Dean, DFA and the DFA Grassroots and Netroots are first!

49 out of 183 responded--and these are relative activists.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not being critical or negative.  Just want to point out that when people are at liberty to follow their 'druthers, one of the choices is NOT to participate.

If you're going to be a liberal, then you've got to be OK with people not doing what you want. 

Krugman and the European economy.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011108...

Europe generally has a cradle-grave safety net and high taxes but their economies hum along nicely.

[snip]
What European countries definitely haven't done is dismantle their strong social safety nets. Universal health care is a given. So are a variety of programs that support families in trouble, helping protect Europeans from the extreme poverty all too common in this country. All of this costs money - even though European countries spend far less on health care than we do - and European taxes are very high by U.S. standards.

In short, Europe continues to be a big-government sort of place. And that's why it's important to get the real story of the European economy out there.

According to the anti-government ideology that dominates much U.S. political discussion, low taxes and a weak social safety net are essential to prosperity. Try to make the lives of Americans even slightly more secure, we're told, and the economy will shrivel up - the same way it supposedly has in Europe.

Barbara Ehrenreich on the economy.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011008...

The rich are doing fine, the poor are in a recession. Where have we heard that before?

The corporatist DLC attacking John Edwards by ignoring him and dismissing universal single-payer health care by claiming that no Democratic candidate is for it.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/dlc-leaders-cut-edwards-out/#comment-516686

It sucks to be in Michigan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011008...

BO and JE aren't on the ballot, but the issues Michigan have may eventually be felt by the rest of the country.

[snip]
Still, leading Democrats haven't campaigned here; half them went so far as to take their names off the ballot. Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel remain on. But voters who prefer Barack Obama, John Edwards or Bill Richardson can vote only "uncommitted."

That could leave some curiosities unresolved: Whom do Detroit's African-American voters support? Would frustrations with former President Clinton over NAFTA hurt support for his wife? Would Obama's admonition to the industry to make more fuel-efficient cars turn off autoworkers?

The corporatist DLC attacking John Edwards by ignoring him

Which dictionary defines attacking as ignoring?

But I agree they shouldn't ignore/attack him considering all the kind words he's had for them.

Do you want the corporatist DLC to praise him? Or do you want them to say bad things about him to show he's a populist?

That's the trouble with the ignore/attack -- it's impossible to know what you want of them. 

OK, I'll answer why I don't like Clinton.  Can't find the quote so I'll paraphrase:

We have to be ready for the NEXT war.  This may be the exact quote.  It's close.

Many more reasons of course, but that is enuf for me. 

Monica, change browsers please.  Your last several posts are unreadable.

Thanks for the putzie I/ P article.  Could this marriage fall apart? 

Clinton is sounding better.  Is it becuz she's wising up and listening to us?  Or is she placating us?  Is she sincere?  But she won't get my vote.  Her votes this last year are awful, war-like, very repug.

No thanks. 

Our amazing media.   This article from Peter Hart from 2004 called Target Dean...reminded me the media still is targeting our Democrats in ways that are equally stupid and simplistic.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1754

And in the comments is this poll that was hidden from view nearly and tucked way back in the pages of the tTmes.

""The New York Times, which co-sponsored that very poll, treated its findings as almost an afterthought to the main storyline. A December 19 story, "Some Democrats Uneasy About Dean as Nominee," conveyed the feeling among many party leaders that Dean wasn't the best candidate. According to the Times, "their worry has been heightened anew, they say, by Dr. Dean's statement this week that the capture of Saddam Hussein 'did not make America safer.'"
Several paragraphs later, the Times did finally mention this salient point: "The latest New York Times poll showed that the capture improved Americans' view of President Bush and his handling of the war but also that 60 percent said the United States was as vulnerable to terrorist attack as before the capture." In other words, most Americans agreed with Dean's "gaffe" (as did, apparently, the Bush administration, which raised the terrorism warning from yellow to orange about a week later)."

60% of Americans even in 2003 agreed with what Dean said, and his party blasted him.

We have to be ready for the NEXT war.

Yeah, that sure raised my hackles against Hillary. 

Many more reasons of course, but that is enuf for me.

There's no shortage of them, for sure. And the worst ones -- 2001 bankruptcy law, NCLB, Patriot Act, Iraq authorization -- she shares with Edwards (I don't think he's apologized for all of them.)

Good evening, BFA!

******
Linda in SF & mprov: please come back! ♥ ♥

******
Here's an interesting comment from today's Guardian:

============
U.S. corporate elite fear candidate EdwardsReuters Friday January 11 2008
By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Ask corporate lobbyists which presidential contender is most feared by their clients and the answer is almost always the same -- Democrat John Edwards.
The former North Carolina senator's chosen profession alone raises the hackles of business people. Before entering politics, he made a fortune as a trial lawyer.

In litigious America, trial lawyers bring lawsuits against companies on behalf of aggrieved individuals and sometimes win multimillion-dollar settlements. Edwards won several.
But beyond his profession, Edwards' tone and language on the campaign trail have increased business antipathy toward him. His stump speeches are peppered with attacks on "corporate greed" and warnings of "the destruction of the middle class."
He accuses lobbyists of "corrupting the government" and says Americans lack universal health care because of "drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists."
Despite not winning the two state nominating contests completed so far, with 48 to go, Edwards insists he is in the race to stay. An Edwards campaign spokesman said on Thursday that inside-the-Beltway operatives who fight to defend the powerful and the privileged should be afraid.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id...

----- Original Message -----
From: Jackie Speier
To: Susan Rowe
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:25 PM
Subject: Join me on Sunday in Foster City

Dear Susan,

Please come join me, Sunday, January 13th, at Leo J. Ryan Park, in Foster City, as I announce my intention to run for the 12th Congressional District seat.

Earlier this month, Congressman Tom Lantos, who currently represents the 12th District, announced that he will not be seeking re-election at the end of his term this year. Congressman Lantos has served the district for more than 25 years, and I wish him, his wife, Annette, and their family the best. I know we will all be praying for them through this difficult time.

Now, while most of the country's attention is focused on the Presidential primary races, it is also important that we start gearing up for this important race in the 12th District. I hope you'll come hear the plans for my upcoming campaign and to meet friends, neighbors, and other supporters like you.

I will strive to make you proud and work hard to earn your support.

Event Details

Campaign Launch Announcement

Sunday, January 13th @ 12:00 PM

Leo Ryan Park, 650 Shell Blvd., Foster City

If you're planning on attending, please let us know by sending an email to rsvp[at]jackieforcongress[dot]com -- then invite your friends and family to join us, too, by forwarding around this email message!

Thank you so much for your help and support. I look forward to seeing you in Foster City this Sunday!

All the best,

Jackie Speier

Clinton is sounding better.

Picking the president who sounds best is why keep getting the worst ones. 

The thought of any one of these candidates as our national leader is enough to make me shudder.

=================
Immigration takes centre stage for Republicans
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Friday January 11, 2008
Guardian Unlimited

It does not take long to establish what Mitt Romney regards as one of the defining issues of the 2008 presidential race. On the front of his campaign leaflets, he is pictured standing beside a huge fence on the US-Mexican border.

The Republican candidate takes a hard-line stance on America's estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants. They should be given time to arrange their affairs and then be sent home to "get in line with everyone else" for work visas, he told a debate in South Carolina yesterday.

Illegal immigration is one of the biggest issues of the election, particularly among Republicans.

The US is experiencing the biggest wave of immigration since the 19th century, mainly from Mexico and other parts of Central and South America. While large Hispanic populations have been part of life in some states, such as California, since they were founded, the concentration of Hispanics for the first time in other states a long way from the Mexican border has resulted in a backlash that is often racist.

Michigan, where Republicans are battling it out in the next primary, to be held on Tuesday, has an estimated 100,000-150,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Centre. The hostility towards them is partly based on fears that they are taking jobs in a state where unemployment is running at about 15%.

Immigration is even more of an issue in South Carolina, one of the most social conservative states in the US and where Republicans vote in their primary a week from tomorrow.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33204...

Crocodile tears from our contemporaneous version of a faschist with Nazi tendencies.

putz weeps, while Palestinians starve in nearby Gaza.

================
Bush: US Should Have Acted on Auschwitz
Friday January 11, 2008 10:46 PM
By ARON HELLER
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - A teary-eyed President Bush stopped in front of an aerial photo of Auschwitz on Friday at Israel's Holocaust memorial and said the U.S. should have sent bombers to prevent the extermination of Jews there.

Yad Vashem's chairman, Avner Shalev, quoted Bush as saying the U.S. should have ``bombed it.'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Bush referred to the train tracks leading to Auschwitz, not the camp itself, where between 1.1 million and 1.5 million people were killed by Nazi Germany.

The issue of bombing the Nazi death camps or the rail lines leading to them has been debated for years - and the lack of action was interpreted by some as a sign of Allied indifference.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/st...

Sound and fury signifying nothing ... putzCo justice.

================
US army rejects court martial of Abu Ghraib commander
Associated Press
Friday January 11, 2008
Guardian Unlimited

The US army has thrown out the conviction of the only officer court martialled in the Abu Ghraib scandal, ending the four-year investigation and drawing complaints from human rights activists of a Pentagon whitewash.

Barring any new information, the decision means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse - which included the photographing of Iraqi prisoners in painful and sexually humiliating positions - which embarrassed the military and inflamed the Muslim world.

Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by Major General Richard Rowe, the Washington military district chief. He was instead given an administrative reprimand. Jordan, 51, was acquitted at his court martial in August of charges that he failed to supervise the 11 lower-ranking soldiers convicted for their roles in the abuse.

But he was found guilty of disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation, and the jury recommended a criminal reprimand, the lightest possible punishment. Jordan told the Associated Press yesterday that he felt victimised by press coverage that seemed eager for an officer to be blamed for the abuse. He also said he agreed that there were both enlisted soldiers and officers responsible for the abuse who escaped prosecution.

"Everybody that's seen all the evidence and looked at it, or the lack of it, realises that Steve Jordan had nothing to do with abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib," Lt Col Jordan said. Major Kris Poppe, the defence lawyer, argued Lt Col Jordan "faced these very serious charges for a long period of time, that he had been found not guilty of any offence related to the abuse of detainees, and that he had a stellar record."

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33203...

Not channeling at all. I just think even cut and pastes should provide facts. But when they don't you need to provide your own to back them up when a "specific"  charge is involved.

I always provide a link--the post in question was no exception. The writer of the piece is Margaret Kimberly, editor of BAR. And as for her being a Clinton surrogate, she had this to say about Hillary:

"Obama has masterfully out maneuvered the amateurish Hillary Clinton. She isn't smart enough to know that she should at least attempt to give Democratic voters a little bit of lip service. While she voted in favor of a senate resolution against the Iranian government, Obama stayed on the campaign trail and conveniently missed the vote. In fact he is just as willing to go war as she is. He says his first act as president will be to bring the troops home from Iraq, but anyone who bothers to look at the fine print knows that the promise is hollow"

I wish that putzCo incompetents would quit trying to make us *safer* ... all they do is to make us all more vulnerable.

===================
Friday, January 11, 2008
Defense and Security
Chairman Waxman Releases Report on Information Security Breach at TSA's Traveler Redress Website

In October 2006, the Transportation Security Administration launched a website to help travelers whose names were erroneously listed on airline watch lists. This redress website had multiple security vulnerabilities: it was not hosted on a government domain; its homepage was not encrypted; one of its data submission pages was not encrypted; and its encrypted pages were not properly certified. These deficiencies exposed thousands of American travelers to potential identity theft. After an internet blogger identified these security vulnerabilities in February 2007, the website was taken offline and replaced by a website hosted on a Department of Homeland Security domain.

At the request of Chairman Henry Waxman, Committee staff have been investigating how TSA could have launched a website that violated basic operating standards of web security and failed to protect travelers’ sensitive personal information. As this report describes, these security breaches can be traced to TSA’s poor acquisition practices, conflicts of interest, and inadequate oversight.

[...]
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=...

What I wanna know is:  Why would the SC primaries be between HC and JE instead of HC and BO?

I can see a win for JE there. 

Remember John Nirenberg of Vermont, who has let his feet do the talking?

He will arrive in Washington, DC tomorrow.

=================
March in My Name

Sixty year-old former teacher and Air Force Veteran John Nirenberg to complete 500 mile Impeachment March from Boston to Washington, DC with rally at National Archives on Saturday January 12 at 12:30 PM.

Somewhere on the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lies a letter that begins:

"Dear Speaker Pelosi:
My name is John Nirenberg. I left Boston on December 1st and am currently on my way to your office, walking the entire distance, hoping to meet with you in early January." On Saturday, January 12, the sixty year-old former American History teacher, college dean, and Air Force veteran will complete his 500 mile walk from Boston to Washington; a "pilgrimage" as he puts it, which he hopes to conclude with a conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about impeachment.

In a video on his home page, http://www.marchinmyname.org Nirenberg looks every bit the professor, wearing wire rimmed glasses, sitting on a desk in front of a wall hung with political posters from the past thirty years. Describing himself as a non-activist, “life-long servant of the establishment” and “believer in the system,” he goes on to list impeachable offenses by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, such as conducting illegal wiretaps, condoning torture, and using presidential signing statements to undermine Congress’ legislative powers.

[...]
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/3...

Good news for Cindy.

=============
Court overturns Iraq war protester's conviction

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan's conviction for demonstrating without a permit on the White House sidewalk in 2005 and ordered a new trial.

The unanimous three-judge panel ruled that Sheehan's conviction had been based on errors of law by the magistrate judge that eliminated the prosecutor's burden to show her criminal intent.

[...]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080111/pl_n...

'Cain & Joementum: a match not made in heaven, but a match indeed.

They truly deserve each other.

===============
Despite Failure To Meet Bush’s Original Goals, McCain And Lieberman Declare ‘The Surge Worked’

One year ago today, in an address to the nation, President Bush announced his new “surge” strategy for Iraq. In his speech, Bush said that the goal of the “surge” was to improve security in order to give the Iraqi government “the breathing space it needs” to “make reconciliation possible.”

Though violence in Iraq has diminished in the tail end of 2007, these “fragile” security gains have not been accompanied by sufficient “progress on any of the key political benchmarks so critical to bringing Iraq together.” In fact, as we enter 2008, Iraq is “even more bitterly divided along ethnic and sectarian lines than it was at the start of 2007.”

Despite the failure of the surge to meet its political goals, war hawks are rushing to declare victory. Writing in the Wall Street Journal today, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) declare that “the surge worked.”

Here are a few examples of how their claims of “victory” do not correspond with the reality in Iraq:

[...]
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/10/lieb...

No wonder the Rethugs love unfettered capitalism. It so richly rewards their failure.

It's not surprise that their standard bearer is a failed businessman from TX, bailed out only on the strength of amily connections rather than by any doing of his own, was *elected* President of the greatest country in the world, together with a vicious Veep who, when he was CEO of Halliburton, cozied right up to Saddam ... the same Saddam whose hanging putzCo stage-managed.

Mozillo's story is an example of what I call obscenity.

==================
Lavish Payout, Perks for Failed Mortgage CEO
His Severance Package Includes Jet Use, Country Club Dues and a Hefty Payout
By DANIEL ARNALL
ABC NEWS Business Unit
Jan. 11, 2008 —

Angelo Mozilo, the co-founder and public face of troubled mortgage giant Countrywide, is eligible for tens if not hundreds of millions in compensation and perks on the sale of the company to Bank of America.

During calendar 2006, the latest period available for review in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Mozilo took home $48.1 million in compensation. An early analysis of SEC filings by the Los Angeles Times suggests he could get upward of $115 million when he leaves after the sale is complete, despite the fact that the company tanked during the recent subprime mortgage crisis.

In December, Countrywide reported a record number of foreclosures and delinquencies in its loan portfolio. The value of shares has fallen more than 84 percent since mid-May of last year.

Bank of America today confirmed that Mozilo will stay on with the company through a "transition period." Countrywide wouldn't comment on Mozilo's pay.

His long tenure with the firm (he has been there since its beginning in 1969) and extensive employment agreement gives him the right to a significant payout when he leaves.

Immediately upon a change in control, Mozilo would get $13.3 million in accelerated vesting of stock grants, according to the terms of his 2004 compensation agreement, included in the company's latest proxy statement.

Should he leave the company after the firm's buyout, Mozilo would get a one-time cash payment of $88 million.

[...]
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4121306

Whoops, dropping too many letters ... and there's a good reason why ... it's WAY past my bedtime.

Have good ones! As Thankful (and where ARE you, m'dear?) would say: *Kindness is free.*

Thankful's in MA.  Still without a 'puter.

7:15 pm EST 

OK, now that we know that business is designed to fail, would it be fair to conclude that one of the main goals of privatization was to allow government functions to fail as well? There must be some people who have made an art of benefitting from failure.  Perhaps they teach it at business schools.

I'd like to know your position on NBC's outrageous decision today to rescind the invitation and exclude Dennis Kucinch from this debate & how that reflects on our democracy.Let's see the Democrats stand up to the MSM like the Republicans did last week when MSM tried to exclude Ron Paul from getting his message out!!Talk about the MSM not allowing progressive views! 

OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson plans to make an announcement on Saturday morning that his spokesman said has national implications.
Sen. Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe will host the conference call with media.
Nelson was in Omaha on Friday for the state party's annual fundraiser dinner.

http://www.ketv.com/news/15032306/detail...

NBC/MsNBC Corp. Media once again at work to do the Corp bidding to "help" us decide who to vote for.

They are barring Kucinich from the next debate even though he qualifies for it. We need to stop this. No candidate can dare to criticise them without being taken out of the race. Some are so big they don't have allegiance to any country, but they can force us to vote for their acceptable candidates.

They need to hear from us big time:

NBC/MSNBC....216-664-4444 ask for comments line

e-mailletters@msnbc.com

Since when did the Centrist Democrats become environmentalists or for Union folks? Just a little over a year ago they were all still pushing for Bush's Oil War and buying up more oil stocks. Around my area they were all making a killing on day trading oil and gas company stocks. Good grief they all talk the Republican go green hogwash about corn ethanol, clean coal technology and building more nuclear power plants. There is no such thing as clean coal technology, clean or safe nuclear power nor anything non-polluting or inexpensive about producing or using corn ethanol.

The Centrists Democrats are also responsible for unbridled urban sprawl by helping subsidize Mortgage Lenders and the Developers. Just a little over a year ago the Centrists Democrats could have cared less if anything was built green or built by unionized labor, polluted the land and the waterways or destroyed the natural habitat and it's wildlife.

A Centrists Democrat talking about the preservation of the environment and supporting organized labor is as about as honest as the family's cat caught with one of the family's canary's feathers sticking out of it's mouth.

To be safe it may not be wise for anybody to stand too close to any Centrists Democrat these days. They just might spontaneously combust at any moment.

---

Clinton backs California suit against EPA

By Peter Hecht
Last Updated 3:09 pm PST Friday, January 11, 2008

COMMERCE - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday took up California's cause in its legal battle with the Bush administration over curbing automobile emissions and called for economic relief for a mortgage foreclosure crisis that is putting tens of thousands of Californians out of their homes.

Meeting a raucous crowd of supporters at a Los Angeles area union hall, Clinton outlined a $30 billion national plan to protect "hard working communities" and "distressed homeowners," including 95,000 California families "in foreclosure right now."

In her first stop in California after declaring that "I found my own voice" in her upset win in the New Hampshire presidential primary, Clinton promoted economic populism by outlining a $70 billion national stimulus program including the mortgage relief program and plans to curb energy costs and promote "green technologies."

Appearing in a solar-powered job training center of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Commerce, Clinton applauded California's leadership on the environment. And she lauded the state's decision to go to court to sue the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bush administration for blocking California's effort to impose the nation's first greenhouse gas emissions for cars and light trucks. ...full article: http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/628137.h...

Napalotono in careful consideration offers the criteria for her decision of endorsement. The most important factor..hope and vision.

Now, there's Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and a tanking economy etc, etc. I'll settle for tackling these real problems, before giving any thought to some veiled vision.

Rep. Holt, on Keith, just said that legislation to verify votes and have a recount method, has been held up in the House (due to internal and extenal  situations) for TWO YEARS.  Held up in the dem house.  Can we extrapolate something from this?

Jeez............

Voters in SC will be voting on machines 100%.

This is so disheartening.   

NH recount granted by Bill Gardner.

http://tinyurl.com/3dtlu3

Related NH Statutes were posted earlier today (or follow it via Blue Hampshire's blog).

One more time, folks: each state has different voter/ballot laws--make sure you know yours. Google.

NH recount granted by Bill Gardner.

http://tinyurl.com/3dtlu3

Related NH Statutes were posted earlier today (or follow it via Blue Hampshire's blog).

One more time, folks: each state has different voter/ballot laws--make sure you know yours. Google.

19. I always provide a link--the post in question was no exception.

Providing a link to an opinion piece is not the same as provinding a link to facts that back it up. 

We're beginning to see one of those memes that gets planted in the press which people start mindlessly repeating as fact. In the previous thread Dog expressed it in a form of "where's the beef?" I know I can't stop such idiocy from spreading like a virus, but I can call it out when I see it.

What I wanna know is:  Why would the SC primaries be between HC and JE instead of HC and BO?

Theorectically, Edwards is already out of it and is just the spoiler.  But then theorectically, Obama has already won NH and is cruising to the nomination.

I can see a win for JE there.

That's what's nice about the future, you can see it as you like. 

Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson plans to make an announcement on Saturday morning that his spokesman said has national implications.

He flatters himself too much. 

Napalotono in careful consideration offers the criteria for her decision of endorsement. The most important factor..hope and vision.

Now, there's Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and a tanking economy etc, etc. I'll settle for tackling these real problems, before giving any thought to some veiled vision.

The latter is all you're gonna get from any of the big three. 

Paine, Thankful sed to tellya that she's sorry she missed you today.  Try again next week.

To the rest: Kindness is free.

11:41 pm EST 

Rep. Holt, on Keith, just said that legislation to verify votes and have a recount method, has been held up in the House (due to internal and extenal  situations) for TWO YEARS.  Held up in the dem house.  Can we extrapolate something from this?

I've posted my belief several times that both parties are in the election stealing business, and that's why they rarely challenge results and will not enact any process to ensure fair and accurate results. Honor among thieves, if you will.