Most Un-Christian Attribute?

FEAR

Most exploited emotion by fundi-ministers and our government?

FEAR

Most important law according to Jesus Christ?

He gave us a twofer, LOVE God and LOVE your neighbor.

What is war? What is racism? What is greed? What is oppression? What is fear? What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; and millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich; and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere.

"These are differing evils, but they are common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility toward the sufferings of our fellows."

"But we can perhaps remember--even if only for a time--that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek--as we do--nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can." Robert F. Kennedy

As my new friend told me a few days ago, we are all terminal, take a deep breath, be brave and do the right thing, in this, your "short moment of life."

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We've had 30 years since Jimmy Carter told us to get off the oil teat and what did we do, we vilified him and made Ronald "Raygun" a saint. Can I get an amen? How about a reach around? We are all terminal and we are all diseased, next time your Christian friend that's against stem cell research get's a tooth ache, tell him to pray for an aspirin. We are killing Arabs for oil, just who the hell are the bad guys?

Read this on the "Woman faces fines for wreath peace sign" by AP.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said...

The subdivision's rules say no signs, billboards or advertising are permitted without the consent of the architectural control committee.

Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn't say anything. Kearns fired all five committee members.

Now who has the political agenda: Lisa Jensen or Bob Kearns?

The same media establishment that's been cattily sniping at Speaker-to-be Pelosi for daring to become a powerful, successful, progressive woman Speaker is targeting her influential allies to protect Lipitor's Medicare Part D premium and the Great and Powerful McCain/Lieberman War Machine and Pony Farm. Accordingly, as a genuine professional and a faithful working girl, Tongue Twirling Tauscher aims to please. I suspect Sten Hoyer and Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak) may be needing new kneepads by Christmas as well.

Read the rest here.

This is why it is important to have an effective grassroots/netroots organization that will be a counter balance to the Rahm/Schumer machines.

Corporate shills in the Democratic Party will find it much harder to push their agenda against liberals/progressives if we can offer money, organizational, and intellectual/ideological to prospective candidates that we find and endorse.

The way the media is portraying Speaker-elect Pelosi is much more revealing on how sexism is very much alive and well in America today.

I'm agree with Matt Stoller's analysis on MyDD.com:

Take Your Time, Speaker Pelosi

by Matt Stoller, Fri Nov 24, 2006 at 07:21:30 PM EST

I'm getting quite irritated at the immediate reaction among white male liberal DC kewl kidz (and Maureen Dowd) to discern catty motives on the part of Nancy Pelosi. Digby's noted it before, but it's not stopping. Look at the first two paragraphs in an email that Josh Marshall reprints on Pelosi and the Intelligence Committee from a reader called 'RY'.

Don't assume that there's a strategic logic, however inept, behind the delay in the selection of the Committee Chair. If she knew what to do, she would do it. The problem is: a) She hates Harman; 2)Hastings is blatantly inappropriate (and thus will not be selected, no matter how much the CBC squawks); 3) alternative selections to Harman seem strained.
Therefore, she will likely select Harman anyway--appeasing at least two factions, the Blue Dogs, and the MSM, who will praise her for being centrist and pragmatic, rather than vindictive and "ideological." But she just can't stand the thought of it--thus the delay.

Left out of the whole nasty and myopic rant is any possibility that Nancy Pelosi might want someone who can chair the Intelligence Committee who can do a good job running the Intelligence Committee. Is it so unbelievable that Pelosi might think that Jane Harman is unfit to serve as a check on this President's misuse of intelligence? Harman did after all vaguely support prosecution of the New York Times for revealing the existence of the eavesdropping program. And that Pelosi is 'waiting' so long couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she has to organize the entire House of Representatives, could it? Pelosi has given every indication that she wants the House to function; she's calling the House into session and keeping it in session throughout January so members can get to work.

BTW- Matt accurately reports what Rep. Waxman's view is:

So not only is Harman not actually supported by the Blue Dog caucus (which requires more than half of members to support something before it becomes a caucus position), Henry Waxman is openly accusing her of orchestrating a campaign of public pressure on Pelosi. That's ridiculous.

I would like to point out that this kind of politicing for plum committee assignments can backfire. Coloradopols.com has this story on Governor elect Bill Ritter's irritation at people who are lobbying him for state jobs.

Reading Juan Cole's Informed Comment is an antidote to the kool aid of Bush/Cheney's vision of Iraq.

This is what Bush/Cheney has created in Iraq:

3,000 Widows Created Each Month

How bad the situation is in Iraq is suggested by this email I just got from a professional who used to be in Iraq but now is in a nearby country:

' It is desperate in Iraq, worse then ever and there is no end in sight. I had lunch with [a former high ranking medical educator in Iraq] two days ago. [He]noted that Iraq no longer has neuro-surgeons, no cardiac surgeons, few pediatric doctors - they are all gone, killed or fled to neighboring countries like him. He was given seven days to get out or be killed. He is one of the lucky ones. He and his family have an opportunity for a new life in the US. But what about all the others. Where are they to go?

Another friend, a Sunni sheikh of the Shammar tribe noted to me that thousands of former officers are prepared to assault the G[reen] Z[one]. It is no longer a matter of can they do it, they are only mulling over the timing. The breach of the Green Zone security the other day was a test of their ability to get in, and not a real attempt at a coup, though it is reported as such. Every Iraqi I talk to says unambiguously that the resistance attached to the former regime would take out the Shiite militias with barely a fight, but that the resistance will not commit wholesale revenge against the Shiite population. They just want to get rid of the "carpet baggers" from Iran. '


Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shiite nationalist cleric, is said to be afraid that he cannot constrain his Mahdi Army militiamen from taking revenge on the Sunni Arab community for Thursday's mass slaugher.

Read the last graf carefully.

Why are we there? The most recent polling done in Iraq shows that Iraqis think that the US presence in Iraq is creating violent actions. They want the US to leave Iraq.

We must force Bush/Cheney to bug our military out of Iraq for our own national security.

This is heartening for Thanksgiving Day.

A report on a victory in the deep South:

Today, 5,300 of Houston's janitors work part-time, are paid just $20 a day and get no health insurance for scrubbing the floors and cleaning the toilets of some of the wealthiest corporations in America. Within 24 months, the workers' income will double and they will have secure, affordable health insurance. Why? They joined together, formed a union, and fought like hell to win a new labor contract that guarantees those things and more.

The janitors' seemingly unlikely victory teaches some important lessons because it tears down some conventional wisdom about what it is going to take to change our country.

1) Houston janitors are a beacon of hope for all of us. The janitors' victory proves that just because you live in the South where workers' wages have been kept low and rights have been stifled by anti-union corporations helped by anti-worker politicians, doesn't mean you can't have the same shot at the American Dream as workers everywhere....

Read the rest here.

People powered. Grassroots. Netroots. "Trickle up democracy."

This is why Dean was a breath of fresh air in '04. It is the hard work of the liberals and progressives in the Democratic Party that is creating real change in the thinking, organization and politics of the leadership and candidates and elected members at all levels. Howard Dean was not a favorite for the leadership post of the DNC. Only through the work of people at the state level could he win the post. Leaders in the blogosphere contributed in a major way for Dean's election.

Chris Bowers has this to say on the repudiation of James Carville's, Democratic Party "consultant", attempt to oust Howard Dean:

Although this is obviously lost on most pundits and journalists, it is interesting how this seemingly odd alliance between state parties and the progressive movement is based not upon ideology. Rather, it is based upon both a shared strategic principle, the fifty-state strategy, and a shared chip on the shoulder: the sense that both have been long ignored by the party leadership. It is a sort of Alliance of the Ignored...

Most higher-ups in the Democratic Party like Clinton and Schumer know this, and that is one of the main reasons why they pay respect to the fifty-state strategy and The Alliance of the Ignored (that, and the fifty-state strategy seems to be working). Because of this alliance, it is no longer possible for people who want to lead the party to dismiss either state parties or the working class of the Democratic activist universe.

What a great gift the Do-Nothing Republican Congress leaves for the incoming Democrats:

GOP leaving spending bills to Democrats

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 20, 9:54 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills....

Read the rest here (h/t to Talkingpointsmem.com.

It takes the Democratic Party to clean up after the mess Republicans make.

I agree with Josh Marshall on that the elected Republican Congress and Senate should be held accountable for leaving vital spending bills unpassed in order to grand stand and do dog and pony shows for their base.

All members of this organization should send letters to the editor of their local papers and let them know that Republicans in Congress should have their salaries be withheld until they pass those spending bills because they were elected to meet their responsiblities.

Call and write to your local paper.

As a matter of fact you should call your Congressional and Senate member and remind them that it is the responsible thing to do.

Good news out of Jefferson County today. There are many reasons to celebrate Sara Gagliardi's victory: another Democratic take-away, increased representation by Progressive women in the Legislature, validating fighting until the last vote is counted, and this puts a Democrat in Tom Tancredo's original State House seat.

Gagliardi's victory expected to be upheld

Jefferson County is expected to make it official today that Democrat Sara Gagliardi unseated state Rep. Bill Crane, R-Arvada. Election officials finished counting provisional ballots Monday. That tally showed Gagliardi with 13,319 votes and Crane with 13,208, said Susan Miller, director of elections.

Rocky Mountain News, Briefing, Tues Nov 21, 2006, page 20A

The will of the People expressed this election cannot be sitting well with Congressman Tancredo. Having Arvada voters in the district where he launched his political career reject his fellow Republican can only add to the pain of having HD-38 (in the population heart of the 6th CD) turned-over to Democrat Joe Rice.

For the next two-years I see a mission for Colorado Progressives to keep a critical eye on the antics of Tancredo, record and publicize his failures to represent his district, and take action to set a more favorable stage for a Democratic challenger for that seat in 2008.

Time to start softening up Senator Torture.

Wayne Allard is one of the Top Five WORST Senators (R)

The Colorado Democratic Party is on the rise, and given Allard's two narrow victories and prospects in the minority, he may decide to call it quits. Even if he doesn't, this'll be a top-tier race.

Read the rest here.

The Democratic Party has a great opportunity to pick up a Senate seat here. This makes it probably THE Senate race to watch in 2008.

From MyDD.com's Matt Stoller (read the rest here):

We sat down in the intersection and the horses came immediately. It was really violent. They arrested us, and when we got to jail, we were pretty beat up. Not all of us got the medical attention we needed. The worst was a protester named Julia, who is severely diabetic. We kept telling the guards about her condition but they only gave her a piece of candy. ..

They really tried to break us down. The first night they put the temperature so high that a woman--one of the other inmates--had a seizure. The second night they made it freezing and took away many of our blankets. We didn't have access to the cots so we had to sleep on a concrete floor. When we would finally fall asleep the guards would come and yell `Are you Anna Denise Solís? Are you so and so?' One of the protesters had a fractured wrist from the horses. She had a cast on and when she would fall asleep the guard would kick the cast to wake her up. She was in a lot of pain...

The guards would tell us: `This is what you get for protesting.' One of them said, `Who gives a shit about janitors making 5 dollars an hour? Lots of people make that much.' The other inmates--there were a lot of prostitutes in there--said that they had never seen the jail this bad. The guards told them: `We're trying to teach the protesters a lesson.' Nobody was getting out of jail because the processing was so slow. They would tell the prostitutes that everything is the protesters' fault. They were trying to turn everybody against each other.

See the video here.

This is a transparent attempt to squash the workers right to form a union.

Houston Crackdown on Right to Peaceful Protest, Freedom of Speech...
Friday November 17, 11:17 pm ET

44 Janitors Arrested in Non-Violent Civil Disobedience in Houston Held on Combined $39.1 Million Bond

For peaceful protestors charged with Class B misdemeanors, bond for each set at unprecedented $888,888 cash; For Harris County man recently charged with murder, bond set at $30,000

If you want to support them go here.

The struggle for workers right to form a union has never been easy in America. However this is unconscionable on the part of the police and the judicial systems.

Clearly there should be an investigation into both the Houston Police Department and Houston District Attorney's Office for their behaviour.

From a statement this morning by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), on his election as House minority whip:

“For twelve years, the Democrats have gotten away without leading, without offering an agenda, and without saying what they’re actually for. Now they will be forced to govern.

“Under this Republican leadership, the job of the Minority Whip will no longer be to go to the House floor every day and lose. Instead, each time we hold our team together and force the Democrats to vote like Democrats, we’ll be taking one more step toward recapturing our majority in 2008.

“One-hundred-forty-nine Democrats demonstrated yesterday that they are willing to buck Nancy Pelosi. We’ll work each day to give those Democrats a viable alternative to her liberal, San Francisco agenda.

What an idiot. Rep. Murtha is a conservative Democrat. Blunt is ready to pick a fight with the entire Democratic Party and shows that the Republican leadership cannot be trusted to extend a hand for "bipartisanship".

As TPM writer David Kurtz says, "Bring it on."

This would be a good beginning step in electorial reform by the Democratic Senate:

"Principally, Reid said that would mean passing a bill to create criminal penalties for election fraud, including offenses such as voter misinformation campaigns carried out by robo-calls and misleading flyers.

"Noting that such tactics were used in both the Missouri and Maryland Senate races, Schumer said, “I think the person or people who authorized that should go to jail for 10 years.” Currently, civil fines usually are the most serious penalty assessed for such ploys. Schumer added that a separate unit should be created within the Justice Department to deal with cases of election fraud." (Roll Call)

Read here.

What happened in 2006 with Republican efforts on the robocall campaigns in various House districts probably tipped those elections in favor of the Republican. Robocalls are very cheap- 5 to 10 cents per call- and only costs the campaign a minimum amount for a maximum impact on your opponents voter base or unaffiliated voters. A $20,000 dollar investment will get a campaign a range of 200,000 to 400,000 calls.

Let's hold Senators Salazar and Allard accountable for this beginning step.

Ken

People like winners and what is a winner? A winner leads by example, is cutting edge, doesn't spend a lot of time on defense and most of all is selfless and confident. In the spirit of E pluribus Unum, we can spend our political capital wisely, judiciously using our assets to promote the progressive agenda. Hold both parties accountable, write and communicate, let your elected leaders know you are watching. Impeachment is our hole card, get stem cells, education, equal rights on the table, if Bush refuses to sign, which he is too cowardly not to, then the hole card comes out. Patience is a virtue and resolve is as well.

"HAHA!"- Nelson

Bush's head suffered about $25,000 in damages when a Madame Tussaud's visitor attacked it the day before last week's elections.

Read the rest here.

Hooray for our soldiers

With the glitter and the marching high school bands in gold and glory
Down the streets of gleaming steel and glass towers
Our returning soldiers wearing dress uniforms
Bedecked with the ribbons and badges of glory and valor

Sitting alone in a sterile cell
Measuring eight feet by ten feet
With the single window covered with duct tape
Ehren Watada is with clear conscience now

In the sunken, deep into the nation’s bowels
Civilian command and control situation room
Sits the command in chief-
No longer willing to be called President-
hearing his generals but he asks no questions at all

All for one and one for all
Sitting in the darkened, dust gathering VFW halls
In the silence of their memories of what war really is about
Drinking to forget and be forgiven in that conscienceless alcohol

Forty six soldiers have answered their conscience
In public call
Their duty is to place humanity and life
Above the last refuge of the scoundrel

While old men resume the human poker stakes
Of the Great Game
Old reprobates and retreads that walk
In the shadows of Pinochet and Nixon

“Can Do, Sir!” scream grim faced UDT, SEAL and Delta forces,
jumping up and stamping their spit polished boots in unison in fierce readiness
while shadowy DO operatives extraordinarily rendition all who oppose
Unleashed from the rule of law by an unfit commander-in-chief

Greater humility is to the soldier
who heeds no immoral order
who obeys the morality of not to murder
who knowingly gives up this most ancient act

What happens to this nation
When there is no conscience of the king
When the commander in chief believes
He is a just vassal to obey
A psychopathic god

“Hoo-ha” screams the voices of the crew cut, white walled most honored elites
In the dusty, icy Hindukush mountains
Or in the once verdant Mesopotamia marshlands
Those voices are now ground into a No Gun Ri silence

H/T to AmericaBlog.com for this racist rant by a major business orientated newspaper.

First it was the RNCC's ad during the TN campaign against Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford.

Now it's this blatantly dishonest editorial running online without a byline against Rep. John Conyers. This is only part of it:

Conyers, who runs an Arabic version of his official Web site, does the bidding of these new constituents and the militant Islamist activists who feed off them. They want to kill the Patriot Act and prevent the FBI from profiling Muslim suspects in terror investigations. They also want to end the use of undisclosed evidence against suspected Arab terrorists in deportation proceedings.

It seems to me that this publication is endorsing racial profiling and the use of undisclosed information in deportation cases, which means that the information is hidden from the accused.

This is demagogery of the lowest and meanest sort. Any reputable publication should shun from.

Read the rest of this disgraceful editorial here.

CCR TO FILE WAR CRIMES COMPLAINT AGAINST DONALD RUMSFELD


On November 14, 2006, CCR will file a criminal complaint against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in German Court. The complaint requests the German Federal Prosecutor open an investigation and, ultimately, a criminal prosecution that will look into the responsibility of high-ranking U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the context of the so-called "War on Terror."

Former White House Counsel (and current Attorney General) Alberto Gonzalez, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and other high-ranking U.S. officials are also charged in the complaint. The complaint is brought on behalf of 12 torture victims – 11 Iraqi citizens who were held at Abu Ghraib prison and one Guantánamo detainee – and is being filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Republican Attorneys' Association (RAV) and others, all represented by Berlin Attorney Wolfgang Kaleck.

The complaint is related to a 2004 complaint that was dismissed, but the new complaint is filed with substantial new evidence, new defendants and plaintiffs, a new German Federal Prosecutor and, most important, under new circumstances that include the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense and the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 in the U.S. granting officials retroactive immunity from prosecution for war crimes.

For full background on the complaint, please go here.

Don't forget about the fact that Mr. Bush and his administration are in direct violation of the Constitution, with the complicity of the Republican led 109th session of Congress.


Glenn Greenwald of "Unclaimed Territory" blog writes:

While it is nice that Democrats have taken over the Congress, it is vital to remember that we have a President who has repeatedly made clear that Congress is irrelevant in our system of government and cannot limit the President in any way. Re-establishing the rule of law -- and the principle that the President is not above it -- is still the most compelling priority for our country.

Read the rest here.

The Democratic leadership must face this task with fortitude and understanding that we will hold them accountable to their Constitutional duties. They are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

We will be watching them.

This is what the DCCC's Rahm thinks of the party faithful via this Washington Post story:

In private talks before the election, Emanuel and other top Democrats told their members they cannot allow the party's liberal wing to dominate the agenda next year. Democrats will hold 30 or 35 seats that went for Bush in the past, meaning that Democratic candidates such as Brad Ellsworth in rural Indiana are likely to face competitive races again in 2008. Still, their interests are likely to collide with those of veteran liberals such as Reps. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.) and John Conyers Jr., (Mich.), who will chair committees

Christy Smith of Firedoglake.com writes this response:

If you think for a moment that those of us who just worked our asses off for a win are simply going to roll over and say thank you when you spit on us, you can think again. And, while we're at it, Nancy Pelosi deserves better than a sneaky planted quote knife in her back — and Rahm owes her an apology.

This is DAY ONE of keeping their feet to the FIRE.