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The Sopranos Meet George Bush
Note to DFA members: Due to the fact that the entire Communications Department will be attending the Take Back America conference, there will be only one post per day on the Blog from today until Thursday, June 21. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.
-Sheri Divers
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Good morning mprov!
Are those supposed to be onion rings in the last box?
Have a good day, everyone. Off to mine salt.
By George*, I think he's got it !
(*Donald G. that is):
http://www.amistadamerica.org/
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18485889&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=590581&rfi=6
Amistad ready to set sail for Freetown Abbe Smith, Register Staff06/17/2007NEW HAVEN — Donald George is going back to his homeland of Sierra Leone aboard a replica of the very ship that once carried his captive countrymen from Cuba to Long Island, N.Y., more than 150 years ago.On Saturday, George told the story of that ship, the Freedom Schooner Amistad, to tourists gathered where it docked at Long Wharf Pier, 389 Long Wharf Drive.
The Amistad will set sail from New Haven Thursday for a transatlantic voyage that will take the schooner to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in honor of the men and children who were kidnapped from there in 1839, fought for their freedom and won.
The voyage, part of the "Atlantic Freedom Tour," commemorates the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in Great Britain in 1807.
George said many of the young people of Sierra Leone don’t know the history of the famous ship and its people.
"So this is going to be a new beginning for them," he said.
The Amistad’s history is an inspiring story of 53 West Africans kidnapped from their homeland in 1839 and sold into the slave trade.
The men and children were taken to Cuba, sold as slaves to two Spanish men and forced onto the schooner La Amistad — Spanish for "friendship" — to be moved to another part of the island.
But before they arrived at the destination, the captives revolted, killing the captain and cook, and demanded the remaining men on the ship sail them back to Africa. Leading the revolt was a 25-year-old rice farmer named Sengbe Pieh. He was known as "Cinque" by his Spanish captors.
But instead of going to Africa, the schooner was sailed up the coast to Long Island, N.Y., where the men were arrested and charged with murder.
Their case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams argued on behalf of the West African men, winning their case. The surviving captives were returned to their home in West Africa, present-day Sierra Leone, soon after.
...
Al Gore Responds to Geldof
Mr Gore speaks so passionately and knowledgeably about global warming that it is easy to see why he has gained so much support.
He won an Oscar for his movie on the subject, An Inconvenient Truth, and is being feted as the next saviour of American politics (even though he claims he’s fallen out of love with politics).
Yet despite his good intentions, the 59-year-old has come under fire from the likes of The Who’s Roger
Daltrey and Live Aid hero Sir Bob Geldof.
Both claimed the Live Earth gigs can do little to change the world. Geldof also accused Mr Gore of hosting “an enormous pop concert” with no clear political goals. When I asked Mr Gore about the criticisms, he gave a robust response.
He said: “We will have specific goals that will be very significant and hard-hitting.
“We will announce those before the concert then emphasise them heavily during the concert.
“What Bob Geldof did with Live Aid and Live 8 was fantastic and he has followed up very diligently, as many of the others involved with Live Aid and Live 8 have. I’ve nothing but good things to say about them.
“These concerts would not be possible in any way without the pioneering and creativity of Geldof and those who helped him.
“But he has said in the aftermath of those efforts how important it is to have specific goals and a continuing follow-on effort and we have designed the Live Earth concerts in just that way.
“This one day, 24 hours long, will not only be a wake-up call for the world but the beginning of a multi-year campaign to organise an effective response to the climate crisis.” Mr Gore has been incredibly impressed with the British response to the climate crisis and singled out Tony Blair for special praise.
He said: “The United Kingdom has been among the real leaders in the world and while every nation needs to do more, including the UK, the UK should receive credit for providing leadership in the world.
“I wish my own country had responded as well and I still hope that eventually it will, it must. I compliment the people of Britain and the people of the United Kingdom and their leaders. It will be a part of Tony Blair’s legacy.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-200...
I was thinking this morning that North America is really the continent of displaced persons--some voluntarily and others, including the natives, involuntarily. Even the voluntarily displaced, those from Old Europe, were making lemonade out of lemons, so to speak, since their departure from their native lands was large a response to the perception that "we can't make it here, anymore."
Being a displaced person is different from being a wanderer or adventurer. It implies that, were their situation otherwise, they would have preferred to stay where they were born. So, in a sense, they are settling for second-best and it takes an act of will to convince themselves that it's all for the best--that this is the best of all possible places. In other words, they need to create a myth to console themselves for what they've lost. That's the American dream--a mental construct after the fact, in compensation for the insecurity they feel. It's insecurity, or perhaps even inferiority, which makes them aim for superiority.
In any event, having been displaced themselves, the new arrivals on the North American continent saw no reason to refrain from visiting forced relocation on whoever stood in their way. We're a land of people who habitually move other people about.
Good morning blog!
Hubby's off to work and I need cereal. A staple it has become, hot whole wheat, bran and walnuts. Yum :)
Monica, 5., I was thinking similar as watching news this morning, but one step further how the migration is happening to all parts of the world. England has become an attraction big time.
Hubby's off to work and I need cereal. A staple it has become, hot whole wheat, bran and walnuts. Yum :)
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I had my Lucky Charms earlier..................
7. LOL Many times he eats better than I too.
...mines cooking now...He had muesli with wild blueberries and hemp seed. For lunch, I had it easier today with left over sauce with onion and eggplant, so I just needed to boil the pasta and cut some melon balls for dessert.
hmmm lucky charms and melon balls. :)
OK, I'm back. a YYUMMMy breakfast. An important start of the day.
Don't skip meals.
OK, Mr. Gore spends another week overseas. After completing visits to Turkey to announce the latest addition to the Live Earth Concerts, then on to Greece and Italy.
Now in London with plans on heading over to France at the end of the week.
France brings another example of the many at hats Mr. Gore wears.
Gore to Bring Talk of Green to Ad Festival
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By ERIC PFANNER
Published: June 18, 2007
The brightest lights in the advertising business are gathering in Cannes, France, this week for an annual celebration of the art of persuading consumers to part with their money. In the industry’s biggest international get-together, awards will be given for the best ads for products like cars, clothing, food and air travel.
And then, on Friday, Al Gore will come to town.
Mr. Gore is scheduled to address the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival as part of the windup leading to the Live Earth concerts on July 7, which are intended to raise awareness of the issue of climate change.
You might think that Mr. Gore and his campaign against global warming would find few friends in Cannes. The production, transport, sale and consumption of goods and services add a few sizes to anyone’s carbon footprint.
Yet Mr. Gore is being accorded rock star status at the festival, an event that in the past has been headlined by industry insiders. The embrace of Mr. Gore shows how “green” advertising has galvanized the marketing community.
“The consumer sentiment out there is just palpable,” said Hamish McLennan, chief executive of Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency that arranged Mr. Gore’s visit to Cannes and helped him to develop the “Save Our Selves” campaign for environmental awareness. “We have to change the way people consume and get people to think about it.”
Full article
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/busine...
Al Gore won't be able to finish this project before he announces, so the criticism might just be a warning to put the follow up team in place before he runs, and is an acknowledgement of that probability.
4.
He won an Oscar for his movie on the subject,
Linda NM,
Do you notice how the media and others who are so afraid of Al Gore keep repeating that Al Gore won an Oscar for Inconvenient Trust?
He didn't of course win one himself, only the movie. I expect if he runs for president, that same media and Gorephoboiacs will accuse Al himself of claiming that he won an Oscar. It would be reminiscent of the I-created-the-Internet media lie which still permeates this same media.
How afraid they are of Gore will they get, prematurely laying all their dirty little traps just in case he runs.
Gore 2008 & 2012
I do hope linda b will have help sending those reports. She will no doubt be very busy.
(delurk)
Of course the interent as we know and use it daily was very much partly due to Gore's work. just as a global response to warming will be too
very few people have more than a 1% impact on anything
Gore has a chance to imprint two. He can add saving our democracy to that list if he runs.
People too busy to get anything done do most of the work on a lot of projects.
13.
Joan* In*Florida
LOL....no, no, it will be "He claimed to have invented the Oscar".
Joan, did you notice this freudian statement you made "Do you notice how the media and others who are so afraid of Al Gore keep repeating that Al Gore won an Oscar for Inconvenient Trust?"
Trust? Hmm...maybe that means the media is realizing they need to trust he is the best hope? :)
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Phil, yes. Kinda' like Howard turning over DFA to Jim Dean and Tom Hughes.
Although, Roy Neal is such a loyal friend and worker, I suspect he will move back to the White House with Al.
The Democrats keep pressing for the necessary, continuing to press Repugs for their status quo is OK position. There is little chance this will pass the Senate, much less the WH, but the Dems are continuing the pressure which is or will (for those yet unenlightened) expose who and what the Repugs really are.
June 18, 2007Democrats Press Plan to Channel Billions in Oil Subsidies to Renewable Fuels By EDMUND L. ANDREWSWASHINGTON, June 16 — Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would take billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits from the oil industry to underwrite renewable fuels.
The tax increases would reverse incentives passed as recently as three years ago to increase domestic exploration and production of oil and gas. The change reflects a shift from the Republican focus on expanding oil production to the Democratic concern about reducing global warming.
Kunstler on Iraq
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary21.html
It seems to me you can call the situation in Iraq a lot of things, but it's not a war. Not at this point, anyway. Call it an unsuccessful nation-building project, a failed occupation, a botched policing job, a monkey-in-the-middle clusterfuck. All the US political factions, from left to right, do the public a disservice by calling it a war, because it misrepresents what we're doing there.
We're involved in Iraq because we don't want to begin thinking about modifying our behavior at home. We are desperate to preserve our access to Middle East oil because that is the only way we can keep running our society the way we're used to running it. Mostly, we don't want to face the tragic misinvestments we've made in the infrastructure of happy motoring, and we don't want to face the inconvenient truth that there really isn't any combination of alt.fuels that will permit us to keep running all the cars the way we like to run them. Either we keep getting the oil or say goodbye to the American Dream Version 2.K.
15.
Phil
Delurk?? LOL
Yup, Al's did much to improve and promote the Internet. His words were deliberately screwed, er skewed.
Waiting to hear from linda b
linda b .....democracy's friend indeed!!!
She will show you as she takes the lead,
to help get training for you and me.
A fighter for our rights, showing what activism is all about.
Cheering on the Governor, from the audience she gives a shout.
GOOO LINDA!
Immigration - read a piece in Pravda that said the UK will have a "Muslim majority' in about 2030.....
Secret Service Agents code names:
Sen. Barack Obama has a new tag: "Renegade." (hmmmm)Hillary Cinton is Evergreen," given to her by Bill.
Bill Clinton, is "Eagle"
Al Gore was “Sundance”.Sen. John F. Kerry - "Minuteman"
President Bush, a protectee dating back to the days when his father was president (and with a reputation for rowdiness before he became a teetotaler) is "Tumbler."
Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday school, is "Deacon."
George H.W. Bush is "Timberwolf,"
Ronald Reagan was "Rawhide".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html
I want to know what Cheney's code name is. : )...
Democrats in the war party don't want a Democratic President
http://www.counterpunch.org/liddell06182007.html
The Democratic Party can do without a president if what the elites of that party really want is war. They still retain their power in the Party which is really their only concern, the perpetuation of the party organization itself. The Democratic Party is the best friend the Republicans ever had. And the Republican Party needs the Democratic Party as much as the Democrats need the Republicans. The only way you can be a winner is if there is a loser. In the two-party system both parties need each other for either party to exist at all. And who needs a president of your own party when the two-party system gets to have its war?
Michael Ellis
I had my Lucky Charms earlier..................
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No wonder yer voting third party - ya eat too much sugar
Waiting for Lindab and report from TBA.....wish i was there, too. I had hoped that after Demfest more of the old-timers would return to the blog. Still hoping...
It would be nice to see some old friends, particularly for those of us who couldn't make it to Deanfest.
America's Guilty Silence
http://www.counterpunch.org/brooks06182007.html
Most informed US citizens are aware that their government runs a global network of secret detention centers where torture is routinely employed. They also know what this activity looks like, having seen photos of their troops' bestial behavior at Abu Ghraib. If they followed the story, they know that this behavior was also reported at several other prisons and detention centers in Iraq, under policy directives from the very top of the Pentagon.
They know about the human rights horrors of Guantanamo and Bagram Air Force base, that the CIA runs a global ring dedicated to kidnappings, "extraordinary rendition", and torture, that hundreds of our detainees have disappeared, and so on.
It is possible to know these things by reading big city newspapers. An objective observer could glean the general shape of these facts from network television news. The American public has been told. And the public has turned the page.
Do we have any excuse for our abject failure to hold our leaders and ourselves responsible for our nation's most heinous crimes?
We will have to claim that our minds were not our own. The corporate media-government propaganda network had grown so ubiquitous that the people were essentially subjects in a mass brainwashing experiment. Unfortunately, the experiment was a success, so increasingly absurd versions of re-manufactured reality were implanted in the public mind.
The argument has some merit. The elites of this country invented modern propaganda almost a century ago. Today the immense power of corporate-political "opinion formation" in certain reaches the public mind is undeniable. We need to understand how much this system has undermined the public will and dehumanized our lives.
However, to the extent that we as individuals still possess free will and are responsible for our own values, we have no excuse for our mute acceptance of these and other national crimes against humanity. Don't we pay for them with our taxes, continue them with our votes, and support them with our silence?
And the Democrats will roll over again,despite the odd flash of brave talk. Democratic members of the war party are calling the shots.
Shameful!
We shouldn't waste our time "taking back America" for the likes of Rahm Emanuel, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and Steny Hoyer.
How about "taking back America" from them?
It’s interesting to probe Eva Liddell’s article at Counterpunch on the Democratic Party’s plan to intentionally lose presidential elections, to which John linked. He left out the excerpt detailing the party’s attempt to sabotage its own candidate in 2000 so that American bombs could fall on Baghdad in 2003. I’ll just quote it as a public service, because you won’t want to miss it:
"When Bush gave us the spin on Iraq, the mushroom clouds, the weapons of mass destruction, nobody disagreed Saddam was evil. Certainly not the Democratic Party. And the Democratic elites wanted war as much as the Republicans. If it took dumping their own guy in 2000 to do it, so be it. Who designed the butterfly ballot? A Democrat. Whose polls are the hardest to get to? The disenfranchised black constituents of the Democratic Party. Making Gore conduct his campaign by the eight time loser Bob Shrum the guy the Party selects to lose elections was another tip-off. Why would the Democratic elites want their guy Gore when they were smelling war? Gore I am sure wanted to win but that doesn't mean his own Party wouldn't dump him."
32.
And the Democrats will roll over again,despite the odd flash of brave talk. Democratic members of the war party are calling the shots.
Shameful!
You, John, of course have no crystal ball that I am aware of.
It is you who is "shameful" for pretending to know the future.
Joan* In*Florida
Mon, 06/18/07
12:51 pm
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I dont know about shameful Joan............so far the Democrats that were elected to get us out of Iraq have failed to do so..........not a good start.....................
I have always worried about people being so loyal to a party or cause that they fail to see and correct the disaster that is unfolding before them. One does not need a crystal ball as you say, but past history and trends are usually good indicators.................
31.
floridagal
One of the links within the link you gave was so good, I think it deserves some space here.
USA: Dean: Immigration is next wedge
In his speeches this week around the country, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has been saying Republicans will make immigration their next major wedge issue. From Idaho - where he spoke Friday before several hundred people in near-100 temperatures - to Colorado and Wisconsin, Dean has been blasting GOP leaders for using the immigration debate as a new way to divide Americans. Expect more this weekend when Dean is among the featured speakers at the National Council of La Raza conference in Philadelphia.Speaking Thursday in Denver, Dean was critical of Republican congressmen Bob Beauprez and Tom Tancredo, whom he said used fear to divide constituents along racial lines. And trading barbs with Republican chairman Ken Mehlman at the NAACP convention in Milwaukee, where both spoke Thursday, Dean said, “We’re not going to divide Americans to win elections. The Republican Party’s ‘Southern Strategy’ used in the 1960s and 1970s lives today. In 2000, they used the racially charged word “quota” to divide African Americans. In 2004, they used gay marriage. And just you wait; in 2006 its going to be immigrants.”
floridagal .
Mon, 06/18/07
12:32 pm
Reply to this
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1338
Dean was right again.
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We should force the Republican to defend the increase in HB-1 visa. That is, stealing the most precious human resources from poor countries (their geniuses,) to increase Oracle's bottom line, while simultaneously stealing away the best jobs this country has to offer from its university graduates.
Mike wrote "so far the Democrats that were elected to get us out of Iraq have failed to do so..........not a good start....................."
I know it's too late to improve their start, but how much time do you think they have to do it so they'll have a good finish?
Hi Folks,
Have been having computer problems, so will be brief. The July issue of Harper's has some interesting perspectives on the Iraq War. One conclusion is that it is simply ridiculous that we went into Iraq. That, we over estimated Saddam twice, first when he attacked Kuwait, and then after 9/11. The author says that the Iraqis didn't fight, gave up both times. He also says we are over estimating Iran, that most of their weaponry and tanks are over 30 years old, and they were such a poor fighting force that Iraq defeated them.
He uses the analogy of Mussolini and Ethiopia. Churchill overestimated Mussolin and let him have Ethiopia. The Italians wouldn't fight and gave up easily. Despite the concession, Mussolini went with HItler because the Italians were being defeated by the Ethiopians and Hitler's troops rescued them. The conclusion is that we are wasting our resources, exaserbating the violence and causing more harm. He says that only 60 percent of the people in the Middle East work, that their productivity and exports are below those of sub Saharan Africa, and that they have progresses not at all culturally, educationally, ecologically, economically. Just ignore them. They contribute only 30 percent of the world's oil to other countries. Interesting perspective.
Have to close as computer keeps shutting down.
What a co incidence with this current conversation and the piece of an interview Al Gore recently gave, appearing TODAY in ROLLING STONE.
This is a great interview and recommend you all read the entire thing, but I wanted to hightlight this portion.
Al Gore's Fight Against The Climate Crisis
ERIC BATES AND JEFF GOODELL
RS:What do you think will drive that change? Will it take another planetary-scale disaster like Hurricane Katrina? Or do you envision a more organic sort of awakening?
...
AG:There is also a very deep emotional and spiritual component to this tipping point we're going to cross. The civil rights movement took off in the United States only when it was lifted out of the political framework and placed in a spiritual framework. Young people asked their parents, "You tell me to choose right over wrong, so explain to me why this guy Bull Connor is acceptable." When the adults couldn't answer, that's when the laws changed. Young people are now asking their parents and grandparents, "Please explain to me why what's going on with global warming isn't insane." A lot of adults can't answer. The revolution is beginning.
RS:But let's be real about the political obstacles. Public awareness and a growing desire for change are important, but against that you have the oil and coal and automobile industries - entrenched interests that have been able to stave off any sort of meaningful action on global warming for years, including the eight years when you were vice president. Is it realistic to expect that Washington will ever enact the kind of wholesale changes needed to address this crisis?
AG:I concluded a long time ago that the only pathway is through a mass political movement that engenders a sea change in public opinion across the planet. Special interests have way too much power to block progressive change. But their power, as impressive as it is, is still no match for a genuine mass movement. Reason, logic, knowledge, evidence - these all may play a diminished role in our conversation of democracy today. But when enough people lock into the same narrative and connect the same dots and feel the danger facing their children, then these objections will be set aside. They will be. And we're close. We're not there yet. But we're close.
RS:You have compared the mobilization that would be required to deal with global warming to the way America came together to win the Second World War. But that effort required great personal sacrifice on the part of the American people. People did without. They melted their scrap metal, they planted victory gardens. Yet very few politicians are talking about the kinds of sacrifice that will be required to deal with climate change. What will Americans have to give up to stop global warming?
AG:There's a philosophical question embedded in what you're asking: Is this important enough for us to make sacrifices? The answer is yes, of course - we're talking about the survival of human civilization. But in answering that way, I don't want to convey the faulty impression that most of what needs to be done involves hair-shirt economics or going back to some miserable standard of living. That's simply not true. Most of the changes we need to make don't involve sacrifice in the way you are using the word - instead, they require us to overcome inertia and eliminate absurdly wasteful practices.
full interview:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/15051572/al_gores_fight_against_the_climate_crisis/1
Michael Ellis
Mon, 06/18/07
12:57 pm
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The only way you can get a third party started is to align it with an existing party and work as a coalition to endorse that party with the proper negotiations and cooperation. With the help of Democrats, a third party can change the laws of the country to make third party votes meaningful, which must include a runoff election if no party achieves a majority (more than 50% of those who voted.)
So far, third parties have done just the opposite, they have used the threat of killing the party that has more in common with their beliefs, indirectly helping the party that is farther from their position. If there is a major third party it has to be cooperative, not confrontational, to change the system, to make it more accomodating to a multi-party system.
Michael Ellis
Mon, 06/18/07
12:57 pm
Reply to this
...........so far the Democrats that were elected to get us out of Iraq have failed to do so..........not a good start.....................
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HERE'S AN EXIT PLAN, MIKE, BUT MOST DEMOCRATS ARE TOO BUSY MAKING BUMPER-STICKERS TO READ IT
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THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN ---- A Five Point Plan for Iraq
1. Establish One Iraq, with Three Regions
Federalize Iraq in accordance with its constitution by establishing three largely autonomous regions - Shiite, Sunni and Kurd -- with a strong but limited central government in Baghdad
Put the central government in charge of truly common interests: border defense, foreign policy, oil production and revenues
Form regional governments -- Kurd, Sunni and Shiite -- responsible for administering their own regions
2. Share Oil Revenues
Gain agreement for the federal solution from the Sunni Arabs by guaranteeing them 20 percent of all present and future oil revenues -- an amount roughly proportional to their size -- which would make their region economically viable
Empower the central government to set national oil policy and distribute the revenues, which would attract needed foreign investment and reinforce each community's interest in keeping Iraq intact and protecting the oil infrastructure
3. Convene International Conference, Enforce Regional Non-Aggression Pact
Convene with the U.N. a regional security conference where Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, pledge to support Iraq's power sharing agreement and respect Iraq's borders
Engage Iraq's neighbors directly to overcome their suspicions and focus their efforts on stabilizing Iraq, not undermining it
Create a standing Contact Group, to include the major powers, that would engage Iraq's neighbors and enforce their commitments
4. Responsibly Drawdown US Troops
Direct U.S. military commanders to develop a plan to withdraw and re-deploy almost all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2007
Maintain in or near Iraq a small residual force -- perhaps 20,000 troops -- to strike any concentration of terrorists, help keep Iraq's neighbors honest and train its security forces
5. Increase Reconstruction Assistance and Create a Jobs Program
Provide more reconstruction assistance, conditioned on the protection of minority and women's rights and the establishment of a jobs program to give Iraqi youth an alternative to the militia and criminal gangs
Insist that other countries take the lead in funding reconstruction by making good on old commitments and providing new ones -- especially the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries
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Plan for Iraq: What It Is - and What It Is Not
Some commentators have either misunderstood the Plan, or mischaracterized it. Here is what the plan is - and what it is not:
1. The Plan is not partition.
2. The Plan is not a foreign imposition.
3. The Plan is not an invitation to sectarian cleansing.
4. The Plan is the only idea on the table for dealing with the sectarian militia.
5. The Plan is an answer to the problem of mixed cities.
6. The Plan is in the self-interest of Iran.
7. The Plan is in the self-interest of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
FOR WHAT ELSE IT IT NOT - SEE THE LINK BELOW and scroll down
Tom Bearse
Mon, 06/18/07
1:04 pm
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Ask thr average iraqi that question.................same thing for Bidens plan, run that one by the people if you dare..........
Joe Biden, Barbara Boxer
Friday, June 15, 2007
.....to bring stability to Iraq by creating a federal system of government that gives Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds local control over their daily lives. This would not be a U.S. imposition; in fact, Iraq's constitution provides for a decentralized, federal system.
Under our plan, which is supported by Republican Sens. Sam Brownback, Gordon Smith and Kay Bailey Hutchison as well as Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, the central government would remain responsible for common interests, such as border security and a fair distribution of oil revenues among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
We would also initiate a major diplomatic surge. It's time to convene an international conference on Iraq that includes the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and all of Iraq's neighbors, to help support a settlement based on federalism.
And perhaps most critical, this plan would allow for the responsible withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq by 2008. Right now, our troops are in the worst possible .....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/15/EDGKOP3GAP1.DTL
Mike wrote "Ask the average iraqi [how much time Democrats who were elected to get us out of Iraq have to do it to have a good ending.]"
Since it was your critique of the performance of the Democrats in Congress to date under discussion, I thought I would ask you.
Michael Ellis
Mon, 06/18/07
1:25 pm
Ask thr average iraqi that question.................same thing for Bidens plan, run that one by the people if you dare..........
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IT DEPENDS of course, like anything else, who asks the questions and how they ask them, but there are many polls that indicate a real ambivalence, of damned the Amercans are here, damned if they not here...under the Bush policies, who can blame them.
Tom Bearse
Mon, 06/18/07
1:37 pm
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Its really academic what i think and you probabaly would not have the stomach for it anyways Tom, however let the iraqis, the people invaded and occupied decide how they feel about the US making its policy decisions for them.................after all, its they who will decide for themselves whether or not to accept it and make it succeed...............
If it were me, if a foreign country was going to make these decisions on my behalf i would most likely go with switzerland, china or sweden................
It isn't difficult to predict what will happen in Sept. Most of us here knew that the Sept talk was a red herring and that Betrayus would do just that...lie for putzco.
To predict that the dems will continue to do nothing to end the occupation is also not crystal ball stuff. The war dems, run by AIPAC and abetted by the repugs, will do nothing. It would take the repugs defecting and turning sharply on putz/cheney to have any effect at all.
Howard is right. If the occupation isn't drawn down considerably, we lose again in 08. The voters don't want putz again, but they'll go for new lies from a new candidate, since they're so disgusted with the dems they elected to get us outta this mess.
Edwards is being marginalized, since he's the best of the 3 *top* tier. Obama is slated to run with Clinton, IMO, and they will lose, since Clinton is a divider and appeals to the less educated and younger women. And since racism is still running strong in this country, people will vote against Obama, even if it's subconscious. And sexism is running strong....same for Clinton.
Gore or another country for me. It's at the point where our food, water air and drugs aren't safe anymore. IMO, we're a third world country with a power-crazed drunk who has his finger on some of the most deadly weapons in the world.
Ånd, IMO, we're a one party country - the War Party.
I'd vote for Kucinich in a heartbeat and he too is marginalized. I never dreamed a whole country could be insane, but I now believe it.
This from John's article. "And the public has turned the page."
This says it all for me. This tells me what kind of people live here.
Hey all, am at the TBA conference, at the DFA table and guess what? NO where to plug in my laptop for power so I will be blogging time to time.
My friend Rachel, Jim Dean , Sheri, Kesh, Wayne and I will be heading up to Jim Webb's office at 4:20pm to lobby for a meeting with staff about the DC Voting rights legislation. It will be a busy day.
Just had lunch and the speakers were from the Apollo Alliance (www. ourfuture.org) Rep Markey, the head of the Sierra Club and others gave some really good speaches.
Just met Sheri and Jim and we had some laughs. Jim is real busy with interviews.
I am so proud that DFA is here and we have some DC for Democracy people and DFA ers from NOVA helping out.
Why in the world would the not have power sockets for blogging? I will find something.
Peace to all.
any questions ? Let me know via dfa link, Later kiddos.
Mike wrote "let the iraqis, the people invaded and occupied decide how they feel about the US making its policy decisions for them."
This sounds like sound policy, although it differs materially from relying upon the opinion of the average Iraqi, as you first suggested. Assuming a majority of Iraqis hope to see the U.S. withdraw from Iraq, as I suspect, without knowing, it does, the opinion coincides with that of the current Democratic Congress, which is introducing a series of bills to force the administration's hand in Iraq, the next as early as July. As my question suggests, however, it wil
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By mprov on Jun 18, 2007 9:05 AM EDThoward's 1st.