NION: We need to be about the business of driving the Bush regime ...

[understandinglife]

... from power."

This is a comment on the outcome of the "compromise" in the Senate over judicial nominations. C. Clark Kissinger is one of the initiators of the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience who, along with Joan Bokaer (Founder of Theocracy Watch.org) and others, called for people to protest the threatened "nuclear option":

"After all the bluster and shadow boxing was over, President Bush got his way. Under the terms of a "compromise," three of Bush's worst nominees will be voted on and they will likely be confirmed. And what did the Democrats get in return? They got to keep the right to filibuster, provided they promise not to use it!

"That's right. The Democrats got nothing. And what will happen when even more disgusting candidates are brought up as nominees for the Supreme Court? The Republicans will simply roll out the threat of the "nuclear option" once again, since nothing in the so-called "compromise" prohibits them from doing that.

"Once again this demonstrates the need for a mass popular movement of resistance. Without the kind of mass upsurge that we witnessed in the 1960s, there is nothing that will prevent the current threatening dynamic from continuing. This is why we called on people to go to Washington, and make their presence felt in the streets. The world can't wait any longer. We need to be about the business of driving the Bush regime from power."

C. Clark Kissinger

from the NION SOC Staff
[email protected]
www.nion.us

My specific recommendations remain:

Firstly, stop allowing dictator Bu$h and his criminal neoconsters to set the agenda.

Secondly, get out of the 'trees'; climb a hill and take a look at 'the forest.'

Senator Reid and Congresswoman Pelosi need to lead all just and honest members of Congress out of the US Capitol and refuse to return until the following issues are under independent legal review:

1. The process by which Mr Bush started his war with Iraq;

2. A full disclosure of all materials related to 9/11 and a full investigation as demanded by Ms Sibel Edmonds and others;

3. A full investigation of the "national election of 2004";

4. A full investigation of all detentions without due process since 9/11 and a full investigation of all aspects of Mr Bush's torture policies and practices;

5. A full investigation of all Iraqi monies and other valuable resources that have not been accounted since Mr Bush began his occupation of Iraq on March 19th 2003.

By acting in the following manner we would have full and ample opportunity to bring to the attention of every citizen the extent to which neoconification has rendered their notion of "America" an entity of the past.

Anything short of a dramatic hill climb, a willingness to establish a vantage from which all can clearly see what has happened to "America" will ensure that the typical outcome of every past dishonest and repressive regime is soon to be an experience "Americans" never imagined happening to them.

This is not a movie; this is not a computer game. We now live in a neoconified sham of a once great Constitutional Republic. We now live in an imperialistic regime that is gobbling and ravaging anything it desires, anywhere on the planet (and, soon, in space).

A peaceful, legal resolution can only happen if honest and just members of the US Congress halt business-as-usual and begin the business of working with all of us to re-build "America."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3688434

Peace.

"From the ashes of the republic there arose the Rebuild America Party, led by the tattered, brave and true Democrats - Reid, Pelosi, Conyers, Boxer, Waters, Slaughter, Kennedy, and millions of others, along with Greens, and Independents, and, ... well, the RAP is a gigantic tent. America was resurrected on ________ " - (let's hope the date is soon).

[EFerrari]

1. kick

:kick:

[understandinglife]

74. Raw Story: "“Did the administration mislead us into war by manipulating...

... and misstating intelligence....

RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY

Coalition of citizen groups seek formal inquiry into whether Bush acted illegally in push for Iraq war

By Larisa Alexandrovna | RAW STORY

A coalition of citizen activist groups running the gamut of social and political issues will ask Congress to file a Resolution of Inquiry, the first necessary legal step to determine whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in misleading the country about his decision to go to war in Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.

The formal Resolution of Inquiry request, written by Boston Constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz, cites the Downing Street Memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. A resolution of inquiry would force relevant House committees to vote on the record as to whether to support an investigation.

more at the link:
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/alexandrovna/coalition_inquiry_downing_street_memo_526

Bonifaz's memo to Conyers:
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/alexandrovna/memo_bush_impeachable_offenses_526

The coalition is called "After Downing Street" and their website:

www.afterdowningstreet.org

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - how ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization in the name of "America."

[understandinglife]

75. Support "AfterDowningStreet"; STOP the destruction of civilization.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3736375

Peace.

[knowbody0]

2. kick

[Vincardog]

3. Kick and Nominated WE have to ACT NOW

[EFerrari]

4. Is it still possible to have an "independent legal review"?

I honestly don't know.

At least, we can challenge them to it.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[countryjake]

23. Screw their offices! They need to try working for a living!

You say "only three" judges will be sent up for vote. Well isn't that special!

Those three judges happen to be three of the most terrible tyrants who ever donned a robe and they have already struck fear into the hearts of many who actually do work hard for a living; proven records exist on all three that they do not make decisions based on actual law or Constitutional standard.

Hundreds of legitimate civil and human rights organizations, unions, and democratic groups all across this country have been actively organizing, alerting, and fighting to keep those particular three judges from gaining lifetime appointments! Literally masses of people have been waiting with baited breath for the struggle to finally take place on the Senate floor, thru the debates and the prevention of such unjust, extreme-right fanatics being voted onto our prez's "cozy-benches".

Do those Senators not understand the meaning of "lifetime appointment"? Do any of them possibly realize that they had more support in DEFEATING those three specific judges, on their Senate floor, than they will probably ever have again? Do they even get that working folks were actually united behind the notion of dumping Owen, Brown, and Pryor right back into our prez's lap?

That compromise has won not a thing for working people of this country. Those "moderate" Democrats have taken a vital issue pertaining to all who are deeply concerned with the strangle-hold that big-business has on our lives and thrown it right back in our faces!

They sold out on three judges who concern every last one of us, something people were willing to take a united stand on, issues which affect every single worker.

I would like to think this compromise was just a stupid act of desperation but I'm beginning to suspect it's much more devious than that. If the nuclear option had been dropped this week, over the appointment of one, anti working-class judge, reasonable working-class people would have stood behind whatever course the Democrats needed to take.

When next the right-wing pulls that nuclear option out of its pocket, the issue will be something the Democrats have already indicated they would like to "move to the center" on. How easy it will be for them to "cave" and "save the Senate" by selling out on equality for women and claim that unknown Supreme Court nominee, whoever it may be, wasn't worth the battle!

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

Priscilla Owen, nominated to the 5th Circuit, consistently rules against workers’ and consumers’ interests and in favor of employers and insurers. She has authored or joined opinions that have undermined the state workers’ compensation system and the right of workers to seek redress in court for job injuries. In at least one such case, the Texas Legislature immediately passed legislation to overrule Owen’s position. Owen is one of the most frequent dissenters from an already-conservative court. In one dissent, Owen would have made it much harder for workers to prove discrimination in firing, contradicting what the majority called the “plain meaning” of the state anti-bias law. Owen’s nomination is opposed by a broad coalition of union, consumer, women’s and civil rights organizations in Texas and nationally.

Janice Rogers Brown, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was rated “unqualified” for a seat on the California Supreme Court by the state bar’s commission on judicial nominees. The commission rated her “unqualified” because of Brown’s lack of experience and her tendency to inject her personal views into her judicial opinions. Since then, she has authored many confrontational and harsh opinions—often in dissent—that would seriously undermine civil rights, workers’ rights, and the environment. Her opinions and speeches reflect a deeply held ideology that is hostile to the interests of working people. In one speech, Justice Brown compared the New Deal (when important labor legislation like minimum wages laws were passed) to a “socialist revolution,” and even went so far as to say, “Today’s senior citizens blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a right to get as much ‘free’ stuff as the political system will permit them to extract.”


William Pryor, nominated to the 11th Circuit, was Alabama’s Attorney General. In 2004, when he failed to win Senate confirmation, Bush used a recess appointment to place him on the bench. But that recess appointment expired with the new Congress and Pryor must win Senate approval. As the state’s top lawyer, he has authored or joined numerous briefs challenging the constitutionality of a host of federal employment protections, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. He also has urged Congress to eliminate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which protects the right to vote for African Americans and other minorities. Pryor has a long record as a “states’ rights” advocate and has frequently urged the Supreme Court to curtail Congress’ ability to establish uniform protections covering states in areas such as employment discrimination, environmental protections and other basic rights. In two cases, Pryor was the only attorney general urging the Supreme Court to overturn federal laws on states’ rights, including an attempt to overturn a provision of the Violence Against Women Act, even as 36 states filed a brief supporting the law. His nomination is opposed by more than 200 organizations, including unions, civil rights, environmental, women’s, disability rights and other groups.

http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/factsheet_ns04242003.cfm

[Sapphire Blue]

24. Ignoring Deal, Frist to File for Cloture on Myers

Ignoring Deal, Frist to File for Cloture on Myers

Senate Majority Leader Frist will file for cloture on President Bush’s nomination of William Myers to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later this week, according to sources on and off Capitol Hill, wasting no time in testing the resolve of 14 Republican and Democratic senators who forced at least a temporary halt to the battle over Democratic filibusters of President Bush’s judicial picks.

http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=956

Please don't hit me again! Please, I'll be good... I won't filibuster!

The Politics of Victimization

Mel Gilles, domestic violence activist

an excerpt...

How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.

First, you must admit you are a victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don’t do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right. You also don’t do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less is you don’t resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away. You find other folks like yourself, 56 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up. You tell them what you’ve learned, and that you aren’t going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with 56 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell. Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it’s better than the abuse.

We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 56 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don’t know how.

Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don’t let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he’ll win, not because he’s right, but because force works). Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it failproof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, “loose”, irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct. We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history.

Even if you do everything right, they’ll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don’t even know they are being hit.

http://www.refuseandresist.org/article-print.php?aid=1696

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

33. All good points. But, I think Horsey summarizes the situation, correctly.

I am not arguing because I see no point in doing so for the simple reason that you are correct, the current status of the filibuster is that it remains in the senate rule book (the little donkey in Horsey's cartoon is, as usual, accurately portrayed).

The current reality regarding it's use is that the next time a minority member attempts to do so, Frist will 'go nuclear' and he will have every member of the majority in a position of either supporting him or changing their party affiliation (those who did would be welcome under the RAP tent).

In my opinion, for the little that it is worth, I would have preferred that that happened before the 'extraordinary circumstance' caveat became attached because now, not only will Frist succeed in killing the filibuster, he will be in a position to blame it on the 'bad faith and bad behavior' of the minority -- which he is itching to do.

Beyond that, it doesn't matter. "America" is past tense, and it is time to focus on all that can be done to restore it; the dawning of the 2nd enlightenment is a nice way to envision the next several decades.

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

38. "...you chose to kick and damn." Little harsh there.

And, I made lots of calls; not just on Monday.

The reality is, the filibuster is neutered until that 'extraordinary circumstances' caveat is removed. Maybe someday it will be.

Small victories matter when you are moving toward a goal. "Small victories" when you're being crushed are merely cover for the retreat.

The glass is not half-empty, I agree. It is not half-full, either.

The "America" glass is dry and on the shelf and will remain there until folk awaken to the present reality of a dictatorship that is growing stronger every min of every day -- Owen being today's addition to the dictator's gang.

So, I'm not 'kicking and damning' the valiant but powerless members of Congress (Boxer, Kerry, Kennedy, and others). I'm just suggesting they need a different platform and they need to deny the current dictatorship any semblance of legitimacy.

And, the best way for them to do so is to declare their total opposition, declare the current administration and its legislative supporters the criminals that everyone who isn't brainwashed knows them to be, and halt business as usual until the dictatorship is dismantled, indicted and prosecuted.


Peace.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

44. "...between totalitarian take over and 'our democracy'." Ah, I see.

The reason why I pity the folk in the Congress and you think that that pity is 'kicking and damning' is that you still view the situation as 'a democracy' and I view the situation as a dictatorship.

When the neoconsters, aided by the SCOTUS, stole the national election of 2000, 'our democracy' took a lethal hit. It died sometime between 9pm EST and 2am EST 2/3 Nov 2004.

I'm encouraging folk to stop pretending otherwise and get started with the business of being an opposition to the Bu$h dictatorship rather than participating in the theater-of-the-fauxamerica, any longer.

I admire the courage and conviction of those who speak eloquently on the floor of the senate and the hr and have been willing to persist in the face of certain failure come time for any vote of substance.

I'm just suggesting that they would actually be being effective, that they would actually be beginning the process of restoring democracy in "America," if they returned to their districts and states and began rallying the opposition to re-establish the legitimacy of the legislative and executive branches of the republic. They should be unrelenting in rallying those same citizens to support full legal and peaceful action against the criminals currently occupying the majority in the congress and the entirety of the executive office.

As Congresswoman Slaughter stated when asked about an ability to hold hearings on the 'Downing Street memo' -- 'well hold them on the lawn in front of the Capitol if we have to.' I'm suggesting that that the lawn in front of the Capitol, in DC, and in every state is where our true opposition leaders and our true patriotic citizens need to be -- reforging, restoring, rebuilding, resurrecting "America."

Peace.



Congresswoman Lee "I wish the press were paying more attention to the erosion of the Constitution and the slippery slope that we're getting into, by giving up the right of the Congress to talk about when and how and where we go to war. I don't think that's been covered enough, and it should be. That's an important right to preserve in a state of national crisis such as this. - 2001

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

48. "Don't damn the folks willing to fight." Interesting interpretation.

I didn't spill the "American" republic on the floor or crush the constitutional glass that served as its framework for ~ 200 years.

That was done by SCOTUS, the Bu$h clan, Scaife, Ahamanson, the neoconsters and their minions in 2000. The same folk who bolstered the dictatorship in 2002 and 2004.

Aim your fire in the direction of the dictatorship, not those attempting to muster a focused opposition.

Peace.



Mr Lucas, it happened.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

51. "Appreciate those that are fighting for you!" Good advice. Have always...

.... done so - since the days in the streets of san antonio and austin texas in 1966 demanding an end to the Vietnam War. Have always respected and cooperated with those fighting for (with) me.

Excellent advice for all.

Peace.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4578755.stm


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[merh]

37. We didn't have the votes - we would have lost the filibuster!!!!!

Pirate Smile Donating member (1000+ posts)
Wed May-25-05 11:19 AM

FYI - Barbara Boxer said the Democrats did NOT have the votes to

She was on the Stephanie Miller show this morning. She said the vote they needed was Specter and he had not said how he would vote.

On Monday, the Democrats found out Specter was going to vote with Frist.

I saw Buchanan on MSNBC yesterday, livid (like the rest of the RW religious extremists)because he said the Republicans, because of the 7 in the compromise, had snatched defeat out of the hands of victory.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3726367

[understandinglife]

39. And, that would have been a much better outcome than pretending...

.... to have saved something by neutering it.

Peace.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[understandinglife]

42. I certainly hope I am 'so wrong.' (nt)

Emad Hajjaj, Al-Ghad Newspaper, Amman, Jordan

Peace.

[countryjake]

47. This particular attack on the filibuster was despised by THE MAJORITY...

of Americans, because of the REAL issue...Senate confirmation of a corporate-kissing, scab-sucking, working-class-hating judge to a position that could bring us all a "lifetime" of defeat!

That "issue" had gained mass support, ever since the last time she was thrown back, and outrage knew no bounds when our prez had the gall to try and bring her back for a second round! What could possibly be considered more "extraordinary" than that blatant attempt to shove such an enemy of the people down our throats?

Your precious Senators failed to defend that highly important filibuster, at a time that they had the broad backing of millions of working people, united around the issue of preventing another corporate lackey from gaining a powerful Federal bench.

I think that you don't understand my point. Fighting the battle against blocking a filibuster would have been strategically opportune while Senators had the majority of Americans, both men and women, concerned over WHY that filibuster was being attacked.

"Owen’s nomination is opposed by a broad coalition of union, consumer, women’s and civil rights organizations in Texas and nationally."

"Pryor's nomination is opposed by more than 200 organizations, including unions, civil rights, environmental, women’s, disability rights and other groups."

The next time a filibuster is questioned, the MINORITY couldn't possibly have such a united front standing behind them, as they did this week!

And no, I made no phone calls this week cause I can't afford the damn long-distance! But I've wasted many a stamp pleading with those jackasses to stop playing kissy-face with mega-businesses who are literally KILLING the working-class in this country! We are already powerless!

[merh]

53. Yeah and how many called to tell them.

:shrug:

There is a toll free number if you need it in the future.
1-877-SOB-U-SOB

It get's you to the switchboard. :hi:

[countryjake]

55. Workers Sent More than 80,000 Faxes & E-Mail Protesting the Nuclear Option

http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/ns05182005.cfm

"Through the AFL-CIO Working Families Network, America’s workers have sent more than 80,000 e-mails and faxes to senators urging them to reject Frist’s attempts to eliminate the judicial filibuster."

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/StopNuclear/explanation


Know why? Here are the most powerful reasons! These nominations are what moved so many to action. Maintaining the independence of our Judicial branch, out from under the thumb of corporate steam-rollers, was the MAIN concern, to try to give us half a chance in seeing fair rulings go down around this nation. Once that system of Checks and Balances has dissolved, we'll be kissing Congress goodbye, along with the courts!

http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/factsheet_ns04242003.cfm

1. Priscilla Owen, nominated to the 5th Circuit, consistently rules against workers’ and consumers’ interests and in favor of employers and insurers. She has authored or joined opinions that have undermined the state workers’ compensation system and the right of workers to seek redress in court for job injuries. In at least one such case, the Texas Legislature immediately passed legislation to overrule Owen’s position. Owen is one of the most frequent dissenters from an already-conservative court. In one dissent, Owen would have made it much harder for workers to prove discrimination in firing, contradicting what the majority called the “plain meaning” of the state anti-bias law. Owen’s nomination is opposed by a broad coalition of union, consumer, women’s and civil rights organizations in Texas and nationally.


2. Janice Rogers Brown, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was rated “unqualified” for a seat on the California Supreme Court by the state bar’s commission on judicial nominees. The commission rated her “unqualified” because of Brown’s lack of experience and her tendency to inject her personal views into her judicial opinions. Since then, she has authored many confrontational and harsh opinions—often in dissent—that would seriously undermine civil rights, workers’ rights, and the environment. Her opinions and speeches reflect a deeply held ideology that is hostile to the interests of working people. In one speech, Justice Brown compared the New Deal (when important labor legislation like minimum wages laws were passed) to a “socialist revolution,” and even went so far as to say, “Today’s senior citizens blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a right to get as much ‘free’ stuff as the political system will permit them to extract.”


3. William Pryor, nominated to the 11th Circuit, was Alabama’s Attorney General. In 2004, when he failed to win Senate confirmation, Bush used a recess appointment to place him on the bench. But that recess appointment expired with the new Congress and Pryor must win Senate approval. As the state’s top lawyer, he has authored or joined numerous briefs challenging the constitutionality of a host of federal employment protections, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. He also has urged Congress to eliminate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which protects the right to vote for African Americans and other minorities. Pryor has a long record as a “states’ rights” advocate and has frequently urged the Supreme Court to curtail Congress’ ability to establish uniform protections covering states in areas such as employment discrimination, environmental protections and other basic rights. In two cases, Pryor was the only attorney general urging the Supreme Court to overturn federal laws on states’ rights, including an attempt to overturn a provision of the Violence Against Women Act, even as 36 states filed a brief supporting the law. His nomination is opposed by more than 200 organizations, including unions, civil rights, environmental, women’s, disability rights and other groups.


4. Terrence Boyle, nominated to the 4th Circuit, is a North Carolina federal district court judge and former staff member of the former Sen. Jesse Helms. Boyle has a very problematic record in civil rights cases. He was reversed twice by the Supreme Court, once in a unanimous ruling, for deciding that congressional redistricting in North Carolina improperly favored minority voters. Boyle also refused to accept a settlement of a sex discrimination claim against a state agency, even though the agency had agreed, and was reversed when he later allowed the state to withdraw from the settlement.

5. Brett Kavanaugh, nominated to the D.C. Circuit, has less legal experience than almost any nominee to the D.C. Circuit in more than 30 years, but his political connections and championing of political causes are clear. Kavanaugh is known for his work as a top deputy to Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, for whom Kavanaugh drafted key portions of the Starr report on grounds to impeach President Clinton. Until recently, Kavanaugh was a key person in the White House counsel’s office responsible for identifying and pushing through President Bush’s most extreme judicial nominees.

[merh]

58. Stop repeating what I know about these people.

So the dems didn't kick ass and take names. They settled on settling. Looks like you need to work on getting dems into office and stop bashing the ones we have. Or is that too much to consider doing at this stage. Just be angry and slam those who did stand up for democracy, that is so effective. As Barbara Boxer said yesterday, they didn't have the votes necessary to defeat the nuclear option. We would have lost the filibuster and then we would have been screwed.

Turn your anger to positive uses. Work on getting braver, more daring dems into office. Give the dems we have now some back up and help them find their backbone again.

[countryjake]

59. How is filling the courts with opposing ideals standing up for Democracy?

Once those laws are interpreted as something they're not, we will be a thousand times more powerless, in every railroading case, in every rigged election, in every life and death matter, in every single bill written with snake-oil! Without the fairness of balanced jurisprudence, in a government already overrun by those seeking to destroy democracy, our Constitution will be re-written with ease!

I will work on crushing the bastards who are using their power to oppress us, as I've done at every stage of their games throughout my entire life. That is positively where my anger remains focused and I won't be swayed or hornswoggled or misrepresented by those who do not recognize the danger!

To paraphrase that undeniable line of Tom Joad's from The Grapes of Wrath, it takes no nerve to do somethin' when there ain't nothin' else you can do!

[merh]

60. Keeping the filibuster is standing up for democracy.

That we had to give judges for that glorious, wonderful tool, well the trade of is fine with me.

I know how the circuits work, I know how one judge doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of thing on any panel BUT the loss of the filibuster would cripple our nation, would render the dems impotent and would allow the total control of my beloved nation.

If it takes a trade off to keep them from totally controlling the legislation branch, then so be it. I'll gladly sanction and welcome that trade.

:hi:

[countryjake]

66. Looking at Owen's confirmation celebration...

I simply don't understand how you can believe that the Legislature hasn't already been "taken". The worst possible nominee is now sittin' pretty and that fact seems to be an absolutely "extraordinary circumstance", to me. :cry:

[understandinglife]

69. It's about 'trees' and 'forests,' countryjake

I fully agree with you and appreciate your informative posts.

Here's how I've been explaining it to various folk since "Neville Chamberlain Day" - i.e., May 23 2005.

While some folk are hugging the 'filibuster tree' (which was lethally infected with the virulent 'extraordinary circumstances' virus on May 23 2005) they have failed to notice that the forest (our Constitutional republic) has been clear-cut.

The logging started in earnest on Saturday, Dec 9 2000, and has not abated for a second, since.

Everyone can keep hugging that last, lethally infected tree.

Or, they can decide to climb the very steep hill to the RAP tent, see the decimated forest for what it is, and, finally, begin all the legal and peaceful actions required to remove the dictator Bu$h and his neoconster vermin from the land and beginning restoring the forest.

Any doubt any person could have about Bu$h being a dictator should have been readily dashed by his 'catapult propaganda' and 'don't listen to your constituent' comments -- all made in the 24 hours after that remaining tree was lethally infected.


It has happened, Mr Lucas


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - how ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying in the name of "America."

[countryjake]

73. Here is our prez's remark that galled me the most...

"Thanks to the good work of the leader, whose work cleared the way, Judge Owen is finally going to get an up or down vote on the Senate floor. She is my friend, and more importantly, she's a great judge."

For him to heap that sort of praise on Frist, after all the threats of their "nuclear option" and such a blatant move to eliminate any debate or opposition in order to have his extremist choices accepted, it makes this confirmation all that much harder to bear!

That one line was the demented cackle of a sly despot!

[understandinglife]

5. Basics: Never negotiate with tyrants and dictators. They ONLY LIE.

The lesson of May 23, 2005 - America's "Neville Chamberlain" Day.

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[puebloknot]

7. Unfortunately, I doubt that many people....

....these days know who Neville Chamberlain was, or that his name lives in infamy as the man who tried to appease Hitler -- to no avail, of course.

Those who forget the past, etc.

[EFerrari]

6. Kick for all those kids eating sand RIGHT NOW for oil

:kick:

[Octafish]

8. Great post, understandinglife! "America was resurrected on..."

My two cents on how to get there.

Remind Mr. and Mrs. America until they KNOW:



A few months before September 11, 2001,
the crazy monkey's "unofficial*" biographer noted
Bush seemed afraid of aerial attack by hijacked planes
commandeered by Osama bin Laden.

Why would Osama bin Laden want to kill Dubya, his former business partner?

By James Hatfield

Editor's note: In light of last week's horrific events and the Bush administration's reaction to them, we are reprising the following from the last column Jim Hatfield wrote for Online Journal prior to his tragic death on July 18:

July 3, 2001—There may be fireworks in Genoa, Italy, this month, too.

A plot by Saudi master terrorist, Osama bin Laden, to assassinate Dubya during the July 20 economic summit of world leaders, was uncovered after dozens of suspected Islamic militants linked to bin Laden's international terror network were arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, and Milan, Italy, in April.

German intelligence services have stated that bin Laden is covertly financing neo-Nazi skinhead groups throughout Europe to launch another terrorist attack at a high-profile American target—his first since the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen last October.

According to counter-terrorism experts quoted in Germany's largest newspaper, the attack on Dubya might be a James Bond-like aerial strike in the form of remote-controlled airplanes packed with plastic explosives.

Why would Osama bi Laden want to kill, Dubya, his former business partner?

CONTINUED...

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html

In the article, the late author did not even consider LIHOP. The term, in fact 9-11, had not yet happened.

* Rove talked with Hatfield, re: Bush cocaine bust and community service at Project P.U.L.L.

Oh yeah. Every word you wrote. We need to grab the BFEE by the nose and kick 'em in the pants. All the way to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, where they should spend the rest of their natural days making little rocks out of big rocks.

[Octafish]

68. And another thing: Bush KNEW and Terrorists FLEW!

Pretzelnut George Walker Bush was warned about Osama bin Laden months before 9-11? Before the CIA briefed him at Crawford during his first month-long vacation in August 2001, he had been “forced” to sleep offshore during the G-8 summit in Genoa. The reason: bin Laden threatened to crash the party with a jet plane. This shows, at BEST, Bush's incompetence enabled 9-11. That makes him criminally derelict in his duty as commander-in-chief, an impeachable offense. What’s more likely, based on the results of his leadership in the four years since, Bush just decided to let 9-11 happen as a reason for building up the world’s first sole-superpower police state.

There is no doubt the former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and President Clinton personally warned the incoming administration of the dangers posed by bin Laden and Al Quaeda.

Later that summer, DCI George Tenet's hair was afire with all the warnings he was getting. How come he didn't get the info about the flight schools from CIA? Perhaps he'duh warned the airlines or even the flying public?

It's most LIKELY Bush's incompetence was the result of willfull ignorance. That requires no stretch of the imagination. Consider the following evidence, from JUNE-JULY 2001:

Plot to assassinate Bush - reports

Bin Laden: Believed to have a network of guerrillas

July 9, 2001 Posted: 9:23 AM EDT (1323 GMT)

MOSCOW, Russia -- Osama bin Laden has threatened to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush at a G8 meeting in Italy, the head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service has said, according to reports.

The Associated Press said Yevgeny Murov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying: "Bin Laden is threatening the American president, but we know what international terrorism is today and therefore all the bodyguard units concerned are preparing for this.

"We view the threats as totally serious, but hope that with joint efforts we can solve all the problems."

The Group of Eight summit is meeting between July 20-22 in Genoa, Italy. Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are expected to attend the summit.

Murov -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief bodyguard -- did not elaborate on the threats. He said agents from Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service have travelled to Genoa to coordinate with their counterparts from the other nations taking part in the summit to investigate the threats.

CONTINUED...

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/20/russia.binladen/



Missiles to protect summit leaders

Special report: globalisation

Rory Carroll in Rome
Wednesday July 11, 2001
The Guardian

Italy has installed a missile defence system at Genoa's airport to deter airborne attacks during next week's G8 summit, fuelling hysteria about looming violence.

A land-based battery of rockets with a range of nine miles and an altitude of 5,000 feet has been positioned in the latest security measure against perceived threats from terrorists and protesters.

Unidentified planes, helicopters and balloons risk being shot down should they drift too close to the heads of state from the group of seven leading industrialised nations and Russia.
Colonel Alberto Battaglini, of the ministry of defence, said the precaution was not exces sive. "The measure, which was planned by the previous government, may seem open to criticism, but in reality it is merely to act as a deterrent against any aerial incursion during the summit.

"They are little missiles ... which only have a deterrent function to discourage any aerial-led attack and they do not present any danger to the residents of the city," he said.

CONTINUED...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,7369,519925,00.html

Then there's John Ashcan who stopped flying commercial in July 2001.

Ashcroft Flying High

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2001

CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports on Aschcroft's travel arrangements.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines." -- FBI spokesman

(CBS) Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

A senior official at the CIA said he was unaware of specific threats against any Cabinet member, and Ashcroft himself, in a speech in California, seemed unsure of the nature of the threat.

CONTINUED...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml

And then what did the crazy monkey do after 9-11? He broke his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, committed treason in comandeering the armed forces, broke international law by invading a nation that was no threat to the country -- just so his rich pals can get richer and his masters more powerful. Bush is a crook. A traitor. A madman.

[buff2]

9. Anyone sending this to our dem "leaders"?

Or is this just being posted on DU for us to read and hash out between us with no action? :shrug:

[EFerrari]

11. Build it first. UL has been in touch with NOIN.

Posting here is action. Forwarding the OP to your network is action. Forwarding the thread to your 527 is action.

We are the leadership right now.

[understandinglife]

12. I have been sending these messages to several organizations, key...

... op-ed writers, certain members of 'the congress,' and many individuals.

I intend to continue doing so and to finding as many ways as possible to expand the list of those whom I communicate and the network of those, like yourself, who can do likewise.

Simply, 'go for it.' You don't need to ask my permission; copy and paste anything you think of the least value and begin Rebuilding America, because Rebuilding America and defeating the dictatorial Bu$h neoconster regime is the only option.

Unless you want to move elsewhere.

Peace and thank you for your insights and interest.


Let's RAP

[puebloknot]

10. True Democrats

I agree that your list outlines about the best hope we have, but I'm sad (and I mean it -- sad, not sarcastic) that today I received
e-mail letters from both Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy, lauding the compromise and saying what a positive thing it is that we can still come together and appease -- strike that.

That we can exercise our constitutional rights to keep extremist judges off the bench another day, but not today. That we can still come together and compromise for the good of....strike that.

That they're trying to put on a happy face for the rest of us because they don't know what the fu** else to do. Who wants an antrax letter or a ticket on a doomed plane?

[kimpossible]

13. Don't underestimate the power of spin

Of course Boxer and Kennedy et al had to put the best face on it and claim victory. The last thing we need is to be painted as losers in the minds of the masses yet again.

Doesn't mean we don't keep on fighting for more.

[understandinglife]

14. RAP is not about spin. RAP is about truth; 24/7. Go for it! It's fun and..

.... so much more satisfying than the un-cola varieties.



Emad Hajjaj, Al-Ghad Newspaper, Amman, Jordan

Peace.


Let's RAP!

[puebloknot]

16. LOL!

It's good to be loved, isn't it? :)

Comic relief! Thanks.

[puebloknot]

15. Spin

I appreciate your perspective. I guess I'm just so tired of spin that I don't care who it comes from, I don't want to hear it.

I want some of *our* leaders to stand up and tell the truth in the way that the honorable Mr. Galloway did last week. I think America is sick to death of seeing politicians of both parties doing an end run around the truth, the simple truth, that we were lied to about Iraq and most of them went along with it.

When I was 14, I stood on the steps of the Peace Palace in The Hague. I remember that it was a *big* place. Maybe there's a fear that there's room for all -- the criminals *and* the enablers -- there.

[hiley]

17. Extreme Activist Judges yesterday, they are Extreme Activist Judges today

who defines extraordinary circumstances

someone like Senator Mark Pryor ?

208 had already be given in on.
I worked my ass off fighting several of those 208 and now Senator's
like mine, Mark Pryor breaks from the Democratic hold we had going
and
caves on 3 more.
They do not listen !
With everything that has happened especially since the Supreme Court
took our right to vote away in 2000 I feel strongly that you have to
go far left of everything the GOP does.
You can not compromise with nuts !
You will get slapped down every time. I might add stomped on to !
This is just my opinion, but I get sick and tired of writing over
and over to the Senate and the House and just getting pooh poohed
and blown off.
I do realize that Frist was made to eat shit but not enough shit for
me and not long enough.
Extreme Activist Judges yesterday, they are Extreme Activist Judges today !
hiley

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
Theodore Roosevelt, 1912

"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed … were not, as some assumed,inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees."
Rudolf Hoess,
the SS commandant at Auschwitz.

One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and
torture rooms and rape rooms."—Bush, press availability in Monterrey,
Mexico, Jan. 12, 2004

14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism
http://www.ericblumrich.com/14.html



Recommended UL, thank you !

[understandinglife]

19. "who defines extraordinary circumstances" -- Precisely.

Thank you for an insightful post and for the special reminder from T Roosevelt and the exceptionally relevant quote from Hoess -- would seem that Rumsfeld and Gonzales are particularly adept practitioners of Hoess-spin.

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

18. The costs of tyranny, you ask. MNA Day 4 is now only 7 deaths away.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3697686&mesg_id=3697686&page=

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Be it MNA Day 4 or 8 or 15 or .... the day will come when 10s of millions of Americans and others stop their typical activities for 24 hours and urge 10 times that many to join should another MNA Day be required. On that glorious day what we once called "America" will emerge.

[Sapphire Blue]

20. kick

:kick:

The Pledge of Resistance

We believe that as people living
in the United States it is our
responsibility to resist the injustices
done by our government,
in our names

Not in our name
will you wage endless war
there can be no more deaths
no more transfusions
of blood for oil

Not in our name
will you invade countries
bomb civilians, kill more children
letting history take its course
over the graves of the nameless

Not in our name
will you erode the very freedoms
you have claimed to fight for

Not by our hands
will we supply weapons and funding
for the annihilation of families
on foreign soil

Not by our mouths
will we let fear silence us

Not by our hearts
will we allow whole peoples
or countries to be deemed evil

Not by our will
and Not in our name

We pledge resistance

We pledge alliance with those
who have come under attack
for voicing opposition to the war
or for their religion or ethnicity

We pledge to make common cause
with the people of the world
to bring about justice,
freedom and peace

Another world is possible
and we pledge to make it real.

http://www.notinourname.net/pledge_about.html

[savannahana]

21. Let them eat yellowcake.

nominated

This post is dedicated
to our brother, teacher, warrior for justice, and beloved friend,
Andy Stephenson, with whom we keep vigil tonight.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." - Dame Judith of Norwich


to Andy, & UL, & likeminded kindred here & everywhere; to NION, MNA, & to the Earth :toast:
to the natural majesty of the human spirit as the true foundation of RAP :toast:

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

neocon tyrants:
may you live to feast
on the legal fruits
of your insufferable
Lese-majesty

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *



from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable,
Centenary Edition, Revised, Edited by Ivor H. Evans
Harper & Row, New York, 1981: p.661:

Lese-majeste (lez mazh' estA)
(Fr. from Lat. laesa majestas, injured or violated majesty).
A phrase commonly applied to presumptuous conduct on the part of
inferiors who do not show sufficient respect for their "betters".
The legal phrase Lese-majesty (leez) denotes TREASON,
a crime against the sovereign.


And what, under the Constitution of the United States of America,
is named, considered, designated, honored, and stipulated as having,
holding, meaning, embodying, and being imbued with *sovereignty*,
if not the will of the People, in a government comprised of
the duly elected representatives of the People; representatives
in all three branches of government, sworn to uphold, protect,
and defend the Constitution -- a government of, for, and by
the People of these United States of America.


Let memory ripen in every heart,
and let the indictments begin.

To the resurrection
of the people's sovereignty
and the restoration
of the natural and inalienable rights
of all humankind, and of this Earth,
our Mother and our Home.

To the gigantic tent,
and the long hill climb.

To matriotism, and its natural principles
of loving respect for the whole
of All That Is,
on the Earth
and beyond the Earth,
who we are, and who we are Becoming.

http://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/american.studies.s98/we.shall.overcome.html


We Shall Overcome


1.


We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day

CHORUS:


Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day

2.


We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand some day

CHORUS


3.


We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day

CHORUS


4.


We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day

CHORUS


5.


We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day

CHORUS


6.


The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day

CHORUS


7.


We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day

CHORUS

`````````````````````````````````````````````````

Lyrics derived from Charles Tindley's gospel song "I'll Overcome Some Day" (1900), and opening and closing melody from the 19th-century spiritual "No More Auction Block for Me" (a song that dates to before the Civil War). According to Professor Donnell King of Pellissippi State Technical Community College (in Knoxville, Tenn.), "We Shall Overcome" was adapted from these gospel songs by "Guy Carawan, Candy Carawan, and a couple of other people associated with the Highlander Research and Education Center, currently located near Knoxville, Tennessee. I have in my possession copies of the lyrics that include a brief history of the song, and a notation that royalties from the song go to support the Highlander Center."

SOURCES:

Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, Second Edition (Norton, 1971): 546-47, 159-60.
The International Lyrics Server. <http://www.lyrics.ch/query/normal?artist=&album=&song=We+Shall+Overcome>. March 1998.
Donnell King, email message, 29 Nov. 1999.

peace

ana no-man's-marionette, singing... :-)

:grouphug: ..."~~~How could we keep from singing?~~~"... :grouphug:

((((((((((((((((((restoration ripple effect)))))))))))))))))))

[nicknameless]

25. How beautiful, savannahana!

To the resurrection
of the people's sovereignty
and the restoration
of the natural and inalienable rights
of all humankind, and of this Earth,
our Mother and our Home.

To the gigantic tent,
and the long hill climb.

To matriotism, and its natural principles
of loving respect for the whole
of All That Is,
on the Earth
and beyond the Earth,
who we are, and who we are Becoming.




With loving prayers for Andy

[newyawker99]

30. Hi nicknameless!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[savannahana]

62. nicknameless

thank you, very much :loveya:

:grouphug: :hi: and a warm welcome to DU! :hi: :grouphug:

in case you haven't seen it yet, here's a threadfull
of very good news about Andy this evening:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3724871&mesg_id=3724871

ana

[nicknameless]

70. Thank you!

Wonderful news, with hopefully even better news to come!
:hi: :pals:


O8)O8)O8)O8)O8)O8)O8) Angels watching over Andy O8)O8)O8)O8)O8)O8)O8)

[understandinglife]

26. Thank you! And, we are now all awaiting word that our fellow ..

.... partner for peace and for the restoration of America (including the use of paper ballots!) Andy Stephenson, is done with surgery and on his way to recovery.

Peace.


VOTER VERIFIED, PAPER BALLOTS -- Andy Stephenson

[savannahana]

63. yes, and such relief and hope at Andy's good news tonight

:grouphug: :patriot: Andy :patriot: :grouphug:

((((((((((VOTER VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS: FOUNDATION OF RAP PLATFORM))))))))))

thank you, UL :thumbsup:

peace

[Goldeneye]

27. kick.

[nicknameless]

28. Thank you for this, understandinglife!

One name I don’t seem to hear often enough is that of our first hero in Congress under this dreadful regime: Barbara Lee, Representative from the Alameda County area of California.


http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/09/lee.html

“Alone on the Hill”
"It was a vote of conscience," says California Democratic Representative Barbara Lee.

On September 15, the US Congress approved a resolution authorizing President Bush to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against anyone associated with the terrorist attacks of September 11. The measure passed 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House. The lone dissenting vote was a colonel's daughter and longtime maverick from California -- Democrat Barbara Lee.

<snip>

Hero!!!

[understandinglife]

34. Welcome and thank you for reminding all of us of Congresswoman Lee's ....

.... persistently courageous leadership.


Peace.

[lonestarnot]

31. Excellent thoughts each and every one....Now Actions.

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. Excellent and recommended! n/t

[troubleinwinter]

35. Kick and nominated!!

[hootinholler]

43. I'm kinda partial to the Constitutional Party.

But then again I'm kind of subversive like that.

-Hoot

[understandinglife]

49. I've always like "Constitutional Party" !

Thanks for posting, Hoot!

What about "Constitutional American Party" ;)

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[hootinholler]

52. The great American Constitutional...

What my old man did every AM.

GDRFC

-Hoot

[fooj]

46. Two dedications...

One for our dear friend and Truth Warrior, Andy...


YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.
*********************************


And one for the "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" who lives within us all...

"Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you'll see the way to fly."-Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull)



peace.

[savannahana]

64. it never fails....

i couldn't count the times now
that some thought, memory, image from you
takes me right back to the *very best, truest* memories
of my youth

"you'll never walk alone"
playing and singing my heart out in that song
on my mother's old upright 1920s Russell piano
with the bald ivories here & there...
the whirring of the big attic fan...
warm spring nights: tears: MLK, RFK, Kent State :cry:
but "you'll never walk alone"

"...Look with your understanding, find out
what you already know, and you'll see the way
to fly."

:hug: thank you, fooj :hug:

ana

[hnsez]

54. VALERIE PLAME

[understandinglife]

56. Fully agree. Consider it officially item # 6 on the list in the OP. I'm...

.... embarrassed that I didn't post that major transgression in the OP.

Thank you.



www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[BigBearJohn]

57. Recommended. Well written.

[hiley]

61. Here is the bottom line...

"Compromise" Paves Way For Vote on Extremist Nominee Owen
Extremist Nominee Should Be Voted Down, Bush Administration Should Stop Playing Texas Hold 'Em With Women's Health, Safety and Rights
snip---

This last-second compromise is bittersweet for those of us who were counting on our senators to make sure that moderate, reasonable judges head up our federal courts. On the same day that the current U.S. Supreme Court accepted a case that will revisit restrictions on legal access to abortion, the Senate has compromised an important protection against confirmation of extremist judges. The bottom line is this — U.S. senators have agreed to allow extremist judges one step closer to the federal courts.
Karen Pearl

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/media/

[AuntiBush]

65. I'm in. Over my rant. It was a GOOD Thing! Kicked!

[understandinglife]

67. Relevant: MNA Day 4 is now only 5 deaths away - and the dictator....

.... could care less.

American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 1647
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

Peace.


It's happened, Mr Lucas


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - how ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying in the name of "America"

[understandinglife]

71. Herbert: "...to denounce - the depraved ways in which the United States...

... has dealt with so many of the thousands of people (many of them completely innocent) who have been swept up in the so-called war on terror.

With the Gloves Off

By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 26, 2005

<snip>

People have been murdered, tortured, rendered to foreign countries to be tortured at a distance, sexually violated, imprisoned without trial or in some cases simply made to "disappear" in an all-American version of a practice previously associated with brutal Latin American dictatorships. All of this has been done, of course, in the name of freedom.

The government would prefer to keep these matters secret, but we're living in a digital age of near-instantaneous communication. Evidence of atrocities tend to emerge sooner rather than later, frequently illustrated with color photos or videos.

<snip>

The government, like an addict in denial, will not even admit that we have a problem.

"We're in this Orwellian situation," said Leonard Rubenstein, the executive director of Physicians for Human Rights, "where the statements by the administration, by the president, are unequivocal: that the United States does not participate in, or condone, torture. And yet it has engaged in legal interpretations and interrogation policies that undermine that absolutist stance."

(more at link):

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/26/opinion/26herbert.html?hp

We should all thank Mr Herbert for his tireless efforts to restore "America."

Peace.


It has happened, Mr Lucas


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - how ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying in the name of "America."

[understandinglife]

72. "but say nothing about the duplicity of those who sacrificed them."

The Silent Media Curse of Memorial Day

By Norman Solomon
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 26 May 2005

Memorial Day weekend brings media rituals. Old Glory flutters on television and newsprint. Grave ceremonies and oratory pay homage to the fallen. Many officials and pundits speak of remembering the dead. But for all the talk of war and remembrance, no time is more infused with insidious forgetting than the last days of May.

This is a holiday that features solemn evasion.

<snip>

But during the last half century -- when, for days or months or many years, U.S. troops and planes assaulted the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq again -- the rationales from the White House were always based on major falsehoods, avidly promoted by the U.S. mass media. In the light of real history, the U.S. soldiers who are honored each Memorial Day were pawns of methodical deception. Media spin and the edicts of authorities induced them to kill "enemy" combatants and civilians, for whom Pentagon buglers have never played a single mournful note.

The Orwellian process of rigorous forgetting is not only about past wars. It's also about the next war.

more at link:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052605E.shtml

Peace.