The Dean Family is first

Knoxville DFA and all these pictures are also first -- today.

Everyone see this?

http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index...

Emergency Veto Rally

Sign up via zip code or host your own tomorrow.

Obama Statement on the Anniversary of the “ Mission Accomplished” Speech Chicago, IL- Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the Anniversary of the "Mission Accomplished" Speech. “Four years after President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared ‘Mission Accomplished,’ we are still in a war where more than one hundred American service members have died in just the month of April. We grieve for them today and urge the President to avoid making another tragic mistake by signing the bill that will end this war and bring our troops home.

 “We are now one signature away from ending this war. The majority of the American people and their Congress now agree that there is no military solution to the conflict in Iraq, and that the best way to pressure the warring factions to reach a political settlement that can end this war is still a phased withdrawal of American forces with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 30th, 2008. It is time to end this war so we can bring our troops home and redeploy our forces to help fight the broader struggle against terrorism and other threats of this new century.”

4.

Obama at his usual verbally eloquent best.

4.

Phil Specht
Tue, 05/01/07
3:16 pm

"...It is time to end this war so we can bring our troops home and redeploy our forces to
help fight the broader struggle against terrorism and other threats of this new century.”

---------

e.g.

"...It is time to end this war so we can bring our troops home and redeploy our forces to..."
START NEXT ONE.

Obama-Shmabama...., Democrat....?!
EMPTINESS and BLINDNESS..., SAD.

bbl.

We are now one signature away from ending this war.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do like that framing.

former

I tend to not support Obama on the basis of your argument which I share.

69.

FRED from OR
Tue, 05/01/07
1:26 pm



Fred!! He and his altruistic girlfriend prolly started the Iraq war! How altruistic is that!?!?

------------

That is unfortunate. But exactly my point, - you cannot apply that political bias to a case that has nothing to do with Iraq.

--------------------------

Fred, I'm sorry I stepped away in the middle of the argument LOL. You are concurring that Wolfie and Riza basically started the Iraq war? I don't care if he is the 2nd coming I don't find that forgivable. How can starting a war and having people kill each other possibly be a good thing?? Perhaps they were distracted at the time by passion.

former

I tend to not support Obama on the basis of your argument which I share.

--------------

I like Obama a lot, but think Biden would have what it takes to end this war in the most peaceful manner with the least amount of death, and make that transition.

His partition proposal is a good example of that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12572371/

:(

We only have one week left to answer the wolf's "Mayday" distress call.



On May 9, time runs out for Americans to speak out for wolves and their continued protection under the Endangered Species Act.



In these last critical days of the public comment period, the NRDC Action Fund must build overwhelming opposition to a Bush Administration plan that could doom hundreds of wolves in Greater Yellowstone to a cruel and senseless death.



Please make a generous donation right now -- so we can give wolves a fighting chance at survival.

https://secure.nrdconline.org/08/actionfund_pb_wolfdonate 

Please make a contribution.  We are losing so much precisous life. 

http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/actionfund_wolf_0407 

.... How can starting a war and having people kill each other possibly be a good thing?? Perhaps they were distracted at the time by passion.

-------------

I never implied the war was a "good thing" but to his credit, I don't see Wolfie on the talk shows still trying to defend it, like Pearle and Kristol and Cheneye are still doing.

Wolfowitz would not have been my choice for the world bank job, but he's there and doing a good job and I just cannot justify pushing such a person out purely based upon ideological hatred and perceived personal conflicts of interests, which have not been substantiated.

He could be replaced by someone who's resume is  "squeeky clean," but would not have the intelligence, experience, or enthusiasm to do the good work that he and Riza are doing.

His partition proposal is a good example of that.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Fred,

You disappoint me and I am rather surprised..............partition doesnt work.........like in palestine........you should know better

Can and "Democrat" out there explain this to me? Thanks...........(granted its  a GOP website, but nonetheless its the real people speaking..not unles the voices have been dubbed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgaVtVaiJE

He could be replaced by someone who's resume is  "squeeky clean," but would not have the intelligence, experience, or enthusiasm to do the good work that he and Riza are doing.

It would be hypocisy for anyone who thinks it wrong for Wolfie to promote the person who licks his comb to say he should stay because he's a friend to the poor (when he isn't dropping bombs on them). 

Or is it OK to run a business that way? The board of directors (hardly a Leftist cabal) will decide.

Just received

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&amp;address=389x790622>


Speaker is taking tally for IMPEACHMENT:

Edited on Mon Apr-30-07 05:33 PM by sfexpat2000
From my Code Pink list:

"PLEASE CALL Nancy Pelosi's office right now. Here's
the deal as forwarded to me:

House Speaker Pelosi's office is taking calls voting
for Impeachment of Bush/Cheney at 202-225-0100.

Folks, each of you who have been wanting Impeachment,
need to commit right now to ask at least 10 others to
call and ask each person to commit to asking 10 others
to call and so on. It needs to happen fast and NOW.
Let's BLITZKREIG the Speaker's office with demands for
Impeachment of Bush AND Cheney.

Please make a call, and thanks so very much."

Edit to list Sapphire Blue's suggestion to add CaliMary's list of toll free numbers.

HERE IS A LIST OF TOLL FREE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS:

1 (800) 828 - 0498

1 (800) 459 - 1887

1 (800) 614 - 2803

1 (866) 340 - 9281

1 (866) 338 - 1015

1 (877) 851 - 6437

ỀસỀસ錈ंŮ܈彟瑵穭
宐Ї宐Ї
 

You disappoint me and I am rather surprised..............partition doesnt work.........like in palestine........you should know better

 ---------------

Well, Mike, no offense, old friend, but I am likewise surprised that you focus on the verbology of "partition" than the context.  Palestine was partitioned, as an Indian reservation for native Americans. To grant some of it to the Zionist newcomers. 

These three peoples is Iraq are all natives.  Trying to force them into a crucible of living together is no better than Saddam was doing, or what Bush tried to do, for that matter.  All it  would do is geometrically increase the bloodshed.  Sectarian violence is most of the killing that is going on right now, and that pandemonium allows other forms of violence to continue right now.

ISN' T THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING ANTI-WAR, BEING ANTI-KILLING OF ALL KINDS?

We have States united here, each having its own laws and cultural quirks.  Why can't the Iraqies?  My only critique to Biden's proposal is that a strip of oil-rich land should be "gerrimandered" into the  Sunni  partition, so they don't have to worry about getting the oil revenues from the good graces of the central government (probably Shiite,) as Biden  proposes.  That would be an Achilles heel to the success of partition.

  Have you got a better idea for ending the sectarian violence?????

If you believe in political polls at this early stage of the game, this is a very interesting (though lengthy) summary of the current Democrats running for prez, including some including Al Gore. I don't put much weight in the Gore numbers because he hasn't declared he is running:

http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17785

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12574260/Live Vote

What do you think of Sen. Biden's proposal for Iraq?   * 29560 responses

Good idea; it's the best hope for peace
61%

Bad idea; it will worsen the sectarian divide and cause the nation's collapse
28%

I'm not sure
11%

Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12574260/

THAT'S BETTER

I could never support impeachment. It would take up a year's worth of congressional time and we have to get too many other things passed.

Besides that, the votes are not there according to leading Dems in the House and Senate, so why bother.

With the election coming up soon, impeachment shouldn't be on the agenda. Bush and Cheney continue to disgrace the country and their party. Let them continue!

20.

Yes! I always liked Biden's plan which has been out there for months. The WH is already trying to claim it for their own.

20.

Yes! I always liked Biden's plan which has been out there for months. The WH is already trying to claim it for their own

--------------

Actually, the idea has been out there for years.  I was for it in 2004 when the sectarian violence first flared.  If we had started then there would have been peace today.

Nobody "owns" this idea, but Obama's playing it safe, without proposing much, may prove to be his undoing, as Biden is one up on him on this proposal, which could prove to be the most important development to ending this occupation in relative peace.

If Jay Garner who was a friend of the Kurds had proffered Bidens plan in May of 2003 (with Canadian expertise as to Constitutional language suggestions) while taking up Sistani's suggestions that elections be held immediately, the whole idea of a loose confederation might have avoided both the insurgency and the sectarian violence (as well as an al Queda toe hold) as long as the national army was left alone to be stronger than any single army of the three.

In other words is sounds good in theory til you realize it is years too late.

now it is a partition with a guarantee of an Iranian dominated client state, border trouble with Turkey, and fighting mad third in line Sunni refugees from Bagdad and a terrorist breeding ground

15.

Yes, it's true, the Democrats supported the plans developed by the Pentagon to set up a presence in the Persian Gulf/Indian Ocean region. Since Saddam Hussein wasn't willing to play ball, he had to be removed. Nobody wants to admit even now that was the agenda. By making up lies to cover the true intent the Bush regime managed to enmesh them all in a web of guilt. Somebody's got to be willing to risk his/her career or the truth will never come out.

Saddam was as good at Persian push back as you were going to get. I can't believe those in the Bush Administration who whine about "growing Iranian influence".

It is unbelievable to me that they didn't see that coming. 

19. Joan

Gee, you mean the people aren't buying the Pundits and

 Political Strategists talking points that the people are happy

with their Democratic candidates?

Tony Snowjob is on CNN lying.  This is not good for his recovery.  The body knows....the body responds....the body doesn't appreciate liars.  

He's playing with fire since he's forgetting an important component of recovery...spiritual integrity.  Lying is not spiritual.  Standing beside these war criminals is not spiritual.

Sometimes major illnesses change people for the better.  Rush and Tony don't seem to be part of that group. 

21.

Presumptuous.

13. Hi Fred,

Quick stop by, but Newsweek had a profile on Wolfowitz, and according to my interpretation, he isn't experienced as a manager.  His real experience lies in intelligence work.  He was turned down for another agency as director because even the White House staff didn't think he had enough experience as a manager.  Further, he ignored the bank directors and the staff, brought in two White House cronies and only consulted with them.  

His attempt to clear up corruption had to do with the same absolutism the White House has used in its non-diplomacy.  It's either our way or no way.  Countries that support our policies get aid; others who don't, don't.  

The staff has called for his resignation.  

I would hypothesize that his arrogance and extreme politics have alienated most of his staff, and I would argue that he doesn't serve us well there either.  

Lately, I feel that Newsweek has done a good job of reporting and analysis.

Monica

I thought you might have been wrong about the purpose of the missle bases (anti-missle bases) being to encircle Russia and China and simply were to protect Israel from Iranian missles, til they started setting them up in Eastern Europe too.

Saddam was also on the verge of doing *bidness* in Euros..another reason putzfollies invaded.

...In other words is sounds good in theory til you realize it is years too late.

--------------

Too late to be done easily, from our prospective, but then again, how many families would have been ready to relocate at that time?  Now I think most Sunni and Shiite families  would gladly relocate to be in sectarian refuge of their own kind.  I think they are ripe for it.

bush is set to interrupt the evening news at 6:10 for his veto and explanation - it's the only time he might be able to command any kind of an audience any more. i'm sure his statement will be a humdinger that trots out all the oldies not goodies: fight them there, fledgling democracy, support the troops, another 9/11, give it a chance, yadda yadda yadda

re defending Wolfowitz: IMO that is indefensible, whether it's Andrew Young (who is on the take) or a Nigerian cabinet minister (who is on the take) or someone on this blog who conveniently forgets/ignores inconvenient facts. which are:

-- by all accounts, until these 2 suspect op-eds this morning by people with a vested economic interest in wolfie staying in his job, wolfie and his henchmen are doing a terrible job, alienating, firing and muzzling development experts left and right - but mostly left (does this sound familiar, anyone?).

-- by all accounts, he LIED on official matters and went outside normal protocols in order to get his girlfriend a sweetheart double-dip deal.

-- by all accounts, he wants to privatize everything in developing countries, just as he did in Iraq - "privatize" being code for ignoring local populations and their ownership of commons like water, oil, public lands, and other essential and extremely valuable resources. meanwhile of course trampling on labor rights, environmental concerns, and human rights.

-- by all accounts, he LIED about Iraq and, like the rest of them, has yet to be held to account; like many of them, of course, he was rewarded with a higher position; unlike others he is now in a position to control enormous sums of money, resources, and policy worldwide, and he wants to be able to do all of this, too, with NO accountability to anyone.

on every count wolfie is as big a criminal as the bush administration has managed to produce yet, and that's saying a lot.

the first review of my new DVD comes from italy:

http://www.cloudsandclocks.net/CD_review...

Joan

the oversight investigations will continue and the revelations might well lead to a groundswell for impeachments

there never were enough votes to impeach Nixon either til there were

give Conyers a big budget and let the truth come out

then take the nations pulse, a random name from the phone book could run the country better than this pair

Beck said Gore using "same tactic" in fight against global warming as Hitler did against Jews

Summary: On his radio program, Glenn Beck stated that Al Gore is using "the same tactic" in his efforts to fight global warming that Adolf Hitler used to vilify Jews in Nazi Germany, but Beck said that Gore's "goal is different. The goal is globalization. The goal is global carbon tax. The goal is the United Nations running the world. That is the goal."

audeo too
http://mediamatters.org/items/2007050100...

I called the radio network at
1818-462-1540

and emailed CNN and Headline news.

Make that phone number
1-818-461-5404

wow mprov great review

way to go, and thanks for the CA convention notes, keep 'em coming

22. Joan* In*Florida

why bother with impeachment? because this is a democracy with a constitution and it's more than just a piece of paper: it's supposed to mean something. our COUNTRY is supposed to mean something. and impeachment is the ONLY way this war will end before 2009.

leading Dems are divided. some want to play it safe -- certainly the presidential candidates in the Senate don't want attention diverted from them, but impeachment proceedings start in the House. and frankly living up to our democratic heritage has GOT to be more important than the future of any one candidate or group of candidates.

are the votes there now? probably not, but the American people are there, and once serious investigations start even more voters and congresscritters will be demanding that Bush/Cheney be gone. this was exactly the arc with Watergate: very few people in Congress or in the country agreed with the impeachment investigation at first, but as the facts came out and Nixon fell further & further in the polls, a successful vote on impeachment became more likely, and then inevitable. and Nixon resigned.

President Bush is thumbing his nose at the American people and the only reason he is still getting away with it is because Republican senators are enabling his reckless policies. 

Against all evidence on the ground, they've told us how America is on the "road to victory," making "tremendous progress," and that George Bush has done an "excellent job...outlining his strategy for Iraq."

Click here to see how Republican senators have served as an echo chamber for George Bush's bogus claims about progress in Iraq.

It's clear that too many Republican senators are still more than willing to put their party and their president ahead of our country.

And that is just not acceptable.

Sincerely,

J.B. Poersch
Executive Director, DSCC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bbl

Have you got a better idea for ending the sectarian violence?????

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fred,

Well old boy..it IS a pickle....let me think on this one please..........so far only 2 thoughts come to mind with regard to a solution................New jersey and .............................David Stevenson.............

be back in a jiffy......must pick up my bike............cheerio

35. Jean Wyant, thanks for the additional information.  From my reading, it concurs with your specifics.  Wolfowitz is one more disaster for this country. 

The Arab and Persian world has been fighting for 1400 years.  Not just the major denominations such as Sunni and Shiite, but tribes, warlords, and various political groups.  Dividing Iraq into three sections ignores the history of fighting, affiliations, and onging violence.  It probably won't solve anything.

With civil wars, according to a historian, whose name I've forgotten, they continue until one faction soundly defeats the other.  There is terrible loss of life and destruction, and will end only when one side is able to show the greater force. 

Beck said Gore using "same tactic" in fight against global warming as Hitler did against Jews

-----------

It is abusive of the Jewish people, to invoke such a tragic event in vain.

35. Jean Wyant, thanks for the additional information.  From my reading, it concurs with your specifics.  Wolfowitz is one more disaster for this country.

------------------

Bravo ! Jean, at least you are offering legitimate reasons for firing him, Now can you please offer some LINKS,  to substantiate your claim, or do we just have your rhetoric to rely upon?

Wanna bet putz will invoke 9/11?  I say at least 3 times.  And he'll blame the dems for not supporting the troops.  Is he named after the Bully Pulpit or vice versa?

Get rid of Wolfie and his hormones.  How come the righties aren't upset with his infidelity?  How can he blatantly defend himself, an unfaithful war criminal?  I'm not a moralist, but to espouse family values while breaking them is indefensible.  Or maybe he didn't espouse them...but certainly murder and mayhem are not family values.

Get rid of him!  Get rid of all of them...

I called Pelosi's office  as was suggested upthread.

A new thread has begun :-)

The Arab and Persian world has been fighting for 1400 years.  Not just the major denominations such as Sunni and Shiite, but tribes, warlords, and various political groups.  Dividing Iraq into three sections ignores the history of fighting, affiliations, and onging violence.  It probably won't solve anything.

 --------------

So - am I hearing, we should let them battle it out (as we pull out ground security) until the Shiites exterminate the Sunni?

Not much better than the Lebanese massacre Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in 1982  that General Sharon of Israel allowed to happen, only on an infinitely greater scale.

Wouldn't you say?

Hi Fred,

Jean's specifics match what I read, now that I recall it, in an April issue of the New Yorker.  Go to the New Yorker website and type in Wolfowitz, Fred, and you'll find it there.  He's not a good manager and has demonstrated his ineptness over and over.  Further, his "my way or the highway" attitude has alienated most of the people he works with.  He's no asset; in fact, he's one more detriment to our reputation in the world.

No,  I'm not espousing civil war, not promoting it as the answer, just saying that history is very much against us.  The three sections will fight among themselves until one of them is dominant.  As people have said, there is no good solution.  My point is that a neat division among the three isn't a likely solution either.