Soldier Gives Camillus Girl His Purple Heart

Soldier Gives Camillus Girl His Purple Heart

Fatima Faisal of Camillus, N.Y.

I am especially proud of a young member of my own community today.

The Washington Post has reported that Fatima Faisal of Camillus, N.Y. has had a very special honor bestowed upon her. Staff Sgt. Phillip Trackey, currently serving at Fort Drum in Upstate New York, said he was inspired to give Fatima his Purple Heart medal. The West Genesee Middle School student had won a contest for writing a letter to American troops out of her gratitude for all they do for our nation.

Excerpts:

[..]Trackey and a group of fellow Fort Drum soldiers attended a ceremony Thursday at West Genesee Middle School in honor of seventh-grader Fatima Faisal, who was a regional winner in the Letters to the Front contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.

After Faisal received her prizes, Trackey stood and held up his Purple Heart for everyone to see. Then, he pinned it on the girl's blouse.

[..]Trackey, of Glens Falls, said he received the medal for shoulder and head wounds he suffered when a bomb went off near him in Baghdad in January 2005. Trackey said his Purple Heart was just collecting dust at home. [WaPo]

Memorial Day: Our Truth Marches On

Memorial Day:
Our Truth Marches On

I'll be singing at a Memorial Day ceremony at a local church this evening, as I have done each year for the past 16 years. I've always kept my country close to my heart. Our closing song is Battle Hymn of the Republic. When Julia Ward Howe wrote the song, she firmly believed not that God was on our side in the Civil War, but that the Union was on God's side. She'd written the words after vis­it­ing a Un­ion Ar­my camp on the Po­to­mac Riv­er. She heard the sol­diers sing­ing the song "John Brown's Body," [an abolitionist's song] and was inspired by it.

Reminding me of what I call "my morning muse - when ideas come almost magically from nowhere upon awkening and are often too soon forgotten as the memory of dreams are so often lost - Julia wrote this:


"I awoke in the grey of the morn­ing, and as I lay wait­ing for dawn, the long lines of the de­sired po­em be­gan to en­twine them­selves in my mind, and I said to my­self, "I must get up and write these vers­es, lest I fall asleep and for­get them!" So I sprang out of bed and in the dim­ness found an old stump of a pen, which I remem­bered us­ing the day be­fore. I scrawled the vers­es al­most with­out look­ing at the paper."

When I have sung the verse below, for the past few years my heart has been heavy.


The Three Servicemen statue by the late sculptor Frederick Hart, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on."

~~~~~~~~~~

For where is truth today? Our President has lost his claim to moral truth and he should tremble before history and before God.

Americans have awakened to a truth that has always been present, but was so hard to see because of a media that either feared the truth or refused to tell it willingly.

It's time for our citizens to turn this thing around. We are the greatest democracy on the face of the earth and we will survive as a decent nation because we are a nation of decent souls.

Our truth marches on.


* This thought was inspired by an essay titled The True Legacy of George W. Bush by dpfabie of San Francisco, Ca.

* On Memorial Day weekend, a Gold Star Mother signs the petition for Voters for Peace.

Politics: Calling For A New Bottom Line

Politics:
Calling For
A New Bottom Line

Citizens are calling for a new kind of political leadership. Tired of the rhetoric they hear day in and day out, they long for straight talk and authenticity. They know it when they hear it. They feel it when conditions are actually improved by a bold change in policy that comes from a creative and convincing political leader.

Too often, politicians will tell citizens only what high-paid consultants have advised them that citizens want to hear. Out in grassroots America, citizens are directly telling political leaders what they want to hear, and it's often in conflict with the consultants' advice. When a political leader speaks from the mouth of the consultant rather than with his own wisdom and heart, the citizens who cry out for something completely different feel as if they must be living in some alternative universe. Citizens are not an impersonal audience, but they are made to feel that way by their leaders. If a political leader wishes the citizen to see him (or her) as a responsible candidate for office, it seems only natural that they should begin by communicating responsibly and authentically with those they seek to represent. For example, we are barraged with a constant flow of public polls gauging "how we're doing" on poverty while few politicians have the courage to actually champion the causes of the poor. Senator John Edwards is a rare and refreshing exception to the rule, championing those causes every day.

Our leaders too often boast about a land of opportunity and a great economy while the quality of life for thousands of Americans deteriorates. It's no wonder that Congress is receiving such a bad "report card" from the public. According to a recent study, Wal Mart contributes to poverty in our communities while they advertise their low prices and our government gives them sweetheart deals. Some of the working poor in this country were not visible until $3-per-gallon gasoline prices pushed them over the line toward full-blown poverty. Union workers who once enjoyed reasonable job security and economic comfort are now faced with potential layoffs, salary cuts and diminished healthcare and pension benefits.

American politics have hit a dead end. Citizens feel that they are no more than tools used by politicians to maximize capital and to harness power. Americans are thirsting for moral leadership - the kind that reflects our common values.

Let this be a call for a new bottom line in politics and for a new kind of respect for the citizens from whom a political leader is trying to get a vote. Our economic institutions should not only be judged as efficient only to the extent that they extract the maximum wealth and power from each of us. There is no reason why their policies shouldn't reflect our common values - such as compassion, caring, kindness, generosity, ethical sensitivity and ecological sensitivity. We should stand for no less.

From this day forward, listen to political candidates. If they aren't speaking to you with what you perceive as authenticity and a public commitment to pay attention to our core values as caring human beings, let them know why their message will not win them your vote. Tell them to stop framing their programs with their goals to advance the interest of the richest while using each of us as marketing tools and profit targets. We are human beings and as members of a democracy, we possess the capacity for caring for everyone on this planet and having foreign and domestic policies to support that kind of caring.

How can we sit here in what we are told is the freest nation on the face of the earth and complacently allow these political leaders to continue to govern merely for their self-interest and for their assured re-election? When the number of dying children on a daily basis from starvation and disease is equivalent to the number of lives that would be taken as a result of dozens of 747s crashing down from the sky each day, and we know we already could have saved millions of them with only a slight, simple change in our focus and our generosity, how can we keep from crying?

David Beckman, president of Bread for the World has said:

“We are at a historic crossroads to make real change in the developing world, and poll after poll tells us that Americans want to do more to help people in poverty. Even in a time of fiscal constraint, Americans can always afford to keep our promises.”

All signs indicate that it's time for a change. You can be a part of it simply by listening to your leaders carefully - and talking back. Americans are people with great conscience and compassion. The public face we show to our own citizens and the poor of this world should be a reflection of the human beings we pride ourselves on being; not unforgiving, materialistic elites who would pass by their fellow man lying wounded by the side of the road.

* cross posted at One America Committee blog

Language Barriers: The Social Challenge

Language Barriers: The Social Challenge

I thought I'd share with you a blogpost by Rex Pe [in Jiangsu, China] that I found to be relevant to the challenges we face, as Progressives, while trying to change this world (and the face of politics) for the betterment of all humanity.

Excerpt:

Both students and teachers may find universal topics like human rights, poverty, hunger, war, minority issues and related concepts too overwhelming and cumbersome. Nevertheless, a confluent approach to teaching social responsibility in the language class helps to neutralize this seeming difficulty in dealing with social issues.

Congratulations, Taylor Hicks

Congratulations, Taylor Hicks

Congratulations to the sweet sunny South's Taylor Hicks for winning on American Idol.




I have to admit, when I first saw him, he reminded me of a physically awkward fellow you'd see with a lampshade on his head at a Friday-night happy hour. He looked like every guy I'd ever known who would do something like that.

But he grew on me. He was adorable. I realized, after a while, that he's the one I'd most want to see in a live performance. He dazzled me. I actually got goosebumps when I heard him sing "Do I Make You Proud."

Taylor - you made a believer out of me. Congratulations.

This time vote for what you believe in.

This time vote
for what you believe in.



Steve Soto of The Left Coaster has written about our hopes to see Democrats say "To hell with the direction of the political winds" and to do the right thing in order to protect and defend the People's constitional rights. Too many times we have been bitterly disappointed.

If Americans voted their conscience, the Feinsteins and Schumers wouldn't get away with playing what Mr. Soto calls "the long game"...where risk-averse representatives are not willing to do a frontal assault on the Executive unless the issue has broad public support, and has GOP support inside the chamber. He says:

"They were bitch-slapped repeatedly since 2002 for being weak on national security, and are now focused on doing whatever is necessary to pick up more seats this November and aren’t willing to expose their flanks."

Our legislators should do what is right at the time when they are required to do the right thing. We can all see that the Democrats are waiting around to see which way the political wind is blowing rather than doing what is necessary to defend the People's constitutional protections as they are charged with the responsibility to do. Combine that with the bold audacity of the power-usurping Executive, and that is precisely how we lose our liberty. Piece by piece, bit by bit.

They aren't leading. It's time for someone to lead. We are the leaders that we've been waiting for.

Let's start by examining our own conscience and by signing the petition at Voters For Peace that says:

"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."

If you want to retain your hard-won liberties, start listening to the voice within you that cries out for justice in a country where we see too little of it!

After seeing what we let them get away with in Iraq, how can we keep from shouting while we see the same patterns being used in our policy toward Iran?

Untrue National Post Story Plays Into Fear and Hatred

Untrue National Post Story Plays Into Fear and Hatred


Credit: Lenin's Tomb

Hatred is strong in this world. We simply must overcome it or we will destroy what is best about humanity and allow the civil world to crumble in a shameful nuclear heap. The neocons got away with their lies about Iraq and we got an immoral and unjust war heaped upon our nation...all in our name. I see signs of it happening all over again and I wonder how much the American people have learned.

When a newspaper and its editors loses a sense of responsibility in its rush to put out a controversial and largely unconfirmed story, it caves in to the hateful forces in the world and becomes a tool of evil. News items like the one printed in a Canadian newspaper called the National Post are too often used as reasons to make war. When it turns out to be a lie, the hatred and fear the story brings about are already embedded in the hearts of the fearful, whether or not the story is tue.

I hope that, by now, you've heard about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the National Post fiasco. You'll be interested to know that The New York Post readily chimed in with barely a flicker of truth-conscience. (Are you surprised?)

Jan Frel at Alternet:

A now discredited article by Iranian-American and neocon chum Amir Taheri that appeared last Friday in the Canadian National Post suggested that new legislation in Iran would require Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive color badges.

It's also being covered at:

Juan Cole

So here is a case where an embarrassing mistake has been made. The National Post has retracted. So too should Taheri. Or else we have to assume that he is putting something else above journalistic integrity.

Moderate Voice

Jewish Week

CNN

Justin Raimondo

The War Party fabrication factory is revving up its motor again. Destination: Tehran

Unqualified Offerings

The New York Post has reprinted Amir Taheri’s debunked Iranian “yellow badges for Jews” story. Lenin’s Tomb has pictures of the print edition of the National Post story. They made the most inflammatory possible presentation. (You’ll note the headline is not “Iran to Force Zoroastrians to Wear Blue.”)

Wake Up, America - Your Liberty is On the Line

Wake Up, America - Your Liberty is On the Line

It should disturb every thinking citizen that, in what was clearly a politically motivated activity, the executive branch raided the office of Democratic congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana. Today's New York Times editorial reminds us that the issue of the separation of powers has arisen under "an explosive combination of political circumstances." Whether Jefferson is guilty or not guilty, this kind of activity is more indicative of an oppressive authoritarian state than an open democracy. We may as well admit that we are living under a totalitarian regime where political dissenters are being made to reasonably fear search, seizure, and the threat of legal prosecution.

After all, if they would do this to a federal legislator, what do you imagine they wouldn't do to you?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would provide no details of the search when asked, but only described it as "a unique step in response to a unique set of circumstances." That, my friends, is not an adequate explanantion or a legally fitting excuse for stomping over Rep. Jefferson's Fourth Amendment rights.

The LA Times tells us that our Congress members are upset about this - across the board - Republican and Democrat alike.


In a similar vein, Ray McGovern points to unsettling signs that the National Security Agency being "turned against the people."


Russell Tice, a former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency, will allegedly tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred at the NSA under the supervision of General Michael Hayden beyond what has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S. citizens [NGA]. According to Chris Strohm of the Congress Daily, Tice, who worked on what are known as 'special access programs,' has wanted to meet in a closed session with members of Congress and their staff since President Bush announced in December that he had secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a court order." Bear in mind the fact that Mr. Tice doesn't have access to everything. It is much broader than what he knows.


According to Democracy Now, "Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin is preparing legislation that rewrites Internet privacy rules. Under the proposed legislation, Internet service providers would be required to keep logs tracking what users did online in order to help police to be able to 'conduct criminal investigations.'" This makes sure the little ISPs are drawn into the surveillance noose. [From Freemarket News]


Consider the dangerous road that the Bush administration is taking the country down...making journalists a whole new class of criminals.

One Father's Anguish and Regret

Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo
U.S. Marines
Died 8/25/2004

One Father's Anguish and Regret

"When I first approach the casket, I thought it might be hard to recognize him, because we had not been told yet what killed him. We hadn't learn yet that he had a wound in the temple of his head, so that he had a three-inch-wide hole in back of his head. But it was him. And seeing him laying flat in a casket, I thought, he's not breathing and that he looks a little different, a little older. That his hair is a little bit longer. Wanting to reach him I was lifted off the stretcher and climb up to kiss him, to touch his head, his hands, his fingers, his shoulders, his legs, to see if they were still there. I lay on top of the casket, on top of my son, apologizing to him because I did nothing for him to avoid this moment. Nothing."

- Carlos Arredondo/Age 45/Roslindale, Massachusetts

See full story and photos at The Nation

Iran in Focus

Iran in Focus


Matthew Yglesias, hosting Talking Points Memo while Josh Marshall's away, has some interesting thoughts (and links) on the possibility of Iran/U.S. talks.


With a profound break from their past, "Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats."

"You know, two months ago nobody would believe that Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad together would be trying to get George W. Bush to begin negotiations," said Saeed Laylaz, a former government official and prominent analyst in Tehran. "This is a sign of changing strategy. They realize the situation is dangerous and they should not waste time, that they should reach out."
[Washington Post]

At the Nation, Peter Rothberg says:

Just as it did before invading Iraq, the Bush Administration is manufacturing a climate of fear to prepare public opinion for another possible preemptive action -- this time against Iran.

Condoleeza Rice is saying that Iran will have a part to play in Iraq and that she wants Teheran to help stabilize Iraq. We all know this is something that never - and I mean NEVER - would have been sought had the Bush administration had not been so inept. Rice says she "hopes Iran will play a positive role."
We're hoping for Iran to cooperate and play nicely after we've failed to stabilize Iraq after three years of unilateral war? Doesn't this sound incredibly naive to you?


Reading David Ignatius' summary of how intelligence is being processed on Iran today, I would not be very confident in CIA's ability to "get it right."

Half the analysts in the intelligence community have five years' experience or less, and this "newbie" problem will get worse with a planned 50 percent increase in CIA analysts.

Combine that thought with the fact that CIA has been demoralized and stripped of its best analysts after the Iraq/WMD debacle and the fact that we have a power-hungry Executive administration that two thirds of the country clearly do not trust, and you can understand why American citizens have genuine doubts and concerns on their minds about how the U.S. will handle the Iraq situation.


An Al Jazeera article claims that "what hasn’t been told in the news reports is that the U.S. ordered its Ambassador to Iraq [Zalmay Khalilzad] in March to call off talks with Iran on Iraq, which worsened the already complicated disagreement between Washington and the European Union on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and persuade it suspend its nuclear program, an editorial on Asia Times suggests."

An excerpt from the article:

The Bush administration's determination and insistence not to use real diplomacy with Iran, and its readiness to use force on the issue, is also the main reason behind the refusal of Russia, China and Germany to vote for any UN resolution imposing sanctions against Iran.

Asked if the official U.S. policy to Iran was "regime change" or "containment," the U.S. ambassador to Iraq had further stated that the United States seeks "behavior change," which implies that the U.S. could indeed be planning for a regime change in Iran.

Let's hope we don't "Iraq" Iran. It would spell further disaster for America's reputation, treasure, and already-burdened military.


Thanks to a visitor to this blog, I have discovered that there are protests by young people at universties in Iran today. [see my comments section]. The Spirit of Man blog is covering the story from the University of Tehran. I'll tell you what - if I were the President of the United States, I'd change our own foreign policy to reflect the kind of people Americans really are. We are not the kind of people who would drop nuclear weapons over the innocent heads of our fellow man in order to liberate him! I would represent my own people as people of great heart who would understand that freedom doesn't come that cheaply or easily. You don't kill people to convince them - you buoy the young people who are doing the hard work of freedom in their own nation! I would support NGOs with millions of tax dollars and pull money away from our own nuclear program. I would find meaningful and internationally cooperative ways to get these young people the change and the lives they deserve as human beings living in a world where injustice would never be tolerated and would not be solved by guns and bombs. I would never condone pre-emptive, immoral war and snub the rule of law and I would not rest until we learned that terrorism can only be crushed when we have a foreign policy that takes the sacredness of every person's humanity into account, regardless of his nation of origin.

Protest in Tabriz
One sign says [translated] "Leave the nukes; Take care of us."

May these kids in Iran know that we are with them in spirit and are fighting, ourselves, for a change in our own nation's foreign policy so we will be better able to support them in their own quest for justice. A good start would be to reform international law so that all NGOs would have access to national and international information to strengthen the ability to exchange information between NGOs. I would recommend the establishment of international and intra-Iranian information and communications networks immediately. If we had a better global vision and fit it directly into U.S. foreign policy,, real change would be entirely possible in nations like Iran without war. Communism in the Soviet Union crumbled without a shot fired or bomb dropped because the government did not have the support of the majority of the people.

Bush Policy on Iraq: 60 Feet Up - Without a Net

Bush Policy on Iraq: 60 Feet Up - Without a Net



Juan Cole provides a scathing critique of the Bush administration's ineptitude and ignorance on Iraq.

Media Fears The Fake Piety of the Religious Right

Media Fears The Fake Piety of the Religious Right
..and refuses to point to total hypocrisy when it arises.


Oh, Heavens...
I know this is gross in all its hypocrisy -
but is it worse than McCain and Falwell?
Which makes you want to hurl more?


I wasn't surprised to see the traitorous Democrat Zell "Spitballs" Miller backing Religious Right leader Ralph Reed for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Frankly, since I heard him challenge Chris Matthews to a duel, I am quite sure that Miller's gone off the deep end. But - when I heard that New York's moderate Republican Rudy Giuliani was praising Reed as a candidate, saying he'd do "anything he could" to get Reed elected, I couldn't help but imagine what Reed would have said about Giuliani in the days when Ralph was leading the Christian Coalition and Rudy was sleeping with another woman while still married to his wife Donna - and supporting civil rights for gays and a woman's right to choose. If Rudy had been a Democrat, you can bet your butt that Reed would have made damn certain that he [or his minions] had smeared Giuliani and labeled him one of the greatest sinners who'd ever lived.

Yet - what do you see in the current pages of the New York Times? Cheap and tawdry fare about President Bill Clinton and his wife.

It's all too hypocritical for me.

It's time for a change in the way the media fears the Right's fake piety. The journalists are looking like tabloid amanuenses for Karl Rove.

NYT article on Spiritual Progressives: Way Off the Mark!

NYT article on Spiritual Progressives: Way Off the Mark!

I want to take this oportunity to say that I've never seen such a horrible representation of what is supposed to pass for objectivity as I saw in the New York Times by Neela Banerjee last week. I read an AP article about the conference of the Network of Spiritual Progressives and I failed to even remotely recognize any of the descriptions as they were supposed to be related to the conference I was actually attending. First, the mainstream media writers need to get off the old track and understand that this is not about left and right political stereotypes, as the headline disappointingly displayed. [Title: Religious Left Struggles to Find Unifying Message ]





Last week in D.C.

photo by Iddy











This is an interfaith movement - a beautiful, successful one at that - and it isn't a "struggle to find a unifying message." Instead, it's a journey of learning about one another and understanding what happens at the crossroads where our common values meet. There are not simply lefties or Democrats standing at the crossroads. Everyone is welcome. This is not a partisan game we're playing. This is about hope and vision; not about playing "gotcha" with the Religious Right. God is not a Republican. God is not a Democrat. The media needs to come to terms with the fact that millions upon millions of American citizens are people of faith, yet their core common values are not being represented in the public.

If we put a mirror up to the face that our nation shows its own people and the people of the world, we would not see a reflection of our own faces. In what is allegedly the freest and most democratic nation of the face of this earth, we SHOULD be seeing a reflection of who we are, as decent people of many faiths (and some of no faith whatsoever), but all we see is domestic and foreign policy built around the self-interest of those who have usurped the power and left us to fend for ourselves as units of economy rather than as human beings.

It's high time for that to end. We need to take our country back.

If Neela Banerjee or her editors are reading this, I ask them to please take themselves out of the old stereotypical forms of writing and thinking and look at this with some objectivity, as any professional journalist should.

The Washington Post's article, Religious Liberals Gain New Visibility: A Different List Of Moral Issues was much more professional and realistic.

Two CIA Officials Support US Case vs. Scooter Libby

Two CIA Officials Support US Case vs. Scooter Libby

According to the NY Daily News, court papers allegedly show that the testimony of two CIA officials [Robert Grenier and Craig Schmall's] will support prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's charge that Vice President Cheney's chief aide lied to the grand jury, bold-faced, on the Valerie Plame case. Both those CIA officials discussed Plame with Libby at least a month before an all-too willing Bob Novak carelessly revealed her identity in the Chicago Sun-Times. The U.S. alleges that Libby found out about Plame from one of those CIA officials when he sought to politically sully the reputation of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV (because Wilson dared to challenge the Bush administration), and the case seems to be shaping up to show that it's true. Cheney may yet have hell to pay for this. The jury's still out on that one.

Politics, Blogs, and the Internet

Politics, Blogs, and the Internet

Elizabeth Edwards discusses politics and the internet with Andrew Rasiej at Pajamas Media. It's very interesting - I hope you'll take the time to listen. She gives a special plug to the Greensboro (Blogsboro) crowd and OAC blogger Benny.

The AP has an article by Nancy Zuckerbrod on politics, blogs, and the internet that specifically mentions the One America Committee website. (It showed up on the Syracuse Post Standard's front page today.}

John Edwards: Cheney Put U.S. on Wrong Path

John Edwards: Cheney Put U.S. on Wrong Path



I hope you had a chance to see former Senator John Edwards' eloquent appearance on ABC News This Week. If not, you still have a chance. Being out of the detached whirl of Washington D.C. has done him a world of good. He has harnessed the current sentiment and reasoned concern of the American people and is speaking clearly and wisely for them. I think you're looking at the next President of the United States, if he chooses to run. At ABC News online there is a video and Ed O'Keefe has a write-up.

Excerpt:

With regard to [V.P. Dick Cheney, Edwards continued to level sharp criticism.

"It is not an accident that he's unbelievably poorly thought of," Edwards said. "He is one of - if not the - principal architects of this disaster in Iraq. He put us on an energy path that the American people are paying an enormous price for right now. He paid little to no attention to making sure the government was prepared to respond to the kind of disaster that hit our Gulf Coast. We've got a health care crisis going on, he's had no proposal of any kind that I know of. And people don't trust him anymore, which is understandable. I wouldn't trust him."

Deborah Orin of the New York Post capitalizes on the language of the Right by framing Senator Edwards' sharp and honest criticism of Bush as "vitriol of the failed." It's my opinion that the polls speak for themselves. American citizens are feeling insulted to hear the Republican party dismissing their genuine concerns as "vitriol".

Jennifer Harper [Washington Times] completely toes a Republican line in her assessment of Senator Edwards' appearance on ABC This Week. How original. She repeats the snarky RNC spokesperson Tracy Schmitt's tired old prefab line [the same "original" one used by Deborah Orin] accusing anyone who points out blatant Bush administration disasters of being "failed haters". I guess 70% of the people in this country are "failed haters". Bwahahahaha!

Note: RNC's Tracey Schmitt recently declined to share a copy of a "private poll" that allegedly showed that Bush had a higher approval rating than all other polls have shown. She added that she "couldn't explain" why public polls show a decline in Bush's personal popularity other than the way questions are posed! Yeah, right!

Network of Spiritual Progressives Meet in D.C.

Network of Spiritual Progressives Meet in D.C.

I attended the second conference of the Network of Spiritual Progressives in D.C. last week. I'll be blogging about it soon.

Online Now:

Group has faith-based alternative to the right [DailyBulletin.com]

Progressives Reignite Spiritual Activist Movement [Beliefnet]

PastorDan's thoughts

Religious Liberals Gain New Visibility: A Different List Of Moral Issues [Washington Post cover story]

Rev. John Dear: "Don't Give Up: Keep the Movement Moving" [Political Affairs Mag]

Interview with Rabbi Michael Lerner [WorkingForChange]

A quote from Rabbi Michael Lerner:

"...what I call for as the fundamental ethos or the fundamental central organizing idea of a progressive movement is a call for a new bottom line or, in more technical terms, a new definition of productivity, efficiency and rationality so that institutions are judged rational, efficient and productive not only to the extent that they maximize money and power, but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring, kindness and generosity, ethical and ecological sensitivity, enhance our capacity to respond to other human beings as embodiments of the sacred, and enhance our capacity to respond to the universe with awe and wonder, and radical amazement at the grandeur of all that is in this universe."

Walking with Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern

photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell)

Walking with Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern

I took a stroll with Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern last Thursday. We paid a visit to the White House and to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's house. I'll be telling you more about it this week. Tune in.


I'm the one in orange...delivering
my petition to President Bush at
the gates of the White House.

Ray McGovern, with whom I shared an umbrella ;)

Cindy Sheehan (photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell)

Happy Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day


The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."






But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."










Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."




And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children," A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."



And the mother, when she lay down at nightlooked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage.

Today, I 've given them strength."






And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light. "And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."



And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them."



And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence......."



Your Mother is always with you.... She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street; she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks; she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. She's the place you came from, your first home; and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space... not even death!




Writer - Anonymous

Mothers Day - These Are Today's Headlines

Mothers Day - These Are Today's Headlines

Live Free or Diebold: Dave Johnson has an update on a new Diebold flaw, possibly the worst security glitch to date in voting machines and a 'big deal'.

How some Gold Star mothers are spending Mother's Day weekend: Truthout sponsors a video interview with Tia Steele, stepmother of (Iraq KIA) Lance Corporal David Michael Branning, at the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit on the Washington mall. [For more information, watch the movie at the Eyes Wide Open website]

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Senator John Edwards, is inviting One America Committee bloggers to chat with her and to join her in a round of "Unbelievable But True". My contributions included:


Yeah, right!

and.....

"MIRROR IMAGE"

In May 2004 when John Kerry was criticizing Bush on his poor leadership on the war on terror, Bush's then-top campaign-man Mark Racicot had said, "Political 'attacks' come at a price for the military."

Really?!?

How weird.

Today the president has a 29% approval rating and retired Generals are the ones criticizing the Bush administration, I guess we can say just the opposite: "The Military's 'attacks' come at a price for Bush politics!"

Iran States Intention to Continue Atomic Work: "Iran said on Sunday it would reject any demand to stop what it calls peaceful nuclear work, a day before Europe's foreign ministers discuss incentives and penalties designed to rein in Tehran's atomic ambitions." [Reuters]


Eyes Wide Shut: Laura Bush Doesn't Believe Bad Polls [Reuters]Mrs. Bush says that she doesn't think people are losing confidence in her husband, despite a series of polls showing proof of the contrary: the lowest satisfactory ratings for any president in the past 50 years!

SNL - If Al Gore Were President: The video is at Croooks and Liars.

Tennessee Guerilla Women Talk about Karl Rove - More on his alleged indictment.

Cheney in the Middle: According to Josh Marshall, Isikoff has some damning facts pointing to Cheney's role in criminal case regarding the outing of CIA Valerie Plame. (Note: Read the latest Molly Ivins to see why Josh is one of her favorite bloggers).

Job Corps Provides Opportunity in Syracuse, NY

Job Corps Provides Opportunity in Syracuse, NY

Every nine seconds in America a student becomes a drop-out. Nationally, only about two-thirds of all students who enter 9th grade graduate with regular high school diplomas four years later. For minority males, these figures are far lower. Of those who fail to graduate with their peers, one-quarter eventually earn a diploma, one-quarter earn the GED, and about one-half do not earn any high school credential. It is not only those drop-outs who face multiple negative consequences for the rest of their lives, it is also damaging to American society at large. For example, one study by the American Youth Policy Forum showed that America would have saved $41.8 billion in health care costs if the 600,000 young people who dropped out in 2004 were to have completed just one additional year of education.

At a recent gathering of visitors to the Job Corps office in Syracuse, Julius Lawrence looked each young man and woman directly in the eye and told them that he refused to go to his grave not believing he'd done everything he could possibly do to help them find the opportunities that were available to him nearly forty years ago. He is a committed American citizen, steadfast in his support of young people’s success in his community. He is a link between the dropout segment of our society and the opportunity they may have never known about had it not been for his service.

His presentation was part of an Open House at the Job Corps center at 224 Harrison Street in Syracuse. Job Corps is America's leading residential job training and education program for youth ages 16-24. Julius Lawrence was a graduate of one of the first Job Corps programs. Funded by the United States Congress, Job Corps has been training young adults for meaningful careers since Julius took advantage of the opportunity in the mid-1960s. He was trying to choose the best life path for himself while the Viet Nam war was raging overseas and having been issued a 4F by the Military. When he learned about Job Corps, he was soon on an airplane - the first minority Job Corps student from Syracuse - bound for Urban Corps in California, which was founded in 1966 and funded with federal work-study dollars. He went on from Urban Corps training to leadership and electronics studies in Berkeley, California and at a school in Texas. His own Job Corps training has inspired him to show leadership in reaching out to disconnected youth in the greater Syracuse community.

Louise Ross of the Buffalo Job Corps Center speaks to prospective Job Corps participants

Job Corps is a no-cost education and vocational training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that helps young people ages 16 through 24 get a better job, make more money, and take control of their lives. Their available cirricula is real-world and career-oriented. Students learn a trade, earn a high school diploma or GED, and receive help finding a good job. They are paid a monthly allowance and the longer they stick with the program the more their allowance increases. Career counseling and transition support to students for up to 12 months after they graduate from the program is available.

Baye Muhammed, who worked as a resident assistant for the Potomac Job Corps Center in Washington DC, is now an admissions counselor working in the Syracuse outreach and admissions office along with fellow admissions counselor Tamika Otis.

Julius Lawrence is an example of the fruits that opportunity can provide to a community like Syracuse. He is involved with YEP (Youth Employment Partnership), which serves low-income, at-risk youth, 90% of whom have completed the training programs in which they
were enrolled while more than 80% have either found employment or pursued further. education. Currently the President of the Southwest Community Center in Syracuse, he also participates in the Jubilee Homes project, the Appleseed Trust program, the Syracuse Community Development Advisory Committee [SUN], CDBG (community block grants), and Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today (TNT), Project Connection.

Job Corps is committed to offering all students a safe, drug-free environment where they can take advantage of the resources provided. A downloadable pdf file of the Job Corps Rules and Requirements Handbook is available.

The phone number for inquiries about Job Corps in Syracuse is (315) 478-5529.

NGA: Be Good For Goodness Sake

Among the government's most closely guarded secrets, the quality of pictures NGA receives from classified satellites is believed to far exceed the one-meter resolution available commercially. That means they can take a satellite "snapshot" from high above the atmosphere that is crisply detailed down to one meter level, which is 3.3 feet.

- from an AP story by Kathryn Shrader

Be Good For Goodness Sake


The NSA/NGA space-snooping story looks like it's being released "officially"....making it look "par for the course"....perfectly acceptable...before Russell Tice spills the beans and blows the tops of the heads off unbelieving American citizens. Yes, Johnny, the spaceman is watching your every move. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good. So....

The "Mako Generation": Iraq's Young People Lose Hope

The "Mako Generation": Iraq's Young People Lose Hope

My latest article can be seen at Blogcritics.org

cross posted at OACblog

Will Rove Be Indicted? Resign?

Will Rove Be Indicted? Resign?

Jason Leopold of Truthout seems to think so.. and tells you why.

BC Prof Quits-Rice's Actions Mock Jesuit Tradition

"I cannot, in good conscience, exhort my students to pursue truth and knowledge, then collect a paycheck from an institution that displays such flagrant disregard for both."

- Steve Almond, adjunct professor of English at Boston College [Boston Globe op-ed]

BC Prof Quits-Rice's Actions Mock Jesuit Tradition

A Boston College adjunct English professor has left his position, with tremendous regret, because he says Condoleeza Rice has lied to the American public. In an open letter to William P. Leahy, SJ, president of Boston College, Steve Almond says that he believe Rice has committed acts that were not at all in keeping with the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and that the broader humanistic values derived from those traditions are far from what Ms. Rice, in her positions as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, has represented.

Battle lines have been drawn at Boston College over Rice's invitation by the college president to deliver the commencement address BC's graduating class of 2006. The college newspaper [The Observer] has reported that prominent BC faculty members have begun a petition campaign to rescind Rice's invitation.

These professors hold that Rice's view that countries should act in their own self-interest "stands in disturbing contrast with the Catholic and humanistic conviction that all people are linked together in a single human family," they write. They contend that her support for the "tragic war in Iraq...cannot be justified in light of the moral values of the Catholic tradition or the norms of international law." For these reasons, they object to her speaking and honoring at BC's 2006 commencement. Close to one hundred professors have signed the petition so far.

Excerpts of Almond's comments from the Boston Globe:

She has lied to the American people knowingly, repeatedly, often extravagantly over the past five years, in an effort to justify a pathologically misguided foreign policy.

The public record of her deceits is extensive. During the ramp-up to the Iraq war, she made 29 false or misleading public statements concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Qaeda, according to a congressional investigation by the House Committee on Government Reform.

[...]Like the president whom she serves so faithfully, she refuses to recognize her errors or the tragic consequences of those errors to the young soldiers and civilians dying in Iraq. She is a diplomat whose central allegiance is not to the democratic cause of this nation, but absolute power.

[...]To be clear: I am not questioning her intellectual gifts or academic accomplishments. Nor her potentially inspiring role as a powerful woman of color.

But these are not the factors by which a commencement speaker should be judged. It is the content of one's character that matters here -- the reverence for truth and knowledge that Boston College purports to champion.

Rice does not personify these values; she repudiates them. Whatever inspiring rhetoric she might present to the graduating class, her actions as a citizen and politician tell a different story.

These professors likely experience disappointment, and possibly failure, when they see their example of strong conviction and commitment to truth lost upon the morally flaccid response from students who are more concerned for their graduation day being marred by those who would protest what are quite possibly the greatest lies ever told to garner U.S. citizens' public support for an immoral and unjust war. One student's comment [from The Observer]

Most graduating seniors..are opposed to anything that would disrupt their graduation ceremony. Amanda Grey '06, Phi Beta Kappa and soon to be Investment Banking Analyst at Revolution Partners, said, "My parents didn't pay $160,000 to watch students protest on my graduation day. I hope that the students who are opposed to [Rice speaking] remain quiet and sit throughout the ceremony respectfully."

How has "silence" or "respect" been a benefit to any of us while we've been willing subjects to the Bush administration? What can we expect by offering them more silence and respect? As for myself, they lost my respect when they lied to me, and I shall never again be silent about it.

The Observer editorial claims that Rice should be welcomed as a "a walking piece of history." I would imagine that those who would uphold Pope John Paul's opinion that the Iraq war was unjust would call Condi a walking piece of something else, and they'd best be careful lest they commit the sin of cussing. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Others are saying...

Jonah Goldberg Reduces
Catholicism to a "Cudgel"

That ever-steadfast Catholic boy [not] Jonah Goldberg, with a taunting fifth grader's approach, calls those who would respect their faith traditions a name that robs his argument of all intellectual honesty. He uses the tired and over-used moniker "left-wingers" to please his rabid right wing crowd. He defends a nasty position of comparing Catholic belief to hypocrisy by saying that it's just a shield to politically hide behind. He uses the "fine moral example" of defending a child-abuser in order to attack Catholicism and the academic environment at Jesuit institutions.

Last year, a student at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., was kicked out of the school's education program for arguing that corporal punishment — i.e. spanking and the like — could be useful in classrooms.

Jonah reduces Catholicism and our freedom to express ourselves as faithful Americans to a "cudgel". As a Roman Catholic living in a country where my freedom to speak about our common values (many that are derived from our faith traditions) is welcomed, I'm free to tell Jonah that I don't think he made a good case. In fact, I think he was insulting to those who believe the Commandment from the Bible that says: Thou Shalt Not Lie. Attempts to render a sacred belief meaningless by blurring the moral issue with paranoia about "the left" is, to my Christian sensibility, an evil stunt. Nice going, Jonah.

One America

One America

It's about putting the "United" back in the "United States of America". It's about taking the diverse strains of American culture and tying them together with the promise of better days through better ways, with prosperity through hard work and opportunity for all, with the blood of our veins and the bones of our bodies and the last throbbing gasp for freedom that bubbles up from our collective souls.

At the One America Committee blog, Xpatriated Texan has written an essay on Democrats and how they need to re-learn the lessons of great Americans past that involve putting aside petty differences and working together, united, to make a reality out of the idea that "all men are created equal".

Left Coaster - Niger Uranium 'Bought' v.'Sought'

Left Coaster - Niger Uranium 'Bought' v.'Sought'

Uranium from Africa: How "Bought" Became "Sought" - Part 2-4: U.S. uranium reporting in May-September 2002
by eriposte May 11, 2006

This part [of a series] focuses on known U.S. IC reporting from May through September 2002 described in the SSCI Report. This is a time period when the use of proxy phrases like "trying to acquire", "trying to procure", "trying to purchase" and "sought" uranium - in order to specifically describe intel that alleged Iraq had purchased uranium - became commonplace in IC reporting. I discuss the possible motivations of the IC in using this terminology. It is noteworthy that the emergence of the specific word "sought" in the terminology used by the U.S. government - in this case, initiated by the Bush White House on September 24, 2002 - coincided with the British Government's release of their dishonest September 24, 2002 "white paper", in which they adopted the "sought" uranium terminology to describe intel that was about a uranium purchase, starting in mid-September 2002. This was the same "white paper" that the CIA vigorously distanced itself from in the context of the uranium claim (in the Sep/Oct 2002 timeframe).
[....] ..the semantics are significant only because of the duplicity of the Bush White House's exploitation of the misleading semantics in summer 2003 and beyond to continue to perpetrate the myth that somehow the uranium claim was justifiable because it only alleged Iraq was "seeking" uranium and not that Iraq had purchased uranium. [Left Coaster]

This leads us to stronger indications that the Brits and the U.S. were in collusion to make a case for a war that has been proven to be completely unnecessary.

John Edwards Supports Home Health Care Workers in NY

John Edwards Supports Home Health Care Workers in NY


Senator John Edwards stood beside SEIU union home health care workers yesterday in New York City in support of a fair wage and better benefits.

Edwards joined Dennis Rivera, the head of District Council 1199, which represents some 75,000 home care workers, attendants and aides, in demanding that the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation enter contracts only with home care agencies that provide a living wage. [source: WCBS New York; see VIDEO at link]

tip of the hat to NCDem from OACblog

Mary's Lifestyle was an Achilles Heel of Bush Agenda

Mary's Lifestyle was an Achilles Heel of Bush Agenda

Mary Cheney's lesbian lifestyle was an Achilles Heel for her Daddy's political maneuverings in 2004. She knew it then. She's probably always known it. Dick Cheney knew it, too. The Republican party is an extremely anti-homosexual party, so much that hatespeak is often tolerated on their right wing. That's why the bile rose to the top of Mary's throat and "F**k you" was the first (and only) sorry thing she could think to say when then-VP candidate John Edwards, in a civil manner, mentioned her existence as a lesbian during the 2004 Vice Presidential candidates' debate. She was hoping to avoid all the obvious contradictions. Hoping, for the sake of her Dad's success, that the right wing would not crucify her Dad for fully believing in her and for supporting her choices in life.

It was no secret. Mary Cheney is a proud gay woman. She has made public appearances with her partner. She's written a book and has gone on Larry King and seems to love the spotlight. She's not afraid to scream from the top of the mountain her mike at the Larry King desk: "I'M GAY!" (now that Dad's no longer running for anything and has bottomed out in the public polls). She seems like a very competetive soul; fiercely defensive of her father, who obviously loves her very much. (And what loving/loved daughter wouldn't be defensive of her Dad?) Because she appears to be a very intelligent and confident woman, I assume that she knows that her Dad is the leader (2nd in command) in a party whose extreme right wing doesn't just fail to tolerate homosexuals, they believe they are great sinners; evil, possessed souls in need of salvation. They'll work forcefully against anyone who promotes or supports any rights with which the queer lifestyle might stand to gain the fullness of social acceptance.




On Larry King, I heard Mary defend her father's political courage in taking a differing public stand from Bush's on gay rights. She went on to say her Dad has no appreciable influence on White House policy, so he really couldn't forward any kind of gay agenda. I nearly keeled over when I heard that. Cheney, Libby, and the neocons built the case for the unnecessary and immoral Iraq war, including the many public misleadings and the political destruction of Joseph Wilson by outing his wife (CIA agent) Valerie Plame. (Cheney applied pressure for all of this to happen).Let's face it, Mary's Daddy dabbles in dirt all the time.

If Mary's Dad was only one-eighth that active in pushing the cause of gay rights, I might believe Mary's defense of her Dad. But I don't. And I imagine nobody does. War is just a hell of a lot easier to push than same-sex love when you're a Republican.

Dick Cheney stood by silently, like a gay in the military, while homo-hating initiatives were placed on key Red-state ballots by Karl Rove and company in order to get the hate vote out in 2004. And, by gum, it worked! That was a far bigger insult to Mary's chosen way of life than someone like John Edwards simply bringing up the fact that she exists as she proudly (and very publically)chooses to exist. Her characterization of Mr. Edwards as a "total slime" is totally classless. She's angry because she knew it was Daddy's tender spot. Her perfectly acceptable lifestyle was fair political game. (A hell of a lot "fairer game" than CIA's Valerie Plame.) More importantly, what Senator Edwards said during that debate was said in kindness. I'm sure Mary's been taught better than saying such vile things about people. Hasn't she?

A majority of Americans oppose the proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, according to a new poll commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign. Yet, the administration of which her father is a vital member has been pushing for the amendment. Gay rights advocates (who feel sold out by Ms. Cheney), Democratic party leaders, and others are working in public and private to stop Congress from passing the proposed amendment.Ms. Cheney doesn't come off as honest or credible when she chastises those who would most fully provide political support for gay Americans' human and civil rights.


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

"Senator Edwards continues to believe, as he said in the vice presidential debate when the issue was raised, that the Cheneys have been wonderful role models for the millions of parents around the country who love their children unconditionally," Kim Rubey, Edwards' spokeswoman for his One America political action committee said." [Raw Story}

[John]Kerry spokesman David Wade said Mary Cheney had "flacked for the most anti-gay administration in history."

"She was in the debate audience when Edwards famously praised her parents for speaking proudly of her, and claims she looked right at him and mouthed the words, "Go f*ck yourself." Well, Mary, those of us who've read the excerpts of your book cordially invite you to do the same." [Bill Robinson/Huffington Post]

"What I did was express my respect and admiration for the way the Cheney family, along with millions of other families, have embraced members of their family, and if I remember the vice president was very gracious in reacting to that," [Sen. John Edwards] said. "I think it was appropriate." [News&Observer]

Mary Cheney tries to have it both ways — and fails [SFChronicle/CWNeviusBlog]

Someone should explain to Kevin Naff that it's Mary that's doing the bashing here. Commenting, as mature adults, on what we individually take away from her angry bashing is completely fair territory.

FREE!!!

FREE!!!


Doctors Surprised

Rescuers strike gold
as miners freed after 14 days

Australia Celebrates as Miners Freed

Professor Calls For Full Accounting from Fourth Estate

Professor Calls For Full Accounting from Fourth Estate

Bill Israel is a journalism professor at The University of Massachusetts Amherst who taught with Karl Rove at The University of Texas. At Editor and Publisher, Professor Israel has some words to say about Karl Rove. I hope the Fourth Estate will tune in.

Macomber Needs to Deal with What's Real

Macomber Needs to Deal
with What's Real

Shawn Macomber, show me one President in recent history who lived like a pauper and was still able to financially swing the big run for President (and expect to win). Show me any man or woman who could do so today. Let's not kid ourselves. Find me one and I'll eat my hat. The Bushes were born with silver spoons in their mouths; Bill Clinton rose from a childhood of poverty to become extremely wealthy; LBJ had developed extremely profitable broadcasting business ventures by the 1940s; JFK came from a family who'd made their riches before he was born; Nixon did pretty damned well for himself as a graduate of Duke Law School, a small-town lawyer (like John Edwards); Jimmy Carter was an educated man of modest means who does not want for much, yet still serves the poor and downtrodden long after his presidency is over. Go all the way back to FDR and the New Deal. FDR was a rich man who fixed a very broken society, raising millions up from destitution.

The important point is the vision each man had for this nation; not how much dough lined his pockets. Macomber's mocking article about Uncle John's Cabin (which was nothing more than a mean-spirited flame-job) and his current (equally meaningless) attack is totally unfair to both Mr. and Mrs. Edwards. All the while, Macomber's up the right-wing's butt. I'm not sure who he thinks he's kidding. I mean, where's he coming from? If a potential presidential candidate has made a comfortable living for himself (or herself), is he (or she) supposed to be a greedy bastard who isn't supposed to give a flying flip about creating policies that will give others the same opportunity?

That's just stupid.

Senator Edwards has an understanding of how the American people feel and he's working his heart out to do something about their poverty. I don't care if he's doing it from the base of a mansion or a run-down shack...he's DOING it. He's not a silver-spooned ex-druggie/drunk fratboy like Bush who governs as if he could give a damn about the poor in this country. All the more power to Edwards.

Oh, No - Another Bush Soul Glimpse

Oh, No - Another Bush Soul Glimpse



Dear God, not another Bush Soul-Glimpse. This time it's Angela Merkel's. Let's hope he's not so far off as he was when he transcended through Vladdy Putin's orbs. He's certainly not batting 1000 in the Soul Glimpse department. How long before Chancellor Angela turns into the next evil dictator? ;)

Enron-Types Miss the Old Culture of Corruption

Enron-Types Miss the Old Culture of Corruption



"If we can't fix the numbers, we can't compete!"

- The cry of the post-Enron corporate piggies who hate anti-corruption regulation

And you'll never guess who wants to introduce a bill this week to roll back part of the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-corruption law (and likely weaken investor confidence): the House Republicans, who thrive in the culture of corruption. Doesn't that just figure?

Bush Cites Favorite Moment in His Presidency

Bush Cites Favorite Moment in His Presidency

If he couldn't catch Bin Laden, at least he could catch a large-mouth bass.

A Radioactive Poem

A Radioactive Poem



Highway 40's a-glowin' tonight
and it ain't the streetlights
or reflections from the stars.
They say no danger to the public.
Believe 'em?

Zogby Push-Poll on Anti-Amnesty Immigration Reform

Zogby Push-Poll on Anti-Amnesty Immigration Reform

I was sorry to see that the Zobgy pollsters participated in professionally formulating a disgusting push poll that set up leading questions for NumbersUSA.com to promote their anti-amnesty (anti-immigrant) policy on immigration reform. (NumbersUSA promotes a link to this story about Tom Tancredo's so-called "brilliant" immigration plan, which fails to take morality and human rights into consideration).

I generally see Zogby as pollsters of integrity. I don't think so this time.

From the Houston Chronicle:

A poll conducted for a group that wants immigration restricted shows that two-thirds of American voters agree with its goal and that only 43 percent favor a Senate bill that would let most illegal immigrants apply for legal status.

If you see how skillfully they were led, you wouldn't wonder why such a large majority answered this way.

After this unethical push poll was completed, a mass e-mail campaign was put into motion by Roy Beck, USA Numbers' Executive Director. See Zogby Slanders America at the One America Committee blog. "XpatriatedTexan" rips the slanted poll to shreds.

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

"I just think these things [House caucuses for blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans] separate us instead of bringing us together. What If we had a white caucus?"

- The "brilliant" Tom Tancredo


FACT: The U.S. population includes 12 percent African Americans, 9 percent Hispanics, and 3 percent Asian/Pacific Islanders and other groups. Congress, however, is 87 percent white; 85 percent in the House and 96 percent in the Senate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Republicans in 2006 = Toast

Republicans in 2006 = Toast

There's a good economy/bad economy debate going on in the political world. All it takes to solve the great mystery about the difference in the two parties' respective outlooks about the economy is to ask the average American: How do you feel about gas prices? Do you feel you have adequate health care insurance? Are you having to use more credit because you don't have enough cash on hand to pay the bills these days? How's your job security and job quality compared to five years ago (provided you have a job)? Are your heating fuel and electricity bills on the rise? How's your standard of living compared to five years ago?

Maybe the economy's not in trouble. Maybe it's just that the average American doesn't benefit a damned bit from a great economy. Maybe it's just the greedy lot who do benefit that you hear touting the "great economy". Do you think that's going to make the average American any happier to hear or convince them that they're being treated fairly?

Nah. The Republicans are toast this November.

Religion and Politics

Religion and Politics

In South Carolina this weekend, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware cleverly clarified the major difference in the way the Republican and Democratic parties view religion:

"They use religion as an organizing tool. We see it as a road to redemption."

Molly Ivins wrote about the Network of Spritual Progressives this week:

Rabbi Michael Lerner ("The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right") is urging a 20-year commitment of 5 percent of GDP to end world poverty. The money would not be committed to governments, but to NGOs with solid records. And I say, why the hell not?

Is selfish and stupid working out so well for us? The progressive religious people will be meeting in Washington, D.C., on May 17-20 for a Spiritual Activism Conference. Naturally, being lefties, they pose no threat to separation of church and state. Amazing how easy it is to keep that clear just by thinking it through.

It really is quite that simple. The result of using Christianity as a political organizing tool has produced a radically Right policy that is both selfish and stupid (not to mention divisive for American Christians). It's time for all of that to change and it's time for the Democratic party to stop being afraid to admit that the majority of their members are people of faith who derive many of their values from their spiritual raising.

We win by the power of our ideas. This is surely no time to meekly hide the brilliant source and inspiration of many of those core ideas. And it's surely no time to allow the slimy political leaders who abuse our common faith and create a pathetically faithless agenda to continue without removing the rock they've been hiding under. I'll be attending the conference that Molly Ivins spoke about along with some of my fellow bloggers, and I'll be sure to report back after it's over.