Ohio Chapter of Blue Star Mothers to mom of deployed soldiers: "F off"
By Vivian Greentree07/31/2005
Raw Story has information on a situation in Ohio that is almost unbelievable...
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Petition to Amend the Constitution to Protect Property Rights
By Stephen Macklin07/31/2005
The Open Source Amendment Project began in response to the Supreme Court decision in the case Kelo v. New London. The Supreme Court ruled in a 5 - 4 decision that the City of New London, CT could take several properties under eminent domain making the actions goal of increasing tax revenue a Constitutionally valid public use under the Fifth Amendment.
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The North Korean Headache
By07/29/2005
It is clear - North Korea is delusional. Apparently, it has dreams of taking the place of the Soviet Union simply by opposing the West. The delusion is manifest in their imagination of themselves to be of any significant importance in the world (economically, politically or culturally), as the Soviet Union certainly was.
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Boy Scouts vs. CAFTA
By Vivian Greentree07/28/2005
Picture this: A group of over 600 Boy Scouts marches onto a field singing and then sits down in the grass to wait for President Bush. But hours later, the news that Bush couldn't make it is drowned out by sirens and shouts as hundreds fell ill because of the high temperature.
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Premature Withdrawal from Iraq: PR or Insanity?
By07/27/2005
Yahoo news reports: 'Iraq’s prime minister said Wednesday he wants U.S. troops "on their way out" as soon as his government can protect its new democracy. '
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The Unsinkable Hillary Clinton?
By Kit Robinson07/27/2005
It is inexorable. The sheer consuming power of it leaves one breathless and in awe, like a giant black hole at the center of the progressive political galaxy. Yes, the juggernaut that is Hillary may well be unstoppable.
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Is Liberal TV DOA?
By Kit Robinson07/27/2005
Here's one take on the potential pitfalls of Al Gore's incursion into "non"partisan, youth targeted TV. This from a 2003 story by Fair's Jim Naureckas that they just recycled via their news feed in a timely manner, given the August 1 launch of Currents Network:
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Whither the Young?: Stalking The Elusive Plum Demographic
By Kit Robinson07/26/2005
There we were. A packed labor hall filled to bursting with determined activists. Sweating but un-stifled in the midsummer swelter, we'd come to topple a tyrant. Here was a raucous mix of aged beat hipsters, aging hippy boomers, hip Gen Xers and, and... where the heck are the kids?!? In this noble quest to combat tyranny, Gen Y is apparently as AWOL as, well, ol Dubya himself. To coin a phrase, what's up with that? Granted, it's a sunny Saturday afternoon in Seattle and hanging out with a bunch of be-sloganed fugitives from a Pete Seeger concert shoe-horned into an air conditionless un-wired AFL-CIO Temple of all places may seem as tired and anachronistic as the AFL-CIO is itself about to become. But, be that as it may, the average age had to be 45 or even 50 and the number of attendees south of 30 one could practically count on one's one hand. I was glancing around for a defibrillator unit just in case, I tell ya.
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John Roberts: Competent and Dangerous
By Dennis Fox07/26/2005
All the hoopla over George Bush's appointment of John Roberts, Jr. to the Supreme Court has me thinking. Not about whether the Senate should confirm the judge -- liberals should do what they can to prevent the court from tilting even further rightward -- but about whether a constitutional system designed to give nine human beings so much power deserves our support. I don't think so.
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Supreme Wonderland
By07/25/2005
The 5th Amendment, ratified in 1791, states, “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The term ‘public use’ was later reinterpreted to mean public benefit or purpose. Still, the ‘takings clause’ has been utilized for preservation of historical sights, construction of roads, etc.
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Resolution to pull out of Iraq
By Vivian Greentree07/25/2005
This is the letter I just signed to send to my Congress Representative:
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Lots of reasons to be worried about Justice John G. Roberts
By Michael Hussey07/22/2005
Yesterday’s NY Times was practically begging the Senate to vote in favor of the nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court. The Time’s front page bio was a glowing review of Roberts and his “pragmatic view of the law.” David Brooks, the Times favored “conservative” used the word “love” to describe his feelings for Roberts. The headlining reader-submitted editorials were from democrats praising Roberts as “eminently qualified” and warnings to activist groups to “back off.” Three of the five reader editorials were pro-Roberts. The grey lady knows something about Roberts and she is pushing hard for this man.
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Making Peer Pressure Work
By Ann Weaver Hart07/22/2005
When I heard on the news last week that a group of imams had issued a fatwa against terrorism in the wake of the London tube bombings, I thought it was about time. Now, not even a week later, there are more bombings and attempted bombings, and I discover that the imams have issued lots of fatwas against terrorism. Unfortunately, it seems that, just like Christians, Muslims have a tendency to obey the rules that please them and ignore those that displease them.
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On Competence
By07/21/2005
There are days that I think the universe is playing a cruel joke on me, because reality can't possibly be this ridiculous ... Then I analyze the source of my frustration - and it always comes from interactions with people resigned to incompetence.
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A Demand
By07/20/2005
While some in the UK and the US search for justification of suicide-bombers (e.g. poverty), they seem to conveniently overlook the fact that some are recruited from a well-educated middle class. It was shocking for Brits that the London terrorists were "home grown."
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Federal Judge Roberts Is Bush's Choice
By James A. Landrith, Jr.07/19/2005
Given that Sandra Day O'Connor's intent to resign has already been communicated to President Bush, time is running short for a new Justice to be confirmed prior to the start of the new Supreme Court session. Granted, while Justice O'Connor plans to remain on the bench until her successor is confirmed, it would be appropriate for the confirmation process to at least be near completion by the start of the new session on October 1st. Well, as the title of this entry indicates and Yahoo! News has just reported:
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Bush in Wonderland
By John McDonald07/18/2005
What have these guys been smoking?
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DO Something
By Ann Weaver Hart07/17/2005
While it is obvious that there has been a great deal of wrongdoing in the current administration in Washington, it may not be obvious why no one seems willing to do anything about it. Aside from the fact that the first mission of the rich and powerful is to preserve both their riches and power, surely someone hears the voices in the crowd screaming “Impeach them!”
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Note to the DNC: It is Indeed Also the Environment, "Stupid"!
By Kit Robinson07/13/2005
I apparently owe the New Democrat Network an apology of sorts. The Ringmaster recently lambasted the NDN for low balling the environment by not featuring it prominently on their site along with other hot button issues, and instead including it as almost an afterthought listed dead last on their agenda page. Imagine my embarrassment when, having just visited the DNC's Democrats.org for the first time since the recent face lift, I find that the environment isn't on our party's listed agenda at all! Pardon me Howard, but WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!?
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RoveGate
By John McDonald07/13/2005
Here is the real question American’s ought to be thinking about as they consider the Bush Administration’s cover up of the involvement of a top White House aide in the intentional outing of a CIA agent, a violation of federal law: If they will lie about this, what else have they lied about?
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Channeling Ron Ziegler
By John McDonald07/11/2005
Referring to the announcement that President Nixon believed no one in the administration, "past or present" should be given "immunity from prosecution," Ziegler stated that this was "the operative statement." New York Times correspondent R. W. Apple, Jr. asked if that meant all other statements were "inoperative." Yes, responded Ziegler.
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Stop the Terror
By Ann Weaver Hart07/11/2005
Londoners got a taste of the reward of the deluded last week, as a series of coordinated bombings ripped through the public transit system at rush hour. While the Brits are stoic, and Mr. Bush is trying to make some international political hay, believing the fairy tale becomes more dangerous by the day.
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It's also the Environment, "Stupid"
By Kit Robinson07/10/2005
Let me say up front that despite my playing cute with the infamous Clinton (Carville?) campaign slogan, there is nothing remotely stupid about Simon Rosenberg or the NDN, though like all of us they can at times err. Now I've been an enthusiastic member of the New Democratic Network for about a year and was a strong backer of Simon's bid for DNC chair. I also continue to hold the same enthusiasm for NDN's pragmatic, forward-looking, media and tech savvy vision for revival of the sagging fortunes of progressive politics in America, as evidenced by The New Politics Institute initiative for instance. All that said, on a recent visit to their site it dawned on me that almost no where on those NDN sites can one find the word environment or sustainability prominently featured as a targeted issue. In fairness I must cop here that the blogmaster over there responded graciously to my posted rant by pointing out that the 6th, and last, item on the NDN Agenda page is:
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Replacing O'Connor
By Dennis Fox07/05/2005
I'm as uneasy as the next lefty about the damage Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's likely replacement will cause over the next couple of decades. When George W. Bush forces a Scalia/Thomas clone past the Senate to replace O'Connor, the court will become an even stronger ally in his plan to re-make the country. So I'm all in favor of fighting Bush's choices with whatever tactics we can muster. An empty seat on the court would be better than a firmer conservative majority.
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So Much for Moderation
By John McDonald07/01/2005
My bet says Bush will throw the troops some red meat -- pick a conservative.
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