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Democracy for America group blog for North Baltimore County DFA
4th of July news & views scan from Gerry
commemorating the promise of our nation...
Friday~
****************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’
July 4, 2008
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Thomas Jefferson
Just Democracy
By Katrina vanden Heuvel-The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/kvh
Is there a divided view of our land in the citizenry today?
Here’s the way Professor Cole sees it:
Your Fourth of July and My Fourth of July
The U.S. Is Drowning in Pretend Patriotism
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig
http://www.alternet.org/story/90414/
“The Meaning of The Fourth of July for the Negro”
A speech by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass gave this speech on July 5, 1852 at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/284/284_4th_of_july_douglass.html Tom Hayden and Naomi Klein (episode 5)
THIS BRAVE NATION
http://bravenation.com/?utm_source=nation
After much hard work, and the volunteer participation of numerous, extremely busy progressive luminaries, This Brave Nation is wrapping with its fifth episode: Tom Hayden in conversation with Naomi Klein. Nation editorial board member Hayden is the legendary activist who was a member of the Chicago 7 and a prolific author, who also spent 18 years in the California Legislature. Nation columnist Klein is the author of two best-selling books, No Logo, and the recent hit, The Shock Doctrine, just out in paperback, a filmmaker and a widely-read international columnist and much-in-demand public speaker.
Together, they cover everything from the movements of the 1960's to the WTO protests in Seattle to what it means to be a witness to the events around you. Spirited, lively and engaging Hayden and Klein have one of the most compelling conversations of this series.
Watch the entire episode.
http://bravenation.com/tom_hayden_naomi_klein.php
Independence Day: Let Us Remember Who We Are
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34525
What Patriotism Is, and Is Not
http://www.truthout.org/article/what-patriotism-is-and-is-not
Commentary: How dare they rip the Fourth Amendment?
By Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/43123.html
Growing Coalition Plans to Protest Bush in Charlottesville
http://www.davidswanson.org/?q=node/1357
Forwarding
* ACTION ALERT: CELEBRATE THE 4TH BY TELLING YOUR SENATORS, "DON'T SHRED THE CONSTITUTION -- REJECT TELECOM IMMUNITY!"
Now that the House has passed the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), the Senate is the last front remaining in the battle against granting immunity to telecom lawbreakers. When the Senate reconvenes early next week, every vote counts. This may be the last chance to urge your Senators to vote against the FISA Amendments Act and to support key amendments that would eliminate or weaken telecom immunity provisions. Contact your Senators today!
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=389
AFL’s Trumka: Labor Must Battle Racism to Elect Obama
by John Nichols – The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/334061
N.Y.Times Editorial: A New Obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/opinion/04fri1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
McCain served, Obama didn't — does it matter?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/42940.html
As gas prices skyrocket, mass transport looks sweeter
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/economics/story/43083.html
Waxman: State Dept. 'misleading' on Hunt Oil deal 02 Jul 2008 Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) accused the State Department Wednesday of issuing "misleading" denials regarding its involvement in Hunt Oil's controversial contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, also alleged that the results of his panel’s investigation raised serious questions as to the role the State Department played in the recently reported no-bid contracts between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and prominent U.S. and multinational oil corporations.
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
A Devil’s Bargain
by: Carolyn Eisenberg, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
http://www.truthout.org/article/a-devils-bargain
beat the devil
by Alexander Cockburn
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/cockburn
Uncle Sam’s Piñata
By Mr. Fish
July 4, 2008
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20080703_uncle_sams_pintildeata/
The Darkness of This House Has Got the Best of Us
by Christopher Cooper
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/03/10071/
from and about ‘over there’
Debate Over Guantanamo's Fate Intensifies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070303825.html?hpid%3Dtopnews
Gitmo Trials
Another Torture Victim Gets Charged
By ANDY WORTHINGTON
http://www.counterpunch.org/worthington07032008.html
Bush’s Dollar Drop Maps Loss of US Clout at Final G-8 Summit
by: James G. Neuger, Bloomberg News
http://www.truthout.org/article/bushs-dollar-drop-maps-loss-us-clout-final-g-8-summit
US, Poland Agree on Outlined Deal for Missile Bases
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-poland-agree-outlined-deal-missile-bases
Arab journalists fear crackdown
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/06/2008630203011975480.html
Attacking Iran? How Does $300 Oil Sound?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080703/cm_thenation/1096334096
IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail, Inter Press Service
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34522
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When Is Independence Day? |
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by Kathy Kelly |
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/kelly.php?articleid=13092
A Declaration Of Independence From The Government Of The USA
By Anonymous
This article is from an anonymous woman now living in South Africa. It was sent to me by a third party, and I have no reason to believe that it's bogus. In any case, I believe its relevance to the present moment is stunning.--Carolyn Baker
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20232.htm
Sanctions are a coward's war. They only boost brutal rulers
Exhortations to stop buying from Zimbabwe may sound bold but such a strategy makes the poor poorer and the evil richer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/02/zimbabwe.tesco
Bush, Colombia & Narco-Politics
As John McCain promotes "free trade" with Colombia, we are reposting a story from last year, by journalist Andres Cala, about the connections between Alvaro Uribe's government and narco-politics.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/070308d.html
The Rise of Food Fascism:
Agrarian Elite Foments Coup in Bolivia
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20231.htm
Peace and Solidarity
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Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people... |
Show: Expand All Reply
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/kvhEnlisting the netroots and the blogosphere, along with the progressive media, will be vital in getting the word out. The new democracy will come only when the defenders of the citadels of privilege find they are threatened on the terms of the old system. We're calling for radical democracy, birthed by bare-knuckled politics.
Admittedly, defining an agenda and building a movement is just a beginning; the fight will be long and hard. Few politicians have been willing to take the lead in calling for the measures proposed here. Trapped in the rapidly escalating race of campaign finance, who will set aside the weapons of dollars and incumbency to rebuild a truly representative democracy? If they won't do it, we will.
A Just Democracy movement will require idealism and diligent organizing; it will demand a broad coalition committed to making these reforms a high priority. Working together, we can repair the broken system we've been handed and confront the crisis of disenfranchisement that has overtaken our democracy. We want 100 percent registration. We want increased participation. We want full representation with majority rule. We want the right to vote. We want to vote without fear--that our votes will not count, or be counted by hacked machines.
It is long past time to place democracy at the center of our politics, where it belongs. We don't exist just to curse the political darkness but to craft solutions to make America a more perfect union.
Representation has to be factored in very overtly because some people just aren't interested in being involved directly. Where some people are really keen on meddling in other people's business, others are quite adamant about not getting involved. Both need to be recognized and accommodated.
BTW, it has been determined that my lap-top is dirty and that's why the click pad sticks. Vacuuming unstuck it temporarily. While that was accomplished the program was changed so that when there's a mouse in the USB port, the pads are disabled. So, now I have a lap-top with a mouse and can copy and paste again.
This being the West, there's a significant population that's interested in things horsey. Some houses for sale are advertised as coming with horses. The new farm bill, which Bush threatens to veto, is very attractive to horse people because it includes horses as livestock that might be lost in disasters and whose replacement will now qualify for disaster-loans. Also, horses with earnings potential can now be uniformly depreciated for tax purposes from the point at which they begin racing, rather than from their birth. Which, as I understand it, means that there's less pressure to race horses early lest the window during which they can be depreciated is lost. If I got this right, some horses may have been raced too soon because of tax implications.
- Congress betrays the troops-and Americans again
By Huron John on Jul 4, 2008 9:54 AM EDThttp://www.truthout.org/article/a-devils-bargain
With more than 60 percent of the country opposed to the Iraq war and significant majorities saying they want the troops out within a year, this Congress has handed over to President Bush and his successor the right to persist in this failed enterprise. Or, to put the matter bluntly, Congress has just agreed to keep our soldiers in harm's way for another twelve months, killing and dying for no achievable end. Is this worthy of some attention? Perhaps even distress? Should it be a bland assumption, rather than a horrifying fact, that to get the government to provide adequate veterans' benefits, extended unemployment insurance and relief from summer floods, another year of senseless war is approved?
The reality of this dirty Washington trade is far removed from the inspirational rhetoric on the campaign trail. Whether on the stump or in formal debates, the Democrats reliably bring down the house when they denounce the Iraq war and promise to bring the troops home. Such things were also said in 2006, and two years later a Democratic-controlled Congress cannot even agree to a non-binding "goal" for troop withdrawal, let alone a binding deadline.
If challenged, members of Congress may point to the domestic benefits ("a lot of veterans are going to be happy with the United States Senate," claims Senator Jim Webb) and the need to provide support for US soldiers in the field. None of this justifies or explains the failure of Congress to insist upon a plan for taking the troops out of Iraq.
While the mass media have anesthetized the broader public to this moral collapse, there is a parallel numbness among committed antiwar people. The two are related. For years, there has been a virtual blackout of the grassroots organizing all across this country to get Congress to stop the war. Apart from the occasional story about mobilizations on the internet, one would never know about the thousands of local initiatives that have occurred - the vigils on street corners, the sit-ins at Congressional offices, the petitioners in the mall, the lobby visits, phone calls, public forums and confrontations at legislative hearings. Even the progressive media have tended to downplay these developments. Without sufficient news about a vibrant national effort, many individuals who might be inclined to participate feel discouraged and remain at home, while those who have been organizing feel less sense of accomplishment
From above:
IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail, Inter Press Service
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34522
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It isn't necessary to go that far to see a blatant case of censorship.
Living in a suburb of Salt Lake, parade passes by our steet on the way to its park destination. Looking out my bedroom window right now, people lining up and setting up their chairs. What I am looking at is wonderful, a family with small children have camped under a tree, they have stuck an Obama poster in the lawn next to their chairs. Was feeling kind of bummed out, they have certainly raised my spirits.
I've said it before, I'm saying it again, I do not agree with all of Obama's policies, but I still am standing behind him 100%. Don't fence him in, let Obama be Obama.
Everyone have a glorious Independence Day. I'm taking a shower, then going out to meet the Obama family.
Once this page has finised loading (sometimes this can take a while,) put your mouse on "Blog for America" on the top of the page.
A pull down menu will appear.
Third choice down is "Water Cooler" click on it.
"Off Theme" posts of subjects not germaine the main blog theme be moved there automatically by the blog monitors.
In the case of this thread, what's germane is everything dicussed in Gerry's summary. I defy the blog gestapo to shift any posts away from this thread to the verkcte water cooler
- never wanted to be cool--it's the contrarian in me
By Monica Smith on Jul 4, 2008 11:50 AM EDThttp://rawstory.com/news/2008/Conyers_Rove_must_testify_of_risk_0703.html
Conyers is threatening Rove with contempt if he doesn't testify under oath.
Can anyone tell me the last time the Democrats were able to enforce a subpoena?
my guess is, over 30 years ago.
Be very afraid, Carl
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Very nice article.
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Back from the parade. All that is left is fire engines and police cars blaring their sirens. I have never understood people's fascination with this. The Obama family were delightful. We touched a little on Obama's FISA stance, quite honestly they were not even concerned with it. They are concerned with health care, global warming, and food and gas prices.
rd, no picnic for me today, I have to work half a day. Yuck.
For anyone interested HBO is showing the John Adams series today.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/04/former-sen-jesse-helms-passes-away/
Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican known as “Senator No,” died today at the age of 86. Helms left the Senate in 2003 after serving five terms. The Heritage Foundation credits Helms with establishing “the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people.” During his political career, Helms “became a symbol of a particular brand of uncompromising, racially tinged social conservatism.” In his 1990 campaign for the Senate, Helms defeated the former African-American mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt, with the help of this ad that preyed on people’s fears about affirmative action:
“It dealt with people’s worst fears,” Gantt later said of the ad. “In one sense, we thought the ad was political genius. In the other sense, we couldn’t believe that someone in 1990 would run an ad like that.”
We are currently in HuJo's former home, Flagstaff, AZ, after visiting the great canyon that is properly called "Grand" yesterday. The problem with our traveling is that we barely get toscratch the surface, but at least we have that.
We do have some spectacular sights in this land, We viewed the breathtaking upper and lower Yosemite Falls a couple days back and then drove through the Mojave Desert to get here. We're now headed towards Santa Fe, NM to turn up towards CO to visit with one granddaughter who has finished her first year of teaching school there.
We have not run into too much traffic at all, in part due to te gas prices. Our fellow travelers seem to be Europeans or people staying close to home in the US. We have seen lots of Ron Paul billboards, especially in MT and the Pacific NW, several Obama bumper stickers and literally NO McCan't publicity on the road.
- "Freeing" the slaves was, in a sense, an act of
By Monica Smith on Jul 4, 2008 12:01 PM EDTgross hubris. People who are into freedom, implicitly subscribe to the mindset that the condition of man is something to be arranged, sanctified, approved. "Liberty" on the other hand, implies an original condition of being. The emphasis on being should actually appeal to conservatives who claim to require no pre-conditions. The objection to quotas is appropriate because it implies people being slotted on the basis of characteristics over which they have no control. However, there never were any quotas; all that was required was a good faith effort to be inclusive and, if no minorities were ever adjudged to be qualified for some positions, it was logical to conclude that the effort had been lacking in good faith.
Earlier this week, we took the train from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO. It's the longest running steam engine pulled train in the country. Great Visuals as this Youtube attests
- Did anyone besides me find a lot to question in the timing
By JudyforDean on Jul 4, 2008 11:53 AM EDTand method of the release of the high-profile Colombian hostages?
Of course, I am very glad that they were released, but it appears that they were nothing other than political tools.
The US press has asked none of the pertinent questions and McCan't is basking in reflected glory.
But according to the Times (UK, of course), the Swiss press has a whole different take and this one sounds entirely credible to me.
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Brilliant or a sham? Questions asked over Ingrid Betancourt rescue
Thomas Catan and Charles Bremner
<!-- END: Module - M24 Article Headline with landscape image (d) --><!-- Article Copy module --><!-- BEGIN: Module - Main Article --><!-- Check the Article Type and display accordingly--><!-- Print Author image associated with the Author--><!-- Print the body of the article-->
The bloodless and apparently brilliant operation to free 15 hostages from the Colombian jungle today became mired in confusion, with some reports even claiming that the entire episode was nothing but a sham to disguise the payment of a ransom.
Swiss public radio cited an unidentified source “close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years" as saying the operation had in fact been staged to cover up the fact that the US and Colombians had paid $20 million for their freedom.
The hostages released on Wednesday, including Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician, "were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up," the public broadcaster said.
[...]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4270908.ece
a very mean Rethug finally bites the dust. Seems to me that the "freight train" is doing just fine!
<!--startclickprintexclude-->Former Sen. Jesse Helms dies
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at the age of 86, the Jesse Helms Center announced.
Helms once said his job was to derail the freight train of liberalism.
[...]
... I won't join in the "bites the dust" framing.
- Latest news on Dems being targeted by Ari Fleischer's group
By floridagal . on Jul 4, 2008 12:04 PM EDTcalled Freedom's Watch. Interesting to see how these Democrats will vote on controversial topics.
Ari Fleischer's Freedom Watch is targeting vulnerable Democrats. How will they react?
We know they are all scurrying to vote for the FISA fiasco. We need to keep track.
Oh, and the DNC blog is still not there.
You know a tinfoil hat might be appropriate -- do you think it came down from the Obama campaign not to put anything on the DNC blog (or this one) that could bite him in the butt? Just askin'...
- This is my last for now ... ! Have a great holiday weekend!
By JudyforDean on Jul 4, 2008 12:05 PM EDTCrossing the divide: Cooking with the enemy
<!--proximic_content_on-->Take two chefs, one Israeli and one Palestinian, and you have the recipe for a groundbreaking TV drama that is helping to break down barriers in the Middle East. Donald Macintyre reports
Friday, 4 July 2008
There's a moment when one of the two strong women at the centre of Good Intentions, a ground-breaking television drama series showing at prime-time on Israel's Channel Two, leaves a voicemail for the other, who is preparing to drop her son off at the induction camp for the first day of his compulsory army service. "I only wanted to wish you good luck for your son," she says. "I hope he will be safe."
That would be unremarkable. Except that the woman making the call is Amal, a Palestinian from Ramallah whose brother is paralysed from the waist down after being shot by an Israeli army patrol; has just passed through a hated military checkpoint on her way home from work; and is struggling to protect her own daughter from the perils and pressures of life under Israeli occupation.
[...]
Harvey Gantt originated the theme "kitchen table issues" when he ran against Helms and was the subject of a conversation that I had with then DNC Chair Roy Roemer about using that as part of Iowa's co-ordinated campaign committee's focus that election.
I still think if you break down what it is the two Party's differ on you could find the answer in that concern for "kitchen table issues".
- watching the oldest continuous 4th of July parade -- Bristol, RI ...
By * rdorgan on Jul 4, 2008 12:08 PM EDT... and appreciating all the veterans and non-veterans alike who have publically served to progress our still fledgling experiment in democracy.
Happy 4th of July everyone !
http://www.july4thbristolri.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sas0002809/182322826/
- the conveyor to the shredder called the watercooler will "disappear" if the blog gestapo thinks it is not on target Judy and then when you post there will send you to oblivion
By Phil Specht on Jul 4, 2008 12:06 PM EDTjust so you are warned
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By Huron John on Jul 4, 2008 9:31 AM EDTA whole menu of articles in the press and blogs. Let's hope we can speak our mind on any of the subjects discussed without being whisked away to the toilet bowl