For several years now the evidence of the Alberto Gonzales gang's manipulation of the Federal Civil Service within the Department of Justice has been well publicized. The fact that right-wing political ideologues were being approved for career professional positions based on social issue orthodoxy, rather than competence and qualifications, is yet another blight on the scandalous legacy of the current occupant of the White House.

Today's report in the Washington Post reveals that this practice of burrowing right-wing political operatives into the Civil Service is also in-place in the scientific agencies. Perhaps this is the mis-administration's strategy for making permanent the Republican obsession for combating the truth of science with their twisted political and social priorities.

The Center for Public Integrity is soon to release their "Broken Government" study. The fund-raising teaser release promises 120 specific cases. This kind of investigative effort to hold the Bushies accountable as the mis-administration fades into oblivion is crucial.  Revealing and acting on the depth and breadth of this conspiracy is vital to the success of any reforms and corrects to the offenses of the past eight years.

The Obama-Biden Administration will be stretched and tested to uncover and flush-out these right-wing activists who have burrowed their way into the Civil Service like so many termites. The evidence of these infestations must be met with quick action.

Executive appointees selected for positions above these people must be prepared to take every possible action within the laws and regulations of the Civil Service structure to either get them dismissed, or make it too hard for them to stay and accomplish their nefarious goals. Attention to the selection of the Administrator of the Office of Personnel Management will be a key to success in this area.

Various Executive agency inspectors general must be supported in investigating these political opportunists. IF they are found to be substantially unqualified for the job description that they were hired to fill, then it should be clear grounds for dismissal as an unlawful appointment.

The Obama-Biden appointees who are saddled with these burdens must enforce clear, precise and enforceable performance standards. When confronted with qualitative requirements to enforce and perform based upon laws and regulations that these infiltrators are likely to hold ambitions to undermine and avoid, could more easily force them to resign.

Even in its demise the minions of the current mis-administration are appearing to be increasingly unwilling to follow the current occupant of the White House and the vice out of Washington. This certainly adds to the challenge and urgency of establishing the new administration's executive leadership. Too many months and too many acting, caretaker, leaders in the executive departments will make it all the harder to untangle the tentacles of the Bush parasites.

This is beyond the pale- Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson, testifying on the House side, defended the administration's handling of the massive $700 billion bailout for the financial industry and said it should remain off-limits for Detroit, no matter how badly the automakers need help.

This is what U.S. auto executives testimony on the Hill said, from AP:

WASHINGTON – Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with Congress on Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse.

From the NYT:

Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, said he would not support legislation to aid the auto companies and seemed prepared to let one or all of them collapse...

“Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers’ competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement.

But for the Bush and the Republicans it is all about politics.

I had read about why federal agencies may not be responsive to the incoming administration.  This is why, from TPMmuckraker.com:

In one example of what some Washington veterans call the "headless nail" phenomenon -- in which political appointees quietly move into career jobs ithin their departments, making it hard for the incoming administration to remove them -- David Bernhardt, the top lawyer for the Interior Department, has shifted six of his deputies into senior civil service positions. One of these, Robert Comer, was found by an internal DOI report to have struck an agreement on grazing with a Wyoming rancher "with total disregard for the concerns raised by career field personnel." Another, Matthew McKeown, has attracted criticism from environmentalists for promoting grazing and logging on public lands.

From leaving executive orders and writing new guidelines or redefining laws to allow for greed and avarice by individuals and corporations to plunder the lands of America and to consciously harm the health of Americans this is just another way for Mr. Bush to leave his "legacy".

Bailout Chrysler, GM or Ford?  Read this article that was on the front page of Yahoo.com and see if this is joke.

"It's like nature's law: Only the fit survive," said John Berrotto, 50, a security director in New York who drives a Lexus and said he does not support the idea of a bailout. "Sometimes companies just don't make it," he said.

Or this:

"I'm not sure they (the automakers) can be salvaged. Part of me says that if Honda and Toyota can make better cars in the U.S. with American workers, so be it," said Tom Reiter, who was interviewed in Los Angeles and drives a 2001 Jaguar XJ he said was a "big gas guzzler."

The fact is that millions of jobs are at stake and millions of retirees pensions are at stake.

Republican leaders like House Minority leader John Boehner said:

"Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers’ competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy..."

Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of workers and million plus retirees Mr. Face of the Republican Party.

The hard numbers of GM and Chrysler, from Boston.com:

Chrysler employs about 49,000 in the United States and has about 125,000 pensioners. GM has 177,000 US workers and around 500,000 people receiving pensions.

The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that for each auto manufacturing position, there are 7.5 jobs with parts makers and other companies, meaning the industry accounts for millions of jobs.

What bankruptcy would mean for the Big Three U.S. automakers can be understood with the Delphi Company bankruptcy to study.  From 2005 MSNBC.com reports:

Delphi, a $29 billion industrial giant, has been struggling to make a profit since General Motors spun off its parts subsidiary in 1999. Last year, Delphi lost $4.8 billion; it lost nearly $750 million in the first half of this year...

The most immediate impact will be on Delphi’s 185,000 workers. The company wants to cut wages to less than half of current levels and eliminate a "jobs bank" that gives full pay to 4,000 laid-off workers.

Delphi's retirees face similar cuts if the company follows the lead of steel companies and airlines that have successfully used the bankruptcy courts to offload their pension obligations to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, an agency set up in 1974 that is funded by contributions from premiums paid by companies. Once the agency takes over a pension plan, workers receive only part of their benefits....

 

From JohnE:

What do we do now?

Actually a few of us are working on mini Netroots Nations.  Tomorrow we have a conference call to start talking about creating an event for Colorado in early February.

I'd also like to have an earlier, less involved discussion of where do we go from here.  If you remember the Obama platform meetings, that was something that got my thought processes going.  However, just before the election wasn't the time for those conversations.  So, I'd like to have a number of policy discussions about the direction for Colorado, and now is the best time to do that.  I suggest a place with lots of beer.  However to enable participation across the state, why not use some bloggy platform for those who can't make it in person.  Hey, I know, why don't we use Squarestate diaries for that.  One for each subject.

See this thread and comment.

MoveOn.org is working too.  From an email:

Dear MoveOn member,

Since last week's historic win, we've been hearing the same clear message from millions of MoveOn members: Don't stop now.

So next Thursday (11/20), we're organizing "Fired Up and Ready to Go" gatherings throughout the country.

The work has begun to make the dream a reality.

Millions of supporters and hundreds of millions of our dollars to support a candidate who actually won the presidential race- Barack Obama!  There is something in the punch bowl however. 

What is happens when someone goes over to the other side and actively supports the other side?  Do you show that individual unconditional love or should it be tough love?  I believe that Lieberman should be shown some tough love (and the wood shed).

As many know it was under his chairmanship that the Senate Homeland Security Committee held no hearings on the government response to Hurricane Katrina.  Thus abdicating congressional responsibility for oversight.  He is derelict in his duty as a representative to the people to hold hearings on how well administrative departments are working.

If Howard Fineman is correct in stating "Obama has now expressed his clear support not only for Joe Lieberman staying in the caucus, but for retaining his Chairmanship of the Department of Homeland Security Committee."  This will be a bitter pill to the people who elected Obama.

This is a clear signal that it will be "business as usual" in Washington, D.C.  

This is not what we, the people, voted for.

Now is the time for the huge social networking that Obama and his team has created to come together.  This is not just a one way street.  Creating a social political movement from the grassroots means that it just cannot be turned into a top down command, control, and communication structure.

If change is to come from the people then it is time to tell the incoming administration from Obama on down the chain of command that we do not like the reporting that is coming out.

Specifically- 1). Lieberman should be shown tough love and stripped of his most important committee chairmanship. 2). Intelligence agencies must comply and conform intelligence activities with U.S. law prohibiting torture and U.S. military field manuals covering interrogation procedures, and 3). No "lame duck" holdovers from a failed administration.

Change should not come "later" but now.

From Wall Street Journal today:

Like the president-elect, Mr. Gates supports deploying more troops to Afghanistan. But the defense secretary strongly opposes a firm timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraq, and his appointment could mean that Mr. Obama was effectively shelving his campaign promise to remove most troops from Iraq by mid-2010.  [My emphasis]

This is the reason why Gates should be replaced immediately.

WSJ.com continues:

Still, speculation that Mr. Gates would remain in the job increased over the weekend when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) endorsed the idea in a CNN interview. "Why wouldn't we want to keep him?" Sen. Reid said. "He's never been a registered Republican."

Another Dem speaks, per WSJ.com:

"He's not ideological, he's not partisan, and you could trust him to manage the wars in a competent manner while a new administration gets up to speed," said Nancy Soderberg, a Democrat and onetime U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "It would allow the Obama administration to hit the ground running."

I beg to differ but Mr. Obama can hit the ground running with his own set of advisors.  No more holdovers from a failed and criminal administration.

Remember that Chief of Staff Rahm said that Obama will follow through on his promises...that means a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq by 2010.

The will and majority of Americans want a firm timetable for withdrawl.  This is one of the main reasons why Obama became president.

Stop the killing of Americans and Iraqis.

Will Reid fold on ousting Lieberman from the Senate committe chairmanship?  ThinkProgess has this (h/t to AmericaBlog):

Reid on Lieberman: ‘I didn’t like what he did…but he is one of the most progressive people’ from CT.»

On CNN’s Late Edition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he recognizes what Joe Lieberman said and did during the campaign was “wrong” and “improper,” telling host John King, “if we weren’t on television, I’d use a stronger word of describing what he did.” But he added, “Joe Lieberman is not some right-wing nutcase, Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut.”

Lieberman as Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman has done nothing to hold the current administration accountable for its actions that have directly caused harm to the American people.

If Lieberman is still the chair of HS and Gov Affairs then you and I know that he will be ceaselessly "investigating" the Obama administration.  Being a constant distraction from the serious business of getting our nation on the right track because the Republicans feel that any change for the betterment of the common good is "socialism".

It is time for Lieberman to be kicked out of the Democratic Senate Caucus.

Call the members of the Steering and Outreach Committee and let them know that Lieberman is the Benedict Arnold now.

These are the members of the Steering and Outreach Committee who will be on the front lines of that decision making process:

Debbie Stabenow, Michigan - Chairwoman (202) 224-4822
Harry Reid, Nevada (202) 224-3542
John Kerry, Massachusetts (202) 224-2742
Daniel Inouye, Hawaii (202) 224-3934
Robert Byrd, West Virginia (202) 224-3954
Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts (202) 224-4543
Joe Biden, Delaware (202) 224-5042
Patrick Leahy, Vermont (202) 224-4242
Chris Dodd, Connecticut (202) 224-2823
Tom Harkin, Iowa (202) 224-3254
Max Baucus, Montana (202) 224-2651
Richard Durbin, Illinois (202) 224-2152
Kent Conrad, North Dakota (202) 224-2043
Carl Levin, Michigan (202) 224-6221
Herbert Kohl, Wisconsin (202) 224-5653
Barbara Boxer, California (202) 224-3553
Hillary Clinton, New York (202) 224-4451
Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico (202) 224-5521
Mark Pryor, Arkansas (202) 224-2353

If Sec. of Defense Gates is asked to stay on then why would he stay on for "less than a year"?  The selection process would have to start for Obama to really pick an individual who would be his own choice and not that from a failed administration.  It is fairly ridiculous to consider Gates to continue after Mr. Bush leaves even though the D.C. pundits are panting over Gates staying on.

Seth Walls, HuffingtonPost.com, reports:

But not everyone is sold on the idea. One former high-ranking defense official now advising Obama told the Huffington Post that keeping Gates around is "the dumbest thing I've ever heard." The former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he has told the Obama transition team as much...

The official, who spoke from personal experience within the bureaucracy, said that as an administrator, "you need your own people. And a lot of those people [under Gates] were neoconservative architects of the [Iraq] war."

Meteor Blades, DailyKos.com, has written about the fact that no Republican presidents have appointed a Democrat to run the Department of Defense.  I think it speaks volumes that Democratic presidents have chosen Republicans to lead the DoD more often than from their own party.

Remember that the Sec of DoD must repudiate the processes set up by the failed Bush administration with regard to interrogation and treatment of prisoners.  Furthermore strict adherence to all treaties and conventions with regard to warmaking and waging of war through new guidelines must be implemented- i.e., the Bush Doctrine must be discarded and a new strategic policy must be set forth as per the Defense Department's quadriennial review.

My choices would be Wesley Clark or Gary Hart or Sam Nunn.  What does the Progressnowaction community think?

The economic "shock and awe" that Mr. Bush and his cohort utilized to gain over a trillion dollars for Wall Street by increasing the national debt has gained what?  Has there been an economic "stablization"?  Or has there been a further destablization of the economy?  What has Paulson and Bernanke done to the economy with regard to actually providing a new set of regulations that will prevent further collapse of this nation's economy?

The smartest boys on Wall Street are joining up with their K Street counterparts in order to create an American "free fraud zone" ala Iraq.

While we are experiencing economic hardships, due to Mr. Bush's idolation of the "free market", that has wiped trillions of dollars from the ledgers of millions of peoples savings and retirement accounts I wonder if this "bailout" of Wall Street is just us being played for chumps?

Glennzilla speaks:

Barack Obama has, on numerous occasions, emphatically expressed his support for repealing DOMA. When he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, he wrote a letter to Chicago's Windy City Times, calling DOMA "abhorrent" and its repeal "essential," and vowing: "I opposed DOMA in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor." But he went on to cite what he called the "the realities of modern politics" in order to proclaim (accurately) that DOMA's repeal at that time -- 2004 -- was "unlikely with Mr. Bush in the White House and Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress." After Tuesday, that excuse is no longer availing.

This is about expanding civil rights for all citizens.  This nation's path has been to expand rights to all it's citizens no matter how long it takes.  There will be stumbling blocks to granting rights to all citizens but the arc of American history shows that justice will be done.

President-elect Obama has specifically included the GLBT community as an integrel part of change.  As Glenn writes:

Obama and Congressional Democrats deserve some time to figure out what they will do and what they will prioritize.  It's irrational to criticize them for things they haven't done.  It's probably politically wise for the first steps they take to be related to the economy, and there are numerous other non-economic priorities of vital importance that nobody should wait for (restoring habeas corpus, closing Guantanamo, imposing a government-wide ban on torture).  But repealing DOMA, and certainly its most destructive part, is a quick and important way to establish who they are, and doing that is consistent with, not contrary to, prevailing political sentiment.

Call me pessimistic but from the "pundits" like David Gregory chattering this morning shows that there will be no honeymoon for president-elect Barack Obama.   Contrary to what Rep. Lewis said, on NBC today, that there will be a "long honeymoon" as I surveyed what the national commentators are saying seems like a replay of Bill Clinton's becoming President.  The attacks have already begun from the propaganda outfit Fox News "reporting" a mob scene in front of the White House to commentators downplaying the results of the election as anything other then a mandate by the new president Barack Obama for real change.

But we, the people, have the real work to do.  As Obama has repeatedly said that those who are in power for the status quo will not give up easily.  This is not just those who are in political power but in the corporate media as well.  To those who believe that they can "create new realities" rather than face the factual reality are those who have been in power for the last eight years (and for pundits like David Broder for decades).  Those politicians and pundits have now to face that a grass roots campaign that has deliberately been empowered (as fivethirtyeight.com has amply documented) by millions of people who believe in working for change.  Working for real change wasn't about getting Barack Obama to be President.  Working for real change begins now.

How we, as a nation, will confront the twin problems of crisis created by Republican ideology per public policies of lassie faire capitalism/Bush Doctrine and entrenched power players in status quo politics at all levels of government is daunting but not insurmountable because we have met this challenge in the last century.

History has shown us that we can come together and build a better nation for us and our children.  However, history has shown that we can forget and have to redo those beneficial policies because untempered conservative ideology will create conditions that will bring about disaster capitalism that affects the lives of all.  When we, as a nation, falls asleep due to the lullabies of the authoritarian father and enact policies that encourage a Randian "greed is good" mentality for those who are the "captains of finance and industry" has now shown to work only for their own selfish gain to the detriment of this nation's people.  It is time to elect representatives of the people who will work for this nation's best interest and to hold those representatives responsible to do the work in changing government that serves those who believe in "greed for the one" to a government that can be responsive for the betterment of this nation.

Change is not one individual- Barack Obama- but comes from the work of millions to be empowered with the ideals of enlightened self governance and to know that a leader can be as powerful as those who support him.  In this case the mandate for change to the bettering of this nation is unmistakeable.

Already, we have seen stumbling blocks setup by the passage of laws that narrow the rights of individuals like California's Proposition 8.  But we can overcome those obstacles because this nation was founded on the ideals of the Enlightenment and liberalism as embodied in this nation's founding- the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence.  We, as a people, know that the those ideals contained within live and breath within each of us.  This experiment in self governance shall not be overturned.  

We, as a nation, no matter the dangers that we face from within and without cannot surrender to fear.  The change that we, who support liberalism and progressivism, have history on our side.  But having history on our side does not mean that we can rest on that knowledge.

We, as a people, are revolutionaries now.  Just as our forefathers fought against the greatest military and economic colossus of their world so do we take up the challenge to change a system that has become the same system that our forefathers fought against.  However, we have the advantage that rather then create something new and untried but we must adhere to the goals of liberty and justice for all in our government by those we hold accountable.

It is time for corporate media not to call an election before polling has closed in all states.

Digby writes:

I just want to add to what tristero said below --- if the networks call the election early they will not only run the risk of being wrong, they will likely lower turnout in the west. That will affect our congressional and senate races as well as important ballot initiatives. 

This cannot be emphasized enough.  By calling the presidential election before all voting is done with will depress turnout.  By depressing turnout which will affect down ballot elections and initiatives is a disservice to the nation by corporate media.

From the New York Times:

A senior vice president of CBS News, Paul Friedman, said the prospects for Barack Obama or John McCain meeting the minimum threshold of electoral votes could be clear as soon as 8 p.m. — before polls in even New York and Rhode Island close, let alone those in Texas and California. At such a moment, determined from a combination of polling data and samples of actual votes, the network could share its preliminary projection with viewers, Mr. Friedman said.

Tristero writes:

People, this is democratic malpractice, voter suppression. Senate and House races will be affected by this, as will the tally to defeat odious ballot initiatives like Prop Hate in California.

Don't fall for it! Whatever the preliminary results, whatever you hear, get to the polls and vote as if your single ballot could single-handedly decide Florida in 2000. Why? Because it's true.

Every single vote for Obama repudiates conservatism. It is not enough for Obama to win. Republicans must lose and lose and lose. Republicans know = and for once, they are right - the election is NOT over. Why? Because it is NEVER over. The fight for 2012 began a long time ago. Assuming we are lucky enough to have an Obama victory tomorrow, the fight to destroy his presidency will begin immediately - in fact, it's already begun. The single best thing all Americans can do to prevent that from happening is to vote, no matter how long the lines, no matter how the election is called before all the polls are closed, no matter what.

Call or email the local television stations to NOT broadcast network feeds that go to call the election before all of the western states have closed their voting booths.

If you want to leave a comment about CBS4's news or programming, call (303) 830-6449.

Call 9NEWS Main #: 303.871.9999

Call Channel 7 News: (303) 832-7777

Call Fox 31 303-566-7600

Call Channel 2(303) 221-NEWS2

Brad Friedman has it all on Oprah's experience with touch screen voting.  Maybe people and politicians will take it seriously.

Check it out.