Republicans Equal Life; Democrats Equal Death?
By Keith Olbermann
MSNBC Countdown

Wednesday 25 April 2007

Olbermann: Rudy Giuliani exploiting fear for power and personal gain.
A special comment about Rudolph Giuliani's remarks at a Lincoln Day dinner in New Hampshire:

Finally tonight, a Special Comment about Rudolf Giuliani's remarks at a Lincoln Day Dinner in New Hampshire last night.

Since some indeterminable hour between the final dousing of the pyre at The World Trade Center, and the breaking of what Senator Obama has aptly termed "9/11 Fever," it has been profoundly and disturbingly evident that we are at the center of one of history's great ironies.   Read More »

NY Times April 29, 2007Op-Ed ColumnistDiplomacy at Its Worst By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

In May 2003, Iran sent a secret proposal to the U.S. for settling our mutual disputes in a “grand bargain.”

It is an astonishing document, for it tries to address a range of U.S. concerns about nuclear weapons, terrorism and Iraq. I’ve placed it and related documents (including multiple drafts of it) on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground.   Read More »

April 29, 2007Op-Ed ColumnistAll the President’s Press By FRANK RICH

SOMEHOW it’s hard to imagine David Halberstam yukking it up with Alberto Gonzales, Paul Wolfowitz and two discarded “American Idol” contestants at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Before there was a Woodward and Bernstein, there was Halberstam, still not yet 30 in the early 1960s, calling those in power to account for lying about our “progress” in Vietnam. He did so even though J.F.K. told the publisher of The Times, “I wish like hell that you’d get Halberstam out of there.” He did so despite public ridicule from the dean of that era’s Georgetown punditocracy, the now forgotten columnist (and Vietnam War cheerleader) Joseph Alsop. 

   Read More »

The "surge" was nothing more than a scam to kill more Americans for partisan political reasons.

Isn't this enough reason to impeach Bush/Cheney?

From AmericaBlog.com:

"Bush is changing his Iraq talking points. "Progress" is out.
by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 4/28/2007 10:12:00 AM ET
Discuss this post here: Comments (125) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

"Progress" is no longer the operative word about Iraq coming from Bush and his lackeys. This should be an indication of just how bad things are in Iraq. The Bush team, which will lie about everything, can't even pretend that the situation is improving. George Bush's Iraq policy is a colossal failure:
The Bush administration will not try to assess whether the troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until September, and many of Mr. Bush’s top advisers now anticipate that any gains by then will be limited, according to senior administration officials.

In interviews over the past week, the officials made clear that the White House is gradually scaling back its expectations for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The timelines they are now discussing suggest that the White House may maintain the increased numbers of American troops in Iraq well into next year.

That prospect would entail a dramatically longer commitment of frontline troops, patrolling the most dangerous neighborhoods of Baghdad, than the one envisioned in legislation that passed the House and Senate this week. That vote, largely symbolic because Democrats do not have the votes to override the promised presidential veto, set deadlines that would lead to the withdrawal of combat troops by the end of March 2008.
What is clear is that Bush has no plans to get the U.S. out of Iraq."

JOIN US TODAY at NOON @ E 6th & Speer- IMPEACH CHENEY RALLY-
in Denver, CO

and CALL 800-828-0498

ASK YOUR CONGRESSMAN TO

CO-SPONSOR Rep. Kucinich's IMPEACH CHENEY BILL

Call all of Colorado's Democratic Congressmen/Women while you are at it.

It just takes a few minutes
to leave a message of support
for Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment of Cheney

Today is National Impeachment Day for Activist Groups http://www.A28.org
and we'll all be out there..

Please Join us.TODAY Link

-----------------------------------------

Two things you can do to help US Rep. Kucinich succeed
in Impeaching Cheney are:

1. Memorize this phone number... 800-828-0498 and use it often.

And then Tell all your friends that have bitched about Cheney or Bush and Tell Them to Call The Number and Support Kucinich.

(it is one of a number of toll free ways to contact
your Congressman/Senator's Office... DO IT WEEKLY


2. Call the number and ask for your Congressman
(if you don't know who that is tell them where you live
and they will connect you to the correct office.)

Tell your Congressman to become a 'Co-Sponsor' on
US Rep. Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment.

Then call all other Colorado Democratic Congressmem/women
offices to make the same request.

Then call US Rep. Kucinich's office and leave a message
thanking him for having the guts to do this.

I have used this number frequently and get through quickly.

It should take only a few minutes to say something like..

"My name is John Kennedy of Denver, Co and I support
Representative Kucinich's filing of Articles of Impeachment
against VP Cheney and I urge you to become a Co-Sponsor."

Simple, yes?


Go for it.............


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



PLEASE ALSO JOIN US

Every WED at The State Capital

at Lincoln & 14

Where we do a

Weekly Vigil To Impeach Link

And to Stop The War Now and Save The Lives Of the 800 US Soldiers who will die in the next year and the 7-8000 who will be seriously wounded.



========================================
Check out this great article

There's HUNGER For Impeachment. Will We Feed It?
Link

Some excerpts


we have to break the Barrier of Silence being enacted against gressroots America by the monopolized "mainstream" media. This is the FIRST step in the Impeachment of Cheney.

In EVERY neighborhood across America people are saying "they should be impeached" WITH NO CLUE THAT THERE ARE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF US TRYING TO DO JUST THAT!!

They just need to Join Us at our Rallys, Vigils, Protests


One wag observed recently that if Dick Cheney were impeached, that would make George Bush president.

Who was it whose office personally orchestrated the lies passed off to us as intelligence on Iraq? Who was it who masterminded the outing of one of our best assets in preventing the proliferation of the REAL weapons of mass destruction, and all to keep the high crimes they had already committed from being exposed? Who has been the real acting president of the United States all these years?

Elections DO have consequences. Because now at least there are enough votes in Congress to call for that accountability, if only we will speak out in sufficient numbers to demand it. Constitutional crimes MUST have consequences. That is what the Constitution demands if we will honor it. Will we listen to those who have tried to take ultimate accountability off the table, or will THEY listen to us?

It's not as if those voices are not out there, to speak against a president of vice with a 9% approval rating. But it's up to us to reach out to and mobilize the remaining 91% who are not hiding from the truth, and let them know there is a way to effectively make their voices heard.

We ask all Progressives to Join Us at one or both of these Denver Locations on Saturday Afternoon.

If you believe that Bush & Cheney should pay a political price for lying us into the Iraq War and a myriad of other crimes....

YOU WILL SHOW UP

Thanks in advance

-------------------------------------

MEDIA ADVISORY for Saturday April 28, 2007

Contact: John H Kennedy, Denver,CO email: johnhkennedy@yahoo.com



On Saturday April 28 Colorado Citizens will rally in favor of Impeachment


Colorado activists will demonstrate their demand for impeachment of Bush and Cheney at multiple locations in Colorado as part of the National A28.Org Impeachment Day

Colorado protesters will gather Saturday April 28 at six locations, two in Denver, one each in Fort Collins, Longmont, Greeley and Salida.

The first Denver rally will start at noon at East 6th and Speer and last for one hour.

The second Denver rally will start at 1:30 pm at Lincoln and Colfax, in front of the State Capital and in view of both of Colorado's two largest daily newspapers.

The activists will shout their demand that President Bush and Vice President Cheney be made to pay at least a political price for lying to Congress and the Voters about WMD and other questionable facts in order to obtain Congressional approval for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If Voters lied to Congress to cause a war we'd probably go to jail. We believe Bush and Cheney should be held accountable to the same rule of law.

The groups insist that all of Colorado's Democratic Congressmen and Congresswoman Co-Sponsor US Rep. Kucinich's Articles Of Impeachment.

A quote from the A28 website: George Bush and Dick Cheney have lied the nation into a war of aggression, are spying in open violation of the law, and have sanctioned the use of torture. These are high crimes and misdemeanors that demand accountability through the Constitutional mechanism of impeachment. Since Congress doesn't seem to get it, we're calling on all Americans who stand for truth, freedom, and justice to join us on April 28 and spell it out for them: IMPEACH!


----------------------

The Denver A28 events are Sponsored by these activist groups

WeeklyVigilsToImpeach.US Link

We perform Weekly Vigils To Impeach and To Stop The War Now,
on Tuesday at Rep. DeGette's office, E 6th & Grant and
on Wednesday at the Colorado State Capital, Lincoln and 14th.
Both events start at Noon for one hour.
These Weekly Vigils were first held on Jan. 24, 2007 and will continue until Impeachment occurs.

Impeachment By The People Link

Progressive Democrats Of Colorado http://pdcolorado.org

Colorado Chapter OF World Can't Wait Link


Information on the events in Fort Collins, Longmont, Greeley and Salida can be found by going to the website http://www.A28.org

For more information from A28.Org itself email: info@a28.org

Rick PerlsteinApril 27, 2007

Rick Perlstein is a blogger for the Campaign for America's Future.

When your job is documenting how conservatism has failed America, the newspaper looks different. Take Wednesday's USA Today —specifically, that silly page no one reads with a tiny news item from every state. Fifty dots, ones never intended to be connected into a common tale, except the one entitled, "Here's Some Stuff that Happened on April 25, 2007."

Connect them, however, as data points in the consequences of the national experiment of giving conservatives the keys to all three branches to our government, and something more coherent emerges.

 

SOUTH CAROLINA: Columbia - State lawmakers have started debating two spending plans that could shave pennies off grocery bills or trim income taxes for wealthier residents. The grocery tax cut would save shoppers $1 for each $100 spent and eliminate the tax in the future. Gov. Sanford contends that reducing the state's income tax for top earners would spur the economy.

The bottom line, in other words: Save a couple of bucks a week on groceries if you're an ordinary Joe or Jane. Save tens of thousands a year on income taxes if you're a "top earner." Madness. But entirely consistent with conservative "philosophy," which claims that helping ordinary people might make them lazy and indolent, but that "reducing the top marginal rate," something that effects only rich people, makes the world a better place—the "trickle down" theory that one of its very architects, Reagan budget director David Stockman, admitted actually created "fiscal catastrophe."

Did someone say fiscal catastrophe? Travel with us to neighboring Tennessee:

 

TENNESSEE: Chattanooga - The rising cost of oil and the strong demand for concrete have slowed some state highway projects. Costs have climbed 24% from 2004, officials said. To combat the problem, officials are using a thinner application of asphalt in some projects. A dozen road construction projects have been delayed, but none were canceled, according to state Department of Transportation.

Commodity prices sometimes increase sharply and without warning; that's a fact of life. But before conservatives got hold of them, governments practiced a radical notion: socking away spare money for just such unexpected emergies in "rainy day" funds. When politicians started claiming the most noble thing they could do was cut—or never, ever raise—taxes, this is the natural result: thinner applications of asphalt, even as streets around the nation have started opening up and swallowing cars because the pipes underneath them are rotten.

The federal government used to help much more. Now, thanks to federal tax cuts, they can't. And as I pointed out before, Bush tax cuts lead inevitably to tax hikes in municipalities. Travel with me to lovely Fresno County, California:

 

CALIFORNIA: Los Osnos - A water rate increase for some 8,000 customers of the city's Community Services District means that they'll be paying 20% more for water starting May 19. The district board said the increase is needed to keep water flowing. The district filed for federal bankruptcy protection last year to deal with nearly $40 million in debt.

Meanwhile, here's what won't be showing in the Show-Me State: 

 

MISSOURI: St. Louis - The Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park will not be open this summer because of damage from the Taum Sauk Reservoir collapse. The move could hurt a region economically dependent on tourists. Johnson's Shut-Ins was devastated in December 2005 when the reservoir failed and sent water rushing through the area. The park, partially opened last year, must shut down entirely this season so repair work can begin, said state Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Kurt Schaefer.

OK. So we know what consevative government has destroyed—a nation in which we can count on our reservoirs holding and our streets not swallowing up our cars, one where budgeting is based on something other than fantasies about the magic of tax cuts for the rich. But what has it built?

Come with me, dear reader, to Vermont, where USA Today's "Across the USA" page for April 25 takes us to the state's flagship college campus:

 

VERMONT: Burlington - A dozen University of Vermont students are staging a hunger strike to seek higher wages for the university's lowest paid employees. Based on year-old figures, 256 UVM employees were paid less than $12.28 an hour, the amount considered a livable wage in Burlington. The students, who began the hunger strike Monday, are promising to consume only water and fruit juices. UVM President Dan Fogel says the school offers some of the best wages and benefits in Vermont.

Don't you just love the flacking? Some people at the university get good wages, so that negates the fact that others receive so little they can't survive. It's hard to write about how badly conservative governance has degraded us as a nation because, well, it has so degraded us as a nation: They have managed to make us forget once-sturdy pillars of our national morality. University presidents used to be high-minded civic leaders. Now they've become flacks like everyone else, all in service to a fatter bottom line.

Well, at least conservatives have restored the honor afforded to our brave officers of the law, who work so hard to keep us safe. Conservatives love police, right? Even the strictest libertarian agrees enforcing laws is the bedrock function of government.

Last stop, the Pennsylvania statehouse, and the ascendence of the anti-law enforcement right:

 

PENNSYLVANIA: Harrisburg - Hundreds of gun-rights advocates packed the state capitol Rotunda as some lawmakers, most of them Republicans, pushed for proposals aimed at expanding those rights. Several participants mentioned their particular opposition to a bill to require annual registration of most guns and a $10 annual fee on firearms. GOP Rep. Daryl Metcalfe wants to eliminate a gun-sales database maintained by the state police.

In just one day, six dots to connect across the country about a great nation laid low by the conservatives we mistakenly let govern us, even though they abhor government

TomPaine.com

   Read More »

The Democracy of Evil
The psychologist who created the Stanford Prison Experiment says that it's not a few bad apples that spoil the barrel, it's a bad barrel that spoils good apples. By Sasha Abramsky The American Prospect
Web Exclusive: 04.25.07

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo (Random House, 576 pages)Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil is a promise a long time coming.

In 1971, when Zimbardo was a young psychology professor at Stanford University, he presided over a psychology experiment exploring what happened when normal students were immersed in two distinct roles: One group of students were to be prison guards -- in a makeshift prison set up in the basement of the psychology lab -- and the other group were to be prisoners.

   Read More »

I watched the debate last night on MSNBC, I have to say retired Senator Mike Gravel was a pleasant surprise. Most might say he was wild eyed crazy, I say he speaks my language, "military/industrial complex" "the only thing worse than soldiers dying in vain are more soldiers dying in vain." He speaks like a man with the clock ticking and men and women dying, in other words, in a hurry for good reason. He out Kuciniched Kucinich. The most lucid and left leaning last night was Bill Richardson, he is a lock for VP, he is that good. Obama and Clinton are well underfoot of their handlers, too bad, pure honesty and passion go a long way in a day and age where they are so rare.

The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to take up the question put to it by the legislature on authority to "clarify" the nature of Amendment 41, and the pro-41 coalition has announced that it will not proceed with a ballot measure for voters in the fall of this year.

This leaves the nascent ethics commission established by Senate Bill 210 with the thankless job of sorting out what constitutes a genuine violation of "public trust for private gain," and what is merely a stupid red herring thrust forward by a lobbyist or someone who likes to get presents from lobbyists. I have every confidence in the ability of whoever is selected (collared?) for this commission to implement Amendment 41 rationally, which is apparently more than could be expected of the Colorado General Assembly.

This is my last blog on the fight over Amendment 41, regardless of what happens next. The experience has left me, I don't mind telling you, a little embittered. 62% of Colorado voters approved this law last November, a percentage that has rarely been matched in the state's history. In return, those voters were openly insulted over a period of months by legislators from both parties. It astonishes me that anyone, Republican or Democrat, would display such bare-tooth contempt for the people who renew their employment contract every 2-4 years, but it seems they lose no sleep over it.

It's possible that when "the book" is written on Amendment 41, it will show that neither side was perfect -- Amendment 41 wasn't perfect (which it evidently had to be, far beyond legislation passed every session by the Assembly full of "unintended consequences," in order to survive the hyperbolic attacks on it), and elected officials? Well, and in far too many cases sadly, this experience only reinforces the stereotypes that passed Amendment 41 to begin with.

From Norman Rockwell to Abu GhraibTo understand how Bush justifies a torture policy that is the bane of our nation, consider the sentimental cowboy art that decks his Oval Office walls.

By Sidney Blumenthal

Apr. 26, 2007 | Having written extensively on the Bush administration's torture policy for Salon, I concluded, in light of the shocking photographs from Abu Ghraib, that the visual medium is the most powerful and penetrating way to communicate the policy. More than two years ago, I brought the idea of making a documentary on the Bush policy to Alex Gibney, the director of "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Alex shared my sense of urgency, and "Taxi to the Dark Side" will premiere April 27 at the Tribeca Film Festival. (Alex is the director; I am executive producer.)

   Read More »

Allowing the US/Bush Administration to remain in Iraq is tantamount to coming upon a rape scene in progress and allowing the perpetrator to continue without interruption.

Bill Moyers Journal

Channel 6 PBS at 8pm

Two days ago, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales reiterated that he has no plans to resign. "I will stay as long as I feel I can be effective," he told a news conference. (Washington Post, 4/24/2007)

Gonzales' credibility has come into question most recently over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. While Gonzales initially claimed he was not involved, documents and testimony show that David C. Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, was fired after Bush, Rove and New Mexico Republicans complained to Gonzales. (Bloomberg, 4/24/2007)

In his testimony last Thursday, Gonzales astonished senators when he testified that he could not remember the recent Nov. 27, 2006 meeting at which he says he approved recommendations for firings. He didn't dispute being there - he just couldn't recall it. (Salt Lake Tribune, 4/22/2007)

Many Republicans, including those who voted to confirm Gonzales, have joined Democrats in saying Gonzales should resign--including Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and John Sununu of New Hampshire, and others in the House including Rep. Tom Tancredo. (Boston Globe, 4/9/2007)

Yet Senator Ken Salazar most recenty stated he "has not decided whether to continue supporting" Gonzales. (Denver Post, 4/19/2007)

Join our petition to call on Senator Salazar to ask Gonzales to resign:

Link

In fact, after taking the oath of office in January 2006, one of Salazar's first official acts was to escort Gonzales to his Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General. Salazar was one of only six Democrats to vote for Gonzales. (Rocky Mountain News, 3/20/2007)

Salazar supported him because Gonzales indicated to Salazar that he could "balance out the needs for national security" while "maintaining the important fundamental civil liberties of our nation." (Congressional Quarterly, 1/8/2005)

The firing of the U.S. Attorneys is the latest in Gonzales' horrific record on "important fundamental civil liberties."

In order to be credible we need to hold our elected officials, regardless of party, accountable when it comes to protecting our nation's fundamental civil liberties.

Join our petition to call on Senator Salazar to ask Gonzales to resign:

Link

We will personally deliver your comments to him.

When In Doubt, Build A WallSally KohnApril 25, 2007

Sally Kohn, director of the New York-based Movement Vision Project, has interviewed progressive leaders across the United States on their vision for the future.

I wasn't surprised to learn about the Bush Administration's now-uncertain plans to build a wall between Sunnis and Shiites in Baghdad. After all, walls seem to be one of his favorite, all-purpose solutions. From the increased security around the presidential palace in Washington to the anti-immigrant electrified fortress at the border with Mexico, this president has proven himself a builder and a divider.

   Read More »

On Journalism And DemocracyBill MoyersApril 25, 2007

Bill Moyers is chairman of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy and an independent journalist with his own production company. He is  launching a new weekly series on PBS in April, and his documentary "Buying the War," about the press and the buildup to the war in Iraq, airs tonight on PBS.This interview first appeared in The Christian Century.

You were part of the Johnson administration during its escalation of the Vietnam War. What perspective does that experience give you on the current administration and the war in Iraq?

Both Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush made the mistake of embracing a totalistic policy for a concrete reality that requires instead a more pragmatic response. You shouldn't go to war for a Grand Theory on a hunch, yet both men plunged into complex local quarrels only to discover that they were treading on quicksand. And they learned too late that American exceptionalism doesn't mean we can work our will anywhere we please. While freedom may be a universal yearning, democracy is not, alas, a universal solution—there are too many extenuating circumstances.

   Read More »

Two things you can do to help US Rep. Kucinich succeed
in Impeaching Cheney are:

1. Memorize this phone number... 800-828-0498 and use it often.

(it is one of a number of toll free ways to contact
your Congressman/Senator's Office)


2. Call the number and ask for your Congressman
(if you don't know who that is tell them where you live
and they will connect you to the correct office.)

Tell your Congressman to become a 'Co-Sponsor' on
US Rep. Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment.

Then call all other Colorado Democratic Congressmem/women
offices to make the same request.

Then call US Rep. Kucinich's office and leave a message
thanking him for having the guts to do this.

I have used this number frequently and get through quickly.

It should take only a few minutes to say something like..

"My name is John Kennedy of Denver, Co and I support
Representative Kucinich's filing of Articles of Impeachment
against VP Cheney and I urge you to become a Co-Sponsor."

Simple, yes?


Go for it.............

Since Jan 24 our group PNA 1stProtestInTheStreet.Org Link
has through it's project website
WeeklVigilsToImpeach.US Link
has held two weekly vigils-protests per week to

a. Stop The Iraq War ( Now! and save
the 800 US Soldiers who will be killed
and the 8000 who will be seriously wounded
prior to the
fantasy withdrawal dates that have been proposed in 2008.

b. Impeach Bush and Cheney
for lying to Congress to get an OK to go to War
( and a few other reasons of course)

Many members of ProgressNowAction.Org have emailed us
or signed up on the Calendar listings
to say they were coming to the
Stop Iraq War Now protests.

The only one who 'ever' showed up was Mike Collins last week
and we were thrilled...

Thanks Mike.

As a Vietnam Vet you know this is important
and you put your feet on the street that day to support
our effort to 'support the troops' by bringing them home.

We hope that today and each Wednesday more of you will attend and show our Colorado and Washington legislators that Stopping The War Now and Impeaching Bush/Cheney are important to you.

Todays event listing: Link

3,333 Dead Americans as of today, divide the number 666 into that and this is the number you get.5.0045045045045045045045045045045 and so on.

NY TimesApril 25, 2007Op-Ed ColumnistThomas L. Friedman

O.K. class, it’s time for another news quiz. I’ll give you the question and you tell me who asked it and why it was significant. Ready? Here goes:

“Mr. President, how would you rate yourself as an environmentalist? What specifically has your administration done to improve the condition of our nation’s air and water supply?” You’ll never get it. ... The questioner was James Hubb, a member of the audience at the second presidential debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 8, 2004.

What’s the significance? It was the only question about energy or environmental policy that was posed in any of the three presidential debates in 2004. Hard to believe when you consider the salience of these issues today. Is it any wonder we still don’t have a serious energy policy?

   Read More »