California for Edwards

Support Congressman Kucinich and The Articles of Impeachment

Bob Meltzer — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:30:48 EDT

This week Congressman Dennis Kucinich will present members of Congress with petitions submitted by those of us who support his Articles of Impeachment. The deadline to sign the on-line impeachment form is Wednesday (tomorrow). If you haven't done so already, I strongly urge you to sign that petition.

http://kucinich.us/

Exactly what Bush is ... a total failure

Bob Meltzer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:05:06 EDT

Speaker Pelosi called Bush a "total failure". That's really good news. That is exactly what Bush is ... a total failure. It's probably the best depiction of Bush since an aide to Canadian Prime Minister Cretien called Bush a "moron".

So what if the AP article's reporter seems indignant that Pelosi would do such a thing. When Clinton was President, he was the victim of abuse by right wing Congressmen on a daily basis. Was the AP ever indignant about that? The bias of AP became clear when its President told Karl Rove, the biggest felon to ever hold government office, to "hang in there".

Why the hell should Bush be treated with such high respect? Because he's a right wing ideologue, and Sean Hannity and other right wing ideologues will have their feelings hurt? Bush and his right wing ideologue cronies have done enough damage to our once great nation. To talk about them in blunt terms is the least we can do. To brand them as the criminals that they are ... is what we ought to do. To sit and be silent is what I will not do ... and you should not do either.

Sorry FOX, We Won't Let You Trash Michelle Obama

Bob Meltzer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:55:40 EDT

Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Team put together this video, "FOX Attacks Michelle Obama". I urge you to watch the video and sign their petition.

http://foxattacks.com/michelle

Personally, I believe that signing petitions is only a first step. The real action is to picket Fox offices and affiliates, and to boycott Fox advertisers.

Register To Vote, And Send Voltage To DNC Convention.

Michael Tiffany — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:57:20 EDT

Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention. We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.

Blood for Oil Companies

Bob Meltzer — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:35:52 EDT

I read Bob Herbert's excellent columns in The New York Times on a regular basis. This outspoken progressive is one of my favorite writers. In today's Op-Ed piece, he really outdoes himself. I urge you to check it out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/opinion/01herbert.html

Another example of Halliburton and corruption

Bob Meltzer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:58:59 EDT

Please check out the following editorial in The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/opinion/19thu3.html?th&emc=th

When is this country going to wake up???

Ron Griesse — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:22:25 EDT

With the weather getting worse and worse every year, when is the government going to wake up and stop turning a blind eye to global warming. While we watch flash floods becoming common place due to record rains, and tornados ravishing the Midwest almost daily. Not to mention the fact that hurricanes are becoming stronger every year our government seems to just close their eyes like it is going to go away. Not to mention what they obviously will due when a disaster actually happens. Katrina and New Orleans is a perfect example of that.

The rest of the world is looking at solution, and we choose to ignore it. Are we that greedy we can’t see were killing ourselves in the long run. Mother Nature is saying it’s payback time for destroying her planet, and if we don’t start thinking this as a priority number one issue, she will wipe us off the face of this planet. Please I urge all of you to write your representative about this.

So It Begins: Obama vs. McCain

Mark C. Eades — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:46:22 EDT

The first days of the 2008 general election campaign following Barack Obama's nomination victory this week appear thus far to strongly favor the young senator from Illinois. Streaking out of the gate Tuesday night as polls closed in South Dakota and Montana, Obama celebrated victory with a rousing speech that more than befit the historic occasion of his night as America's first African American presidential nominee. Republican nominee John McCain, meanwhile, gave an ungracious, pandering, and downright ugly speech in which he refused either to congratulate Obama himself or to recognize the significance of his victory for African Americans, choosing instead to begrudge Obama his "eloquence" and pander to angry Clinton supporters by suggesting that Obama owed his victory to "pundits and party elders." McCain's speech was widely panned by conservatives and liberals alike, who found fault with far more than the harsh, lime-green background against which we were treated to McCain's pasty visage and smarmy grin (see video). Conservative commentator Fred Barnes of FoxNews said that McCain's speech was "painful" to listen to, while on CNN Republican media consultant Alex Castellanos remarked: "Last I checked this was not a speech-making contest.... Thank God." CNN's Jeff Toobin said more bluntly of McCain's speech: "That was awful.... That was pathetic." Politico's Jonathan Martin asks, "Is there a way John McCain can win the presidency without giving another speech?" As McCain's lobbyist problem continues to haunt him, meanwhile, Obama has set a new course for the Democratic Party he now leads by declaring for the first time that, like his primary campaign, his Democratic National Committee will no longer accept campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists. As McCain fumbles, bumbles, and stumbles, Obama strides proud and strong toward the Oval Office. Offhand, I'd say this looks like a damn good way to start a general election campaign.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

Unity Pledge

Bob Meltzer — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:12:32 EDT

I became involved in politics to fight the right wing Republican junta ... not to fight Democrats. Barak Obama was not my first choice (Edwards was), but he is an electrifying leader and I look forward to working to see him elected.

A moment of your time

Fri, 30 May 2008 22:33:41 EDT

I am new to this site, I dont really know the in's and the outs but I really wanted to try and get the word out about democratic congressional candidates. I thought I could do one a day. So... Here is my first, his name is Rob Hubler and he is running against Republican Steven King in the Fifth district in Iowa, here is some information and a link to his site, get a hold of me, or his campaign if you want to help. I have no affilation with this campaign but am very hopeful that he can win. http://www.hublercongress.com/home.html

Memorial Day

Bob Meltzer — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:31:47 EDT

Today we all pause to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by over one million Americans in defense of our country. Lets remember the hundreds of thousands who died to end the awful institution of slavery. Lets remember the hundreds of thousands who died to rid the world of Nazism. Just as much ... if not more, lets remember those who died in the futile wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

A thousand years from now, if there is just one American left, we will pause on this day to remember their sacrifice.

Symbolic Endorsement for Obama from WV Sen. Byrd

Mark C. Eades — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:08:26 EDT

Barack Obama won a symbolic and powerful endorsement today from Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. In his youth a member of the Ku Klux Klan and an ardent segregationist, the 90-year old Byrd has spent the past forty years of his fifty-year Senate career working for racial reconciliation, an effort certain to echo in news of his endorsement today of the man who may be this country's first African American president. Byrd's endorsement comes as Obama's second superdelegate endorsement of the day, shortly following that of Washington state Democratic Party chairman Dwight Pelz.

"I believe that Barack Obama is a shining young statesman, who possesses the personal temperament and courage necessary to extricate our country from this costly misadventure in Iraq, and to lead our nation at this challenging time in history...." Byrd said in a statement today, "...Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support."

Coming a week after West Virginia's primary and just a day before the Democratic primary in neighboring Kentucky, Byrd's endorsement is certain to be a lead item in this evening's news; and could give Obama a last-minute boost in Kentucky as well as in Oregon, whose primary ballot deadline is the same day. In any event, the Byrd endorsement brings Obama one superdelegate vote closer to wrapping up the Democratic nomination. Much obliged, Senator!

UPDATE: Following endorsements for Obama by Washington state Democratic Party chairman Dwight Pelz and Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, new superdelegate endorsements for Obama were announced today by Kansas state Democratic Party chair Larry Gates and Alaska DNC members Cindy Spanyers and Blake Johnson. This brings Obama's daily total to five superdelegates today, while Hillary Clinton has received none.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

Polar Bears cause Oil Crisis... Yeah Right...

Ron Griesse — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:00:51 EDT

I would like to take some time off the norm around here. (Obama / Clinton crap) and try a little fresh air for a change. After coming down off the ceiling, while watching Glen Beck on CNN Headline news today, (Obviously a republican idiot.) I calmed down and wrote this.. I am amazed at this guy and can only pray there are not too many people like him. Getting to the point this idiot is blaming the oil crisis on polar bears. Yep you heard me right, Polar Bears… Now I don’t claim to be a tree huger, but I am aware that global warming is an issue that we all need to pay attention to it and the bottom line is oil supplies are running out. But this guy is blaming the fact that oil prices are the way they are because of laws protecting the polar bear and the Alaskan wild life. With gas at $4.00 a gallon, and oil companies showing record profits I say bullshit.

West Virginia Changes Nothing / Superdelegates Keep Rolling to Obama

Mark C. Eades — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:56:21 EDT

If Hillary Clinton was expecting her West Virginia win to stem the tide of superdelegates to Barack Obama, she must be a little disappointed this morning. Obama has picked up four more superdelegates since West Virginia polls closed yesterday, beginning with Lauren Wolfe and Awais Khaleel of the College Democrats of America late last night, followed by US representative Pete Visclosky of Indiana and Democrats Abroad chairperson Christine Schon Marques this morning (see New York Times). While Clinton and her supporters play with the illusion of having changed the game in some way, Obama strides toward the nomination, his delegate lead over Clinton barely dented. Only on Planet Hillary have the West Virginia results made the least difference to anyone. Here on Earth, we all know that Clinton won in West Virginia by pandering to the racial and cultural fears of voters who still think that Obama is a Muslim who wants to be president so that he can take their guns away and force them to convert to Islam; and many of whom probably wouldn't vote for Clinton in November even if she were the nominee (see Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker). In the lead-up to the West Virginia primary both Clintons criss-crossed the state shamelessly playing to every fearful prejudice one cares to mention, painting their opponent as an outsider, a city-slicker, a college boy, someone who is "not like us" and who doesn't "share our values." Essentially in many respects, Clinton and her surrogates are now running a Republican campaign against Obama. Superdelegates will also note that while Democratic voter turnout has been massive in other states, yesterday's in West Virginia was relatively unimpressive, awarding Clinton considerably fewer popular votes than she was expecting, and reinforcing the perception that the nomination race has run its course and we have a winner (see MSNBC). No game-changer here, folks.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

20-Point Oregon Lead for Obama in New Poll

Mark C. Eades — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:55:11 EDT

New poll numbers released today by the Portland Tribune show a commanding Oregon lead of 20 percentage points for Barack Obama among likely Democratic voters in advance of that state's primary election next week (Obama 55%, Clinton 35%). With 52 delegates in play, Oregon offers to place Obama significantly closer to locking up the Democratic presidential nomination, with some suggesting that following his expected Oregon win Obama will immediately be able to claim victory on the basis of having won the majority of pledged delegates (the latter suggestion does not include pledged delegates from Florida or Michigan, which remain in dispute while Democratic leaders insist that these two states will in no event be allowed to decide the nomination). Obama's standing in today's Oregon poll numbers from are up considerably from yesterday's by SurveyUSA, which gave the Illinois senator an 11-point lead over his opponent (Obama 54%, Clinton 43%). Given these new poll numbers in addition to announcements earlier today of four more superdelegate endorsements for Obama, tonight's results from West Virginia will not leave Obama supporters without something to celebrate.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

Hillary's Ugly Finale: Courting Racism and Xenophobia at the End of the Campaign Trail

Mark C. Eades — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:01:26 EDT

Hillary Clinton's last-ditch effort to appeal to "hard-working white Americans" appears to be bearing ugly fruit even as West Virginia primary voters go to the polls today. As the Washington Post reports today, "racist incidents" experienced by Barack Obama volunteers in the recent primary states of Pennsylvania and Indiana include verbal attacks and vandalism. Meanwhile, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the New Yorker report a similar atmosphere of hostility toward Obama in the current and upcoming primary states of West Virginia and Kentucky, based not only on the Illinois senator's race but also on the false belief that he is a Muslim and the xenophobic perception that he is somehow not a "real American." The ignorance and hate revealed in these reports is nothing short of astonishing.

From Pennsylvania, one Obama volunteer interviewed by the Washington Post reported "dispiriting" responses from white voters, including one who said, "Hang that darky from a tree!" Another Pennsylvania volunteer was told in Pittsburgh that "white people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people." Yet another was told of Obama by a Clinton supporter: "He's a half-breed and he's a Muslim. How can you trust that?" Likewise citing long-discredited claims that Obama is a Muslim, the mayor of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, explained his support for Clinton this way:

"Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don't know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can't convince me that some of that didn't rub off on him.... No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office."

Reporting from West Virginia, the Financial Times likewise observed an atmosphere of hostility toward Obama tinged with racism and xenophobia. "I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist," one voter told FT while another insisted, "I want someone who is a full-blooded American as president." Another West Virginia voter told the Los Angeles Times that the Illinois senator's surname alone was cause for disqualification: "Obama just doesn't sound right for an American president." The New Yorker reports a similar atmosphere in Kentucky, including the following statement from a Clinton voter:

"I really don’t want an African-American as President.... I think he would put too many minorities in positions over the white race. That’s my opinion."

One should never assume, of course, that all who vote for Hillary Clinton do so for the reasons given by the "hard-working white Americans" cited here; nor should one assume that all are as shockingly ignorant and hateful as these. It is a troubling realization, however, that such backward attitudes remain in 2008 as a major issue in a presidential campaign. As troubling is the Clinton campaign's very evident effort to exploit such attitudes for political gain. This alone, in my opinion, disqualifies Clinton as a candidate for president.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

More Superdelegates for Obama

Mark C. Eades — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:19:59 EDT

Even as the Hillary Clinton campaign awaits a likely primary win in West Virginia today, a stream of superdelegate endorsements for Barack Obama continues to flow unabaited, indicating that today's primary results stand little chance of changing the direction of the race for the Democratic nomination. Obama has picked up four new endorsements this morning alone, from Colorado governor Roy Romer, District of Columbia Democratic party chair Anita Bonds, US Representative Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin (see HuffPo, MSNBC, RCP). This brings his total to an estimated 28 superdelegate endorsements since last Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, further extending his new superdelegate lead over Clinton as well as his overall delegate lead. Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, Maryland pledged delegate Jack B. Johnson has also jumped Clinton's sinking ship and swam over to Obama. Selected in consultation with the Clinton campaign by the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, Johnson endorsed Clinton nine days before Maryland's February primary. Now, however, Johnson says he will urge Governor Martin O'Malley and Senator Barbara A. Mikulski to release all of Maryland's Clinton delegates to Obama for the sake of party unity. "I cannot in good conscience go to the convention and not support Barack," Johnson commented in an interview, "[Clinton] ran a great campaign, but she fell short of the line."

I would expect more such news throughout the day today as well as in the days to come. Whatever the results from West Virginia today, the writing seems to be on the wall for Hillary Clinton.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

Appeal from MoveOn.org to help the Burmese people

Bob Meltzer — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:30:06 EDT

It is being reported that up to 100,000 people have died from the cyclone that hit Burma. Burma's brutal and corrupt military leaders failed to warn their people and they failed to evacuate areas in danger. Even though the rest of the world knew the storm was coming, the Burmese people didn't.

MoveOn.org has issued an urgent appeal to help the Burmese people. Please donate to a drive by Aavaz.org to raise money for the International Burmese Monks Organization and related groups, which will transmit funds directly to monasteries in affected areas.

Click here to make a donation

Longshoreman Protest Iraq War

Bob Meltzer — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:32:55 EDT

Last Thursday, docks were shut down in all major west coast ports. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union went on a one day strike to protest the War in Iraq. According to the Pacific Maritime Association, about 6,000 longshoremen did not show up for work.

In Seattle, according to news sources, other unions and progrssive activists participated in the protest. Why didn't the strike get that kind of support in other locations? As far as I can tell, it is because the word never got out. I was off from work on Thursday and I don't live far from the Long Beach and Los Angeles docks. Furthermore, I'm on numerous progressive mailing lists,
including the LA County Federation of Labor and other labor groups. But I didn't hear about this until I read it in The New York Times this morning.

The scant coverage of this event by the mainstream media is no surprise. What I cannot understand is why it was ignored (as far as I can see) by the progressive cyberspace network. If you haven't heard this story, there are links below. Am I the only one who thinks this is a big story?

Long Beach Press-Telegram

New York Times

Hill-Diplomacy: "Obliterate" Iran

Mark C. Eades — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:51:06 EDT

For a presidential candidate supposedly prepared on "day one" to deal with the tough foreign-policy challenges America faces, Hillary Clinton's recent remarks on Iran have shown her to be as tactless and irresponsible as our current excuse for a president. Asked Tuesday on ABC's Good Morning America what she would do if Iran were to attack Israel, Clinton immediately dispensed with any diplomatic option and suggested that America would simply "obliterate" Iran and its population if it were to even consider attacking Israel (see Los Angeles Times). Reminscent of nothing so much as Bush's "bring 'em on," Clinton's apparent attempt to show how tough she is only demonstrates that she is perhaps as intellectually unprepared to represent America on the world stage as that idiot still missing from his village in Texas.

Nor has Clinton's absurd remark escaped the attention of America's overseas allies or of the world press. "While it is reasonable to warn Iran of the consequence of it continuing to develop nuclear weapons and what those real consequences bring to its security," leading British diplomat Lord Mark Malloch-Brown gently commented, "it is not probably prudent ... in today's world to threaten to obliterate any other country and in many cases civilians resident in such a country." Reaction in the Middle East was not so gentle, as comments in the Saudi-based Arab News show:

"This is the foreign politics of the madhouse. It demonstrates the same doltish ignorance that has distinguished Bush's foreign relations. It offers only violence where there should be negotiations and war where there could be peace. At a stroke, Clinton demonstrated to everyone in this region that if she were the next occupant of the White House, Iraq-like death and destruction would be the order of the day."

Calling Clinton "the war chick," the Asia Times commented likewise as follows:

"When that phone rings at 3am at the White House, what does a true red-blooded Madam President do? She calls her generals and orders them to 'obliterate' Iran. In other words: she orders the killing of 70 million people.... Hillary's positioning spells Imperial Washington in all its glory - and hubris. Not only McCain; a president Hillary will mean more wars in the Middle East."

Stateside, meanwhile, columnist Robert Scheer had the following to say on Macho Girl's threat to "totally obliterate" the Iranian people should their government unwisely choose to attack Israel:

"Seizing upon a question of how she would respond to a nuclear attack by Iran, which doesn't have nuclear weapons, on Israel, which does, Clinton mocked reasoned discourse by promising to 'totally obliterate them,' in an apparent reference to the population of Iran. That is not a word gaffe - it is an assertion of the right of our nation to commit genocide on an unprecedented scale.... It is bizarre that a politician who bought into the phony threat about Iraq's non-existent weapons of mass destruction arsenal now plays political games with the alleged threat posed by Iran."

This latest display of diplomatic ineptitude by Clinton follows previous foot-in-mouth episodes including that absurd claim to have faced sniper fire in Bosnia which made her the laughing stock of the world press. Trying to appear tough, she succeeds only in making a fool of herself. Judging from her latest remarks, the only thing Hillary Clinton appears prepared to do on "day one" if elected president is to be as big a potential global disaster as her swaggering predecessor.

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com