Think Your Comments Don't Count?

I am always astounded by the absolute and complete nonsense that some people will write. Afer reading Conservatives without a Conscience by John Dean this past summer, I guess I shouldn't be. Yes some people get an ego boost when they repeat often told lies, which to them have a bit of "truthiness" to them. Repeating rumor and superficial fluff gives some people a sense of satisfaction as they believe they are engaged in the process. Never taking the opportunity to learn the actual truth, makes their comments as valuable as used toilet paper. I agree with Rick that those people who are willing to support their comments with substantiated facts will ultimately influence the process in their favor, for the American people are not stupid, they are just lazy. We would rather have the information layed out in front of us and not hidden in a book, newpaper article or web site.

After people do learn the truth, they are likely to preserve their own self interests. In the last Presidential campaign, people unfortunately did not have the truth of what was about to happen to them projected on a screen. If they had, we would have a different President than the one we are stuck with now. The fact of the matter is, we have to help inform our fellow citizens about what today's and tomorrow's leaders really are doing, We have to remind our fellow citizens that it is up to them to make decisions based on the truth - not on a corporate media vision of the truth. Therefore as has been said on this site many times, "We have to be the media."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121601043.html
To Those Who Surf: Time Salutes You
Associated Press
Sunday, December 17, 2006; Page A17

NEW YORK -- Congratulations! You are the Time magazine "Person of the Year."

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals -- citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content online.

"If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people," said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time's managing editor earlier this year. "But if you choose millions of people, you don't have to justify it to anyone."

{See link for more. Stengel's reasoning for choosing internet users sounds like a cop out, but at least he acknowledges the impact of the internet. Now, it just remains to be seen whether or not our Congress Critters will leave the internet alone or regulate it out of existence for the sake of corporate profit margins. Some of the "people who mattered" on the list are just plain scary....}

From the Washington Post article that Nonny posted:

Stengel said that if it came down to one individual, it probably would have been Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "It just felt to me a little off selecting him," Stengel said.

I think I know why it felt a "little off". Sales might not have been very good, and the public criticism would have been harsh. I nonimate for spineless journalist/managing editor of the year: Richard Stengel.

Now that Tom DeLay has made headlines with his amateurish foray into the blogosphere, Mr. Stengel's choice is hardly imaginitive or bold, it is a pure cop out from corporate media.

Personally, I would have picked George W. Bush for all the disasters he has inflicted on this country. No person has so thoroughly influenced Americans' lives in such a destructive way as George W. Bush.

This is a very interesting series of posts, beginning with Rick's thread header, oncall's call to arms (or keyboards, anyway) and NonnyO's comment about Congress and the possible next steps for the Internet.

They all point to the fact that we have to be so incredibly vigilant over the next two years--and the impulse for so many of us is to relax a little. We have worked SOOO hard for two years + already!

But this is the deal. We have a few weeks off here--Christmas and family and all. BUT, January 4th we need to be back here, ready to defend democracy. Just because democratic practices got a number of these folks INTO Congress, or back again, does not mean that the ease of hierarchical if not fascistic practices will not occur to those newly in power.

Bush can be an idiot, but he was honest when he said that it is easier to govern from the top down than from listening to the bottom up (don't remember the exact quote). Over the next few months, those new to power and its ways will see the expediency of the "inside the Beltway" mentality. We are going to have to come up with new models for online communications in the next few years--and the DCP is a good place to have that conversation.

SO here's some food for thought: As we discuss how to change hearts and minds online in order to bring more people into both the reality-based community AND the democratic process, how can we also remind the powerful of their critical role in responding to the citizen activists out here?

As you all know, I've spent an enormous amount of time engaging in politics on-line... going back to the days that preceeded blogs. (Yes, Virginia, there was a time when "MB's" or message boards, were all the rage.) Back when it was possible to "take down" a public persona's email account by bombarding them with mail. (Crude, but effective, sorta, okay-- not really.)

In years previous I lived in an area of the country that was so conservative it defies description and in my thinking, defied common sense. The Kerry blog was an oasis of sanity for my spirit. As far as I was concerned, it was an oasis of sanity in the blogsophere itself. While my comments were not of the "full of facts and figures" kind, the majority there knew my situation and realized the bulk of my facts and figures talk was reserved (and exhausted) by my day-to-day contacts and writing in the 'real' world. I was good for a quip or throwing (and sometimes offering) popcorn to a troll. And while I relaxed in all the good sense on that blog, I marveled at the intelligence, optimism and all-night energy of the posters. My gawd, the things that were thrown at Kerry and the responses that resulted were a really something to see. I miss so many of those posters and still keep an eye out for them around and about. Some of them now have excellent blogs of their own and are on my "must read" list. Just your average above-average bloggers, you know. ;-)

So yeah, Rick, somehow I'm not at all surprised that the letters pro-Kerry were full of intelligence and short on namecalling. That's consistent with the kind of quality he inspires in people. Qualities very similar to his own.

Long ramble, mostly reminiscing. But I do think that those posters have continued to 'be the media' because of the lessons learned on that site, and they've taken those lessons out into their communities, whether those communities are on-line or on-the-ground.

Bravo. :-)

And I am fully responsible for these comments. They in no way endorse any candidate.

As for Karen's question above:

"SO here's some food for thought: As we discuss how to change hearts and minds online in order to bring more people into both the reality-based community AND the democratic process, how can we also remind the powerful of their critical role in responding to the citizen activists out here?"

I think vigilance is key. I know I rely heavily on the research of others when time is short and I'm out-of-the-loop on the news of the day. (Esssential news of the day, not mainstream news of the day that filters in by sheer repetition regardless of efforts to keep it out.)

I rely on sites of bloggers I trust, links to articles and links to email accounts. I look for the shortest "sound bite" concerning the situation I can figure or steal and use it when out in the world of voters.

Also, for instance, Ron at Liberal Values (click on my name) has blog up now, "Democrats Plan Investigations" that quotes several congresspeople's plans. A list of their email accounts and office phone numbers is something I should compile so those who want to can follow along and comment as those investigations move forward.

Hmmm, just gave myself a job to do. What was I thinking?! @;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6187315.stm
Blair promises Iraq full support
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has said Britain will stand "four-square" behind the Iraqi government in its battle to defeat terrorists.
On a surprise visit to Baghdad, he also called on all countries in the Middle East to support Iraq's leaders in their quest for democracy.
~~~~~
Mr Blair met Iraq's leaders as part of a tour of the Middle East.
~~~~~
Baghdad is the third stop on Mr Blair's Middle East tour, during which he hopes to kick-start the peace process.

He has also been to Turkey and to Egypt, where he said the Middle East region faced a "critical moment of decision" and resolving the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians was crucial to stability.

{??? "Surprise visit" for Blair...? Hmmm... and Kerry and others are on a junket over in the same countries right now, aren't they? Why doesn't all of this feel the least bit reassuring, but 'feels like' behind the scenes dickering on behalf of corporations...? More on link.}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6187033.stm
Number 10 disowns 'shambles' memo
Downing Street has denied any connection with an internal memo suggesting the government has lost its grip and is seen as a "shambles".

Posted by: oncall at December 17, 2006 09:05 AM

I have a daydream about any persons of the year picked by anyone in any media....

Wouldn't it be nice if there were someone to choose who had done the most GOOD for the most people in the world as person of the year...?

Georgie and the other names mentioned have done the most harm to everyone in the world, from deaths to debts that will be paid by our gr-gr-grandchildren.

Where are the examples of those who have CONSISTENTLY done the most good all of the time, every day (can't be a politician - too many disappoint us all when they do one good thing in between some really bad votes in Congress - and they haven't stood up to dictator georgie over his illegal and unconstitutional war, nor the issue of detainees and torture anyway, but they gave him more power with MCA '06)....?

Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee
http://www.senate.gov/~levin/contact/index.cfm
Call: (202) 224-6221 (Office hours: 8:30 am - 6:00 pm)
Write: 269 Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2202
(Please note that due to security screening procedures, postal mail may take over two weeks to reach my Washington D.C. office.)
Fax: (202) 224-1388

John Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee
http://www.house.gov/murtha/contact.shtml
Call: 800-289-2642 from Western PA (or) 814-535-2642 (or) 202-225-2065
Write: PO Box 780
Johnstown, PA 15907-0780
Fax: (814) 539-6229 -- District
(202) 225-5709 -- Washington

Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee
http://leahy.senate.gov/contact.html
Call: (202) 224-4242
Write: 433 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Ike Skelton, House Armed Services Committee Chairman
http://www.house.gov/skelton/contact.html
Call: 202-225-2876 (Office hours: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm)
Write: 2206 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2504

Please see: http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=770
if interested in what these men have said they're going to investigate.

Posted by: karen at December 17, 2006 09:17 AM

Karen's right....

Everyone is 'taking a break' for the holidays (Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy New Year - - - Happy Holidays, of whatever kind(s) anyone is celebrating....)

HOWEVER, come Jan. 4, the day after our Congress Critters are sworn in, I am looking for them to DO SOMETHING immediately about ending that illegal and unconstitutional war in Iraq, and bringing troops home! They've had years to yak and talk and yak and talk, and that has accomplished precisely nothing but more death and destruction, and all for lies and oil. Enough talking already; time for ACTION!!!

Pelosi can do whatever the heck she wants with her first 100 hours (or whatever it was) in office with the new Dem House, but if the 110th doesn't want to be also labeled a 'Do Nothing Congress of Georgie Appeasers,' they MUST hit the ground running bright and early on Jan. 4, and they MUST be able to multitask and GET SOMETHING DONE about ending dictator georgie's war as soon as humanly possible, and that includes investigating the lies and war crimes that led to the illegal and unconstitutional invasion of Iraa, and repealing MCA '06, the Patriot Act and amendments, and a host of other stupid legislation passed since 2000. (I'd prefer some action for getting troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq by the end of January, but I'm afraid too many of our Congress Critters have been bought off by oil corporations and other corporations who are doing business in the Mideast or for the military-industrial complex, so I'm sure they'll try to drag their feet and talk the situation to death..., still..., more..., again....)

I will be one of the people who will continue to email my senator and rep.... I'm not discounting what Pelosi wants to get done, they're important. I am saying everyone is damned sick and tired of people getting killed for lies and oil, and above and beyond domestic things that need doing, the Dem majority elected was a mandate against the illegal and unconstitutional war and Congress Critters need to stop talking and DO something about ending that fiasco. There's no "job" to finish, and since the war was/is illegal and unconstitutional and a war crime to begin with, there's no "victory" to be had anyway. Out. Now!

So, okay. A 'holiday break' won't stop me from keeping up on any news between now and then (this junket to the Mideast by politicians has me intrigued, especially now that I know Blair is also on a junket to the same countries), but keeping current about world events will keep my mind honed on details to include with anything I write to my legislators (and/or other senators, since emails to them are not restricted like they are to reps).

http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/db/
Doonesbury

http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/nq/
Non Sequitur

I would also like to advocate for reasoned language when communicating with The Powers That Be. *How* we state our case is as important as *what* we say, as Rick highlighted in this blog.

Now, I've said a few things to Henry Hyde and Bob Barr that don't bare repeating, I admit. There's an FBI file on me somewhere for my poor choice of words. And I'm no longer proud of that.

Bottom line, we are responsible for what we represent. We are responsible for the reality of what we represent as well as the perception of what we represent. We have to do this smart and we have to know how to get in through the few cracks that accidently appear. We have to know how to pivot. In my opinion, time continues to speed up, and we'd better know how to make a case in five seconds, because we may not get any more time than that.

Have a great Sunday, all!

From today's NYT magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/magazine/17wwln_lede.t.html?ex=1167022800&en=e107f3c213de86c5&ei=5070

"The Vanishing"

"In the speculation over what the new Democratic majority will do when it takes power in Washington next month, one political faction has hardly been heard from: the doomsayers. . .This latest landslide is different. The losers seem to believe they got what was coming to them. . ."
. .. .

"Bush is another president we deserve. He, too, is often accused of betraying Americans — by campaigning as a humble man and governing as something else. But this is also wrong. Bush has governed as he promised to — with the kind of phony-demotic cocksureness that many people like in pickup-truck commercials and think of themselves as embodying. When he let it be known that he didn’t “do nuance,” it was an invitation to say: “Good. Neither do we.” But this banty self-assurance — our self-assurance — appears not such a great trait when it leads you into a bloodbath in Iraq. The feeling circulating since the election is relief — relief that this unflattering mirror is a bit closer to being taken away. It should not surprise us that this feeling is as strong among those who supported the president as among those who did not."

Note that the author is Christopher Caldwell, an editor at (gasp) the WEEKLY STANDARD. Very telling. Real change is afoot, folks.

mbk,

Personally, I'm happy the doomsayers are mostly ignored. We have real work to do and as you said, real change is afoot. I know I don't have the luxury of moaning about doom and gloom when there is so much real disaster about and so much to put right in so short amount of time. I welcome the strength of everyone who is willing to do what can be done in this (what might be too brief, hopefully not!) amount of 'space of grace' we've all worked so long and so hard to clear. :-)

Namaste.

I have always been pretty politically active, whether for a campaign in my high school and college days, or working for a cause such as de-escalation of nuclear weapons. I got into blogging because I could (the internet and computers became more user-friendly) but also because I wanted to see what people in other parts of the country and doing and thinking and it was the easiest way to connect with them. It's been a useful adjunct, as I know many of the people who are on local email lists with political (& other content) from work on the ground but also get exposed to others they know elsewhere. Other lists may contain people I knew maybe in school and they've moved, and I'm exposed to their networks. I may be sent things that I end up posting here, or the reverse process, where I pass on things I find here. The internet is becoming more important and functional all the time, but I think it's important always to be involved in projects on the ground no matter the season or year.

The internet is becoming more important and functional all the time, but I think it's important always to be involved in projects on the ground no matter the season or year.

Posted by: DiAnne at December 17, 2006 11:02 AM

Here is a question to carry this forward:

What tools and processes work best for engaging the lurkers in getting involved both online and on the ground?

And another:

What would you want to have access to on a website in order to be as effective as possible on the ground?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/magazine/17wwln_lede.t.html?ex=1167022800&en=e107f3c213de86c5&ei=5070
Posted by: mbk at December 17, 2006 10:28 AM

Another quote from the article:

The recent election feels like something more intimate than a personnel change. It feels like the beginnings of an escape from a twisted relationship.

{Geez. What gave him the first CLUE?!?}

The Army, Despite Its $168 Billion Budget, Is Out of Money
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121706Z.shtml
The Iraq war has exposed more than a decade's worth of mistakes and miscalculations that are now seriously undermining the world's mightiest military force. According to Major General Stephen Speakes, the Army was sent to war in Iraq $56 billion short of essential equipment. Army officials told the White House that it needs at least an additional $24 billion, not in the 2007 budget, just to pay its current bills. Cash shortfalls have forced the Army to lay off janitorial staff, close base swimming pools, and even stop mowing lawns on Army bases.

Britain never thought Saddam was threat - diplomat
By Richard Norton-Taylor
The British government never believed Saddam Hussein posed a threat to British interests and warned the US that toppling him would lead to "chaos", according to a Foreign Office diplomat closely involved in negotiations in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15921.htm

The Great Wealth Transfer
By Paul Krugman
It's the biggest untold economic story of our time: more of the nation's bounty held in fewer and fewer hands. And Bush's tax cuts are only making the problem worse.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15923.htm

The Real Culprit: Corpocracy
By J.D. Suss
The Democratic tide in the recent elections is, potentially at least, a force to be reckoned with. Now, citizens-who-care can watch to see if these new members of Congress will squander their mandate in hopelessly fruitless witch hunts on the so-called “issues,” while the real culprit continues to bedevil them. That real culprit? – corpocracy[i] (rhymes with “hypocrisy”).
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15924.htm

Karen,

Your question was to DiAnne, but I hope you don't mind if this long-time internet user answers as well with an off-the-cuff response. @;-)

Karen asked: "What tools and processes work best for engaging the lurkers in getting involved both online and on the ground?"

TOOLS: Detailed Directory
ie, clearly marked links to specific topics/issues; with clearly marked sub-links inside that include specific House & Senators charged with oversight for those issues; and/or specific articles, magazines, or other modes of research to the topic/issue
PROCESSERS: links to message boards or blogs that are current and well-maintained (ie, moderated) and deal specifically with topic/issue

IN A WORD: Detail
Time consuming when it comes to oversight, but the more specific and detailed the links, the greater chance to grab a pro and/or educate a beginner.

Karen asked: "What would you want to have access to on a website in order to be as effective as possible on the ground?"

See above, with the addition of short one-sentence or one-paragraph sum-up quotes from the posters and compiled by the mods (permission granted upon the right to post on the site)

Links broken down by state, for convenience of getting involved

Links to specific speeches, designed like a newpaper or magazine article, complete with pullout quote boxes

Etc. etc. again, detail is key to grabbing serious surfers and/or leading newbies down the rabbit hole.

And no "process-speak" or corporate jargon. Both are brain killers to serious surfers. As are posts that do nothing but offer rants in generalities. Moderation agreement (and peoplepower) AND detailed organization in place before the place goes "live."

I have no sports gene, none at all, but there is a reason football teams huddle before executing a play. Everyone knows what is to happen next and knowing what the plan is that leaves that much more room for the "happy surprise" of an interception and/or a chance decision made in the moment.

:-)

Well for example right now I'm working to help get money together for the McDermott Legal Defense Fund - he's being sued by Congressman Boehner and the case relates to the First Amendment Right to freedom of speech.

Neither is running and it may be partisan in tht McDermott is Democrat and Boehner is Republican but the issue is that Freedom of Speech is at stake.

So for an example like that, what could I concretely do? Maybe tell about the case but not ask for money or supply a link? The interested could seek it out?

Do you think most lurkers also are signed up for things like MoveOn or news services like TruthOut? Occasionally we may encounter someone - on the internet or in life in general - who has not been formerly politically inclined or issues-aware.

- Outreach
- Call to further action for those already somewhat engaged

???

Quoted Without Permission:

"The Coming of Light"
~~by Mark Strand

"Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light.
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows,
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine
and tomorrow's dust flares into breath."

From: Mark Strand's "The Story of Our Lives"

I would like access on the site to more links on front page - to blogs and to organizations and resources. The text could be small but direct links, in one of the columns. Is the Forum still being used much? I admit I have declined in my use because of usually slow computer and lack of time and I find Forums kind of overwhelming because they aren't pictorial and eye-friendly and wholistic enough.

From: Mark Strand's "The Story of Our Lives"
Posted by: kj at December 17, 2006 12:01 PM
This is BEAUTIFUL: thanks

Posted by: DiAnne at December 17, 2006 12:01 PM
Totally agree with you about the Forums. I never go there, as it's too hard to find stuff.

mbk, you're welcome. :-)

For years now I've had a poem from Neruda's "The Sea and The Bells" taped to my desk clock.

"If each day falls
inside each night,
there exists a well
where clarity is imprisoned.

We need to sit on the rim
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience."

I feel these days that bit of that patience has revealed the tiniest bit of light, and that's a really, really good thing. :-) Thanks for the link to the NY piece.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061217/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
Brief troop surge OK in Iraq, Reid says
WASHINGTON - Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday he would support a temporary troop increase in Iraq only if it were part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by early 2008.

{{{...Harry, Harry, Harry.... that's just too politically expedient..., and you know there's no possible way to "win" anything about this unconstitutional and illegal war of Bush's...! After six years of lies and demands, have you not yet learned to stop appeasing DimWit, even "temporarily"?!?!? What's the matter with you? How about trying to STOP that stupid war ASAP and bring our troops home where they belong, not expose more of them to potentially dying for lies and oil?!? Listen to Ted Kennedy on this one....}}}

ps to mbk... also, a huge thank you for the “tested and vetted” line... which is so perfect, i'm going to have to steal it. okay, i'll give you credit, of course. @;-)

uhm, Rick, I hope my stealing mbk's line from another blog, and posting it here, with plans to use it on the ground and in the blogosphere, is a tiny example of what you mean by:

"Here's just one example of how it can work when we do look beyond our blog bubbles, though.... -- the point of it is that when we do take time to put the word out, the word gets out farther than we ever expected sometimes."

Steal the fire and spread around. Many spots need the light... and warmth.

Yeah. It's all good.

:0)

Rick, thanks. I was wondering if concrete, positive suggestions were still being accepted. Write on, brother, write on. @;-)

You're going to be told lots of things.
You get told things every day that don't happen.

It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't -
It's printed in the press.
The world thinks all these things happen.
They never happened.

Everyone's so eager to get the story
Before in fact the story's there
That the world is constantly being fed
Things that haven't happened.

All I can tell you is,
It hasn't happened.
It's going to happen.

I'm reading about story right now, Otter. Story binds us all in its thrall as nothing else on earth.

"It hasn't happened.
It's going to happen."

LOVE it.

But recognize that we write the story ourselves; we choose either the symbol of disinigration- or integration- to live (write, create) around. Hint: the beginning of community is when people begin to dream the same dream.

Ding dong, the King is gone. An enormous amount of writing to get that accomplished. Way, way too much death as well. Long past time for a new story. Anyway, that's where I'll be.

Thanks for the blog post, Rick. Good Sunday read.

"There were some horses she loved.
There were some horse she hated.
These were the same horses."
~~JOY HARJO

kj
click on my name - comments appreciated!

DiAnne, omg, am only partly through and am packing my bags! I'll live with the Troll! BTW, you are an Ace Photographer!

Talk about a community dreaming the same dream! :-)

kj I definitely thought of you. I got a new camera but it doesn't show up on-line yet - am excited!

I leanred from Mark Barrett at http://www.thepremise.com that Bill Richardson was opposing the McCain warhawk plan for Iraq and proposing both a timetable for withdrawl and a plan of focussing more on Afghanistan.

Now Media Matters says Blitzer ignored Richardson's credentials when talking about Bill going to talk with the North Koreans.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200612150009

Went to a Bill Richardson breakfast at YearlyKos and was impressed.

DiAnne, new camera, woohoo! No stopping you now! :-)
I have a new laptop: "laptop arrived, lapcat jealous"
(technology is vital to promoting truth, justice and peace)

Why does DOD hav e counterinsurgency manual online?
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/224/New_Counterinsurgency_Manual_Hits_Net

Good article on impeachment - or not - and if not why not - by John Dean. I'm taking impeachment off the table til more people read this article. LOL

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-25.htm

LOL reminds me of Kucinich saying there was no reason he couldn't be a serious candidate and the nominee... if people voted for him! He was right, of course.

Not touching the impeachment issue. ;-)

I seem to recall that the Kerry crew of supporters were very articulate during the Primary campaign of 2004. (Of course, I am a bit biased on that one, having been a wee part of it). I am not going to get into the 'culture' of the Deaniacs way back when, although I will say that several of them would begin to look at issues with Kerry supporters once the "You're a troll" barriers broke down...but that is old irrelevent history.

As for our future, I am discovering that in 2006, taking your message local can reap some amazing benefits. Almost no one thought that Harry Mitchell would defeat J D Hayworth beyond Arizona, but many local bloggers helped to move and influence several major media outlets to pick up stories that exposed the truth about Hayworth.
It also helped that Harry was an amazing candidate that has enormous respect here in Arizona. There was just no comparison.

In fact, several local blogs helped push a story about Rick Renzi into both the NY Times and the WaPo forcing the Arizona Republic to write about the story the very day after endorsing one of the most corrupt individuals serving in Congress.

That did not win the election in that race, however it has brought a focus on corruption and shady practices onto State politics. There have been articles written questioning the ethics of our newly elected State Treasurer right on the heals of the resignation of the former wackjob...

Needless to say, many bloggers locally have and are beginning to develop sources from within the establishment and they will need to be careful about vetting their information before publishing.

In addition, bloggers are finding "micro-niches" of potential Democratic voters that have some relevance to their local, state and national political races and appointments. For instance, Arizona, as well as several other States have found that online gamblers are quite upset over legislation forced through Congress at the end of the year by Senator Jon Kyl that has had the affect of severely reducing their outlets for play. Many of these old crusty casino/online gamblers found themselves voting Democrat for the first time in their lives and the sky did not split in half...it's like the Dixie Chicks singing "and I knid of like it" in their song Not ready to Make Nice...well, most of these guys aren't either and they led in online contributions against Kyl via Act Blue, and let me tell you these guys value their money.

Putting together these "micro-constituencies" en masse can have a tremendous affect on the future of our Party. The assembly must be done through a coherent message and ability to communicate effectively and not by calling people names when one realizes that their arguments are vacant, and that they hold on to an ideology that even they do not understand only because it allows them to beat their chests in anger and not rational thought.

That is how true opinion leaders shift public opinion.

Gingrich hints at 2008 White House run
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061217/ap_on_el_pr/white_house2008

His treatment of his wives should be enough to disqualify him... what would make anyone think he would treat millions of citizens any better?

The former secretary of state Colin Powell said Sunday that badly overstretched U.S. forces in Iraq were losing the war there and that a temporary U.S. troop surge probably would not help.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/17/news/policy.php

Showdown Looms Over Domestic Spying
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121706Y.shtml
Federal agents continue to eavesdrop on Americans' electronic communications without warrants a year after President Bush confirmed the practice, and experts say a new Congress's efforts to limit the program could trigger a constitutional showdown.

Excerpt:

High-ranking Democrats set to take control of both chambers are mulling ways to curb the program Bush secretly authorized a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House argues the Constitution gives the president wartime powers to eavesdrop that he wouldn't have during times of peace.

"As a practical matter, the president can do whatever he wants as long as he has the capacity and executive branch officials to do it," said Carl Tobias, a legal scholar at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
~~~~~
"He could take the position he doesn't have to comply with whatever a new Congress says," said Vikram Amar, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, and a former Supreme Court clerk.

{{{Ah, but the war Bu$h started was a war crime, illegal under the Geneva Conventions, AND unconstitutional (Congress didn't vote on it). The war is "invalid" and that would seem to negate any "wartime powers" Bu$h claims. As for Tobias' opinion... that's also not valid - the legislative and judicial branches are co-equal with the executive branch, per the Founding Fathers. The only way Amar's opinion could apply is if MCA '06 ever became accepted as valid, since that gives Georgie dictatorial powers, and per the US Constitution as originally written, no, a president can NOT "do whatever he wants." A president's duties are laid out in the Constitution, and those duties are clearly not that of a dictator. If Lamestream Media doesn't whitewash this issue and/or ignore it entirely (as they did when MCA '06 was passed), yes, this could trigger a constitutional showdown (and reichwingnuttia types will have to be reminded that the 'next' president would have the same dictatorial powers as DimWit wants, is claiming he has by virture of an illegal an unconstitutional war he started, and we all know the reichwingnuts would not want a Dem to have dictatorial powers, per MCA '06).... Well, we can only HOPE it triggers a constitutional showdown. Leaving Herr Boosh with dictatorial powers could only lead to disaster for all of us.}}}

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-25.htm
Posted by: DiAnne at December 17, 2006 05:40 PM

I read that Dean article on a different e-newsletter link a few days ago, and the last paragraph is what stuck in my brain:

While this is all possible in theory, it will only happen in practice if the Democrats have recovered from what CNN's Candy Crowley called their "wuss" phase, meaning, of course, their lack of backbone. The Republican Congress let Bush, Cheney & Company literally get away with murder and torture. We must all hope that the Democrats have recovered from their spinal problems, and that they will bring the invisible Congress back into play as what it is, and ought to act like: a constitutional co-equal. There would be no better way to do it than to commence impeachment proceedings against any on a potentially very long list of civil officers of the Bush Administration who should be removed from government, and disqualified from future opportunities to misuse government powers.
~~~~~~~~

Dems definitely need to get over the "wuss" factor... and if they really, really want to get a landslide victory in '08, two things need to happen: (1) Get OUT of Iraq and Afghanistan ASAP AND close Gitmo and stop torture, all in one fell swoop; and (2) impeachment proceedings MUST be started.

Otherwise Dems will be accused of being DINOs, and people will say Dems are just the same as neoCons. Dems MUST find their backbones and stop appeasing Bu$hCo. Period.

IMHO, of course. Everyone else's mileage may vary.... [But without one or both of those things happening, or beginning to happen, by the end of January, 2007, my political activism may decrease considerably. Why fight for a lost cause if our politicians aren't going to do what they were elected to do? If Dems can't walk and chew gum at the same time, they don't deserve to hold public office. Bu$hCo has committed war crimes; that's a given. If that's not just cause to throw them out of office, 'we' will deserve the crooked politicians we will seem to have elected, including the Dems who refuse to do what's right by the people who put them in office.... I, for one, am really tired of hanging my head in shame because of what Bu$hCo is doing in *our* names, and I don't want the pain in my neck to become permanent.]

Powell, Democratic Leaders Resist Increasing Troop Levels
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc1217102.html

KerryDemocrat wrote: "Putting together these "micro-constituencies" en masse can have a tremendous affect on the future of our Party. The assembly must be done through a coherent message and ability to communicate effectively and not by calling people names when one realizes that their arguments are vacant, and that they hold on to an ideology that even they do not understand only because it allows them to beat their chests in anger and not rational thought.

That is how true opinion leaders shift public opinion."

Bravo! KerryDemocrat, well-said. The micro-niches exist and who better to speak truth than those who are already inside them. A central location for research would be great, but that will take peoplepower, dedication and hours of work, like creating wikis. In the meantime, those of us who have our niches are using what we've learned to promote the tailor-suited agendas. Spokes on a wheel, nothing to it. Pick a topic and run with it. The efforts will continue to take all of us and has many more as we can find and communicate with who are being jacked by this misAdministration.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061217/ap_on_re_as/france_afghanistan
France to pull troops from Afghanistan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061217/ap_on_re_us/military_recruiters_cocaine
FBI: Recruiters caught in drug probe
TUCSON, Ariz. - A dozen Army and Marine recruiters who visited high schools were among the personnel caught in a major FBI cocaine investigation, and some were allowed to keep working while under suspicion, a newspaper reported Sunday.

In both cases, see link for more....

Just saw El Vez - very political, very very good entertainer, great choreography, 3 costume changes. "The smartest Elvis impersonator on the planet" and that's not all he does. Originally from East LA, arose in the punk scene, has been doing the El Vez thing for 18 years & I think we've seen him 4x. Indigo Blue opened for him, with burleque about Hannukah, and to some Gerschwin - did some interesting things with the Menorrah candles. El Vez' guitarist was from Paris France. El Vez did "In The Barrio" and touched on immigration, the need for peace, and got in digs at Halliburton and sang "We need a new President."
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=el+vez&search=Search
http://www.elvez.net/evFrameset.html

We also saw Gnarls Barkley the other night at the Deck the Hall Ball. His violinists were called The G Strings. If you haven't heard him, check him out as he has a phenomenal voice. Everyone we see makes political comments (progressive) and the audience eats it up. It's validating to all and energizes us while the music, dance, theatrics feed our soul.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gnarls+barkley&search=Search
http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com/

After seeing this

Reid: 'Sure, I'll go along' with short US troop surge in Iraq

I have been thinking...

NAME ONE REASON why any one at any time would have any faith at all left in the democrats..?

I don't and I AM ONE.

Harry better pick a side and get on it. Quick.

Otherwise he is wasting our time and money while MORE are dying for his enabling of tyrants.

As of right now he is just another democrat who somehow winds up FURTHERING the agenda of none other than g*ddamned george w. bush.

Ten thousand... WHY NOT 80 THOUSAND!!!?? I mean get them while they are FREE.

They ain't cost nothing so far to the ones that are still standing there getting away with it.

I am so sick of this crap I could kick something repeatedly.

More Powell:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700494.html

He has broken his silence and what he has to say is at odds with what the administration wants to hear.

Jimmy Carter - another person who isn't saying what people want to hear but may be writing alot of truth

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240761/site/newsweek/

He's written 28 books since he left office

"If the commanders on the ground said this is just for a short period of time, we'll go along with that," said Reid, D-Nev., citing a time frame such as two months to three months. But a period longer than that, such as 18 months to 24 months, would be unacceptable, he said." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3341238,00.html

Looks like this was tv news stuff - needed to get some context.

Retired Gen. Jack Keane, a former Army vice chief of staff who is advising Bush to send an additional 30,000 to 40,000 US troops, said it would take at least one and a half years to secure Iraq.
"It's impossible," Keane said, responding to Reid's suggestion that the troop surge be limited to two months to three months.
"It will take a couple of months just to get forces in," he said.

Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell, said he was skeptical that any type of troop surge would be effective, noting that ultimately it is the Iraqis who must stand up and stop their growing sectarian violence. "It is the DC police force that guards Washington, DC, not the troops that are stationed at Fort Myer. And in Baghdad, you need a police force to do that," Powell said. "So, before I would add any additional troops or recommend it to a commander in chief, I'd want to make sure we have a clear understanding of what it is they're going for, how long they're going for."

Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there would be widespread opposition by members of his committee if Bush proposes a troop increase. "We have to understand that there is absolute chaos that is taking place there. This country is falling apart," Kennedy said. Regarding a temporary troop surge, Kennedy said, "I respect Harry Reid on it, but that's not where I am."

(from article I cited)

Its official,Clinton tries to Kill Santa. RNC to call for investigation.

http://www.kxnet.com/getARticle.asp?ArticleId=75585

It's so messed up in Iraq. The Ministry of the Interior is not supposed to run death squads and kidnap people from the Red Crescent! Western Contractors are not supposed to spring people from jail! We're not supposed to lose 5-10 military per day there in seemingly random events!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/18/iraq.main/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Here is a chart which shows the steady increase in attacks in Iraq from the inception of the war up through August of 2006. Then the chart suddenly stops because the US Government has classified the information on number of attacks between August 2006 to the present, obviosly the bloodiest months of the war.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002169.php

Crazy world:

Afghanistan has its poppies, but California, the agricultural state, has pot as its biggest cash crop, 10x as much as in '81.:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot18dec18,0,5264617.story?coll=la-home-
headlines

Meanwhile, robocalls aren't unique to the ones Republicans harassed the public with during election time. Citizens of Bagdhad are getting them, scary ones. They appear to be coming from outside the country, source unknown.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002155.php

Iraq can not be settled until Vietnam is settled.

Until El Salvador can be redeemed Iraq will never be free.

Until Iran Contra is dealt with, finally, Iraq will be nothing but slaughter.

Strangely enough, all of this can be settled by arresting pretty much the exact same group of people. And trying them for decades of WAR CRIMES.

Starting with GWB, and Kissinger just for the hell of it.

Arrested, tried, judged then forgotten. Like examining a bad, bad dream.

A nightmare more people will die for today.

When we are ready to confront ALL of it, only then will the slaughter we have unleashed be stopped.

And voter apathy will never again be a problem in our lifetimes.

Christy
I don't doubt it - I think alot of the rest of the world knows it.
I don't think it'll happen though because too many people profit off the status quo. They block the dead out of their minds and choose their Rolexes.

Distribution of wealth:

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm

The rich are parasites and wealth is concentrated disproportionately among them, yet the lower 40 percent of society earns a disproportionate amount of the income.

Income is what people work for. Wealth is largely what they inherit or don't earn by work (ie they depend on dividends, royalties etc.)

The "trickle down" supply side economics theory is a cruel joke. Pissed on is more like it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/on-being-named-person-of-_b_36546.html
Nora Ephron: On Being Named Person of the Year
Excerpt:
I feel happy of course to be the Person of the Year, and at some point I will celebrate by doing what I always do on Sunday morning. I will make breakfast (What to cook? Biscuits? Waffles? Eggs?) and watch the morning talk shows. The morning talk shows will remind me (not that I need to be reminded), that the world is currently in the midst of a total meltdown, that we have the worst president in current history, that the elation of the recent election has passed to a numbing foreboding that nothing is going to change and that innocent people will continue to die in this hateful, violent episode we've unleashed. Less than two weeks ago, the long-awaited Baker Commission Report was issued, and it died faster than Snakes on a Plane.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6188133.stm
Offshore wind farms get go-ahead
The green light has been given for two offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary, one of which will be the world's biggest when it is completed.

{Hmmmm.... If the UK can do this and still finance their part in the Iraq war, why can't we? Oh, neffer mind. We aren't paying for Georgie's war - that's being done by loans floated by China, et al., and those amounts aren't even calculated in the national debt because they fall under that odd 'emergency legislation' category....}

David Swanson | How to Spend the War Money
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121806P.shtml
David Swanson writes, "Congress members of both parties, not to mention the White House, have already forgotten the anti-war and anti-Bush vote of November 7th (the Republicans lost one more seat in a runoff on Wednesday) and are dreaming of big Christmas presents for war profiteers. Since we Americans apparently have no other need for any money, and since we enjoy paying our taxes so much, they're planning to approve another $160 billion in 'emergency' (off the books) cash for the war early next year. That's billion with a 'B.' This will be on top of the $70 billion they provided in October. I hate to play Scrooge here, but ain't that a bit much?"

{Swanson's suggestions smack of too much common sense. Our Congress Critters can't comprehend common sense....}

Our whole state of WA is declared a disaster area and alot of people are being treated in hyperbaric chambers after inhaling carbon monoxide from grills.

See the damage one block from my house:
http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

By the way, I was just at the shopping mall and was thinking that even if we had all the money in the world, there isn't much more we'd need that we don't already have. I saw gimmicks and gadgets that might delight and amuse for a few hours and then lie unused on the floor of a closet soon thereafter.

Some things I saw:
- spray to get rid of urine smell of pets
- remote control device for finding lost keys
- pillow that is also iPod speaker
- giant electronic calculator, giant remote
- soft hair curlers (leopard skin)
- heated slippers
- nose hair trimmer
- salt and pepper shakers that can not tip over
- clock that also tells weather
- electronic photo album that holds 5000 photos
(Sharper Image type store, As Seen On TV store, like Sky Mall)

I also noticed that most of the workers were immigrants and a few teens and a few retirement age people. There were women with Islamic veils working in Victoria's Secret. There were guys with Russian accents putting hand lotion on people. It was supposed to be uplifting but I felt like I was in a David Lynch movie.

NonnyO
See the one about military recruiters running coke? Jeez ..

I have learned so much from the conversations here as well, and many of my opinions have been shaped by the ideas tossed back and forth here.
I'm happy to be a part of this place, and hope we'll continue on with the intelligent idea sharing, and friendly banter that we engage in here.

Thanks for the thread topic, Rick!

Posted by: DiAnne at December 18, 2006 04:30 PM

Yes, I posted a link to the story.

I'd almost understand if the recruiters themselves turned out to be addicts. If I were recruiting someone to enlist to join the military where the kids could end up getting killed in a war based on lies for oil, I might consider escaping through artificial altered reality, too.

But these guys were selling, meaning making a profit off of wrecked lives of others.

Shame on them!

I participated in an impeachment forum last week on our local public access channel. It was sponsored by our local dems, but the backbone of it was based on a 30 min video made by the Center for Constitutioanl Rights called

"How to Impeach a President" based on their book called "Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush". It came out over the summer, so many of you may have seen it, but if not, here is the link to the site and the trailer:

http://articlesofimpeachment.net/

I went into the forum thinking I wasn't sure we could both get us out of Iraq and impeach Bush and Cheney at the same time, and that Iraq was more vital. But since the discussion and having had time to think about what I heard, I think we have no other choice but to do both.

And one thing I keep coming back to is that if it was a democratic president doing all this damage, do you think that the republicans would, for one moment, let it stand and NOT impeach?

One thing we could do here would be to link to sites like the Center for Constitutional Rights who give information about Teach Ins on the kind of topics like this that are important to re-building democracy.

I don't know anything about pod-casts, or videos as far as getting them on a website, but it seems like that would be a useful tool as well. Or a least a place that links to them on other sites.

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons

There is another type of public Town Hall meeting that will be going on in Seattle, Tacoma and Everett soon. It's hosted by David Sirota and on Clean Elections.

Elizabeth also sent me something about how thankful she was for the whistleblower who got Diebold in trouble in California and now he's in some trouble himself, I believe. If anyone is really tracking this issue, go to http://www.bradblog.com. It was a long thing she sent and that was the link I saw.

I'm noticing that muckrakers and whistleblowers are ignored or get into trouble - the people at TruthOut are being subpoenaed r/t the case of Eren Watada, who quit participating in the Iraq war after determining that it was illegal according to his studies.

NonnyO
I've read quite a few articles about the surge in heroin poppy production in Afghanistan and it helps fuel the Taleban and Al Quaida, in more ways than one, then ends up in the hands of organized crime further on down the line.

I was also reading that heroin addiction is a huge problem in Iran. In places like the Golden Triangle or the Middle East, smoking hashish or opium has been a way of life for centuries, much as people have drinks or smoke cigarettes here. Far more damaging, refining it into heroin. Really disturbing.

Remembering the heroin addiction problem among the military in Vietnam because of the proximity to the Golden Triangle (again, some opportunists were refining it into the stronger, more dangerous heroin) and then they'd come home addicted. Some would OD because they wouldn't know the potency differences depending where they were.

Afghanistan, Iraq and other exotic ports of call where our forces are stationed are pretty "dry" when it comes to alcohol and the families there pretty much protect their women from strange men. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of a heroin addiction problem on down the line, on the part of our military, and am also not surprised to hear of women (one locally) who don't want to go back over there because they are sexually harassed. Or like at Abu Graib, they learn to harass.

We're going to be experiencing another kind of "blowback" - an epidemic of mental health issues with little money to fund help for them. The urban streets are full of begging and disabled Vietnam vets around my age and I think they'll soon be joined by their younger compatriots.

As for the billions in revenue that is "off the books" as far as our national budget, we can expect continuing decline in our national infrastructure - roads, bridges, schools, disaster preparedness, port inspections, safety regulations, infant mortality prevention, prenatal care, sex education, etc. Add to that the fact that we have 7 million prisoners whereas in we had 1 million just a few years ago.

Drug Crisis Grips Baghdad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3156048.stm
the story of what happened after the criminals were released from prisons after the invsion in 2003

Drugs and Vice in Iraq
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3706289/
astronomically increased since the invasion - Saddam kept a lid on it so guess who is blamed

Drug Use Soars in Iraq
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2005/drug-use-soars-in-iraq.html
Virtually unknown in hard form before the invasion

Soldiers Say Drug Use is an Increasing Problem in Iraq
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/16149499.htm
Stress, repeated tours of duty, and the availability of illicit drugs, alcohol and medications contribute.

Excerpts (this article is 2 weeks old):

In the few hours of rest between 20-hour patrols, he said, his comrades drowned out the combat stress with a variety of substances at their disposal: alcohol, hashish, pills.

"It got so bad that some people were drinking Listerine," Schrader said, adding that he had kept clean. He said others sniffed household products such as Dust-Off, the canned compressed air used to clean computers.
(snip)
..veterans' support groups report that thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are seeking treatment for substance abuse..

"Troops who were on a first deployment were following rules, but it seems to be that your second and third deployments over there you start doing things like this," said Ray Parrish, a counselor with Vietnam Veterans Against the War who has spoken with hundreds of Iraq vets.

The military's zero-tolerance policy means soldiers who abuse drugs or alcohol tend to do it in solitude.

"Guys try to lock themselves in a room or a port-a-potty, or they'll hide it in regular rolled cigarettes laced with opium," said former Army sniper Garett Reppenhagen, 31, who served in Iraq through May 2004 with the 263d Armored Battalion of the First Armored Division.

"It's more challenging to get high because there are more precautions that the military is taking - but, then again, soldiers will find a way if they want to self-medicate or get high," he said.

(snip)
But some experts say the drug problem remains obfuscated by a key motivation in any war: to keep the troops on duty.

If soldiers already have an addictive personality, Parrish said, it's especially easy for them to move from taking drugs in Iraq and Afghanistan to cope with traumatic experiences. When they come home, he and soldiers interviewed said, many are using street drugs and alcohol more heavily.

David Addlestone, codirector of National Veterans Legal Services, a nonprofit group assisting veterans with legal advice, said drug use was "a serious symbol of a morale problem" and potentially placed soldiers at grave risk.

At the peak of drug use near the end of the Vietnam War, he said, only 10 percent of soldiers were seeing combat, in contrast with the violence experienced by nearly all soldiers in Iraq. Soldiers in Vietnam also had in-country R&R in Saigon. He is more worried about the lingering effects on soldiers serving in Iraq, especially given the stress they are experiencing from mortars, roadside bombs and suicide bombers.

Rumsfeld has one last lie for the road
By Robert Scheer
I’m not going down that negative road that finished off old Bob McNamara’s legacy. What a disappointment - this is a guy who could sell us the Vietnam War and then blows it by suddenly getting all squishy about the truth when he’s long retired. Jeez Louise, he was once my role model. No secretary of defense ever sold a losing war better.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15934.htm

U.S. Troops Should Leave Country, But How Will America Then Keep Control of Oil Fields?
By Linda McQuaig
Advising the Bush administration on how to deal with the Iraq fiasco, the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group urges the president to clarify that Washington does not seek to control Iraq's oil. It then gets down to business and sets out exactly how Washington should take control of Iraq's oil.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15940.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_en_ot/obit_barbera
Yogi Bear creator Joe Barbera dies at 95

NonnyO
U.S. Troops Should Leave Country, But How Will America Then Keep Control of Oil Fields?

Oh doesn't that just say it all?!! Why didn't they just admit it?
Why didn't we have some kind of a law prohibiting high office holders from conflict of interest? Yeah so Cheney quit being CEO of Halliburton. Bush I got all involved with Carlyle once he left office. Kissinger has his own investment group. How can these people make fair decisions? It's a joke.

How can people possibly fall for ideological crap when this is right in front of their face?!! I'm surprised people who vote for such profiteers don't leave their doors open when they go to work and their cars unlocked. It makes as much sense.

Why do I find myself thinking about Maslow's Need Hierarchy tonight?!! Why am I using so many exclamation points? Have I become cynical or something?!

Posted by: Christy at December 18, 2006 12:30 AM

Tell me about it!

Posted by: DiAnne at December 18, 2006 08:43 PM

DiAnne, didn't you know that if these special interests were taken out of American politics, then socialist manifesto would overrun this great country of God?

Like, universal healthcare for starters.

Seriously, the US is the only country that refuses to have universal healthcare (and public funding of the arts and lots of other goodies) for IDEOLOGICAL reasons.

Damned Guantanamo again!

US bans Hicks psychiatrist
By Penelope Debelle
December 19, 2006

Other related coverage
Please, get me out of here: desperate plea
Family put on hold for Hicks Christmas call
Hicks turns up heat on PM
Scrutinise Hicks' health, says father
Hicks to face new charges 'in weeks'

The US military has prevented a senior Melbourne psychiatrist from visiting David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay to provide an independent mental health assessment for his legal team.

Professor Paul Mullen - who The Age has discovered visited Hicks in February last year - said he was concerned at the psychological damage done to the Australian after five years of indefinite detention.

"No one is going to survive unharmed for this length of time," Professor Mullen said. "He doesn't know if he is going to be out next week or never get out. It is totally destabilising."

David Hicks' US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, has asked the Federal Government to intervene over the US Administration's refusal late last week to allow Professor Mullen to make a follow-up assessment of Hicks. Major Mori said he was given no reason for the refusal, which conflicts with a policy made two years ago allowing Professor Mullen to visit Hicks.

"That is the farcical thing about it," Major Mori said. "Maybe they just don't want someone independent coming down and seeing him after he's been in isolation for nine months."

Complete story:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/us-bans-hicks-psychiatrist/2006/12/18/1166290481453.html

Why do I find myself thinking about Maslow's Need Hierarchy tonight?!! Why am I using so many exclamation points? Have I become cynical or something?!
Posted by: DiAnne at December 18, 2006 08:43 PM

No, you're just in the same mindset as me and many others.... We see the hypocrisy, Lamestream Media never, but never, ever reports on FACTS, they spin us all to death (more precisely, the troops in particular who are losing their lives for lies and oil profits), and the cycle just keeps getting more and more trying to deal with when REALITY is not acknowledged or even talked about.

I've read those few paragraphs from that one section in 1984 over and over several times because it so deftly parallels what's been happening in the last six years in particular. I went into hysterical giggles when I read some Congress Critter has proposed a "Department of Peace" knowing that one section of 1984 talks about a "Ministry of Peace."

Like the rest of you, I'm SO unendingly TIRED of this administration, the LIES, the war, the torture, the ceaseless insanity, and I desperately want some kind of SANITY and REALITY to finally take root in the collective subconscious of this nation for a change. We've lived with Georgie's DELUSIONS too long.

Many years ago some woman on a yak show was defending her "pessimism" - and she said "A pessimist is an optimist with experience." I don't know why, but that quote stuck in my brain. Wish I could remember her name so I could give her credit....

Cynical? Maybe. We've all just been clobbered over the head with too much of the unreality of hyperbole the last six years, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, and we're all losing patience with the status quo....

Posted by: NonnyO at December 18, 2006 10:21 PM

Oh, and as a PS to my own post:

The lack of sunlight near the Winter Solstice can also usher in Seasonal Affective Disorder, aka S.A.D., or the "winter blahs" for some people.

That doesn't account for spring or summer or fall blahs (and the very real depression) regarding the political climate in this country because of crooked politicians, war, torture, our falling reputation in the world because of the crooks "leading" this country down those hypocritical paths, et cetera.

If the Congress Critters in the 110th decide to "do the right thing" and bring charges against the crooks "leading" this country down such a ruinous path (most of the investigation has already been done with the previous articles of impeachment that were drawn up and not filed, but more could be added with some further investigationo into the things that should never have been kept secret in an open democratic republic), it would certainly go a very, very long way toward bringing me out of the winter doldrums - and other seasonal doldrums that have affected me (and others) since the fall of 2000.

The 'news' that 'impeachment is off the table' (by even such as Conyers whom we declared a hero at one point for his formerly honorable actions) didn't help this year's winter blahs. If our Congress Critters can't multitask, they need to go home, find a good hobby to occupy their time, and never run for public office again. If they can't or won't fulfill their oaths of office and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution as handed to us by the Founding Fathers - which could 'prove' they can abide by the laws that were enacted prior to the selection of 2000 - then they ought not to be in office.

'Doing the right thing' means saying 'no' to the dictator wannabe per the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and Amendments which were written in eloquent and very elementary English, and easily understood by anyone with a grade school education. It's that simple.

Thought you all might appreciate this LTE which I'm copying here in full since I don't know how long it will remain available.

From the JG-TC Online (Journal-Gazette and Times-Courier) serving Charleston and Mattoon, IL

Sunday, December 17, 2006 10:28 PM CST

Letter: This is the Republican version of ‘cut and run’

The Republicans proved that it is they, not the Democrats, who should wear the jackass as their symbol.

Though they promised in their famous — or as time proved, infamous — Contract with America that they would pass a “Balanced Budget Amendment” to the Constitution and would Never Ever raise the national debt limit, they have proved to be the most financially irresponsible Congress since the founding of the Republic.

Once Clinton was out of office and Bush lacked the courage to hold them accountable by vetoes, the red ink began to run, the national debt increased exponentially, and the earmarks -- expenditure of taxpayer’s money to impress their home district with their generosity -- compounded year by year.

But their last financial act was one of supreme irresponsibility. Had they been employees you would have fired them before sunset; had they been schoolboys they would have received an on-the-spot grade of F.

We all know that the U.S. fiscal year starts Oct. 1st and it is incumbent upon Congress to pass — and the president to sign — a budget by then so departments and agencies can plan their spending throughout the year. Accordingly, a responsible Congress would have started work on the budget due the first of October, 2006 by October of 2005.

However, this Congress spent their time posturing over gun control, “gay marriage” and abstinence education, skipping out of school on corporate jets, partying at Jack Abramoff’s restaurant — and surreptitiously slipping goodies for their hometown buddies into the budget. They took an unprecedented vacation in the summer, took a vacation from business for campaigning (meantime, of course, drawing salary for their “work“) — and in summary worked less than half the hours that a laborer would be expected to work within a year.

In the meantime, federal agencies limped along on “continuing resolutions.” Finally at midnight on a Friday night, in a moment of supreme arrogance, they declared that, though they had completed only two of the 11 budgets, they were not going to do more.

They passed another continuing resolution to keep the government stumbling along until Feb. 15 — and left town. This is the Republican version of “cut and run.” We can be thankful that a considerable number will not return.

http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2006/12/19/opinion/letters/letter001.txt