Cry, The Beloved Community

Thank you, Rick for making my day, and hopefully, giving John Lewis some kudos he will feel good about!

DCPers, as you know, we have been watching and on occasion, interacting with Members of Congress for some years now. John Lewis stands for and with the best of them, and is a beacon of hope for change. He's been there and done that, and he knows. Let's encourage him!!

Better late than never, I guess...

"Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq."

“I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do — to me, by God; other people call it karma — is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”

"Mr. Dowd’s journey from true believer to critic in some ways tracks the public arc of Mr. Bush’s political fortunes. But it is also an intensely personal story of a political operative who at times, by his account, suppressed his doubts about his professional role but then confronted them as he dealt with loss and sorrow in his own life."

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/washington/01adviser.html

Bush resigns; Hillary ends campaign

In a move that left political Washington reeling, George Bush and Hillary Clinton held a joint press conference on the steps of the United States Capitol this morning to announce their respective retirements from Presidential politics.

http://culturekitchen.com/michael_bouldin/blog/bush_resigns_hillary_ends_campaign

This is not a joke.

Inspector Lists Computers With Atomic Secrets as Missing

WASHINGTON, March 30 — The office in charge of protecting American technical secrets about nuclear weapons from foreign spies is missing 20 desktop computers, at least 14 of which have been used for classified information, the Energy Department inspector general reported on Friday.

This is the 13th time in a little over four years that an audit has found that the department, whose national laboratories and factories do most of the work in designing and building nuclear warheads, has lost control over computers used in working on the bombs.

Aside from the computers it cannot find, the department is also using computers not listed in its inventory, and one computer listed as destroyed was in fact being used, the audit said.

“Problems with the control and accountability of desktop and laptop computers have plagued the department for a number of years,” the report said.

In January, Linton F. Brooks was fired as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Agency, the Energy Department agency in charge of bombs, because of security problems. The agency was created in the 1990s because of security scandals.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/washington/01missing….

It's really a shame that more people aren't familiar with John Lewis.

He's been a rock-steady member of the social-progressive community his whole life, a crusading member of the civil rights movement since he was 20 years old, and an exemplary member of Congress since 1987.

Mr. Lewis' progressive bona fides are beyond reproach (you can view his voting record at http://www.ontheissues.org/GA/John_Lewis.htm and they are well worth taking note of), and he has an amazing institutional memory of the last half-century of American history and politics.

I had the pleasure of voting for Mr. Lewis several times when I still lived in Atlanta, and I still have nothing but respect for him. He's never been a scene-stealer or an attention hog, so he's relatively unknown by those outside the Beltway or I-285.

But that lack of familiarity is the country's loss, not just his. Here's hoping that this threader will help spread the word about what a fine man and an excellent representative of the people John Lewis truly is.

I don't think I can recommend a diary by following a link.
I go over to DailyKos and most of the top recommended diaries are there because they have provocative titles. I guess I will have to do a "search" for John Lewis. For a minute there I thought I'd entered a time warp and was at deanforamerica.com circa 2004.

So they are changing formats, I find out. It's about time.
They have definitely outgrown the system they have now.
Alot of people are going to freak out because all the rules
will change but not me, because I never learned them!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/1/125353/2269

nmp,
You can also search for Diaries by karendc

Kos is not changing formats - I got sucked in by a nerdly April Fool's joke. I seriously think they SHOULD change formats, as the diaries move too fast, and they have a million rules for regulars, which I am not. It's funny I'll be going to their convention for the 2nd time. 1. $5 air ticket, 2. panel of wannabe candidates sucking up to bloggers, which will be funny, 3. MSM doing the same, which is even funnier, 4. lots of free food, 5. photo and eavesdropping ops because everyone thinks it's all 20 somethings in hallways with laptops but it's also old hippie peaceniks. That's the shocker. It's fun to be "in it but not of it" like a Sufi.

Hate to derail the discussion, but here is what BBC is saying about a sneaky FTA for the US, that the US Lamestream Media will never report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6515621.stm

I cannot support any FTAs that are being negotiated and signed WITHOUT the knowledge and approval of the people involved.

It's fun to be "in it but not of it" like a Sufi.

Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 02:13 PM

NMP, for once you sound like a Dominionist Christian... They are "in the world, but not of the world," as their bumper stickers say.

:-)

Ally
That's funny! I hope the resemblance stops after that. I'm not a Sufi either but I love the stories of Nasrudin.

Nasrudin, ferrying a pedant across a piece of rough water, said something ungrammatical to him. “Have you never studied grammar?” asked the scholar.
“No.”
“Then half of your life has been wasted.”
A few minutes later Nasrudin turned to the passenger. “Have you ever learned how to swim?”
“No. Why?”
“Then all your life is wasted—we are sinking!”

I would love to send some encouragement to Rep Lewis, but the contact form is much like others reps' forms -- they hard insert the state as GEORGIA, which indicates that he only wants to hear from Georgians. Fair enough... but putting in false info in his contact form doesn't rub me right....

In the Democrats who do bad/dumb things category:

The Gore mansion electricity bill -

Environmentalist and former vice president Al Gore recently won a "Best Documentary" Academy Award for his film An Inconvenient Truth, wherein- he exposes the dangers of global warming. In the film Gore encourages people to combat global warming by reducing energy consumption in their own homes.

Ironically, only several days after taking home his Oscar, evidence surfaced that Gore's Tennessee mansion consumes 20 times more energy than the average American household. This appears to be yet another case of the age old liberal motto: Do as I say, not as I do.

In analyzing Gore's utility bills throughout the past two years, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research published some surprising news about Gore's own contribution to the phenomenon against which he campaigns. The story hit the news on Drudgereport.com, which published the Center's press release. According to the report, "Gore's mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] . . . consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES)."

Gore's natural gas bills apparently aren't any better than his electric bills: "Natural gas bills for Gore's mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year . . . In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006" the report stated. These statistics don't pertain to some right-wing industrialist but rather to the elite media's foremost Democratic environmentalist.

Drew Johnson, the president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research told ABC News, "If this were any other person with $30,000 a year in utility bills, I wouldn't care. But he tells other people how to live, and he's not following his own rules.' No one from the Gore camp has disputed the figures, but Kalee Kreider, a Gore spokesperson, has responded by saying that the Gores are working to reduce their fossil fuel emissions by purchasing energy through renewable resources.

IN CONTRAST TO AWL-MAN GEORGE BUSH'S HOUSE IN TEXAS

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

Tales of two houses - Bush's "ranch" in Crawford is, apparently, quite energy efficient, smaller, I think it even has solar panels..

COME ON, AL!!! YOU CAN DO BETTER... WE PERSONS-ON-THE-STREET DEMS ARE DYING OUT HERE

Yo Robin! Thanks for trying! I will work on that too. I have had that problem before.

Jeez, Ralpheh, please quit repeating that bogus TCPR spin story here, we've all heard it before and it's already been debunked.

QUOTE:

Bush resigns; Hillary ends campaign

In a move that left political Washington reeling, George Bush and Hillary Clinton held a joint press conference on the steps of the United States Capitol this morning to announce their respective retirements from Presidential politics.

@@@@@@@@@@@

OH!!!! what a joyous day that would be!!! Perhaps, even, Hillary would give her massive campaign war-chest to a good charity (- maybe to the disabled Veterans some of whom she helped send into battle...).

One presidential "restoration" (the Bush's) in a quarter century is quite enough, thank you. I don't think we need or can stand a second, Clinton, restoration...

Jeez, Ralpheh, please quit repeating that bogus TCPR spin story here, we've all heard it before and it's already been debunked.

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 03:00 PM

Jeez Otter,

Is Snopes part of the conspiracy too?

I still don't have a candidate.

Ralpheh, it's still a pointless canard.

Please make sure you spread this link to the voices of our fallen heros. You can buy the special edition from Newsweek as well.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17773294/site/newsweek/

Ralpheh, it's still a pointless canard.

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 03:09 PM

@@@@@

Contact Snopes ASAP:

Tell them Gore's mansion is energy efficient, perhaps even modern...

and Bush's ranch is an energy guzzler...

There are alot of pointless canards today and some have so many comments they crash my machine. Some people think it's fun insulting Islam during a war. So I added an Easter joke from the middle east to the mess.

Someone asked Nasrudin to guess what he had in his hand.
“Give me a clue,” said the Mulla.
“I'll give you several,” said the wag. “It is shaped like an egg, egg-sized, looks, tastes and smells like an egg. Inside it is yellow and white. It is liquid within before you cook it, coalesces with heat. It was, moreover, laid by a hen…”
“I know!” interrupted the Mulla. “It is some sort of cake.”

I still don't have a candidate.

Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 03:05 PM

@@@@@

That's O.K. at this point - the Republicans can't find a decent presidential candidate either. And perhaps we need a period in which the Congress is stronger than the executive branch anyway...

Ally McRepuke alert:

Dear Goddess, please save us from
second-tier Coulter-wannabe Michelle Malkin's incredibly (and unaccountably) xenophobic paranoia:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007190.htm

Ralpheh
Agreed!

Michelle Malkin said that everyone in my Legislative district is a traitor.

The issue about energy efficiency is challenging, because Gore's mansion is old and inefficient and to upgrade it or redo it would cost a huge amount of money, whereas the Bush ranch consists of a recently-thrown-up stage set of a home that was done using modern materials and technology.

You can't compare them and to do so overlooks the issue--who is making things better and whose policies are making things worse?

BTW, the White House is old too...

nmp,

Always suspected that... ;)

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 03:19 PM

Otter,
At least Michelle Malkin is not a castrated man!

However, she is the poster child for Asian-American reactionary conservatism.

Hey! We all need to sign up for this right away!

http://www.google.com/tisp/

I still don't have a candidate.

Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 03:05 PM

Neither do I... and I think we're hardly alone.

I'm still evaluating the field from both parties, and all I've concluded so far: Hillary, Rudy, and Brownback are unacceptable.

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 03:38 PM

Good one, Otter :)

I like Obama but I'm disappointed in some of his slip ups he makes. For instance, today on the talk shows he essentially told Bush to go ahead and veto the Iraq bill including the parameters the Congress had set in because the Congress was of course going to agree to leave those out and just fund the war.

It seems this is the second time he's done such a thing. (The first being the Alito filibuster.)

I don't want 'politics as usual' but basically telling the pResident to veto the Bill that resulted from long hours of compromise in the House/Senate is ok is just plain stupid and wrong.

We need to hold Bush's feet to the fire, not pull them out just when he's starting to sense a little heat there.

My comment about Obama has nothing to do with 08 since I'm still living in the year 07.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/washington/01gitmo.html
Some Bumps at Start of War Tribunals at Guantánamo
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, March 31 — As the first of the war crimes cases under a new law began here a few days ago, a military law specialist said it was a test run “to show that this plane will fly.”

It was a bumpy ride.
~~~~~
Other than a few muted words in court, Mr. Hicks was not heard from directly. But as developments unfolded, David H. B. McLeod, an Australian lawyer working with the defense, provided insight into Mr. Hicks’s thoughts.
“He says that if he is the worst of the worst, and the person who should be put before a military commission first,” Mr. McLeod said, “then the world really hasn’t got much to worry about.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2047128,00.html
Call that humiliation?
No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch
Terry Jones {of Monty Python fame....}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6509437.stm
Sydney in climate change blackout
Lights have been turned off across Australia's largest city, Sydney, in a hour-long event aimed at raising awareness of global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6513117.stm
Peru 'must protect Amazon tribes'
Peru must act swiftly to protect isolated Amazonian tribes from illegal loggers, Latin America's top human rights body has ruled.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/science/earth/01climate.html
Poor Nations to Bear Brunt as World Warms

{{{Millenium Challenge Corporation (embedded link in article)... formed in 2004.... check out the link to the board of directors off of their web site...!!! OMFG!}}}

US Death Toll in March Is Twice Iraq Forces
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040107Z.shtml
The US military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

{{{Let's see now... what was that again about 'we'll step down as the Iraqis step up?' After DimWit's illegal and unconstitutional invasion, now occupation, which is the whole reason for the instability in Iraq now, his credibility is lacking if he thinks it's okay for American troops to be killed in the Iraqi civil war.... IMHO.}}}

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/opinion/01sun1.html
Editorial
The Rovian Era
Excerpt:
The investigation of the firings of the United States attorneys seems to be closing in on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who should have been fired weeks ago. But Congress should bring equal scrutiny to the more powerful Mr. Rove. If it does, especially by forcing him to testify in public, it will find that he has been at the vortex of many of the biggest issues they are now investigating.

Prosecutor Posts Go to Bush Insiders
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040107Y.shtml
About one-third of the nearly four dozen US attorney's jobs that have changed hands since President Bush began his second term have been filled by the White House and the Justice Department with trusted administration insiders. Some lacked experience as prosecutors or had no connection to the districts in which they were sent to work, the records and biographical information show.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rich29mar29,0,3371050.story
Bush's long history of tilting Justice
The administration began skewing federal law enforcement before the current U.S. attorney scandal, says a former Department of Justice lawyer.

Hillary is raking in the dough. Obama isn't doing too bad and Edwards is fundraising well too.

However, instead of being overjoyed to see any Democrat doing well, I worry about the FAVORS owed later.

If this is how 08 is going to be, then I predict there won't be too much difference between the corporate Republicans (and their lobbyists) and the corporate owned Democrats (and their lobbyists).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070401/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_money

Neither do I... and I think we're hardly alone.

I'm still evaluating the field from both parties, and all I've concluded so far: Hillary, Rudy, and Brownback are unacceptable.

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at April 1, 2007 03:40 PM

@@@@@

Is there a song in this dilemma?

"I say, Obama!!"

"You say, Oh, Biden!!"

"She says, John Edwards."

"He says, Ms. Clinton."

Some want Al Gorem

Others Al Sharpton....

Let's call the whole thing off!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070401/pl_nm/usa_prosecutors_dc
White House rejects Senate compromise on firings
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House dismissed on Sunday a possible U.S. Senate compromise to allow testimony by officials over the firing of federal prosecutors, which has embroiled President George W. Bush's administration in controversy and led to calls for his attorney general to quit.
~~~~~
"I think that Chuck Schumer and I may have come to agreement here ... on a very important issue -- and that is the way to get the White House officials coming up (to testify)," Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Schumer and Specter said an oath might not be needed because perjury laws already required truthful testimony, but that a transcript of any testimony was essential.

Bush has vowed to oppose any attempt to compel aides to give sworn testimony, offering instead that they talk with lawmakers behind closed doors without a transcript.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett rejected the compromise, saying the senators were trying to "cobble together a proposal through sound bites on a Sunday show. What we have in writing from them is far different than that type of proposal."

{{{If Schumer or anyone else on the Judiciary Committee agrees to this idiocy demanded by DimWit, he needs to be slapped upside the head with a wet hunk of lutefisk. Rove needs to testify UNDER OATH and IN PUBLIC with cameras rolling and with a WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT...! Period!!! Anything less and all members of Congress would be shirking their duty as public servants if they do not demand Rove testify under oath and in public with a written transcript (who serve at OUR whim, since we elect them - when e-voting machines don't rig elections, that is).}}}

WTH?!!!!

Schumer must have fallen on his head!

Posted by: Ralpheh at April 1, 2007 05:23 PM

I'm wililng to call this off until January 08. It's completely reprehensible that they're campaigning instead of working at this point.

These long primaries indicate more than ever why we need limited public funding for both the primary and the general election.

Posted by: sparrow at April 1, 2007 04:40 PM

Whenever I hear about record-setting sums of money raised by presidential candidates, I can't help but remember an old mad-for-TV-movie based on a Taylor Caldwell novel - title forgotten, might have been Captains and Kings. In the scene, the super-rich father buys the presidency for his son....

I can't help but wonder if her novel was based on fact or if it was fiction... and if there's something behind the scenes where presidential candidates now buy their office, and the voting process is only a dog and pony show to keep us commoners almost interested in the political process....

Whoops! That's made-for-TV-movie...

I'm more convinced than ever that John Edwards will upset Hillary, and win the Democratic nomination.

Oh, and for the record, IMHO Specter also needs to be reminded that he's a public servant and if he was any good at his job he would also be demanding Rove and everyone else connected with this scandal needs to testify UNDER OATH, IN PUBLIC, WITH TRANSCRIPTS. Prosecuting attorneys are, after all, supposed to be working for the greater good of everyone in their jurisdiction, putting bad people in jail, whether the people charged with crimes have any political affiliation or not....

This secretive, behind-closed-doors crap MUST stop.

If the US is supposed to be this open country whose standards are supposed to be transparent and above-board (the type of government the current occupants of the White House are allegedly forcing on other countries), then the current occupants of the White House and their staff personnel must lead the way with testifying IN PUBIC, and UNDER OATH, WITH A TRANSCRIPT. That would be "leading by example."

To do otherwise makes them bloody hypocrites.

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at April 1, 2007 06:01 PM

I hope not. If I have to listen to another southern drawl for another four to eight years, I'll go mad.

Edwards may be nice, but the accent is a major turn-off. I wish he'd lose the accent.

Keep in mind, before DimWit was elected, I used to like southern drawls and thought they were utterly charming. No more.

I personally hope all major candidates currently trying to buy their way into the White House lose to a flaming anti-war candidate who promises to start bringing the troops home within four weeks of taking the oath of office. We all know that no matter what Congress Critters do now (and we all know they "should" have started IMPEACHMENT proceedings a very long time ago), DimWit's going to keep troops there through his residency. It's one of the only factually true statements he's ever uttered.

From the New York Times editorial:

Mr. Rove’s efforts to maintain one-party rule go deep into the government. Last week, we learned about a meeting set up by Mr. Rove’s staff with officials of the General Services Administration that was wildly inappropriate and perhaps illegal. The aim, as outlined by Mr. Rove’s deputy, Scott Jennings, seems to have been to take advantage of the billions of dollars in contracts put out by the agency every year to return Republicans to the majority in Congress in 2008. It included PowerPoint slides on vulnerable House and Senate seats.

This sort of behavior should not be all that surprising. It was not that long ago that the Bush White House embraced the priorities of the Republican governor of Mississippi and virtually ignored the far greater needs of Louisiana’s Democratic governor after Hurricane Katrina.

@@@@@@@

It is now clear that at least two and perhaps a third (Karl Rove) should resign:

1) G.S.A. chief Lurita Doan for violating the Hatch Act and for perjury. Doan's testimony of "I can't remember a single thing" about a power-point presentation given 3 months is ludicrous.

2) A.G. Gonzales for perjury and possible obstruction of justice in targeting U.S. attorneys... and circumventing Senate confirmation of U.S. attorneys

3) Karl Rove, for violating the Hatch act in sending his deputies to G.S.A. to give a purely political presentation; election tampering in Ohio and New England???; his connections with Abramoff and DeLay; (Rove should at least have his security clearance revoked for leaking Plames identity)

Posted by: Ralpheh at April 1, 2007 05:23 PM

I'm wililng to call this off until January 08. It's completely reprehensible that they're campaigning instead of working at this point.

@@@@

Well, I was kind of joking...about calling the whole thing off. I was trying to do a parody of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song which begins:

You say to-may-to

I say to-mah-to

But campaigns are far too expensive and too long. Both Hillary and Obama will get into trouble if they miss too many votes in the Senate while campaigning. That's what happened to both Kerry and Edwards in 2004.... they missed a lot of Senate votes

Back from vacation & just chiming in... It would be impossible to try to catch up, so I'll just comment on Ralpheh's most recent comment about missed votes.

To date, both Obama & Hillary have missed 3 votes (2.4%) in the current session of Congress. Compare that with McCain, who has missed 42 votes (33.3%), which is the second highest percentage. (Tim Stevens, who has been out due to brain hemorrhage, has missed 100% of the votes.)

The list is quite interesting. You can see it here:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

And I'm going to renig on my comment about Obama. Apparently the A.P. article I saw may have misquoted Obama and left out the specific questions.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/1/152416/1097

Lots of infighting at Kos today over this. But seeing how the questions were worded and also seeing what was left off, I'm more inclined to believe that Obama got punked by the A.P. and the media and then Kos.

TPM compiled a list of Obama, Hillary, and LIEberman's Iraq votes.

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/mar/30/compare_and_contrast_hillary_and_obama_and_liebermans_votes_on_iraq

This is for Ally.
We went to the Henry Gallery a UW and saw this really cool neon art from SF - very antiwar, progressive, clever and a little provocative, as art should sometimes be.

We also noticed that the gallery was completely over run by a Korean Christian student group, with many of them carrying Bibles. It was completely distracting.

The gallery told us that they rent part of it on Sundays for a Bible group. Well they weren't staying in that part - they had the complete run of the place, for which we paid $10 to see the art.

The guy in the gift shop agreed with us. As far as I know, it's a state-owned facility, paid for with tax money. Maybe there is some private endowment, but I paid to see art not Bibles.

Reverend Moon could even be in on it. Wouldn't surprise me.

Sparrow
I predict Kos et al will jump on the Edwards bandwagon.
Again, I have not chosen a candidate and may even vote for Kucinich in the primaries this time, though up against a Republican, I will vote for Hillary Clinton if she is the one (with some reservations, as I did twice for her husband).

This is so different from 2004, but those running are certainly not of John Kerry's calibre for domestic and foreign policy experience, and there is also no Republican incumbent. I do agree with Ralpheh that the Legislative branch needs to be further strengthened. Hope Clinton and Obama won't have to miss too many votes. Edwards is nice but wish he had more experience with foreign policy. He reserves the right to go into Iran, so I do wish others were really a viable choice. I would still support Richardson or Biden for their experience but probably won't get the chance.

Toensing Doesn't Know Dick About Val

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/mar/31/toensing_doesnt_know_dick_about_val

Sparrow said:
instead of being overjoyed to see any Democrat doing well, I worry about the FAVORS owed later.

I so agree with that! The system is flawed.

Ralpheh
Love the song! Let's call the whole thing off!!

NonnyO
I'm glad someone finally said that about the accent - he isn't going with "son of a millworker" again is he?

Help! Oh well - we could be living in France. Their election is coming up soon and for the first round they have a fascistic immigrant hater, a rightwinger law & order guy, an airhead socialist with pie in the sky ideas and then this other new guy who seems kind of cool but entered the game kind of late. They have a major GOTV drive in the suburbs, which is their ghetto, since the gentrified cities are inside medieval walls & the post WW2 immigrant cheap labor had to live outside.

Please don't let the whole world go to the right.

Meanwhile in South America, people are panic-buying liquor. Hugo Chavez decided liquor stores should close on Easter season Holy days because there were too many car accidents. Rumors got started that he was permanently closing the liquor stores because he's been hanging out with so many Islamic leaders. Then the panic buying of liquor started.

It's actually kind of like that here on the weekends. On Saturday night, young Americans head across the Canadian border where they can drink at 19 and on Sunday, here come the Canadians to drink in the US, because their bars etc are closed on Sunday.

Madame Defarge,

Welcome back. Glad to know you didn't go over a cliff like the original Thelma and Louise.

NMP,

I don't think the 08 race is about experience. It seems to me it's about money and personality. Even the ideas are looking the same amongst the Democrats. So what I'm trying to concentrate on is seeing how they procede now to make things happen.

Why do we have to wait until 08 to end the war? Why do we have to wait until 08 to bring back jobs and get basic medical coverage for everyone? LET Bush veto every dang bill they present, then the people will KNOW whose side each of these candidates are on.

All I know is that I like Edwards, Obama, Kucinich, (as far as ideas and personality) and I distrust Hillary.

I'd much rather impeach Bush and Cheney and have Pelosi take over office and run as the incumbent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070401/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors

Democrats won't reschedule Gonzales

The White House scrambled Sunday to move up Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' planned testimony to Congress about his involvement in firing eight federal prosecutors, only to get a cold shoulder from majority Democrats.

The effort reflected the frustration by Republican senators and the White House over how long it is taking the embattled attorney general to explain himself under oath. Congress has just begun a vacation — one week for the Senate, two for the House.

~~~~~

Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the committee ought to reschedule the hearing for next week.

"Let's move it up and let's get the facts," Bartlett said. "Let's have the attorney general there sooner rather than later."

The committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), said Gonzales had been offered earlier dates but turned them down. It was Gonzales who chose April 17, said Leahy, D-Vt., and that date will not change now because "everybody has set their schedule according to that."

"It's the date that the attorney general originally picked. It's the date the hearing will take place," Leahy said.

{{{More on link. What's with all this vacation time again? Didn't Congress Critters just get back from a long weekend or vacation...???}}}

I'm glad someone finally said that about the accent - he isn't going with "son of a millworker" again is he?
Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 07:12 PM

I don't know. The accent irritates me so badly I tune him out (it reminds me of DimWit whether I like it or not). And, I don't agree with what Edwards has said about Iraq and Iran. I need to be able to vote for a staunchly anti-war candidate who isn't all wishy-washy and indefinite about DimWit's war and occupation. Which means I can't support Hillary or Obama. Kucinich sounds good at this point. Actually, Rocky Anderson sounds better, but his hat isn't in the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd much rather impeach Bush and Cheney and have Pelosi take over office and run as the incumbent.
Posted by: sparrow at April 1, 2007 07:14 PM

That sounds like a really good idea at this point. Perhaps we could get her to be more definitive about ending DimWit's war immediately if that pipe dream could happen....

What about an Edwards/Obama ticket??? I think Edwards' weak point is military/foreign affairs... Is Dodd in the running at all? Dodd/Obama???

Oh, dear Goddess. If you people are really that concerned about whether John Edwards talks like he's from North Carolina -- where, by the way, he actually *is* from, unlike Shrub -- then you are looking at this in all the wrong ways for all the wrong reasons.

TPM compiled a list of Obama, Hillary, and LIEberman's Iraq votes.

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/mar/30/compare_and_contrast_hillary_and_obama_and_liebermans_votes_on_iraq

Posted by: sparrow at April 1, 2007 06:56 PM

@@@@@@@

The first chart conveniently leaves out all of Hillary's awful votes from 2001 until 2005. That would include the Authorization of Force vote - bad and stupid; and the Patriot act which Hillary supported.

Obama has that going for him - he comes with far, far less awful baggage than Hillary - who comes with two decades of baggage...

Ralph,

She may have 2 decades of baggage, but she's also got 2 decades of wonderful work for kids and women that does deserve some recognition.

Of course Obama has far less baggage. He's never done anything worth mentioning.

Sparrow
I do care about ideas as well as experience, but I don't think personality should enter into it so much - the whole "drink a beer with them" mentality. It isn't American idol. They do have to do public speaking and I do realize that they will WIN on their personality, but I think that sucks. Sure I'd like to have someone I feel like I can "like" but I don't want that to be the determining factor. We have had an actor for a president, an actor for governor of our biggest state, and a wrestler for another. Think of all the brilliant lawyers, scholars - and we pick people like that - figureheads - like it's a beauty or popularity contest (which it seems to be). Consider for a moment that Cheney runs the country anyway.

I also have no particular preference between H Clinton, Obama or Edwards. I will literally vote for whoever goes up against the Republican. I am not working for them or donating this time and really do think I will vote for Kucinich in the primary, as a protest vote. After that, plug my nose and whatever.

More April Fools

Rupert Murdoch announced today that he has purchased The Daily Kos, a prominent Left Wing Blog. Markos Moulitsas, founder and proprietor of Daily Kos has indicated that he decided to sell after finally getting fed up with Left Wing Whiners and the horserace nature of electoral politics and will now invest in and pursue his true interest in blogging, at a yet to be announced new internet venue.

Mr. Murdoch commented with glee that he was able to purchase the thriving internet entity for a price he described, apparently in some sort of code as "A Pony named Mojo." Our investigation shows that such a pony does indeed exist, and has recently mysteriously vanished. Further investigations are planned. Mr Murdoch's comment when asked about this development, cannot be printed in this publication. Patrons of Daily Kos were reported to be upset with the decision. Other prominent bloggers expressed mixed feelings, due to some of the perceptions of Mr. Moulitsas in the blogging world.

Ralph,

She may have 2 decades of baggage, but she's also got 2 decades of wonderful work for kids and women that does deserve some recognition.

Posted by: sparrow at April 1, 2007 07:59 PM

@@@@@@

Here's the deal with Hillary:

She's wrong on the issues

She's pathologically ambitious and calculating

She's arrogant

She is disliked by many, both men and women

Put Hillary at the top of the ticket and it will be a disaster for the Dems and the country.

I cannot and will not vote for someone who gave Bush a blank check for a stupid war and then supported that stupid war until November 2006...

Of course Obama has far less baggage. He's never done anything worth mentioning.

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 08:07 PM

@@@@@

BTW: What has Hillary done worth mentioning (positively I mean.... other than raising oodles of money for herself)

Please let us not degenerate into a 2008 argument. What can we possibly know about how all this will play out?

It's all going to change regularly--and anyone who went thru 2003-4 in this community knows that painfully well.

Our job is to MAKE them better. Information, feedback, input, and encouragement. That's what is needed.

There will be no arguing from me if Hillary is nominated - I will be so disgusted I will leave; perhaps join the Greens!!! or the Socialists!!!

Or the Marines?

Or the Marines?

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 08:40 PM

GO HILLARY!!!!!! '08 WAR GOOD.... TERRORISM BAD... HUBBY WAS PREZ!!!!!

btw Otter

Find anything worth mentioning about HIllary??? in a nutshell, I mean...

Breaking: Hillary Clinton Finally Apologizes on Iraq Authorization Vote

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/1/163445/6943

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE...

Olmert Reminds Rice: Bush is Still Her Boss

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/844719.html

So they've suddenly decided the State Department is irrelevant, as well as the Pentagon, the Supreme Court and Congress.

The Unitary Executive is All. Hail to the Thief.

from an unknown blogger:

The coverage of Sen. Clinton’s position on Iraq turns the facts on their head.

The concern with Ms. Clinton’s fitness for office has nothing to do with her stating that she made a mistake when she voted for Pres. Bush’s war resolution.

Rather the issue is that, when the screws were turned on by the Administration in order to precipitously give the President a blank check, and the urgent need was for elected officials with the conviction to stand up against popular pressure to prevent that from happening, Ms. Clinton was missing in action.

She is an extremely intelligent and insightful woman, and it strains credulity to accept her claims that she never imagined the President would fail to first follow international norms before engaging in “preventive” war. It seems quite apparent that she knew full well that Mr. Bush was hell bent on war, and she was simply afraid to stand up to him.

That’s not resolute. In fact, that’s the cowardice of someone not fit to lead. Nothing she could say today about having made a mistake would alter that fact, nor does her refusal to admit error somehow get transmuted into resoluteness.

@@@@@@@

What do you think, Otter?? does this person make any sense?

Our job is to MAKE them better. Information, fee

@@@@@

No, that is not our job... our job is to try to pick leaders, good leaders..

Ralpheh
I have to vote for the Democrat over the Republican.
I don't have to like it. I wasn't so keen on her husband but voted for him twice (against his opponent I mean).

It's not a real choice, but certainly not the first time we've had that in American electoral politics, where the office goes to the highest bidder with the most contacts and who makes the most promises, has the most friends in high places.

Banana republics are not the only ones with corruption.
I had some hope last primary. This time, yeah if someone feels there is a strong reason to work for Obama, Edwards OR H Clinton - fine. I'll sit this one out and I'll definitely be watching the debates even if it's a freak show for both parties.

I've been burned alot, I'll admit. Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Gary Hart and even John Kerry. At least he took the nomination, but I felt really bad going around to the house of a Deaniac and he started to cry. I felt bad for him. I appreciate idealism and people who vote their values and don't think people should give up but I personally do not have the stomach to champion anyone yet for the primaries.

I also am not going to diss Democrats on the internet unless all of them, as that's where people like Rove get their ideas for the general. The idea of "flip flopper" for Kerry originally came from the Dean campaign. There were many more examples. I will talk to people more about this privately but not on-line. I don't trust those oppo researchers on the other side.

Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 10:19 PM

good point!

Add to the list of unacceptables is McCain !! He's back on the double talk express this time around and drives me crazy. Someone asked him about healthcare on C-span Road to the W.H. and he said :"only about 10 million are without it." Not his priority was the response.
The REP candidates want to keep up with the record of Henry the VIII. Hillary's too staged and phoney . With the way those polls are going now she will NEVER win in the general and we'd damned well better make sure that she's NOT the nomination. Obama needs to start putting out some meat and soon the red stuff. Kuchinich IS what we need but of course as far as the rest of the country goes he's too far out in left field. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !! I'm so fed up I want to move out this hell hole !!

Posted by: karen at April 1, 2007 08:32 PM

There is enough of a danger that the DCP may split into several factions over which Democratic candidate to support.

I would hate to see that, and want to do everything to ensure it won't happen.

The Kerry-Edwards campaign had brought us together, for a common struggle against the current neocon regime. And we need to remember that. The real enemies we have are NOT the primary opponents within the Democratic Party, but the ones, from W to Cheney to Rummy to Moon, who are destroying our once-fine nation from within and without.

Let's remember that. I'm too busy fighting the neocons to have to worry about our own infighting.

Yeah. What she said.

I mean that it is our job to make them better and that is what a citizen does. In this country we have given away our influence to lobbyists and corporations and that is why we have what we have by way of candidates. They have to listen to advisors who listen to the money folks, rather than listening to the people themselves.

Therefore, we the people must speak to each other and to the candidates. We must speak to each other and share insights and facts, and be a learning and teaching community. Then we must speak to the candidates themselves and let them know how and why we feel certain ways.

Hillary's waiting until now to apologize is a direct result of not listening to the people because the loudest and more powerful voices around her were the advisers and corporate sponsors. I would submit for your consideration the fact that she has been dogged by Code Pink and the peace and justice movement for some time now, and the bloggers have spoken as well.

I say this because I think her heart has always been with us; it just took giving her some cover and some dragging of the people to speak up to get her here. Ralph, you say "too little, too late" and I would agree with you except I think that we are here to help. It is about as head-banging an experience as I have ever had (teaching middle school was easier), but we must continue to speak truth to power and to be engaged and informed citizens.

There will be no arguing from me if Hillary is nominated - I will be so disgusted I will leave; perhaps join the Greens!!! or the Socialists!!!

Posted by: Ralpheh at April 1, 2007 08:37 PM

I've already left the Democratic Party, partly because of the leadership's ineptitude, especially at the state level here in California. Honestly, the California Dems are irrelevant if you drive a car (that's just about everyone here), go fishing or hunting, or came from Korea or Vietnam.

I feel that I will be more effective as an independent vote that the Dems must earn the hard way, than a party member that can be taken for granted. In the meantime, I also have the luxury of picking and choosing which portions of the Democratic agenda I need to actively support, and which ones to ignore or, dare I say, oppose.

What we need is for the Dems to be open to ideas from the "fringe" left like the Greens. The Republicans took ideas from the fringe right, like the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party, and made them their own - and succeeded brilliantly. (Before Reagan became prez, no Republican ever talked about flat income tax, for example.)

Posted by: Patti F. at April 1, 2007 10:44 PM

Kucinich would matter more if the Lamestream Media were not embargoing information on him.

Kucinich's chances are slim, but more exposure would enable some of his ideas to be picked up by more "mainstream" candidates.

Again, another case of the media not doing its job.

Posted by: not my president at April 1, 2007 06:59 PM

Another special-interest giveaway, the way I see it, just like the elementary school next to me.

The phrase "equal rights, not special rights" must be applied to the Korean community, not the gay community.

I mean, the Koreans already have a day (January 13) named in their honor - the only ethnic group with that perk.

I loved seeing B. Boxer holding up that hammer to Inhoff last week during Gore's testimony. She should run....period !

I hope Israel and Syria don't start going at it.
Go Pelosi!

& McCain is saying we're making progress in Iraq.
He's over in the Green Zone - inside which unexploded suicide
bomber vests have been found - meaning it's not so safe as its made out to be. One suicide bomber last week was a close associate of the Vice President!

& Ohlmert thinks he doesn't have to listen to Rice because he already spoke with her boss Bush on the phone.
Please let her write a tell-all book some day when it's all over.
Imagine what she must know, even if she is a neocon.

& Merkel got an honorary degree from an Israeli university.

Oh I must stop reading world news before bed.

Breaking: Hillary Clinton Finally Apologizes on Iraq Authorization Vote
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/1/163445/6943
Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 08:53 PM

I suspect this is an April's Fool Day joke. Several were posted on Kos....

Posted by: Otter at April 1, 2007 07:35 PM

Yes, I know. Never said I was proud of my now-acquired (since 2000) prejudice. But acquired it I have....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/01/chris-wallaces-april-fools-joke-on-mitch-mcconnell/

Chris Wallace’s April Fool’s joke on Mitch McConnell

There will be no arguing from me if Hillary is nominated - I will be so disgusted I will leave; perhaps join the Greens!!! or the Socialists!!!

Posted by: Ralpheh at April 1, 2007 08:37 PM

I've already left the Democratic Party, partly because of the leadership's ineptitude, especially at the state level here in California. Honestly, the California Dems are irrelevant if you drive a car (that's just about everyone here), go fishing or hunting, or came from Korea or Vietnam.

I feel that I will be more effective as an independent vote that the Dems must earn the hard way, than a party member that can be taken for granted. In the meantime, I also have the luxury of

@@@@@@

Hillary is a couple of inches to the left of Joe Lieberman, which is rather frightening in a front-runner with tons of money (where IS Hillary getting ALL that money, anyway??).

It is very, very sad for people like me (and there are quite a few of us) who have worked against the war for over 4 years now, to be kicked the face with a Democrat Hawk like Hillary running for president. It is akin to being spat upon. I hope the Code Pink people hound Hillary throughout the entire primary season.

The Democratic party in my state is lazy, unimaginative and corrupt - dominated by selfish old union bosses who have lost touch with both their union membership and the people. Many counties in my state don't even have a functioning county Democratic party. Those Dem party insiders who are not affiliated with the unions are merely party apparachiks, concerned only with advancing their careers (kind of like Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling of the Bush Justice Department).

For all its faults, Move On is better organized and more aggressive than my state Dem party. So is Democracy for America. Perhaps those groups are the future of politics in America because the "old party" is nearly dead.

Otter, I can't use your link to send John Lewis a message. I know there are snail-mail ways of doing so but I've never managed the snail-mail system. John Lewis, Dr Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Mother Theresa and thousands of others were born with certain knowledge and the gifts which enable them to pass it along. We all need to take up the baton and pass it on, just as John Lewis has done.

I've long held the view that everything is intertwined. Whilst we continue to kill other humans for any reason, how can we expect to stop hurting our Mother Earth? Whilst our cruelty to all things animal, vegetable or mineral does not abate, our Mother Earth will continue to die.

As John Lewis points out. We have to stop killing others, especially when there is no reason for doing so, other than "they've got what I want."

Massacre, and total destruction of other people and lands can never be justified. If we don't lead by a peaceful and diplomatic example; if we can't show respect for EVERYTHING and EVERYONE that differs from our own view; if we can't show compassion for ALL of the creatures on the planet; if we aren't able to live side by side and visit our neighbours in simple friendship and respect; if we can't meet the new person and the new neighbour who speaks a different tongue; if we can't protect and nurture our children, we will continue plummeting into the abyss we've created for ourselves.

Whilst all the peoples of all the nations are out fighting and murdering each other, they are not at home restoring, renovating, regenerating and nurturing their own home.

It hurts us all. And the majority of the decision-makers on all of these things are those that we've put into power. And why have we done that? Because they have enough money to take power. And why don't we stop them abusing the power? Because they can get rid of the people who could stop them.

To them, they can never have enough money and possessions and power. And so, they send our boys and girls off to kill or be killed. It makes no difference to them. Their children are immune. They will never be sent to occupy another land and decimate its people.

The world needs to know John Lewis. This impassioned plea to stop the madness should be heard around the world. He's an inspiration to us all.

Apologies if this has already been posted. Daily more voices join with John Lewis but I think we need to stop the bad man weilding all the power.

Bush's isolation mounts on Iraq
Washington
April 2, 2007 - 2:29PM

US President George W Bush took a fresh blow today as a former top aide who helped him get elected publicly criticised his leadership amid mounting political rows and sagging poll ratings.

Matthew Dowd, a key adviser to Bush in two election victories, became the first member of the president's inner circle to publicly break ranks, voicing disappointment over his strategy in Iraq in a New York Times interview.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bushs-isolation-mounts-on-iraq/2007/04/02/1175366136242.html

Yes, NonnyO, the dKos post about Hillary finally apologizing for her IWR vote was a clearly-marked April Fool's Day item (as those who actually went there and looked at it would have noticed).

woz, I'm not sure what "never managed the snail-mail system" means -- I should think that one just writes something on paper, puts it in an envelope, writes the address on said envelope, affixes a stamp, and drops it in the mail-bin -- but I agree with you and others that it's frustrating to have his office contact form only usable by people from Georgia.

Karen, since you're already in contact with people over in Lewis' office, would you please call them and get us an email addy that can be used for non-Georgians to send him messages of admiration and support? If not, I'll try just ringing the main office phone number there later this morning, but your direct way would be quickest.

how come the good ones are all named John anyway?,
Otter

U.S. death toll in March twice that of Iraq forces
81 American troops killed in first full month of security crackdown

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

The Associated Press count of U.S. military deaths for the month was 81, including a soldier who died from non-combat causes Friday. Figures compiled from officials in the Iraqi ministries of Defense, Health and Interior showed the Iraqi military toll was 44. The Iraqi figures showed that 165 Iraqi police were killed in March. Many of the police serve in paramilitary units.

According to the AP count, 3,246 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

At least 83 American forces died in January and 80 in February, according to the AP tabulation.

The Iraqi figures were gathered from officials who released them on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give out the numbers.

Additionally, the Iraqi ministry figures listed 1,872 Iraqi civilian deaths for the month, about 300 more than the AP tabulation, which is mainly gathered from daily police reports nationwide.

The civilian death toll for the month was down significantly from 2,172 in December, the highest month casualty figure since the AP began keeping records of civilian deaths in April 2005.

However, the number of civilians killed in March was in the same range as for the first two months of this year; 1,604 in January and 1,552 in February, according to the AP count.

Nearly a third of the Iraqi civilian deaths, more than 500 people, were killed in three big bomb attacks in the last week of the month and revenge killings of Sunni men in Tal Afar the night after a Shiite market was bombed in the northwest Iraqi city.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17895953/

Pass the peace, please.

Posted by: Otter at April 2, 2007 07:12 AM

The snail-mail that I haven't mastered is because there are too many bits attached to it. There's writing the letter, finding an envelope, going out and buying a stamp, discovering the letter isn't with me, taking the stamp home, not being able to find the letter.... do you get it yet, Otter? I stopped sending Christmas cards when I found - whilst packing to move. All of my cards, sealed, stamped and addressed from years earlier - 4 years earlier - much cheaper stamps!

At last! How I've been longing to hear "war crimes" and "Australian Government" in the same sentence. And from a person who knows the law.

"If the opinion is correct about these matters, it follows that the trial of Hicks before the second military commission constitutes a war crime not only under the Geneva Conventions but also under Australian law. The difficulty for the leading members of the Australian Government is that under the Australian Criminal Code to "counsel" or "urge" another party to conduct a trial that does not meet the mandated standards can constitute a war crime."

Complete article. .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/our-own-laws-condemn-hicks-trial/2007/04/01/1175366072889.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2412764.ece
Robert Fisk: The war of humiliation

http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article2412730.ece
Joan Smith: The ancient fears stirred by women at war

William Fisher | Battle Over Habeas Corpus Returns
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207J.shtml
William Fisher reports on what could turn out to be an epic battle brewing in the US Senate. But unlike most of this chamber's epic battles, this one pits Republican against Republican. The battle is over the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007. The proposed legislation would repeal provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that stripped US civilian courts from jurisdiction to hear or consider applications for a writ of habeas corpus filed by aliens detained as enemy combatants.

{{{Does anyone remember who proposed stripping us of habeas corpus...? Was this one of Gonzo's shenanigans to help usher in an official W dictatorship?}}}

Democrats to Widen Conflict With Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207K.shtml
Even as their confrontation with President Bush over Iraq escalates, emboldened Congressional Democrats are challenging the White House on a range of issues - such as unionization of airport security workers and the loosening of presidential secrecy orders - with even more dramatic showdowns coming soon.

{{{And I'd like to recommend that Graham and Cole go back under the rocks where they belong.}}}

Robert Parry | Bush, Iran & Selective Outrage
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207M.shtml
Robert Parry argues that one of the least endearing features of Washington's political/media hierarchy is its propensity for selective outrage, like what is now coming from George W. Bush about the "inexcusable behavior" of the Iranian government in holding 15 British sailors whom Bush has labeled "hostages." This is the same President Bush who often mocks the very idea that international law should apply to him; he's fond of the punch line: "International law? I better call my lawyer." But Bush becomes a pious defender of international law when it suits his geopolitical interests.

Former Intel Officers | Brinkmanship Unwise in Uncharted Waters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207P.shtml
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity comment on the current hostage showdown with Iran: "There is real danger that this incident, and the way it plays out, may turn out to be outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair's last gesture of fealty to President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and 'neoconservative' advisers who, this time, are looking for a casus belli to 'justify' air strikes on Iran. Bush and Cheney no doubt find encouragement in the fact that the Democrats last week refused to include in the current House bill on Iraq war funding proposed language forbidding the White House from launching war on Iran without explicit Congressional approval."

Paul Krugman | Distract and Disenfranchise
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207L.shtml
Paul Krugman has a theory about the Bush administration's abuses of power that are now, finally, coming to light. Ultimately, he believes, they were driven by rising income inequality.

Jesselyn Radack will be on Australian tv talking about David Hicks.

If you can TiVO and/or YOUTube it, please help Jesselyn get it posted out here too.

Please let me know if you can help.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/02/under-the-influence-how-lobbyists-wrote-and-bought-the-rx-drug-bill/
Under the Influence: How Lobbyists Wrote and Bought the Rx Drug Bill
{{{Excerpt from a 60 Minutes program.}}}

Just a thought:

Dissing Hilary Clinton will help her because she won't be associated with the "angry left."