A CNN poll released today concluded that Senator John Edwards is the only Democrat who can beat all four major Republican candidates.   Read More »

I urge each one of you to call and email your Representatives in Congress to override the President's recent veto of the S-CHIP bill just passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress. This bill makes sure that no child in America will be without medical insurance because their family cannot afford such coverage on their own.
President Bush vetoed this bill in spite of his previous pledge to support it because he believes that the cutoff level for participation in the program is too high at $83,000 and he has ideological fears of "socializing" medicine.   Read More »

To Whom It May Concern:

I have repeatedly told Ron McBride both publicly and privately that he is not welcome in any of my groups. Yet he continues to ignore my request to leave me and my groups alone!

He does not have any logical reasonable reason to join because he doesn't even live in Florida - he lives in Illinois - yet he insists on joining my local and regional groups over and over again and forcing me to delete him over and over again.

He is abusing this network for his own purposes and he ought to be removed forthwith.

Who REALLY has 1921 friends and can participated in well over 100 groups?

This is clearly either an information collector or a points gamer or someone trying to crosspost to everyone in the universe. No one can possibly participate in an interactive manner to 1921 people and in 100+ groups.

The DNC needs to limit people’s participation to a meaningful level and stop the spam and cyberstalking by people who just won’t go away when asked.

If someone is banned from a group, they should not be allowed to re-apply over and over again on their own without the group owner first extending an invitation to join to them.

Very irritated!

Doug De Clue
Edwards Meetup Orlando Organizer,
Orlando One Corps Co-Captain,
Precinct Committeeman, Orange 311, FL

Hillary's Catch-22 plan makes no sense. You have to have insurance to get a job so that you can get insurance.

Joseph Heller would be so proud.

Forcing mandatory health insurance makes zero sense given that many people simply cannot afford it when they have a hard enough time with the basics of food, shelter and clothing.

An individual policy can cost $300-$400/month for a health single person. Add kids and a family and this can be $1000/month. For a great many people, this is simply out of their price range.

That is why I think Hillary's plan (and the Romney plan in MA) are both preposterous.

What is needed is either mandatory EMPLOYER funded healthcare for ALL employees regardless of full-time/part-time status, massive government subsidies and price controls, or single-payer gov't run (Canada style) health care and above all a total ban on pre-existing health conditions and pre-acceptance physicals.

Nothing else is fair.

Nothing else is affordable.   Read More »

THIS TASER STORY IS A BUNCH OF ****!

THIS STUDENT CRASHED THE LINE, WOULD NOT LET OTHERS
ASK THEIR OWN QUESTIONS, GOT BELLIGERENT WHEN ASKED
TO LEAVE (TRESPASSING), RESISTED ARREST, INCITED OTHERS TO ASSAULT (INCITEMENT TO RIOT) THE POLICE AND COMMITTED BATTERY ON A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.

FROM WHAT I'VE READ ON DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, HE IS APPARENTLY ALSO SOMETHING OF A PROFESSIONAL HECKLER KNOWN FOR HECKLING SPORTS FIGURES IN THE PAST.

THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA POLICE WERE AS PATIENT WITH HIM AS THEY WERE IS ACTUALLY QUITE STUNNING.

THAT JOHN KERRY WAS SO VERY PATIENT WITH THIS MAN WAS ALSO QUITE REFRESHING. IN FACT KERRY WAS QUITE WILLING TO CONTINUE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS EVEN AFTER THE POLICE STARTED TO REMOVE THE HECKLER FROM THE ROOM AND HAS PUBLICLY EXPRESSED HIS OWN DISMAY OVER THE TASERING.

YET BLOGGERS YESTERDAY AND TODAY HAVE BEEN CYNICALLY ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THIS INTO A "SKULL AND BONES" CONSPIRACY
BY JOHN KERRY AGAINST THIS PROFESSIONAL HECKLER.

THEY ARE BLATANTLY ATTEMPTING TO SMEAR JOHN KERRY ALTHOUGH
IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT JOHN KERRY HAD ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER THE ACTIONS OF EITHER ANDREW MEYER OR THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA POLICE.

SHAME ON YOU BLOGGERS.   Read More »

For those of you not keeping up with current events:

Over the weekend the Democratic National Committee, who runs this website has decided to strip the Florida Democratic Party of its delegates to the national convention in Denver in 2008.

This effectively disenfranchises 4.3 MILLION registered Democrats in Florida from participating in their own party's primary and it is in no way the fault of Florida Democrats!

The reason for stripping us of our delegates and effectively silencing our 4.3 MILLION Democratic votes is because the Republican controlled State Legislature and Republican Governor chose to move our primary up from March to January 29th.

Even if all 42 Democrats in the State House voted no it would not matter because the Republican Party has a substantial undefeatable majority. The same is true for the State Senate.

No matter what we did, we could not have prevented them from changing our Presidential Preference Primary date.

Yet the DNC, knowing that this was beyond our control, chose to punish Florida Democrats anyways.

This is like getting a parking ticket because your Republican brother borrowed the car without your permission and parked it illegally. It's not something we did as Democrats, yet WE are being punished for it.

Howard Dean ran for DNC chair on the promise of 50 states in 2008. Now apparently it will be 50 minus Florida or 49 in 20088.

One of the chief complaints of our Founding Fathers was "taxation without representation". Well I will certainly remember that oomplaint the next time the DNC calls me and asks for a donation.

I'll have to say: "I'm sorry but if my vote doesn't count with you, I'm not going to send you my money either. I'm saving my money to give directly to candidates that I back or I'm sendig it to Tallahassee instead of giving it to the DNC, the DCCC, or the DSCC."

Stripping Florida of its delegates is a surefire recipe for losing the White House in 2008. You have just told the 4.3 MILLION Democrats in fourth largest state in the Union that their votes don't count. Of the three larger states - New York, California, and Texas, their electoral votes are already safely decided - California and New York are safe "blue" states while Texas is a safe "red" state.

Florida is the largest battleground state in the Union -with 27 electoral votes or 10% of the total required for a victor - that is not safely in either Republican or Democratic hands. And the DNC has just told us we don't count and we ought to be punished for things that are beyond our control.

Shame on you DNC!

Disgusted in Orlando,

Doug De Clue

To Ron McBride:

My groups are reserved for legitimate constituents only:

You are NOT a resident of Orange County Florida or even Florida for that matter and therefore cannot have a legitimate interest or input to my:

Orange County Florida Young Democrats group
Orange County Democrat Party group
Precinct 311 group (this is specific to my own precinct inside of Orange County)

Had you at least be within driving distance, it might make sense for you to belong - but you live in Illinois as far as I can tell.

Nor are you a professor, student or alumnus of the Georgia Institute of Technology hence you cannot have a legitimate interest in:

Georgia Tech Democrats

You may be an Edwards supporter but more likely you are just a point collector as your profile would seem to indicate who makes "friends" with people he will never ever meet in person and will never conduct a two way conversation with even on the internet and who joins groups he will never legitimately participate in other than to flood with his "WeDemocrats" message. I have therefore decided to also exclude you from my Edwards groups:

Florida for Edwards (you live in Illinois not Florida) and
Edwards Meetup Orlando (again you don't live in the Orlando area either)

In closing, Ron, this is not "your" site, this is OUR site. and you aren't our leader, Howard Dean is.

Quit hijacking the www.democrats.org partybuilder website! Some of us actually want to use it for legitimate organizing purposes.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

HDNet PRESENTS AN EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PREVIEW FOR OUR LOYAL VIEWERS OF THIS TUESDAY'S EXPLOSIVE "DAN RATHER REPORTS", INVESTIGATING IRREGULARITIES IN TOUCH SCREEN VOTING MACHINES.

This Tuesday, DAN RATHER REPORTS presents conclusive evidence of the failure of touch screen voting machines across the country. The episode, "The Trouble with Touch Screens", is an entire hour devoted to new information on this story. From scientists involved in testing the equipment, to manufacturers in third world countries who shipped these defective voting machines to the United States, DAN RATHER REPORTS will present new information showing that these defective machines may have altered the outcome of multiple elections.

Your exclusive sneak preview is now available at the HDNet Web Site:

http://www.hd.net/danrather

When: Dan Rather Reports, "The Trouble with Touch Screens", will air Tuesday, August 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.

During the Vietnam War the US had 537,377 troops stationed in South Vietnam at the height of our involvement there in 1968 in a country which had a population of 16 million people. This meant there was about one American soldier for every 29.77 South Vietnamese.

By comparison, in Iraq today we have approximately 154,000 soldiers for over 26,783,383 Iraqis, or, approximately one person in uniform for every 174 Iraqis.

South Vietnam had an area of approximately 65,000 square miles, as opposed to 168,805 square miles for Iraq. There were about 8.26 American soldiers for every square mile of in South Vietnam. Today in Iraq there is only 0.91 of a soldier for every square mile of Iraq.

What this means is that the American soldier serving in Iraq must not only protect 484% more people as his (or her) Vietnam counterpart, but also must also 806% more land area.   Read More »

Re: Obama bemoans 'epidemic of violence' �" this article has a major flaw in that it failed to call Obama on making a very faulty comparison.

By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
Associated Press Writer

”CHICAGO - Standing before a church congregation that has witnessed
inner-city violence firsthand, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack
Obama said Sunday that more must be done to end a social ill that is
"sickening the soul of this nation."

Obama told churchgoers at the Vernon Park Church of God on Chicago's
South Side that too many young lives are being claimed by violence and
more must be done to combat the problem….”

While there is certainly an epidemic of violence recently (my town of Orlando has had record murder rates in the last few years) Obama is totally wrong in this argument (comparing youth deaths in Chicago to IL soldiers killed in Iraq) because he isn't comparing like sized populations!   Read More »

Link

WASHINGTON (CNN) �" Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards tops a recent straw poll of MoveOn.org members on climate-change policy, the liberal political action committee announced Wednesday.

Asked which Democratic “presidential candidate’s position on dealing with the climate crisis” is most preferable, Edwards topped the list with 33 percent �" more than double the support received by the second place finisher, Dennis Kucinich (16 percent)....

There were 27 complaints in the Declaration of Independence against King George III. At least 12 of them apply to "King" George, XLIII (43) in some degree or manner today:   Read More »

I just received this in an email and wanted to share it with my democratic friends.

Link

http://www.independenceroadtrip.org/video/doi_3.wmv

It is a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence by some well known American actors. The words are as timely today as they were in 1776 - indeed many of the complaints against King George III are also valid against "King" George 43. Listen, contemplate, enjoy and be inspired to act in fulfilling our Declaration of Independence.

The video was produced in 2002 by Rob Reiner and Norman Lear and features actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, Mel Gibson, Winona Rider, Kathy Bates, Edward Norton, Benicio Del Toro, Rene Zellweger, Ming-Na, and Graham Greene.

Please share it with your friends.

Thanks,

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

See video at:

Link

In 1968, Robert Kennedy in his announcement of his candidacy for the Presidency said that he was not running "merely to oppose any man but rather to propose new policies."

He said he ran to "close the gaps between black and white, rich and poor, young and old, in the country and around the world".

In closing he said that "these are not ordinary times and this in not an ordinary election. At stake is not simply the leadership of our party or even our country - it is our right to the moral leadership on this planet."

Today, John Edwards is the only Presidential candidate running in either party to speak so boldly to Robert Kennedy's "issues of moral leadership on our planet".   Read More »

This from my Democratic Party of Georgia newsletter today:

"Edwards wins straw poll

Hundreds of Democrats from around the North Georgia area met up in Gainesville on Sunday, June 10. Attendees heard from an impressive list of speakers, including former legislators Wyc Orr and Carol Jackson, DPG Chair Jane Kidd, DPG Vice-Chair (and Labor Commissioner) Michael Thurmond, retired Army officer Ben Purcell, the Reverend Jim Nelson, and U.S. Senate candidates Dale Cardwell and Rand Knight.

The rally also featured a Presidential preference straw poll. John Edwards won the poll with 35%, followed by Barack Obama at 26%, Hillary Clinton at 21%, Bill Richardson at 10%, and Dennis Kucinich at 5%.

Hats off to rally organizer Jon Flack and his team for putting on such a great event!"

Don't listen to the talking heads, folks - the real people on the ground know who the real candidate is - It's Edwards...

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

http://johnedwards.com/nh/ad/

This is what our donations are going for folks. Lets keep it on the air by donating to his campaign.

Thanks!

Here's the YouTube link folks:

Link

Just when you think she can't be any more vile.

You can stick it to her by donating to the Edwards campaign!

Much misplaced outrage in the GLBT community has been expressed towards John Edwards over the following commentary from the Sojourners' religious forum over the following comment:

"EDWARDS: Well, first of all, I think what the governor did and what New Hampshire's done is a great example for the rest of the country. Not only civil unions, but all the partnership benefits, including, Senator Clinton talked about getting rid of this "don't ask/don't tell" policy.

I don't think the federal government has a role in telling either states or religious institutions, churches, what marriages they can bless and can't bless. I think the state of New Hampshire ought to be able to make that decision for itself, like every other state in the country. I think every church ought to be able to make that decision for itself.

And I think it's very important that we stand up against intolerance and against discrimination.

But I want to add one thing on something that Governor Richardson sad, because it's been a tone of everything that's been discussed here today. The place that I differ with Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, and I guess, to some extent, Senator Obama, and I agree with Governor Richardson -- it is the job of the president of the United States not to legislate but to lead."   Read More »

Q: Who said:

"Today, we are safer, but we are not yet safe."

a) Hillary Clinton
b) George Bush
c) All of the above.

Answer: all of the above. Hillary is parroting the Bush fearmongering mantra rather than expressing courage and faith in our future.

"Today, we are safer, but we are not yet safe." is what Hillary said tonight and what George Bush said just last September.

(Link / 2006/09/20060911-3.html)


We need to adopt the FDR mantra that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". As FDR pointed out nameless unreasoning fear is destroying our ability to make needed progress.

We saw this on the news just yesterday with the vastly overblown story about JFK airport in which 4 people, 3 of which were not even living in the United States and had no real ability to come here were accused of threatening to blow up fuel depots at the airport.

In fact these conspirators were more likely to win the New York lottery than to pose any actual threat to the airport. They did not have access, nor did they have the technical skills required. Yet our press ran around shreiking about this supposed threat, including at tonight's debate, as if it were a meaningful event - simply because it sells ad time and raises viewership.

Our country has faced real threats before and we need to grow a collective backbone in our country and stop cowering in fear at our own shadows.

This is not the Civil War, nor World War II, nor even the Cold War. We are the pre-eminent military power on the planet and outspend the next twenty seven nations combined on defense, yet we are told to be afraid by our leaders rather than show the courage of our forefathers.

Edwards is right - the "war on terror" IS a bumper sticker slogan, not a real policy. Any war on an abstract noun is likely to fail for there is no definition of the mission nor of victory. We have already seen this with the war on drugs. We need not repeat the same mistake with persons who engage in terrorism.

The real key to victory is to alleviate poverty and suffering around the world that feeds the discontent that radicalizes people to take violent action.

The real key is to separate the radicals from their base of support by acting in a humane, just and compassionate manner around the world as Americans and by practicing what we preach.

The real key is to treat these radicals as criminals - not as military adversaries.

When we use the military to fight them, we legitimize their cause and make them military opponents which raises their standing with their base of support.

When we treat them as criminals and prosecute them for their crimes and give them an open and fair trial, they become discredited for the criminals that they are, rather than becoming martyrs to continue recruiting.

We must end the war in Iraq and work to end poverty around the world if we want to win the war on terrorism. For those reasons, Edwards is my man!

It's official folks - Governor Crist just signed the bill which moves Florida's Presidential Preference Primary up from the middle of the pack to January 29th, making it the fourth earliest primary in the nation after only Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. This means that Florida voters have now become much more relevant in pickin our next President.

Unfortunately, both national parties have announced that they will penalize their Florida delegations for doing this and will penalize candidates who appear in the state to campaign.

This means that we will need to become more active in reaching out to Florida voters for John Edwards. We each need to have John Edwards bumper stickers on our cars. We each need to get John Edwards yard signs for our yards. We each need to work on speaking to our friends, family, and neighbors about John Edwards. Finally, we each need to work on identifying fellow Edwards supporters and bringing them into our meetup groups and our local Democratic Parties in each county.

Thanks,

Doug De Clue