I'm taking the Bold Progressive pledge. I've done that since I started blogging and will continue to promote liberal ideas that will help repair the damage that has been done by Conservative ideology to this great nation. And I will fight against the Blue Dogs every chance I get.
Mudflats (the go-to blog for Alaska politics):
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy...Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans.
There's a photo gallery (with some great signs) here, and a video of the crowd below.
(h/t David Stephenson) In many communities in Africa, children can't attend school without a school uniform and are even chased away if they try to go to school without a uniform. Often girls don't get the opportunity to attend school that boys get, without support from outside organizations. Read more at The Girl Effect dot org.
Open thread below.
On Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will try again to force the House to approve $163 billion more of our tax dollars for the occupation of Iraq - nearly $100 billion for 2008 plus nearly $70 billion more for 2009.
Last week, your passionate calls persuaded several Democrats to vote no and helped delay the vote for a week. Please call your House Representative again today at 202-224-3121! [...]
So it's urgent for everyone to call his or her House Representative (not Senators) today with a simple message: Not One More Penny to Occupy Iraq!
This battle is far from impossible. On January 16, 42 progressive Democrats voted against the last $70 billion blank check. This week, 21 more Democrats promised to vote no (see below). Most Republicans oppose Pelosi's bill because it includes some domestic spending, so a large bloc of progressive Democrats can defeat it ...(more)
[Update] Fantastic!
House blocks Iraq war money and sets pullout plan
Thank you to everyone who contacted their Congressmember.
It appears that despite record disapproval ratings and two failed occupations under his belt already, George Bush and his various mouthpieces are determined to beat the war drums to attack Iran.
Rep. John Conyers isn't having it:
As we and others have continued to review troubling legal memoranda and other materials from your Administration asserting the power of the President to take unilateral action, moreover, our concerns have increased still further. For example, although federal law is clear that proceeding under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) "shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance" can be conducted within the U.S. for foreign intelligence purposes, 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(f), the Justice Department has asserted that the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping in violation of FISA is "supported by the President's well-recognized inherent constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and sole organ for the Nation in foreign affairs".6 As one legal expert has explained, your Administration's "preventive paradigm" has asserted "unchecked unilateral power" by the Executive Branch and violated "universal prohibitions on torture, disappearance, and the like."7
Late last year, Senator Joseph Biden stated unequivocally that "the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach" the president. 8
We agree with Senator Biden, and it is our view that if you do not obtain the constitutionally required congressional authorization before launching preemptive military strikes against Iran or any other nation, impeachment proceedings should be pursued. Because of these concerns, we request the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss these matters. As we have recently marked the fifth year since the invasion of Iraq, and the grim milestone of 4,000 U.S. deaths in Iraq, your Administration should not unilaterally involve this country in yet another military conflict that promises high costs to American blood and treasure.
Please call your Congressperson at 202-224-3121 or e-mail them and ask them to sign on to this letter.
Although the Mother’s Day Project began a little over a year ago, I think of Mother’s Day as an anniversary marker for the journey that began in the spring of 2007.
It was a simple idea. We would, all of us, join together to honor the mothers, daughters, wives and lovers - the female members of the Coalition forces who had died in service to their country while fighting in Iraq. We would stitch their names onto swatches of muslin, and I would complete the process by fashioning a simple tote bag from the stitched names to circulate amongst ourselves as a reminder of the ongoing conflict and the many thousands of dead men, women and children whose names are either unknown or too numerous to fit onto a portable memorial like a tote.
But, something happened along the way.
From Democrats.com:
On Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will force the House to approve $163 billion more of our tax dollars for the occupation of Iraq - nearly $100 billion for 2008 plus nearly $70 billion more for 2009.
We are outraged. This Democratic Congress was elected to end the occupation, not fund it forever.
On Monday, a new Democrats.com poll found an overwhelming 68% of Americans want to bring our troops safely home within 6 months - a significant increase from 54% last September. Support among Democrats increased 14% to 85%, while support among Independents increased 20% to 78%. Why is the Democratic Congress defying the will of the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Independents?
Each day's news underscores how disastrous the occupation is. April was the deadliest month for U.S. soldiers since last September. One in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans - roughly 300,000 - report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. The V.A. covered up the fact that 12,000 veterans attempt suicide each year while under V.A. treatment. As Cindy Sheehan asked, "for what noble cause" are our sons and daughters suffering and dying?[..]
It's urgent for everyone to call your Representative today with a simple message: Not One More Penny for Iraq.
This battle is not impossible. On January 16, 42 progressive Democrats voted against the last $70 billion blank check. Most Republicans oppose Pelosi's bill because it includes some domestic spending, so a large bloc of progressive Democrats can defeat it.
Call the House switchboard at 202-224-3121 or find your Representative's name and direct dial by entering your address on the right side here .
Along with Iraq war veterans and concerned citizens, Iraq Campaign 2008 says it will unfurl a 50-foot replica "Mission Accomplished" banner at the White House tomorrow, marking the five-year anniversary of President Bush's now-infamous speech...The unfurling is slated to occur at 10:30 a.m. on Pennsylvania Ave.
In related news, the aircraft carrier where Bush made his speech five years ago, the USS Abraham Lincoln, departed early April for a seven-month deployment in the Persian Gulf.
I believe in the democratizing power of the internet. Every week I bring to your attention various campaigns going on at the grassroots level and encourage involvement and activism. It may not always achieve the results we seek as quickly as we'd like, but here's a story that John mentioned earlier that proves that your activism does get noticed and does make an impact.
Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher has launched an email campaign directed to local and national newspapers against the Associated Press' Nedra Pickler, for her recent story documenting conservative attacks questioning Barack Obama's patriotism. Ultimately, I think Pickler's story was one worth reporting, but as TPM notes, the first source in her story is Roger Stone, a disgraced former GOP strategist who has been in the news lately for less-than-savory antics. It's also not the first time liberal bloggers have turned their sights on Pickler.
It was pretty much world-record speed with which the smears against Barack Obama's patriotism alley-ooped from the right wing attack machine into the pages of legitimate media, neatly laundered into the AP by Nedra Pickler.
Way to go, Jane! She told me that there was an astounding 12,000 letters sent to 620 newspapers in all 50 states. Amazing work. Think that doesn't get noticed? Christy continues:
Successful pushback means we need to cover every base, not just the prominant ones, so we are asking you for a little more help today. If you haven't yet written letters -- especially if you live in OH, PA, FL, NM, CO...pretty much any swing state -- please write one to your local newspapers today. It's very easy to do using our handy contact tool.
And now, you can use this new link to send the letter tool to friends, family, neighbors -- whomever you think might also be interested in sending a letter telling local newspapers that using AP feed to launder pre-fabricated GOP talking points is not acceptable and not news. And you are not willing to simply look the other way.
A number of our readers have already contacted us to say their Letters to the Editor are being published this week. Fantastic job! If you've already written letters, please check the contact tool to see if perhaps you missed a local paper or two. Every letter counts!
We've tried to come up with ways to make this as easy and user-friendly as possible for you to take action. All it requires of you is to act. The time to stand up for better reporting -- and accountability when it is done badly -- is now. Please write...today!
Make your voice heard. It matters.
People for the American Way (email):
The Senate passed a FISA reform bill last week that not only falls short on adequately protecting Americans from warrantless surveillance, but also shamefully grants retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies that may have aided the Bush administration's illegal domestic wiretapping.
The House, which is showing encouraging signs of spinal fortitude in recent days, can still stop this. That is why we are launching an emergency petition to STOP TELECOM IMMUNITY. Please be one of the first to sign.
Americans are speaking out -- thousands have taken action, hundreds have participated in our collaborative multimedia project with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and have sent us video testimonials and pictures expressing their opposition to telecom immunity and warrantless spying.
The House is thus far refusing to follow the Senate's lead on telecom immunity. And last week, a majority in the House heeded the call of the nearly 45,000 PFAW petition signers and voted to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for their failure to honor congressional subpoenas.
The contempt vote showed that the House is ready to hold the administration accountable AND that petitions can make a real difference (in whipping votes, trying to move the contempt resolution, our allies on the Hill specifically cited the PFAW petition as part of the case that Americans wanted to see administration officials held accountable to the rule of law).
Last week, the New York Times reported that the Bush Pentagon had agreed to a contract for more Kevlar helmets for our troops from the very company that was being sued for cheating troops out of helmets that met military standards. Especially at a time when so many troops are in harm’s way, no such company should ever receive a new contract. Demand that Congress investigate how this could have happened, by signing our petition. We’ll deliver your signatures to Capitol Hill.
There's a new rule on Capitol Hill: the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee can remove impeachment from the Constitution, but cannot also use telephones, Email, or fax machines, because the flood of pro-impeachment communications from outraged citizens is overwhelming each of those devices. Don't believe me? Try phoning, Emailing, or faxing John Conyers' office.
Congressman John Conyers' telephone, by many reports, rang endlessly on Monday, approximately 60 times per minute, or as fast as people could get through. The same thing appears to be happening today (Tuesday).
If you try to get through at 202-225-5126, chances are you'll hear a busy signal. Other times it will simply ring forever until a recorded voice tells you "Your party is not answering, please try your call later." Some people have had better luck by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 or through one of the toll-free numbers that activist groups use, and asking to be connected to John Conyers' office. Others have just run into busy signals that way too.
If you are lucky, you will get through to a staffer, and by all reports they are very, very cheerful staffers glad that you called, no matter where in the country you live.
Emailing the Congressman is out, because he has stopped accepting Emails, at least at this address john.conyers@mail.house.gov. I could tell you some of his staff members' Email addresses, but then they wouldn't be able to work for a week.
Faxing the Congressman is very much in, but you have to set your fax machine to repeatedly redial until it gets through. The fax number is 202-225-0072.
You can also try these alternatives. Call Conyers' Judiciary Committee office at 202-225-3951. Or call his Detroit, Mich., office at 313-961-5670 or his Trenton, Mich., office at 734-675-4084.
If you do get through, be prepared to hear that impeachment hearings are not happening, but hearings into impeachable offenses are. Even though these non-impeachment hearings will not make it onto television, and Conyers is not even announcing them ahead of time, and even though witnesses will refuse to show up, Conyers' staffers will try to tell you that hearings of the sort they've done for the past 13 months are all that's needed.
Hmm. If that were true, would the phone be ringing the way it is?
Apparently our network news media thinks so.
The climate crisis is the biggest challenge facing the next president. But the nation's top reporters don't seem to think so. In 2007, they asked 2275 questions. THREE questions mentioned global warming! Sign the petition: tell reporters to focus on the human race, not the horse race. What Are They Waiting for?
MoveOn: "Reporters asked as many questions about UFOs as they did about the climate crisis-the biggest threat to our planet."
As Amanda at TP notes: In its "coal industry-sponsored" Democratic presidential debate on Monday, "CNN once again failed to ask any questions about global warming." Now, why ever would the msm keep avoiding an issue in which "60 percent of Americans believe “we must take action now or it will be too late to stop it” and 58 percent favor capping carbon emissions."
Is it too much to ask?
In his mission to ensure that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, Dr. King took a decidedly long view, focusing not on mere lobbying for the legislation of the day, but on defining the moral imperatives of the nation to compel action for generations to come. Progress tends to be fragile and often proves illusory when it is the product of political insiders who fail to engage the broader citizenry. Dr. King, by contrast, led by revealing the hidden truths, narratives, and moral premises that compel action. Read on...
Krugman writes in his NYT blog:
Rudy Giuliani warned us about what would happen if a Democrat wins:
You have got to see the trap. Otherwise we are in for a disaster. We are in for Canadian health care, French health care, British health care.
And that would be a terrible thing
Short version: The US health care system is already a disaster being made worse under a Republican President. "By 2002–03, the U.S. fell to last place" in deaths that "are potentially preventable with timely and effective health care" in a study of 19 industrialized nations. Of course all of the countries that bested the US have some form of universal health care.
Bottom line: Rudy wants voters to grant him and his wife "CheneyCare" by saying it would be a disaster if you and your family had it too.
