Month: September 2006

Like so many others here, I am absolutely appalled at my country’s descent into madness and the enshrinement of crimes against humanity as our official policy. But I am almost as appalled by the incredible shallowness of the progressive blogosphere’s reaction to the passage of the torture bill.

In a certain way, the reaction is pretty typical.  On dKos and elsewhere throughout the “progressive” blogosphere, some of the more shrill minions poured out dozens of comments and diaries explaining why everyone should be very, very angry about Democratic complacency in the face of this. They were opposed by “pragmatists,” for whom it’s never ok to be angry at the blessed Democratic Party. After a few rounds of this, the magic of the twenty-four-hour news cycle appeared (Foley was found with a live boy!), and everone began to move on.

This is what happened when the Democrats gave Bush his Iraq War authorization in 2002. It’s what happened when Democrats refused to filibuster two Supreme Court nominees who think we live in an absolute monarchy.  It’s what happened when Democrats voted for bankruptcy “reform,” and when they confirmed appointee after appointee who wrote torture memos, supervised illegal wiretap programs, and the like.  Should we be angry or not? That was really the extent of the debate.
But this is different. This is torture. This is countenancing crimes against humanity. A moral line has been crossed. Is it not time to talk not only about our feelings, but also about actually holding war criminal Democrats accountable for their actions?  Is there not a point at which partisanship needs to yield to principle?

Apparently not.  All is still forgiven among the netroots if you have a “D” after your name (especially since Lieberman and Zell no longer do).  Even support for torture.

The acid test here is one’s attitude toward the five Democrats running for Senate who voted in favor of torture: the Nelsons, Carper, Menendez, and Sherrod Brown (who voted for it in the House).  Where are the calls among the major progressive bloggers to withdraw support for these moral monsters (and I use that word advisedly)?  You can look far and wide, and apart from “unhinged” commenters like myself, you’ll find nobody calling for any such thing.  Quite the opposite!  They need our support because they’ll contribute to a Democratic Majority!  Perhaps we’ll challenge them in a primary someday…

This attitude is truly depraved.  For all the blather about torture being an absolute wrong, it turns out that, if you’re a Democrat running for Senate, supporting torture is more or less ok. This refusal to hold the Democratic Party accountable, even for this, also leads to the netroots’ ultimate ineffectualness. No wonder the leadership of the Democratic Party pays no attention to the yelps of the blogosphere when there’s no price whatsoever for ignoring us!  And just look at how thrilled they are to have coffee with Clinton!

So what have “progressive” blogs been doing instead? They ring their hands. Wail a little. Congratulate themselves for their “shrillness.” And then attack anyone who suggests the Democrats were at all responsible, let alone that they should be held accountable for their actions.

As George Bernard Shaw once noted, democracy is a device that ensures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve. Anybody who puts party loyalty above his or her commitments to the most basic human rights deserves to live in a country that countenances waterboarding.

Hello Everyone…
This is Dena, Diane’s friend from Baghdad, Iraq…
Diane has managed for so long to make me a very well-known person, on this website and elsewhere, that an extended introduction might not be necessary!
I have known Diane for so long and she is a person that has touched my life in the most beautiful ways with her sound advices, motherly love and adorable sense of humor. She has introduced to a galaxy of wonderful people that has made my very first experiences in the United States dearly memorable. She has often spoken to me about how the members of Booman Tribune are sympathetic to what I was experincing before and after arriving in the U.S. and I know that this probably an extremely belated thank you to each and every one of you, and that i should have been on this website a long time ago, but I am hoping that you consider all the difficulties I had to overcome to arrive, settle and adjust until the time for such leisurly undertaking as writing could come. Besides, I only use the word “leisurly” ironically because writing is never a leisurly, relaxed process for me. It is rather an emotionally and intellectually consuming endeavor to communicate thoughts, feelings and experiences, and my perfectionist tendencies in this respect always cause me to call off the task altogether! So once again I apologize for not being able to take the time and join your brilliant community and thank you for all your dear wishes and heartfelt prayers that has, as I see the evidence around me day in day out, made the challenges of settling and performing well valuable lessons to learn from life…
Settling and learning to adjust was not an easy task, to be sure. When you come to the United States you come loaded with hopes and aspirations. You become an incarnation of all of those who came long before you seeking long-lost dreams and a much-craved sense of security, happiness and peace of mind. But when you come here from a place which has ruthlessly and constantly ailed you, consuming your lustiest and most spirited youthful years and depriving you of even your most basic human needs, the bulk of your dreams and expectations becomes incomparable to that of any of those who traveled on the same plane that landed you off here! There is a sense of suspense, anticipation, unease – even helplessness and fear. You are determined to succeed, to become the smash hit in your field of study or expertise, to write the next great American novel, to become the next American legend (or Idol, depending on your interests!) – or simply to become your own hero and pat yourself on the back whispering “Good job! You did it!”
All of those around you, everywhere, can sense the excitement in the air – the passport check-in officer at the airport smiles constantly for you and there’s a “welcome aboard” statement written beautifully on his face, and the old couple sitting nearby are smiling dearly at you probably musing “How young and adorable! If only we are 26 again!”, your orientation leaders assure you that this the “honeymoon” period of your life, and you call home asserting boastfully that you are doing amazingly great and that they need not worry because you are a superman – or woman! All is clear and sunny and happy – until….
Until…you wake up one morning and it suddenly hit you that you simply not that mythical, super-powerful creature who will work miracles soon and make mom and dad the proudest parents on earth…the creature you only yesterday claimed yourself to be! You stare at the “to-do” list lounging lazily on your bedside table, gazing teasingly back at you and challenging defiantly “I dare you to take care of you, or get a thing written on me accomplished!” You relinquish the challenge and admit that the list subdued you. You fall back hard on your head, very hard. Everything turns all black or white. Initial numbness and then total paralysis.
What happened?! How has the Mighty fallen?!?
Change. That tricky transition that can either make you or break you. Becoming free, responsible and alone – and becoming all of these in a very short time. The rhythm of your life and your daily performance has been seriously disturbed. All familiarities desecrated. All known structure demolished. The surroundings, nay, our entire lives, have dramatically changed – and so must we.
I cannot remember the exact time when all has crumbled down around me. As far as I can remember, the disintegration was building up and accumulating a mass of tensions without me knowing about it. It all happened behind my back! There was not one perfect moment to explode. The forces of change chose rather to make themselves visible only occasionally until the moment of total collapse finally imposed itself. And when it occurred, it was so powerful that I opted ending my own life rather than letting it continue to rack me the way it did…The grief was too much to be contained and the pain was too much to quench…These were feelings where individual will has no say at all. Depression becomes a lifestyle without giving any promotion whatsoever. Tears do not give prior notice before drowning eyes and face. All that was rosy turns pitch-dark and all that was beautiful is now too hideous to look at. Utter ruin.
Such mystery was this transformation for me! I have known far more agonizing times throughout my life, but not even once had I contemplated taking my own life as the only possible, remaining choice – even though fits of depression were not entirely uncommon…Not a single suicidal thought could manage to find access into my life before. What has changed now?! Such a transformation was simply frightening! I have always been hopeful, cheerful, confident of good things in store yet to happen and come my way and with such powerful passion and such love of exploration and expanding and experiencing all the beauty and mystery and strangeness that life has to offer…That was me even though my life has never been particularly generous in bestowing enough reasons to help maintain such a positive attitude…What happened now?!
This chaos had to stop. IMMEDIATELY.
Our outlook on life does not change overnight, and the most crushing burden is our expectation that it should. Therefore, the key for me was to learn to not to be too harsh on myself and allow time to take its course. Thoese images of the Superman and the Unbeatable are all self-taught. We label ourselves according to what we rather like to be, and not who we really are. We are young and verdant and so vulnerable at times. It is ok. Admitting that it is where the challenge is! Stripping ourselves of preconceived notions about who we truly are, allowing ourselves to miss loved ones and feel nostalgic to all that’s familiar is indispensable if any healing is to be effected. This is not easy because the expectations are always too enormous, not only by others but also because of what we ourselves expect to accomplish having raised the bar extremely high giving no way to any compromise whatsoever. So besides your professors’ voices in your head reminding you that you are a graduate student with a completely new and highly demanding set of responsibilities, but it is also your own voice humming that scary, forceful tune “Be Super!” inside your head all the time…
Once I was able to make that initial move towards acknowledging my “human substance” I began to see it becomes easier to find further compromises to help adjust and feel better, enabling me to turn homesickness into an emotion whose main purpose is to promote your sense of belonging to the familiar people, places and experiences where I came from. Look back at them sympathetically, dearly and joyfully – like the old couple at the airport!
The sweeping changes that have stormed our modern world affect us more than we can ever imagine. These have sneaky, obnoxious ways of taking their toll on us, and it is only after a considerable damage has been done that we come to the realization that we need to reinvent ourselves to rise above the commonalities expected by a deeply established culture; a culture so threatening to our sense of confidence and self-worth. Our culture, as students, expect us to conform to a set of “cool” and “wow” stereotypes in every single detail of our lives: studying, friendships, and relationships. Those of us who choose to deviate from those time-honored stereotypes are very likely to have to face some tough challenges every now and then. But here’s what I know… I know that it is only after we succeed in overthrowing stereotypes and allowing ourselves to just be who we really are then we are likely to experience any peace of mind. If we, as young men and women, can succeed in reforming our own lives in a way that meets our own expectations and not that of the predominant culture, and preserve our sense of importance and self-worth and giving ourselves the right to celebrate being a man and being a woman, then it is very unlikely that our lives will continue to have the same bleak and dull aspect anymore.
We all have heard such maxims as “Expand your horizons” and “think outside the box” (Diane, thank you for introducing me to these two Americanisms!!!) I know that some of us are sick and tired of hearing them again, but they still work! How dare me be so confident!?? Experience. How much you are willing to experience with expanded horizons and dumped boxes will eventually determine the quality of your life. It works very much the same way a marriage works two or three years after the honeymoon; it is up to the couple to make it a living hell or a blissful paradise! What you get back will always depend on what you put in there in the first place…
I haven’t yet recovered completely…My thoughts go out to my mother sometimes in the strangest ways awakening me from the deepest and most reposeful sleeping hours…Love is in the details; the smell, the voice and the sound of laughter of someone who has dedicated their entire life to make you the person you are today – that’s what my mother did. And even though it could endanger her own life to make it known to the world that I have made it this far, she still opts to boast proudly my successes for her own self-gratification…
It is only when I contemplate this much love that I feel more confirmed in the belief that love is what all this life is all about…

(cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and Daily Kos)

As has been my weekly habit since returning to Philadelphia, I have spent my Saturdays canvassing for PA-08 Democratic candidate Patrick Murphy, a true progressive running to unseat freshman GOP Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick in this Democratic-trending district. The most recent poll shows the race being very close, with Fitzpatrick leading Patrick by a paltry 5 percentage points. In MyDD’s latest House forecast, this race is ranked a Tier 1.5 race – it’s on the cusp of breaking into the top, but there haven’t been many polls being done on this race, and Patrick’s name ID remains relatively low in the district, which covers much of suburban Bucks County. That’s the main goal of the canvassing operation the Murphy campaign is running – Patrick’s name ID is low, so we have to let people know about him and his plan for bringing positive change to Washington. Below the fold, I’ll recount today’s soreness-inducing canvassing, which covered a lot of real estate in lower Bucks County…
Last week was a hectic weekend – not only did I hit the streets in support of Patrick, but the great guys filming Crashing The States were in town as well. I got a couple of inquiries from the campaign staff and volunteers about the final product. I honestly don’t believe any of the footage has been digitized so that it can be uploaded to the ‘Net for preliminary viewing; hopefully hekebolos will inform us all if any tidbits of the footage they’ve shot to date will be shown before they compile the documentary. The campaign headquarters also seemed a bit quieter today; there seemed to be less volunteers and staffers in the office than usual. However, a group had gone out earlier, and after we had one Penn Democrat get a crash course on the art of canvassing, we headed out to get the word out about Patrick.

Today, my canvassing partner was Josh, a fellow junior at Penn whose chosen field of study is in science and sounds a bit more complicated than anything I studied in high school. As a resident of southern New Jersey, he bemoaned the lack of Democratic politicians in the region, which has been dominated by the GOP for several years now. He’s also a fellow blogger; along with myself, he posts at the official blog of the Penn College Democrats, and he also reads MyDD – so perhaps he can add some additional thoughts once I post this entry. We went out with another canvassing team as well; both appear to be regular volunteers for the campaign (I know the name of our driver – Boris – but I forget the other guy. Apologies for doing so). I’m not sure how much they frequent the blogosphere, but they seemed to have many of the same gripes with our party that we cyber-denizens have: the Democratic Party isn’t strong enough, and the campaign being run by PA-Sen Democratic nominee Bob Casey is awful. Everyone in my car today seemed to believe Casey would lose the race despite his consistently large leads over Rick Santorum, and some were even pessimistic about the chances that the Democrats will take over either house of Congress. I am more optimistic, but to each their own opinion.

Today’s canvassing trip was to the same area I canvassed last week. It was a return to Northampton Township, and this time, I would say our lists were probably majority-Republican households. I think it’s great that we’re trying to flip the other side to vote for Patrick, who certainly has impeccable credentials. In addition, the Democratic ticket strength in Pennsylvania this year should easily help us pick up GOP votes for the down-ticket candidates. One thing that has definitely changed from last week to this week is the exponential increase in lawn signs. Both Republicans and Democrats have been planting all sorts of lawn signs throughout Bucks County, from the governor’s race all the way down to the State Assembly races. The Fitzpatrick campaign has bought billboard ads along Bristol Pike (the road that the Murphy campaign headquarters sit along), and they have smaller-sized stand-alone billboards they have set up that say ‘Elect Fitzpatrick’ – apparently, putting the ‘Re-‘ in front of ‘Elect’ was omitted, perhaps because their internal polling shows that it’s a bad time to say you’re an incumbent? Nevertheless, the more interesting factor, in my opinion, was that there were several bunches of lawn signs that grouped together the entire GOP ticket, as shown above. I can’t imagine why Fitzpatrick, who is in a tight race and has omitted his party affiliation from his signs, would make it so clear who he was aligned with by planting his signs with Lynn Swann and Rick Santorum. One volunteer with Murphy told me that the GOP campaigns for the lower-ballot races – including Fitzpatrick – actually moved their lawn signs away from Swann’s and Santorum’s signs so as to avoid the association. Clearly, they didn’t take care of every cluster of signs, as we saw many of these signs grouped together as we drove to our canvassing destination. But hey, if the Fitzpatrick campaign wants to weigh itself down with a couple of anchors, I’m all for it.

As noted above, today’s canvassing took place in Northampton Township. The neighborhood was essentially the same as last time, with it being strictly middle-upper class neighborhoods that we were targeting, except that instead of being in Holland, we were in Churchville. The only difference was that today, we had a much larger section of turf to cover; in these kinds of neighborhoods, the spaces between houses are bigger than usual, and the driveways are long, requiring a much longer distance to cover to actually reach the resident’s front door. Even though I would guess that the majority of households I canvassed today were Republicans, there were no lawn signs visible – which, I suppose, can’t be a bad thing for us. It could be an indication that the GOP base simply isn’t that enthusiastic this year.

Unlike the previous two weeks, where I got some decent response, this week was a lot of knocking on doors and receiving no response. Although it was lightly raining when we started canvassing, and it wasn’t that warm outside, I knocked on 51 doors and only received 23 contacts – and do remember that there are multiple contacts in each household. Of those 23 contacts, 8 were refusals, a number that only outpaced by those that had no opinion about the race. The response rate wasn’t that great, and unfortunately, those that did answer did not provide much data to be pleased with. As with most undecideds, they hadn’t heard of Patrick. Those that did accept the literature I handed them seemed receptive, but a great deal told me that they weren’t interested in the race. One particularly disappointing episode was a Democratic household that told me they weren’t interested in the race. The next house down – a Republican residence – was willing to at least listen to me talk about Patrick and accept the literature. Another house I went to – one that contained a Republican and a nonaffiliated voter – was more disheartening. After answering the door, I asked the man if he had heard of Patrick. “No,” he replied, smiling. “Would you like to hear about him,” I asked. “No,” he answered, still smiling. I left the porch and wondered what exactly there was to smile about. I wouldn’t be proud of showing no interest whatsoever in my democracy.

Unlike last weekend, where there were some Republicans I canvassed that said they would vote for Patrick, there wasn’t that kind of luck this time around. One household that had a Democratic voter around my age listed on it seemed like a promising opportunity. The person’s mother answered and said that she had heard of Patrick. “He’s the Democrat running for Congress,” she said, a hint of disdain in her voice. I affirmed that and spoke a little more about Patrick, but when I asked whether we could count on her support, the answer came back firmly: “No.” Josh encountered even more Republicans who would be voting for Fitzpatrick, and it appears that in this area, being a Democrat is not highly looked upon. He canvassed one household that, after inquiring about Patrick’s party affiliation, told him that they couldn’t vote for a Democrat. Another person who was driving by stopped and asked Josh if he was lost. After hearing that he was canvassing for a Democrat, the driver took off without so much as a farewell. There’s a positive phenomena I noted while looking over my canvassing sheets, though. Because the district is historically a GOP stronghold, it was of no surprise that the older voters tended to be Republicans. But the younger voters were almost solidly Democratic across the board. One household had 2 Republican parents – and 2 Democratic children. This is why the district is trending our way – the younger blood in the district is squarely blue, and as they continue to become a bigger part of the population, the more solidly Democratic southeast Pennsylvania will become.

Nevertheless, I did meet a couple of supporters of Patrick. One guy said he’d definitely be voting for Patrick. I was about to leave when he began going off on the ‘clowns’ running the government. Even though he was a Democrat, he was disgusted at what was going on, singling out Bush and Cheney for the wrongs our country faces today. In today’s environment, he said, he’d never vote for a Republican. He did note that we’d have a tough time winning here, as he noted that the district was GOP-leaning. “If that’s what people vote for, then it’s what they deserve,” he stated. However, that leadership just doesn’t affect those who vote for it…it affects all of us. That’s why I’m out every weekend, trying to make sure that the Bush agenda is stopped dead in its tracks for the next 2 years. Another elderly man I spoke to said that he’d vote for Murphy as well, stating quite clearly that he didn’t ‘like the other guy’ – Fitzpatrick. I didn’t speak with him any longer, as I had interrupted his lawn-mowing session, but it was good to hear that some people aren’t pleased with the incumbent, no matter how much of a local guy he is.

All in all, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Lack of name recognition is still the big thing that Patrick needs to overcome. Nevertheless, things are looking up for the campaign. The staffers said that the debate last Sunday between Patrick and Fitzpatrick – on Iraq and national security – went very well, and the hall it was hosted in was overflowing with people. Additionally, in line with Kos’ advice, the campaign is doing strictly cable ad buys instead of pissing away money on more expensive network advertising that reaches more people who don’t live in the district. It’s 39 days until Election Day, and the final full month of the campaign begins tomorrow. We’re going to win this.

    The passing of the Torture bill has led to justified expressions of anger, frustration, and bitter sadness here in the frog pond and in the wider Progressive community. I join in those feelings. Much has been said about the bill and I cannot add anything new. I agree that this administration has continuously moved against the constitutional freedoms and liberties that Americans have fought to preserve and expand. We have fought in the streets, on battlefields, and in the courts to grasp the promise of our democracy, a promise that always seems to exceed our grasp. Each stage of the struggle has moved us closer to a more inclusive democracy and a more inclusive America. Until now.

    The Torture law is a clear step away from the promise of America. The Patriot Act was also. However, there is another threat to fulfilling the promise of America. It is a more subtle threat, but potentially more dangerous than the previous two. There is an increasingly virulent attack on the Federal Court system by the Right. The Judiciary is under attack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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   The Georgetown University School of Law recently held a conference on
The State of the Judiciary.  I listened to the panel on Interbranch Relations, that is the relation between the Judicial, Executive, and Judicial branches of the Federal government.

Newt Gingrich is the opening speaker, and his comments are very disturbing. Although Gingrich was driven out off office in disgrace, he is still a leading conservative thinker with wide appeal on the Right. I urge you to listen to at least the first fifteen minutes of the hour-long discussion. (If you can, hang in there until the end, when Gingrich makes his points clearer.) I did not find a transcript of the discussion; therefore I am relying on my notes. Of course, I may have made mistakes and will quickly post corrections that I become aware of. In the meantime, you can listen for yourself.

    The gist of Gingrich’s argument is that the Supreme Court is supreme in interpreting case law, not in interpreting the Constitution. All three branches are co-equal interpreters of the Constitution, he says, in that they all swear to uphold and defend the Constitution. When the Supreme Court or a Federal Court, Gingrich continues, makes a ruling that “arouses the passion of the nation, then the other two branches have the legitimate right to say, does our interpretation of the Constitution agree with your interpretation, because all three branches are technically equal. There is no supremacy.”

     Gingrich makes frequent references to “the will of the people”. This popular will is the presented as both clearly knowable and in opposition to “elite classes.” Federal Judges and Supreme Court Justices are clearly members of the elite, as are lawyers in general. Gingrich states “the Court that imposes elite values in variance with the country weakens its own believability and puts itself into position to be repudiated by the Legislative and Executive branches.”

    I am always wary of talk about “The Will of the People.” This is the language of demagogues and dictators. Who are The People? I can’t help but think that the American family in XicanoPwr’s diary (9/29/06) isn’t part of Gingrich’s People. Gingrich’s position opens the way for the dictator to override the Judiciary’s independence – a key element in the balance of power of the Federal government. What imposition from the judicial “elites” will arouse the Will of the People next? Who will lead the “People?” And who will stand up to the usurpation of power by a ruthless Executive? If Federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor has offended “The Will of the People” in her ruling against Bush, does that mean that Bush can simply ignore her ruling in the name of the “Will of the People”?

    This is scary to me. The Federal Courts and the Supreme Court may not be our friends right now, but we must defend the institution of the Federal Courts. In Gingrich’s world of the Will of the People, minority rights will be crushed and our liberties abandoned as morally corrupt politicians fan the flames of fear and hate.

Former Senator Warren Rudman summed up the debate by saying,“When the country is in jeopardy, whether in times of a war, or in times of a terrific economic or natural disaster, that is the time for the courts to be more involved, because the greatest danger to liberty comes when there is great fear in the country.”

    The Bush administration and the Republican Party are stoking the climate of fear in this country. That is how they have governed the country for six years. The Democratic Party has been cowardly and ineffectual in standing up to the bullying tactics of Rove, Cheney, et al. These are times of great fear. We need the courts more than ever. We need to elect people who will help get Judges, not ideologues on the bench. Gingrich has shown once again why Progressive movements are so often at odds with Populist movements. Please take an hour and listen to this debate. It could be portend of things to come. Let’s hope not, and work for better days ahead.

This is what happens to you if you don’t agree to sit down and grant Bob Woodward an interview.

In Bob Woodward’s highly anticipated new book, “State of Denial,” President Bush emerges as a passive, impatient, sophomoric and intellectually incurious leader, presiding over a grossly dysfunctional war cabinet and given to an almost religious certainty that makes him disinclined to rethink or re-evaluate decisions he has made about the war.

This is what happens if you do agree to sit down and grant an interview to Bob Woodward.

It’s a portrait that stands in stark contrast to the laudatory one Mr. Woodward drew in “Bush at War,” his 2002 book, which depicted the president — in terms that the White House press office itself has purveyed — as a judicious, resolute leader, blessed with the “vision thing” his father was accused of lacking and firmly in control of the ship of state.

Any questions?

Bob Woodward’s last two books were horseshit. His access allowed him to gather some very interesting information, and that is true again for this book. It just so happens that this time the administration didn’t earn any good will and the result is that they got hammered.

this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war

we love and support our troops, just as we love and support the Iraqi people – without exception, or precondition, or judgement.

image and poem below the fold

In this undated family photo, Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard, 52, of Waukesha, Wis., is shown. Howard, a turret gunner in the Army Reserve’s 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, on Sept. 8 became the oldest female U.S. soldier killed in action since military operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq. A car bomber slammed into her vehicle, killing her and Staff Sgt. Robert Paul, 43, of The Dalles, Ore.
(AP Photo/Family photo)

An undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Master Sgt. Robb G. Needham. Needham, 51, of Vancouver, Wash., who was serving on active duty with the Army Reserves 1st Battalion, 356th Regiment (Logistical Support), 4th Brigade, 91st Division, died Sept. 20, 2006,in Baghdad, Iraq, when his patrol came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire, the Army said. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Main Post Chapel at Fort Lewis, Wash.
(AP Photo/U.S. Army,)

Forever Young
by Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

– – –

I once considered myself a Republican. In light of the record of the Bush Administration and the Republican controlled congress, I can no longer claim to be a Republican. Now we have George “AWOL” Bush and his sidekick, Dick “Five-Deferment” Cheney calling Democrates who question their failed Iraq strategy, “cut and runners”.

Meet Tammy Duckworth, Democratic candidate for Congress from Illinois and combat veteran. Tammy lost both legs in a helicopter crash. Hearing the charge that she wanted to cut and run, Tammy said:

“Well, I didn’t cut and run, Mr. President. Like so many others, I proudly fought and sacrificed,; Duckworth said. “My helicopter was shot down long after you proclaimed ‘mission accomplished.”

Ask yourself the following questions and decide, “Are you a Republican?”

(and my apologies to Jeff Foxworthy)

If you enjoy shoplifting while working at the White House, you might be a Republican.

You may not recognize Claude Allen’s name, but you’ve probably seen his face in photos, a little off to the side, a few steps away from the president. As George W. Bush’s top domestic-policy adviser, Allen stuck close to the boss. He was Bush’s frequent companion on Air Force One, and helped stage-manage issues like Social Security and education. A born-again Christian (his wife home-schools their four kids) and credentialed conservative (he got his start as an aide to Sen. Jesse Helms), the 45-year-old lawyer was regarded as a man on his way up in Republican politics. Party leaders, always on the lookout for conservative black candidates, pegged Allen as a future congressman or senator. MSNBC
(Note: Allen pled guilty in September 2006).

If you enjoy soliciting teenagers and children for sex over the internet, you might be a Republican:

Congressman Mark Foley. Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned yesterday after the exposure of several sexually suggestive messages he sent to underage boys. Mr. Foley, a Florida Republican and chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus, led efforts to overhaul sex-offender laws, apologized in a brief statement that did not mention the electronic correspondence with the former congressional pages. Washington Times.

Randall Casseday. Metropolitan Police today charged the director of human resources at The Washington Times with one count of attempting to entice a minor on the Internet. Randall Casseday, 53, was arrested at 9:45 p.m. yesterday in the 1300 block of Brentwood Road NE, where police said he had arranged to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl. He had actually exchanged Internet messages and photographs with a male police officer posing as a girl. Washington Times.

Brian J. Doyle. The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he thought was a teenage girl, authorities said. Brian J. Doyle, 55, was arrested in Maryland where he lives on charges of use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of harmful material to a minor. The charges were issued out of Polk County Fla. Huffington Post.

If you enjoy sending other people’s children to war while your kids go to college and hang out in bars, you might be a Republican.

On August 2, day two of the summer terror scare, Jenna and Barbara Bush had to go to midtown. . . .Later, Miller invited the whole group, about a dozen of them by now, back to his loft farther down Bond Street, where they drank wine that someone had brought from their dad’s wine cellar. The party continued till 3 a.m. or so, which made it kind of an early night for the twins, who have been known to shut down meatpacking-district clubs like the tiny, exclusive Bungalow 8. Once, at that club, Jenna saw Joey co-star Jennifer Coolidge and a few friends in a banquette across the way. “I loved you in Legally Blonde 2,” gushed Jenna (Coolidge played Reese Witherspoon’s hairdresser confidante). New York Metro.

If you start a war in Iraq while lying to the American people that Saddam was tied to Osama Bin Laden, you might be a Republican.

If you failed to complete your own National Guard service and your Vice President received five deferments to avoid service in Vietnam, but accuse political opponents who challenge your failed foreign policy in Iraq of being cowards, you might be a Republican.

If you call dark skinned people Macacas and Niggers, you might be a Republican.

If you ignore intelligence community warnings that Bin Laden is determined to strike inside the United States, you might be a Republican.

If you follow policies that squander a budget surplus and create an $8.5 trillion dollar budget deficit, you might be a Republican.

If you expose the identity of an undercover CIA officer in charge of tracking down Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, you might be a Republican.

If you believe the President should be entitled to jail, without recourse to Habeas Corpus, anyone he decides is a threat, you might be a Republican.

After careful consideration, I realize that I lack the moral bankruptcy, cowardice, and fiscal recklessness to call my self a Republican. I’ve decided, I am an American.

I was born and raised in a very catholic, very conservative county. The less evil German equivalent to the Republican Party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has run this county continuously for the last 60 odd years raking in election results between 60 and 85% in all towns.

As everywhere, majority parties can get arrogant and complacent. This has been the case in the county of Vechta as well. The CDU is so used to winning that losing never came to mind. Traditionally, the parliamentary district comprised of the counties of Vechta and adjoining Cloppenburg always end up as the district with the best election results for the CDU in all of Germany. That is how conservative this area is.

However, voters in this county – like voters everywhere – aren’t as stupid as many politicians make them out to be. The CDU made some really bad choices when looking for candidates for mayor in several towns in the last few years which has led to the result that as of now only six out of ten towns have a CDU mayor.
Four years ago two towns, Holdorf and Dinklage (birthtown of Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen and myself) elected the independent candidates rather than the one of the CDU. In 2004 the city of Vechta elected the former state minister of agriculture Uwe Bartels, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder) rather than the CDU candidate. It has to be noted that in all cases the CDU won the majority on the town councils easily.

Last Sunday, the town I was raised in was the fourth town in the county to chose the non CDU candidate. Manuela Honkomp was elected mayor of Steinfeld with 55% of the vote over the CDU candidate. You just have to click on her campaign website and you get an impression of why she won. This website is more professional than the campaign website of quite a few congressional candidates in the US and of a whole load of candidates for state legislatures. And this for a mayoral candidate for a town of 9,400 people! Her opponent didn’t even have a website. And her resume is quite impressive, too. She left the town to go to college and get her master in political science and later chose to come back. Since I’m not registered in Steinfeld anymore I couldn’t vote for her. I certainly would have, if only for the fact that her family hosted an exchange student from Toledo, Ohio last year. Manuela Honkomp was elected the first non CDU mayor of Steinfeld (and also the first female mayor in the entire county!) despite the fact that 70% voted for CDU candidates for the town council in the same election.

What I am trying to say here is that the county of Vechta and especially the town of Steinfeld are far more conservative than say the 2nd Congressional District in Nevada or the 4th Congressional District in California. If Manuela Honkomp can win in Steinfeld, Jill Derby can win in NV-02 and Charlie Brown in CA-04. The voters are smart enough to vote for the better candidates and are willing to cross party lines if they feel it is necessary.

All Jill Derby and Charlie Brown need are the resources. Please consider contributing to these great candidates. Whether you can give $5, $50 or $100, every dollar helps!

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cross posted from Turn Tahoe Blue