Mr Dean,

please let me include:

"Bankrolled almost entirely by taxpayers, President Bush is roaming far and wide on Air Force One to help Republicans retain control of Congress and capture statehouse contests in high-stakes midterm elections.(msnbc)"

if i read into this, we (being part of an approx 60% who disagree with iraq) honest hardworking taxpaying americans now have to also pay for his propaganda too?

can i, like many honest hard working american taxpayers, get a deduction or credit on my taxes for 2006 if i don't like his propaganda?

Chairman Dean's appearance on Count Down was a huge shot in the arm for me! I'm getting back on those phones tonight for an extra two hours.

Now I just wish there were some way I could get an answer back from DSCC to the e-mail I sent staff yesterday. We can't trust Republicans to make us safer, but I am deeply concerned that we may not be able to trust Chuck Schumer to order all major donors to devote exclusive support to Ned Lamont if they want to help in Connecticut. It does NOT help us in Connecticut if we let major donors give money to Lieberman with no consequences for the donors' continued retention of appointed party positions or participation on party finance committees.

Correction. E-mail was sent to the staff of DCCC, not DSCC. I asked DCCC to ask Chuck Schumer to make sure donors do not support Lieberman because Lieberman is severely undercutting DCCC's House candidates in Connecticut by campaigning with Republicans like Chris Shays.

just participated in this live vote on msnbc.com
thought I would share the current tally

Live Vote
Do you agree with President Bush when he likens the struggle against Islamic fundamentalism with the fight against Nazis and communists? * 20181 responses
Yes. Bin Laden and others are the Hitlers and Stalins of our times.
27%
Maybe. But I'm going to need some more convincing one way or the other.
3.9%
No. This is just dishonest, warmongering designed to scare voters about national security in time for this fall's elections.
69%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

Please get a prominent Dem some face time to point out a major prob with the Bush spin on Iraq...Rummy harkens back to the lessons of WW2.. he is looking at that old model for warfare and not realizing that the "war" on terrorism is not just one war..(of course maybe that is what the Bush White House really wants..a World War)
Talking points that need to be repeated over and over..Al Qaeda was not active or present in Iraq until AFTER Bush sent our troops in. They became active in Iraq because Bush did not have the armed forces seal the borders and the foreign jihadists the flooded the country.
Keep asking..why did Bush not continue the pursuit of Bin Laden?
Why were our troops not equipped properly when the war started and why are they still not properly equipped? We are spending lots of money over there..why do our troops still write Mom and Dad to ask for socks, t shirts and body armour?
What is our money being spent on?
My neighbor doesn't give a darn about the "ideology" that the President says divides us..she just wants her Army private..(that should have been home from Iraq in July) home.
Bush Cheney and Rummy are wrong when they say its "ideology" that divides Americans..no..its failed, stupid policy that misled this country into Iraq and took the focus off of the real source of the tragedy of 9/11

Well said Dean!

The real majority in this country is rising from the ashes of 9/11 to make America great again.

Come November we're gonna kick the GOP out of Congress, then let the impeachments begin!

I want the President to capture Bin Lauden. I want him to secure our borders. I want him to secure our ports not sell them to an Arab country.

I want the money being spent in Iraq to be spent on protecting us against terrorists in this country.

I don't care if Iran has nuclear weapons. So do we. It would be suicide for either Iraq or Pakistan to use them against us.

I don't care if the Islamic Sunnis and Shiites are fighting each other. The Christian Right is fighting the rest of the religious in this country.

I don't care about Islamic dictators/fascists. I don't care about Israel's security. I don't care about Iraq's security. I don't care about Bush's War on Terror publicity stunts.

I do care about our wasting time, money, and effort overseas...while neglecting the real threat at home.

The Republicans have led us astray and are picking fights with everyone but Bin Lauden.

They've concentrated all their efforts on air line security, listening in on our telephone conversations, torturing anyone they suspect, and babysitting a civi war in Iraq.

They don't have any idea who the enemy is or how it thinks.

The Republicans have led us astray and are picking fights with everyone but Bin Lauden. That isn't national security, it's incompetence.

I want the President to capture Bin Lauden. I want him to secure our borders. I want him to secure our ports not sell them to an Arab country.

I want the money being spent in Iraq to be spent on protecting us against terrorists in this country.

I don't care if Iran has nuclear weapons. So do we. It would be suicide for either Iraq or Pakistan to use them against us.

I don't care if the Islamic Sunnis and Shiites are fighting each other. The Christian Right is fighting the rest of the religious in this country.

I don't care about Islamic dictators/fascists. I don't care about Israel's security. I don't care about Iraq's security. I don't care about Bush's War on Terror publicity stunts.

I do care about our wasting time, money, and effort overseas...while neglecting the real threat at home.

The Republicans have led us astray and are picking fights with everyone but Bin Lauden.

They've concentrated all their efforts on air line security, listening in on our telephone conversations, torturing anyone they suspect, and babysitting a civi war in Iraq.

They don't have any idea who the enemy is or how it thinks.

The Republicans have led us astray and are picking fights with everyone but Bin Lauden. That isn't national security, it's incompetence.

Bush says that if U.S. forces leave Iraq, the terrorists will follow our soldiers home and attack us here. I say this is pure bunk. Bush needs Americans to believe that our soldiers are actually successfully containing terrorists in Iraq, and that if our soldiers were to come home, the terrorists, no longer contained, would break loose and follow them here to the U.S.

This faulty logic is ludicrous, but is typical for one who must constantly cast about for that one magical argument that will once and for all justify our continued presence in this hopeless war. There is no "job" to be done there, no "mission" to accomplish.

Even if it were true that our soldiers were fighting terrorists there instead of trying to quell a civil war, given that Iraq has bred terrorists only since Bush's invasion, our continued presence there will only foment more terrorists. Because of this, an ever greater presence there would be required forever to prevent ever-growing numbers of terrorist from spilling out and attacking us here, if Bush's argument is to be believed.

Anyone attacking us there is doing so because they don't want us there. Staying just incenses them. How about accommodating them and getting out now?

I believe that everything about this administration is phony...the war on terror...the war in Iraq...the prescription drug plan...privatizing Social Security...disaster relief for Katrina victims...no child left behind...democracy...elections...claims for wanting peace. I believe everything they do is a cover for their most important activity: Enriching themselves and their cronies.

The truth is, because Bush and his cronies must sustain this cynical and unholy the war in Iraq at all cost to enrich themselves and their cronies, our soldiers are sitting ducks caught in civil war crossfire. If our soldiers were to come home, no one fighting this war would follow them here, our presence would no longer spawn new terrorists there, and we would have our soldiers home to protect us here. We would also have billions more dollars to spend fixing up our borders, hurricane-ravaged coastlines, schools, hospitals and health-care systems, for starters.

King George is scared of King Abdullah!

I remember in 2000 my fellow voters asking "What's the difference between Bush and Gore? They're practically the same anyway."

That chills me to this day. Do you have any idea how different thing could have been?

Right now the Democrats need your vote more than ever. We need the help of every voter- regardless of party- to achieve this.

We human beings can't afford to make the mistake that Democrats and Republicans are the same.

There is a difference, and there will be a change. Help bring the change!

Sandy H -

Perhaps I am mis-reading you. It seems that you are saying all those other things that do not matter to you have no bearing on our safety at home, and that by capturing Bin Laden, securing our borders and ports, we would be safe here in our country.

To me that is a narrow view of the over-all problem. Although I would love to see Osama captured tomorrow, I don't think he is the sole leader of the jihadist movement. As in the case of Zarquawi (sp) we see there are many cells, many threats, many splinter movements. Bin Laden must be brought to justice for attacks in the past. At the same time we must prepare for attacks in the future.

Issues surrounding Iran, Israel, and radical Islam are not confined to one or two issues, and to ignore the ones you don't care about is in my opinion not going to keep us safe in the future. We are not an isolationist country - we live in a global society.

I am doing a research paper for school can anyone tell me how to find what the Democratic Party's plan for national security so that I can point out the obvious advantages to that of the other party. Thanks,
kevjohn1@bellsouth.net

Read 'the Lonel Professor' for more information and enlightenment on this topic.

http://thelonelyprofessor5.blogspot.com/

Bravo Howard Bravo!

Pelosi was good with comment comparing length of time we have been in Iraq vs time in Europe during WWII - Can we follow up with -- Bush has no Marshall plan for Iraq?

If we leave Iraq, the terorist will follow us here??

So Bush is saying 5 years after 9/11 we are no safer than we were before? If this is true, then what has he done/is he doing to correct problems?

The Origin of FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE REPUBLICAN, FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE DEMOCRAT, PRESIDENT QUAYLE first started way back in 1991 and has been copied extensively by many others.

Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican http://www.cafepress.com/designermite/1012916

Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat http://www.cafepress.com/designermite/1012942

The preceeding links show the current official location of the copywritten designs.

The original prototypes were also extensively copied and bootleged and sold on many street corner in Washington, DC, New York City and in a few stores that originally bought form the originator without permission.

The protoype Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican can be seen here: http://www.cafepress.com/designermite/347974

The prototype for Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat can be seen here: http://www.cafepress.com/designermite/347924

The following copy was also added to a personal webpage:

Here they are The Original, Legendary PRESIDENT QUAYLE, FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE REPUBLICAN and FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE DEMOCRAT...the political statements seen on shirts, decals and buttons... that were seen worn by more people in the streets of Washington, DC....New York...the ones that started it all...the ones that was most copied by others...

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE DEMOCRAT released by PDQ Productions (copyright 1991 - Walt Sullivan) as a follow up to FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE REPUBLICAN also released by PDQ Productions (copyright 1991 - Walt Sullivan)

Walt Sullivan has always been bold and unique in his designs. In 1988 he produced PRESIDENT QUAYLE, the take off of Edvard Munch's woodcut " The Scream " and inserted PRESIDENT QUAYLE (your worst nightmare). This was the start of PDQ Productions which then stood for President Dan Quayle Productions.

Walt Sullivan's shirt designs have been written about and featured in Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, Washington Post, Washington Times,Washington City Paper Regardies, Harpers, The Nation, Phil Donahue Show, and many others too numerous to mention here.

Walt Sullivan later released the now infamous FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE REPUBLICAN and FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE DEMOCRAT (copyright 1991)

The original personal webpage can be seen here: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/waltsullivan/Friends%20don't%20let%20friends.html

The personal webpage validates the original Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican date as it shows the highest ranking in Yahoo's search as the first one listed. There also follows many other references to the Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican that can be seen in other sites.

Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican was admittedly a viewed as a form of negative poltical compaigning, its real intention was to get people up off of their apethetic bottoms and vote. Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican got people anoyed enough to get active in their own local and national politics.

It was interesting and ammusing in 1991 to see just how many Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican shirts were being worn on the streets and how many Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican bumper stickers were gracing the rear bumpers of cars in traffic.

It is still interesting to see that Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican is still alive and well and selling on http://www.cafepress.com/designermite/1012916 in the form of shits, stickers, dog shirts, greeting cards, posters, calanders, postage pals, track suits, tiles, coasters, messenger bags, BBQ aprons, pillows, clocks, mugs, and steins.

Then it only made sense to have the equal opportunity for Republicans with the version of Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat.
The most important thing to remember concerning the intention of Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican and Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat is to get out and vote.

Someone should point out that the violent, name-calling opposition to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to extend all aid to Great Britain short of war consisted of Republicans of all stripes. As one said in comparing FDR's foreing policy to the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Act just before the election of 1940, it is designed to plow under every fourth American boy.

Someone should point out that the violent, name-calling opposition to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to extend all aid to Great Britain short of war consisted of Republicans of all stripes. As one said in comparing FDR's foreign policy to the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Act just before the election of 1940, it is designed to plow under every fourth American boy.

Dear SandyH, You said that the Republicans do not have any Idea who the enemy is or how it thinks. Well you were right on one count. They know who the enemy is, its the American middle class and poor. But they have no idea how we think because they are lost in there own lies. You are the ememy if you do not love war and do not have an oil well in your back yard. You are the ememy if you want people to have freedom of speech. You are the ememy if you are pro choice. You are the ememy if you truely love the U.S.A and not your wallet.

The Republicans fought just about everything that FDR did.
FDR saw that the American farmers and factory workers were the real base of American prosperity, not the wheelers and dealers who had driven the stock market into crashing, in their desire for more and more riches.
The Republicans still don't get it.
For Bush to liken this fiasco in Iraq to WWII, in the way that he is, is to belittle WWII, it's causes, and our role in it.
If there is any parallel between WWII and Iraq War is is that they were both started by elected heads of state, who then used their positions to destroy the democratic government of their respective countries and use fear, and propaganda, and out-right lies to start pre-emptive wars on supposed enemies, and consolidate their positions as unitary executives.
That aforementioned elected head of state, sure as hell, wasn't FDR.

I believe President Bush made a mistake starting the war in Iraq and still yet he will not admit it. He needs to bring our people home. Saddam is out and they had their democratic vote. There is no reason for us to be there. Every country has problems. We can not and should not police the whole world. Does President Bush want us to rule the whole world?

It's about time we start speaking the truth, loudly and tenaciously, that Republicans can't be trusted to defend America. We must attack their perceived strengths. They are dangerously incompetent. Let's brand them that way - dangerously incompetent. They can't manager our borders, they tried to give our ports away, they can't catch Osama - the one guy who really did attack us, they can't manager our airports, crime is rising throughout America, and it goes on and on. Republicans are all about arrogance and cronyism. And they are immoral. I am still confused how they block stem cell research and the morning after pill, and yell we must "kill" evildoers, to use W's term. Does America not see a contradiction here? It's time for Democrats to get a backbone and actively campaign on the truth. Republicans are dangerously incompetent.

In Bushs speech yesterday he said if we pull out now they will follow us home and fight us on our streets. Well if he had done his job right on 912 he would have sealed the big leak we have comming in from Mexico. Whos to say they they aren't already here with the borders being as loose as they are today. Bush says he doesn't watch the news or read papers,well if he did he would know how are borders are being flooded everyday with illeagals. Get your facts Mr. President before making they dumb comments like you make all the time

President Bush is a man that sticks to his guns. He doesn't waver on his convictions. How can we forget from the 2004 elections that he is no "flip flopper". We shouldn't be surprised at his speech hammering the point that he is "staying the course". Come hell or high water, Dubya is going to keep telling us tax payers how well he can foul up the fight on terrorism. Truly, no other person can make a mess of things like our President. Where to start? There are so many issues to choose from.

We once called it the “home of the brave”, but now it’s about being “kept safe”, from a President and his supporters who expect to prosper by making us live in fear. So we should take note of that President’s statement in his August 31 speech that “If we give up the fight in the streets of Baghdad, we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities.” This means that, 5 years after 9/11, if terrorists choose to attack us here, he can’t stop them.

It would be a damning indictment of him if this were true, or even if he thought it was true. But I don’t think it is, or that he does. It’s just one more depth to which he has sunk, to advance his cause.

The GOP only want to work for the rich corporations, not real Americans.
Tax breaks for the rich, and nothing for average Americans.

It's not that Americans think we should pull out of Iraq -- we invaded the country and devestated it, now we must stay to help it. We have to correct problems that we have created -- regardless of who did it. We just don't want the Republicans in charge of the task.

Looking into the area of what can be seen as a open liberal issue, the department of defence is not seen as something of an area for poltics and/or polictical debate. Your talking to an area of what I'd like to think of as a free nation. A nation that would give us a better defence and a more powerful line. On that subject you can only give thought to what is better known to a nation of experience, and a nation of self truth.

Good Morning!I couldn`t agree more with Howard! All W does is go around all over the place doing photo ops,fund raisors,blah,blah blah!His title should be Commander&Chief Nagger!The only thing that really worries me in November is the ways the repubs are still messing with the voting machines,and how they are driving good people out of the justice system.They obviously are doing everything they can do rig the electoral system,and then have the legal people in place to O.K. it.

Actually, a better line is "You can't trust Republicans".
All else is superfluous.

Here also is a consistant voice for the Democratic Party; read: 'the Lonely Professor

Here is a nice set of blogs on the subject of GWB, OBL, and the War in Iraq:

http://thelonelyprofessor4.blogspot.com/
http://musingsfromthelonelyprofessor.blogspot.com/
http://thelonelyprofessor5.blogspot.com/

As a New Yorker I am tried of Bush using 9/11 for poltical gain.

RE: Iraq strategy
I think the Democratic leaders who are demanding the resignation of Rumsfield are making a mistake -- they are putting the focus where it doesn't belong. Rumsfield is only doing Bush's bidding -- if you blame him, you let Bush off the hook. Iraq is BUSH'S war. (And/or Cheney's.)