Howard Dean is first.

Jim and Howard are first Deans

Gravel will be on Step on my hogalot's Show.

...comes on sometime after 15 minute mark.

step on hog is an antiDem 

Hagel on MTP and now Ron Paul on This Week are blasting the war better than our leadership does.

Gravel is up too.

HQ: fix the friggin' timestamp, please.

:19

Step on hog tells Ron Paul that he hasn't got a chance.

Gravel at :19 

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=159705&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19

Published: Sunday, 8 July, 2007, 01:40 AM Doha Time

WASHINGTON: Eco-crusader Al Gore took centre stage among the rock stars yesterday to promote the Live Earth concerts aimed at raising awareness about global warming.

And as Gore was propelled into the media spotlight by the concerts in nine major cities, the former US vice president took a swipe at global warming doubters who accuse environmentalists of scaremongering.

“Some who don’t understand what is now at stake tried to stop this event on the Mall,” he said at the first US concert in Washington in a thinly veiled hit on members of President George W Bush’s Republican party. “But here we are.”
Washington was a last-minute addition to the global event months after organisers failed to find a space on the US capital’s National Mall, a sprawling green space featuring monuments including the Congress building.

Gore, who was later to address the New York concert, has campaigned for years warning of the dangers of climate change, and has seen his popularity soar as the world turns “green.”
The release of his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth won him widespread appeal, and Gore’s obvious passion for the issue has demolished his old image as a boring, pedantic lecturer who droned on and on in a monotone – a characterisation that countless comedians had poked fun at.

Indeed he has been nearly as busy recently downplaying rumors of another presidential bid, after he narrowly lost the 2000 elections to Bush, whose term expires at the end of 2008.
“I don’t have any plans or intentions to be a candidate again and really the main reason is I’m involved in a different kind of campaign,” Gore said, adding that global warming is “the most serious crisis our civilisation has ever faced.”

...

Well IMHO step on hog has slighted the first three "guests" on his show:  Conyers, Paul, and Gravel

I'm off to church

bbl 

6.

Sometimes it seems like step on hog suffers from a deep disillusionment with his surrogate dad.  Perhaps he's the child of divorced parents and holds Clinton's infidelities against him on a visceral level.

I don't watch his show, but every once in a while he does a promo on the evening news and he always strikes me as not yet grown up.  Who was that nerdy kid in the comic books? 

He brought on Paul and Gravel to ridicule them  for sure. Unfortunately for him they made their points. I loved the way Conyers brought up impeachment.

For all the good it will do, Gore did not lose to Bush and the troops being killed in Iraq are not losing their lives.

When successes or failures are inappropriately ascribed to individuals who had nothing to do with achieving either, then their real achievements are actually diminished.

Put another way, when something you didn't do is compared with something you did do, then what you did do is worth less.  In this case, it's the role of the voters who actually do the electing that's diminished and, as we are becoming increasingly aware, having been diminished, our votes and the accuracy with which they are tallied aren't getting the attention they should get. 

Re-elect Gore.

not a mention of Gore was there

the biggest event in the hsitory of the planet in terms of assembled audience and the talking heads ignored it today?

I PLEDGE:
Live Earth - Answer the Call

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

some of the so called new shows are taking every opportunity to blast the concerts. what media whores they are.
faux news indeed.

off to the beach

some of the so called new shows are taking every opportunity to blast the concerts.

They're outnumber 2 billion to one and Al Gore is now the most respected person in the world. It's a regular Custer's Last Stand for corporate conservatism's control of the environmental debate. 

Timid Democrats Need to Stand Up or Get Lost

http://www.counterpunch.org/edwards07042007.html

The horrific disaster inflicted on Iraq and America by the most cynical, dishonest, and incompetent President in our history and his Lamebrain Trust must be made to end now.

Not some time later, not in months, not after the useless deaths of hundreds more young soldiers, but immediately, with as much efficiency and security as can be managed, and as much assistance and support as can be had from a world community that has long been sickened and appalled by Mr. Bush and his blundering falsity and shameless fraud.

It is now established fact that the attack on Iraq was made on the basis of outright lies.

1. There was no connection between the destroyers of the Twin Towers and Iraq: none.

2. There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and never had been: none.

3. Iraq had no capacity to attack America and no intention to do so: none.

Democratic leadership in the impossibly divided Congress has made feeble, floundering attempts to engineer a gradual end to the occupation. Their timid, tentative maneuvering has won their party nothing but obloquy from Republican know-nothings defending the indefensible, and contempt from the public which elected them to end the carnage. This has been richly deserved. They know why they were elected and what was expected, hoped for, yearned for from them by most Americans and they have not done it.

Why not? The reason is clear: they have put ducking responsibility for a painful, ethical act ahead of doing what principle, reason and humanity demands of them. The argument used to justify this moral cowardice is that they must "support the troops". There could not be a more blatant and cynical falsity than the delusion that continuing this brutal, bloody, failed occupation somehow "supports them". Those troops are being crippled and killed daily in a country that hates and rejects them, in a lunatic effort that can not and should not succeed: to secure the oil fields of Iraq and Central Asia for obscenely profiteering American oil companies. They are there for no other reason. None.

Congressional Democrats need to summon their moral courage and take the only action that actually "supports the troops: to end the occupation now and bring them home. It will be said that they don't have the numbers to override a veto, which is true but irrelevant. They need not create a bill to cut funding. As Congressman Dennis Kucinich has repeatedly pointed out, all they have to do is deny all further funding requested by the disgraced and discredited Bush regime. They have the strength in numbers to do that.

Democrats must honor their mandate or face abandonment by the millions of us who trusted them as well as the certain, unequivocal condemnation of history. End it now!

Apropos of 17, Rahm Emanuel and many other Congressional cowards, as well as a goodly number of DFA bloggers, expect us to obediently get in line behind Democrats in '08, despite their betrayal of the voters.

Guess again suckers!

Huron John
Sun, 07/08/07
10:43 am
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Im not so sure about the DFA bloggers............sure, there will be a nucleus of die hards follow the leader and so on so forth, but I think the stench of 2004 and Kerry still remains along with the humiliation of defeat of yet another poor democratic Presidential candidate............

More and more Independents and digruntled dems as wellas as repubs may very well just sit this one out or write in their candidate.............or we will just continue our pursuits with the thought that if we survived under 8 years of Bush we can make it thru anything................

As for me, Ill be branching out internationally...............we can be ambasadors in our own right, much like philanthrpoists like Armand Hammer.

Timid Democrats Need to Stand Up or Get Lost

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

I guess they should get lost - so the republicans can win.  Because Huron John does not like Rahm Emanuel we should have lost the Senate and House because Rahm Emanuel supported blue dogs in red States.

It is not the same as supporting Lieberman.

That's the 50 State strategy, einstein.  Don't like it? If you don't, you should find another blog, because Howard Dean is first, and Howard Dean is for that strategy.

I PLEDGE: Live Earth - Answer the Call 1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth; 2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;" 3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2; 4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation; 5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal; 6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and, 7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.  

I signed the pledge last night.  Now I have to make a small investment in reducing my carbon footprint.  I have been using recycled paper products for years and even have a winter hat made out of recycled plastic milk jugs.  (No, I will not respond if called jughead.  It looks just like a regular hat.)

I can do more.  I pledge to do more.

Despite the constant dogging by Stephenawfulness all three of his guests did an excellent job of presenting their stances.

Rep. Conyers didn't really have to tell me that this commutation of Libby aides in still covering for Rove/Cheney, but maybe others needed to know this. As i was able to convey to a local radio audience this last week, this is not just about lying to federal investigators. This whole episode revolves around the selling/forcing of two wars, one being ginned up now with Iran, on the American people. In my humble opinion the VP didn't mind at all if Iran did aquire technologies that Plame was trying to prevent... he was gonna bomb them anyway.
Anyhoo, in the middle of the cry over "no underlying crime" by the wingnuts i was able to shed some light.

Gotta run today or i'd get deeper into it but...

Ron Paul and Mike Gravel could be a lot more relaxed DESPITE George McAwful in these interveiws. Perhaps very optimistic, they are echoing the sense of the American people. Forget the wingnuts, they already are predicted to be driven to the hills in their own revolations - Americans are peeking through the 'fog of war' and see no future for their children in imperialism.

Good for Paul and Gravel!!


Love ya'll, mean it!!

Gore/Gravel??

That's the 50 State strategy, einstein.  Don't like it? If you don't, you should find another blog, because Howard Dean is first, and Howard Dean is for that strategy.

Fred, you're such a gentleman when you compare apples and oranges.

The 50-state strategy has nothing to do with the fact that congressional "leaders" are cynical cowards

20.

I believe John thinks the Democrats should stand up. Hell they've sworn to uphold the US Constitution, and faithfully execute their offices, getting lost isn't really an option. Their removal in the next primary is our job, and why i'm involved.

1. 11:56 Good morning.
2. Stephenopoulos's show well his guests were good. Forgot to watch MTP at 8.
3. Struck by news blackout on LiveEarth. I'm in awe that anyone could plan such a thing, get all those legends to perform for free, get all the sound equipment to work, find scientists in Antarctica who could jam. (Did it look warm in Antarctica for the dead of winter or is it just me?).
Contrast the massive, hopeful, uplifting event that was LiveEarth with ANY ELEMENT of Bush's administration, Passports, Katrina, Visas for foreigners who would like to spend $ here, the war, etc, etc.
4. What p*sses me off about Libby is Bush's arrogance in deciding that since the judge (who he appointed) apparently didn't know what the h*ll he was doing, that the punishment was excessive, he would change it. Who does he think he is? Daddy? King? God.
5. I think we would do what we need to for Earth if we a. had some leadership and b. they made it a little easier. Everyone started recycling when they gave us little bins to put out with the garbage - at least I did. There was an article somewere this morning Rawstory I think about the hassle Gore Vidal is getting from LA powers that be on the solar he put in. Why don't we have tax incentives? Zero interest loans? To install passive solar, individual windmills.

12:03 - Good afternoon.

Framing the Debate: Famous Presidential Speeches and How Progressives Can Use Them to Change the Conversation (and Win Elections)

On C-Span2 now (Jeffrey Feldman, from DemocracyFest).

23.

Deaniac in GA
Sun, 07/08/07
11:43 am

...Americans are peeking through the 'fog of war' and see no future for their children in imperialism.
Good for Paul and Gravel!!

Gore/Gravel??
---------

Paul/Gravel OR Gravel/Paul!!

20.

FRED from OR
Sun, 07/08/07
11:16 am

17.
Huron John
Sun, 07/08/07
10:40 am

Timid Democrats Need to Stand Up or Get Lost

============
........
That's the 50 State strategy, einstein. Don't like it? If you don't, you should find another blog, because Howard Dean is first, and Howard Dean is for that strategy.
============
24.

Huron John
Sun, 07/08/07
11:46 am

..........
The 50-state strategy has nothing to do with the fact that congressional "leaders" are cynical cowards
------------

At which point Fred your despise of "gross generalization" in principle switched to your inability to tolerate different point of view, including those that are different (such a sin!) from ones of Howard Dean's ?

If you would prefer to prey to him (or to anyone else) that's fine, but unwillingness others to do so shouldn't prevent them from participating in ANY public(!!!) blog.

. As i was able to convey to a local radio audience this last week, this is not just about lying to federal investigators. This whole episode revolves around the selling/forcing of two wars, one being ginned up now with Iran, on the American people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

right HOWARDLY of you Deaniac

3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is Obama on board?

good luck to every progressive primary challenge

The Chair can't help us from his neutral position.

good tennis match going, bbl

At which point Fred your despise of "gross generalization" in principle switched to your inability to tolerate different point of view, including those that are different (such a sin!) from ones of Howard Dean's ?

If you would prefer to prey to him (or to anyone else) that's fine, but unwillingness others to do so shouldn't prevent them from participating in ANY public(!!!) blog

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

despise? prey?

All I did was give "cut-and-paste-all-our-blog-space" John a dose of his own hyperbolic medicine.

The 50-state strategy has nothing to do with the fact that congressional "leaders" are cynical cowards

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

you confuse your ego-driven opinion with fact. 

Your despising them as cynical cowards is an opinion not shared by a majority of Democrats.  Since this argument is your instigation, you need to provide evidence of it being a fact and not an opinion. 

The fact is that we won the House and the Senate with some of the people you call cynical cowards.  You should try winning in their States. 

Criticizing from the bleachers is a lot easier than being on the field in the game. 

20

That's the 50 State strategy, einstein.  Don't like it? If you don't, you should find another blog, because Howard Dean is first, and Howard Dean is for that strategy.

Sheese Fred, I'm really proud of you. Great post!

Tell these Repugs invading our BFA planet to get lost themselves. We will be voting for our Dem nominee, whoever it is. If any here don't agree with that in 2008, then they too are on the wrong blog. This will be a do or die election for this country.

Joan* In*Florida
Sun, 07/08/07
1:05 pm

===========

Thanks.  Divide and conquer is an old strategy.  We need to influence those Democratci Senators and Reps who disagree with us - not disparage them with the most despicable language we can find.

Congats to Roger Federer - fifth consec. Wimbledon title.

-------------
I can't stomach watching the morning shows any longer but since my parents are here - Stephy was in my living room. Caught snippets here and there. Argh!

Huron wrote:

The 50-state strategy has nothing to do with the fact that congressional "leaders" are cynical cowards
--------
My parents echoed this sentiment after watching the *morning shows* especially when you hear Hagel and Paul rip Bushco to shreds.

Come on, guys, play nicely.

The repugs and dems who are not doing the will of the people need to be removed from office or defeated in primaries.  Problem is, we can't wait that long.  Already a think tank is in full swing to convince us all that Iran is a deadly enemy and we must do a regime change there too.  Look how well it worked in Iraq.  It went from Saddam the dictator to full blown civil war and a training ground for people who hate us. 

Since Bush has not taken bombing Iran off the table, does that mean it's not going to be bombed?   You lost me with that one, Monica.  

Yes, parents of candidates need to be vetted; backgrounds, especially in religion need to be exposed.  And candidates often say one thing to get elected and then do the opposite.  Clinton and Obama strike me as being those kinds of people.  Not sure about Edwards.  I trust Gore.

What an effing mess we're in and it's just gonna get worse now that cheney owns judicial.  We cannot take till Jan 08 to get rid of him, noting the damge he's doing HOURLY at this point.

Impeach the s.o.b already.  Uphold the Constitution!  Most of are critters are good candidates for impeachment. 

I am waiting to see if the Edwards campaign infusion of new blood will do the right things. John has so much potential that just isn't out there yet.  

John needs to get one or two outstanding military/war wizards onboard as Dean did in 2003 to write politices for him then make those policies public on your website, again just as Dean did.

Then keep building on that with domestic policy people with like-ideas and proceed in the same way. Remember when Dean did this, each new policy would require him to get familiar with a new speech and so he would be reading that for a few times at rallies. But it worked wonders. No one could say Dean didn't have any policies -- he had tons of them, all on his website which Kerry and  Edwards ultimately helped themselves to.

John needs to also just be John. He is very likeable, something the  Repugs recoil at. Keep getting the $400 haircuts which he pays for  himself. Nobody is asking Bush how much his haircuts are costing us taxpayers.

mary vb

=======

There are always exceptions.

I like Hagel 

Paul is worse than 2/3 of Republicans, for a  government that works for the poor and middle class

If Hage and Paul are so great, why don't they become Democrats.

38.

Exactly Fred, we're on the same page.

35.

FRED from OR
Sun, 07/08/07
1:01 pm

Reply to this
24.
Huron John
Sun, 07/08/07
11:46 am

Reply to this


The 50-state strategy has nothing to do with the fact that congressional "leaders" are cynical cowards

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

you confuse your ego-driven opinion with fact.

Your despising them as cynical cowards is an opinion not shared by a majority of Democrats. Since this argument is your instigation, you need to provide evidence of it being a fact and not an opinion.

The fact is that we won the House and the Senate with some of the people you call cynical cowards. You should try winning in their States.

Criticizing from the bleachers is a lot easier than being on the field in the game.
---------

...I'm trying to smile in respond to Fred's eagerness to fight for "an opinion...shared by a majority of Democrats".

a) before becoming "fact" an "opinion" must be formed first;

b) those who tell us they don't have votes (while they actually do) to stop this war are "cynical cowards" indeed;

c) there is an "opinion" suggested by Gravel who "had been in the of game" and DID demonstrate real courage to fight his cause (regarding Vietnam war and Pentagon documents) which is exactly THE SAME as that of John's one (see Today's "This Week" Gravel's interview along with proposal HOW exactly Demos TODAY can finish this war).

d) and finally, been among a majority not necessarily and not always means been on the right side of history in the long run. Ability to stay and sustain own position (even been a single voice) does, imo, deserve at least some respect (very Dean's example proves so).

did u see mike gravel on stephy's show?

when he was talking about the pentagon papers? he was crying and so was I.

and yes a blackout of the liveearth concert but that is ok.

they are scared to death of the truth.

if they are scared, I am not. turn off the tv.

42.

FRED from OR
Sun, 07/08/07
1:19 pm

Reply to this
39.

If Hage and Paul are so great, why don't they become Democrats.
-------
...lol, Fred your logic is absolutely perverted and stands upside down. Please try to reflect on the meaning of your words!

Who has told you that if the mind is great it must belong to Democratic Party? (lol..., even Howard Dean never said such a nonsense!).

If Hage and Paul are so great, why don't they become Democrats

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fred,

When good, decent, charming an educated people like me LEAVE the Democratic party...well, that says something..................we are leaving en masse.................

45. 

"This Week" Gravel's interview along with proposal HOW exactly Demos TODAY can finish this war.
===========

That's a no-brainer.   If he is implying we don't need 2/3 in the Senate, he babbling nonsense.  If he is talking about logistics, diplomacy, and saving ALL lives (not just GIs) and bringing peace to the ME, he should take a hint from Biden-Gelb, and Boxer, who supports this kind of policy.  BTW Boxer voted against the Iraq Resolution.

Move-On is sending out emails asking you to vote for your favorite candidate.

There is some good informantion there on a chart from the League of  Women Voters about candidate responses. You can also sign up for their Rapid Response or chip in $$ to their climate campaign if you wish.

If more of us said loudly that we're not gonna vote for the dem they throw at us, perhaps things could change. I can't imagine another repug prez, nor can I imagine voting for Clinton.  Any ideas?

Dems are panicked once again, thinking they have to beat the repugs.  What they need to do is put up a candidate that reflects the will of the people.  Gore and Kucinich come to mind.  

The crucial life or death election, sorry to say, was 2004, and the frightened, misguided dems went for Kerry ...ABB..now they might make the same mistake and go for anyone who can beat a repug and think it's Clinton, who will promply lose to Hagel or even Thompson, heaven forbid IMO

Fear has gripped the caucus in IA which is deadly for our country.  Actually, fear has gripped the nation.  You don't win elections by voting out of fear, but out of courage to choose a candidate maybe the CMWs don't like or maybe AIPAC doesn't approve of.  To hell with them all.  We have to choose a candidate out  of wisdom and intelligence.  I don't see that happening in in the press, in IA or anywhere else. 

In my opinion, we're already effed. IA could have been a turning point but instead has again chosen to court the chosen ones; chosen by money, by the CMWs and by the lobbyists. My sense is that IA likes the power of being first and power is very very seductive and can be *bought.*

Sorry, Phil.  This just isn't fair.  I really hope Edwards does well since he seems to be the best of the *top tier* which is not my top tier. But I don't get to vote...what state gets to vote first should change every single election.

End of rant.  Humbug!

Gore/Dean/Gravel/Kucinich/Waters/Boxer/Conyers/Leahy 

47.

Michael,

People who cut and run from the Democrat Party now are simply unable to cope with the responsibilities the Democrats are faced with because of the incompetence of Repugs..

It's just soooo much easier to say, "Oh no, I'm an Independent (or Green or whatever)" and thus do not have to answer to or for anything because most of them don't know what to stand for anymore.

In short, they are copouts!

Michael Ellis

==========

I've left the Democratic party many times, so I understand, but that was when it was a small tent party.  I guess we have different reasons for leaving.  Now it is a big tent party, and getting bigger every day, so I am staying.  Until the laws change to make a multi-party system practical, I will stay with a big tent Democratic party.

We are still the party of peace, and caring for the poor and disenfranchised....maybe if you were one of them, you would be more tolerant.

50.

Clinton would be 100 times better than a Repug prez. Some of her policies are pretty good and certainly liberal. There is NO Repug candidate who can or will come remotely close to her.

bbl

You can be an Independent and still send money to dems, vote for dems, work for dems and yes, criticize dems.

Leaving the party in droves might be enuf of a wake up call to encourage them to put impeachment on the table and/or cut the funding, not to mention help choose a good candidate who'll stand up to corporations and lobbyists.

Many dem critters are corrupt, self-serving and terrified of cheney.  They just need some courage, that's all, and we're behind them.  Maybe their children are being threatened..what could keep them so timid unless it's threat of death, loss of power etc?

Who does he think he is? Daddy? King? God.

Yes. Yes. and Yes.

Respectfully, Joan, I think Hagel could beat Hillary and Condi would draw well as his running mate. Bloomberg also could take Hillary IMO.  Iraq will be the issue and Hillary is weak and corporate on the ME.  Not gonna sit well with the voters.  They will vote for an end end end to the madness.

If Hillary is the chosen one, I will look carefully at any repug who has yet to enter, since Iraq is my first priority.  A decent repug might jump in.  But the idea of voting for a repug is like nails on a blackboard ... but so is Clinton. 

Our country is already lost...04 was the election of our lives.  Let's just hope there will be another election and one that isn't stolen.  MO only

51.  & 53.

=======

People often forget that red-State Democrats are not always being influenced by corporation and big money.  They have conservative voters and they often walk a thin line and have a difficult balancing act.

Whoever thinks we haven't lost this country...well, read this.

FOCUS | White House to Tell Miers to Ignore Senate Subpoena
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070807Y.shtml
The White House intends to instruct a former aide to Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, both of whom are scheduled to testify before a Senate committee next week about their roles in the firings of US attorneys last year, not to comply with the panel's subpoena, reports Peter Baker in Sunday's Washington Post.

'"If you want to save the planet let me see you jump."

"Wearing a black dress and her hair in Thirties-style ringlets, Madonna thanked former US Vice President Al Gore "for giving the world the wake-up call it so badly needs and for starting an avalanche of awareness that we are running out of time".

"Lets hope tonight's concert and the concerts going on around the world are not just about entertainment but starting a revolution around the world," she said.

"This is your last chance to show that you care about the planet."

The New Jersey show had political moments. Roger Waters, running through hits from his Pink Floyd days, displayed an image of US President George W. Bush aboard an aircraft carrier in 2003 under a "Mission Accomplished" banner to signal the end of major combat in Iraq, drawing loud boos from the crowd.

And as The Police played Message in a Bottle, rapper Kanye West joined the band on stage and rapped the lyrics "We need some new leaders to follow ... Al Gore's got my vote".'



*******
*******

Miss Linda b, thank you so much. But you keep the button, it will get more use that way. I have buttons (or will have again). The one I was referring to was the one jc made, "Imagine Gore instead of War" that I didn't want to give away as some have asked for. But I "temporarily" ran out of all my other buttons and was wearing that one that I wouldn't get rid of. But when I talked with Diane, that wonderful mother of 2 incredible children yesterday about her sone waking up at 6am to stream the concert, having read all of Al's books, and the daughter saying she had a teddy bear that says "Al Gore for President", my heart flipped and asked if she would like my button for her teddy bear and her face lit up that would have melted-even Senator Inhoffe's heart (maybe a little) I think jc would be happier knowing that.

I will still dfa link you my addy, though. :)


*******************


"Inhofe also grilled Gore when the former vice president testified about global warming that month before House and Senate committees. He kept referring to Gore in his questioning as "Senator Gore" instead of "Vice President Gore." True, Gore had once been a senator, but protocol and propriety say you refer to someone by the most recent title they've held, and Inhofe certainly knows that, so he was behaving like a rude and unmannered little boy.

Gore took the concert denial in stride and quietly made arrangements with the Smithsonian, specifically their National Museum of the American Indian, to sponsor a Washington concert under their auspices, to take place on the Mall, just two blocks from the Capitol. The surprise announcement only came this week, just 24 hours before today's Live Earth concerts. Inhofe has no control over what takes place on the Mall, of course, but he could have - and no doubt would have - made a stink if he knew that the Smithsonian, a federal institution, was partnering with Gore to get around the roadblock he'd threatened. Hell, he may yet do so after the fact; he is small enough of a person to attempt to hold up a funding measure or something.

Oh, and just who are the headliners performing at this last minute added concert in D.C.? Why, none other than the superstar Couple of Country Music, Oklahoma native and favorite son Garth Brooks and his wife Tricia Yearwood. Heh Heh Heh...."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/2007070...

50.

seashell
Sun, 07/08/07
1:38 pm

.......
Dems are panicked once again, thinking they have to beat the repugs. What they need to do is put up a candidate that reflects the will of the people. Gore and Kucinich come to mind.

The crucial life or death election, sorry to say, was 2004, and the frightened, misguided dems went for Kerry ...ABB..now they might make the same mistake and go for anyone who can beat a repug and think it's Clinton, who will promply lose to Hagel or even Thompson, heaven forbid IMO
--------

"Crucial" may still be ahead, imo

Demos DO AFRAID and DO HAVE all chances to LOOSE AGAIN (the further the more) primarily, imo, because THEY STILL DO NOT HAVE STRATEGY, the long term one!
"Stopping this war" IS NOT a strategy, it's a tactic!
Famous "redeployment" is a tactic to preserve "good, old" imperialistic strategy

Strategy IS in the clearly understandable and supported by the VAST majority of Americans (including by those 50% who NEVER VOTED BEFORE) IDEAS of WHAT and HOW Demos intending TO DO AFTER war is finished and troops brought home. Demos continue to keep silence on that at best or ambiguity at worst.

No wonder they are in panic and afraid!

Respectfully, Joan, I think Hagel could beat Hillary

===========

Maybe - maybe not - but Hagel voted for the Iraq "war" resolution also.

Look at this paragraph from the truthout article.  My jaw fell open

"Eggleston wrote that his client has been unfairly put in the middle of "an unseemly tug of war" in which she faces the choice of betraying a president she admires or being sanctioned by the Senate. "Ms. Taylor is willing to testify and should not face personal peril because the White House and the Senate are unable to resolve their dispute," Eggleston said in an interview.

This fairly screams "White House guilty. Buddy system intact. Intimidation complete."

Impeach this bastards. 

54.

====

About 1/3 identify themselves as "independent voters" in polls, but party registration tells a more traditional story, so I might not only concur with your suggestion.  I would say it is already happening.

these these these bastards. :-)

Worth re-posting IMO

FOCUS | The New York Times : The Road Home
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070807Z.shtml
More than four years after The New York Times published a series of news stories that arguably helped pave the way toward a US led invasion of Iraq, the country's newspaper of record, in a sobering Sunday editorial, has called for an end to the Iraq war. In stating its position, the Times editorial says, "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans' demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened - the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this war. It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."

"Stopping this war" IS NOT a strategy, it's a tactic!
Famous "redeployment" is a tactic to preserve "good, old" imperialistic strategy

Strategy IS in the clearly understandable and supported by the VAST majority of Americans (including by those 50% who NEVER VOTED BEFORE) IDEAS of WHAT and HOW Demos intending TO DO AFTER war is finished and troops brought home. Demos continue to keep silence on that at best or ambiguity at worst.

=========

Good point.

Specifically why I still voice my support for Biden, even though he is not the darling of the "out now" wing (even though he does want to be out soon, he doesn't hammer away at it, like a bumper-sticker.)

Biden is the only one who has a plan.  If one disagrees with it, then suggest another. 

Simply "out now" or the more venomous "cut-and-run" position, with no details, is too easy....and in their heart of hearts, most Americans know this and become skeptical without more information, without a more detailed plan.

Even if one is in favor of leaving Iraq, you don't take a complicated mess like this occupation and civil war and make simple as 1-2-3, .....and anyone who says such a thing fosters disbelief among the electorate.  That is the Achilles' heel in the next POTUS campaign for Democrats.

Watched SYRIANA  this weekend on DVD.  Good movie as a work of art, as portrait of the shady world of CIA big oil and the Arab culture, but had to watch it twice to get a general idea of what was going on.  The script really sucks and the they don't give you enough time to understand what the foreigner say in the subtitles.  Definitely for DVD players where you can pause and replay.  Not good to see in theatres.

66.

Biden has a plan for Iraq.  Biden's got no business planning for Iraq.  

What we need is a plan to dismantle the bases without getting all

the high-tech equipment stolen. 

an interesting site for voter stastics:

http://www.electionstudies.org/nesguide/...

but, here's what i was actually looking for:

http://people-press.org/reports/display....

and an excerpt:

"Even more striking than the changes in some core political and social values is the dramatic shift in party identification that has occurred during the past five years. In 2002, the country was equally divided along partisan lines: 43% identified with the Republican Party or leaned to the GOP, while an identical proportion said they were Democrats. Today, half of the public (50%) either identifies as a Democrat or says they lean to the Democratic Party, compared with 35% who align with the GOP.

Yet the Democrats' growing advantage in party identification is tempered by the fact that the Democratic Party's overall standing with the public is no better than it was when President Bush was first inaugurated in 2001. Instead, it is the Republican Party that has rapidly lost public support, particularly among political independents. Faced with an unpopular president who is waging an increasingly unpopular war, the proportion of Americans who hold a favorable view of the Republican Party stands at 41%, down 15 points since January 2001. But during that same period, the proportion expressing a positive view of Democrats has declined by six points, to 54%."

Semi-drive by at 2:58 pm -- I get an online Newsweek in my email on Sunday. There is an article by Eleanor Clift that apparently is old news but I haven't seen it and there's some good 'red meat' for fellow Cheney non-likers I'll post herewith:

I had lunch with Vic Gold, an old friend of the Cheneys’s, on the third day of the Post series. I asked him how he felt reading about Dick’s dark adventures. “A tremendous feeling of validation,” he said. In a recent book, Gold described Cheney as a “mega-maniacal paranoid” whose secret empire within the government had captured the Bush presidency and helped bring the Republican Party to the brink of ruin. Gold’s book, published in April, is titled: “Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Holy-Rollers and the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP.” (It was originally titled “How the Neo-Cons Took Over the GOP,” but midway through the process, Gold got so angry he changed the verb to “Destroyed.” )

Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
Updated: 1:40 p.m. ET June 29, 2007

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19507575/sit...

Monica Smith

===========

He has lots of supporters on both sides of the aisle and on the so-called "far left" as well.  There may be much more needed, and the Biden-Gelb proposal has many flaws, but in all its relative paucity of detail, it is more than anything else we've heard.

another good site for voter trends:

U.S. Census Bureau
Voting And Registration

http://www.census.gov/population/www/soc...

In Edwards words, American voters trying to decide who to vote for as the nect U.S. president do so as: "This is not an intellectual exercise."

Sounds like Edwards is putting down the voters' intelligence:

http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/news.apx.-content-articles-NCT-2007-07-08-0012.html

(AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is downplaying the huge fund-raising advantage his chief rivals have amassed.

...

He says Democrats want to win the White House and will nominate somebody who can. As he puts it, "This is not an intellectual exercise."

...

typo - nect  s/b - next

Annilow

=====

Thanks for the link.  Like Eleanor.  Great Xmas gift for my "fiscal conservative" Republican brother.

Leaving the party in droves might be enuf of a wake up call to encourage them to put impeachment on the table and/or cut the funding, not to mention help choose a good candidate who'll stand up to corporations and lobbyists.

Many dem critters are corrupt, self-serving and terrified of cheney.  They just need some courage, that's all, and we're behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sea,

I don't see how leaving the party in droves can give the Dems courage or show that you're behind them.

56.

sea,

The Repug Party is falling apart, their registered voters have been skipping town for some time now and joining up with Dems and other parties or coping out for nothing at all as Independents.

I don't think their party could win a free handout any more no matter who they nominate.

The corporate military complex directed media has many Dems deliberately confused about how strong the  Repug candidates are, pretending there is an actual contest to be had in 2008. There isn't. Whoever wins the  Dem nomination will be our next president.

75. Fred you're welcome.

Another semi-driveby -- my Sunday online Newsweek has a long cover article on Obama. It's easy reading but long. Here's my fave paragraph and a link.

Obama can be idealistic about race, but he can also be blunt in ways that few white politicians could ever pull off. On Father's Day in 2005, before he began his presidential campaign, the freshman senator stepped into a South Side church to talk about what it means to be a responsible black father. "There are a lot of folks, a lot of brothers, who are walking around and they look like men," Obama said. "They've got whiskers, they might even have sired a child, but it's not clear to me that they are full-grown men." The senator urged them not just to get a job, but to start a business; not just to stay at home, but to turn off the TV. Above all, he urged the community to aim high for its kids. "Sometimes," he said, "I go to an eighth-grade graduation and there's all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. It's just eighth grade, people. Just give them a handshake. Congratulations. Now get your butt in the library."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19651719/sit...

It's 3:24 pm in N FL and all is well so far.

sounds like Watergate ?:

http://www.kcci.com/politics/13641572/detail.html?rss=des&psp=news

78. This same 'homily' could be given to any group in America imo not just blacks btw.
3:26 pm

Annilow -

Amen.

80. you just pricked the conscience of every blogger and lurker with a kid.

I don't know why I find this humorous - maybe b/c I came of age in the drug culture. I wish we would do something sensible about our drug policies like treat addicts for what they are -- sick -- instead of criminals -- attack the problem at the REAL root.

Afghan counternarcotics minister resigns
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's counternarcotics minister has resigned only weeks after Afghan laborers finished cultivating an opium poppy crop that could exceed last year's record haul.

If what I knew how to do to make my way in the world was to grow poppies I would by d*mn grow poppies.

83. Forgot the link - sorry http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070708/ap_o...

and it's 3:32 pm

79.

* rdorgan
Sun, 07/08/07
3:12 pm
sounds like Watergate ?:

----

Well yeah.

54 - seashell - I'm an Independent and I only give my money to Dems. Howard is always first! But I won't blindly vote Democratic in '08 just because whomever the candidate that is *chosen* is a so-called Dem. That said, there aren't any R's that I would remotely consider at this stage. I do like Hagel, but like you, the Iraq War is my primary concern...

OK, so what do you all think about the NYT editorial calling for American withdrawal from Iraq as soon as safely possible--probably not less than six months?

I wish it meant something.

It's rather longish.  It came in an email from the peacenicks. 

51. -- Joan I agree that there is an element of copout of leaving the Democratic party. It's a lot easier not to feel guilty about doing anything locally that way I must say. But the Dem's since November haven't shown me anything, and Harry's well maybe he'd put another pull out of Iraq bill on the table and also the Democrats support of the immigration bill which I thought was a bad piece of legislation -- show me you can enforce the current laws, then let's think about making a new law. I feel a certain loyalty to Howard but that's about all -- I gave a lot of thought to changing to Indy before I actually did it. Among other things I don't get to vote in the primary now -- but enuf was enuf imo. Current leadership isn't really supporting progressive views that I can see -- the stuff I care about -- doing something about the schools, global warming, health insurance, holding Bushco accountable -- I mean what exactly have they accomplished since November except hand wringing? They gave themselves a raise, I remember that.

82.

FRED from OR
Sun, 07/08/07
3:16 pm

Thanks Fred -- it was Obama that pricked our consciences.

Monica Smith

==========

why not 4 months or 3 months - just kidding - I am not about to promote taking longer than the current exits are predicting, but most people know that like any construction project it always takes 2 or 3 times longer than planned (and 2X or 3X time more money) simply because there is a world of difference between the proverbial drawing board and real life.  Also, unexpected complications arise that cannot be predicted until things start happening.

87. The NY Times was one of the biggest cheerleaders in the run-up to the war so they're a little late just like Colin Powell.

I know I'm hoggin' the blog but there's a good diary on KOS

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/8/1...

Florida Soldier To Sue Army to Stop FIFTH Deployment
by doorguy [Subscribe]

Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 11:24:38 AM PDT

He plans to ask the court to stop the Army from sending him to a fake war run by a fake commander in chief and pimped by a fake news media---at least until the legal questions are settled.

snip

At what point does U.S. Army command figure out that its constitutional duty to the American people is to inform the commander in chief that the potted palm has gone on to its reward? (A reference to an old Humphrey Bogart movie).

92. I read that diary about the soldier headed for his fifth war deployment. Very sad.
-----------
I watched part of The Patriot on the 4th of July. Mel Gibson's character refused to vote on the war because he said he could not vote for a war he did not support and send someone off to fight in his place. It really made me think of all the Neo-Cons and the wimps in congress that pushed and authorized the Iraq War.

93. Yes Mary vb - it is sad. Being a tinfoil hatter I think maybe there's something really nefarious going on that we don't know about - maybe Bushco doing soldier duty for the Saudis or something. And who is behind this SPP thing (North American union) that Congress seems to be hapless and helpless to stop -- shoot maybe Congress is complicit somehow or other. I can't watch a Mel Gibson movie -- always seem too violent.

I can't vote in our primary becuz the decision has already been made becuz we're so late.

Also, Independents can go to meet-ups and do anything locally. Why not?  Leaving the party might make the dems realize that they have to start representing us and that we'll vote them outta office if they don't.  I suspect most Indys at this time are pro-dems and the dems need to bring people back if they don't want trouble.  Also, the dem coffers may start drying up...another good motivator  to do the will of the people.

Swing voters, OTOH, are troubling since they can't make up their minds and want to be on TV the last 48 hours and that's my take on it.  Maybe they flip coins before voting.

I refuse to vote on the Moveon site becuz there's no write-in for Gore.  We're being fooled again.

When I have time, I'm going to yell at move.on.  Jeez, how much longer are we gonna have to be pushed around?

Gore, dammit! 

OK, I just yelled at Moveon for not having a write in option.  And I voted for Kucinich.

90. "All the news that's fit to print" and sell newspapers to a hysterical post 9/11 country.

Seashell, I decided to VOTE on MoveOns.

I marked Dennis Kucinich,

then in their comments asking WHY?...I wrote because you didn't have an "other" or "Al Gore" for my choice and he is THE ONLY Democrat I will vote for-let a lone support. And I wasn't going to leave the spot unmarked for you all to have given my vote to one of the other (d)emocratic-R candidates.

HOLD ON TO YOU TU TU'S...Power to the People, I found a download of Robert Kennedy Jr's speech at Live Earth on You Tube

ENJOY!


07-07-2007- LIVE EARTH - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nv9q3PR_Tps

Sicko update...

a 'secret' memo from Blue Cross in response to viewing
the film....


http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/spla...

despite the fact that you guys are saying that voters are leaving the de3m party in droves, it just isn't true. that's why i posted the links at 69 & 70. not my opinion, just read the studies for yourselves.

Joan and Fred it seems are with the its our way or the highway. Great way to make sure people will not vote. Sounds like a plan.

Who are America’s independent voters?

Thirty-five percent of all Americans currently identify themselves as independents. Roughly 22% of the electorate are registered as such: independent, decline-to-state, unaffiliated, or enrolled in third parties. The remainder live in states without partisan registration, but self-identify as independents in polls. (In addition, substantial numbers of Republicans and Democrats – who register in a party in order to vote in primaries – consider themselves to be independents.) What most independent voters mean by “independent” is that they aren’t party loyalists. Many believe partisanship has degraded our democracy and that the Democrats and Republicans have become “special interests” unto themselves. CUIP’s mission is to organize independent voters to exercise their power as a force for radical democratic political reform.

http://www.independentvoting.org/about/

Hallo bloggers.

We're home from a wedding out of state...

My niece got married to a very sweet guy,

and despite the predicted thunderstorms with possible hail, 

and it being an outdoor wedding,

the weather remained perfect...even

just as the bride said "I do" the sun came out!!

So, I was sitting there at the reception talking with my sister (the one who was in Kuwait)
who was the Mother of the Bride yesterday,
and she told me that she has orders for Iraq...
starting in January...!!!

think it is really just hitting me today.
I know you'll forgive if I exclaim: *S*H*I*T*!
She'll be at Balad Airbase, about 40 miles north of Baghdad.
It's the biggest airbase we have there,
and she'll be working at the hospital,
but her main job is (again) to stabilise badly injured people so that they can be transported.
She said she might be getting some folks AFTER surgery this time,
rather than always before surgery.

But...but...WE NEED TO INVENT NEW WORDS FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!!!

How about, "Get the troops the hell out of Iraq *N*O*W*!!!"

=SIGH= 

"This is not an intellectual exercise."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what he might mean rdorgan is that there are real world consequences to who the nominee wll be, this isn't fantasy league baseball ?

107. listener - good luck to your sister. Real people are paying the price for Bush's war. It really sucks big time.

When does the impeachment process begin?

In my opinion, we're already effed. IA could have been a turning point but instead has again chosen to court the chosen ones; chosen by money, by the CMWs and by the lobbyists. My sense is that IA likes the power of being first and power is very very seductive and can be *bought.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

seashell

The latest poll here showed Edwards continuing to lead at 26% with Obama 22 and Clinton 21.

which leaves plenty of room for Gore should he choose to enter; but we can't do it for him

meanwhile I would think you would be jumping up and down at those numbers

Yeah, mary vb.  Thanks.  ♥

I am keenly aware that I am experiencing maybe 5% of what others are dealing with.
My sister will be there for about 4 months, says the Air Force.
Not like the 18 month stints the Army folks do.
And it's my adult sister, y'know?
Not my daughter or son,
not my spouse and parent of my child.

Even so... 

!!! RUN AL RUN  !!!  RUN AL RUN  !!!  RUN AL RUN !!! 

I'm playing hooky from the baby quilt I am making for grandbaby #2

and the baby shower is in less than two weeks.

So I'll peek in between stitches!  ;-)

Hillary runs into man trouble
Sarah Baxter, Washington

WHEN Bill Clinton caught sight of a man in a crowd holding a hand-painted “Husbands for Hillary” sign, he laughed. That was “a group I belong to”, he said in Iowa last week.

It was a light-hearted moment in his first campaign foray in the role of consort. But do enough men, married or not, want to send his wife to the White House? The question is troubling the Clinton camp.

Hillary Clinton’s problem is reflected in the latest Mason-Dixon poll, which showed that 56% of men compared with 47% of women said they would not vote for her in any circumstances. In contrast, only 44% of men said they would not vote for Barack Obama, her closest Democratic rival, who also performs well among women and has raised an impressive $10m more in cash than Clinton to spend on the primary campaign.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...

listener

one of our extended family is "only" headed back for a third time and the once gung ho members say enough is enough

I know of no one, no one, who supports a counter insurgency plan stated to last 9-10 years at an average, even lifers that put on the game face

the problem is that Bush is thinking only of himself and his place in history in 50 years and Hagel correctly identified that it was immoral for Johnson to think that way about VietNam

even then he couldn't bring himself to call Bush immoral even though that course clearly is

once the troops get on the convoys and start heading out it will be irreversible and I am willing to give Republicans the cover of the ISG to begin that yet this month in the budget vote just to get it done

with the block head in the White House there will still be hospital needs in January and the nation is blessed to have your sister

I am going to repeat my appeal to paygo the war by rescinding the tax cuts to find out how deep a base Bush really has as the quickest way to actually end it.

Sheehan Considers Challenge to Pelosi

By ANGELA K. BROWN
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 8, 2007; 5:34 PM

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Cindy Sheehan, the soldier's mother who galvanized the anti-war movement, said Sunday that she plans to run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unless she introduces articles of impeachment against President Bush in the next two weeks.

Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush. That's when Sheehan and her supporters are to arrive in Washington, D.C., after a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting next week from the group's war protest site near Bush's Crawford ranch.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

Joan and Fred it seems are with the its our way or the highway. Great way to make sure people will not vote. Sounds like a plan.

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

You are one of the the pots calling the kettle "black" - I express a big tent dispostion for our party.

On the other hand, it is the napoleonic voices of nonsense on this blog that say "my way or the highway"  because they truly believe that with virtually half the Senate and a slight majority in the House,  Democrats have some kind super-power they refuse to use.

These "pots" see public disgust of politicians, and Washington in general, as disgust with Democrats.  Self-deprecation asided, about 1/3 of all voters see little difference between the parties, that's why they see them selves as Independents, even if they are registered as Democrats.

For regulating toxins in the human ecology and studying, testing and researching to identify those toxins, I see little difference myself between the parties, but the best hope for this is with the Democrats.

new thread

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/21437...