dean and ending war is first

Rejecting the Rubin wing of the party...James Webb...just as Howard Dean did in 03.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1392

Good idea about ActBlue. 

77. Sitka

I imagine they'll all make their pitch to him.

============
If we Democrats can initiate an exit strategy to leave the country stable, there will be no Al Qaeda factor. The stated goal of Al Qaeda is a worldwide fundamentalist Islamic empire, and as such are the enemies of all soveriegn States. The Iraqi States would each eliminate them, naturally, or drive them underground.

Blogosphere Day celebrates the greatest aspiration of our democracy: people coming together to change the direction of their country. By enabling Democrats from all walks of life to work together, to pool their passion and energy, and to elect candidates who represent their values, ActBlue has created a unique strategic advantage for the Democratic Party.

The tradition began on July 19, 2004 when the blogosphere infused a little-known candidate in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District, Ginny Schrader, with funds using a three-week-old online fundraising platform, ActBlue. The next year, Democrat Paul Hackett rocketed to national attention after raising over $100,000 in one day: July 19, 2005. Two weeks later, he nearly won one of the reddest seats in the nation foreshadowing the rough waters ahead for Republicans. Last summer's blogosphere phenomenon was Democrat Ned Lamont, who raised $500,000 online through ActBlue.

And then last fall, one Republican after the next fell victim to the Democratic wave started by all these candidates on Blogosphere Days past.

To maintain our strategic online advantage, this year the online Democratic community has chosen to invest in ActBlue. We're honored to be the featured beneficiary of Blogosphere Day and are working hard to leverage this support into the technology and human resources that, over the next 18 months, will change the dynamics of power up and down the ballot.

To be a part of the day, contribute now at:

http://www.actblue.com/page/ab?refcode=blogosphereday

didn't mean to include a different link, but wanted to share the numbers we all had a part in creating

Hey not a problem Phil, it all goes to the same place.

OH, I'm still laughing. I just saw someones signature on one of my diaries and it cracked me up so much, I have to share.


by Mother of Zeus
"Superman wears Al Gore pajamas".

LMAO...isn't that GREAT?!

    Using Satire to Separate Fact From Fiction in a World of Spin
    Bill Moyers Journal
    t r u t h o u t | Programming Note

    PBS Airtime: Friday, July 20, 2007 at 9 p.m. EDT on PBS (check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html).

Satire rings true. Bill Moyers gets the real story from The Yes Men, a duo of pranksters who use spoofs to get the press to cover serious issues. Next time on Bill Moyers Journal.

    Bill Moyers gets in on the joke with two pranksters who use satire to make serious points about media consolidation, journalism, business ethics, and separating fact from fiction in a world of spin. The Yes Men - aka Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum - discovered that pranks can get press attention to important issues that would otherwise be ignored. Also on the program, renowned poet Martin Espada speaks about his love of language and the human need for poetry as he reflects on how heritage and immigration, violence and war have influenced his work.

ROFL - so true about Gore.

We are all on the same team. DFA is just one player among many, but in a leadership role. Republicans are in trouble.

Human Vaccines Market to Reach $19.2 Billion by 2010, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

Driven by technology and globalization moves, the global human vaccines market is forecast to reach US$19.2 billion by 2010. Key growth propellers for the vaccines market include the development of new therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for combating HIV, SARS, and cancer, apart from other fatal diseases

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) July 12, 2007 -- Though prophylactic vaccines remain the biggest earners in the human vaccines market, therapeutic vaccines in the pipeline could spring major surprises in the years ahead. Global Prophylactic vaccines market is estimated at US$11.6 billion for 2007. Although accounting for a meager share, Therapeutic vaccines market is expected to record the fastest growth garnering sales worth US$3.3 billion by 2010.....

Dominant players in the market comprise leading pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, and Merck. These companies together command about 80% share of the global human vaccines market. ALK remains the global leader for allergy vaccines. Players developing novel, safe and effective vaccines against the fatal diseases are expected to the have the larger market pie....

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/7/emw537656.htm

Karl-Thomas Musselman this is an important link (DFA-ActBlue) please accept my thanks and a HOWARDLY award for your efforts.

bbl

1.

The netroots and grassroots are first!

According to CNN, the separation of church and state boundaries are coming down.  The fundis are demanding more involvement in gov't and the very fact that they're getting CNN coverage indicates that they're getting it.  They claim we're a xtian nation founded on the bible.  Give me a break or maybe a brake.

Our grandbabies will be wearing burkas or however you spell that word. 

13.

I humbly accept you Howardly award!

I agree that the repugs are in trouble.  So are we the people if the dems continue ignoring impeachment proceedings and cheney's mania for madness and mayhem.

7. by Mother of Zeus
"Superman wears Al Gore pajamas".

Hey Linda :-) so does Luke Skywalker!
~ ~ ~

Thankful for all you do, Karl-Thomas Musselman

17.

You can see the Howardly on Hannah 

16.

seashell
Thu, 07/19/07
7:04 pm

I agree that the repugs are in trouble. So are we the people if the dems continue ignoring impeachment proceedings and cheney's mania for madness and mayhem.

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

Yes, but a viable workable exit from Iraq that conservative moderates in Congress can live with, will give us the moral authority and momentum to successfully impeach.

Forbidden Starbucks
Starbucks has been banished from Beijing's Forbidden City. China says its cultural history and American coffee chains shouldn't mix

by Dexter Roberts

Want to grab a Green Tea Frappuccino or a Grande Latte? For the past seven years, visitors to Beijing's 587-year-old Forbidden City have had that option as they tramped through the historic complex of sprawling gardens and halls that takes up 178 acres at the heart of Beijing. But that ended when Starbucks (SBUX) finally shut its store on July 13 after a storm of opposition from patriotic mainland Chinese. "The Forbidden City is a cultural and historical site, while Starbucks represents the fast pace of metropolitan life," says Maggie Chen, a 26-year-old membership salesperson at a Shanghai golf club. "The two should not be mixed together," she says, echoing the sentiments raging across the Internet in recent months.

The campaign to oust the Seattle-based coffee chain from one of China's most historic sites was led by a popular news anchor from the country's national television broadcaster, CCTV, who ignited a firestorm after taking up the issue on his popular blog last year. "Starbucks has good quality stuff, but it is still a symbol of America's low-class food culture," wrote Rui Chenggang on Jan. 12, 2007. "It's maybe O.K. to have a Starbucks around the Forbidden City. But having one inside the City is inappropriate. This is not globalization, but an erosion of Chinese culture."....

http://www.businessweek.com/print/global...

Fred, you misunderstand.  I want the dems to just start, that's all. 

The repugs will not vote for indictment.  The repugs will do nothing good for us or Iraq..or...if they do, it'll be too late to impeach cheney and the next prez will have the powers that putz has ... and eventually will use them all and then some, especially if a repug is elected.  Apparently you didn't watch Moyers.

The dems must start this alone or fascism will be a foregone conclusion.   At least, for cripe's sake, put imp back on the table.  That alone might rein in this Black House of Death...the BHD.

There no longer is a White House, nor will I refer to it as such.  It's the Black House, BH and the occupation is Bush's War Crimes.

Can you tell I'm getting really testy with this Washington crew? 

Hi Thankful!

~~~~~~~~ 

Linda NM

I don't know where the info on McConnell, Graham and Craig came fromoriginally or as of late. I rather think it was not Flynt unless these three have been gay-bashing.

 ~~~~~~

Message received rdorgan

~~~~~~~~

Keith is to give a "special comment" tonight. Go Keith, slam 'em!

Hi Joan :-)

was just skimming last thread...
Phil - glad to hear clean-up is progressing.
Indy - Once again, you Rock! Will let you know about my local projects once settled into the new locale :-)

Had lunch again w/ Paine today ~ he looked great!

Keith starting out with his special comment.

22.

seashell
Thu, 07/19/07
7:22 pm

Reply to this

Fred, you misunderstand. I want the dems to just start, that's all.

The repugs will not vote for indictment. The repugs will do nothing good for us or Iraq..
==========================

How many votes do we need to impeach?

I do believe the Republican momentum is going against the occupation, but we have to offer them something more than simply "out now" which the moderats believe (and quite honestly, I believe too) will result in an increase in instability and sectarian violence.

Yes, I know we are the cause of all the problems in that country, but I don't believe the Maliki government will last very long when we leave and there will be a violent Balkanization of the region.

However, the concensus among unbiased observers is that our forces are still a damper to increasing violence. That is not a good enough reason to stay there, but it the reason we need to do more than simply withdraw. We need an international and internal political solution. We will need 2/3 in both houses to get that kind of policy power away from The Executive Branch.

There could be ethnic-cleansing massacres and mass graves if we just leave without it. There could be a civil war which would really be a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

We need to initiate a workable political solution. Both Biden and Kucinich have good ideas. We should embed those ideas into the next exit/funding bill.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
KEITHIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OOHHHHHHHHHH. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!


WOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!

Keith: Take it in to your own hands Mr. Bush. Go to Bagdad NOW. And fulfill finally your military service obligations. Go there and fight your war, yourself.

Keith again mentions impeachment then Kerry talked.  Sigh.  He's been bought and sold by the lobbyists; at least that's how it sounds to me.  He had nothing new to say except to nicely stamp his feet and say we're not gonna take it anymore.  I wish Keith had asked him if he favors impeachment? 

So what are you gonna do, dems?  Tick tock.   

Yeah, Keithie is wonderful.

30. oooh - missed that part, only caught Kerry

How many votes do we need to impeach? 51? 60? 67?

How about the House?

KO does indeed rock!

KO does rock, but I really don't want to know about the furry ATM, lol.

Via Ryan Lizza at TNR's The Plank:

I just got a call from Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn. He confirmed that The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other news organizations this morning are in fact wrong. The "principal deputy" to Libby named in the indictment is Edelman, not Hannah. Here's exactly what Samborn said:

You're correct, it's Edelman. I can't account for why the other papers are saying it's Hannah, but it's not. It is Eric Edelman. You heard me correctly on Friday when I said that.

The New York Times now reports that Edelman is the "principal deputy" and he didn't disclose his knowledge to Congress this past spring. Bush used a recess appointment to put Edelman in his current position.

WTF?OMGT2T4Dean. 

FEMA Slow to Test Toxicity of Trailers
FEMA Lawyers Discouraged Tests of Contaminated Trailers for Hurricane Victims

Lawyers for the government's disaster relief agency discouraged officials from pursuing reports that trailers housing hurricane victims had dangerous levels of formaldehyde, according to documents released Thursday.

Lawmakers said they were infuriated. At a House hearing, they listened to three trailer occupants whose families suspect formaldehyde is to blame for their various illnesses....

Formaldehyde, well known as a preservative and embalming fluid, sometimes is found in building materials that are used in manufactured homes. The chemical can cause respiratory problems and possibly cancer in high doses.  FEMA provided more than 120,000 trailers to people displaced during hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Many thousands of people still occupy the trailers, especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.....

When complaints of possible formaldehyde poisoning surfaced early last year, FEMA officials tested one occupied trailer and announced "there is no ongoing risk."....

A concentration of 0.016 parts per million is considered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as the starting point for workers to use respirators if they spend all day in such conditions. A 15-minute exposure is acceptable at a level of 0.1 parts per million, it says; that is one-twelfth the level found in the trailer......

READ THE STORY

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=3394640&page=1

THEN

 WATCH THE VIDEO

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3396025

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19859124/

KO's Special Comment

Mr. Bush go to Baghdad (I want to add 'and don't come back' lol)

 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

The Band

The Weight

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/archives/asc18/index.html#top

Just watched KO's special commentary.  Sweeet!

OK, maybe bittersweet.  It is good to tell truth to power, if only power would listen.  I've been reading Glenn Greenwald's A Tragic Legacy.  He makes the point that bush is so certain of his God given rightness, that nobody, not polls, not voters, not even special commentaries will make him reconsider his positions.  He can't.  He believes he is on a mission from God.

Just like the Blues Brothers.

If we Democrats can initiate an exit strategy to leave the country stable

It's all they can do initiate any exit period.

Bush is the one you need to convince to implement Biden's scheme, not us. We're not waiting around until 2009 and a mythical Biden presidency to demand being out of Iraq yesterday.

How many votes do we need to impeach? 51? 60? 67?

How about the House? 

Impeachment needs a simple majority in the House. In the Senate it takes 67 to convict and remove from office. 

John Prine  Sins of Memphisto   Great Days: The Best of John Prine  1:17:41 (Real)

 http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/23722

From the bells of St Mary
To the Count of Monte Cristo
Nothing can stop
Nothing can stop
Nothing can stop
The sins of Memphisto
Sally used to play with her hula hoops
Now she tells her problems to therapy groups
Grampa's on the front lawn staring at a rake
Wondering if his marriage was a terrible mistake
I'm sitting on the front steps drinking orange crush
Wondering if it's possible if I could still blush
Uh huh Oh yeah

A boy on a bike with courderoy slacks
Sleeps in the river by the railroad tracks
He waits for the whistle on the train to scream
So he can close his eyes and begin to dream
Uh huh Oh yeah

The hands on his watch spin slowly around
With his mind on a bus that goes all over town
Looking at the babies and the factories
And listening to the music of Mister Squeeze
As if by magic or remote control
He finds a piece of a puzzle
That he missed in his soul
Uh huh Oh yeah

Adam and Eve and Lucy and Ricky
Bit the big apple and got a little sticky
Esmeralda and the Hunchback of Notre Dame
They humped each other like they had no shame
They paused as they posed for a Polaroid photo
She whispered in his ear Exactly Odo Quasi Modo

Yes, but a viable workable exit from Iraq that conservative moderates in Congress can live with

What they can't live with is losing their seats in the next election. Keep the heat on them for a real withdrawl and not the halfway feel good PR measures the prefer -- and they'll fold.

donna in evanston
Thu, 07/19/07
9:10 pm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And THAT is what always worried about this nutcase............to think, many Americans would put this type of man in charge of such a powerful and deadly military has always been beyond my comprehension................one man, or woman should NEVER have that much destructive power at their comand......................

Remember Sibel Edmonds?  She was effectively silenced, wasn't she?  Here's why..and here's Edelman's connection to AIPAC.  Who's running our foreign policy?  Impeaching of Cheney should be the only work of the congress right now instead of dinking around pretending to be effective.

As part of our campaign this week to call for hearings into Sibel Edmonds case, below the fold is a short-as-possible piece which hopes to answer the burning question in Sibel's case: What the heck is her case about?

For a longer version, see my recent interview with Scott Horton

Please call the offices of Congressmen Waxman - (202) 225-3976 - and Conyers - (202) 225-5126 - demanding open hearings into Sibel Edmonds' case and the State Secrets Privilege.

-----------

Sibel Edmonds' case is about the intersection of illegal arms trafficking, heroin trafficking, money laundering, terrorist activities and the corruption of many "highly-recognizable, highly-known names" in and around the US government. Sibel says that the people involved will go straight to prison if we can get hearings into her case. Richard Perle, in prison. Douglas Feith, in prison. Dennis Hastert, in prison. Marc Grossman, in prison.

According to Sibel, the best place to begin trying to understand the case is a recent article by Phil Giraldi in the American Conservative. Sibel says “Giraldi has it 100% right; this I consider the most accurate summary of my case.”

Giraldi writes:

"Sibel Edmonds... could provide a major insight into how neoconservatives distort US foreign policy and enrich themselves at the same time. On one level, her story appears straightforward: several Turkish lobbying groups allegedly bribed congressmen to support policies favourable to Ankara. But beyond that, the Edmonds revelations become more serpentine and appear to involve AIPAC, Israel and a number of leading neoconservatives who have profited from the Turkish connection.
[]
Turkey benefits from the relationship by securing general benevolence and increased aid from the US Congress - as well as access to otherwise unattainable military technology. The Turkish General Staff has a particular interest because much of the military spending is channeled through companies in which the generals have a financial stake, making for a very cozy and comfortable business arrangement. The commercial interest has also fostered close political ties, with the American Turkish Council, American Turkish Cultural Alliance and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations all developing warm relationships with AIPAC and other Jewish and Israel advocacy groups throughout the US.

Someone has to be in the middle to keep the happy affair going, so enter the neocons, intent on securing Israel against all comers and also keen to turn a dollar."

Giraldi goes on to list some neocons who are "linked to Turkey" - Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Marc Grossman, Eric Edelman, and Stephen Solarz - and he suggests that they "enrich themselves" via drug trafficking and arms dealing.

http://wotisitgood4.blogspot.com/2007/03/what-heck-is-sibel-edmonds-case-about.html 

45. Sitka

How many votes do we need to impeach? 51? 60? 67?
How about the House?

Impeachment needs a simple majority in the House. In the Senate it takes 67 to convict and remove from office

==============
Thank you - let's discuss how we attain that instead of arguing whether we should impeach.

Michael Ellis
Thu, 07/19/07
9:33 pm

>

that is idealistic.  I imagine you will agree with me that

you know from your parents the hell one man can launch.

More on Sibel article:

In a 10-page article in Vanity Fair on Sibel's case, the ATC is described as "a front for criminal activity" involving "large-scale drug deals and of selling classified military technologies to the highest bidder." We'll discuss the drug side of the story shortly, but let's first take a quick look at the military technology element - not only are the MIC contractors bribing congress to ensure that military aid flows to Turkey (and Israel), the Turks and the Israelis are also illegally selling that technology to the highest bidder - which inevitably includes America's enemies, States, and terrorist groups.

Sibel's case also involves the nuclear black market - some Turkish members of the ATC have supplied Pakistan's A.Q. Khan network with hardware, as have American companies that Sibel overheard on the wiretaps. Perhaps even more disturbing, as reported in Vanity Fair, other wiretaps indicate that "Turkish groups had been installing doctoral students at U.S. research institutions in order to acquire information about black market nuclear weapons." Daniel Ellsberg says that, according to Sibel, bribes were paid to people at the State Department to facilitate this activity.

These are extraordinary claims, of course, and we have a lot of evidence to support the claims - including, but not limited to, the fact that Valerie Plame's front company, Brewster Jennings, had been conducting a counter-intelligence operation against the ATC for years.

44.Sitka

Bush is the one you need to convince to implement Biden's scheme, not us. We're not waiting around until 2009 and a mythical Biden presidency to demand being out of Iraq yesterday

==========
If we can get 2/3 majority, I believe we can usurp foreign policy procedures from the White House

Can any Constitutional scholars here give us an answer on this???

Oh sweet Jesus.  Is anyone reading the Sibel story?

One very interesting aspect of Sibel's case that has not really gained traction is that while the ATC is understood to be the key focus of her case, it appears that AIPAC is equally involved. In a terrific 2005 interview with Chris Deliso, Sibel said:

Essentially, there is only one investigation – a very big one, an all-inclusive one... But I can tell you there are a lot of people involved, a lot of ranking officials, and a lot of illegal activities that include multi-billion-dollar drug-smuggling operations, black-market nuclear sales to terrorists and unsavory regimes, you name it... You can start from the AIPAC angle. You can start from the Plame case. You can start from my case. They all end up going to the same place, and they revolve around the same nucleus of people.

"AIPAC helped form the American Turkish Council - look at the board members, look at the people. You will see the same people involved in both fronts, because it is the same operation."

Well, now we know why putz is yelling executive privilege every 2 hours.

***************************** 

Perhaps it's not surprising, then, when she (Sibel) says:

You have the same players when you look into these activities at high-levels you come across the same players, they are the same people.

Contact Information

Congressman Henry Waxman (contact page)

(Those calling Waxman's office should ask for Michelle Ash & David Rapallo.)

In Washington, D.C.
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-3976 (phone)
(202) 225-4099 (fax)

In Los Angeles
8436 West Third Street, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 651-1040 (phone)
(818) 878-7400 (phone)
(310) 652-3095 (phone)
(323) 655-0502 (fax)

House Government Reform Committee (contact page)
By Mail or Phone:
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5051

Please also contact Congressman John Conyers, asking him to support hearings by Chairman Waxman.
(Those calling Conyers' office should ask for Elliot Mintzberg.)
Email: John.Conyers@mail.house.gov

Washington, DC
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
(202) 225-0072 Fax

Posted by lukery at 3/15/2007 10:47:00 PM    

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/23722

like only tim can do the doors in drag

I will be writing the above people and committees since this sounds like a blockbuster.

Yes, how do we get the House to vote?  I've been calling repug senators asking for imp. proceedings against Cheney.    Can't Pelosi just call for an up or down vote for starters and see where that goes?  It's really the indictment in the Senate that matters most, isn't it?  And this is imp. of Cheney.  Should be an easy majority vote in the House. 

 Any comments on the Sibel article? 

It appears that Sibel's testimony could destroy and occupants of the Black House.

48.

Sitka

What they can't live with is losing their seats in the next election. Keep the heat on them for a real withdrawl and not the halfway feel good PR measures the prefer -- and they'll fold.

===============
Assumptions is the mother of all mistakes. Many, if not most of the GOP Senators come from red States. Their constituents may not like Bush, and they may think Iraq is a disaster, but they make not re-elect someone perceived as for "cut-and-run" as they would say. These guy are getting letters and emails and I am sure it effects their positions.

There needs to be some kind of political solution within the country, with support of the international community, that gives the hope of stability moving forward as well draw down. A less powerful, less domineering central (Shiite) government, as stated in their Constitution, with local (ethnic) State control over local laws and security, (everything from firearms to marriage laws, etc) could do much to ease the ethnic strife.

We can start with the Biden idea as a template, but after much discussion (from both parties) in Congress, in Iraq, and internationally, we may end up with a much more refined intiative.

We have no time to lose.

http://wfmu.org/playlists/MI

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/23327

Now I see why the Plame suit was dismissed today.  It could bring down the house.  So now I'm wondering if the Tillman death had something to do with all this illegal drugs/arms etc becuz putz is calling executive priv. on that also, which is more than bizarre.  I'm thinking that everything they do is criminal and that's why they have to surround themselves with people who are complicit, which they've done.

Impeach!

Gore for president 

LOL

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/23327

Paine -

Did you see what our infamous ex-governor one-term Romney (Mr. Flip Flop) is bad-mouthing now ?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/07/19/ap_interview_obama_says_romney_distorts_his_record/

By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer  |  July 19, 2007

SUNAPEE, N.H. --Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Thursday that Republican Mitt Romney was only trying to "score cheap political points" when he told a Colorado audience Obama wanted sex education for kindergartners.

"All I said was that I support the same laws that exist in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in which local communities and parents can make decisions to provide children with the information they need to deal with sexual predators," Obama said in an AP Interview.

Romney on Wednesday targeted Obama for supporting a bill during his term in the Illinois state Senate that would have, among other things, provided age-appropriate sex education for all students.

"How much sex education is age appropriate for a 5-year-old? In my mind, zero is the right number," Romney said.

Obama said Romney was wrong to take the shot and incorrect on its basis.

"We have to deal with a coarsening of the culture and the over-sexualization of our young people. Look, I've got two daughters, 9 and 6 years old," Obama told the AP. "Of course, part of the coarsening of that culture is when politicians try to demagogue issues to score cheap political points."

"What we shouldn't do is to try to play a political football with these issues and express them in ways that are honest and truthful," Obama said. "Certainly, what we shouldn't do is engage in hypocrisy."

Obama's legislation would have altered Illinois' sex education standards to include instruction in any grade from kindergarten through 12th, rather than grades 6-12. It deleted language calling for sex education courses to honor "monogamous heterosexual marriage" and would have softened the state's emphasis on abstinence, while adding that any course materials should be "age and developmentally appropriate" and based on the latest scientific studies.

Obama was chairman of a state Senate committee that passed the legislation along party lines in March 2003. The full Senate never voted on the measure, and it ultimately died.

Romney himself once indicated support for similar programs that Obama supports.

In 2002, Romney told Planned Parenthood in a questionnaire that he also supported age-appropriate sex education. He checked yes to a question that asked: "Do you support the teaching of responsible, age-appropriate, factually accurate health and sexuality education, including information about both abstinence and contraception, in public schools?"

...

Obama said candidates who exploit their play to the base miss a chance to lead.

"I want to be saying the same thing in the primary as I'm saying in the general election as I'm saying in the Oval Office. I don't want to make promises that I cannot keep. I don't want to simplify issues or demagogue issues simply to win short-term favor," Obama said. "We need to be straight with the American people."

...

Tahnks for the music Paine. Twas good to see ya this week.

Night all. Fell asleep sitting here...

♥'s to all

Kindness is free!

• Southern Iraq would erupt in civil war between Shiite groups. (Two militant groups fighting for control)

• The Kurdish north would solidify its borders and invite a U.S. troop presence there. (Good place to be IF we're needed for emergencies)

"I honestly don't think it will be apocalyptic," said Anderson, who has served in Iraq and now works for a major defense contractor. But "it will be ugly."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003793904_iraqexit18.html (from Washington Post)

67. Sam Ross

Some think there will be an attempt to drive the Sunnis out of the country, exterminate them or both. The Sunnis have been living there for 1200 years, so I don't think they will run. The Saudis have already said they will stand behind them, and Sadr already recieve about $2-3 million/month from Iran(according to John Burns.)

So an ethnic cleansing followed by a regional war would be another scenario, with the present status quo.

Thank you - let's discuss how we attain that instead of arguing whether we should impeach.

It's been a while since i saw anyone on this blog argue against impeachment. Some of us think Cheney should be first is about the size of it.

I'd also like to commend you for behaving so nicely. 

Trivia question from TV show - where does "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," come from?

Assumptions is the mother of all mistakes.

Tell that to Joe Biden about his scheme for pacifying Iraq.

As for the GOP, there is no assumption in knowing that they operate on the basest of political insticts -- survival being formost. Keep bludgeoning them with public opinion and they'll fold. But give them a half-assed compromise that keeps us in Iraq and helps get them reelected and they'll take that instead. 

69. I don't think anyone is arguing against it, but I think some of the reservation and considerations may have been interpreted that way.

NEW THREAD ... waiting for firsties.

nite all

New Thread

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/21573...

I just watched keith again.  Kerry basically said that they have to stand up etc etc before we stand down but he said it differently.  Plus he said, "the oil (??) has to be resolved." He's solidly behind stealing the oil.

Impeach the oilman now.  Impeach Oilcan Dick. 

72. Sitka

Tell that to Joe Biden about his scheme for pacifying Iraq.

As for the GOP, ...they operate on the basest of political insticts -- survival being formost. Keep bludgeoning them with public opinion and they'll fold. But give them a half-assed compromise that keeps us in Iraq and helps get them reelected and they'll take that instead.

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I don't think Biden makes foolish assumptions. You don't survive in Washington as long as he has by making foolish assumptions. He's been around a long time. Visited the country about 8 times.

And I don't believe his initiative is cast in stone. One of the reasons it is not more popular is because he is not pushy about it, and he DOES have the influence to be pushy, if he wanted to be.

My concern is not for public opinion now, which is based on Bush policy of the past, but how we conduct the situation and exit now, and how that will effect the public opinion of Democrats in the future.

We are for "out now" presently. The low approval rating Congress is getting (16%) is not because we did not stalmating Bush on the funding bill. It is because Congress is still bickering and not getting anywhere.

Democrats are getting into power now. When Bush first got into power, he had great public opinion and he squandered it. I don't want to see Democrats do the same thing.

Stupid mistakes in Iraq, ignoring the warnings of future consequences of what we do, or don't do, can do that - sound familiar?

I don't see this debate as Democrats against GOP. I see this as doing what is feasible between the parties, to produce the best possible outcome of this fiasco - as we draw down.

69. I don't think anyone is arguing against it, but I think some of the reservation and considerations may have been interpreted that way.

I wouldn't know. I don't spend much  any time wondering how people interpret things.

FRED from OR
Fri, 07/20/07
12:00 am

You don't survive in Washington as long as he has by making foolish assumptions.

Biden assumed invading Iraq would be a failure? 

And I don't believe his initiative is cast in stone.

His scheme is cast in empty political rhetoric. 

Democrats are getting into power now. When Bush first got into power, he had great public opinion and he squandered it. I don't want to see Democrats do the same thing.

I want Democrats to do what's right -- get us out of Iraq ASAP. Being afraid of future public opinion is how Democrats became the party of craven capitulation.

Stupid mistakes in Iraq, ignoring the warnings of future consequences of what we do, or don't do, can do that - sound familiar?

Yeah....it sounds like everybody in congress who followed bush into Iraq, Biden included.

I don't see this debate as Democrats against GOP.

I see it as a debate between those who us to stay in Iraq indefinitely and those who want us out now.