Good Monday Mornin' to all you Dean people and Dean people everywhere?

And good morning too to Sen. Larry Craig, new inductee to the Idaho Hall of Fame!!!

Or is that 'Infame'?

Those fols in Idaho love "wide stances"

folks

Linda wrote "Obama didn't take a stand and even vote on this Bill [designating the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization].....along with the MoveOn Bill?"

He also cast a meaningless vote with Clinton, amounting essentially to window dressing, to end Iraq war funding after the bill’s fate was sealed. It seems there’s a lot of cautious politicking and showboating going on with Congressional roll call votes recently.

Donna, Great Firsties!

And I heard...on another thread, that the Idaho Hall of Fame takes a "stand"...and being Senator Larry Craig takes a "WIDE Stand", it seemed only fitting. :)

4. Tom , yes, he did cast that meaningless vote to end Iraq War funding after the bill's fate was sealed. EXACTLY. He [Obama] new it wouldn't have passed. He was safe with his backers.

That was the only fitting explanation considering he [Obama] was campaigning and even held interviews as being AGAINST USING FUNDS to end the war...and even dragged Senator Webb into his argument as support on the Ed Schultz Show.

Which also fits with him opposing to end the war last year, before he was running for President.

4. new = knew

oh, pooh, you know what I mean 6. new=knew

From Steve Fournier

The candidates for president published their take for the quarter just ended: tens of millions of dollars for the Dems' first-tier prospects. The embedded mass media reported at length about the number of contributors and the amounts raised--much of which will flow to these same media companies--but they said almost nothing about who actually put up the money. If this election's like the last few, the candidates are all receiving money from the same sources, and they're not military families or working folk or the uninsured. Mostly, they are people with money to spare, which they use judiciously to buy friendly government and thus increase their holdings. If America again elects one of the big money-raisers of either party, it will elect a marionette whose strings will be pulled by the richest donors.

Tom, new picture of Jim Kunstler

I was having a conversation yesterday with a 12 year old and a 15 year old boy...believe it or not, they were both veterans of the last Dean campaign.  They were much more knowledgable about the current presidential race than most.  I said that I had reached a point where my major criterion for a candidate was that he or she had actually read the Constitution, particularly since the bushies apparently had never heard of it.  The BOYS had read it; why not the candidates?

Say what you will about Obama (and I'm not backing him at this point,) at least he has read the darn thing.  Heck, he TAUGHT Constitutional law.  It  matters.

You may be asking yourselves, WHY was donna hanging out with teenage boys anyway?  Well, Their parents were busy, so I escorted them to an afternoon symphony performance...ANOTHER thing they knew more about than me.

But they could have at least bought me a drink. ;-)

John wrote "Tom, new picture of Jim Kunstler."

Handsome. Who was it he called overweight, Al Gore? I forget now.

Old habits are hard to break.  Our congresscritters are not used to having every vote watched and scrutinized.  Just what the "opposition" could capitalize on.

ACCOUNTABILITY!!! it's not just for lobbyists anymore.  LOL

Anyway, I've got to go off and write up something about Mr. Second Choice.  If only in the interest of balance.  I saved my KOS diary by posting the Iran piece as a link on the Krugman diary. 

11. Donna worte "You may be asking yourselves, WHY was donna hanging out with teenage boys anyway? Well, Their parents were busy, so I escorted them to an afternoon symphony performance...ANOTHER thing they knew more about than me.

But they could have at least bought me a drink. ;-) "

-------->>> LOL Good thing you cleared that up. Now, how could they buy YOU a drink if they were under age? :)

Our local congressperson in the first district of Virginia died this past saturday of cancer. Joanne Davis was only 57. A staunch conservative.

I will not say bad things about her at this time but just to say she towed the bush line all the way.

Now we will have a special election. Constant campaigning here. Constant.

So you all have a nice day.

15

Honestly, these two boys were better conversationalists than  (insert whichever ex-husband's name here.)  Their parents have raised them to be cultually and politically aware, but they also are big Cubs and Bears fans.  Let's see, by the time they are of age, I will be 60 something.  It could work, couldn't it?

 I'M KIDDING!!  DO NOT CALL COPS!! 

Yes, I remember now. It was following live earth that Kunstler wrote "Looming behind the spectacle like some Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon, is the puffy figure of Al Gore, who has managed to turn his journalistic accomplishment into something uncomfortably like a Nuremberg rally."

" title="" class="" />

THE PARTY OF GOD??

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071007_gods_only_party/

Last week, a clandestine cadre of controlling conservative Christian captains (bunch of right-wing religious nut jobs is what I’m getting at) threatened to run from the GOP like ducks from an alligator the size of a Buick if any infidel they don’t anoint is nominated for president. And yes, a specific former New York City mayor was mentioned. Funny you should ask. 

At a meeting in Salt Lake City (where else—you thought Vegas maybe?) Heaven’s Soldiers collectively decided they would rather support a burned-beyond-recognition, duckbill platypus with wire-coat-hanger hands than a certain Mr. Rudolph Giuliani. Apparently the Mayor of 9/11 is not the answer to their prayers.

Oh, they have their reasons. Giuliani’s serial inclination to appear at fundraisers in drag, resulting in his being photographed wearing a dress more often than Hillary Clinton, could be one. His brazen courting of the pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control wing of the Republican Party might be another. The fact that the Rudy clan, including both ex-wives (two too many), are campaigning for other people doesn’t help much either. A bit of a sticky wicket that: trying to swing Independents with your Family Value bona fides when your own family hates you. With megaphones. 

LOTS MORE AT LINK..............

17. Hay, don't knock it til you tried it. My sisters swear by it.

Two of my older sisters...after failed 2nd marriages went to younger men....only now, they keep getting YOUNGER. One my sister is on in Atlanta...oh....I don't even want to share that one....but she was relieved that he is out of his teens. (NO LIE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zal8UnnzGiw

I can't link to utube but this is too funny.

9.

Huron John
Mon, 10/08/07
9:16 am

From Steve Fournier.

...If America again elects one of the big money-raisers of either party, it will elect a marionette whose strings will be pulled by the richest donors.
--------

The author should recognize by now that according to the current SYSTEM DESIGN..., lol, it simply CAN'T happen otherwise.

Tom, something hopefully more to your liking from Kunstler:

http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary22.html

Almost everything I see and hear is inconsistent with what I think reality has in store for us.

Most American towns, including my own, are obsessed to the point of mania with the issue of parking and more generally the management of cars, and much of their spending is directed to those ends. Municipal leaders (and the public they serve) have no idea what kind of problems the nation faces with oil. Because life in the USA has worked a particular way all their lives, they assume that it will continue to operate that way. Not only will they be disappointed as happy motoring spirals into history, but they will create a lot mischief in the meantime in planning things based on faulty assumptions.

 My own town, for instance, relies heavily on tourism, in particular tourism based on happy motoring. There is not the slightest apprehension among the people here, or our leaders in city hall, that automobile-based tourism may not be happening as soon as five years from now. All our political energy is being expended in fighting about what kind of parking structures we will build (with borrowed money) and where to put them, and how these things might incorporate some secondary uses, such as police offices.

Now this town happens to be on a railroad line that connects New York City to Montreal. Before 1950, it was the main way that people came to this town. These days, we get one train a day in each direction. The trains are invariably late, and not just a little late, but hours late. The track bed is in miserable shape and, of course, Amtrak is a sort of soviet-style management organization. There is no awareness among the public here, or our leaders, that we would benefit from improving the passenger railroad service, and around the state of New York generally there is no conversation about fixing the railroads.

Here in my town, and elsewhere around the country, the assumption is that suburban development will continue just as it has the past sixty years. My personal view about this is apparently radical -- though I am a man of modest habits and philosophy. My view is that the suburban project, per se, in the United States is over, finished. Like, totally. You can stick a fork in it. What you see is basically all that we're going to get. Not only do we not need anymore of it, but we have way too much of what is already on the ground. We don't need anymore suburban housing pods, and the ones already out there are going to hemorrhage value (and usefulness) as far ahead as anybody can imagine.

I imply that societies go through cycles of collective thinking that range from being fairly consistent with reality to being dangerously out of whack with it. We're at the latter end of the cycle these days. One of the symptoms of this is the fact that so many Americans believe the only thing wrong with America is George W. Bush.

In reality, there's a lot more wrong with how we live and how we think about how we live than the mere presence of George W. Bush at the head of the federal government. Our expectations are deeply out of phase with what the earth can provide for us and what the future has in store for us, and this failure of our collective imagination goes down to the grass roots.
     

To the Editor:

I was born into a Republican household diring the Eisenhower presidency.

When the Republican Party slandered Sen. Lowell Weicker because he stood up to Richard Nixon, I became an unaffiliated voter, voting for whichever candidates and party better understood the difference between right and wrong.

My heart and respect are now with the Green Party, and my vote is with the Democratic Party whenever there is not a Green Party candidate on the ballot.

The Progressive wing of the Democratic Party works to protect working-class Americans, promotes real American family values, promotes individual rights and responsibilities and respects the Constitution.

In 2007, the Republican Party of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Nancy Johnson and Grover Norquist have succeeded in making government both ineffective and bloated - adding $3 trillion to the tax bills of future American generations, surpassing the tax increases on future generations imposed by Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The two most recent Democratic presidents reduced the national debt.

The Republican Party - as well as the so-called "Pro-Bethel" party and so-called "Independent" party promote big box stores like Wal-Mart, which not only siphon money away from Bethel but also away from America. Small business owners and middle-class Americans suffer because Republicans give away our tax dollars to HMO's, energy giants and agri-businesses.

George Bush and his party shamelessly describe their base as the "haves and the have-mores". They pretend to be the party of "family values" while their policies condemn more families to poverty. They pretend to believe in the "rule of law" while they dismantle the Constitution.

Which party better represents the core values of Bethel and of America ? That's for you to decide on election day.

David A. Stevenson

Bethel

[Note: Mr. Stevenson is a Democratic candidate for the Bethel Board of Education.]

Gore Vidal and the Condition of America

You Tube
Sunday October 07, 2007

As truthful and spicy as ever.....and still believing in Albert Gore for President for 08 Candidates!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/oct...

I find it a troubling action, like a temper tantrum of a child, that when they lose an argument, they throw something in that has nothing to do with the argument, just to make them feel better.

And isn't that a curious thing....someone feels better by putting a dagger through someone they admire, just because they didn't get their way on a totally differnt topic.

Not a worthy trait.

Hi back in a minute but saw this on CSPAN this morning -- may be the same one rdorgan posted a couple of weeks ago -- it's one of those plug in your issues and see which candidate matches. Mine came up Kucinich, Gravel, and ....... yikes Romney?????
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/el...

If you're feeling-em-like exercising free speech?

A look at federal government blogs
By The Associated Press Mon Oct 8, 3:46 AM ET
Here's a list of some blogs authored by federal authorities:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_o...

==================================

It occurs to me occasionally that we put enormous stock in the 'truth' as reported by the Associated Press.

David

a HOWARDLY to you for your School Board run, and good luck

Please light a candle for the great apes in Congo if you are so inclined.

Congo rebels seize gorillas habitat
By EDDY ISANGO, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 7, 1:59 PM ET
KINSHASA, Congo - Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said Sunday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071007/ap_o...

Candles for the gorillas at

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/cand...

Annilow, you were the first to bring my attention to the Congo seize, but happily, many are following your lead and have been posting stories to get attention. :)

I'm off......enjoy your day.

31.

Annilow -

Unfortunately, the mountain gorillas caught in the middle between Democratic Republic of Congo army soldiers and DRC's Tutsi rebel commander General Laurent Nkunda (the latter who says he is fighting Hutu Rwandan militias that escaped justice from Rwanda by escaping into the Goma region of DRC) are just another example of a failure to do anything to stop another conflict in Africa.

I feel for the gorillas and something must be done now to try to save them.

Hopefully, the response will be more effective than the B Clinton administration's just sitting back and watching response in April 1994 when extremist Hutu militias in Rwanda axed, macheted, shot to death nearly a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus (the latter who were either married to or had friends that were Tutsis, or were simply refused to murder their fellow Rwandad Tutsis).

I'm hoping the next U.S. Presidential administration never lets another genocide of a million take place without doing something to counter it.

· Rioters hurl petrol bombs and torch cars in capital
· Fear that riot will increase support for the far right

The Swiss capital of Berne was turned into a battle zone at the weekend when leftwing radicals seized control of the main square outside parliament, routing the main far-right political party two weeks before a general election and catching the Swiss police off guard.

If the fascists had won the battle they would have been characterized as strong and self-assured going into the election.

I still don't believe that bombing Iran will be carried out by the Pentagon, because I don't think the Pentagon is fraticidal.

But they are moral cowards when it comes to carrying out the NeoCon agenda.

Frankly, I've been thinking for a while that Sy Hersh has been co-opted by the Pentagon propaganda machine.

He's trying to prevent the next escalation of Bush's global war by exposing the machinations which are leading up to it. He would be co-opted if he were only covering the Iraq occupation like a beat reporter while an even bigger disaster unfolds under his nose.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173 learn the truth freedom to facism.

It strikes me as an interesting parallel that the executive board of the SEIU, following an endorsement of Howard Dean in 2004, has failed to reach a consensus on a Democratic candidate endorsement in this cycle. It suggests, as has been illustrated here, that Dean’s followers have gone in different directions to identify a candidate who embodies the spirit of his past campaign.

I agree that a primary endorsement is going to be difficult for SEIU and DFA to accomplish.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

A word about Nancy Pelosi's speech at the gay rights dinner last night: http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/word-...

This Week: George Will Tells Social Conservatives To “Grow Up”: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/07...

More Signs The Bush People Are Preparing For President Hillary Clinton (And Don't Really Care)

The November Blog | October 07, 2007

This article from the UK Times is worth a read. Here are the most significant (read: scary) parts:

BUSH administration officials are paving the way for a smooth transition to a possible Democratic presidency as Hillary Clinton consolidates her position as the overwhelming favourite to win her party's nomination for the 2008 election.
...

In the clearest sign of a shift in gear, [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates is to appoint John Hamre, a former official in President Bill Clinton's administration, to chair the Defense Policy Board once led by Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative advocate of the invasion of Iraq. The board's job will be to prepare for the transition to a new administration in 2008, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
...

FBI Puts Antiwar Protesters on Criminal Database; Canada Uses It To Ban Protesters From Entry

Op Ed News | October 08, 2007
Rob Kall

Two well-respected US peace activists, CODEPINK and Global Exchange cofounder Medea Benjamin and retired Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, were denied entry into Canada On October third. The two women were headed to Toronto to discuss peace and security issues at the invitation of the Toronto Stop the War Coalition. At the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry.

"In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world," says Benjamin. "For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country

Bohemian Grove Human Sacrifice Ritual To Appear On Cartoon Network
The Occult Rituals of the Global Elite Will Appear on the Cartoon Network this Sunday Night

Outlaw News
Sunday October 07, 2007

Lucy, Daughter of the Devil , is an �adult cartoon', part of the Turner Broadcasting owned Cartoon Network's late night line-up. It is a 10 minute CGI comedy show; the plot follows an eccentric and im-witted Satan, who is living in San Francisco, trying to convince his 21-year-old daughter, Lucy, to assume her role as the Antichrist.

Along the course of their adventures, Lucy meets and begins to court �DJ Jesús', a laid back techno DJ who turns out to be the second coming of Christ. The show is heavy with blasphemous shocks, but as it is sadly lacking it wit, it rates among the lower end shows featured in the �Adult Swim' programming block; without the talents of H. Jon Benjamen, the brilliant voice actor who providing the voice of Satan, the show likely never would have made it past the pilot.

This Sunday an episode of the show entitled �Human Sacrifice' will air, in which the Devil is summoned to attend a ritual human sacrifice at the Bohemian Grove in Northern California, held to honor a senator who has been chosen to be elected as the next president. DJ Jesús is chosen to serve as the sacrificial victim, and is lured to the Grove under the pretext that he will be DJing the �most amazing dance party/orgy/political summit on the planet', which he is told is like the movie �Eyes Wide Shut', except Alan Greenspan and Bono will be there.

Machinists heart Huckabee, Clinton

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Thursday endorsed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mike Huckabee in the presidential primaries.

Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, beat out former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Ohio U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich for the endorsement. The union only considered candidates that appeared before members during its conference this week at the Walt Disney World Resort. ... full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/el...

---

USA TODAY ON POLITICS: Endorsement with a twist

Machinists & Aerospace Workers union endorses Clinton -- and Huckabee

The endorsement race continues, this time with an interesting twist:

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has endorsed Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the presidency -- but has also told its 700,000 members that if they plan to support a Republican candidate in the primaries, then union leaders recommend Mike Huckabee.

The union's statement says:

"Hillary Clinton earned the IAM's endorsement by focusing on jobs, health care, education and trade –- the bread and butter issues of the American middle class,' said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. "She is the only candidate of either party to come forward with a comprehensive manufacturing policy and the only candidate to connect with millions of Americans who feel invisible to the current administration."

Buffenbarger also praised the former Arkansas Republican Governor, who addressed the IAM National Staff Conference this week. "Mike Huckabee was the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members and the only one willing to figure out where and how we might work together," said Buffenbarger. "He is entitled to serious consideration from our members voting in the upcoming Republican primaries." ... full article: http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/200...

More Signs The Bush People Are Preparing For President Hillary Clinton (And Don't Really Care)

...

+++

Daniel -

The twining of the Bush-Clinton dual family dynasties has been going on for a long time.

The first sense I got that Hillary would be running for President in 2008 was when I saw Bill and papa Bush joining forces in early 2005 to aid the South East Asian victims of the Dec 12, 2004 tsunami.

Draft Gore Movement Picks up Steam

All across America, Al Gore supporters nervously count down the days to October 12 -- that's the day when the Nobel Peace Prize is announced. Many expect the former Vice President to win the award, and if he does it will cap a marvelous year of accomplishments -- Oscar, Emmy, Live Earth, bestseller. It will also immediately fuel speculation that Gore will jump into the 2008 presidential race.

Late last spring, when he was busy barnstorming on talk shows to promote Assault on Reason, Gore was constantly asked by interviewers, "Are you going to run?" Though he always said that he was not, he'd embellished his answer with a coy qualifier that left open a sliver of daylight for a possible candidacy. Like he told Larry King, "I am not thinking about being a candidate. I have no plans to be a candidate. But, yes, it's true, I have not made a so-called Sherman statement and ruled it out for all time. I see no reason or necessity to do that."

Around that time, the New York Times quoted Gore as saying, "Having spent 30 years as part of the political dialogue, I don't know why a 600-day campaign is taken as a given, and why people who aren't in it 600 days out for the convenience of whatever brokers want to close the door and narrow the field and say, 'This is it, now let's place your bets.' If they want to do that, fine. I don't have to play that game." ...full article: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_...

Annilow
Mon, 10/08/07
9:58 am
___________________________________________________________________________

Bloody hell, mine came up Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich and Duncan Hunter.

38.

...

I agree that a primary endorsement is going to be difficult for SEIU and DFA to accomplish.

+++

Tom -

Indeed. Same goes for the other union that endorsed Howard - the AFSCME.  They and the SEIU are divided as to who their members plan to vote for, so no endorsements may be forthcoming in this presidential election cycle from either union.

SEIU and AFSCME are known to be some of the newer and more progressive unions in America, unlike more traditional unions like the Machinists or NEA or Fire Fighters Association.

Donna -- yes on younger men -- well, maybe not that young, but I'm already 60 lol. In America when you turn 50 as a woman you become invisible. I think in Italy older women are treated a little more ...

rdorgan - yes it occurred to me that I was having such a visceral response to the plight of the apes but the people getting killed just flies right past me. The thing about gorillas is there really aren't any more. And they are so smart -- I feel so sorry for the ones in the Atl zoo -- they have a great exhibit -- but the gorillas are so very smart and they are just in this big enclosure with nothing to do. Reminds me of POW camps. Remember the time that kid fell in an exhibit and the big silverback went over and gently picked him up and took him over to the door where the keeper was.

David Stevenson - congrats on your letter and especially your run for school board -- believe that is a springboard to elective politics around here as well.

Daniel - enjoy your posts -- I can't get over how little we know about Bohemian Grove - it is scary like all the other Big White Boys clubs - skull and bones, etc.

typo - saw Bill and papa Bush joining forces in early 2005 to aid the South East Asian victims of the Dec 12, 2004 tsunami.

s/b - saw Bill and papa Bush joining forces in early 2005 to aid the South East Asian victims of the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami.

46.

Michael Ellis
Mon, 10/08/07
11:04 am

Sheesh!! Duncan Hunter? You must be about where I am on immigration. And Romney first??

48.

Annilow
Mon, 10/08/07
11:09 am


Oprah is not invisible.

I am a little queasy seeing George McGovern endorsing Sen. Clinton. Would Gore bother to oppose her nomination, or endorse anyone else, if she has McGovern in her camp? That support is very symbolic.

48.

Indeed, the only way to save the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park in DRC, is to find a way to bring the Hutu militas (who murdered thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus) to justice.

Not only that but Nkunda himself and his rebel Tutsi DRC forces, in combatting an injustice, are not only helping to bring mayhem and death to gorillas caught in the crossfire but also are responsible for terrorizing the local DRC resident tribes, who had nothing to do with the conflict in the first place.  Many of those tribal women have been savagely rapped by the rebels on both sides and by the undisciplined DRC soldiers.

The problem did not start in April 1994 but IMO all hell broke lose then and nothing will be spared the fighting, not even a blade of grass if it's left to fester.

But oh, there's no known proven oil reserves and infrastrutures  there, so that's why IMO the U.S. government from B Clinton and on, in the words of Rhett Butler feels that "frankly my dear I don't give a damn".

I played that candidate test game and came up Kucinich, Gravel, Dodd, which is accurate at this time.

The last question, which asked what type of experience I preferred (the choices were only business or holding different government offices), seemed rigged a bit. If I had chosen Senator or Governor instead of Representative I suppose it would have pointed me to someone else when I don't really even care about that.

51. Yeah, neither is Hillary. I'm talking about just walking down the street .

55. Racism too, sorry to say.

I am a little queasy seeing George McGovern endorsing Sen. Clinton.

Maybe he made a deal with the DLC. He endorses Hillary and they stop using him as their straw man leftist. 

WWII veteran Nazi interrogators denounced Bush’s Torture techniques: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/07...

President Torture - Laws and the secret memos to justify breaking them: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJo...