I Am But A Visitor to This Place

UNC Chapel Hill in May

I Am But A Visitor to This Place

I sit here in Syracuse N.Y., but in my mind I'm goin' to Carolina. How fond I have become of the South in the Springtime. The North Carolina flowers bloom long before the snow melts away in the Northeast.

I recall the pastoral scenes from small towns along Route 85, the Blue Ridge wind singing ancient songs as it tickles my ear, the jewel-like Charlotte skyline at night, the charm of its tree-lined streets and sweet-smelling magnolia blossoms. I carry it with me throughout all my days. Every place has its own soul...it's own story. I've come away enchanted by the soul of these North Carolina places. I am haunted by great mystery, and North Carolina has more than its share of ghosts and inexplicable happenings.

One passed-down set of North Carolinian stories that has captured my imagination comes

from the days not so long ago when flesh and blood fell from the sky like rain. It happened in Sampson and Chatham counties. The first "flesh fall" recorded in North Carolina occurred on 15 February 1850 on the farm of Thomas Clarkson, thirteen miles southwest of the county seat of Clinton. The strange event was written about in the North Carolinian, a newspaper published in Fayetteville. In an account of that first incident, it was written:

"On the 15th Feb'y, 1850, there fell within 100 yards of the residence of Thos. M. Clarkson in Sampson county, a shower of Flesh and Blood, about 250 or 300 yards in length [...] Neill Campbell, Esq. living close by, was on the spot shortly after it fell, and pronounced it as above. One of his children was about 150 yards from the shower and came running to the rest saying he smelt something like blood. During the time it was falling there was a cloud overhead, having a red appearance like a wind cloud. There was no rain." [link]

The second flesh fall recorded in North Carolina occurred on February 25, 1884. Mrs. Kit Lasater, wife of a black tenant farmer who lived on the farm of Silas Beckworth in New Hope Township in Chatham County was standing in a freshly plowed field near a barn a short distance from her family's one room cabin when blood fell from a clear sky upon the ground, bushes and fence all around her. This strange event was chronicled in the local newspaper, the Chatham Record. Of the event, the paper reported:

"Many of the neighbors, after hearing of her statement, visited the spot and they all say that the ground--embracing an area of about 60 feet in circumference--was covered with splotches of something like blood: and an examination of the trees in this place showed blood on the branches. We are informed that a reputable physician of the neighborhood visited the spot and said it was blood." [link]

Chatham County has other legends, such as the one that began shortly after the first settlers came to Chatham County when they discovered a strange site, which soon became known as the Devil's Tramping Ground. An infertile circular patch of ground was thought to be Beelzebub's own footprints...the nocturnal retreat of the hellish Prince of Darkness which was shunned and avoided by the Chatham countyfolk.


Another legends surrounds lost treasure. A large amount of gold and silver was said to have been cached during the Civil War by the owner of the Williamson Plantation near Bynum on the Haw River. He was killed during the war without ever having revealed the location of the alleged cache.


I visited this little corner of the world of mystery last May. There's a lake covering the land where an entire community once stood. I sat in a very old cemetary that sits just off the side of the highway amid a small plot of leaning headstones in a field of wildflowers and weeds. Bugs buzzing 'round my head. The sound of an occasional car passing by. I found the headstone of a Silas Beckwith. Hmmm...Silas Beckwith...Silas Beckworth? Could they have been one and the same? I closed my eyes and tried to imagine blood and flesh falling down from a pink cloud in an otherwise blue North Carolina sky. Today you'd have your scientists running DNA tests and telling you exactly where that blood and flesh came from. You can't fool anyone these days. Mysteries are solved in the blink of an eye or the swish of a test tube. But what if it happened today and it stymied even the most advanced teams in the scientific community?

"I am but a visitor in the land of living things. The skin we wear is but a temporary robe.... That which we may receive in this place must be left here.. things cannot be taken with us, but all of our riches that we have accumulated in memories and knowledge shall go with us forever...."

- from Robert Morning Sky's 10 commandments of the Star Warriors

PNAC and Bush Admin Gave "Experience" a Bad Name

PNAC and Bush Admin Gave "Experience" a Bad Name

Stephen Colbert is a satirical American treasure. His interview of Bill Kristol the other night on Comedy Central's Colbert Report opened up the bleeding wound that was just beginning to scar over. Mr. Kristol gets a "special dressing" for that embarrassing wound every Sunday on Fox News...another chance each week to explain away the mountainous error of his (and the PNAC's) Utopian pre-Iraq war fantasies. Mr. Kristol isn't some neocon monster. He's a very intelligent man who got a little too drunk on his own power. He and a lot of other "experienced" men and women who were "in good" with the other "experienced" men and women in Bush administration got their big chance to use some of that "experience" to create ideas that brought our nation to the threshhold of a war that was never necessary. Where "experience" might have whispered "Be careful" in their ear, they ignored the voice. Their vision was too close. They held the power in their hands. "Experience" was set aside as they embarked on a never-before attempted endeavor. Pre-emptive war. Pax Americana.

The "experience" of war-seasoned Generals was ignored.
The "experience" of chickenhawk wonks prevailed.
These "experienced" people have made a f&$king mess of things for our nation.

The next time I hear ANYONE complaining about a Russ Feingold, a Mark Warner, a Hillary Clinton, or a John Edwards with the complaint that he (or she) has no foreign policy "experience", I think I will remind them that EXPERIENCE DIDN'T WIN US ANY BROWNIE POINTS in Bush's war on terror.

Bill Kristol is still a powerful guy..and a smart fellow. After Iraq, however, we see that he has not won by the power of his (or the PNAC's) ideas. As a matter of fact, we see that those ideas are quite dangerous. Perhaps they are more dangerous than the threat of terror itself.

So, when you hear Bill Kristol flapping his gums with a flash of his winning smile on Fox News talking about our need to gear up the wheels of the military draft in preparation for war on Iran and the Sudan, remember how far "experience" got us in Iraq. These people failed us. They failed our troops. They misled us. For all their "experience", they are empty power-drunk heads with missing hearts. A recent poll showed that 94% of Americans now understand that they were lied to. These "experienced" men of power couldn't win a f*$#king heart or mind in Iraq and they aren't doing such a hot job right here at home, either. They've lost the trust of American citizens because their actions (and the results of those actions) have proven that, for all their "experience", they do not deserve trust.

America deserves better than this and we all know it. We need to start electing trustworthy, intuitive, and intelligent leaders with better ideas. "Experience" tells us that we need to put these liars far behind us.


Transcript
Video

A Soldier Writes to President Bush

A Soldier Writes to President Bush

This letter was sent to President Bush by someone I know and admire...an American soldier and patriot whose vision of America I support. Please take a moment to read it.

A Controversy in Europe Is Silenced in U.S.

A Controversy in Europe Is Silenced in U.S.

Who is this man.... and why is he at the center of a controversial news story that is big in Europe, connected to our own ineterests here in America, yet never talked about in our media?

Why don't we talk about the body counts in Iraq? If other societies aren't squeamish about it, why do American cable TV news pundits with their perfect coifs and chiclet smiles never talk about the people who are dying in the country with whom we went to an absolutely unnecessary war? Why is John Sloboda (seen in the photo) being knowingly stingy with the numbers he allows to be put up on the IBC website (Iraq Body Count)?
Why is he so hot under the collar about journalists like John Pilger who confront him on the facts? Read this story (by Gabriele Zamparini) and you will find out.

What would make a man like John Sloboda refuse to answer relevant questions from media watchdog Media Lens? The editors of Media Lens' central claim is that IBC underestimates the number of deaths in Iraq by relying on western media reports.They just aren't independent of Western media...not enough to be considered a reliable source of information. From A BBC Two report:

Media Lens and other critics have also attacked IBC for being run by "amateurs", unlike the professional epidemiologists who ran the sample-based Lancet study....An editorial asks: "How many journalists are aware that IBC is not in fact run by professional epidemiologists?

Aren't the European and American societies already aware (and sick) enough of the lies that make up the debate by those who want to hide and/or cover up the numbers? (See David Fuller's BBC follow-up and Media Lens' final word).

Bottom line, we still don't know exactly how many people have been killed as a result of the Iraq War. The powers that be, along with the assistance of a media that keep the story "fuzzy", don't want you to know. Is John Sloboda a willing accomplice to the "fuzz" or an independent thinker? Decide for yourself.

If you aren't curious to know how many have died...if you do not want to know the truth...then you may keep your head buried in the sand while some of us try to reach the truth for the sake of truth.


*See:

- Do Iraqi Lives Matter? March 2006, Cat's Dream

- Iraqi Civilian Deaths - Time to Know the Truth, March 2006, Cat's Dream

- Dead Reckoning: Counting Iraq's Civilian Dead, May/June 2006, Mother Jones

- Counting the Iraqi Dead; Interview: Tallying the cost of war, and holding power accountable, April 2006, Mother Jones

If We're Addicted to Oil, Where's The Rehab, Already?

If We're Addicted to Oil, Where's The Rehab, Already??

How can you look at your country's people with a straight face, as their leader, and tell them that they'd better "get over their oil addiction" when it's not an addiction, but a necessity? Knowing that we live in the era of globalization where families are not only forced to spread out all over the nation to find job opportunities based on their respective professions, but all over the world - how can George W. Bush pop in at a Gulf Coast gas station and shake someone's gas-pumping hand or put his arm around some poor price-gouged sap and tell them he's going to be able to do a damned thing to help them while hypocritically and unfairly criticizing their alleged "gas-addiction?"

Where's the rehab? There isn't any, you say?
Say! What kind of outreach program is this, anyhow?
Today Bush rejected the idea of a tax on the windfall profits of oil companies.

What has the Bush administration done (and what will they do) to change anything at all? In Biloxi, Miss., Bush renewed his brave call for Congress to give him the authority to "raise" mileage standards for all passenger cars. According to the Washington Post, White House officials said later that they didn't know when or how the president would use that authority! Is Bush all talk and no plan? It seems that way. Tell me where I'm wrong if you disagree. I haven't seen anyone in Congress or the Bush administration juiced up about raising passenger car standards. There has been no action in years. And now the consumer is in deep trouble with these outrageous oil prices.

The reality of globalization, peak oil, and war is coming home to roost and the GOP cannot explain away the great American giveaway with meaningful policy to counter the effects of these rising oil prices. They're being pushed into a corner and now they are trying to look like bold environmentalists when they are little more than robbers and rapists hiding behind years of perveted policy. Blaming the consumer for their habits is cheap and it won't bring about the solutions required by great minds. (There are no great minds in the GOP today, I am convinced.)

Do you say to a cocaine addict, "You need to get off coke"...and then offer $100 apiece to a large group of people to convince them to start brand new poppy fields in order to harvest more coke for the addict's nose?

Think ANWR. The GOP's idea to issue $100 "tax rebates" is no solution, It's an offer to entice Americans to give the GOP political authority to rape the ANWR. To pump out more of the stuff we're being told we're "addicted" to while blaming our culture for the government and the market's failure to come up with real solutions.

I say to that: Bullcrap! we're not addicted. We travel to work, to see our families, to go to the dentist and take our kids to football practice. Show us some creative solutions and to the GOP: stop trying to politically pay us off for supporting our "habit"!

You're in power now - take some real responsibility - show us some REAL ideas!

Partick Fitzgerald Update

Patrick Fitzgerald Update

- I just love Steve Benen's blogpost title: It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas.

- Swopa cleverly says that "Rove is trying to pull off one more would-be Houdini maneuver to escape Fitz's tightening of the straps on his legal straitjacket."

- Jeralyn at Talk Left is on the story with an update. According to Raw Story, MSNBC's David Schuster will report today that Rove's lawyers have been told there will be no announcements for at least ten days. Jeralyn has a great collection of news and blogposts at her site.

- Steve Soto has more to say about David Schuster's reporting:

Shuster of MSNBC reported today that despite the sunny appearance from Rove after his grand jury testimony yesterday, he described the experience as “hell”, and he now thinks it is possible that he will be indicted.

Weekly Standard: Replace Rumsfeld with McCain

Weekly Standard: Replace Rumsfeld with McCain

Employing the logic that Senator John McCain's fate is already tied to Iraq, Ari Richter of the Weekly Standard raises the idea of McCain replacing Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. I tend to agree with this logic. Bush owes John McCain the chance - especially after all the dirty rotten crap Bush pulled on McCain in the 2000 presidential election race. And McCain certainly would garner more respect and cooperation from our Military, who seem to be teetering on the edge of full blown revolt. The Generals want someone they can work with and respect. We Democrats already know that Bush won't choose anyone of whom we'd approve to replace Rummy. If I was President, my choice would be Wes Clark or Tony Zinni, but I realize that my vision is much different than Bush's. I wouldn't have sent troops unilaterally into Iraq in the first place and I certainly wouldn't have lied or tolerated misleadings and lies from my administration to the American people about Iraq. Rumsfeld needs to go. We know (and can safely cross party lines to agree on) that much. If McCain gets the job and screws up, America will likely decide he doesn't deserve a shot at the presidency. If he comes out smelling like a rose, so be it. All the better for America. There are still some fantastic Democratic candidates waiting to offer better solutions and a competitive new vision for America.

Immigration: Jim Crow 2006

Immigration: Jim Crow 2006

The Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Catholic Church in the District, said yesterday that members of his predominantly black congregation also plan to join the boycott: "There is a growing solidarity between people of color in this country. ... We join with this struggle and embrace it." [Washington Times]

He also called the criminalization of immigrants the new Jim Crow-ism of 2006.

The lack of dignity and respect for human beings in any new immigration legislation will cause a new civil rights battle in this nation.

CSPAN recorded the event from where these comments took flight. See "Int'l May 1st Coalition on Immigrant Boycott" (4/27/2006)


An informal poll of 2,000 immigrants conducted in 20 cities in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia showed that 97 percent of them would risk losing their jobs to participate in an immigration-themed boycott of school, shopping and work planned for May 1st. [see Washington Times]

Catholic Church Speaks Decisively on Immigration

Catholic Church Speaks Decisively on Immigration

The Catholic Bishops are speaking decisively and firmly on the moral issues surrounding immigration while the Conservative Christian leadership is appearing as a fractious and morally confused front.

Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, and Harry Reid will appear with Roman Catholic Cardinals today for a press opportunity [per ABC's Note].

This is not only an American issue. In London today, the Archbishop of Westminster has called on London's Catholic parishes to embrace migrants whatever their legal status (ahead of a major Mass in the UK capital.)


AP writer Rachel Zoll reports [Boston Globe] that "the national immigration debate is muddying Republican relations with Roman Catholics, swing voters who make up about one-quarter of the American electorate." I see the immigration issue as the issue that may reverse the slow tide of once solidly Democratic Catholics leaning toward Republicanism. (What ever were they thinking, anyhow? ;)

Read the first paragraph of this anti-Catholic/anti-human rights manifesto and you may understand why Catholics are turned off by the radical and decidedly immoral stand that is being taken by the far Right.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE)

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE)


CitizensCampaign.org is a website representing Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE). CCE is working on Environmental issues, including the hazards of lawn and garden pesticides. I briefly spoke with one of their representatives Gerard Dolan tonight on my front porch. I was in the middle of a "My Name is Earl" episode (with Clint Howard as Crazy Rodney ;) and he was trying to get through the entire neighborhood, so we only were able to speak briefly. Gerry is not only an environmentalist, he is also an Iraq war veteran with a brand new baby boy (Congrats again, Gerry!) If you're in Syracuse and he or any of the CCE reps come to visit you, be sure to sign their petition to the County legislators for a requirement on Pesticide Neighbor Notification. There are also job opportunities at CCE. See the website for details.

The local office of CCE is at 466 Westcott Street, 2nd Floor, Syracuse, N.Y. 13210, phone 315-72-1339.

Syracuse: Catholic Mass in Support of Moral Immigration Reform

"When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I the Lord am your God." (Leviticus 19:33)

Syracuse: Catholic Mass in Support of Moral Immigration Reform

Dedicated to the Memory of Sister Karen Klimczak

Sister Karen Klimczak, along with Rev. Roy Herberger, founded Bissonette House, a halfway house for former inmates in the city of Buffalo, N.Y. to provide ex-convicts with opportunity for a new life. Bissonette House was named for a priest named Father A. Joseph Bissonette who'd been murdered at the site. It was a holistic approach to help transition the former inmates who'd had no family or home to go back to after their release from prison back into society. On this past Good Friday, a resident of the house who'd been involved with drugs and was attempting to steal a cell phone killed Sister Karen Klimczak in the same place where she'd tried to help them find jobs and better lives. In conversations that had taken place before she was killed, Sister Karen had maintained that if she were ever the victim of a violent death, she would be adamantly opposed to a death sentence for the perpetrator. If there is one clear message that Sister Karen would wish to ring out from her death, Rev. Herberger believes she would want it to be "forgiveness."

At the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse, N.Y. last Tuesday, a cardboard sign in the shape of a white dove with blue trim graced the steps of the altar bearing the simple phrase: "I leave peaceprints."


I was told that Sister Karen had created these cut-out signs to display on lawns in Buffalo and that it had been her belief that we leave behind our fingerprints on everything we do. She chose to leave the mark of peace wherever she went and she inspired and challenged others to do the same thing.

It was in that spirit on Tuesday that a Witness and Celebration mass was presided over by Bishop Thomas Costello of the Diocese of Syracuse and attended by mostly sisters who represented Region 2 Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in New York State in support of the immigrant community and immigration reform that respects all people as human beings. A small group of migrant workers from Guatemala joined the sisters and Bishop Costello in the mass by providing witness, rhythm, and song. This was a group of people that the public had "met" last October when their meager temporary living quarters made of cinder blocks at a pumpkin and onion farm in the town of Schroeppel in Upstate New York had exploded as a result of a propane tank failure and one migrant worker was killed and nine workers were seriously injured. All that was left intact were the mattresses from the floor that they'd slept on and the cardboard boxes they'd lived out of while doing their seasonal work. They couldn't speak a word of English. They were afraid to give their names to the press. Until that place exploded, no one knew or cared much about who they were or why they were there.


A Journey of Hope


Before the mass, there was a rally held at a federal building in
Syracuse where the migrant workers had provided witness to what they had experienced while working the farm fields of America. The LCWR had expressed their preference for immigration reform that would take into account the fullness of the humanity of these migrant workers. Current immigration policies keep an estimated 11 million undocumented persons in the shadows, separate families and disrupt family life and cause undue hardship to those who are working hard. Largely in line with the particulars of the "Secure America Act", co-written by Senators Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and John McCain of Arizona, a representative of the LCWR advised me that the organization supports the following for migrant workers in the United States:

- Worker Protections
- Reunification of Families
- A Path to Legalization



In the spirit of Sister Karen Klimczak's message of forgiveness and peace, the purpose of this event was to raise people’s awareness of the important issue of the plight of immigrants. The LCWR would like all of us to become more knowledgeable about the particulars of the legislation that is now before the U.S. Congress. As Sister Patricia Burkard of the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse has said, "Hopefully, the hearts of whoever hears our message would be moved to actively engage in advocacy for justice for immigrants and that our country will once again welcome the stranger and embrace those who come to this land in search of a better life."



A Message from Most Rev. Thomas Costello

Below I have written a brief summary of Bishop Thomas Costello's homily.

Migrant workers can be cursed, insulted, but they cannot be bid "good riddance". A new population of foreign-born workers in America is affording us more blessings than we can readily identify and while there are problems with immigration, most can be adjusted; some can be solved, but all must be endured. The immigration system we have now in this country is broken. Current laws undermine human dignity and family life. The immigration reform that has come out of the U.S. House of Representatives was flawed, and the reconsideration of the reform toward a more favorable bill for human rights has come from the Senate (*Kennedy-McCain). The Bishop said that the Catholic social teachings and experience as an "immigrant church" (with 71% of new parishioners being foreign-born) play a large part in shaping policy.

Bishop Costello reminded those present of the spiritual directives in the Bible that call upon the faithful to speak out about the issue of immigration. In Deuteronomy, the chosen ones were enslaved in Egypt and God (my comment: in a decidedly political act) God helped them to escape their enslavement. Deuteronomy 27:19 states, "Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow."
Exodus 12:49 says, "The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you." Exodus 23:21 says, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." The Bishop said that, from our spiritual heritage alone, we should know how alienation feels. Let alien, orphan, and widow find sustenance. Love them.

In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' teachings are clear. He calls upon us to "welcome the stranger." (Mt. 25:31-46) In the parable of the Good Samaritan, He blatantly tells us to embrace the stranger no matter how different he or she may be from us. St. Paul advocated hospitality to the stranger when he reminded us to entertain angels. Hebrew 13:2: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." We are all one family of God.

In 1891 Pope Leo XIII recognized the right of all people to move freely from nation to nation. Prompted by the refuge crisis after WWII in 1952, Pope Pius XII committed us to caring for the pilgrim, alien, exile, and immigrant alike. (Encyclical Letter Exsul Familia). Pope John XXIII recognized that refugees cannot lose their human rights simply because they are deprived of citizenship of their own states. When there are just reasons in favor of it, he must be permitted to emigrate to other countries and to take up residence there. The fact that he is a citizen of a particular state does not deprive him of membership in the human family, nor the citizenship in that universal society, the common, world-wide fellowship of men. The human rights of every single person demand respect regardless of their legal status. (Pacem in Terris, 1963)

There are economic ramifications surrounding the politicization of immigration reform. There will always be poverty and greed in play. Fear is real since 9/11. When all is said and done, we see that U.S. popular opinion and governmental policy is unfriendly to "the stranger." The INS is probably the least "user-friendly" part of the governmental bureaucracy. There is a sense of apathy about the issue because it is so complicated and confusing. The Bishop assures us there are things we can do to support immigration reform that takes into consideration the dignity of every human being, regardless of their native land.

1. Prayer.
2. Education - becoming self-aware and teaching others.
3. Advocacy

I have one more thing to share with you about the day. I was speaking to one of the Sisters before the mass and I said to her that I couldn't believe that our President was an inhumane person and I hoped he would become a stronger proponent of a moral resolution on immigration reform and lead our nation out of fear and distrust toward an understanding and just compromise on the issue. The Sister replied that perhaps this was President Bush's chance to get into Heaven, because up until now, he hasn't met up to the standards for entry into Gloryland on most of the other issues. ;)

Chancelucky's Blogiversary

Chancelucky's Blogiversary

Happy Blogiversary to Chancelucky!

NYT: Bush Fuzzy and Bland on Immigration

NYT: Bush Fuzzy and Bland on Immigration

Today's New York Times editorial gives President Bush a virtual "NO-DUH!" award for what said in California about the immigration issue yesterday.

"...all President Bush offered was a restatement of the painfully obvious and a bunch of bland generalities.."

They also criticized him over what he failed to say.

"this is a moment for specifics. The president could have argued forcefully for comprehensive reform and spelled out the distinction that the Senate has drawn between an earned route to legalization and the detested free ride of amnesty. Instead, he blandly labeled the Senate compromise an "interesting approach," as if he were pondering a piece of modern art rather than the fate of something central to his domestic agenda."

I wish President Bush was a stronger leader on such an important issue. I didn't vote for him in the last two elections because I do not share his vision for America. Now I'm left to wonder what the hell his vision is. When he fails to argue effectively and convincingly, it opens the door for the radical faction within his own GOP to move the bill far-out Right where most Americans would not care to see it go. I wonder if he has any strong conviction on the issue? I'm not hearing it in the form of any ideas that would spark our curiosity or inspire us to hope for a decent legislative compromise. I don't see Bush as inhuman and I think it's true that mass deportation would be a waste of our tax dollars. But where was he yesterday (other than "in California?")

I had hoped we'd hear something decisive and clear from Bush yesterday. And then I woke up - - and realized there's not much more to Bush's recent hollow rap on immigration than just rap. And then I woke up - -and realized there isn't much of a leadership vibe going on in the noggin or that heart of Bush's. Is he just an empty suit? We need solid leadership - and knock-knock-knock...HELLO-O?!?....nobody's home. And they accuse Democrats of not having a plan!?!

And could there be any bigger turds than the shameless people within the RNC who've decided to spread out-and-out lies to Mexican immigrants by broadcasting on Spanish-language radio ads in the Southwest that Democrats are supporting efforts to turn illegal immigrants into felons (when Democrats are advocating the opposite?)

Today in Syracuse I'll be attending a public witness on behalf of immigrants that is sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, who are leaders of orders of Roman Catholic Sisters across New York State. It will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the James M. Hanley U.S. Court House and Federal Building in Syracuse. From the Catholic Sun:

Immigration lawyer Sister Gaye Moorhead, RSM, will address the sisters during the event. Other speakers will include those who work directly with immigrants as well as immigrants themselves who will share their personal experiences of living and working in the U.S. The public witness will be followed by a Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas Costello at 1:15 p.m., at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse. The Sisters of St. Francis have renewed their commitment to stand by immigrants, this time as advocates. The sisters have asked people of all faiths to join them in this event.

Another purpose of the event is to build support for the McCain-Kennedy “Secure America Act,” which includes elements of immigration reform supported by the sisters. In their quest for justice for immigrants, the sisters want government officials to know that opportunities for citizenship, protection of workers’ rights and reunification of families must be part of any effective reform.

I'll be reporting on the event's outcome.

Tags: Bush, Immigration

Gideon's Blog

Gideon's Bible Blog

Gideon Starorzewski is a newbie in the Blogosphere. Off to a great start, he's already been mentioned at Slate.com. Be sure to check him out.

An Eighth General Revolts

An Eighth General Revolts

An eighth General has urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to step down. Will The Decider care?

Protest Music Videos - A New Kind of Contest

Protest Music Videos - A New Kind of Contest

Music has great influential power, especially when presented in the music video form. Raw Story's John Byrne writes about a new protest music video contest which will likely kindle anti-war sentiment. Raw Story also provides an Op-Critical music video that captures the funeral of Army Specialist Kendall Frederick, a Maryland native who was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb. Mr. Byrne says that Op-Critical shot the video at Arlington last October, and has since been banned from making films at the cemetery.Justice Through Music [jtmp.org] is announcing the 'Harmony Vids!' Protest Music Videos Campaign And Contest at their website. Their statement:

It is time to speak out loud about the state of the world through both music and videos. We know you have lots to say so we are having a contest as part of our New Harmony Vids! campaign. We are posting dozens of protest songs on our site courtesy of the band Op-Critical and offering at least a $500 cash prize to whoever makes the best video of each song by September 15, 2006.

A sample of lyrics from an Op-Critical song titled "Lobotomy":

I see what it is that turns you on,
Everything you like is so unreal
You accept whatever they feed you
Even when it's bad you take the pill

Will you ever wake up
Will you ever wake up
Will you ever wake up to the truth
You act like you were born without a brain

I can't understand why you follow
Every little fling they lead you on
You gave up your mind to something else
That every child would know is wrong.

Jesus Beneath the Fold

Jesus Beneath the Fold

Something controversial has happened that will increase the chances that a usually-quiet bedroom community is suddenly put on Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity’s glowing map of social injustice. You may ask yourself - - “Is it immigration? Is it a gay marriage issue? A hot-button abortion case? What have those ‘latte liberals’ in New York done this time?”

This time it’s Jesus.
About a wee boy saying: "Jesus saves - — - [the environment!?"]
About liberals hiding Jesus beneath the fold!

This is about a case that was handed up to the Supreme Court involving the Constitutional free-speech rights of a 5-year-old (and his mother, who assisted the boy). The Supremes have been asked clarify the fuzzy area of the First Amendment - particularly the U.S. Constitution's Establishment clause which guarantees the "free exercise" of religion. As it turns out, the high court won't intervene in a lower-court fight over a Jesus poster that was deliberately folded over by public school officials to hide the portion depicting the five year old's Lord and Savior.

According to the First Amendment Center -

The Baldwinsville Central School District in suburban Syracuse wanted justices to stop a lawsuit filed by Antonio Peck and his parents, who claim his free-speech rights were violated when school officials censored his poster.

The justices' action in Baldwinsville Central School District v. Peck leaves in place an appeals court ruling that requires a trial to determine whether Antonio's rights were violated when school officials obscured a robed figure in the boy's poster in displaying it at a school assembly in 1999.

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had agreed with the school district that there was no evidence to suggest teachers or administrators had acted with hostility toward religion when they folded Antonio's poster in half.

And the appeals court found that Antonio's poster was not responsive to his teacher's assignment to "save the environment" by depicting trash collection and conservation efforts.

But the 2nd Circuit said a trial must be held to determine whether Antonio's free-speech rights were violated because his poster was censored by the district's viewpoint on religion.

The teacher in this case had said that the assigment was well explained and that the poster should have reflected what the students had been learning in class. It seems very clear that the poster was not in line with the assignment, but the courts believe it will take a trial to reach a fair and clear judgement. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the parents had raised a factual issue regarding whether officials had engaged in viewpoint discrimination based on the poster's religious content. It may take a trial to determine whether or not the boy's rights were violated, but the real public trial will be held nightly on cable television and talk radio. This is a perfect vehicle to divide the "Red" and "Blue" camps that the pundits have created and wish to keep alive lest we discover we are all Americans and their ratings slip down the drainpipe.

Let's talk about real life devoid of all the stereotypes, shall we?

Baldwinsville, New York started out as a little country village in central New York state that was incorporated in 1848. Centuries before American history was recorded, the Seneca River, which runs through Baldwinsville, transported people into the area which today is northwest of the city of Syracuse, N.Y. Predating the existence of the Erie Canal, the river was an key link in a waterway system connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. It's a lovely area with lush green rolling hills and fertile farmland. Some of my very own ancestors were here before the largely unsettled wilderness became a post-Revolution Military tract, and some came after. In 1790, the Towns of Lysander and Van Buren (both of which Baldwinsville is a part) were designated as part of "the Military tract." Regardless of any Native American who may have lived and hunted on the land for century upon century, much of the land was " given" to Revolutionary War veterans by the new government in appreciation of their military service.

In the 2000 Census, it was found that the racial makeup of the village was 96.87% White, 0.75% ; African American; and 0.51% Native American. Today, Baldwinsville is a typical evolutionary American story - picturesque and once-lucrative land of farming and closely-knit (primarily white Christian) social life turns to "bedroom community" with new suburban encalves springing up where every house looks pretty much like the one next door to it. It isn't much different than any village you'd find anywhere in rural America .A person could easily stand at sunset and look at the rolling landscape that surrounds Baldwinsville and be inspired to say to herself, "This is God's country."

What goes on in "God's country"? The VFW is still a fairly popular place with a friendly barkeeps, lively conversation, and plenty of family activities. I 've been there myself. The houses of worship are busy on Sunday morning and the Baldwinsville Diner gets pretty busy after church, serving up hearty plates of eggs and toast. The Betsy Baldwin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution meet and the Rotary Club stresses service above self. The social capital in this place would put a smile on Robert Putnam's face.

For many, the heart of social life still rests with the church and traditional community-based activities. For some of those less inclined to be social, hearts rest in the leisurely activities supplied by the life around the Seneca river - fishing, hunting, boating, and art. It's not the kind of place where the streets are teeming with the vibrancy of trendsetters, although it's constantly trying to improve its image as a place where the young people who actually live there might actually want to gather. For many, especially the youth, social life is found with friends at the mall outside of the village limits, at their jobs, at the small taverns, on MySpace, on their IPods, in their X-Box screens, and in their television sets. It's America. We all share it. Red, Blue, Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, and Republican. The poetry of singer/songwriter Ben Folds comes to mind when he speaks about those uniquely American places where you drive through and never see many on the streets other than the homeless or mentally ill. He collectively calls these homogeneous places "Jesusland":

Take a walk
out the gate you go and never stop
past all the stores and wig shops
quarter in a cup for every block
and watch the buildings grow
smaller as you go



Down the tracks
beautiful McMansions on a hill
that overlook a highway
with riverboat casinos and you still
have yet to see a soul


Some of us sit back and see America for what it is. We laugh about it, but we're not mocking Jesus and we are all a part of America, so please don't tell us we hate it. I'm a Christian myself, and I say so without reservation. I am a liberal Democrat. I live and work among others who don't fit my description and I don't argue with them when I have an occasion to greet them. We don't see each other as creatures of political invention. We see one another as human beings.

We'll be hearing more about little Antonio Peck from people who want to divide us as political creatures. But whether or not you who are reading this are believers in God, I think you can at least agree that we were not created (or born, if you prefer) to thrive on the supposition that you must extract from your fellow man (or woman) their ideology before you can care about them or cooperate as members of a thriving community. I don't know if it was right for the school to have folded Jesus out of the taxfunding-public eye, but I'd suspect if you asked most parents in that elementary school in Baldwinsville N.Y., they probably wouldn't even have noticed whether Jesus was exposed or hidden. Were the school officials "hostile" to religion when they folded Jesus, or were they just trying to minimize the possibilitythat some parents who subscribe to the divisive "Red/Blue" religion would cause a fuss when they saw the Holy Robed Crusader inspiring others to save the Earth? Does it make common sense to be wary of the social and political encroachment of those who have a political agenda based on Dominionism? Yes, I think we need to be aware ot its existence and what has been done for decades to alter the political and Constitutional landscape of America. [See these coments from Bill Moyers.] But let's not let this blind us to the fact that we are all Americans and that we need political leadership to set an example of how we can best take our common values and set our nation in a new direction. These wedge issues have been doing little except empowering and enriching divisive mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh and prompting good but impressionable and uninformed people to vote for moral misleaders like George W. Bush. We haven't seen our leaders act in such a responsible or cooperative manner in quite some time, so it's no wonder that we keep fighting on political sites like cats and dogs Reds and Blues.

I think it's high time for a new American conversation, based more on the life in our own communities and less on the divisive drone from the little electronic box in our living room corners which promotes the stereotypes that have produced Republican electoral successes for far too long. What happened in Baldwinsville, N.Y. could happen anywhere in America.

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


And children can nestle snug in their beds until
the antichrist comes and God sends his asteroids hurling toward the earth,
smashing it to smithereens.
Wouldn't that make a really cool poster?
Happy Earth Day, little darlings.


Cross-posted at American Street

Irons Presents Common Sense Ideas for Tax Reform

Irons Presents Common Sense Ideas for Tax Reform

John Irons of the Center for American Progress has laid out ideas for a comprehensive tax code overhaul which he says is overdue. [Washington Post]

Schlesinger Appeals to Bush for Change in Foreign Policy

Schlesinger Appeals to Bush for Change in Foreign Policy
Says Lincoln would rejoice

"There is no more dangerous thing for a democracy than a foreign policy based on presidential preventive war.

Maybe President Bush, who seems a humane man, might be moved by daily sorrows of death and destruction to forgo solo preventive war and return to cooperation with other countries in the interest of collective security. Abraham Lincoln would rejoice."

- Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Bush's Thousand Days, seen in today's Washington Post

Fuzzy Stats Lie About US Foreign Debt

Fuzzy Stats Lie About U.S. Foreign Debt

Writing about the U.S. trade deficit, Paul Krugman says that, depending on what's wrong with the (slightly positive) investment income statistics we're being handed by our government, either the U.S. economy has hidden strengths or it's in even worse shape than it seems. By some measures, he warns that America's foreign debt, including the value of foreign-owned businesses, could be at least $1 trillion bigger than the official numbers say. (Yes, he said $1 trillion.)

Bush/Cheney Knew Damn Well There Were No WMD

Bush/Cheney Knew Damn Well There Were No WMD

RAW STORY headline and Think Progress Story-

60 Minutes: CIA Official Reveals Bush, Cheney, Rice Were Personally Told Iraq Had No WMD in Fall 2002

From Think Progress-

Tonight on 60 Minutes, Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of the CIA’s Europe division, revealed that in the fall of 2002, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and others were told by CIA Director George Tenet that Iraq’s foreign minister — who agreed to act as a spy for the United States — had reported that Iraq had no active weapons of mass destruction program. Watch it here

Still, they lied to all of us, including the members of our House and Senate.

Bridging the Asset Gap - Investing in Americans

Bridging the Asset Gap - Investing in Americans

In my last featured blogpost, at the One America Committee, I talked about poverty and how it could "happen" to any one of us at any unexpected time in our lives. Have you ever seen the despair of a friend or neighbor who's suddenly lost his job or who has become ill and cannot support his (or her) family? We are all in this American experiment together. Our neighbor's poverty affects us all. In a healthy democracy, our government should be accountable for the conditions that affect us all, for we are only as strong as our weakest link. In his book titled "One Nation, Underprivileged - Why Poverty Affects Us All", Professor Mark R. Rank reminds us that, if we are serious about alleviating poverty, we must seek to change the conditions that produce poverty instead of blaming the poor for their plight. In the book he uses a "musical chairs" analogy. He shows that we need to focus on creating more "chairs" for those who are participating in the game so that we produce fewer "losers" in the first place.

In this post, I'd like to briefly discuss some ideas and policies that might bring about a change by providing a more efficient social safety net for low-income Americans. In subsequent posts, I will delve more deeply into each of them.

In the song "Down N Outer" songwriter, Nanci Griffith sings about a poor American on a street corner who only "wants to earn his piece of America," but he`s "just a bank account away" from it. The accumulation of assets in America is dependent upon having a job, first and foremost. It is also largely dependent upon an income surplus combined with the faith that one's income will be there and will remain stable from week to week; month to month. In today's economy, with manufacturing jobs being sent to other shores, automobile companies downsizing, pensions disappearing, and low-wage jobs with no benefits coming in to replace once decent-paying jobs that  provided a full benefits-package, faith in the system is broken. Policies currently exist for the accumulation of assets for many middle and upper class workers, delivered mainly through the tax code. Examples would be deductions on home mortgages and lower tax rates on capital gains.

A significant percentage of the American population, however, lacks financial assets such as savings and/or stocks. According to a 1990 study [Oliver and Shapiro], one-third of American households had no financial assets at all. A study [by Wolff] in 1998 has shown that middle-income families could maintain their standard of living without income for 1.2 month while those at the bottom-income level would not be able to replace their income for any period of time.

What can be done to build up financial assets for those who are "just a bank account away from America?"

We can discuss big ideas, keeping an honest eye on the fact that we are facing an incredible mountain of national debt, thanks to five years of the Bush administration's policy of giving billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans and the delivery of subsidies for just about any corporate interest you can imagine. Let's not forget that when the Republican-led majority in Congress decided to trim the debt with sweeping budget cuts last fall, hardly a dime of the tax cuts for millionaires and breaks for Big Energy and Oil was touched. President Bush and his rubber-stamping Congress have rewarded wealth and turned their backs to the rewarding of hard work done by the willing hearts and calloused hands of the poorest Americans.  Alleviating poverty and lifting all boats on a rising moral tide will take belief, commitment, cooperation, and caring from us all.

I have heard Senator Edwards offering solutions in the form of policies that will reward work by creating and increasing assets of the poorest working Americans. He has said that there is an asset gap in America that is every bit as important as the income gap.

A direct way to build assets for low-income workers is by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Since 1975, the expansion of this federal tax credit has provided an income supplement to low-wage workers. In the 1990s, the EITC helped move 7 million Americans out of poverty and into the middle class. As one of the biggest cash-transfer programs for low-income families, the EITC reflects congressional and public preferences to support increased work efforts and self-sufficiency and less dependency on welfare programs for low-income population. One of the chief aims of the EITC is the "rewarding of work." The EITC promotes and rewards low-wage work by reducing the taxes that low-wage workers pay on their earnings and by supplementing their wages. Senator Edwards wishes to make this tax credit more available to single workers and to get rid of the marriage penalty that presently exists. Female heads-of household can especially benefit from an expansion of the EITC. In a Grogger study (2003), it was found that the EITC may be the `single most important' policy parameter for explaining recent declines in welfare and increases in work and earnings among female-headed families. [source: tc.umn.edu]

Work bonds would help by setting up accounts for low income families to the extent that workers would be saving money while the government would match any savings they could manage to accrue. This would help them save to buy homes and send their children to college. Low-income working families would receive an extra credit of up to $500 per year that would be directly deposited into a new account held by a bank or a safe stock fund with low fees. If families put away more, the amount in the account would grow, and it would be available not just for retirement, but also for a small business or a personal emergency. [source: Senator Edwards' speech at CAP, September 19, 2005]

Senator Edwards suggests an enhancement of housing vouchers for the poorest workers and setting aside up to $1,000 in an account to help low-income workers entering the workforce to make home payments for the first five years they are working. After five years, they will have up to $5,000 for a down payment on a home of their own. Senator Edwards has also stated his aim to crack down on predatory lenders and their shameful practices because they prevent low-income workers from building assets.

In Britain, there is a program that issues Baby Bonds for low-income families. They set up an account for a child when they are born and then by the time the child reaches 18 years of age, they make that money available to them. Whether they want to go to college, buy a house, or start their own small business, they can use that money to do so. Senator Edwards has proposed similar ideas to help all Americans build their savings for the future. [source: One America Committee blog/Serb Hall celebrator]

All of these strategies are about investing in people and rewarding their hard work. The creation and building of assets for low-income families would be a direct investment in the American people. By bridging the asset gap, it would not be only their lives that would be beneficially affected. The communities where they live and work would also be enhanced by the increased opportunity. When Senator Edwards says he's fighting to alleviate poverty, I also hear him asking us to develop the political will to invest in American workers and allow them to live up to their full potential. This is so directly tied to the benefit of the entire American population that we can no longer sit back in silence as we see our elected representatives turn their backs on those who want to learn and to work hard to earn their piece of America.

*This entry was cross posted from the One America Committee blog.

Dump Dick?

Dump Dick?

Would dumping Dick Cheney salvage the Bush administration at this late date? The LA Times and the Times Online (UK) are suggesting the idea. Cheney has said as recently as last March 19th that he has no intention of resigning.

Last fall, Financial Times writer Edward Alden quoted Lawrence Wilkerson, retired Army Colonel and top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who claimed that Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, "and a handful of others had hijacked the government's foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world." Speaking of Mr. Wilkerson, there was an opinion of his printed in the Baltimore Sun just yesterday. In the column, the phrase "swaggering ineptitude" speaks volumes about the wrong direction in which our nation is headed. Wilkerson recommends returning to our founding roots and away from the radicalism of the "neoconservative" movement. Dumping Cheney would be a great start, provided he would be replaced with a sworn non-neocon (and that Rumsfeld would go, too.)

Joe Gandelman has a roundup on the 'Dump Dick' rumblings at the Moderate Voice.

Bill Moyers' Wake Forest Speech

Bill Moyers' Wake Forest Speech

"It was in the name of Jesus that Dorothy Day marched alongside auto workers in Michigan, brewery workers in New York, and marble cutters in Vermont. It was in the name of Jesus that E.B. McKinney and Owen Whitfield stood against a Mississippi oligarchy that held sharecroppers in servitude. It was in the name of Jesus that the young priest John Ryan - ten years before the New Deal - crusaded for child labor laws, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, and decent housing for the poor. And it was in the name of Jesus that Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to march with sanitation workers who were asking only for a living wage.

This is the heresy of our time - to wrestle with the gods who guard the boundaries of this great nation's promise, and to confront the medicine men in the woods, twirling their bullroarers to keep us in fear and trembling. For the greatest heretic of all is Jesus of Nazareth, who drove the money changers from the temple in Jerusalem as we must now drive the money changers from the temples of democracy."

- Bill Moyers, from A Time for Heresy , remarks delivered on March 14 upon the establishment by Marilyn and James Dunn, of the Wake Forest Divinity School, of a scholarship in religious freedom in the name of Judith and Bill Moyers. [Truthout.org]

Video: John Edwards Speech in Portsmouth, N.H.

Video: John Edwards Speech in Portsmouth, N.H.

Michelle Bair taped Senator John Edwards when he spoke to 200 people at a recent Democracy for New Hampshire fund-raiser at the Portsmouth Gas Light Co restaurant in the lovely city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Don't miss her entire series of videos of the Edwards speech at You Tube. Here's a clip:



*Thanks to Michelle for allowing me to use this.

Howard Dean Swipes at Bush on Katrina and Iraq

Howard Dean Swipes at Bush on Katrina and Iraq

At the DNC spring meeting in New Orleans, party chair Howard Dean said that President Bush did a cut and run on Katrina, creating a political legacy of deficits, divisiveness and deceit.

Criticizing Bush for leaving his mess in Iraq behind for some other President to deal with, Dean said..

"He got us into it. He owes it to the American people to get us out."

My American Street colleague Jenny Greenleaf of Oregon was in New Orleans for the DNC spring gathering. She compares the work that she and fellow DNC volunteers were doing in New Orleans to "moving a sand dune with a teaspoon" (Hey - that rhymes):

The DNC, meeting here in New Orleans, wanted to make this about more than political machinations. DNC members are fanning out around the city to clean up devastated homes, pack food at the food bank, and sort and distribute clothes, food and hygiene products in Plaquemines Parish. I helped salvage in a commercial kitchen/pantry for Food For Friends, which prepares and delivers meals to AIDS/HIV patients. When I signed up, I imagined scrubbing shelves and polishing the stove. This place was way beyond that: our task was to save what files we could, throw away trash, and remove the refrigerators still full of food from the building, which will not be repaired anytime soon. Fortunately Food for Friends has been able to resume operations elsewhere.[..]..It’s wonderful to do something to help, but it feels like trying to move a sand dune with a teaspoon. The need here is so immense.

"Inequality" and Corporations

"Inequality" and Corporations

In the latest installment of the Washington Post's editorial series about "inequality", they warn that

protectionism would have disastrous consequences for growth and would help limited numbers of exposed workers rather than the majority of poor and middle-income families. But the pressure to close borders, bash corporations and experiment with ineffective social programs will continue until government addresses inequality in a serious way.

I think both ideas, "protectionism" and "social programs", have to take on a new meaning here in 2006. The American people still expect decent and fair treatment from the companies that do business here in America, even while hundreds of thousands of jobs are outsourced to foreign shores. The American people still expect a poor child to grow up to be be able to have as much opportunity to succeed as a kid from the upper middle class right here in this country.

Multinational corporations need to be held to social responsibility standards that will disable them, through voluntary competitive standards, from taking advantage of workers in third world countries and wantonly sending American jobs to cheaper zones in which to do business. A new ISO standard (ISO-26000) on Corporate Social Responsibility is being drafted as I write this. The third meeting of the ISO/TMB/WG SR will take place next month. Some corporations are voluntarily paying attention to social responsibility, with a healthy push from their own employees. We need a new moral direction and our political leaders, through their perverted economic policies and unethical lobbyist-hugging governing practices, have not been setting good examples.

Business should be encouraged to be a strong partner in raising the poor up into the middle class. (See, for example, this case study titled Bridging the Cultures of Business and Poverty: Welfare to Career at Cascade Engineering, Inc. by James R. Bradley, Stanford Social Innovation Review.)

The federal minimum wage should be raised.

The richest in America should be paying their fair share of the American people's heavy tax burden. The last five years of the Bush administration's misguided economic policy have raped the middle class and have enriched the richest, while the current budget slashes threaten to make every one of our communities poorer in every way imaginable.

Bush: Some Things Never Change

Bush: Some Things Never Change

Some things in life are really great when they are steady and predictable, such as a secure job and a sturdy ladder. I've watched and analyzed President Bush's moves since he came into office. He's a stubborn and rigid man; fiercely so. He's stubborn to the extent that it can be categorized as a character flaw that has blinded him to acting for the good of the American people he is supposed to be representing. As David Gergen has written in his New York Times guest column, the recent shake-up in the White House seems to be all about "better management and marketing" rather than necessary change. Mr. Gergen suggests:

..[Better management and marketing] will help, but they almost certainly will not be enough to rescue [Bush's] presidency from its low approval ratings and loss of public confidence.

Judging from all I've seen so far from this President, we will likely get more marketing and management...long after the product has lost its sales appeal with the American public. What happens when everyone decides to mute the Oval Office commercials? You don't watch ads for cover-up when what you know you really need is an able physician. Most Americans understand we don't need cheap cosmetics. We need major surgery.

photos

Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, Pa

Philadelphia

The First Senate Chamber, Philadelphia

Old Philadelphia at dusk

Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge


Valley Forge

George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge
(The first Pentagon)

John Edwards Demands Bush Accountability

Raw Story Headline 4-23-06

John Edwards Demands Bush Accountability

In an email that former Senator John Edwards sent out today, he asks each of us to sign his letter to Alberto Gonzalez demanding that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald be empowered to investigate the President's role in manipulating intelligence on Iraq.

Let's do it.

Cat photo

Kitty Before

What would I do without my cat and my coffee cup?


Kitty After
A creation of my nieces Olivia and Blaire

Harpers: Anti-Bush Sentiment Swing at CIA

Harpers: Anti-Bush Sentiment Swing at CIA

From Harpers.org blogpost "The CIA Wehrmacht" regarding renditions of individuals to countries that torture their detainees:

An ex-senior agency officer who keeps in contact with his former peers told me that there is a “a big swing” in anti-Bush sentiment at Langley. “I've been stunned by what I'm hearing,” he said. “There are people who fear that indictments and subpoenas could be coming down, and they don't want to get caught up in it.”.[...].Scott Horton, a human rights activist who has become a principal spokesman for the New York City Bar Association in evaluating the Bush Administration's tactics, said that he's also hearing stories of growing dissent at the CIA. “When the shit hits the fan,” he explained, “the administration scapegoats lower-level people. It doesn't do a lot in terms of inspiring confidence.”

While right-wing Newsmax, in ho-hum 90s-style, is still headlining blame toward former President Clinton for anything they can (in this case for being responsible for CIA's low morale), Bush has nearly destroyed the integrity of the institution with his policy (or looking the other way for too long) on torture and teh scapegoating of CIA on the Iraq WMD dupe.

The Harpers blog also comments that the revolt within the military against Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld is really nothing new.

"...cracks definitely have developed in the Administration's relationship with the Armed Forces. Most recently, several active duty senior commanders who spoke on the record at the “Current Strategy Forum” that ended here last week were critical to a point that walked a fine constitutional line of disloyalty to the political leadership.....[What I think is going on here is serious concern among officers to protect the integrity of the institution."

- part of a 2004 quote from an unnamed source at the Naval War College

Rumsfeld and the Bush administration have done "a number" on our military with the entire Iraq debacle. The way I'm seeing it, either Rumsfeld will step down or, if you go along with former President Gerald Ford's opinion, the entire Bush administration will sink down the sewer of history together in one loyal turd-like lump. One columnist has said that

Bush cannot afford to fire Rumsfeld, certainly not at this moment, since such an action would then turn the generals' guns (and those of their supporters elsewhere) against the president himself.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke has categorized what has been dubbed as The Revolt of the generals, as “the most serious public confrontation between the military and an administration since President Harry S. Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951”.

Norquist Sticks to His Scuzzy Guns

Norquist Sticks to His Scuzzy Guns
Defends 'K-Street'

Grover Norquist is holding tight to the "K Street" brand - which is now a stigma representing the undemocratic, the immoral, and the unethical. Good for him. Maybe he'll slide down the drainpipe along with all others who proudly wallow in unethical D.C. practices. Norquist was no more than a high-powered D.C. thug in a "Big Man in D.C." costume. Now that so many Americans have caught on to the tactics of Norquist's kind and the moral bankruptcy of Norquistian ideas and procedures, he's more of an embarrassment to those Republicans who have gravitated freely toward that type of behavior. They're fleeing like bugs from Raid because of the public shame.

Maybe Karl Rove will soon race him for bottom of the black hole, a position they both deserve.

General Batiste Calls for New Leadership on Iraq

General Batiste Calls for New Leadership on Iraq

Retired Army major general John Batiste, a fellow Central New Yorker, has an opinion printed in the Washington Post today. He says that the army's transformation started years before the Bush administration, even though Donald Rumsfeld seems to want to take so much credit for the idea. Bottom line, he believes that Rumsfeld chose to go war with what we know was the wrong war plan, all the while discounting professional military advice and ignoring more than a decade of competent military planning. He calls into serious question Rumsfeld's character and skills - both necessary attributes to lead our nation to a successful outcome in Iraq.

photos

Me and Alexander Hamilton at Signers' Hall, The National Constiutution Center, Philadelphia, Pa.



"What's up, fellers? Let a gal in on a secret?"

Hunger in America

Hunger in America

The Food Stamp program barely scratches the surface of the overall unmet hunger need in America today. See my post at the One America Committee about this subject. An excerpt:

The food stamp rolls had decreased from 1994 (27.5 million participants) to 1999 (18.2 million participants) because of a robust economy and changes in eligibility for the program at the state and federal levels. We are currently living in an economy that appears to be expanding only for only the richest. Need is increasing in our communities. According to Results.com, a website dedicated to Hunger issues, the Food Stamp program served 25.4 million people in March 2005. That amounts to 7.2 million more people than in 1999. Even with this increased need in our communities, the House Agriculture Committee passed a bill on October 28, 2005 to cut about 300,000 people off the Food Stamp program. Food Stamp cuts would account for $844 million over five years, impacting 300,000 low-income families, of the $3.7 billion of cuts in the Agriculture Committee package. See this analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

Hunger is up, and the House leaders have cut the budget, taking assistance away from the hungry. Maybe the House leadership just doesn't get it, or perhaps they care more about the lobbyists and special interests that pamper them and contribute to their campaigns. Take a look at the leadership in the state of Mississippi, the poorest state in the Union. Governor Haley Barbour wants to keep the cigarette taxes low and the tax on groceries high, claiming that food stamps are already "taking care" of the poor and the working poor in his state. Jackson Clarion Ledger editor Sid Salter reveals the irresponsible nature of the political myth being perpetuated by Mississippi's misleading governor with a list of statistics that cry out for moral action.

Why the Washington Post is Wrong on the Generals

Why the Washington Post is Wrong on the Generals

"In our view Mr. Rumsfeld's failures should have led to his departure long ago. But he should not be driven out by a revolt of generals, retired or not." [WaPo editorial 4-18-06]

While I understand the concerns laid out in today's Washington Post editorial about the Generals' public revolt in pressuring Donald Rumsfeld to step down, I strongly disagree with them. It seems that anyone who has any prescience, especially after all the arrogance and dangerous ignorance we have seen from the Bush administration that has placed our nation and our military in an embarrassingly weakened position, would understand that the Generals' speaking out is the only way to move Mr. Rumsfeld closer to the "out" door. Bush will never do it unless his hand is forced. Public polls mean nothing to him. The media have been very weak in making effective arguments and Bush does not pay a lick of attention or respect to them, either. To my way of thinking, Bush's blind stubbornness and fear of political damage for making necessary changes of course in Iraq makes him the worst leader - the most dangerous leader - that this nation has ever seen. The Washington Post has said it themselves. There are myriad glaring reasons why Rumsfeld should have stepped down long ago. The startling fact that he has not done so causes their concluding argument to hold no water for me or for most Americans, I would suspect. In this case, we see the Generals as our champions - their first concern and priority being the Constitution and our country. This is an unusual circumstance and I wholly support and respect the Generals for speaking out courageously. May their one concerted voice make the difference. I'm with David Broder. Listen to the brass.

Rumsfeld thinks he'll go on and on. At least that's what he told Rush Limbaugh.

E.J. Dionne knows that Rumsfeld's departure wouldn't touch the ones who were most accountable for the unconscionable errors made in Iraq. But do we expect that Bush or Cheney would offer to step down? Of course not. Mr. Dionne is simply pointing out that these Generals are not people that Bush can easily dismiss as crybaby liberals. They don't fit the mold...and either someone is going to have to fall on their sword for the mistakes in Iraq or we will go on making the mistakes. Mr. Dionne has written:

For all his mistakes, Rumsfeld is not some alien creature operating as a loner sabotaging the otherwise reasonable policies of his bosses. President Bush is the commander in chief. Vice President Cheney is on record as having made outlandishly optimistic predictions before the war started about how swimmingly everything would go. Rumsfeld is Bush's guy, which is why the president resists firing him. Letting Rumsfeld go would amount to acknowledging how badly the administration has botched Iraq.

see Buzztracker at Real Clear Politics for more comments.

Cross Left on Immigration Reform

Cross Left on Immigration Reform

See Cross Left's posting on Immigration Reform. Take action today - this is still a hot topic. The pressure is on to reform our broken and inefficient immigration system. When our legislators return from recess, we'll likely see them take it up once again. Speak your mind while you can.

Make no mistake, this is a moral issue. We're excellent repairers and reformers here in this country, and we can afford to deport all the people we want at any time if that's the road we choose to take.

However, that's not what this debate is about. Not at the heart of the matter. This isn't about how America values infrastructure and process. It's about how America values and treats the people that come here looking for a better life (regardless of how they got here).

Tom Tancredo and his ilk seem to have forgotten that their own ancestors were once immigrants...like most of our ancestors. Some of the federal legislators that want to build physical walls and impenetrable legal walls to keep Mexicans from seeking out our so-called land of opportunity are also people who claim to be "people of faith." They harp and preach from their faith-bandwagon constantly. Well, if their stand on immigration is from a Bible-based faith, perhaps I've been reading a completely different version of the Good Book!

This problem which has our political leaders at a stalemate is about human relations. We are talking about millions of hard-working, living, breathing, feeling human beings. The spot where our political leaders have to start compromising is within their HEARTS, because there is a spiritual deficit that seems to be growing even deeper than the economic deficit in America today. Barriers between "us and them" should be dismantled before the thought of building one physical wall is entertained.

Tom Tancredo is wrong at heart - and millions upon millions of America are waking up to that fact.

John Edwards (Video)

Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) and Fmr. Mayor Tom Fetzer (R-Raleigh) take questions from students at a Wake Tech Community College iChat sponsored by Generation Engage.


*Used with the permission of Generation Engage / YouTube.com
Tip of the hat to Michelle Bair..see more of this conversation at Michelle's YouTube page