Moderates and reason are first.

Great write-up, Scott. 

And let's all say Happy Birthday, Fox News. Hilarious video.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian

Is this the active thread?

If so, then Deans are first.

I actually think that reason is a rather late development in the evolution of the human brain--sort of an add-on that we can do without.

Hi, Monica. Carol Shea-Porter is STILL the greatest example of a Democrat breaking out of the mold. I am sending her story around to every Democratic activist I know.

Think about how great it would be if we could put the funds into organizing precincts rather than funding outrageously expensive TV ads all the time? Just think about it....Dean is brilliant.

Stat Man
Tue, 11/14/06
9:44 am

"moderates"!  But what does that mean?

Moderate - someone who jumps on and straddles every fence around.

THIS JUST IN FOLKS..............................

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has said Teheran is ready to talk to the US once it changes its attitude.

His remarks follow suggestions that the US should start direct talks with the country to reduce the violence in Iraq.

Bishops Call for Change on Iraq Policy
By Michael Paulson
    The Boston Globe

    Tuesday 14 November 2006

Catholic leaders stress need for justice, peace.

    Baltimore - The nation's Catholic bishops, saying the United States needs to move past the "shrill and shallow debate" of last week's midterm Congressional elections, declared yesterday that the goal in Iraq should be justice and peace, rather than victory, and that the nation should withdraw its forces at the earliest opportunity, consistent with a responsible transition.

    Meeting here in the aftermath of the election in which American voters, in part because of anger over the Iraq war, handed control of the House and Senate to the Democrats, the bishops unanimously authorized a public statement calling for the nation to "seriously examine alternative courses of action" in Iraq.

Indy Steve
Tue, 11/14/06
1:37 pm

I would break up into two groups:

- Those that are "conservative" on some issues and "liberal" on other issues.  Since 2005 Murtha would qualify (prior to that he waqs a big military supporter)

- Another kind of moderate is one seeking balance, as an example one who would  beleive that the current tax structure is overly benefitial to the rich but also understands that a 1970's kind of tax structure will kill the economy.  Let's just say there are many levels of moderation between Bush and Castro.     

Murtha, a big Military Supporter

Hoyer, a big Militarial Enforcer.





Which do you think is better?

The DemocracyFest Thread finally made it to the "Most Popular" page. I'd still like to see it Front Paged though...

Not sure how that happens, but more recommends can't hurt ;-)

http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/18376...

Linda*in*SFNM
Tue, 11/14/06
2:05 pm

I think you would find that up to 2005, Murtha was a big military spender and enforcer, his change is very recent. 

Luigi,

I still can't log in under my original account. 

Anyone know where I can access a sample campaign field plan? I know what we need to do in my head, but it would be good to have a template to edit.

It seems like I remember something like that from the DFA training, but can't seem to find any of the actual training materials on DFA-Link.

12.
Stat Man
Tue, 11/14/06
2:09 pm


...Murtha was a big military spender and enforcer, his change is very recent.
-------------
...lol, takes time to gain wisdom..., for some lifespan isn't enough

It's funny, but the very people who like to call themselves "moderates" usually aren't.  I guess the word will go the way of the "compassionate conservative" which wasn't either.

If I had to pick between a too-far-to-the-right John Murtha and a Bush-kissing too-far-to-the-right Joe Lieberman, I'll take Murtha any day.

Talk of the Nation on NPR discussing the future of the Democratic party NOW.

Oops. I guess I should have looked harder before asking for help. Here's a sample field plan on page 80 of the DFA Training manual:

http://www.dfalink.com/uploads/files/415...

Hey Luigi

    Can't log in under my normal profile.  I sent you an email. 

Moderates:  Those people who never found a single issue they could not stand on both sides of.

There is mid ground between Castro and Bush.  Liberal democrats occupy that midground and so do most americans.  The problems is that people have been brainwashed about what Liberal really means. 

What is really funny is that all those people republican commercials were calling liberal two weeks ago are suddenly labled moderate or conservative.  

Truely the TV media is useless. 

Jessica 

http://politicalresources.com/

TTT,

 I'm having the same problem.  They suggested I wipe my cookies, but that didn't do anything.  Fortunately, I have this old backup account.

I can login using my primary account at DFA link. 

Printer Friendly Version E-Mail This Article
Published on Monday, June 12 2006 by The Nation
Murtha v. Hoyer
by John Nichols


When the House of Representatives voted Thursday on the question of whether to allow old media companies to colonize and control the internet, the two men who would like to be majority leader in a Democrat-controlled Congress split their votes.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who has long been seen as the heir apparent for the majority leader post if Democrats regain power, stuck to his usual pattern: He did as the lobbyists for the largest corporations – and their allies in the Bush administration – asked.

Congressman John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has indicated that he will challenge Hoyer for the No. 2 position in the party caucus if Democrats retake the House in November, did the opposite.

Hoyer voted for the corrupt "Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, which the telephone and cable companies are using as a vehicle to create a two-tier internet in which the sites of corporations and candidates that pay high fees to broadband providers are easily accessed while the sites of small businesses, community groups and independent thinkers will be difficult – perhaps impossible – to reach. Murtha voted against it.

It wasn't the first time that Hoyer and Murtha have split on fundamental questions.

While Murtha has been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, Hoyer has steered a cautious course far closer to that of the Bush administration.

Last December, Murtha voted against making the PATRIOT Act permanent. Hoyer voted in favor of the move, and in so doing gave the Bush administration everything it was asking for with regard to the controversial law.


http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0612...






Statman, facts speak for themselves.

Looks like a lot of people cannot log in with the blog changes last night. 3rd account. Will it kick me out again once I log out? Who knows.

http://politicalresources.com/

Look, I'm tired. We're all tired. Do we really have to watch another blow-dried, self-important career ass-kisser like Hoyer or Lieberman throw DLC slugs or NFL-linebacker-resembling lawmakers like Ellen Tauscher on TV to insist the sky is not blue? I mean, can we at least get a few days rest from this? And more importantly, can the Democratic rank-and-file in Congress please put its foot down and reject this comedic-yet-sad B-movie parody? I mean, come on people - it's embarrassing.

Just checking to see if I logged in successfully - hi everyone!!

No problemo :)

Well, that last email account lasted for a few posts.  Let's try a new one.

This blog always seems to take a few steps back every time it takes a step forward.

We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.

Okay,

I added my mailto link, formatting and picture to my backup account and it wouldn't let me login.  I went back to a regular name and it let me back in.  So it looks like Luigi has done something to stop us from playing games with our names.  Since Denise's picture is still up, I'd say it's tied to the anchor tag or the headline tag. 

When we started in January, war profiteering was a subject that desperately needed attention. It was a story that wasn't being told and the issue cried out for exposing. And then this past Sunday November 12 the issue was front and center on page one of the New York Times and all over the news. In different and various permutations, the headlines all read that there will be hearings, there will be oversight, questions will be asked. The profiteers will be exposed.

Is amazing too strong of a word? It is a result of all your efforts.. Your support of Iraq for Sale and the issue of war profiteering has been remarkable.

So, thank you to the volunteer researchers who worked in secret to get us key information.

Thank you to the thousands of screening hosts who made over 4,000 official screenings happen.

Thank you to the Patriots Against War Profiteering who donated 8,500 DVDs to libraries, schools, and military installations around the country and around the world so this film can be seen by as wide an audience as possible. Read some responses from folks who received the film, like that of Army Medic Dan Walsh who wrote to us while serving in Iraq “This stuff needs to be known by the average American."

Thank you to Senator Dorgan, his staff and the Democratic Policy Committee who hosted hearings in DC on this issue- and invited people in Iraq for Sale to participate and share their stories. You can watch video of the hearings at the DPC website.

Thank you to the elected officials like Senator Harry Reid, Senator John Kerry, and Congressman James Clyburn who used the film to call attention to the issue and the need for oversight and accountability in the war.

Thank you to all the candidates who ran for office in last week's election - like Jim Webb, who saw the film and immediately agreed to introduce it at our DC premiere and then organized over 100 screenings in Virginia- and candidates across the country like Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders who used the film in their campaigns and urged voters to choose a new path.

Thank you to the folks at UNITE HERE who hosted hundreds of screenings across the Mid-West and reached thousands of union members with the film.

Thank you to the heroes and heroines in the military, like Sergeant Jon LaCore who wrote to us after watching the film in Iraq. In his letter he said, "I'm anxious to see if a change in the House and Senate will bring about a change here in Iraq." And, looking at the Sunday paper, it looks as though he may get to see change happen.

A deep heart-felt thank you to all the families and patriots who participated in this film. Your bravery in sharing your stories has touched millions. You have brought about real change and for that we are all grateful.

And finally THANK YOU to the 3,000 of you who contributed 50 dollars or more to make the film happen. We want you to know the front page of the New York Times would not have read the way it did, if all of you had not made it possible to begin the work on the film with your generous contributions.

Each and every one of us at Brave New Films sends our great appreciation, respect and deepest thanks for an amazing job. We celebrate the critical raising of this issue, we salute those who have stepped forward to tell the story at great personal sacrifice. We grieve for those whose lives have been sacrificed to profiteering. And, we look forward to the work ahead to make sure the profiteers are stopped.

Come January we look forward to getting your ideas on what's next for Brave New Films.

Yours sincerely,

Robert, Rick, Jim, Jimmy, Sarah, Tracy, Devin, Paris, Lissette, Jesse and everyone at Brave New Films

All the fun pics are gone? What happened?

Weather is so strange in the mountains today. We had a ten minute blizzard and now the sun is out. High winds but whoops - looks like more snow is coming.

No, Rich, I did what Denise did...pic only...and it let me in last night but booted me out today. There is something wrong in the programming. Luigi emailed (doesn't seem to be anything he did on purpose) and he has some high priority projects but is aware that we are having problems.

Anyone know if Tara is still with DFA? I haven't heard from her in ages but don't remember her sending out anything saying she was leaving.  

http://www.counterpunch.org/lind11142006.html

Paralysis in both parties:

In a reality neither Republicans nor Democrats will dare face, we have only one option left in Iraq. That option is to admit failure and withdraw. We can do it sooner, or, at the cost of more American dead and wounded, we can do it later. Obviously, sooner is better, but that would require a bold decision, which no one in Washington is willing to make.

In World War I, after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan,  Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted an early, compromise peace. Regrettably, he was unwilling to force that policy on his recalcitrant generals.

Today, in Washington, the generals want peace. They could give the politicians of both parties and both relevant branches of government the cover they need to make peace, by going public in favor of an early withdrawal. Unfortunately, that would require a level of moral courage not notably evident in the senior American military. In its absence, the whole American political system will continue to flounder in a sea of half-measures, American troops will continue to die in a lost war, and the crisis of legitimacy of the American state will continue to grow.

Worth a read, follow the link:

Leave the Internet aside: the architecture of Dean Politics has become the de mode style for the entire party. Dean promoted a vocal, confrontational style of campaigning, one that did not cede an inch to Republicans. His primary campaign was predicated on a 50 state strategy. He urged Democrats to adopt issues that would drive wedges between the Republican base and the party's weaker adherents (mostly in the suburbs). He rejected the politics of inoculation, pronouncing himself proud to be the talisman of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. He intuited that the party (and voters) wanted the Democrats to be the opposition party.

. . . .

But give Dean credit for setting the tone and style of Democratic politics. Successful, Democratic politics, that is, in an environment that Dean first detected three years ago.

 

Yes that worked.  Taking all the formating out.

I met John Murtha, shook his hand and listened to his speech to a county dem picnic--real basis people who understand real basic points.

Somebody asked on the other thread why Hoyer said a pull-out would be a national security disaster. There's a real simple explanation. They've stuffed the country full of high tech spying equipment and latests in arms and they don't know how they're going to get the stuff out. The Iraqi propensity to loot has them running scared.

First question is who's going to admit that all that stuff is there?

I think Rich hit on the solution.  I logged to DFA-Link rather than the blog.  In my contact info, I took out the code that linked my name to my graphics blog, and just used plain text. I was then able to log-in at the blog with my original account.

So DFA-Link can now brag about at least two new members.  But, they're me.  LOL

The Baker Commission--Same old, same old

http://www.counterpunch.org/werther11142006.html

In the wake of the human and fiscal wreckage of the Iraq fiasco, all Washington trembles in anticipation at the release of the Baker-Hamilton Commission's report on Iraq. Unlike many other commissions, its lucubrations have been held in camera, the method favored by chief Bush family consigliere and fixer James Baker.

A run-down of its other principals should give us a strong indication where this operation is heading. Aside from Baker, there is as co-chairman once again Lee Hamilton, a past master at these performances. As the éminence beige of the Democratic foreign policy apparatus, Hamilton has been participating in high-level cover-ups of government shenanigans stretching back to the Iran-Contra affair.

The rest of the cast consists of: Vernon Jordan, one of Bill Clinton's money men and obviously intended to slap the Wahabbite insurgents of the Black Caucus into line; Ed Meese, faithful purveyor of balderdash for countless decades and a link to the Reaganites; Lawrence Eagleburger, a saturnine Bush family wheel horse and Kissinger liegeman known mainly for his staggeringly immense girth and ability to balance on a cane while juggling a cigarette and an asthma inhaler; Leon Panetta, a professional ward heeler and thief of a 1986 Indiana Congressional election, tasked to corral a spectrum of Democrats roughly bounded by Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer; former Defense Secretary William Perry, representing the interests of the merchants of death; Charles Robb, who began his career as a White House doorman and who symbolically remains one four decades later; ex-Senator Alan Simpson, wise-cracking cowpoke (and member of a disastrous Congressional delegation to Iraq in 1990, whose purpose was to ply Saddam with U.S. taxpayer loot via the Commodity Credit Corporation); and former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the lone member of the commission with no obvious ties to Beltway monkey business and presumably tapped for the sheer novelty value.

Apparently my second email account stopped working as soon as I went in and linked my "jc" to my graphics blog.

Bob Petrillo,

If you're lurking ...  THANKS! 

Cooptation of the term Progressive.

On NPR, the "representative" of the Progressive side was a Director of Third Way which bills itself as a "strategy Center for Progressives". Best as I can tell, this is a spinoff from the DLC (Gov. Vilsak, BTW, is the chair of the DLC). Be aware of how distorted the term progressive has become and don't be fooled. THis is a Clintonite/DLC organization passing itself as progressive.

Third Way has all all of the same honorary chairs as the DLC. It is a front organization.

And by the way, the program on NPR talked about the future of the Dem party and the elections, but didn't mention Howard Dean once.

#42 but I did not have a link on my account last night and that one will not let me into it today. The only thing I had was a photo. And if you are saying that we can't have photos either, why does it work for Denise?

I think there is more too it. 

Ok, I have this figured out.

    It doesn't like any of the HTML formating before the first name, but seems to be ok with that formating after the name.  So the Picture comes up because it is on the second line.

Try that.

Barbara,

Maybe you and Denise have your photo link code in different spaces?  (First Name, last name)

Has Denise tried to comment since hers above, or could she be having trouble now?  I was able to for a while, then when I closed my browser, it wouldn't let me back in with the new browser window. 

I'm just making some guesses, which is usually part of trouble-shooting. 

Here's a good article describing the group Third Way. Beware, they call themselves Progressive but are really a center-right group financed by the DLC. Statman, this looks like where you belong.... ;-)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41113-2004Nov10.html

I'm sick of everyone calling themselves progressive when they are really NOT.

JC

    Its fine with coding after the first name.

TTT

I would bet that Denise has her image code in her last name, with no code before her first name.

Okay, I just moved my blog link to my "last name" field and left a single blank in the first name field.  That gave me an error screen when I first tried to enter this comment.  I just changed it back to plain text.

I was able to write my whole name with the <br> breakign up all in my last name.

The link is now working.

Now I have "jc" in the first name field and code linking jc to my graphics blog in the last name field, which makes a little "jc" show up on top of a bigger linked "jc" because I also used the heading sized font.

Tim, here is a big kiss to you! I am in.

Luigi still needs to fix that first name box. Can someone email him about it? Maybe you, Tim, since you could explain it better to him. Might save him a lot of work to know it is just the first name box causing the issues.

It doesn't seem to let me use just a blank in the first name field

I'm going to try from this account and see if it is now bold being I did not change anything in this account.

FiReFoX!

In the past it allowed just a tap on the space bar, which didn't show.  I could use the underline or an asterisk, but I prefer something that isn't visible. 

If Luigi is going to program a way to link your name and perhaps even allow avatars, then this may all be temporary anyway.

Monica, good question, who will admit all theses thingies are there.

Are we going to have a Shock and Awesome Scratch and Dent Sale?

I want first dibs on the excercise equipment!!!

I still think Luigi would be really SMART if he would have first name, last name, and screen name fields.  That way, DFA would have the benefit of real names for other records, and bloggers could have their blogging names, too.

3rd Times a charm, you're lucky, not in my book :)

...but, Brown and Strickland can't vote on new Majority Leader, because it's the next session that the Leader will be in charge.

pss, Ryan IS for Murtha :)

Yes, earlier posts aren't bold and later ones are.

Let's see if this works.  Anchor link out, everything else in.

jc,

The bold seems to start with one of your posts.  See if you have an unclosed <b> in your name

Rich, you're back.

:)

I never really left, I could always login with a backup account. 

Right now I'm using <h3> tags in my first name and <br><img...> in the last name and it's working okay, so it's either a problem with the <a href...> tag, or specifically using the a tag in the firstname field. 

see that breaking news: lieberman will chair the homeland security committee.

JC

    I used a <br> in the first name and that seem to work.
 

I think you have an open <b> in your name JC

Luigi,

We understand your primary goal is not to let us abuse HTML in the firstname and lastname fields, so making it work at your convenience will be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, Rich!  That WAS me.  I had a closing tag for bold, but it was apparently too long and got truncated (changing "jc" to "jc's designs" made it longer than my original one)

CT-Sen: So You Wanna Know What Really Happened?


So ... besides questions posed above, who was asked to help and came through? And who was asked to help but passed?

Barack Obama
Quite possibly the biggest disappointment ... period.

While on his book tour, he was in NYC one day, had a scheduled day off, and appeared in Massachusetts the following day. Yet he couldn't make time to stop in the state between the two on his day off. We made it explicitly clear he was the single senator we wanted in the state above all others.

He declined.

Eventually, we asked Senator Obama to send out an email for the campaign to his Connecticut list. We created a culture in which emails became news (much like we did with the blogs in the primary). They made it entirely clear that he would basically not even mention Joe Lieberman's name in the email, let alone take him to task for his unfortunate position on the war in Iraq. This was disappointing, but I wasn't going to be spiteful. They sent the email, and as I hoped, the press came calling. Our Press Secretary, Eddie Vale, was asked how many people the email went to. He looked on the back-end of the website and saw the number of click-throughs to the landing page I created. He answered "about 5,000." Within minutes of the Associated Press piece going on the wire, I received several phone calls from Obama staff. They were none to pleased about the 5,000 number. Essentially, Obama could be seen as helping, but not helping THAT much. His staff apparently made it clear that the email only went out to 225 people in Connecticut. That's it. The next day we were subject to a correction in the papers and ridicule from Lieberman's campaign and corners of the right-wing blogosphere.

It's also important to note that Obama's email came only after a tremendous amount of pressure built up from portions of various online communities who "threatened" in behind-the-scenes conversations and open discussions online that support for Lamont would be viewed as a part of a "presidential checklist."

Everyone should also know that Robert Gibbs, part of the group that ran the infamous Dean/Osama ad during Iowa 2004, is now Barack Obama's Communications Director.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/14...

I never really left, I could always login with a backup account.



but your face was gone. I got used to seeing that smile. And now you're back.

Now, the real question is, why is this blog programmed that someone changing their blog name would change the entire look of the blog thread? It should be split. That needs some programming work. 

Tim, your gold name is really, really hard to read. Isn't there a darker gold you can use that shows up better? 

In IE7 the font is incrementally increasing in size.
then it gets so large that only on letter per line fits
Also right side links are huge.

Wait until we start embedding forms and javascript in our names!

Firefox 

I'll see what I can do.  I haven't bolded it yet.

This is worth stressing:

Everyone should also know that Robert Gibbs, part of the group that ran the infamous Dean/Osama ad during Iowa 2004, is now Barack Obama's Communications Director.

Is that any better Firefox?

Ok

  I was able to use with out a problem the following tags in the first name

<b> <br> <h3>

    That should help some be able to save space for the code on the second line.
 

Thanks, Tim.  The <br> appears to work in the first name field.

Now I'm greeted with Hello !

LOL 

Note:  John Lewis, Maxine Waters, Barney Franks all support Steny Hoyer for majority leader.

My point:  shouldn't matter all that much to the roots as to who wins.  FRom what I read, Steny Hoyer has the votes to win it .  Madame Speaker simply owed Congressman Murtha the professional courtesy of writing that support letter.  She is not twisting any arms for votes.

Looks like I might have been the cause for the large lettering on IE.

Yay, regular sized type again!

Each letter was taking up a whole screen for a while there. LOL.

And I'm not on IE.

Avant Browser.

In IE7 the letters are still huge.
Firefox is fine.

Hi there - had a few meetings. Just checking to see how the blog is reacting. A few minutes ago there were HUGE LETTERS but now that seems to be fixed.

Slightly better Tim.

I am going to keep posting this until everyone reads it because it outlines what the progressive community has been saying about who the traitors are and who are the ones behind us.

The most surprising is John Kerry. He gets kudos from me after ripping him apart all these years.

And the pic is still there - and yes, the coding is in my last name field.

IE is fine now too.

Indy Steve
Tue, 11/14/06
3:03 pm

I think that the correct characterization for these faux progressives is the "turd way" 

91.  TTT, I'm using Firefox on XP.  The blog software essentially strips any html code from my contact name.  Appears that the html code in my contact name was the cause of my not being able to log in.

No prob.  as long as I use no code. 

Sorry folks, but HTML formatting of names will be blocked from now on. It's just too easy to break a page with some badly formatted code.

Moving forward, avatars and custom blog display names will be available when upgrades to the commenting system are made.

Looks like they are workingon keeping the code out of the names all together.

I'm using minefield (next gen of firefox) 3.01a nightly build.  Most of the coding comes out fine.

oops, before I could even post it.

 Jack Murtha has the votes

I've heard from a couple of different Hill sources that Murtha is ahead; that newly elected Democrats favor Hoyer by a 2:1 margin, but that Murtha is ahead by about 25 votes overall, which has come about from the standing members after Nancy Pelosi's letter. The vote is Thursday. Let's hope that sticks and Murtha becomes the Majority Leader.

cC is right. Those of you who had trouble logging in earlier should now be able to log in again. The first name is one of the bits stored in a cookie to identify you, but the HTML code was essentially breaking that cookie, causing login difficulties.

Borat speaking to the Pima County Republicans, Arizona:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67r7Q0lG98c

And singing at the Country West bar on Ruthrauff Road in Tucson, Arizona:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M8rWBa0NHY

YES!!  It's got to be a little embarrassing to say you're from Tucson these
days.

There is a reason we are ranked the dumbest state in the nation. 

Abramoff has the goods on Rove and some Democratic Senators. ABC News has the story.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006...

My question is this:

Who are the corrupt Democratic senators? If they are indeed corrupt - they need to go!

Good - we don't need any corrupt Democrats either. Time to clean our own house, too!

Jeez now what is Luigi doing? No pics and I didn't do anything.

Yep code is gone from my last name. Will it be put back Luigi? Hope so - what a pain it was to get it there in the first place.

If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT

105. jc, That's awesome! Does it end with a *YYYEEEEEEAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH*?

Denise, please see my posts at 102 and 107.

It definitely was very broke, so I did in fact fix it. ;-) 

Should we all speculate on the 6-8?

<>I wonder if Lieberman is in there. I am almost positive Harry  Reid is one of them based on early stories.  Also, some of my more connected political friends bring up Reid's name a lot. Would explain a lot of his behavior too. Feinstein is a likely one too based on her lobbyist activity.

I do not want any excuses or coverups. I want them out.  

We need that info to come out NOW, not in 2008 or we are f@Cked.  

Sadly, Reid is now the Majority Leader. I'm always suspect of Biden and his ties with MBNA. But since I don't know diddly about who is corrupt - I shouldn't speculate.

Luigi, well I guess I didn't see it broken on my end. Will you be putting my code back in? I had it in the correct field the whole time.

Thanks

Mary, Biden has been selling out to corporations for years but I think he has done it out in the open and "legally".  Although, I would not be surprised if his name was in there too. His voting record certainly reflects who he has been prostituting for.

I met a family friend of his when I worked on a campaign and let it rip how I felt about him. I don't think anyone had been that blunt.

He said, "he's a really nice guy>"

My response, "Bullshit. I nice guy wouldn't put citizens in poverty so the financial institutions funding him get billions more." 

Cheryl - re your 177. I'm not spoiled, just trying to keep up with the changes. I'm busy working and only skim interesting stuff and I missed his explanations.

But I'm glad you liked his comeback. I was just trying to get answers.

Make that your 117

I also have been hearing a lot about Murtha being very corrupt.

All I can say, if there are 6-8, let them hang. 

kids in a candy store we were (back to black and white tv) think security first Luigi bells and whistles later, we have seen the possiblities

What do you mean by security, Phil? Did I miss something about that? Was there a hack I am not aware of?

114. 

vb,

The back of the shirt has a "yeeaaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!" on it.  :-)

leaving a door open for imbedded code

If corrupt Dems get scooped up along with corrupt Repugs, the country will be better off.

my bad, bad, bad!

*giggle*

{chuckle}

=snort=

Denise,

Just the fact that one of us could put a code that would affect how everyone sees the blog is a security concern. 

Thanks Phil and jc :)

I thought I missed a hack. Sorry I did not have time to read every post. Busy day here.

I would still take Murtha over Hoyer but I really wish we had a better choice that included neither of them:

More troubling is Murtha's role in Congress's last massive corruption scandal: the 1980 Abscam case. Murtha was videotaped meeting with an FBI agent masquerading undercover as an Arab sheik. When the "sheik" offered Murtha $50,000 in exchange for help gaining U.S. residency, Murtha demurred, saying he wasn't interested "at this time"--but suggested he might rethink it after getting to know the sheik better. Murtha later admitted he'd hoped the sheik might "invest" money in his district, which might be legal but certainly doesn't sound pristine. The Justice Department named Murtha an unindicted co-conspirator, and, when the House Ethics Committee ultimately voted not to bring charges against him, the Committee's special counsel resigned in protest. It doesn't help matters that Murtha was one of exactly four Democrats to vote against their own caucus' motion last month promoting a tougher ethics reform bill than a sham Republican version. Abscam may be ancient history, and no sinister confluence between Murtha's work and his brother's lobbying has been established. Still, Murtha may not be an ideal leader--symbolically, at least--for a party determined to reform a "culture of corruption."  www.tnr.com

Well, now that's weird, half of the address appearing under my name.

Just checking to see if does this time.

LOL, Karen.

"Candidate" McCain will come to regret that photo opp. 

having just played a role in tipping over Congress I would think freeper hackers would be an ever present danger

Yikes, how do I get it outa there?

test

• 4 cups all-purpose flour (sub. organic)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons organic baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted organic butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 1/2 cups organic sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 large organic eggs

Preheat oven to 325°F. and lightly grease 2 large baking sheets. In a large bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter, shortening, and 3 cups sugar until light and fluffy and beat in molasses. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture and combine well. In a small shallow bowl put remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Form dough into 2-inch balls and roll in sugar. On baking sheets arrange balls about 4 inches apart and flatten slightly with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake cookies in batches in middle of the oven 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. (Cookies should be soft.) Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to racks to cool.

Makes about 25 cookies.

okay, I give up. They musta done something to the edit name feature because I can't find it.

Welch to defy new speaker on first vote

MONTPELIER - When he casts his first vote in Washington later this week, Peter Welch will defy likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by supporting the man challenging her hand-picked choice for majority leader, the incoming congressman said Monday.

By siding with Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, Welch is honoring a commitment he made to the long-time congressman at the very beginnings of his campaign to succeed Rep. Bernard Sanders as Vermont's lone representative in the House...

 http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061114/NEWS/61114001/1002/NEWS01

well I wanted to wait as long as I could to refill on LP because price was dropping but I outsmarted myself and came home to a house that was 37 degrees

bbrrrrr.

luckily corn drying is finishing up and the gas man came right over and filled my tank

whatever we were as a species before fire it wasn't human

maybe a Democratic Congress will increase block grants to shelters as it winds down the war

cutting it short one week would house a lot of homeless

Karen - I think we are supposed to leave the name fields alone until Luigi makes more changes. Maybe you can go in and delete what you put in the field?

HI Folks,

Just dropping in. We have Taco Tuesday tonight at our house, so have to vacuum, sweep, clean, etc.  My husband's the cook.  Lucky me.

With all the talk of moderate versus progressive, this from Michael Moore.  It's a bit long, and if this disturbs people, let me know.  I'll apologize ahead of time and edit for length next time.

A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives

November 14th, 2006

To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,

I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week's election. You're worried that the country is heading toward a very bad place you don't want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has ended with so much yet to do, so many promises left unfulfilled. You are in a funk, and I understand.

Well, cheer up, my friends! Do not despair. I have good news for you. I, and the millions of others who are now in charge with our Democratic Congress, have a pledge we would like to make to you, a list of promises that we offer you because we value you as our fellow Americans. You deserve to know what we plan to do with our newfound power -- and, to be specific, what we will do to you and for you.

Thus, here is our Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives:

Dear Conservatives and Republicans,

I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:

1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.

2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different" or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.

3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.

4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.

5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and your loved ones, we'll make sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.

6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.

7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.

8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were conceived.

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.

10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.

11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.

12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.

Signed,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
(Click here to sign the pledge)
 

Denise, I was not trying to be rude to you. I meant that to Luigi because he put the ;) wink sign and was saying it was *fixed* which meant he took away all our fun toys.

You might not be spoiled, but I am. :)

I like the photos and can't wait until they are back.

Sorry you misunderstood me but I wasn't directing anything at you. Just a fun jab at Luigi. 

Hey Pat I got that email too but hadn't read it yet. Thanks for posting it. I love the part about counting years after a baby is born, and not when they are conceived. That was great!

So how are you? The UP has been getting their fair share of snow. The guys that are supposed to be remodeling the bathroom in our cottage are busy running around fixing furnaces - priorities for sure, but I don't get why people wait until it's freezing cold to check their apparatus - especially when they know winter comes every year!

Starting to get our rainy season here - but today it seems to be sunny. Still loving your posts!

Bill Moyers for President?

Hell, yes! 

<> If her ran, I would sell the bulk of my remaining property and travel the country campaigning for him. I LOVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this man and hopefully will get to meet him at the media reform conference in January.

A few months ago, columnists Molly Ivins and John Nichols wrote about the desirability of Moyers' tossing his hat into the ring. In his private conversations with friends, I am told, he has not ruled out a run. On the contrary he showed some interest in an exchange with an old Texan friend.

Boy would he ever shape the Democratic debate.

Moyers brings impressive credentials beyond his knowledge of the White House-Congressional complexes. He puts people first. Possessed of a deep sense of history relating to the great economic struggles in American history between workers and large companies and industries, Moyers today is a leading spokesman on the need to deconcentrate the manifold concentrations of political and economic power by global corporations. He is especially keen on doing something about media concentration about which he knows from recurrent personal experience as a television commentator, investigator, anchor and newspaper editor.

As millions of viewers and readers over the decades know, Bill Moyers is unusually articulate and authentic in evaluating the unmet necessities and framing the ignored solutions in our country.

Hell, and if Democrats want to keep Ralph Nader out, the easiest way is to nominate Moyers. Plus, they have no excuse after supporting an independent Liberman over a Democrat Lamont.

Moyers for President!

Maybe I can talk the RunRussRun folks in converting that site to a RunBillRun site! 

McNerney Goes to Washington!

(11-14) 04:00 PST Washington -- A week ago, Jerry McNerney was working the BART stops and coffee shops in the East Bay and San Joaquin County asking people for their vote. On Monday, the victorious Democrat was in Washington, D.C., shaking hands with the president, schmoozing with his party's leadership and learning how to be a congressman.

McNerney, a Ph.D. mathematician and wind-energy expert with little political experience and no political baggage, triumphed last Tuesday over Republican Rep. Richard Pombo, a seven-term incumbent and chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee.

He landed Sunday morning on the red-eye from Oakland for orientation week for newly elected lawmakers and now is jockeying for committee assignments, being lobbied in the battle for House majority leader, preparing to manage a congressional office with a $1.3 million budget and starting to think about raising money for a re-election campaign in two years. Republican strategists already are plotting his demise.

Assessing his first days in Washington, including a White House reception Monday with the president and first lady and a tour of the House chambers -- including being shown where the gas masks are stowed -- McNerney said, "It's been humbling and elevating.''

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=...

---new thread---

Now, don't you feel better?

Just adding a little cute overload to make your day. 

144. Pat in Colorado

Good one! 

Lenny where is the new thread? I'm not seeing it - but then again...I'm blind today

testing the threading upon reply to:

Sources close to the investigation say Abramoff has provided information on his dealings with and campaign contributions and gifts to "dozens of members of Congress and staff," including what Abramoff has reportedly described as "six to eight seriously corrupt Democratic senators."

Find the 6-8 whose voting records most closely support the GOP agenda and you'll have your crooks. 

156

Pretty hard to do since most of the Democrats supported Bush.

by the way, new thread. 

test