Barack Obama Visits Crow Agency, MT

Coming off a rally that drew 75,000 people in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, yesterday Barack Obama did something that Hillary Clinton and John McCain have not done, he went to a reservation, specifically the Crow Nation (Crow Agency, Montana). While he was there he talked about his understanding of Tribal Sovereignty (a true government to government relationship). He also talked about honoring treaty obligations, specific legislation that he supports that will address ongoing issues in Indian Country - issues such as health care, education, veterans' benefits and ways to resolve the trust fund litigation. "My job as president is to make sure that Washington starts focusing on you, on your hopes, on your dreams, on your concerns...You have been forgotten - I want you to know that I will never forget you - you will be on my mind every day that I am in the White House."

How to Solve the Michiorida Mess...

Shepard Fairey's Obama Posters

"Hillary's campaign is 21.5 million dollars in debt, making hers the most expensive Fantasy Camp ever."
David Letterman, The Late Show, May 15, 2008

Rachel Maddow's word of the Day - "vituperative" - Using, containing, or marked by harshly abusive censure.

This is a comment from the SMS live blog, left by a rabid Hillary supporter, written on Friday, May 16, 2008:

Good morning SWEETIES
Any of you know how Obama and Dean are going to address the ugly, festering sore that will be Florida and Michigan at the convention?
Or do you all just want to work hard to win 48 states?
No Obamaniac here has SATISFACTORILY answered that question except to yell in the most child-like way, “Hey, it’s the rules!!”
Hillary will bring this question up, I hope, just before the official nomination voting. Someone should.

I'll bring it up because it doesn't freakin' matter anymore - go ahead and count all of the delegates even those earned by Hillary Clinton in Michigan where Barack Obama's NAME WAS NOT EVEN ON THE BALLOT, and Florida where neither candidate campaigned, honoring an agreed-upon plan made before the primary vote. Go ahead and count all the freakin' votes of those who you all are so eager to enfranchise. What about the disenfranchisement of all of the voters who didn't bother to go to the polls because they were paying attention and understood the votes that they cast on Tuesday, January 15th (Michigan) or January 29th (Florida) would not be (should not have been, promised not to be) counted?

Also how can you ignore the caucuses? All of those people who turned out on a cold winter night in Iowa should just be dismissed? Likewise the folks who stood in school cafeterias in Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, and Wyoming - think about it. It comes down to basic fairness, simple justice, doing what is right/correct. By any measure, except those concocted by the Clinton camp (like ignoring the caucuses, or counting Michigan and Florida as if they were normal primaries) Obama has the lead - in popular vote, in elected delegates, in superdelegates, in states won - by any measure, he is the winner. Congratulations Barack!

If you'd like to pass a few wasted hours and you are a total political geek then visit the following site where you can change the electoral college map in any configuration and try to figure out how the Democrats can lose the election in November (I spent hours a few Sunday afternoons ago and had a hard time seeing how the Dems could possibly lose this one).

Election Guide 2008: What the Democratic Candidates Need to Win

Edwards Endorses Obama!!!

Last night John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States. Here's the transcript of Edwards endorsement: Edwards’s Endorsement of Obama. It was, needless to say, a coveted endorsement and coming as it did on the heals of Obama significant defeat by Hillary Clinton in West Virginia (see post below), it carried even more weight than it might have otherwise. Timing is everything, and the timing of Edwards endorsement couldn't have been better - with the Kentucky primary looming around the corner (next Tuesday, May 20th), I can't help but believe that Edwards will help Obama with those "Hard-working White Americans," Hillary Clinton as quoted in an oft cited AP article that came out after her triumphant victory in West Virginia. Good on ya, John Edwards, good on ya. Even though Edwards himself has downplayed the importance of endorsements in general, his endorsement is most welcome in an Obama camp that must have given at least pause at the trouncing that Barack took in the Mountaineer state. On to the White House for Obama!!!

For information on how Edwards' delegates will help the Obama Campaign, please see 2008 Democratic Convention Watch.

As West Virginia Goes, So Goes the Confederacy...

White voters shun Obama as Clinton wins West Virginia

"As West Virginia goes, so goes the nation." I substituted "Confederacy" for "nation," anyway, I didn't say it. I am merely echoing a phrase uttered by Hillary Clinton last night during her victory speech which I must confess, even though it was billed by Terry McAuliffe as the greatest speech ever, I dozed off during her riveting delivery of what sounded to me like rehashed campaign cliches and recycled slogans. I say shame on West Virginians and their racist selves - forgive my bluntness, but I've heard too many reports from W.V. that say that it was out-and-out racism that kept Mountaineers from even considering voting for Obama. So I say screw WV - I am much more impressed that a Democrat won Trent Lott's seat in Mississippi - way to go Dems. Ain't nothin' gonna stop us now. Apologies to the handful of good folks who live in West Virginia who did step outside their comfort zone and cast a vote for the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. We don't need no stinkin' racists helping us get to the White House, so just stay home or vote for Ron Paul or Bob Barr or even David Duke (not sure that he's running, but I bet a little cold coin could change his mind).

Where are the Union Coal Miners of old? Where are the folks who empathized with the downtrodden? (because they were them). Where are the mothers who understood that pride is not too hard to dismiss when your kids are hungry?

"Even though racial lines were not so stringently enforced in West Virginia as they were in the Deep South, or even in neighboring central Appalachia, social life in the Mountain State was segregated by custom and management design. Nevertheless, race relations were unique. Perhaps the key to understanding the distinctive qualities of race relations in southern West Virginia was the freedom of expression enjoyed by blacks. Only in education and intermarriage was integration specifically barred by statute."

The aforementioned excerpt is from the Mine Safety and Health Administration web site as is the above featured photo.

Still the War Grinds On

Moqtada al-Sadr

Fighting Forces Residents to Flee Sadr City

As we here in this country place bets on when Hillary Clinton will end her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, halfway around the world a war that this country started roars on. Lives are being lost, children are being maimed, soldiers are being blown to smithereens and the astronomical costs keep soaring. When will we say enough is enough? I ask each and every one of you to send one e-mail next Monday or Tuesday to your (House) Representative. Please jot off a quick e-mail asking your representative to vote against more funding for this god-awful war in Iraq and urge your representative to cosponsor The New Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq Act (H.R. 3797). Please if enough of us write - they will spend the money anyway, but maybe, just maybe, a few of the spenders/deciders may not sleep as well as they have in the past. The Friends Committee on National Legislation has a nice and easy page that you can just fill in the blanks. Or you may make a phone call (FCNL). There is a little box in which you type in your zip code and, voila, there is your representative and her/his contact information. So please fill in a few blanks or pick up the phone and let your representative know that you want the war in Iraq to end, the sooner the better. Thank you very much :)
Best,
mfaye

Sadr City Residents Told to Flee Homes
(From DemocracyNow!)

In Iraq, residents of the Sadr City district of Baghdad say they’re being warned to flee their homes in advance of an intensified US-led assault on Shia fighters. Sadr City has seen relentless violence in a nearly two-month campaign against followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. UNICEF says around 6,000 people have already been forced to flee. Up to 150,000, half of them children, are said to be cut off from aid in areas isolated by the US military. Medical care has declined following Saturday’s US missile strike that damaged several ambulances at Sadr City’s main hospital. At least four people were killed and thirteen injured in fighting overnight. At the White House, the veteran correspondent Helen Thomas questioned Press Secretary Dana Perino about the killing of innocent Iraqis.

Dana Perino: “Helen.”

Helen Thomas: “Yesterday, according to the New York Times, we dropped a bomb on a home in Sadr City and burned alive a pregnant woman and her children. How long is the siege of Sadr—how long are we going to keep bombing Iraqis?”

Perino: “Well, I’m not aware of that particular report. I have not—I’ve not seen it.”

Thomas: “Well, it was pretty buried in the stories.”

Perino: “OK. Well, the operation against the militias in Sadr City will continue until they root them out. And that is expressly in order to protect people like you just mentioned.”

Thomas: “Root who out? The Iraqis? In their own country?”

Perino: “It is Prime Minister Maliki’s government which is going after the militia, which is appropriate.”

Thomas: “Why are we bombing these people?”

Perino: “Any time anyone that is an innocent civilian is hurt in a conflict, we obviously regret it, and we go out of our way to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Once Again the Numbers (& Voters) Let Hillary Down

North Carolina said loud and clearly that Senator Barack Obama is their choice for president, and Indiana came close to agreeing with North Carolina. I really thought that Lake County might put Obama over the top in Indiana. Obama came very close in Indiana, but Hillary Clinton likely did pick up a couple more delegates than Obama from Indiana. I like the image of Terry McAuliffe and Mark Penn (you know that guy is still hanging around) and other die-hard Clinton supporters calling Hillary into a hotel room, asking her to put down the Crown Royal, and holding an intervention - not to get Hillary to admit that she has a problem with alcohol, rather to get her to admit that she no longer has a chance to win the Democratic nomination for the president of these United States. Please see the excellent post on Four Freedoms Blog, by BobR entitled R.E.S.P.E.C.T. See also the headline on today's Huffington Post: Obama vs. McCain. Also on the Huffington Post is an interesting piece on McCain's Rough Night, pointing out that the republican presumptive nominee is still having trouble winning over the hearts and minds of the GOP base.
But I will miss Kay to the Jay to the Eye El in da Hizzie saying "Hirrary." :D Kim out!!!

For a somber take on last night's results, see Scoopster's post on the Daily Kos - On trust, forgiveness, and our common future.

Kalyn Free Endorses Obama!

The anticipation was making me crazy, but finally the word is out and the word is Obama! Kalyn Free, Superdelegate extraordinaire, Super Attorney, and Super Director and Founder of INDN's List, has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president

"As a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, I am proud of what it means to be an American Indian," Free said in her announcement of support for Obama. "I am proud Barack Obama is committed to our unique issues and willing to tackle our toughest problems, from historical inequities and injustices to contemporary issues, like protection of our right to tribal self-determination, access to health care for our elders, and education for our children."

"For centuries the First Americans have had politicians talk to them, not with them. That kind of politics-as-usual leadership hasn't worked for Indian Country, and it isn't working for America. Senator Obama will forge a new era for the First Americans by looking for answers in Indian Country, not from Washington lobbyists. I am proud to stand in solidarity with another DNC Indian superdelegate Frank LaMere (Winnebago) in support of America's best hope for a better tomorrow, Senator Barack Obama."

Senator Obama said, "Kalyn is an effective and compassionate leader in the Native American community, and I'm proud to have her support. I admire the work she has done to build a grassroots movement, elect Native Americans to public office, and mobilize voters in tribal communities to become part of the political process. And as President, I will work with tribal leaders and Kalyn to ensure that they have a true partner in the White House. With Kalyn's support, we're going to bring about real change not just for the Native American community, but for all Americans."

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Top Five Ways the Stephanie Miller Show Crew can Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

5. Stephania invites her yard guys in for a !siesta fiesta!

4. Momma supplies margaritas and chips and salsa for breakfast para todos (gratis!).

3. Steph wears a sombrero while appearing on Larry King tonight.

2. Do a shot of tequila every time Steph (or Jim or Chris) says "bark park."

1. And the number one way that Momma and the mooks can celebrate Cinco de Mayo - All Sanchez (from Montebello) in Hora Tres (Hour 3)!

Hillary Clinton High on 'Shrooms :)

Last night on Jon Stewart's Daily Show yet another young comedic talent, Jason Jones, jumped out of the TV. Mr. Jones did a bit about Hillary Clinton as an elite toddler running around in her socks with the ruffles. Even if Hillary was guilty of wearing socks with ruffles (and really who hasn't - I can certainly see Stephen Colbert of the Reporrrr prancing around in his ruffle-topped socks - lavendar, powder blue, or if he was lucky - black), she certainly wouldn't want it to leak out that she was once high on 'shrooms and drove a tractor over a man... Pure speculation , but once it's out there, it's out there.

Socks with the Ruffles video (The Daily Show, May 1, 2008)

This is a spoof (rather it is a report of a spoof) - not intended as a source of actual news.

We Must Not Bomb Iran!

[At the end of these articles is an entry I posted over six months ago. At that point, the idea of a US attack on Iran was still considered by many to be a distant nightmare.]

METAFUTURE: Iraq, Iran and Permanent War
by Troutfishing
Sunday, April 27, 2008

The appointment of David Petreus to be head of CENTCOM is part of an ongoing, quiet purge by the Bush Administration of anyone in the US military leadership with more than a shred of moral conscience, and I am utterly convinced that if the Bush Adminstration can attack Iran it will.

I am not the only one concerned:
Petraeus' rise lets Cheney loose on Iran

WASHINGTON - The nomination of General David Petraeus to be the new head of the US Central Command ensures that he will be available to defend the George W Bush administration's policies on Iran and Iraq at least to the end of Bush's term and possibly even beyond.

It also gives Vice President Dick Cheney greater freedom of action to exploit the option of an air attack against Iran during the administration's final months.
Gareth Porter

Questions Linger on Scope of Iran’s Threat in Iraq
MARK MAZZETTI, STEVEN LEE MYERS and THOM SHANKER
New York Times, April 26, 2008

" For weeks, Mr. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the top American officials in Iraq have portrayed Iran as a significant and growing threat to the American war effort in Iraq.
In particular, they have cited an intensified barrage of Iranian-made rockets hitting the Green Zone in Baghdad — including attacks during a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — that have killed Americans and Iraqis.

...in recent weeks the administration has sought to emphasize the threat by citing new evidence. The interrogations of four Iraqi Shiite militia commanders, for example, have provided new details about the extent of training conducted by the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, officials said."

Here's Jim Lobe, for IPS News:
POLITICS-US: Hawks Resurgent?

Add the promotion of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq who has overseen the past year's "surge" of U.S. troops, to take over the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) this summer, as well as the increasingly harsh charges against Iran's alleged interference in Iraq that have been coming out of the Pentagon in recent days.

All these developments are seen by some as an answer to the prayers of neo-conservatives, in particular, who had largely given up hopes that Bush could be persuaded to attack Iran's nuclear facilities before leaving office.

In his testimony about the surge earlier this month, Petraeus had repeatedly blamed allegedly Iranian-sponsored and directed Shi'a "Special Groups" for attacking Iraqi government and U.S. forces in Basra and Baghdad, describing them as "the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq"...

...there appears little question that the rhetoric here has become considerably harsher in recent weeks. The shift became particularly evident in February, when the former Centcom commander and the man whom Petraeus will replace, Adm. William 'Fox' Fallon, abruptly announced his resignation following the publication of a profile in Esquire magazine that depicted him as opposing key administration policies and as the one man standing between Bush and war with Iran.


Petraeus promotion an ominous sign of possible war with Iran
Salt Lake City Tribune, April 26, 2008
Farrah Hassan

The promotion of Gen. David Petraeus is another ominous sign that the Bush administration may attack Iran. President Bush is nominating Petraeus, commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, to replace Adm. William Fallon as head of Centcom: U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fallon was forced to resign last month after his outspoken opposition to an attack on Iran. Petraeus, by contrast, has been heating up the rhetoric against Iran. "Iran has fueled the violence in a particularly damaging way through its lethal support to the special groups," Petraeus testified to Congress in early April. Those special groups (meaning, the militias) pose the biggest threat to the United States, he added. He blamed Iran for the rocket attacks on the Green Zone, and he warned, "We should all watch Iranian actions closely in the weeks and months ahead." Petraeus' boss issued a warning of his own. "The regime in Tehran also has a choice to make," Bush said April 10. "If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq. If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests, and our troops and our Iraqi partners."

Here's what I wrote over three years ago, January 2005, on the Daily Kos:
What the Bush Adm. may actually be aiming at - as a politically serendipitious blowback from strikes on Iran - would be another major terrorist attack on US interests or US soil.

Al Qaeda now exists more as an ideological franchise than an organization. But Hezzbollah on the other hand.... Hezzbollah is an actual organization, more like a ministate, which has both military and terrorist capabilities and which has close ties to, and receives funds from, Iran: The organization has missiles and drones, and demonstrated considerable military capability in driving Israeli forces from Lebannon. One cannot assume, for that matter, that the organization does not possess one or two portable nuclear devices.

In going to war against Iran, the Bush Administration will be inviting Hezzbollah retaliation. That might not come immediately, but it would be an underestimation, I feel, to discount the possibility that some of the most outrageous of the many Bush Administration generated US PR debacles surrounding the Iraqi invasion and occupation were wholly unintentional. The gratuitiously offensive nature of the sexual humiliation tactics used at Abu Ghraib, while disastrous at one level, also serve the interests of some in the Bush Administration who need a more significant Causus Bellum now that the sting of 9-11 has ebbed somewhat.

The overall effect of US behavior since the invasion of Iraq has been to polarize Islamic attitudes - this is surely happening within such subcultures as Hezzbollah, and so I have to wonder - when will the Bush Administration's Trotskyite rolling "permanent war" in the Mideast cause the voices of hotheads to prevail, against the voices of caution, in the call for strikes against US interests ? And, would the Bush NeoCons be blindsided, or would they have been expecting such an attack ? It would be a mistake to assume that the growing world hatred of the US was unanticipated or undesired by the Bush Neocons and their Dominionist and Rapturist Christian allies - such world hatred, and subsequent terrorist attacks on the US, would, indeed, serve to advance both the domestic and geopolitical aims of the NeoCons.

Of course, such attacks would provide a pretext for US actions against Syria and Iran. Domestically, however, they would be at least as useful for the Bush NeoCons and the new US Right (AKA the religious right ).

Another strike of magnitude comparable to or larger than the September 11, 2001 attack - "9-11 redux" - or even several much smaller attacks, would provide George W. Bush, the NeoCons, and the Christian right - especially with the likely escalation of conflict and mayhem in the Mideast - with sufficient pretext for substantial crackdown - under the rubric of "national unity -quashing domestic dissent. Frenzied demonization of Islamic-American groups with a subsequent widespread outbreak of hate crimes and perhaps the interment of Muslims and certain ethnicities of Mideastern origin may proliferate. Also, expect a crackdown on political and cultural dissident groups - outspoken voices on the left, gays, and so on. Some on the US right have long planned and yearned for something like this, the transformation of US government into an authoritarian security state.

Beyond harshly repressive domestic political measures, further terrorist attacks within the US would enable the "toughening up America", and full mobilization of America's war-fighting capability - by way of a reinstituted draft, privatized military services, or both. In fact, this has been underway in a low grade way since September 11, 2001, and it should be noted that one of the side effects of the Iraq conflict has been a dramatic expansion in the number of battle hardened US Army and National Guard units. This may have been unintentional, but it lays groundwork for future war and is congruent with an overall Spartanization of an American that has come to be viewed by some as grown dangerously soft.

The upshot of this train of events will be a "Spartanization" of America, under a new, embattled and combatitive mentality, and - meanwhile a rolling, graduated blitz through the Mideast which, conveniently, could have the effect of destabilizing Saudi Arabia - and that, in turn, would demand US led "stabilization" measures. Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia - one down, two to go, and the US will achieve direct control of something on the order of 1/2 of the World's oil. That control can be, in turn, used to exert pressure on nations opposed to the new US hegemonic order.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

NO War with Iran!!!
Faye Hadley

Rumors of war abound, and nothing could be more frightening than the thought of this derelict, incompetent administration launching yet another unnecessary war against a country that is at least three times the size of Iraq with nearly three times the population. Having learned absolutely nothing from the fiasco that is Iraq, the Bush administration is planning on attacking Iran. Or that is the buzz in the blogosphere anyway - I hope against hope that this prediction is wrong, but at this point, I've become so cynical and disillusioned that I wouldn't put any devious dastardly action past Darth Cheney or any of his minions (and I include Georgie Bush in that group).

Here are a few blog posts that have me worried:
Home Alone, Dick and George Desperately Scheme for War
Post Labor Day Roll Out - War with Iran
Do We Have the Courage to Stop War with Iran?
THE NEXT WAR? by Arnaud de Borchgrav, Benador Associates
Staging Nukes for Iran?

Here is a web site that gives me hope: StopIranWar.com

Here is an essay that explains much about why we are where we, as a people, are in time and war: Iraq, Iran and the Moral Rot Infecting the Soul of America

What a Meet-up!

This past weekend I flew to Washington DC with the intention of meeting up with some online friends - folks I'd never actually met before but with whom I already felt a strong connection. On Saturday night I participated in the FourFreedoms Meet Up at the Holiday Inn in Rosslyn (a block and a half off of DC's Metro Blue Line). I shared a room with Starling, an adorable lesbianite who had inadvertently booked a suite with a sofa, coffee table, comfy chairs, two balconies for the smokers, plenty of tabletop space and a working ice machine just down the hall.

We were all treated to an evening of Raintinis (a spectacular beverage concocted by Raine. Here's what goes into a Raintini - Vanilla Vodka (count 4), Seltzer water (count 1 or 2), Splash of cherry juice (from maraschino cherries), gently shaken then poured over three maraschino cherries in a martini glass. I recommend letting the cherries soak in the bottom of your martini glass all night long and just before calling it a night, slurping down the drunken cherries for an outstanding buzz cap - like a night cap but much better.

As you might expect amongst a group of bloggers, several of us brought along our laptops and we played Steph and the Mooks' Friday show which most of us had missed as we were en route to the meet-up. But with such a boisterous group of people gathered in a studio-apartment-sized hotel room, the conversation overwhelmed the sound of the show. The conversation kicked off as I shared with the group a disturbing comment, by a fellow blogger who happens to be a dog. This doggie blogger suggested that I, of all people, might want to join her imaginary deluded call for the murder of Hillary Clinton - we gathered around a laptop and watched the clip of Keith Olbermann's apparently threatening remark made against Senator Clinton. This remark was the unspoken inspiration for the astonishing (shocking and dismaying) comment that left a very sour taste in my mouth. And to which I will respond in due time, I am still recovering from my excellent weekend and don't want to bring myself down by sparring with a one-time friend over comments delusional and outrageous.

Back to the Meet-up...the topics of the night travelled from Raine's report on the on-air soap opera "How Air America turns," "Does this smell like it's turned to you?" "Yes, I think it has," was the concensus. We called TriSec and toasted him via speaker phone. We toasted Stephanie, Chris Lavoie, Jim Ward, and Rebekah Baker. Mondo made an awesome pizza run, BobR's beer flowed freely and the Raintinis kept coming. All-in-all it was an amazing evening of political banter, good friends exhanging ideas (political, familial, relationship and otherwise). I can't wait for the next meet-up :D Photos coming soon...

Here's the offensive comment that was posted on my blog:
"So, tell us, Faye, are you ready to join your and Steph's boyfriend Keith Olbermann in calling for the murder of Senator Clinton? That would settle the Democratic primary race for you once and for all, wouldn't it? God forbid we should let those pesky voters settle things, eh? Nice to see that His Hopeness inspires such high-minded thoughts in his delusional followers."

This Blog Cannot Wait... (John McCain - Get Offa My Lawn!)

This blog is sick and tired of waiting for the Democrats to pick a nominee, so this blog, beginning today, is running against John McCain. I am about ready to say that I don't care who the Democratic nominee is anymore (not true - I am still hoping for Barack Obama), but I won't go that far. Still, I am tired as hell of waiting around for the super-duper delegates to make up their minds and for every state (including Guam and Puerto Rico) to weigh-in with their selection for the presidential candidate that they think would make the better choice. Here are the

Top Ten Reasons Why John McCain Cannot Be President:

10. Waterboarding - Torture or No? Well, John knew the answer to that one when he was in the Hanoi Hilton, but now maybe waterboarding is okay.
9. Still standing by the Pastor Hagee endorsement.
8. What he knows about finance he learned from being a fifth of the Keating Five.
7. His foreign policy includes a statement that it is okay with him if we are in Iraq for the next hundred years.
6. Morally, he left his first wife when she was sick to marry a rich pill-popping recipe-swiping much younger woman (did I mention that she is a beer-distributor heiress?).
5. He has flip-flopped on important issues such as tax-cuts for the wealthiest Americans, torture and campaign finance reform.
4. He has pandered to the far-right-wing of the fundamentalist religious extreme (Jerry Falwell - once an agent of intolerance, is now a-okay with John).
3. He can't visit the Middle East without Joe Lieberman on his shoulder.
2. He's no maverick, he toes the GOP party line on reproductive choice, discrimination of gays, foreign policy, and corporate tax cuts.
2. So old that he can't remember the difference between Mickey and Daffy (one is a mouse, the other a duck).
2. His temper is a short fuse of dynamite, and his finger should not be on any trigger :(
1. Two words - Supreme Court.

This is just the first of a series of posts that will highlight all of the reasons why John Sidney McCain should NOT be the next president of the United States. Hope I don't have to write too many of these posts before I know who McCain's opponent will be ;)

10 Things You Should Know About McCain (but probably don’t) (April 5, 2008), Chris Guy

1. “The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,” ABC News, April 3, 2008
“McCain Facts,” ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008.

2. “McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,” Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008.
“Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,’” ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008.

3. “McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill,” ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008.

4. “McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,” MSNBC, February 18, 2007.

5. “2007 Children’s Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard,” February 2008.
“McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion,” CNN, October 3, 2007.

6. “Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady,” Associated Press, April 3, 2008.
“McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,’” Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008.

7. “Will McCain’s Temper Be a Liability?,” Associated Press, February 16, 2008.
“Famed McCain temper is tamed,” Boston Globe, January 27, 2008.

8. “Black Claims McCain’s Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: ‘I Don’t Know What The Criticism Is,’” ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008.
“McCain’s Lobbyist Friends Rally ‘Round Their Man,” ABC News, January 29, 2008.

9. “McCain’s Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,” Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008.
“Will McCain Specifically ‘Repudiate’ Hagee’s Anti-Gay Comments?,” ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008.
“McCain ‘Very Honored’ By Support Of Pastor Preaching ‘End-Time Confrontation With Iran,’” ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008.

10. “John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record,” Sierra Club, February 28, 2008.

Polar Opposite Commercials for the Climate

By now I'm sure that you all have seen the public service ads that feature Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Former Speaker Gingrich, and another ad that has Reverend Al Sharpton sitting next to Reverend Pat Robertson on a sofa on a beach. What in the world do these odd couples have in common? Well, if you've seen the ads, you know that these odd couples are paired up to highlight the growing climate crisis, and by appearing together they hope to send a message that the state of the climate is a bi-partisan issue that we all need to address together.

Speaking of odd couples, you all may remember that several years ago Momma teamed up with Bay Buchanan (sister of right-wing pundit, Pat Buchanan) to co-star on Equal Time on CNBC. That got me thinking - that Al Gore and his crew over at WeCanSolveIt.org would do well to pair up Steph and Bay again for a polar opposite spot, and I've got just the venue for it. This morning, somebody mentioned something about Gilley's Bull Riding and Steph admitted to riding the bull "back in the day." So there you have it - Stephanie Louise Miller and Angela "Bay" Buchanan together, saving the planet by riding the mechanical bull at Gilley's. Do we have an image of what this might actually look like? Why, yes, yes we do. and without further ado, I present to you - "Bay & Steph Riding the Bull to Save the Climate."

Steph Weighs in on Polygamy

Some Thoughts on the State of the Race

Yesterday I e-mailed my friend who is a superdelegate and, echoing the words of Dr. Howard Dean, I suggested that it is time for her to make her endorsement and I also presumptuously went on to suggest who she might endorse. Barack Obama, of course, is my choice, citing as my evidence my disgust with the Clinton's campaign tactics, and the fresh perspective that Obama brings to the political arena. I have not heard back from my friend, and don't really expect to, knowing how busy she is - she is not only a superdelegate, but she also runs a 527 organization and is in the middle of trying a class action lawsuit against Union Carbide over carbon black exhaust that has polluted the entire Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.

Superdelegates are busy people. We are all fairly busy people - trying to make ends meet, trying to keep up with the twists and turns in this political year, trying to budget our paychecks so that we don't end up charging too much on our credit cards at the end of each month. In the midst of all of this economic turmoil, we are faced with making one of the most significant decisions that we may ever decide. Who will be our next president? I hope against hope that all of the infighting between Obama and Clinton hasn't permanently damaged the party to the extent that it would be impossible for us to come together and show up at the polls and defeat John McCain. But I am beginning to wonder. What will all those Hillary supporters do when she is not the nominee? Will they take their marbles and go home? I hope not, because every vote that we don't cast for the Democratic candidate is essentially a vote for the GOP, for at least four more years of the tragic war in Iraq and the downtrodden economy.

Just reviewing a few blogs and web sites I am aware how rabid and dug-in the Hillary supporters have become. They all seem as implacable as their heroine, as determined to deny reality as she is. This, I worry, may prove to be a problem not only for Obama but also for the nation come November. What we cannot risk is another stolen or even a close-enough election for the GOP to win via more election shenanigans. What we must do is get every newly-registered voter to the polls on November 4th and make sure that they are not handed easily-dismissed provisional ballots. We need to make sure that all the enthusiastic young voters who have turned out in record numbers for Obama are not sitting at home on that fateful Tuesday in November. What we must do is WIN in November - that is what matters the most, a victory over greed, incredible hubris, dishonesty and a violent outlook on the world and our neighbors. We all know that it will likely take years and more than one Democratic administrations to undo the horrible damage done by the Bush/Cheney administration. We cannot wait or risk a continuation of these despicable policies.

I am reminded of a line from one of my all-time favorite movies, Thelma & Louise. (It is a decisive moment in the film, when Louise is contemplating her future - in Mexico - and she needs to know if Thelma is with her on her trip or not, and it goes like this):
"Are you up to this? I mean, I have to know. This isn't a game. I'm in deep shit. I gotta know what you're gonna do." This is the question I pose to each and every Hillary Clinton backer in the country right now - I gotta know what you're gonna do. If not today, then definitely by the middle of next week - I hope that Pennsylvania doesn't leave us hanging, but if it does, I hope that the superdelegates see the writing on the wall and come on board the Obama bandwagon, and end the madness of indecision of the Democratic primary and name our nominee (Senator Barack Obama).

Facing Obama Fund-Raising Juggernaut, Clinton Seeks New Sources of Cash (NYTimes, April 20, 2008)

Clintons Sort Friends: Past and Present (NYTimes, April 20, 2008)

Michael Moore Endorses Obama

Viva Obama!

Bruce Springsteen Endorses Obama!

The Boss has made his choice and it is for Barack Obama!!!

In making this important and significant endorsment Springsteen wrote:

"Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.
He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.'"

Recipes from Momma's Kitchen

In light of Cindy Lou McCain's lifting recipes from the Food Network (Rachel Ray, etc....) I thought Momma might like to put together a little cookbook of her own with a few of her inimitable recipes. Here are a few that come quickly to mind:

Momma's Homemade Polish Sauerkraut
Start with bacon fat
Put the sauerkraut in the skillet with the bacon fat
Pour another tumbler of wine
Let the entire contents of the skillet burn until it's smokin'
Then serve

Momma's Charred Frozen Pizza
Turn on the oven
Place a frozen Pizza in the oven
Call a friend and forget about the pizza until you smell something burning
Open oven - Extract charred pizza
Eat anyway

Momma's Wine Spritzer
Hell, who is Momma kidding?
She wouldn't dilute her wine with juice or seltzer water
Put wine in tumbler - DRINK

Momma's Homemade Margaritas
Hire an adorable boy bartender
Hand him a bag of limes and a bottle of Jose Cuervo
Go lie down on the couch (or the chair - depending on where Max has chosen to sit)
Wait for beautiful boy to deliver Margarita to the Momma
Can you say "Caliente"? or perhaps "Donde los Yikes!"

Momma's Nuked Yams (Thanks Liv!)

Wrap a yam in aluminum foil

Put it in the Microwave

Turn on Microwave

Blow up the office (or home)

Call Fire Dept

Make out with Hunky Fireman

Screw the yam (not literally, unless you are into that sort of thang)

When all else fails, pick up the phone and order take out :D

Activity in Stephlandia (or Happy Tax Day :( )

DJ from the Empire State launched on the air yesterday morning via the Stephanie Miller Show a new Steph Fan Feature (tm) - Viva la Stephipedia, a wiki that focuses on all things Steph. That is just one of the many tidbits to report from Stephlandia today. The Stephanie Miller Live Blog is giving FourFreedoms Blog a run for its money (the sad thing is that none of this is making any of us any money :( ). Many die-hard bloggers like Raine, BobR, Liv, Shane-O and yours truly have become bi-bloggers (simultaneously blogging on two different live blogs). It varies between being a tedious task and challenging chore. But I will have to forego my bi-blogging today, because I'm back at work with many e-mails to answer, a research question to look into for a student, and my usual tasks as a radical militant librarian. The above cartoon is from a regular poster at FourFreedomsblog.com who goes by the handle - shelaghc.

Plus today is TAX DAY - I always wait until the last minute - it's my little gift to Uncle Sam. I let him collect interest on my money until the last possible day I can file, which is today. I'm not sure why I do this. It isn't as if the current administration spends my money in any kind of way that agrees with me. I personally wouldn't spend another dime in Iraq, given that they are sitting on oil revenue that ought to begin to pay for the reconstruction of their own country - sorry, we wrecked your country, but we think it would be better if we leave now (only if you agree, and rumor has it that you'll see us off with a parade :D).

Here's Producer Chris Lavoie's new favorite drop: "Oh, I don't have time for this, I have to go buy a single piece of fruit with a coupon and then return it, making people wait behind me while I complain." (Audio coming soon - thanks mucho, Shane-O!)

The Audacity of Truth

As I sat last night watching Keith "Truth-teller" Olbermann report on the most recent campaign flap - this one focusing on remarks Senator Barack Obama made in San Francisco last week about his assessment of the mindset of many voters in the middle of the country, my first thought was ho hum, here we go again, creating another mountain out of a molehill. But reflecting on not only Obama's comments, but also the outrageous response to what seems like simple statements of truth, I became angry. My anger grew out of realizing a distinct difference between Mr. Obama's remarks and Ms. Clinton's outright lies. Obama simply offered an opinion about what is going on in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and other mid-western states that have lost industrial jobs and are dealing with the ramifications of a souring economy along with the loss of those good paying jobs, and with them the loss of pensions, and health care. Obama's comments ring true to me. Along with his words about race, Obama speaks the truth as he sees it, as he experiences it, as an intelligent, well-spoken young politician, he is giving us not what we want to hear but rather what the reality is "on the ground."

Are you feeling bitter, well are ya?

Hell yes, I'm feeling bitter. I am bitter that my country is spending not only our current resources but also is bankrupting our children's and our grandchildren's future by continuing to fight in a country that posed no threat to us, that had no weapons of mass destruction, and that had no ties to Al-Qaeda (the terrorist group that actually attacked the twin towers and the pentagon on September 11, 2001). I am bitter that the current administration has catered to the wealthy at the expense of the middle and working class people in this country, granting tax cuts to the ultra-rich and corporations while average Americans are facing foreclosure and are having a hard time filling their gas tanks with the very commodity that is sold by corporations who are profiting by feeding at the government trough and gouging the nation's working people at the same time.

I am sorry to tell the media, but I do know the difference between an outright lie told for effect "I landed in Bosnia under sniper fire," and an assessment offered as insight into what is going on in America right now "It’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." The only change I would suggest that Mr. Obama make when he offers future assessments of the American psyche, is that he use the pronoun "we" rather than "they." It is more accurate and inclusive.

Here's a link to the full audio of Obama's speech, listen to it and decide for yourself whether you feel optimistic or bitter about the state of America right now. I know how I feel, and that is why I so desperately want a change in direction and leadership in this country. Viva Obama!

Read Catherine Crier's piece in HuffPo, Punished for the Truth, (April 12, 2008).

Free Tibet

In August of 1987, when I returned to Kathmandu after three and a half weeks in Tibet, I stopped by a small shop where I had met and enjoyed conversations with Tashi, an exiled young Tibetan man, who ran his own business where he sold handmade backpacks and duffel bags (all made out of brightly colored Nepali fabric). I wanted to know where I could get a Tibetan flag embroidered on my day pack as I still marvelled at the fact that the small pack had held all I needed during my time in Tibet, and I was still so high on the experience of actually visiting the magical kingdom and walking through the Potala in Lhasa (among many other amazing adventures) that I was eager to place a reminder of the journey on my pack. Tashi, whose English was impressive, understood my wish immediately and rather than refer me to another shop down the street, he insisted on taking my day pack and having the embroidery done for me. I assured him I would pay whatever the cost and left my pack with him, thinking it would take a few days to have the flag put on my pack. The next morning as I was passing Tashi's shop, he called to me and motioned me inside. He then displayed my well-worn pack with a large Tibetan flag embroidered across the top of it. I tried to pay him for the work, but he would accept no money. It was a gift he explained from the Tibetan people for the time and interest I had demonstrated by visiting their country. I hugged Tashi, smiled and bowed in the way I had learned in his homeland. I still have that old day pack, although the embroidery is now threadbare and the flag has lost most of its luster, but I will never forget the careful explanation of the meaning of the symbols on the Tibetan flag that Tashi provided when he gave me back my pack.

That trip has been on my mind lately as I read about reports of protests and ongoing oppression and abuse by the Chinese in Tibet. My experience in Tibet taught me that if a religion or belief can be judged by how it is manifested in those who believe or practice that faith (and really, how else can a belief-system be judged?) then the faith of Tibetan Buddhism is far and away the most peaceful, beautiful and blissful belief on the planet. Every Tibetan I met, without exception, was kind and welcoming, willing to share what little she/he had with me, ready to laugh or at least smile in appreciation of my feeble attempts to speak a phrase or two of their language. The course I had taken at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal before I headed to Tibet had given me a very rudimentary understanding of the practices of Tibetan Buddhism, but I was thankful for the crash course that allowed me to fall in line with other pilgrims on their way to the next monastery or temple, share their food (tsampa - barley flour mixed with tea or chang - a fermented barley beverage: very sour, but oddly thirst-quenching), and hang prayer flags along the way.

I remember sharing the disdain that the Tibetans felt for the Chinese and agreeing with their view that the Chinese had no place in the sovereign country of Tibet. I also remember the faces of the monks and nuns who had been disfigured by the brutal Chinese. The Chinese are definitely an occupying force and as such rule the country as the unwelcome bullies that they are. I chose to stay in Tibetan Guest Houses rather than the sterile concrete Chinese "hotels" in locked compounds that those who were on Chinese guided tours were forced to patronize.

My heart weeps for oppressed people all around the world, but I have a very soft spot in my soul for the Tibetan people who by no act of their own, rather by a fluke of geography, have come to be occupied by a tyrannical government that would sooner see them all dead or converted to good Chinese as it would negotiate with their leader (His High Holiness the Dalai Lama) over some measure of autonomy for a proud indigenous people who deserve to manage their own affairs and run their own sovereign country.

For more on my trip to Tibet, please visit an older post: His High Holiness the Dalai Lama

Here are a few good links that provide more information on how you can support the people of Tibet:
International Campaign for Tibet
Tibet Online
Free Tibet

Reporters without Borders on Boycotting the Beijing Olympics 2008
10 Reasons to Boycott the Beijing Olympics

Intelligence vs. Smarts

Watching Chris "Fair Enough" Matthews interview Senator Barack Obama last night at West Chester University I was struck by how very intelligent Obama is. He radiates a thoughtfulness and articulates those thoughts with such seeming ease that I truly began to imagine an intelligent leader in the White House as opposed to the bumbling idiot that we have all suffered through for the last seven and a half years. What a joy it will be to send our president out in the world knowing that he can string together words in a coherent fashion and speak intelligently and eloquently to other world leaders without bracing for the inevitable faux pas, misspeak or bungled phrase.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Senator Hillary Clinton isn't a smart woman. She is obviously smart in the ways of politics, yet there is a devious quality to her intelligence that leaves me less impressed and more skeptical of her motives. Why did she insist on saying over and over again that she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire when it was just a matter of time until the video surfaced that disproved her story and made her look foolish? Why does she surround herself with political operatives who have consistently given her bad advice? These questions worry me and they do factor into my decision as to whom I will select as the commander-in-chief.

This just confirms to me that the most important criterion for selecting the next president should be intelligence. Bill Clinton had it in spades and that was obvious. Barack Obama has a great and abundant, cool and collected mind and that is impressive, and I believe it should matter more than all the other criteria that we consider when choosing a leader who will face such daunting challenges, disasters, corruption and downright messes that will be the legacy of the current administration. More fuel for Barack's fire, I'm ready to be called an Obamaniac, I've made up my mind and I hope that the outcome is as I want it to be. Obama rocks :D

Watch Barack Obama on Hardball/MSNBC.

Obama Jokes About The Comedic Value Of Cable News (HuffPo, April 3, 2008)

Happy April Fools Day!

Today's True April Fool

Steph read this at the top of hour two today (April 1, 2008):

Well. well, well, Stephanie Miller and the Mooks,
You all have worked my last nerve, Momma with her incessant Hillary-hating, Jim who just won't stop imitating all the people I revere, and Christopher with his adolescent guffawing - I'm done, I tell you, fini, the end. I plan to cancel my StephCast, get back to work, no more live streaming, no more live blogging, no more guess the quotes, no more nada... and I'll be damned if I'll ever call Rebekah again - harumph!
APRIL FOOLS!!!
I love you all more than words can say - keep up the fabulous work :D
Cheers,
mfaye

Will Hillary Please Do the Math?

With none other than Senator Patrick Leahy calling for Hillary to drop out of the race for the good of the Democratic Party, we are all waiting on pins and needles to see what Hillary's next move will be. Will she continue her daily calls to the superdelegates (I personally know a superdelegate who is fielding 4 to 5 calls a day from the Clinton Camp, this is the same camp that couldn't bother to return calls a year ago when the same superdelegate was trying to get Hillary to appear at a national campaign event that addressed Native issues). I don't think that Hillary will get the vote of this particular superdelegate. Nor will she manage to sway enough other delegates (super and otherwise) to secure the nomination, so why won't she do the decent thing and hang it up and begin backing the inevitable Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama? The answer has become clearer and clearer as the race progresses - the Clintons have a win at any cost, by any means necessary, and a never-say-die attitude, that may very well result in a Republican victory in November. I wish Bill and Hillary would put their impressive heads together and face the music that has already begun to play ever more loudly and toss in the towel. The impact of staying in the race cannot be underestimated - all the while the not-so-liberal media has been focusing almost exclusively on the Obama/Clinton fight while ignoring McCain's series of faux pas, mispeaks, and scary policies.

I've already set my sights on Vancouver, British Columbia, should the Clintonistas succeed in making their point that Hillary should be the next president by ensuring that John McCain will be our next president.

More clues that it is time for Hillary Clinton to bow out graciously:

Cash-strapped Clinton fails to pay bills

Senator Chris Dodd: "It’s very difficult to imagine how anyone can believe that Barack Obama can’t be the nominee of the party." (Ben Smith's blog on Politico)

Latest Gallup Poll Shows Obama Over Clinton by 7%

Wall Street Journal (March 31, 2008), New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity

Richardson Endorses Obama

Well it's about freakin' time, but after the week that Senator Barack Obama has had, with the lambasting on Faux News over the Reverend Wright flap - all the while ignoring or certainly downplaying the sheer insanity of the comments made by preachers/pastors who have endorsed John McCain (Hagee, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme...), it comes as a true breath of fresh spring air to receive the endorsement of not only a one time opponent in this presidential race, but also undoubtedly one of the most qualified candidates to run for the office of the president. Welcome Governor Richardson to the Obama Camp. Your endorsement is truly appreciated and couldn't have come at a better time (unless of course, you'd endorsed Senator Obama before the Texas Primary/Caucus), but we'll take the endorsements as they come and thank you heartedly for it.

Here is Bill Richardson's reasoning behind his endorsement of Barack Obama in the Governor's own words:

During the last year, I have shared with you my vision and hopes for this nation as we look to repair the damage of the last seven years. And you have shared your support, your ideas and your encouragement to my campaign. We have been through a lot together and that is why I wanted to tell you that, after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I have made a decision to endorse Barack Obama for President.

We are blessed to have two great American leaders and great Democrats running for President. My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver. It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall. The 1990's were a decade of peace and prosperity because of the competent and enlightened leadership of the Clinton administration, but it is now time for a new generation of leadership to lead America forward.

Barack Obama will be a historic and a great President, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad.

Earlier this week, Senator Barack Obama gave an historic speech. that addressed the issue of race with the eloquence, sincerity, and optimism we have come to expect of him. He inspired us by reminding us of the awesome potential residing in our own responsibility. He asked us to rise above our racially divided past, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.

As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his words. I have been troubled by the demonization of immigrants--specifically Hispanics-- by too many in this country. Hate crimes against Hispanics are rising as a direct result and now, in tough economic times, people look for scapegoats and I fear that people will continue to exploit our racial differences--and place blame on others not like them . We all know the real culprit -- the disastrous economic policies of the Bush Administration!

Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country long overdue and rejects the politics of pitting race against race. He understands clearly that only by bringing people together, only by bridging our differences can we all succeed together as Americans.

His words are those of a courageous, thoughtful and inspiring leader, who understands that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And, after nearly eight years of George W. Bush, we desperately need such a leader.

To reverse the disastrous policies of the last seven years, rebuild our economy, address the housing and mortgage crisis, bring our troops home from Iraq and restore America's international standing, we need a President who can bring us together as a nation so we can confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad.

During the past year, I got to know Senator Obama as we campaigned against each other for the Presidency, and I felt a kinship with him because we both grew up between words, in a sense, living both abroad and here in America. In part because of these experiences, Barack and I share a deep sense of our nation's special responsibilities in the world.

So, once again, thank you for all you have done for me and my campaign. I wanted to make sure you understood my reasons for my endorsement of Senator Obama. I know that you, no matter what your choice, will do so with the best interests of this nation, in your heart.

Sincerely,
Bill Richardson

Another Step Closer to Tyranny

"It's quite clear that the Bush administration officials who were around in the 1970s are settling old scores now. Here they are even preventing oversight within the executive branch. They have closed the books on the post-Watergate era."
Tim Sparapani, senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union



Last week Bush signed another Executive Order that brought our country another step closer to tyranny: Executive Order: President's Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board

Last week with a stroke of a pen, George W. Bush struck down a long-standing safeguard in our Democracy. The Intelligence Oversight Board was created in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, and was essentially eviscerated on February 29, 2008 by Bush. The Board was created by President Ford to ferret out illegal spying activities and to provide much-needed oversight for intelligence agencies. But now the Executive Order issued by Bush has gutted this important oversight board.

"An organization like this gives some level of comfort that there is an independent review capability. Changes like this appear to water down an organization that contributes to the public's confidence."
Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, former general counsel at both the CIA and the National Security Agency who is now the dean of the University of the Pacific law school, remarking that it is unwise for the Bush administration to undermine the Intelligence Oversight Board at the same time that the administration is pushing for fewer restrictions on its intelligence powers.

"What the Bush administration has systematically done is to try to limit both internal oversight - things like the Intelligence Oversight Board - and effective external oversight by the Congress. It's profoundly disappointing if you understand American history, and it's profoundly harmful to the United States."
Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr., former chief counsel to the Senate committee that undertook the 1975-76 investigation into intelligence abuses, commenting that by rolling back the post-Watergate reforms, the Bush administration had made intelligence abuses more likely to occur.

The Madness that is March

Welcome to My Favorite Month of the Year - March, the month of upsets and bracket busters, victories and defeats, cinderella teams and one champion. It is simply the month in which the NCAA holds its College Basketball Tournaments. Both men and women of the hardwood vie for a place in basketball history.Being reared in Indiana - home of the Indiana Hoosiers and the film "Hoosiers" - basketball is the winter religion that raised me. Never mind that every Sunday morning we would all get dressed up and go to Friends Meeting as a family, the real time to pray or center down as Friends say was every Friday night before the Pike High School Red Devils took on a notorious rival like the Carmel Greyhounds.

Once upon a time in the state of Indiana, before some meddling busybodies decided to divide the state’s schools into Divisions (A, AA, AAA and even 4A), it was possible for a small, rural school like Hickory in the famed movie “Hoosiers” to win THE State Tournament – there was only one State Tournament and only one champion. And although the NCAA does recognize Division II along with Division I schools, only Division I schools play in THE March Madness tournament. The tournament does by its very nature reflect schools of all sizes, from all conferences, and from every corner of the country. All the teams compete in one single-elimination tournament every March to determine THE National Collegiate Basketball Champion.The field of 65 teams is culled from a combination of the 31 conference champions and 34 at-large bids – true to form, again this year, the Selection Committee favored major conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, and PAC-10) over the smaller, mid-major schools, a perennial complaint.

It’s Sunday (Palm Sunday to be specific), and I’m home watching basketball. I am not in front of Inhofe's office, protesting another year of this god awful war. I feel a little bit bad that I didn’t make it to the protest rally, but I’ve had a productive, if relaxing, day here at the house. God, I wish that Bush and Cheney would be impeached. That would be better than winning either pool I’m in. It would be the perfect cap to March Madness.

Follow along with the Indiana Hoosiers, here.

It's Still the War(s), Stupid!

We are coming up on the five year anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, a country we now know beyond a shadow of a doubt had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, had no weapons of mass destruction, and was not seeking yellow cake uranium from Africa. Back when this illegal and immoral war was started a member of the Bush administration, Lawrence Lindsey, speculated that the conflict would cost 100 billion to 200 billion dollars and was ridiculed and subsequently fired for saying such a thing. We now are looking at a tab of close to a trillion dollars spent so far with a projected total bill for this war and the war in Afghanistan coming in at over three trillion dollars by the time it is all said and done. In the process of spending this obscene amount of money, we have lost nearly 4000 American troops, have ruined the lives of thousands more whose war wounds will never heal, who will never be able to regain the lives they once lead. Not to mention the Iraqis who have died, been displaced, wounded, and are living as refugees in conditions far worse than their pre-invasion situations. This entire fiasco rests heavily on the shoulders of Bush and Cheney who were the masterminds, organizers and cheerleaders for this debacle. Bush insisted on surging when we should have begun to pull out, Cheney sent in Halliburton and KBR to do the things that even desensitized soldiers would not do. They both together are responsible for the worst foreign policy disaster in which the United States has ever been involved. We still have not captured Osama Bin Laden, the situation in Pakistan is a mess, and Afghanistan is breeding more Taliban fighters than were there when we first invaded that country. All in all, nice job, Bush. We are more hated around the world, there is less respect for American foreign policy, our allies (?) are abandoning the fight against terrorism in which we are supposedly engaged. Thanks loads, George.

This is all to say that we must end the wars if we want to begin to heal our international reputation, and we must make diplomacy our goal rather than aggressive attacks on other countries. Ending our involvement in wars/occupations abroad will have the added benefit of allowing us the funds to address some of our most egregious needs here at home. The mortgage and now growing credit crises are no doubt the result of deregulation and privatization of which the Bush administration is so fond. Paul Krugman, an economist, explained the impact of laissez-faire capitalism much better than I ever could in a recent NYTimes column (Betting the Bank).

War with Iraq - Costs, Consequences and Alternatives, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. A December 2002 report, published under the auspices of the Academy’s Committee on International Security Studies (CISS), finds that the political, military, and economic consequences of war with Iraq could be extremely costly to the United States. William D. Nordhaus (Yale University) estimates the economic costs of war with Iraq in scenarios that are both favorable and unfavorable to the United States. Steven E. Miller (Harvard University) considers a number of potentially disastrous military and strategic outcomes of war for the United States that have received scant public attention. Carl Kaysen (MIT), John D. Steinbruner (University of Maryland),and Martin B. Malin (American Academy) examine the broader national security strategy behind the move toward a preventive war against Iraq.

Blood for Oil (a great web site that has all kinds of graphics that you can download that will piss off the current administration!)

Check out Deja Vu All Over Again - an analysis of the scary news that the resignation of Admiral Fallon portends as far as an imminent attack on Iran, an excellent post that can be found over on the FourFreedoms blog.

A Crude Case For War? (Washington Post, March 16, 2008)

On Being Yourself

I guess last Tuesday the voters of Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island woke up, poked their little pea heads out of the ground and saw their shadows, so that means we will have six more weeks of Hillary Clinton ;(

Hillary Clinton just won't go away. I am not really astounded that she would risk the very end she claims so badly to want (a Democratic victory in November) just to realize a very personal and increasingly selfish dream.

"I yam what I yam." said Popeye.

A few days ago I read an article in the NYTimes that revealed another memoir writer as a fraud. "In 'Love and Consequences,' a critically acclaimed memoir published last week, Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods. The problem is that none of it is true." It turns out that Margaret B. Jones (real name Margaret Seltzer) is not half Native, did not grow up on the mean streets of South-Central Los Angeles and was not a foster child raised by an African American woman known as "Big Mom." Rather Margaret was a white girl who grew up privileged in Sherman Oaks, California, reared by her biological family and attended a private Episcopal Day School from which she graduated in the early 1990s.

Ms. Seltzer it turns out follows in a long line of other infamous writers who decided that faux truth would sell better than real fiction and penned memoirs that were more imaginary than factual. Among the most well-known are James Frey author of "A Million Little Pieces" who was publicly humiliated on Oprah's show, less well-known, but more egregious is the author Nasdijj, who fabricated out of whole cloth a miserable, abusive boyhood in migrant farm camps. Nasdijj (later revealed to be a white man named Timothy Patrick Barrus) portrayed himself as a half-Navajo who went on to adopt a son who suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, in a subsequent memoir Mr. Barrus told how he adopted a boy with AIDS, how he and his adopted son lived on the edge, and how he tried to keep his son from experiencing pain by injecting him with heroin. It was all lies, complete and utter falsehoods, stories that may have sold as passable fiction had the authors had any ethics or honesty, but instead were passed off as life stories, real experiences, which no doubt loaned them some compelling credibility and increased their audiences.

As any publisher knows, a real-life gruesome tale beats a fictitious tale of life's travails any day of the week. We like stories about underdogs who have overcome great odds, stories of those who have been dealt a lousy hand, but played it well, and done right not just by their own measure, but who have helped others, if only by example. That is perhaps why these writers get published, but also why they are ultimately exposed as the frauds they are. Their stories are too rich in detail, too gruesome, too difficult to believe that anyone could have survived such horrors and lived to tell about it.

What these fraudulent writers do is marginalize and make suspect every story that is true, every word that is penned by a true survivor. They mock lives that are lived in spite of incredible odds against them, and they make us question every claim made in every memoir that we read.