Democratic Convention Speakers List

Democratic Convention Speakers List

Monday, July 26
The Kerry-Edwards Plan for America's Future

David Alston, Vietnam Swift Boat Crewmate of John Kerry
Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
Jimmy Carter, Former President of the United States
Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York
Al Gore, Former Vice-President of the United States
Steny Hoyer, U.S. Representative from Maryland, Democratic Whip
Terry McAuliffe, Chairman of the Democratic Party
Kendrick Meek, U.S. Representative from Florida
Robert Menendez, U.S. Representative from New Jersey
Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston
Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Senator from Maryland
(joined by all Women Senators)
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, U.S. Representative from Ohio
Jim Turner, U.S. Representative from Texas

Tuesday, July 27
A Lifetime of Strength & Service

Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator from South Dakota, Democratic Leader
Howard Dean, Former Governor of Vermont, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Richard Durbin, U.S. Senator from Illinois
James Forbes, Senior Minister at Riverside Church, New York City
Richard Gephardt, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Chris Heinz, Stepson of John Kerry
Teresa Heinz Kerry, Wife of John Kerry
Mike Honda, U.S. Representative from California
Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
Jim Langevin, U.S. Representative from Rhode Island
Carol Moseley-Braun, Former U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona
Barack Obama, State Senator from Illinois, U.S. Senate Candidate
Ron Reagan, Son of former President Ronald Reagan
Christie Vilsack, First Lady of Iowa
Ilana Wexler, 13-Year-Old Founder of Kids for Kerry


Wednesday, July 28
A Stronger More Secure America

Steve Brozak, Ret. Lt. Col., USMC, Candidate for U.S. Representative from New Jersey
Elijah Cummings, U.S. Representative from Maryland
Cate Edwards, Daughter of John Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards, Wife of John Edwards
John Edwards, Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee
Bob Graham, U.S. Senator from Florida, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Jennifer Granholm, Governor of Michigan
Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Greg Meeks, U.S. Representative from New York
Martin O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland
Harry Reid, U.S. Senator from Nevada
Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico
Al Sharpton, 2004 Presidential Candidate


Thursday, July 29
Stronger at Home, Respected in the World

Madeline Albright, Former Secretary of State
Joe Biden, U.S. Senator from Delaware
Wesley Clark, Four Star General, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Max Cleland, Former U.S. Senator from Georgia
James Clyburn, U.S. Representative from South Carolina
Alexandra Kerry, Daughter of John Kerry
John Kerry, 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee
Vanessa Kerry, Daughter of John Kerry
Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator from Connecticut, 2004 Presidential Candidate
Ed Markey, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
Juanita Millender-McDonald, U.S. Representative from California
Eleanor Holmes Norton, U.S. Representative from the District of Columbia
Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Representative from California, Democratic Leader
Jim Rassman, Green Beret rescued by John Kerry in Vietnam
Louise Slaughter, U.S. Representative from New York
(joined by Congressional Women)
John Sweeney, President of AFL-CIO
Mark Warner, Governor of Virginia

Democratic Convention bloggers

Updated List of Democratic Convention Bloggers


Photo credit REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

• Convention Bloggers OPML XML site
• The Boston (D) Party DNCC blog
• Official Convention Site Dems2004.org
• Kerry/Edwards blog


Bloggers Confirmed as Credentialed

Kirk Johnson American Amnesia
Alan Nelson Command Post
Dave Winer Scripting News
Dave Weinberger Boston.com
Taegan Goddard Political Wire
Jay Rosen Press Think
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Daily Kos
Rick Heller Centrist Coalition blog
Jerome Armstrong My DD
Aldon Hynes greaterdemocracy.org
Jeralyn Merritt TalkLeft
Matt Welch Reason.com
Mathew Gross Matthew Gross blog
Byron LaMasters Burnt Orange Report
Jessamyn Charity West Librarian.net
Natasha L.C Pacific Views
Tom Burka Opinions You Should Have
Paul McCullum Dinner for America
Jesse Taylor Pandagon
Patrick Belton Oxblog
Dave Pell Electablog
xian Power of Many, also blogging for Radio Free Blogistan, Greater Democracy
Bill Scher Liberal Oasis
Michael Feldman Dowbrigade
Peter Rukavina Reinvented.net (*See ReInvented's description of the credentialing process)
Gordon Joseloff Westport Now
Christopher Rabb Afro-Netizen
Joe Rospars BlogforAmerica.com, NotGeniuses
Allen Larson Larson Report.com
Matt Stoller BOPnews.com
Alison Teal hotflashesfromthecampaigntrail
Zephyr Teachout Blog for Victory
Nathan Paxton NateKnowsNada
Michael Andrew JREGrassroots.org
Dave Rock & Todd Beeton Dave & Todd's Wild Democracy Ride
Dave Johnson See The Forest
David Sifry and Mary Hodder Sifry's Alerts blog

Officially Credentialed, then disinvited:
*due to unforeseen lack of space at Fleet Center

Jude Nagurney Camwell Iddybud blog, Rational Liberal
James Landrith JamesLandrith.com
ANWR.com ANWR
Bill INDC Journal
John Tabin JohnTabin.com
Rob Galgano The Great Leap Forward
Justin Nawrocki Musings of a Drunken Monk


Others Who Will Be Blogging from the Convention:

Josh Micah Marshall Talking Points Memo
Atrios Eschaton
Zoe VanderWolk Gadflyer.com
Cate Read CateRaed.com (delegate)
Karl-Thomas Musselman musselmanforamerica (Texas delegate)
Brian Reich Campaign Web Review
Erik Cornelius Dem Senatorial Campaign Comm. (Convention speech videos will be here)
Ana Marie Cox Wonkette
Dave Barry Dave Barry, of course!
Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington blog
Jesse BerneyDNC/Kicking Ass blog
Faithful Correspondent BarkBarkWoofWoof (Ohio delegate)


• Hyperlincoln is dedicated to the best in blogging at the 2004 Democratic Convention. David Beckwith (Anonymoses) and I will be keeping you abreast of the best of the Convention blogging information as it comes in.

• Note: The new Convention Bloggers Website is up and running. I noticed an entry there about the 20 disinvited bloggers, a list on which, unfortunately, I wound up.

• Photoblogging Election 2004 was launched to make it easier for convention bloggers to do some of the things that professional journalists' companies do for them: index and archive images and retrieve them quickly for publication. They say they have prepared links to every DNC Convention blogger they know of.

• Politics.Feedster is another Convention blog aggregating resource.

• Technorati has a new website dedicated to covering the bloggers in real-time at the Democratic Convention and the news they will generate. Titled "BlogWatch", it will include CNN.com’s up-to-the-moment review of numerous Web logs covering the convention marks a first for convention coverage using Technorati, the leading monitor of blogs. CNN offers its own convention blog on CNN.com with updates from Candy Crowley on the platform and from CNN anchors, analysts and correspondents, including James Carville and Tucker Carlson, both of Crossfire.
Technorati has a politics-devoted news aggregator for up-to-the-minute blog news.

• There is an open Yahoo Group set up for anyone interested in talking about the convention.

• Speaking of convention....Jon Stewart, whose Daily Show will cover the convention in their own (shall we say 'unique and delightful') way, speaks of Conventional wisdom in a conventionally wise way here. And there's nothing funnier than Ed Helms' timid-while-in-your-face challenges of "You're a jerk!" or "Labia! Urethra! Penis, penis, penis... vagina?" to a Boston cop from the "designated free speech zone" in Boston! I keep playing and replaying the (linked) video (titled "Freedom of Opression") and rolling with laughter.

One year ago-My thoughts

One year ago--My thoughts

I'd like to share with my readers some of the thoughts I had a year ago this week. What has changed since then? Are you satisfied? You decide.

Regards,
Jude

Atrios on Failure of Leadership

Atrios on Failure of Leadership

Atrios has a blogpiece on Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, who is now sorry he philosophically bought into Bush's war and fear-mongering. I agree that he should have known far better. The failure of leadership rests with those in the choice positions in big media almost as much as the blowhards they are hired to challenge.

A citizen named Jackson Thoreau (who works in media himself) was more of a leader. He thought Cohen was overboard and stated so very early on. See his letter to the Washington Post editor back in December, 2001. (Third letter down).

"..I can't support us invading Iraq, under these circumstances. It's sad that I have to say we now seem more like the ones who want world domination than the ones who would fight against the forces that want to rule the planet."
-- Jackson Thoreau

David Corn: 9/11 report 'Bad news for Bush'

David Corn: 9/11 report 'Bad news for Bush'

Consider Bush's initial reaction to the attack on America (those seven frozen "My Pet Goat-ate my decisiveness" minutes); the administration not taking the threat of al Qaeda seriously enough; the vacationing Bush's poor reaction to the threat reports of "stem-cell"-summer, 2001 (limp-to-nothing), and consider the lack of proof of a solid alliance between alQaeda and Iraq (regardless of Stephen Hayes' and Dick Cheney's harmonied insistence).

As David Corn writes (tongue-in-cheek) in the Nation, "If this election to be a referendum on how [Bush] has handled the threat posed by al Qaeda, this [9/11 Commission] report--available now in local bookstores and online at the 9/11 commission's site--ought to be read by those 49 swing voters in Ohio who will be deciding the election for the rest of us."

At David's weblog, he discusses the topic and enables you to comment, if you so desire.

If America's Worst President is re-elected..

If America's Worst President is re-elected..

I've had so many positive comments on a link I posted here a few days ago that I'm going to post it again, this time in its entirety. It was written by blogger Anonymoses, who is a regular iddybud blogger.

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

Democrats Win! World Erupts in Celebration! 

Celebration, relief and good cheer spread across the globe, as war-happy madman is replaced by sane and beautiful leaders who respect all peoples.  

OR...

Republicans win. America goes to war with Iran.
Foolwells get their Armageddon. Millions die needlessly. A handful of suits reap windfall profits.

It really has come down to this. And make no mistake about it...this is the most important election in the history of the world. It is a matter of life and death. Many, many deaths. And frankly, we can't afford it. Not in blood. Not in treasure. Not in the world community.

Those who see elections as mere sport may only bet on their own team, regardless of how much damage their "team" will wreak upon the enterprise. But this would be a foolish supposition. Even deadly. And don't think blood won't blowback, if only in the subtlest ways. There will not be enough beer to drown out the sorrow of so many innocent people being slaughtered needlessly, just because you had to have your way. Your way may not be the best way.

Regardless of any stats one may concoct, this president has done wrong by America and the World, and the overwhelming majority of people who happen to not live within our borders, are deeply troubled, to put it lightly, by our having such a bellicose leader and administration. And were we to re-elect him -- arguably the worst President in American history... after dropping the man who was perhaps the most prepared man in our history -- What are they to think, except that we are either insane, perverse, or jaded...and lacking all good judgement?

In this election, it is not, "It's the economy, Stupid." It is "It's the World, Stupid!"

Serendipitously, while writing my illustrious and correct thoughts, a song wafted from my speakers that sums it up pretty well:

"Out of the darkness, deliver me."


Indeed. May we all be so delivered.

Blogger Bill Scher on Air America Tonight

Blogger Bill Scher (LO) on Air America Tonight

The editor of the blog LO (Liberal Oasis) will be on AIR AMERICA this evening. Bill Scher will be on the "The Majority Report" with Janeane Garafalo at 10 PM ET. You can connect to Air America here at Iddybud (see left side of blog for connection).

Meet the Joint Presidency Candidates

Meet the Joint Presidency Candidates

David Crosby and Graham Nash announce their candidacy for joint presidency of the U.S.A. here.

Cheney VP Replacement?

Cheney VP Replacement?

Democratic Convention blogs

Updated List of Democratic Convention Bloggers


Photo credit REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
SEE UPDATE HERE

Quote of the Day: Jimmy Breslin

Quote of the Day: Jimmy Breslin

When he came into office, Bush regarded China as Enemy No. 1. It is good that he found Iraq before taking on China. [LINK]

Dean Speech Primetime Tuesday in Boston

Dean Speech Primetime Tuesday in Boston

On Tuesday night next week, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, ("The man who made it good for John Kerry"), will speak during primetime to the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Dean says, while he won't tell his delegates what to do, he clearly doesn't want any draft Dean movements from the Convention floor.

Joseph Wilson writes-L.A. Times

Joseph Wilson writes-L.A. Times

The right-wing campaign against me and Valerie does not alter the reality that someone in the Bush administration exposed her identity and compromised national security. I believe it was a malicious act meant to keep others from crossing a vindictive administration.

Most important, when it comes to the Niger claim — and so many other claims underlying the decision to go to war in Iraq — it is the Bush administration, not Joe Wilson, who spoke the words that have cost us more than 900 lives and billions of dollars and have left our international reputation in tatters.

[LINK (subsc or reg req)]

Devin McKinney on Pete Townshend

Devin McKinney on Pete Townshend

Having written my opinion on Pete Townshend last week, I was particularly interested in music writer Devin McKinney's article about the social politics of pop in the American Prospect. I consider it an excellent piece of writing where McKinney shows us precisely how "certain idols of a previous generation have made a small but unique contribution to our current culture of cheapened feelings and meatball ethics." Where Townshend is concerned, McKinney asks, "Why should you or I have ever guessed he would oppose the Iraq War? Or that Dylan would not one day shill for a lingerie catalog?" He asks what I consider to be an ironically delicious question: "Does anyone still look to pop stars for help in defining personal politics? Should we even expect them to define their own politics coherently, given that your typical pop star will be at once a soft liberal, a rapacious capitalist, and a dictatorial control freak?"

Some of McKinney's last lines are his best:

"If a song can bear the weight of politics, it will; if not, it will crumple like tin. The solution is simple: Trust the song, not the singer. Most of us have made the mistake of trusting the singer, believing the singer believed what we believed, what the singer seemed to believe. But that day is past; the idols are dead, and we need to grow up."

Thanks, Devin.

Michael Moore, Linda Ronstadt & the rising anti-Bush tide

Michael Moore, Linda Ronstadt & the rising anti-Bush tide

Are you aware that people on the conservative side of politics have been aware (and probably upset) with Linda Ronstadt's anti-Bush statements for some time now? Ms. Ronstadt's Aladdin Hotel dedication to Michael Moore wasn't a bolt out of the blue.

PR Damage Control: Planet Hollywood wants Ronstadt back at Aladdin hotel.


Why does this man make the GOP so nervous? Click on photo to find out.

What happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas...and that's become a real PR problem for the Aladdin Hotel.

The Las Vegas Sun's editorial should be read. It includes the simple statement:

Ronstadt has been touring the country since May and has been praising Moore at each stop. Las Vegas should be embarrassed at her treatment here.

Who do you suppose might be the biggest fan in Las Vegas of shock-jock Howard Stern? I think you may be surprised.

NYT Editorial:

"They have a right to voice their disapproval - to express their opinion as Ms. Ronstadt expressed hers and to ask for a refund. But if their intemperate behavior began to worry the management, then they were the ones who should have been thrown out and told never to return, not Ms. Ronstadt, who threatened, after all, only to sing."

Check out this blurb from the Las Vegas Sun:

Moore controversy

Aladdin prez Bill Timmins has left Las Vegas, but not to escape the firestorm of controversy surrounding his decision to have security escort Linda Ronstadt from the hotel after her remarks onstage Saturday night in support of Michael Moore.

Timmins left town Tuesday afternoon after turning down requests to appear on "The Today Show," "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Nightline."

Hotel spokeswoman Tyri Squyres confirmed that Timmins had left town, but said it was because he had a surgical procedure scheduled at an out-of-state hospital.

Timmins also reportedly received a long message on his voice mail from Moore himself Monday.
[LINK]

9/11 Press Conference: Failure of Imagination

9/11 Press Conference: Failure of Imagination

See the 9/11 Commission Report HERE.

An Institutional Lack of Imagination

There was a press conference held in Washington with the 9/11 commission. The panel agreed that 9/11 occurred due to an intitutionalized lack of imagination; there was no outright negligence on any particular person or agency's part. They refused to play politics by placing blame on presidents Clinton or Bush, but did comment that there was no "stimulating discussion on terror" before 9/11. It seems that no one envisioned terror as the problem it really was. The Commission concurred that neither president Bush nor Clinton was served well by Intelligence agencies prior to 9/11.

The name Tom Clancy kept popping up. It's obvious that Mr. Clancy's imagination is enviable, admirable and important to the members of this panel. The future of counter-terrorism is dependent upon creative-thinking people who can be respected for thinking "outside of the box".

Reform of Congressional Oversight Necessary

Broad recommendations have been made to reform Congressional oversight on Intelligence. This will entail the shut-down of a lot of long-standing Congressional committees and will require a lot of overinflated authority-snatching Washington DC egos to be checked at the new "door of reform". Commissioner Bob Kerry stated that he was hopeful, but not optimistic that some of these now-standing Committee leaders will gracefully step down and allow new and necessary Committees to be formed without partisan bickering.

Commissioner James Thompson publically laid it on the line to members of Congress, stating they need to unite; they'd best act quickly; doing any less will mean losing their political seats when the American people see that they're failing to act.


Presidential Candidate Comments

John Kerry said today that the is is not a time for bickering or politics. We are all Americans. We must move on this immediately, as a united people. If he is elected President and there's no sufficient progress in the next few months, he will lead by pressing Congress to rapidly enact reforms as suggested by the 9/11 Commission. President Bush said that he looks forward to reading the recommendations and hopes Congress will do the same and begin to act. If Bush makes a strong push for reform before November, it'll be tough for Kerry to distinguish himself on intelligence issues.

Other Observations:

I thought the Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes used his opportunity for questioning the panel as a disgraceful and obvious way of attempting to redeem his own reputation after writing a book about the Iraq-al Qaeda connections for which he had no solid proof. The answer he received failed to save his sad reputation and credibility.

Commissioner Kean stated he had not yet seen Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11", but suggested that Saudi Arabia is just as much at risk as America for terror attacks and they need to join closely with us in the struggle to overcome it. He admitted the basis of our respective governments' relationship needs to be more than just about oil. Commissioner Hamilton said he'd like to see more "depth and texture" to the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabian governments. (I'd like to see more transparency myself).

Iran has denied links to 9/11, and at this morning's conference, that was confirmed (given the limited scope of the Commission's oversight). When asked about Iran, one of the Commissioners stated frankly that there was no evidence of the Iran government's pre-knowlege of 9/11 whatsoever. There was only the indication that somehow, al Qaeda members had been able to cross the Iranian borders without having their passports stamped. To what degree the Iran government sanctioned this was not conclusive in the 9/11 report.

The John Lennon song "Imagine" kept running through my head. Imagination ruled the day and is our only hope to overcome terror.


*Find out how to get a copy of the 9/11 Commission Report here.

Jason Kottke created an HTML version of the executive summary of the 9/11 report, with permalinks for each paragraph.

Flight 93 details emerge with 9/11 report

Flight 93 details emerge with 9/11 report

Apparently, the passengers who wished to reach the cockpit never actually had time to breach it before the Flight 93 crashed down to that Shanksville, Pennsylvania field.

Right-wing Group Seeks Donations for Boston Ads

Right-wing Group Seeks Donations for Boston Ads

A partisan group, RightMarch.com, is hoping to take out five-full-page ads in the greater Boston metro area, demanding that Sens. Kerry and Edwards resign from the Senate in order to run for President and Vice President, because they're there so rarely that there is no realistic way for them to actually represent their constituents. The group is looking for donations to enable them to run the ads. At their site, they rage against what they call the "loony left" and "America's elite liberal media". They also casually mention that, 'as an extra "perk," if Kerry resigns, under current law, his temporary replacement would be named by the governor of Massachusetts... who just happens to be a Republican! North Carolina has a Democrat governor--but 1 out of 2 ain't bad!'

From the Revealer: How soon we forget

From the Revealer: How soon we forget

At the Revealer, Jeff Sharlet has written about our hunger for stories and our boredom when, after most of the "good stuff" has been exhausted, every horrific photo begins to look the same. We've slipped into the heat of another presidential campaign season. There's a lot of traditional hype but not much difference between the candidates when it comes to a war which they both promote yet still cannot give us reason for the fight. Old stories, based on remembered cultural tradition, are made new again as we eventually let the reality of those bodies slip from our collective consciousness. Wait---should we remember? I suggest you pay the site a visit and see if any of the images strike a familiar chord. [LINK]

Trivia Quiz

Trivia Quiz

Who is the white-haired lady seated in the center of this photo?



Answer will be in the comments section at 5pm today if no one guesses it first.

9/11 Report Out Today

9/11 Report Out Today

I laughed at Maureen Dowd's summing-up of current events as the "bizarre investigation of Sandy Burglar" and the "bomb Ira- Ali G skit" and "Right axis/ Wrong evil".

Actually, I don't believe we ever should have thought of hastily making pre-emptive attack on EITHER "Ira-". What the hell was our Congress so afraid of when they gave Bush carte blanche on his rush to attack Iraq? I hate to say this, I think their biggest fear was the possibility of not being re-elected the following month (Nov 2002).

The 9/11 Report is ripping away at Congress for being watchdog-flunkies when it came to Intelligence oversight. Allegedly, one passage of the report found that Al Qaeda and the 19 hijackers exploited "deep institutional failings within our government" over a long period. Officials have said the report did not directly blame the Bush or Clinton administration for the failures. It does harshly criticize the C.I.A. and F.B.I.

You can bet the GOP is scrambling to get a PR-list of changes they've enacted since 9/11 ready for the media to parrot for them. They make it far too obvious that they need to watch their political backs. It seems more important to them than dealing with and facing the hardest truths. Their pressing of the Sandy Berger-pants fiasco this week proved it.

While the commission may not conclude that Bush (or Clinton) could have prevented 9/11, at least ten missed operational opportunities will be spelled out in the report, showing there were several opportunities to intercept some of the activities of terrorists which led to 9/11.

I will be most curious to see the remarks of 9/11 victims' family members. especially Kristen Breitweiser who lost her husband Ronald in the attack and has been one of the most vocal proponents of the Independent Commission on behalf of victims' families.

Helen Thomas: No More Pre-emptive Wars

Helen Thomas: No More Pre-emptive Wars
If Bush Has Plans For Another Preemptive War, He Should Forget It

Bush's dwindling coalition in Iraq brings the old saying to Ms. Thomas' mind:
"Some day they will give a war and nobody will come."
The allies fade away as the White House and the Pentagon struggle with credibility problems created by their sorry record in truth telling about the war.

Ms. Thomas is sore at Kerry and Edwards for passing up a chance to offer voters a real choice as both "incredibly continue to defend their pro-war votes in the Senate, instead of saying that they, like the American public, were misled by the Bush administration."

Iraq mess stretches US Army thin

Iraq mess stretches US Army thin

The Army's pool of future recruits has dwindled to its lowest level in three years, worrying Pentagon officials as the service is being stretched by the unexpectedly difficult occupation of Iraq.

Another sign of increasing stress on the military is the Army forcing more new recruits immediately into the ranks to meet recruiting goals for 2004, instead of allowing them to defer entry until the next accounting year, which starts in October.

Recruiting's been made tough for the Army with the lies, exaggerations, and misleadings of the Bush administration; the unnecessary war; and the way it's been conducted.

Improvising to keep the levels up isn't going to work much longer.

Wait until the draft comes back.

American parents are going to become no less than furious with this self-proclaimed "war president" and his chickenhawk administration. There will be protesting in the streets.

GASP! Kofi Annan says world no safer!

GASP! Kofi Annan says world no safer!

"I cannot say the world is safer today than it was two, three years ago."
---U.N. leader Kofi Annan

What??? How dare he say that? Anti-American! Bush-hater! Burn him at the stake!
Better yet---marginalize him! Accuse his son of theft and corruption!

GASP! Bonnie Raitt Hopes Bush Will Lose!

GASP! Bonnie Raitt Hopes Bush Will Lose!

Not only does Bonnie Raitt hope Bush loses in November, she actually dared to say so! Anti-American! Traitor! Kick her off every stage! What did she really mean by "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)"? Burn her at the stake!

Updated List of Convention bloggers

Updated List of Democratic Convention Bloggers


Photo credit REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

• Convention Bloggers OPML XML site
• The Boston (D) Party DNCC blog
• Official Convention Site Dems2004.org
• Kerry/Edwards blog


Bloggers Confirmed as Credentialed

Kirk Johnson American Amnesia
Alan Nelson Command Post
Dave Winer Scripting News
Dave Weinberger Boston.com
Taegan Goddard Political Wire
Jay Rosen Press Think
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Daily Kos
Rick Heller Centrist Coalition blog
Jerome Armstrong My DD
Aldon Hynes greaterdemocracy.org
Jeralyn Merritt TalkLeft
Matt Welch Reason.com
Mathew Gross Matthew Gross blog
Byron LaMasters Burnt Orange Report
Jessamyn Charity West Librarian.net
Natasha L.C Pacific Views
Tom Burka Opinions You Should Have
Paul McCullum Dinner for America
Jesse Taylor Pandagon
Patrick Belton Oxblog
Dave Pell Electablog
xian Power of Many, also blogging for Radio Free Blogistan, Greater Democracy
Bill Scher Liberal Oasis
Michael Feldman Dowbrigade
Peter Rukavina Reinvented.net (*See ReInvented's description of the credentialing process)
Gordon Joseloff Westport Now
Christopher Rabb Afro-Netizen
Joe Rospars BlogforAmerica.com, NotGeniuses
Allen Larson Larson Report.com
Matt Stoller BOPnews.com
Alison Teal hotflashesfromthecampaigntrail
Zephyr Teachout Blog for Victory
Nathan Paxton NateKnowsNada
Michael Andrew JREGrassroots.org
Dave Rock & Todd Beeton Dave & Todd's Wild Democracy Ride
Dave Johnson See The Forest
David Sifry and Mary Hodder Sifry's Alerts blog

Officially Credentialed, then disinvited:
*due to unforeseen lack of space at Fleet Center

Jude Nagurney Camwell Iddybud blog, Rational Liberal
James Landrith JamesLandrith.com
ANWR.com ANWR
Bill INDC Journal
John Tabin JohnTabin.com
Rob Galgano The Great Leap Forward
Justin Nawrocki Musings of a Drunken Monk


Others Who Will Be Blogging from the Convention:

Josh Micah Marshall Talking Points Memo
Atrios Eschaton
Zoe VanderWolk Gadflyer.com
Cate Read CateRaed.com (delegate)
Karl-Thomas Musselman musselmanforamerica (Texas delegate)
Brian Reich Campaign Web Review
Erik Cornelius Dem Senatorial Campaign Comm. (Convention speech videos will be here)
Ana Marie Cox Wonkette
Dave Barry Dave Barry, of course!
Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington blog
Jesse BerneyDNC/Kicking Ass blog
Faithful Correspondent BarkBarkWoofWoof (Ohio delegate)
Tom Tomorrow This Modern World


• Hyperlincoln is dedicated to the best in blogging at the 2004 Democratic Convention. David Beckwith (Anonymoses) and I will be keeping you abreast of the best of the Convention blogging information as it comes in.

• Note: The new Convention Bloggers Website is up and running. I noticed an entry there about the 20 disinvited bloggers, a list on which, unfortunately, I wound up.

• Photoblogging Election 2004 was launched to make it easier for convention bloggers to do some of the things that professional journalists' companies do for them: index and archive images and retrieve them quickly for publication. They say they have prepared links to every DNC Convention blogger they know of.

• Politics.Feedster is another Convention blog aggregating resource.

• Technorati has a new website dedicated to covering the bloggers in real-time at the Democratic Convention and the news they will generate. Titled "BlogWatch", it will include CNN.com’s up-to-the-moment review of numerous Web logs covering the convention marks a first for convention coverage using Technorati, the leading monitor of blogs. CNN offers its own convention blog on CNN.com with updates from Candy Crowley on the platform and from CNN anchors, analysts and correspondents, including James Carville and Tucker Carlson, both of Crossfire.
Technorati has a politics-devoted news aggregator for up-to-the-minute blog news.

• There is an open Yahoo Group set up for anyone interested in talking about the convention.

• Speaking of convention....Jon Stewart, whose Daily Show will cover the convention in their own (shall we say 'unique and delightful') way, speaks of Conventional wisdom in a conventionally wise way here. And there's nothing funnier than Ed Helms' timid-while-in-your-face challenges of "You're a jerk!" or "Labia! Urethra! Penis, penis, penis... vagina?" to a Boston cop from the "designated free speech zone" in Boston! I keep playing and replaying the (linked) video (titled "Freedom of Opression") and rolling with laughter.

Prayer for Lost Miners

Prayer for Lost Miners

And as they work beneath the clay,
With heads bowed down these miners pray,
That God will hear them up above
And send them safely to the ones they love.


Art by Frank "Wyso" Wysochansky

Now if this cannot come to pass,
And he must pay the price at last.
The miner leaves his last demand
Keep my child safe above the land.

--from A Coal Miner's Prayer by John & Millie Quann


____________

31 miners have lost their precious lives in an accident in the coal mines of Ukraine. I am asking my readers to pause and say a prayer or offer a meditation for these lost souls. My own grandfather, a son of Ukrainian immigrants, spent too many of his youthful days toiling in the coal mines in the mountains of Pennsylvania until he could find a better opportunity. If it isn't a terrible accident, it's Black Lung disease that takes the miner from his family. Black Lung took my grandfather from us long after his days in the mines were over. If the miner survives the years unscathed, he's one of the luckiest. He's probably the least "looked-after" worker in the world..even here in America. 100 miners have died in mining accidents in Ukraine alone this year.

Seymour Hersh July 8 ACLU Keynote Speech

Seymour Hersh ACLU July 8 Keynote Speech

Hear it.
Read it.
Do both at the same time for the best effect.
Whatever you do, don't miss it.

On Abu Ghraib:

"I’m not saying it’s there yet. It’s not there yet. But that’s where it has to go. We have to stop looking at it as some sort of academic debate about Geneva Conventions. What happened are war crimes."

On the NeoCons and post-9/11 government:

"...you have a bunch of people who've been for 10, 12 years have been fantasizing since the 1991 Gulf War on the way to resolve problems. And of course Israel will be a beneficiary and etc. etc., but the world in their eyes — this was Utopia. And so they got together, this small group of cultists, and how did they do it? They did do it. They’ve taken the government over. And what’s amazing to me, and what really is troubling, is how fragile our democracy is. Look what happened to us.

[In the press, there is] self-censorship, which is the beacon word for me, you know I always think it comes more, you know there is a corporate mentality out there, but there’s also a tremendous amount of self-censorship among the press. It’s like a disease.

But also — they not only — they took away the edge from the press, they also muzzled the bureaucracy, they muzzled the military, they muzzled the Congress, and it’s an amazing feat. We’re supposed to be a democratic society, and all of those areas of our democracy bowed and scraped to this group of neocons who advocated a policy....

...you have a government that basically has been operating since 9/11 very successfully on the principle that if you’re with us you’re a genius, if you’re against us you’re not just somebody [in the] loyal opposition, you’re a traitor.."

What we didn't see:

Some of the worst things that happened that you don’t know about. OK? Videos. There are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at [Abu Ghraib], which is about 30 miles from Baghdad — 30 kilometers, maybe, just 20 miles, I'm not sure whether it's — anyway. The women were passing messages out saying please come and kill me because of what’s happened. And basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children, in cases that have been [video] recorded, the boys were sodomized, with the cameras rolling, and the worst above all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking. That your government has, and they’re in total terror it’s going to come out. It’s impossible to say to yourself, how did we get there, who are we, who are these people that sent us there...

Krugman:Terror Wouldn't Mind 4 more Bush years

Krugman: Terror Wouldn't Mind 4 more Bush years

Paul Krugman apparently believes, as I believe and have stated here on Iddybud recently in my "Bush is al-Qaeda's Choice in November 2004" post, that G.W. Bush is allowing our national strategy to fall into the terrorists' willing hands again and again.

In today's column, Mr. Krugman writes:

Mr. Bush's "war on terror" has, however, played with eerie perfection into Osama bin Laden's hands - while Mr. Bush's supporters, impressed by his tough talk, see him as America's champion against the evildoers.

Last week, Republican officials in Kentucky applauded bumper stickers distributed at G.O.P. offices that read, "Kerry is bin Laden's man/Bush is mine." Administration officials haven't gone that far, but when Tom Ridge offered a specifics-free warning about a terrorist attack timed to "disrupt our democratic process," many people thought he was implying that Al Qaeda wants George Bush to lose. In reality, all infidels probably look alike to the terrorists, but if they do have a preference, nothing in Mr. Bush's record would make them unhappy at the prospect of four more years.

[LINK]

John Warner: Big Headline/Little News

BIG HEADLINE
Little News
_____________________

The headline reads:

Warner: New Report Backs Iraq WMD Claims

The news:

"..I'm not suggesting dramatic discoveries," Warner told reporters, but "bits and pieces that Saddam Hussein was clearly defying" international restrictions..."

Can I get a "WOW"?

Moore to Timmins: Stupid, UnAmerican!

Moore to Timmins: Stupid, UnAmerican!

I hope Michael Moore will not object to my posting his letter here:

July 19th, 2004 9:05 pm
Open Letter to Bill Timmins, President Aladdin Casino and Hotel


Bill Timmins
President
Aladdin Casino and Hotel
Las Vegas, NV

July 20, 2004

Dear Mr. Timmins:

I understand from the news reports I've read that, after Linda Ronstadt, one of America's greatest singers, dedicated a song to me from your stage on Saturday night, you instructed your security guards to remove her from the Aladdin, which they did.

What country do you live in? Last time I checked, Las Vegas is still in the United States. And in the United States, we have something called "The First Amendment." This constitutional right gives everyone here the right to say whatever they want to say. All Americans hold this right as sacred. Many of our young people put on a uniform and risk their lives to defend it. My film is all about asking the questions that should have been asked before those brave soldiers were sent into harms way.

For you to throw Linda Ronstadt off the premises because she dared to say a few words in support of me and my film, is simply stupid and Un-American. Frankly, I have never heard of such a thing happening. I read that you wouldn't even let her go back up to her room at your hotel! Are you crazy? For crying out loud, it was a song DEDICATION! To "Desperado!" Every American loves that song! Sure, some people didn't like the dedication, and that's their right. But neither they nor you have the right to remove her from your building when all she did was exercise her AMERICAN right to speak her mind.

Of all the things that go on in Las Vegas, this is what creates the need for serious action? What about the other half of the crowd at the Aladdin who, according to the Las Vegas Sun, cheered her when she made her remarks? Did you throw them out, too?

I think you owe Ms. Ronstadt an apology. And I have an idea how you can make it up to her -- and to the millions of Americans you have offended. Invite her back and I'll join her in singing "America the Beautiful" on your stage. Then I will show "Fahrenheit 9/11" free of charge to all your guests and anyone else in Las Vegas who wants to see it.

Mr. Timmins, as the song "Desperado" says -- "Come to your senses!" How can you refuse this offer? I await your reply.

Yours,
Michael Moore
Director, "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Aladdin Hotel co-owned by Saudi investors

Aladdin Hotel co-owned by Saudi investors

Did I mention that? Yes, I think I did. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is heavily invested in Planet Hollywood (proud new owners of the Aladdin). The Prince is also the savior of Disney's EuroDisney. You remember Disney--the ones who decided to back out of distributing "Fahreneheit 9/11" at the last moment.

I don't know why the press fails to mention all this. Perhaps it's because they're so used to the fact that Saudi Arabia owns most of the United States that it's not worth the mention anymore.


Quote of the day at Karmalised: "Common sense suggests all that's followed this particular performance was one of the safest bets in Las Vegas last week."

Ronstadt is Moses-Parting Red Sea of Polarization

Ronstadt is Moses-Parting Red Sea of Polarization

Linda Ronstadt has done it again at Humphreys by the Bay in southern California. She is causing audiences to part in the middle. Boos and cheers abounded on either side when she dedicated "Desperado" to Michael Moore at the end of her concert last night. Linda is the pop-Moses, parting the sea of partisanship. When the seas fold back in, who will drown? How long can we convince ourselves that we remain a united and focused nation, knowing what Linda has exposed at these concerts? We blame Linda, but isn't that silly?

There are much stronger forces to blame.

SEE Michael Moore's site for another article about the Humphreys' show.

Lieberman Reviving Cold War dinosaur

Lieberman Reviving Cold War dinosaur

Sealing his place as a solid conservative-Democrat (well out of touch with the vast majority of his party), Sen Joe Lieberman is involved directly in relaunching the Cold War-era Committee on the Present Danger, a group of citizens of diverse political persuasions who will work to sustain and strengthen bipartisan support for the war on terrorism in Iraq and beyond.

The Committee on the Present Danger was first formed at the dawn of the Cold War in 1950 to "educate Americans about the growing threat of Soviet communism". Democratic senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson had revitalized the group in the mid-'70s; this time it was focused on working for a stronger stance toward the Soviets and the increased defense spending necessary to carry out that policy. Ken ("Iraq'll be a cakewalk") Adelman, Paul Wolfowitz (who was on Team B) and Neocon Richard Perle were among other members of CPD's last reincarnation.

Looking back at the Committee's history in the 70s, I am dismayed to see Neocon Michael Ledeen's direct activity. Israel had built up significant influence in the CPD in its last revitalization. Ledeen was the primary contact person who was connected with Oliver North and the Iran-Contra affair...and who is a hawk on Iran today.

The CPD's rebirth allegedly took place at a gathering of 80-100 of Washington's leading neo-cons who gathered to discuss "Iraq and the War Against Terrorism." (sponsored by Clifford May's group FDD and funded largely by FOX New's commander-in-chief Rupert Murdoch).

Here's the message, basically. (American parents, please have a seat for this one). Here comes the draft. Uncle Sam will require the lives of many of your sons and daughters. The CPD's message will be (skipping over the niceties) "War, war, more war. Kill, kill, kill more Muslims. More more more terror attacks. More more more risk. More Homeland Security. Less safety."

Some say it should not be called a Committee on the Present Danger and that it instead should be called the Committee Committed to Blowing Up the World.

I am so very glad Al Gore helped marginalize Joe Lieberman early in the campaign season by endorsing Howard Dean instead. He let America know which candidate's direction he thought was appropriate for not only his party, but especially for our beloved nation.

2004 Democratic Platform for America

2004 Democratic Platform for America

The 2004 Democratic platform is now available for downloading. (It's a pdf file)

They stress affirmation in their belief in the greatness of a strong, respected America. They also stress that Bush has walked away from more than a hundred years' worth of American leadership in this world, disregarding the value of effective diplomacy.

You should read it. I hope you'll take the time.

Michael Moore: Canadian Criminal!?

Michael Moore: Canadian Criminal!?

Now I've heard everything. A 21-year-old Canadian conservative citizen by the name of Kasra Nejatian is dredging up a draconian gag law to try to get Michael Moore arrested. There is a web site set up to collect petition signatures. Geez, Louise. What won't these people do to shut Mr. Moore's mouth?

Nejatian thinks Michael Moore is an "annoying loudmouth" and, even though Nejatian believes the gag law is probably unconstitutional, he's going to push the envelope anyhow.

To complicate matters for Nejatian and his ilk, a Canadian mayor has offered to possibly make Michael Moore an official "honorary Canadian citizen".

--insert circus music here--

Around the Blogs Today

Around the Blogs Today

I nominated Karmalised in the Underblog 2004 contest.

Thanks to Elayne, I'm working on a photo/essay for A Picture's Worth.

Have you seen the Hyperlincoln blog? I love that name.

Josh Marshall is talking about Sandy Berger.

Sandy Berger articles:

NYT: Mr. Berger removed at least two versions of a memorandum assessing how the government handled intelligence and security issues before the millennium celebrations in 1999.

WP: Berger spent three days at the Archives, on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, last summer and fall examining documents to provide the Clinton administration's responses to inquiries from the presidential commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

USA Today: Two of the officials said Berger was reportedly seen stuffing some of the material into his clothing.

DAMAGE: Some folks are bent out of shape that this might not be front-page news. (If the story gets buried on page 2, how will Berger be pressured to distance himself from the Kerry campaign?

DAMAGE UPDATE! Sandy Berger has stepped away from the Kerry campaign in his role as advisor. ___________________


I'm glad Josh Marshall hasn't let Susan Schmidt off easily in her Washington Post coverage of Joseph Wilson.

Kos says Cheney and Halliburton loved Iran. Mmmwaaaah!

Anonymoses has written a thought-provoking piece titled "Democrats Win! World Erupts in Celebration!" at his diary at Daily Kos.

Holden at Eschaton reminds us that William Safire is a bag of hot wind. Regarding the same subject, the "16 words" and the Butler report, a writer to "Outside the Beltway" only known as 'GP' raises common-sense questions and comments. See my own comments from July 14th. The folks trying so hard to make the President appear to have sound reason for saying those 16 words are still wrong, no matter how you slice and dice it. They aren't looking at the full nature of the Butler report. You cannot learn the truth; nor can you make sound and rational judgement about taking a nation to war by only examining drive-by snippets. The relevant argument was not whether or not an attempt was made to purchase uranium, it was whether or not our American president was using incredibly shaky information in his State of the Union speech to promote an unnecessary war.

William Hung dead? Truth or Urban Legend?

No! William Hung dead? Truth or Urban Legend?

Hung once answered “No, thank you” when asked whether he was “for or against the war in Iraq.”
_________________

Not William Hung....no way.
...Way?

*...no way

McCain Won't Run with Bush, either

McCain won't run with Bush, either

He wouldn't run with Kerry. He won't run with Bush; nor will he serve in Bush's cabinet.
*see Taegan Goddard*

Cable News sucks up Ronstadt tale-overblown political pap

Cable news sucks up Ronstadt tale-overblown political pap

Singer Linda Ronstadt has been making a dedication of her song "Desperado" to "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore at the end of each of her engagements (during her encores) since she began a national tour earlier this summer. Particular "fans" allegedly couldn't bear it at the tail-end of one certain performance. An angry (maybe drunk?) stream of fans (allegedly hundreds out of the crowd of four and a half thousand people) at the economically-failing Aladdin hotel (soon to be totally owned by Planet Hollywood) in Las Vegas walked out of the hotel's theater as Ronstadt sang the song. (Funny, some fans typically leave the theatre toward the tail-end of the show to beat the crowd, anyhow). Some of them (in apparent end-of-the-night drunken hoodlum fashion) reportedly defaced posters of her in the lobby, writing comments and tossing drinks on her pictures.

Yet, when you read further and investigate, you learn that Ms. Ronstadt had had a troubled past with the Aladdin Hotel and Casino.

Curiously, there had been an article which had appeared in a local Las Vegas newspaper last week quoting Ronstadt making "disparaging remarks" about the town itself, calling it a "strange, weird place".

The article had also said:

"I've been dedicating `Desperado' every night to Michael Moore, trying to get people to go see `Fahrenheit 9/11,' " she says.

"They say the country is evenly divided, and boy is that true. One half of the audience cheers and the other half boos."

"I don't understand this country sometimes and I really fear for it," she adds. "The government is making everybody in the world hate us, including the people that used to be our friends."

Anyone who disagrees with that is welcome to get in line, behind whoever she manages to rile at the Aladdin this time.

"I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to them, they won't hire me back," she says with a laugh.

[LINK]

I'm sure that set a nasty tone from the get-go. It seems logical to me that someone probably read this before the concert and decided to make her wish come true.

*Trivia-Did you know a member of royalty in Saudi Arabia not only invests in Planet Hollywood, but has been on the board of directors..and is also a good investing-friend to Disney (who sut out Moore's film)?*

The funny part of the story is that the brave and determined fellow who says he "booted" Linda from the casino, Bill Timmins, didn't have to do much. Ronstadt had been booked to play the Aladdin for only that one show..and the show, for all intents and purposes, was OVER! (Hahaha!)

It sounds to me like a bunch of rowdy and irresponsible drunken (albeit conservative-minded) vandals who didn't care about the other four thousand fans' desire to sit and enjoy the show.

I also wonder about the Freeper-types who were discussing Linda Ronstadt's anti-conservative ideas before the concert took place (read the comments HERE). If discussions like this one were flying around the internet, there may have been a few folks in that crowd just waiting for "Desperado" to be dedicated to Moore so they could play drama-queen.

Jerry Fink writes what I definitely perceive as a catty little criticism of Ronstadt's general performance HERE. Meowwww!

Given all the facts, I think this whole story is a big overblown political whine. At least Drudge got some mileage out of it. Viva internet rumor.

The sad part is, the 24/7 cable news networks don't care enough about the truth to fully investigate before parroting Matt Drudge. I don't blame Matt. because he's free to post whatever he wants at his site.

Professional journalists are supposed to investigate and tell the whole story.

They aren't professional.

Americans are being fed pure (univestigated) shit.


__________

Michael Moore speaks out on behalf of Linda Ronstadt.

If it matters, to whom does it primarily matter?

If it matters, to whom does it primarily matter?

Seventy-five percent of voters nationwide think it matters a great deal whether President Bush or his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, wins the presidential election, a poll reported Monday. (Newsday and Capital News)

Making the observation that this particular election is of more keen interest to American voters than elections of the past leads me to believe, as I've stated before, that Kerry will benefit. He barely has to move his lips. All those 2000 Gore-voters can't wait to vote against Bush. Not only are they waiting because of what they perceive as a stolen election, they are wounded by the subsequent partisan political actions of the Bush administration.

Even in the aftermath of the worst attack on American citizens in history, this American president is amazingly unpopular with over 50% of American citizens. I believe that the majority of independent voters will go with a new choice..a new chance for America in November. The African American community is fired up over Election 2000 and we already know, from polls, that Bush has less support than ever from this group. The Muslim community in America will vote for change. I believe the American Jewish population may have varying degrees of ideology due to the Middle East issues, but have classically voted 'Democrat' because they've understood they are a party that always has and always will support their issues and that Bush has not been a good leader for the cause of Israel.



Women see where the Bush adminstration has taken reproductive issues....down the toilet. The military and military-family vote will more than likely be against Bush for all the lies they believe he's fed to them, the extended tours of duty, the privatization of war with better-paid mercenaries, and the hothouse hell he's put the soldiers unnecessarily through. Self-respecting Libertarians wouldn't vote for the hyper-secretive Presidential administration who crafted the most liberty-stealing legislation in history.

I won't even begin to talk about the poor in this country and the ones who've lost their jobs (the luckiest ones only finding re-employment opportunity in the lowest-paying jobs).

I think many conservatives will stay home, unless they have a particular hatred for the gay community. Where Bush has done the best job in connecting with his conservative base, unfortunately, is connecting with the lowest common denominator. He has kicked up the dust of fear, hatred, and mistrust in our conservative communities with his exclusionary wedge-attack on the rights of gay Americans.

In the absence of an October surprise or another stolen election, let's face it, people. Bush is toast.

Few know how to take a walk

Few people know how
to take a walk.


photos by Iddybud
Adirondack Mountains, N.Y.


The qualifications are endurance,
plain clothes, old shoes,



an eye for nature, good humor,
vast curiosity, good speech,
good silence,
and nothing too much.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The glorious work of Gore Vidal

The glorious work of Gore Vidal

In the past, his warnings did not make the sort of impact they do today. But since Sept. 11, with his witty, lacerating prose, his last-of-its-kind brand of patrician condescension -- and with so many other left-wing thinkers having defected and written cautiously supportive columns on, for example, the Iraq invasion last year--Mr. Vidal has been elevated to the position of Contrarian-in-Chief.

--writer Christopher Dreher

The Globe and Mail has a showcase piece on the work of Gore Vidal (July 17).

He is 79 years young, and Gore Vidal's writing is still delightful in his brutal honesty. Vidal's insistent and fervent desire to show the ones he perceives as truly unpatriotic Americans the proverbial door causes his critics to see red. He's especially disgusted with the ruling 'junta' in the White House, and he's not afraid to call their post-9/11 actions an "orgy of destruction".

Mr. Vidal is one of those "three people" I would choose when asked "If you could choose three people with whom to have a dinner party....."

10-yr-old DUI dredged up on Edwards' brother

10-yr-old DUI dredged up on Edwards' brother

North Carolina and Colorado newspapers first reported dredged-up details of the warrant for John Edwards' brother's arrest for failure to appear in court over a DUI/no insurance charge in Colorado. The N.Y. Times has grabbed hold of it. Freepers are having a picnic with the news and are making a major deal about a report that John Edwards bought his brother's family a house five years ago. (Taking care of your family? Gee, what a rotten guy John Edwards sounds like....doh). They are also making snide comments about Edwards' brother trying to use a "My brother is a rich lawyer"-card to get out of the mess. How about using your father's good standing to help you get out of a pickle? Naturally, anti-Edwards people are comparing Wesley Edwards to Billy Carter and Roger Clinton, taking extreme caution to omit the fact that the current president was an admitted drunk himself. HE will freely admit to having been drunk for nearly 20 years straight. Does that wash away the Edwards story? No. I am merely adding true fairness and balance to the sordid tale. It is what it is. I report. You decide.

Election 2004: Kerry safeguarding fair elections

Election 2004: Kerry safeguarding fair elections

Determined not to allow American voters to be worked over again by a shady network of cronies, crooks, partisans, and favored-corporate interests, the Kerry campaign is building a legal network, allegedly a more intricate set of legal safeguards than any presidential candidate before him, to monitor the 2004 election. (see NY Times) Does this sound equally partisan compared to the creepy spirit of the other side (the GOP) during Election 2000? Some may say so, but there's the old adage "Once burned, twice shy" and "Forewarned is forearmed".

Oh, and there's that old sayin' from Tenessee..which is the same as the one they say in Texas, or so I've heard:

"Fool me once.......
shame on you.

Fool me..........uh....

...I won't get fooled again."

NY Times: 'We were wrong about the weapons'

NY Times: 'We were wrong about the weapons'

Here is their humble and no-nonsense apology and regret.

9/11 Commission Report Due Thursday

9/11 Commission Report
Due Thursday

This Thursday, when the 9/11 Independent Commission report is released, you may wonder which politician will fare better in the aftermath of its spin--John Kerry or George Bush?

The Commission can connect Iran in some abstract way. The Commission can place some blame on intelligence. The Commission can discuss plenty of issues that may help our nation in the future.

Yet....

...all the Commission has to say are these few words:

"We might have been able to avoid 9/11."
..and I think the incumbent leader will wind up the sure loser.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Related to this topic, on July 18 the Boston Globe reported that David Kay told Britain's ITV network that Bush and Blair "should have been able to tell before the war that the evidence did not exist for drawing the conclusion that Iraq presented a clear, present and imminent threat on the basis of existing weapons of mass destruction. That was not something that required a war."

Anyone see OUTFOXED tonight?

Anyone see "OUTFOXED" tonight at MoveOn.org parties?

I was shut out of my local party here in Syracuse. I tried contacting MoveOn.org about it, carefully explaining to them that I would like to blog about the Greenwald documentary and the parties, and would they please get me in contact with the local host... but I guess they didn't care enough to get back to me.

So....did anyone see it? Care to report in about your experience?

-SanFrancisco Outfoxed screening
-Philadelphia area screenings
-Brattleboro and other Vermont screenings
-Anonymoses: Outfoxed roundup
-Alternet: Robert Greenwald's journey from TV nice guy to rightwing nemesis
Progressive Trail: About Media Failures
-CNS News: Media MAtters Expands Effort to Discredit Conservatives at FOX and Beyond
-Democracy Now: Broadcast Exclusive: Georgetown Professor Accuses Bill O'Reilly of Lying About 9/11 Commission's Findings
-Alternet: Fox News-Unfair and Unblanced by Don Hazen

Iran: Bush needs to rein in Sharon/NeoCons now

Iran: Bush needs to rein in Sharon/Neocons now

Newsmax (Insider Report) and the Jerusalem Post are reporting that Israel is itchy and prepared to make pre-emptive strike upon Iran. Israel claims they have become "frustrated with the U.N.'s inability to get Iran to comply" with nuclear weapon inspections. How sickeningly familiar does this sound to you?

Where is America's leadership? Where is the CIA? Are the Michael Ledeens of the NeoCon group egging this on and/or throwing their secret support behind it? Would they like to see America join in the pre-emptive strike on Iran and leave Iraq far behind so the opposing civil forces in Iraq can "have at it" against one another?

What do you think will happen if loose-cannon Sharon attacks Iran? It doesn't help that our own loose-cannon president unleashed unnecessary fury upon Iraq, does it? It set a dreadful precedent.

Unless nuclear war occurs, there is no way our military could handle Afghanistan, Iraq and expect to succeed in changing the regime in Iran (along with keeping all our other commitments throughout the world). Is that where we're happily heading...toward a nuclear exchange?

Sounds crazy, you say? I'll tell you, my friends, nothing would surprise me anymore. In today's Washington Post, we're told that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) plans to introduce an Iran liberation act this fall, modeled on the Iraq Liberation Act that mandated government change in Baghdad and the goals would be the same for Iran, including regime change.

Karl Rove is so thirsty for keeping his party in power that I think he'd suggest a new war as a good way to score a re-election. That's how much I (and millions of other Americans) trust our American leadership today.

_____________

In a somewhat related current story, The Tehran Times answers the question: Why did Iran agree to accept U.N. Resolution 598?

See U.N. Res 598

Photo

Photo by Iddybud

A Sunday morning/Charleston, S.C.

I love Wonkette's Fashion Reports

I love Wonkette's Fashion Reports



I've got to tell you..one of my guilty pleasures is reading Ana Marie's groovy Washington-wonk fashion-reports. I can just picture Ed Gillespie in that lime green polo shirt. It reminds me of a story one of my girlfriends told me about a blind date she once had. To her nearly worst-imagined horror, the man came to her door wearing a lime-green polyester leisure-suit(Pathetically, 20 years after they'd gone out of style). She wished she'd been blind the rest of the evening.

Teresa Heinz Kerry on Women/Politics

Teresa Heinz Kerry on Women/Politics

To the women of political-blogdom (some of whom are listed below), I offer Teresa Heinz-Kerry's recent words on the campaign-trail:

"It is long overdue that the opinions and knowledge of women be part of the governance of the world...I hope that at the end of this campaign and from next year on, no woman who ever ventures to give an opinion be called opinionated, and that instead she be called smart, thoughtful, or well-informed -- all of it, just like men. We have to cherish women, their health, their wellness, because a home without a healthy mother or wife is an unwell home."

Anne Zook, Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien, Bittershack-Brooke Biggs, Nitpicker-CJ Finis, The Duchess (Charlene), Cyndy Roy, Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa, Ana Marie (Wonkette), Laura Poyneer aka al-muhajabah, Madelein Begun Kane, Marla Caldwell, Echidne, Iddybud-Jude Nagurney Camwell, Lis Riba, Laura Gjovaag, Maru Soze, Natalie Davis, Shari, PG, Alasablog, Crescat Sententia, Eve Tushnet , Suburban Guerrilla, Collective Sigh, Elayne Riggs, Blog or Not, Amy Sullivan, World O'Crap, Just a Bump in the Beltway (Melanie), Wampum (Mary Beth Williams), Assymetrical Information(Jane Galt), Respectful of Otters (Rivka), Ruminate This (Lisa English), Julia, Avedon Carol, Making Light (Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Rebecca's Pocket, Breaching the Web, Ladida, Xeney, Fusion Reaction, Parenthetically Speaking, Divinest Sense, Girlhacker, Backup Brain (Dori's half) , Megnut, Netwoman, 12 Frogs, Burningbird, ValueJudgment (J's half) , Yourish, Veralynne-ACT, Sisyphus Shrugged

Robin Cook presses Allawi investigation

Robin Cook presses Allawi investigation

Former British foreign secretary Robin Cook has urged the International Committee for the Red Cross to investigate witness claims that Iraq's new prime minister Iyad Allawi killed six insurgents in cold blood at an Iraqi police station in June.

Iraq's Human Rights minister Bakhtiar Amin says he will investigate the allegations.

Not only does Rush Limbaugh believe the allegations about Allawi, Rush Limbaugh cheered Allawi's Saddam Hussein-like actions.

Yglesias on Iran/Joseph Wilson's Prediction

Yglesias on Iran/Joseph Wilson's Prediction

Reading Matthew Yglesias' blog entry this morning, the prediction of Joseph C. Wilson IV from over a year ago came to my mind:

"Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson predicts the situation in Iraq will deteriorate so much over the next year Bush may resort to start another war in order to win the 2004 election."

___________

TIME Magazine says the 9/11 Commission report will reveal 9/11 hijackers "passed through Iran", quite possibly without the government's knowledge or sanction.

Iddybud doesn't need to explain to anyone with half a brain that 9/11 hijackers "passed through the U.S.A." without the government's knowledge or sanction.

Photo

Photo by Iddybud

Meditation

Let FOX News prove they're fair- In court!

Let FOX News prove they're fair- In court!

At Editor & Publisher, we learn that MoveOn.org and other groups announced this afternoon that on Monday they will deliver "legal papers" to Fox News' studio in New York City, challenging the network's use of the tagline "Fair and Balanced."

I can't imagine a more interesting and fair use of the justice system. Let's get it out in the open. Let the lawyers on each side line themselves up and let's hear them arguing the merits of their respective sides. It will provide an opportunity for some of the best media coverage ever. Imagine FOX News' own coverage of the legal battle in which they are smack-dab in the center. How rich. How fair. How balanced.

 

It's hot in southern Iraq

It's hot in southern Iraq 
 

"The temperature has been creeping up steadily for the past few weeks and now the daytime highs are rarely less than 110, down south it is even worse, it is often a good 10 degrees hotter in Basra than Baghdad, and being so close to the Persian Gulf and the humidity makes August in Washington seem like winter in Vail. We had lifted from Baghdad at 0800 in hopes of getting in a full days work down south, as well as hopefully avoiding the worst of the day’s heat while cooped up in the back of a helicopter. This was hopelessly optimistic......"

 

This is an excerpt from Eric Jewett (MajkaMedia.com) reporting on John Negroponte's first trip to Basra (in southern Iraq) in his role as as the new ambassador. He claims the  threat level there is lower than the Sunni triangle, but there are still occasional mortar or rocket attacks and IEDs. He gives us a USAID success-story abour their restoring  of drinking water from the Sweetwater to canal to the citizens of Basra.

He sounds mostly hot and tired. Especially hot. I think Eric's ready to come home.

Imagine our soldiers out there.