Hi I was planning to write a post this morning on the topic of how we might all chip in and send McCain a map of the Middle East for Christmas this year. Of all the gaffes that he has committed so far this season, none for me was more telling than this recent comment on Good Morning America when he talked about "defending the border between Iraq and Pakistan." I was watching it live and at first I questioned my own intelligence. I thought I must have it in my head wrong regarding the location of Pakistan in relation to Iraq because surely McCain would not make such a mistake. (I looked at my globe to confirm that I was not mistaken.) I was going to post a map of the Middle East as a "sample gift".
When googling for maps of the Middle East, I found this wonderful post on Crooks and Liars. [It is not tied to the gift idea but it does have all the facts surrounding this gaffe, including the video of the Good Morning America show as well as map.]
How any American could even consider voting for such an uninformed, misguided, ignorant man who proposes to be the 'authority' on the Middle East and who doesn't even know its geography is beyond dumb--it is dumber.
here is the link for the post and the video on Crooks and Liars
Since the chat is heating up on our DNC site about the growing chasm between the haves and have not’s, FINALLY, I’ll add more to grow this fire. “Yes, Eloise, we really do have a class war raging, but few seem to be paying much attention.” Here is a teacake for you to nibble on [sorry for the absence of icing]. Inequality is non-partisan.
SO MUCH FOR REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRATIC “BIPARTISANSHIP”
As you may have noticed from some of my previous posts, I have no respect for “bi-partisan” activities. In fact I regard them with a great deal of suspicion.
“. . . The pace of inequality has grown steadily over three decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses. The Gini index, the global measure of inequality, grew as quickly under President Clinton as it has under President George W. Bush. Widening disparities in the U.S. are the result of three decades of bi-partisan public policies that have tilted the rules of the economy to the benefit of major corporations and large asset owners at the expense of people whose security comes from a paycheck. . . “
The extremely wealthy are so greedy that it is mind-boggling. And Yes, inequality matters.
Read More »Below is an old cartoon that looks like it might hail from Franklin Roosevelt's day, if not even earlier in our history as a nation. Interesting isn't it? The elephant is crashing through the planks of his own platform (inflation, repudiation, etc.) and falling into the abyss. (and to note: the donkey is barely escaping himself).
Following on the extended post is detail for all five of those bills and amendments that I listed previously and suggested that 49 Republicans are blocking the democratic agenda every step of the way. I still hold to that belief and you can see for yourself. Only on one out of five did they vote for the people, but then their president vetoed that one.
However as Betty Lou rightly pointed out, Ron Paul does consistenly vote on the side of the people and with the Democrats more often than not. AND the House of Representatives is the more democratic AND bipartisan body of our Congress. They often pass good legislation that gets hammered by the elitist Senate. And yes the ones who ruin it for the rest of us ARE by and large the Republicans. Although there are sometimes a few stray Democrats who cross over, it is overwhelmingly the Republicans who block the decent legislation. So remember that this fall.
First view this snapshot of the GOP concept for change:
THEN REMEMBER THAT 49 REPUBLICANS (# IN THE SENATE) [We also have 49 Democrats and two Independent--one of whom is Joe Lieberman)
49 Republicans are blocking our Democratic Agenda EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!
DENIED --foreclosure assistance to homeowners in crisis [S. 2636]
THREW OUT a budget that would have created 500,000 good paying jobs
[S. Con. Res. 70]
BLOCKED a vote to stop George Bush's war in Iraq [H.R. 1585]
AXED support for renewable energy to pay for tax cuts for big oil. [H.R. 6]
REJECTED allowing the government to negotiate for lower Medicare drug prices [S. 3]
STOP THIS BUSH BACKERS FROM INFLICTING MORE DAMAGE!
Go to www.dscc.org/KickOut and contribute online.
NETROOTS NATION
By Omar L. Gallaga, Lilly Rockwell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, July 17, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5r4u35
The Burnt Orange Report, an Austin-based political blog site, distinguished itself this year with its coverage of the Texas presidential primary, in addition to its usual reporting on state and local races.
It has earned a reputation for political analysis with a liberal bent. The site gets from 60,000 to 100,000 page views a day. ...
But like most political blog sites, it has struggled to make money. Thanks to a recent switch in advertising providers, the site hopes to have enough revenue within a year to hire its first paid writer.
In recent years, blogs have moved from the periphery to the center of online political coverage and commentary. An online army of activists and amateur pundits has become part of the 24-hour news cycle. ...
Political blogs might wield influence, but they are still trying to find their footing, experts say, and struggling to bring in enough revenue to support paid staffers as they compete against traditional media for political news and analysis.
--
complete copyrighted story at
http://tinyurl.com/5r4u35
I just read this in this morning's Sydney Morning Herald where an Athen's court rejected a complaints by inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos who had wanted gay women to stop monopolizing the term 'lesbian.'
Three residents of the Aegean Sea island had filed a complaint in April, calling on the Greek Gay and Lesbian Community (OLKE), the country's main homosexual association, to drop the term.
The island was the home of the poet Sappho who expressed her love of other women in lyric verses written in the early 6th century BC.
Looks like a good read. Pub. Date: April 2008FROM A SYNOPSIS from the Progreessive Book Club"Closely charting the Party’s imploding reputation in America and the world, as well as the potential consequences of George W. Bush’s radical presidency for the 2008 election, The Strange Death of Republican America will be required reading for anyone interested in politics and concerned about the fate of the nation. In these essays and opinion columns written by Blumenthal over the past few years for The Guardian of London and salon.com, along with a new and stimulating introduction, Blumenthal provides a unifying and overarching perspective on the Bush years.Blumenthal scrutinizes the past and present state of the Republican Party, which he believes portends the incipient demise of their vaunted political machine and the Republican era since the Nixon administration."
In a little over 100 days, the coming elections will reshape the future of our democracy but only if we act now. Each of us has a personal responsibility to help advance Democratic campaigns that do justice to our exceptional candidates and to the unbelievably high stakes in this election.
If our candidates are successful, we will have leaders who will no longer trade in fear and failure...who will fight for real action on the climate crisis and achieve progress on health care and jobs.
If we want to deliver on the promise of these elections, we have to not only put Barack Obama in the White House but we must also win congressional victories that will strengthen our hand as we unite to drive change forward.
The single best action for you to take today is to give to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) 100 Days of Action campaign. If you make a gift of $35, $50, or more today, it will be matched 2-to-1 by House Democrats.
Our critical FEC deadline for July is just days away - Support the 100 Days of Action campaign now at www.dccc.org/100days1
The DCCC is working hand-in-hand with candidates and campaign managers in dozens of tough, hard-fought House races in every corner of the nation. The stakes are high.
Nearly 30 GOP House members have decided to retire rather than try to defend their record of support for failures and incompetence of the Bush administration. Democrats running to convert those open seats are counting on you and the DCCC to pull them through to victory.In dozens of other districts, Democrats who won narrow victories in 2006 have been targeted for defeat by the GOP political machine. Those candidates need you and the DCCC to make sure they aren't overwhelmed by the "do anything, say anything" tactics of the Republican operatives.Republican groups and their "independent" supporters are planning to go after our candidates with over $300 million dollars in attack ads. But, with your help, the DCCC won't let a single Democratic candidate stand alone against unscrupulous attacks.This critical FEC deadline is just days away - Support our 100 Days of Action campaign now at www.dccc.org/100days1
Don't let anyone weaken your resolve. Don't allow anybody to break your spirit.
Remember: There's a new world waiting at the other side of these elections.
All the best,
Al Gore
If you are having trouble with any of the links, cut and paste the following into your browser:
http://www.dccc.org/100days1
To unsubscribe from this email list, please use the link below:
http://www.dccc.org/page/unsubscribe/
To make sure you always get our emails add dccc@dccc.org to your address book.
Find out more about adding us to your address book here.
The Republicans and Obama nay-sayers continue to try to box Obama in with their either/or mentality and Obama continues to refuse their bait. Their strategy for their opponents for the past 8 years has been to box the opponent into position and then play a "gottcha" game from that vantage point. And then if the opponent changes their viewpoint, they are called "flip-floppers". In the Republican mentality, it is better to be wrong and continue down that path than to be seen as a "flip-flopper". Their strategy does not work with Obama. It must be very frustrating for them because they have had such great success with this strategy for the past
Yesterday there was a great article on Obama's end game in Iraq that appeared in the Huffington Post. Here is an excerpt from that article.
". . .Speaking about his support for a timetable for troop withdrawal, Obama said he wasn't changing his position by saying he would take into account the assessment of military commanders on the ground.
"What I will refuse to do is to get boxed in into what I consider two false choices," he said. "Either I have a rigid timeline, come hell or high water, and I am blind to anything that happens in the intervening 16 months, or, alternatively, I am completely deferring to whatever the commanders on the ground say, which is what George Bush says he's doing, in which case I'm not doing my job as commander in chief. I'm essentially, simply rubber-stamping decisions that are made on the ground. . . "
Sometime in the last month, one of you wonderful people put me and others on this site in touch with a great free service that sends automatic emails to you regarding how your representative and your two Senators voted.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/
I just got my update telling me how Sam Johnson, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn voted and I want to thank you again.
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail Each week (that Congress is in session) you will receive:
-Key votes by your two Senators and U.S. Representative.
-Links to send e-mail to your members of Congress using pre-addressed forms.
-Upcoming votes for your review and a chance to offer e-mail input before they vote. Use this weekly vote monitor to track the decisions made by your elected officials on key issues.
This weekend I wote a post titled "Republicans are Fiscally Irresponsible
[ http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/elizabethberry/CB3N]
It is obviously a topic of fascination with me. In looking back on some of my earlier posts, I see that I was interested in this topic back in October of 2007.
It's part of the Rovian newspeak strategy that, until now, has worked so well for the GOP. They scream and spew forth their self-righteous outrage against Democrats for being big spenders who are for big government when in fact it is the Republicans who are the big spenders, the ones for big government (Bush has added more new government agencies than any president since Roosevelt).
As long as they are shouting and spewing indignation, they move the focus away from what and who THEY are: Big spenders and big government.
Democrats are for government all right: efficient and smaller government that actually serves the people. A much smaller welfare program that serves not multinational corporations but individual Americans who need a hand up.
Here is a repost of mine on this topic from October 14, 2007.
I remember, I had just read an outrageous article in Vanity Fair where the Republicans had LOST several billion dollars. How the hell do you lose several billion dollars?
Read More »