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March Forth and Move 'Em for Molly
It's been just a few weeks since Molly Ivins went to the great editorial meeting in the sky, but we already miss her like crazy. So much weird, wild, woeful, and wonderful stuff is going on in the world of people-powered politics these days that we really need somebody like Molly to help us make sense of it all. And knowing how much sheer unadulterated delight she took in the rough and tumble nature of citizenship in this great big sprawling country of ours, it's a real shame that she's not here to enjoy all the goings-on now that things are finally turning back towards civic sanity again.
"Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce."
-- Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
Molly's not here now, though. That means it's up to us to step into her Texas-sized shoes and do what she asked us to do in her stead. So here are a couple of causes that were always near and dear to Molly's heart, and some ways in which we can all go kick some Beltway butt the way Molly always kept telling us to do.
The Constitution? Does anybody still care about that old thing?
Shrub & Company might not, but Molly sure did. These were always some of her favorite words in the English language. You might remember hearing them once or twice before:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
It's true that the Constitution in question is getting pretty long in the tooth. It first took effect on March 4, 1789, which makes it 218 years old in a few weeks.
During the heady (and sweltering) summer of 1787, 55 delegates to the Philadelphia Convention hammered out a compromise on the issues that divided the newly-minted American republic.
They set the tone and defined the parameters of American political discourse to this day. They established clear, necessary congressional checks on the executive branch and on the president of the United States.
(It's worth noting that the legislative branch was established in Article I of the Constitution, while the executive branch was established in Article II. That says something about their priorities right there.)
The Constitution those wise people instituted back in 1787 still applies today, even if war rages and dissent cries out. Shrub and Company may find that to be annoyingly inconvenient -- they've certainly tried hard enough to dismantle every possible angle of the checks and balances that might serve to inhibit an imperial presidency ever since they first took office -- but it's true nonetheless.
It will only stay true, though, if We The People do our part to make sure that it stays true. And that's why we should all become part of the Backbone Campaign's March Forth! movement this month.
Molly loved the Constitution and leaped to its defense at every chance she got. She would have loved being part of the March Forth! movement, and she would have wanted you to be there with her. So go on out and march forth for freedom, folks. And don't just do it for you, and me, and all of us -- do it for Molly, too.
Herd 'em up. Move 'em out. And bring your pots and pans with you.
This one's a no-brainer, folks. We all know that what Shrub and company have been doing with their illegal and immoral war of conquest for oil in Iraq is just all kinds of wrong. We all know that the neocon doctrine of generational war has got to be stopped -- and stopped right away, before the planet devolves into World War III as a result of their playing at empire in the Middle East. Molly knew that too. And she told us so in no uncertain terms:
"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"
-- Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
There's no shortage of grassroots movements that are pushing for surge protection, troop redeployment, and an end to Shrub and Company's meddling in the Middle East. If you're reading this, then you're probably already a pro-peace activist and you don't need us to list all those movements here.
But there is one omnibus activist website that you might not be aware of and you do need to know about. It's called MoveCongress and its mission is to do just that -- to help you grab your Congresscritters by the ears and make 'em move against the war.
The MoveCongress website is chock-full of useful info including tallies of current and pending anti-war legislation, legislative contact info and leads for in-person activism. Molly would tell you to go there, do that, do it now, and do it loud. We agree.
Because Molly said so, that's why.
The Constitution must be protected. The wars for empire must be stopped. We hold these truths to be self-evident. Molly Ivins did, too, and she spent her lifetime spreading the message of joyful citizenship in the face of political fuddy-duddiness and neocon curmudgeonry. Now it's our turn to follow her lead.
So grab your pots and pans, take to the streets, and raise hell until even Shrub and Company have no choices left but to obey the will of the people that they were selected to serve. But don't forget to have fun doing it.
And if anybody tries to stand in your way, just tell them "Molly sent me."
I wonder what Molly would have said regarding the House speeches that still mention 9/11 in conjunction with Georgie's illegal war in Iraq, the fraidy-cats whose xenophobic rhetoric indicates they must surely have insomnia over the boogeymen hiding under their beds...? I grant that people in NYC & DC likely still feel a degree of fear that is not known out here in the dingtoolies, but are they really that afraid of criminals? Do they have the same fear of criminals on our own streets in this nation - a threat much more likely to end in harm to residents of this nation?
This is just so *^%$*# frustrating to listen to... YEARS after that LIE connecting 9/11 to Iraq was debunked...!
Murtha's doing his part for Molly.
From Left Coaster:
George W Bush is known for trying to blackmail his political opponents by telling them they must support him and his funding needs or they are betraying the troops. Those who have been criticizing him for years have complained that it was George W Bush who seemed to have a problem supporting the troops. First he sends them into a war of his choice, without the equipment they need, to be supported by crooks like Halliburton who can provide polluted water and other services on the cheap, without sufficient healthcare funding for after they are home, requiring them to serve long after they were promised, putting the bill for his expensive wars on the backs of their children and grandchildren (and ours) while his cronies accummulate more and more of the wealth of the country. And then he carries on about how the Congress must give him his emergency funding for his surge or they will be accused of not supporting the troops. Well, today, Representative John Murtha has promised to put together a bill that will require George W Bush to really support the troops with more than just empty words.
By mid-March, Murtha will unveil legislation that he says would set such stringent rules on combat deployments that Bush would have no choice but to begin bringing troops home.
His legislation would dictate how long troops can stay, the equipment they use and whether any money could be spent to expand military operations into Iran. Murtha says few units could meet the high standards he envisions, meaning Bush's plan to keep some 160,000 troops in Iraq for months on end would be thwarted.
Under his plan, he says, Democrats would be helping and not hurting troops by making sure they have what they need before being thrown into combat.
“This vote will be the most important vote in changing the direction of the war,” Murtha, D-Pa., told an anti-war group in an interview broadcast on the Internet Thursday.
“The president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money,” he later said.
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/009858.php
Dan Lundgren (R-CA) was just talking about torture done by insurgents in Iraq.
Has no one told him about torture at Abu Ghraib, torture at Guantanamo, all of which is committed in our names, approved by Georgie, committed by Americans...?
Jeez.
Bush's favorite think tank:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/16/1164/15725
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/ap_on_el_pr/iraq2008
2008 hopefuls shift plans for Iraq vote
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a staunch supporter of sending more troops to Iraq, will skip a Senate vote on the war Saturday to campaign in Iowa while other candidates rearrange their schedules.
In control of the Senate, Democrats called the rare Saturday session for the procedural vote. They need 60 votes to advance a nonbinding resolution criticizing President Bush's plan to boost the number of U.S. forces in the nearly four-year-old war.
~~~~~
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., had planned to spend a full day in New Hampshire. Instead, she will host a town hall meeting in Dover, N.H., in the morning and then return to Washington to vote. An afternoon event had to be canceled, but aides say she still may return to New Hampshire in the evening for a house party in Portsmouth.
Another hopeful, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., campaigned in Iowa on Friday and will return to Capitol Hill on Saturday. He will head back to Iowa after the vote to attend a dinner in Davenport.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., was supposed to be in South Carolina on Saturday, but his campaign was considering sending a surrogate.
On the Republican side, Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas had planned to be in Florida to attend the National Religious Broadcasters' convention but is cutting short his visit — even though he doesn't plan to side with Reid.
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) will be able to fit the vote into his campaign schedule. The Illinois lawmaker was scheduled to appear at a Virginia Democratic Party dinner in Richmond on Saturday night.
Amy Goodman | Freedom of Press Needs Shield Law
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607M.shtml
"Josh Wolf, videographer and blogger, is now the journalist imprisoned longest in U.S. history for refusing to comply with a subpoena. He has been locked up in federal prison for close to six months,... Freedom of the press means freeing journalists to do their work. Congress can ensure that by passing a federal shield law," writes Amy Goodman.
Auditors: Billions Squandered in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607N.shtml
About $10 billion has been squandered by the US government on Iraq reconstruction aid because of contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses, and federal investigators warned Thursday that significantly more taxpayer money is at risk.
Paul Krugman | The Health Care Racket
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607O.shtml
"If UnitedHealth can be shown to have broken the law - and let's just say that this company, which is America's second largest health insurer, has a reputation for playing even rougher than its competitors - by all means, let's see justice done. But the larger problem isn't the behavior of any individual company. It's the ugly incentives provided by a system in which giving care is punished, while denying it is rewarded," writes Paul Krugman.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6368269.stm
Italy orders CIA kidnapping trial
An Italian judge has ordered 26 US citizens - most of them CIA agents - to stand trial over the kidnap of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003.
Just for the record: I am glad (for her sake) and sad (for ours) that Molly didn't get a chance to weigh in on last week's perfect storm of the Edwards campaign hiring, firing, rehiring, and then cravenly defenstrating Amanda Marcotte and Mellisa McEwen under pressure from strident elements of the religious reich.
"This is all part of their plan to eliminate funding for our troops that are in harm's way. And we stand here as Republicans...committed to making sure our troops in harm's way have all the funds and equipment they need to win this war in Iraq," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17179124/
Hmmm... really? funny, when the republicans controlled EVERYTHING, they couldnt make sure our troops in harm's way had all equipment they need to win this war in Iraq, no matter HOW much money was thrown into it. They STILL don't have what they need, from the CIC on down.
I'll take three quarters of a trillion dollars and put it into truly safeguarding our soil ANYDAY over this disasterous course our so called leaders have set us on for generations to come.
You've had your turn to run it all, Republicans... you BLEW it all to smithereens.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Jeb Bush, who hasn't publicly picked a favorite in the Republican presidential race, privately is talking up the candidacy of Mitt Romney and steering some of his closest advisers to the campaign.
The former Florida governor has said repeatedly he won't be a candidate in 2008 despite encouragement from his father, the former president, and his brother, the current one. But Jeb Bush's support, even tacit, would be critical in the state that decided the 2000 presidential election.
"Governor Bush said, 'Before you commit, I want you to meet Mitt Romney. He is the kind of guy you will like no matter what,'" said former Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings. "The governor was very candid about the fact that he really liked this guy."
Jennings, the woman Bush chose as his lieutenant governor, is one of several former Bush confidantes in the Romney camp. Others include his hand-picked, former state party chairman Al Cardenas, and Sally Bradshaw, Bush's former campaign manager and chief of staff.
Now on Romney's payroll, these former Bush stalwarts are working to help the candidate overcome his lack of name identification in Florida. A recent statewide Quinnipiac poll of Republicans showed Romney in single digits compared to Sen. John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, who has not announced his candidacy.
more ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17187253/
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Ricky Martin, who was a headliner at the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush, has a message for the American commander in chief about war.
At a recent concert, the 35-year-old singer stuck up his middle finger when he sang the president's name in his song "Asignatura Pendiente," which includes the words, "a photo with Bush." The gesture last Friday prompted cheers from thousands of fans in the San Juan stadium.
On Thursday, the Puerto Rican heartthrob repeated his criticism of the Iraq war and explained his changed position on Bush.
"My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it," Martin said about his action in an e-mail statement sent to The Associated Press via a spokesman.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17184296/
Al Neuharth: Bush Is Worst President of All-Time
By E&P Staff
Published: February 16, 2007
NEW YORK Al Neuharth, the former Gannett chief, USA Today founder and currently weekly columnist for that newspaper, has had a change of heart.
A year ago, in honor of President's Day, he stated that while he was often critical of George W. Bush, he did not, and probably would not ever, crack his list of the five worst presidents we've ever had.
A year later he admits he was wrong. In his USA Today column today he announces that Bush has not only cracked the bottom five, he's now at the very bottom.
Last year, Neuharth, a World War II hero who has met every president since Eisenhower, listed his five worst as Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. "It's very unlikely Bush can crack that list," Neuharth wrote.
Now he admits: "I was wrong. This is my mea culpa. Not only has Bush cracked that list, but he is planted firmly at the top." By top, of course, he means bottom.
Neuharth, after calling the Iraq war Bush's "albatross," concludes: "Is he just a self-touted decider doing what he thinks right? Or is he an arrogant ruler who doesn't care or consider what the public or Congress believes best for the country?
more...
http://tinyurl.com/2kjsob
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/16/jon-stewart-asks-bush-to-clarify-iran-accusations/
Jon Stewart Asks Bush to Clarify Iran Accusations
NonnyO, thank you for that link. I am sitting in an airport and was able to share it with a few nearby travelers...
I'm heading into more snow--Detroit, where the generous sparrow will put up with me--errr, put me up for two nights.
Chocolate will be shared...
Support binding resolutions:
Congressman Joe Sestak has a bill
http://tinyurl.com/2w9fyd
Co-sponsor John Kerry's binding resolution at
http://www.setadeadline.com
monkey:
The road to Hell is paved with Republicans.
'nuff said sir yes sir,
Otter
Monkey:
That list is not very generous to Jackson and Grant.
Chuck in Houston
Rick, whoever you may be:
Thanks for that ode to Molly. As a transplant to Texas, I very much support anything that helps people understand that this is a big-hearted and very diverse state. It's the "flat-as-a-pancake" bit that gets to me here (plus the humidity and mosquitoes). But this milleu produces the likes of Molly Ivens and LBJ (not to mention ZZ-Top, Johnny Winters, Willie Nelson and hosts of others) and is even congenial enough to let the likes of Connecticut Yankees like the George Bush family to come on down and flourish.
Chuck in Houston (Texas, that is)
Posted by: Chuck at February 16, 2007 09:29 PM
Remember that Texas was a blue state that the Dems let slip away. I used to badmouth Texas myself all the time, but having experienced Austin in person, and realized the state's political history, now I know better.
And Southern California, where I am, is at least as Republican as today's Texas, if not more so. Despite the "liberal California" lies by the Hollywood media, the truth is that the property tax revolt and the Reagan Revolution, as well as anti-mass transit movements, all started in the suburbs of Los Angeles. If it weren't for the San Francisco Bay Area, California would be safely in Republican hands.
Not to mention that California's "at-will" employment law, in place thanks to the southern Republicans, effectively renders the state's extensive anti-discrimination laws passed by the northern liberals toothless.
Sorry to turn a Texas comment into a California comment, but I had to get it out of my system.
Ally:
It's a purple world!
Actually, Houston reminds me more of LA than any other city I've lived in, and vice-versa. LA is oil, cattle, military and Hollywood. Houston is oil, cattle, military and NASA. Except when the smog lifts it turns out there are mountains around LA!
Chuck in Houston
You say "Brentwood" and I say "Tanglewood," let's call the whole thing off...
Plus Texas and California were both founded by honest-to-God or assimilated Okies! (In one form or another.)
Mega-churches probably caught on in SoCal before they hit Houston and TVangelists got their start in both places at about the same time....
"Evangeline evangeline
"Curses the soul of the Mississippi queen
?That pulled her man away
Chocolate will be shared...
Posted by: karen at February 16, 2007 06:51 PM
I raise my homemade fudge to both of you!
May your shared experiences be as positive as I know both of you are....
Salute! Skoal! Cheers!
And Ally of course let us not forget the beautiful Pacific Northwest:
"Well I stand up next to a mountain
"Chop it down, with the side of my hand...."
Chuck in Houston (came up in SE Portland, Oregon, Hosford GS Cleveland HS)
PS: I love this country!
Pelosi Backs War Funds Only With Conditions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607B.shtml
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday linked her support for President Bush's war-funding request to strict standards of resting, training and equipping combat forces, a move that could curtail troop deployments and alter the course of US involvement in Iraq.
{{{Now... IF ONLY Pelosi would, per the will of the majority of Americans, put IMPEACHMENT back on the table!!!}}}
White House Is Reported to Be Linked to Prosecutor's Dismissal
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607C.shtml
A United States attorney in Arkansas who was dismissed from his job last year by the Justice Department was ousted after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, intervened on behalf of the man who replaced him. Ms. Miers, according to aides, phoned an aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, suggesting the appointment of J. Timothy Griffin, who was a political director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy to Karl Rove.
{{{Second article on same link deals with a provision in the Patriot Act [sic!] that deals with firing and appointing prosecutors.... All of these little amendments slipped into legislation passed since 2000 (some not even read before DimWit shoved this stuff through in rushed up or down votes) is the reason it all needs to be repealed, not just sections repealed at a time, like the new proposal to reinstate only habeas corpus after MCA '06 made Georgie a dictator and exempted him and his ilk from being prosecuted for war crimes in connection with torture. All of the Patriot Acts, the entire MCA '06, other bad legislation like both AUMF, needs rushed repealing in the same amount of time it took to pass those crappy laws. Period. IMHO, of course.}}}
In State Legislatures, Democrats Are Pushing Toward Parity Between the Sexes
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607WB.shtml
Three middle-aged Democratic women took on three Republican state legislators last year in the conservative, traditionally Republican town of Woodbury, Minnesota, and swept the field. With Minnesota evolving into a possible battleground state for the presidential election, what it means to be a Democrat in the state could have an impact far beyond St. Paul.
South Dakota House Approves New Abortion Ban 45 to 25
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607WA.shtml
A new abortion ban that would go to a statewide vote in 2008 sailed through the South Dakota House of Representatives on Wednesday and now goes to the Senate. Unlike the abortion ban that voters rejected last November, HB1293 has exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. Opponents of the bill say the requirements to qualify for those exceptions are too onerous.
{There's a second article on this link about a TN proposal to make death certificates for abortions....}
Sam Pizzigati | House Protects Tax Loophole for Corporate Execs
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607LA.shtml
"On Monday, in a unanimous vote, the House Ways and Means Committee killed a tax reform - already passed by the Senate - that would have ended the single most popular perk in executive-suite land: the loophole that, year after year, lets CEOs avoid paying taxes on multimillions of their paycheck dollars," writes Sam Pizzigati.
{And the author names names.... Dems are culpable this time!}
Great Andean Glacier "Will Melt to Nothing by 2012"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607EA.shtml
The principal glacier of the world's biggest tropical ice-cap could disappear within five years as a result of global warming, one of the world's leading glaciologists predicted yesterday.
January Weather Hottest by Far
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607EB.shtml
Last month was by far the hottest January ever. The broken record was fueled by a waning El Nino and a gradually warming world.
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/02/021607_decider.html
Laff of the Day: The Decider
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/16/daily-show-on-the-absurdity-of-the-house-debate-on-iraq/
Daily Show on the Absurdity of the House Debate on Iraq
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/16/countdown-the-administration-who-cried-wolf/
Countdown: The Administration Who Cried Wolf
Good God!!!! From this mornings CNN.com....
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/meast/02/17/iraq.main/newt1.1017.rice.ap.jpg
Caption contest???
*rawrr!* *fssst!*
"And your little dog, too!"
Thnx and a tip o' the ol' topfur to monkeyman:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x234329
C-SPAN-2
Senate Debate and vote on the NON-binding House resolution against Georgie's war (if you have nothing better to do for the next couple of hours - vote is scheduled for around 1 p.m. Eastern Time; talking time is limited to five minutes each).
Got some positive feedback mainly from genY voters here in Carlsbad Ally to my Edwards 08 bumper sticker but the people in LaJolla and Del Mar Ally care about one thing only,
their capital gain tax cuts. The weather is gorgeous here even in Feb and we planned on retiring here but no one but multimillionares, and there are plenty here,can afford housing. The San Diego Union is unfortunately sympathetic to Foggo and Wilkes and constantly praises Congressman Bilbray but Chuck is right about Texas vs Southern Ca, we are more like Molly Ivins,down to earth. But politically Ally we have you beat hands down politically in Texas, when it comes to conservative politics. We are just more cordial when we say mam before extolling tax cuts for the super rich.
I hope you're all watching/listening to this Senate debate. The neoCons are perfectly ridiculous in some of their statements, but Byrd, who just spoke, was spectacular. He said he'd agree to meet every weekend, or stay in the Senate 24 hrs. a day if it meant not one more person died in Iraq (I'm paraphrasing).
Some of the Cons are whining 'cuz they're meeting on a long weekend....
I wonder what Molly Ivins would say about this little tid bit from McCain?
Last night in Chicago, Senator McCain chracterized the House resolution objecting to President Bush's new Iraqi war plan as "meaningless."...... Food for thought.....if it doesn't give you ptomaine poisoning
Posted by: oncall at February 17, 2007 01:32 PM
I wouldn't dare try to second-guess Molly (she would have stated whatever her opinion was better than I could possibly come up with)....
However, as one of the senators just said (to paraphrase), every person in this country deserves to know where the members of Congress stand on this war....
Posted by: oncall at February 17, 2007 01:32 PM
I do think, however, that we would all prefer it if the resolution against Georgie's escalation was a binding resolution, rather than this non-binding thing....
This is very sad video of Hillary, in 2003, announcing in front of group of Code Pink women that she will vote to go to war with Iraq:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYATbsu2cP8
I find it very difficult to believe that Hillary's position on the war can make her a viable candidate for president.
BTW: when looked at the video it already had 20,000 hits
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/17/frontline-exposes-bushs-media-manipulation/
Frontline Exposes Bush’s Media Manipulation
Posted by: NonnyO at February 17, 2007 03:27 PM
Via that link I was able to link to the entire first segment. It is interesting, but here is the best quote from the discussion section:
John Pulitzer said "Our republic, and its press will rise or fall together. A cynical, mercenary demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself."
Best posting on the discussion forum for FRONLINE:
John Pulitzer said "Our republic, and its press will rise or fall together. A cynical, mercenary demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself."