Democrats.org has a post called "Immigration Forum, NYC" by Tracy Joan Russo...
I attended an immigration roundtable discussion yesterday morning with Governor Dean, Betsy Kim, Deputy Director of the American Majority Project, and three dozen leaders from the Asian American community. The immigration question is a challenge we face as a nation....Click here for more.
Last night I attended an event put together by the Central Ohio Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations. Buckeye State Blog has written about it here and here. As I was leaving, I saw Frances Stickland, who had been speaking--and singing--on behalf of her husband Ted Strickland who is running for governor of Ohio. She graciously agreed to give me a couple minutes of her time and answer a couple questions. I asked her what kind of response her husband's campaign is getting from people of faith around the state.
Religion is being put into politics to be divisive, and most people that I know, that are sincere about their faith don't like that. And basically what we want to do is just to try to keep the focus on the things like healthcare that really matter, and the things that have gotten this state in trouble. And to try not to participate in any way that's divisive.Does Ted ever pull on his background as a minister in responding--
Not much. As a minister, that's one of his fears--that politics is going to hurt the church, rather than the church helping politics, or the political field. He just feels that it can cause congregations to divide...split. Somebody said once, "I think in the future some time we're going to have Democratic churches and Republican churches!" And that really disturbs him.On a semi-related topic, check out this picture of Strickland's opponent, Ken Blackwell, yukking it up with his pal Barbara Bush.
And so, he can--if somebody asks him about a scripture, he'll know it and respond. He can, but it just needs to be appropriate. He will not deliberately use that to try to make points. It would be just in responding in some way to what somebody's asking.
I have a pretty good sense of humor, but I thought that his remark about Dean tonight was not funny. He said he was on his knees at the 700 club, and he was NOT praying. Now I don't belong to the 700 club, but I know a lot of people who do. They are on the whole just regular people who are finding out their leaders have clay feet.
I think Howard is going to continue to talk to the religious community, and I hope he does. Here are a few things he said in a PBS interview last year. I am sure I am in the minority about Black's so-called joke, but it was in very poor taste. Dean made a good impression one person I talked to, someone who had never seen him before. That is how you communicate, the best you can...and you keep trying.
PBS Newshour, Dean and Ifill
HOWARD DEAN: Well, first of all we have to show up. The idea we're going to win by campaigning in 18 states is just not going to happen anymore. We need to be in Mississippi, in Utah, in Texas, and Oklahoma. I've been to all four of those states in the relatively brief time I've been chair.
Secondly, we need to speak about moral values. We really do. The Democratic Party I think has the kind of moral values that most people, particularly the religious community and particularly evangelicals like. I've had numbers of calls from evangelicals and discussions with evangelicals as well as high ranking members of the Catholic Church since I've been DNC chair.
We want to reach out to folks. You know, the Republicans talk about two issues: Abortion and gay rights. I don't think that most Democratic officeholders have been supportive of gay marriage, but I think we are supportive of rights for every single American. We may have some differences of opinion with the religious community on those two issues but the Democrats are much more in sync with the both evangelical Christians and others, Catholics and so forth, on helping the poor, on making sure that we have -- everybody has an opportunity. I am including everybody in the American dream.
Those are the real Christian values. And those are values that appear to be absent from the Republican platform. I jokingly say in my speeches that I have yet to see the biblical injunction that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom heaven. I have not seen that in the Republican Party platform.
So I don't think that the Republicans have any right to lecture Democrats about morals because our morals really are pretty biblical when you look at them. They really are about being good stewards of the earth that God gave us, they really are about helping children, helping the disenfranchised, making sure that everybody gets included. Those are pretty good values.
Episode 4 of the Plunderbund Podcast went up earlier this week, and I thought some people here might be interested in reading Eric's interview with Paul Hackett. Feel free to crosspost the link on other blogs where people might be interested, because I'm not likely to have the time.
Here's the latest message from Charlie Grapski--right after some links to previous posts for anyone who may have missed them.
Citizen-activist arrested while investigating election irregularities
"Turtle Stew" author comments on arrest of citizen-activist
Update on arrested citizen-activist in Florida
Hi all,
I figured I would check in and give an update with the endeavors down here in Florida. The good news is that I am not in jail - although this effort to address outright corruption in the government of the City of Alachua has forced me to focus nearly exclusively on this battle while at the same time campaigning for office. But then again - what is a better campaign than actually doing what our elected and other public officials ought to do themselves. That's what they are there for isn't it?
The difficulty is that we have people in positions of alleged authority - who act with the color of that authority - but violate the law. They are, in effect, the law. This is a mirror image of what is happening nationally with the Bush administration.
I went down today to try and file a sworn complaint against the person who arrested me for perjury - he outright lied on the sworn complaint about me. And the State Attorney already has testimony of the only other witness to the events - who stated on the date of my arrest that indeed the individual did lie.
Now to understand the problem - lets look at who the individual is: Clovis Watson is the City Manager of Alachua. He is not a trained manager - although he has been getting correspondence degrees paid for by the City to build his resume ever since obtaining that position. As City Manager I met with him to review the absentee ballots and related documents. This was in regard to an investigation into improprieties of city officials - including Watson - in the conduct of the April City Commission election. Watson is a named defendant in the election lawsuit that we filed the week prior to my arrest.
Watson is also the City Clerk who also serves on the City's Canvassing Board. But Watson was also actively campaigning for a person named James Lewis. Lewis has served on the City Commission in that seat for 39 years - and was "re-elected" (allegedly) this time by a margin of 18 votes which he obtained through the absentee ballot count. Prior to this he was behind 9 votes. I will share a bit more that I know - as Watson has forced some of this out (although trying to spin it).
As City Manager, the day before the election, Watson greeted some of the city's residents (primarily lower-income African Americans) at the door to City Hall the day before the election. That was the day the utility bills were due - and it is customary for a number of people in the community to pay the bill in person at the Deputy Clerk's office. The Deputy Clerk, Alan Henderson, who also supported Lewis actively - also performed the duties of supervisor of elections.
Watson, standing a few feet from Henderson's door, instructed individuals to vote for James Lewis. He then had them brought to vote in Henderson's office - even though there was no formal "early voting" being conducted as required under the statutes. This was illegal - although there are far greater details of what took place making this worse - and clearly a conflict of interest as Watson was one of three members of the Canvassing Board.
Watson and Henderson prevented me from inspecting the ballots when I first appeared to do so. During that meeting I recorded our transactions, as I have a right to do, based upon the knowledge that citizens seeking public records in the City of Alachua are usually not given them in violation of the law. Thus I wanted a record of my transaction in case I needed to take legal action to obtain the records. The recording was done openly and even discussed by Watson and Henderson as it was ongoing. Neither ever asked me to turn off the recording nor refused to talk on the recording. They refused to provide me the documents that day - but set an appointment for the following week.
I was concerned about their possession of the documents during the weekend - but as this was the best we could do - I appeared the following Monday as scheduled.
Watson allowed me to begin inspecting the records - but then appeared out of his office with the Chief of Police and two armed officers to arrest me - on the felony wiretap statute. This despite the fact that Watson, in a memo to the City that night, stated that he was willing to talk on tape and did so with his consent. But again - public officials have no "expectation of privacy" in the conduct of their public business - and the public has a right to document their transactions and interactions with those public officials.
But while I was inspecting the ballots - before I could finish - Watson had me arrested. How? Well, Watson is also the Police Commissioner. As such he ordered the Chief to have me arrested based upon a sworn complaint. Who swore the complaint? Watson - in his capacity as a "sworn officer."
This should seem quite peculiar.
Since that time - I have continued to endeavor to review the absentee ballot process. And these officials have continued to stone-wall me. They even denied Mike Byerly, County Commissioner, a reasonable explanation yesterday as to why we are being denied access to these records.
Meanwhile I tried to file a sworn statement for the offense of perjury in Watson's sworn statement which was the basis of my arrest. The State Attorney's office, however (which is where Watson should have filed a sworn complaint to have me investigated prior to my being arrested), will not accept a sworn complaint but demanded that it be made through the police department.
Of course - the Police Department is who is being complained about. The only other option is the County Sheriff - but they too don't want to get caught up in this. So its like a Catch-22. Who polices the police? Who investigates the public officials and agencies? No one but citizens - but then when citizens attempt this the public agencies and police shut them down.
But I was able to provide a statement of information about the perjury and the problematic events surrounding this. And they go very deep. This created a case file and should force the State Attorney to eventually investigate ... we hope... In the meantime we are now trying to raise $10,000 by morning for a legal front to push this to the next level.
I'm literally exhausted. Last night I went to the City's Commission meeting. They used the "consent agenda" (basically passing laws no one has even seen - without even doing it at the meeting - but behind closed doors - which in Florida is illegal) to pass a number of things - including approving minutes of the Canvassing Board meeting of the election. The problem is - no one in the public has even seen what they passed. Its not even clear that the Commissioners themselves saw it. Here is the catch. I asked for the recording of that meeting. They denied it - and claimed it was not made. But that is not normal as they record all these meetings. Thus this document, passed last night "officially" is the only official account of the election count - and no one has ever even seen what it says.
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Thought I should put up a new thread for the overnight. I was checking out Cute Overload earlier and found this picture.
Now, I know the dog pictured cradling that baby is not everybody's idea of adorable, but in *my* family--ooh, such a face! Anyway, whenever you come by to take a peek at the blog, this one's for you, Mom. Happy Birthday!
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In case you're like me and you couldn't find a blank tape for the VCR last night, YouTube has the video from Howard's appearance on "The Daily Show."
(HT DNC Blog)
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The 3rd Annual DemocracyFest will be held July 14th-16th in San Diego, CA.
New information on Day 2 (Daytime Activities) - Saturday, July 15:
The focus of the Saturday sessions is to explore specific core liberal values through in-depth lectures and participatory discussions. The goal is to reconnect with the Framers' vision of a democratic America.
Breaks are plentiful, to enable and encourage participants to connect and exchange ideas and information throughout the day.
Speakers and Panels Confirmed So Far:
David Sirota - Campaign strategist and author, "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government - and How We Take It Back," regular on the Al Franken Show.
***
STAUNCHING THE HEMORRHAGE: CONTAINING THE "MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX":
Col. Ann Wright, U.S. Army Reserves (Retired); Former U.S. Diplomat, resigned in protest of Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq; a leader at Camp Casey at Crawford, TX, and in the Bring Them Home Tour
Paul Hackett, Iraq War Veteran and 2005 Democratic Congressional candidate in southeastern Ohio.
David Swanson, Washington Director of Democrats.com and ImpeachPAC.org; co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org / CensureBush.org coalition; creator of MeetWithCindy.org and KatrinaMarch.org; board member of Progressive Democrats of America
***
VOTING INTEGRITY AND ELECTION REFORM
Senator Debra Bowen - Chair, CA State Senate Elections Committee and candidate for CA Secretary of State
Rob Cohen - documentary filmmaker: Votergate, to be released in late summer 2006.
Alan Dechert - President, Open Voting Consortium and Foundation, whose computer scientists have begun programming open source software for voting machines and have developed a working model.
Warren Stewart - Co-Editor of VoteTrustusa.org. Comprehensive Election Integrity and Election Fracture information from across the US. (Invited)
***
FROM BONO TO BUSH - ATTAINING LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS THROUGH GLOBAL DEBT CANCELLATION:
Wahu Kaara - Executive Director of Kenya Debt Relief Network; 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee; Candidate for President of Kenya, 2007
Debayani Kar -- Communications and Advocacy Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network, Washington, DC; former Communications Coordinator at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR); author and co-author of several papers on the IMF, World Bank, and globalization.
Dr. William Lesher - Pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Berkeley, CA); President of the Board of Trustees, Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions
Bill Harman -- National coordinating committee of the Jubilee USA Network; Board of Directors for the Planned Parenthood Federation of San Diego/Riverside Counties; Southern California representative of the Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions; retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
***
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS - THE ORIGINS OF INALIENABLE RIGHTS:
Prof. Marjorie Cohn, Thos. Jefferson Law School, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, co-chair of the Guild's international committee
***
Childcare is available between 8:00am - 12:00 Midnight. For more information, click here.
Please Purchase tickets now!
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Here's something I've been turning over in my mind for a little while...it has to do with things like name calling, making assumptions about what makes others tick as if we can possibly know what is in their hearts. And going from there to deeming people "not worth even trying to talk to".
Howard Dean has gotten a lot of flack lately, not just for misstating the Democratic platform with regard to same-sex marriage, but for even talking to "those people" in the first place. I guess I have an automatic, visceral reaction when I see *anyone* being written off as not being worth bothering with. Probably, as the mother of a gifted, special needs child, I am more sensitized to this sort of thing than most people. Because his challenges, rather than being obvious physical or cognitive limitations, are most often displayed behaviorally, there will always be people who quickly decide "bad parenting" or "bad kid" and at that point the case is closed for them. Anything that I, or anyone else, might say to try to pursaude them otherwise is just "making excuses".
Well, the way I see it, if I don't want people jumping to conclusions about myself and my family, then I really do need to avoid doing the same to others. So, while I admit that there is enough of a body of evidence to indicate that there is little chance of bridging the ideological chasm between myself and Pat Robertson, I simply can't make that same assumption about every person who watches his show.
What I do know is this--there is no real hope of change if we keep only talking to "our own". And the more we choose to immerse ourselves in like-minded environments (via the groups of people we associate with, programs we watch or listen to), the more polarized our thinking is likely to become. And the more we turn people on the other side into caricatures. I loved the calm image of Maryscott O'Connor on The Big Story with John Gibson, because it was a clearly visible contradiction to the "angry left" meme. And I've got to tell you, I have a tremendous amount of respect for people like Maryscott who, like Howard Dean, is able to venture into what is known to be "hostile territory". Because I know myself well enough to be fairly certain that is *not* my calling--I just know I wouldn't be good at that.
But what I *can* do, which might possibly be illuminating, is share a bit of my own perspective, and how that's changed over time. Because, at least early on, you could easily have perceived me as one of "them".
Some of you are probably aware that I was raised Catholic but, after a period of searching, was received into the Episcopal church two years ago. That, of course, is the short version. What it leaves out is the fact that Catholicism was a pretty significant part of my identity through much of my young adulthood. And being a person of faith has been a big part of who I am throughout my whole life, even when I wasn't quite sure what that faith was.
Even though I now identify myself as Episcopalian, my Catholic roots still show. Around the time that the Iraq war was gearing up, I started feeling a need to reconnect with the Blessed Mother. Well, right there is an example of how Mary is complicated for me--what I'm *used* to saying is "the Virgin Mary", but I simply can't buy the "perpetual virginity" teaching.
I am also, by the way, fully aware that Miriam/Mary, the first century Middle-Eastern peasant girl who was the mother of Yeshua/Jesus, looked nothing like the image in my Gravatar.
Reminder: Howard Dean will be a guest on The Daily Show tonight.
From 6 of us at Dean meet-ups in early 2003, to chairman of DFA, to chair of county Democrats...and front page....quite a journey. We are so proud of our friend Richard's calm, cool manner in handling things in the county Democratic party. We have the old school Democrats clashing a little against the "brash" newcomers, so to speak. Richard bridges the gap quite well.
This is probably the best write-up the paper has done on Democrats in a long time, especially on local Democrats. We are very proud here.
New Career for retired lawyer
Richard Blank moved from his lifelong home in Miami to Polk County for space -- room to water ski and boat.Very pleased with this write-up, as our political editor is usually very enamored of Republicans, almost to the exclusion of Democrats. We have yet to get him to post the announcement of our DFA meetings, though we have written him personally about the issue. Small steps, they do matter.
But Blank, 65, gave up semi-retirement to focus on two other pursuits -- representing poor people in the court system and practicing politics.
He's an assistant public defender and chairman of the Polk County Democratic Party.
Political Shift
In 2003 in Polk County, Blank and his wife, a nurse and health-care auditor, became interested in politics -- interested enough to get involved, that is.
"When Howard Dean threw his hat in the ring (for the Democratic nomination for president), Caroll and I became interested. I was watching on television and I thought, `Well hell, here is someone who is real.' "
Dean (I think he means Blank) and Franklin began hosting meetups for Dean -- small gatherings for dinner or coffee where a DVD from the Dean campaign was played and wide-ranging discussions took place about the campaign and the type of government the participants wanted to see.
Tonight's MViMV Guest Blogger will be Kate Donaghue from the MA Democratic State Committee.
Please join us tonight, 8pm-9pm EDT at the MViMV Blog.
If your local news is anything like ours here in my part of Alabama, you see your share of hack journalism for the rightwing. One of the most aggregious in our market is the NBC affiliate, WSFA. This is a station, mind you, that carries James Dobson's "Focus On The Family" I'm in the process now of writing them about their biased coverage.
Last year, and the year before, Senator Russ Feingold came to our region to play golf and meet people in a town called Greenville. He wrote a piece in Salon magazine about his visit in the town the people and how they are being done in by voting for Bush and Repubs. WSFA decided to do a piece on the article Feingold wrote and sent a reporter down to Greenville who proceed in telling the good people there that Feingold had trashed their town and asking their reaction. I couldn't believe it. When Sen. Feingold came back again some months later, it happened again, which prompted me to write the following letter to the station's news director. Below that is the response that I received:
----------------------------------
April 2, 2005
Debbie Vickers
WSFA-TV
10 E. Delano Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36105
Dear Ms. Vickers:
I have watched WSFA for many years, and have always thought your news programming to be the best in our area. But the recent coverage of the comments and visit of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold to Greenville, were frankly, the most unbalanced reportage I have ever seen on your station.
Mr. Feingold's comments deserved a more fair hearing than WSFA afforded them. Instead, what was presented was a rather caricaturized version of the Senator's words and the issues that were raised. It played right into the old divisions of North and South that are beneath us all.
When I saw Mark Bullock's report on Senator Feingold's November 2004 visit, in which he reported that the Senator had "bashed" the city of Greenville, it prompted me to log on to the web to find out what the gentleman said. I was expecting to find a wholsesale assault on the good people of Greenville, instead, what I read was a complimentary, compassionate piece that dealt with the challenges of small towns all across America. He never called people dumb for voting for George Bush.
The Senator's comments about the beauty and the generosity of our state and people were never conveyed in the piece, nor were those about our patriotism, i.e., "Meanwhile, their children volunteer to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I can only be humbled by their sacrifice."
The tone and content of both Mr. Bullock and Mr. Brian Henry's stories seemed uncharacteristically harsh and simplistic. Most of the time seemed to be devoted to asking the people of Greenville what they thought of Senator Feingold bashing their town. I never once heard those who were interviewed asked whether they actually read what the Senator wrote. What's worse is the fact that very little, if any time was afforded to Mr. Feingold to present the essence of his comments.
The economic and personal challenges of people in towns like Greenville, and others like it, deserve real attention from local news organizations across this country. WSFA's presentation of the Senator's comments in that regard not only avoided these issues, but took a point of view, something which served neither the people of Greenville, nor people in this viewing area very well.
Your reporters are some of the best in our state and are too good to have to resort to "attack journalism". I hope that you will consider inviting Senator Feingold back to appear on your Newsmakers program for a reasoned discussion of the important issues, such as healthcare and economic development in small towns, that were the crux of his comments and concerns. More importantly, I hope that your station will present a more three-dimensional perspective of people who comment on our state, one that seeks to engage, rather than enrage the viewer.
Sincerely,
Dar (last name)
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The station's response
Dear Mr. (last name),
Thank you for contacting WSFA 12 News with your concerns about our reporting of Senator Russ Feingold's remarks about Alabama. I apologize for my tardy reply.
You make very valid points and I respect your opinion. We did not feel that our coverage was unbalanced at the time. In hindsight, you have presented a perspective that we did not consider. Your email will certainly make us consider things differently and will help us do a better job in the future.
Thank you again for such a well worded critique of our coverage.
Sincerely,
Denise Vickers
News Director
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Update: Via this Kos diary by brian77, here is the link to the Gore video online at Ifilm.
Thanks to Howie in Seattle for the heads-up about this. Al Gore was great in the opening sketch on Saturday Night Live, and I've been checking to see if anyone has posted a video. I haven't found one yet, but lavenderdiva at Democratic Underground transcribed it...
SNL opens with a space shot
Announcer: Scientists have long speculated that infinite parallel worlds exist (5 different earths on screen) in different ways than the world we know. On these earths, history has taken different paths, on one, dinosaurs and man coexist, on another, the Russians were the first man to walk on the moon, on another still, Clay Aiken defeated Ruben Studdard. Come join us as we travel through the fabric of time and space to one of these mysteries, one of these parallel earths (earth turns into U. S. Presidential Seal)
Announcer: And now a message from the President of the United States
(Al Gore seated at his desk in the Oval Office)
AG: Good Evening my fellow Americans. In 2000, when you overwhelmingly made the decision to elect me as your 43rd President, I knew the road ahead would be difficult. We have accomplished so much yet challenges lie ahead. In the last 6 years, we have been able to stop global warming. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that were once melting, are now on the attack. As you know, these renegade glaciers have already captured parts of upper Michigan and northern Maine, but I can assure you, we will not let the glaciers win.
And now, in the 2nd week of May, 2006, we are facing perhaps the worst gas crisis in history. We have way too much gasoline. Gas is down to 19cents a gallon, and the oil companies are hurting. I know that I am partly to blame, by insisting that cars run on trash. I am therefore proposing a federal bail-out to our oil companies because hey, if it were the other way around, you know the oil companies would help us.
On a positive note, we worked hard to save welfare, fix Social Security, and of course, provide the free Universal Healthcare we all enjoy today. But all this came at a high cost. As I speak, the gigantic national budget surplus is down to a perilously low 11 trillion dollars. And don't get any ideas. That money is staying in the very successful lockbox. We're not touching it!
Of course, we could give economic aid to China, or lend money to the Saudis--again. But right now, we are already so loved by everyone in the world, American tourists can't even go over to Europe anymore without getting hugged.
There are some of you, who would like to spend our money on some made-up war. To you I say, 'What part of "lockbox" don't you understand?' What if there's a hurricane, or a tornado? Unlikely, I know because of the anti-hurricane and tornado machine I was instrumental in developing. But, what if? What if the scientists are right, and one of those giant glaciers hits Boston? That's why we have the lockbox.
As for immigration, solving that came at a heavy cost. And I personally regret the loss of California. However, the new Mexifornian economy is strong. El Presidente Schwarzenegger is doing a great job.
There have been some setbacks. Unfortunately, the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Michael Moore was bitter and divisive. However, I could not be more proud of how the House and the Senate pulled together to confirm the nomination of Chief Justice George Clooney.
Baseball, our national pastime, still lies under the shadow of steroid accusations. But I have faith in Baseball Commissioner George W. Bush when he says, 'We will find the steroid users, if we have to tap every phone in America'.
In 2001, when I came into office, our national security was the most important issue; the threat of terrorism was real. Who knew that 6 years later, Afghanistan would be the most popular spring break destination? That 6 Flags Tehran is the fastest growing amusement park in the middle east?
And the scariest thing we Americans have to fear is LIVE FROM NEW YORK, ITS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!
In tomorrow's edition of the New York Times...
Cheney Pushed U.S. to Widen Eavesdropping
In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants in the hunt for terrorists, according to two senior intelligence officials.Click here for more. What is the deal with that guy anyway? Didn't get cuddled enough a small boy? Or did the scientist who created him just give him the wrong sort of heart?
But N.S.A. lawyers, trained in the agency's strict rules against domestic spying and reluctant to approve any eavesdropping without warrants, insisted that it should be limited to communications into and out of the country, said the officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss the debate inside the Bush administration late in 2001.
As Howie in Seattle has noted here, Howard Dean has admitted that he made a mistake when he said in an interview on CBN that the 2004 Democratic platform said that marriage is between a man and a woman. (Thanks to floridagal for providing a link to the video.) But, as Corinne commented at Kos, I'd like to see someone, anyone, travel as much as he does, give as many interviews and speeches as he does, and retain an extraordinary amount of information as he does and not screw up at some point. Enough.
Indeed. He misspoke. I shudder to think how many times I do that in a given day. And in this case, I can imagine that it *seemed* to Howard Dean that the Democrats wanted to be very clear about their non-support for same-sex marriage in the 2004 election, given this:
Dean recounts that one of the people Clinton called was a Dean supporter who described how the former president said that Dean "had forfeited his right to run for president." That was because, Dean writes, he had signed a law creating civil unions for gay and lesbian couples and Clinton believed Dean couldn't be elected as a result.Also, as I noted in the comments of the previous thread, here in Ohio, I've seen the anti-gay crap *work*. Getting people riled up about the notion that "those Democrats don't share our values--they want to bring gay marriage to our state" is such a tried and true tactic, it was even used to get people to vote against ballot/election reform amendments.
Click for midi accompaniment
As sala'amu alaikum? No, we wanna take 'em
To Cuba. Osama? Don't look like we're gonna
Zarqawi, al Sadr? Lies not holdin' water
Turn off your cameras, please.
As we tour Guantanamo
With the group you'll wanna go - Don't stray away from it now.
On boxes they will stand
Electrodes held in their hands
Fit just like a glove
Don't step off, or they'll go *ka-blam*
In Guantanamo
As sala'amu alaikum? No, we wanna take 'em
To Cuba. Osama? Don't look like we're gonna
Zarqawi, al Sadr? Lies not holdin' water
Ooo, and when we get you to Guantanamo
You'll try to fast
But, feeding tubes will flow
Where? You don't wanna know!
Down in Guantanamo
Boys from Iraq, in pyramids we stack
We'll line them up to see
Who has a short or long wee-wee
And for fun engage in just little ol' depravity
Give them sleepless nights
Stress positions and dogs that bite
And when finally on the ground they lie
You'll give me "five" way up high
Down in Guantanamo
As sala'amu alaikum? No, we wanna take 'em
To Cuba. Osama? Don't look like we're gonna
Zarqawi, al Sadr? Lies not holdin' water
Ooo, and when we get you to Guantanamo
The time will pass
for you much, much too slow
It's where you don't wanna go!
Down in Guantanamo
No photo prints. Don't wanna give a glimpse.
(musical interlude)
But, Everybody knows
What goes on in Guantanamo
Even with FOX News' Tony Snow
Can't get away from it now.
Down in Guantanamo
We caught you. You fake it. We're not gonna take it.
Gee Dubya, D!ck Cheney. Truth we're seeing plainly
And Condi, and Rummy - No, I'm not a dummy.
Ooo, and when we get *you* to Guantanamo
The tables turned
You're gonna cry "Oh, NO!"
My "thumbs up" is gonna go
Down on Guantanamo
As sala'amu alaikum? No, we wanna take 'em
To Cuba. Osama? Don't look like we're gonna
Zarqawi, al Sadr? Lies not holdin' water
Ooo, we're gonna get you to Guantanamo
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Reminder: Howard Dean will appear as a guest on The Daily Show on Monday, May 15.
Last night, once it was past midnight, I looked at my phone and noticed that the date now read "May 11, 2006". The "May 11" part seemed like it must be signigicant for some reason, and after thinking about it for a moment, I realized that today marked the, er, "deathday" of author Douglas Adams. He died in 2001, and I remembered that it was 4 months before September 11--thus never experiencing the "post 9/11 world". As cynical as DNA could be about human nature in general and especially politics, I can only imagine what he would have thought of the events of the past five years.
Fans of Douglas Adams named May 25, "Towel Day" in his honor. Here's the Wikipedia page about Towel Day--which they list under the category of "Geek Holidays". As I suspected, International Talk Like a Pirate Day is included on that page, as is Pi Day.
Here's the official Douglas Adams web site. Also...
...an interview he did with The American Atheist
...fan site Floor 42
...the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy web project "the unconventional Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything. It's like an encyclopedia, only better because all the entries are written by people like you! "...
Life, the Universe, and Everything, a post from a year ago today on the blog The Daze of Our Lives.
...and finally the obituary on BBC News, So long, and thanks for all the books.
Miss you, Douglas.
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The following is a portion of an email I received yesterday from the domain host for the DFA group website I built. A similar letter was sent to all customers who have accounts on the same server.
Dear 2mHost customer,Around 1:00 pm Eastern time, Wednesday May 10, 2006 server alexandria36 which host your account for domain name alademocracy.org was unplugged by The US Department of Homeland Security agents to seize server hard drives (the main and backupd drive) beacuse of possible illegal contents (we believe its child porn contents), They removed the drives to analyse its contents and logs.
We believe that we will not get the drives back in timely manner. We sincerely apologize for the file lose and understand the seriousness of it, as well as the trouble it has created for you our valued customer.
WTF? I have never had an interest in, nor collected child porn. I deplore any abuse of children, and the mere fact that I have to state this is absolutely disgusting to me. The defense of children is critical, but I thought that the role of Homeland Security (and I despise the Naziistic label) was to protect this county from threats and natural disasters. My tongue is planted firmly in cheek on that one.
What I resent more than the loss of website files, is the idea of a massive bureaucracy that has the ability to shut down anyone's website, business, or livelihood, without Congressional or judicial oversight. Some weeks back, I read about a couple whose account was red-flagged by DHS when they tried to pay a large sum on their credit card. Is this still America anymore?
What's of even more concern is the potential that such an agency could pose to the rights of Americans who disagree with the administration in power - any administration. Given the unchecked power granted to such agencies, what's there to prevent planting "suspicious files" on anyone's computer or home, because you're a little too vocal in your opposition to war in your emails or at work? Does it not sicken you that you're more reluctant to say things you feel about certain people in power in your phone conversations?
By every account, the failure in preventing 9/11 was not the result of a lack of information, but the failure to act on the flashing red lights warnings that were right there in plain sight. The same was true of DHS's response to Katrina. I've always felt that the creation of such a massive government bureaucracy was nothing more than an attempt by the people who devised it to gain more control over our lives. This little incident does nothing to dissuade me of this belief.
We gotta get this country back, because the police state is knocking at the door.
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Man, I get to working on a city council campaign (we're putting foot to hind-quarters, BTW) and drive by here just to find everyone hereabouts getting all depressed on me. Smile! Here's some comics:
Chandra Election Night Thank You
Marc Dann reaches out (a letter to the Ohio blogosphere)
The Nehemiah Assembly: packed like sardines for justice (my post about the B.R.E.A.D. assembly the other night)
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New speakers and panelists for the 3rd Annual DemocracyFest are being confirmed almost daily now. Here's the most updated list (in alphabetical order, and there are more to come!)
Sen. Debra Bowen, Candidate for Secretary of State, Debra is currently a State Senator, Chair of the Senate Elections Committee, and a good-government watchdog.
Candace Bowie, Think Precinct Program, Colorado for Democracy.
Prof. Marjorie Cohn, Thos. Jefferson Law School, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, co-chair of the Guild's international committee.
Gov. Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman, founder of Democracy for America (DFA), 2004 Presidential candidate, former Governor of Vermont.
Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America (DFA).
Jim Derych, Author of "Confessions of a Former Dittohead".
Barbara Graves, Grassroots Champions Precinct Captains Program, Regional Director/CA Democratic Party.
Rep. Bob Filner, U.S. Congressman, 51st C.D., Freedom Rider, college professor, progressive leader.
Donna Frye, San Diego City Councilwoman, former Mayoral candidate.
Robert Greenwald, producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the director/producer of “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism".
Paul Hackett, Iraq War Veteran and 2005 Democratic Congressional candidate in southeastern Ohio, where he came within 4% of winning in the 74%-Republican district.
Bill Harman, retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with a lifelong commitment to issues of social and global justice.
Rick Jacobs, Chairman of Brave New Films and the Courage Campaign, California campaign chair for Howard Dean's Presidential Campaign.
Wahu Kaara, executive director of the Kenya Debt Relief Network where she leads campaigns for debt cancellation and economic justice.
Debayani Kar, Communications and Advocacy Coordinator at Jubilee USA Network. Debi is responsible for the communications strategy for the organization, and has appeared on numerous radio shows and print publications discussing debt and development.
Matt Kerbel, Editor of "Get This Party Started: How Progressives Can Fight Back and Win" - A discussion of top line Washington Insiders and Political Activists.
Dr. William Lesher, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) residing in Berkeley, CA. He served as president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) for twenty years.
Narges Niedzwiecki, Organizer of Day 1's " XYZ Vote" panel on the enfranchisement and disenfranchisement of young voters (18-40).
Lori SaldaƱa, Born and raised in San Diego, Assemblymember Lori SaldaƱa is the embodiment of a successful grassroots campaigner. One of the original “Dean Dozen” candidates.
Ed Schwartz, Institute for the Study of Civic Values, former Philadelphia City Councilman.
David Sirota, Campaign strategist and author, “Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government – and How We Take It Back,”.
Kristin Sundell, Outreach and Congregations Coordinator for the Jubilee USA Network, the U.S. arm of a global movement to cancel the debt of impoverished countries without harmful economic conditions.
David Swanson, Washington Director of Democrats.com and of ImpeachPAC.org, co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org / CensureBush.org coalition, creator of MeetWithCindy.org and KatrinaMarch.org, and a board member of Progressive Democrats of America.
Colonel Ann Wright, resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mongolia, due to her disagreement with the Bush administration.
Check this page regularly for new speakers and panelists.
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I'm the author of the novel Tortoise Stew that Charlie Grapski wrote about in a blog a few days ago.
I wrote this novel about politics in a fictional small north Florida town after covering politics in the area for several years. I began writing it three days after someone left a live bomb at the weekly newspaper where I was covering controversial growth issues (can you say Dollar General and Wal-Mart?). Fortunately no one was hurt so the FBI moved onto more important crimes.
I tried to make the novel as crazy as possible, exaggerating real life events and characters, but in Alachua they continue to write my sequel for me and how do I get crazier than what is happening there right now?
The City Manager/Police Commissioner tricked a citizen into city hall on a public records request and then had him arrested by two officers and the police chief on the charge of illegally tape recording a conversation between the city manager and the citizen the previous week.
The city manager has been quoted in the local press that he was making a statement that the city of Alachua will not be intimidated.
I remember countless phone conversations held with officials in that city over the years where I heard a steady and rhythmic tick in the background. No one told me I was being taped, but no one will convince me that I was not. Intimidating? It's all right as long as they are the ones doing it.
Patricia Camburn Behnke
Writer/Editor
P.O. Box 512
St. Augustine, FL 32085
pcbwrites at bellsouth.net
www.authorsden.com/patriciacbehnke
The following are screen captures from the slideshow at the High Springs Herald.
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Tonight's MViMV guest blogger will be Marian Harris, Candidate, Ohio House of Representatives.
Please join Marian on the MViMV blog tonight from 8-9pm EDT.
Gen. Michael Hayden, Bush's nominee to succeed Porter Goss as head of the CIA, doesn't know what the Fourth Amendment says. That comes as no surprise given that Hayden misled Congress about Bush's warrantless spying program.
Editor & Publisher:
Gen. Michael Hayden, expected to be named new director of the CIA, replacing Porter Goss as early as Monday, displayed a shaky awareness of the Fourth Amendment in an appearance at the National Press Club in Washingnon, D.C., on January 23, E&P reported at the time.
[...]
As the last journalist to get in a question at the Press Club, Jonathan Landay, a well-regarded investigative reporter for Knight Ridder, noted that Gen. Hayden repeatedly referred to the Fourth Amendment's search standard of "reasonableness" without mentioning that it also demands "probable cause." Hayden seemed to deny that the amendment included any such thing, or simply ignored it. He directly said "no" it did not include "probable cause."
This caused Landay to reply, "The legal standard is probable cause, General."
...in an informal poll to be aired on Dateline tonight, ABC reporters found that many members of Congress, including Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), could not sing the entire national anthem. One spokesperson spotted the film crew and sent out a warning to others: "Heads up. We have been informed that there is a news organization with a camera crew outside (between the Capitol and Longworth) asking members to recite or sing the national anthem."
Thank you to listener for sending us this National Nurse update.
Sponsors!
We now have 13 co-sponsors to HR 4903 and welcome our latest additions to the growing list- Representative Henry Waxman (CA) who is a member of the House Health Committee and Representative Steny Hoyer (MD), the House Minority Whip.
The Team Travels To Washington D.C.
Teri, Alisa, and Terri, along with five other nurses and State Representative Marcia Moody (NH), will be traveling to Washington D.C. next Wednesday to meet with the health policy aides of Senators Craig, Kennedy, and Harkin. The team also has meetings with several leaders in the House Health Committee where the bill now sits.
Help!
The team needs your help with this venture. As you are aware, the cost of travel has gone up along with gasoline prices. If you could contribute (even $5) to help offset the expenses, Teri and the National Nurse team would be immensely appreciative. The National Nursing Network Organization is a non-profit corporation, but is not tax-exempt and therefore contributions are not tax-deductible. Donations can be made online.
Special thanks to Mac Prichard and Karen Greco who are helping with the press release that will be distributed in advance of the Washington D.C. trip. If you would like to receive a copy of what is being sent to the media for your own publication, please email teri@nationalnurse.info
Celebrate National Nurses Week!!
The National Nurse Team has a website, www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse with lots of merchandise to celebrate Florence Nightingale's birthday and National Nurses Week - May 6th-12th...including designs by our own bloggers jc and Demetrius! Please consider purchasing a button or bumper sticker to raise the campaign's visibility.
Send Us Your Stories and Health Tips
Have you contacted or visited your U.S. Representative? Do you have a health tip to share with the nation? Do you have feedback about HR 4903 you would like to share with others? Are you interested in having a post published at www.nationalnurse.org? Please send your stories and health tips for the public to teri@nationalnurse.info for consideration and publication.
On to DC!
Teri, Alisa, and Terri
Your National Nurse Team
www.nationalnurse.org 
