Howard Dean is first.

Anni

Darn tootin' Howard is first.

rest in peace

I wish I could give brother Bill [Graham] his great thrill

I would set him in chains at the top of the hill

And send out for some pillars and Cecil B. De Milles

He could die happily ever after

Tombstone Blues,  Bob Dylan

Hi Folks,

Tried to post but the connection timed out.  

A recent column by Ellen Goodman quoted Barack Obama quoting William Faulkner: "The past isn't dead; it's not even past."  To have a president who has read Faulkner and quote him is nothing short of an English major's delight.  I can't think of any president except maybe Kennedy who might have read Faulkner and have been able to quote him.  To have such a literate president, wow!

The Tibetan situation is problematical at best.  Are we going to give the Native Americans back their land?  Will the Chinese give the Mongolians and Tibetans back their land?  Not likely.  Justice never seems to happen except in retrospect as an acknowledgement in history books.  

Just a comment about New Orleans: The Bush Administration abandoned people and a historical and unique city as spends three trillion dollars on an unnecessary, destructive, quagmire of a wire.  The Green Zone has all the amenities, while New Orleans is still in disrepair, though the French Quarter is up and running.  How could we let this happen? 

What is it about typing? Not wire, but war.  And not as.  Good Grief!

The Christian Left Roars via Fixed News, no less.

Threats toward Howard Dean by Clinton's big donors this week should alarm us greatly.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1970

Howard had an excellent interview today on ABC's This Week.  Video.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4599096

OPINION
A Silver Lining In the Blue Battle
Hillary's destructive coup attempt: it's a good thing for the Democratic Party.
By Markos Moulitsas | NEWSWEEK
Apr 14, 2008 Issue

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130606

The moneyed elite, whether in the Democratic or Republican party, need to be put in their place.  Let them be satisfied with their sense of superiorty and practice a bit of humility when they deal with people who consider themselves their equals.

Danny:

This thread is over 3 hours old, and has had only 10 posts prior to mine. Will you PLEASE  spend a few bucks and hire a knowledgeable IT consultant to fix the obvious, glaring problems!!!

6:04 pm

Or if you're trying to euthanize BFA, you're doing an excellent job.

PA at 9. that was a great video - Father Pfleger is too cool for school. He reminds me of Howard. I know a fellow with that same lilting accent -- from upstate NY -- it is a funny little accent. I like it but it's different.

Pat in Colorado asked an excellent, although under-answered question:

"How could we let this happen?"

In speculation, our collective opinion -if I may-  would (as we have) peruse the action/inaction of the Fourth Estate

The term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues. The term goes back at least to Thomas Carlyle in the first half of the 19th century.

Novelist Jeffrey Archer in his work The Fourth Estate made the observation: "In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the 'Estate General'. The First Estate consisted of three hundred clergy. The Second Estate, three hundred nobles. The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'"

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

The term Fourth Estate has less frequently referred to the proletariat in opposition to the three recognized estates of the French Ancien Régime.

An early citation for this use—earlier than for the one that now prevails—is Henry Fielding in Covent Garden Journal (1752):

“

None of our political writers ... take[s] notice of any more than three estates, namely, Kings, Lords, and Commons ... passing by in silence that very large and powerful body which form the fourth estate in this community ... The Mob.[3]

” Fourth Estate has referred to "the public press" since at least as far back as the early 1800s. More generally, it has also been used to refer to any group other than the clergy, nobility, or commons that wields political power

 

McCain is pathetic:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/06/mccain-gets-facts-wrong-o_n_95297.html

But the media are leting him skate, and the Democrats are nowhere to be seen. WTF are they afraid of? Clinton and Obama continue to spend millions beating up on each other ( and not incidentally, loading the Republicans up with anti-Dem talking points) and are making no effort to bring this guy down.

JEEZ!

6:11pm

And when I hear the ditto-heads for Rush Limbaugh and the vulgar Republican Party of today coupled with Rupert Murdock, then

I know what  

The Mob

is... 

McCain should be toast, but Billary keep promoting him as a better choice than Obama, and the Democrats in general (including Obama) seem paralyzed with fear.

 Did Obama actually say that McCain is not a warmonger???

6:16pm

What on God's green earth are fake sequoia trees? The right-wing Republicans in Central California sure do live in another reality. btw, The word Fresno is spanish for "ash tree" which at one time grew here in abundance. The lumber industry did them in along time ago.

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

---

Fresno Yosemite International Airport gets its grove on

A $9.2 million renovation taking root at the terminal aims to bolster the city's image and help visitors forge closer ties with nearby national parks.

A grove of fake sequoia trees to be "planted" in the airport terminal next year is designed to improve Fresno's image by giving visitors a taste of one of the nation's most spectacular natural wonders.

Fresno Yosemite International Airport's new $9.2 million renovation will double the size of the baggage claim area, remodel part of the central terminal, consolidate the six car-rental agencies along one wall and, tourism officials say, forge closer ties with Yosemite and other nearby national parks -- bolstering people's first and last impression of the community.

The addition of the sequoia grove -- intended to convey a sense of wilderness -- is similar to efforts by other regional airports to "brand" their facilities with art and architectural features. The belief is that the airport is often the first thing a visitor sees, and he or she is more likely to return if that initial perception is positive.

The image upgrade follows a continuing increase in passenger and air traffic at the airport. Mexicana Airlines recently expanded from five days per week to seven, and ExpressJet started daily service to Long Beach.

Nine carriers operate 50 daily flights, and ridership has increased annually for five years. In 2007, 1.3 million people passed through the terminal.

"This is branding for the airport and branding for Fresno itself," said Gary Hanick, owner of NatureMaker, which is creating the replica forest inside the terminal. "Fresno is the gateway to the national parks." ...full article: http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/...

HQ wasted over $2M last quarter on D.C. Beltway-types, John.

Stop being so gullible, people.

Read a freakin' FEC report. 

20.

Susan Rowe
Sun, 04/06/08


Good grief, it sounds like some kind of an exhibit at Disneyland.

6:37 PM EDT

Clinton now ahead of Obama by just 25 super delegates:

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/superdelegate-list.html

2008 Democratic Convention Watch

Superdelgate Endorsement List

...

4-5-08 - Removed DNC Helen Langan (UT) from Clinton and put her on the uncommitted list.
Added Missouri add-on Susan Montee (MO)# , Delaware add-on Rob Carver (DE)# , Yvette Alexander(DC)# for Obama.

Added Harry Thomas Jr.(DC)# for Clinton.
 

4-6-08 Replaced Mary Lou Winters (Clinton) with Elsie Burkhalter as DNC member from LA. Burkhalter is being placed on the uncommitted list as of now.

Added North Dakota add-on Dan Hannaher (ND)# for Obama.

Stay tuned... we'll update this list as we find out more.

...

National Poetry Month

Mark Penn stepping down.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

Listening to Rendell this morning rant on and on with his ridiculous claims, and watching Russert and Sen Casey just listening to Rendell make a fool of himself -- that made my morning.

According to Rendell, the nominee should be chosen now by electoral votes, a claim Russert refused to ignore.

The newest addition to all this is that the -second place "winner" of the nomination should be made vice prez nominee a claim Howard found slightly amusing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Penn stepping down is good and should make all Pennsylvanians aware of just the Clinton campaign is really about and it has little to do with blue collar workers.

The article states that the arrogant slob (Penn) will still be their pollster. This is a smokescreen as one blogger at Kos puts it. Another blogger asks if his campaign paycheck bounced. LOL

way to late for Penn to quit, not to late for Hillary to end the destructive division and play the rest of the game out with class

1. Go on offense on national security issues, because they can not only neutralize but also win support by using the strongest messages on these issues.
2. Show that Senator John McCain’s national security policies would essentially be a continuation of the failed policies of President Bush.
3. Stress Iraq; most voters believe the Bush-McCain policies are a failure – specifically that the troop surge has not succeeded – and that we need a better course.
4. Stress the economic dimension of national security: With the economy in a tailspin Democrats must make the case that the Bush-McCain policies abroad are a key reason.
5. Stress energy: dependence on foreign oil has now moved up to the number one security threat in the eyes of most Americans.
6. Construct the Democratic narrative around a goal of “strengthening America’s security” as a contrast to the “reckless” and “extreme” Bush-McCain policies.
7. Show a willingness to use force when necessary and demonstrate support for the U.S. military by building closer ties of affinity and advocacy.

Condi looking for VP slot with McCain.

Might work--gives them an African American, and the Dems are to paralyzed with fear to confront her on her crimes.

7:12 PM EDT

Mark Penn stepping down.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

+++

The problem isn't Mark Penn -- it's his boss.

Mainefem seems to have nailed it--HQ is spending tons of money on consultants, but apparently can't afford a geek who could fix the blog.

Looks like they're trying to kill BFA. They're certainly succeeding.

National Poetry Month 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah!  So April Is the cruelest month. . . .  

New Thread:-)

Condi as a 'Cainite VP ensconced the image the Sen 'Cain is nothing without King George.  I t won't be 'Cain's administration with the Trojan horse (Condoleezza) firmly enshrined.