Howard Dean is first.

You know we already have a democratic strategist assigned to our local state senate campaign here in newport news. the young lady worked for dean's campaign in iowa and was a speech writer for obama.

and now she is working with us. so we are having a meeting tomorrow to set up precinct activity in our city. we are going full throttle on this.

so Howard, see what ya did?

our candidate announced 2 weeks ago and they already are going on this.

50 state, how bout local too.

Howard you are my hero.

Now we're cooking with steam. Howard is a winner always. His 50-state strategy was just the shot in the arm the Dem Party needed, not to mention his many personal qualities.

".....the narrow band of Democratic elites who backed Dean."

ELITES!?!?!?!  The elites got us into trouble.  The elites are the establishment.  The MSM is still afraid of the power of Howard Dean and his supporters.  They wouldn't continue this attack if he wasn't succeeding in some way. 

I grew up with the Washington Post.  It is certainly a sorry rag nowadays.  Not as bad as the NYT mind you, but still not the paper of Ben Bradlee.

Oprah is to hold a fundraiser for Obama. $2300 a clip to attend.

~~~~~~~~~

Joe Wilson endorsed Clinton -- no surprise there, he has been supporting insiders for several elections, though born and raised with strong  Republican office-holding family members.

~~~

Bottom line on  C-span: Kerry says the Senate now has 60 votes for the Defense Bill.

Maybe no cots needed after all.

Dean had broad support.  It just collasped heading into Iowa because fear set in big time.

Leave it to Anne Kornblut to get Howard all wrong. She doesn't get much right. Barack Obama is no Howard Dean. And that's a compliment to our Howard. Howard is still ahead of his time. Obama is too into his centrist rhetoric for my tastes.

4.

Paz

Right on about Dean.

I believe the Post was, and maybe still is owned in part, by former Dem Senator/Florida Governor Bob Graham's family.

Why have so many outstanding newspapers gone mediocre now. Sad.

If Al Gore doesn't run, he may one day endorse one of the Dem candidates. If so, I fully intend to vote for that candidate. I trust his wisdom entirely. He was right when he endorsed Howard.

As the Presidential race gains speed global poverty is an issue that needs to be critically addressed by all potential candidates. The United States has agreed to the Millennium Development Goals, plan that will put an end to global poverty by 2015. Unfortunately less than half of aid from the United States goes to the poorest countries where people earn less than $2 a day. Groups such as the Borgen Project are working to bring global attention to global poverty. For any candidate to receive recognition it is crucial that their foreign policy addresses these issues.

July 17, 2007 3:11 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

 - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - -

Bad Vibes? 

11.  Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they don't have to illegal, just say ole. for christ's sake, this is ridiculous. they can just come in by airplane.

this is pathetic even by bush' standards

the only thing I am afraid of.

remember in f9/11? when they went to the little town of tappahanak, va and thought that terrorists were there and the police said none were there? well my son was there this weekend and said, um, they are still not there.

When Kucinich Is Frontrunner, He Sings a Different Tune

So Dennis Kucinich is irate at Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, for suggesting that he should be shut out of future debates, calling his comments "trying to rig an election."

Unfortunately for him, apparently Kucinich ducked a debate from his primary opponent  in his congressional reelection race last year.

http://www.newsnet5.com/politics/8604065/detail.html

LOL

why is the guy with  no name posting crap> oh, he is one of the trolls the rnc is paying. at least make up a name.

hate is not a game.

joan where did u hear this on kerry? I am watching cspan now, and nada.

54.

Phil Specht
Tue, 07/17/07
3:59 pm

....
I don't know if you saw Warner on Sunday add "to protect Israel" as part of the mission.
--------

That CAMOUFLAGE was always "part of the mission"...to spread American style "democracy" in ME and then to the rest of the Globe since the birth of Israel.
As well as it was at those time very same "part of the mission"...to spread Soviet style "socialism".

Latter illusion has already failed, it's time to fail for former one..., lol.

Seashell, see Jewish people (just people themselves) had ever have anything to do with it..., they were just fooled and deceived...as many other peoples were/are (including us, Americans).

To Warner and alike:
DON'T TIE Jewish people to your Co.'s CRIMINALITY, you have Olmert&Co. to do it!

 http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/kerry-more-than-60-senators-support-change-of-course-in-iraq-2007-07-17.html

linda,

I read it on the blue bottom line that  C-span runs about every ten minutes, more or less. I haven't seen it since, but the messages there do change very often. One would think C- span would get the message directly from the messenger to make sure it is correct, but who knows.

58.

Phil Specht
Tue, 07/17/07
4:10 pm

...
Out. Now. to me means that
get it started
do it now
---------

!!!
I had long have suspicion that technically, the very "process" of leaving Iraq from pure military point might be very complicated thing, given that Iraqi's "Islamo-fascists" (e.g. freedom fighters) will continue to attack and try to kill soldiers WHILE we are leaving.

If there is a possibility to prevent this with "residual force", let it be...but, honestly, I would try to negotiate it with them...they deserve such a respect, imo.

60.

FRED from OR
Tue, 07/17/07
4:24 pm


Leaving this country alone with the government that Bush and the Neocons installed, is a recipe for disaster. It will be our last and biggest mistake.
-------

The "recipe for disaster" was enabled on March of 2003.
That WAS the LAST and the BIGGEST...., and that's good...because AFTER that will be...NO MORE, lol.

An excellent interview with Sheehan on Hardball.
Chris was very sympathetic.
I thought I heard that Kerry said there were 60 votes on CNN.

LOL, that is funny.  Dean's campaign to change American politics was a failure!  Right!

I just sent off a letter to my Senators.  They're looking for 50,000.  So far, 20,000+ have been sent. 

Jeez.  I forgot to post for twenty minutes and nobody was here?

Harriet Miers again rejects subpoena. Wonder what will happen next...

50.

former

.... It would call on the U.S. military to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2007, with a residual force to keep Iraqis and their neighbors honest.....

http://www.joebiden.com/issues/?id=0009
---------

That's what HIBRUS is all about.
To declare our "residual force" someone’s(???) "honesty keeper" IS a HIBRUS, only detached from reality politician(s), like Biden(s) can propose this

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

hate correcting - but it is hUbris not hIbrus.

HUBRIS is going into a country destroying and then exiting ASAP in chaos without any responsible political solution, no conscience, and saying

"It wasn't OUR party - it was THEIR party that screwed up"

If their is a regional ethnic massacre after we leave, these people will hate Americans of both parties for generations, and won't distinguish which party it was. And rightfully so.

If there is a regional war, after we leave, you might even find a Democrat sending bombers and troops.

63. former

The "recipe for disaster" was enabled on March of 2003.
That WAS the LAST and the BIGGEST...., and that's good...because AFTER that will be...NO MORE, lol.
===========

nobody is disputing that, but we need to look forward, and that mistake will be pinned on the either the Democrats alone or both parties.

Worse yet, we'll have to watch millions of people die and oil skyrocket, knowing it didn't have to be that way.

Fred,
A few topics ago you wanted infor about Kucinich's plan to exit Iraq...
http://kucinich.us/iraqplan

The plan starts by announcing a withdrawel date which encourages folks to talk about what happens next.
There is no phony partition discussion. The Iraqis control the process which is the only way any exit plan will work.

A typical day in Iraq for a US soldier

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/2007...

-------------------------------------------------------
This is very similar to my own experience.
The locals hate you because we hate and fear them. The local troops could care less because they do not want to be seen as colaborators.

Jim Webb seems to get it....

from Sirota's blog,,,(Sirota definitely gets it!)

Webb - Dems Future Lies In Rejecting Rubin Wing; Is Obama Listening?

Following the New York Times’ belated report on how economic populism is on the rise in the Democratic Party, I caught this from Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) in today’s Washington Times:

“He criticized what he called ‘the Rubin wing of the Democratic Party,’ after Robert E. Rubin, former President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary, saying those Democrats share the same problem as many Republicans: ‘We’re not paying attention to what has happened to basic working people in the country.’ He said of the freshman Senate Democrats, six of them take a ‘populist’ view, and said they are bringing needed reinforcements to the Senate: ‘We’ve got a number of us that pretty well see the economic issues the same way. I think that’s the Democratic Party of the future.’”

Howard Dean is FIRST and it is stories like this one in the WaPo that have it wrong.

Without Howard, it would be the same-old-same-old from the Beltway Boys and Girld who have never understood what it means to build a party from the ground up.

***********
Just on my way to bed but am posting parts of a good piece about putz's latest folly ... supreme stupidity is what he excels at ... and with the whole sordid crew in tow.

Before the advent of putzCo, I had never heard my country referred to as a *global intellectual buffoon." But when such represent us, I cannot disagree.

We can ... and must ... do better. And time is running out.

And I am off to PillowLand.

=================
Bush's speech needs some clearing up
By Rami G. Khouri
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

It is hard to know if we should be pleased or terrified that US President George W. Bush Monday signaled renewed involvement by the United States in Arab-Israeli peace-making.

[...]
The first is the legitimacy of the peace-making process and its framework. Bush's attempt to define the ground rules of re-engagement for peace-making in terms of what was convenient for America because it was acceptable to Israel was farcical. It will only perpetuate long-standing constraints in American mediation efforts.

[...]
The second problem with Bush's approach was that he took sides in the political quarrel among Palestinians, trying to wipe away Hamas and assert the dominance of President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party. Hamas deserves criticism on some serious counts, no doubt, but its fate must reflect the democratic will of the Palestinians.

[...]
The third problem with Bush's approach was his tendency to mix up the specifics of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Palestinian political feud with his "global war on terror." He remains understandably obsessed with the terror threat, but he should not let it totally cloud his ability to think rationally about the causes and solutions of the Arab-Israeli conflict. They are very different issues. By combining them in a single worldview, he made the US, in one fell swoop, a global intellectual buffoon, a major global instigator of new terrorism via adventures such as Iraq, and a discredited and marginal player in Arab-Israeli peace-making.

[...]
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?...

27.  dog soldier

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

Nothing wrong with this, similar to Biden's (but several months after Biden's plan was introduced.)

 4. Convene a regional conference for the purpose of developing a security and stabilization force for Iraq. The focus should be on a process which solves the problems of Iraq. The US has told the international community, "This is our policy and we want you to come and help us implement it." The international community may have an interest in helping Iraq, but has no interest in participating in the implementation of failed US policy.

5. Prepare an international security and peacekeeping force to move in, replacing US troops who then return home. The UN has an indispensable role to play here, but cannot do it as long as the US is committed to an occupation. The UN is the only international organization with the ability to mobilize and the legitimacy to authorize troops.

The UN is the place to develop the process, to build the political consensus, to craft a political agreement, to prepare the ground for the peacekeeping mission, .....

 BUT THIS IS Naive and Patronizing

A reconciliation process which brings people together is the only way to overcome their fears and reconcile their differences. It is essential to create a minimum of understanding and mutual confidence between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

But how can a reconciliation process be constructed in Iraq when there is such mistrust: Ethnic cleansing is rampant....

We  cannot force these people to love each other.  This is no different than the present policy.   While I have nothing against trying - we cannot rely upon that continency for a political solution

The rest is similar to the tone of Biden's plan, but and good, however there is nothing in here about local control and each ethnic group having its own State.  That is the centerpiece of the Biden idea, and so I cannot say that I can accept this plan in place of it.

 However, I believe Dennis has some good ideas and insight, and I see no reason the plans cannot be combined and refined into a Biden-Kucinich plan.

former, apparently you don't read well or is it lack of comprehension?   You wrote:

"Seashell, see Jewish people (just people themselves) had ever have anything to do with it..., they were just fooled and deceived...as many other peoples were/are (including us, Americans)."

Please tell me something about this sentence I don't already know.  :-)

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

Malloy was sticking up for the Palestinians and getting hate mail calling him anti-semitic.  I wonder what causes such rabid mal-functioning of the frontal lobes.

60 votes?  Hmmmmm!  We still need to keep flogging for impeachment.  The repugs do not want imp proceedings to start and may roll over on this.  It can always be rescinded by the dick ta ter or martial law or executive privilege.  

The hate crime bill should begin by targeting various repugs.

IMPEACH.

Gore and no one but Gore. 

This is from an Iraqi
http://www.truthdig.com/interview/item/2...

[snip]

Wasfi: There is an element of white man’s burden in that. “How will these people wander through the desert and survive without us?” The reality is that Iraq is the cradle of civilization. The ancestors of the people who live in modern-day Iraq developed the first system of writing, the basis of mathematics, law, science and medicine. This is 7,000 years of civilization accomplished without the help of Americans. This country [the United States] has less than 300 years of history. Iraq has over 7,000. Who needs whose help? The reality is that they are more than capable. Don’t forget that, like, five years ago, we were terrified of what they were capable of doing to us, and now they can’t move forward without our guidance. That’s a misconception. If you can tell me how American teenagers with M-16s and hand grenades can improve Iraqi society, I’m willing to listen. But they’ve had over four years now, and the death and destruction and chaos and misery is increasing every day. It’s enough. Seventy-two percent of the American troops serving in Iraq in 2006 said, “Bring us home by the end of the year.” Eighty-two percent of the Iraqi people want us out, and the majority of the American people are unhappy with how things are going. Bring the troops home.

Booya

dog soldier

========

good link - like Chris Hedges and read his book, but busy right now have to read it and get back to you later on it

"Global intellectual buffoon."  One should never put the words Bush (or the US) and intellectual in the same sentence.  LOL

Yesterday,  we slid farther down the rabbit hole when people were discussing al Qaeda in Iraq and al Qaeda International or something like that.  As I said, it's a serious case of frontal lobe dysfunction.  Maybe it's mine,  since I don't have the hang of double-speak. 

We are at the tea party and there are two Mad Hatters, P&P. 

Off to write short notes....I wonder if we can get thru to susan collins.  She's old enuf to know better but obviously doesn't.

Still in the caves................. 

37.

More profoundly put than our preznut's last year's worth of pronouncements!!

37.

Super Renee.  I'm sorry I haven't figured out how to put a link with an image in my new software on Hannah. 

Good one, Renee.

My short note to Pelosi turned into a long letter.  

Monica, please post the link to the youTube vid about the bulldozing of the trees and lives.

41.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwI26-zV74

If you want to copy and paste.  I've posted it on our DFALink page, as well 

De Mint was just speaking.  if you want to know how they work it--

Congress - Right Guard

Brian 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."
[...]

24.

FRED from OR
Tue, 07/17/07
5:34 pm


hate correcting - but it is hUbris not hIbrus.

HUBRIS is going into a country destroying and then exiting...

If their is a regional ethnic massacre after we leave, these people will hate Americans of both parties for generations, and won't distinguish which party it was. And rightfully so.

If there is a regional war, after we leave, you might even find a Democrat sending bombers and troops.
---------

Yep..., you are right it was about hubris..., my bad.

But "going into a country destroying..." it IS NOT hubris it is a CRIME, crime against humanity...., those are different things.

As for the prospective that "these people will hate Americans of both parties for generations” I’m not so sure.
Those ancient “underdeveloped” cultures (as opposed to modern, “established” Democracies) are likely to distinguish “the People” from “the Powerful”.

Concerning regional war..., Iraqis do have enough with the war. The only people interested in it now (as well as it always was) ARE those "chicken hawks" who love to dream about enemies' "last throes"..., those will soon be “left behind”.

44. interesting post. the inside institutional stuff is always interesting to me, but never very surprising. things being known, one would guess that a method, or similar institution, would be created to effectively battle it. in contrast there is this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/17/...

Fred,
Biden’s plan may be a good plan or it may not. It isn’t our decision. The problem with this discussion is there is no entrance condition discussed to even get to the Biden portion.
As I posted earlier…
The Iraq folks don’t trust us because we were the main pushers for sanctions which killed over a million folks.
We illegally invaded them.
We tortured them and illegally jailed them.
We degrade them constantly.
So the problem is how to even get the process started.
You refer to the Balkans and I mentioned a few points on the success:
We had no interest in the outcome.
Other stakeholders begged us to enter.
We had no desire to stay there as there is nothing in the Balkans that interest us.
We need someone to play us in the Middle East.
May I suggest France is the only country that can broker a peace?
My reasons:
1 - France opposed the war and has nothing to do with it. I do not believe French troops are involved.

2 - In my former life in international finance, France was tied closely to Iraq. They built plants and supplied technology for the Iraq infrastructure. They may be seen as an honest agent by the Iraq people.

3 - During the ruinous Iran-Iraq War, France supported Iraq while Italy supported Iran. We armed both sides to keep the thing going so both Iran and Iraq would be weakened.

4 - France has a very large Muslim population which may be more likely to participate in French society if France tried to help end the Iraq debacle.

5 - France might decide to help because it is both a humanitarian thing to do and it will really embarrass Bush.

6 - They have a new go leader which may see this as a chance to star on the world stage

7 - This will bring prestige to France and maybe even oil breaks from the rest of the cartel members.

If France were to get the sides talking and bring the neighbors in then anything is possible.
We, of course, will play banker and will agree to remove all troops, contractors, close bases, leave the oil alone. We will pay all costs and reparations to those we injured.

There's No Such Thing as the Homeland
By Ryan Singel

A declassified version of a new National Intelligence Estimate regarding the threat to the U.S. by terrorism was made public today, concluding that radical Islamic fundamentalist plotters are still out there and some jackasses inside the country could get radicalized enough to launch small scale attacks.

An advanced class of 7th graders with access to the internet could have collectively written a more incisive report relying simply on open source documents. Danger Room's Noah knows it and ABC's Brian Ross sees the same thing.

In fact, what's most notable about the report outside of its inanity, is that one single word is repeated continually through the report.

That word is "Homeland."

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/07...

Russia could be a broker in Iraq too. They don't need the oil.

47. good idea, dog. but you left out:

8-Nicolas Sarkozy would absolutely love to be seen as the broker in the international light thus showing france's true form. this is a 50/50 good/bad, but i'd take it if they would do it.

make me king for a day and I would banish the word "homeland" mprov

49.

Phil Specht
Tue, 07/17/07
7:51 pm


Russia could be a broker in Iraq too. They don't need the oil.
-------
Israel will reject both (Russia and France).

Edwards agrees to smaller three-way debate
Democratic candidate accepts invitation to face Clinton, Kucinich on MSNBC

MSNBC
Updated: 56 minutes ago

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards renewed his call Tuesday for smaller, more substantive candidate forums, agreeing to MSNBC’s invitation to debate Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich on live television.

Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 2004, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., were captured on open microphones criticizing Kucinich, D-Ohio, by name after an NAACP candidates forum last week.

Edwards was recorded by several news organizations telling Clinton that “we should try to have a more serious … smaller group,” to which Clinton replied, “We’ve got to cut the number.”

“Our guys should talk,” Clinton added, handing ammunition to critics who accused her and Edwards of colluding to freeze out lesser-known Democrats like Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19814631/

52.

former
Tue, 07/17/07
7:58 pm
-------
They may not reject either one only after America leaves ME.

i agree, phil. the article says every reason why.

btw, i am an out of the closet globalist, so its natural that i wouldn't like a nationalist reinforcing mind-set.

51.

Phil Specht
Tue, 07/17/07
7:54 pm


make me king for a day and I would banish the word "homeland" mprov
--------
when occupiers using this word...., fascism is a real danger.

33.

seashell
Tue, 07/17/07
6:17 pm

Please tell me something about this sentence I don't already know. :-)
--------
Yes, I know..., I know that you know. :-)

Phil just gave me a good chance to bring about historical aspect of the birth of Israel..., and I recalled your "lovely" AIPAC..., lol.

Keith is on assignment?  What does that mean?  Thoughts?

With rise in autism, programs strained
Parents struggle to get services

By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff  |  July 5, 2007

A decade ago, it took a few months to get a child into Melmark New England, a special school largely for children with autism. Now, the wait can be five years.

Boston-area parents, worried their child may be autistic, routinely face delays as long as nine months to confirm the diagnosis -- even though current wisdom holds that treatment should begin as early as possible.

And LADDERS, a Wellesley autism clinic, has all but closed its doors to new patients: "We're backed up well over a year here, and other clinics are struggling the same way," said Dr. Margaret Bauman, its director.

Statewide, the number of schoolchildren diagnosed with autism has nearly doubled over the last five years, from 4,080 to 7,521, according to soon-to-be-published data from the Department of Education.

Massachusetts provides some of the best care in the nation for children with autism, but the increase is straining the system and forcing parents to fight harder than ever to get help.

"Many people who haven't had the experience assume the hardest part is hearing your child has autism," said Ann Guay of Bedford, whose 12-year-old son, Brian, has the disorder. "But I think the greater challenge is ....

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/05/with_rise_in_autism_programs_strained/

So much for the John Stossel's  "it's just the way they've been counting the statistics" spin

correct 35 for the value of the dollar before you get to carried away

Monica, the link doesn't work.  :-(

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards renewed his call Tuesday for smaller, more substantive candidate forums, agreeing to MSNBC’s invitation to debate Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich on live television.

Ha! So Clinton and Edwards think they are going up against Kucinich. If I were their campaign managers, I would tell them it might be a bad move.

Kucinich has all the facts and answers right for progressives. Edwards' and Clinton's answers will only enlighten how much their strategies for the party are lacking in clarity and simplicity in contrast to Kucinich's answers like: Universal health care vs. Single payer plan; Fix NAFTA/CAFTA vs Cancel NAFTA/CAFTA; and all the other issues Kucinich has answers and introduced legislation for like Paper Ballot Election and Instant Runoffs vs no plans at all.

I don't like debates but will look forward to this one.

I hate it when Keith is gone and don't watch it much then. His substitutes are just not up to par. I wrote Countdown and told them so.

dog soldier

=========

Just saw your post and still have to read it, but skimming over it, I understand your skepticism, and I also understand the sentiments behind the "out now" sentiment.  I've been there. 

Most of all I would like to say that it doesn't bother me to see another country negotiating some kind of political redistricting of the country into Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd areas, but of course, we are there now.

The ideal would be to bring other countries into the process as we draw down.  I think just introducing the idea to the Iraqi people, of each ethnic group  having its own secure borders,  would do much to lessen the civil war passions.

Now to read your post more carefully

Keith is on assignment?  What does that mean?  Thoughts?

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

sea,

maybe before they went on air................he was in themens room for an unusual amount of time maybe?  hell i dunno.............

dog soldier
Tue, 07/17/07
7:48 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If it comes down to France or Biden....................Ill take the French...........and thats sayin sumpin.

I also wrote and said I don't watch the show if I don't hear his voice.

Count me in with Sarkozy also.   And personally,  I love the French.

47.

dog soldier

==========

I think France would be great  from what you say, especially since they were so much against the invasion to begin with.

I don't think they would be willing to work with Bush and the Neocons though.  I think it is possible to get 2/3 majority to vote for a plan that would override the president's veto, to end the "war" and occupation, and for Congress to appoint a team to start working on it, with the regional countries, France, if willing, UN, NATO, the Arab League, or whomever else is willing to help out,

 and of course the central government in Iraq will have cede some of its power, especially the national police and army.  that is something that might be the most difficult part.

Edwards, Kucinich and Clinton on MSNBC.  This should be great and I wonder if Keithie will be involved.  Please keep the mouth (Matthews) locked in the broom closet for the duration.

Å progressive, a repug and a dem medium to medium rare.   Guess who's who! 

If it comes down to France or Biden....................Ill take the French...........and thats sayin sumpin.

===========

It is not either, or.  I don't think the French can put Humpty Dumpty together again, any more than Bush can.  I believe there will be three States.

We can do it now, diplomatically and politically as we leave, or we can watch a bloody ethnic war, do it.

 or even end up keeping the country together as it is now with another bloody Saddam-type dictator to keep it one country again (if one side "wins.")

Either way, the region will be the loser, as well as Capitol Hill and the Democrats, along with the Republicans.

seashell - Keith said on Friday that he would be flying this wknd.

s/b this past wknd.

Either way, the region will be the loser, as well as Capitol Hill and the Democrats, along with the Republicans.

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

Very good Fred............now, all our phoney politicians have to do is have a 1 hour slide show for the american people illustrating how OUR failed policy decisions in that region since 1945 have directly contributed to the region being a loser...............in fact toss in the olde european colonial powers and the american people will finaly figure out that the Frankenstein monster on the loose was created by, basically..........................us, england, france, etc......................

Confesion is good for the soul...............and in this case, maybe we can begin again and ge it right this time.........becausw we sure fucked it up the first time

Joan* In*Florida

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

Are they trying to pretend the other candidates (especially Obama) don't exist?  It might backfire.

FRED from OR
Tue, 07/17/07
8:44 pm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fred.............you know what the BIG problem is with your posts?  Let me be clear..........you WANT the US to police all the bloodbaths going on in the world, or at least a couple...........

i don think these people have the stomach for it and I for one dont blame them.........the american military aint stopping this slaughter as we speak................and I almost laugh at how you think this land will be "partitioned" equally an fairly...........get a grip will ya..........one group will bitch about something................you are living ina  fantasy land, good intentions maybe but not realistic

Fred.............you know what the BIG problem is with your posts?  Let me be clear..........you WANT the US to police all the bloodbaths going on in the world, or at least a couple...........

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

That's off-the-wall Mike.   What Biden wants is what we all want, a political solution, not a military solution - as well exit.

Biden and I are not what you want us to be in your warped apprehensions.

Plan for Iraq: What It Is - and What It Is Not

Some commentators have either misunderstood the Plan, or mischaracterized it. Here is what the plan is - and what it is not:

1. The Plan is not partition.

In fact, it may be the only way to prevent a violent partition - which has already started -- and preserve a unified Iraq. We call for a strong central government, with clearly defined responsibilities for truly common interests like foreign policy and the distribution of oil revenues. Indeed, the Plan provides an agenda for that government, whose mere existence will not end sectarian violence.

http://www.joebiden.com/issues/?id=0009

It is not either the French or Biden.
It is an outside country to broker a discussion before any plan including Biden's can be discussed. Biden's plan depends on a strong central government. Maliki is not trusted by the Iraq so there is no strong government.
A creation of a federation will have to led by others not currently involved and with friendly ties to Iraq.

We do not have enough troops in the world to bring security so escorting people anywhere is not going to happen.

The French were a strong presence in Iraq for years. The Russians were also involved but they are not trusted. However, Russia is an exporter of oil so they have no interest. The important thing is to have someone else take the lead that doesn't have a strong interest in the outcome and is trusted by the Iraq people. The more Bush and the press bad mouth the French, the more they are acceptable to Iraq.
The French understand the ME.

dog soldier

========

I have no problem with your analysis and you are probably right about the escorting thing.  However, our presence there, as ugly as I admit it is (maybe because it is so ugly,) is still enough of a bogey-man to discourage an all out frontal civil war bloodbath - until another factor comes into play.

48. and 51. (I think) Phil and mprov

I detest the term Homeland. Here's one definition (albeit the fourth) from Wiki:

In German, homeland is translated as Heimatland, and this was a term used by the Nazis to refer to the German "Fatherland." It was also the name of a strongly pro-Nazi magazine edited by Wilhelm Weiss during the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland

Semantics is (are?) everything.

I am haunted (and have been since that movie was on TV a few years ago) about the parallels between the rise of the Nazis and our current situation. I just googled that movie and can't find it -- don't know if anyone else remembers it -- it was a made for TV movie and someone controversial at the time? CBS maybe? Can't remember.

:59

Deep Purple Paint It Black Space West Germany, July 1970 * 0:33:55 (Real | MP3

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/2387...

If their is a regional ethnic massacre after we leave, these people will hate Americans of both parties for generations, and won't distinguish which party it was. And rightfully so.

They already do. and being there is what made them hate us.

If there is a regional war, after we leave, you might even find a Democrat sending bombers and troops.

You can paint any bleak picture you want on the blank canvas of the future. At this time about 75% of Americans and Iraqis want us out and that's what's going to happen.

Is this it? This'll haunt ya:

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_mai...|80964|1|,00.html

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ed Gernon was fired Sunday (April 6) from Alliance Atlantis, the production company making "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" for CBS. He had worked there 11 years and was head of the firm's long-form programming division.

Neither Gernon nor Alliance Atlantis is commenting on the matter.

"Hitler" has caused controversy ever since CBS announced its intentions last summer. In an interview with TV Guide about the four-hour film, scheduled for May, Gernon compares many Americans' acceptance of a war in Iraq to the fearful climate in post-World War I Germany, of which Hitler took advantage to become its ruler.

"It basically boils down to an entire nation gripped by fear, who ultimately chose to give up their civil rights and plunged the whole nation into war," Gernon said in the interview. "I can't think of a better time to examine this history than now."

Gernon's remarks reportedly didn't go over well at CBS, which has tried very hard to frame "Hitler" as a historical piece that in no way sensationalizes or offers excuses for Hitler's actions.

Sitka

======

It is wise to hope for the best , but to expect the worst

Fred.............you know what the BIG problem is with your posts?  Let me be clear..........you WANT the US to police all the bloodbaths going on in the world, or at least a couple...........

What's really wrong is that he's relentlessly trying to sell us an Edsel. But we don't want it and neither does anyone else. It's gotten REALLY old. 

Fred,
It is all about a process.
We announce a withdrawel starting in March of 2007.
It will take a long time to work the details and transportation issues out.
The UN urges the French to take the lead. Call them the Paris Accords; call them anything but get someone else other then us to lead the negotiations to forge some kind of a workable peace.
In otherwords, anything that is done is done with the understanding of when we are leaving.
If they really need our muscle then the leadership will form a strong federation before we leave.
If they don't then there is nothing we can do about it anyway.
The surge is a misnomer anyway. The added troops don't even replace the coalition troops that left.
Since more troops were not successful before there is no reason to think they will be successful now.

85.
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_mai...|80964|1|,00.html

or

http://tinyurl.com/2ybhfc

Hope one of those works.

Ah, yes.
Down with Wrote!
Long live Posted!

A purely DFA1.0 cognizant post.

PBS just announced  Joe Biden will be on PBS  The NewsHour tomorrow night to talk about Iraq 

Lindsey Graham mentioned that he agrees the plan will help local security but worries about the regional ramification, ( i.e.: of Shiites breaking off as a theocracy, etc.)

80.
~The more Bush and the press bad mouth the French, the more they are acceptable to Iraq.~

<
interesting notion. I likes. I thinking reverse psychology?)

85. sb 86. (I'm not too good with numbers)

But clarification on 86. This quote/article is from April 2003

Lieberman is about to speak on the floor (I think)

...will vote against cloture

86. Netflix, Blockbuster, Film Connection do not offer this film, interesting.

91.
Sometihng like the enemy of your enemy is my friend.
So if we don't like the French then they may be ok to Iraq.

Getting the French or someone else acceptable to Iraq to broker a peace would salvage a tiny part of Bush's presidency.

The French are insulted by the way we keep rubbing WW I and II in their faces and by calling them "Old Europe". They are very proud of their country and would relish the idea of rubbing Bush's nose in the dirt.

dog soldier

=========

Maybe the Biden plan will work flawlessly to heal the region - maybe it won't be workable at all, but at least we should be doing is talking to the Iraqis and the international community - in Europe and the ME about it. 

It may morph into something very different in the process.  But what we have now is not going to work.  The civil war started as a result of the elections.   They were predictable as to whom which group would come out on top, and now the national government, national police, national army,  is biased towards on ethnic group, and disparaging to the other two groups, particularly the Sunni, because of the Baathists.

It is supposed to be "Democracy" but Maliki only got 20% of the vote, even without Sunnis voting.

This government was all conceived and executed by the same people that gave us WMDs and Shock and Awe, and de-Baathification,  - that should give you a hint.

It is nice there is buy-in on something.
The important thing is getting a process to start.

97.
Fred,
The civil war started because we invaded, removed the state, stuck a puppet government in place, murdered and tortured the people.
We can never take a leadership role in the solution.

82. Can't recall the name of the movie either, only heard mention of it. Yes, semantics are everything and this is pretty unsubtle IMO, especially past ties.

Someone asked on a previous thread... did we know Bush and Kerry were related? Yes, it's back a good dozen or more generations. My kids are related 15 or so generations back, to Dean 16 generations back... lol, think pretty much anyone w/ ancestors that go back the Revolution and more will have ties of some kind.

DFA 1.0 long gone :-(
DFA 2.0 as well

Hey, whatcha got against 'Wrote'? jk

I thought we were all seven people removed from Kevin Bacon?

dog soldier

========

Congress alone must do it.  Bush cannot and will not work with the French.  If some moderate Republicans can be acquiescent to the Biden Plan (Brownback has already signed on) we could get 2/3 to go around the White House.

If anyone can do it, Biden can - judging from the wacky comments I get on this blog - I am encouraged.  He's is respected on both sides of the aisle.

Is anyone here interested in the potential Reid has created tonight?

Sen Brown (OH) ...DFA endorsed... is in the batters box.

:24 (timestamp)

bbl - dog - taking a bath before we get lightning

night all...
It is well past my bedtime

101. maybe only six, or even less :-D (funny thing is, in talking w/ puddle just now I realized that question came to me via email, not the blog. w/e :)

Hey Paine - you on for lunch tomorrow or Thurs.?

night dog soldier :-)

Either is cool, Thankful

So Keith's program tonight was saying that putzie is thinking of surging the surge in Sept. 

Nite dg.

miles davis nefertiti nefertiti 1:13:31 (Real | MP3)

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/23761

Sleep like a Dog, Man.

110.

seashell
>
Didn't see the program, but that sure seems like what is comin'

Expecting the worst is one thing. Wasting more lives and money in a guesswork attempt to stop it is another.

109:

apollo 13 2:24:10 (Real | MP3)

Maybe the Biden plan will work flawlessly to heal the region

It won't for one simple reason if not others -- it will never be implemented. Events have left it in the scrap heap of history. 

Kevin Bacon and I go way back. Like to Adam, if there was one.

either is cool - cool. Have an appt. that direction in the late a.m. tomorrow, can find ya later. My phone doesn't always get reception in the dinkier towns so name yer time and place :-)

Generally @ 3:30-4:30 at Vircelli's ...the one on the south end of town...remember?

Yum :-) see ya there.

Lieberman is about to speak on the floor (I think)...will vote against cloture

Talk about playing both sides of the street. There must be some way to punish the CT Democrats who voted for such a creature. 

Webb - Dems Future Lies In Rejecting Rubin Wing; Is Obama Listening?

Following the New York Times’ belated report on how economic populism is on the rise in the Democratic Party, I caught this from Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) in today’s Washington Times:

“He criticized what he called ‘the Rubin wing of the Democratic Party,’ after Robert E. Rubin, former President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary, saying those Democrats share the same problem as many Republicans: ‘We’re not paying attention to what has happened to basic working people in the country.’ He said of the freshman Senate Democrats, six of them take a ‘populist’ view, and said they are bringing needed reinforcements to the Senate: ‘We’ve got a number of us that pretty well see the economic issues the same way. I think that’s the Democratic Party of the future.’”

I wasn't big on Webb during his campaign, but he has yet to disappoint me as a senator. 

120.

Sitka
>
get rid of Christopher Shays

120. Sitka, we're all being punished, he's in office :-(

btw, *great* to see ya!

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/21549...

35. $ $ -- Booya Living on borrowed money -- and time. 

get rid of Christopher Shays

What's with him and MoJoe always talking in a whine? 

126.

Sitka
<
six degrees of separation.