Mercury News Says Dump Doolittle

Here it is from the San Jose Mercury News:

Even gerrymandering can't guarantee the re-election of California Republican Congressmen Richard Pombo and John Doolittle. Many voters have had it with their money-grubbing and their party's influence-peddling. It's about time.

Read the whole thing.

Caption Contest!

Yes, the title of this post is meant ironically. Highly ironically. Should I write Eli Eli lema sabachthani?

What have we done? That's too easy a question to ask.

The right question: What have I done?

Yes, it is the stupid people, the rapturized sheep, the stupid, stupid people who made sure George W. Bush was put into power. But what did I really do to stop them?

Another Reminder to Self: On My List

From Taylor Marsh

It's clear Carville and McCurry had their eyes on something else entirely. With Democrats like Carville and McCurry helping us out on election night we hardly need Karl Rove.

Read her great post.

So Carville and McCurry are on my list. I will never contribute to any politician who hires any of the goons on my list.

Had enough of John Doolittle? Vote Charlie Brown!

very cool

Congressman Doolittle 'tolerated' forced abortions, sex slavery

'Iraq for Sale' bonus scene: Soldiers outsourced to KBR

Doolittle thinks this is a GREAT idea. Vote for Charlie Brown.

Doolittle's Office Doesn't Know

I just called John Doolittle's office to ask if the congressman is still supporting Hastert as Speaker, even though the guy covered up Foley's pedophilia for a year. At first the person said that she didn't believe Hastert knew about it. So when I asked if that meant Doolittle does still support Hastert, she said no, no, she would find out and get back to me.

We'll see.

But what is interesting about this is the fact that she didn't just come out and arrogantly say Doolittle is supporting Hastert, end of story. That's how it would have been before Charlie Brown's increasingly successful-looking challenge.

A Comment On the Torture Bill

Betty Cracker has a good post on the torture bill passed by this ignominious congress.

I told Sherrod Brown I want my donation back. Sherrod Brown voted for torture. I can't stand it that I gave him a contribution. Read this, if you can, from the author of Death and the Maiden.

Charlie Brown vs -- Oh, wait . . .

Doolittle still doesn't show up to defend his sorry arse, but sends reliable Republican hack Doug Ose to lose his battle.

Good interview by KCRA's reporters with video (from the comments -- thanks!). Check it out.

News Weak Pravda

The further infantilization of the American people. The rest of the world gets the debacle in Afghanistan. The US gets "my life in pictures."

Another Reason to Vote Democratic, No Matter Your Party

But really, how can anyone with a shred of real morality (as opposed to fake, show morality) want to be a member of the Republican Party, the Torture Party?

This diary at DailyKos is about Paul Krugman's explanation for why George W. Bush wants to torture people, knowing torture doesn't work.

What A Great Guy!

How can you look at this guy and not be enthusiastic about his candidacy! CHARLIE BROWN FOR CONGRESS!

Guest Commercial

Doolittle Facts


This piece was made by Nate, who is leaving beautiful Hawaii to come work on the Charlie Brown campaign. Ain't citizenship grand!

Same Song Next Verse: Doolittle is Corrupt -- Very

Who do you think finds himself on the list of the 20 most corrupt in Congress?

Note to Self: Don't Vote For Warner

I just read something that helped me decide never to vote for Mark Warner. I'm noting it here to refer to in the future, so if the subject becomes germane I can remind myself that Mark Warner is stupid.

Warner Says Kerry Shouldn't Have Targeted Bush Tax Cuts
Mark Warner (D) told Iowans that Democrats "have taken the wrong approach in arguing against tax cuts enacted under President Bush, singling out former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign as a reason the message did not resonate in 2004," the Des Moines Register reports.

"In order to appeal to more voters, the party ought to avoid alienating wealthier Americans."

Said Warner: "Even though the Bush tax cuts only applied to the top 2 percent of Americans, what I think the Kerry campaign missed was that the other 98 percent of Americans still aspired to get to the point in their life where they could qualify for the tax cuts."

More Weirdness With John Doolittle and Bookkeeping

This is one of John Doolittle's on line reports for salaries paid to his staffers:

Rep. John Doolittle (R-California-4th)
Displaying salaries for time period: 01/01/06 - 03/31/06

Payee Name Start date End date Position Amount Notes
Barton, Cynthia Elaine 01/01/06 01/02/06 Caseworker $211.11
Blackann, Laura Beth 01/01/06 01/02/06 Shared Employee $27.77
Blankenberg, Daniel W 01/01/06 01/02/06 Leadership Director $833.33
Costantini, Danielle R 01/01/06 01/02/06 Staff Assistant $166.66
Dodge, Candace 01/01/06 01/02/06 Staff Assistant $33.33
Franco, Martha L 01/01/06 01/02/06 Executive Assistant $311.11
Goitein, Evan V 01/01/06 01/02/06 Legislative Assistant $178.88
Hansen, Dain 01/01/06 01/02/06 Legislative Assistant $172.22
Harlow, Amy H 01/01/06 01/02/06 Staff Assistant $166.66
Jensen, Brian 01/01/06 01/02/06 District Director $427.77
Larrabee, Jason 01/01/06 01/02/06 Legislative Director $427.77
Lopez, Jodi A 01/01/06 01/02/06 Part-time Employee $33.33
Parilo, Christopher 01/01/06 01/02/06 Field Representative $277.77
Perkins, Alisha 01/01/06 01/02/06 Executive Assistant $305.55
Robinson, Richard J 01/01/06 01/02/06 Chief of Staff $861.11
Stewart, Cody 01/01/06 01/02/06 Shared Employee $55.55
Valuck, Jeffrey 01/01/06 01/02/06 Legislative Correspondent $167.77
17 results

This is supposed to be a report for three months, yet it seems to only cover two days. Is there no end to Doolittle's contempt for the rules?

Barbara Jordan on the Constitution during Watergate

Are you?

We Can't Afford Republican Rule

Body Armor: How do you think Doolittle voted?

The Beginning of the End

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with these people. By these people, I mean Republicans. I truly don't understand how they could actually mean it when they say nice things about the likes of George W. Bush and John Doolittle.

Then something happens to renew my hope for my fellow citizen.

TPM reader to kos to *xyz to firedoglake to blogolodeon

to you:

Responding to the coming GOP smear campaign
by kos
Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:07:02 PM PDT
Every Democrat in a rough race, and even those in less competitive contests, are about to get hit by the greatest slime wave of Rove’s career. They’ve got nothing to lose at this point.

A TPM reader has the perfect Dem response:

Stay focused on one and only message — “You — the Voters — have ONE DAY to hold the Bush Administration accountable for what’s happened in Iraq, and here at home. ONE DAY — election day. If you like the way things are going, vote Republican. If you think things need to change, VOTE DEMOCRATIC. Seize the day. It’s your very last chance.”

At the end of the day, it’s really that simple.

TPM reader to kos to *xyz to firedoglake to blogolodeon

Also: In Memorium

Jesus' General Explains It All For You

The Propagandists

Why It Matters

Here is a post by Taylor Marsh about the Raytheon vs Trophy fiasco that will result in more death and maiming of our troops.

Is there no limit to what this Republican Congress will accept in the name of corporate profits?

It matters who wins in the CA-04 this November. Charlie brown will not stand for this kind of crap.

UPDATE: Check out this link of a diary at DKos re some important programs coming up on PBS. The first, October 4, will be about the Abramoff scandal. Bill Moyers is once again on the job!

For Your Research Pleasure

. . . or disgust, as the case may be. Feeling better, but not quite back. Meanwhile, here is some work Think Progress has done on the links between John Doolittle and Jack Abramoff.

Hope It's the Good Guy Flu

Sorry no posts recently. I've caught some creeping crud. Laying on couch with tea and rewatching entire Battlestar Galactica series. . . Will report for duty ASAP.

Dishonest John Has the Bad Guy Flu!

It's Hard to Help a Bad Guy

Olbermann Eviscerates Rumsfeld; Defines True Courage

The Human Cost of War

Charlie Brown has another great diary up at Daily Kos today.

How is it possible there is even a contest between this man and the slimy John Doolittle?

One thing we can know without question: When Charlie Brown is in congress, defense contractors won't get away with killing our troops with greed and neglect. Charlie talks about some friends of his who died when he and they were stationed in Vietnam:

You can find the names of Brian Rye, Larry Froelich and the others who died with them on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. Go down to the `V' where the two sides come together, then go up a few names on the left side. These men weren't killed by hostile fire--they were killed by poor management of government contractors, and those who put profit ahead of "supporting the troops."

Citizen Ad Campaigns -- Anti-Bush Interlude

Mother in Park - Bush - Seriously

Fantastic Diary

by Future Congressman Brown at Daily Kos today.

Click and go!

Yer Luvly Interlude

Part of what makes John Doolittle a dangerous member of congress is his kind of religion. Now, I don't mean the fact that he is a Mormon. I mean the fact that he wears his religion, whatever brand, like armor, like righteousness -- like it gives him the right to judge us all and confers goodness on him even as he does evil.

In the spirit of preserving spirituality as a private concern that each American has the right to create for herself or himself, here is a great article from Salon magazine (you can read it free after watching an ad). An excerpt:

I believe in the indomitable human spirit and the amazing capacity we have for understanding the world; for love, joy and happiness. Science not only does not take away any of those things, it adds to the sum of human knowledge. When I look through my little telescope in my backyard at the planets, moon or Andromeda galaxy that is 2.9 million light-years away, I can enjoy the beauty of the night sky and appreciate it on an emotional level. Then I can think that the photons of light that are landing on my retina left 2.9 million years ago, when we were just barely bipedal hominids in Africa, and are just now arriving tonight. Boy, that's just awe-inspiring.

To me, that's what it means to be spiritual -- what makes your spine tingle. It's what gives you a sense of awe and wonder and transcendence. It doesn't matter to me if you call it God or the cosmos. We're all talking about the same thing, whether it's religious people or New Age spiritual people or Buddhists or scientists. We're all talking about having a sense of awe and wonder at something grander than ourselves.

Chickenhawk Doolittle Still Chicken

Here is a great question from the Charlie Brown campaign website.

Stupid

DK subbing for Josh at TPM says:

Putting self above party at the expense of party should have consequences. But at what cost? I part ways with those wanting to enforce party discipline even as they admit it might cost Dems a Senate majority. As I have said before, a Democratic Senate with Lieberman in it far surpasses a GOP Senate without Lieberman.

First of all, no one admits it might cost Dems a Senate majority if they actually back the Democratic nominee instead of The Kissable Ego. This is just Washingtonspeak for "Eek! The peasants are voting the wrong way! Well, we will just let them see how far that gets them!"

But this last sentence is what is so stupid. A Democratic senate with Lieberman is not going to be a Democratic senate if Lieberman is the 51st "Democrat." Think about it.

Joe Lieberman has become last night's fish. He's stinking up the place, and he's got to go.

A Good Time to Donate a Little $$

Running my morning errands, I heard one of the new Charlie Brown radio ads! It was so much fun to hear an ad for a candidate I love against John Doolittle. I'm sure everyone knows by now that John Doolittle is a terrible representative. He voted against extension of the Voting Rights Act, crissake!

Today congress halved the money allotted to brain injury research for veterans! Does this seem possible in a sane world? Do you think Lt. Colonel Charles Brown, US Air Force, Retired would have voted for that?

Don't you want to remove John Doolittle from congress, a man who thinks profits are more important than sexual slavery and forced abortion?

You can do it. I know we are all bombarded by requests for money, and it's not going to go away in the next couple of months. And I'm asking you now for money for Charlie Brown so he can put as many of these ads on the radio as possible.

Here is why: CA-04 is a huge district northeast of Sacramento. People are in their cars for a long time every day. Radio is the best way to reach them. Doolittle has had a lock on the seat by virtue of the R that comes after his name, but the people of the CA-04 are not evil and they don't want evil done in their name.

They need to know they have a good -- in fact a wonderful -- alternative in Charlie Brown. Here is another ad, one I like very much, that the Brown campaign wants to run on the more conservative stations. Yes, the speaker is Max Cleland. Listen to Charlie's voice at the end -- I have met him, and he's just as nice and straightforward as his voice sounds.

Read this conversation held at firedoglake where Charlie and his wife Jan answered questions for two and a half hours.

And then click this link to give a little something -- as we all know, even $5 adds up -- to help the Brown campaign keep these ads on the air. I personally believe radio will be the key to reaching the voters of the CA-04. In this market, $500-$1000 buys a :60 AM Drive Time slot on our most popular local radio stations, and $250-$500 buys a PM Drive Time slot.

John Doolittle is an insider in the Republican slime machine, as dangerous and as damaging to us all as Tom DeLay was and the whole Newt Gingrich legacy continues to be.

Piss off the GOP -- give a little $$ to Charlie Brown.

UPDATE: See this story in the Sacramento Bee

You Decide

corrupt or ineffective?

Cross-Post with Daily Kos

Well, my brilliant take on "How To Win" flew out the window of my mind, so the immortal Digby will have to suffice.

Meanwhile, I have a new diary up at Daily Kos on the further dastardliness of Mr. Doolittle.

Meanwhile, I don't know how long this will be available, but it's devastating.

How To Win

More on this post by Digby when my toobz are clear.

Dump Doolittle

There will always be suffering in the world, so the conventional wisdom goes. And lately, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of destructive human folly all around us, permeating the planet. What can one person do to stop the Bush juggernaut? It's too much! To preserve sanity, we almost have to give up, turn our face from the horror, go to a movie, eat some ice cream.

But when the horror has a source closer to home, can we really turn away? When an "evildoer" walks among us, speaks directly in our name, is our individual voice in congress, we have no right. We have no right to be stupid when our stupidity enables the suffering of our fellow human beings.

Getting rid of John Doolittle is a moral call to action. John Doolittle's work in congress has allowed misery and cruelty to flourish in our name. He has to go.

Doolittle's Pathetic Tactics -- He Must Be Getting Nervous!

Read this letter and laugh! Dishonest John is coming out of the gate with phasers on kill. Is he afraid of something? Like a real challenge for the first time in his 26 years of "public service"?

Click for a sneak preview of Republican attack phrases that will come as no surprise. It's a wordfest of their generic blather:

liberal media -- eek!
most liberal opponent EVER!!
liberal agenda!
higher taxes!
amnesty for illegal aliens!
GAY MARRIAGE!!!
ACLU !!
hater of the Boy Scouts and God!!!!
Impeachment of Bush!
extreme!!
Barbara Boxer!
Hillary Clinton!
HOWARD FUCKEN DEAN!!!! [okay, I added the middle word]
Nancy Pelosi!
culture of corruption smear campaign!
Washington leftists [sheesh, that's a new one]
my poor wife!!

So what are the comebacks to these stupid stock phrases?

Wesley Clark

From Daily Kos:

Wes Clark on "Being Strong on National Security" Hotlist
by kos
Wed Aug 09, 2006 at 11:13:54 AM PDT

Wesley Clark came out strongly for Ned Lamont today, but it's this passage that particularly caught my attention:

You see, despite what Joe Lieberman believes, invading Iraq and diverting our attention away from Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is not being strong on national security. Blind allegiance to George W. Bush and his failed "stay the course" strategy is not being strong on national security. And no, Senator Lieberman, no matter how you demonize your opponents, there is no "antisecurity wing" of the Democratic Party.

Well said. That's the Democratic message on National Security this year, and it works. That's why Republicans are freaking out.

Of course, remember Wes Clark has endorsed our guy, Charlie Brown.

Republicans Ridiculans

I like to think of metaphors. People (FDLers excepted) don't seem to want to think about long, complicated expositions of the flaws in today's Republican Party. But a good metaphor can slip in under the force field of willing bamboozledom.

Metaphor 1: For a long time, I've likened the Republicans to Hans Gruber, the guy who speaks so eloquently about political philosophy -- but really just came for the money.

The Hans Grubers of the world are scary, evil, damaging, all bad things, and we should want to rid ourselves of their influence and divest them of their power. People don't want that, though. People are attracted to power, even when it's malignant, even when it will kill them or theirs.

People don't renounce the powerful. They renounce the ridiculous.

Joe Lieberman was powerful for the last time last night, when he gave his "concession" speech. But even as the little outrageous bubbles of delusion floated out of his mouth, his power floated away, popping on the sharp reality of the people's votes. He will be forever ridiculous not by The Kiss Float, which raised the idea, but by his own folly now in trying to keep hold like Gollum of the precious which the voters have already taken away.

Joe Lieberman is rendering himself ridiculous. What metaphor or association will render the Republican Party ridiculous? I think of Paul Ford in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. He plays a silly man convinced of the venality of all things Russian and nearly starts World War III after the entire town has come to a more enlightened place. But that metaphor is too old and too distant, I think, to work today.

What is a good metaphor for the ridiculousness of Today's Republican Party?

What Does John Doolittle Have To Do With Sex Slavery and Forced Abortion?

Think Progress has the story.

How long can the supposedly upright Roseville, Rocklin, Auburn, Loomis, Tahoe, Granite Bay, Truckee, and Lincoln stand to have this person speak for them in congress?

For us, he votes against the Voting Rights Act.

In our name, he keeps workers in virtual bondage and subject to forced abortions.

The question is not whether John Doolittle has any shame; we know he does not. The question is, have we no shame?

People Are Sick of the Usual Suspects

From Bob Herbert's column in the NYTimes:

This was a war that never should have happened. There was a legitimate war for the United States to fight in Afghanistan, but that was not enough for the administration. The Bush gang wanted a war with Iraq, and less-than-courageous politicians like Mrs. Clinton and many others lined up as enablers to help make that war happen.

There is a lot of tea leaf reading going on over what a Ned Lamont win on Tuesday will mean big picture-wise. My reading is, it will mean the Merkun Peepul are done with enablers. For a few years now, my lament has been: The worst isn't that George W. Bush is so horrible. It's that people are letting him get away with it. Throwing sadsack Joe Liberman under the wheels on Tuesday will auger the beginning of the end of all that. It will mark the first day of the peasant revolt of 2006.

Have you had enough?

It's A Charlie Brown Blue America!

Hey, good news! Charlie Brown is now on the Blue America Communities page -- woohoo! Contribute here today!! Every little bit helps, and it will be fun to move Charlie up the list of candidates.

Also, Charlie will be visiting the Lake this Saturday at 11 a.m., so stop by for the converstion.

Will the Breeze Become a Wind?

I feel the breeze of change in the CA-04. The LA Times reports:

Doolittle and Pombo, who normally would be shoo-ins for reelection, are facing tougher challenges mostly because of questions raised about their relationship with disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and other ethics issues. Both survived primary challenges in June, but they remain on the Cook Report's list of the 42 most vulnerable GOP incumbents.

Doolittle has agreed to debate Charlie Brown -- but he has not agreed to set a date! He is acting like Mr. Gibson in He Knew He Was Right who engages himself to Miss French but, out of terror, just cannot bring himself to the altar. Mr. Doolittle has long held the reputation for being a bully. Now we see the underlying character imputed to bullies generally -- that of cowardice -- demonstrated in our soon-to-be erstwhile congressman.

The Republicans Really Have to Go Part X

CSNY Freedom Of Speech Tour 2006

via Down With Tyranny

What Good is a Phone When the Matrix is Rigged?

Do you read articles on the web? Some people don't. Lots of people surf, skim the waves, look at the seafoam, and feel the ocean breezes blow between their legs and through their hair. It's fun.

Sometimes you want to know what lies beneath. Read this post by Matt Stoller to understand some things about telephones, and managers, and where you have to be at noon.

You are living a reality the powers that be left years ago. In the long run, it will destroy everything we ever thought The United States of America stood for.

And the difference between them and you,
And I'll argue you are wrong
Is they would read this entire post and then read it again.

And act on it like effective bullies.

I have decided that, from today forward, I will give no money to a campaign that hires any of these sellout corporate asskissers.

Why Republicans Should Vote Democratic This Fall

Sometimes it takes tough love to let someone know they've gone the wrong way. Even political parties. It's time for this iteration of the Republican Party to go; for the good of the nation, this party must die. Read why honorable Republicans must vote for Charlie Brown over John Doolittle here.

That's the buzz, I tell ya, it's happening.

Charlie Brown for CA-04.

Look For the Union Label

Remeber that song? Apparently, Joe Lieberman did not. I love stories like this. I love it when sell-outs get busted for their selling out.

I can't tell which age ours most closely represents: Pre-revolutionary France or pre-Reform England, with its corrupt pocket boroughs. So many of our elected officials seem to think they "own" a pocket borough, people like Joe Lieberman and John Doolittle. It's not a party phenom, it's an aristocracy phenom.

The Southern (Enlightenment) Strategy -- Through Music

Do you like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill? The Mavericks? Nancy Griffith?

Here is a great website/group people need to know about. Find out more by reading this diary at Daily Kos.

It's like seeds are being planted -- and nurtured -- yanno?

Joe Lieberman Sux

Another one from the trenches at YouTube.

oh, dearie me. What we gonna do when the kids get hold o' the Ministry O' Truth?

Lutrine Prestidigitation

Aww, how cute!

From YouTube, a time-out from our political dead-earnestness!

Doolittle Spending Priorities -- Trash the Other Guy

An article in today's Sacramento Bee says John Doolittle had to spend a million dollars to win his primary this year -- in a seat that has been one of the safest in the country for ages. While the article goes into the ongoing troubles of the scandaliferous Doolittle, one paragraph is interesting not for Doolittle muck but for Doolittle style.

A spokesman explains that the Doolittle campaign has spent that million bucks wisely and really on the general election:

"We have spent money all along to be successful in the general election, as well as the primary," Robinson said, citing as an example $5,438 paid to an Arizona company for opposition research on Brown, a retired Air Force officer and pilot.

We are not surprised when the Doolittle campaign brags about spending money to dig for dirt on its opponent. But it is truly creepy when you know the history of Charlie Brown, the retired Lt. Colonel running for the CA-04 seat.

Pombo Cancels Cacino Night

An alert from SherAn tells us Raw Story says Richard Pombo, "Mr. Anti-Environment," has canceled a planned Cacino Night fundraiser. Apparently, Pombo's ties to the Abramoff scandal made a "casino night" unpalatable to even Pombo's campaign.

Ha! (Said with intonation like Diane Keaton in "Sleeper")

So the "centrist" Democrats are crying because their funding is going dry!

Democracy Alliance also has left some Washington political activists concerned about what they perceive as a distinctly liberal tilt to the group's funding decisions. Some activists said they worry that the alliance's new clout may lead to groups with a more centrist ideology becoming starved for resources.

[above-linked WaPo article]

For so long now, progressives have been expected to stay in line with our votes and our money and shut up. After all, where else were we going to go? Well, we've found places to go with our money as well as our mouths. The progressive canditates we've longed for are reporting for the long slog.

To the centrists, I say: When you stand for nothing, don't cry when you find out no one stands with you for long.

Doolittle Votes AGAINST Voting Rights Act

Today the historic Voting Rights Act was reauthorized. John Doolittle, who represents us in congress, voted against it.

Do you understand what this means? John Doolittle represents me in congress. If you live in CA-04, he represents you. It means that we voted against the Voting Rights Act. That bastard.

Charlie Brown Challenges John Doolittle to Debates

From the Charlie Brown For Congress website:

July 10, 2006

The Honorable John T. Doolittle
John T. Doolittle for Congress
4120 Douglas Blvd., #306-283
Granite Bay, CA 95746

Fax To: (202) 225-5444; (916) 786-6364; (916) 200-0328

Dear Congressman Doolittle:

I am looking forward to competing with you for the honor of representing the people of California’s 4th District in Congress. The purpose of this letter is to challenge you to a series of debates in advance of the November 2006 election.

Elections aren’t just about issues—they’re also about leadership, people, and perhaps most importantly, choices. As a 26 year Air Force Officer, a father, and a taxpayer, I know these choices ultimately have profound consequences: lives, jobs, our nation’s security, our children’s future, and our quality of life hang in the balance.

That’s why we have a responsibility to provide voters with an unfiltered examination of the experience, values and vision we offer, and a clear choice with respect to the real life day to day challenges facing our district, our country, and our Congress. Instead of two partisans speaking at each-other through the press, we can meet as two Americans conducting a civil discourse about the best way to move our country forward.

In this vein, topics for our debates might include:

* Iraq
* The War on Terror
* Emerging Threats/North Korea and Iran
* Supporting our Military
* Homeland Security and Emergency Response
* Spending Priorities/Balancing the Budget
* The Economy/Tax Policy/Jobs/Trade
* Education/The Achievement Gap
* Gas prices and Energy Policy
* Healthcare/Access and Affordability
* Retirement Security
* Veterans Aftercare
* Ethics in Congress and Lobbying Reform
* Water Security and Flood Control
* Local Infrastructure
* The Environment, Land Use & Development
* Protecting Constitutional Liberties

During the past several weeks, my campaign has been contacted by numerous television and radio outlets across Northern California, expressing their desire to cover Doolittle-Brown debates. All we have to do is put together a schedule of times and locations, and work out the format for each forum. There are, as you know, many suitable hosts.

Given the broad geographic area covered by the 4th CD, and the diverse array of local concerns faced by its residents, I believe that fairness demands we give as many people the opportunity to witness/participate in the process as possible. I think this objective can be reached if we can agree to at least one forum in each of the following regions: El Dorado County, Western Placer County, Eastern Placer County (Tahoe Area), Nevada County, and a north county forum in Alturas, Susanville, Quincy, or Loyalton—(a minimum of 5 debates in total).

In accordance with the great traditions of our democracy, I would also request that at least one debate be conducted as a town hall meeting, so that the people of the 4th CD can openly ask questions of each candidate on the issues they consider most important. This seems only fair since it is “the people” for whom elected leaders bear the responsibility of service, and the obligation of direct dialogue.

My campaign staff stands ready to work with yours in executing this crucial component of the democratic election process. Please feel free to send your response by mail, or contact my Communications Director, Todd Stenhouse at (916) 397-1131 to begin working through the details.

I look forward to your prompt response and a vigorous campaign in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

Lt. Col. Charles D. Brown, USAF Ret.
Democrat for Congress, California 4th District

Will Doolittle Stoop to Swiftboating Charlie Brown? No . . .

Because he won't have to bend over one degree. But doubt not, dear voter. Doolittle has never been known as a fair fighter. For a taste of what to expect, see this must-read article by Taylor Marsh on the trashing of John Murtha.

Down With Tyranny

I've added Howie Klein's Down With Tyranny to the blogroll. Go there now for more info re John Doolittle and his ways.

For Charlie Brown vs Against John Doolittle

Charlie Brown is simply a great candidate, and there are all kinds of reasons to vote for him. Come to the campaign grand opening in Roseville Monday and find out more!

But forget for a minute about why Brown is great. What I wonder is: How can someone want to vote for John Doolittle? As with Tom DeLay, what is the breaking point of embarrassment before a Republican says "no more!"? How far can the Republican Party ride on self-delusion?

Wiki Doolittle

UPDATE: from The Daily Muck
======================

Interestng excerpt from John Doolittle's Wikipedia page:

2004

In 2004, Doolittle's Democratic opponent raised only $2,300 and won only 35 percent of the vote. For that race, Doolittle took in more than $1 million in contributions. (Sacramento Bee, April 9, 2006)

What kind of politician needs more than a million dollars to beat a guy with around two grand? Where did all that money go? I'm just saying. The Wiki page has more interestng information.

John Doolittle is awful, and I'd vote against him no matter who was running. But the good news is, Charlie Brown is a cadidate I'm happy to vote for, no matter who might be running against him.

Charlie Brown for Congress

[cross-posted in a comment at DailyKos]
Last night I met Jan and Charlie Brown at a house party in Rocklin. (That's me on the right.) What great people.

But beyond being nice, patriotic, progressive Americans, the Brown campaign is for real. Last night, hearing Charlie talk and then answer questions, I changed. I changed from wishing he could win to believing he can win. He has a realistic plan to WIN, even in this district with greater Republican than Democratic registration.

Maybe it's the Air Force background and the discipline which comes from that. Maybe it's having such a supportive family. Maybe it's just who Charlie Brown is as a human being. Well, surely it's a combination of all these things that make it more than a wish that this guy can beat Doolittle. It's a real possibility.

I gave a little more $$ to the campaign last night, and I volunteered to help however else I can. Today is the cut-off day for reporting, so if anybody wants to give $5, $10, whatever -- every dollar is a dollar that says Goodbye John Doolittle -- please click here and go for it!

When Reporters Don't Bother With the Research Thing

Thinking more about the "Seas of David,"



Do you think maybe the poor unfortunate was saying "Seeds of David"?

That would at least make some kind of sense, since the bible is loaded with obsessions on geneology -- the begats and the "branches of" and all.

A Post for Evil Parallel Universe

Herewith a list of Great Stories From Religious Traditions:


(my favorite) Taoism,from Chuang-tse: Butterfly

Ancient Tribal Hebrew Lore, revenge tale deluxe.

Found in Hebrew Bible, probably old Canaanite fertility poem.

Truly raunchy fertility poem, oops. I mean, the Sacred Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi

On love and progeny from the Mahabharata.


Christianity -- Jesus goes too far and regrets his frivolous use of power.

Hopi creation story.

African creation story.

Muslim Terrorist, Christian Cultist -- Whatever

So the Seas of David, those pathetically unintelligent-appearing fellows picked up in last night's "Miami Terror Bust" are not Muslim terrorists after all. They are, according to CNN, "deeply devout followers of the bible." They practice a "biblically based Christian philosophy."

Now, who knows whether these guys were plotting evil? We've all learned, I think, not to believe anything we're told by the MSM in the rush to a good story. But man, I watched the sad, sad interview on MSNBC last night with one of the David dudes and, once again, I was just embarrassed for my country. This young man could hardly utter a complete sentence, and the words that did come out were ofen untintelligible. So naive, so earnest, so uneducated -- so pleased to be a member of something bigger and better than himself, he seemed.

When will we learn? I think of this thread at FireDogLake and the French Revolution. Madame Defarge came from somewhere. These "terrorists/truthseekers/lost souls" come from the same place: despair, sclerotic class boundaries, the knowledge of being not valued by your country.

And another thing, "seas" of David doesn't sound right. Seas? Where does that come from? "Branch Davidians" made sense. David being a branch of Jesse and related to messianic prophecies and all. Seas? And what is it about David that spawns all these sects, anyway? You could do a dissertation on it.

Starting to ramble. Will stop now.

From the Sublime to the Pathetic

Wonkette -- not to be confused with Wankette -- posts another lovely, heartwarming tale about another lovely, heartwarming scion of the Bush Crime Family.

This reminds me of Jeb's son, George P. Bush who is no doubt being held back for future greatness. By "held back" I mean hidden from public view at this inconvenient moment when someone might ask "Why dear George Bush the next are you not in Iraq?"

Something Different -- Jesus Pictures

I was searching for Donner's Pieta which is at the Gurk Cathedral and figures one of my novels when I came upon this wonderful compilation of New Testament art.

Even to an atheist like me, it's such a treasure trove, I had to share it.

Look! Look! See Me, Mommy! Look!

I. Loathe. This. President.

And all who voted for him in 2004.

Why do they let him out? Especially early in the day before his mouth has warmed up? Watching Bush speak this morning, I'm not so much disgusted as mortified. This stupid, stupid person is our face to the world. Babbling, babbling. I always think of him as the Bill and Ted President, and today it just seems worse than usual.

He's like a toddler who's just done his doody: "I went to Iraq! Did you see me! I talked to the army guys! I told them they were good army guys! Did you see!!!

Competence

The Republican Party should be ashamed to show its face on the basis of its gross corruption alone, but the other, almost equally damning component of Republican Party rule has been its incompentence.

In these bleak years since 1994, I've assumed that the Democratic Party would at least have been able to get the work of governing done. I wonder now if I am wrong to assume this. This post from FireDogLake sent a little warning off in my brain:

On CA-50, Russert, quoting the Los Angeles Times, suggests the Bilbray victory shows Bush’s unpopularity alone won’t translate to Democratic gains in November. Kos points out that the Republicans threw $11 million into the race in a traditional Republican district, but also chastises the Dems for failing to follow the Republican lead and throw everything they had into the race.

If the Democratic Party can't get its act together to get all hands on deck for this one race which was not a primary, and was so crucial to a well-tempered zeitgeist, then why should I think they have any idea what they are doing at all?

Thank the gods for Kos and FiredDogLake and MyDD and all the others. The Democratic Party is like a sickly plant. Let's hope the watering of its netroots has not come too late.

Same Song Second Verse

I'm watching Kos and Armstrong (Crashing the Gate) on Tim Russert. It's early on, I'm hoping they say something zingy to Russert.

First point: The right wing echo chamber -- what have the Democrats got to counter this? Answer, nothing.

So Russert asks why. My answer: Democrats always expected the media to do their job.

Failure of Leadership -- Not

Noron is pounding on her "failure of leadership" bit to explain Haditha. Well, obviously there is some kind of failure of leadership whenever anything goes wrong in any tiered organization. But "failure of leadership" is too nice a phrase; it lets the "leader" down on a puffy cloud for a soft, soft landing.

It isn't failure of leadership that leads to horrors like Haditha. It's abuse of power. And when I talk about abuse of power in terms of this president and his cohort, I refer to their power over people, the human capital GWBush is willing to spend so freely.

I've thought for years that George W Bush is a sociopath, and my main two reasons for thinking this are 1) he seems to derive pleasure out of other people's pain, and 2) he doesn't seem to have any awareness of other human beings as having any other worthy purpose but to adore George W Bush.

One manifestation of this sociopathology is the way George W Bush treats people who "don't count." Working people? They don't need no stinking living wage or doctors. Democratic voters? Find a way to destroy their votes -- or at least switch their votes from the other guy to a Bush. Soldiers? Lemme play army -- I'll show my dad who's the best!

The Bushes and their courtiers see everyone else the way the pre-revolutionary French court saw everyone else -- perhaps as curiosities, but mostly as sources of revenue and cannon fodder.

The soldiers at Haditha were on their THIRD rotation in a horrific situation for which they were not trained. I don't know what they were or were not guilty of, but I do know this: the man who sent them there is guilty of more.

Deja vu All Over Again -- Again

From Bush's little foto-op with his cabinet this morning:

"And now it's gonna be up to the Iranians to make their decision. And if they choose not to verifiably suspend, we have laid the groundwork for an effective international response."

Doesn't this sound just like the way George W Bush declared war on Iraq? How much more destruction and death before this man is brought to justice?

Memorial Day

In the last several years, I've started to spend money politically. I changed my satellite company from DirecTV to DISH, I won't spend money at Walmart or Target or Walgreen's. I've been arguing against buying from China since before my son was born 23 years ago. I recently learned J. Jill buys clothes from the horrific Tom DeLay sweatshops in the Northern Marianas, and now I can't even walk into their store.

When the Dixie Chicks were trashed for exercising their free speech rights, I bought three of their CDs. Those CDs are still unopened, and my loss I know.

So when Neil Young brought out Living With War of course I bought that one too. And it has been sitting on my kitchen counter for a while. I've heard the Shock and Awe song on Air America several times; and the anger in the music and the lyrics is compatible with my own anger and disgust with the Bush crowd and every American who has ever voted for Bush without repentence.

This morning, after I put out my flag for Memorial Day and jumped into the car for the ride to Starbucks, I popped the Living With War CD into the player.

Omigod.

The title tune is nothing like I expected, and just reading the lyrics -- wonderful though they are -- is not enough. Opening with Young's fragile, weary-sounding statement --

I'm living with war everyday
I'm living with war in my heart everyday
I'm living with war right now

When he sings "living with war in my heart" it's not a proclamation but a diagnosis. This is our national disease: we are living with war in our hearts.

And when the dawn breaks I see my fellow man
And on the flat-screen we kill and we're killed again
and when the night falls, I pray for peace
Try to remember peace

Is it mere nostalgia that makes me think this is brilliant? I do try to remember peace, but I suddenly wonder if it's in my experience to remember. Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Inflation, El Salvador, Grenada, Afghanistan, Gulf I, the War on Clinton, the 2000 election, Iraq, the "re-election" of George W Bush, Abu Gonzales and Fascism in America, the Cheney Coup.

try to remember peace

I join the multitudes
I raise my hand in peace
I never bow to the laws of the thought police

But I do bow to the laws of the thought police. Every day I try to live a normal life, pay my taxes, watch a favorite teevee show, scream at Chris Matthews, and go to bed without doing something about it, I bow to the thought police. Every day that George W Bush kills, he kills in my name.

I take a holy vow
To never to kill again
To never kill again

This is when I have to acknowledge I live in bondage. Slavery means living the will of another person. I can't take a holy vow to never kill again; George W Bush has usurped what the founding fathers called the will of the people. His will is our will, his will is my will. I am a slave to the Bush Administration which kills in my name, and I have no power.

I'm living with war in my heart
I'm living with war in my heart and my mind
I'm living with war right now

Don't take no tidal wave
Dont take no mass grave
Don't take no smokin' gun
To show how the west was won

But when the curtain falls,
I pray for peace
Try to remember peace

The song reminds me of a Lutheran hymn, sweet in its certainty that there is a god and a heaven. I'm guilty of the greatest sin: despair. I don't believe in the American People. I don't believe we will ever take the holy vow.

In the crowded streets In the big hotels
In the mosques and the doors of the old museum
I take a holy vow To never kill again
Try to remember peace

The rocket's red glare
Bombs bursting in air
Give proof through the night, That Our flag is still there
I'm living with war everyday
I'm living with war in my heart everyday
I'm living with war right now.

Ellen McCord

And now for something completely different!

Ellen McCord is an artist I know who now has a website. Her work is just fabulous -- take a look!

Jackie Speier for Governor

Okay, she's running for Lt. Governor. But one can dream . . .



I had just about decided to vote for John Garamendi for Lt. Governor just to piss off the insurance companies who are trying to blackmail him.

But I've been a fan of Jackie Speier's for over 20 years, so I decided to look again at her campaign. I've never lived in her district -- in fact I live in the foothills and she's in the Bay Area. But I've always been a political junkie, and I used to notice her name attached to what I call "good government" bills and campaigns.

She writes legislation that makes regular people's lives better. She's written (and got passed) financial privacy laws as well as medical records privacy laws (including one great bill vetoed by Governor Arnold, gah).

Here is a link to a campaign ad narrated by Peter Coyote where you will learn (if you don't already know) about her horrific experience in Guyana.

These are, according to her campaign website, her Top Ten Legislative Accomplishments.

This story from the SF Gate in 2003 gives a lot of Speier's background and I think explains why she identifies with regular people and genuinely believes in good government.

I think John Garamendi is a good guy. The choice here is an oddity in elections: not between the lesser of two evils, but the greater of two goods.

I'm just a citizen, not connected with any group, but this is my endorsement. Blogolodeon will vote for Jackie Speier for Lt. Governor.

It's Official

In case you missed it, the United States of America has officially become a police state.

I blogged about how something like this can happen here and here just after the election.

Will November be too late?

The only consolation I've come across lately has been this wonderful novel, just out, by Carolyn See. She describes the anxiety, anger -- even rage I feel toward this administration and how paranoid life in America is becoming. And yet, the novel did lead me back to another truth: there is still beauty in the world. If you like to read, you must read this book. If you are a writer, note her skill, her elegant clarity, her humor in spite of everything.

See? I started out feeling funky and ended up feeling quite okay. It's a good book, eh?

I Gotcher English Right Here

Does this mean we have to start saying nappies, bonnet, and brilliant instead of diapers, hood, and great?

I'm up with that -- I already say "lovely" all the time. But what are the replacements for:

San Francisco
bungalo
coup
motto
caravan
yogurt
goulash
tundra
Chautauqua
boomerang
chignon
freight
khaki
croissant
bete noir
aloha
mensch
Seattle
quid pro quo
sofa
zero
splice
skate
albatross (oh, I would hate to lose that lovely one)
mammoth
chintz
juggernaut
kismet
amuck
tea
skunk
taboo
tattoo
opera
terrorism
pyjamas

Can we no longer speak of the zeitgeist?

Must every El Camino Boulevard now be called The Highway Boulevard?

Small Moves, Ellie

Every Wednesday, a group of citizens gathers at the corner of Sunset and Park in Rocklin, Placer County, Ca -- congressional district of the infamous John Doolittle.




This is such a red county that I would not be surprised if Doolittle were returned to Congress in November, despite everything.

And yet, these people persist. It's easy to get caught up in some grand and great swell of discontent, to join with hundreds, even thousands of fellow travelers in saying No! to evil.

But I think these are the braver people. The ones who come out in small numbers on a hot, hot day in red, red south Placer County to endure slurs and cat-calls and disdain and hold a sign and a flag and stand opposed to insanity and corruption.

And you know something? In the short time I was there to take these pictures, a surprising number of people slowed down in their cars to express their support, surprise, and gratitude.

Why Al Gore 2008

We desperately need a boy scout.

His extensive history of good government politics.

His institutional memory: He remembers what the Executive Branch was like before it was corrupted.

He seems to have actually read and understood the Constitution.

He will keep the internet free.

He has the knowledge, history, and ability necessary to reestablish good relations with the rest of the world.

We need the anti hurricane and tornado machine.

Illegal Immigration Solved

Everyone knows how to solve the problem of illegal immigration.

[Disclaimer: I speak of ILLEGAL aliens here, not legal immigrants, and certainly not my fellow citizens. It is the use of illegal workers that I object to. It drives down wages for everyone and allows for abusive, exploitative conditions for the illegal workers.]

1) Fine employers $10,000 per illegal worker hired plus four times the local minimum wage for each hour worked by illegal worker.

2. Fine landlords $10,000 for every housing unit they rent to an illegal alien.

Treat the exploiters of the workers like the despicable slavers they are. But of course, as long as these subhuman slavers are contributing to campaign coffers, it's unlikely anything will be done about it.

And Bush's speech tonight is mere diversion from the NSA bombshell.

Proof They Are Addicted to the Kool-Aid?

The news is out this morning that the Bush Administration is using illegal wiretaps to spy on news organizations and both CNN and MSNBC are frothing at the mouth -- over a possible third Duke rapist.

Sad Brag

I called it last year -- and the latest revelation about warrantless data mining supports my supposition.

The quaintness of search warrants -- Maybe the Bushies don't care about getting warrants because they have never intended to use any of what they find out in a legal way, whether in prosecutions or not. They wouldn't want warrants, because they wouldn't want a record anywhere of what information they were/are mining. In other words, the whole program is about oppositional research. It's the Hans Gruber tactic. Make the good guys think you're after something completely unrelated, and rob the world blind under their noses.

The Emanuel/Dean Tent-stakes

The (liberal)Girl Next Door has a great post up about the right-left tension over the Democratic Party's tent-stakes.

Liberals haven’t moved, but the tent has and we’re tired of standing on the outside of the tent. And rather than join the Party in its current location, on the rocky slope to our right, we’re using our muscle to move the tent back to where it used to be, just a little to the left, in the nice green plain where we can put down roots and grow. It’s nicer over here, plus, it’s where most Americans are making their way.

I agree with the entire post. The "tent" could be pulled so far past the center and to the right that the party itself becomes no more meaningful than the Blue Team, and then we'd be like Republicans chanting my party right or wrong.

There is something I'm more afraid of than being pulled to the right, though, and that is being sucked up into corporatism. If there is anything that should be antithetical to everything the Democratic Party stands for, it is corporatism. By this, I mean fascism, but it isn't polite to use that word in a world where the GOP defines the language.

And by fascism, or corporatism, I mean the ism whereby the human being is expected to exist for the benefit of the corporate being, and the state's function is to police and enforce the terms and function of that relationship.

It is the corporatism that has crept into the warp and woof of the Democratic Party that scares me more than any rightward pull. Without the influence of corporatism, would the party have stood for -- no less championed -- the media consolidation made possible by the Communications Act signed by President Clinton? Walk away from corporatism, and Medicare for everyone becomes more possible to achieve. Turn from the corporations to the citizenry, and NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA can be broken.

When we talk about right versus left, we slip onto the slope Karl Rove built.

The Democratic Party has a history of standing for the common, regular citizen, a tradition I once believed was inviolate. That's where I want my party tent pitched.

The "Raising Taxes" Charge

Okay, here is what Democrats can say when Republicans accuse them of raising taxes (after the Republicans have lowered them inappropriately):

Let's say your little children were used to going to bed at 7:00 in the evening and for some crazy reason everybody got it in their head they should stay up later. So they start going to bed at 10:00 at night. Pretty soon everyone is crabby, the kids aren't learning anything at school, and no one has a moment's peace. So the grownups set the bedtime back at 7. Everybody starts getting enough sleep again, and things work a lot better.

Republicans and taxes are like children and bedtime. They want what's fun for them, not necessarily what's good for them -- and what's good for the whole family.

When Democrats Ruled the Earth

It's kind of funny (except that it isn't) to see Republicans and media whores hyperventilating over the dire consequences to ensue if Democrats take over the House or Senate after November's election. I know what the Bushies are afraid of -- and it's not jail. It's losing out on all those future Halliburton and Carlyle Group government contracts. I don't understand the media types, though, unless it's just they've all realized they really do work for General Electric, not the public interest.

Anyway, pondering this great issue, my mind wandered over to the area of "What would it be like if the Democrats were in charge again?" Thinking of the DLC and pols like Joe Lieberman and Chuck Shumer, I couldn't imagine anything much different. So I slipped backward mentally to the past, to my childhood, an ancient time When Democrats Ruled the Earth. And I remembered:

On minimum wage, you could rent an apartment and go to a state college without going into debt.

A family could support themselves on one income.

Workers did not live in fear of their jobs being shipped overseas.

You could buy toys for children, confident of their safety. Food and drugs were less likely to kill you.

You didn't have to sit through as many minutes of commercials in your television-watching hour. You didn't have to sit through ANY erectile dysfunction commercials.

People who wanted the government in charge of women's bodies were considered crackpots.

People who wanted the church making political decisions were considered crackpots.

People who wanted schools to teach that God made the world in seven days were considered crackpots.

People who thought the government should be able to spy on citizens without a warrant were considered loony bird crackpots.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency was someone who cared about protecting the environment.

The president spoke intelligently and in complete sentences on a variety of subjects.

Americans who traveled abroad were not ashamed of their country's government.

American sports teams who traveled abroad were not afraid to put the Stars and Stripes on their vehicles.

Libraries were open seven days a week.

You could eat the fish you caught without getting sick.

Sheesh, I'm so depressed, I have to stop. I hope, with all my heart, there is a strong and unfaltering basis for the freaking out of the Republicans and their cheerleaders. Because, you know what? There are still real Democrats in the world. People like Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Howard Dean. New candidates like Ned Lamont, Charlie Brown -- a whole crop of them who hold progressive, traditional Democratic ideas in their heads. There is a chance.

Will the sun come out in America in November?

Depends On What "We" means

 

Spotted at the corner of Sierra College Boulevard and Taylor Road in Loomis, Placer County, California. I don't know if it means anything, but Doolittle's campaign signs are usually closer in size to the one next to it. 

The Cluelessness of the Bright Young Things

I posted this in the comments section over at The Washington Monthly. I repost it here because I want to think about it some more.

Despite the fact that the economic impact of immigration is zero for most people and minimal even for high school dropouts?

Are you that detached from reality? Or does the "most people" in your world just not include working people? My parents raised four kids (with my mom working sporadically and part-time) on my dad's construction pay. Their best friends raised their four kids on the salaries of a grocery checker and a milk delivery man. No more. We out here in workingland never know if this afternoon we'll find out our jobs have gone to Vietnam or been turned into the kind of jobs Americans won't do (in other words, jobs that don't pay a living wage).

When I went to college I worked 40 hours a week in a restaurant bussing tables for minimum wage. I made about $4 a day in tips. My take-home pay was enough to live on -- and I didn't live with my parents. I shared a two-bedroom apartment with another girl in a decent part of town. Who could do that on the minimum wage today? My pay was 1.72 an hour and the cheeseburgers we served were 85 cents, and there were fries with that. An equivalent burger would be $8.50 today, but the minimum wage is not $17.20.

The wage situation for working people is becoming untenable. You've got outsourcing sucking the jobs out of the country, and you've got illegals dragging the wages down for the jobs that remain.

Employers love it. They're doing fine. But this paradigm will end, one way or another. I don't think it's going to end with the minimum wage raised to $17 an hour or the United Food and Commercial Workers established at WalMart, or the federal government decreeing that a federal contracts must be done with American unionized labor.

It's going to end with all the money sucked out of circulation, housing prices crashing, regular people running out of money with nowhere to turn (thanks to the new bankruptcy laws) and realizing just about all at once that there is no hope. There will be fear and loathing and despair -- and then there will be rage.

Hope After All

The death vs life without parole verdict has just come in re Zacarias Moussaoui, and I am relieved.

Sometime in the last couple of months, I had one of those click experiences where the conclusional matrix by which I understand reality shifted. I don't know what bit of minutia put me past the brink. Our president is a liar and a warmonger. Soldiers and civilians, young and old, more innocent than not, die every day. Democracy in America is dead; the corporations have replaced human beings as the active political movers. Our economy is on the verge of utter collapse. And on, and on. And so lately I've been dulled, felt separated from emotion. The unbearable heaviness of it all has destroyed my sense of citizenship in a wonderful country. That country doesn't exist anymore.

But today a jury refused to find for death to punish a man, perhaps a crazy man, for lies. That is what the prosecution wanted: a death sentence for lying. I am just relieved that a jury did not agree to it.

And because of that, I think maybe there is hope for us after all.

workslave interrupted

My life has changed.

For the past several years, I've done medical transcription work for a major hospital on the west coast. As time went by, I recruited more workers and ended up with a little business of sorts. I was making a decent amount of money at something enjoyable enough -- and I got a lot of emotional satisfaction from giving good-paying work to other people. I actually paid my people about 80 percent more than the industry standard.

Then the hospital we worked for, with hardly any warning, let us all go and brought in voice recognition machines. It's pretty depressing to lose your job to a machine, and I understand the Luddites in a whole new way.

I became one of the victims of our "booming" economy. I contributed to rising productivity by joining the hordes of workers who are doing so much more for so much less. My resentment was enhanced by my exhaustion. I went back to grocery shopping adding the bill in my head as I went along, careful not to go over my limit, an artifact of poverty George W and his ilk will never know or understand. I have been depressed and felt stuck. I didn't have a good solution or plan.

A miracle happened.

I was offered a new job, entirely different than what I have been doing, yet perfect to exploit my skills and talents (and education). And it pays enough to pay my bills. It's like a gift from the gods, and I am still amazed.

For the next year, I will be editing several projects for a professional writer. I've begun the first, a novel, and I am in heaven. I'm actually very good at it (at least I believe so).

I'm so happy. I don't even feel like I'm working -- isn't one of the signposts of "right work" that it's work you would do for free if you didn't have to earn a living? This is how it is. I love editing. I love working with words and ideas. I am so happy.

And this is the big change, the miracle in my life. It was, for me, a risk to say yes to this; I have always had a mental block against living where I loved. I would hear my mother's voice: Who do you think you are? and back away like a frightened cat.

So I have had two miracles: the offer, and that I said yes. My life has changed. I am learning to say yes to the miracle. Will I make this interruption a permanent departure?

drive-by post

or something. I'm so tired, but that's another story. Big changes coming, news to follow.

But for now, I'm adding this site to my blogroll. I cannot visit this page and not laugh out loud.

More Nothings For Wendy

The desire for the luxury of nothing made me think of Keats' negative capability --

when man is
capable of being
in uncertainties,
mysteries, doubts, without
any irritable reaching after fact & reason

Happy Birthday, Dear Wendy!!

Happy Birthday Libby!!

Today is Elisabeth Gruner's Birthday!

The Girls

They call the boys "the guys" and they call the girls "the girls" and I love it. I love these girls, flying, grinning, slouching toward heaven with so much girljoy it could break a curmudgeon's sclerotic and precious harsh-on. They take us back to when the future was so far away and the smorgasbord of everything lay at our ignorant and moving feet.

Lie Hard

Is it finally, brutally, disgustingly obvious? Cheney, Grover Norquist, Tom DeLay, John Doolittle, Richard Perle, et bleeping al are the Hans Grubers of our current political clime. They talk neophilosophy, but they're really only in it for the money.

Intelligent Design approach to bird flu

Could somebody tell our fearless leader we don't really have to spent all those billions fighting bird flu?

The way I understand it, scientists are saying bird flu is so virulent because it is a strain of flu that has evolved so recently human beings don't have any resistance to it yet.

But there is a significant percentage of the American People who don't believe in evolution. Therefore, they are probably not concerned about the effects of avian flu. Heck, they will probably spurn any newly developed vaccines against the disease, since taking them would put the lie to their stated rejection of evolution. We really only need enough vaccine for the people who accept the scientific theory of evolution. The ID people can use the same flu vaccines that have always been available. What a great opportunity for them to demonstrate their faith.

Elections Have Consequences

I remember John McCain, shortly after Roberts was nominated to the Supreme Court, putting on his half-serious, near-smirk look and saying "Elections have consequences." This was his justification for the nomination of a man to our highest court who is obviously utterly unacceptable to half the people in the United States.

The remark is the answer of a brute, a bully party getting its way.

Now, looking at the devastation in New Orleans, the chaos caused not so much by the hurricane as by Bush Administration policies and actions, I hope the Democrats will be clear about this above all:

Yes, elections have consequences.

The Shame

When will the nightmare be over? When will that childman no longer occupy the White House? When will we collectively give our political heirarchy a bath?

James Wolcott reminds us yet again why we are ashamed of our country these days.

President Baby

I blame the London blasts on George W. Bush.

President Clinton treated Al Qaida as a police matter, a position so glibly derided by the neocons and their sheep. We know of some of the successes Clinton had -- the millenium plot the most spectacular. And always against the ridicule of the whacked right, being accused of wagging the dog.

Bush came in with his arrogant, stone-walling, stubborn "my way" approach, took his eyes off Al Qaida in favor of his own preciouis prize: Saddam Hussein. He squandered our country's reputation, our fortune, our precious soldiers' lives to get Saddam Hussein and let Osama bin Laden go.

George W. Bush got what he wanted, the rest of the world be damned. You have to look no further than his life story to understand it was bound to happen. The man seems to be a sociopath. He most certainly is as dangerous, with the power of the US Presidency, as Al Qaida -- if you count lives lost as the result of one or the other's actions.

Starve the Beast

A couple of months ago, I switched my satellite service from Directv to DISH. Directv -- owned by Rupert Murdoch and contributor to Republican causes -- will not get another dime of my money, anyway.

Tonight I switched my prescriptions away from Walgreens to a local pharmacist who does not let her pharmacists refuse to fill prescriptions if they have "moral objections" to them.

I am one person. I will not kill the beast, but neither will I feed it.

The Republican Party is not the party for you -- and neither is the Democratic party.

A lot of people talk about the mystery of evangelicals running with the Republican Party when that party works against working-class economic interests. But I think in their best evangelical interests, religious right activists should leave the Republican Party. In the spirit of David Brooks giving advice to the Democrats, this is One Liberal's Advice to the true believers of the religious right:

There are two "religous right" subgroups, of course. One group is of the true believers who sincerely believe their vision of God (and often Jesus) is the One Truth, like it says in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, and the Koran. These people believe with the certainty of a cult in God's Law, the Day of Judgment, the End of Times, the Rapture, the Oneness and Allness of He-whose-name-cannot-be-spoken. What they know in religious terms is as real as gravity. There is no room for another interpretation (Satan calling) or incredulity (infidel alert). The other group is of astroturf believers. Believers in name only (BINOs) whose purpose is to channel the energies (action) and resources (money) of the sincere believers in whatever direction decreed by the BINO's masters.

Now comes the Democratic Party, which says: This is all very good, but people are entitled to religious freedom and we respect all points of view here.

Now comes the Republican Party, which says: Yes! You are the good people; the others are evil. We are on your side! Heck, we even believe what you believe. Come with us!

I wonder if, and soon, sincere true believers of the working class are going to realize that the Republican Party is not the party for them -- and neither is the Democratic Party. It is time to re-think: Is a political party the same thing as a club, a church, a civic do-gooder organization? What does any political party have the power to achieve in the United States?

The simple answer is: A political party in the United States has the potential power to change the law within the confines of the Constitution and even, at the extreme, to change the Constitution itself.

This seems like (and is) a big thing. Laws and arbiters of the law affect people's lives. Having Janice Rogers Brown judge your case makes it less likely you will obtain relief from injuries caused to you or your loved ones by a Corporation. Social Security "reform" means it is certain you will recieve less money when you start collecting benefits.

But there are some things the law cannot do, and these are the things sincere true believers (not BINOs) seem to be most interested in. The law cannot make people have no abortions. The law cannot make children trust bad parents. The law cannot make people stay in horrific marriages. The law cannot make people not be homosexual.

The law cannot make everyone else pretend to be like you, or at least shut up.

The world is a scary place, and everything is changing, and no one knows what is going to happen. The Republican Party is growing the fear, feasting on the fear. The Republican Party, in the hands of its present leaders, cannot help you.

When you join one political party (any political party) as a monolith and start shouting evil! to the others, you do not advance your cause. People with multiculteral minds cannot see you for your goodness while you are calling them evil, and face it: The multiculturals are multiplying; they are taking over the world, even if you cannot see this in your self-contained world.

Time to reevaluate your program. What do you want? To be a tool of a political party which will not achieve your aims for you because it cannot in a nontheocratic, free country? Wouldn't you have a better chance of getting what you really want by breaking free of political party -- especially since the people you seem so desperate to change do not belong to the party you have chosen?

Jesus meant a thing or two when he said "render unto Caeser." I believe, as so many early Christian teachers did, that staying out of politics was one.

On abortion: You cannot ban choice. Women have and always will chose abortion when they feel it is necessary. The only thing you can affect through law is whether they will be more likely to die or become sterile in their attempts.

On parental notification: Some children will always be afraid of their parents, with reason. Some children will be raped and impregnated by a parent, uncle, favored family friend. The only thing you can achieve through parental notification laws is compounding the spiritual and physical angiush a poor child in such a situation suffers. Did Jesus command you to add to the suffering of others?

On homosexuals: Homosexuals exist. Law will never change that. What you achieve through anti-homosexual law is societal unrest, injustice, and human sorrow. Jesus didn't talk about homosexuals, but he did talk about Samaritans and lepers, the "undesireables" of his day. He broke bread with them. He never said to persecute them.

To get your message out in a way that the people you are "talking about" might become the people you are "talking to," you must break away from political party and start speaking as a religious voice in the great tradition of American religious freedom. There may be less obvious power in it. It may be less grandiose and ego-flattering. But you will have a better chance of achieving results.

Choice in all things cultural is the only way. Real belief does not come from force but from education, enlightment, conversion. How will you reach across the divide with the ugly thing the Republican Party has become standing in the way?

Joining the Democratic Party is not the answer, either. Join parties and vote for candidates who will enact laws that make your and all American lives better where law is able to do so. Render unto God what is God's.

You must become apolitical in your evangelicalism, throw down the swords, pick up the ploughshares and till in the soil of the human condition.

Ayatollahs, Enablers, and Goons -- Oh, My!

Watching the John Bolton nomination debate on C-SPAN 2, it struck me: The Republican Party's turn to the Dark Side is complete. Every Republican can now be sorted into one of three categories: ayatollah, enabler, or goon.

John Bolton, obviously, is a goon. Tom DeLay is a goon.

Frist is an ayatollah -- too much of a wimp to be considered a goon.

The enablers fall into two subgroups, benign enablers and malignant enablers. Olympia Snowe, who once I admired, is a benign enabler; Ann Coulter is of the malignant persuasion.

It could become a parlor game, sorting these sorry excuses for American citizens . . .