Dean is first!

Nice firsties Susan and you are right!!

DFA Staff is more interested in playing games with the Oscars then offering something related to politics. No wonder this blog doesn't work right.

Whoops, sorry about that Susan.

Flicks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchur...(2004_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pelican...(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firm_(1993_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brocko...(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Rae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Recal...


One of my favorites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Time...(film)

See the trailer: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/255132/I...

47.

Sitka
Mon, 02/25/08

Pictures of Obama in Kenya with native dress on have now been released to media. Wow, the Clintonistas are plain desperate.
-----------------

I doubt if more than a handful of hardcore cranks have anything against Kenya.
***************

We’ll see. Clinton strategists might believe otherwise.

The “Kenya...native dress” kind of reminds Muslim dress. That’s what I guess Mike sees as Clinton’s campaign desperation.

The game of divisions is coming to an end. We are probably witnessing some of the very last attempts..., lol; “political experience”, sex, race, religion..., rebublican/democrats (woth Paul collectin the most money), - the same old-new stuff.

There only one division and that's belongings to certain "economical class".

The same old attempts trying to continue to lie, to deceive and to confuse American People!

DESPARATION!

howdy!  I alerted the old thread to this new one, but my post crept up the page and got lost, I'm sure.

BIG day tomorrow - go Russ!

Dear Jo,

Tomorrow, the Senate will decide whether or not two bills that would end the President's failed strategy in Iraq should make it to the floor for a vote. Both bills were introduced by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

The first bill, S. 2633, would provide for the safe redeployment of US troops from Iraq within 120 days. And the second bill, S. 2634, would require a report on the global strategy of the US to combat and defeat al Qaeda. We need 60 votes to end debate and bring these important pieces of legislation to the Senate floor.

     Tell your Senators: There's nothing left to debate. Bring our troops home!

 The war in Iraq has already cost us thousands of lives, billions of dollars and has arguably put us in greater danger than ever before. There's no debating the President's failed strategy in Iraq. It's time to bring the troops home. Tell your Senators to allow a vote on these two important measures today.

It's time,

Darcy Scott Martin
TrueMajority.org Washington Director

12:27 PM EST

screw the extra points:

http://www.headofstate-themovie.com/

yeah, political movies are cool but this thread would have been much more interesting

The following is a reply from Howard Dean to Kimmy Cash, posted at Dean for America on 3/29/04:

"Kimmy, you're story is great. I'm 55 years old, I thought of voting for Eldridge Cleaver in 1968 (I was too young to vote by about 10 days). after the Democrats crammed Hubert Humphrey down our throats at the 1968 Democratic convention. After the election, which Nixon won by 100,000 votes, I realized how self-indulgent that would have been. Sometimes a blow against the establishment is a blow against all the people we say we want to help. There is a big difference between a vote for John Kerry and a vote for George Bush, and no vote at all. The last two stand for keeping things the way they are. The first may not be as much change as you want, but it will be a step in the right direction and it will be a start, and most importantly more people will have health care etc. I guarantee you if you vote for Kerry you will be disappointed, and I also guarantee you if you had voted for me and I had won you would have been disappointed too at some point. But governing in the real world means you can really make things better, dropping out means hope is dead. So thanks for hanging in there! Get all those punx back on board. This isn't about electing Kerry, and it wasn't about electing me, it's about taking the country back for people like you, no matter how long it takes! Thanks again, Howard Dean"

DESPARATION! = DESPERATION!

The following excerpts are from "For Ralph Nader, But Not For President", by Howard Dean, published 4/12/04 in the New York Times:

"Many Democrats also admire Ralph Nader's achievements, as I do. But if they truly want George Bush out of the White House, they won't vote for Ralph Nader in November.

"Ralph Nader has built a remarkable legacy as a consumer advocate. . . . And I campaigned against the very same corporate special interests that he has been criticizing longer than almost anyone else.

"But I don't believe that the best way to do justice to Ralph Nader's legacy is to vote for him for president. Re-electing George Bush would undo everything Ralph Nader has worked for through his entire career and, in fact, could lead to the dismantling of many of his accomplishments.

"Voting for Ralph Nader, or for any third-party candidate for president, means a vote for a candidate who has no realistic shot of winning the White House. To underscore the danger of voting for any third-party candidate in elections this close, a statistic from the 2000 campaign may prove useful: a total of eight third-party candidates won more votes than the difference between Al Gore and George Bush nationwide.

" . . . .

"Ralph Nader once said that your best teacher is your last mistake. Too many of us learned the consequences of not standing together four years ago. This November, we can elect a president who fights for average Americans. But we can achieve this goal only if we join together — and don't repeat our last mistake."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKU81hc1aYI

The Vote

I doubt if more than a handful of hardcore cranks have anything against Kenya.
***************

We’ll see. Clinton strategists might believe otherwise.

When have they gotten it right?  

12:51 PM EST

It's said that Obama is bringing something new to American politics. 

In the era of a two-party partisan fight between the dems and the GOP ...

... :

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080225/481/853811e0a1424d2e9d90da8cecae0010/

I voted for Dean, but I won't let him tell me who to vote for.

I welcome every candidate and reserve my option to vote for any of them.

When politicians know you're in their hip pocket, they can then ignore your values and pander to those of others.

12:55 PM EST

http://www.examiner.com/a-1240745~McCain_Says_Iraq_War_Affects_His_Bid.html

McCain Says Iraq War Affects His Bid

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Map, News) - John McCain says to win the White House he must convince the country that U.S. policy in Iraq is succeeding. If he can't, he says, "then I lose. I lose."

He quickly backed off that remark.

...

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

Edwards joins Obama supporters in anti-war efforts.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/edwa...

Endorsements don't matter much - particularly celeb. endorsements. But, hey, I love Samuel L. jackson. It's so cool that he's stumping for Barack.

http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDia...

do I have to sign up evertime there is a new thread? what is up?

people seem cranky today.

oh and ralph nader is a putz.

I like the movies, I like this thread, and I'm glad HQ and Danny are putting out some threads b/c some of those coming from outside have been iffy. Anyway, the political movie that comes to mind for me is The Lives of Others, Berlin before reunification and a couple being 'bugged' and a Stasi listening in and how it affected all their lives before and after the wall fell. I was interested partly b/c of a planned trip to Berlin, but also b/c it is a cautionary tale for us I'm sorry to say -- I am glad I am old b/c I think the USA may be too much in the hands of evildoers - crooks - to save us and restore us.

http://tinyurl.com/2zdx7v

ralph nader is a putz.

This country would be a lot better off with a Congress, WH, and SC full of putz's like him. 

linda b - I'm not cranky. I can't believe we have another sunny day today. It's awesome. Took my beasty boy for an early morning run.

Regarding the flag-pin brouhaha...

...flag pin represents bush's in-your-face, middle-finger salute to the rest of the world!.

Iron Jawed Angels

http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels...

Two more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X_(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_i...

1:40 PM EST

Edwards joins Obama supporters in anti-war efforts.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/edwa...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Cv5P9H9qU

Isn't it a little late to be asking for BO to address important issues not yet addressed?  Most of the country has already voted.  The time to hold his feet to the fire has passed as he has the swooners in his pocket.

First you get married and then you find out if you married the right person for you?  Bass-ackwards if you ask me. 

Nader is the answer to many of our problems.  Unfortunately, neither he nor the MSM seem interested in forming a real campaign.  The CM would decimate him and he knows it. 

Middle Class May Be Subject To Food Rations, Warns UN

Paul Joseph Watsonhttp://www.infowars.com/?p=444
Prison Planet

More of the same old, same old, yet, people call themselves cynics as a rationale (and we do need skeptics to question, to recognize the deceptions and propaganda), preferring war to any new efforts toward reconcilation.

So I guess, unless we agree with you, cynics rationalize and really prefer war.  I thought cynics brought much needed contrary points of view to the table questioning the talk talk and more talk about peace, while voting all along to continue the war.

What is it about those war votes of his you BO supporters don't get? 

Forensic science
New evidence challenges official picture of Kennedy shootingguardian.co.uk, Friday February 22 2008 Article history · Contact us Contact usClose Contact the Science editor
science@guardian.co.uk Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
+44 (0)20 7278 2332
Advertising guide License/buy our content About this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Friday February 22 2008. It was last updated at 18:37 on February 22 2008.The official record states that senator Robert F Kennedy, like his brother before him, was killed by a crazed lone gunman. But the assassination of a man who seemed to embody so much hope for a bitterly divided country embroiled in an unpopular war still troubles this nation.

Little about the official explanation of the events at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5 1968 makes sense. Now a new forensic analysis of the only audio recording of the fatal shots has given new weight to a controversial theory that there were in fact two shooters, and that the man convicted of Kennedy's killing — Sirhan Sirhan - did not fire the fatal shots.

Following his victory speech to supporters after clinching a tight democratic primary victory in California, Kennedy left the podium in the Embassy ballroom to address a press conference.

But the shortcut he and his entourage took through the hotel's pantry quickly descended into bloody mayhem. As Kennedy turned from shaking hands with two of the kitchen staff, a gunman stepped forward and began firing. Kennedy was hit by four shots including one which lodged in the vertebrae in his neck and another which entered his brain from below his right ear. He died in hospital the following day. Five other people were injured but survived.

Sirhan - a Palestinian refugee who said he wanted to "sacrifice" Kennedy "for the cause of the poor exploited people" - was quickly apprehended. He was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment.

"Sirhan was apprehended at the scene with literally a smoking gun," said acoustic forensic expert Philip Van Praag of PVP Designs, who has carried out the new analysis. "At the beginning many people looked upon this as an open-and-shut case. It was one man, Sirhan Sirhan, who was observed by a number of people, who aimed and fired a gun in the direction of Kennedy's entourage."

But the lone gunman explanation has always looked shaky. The autopsy of Kennedy's body suggested that all four shots that hit him came from behind, and powder marks on his skin showed they must have been from close range.

But Sirhan was in front of Kennedy when he fired, and after shooting two shots was overcome by hotel staff, who pinned him to a table. Also, Sirhan fired eight shots in total, yet 14 were found lodged around the room and in the victims.

"There is no doubt in our minds that no fewer than 14 shots were fired in the pantry on that evening and that Sirhan did not in fact kill Senator Kennedy," said Robert Joling, a forensic scientist who has been involved with the Kennedy case for nearly 40 years. He and Van Praag have published a book on the killing this week entitled "An Open and Shut Case".

The inconsistencies in the case have bred numerous conspiracy theories, including the involvement of the CIA and the idea that Sirhan - who claims not to remember the shooting and pleaded insanity at his trial - was a "Manchurian Candidate" assassin who was hypnotically programmed to kill the senator.

Now Van Praag has added new weight to the 'two shooters' theory. He reanalysed the only audio recording of the shooting, which was made by an independent journalist, Stanislaw Pruszynski. "At the time Pruszynski was not even aware that his recorder was still on," said Van Praag.

The recording quality is poor, but it is possible to make out 13 shots over the course of just over 5 seconds, before what Van Praag describes as "blood-curdling screams" obscure the sound. That is more than the eight rounds that Sirhan's cheap Iver Johnson Cadet 55 revolver carried.

Also, there are two pairs of double shots that occurred so close together it is inconceivable that Sirhan could have fired them all. The third and fourth shots and the seventh and eighth were separated by 122 and 149 milliseconds respectively. In tests, a trained firearms expert firing under ideal conditions could only manage 366 milliseconds between shots using the same weapon. And he was not being pinned to a table at the time.

Lastly, five of the shots - 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 in the sequence - were found to have odd acoustic characteristics when specific frequencies were analysed separately. Van Praag thinks this is because they came from a different gun pointing away from Pruszynski's microphone.

To recreate this he recorded the sounds made by firing the Iver Johnson and another revolver, a Harrison and Richardson 922. At least one member of Kennedy's entourage was carrying this weapon when the killing happened. In the acoustic tests it produced the same frequency anomalies Van Praag had seen in the original recording but only when fired away from the microphone.

He presented his results on Thursday at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting in Washington DC.

Paul Schrade, a close associate of Kennedy's who was director of the United Auto Workers union, was at the senator's side in the pantry and was shot in the head. He told the meeting that America lost an outstanding leader and potentially great president that day.

"I think we were in a position of really changing this country," he said. "What we lost was a real hope and possibility of having a better country and having better relations around the world."

He wants to see the case reopened and properly investigated. "We're going to go ahead and do our best to find out who the second gunman was and that's going to take a lot of work," he said.

Van Praag also wants the case reexamined. "We would hope that the evidence that we have uncovered ... would make a strong enough case to get serious consideration once again by the authorities," he said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderhear...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Jack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_o...

Thane Caesar, former Lockheed employee was the other shooter. I saw a photo of him with his gun drawn on Oprah some 15 years ago. I’ve looked all over the net for the photo. No luck. Caesar lied to the fbi about owning a .22 pistol. Why did they use a .22? One was suppressed, the other was used as the distraction. Bottom line, the calibers had to match. Kennedy’s security was relatively inexperienced. While they did a fantastic job taking down Sirhan, they were outflanked. Kennedy’s wounds were inflicted from less than 2 inches away. Sirhan never got that close. The ambassador hotel was owned by whom? Was it a front company? Who controlled the hotel? Why were the CIA miami station chiefs there that night? Were they friends of Bobbies?

Obama targets NAFTA but says supports free trade

Jeff Mason
Reuters
February 25, 2008



Obama opposes Hillary’s support for NAFTA, the "trade agreement" largely responsible for sending U.S. jobs to slave labor gulags in the third world, but is all for "free trade," that is to say more of the same under a different name.

LORAIN, Ohio (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama assured U.S. trading partners on Sunday that he did not oppose free trade despite making increasingly critical comments about multilateral deals such as NAFTA.

Obama, an Illinois senator, has turned trade into a centerpiece of his campaign in Ohio, where trade agreements are particularly unpopular as domestic manufacturing jobs disappear.

Texas and Ohio hold nominating contests on March 4, and Obama has criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement at campaign stops in both states.

He has pounded rival Hillary Clinton, a New York senator, for switching positions on NAFTA and said repeatedly that he would revisit that pact to instill environmental and labor standards.

But Obama, who would enter the White House with only four years of experience as a U.S. senator in addition to several years in the Illinois legislature, said his misgivings about NAFTA did not mean he was opposed to such accords in general

Sitka wrote "I voted for Dean, but I won't let him tell me who to vote for."

No, of course not.  I wouldn't let Ralph Nader tell me who to vote for, but between him and Dean, I'm inclined to take Dean's advice into consideration more.

Vaccinating Boys for Girls’ Sake?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/fashio...+vaccine&st=nyt&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

bee otch.

sitka is cranky today. why oh why.

I really don't care who ya vote for. so why tell others they shouldn't vote for who they want.

2:16 PM EST

http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20080225/pl_rasmussen/ideologyfeb20080225_1

More Voters Now See Obama As Liberal than Clinton

...

rasmussenreports.com Mon Feb 25, 10:08 AM ET

Hillary Clinton, long regarded as politically liberal by more voters than any other presidential candidate, must for now cede that status to Barack Obama. The most recent Rasmussen Reports survey indicates that 53% of all likely voters see Clinton as liberal but 55% see Obama that way.

The new numbers represent a trivial fluctuation for Clinton but a moderate uptick for Obama. In December, just before the primaries began, 54% perceived Clinton as liberal and 47% perceived Obama as liberal.

...

bitches get things done. very true.

bitch is the new black. how funny is that.

Is an electron one of those subatomic particles that can be in two places at once and does different things depending if you are watching it?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/2008...

Dear MoveOn member,

This week they'll get a chance to do just that. Senator Russ Feingold has introduced legislation that will end the President's failed strategy in Iraq and start bringing our troops home this year—and a vote could come as soon as tomorrow.2

Winning this vote won't be easy—so it's critical that we all push our Senators about it today. Can you call Senators James Webb and John Warner? Tell them to stand up to President Bush and start bringing our troops home.

Here's where to call:

Senator James Webb
Phone: 202-224-4024

Senator John Warner
Phone: 202-224-2023

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSVA_2.FSVA_1&cp_id=743&id=12212-5596659-tv6Hyu&t=422

Please call Senators James Webb and John Warner today.

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Carrie, Tanya, Karin, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Monday, February 25th, 2008

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you and finally YOU WIN” - Ghandi

Be Truthful wrote "Even analysts are suprised that not only is Hillary's Health Care, Global Warming and Jobs programs are more Progressive, but they consider her Economic plans more liberal. AND, she has stated she will start withdrawing troops within 60 days and should have all combat troops out within a year."

Let's face facts.  Voting for Clinton is stabbing Gov. Dean in the back.  I would do it out of necessity to put a Democrat in the office, and hope that Dean relaunches his own political career, but not under any other circumstances.  Here's Josh Green's view in a piece from the Atlantic written before the 2006 midcycle elections:

"The only place where Clinton lacks a strong hand is the Democratic National Committee, chaired by Howard Dean, and here her supporters have simply worked around the problem. The big advantage that the DNC will try to offer candidates in 2008 is access to a huge database of voter information, a level of technological power now considered crucial to winning races. Having no friend in Dean, and skeptical of his abilities, the Clinton camp allowed a longtime ally, Harold Ickes Jr., to raise money to set up a private version of that database for use in the likely event that Clinton runs.

2:32 PM EST

What Carter did for addressing housing;

What Gore did for highlighting global warming;

Will Edwards help be the catalyst for getting Americans to see more clearly the cause and effect of the ongoing costs of the Iraq War and the U.S. economy starting to tank ?  If so, then kudos to him:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080225/pl_afp/usvotewariraq_080225181209

Clinton has only one shot—for Obama to trip up so badly that he disqualifies himself.

If Hillary Clinton wanted a graceful exit, she'd drop out now—before the March 4 Texas and Ohio primaries—and endorse Barack Obama. This would be terrible for people like me who have been dreaming of a brokered convention for decades. For selfish reasons, I want the story to stay compelling for as long as possible, which means I'm hoping for a battle into June for every last delegate and a bloody floor fight in late August in Denver. But to withdraw this week would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary's political career. She won't, of course, and for reasons that help explain why she's in so much trouble in the first place.

Withdrawing would be stupid if Hillary had a reasonable chance to win the nomination, but she doesn't. To win, she would have to do more than reverse the tide in Texas and Ohio, where polls show Obama already even or closing fast. She would have to hold off his surge, then establish her own powerful momentum within three or four days. Without a victory of 20 points or more in both states, the delegate math is forbidding. In Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22, the Clinton campaign did not even file full delegate slates. That's how sure they were of putting Obama away on Super Tuesday.

More:

 http://www.newsweek.com/id/114725/output/print

The important states remaining are only for those who reside in TX, OH, (to a lesserr extent)--VT & RI.

Unless you folks reside in those states, pls. slack off on the incessant blather.

I'm lookin' at jewelry to wear to the ME Dem. convention in May.

A great Maine lady (Paula) makes really spiffy earthy stuff:

http://www.funkyartdesigns.com/necklaces...

Seriously...take a freakin' *break*, people.

Knock an r off lesser.

Sitka already voted in AZ, BTW.

susan that movie clip was amazing. Amazing Grace. I will rent it.

That actor is awesome. I think he was in Titanic.

NAFTA/CAFTA are why she got her ass whupped in Maine, Joan.

She was a total fool to bring "Big Dog" with her.

It's more than killed our manufacturing base (along w/textiles, shoes, shirts, and wood/pulp industries, etc.).

Those are blue collar good paying (union) jobs (at a high school diploma level of credentialization), which will never be replaced, BTW.

Duh.

We sent all three Clintons packin'; and OH will do the same, if they have a modicum of intelligence.

She'll never admit that she fucked up; nor will Hillary withdraw...possesses zilch humility.

Her "consultants" don't want to forego a few more millions in their pockets any sooner than is absolutely necessary.

If OH allows open registration for unenrolleds in their primaries (up to & including the 4th); and absentee balloting (which I doubt), I'd strongly suggest to vote early.

And the first shall be twelfth. . . .

weevils in your breakfast cereal

puddle, you going to democracyfest??

3:01 PM EST

...

If OH allows open registration for unenrolleds in their primaries (up to & including the 4th); and absentee balloting (which I doubt), I'd strongly suggest to vote early.

...

+++

mainefem -

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ohhome

...

This election in Ohio

...

Also -- Early voting is happening at your County Board of Elections office every weekday between now and March 3rd and on the Saturday before the election.

...

Here are some things to remember when you go to early vote:

• All registered voters in Ohio can vote in the Democratic primary.

• Bring one of the following forms of ID: the last 4 digits of your Social Security number, your Ohio driver's license, a state-issued photo ID, or one of these documents showing your current address -- a utility bill, pay stub, bank statement, or government document.

• If you have any questions about voting early, call our Ohio hotline at (866) 675-2008 and press 4.

...

full of putz's like him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nah. Only of whom he *used* to be. . . .

Bank of America Secretly Asking Congress for a Banking Industry Bailout
EDMUND L. ANDREWS
The New York Times
February 23, 2008

Over the last two decades, few industries have lobbied more ferociously or effectively than banks to get the government out of its business and to obtain freer rein for “financial innovation.”

But as losses from bad mortgages and mortgage-backed securities climb past $200 billion, talk among banking executives for an epic government rescue plan is suddenly coming into fashion.

A confidential proposal that Bank of America circulated to members of Congress this month provides a stunning glimpse of how quickly the industry has reversed its laissez-faire disdain for second-guessing by the government — now that it is in trouble.

The proposal warns that up to $739 billion in mortgages are at “moderate to high risk” of defaulting over the next five years and that millions of families could lose their homes.

To prevent that, Bank of America suggested creating a Federal Homeowner Preservation Corporation that would buy up billions of dollars in troubled mortgages at a deep discount, forgive debt above the current market value of the homes and use federal loan guarantees to refinance the borrowers at lower rates.

linda, yes, I'll be there! And with my new fella, too. He wants to meet ya'll. But he's an Indy: should be interesting, lol!