A Week's Worth of "Guess the Quotes"

Well, after taking a brief hiatus from the SMS (due in part to a dreadful case of insomnia and an equally dreadful case of autumn blues), I started sending in e-mails to Steph again, and as has been the practice in the past, Steph often turns to my submissions as sources for "Guess the Quote." For those not familiar with the show, (and I must ask, "Why the heck have you not been listening to Steph and the mooks? If I can listen from my computer here in Tulsa, OK, there is absolutely no excuse for you, no matter where you live, to not tune into the Stephanie Miller Show every morning!") "Guess the Quote" is a game played between Steph and Jim "Voice Deity" Ward. Steph reads a quote and then Jim makes a wildly inaccurate and improbable guess as to who is responsible for the quote. Jim typically has a sub-theme in his answers and I enjoy trying to discern Jim's sub-theme almost as much as Chris "Boy Toy" Lavoie does. Anyway, it was a banner week for "Guess the Quotes" from Faye.
Here they are:

Monday, October 1, Hour 1 & Hour 3:

"Christ would not vote for Barack Obama, because Barack Obama has voted to behave in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved."
Alan Keyes, Religious Fanatic, GOP Presidential Candidate and former Radio Talk Show Host

"It's about time we all faced up to the truth. If we accept the radical homosexual agenda, be it in the military or in marriage or in other areas of our lives, we are utterly destroying the concept of family."
Alan Keyes, Religious Fanatic

"When we, through our educational culture, through the media, through the entertainment culture, give our children the impression that human beings cannot control their passions, we are telling them, in effect, that human beings cannot be trusted with freedom."
Alan Keyes, Religious Fanatic

"On all the matters that touch upon the critical moral issues, Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the evil side."
Alan Keyes, Religious Fanatic

"Hitler and his supporters were Satanists and homosexuals. That's just a true statement. The notion that is involved in homosexuality, the unbridled sort of satisfaction of human passions" leads to "'totalitarianism,' 'Nazism,' and 'communism.'"
Alan Keyes, Religious Fanatic

Wednesday, October 3, Hour 1:

"Senator Larry Craig is attempting to withdraw his guilty plea. Wonder if his new defense has anything to do with Restless Leg Syndrome?"
Will Durst

"I admire the Islam. There's a lot of good principles in it. But I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith."
Senator John McCain (R - AZ)

"Each nation will design its own separate strategies for making progress toward achieving this long-term goal. These strategies will reflect each country's different energy resources, different stages of development and different economic needs."
George W. Bush

Thurdsday, October 4, Hour 1:

"What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne."
Barack Obama, October 2, 2002

"Some seek to rewrite history. They argue that they weren't really voting for war, they were voting for inspectors, or for diplomacy. But the Congress, the Administration, the media, and the American people all understood what we were debating in the fall of 2002."
Barack Obama, October 2, 2007

"This was a vote about whether or not to go to war. That's the truth as we all understood it then, and as we need to understand it now. And we need to ask those who voted for the war: how can you give the President a blank check and then act surprised when he cashes it?" Barack Obama, October 2, 2007

Friday, October 5, Hour 2:

"Focus on the children. Their plight is our shame, I told him, and their promise is our future. Reach them and you reach our soul."
Reverend Jim Wallis, Author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

"I don't understand poor people. I've never lived with poor people or been around poor people much. I don't understand what they think and feel about a lot of things. I'm just a white Republican guy who doesn't get it."
George W. Bush, after the election of 2000 was decided, but before his inauguration

"The money needed for expanding health care to poor children in America is far less than the money that has been lost and wasted on corruption in Iraq. How have the priorities strayed so far from those children, whom he once agreed were so central to the soul of the nation?"
Reverend Jim Wallis

"If he knows his Bible, the President should remember that Jesus said to suffer the little children. This, however, isn't exactly what he meant."
Reverend Jim Wallis

Like a Serpent's Egg

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which hatch'd, would, as his kind grow mischievous;
And kill him in the shell.
Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

"Anybody who makes the slightest effort can see what is waiting in the future. It's like a serpent's egg: through the thin membranes, you can clearly discern the already perfect reptile."

From Ingmar Bergman's film A Serpent's Egg

It may indeed to be too late to kill the Bush administration in its shell, for what it has unleashed on the world is evil personified. Today's report on torture that has been the practice of this administration since that fateful day in September of 2001 is a horrifying revelation of what many of us have suspected all along. Not only can this administration not be trusted, but it is also perpetrating some of the most vile acts in our name and with our money.

Here's a nice summary from Obsidian Wings:

The techniques in question are repugnant. But in many ways, the administration's disregard for the law is worse. When your policies violate treaties you have signed and laws that are on the books, you are not supposed to come up with some clever way of explaining that appearances to the contrary, what you're doing is not illegal at all. You're supposed to stop doing it. When Congress decides to pass a law banning "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment, you are supposed to stop engaging in such treatment, not to redefine "cruel, inhuman and degrading" so that it doesn't apply to anything you want to do.

If the stories of Blackwater's unchecked action in Iraq aren't enough to make you wonder what ever happened to the rule of law, then I'm not sure there is anything that remains that this administration could do to shock you.

Following are several more telling portions from the article that appears in today's NYTimes:

Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations

"The classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of President Bush's second term and Mr. Gonzales's tenure at the Justice Department, where he moved quickly to align it with the White House after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil."
Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen, NYTimes, October 4, 2007

"The interrogation opinions were signed by Steven G. Bradbury, who since 2005 has headed the elite Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. He has become a frequent public defender of the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and detention policies at Congressional hearings and press briefings, a role that some legal scholars say is at odds with the office's tradition of avoiding political advocacy."
Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen, NYTimes, October 4, 2007

"The debate over how terrorism suspects should be held and questioned began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the Bush administration adopted secret detention and coercive interrogation, both practices the United States had previously denounced when used by other countries. It adopted the new measures without public debate or Congressional vote, choosing to rely instead on the confidential legal advice of a handful of appointees."
Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen, NYTimes, October 4, 2007

"The office was designed to insulate against any need to be an advocate," said Mr. Kmiec, now a conservative scholar at Pepperdine University law school. But at times in recent years, Mr. Kmiec said, the office, headed by William H. Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia before they served on the Supreme Court, "lost its ability to say no."

"The approach changed dramatically with opinions on the war on terror. The office became an advocate for the president's policies."
Douglas W. Kmiec, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush

"Never in history had the United States authorized such tactics. While President Bush and C.I.A. officials would later insist that the harsh measures produced crucial intelligence, many veteran interrogators, psychologists and other experts say that less coercive methods are equally or more effective."
Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen, NYTimes, October 4, 2007

"For government lawyers, the national security issues they were deciding were like working with nuclear waste — extremely hazardous to their health. If you give the administration what it wants, you'll lose credibility in the academic community. But if you hold back, you'll be vilified by conservatives and the administration."
Scott Horton, an attorney affiliated with Human Rights First

"We are likely to hear the words: 'If we don't do this, people will die.' It takes far more than a sharp legal mind to say 'no' when it matters most. It takes moral character. It takes an understanding that in the long run, intelligence under law is the only sustainable intelligence in this country."
James B. Comey, Deputy Attorney General (2003 - 2005)

"In a frequent practice, Mr. Bush attached a statement to the new law when he signed it, declaring his authority to set aside the restrictions if they interfered with his constitutional powers. At the same time, though, the administration responded to pressure from Mr. McCain and other lawmakers by reviewing interrogation policy and giving up several C.I.A. techniques."
Scott Shane, David Johnston, and James Risen, NYTimes, October 4, 2007

"I know from the military that if you tell someone they can do a little of this for the country's good, some people will do a lot of it for the country's better," Mr. Hutson said. Like other military lawyers, he also fears that official American acceptance of such treatment could endanger Americans in the future.

John D. Hutson, who served as the Navy's top lawyer from 1997 to 2000, said he believed that the existence of legal opinions justifying abusive treatment is pernicious, potentially blurring the rules for Americans handling prisoners.

"The problem is, once you've got a legal opinion that says such a technique is O.K., what happens when one of our people is captured and they do it to him? How do we protest then?"
[Indeed, on what ground do we have to stand?]

John D. Hutson

Steph throws her well-worn ball cap into the ring

"Four Boobs - Better Than an Entire Administration of 'em!"That's right folks Stephanie Miller is joining C.C. Goldwater in a bid for the White House. Our only complaint is that Momma is on the bottom of the ticket (just like her Dad was is 1964).

C.C. called in to the show this morning in hour 3 and made the big announcement (surprising - not really, not after all the hints and teases that Momma had hoisted onto her listeners all last week and in hours 1 and 2 of today's show). Nevertheless, they (C.C. and Steph) made it official and launched their fairly content-free web site at the same time. So visit their web site, sign up for their newsletter, and send them stuff to put up on their empty and sad little web site.

Here's the disclaimer that is emblazoned across the bottom of the welcome page: "The information contained herein is fictitious, satirical and intended for promotional and entertainment purposes only." The key word in that phrase is "promotional" - ya think?

Spector Goes Free?

Stephanie (er, Chris Boy-Toy Lavoie) posted my little Phil Spector collage on the SMS web site.

Check it out:

Iraq War Cost = 720 Million a Day

The American Friends Service Committee has been doing some calculations and the results are not encouraging for those of us who value peace over war, health over death, infrastructure over destruction, and education over genocide. AFSC (a Quaker peace organization) has determined that the occupation of Iraq is costing the American taxpayer 720 million dollars each day. That is the equivalent of building 84 new elementary schools or providing 6482 families with new homes or making sure over 423,529 children have health care or outfitting over 1. 2 million homes with energy-efficient renewable electricity. What could you do with 500,000 dollars each minute for the next 24 hours???

I don't know about you all, you are probably making loads more money than I am, but it will likely take me the better part of the next ten years to earn what this country spends in Iraq every damn minute of every day. That's a butt load of cash and I challenge any right-wing Bush/Iraq war supporter to tell me exactly what we are getting for this outrageous price tag. What are we accomplishing over there? The Iraqis don't want us in their country any more (if they ever did). The animosity that we are generating in the Muslim world is unparalleled and certainly counterproductive in our struggle against terrorism.

Please visit the AFSC's web site and sign their petition to end this fiasco in Iraq and redirect our national spending to real things that help real people.

Twenty-two Who Need to Go...

MoveOn.org wasn't my guidepost until tonight and now they are... Twenty-two United States senators have disappointed me beyond belief tonight - all Democrats (I expected as much from Republicans), but not Democrats, not the party of the people, not the party that earlier in the same day had tried valiantly to muster enough votes to pass the Webb amendment that would have guaranteed a minimum amount of rest to our weary soldiers and Marines.

Where were these condemnations when John Kerry was being swift boated and Max Cleland was being disparaged within an inch of their lives? WTF???

Here's the list of traitorous Democrats, that not coincidentally includes Jim Webb (D - VA) whose amendment came so close to passing only hours before:

Baucus (MT)
Bayh (IN)
Cardin (MD)
Carper (DE)
Casey (PA)
Conrad (ND)
Dorgan (ND)
Feinstein (CA)
Johnson (SD)
Klobuchar (MN)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Leahy (VT)
Lincoln (AR)
McCaskill (MO)
Mikulski (MD)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Salazar (CO)
Tester (MT)
Webb (VA)

My god, why not just bend over and beg the GOP to cram it up your ass? I'm sorry, but I'm so disgusted at the moment, that I'm not thinking politely. Have they all given up the will to live? Did the defeat on the Webb amendment send them cowering back into a permanent time-out? Why are the Democrats folding like a cheap deck of cards? What is up with this??? I really want to know, because if this is the leadership that I have to look forward to in 2008, I might as well slit my wrists right now. What the f*ck gives? Help me understand this development of supreme cowardice on the part of the Democratic party. WTF???

I really challenge somebody, anybody, to explain this humiliating act of idiocy on the part of 22 Democratic senators. Please if you think you can make me understand why on god's green earth these stupid politicians did what they did this evening, I would truly like to hear from you. But I don't want to hear that they were just responding to the political wind, come on, if there were any truth to that we'd be out of Iraq by now. Who are they pandering to? Fox Noise viewers? GOPers who wouldn't vote for any of them on a good day? Are they trying to lose the 2008 elections that have been virtually handed to them on a silver platter? WTF???

Digby over at Hullabaloo has an excellent post on this sordid example of "kicking your base in the teeth." See Boxed In?

Roxie, Roxie, Roxie

"What matters is that the ground and the discourse have shifted. Troop reductions will happen. If the administration can fudge the data enough to make its claims of progress appear credible (to the credulous), then the reductions may be larger and sooner than Petraeus was willing to suggest in his testimony before Congress."
Roxie, September 15, 2007

Roxie, you know you are my favorite doggie niece and my very favorite wire-haired fox terrier on the planet, but I must respectfully disagree that anything has changed in this country's involvement in Iraq. I offer up last night's very disappointing vote that defeated the Webb Amendment that would have made legal the decent goal of allowing troops the time at home to rest and recuperate from this god-awful occupation. The final vote was 56 - 44, the identical number of pro votes that the amendment garnered before the Democrats compromised with Republicans and made changes that promised to bring in more GOP votes - what happened?

Well, in my cynical little brain not a damned thing has changed, it's all only gotten worse. Not only have the Dems failed to attract enough Republican votes, but they have also squandered a rare opportunity to stand up to BushCo and force the administration's hand by threatening to cut the funding of this immoral and illegal occupation in which we are currently engaged in Iraq.

It is more than a skosh ironic that today the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (S. 1547 version of H.R. 1585). Should the lawmakers inside the beltway who have so blatantly ignored the desires of those of us who live outside Washington D.C. decide that they are truly representatives of the people rather than props for this administration's failed foreign policies, then they will hold hostage this important piece of legislation until they all agree to remove any more funding for operations in Iraq. This will not leave the troops in harm's way high and dry - they are funded through the end of the year and lawmakers are clever enough to draft language that would provide funding to bring them all safely home. This must be done if any of these lawmakers want to return to their jobs after the elections of 2008.

Sorry Roxie, I wish I had half of your optimism, but I am a cynical human who lives in a very red state that sends the two absolute worst senators (Coburn and Inhofe) to congress every cycle. I am more inclined to agree with you and the brilliant Paul Krugman that the current strategy (or what passes for strategy in this administration) is to kick the problem down the road with the hope that extricating ourselves from the quagmire that is Iraq will prove to be so disastrous and will result in such a bloodbath (although it's hard to imagine how things there could get much worse) that it would provide fodder for a Republican come-back in 2012 or at least a GOP congressional gain in 2010.

"Roxie's World predicted that if conditions in Iraq don't improve enough for even the adept liars of Bush world to declare a success, the administration would simply 'buy time until the disaster can be passed along to someone else.' No less a genius than New York Times columnist Paul Krugman agrees with us on that one. Yesterday, Krugman declared that the administration already realizes 'that the surge has failed, that the war is lost, and that Iraq is going the way of Yugoslavia.'"

Roxie, September 15, 2007

"All in all, Mr. Bush’s actions have not been those of a leader seriously trying to win a war. They have, however, been what you’d expect from a man whose plan is to keep up appearances for the next 16 months, never mind the cost in lives and money, then shift the blame for failure onto his successor."

Paul Krugman, NYTimes, September 14, 2007

BTB, Rox, I haven't seen the new Jodie Foster vehicle and probably won't - vigilante violence just doesn't have much appeal for me right now ;(

Rachel Maddow's Campaign Asylum: Still Stupid on Iraq

Check out this video clip of the brilliant Rachel Maddow who makes a few excellent points on the Democrats stupid mistakes when it comes to Iraq.

Hate to Say I Told You So, But...

I hate to be correct about this prediction, I really, truly do, but back in May I posted a piece on this blog entitled "Beware the September Song," and after a week of Petraeus reports and testimony, and much ignored other reports from the GAO and various generals and military personnel, it looks like the idiot-in-chief will in fact "stay the course" in Iraq, no matter how disastrous that course has proven to be. It's the same old song and dance, the same old dog and pony show (apologies to Tulsey, Dylan and Roxie who on their worst days would do a good sight better than BushCo in running this country, and who, I'm sure, would never have invaded Iraq).

Nevertheless, the Democrats continue to waste another magnificent opportunity to TAKE A STAND and pass real legislation that might force Georgie's hand. I am so sick of hearing the refrain that "we don't have the votes." Well, that is only true if you want enough votes to hand Bush a bill that he won't be able to veto or if you want to craft a bill that promises that at least 60 senators will have to agree to let a vote come to the floor. Come on people, those are not our only options. We can certainly pass a bill that requires that any additional funding for this god-awful occupation be tied to a withdrawal or, more cleverly, tied to more time at home and more training for the very tired and in many cases poorly-prepared troops. We hold the freakin' purse-strings!!! We can cut off the funding for this war and unlike the shortsighted Joe Biden who sat on Meet the Press and said most emphatically, "I will vote, as long as there’s a single troop in there that we are taking out or maintaining, either way, I will vote for the money necessary to protect them. Period." We hope that dubya won't be so crass as to leave the troops over in Iraq without the proper gear and attempt to blame the Democrats for "cutting off the money," but if he does this war is his and his alone. Don't believe for a minute that whoever inherits this immoral, illegal morass will have to wear the cloak of owner not fixer-upper of this mess. So let's go Democrats, let's put forth legislation that threatens to cut off the funds for this disastrous fiasco in Iraq - you have nothing to lose but your House or Senate seat.

See Frank Rich (NYTimes, September 16, 2007) Will the Democrats Betray Us?

See Mark Klein's blog post Iraq Strategy for the Democrats for a step-by-step "how to" guide for weak-kneed Democrats.

Guest Blogging

Hello SMS blogspot readers,
Just wanted to let you all know that I have taken a side gig - I am now guest blogging at Native Peoples Law Caucus Blog. If you have any interest in Native legal issues, I recommend that you check it out - it's a new blog, so there is not much content up there yet. But I'll be posting regularly as will other law librarians who work in the area of Native law. Thanks for your support of this blog and please visit the NPLC Blog.

No End in Sight

"Military progress without political progress is meaningless, and Mr. Bush no more has a plan for unifying Iraq now than when he started the war." NYTimes Editorial, September 9, 2007

This afternoon I saw I film that should be mandatory viewing for every lawmaker who is about to sit through the Petreaus spin that has already been vetted by the White House. The film is No End in Sight and it chronicles the bungling, horrible mismanagement of the occupation of Iraq that has brought us to this point. Anyone who believes that this administration has an iota of credibility when it comes to executing any kind of military or political operation in the Middle East is living with his head so deep in the sand that he will likely suffocate before he ever sees the light of day. The appalling lack of planning combined with the ignorance of the culture that we were "liberating" was made only more problematic by the incompetent personnel who were assigned to undertake the task of remaking a country that we allowed to be looted beyond recognition in the first months after the arrival of the American military in Iraq. Bush's (and ultimately George W. Bush is responsible for this fiasco) refusal to listen to ORHA's (Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) advice that at the very least 20 sites - including the National Archives and the Iraq National Museum - should be protected resulted in looting and destruction that served as an ugly prediction of the lack of planning to come. It is telling that the only ministry that was protected by the U.S. Military was the Ministry of Oil. So the U.S. Army and Marines stood by while every other Ministry, office building, government agency, and even private homes were ransacked and left in virtual shambles. This horrendous mistake was compounded by the appointment of L Paul "Jerry" Bremer as head of the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority). According to the film, Bremer made several huge and disastrous mistakes, among them were the de-Baathification of the Iraqi government and more disastrously the disbanding of the Iraqi army which essentially let over 100,000 armed soldiers out on the streets of Baghdad without purpose and more importantly without paychecks. Anybody with any sense of the consequences of those actions correctly predicted the calamitous results of those decisions. Yet the decisions were approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government. So how can anyone who has the facts give the Bush administration the benefit of the doubt any longer? Seriously, how could anybody trust BushCo with another precious American life or the life of another innocent Iraqi civilian or perhaps just as grievous is the amount of money spent, particularly considering how far those funds would go at home, to cover children in need of health care, or to bolster America's failing infrastructure, or to tackle the climate crisis and come up with renewable energy solutions, or to help retrain the thousands of American workers who lost their jobs last week.

In short, this film confirmed my worst fears about the complete and utter lack of leadership that has been offered by this administration, and it reaffirmed my commitment to make sure that this occupation ends sooner rather than drag on for years and years with the only beneficiaries being Halliburton, KBR and other private contractors who not coincidentally have close ties to Darth Cheney and other neo-cons. Any notion that any lawmakers might have that this administration is planning for a workable future in Iraq, I must ask them to look at the evidence, look at what's already been done or more exactly what hasn't been done, and judge this administration on their actions not their words, which have proven to be gross distortions of the reality that is the chaos we have created in Iraq.

We must end this war as soon as possible and we also must hold the war criminals accountable for their dastardly crimes committed in our names, with our money, and with thousands of American lives. Impeach Bush & Cheney NOW!!!

Here's an editorial from the NYTimes (Sunday, September 9, 2007) that articulates what we have in store for us, not only next week, but unfortunately for the remainder of Bush's presidency: Hiding Behind the General.

Bill Clinton's New Book - Giving

President Clinton's new book Giving hits the bookstores this week. I think that the idea behind the book is brilliant (as is the author, himself). It is a collection of stories of ordinary Americans who have made a difference in this world by undertaking volunteer work, serving others, founding much needed organizations (like INDN's List) that at their most basic level increase the quality of life of other people in this country and in the world. Inviting readers to submit more stories on the Giving web site is not only a fantastic marketing ploy, but also is a brilliant way to increase awareness about what our fellow citizens are busy doing to make this world a better place.

I submitted a piece on a personal hero of mine - Kalyn Free - founder and president of INDN's List and the brains, inspiration and energy behind Prez on the Rez. It can be found at the following link - Kalyn Free - True American Hero. Please check it out and consider submitting a story of your own efforts to make a difference in the world, or a story of someone who has inspired you to help out. Thanks for fighting the good fight and keeping the faith that this world can be a better place for ALL of us!

NO War with Iran!!!

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

Elayne & Merrill Fill-in for Steph & the Mooks

Once again, Stephanie Miller and her beloved Mooks (Jim Ward & Chris Lavoie) have asked Elayne Boosler and Merrill Markoe to sit in the KTLK studio while they take a much-deserved vacation. Be sure to to tune in and listen to Elayne & Merrill as they take on the topics of the day with humor, insight and wit. Give Rebekah a call - she's still in the studio taking phone calls and producing her little behind off: 1-800-STEPH12, that's 1-800-783-7412.

Elayne Boosler's Tails of Joy.


Catch up with Merrill Markoe on her web site.

Equal Under the Law

"Equality under the law" has been on my mind since a couple Thursdays ago when I heard Governor and DNC Chairman Howard Dean give a brilliant keynote address to tribal leaders, tribal members and Campaign Camp attendees. His emphasis on that simple phrase has me thinking of the power and vision of the founders of this nation, the power and vision to invoke the law as the guarantor and protector of each individual's right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That is a basic tenet of the Democratic Party - that every citizen of this country is equal under the law, a law that has evolved to include civil rights for African Americans, Native Americans and other ethnic minorities, voting rights for women, the right for couples of different races to marry, and slowly we will, as a society, come to accept that gay and lesbian citizens have the right to marry. This evolution of our system of laws serves as a testament to to the agility and adaptability of the foundation laid in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The tripartite system of government further ensures that the country will be able to grow and change to include a more complete and fuller union of all people who live in this land. The system of checks and balances that the founders set in motion operates to guarantee that our laws will be able to evolve to become more inclusive. That is so long as one branch of the government doesn't attempt to subvert the laws that in theory apply across the boards to all people. The fact that the current administration has usurped power and thumbed it's nose at the law doesn't diminish the value of the laws that have been thwarted. Rather it points up an important difference between the Republicans who have held the executive branch since it's dubious election "victory" back in 2000 and the Democratic Party whose record of upholding the rights of all Americans is far superior to the GOP. In short, the Democratic Party believes completely in "equality under the law," whereas the Republican Party believes that some citizens are more equal than others.

Numerous examples illustrate the significant differences between the Democratic Party and the GOP. For instance, the president's commutation of I "Scooter" Libby provides a blatant example of the current administration's belief that it and its members are above the law. This has been a hallmark of the current administration - from the vice president's confusing and highly suspect claim that he is neither fish nor fowl, that he answers to no subpoena, can claim executive privilege whenever it suits him, and again thumbs his nose at any suggestion that he be held accountable for any of his actions taken in our name, with our money, and on our behalf. There is also the obscenity that the poor of this country are bearing a disproportionally high burden in an illegal and immoral war in Iraq that is making Cheney and his cronies wealthier, while the Bush administration's policies add insult to injury by perpetuating the farce that has become the centerpiece of America's failed foreign policy/folly.

"Equal under the law" is not just a catch phrase, rather it is a fundamental precept of our country. The Bush administration has worked with much vigor to undermine this elemental principle in our nation. From firing Federal Attorneys who refused to prosecute dubious cases of "voter fraud" while turning a blind eye to true voter intimidation tactics that were undertaken to keep minority voters from voting or to make sure that even if they managed to vote that their votes would not be counted. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has languished over the last seven years while good career attorneys left the DoJ in droves, because of the politicization of the Department. See Bush Justice is a National Disgrace, by John S. Koppel, that appeared in the Denver Post on July 5, 2007.

These are reasons why I am a proud member of the Democratic Party. I am a true yellow-dog Democrat. I am ready and willing to support whoever earns the nomination from the Democratic Party in Denver next August. I will always work my tail off to fight for the rights of each and every human being on this planet to live in a society that is free and where justice ensures that a modicum of basic decency is afforded to every person, just because he/she is alive and therefore deserves respect as a fellow human being. Viva democracy. Long live the Democratic Party!

Here's an interesting essay on liberalism by Todd Gitlin that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education: The New Liberal Agenda

Reflections on an Incredible Week

Laguna Drum Group with Gov. Dean and Morongo Chair Martin (background)

Last night my trip officially ended as I drove into the driveway at my house in Tulsa, OK. Today I am back at work and tonight is my late night on the reference desk. I had many road hours through which to reflect on the past week and there are definitely a few memories that will stick in my mind for many years to come. One memory that I will take with me is hearing the stump speech given by Diane Benson, a Tlingit/Haida woman from Alaska. I must admit I hadn't expected much from her, as she appeared to be a rather reserved, even shy woman, but was I wrong about her! She stood up and opened her speech by telling the story of a young man who was turned away from an emergency room because he didn't have health insurance and his thousand dollar wound became a hundred thousand dollar disability. She went on to talk about the many months she spent at Walter Reed Hospital helping her son convalesce from injuries he suffered in Iraq. She mentioned that she had driven a tractor-trailer truck along the Alaskan pipeline and had been a Teamster (Local 959), she also mentioned that she had financed her son's college education by driving a cement mixer. She ended her speech by revealing that her only son lost both of his legs in Iraq and that the time she spent with him while he began his recovery and the time she spent talking with other wounded veterans inspired her to run for Alaska's only Congressional seat and bring a voice for peace to the nation's capital. I am hoping that Diane Benson will become one of the first two Native women to serve in the U.S. Congress.


Shirley Rivas & Diane Benson

Robert Holden, Mary Kim Titla & Francis Harjo

The other woman for whom I am pulling is Mary Kim Titla (San Carlos Apache). I had a glowing preview of Mary Kim after hearing many positive things about her, as her campaign manager, Patsy Cohoe (San Carlos Apache), was my roommate at Campaign Camp and she sang Mary Kim's praises every night as we were drifting off to sleep. I met Mary Kim on Wednesday morning when I picked her up at Ontario airport (along with Scott Bighorse and Don Barlow). Because we'd both missed lunch we decided to eat together at the coffee shop at the casino, and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Mary Kim a little bit better. She is a very intelligent and attractive woman who has a real passion for helping youth and families. She has three sons and has mentored many Native youth. She founded Native Youth Magazine, an exclusively online magazine for Native young people. Mary Kim is running for the seat currently held by the recently indicted Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, who has announced that he will not seek re-election.


Hone Harawira (Maori) Performs the "Haka"

Finally, a memory that will stay in my mind for years to come is from the final night of Campaign Camp, after all of the major American politicians had moved on to the next fundraiser, the keynote speaker was a campaign camp attendee, named Hone Harawira (Maori) Member, New Zealand Parliament. After his very interesting and entertaining talk he treated the audience to a "Haka." He stood up on the stage and called several men from the crowd to join him and instructed them on the stance that they should take, and then he lit into a fierce and initimiadating chant that involved some chest beating and rather loud vocalizing. An impressive sight it was and a fitting final evening in an amazing week.

Here are a few stories that ran during the week that focused on INDN's List and Prez on the Rez (thanks to Rebekah Baker, Associate Producer of the SMS, for sending these along):

USA Today, August 22, 2007

San Bernadino Sun, August 23, 2007

San Bernadino Sun, August 24, 2007

Native American Times, August 24, 2007

Sioux Fall Argus Leader, August 29, 2007

Campaign Camp - Prez on the Rez

Kalyn Free, Frank LaMere, Governor Howard Dean and Morongo Chairman Robert Martin

Well, the BIG DAY is finally here, after over a year of hard work, long hours and meticulous planning - Prez on the Rez became a reality. In spite of the fact that only three of the Democratic presidential candidates decided to participate in this truly historic event, the forum was magnificent. All thanks and many kudos go to Kalyn Free, the inspiration, brains and boundless energy behind this wonderful event. Without Kalyn's extraordinaery vision - to not only found INDN's List, but also to imagine a forum in which Native people would have an opportunity to ask presidential candidates about issues that matter to them most, this day would not have become a reality. All I can say is that the candidates who did not attend this amazing meeting of tribal leaders and tribal members are the only losers today. First, I must congratulate the candidates who did have the courage and foresight to come to Prez on the Rez - they were Governor Bill Richardson, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Senator Mike Gravel. Native people learned much more about the positions of these three candidates and how a potential administration led by any of these three candidates might impact Indian Country.

The day started off with a bang as I was up early staffing the registration table where tribal leader after tribal leader stopped and signed in, received a nametag, and an agenda for the day. After most of the tribal leaders had registered, we were served another delicious and beautifully prepared meal and had the great pleasure of listening to Laura Flanders, author of Blue Grit (see the review of this fantastic book in this blog - posted on May 26, 2007). I had the honor of sitting next to Ms. Flanders and visiting with her while she signed copies of her book. This incredible event was followed by a meeting with the Democratic National Committee Chair person, Governor Dr. Howard Dean. During this meeting with the Campaign Camp attendees DNC Chair Dean inspired the campers to stay involved in politics when they leave Morongo and get involved in the Democratic Party. He then graciously stayed around to speak with Campaign Camp attendees individually and in small groups and posed for numerous photos with candidates, future candidates and staffers.


Faye & Laura Flanders, POTR, August 23, 2007

This all happened before Prez on the Rez even began. After being energized by the meeting with Governor Dean, we all went back into the main ballroom where Kalyn Free, Frank LaMere and Mark Trahant all took turns thanking our generous hosts - the Morongo Band of Mission Indians for allowing us to hold this historic meeting at their lovely facility. Then is was time for the candidates to make their appearances: first was Governor Richardson who reminded the audience of his long record of support for Native people and issues that matter to them, next was Congressman Kucinich (who I must say seemed to suffer from having watched "Dances with Wolves" one too many times) who basically explained his plan for bringing health care and a Department of Peace to a country that is sorely in need of both universal health coverage and a much saner foreign policy, finally Mike Gravel pounded home his message of wisdom that comes with age (although, he seemed ignorant of the Cobell litigation which has been an ongoing issue in Indian Country since 1996 - Mr. Gravel appears to be in need of a good researcher).

Faye, DNC Chair Howard Dean & Robert Holden

These are just my initial impressions of a day that I believe I will never forget. Now that dinner is over and I am getting ready to hit the sack, I must remark on the amazing Governor Howard Dean who was the keynote speaker tonight. His theme, "that Native people must no longer be content with a seat at the table, but rather must aim higher, for a place on the ticket," resonanted strongly with the audience. He spoke about the fifty-state strategy that most Democrats have credited with the success of Democratic candidates in 2006. He talked about the need to bring the values of the Democratic Party, namely that each and every person is equal under the law, to the forefront of our fight to take this country back from the Republicans who apparently believe that some people are more equal than others. He spoke eloquently and powerfully to a crowd eager for a message that reinforces themes of equality, justice, and true American values, which not coincidently are the same values that are important in Native communities. Wow, what an amazing day!

Campaign Camp - Day Three

Mary Kim Titla & Patsy Cohoe - August 22, 2007

Well, the fun just keeps on coming here at Morongo... Today I picked up Scott Bighorse, Don Barlow, and my new next favorite candidate Mary Kim Titla (San Carlos Apache) who is running for the District One Congressional seat in Arizona (the seat currently held by Rick Renzi), at the Ontario Airport. I picked them all up and brought them all back to Campaign Camp at Morongo Resort, Casino and Spa. Mary Kim is a bright, attractive mother of three sons. She has a Master's Degree in Journalism from Arizona State University and 20 years of experience in TV news. She has a history and passion for working with Native youth and cares deeply about children and families across the country. She is a shining example of the kind of candidate that comes out of Indian country, and her presence in the Arizona Congressional race is a welcome addition to the political arena. I am seriously considering relocating to Arizona to help her work on her campaign - vamos a ver (we'll see...).

Aside from the drive to Ontario, the highlights of Day Three of Camapign Camp include having lunch with Mary Kim Titla, finally meeting Rebekah Baker on "Phones and Drum." Rebekah is the Associate Producer of the Stephanie Miller Show. I was grateful that she took the time to drive over to Morongo through hellish LA traffic to attend last night's dinner honoring Congressman Mike Honda. Kalyn Free presented Representative Honda with a Warrior Award after his wonderful talk in which he discussed the need to increase minority representation in Washington D.C. Last night was capped off by sharing a bottle of campagne with Rebekah. Then it was off to dream-landia where Natives rule the world =)


Faye & Representative Mike Honda (D - CA)

Campaign Camp - Day Two

Kalyn Free & Chairman Martin (Morongo Band of Mission Indians)

I'm dead dog tired at the moment, but I can't go to sleep before I try to put into words, no matter how feeble or inadequate, the sense I've gained from another amazing day here at INDN's List Campaign Camp. The highlights of today continued the theme that started off the camp yesterday - reminders of why we all are here. After lunch today, Edward Iron Cloud III shared a short film that presented very moving images of Oglala Lakota and their relationship and regard for the buffalo that once covered the plains and now are tended by Lakota tribal members. After the video was shown, Mr. Iron Cloud, an Oglala Lakota tribal member from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, stood up and spoke with so much passion, eloquence and humor that the audience willingly let him speak on through three "conclusions." He is a natural storyteller, and talked about his love for his people and his hopes for his time here at Campaign Camp. He spoke beautifully about the future of Native people and the need to reclaim traditions and maintain cultural ties and use those traditions to combat problems that were brought to the Lakota by the invasion of the Europeans. He spoke with an urgency that obviously inspired everyone in the room to go out and try to do our very best to promote Native values and support Native people as they increase their political voices.

Frank LaMere, (Winnebago), Democratic National Committee person

The lunch-time talk was outdone only by the after dinner talk that was given by Democratic National Committee person and Winnebago tribal member, Frank LaMere. I felt so very honored and grateful to be able to listen to Mr. LaMere's inspirational words. He spoke from his heart about many "defining moments" in his life - recounting his initial foray into the world of politics, his involvement in protesting the sale of 12,500 cans of beer daily in Whiteclay, Nebraska - a town that borders the dry Pine Ridge Reservation, and the birth of his granddaughter in Oklahoma City. All of these stories were woven into an overarching theme that once again brought all of us in the room back to the reason why we are here - that is to promote, support and increase the political power of Native people, so that their voice is stronger and more influential. The dinner was beautifully prepared and presented and was delicious, too. My eyelids are drooping, so I'll sign off for now, but I am looking forward to tomorrow and another incredible day of listening and learning here at Morongo.


Kalyn & Robert Holden, INDN's List volunteer

Campaign Camp - Day One

Here at the Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa many dedicated Natives are still sitting in their last training session of the day. Eager, I'm sure, to take a break and relax and cogitate over all they've heard and learned today. My day was a mix of attending sessions, running errands, taking photos, and basically running around. I took a break in the middle of the afternoon to write a few postcards (yes, Geo, there is one in the mail to you =). Otherwise, it's been another sun-soaked day here in the land of the Morongos.

The Morongo Casino is situated between Palm Springs and Banning, California on Interstate 10. You can't miss it - it is the only structure over a story or two along the freeway - it stands over 20 stories high with a glaring neon sign in front of the spot. It is one of the most successful casinos operated by a Native nation in the country, and they are certainly treating INDN's List and Campaign Campers well. The food has been plentiful and delicious, the accommodations luxurious, and the atmosphere welcoming. Tonight after a lovely dinner we heard from the Chairman of the Morongo Nation, Robert Martin, who spoke eloquently about the obstacles that Native people have had to struggle to overcome. Here are just a few of the facts that Chairman Martin recounted to an appreciative audience this evening:

1870: 15th Amendment extended the vote to African-Americans. The 15th Amendment did not apply to Native-Americans because they were not considered citizens.

1924: Native-American citizenship. On June 2, 1924, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting.

1948: State laws denying the vote to Native-Americans are overturned. In one of the post-war period's few successful legal challenges, the Federal courts overturned the last state laws (Maine, Arizona, New Mexico) that explicitly prevented Indians from voting. Violence, economic retaliation, and different kinds of legal tricks continued to be used to prevent Native-Americans from voting.

This morning during our opening session a Swinomish woman from Washington state stood up and introduced herself. In the process of telling us about her interest in politics her eyes welled up as she recounted her grandmother telling her that when she finally got the right to vote it was so precious to her that she passed this esteemed value of her new found right onto her granddaughter and that was an important reason why this Swinomish woman was at Campaign Camp today. I think that everyone in the room felt a profound sense of why we are all here and why it is so important to support and promote a strong Native voice in the political arena.

Tomorrow will come up with the sun - let us all make the most of the day that arrives.

On the Road...Again

I woke up this morning in Joshua Tree, California specifically at the Safari Motor Inn. I am a tad bit road weary, but slept pretty well last night. Ready for a full week of Campaign Camp... I'll post more as the week goes on. Want to get out and see the Joshua Trees before I head over to Morongo Band of Mission Indians Casino, Resort and Spa and unload my car full of Campaign Camp stuff. Hope your week is excting and fabulous!!!

Prison Planet

Speaking of prison shows (I rented from NetFlix every episode of "OZ" and I also enjoy a show on MSNBC called "Lockdown") I am not sure how to explain my fascination with prison dramas. But that doesn't negate the incredible impact that the growing rate of incarceration in this country is having on the population as a whole. A recently published article in Boston Review asked the question: "Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?" The answer, not unlike the answer to many other questions asked today, is, at least in part, "the profit motive." I have been following a web site called the November Coalition for years now. The site exists, among its many purposes, to educate the public about the ever-increasing number of non-violent offenders who are doing long, hard time for simple possession of a controlled substance.

Here are a few facts about incarceration in America:

As of 2005, there are 2 million people locked up in federal, state, and county facilities. Though crime rates are down, that's up more than 600% since the 1970s. More than 6 million people are under state supervision in the form of parole or probation. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.

Black men are 6% of the U.S. population but over 40% of our prison population.

Every day in the United States 200 new jail cells are constructed.

Most prisoners come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Most have not completed high school. Many can barely read. Roughly one-third were been unemployed before imprisonment. Another third had annual incomes of less than $5,000.

Children of incarcerated parents have increased risk of anxiety, depression, aggression, truancy, attention disorders and poor scholastic performance.

Black people are 7.8 times more likely to be imprisoned than whites, when convicted of the same crime.

Prisons cost taxpayers more than $32 billion a year. Every year that an inmate spends in prison costs $22,000. An individual sentenced to five years for a $300 theft costs the public more than $100,000. The cost of a life term averages $1.5 million.

States are spending more money on prisons than education. Over the course of the last 20 years, the amount of money spent on prisons was increased by 570% while that spent on elementary and secondary education was increased by only 33%.

It seems to me that in this country we could do much better than this system of warehousing fellow human beings at such a tremendous cost to all people in America.

On the Road... Route 66

I've been on the road a lot lately and have many more miles to drive before the summer ends. I've been listening to CDs of the Stephanie Miller Show that I burned over the past several months as I drove across the middle of the country on a trip to Jamestown, Indiana from Tulsa, Oklahoma in order to help my parents celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. I went back and we had a loverly and simple reception at my Dad's Meeting House (my father attends Quaker Meeting as a member of the Society of Friends). It was worth driving back on a Thursday and right back on the next Monday just to see my parents stand together and greet their friends and family and watch them cut the cake and mark 50 years together through tough times and better times.

I realize that it has been over a week since my last post and all I can say is if you are out there and eagerly awaiting a new post, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, and I can't promise that this post will satisfy you or reward your patience. I feel like I must post something as I made a commitment when I started this blog that I would add at least two new posts each week and as there has been over a week without a post, I feel I must at least explain why my posts have trailed off, and in the process I will also likely reveal the lackluster attitude that has come over me in the last couple weeks.

I control many aspects of my environment - including to a large degree what I listen to every day - which is hours and hours of the Stephanie Miller Show with an occasional foray into Thom Hartmann with the evening viewing of Keith Olbermann, a prison show, and Jon Stewart capped off by Letterman if I last that long. From Thursday evening until Monday morning I didn't listen to Steph and the mooks at all, and I didn't think about my blog, I deleted virtually every e-mail message that I received going online to do so via my father's dial-up connection maybe twice a day (for somebody who usually spends hours every evening online that is a significant change). Anyway, I'm back for just three days - I'm heading out to Joshua Tree National Park on Friday. Even though Joshua Tree is not my final destination, it has become the focus of this trip to California - the ultimate end of my trip is Morongo Band of Mission Indians Casino, Resort & Spa, but I have always wanted to visit Joshua Tree, so that is where I am heading on Saturday morning, driving out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, after leaving Tulsa, OK the day before.

The initial inspiration for this post was a rather brief letter to the editor that appeared in the Concord Monitor. It was entitled In League with the John Birch Society. It is a simple letter that reminded me of the first time I was ever aware of the John Birch Society. It was a roadside billboard or series of billboards along an American interstate. It's message boiled down to the strong suggestion that the United States should shun the United Nations, or that the New World Order was something to be feared. I remember, knowing instinctively, without having to ask my parents, that it was a fringe group (anybody looking at the billboards could tell that they were amateurs). But that only made their message all the more intriguing to a young girl sitting in the back seat of the family station wagon, seeing the world fly by around 65mph. Perhaps that's the same part of me that enjoys watching prison shows...

Who knows???

I promise more frequent and enthusiastic posts from INDN's List Campaign Camp and Prez on the Rez where I'll be next week helping to train and support Progresssive Native candidates who are preparing to run for local, state, and national political offices. More later...

The Answer is Always - "State & Local"

(Photo courtesy of Allen Brisson-Smith for NYTimes, 8/02/07)

Echos of Hurricane Katrina
The sorry state of our roads, highways and bridges is apparent to anyone who travels the by-ways of this country. Yet the war in Iraq is projected to cost American taxpayers over one trillion dollars, that's trillion with a "t," or over a million million dollars - huh? More money than most of us can fathom, or even begin to comprehend. The bridge that collapsed yesterday in Minneapolis, Minnesota is symptomatic of a much greater malaise that has come to light in the wake of our ass-backwards, mixed-up priorities that find no trouble sending billions to another country (and then losing the money!), but has a hard time finding funds to support and repair our ailing infrastructure here at home. What happened yesterday in the Twin Cities should serve as a wake-up call to our government bureaucrats that it is past time to take a long hard look at how we are spending the taxpayers' hard-earned dimes. While we are spending huge amounts of money in Iraq, our bridges and roadways are rotting away beneath us. Anyone who has watched any of the coverage of the bridge collapse (unless, of course, you were watching it on the Faux News Channel), has learned that the Republican Governor of Minnesota recently vetoed a bill that would have pumped much needed money into the outdated roads and bridges in the state, but Governor Pawlenty didn't want to raise taxes by five cents a gallon on gasoline to finance much needed repairs and upgrades on Minnesota's highways and bridges. And what did George W. Bush have to say in the aftermath of this tragedy? Did he apologize for short-changing the states on much needed federal money, did he offer condolences to those families who still are not sure where their loved-ones are? NO, our fearful leader used the occasion of a tragic bridge collapse to poke at Congress for not passing his Iraq-funding bills. I am not making this up.

So the answer is always "state & local" government when the question is "who is responsible for this horrendous disaster?" The Democratic Governor of Louisiana (Kathleen Blanco) and the Mayor of New Orleans (Ray Nagin) were blamed for the disastrous response to the devastation that descended on the swamped city. There is never any responsibility taken by the federal government, never any acknowledgement that there might have been something that could have been done such as re-examining our national priorities. We need to begin by putting some of the billions of dollars that we are squandering in Iraq destroying that country, and start putting those resources into helping people here in this country. It's just a thought, but it is one that is occurring to many of us here in this nation and around the world. A thought that we should all contemplate as we drive over that crumbling freeway overpass or swerve to avoid that huge pothole. How long until our misguided spending ways catch up with all of us?

"There isn't any bigger metaphor for a society in trouble than a bridge falling, its concrete lanes pointing brokenly at the sky, its crumpled cars pointing down at the deep waters where people disappeared."
Nick Coleman, Star Tribune, August 2, 2007

Visit Rachel Maddow's web site to listen to her extensive coverage of the crumbling infrastructure across the country.

Check out this headline in Saturday's Tulsa World: Oklahoma has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the nation.

Momma's for Obama

I just entered a contest to win a dinner with Barack Obama. It only cost me a $30.00 donation (I could have donated only $5.00, but I gave what I thought I could afford - today is pay day, so I'm feeling flush =). I hope that I am chosen to have dinner with Senator Obama. Besides being a fantastic marketing ploy, it is a smart scheme to get folks thinking about what they might say if they had an opportunity to speak with a presidential candidate face-to-face. I would definitely ask Mr. Obama what is his understanding of Tribal Sovereignty, and how he proposes to settle the Cobell class action lawsuit. In addition, I am curious to know how he would go about restoring America's reputation in the world, particularly in Muslim communities, and I would also want to know how he will begin to repair the horrendous damage done to our environment during the Bush administration. I also would ask Senator Obama how he would go about restoring integrity, credibility and accoutability here at home, as, in my humble opinion, the current occupant of the White House has squandered these attributes by chosing incompetent cronies rather than capable members of the executive team and nominating equally unqualified attorneys for the bench. These are all issues that matter greatly to me, and I hope that I have a chance to meet with Senator Obama and ask him about these issues.

If you'd like to register to win a dinner with Senator Obama, go to Win a dinner with Obama, but hurry, I think that you must donate some amount (no matter how small) to his campaign by tonight at midnight in order to be in the running for the prize.

Opus Explains the Iraq War to You

Okay, okay, okay - I know posting a cartoon instead of a thoughtful comment is a major cop-out, but after watching the Sunday morning talking heads, I went back and reread yesterday's post about Congressional Oversight and I stick by my thoughts and my point in that post. So I'm all blogged out for the moment, and I liked this comic this morning - sometimes a picture and more are worth a thousand words. Enjoy!