Molly Says, "Get on with it!"

Nancy Pelosi makes me want to spit!

From an article on Common Dreams today:

Kucinich came back with a single article, which was read into the record Tuesday. As it did with the others, the House referred it to the panel, chaired by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.

But this time, Pelosi said with a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm, that it would see some committee action. (Read it here.)

I consider the arrogance and disdain that she continues to show for the people of this country second only to that of the Bush despots. Yet I feel so helpless to do anything.

I wish that there would be a mutiny among the Democrats. Sigh.

What a jackass.

Yeah, him. The mean little man currently occupying the White House. I won't post a picture because I can't bear looking at his smirking mug any longer.

Perhaps President Bush has been paying attention to all the bad press his climate policies have received. Before leaving the G8 this week, The Independent reports Bush "told his fellow leaders: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter.'"

Did you catch that? "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

The report called it a two-fingered salute. I call it a one-finger salute, telling the world, yet again, to fuck off. He has no shame, no conscience, no class.

Deep sigh.

How many smoking guns does it take to fill the White House?

Is anyone surprised that this has finally surfaced?

Chuck Schumer is, apparently. What planet has he been on for the last 7.6 years?

"This is the first smoking gun," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "We believe there will be more to come. This report shows clearly that politics and ideology replaced merit as the hiring criteria at one of our most prized civil service departments."

John Conyers is appalled. APPALLED, I tell you. NOW will he act on the 35 (or is it 36 now) Articles of Impeachment? No, I don't think so either. There are other, far more pressing, issues to take care of than the utter decimation of the Constitution and upholding the laws of the land. Maybe they can tackle steroids in baseball again. I lay awake nights in a sweat over that one.

But you can still wear the grooviest cap around. Get yours here.

Thank You, Tammy

My congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin did the right thing and signed on to Dennis Kucinich's impeachment resolution.

By the way, want a cool hat to let your bank teller and grocery store clerk know where you stand on impeachment? Go here and make a nominal contribution.

FUTK

Tonight I belatedly got around to watching Shut Up & Sing, a 2006 film that documents the three years after Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' infamous comment in London in 2003. I watched the first half of the movie with my heart in my mouth: so many celebrities spoke out initially and then backed down in fear of losing their careers, their commercial sponsors, etc.

Natalie never backed down. It was inspiring to watch her meet the animosity with dignity and grace. She stood up, not only to her critics, but to well-meaning friends and associates who all just wanted her to shut up and sing.

It was also very moving to see the unified front that the band presented to the world. Whatever private emotions any of them entertained late at night, they were there for each other with a remarkable amount of love and respect.

I have to say, the film made me very sad, a mixture of grief over all that we have lost and shame for what has been done in our names, both here and abroad. It exposes the incredible ugliness that, in my mind, marks the last 7 1/2 years in this country. The stupidity and small-minded downright mean-ness of people took my breath away. There were threats on their lives, for God's sake!

I was reminded of so many people who should have known better, who felt that we had to stand behind "our president" in those early days following 9/11 and leading up to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The film ends on a great note, with the Dixie Chicks back in London, playing to a sold out arena, and Natalie Maines stands on the stage and says, "I am embarrassed that the president of the United States is from Texas." That's when I wanted to stand up and cheer.

I recommend this film. It was made by Barbara Kopple, who also made the acclaimed Harlan County USA.

Spitting Nails

From Common Dreams, Cindy Sheehan speaking at Cal State San Marcos:

Sheehan criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for not taking steps to impeach President Bush, who she said misled the country into a protracted conflict with Iraq and condoned the torture of prisoners of war.

Sheehan’s goal is to unseat Pelosi in November. Pelosi has represented San Francisco since 1987.

Asked whether she supports any of the presidential candidates, Sheehan, who left the Democratic Party on Memorial Day, said she does not have any hope in them.

“But I have a lot of hope in the American people,” she said.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said that Pelosi, too, is frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq but believes that impeachment would be divisive and distract Congress from improving the lives of working families.

It's that last bit from Pelosi's spokesperson that makes me want to spit nails. Please somebody tell me exactly what Congress has done to improve the lives of working families. How do you improve the lives of working families by letting the guy who is ruining them stay in office??? Mr. Ether has been unemployed since August. One of the premiere employers in our area -- SubZero/Wolff, manufacturers of high end kitchen appliances and a company that paid union wages -- laid off close to 300 people this week because, guess what: the bottom has fallen out of the building/remodeling industry. Same reason Mr. Ether isn't working.

As I've said so often, BushCo has done nothing that I didn't expect of them. The democrats however, have simply done nothing, while our lives fall apart. I am so angry.

A letter to John Conyers

"Dear Chairman Conyers:

Prominent Constitutional law experts believe President Bush has engaged in at least, five categories of repeated, defiant “high crimes and misdemeanors”, which separately or together would allow Congress to subject the President to impeachment under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution. The sworn oath of members of Congress is to uphold the Constitution. Failure of the members of Congress to pursue impeachment of President Bush is an affront to the founding fathers, the Constitution, and the people of the United States.

In addition to a criminal war of aggression in Iraq, in violation of our constitution, statutes and treaties, there are the arrests of thousands of Americans and their imprisonment without charges, the spying on Americans without juridical warrant, systematic torture, and the unprecedented wholesale, defiant signing statements declaring that the President, in his unbridled discretion, is the law.

In 2005, a plurality of the American people polled declared that they would favor impeachment of President Bush if it was shown that he did not tell the truth about the reasons for going to War in Iraq. Congress should use its authority under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution to officially determine what President Bush knew before going to war in Iraq.

Your files and retrieval systems are bulging with over-whelming evidence behind all these five categories. When constitutional duty combines with the available evidence, inaction amounts to a suppression of that evidence from constitutional implementation.

When the Democrats were heading for a net election gain in 2006 in the House of Representatives, many observers of presidential accountability entertained the hope that the Judiciary Committee, with its new chairman, would hold hearings on an impeachment resolution. No way! The next backup was the belief that there would an impeachment inquiry (fortified by your own op-ed in the The Washington Post) No way! The next lowered expectation backup was just a hearing on impeachment urged by several of your present and former Congressional colleagues. So far, no way!

The fourth fallback was simply a hearing on the criminal and constitutional violations of Bush-Cheney by your Committee, as urged in a letter sent to you earlier this year by, among others, several of your former Congressional colleagues, including Senators George McGovern and James Abourezk, and Representatives Andy Jacobs and Paul Findley, along with Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, and the undersigned. So far, no progress.

There is another option: do nothing. Since January 2007—the politically expedient option of doing nothing has triumphed. Volumes can and will be written, about what can go down as the most serious abdication of impeachment responsibilities by a Congress in its history. No other president has committed more systemic, repeated impeachable offenses, with such serious consequences to this country, its people, to Iraq, its people and the security of this nation before, than George W. Bush. James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and their colleagues had just these kinds of monarchical abuses and violations in their framework of anticipation.

Declarations by Bush on the somber occasion of the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq this past March 20, 2008 demonstrated his criminal, unconstitutional arrogance and his confidence that this Democratic Congress will continue to be cowed, continue its historic cowardliness, and continue to leave the American people without representation. Even should he unilaterally attack Iran. The Democratic Party has abandoned its critical role as an opposition Party in this and other serious matters.

In a January 6, 2008 op-ed in The Washington Post, former Senator George McGovern wrote an eloquently reasoned plea for the impeachment of George W. Bush. More than two out of three polled Americans want out of Iraq, believing it was a costly mistake.

Repeatedly during the past seven years, Mr. Bush has lectured the American people about “responsibility” and that actions with consequences must incur responsibility.

It is never too late to enforce the Constitution. It is never too late to uphold the rule of law. It is never too late to awaken the Congress to its sworn duties under the Constitution. But it will soon be too late to avoid the searing verdict of history when on January 21, 2009, George W. Bush becomes a fugitive from a justice that was never invoked by those in Congress so solely authorized to hold the President accountable.

Is this the massive Bush precedent you and your colleagues wish to convey to presidential successors who may be similarly tempted to establish themselves above and beyond the rule of law?

Is this the way you and your colleagues wish to be remembered by the American people?

Sincerely,
(Readers, are you ready for this?)

Ralph Nader"
(Lifted from Nader's site.)

What's my point?

Once again at the end of the week, liberals had their undies in a big old bundle because Nader had the audacity to urge Hilary Clinton to stay in the race despite the fact that Sen. Leahy said she should drop out. He said -- can you believe this -- that she has a Constitutional right to run for president for as long as she wishes. There were comments dripping with venom, saying things like it would just help Nader's cause if Clinton stayed in. I read that and thought, "Yes, and it helps the Democratic leadership's cause, i.e. putting the party ahead of the best interests and will of the American people which has been the problem all along, to have Clinton drop out."

Meanwhile, we can all sit on our thumbs in our crumbling infrastructure, permanently unemployed, and feel great - yay. - about the health of the Democratic Party, while the billions of dollars continue to flow into the hole in Dick "So?" Cheney's arm! (People were justifiably shocked and appalled at Cheney's arrogance last week, but guess what, friends? The DC Democrats have essentially been saying the same thing to us, the people, for the last 2+ years! "You want us to hold these leaders accountable? So?")

I'm not advocating that you vote for Ralph Nader, unless you want to. As I've said before, I don't know whether I will or not; if it looks too close in my state, I probably will vote for the Democrat. But look at where [the arrogant and self-serving] Nader puts his energy and his activism. And if more liberals embraced his message, perhaps the massively popular Barack Obama would pay attention and embrace his message too.

It is no secret that I don't believe that Nader lost the 2000 election for Gore. I think Gore lost the 2000 election for himself, fair and square. That, and the stolen votes in Florida (which should not have been repeated in 2004, but was.) Nader got votes because he had a message that we wanted to hear. He still is saying the things that many of us want to hear, that we, the American people -- the proverbial Little Guys -- matter.

He is calling for Conyers to do his job, to do what he promised the American people: to conduct an investigation into the crimes of the Bush White House. I still want to see it happen. Don't you?

4,000

4,000 American troops killed in action
1,191,216 Iraqi deaths due to the U.S. invasion

It is 5 years past time to end this travesty. We must demand it of our political candidates.

We must continue to demand that our representatives in Congress hold accountable the criminals responsible for this war. No more, "So?"

Stop. the. war.

(Mosaic created by Nico Pitney.)

Republicans Behaving Badly (But Do you Expect Anything Different?)

(Apologies to all crying babies. You have a right to cry. The Republicans don't.)

First, they disrupted a memorial service being held in the House for Rep. Tom Lantos who died on Monday, for a procedural vote:

But Democratic aides were shocked when, during the middle of a memorial for Holocaust survivor and Congressman Tom Lantos, GOP Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart demanded a procedural vote on the floor, forcing members to leave the service early, even "while dignitaries were still giving tributes to Lantos."

Can you imagine how shocked and appalled Republicans would be if the tables were turned?

But wait, that's not all. Then they walked out of the House in protest of two debates that were ongoing:

The walk-out came as the House prepared to vote on the resolution citing former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current chief of staff Joshua Bolten for contempt of congress for failing to obey subpoenas in connection with the controversial dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and 2007.

But Republicans also protested Democrat's refusal to bring up for a vote in the House a Senate-passed bill supported by President Bush to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to listen in on phone calls without a court warrant ...

... Angry Republicans rose to accuse Conyers and Democrats of ramming the contempt resolution through Congress, and continuing to politicize the firing of U.S. attorneys while ignoring other pressing issues.

Ignoring other pressing issues? Why just yesterday, Rep. Waxman was taking on that all-important issue of steroid use among professional baseball players!

"For some reason, the majority feels that after eight months now this is a pressing issue," said Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Hey, wait -- isn't Lincoln Diaz-Balart the classy guy who disrupted the memorial for Lantos earlier in the day? And haven't House Democrats been trying to prosecute Miers and Bolton for the last 8 months, but the White House and the supposedly impartial Justice Department have been stonewalling? Miers and Bolton, not to mention Gonzales, should be sitting in prison right now for their role in the firing of the attorneys! And don't even get me started on Bush, Cheney, etc. The contempt that the Washington Republicans and their ilk show for the American people is sickening.

I am so sick of these people. There is a glimmer of hope as impeachment investigations begin to be talked about ... but I'm not holding my breath.

George McGovern Speaks Out

I worked on the McGovern campaign when I was a middle schooler. I stuffed and licked envelopes, helped silkscreen yard signs, canvassed. The McGovern campaign headquarters was my social scene for a while, probably because I was tagging along with my best friend, Anne, and her mom was a big time Democrat in this city. She was even a delegate to the 1972 Democratic Convention and I remember watching her on t.v.

McGovern's loss was my first taste of electoral heartbreak.

As I said in my last post, they don't make politicians like they used to. Since 1972, George McGovern has shown himself to be more than worthy of the title "elder statesman" and today's Democrats would do well to pay attention and learn from him. In an op ed piece in today's Washington Post, he calls for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, saying,

Impeachment, quite simply, is the procedure written into the Constitution to deal with presidents who violate the Constitution and the laws of the land. It is also a way to signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray. This, I believe, is the rightful course for an American patriot. (And so much more. Read it here.)

Cool buttons up at the top, eh? Mr. Ether found them in one of his boxes in the basement.

Sometimes I Want To Scream

Common Dreams today has a headline story reprinted from The Salem-News in Oregon, Move to Impeach Cheney Gains Support in Congress. "Oh, goody," I think. "It's about time." But on reading it, I find it is about Wexler, Baldwin, and Gutierrez who signed onto Kucinich's H.R. 799 what, at least a month ago? So why, oh why is it headline news in Salem, OR and on Common Dreams today?

If my blood wasn't boiling enough, I read down to the following statement:

The White House, in a statement, said Democrats were shirking responsibilities on issues such as childrens’ [sic] health insurance “and yet they find time to waste an afternoon on an impeachment vote against the vice president. … This is why Americans shake their head in wonder about the priorities of this Congress.”

Oh my sweet Lord, CAN'T WE GET RID OF THESE PEOPLE? This is like when they blamed Saddam Hussein for kicking out the U.N. weapons inspectors or when they blamed news reporters for bringing about the invasion of Iraq with their relentless "March to war, march to war." Those were the very words of Preznit Jo-ji!

I'M shaking my head in wonder at the priorities of this Congress, because THEY HAVEN'T FOLLOWED THE RULE OF LAW as set out in the U.S. Constitution and IMPEACHED THESE LYING, THIEVING DESPOTS! (Whew, my keyboard is smoking!)

Are You Listening, Tammy?

Tonight I accompanied Mr. Ether and friends Donna, Beth, and Crayons to a listening session with Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. She holds these periodically throughout her district, although never in Madison. I wonder why. Perhaps she knows she'll get a big old earful from Madisonians, or perhaps she thinks we flap our lips enough already and the people in the outlying communities have fewer chances to flap their lips. Whatever. We drove to Middleton, recently rated #1 city to live in by Money Magazine, and home of the lovely and talented Jess Wundrun. I hoped Jess would be there, but alas, she was not.

I have to say that I appreciate that Tammy holds these sessions, and that they are very down to Earth and low key. There are no security checks, no formalities ... Mr. Ether even wore his Impeach Cheney baseball cap. This one was in the Senior Center.

The last listening session I went to I arrived at about 30 minutes before it was due to start and there were already many speakers registered in front of me. I almost had to leave to get back to work before it was my turn. Tonight we took precautions to arrive plenty early, and no one was there! No matter, we went across the street to the diner to wait.

There were many eloquent speakers, and most spoke out about the need to begin impeachment investigations. While she [belatedly] signed on to H.R. Resolution 333 to impeach Cheney, Tammy hemmed and hawed about how there is not enough support for it in Congress. The people present were having none of that. "You work for us!" "Beginning the investigation is the way to build support!" "Step up, Tammy!" and so on. I'd like to think that it was the listening sessions last spring that finally got her to sign onto Kucinich's resolution, so perhaps these sessions too will bear fruit.

Tammy plays it way too safe. I'm not sure if it is because of her position as one of the few openly gay members of Congress, or what. One gentleman, while commending her on her stance on human rights issues, took her to task for failing to see the human rights abuses in Palestine. I was disappointed in her response; predictably, she talked about the failure of Hamas to put a stop to suicide bombings. I was very proud of that speaker for saying, "Just keep in mind as you are considering this, that there is no symmetry there. One side has U.S. supplied weapons while the other side has rocks and improvised explosives." In my opinion, too many politicians, even those with whom I mostly agree, are way too deep in Israel's pockets.

I especially want to commend Beth (a.k.a. "Anonymous") for advocating for immigrants and commenting on NCLB. She even invoked Saint Alfie (Kohn, that is.) Very thoughtfully and articulately done, Beth.

And Mr. Ether, who was passionate, angry, and to the point. Congresswoman Baldwin needs to hear that.

Anyway, I'm glad I went. After a long day it was tempting to go all whiny about being tired and going out into the gray, damp November evening, but being there, I was reminded that we do still have a shred of Democracy left and we need to show up whenever possible.

Thoughts For A Saturday Morning

Well, things are going well enough with Molly the Temp Dog (especially now that Mr. Ether has been taking her to the barky park to run) that she will be with us until February. I went to pick up her stuff from the house at which she was staying before, and the person I talked to there was wearing a "Not My President" t-shirt.

This set me thinking about the little man who is not my president. My first thought was, "He's never been my president." One thing that really bothers me is, how after 9/11™, the airwaves and print media were filled with people who should have known better saying things like, "We have to support him. He's our President."

There are a couple of prominent examples: The cartoonist/humorist Ted Rall wrote an essay after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, saying something to the effect of, "They attacked us. We can't just turn the other cheek." To which I said, "Why not?" It's easy to be anti-war when there isn't a war on. It is extremely hard to be anti-war at the outset of a war, yet that is exactly what Jesus was preaching. Ted Rall took the coward's road, and I have not been able to enjoy his writing since then.

The other example is the NPR talking head (or is it a talking voice when it's on the radio?) Scott Simon, who identified himself as a Quaker and then spoke eloquently in favor of the bombing of Afghanistan. The effect this had was to give the general notion that the majority of Quakers (and for those of you who may not know, the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers is one of the historic peace churches) supported the invasion, which was absolutely not the case. I had a colleague say to me, "But the Quakers think the invasion is a good thing!" It was appalling. I have heard that Scott Simon made peace with his Monthly Meeting, but I have had a hard time making peace with Scott Simon! (Which probably isn't very Quakerly.)

So now it is seven years later, and opposition to the war and to the policies of BushCheneyInc. has grown exponentially, a trend for which I am truly grateful. But sometimes I am angry, furious, enraged, thinking "How could you NOT have known then?" There were many people who know how bad it all was and tried to speak out, but there were so many more -- thinking, progressive people -- who practiced self-censorship (the worst kind) and wished that the rest of us would do the same. People for whom, literally overnight, the president who stole the election became "my President."

Just look at the mess we're in now. My younger daughter talks all the time about how she is going to move to Europe when she's old enough. And though it breaks my heart to contemplate it, I hope she does! It feels as if, in the last seven years, my children's future has evaporated. Poof! Gone.

My mood matches the November weather outside. Cold. Grey. Half-hearted drizzle.

Moving right along with Saturday morning thoughts -- although now it is eleven minutes past noon -- I finished reading Terry Pratchett's Making Money. As I said before, I love his books. When I say that, people often respond, "I tried reading one of them once, but I couldn't get into it." And to all you TP nay-sayers, I say "Try again!" But don't begin at the beginning. His earlier Discworld books, such as The Color of Magic, are not nearly as good as his more recent offerings. So here are a few suggestions:

Going Postal followed by Making Money. (They go together, sort of.)
The Monstrous Regiment
The Wee Free Men, followed by A Hat Full of Sky.
Small Gods

Pratchett nerds go to L-Space and read the books following characters they like, instead of necessarily reading the series chronologically. The characters I most like to follow are Sam Vimes (a cop) and Granny Weatherwax (a witch.) For you librarians out there, Pratchett has created one of the most memorable librarians ever. Ook! If you like zombies, werewolves, trolls, vampires, and dwarves and believe in affirmative action, you may like these books.

I'll leave you with a passage I enjoyed in Making Money. The background is, an ancient army of golems has descended on the city of Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari is the city Patrician, who may or may not be a tyrant. The city is in an uproar over what to do.

"Any of the other cities would attack us if they had these golems," said Lord Downey, "... Surely a bit of conquest would be in order?"

"An empirette, perhaps?" said Vetinari, sourly. "We use our slaves to create more slaves? But do we want to face the whole world in arms? For that is what we would do, at the finish. The best we could hope for is that some of us survive. The worst is that we would triumph. Triumph and rot. That is the lesson of history, Lord Downey. Are we not rich enough?"

Off to get my hair cut. I pray that I do not come home with "car crash bangs." But that is another post.

For Ed, With Love

Which Side Are They on?

John Nichols writes in the Nation:

Broadcast media’s gate-keeping “stars” have done just about everything in their power to keep the matter of presidential accountability off the radar of the American people. That was evident during the most recent Democratic presidential debate, when NBC anchors Brian Williams and Tim Russert meticulously avoided following up on Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s three references to impeachment but somehow found time to grill the contenders on UFOs and what costume Barack Obama would be wearing on Halloween.

Pollsters are almost as bad. Rarely are questions about impeachment included in statewide or national surveys.

Despite the lack of media coverage, however, when citizens are asked what they think about holding members of the Bush administration to account, they respond with an enthusiasm far greater than that displayed for impeaching Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal. It is this reality — as opposed to the state of denial fostered by so much of the media and the political class — that Congressman Dennis Kucinich will act upon next week, when he offers a privileged resolution on the House floor to bring articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Kucinich will face an uphill fight in a chamber led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who continues to say that impeachment is “off the table.”

The Ohio congressman and long-shot presidential contender may not be following the rules of engagement as dictated by major media and his party leaders. But when Kucinich raises the issue of impeachment, he will be speaking for a great mass of Americans who agree with his argument that, “Congress must hold the Vice President accountable.” Read it all ...

This has languished for too long. The list of co-sponsors has notable absences, and one hopes that Kucinich's action will spotlight representatives who wear a liberal mantle, but refuse to really act on the will of their constituents. (John Conyers, among others.)

If you really believe that Clinton was impeached for perjury, and not as political vengeance, clearly there are multiple reasons to hold Dick Cheney's feet to the fire now. And the arrogance that Nancy Pelosi continues to show, in my mind makes her complicit in the crimes that have been committed.

Dennis Kucinich is doing his job and exercising his Constitutional right in offering this resolution. The question is, which side are the rest of them on? Are they in an echo chamber, or are they listening to We, the People?

Take Action, via the People's Email Network

If you are so inclined, this is a message I received with a link from which you can email your critters in Congress, as well as send a letter to your local newspaper, in support of Rep. Pete Stark. Nancy Pelosi, good Republicrat that she is, took him to task for his comment about the Iraq war and SCHIP. (Pardon the funky formatting. I just don't feel like messing with it.)

If They Want A Condemnation We'll Give Them One

Once in a rare while a member of Congress will speak the plain truth
without equivocation.

Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php

And when Pete Stark stood up to accuse the president of the United
States of having no conscience about the deaths of the thousands of
valiant troops he sent on a criminal war mission (for his "amusement"
Stark said), while at the same time stealing the medicines out of the
mouths of babes, not a word was voiced in protest by the Republicans
present in the moment. There was only a mild generalized statement
from the chair about avoiding personal references to the president.

And the reason there was not a peep of actual outrage when Stark
spoke those indicting words (that they are so howling about now), is
that they knew in what was left of their hearts, that it was all
shamefully true.

How unlike the instant and unanimous reaction of the Democrats, when
mean Jean Schmidt called John Murtha a coward for wanting to bring
our troops home from the senseless slaughter, shouting at the chair
to take her words down. And did Schmidt sincerely apologize for
anything? Of course not. No Republican ever apologizes unless forced
to. They just blame the media for accurately reporting their words,
and blame our ears for hearing what they said and meant.

So let us be clear. What Pete Stark said was not over the line.

It was not over the top, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with
Stark's choice of words.

We are talking about a president who, when he was not being
obstinately surly, has snickered his way through every press
conference since he lied us into invading Iraq. We are talking about
a president who was making funny faces into the camera in the seconds
before he went live on the air to announce the assault. And who, with
the raucous approval of the entire media press corps, thought those
lies were just a laugh riot in hindsight.

But in an attempt to again shut up any courageous voice of dissent,
the right wing noise machine is trying after the fact to drum up
messages of condemnation. So they want a condemnation do they? Well
we'll give them one. This action page will send your personal message
on the subject, "We condemn the entire Republican leadership."

Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php

We condemn the Republican leadership for mercilessly obstructing
every congressional action of merit, even where that action was
supported by the overwhelming majority of the American people, as in
their engineering of the failure to override the veto of SCHIP
(latest poll 81% supporting).

We condemn the Republican leadership for resorting to filibusters at
a historic record pace, since they lost the majorities in Congress
which majorities they had done nothing with but abuse.

We condemn the Republican leadership for doing nothing to hold the
White House accountable for their lies and shredding of the
Constitution, through illegal wiretaps, torture and all, because of
their greed for political power, not allowing even investigations in
these matters.

We condemn the Republican leadership for using our troops as
political props, while exploiting their suffering and death for the
profit of their war profiteer contributors.

We condemn the Republican leadership for their cynical and sinful
hypocrisy in being the most corrupt and scandalous pack of thieves
who have ever held national office, now resigning at an unprecedented
clip (or reneging on the promise to do so), all the while posturing
to their gullible diehard supporters as the most righteous.

And we condemn the Republican leadership for seeking to hold others
to a standard of decorum that they themselves grossly and repeatedly
violate with the most hateful and false negative attack ads that have
ever besmirched the American political discourse.

We tried ourselves to call our members of Congress on Friday by phone
to offer messages of support for Stark. Randi Rhodes was giving out
the toll free Congressional phone numbers on the air for this
purpose, bless her heart. But the answering machines were all full,
we presume mostly with those words of encouragement.

Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php

Well we need to do more. But the only way you are going to be able to
get through to Washington this weekend is by email, which is what the
action page above will send to all your members of Congress at once.
We need every living, breathing activist we've got to submit that
action page and tell them we've had it. Enough. You will not back us
down with trumped up attacks on our heros. You're going to pass SCHIP
again just the way it is, and make the override go the other way if
necessary.

The action page sends nothing but the stated subject line. Add your
own choice words about whatever issues you are most upset about,
whether it's the occupation, SCHIP, no immunity for law breaking
telecoms, no attack on Iran, or anything else.

We want their email inboxes stuffed by Monday morning. We want their
latest fake outrage to backfire on them in the biggest way. We need
to flood them with emails this weekend like this is the biggest issue
that ever was. Because it is. And the issue is this . . .

We Will Not Back Down

Not an inch. Never again. We win this issue, we win them all. We the
people are running the show from now on. Let's show them how we
respond to their calls for condemnation of Stark. We condemn THEM,
not Stark. In numbers like they've never seen. And then we can start
passing some meaningful legislation around here, over the president's
smirking objection if necessary.

If you want to do more, email all your friends from the same action
page and encourage them to speak out too.

We almost got the first override the first time. With 81% of the
American people on our side now, is the time to pour it on, the cable
news talking fluff heads be damned.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

Personally, I condemn the Democrats too, for putting power and profit ahead of people, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law. I condemn the Democrats for doing too little, too late. I condemn the Democrats for total disregard of their constituency, for war mongering with the best of them, for pandering to fear, for trifling with the future of our children. I am feeling very disheartened these days.

Scary Stuff, Yet ...

... I have to ask the question, "Why is Naomi Wolf pandering to the fear?" She says,

Before I go into the security lines, I find myself editing my possessions. In New York’s LaGuardia, I reluctantly found myself putting a hardcover copy of Tara McKelvey’s excellent Monstering, an expose of CIA interrogation practices, in a garbage can before I get in the security line; it is based on classified information. This morning at my hotel, before going to the airport, I threw away a very nice black T-shirt that said `We Will Not be Silenced’ — with an Arabic translation — that someone had given me, along with a copy of poems written by detainees at Guantanamo.

If, as she says,

The time for weeping has to stop; the time for confronting must begin.

then it must start with each one of us transcending our fear and saying, "No." We still have our constitution, even in a weakened and vulnerable state. We weaken it further when we meekly throw our rightful possessions into the garbage, in fear. We don't need book burnings when we are so willing to censor ourselves!

There are judges courageous enough to stand up to this administration, even if it means getting put on "a list." There are many citizens willing to put themselves out there.

Finally, we must increase our demand for this two-bit Congress to IMPEACH, NOW.

God help us.

From The Huffington Post:

"The No Child Left Behind Act is working," Bush said with first lady Laura Bush, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and School Chancellor Joel Klein at his side. "I say that because the nation's report card says it's working. Scores are improving, in some instances hitting all-time highs."
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A few moments later, he added, "As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." The official White House transcript later corrected the statement to "children." [Because it is 2nd nature to them to lie.]

Read the entire article here.

You know what I think of NCLB.

NOLA, Two Years On

Criminal.