Now Is the Time to Dig Deeper
[cross-posted at DailyKos.com]
I want to applaud Mydd.com and Moveon.org for the Use It or Lose it campaign. We are on the brink of a historic election. We can,t take anything for granted. We all need to do everything we can to maximize the chance of victory.
By last August, I had fulfilled my required obligation (of $200,000 in dues) to the DCCC and then some. But I agree with Chris Bowers and others that, if ever there was an election that obligates every one of us to do more than what is routine, it is this one. Therefore, this week, I have donated an additional $100,000 directly to the DCCC and have given more than $14,000 to individual candidates.
By any measure, I have fulfilled the requests of the Use it or Lose It campaign. I say this not to congratulate myself or to ask for your congratulations, but to set an example that I hope others might follow. I also want to ask you to dig a little deeper to help us create a new direction for America.
There are three candidates who need your help. I am writing today to ask you to support these three candidates for Congress because they are fighters who value the Constitution and government service more than the politics of personal gain. I am asking you to join me in supporting them and to help deliver a Democratic majority in Congress.
These three are exceptional candidates who have run terrific campaigns. What they lack is the millions of dollars that their opponents have raised from big money interests and right wing organizations.
John Cranley, Ohio's First District
John Cranley is running on a message for change that is resonating deeply with Ohio voters. As corruption and historically low polls have weakened the Ohio GOP, John Cranley sits at ground zero in the fight to take back the House. He is running in Ken Blackwell's hometown, against a extremist Republican who has over $2 million to spend on ads distorting Cranley's distinguished service in the statehouse.
Donate Today
Larry Kissell, North Carolina's Eight District
After 27 years working in a textile plant, Larry witnessed the disturbing trend of plants closing to ship jobs overseas. He realized that the next generation simply wouldn't have the same opportunities waiting for them upon graduation that his generation enjoyed and changed careers to become an educator. After teaching young students about our founding principles and the Constitution, Kissell realized how far off course our country had strayed from the Founders' intentions and is running for Congress to restore the integrity of these principles.
Donate Today
Jerry McNerney, California's 11th District
Environmental groups such as the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife are heavily involved in this race, and Jerry McNerney continues to hit Congressman Pombo for his record on the environment as the chair of the House Resources Committee. McNerney has been endorsed by nearly every local union and local Democratic group, and has attracted such widespread grassroots support that he will reach more than 50,000 voters on Election Day.
Donate Today
I also need your help with our Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts. The GOP is spending tens of millions of dollars and has a widespread network of committed volunteers working every day to turn out their vote. If we are going to win in November, Democrats will need to match and exceed the GOP's turnout machine.
Sign up to help with Get-Out-the-Vote efforts
For the latest updates on the polls, and to learn what you can do to help us win in November, please check out my new and improved web site and blog. I have updated the site to make it more user friendly and to help you participate in our campaign.
Finally, I want to thank the netroots for your continued support and encouragement. It is because of your energy and dedication that we are at this point today.
John
some more of the necessary moves to save the nation - - -
koryannder
No "October Surprise" yet - as I said earlier, "To me, the REAL October surprise would be if nothing happens; watch for a false flag terrorist event about a week before the election that can be blamed on Iran." Maybe if enough people warn about this possible happenstance, the neo-cons will rethink it. Hope so, anyway.
And some more - - -
20. Restore the National Park System. Allowing drilling for oil in the Parks must be stopped, and the Parks funded to restore them to what they once were. Starving our parks is a cynical maneuver to get money for foreign adventures that never seem to work out.
21. END interference in the affairs of other Nations. Exporting "The American Way" without simultaneously exporting the American System is the acme of stupidity. Other Nations do not understand the system, and only make a hash of it. If they want to import it, all well and good, but they should study it first and import those portions they like, rather than having it thrust upon them as an indigestible lump, which always fails of its objective.
22. CLOSE the Baghdad Embassy! The money misspent in building the world,s largest embassy on the soil of a third-world table-sized nation could have gone sensibly toward restoring the infrastructure we destroyed in a war that should never have happened. Turn it over to the Iraqi Government; at least it has its own power plant that could supply much-needed electricity to a power-starved city.
23. STOP wasting precious fuel in producing the atmospheric pollution, sunlight-destroying, health compromising monstrosities known as "Chemtrails!" We are wasting a LOT of money and burning irreplaceable fuel with this program. It MUST cease.
[I know, I know - there ARE people who refuse to believe the evidence of their own eyes, and claim it's all "Air masses" But I have FLOWN next to one of these polluters, and I can assure you that the gunk they spew is NOT engine exhaust! "Contrails" are not dirty brown, and originate at the engine, not from nozzles.]
October Surprise
Supporting your supposition STARTEX for this exercise is October 31. This is the only reason I can think of that Karl Rove on NPR and Tony Snow on Hardball wouuld answer yes to the question, "Is the GOP going to keep the House and the Senate?"
Notice they did not mince words or waver. They could have just as easily answered, "I don't know, Chris (or whomever), It is going to be close, but I think Republicans will retain control."
October Surprise? 11 Days to Daylight
Hopefully, NOT the "October Surprise": Navies Help Keep Guard Over Saudi Oil Facilities...Following Al Queda threat
NH-01 Carol Shea-Porter vs. Jeb Bradley-Bush
While this race may be under the national radar and not in favor with the DCCC, it has a groundswell of grassroots action. The most recent pre-debate poll had Carol Shea-Porter down by 12 points but you couldn't find a single supporter or volunteer who has any doubt that together we are closing that gap fast.
Carol won her primary by 19 points despite being outspent 10 to 1. Her opponent, Jeb Bradley, who votes with President Bush over 90% of the time, has 25 times the money Carol has, but he has a record of supporting the top 1% of Americans and leaving the bottom 99% without representation in Washington. Carol is gutsy, gracious, and smart. She will be NH's first Congresswoman, too.
This is a campaign, that uses scarce resources wisely so if you can help turn NH Blue please do so now at www.carolforcongress.com
New Hampshire was the only state to turn from Red to Blue in the 2004 Presidential Election and we can do it again in NH-01 with your help.
Carol Shea-Porter link correction - whoops!
www.carolforcongress.com
Dig Deeper. Check. Here's what I got.
A dunk in the water.
Yes, it is off topic. But it seems the president said, in near as many words, that we will dunk those we take prisoner to see if they will tell us something. This is a completely differant plan than put forward initially, the ticking timebomb scenario.
I am sorry to be off topic, but, y'know, you did say dig deeper. And that seems to be what is going on here.
Frosted Flake
Restate the case for 14/3
Herotados wrote the first history. It was interesting, if in part fantastic. Thucydidies wrote the first current history, of his own time and place and the goings on, because he wanted to record the Pelopenisian War, thinking, correctly, that it would be a very important one. Twentyfour centuries later we find ourselves in the midst of history yet, and similar history, and must strive to be clever as those old Greeks were, in thier time, if we are to shine as brightly.
One of the cleverest of the old Greek Nations was Athens. This was so because they cheated. They used trade and education, while thier competitors used spears, and so developed a much broader view, and then turned it to frequent advantage. Athens tradition was to bring thier problems to a central forum, examine them, discuss them, propose solutions, pick one, and execute it. The key was the central forum, because often problems seem impossible and, as Descartes later noted, it is more likely one man will find truth than many, when truth is difficult. And often, at Athens, one man did solve everyones problem, and often it was a man previously unnoticed.
From my point of view, that is the purpose of this forum. I understand there are other points of view. That's not my problem. My problem is being clear (and brief), so that if my idea has value, it might get used. And now, at this interesting moment, we have a new coat of paint on the old Blog, or else an entirely new one. I find I am considering what to write there, not wanting to set the tone, as if there were some import to my decision. I don't really suppose, but just in case, I have decided to restate my case. Others might consider this as well.
There are many things I do not believe, but I do not care what the truth is, I care only that the truth come out. I note that the way our system works, abuse of authority is very difficult to address, because it relies upon authority to do the addressing. This is not strictly neccesary. Nor is it neccesarily desirable. While it is true it is very convienient when a white knight is available, aware, willing and capable of handling the problem in question, it becomes very inconvienient when that knight is busy, distracted, uninformed, intimidated or actually a wolf in cheap clothing. For such occasions, another method would work better, in that it would work at all.
Consider, for example, this reprehensible person. (Hold yer nose, this ain't G rated.) Getting what she deserves, do you think? I'm not here to argue that point. I would rather ask what we are getting out of the deal. Three years of someone else's life. That is all. What did you do with your share of that time? Oh, that's right, it doesn't work that way. Nor does it solve the problem the convict was convicted of participating in. Nor is that the intention. The intention is merely punishment. Of this person. For obeying an order given by another, more powerful person.
Obeying a criminal order is a criminal act. And I wouldn't want to change that. But, is it the act at the root of the problem, or is it the order? Put that another way, this act is done, it is over, but does the order stand? Has the order caused other acts? And will it continue to? That is the nature of abuse of power, - to cause others to act illegally and to pay for it, while remaining personally untouched and remaining in power and remaining a problem. Remaining untill cast out.
And what brings that about? Are we to wait for those who abuse authority to hold themselves accountable? If so, we shall be waiting a long time. Perhaps forever. Perhaps it would be wiser to consider the alternative, if we desire freedom more than punishment.
If we desire our freedom more than we value the punishment of the footsoldiers of the oppressor.
The basic differance is, whether you view Lynndy England as the whole problem or as one of the people who cooperated in a criminal enterprise. In the one case, you got her dead to rights, in jail, you got your bit. But what about my bit? Don't I get a bit? I want to use what she knows to go after bigger fish. And I want to use what they know to go after yet bigger fish. It is not because this is my hobby. It is because I want to put a stop the that enterprise, and leave in place afterwards the legal mechanism to put a stop to the next gang of fools to come our way.
In my mind, very clearly, the solution is worth absolution. The proper use of a miscreant is that which solves the problem of the crime. Choosing to do otherwise is in line with enabling further crime. The sole benefit of, is interesting newspapers.
In closing, I note section three of ammendment 14 authorizes Congress to legislate along certian lines. Section four is worth a look too.
I appreciate this forum.
Frosted Flake
It's not torture when we do it
Comment posted on TP that hits the target!
Why does this Administration insist on playing word games?
It is a semantics games of what IS is.
Watch and decide what waterboarding is.
Defendant: Asano, Yukio
If it was a punishable offense then, what changed within America's morality that made, what was deemed by the USA illegal then, morally correct today?
OH wait...
I know...
9/11, 9/11, 9/11
Osama been Forgotten
WMD's and mushroom clouds
Saddam and the Islamo-fascists
Securing Iraq as a Democratic force
Did I mention religious ideologies aren't fundamentally fascist. They require political regimes of dictatorial oppressiveness that attempt to stamp out people's rights in favor of corporatism, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism. Can we add anti-Islamist to that list, or is it part of the 'common enemy' theory?
The Missing CIA Prisoners
A BBC Film:
CIA secret prisons investigated
This is what investigative journalism looks like. Unlike the "Liberal media" biased junk perpatrated and decorated as 'Hard Hitting and Fair and Ballanced' right leaning extremist propaganda that we're sujected to here in America and told to buy as the truth, least we be adorned with their label of 'S-P' [secular-progressive] in place of the 'Liberal' badge they issued as required to be worn if one is to be a Democrat.
Journalism ... Is a Joke in America
Journalism in the USA falls to 53rd, tied along with Botswana, Croatia, and Tonga.
Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006
USA Purchases Personal Data
"The business premise of Choice Point is that the world is becoming a riskier place to live, work, and do business." Big Brother is watching
Choice Point absorbs information from 40,000 new public records, every day. Since 1997, Choice Point has bought more than 50 other companies and they've got some 20 BILLION records on virtually every adult in America. This means me, you and you, Congressman Conyers.
Q U E S T I O N:
What was Nixon tried for? Wiretapping whom? Is it ever safe for the average citizen to be under the ever watchful eye of the Federal Government? Are we truly ever free then? When you or I are assigned a number in some data bank waiting to be purchased by our Government so as to be deemed a "lawful" or "unlawful" or "alien" or maybe even an "illegal"?
They say it's for our protection. They say it's to rout out the terrorists. But what they don't say is that they've been doing this far longer than this war of terrorism, which after all, to be honest, isn't a war at all, is it? But we keep calling it that. WHY?
next segment - heading for home
koryannder
I find it interesting that the maximum decider said "We don't torture -" or words to that effect. Since EVERYTHING the man says is 180 º out of phase with the truth, that seems to me to be a direct admission that we DO tortute! No?
24. REPEAL every piece of legislation promulgated under the Bush Administration whose intent and effect has been the exact opposite of the title of the law. Examples; "Clear Skies," "No Child Left Behind" "Healthy Forests" - ad nauseam. The destruction of everything that made America great has proceeded apace under this Administration, and the tendency must be reversed. ALL laws passed since 1996 must be reexamined with an emphasis on whether they actually were worthwhile, and those that are not, repealed. The damage done by the Republican Congress, especially since 2001, must be reversed.
25. USURY must be halted. Financial Institutions must NOT be allowed to charge interest rates that at one time would have put the officers in jail. Return to those days. A VERY good profit can be made at 5 per cent. 29 per cent. is CRIMINAL, and should be treated as such. On the same subject, OUTLAW the "Payday Loan" industry that preys upon the lower strata of society. Ten to fifteen per cent. per WEEK is loan-sharking at its most destructive, and needs to be eliminated.
26. Return to the "Good Old Days" of locally owned and operated media. Break up the media conglomerates, make sure that newspapers, radio, and television have separate ownership. Revamp the FCC so that it serves the Public interest instead of that of the media moguls, and, for the sake of sanity in our political discourse, restore the "Fairness Doctrine!" No good purpose is served by having a steady diet of one point of view. Set heavy fines and jail terms for broadcasters who insist on a single viewpoint. If a pseudo-documentary such as "The Path to 9/11" airs, and is a tissue of lies as that one was, the corporation airing it must allow equal time free of charge to anyone wishing to expose the lies and set the record straight. This would have to be policed by an HONEST FCC.
The Public Be Damned
Cheney: Iraq "May Not Be Popular With The Public, It Doesn't Matter"...
Cheney: "Who does the public think they are, anyway?"
Answer: "The ones who will bring on a Democratic Congress who will conduct oversight and bring these two criminals, both Bush and Cheney, to justice.