This is POWER! and each one of us has the ability.

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’ and it will obey you”

Morning Essie.

God night, Dems.

Posted by PeanutButterJellyGirl on March 22, 2008 at 01:30 AM

God morning, too.

good morning esmeralda. i never quite got all the mustard seed stuff...are there mustard trees? is that where mustard comes from?? what does it mean to have faith as small as a mustard seed....sorry for all the questions but having been raised catholic in the 1950's everything was in latin and so all i really learned was when to beat my chest and that the bread and wine of communion are not symbolic of Christ's body and blood but are Christ's body and blood.

Having religion, and having a relationship with God are two different things.

A mustard seed is a very small thing. But when it’s planted, it grows into a huge tree. In the same way, Jesus is saying that a little bit of faith can bring tremendous results! As a believer in Him, you already have enough faith on the inside of you to overcome any obstacle. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead actually dwells in you! It doesn’t matter if you grew up in church or not; it doesn’t matter what you know or don’t know; God wants to work in your life today. And you may not see how, but all you have to do is believe God. With God, all things are possible. Do you have mustard seed faith today? The Bible says that faith without works is dead. When you have faith, your words and actions reflect it. Take a step of faith today and declare your trust in Him. Even if you don’t see how, declare that God is working behind the scenes in your life. As you act on your mustard seed faith, you’ll see it grow stronger and stronger, and you will live in victory all the days of your life!

The bible says with God, all things are possible. Throughout the new testament, we are told to be Christ like. Have you ever thought you could walk on water like Christ did? Peter did, till he lost his faith. Can you rise from the dead, like Christ did? Have you heard of people who had miracles in their life? Is that natural, or supernatural?

Good morning

No One Wants To Be A Republican Hotlist
by DemFromCT

Well, here are some fundamentals to chew on.

Latest House Retirement Leaves GOP Reeling

In his old role as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) often cajoled wavering Republicans into running for re-election. Back home in his district Thursday afternoon, Reynolds announced that he won't be running again himself.

Consider it a sign of how the House GOP views its prospects for November.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/22/71235/4159/3/482049
================================================

Nice graphs in article.

McFlip McFlop. McCain. Hotlist
by A Siegel [Subscribe]
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 04:11:44 AM PDT

teadfast stay the course policy making is often overblown. As some have said about George W Bush, 'you'll know he'll say the same thing Wednesday that he said Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday.' The real world is not static, learning institutions and learning individuals will adapt to changing reality and changing understanding of reality ... or suffer the consequences. Thus, developing more nuanced understandings and being able to see multiple angles (positive and negative) of complex situations, complex evolving / changing situations, now that is generally a strength.

But, McFlipping and McFlopping to pander to different audiences, to seek to represent oneself via a truthiness that doesn't seem to meet the real situation, to abandon seemingly core moral positions for momentary advantage, this is a far different thing.

When it comes to Global Warming and the Climate Crisis, John McCain is McFlip in favor of doing something and in favor of "green technology" and McFlop in failing to show up for 100% of the relevant votes in the Senate.

McFlipping, McFlopping all over the mat ...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/7316/82866/29/482047

=================================================
McCain ... same as Bush.

thanks esmeralda.

White House: Computer hard drives tossed [Re-Updated] Hotlist
by The Baculum King [Subscribe]
Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:17:42 PM PDT

On a variation of "The dog ate my homework":

WASHINGTON - Older White House computer hard drives have been destroyed, the White House disclosed to a federal court Friday in a controversy over millions of possibly missing e-mails from 2003 to 2005.

The White House revealed new information about how it handles its computers in an effort to persuade a federal magistrate it would be fruitless to undertake an e-mail recovery plan that the court proposed.

Honest, Judge, they were just clutterin' up the place.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/01343/8521/108/481968
=================================================

This is the most criminal WH in history. McCain is a crook as well. He's Bush's buddy so he must be a crook.

McCain = Keating 5
McCain ... same as Bush

speaking of mustard seeds and faith and god and infinity:

cat's eye nebula

gregg, nice to see you in the Clinton t-shirt, which is ever so much more becoming than that silly black&white striped ref shirt and whistle. That never quite fit you. Since we're having a revival:

Here's three different takes on the "Fellowship", which you will be hearing more about when Jeff Sharlet's book comes out in May.

EXPOSÉ: THE “CHRISTIAN” MAFIA

and from the Nation:
Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

by Barbara Ehrenreich, a real feminist

Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics

By Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet, Mother Jones

Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer."

Posted by gregg on March 22, 2008 at 08:27 AM

that is so awesome! as one who is firmly and honestly committed to the "i don't know" sect of the formerly catholic indoctrination school, it is wonderful to see something so beautiful and mysterious and so ever-more-larger than we...

ahhhh. thank you!

p.s. check out Mikey Weinstein's work, if you haven't seen it yet. the Air Force Academy is pushing the 'fellowship' brand of extremism institutionally, from the top down. lucky me, it may not be too late to be burned at the stake, like my childhood heroine Joan.

and so it goes

Posted by rjsnj on March 22, 2008 at 08:25 AM

if you scroll down a little, left sidebar under the Jeff Farias show, you can see some sweet photography documenting the protest at bloody John Dubya McSame's office commemorating year five of this senseless slaughter.

nice video of Jeff's speech, too. if you haven't listened to the show, 3pm Eastern, i recommend it highly. the power of caller-driven radio to build community is working. if every major metro area had a similar format, we could fight this insanity with the voices of ordinary people.

since the Arizona Republic chose NOT to cover the protest event, the next one will be held in front of their office. hahaha, democracy is such fun!

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

Barbara Ehrenreich

There's a reason Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she's a lot more vulnerable than Obama.

You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that "through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as "The "Fellowship," also known as The Family. But it won't be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet's shocking exposé The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May.

Sean Hannity has called Obama's church a "cult," but that term applies far more aptly to Clinton's "Family," which is organized into "cells"--their term--and operates sex-segregated group homes for young people in northern Virginia. In 2002, Sharlet joined The Family's home for young men, forswearing sex, drugs and alcohol, and participating in endless discussions of Jesus and power. He wasn't undercover; he used his own name and admitted to being a writer. But he wasn't completely out of danger either. When he went outdoors one night to make a cell phone call, he was followed. He still gets calls from Family associates asking him to meet them in diners--alone.

(for those who think this is over, you ain't seen nuttin' yet...)

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:00 AM
================================================

Hi fade,

This is great!

McCain ... same as Bush!

since the Arizona Republic chose NOT to cover the protest event, the next one will be held in front of their office. hahaha, democracy is such fun!

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:00 AM
===================================================

Good for you fade. I am so sick of the media that tries to pretend that Iraq is "going so well" and that the American people are "for it". All the polls show Iraq is at it's lowest approval rating ever (as is Chimp Bush). Sure, the economy has bubbled up as a big issue. The economy is related to the occupation:

It's the war economy stupid!

You out there listening McFlip-Flop ...

McCain ... same as Bush.

Why Spitzer was Bushwhacked

By F William Engdahl

The spectacular and bizarre release of secret FBI wiretap data to the New York Times exposing the tryst of New York State governor Eliot Spitzer, the now-infamous client "No 9", with an upmarket call-girl had relatively little to do with the George W Bush administration’s pursuit of high moral standards for public servants. Spitzer was likely the target of a White House and Wall Street dirty tricks operation to silence one of the most dangerous and vocal critics of their handling of the current financial market crisis.

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:16 AM
==================================================

Fade, it would not surprise me. Does anyone think that busting into Obama's passport file was an accident? The looks into Clinton and McCain files are just cover. It's obvious that Watergate like operations are taking place now that the GOP is wiretapping everyone and has the "Patriot Act" to give them cover.

Posted by rjsnj on March 22, 2008 at 09:16 AM

the good people of Arizona, who know Bloody John Dubya McSame better than anyone else, will continue to be a (ahem) thorn in his side.

many of us have chosen to focus on the increasingly weak and possibly senile candidate who is promoting four more years of Bush Crime Family policies, and we are not distracted by the latest round of the "Crusades"

i've got a beautiful file of research on John Hagee (sweet jesus, what a gift!) compiled by one of my good friends in California. the religious wars are much more than campaign fodder, they're driving policy for the imperialists

the anti-empire strikes back! when we get the file posted on site, i'll be sure to provide a link.

what's going on in your neck of the woods? our protests (moveon vigils) got press coverage before and after the event. first time in five years. persist, persist and resist the occupation. both abroad and at home.

Bush's War: Frontline Documentary - PBS 3.24 + 3.25.08 Hotlist
by xxdr zombiexx [Subscribe]
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 06:01:07 AM PDT

I wanted to give folks a head's up about this upcoming PBS/FRONTLINE documentary.

I am one of those "kill your TV" folks, but this may be extremely worthwhile: the potential of what real journalism and TV together can be like. Maybe?

They will be launching a corresponding website as well.

More on the flip.

* xxdr zombiexx's diary :: ::
*

FRONTLINE presents

FRONTLINE: Bush's War

PBS March 24 & 25, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

From the horror of 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq; the truth about WMD to the rise of an insurgency; the scandal of Abu Ghraib to the strategy of the surge -- for six years, FRONTLINE has revealed the defining stories of the war on terror in meticulous detail, and the political dramas that played out at the highest levels of power and influence.

Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). Veteran producer Michael Kirk (The Torture Question, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richest archives in broadcast journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reports on the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.

I will be curious to see if they will demonstrate naked incompetence or if they will be able to somehow obscure the "it was all about the oil and still is" issue.

I would suspect a majority of PBS listers/viewers are in the demographic of those who think that oil is a very large part of the Iraq occupation, if not the entire purpose. To make an attempt to paint this away will be suspect, at least in my book.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/85419/9463/992/482077
==================================================

Iraq is all about oil company profits. The Chimp and McCain (and clearly Cheney) don't care how your lives are being trashed by the lousy economy. They just want more profits for the oil companies and themselves.

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:08 AM

Let's try to keep your posting re: Fellowship on this blog throughout the day. SandyH and others like myself have been wondering where HRC was during this "media lynching." Many of US have argued that the DEMS could have defused this by speaking with one voice.

Now that HRC belongs to this organization and shares its agenda, then the answer is pretty obvious.

When you couple this with her stint at WalMart her efforts to court the "working class" are little more than pandering. Yes, all politicians can be accused of this... Let's leave it at that. Thanks.

They just want more profits for the oil companies and themselves.

Posted by rjsnj on March 22, 2008 at 09:26 AM

check out the ad on the top right, emirates.com

these criminals have drained our treasury and are setting up shop in their new playground. astonishing, isn't it?

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:25 AM
==================================================

fade, a bit of a "soggy" event - terrible weather as it rained hard the entire time. But, we still managed to bring out alot of people. Citizen Action did a good job rallying the event and getting a couple of speakers.

We got press coverage in the Star Ledger. If I can find a link I'll post it.

It seems that some of the DEMS want the party to unite and others want to destroy it. Just look at the postings where people are joyful of finding what is perceived as some cracks in both candidates. They are both far from perfect.

My question to those that want to unite....are you willing to get behind either candidate and provide your full support? If the answer is no--you would only support one candidate but not the other then this party is not ready to unite and put the good of the country first. This is a highly emotionally charged election which makes it difficult to put aside all the bickering to support one candidate. It would challenge most of us to make a committment to support either candidate regardless of who ends up being the nominee. I believe everything will work itself out eventually. Both campaigns and the media are digging up dirt, which hurts the candidates more than it helps. It only helps the republicans and McCain.

Father Michael Pfleger Has A Message

You all have to see this VIDEO.

Happy Easter: He Is Risen ( That would be Jesus Christ )

Have a great weekend all.

;p

Dee Anna

Posted by MARZBAR on March 22, 2008 at 09:27 AM

Trinity UCC in Chicago has had an active campaign going to STOP WalMart! Their focus is the "social gospel" and their work with formerly incarcerated, and social justice, including GAY RIGHTS is widely known and respected, far beyond the Chicago area.

If you recall, the networks refused to grant UCC the opportunity to run a commercial, that they wanted to pay for, during the Kerry campaign cycle. It was related to the attack on gays by the right wing, and it never played. Not allowed.

The wisdom of Jefferson and our founders (not Adams and Hamilton) regarding the rights of Americ ans to be free FROM religion as well as free to PRACTICE religion has been so callously disregarded in this current election cycle that i wonder if we can ever recover.

I hope you are having an Obama-sistible morning.

www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer-2.html

From the article in Mother Jones:

"The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God's plan."

"The Fellowship's ideas are essentially a blend of Calvinism and Norman Vincent Peale, the 1960s preacher of positive thinking. It's a cheery faith in the "elect" chosen by a single voter—God—and a devotion to Romans 13:1: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers....The powers that be are ordained of God." Or, as Coe has put it, "we work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."

Read the article and draw your own conclusions.

So please explain why a state Obama will never carry in the general election should carry more weight than a state that matters?!?! Posted by HybridFuel on March 22, 2008 at 12:38 AM

There are several southern states where African Americans account for 30 or more percent of the electorate. If they get activated to vote, all Obama needs to do is to capture around 28 percent of the white vote to win these states. He will already win the states that HRC wins. They're Democratic.

Posted by riskytime on March 22, 2008 at 09:37 AM

i'm not ready to make nice.

i refuse to accept the lineage of the Royal Clinton campaign of inevitability and wonder what kind of whacked-out genetic predisposition for public humiliation that 'stand by her man' "feminist" HRC makes her continue the shaming of the country

i will continue to make phone calls and send money to my candidate.

this ain't my first rodeo, and i have no intention of "settling" for DLC triangulation or the smearing of our 50 state strategy.

i will also continue to support the activists registering voters. it's all about turnout and the worse our candidate is treated, the better our turnout will be.

i am not concerned about winning in November if the people's candidate wins the nomination.

destroy the party? hahaha Terry McAuliffe is trying his damnedest, but it ain't gonna happen.

if you step away from the computer and talk to the folks you'll find that Obama will lead this country in a new direction.

yes we can!

Workers were punished for records breach

WASHINGTON - Two companies that provide workers for the State Department say they fired or otherwise punished those who improperly accessed the passport records of the three major presidential candidates. The security breaches touched off demands for a congressional investigation.

"None of us wants to have a circumstance in which any American's passport file is looked at in an unauthorized way," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she offered apologies to the candidates.

Stanley Inc., based in Arlington, Va., and The Analysis Corp., or TAC, of McLean, Va., said Friday that their employees' actions were unauthorized and not consistent with company policies.

Link

Like the Telecom's Federal law was broken and the courts need yo handle it. Since when is a Corporation the law that they Judge and dish out punishment "At Will." These employees and the Contractors broke Fderal Law and are accountable to that. If we have Corporation taking over the duty of the Justice Department as Bush wants, we would have no security. It is up to the Secretary of State to investigate and with the Attornay General arrect culprits. Also Congress needs to investigate why it took so long and nobody in the State Department was not notified. It is time to nail these criminals who sky on their jobs on private individuals.

A form is needed to be filled out telling, who is opening private files, who authorized it, and if a warrant was obtained.

Posted by FreedomOfSpeechForBarackObama2008 on March 22, 2008 at 09:41 AM
=================================================

What sad times we live in when politicians, pundits and talk radio hate merchants distort language and even the totality of a person's life just to appeal to the worst in people.

Obama has turned the corner on this disgraceful attack. The right wing nuts won't shut up about it but when do they ever shut up about their hate, stupidity and lies.

Let's move forward.

We have a State Department, where any employee can "At Will" spy on another civilian without any protection and Oversight. It is like a Blackwater Army running amok. Why were there people brieved to their duty to protect Civil Liberties? Sounds like Rice does not do any homework within her own agency.

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 09:44 AM

that's Obama-sistable!

thanks, i'm off to the voter registration drive. we just can't stop! turnout is the key. ground game is the secret.

power to the people! thanks for that video and keep up the good work, Veneita!

si se puede

Morning everyone...lurking while thinking of nasty comments :)

Posted by YoungPoet on March 22, 2008 at 09:53 AM
==================================================

Poet, it's all cover for a Watergate like event. The GOP have now done what they said would never happen - they politicized access to information!
Is there any doubt they were trying to get something on Obama?

Posted by fade2bluz on March 22, 2008 at 09:41 AM

The separation between church and state should be enforced vigorously.

The troubling fusion of religion with nationalism and the resultant "patriotic crusade" in Iraq are one its tragic consequences. Hillary's quoted "Gift of Freedom" excerpt on this blog makes a bit more sense now too. It also might have something to do with her vote for authorization of that war. I want to think about that...

Bob Dylan's "With God On Our Side" sums up much of my religious sentiment.

But I realize the importance of religion as a cultural force in this country for better or worse. Until we find an alternative to counteract the "state religion" the road will be long...

I SC 87,000 more people voted in the Dem primary than in the Repub election (this is before Limbaugh was encouraging cross voting).

Almost 98,000 more voted Dem primary in Georgia than Repub. These races were held when the main three repubs were still in the race.

79,000 more voted in the Alabama than in the Rep primary.

Nearly 359,000 more people voted in the Dem primary in Louisiana than in the Rep primary.

Again these were multi-candidate races on both sides.

You can find individual totals by clicking states here. Do the math.

Here's a clip of a video by the Obama girl who will vote.

For those that don’t remember, Representative Charles Rangel first suggested to President Clinton moving his presidential office to Harlem. Mr. Rangel said. "I'm so excited, because as I explained to the President, it's not just a great coup to our community to have a former President here. There is symbolic importance to the President working in an area that is going through an economic revival." Charles Rangel represents the 15th Congressional District which includes the location of the referenced Clinton presidential office at 55 West 125th Street in Harlem. Representative Rangel is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and is a distinguished Army veteran of the Korean War.

But I realize the importance of religion as a cultural force in this country for better or worse. Until we find an alternative to counteract the "state religion" the road will be long...

Posted by MARZBAR on March 22, 2008 at 10:05 AM
===================================================

MARZBAR, religion is a good force for social movements. But, when incorporated by the political state, it becomes warped and destructive.

Posted by YoungPoet on March 22, 2008 at 09:59 AM
=================================================

Poet, I find Rice's apology to be downright laughable. She is just another tool of this corrupt, criminal administration.

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 10:10 AM
=================================================

LOL. When you try to throw the kitchen sink, it may just land on your foot.

Clinton's justification for this strategy is that she needs to toughen up Obama for the general election-if he can't handle her attacks, he'll never stand up to the vast right-wing conspiracy. Without her hazing, warns the Clinton memo, "Democrats may have a nominee who will be a lightening rod of controversy." So Clinton's offensive against the likely nominee is really an act of selflessness. And here I was thinking she was maniacally pursuing her slim thread of a chance, not caring--or possibly even hoping, with an eye toward 2012-that she would destroy Obama's chances of defeating McCain in the process. I feel ashamed for having suspected her motives.

Still, there are a few flaws in Clinton's trial-by-smear method. The first is that her attacks on Obama are not a fair proxy for what he'd endure in the general election, because attacks are harder to refute when they come from within one's own party. Indeed, Clinton is saying almost exactly the same things about Obama that McCain is: He's inexperienced, lacking in substance, unequipped to handle foreign policy. As The Washington Monthly's Christina Larson has pointed out, in recent weeks the nightly newscasts have consisted of Clinton attacking Obama, McCain attacking Obama, and then Obama trying to defend himself and still get out his own message. If Obama's the nominee, he won't have a high-profile Democrat validating McCain's message every day.

Second, Obama can't "test" Clinton the way she can test him. While she likes to claim that she beat the Republican attack machine, it's more accurate to say that she survived with heavy damage. Clinton is a wildly polarizing figure, with disapproval ratings at or near 50 percent. But, because she earned the intense loyalty of core Democratic partisans, Obama has to tread gingerly around her vulnerabilities. There is a big bundle of ethical issues from the 1990s that Obama has not raised because he can't associate himself with what partisan Democrats (but not Republicans or swing voters) regard as a pure GOP witch hunt.

Am I the only one who thinks all the this talk about race is stupid? We are not electing a preacher. We are electing someone to run the Executive branch of the US Government. I don't need anybody telling me about race relations. And as a matter of fact, the people who DO NEED the talk probably won't listen. So please, save the race talk, and let's discuss policy. If Obama had been talking about health care or the economy, we wouldn't have this mess now. "Can't we all just GET" TO THE POLICY?

Posted by Big_Yellow_Dog on March 21, 2008 at 07:46 PM

Like I've said before...no, we really can't. People don't vote on the basis of the actions that someone says they are going to take when they are elected. They vote on feelings. And you know what? When a typical white person is walking down a city street and sees a black man, the typical white person first emotional reaction is fear. At the very least, the feeling is unease. Sad, but true. Obama needs to connect with people on an emotional level. He needs to build a connection beneath policy. To tell the truth, so does Clinton, if she actually wishes to win. course, she has that advantage of already being a social conservative, according to the stuff fade has been posting. (Good to see you, fade :)

And B_Y_D, if Obama had been talking about health care or the economy, you would have complained that he wasn't addressing the issue of race.

Btw, how is your candidate going to help the economy? What is her health care plan? Which speech has she given in which she has outlined the plans she has?

Here's one for the DNC:

McCain Ignores Webb’s Call to Sponsor GI Bill
by SusanG
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 07:06:04 AM PDT

This is how John McCain supports the troops:

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is calling on presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) to sign on as a co-sponsor to his GI bill, which would improve educational benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"McCain needs to get on the bill," Webb told reporters after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting on Wednesday. He said legislation mirroring the post-World War II GI bill should not be considered a "political issue."

This is how the Democrats support the troops:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Il.), the Democratic presidential candidates, both have signed on to the bill.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/22/1064/03868/870/481190

=================================================

McCrap!

God morning, too.

Posted by Esmeralda on March 22, 2008 at 07:47 AM

And Goddess morning to our pagans. And Godless morning to all ya atheists and agnostics. :)

Some Clinton-friendly media outlets, like ABC are downplaying this, in the usual attempt to spin down news that helps Obama.

Here's what the Wright-Clinton photo means:

1) Wright is not a fringe figure, but a mainstream black church leader. Thus the FoxNews/ABCNews smear campaign consisting of 15 sec clips mixed together is shown to be a lie, and a BIG LIE.

2) Clinton KNEW Wright, and Wright helped Clinton when he was in trouble with Monica. Now that Wright is being smeared by ABCNews and FoxNews, Clinton sits in cowardly silence, never defending him from these attacks.

If Clinton had any honor, he would have stepped up and said Wright is a good man and the 15 sec splice and dice video smears (from garbage peddler ABC) are NOT ACCURATE.

In essence, Wright saved Bill when the GOP was attacking him, but the Clintons TURNED THEIR BACKS on Wright when he is under assault.

An opinion

MSM needs to apologize for slandering Jeremiah Wright, Hypocrisy at its highest

didn't she used to work for fox "news"?

In churches, synagogues and mosques around this country, occasionally, there are words spewed forth that would not look good when plastered as headlines or played back as sound bites. Most of the religious leaders who transgress do valuable work within their communities despite their intemperate rhetoric from time to time. We should freely condemn the language that incites and divides. We should insist that such ideas are not promulgated in thought or deed by our officials. But the expectation that politicians will excise everyone that offends and must ignore any good by these people for the moments of bad, is asking more than most mortals would do.

Barack Obama has done all that he should. He has unequivocally denounced the hateful words of Rev. Wright while speaking eloquently of his own vision of unity, tolerance and understanding. Now if only the media would get back to the substance of this campaign, rather than the ratings-driven vitriol, maybe we could all focus on the truly critical issues we face in the coming election.

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 10:31 AM
===================================================

Venita, I seen it. As I said above, when you try to throw the kitchen sink, it may just land on your foot.

Oh yeah and get this one on McCrap:

Hagee, in 'NYT' This Sunday, Says McCain Sought His Endorsement

By Greg Mitchell

Published: March 20, 2008 5:35 PM ET

NEW YORK In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement."

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003728364

(CNN) – Bill Richardson criticized a Clinton campaign adviser Friday for suggesting his endorsement of Barack Obama is insignificant.

"I resent the fact that the Clinton people are now saying that my endorsement is too late because I only can help with Texans — with Texas and Hispanics, implying that that's my only value," the New Mexico governor told CNN's John King.

Posted by rjsnj on March 22, 2008 at 10:13 AM

No argument. I'm fully aware of the signifcance of religion and its importance to the Civil Right's Movement as well the opposition to the Vietnam War. Likewise today and throughout this nation's history.

But because of religious freedom there are others who see it the other way. It is not an excuse for intolerance by either camp! And their cultural war on Liberalism has taken its toll...

Liberation Theology poses a challenge to their reactionary sociopolitical agenda and we'll have to see how it plays out. The Christian Right is not monolithic and we would be foolish not to work with people of faith who share our concerns.

The reaction of some of Mr. Clinton’s allies suggests that might have been a wise decision. “An act of betrayal,” said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

Don't you want to believe this guy had something to do with the whole Wright scandal?

And how could HRC put up the $15 million he advertised if the campaign is essentially broke?

Kitchen Sink diplomacy lies in the worst form of politics reminiscent of Bush's WMD attacks on anyone doing their "Homework." Was it Kitchen Sink politics that got a Poet banned and called "Obscene," because I supported Kerry over Bush. He was the better choice, but in Alabama one must vote with the Fraternity or get the Kitchen Sink treatment were you are destroyed because you dared be different. Is not the Kitchen Sink what Bush used on France, where for awhile we banned French fries. In a Kitchen Sink treatment will a Poet get destroyed again for daring to have an opinion that this Kitchen Sink strategy is vile and repulsive. "Do it the Clinton way, or face the consequences." Is Kitchen Sink politics the status quo in Washington that changes nothing positive but more negative.

So please explain why a state Obama will never carry in the general election should carry more weight than a state that matters?!?!

Posted by HybridFuel on March 22, 2008 at 12:38 AM

There are several southern states where African Americans account for 30 or more percent of the electorate. If they get activated to vote, all Obama needs to do is to capture around 28 percent of the white vote to win these states. He will already win the states that HRC wins. They're Democratic.

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 09:51 AM

In addition, for all you elitist piece of shit posting here....There are FIFTY states in the Union....FIFTY...FIFTY...FIFTY!!! There is no state that is completely safe for conservatives this year. nd we might just be able to pick up some House seats even if we don't get the electoral votes. So don't give me this "it won't count in thegeneral" BULLSHIT.

I for one would like to elect someone who thinks the people of this country should have a say in what goes on in government, instead of someone who thinks that he/she knows best and we should all just shut up and let them do whatever without question.

didn't she used to work for fox "news"?

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 10:36 AM

CourtTV

But she was on Faux for a bit, I think...two years? Probably made her sick to her stomach, considering that Huffington piece seems to be a progressive

Posted by MARZBAR on March 22, 2008 at 10:45 AM
================================================

Agreed! I think Obama sees the potential as well.

Posted by Veneita on March 22, 2008 at 10:48 AM
==================================================

When it comes to James Carville, there is a simple rule:

Do NOT trust him!

Remember, after the highly successful 2006 elections, it was Carville that pushed to replace Dr. Dean with the DLC-er Harold Ford.

Now this is really too much. I think Buchanan should be kicked off of TV. He is as right wing as it gets and he tries to hide it in "right wing populism":

Pat Buchanan: Slavery Best Thing Ever to Happen to Blacks Hotlist
by D Wreck [Subscribe]
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 06:52:12 AM PDT

Barack Obama's speech this past week illuminated aspects of the racial divide in this country in a nuanced and respectful manner. This speech offered an opening for dialogue. Pat Buchanan has offered his response.

America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Buchanan amazes with a tone deaf defense of white resentment by claiming slavery is the best thing that ever happened to black people in a posting on his website yesterday. Buchanan's contribution to this dialogue is as appalling as Obama's contribution is appealling.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/83758/9895/1022/482071

==================================================

No Pat, millions of African-Americans do NOT believe this was a good thing. They still are justly angry about it and your idiocy will just increase the anger. Why do people like Buchanan constantly have to rub salt in old wounds?

"Workers were punished for records breach," said Rice. They were given a Blackwater sweetheart deal, where they were given immunity from prosecution. What else are these corporate contracted employees spying "At Will" upon. How come contractors are not taught ethics, and Constitutional Law of protections from invasive intrusions. Yes, to Bush we have no protection from Kitchen Sink "At Will" attacks that put "We the people" in their place on the second tier of Royal superiority, when they talk down to US in their arrogance.

How can Superdelegates support a candidate that will use the Kitchen Sink on a fellow Democrat? That they will use it in their Presidency against fellow Democrats again and again, who do not fall in line behind them as puppets, and never do their Homework. I think Democrats like Richardson, they should support the candidate with the best value system for ALL democrats.

Someone that your children will admire in their postive attitude of building up America, not destroying it with negativity.

This statement from Catherine Crier's Huff Post article show EXACTLY what I'm talking about with the "elite"

Without trudging too far back in our history, we can find all the examples necessary to demonstrate how religious leaders have incited division while enjoying powerful relationships with the political class.

We ALL need to be the "political class". We ALL need to be involved. We need to be tired of "rulers", we need to be tired of people making the decisions for us and telling us not to worry our heads about it. The "elite" needs to cease. The American people have been treated like mushrooms for FAR too long. WE need to stand up and grab hold of our birthright, and tell those who are so fearful of losing their speacial place that we are all grown up and can do it ourselves. Americans aren't really stupid, they just don't know how to be involved. But they'll learn.

Americans aren't really stupid, they just don't know how to be involved. But they'll learn.

Posted by GregL on March 22, 2008 at 11:17 AM
===================================================

GregL, that is exactly the problem. I think we lost alot when people retreated into the confines of their homes. They lost the sense of community. This makes them easy targets for the GOP's "greed is good" message (beamed in courtesy of their TV's).

Posted by GregL on March 22, 2008 at 10:55 AM

And who has built an organization in almost all 50 states? Obama or Clinton? Who has repeatedly stressed that with OUR help WE can get it done? Which candidate appears more open to participation by the average American, more willing to listen rather than tell us what I will do for you?

I have listened to both Barack Obama and Hillary/Bill Clinton. Obama is more engaging and does not pretend to have all the answers. The Clintons seem more prone to lecture US, as if their the only two policy wonks who have the answers to everything. Bill is particularly offensive in this regard.

Maybe it's all public relations by Obama but having seen him in person before the Ohio primary when he was in Akron and listened to the speech delivered this past Tuesday night, can you imagine HRC delivering the same speech? Writing this speech? Or even risking it? Leadership is both poetry and prose.

My money is [already] on Obama!

I was listening to the business news on PBS a couple of days ago. The "business leaders" were talking about corruption in the corporate world and excessive CEO pay. One of them actually said along these lines:

We need to preserve the corporate common good.

I thought to myself, these people are using the language that belongs to citizens not corporations.

We need to preserve the citizen's common good NOT the corporate common good. We need to stop acting like they are one and the same. Coolidge and Hoover used that argument and where did it get them ... deeper and deeper into economic disaster for the American people.

First a Tense Talk With Clinton, Then Richardson Backs Obama

PORTLAND, Ore. — “I talked to Senator Clinton last night,” Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said on Friday, describing the tense telephone call in which he informed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that, despite two months of personal entreaties by her and her husband, he would be endorsing Senator Barack Obama for president.

“Let me tell you: we’ve had better conversations,” Mr. Richardson said.

The decision by Mr. Richardson, who ended his own presidential campaign on Jan. 10, to support Mr. Obama was a belt of bad news for Mrs. Clinton. It was a stinging rejection of her candidacy by a man who had served in two senior positions in President Bill Clinton’s administration, and who is one of the nation’s most prominent elected Hispanics. Mr. Richardson came back from vacation to announce his endorsement at a moment when Mrs. Clinton’s hopes of winning the Democratic nomination seem to be dimming.

But potentially more troublesome for Mrs. Clinton was what Mr. Richardson said in announcing his decision. He criticized the tenor of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. He praised Mr. Obama for the speech he gave in response to the furor over racially incendiary remarks delivered by Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

==============================
Carville Compares Richardson to Judas!

Link

A Democrat calling another Judas, who are these Clinton Progressive Blue Dogs. I think they have been in the Bush sewer too long, bad mouthing people in potty language.

as if their the only two policy wonks who have the answers to everything. Bill is particularly offensive in this regard.

Forgive me for that one! It should read:

as if they're the only two policy wonks who have the answers to everything. Bill is particularly offensive in this regard.

Recounting the fiscal wreckage of last week is the incomparable bonddad:

The Pros and Cons of the Fed's Action Last Week Hotlist
by bonddad [Subscribe]
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 05:33:44 AM PDT

Last week has a historic week for the Federal Reserve. Going back to the end of the previous week we learned that one of Wall Street's oldest and most venerable investment banks was basically bankrupt. Over the weekend we learned that JP Morgan was working to buy Bear. And then we learned that JP Morgan purchased Bear for $2/share with a $30 billion guarantee from the Federal Reserve in the event some of Bear's loans were bad (which some pretty much have to be in the current environment). Now that all of this is over, let's look at the pros and cons of what the Federal Reserve did.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/8434/20778/1015/482062

Posted by MARZBAR on March 22, 2008 at 11:27 AM

LOL! You post as if I'm not speaking of Obama as my candidate of choice...oh wait, I forgot...I was specifically NOT mentioning candidates...damn you, MARZBAR! :grin:

Hillary Clinton has been regaling supporters on the campaign trail with hair-raising tales of a trip she made to Bosnia in March 1996. In her retelling, she was sent to places that her husband, President Clinton, could not go because they were "too dangerous." When her account was challenged by one of her traveling companions, the comedian Sinbad, she upped the ante and injected even more drama into the story. In a speech earlier this week, she talked about "landing under sniper fire" and running for safety with "our heads down."

There are numerous problems with Clinton's version of events.
The Facts

(Updated below)

As a reporter who visited Bosnia soon after the December 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, I can attest that the physical risks were minimal during this period, particularly at a heavily fortified U.S. Air Force base, such as Tuzla. Contrary to the claims of Hillary Clinton and former Army secretary Togo West, Bosnia was not "too dangerous" a place for President Clinton to visit in early 1996. In fact, the first Clinton to visit the Tuzla Air Force base was not Hillary, but Bill, on January 13, 1996.

Getting Back to What Matters in this Election

Progressives must set the moral agenda. And we must promote our vision for the nation. If we don't, conservatives will continue to do so unchallenged.

Our strengths are many. Progressives want to live in healthy communities where people look out for one another. We believe every person is imbued with dignity and deserves to be treated with respect. It is our empathetic bond with our fellow person that shapes our desire to build an economy that delivers opportunity and prosperity to all people.

How do these moral values relate to the issues Matt described? Simple. A society built on empathy will structure markets to serve people, not the other way around. A society built on human dignity will provide protections against predatory lending. A society built on responsibility – especially social responsibility – will avoid military quagmires driven by ideological creed of regional hegemony and short-sighted greed.

This is something we organize around and advance fervently. If enough of us join together, our leaders will become bold enough to take up the call and carry it forth into the hallowed halls of government.

This is what matters right now. This is what we should be talking about.

In a new tactic, lawyers for an alleged archterrorist held at Guantánamo argue in an unlawful detention suit that their client is insane -- and that U.S. agents concluded long ago that any intelligence he could provide is unsound.

A Washington, D.C., court unsealed the suit this week by Zayn Abidin Muhammed Husayn, widely known as ''Abu Zubaydah,'' whom the CIA has admitted to waterboarding in secret interrogation.

His attorneys, Brent Mickham and Joe Margulies, filed the lawsuit -- asking a panel of judges to review his military detention and order his release from U.S. custody -- before they met with the captive at the U.S. Navy base in late February.

They crafted the suit to avoid any classified U.S. intelligence Abu Zubaydah may have told them in the attorney-client meetings.

Instead, the lawyers used U.S. government leaks plucked from the news media and a recent book on the CIA's war on al Qaeda, which portrayed their client as mentally incompetent.

''This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality,'' says a retired FBI agent, Dan Coleman, in The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of its Enemies, by Ron Suskind.

Freethought of the Day

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
-- Blaise Pascal, French philosopher, Pensees (1623-1662)

THAT SHOULD BE MEN AND WOMEN NOW!!!"With pleasure I will torpedo the ark." D. 1906.

"Bigger things than the State will fall, all religion will fall."
-- Henrik Ibsen, letter to Georg Brandes, quoted in Ibsen by biographer Aall, 1906

US Olympic tourists warned about monitoring in hotels

Americans traveling to China for the Olympic Games in August can expect their hotel rooms there to be monitored, the State Department warned on its website.
"All visitors should be aware that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public or private locations," according to the State Department site.

"All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times. Hotel rooms, residences and offices may be accessed at any time without the occupant's consent or knowledge," it said.

It added that many hotels and apartment buildings may be poorly built, lack emergency exits, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide monitors and basic security like locks, alarms, and personnel.

Link

They are a Patriot Act nation also.

Right on, MARZ:
Let me also say that this country is still majority Christian. BUT the Christian Right is a minority within that population.
Not even ALL evangelicals and extreme right-wing, witness Jim Wallis' Sojourners' movement which has given the non extreme right evangelicals and other Christians as well a place to go. A place where they can express their views and not get dissed because, they are either not right-wing enough, or are too "religious" for some in the liberal left.
Many Christians are social liberals who firmly believe in Christ's teachings to love our neighbors, and to care for the poor, the elderly and infirm, and have been repulsed by the single-issue-voter issues of the neo-cons.
We tend to see that universal medical care, programs to help the disabled, the elderly, and children are extensions of our social responsibilities, since singly, no one of us can provide more than a pittance. We also see that caring for this earth, of which God gave us stewardship, is an extension of caring for each other, since without caring for this earth which we live on, we will all die.
We need to see that the Extreme right means to divide us in as many ways possible. They will try to slice and dice us, pitting poor against middle class, male against female against gays and transgendered, Christian against other religions, as well as the non-religious, Blacks against whites against brown against yellow, culturally, Anglos against Hispanics(Hispanic is NOT a race), against other immigrants who value their own cultures.
We need to understand these tactics and be able to refute their lies. Otherwise they'll make hamburger out of us.
WE need to get past their slice and dice tactics and kick their butts in the polls.

Bohemians are protected with the National Security Act of 1947 from any investigations, but the government cannot protect "We the people" in the same way. Congress can up with the National Security Act of 2008, where citizens being investigated must have warrants to access their files, with the names of the person doing it, and their bosses. The form can list the warrant.

Ooops!, typo, it should read "not all evangelicals are extreme right-wing."

Posted by Butte on March 22, 2008 at 11:59 AM

And thankfully the Christians that believe in the teachings of Christ in the way of which you speak are usually also the ones who recognize that just because others don't believe in Christ literally as God doesn't mean they don't believe in the same types of teachings.

I actually feel sorry for the extremist religious right sometimes. They need things ot be in such a rigid structure of right and wrong. They seem incapable or unwilling to actually think for themselves and reason out whether something is actually right or wrong. Are they really that lazy?

From the "my.barakobama.com" blogs:
The Great Rebate Redux

The first day of spring is around March 20 or 21, depending on what day the vernal equinox occurs. This is when the sun sits directly above the equator on its apparent trip northward. It also is the harbinger of the dreaded Tax Season; a time of confusion, frustration, and anger for the average person and a windfall for those pencil-pushing accountants who not only bothered to pay attention in math class but made it their life's work.

To make the throwing away of your hard-earned dollars to a wasteful government more palatable this year, the thieves in D.C. have voted in a scheme disguised as an "economic stimulus package" in the form of a tax rebate. The idea here is that Americans couldn't hold on to a dollar if their life depended on it so the government can benefit from that weakness by making a loan back to the populace of their own money (borrowed from China because the politicos already spent our initial remittances) so that we will then run out and give it back to the corporate Robber Barons to whom we are all indentured....so that they can then purchase an even larger share of our collective soul and sell that for even more profits to sovereign wealth funds.

A new poll sponsored by CreditCards.com says half of Americans don't plan to spend the money at all, and those who do are more likely to pay existing bills. If this poll holds true, it will reduce the effectiveness of the stimulus on the plan to enrich the corporate Robber Barons even further. It turns out Americans may not be so dumb and spendthrift after all.

So here is an alternative plan for those tax rebates. Individuals may contribute up to $2300 to any candidate or candidate committee per election. Why not make an investment in the future of your country and ultimately your children's and grandchildren's lives by contributing that tax rebate to Senator Barak Obama's campaign for President? Even if only the 50% who planned on spending it did so, imagine the possibilities!

Ignore the prickly one, he is one of the slice and dicers.

Posted by GregL on March 22, 2008 at 11:44 AM

Yeah! I guess I knew where you were parked. But I didn't want to run any Clinton supporters off in the process while the nomination process is still in play. The debate is healthy but the accompanying acrimony is counterproductive. I want to stay away from the latter if I can. Sometimes it's hard.

The Democratic tent is so large and diverse that this may be one its biggest weaknesses. Forging that common ground to sustain this grand coalition is what we're trying to do, right? Many of DNC bloggers, like you, have inspired me to jump back into the fray.

My 30 year sojourn in the "supply-side wilderness" where LIBERAL became a dirty word has tempered my more youthful incendiary tendencies. But it also afforded me the time to think and reflect on what went wrong and how we begin to put this country back on course. I'm not presumptuous to think that I have the answers... That's why I'm here.

Si, se puede!

Pentagon will not send Adm. Fallon to Congress on Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adm. William Fallon, who is resigning after a magazine reported he was challenging the White House over Iran, will not appear before Congress to discuss the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Only Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. officer in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will go to Capitol Hill in April to update lawmakers on the war, said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

"I know there have been requests in fact from members of Congress to have Admiral Fallon testify with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker and I can tell you Admiral Fallon will not be testifying," Morrell said.

Link

Adm. William Fallon must speak before Congress, Bush cannot dictate to Congress, after all we all know what Bush Intelligence and its "Truth fabricated in "Lies." We need someone that dares talk in "Truth." Congress must to its Homework this time around, and not accept just those Bush wants to use.

I never have met a President, who demands from Congress concessions of who may appear to give their viewpoints.

Posted by FloridaDemToo on March 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM

Now that's a damn good idea! It doesn't have to be in one lump sum but could be staggered over the course of the campaign up to the November electon. Then the "bite" might not seem so painful.

Of course, if the idiots get wind that we're using the stimulus for campaign financing they might have second thoughts. Oh well, too late! LOL.

Barack Obama ready to step out and speak now in medford, Oregon

Barack Obama ready to step out and speak now in medford, Oregon

I am posting OK today, but I wish this blog would stop blocking me on some days for no apparent reason. Other people have had this problem. It's a bug that we cannot afford. The blog is the foundation of the Dean revolution, going directly to the people, not the $1000/plate dinner - a method Obama has used as a foundation

A society built on empathy will structure markets to serve people, not the other way around.

Posted by GregL
====================================================

Very good GregL.

It's an outrage to hear business people talk about the "corporate common good" while denying the citizen's common good.

Barack Obama’s speech moved Roger L. Simon to poetry for the first time since high school. He apologizes for the inadequacies.

by Roger L. Simon

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barack, I was a civil rights worker… South Carolina, 1966… 22 yrs old … helping old folks register to vote, teaching kids to read and write, directing Raisin in the Sun…

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barack, I dream of my kindergarten best friend Andy from Walden School, Manhattan, born one day after me, shot dead in Mississippi 1964.

Barack, I idolized Stokley Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Barack, I lost the full use of my left hand for life in South Carolina.

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barack, I gave hundreds to the Black Panthers for their children’s breakfast program when I was 25 and a young screenwriter in Echo Park, Los Angeles, even though I knew Huey was crazy and was worried my money might have been going for guns, even though I had my own children in the house when the Panthers came over, their jackets bulging.

Barack, I made excuses for the Black Power Movement even though I knew it was turning racist.

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barack, your speech was bullshit.

Barack, this isn’t about generations.

Barack, this isn’t about the black church.

Barack, this is about a pathological minister whose uncontrolled anger wounds his own people and keeps them down.

Barack, this is about a man who ignored that rage for his own political gain and even now won’t admit a huge mistake and looks for nuance and excuses.

Barack, this about a woman who went on scholarship to Princeton and Harvard and still hates America.

Barack, you say you want Black-Jewish reconciliation but you hung with an anti-Semite.

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barak Obama outside now, talking to the people who cannot get in.

Speaking of bigots, check this one out from conservative right winger Pat Buchanan:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/83758/9895/1022/482071

Speaking of McCain / Bush's second recession in 8 years:

Recession Could Be Worst Since World War II Hotlist
by DHinMI
Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 05:33:05 PM PDT

It could be real bad:

No less an authority than former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote this week that "the current financial crisis in the U.S. is likely to be judged as the most wrenching" since the end of World War II.

Other noted economists are also sounding alarms. Harvard professor Martin Feldstein, the former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research, said recently he believes the country is now in a recession and it could be a severe one.

[...]

What got people's attention was how quickly Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment bank, could go from a stock market value of about $3.5 billion when the market closed on March 14 to being sold at the bargain-basement price of about $236 million two days later.

[...]

The problems began last year with rising defaults on mortgages as a housing slump intensified, but they have now spread to other parts of the credit markets with institutions growing fearful about making other types of loans.

It is the ability to get credit that makes the financial system and the economy it supports function. When banks stop lending to other institutions that, like Bear Stearns, depend on credit to conduct their day-to-day operations, the results can be catastrophic.

"We can't afford to stagger from one day to the next without knowing what large financial institution might be the next to go down the tubes because of a lack of liquidity. That is way too dangerous a game," said Lyle Gramley, a former Fed board member who is now an economist with the Stanford Financial Group. "It is possible that we could be entering the worst recession of the post World War II period. The threat is certainly there."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/21/194533/478/234/481834
=================================================

The problem is that all we hear from are the financial types (that would be Greenspan and others) and corrupt politicians (that would be Bush and McCain) that helped create the problem in the first place. Now, we are told the "fix" is to bail out the very same corruption. The problem is that the people being hurt by this corruption are ignored by the likes of Bush, McCain, Greenspan and the GOP.

McCain ... same as Bush.

Roger Simon's poetry sucks and his opinion is even more pathetic. Obama's speech was great. Roger Simon's misgivings on his own background are his problem not Obama's.

This is what I think of John McCain

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/113345/112/936/482149

Check it out!

McCrap!

Murder By Spreadsheet: Amputees have it real bad Hotlist
by nyceve [Subscribe]
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 09:26:15 AM PDT

For many years now, I've tried to describe, often in excruciating detail, a healthcare system which inflicts terrible hardships on the American people. We live in a country which accepts a neutered government, owned and paid for by lobbyists who lavish insurance industry campaign payola on compliant politicians.

In our nation, the political class is required to repay its masters who fund them, so these fine public servants do next to nothing to protect their constituents from insurance industry abuse. In such a thoroughly corrupt and broken system as ours, cancer patients are denied chemotherapy, senior citizens forego unaffordable medication, and young children are denied life-saving transplants. The rest of us, delay needed healthcare, because despite being insured, we know it's likely at the end of the day, we'll face huge bills--and bankruptcy. And of course, we're not even touching the 47 million uninsured.

Today, I'm sad to say, that I'm going to tell you about amputees denied limbs by the for-profit insurance industry.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/22/122615/196/847/476144
==================================================

Yet another outrage! Single payer is the way.

Posted by rjsnj on March 22, 2008 at 12:59 PM

Talk about the white man's burden - Pat Buchanan.

"America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known."

It must be the "Gift of Freedom" that Hillary was talking about. The fact that he even said this dmeonstrates just how "wide" the gulf is. It's long past the time for this Nixonian artefact to be put out to pasture...

Good afternoon, Good Dem's.....

Posted by MARZBAR on March 22, 2008 at 01:16 PM
==================================================

Is that the most outrageous statement you ever heard? Send a white sheet out to Pat Buchanan at once!

Yep, it's time to get Buchanan off of TV. Who wants to hear his constant interruptions anyway?

Last summer, two violent intruders broke into the Rickses' house. Luther and his son fought with the burglars. After his son was stabbed, Luther broke free, got his gun and saved the family by shooting one of the intruders and scaring the other off.

When Lima police arrived, the Ricks' nightmare should have been over - but it was just beginning.

The police entered the house and discovered the family safe. Because a small amount of marijuana was inside the home - used by Luther to ease his painful arthritis, hip replacement and shingles - the officers decided to confiscate Meredith and Luther's entire life savings, more than $400,000.

Shortly afterward, the FBI got involved - not to help the stricken family, but to claim the money for the federal government.

Such is the result of civil forfeiture laws, which represent one of the most profound assau