it has been throughout October.

The poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corp., found that 37 percent of Americans approve of how Bush is handling his job as president; 58 percent disapprove. (View Bush's approval rating)

The president's approval dropped slightly from the poll taken a week earlier, from 39 percent down to 37 percent, but the change was within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A total of 1,014 adult Americans were interviewed for the latest poll between October 27 and 29.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/30/bush.poll/index.html

Thee Thaw

The 'no more rubber stamp' theme certainly seems to be getting quite a workout in the candidate-against-candidate ad campaigns. The various Reposeurs are running away from being associated with Shrubya's failed Katrina policies at high rates of speed, largely because they're afraid of being held accountable for their party's naked greed, corruption and incompetence.

but the winds of change are always blowing one way or another anyway,
Otter

Mideast hopes for policy shift in U.S. midterms
POSTED: 5:59 p.m. EST, October 30, 2006

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Arab governments are looking for change in U.S. policy in the Middle East after the midterm elections.

One thing they hope for is that a politically weakened President Bush would talk with Iran and Syria. They also hope he would show greater interest in the Palestinians and find a way out of the crisis in Iraq.

Israel also is watching for any sign of change in U.S. strategy -- especially toward the Palestinians, Syria and Iran.

"The whole region is volatile and it cannot face more problems and challenges," Arab League official Hesham Youssef said in a recent interview. "They cannot leave it like this, neither in Iraq nor in Gaza nor in Lebanon. More conflicts could be ahead."

The Bush administration came into office in 2001 committed to reshaping the political map of the Middle East, which was suffering from authoritarian regimes, Islamic extremism, the conflict with Israel and sluggish economies.

Bush has spoken repeatedly of his dream of creating a new Middle East. But five years later, most analysts believe few things have improved.

And, U.S. influence in the region is at a low point, in part because despite Saddam Hussein's overthrow, Iraq has never stabilized.

A June poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that less than one-third of the people in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey had a favorable view of the United States.

"Virtually everything is worse than it was five years ago," said Jon Alterman, a Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Iraq is worse, the Palestinian issue is worse, Iran is worse."

Many Arabs place blame on the Bush administration, citing the war in Iraq especially, but also its unqualified support for Israel in the battle against Hezbollah in Lebanon and inattention to the Palestinians.

Democracy efforts have stalled. Non-democratic but pro-U.S. governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan now largely shrug off the administration's campaign for strong steps toward democracy.

The victory by the Islamic militant Hamas group in Palestinian elections last January gave a boost to arguments that stability was more important than democracy.

And the biggest democratic experiment of all -- Iraq -- has degenerated into a vicious sectarian war.

Suspicious of Democrats

Many Arab officials question, however, whether the Democrat Party has better answers to the region's problems. They consider the Democrats historically more supportive of Israel than the GOP is.

Even as they eye the possible political upheaval in the United States, Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia are maintaining close ties to the Bush administration.

"At the level of those who follow politics closely, there is fear that if the Democrats win, there will be an imbalance in foreign policy," said Kuwaiti analyst Ayed al-Mannah. "Support for moderate forces and governments ... will be weakened."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/30/mideast.us.elections.ap/index.html

Read the whole thing at the link above.
*****************************************

Why is this kind of story put under the Banner of : America Votes 2006? the whole world wanted Bush out in 2004 and everytime they said it they were told to shut up and sit down we would do as we damwell please. Its the last part the burns my butt, Europeon nations need not open their mouths about our elections but Arab nations can butt in and it be put under the America Votes 2006 banner??

Democrats worked hard for Middle East peace the last time around I do not see that ever being any differant, the only differance is that Bush may be forced to sit with even those he doesnt like, wow that would be bad!

April

Re that article, some of the more "moderate" governments in the middle east are also those with dictator-like sheiks who keep their people down & that's alot of why so many have turned in desperation to fundamentalism and even Jihadism.

Take a look at United Arab Emirates & the way Dubai is being built up, & the international resort property called "The World" - it dwarfs the lifestyle of most Americans & Europeans & the articifical islands were mostly built by slave labor. Most of the menial labor is done by foreigners imported from places like the Phillipines.

Saudi Arabia is another good example - used to be the median income was much higher (adjusted for inflation) & now the disparity between rich & poor is more than it was 30 years ago. I'm not sure that the close Republican relationship between the Sheiks & Emirs of these places makes any of us safer.

There is an untold amount of wealth, power & petroleum in the middle east & it's consolidated in the hands of a very few people. You can bet that they would sell out their own common citizens without guilt in exchange for the support of conservatives in US and UK who would let them do it.

We need to have good relationships with the educated and those in leadership positions in the middle east, but not prop up those who are corrupt, with the result of widening polarity between the richest and the poorest. The results, if we do, are not pretty- a combination of terrorism, religious fundamentalism or Marxist-type revolution.

We saw it when we let Mosadeq fall in Iran and propped up the Shah Pahlevi. At the time, Iranians told me that one of two things would happen - a Marxist revolution or a fundamentalist Islamic takeover. The latter happened.

For all that can be said about Saddam, we sold him chemical weapons. Rumsfeld was his buddy. We played sides in the Iran/Iraq war, as we did in the Soviet Union/Afghan War. We did it fairly covertly, to keep cheap oil flowing our way. Saddam kept Iraq somewhat secular and kept it one country, problems and all. Now he's gone, but chaos reigns. Kurds, Sunnis, Shiites and even Shiite v Shiite factions battle.

Saddam also kept Iranian and Iraqi Shiites from banding together, so some families didn't see relatives for 30 years, which was very sad. On the other hand, is it a pretty picture now for the whole region to start to fall under Shariah law? Think what this means for women, who 35 years ago were in a much more progressive position than they are now - in terms of education and freedom.

It's about more than Democrats and Republicans, because we have a long-standing greedy, self-serving foreign policy. Of the two, I would bet on the Democrats to have good relations with a broader sector of the middle east and to use diplomacy moreso than warfare, with better results.

April
The post addressed to Bubba was a suggestion about something that could be framed to the people:

"Does it matter to you that this Congress under Bush has done virtually nothing?"

What have they done? Argued about Terri Schiavo's status? Argued about what constitutes a marriage? Responded slowly to calamaties like Katrina? Agreed to build a wall between US & Mexico?

Very little. & at taxpayer's expense.

We do need a plan to offer as an alternative. I talked with my son & he used as an example Tester of Montana. He has a good platform which addresses alot of issues in the state of Montana that people care about.

We need to highlight the failures of this administration and Congress, as they have been given the privilege of enacting positive change and have failed to do so. We also need positive programs at all levels.

It seems that people are responding more to negative ads & there isn't much time left. Isn't it sad that negative ads tend to be effective?!

The apathy is a real problem. I voted this morning. I used good lighting, was alert, had a Voter Manual with me and it was still hard to interpret the initiatives and research the candidates. I was wondering about those with poor reading skill, little time.

In addition, the ballot was so fat that two stamps were required. First people need photo ID to register. Then they need to fill out their ballot, remember to sign it, remember to send it in, and put two stamps on. I had to really concentrate. I suppose equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats could mess up but it was mind-boggling to think of those in nursing homes, those voting for the first time, etc. Overwhelming. We had a whole set of city council resolutions that boiled down to small matters of parlamentary procedure. Some of the initiatives sound like when you vote for them you are voting against them.

I am taking voting much more seriously these days. It's interesting that in 2000, 2002 and 2004, issues of voter fraud were much more underground. People like Greg Palast and Black Box Voting and BradBlog were covering, but it was easy for ordinary people to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that our voting system could be as corrupt as any stereotype of a third world country.

It seems like this time the issue is more out there but it scares people, rightfully so. Someone I know who is an activist for voting integrity asked a Secretary of State about it and he said we needed not to alarm people or they would lose faith in the system and not vote.

This next week is going to be nerve-wracking but we have to use all we have to educate, illuminate, get dialogue going that will get people to take that last final step to the ballot box (or mail box).

Bubba
Re national message in the NW it would definitely be the war and the failure associated with it.

It would also be the economy and the mixed messages we get about growth yet a housing bubble about to pop.

It would be the environment.

Now where it gets tricky is other parts of the NW, such as the more conservative Republican-dominated areas east of the mountains. There live the values voters.

It will depend on whether they feel they have gotten what they were promised.

Here is an inspirational video to send around. It has clear positive message in it as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf3WzzaZK_M&eurl=

Dianne someone earlier today mentioned having a splintered message which I hope we don't have this week. Often it comes down to a choice are you Ready for Change, or stay the course; the winds of change are blowing.

I am much more upbeat about Virginia tonight, reached 65 undecided voters tonight who were breaking 75% for Webb in my calling. Its too early to celebrate but it may just happen. I heard a sense of joy by those undecideds who told me they just decided to support Webb tonight, it gave me goose bumps.

Haven't been around much because I'm pretty busy working on my district's campaign. But I want to share with you here at the DCP one example of how the grassroots movement is alive & kicking butt in this country right now.

Although my district went for Clinton, Gore, & Kerry in the national elections, for some stupid reason, the republicans have held the House seat for 40 years. When my candidate started this race, no one -- except his supporters/volunteers -- believed that he could take this district. In fact, polling done on 10/08-10/09 gave the incumbent a 57% - 32% lead.

Thanks to very dedicated volunteers, a hard-working campaign staff & a terrific candidate, the poll now give the incumbent 46% & our candidate 48%, with 6% undecided.

This, dear DCPers, is why the DCP exists - to educate, to activate, to empower.

I've been educated (and still have so much more to learn).
I've become (very) active in my local campaign.
I'm empowered, encouraged, & damn excited!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061031/bs_nm/energy_gasoline_price_dc

U.S. gasoline price up for 1st time in 3 months

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drivers faced their first rise in gasoline costs in three months as the national average pump price increased a penny over the last week to $2.22 a gallon, the government said on Monday.

{{{Wow. NeoCons are getting greedy to start raising prices even before Nov. 7. There was a blurb on in-state evening snooze that gas prices in the Twin Cities are up five cents per gallon, even though the price per barrel has not yet gone up again. More on link.}}}

Posted by: madame defarge at October 30, 2006 08:46 PM

WOW! Such great work, MD!

This is a perfect example of how you just don't know, when you set out to touch the lives of other people, what can happen. If your guy wins, and the Dems take the House by ONE vote, then all the work that everybody on the DCP has done could be credited with changing the course of history. And MD, you are an instrumental part of this.

And Bubba, you are so doing your part too.

Dick and I are simply humbled by all of you.

Merci bien, Karen & Dick. Couldn't have done anything without the guidance of our wise masters. Namaste.

Your teacher can open the door, but you must enter by yourself.
- Chinese proverb

defarge,karen,oncall and others these are the building blocks for our grand effort of 2008. We have grown as a group in the 20 or so months of our existence and learned each in our own way how our efforts will make a difference for this country and what a participatory democracy really means. 8 more days before change. The winds of change are blowing, keep up the great work.

Bubba
Glad it is going well - my son & I were just talking about that race (Webb v Allen).

Bubba my suggestion for a theme is Taking Action on Things That Matter.

Why are we spending billions to rebuild and repair a country we tore apart when our own country is crumbling? Why do soldiers survive Iraq to come back and be shot dead in their own neighborhood? Why do we invest in rebuilding roads and bridges in Iraq when our own are disintegrating? Why do we fund education for Afghani girls when our own boys and girls struggle? Why do we build, repair, and protect oil platforms in the Persian Gulf when platforms in our Gulf are adrift and broken, when pipelines in Alaska are hole-ridden, when true alternative energy sources are desperately underfunded? Why have comprehensive plans to protect Iraqi civilians and nothing for hurricane victims? Why do we fight drug wars in Afghanistan and ignore the addicts on the streets of the US? Why do we airlift Iraqis for medical treatment but millions of Americans go untreated or resort to emergency rooms for care?

Meanwhile our elected representatives lunch with lobbyists and solicit underage boys for sex.

It is time to take action on things that matter.

And April I encounter a ton of voter apathy and hear just about every excuse in the book from my crowd of 18-35 year olds who are notorious for not voting. I can understand their frustration especially when it is so clear that often votes do not count (or at least not the way you intended) and when no party or politicians seem immune from the intoxicating drugs of money and power and corruption and inaction that infiltrate the halls of Congress. But my point to them is that as military members the Congresspeople are the ones who set our pay, who authorize our wars, who fund our projects and set the size of our active duty and reserve forces, who confirm our officer promotions...the Commander in Chief is our CEO but Congress is our Board of Directors and what shareholders should not take their opportunity to vote their shares and elect their board? Sometimes it is hard to make the connection but I remind them that all their unanswered gripes about pay, benefits, assignments, unfunded programs, etc., ultimately stem back to whom they vote for come election day.

Now, it's off as unit Voting Officer to get them to figure out their ballots and mail them in.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/30/191448/77

This is from an article about Wolf Blitzer daring to ask Lynne Cheney about her husband's torture policy:

First they came for Muslims, but I covered for them, because Muslims aren't our demographic.

Then they went to war based on lies, and I helped them, because ratings are good for cable news during wartime, and they weren't sending my kids off to fight.

Then they came for the anti-war protesters, and I said nothing on TV about it, because hippies don't buy the Hummers and Boeing fighter jets advertised on my network.

Then they approved torture, but that's not something I liked to talk about on the air, because they weren't torturing my demographic.

Then they opened secret prisons, but I didn't talk about that much because, well, they're not sending me to them, are they?

Then they took out Bill Maher, and Ashley Bansford, and Aaron Brown, and Phil Donahue, and a few others in the journalism game, but I didn't let that bother me because I'm doing just fine.

Then they came for the gays, but I covered for them, because I'm not gay.

Then they came for the non-believers, but I stayed out of that one because, well, religious zealots are scary.

Then they disenfranchised the black voters, but I waved that off as silly conspiracy theories, because black voters don't watch Lou Dobbs.

Then they stole an election.. and then another.. and I bullshitted to the nation that "the exit polls must have been wrong..."

Then they came for the immigrants - legal and otherwise - and I said nothing because I'm not employed by CNN Espanol.

Then they came for the Democrats, but I was cool with that because, heck, the Republicans pay my wages.

Then they lost a Major American city to rising water and snakes, but I cut them some slack because, well, you learn from your mistakes, don't you?

Then they gutted the treasury, but I said nothing because my bank account looks great.

Then the Downing Street memo came out, but I didn't mention it, because it was embarassing to the Prez.

Then they bought commentators, paid them off with taxpayer dollars, and I let it go because, let's be honest, they're doing the same with me.

Then they tried to sell our ports to Dubai, and I flew to Dubai to show America how great they are at running ports.

Then the Saudis financed terrorism, but I covered for them because the Royal Saud Investment Group buys TV time. We don't talk about the Saudis anymore.

Then they gutted amendments 1-10 of the Constitution, but I said little about it because Ann Coulter said it would be partisan if I took a side.

Then they banned movies and shut down radio DJs and boycotted the Dixie Chicks and fined TV stations for saying rude words, but I did not fight them because it wasn't 'sexy' enough.

Then the President's approval ratings sank like a stone, but I didn't kick him while he was down, repeatedly finding joy in the fact that he "was up two points to 37% approval".

Then they tapped our phones, but I didn't get angry, or tell the nation how awful that is, because it would have made the Republicans mad.

Then the Vice President made millions in deferred salary from Halliburton while giving them no-bid contracts that they refuse to deliver on, but I said nada about that because Dick says he's not emplyed by Halliburton... even though he is.

Then George Allen was found to be racist, and Conrad Burns a fraud, and Mark Foley a predator, and Scooter Libby a traitor, and Tom DeLay a corrupt sleaze, and Lynne Cheney wrote sex novels involving lesbian sisters, and Duke Cunningham was innocent until it was really clear he wasn't, and Denny Hastert protected child molesters, and donald Rumsfeld broke the military and Jack Abramoff gave money to dozens of Republicans, and I kept a lid on all that as much as I could because, frankly, they weren't Democrats, so they didn't deserve more than a Friday afternoon mention.

Then they took away habeas corpus, but I didn't tell the American people because I'd just have to go and explain what habeas corpus is, and why it's the very center of American democracy, and that's a lot of stuff to explain when there's a white girl missing in Alabama.

Then Jack Cafferty read your emails on the air, all of which slammed the Republicans for their crimes, and I said things like, "There must have been some supporters of Bush as well, wasn't there, Jack?" and "As always, Jack Cafferty, good for a laugh," so that his words would have no power.

Then Paula Zahn turned news into an electronic version of the National Enquirer, and I promoed her, because do the people really need actual news from a news network?

Then my bosses hired serial gambler/values man/Republican operative Bill Bennett to give 'unbiased insights', and I welcomed him because truth is overrated. Then they hired Glenn Beck, and I welcomed him because, he's so sassy! Then they gave air time to Nancy Grace, who I'll promo even if her brand of gutter journalism is responsible for suicides of those she features on her show. Because hey, who am I to judge?

Then O'Reilly lied, and I let it go. Then Hannity lied, and I let it go. Then Coulter plagiarized, and I let it go. Then Kyra Phillips put a new definition to right wing shillery, but I let it go, because the stuff on the teleprompter didn't mention them.

Then, when the Republicans had nothing left but corruption, racism, bigotry, racial hatred, torture, war crimes, desecration of the Constitution, stolen elections, massive fraud, profiteering and an economy that is, for at least 99% of people, bankrupt...

...then they came for me.

Interesting analysis of the 2004 election from Thomas F. Schaller at the NYTimes (Select). Here are snippets from it:

Deflating the Myths of 2004

The national media has already arrived at a narrative about what happened two years ago. The abbreviated version of this story is that George W. Bush, on the strength of his leadership on terrorism and an evangelical booster shot from the gay marriage issue, won the sort of decisive victory that eluded him four years earlier, while helping expand his party’s majorities in Congress.

The post-election summaries of the state of the two parties were strikingly different. The Democrats and their less-than-inspiring presidential nominee, we were told, were out-smarted, out-strategized, and out-maneuvered by their opponents. President Bush and the Republicans, on the other hand, were blessed with sharper consultants, more agile candidates with firmer backbones, a more substantial political infrastructure, less party infighting, and delivered a clearer and simpler message about the ideals and issues the party represented.

But there were other, more concrete factors that had already tipped the scales in the Republicans’ favor. By 2004 the Republicans controlled all of both elected branches of the national government, the federal courts, and a majority of governors and state legislative chambers. They benefited as well from a media echo chamber driven by Fox News, 24-hour conservative talk radio, and a battalion of well-funded conservative think tank experts who were willing and able to repeat every talking point and focus group-tested phrase, from “cut and run” (Democrats) to “stay the course” (Republicans).

As an incumbent running for re-election, Bush also had the power of bully pulpit and the luxury of a two-year head start on the Democrats — plenty of time for Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign chairman, to build their field campaign in the key states like Ohio.

If these advantages were not enough, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provided the president with something that none of his predecessors in half a century could claim: a truly transformative issue.

--snip--
And what was the result of all of this? Bush picked up three points and Iowa.

That’s right: Between the 2000 election in which he lost the national popular vote by a half of a percent and his 2.4 percent re-election margin over John Kerry, Bush turned Iowa and New Mexico from blue to red, and New Hampshire flipped from Bush four years ago to Kerry in 2004. Because New Mexico’s five added electors were essentially cancelled out by the four lost in New Hampshire, Bush basically added Iowa. His three-point bump after four years in office was the smallest increase for a re-elected president since 1900.

Elsewhere on the ballot, the Republicans had to dine on rather thin gruel.

--snip--
Thanks to five southern Democratic senators retiring at once, the G.O.P. did manage to boost their Senate majority by four seats. But they added a mere three seats in the U.S. House, and would have lost ground had Tom DeLay not used his power to re-redistrict Texas in the middle of the decade. There was no movement in the total share of governors; Republicans picked up Indiana and Missouri; Democrats captured Montana and New Hampshire. And Democrats won the state legislative battle by adding 60 seats nationally, while capturing eight new legislative chamber majorities to just four for the Republicans.

--snip--
The real story of 2004 is that Bush and the Republicans blew the best opportunity in two generations to alter the partisan landscape in substantial, enduring ways. They had every governmental, strategic, tactical and rhetorical advantage going into the election, and surely no pundit in the land would claim that Karl Rove or the G.O.P. lacks a sufficient taste for the political jugular. The narrative for “Sore-Loserman” Democrats, meanwhile, was almost the reverse — a party that was diffident and disoriented, outwitted and indecisive.

So how come 2004 was a fizzle rather than a boom for Bush Republicanism?

The underlying story so many have missed is that secular changes, both demographically and ideologically, are breaking against the Republicans. For if Bush and the G.O.P. had every possible advantage and yet only moved the needle slightly, these underlying changes must be providing a significant counterbalance to Republican efforts to construct a strong and durable majority.

That demographic and ideological storyline is too complex to cover here, but stay tuned for the next installment.
http://select.nytimes.com/pages/timesselect/index.html

Will The Wolf Survive?
by Los Lobos

Through the chill of winter
Running across the frozen lake
Hunters are out on his trail
All odds are against him
With a family to provide for
The one thing he must keep alive
Will the wolf survive?

Drifting by the roadside
Climbs each storm and aging face
Wants to make some morning's fate
Losing to the range war
He's got two strong legs to guide him
Two strong arms keep him alive
Will the wolf survive?

Standing in the pouring rain
All alone in a world that's changed
Running scared, now forced to hide
In a land where he once stood with pride
But he'll find his way by the morning light

Sounds across the nation
Coming from your hearts and minds
Battered drums and old guitars
Singing songs of passion
It's the truth that they all look for
The one thing they must keep alive
Will the wolf survive?
Will the wolf survive?

Here is an inspirational video to send around. It has clear positive message in it as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf3WzzaZK_M&eurl=

Posted by: karen at October 30, 2006 07:29 PM

=================================================

Great video!!

CNN QuickVote
Is President Bush a help or hindrance to GOP candidates?

Help 18% 9425 votes

Hindrance 82% 44418 votes
Total: 53843 votes

I put this up on Reb the other day, please pass it on. And Thank Yall in advance I am grateful.

http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/2006/10/hello-everyone.html

Faye Aline Self

In 1983 she vanished into thin air. No trace of her has ever surfaced in all these 23 years, and to be honest there is a serious problem with the police investigation and always has been.

To make a very long story short, two serial killers have individually claimed her as their victim. The first was Henry Lee Lucas, and now Robert Charles Brown, incarcerated in Colorado,has claimed to have killed her. Along with many, many others.

Unlike Lucas, Brown did actually live within feet of her when she disappeared, and it has become a complicated situation all around as Brown was also the son of a sheriffs deputy in the same police department whose case on Faye Aline is compromised, to say the least.

And through all of this Faye Aline is still waiting for us to find her, in an unknown and unacceptable grave. Even with the multiple confessions of two seperate serial killers, her body has never been recovered.

She was 26 years old and never lived to see 27. In all this time her 3 children have had no grave to mourn.

Our family is no longer willing to wait.

There is a team of people who search for 'The Missing' even in the face of incredible odds, they are willing to try.

The name of this group is Texas Equusearch and they are a mounted recovery team. They work only on donations, and as long as they have the funds they can continue to look for The Lost. They do not turn down any search as long as the costs can be met.

They are willing to come here and help our family at least try.

My family, led by my cousin, Faye Alines oldest child, is now hosting a fundraiser, selling candles with 100% of the profits going Texas Equusearch to fund a search for Faye Aline Self.

We are hoping to bring their team here as soon as the weather warms early next year. Our goal at this time is $ 3,500.00 to fund this search, yet if we do more, it to will also go to Texas Equusearch to keep them going.

If you can, please buy a Candle For Aline.

And maybe, just maybe, with all of them burning together, it will light her way home.

Please, help us find her.

Thank You,
Christy

http://www.candlesforaline.blogspot.com/

Republicans See Edge From Early Voting
Democrats Question Specific Claims and Believe
They Are Catching Up With the Trend

By JOHN D. MCKINNON and ERIKA LOVLEY
The Wall Street Journal
October 31, 2006; Page A4

WASHINGTON -- Down in the polls and with their majorities in Congress at risk, Republicans say they have some good news in early-voting statistics that suggest their voter-turnout machine is providing an edge in some tight races.

If the trend holds, it could mean that early voting is growing -- and continuing to benefit Republicans, who exploited the practice in the 1990s. Experts say early voters could be a bigger factor this year when overall voter turnout could be lower than in 2004, a presidential-election year.

This year, though, Democrats contend that Republicans are exaggerating their successes so far, by highlighting a few races, while ignoring problems they are having in motivating their troops around the country. Democrats also questioned several specific Republican claims, while noting their own early-voting numbers show they are starting to catch up with their rivals in early get-out-the-vote efforts in battleground states such as Iowa.

more...
http://tinyurl.com/y5g9rm

Here's a piece from an fine old friend from '04 -talking about why it is so important to do whatever we can in these last few days:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x235

John Edwards is a nice looking man.

there's video with that, by the way.

Found this over a kos. Great response to negative Harold Ford ad. Smile :0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd_lkdiWjto

Kerry: “If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the President”

Transcript of John Kerry Responding to Attacks on his Remarks

Today in a press conference in Seattle, Washington, John Kerry responded to Republican attacks and partisan efforts to distort his botched George Bush joke.

Below is a transcript of Kerry’s remarks, as delivered:

SENATOR KERRY: Let me make it crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know
how: I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of
his broken policy.

If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the
President and his failed team and a Republican majority in the
Congress that has been willing to stamp -- rubber-stamp policies that
have done injury to our troops and to their families.

My statement yesterday -- and the White House knows this full
well -- was a botched joke about the president and the president's
people, not about the troops.

The White House's attempt to distort my true statement is a
remarkable testament to their abject failure in making America safe.
It's a stunning statement about their willingness to reduce anything
in America to raw politics. It's their willingness to distort, their
willingness to mislead Americans, their willingness to exploit the
troops, as they have so many times at backdrops, at so many speeches
at which they have not told the American people the truth.

I'm not going to stand for it.

What our troops deserve is a winning strategy. And what they
deserve is leadership that is up to the sacrifice that they're making.

Sadly, this is the best that this administration can do in a
month when we have lost 100 young men and women who have given their
lives for a failed policy.

Over half the names on the Vietnam wall were put there after our
leaders knew that our policy was wrong. And it was wrong that leaders
were quiet then, and I'm not going to be quiet now.

This is a textbook Republican campaign strategy: Try to
change the topic; try to make someone else the issue; try to make
something else said the issue, not the policy, not their
responsibility.

Well, everybody knows it's not working this time, and I'm not
going to stand around and let it work. If anyone thinks that a
veteran, someone like me, who's been fighting my entire career to
provide for veterans, to fight for their benefits, to help honor what
their service is, if anybody thinks that a veteran would somehow
criticize more than 140,000 troops serving in Iraq and not the
president and his people who put them there, they're crazy.

It's just wrong. This is a classic GOP textbook Republican
campaign tactic.

I'm sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will
not debate real policy, who won't take responsibility for their own
mistakes, standing up and trying to make other people the butt of
those mistakes.

I'm sick and tired of a whole bunch of Republican attacks, most
of which come from people who never wore the uniform and never had the
courage to stand up and go to war themselves.

Enough is enough. We're not going to stand for this. This
policy is broken. And this president and his administration didn't do
their homework. They didn't study what would happen in Iraq. They
didn't study and listen to the people who were the experts and would
have told them.

And they know that's what I was talking about yesterday. I'm not
going to be lectured by a White House or by the likes of Rush Limbaugh
who's taking a day off from mimicking and attacking Michael J. Fox,
who's now going to try to attack me and lie about me and distort me.

No way. It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks
who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about
those who did.

It's over.

This administration has given us a Katrina foreign policy:
mistake upon mistake upon mistake; unwilling to give our troops the
armor that they need; unwilling to have enough troops in place;
unwilling to give them the Humvees that they deserve to protect them;
unwilling to have a coalition that is adequate to be able to defend
our interests.

Our own intelligence agency has told us they're creating
more terrorists, not less. They're making us less safe, not more.

I think Americans are sick and tired of this game. These
Republicans are afraid to stand up and debate a real veteran on this
topic. And they're afraid to debate -- you know, th