WVWV Cannot Be Quarantined to North Carolina

Via email:

Statement of John Podesta, Board Member of Women’s Voices, Women Vote

Women’s Voices. Women Vote has a strong record of registering disenfranchised people so that they can participate in the political process. As a board member, I was aware of the general parameters of the group’s voter registration program, but not the details of its execution. With respect to the calls and mailings made in North Carolina, I understand that remedial action is being undertaken. I agree with fellow board member William McNary that the North Carolina state calling program was a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters, and have been assured by Page Gardner, President of WVWV, that the organization will conduct a full and prompt accounting of the circumstances of the voter registration program for its board of directors.

This follows the statements of board members Mike Lux and William McNary, both supporters of Barack Obama. Lux says he is ‘gathering facts’ while McNary assures us that while ‘[t]here may have been mistakes made in this particular registration drive in North Carolina’ there was no malicious intent. This all fits a basic pattern. They are trying to isolate the problem as specific to North Carolina. If they continue to take this legalistic position they will quickly lose all credibility.

As Progressive South, who broke this story, says this morning:

* Our report documents that, in at least 10 other states — Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — Women’s Voices has drawn condemnation from election officials and voters. The group has been accused of misrepresenting election law, using secretive and dishonest tactics and generating widespread confusion among voters — again, threatening to dampen voter participation.

* The role Women’s Voices has played in the Virginia and North Carolina primaries has been especially disruptive. In both cases, they launched deceptive robo-calls — some apparently targeting African-American zip codes — just before major primaries, leading residents to think they weren’t registered to vote.

There is a pattern of behavior that needs to be explained and it is by no means confined to the Lamont Williams campaign in North Carolina. If Podesta, Lux, McNary, and WVWV President Page Gardner think they can quarantine this inquiry off from anything outside of North Carolina, they had better look at the comment threads this controversy is generating.

Now, I fully understand their position, as expressed by Podesta.

As a board member, I was aware of the general parameters of the group’s voter registration program, but not the details of its execution.

Their situation is complicated by the criminal investigation, but their primary focus must be getting to the bottom of a pattern of behavior extending over several months and involving ten states. They should not be vouching for anyone’s character or assuring us that nothing untoward took place. We know something untoward took place. We can listen to the tape and read the legal statutes and multiple complaints from state after state.

It does no good to tell us that you have known someone for 16 years and that they are a good person. This is your credibility on the line. When Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff and Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager are involved, nothing short of a full explanation of methods and timelines in all tens states will do.

I understand that everyone is now following legal advice. If at all possible, keep in mind that it isn’t only the Attorney General of North Carolina that wants voluntary cooperation.

My View of Mission Accomplished

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


click to enlarge
SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper – a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads – highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish. If anything, put in a good word for Darren and Candorville.

I am submitting Town Called Dobson to the paper for their consideration. They seem to have given great weight to receiving 200 messages considering Candorville. I am asking TCD fans to try to surpass that amount. (I get more than that many hate mails a day, surely fans can do better?)

This is not a race between Darren and I, it is a hope that more progressive strips can be represented in the printed press of America.

So if you read the San Francisco Chronicle or live in the Bay Area (Google Analytics tell me there are a lot of you), please send your kind comments (or naked, straining outrage) to David Wiegand at his published addresses below. If you are a subscriber, cut out your mailing label and staple it to a TCD strip and include it in your letter.

candorcomment@sfchronicle.com

or

David Wiegand
Executive Datebook Editor
The San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

Happy Mission Accomplished Day

Greg Mitchell reminds us of the NYT’s coverage of Chimpy McFlightsuit’s aircraft carrier landing, five years ago today. It’s painful reading, but nothing compares to reliving the MSNBC coverage, e.g., G. Gordon Liddy saying Bush’s parachute harness “makes the best of his manly characteristic.” But, the following exchange from the May 9, 2003 airing of HARDBALL remains my all time favorite moment in the history of cable news. It says it all, without really saying anything at all.

MATTHEWS: We have a visual while we’re looking here. In Hollywood, they say how did you get the part. I fit the costume. You know, it’s an old joke in Hollywood. I fit the costume…

(LAUGHTER)

NOONAN: Right

.

MATTHEWS: … because they have the — this guy fits the costume, doesn’t he?

NOONAN: Yes.

MATTHEWS: I mean Bill Clinton — do you think they had jump-suits in Bill Clinton’s size?

NOONAN: Oh…

MATTHEWS: Just asking.

NOONAN: Oh, well, Bill Clinton used — you remember Bill Clinton landed on the Theodore Roosevelt back about 1993 or ’94 and he was in his bomber jacket. Do you know what I mean? It was lots of show business then.

The key with Bush, however, is that, you know, he seems like one of these guys and one of these gals because he’s just like them. He’s a regular American male. He also…

I’ve got to tell you what I think — can I tell what you I think the key to the great landing on the aircraft carrier was?

MATTHEWS: That’s why you’re here, Peggy.

NOONAN: All right. This is what I think it was. It wasn’t just it was showy, it was showbiz, it was “Top Gun,” it was Tom Cruise’s suit, it was all that wonderful stuff. It’s that the American president not only put himself in harm’s way going to see American troopers, but he showed them by coming in on that ship I trust you.

MATTHEWS: A little risk. Just a little bit of risk.

NOONAN: It wasn’t just risk. It was trust. It was faith. You’re going to take care of me. You’re going to hit that second trap, the third trap, or the fourth. I’m safe in your hands. It was a compliment, you know.

MATTHEWS: Even a daytime carrier landing is tricky.

NOONAN: Oh, absolutely. I mean it’s taking a chance. I’ll tell you one of the ways you know you’ve gotten a little old? If I’d been in the White House now I would have told them don’t do that, that’s a bridge too far, you’ve got to be crazy, and, instead, it turned out to be, I think, one of the brilliant moments…

MATTHEWS: It’s like knowing to bring…

NOONAN: … indelible political moments.

MATTHEWS: … a meg — to bring a bullhorn to ground zero on September 14, not to bring a mic. It’s that little difference. If he’d had a mic there, if he was like Wayne Newton with a mic or some show-business guy, he would have looked like a lounge act.

NOONAN: Barney Rubble.

MATTHEWS: Because he had that bullhorn, he was a guy like them. We’ll be talking more…

NOONAN: He was a guy with his arm around the…

MATTHEWS: … about this accoutrements of…

NOONAN: … other firemen.

MATTHEWS: … greatness with Peggy Noonan, an expert at the verbal discussing the pictorial.

Happy Mission Accomplished Day!! If you have a favorite piece of wankery, post it in the thread.

It’s A Man’s World?

     In what is an alarming trend among American women, a study has found that for the first time in decades the life expectancy for women is declining. Women have always enjoyed longer life expectancies than men during modern times due in large part to their historic roles as homemakers. As more and more women have left the home and joined the workforce they have begun to suffer from the same stress related illnesses as men have suffered. As a result of their new roles outside the home they are now being diagnosed with larger instances of diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer, and heart disease. Most of these diseases are related to stress, poor eating and health habits.

The trend appears to be driven by increases in death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure. It reflects the long-term consequences of smoking, a habit that women took up in large numbers decades after men did, and the slowing of the historic decline in heart disease deaths.

It may also represent the leading edge of the obesity epidemic. If so, women’s life expectancy could decline broadly across the United States in coming years, ending a nearly unbroken rise that dates to the mid-1800s. Washington Post

     The most disturbing trend found in the study is the increasing numbers of women suffering from obesity. While Americans across the board are heavier than the rest of the world and heavier than we have ever been, the largest gains in the obese population has been made by women. Presently 33 percent of American women are considered obese compared to 27% of Western European women, compared to Asia the numbers are staggering. Why are so many American women obese? Many health studies have suggested that the rise in fast food consumption due to the lack of time of time spent at home by working women has helped to fuel the obese epidemic. Along with the increased consumption of high fat fast food there is also the reduction in physical exercise by all Americans.

     The most frightening trend of the obesity epidemic is the rise in childhood obesity. Because so many mothers are now working outside the home and with many of them having little time to prepare meals, the children are being exposed to those same high fat fast foods, also the increase in video game playing and less actual physical exercise has also led to an increase in childhood obesity. Because so many of our children are being exposed to being overweight we are sentencing them to lives beset with health problems. Many of the increases we have gotten in life expectancy and disease reductions are at risk of being reversed very quickly.

     Women due to their position in our society have always enjoyed a longer life expectancy than men, however these trends I believe will begin to reverse and many women will continue to suffer from the same health issues that have plagued men. I believe that the numbers will actually become worse for women for two reasons. First, because we are physically different due to evolution, genetics, or whatever you choose to believe in men have tended to be better able to cope with the stress of providing; hunting or gathering, if you will. Secondly, because women today are not only hunting and gathering, but they are also still expected to care for the children and the home this increases the stress levels to unsustainable levels. The good news is that “you’ve come a long way baby”, the bad news is that the stress is going to kill you sooner.

     While I am not advocating a return to “keep `em in the kitchen”, I do think it is worth noting that as we have increased the number of women working outside the home there have been some direct unhealthy behaviors developed in our homes and in the lives of women and children. We can’t un-ring the bell, but we must begin to combat the effects that are starting to emerge from this phenomenon. How we do this of course is open to debate by greater minds than mine, but if the current trends continue our healthcare system is headed for a total meltdown due to preventable causes.

As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. – Josh Billings

The Disputed Truth

GOP lawmakers target Jimmy Carter

This news was relayed by Muzzlewatch this morning. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that:

Two Republican congressmen introduced legislation that would deny the Carter Center federal dollars.

U.S. Reps. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) and Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) introduced the Coordinated American Response to Extreme Radicals Act, or CARTER Act, last week in the wake of former President Jimmy Carter’s recent outreach to Hamas.

“America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies,” Knollenberg said in a statement. “It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups.”

Only the simple minded, deceived, or dishonest do not know that this line of thinking has its roots in official Israeli hasbara (propaganda) intended to characterize Israel as the victim of terrorism, in spite of its continuing military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands in the West Bank.

Hamas, however, is not a terrorist organization. The PLO in its early days was. As Jimmy Carter correctly informed a few nights ago on the Charlie Rose Show, Hamas became a terrorist organization only after it won the Palestinian elections. Furthermore, if you have to label Hamas’ resistance to military occupation terrorism, then you must also see Israel’s military occupation as a terrorist project. Indeed, looking at the death tolls since 2000, depending on the year, the Israelis have killed five to thirteen times more Palestinian civilians including children who count for 20% of those killed, and began those killings first after Ariel Sharon instigated the second Intifada.

The “terrorist” labeling of Palestinians, of course, is merely intended to cover up the ongoing military occupation, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and further killing and maiming of innocent Palestinian civilians and resisters of occupation. Truth is that, according to international law, a military occupied people have the full right to resist that occupation.

The documentary, Peace, Propaganda, & The Promised Land (Part I and Part II) has been telling this story for the past two years (Click to see).

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) praised the legislation against Carter. Since ZOA is probably the most leading right wing Zionist or Likudnik (meaning, no state for the Palestinians) organization in the US, only its sympathizers would agree with their praise.

But the most disturbing aspect of this proposed legislation is that it is just a symptom of what is wrong with American foreign policy in the Middle East: it merely follows the dictates of official Israeli government propaganda, which, as stated, is solely intended to justify its continuing military occupation and colonization of the West Bank, to essentially blame the occupation of the Palestinians on the Palestinians themselves. Pretty slick.

But Americans, if not some of their politicians, are slowly waking up. This legislation against one of America’s greatest humanitarians is going nowhere.

Over There

Just a reminder: The Surge has worked! Long Live the Surge!

BAGHDAD (AP) — A parked car bomb aimed at a U.S. patrol Thursday in Baghdad killed at least nine Iraqi civilians and wounded 26, police said.

American troops killed 17 militants amid escalating fighting in Sadr City, and another U.S. soldier was killed as the military death toll increased to a seven-month high of 50. […]

Health officials also said clashes in Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City killed eight people, including two women and a child, and wounded 18 others, including women and children.

John McCain is so proud.

(cont.)
Meanwhile, to the extent that violence is continuing it has nothing — NOTHING! — to do with our military occupation of presence in Iraq. Look — over there! See the cowardly Iranian terrorists arming those nasty militias?

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi prime minister is sending several senior Shiite leaders to Tehran to discuss their concerns that Iran is arming and financing militias in Iraq, senior Iraqi and American officials said Wednesday. […]

American officials supported the trip, but portrayed it as the brainchild of Mr. Maliki. One American official described the Iraqis’ concern about Iran’s role as “the silver lining” to recent fighting between Shiite militias and Iraqi and American security forces in Basra and in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, a militia stronghold.

When the NY Times uses weasel words like “portrayed” above, that’s code for “this is the propaganda US officials in Iraq have told us to report and which they would like you to believe.” Why do I say that? Because the same Iraqi government not two months ago hosted the President of Iran in an official and historic state visit, in which no mention was made of Iran’s role in arming all those criminal militias. Indeed, Iraqi leader al-Maliki went out of his way to praise Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government by stating “I can honestly say that the Islamic Republic’s recent position has been very helpful in bolstering security and stability.” Iraq also accepted a $1 billion dollar loan from Iran at that time.

Now the Bush administration and General Petraeus would have us believe that Maliki has done a 180 degree reversal of his prior position and willingly lays all the blame for the current outbreak of violence at the feet of Iran. Sorry, guys, that dog won’t hunt. It’s well established that it was Maliki’s own attempt to eliminate Muqtada al-Sadr and his paramilitary, the Mahdi Army, as a political and military force prior to the provincial elections this Fall in Iraq, which led to the current wave of fighting. In other words, the reason that the violence has increased in Iraq is because Maliki, with US support, decided to break the truce with the Mahdi Army in order to further cement his own hold on power. Thus, the Iraqi government’s diplomatic mission to Iran is nothing more than a political kabuki dance choreographed by the Bush administration to help catapult its propaganda against Iran back in America.

Maliki is simply a puppet dancing on Bush and Cheney’s strings. Iran knows this, The Arab governments in the Middle East know this. Everyone who gets their news from a non-American media outlet knows this. For whatever reason, however, American news providers, including “liberal media” stalwarts like the New York Times have chosen not to inform their audience back in America of these basic facts. I wonder why, don’t you?

Of course, the irony here is that Iran has helped arm and train Shi’ite militias. However, the vast majority of its aid and assistance has not been directed to the Mahdi Army, the militia the Iraq government and the US military is fighting so vigorously at the moment. No, the militia to which Iran is most closely tied — the Badr Brigade or Badr Corps — is the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq or ISCI (formerly the Supreme Council of the Islamic Republic in Iraq or SCIRI), the largest shi’ite party in Iraq and the major partner of Prime Minister Maliki’s coalition government. It is safe to say that the Badr organization has been subsumed within the Iraqi police and security forces. They are essentially one and the same thing at this point in time.

So, in essence, our policy in Iraq is to help the Shi’ite political party and it’s paramilitary with the closest ties with Iran work to eliminate the Shi’ite political party and paramilitary with the fewest ties to Iran, and blame Iran for all the violence that results from the implementation of this strategy. Does that sound like an intelligent, well designed approach to stabilizing and securing Iraq to you?

I didn’t think so.

Ireland is at Peace

An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, became only the fifth person to address both the joint Houses of the British and US Parliaments when he gave his valedictory address to a joint Senate and Congressional session yesterday in one of the final acts prior to his retirement as Irish Prime Minister next week.

As a former (occasional) speech writer myself, I am more than usually interested in the format and content of such events, even if I share the popular cynicism which is de rigueur when discussing political speeches in general.  Sometimes, however, a speech by a political leader can signal an important shift in a nation’s self-perception to a wider audience.  Obama’s speech on race, for instance, signalled an important determination to move beyond race and racism in the conduct of US politics, both formally, and as part of the unspoken agenda.  So why was Bertie Ahern’s speech notable and worthy of at least a little attention by Booman readers interested in EU/US affairs?
(Cross posted from the European Tribune) 

Firstly, it wasn’t primarily about Bertie Ahern himself, because he is about to retire and may choose not to take up any further formal political role – although the EU could do much worse than appoint him the first President of the EU Council post the Lisbon Treaty.   The speech was mainly a progress report of where Ireland has come from over the past 10 years and how it viewed its future role in international relations.  But what was striking was the self-confident tone adopted by a leader of such a small nation more used to adopting a “begging bowl” supplicating stance when seeking an audience with the great and the good in world affairs.

True enough, the speech included all the usual ingratiating Plámás of which such speeches are usually redolent.  But that is simply good manners – to compliment your host – and in this case Ahern had genuine cause to give formal thanks to the US for the role played by President Clinton and Senator Mitchell in the Peace Process.  Politeness required that President Bush also be included in the thank-yous, although his role extended no further than appointing some moderately competent emissaries.  (For those interested, Hilary Clinton’s virtually non-existent role didn’t merit a mention!).

Ahern also made the usual reference to the contribution of Irish Americans in building the USA, and gave special mention to the President Reagan and the Kennedys’ in this regard.  However there was also some real meat in his speech.  For the first time he included the “Scots-Irish from all corners of our island, and from all creeds” in his tributes.  This was no Irish Catholic Nationalist tribute to his own tribe.

He made a pointed and very direct request that the issue of “undocumented” Irish immigrants to the US be addressed – and pointed out that Ireland too now had issues of large scale immigration to address – and thus understood the difficulties involved.

He pointed out how Irish America, and Ireland, had shared in the tragedy of 9/11, but went on to make a strong plea for multi-lateralism, the United Nations, and an EU soon to be strengthened, he hoped, by the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.  He was particularly effusive about the EU:

ireland.com – The Irish Times – Thu, May 01, 2008

I ask you to consider what has been achieved in Europe in the past 50 years.

We have put aside hostilities that led to countless wars over the centuries, and to two world wars in the last century alone.

We have created a European Union of 27 democratic states, committed to democracy, peace and freedom. We are committed to an open market and to a single currency that benefits hundreds of millions of European citizens.

We all recall two great Irish-Americans – President Kennedy in 1963 and President Reagan in 1987 – standing at the Berlin Wall during the Cold War and calling out for freedom in Germany and in Europe.

That call was heard, as freedom’s call always will be. Berlin is now at the heart of a united, democratic Germany.

On the 1st of May, 2004, in Dublin, 10 new members formally joined the European Union. Many of them were emerging from behind the Iron Curtain after decades of oppression.

I remember the intensity of the emotions. For many of these countries, this was a moment that was unthinkable only a few years before.

Along with Berlin, the great cities of Prague, Budapest and Warsaw have joined Dublin, London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Vienna as capital cities within a free and democratic European Union.

The European Union now stretches from the beautiful west coast of Ireland, where the locals say that the next parish is America, to countries with a land-frontier with Russia and Ukraine.

I passionately believe in Europe and I passionately believe in the European Union as a force for good in the world. It is profoundly encouraging that we are seeing the members of the European Union continuing to rise together as a force for development, for stability, for peace in the world.

Soon, the Irish people will vote on a new reform treaty that aims to make the European Union work even more effectively, both internally and in the wider world. I trust in their wisdom to support and to believe in Europe, as they always have.

And there was a spirited defense of human rights, development aid, and UN Peace Keeping:

ireland.com – The Irish Times – Thu, May 01, 2008

 My friends, between America and Europe there is contrast, but not contradiction. Energised by a common framework of values and imbued by democratic principles, together we can and we shall be a beacon for economic progress, individual liberty and the dignity of all mankind.

Acting in partnership, there are few limits to the good we can do.

We are all citizens of the world. We must therefore develop a true spirit of global citizenship.

This cannot and should not be an alternative to national pride and patriotism, but rather a complement to it.

We should care for our planet as much as we care for our country. We should champion peace, justice and human rights across the globe as well as at home.

It is an affront to our civilisation that there are children, anywhere in this world, who will die of hunger or of a curable disease.

In this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it angers us that some corners of the world remain hidden from the light of the universal principles expressed so eloquently in that document.

Although a small country, Ireland has always sought to play a full part on the international stage. We have consistently advocated acting in accordance with the principles of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and human dignity.

Ireland believes in multilateral institutions. We believe in the United Nations. We believe in the European Union. And we believe in multilateral action.

For over half a century, Irish men and women have served the cause of peace under the United Nations flag.

They have served in the Congo and in the Lebanon, on the borders between Israel and Syria and between Iraq and Iran, in Cyprus, in Eritrea, in Liberia, in East Timor, in Bosnia in Kosovo and in Afghanistan.

Tragically, some have paid the ultimate price and they have given their lives in that noble service.

Madam Speaker, never has the expression “the global village” been more appropriate. The great challenges that we face in the 21st century are truly global.

Falling financial markets, rising food and energy prices and climate change are global phenomena.

Eradicating poverty, starvation and disease, countering international terrorism and containing nuclear proliferation are not national but international issues. They cannot be overcome except by countries working together.

….

Madam Speaker, in Ireland today, we are looking out from our own shores more than ever before – no longer with thoughts of exile, but to be part of the world. Connected to it, contributing to it, learning from it.

The long and proud tradition of Irish missionaries, of teachers, of nurses and of doctors working around the globe to combat poverty, hunger and disease continues today.

For us, famine and oppression are not tragedies that could only happen elsewhere.

They happened to us at a sad time in our history. They happened to those who fled here and helped build America and to the many who did not survive that fateful journey across the ocean.

For that more than any other reason, we recognise our obligation to share what we have with the poor of the world.

That is why Ireland is committed to reach the United Nations aid target by 2012.

Today, we are the sixth-largest per capita donor of development assistance in the world.

The strength of our efforts to tackle poverty, to cure disease and to feed the hungry in the developing world is a measure of our common humanity.

At this moment in our history, that common humanity is being tested in parts of the continent of Africa – in countries like Sudan and Chad, where lives have been lost on a terrible scale, where countless families have been driven from their homes, where conflict threatens a whole region with chaos and destruction.

Today, Irish soldiers are in Chad as part of a United Nations-mandated force, led by an Irish officer, protecting hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from conflict in that country and in neighbouring Darfur.

No mention of Afghanistan, Iraq, torture, Katrina or market solutions to poverty, but he wasn’t exactly singing from the neo-conservative hymn sheet, and not afraid to set out a stall which would have a US Presidential hopeful in some trouble for its complete disregard for militarism, unilateralism and US exceptionalism.

Turning to the greatest achievement during his period in Office, Ahern had this to say of the Peace Process:

ireland.com – The Irish Times – Thu, May 01, 2008

Madam Speaker, this year, in Ireland, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It was a defining moment in Ireland’s history.

In the years since then, some doubted that the agreement would endure. I never did.

I knew it would last because it is built on the highest ideals of democracy – the ideals of liberty, of equality, of justice, of friendship and of respect for our fellow men and women.

Above all, the settlement of 1998 will flourish because of one simple and unalterable fact. It represents the will, democratically expressed, North and South, of all of the people of Ireland to live together in peace and harmony.

That is far more powerful than any words of hatred or any weapon of terror.

In 1981, in much darker days for my country, the Friends of Ireland in the United States Congress were founded. Their simple purpose was to seek a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland.

The statement, placed on the Congressional Record during a session chaired by Speaker Tip O’Neill, read: “We look forward to a future St Patrick’s Day, one that we can foresee, when true peace can finally come and Irish men and women everywhere, from Dublin to Derry, from Boston and New York to Chicago and San Francisco, shall hail that peace and welcome the dawn of a new Ireland.”

On St Patrick’s Day 2008, a few short weeks ago, I came here to Washington. I came with a simple and extraordinary message. That great day of hope has dawned. Our prayer has been answered. Our faith has been rewarded.

After so many decades of conflict, I am so proud, Madam Speaker, to be the first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress: Ireland is at peace

…..

Many of us found inspiration in the words of Dr Martin Luther King, whose life we recall this year on the 40th anniversary of his death.

We believed, to borrow Dr King’s immortal phrase, that we would be able to transform the jangling discords into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

His dream, born of America but heard by the whole world, inspired us through its unanswerable commitment to justice and to non-violence.

We discovered that peace can be found without suspending your moral judgment, without sacrificing your identity and without surrendering your most deeply held political aspirations.

Today, as I stand before you in this great democratic assembly, I struggle to convey the enormous good that was done by so many people in my country, with your help.

Do not underestimate the good you have done.Do not forget the legacy you have forged. And if ever you doubt America’s place in the world, or hesitate about your power to influence events for the better, look to Ireland.

Look to the good you have done. Look at the richness of so many individual futures that now stretch out before us for generations, no longer subject to conflict and violence.

Look to the hope and confidence that we now feel on our island. The healing of history. Look and be glad.

A feel good message for a Nation that may be doubting its place in the world – and perhaps a veiled warning against isolationism.  Speaking of future challenges, he said:

ireland.com – The Irish Times – Thu, May 01, 2008

Madam Speaker, there is, of course, no ending to history. We will always have new problems, new challenges and new opportunities. We are seeing an ever-increasing range of new technological and scientific developments, which are created and diffused at ever-greater speeds.

Our societies are increasingly diverse. Side by side with great wealth and prosperity, we still see social exclusion and poverty.

We endeavour to help families and communities ravaged by a minority who engage in crime or deal in drugs. We strive to deliver quality, affordable healthcare to all our people. We want the best education for our children.

We seek to provide social protection and security for our older people, to recognise what they have given to help create our successful societies.

These are the challenges for modern Ireland, just as they are throughout America and across the developed world. These are the very essence of politics.

That is why, with all our faults as human beings, we seek the honour of representing the people. We believe that diversity does not have to mean fragmentation or discord.

We believe that wealth and prosperity do not have to be accompanied by poverty and inequality. We believe that evil or injustice need not – and will not – triumph.

With the Irish health care system, in particular, in an ongoing crisis, these words will ring hollow to many – but he is also setting out the agenda that his “worthy” successor will have to address.

He ends with an appeal to the common democratic and republican values that underpin Irish and American political culture, but in an American context, the content of his messages could not be more different to the neo-conservative rant against social welfare, multilateralism, human rights, development aid, the EU and the UN.  He seeks to encourage the progressive forces in the US with their successful contribution to peace in Ireland, whilst giving no recognition whatsoever to military adventurism, unilateralism, and the indifference to poverty and injustice that is at the heart of the neo-conservative, and often the neo-liberal agenda.

That he can do all that, as the leader of a small nation, to a Joint session of Congress, and receive several standing ovations is some achievement.  This is a case of Ireland dealing with the US on its own terms, not as an equal, but confident enough to put out a very different vision of the world, and of the responsibilities of statesmen than has been current in the US of late.  

The traditional bowl of shamrock presented to the US President by an Irish Taoiseach on St. Patrick’s day is a begging bowl no longer.  We stand on our own vision of the world, even if we have much more to do to fulfill it. And he didn’t mention the Celtic Tiger once.  The real test is whether that vision will outlive the Tiger – or was it born merely out of economic success? The next few more difficult years will tell a tale.

Recall amendment targeted at the sitting Governor is closer to passage in Illinois

A change in the Illinois constitution to allow the recall of the Governor of Illinois is closer to passage. The Illinois Senate, in which some of the Senate leadership that are closely allied to the Governor, changed the original bill to include other elected officials.

SPRINGFIELD – The question of whether to amend the state Constitution so Illinoisans can recall corrupt or inept politicians devolved Tuesday into a legislative game of chicken that must be decided by the weekend if voters are to get a chance to oust scandal-plagued Gov. Blagojevich before his term ends.

By a 12-1 vote, a Senate panel approved a newly-tailored plan that would enable voters to oust statewide officeholders, legislators, judges, mayors and county board officials – a vastly larger group than what was contained in an earlier, House-passed plan targeting only state officeholders.

Senate Democrats also tweaked the plan so that if a recall drive is launched against Blagojevich, his running mate, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, also would be targeted for removal. Quinn is an ardent backer of the recall and a frequent Blagojevich critic.

The Illinois Senate leadership thought that this “poison pill,” which included recall the Governor and Lt Governor as a team, would effectively kill the bill. In an act of political courage, the Lt. Governor Quinn announced he is supporting the revised bill. This in spite of the fact that he would be a innocent victim of a recall. Quinn is placing “principal over self-preservation” in an act that could get him a chapter in Caroline Kennedy’s next version of Profiles in Courage. This act by Quinn shows once again how the Governor has underestimated the depth of this animosity toward him.

It has not as the Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, announced they would vote on the bill as is if passed by the Illinois Senate.

This political intrigue in Illinois has become much more interesting, at the moment, than Presidential politics.

Passage of this bill, which would amend the constitution, would allow the Governor and the Lt. Governor to be recalled. The bill as rewritten by the Illinois Senate also calls for the recall of other state officials. The political animosity between the Governor of Illinois and most of the State legislature has reached such a high pitch that passage of a bill that the legislature does not particularly want, is still likely. In spite of the fact that some of these same officials could be hurt by this bill. Should the bill pass, it will be placed on the November ballot for ratification by the Illinois electorate which most expect to pass easily.

There is no question that should this bill pass and then ratified by the voters in November, steps would be taken to recall the Governor. Although Illinois is clearly a “Blue State” with a Democratic Governor, the recall of the Governor would sail through. The Democratic Governor of Illinois is nearly as unpopular as President George Bush. And that, my friends, is no small feat. In 2002 Governor Blagojevich came into office with high hopes, but since that time he has made mistake after mistake and clearly doesn’t learn much from those mistakes except to make bigger mistakes.

The last straw was the budget battle of 2007 that took eleven months. The Governor called for special session after special session. In many cases the legislature simply ignored the call into special session.

To get a detailed history of this merry-go-round, check out Rich Miller’s Illinois blog at http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/. He has done a great job in covering this circus with lots of insider stuff. Reading on Walden Bookstore.

The WVWV Shitstorm and Blog Fatigue

Everybody has their breaking point and apparently my breaking point has not yet been reached. I know this because I keep watching other bloggers collapse in a heap of their own former credibility. The rubbernecking is clogging the tubes.

This campaign has, by my count, wiped out or seriously diminished the trustworthiness (or, in some cases, the talent) of most of the established blogs that existed prior to its inception. A few people have apparently lost their sanity.

The latest test is the revelation that Women’s Voices Women’s Vote (WVWV) is now under criminal investigation in North Carolina for making potentially felonious robocalls. This has already set off a firestorm…some out there for all to see, some hidden in the bowels of the secret blogosphere. The problem? This baby has the potential to unravel and make all kinds of people look like paid shills…even some that aren’t paid shills, or were not aware they were paid shills. People are asking who is funded by whom, who knew what, who contributed to this campaign, etc. John Podesta’s money is everywhere.

There is one hysterical faction that stands to get dinged up in this (probably wrongly) that is defending WVWV with everything they’ve got, even though they so far have got very little. And there’s another faction that wants to be respectful of their friends and wait to see what facts might come out. (I’m in this faction). A third faction doesn’t want to hear anything and is full-bore convinced that the Clinton campaign used WVWV as a proxy for voter suppression. When this is all done, no one is going to walk away uninjured.

Non-disclosed funding and relationships are going to come out and people (mostly totally innocent) are going to have a hard time getting people to trust them. People will be shitty to each other, feelings will get hurt. It’s a big mess.

I just want to remind you of a couple of things. Just because someone is only one or two degrees of separation from John Podesta doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with them. The people that work at WVWV are good, idealistic people. Even board members at WVWV that have associations with the Clintons are good people.

But they are all lawyering up now because their organization committed a felony in North Carolina. And all the strings are going to get unraveled. People will insist that nothing untoward happened. Others will insist that is ludicrous (and it is) and it will do nothing but tear us all apart more and make us crazy.

The Panda wants this campaign over. The Panda is wise.