could it be?  Dean is first.  And olbermann is 2nd

67.

Phil Specht
Mon, 07/16/07
10:56 pm

Jack Reed has the most credibility of any of them with me paine on the war. I'm with Reid in forcing a vote on his Amendment.

===========
Any hint on how Reed feels about Biden-Gelb? Biden came out with the idea right after they visited Iraq together last year.

bbl

blog switched us

jao has firsties Fred

43476598769098=-

nite all

75. Phil, why? I've been there, but surely wouldn't be supporting her, let a lone for those reasons. If anything, she helps that with promoting the Corporate interests. Besides, she does make the same as her male counterparts.

______________________________

76. Sitka, perfect!

oops, ok, nite Phil

I just had a neighbor stop by and apologize for not making my Live Earth Party,

but she came bearing 2 incandescent light bulbs to show me she replaced

her last two with the florescent, for me.  Because she told me she was

only replacing them as they burned out, but replaced them early.

She then sat down at my laptop and signed the pledge.  

Great belated celebrations.

http://www.algore.com/pledge/ 

WAXMAN v CHENEY REMATCH..........the washington spectator, july 1, 2007.......re obtaining lists of lobbyists who had attended cheney's energy task force meeting in spring 2001.

"As chair of Oversight and Government Reform, Waxman now has subpoena power himself.  He seems to be moving toward issuing a subpoena to the vice president, which would precipitate a constitutional crisis.  Waxman's blistering June 21, 2007, letter to Cheney suggests that such a confrontation is inevitable.

[snip]

"...when Addington was Cheney's legal counsel he quietly made the argument that the vice president's office is not subordinate to the White House but is an entity unto itself."

if waxman is successful, cheney's motive for pushing the pre-emptive war will be revealed.  frame it as 'the business of war'--privatize, outsource, plunder, surveil--in the matrix of government.

Is that a recent photo of Gore? He seems slimmer.

executive priveledge in the Tilman case???

The whatever-it-is admin has JUMPED THE SHARKED, CONSTITUTIONALLY.

Bush to pardon self ? He is the decider. Impeach the cabal. Bring them Home NOW.

Looks like everyone left ... hope that some are still about and will be inspired to post.

*********
Phil - I love to hear the stories about how you are working with young staffers from the campaigns of every candidate. What a great grass roots experience of democracy for them ... and with such a good mentor. It was also nice to *see* your son here, Proud Dad.

**********
Al Jazeera reports that several Saudi prisoners from Gitmo have been returned home. Although returning to prison at home is probably not an improvement for the Saudis, why can't the Canadians also be returned home ... and the Brits ... and all the other persons who have been so wrongfully held and so heinously treated ... without any charges ever being proven against them?

If there are charges to be made, they should be made and trials ... not kangaroo courts ... should be held. Gitmo is just one of the innumerable perversions of justice by this very perverse administration.

Any Dem who is not for impeachment is not truly a Dem. Any politican who is not for impeachment does not believe in the US Constitution. Either should be marked as a target in the next elections but Dems especially should NOT get a free pass.

Any Dem candidate for Prez who is not for the immediate impeachment of these thugs and war criminals will NOT get my vote in the primaries.

Is it possible ... does this signal the birth pangs of a spine ... at long, long last?

Let us hope so.

================
Democrats Maneuver To Force Iraq Votes
By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2007; A04

Senate Democratic leaders are planning a rare all-night session tonight, employing theatrics and scheduling votes that they hope will chip away at Republican resolve to back President Bush's Iraq war strategy.

Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had hoped to convince Republicans to allow a simple-majority vote on a Democratic proposal to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring. But GOP leaders held firm to a 60-vote threshold for passage -- a routine maneuver in today's closely divided Senate but a number Democrats have been unable to meet all year. And Republicans decried Reid's decision for a marathon session as a stunt.

Democrats employed similar delaying tactics when they were in the minority, but Reid said the gravity of the Iraq war calls for a straightforward debate, free of political or procedural gimmicks.

"We're going to continue working on this until we get a vote on this amendment," Reid said. "It's unfortunate that President Bush has proven, beyond any doubt, that he won't listen to the Congress or the American people unless he's forced to, and that's what this amendment does."

Given the GOP's position, Reid said he would require 60 votes on all Republican-backed Iraq proposals, which could spill the Senate debate well into next week. "It's 'turnabout is fair play,' " Reid said.

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

E.J. Dionne and the power of small donors ... thanks again, Howard Dean!

=================
Arise, Small Donors!
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007; A19

With the Supreme Court slowly closing the door on traditional approaches to campaign finance reform, individual citizens will have to take the cause into their own hands.

The good news is that hundreds of thousands of Americans are doing exactly that. The small-donor uprising, which began in the 2004 campaign, could fundamentally alter the direction of American politics without any changes in the law. But if Congress took some modest steps, it could ensure this revolution's success and do so in a way that even judicial conservatives could accept.

The court's recent 5 to 4 decision eviscerating Congress's efforts to regulate the flow of corporate and union cash into campaign activities will require reformers to think anew.

The recent fundraising reports from the presidential candidates should give them hope in this endeavor. An unprecedented number of small contributors are standing up to the big guys.

Barack Obama is the main beneficiary, but by democratizing fundraising -- the most elitist aspect of our politics -- small donors could bring a salutary dose of equality to the process.

Enemies of campaign finance reform regularly try to play down the influence of money in the deliberations of government. But journalists covering the development of major pieces of legislation routinely show that money really does talk in Congress.

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

Der Decider and his scurrilous treatment of anyone who tries to gainsay him, which is why so few have the balls to do so.

==================
How Bush Uses His Generals
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, July 16, 2007; 2:00 PM

President Bush says that he should be trusted on military issues because he listens to his commanders. But he has a tendency to celebrate his generals when they're providing him political cover -- then stick a knife in their backs when they're no longer of any use to him.

Last week, Bush rejected any blame for the chaos that ensued in Iraq after the March 2003 invasion. So whose fault was it? Bush pointed the finger at Gen. Tommy Franks, the Central Command chief at the time. "My primary question to General Franks was, do you have what it takes to succeed? And do you have what it takes to succeed after you succeed in removing Saddam Hussein? And his answer was, yes," Bush said.

That's the same Tommy Franks to whom Bush awarded a Medal of Freedom in 2004.

And when virtually all of Bush military line of command, including the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed his "surge" proposal late last year, Bush responded not by listening, but by removing the top two commanders responsible for Iraq and replacing them with more amenable leaders, including Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus.

Petraeus, as it happens, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post just five weeks before the 2004 election describing what he called "reasons for optimism" in Iraq. Now Petraeus is Bush's "main man." Maybe he should be watching his back.

Thomas E. Ricks writes in Sunday's Washington Post: "Almost every time President Bush has defended his new strategy in Iraq this year, he has invoked the name of the top commander, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus.

"Speaking in Cleveland on Tuesday, Bush called Petraeus his 'main man' -- a 'smart, capable man who gives me his candid advice.' And on Thursday, as the president sought to stave off a revolt among congressional Republicans, he said he wanted 'to wait to see what David has to say. I trust David Petraeus, his judgment.'"

Yet Ricks continues: "Some of Petraeus's military comrades worry that the general is being set up by the Bush administration as a scapegoat if conditions in Iraq fail to improve," he writes. "'The danger is that Petraeus will now be painted as failing to live up to expectations and become the fall guy for the administration,' one retired four-star officer said. . . .

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

When putz has lost the most RW among his RW supporters, it means he's going down in a big way ... I just wish that it wouldn't take so long.

Every day ... every minute ... that he and prick remain in office is too long, but if impeachment were at least under way ... whether it succeeds or not (and if it doesn't, how will we ever face the world again as a moral leader?), we would have some reason to hope that we can reclaim some vestige of what we once believed ourselves to be.

But I do LOVE this story. I'm giving the DU link. It will lead to the original story.

===============
Scaife-Owned Newspaper Calls for Iraq Troop Withdrawal -- Questions Bush's 'Mental Stability'

[...]
http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...

The whatever-it-is admin has JUMPED THE SHARKED, CONSTITUTIONALLY.

That's the best I've heard it put. 

I’ve heard of the phrase “jump the shark” to describe when a TV show does something completely unbelievable to capture ratings and then the show’s creativity and popularity both decline. It was coined when Fonzie literally jumped a shark in an episode of “Happy Days” when ratings were slumping.

Escaping Iraq, turned down by Jordan, heading to Syria...a family's story.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1381

Scaife-Owned Newspaper Calls for Iraq Troop Withdrawal -- Questions Bush's 'Mental Stability'

Bush has gone from being the NeoCons' figurehead to being their bag man. 

I wonder when he'll blame it all on Uncle Dick? 

ProgA certainly did pick out an apt term ... LOL.

**************
Der Decider has decided that a ME conference on I-P issues will be held.

Any conference that does not include the elected government of the Palestinians, i.e., Hamas, is doomed to failure from the outset. The so-called *conditions* that putz has set for its inclusion ... are truly stupid ... especially because Hamas, despite its political stance, has not been among those who advocate suicide bombings, etc. Those zealots who do are radical factions of Fatah, although mainstream Fatah supporters also condemn them ... to be sure.

Actions speak louder than words. But that is something that putzCo, with all its cronyism, has apparently never understood.

The second downer here is that putz has zero credibility among anyone in the ME, except for Israel's RW.

===================
Bush launches peace bid with Middle East talks
· Quartet group and Blair to play central role
· Plan is crusade against Palestinians, says Hamas
Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Patrick Wintour
Tuesday July 17, 2007
Guardian

President George Bush yesterday announced a US-led international conference which would take place before the end of the year to resolve what he said were all the outstanding issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The ambitious conference would bring together Israelis, Palestinians and Arab governments in an as yet unannounced location. Playing a central role would be the Middle East group to which Tony Blair has been made special envoy - the Quartet, which is made up of the US, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union.

President Bush's announcement comes only days before Mr Blair attends his first meeting of the Quartet. The former prime minister has been pushing Mr Bush for the past five years to take an active role in trying to end the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. In his White House speech yesterday, Mr Bush gave his blessing to Mr Blair's new career as an unpaid Middle East envoy.

The president has adopted a mainly hands-off approach to the conflict over the past six years. His intervention now, with 18 months to go before his presidency ends, comes at an inauspicious point for a peace deal, with the Palestinians divided between the Fatah-controlled West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza. Hamas is unlikely to be invited: Mr Bush said it must first renounce violence and recognise Israel.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33020...

floridagal ... love what you do! Brava!

***********
I've been very interested in the ascension of this multi-ethnic Muslim woman and her progress as France's Justice Minister. Some of my North African colleagues are also watching with interest ... and pride.

I wish her well. But she has some huge hurdles to overcome ... she has already had to be hugely better than anyone else just to get to where she is now.

===============
France's Muslim 'iron lady' faces trial by whisper
· Justice minister's allies hit out at 'white bigoted elite'
· Setbacks erode Sarkozy's multiracial credentials
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Tuesday July 17, 2007
Guardian

The French justice minister, Rachida Dati - the first Muslim woman of north African origin to hold a key government post - is being undermined by "a jealous, bigoted white elite", anti-racist campaigners claimed yesterday.

Ms Dati, dubbed France's "iron lady", today makes her debut in parliament to defend President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial new law to tighten sentences for re-offenders and young criminals.

But a series of setbacks has focused attention on the minister herself. First, her top aide and three magistrates resigned from her cabinet last week. Officially, they left for personal reasons or due to a reshuffle, but anonymous sources complained of Ms Dati's "authoritarian" personality.

Then it emerged that her brother, one of the family of 12 children that grew up on a housing estate in eastern France, was due to be sentenced today for drug-dealing after serving a previous term for dealing heroin. Another brother is under investigation for dealing cannabis.

Ms Dati, 41, the daughter of a Moroccan builder and his Algerian wife, is the public face of Mr Sarkozy's drive to appeal to multi-racial France and assuage his critics in the troubled suburbs. Unelected and with five years' experience as a political adviser, the former magistrate was promoted to justice minister in May.

She quickly became France's second most popular minister and six books on her life and battle against adversity are being rushed into print. But some old hands inside Mr Sarkozy's party are known to be resentful of her rapid rise. On the left, some activists question Mr Sarkozy's commitment to solving France's race discrimination crisis, fearing Ms Dati's appointment is mere window-dressing.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33020...

Thanks again, putzCo ...!

And more US taxpayers' money going down the drain ...

===============
Mosque siege backlash threatens US aid plan
· £375m lined up for Pakistan's tribal belt
· Suicide attacks emphasise anti-American feeling
Declan Walsh in Islamabad
Tuesday July 17, 2007
Guardian

The violent backlash from last week's Red Mosque siege in Pakistan could jeopardise an ambitious American "hearts and minds" plan to defeat extremism with development aid, analysts warned yesterday.

The US intends to inject £375m into the lawless Pashtun tribal belt along the Afghan border as part of a campaign to drive a wedge between conservative locals and their al-Qaida allies. Embassy officials in Islamabad have quietly drawn up plans for health, education, water and farm projects.

But two suicide attacks over the weekend that left 70 people dead, most of them security forces, underscored the strength of Islamist extremism along the Afghan border and the depth of anti-American feeling.

"Since the events of the Red Mosque this money will not be welcomed in the tribal areas," said analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. "For the time being no aid is possible."

"Everything linked to America is not accepted by the people. The Americans are seen as having no credibility," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a veteran journalist in Peshawar.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33020...

Sheesh ... this is not good news for anyone ... it's bad enough for the people most immediately affected, but for the long-term it is REALLY scarey.

=============
Nuclear leak after earthquake in Japan
By David McNeill in Tokyo
Published: 17 July 2007

A strong earthquake struck central Japan, killing at least eight people, injuring hundreds and causing a fire and radioactive leak at the world's biggest nuclear power plant.

The 6.8-magnitude quake levelled buildings, derailed trains and buckled roads after it struck about 10 miles off the coast of Niigata yesterday. The local media reported that four elderly women and a man were crushed to death by falling buildings and at least 800 people were hurt, some seriously.

Thousands more spent the night in evacuation centres as aftershocks continued to jolt the area and electricity, gas and water remained cut off. Japanese television showed footage of several people being pulled from the rubble of flattened houses. "The whole building shook from side to side, " one pensioner sheltering in a local school said. "I'm too frightened to go back home."

[...]
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia...

And so it goes ... we should never have gone in. Once we did, we had our chances to do things right. Now it is simply too late and nothing but our departure will offer these poor suffering people any hope.

And this mayhem is occurring in an area that was doing just fine, thank you, BEFORE the invasion.

=================
Just another day in Iraq: 100 more fathers, mothers, sons and daughters killed
By Patrick Cockburn in Khanaquin, Diyala Province, Iraq
Published: 17 July 2007

The United States surge, the use of the American troop reinforcements to bring violence in Iraq under control, is bloodily failing across northern Iraq. That was proved again yesterday when a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives in Kirkuk killing at least 85 people and wounding a further 183.

The truck bomb blasted a 30ft-deep crater in a busy road full of small shops and booths near the ancient citadel of Kirkuk, setting fire to a bus in which the passengers burned to death and burying many others under the rubble. Dozens of cars were set ablaze and their blackened hulks littered the street. Some 25 of the wounded suffered critical injuries and may not live.

In Baghdad, at least 44 people were killed or found dead across the city, police said. They included the bullet-riddled bodies of 25 people, apparent victims of sectarian death squads.

[...]
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/midd...

It's THAT time ... have good ones!

*************
It's also time for THIS ... but Edwards is the ONLY one among those named here who does not currently have the power to participate in this.

If those who do have the power do not use it, then that's it for me.

========================
Published on Monday, July 16, 2007 by The Progressive
Come on, Obama, and Clinton, and Edwards, and Pelosi: All Aboard the Impeachment Train
by Matthew Rothschild

With Bush stiff-arming Congress with one specious claim of executive privilege after another, impeachment is more imperative than ever.

The people understand this. It’s the politicians, even most Democratic ones, who are lagging so far behind.

A poll came out in early July that showed 45 percent of the public in favor of impeaching Bush, and a whopping 54 percent in favor of impeaching Cheney.

What makes these numbers even more amazing is that they are so high when no senior Democrat has been promoting the cause, and the mainstream media has been shortshrifting it (until Bill Moyers just interviewed John Nichols and Bruce Fein on the subject).

This may be changing for the better, though.

[...]
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007...

The recent fundraising reports from the presidential candidates should give them hope in this endeavor. An unprecedented number of small contributors are standing up to the big guys.

The trouble is, they're giving all that money to the candidates who are also getting it from the big guys. And guess which they'll listen to and serve in the end. 

Ideally, grassroots money should go to grassroots candidates whom the corps won't support beause they won't serve their sole interests. 

Come on, Obama, and Clinton, and Edwards, and Pelosi: All Aboard

They will only do as much as they're forced to by people like us.

Keep flogging. 

"The Americans are seen as having no credibility."

These days, only Americans think Americans have any credibility. And even that number has shrunk to a pitiful minority. 

yep. ditto!!!

Hi mprov.

My little band the Mass Wasters will actually be doing some gigs in August. We're not charging a cover and the band we're filling in for (my former one, The Noodles) is not amused by it. - which tickles me pink.

If I get any listenable recordings I'll send  to you.

Thankful's in New York, we talked for about three hours whilst she was drivin' ~~ She sounds wonderful! Goodle vitamin roadpop. . . . She'll try to get online tonight.

Good lord!  The time stamp's off by about half an hour. . . .

Just got home.  You still here, Judy?

Tomorrow I'll have time to call and write and scream bloody hell...

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

I'm sorry to hear that Hillary's base in IA is comprised of older educated women.  It sounds like a *gotcha* vote....revenge.  Not good at all.  I'd like to know how she's doing in a more progressive state.   So much for educated women who care more about getting even than preserving the Constitution.  I would love to vote in a woman prez, but not this genetic confusion. 

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

Exec priv. in the Tillman case sounds like P&P have gone the way of Caligula.  We already know we've been lied to about his death.  What else is being hidden or is this simply them pushing to extremes to see if they can get away with it?

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

My god, impeach these 2!
*********************************

Come on, Waxman, rush that subpoena out to Cheney.  We're out of time and innocent people are dying and being maimed.  I agree with Judy.  If imp. proceeding aren't AT THE VERY LEAST started immediately, it's over for us as a country.  Am I shouting?  You bet!  It's 11:55 PM.

Perhaps this is why our troops aren't coming home.  These are children.  Help, Universe,  Help!

Congressmembers rule: No calling Bush a liar Michael Roston
Published: Monday July 16, 2007 reddit_url=window.location.href reddit_title='Congressmembers rule: No calling Bush a liar'

Print This  Email This  

A Congressional Democrat has been reined in for calling President George W. Bush a 'liar' during a Thursday hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, according to the Monday edition of the newspaper Roll Call.

"Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) offered a lengthy criticism of Bush’s record toward the end of Thursday’s hearing, which included a statement that Bush lied about the reasons for going to war with Iraq in 2003," writes Susan Davis. "Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) offered an objection on the grounds that Watt’s words were 'unparliamentary' and violated House rules on debate and decorum that forbid personal attacks on Members, the president or vice president."

The exchange occurred just before the end of the hearing that expected to receive testimony from former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who failed to appear. She cited the White House's exercise of 'executive privilege.'

Davis notes that a problem then occurred.

"Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) countered that the words were not 'unparliamentary,' which parliamentarians and leadership aides on both sides of the aisle later agreed was the wrong procedural call," she writes.

Cannon and his fellow Republicans then failed in a vote that attempted to 'take down' Watt's words. But because Rep. Sánchez's ruling was said to interfere with House precedent on the question, Rep. Cannon threatened "to take it to the House floor in a privileged resolution."

The two sides subsequently negotiated a compromise in which Sánchez agreed to vacate her decision that the words were not 'unparliamentary' in a subsequent hearing.

Cannon is not a stranger to controversy of his own over strong statements. He recently called former US Attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias an 'idiot' in a Fox News broadcast.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Congress_members_agree_No_calling_Bush_0716.html 

Oh, this is priceless, if true.

US army officer puts 'solution to Iraq war' on eBay
Published: Monday July 16, 2007 reddit_url=window.location.href reddit_title='US army officer puts 'solution to Iraq war' on eBay'

Among the bootleg albums, second-hand golf clubs and bargain linens on Internet auction site eBay, lot 150141399174 is perhaps more likely to attract the attention of the Pentagon.

"A Solution to the War in Iraq," is being offered by a US Army intelligence officer fed up with the conflict and anxious to attract some attention to what he says is a viable and face-saving solution to the four-year-old conflict.

"I am offering the winning bidder the solution to the war in Iraq," the seller, identified as "cptnabil," says in the bid.

"This is not a flippant or facetious offer... If you are the high bidder, I will send you a viable solution to the conflict in which we are currently engaged," the seller wrote.

The New York Post on Monday identified the seller as Army Captain Thad Krasnesky, who describes himself on eBay as a US Army military intelligence officer with an extensive background in the Middle East.

"I speak the language and understand the culture, history, and religion, well enough to construct a fair, honorable, and successful plan."

Cptnabil says he served in both the Gulf War and Iraq in military intelligence and had been involved in planning over 400 combat operations ranging from "terrorist cell take-downs to single-handed arms market raids.

"http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_army_officer_puts_solution_to_Ir_07162007.html

Tidbits.  It's late and I want to be up early to start the flogging!!

Waiting for Goredot!

One more.  And I wonder how the *all nighter* in the Senate is going..or if.

Antiwar Ron Paul appeals to military?
Nearly 50% of military employees who donated, gave to Ron Paul.

Impeach!  Start with cheney.  If Pelosi doesn't agree becuz she thinks it will make her look politically ambitious (as if we didn't know) then she should recuse herself as Speaker and s/o who gives a sh#t about the Constitution should replace her.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Let the flogging begin! 

Good morning, everybody

The filibuster will take place tonight, Tuesday, if it happens.  There's an article in the National Journal about the Senate Steering Committee, a conservative construct, designed specifically to obstruct legislation they don't like--i.e., anything that doesn't benefit the elite or stick it to the people.

I'll have to see if I can access it on the web. 

This should at least make you smile.

Drive-by:

NBC TODAY SHOW had a hit piece on populism this AM
said wages have actually started to turn around
and, heck folks, we all share in the positive direction of the stock market.
Their point was that the Democrats are just spinnin' y'all for votes.

On ABC (or CBS...I could give s#it which network) Lou Dobbs was on and did about the same but from his "Lou Dobbs Dems* (which is what he says the corporatist describe the rising populists.

WE NEED MEDIA REFORM!

This is the article which likely provoked the corporate "news" to react this AM:

BTW Lou Dobbs called the NYTIMES as "elitist" (g2d help us! ...and where are you?)



A New Populism Spurs Democrats on the Economy

http://tinyurl.com/2h52kc


WASHINGTON, July 15 — On Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail, Democrats are increasingly moving toward a full-throated populist critique of the current economy.



Spada gatas

seashell
Tue, 07/17/07
3:35 am

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

Only in America..........$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Sitka
Tue, 07/17/07
2:10 am
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   You get an "atta boy" sticker..............how can anycountry, that has killed and maimed as many Arabs as this one has, for whatever reason........is directly involved in never solving the I/P joke........is gluttonous thirsty for oil..........the general popluace basically hates arabs..........shot down an unarmed civilian iranian airliner..........illegally invaded an arab country and occupied it.................have ANY credibility whatsoever?

can't wait til tonite to see the fillibuster mania over on capitol hill.

I don't understand how the rethugs got an up or down vote and the dems can't.

mc connell is such a pathetic piece of crap.

and you can quote me on that.

July 11, 2007 Sydney, Australia: Stop The War Coalition Communiqué, via Max Watts,

From: Jean Parker

During the recent visit of the US aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, Stop the War Coalition activists held two anti-war protests. Under the gargantuan shadow of the Kitty Hawk activists handed out anti-war material, held a banner calling for the end of the Iraqi occupation, and spoke out for the withdrawal of Australian and American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

We had material targeted toward US service people, and the inspiring thing was how receptive the young sailors were as they made their way off the ship.

We distributed around 40 DVDs - The Ground Truth (about Iraq) and Sir No Sir! (a documentary about the success of resistance against the Vietnam war from within the military). Our leaflets gave statistics about the growing number of active duty soldiers who have signed the "Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq", and gave contact details for the growing membership of Iraqi Vets Against The War.

All the sailors were sympathetic and keen to listen, if not to talk. They seemed all too aware of the growing anti-war movement in the US, if not within the armed forces.

The Bush administration has consistently used Petraeus as a "political prop," as Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has noted. Bush has mentioned Petraeus "at least 150 times this year in his speeches, interviews and news conferences." In May, the White House used Petraeus as a PR flack to promote its war czar.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/mailbag/418

Memo to Speaker Pelosi:

The oath to uphold and protect the Constitution has no escape clause. As long as you are Speaker, you have no choice but to impeach George Bush and Richard Cheney for high crimes and treason. [Friday] on "Bill Moyers' Journal," the topic was impeachment.

.

Never understimate just how much your congressional representative can be unaware of his or her constituency's ire. Washington D.C. is insulated to the extent that D.C. police will routinely incarcerate the homeless in the area of a gala function on the night of the event then release them the next day. Your representative lives in a sanitized fantasyland. They need to hear you screaming in their face that your precious Constitution is in grave danger from an internal threat, a threat of absolute power in absolutely the wrong hands.

It is abuse of power that so frightened some of the bravest men and women in our history to incorporate into the founding documents the caveat against tyranny, the concentration of power by the executive. The Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention specifically warn against a corrupt president. They could not have imagined, even in their most horrific nightmares, a scenario where an unelected, judicially appointed figurehead used his presidency to unleash a Pandora's Box of destruction upon the fabric of freedom.

Future presidents need to know that We The People will never tolerate this kind of despotic behavior within our shores. Every breathing human being in this country owes their life to the patriots who died for freedom from King George. The authors of history are imploring us to educate our bewildered 'leaders' on constitutional law. It's now time to make some serious noise.

http://www.dfalink.com/uploads/group_photos/295765gm163327.jpg

Here is a good picture of the back of the head of the Secret Service chief with my son and Barack from Sat.

11.

Sitka
Tue, 07/17/07
12:01 am



Is that a recent photo of Gore? He seems slimmer.

---------------->>> Yes, Sitka. That was taken just at the Live Earth Concert Opening in DC.


You should have seen how thin he looked in his suit at his daughters wedding this past weekend.

Phil, can't see it.

Proud DadCreated: 07/17/07by: Phil Specht

How they work it.  This article is only available to subscribers. 

Congress - Right GuardBrian Friel
© National Journal Group, Inc.

"Compromise, hell! That's what has happened to us all down the line -- and that's the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?" -- Jesse Helms
The former senator's admonition to fellow conservatives appears in black lettering across a long white wall in Room 164 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The office, with a leather couch and coffee table crammed amid desks, chairs, and cubicles, is home to the Senate Steering Committee, something of an unofficial conservative caucus that Helms, a North Carolina Republican, helped found in 1974 and later chaired. The committee is known primarily, but incompletely, for the luncheon discussions it hosts each Wednesday in the Capitol.
[...]
The staff, or the senators themselves, put the brakes on any bill they want to review or challenge. Despite Helms's fighting words, the conservatives often work behind the scenes to craft compromises with legislative sponsors on a host of concerns, such as spending levels. But if the conservative senators fail to win concessions, they take their battles to the Senate floor, using a variety of parliamentary tactics that the Steering Committee has adopted or even pioneered over the past three decades.
[...]
Senate rules accord a significant amount of power to each senator, and DeMint has proved his ability to blend that power with the institutional knowledge and tactical skills that the Steering Committee possesses. In a talk to an audience of conservatives earlier this year, DeMint declared: "We've been able to take at least partial control of the Senate by using that Steering Committee."
[...]
When Reid brought the immigration bill back on June 26, Sessions, Vitter, DeMint, and Coburn were ready. They made procedural objections on the floor, including a demand that a massive slate of amendments -- from a wide group of Democratic and Republican senators, but none from the cadre of conservatives -- be read aloud. After an initial vote to consider the bill, senators made no further progress that day.
[...]
The executive committee -- a subgroup of the Steering Committee whose membership of as many as 10 senators is kept secret -- voted to make DeMint the chairman. It then informed the GOP caucus, whose conservative members pay dues to the Steering Committee for the lunches and the staff's office, of its decision. There were no objections. On December 6, DeMint announced he was the new chairman of the Steering Committee.
[...]
"If there is a trademark for the committee, it is a willingness to obstruct in the name of principle," said Jade West, a former executive director of the Steering Committee who is now a lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. "The Steering Committee's job is easier when the opposition is in charge."
[...]
Offering amendments also serves other functions. It gives the minority party an opportunity to slow down the legislative process and still look good. "Generally speaking, the view of minority senators is that the majority party gets blamed for not getting things done," said Steve Smith, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, votes on amendments can be used against senators of the opposing party in subsequent elections.

The strategy of offering amendments that are destined to fail for the purpose of getting other senators on the record is one that Helms promoted as a Steering Committee leader.
[...]
The hotline notices include any bill numbers that have been assigned and brief descriptions of the legislation. The notices sometimes make their way through the voice-mail and e-mail systems late at night, after senators and staffers have left for the day. Nonetheless, if no one registers an objection to the cloakroom staff, the leaders can call up a bill on the floor. If no one objects on the floor to any motions leading to passage, then the Senate can pass a bill -- without most senators ever expressing a view on it, much less reading it or even knowing it went through. Although the hotline system is not well known off Capitol Hill, it is how much legislation moves through the Senate.
[...]
Conservative groups are counting on DeMint to keep it up. West, the Steering Committee's former executive director, said that the group is serving as "an in-house watchdog" for conservatives. Weyrich added: "It's doing exactly what we designed it to do back then, to be a medium [through] which senators could strategize on what to do to defeat the liberals."
[...]

I think that we should substituted "the representatives of the people" whenever conservatives use the word "liberal."  And for conservative, we should use elite.

It's particularly telling that this obstruction has been going on since 1974.  As I've said, it's the elite pushback against the rights of the people to govern themselves. 

Floridagal......"Someday we will have to answer for what our leaders have done."

--->> Yes, indeed. Doesn't the pain and suffering by our hand hurt so much? No doubt many don't care or feel it, by just ignoring it, and they're ok with that.

It has happened to us before and will again. When and how bad is the only question. And it will be because of our governments actions and everyone who has allowed this to continue are equally as guilty.

Thank you for your post. If you are so inclined, this video is unbelievably touching as well. Have the tissue handy.

http://www.current.tv/pods/war/PD05977

51.

Ah, yes.  General Betray Us.

Do you think maybe he's got a chip on his shoulder? 

Phil, you must be happy your son is engaged in politics.

What ever happened to him coming out the Santa Fe College?

Hillary made a "representative of the people" push back this morning to the "elite's" gains on Wall Street  happy talk;  she's liberal if an unlikely populist spokesperson

This sloshing liquidity in the hands of a few has been made by stealing labor's share of.productivity gains

notice the record was made by news of a takeover bid of an American company by a foreign one

and it was celebrated with new highs???!!!!!! 

Our balance of trade has been so bad for so long that foreign reserves could buy up every productive asset we have left, and then our 50 cent dollars could go to a quarter and the Dow could hit 30,000.

anyone think we would actually be ahead if that happened?

New Thread folks