Deans are first--for telling the truth.

And Sheri has succeeded in transitiong from an old thread to a new one automatically.

At least, I think that's what happened.

Re: Mitt Romney

What I would want to know is what kind of person presents himself as a leader of his state by going 'round the country and making disparaging remarks about it. Surely that's not considered loyalty in his religion.

What is a good right winger to do? They have a Mormon who used to support gay unions and abortion rights - a war candidate who is also a former adulterer who now supports abstinence - another candidate who has been married three times (including to a cousin) who is also an former adulter who is for abortion rights and gay unions. tee hee. I am loving this!

Good morning.

New thread did not pop up.  I was posting away on the old.

In the midst of this obscenity in Iraq, we have Conyers, thank goodness - the good pit bull who will help bring this godawful neo-con cabal down.  They will have to flee to a country that doesn't extradite....what his rhetoric HAS to say is that bush will be impeached if either HE or OLMERT attack Iran....becuz IMO that's the plan.  And then watch the egg on the faces of Congress, dealing with the "special relationship" Obama talks about.  And the people here won't like that.  Congress better prepare to take AIPAC and the AIE on cuz the truth about our "special relationship" is gonna piss off the voters big time.  Next week I start calling critters about this very thing.  The way it is now, if putz attacks, his head is on a platter but if Israel attacks, we run to the rescue.  This is very dangerous and the critters need to be told that we won't stand for Israel attacking either.  

Congressman John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has used the following rhetoric repeatedly in recent weeks:

"George Bush has the habit of firing military leaders who tells him the Iraq war is failing. But let me tell you something. He can't fire you. He can't fire us. But we can fire him! We can fire him!"

You can watch Conyers say those words to a crowd of 500,000 on January 27th in this video: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18494

He said the same thing at an event a few days later, and went further, suggesting that he will favor impeachment if Bush attacks Iran. Here's the audio: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/18457

So Clinton and Obama want the unitary executive power.  They will continue the dictatorship re: foreign affairs and both are kissing up to AIPAC. 

I think I should go to bed now, as I'm feeling that we're royally screwed.

And our poor soldiers are being used as fodder the the rapacious neo-cons. Talk about eating your own.

Since there's no draft, how can these people be forced into 2nd, 3rd or 4th tours?  How can a stop-loss be legal?  Effing neo-cons!!!  Someone please tell the soldiers that Saddam and 9/11 are not connected.

GET THESE MONSTERS OUT OF OFFICE, NOW! 

*&^%$#@ 

Good grief, I have to go to bed.

Someone please impeach cheney while I'm sleeping, please!

Somebody who actually watches MTP might want to make the point that sending the President's Press Secretary along with a couple of Senators does not show proper respect. The Press Secretary is called that for a reason: he's a scribe, not an author or original thinker. Now, if his function at this event were to simply sit and take notes, that might be another matter.

Why is the White House providing secretarial assistance to the Senate? Is that a new function?

Well, that's not a bad analysis---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49DizrNTu...

paine

I too responded on the old thread.

Re: Mitt Romney

What I would want to know is what kind of person presents himself as a leader of his state by going 'round the country and making disparaging remarks about it. Surely that's not considered loyalty in his religion.

+++

Monica -

Agreed.

Mitt claims he was the one who saved the Olympics organization and managed it well in Salt Lake City, UT.

Then he donned liberal positions in order to become governor of Massachusetts in 2000, besting dem Shannon O'Brien.

Then he announced he's not running for reelection in MA and has donned conservative positions in oreder to become the next repub U.S. President.

Who is he ?

All I know, is the majority of MA residents, including me, were glad to see Mitt exit from the governor's seat here.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=6104003&nav=menu368_2_9

February 18, 2007
 

Governor Tim Kaine endorses presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama

Governor Tim Kaine endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign today within sight of the former Confederate Capitol.

Obama, a Democrat, became the first declared presidential candidate to pocket the support of a sitting governor for the election

...

Newt could get into the adulterers race too.

Brownback will have more support than most think.

out west I would watch Richard Engel on MTP Hagel with George S., and Levin on Faux to get a good idea where things are headed in Iraq if they are still coming up imho

bbl

I don't care who endorses Obama. He's kissing up to AIPAC and in the pocket of corporate donors. He's also the protege of the senator from Israel!

I have posted Obama's speech from 2002 about Iraq, before he was in the senate, on Hannah. Very interesting--not in the same style as his announcement speech in Springfield.

http://hannah.smith-family.com

no one will get the nomination that is not a friend of Israel, it is the quality of the friendship that matters

true friends warn against bad decisions

if we knock down the Sadr faction the Hakim faction rises and Iran gains

so if the surge "works" we lose

and if it doesn't work we lose

who are these fools advising the President or does he come up with the duhcision on his own

his boss the Saudis don't like Sadr and might like us to bloody his nose on the way out and it might just be that simple

Bush duhcides whatever it is the Dick tells him their bosses want

Virginia's perception of itself as the "essence" of the South has long been a matter of wishful thinking, similar to the designation of Concord as the capitol of New Hampshire.

If Gore and Feingold are not running:

If not Obama, then who?

Unless someone who hasn't already "announced" gets in the mix and who isn't in the Senate but hasn't stirred any interest yet, then who of these candidates will DFA endorse?

14.

John,

Every candidate is in the pocket of the big corporations in some way. That doesn't mean it would influence the way they would govern. Corporations will always be at the table of the politicians in Washington which isn't always a bad thing.

Amazing Grace

Watch the trailer: http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/

no one will get the nomination that is not a friend of Israel, it is the quality of the friendship that matters

true friends warn against bad decisions

------------------

True - but being a friend of Israel doesn't make one an enemy of the Palestinians and Arab world.  No law that says you cannot love both, but not the way the Zionist right wing wants to be loved.  Americans Jewish voters are like Americans, and need to be educated as to what is going on over there.  If they really knew, there would be peace.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-kleiman/barack-obama-counterpun_b_41501.html

Mark Kleiman

First he turned John Howard's attack on him as al Qaeda's candidate to his advantage.

Now Obama does the same to the "We don't dare nominate a black man" pitch from a pair of Hillary Clinton's African-American surrogates.

That sort of talent for making lemonade of lemons may take him far.

http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_01_15/...

An interesting perspective.

Hey, what can I say, I like lemonade.

Facebook:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16724449.htm?source=rss&channel=kansascity_politics

WASHINGTON | Late on the day that Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, announced that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee, Farouk Olu Aregbe logged on to Facebook.com.

Facebook is the popular online community where college students post profiles, share photos and blog.

On a whim, Farouk created a group called “One Million Strong for Barack.”

“I remember thinking: There’s got to be more supporters out there,” said Farouk, 26, who advises student government at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Farouk’s group had 100 members in the first hour. In less than five days, 10,000. By the third week, nearly 200,000. Last week, a month after he created the group, it had 278,100 members.

There are more than 500 Obama groups on Facebook. One of the first, “Students for Barack Obama,” was created on July 7 by Meredith Segal, a junior at Bowdoin College who first heard of Obama when he gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Instead of starting “a petition or something” to encourage the freshman senator to run for president, she turned to her Facebook page, created a group and invited people (first her friends, later strangers) to join.

Now it’s a political action committee with nearly 62,000 members and chapters at 80 colleges, the most structured grass-roots student movement in the presidential campaign so far. There is a director of field operations, an Internet director, a finance director and a blog team director.

“Young people are on the Web,” said Segal, 21. “That’s how we’re organizing.”

...

no one will get the nomination that is not a friend of Israel,

----------------------

This is almost a joke.  Who could not be a "friend of Israel?"   Objective-speaking that would only a professed anti-semite (which is what the right wing labels most critics.)  But is that really what we are talking about?  Is "friend of Israel" code for giving your approval to every fascist act of aggression the Israeli right wing commits in the name of "defending itself?"

Does being a "friend of Israel" mean systematically denying human rights to Palestinians and approving of the collective punishment policies?  Does it mean both the denial of citizenship to the indigenous people and refugees of 1947-48 and/or  perrenially delaying the two-state solution while they slowly ethnically cleanse the West Bank, by making life unbearable for them?

We really need to define what "friend of Israel"  means.  That is the key.

"True - but being a friend of Israel doesn't make one an enemy of the Palestinians and Arab world.  No law that says you cannot love both, but not the way the Zionist right wing wants to be loved.  Americans Jewish voters are like Americans, and need to be educated as to what is going on over there.  If they really knew, there would be peace."

28.

Well-"said" Donna.

donna in evanston
Sun, 02/18/07
11:46 am

-----------------

Don't know what your consciousness is, but don't mean to be condescending.  Jewish American people are like American people, and in spite of their intelligence, are just as vulnerable to right wing brain wash and filtered media.  I've been torn between what I want to believe and what I find when investigating.

Try the book I am reading now by Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall .  Shlaim is a Jew, a professor in England, whose family was a very wealthy Iraqi secular Jewish family in Iraq for generations.   After 1948 they were forced to flee for fear of anti-semitism. They lost everything.  He served two years in the IDF. 

The book is a history of modern Zionism and the  Israeli military and governments strategy and relationships in the Middle East.  For a while the book was banned in Israel, because it spiked a lot of myths children are raised to believe in Israel.  It is very interesting and extremely well referenced.  There is little opinion.

28.

donna in evanston
Sun, 02/18/07
11:46 am

------------------

From what I read, Norman Finkelstein is an interesting, provocative contrarian.  You might check his work out too.

Talking about opinion and being sceptical.I'm of the opinion that the US military is not what it is all made out be.And yes, to be politically correct, I support the men and women who make up the troops.It's the military organization and it's leadership I'm talking about.We spend half a trillion dollars a year on this organization. And what are we getting for that?Sorry, all this talk about the surge is like band aid talk.A half a trillion dollar a year machine isn't able to pacify Iraq?So, I'm not impressed with the US military.  

+++

sunlight -

In all due respect, statements like "I'm not impressed with the US military" is the generalizations, wide-sweeping opinions that leave a sour taste in the mouths of those of us here in America and on this blog who have served in the U.S. military.

I proudly served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986 to 1990 and before that 1983 to 1986 in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

The issue for me is that the neo-con Dr. Stranglove-like Bush the junior President we have now has attacked in a unilateral fashion a sovereign nation like Iraq with cooked -up rationale of the threat of WMDs that never existed.  Enter the picture Iran, a strong possibility of another redux, as Huron John has dutifully mentioned many times, and kudos for him for reminding us of such.

All I know is the American men and women who have entered the U.S. military volunteerily have done so with the highest intentions, as I had done in 1983, to serve and protect our nation.

The key, IMO is not to repeat the mistake of having get elected in 2000 a Commander-In-Chief who was more interested in getting his teeth attended to, than with fighting to protect the nation during the Vietnam War.

Even Prince Henry of the royal English monarchy has put his life on the line by joining the British military and this month will join those forces in Basra, Iraq.

Of the Bush family ?

14.

A black man that supports a Jewish state could become president?

The racist base of the south must be disgusted. And apparently we have some people here that feel the same way.

The racist base of the south must be disgusted. And apparently we have some people here that feel the same way.

--------------------

With all due respects, Joe, you should be open as to whom you refer and debate honorably and open instead of making indirect snide references like "some people here" - I am sure you are not talking about me.

"Some people here"  were cheering the aerial kinetic butchery in  Lebanon the way some African-Americans were cheering OJ Simpson's acquittal.

These days I'm really liking Obama

...

+++ 

Thomas -

I haven't seen you post before on this blog.

Welcome, you're in good company here.

33.
Well, Joe, apparently you are just not keeping up.
The 'base' of racists in the South are in the Republican Party - none of whom blog here.
No, 'here' the lying senator from IL is not reviled for his race, or compassion for those previously persecuted.
The Senator now has a record nationally, as well as nationally broadcast statments, to deal with. His voting record in the Senate signifies that DFA made an error in supporting him, given that WE are not corporate lackies or submitters. His lies about serving out his six years in the Senate as a senator for the people of Illinois are inexcusable.

WE do not need a liar as a nominee, or as pResident.

Bu thanks for playing...

19.

Good points, Joan.

Hi all. There is a good story on DFA links about Dennis Kucinich's visit to Connecticut yesterday.

 I want to reiterate a very important point for those who remember how Kucinich allowed / instructed his delegates in Iowa in 2004 to move to John Edwards - if they did not have enough delegates to meet the 15% threshold :

Dennis and Howard speak regularly.

 Howard Dean has forgiven Dennis for Iowa 2004.

If Howard has forgiven Dennis, we should too. Time to move on.

Additionally, Dennis has been mentoring my new and exceptional representative Chris Murphy. This confirmation came from Chris Murphy's Chief of Staff - unsolicited.

And Dennis IS the only candidate who has always voted against the war and further appropriations for it.

Y'know, if I were Al Gore (and in case you're wondering, I'm not,) I wouldn't run for Pres either.  Why should he?  He keeps coming up with innovative ideas to save the planet, like his new concert series.  He is recognized all over the world with respect for his environmental expertise.  He may win an Oscar and even the Nobel Prize.

Having said that, he will be a tremendous asset to whomever he supports for President.  I could be wrong, but I doubt that he would strongly endorse Hillary.  But Obama, Edwards, Clark(?) or anybody else would be blessed to have him in their corner.

A black man that supports a Jewish state could become president?

------------------

Does being critical of fascist, apartheid policy constitute being "opposed to a Jewish State?"

I guess that's like anyone being against the Iraq invasion is a "traitor"

34.

No I was referring to people that equate pro-Israel=bad.  And it is hard to have a guiene debate with those people because there is no logic to it. Its a knee jerk reaction.

Every time they get attacked and act to defend themselves they get blamed. In the Lebennon situation they where attacked. They had soldiers that where killed and kidnapped. They did what anyone would do in that situation. They defended themselves. The fact that they showed as much restraint as they did was impressive.

Its really no wonder that the right wing has started using anti-semetic charges against the left when that used to be an issue that worked the other way around.

Hey David!!

Kucinich/Edwards '08 ??

Edwards/Kucinich '08 ??

... or is a Hillary/Obama '08 ticket of wrong-hardheaded/opportunistic liar the most electable?

Myself i see more character in Brownback and Hagel than in Hilarck Clinbama.

And while I'm at it - and perhaps "David in the DFA Lions Den" - this will be the year-of-all-years where candidates' spouses matter.

 Elizabeth Kucinich has taken Al Gore's environmental training. She is brilliant - quite possibly the most brilliant spouse among some very well qualified spouses ( I guess I should even include Bill Clinton ). If Al Gore decides to eventually NOT be a candidate, he will at some point endorse someone else.

 Why not Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich ?

40.

Israel is a democracy. Infact a better one then we have. They have more parties and more choices.  You need a coalition of at least three or four parties to govern. Some that would advocate the same policies you would for them, others with very different policies. But they have a choice, thats democracy.

In the real "apartheid" government of South Africa blacks where not part of the government or had any kind of power.

In Israel Arabs are not only part of the government, one is even a cabinet minister.

By the way I call opponents of the Iraq war "which includes Obama" only thing. I call them right.

Deaniac in GA -

Just a suggestion, since you're from Georgia.

Instead of  attacking U.S. Senator Barack Obama from the state of Illinois who voted yesterday to open debate on the President's plan to have a surge of U.S. forces enter the Iraq civil war, you might spend more time locally going after your two U.S. senators representing Georgia who voted NO:

http://www.tfponline.com/QuickHeadlines.asp?sec=l&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fepaper%2Etfponline%2Ecom%2FWebChannel%2FShowStory%2Easp%3FPath%3DChatTFPress%2F2007%2F02%2F18%26ID%3DAr00102

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted against moving forward on an Iraq resolution debate Saturday afternoon, a day after the House passed a measure rebuking President Bush’s troop surge in Iraq.

...

both Georgia GOP Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson voted against proceeding with debate on the House-passed version of an Iraq resolution.

...

And interestingly, the religious right wing in this country, no less the bible belt of the south, is probably the most right-wing supporters of Israel as well.   Whether they like Jews or not, on a personal level, right wing Southerners are ardent supporters of the far right in Zionist Israel. 

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

33.
Joe Davidson
Sun, 02/18/07
12:58 pm
14.

A black man that supports a Jewish state could become president?

------------------

Does being critical of fascist, apartheid policy constitute being "opposed to a Jewish State?"

I guess that's like anyone being against the Iraq invasion is a "traitor"

39.

rdorgan

I wonder if Gore will endorse anybody since it seemed to have such dire consequences for Dean. Once Gore endorsed Howard, some of the other candidates came after him like vipers.

44. ... or will Obama, due to 'supporters' call for his 'change', come out in support of more 'policing' of the 'region' once elected?

That is his record now.

Nor do I support Israel's right to nuke Iran in just another proxy war - or dirty little war - for American corporatist interests.

Joan* In*Florida -

You might be right.

All I know is that I'm so proud of what Al Gore is doing now and ditto Howard Dean.

Sometimes the top prize is not the position for the real shakers and movers of a society (ie. Martin Luther King, Ganhdi, etc.)

51.

I agree with you on that.

Maybe it was meant to be (whatever that means) that Gore not get selected in 2000 and Dean not win in 2004. They are at the top of their games, both of them, Gore doing more for the world now than anyone else can and Dean pulling the Democrats from the abyss to rise to the majority.

42.

I see more character in someone that had to overcome more barriers to get to where he is.

I see more character in someone that is the product of an interracial relationship with the middle name Hussien with a foreign father that sent him to an Islamic school as a child and despite the stereotypes against those things as gotton to a point where he has a real shot to be President.

Someone that opposed the Iraq war from the beginning. And went from being an unknown to a rising star in the party that is chaired by Howard Dean. Someone originally endorsed by DFA.  Someone that earned everything he got.

But purhaps you see more Character in two Republicans that both orginally supported the war, one that still does. Born into rich Christian families who've won easy to win senate seats in the reddest of states. In that case you might consider being a Republican.

Personally I see more character in the first guy.

Joe Davidson
Sun, 02/18/07
1:25 pm

------------------

 I might envy your knowledge of how the Israeli government is structured.  And it may be better than ours in some ways, as are, no doubt many others.  Whether it is a better democracy de facto is debatable, maybe for Israelis, and more so for ethnic Jewish Israelis - because de jure with regard to human rights, it is run like a banana, or the Apartheid South Africa.

That fact has nothing to do with the beauty of its system.  The former USSR had a Constitution that hailed the same human rights that ours did.  It is how it is interpreted that defines the government.  And it is the degree of participation in the Israeli system that makes it a true democracy, not the structure and procedure of how the government functions.

The human rights abuses - done a routine daily basis - in the West Bank done in the name of "security" to ordinary innocent civilianswould not exist for one day in this country.  If you deny this, you just don't know what is happening there.  I don' tcare if you got the guided tour. You need to read the facts to face this reality.  That is what Jimmy Carter is getting hell for.

45.

Funny, i didn't have to look up that vote to know how they voted.
Reality is that NO SUPPORT was given to the '04 U.S. Senate democratic candidate OR to the local '06 U.S. House democratic candidate by national groups

... this despite their brave stands for peace, fiscal sanity, and constitutional rights.
The 'left' here does not have access to the pulpits that the demon-infested wingnuts do, nor do they have the funds to go on the air to reach the non-zombies.

What do i do to fight these guys?? Well, i support those who in the end hold the life-preserver - then throw it to well-funded campaigns elswhere.

... sadly.

39.

rdorgan

I wonder if Gore will endorse anybody since it seemed to have such dire consequences for Dean. Once Gore endorsed Howard, some of the other candidates came after him like vipers.

***************************************************

I think more than Al Gore's endorsement - Howard's interview in December '03 about halting media consolidation was the reason for the media barrage and the whiting out of the crowd in Howard's post-Iowa-primary speech. We respect Al Gore - and want to know who he endorses - and why.

Thats true. Although the right wing of the country supports Israel for very different reasons. Reasons that are bibical and are supposed to eventually lead to Israel's distruction.

53.

Noone earns the ability to lie.

David A. Stevenson
Sun, 02/18/07
1:27 pm

-------------

I appreciate  your clearing that up, but all too often there is the "either for us or against us" attitude in politics towards Israel.   Except for  Moshe Sharett and Iztak Rabin, the country has been very fascist and right wing, like the last 6 years here, since the 1930s.   You can call me an anti-semite for believing that but that would be another right-wing mistake.  Blame it on the Nazis, or blame it on centuries of persecution.  It is a tragic situation that can only be remedied by the leaders becoming conducting the  "ethnically blind" to human rights of those within its territories and bringing the refugees back into citizenship.  The country will flourish and prosper and everybody will love the Jews.  

Georgia's repub U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (who defeated dem Max Cleland) is up for reelection in 2008:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070126/pl_cq_politics/republicansanticipatestrongrunattheir21senateseatsupin2008_1

Republicans Anticipate Strong Run at Their 21 Senate Seats Up in 2008

By CQ Staff Fri Jan 26, 5:07 PM ET

Republican officials developing the party’s strategy to take back a Senate majority in the 2008 elections face a pr