We need the help of all people who believe in the separation of church and state. Last Thursday night, the Plattsburgh, NY City Council voted to end a 13-year-old practice of allowing an anti-choice religious group to have six parking spaces in front of Planned Parenthood to protest on Good Friday. The Council acted on the grounds of separation of church and state and the support of the U. S. Constitution. The local newspaper, the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, is running a poll to see if the public approves of the Council's action. On Saturday night, the supporters of the council had a 60% to 30% lead. Now, the religious right seems to be undertaking a campaign to skew the vote. The Press Republican, a conservative right wing rag, is keeping the poll up much longer than usual to see if they can even up the score. Please help us! Go to http://www.pressrepublican.com and vote "Yes" on the survey. You have to scroll halfway down the page to see the survey. Vote "Yes" to support the Constitutional separation of church and state! Thank you for your support.

Howard Dean is First, Last, and Always.

Howard Dean is our first VP choice.

The grassroots is turning over a new leaf, or blade. We don't work for nothing anymore, and what we want is Howard Dean for VP.

81. puddle -- I wouldn't vote for Clinton even if Dean were her vp

The Clintons picking Dean isn't even plausible as an episode of Fantasy Island. 

Howard is DNC Chair until Jan., 2009.

Obama is ahead in delegates (which is all that matters). 

The grassroots is turning over a new leaf, or blade. We don't work for nothing anymore, and what we want is Howard Dean for VP.

Never underestimate the power of the ultimate fear card -- the other party winning -- on the minds of Dems and Reeps alike. 

Those Dean Bros and the ones they have inspired are FIRST.

****
Sure, there are already a lot of good *firsties* here, wherever they fall, but it doesn't hurt to keep the momentum going.

****
It's all in the delegates, not just the *wins.*

****
I, for one, really enjoy Jackie Garneau (*Dogma*) ... it's plain to see that her daughter Jessica takes after her. Jackie has a lot of good plain old common sense.

****
Go VT! I can't help wishing that somehow a putz-prick convoy would have a breakdown just inside the Brattleboro city limits.

One can always dream.

Bloggie still isn't fixed, I see. My 3 should have been at least 7.

God knows where this will be.

Hillary speaking last night -- her supporters were chanting something rather "cultishly".

Dean isn't even plausible as an episode of Fantasy Island.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neither is Dean accepting, lol!

Haven't been able to get on for a couple days, so will post the last couple Froomkin columns. I am sure that plenty of others will continue to post primary results, etc.

These other issues are why we need to keep in mind that The Enemy is NOT us.

Whoever is ultimately the Dem nominee, it's a no-brainer that we need to send a lot of good strong Dem progressives to DC with that person. The Judicial Branch is all but lost and, for that reason alone, we cannot afford another four years of a Republican Executive. But we need to send a strong signal with good representatives in the Legislative branch as well.

You can be sure that the Dean Bros have that in mind.

*********
From Monday ...

==========
Why Immunity Matters
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, March 3, 2008; 12:49 PM

When he's talking extemporaneously, President Bush's rhetoric on the issue of retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with his warrantless wiretapping program tends toward the simplistic and argumentative.

"We want to know who's calling who," he said at last week's press conference, emphasizing his words by thumping the lectern. "We need to know in order to protect the people."

No one, of course, is arguing the contrary. The debate is over how to go about it. And the major sticking point in the current congressional tussle over surveillance legislation is about immunity: Whether the telephone and Internet companies that for years let the government spy on their customers without a warrant should be protected from civil lawsuits alleging that they violated federal law in doing so.

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

*********
From yesterday ...

===============
The Vacation President
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, March 4, 2008; 1:02 PM

President Bush famously, if unjustifiably, casts himself as Ronald Reagan's disciple. But in at least one way, he has surpassed his master.

According to the meticulous records kept by CBS Radio White House correspondent Mark Knoller, Bush on Monday lodged his 879th day spent in whole or in part at Camp David or his sprawling estate in Crawford, Tex.

By comparison, the 40th president only -- only! -- spent all or part of 866 days at Camp David or his ranch in California during his eight years in office, according to the Reagan Library. (By my count, Bush actually beat Reagan's mark on Dec. 30, during his Christmas vacation in Crawford.)

This, of course, is not the noblest of records to break. Reagan was frequently derided for his laid-back, hands-off approach to his job. He even poked fun of himself at the 1987 Gridiron Dinner: "It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

Sorry to keep tamping people further down.

*****
Simon Jenkins speaks for me here ... thanks again putzCo for making *democracy* almost an obscene word. (sarcasm intended)

===============
Democracy is ill served by its self-appointed guardiansOur sonorous moralising lies behind so much bloodshed in the past 50 years. A sense of history surely counsels humility
Simon Jenkins
The Guardian, Wednesday March 5 2008

This week's Russian elections were "limited" and "less than free and fair", according to western monitors. The last elections in Iraq, by contrast, were "a triumph for democracy". The forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe and Iran have been pre-emptively dismissed as a travesty. Those in Pakistan were, by general consent, an affirmation of freedom.

Democracies are like two-year-olds: adorable when they belong to you, but you never see them as others do.

[...]
Democracy is the new Christianity. It is the chosen faith of western civilisation, and carrying it abroad is the acceptable face of the Crusader spirit. In reinterpreting Tony Blair's interventionism, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, spoke recently of the west's "mission" to promote democracy, even by economic and military warfare. With his eyes fixed on Iraq and Afghanistan, Miliband contrived both to assert that "we cannot impose democratic norms" and then demand that we do just that.

[...]
Russia's elections were imperfect, their casual and crude corruption by Vladimir Putin yet another way of displaying his autocratic machismo. He may have failed to live up to the standards the west "expects". But he appears to have correctly read the mood of his people, who simply want a strong hand on the wheel for as long as possible.

I cannot see what purpose is therefore served by hurling abuse at these states. Russia's path to political emancipation is tentative, if not in reverse. That country has never ticked more than a handful of democracy's boxes, yet is still incomparably freer than under communism. Its pastiche of monopoly capitalism - Putin's "managed democracy" - so contrasts with the chaos of the 1990s that even sophisticated Russians tell western interviewers that they would happily buy stability and discipline at the expense of another such gamble. We can tell them they are wrong until the cows come home. But we did not live in Russia in the 1990s.

[...]
Democracy is an invitation to hypocrisy. Let us practise it ourselves and, if we must preach, preach by example.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar...

Do any of our WA bloggers have any thoughts or comments on this one?

==============
The battle of Bear Creek: New threat in America's backyard
An attack by eco-terrorists on one of Seattle's most exclusive enclaves has exposed the dark side of environmental activism. By Leonard Doyle reports

When developers were looking for a new "Street of Dreams" to market to Seattle's upscale homebuyers, they alighted on Woodinville, a peaceful wooded community in Snohomish County, about 25 miles north of the city.

Known for its stables and boutique wineries, it seemed a perfect location to build the next generation of million-dollar show homes. And, in a twist to attract the eye of upscale Prius-driving buyers from Seattle, the houses would be built to the latest environmental standards.

They would be marketed as low carbon footprint or "built green" in developer-speak. It was a win-win formula and so confident were the developers in their eco-marketing skills that they overrode the opposition of residents, certain that environmentally aware liberals wishing to flee Seattle, would scramble to buy the houses.

Today those dreams are in ruins, along with five of the luxury buildings, put to the torch in the early hours of Monday, apparently by members of the Earth Liberation Front.

[...]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...

Some local news and a reminder that while English may be widespread as a language, there are lots of others that will remain widely spoken (and not just here). So, it's worthwhile to study at least a second language.

You can be sure that the rest of the world will.

This is the last for now.

Have good ones.

======================
Swiss find English 'useful'
The tongue of Shakespeare is valued for its utility but a study shows most Swiss prefer either French or German as a second language.

Switzerland’s four national languages are enough to turn the country into nation of polyglots. A new study shows that, on average, the Swiss speak two other languages apart from their own native one. English is rated as the most useful “foreign” language, but not the first choice. The study by researchers at the University of Bern showed that French-speaking Swiss are the most linguistically-challenged out the three main linguistic communities in Switzerland. They speak just 1.7 languages, as well as their native French. Swiss-Germans and Italian-speaking Swiss manage an average of 2.2 “foreign” languages.

French or German, if not both, still take precedence, depending on the region, but English was the most useful foreign language for 86 percent of the 1,200 people surveyed in the study for the Swiss national science research council. The author, Iwar Werlen, found that the number of Italian speakers was dwindling outside the southern canton of Ticino.

[...]
http://www.tdg.ch/pages/home/tribune_de_...(contenu)/201326

Well, I went to bed early and woke up and had to check the results. Sounds like Barack had a bad night. But if Edwards DOES endorse today and those 50 superdelegates switch, it should put the brakes on Hillary's new found momentum.
Oh well...back to bed.

Track delegates

Hillary's "close" delegate totals always include Michigan and Florida. They will only count if she has a majority without them. She did however pick up enough today to put the nomination out of Obama's reach without super delegates.

the exit polling showed an incredible preponderance of women voters, a surge

that red phone as won't work against McCain but looks like it did against Obama

so Obama needs to directly assure mothers that their kids will  be safe with him running the country, while doing a better job getting the guys off their duffs and to the polls

phone calls don't do that, humor in TV ads works for beer

more men have to vote, Hillary continues to win a majority of women votes

anyone who has played competitive sports understands "second wind", Obama  needs to suck it up, just like an NBA game where the team up fifteen withstands a 12-2 run

you make a couple of defensive stops (Wyoming and Mississippi) and then start taking the ball to the rim

Obama will win all of those blue states come November

who won Missouri?

Good morning, everybody

What a difference size makes.  my 'puter is back to its normal fonts and there's ever so much more room on the page.  We'll see how this works.  The box isn't wrapping. 

Wrap doesn't work in the box or on the page.  LOL

It seems that the American voters are enjoying their opportunity to choose. 

I'm having trouble finding the delegate count out of Texas after the caucus results.

anyone?

Obama needs a new theme in two parts.

The theme is that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote against choice (no, not THAT choice).

Part One, an ad set to "Yankee Doodle" played on a fife that talks about the sacrifices we made to rid ourselves of a government by monarchy. With clips of George the First, George the Second, Bill and Hill and especially with clips of Bill and George the First palling around together, cartoon crowns on all their heads.

Make the point that 20-year-olds have only known a Bush or Clinton government. Is this fair to them? Is it fair to the country?

(Personally, I think we need an anti-nepotism law for the presidency as a safeguard -- just like no live heads of state pictured on stamps and coins -- but that's just me.)

Part Two, Hillary's draconian health care plans that will bring the US the worst of both worlds: different tiers of care for the rich and poor, just as we have today, along with an intrusive government that will force you to buy the low-end care through payroll garnishment should you wish to opt out.

There are MANY young people who put off health insurance for awhile in order to settle their school debts or just because they want to use their money for other things and don't really need a lot of health care. Frankly, if we are about being a free country, we should have the freedom to opt out if we wish.

John McCain will crucify her on her half-baked health care plans if she manages to get the nomination.

I think Obama's pleas of "remember New Hampshire" were lost on some of his supporters, who probably thought of him as inevitable and relaxed.

-- volney

So, on Opera the comment box jumps out of the way when I hit a letter key or the space bar.  Weird.

Oh, I don't think the results from the Texas caucuses are in yet.  KOS got tired of waiting and announced he's going to bed. 

Well, I'm beginning to think that "health care" was a bad choice of words, just as "choice" was not appropriate to the process of terminating a pregnancy prematurely.

While healthy people may well seek out "enhancements" of various kinds for which they should be willing to pay, it's illness and injury that society needs to address and, if possible, correct.

The best I've come up with recently is 'shared care.'

I guess theres an olde fashioned term for last nights election results........................Hillary did an "ass whoopin"..............

I will be reading all the posts from last night, to see how many brothers and sisters were "good losers"..................

Obama might come out of Texas with more delegates like in Nevada depending on where the votes were won so I wouldn't get too carried away Mike.

North Carolina should be an interesting contest Mike, and I can't picture you pulling the Clinton lever.

Mike

I love guys that compete like Brett did, always showed up. Jim Brown for Cleveland was an every play guy, Robin Yount was a guy that could get me to round up the kids and head to Milwaukee for a game. Character is what the good ones are made of Mike. Hillary Clinton revealed her character in her "wins" and so did Obama in his loss, and it will serve him  well in the days ahead. There are probably still Pete Rose fans in Ohio and they might well have voted for Clinton. win at any cost, call your bookie?

Who won Texas? when will we know?

good morning, Mike!  re: I will be reading all the posts from last night, to see how many brothers and sisters were "good losers"..................

thank goodness - you did such a great job of policing the blog for that after Hillary's string of 11 losses... lol!

I don't think any democrat 'lost' last night - certainly neither Hillary nor Obama can be called losers today - it's still too close to call and now we know it will take the superdelegates to put this one away.  we had massive record turnouts everywhere, people engaged in the primary proces like never before - even Hill's supporters got a little of that 'cult' chanting thing going at her rally...

I, for one, am looking forward to the rest of this race!  I've stopped cringing when Hill goes negative - besides the circular firing going on I have to say I was wondering how nasty she'd get, how much she'd damage herself, just to 'win'.  her attacks will help prepare Obama for the general and she certainly has the right to make her legacy whatever she chooses.

BRING IT ON!

Gore at the top of the ticket again becomes a possibility.

and Howard's job became more difficult again

that was yesterday's results

Linda can go back to posting pro Gore stuff because neither are going to get to 2025 

Call today!  I'm making my 9th trip out to Washington because millions of American lives, and a critical part of my father's legacy, are at stake.  After all the years and all the promises, we need to pass mental health and addiction fairness legislation out of the House. 

Call your Member of Congress TODAY and ask them to vote YES on the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (HR 1424).

Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 - ask to be connected to your Representative

Phil, I heard a TX rep say yesterday that it could take 2 or 3 days to have the final caucus results. 

I wonder how Hillary's fans felt when they heard her include Michigan in her list of 'wins' last night.   you gotta believe that, as much as they may love Hill, this must make them stop and think about the lengths she'll go to over the next few months to try to win this race...

more and more people are realizing that they have to make choices and that making choices isn't all that it's cracked up to be.  Eeny, meeny, miny, moe is so much easier.  It sure ain't six of one, half dozen of the other this time.

Howard's job may have gotten harder but I do believe he's ready for it!  he was right on when he said this campaign has been pattycakes compared to what he got from all of the dem candidates in '04.  for every twist and turn we've had, I can't help but think the good Doc has a few more progressive 'tricks' up his sleeve.  we will see!

will someone tell hillary to get back to the senate and do her job.

she is lucky if she picked up 5 delegates in her "win" yesterday.

I can't look at her anymore. she has morphed into bill and karl rove together.

I started getting calls at 7 a.m. this morning.

what  am I ? chuck todd?

Phil, from the caucus numbers. hill may have come away from texas with NO new delegates.

today barack will show he brought in over 70 million in feb.

So what other mud is hill gonna throw? time to get some new clothes and some more makeup. are those her teeth?

Phil, from the caucus numbers. hill may have come away from texas with NO new delegates.

today barack will show he brought in over 70 million in feb.

So what other mud is hill gonna throw? time to get some new clothes and some more makeup. are those her teeth?

lol Michael Ellis, as ass whoopin?  As ass whoopin was South Carolina.  Less than two weeks ago she had double leads in those states.  Yeah she won the popular vote, it was expected.  It is the delegates that count, you can count can't you?

Didn't see it for myself, someone called and told me she had confetti?  Appropriate for a last hurrah.

Alot of people on other blogs are dissing Howard (I stick up for him).  They are pissed because he said he had not seen any dirty campaign tactics.  Saids he is a shrill for her.

Phil, I hear Gore is standing behind Obama in the background. 

I cannot predict what will happen on Sat in WY, but living in UT, which you all know is next door, I can tell you she is detested (not hated) detested there.

From the Houston Chronicle -- from just the Texas primary, Hillary won one more delegate than Obama.

Results of the caucuses will dribble in through the weekend. 

Nevertheless, this will be spun as a win for Hillary (and it is).

Obama's supporters need to lean on the media to talk about Wyoming and Mississippi, the next couple of contests, instead of pointing to Pennsylvania.

linda b,

I can't even stand looking at her anymore.  My husband watches her in the other room.  Last night he came in and said she had so much makeup on that she probably uses a chisel everynight to get it off.

Phil,

Washington as in DC?

If you have time, let's get together. 

Brattleboro and Marlboro,

I love your indictment, wish there was one here in SLC.

To the wonderful people of VT thank you, if only the rest of the US were like you.

Rich, i think that message was from Wellstone's son who's going to Washington, not Phil.

Anyway, for the record, elections are about the voters.  

None of the candidates have won anything. 

FCC looks into "60 Minutes" blackout
Wed Mar 5, 4:22 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - The Federal Communications Commission is investigating a mysterious signal loss by an Alabama CBS affiliate during a "60 Minutes" segment about the state's imprisoned former governor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080305/en_n...

34.

Phil Specht
Wed, 03/05/08

Reply to this
Gore at the top of the ticket again becomes a possibility.

and Howard's job became more difficult again

that was yesterday's results

Linda can go back to posting pro Gore stuff because neither are going to get to 2025

+++++++++

Hey Phil -- how are you doing the math? Also, Gore is a wonderful man but he comes across wooden when he interviews -- I know everyone loves him and he's a liberal's dream and I love him too but I don't think that wooden thing is going to work in the media.

I just figured out the blog -- it groups posts by poster???

25.

Michael Ellis
Wed, 03/05/08

Reply to this
I guess theres an olde fashioned term for last nights election results........................Hillary did an "ass whoopin"..............

I will be reading all the posts from last night, to see how many brothers and sisters were "good losers"..................

+++++++++++++++++++

Go to H Michael.

24. volney

I think you have something there in the 'King George" monarchy thing -- that Barack should have an ad pointing out where the dynastic thing has gotten us so far. It is prolly my biggest problem w/ Hillary.

I can't even stand looking at her anymore.  My husband watches her in the other room.  Last night he came in and said she had so much makeup on that she probably uses a chisel everynight to get it off

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

s m

I fear that is just the kind of comment that must get her the women's margin she has because every woman gets judged unfairly on appearance when applying for or keeping a job and there are millions of women saying "enough already!"

sorry Rich that was a message from David Wellstone and my computer blocks his signature so I forgot to type it in

I hope to see you at Deanfest though.

Rich, i think that message was from Wellstone's son who's going to Washington, not Phil.

Yeah, but if Phil comes to Washington, I still want to get together :-).  If he has enough time I can give him a tour of the DFest site. :-) :-) 

I think what we're seeing in the primary/caucus results, is that both remaining candidates have strengths that appeal, and weaknesses that deflect, voters.  And the same can be said of their supporters.

In a year that should be a slam dunk for Democrats, this is disturbing.  In a year that should be a slam dunk for Progressives, we got two of the least Progressive candidates.  

And in the discussions of potential VP candidates for each, I don't see the pundits discussing progressives, but people to the right of both Obama and Hillary.

Altogether, a discouraging situation. 

Phil,

I say this respectively to you.  About the comment about her make-up, at this point I really don't care what other women think.  I guess it is ok for her to blacken Obama's face on her ad, guess it is ok for her to send out emails claiming Obama is a Muslim and will use the Koran to be sworn in with (that he doesn't know the pledge of allegiance), if the women in this country are so shallow that they bristle at the comment about make-up, let them. 

Why was Bill Clinton on Rush Limbaugh?  DNC better wake up fast.

Obama was going to get the red phone ad from McCain anyway so now he has a chance put together a National Security team of enough stature to reassure those mothers of sleeping children, he has a few weeks to do it right now. a preview of his National Security Adviser, Secretary of Defense, a room full of retired brass, that will stand behind him

it will be best in the long run anyway if no enemy wants to test him in the days following his assuming the job.

A different perspective from KOS (albeit as he admits tentative)

So total for the night, thus far, is Clinton 185 and Obama 184. Not all votes are in, so things will change a bit. But at this point, we have a ridiculously tiny one-delegate lead for Clinton for the night, which could either produce her first delegate victory of the election, or be erased by the rest of the still-not-reported Texas caucuses.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/5/3...

Altogether, a discouraging situation. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been, ever since Feingold decided not to run Rich. But I trust the grassroots that has been organized by Dean in 06 and gathered in by Obama and added to besides will do better in the next Congress than we have in this one.

we need to get back to a reform agenda as well

I think Obama could just go directly to a General Election campaign, ignore Hillary, and run to beat McCain and the delegates would follow, and it has to be a progressive platform to keep the base excited through November

I listened to the news as I got ready for work this morning, Barack Obama was being interviewed.  I didn't hear the entire interview but I did hear the commentator state something along the lines of "since he did not 'win' in Ohio didn't that show that he would not be able to win Ohio in November".

Then listening to NPR on the way into work they talked about the fact that there were a lot of 'crossover' voters in Ohio.  So many that precincts were running out of Democratic ballots.

So, my thought is, the primary results do not reveal much about who could win in November - because we do not know how many of those crossover votes were from people who were encouraged by the Republican Party to vote in the Democratic primary to affect who would end up as McCain's opponent in November - and who will ultimately vote for John McCain in November.

And, because of those 'crossover' voters, I don't know that Ohio's preference for the Democratic nominee was truly revealed last night.

Lynn in Cincinnati, Ohio

I have no idea why so many women are voting for Hillary other than they see paychecks three fourths of men and remarks about appearances that men would never put up with and are taking it out at the polls.

the gender gap is very real and the only reason Hillary is staying close

ha ha dont say i didnt tell ya now you all can get behind her! lol funny!!! love it. keep drinking the water! wake up!!

Good morning all. I know, it's not such a great morning for many of us - but hey...

From my favorite diarist at Kos:

Don't get even, get MAD.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3...

It's a keeper, trust me. Now I'm off for some coffee. I had a hard time sleeping last night. My husband flew home last night and was crushed that Hillary *won*.