Governor, Chairman Howard Dean, MD is first!

Five years in. The Democrats were given a mandate to end the war in 06. They had the power, but not the will.

Michelle Obama will be on C-Span's "Road to the Wh" at 6:30 and 9:30 EDT tonight.

cC will no doubt accuse me of overstatement when I say that Bernanke is destroying the dollar to save the asses of a few billionaires.

The rest of us (and our descendants) will pay the price--we're paying it now.

Though-provoking blog Danny. Thanks.

I agree with you John (for a change). Bernanke is destoying the dollar.

The question is, is he doing it purposely to drive the country into bankruptcy or is it that he doesn't have a handle on the economy at all.

Is it just me or will the 6th anniv of the war in Iraq be the same as the upcoming 5th anniv. Anything the next Pres can do won't happen until after next March 21.
Of course, there will more death, destruction and waste in both Iraq and Afgan.
A real interesting St.Paddies parade in Holland. We were there to watch a distant nephew play in the NCAA div 3 men's BB playoffs this last weekend. Got there early enough to see the parade.
The usual green stuff and happy people until...
A bunch of students from Hope Univ crashed the parade with a End Iraq War poster. The cops made steered them to a side street. They got a huge ovation. The youngsters are waking up.
Hope is about as lilly white and conservative as they come which is typical for the midwest bible belt called Western Michigan.
Am contacting friends that went to the Winter Soldier meeting in DC. I wonder if it will be similar to the 1971 version?

From the "you learn something everyday" file........

This is from an article that's out there on a group that is searching for bodies that were supposedly left by the Manson family at Barker Ranch in the California desert.

"The machine detects fluorinated hydrocarbon compounds, one of the approximately 400 types of volatile organic compounds emitted by human bodies during decomposition. Focusing on these compounds is important because Vass believes they're formed as the fluoride added to urban drinking water is released after death.

Their presence helps differentiate a human bone from bones from wild animals, explained Vass, who has spent years developing a decomposition odor database using bodies donated to the Oak Ridge lab."

SEE? That flouride in the drinking water comes in handy for something. Something gruesome, albeit.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/evidence-of...

If I recall back in 2002/2003 Bush had the blsessing of the vast majority of Americans for this disaster in Iraq.......the vast majority fro BOTH parties and Independents........so in my book its the people and politicians that didnt have the courage, balls or wisdom to do some 20 minute research on the internet and see that Iraq did nothing to deserve the wrath of a superpower.....

Its a stain in this countyr that will never go away............have Americans learned anything from it? Looking at just what kind of people we are...........well, our history speaks for itself.............

21.

puddle
Sun, 03/16/08

Reply to this

Puddle will be happy to know -- last night I bought a hard copy of

Dreams from My Father - Obama's first book that he wrote in 1995. I've heard people say it was better than his last book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Too, funny Fred. I got it myself yesterday, lol!
=================================================

That is a coincidence. I guess we're not that far apart politically after all. That's Obama, the uniter.

6:56 PM EST

Thanks Danny for posting a timely article about what America really has lost in it's decision five years ago to go to war in Iraq.

With McCain strutting today in Baghdad and with Obama and Clinton tied up in a fight for the dem nomination, it seems just like it did five years ago, when it was largely left up the American people to STAND UP against this war.

For all those who have bumper stickers, signs on their lawns and businesses, that say "War is Not the Answer"; for all those marching in protest; etc., kudos to all of them for being courageous enough to remind us ALL what a mistake going into this war WAS and still IS.

May we find a way to get out and help heal America. 

I continue to have jc's "No Exit Strategy" bumpersticker with that picture of Bush looking goofy as ever, trying to open that door in Belgium. Next to it is a "War is not Working" from the local Peace and Justice group. They've been on there quite awhile now and will happily remove the Bush one when he is no longer in office.

Hopefully I won't have to put up another one with the new president's face on it.

My friend who lives in Addison, IL told me about this anti-Oberweiss commercial that was airing during the Foster/Oberweiss election campaigns. She swears it's why he lost. Phil will appreciate this one. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_asTXB7O...

34.

FRED from Ashland OR
Sun, 03/16/08

Reply to this

22.

DANIEL ROONEY
Sun, 03/16/08

now what are you doing fred ron paul will take this country back
==========================

I think Ron Paul has a good mind for nuts and bolts of markets and currency, but that doesn't qualify someone to be president any more than it qualifies them to be a good cook.
your statment show how much you know about who should be pres ron paul isnt running to be top a fry cook for the krusty crab, obomba is more qualify to be pres? than ron paul ok when pig fly. maybe in bedrock fred not here.lol

Bush has been wildly successful in delivering for those that back him. Privatization of the military, sky high oil profits, a trillion of payroll taxes delivered to his buddies as tax breaks, a baby government weak enough to drown in the bathtub, a Fed that will bail out failing banks but not the poorest new homeowners, cheaper labor, a culture of fear so the population will stay in line.

a very successful President (by his standards) even as he is the worst ever for all of the rest of us 

Gotta love cartoon analogies when making ones political persuasions.

the dollar was destroyed before Bernancke even took over, with a tax cut followed by an unpaid for war 

16.

DANIEL ROONEY
Sun, 03/16/08

obomba is more qualify to be pres? than ron paul ok when pig fly. maybe in bedrock fred not here.lol

====================
Yes Daniel, he is,

because he understands "bailing out" individualies/families that falls on hardship, is more important, than bailing out corporate gamblers that take questionable risks.

He understands that skyrocketing CEO salaries and falling worker salaries are destructive to our economy.

He also understands that the soft war on terrorism is more likely to end it, than bombs which perpetuate it, over the long run.

and he also understands to play the enterprize game we need regulation and regulators both on the toxic products end and the business/trade end.

I haven't heard Ron Paul express such things, in fact, quite the opposite.

Chilling article about the CIA Holocaust

Who killed Daniel Pearl? 

************************* 

"....CIA atrocities may be categorized.

• Secret Wars
• Assassinations
• Subversions of targeted regimes
• Overt terrorism
• Support of other terrorist organizations
• Exploitation and/or creation of terrorist organizations like 'al Qaeda'.
• Drug sales, primarily cocaine and its derivative --crack.
• Domestic Assassinations and acts of terrorism

Since World War II, the peace achieved with this strategy has been illusory. "Peace" has become an Orwellian term for a series of crimes against humanity. The secret wars waged by the CIA hardly penetrates the American consciousness, numbed as we are by a compromised mainstream media. Largely owned by the likes of Rupert Murdoch and other extreme right wing corporations, media, at the highest levels of ownership and management, are complicit. Many conflicts escape the glare of publicity --by design or by incompetence. Some are low-intensity conflicts designed to slip under the radar. At the very heart of the CIA modus operandi is the network of proxy governments, by nature, oligarchical, naturally allied with America's privileged classes. The CIA has little trouble convincing this class that its work abroad is 'patriotic'. The CIA has naturally allied itself with ruling oligarchs abroad, most notably the Saudi Royals. It was significant that the Saudi royals were provided a 'royal' exit from the US when every other aircraft was grounded on 911. Throughout the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, wealth and income disparities are even greater than those in the US. The oil emirates, only some 0.5 percent of the population, are billionaires. Everyone else, like the poorer and middle income folk in America, share less or none of the wealth that is generated by the production of oil. In Latin America, Cesar Chavez may be a notable exception, hence the Bush administration's campaign of demonization. Chavez dares to maintain control of his nation's oil wealth."

much more

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_len_hart_080316_cia_holocaust_claims.htm 

If the Saudi air defenses shot over 100 anti aircraft missles at our air force planes in the last six months, would you consider that a provocative act that would bring the wrath of a super power?  Iraq did that not for six months but for two years averaging 18 per month for 2 years.  Even ignoring the universal understanding of the wmd, if they were harmless why were they firing on our pilots???  It was never a matter of if, but when, and your attempts at Soviet style re-writing of history will not change that fact.  By the way the last poll before the invasion had over 60% of the US opposing the attack.  It was and is politically unpopular, that does not mean it is not important.  Capitulation to dangerous men is never the answer.  They will never , "just all get along" despite your desire that the world was that simple.

Gays fear an influx of hate

FOLSOM, CALIF. - One punch was all it took. One punch to forever divide. One punch to kill a young man.

On a hot summer afternoon along a placid lakefront in the Sacramento suburbs, Satender Singh had come with a group of fellow Fijians to celebrate his promotion at an AT&T call center. Three married couples and Singh, a lighthearted 26-year-old, drank and hooted and danced a crazy conga line to East Indian music.

An innocent outing? Not in the eyes of the Russian family a few picnic tables away.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio...

Reading this got me rolling on the floor laughing so I'll share the link.  It's Michael Kinglsey, who I can say speaks for me, in the Washington Post.  Here's some key graphs:

"Let me be absolutely clear where I stand on all of this. There is no room for sexism in a modern political campaign. There is no room for racism either. There is no room for remarks that could reasonably be interpreted as sexist or racist. In fact, given the history of sexism and racism in this country, there is no room for remarks that could even be willfully misinterpreted as sexist or racist. There is no room for rudeness, or for the appearance of rudeness. There is no room for comments of any sort by anybody a candidate might have met under any circumstances in the course of his or her life, unless they have been vetted for sexism, racism, rudeness, or the appearance of these qualities by the campaign's senior staff. There is no room for unfair accusations that the opposition candidate has engaged in sexist, racist or rude remarks, or that anyone he or she has ever met has engaged in such remarks. And of course there is also no room for perfectly fair accusations of this sort, which can be misinterpreted, and usually are.

"Basically, in the modern political campaign, there is no room for remarks of any sort on any subject which could be interpreted as giving offense to anyone, and that covers just about every subject there is. Therefore, my campaign will enter a cone of silence from now until I am sworn in as president next January. And I call upon my distinguished opponent and her campaign to do the same. The stakes in this election are much too high for anyone to say anything."

Chilling article about the CIA Holocaust

Who killed Daniel Pearl? 

************************* 

Khalid Shiek Mohammed.  He is rotting away in Cuba and will do so for the rest of his life.  Would you take him in if they offered him house arrest??

There is a silver lining to the Rev. Wright brouhaha.

It establishes Obama as a church-going Christian, and provides the wooden spike through the heart of the Muslim boogeyman.

Tom, ROFL...cone of silence.  I love it.

The Institute for Defense Analyses Report (now presumably discreetly stashed away in some undisclosed location away from the meddling gaze of the media) Moira discussed Wedneday has quite a few provocative nuggets.

Besides providing an interesting and over-arching examination of how pan-Islamism supplanted pan-Arabism as the regional ideology du jour during the past decade, thus diminishing Saddam Hussein's stature and magnifying bin Laden's regional influence, it also supplies insights into the extent of the non-connection between bin Laden and Saddam's Iraq. A somewhat major point being that the report concludes there was no direct connection between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda.

Major refutations of Republican talking points notwithstanding, NSN did an analysis of the report, extracting a few choice nuggets. One interesting was that Saddam himself feared the internal threat from radical Islamic groups in Iraq. From the report:

"Whether attempting to overthow the Egyptian government or the Kuwait royal family, the vision was always about the centrality of Saddam and his pan-Arab vision - and never about the glory of Islam or some modem-day caliphate. To the fundamentalist leadership of al Qaeda, Saddam represented the worst kind o f "apostate" regime - a secular police state well practiced in suppressing internal challenges...

The Saddam regime was very concerned about the internal threat posed by various Islamist movements. Crackdowns, arrests, and monitoring of Islamic radical movements were common in Iraq."

(^from Democracy Arsenal)

Fred wrote "There is a silver lining to the Rev. Wright brouhaha. It establishes Obama as a church-going Christian, and provides the wooden spike through the heart of the Muslim boogeyman."

Dream on.  At myDD, there are still comments using the candidate's middle name in all caps.  I'm afraid you're overestimating the average IQ of the electorate.

how goes the Dow Fox?

It establishes Obama as a church-going Christian, and provides the wooden spike through the heart of the Muslim boogeyman.=====

That will be believed by a very few...mostly here at BFA.

http://www.opednews.com

I will not be quiet about this!

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


Safa Abu Saif, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl, was visiting a friend’s apartment when the bullet fired from an Israeli rifle slammed into her chest, punching a gaping exit wound in her back. No ambulance could reach her because of the fighting. Safa died in her father’s arms three hours after being shot.

Danielle Shafi, a 5-year-old Israeli girl, was killed by the bullet fired from a Palestinian rifle as her mother combed her hair in the child’s upstairs bedroom. Drenched in the blood of her wound, Danielle slowly stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms minutes after being shot.

According to a United Nation’s report, 971 Palestinian and Israeli children were killed between September 2000—the beginning of the second intifada—and July 2007. Of those destroyed children, 854 were Palestinian. The intifada and the dying continue.

Safa and Danielle are two of the children whose lives the evangelical political action committee, Christians United for Israel, are willing to sacrifice on the alter of their fundamentalist eschatology in the hope of bringing about Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Pastor John Hagee, televangelist to 99 million viewers and pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, established the CUFI in 2005 following the publication of his book, “The Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World.” Hagee envisions CUFI as the Christian version the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby whose political clout has a significant influence on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

The late Molly Ivins, a Texas political commentator and author, described Hagee as a “pre-millennial dispensationalist, whose theology focuses on selected apocalyptic passages of the Book of Revelation.” In 1998, Hagee teamed up with Christian filmmakers to produce, “Vanished in the Twinkling of an Eye,” a docudrama about the tribulations following the Rapture.

Despite Pastor Hagee’s obvious interest in eschatology, he insists that CUFI’s support for Israel has nothing to do with end time prophecy. But in an unguarded moment in the intimate confines of his 50,000 sq. ft. multimedia chapel, Hagee set the truth free, “The judgment of the nations is going to happen as soon as Christ returns to earth. As soon as he sets up his throne on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, he’s going to rule the world with a rod of iron. That means he’s going to make the ACLU do what he wants them to . . .. We will live by the law of god, and no other law.”

Hagee endorses McCain.  'nuff said.

how goes the Dow Fox?  

fine, have you panicked and sold yet??? I personally have been buying hard for the last two weeks.  Buy low, sell high, is this a great country or what!!  Buying my dahughter a townhouse to stay in during college for next two years with her roommates.  Found a townhouse down 20% from just last year,  three years from now she goes off to save the world and I figure the market will have turned around and everything today will look like it was on sale.  You of course see the sky falling right on you at all moments.  I rejoice in the opportunities, you wallow in fear and self pity.

29.

Tom Bearse
Sun, 03/16/08

Dream on. At myDD, there are still comments using the candidate's middle name in all caps. I'm afraid you're overestimating the average IQ of the electorate

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

YOu and cC are not looking at the bigger picture. The discussion of this issue will go on about HOW BAD it is that he spent 20 years listening to this guy's sermons, yada, yada, yada,

The temptation for the right to drag this issue out for all it is worth, the more they do that, the more they will forge the image that Obama was a typical evangelical, and not any kind of muslim.

I don't care what they are doing now with the Muslim thing. The two images are not compatible in the real world.

Obama had a good week. he picked up delegates and McCain got another week older

31.

seashell :-)
Sun, 03/16/08

Safa Abu Saif, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl, was visiting a friend’s apartment when the bullet fired from an Israeli rifle slammed into her chest,...

=========================
an all too common event, but one you will never see on American media. HJ is right. We may not be commies or nazis, but our filtered media is comparable.

"Slavic evangelicals", sheez, just what we need:(

Thanks for catching that, Denise.

the more they do that, the more they will forge the image that Obama was a typical evangelical, and not any kind of muslim.====

No. The more they will say that he is a black radical associated with Farrahkan types....something that white folks fear.

or should I say "Farkon", lol.

Fred wrote "I don't care what they are doing now with the Muslim thing. The two images are not compatible in the real world."

Of course not.  However, it is not a natural correlate that unreasonable opponents will not regard him as both a secret Muslim and heretical Christian, and it's my view that we are dealing with unreasonable opponents.

Hi cC - stepped away for a few. Watching movies here, bbl

Buy low, sell high, is this a great country or what!! ====

Catch that falling knife;) j/k.

Scouting for good opportunities, myself:)

Where we find ourselves as told by RJ Escrow on Huffingtonpost

The dollar can devaluate because of the many combined effects of:Printing green paper to ward off a recessionInterest rate cuts.Oil prices going upThe subprime mortage messExports/imports and balance of payment issuesConsuming too many foreign goods

Pocketnines has an exceptional diary up at Kos with delegate math and all sorts of goodies. Well research. It's a winner.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3...

Saw my precinct captain at the Food Co-op today getting sigs for Death with Dignity measure. Great fellow. He asked he we thought the caucuses went because he thought they ran smoothly. So did we.

s/b well researched.

"Seriously, I can't believe that after seven years George Bush still manages to do things that just leave me stunned. I thought I'd seen it all, but...

In a video conference with military personnel in Afghanistan Bush stated:

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

Instead he's going to retire and go back to his ranch, ..."
--Democracy Arsenal

pastor dan bleeds UCC blood and honors Jeremiah Wright. Another keeper of a diary.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3...

I think Ron Paul has a good mind for nuts and dolts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last we agree, Daniel. . . .

Hey, Denise.

45.

Tom Bearse
Sun, 03/16/08

...However, it is not a natural correlate that unreasonable opponents will not regard him as both a secret Muslim and heretical Christian, and it's my view that we are dealing with unreasonable opponents.

======================
Let's stay on target here. I assume we are talking about swing voters that are not information junkies, but get their news from Jay Leno, etc.

Anyone as far out on a fringe as the "opponents" to whom you refer, wouldn't be voting Democrat, much less for a Black Republican, regardless of such scandalous issues.

I meant Black Democrat, but it works both ways :-)

Also, Tom

The fact that rumors of him as being an AlQaeda Muslim followed by rumors of him as a rebellous Christian, so early in the game will be a red flag to most swing voters that future muck is most likely nothing more than "kitchen sink" and "dirty toilet."

"Anti-democratic elements are everywhere in our political system. The presidential veto is undemocratic. The rules governing filibusters and the closing off of debate are undemocratic. The procedural devices by means of which floor leaders or committee chairmen can prevent issues from coming to a vote are undemocratic. The fact that Rhode Island and California have two senators each is undemocratic. The appointment of senators by governors in the wake of a death or a resignation is undemocratic. The presidential line of succession is undemocratic. The fact that a vice president who has not been elected to the senate presides over it and can cast a deciding vote is undemocratic. Judicial review – the practice by which the Supreme Court invalidates laws passed by the people’s representatives – is undemocratic. (Legal theorists call it the “counter-majoritarian difficulty.”)"

Just another little cut From:Memo to the Superdelegates: No Principles, Please   

"What does this tell us about what the superdelegates should do in the present situation? Not much. In fact there is no “should” – no sense of moral obligation – in the equation. By definition, they can do what they like. One could say that they should exercise political judgment but, given that they are political and not moral agents, that would be tautological. In this case, political judgment can go in any number of directions. A superdelegate might ask himself or herself, “Whom do I think would make the best president?” or “Whom do I think will be the best general election candidate?” or “Whose policy views are closest to mine?” or “With whom do I have a history of cordial and profitable interactions?” or “With whom am I more likely to have more influence?” or “Who is more likely to be friendly to my state or region?”"

new tread.

mary vb

O'Bama is looking pretty safe as the nominee, that is why I say let this continue til all 50 states get to weigh in, it is out of Clinton's reach

9:30 PM EST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/17/iraq.usa?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

The next US president must reject the juvenile Bush vision, reach out to Iran and seek justice for the Palestinian people

• Max Hastings

This article appeared in the Guardian on Monday March 17 2008 on p32 of the Comment & debate section.

The Iraq war has shown how high is the pain threshold of the west. Five years after the 2003 invasion, the daily roll call of Iraqi suicide bombings, murders, firefights and body-bags has become as familiar a part of our landscape as traffic jams on the M1 and Los Angeles freeway.

The media class on both sides of the Atlantic is deeply engaged, indeed impassioned. The war is much discussed in the US presidential election campaign. But most Americans and Europeans display vastly less interest in the Middle East than in troubles closer to home - the global banking crisis foremost among them.

They have grown used to Iraq in the way they do to a chronic personal ailment. It is there. It is nasty. They wish that it would go away. But it does not inflict the sort of agonising pain that causes democracies to force urgent action upon their governments.

At this week's bleak anniversary, statisticians measure the cost. Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes tell us that the US faces a total bill of $3 trillion, and still counting. About 4,000 American soldiers, 171 British and anything between 200,000 and 600,000 Iraqis have died. It would be madness to describe these numbers as acceptable. But they have not proved so unacceptable that the US or British government, or even the Iraqi administration in Baghdad, has found it necessary to adopt any radical shift of policy.

...

Its too bad that Obama had to repudiate what Rev. Wright said. Politics being what it is, made it necessary.

However, nothing that the Rev. said or could say is comparable to the person presently abusing the office of the presidency calling our Constitution a G D piece of paper. That just says it all. It is our Constitution, and he has no respect for it, or us, and that goes for Repugs who still allign themselves with him.

That goes for any Dem from Hillary's camp who is so screwed up in their thinking that some critical truths from a pastor are more dangerous than the every day rants of the Emperor.