Idolator Bill Frist is Going to Heck

Idolator Bill Frist is Going to Heck

I am repulsed to hear FOX News falling into the repeated use of Republican talking-points regarding "people of faith" and how they support the "nuclear option", which is a nothing more than outlawing the filibuster tradition so the GOP can get its way on Judicial nominations 100% of the time (instead of their meager 97%.) Democrats have blocked only 10 of President Bush’s 229 judicial nominees.

Democrats are people of faith. Many of them do not believe in the death penalty. Many of them have a faith-based disagreement with the theory of pre-emptive war. Many of them believe that the GOP's economic policies run against the principles of Christianity.

Conservative judges do not defend Christians. They defend Conservatism.

I heard Brit Hume talk about Bill Frist today on the Fox News Sunday show. Frist said that "people of faith" believe that Democrats are robbing them of their "Christian heritage" by "abusing" the filibuster.

Frist is not talking in support of one America or one Christian America or one Christianity. He's using religion for politically partisan motives. That, my Christian friends, is idolatry - and you know it.

_________

Update:

See Folley.net for related commentary. "According to Senator Frist, the debate over debating rules in the Senate isn't just about the Constitutional meaning of "advise and consent", it's really about how much the Democrats hate Jesus."

________

UPDATE:

See George Lakoff's response. He advises that this Sunday, April 24, will be called "Social Justice Sunday." He says we must show that spiritual progressives are alive and well and willing not just to speak out, but to shout out. The Clergy and Laity Network and DriveDemocracy.org are leading the effort.

______

And how about that Unitarian Jihad?!

Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea?...

..We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with..

..Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues...

...We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm...

..People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution..."

*TAKE ME HOSTAGE! PLEASE!

Santorums bare it all for a political news item

Santorums bare it all for
a political news item

Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass.

"That's my little guy," Santorum says, pointing to the photo of Gabriel, in which his tiny physique is framed by his father's hand.

- Washington Post

In a feature about Senator Rick Santorum in the Washington Post, there is an extremely personal and sad story about the loss of Rick and Karen Santorum's prematurely-born baby. I believe that the Santorums felt the loss of their expected child very deeply and their story is one I would expect to see in Good Housekeeping magazine or some other publication targeting the women's non-political market. The appearance of the story about a private Mass -turned suddenly public - in the Washington Post sends only an exploitative political message. To my way of thinking, it cheapens the Santorums' deeply personal experience. How a family chooses to deal with death and loss is highly personal, and I would never take the tone of judgement on any way they needed to process their grief. I found that I could connect with Karen Santorum's letters written to her unborn child. To me, that seemed like a healthy and normal activity. I try to understand how bringing the tiny corpse home to the Santorums' other young children would be something they believe would be psychologically healthy for them. I already know, by simply being a member of American society, that it is not the norm.

So, what do we glean from knowing about this ultra-private and not-so-normal family grief session, using a prematurely-born baby as an idol for a political news story? I suppose it's that some people will go to any tacky length to outlaw a woman's right to choose.

Food for thought:

I wonder - what issue would I feel strongly enough about in order for me to "bare it all" for strangers? I like to maintain a modicum of personal dignity, integrity and class, as I'd imagine most of us do. What issue would lead YOU to "bare it all"?

TPM: Democrats Addicted to Tactics and Strategies

TPM: Democrats Addicted to Tactics and Strategies

Josh Marshall writes, in a blog post today, that it should be the careful and consistent consideration of the outcome of policy, and not political strategy, that should drive Democrats.

Marshall says:

"We hear a lot today about framing or being tougher or being united or dumping the failed consultants. But while each of these prescriptions has some element of merit, each also recapitulates the existing problem -- only dressing it up in clothes -- because each mistakes the disease for the cure...When it comes to strategy and tactics, the current Democratic party is like a drunk in the early stages of recovery or a man or woman who keeps ending up in the same bad relationship again and again with different people..."

I believe it was the Democrats' addiction to strategy that led them to approve the Iraq Resolution in Autumn, 2002. It was a faulty strategy. Politically, it won them nothing. As a matter of fact, it hurt their standing and integrity with their core supporters. It led our nation to be seen, around the world, as the aggressor and occupier in an unjust war. Key international coalition partners are pulling away (or have already pulled away).

The words "How will this decision play in the press?" should never be more important than "How will this benefit (or cause injury) to the American people?"

Jude's Inner European

Jude's Inner European is French

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

Linguistics Test

Jude's Linguistic Profile:

45% Yankee

35% General American English

15% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

Okay - Jude is a Yank and this pretty much proves it - What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Radio Host Minto Canned for Reflecting Fundie Views

Radio Host Minto Canned for Reflecting Fundie Views

Marty Minto was fired from his job at WORD 101.5 in Pittsburgh as radio show host for saying that, now that he's shuffled off his mortal coil, it's possible that the Pope isn't headed for Heaven because he wasn't born again. I wonder how Marty thought he'd get away with his job intact, in this American culture, after saying something so inflammatory.

He's still free to speak. He'll have to go back to his street corner or Fundie pulpit now. Who knows? Maybe FOX News will hire him.

As a lone voice, Marty Minto isn't such a dangerous fellow. Here is what is truly scary: There are millions of Evangelical fundamentalists who still think like that. Another lesson about American insanity.

When I think about all the crap Rush Limbaugh has gotten away with, I see Marty Minto's firing as hypocritical.

Singer/Songwriter Night at Redhouse, Syracuse NY

Redhouse Benefit

Singer/Songwriter Night at the Redhouse in Syracuse, N.Y.

Larry Hoyt

"Band" Joe Cleveland and Dana "Short Order" Cooke

John Cadley

Scott Allyn and his wife, Laura Austin

*All photos by Jude Nagurney Camwell

Hope and Forgiveness: Politics & Religion

___"...if you believe "God doesn’t put any more on us than we can handle", but lately you’ve beginning to scratch your head and wonder, I’ve got some advice for you..."

Hope and Forgiveness: Politics & Religion

I want you to take a few moments to read this sermon about hope that was delivered by Rev. Chris Ayers of the Wedgewood Church in Charlotte, N.C. Rev. John Dear S.J., a Jesuit priest, theologian, peace activist, writer and speaker, appeared at a talk sponsored by Wedgewood and Belmont's Queen of The Apostles Catholic Church on Friday evening. He spoke on the topic of "The Road to Peace". (A current interview with Rev. Dear is at his website and will be published in US Catholic May 2005).

I am seeing more and more inter-religious activity to bring about social justice and this ties in with my blogpost about "hope", as well as "forgiveness". Queen of the Apostles has asked their Parish members: What can we do to bring PEACE to our world? One fairly recent suggestion has been a 'Prayer Vigil for Peace' at the Islamic Society of Gastonia,N.C. Representatives from Queen of Apostles were part of an inter-religious effort to protest the pre-emptive action in Iraq in 2003.

Another former Gastonian, Rev. Dr. Donald W. Shriver Jr. (Presbyterian), who graduated from Davidson College and Yale University Divinity School and earned a Ph.D. in religion and society at Harvard University, has said that "the test of social Justice is whether, despite profound differences, life-together triumphs over death-together - and that it is time for all three of the Abrahamic religions to reject the idea of killing in the name of God."

Shriver has also dared to speak, in the light of empathy between hostile groups and forgiveness, about the dehumanization of people who are classified as our nation's "enemies. Speaking about 9/11, he said, regarding the question on everyone's mind (mostly kept to themselves for a long period of time for fear of seeming unpatriotic):

"Why did they do that to us?"

Rev. Dr. Shriver has said:

"Patience to that question was in low repute after 9/11 in this country. The few citizens who asked for understanding of suicidal bombers got accused of excusing the crimes. One has to ask whether politically enacted suffering closes or opens the door to international empathy. Why does suffering imprison some people away from other people’s suffering, whereas for others, suffering opens the door to empathy with other peoples?" - LINK

Shriver believes that only in religion could we find the strong argument for forgiveness in politics. He challenges Christian churches to add prayers for the Iraqi citizens who die in much higher proportionate numbers than our own citizens. Who could argue that a "man (or woman) of the cloth" is not better able, in our society, to set these challenges than the secular citizen who is held suspect as unpatriotic when he or she sets the same challenges? Rev. Shriver has referred to philosopher Hannah Arendt, who has proposed a reckoning with the past that is a secular equivalent of forgiveness. Politicians who tell their constituents to forget about the past are asking some to forget pain and others to forget guilt. Yet, traumatic pain and guilt plant a time bomb in both the human psyche and political history. We found that out on 9/11. In an article titled "Bridging the Abyss of Revenge", Rev. Dr. Shriver has said:

"Until leaders, citizens and institutions do something about this past, their present and future relations are likely to be corrupted by undercurrents of hostility. As William Faulkner put it, men have "learned how to forget quick what they ain' t brave enough to try to cure." "Remember and repent" and "remember and forgive" are better mottoes for the restoration of political health than "Forgive and forget." - LINK

Don't forget to read that sermon about hope. We need all the hope we can get these days.

_________

"Why aren't more Christians pacifists? I would call it idolatry. We really don't believe in the God of peace, the God who is going to protect us. Instead, we think that the government and these weapons will do that." - Rev. John Dear, S.J.

John Edwards: Second Podcast Soon

Second Podcast: John and Elizabeth Edwards Want Your Questions

In a message from John Edwards which has been posted to the One America website, we learn that a second Podcast is forthcoming. (Next week).

John Edwards says:

"Please remember to submit your questions for our podcast next week. Elizabeth and I look forward to hearing from you. I'll write more soon."

Questions can be sent here.
Don't be shy!
What issues are important to you?
What questions do you have for John and/or Elizabeth Edwards?

____________

From a recent Moviehole interview with TV/Film star Ashton Kutcher:

Q: DID YOU ACTUALLY GET PUNK'D BY JOHN EDWARDS?

KUTCHER: Well, it was sort of a Punk, but it sort of wasn't because it was real. I was campaigning in Minnesota and we were flying back to Iowa I think to do another thing. I was riding on his like Air Force One jet that they have with all the press in the back of the plane and John has his cushy area in front and the secret service is there. We were getting off of the plane and it was very, very strict with luggage checks and things, and they were actually checking luggage on the tarmac. And one of the secret service guys goes, 'Go ahead.' So I get on the plane and one of the secret service guys comes up to me and says, 'Is that your grey bag out there?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Is there any need for you to be carrying a firearm?' I said, 'No.' I'm immediately began going, 'I was speaking at an engagement and so I haven't had my bag.' He said, 'Well, you weren't hunting or anything like that?' I said, 'Why would I be hunting?!' He said, 'Well, we're going to have to detonate your bag on the runway.' I was like, 'Are you kidding?' I was like, 'Detonate it! I'm not trying to kill anyone, I promise. Detonate it. Do it! Please. I don't want it on the plane either.' Then they were like, 'You just got Punk'd.' I was like, 'That's not even fair. You're like actual Secret Service. You're not an actor. That doesn't count.' But they had a video camera taping it from the press place in the back. I'm trying to confiscate the videotape."

Syracuse Women Poets Read at CNY NOW Event at Delavan Center Gallery

Syracuse Women Poets Read at CNY NOW Event at Delavan Center Gallery

Poets, top to bottom; left to right: Georgia A. Popoff, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, Linda Tomol Pennisi, and Janine DeBaise (bottom)
photos by Jude Nagurney Camwell

NOW CNY/Syracuse -
Celebrate April With Poetry

The famous poet T.S.Eliot called April the "cruelest month". Since April is now poetry month, Eliot, were he still alive, might change his mind. What better time to have celebrated both women and poetry? CNY NOW presented four outstanding women poets reading their works about women last Thursday in the Delevan Center Gallery in Syracuse.

Georgia Popoff is a community poet, performer, educator, spoken word producer, and senior editor of The Comstock Review. A teaching poet in schools and the community, including the Downtown Writer's Center, the Syracuse chapter of the YMCA's national Writers' Voice program, she has appeared in numerous journals, anthologies, and web publications. Collections include Coaxing Nectar from Longing (Hale Mary Press, 1997), and Gold: The Greatest Hits 1998-2003 (Pudding House Press chapbook series). Georgia is also coordinator for Partners for Arts Education and a board member of the Association of Teaching Artists.

Mary McLaughlin Slechta's short fiction and poetry have appeared in many fine journals and anthologies. Buried Bones, a chapbook of poems, came out in 2004 by Foothills Publishing. She is a teacher and an associate editor with The Comstock Review.

Linda Tomol Pennisi lives in Syracuse where she teaches in the Creative Writing program at LeMoyne College. Her poems have appeared in journals such as The Evansville Review, Prarie Schooner, Bellingham Review, and many others. "Seamless", a collection of her poetry, came out in 2003. A former nurse, she earned her MFA in Writing from Vermont College. She received resounding applause after reading "Red Running Through It", a poem deeply rooted in the female experience, which can be read, in part, here.

Janine DeBaise teaches writing and literature at SUNY College of Forestry. Her poems have appeared in various literary journals. "Of A Feather, a collection of her poetry, came out in 2003. Here academic interests include ecofeminism, ecocriticism, and the intersection of science and literature. One of the poems she read was "Woven", which can be seen here.

Delavan Art Gallery, Syracuse, N.Y.
photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

The Delavan Art Gallery is designed to be a highly flexible space with movable wall surfaces and excellent track lighting. It is an art sales facility that features the fine art of area artists in its best possible setting. The 3800 square feet of exhibit space is large enough to accommodate several uses at the same time. One of their selection criterion is geographic. For the time being they are limiting most of the work shown there to that produced by artists who live or work in Onondaga and surrounding counties. There are many fine artists in this area who have needed an appropriate setting for their work, and they seek, along with other galleries, to help fill that need. Currently, artwork by Ruth Wynn, Amy Haven, and Jamie Ashlaw are being showcased.

Syracuse-Benefit for The Redhouse

In Syracuse - A Benefit for The Redhouse -

Songwriters Night at The Redhouse
Saturday, April 16 8 p.m.

featuring:

- Syracuse Area Music Award winner John Cadley of the Lost Boys
- Syracuse Area Music Award-nominated Songwriter Dana "Short Order" Cooke
- Songwriter Scott Allyn, with vocalist Laura Austin
- Folksinger/songwriter Larry Hoyt

As one devoted music fan recently observed, "Songwriters share their souls."If that is the case, then four diverse songwriting talents will be sharing a lot of their soulfulness during the Songwriters' Night at The Redhouse, at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 16. Admission costs $10 for this benefit concert for The Redhouse, downtown Syracuse's new multi-purpose arts facility.

Performing in a round-robin format will be John Cadley, Sammy Award-winning songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the Lost Boys, whose two CDs, "Middle of Nowhere" and "Black Dog," have garnered outstanding positive reviews. Cadley's observant originals range from the pretty ("Could This Be Love?") to the powerful ("To a Friend in Trouble") to the haunting ("Mist of Memory") and the melancholy ("Time").

Likewise singer/songwriter Dana "Short Order" Cooke, whose three CDs, "Wildman," "County Fair" and "Snowball's Chance," are filled with clever, original songs that reflect Cooke's sarcastic wit. Performing with Cooke will be banjo-ist and vocalist Joe Cleveland, aka "His Band Joe". For more info regarding Dana Cooke, his music, and his sense of humor, visit www.DanaCooke.com.

Songwriter/guitarist Scott Allyn and his wife, Laura Austin, will perform a bevy of Scott's original folk-rock songs. Austin recently released a compilation of the couple's songs under her own name on a disc titled "I Could be Anyone."

Rounding out the night is folksinger/songwriter Larry Hoyt, host of WAER-FM 88's folk and acoustic Sunday-afternoon radio show, "Common Threads." Hoyt admits that his original songs on his Hondo Mesa Records debut CD, "Folksinger/Songwriter," reflect the influences of his songwriting heroes, including Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Since their release last fall, several of Hoyt's songs have aired on more than 75 radio stations around the country.

The Redhouse is located at 201. S. West St., on the corner of West Fayette Street, just west of Armory Square in downtown Syracuse; 425-0405

John Edwards Visits Harvard

John Edwards Visits Harvard


Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina speaks on “Restoring the American Dream” at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum yesterday.
photo credit: Matthew Conroy/Harvard Crimson


"Look at poverty with open eyes...knowing we can end it." - JR Edwards


John Edwards visited Harvard's Institute of Politics to speak about his work on poverty on April 13th. Click here to view video (Realplayer) of the event. It's about an hour and five minutes long.

Edwards began with a joke:

"I'll bet none of you knew I was the son of a mill worker, did you?
I knew that was news to every single one of you."

He said that ending poverty is the biggest issue facing the country. He pointed out the fact that 36 million people live in poverty in America today, and that the content of our country's character is at stake in following necessary steps to alleviate poverty. According to Foster's Online, 'Edwards talked about a couple from North Carolina who started an institution that loans money to the poor to start their own businesses, which he called “the perfect example of what you can do if you have the heart and the backbone to do it.” They started in 1985 with $77 they raised in a bake sale, he said, and have provided $3.9 billion in financing to people living on the margins of society while also destroying the stereotype that lending to the poor is risky.'


Harvard Crimson staff writer Javier C. Hernandez has an interview with former Senator and VP candidate Edwards which appears in today's news. Edwards stressed, while he believes it's important to promote freedom around the world, that it’s also important to make sure that our American democracy is working the way it’s supposed to work. He believes that America would be headed in a different direction, had he (and Kerry) been elected last year. He stressed that the gap between people who are doing well in this country and people who are struggling gets wider and wider. He said, "The income gap, the asset gap continue to get worse under this president. It’s not an accident—it’s the direct result of the policies [the Bush administration] is pursuing. We would have fought with everything we had for an America where your family, where you live, the color of your skin has no influence on your opportunity. That’s the America we believe in. "

The Crimson's Hernandez has also written an article discussing how Edwards outlined his proposals for fighting poverty.

For more commentary, see Stirling Newberry's diary at Daily Kos.

Excerpt:

Many people here will remember his stance on the war first, and not kindly. It can be safely said that I also differ with Senator Edwards' vote on Iraq - but let us not let differences become divides, because it is clear that Senator Edwards genuinely has committed himself to ending poverty, and not merely physical poverty, but moral and spiritual poverty, poverty of hope, poverty of generosity, poverty of participation, in America.--Stirling Newberry

_____________

Thanks to Saheli, I've learned that John Edwards was a guest blogger at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo today. It takes a man of political courage and conviction to admit he has learned to see things in a different light:

"Like a lot of Democrats, I voted for a bankruptcy reform bill before. I can't say it more simply than this: I was wrong."

___________

Michael Phillips says: "John Edwards is so hot right now. Yesterday he gave a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School, today he gave a speech at New School University's Social Research Conference on Fairness. And then he blogged, not on his One America Committee blog but on Josh Marshall's bankruptcy bill special." Michael linked to the text of Edwards' New School fairness speech.

April 14, 1865

April 14, 1865
April 14, 1865: Lincoln fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending play at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C.

A southern sympathizer loyal to Virginia, Booth was a twenty-six-year-old struggling actor at the time of the assassination. Shortly thereafter, after escaping to Maryland and then Virginia, he was apprehended and shot to death during a struggle with federal agents in a barn in rural Virginia.

-----


A 19th-Century poster


"He dreamed at night of his death by the hand
Of a bitter world and a faceless man

And he saw his body in a ghastly dream
Draped in black while his widow screamed

Two silver dollars on his eyelids lay
"Abraham Lincoln has died today."

- From the song "John Wilkes Booth" by Mary Chapin Carpenter

THE PREMONITION

"About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible.

I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise.

Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.'

Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."

-- President Abraham Lincoln

Thursday News

Thursday News

MeetUp.com is now charging each Meet-Up group organizer a $19 service fee. The fee is per group, not per person. Organizers pay the group fee to Meetup.com and may ask their members to chip in. It's up to each organizer. MeetUp says they'll ship (mail, not email) materials to organizers, customized for their group, to help them attract more members. Groups will also receive new tools to pool their money to make better Meetups. I haven't heard many positive comments about this so far.


Harvard students belonging to a group called the Harvard Social Forum (HSF) are finding that they are not being allowed to protest against government recruiters (CIA and DHS) on-campus.

At Daily Kos, diarist Anonymoses announces that the morning radio show Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins (WFAE-FM) will do a show on Blogging, Podcasting & "Social Media" tomorrow, April 15th, at 9 am. It doesn't say who the "two young" guests will be. I suppose we'll have to tune in to find out. They ask you to join them by calling 704-926-WFAE (9323) or 1-800-603-WFAE (9323) or email charlottetalks@wfae.org.

Surfette has anounced that the first BlogHercon is set for July 30th in Santa Clara, CA. Deciding that he'd enter the territory where the Bloghercon organizers dare not go, ("No-Man's Land", pun intended ) Nick Lewis provides related commentary at American Street.

Nick suggests:

Most of the female bloggers that I know will never become a-list bloggers for the following reasons:

a) They already have jobs that pay a lot better than even the most succesful full time blogging gig.

b) Have a tendency not to compromise their integrity and morality for the sake of appealing to a mass audience.

c) Recognize that in a many-to-many medium, a high quality audience is much more rewarding, both intellectually, and emotionally, than a large mediocre one (if you don’t believe me just read the comment threads at Wizbang).

Personally, I think Nick has hit the nail on its head. I don't aspire to be a testosterone and ego-fueled Powerline or to tackle the next big scoop which could make me CNN's Queen of the Bloggers. My own ego doesn't require it. On the average, I get about 140 readers a day. I enjoy connecting with a like-minded community. It brings me satisfaction to know I'm part of a team, regardless of size or popularity, of people who wish to bring about a healthier democracy and social justice; of people who wish to see a more united Democratic party; who share my values, hopes, and dreams for America and the world.


Welcome Alice (CultUre Peace) to the blogoshere.

John Edwards: "The Natural"

photo credit: Chris Winn.com/blog-ky/One America

The Natural:
John Edwards six months later

Mark Shields says that he believes John Edwards will face some obstacles should he decide to make a run for the presidency in 2008 because Political History, itself, offers no supporting evidence to encourage Edwards. Yet, I sense that Shields is saying, without actually articulating his case for Edwards in 2008, that the man he sees as "The Natural" should not be discouraged.

Shields says:

"If politics were like baseball, the 2004 scouting report on John Edwards would have branded him a Natural, endowed with a remarkable ability to connect personally with crowds of strangers almost anywhere, superior stamina, a quick mind and an exceptional ability to express himself in emotionally persuasive language...."

"Nearly 70 years ago, FDR told Americans: "The measure of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, but whether we provide enough to those who have too little."

John Edwards offers a different wrinkle: "We have a moral responsibility to help those around us who are struggling. ... How we treat people in their time of their need is the test of our character." To those struggling, "we see you, we hear you, we embrace you, we are going to lift you up."

It would be a lot different message from the last winning Democratic presidential campaign, which championed school uniforms and the V-chip for television sets..."

Shields says he believes, "absent 9-11, John Edwards would have been his party's presidential nominee" in 2004.

In Today's News

In Today's News

BLOGS

Ron Brynaert is reporting on Ari Berman, who writes The Daily Outrage column at The Nation Website. Berman wrote a powerful article about two 16-year-old Muslim girls - known as A. & T. - who have been detained as "would-be suicide bombers" at a detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. No evidence has been offered to prove the bureau's claim and, judging from law enforcement officials quoted in the New York Post, there probably isn't any. The column is titled "Young And Arrested". The column led to another piece by Peter Rothberg called "Detained Without Charge", co-written by Mark Hatch-Miller.

_________

NRSC PRESS RELEASE MUST BE DENOUNCED BY DEMOCRATS

It's time for Democratic leaders including, but not limited to DLC's Al From, Bruce Reed, Senator Joe Lieberman, and TNR writer Peter Beinart to quickly and firmly denounce the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC's) current use of Democrats' own past statements to further divide the Democratic party. Making a claim of being a "rank and file" Democrat means little when the ones claiming the "rank and file" title have been whipped soundly in both national and local elections for the past eight years. As much as we hate to admit it, Karl Rove has been responsible for heading up a strategic team to bring the GOP's own disparate groups together under one tent to win elections. Rove has also been crafty at using Democrats as GOP toolbox-hammers to chip away at the integrity of the Democratic party.

I found it hideously repulsive to learn, from Daily Kos, about the NRSC press release. They're using members of the Democratic party against their fellow Democrats while attacking MoveOn.org and its relation to Congressional Democrats. It's time for Democrats to stand strong, together, in their ethical conviction.

An anonymous "senior Kerry campaign advisor's" negative statement toward MoveOn.org is used in the NRSC memo. (Had it not been for the 3-million-strong MoveOn and its promotion of activism, John Kerry wouldn't have gotten nearly as many votes as he did).

The ever-divisive (and ever-wrong) Al From's DLC-negativity toward MoveOn is used by the NRSC. Al From called concerned blogger-citizens (like me - and I take it personally - ) "elites who sit in our basements all the time and play on our computers." I don't know about my fellow bloggers, but I work my fingers to the bone because I have serious concerns.

Al From has been an insulting and divisive character and it's time for him to SNAP-TO! The Democratic party must unite or ot will be killed by people like the ones at the NRSC who use these past statements to further divide us. They are afraid of Michael Moore because he understands and articulates just how successful the GOP activists have been in the past. He understands their game and would love to see Democrats beat them at this game. He is poised to inspire Democrats to be equally active in grassroots politics. This is nothing of which to be ashamed.

Who knows? It may be too late for Peter Beinart and Joe Lieberman and Al From to redeem themselves from being seen as pathetic hammerheads from the RNC toolbox, rather than as spokesmen and leaders for a united Democratic party. That's a damned shame. Perhaps it won't be too late, if the Beinarts and Froms come out and denounce their being used as tools to divide their party. We need to respect our differences and place a far greater value on our strength of conviction. If these "tools" cannot recognize and denounce their being used so blatantly, they should move completely out of the way of the Democrats who do wish to unite behind leaders who'll show they want and know how to unite and strengthen the party.

I, for one, will not sit back quietly and watch them all botch another election cycle. I will be willing to forgive and forget the fact that these Democrats have ridiculously and carelessly classified people like me as "basement-dwelling elite radicals" if they would only see how they are being used and denounce it at once. Let's take the lesson the NRSC doesn't want us to learn from this and, in the spirit of Michael Moore and MoveOn.org activism - combined with dropping the DLC-ego at the door - try to work together to create a consistent and clear identity and message for the Democratic party.

________

According to Regime Change Iran, the USA plans to expand military presence in Azerbaijan 'to strike Iran'. According to Pravda, Donald Rumsfeld's recent trip to Azerbaijan was for two reasons: The first reason involves the transportation of the Caspian oil and the security of the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline. The second reason involves the USA's interest in establishing mobile army bases on the territory of Azerbaijan, which is stipulated in the plan to re-deploy US troops in Europe and Asia.

____________

At Taran Rampersad's site, I saw a couple of quotes which I thought were interesting:

"Democracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them."

— Marquis de Flers Robert and Arman de Caillavet

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

"A word in a dictionary is very much like a car in a mammoth motorshow
- full of potential, but temporarily inactive."

— Anthony Burgess, author (1917-1993)

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

I found this quote, part of James Wolcott's recent post, as particularly meaningful:

"Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe."

--Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

_________________


Robert Stribley's been busy writing fiction, but he took the time to blog about which tunes he thinks George W. Bush might have on his iPod.

Semidi raises our awareness about a totally unrealistic story popping up from the AP about how George Pataki is allegedly "narrowing the gap" against Eliot Spitzer in the race for New York State Governor. Maybe that'll give false hope to the GOP in New York and they won't feel that they have to pull Rudy Giuliani out of the box as Pataki's replacement. I don't think Spitzer is losing any sleep over it. I suppose, if the gap wasn't the size of the Grand Canyon, he might be. New York is a still a secure blue state and Pataki has worn out the trust moderate voters once had in him.

Wonkette has some links to last week's NPC "Who You Calling a Journalist?" conference.

At the North Carolina-based business blog Trade Street Journal, there is a link to the Greensboro News-Record's coverage of Roch Smith Jr's growing "101" network.

Outside the Beltway, which boasts a large "Anyone But Hillary" ad, points out a Marist Poll that says that adults polled in New York state would rather see Rudy, not Hillary, run for President in 2008. (Methodology: Telephone interviews to 705 registered New York voters, conducted on Apr. 4 and Apr. 5, 2005. Margin of error is 4 per cent.) Comments by readers of Outside the Beltway are skeptical, at best.

Here are two examples:

FYI, the same Marist poll had 51% of NY state registered voters saying they would definitely re-elect Hillary Clinton to the Senate and 56% rate the job she is doing as senator as excellent or good. 43% of voters rate the president’s job performance positively.

Posted by: Chris
----------------------------

Don’t underestimate the anger with which many women view Giuliani because of the messy way he conducted his divorce. I think he’d have a very hard time winning an election again.

Posted by: John

_______

Freepers have posted (and discussed) the debate between Katrina vanden Heuvel, Michael Tomasky, and Peter Beinart regarding the present state of liberalism in America, and its future, which was originally printed in the NYT (March 6th). Sorry I'm so late with mentioning this one.


NATIONAL POLITICS

MSNBC - "The SouthCom inquiry and other prisoner-abuse investigations may derail President Bush's pending nomination of Pentagon general counsel William Haynes to a U.S. Court of Appeals seat in Richmond, Virginia."

___________

David Hoffman, legal editor of Pravda, admits: "My name is David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda. And I am a loser."

Excerpt:

I ask, "Who are the wise and who are the fools? Are the wise those who live long lives, acquiring material possessions through stealth, deceit and the exploitation of others while being trumpeted with sycophantic praise? Are the fools those who dare to struggle for a better world, thus spending their often too brief time on earth in suffering, hardship and frustration?

I do not know the answers. But I cannot help but think that thousands, perhaps millions, ask these same questions everyday.

The famed mathematician Descartes once said, "I think therefore I am." But in American society this motto has been transformed into: "To be one must conspicuously consume." So, in the eyes of the society I live in, I do not exist.

Of course invisibility is a fitting fate for a loser. But considering how low people will often sink in their quest to become "winners," perhaps being a loser is not so terrible after all.

WORLD NEWS

Castro Talks About Pope John Paul
Note from LA Weekly:

"So many big names have passed away so quickly that people have taken to joking about it. When The Daily Show flashed an image of Fidel Castro honoring John Paul II, Jon Stewart’s comment was, “He’s next.”

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Jesus Christ born in Ukraine

Iddy's Pin-Up Boy

Beefcake


Some of my readers will know Iddybud's
Pin-Up Boy for April

News From The Blogs

News From The Blogs

Josh Marshall wants you to listen to the wild and wacky Mullah Dobson compare the Supreme Court to the KKK.

On the vote for confirmation of John Bolton and Lincoln Chaffee's expected "yes" vote, Marshall says he's "waiting to see if Sen. Chafee is concerned that Bolton was the guy who pretty much single-handedly resurrected the Niger uranium monkey-business at the State Department."

Michael Hawkins believes that our soldiers are being deemed non-persons and points to an Independent article which claims the US is 'smuggling wounded troops home' under the cover of darkness.

At Common Ills, they're talking about Danny Schecter and Buzzflash interviews with Barbara Ehrenreich. Other topics include John Bolton and the NY Times' revisiting the RNC protests of last fall, particularly Jim Dwyer's "Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest".

I just loved reading Saheli's flowing contemplation upon a
skull& floral dress. It reminded me of "A Contemplation upon Flowers" by Henry King, Bishop of Chichester:

"Brave flowers—that I could gallant it like you,
And be as little vain!
You come abroad, and make a harmless show,
And to your beds of earth again.
You are not proud: you know your birth:
For your embroider'd garments are from earth.

You do obey your months and times, but I
Would have it ever Spring:
My fate would know no Winter, never die,
Nor think of such a thing.
O that I could my bed of earth but view
And smile, and look as cheerfully as you!

O teach me to see Death and not to fear,
But rather to take truce!
How often have I seen you at a bier,
And there look fresh and spruce!
You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath
Like yours may sweeten and perfume my death."

At Dirty Tricks blog, we learn that the Bush administration has named 15 states that it said had used "improper accounting techniques" to obtain excessive amounts of federal Medicaid money. Namely: Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington.

Tara Liloia from Blog For America comments on Paul Krugman's latest column, where he asks what we should conclude from the fact that self-proclaimed conservatives make up only a small minority of professors at elite universities. Krugman reminds us that the Republican Party is being increasingly dominated by people who believe truth should be determined by revelation, not research.

Lorianne took a morning walk.

Zardozz tells us about a fight developing inside the giant publishing house PENGUIN over a book about Hillary Clinton.

Rox is not at all pleased with a comment she'd read about women. Rox also provides you with her 'guilty-pleasure' list of movies.

Here are a few of mine:

- Joe Versus the Volcano
- Ruthless People
- Caddyshack
- While You Were Sleeping
- Sleepless in Seattle
- The End of The Affair
- Beauty & The Beast (Disney)
- Mary Poppins (Disney)
- How Green Was My Valley
- Merlin (made for TV)
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
- Kill Bill (1 and 2)



..in progress

Quote/Photo

photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

"Whoso walketh in solitude,
And inhabiteth the wood,
Choosing light, wave, rock and bird,
Before the money-loving herd,
Unto that forester shall pass
From these companions, power and grace."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (Woodnotes)

Middle East Issues on the Net

Hanan Ashrawi; Amira Hass; NPR's Robert Siegel and CAMERA

Palestinian legislator and frequent spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi spoke last week at Sarah Lawrence College.

The Palestinians, whose economy and infrastructure were devastated by recent fighting, can't do it alone, she said. They need better living conditions through freedom of movement, job opportunities, and an overall end to occupation, Ashrawi said. The construction of settlements in the West Bank and Israel's security wall threatened the viability of a Palestinian state, Ashrawi said.

The wall is controversial because it cut into Palestinian land and divided Palestinian towns and villages. Ashrawi hoped the United States would get involved in diplomacy, and said President Bush's hands-off policy contributed to the troubles of the past four years. She urged the United States to become a player in negotiations once again. "The window of opportunity is not going to be permanent," Ashrawi said. "We need positive involvement and positive interaction and possibly a coalition of the willing for peace."

The Journal News 4-6-05

The organization known as CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America ) is no fan of Ashrawi's. See them try to bring her down a peg (or two thousand) with their recent diatribe titled "Ha'aretz Gives Hanan Ashrawi a Makeover"

CAMERA is no fan of NPR's Robert Siegel, either. Professionally, it doesn't get much uglier than the exchange between Siegel and CAMERA's Andrea Levin. I see this as a disagreement between a woman with an agenda and a news reporter who stands accused of having an agenda. Your opinion on the matter will be subject to where you stand, ideologically speaking. I think it has "witch-hunt" written all over it.

"Ms. Levin seems to insist on her assertion that I present Palestinian positions as fact. She offers no apology for that, or for mixing up my work with others. As for when my reporting ended in Israel, when NPR needs a shrill Likud polemicist to handle its assignments, I'll check with her when it's time to knock off on a reporting trip."

- NPR's Robert Siegel about CAMERA's Andrea Levin

Haaretz reporter Amira Hass, who is the only Israeli journalist living in the Occupied Territories, was a guest on Democracy Now. See "Israeli Journalist Amira Hass Reflects on Reporting Under Occupation"

I enjoyed reading her recent story about a woman named Basama Bourkan.


I'll end this blog piece by telling you that poverty and hunger exist in the Middle East today, in Israel and in the Occupied Terrirtories. Regardless of whose side of the "fence" you may be on, remember these are human beings whose citizens suffer from violence, fear, and the poverty that comes with war. Its effects are seen here at home in America, too (you'll notice it if you're paying close attention). It isn't flashed on the Breaking News on FOX or the front pages of the newspapers, but the money our government is spending on war and the policies of the majority-holding GOP will only assure that more families will be struggling in years to come. The poor are the ones with the social invisibility, seldom heard, always the last to be recognized.

The United States government could end world hunger if they set their mind to it. Rich nations are using the WTO against poor countries.