Shooting in the Dark

The New Blog

2006-11-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's up. Also, I have registered a domain name, so the site name has changed. It is still a bit of a work in prgress, but a lot nicier in my opinion. I have some things to do there, but it is functional, and runnin....

Here is the link:

http://theliberalgambler.com/WordPress/

This week...

2006-11-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

I will be traveling to Reno, Nevada today on business and will be there the rest of the week. I have a few posts swirling in my head that want out, and I have been noodling with a site design change.

I am thinking about converting the blog to a different host, and could use a few recommendations. I have looked at Word Press and Movable Type, but I'm not sure I want to pay fees. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has done this before, what their experiences have been.

Any pros and cons? Any pitfalls? Any comments would be appreciated, site traffic has picked up dramatically, and I am considering doing several things associated with that. I am also interested in a multi-page blog, where I could pull together another blog, and possibly separate out some topics. I may also, have some guest writing done.

Thanks

Hayworth Gains Again....but Barely

2006-11-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

At the end of today, JD Hayworth has picked up a total of 265 votes in early, absentee and provisional ballots. Mitchell still maintains a lead over Hayworth of 5,667 votes.

Yes, Hayworth is gaining slightly on Harry Mitchell in the balloting, but so far, his average gain has been less than 100 votes per day. If that remains the case, then Mitchell will win the election in the end.

The only way for Hayworth to pick up a win here now is to average well over a 5 to 6 hundred vote gain per day, which remains highly unlikely.

Hayworth should concede this race.

Doooooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!!!!

2006-11-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Avoid Hayworth Hysteria

2006-11-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, I see from a very recent post on Daily Kos, that an individual is beginning to get a bit worried about an election theft in CD-5. It isn't going to happen, and here is why.

First of all, Helen Purcell has been the County Recorder for many years and has been consistently fair. Secondly, there are observers and individual volunteers that count these ballots present from both Political Parties. There is no room for funny business.

In addition, the ballot numbers being tossed around (like 200,000, etc...) are the total absentee and provisional ballots outstanding for all of Maricopa County, and yeah, while we are out here in the desert, Maricopa County is one big place (4th largest County in America). Six out of Eight Arizona Congressional Districts have ballots outstanding from Maricopa County. CD5 does not boast the largest population percentage in Maricopa County.

Estimates are that of the 200,000 ballots outstanding in Maricopa County, there would be about 30,000 to 40,000 that cover CD5 (rough estimate on my part, backed by recent media articles). Now, of these 40,000 ballots, several thousand have been counted in recent days. This is not done by hand necessarily, as Maricopa County uses optical scanners. Voters envelopes are verified, then opened and the ballots fed into machines and counted.

In the 3 days since the election, J D Hayworth has picked up a total of 149 votes and Harry Mitchell still leads by 5,783 votes as of this Friday night. At this rate, it is just about impossible that Hayworth will gain enough votes to make up this margin.

In addition, you can bet that the Democratic Party has people keeping a very close eye on the count.

Chill. Put pressure on Hayworth to concede, sure, but even if he doesn't and simply fades into the night, Harry Mitchell will be the next U S Congressman from CD5 in Arizona.

Hehe....get it?

2006-11-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Day Number Three of the Hayworth Concession Watch

2006-11-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

November 10th...Harry Mitchell still leads by 5,783 Votes after another day of ballot counting.

It's time to concede Hayworth.

Senate Changes: A Series Of Tubes

2006-11-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will also see a major shift in policy with the likely promotion of Senator Inouye to the Chairmanship over Ted "the internet is a series of tubes" Stevens.

This is a huge victory for Net Neutrality. In addition, this is a victory for stem cell research, which we all know of course starts with some kind of tube.

BRILLIANT!!!!

2006-11-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hey I know, let's send Lincoln Chaffee to head the United Nations!

Sorry, feeling kind of short and blurby today....man have I got a headache.

Hayworth Gains On Harry Mitchell!!

2006-11-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, that headline was a pretty cheap trick, but it's actually true...with an additional 5,527 Ballots counted in the CD5 Race, JD Hayworth has picked up a truly AMAZING 23 votes on Harry Mitchell.

This leaves about 29,000 ballots to be counted and a deficit of over 6,000 votes. Mitchell, intends to head to Congress for Orientation and has tapped former Congressman Sam Coppersmith to begin working on a transition.

Senate Changes: Environment

2006-11-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

I will be posting a few of these over the next several days.

With the United States Senate going to the Democrats, we are going to see wholesale changes in government policy.

First up: The Environment and Public Works Committee

Before November 7th, this was headed up by Seantor James Inhofe of Oklahoma who once said, "global warming is one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people."

After November 7th, meet your new Chairperson, Senator Barbara Boxer

Remember that recently the State of California just passed sweeping environmental quality changes, and now Senator Boxer would like to see this legislation become a pattern for the nation.

The general public will now most likely regain access to the EPA's library collections.

The Endangered Species Act should also stand.

The Senator will very much lay out the groundwork for a green revolution in America, of course it will take some time due to the fact that Bush has two more years in office, however the table may be set nicely for 2008.

Set The Agenda, Force The Issues and Fullfill The Mandate

2006-11-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to fix. Throw everything at this white house, as fast as possible. Fix it all. Go after it, and anywhere that Bush wavers, simply attack. Of course work towards compromise where necessary, but know that there are some very large expectations placed upon the Democratic Party after this election. It's basicaly called hope. Perform successfully, and the strength of this party will only grow larger. Force this President to use his veto in the next 2 years.

Just Do It.

Hayworth to Prolong His Defeat, Ultimately Embarras Himself....Harry Mitchell Demonstrates That He is A Gentleman

2006-11-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

According to recent articles, there are still a lot of votes to be counted, and they should be, and I believe this is just one reason why Harry Mitchell has not announced his ultimate victory over Hayworth.

CD5 is a dominate Republican Congressional District, however let's look at some of the numbers here. First, there are 35,000 Ballots outstanding in CD5. A portion of these ballots are Provisional (approx. 7,000 in Maricopa County..give 1,000 of those to CD5). In order to overcome his vote deficit, JD Hayworth would have to take at least 69% of all of these outstanding votes.

Is that possible? I believe the voter registration voter Registration edge for Republicans in CD5 stands at about 65% total. This means that JD Hayworth would need to get a pretty good percentage of early ballot crossover votes by Democrats to gain a victory here.

Given the environment of this election, and the fact that Harry himself garnered many, many Republican crossover votes in this election, this is not a likely scenario for JD to win on absentee votes. Even if the Republican party was successful in targeting Republican JD voters 100% of the time, he would still not overcome Mitchell's lead.

I know it's not 'officially' over, but JD must be on crack.

Arizona Along with Other Democratic Governers...

2006-11-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

...should call upon the Democratic majority in Congress to insist on funding federal mandates. There has been some talk that this lame duck Congressional post election session may leave the 2007 budgeting process up to the Democratic majority in order to delay some of the items on Democrats agendas and leave the Dems to deal with the mess that is the 2007 budget. This may also force Dems to look to raising taxes to present a balanced budget to the President and basically "clean up" the mess left by this outgoing "do-nothing" Congress.

Well, fine. Bring it on, and in the process the Democratic majority, along with the Governors of the States of this Union should become very vocal in insisting upon the Federal Government funding its mandates to the States. No Child Left Behind, The Clear Act, Real-ID and SCAAP along with many others should either be gutted, scrapped or funded.

Shifting the federal tax burden to the States is a practice that should be eliminated. If you pass it, and/or require the States to enforce/implement it, you should fund it period.

There is no doubt a great deal of work to be done across this Country by this new Congress, but I believe that they are up to the task.

Arizona Thoughts

2006-11-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

The following are some thoughts about the recent election in Arizona.

First of all, it appears that the far religious right agenda may not only be dead nationally, but dead in this State as well. There are several things that are encouraging about this, and some of them will be of a benefit to the church. First of all, churches need to focus on their real mission in life, and that is not promoting political agendas. Government in America is designed to work for all people, and not just for the few. This means that the government must take a broader outlook to promote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and not push laws that restrict such freedom.

The defeat of prop 107 is a prime example.

In addition, it seems that voters are very compassionate in Arizona, as long as you are here legally, or don't happen to smoke. Voters in Arizona and elsewhere will not tolerate corrpuption, or other misconduct, and this crosses Party lines.

Voters also need to have a compelling reason to vote someone out of office, and a compelling reason to vote someone in. There were several campaigns that had difficulty making this case to many voters. In addition, many Arizona voters will cross party lines in specific races, but there are limits to the number of races where this will happen.

The Arizona Democratic party, very much needs to develop a strategy that places candidates on the ballot in each and every race regardless of the voter registration numbers by district. Finding people willing to run, and live with the short 2 year terms at a low salary is a problem.
Unfortunatley, the salary increse did not go through for Arizona legislators, but maybe the new minimum wage law can be applied, and their salaries could rise...of course, they would need to punch a timeclock.

The Arizona Democratic Party needs to become much more engaged with the Legislative Districts, and assemble ballot signature lists for potential candidates to streamline the ballot qualification process for those who wish to run.

In addition, in 2010, we need real competitve redistricting that does not capitulate to any one interest group or political Party. This will be a tall order, and is quite some time away, but it very much needs to happen.

The Arizona Democratic Party should also work to recruit "fighting Dem" candidates at the local level. I can think of a few out there, but whether they have that desire would remain to be seen.

More Independent voters in Arizona may be ready to declare themselves to a Party and they should be pursued to re-register in this State.

I have one last suggestion, and it would lead to an increased and more engaged voter in Primaries, and that is to place 50% of all ballot Propositions on the Primary Ballots to encourage and give a reason for more voters to come to the polls, especially if they do not have candidates in races. (This will also help Parties to identify voters simpathetic to their cause for general election targeting).

This was a terrific election for Democrats, but now all elected Democrats must earn the trust and respect of the public. This is what I am most looking forward to seeing over the next 2 years.

Bush No Longer The "Decider", Now the "Assessor"

2006-11-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

George Bush is now "assessing" himself according to today's speech. Perhaps he will be "assessing" others in his Administration beyond Rumsfeld. How about Rove.

Even more amazing, is his comment that this was a surprise to him. Holy cow, bet that hit him like a ton of bricks. Obviously, the guy likes to be told those things that he likes to hear.

Oh, and where's JD?

Ouch

2006-11-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Punch Drunk

A Very Shrewd Move

2006-11-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

House Speaker Pelosi just offered the olive branch of bipartisanship to President Bush and Republicans remaining in Congress. Should Bush now come forward with 'stay the course' in Iraq, he will be the one laying out the ground work for partisan bickering.

Very, very shrewd politically. I'm looking forward to Bush's reponse this afternoon.

"This is not about getting even, it's about moving America forward."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

kudos

The Democratic Party: A Cautionary Tale

2006-11-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Democratic Party must be very careful not to believe the Republican spin that the party won the House by putting forward a more "conservative" Democrat. This may lead some within the Party to declare that for this Party to survive and grow, that it must move towards the middle on the issues.

The fact of the matter is, is that for the Party to survive and maintain it's newfound majority, it will need to maintain strong working relationships with the Progressive wing (the reverse is also true). We should all unite as "Fighting Dems" and work together for the mandate of CHANGE that this country's voters have given to this Party.

So Many Thoughts Last Night...

2006-11-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

and my internet goes down.

What a night. Virtually a clean sweep and the message that voters are sending in this country could not be louder, but will Bush listen?

In Arizona, we have a split Congressional delegation now, with 4 Dems and 4 Republicans...simply amazing, and the cherry on top is that Hayworth has slinked off into the sunset without even a thanks to his supporters....what a guy.

Janet Napolitano has proven that Arizona has thirsted for a leader who can effectively run State Government without scandal...she is the first in quite some time, and the voters rewarded her with a simply amazing margin of victory.

There is no question (never was) about Jim Pederson's commitment to Democratic causes and to the betterment of this country. He put so much on the line for this State, a true patriot. Hopefully, a Webb and Tester victory will render Kyl moot.

While there were some dissappointments, Arizona voters in large measure have shown that they have some compassion for gays and farm animals, but not for illegal immigrants. They also sent a message in part that they would not stand for corruption, except in the case of Rick Renzi who will return to Congress.

It was also simply amazing to me that voters paid quite a bit of attention in this election and did not pass both 'anti-smoking' ordinances, but passed 201 and defeated 206. Also, very nice to see this State's citizens get early childhood development.

32 House Seats, and control of the House, and the very real possibility of the Senate going to the Democratic Party. A resounding message of voter intolerance of corruption and this adminstration's war effort.

Kudos and thanks to everyone that worked to make this happen.

Exit Polls Indicate Possibility of a Democratic Romp

2006-11-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

CNN Just reported early exit polls and had this to say...

The number one issue on Americans minds....corruption!

Also mentioned was that overwhelmingly, this election was much more a national referendum on Bush, etc...and not local. This in and of itself is a very bad sign for Rove, etc...

Could there be some amazing surprises in store tonight!

National Issues 62% v 32% Local

Today's Media Focus

2006-11-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Almost all day today, the media is focusing on campaign dirty tricks, voting irregularities and problems at various polling precincts. This is a good thing, as it will continue to expose some of the more sordid things that various campaigns and campaign supporters will do, expose the very real need for voter reform ONCE AGAIN! and continue to get the general public more and more outraged.

This time around, however many Republicans will surely join the call for the elimination of Diebold voting machines along with other touch screen type voting at the polls and perhaps they will also insist on voter paper trails.

In addition, down in the Tucson area, Man Eegee and Daily Kos are reporting 3 men carrying out voter intimidation tactics against hispanic voters. This is disgusting, and may lead to some legislative reform down the road regarding the carrying of weapons near polling locations. This situation can only get worse, and hopefully the media will be getting some film and identification on these douchebags.

The "Internets" are playing an enormous role today, by instantly publiscizing problems with voting, via YouTube, Kos and direct media notification by bloggers and other voters. Keeping this kind of viligance up may hopefully lead to the severe depression of election day misdeeds, as well as several convictions to come.

I watched yesterday as Rahm Emmanuel declared that after this election is over, the Democratic party will no longer shrug off the robocalling, the disruption and other bad behaviour at the polls. Good for him, and I hope that sentences are handed down accordingly.

NO Party or Person should ever engage in any kind of voter intimidation in this country. We should and shall no longer tolerate this garbage.

Expect Heavy Turnout

2006-11-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

I went to the polls this morning to drop off a couple of absentee ballots and vote myself. I did this pretty early this morning, as I always do, and this year this polling location had 8 voter stands. Every one of them was full when I arrived, which thoroughly blew me away.

Lines had not formed yet, but there was a steady stream of folks coming in to vote. Tonight, this polling location will be very busy, with some long lines. I also noticed that the plastic bin set up to hold absentee ballots was not very secure, and was already full! This was a basic plastic rubbermaid tub with a slot cut into its top. Imagine this kind of ballot box in countries like Iraq, Nicauragua, or other places where voter fraud 'happens'. Never happen here right?

For a midterm election, turnout like this will likely be unprecedented, and that should be a good thing for Democrats.

A Meaningful Gesture

2006-11-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

This was suggested in a post over at the Democracy Cell Project. I think it is very fitting, and I know that the DCP would not mind my extending this thought and action over here.

Following is the post at the DCP blog:

Election 2006
The other night, at a 30-year retrospective for the Liz Lerman Dance Company, Peter DiMuro, her Artistic Director, stepped forward and led the audience through a movement exploration around the issue of genocide. The last gesture in the series we came up with was one in which we wrote the initials of someone who had stood up for us on our palms.

Then we took the initials and gave the hand gesture to the rest of the audience. It was moving and lovely and I had no trouble thinking of whose initials belonged inside that movement.

And tonight I went to the Vietnam Memorial to meet up with Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright and others for a vigil. Cindy spoke about the hope we all have for tomorrow and for the end of this war, hopefully before the number of names surpass those on that wall.

She also pointed out that if we added the Iraqi names of those killed, the wall would be twelve times the size it is, and if we added the names of the Vietnamese killed, it would be double that.
Who stands up to genocide? Who speaks for those ghosts?

Tomorrow we vote, and it is a most important election, because it is surely our last chance to end this particular genocide. It may be the last chance to end the genocide of the planet.
And I know you all understand this and have already worked blessedly hard to get out the vote. But after you vote yourself, please take a moment to think about those who have lost lives for profiteering, those who have suffered under this administration, and vow to prevent these criminals from continuing with their program of callousnes and callowness.

Write the initials of someone who has stood against them on your hand and say thank you. And then pick up the phone and call your local organization and ask what small thing you can do to make the difference between despair and hope.

Everything counts on this day. Everything.

End

Tomorrow, as I go to the polls to vote, I will have the initials of two people written on the palm of each one of my hands. Both of these people have worked tirelessly over the past several years to prevent everything bad that has happened in America since the Bush victory in 2000 and 2004, and yet despite the setbacks, neither of them have ever given up, in fact each of them began working towards this election the day after the 2004 election, and they have never, ever stopped.

May tomorrow bring each of them victory.

RoboCall The RoboCallers!

2006-11-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/06/18327155.php

Conquest Communications phone number is 804-358-0560. Call and let them know (in a polite and legal way) that you do not appreciate their attempts to subvert democracy and the will of the people. Leave a message for as many of their employee scoundrels as you have patience for. For some background, read http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/05/18326780.php.

Robo Caller Doesn't Want Your Calls? By Paul Kiel - November 6, 2006, 2:59 PM Irony of ironies. Since we posted this morning on Conquest Communications, the company that's been conducting hundreds of thousands of often harrassing calls on behalf of the National Republican Congressional Committee, they've taken down their "Contact Us" and "About" pages.

The pages included the company's phone number and bios of the company's executives. Maybe they were getting too many phone calls? The woman who answered the phone couldn't tell me why the pages were down, only offering, “maybe we’re getting a lot of traffic." When I asked if I could speak to someone who might know why, I was put through to the voicemail of one of the partners.

That call, along with an earlier one to the company, has yet to be returned. The company works exclusively with Republican clients, of which there is a long, long list.

One of the founding partners, David Johnson, is a veteran operative of the NRCC and the former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Virginia. ... Later Update: Actually, since posting this morning, Conquest seems to have stripped their website down to everything but its index page.

Poker Players For Pederson

2006-11-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

This story is from professional poker player Andy Bloch, who finished second in this years WSOP HORSE event. If you don't know how to play HORSE, I would be happy to teach you :)

http://www.andybloch.com/gl/pub/index.php

How the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" became law... but legislation to secure our rail and transit systems didn't.

I decided to read the Congressional Record to find out which members of Congress were the main people behind the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" being attached to the "SAFE Port Act," and who spoke up against it. What I found out angered me as much as the Internet gambling legislation itself.

In short, the Republican leadership in Congress put their anti-gambling morality ahead of national security.

Here's how it happend: The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives got the Senate leadership to do what the House couldn't do on its own, attach the anti-gambling act to an unrelated bill (skirting House rules in the process). Then, over the objections of a majority of the House, and in violation of normal House rules, the Republicans removed rail and transit security sections that the Senate had also added to the bill, but left in the gambling parts -- as though somehow Internet gambling was a more germane and pressing issue than mass transit security. If the Republicans had tried these tactics at any other time, they would have failed, but enough Democratic members of Congress voted to give up fighting and suspend House rules so they could pass the SAFE Port Act before recessing for the elections.

If the Democrats had control over one or both houses of Congress, the bill would not have passed when and how it did, if at all. But which members of Congress are most responsible for the anti-Internet gambling bill passing? In the Senate, Bill Frist from Tennessee and Jon Kyl from Arizona. In the House, Jim Leach (IA 2nd district), Bachus (AL 6), Boehner (OH 8), Oxley (OH 4), Goodlatte (VA 6), Cannon (UT 3), and King (IA 5). Unfortunately, there are only a few of them in competitive races.

Jim Leach is most in danger of losing his office. An independent poll a few weeks ago showed him in a statistical dead heat against his opponent, Dave Loebsack. (Loebsack led the poll. 37%-36% with a margin of error of 3%.) If you want to help get Leach out of office, contribute to LoebsackForCongress.org. If you live in Leach's district, vote for Loebsack, and encourage anyone you know to vote for Loebsack as well (and email this to poker players you know). Leach was one of the prime movers of the anti-Internet gambling bill. "Leach calls his Internet gambling bill one of the proudest accomplishments of his current term." Upon passage of the act, Leach said, on the Congressional Record, "the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act... is one of the most important pieces of family legislation this Congress has ever considered." (When Leach was pushing for the bill over the summer, ignoring other issues, Loebsack said: "While the 2nd District loses jobs, Jim Leach can think of nothing more important to do than focus on Internet gambling.")

As The RoboCall Story Grows Legs....

2006-11-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

I will Post story links here...if enough of these spread around the internet the MSM will continue to pick up these stories.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2633458&page=1

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/11/posted_by_frank_2.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/?p=690

http://blogs.chron.com/kuffsworld/2006/11/attack_of_the_republican_roboc.html

http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20061106174213469

http://www.alterinfos.org/spip.php?article630

And now more....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/01/ap/politics/mainD8L49LKG3.shtml

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110100916.html

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/15898729.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-dickinson/the-dirtiest-of-tricks_b_33437.html

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/43955/

THE GREAT BACKFIRE

2006-11-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

and it may have just cost the Republican's the Senate!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2620526

Campaign Dirty tricks are being exposed! The media and many attorneys are getting word of what seems to be a co-ordinated campaign among the GOP to thwart Democratic voters by using automated calls to annoy voters.

Get this story out to the media, so that on election day, voters will wake up to Good Morning America, their morning Newspaper and online stories of just what the Republican party is up to tonight.

Convictions to follow....

Headlines I Want To See On Wednesday Morning

2006-11-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a few....add some of your own....

Vaunted GOP GOTV Machine Apparently Broken

Renzi Defeated, Attorney General Announces Indictment

Arizona Now a BLUE STATE!

The 50 State Strategy, A Rousing Success for Democrats

What Went Wrong, JD Still Doesn't Have a Clue

McCain's Tactical Error (with this lead...)

Over the past year and a half, Senator John McCain has increasingly grown closer to the far right in an effort to set himself up to win the 2008 Republican Presidential Primary, but given 2006's Democratic sweep of Congress, has McCain made a grave tactical error?

One can dream, but tomorrow everyone must VOTE!

From The Heart of a Parent

2006-11-06T12:22:00.001-07:00

Yes, this is about politcs, and change.

As a parent, I am endorsing Jason Williams for school superintendent.

I have two wonderful children, both are currently attending elementary school here in Arizona. My son, who is doing very, very well is fortunate enough to be enrolled in what is called the PEP program for gifted children at his school. My daughter, who just began is fortunate enough to attend all day kindergarten, but at a monthly cost to us of $165.00.

We are very fortunate to be able to pay for all day kindergarten, along with day care, swim lessons, clothing and other nice things, but my wife and I recognize that many families are much less fortunate. There currently is only one all day kindergarten class at our elementary school and 5 half day classes.

We look at our school's test scores very closely, as well as keep a very close eye on our children's progress. Here is what we have noticed:

1) AIMS test scores in our elementary school are lagging the national average. They are also behind in almost all of the other bench marks. While my children are performing well, others are not, and this is especially disturbing as my children attend a school that is exceeding expectations.

2) My neighborhood is considered a pretty typical middle class neighborhood. Many parents are holding down two jobs to make ends meet and that restricts the time for parental involvement at our schools, but our neighbors and ourselves are constantly rallying up money through school fundraisers and such, but our school is still woefully underfunded. I cannot imagine the hardships that schools in poorer neeighborhoods are facing. These funds get used for the things that as a child, taxpayers purchased, not PTAs.

3) Property values and tax revenues. What?! What does a quality education have to do with this...everything! Our home has appreciated in value much faster because of our local schools. because of that, our property taxes generated are higher relative to areas where schools are not performing. What we pay our teachers, and how our schools are being run have a major fiscal impact on families over the long term. (and the State coffers)

As I go to vote tomorrow, I will be considering all of these things. While I am blessed with two very smart kids, and a good school, even though they rank behind national averages, we can do better.

When you go to vote an incumbent out of office, you have to ask yourself, is there a reason for change. Based on what I just told you, that answer is a resounding, YES. The future of Arizona cannot be held hostage to poor education.

Then you have to consider the other candidate's qualifications. I read some of Jason's qualifications online, and I am impressed. First, this man is a well educated teacher with experience in poorer school districts, so he has a very real first hand understanding of the impact on children who are less fortunate than most.

In addition, he has proven himself to be an effective administrative leader, leading Teach for America in Phoenix, doubling their funding. He has also shown himself to be very effective in cultivating new teachers and bringing more people into this very respected profession.

I have seen nothing in Jason's bio to think that he is not qualified to be our next Superintendent of Public Instruction.

As a parent, I urge you all to vote for Jason Williams!

Polling Flaws With Crossover Voters

2006-11-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Your vote is a secret. While political parties can and do identify those people who consistently vote along with party or non party affiliation, the voter rolls do not tell political parties just how you voted. Enter telephone polling to ask. During those rare times when there is an imminent sea change, many of those polled will not reveal their true intent, but will claim a vote for the member of their own party.

It's a form of denial, a sense of being true to oneself while recognizing that the bums must be thrown out. I will wager you that if you polled every Republican voter in the Hayworth/Mitchell race, you will find that the verbal polling result does not jive with the actual votes cast.

This factor, should make every individual very suspiscious of reported polls in the few days running up to an election. Internal polls suggest very close races in Arizona, but external polling shows significant leads in some of these races. This crossover factor may be the cause.

Whatever, the outcome of the election this Tuesday, surprises are bound to happen.

Also, don't forget to consider the margins of errors in many of these polls and that is why you may find real vaqriances from time to time. The Tennessee Senate race polling of today may be one of these variances.

Most campaigns have their own internal polling operation based upon much more reliable data than external polls. What does all of this mean...well, don't listen to the polls running up to election day, look at the momentum, and get that vote out.

There will always be people making up their minds right up to the moment that they cast those votes.

The Fight to Restore Democracy in America is Starting Here

2006-11-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=SHznm0ARDp&Content=881

On November 1, 2006, The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) joined attorneys in filing a brief in Al Odah v. United States of America, together with Boumediene v. Bush the two cases representing men held at Guantánamo Bay that have reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The briefs were the first written arguments to challenge the Military Commissions Act (MCA) in court and argue that either the retroactive suspension of the detainees' right of habeas corpus does not apply to pending cases, or that it is flatly unconstitutional. CCR represents Australian citizen David Hicks, one of the petitioners in Al Odah, as well as hundreds of other detainees at the island prison and coordinates their representation by hundreds of pro bono attorneys.

The brief states: "The Court should promptly affirm [the Lower Court's] denial of the Government's motion to dismiss these cases and, at long last, allow the district court to decide 'the merits of the petitioners' claims' as mandated by the Supreme Court" in CCR's landmark victory Rasul v. Bush. The brief goes on to argue that the Suspension Clause of the Constitution--which states that "the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless... cases of rebellion or invasion… require it"--bars Congress from suspending that right, except under very particular circumstances.

"This is the first opportunity we have had to challenge the constitutionality of the MCA in court," said CCR senior attorney Barbara Olshansky, "and the Constitution is quite explicit on this point: No rebellion, no invasion, no suspension. It's that simple. We at CCR are confident that the court will find in favor of our clients, and in favor of the Constitution."

The government must now file a response to the brief, which is due by November 13. The written briefs will then be followed by oral arguments, on a date to be determined by the court. Until the court issues its decision, all pending habeas corpus cases will not move forward.

CCR Legal Director Bill Goodman said, "The Supreme Court has repeatedly declared that the hundreds of men detained at Guantánamo Bay have the right to their day in court. President Bush and the Congress have done their best to delay justice for these men; now the courts must insure that justice is not denied."

A Stunningly Accurate Article

2006-11-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

From The Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1956547.ece

Bush Flubs a Line...to be Fair, Bring on the MSM!

2006-11-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

How About We Turn Him Over For War Crimes Too?

2006-11-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Support OUR Troops...FIRE Rumsfeld, the Military Editorial

2006-11-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2333360.php

Time for Rumsfeld to go

So long as our government requires the backing of an aroused and informed public opinion ... it is necessary to tell the hard bruising truth.”

That statement was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Marguerite Higgins more than a half-century ago during the Korean War. But until recently, the “hard bruising” truth about the Iraq war has been difficult to come by from leaders in Washington.

One rosy reassurance after another has been handed down by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “mission accomplished,” the insurgency is “in its last throes,” and “back off,” we know what we’re doing, are a few choice examples.

Military leaders generally toed the line, although a few retired generals eventually spoke out from the safety of the sidelines, inciting criticism equally from anti-war types, who thought they should have spoken out while still in uniform, and pro-war foes, who thought the generals should have kept their critiques behind closed doors.

Now, however, a new chorus of criticism is beginning to resonate. Active-duty military leaders are starting to voice misgivings about the war’s planning, execution and dimming prospects for success.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee in September: “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it ... and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move towards civil war.”

Last week, someone leaked to The New York Times a Central Command briefing slide showing an assessment that the civil conflict in Iraq now borders on “critical” and has been sliding toward “chaos” for most of the past year. The strategy in Iraq has been to train an Iraqi army and police force that could gradually take over for U.S. troops in providing for the security of their new government and their nation.

But despite the best efforts of American trainers, the problem of molding a viciously sectarian population into anything resembling a force for national unity has become a losing proposition.

For two years, American sergeants, captains and majors training the Iraqis have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, are only in it for the money, don’t show up for duty and cannot sustain themselves.

Meanwhile, colonels and generals have asked their bosses for more troops. Service chiefs have asked for more money.

And all along, Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand.

Now, the president says he’ll stick with Rumsfeld for the balance of his term in the White House.
This is a mistake. It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation’s current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads.

These officers have been loyal public promoters of a war policy many privately feared would fail. They have kept their counsel private, adhering to more than two centuries of American tradition of subordination of the military to civilian authority.

And although that tradition, and the officers’ deep sense of honor, prevent them from saying this publicly, more and more of them believe it.

Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.

This is not about the midterm elections. Regardless of which party wins Nov. 7, the time has come, Mr. President, to face the hard bruising truth:

Donald Rumsfeld must go.

A Call For Change

2006-11-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

All four branches of the military will run editorials in their newspapers on Monday calling for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. George W. Bush has just reaffirmed his support for Rumsfeld (although he did the same for Brownie too, so maybe there is some hope here).

This can't be good.

The military strategy in Iraq has changed very little since it transformed itself from a liberating force to an occupying one. As an occupying force, it's mission is to maintain the peace while Iraqi leaders would get together and frame a new constitution, elect new leadership and reach compromise for peace. In the meantime, the vacuum of lawlessness acted as a magnet for al Qaeda types who could come in and fight to foster chaos and a loss of control. Religious militias rose to varying levels of power. Only in Northern Iraq, where the Kurds have been based, has the military somewhat achieved order.

As more and more injustices, errors and killing occurs, Iraqi resentment for America has built. Staying the course has meant that the military enter various suburbs of Baghdad and "clear it out". Think of the Willo district as a 'hotbed'...the military enters, goes house to house, attempting to clear the district of weapons and fight any remaining insurgents, only in advance they warn the neighborhood that they are coming. Insurgents go and stay with friends in another neighborhood (say Roosevelt) and wait for the military to clear out Willo of weapons.

Then the US military would do something amazing. They would leave.

The insurgents would return and do a 'cleansing' of those who did not support their cause and establish deeper roots of fear in that community. This process was repeated over and over until recently, when the military decided to stay behind and help secure Iraq neighborhood by neighborhood, and police it afterwards.

Then suddenly a 'pissing match' develops between Al Maliki and the US, and Maliki orders US troops to leave one such neighborhood (in fact one where an American soldier had been kidnapped, and no he did not run off with his bride, he was kidnapped) only to instantly follow Maliki's orders and withdraw border checkpoints leaving a US soldier's captives escape routes and allowing the milita in that neighborhood to regain strength. (One that supports Al Maliki). Fortunately for the missing soldier, the US military is not abandoning the effort to locate this soldier.

With friends like A Maliki, who needs enemies.

So, what to do in Iraq?

There are four choices really.

One. Stay the course. If we do this, our military will ultimately break. Our soldiers have paid an incredible cost and have stayed in Iraq well beyond their reasonable term of service in many cases. This is not an option, and the American people are voting to send the message that staying the course in Iraq is unacceptable.

Two. Increase troop levels and finish the job. Call this the McCain option, and this would mean a draft, or a redeployment of troops from other parts of the world. So without a draft, where would these troops come from? South Korea? Afghanistan? Does this mean that we have given up the hunt for Bin Laden?

Three. Come Home. This may truly be the best option, but what do we leave behind? Surely Iraq would slip into feudalism or all out civil war. Iran may be left alone to operate freely in Iraq and establish a large very powerful nuclear religious country (kind of like the one we have now). What of the Kurds? How would this affect the US economy? While coming home may still be the best option, it is an option of defeat. While we should have never engaged there in the first place, much less doing it "on the cheap" a la Rumsfeld, their are some very real issues should we just leave a vacuum.

Should we call on the world community for support in Iraq? Yes, but that card has been played and international US diplomacy has been damaged beyond short term repair. I don;t see this as a viable option unless we enlist the assistance of Muslim countries that we have been loath to deal with in the past.

Four. Partitioning. This seems to be a pretty solid option for the SHORT TERM. US troops would leave Baghdad and redeploy to the North, Afghanistan and into Kuwait. The US military could lend support diplomatically and militarily on an 'as needed' basis, which would be rare and only with a specific concludable mission of protection of innocent populations and taking the fight to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and take out any facilities that are fostering military insurgency.

A mess to be sure.

If you would like to see some specifics on the military strategy in Iraq, you can visit this US military website here:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&amp;id=6983&Itemid=30

Condolences to the Family of Jeff Groscost

2006-11-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Our thoughts and good wishes go out to his family.

Bob Ney finally does the right thing...J.D., is it your turn?

2006-11-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/03/ney.resigns.ap/index.html

Scandal-tainted Ohio congressman resigns
POSTED: 6:22 p.m. EST, November 3, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, who pleaded guilty last month in the influence-peddling investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has resigned his seat in Congress, his chief of staff said Friday.

As You Watch...

2006-11-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

Pretend that some of these surfers are Hayworth, Renzi, Graf, Kyl, Corker, Santorum, Bush, etc...it's quite refreshing to think of how your hard work will pay off on November 7th.

(To any surfer viewing this, please do not take any offense :)

RIDE THE BLUE WAVE! Clinton Rocks.

2006-11-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1103newclinton1103.html

The lack of noise was no surprise to Clinton, he said. Rather, he has encountered a similar silence throughout the nation."I've been to 27 states at the end of this week and I'm going to 10 more after I leave here, and everywhere I go it's like this," he said. "And do you know why? Because there is something fundamentally amiss in the rhythm of our shared lives as Americans. Something wrong with the way Washington works."Before he could even finish the comment, the crowd erupted.

"I loved it," said Xavier De Castillo, 39. "I'm a Republican, and these were the kinds of words I came to hear that reaffirm a change is needed."

De Castillo voted for the current president twice, he said, but the central Phoenix man isn't voting Republican this time. "I really believe this time around the Democratic Party is the way to vote, straight down the ticket," he said.

Shooting in the Dark, the Safe and Snuggly Edition

2006-11-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Every time I think that this administration has pretty much broken everything it has touched, something new comes along.

How about this one, and this could be the tagline in a comic book...

"Hey Terrorists, why bother trying to buy, smuggle, steal nuclear secrets in order to make your dirty bombs when the US Government will give it to you for FREE!"

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1061856

So, election questions for voters to ponder this year....

Do you feel safer under this adminsitration, really?

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago, really?

Is your house still standing?

Have you lost a child in Iraq?

Do you have a relative suffering from Parkinsons, Alzheimers or another disease that could potentially be cured through stem cell research?

Has your Congressman stolen from you, or fondled little boys?

AND HAS YOUR PRESIDENT'S GOVERNMENT POSTED ON THE INTERNET A COOKBOOK FOR MAKING A NUCLEAR WEAPON RECENTLY?

These idiots have got to go.

NO FUNNY BUSINESS NOV 7!

2006-11-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Democrats! Arm yourselves with your cell phones as you go to the polls. If you see anyone being denied their right to vote or any other finny business, CALL THIS NUMBER!

Election Protection 365 toll-free voter assistance hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

Call this number if you see any problems with people voting!

Thanks Zelph

The Creamy White Filling

2006-11-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Arizona Congress Watch brings us the news that Pederson is winning the early votes in an absentee ballot sampling. Open that link up and look inside and this it what jumps out and hits you right between the eyes....

"Among these early voters, Jim Pederson is leading Jon Kyl by 4 points: 44% for Pederson compared to 40% for Kyl, with 4% for other candidates and 12% refused."

This is incredibly significant and shows that dissatisfied Republicans who cannot bring themselves to vote for the former head of the Democratic Party in this State, are also forming a significant block of protest voters, and this could very well spell the end of Senator Jon Kyl's rubber stamping of George W. Bush policies in Iraq.

All American people can understand and honor the sacrifices that our military men and women make for us every day, but the vast majority of American's will not stand idly by and allow them to die for a lie.

I will publicly say that for those 12% of Republican voters who are refusing to make a selection for Senator based upon principle. God Bless you. God Bless you.

A Little Break in the Action

2006-11-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Now get back to work :)

Why the Kerry Misspeak Today Will Benefit Democrats

2006-10-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard it yet, John Kerry made a minor mistake today. The response from the White House was to attempt to paint Kerry (and other Democrats) as the Party that does not support the troops.

In John Kerry, they felt they had an easy target. Afterall, he kind of rolled over for a few days during the last election when he got "swiftboated", ushering in a new political term for this century.

Well, John Kerry certainly learned a lesson from 2004. He certainly is not going to allow people to distort not only his record, but the Democratic record in Congress in support of our troops.

So, why is this hullabaloo an advantage for the Democrats? Well, the last thing that the Republicans want the American people focusing on is Iraq, and this adminsitrations failed policies there. Rather, the news from Republicans was going to be "look at this vibrant economy!"...."Look at those gays wanting to get married!", etc...

Instead, this last week of the campaign will be focused exactly where the Democratic Party needs it to be: on the failed policies of George Bush and those Republicans too cowardly to do anything but give this administration a rubber stamp.

So yes, let's talk about Iraq in these final days. Let's forget about Republican Congressmen molesting little boys, Republican Senators using racial ephitets and focus on some REAL POLITICS.

If you would like to read John Kerry's statement you can at www.JohnKerry.com, I am sure you will be hearing his response on tonights news. I assure you, you will be proud of the way that John Kerry is standing up to this administration.

Vote to turn the bastards out!

22,000 People Disenfranchised in Arizona

2006-10-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

According to today's broadcast of Democracy Now, Bev Harris reports that up to 22,000 people have tried to register to vote in Arizona only to have their registrations rejected.

The requirement for new voters is that they are able to prove citizenship in order to register. While this may seem reasonable on it's face, many people do not have either a current passport or a birth certificate laying around their house.

Perhaps some of those attempting to register where not in this country legally, perhaps....but does anyone really think that a majority of the percentage of these folks who have been disenfranchised are here illegally?

By the way, we have no idea just who these people are, they may just as easily be Munsil and Kyl voters as Pederson and Napolitano voters. Regardless of your political persuasion or choices at the polls, this is an unjustice.

AZ CD 5 Hayworth v Mitchell Now a TOSSUP!

2006-10-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.cookpolitical.com

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines! In one of the heavier REPUBLICAN Congressional Districts in Arizona, The Cook Political Report has just moved this race from "Leans Republican" to "Tossup!"

What is refreshing about this, is that many Republican voters are paying attention and have grown tired of Hayworth's garbage. In addition, the Republic's recent endorsement of Harry Mitchell may have helped (either that or they saw the writing on the wall here).

Perhaps as the news spreads of a potential Democrat barnstorming of Congress, Republican voters are going to take the opportunity to do just a little bit of housecleaning. They should. Of course, Democrats will gladly assist them!

Help Defeat Tom Horne!

2006-10-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, we have all seen the papers, the studies, the embarrassment, and once upon a time we could at least say, "Well, at least we aren't Mississippi!", but you know what, those times are changed and now Mississippi is one up on us. Now this would not be a big deal if we moved from 9th to 10th perhaps, but in our case we just hit bottom.

Some, would like to point fingers at our Governor, however SHE HAS FOUGHT FOR EDUCATION bringing us all day kindergarten and has worked hard despite being stymied by this legislature. In addition, the individual the most responsible for education in Arizona has FAILED, and that is Tom Horne!

You know, I didn't think it was possible. Having been 49th, 48th, etc...you would think there was no place to go but up, but somehow Mr. Horne found a way to hit ROCK FREAKING BOTTOM!

NOW To the reason for the POST.

Jason Williams needs our help, and he needs it RIGHT NOW! This race is very much in play and any donation that can be made is a donation for the betterment of our kids futures! (Not to mention Arizonas!)

If you can make a donation, please do so at www.williamsforarizona.com
Jason is running a traditional campaign, and the campaign may be on ActBlue later today. If so, I will put up a link here for an easy donation.

Thanks for your support.

Poker and Politics in Arizona

2006-10-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, many of you know that I like to spend some of my 'spare' time playing poker online. I have met a very cool group of people playing, and in fact met up with a bunch of them recently while on a business trip to Indianapolis.

Well, what many of you may not know, is that the online Poker-world is very angry about legislation that was passed by this Congress at the last minute that may have the effect of banning online Poker in the US. In fact, after this legislation passed, several online sites discontinued doing business with US based customers, and one publicly traded company's stock lost 90% of its value overnight.

This has a bunch of people hopping mad.

So how does this relate to Arizona politics?

Right Here:

http://www.online-casinos.com/news/news3263.asp

Just one more reason to vote for Jim Pederson for US Senate.

You can contribute here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/pokerplayers#8827

Okay....SO LET"S TAKE AMERICA BACK!

2006-10-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

FIRE IT UP!

A Mike Luckovich Comic

2006-10-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Where Did My America Go? Martial Law and Habeus Corpus

2006-10-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/36725

Just so all of you know, I am not the only one railing against recent legislation in the United States. In fact, over at Daily Kos, there is a recommended diary relating to Martial law in America.

The article above does a nice job of explaning some of the issues, and points out recent legislation eliminating some of our most basic rights in America. This is a crime against the Constitution by President Bush, and declaring martial law is something very much on their minds.

A couple of recent examples:

Martial Law Declared in New Orleans: (Hurrican Katrina) http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/08/30/039/02716

Governor Jeb Bush Declares Martial Law in Florida

http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20011008.htm

President Bush Lays Plans to institute Martial Law in response to Avian Flu

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19826

Declaring Martial Law for any Declared Emergency

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~lf14/conspire/execu.html

Martial Law has been declared in the United States before, but it has been a very rare and localized act, other than President Lincoln'd declaration suspending Habeus Corpus during the Civil War (which was later to be found unconstitutional). The suspension of Habeus Corpus and any declaration of martial law must be a RARE occurance in the United States, under clearly defined criteria.

Is there any doubt that a change is needed immediately in the Congress of the United States? We all thought that the stakes were enormous in 2004, in 2006, they could not be greater, our very freedom is at stake.

Why Arizona Will Turn Blue

2006-10-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

A few exapmples of people that I have spoken to in the past few weeks.

Two Republicans who have contributed to J. D. Hayworth in the past told me that they have had it with the Republican Party. Both of them decided that not only would they vote for Janet Napolitano, but that they would be voting for Harry Mitchell as well. They have both sent in their absentee ballots.

Another, friend (another Republican) decided to vote for Napolitano (she is pro-choice) along with Mitchell, and Terry Goddard. her reason for voting is that she wants to see both smoking propositions defeated. (she's a smoker) She also cast her ballot for Jim Pederson over Jon Kyl. Her reason. Choice.

In addition, the Democratic Party in Arizona is fired up, while the wheels are coming off of Matt Salmon's Republican "machine" in Arizona as the GOP here demands the resignation of some of their registered voters because they endorsed Napolitano. (They happen to be Mayors)

The Republican Party here should be frightened. They got their wish and have put forward some of the most extreme candidates to run along side some of their most extreme incumbents with the idea that they would be hitting one out of the park.
They might get to first base on a bloop single, but these guys blew it.

Arizona is going blue this election, and this train cannot be stopped. Hayworth, Kyl and Renzi are going down. Napolitano will coast to re-election while Munsil plays "CSI-Mesa" In addition, I might add that Horne should be worried as well. The education survey that just came down does not reflect well on his tour of duty.

Do not get me wrong here. It is going to be very close. Republican turnout, which has always been strong in Arizona needs to be average at best. Democrats have a serious job to do, but so far they are on their way to sending a majority of Democratic Congressmen to Washington.

Revisiting the Suspension of Habeus Corpus in America

2006-10-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Habeus Corpus, or "the Great Writ" is a law that goes back to ancient times, and having been adopted by Democracies around the world requires the liberation of those who have been imprisoned without lawful cause.

The right of an individual to stand and defend oneself against his/her accusers is a basic Human Right. While many have been detained by the U. S. as suspects in the war against terror, very few have been able to stand before the courts.

Recently, and as mentioned in an earlier post on this blog, SB3930 which was signed into law by the President and this Congress did two things. First, it effectively suspended habeus corpus for detainees and it also retroactively forgave any government authority that may have been complicit in the torture of detainees.

This Act is one of the great shames of this last Congress. American Constitutional values and basic human rights have been suspended, not to protect America, but to cover this Administration's ass.

Listen, I am not advocating that those individuals who may be detained are innocent, although some of those who have been detained (and deported) in the past certainly were. What I am saying is that the government should not be allowed to detain any individual indefinitely without granting the right of one to face their accusers. This has been done, and those who are currently being detained must either stand trial, be convicted or exhonerated and set free.

I mentioned earlier that the suspension of habeus corpus is an early step towards facsism and martial law. That is true, but there may be some isolated instances where martial law is in order. In fact, martial law was recently effectively declared during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans when the governemnt totally collapsed. There are several other 'localized' instances in our nation's history, some of which were justified and upheld by the courts, and some which were not.

Nevertheless, this government should be called to "produce the bodies" of those who are being held. The United States of America stands for something better than indefinite detention and torture.

Just Where Is Nevada Anyway?

2006-10-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

Oops! Here is a screenshot from MSNBC's Key Races Map. The Red pin is kind of hiding behind the new and competitve Pederson Kyl Race, but it seems that the capital of Nevada has been relocated. Thanks Nevada! (and Munsil Who?)

Heck Don't Steal The Thread...Allow Me...

2006-10-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

To Make You One!

"Hey, allow me to steal this thread for a second since it is unrelated. Tedski, The Lofty Donkey, and me have put together an arizona netroots donation page.http://www.actblue.com/page/azblogosphereWhile we are currently only raising money for Harry, Jim, Ellen, and Gabby - if you sponsor a candidate (meaning you’ll push the page on your blog and other places) we’ll add anyone you want.But - if you just read blogs - and want to give money from the netroots to our fav candidates - do so at http://www.actblue.com/page/azblogosphere.
Posted by Mister T in AZ 10:47 AM "

My contribution is in, and I am sponsoring Jim Pederson. I could tell you a very nice story about Jim Pederson, back when I ran for public office, but I am actually not supposed to know about what he did for us. I will only say this, that when it really mattered, Jim Pederson stepped up.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jim Pederson will make a great Senator and step up for the State of Arizona. This man truly has our backs, and our best interests at heart.

Also Noteworthy.....

2006-10-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

This Headline: Dick Cheney Endorses Simulated Drowning

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15431835

That one makes me want to endorse testicle electrodes, but only for a certain elected official.

Hell Really is Freezing Over....

2006-10-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Check out this headline from Fox News!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,225561,00.html

I'm A Democrat

2006-10-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Fifth Dominoe

2006-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

God, I love catchy blog entry titles....anyway, I have been doing some reflecting about the 'internets' and specifically the blogosphere lately. If any of you actually waded through the diffusion innovation post earlier, well this one carries on a bit about the same concept.

The flow of information is certainly moving at the speed of light lately, and bloggers can take a bunch of the credit. Lofty Donkey's post about the impending Renzi indictment is a prime example. The story was first broken by LD, but picked up by other blogs, posted, cross posted and placed on public forums, etc... Within a day, the main stream media picked up the story and ran with it. In fact, you might just be "google-bombing" the Renzi story right now.

So, why the fifth dominoe? Well, consider Lofty Donkey the first dominoe in the chain of stories, as it spread among the blogoshpere (the fifth dominoe), ultimately this story reached a tipping point, spurred major media to pick up the story in print, beginning with the NYT and then the WaPo, and finally our own slow Arizona Republic who was forced to report the story after just having endorsed the "douchebag" (pokerspeak, meaning Renzi).

What's next? 60 minutes, I hope. Perhaps a pre-election report on the culture of corruption would be a ratings getter.

Anyway, crossposting the stories of others on your blog is OKAY. We do not hold ourselves to the same journalistic standards of newspapers and may 'lift' the stories of others as long as we give credit where credit is due. Good thing, and way to go Lofty.

Proud to be a member of the fifth dominoe.

Shut Up and Vote!

2006-10-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.myspace.com/shutupandsing

Google Bombing Goes Mainstream

2006-10-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15418130/

Something to Keep in Mind....

2006-10-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks T.

Crunch Time!

2006-10-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

The next 14 days are the most critical days for every Democratic candidate running. It's GOTV time, the time when the organization of each campaign either tanks or pays off. In addition, the majority of voters are just now beginning to pay attention, and the hardcore voters are beginning to look further down the ballot.

This election nationwide is either won or lost right now. Forget all of the early polling. It's all about turnout, turnout, turnout. Get your friends to the polls. Remind them to send in their early ballots. Work your precincts and remind your Democratic neighbors that now is the time.

It has been amazing just what the United States has been put through over the last few years under George W Bush and a Republican Congress. We all thought that 2004 was the most important election of our time, and we were right. Once again the stakes are enormous and the fate of our country is in the hands of it's people.

To all of the bloggers, activists, candidates, volunteers, precinct captains, and engaged Democrats....keep it going strong.

With this election, we can:

Begin to bring our troops home
Change the Administrations policy in Iraq
Support our Troops
Improve Homeland Security
Rid Congress of the Culture of Corruption
Begin to repair the gulf coast
Hold this administration accountable
Improve education in Arizona

and so much more...

Know that we have come to the point in time where the Republican Party is at it's strongest, GOTV and turning out their base. This time, we will not be held back.

Turn em Out Boys and Girls, Turn em Out!

Google Earth Ads Election Data

2006-10-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

The newest version of Google Earth has just added election data as well as outlines to Congressional Districts. The red line is the difference between Trent Franks and Raul Grijalva....big difference....

See the story here:

http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6128305.html?part=rss&tag=6128305&subj=news

From Mr. Fish

2006-10-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ballot Propositions

2006-10-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, since others are making some recommendations, I am going to chime in with my thoughts, and I will say that a few of them, I am on the fence...I will post my standing on a few that I may still be persuaded on...so comment away.

Here goes:

Prop 100: Bailable Offenses Relating to Illegal Aliens

Okay, I may be going a bit against the grain on this one, but I may vote yes here. While this may hold some to a different standard of law, I don't like the possibility that someone here illegally can potentially commit a crime, post bail and skip to a foreign country without repercussion.

Prop 102: Denying Punitive Damages to any individual who is here illegally. Now on this one, I will not vote in favor as this opens the door for those employers who are already abusing an illegal source of labor to potentially further violate basic human rights.

Prop 103: English as the Official Language: No based solely on principle, this will lead to Arizona government eliminating spanish and other languages from voter guides and it is merely a gimmick to suppress the vote.

Prop 300: Newsflash....even illegal immigrants pay some State sales taxes. Every time they shop they place money into the State coffers. I don't think that denying some State services that could potentially benefit individuals is the right thing to do. In other words, am I willing to believe that some of my tax dollars are going to illegals? For certain things, yes. Am I willing to allow that portion of tax dollars contributed by illegals to go for something that would benefit them? Yes. Do I think illegal immigrants should be returned to their home country? Yes. However, while they are here, they are our guests. (unwanted guests perhaps, but guests that do add value to our lives). Punish the employers who take advantage here, not the people coming based upon demand.

I'll save some others for later.

This Post is Dedicated to Richard and Jill

2006-10-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

The Theory of Innovation Diffusion and How it Applies to Political Blogging

2006-10-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Marketing types take notice! Your opinion leaders have been identified for you. But first....a little about innovation diffusion.

Innovators as defined by Everett Rogers are those individuals who are ventursome, educated, use multiple sources for information and have a greater propensity to take risk. Early on, this theory was applied to those who use multimedia outlets to gain their information, a cross breeding of various television news sources, newspapers, radio, magazines, etc... basically those who sampled in an effort to find the truth. (at least as it applied to the news). These individuals would then become opinion leaders and disseminate the information that they had developed among their colleagues and friends.

Those that adopted the beliefs of the early innovators are called "early adopters"...go figure. These people would then further disseminate the information to others leading to early majorities, late majorities and finally laggards. The adoptation of these concepts in terms of numbers of individuals would appear as a bell curve.

Bloggers have been fairly misunderstood by the media in general, but it is simple a matter of people who are either innovators or perhaps early adopters with access to computer technology using a new media to disseminate information and grow a culture of acceptance among the masses. In fact, bloggers have been doing such a good job of this lately, that they are beginning to influence the mass media (along with the general population) and that is the point of it all.

Some folks have begun to harness these opinion leaders via mass blogging sites (think Daily Kos) and advertising sites (think Pay Per Post). Individual opinion leaders can make the decision to keep themselves "pure of thought" or commit themselves to the dissemination of other ideas. Those that choose to participate in the dissemination of other ideas move themselves down the innovation food chain and are more likely to become early adopters as opposed to innovators.

Original thought is tough to come by, but it is out there. Whether it is in the adoptation of new technology, political thought processes or cream cheese. (Yeah, I like the new jelly swirl stuff on my bagel).

Back to current politics for a moment. For those of you old enough to remember Vietnam, it took many years for public opinion to turn against the war. The drumbeat for change was led by college students, the youth and some mass media outlets who posted death counts on the evening news.

Today, with the rapid advance of technology, opinions against the war are being moved in dramatic fashion. This ultimately may change the very nature of warfare when it is being waged by Democracies into what needs to be very fast decisive victories with low casualties. I think Clinton understood this when war was waged in Yugolslavia by air. This was a very fast military victory without casualty to Americans. A blueprint for the future of warfare, and a frightening one.

There may also be implications for opinion leaders (aka bloggers) out there as in the past opinion leaders were a bit challenging to locate, although it could be done by assumption. For example, it would be assumed that a gourmet cook would be an opinion leader on the best cooking knives. Bloggers readily identify themselves, and this could lead to some danger for political bloggers in certain societies, perhaps even the US in the future. (In other words, prepare to have your Vonage tapped...lol)

I will end the post here as I am going off on a tangent, but I will leave a couple of links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_leadership

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lazarsfeld

Thoughts On the Pederson/Kyl Debate

2006-10-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

I believe the best moment of the debate came when Pederson expressed amazement that Kyl did not fight harder for Arizonan's to retain Homeland Security funding. There is campaign commercial material there, that would destroy Kyl on the single advantage issue that Republicans can hold onto this election. Kyl's response was that he "arranged a meeting", a meeting that he did not attend. Kyl looked, sounded and actually WAS weak on protecting America and Arizona. Simply amazing, and Pederson scored big here.

The rest of the debate was virtually moot, although several questions of interest to Northern Arizona were posed. Not knowing the history of the Snowbowl vs. Reservation debate, I will defer to others as to who came out on top on that one.

I believe Pederson also scored a hit when it came to healthy forests, and Kyl probably outperformed Pederson on water issues, where he threw around a boatload of statistics, policy, etc...and that usually sends a signal to voters that the guy knew his issue there.

The question of Iraq, still left me wondering. Bottom line there is that Kyl will rubber stamp George Bush's policies and at least Pederson would look to change the game, starting with the firing of Rumsfeld and others. He seemed to indicate that he would back the Murtha plan on Iraq, but not disengage totally.

Immigration, well I would say this one was a draw. Pederson did score some soft hits here, but I don't think the question and answers will do much to move anyones vote other than to solidify positions.

Kyl and Pederson agreed essentially that a persons background, faith, orientation, etc.. was pretty meaningless and should not be a factor in voters decisions, although both stumbled a bit over the question which was about Republican candidates declaring their sexual orientation when running for office so that the religious right could make an up or down determination on their votes for that candidate.

Overall, I would give Pederson the win on substance, but Kyl on presentation. It appeared that Jim had been out on the stump and speaking to a point that his voice has been taking a beating. Kyl also appeared nice and tan and a bit relaxed. Kyl also was in command of the issues, as was Pederson.

I'm not sure that this debate will move the polls that much.

Voter Incentive Initiative Makes the Daily Show

2006-10-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, Mark Osterloh was on a Daily Show segment this week touting the voter lottery initiative. Very cleverly, Osterloh justified the initiative by saying that "If something is wrong with this, there is something wrong with God!"

This of course led the Daily Show to seek out a priest and ask if God favored giving away $1,000,000.00 to vote. Priest duly stumped, The Daily Show reporter then tried to gather petition signatures and was duly ignored. Then he attempted to gather petition signatures and offer an incentive of $1,000,000.00 and he was.................

............duly ignored.

Attention Wal-Mart Voters

2006-10-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15322454/

It will be interesting to see just what would happen if Wal-Mart is successful in building a voting bloc interest group from it's employees that will actually vote in the best interests of corporate policy. It seems that the Chief Executive of Wal-Mart doesn't have a clue as to what actually constitutes a living wage. That being said, many Wal-Mart employees are pretty loyal to the company which is somewhat of a surprise given the shenanigans employed by Wal-Mart in its treatment of their workers, it's disloyalty to American goods, and it's use of State Healthcare systems as their own.

I think Wal-Mart may actually be on to something and the Democratic Party should encourage Wal-Mart workers to head to the polls.

Since Staying the Course is No Longer an Option....

2006-10-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the thoughts that have been floated in regards to Iraq, and I am wondering what people feel is the best course of action.

First, partition the country along religious and ethnic lines: Kurdistan to the north and a Sunni and Shia split across the rest of the country. Would this work?

Secondly, redefine victory as any form of stability within the country whether or not it is Democratic or not...does this mean a next generation dictator a la Hussein?

Thirdly, screw everything. Just leave and let the chips fall where they may. Let the Iraqi people determine who will rule Iraq, either peacefully or via more bloodshed.

And finally, redeploy and watch as unwanted 'guests' in the country only attacking known al Qaeda cells identified and operating within the Country.

Are there other options?

Can Anybody Explain This...

2006-10-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1926809,00.html

George W. Bush is now comparing Iraq to Vietnam. When many Democrats and others began making this point a few years ago, the shout down began. Now the U. S. may have lost Baghdad and with it any hope for victory in Iraq.

The summary effect of a failed U. S. policy in Iraq is to strengthen Iran. I don't think this was the intention of Rumsfeld, et al...

Clearly, change is in order and the question is rightfully: "Is the Democratic Party prepared to engineer a change in policy that will repair our status in the world, end an unecessary war and refocus appropriate efforts in the war against terror?"

U. S. voters have little choice but to vote out Republicans and hope for the best, but will those who are ushered in truly lead?

I certainly hope so.

OOPS

2006-10-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Picasso's La Reve sans hole

Back to some good news...

2006-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15306724

According to this article, low voter turnout from the Republicans could still tip Arizona to the win column for Jim Pederson. In addition, there are now 50 House seats in play and a very strong chance that the Democratic Party will control both Houses of Congress making George W. Bush a lame duck.

The only thing left for Republicans in trouble is to get uglier, calling Democrats traitors and cowards. Most American voters will not buy this drivel and hopefully will show their distaste at the polls.

Before we all celebrate, their are many more seats that could be had in this election and some very tight races. To all of my activist friends, I hoist a beer to you for all of your hard work and efforts. Keep this train rolling!

Congressional Pedophiles vs. Iraqi Death Squad Battalions

2006-10-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

While pedophiles go ignored in Congress by the GOP, Iraqi death squads have infiltrated US trained battalion groups in Iraq.

Wish we could call a "do over".

Will the Real Party of Family Values Please Stand Up

2006-09-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Family Values. A Republican mantra ushered in sometime during the Reagan years representing the Republican Party as the party most aligned with "family values".
Code words for the religious right...essentially saying that the Republican Party was the Party of Pro-life, God-fearing middle class Americans.

Twenty years later, the Republican Party can no longer lay claim as a Party of family values. Here are a few examples:

1) Government Intrusion vs. Personal Privacy

The watershed event here was most certainly the attempt by the Republican Party to engage in a private family matter in relation to the Terry Shiavo affair. The vast majority of Americans believed that the government had no business being involved in this kind of a private matter. This kind of thinking by the Party in charge has led us down the path of Nixon and eavesdropping, bugging and monitoring of US citizens once again.

2) Corruption, Cover Ups and Cronyism

Jack Abramoff and everyone connected to this scandal, including our own J D Hayworth. Representive Tom Foley, and now potentially the coverup as Boehner and Hastert knew of this issue much earlier and did nothing. The Arabian Horse Association head leading the charge with FEMA and the loss of billions of US taxpayer dollars in Iraqi reconstruction due to the appointment of friends...all of this crap leads one to believe that morals and ethics no longer hold a place in Republican politics.

3) Lying the Country into the wrong war

Massaging and manufacturing evidence and making false statements in order to force an agenda of overthrowing Iraq at the cost of thousands of American lives, limbs and futures. Refusing to have a plan for post Hussein Iraq and naively believing that we would be greeted as Liberators. Certainly the moral high ground.

4) Economic policies that favor Corporate America and not the middle class.

Secret meetings to determine an energy policy that would virtually assure gross profits for big oil at the expense of middle class America. Tax policies that return a greater share of personal wealth to the rich, while doing nothing to raise the standards of living for the middle class and poor in America. Refusal to raise the minimum wage, fund federally mandated programs and pushing the burden to the States and ultimately further on to the working classes.

These are just some of the indicators that the Republicans can no longer lay claim to being the Party to support families in America. The Republican Party has abandoned the middle classes.

Okay....so today my question might have been answered....

2006-09-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

The question being, what is worse than a lying failure? Well, perhaps a pedophile serving in Congress.

On a recent trip, I bet one of my coworkers $5 that the Democratic Party would control the House of Representatives after this election. He, being an avid Limpbaugh listener has his head in the sand and in fact still believes that Iraq was involved with Bin Laden in 9-11. (gg Republican spin machine...that shit really does work on the ignorant)

Foley's resignation just brings me one more step to being in the money....not to mention an improvement for America.

On another note, it took awhile but I saw an anonymous response from a 'friend of the blog' who is thinking about running for office in LD12 in 2008, possibly for State Senate. I do think that Democratic chances to win this seat here will be in large part determined by just who decides to make that run from the other side, Jerry Weiers or John Nelson.

I may comment on both of these guys later, but my favorite thing (I hope to God) is that Blendu will fade into the sunset after 2008.

What is worse than a "lying failure"?

2006-09-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Zawahiri called George W. Bush a "lying failure" today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/ts_nm/security_zawahri_dc;_ylt=AhQs4VGr3NeHxUJTn7MnW3is0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OTB1amhuBHNlYwNtdHM-

Well, I have one message for Zawahiri...come out of your hole, so we can grease your sorry ass please.

Any reader of this blog knows that I am NO supporter of George W. Bush and I would actually go a bit further than this puke and say that Bush is also a total fucking idiot who represents a real and present danger to American values, but everyone should understand this:

I know of NO Democrat who does not support the very REAL war on Terror, which should be taking place in Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border. In fact, many cases can be made that without the voices of the Democratic Party, many more of our soldiers serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq may have lost their lives. It was Democrats who exposed and pushed for funding for more armour for the troops, better veterans benefits, etc...

Anyway, I digress...Zawahiri can go fuck himself. As an American citizen and supporter of the Constitution and this country, I am proud to be able to exercise my right from US soil to criticize the President and this administration. Terrorists like this guy deserve to be killed and buried with a pig.

District 12 Democrats

2006-09-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

District 12 Democrats meet at the West Valley Democratic Headquarters at least once per month. As I am typically out of town, I have been unable to attend for some time, but as we are headed towards election day, any and all assistance is needed.

In addition, District elections will be coming soon, and the following positions will be open for those who have an interest in serving.

Chair, First and Second Vice Chairs, Treasurer, and Secretary. In addition, there are 11 slots open for the State Committee in LD12. Traditionally, 5 of these slots are filled with the newly elected officers from the district, so that leaves a minimum of 6 open spots.

A few of you know that I served as the Treasurer of LD12 in 2003-2004 and while it was challenging, it was one of the most satisfying things that I have ever done. It was truly an honor to be able to raise monies for 4 West Valley Legislative Districts with the wonderful assistance of our Governor.

I was also very fortunate to serve as a State Committeeperson and while the drive to the meetings were sometimes filled with unexpected entertainments, it was very enlightening to see the process of policy/platform take place and to personally be able to contribute to the Arizona Democratic cause.

These days, I travel extensively in my job as I sometimes post here on this blog, but I always, always look back with fondness for those days as a Party activist. (So much easier than my stint as President of the PTA and my unsuccessful run at a State office, although both were gratifying as well).

The reason I say any of this, is to encourage everybody who reads this blog to become involved with their local Party organization. Get involved as a precinct committee person, an office, a voice within the Party, as it truly is OUR Party.

District elections will be November 27, 2006, I will post the location as I get it, or you can contact the acting Chair via the AzDem website.

Bush Moves America Towards Martial Law

2006-09-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

Article 1, Section 9 of the United States Constitution states, "The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." Habeas corpus is a concept of law, in which a person may not be held by the government without a valid reason for being held.

The suspension of habeus corpus is one of the prime indicators of martial law.

SB 3930, which just passed the House and Senate eliminates Habeus Corpus for many of the detainees under U. S. military control, as well as undermines the enforcement of article 3 of the Geneva conventions. This bill is clearly unconstitutional.

In addition, this bill retroactively forgives any and all administration officials who may have violated the geneva conventions via torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners in the war on terror.

Many would point to the very real and immediate need to obtain information of pending terrorist attacks and plans within the United States, but the U. S. has not broken up a single terrorist attempt since 9-11 while foreign intelligence agencies most certainly have disrupted potential attacks.

This bill may most certainly have been the "October surprise" planned by the Bush administration to paint Democrats as weak on terror, however many Democrats (almost every single one in a tight race) voted in favor of this bills passage, and in my opinion an incredible act of cowardice.

Fortunately, the ultimate check and balance on this government still rests with the voters. We have a very serious responsibility this November.

American Pie

2006-09-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Senator Clinton on the Detainee Bill
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_09_24_atrios_archive.html#115947389727117828

Introduction

The Senate is currently debating a bill on how we treat detainees in our custody, and, more broadly, on how we treat the principles on which our nation was founded.

The implications are far reaching for our national security interests abroad; the rights of Americans at home, our reputation in the world; and the safety of our troops.

The threat posed by the evil and nihilistic movement that has spawned terrorist networks is real and gravely serious. We must do all we can to defeat the enemy with all the tools in our arsenal and every resource at our disposal. All of us are dedicated to defeating this enemy.

The challenge before us on this bill, in the final days of session before the November election, is to rise above partisanship and find a solution that serves our national security interests. I fear that there are those who place a strategy for winning elections ahead of a smart strategy for winning the war on terrorism.

Democrats and Republicans alike believe that terrorists must be caught captured and sentenced. I believe that there can be no mercy for those who perpetrated 9/11 and other crimes against humanity. But in the process of accomplishing that I believe we must hold on to our values and set an example we can point to with pride, not shame. Those captured are going nowhere – they are in jail now – so we should follow the duty given us by the Supreme Court and carefully craft the right piece of legislation to try them. The president acted without authority and it is our duty now to be careful in handing this president just the right amount of authority to get the job done and no more.

Washington's Choice

During the Revolutionary War, between the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which set our founding ideals to paper, and the writing of our Constitution, which fortified those ideals under the rule of law, our values – our beliefs as Americans – were already being tested.

We were at war and victory was hardly assured, in fact the situation was closer to the opposite. New York City and Long Island had been captured. General George Washington and the continental army retreated across New Jersey to Pennsylvania, suffering tremendous casualties and a body blow to the cause of American Independence.

It was at this time, among these soldiers at this moment of defeat and despair, that Thomas Paine would write, "These are the times that try men's souls." Soon afterward, Washington led his soldiers across the Delaware River and onto victory in the Battle of Trenton. There he captured nearly 1000 foreign mercenaries and he faced a crucial choice.

How would General Washington treat these men? The British had already committed atrocities against Americans, including torture. As David Hackett Fischer describes in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Washington's Crossing," thousands of American prisoners of war were "treated with extreme cruelty by British captors." There are accounts of injured soldiers who surrendered being murdered instead of quartered. Countless Americans dying in prison hulks in New York harbor. Starvation and other acts of inhumanity perpetrated against Americans confined to churches in New York City.

The light of our ideals shone dimly in those early dark days, years from an end to the conflict, years before our improbable triumph and the birth of our democracy. General Washington wasn't that far from where the Continental Congress had met and signed the Declaration of Independence. But it's easy to imagine how far that must have seemed. General Washington announced a decision unique in human history, sending the following order for handling prisoners: "Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to complain of our Copying the brutal example of the British Army in their Treatment of our unfortunate brethren."

Therefore, George Washington, our commander-in-chief before he was our President, laid down the indelible marker of our nation's values even as we were struggling as a nation – and his courageous act reminds us that America was born out of faith in certain basic principles. In fact, it is these principles that made and still make our country exceptional and allow us to serve as an example. We are not bound together as a nation by bloodlines. We are not bound by ancient history; our nation is a new nation. Above all, we are bound by our values.

George Washington understood that how you treat enemy combatants could reverberate around the world. We must convict and punish the guilty in a way that reinforces their guilt before the world and does not undermine our constitutional values.

The Senate's Choice

Now these values – George Washington's values, the values of our founding – are at stake. We are debating far-reaching legislation that would fundamentally alter our nation's conduct in the world and the rights of Americans here at home. And we are debating it too hastily in a debate too steeped in electoral politics.

The Senate, under the authority of the Republican Majority and with the blessing and encouragement of the Bush-Cheney Administration, is doing a great disservice to our history, our principles, our citizens, and our soldiers.

The deliberative process is being broken under the pressure of partisanship and the policy that results is a travesty.

Process

Fellow Senators, the process for drafting this legislation to correct the administration's missteps has not befitted the "world's greatest deliberative body." Legitimate, serious concerns raised by our senior military and intelligence community have been marginalized, difficult issues glossed over, and debates we should have had have been shut off in order to pass a misconceived bill before Senators return home to campaign for re-election.

For the safety of our soldiers and the reputation of our nation, it is far more important to take the time to do the job right than to do it quickly and badly. There is no reason other than partisanship for not continuing deliberation to find a solution that works to achieve a true consensus based on American values.

In the last several days, the bill has undergone countless changes – all for the worse – and differs significantly from the compromise brokered between the Bush Administration and a few Senate Republicans last week.

We cannot have a serious debate over a bill that has been hastily written with little opportunity for serious review. To vote on a proposal that evolved by the hour, on an issue that is so important, is an insult to the American people, to the Senate, to our troops, and to our nation.

Politics

Fellow Senators, we all know we are holding this hugely important debate in the backdrop of November's elections. There are some in this body more focused on holding on to their jobs than doing their jobs right. Some in this chamber plan to use our honest and serious concerns for protecting our country and our troops as a political wedge issue to divide us for electoral gain.

How can we in the Senate find a proper answer and reach a consensus when any matter that does not serve the Majority's partisan advantage is mocked as weakness, and any true concern for our troops and values dismissed demagogically as coddling the enemy?

Substance

This broken process and its blatant politics will cost our nation dearly. It allows a discredited policy ruled by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional to largely continue and to be made worse. This spectacle ill-serves our national security interests.

The rule of law cannot be compromised. We must stand for the rule of law before the world, especially when we are under stress and under threat. We must show that we uphold our most profound values.

We need a set of rules that will stand up to judicial scrutiny. We in this chamber know that a hastily written bill driven by partisanship will not withstand the scrutiny of judicial oversight.

We need a set of rules that will protect our values, protect our security, and protect our troops. We need a set of rules that recognizes how serious and dangerous the threat is, and enhances, not undermines, our chances to deter and defeat our enemies.

Our Supreme Court in its Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision ruled that the Bush Administration's previous military commission system had failed to follow the Constitution and the law in its treatment of detainees.

As the Supreme Court noted, the Bush Administration has been operating under a system that undermines our nation's commitment to the rule of law.

The question before us is whether this Congress will follow the decision of the Supreme Court and create a better system that withstands judicial examination – or attempt to confound that decision, a strategy destined to fail again.

The bill before us allows the admission into evidence of statements derived through cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation. That sets a dangerous precedent that will endanger our own men and women in uniform overseas. Will our enemies be less likely to surrender? Will informants be less likely to come forward? Will our soldiers be more likely to face torture if captured? Will the information we obtain be less reliable? These are the questions we should be asking. And based on what we know about warfare from listening to those who have fought for our country, the answers do not support this bill. As Lieutenant John F. Kimmons, the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence said, "No good intelligence is going to come from abusive interrogation practices."

Mr. President, I would like to submit for the Record letters and statements from former military leaders – including Generals Colin Powell and John Vessey, 9/11 Families, the religious community, retired judges, legal scholars and law professors, all of whom have registered serious concerns with this bill and its provisions.

The bill also makes significant changes to the War Crimes Act. As it is now written, the War Crimes Act makes it a federal crime for any soldier or national of the U.S. to violate, among other things, Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions in an armed conflict not of an international character. The administration has voiced concern that Common Article – which prohibits "cruel treatment or torture," "outrages against human dignity," and "humiliating and degrading treatment" – sets out an intolerably vague standard on which to base criminal liability, and may expose CIA agents to jail sentences for rough interrogation tactics used in questioning detainees.

But the current bill's changes to the War Crimes Act haven't done much to clarify the rules for our interrogators. What we are doing with this bill is passing on an opportunity to clearly state what it is we stand for and what we will not permit.

This bill undermines the Geneva Conventions by allowing the President to issue Executive Orders to redefine what permissible interrogation techniques happen to be. Have we fallen so low as to debate how much torture we are willing to stomach? By allowing this Administration to further stretch the definition of what is and is not torture, we lower our moral standards to those whom we despise, undermine the values of our flag wherever it flies, put our troops in danger, and jeopardize our moral strength in a conflict that cannot be won simply with military might.

Once again, there are those who are willing to stay a course that is not working, giving the Bush-Cheney administration a blank check – a blank check to torture, to create secret courts using secret evidence, to detain people, including Americans, to be free of judicial oversight and accountability, to put our troops in greater danger.

The bill has several other flaws as well.

This bill would not only deny detainees habeas corpus rights – a process that would allow them to challenge the very validity of their confinement – it would also deny these rights to lawful immigrants living in the United States. If enacted, this law would give license to this Administration to pick people up off the streets of the United States and hold them indefinitely without charges and without legal recourse.

Americans believe strongly that defendants, no matter who they are, should be able to hear the evidence against them. The bill we are considering does away with this right, instead providing the accused with only the right to respond to the evidence admitted against him. How can someone respond to evidence they have not seen?

Conclusion

At the very least, this is worth a debate on the merits, not on the politics. This is worth putting aside our differences – it's too important.

Our values are central. Our national security interests in the world are vital. And nothing should be of greater concern to those of us in this chamber than the young men and women who are, right now, wearing our nation's uniform, serving in dangerous territory.

After all, our standing, our morality, our beliefs are tested in this chamber. And their impact and their consequences are tested under fire; they are tested when American lives are on the line; they are tested when our strength and ideals are questioned by our friends and by our enemies.

When our soldiers face an enemy, when our soldiers are in danger, that is when our decisions in this chamber will be felt. Will that enemy surrender? Or will he continue to fight, with fear for how he might be treated and with hate directed not at us, but at the patriot wearing our uniform whose life is on the line?

When our nation seeks to lead the world in service to our interests and our values, will we still be able to lead by example?

Our values, our history, our interests, and our military and intelligence experts all point to one answer. Vladimir Bukovsky, who spent nearly 12 years in Soviet prisons, labor camps, and psychiatric hospitals for nonviolent human rights activities had this to say. "If Vice President Cheney is right, that some 'cruel, inhumane, or degrading' treatment of captives is a necessary tool for winning the war on terrorism, then the war is lost already."

Let's pass a bill that's been honestly and openly debated, not hastily cobbled together.

Let's pass a bill that unites us, not divides us.

Let's pass a bill that strengthens our moral standing in the world, that declares clearly that we will not retreat from our values before the terrorists. We will not give up who we are. We will not be shaken by fear and intimidation. We will not give one inch to the evil and nihilistic extremists who have set their sights on our way of life.

I saw with confidence and without fear that we are the United States of America, and that we stand now and forever for our enduring values to people around the world, to our friends, to our enemies, to anyone and everyone.

Before George Washington crossed the Delaware, before he could achieve that long-needed victory, before the tide would turn, before he ordered that prisoners be treated humanely, he ordered that his soldiers read Thomas Paine's writing. He ordered that they read about the ideals for which they would fight, the principles at stake, the importance of this American project.

Now we find ourselves at a moment when we feel threatened, when the world seems to have grown more dangerous, when our nation needs to ready itself for a long and difficult struggle against a new and dangerous enemy that means us great harm.

Just as Washington faced a hard choice, so do we. It's up to us to decide how we wage this struggle and not up to the fear fostered by terrorists. We decide.

This is a moment where we need to remind ourselves of the confidence, fearlessness, and bravery of George Washington – then we will know that we cannot, we must not, subvert our ideals – we can and must use them to win.

Bin Laden Dead

2006-09-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1538569,00.html

Unconfirmed rumors and reports are circulating that Bin Laden has died of a water borne illness along the Afghanistan-Pakistani border. If this is true, it is absolutely shameful that the Bush Administration failed to bring this man to justice.

There are 14 More Days...

2006-09-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today, there are only 14 more days that this Congress has a chance to pass Republican dominated legislation. 14 more days to do harm to the American people. Fortunatley, in these 14 days, many Republicans are desperate to distance themselves from a crumbling administration. But yesterday, they blinked and caved and passed legislation that would cover W's ass in regards to his illegal torturing of prisoners in covert camps run by the CIA in foreign countries. Now he has, the means to do it here, within his 'reasonable' judgement...and we all know about W's ability to reason.

14 more days. Like a clock counting down, or a ticking time bomb. 14 more days, will put us into October, ready for a Rovian October Surprise. What will they do at the end game? When they are desperate? When the writing is on the wall that the next 2 years promises to be filled with investigation and lame duck status, just what will they do?

They have managed to break America in 6 years, but not totally. America has a chance to get fixed, to repair it's reputation, to rise up and stand for democracy and human rights once again. Do incumbent Democrats have the balls to stand up now?

14 days of potential harm left. Should they nail Bin Laden in the final weeks before the election, would the public be skeptical? Would they wonder why they saved this moment for now? Would they continue to think that Al Qaeda was involved with Iraq before Bush went to war illegally?

14 days, what are we going to do about it, but more importantly, what are elected Congressional Democrats going to do?

Keep your fingers crossed.

Sharing Dreams

2006-09-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

While traveling all over the freakin place which is leaving me more and more out of touch with local issues, I have been noticing a trend. A very GOOD trend at that, as it was brought home to me on a cab ride this morning to Denver International Airport.

My driver was a young black man, who had his cab out in front of my hotel as I decided it was time to get out to the airport. I got in, and he immediately turned his radio station, which was some form of talk radio. I assumed that he had been listening to some religious channel as that has been my experience on occassion when cab drivers adjust their stations when I get in...but what I found strange was that he switched it to another station that was playing Glen Stefani's Hollaback Girls.

A bit confused, we rode on towards the airport and I was enjoying the old homes of Denver, but soon found myself having a very nice conversation with this gentlemen. He mentioned that he thought Barack Obama was going to be a great man. "Huh?", I thought to myself as I perked up and began talking Democratic politics with this guy. I told him that Obama had recently gone to Iowa and that may signal a possible run for President in 2008. I told him that I would vote for him.

We spoke about Bush and the damage he has done to America in only 6 years in office, he spoke of torture and he was confused. "Was this really America?" he said to me. He had immigrated legally he added from Africa and was very puzzled by the current political "regime" in America.
He spoke of immigration and said that the Democratic Party needed to tie this issue to Outsourcing and he asked "Why, if Republicans are so intent on protecting American's jobs from illegal immigrants do they willingly give away other jobs to foreign countries?"

We talked a little about Katrina and the devastation and incompetence of the Bush administration and that their strategy for assisting American's was to leave everything up to free enterprise and essentially abandon people. He and I both had just seen Spike Lee's documentary on HBO.

He told me that he was happy that Air America was on the air, and that the message was getting out, but he was still a bit confused about where the Democratic Party stood on some things, but that he knew that there must be change.

He was encouraged when I told him that I thought that we (Democrats) would take back the House in 2006, and that we had an outside shot at taking back the Senate, but that the Tennessee, Arizona and Washington State Senate Races were very important if we were to pull that off.

He then asked me "How is that crazy Katherine Harris doing in Florida?" I was able to give him some encouraging news on that front. He then went on about the voting machines and unsecure elections happening 'Here! In America! How could that be!" He said that even in his home country in Africa, they use paper!

We pulled to the curb and I paid him, tipping him the most I could on my company credit card and then pulled out a few extra ones. I encouraged him to keep his radio station on Air America when people got in his cab. He then shook my hand and said that it was refreshing to see that other American's felt the same as he did, and that hopefully it would only be a matter of time before the Old America came back to the world.

We both share that dream.

Iran's Address to the United Nations

2006-09-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

The President of Iran's speech only confirms to me the danger of Theocracies, not only Iran's, but ours. Essentially, Iran has flipped both the US and the UN the finger. Unless, the Security Council reacts accordingly and institutes sanctions immediately, I believe we are headed for a much wider war in the Middle East. May God be with us all.

It's Official and the Birth of a Macabre Holiday...

2006-09-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

First, it's official, this Administration has officially given up the hunt for Bin Laden...

“The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad,” George W. Bush

While not one of us will ever forget 9-11, I would much prefer to celebrate the date that Bin Laden and Zawahiri are brought to justice.

On a side note, I just finished watching the ABC drama on 9-11. I would very much like to see the sequel....what the hell has been happening over the last 5 years in the fight against terror. It astounds me, that the President can announce to the world, that we are no safer today than we were on 9-11 as though that would actually BENEFIT his tenure! New strategy note: ANNOUNCE YOUR PERSONAL FAILURE, WHILE TOUTING A POLICY WHICH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11 PRE-IRAQ WAR! (and yes, it certainly does now, as the news just stated this evening that the Anbar Province of Iraq is now in Al Qaeda's hands.

What a fucking failure, George W. Bush defines a new version of traitor to America, "the incompetent traitor".

2 more years, may God have mercy on us all.

Beginning this week...

2006-09-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

My job is taking me away. I will be in Las Vegas, Nevada beginning tomorrow afternoon through next Friday, following this, I will be traveling to Denver, CO, Central California, Philadelphia, PA and Indianapolis, IN. I will be home during the next month and a half for approximately 5 days total.

UGH. This means even a greater disconnect from AZ, my family and some of the friends I used to have. If anybody tells you that jobs that require a great deal of travel are cool, kick them in the ass for me.

If I get a chance too, I may blog a wee bit from each of these locations about the political 'scene' there just for the heck of it.

There must be a break in the cycle...

2006-09-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading these two websites and it certianly illustrated for me the differences in reality and showed such a false optimism for the war in Iraq.

First, was from the Operation Iraqi Freedom website. I also read the August 28th, 2006 press briefing and it was apparent that the current operation in Baghdad is a repeat of an earlier unsuccessful bid to 'liberate' Iraq and free Baghdad. The only problem is that this time, the military is unable to focus on many neighborhoods.

To get an idea of life in one of these neighborhoods, I then read Iraq The Model. Take a look at the entry of August 30, 2006. The striking thing to me is the break down among neighbors within the city, the fear and the insertion of Al Qaeda into this fight. Perhaps that was part of the point, to bring Al Qaeda out into the open so that the U S Military could fight and defeat this organization on another countries soil, but the fault in this argument is that was being done in Afghanistan and spreading this fight to Iraq under false pretenses only weakened our military's ability to engage the enemy.

Instead, the failed policy of the Bush administration only served to spread the influence of Al Qaeda like a metastasizing cancer. Now, for victory, the United States is forced to rely on the stand up of Iraqi forces in order to secure the country, because we do not have the troops or the coalition to do so ourselves. A very sad situation, and one with no easy solution.

There are only two options open to the United States at this time: instituting a draft and sending in more troops to secure and route the insurgency, or a set time table for withdrawal, or at least amphased withdrawal forcing the trained Iraq military to stand for itself.

I pick option 2.

A MUST READ

2006-09-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

http://cpmazrandommusings.blogspot.com/2006/09/change-of-pace-post-az-treasurer-race.html

Over at Random Musings, there is a fantastic article about the State Treasurers race and I certainly hope that the Rano Singh campaign takes notice. The nice little financial set up that Dean Martin has going smacks of Tom Delayism. While it doesn't appear that Martin is doing anything illegal (yet), some of this activity does call into question the man's ethics, and as cpmaz points out, having this kind of a candidate from the Republican Party running for the State's top financial office smacks of poor judgement, particularly after the sordid tenure of David Peterson.

The Martin campaign has made 4 different payments to Grassroots Programs and while they are small and are most certainly for services rendered, this practice of feathering ones own families nests by elected officials of both political parties needs to stop in the United States.

When One Leader Fails, Other Leaders Step It Up

2006-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0901govtalk0901.html

Napolitano planning trip to Mexico on border issue
Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona RepublicSept. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

Gov. Janet Napolitano wants to take a trip to Mexico, along with the governors of California, Texas and New Mexico, to discuss illegal immigration with the country's newly elected president."All of us are really mad at Mexico and the federal government right now," Napolitano said. "I'm sorry, but they have got to do more." Napolitano said she would make the trip as soon as she could.

She said the trip may include the governors of the northern states of Mexico that are also affected by immigration when Mexicans from states further south move north to cross to America."It's as huge a problem for them," Napolitano told a group of more than 100 Phoenix residents who attended Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten's monthly breakfast meeting Thursday near Paradise Valley Mall.

and I especially liked this tidbit....

The federal government is "ineffective" and Washington, D.C., is "broken" when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration, Napolitano said. For example, one federal law requires that the federal government reimburse states for the cost of incarcerating undocumented immigrants.

That isn't happening, so in May, Napolitano sent a bill to the U.S. Attorney General's Office. "I sent them a bill for $238 million, and I got a reply from a low-level person in the Department of Justice," she said, generating laughter from the crowd.

After a dismissive response and waiting 30 days, she sent another bill. The second one included a late fee. "It's up to $270 million." She said Arizona's tab for locking up undocumented immigrants in state prisons could cover the costs for all-day kindergarten, which is about $200 million.

LD12 and Term Limits

2006-08-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

This question was asked in a run up to the possibility of Robert Blendu becoming majority leader in the Arizona State Senate...

There are some personal animosities among members of the Senate, and they sometimes spill onto the floor, such as was the case last week on the immigration bill. You appear upset when that happens. Should firebrand remarks be banned?

No. We have an open government, and you’re permitted to get angry and say things in the heat of the moment that you might not mean later. Where we cross the line is when we start getting insulting and start moving beyond what we may disagree about into something personal.
As the parliamentarian, I am discouraged to watch the process deteriorate over the years, and I think term limits are a big part of that. It’s been horrible for this institution. I was a supporter of term limits, but I’ve seen the damage it’s done, and I’m no longer a supporter.

Robert Blendu, who will be serving his final term as State Senator after this election.

http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?ID=3574

The Blogocracy

2006-08-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

"If we confuse dissent with disloyalty— if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox— if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status. Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the ... confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought."

Edward R. Murrow

I am posting that tonight in an affirmation of Keith Olbermann's rant against Donald Rumsfeld and the threat of a new fascist order in the United States. Many acts taken by this administration are driving this country towards fascism and I will list the 14 points .

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.

So, what role will the netroots play in the salvation of American Freedom and Democracy. I believe it will take the primary role along with a few brave and vocal members of the main stream media such as Keith Olbermann.

Election fraud must be overcome with an overwhelming majority, I believe that in 2006 we may just have it, but even so must remain vigilant. A 'controlled' mass media may no longer be possible due entirely to the blogosphere.

Rock on, at least until the thugs pay you a visit.

Novak Lists Republican Seats in Play

2006-08-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

Novak has some nifty charts and info from a Republican outlook (it ain't very rosy for them) at the following site: http://www.humanevents.com/evansnovak.php?id=16792#2

He currently has CD8 as a likely Democratic gain (open as you all know), and the CD 5 Race (Hayworth/Mitchell) as a tossup, although leaning GOP. Also, he has CD 1 as a Republican lock (Renzi).

Interesting reading, you just have to grab the barf bag to get through the Ann Coulter pop up....

The Can Has Been Opened

2006-08-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Now we're talking. Jim Pederson is now beginning to hold Kyl accountable and is beginning to air new campaign ads designed at exposing Kyl and his ties with special interests contrary to what is best for Arizonans.

Me likey.

The Kyl campaign of course can only bitch about Pederson spending his own money, and has seen their lead begin to erode a bit.

Keep it coming!

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/08/21/daily32.html?surround=lfn

Thinking About 2008

2006-08-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

I know it is way early to think too much about stuff like this, but Craig's response to Kevin Spidel's post about John Edwards got me thinking. I think he has a point, about an 'outsider' taking the Presidency in 2008. Looking back at those who have won as an outsider this means a Governor.

While I would have zero problem supporting Janet Napolitano in a Presidential bid, I took a look at the Democratic Governor's Association website to see just who I thought could make an interesting "Dark Horse" outsider candidate that could WIN. While there are many quality people there, and I do not know a whole lot about this persons political views on issues, Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma strikes me as the kind of guy the Republican Party would be very hard pressed to defeat.

Take a look at his bio and see why:
http://democraticgovernors.org/governors/371/governor-brad-henry

We Think It Might Be The Truth...

2006-08-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

...but we really aren't too sure. Here it is, there must be something in the water here or perhaps we are wee bit too close to the Palo Verde nuclear facility. Yep, something in the air, the water or the earth has seeped into our bodies, slowly taking over our brain cells turning us collectively rabid.

How do I know this? I read the letters section of the West Valley View.
http://westvalleyview.com/

Lessons learned from this Tuesday:

The elderly are only slightly better than illegals becuase they are just plain no account bums looking for handouts.

The Citizens of Tolleson might be building a monument. A ditch.

Mormon Polygamists support the concept of Gay Marriage so they can ride some gay coat tails.

Truckers are evil bastards.

The City of Goodyear hates children.

and finally,

Voting should not be a game of chance (see commentary section).

Next week, I am looking forward to being called a "Hezzbolliberal" again.

Had to get another post up, the photo of that baby just creeps me out, will somebody change him already!

The Liberal Baby Gap

2006-08-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Born a Thinking Man...The Liberal Herd Thinning...

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=2344929&page=1

According to Syracuse professor Arthur Brooks, we are not procreating enough. However, consider this study a bit flawed for many, many reasons. First is the teen rebel clause that says that you do not follow in your parents footsteps (I am one such rebel being a solid liberal who comes from a conservative Republican family, call me the black sheep if you will). Secondly, we believe in parental planning among other things that might reduce our numbers.

However, one thing we do have in our favor is a 'free love' philosophy (developed back in the day, August 19th, 1968 to be exact...just kidding). I say we take up arms and do our bits to help rectify this short coming!