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Bridging the Urban Divide
Hello all. My name is William Maggos, and I am the host of the Loop DFA group in Downtown Chicago. We draw from the surrounding areas, as our focus was to be a group for folks who work in Downtown Chicago but may live elsewhere. We were very active in the Cegelis primary, but we are now wrapped up in the local elections in Chicago, specifically alderman races. While many of our members are involved in different races in the parts of Chicago where they actually live, one of our members actually decided to run for alderman of the ward we meet in. So the group pledged its support to David.
David Askew is running for 2nd Ward Alderman. He is the typical DFA candidate, clearly the best choice but lacking the money or connections of his opponents. Too honest in a political environment dominated by special interest groups and media soundbites. He demonstrates the predicaments many of our candidates face and exactly why we are needed, and need to be stronger in the struggling urban areas of our big cities.
Chicago is Democratic but not very democratic. The wards are drawn to maintain the fact that politicians choose their voters and not the other way around. The old way of government jobs being dependent on political work is slowly giving way to campaign cash for contracts. This all points to a great opportunity for some DFA-style campaigns to make real change, but it aint gonna be easy. Physical threats are still to be expected, and you might even have the banner stolen off the candidate's house as soon as the sun goes down!
That brings us back to this race. The 2nd ward is a microcosm of the city overall, as it is composed of a booming downtown area with a more affluent white population and areas south and west which look nearly forgotten where residents are generally poor and minority. For too long, innercity poverty has gotten lip service but based on results, enough effort has obviously not been made. Local politicians have somehow accepted this state of affairs. In my view, this is exactly why DFA needs to be involved in local races in the forgotten areas of our large cities. While I commend the groups that address various issues, I feel that it is DFA's focus on candidates that can best make longlasting change. We need to elect candidates that can understand the needs of an area in a comprehensive way, and that do not rely on the support of different interest groups to get elected. This will allow them the flexibility to do what needs doing independent of political relationships that so seem to dominate urban politics. But you also need someone who has proven their connection to an area as the issues are so difficult and the pressure very intense for such local positions. David made his home in a struggling neighborhood on the western part of the ward, choosing to invest in the area both his money and time. He joined community policing and helped to end much of the criminal activity on his block. This is an example of his character, and what I feel is integral to the candidates DFA supports.
David's life has always been about public service over personal gain, as he joined the Navy after law school and then walked away from a better salary at a big firm to work in the state's Attorney General's office as a civil rights lawyer. But these life choices are what put David and other DFA candidates like him at a disadvantage when running for office. You are usually at an economic disadvantage to folks who worked in the private sector, and true citizen candidates who just get fed up one day and decide to run for office lack the connections of those who have chosen to play the political games or just have some personal connection. But these are often the candidates that we really want to represent us, people who have demonstrated the public service spirit deeply and the average Jane whose reason to run is the same we all feel at some time or another. But if they are going to win, they need us as volunteers to help.
This has been the tale of David's campaign, a crowded field filled with candidates with lots of money or personal political connection. And as a bunch of volunteers, we are getting the word out by canvassing and phone calls. He impresses at every forum and wherever he goes, but how many people have attended one of those? And then like many DFA candidates, you face the electability issue. In this race, its presented as, "I really want to get the incumbent out, and while I like David best, he just doesn't have the money to win. Your candidate can't win, so just go with the lesser evil." As Dean supporters, we've seen where that has gotten us.
But the campaign has gotten lucky here. We've swept the major newspapers in Chicago, with both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times endorsing David Askew as the best candidate in a crowded field of six candidates. To get both is quite a statement, and we hope it begins to blunt the electability concerns. It is a great way to lead off a phone call to a voter.
So there's a little window into this race, and our attempt to make a blue city better represent the Democratic wing of our party. Wish us luck this Tuesday!
William Maggos, Sandra Verthein, and the other Chicago DFA activists are the other first!
WOOOHOOOO!!!!! Great post William, thank you. Great work Loop DFA. I like that name, very original. And of course he is electable, don't ever utter those words again. Even the Chicago Sun Times and Sun Tribune say so.
The best of luck to David Askew, and all other Loop DFA and Illinois DFA candidates. Especially for representing the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party.
Huron,
I was thinking of holding a sign at the huge Peace Rally-the one marking the 5th year of our occupation of a country, with:
"Putz
Doesn't
Represent
US"
what do you think?
"This is about talking to voters, not a network," Dean said Thursday. "While the Fox News Channel rarely has coverage that is fair and balanced, we believe that Fox viewers, who are potential voters, should have the opportunity to see a debate between our candidates. These forums provide an important unfiltered opportunity for potential voters to see Democrats without the bias of the network."Howard Dean.
We may not like FOX TV, but Governor Dean definitely is correct.
IRAN INTELLIGENCEWRONG--REALLY?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2019235,00.html
Much of the intelligence on Iran's nuclear facilities provided to UN inspectors by US spy agencies has turned out to be unfounded, diplomatic sources in Vienna said today.
The claims, reminiscent of the intelligence fiasco surrounding the Iraq war, coincided with a sharp increase in international tension as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran was defying a UN security council ultimatum to freeze its nuclear programme.
That report, delivered to the security council by the IAEA director general, Mohammed ElBaradei, sets the stage for a fierce international debate on the imposition of stricter sanctions on Iran and raises the possibility that the US could resort to military action against Iranian nuclear sites.
At the heart of the debate are accusations - spearheaded by the US - that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons.
However, most of the tip-offs about supposed secret weapons sites provided by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies have led to dead ends when investigated by IAEA inspectors, according to informed sources in Vienna.
"Most of it has turned out to be incorrect," a diplomat at the IAEA with detailed knowledge of the agency's investigations said.
"They gave us a paper with a list of sites. [The inspectors] did some follow-up, they went to some military sites, but there was no sign of [banned nuclear] activities.
"Now [the inspectors] don't go in blindly. Only if it passes a credibility test."
*****************************************************
Fool me once...........
What an inspiration, Loop DFA!
One is tempted to observe that a call for help is a little late. On the other hand, it is up to the voters in Chicago and it's important that they have a choice. That the major papers are attending to the qualifications of the candidates, rather than their ad revenues is admirable and should be recognized.
Maybe a letter to the editors is in order. LOL
The zip code for the chicago area papers is 60611.
Use democrats.org to write a letter. It's easy
http://www.democrats.org/page/speakout/l...
rent or buy flight 93. the first half is so chilling. the last half conjecture.
I was yelling at the screen. 9/11 was a set up job.
the movie babel is nothing. I mean how did they get this movie made and up for an award? huh?
Morning,
This from a friend.
poll results. http://galluppoll.com/content/?ci=26677 PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds that among the major religious groups in the United States, Jewish Americans are the most strongly opposed to the Iraq war. Catholics and Protestants are more or less divided in their views on the war, while Mormons are the most likely to favor it. Those with no religious affiliation also oppose the war, but not to the same extent that Jewish people do. The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews who share the same political leanings. Black Protestants also oppose at 77%.
A great article on our man Al.
The only thing I question is them quoting a spokesperson for Al where she says, he says it best, "I...." but she says in "2008" and he's never said that. So, that's odd.
But anyway, here:
Amid Oscar buzz for Gore, backers talk political encore
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | February 24, 2007
(snip)
Al Gore, the star of the global warming film "An Inconvenient Truth," which is the odds-on favorite to capture the award for Best Documentary, has been transformed in the eyes of many in the last year from an oft-maligned former vice president to a man whom some bloggers call the "Goracle" for his prescient messages on climate change and his warning in 2002 about the dangers in Iraq.
Now, if the Oscar becomes his -- and the film community gives him the expected rousing tribute before a worldwide audience of hundreds of millions -- his supporters are ready to demand an encore: another presidential run.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washin...
The spouse, an inveterate movie buff, has been watching
"Courage Under Fire" again.
It stars Denzell Washington and Meg Ryan and seems rather timely given the "friendly fire" case being investigated in Britain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courage_Und...
Perhaps this might make an interesting movie for the DFAFilm club.
"At first, everything seems to be straightforward, but Serling begins to notice inconsistencies in the testimony of the witnesses. The members of the first helicopter crew mention that they heard the distinctive sound of an M-16 being used in the firefight around the other helicopter, but Walden's crew denies firing one during the rescue, as theirs was out of ammunition. Despite pressure from the White House and the Pentagon to wrap things up quickly so they can have news they can use for propaganda, he investigates further, questioning Specialist Ilario (Damon), Staff Sergeant John Monfriez (Phillips), and the rest of the second crew until he uncovers the truth."
BTW, he had me watch a clip where there's discussion of DU and how that's being covered up. The film came out in 1996.
The District Blogs are in danger of becoming all carol, all the time, unless somebody contributes something else.
http://districtblogs.com/default.asp
Hu agaubm
This from a friend, quoting Dr. Paul Minot, a psychiatrist from Waterville, Maine.
"The most disturbing aspect about narcissists, however, is their pathological inability to empathize with others, with the exception of those who either mirror them, or whom they idealize. Hence Bush's horrifying insensitivity to the Katrina victims, his callous jokes when visiting grievously injured soldiers, and numerous other instances. He simply has no capacity to feel for others in that way. When LBJ was losing Vietnam, he developed a haunted expression that anybody could recognize as indicative of underlying anguish. For all his faults, you just knew he was losing sleep over it. By the same token, we know just as well that Bush isn't losing any sleep over dead American soldiers, to say nothing of dead Iraqis. He didn't exhibit any sign of significant concern until his own political popularity was sliding -- because THAT'S something he CAN feel."
Hi again is Hu agaubm? Sheesh!
13.
In the interest of accuracy, Al Gore WILL NOT GET AN OSCAR in connection with "An Inconvenient Truth." He's not been nominated. The singer of a song in the Documentary has been nominated and the Documentary has been nominated. Which means that, if it wins, the producers will take home a statue. Gore is the topic and the star; he is/was not one of the five producers.
You know, in a documentary about penguins, the penguins are not likely to be awarded an Oscar. LOL
We wouldn't want to have another "invented the internet" moment. So, let's just defuse the GOP spin before it happens and give credit where credit is due.
Is this a surprise, being a majority of our Representatives have taken up with the Corporations in turning us to a Fascist state?
US Economy Leaving Record Numbers in Severe Poverty
by Tony Pugh
The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots" continues to widen.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/...
Yes, of course Monica. They keep lumping him, because it's his story and he's in it. Al Gore is the first to correct anyone that he is not nominated and he doesn't want to talk about it for fear of jinxing Davis Guggenheim, Elizabeth Shue's hubby, from receiving it.
This is a good one, here:
Could Gore's road to the Oval Office begin in Hollywood?
By Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst
Adjust font size:
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- We've seen plenty of political moments at the Oscars before. But on Sunday, we could see the most unusual political moment ever.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/...
God, that Schneider is so snarky - there already IS a "Draft Gore" movement.
Closing in on 40,000 signatures at draftgore.com
RE-ELECT AL GORE!
'Americans unaware of Iraqi death toll'
Poll shows knowledge of U.S. dead, but huge underestimation of Iraqis...
Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated at more than 54,000 and could be much higher; some unofficial estimates range into the hundreds of thousands. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports more than 34,000 deaths in 2006 alone.
Americans are keenly aware of how many U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. But they woefully underestimate the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed.
Given a range of possible words to describe their feelings about the overall situation in Iraq, people were most likely to identify with “worried,” selected by 81 percent of those surveyed.
Women were more likely than men to feel worried, compassionate, angry and tired; men were more likely than women to feel proud, a finding consistent with traditional differences in attitudes toward war between the sexes.
22.
Suzanne Harris
Yes, Suzanne, I know. LOL
OH and can you believe the jump in signatures? Just from yesterday, it's jumped like 1000!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/algor...
Monica Smith
Sat, 02/24/07
10:49 am
Reply to this
The spouse, an inveterate movie buff, has been watching
"Courage Under Fire" again.
-----------------
that is one good movie.
The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews who share the same political leanings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Pat. So much for our conspiracy theorists, lol!!
There's a one paragraph blurb at mydd by Matt Stoller who talks about the Obama campaign having money and talent problems. Stoller says it's a totally top-down campaign and they're not interested in the netroots.
OH! This is great. And when you're done reading this, please recommend their diary.
I Met Joe Lieberman Today
by MPernick [Subscribe]
Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 04:44:03 PM PST
I was in Hartford for a conference at the CT State Capitol today, and while I was talking to the proud left-wing Democratic State Representative Andy Fleischmann, he informed me that the one and only Joe Lieberman (CT-Traitor) was talking at a hearing on No Child Left Behind in the very next room. After I finished my talk with Fleischmann, I got up and walked next door to have a little chat with my buddy Joe.
MPernick's diary :: ::
Lieberman was surrounded by a couple of cameras and a horde of reporters, all asking questions. I walked up and waited behind the reporters, and after a few minutes he stopped answering questions and began to walk off. I jumped forward, shook his hand, and introduced myself to him, all very politely. Then I asked him, "Senator, do you feel you've stuck to your campaign promise to get the troops out of Iraq as soon as possible?" He stopped in his tracks, turned to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. He looked me straight in the eye, and said, "Michael, I always said I want to get the troops out as soon as possibly safely. In order to get them out safely, we need to send in more troops now." Without waiting a second, I shot right back, "Senator, with all due respect, that makes absolutely no sense." He chuckled, and without another word, trotted away.
Right after that, several of the reporters came over to me and asked me a couple of questions about what just happened. One of them posted a link online.
I know everyone on here has been attacking Lieberman non-stop since the primary, but this is the first time I've met him face-to-face. I never liked his view on the war, but I never realized he could be such a hypocritical deceitful disgrace. I can't wait until we win a few more seats in 2008 and he will no longer be in the position to disrupt the balance in the Senate by threatening to switch parties.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/23/...
Subway, I liked your song choice for the Al Gore Love thread.
"Just Biden by Time"...LOL
Good luck to David Askew!
Memories of "The Loop" are always vivid in my mind. Though I grew up in the suburbs, it was always a big deal to go shopping in the loop at the big stores of their day. After I graduated I commuted to the loop and worked in the Merchandise Mart.
I it was surprising to read that Chicago is democratic, but not very democratic. That is a big change from yesteryear.
These rather fetching billboards have apparently already been removed but prove that plans to build a huge toll road between Texas and Mexico known as the 'Trans-Texas Corridor" are well underway.
We have long been reporting that the corridor is the lynchpin of the North American Union, yet we are still called conspiracy theorists by those who refuse to accept the reality in front of their faces.
Oscar preview, Al Gore rescued Katrina victims Sep 2005 - AP
by joan reports [Subscribe]
Sat Feb 24, 2007 at 09:01:59 AM PST
See this, before the Oscar hoopla.
Award nominee Vice-President Al Gore chartered a rescue plane in early Sept. 2005 and flew to New Orleans to medEvac 100s of patients from Charity Hospital and bring them to Tennessee. Gore declined interviews while he was shuttling the evacuees that Saturday and for a 2nd return flight he made on Sunday, but the doctors who flew with him talked about the experience.
Gore had to work around a sequential blockade by FEMA, which naturally denied his team permissions, repeatedly.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)- Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.
... [Gore] refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew last Saturday and Sunday. . . .
joan reports's diary :: ::
Note - This is a reprise of an original post of mine 1 week after Katrina washed over land.
AP reported it Friday evening after the news cycle. No broadcaster ever reported a news segment on the rescue.
Gore responded immediately . . .
On [Thurs] Sept. 1, three days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, [Greg] Simon learned that Dr. David Kline ... was stranded with patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
The situation was dire and becoming worse by the minute - food and water running out, no power, 4 feet of water surrounding the hospital and ... corpses outside," Simon wrote.
Gore responded immediately, telephoning Kline and agreeing to underwrite the $50,000 each for the two flights, although Larry Flax, founder of California Pizza Kitchens, later pledged to pay for one of them.
The skinny on Al Gore's coordination of the 2-day airlift:
At TPM Cafe, Greg Simon, the pres of FasterCures, recounted the determined (and agonizing) logistical coordination that resulted, finally, in the 2 airlifts of patients and evacuees to Tennessee. (If you have time, you should click over and read the fuller story yourself.) Here's my take on it.
Gore flew from Tenn. to Dallas (to pick up the chartered plane), to La. to Tenn. – and then did the whole thing again the next day. The idea was hatched Thursday night, and the advocates for the mission, including Simon, Gore and staff butted heads with the bureacrats for the next 2 days through mid-day Saturday.
At every turn, FEMA and military officials tried to stop these 2 flights.
The 1st flight out on Saturday was mostly patients in need of supervised care, including dialysis and insulin, and the second one on Sunday had more evacuees and fewer patients.
After landing slots were denied numerous times during the planning, the one person in Washington who would grant the 2 landing slots ended up being the single Democratic member of Bush's cabinet, Norm Mineta. That took a personal call from Gore to Mineta to override the instructions from below to withhold landing slots.
An amazing read at TPM Cafe (link above).
The first flight to Knoxville brought about 100 patients and 40 non-patients. The second flight on Sunday transported 130 evacuees to Chatanooga.
More info is also found in local coverage from Tennessee or at alternate link with the pix, originally from the News-Sentinel of Knoxville, Tenn (orig link expired).
Haven from fury Mercy Flight Brings Evacuees to ET (=East Tennessee)
Gore accompanies about 140 arrivals from New Orleans but declines to take credit
"Gore chose not to speak to the assembled media, but he was seen in a black T-shirt and jeans moving rapidly from one side of the plane to the other assisting with the off-loading operation.
"Participating in the operation were the Knoxville Fire Department, the Blount County Rescue Squad and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Cruisers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol escorted the buses to hospitals.
"Additional medical personnel within the regional emergency system also were on standby.
"Units at the airports included at least 10 ambulances, a phalanx of buses, fire trucks and other equipment."
More about the arrival or the first plane bringing evacuees on Saturday - from WATE Channel 6 News of Knoxville -
-read down to the 5th paragraph
To continue, link then recommend
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/24/112215/451
Remember, you must be logged in to dailykos to see the "recommend" button on the right
I have now heard both of Iowa's new Congressmen say they back Murtha and want the troops out as soon as possible; this time from our grassroots winner Dave Loebsack. He mentioned Carol as one who had depended on the grassrrots for a win Monica.
Loebsack serves on the Armed Services Committee and was just back from Iraq.
Attorney: Sealed Documents Indicate OKC Inside Job
FBI, defense team files identify government informants directing McVeigh
Prison Planet | February 23, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones
UPDATED 1:10PM CST WITH PDF DECLARATIONS OF TERRY NICHOLS AND DAVID PAUL HAMMER
Declaration of Terry Lynn Nichols
Declaration of David Paul Hammer
Motion for an order allowing the videotaped depositions of David Paul Hammer and Terry Lynn Nichols
The attached exhibits to the declarations mainly consist of FBI source materials and have been placed under seal by the court and are not part of the public record.
The attorney who was able to obtain a declaration from Terry Nichols fingering an FBI agent as directing Timothy McVeigh says that the documents attached to the affidavit indicate that the Oklahoma City bombing was an inside job.
"I didn't start out to solve the Oklahoma City bombing, I started out to find out who killed my brother and why," Jesse Trentadue told the Alex Jones Show.
In January 1996, Trentadue received an anonymous phone call telling him that his brother Kenneth had been murdered by the FBI in a case of mistaken identity because his brother had fit the profile of a member of a group called the Midwest Bank Robbery Gang that had been robbing banks to fund an attack on the federal government.
"Of course I dismissed it, I thought it was far fetched, unbelievable," said Trentadue, who said he ignored it until months later when he read a story in the L.A. Times about a man named Richard Lee Guthrie, also a member of the robbery gang, who was found hanging in his cell while in federal custody a day before he was due to give a confessional interview about the Oklahoma City bombing.
"Shortly before he was executed I received a message from Timothy McVeigh who told me that when he saw my brother's photograph and heard what happened to him, he knew the FBI has killed my brother because they mistook him from Richard Lee Guthrie."
Trentadue said he believes Guthrie was John Doe 2, McVeigh's accomplice in carrying out the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah building and an individual seen by multiple eyewitnesses yet omitted from the official story by the authorities. Guthrie and Kenneth Trentadue's physical description and movements were exactly the same, right down to the dragon tattoo on each's left forearm.
Jesse Trentadue stands in front of a portrait of his brother Kenneth who Trentadue claims was murdered by the FBI because he was mistaken with OKC bombing conspirator Richard Lee Guthrie.
Kenneth Trentadue's autopsy photos clearly betray a violent beating and torture as the cause of his death. The official explanation of suicide is completely inconsistent with the physical evidence.
"I didn't start out to solve the bombing, I started out to find the men who killed my brother," said Trentadue, "but every trail has taken me back to the bombing."
This is what led Trentadue to file a lawsuit in Utah ordering the FBI to release all documents relating to a failed sting operation they were running at a white supremacist paramilitary training camp in Elohim City, eastern Oklahoma, and its connection to the bombing on April 19 1995.
Daniel
or the death could have just been out of FBI anger for losing "brothers" at Murrah not conspiracy to cover-up
an honest case of mistaken identity police interogation a step too far
it's happened
A couple of thoughts about all of Lieberman's threats to leave...references to Booman Trib, David Sirota, and the Poitical Insider. We might survive after all.
About Lieberman
http://www2.boomantribune.com/story/2007/2/23/103929/414
Sirota's thought, let him go.. let Republicans take the blame.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1112
As to the Nevada Fox thing, we all knew Dean would have to stand with the party leaders, no matter what, even if it meant not speaking out. But I wish he had not spoken out against the efforts of Greenwald's project Fox Attacks, and against Move On's petition. That quite frankly...was painful
22.
It is amazing that MoveOn can get 600,000 signatures on its petition to fund NPR and PBS, while the Gore petition has only 40,000. Something doesn't seem right here, but what I don't know. Everyone I know wants Gore to run though they aren't all online to sign the petition. We need to get busy forwarding the petition to other supporters.
~~~~~~
31.
As for Liarman, his antics are disgusting. It wouldn't do the Dem party any harm if he went elsewhere -- that's where he is and has been for several years. At least if would become apparant that we are not pandering to Liarman to keep the power, but letting him go because that's what we promised the voters in 2006. He makes me feel dirty just having him in the party.
It would seem to me that Repugs wouldn't want him either for the same reasons. He would be using them just as he did us. As long as we have the filibuster, it won't make much difference if he does go. With a Dem House, nothing would get passed at all.
As far as a recall if CT has that option available, CT has a Repug governor who could install someone as bad as Lieberman, but he/she would have to be elected in 2008. Ned Lamont please!
He already left. He has an (I) after his name.
41.
As to the Nevada Fox thing, we all knew Dean would have to stand with the party leaders, no matter what, even if it meant not speaking out. But I wish he had not spoken out against the efforts of Greenwald's project Fox Attacks, and against Move On's petition. That quite frankly...was painful
It is painful, but we knew that when we all voted to give him our approval when he ran for the DNC. I would however wish there were the option for him just to keep quiet about it all.
43,
You're right, but he caucuses with the Dems though he hasn't supported them much and threatens then like a big bully brother. Gone with him!!
42.
Joan* In*Florida
:)
Yes, but the Petition site doesn't have a mailing list yet, that's what they need from us. And a major list serv like MoveOn, although they work closely with Al Gore, cannot advocate this if they were with "ALL" candidates, or at least not now, being so far in advance still. Right?
I want to reply to Monica before I read this thread. Studies were done the showed that American children were the least touched and held than babies from other cultures; which would account for the rather blase way our WH treats the Iraqi children. But it should not apply to Israeli soldiers, since in my experience Jewish babies are fussed over and held and loved but that goes only so far. I've dated many Jewish boys in high school and their mothers, for the most part, were dreadfully over-protective and bossy and their sons complained about them all the time. But these are isolated dating cases and may not mean anything. And sons in general complain about their mothers, as do daughters.
So I don't understand the reasoning behind the shooting and maiming of the Palistinian children. My uneducated guess is that men, in war or not, take out their hostilites on those weaker, mainly woman, children and animals. The anger, of course, is misdirected, and could be unconsciously directed toward mommy or daddy (in Putz's case) or at the boss, the gov't which puts them at war, the *system*..any number of things. At any rate, the offenders IMO should be thrown in jail as criminals. Shooting children should be a capital crime. Palestinian and Iraqis are also viewed by our*civilized* cultures are inferiors, especially woman, children and animals.
We're still in the caves, maybe not even THAT evolved.
OK, now I'll read the thread.
37.
Feeling a little cantankerous today, Phil, so let me correct that the grassroots PICKED Carol and then saw to it that she was elected. Let's keep the proper sequence of events. If everyone in the room had said "no chance" when Carol announced that was considering being a candidate, it wouldn't have happened.
And, to be honest, my first reaction was that we didn't have a chance. But, it was obvious that if we didn't try, it wasn't a matter of chance, it was a certainty. So, we all said to "go ahead." And she did. And then it turned out that she's "a natural."
As the people we ran into on the highway said, "she's got a mouth on her, just like her dad." It's funny because the other night she said that she's always been conscious of her demeanor. LOL
And that we after she came out and suggested the head of the state's Republican Party should volunteer for the Army and, if he has trouble finding the recruiters, he should "Call me."
Carol came out against this particular war before Murtha. Just for the record. Of course, having no chance of being elected she didn't have anything to lose, did she?
Some of her supporters were really pissed at me because I wrote a letter to the paper saying the Carol was naive if she thought she could end the war in Iraq by herself; that it was going to take the effort of a whole lot of other people. Republicans, I guess, picked up the word "naive." My thinking was it that was the worst they said about her, we'd be lucky. And we were. LOL
See, Republicans hardly ever come up with an original idea. So, you can write the script for them. LOL
AIPAC IS MONGERING WAR WITH IRAN--BIGTIME
http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp02242007.html
Now, as Israeli calls for a U.S. attack on Iran become more shrill by the day, AIPAC recognizes that the American people profoundly distrust Vice President Cheney and the nest of neocon liars he has sheltered. The Bush-Cheney war machine has been pretty well exposed, and that must worry the warmongers within the group. Israeli Defense Force chief artillery officer Gen. Oded Tira has griped that "President Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran," adding that since "an American strike in Iran is essential for [Israel's] existence, we must help him pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and US newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iran issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure."
Many Americans would find such statements deeply offensive in their arrogance and condescension. President Bush has indeed been weakened by the "Iraq failure" Tira acknowledges, arising from a war that the Lobby once endorsed with enormous enthusiasm. (As Gen. Wesley Clark put it way back in August 2002, "Those who favor this attack now will tell you candidly, and privately, that it is probably true that Saddam Hussein is no threat to the United States. But they are afraid at some point he might decide if he had a nuclear weapon to use it against Israel." Recall that that weapon was imaginary.) So now, the Israeli war advocates aver, the U.S. president needs to be helped to do the right thing and attack Iran by lobbyists who will use their power to force the fools in the Democratic Party, especially presidential candidates. Because Americans don't understand and have to be shaken out of their current skeptical mode.
*****************************
How can we stop these a-holes from pushing us into WWIII?
Nice post, seashell on the last thread - good link
It is easy to see from where the natuaral anti-semitism of Moslems grows and the why the myths of Jewish bleeding rituals have regained popularity among them. Lies cannot last forever. Little do people know that there is no place in the West Bank to have a Palestinian State and that the right-wing Jewish immigrant settlers there have taken over. And yet the idiots in the press and government still talk of the "two-state solution" Oh, yea, there is that overcrowded Ghetto called Gaza.
Anti-semitism is the primary export of the right-wing Zionist Israel
http://www.americanhummus.com/category/palestinians-killed-by-israeli-army/
The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews who share the same political leanings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks,Pat, for posting what most of us know. The problem is that most Jews, like Xtians, don't know what AIPAC is or how it works and would be alarmed if they did. JMO How can they know? It's a taboo subject in this country. Did you read the Bethlehem article I wrote about last night? Most Americans don't even know there's a wall built around it. I'll go get the article.
********************************
Thanks Pat. So much for our conspiracy theorists, lol!!
AIPAC is not a conspiracy, but a huge lobby on Capitol Hill; nor is the AEI. The PNAC is on the net and the people who sponsor it are Jews, Zionist, Xtians...makes no difference. We are not condemning all Jews here, nor all Xtians; just the ones who are effing up our country. The fact that some of the most powerful people running our foreign policy are Jews really bothers some people who don't want to acknowledge that. The facts are all out there - even Keith mentions the power of the AEI. Certainly one can't infer that Jimmy Carter is a conspiracist.
Right now we have a conspiracy going so that putz can attack Iran. A friend yesterday said that if he can't find enuf evidence, he'll take out one of our own ships and blame it on the Iranians. This WH is ALL ABOUT conspiracy and secrets. Then there's 9/11, the official story being so full of holes even Cheney could shoot thru them.
I won't go into the conspiracy that brought us into fascism.
Criticism ofIsrael is not Anti-semitic
http://www.counterpunch.org/kunin02242007.html
Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic, nor does it "bleed into anti-Semitism," a formulation that says essentially the same thing.
It is wrong to criticize all Jews for Israel's wrongdoings, yet Israel's leadership and its supporters in the Diaspora consistently encourage this view by insisting that Israel acts on behalf of the entire Jewish people.
This shifts blame for Israel's crimes onto the shoulders of all Jews. But Jewish critics of Israel demonstrate through their words and deeds that the Jewish community is not monolithic in its support of Israel.
Defenders of Israel often argue that Israel is forced to do what it does -- to destroy people's homes, to keep them under the boot of occupation, to seal them into walled ghettos, to brutalize them daily with military incursions and random checkpoints -- to protect its citizens from Palestinian violence. Palestinian violence, however, is rooted in the theft of their land, the diversion of their water, the violence of the occupation, and the indignity of having one's own very existence posed as a "demographic threat."
To justify Israel's continued occupation and theft of Palestinian land, the state and its defenders attempt to deny Palestinian suffering, arguing instead that Palestinian resentment is rooted not in Israeli violence, but rather in Islam, or the "Arab mentality," or a mystical anti-Semitism inherent in Arab or Muslim culture. Consequently, pro-Israel advocacy depends upon on the active dissemination of Islamophobia. Not surprisingly, engendering hatred in this manner inflames anti-Jewish sentiment among Arabs and Muslims. None of this is a recipe for making Jews safe.
Jewish people can help avert the catastrophic effects of Israeli behaviour, but only by taking a stand in opposition to it.
Truck bomb kills dozens of worshippers
Attackers targeted Sunni worshippers leaving a mosque in Iraq Saturday, setting off a truck bomb that killed 39 and wounded more than 60 others. Elsewhere, protests continued about the treatment of a senior Shiite politician's son who said U.S. troops abused him when they detained him at the Iranian border
Mexican truck deal draws angry reaction
By LESLIE MILLER
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8NFL1Q80.htm
The news that Mexican trucks will be allowed to haul freight deeper into the United States drew an angry reaction Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates and members of Congress.
They said Mexico has substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that will threaten national security, cost thousands of jobs and endanger motorists on the northern side of the border.
The Bush administration's plan to let 100 Mexican trucking companies carry cargo beyond the immediate border area was announced Thursday in Mexico.
[...]
Said Teamsters President Jim Hoffa: "They are playing a game of Russian roulette on America's highways."
[...]
The Bush pilot project will let Mexican truck companies travel from Mexico throughout the United States and back. No hazardous material shipments will be permitted.
[...]
Putz does the same thing. He speaks as though all Americans are behind his atrocities.
seashell
Sat, 02/24/07
4:01 am
Reply to this
“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation.”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
The Archbishop captures conditions in Bethlehem today as a result of the wall that Israel has built around it, in addition to continued Israeli settlement expansion, travel restrictions on Palestinians and all of the hardships of living under brutal military occupation. As a result, the Christian population is continuing to leave Bethlehem, not due to problems with Muslims, which many in the US media would have us believe, but due to occupation and as Jimmy Carter so aptly labeled, “apartheid” in his new book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.
According to Open Bethlehem and a Two Nation survey by Zogby International, Americans support Bethlehem – but are not sure where it is.
For full results of the survey visit Open Bethlehem
America vs Bethlehem
Most Americans believe Bethlehem is an Israeli town inhabited by a mixture of Jews and Muslims, a pre-Christmas survey of US perceptions of the town has shown.
Only 15 per cent of Americans realize that it is a Palestinian city with a mixed Christian-Muslim community, lying in the occupied West Bank.
While the Christians of Bethlehem overwhelmingly (78%) blame the exodus of Christians from the town on Israel’s blockade, Americans are more likely (45.9%) to blame it on Islamic politics and are reluctant (7.4%) to blame Israel.
And while four out of ten Americans believe that the wall exists for Israel’s security, more than nine out of ten Bethlehemites believe it is part of a plan by Israel to confiscate Palestinian land."
http://www.americanhummus.com/2006/12/26...
(the ignorance of the American people is astonishing)
seashell
Sat, 02/24/07
4:09 am
Reply to this
OK, back up on Firefox. Here's more of the article I just posted.
ABC News eliminates Palestine from the map:
ABC news provides a good barometer by which to measure the US media’s presentation of Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus.
What follows are three clips which reveal why very few Americans know that Israel has constructed a wall around Bethlehem which is strangling the holy city. Only when ABC retraces the steps of the holy family does Wilf Dinnick mention the wall, but at least he does mention the wall and the fact that it cuts off Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Unfortunately, one would get the impression that Palestinians are responsible for this wall being built. There are a few other problems with the presentation, not the least of which is the map.
Imagine if this map was ever presented with the label Palestine instead of Israel.
Contact ABC News
A Festive Bethlehem:
Another ABC report presents a “festive” Bethlehem “where some are wearing santa hats”.
A Subdued Bethlehem
There were no other reports that I saw where the wall was even mentioned. In the interview for the Newshour, it appears that Reverend Jamal Khader is answering a question about the implications of the wall but there is no mention of it. The question and the beginning of the answer were edited out. I’m pretty sure that the “it” to which the priest refers is in fact the wall.
Contact the News Hour at PBS
http://www.americanhummus.com/2006/12/26...
Those Mexican trucks hauling freight into our country are gonna cause lots of problems. I read, but don't know if it's true, that they won't even be stopped and searched at the border.
What a lovely country we've become....
Instead of just promoting democracy abroad, our government should defend the liberty of workers at home by supporting a new labor reform bill.
By Joe Conason
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/02/23/employee_choice/
[...]
In theory, all Americans enjoy a basic right to unionize and bargain collectively with their bosses for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Since 1935 that right has been enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act, originally known as the Wagner Act, which was supposed to end the abusive and violent anti-union campaigns that had marred American industry for more than 50 years. From that landmark bill came an upsurge in unionization and, over the decades that followed, a steady rise in workers' compensation that helped to fuel the world's strongest economy and created the largest middle class in history.
[...]
...as Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein explained three years ago when he looked at Wal-Mart's labor policies. Since 1935, he wrote, the right to organize "has been whittled away by legislation, poked with holes by appeals courts and reduced to irrelevancy by a well-meaning bureaucracy that has let itself be intimidated by political and legal thuggery. As a result, any company willing to use intimidation and delaying tactics will never have to sign a first contract with a union, even if employees really want one."
That well-meaning bureaucracy is the National Labor Relations Board...
[...]
After decades of ignoring the degradation of workers' rights, Congress is poised to pass labor law reform next month and restore a measure of equality between unions and employers. The Employee Free Choice Act, with 233 sponsors from both parties, will probably reach the House floor during the first week of March and pass overwhelmingly, thanks to the support of the new Democratic leadership. But the bill is just as likely to be stymied in the Senate, where corporate opposition has stimulated threats of a Republican filibuster. And the president has promised to exercise his rarely used veto power if it reaches his desk.
Corporate fury over the bill is understandable because the new law would establish heavier sanctions against companies that violate worker rights, require companies that refuse to bargain to enter mediation and arbitration, and permit workers to win union rights by signing cards that authorize representation. Unions argue that the old election system no longer works -- and that only radical reforms can restore worker freedom. Although opponents of the bill claim that they are protecting "secret ballots" and "workplace democracy," their true objective is clearly to maintain management's overpowering advantage in controlling workers and banishing unions.
Yet the time may have come at last for a bit of regime change in the warehouse, the factory and the nursing home, too.
57.
Just demonstrates that the concern about Homeland Security and preventing terrorists is a farce.
Huron John wrote:
"How can we stop these a-holes from pushing us into WWIII?"
I think we have to let our critters and the media know that we know the lobby is behind this and quotes these people you mention in your article. I'm sending this to Keith.
We need to start saying AIPAC in our letters and calls. And PNAC. There will be great resistence but we have to try. If only we could get Al Jazeera here, if only.
So the way I see it going down is this way:
1. Putz attacks - not good for his image
2. Putz authorizes an attack on our own ship and blames Iran- Americans may not buy that. Congress will slap his hand.
3. Israel attacks out of anger and frustration-not good for Israeli image.
4. Israel attacks a US ship (with Putz approval) and everybody blames Iran. Or, maybe Israel doesn't tell putz. Iran still gets the blame.
5. Israel somehow convinces congress and our media that an attack by us is necessary, which is the route they're presently going. We stop it by writing, calling, screaming that we know what's going on. We tell HC, Edwards and Obama that we know what's going on and won't vote for them.
We need to get moveon involved and we need threads HERE on these issues. Forget local for now.
Calls for Congressional Hearings, Prevent Repeat of Dubai Ports Debacle Contact: (202) 624-6911
February 23, 2007
[...]
...The border has remained closed, except for transfers within a 20-mile commercial zone, since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because of the Mexican government’s failure to meet the truck safety and driver training requirements of NAFTA.“As with the Dubai Ports debacle, President Bush is willing to risk our national security by giving unfettered access to America’s transportation infrastructure to foreign companies and their government sponsors,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “They are playing of game of Russian Roulette on America’s highways. Mexico refuses to meet their end of the bargain yet President Bush rewards them with open access to American highways. It is the American driving public who will pay the consequences.”
The Teamsters Union has led efforts to keep the border closed for the past twelve years. ...
[...]
The plan raises several serious concerns, including:
- The impact on homeland security initiatives. Will the drivers be checked against the terror watch list or will our borders be open to anyone with a Mexican driver’s license? Will the drivers be required to carry a Mexican passport as U.S. citizens are required to present their passports when entering the country from Mexico or Canada?
- The DOT has been disingenuous about this pilot program, indicating only a few weeks ago that it was not pursuing this pilot program. What else are they lying about?
- Enforcement of hours of service in Mexico, false log books and fatigued drivers entering the U.S.
- The application of U.S. standards to Mexican drivers including the requirement that U.S. drivers have a Commercial Drivers License, undergo regular physicals and meet minimum age requirements.
- The integrity of drug and alcohol testing. Though testing will be done in U.S. labs, it is unclear who will oversee the collection of random samples creating a system ripe for abuse.
- Enforcement of U.S. wage and hour laws.
- DOT’s assertion that all trucks will be inspected by U.S. officials in Mexico and at the U.S. border when less than ten percent of all Mexican trucks entering the commercial zone are inspected now.
http://www.teamster.org/07news/nr_070223_1.asp
Worth repeating,
"...Hoffa said. “That is unacceptable. I call on Congress to hold hearings immediately and to put an end to this nonsense.”
Stop Unsafe Mexican Trucks
The Bush Administration intends to open the U.S. border to unsafe Mexican trucks in the next six to eight weeks for a one-year pilot program. The border has remained closed since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement because the Mexican government has failed to meet the truck safety and driver training requirements of NAFTA.
Now President Bush wants to reward this failure by providing up to 100 Mexican trucking firms open access to American highways, and putting American drivers at risk.
Tell your representatives in Congress to stop this "narrow experiment" before it can get started by holding hearings on the safety of the plan.
http://www.teamsterstakeaction.org/campaign/safe_trucks
46.
Linda NM
>Yes, but the Petition site doesn't have a mailing list yet, that's what they need from us
~~
You are right and a big Duh, for me. I hadn't thought of that.
Who controls the petition?
How do we get a list to them?
Is DFA allowed to share their list with them?
Wish we know so things could be speeded up and get some real punch in this petition. I believe there is only one major petition now.
There's so much happening every day that I don't know that 10 Congresses could keep up. Everything is a priority becuz now everything is going downhill at an ever fast pace.
Becuz of the criminals in the WH, everything is now a priority and the repugs will filibuster and putz will veto. What's the point of trying to get anything done?
IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST. Close the purse. These things must be done since the Senate can hold everything up and putz can veto or do his infamous signing thing. We're screwed.
IMPEACH....NOW.....CLOSE THE PURSE
The best way to protect the troops is to bring them home. That's the counter argument every dem should be spouting.
Though I am not a fan of Lou Dobbs, he has been harping on this for months now, without it getting much attention and I commend him for keeping it up:
>CNN's Lou Dobbs reports that newspapers and other media in Canada are referring to, as innocent on-going consultations to combat "terrorism" and promote "co-operation" among U.S., Canadian, and Mexican political elites, are actually not so innocent.
>Talks that are being officially labelled as "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP), are really aimed at destroying the independent sovereignty of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, under the cover provided by the "War on Terror".
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/02/23/01367.html
Since only a small % of Mexican trucks are now inspected at the borders, we can expect that would continue. One of the biggest problems here that I see is that just one semi truck could comfortably bring in hundreds of new illegal immigrants, probably serving coffee and donuts in the back. Think of the big bucks to truckers there and the damage to us and Canada.
Do we have enough Dems in the House and Senate to carry on all these emergency hearings before it is too late?
64.
Joan* In*Florida
LOL
No, I don't think DFA would do that even if allowed. They could email, but I don't know they want to do that either.
But keep in mind, the petition site almost has any many sig's as DFA Link has. It has gather a few hundred more since this morning.
seashell
>There's so much happening every day that I don't know that 10 Congresses could keep up.~~~~~~~~We're are thinking on the same page. I hadn't seen your comment until after I wrote:68.
>Do we have enough Dems in the House and Senate to carry on all these emergency hearings before it is too late?
I remember Pelosi and Reid talking about their getting investigators, etc. I wonder if they have any and what they are up to. It seems the Army doesn't know anything about the condition of their best hospital (Walter Reed Hospital) until investigative reporters write about it. So too with the secret highway reported on by Dobbs.
The Dems need to spend whatever they have to in Congress and hire these great investigative reporters to help out. Money is no problem, just pay them well.
Yes, it would appear the dems are clueless and I too commend Dobbs. I bet the Candian citizens are overjoyed at the prospect of their happy middle class downgraded to poverty. I can see why the Mexican gov't would like this, but the Canadians?
Every dem should have an investigative reporter on his/her staff; specialists in different areas. Good idea, Joan.
Not only truckloads of illegals, but also of people who would like to blow us up. The truck route goes thru Texas and then where north?
Altho the way things are going, there are plenty of crazy Americans who are becoming unhinged and striking out.
We never locked doors when I was growing up. My father used to say that someone may want to come in and leave a gift.
FOCUS | William Rivers Pitt: No Bottom to the Barrel
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407...
William Rivers Pitt writes about the sinking feeling he experienced by the recent headlines in mainstream publications and the "infotainment" broadcast on cable television news programs, declaring that he is "left wordstruck by the awesome vapidity of the 'news' every once in a while. It takes a cynic who still clings to a dollop of hope and optimism, perhaps, to still be awed by the grim fact that there is actually no bottom to the barrel."
OK,let's see a show of hands of people who think this has a prayer of happening. Dems are whistling in the wind.
FOCUS | Democrats Propose Bill to Withdraw Troops Starting in 120 Days
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407...
Brushing aside criticism from the White House, Senate Democrats said Friday their next challenge to President Bush's Iraq war policy would require the gradual withdrawal of US combat troops beginning within 120 days.
I don't think the dems know yet that we're living under a dick tater ship. Or they are just going along to get along and stay in power.
So I guess we'd just bomb and kill as many innocents as possible.
Stop these maniacs now!
US Strike Would Not Destroy Iran Nuclear Sites
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407...
Any US attack against Iran could involve thousands of sorties and missile launches lasting weeks, but it still would not eliminate the country's nuclear program. A strike - something the Pentagon insists is not planned - would be hampered by lack of intelligence on the number and location of nuclear facilities dispersed throughout Iran.
It's already happened, IMO
Joe Conason | It Can Happen Here
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407...
"For the first time since the resignation of Richard M. Nixon more than three decades ago, Americans have had reason to doubt the future of democracy and the rule of law in our own country. Today we live in a state of tension between the enjoyment of traditional freedoms, including the protections afforded to speech and person by the Bill of Rights, and the disturbing realization that those freedoms have been undermined and may be abrogated at any moment," says Joe Conason.
Criminals is perhaps too kind a word for these people.
Chomsky on Iran, Iraq, and the Rest of the World
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022407...
Noam Chomsky, noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert is interviewed by Michael Shank where he discusses the latest developments in US policy toward Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Venezuela. Along the way, Chomsky also comments on climate change, the World Social Forum, and why international relations are run like the mafia.
Great posts seashell!
We need to stop obsessing on yhe 08 horseraces, and focus our (and congress') energy on stopping the putz!
73.
seashell
I dunno. Why wait 4 months to start drawing down and redeploying the troops and it didn't say end our occupation. I don't want some terrible bill that says they'll bring some troops home, but have no plan for a committment to and end of our occupation and then further risk the troops that are being left behind.
Already I'm suspect being they are saying and they are stating to start in 4 months. They could start easily and planned well within a couple months. And have a and end to our occupation within 4months.
Bridging the Urban Divide by William Maggos[...]...The 2nd ward is a microcosm of the city overall, as it is composed of a booming downtown area with a more affluent white population and areas south and west which look nearly forgotten where residents are generally poor and minority. For too long, innercity poverty has gotten lip service but based on results, enough effort has obviously not been made. Local politicians have somehow accepted this state of affairs.>Im thinking..."No taxation without representation""...what you do unto the least of us"~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~68...."Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP), are really aimed at destroying the independent sovereignty of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico...>YES! LOSS of "sovereignty" is the reason Britain has not to date dumped the Pound for the Euro. ££ = British sovereignty€ = Loss of British sovereignty to the whim of Germany and the greater European good.~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~71....The truck route goes through Texas and then where north? > The significant capital interests of Saint Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee. A mew paradigm in America. A New American order.>Tchau!
73.
Sea,
Maybe Dems are whistling in the wind, but putting a bill or resolution out there like this so every dumb cluck Repugs in this country who doesn't get it already, can see just WHO is holding it up.
Some Repugs stated they weren't voting for the non-binding resolution because it didn't mean anything. Somebody, somewhere, sometime has to hold their feet to the fire and expose them to those who haven't a clue and still thinks it's the party of their father. Ho, Ho!
They're either FOR or they're AGAINST the continuation of this war. Let the House and Senate votes begin and let them be counted -- out loud, by name.
78.
John,
And to making sure of the freedom of the Internet so conversations and actions continue to flow freely as they do here.
Is anyone here afraid to write what they think? I'm not. I don't expect the Internet cops to come to my door unless I am a predator feeding on children. Let it begin and stop there.
We need Al!
Hillary and Iraq
http://www.counterpunch.org/zeese02242007.html
Clinton was not only wrong in 2002 when she gave Bush the authority to attack Iraq but she has been wrong for most of the time since then. Can peace voters trust her judgment? Can her newfound anti-war views be trusted?
Sen. Clinton needs to start to lead now on this important issue. That means really taking strong action to end this war. She is already perceived as a leader of the Democratic Party. If she says she will not support another penny for the 'stay the course' approach of the president that is such a disaster for U.S. foreign policy, U.S. troops and the Iraqi people then she will move the Democratic Party which has the power to end the war with her.
It only takes 41 votes to stop the $93 billion supplemental requested by President Bush for Iraq. If Senator Clinton were to lead a filibuster to end the war then she would be doing more than making election year promises and telling the voters what she thinks they want to hear. She would actually be leading the U.S. out of a quagmire and correcting the error of her pro-war votes. Can Senator Clinton convince 41 out of the 51 Democrats to join her in ending the war? If she can then she will really be showing leadership and will become a legitimate anti-war candidate for 2008. Otherwise the inevitable nomination may be lost to the power of the anti-war voter in 2008.
50.
FRED from OR
Sat, 02/24/07
1:34 pm
Anti-semitism is the primary export of the right-wing Zionist Israel
--------------
It's probably correct to some (and even large) extents.
However,
a) anti-semitism had existed long before Zionism and (at least on surface, for public consumption) was one of the primary reason for birth of Zionism.;
b) not too long ago anti-semitism hapened to became primary export of "left-wing" Communism of Sovoet Union - one of the primary reasons that Holocaust happened.
I just want to say, again, that we have to be carefull with condemning and tying ANY relegiously (or otherwise based) affiliation of ANY group with American goverment's foreign (or domestic) policy.
NONE conducting that policy but American goverment itself!
Affiliation based ONLY(!) on money/power interets.
*******************
51.
seashell
Sat, 02/24/07
1:42 pm
.......
Thanks Pat. So much for our conspiracy theorists, lol!!
...We are not condemning all Jews here, nor all Xtians; just the ones who are effing up our country. The fact that some of the most powerful people running our foreign policy are Jews really bothers some people who don't want to acknowledge that....
-----------
Well, facts so far tell us that "the most powerful people running our foreign policy" are/were NOT Jews.
I mean really the "most powerful": neither Bush, nor Cheyney, nor Rice, nor Rumsfeld, nor Powell was/is a Jew.
Certainly we can recall Feith, Wolfowitz, bunch of others, but those WERE NOT "the most powerful".
I mean we need to stay with "CORPORATE" mantra, NOT Jewish or Saudis, or any other one. This is the one who is "offing up our country".
It should be our principal, non-bendable position, otherwise we'll continue to confuse ourselves as well as American people, imo.
Howdy from Donna and me - we're at Panera having a bite to eat :-)
76.
Just want to make the point that the "rule of law" means that government must operate within the laws, the agents of government are bound (restrained) by the law; not that the people are to be restrained by the law. The people are the source of the law and entitled to enforce the law.
The Queen Bee and her court would like to believe that they can do anything they want, as long as they get Congress to pass a law to back them up, or can argue that Congress should have passed a law to back them up.
73.
Actually, the 50,000 combat troops should be the last to leave. The first to go home should be the troops they're there protecting, the 100000 technicians and electronics experts and missile handlers and communications specialists ensconced on the bases.
former, I've posted many articles on Feith and how he was the lead architect of the war. They worked behind the scenes, those who lobbied so hard for Israel. AIPAC is the second largest lobby on the hill and even refers to itself as the Jewish lobby. We have to be realistic here. Clinton and Obama are sucking up to AIPAC. There's a reason for that....You're right about the corps but are a bit quick to dismiss the power of AIPAC and Feith and Wolfie - 2 of the biggest offenders. Putz, rice and powell were pawns. Rummy and Cheney are right up there with Feith and Wolfie. If a handful of pro-Israel Jews are not that powerful, why is there such a powerful need for a lobby for Israel?
The Irish don't lobby Congress, nor do the Swedes. Why should Israel? I don't mind Jews or Xtians or Muslims or aliens in our gov't, unless they do what they're doing. Taking us into Armageddon.
That said, cut the purse strings for the war and cut off military aid to Israel and for god's sake, help the starving Palestinians who are desperate. At least feed them and give them water. Do the same for the Iraqis and Africans. When people are fed and housed, they have a tendency to be happy and not want to throw as many rocks against TANKS. As our own middle class becomes more desperate, who knows what it will do?
This is a good solution. A Carter or a Gore or a Moyers would do something like this. But these corrupt dems and repugs? They will dick around until they lose the 08 election becuz the base is so disgusted, it will stay home or write in Daffy Duck.
Clinton or Obama or Edwards could make history by getting those 41 votes to stop the supplement. They would win in a landslide . Or they could do what Phil suggests: paygo the supplement by rescinding the tax cuts. .. my personal favorite. Can you imagine the look on Putz's face? Jeez, if WE'RE bright enuf to think of these things, why can't they?
Joan wrote: so every dumb cluck Repug in this country who doesn't get it already, can see just WHO is holding it up."
Joan, those dumb clucks watch FOX and are more interested in who the father of Smith's poor baby is. FOX is not going to tell them the truth. They wouldn't listen anyway since they still think Saddam attacked us on 9/11. They would just cluck louder.
But you do have a good point...:-) I spose we can perhaps maybe possibly give Congress a C+ for effort.
Army's Top General: Howard Dean was right.
jc ♥
Award nominee Vice-President Al Gore chartered a rescue plane in early Sept. 2005 and flew to New Orleans to medEvac 100s of patients from Charity Hospital and bring them to Tennessee. Gore declined interviews while he was shuttling the evacuees that Saturday and for a 2nd return flight he made on Sunday, but the doctors who flew with him talked about the experience.
Gore had to work around a sequential blockade by FEMA, which naturally denied his team permissions, repeatedly.
more...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/24/112215/451
I don't quite agree seashell although I am sympathetic to your reasoning. I think that there is a pro "bully the world" cabal accurately detailed by Putin and because it is based on a certain worldview of a global economy driven by oil; allies itself with other mid-east countries that work with our military extension of that policy one of which is Israel. The Emirate, Quatar, and the one that really gets many muslim goats the holy land of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Royal family hedges its bet back the other way but depends on our protection more than Isael.
We have put ourselves in such in such a pickle not by being the friend of Israel but by the fact that a ruling cabal in Israel has adopted the same mindset. Jordan is as good a friend.
It is the idea that any resource in the world is ours to exploit because of our big guns is what grates the world and it happens to be a multi-national corporate structure that has designed the rules of trade. and as to former's point I think just as a coincidence as well that they are Corporations.
It is the wedding of Government, Militarism, and the power of Capital of the multinationals, that becomes explosive when mixed with religious underpinnings. and then That is the excuse of both sides to go to war rather than discuss such things as who has the right to decide how electricity is generated or who owns water.
Well said, Phil. You still haven't answered my question about how many senators you've contacted about your paygo idea...:-)
And subway, your fractal is gorgeous!!
90.
As the world is in such turmoil, as America once loved is now hated, as Americans are struggling in so many ways, families torn apart by this unjust war...all for Bush's gold, OIL! Kinda hard to say I told you so now. But since it was so obvious then and even more so now, why are we still there and why aren't Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld in prison? This is much more than Americans being in denial, it's about CM control and brainwashing...another thing Dean had the guts to mention quite early on. My blood pressure is rising, I better chill out with a Molson, after I bring the wife to work of course ; ) bbl
one
plus the congressman on the appropriate committee
I don't want it to be a netroots idea you have to let leadership "think of it themselves"
the storm is lifting over Iowa, Reed you might be spared
a real mess here though
Molson! Oh Canada!
I heard that it is a mess out your way...be well. And yes, they say just light snow for us out of it, just as I finished shoveling the roof for the woman I caretake for today.
Canada is appealing for more reasons than it's beer, aye?
I'd move to Canada but for the fact Iowa is cold enough. They closed Interstate 80 about an hour ago east of Iowa City. Reed
we have about 10 inches of snow and 30 mph wind right here
There is a new thread and I got firsties.
Hope that weather gets here quick, Phil, if it's going to come, before I head south.
I just sent my first check to Obama.
I supported him for Senate and had given money to him then.
But today the check is to be written to
"Obama for America"
sigh, I miss the checks to "Dean for America"
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