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democracy

• Losing Ourselves Beyond Redemption- The increasing erosion of our constitutions, civil rights and democracies as they are being gradually subjugated by Authoritarian Security Surveillance States. The bloating no-fly lists and terrorist watch-lists. The continuing inhumane and barbaric renditions, "enhanced interrogations" and indefinite detentions - of children, teenagers and adults alike. The continuing standing of Military Commissions, which are nothing more than politically-driven, rigged, kangaroo courts. The seemingly unending wars of choice and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq - both based on lies to justify a vengeance operation for 9/11 and the securing of foreign oil resources. The ever mounting toll of civilian deaths, displaced refugees and soldier casualties. This is the overall state of things today with regards to our so-called "Western civilization" - especially with regards to the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada.
• Let our Congress Tweet- We've been having this ongoing conversation about better access to our government both as a form of transparency and as a way to connect with our Representatives who both serve and ... represent us in Congress. We've even watched as John Culberson (R-TX) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) battled it out in real time over the Energy Bill on Twitter. This week Culberson has waged his own mini-war against the House for shutting down his twitter activity. On July 8th Culberson Tweeted

  1. " I just learned the Dems are trying to censor Congressmen's ability to use Twitter Qik YouTube Utterz etc - outrageous and I will fight them."

• Let's Whip Congress Into Shape!- The collective power of the peace movement helped the Democrats take control of Congress and turn Nancy Pelosi from Minority leader into Madam Speaker. But in May the new Congress turned its back on the peace movement, granting Bush another $95 billion for war with no timetable for withdrawal. While the Speaker of the House herself voted against the war funding, she failed to put pressure on the conservative Democrats to form a united front against another blank check for war. She also failed to effectively use her power to decide what bills would come up for a vote. In the case of both the unrestricted war funding and the expanded FISA wiretapping, Pelosi had the ability to keep the bills off the floor but refused to do so.
• Say Good-Bye to Red America- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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• Vox Populi Vox Dei- Way back 1912, when Hiram Johnson founded the Progressive Party, the jewel of their platform was initiative and referendum, most prominently implemented in California, allowing a sufficient number of voters to unite and write propositions directly onto the ballot. This populist triumph was supposed to be all about "good government," but it wasn't. It was all about money.
• Somehow This Madness Must End-

  (Cross posted from Docudharma)

  I was born at the tail end of 1951.  My father was a soldier who served in WWII and Korea.  His brother came back from Korea so psychologically devastated that he never recovered.  He lived nearly fifty of his seventy years haunted by the horror of what he witnessed in the Korean War.  He was not alone.  Every war produces more casualties than are accounted for in the body counts.  My uncle died just a few years ago but it was the Korean War that killed him.  

  

• Right Now in 2008- A new fun viral video takes the Kansas GOP and national republicans to task for some of the failures we are seeing and urges folks to register to vote.
• supreme court delievers a shocking blow to bush: OBEY THE LAW-

  In this decision, the supreme court ruled on a case where the president had ordered Texas to obey the treaty obligations of the Vienna Convention, which states that a nation must be informed when one of its citizens is charged with a serious crime by another nation.

  Texas disobeyed, and the court agreed with Texas, saying that the president had no power to order Texas to obey the law.

• George W. Bush on Iraq: Read it and weep- Lest you think that five years of bloodshed in Iraq, with perhaps a million dead and 4 million more displaced from their homes, has given The Decider any pause, today he said the war is "noble, necessary, and just." Some pertinent excerpts from his speech today at the Pentagon on the first day of Year 6 in Iraq:
• IA-03: Will Democrats vote on the issues?- cross-posted from EENR blog and Daily Kos Welcome to the latest diary in my series on the Democratic primary campaign in Iowa's third Congressional district. Today's topic: will progressive Democrats vote for the candidate who is closest to them on the issues, or will other concerns push them toward the incumbent?
• A Word of Warning--Bush's Brain For Sale- As the presidential campaign gains momentum in favor of change, it would appear that the neo-cons, the hierarchy of the status quo, remain curiously calm. The Democratic frontrunners and the National Committee would collectively commit a grave error by breathing any sigh of relief upon the departure of Karl Rove from his perch in the Oval Office.
• Candidates Gone Wild at Iowa Caucus- Tuesday we encountered the full Iowa Caucus experience. We left our adventures in Des Moines and headed to Council Bluffs. We checked in with the John Edwards headquarters and immediately started making calls to leaning Edwards supporters. It was then that I encountered much of this midwestern sensibility that I adore so much. All the while the final Edwards ad began to air on Iowa TV.
• The Washington Bus Takes Off- The Washington Bus has just left the station. According to an email announcing the launch of their website, the recipient of the west coast Go Grant, has taken to stirring up trouble by getting young people involved in politics. Modeled off of their sister to the south's org the Oregon Bus Project, the WA Bus is offering similar programs including Trick or Vote, Rebooting Democracy, and enacting young people powered politics.
• The Impending Crisis in Russia: How will Putin Seize Power?- Reading back into Putin's recent political manipulations, and then, even further back, at how Putin seized, consolidated, and has used power in Russia, it is apparent that Putin will shortly seize power in Russia.
• Welcome To Our Semi-Dark Ages- Near the end of the 1990s, many spoke of the "bridge to the 21st century" - the expression evoking images of greater enlightenment, of enhanced rationality, of increased wisdom, of greater maturity and responsibility, of widespread peace, prosperity and democracy ... of a brave, new and better world awaiting all of us just around the corner, if we would but take the first, resolute step to make its promises a reality. Instead, we decided that it was too uncertain, too much effort or not quick enough in coming - consequently, we chose instead to retreat within our self-centered selves, rejecting knowledge and reason in favor of fear, ignorance, truthiness and superstition. Welcome to our Semi-Dark Ages.
• Why Gays In Iran Don’t Wear Burqas.- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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• Secret History of the Taser- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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• Feds Bailing Out Greedy Speculators- Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., August 17, 2007 This rather large reduction in interest rates has driven the market up considerably today, after a week of heavy losses. Beneath all of this market instability are the homeowners, many of whom are holding on to the notion that their houses will maintain their bloated prices. Across from them is a diminishing group of buyers, determined not to buy at the top, so hold on for a long and wild ride.
• True Patriot Vs False Patriot- (Updated below) I keep asking myself: why is there so many people who not only applaud, but actually crave, each and every step taken by our governments to increase their influence over our private lives, to increase their ability to spy, monitor, survey and control us? And why is it those same people are the most fervent war hawks and supporters of absolute Authority? We know well these people.
• Another Day In Asheville- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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• Someone Worth Fighting For...-
  Link
  I found this photo and wept because my husband is going to Iraq for fifteen months and I know this could be me. On any given day, out of 455 (minimum that he will be gone), someone could come to my door and make me a widow. I look at this woman and I can barely breathe.
  
• Double Your Casey- Cross-posted at DailyKos. No office in Pennsylvania politics has been quite as frustrating as that of State Attorney General. Ever since 1980, when the position became an elected one, the voters have never opted to send a Democrat to that seat. Even as Pennsylvania has, ever so slowly, turned a bluer shade of purple, giving its electoral votes to every Democratic Presidential nominee since 1992, and sending Democrats to the Governor's office, the State Auditor General and State Treasurer's offices, and one of the state's U.S. Senate seats, the State Attorney General's office has remained firmly in Republican hands.
• A New Convention- (Updated below - call for action alert) What is a "government" and what is it for? The time has long passed to ask ourselves this fundamental question. Far be it from me to undertake an extensive "scholarly" analysis of the various forms of governments throughout history, their pros and cons, their origins and evolutions, and whatnot. Nor is it my intent to discuss the nuts and bolts of governing.
• Impeachment as Political Solution to Iraq War- It has become cliché to say that this Iraq war cannot be won militarily. Equally comfortable with this admission are hawks who would turn on a dime if they thought the insurgency was capable of collapsing, and doves whose primary objection to the war is its "mismanagement".
• Dean's YK07 Speech- Friday Night at the YearlyKos convention beloved DNC Chairman Howard Dean met a crowd made up of former Deaniacs or now supporters who welcomed him to a rousing ovation.
• Operation Enduring Propaganda- (Updated below) (Update II) (Update III) While being assaulted by the continuous exposures of scandalous abuses of power, politicizing of the apparels of government and erasing the separation of church and state (one more example here), along with an increasing crescendo of calls for impeachment proceedings, the besieged Puppet Presidency and Unitary Regency have unleashed in recent weeks their true "surge" plans: unrelenting blitzkrieg-like, coordinated propaganda counter-strikes to sell the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while making the case for more war in the Middle-East, through it all playing on the fear and insecurity of Americans. Why? Either to support a rush to establish a de facto American Empire, or to hasten a Second Coming-like Armageddon. Or both.
• Behold The Wisdom Of Sheep- (Updated below) I just read something that has verily shocked and outraged me. Via Raw Story - Workers told to shape up or pay up: "Looking for new ways to trim the fat and boost workers' health, some employers are starting to make overweight employees pay if they don't slim down. Others, citing growing medical costs tied to obesity, are offering fit workers lucrative incentives that shave thousands of dollars a year off health care premiums." At the last, the companies and corporations are now flatly coming out, unafraid and unfettered, to proclaim their intent of actually controlling your lives as they see fit.
• Of Incompetence, Delusions Of Grandeur And Monomania- (Updated below)

  Monomania (mon-o-ma-ni-a): n. 1. Pathological obsession with one idea or subject. 2. Intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea.

  "The marketing of personality is changing from a cottage to a growth industry (...) The trend coincides with a current journalistic emphasis, even in the respectables, on what is interesting, against what is important. (The important may make a comeback in news interest but at the moment lacks either the urgency of danger or the stimulus of hope.) Recognizing this shift, politicians constantly conduct polls about their image and resist too much identity with substance (...) Everywhere the cult of personality prevails (...) There is less of journalistic prying now, even though gossip and gossip columning are still around. Gossip flourishes particularly in Washington, where political hypocrisy still lends savor to misbehavior (...) Celebrityhood lives by publicity and must be ready to be "interesting" on cue (...) But an interest in people won't go away: it is as old as Plutarch, and apt to survive as long as humans do."
• The Shape Of Things To Come- (Updated below) Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We all know this old (french) saying. But what does it really mean?
• The Ecclesiastical Sopranos, Abortion Rights, Honesty, & Reason. An Open Letter to Catholic Clergy.-

  This letter grew out of my frustration, generally, as a supporter and provider of legal, professional abortion care, in countering the massive body of fraudulent claims about abortion care in wide popular circulation through the efforts of anti-abortion propagandists.

• They Are Winning Again - And Here's Why-
  While progressives continue their petty, self-indulging, cacophonic, disorganized rants and raves within their favorite echo chambers, the neocons, the right-wingers and the G.O.P. continue doing what they've always done: stay on unified, but disinformative, messages. Why should they do anything differently? Especially since that what worked before is apparently working still for them ...
• How acquittal was the right outcome for a guilty defendant.- Cross posted at DailyKos. I completed jury duty today. It was interesting to watch how the ordinary wheels of justice turn - while the specialized wheels for Libby were turning in Wash, D.C. If Justice had suddenly taken off her blindfold in our nation's capitol and peeked at the answer key for the correct result, was that happening in the rest of the country - in my own little county courthouse? And why do I feel like it doesn't matter anyway?
• Step Back, Take A Deep Breath And Look Hard In The Mirror- Why was there such surprise, shock and outrage upon the news that President George W. Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis Libby? I actually laughed when I heard the news.
• Meanwhile, Back In Canada ...- Neoconservatism hubris, lies and incompetence are not just the lot of our neighbors south of the 49th parallel. While many have expounded (rightly so) on the great qualities of Canada and Canadians on this 140th anniversary of our country, the speech given by Prime Minister Stephen J. Harper (a.k.a. Mini Leader) on the occasion of Canada Day-related celebrations highlighted the fact that our Canadian principles are being slowly eroded away by him and his neoconservative Harpies.
• Hey George, Ask Me for My Help... American to American- Cross-posted at KOS by keechi / Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 06:22:48 PM CDT
• My Democratic Friend Supports the Republicans on Iraq- Cross-posted to DailyKos. Matt was one of my best friends in High School. He still is today, despite the fact that he took a civilian job at a military base on the other side of the country after graduating from college. Our friendship is helped (though certainly not contingent upon) the fact that he's a loyal Democrat, and has been ever since we both voted for Al Gore in the 2000 election.
• The OURUS*: Interregnum Or Fait Accompli?- (Updated below) (Update II) (Update III) (Update IV) Office of the Unitary Regency of the U.S.A. Regent Cheney: going away or here to stay? In my previous two articles, I elaborated on the now-established fact that Dick. B. Cheney installed himself as a Regent on January 2001, effectively creating the constitutionally unlawful Office of the Unitary Regency of the U.S.A. - complete with its Puppet Presidency. Truth be told ...
• Why we can't clean up the Homeland Security mess-

  Cross-posted from the Accountable Strategies Blog and Daily Kos

  If we could put a man on the moon, why is it that 38 years later, we can’t create a homeland protection agency that can keep its books straight and its personnel honest?

• The Office Of The Unitary Regency Of The U.S.A.- (Updated below) (Update II) (Update III) This is not a "Co-Presidency", nor is it a (misnamed) "Fourth Branch" of the U.S. government. Rather, this is a Unitary Regency - Dick B. Cheney's Regency actually - which has been the de facto Executive Power behind the Puppet Presidency of George W. Bush since January 2001.
• Of Puppets, Puppeteers And Regencies- (Updated below) (Update II) Welcome to the Cheney Regency of the United States of America! (Hope you've been enjoying yourselves ...) The continuing revelations seemingly coming out from everywhere, and concerning Vice-President Richard "Dick" B. Cheney, not only bring to light the utter mendacious incompetence of the White House's ruling Cabal, but reveal a terrible truth underlying the Presidency of George W. Bush: that the latter indeed acted all along the puppet to the former.
• A Cancer On The Body Democratic-

  (Updated below) (Update II)

  Alternative title: The Root Of All Our Problems - In Real Life And In The Blogosphere.

• A Reply From Bob Casey- Cross-posted to DailyKos and America in Solidarity. Labor issues are very important to me. That's why, a few months ago, I contacted both of my U.S. Senators to ask them to support the Employee Free Choice Act when it comes before the Senate. It took quite some time, but I eventually heard back from U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. The only problem is, his reply didn't address the EFCA. At all.
• Are public-private partnerships accountable?- Cross-posted from the Accountable Strategies Blog and Daily Kos

  For the past decade, we’ve been witnessing the rise of the “public-private partnership,” not only in this country, but around the world.

• False Leaders Vs. Genuine Ones-
  Today, my thoughts wandered on to the subject of the upcoming 2008 elections in the US and how soon I hope we have elections in Canada, in order to throw the neocons incompetents (see previous entries of mine here, here, here and here) out of power in both countries - at last. However, I remain wary that neocons may yet retain power after such elections, if only because ...
• How Ignorance, Fear And Incompetence Translate- (Updated below) (Update II) (Update III) I have previously written on how incompetence and lies rule like ignorance and fear in the politics of our times - especially since such things are aided, abetted and inflated by an equally incompetent MSM.
• Give Us Your Well to Do, Your Educated, Your Valuable- Cross-posted to DailyKos. Recently, I was flipping through my copy of The American Century, by Harold Evans, and I found a story about late 19th century Romanian immigrants. This story turned my thoughts to the immigration bill that recently stalled in the United States Senate, and the impact it could have, if it ever passes, on what we stand for as nation – not only now, but, for generations in the future.
• Police are OK, but they should NOT have their own state!- By Doc | May 29, 2007 } Atlanta | Crossposted from Daily Kos I try to like the police. I really do. I think, honestly, we really and truly need them, if we are to believe all the crime-is-rampant fearmongering people get via the MSM and the evening news. Many readers already know I think the war on drugs and their cross-eyed and grossly inappropriate fixation with cannabis - Reefer Madness - is more than a giant waste of their time: it has led to them getting way too much power, despite their constant whining about the Constitution tying their hands. I have 2 related incidents dealing with a law in Georgia called the seatbelt law. Another sanctimonious "We are saving lives" law that is more about getting cops into your car. Probable cause is now "I didn't see his or her seatbelt."
• Whither Goest Thou, America? (Dkos/Diatribune Edition)-

  The U.S.A. keep on inching ever closer to becoming a soulless and heartless despotic state with only the illusion of freedom and democracy.

  How dare I make such a damning claim? Let us ascertain the evidence accumulated so far:

• U.S. V.-P. Cheney Publicly Condemns Bush, Neocons And Himself-

  It is well understood that neocons are adpet at accusing others of doing/thinking what they are actually guilty of doing/thinking.

  Yesterday, U.S. V.-P. Dick B. Cheney gave a commencement address at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Maybe he drank the wrong brand of tea that day, or perhaps he slightly over-medicated himself - in any event, he came out and revealed publicly the motus operandi of the President, himself and their neocon administration, condemning all they stand for, their ideological agenda, and everything they have been doing in the process so far. As reported, Cheney delivered his remarks in the context of moral and ethical lessons that the graduating cadets at West Point had learned in the course of their studies. Dixit Richard (Dick) B. Cheney:

• 'WHO ARE THESE GUYS?'- "Who Are These Guys?" by JD Hill Earlier this week I had lunch with an old friend/ former colleague who only recently returned to the US after having lived and worked abroad for the better part of the last twenty-five years. According to Jack many American expatriates are no
• Paul Wellstone Would Not Give Up- Cross-posted to DailyKos. Yesterday, with the news that the Democratic leadership had agreed to send an Iraq Supplemental bill with no timelines to the president, views among the netroots were despondent, at best. Not only does it seem that the Democratic leadership is caving to an unpopular president, on an unpopular issue, but it seems that netroots "favorites" like Jim Webb and Jon Tester have caved to Republican talking points on "supporting the troops."
• Fort Carson - Deja Vu All Over Again - PTSD {Updated}- I happened to catch the followup to Daniel Zwerdings previous reports about the treatment of Combat Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afganistan and Foghting the Demons, better known as PTSD! With all we now know about what Combat can do to many of those who serve We Haven't Learned A Damn Thing.
• The Incompetents Strike Back In Force- (Updated below) (Update II) (Update III) (Update IV) (Update V) This is what I have previously written concerning incompetence and violence:

  Ignorance breeds fear. Fear fosters hate. In turn, hate leads inevitably to violence. The History of Humanity constitutes a sad and tragic testament to this senseless and vicious progression. Incidentally, there is a further underlying, self-evident axiom to this assertion which posits that violence is the last refuge of incompetence - incompetence as nations, as communities, and as thinking, reasoning human beings.

• Protecting Students: How Far Should Colleges Go?- Cross-posted at DailyKos. The massacre at Virginia Tech this week was a horrible incident that, like many other horrible incidents in our past, has given rise to questions about our society, and about the laws that are meant to protect us. One area of concern has been the role that Virginia Tech itself should have played in stopping the shooting before it occurred. Questions have been raised about why others were not informed about Cho Seung-Hui's condition, or even about why he was allowed to stay on campus at all. What obligation do colleges have to warn students about a classmate who suffers from mental disabilities? How far is it acceptable for institutions of higher learning to go in the name of protecting others? I discuss those questions below.
• Local Politicking: I Attend a County Commissioner Candidate's Forum- Cross-posted at DailyKos. In my experience, most "netroots" progressives are the kind of people who follow the national news. They're likely to already know who's running for President on both the Democratic and Republican sides. They're likely to know who's running for Congress, Senate, or Governor in not only their own state, but also states half way across the country. They're likely to have contributed money to a candidate, or to have spent time working for one (or more) themselves.
• Where Every Vote Counts: Voting in Local Elections- Cross-posted to DailyKos. The dust has settled in the Pennsylvania primary election. Debra Todd and Seamus McCaffery are now the Democratic nominees for two open State Supreme Court positions. Act 1, part of Governor Rendell's plan for property tax relief, faced a resounding defeat, everywhere in the state. And, in my home county of York, Pennsylvania, Doug Hoke and Ned Grove, in a surprising upset, defeated incumbent Doug Kilgore in the Democratic primary for County Commissioner.
• Texas Commission of the Arts under attack by Privatize of Abolish Legislators- Please contact members of the Texas House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism and express STRONG OPPOSITION to HB 2460 Author: Flynn Title: Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Commission on the Arts. This bill calls for the abolition of the TCA.
• Red America, we have a problem.- Crossposted from Town Called Dobson & My Left Wing
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• Fighting the Insurgents Here- Crossposted from Town Called Dobson & My Left Wing
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• How about a little democracy for a change?-

  "Revolution is the Solution"