Precedent Setting Election Integrity Ruling In Pima County Superior Court.

Every once in a while our Old Pueblo manages to do something that impacts world history. A ruling on Friday addressed the right of the people to have access to election records and databases. The county had argued that releasing such records would be a security risk. Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Miller ruled on May 23, 2008 for the release of databases for the primary and general elections in 2006.

Of course the Arizona Daily Star hid the information about this landmark ruling deep inside the paper even though this news made the Daily Voting News.

The Tucson Citizen reports:

Judge Michael Miller Friday issued his under advisement ruling declaring that the interests of the state and public outweighed unproven vote security concerns voiced by county attorneys and witnesses.

"All existing electronic databases must be disclosed," the judge ruled.

It is the first time a judge has ordered any governmental entity to turn over all records from electronic elections and ballot tabulating systems past, present, and future to political party officials for scrutiny for signs of tampering.

"Everyone is going to be looking at this ruling and realize that electronic records are public records," said Vince Rabago, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party.

Earlier this year Pima County Board of Supervisors decided to release the database records for the May 2006 Regional Transportation election.

The Pima County Democratic Party had brought suit last year against Pima County for the release of electronic voting records for the 2006 elections under the basic logic that electronic elections require electronic monitoring. Pima County Dems have more guts and good sense than the state level party as a whole I would say.

The judge has not yet ruled on a request that Pima County pay the Democratic Party's legal fees that reportedly run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With the advent of Diebolt voting machines that can be easily hacked, election results locations in the United States have come under suspicion of tampering since before their adoption as voting technology.

Arizona is one of the places leading the way for requisite scrutiny of electronic voting databases, in my humble opinion, due to a few dedicated folks, such as John Brakey. Individual action does make make all the difference in the world between freedom and servitude. I think John's comment on a Tucson Citizen article from April of this year is worth republishing.

DEMOCRACY DEPENDS ON WHAT “WE THE PEOPLE” DO!

Joseph Stalin said, “Those who cast the votes DECIDE NOTHING. Those who count the votes DECIDE EVERYTHING.”

Folks, Election Integrity is NOT about the RIGHT or LEFT. It’s about citizens challenging injustice, greed, and corruption.

Yesterday we stood together in court NOT just for our County; but as Americans concerned for our Country!

NY Times article 1/6/08 Can You Count On These Machines? “One might expect computer scientists to be fans of computer-based vote-counting devices, but it turns out that the more you know about computers; the more likely you are to be terrified that they’re running elections.”

Fact: Since then, Huckelberry's Election Department has been ILLEGALLY printing election summary reports of early ballots (WHO'S WINNING AND LOSING) way before Election Day.

Fact: County Manger Chuck Huckelberry has known about the back door to our voting system since 1996. That's when Huckleberry authorized Bryan Crane to use that “back door” to merge two databases. What Crane did wasn’t in the manuals.

Huckelberry and the country ridiculous delusional defense for keeping the databases secret -- that releasing them would result in "Mayhem and Chaos" – lost!

Casting secret ballots is essential in our democracy. Counting them in secret is contrary to everything our Founding Fathers fought for.

I’ve learned, after three years of investigating Pima County Government, that it's NOT JUST voting that makes democracy, its TRANSPARENCY IN COUNTING VOTES and we still have a long way to go getting it right in Pima County.

Vigilant Patriots, practicing the rights of citizenship in a democracy with civility, can make the Difference!

Hope, Peace & Democracy,

John Brakey, co-founder of AUDIT-AZ (Americans United for Democracy, Integrity, and Transparency in Elections, Arizona) & Co-Coordinator Investigations for Election Defense Alliance.

Arizona Fair Elections is another source of information on this topic.

I previously wrote about related Arizona and political manipulation of voting records in 2005.

Arizona may have a reputation for a quirky libertarian streak, but we have Clean Elections and now a precedent setting ruling that helps to insure election record transparency. The western states gave women the right to vote before the nation did too. Yee-ha! Now if we could just translate this fierce patriotism into booting McCain and Kyl from office, well, then I would be downright proud to call myself an Arizonan.

"Chicago 10" Revisits 1968 Democratic Convention and the Festival of Life

Last night I went to see the Chicago 10 (2007) at The Loft last evening. Director Brett Morgan, a combination of historic footage and animation, this project has been panned by corporate media critics and surprisingly suggested as a potential educational tool for parents to use to instruct mature teens about history by other reviewers. Most film review sites seem to have a mixed review.

My original experience with the Chicago 8 (10 now per this movie's inclusion of defense attorneys Weinglass and Kunsler) is just as divergent from the mainstream as my critique of the movie. I won't say watch it or don't watch it although I definitely lean to the former. That is up to you.

What I find most compelling about the film are things that few if any of the "top" reviews choose to comment upon -- metacomentary, framing for a new generation, the ability to capture the essence of a very complex time. Actually, for me all the events of 1968, MLK Jr.'s assassination, RFK's assassination, the Chicago Democratic Convention, will always pale in comparison to my brother catching a gut full of shapnel as he lifted a mortally wounded buddy into a medivac chopper on his birthday on August 4th, 1968. I was 11 years old.

Of course there are the 2008/1968 parallels. War that the country no longer supports, a divisive Democratic party that could end up losing the fall election to the Republican nominee. A profound sense of hope and and equally profound sense of despair that pulsates just below the surface of every political discussion.

The use of now common academic/analytically informed protest tactics and the acute understanding of the role of the media in shaping political thought and dissent was brought to mid/late 20th Century U.S. by the Yippies. The contemporary grandfathers of Billionaires for Bush, CODEPINK, and YellowCakeWalk were Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. (Be careful crossing the street all you street theater of today types.) My life partner in cultural critique says I should mention The San Francisco Mime Troupe.

The concept of "The Jester" who embodies the upside down analysis of things not spoken about in kingdoms and monarical courts is an ancient concept. Successful street theater is the stuff of intellectually trained and culturally astute critics of the powers that be. Laughter mixed with the possibility of death is edgy and illustrates that all humor comes from discomfort.

No other film of which I am aware of so effectively presents the layers of meta-messages that bombarded the TV watching U.S. population in 1968. The trial scenes in the film were exclusively presented as animation -- this perfectly addressed the surreal nature of the trial.... of course it also was necessary as there were no courtroom cameras allowed in the winter of 1969 and 70 the date of the trial.

I definitely think that Tucsonans of the activist stripe or anyone interested in the presentation of historic information to contemporary audiences would be rather negligent if they did not take advantage of the local showing of this film on a large screen and get over to The Loft between now and Thursday, May 29th, 2008.

The Last Straw

What the hell was Hillary Rodham Clinton thinking?

This made my stomach pitch and tears well in my eyes. No one has the right to casually mention RFK's assassination. If you haven't already overdosed on the topic, watch Keith Olberman's special comment from his MSNBC show tonight, Friday, May 23rd.

Obama and the BlogHer Interview.

I've been working on a post that addresses my disappointment with the reception Clinton supporters gave the NARAL endorsement of Obama this past week. I have written a bunch on the topic, but it just hasn't come together. Now that I have seen this video of Obama talking with Erin of BlogHer I think I will be able to finish the post.







I sincerely hope that this interview will help clarify issues for you too. Even more important than his answers is that he accepted the offer from BlogHer while neither Clinton nor McCain have accepted the offer made to all three of them. Just the act of accepting the invitation shows that he values the opinions of women and respects the power of both women and the importance of emergent social media.

I will post Tucson Freeway Blogging signs if you send em to me.

Even though Tucson has no freeways, I think it is time to start freeway blogging again.

People are getting complacent or burned out. I know I'm burned out, but I think it is time to start a new freeway blogging campaign for war crimes prosecution, impeachment, a truth commisson (a la South Africa) .... something. And I think we have to bring it to the people directly.

Here's how.







Find cardboard.

Paint white.

Let dry.

Get overhead projector.

Project word (in typeface) from overhead transparency onto cardboard.

Trace the word in pencil on the painted cardboard.

Fill in the traced word with black paint.

Allow to dry.

Load in vehicle.

Get bungie cords or thin metal coat hangers.

Put in vehicle.

Allow extra time whenever you drive.

Look for good spots to post signs on public thoroughfares (inside the mesh or well off the road so no driver vision is blocked).

Find access road to freeway vantage.

Put on orange vest to look like road worker if you like.

Get materials.

Post.

Leave.

It is all in video -- I just outlined it.

--

Send pics of what you have freeway blogged to me and I will post them here.

Media Savvy Workshop -- How Peace and Justice Groups Gan Get Media Coverage

This morning I attended a workshop at the UU Church on 22nd St. to help social justice groups learn how to connect with media for better coverage of their events.

I applaud the representatives of the Media Companies and the Radio Station that were on the panel.

• Amanda Shauger, News Director of KXCI.
  
• Cara Rene, Senor Editor at the Tucson Citizen.
  
• Tony Paniagua, KUAT
• Keith Bem..... (somehow I misplaced his last name) Assignment Editor KVOA Channel 4
  

Some very good information is disseminated in forums such as these and today was no exception.

My impressions and thoughts and the usual bitch gripe grumble moan stuff follows my notes (or Live Blogging) from the workshop.

Workshop notes:

Leila Pine introduced.

There were handouts from KXCI & Tucson Citizen.

Star not invited. For sake of peaceful information flow. (hmmm......)



Assignment editor for KVOA Channel 4
Keith B.- previously news photographer and now assignment editor.

Everyone sends him everything on the desk.
Send him email.
Don't send 4 page email
make it short and sweet.
Here's someone we want to get in front of the news camera.
Be flexible. It is all about managing resources.

nonprofit who just wants to show yourself off to the local community.
Televisions aim is to tell a story.
They need a real person.
not just mayor and fire chief. It is about your friends and my friends. It is about people.
Loosely related national organization. If someone is coming through.
Tell him everything he needs to know.
Submit an event to their community calendar.

KUAT Channel 6 public media
Tony Paniagua
Aside: Tucson Protest "March on the 5th Anniversary went well in Tucson." NPR(picked up from KUAT) aired this before the march. LOL.
from Columbia, S.A. to Phoenix
1992 came to KVOA
Houston NBC. (left due to emphasis on crime and shooting and other bad news.)
Year off in Florida.
Then KUAT.
People don't watch boring stuff.
often hears, You are part of the corporate media.
No political guidelines from above.
They do not want to honor a board of directors in their pieces. They want people whose lives have been changed by the organization.
VISUALS --- need visuals
Have people with video capabilities. Be concise and focused. Good sound bytes. you will get labeled as good or bad.
Talk to real people.
passion, timely, available.
I want to talk to ----- about x in my neighborhood. No "To whom it may concern."
aside: KUAT is governed by the University of Arizona Board of Regents.


Cara Rene- Senior Editor for Tucson Citizen.
10 yrs. there
film degree art.....ms journalism u of a
oversees features, data desk marketing partnerships
1870 founded longest running (138 years) year older than star.
Tucson Citizen and Az Star owned by sep companies
TC owned by gannet*
joint operating agreement with Lee Media
sep. editorial. from star.
don't hold grudges. try again.
citizen is very very local.
changes -- in the past year. lots of hits on web site.
they are doing news 24 7
they will put up a single paragraph and add to it later in the day.
also do video, audio, slide show,
younger people are the target
know who we are.
be aware of who is with the paper
know the editors as well as the reporters.
reporters - editors - senior eds - managers.
DON'T SEND paper they want to be green. EMAIL. They don't like Faxes.
(anthrax changed everything about paper handling.)
It is IMPACT --
RPs real people
PRelease - follow up with phone call.
features will preview stuff.
news will cover events happening now.
can ask to visit with someone for larger issue
HAVE VISUALS
be proactive
upload your own press rel
tucson events calendar.com
letters to editor
blogs
Guest opinions
governor comes in for editorial board meetings. (mark kimball) asst. ed. oversees opinion part of paper
many ways to get coverage. they are tucsonans too.
city desk 8 - 5
bullet points
date and time in subject line

Amanda Shauger, is News Director at KXCI Community Radio 91.3
part time pd. position
penn state alum
cook at catering company
dj training class a few years ago
began subbing in music programming. 91.3
most produced by volunteers
grass roots media workshop learned lots of techniques how to do features
2004
3 years ago started doing "30 minutes"
is her own assignment editor.
can be 3 great things happening one week and more the next
does her own editing.
very limited time
new general manager is ryan bruce from wfhb (indiana)
website
160 pixel wide is the preferred size of jpg if you send any images to her
new effort - news with someone to direct programming
volunteer news can be difficult, sometimes a volunteer doesn't show, sometimes the equipment doesn't get returned....
democracy now at noon
no phone interviews please.
needs be gripping
not fun to be stalked
reminders are good -- in three days!
yerkes doesn't do email. he will do phone interviews.
other opportunities -- how to submit PSA (public service announcement)- 501c3
at any one time there are 7 psas in rotation
3 wks notice would be good
can't do call to action 501c3
put it on the KXCI website - upload it yourself
sponsoring / partner / benefit music are good,


Leila Pine (UU moderator) added (from her journalist experience in Madison Wisconsin:
for peace vigils --get the word out via

• moveon
• ufpj
• be list specific
• know folks on other list serves - put on 2 wks in advance then one week then couple days and last minute

KOLD aired at 10 pm when local videographer noted the protest omission on 6 p.m. when Bush spoke here in march 2005

My comment: not mentioned today, but CNN aired Raging Granny arrest video of a local videographer.

end
---------
My comments:

These tips and tricks given today are all well and good for nice, pre-planned social justice events that are well planned far in advance as almost all of the entities participating today require for a chance of coverage.

The advice to get to know the journalists who cover "your" beat so that you have an ear in the specific media outlest is all well and good -- but at another level this bothers me as news should not have to have an "in" to get newsworthy events covered. But corporate media does seem to cover their friends.

Chris (the Film Snob) and I were talking about how people in corporate media do not see the frames that they use as they cover issues. Example... today when Cara Rene was asked why 10 counter-protestors (freepers) get the same coverage as 60 or 300 anti-war protesters she brought up how they have to cover both sides. What she didn't seem to realize or didn't admit in any case is that all of the corporate media covered the counter-protesters/Bush admin view with no other perspective given voice for four years or more, and only now occasionally covers anti-war news and views even though at least 70 % of the U.S. population is against the war.

My overall impression of today's panel is that it is good there are media corps that are willing to cover events by social actions groups. Your chance of getting news coverage if you happen to be a target of local or national police or feds and don't want to announce your "actions" ahead of time so these groups can plan out a technicality they can use to arrest you if they so choose. I was basically told "that's your problem."

In summary, I wasn't impressed... but I'm jaded. KXCI is the exception of course. They will cover local news that is outside the box/frame of what the powers that be dictate as world view.


* Gannet owns the Tucson Citizen as well as many other city and national newspapers. but it is worth noting that they also own most of the U.S. Military newspapers via the Army Times Publishing Company.

Domestic Surveillance Talk Looks Interesting

This announcement rom an email announcement I received -- the topic of this talk looks like one a fair number of activists and folks who want to stay informed might want to attend and it is free and open to the public:

Tucson Community Forum on Domestic Surveillance

How is the Government spying on us now?

Government-sponsored fusion centers vary widely, but generally are centers intended to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among state, local and federal government agencies and the private sector. To date, over 40 of these centers have been established around the nation, including Arizona.

Fusion centers are raising many questions about privacy and government openness, and must be carefully bounded and monitored to ensure that they remain a legitimate and effective law enforcement tool.

Mike German, Intelligence Expert, Former FBI Agent and ACLU National Security Counsel, will be leading an engaging discussion on the privacy implications of data mining and the war on terror.

"We all want our government agencies to talk to each other and share appropriate law enforcement information," said Mike German, ACLU Policy Counsel. "What we don't want to see is the emergence of secretive, out-of-control units that collect and sift through masses of personal information on innocent people."

Domestic Surveillance in Your Backyard

What's Wrong with Fusion Centers?
A Community Education Forum on the Privacy Implications of Data Mining and the War on Terror

Monday, May 5th
6:00 PM
University of Arizona Law School
1201 E. Speedway, Room 146
(Corner of Mountain and Helen)
Tucson, Arizona

This event is free and open to the public.
Refreshments will be served.

Rice Is A War Criminal

The campaign to get the Presidential Candidates to call for Rice's resignation is one of best moves I've seen made on the public stage in quite some time. Rice chaired the meetings that explicitly designed and outlined torture procedures to be used on terrorism suspects.

I am personally outraged that individuals committed war crimes without batting an eye. They are the worst sort of monsters. Please sign the petition to have Obama, Clinton and McCain call for Rice's immediate resignation.

Are any of your views extreme? Then you are the enemy.

Robert Gates and Nancy Pelosi spout differing, but equally dangerous, falsehoods on Face the Nation this morning.

Robert Gates used a very dangerous new phrase as to who the U.S. military and mercenary troops are fighting in Iraq and elsewhere (such as in the U.S.?) this morning on Face the Nation. We apparently are no longer fighting Sadam (he's dead), nor are we fighting Al-Qaida in Iraq, and he would not say that we are fighting Shia militi or insurgents-- and most interesting of all he did not say that we were combating terrorists - what he said is that we are fighting extremists.

You know what this is don't you? This is another publicly audible click of the gears of the fascist propaganda machine pulling us toward the use of U.S. troops against the U.S. people. Language is a powerful tool and Gates use of this word "extreme" is the another shovel of dirt dug out to undermine the posse commitatas act which as of 01/19/04 in the

• 
  

United States Code
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 67 - MILITARY AND NAVY

Section 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

      Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly
 authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses
 any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or
 otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or
 imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Major Craig T. Trebilcock writes that "posse comitatus today is more of a procedural formality than an actual impediment to the use of U.S. military forces in homeland defense."

Please define extreme, Secretary Gates.

In my dictionary it defines it thusly:

extreme |ikˈstrēm|

adjective
1 reaching a high or the highest degree; very great : extreme cold.
2 [ attrib. ] furthest from the center or a given point; outermost

noun
1 either of two abstract things that are as different from each other as possible
2 Logic the subject or predicate in a proposition, or the major or minor term in a syllogism (as contrasted with the middle term).

We are all shit canned if it is the second meaning he intends, when it is used as an adjective, as I believe it was used by Gates, as an attribute.

furthest from the center or a given point; outermost

So we are fighting variance, diversity of thought, and view. This fight leads to a recursive self-cannibalism that eradicates the most divergent of views. After they are eradicated, then the more moderate view becomes the extreme and it is eradicated.

This is the same sentiment behind the incremental "cleansing" used by the Nazis to which Martin Niemöller referred to when he spoke his oft quoted poem,

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists,

And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists,

And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews,

And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . .

And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

This famous and oft quoted statement is variously quoted and if you are interested in its absolute accuracy Professor Marcuse's research is probably the most detailed and documented research that is easily accessible on the web.

And if you want to talk about keeping quiet and complicity in global level criminality, don't forget to mention Face the Nation's second guest this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

If Nancy Pelosi is concerned about the safety of the American People or the welfare of the troops as she said she was this morning or she really believed in forwarding the mandate the American People gave in November 2006 she would act to topple the Bush regime that mocks our constitution, sabotages the structures of U.S. life that support our population, and sneers at the American People, she would PUT IMPEACHMENT BACK ON THE TABLE. This morning on Face the Nation she tried to put all the blame on Bush, and yet she is the person who took the only option the House of Representatives has for reeling in the treasonous actions of this administration off the table when she unilaterally took impeachment off the table. The House Judiciary Committee has neither the balls nor ovaries to do what is their constituional duty and put Pelosi back in her place to speak for the House and not rule the House.

As Impeach Them says,

"Keep those calls for Impeachment coming in to Congress!
We hear they are making a huge impact!
Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 224-2131 , (800) 828-0498"

If we don't impeach Bush and Cheney now it will be nearly impossible to hold them to any standard of justice in the future for the war crimes, treason, and lies that have characterized their entire reign. The clock is running out. We must do this NOW. If not, well, then I guess I will see you in the camps. Check out how they are currently being used to keep women and children incarcerated in a prison that idenies access to U.N. human rights workers.

Mountain near Phoenix is renamed Piestewa Peak.

Mountain renamed for fallen Arizonan soldier is so much more than a name change.

Mountains change on a geological time scale that is invisible to us as short-lived humans. Changing the name of a mountain near Phoenix, Arizona seemed for a while to be moving almost that slowly, but finally after years of controversy, the mountain formerly known as Squaw Peak is finally rid of that offensive name. The new name, Piestewa Peak, honors a native Arizonan, Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa who was the first American Indian woman to die in battle as a U.S. soldier.

The American Indian peoples of the Southwest have been recognized as patriotic and proud to serve in the United States military in the last few decades. The Navajo Code talkers contributions to cryptography during WWII have become widely known and celebrated. Ira Hayes, one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima, was Akimel O’odham (once called Pima Indians) and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community.

For a mountain in Arizona to bear the name of an Arizonan armed services member who gave her life in battle should not in and of itself be remarkable. However, today's Federal recognition of the name Piestewa Peak is quite notable for many reasons.

An American Indian woman has been honored. American Indians continue to battle the consequences of what was on some fronts the attempted genocide of their ancestors and various inequities, insults and abuses that are ongoing to this day. It is good to honor the sacrifice of an individual for her country. It is even more meaningful when that woman is from a cultural group that has been mistreated by that country even though such honors do nothing to ameliorate inequities.

An American Indian woman has been honored. The old name of the mountain was insulting and derogatory to all women. While the meaning and etymology of the word squaw is disputed is has come to be associated with an insulting name for female genitalia. It is not a word in any American Indian language although it does share great similarity to a suffix some Eastern North American Indian languages use to denote feminine status of a word. The exact history of the word is not important, what is important is that is has come to be associated with a word in the English language that cannot be printed in any polite publication whether it originally had this meaning or not. Let us just say that the word in English starts with a "c."

A word that insults American Indians has been removed from the name of a mountain near the 4th largest city in the U.S. Attempts to get the word squaw removed as a place name for hundreds of place names is an ongoing battle. This renaming is a significant win in this battle. This is a very visible name change as the mountain is a visible icon for the Phoenix area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

A word that insults women has been removed from the name of a mountain. All women have benefited from the removal of an insult to their gender. There is a meaningful and powerful relationship between individual word usage and cultural indoctrination to and acceptance of words.

This renaming also gives us an opportunity to discuss the economic draft. Lori Piestewa died for her country. While we can discuss the legitimacy of the U.S. being in Iraq, there is no need to discuss the bravery and valor of being willing to give your all, literally, in the defense of your country. Lori was a brave and courageous woman. But who was she? Pfc. Lori Piestewa was the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and the granddaughter of a World War I veteran. Her father was a Hopi Indian and her mother was of Mexican descent. Piestewa was a single mother with two children, a boy and a girl both under age 5. This makes me wonder by a single parent was in a war zone. At one time our country imposed restrictions on where single parents could be posted in order to preserve the families. Why would a woman with two children join the military? I cannot speak for Lori, but thousands upon thousands of individuals from economically repressed areas resort to joining the military in what essentially constitutes an economic draft when other employment opportunities are not available in their home communities. Tuba City, Lori's home town, is in the Navajo Reservation is close to Hopi land. Wikipedia describes her home town Tuba City, thusly" "[Tuba City], compared to other towns and villages in Navajoland, is somewhat less impoverished than other Navajo towns, as the median household income is $38,556. The median income for a household in the CDP [census-designated place] was $38,556, and the median income for a family was $37,813. Males had a median income of $29,280 versus $26,855 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $10,479. About 23.1% of families and 28.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.0% of those under age 18 and 44.8% of those age 65 or over." (source: Wikipedia.)

This Federal acceptance of the new name validates the struggle that Arizona Govenor Janet Napolitano and thousands of other Arizonans had to wage to combat conservative resistance to renaming Squaw Peak to Piestewa Peak to honor Pfc. Lori Peistewa and all those Arizonans who have given their lives in the line of duty.

Hitchens Blasts Clinton on Tim Russert Show

Just listened to Tim Russert (that was my first mistake) this a.m. with Christopher Hitchens (Vanity Fair & Slate and Andrew Sullivan (Atlantic and Daily Dish). Hitchens as always was controversial for our society in his Atheism and rabidly secularist viewpoints, but his facts are usually right on and easily verified. If what Hitchens discussed this morning takes root in the popular psyche Clinton's goose is cooked.

Hitchen's argument:

Hillary made Bill hold back on intervening the Bosnian crisis in order to not diminish energies and focus on her health care initiative. Much of the genocide occurred due to calculated delay in intervention that Bill had passionately promised.

Hitchens, who has been described as the the thinking man's Ann Coulter, goes on to allude to the unabashed self-focus of the Clintons is extremely dangerous as there is no orientaton but money and power.

It all does make me want to dig into obscure files and find out if any insiders have talked about these reasons for the delay in intervention.

The pair up between Sullivan and Hitchens was great entertainment though. Info from MSNBC about this show isn't up yet on the website. It is still showing March 26.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month...

The SAAM Day of Action, observed this year on Thursday, April 3, 2008, is recognized nationally as a specific day to focus awarness on sexual violence prevention, and to do my part, I'm highlighting the intolerable acceptance of rape by U.S. mercenaries and the military and governmental institutions that shield them. KBR, yet again, appears to be sheltering violent rapists.

Women in the military and women in companies with a presence in Iraq -- do not volunteer to go to Iraq, do not allow yourself to be sent there.

The old CODEPINK chant, "Haliburton, Kellog, Brown and Root. Go to Iraq to loot, loot loot." needs to be updated to "Haliburton, Kellog, Brown and Root. Go to to Iraq to rape and loot." If they do this to their sister medics just imagine the brutality of attacks on Iraqi women and girls.

Write your Representatives. Include a link to the article. Tell them to get the hell out of Iraq now. Ask them to immediately have mercenaries withdrawn, followed by all National Guard, then those that have been Stop Lossed, then Reserves, then Regular Military. And while you are at it tell 'em to get Impeachment Proceedings started now (Pelosi's smoke-filled room agreements are not legal nor binding) or Bush will pardon everyone in his administration before leaving office and justice will be much more difficult to mete out to them. There are two ways to do this. Go to Wexler's site to support hearings. Or go to Kucinich's site and support HR 333 -- as we really don't need any more hearings, just House Impeachment so the Senate can then have Hearings.

Mercenaries need to be held accountable for their violent sexual assaults and the Bush administration that created this war and bears ultimate responsibility for all this death and violence must also be held accountable.

The Buzz about Hillary & Watergate

Can anyone in the DC area go to the GWU library and photocopy or transcribe the information that would corroborate Jerry Zeifman's statements in his February 6th AIM piece? In it, he stated,

During that period I kept a private diary of the behind the scenes congressional activities. My original tape recordings of the diary and other materials related to the Nixon impeachment provided the basis for my prior book Without Honor and are now available for inspection in the George Washington University Library.

The real killer statement in that piece is Zeifman's statement that:

"My own reaction was of regret that, when I terminated her (Hillary Rodham) employment on the Nixon impeachment staff, I had not reported her unethical practices to the appropriate bar associations."

This is the first published version of Zeifman's statement I can find . My question is why didn't the corporate media pick up this story on February 6th? Why do I have to hear about it from a wacko neo-con and his 83,000 wannabe pundit echo-chambers?

I initially blew off the link to the neocon article my husband sent me because the writer only referenced himself and seemed to be more interested in his own tongue and tail wagging -- see the scoop, it's my scoop, I have the interview -- than in getting the accurate story out. Zeifman's comments on Clinton are significant and could have far reaching impact and deserve accurate links and complete references.

The neo-con cult of personality has to stop. As a progressive blogger I admit my biases but I do not try to deceive or misdirect.

This is what Zeifman says about Clinton in his article on the AIM (gag, sputter) website.

Hillary assured me that she had not drafted, and would not advocate, any such rules changes. However, as documented in my personal diary, I soon learned that she had lied. She had already drafted changes, and continued to advocate them. In one written legal memorandum, she advocated denying President Nixon representation by counsel. In so doing she simply ignored the fact that in the committee's then-most-recent prior impeachment proceeding, the committee had afforded the right to counsel to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

I had also informed Hillary that the Douglas impeachment files were available for public inspection in the committee offices. She later removed the Douglas files without my permission and carried them to the offices of the impeachment inquiry staff-where they were no longer accessible to the public.

Hillary had also made other ethically flawed procedural recommendations, arguing that the Judiciary Committee should: not hold any hearings with-or take depositions of-any live witnesses; not conduct any original investigation of Watergate, bribery, tax evasion, or any other possible impeachable offense of President Nixon; and should rely solely on documentary evidence compiled by other committees and by the Justice Department's special Watergate prosecutor.

This first source, the February 6th one, is not to my liking, as it is a little puddle of "news" that is also teaming with conservatism but it does offer Zeifman in his own words.

All the current buzz seems to reference the wrong source. That infuriates me. If anyone knows how to link to images of or a transcript of the original source in the GWU library, please leave a comment.

Visualization of the Scale of Death in Iraq

The Faces of Death

I happened to look up this morning as I was glancing over the smarmy chosen few purportedly "news" stories being touted by the corporate media and saw this accidental imagery on my husband's computer screen. I asked him to do a screen capture and send it to me. It doesn't show either composite picture in its entirety but it gives a chilling visualization of how far we've come -- in the wrong direction -- since the first portrait of bUsh (emphasis on U because you haven't acted) created from the faces of our dead due to their handling and exploitation as corporate mercenaries circulated on the internet. Look how far we've come. All the way from one psycho bUsh to psycho wannabe Insane McCain. Yes, I'm pissed, outraged , grieving, and murderously agitated that we've reached tombstone (definitely not a milestone as milestones are supposed to mark achievements) publicly acknowledged number of 4000 U.S. military dead. And unfortunately this number doesn't come anywhere close to showing the HORRIFIC numbers actually associated with this immolation of a people.

I'm going to go throw up.

The More I Learn About Hillary the More Frightened I Become

Meet the Press this morning framed an equality where there is none. (Read they lied through omission.) Why didn't Russert show the video of the arrival Senator Hillary Clinton in Tusla juxtaposed with her rather blatant lie about arriving under sniper fire in order to beef up her supposed foreign affairs experience. He shows the Reverend Wright video one more time but fails to show the video of she and Chelsey strolling across the tarmac, greeting leaders, and hugging little girls. Clinton better not complain ever again about how unfairly she is treated by the media. Why the hell doesn't the press put her "sniper" talk over a split screen with the Kosovo video and show it nonstop for two weeks and then take a poll? This is one of the most blatant and thus excellent examples of how the Democratic Machine/DLC operates. Note: There is nothing about the DLC that reflects any sentiment of the vast majority of people who make up the Democratic voters. "Party" candidates and "Peoples" candidates within the U.S. political parties are very different critters. Pre-National Convention party candidates such as Hillary Clinton act as though they have an entitlement to be on the ticket. This scares me. What scares me even more this corporation/party lock-step is that the Clintons (both of 'em) seem to have no qualms about altering facts and presenting them as truth.

And even more chilling is that this means that they have come to believe their own lies or that they believe they are above "mere" facts. This is eerily reminiscent of the Ranters of the 1600s who like all good Calvinist-influenced sects believed success in life (business and politics) illustrated favor by God, and as favored they were good, pure and predestined to be saved and thus not bound by Puritanic rules. It is convoluted, but no more circuitous than Hillary's association with the conservative cult-like group on Capitol Hill. Acting from a position that you are doing X, Y, or Z because you are favored by God is a stance that has no place in American Politics. Don't ask Obama why he attends a Church of Christ, ask Clinton why she is a member of "The Family?" Don't know who the The Family or The Fellowship is? Read on and be very, very frightened. Perhaps today, this Easter, this most sacred of days in the Christian faith, real Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus should finally out the closet fascists hiding under the cloak of Jesus.

Barbara Ehrenreich writes on Thursday, March 20, 2008 in the The Nation that Hillary Clinton has far more unsavory religious connections than Obama could ever dream of having.

"You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that “through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as “The “Fellowship,” also known as The Family. But it won’t be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet’s shocking exposé The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May."

Happy Easter.

Watch this!

CNN Experiences Wrath of God.

CNN experiences wrath of God. Tornado hits CNN center in Atlanta.

Maybe the newscasters should think twice about their discrediting the sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. What in his statements isn't true? The horrific Pandora-esque destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was far worse than 9/11. Rich white men do rule the world and have done so for hundreds if not thousands of years. Gimme a bleeping break. Why can associates of corporate candidate A cast aspersions of all sorts when associates of corporate candidate B cannot. Let's not even discuss the gross insensitivity and implicit devaluing of life the singing of "Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran " corporate candidate C- also known as corporate Manchurian candidate McW.

Why don't the corporate newscasts highlight the apology Senator Clinton had to make for her associates racist comments?

For that matter why don't we all know there are "Hoovervilles" popping up outside major U.S. cities? (Actually I can answer that -- only folks in the U.S. who see BBC newscasts or read their news stories discussing the failing economy.)

Sorry, haven't posted a rant in a long time.

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Ups & Downs of Computers, Activism, and Life.

Sorry about the hiatus in posting.

How many hard drive failures is normal for a laptop user who works on her laptop for hours every day? I've either had logic board or hard drive failures (not just crashes) every few months for the last several years. I'm on a Mac. I try not to be paranoid, but.... I'm beginning to be suspicious. Of what I'm not sure and I don't live my life walking around in a general state of paranoia... but I , and some CODEPINK friends, do tend to have our hard drives fail within a week or so of major national level actions. It could be coincidence, but the probabilities are slim. In any case I have a new hard drive and am raring to go.

Thank the Great Pink Goddess in the sky that my laptop is new and under warranty. Thank the GPG that Macs exist. Thank the GPG for my resilient nature. Thank the GPG for all the women who compose the contemporary peace net that shifts to compensate for the fluidity of women's actions that compose the net.

Been doing less and less local activism and trying to find the perfect balance that allows me to operate in a non-frantic manner and write about the things that are truly meaningful to me. I also work toward finding a significant position as I re-enter the job market with a "real" job.

I do not regret a minute of the last many years of effort I have directed toward peace. I'm into the 6th very active year of making positive protests for peace (pro + test = for + statements) as it was in February of 2003 that I honored the call for women to join together to march together in public affirmation of American women's desire that their children not be used to make war upon any people and to direct every resource possible, including our children's efforts, into making peace. That simple act of finding a pink item of clothing to wear and taking the Metro into D.C. to join together in protest with other individual women as a visual cue in a huge march and to then march again with thousands of pink clad individuals (women and men) a couple weeks later in an affirmation of values of peace and positive action under a pink banner forever changed my life. I will never be able to leave the peace movement. It is now part of me.

Efforts change over the years though and I find that now I have to dedicate a much greater portion of my time to paid work. Six years is a long time to donate most of your services to a cause. While I have focused on my child and my parent through this time period I no longer have to dedicate myself so fully to family and work in my peace work around that. My daughter is in college now and I will have time to write and work in the evenings and weekends via social networking technologies, so you won't see a real change in my blogging, but the framework for me will be very different.

If you think you know of worthwhile job in the Tucson area that calls for someone with my skills, please do consider linking me up with it.

Maura Policelli, Rep. Giffords Chief of Staff speaks to DFA and Congressional District 8 constituents

This evening's public meeting with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' Chief of Staff organized by DFA TUCSON which took place at the City of Tucson Ward 6 Office focused on the topic of impeachment. At times a couple of outbursts that were a bit beyond the bounds of civil discourse. But given the intense emotion and passion that was palpable amongst all of the attendees the overall meeting went fairly well.

DFA had sent a list of 11 questions all focused on some aspect of the possibility of and reasons for the need to Impeach Bush, Cheney et al which Ms. Policelli attempted to address. Truth be told the questions were lost in the overall repeated attempts of most of the attendees to impress upon Policelli that Giffords constituency is extremely concerned about the successful Bush regime attacks on the U.S. Constitution and the slow but steady erosion of our liberty and democratic principles.

At first Policelli stuck to the script and responded in rather predictable Capitol Hill procedure-ese. "The Freshman Congressperson (as a generic entity) has little to no influence... Giffords has let it be known that the abuses to our system of government by the Executive Branch in this administration is unconscionable... No call for an investigation is before the House, the only thing before the House is the actual call for Impeachment which has no more than 50 votes... It would be worse to attempt to impeach and not reach the number as that in some ways would vindicate the Bush administration...There isn't time before the administration leaves office... our country is still the best...at least we don't kill each other..."

And then she said, "It isn't going to happen. Impeachment just isn't going to happen."

Question after question from the attendees focused on simple variations of a theme, "what can we do to get Giffords to understand that the restoration of the rule of law and upholding her oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution are the most important tasks for every elected official in Congress."

There were variations voiced, "All the other problems faced by our country are connected to the criminal actions of this regime." "We don't want to hear defeatist rhetoric." "We need those Freshmen Congresspersons to live up to the mandate the people gave them when they were elected and brought the Democrats back into power on The Hill. How can we get our country back to governance by elected officials representing the people and away from governance bought and paid for by Global Corporations? The duty to restore balance among the three branches of government. The likelihood that people will leave the Democratic Party if this Congress doesn't do something, anything to check the Bush Gang." There were a few side issues brought up but for the most part the focus was on impeachment.

I don't know how many of those present had spoken with Ms. Policelli prior to this evening, but from my perspective from meeting her in January 2007 in the newly established and not yet unpacked Giffords office, I think she has come a long way. I can't speak to whether Giffords has changed but the candor Policelli showed during the last half of the meeting tonight was distinctly different from the far more closed attitude I encountered when I spent a month in D.C. a year ago as a member of CODEPINK Women for Peace as we were first trying to establish a long-term nationally drawn Pink Presence on The Hill. Tonight she used words like horrific, abuse, blatant, and the like to describe the consequences of the Bush II administration's disregard for the laws of our country. She did hear us.

She will be getting back to the local DFA about having Giffords petition her colleagues to have an investigation. She definitely heard the message that if impeachment isn't accomplished before the election Bush will pardon everyone and his or her brother and sister before he leaves office. She also knows that we want Giffords to speak to this topic in a larger town meeting type gathering.

Maybe I will post more on the topic. But for now... that is it. It is a minute until midnight and I still have other work to get done before I sleep.

Where Torture Leads Us

Recently in the English speaking world we have begun to talk about torture as though it is some distasteful cultural oddity that can be discussed, legislated, and most importantly swept under the carpet by decent people. I hear American people talking about whether torture is "worth it;" whether the information gained from such means is reliable. The fact that we are even having such conversations is a eerie testament to how small the steps humanity has taken toward civilization in the last few millenia really are.

I recently heard Ret. Colonel Ann Wright speak on the book tour for DISSENT Voice of Conscience and she reminded the few of us who had come out to hear her speak about the stories of the valiant few in government or military service who have in some cases have lost their very identity for doing what is right rather than what is at most technically legal. In the course of ther discussion she reminded us that the the vast majority of the pictures from Abu Ghirab prison have been locked away to never be seen as the world would not stand still for what we did to those prisoners. The head of the U.S.'s judicial system talks about simulated drowning when it IS in fact drowning with resuscitation happening before the person dies.

Torture eats away at the soul of the tortured and the torturer, and if a culture can be said to have a soul in a shared moral structure that soul is also diminished when torture is sanctioned.

I firmly believe that women must be the ones to save our civilization from the barbarism of war and the torture and atrocities generated by the mentality of war and aggression. Women and children have increasingly been the victims and casualties of war over the last century.

If you have read this far, do the world a favor and read the linked article The War Against Women by Ann Jones. Don't shirk from the knowledge or the discomfort created by reading it. Each and every one of us is responsible for what we allow people to do in the name of our country and indeed to occur anywhere on our planet. I'm especially frustrated by the women I encounter in my daily life who say they are too busy, aren't interested, or don't know enough to follow politics. We who ignore hate and violence are as guilty of the crimes we allow to happen in our names as the people who carried out the the violent crime of war on our streets and around the world. I feel especially strongly that we in the U.S. and the rest of the world that has benefited so excessively from Industrial Revolution have to accept the responsibility that comes with living in countries that once were bastions of freedom and a light toward what we might become. If we don't want genocide, torture/rape to be what our daughters and grand daughters know as life then we better all wake up now. Our world is facing dramatic instability in the near future as climate change forces every aspect of our lives to shift in unpredictable ways. What we will do in the face of unknown adversity is likely to relate to what we do and allow our fellow citizens to do in the here and now. When demonstrating in front of a military recruiting center and in spite of my own better judgment when I allowed myself to be drawn into interaction with the paramilitary terrorists who call themselves patriots who harass individuals expressing freedoms guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution to voice dissent about military recruitment of our country's youth to fight in illegal wars I've been told that hanging is the just reward for "traitors" like myself. I have no doubt that the man who smirked as he spat these words out in my face would be completely capable of horrific acts similar to what has happened in Serbia, Croatia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Lione, Darfur.... and countless other places in our world.

How can we as the mothers of the world do anything less than act to stop these horrors?

So if our votes no longer count for anything... what next?

Just a quick question?

If our participation in the governance of our lives and property has been usurped, and:

• we know the 2000 election vote count was subverted before it was complete in Florida and we've also verified the massive illegal suppression of voters who were statistically favorable to Gore in that state in that election.

• we know that significant impropriety occurred in the presidential election voting in Ohio in 2004. And other likely tampering abounds.

• we're now hearing about super delegates having been given the ability to overrule the ballots of delegates so as to make sure an "electable" candidate is chosen to run as a democratic Candidate

• we hear that statistically impossible vote distributions were found in New Hampshire and York primary balloting,

does anyone really think they can make the case that the American people have any voice in their governance any longer?


I believe our Declaration of Independence says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."


When I was in school all students were required to memorize the Declaration of Independence. We did not have to memorize the constitution.

McCain 180 Degrees on Torture

John McCain switches and votes FOR TORTURE. What else is he willing to do to get elected, or to please his corporate handlers once elected? There is no telling is there? The poor man was tortured for 6-7 years in a N. Vietnamese prison camp. It is not his fault, but anyone who has undergone torture and survived has some emotional and mental damage. His explosive temper is well documented. Then there is the vote against cancer research even though he is a cancer survivor. And of course the stench of the Keating 5 that lingers under his American Hero cologne. This switch to vote for torture caps it for me - John McCain is unstable. This time I agree with the conservatives... McCain is no conservative. Neither is he liberal in any sense of the word. If you look at his record over time you will find that it is awash in significant reversals that cast doubt on his loyalty to any party. Reversals are fine if tempered with reason and based on increased information or evidence. His reversals are not. They are based on who he is serving at the time.

McCain received funds connected to Abramoff. Deja Vu: he was part of the Keating Five who worked to protect Charles Keating. Keating bankrupted The Lincoln S & L. An interesting aside: The ties to Reagan Bush campaign finance is interesting too. (Remember Reagan deregulated the banking industry.) A good summary of the whole sordid Lincoln S & L affair that shows the connections to Arizona and how this hurt thousands of individuals (some committed suicide) as well as all American taxpayers who ultimately paid the costs of this fiasco can be found in a letter written by Franklin R Mancuso. For more scholarly discussion of the Bush-Reagan role in all stages of the S & L crisis read Bill Black and James Galbraith's 2002 letter.

McCain helped out the criminal who cost the American taxpayer 3 billion dollars. Furthermore, has ties to Abramoff slime. If this isn't enough, think about this: Manchurian Candidate. And geesh I've been so good I didn't even mention his age or other personal problems.

Ann Wright Speaks on the Costs of Conscience and Tucson Judge Shows Justice Can Have a Conscience

Michele Obama's appearance in downtown Tucson probably drew some folks away from Ann Wright's talk today about brave individuals who raised voices of conscience against illegal and immoral actions by our government since 2001.

Ann Wright spoke at the University of Arizona Bookstore this afternoon. It wasn't a feel good talk. No one whose stories are in DISSENT Voices of Conscience has won any medals, most are no longer in the careers they were busily building when they discovered violations of the letter and spirit of the law of the United States of America that they served through military or civil service. Col. (ret.) Ann resigned her Foreign Service position on March 19, 2003 as the U.S. began invading Iraq.

What was feel good was the news Ann brought with her from downtown and the trial and sentencing of three protesters arrested inches inside the gates of Fort Huachuca last November during SOA sister action protests. Today Betsy Lamb, Mary Burton Riseley, and Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada were admonished for not keeping their protests within the law. But in an amazing voice of reason from the bench Judge Marshall encouraged protests to continue protesting against illegal actions by the U.S. Government and spoke of the duty to do so, but within the law. She spoke of knowing that incarceration would do no good as each would protest again. The three were each found guilty and sentenced to time served, two years of probation and a $5000 fine that can be paid as a fine or via community service hours at the rate of $100 credit against the fine for each hour of service. No jail time. Putting a value on protest of $100 an hour. This is a well reasoned sentence voiced with justice.

If only the individuals whose stories Ann Wright tells in her book DISSENT had the scales of justice actually action with judgment. But truth telling is not valued in this country, nor in the UK nor Australia it seems.

Elizabeth Wilmshurst advised the British Government that aggression toward Iraq would violate international law. They ignored her counsel. She had to resign and is now working at a think tank. Jessalyn Radack was devoted to justice and worked to maintain fair and just treatment for all Americans, even John Walker Lindh. She advised before interogation that anything obtained at that time and under those conditions could not be used at a later time in a court of law. Her emails detailing this advice disappeared and Lindh's conviction used information obtained through early interrogations. She had IT recover the emails. She was forced out of her DOJ job. Her next employer (private) was told to let her go as the government was pursuing her disbarment and criminal prosecution. They let her go. Neither happened but she now knows that voicing matters of conscience will get you punished.

The stories are many. Most end up out of a job through forced retirement or forced resignation but some go all the way up the escalation scale to new identities and the Federal Witness Protection Program.

All of the personal stories in here are important when they stand alone. Together these instances form a critical collection worthy of study as a text in government, history, political science, and indeed any course that touches on philosophy or governance. The individuals covered in the chapters in this work are truly brave and noble individuals. Ann says she collected these stories together to thank the brave voices detailed in DISSENT, someone has to as the future of justice depends on the courage of such individuals, Ann included.

Get the book. Buy a copy for a library, a school, your book club, send it to a Congressperson who is playing it safe.

Obama Rally in Phoenix: Grijalva, Kennedy, Napolitano and of course, Obama

Just got back from Phoenix where Barack Obama was well received by a political crowd different from any I'd seen before. Hard to describe, but this was not your standard all gung ho backers with a few shills thrown in to yell hateful oppositional things. The air was filled with what I can only describe as sincerity, belief, and hope. It didn't feel staged. But I'm ahead of myself.

First stop today before leaving for Phoenix was a quick stop in a fast food place where this lovely woman, who told us she was a retired nun, was delighted to have her handmade and from the heart Obama tag photographed. Isn't she lovely?



The first speaker was Raul Grijalva. Interesting that when speaking in Phoenix you have to bring in a Tucson /Yuma Congressional Representative.



And Caroline Kennedy and Janet Napolitano.



The arena (State Fair Grounds) was packed -- of course the section behind the podium (what the media cameras would see) was filled first and the sections they'd readied for attendees (about 3/4 of the arena) filled and they had to open the rest of the area. I take it that was a good showing. It seemed that way.


I have to admit that a few weeks ago I was undecided as to how vote in the primaries. Edwards or Obama? The situation changed. And you know what? I don't feel like I have to hold my nose to vote. Oh, we have to push as hard as ever, and apply as much pressure as it takes to convince our leaders that our troops must come home now, and it doesn't mean we don't have to change our government so that our Republic once again reflects the democratic principles upon which it was founded.


Given the choice between Obama and Clinton, there is no choice. Obama it is!




I think this pic will be the one I associate with the Rally. It is her life that we are fighting to make tolerable in the near future and improve dramatically for her children,


and hers,



and theirs.

AZ Liz found NOT Guilty!!!!

Liz Hourican of CODEPINK Phoenix -and for much of this past year a PINKer based in D.C. bringing Arizona peace messages to our elected officials in D.C. - was found NOT GUILTY today in a D.C. Court.

In Liz's own words from an email sent earlier today:

"The case stemming from the Condi Rice Bloody hands False arrest 10.24.08

after 2 hours of trial i was found not guilty!!!
desiree's case was continued april 2nd 2008"

Read Liz's blog post on the CODEPINK DC site.

Liz is the person who was arrested after being dragged by opposite arm and leg while being pulled from the chair in which she was quietly seated waiting for Condi the War Criminal to speak. She had her face smashed into chairs and door jams breaking her glasses and injuring her. This all stemmed from when Desiree (of Arlington, TX) seized a wide open opportunity to confront Rice with symbolic bloody hands (it was red paint.)

Arizona Liz is an amazing woman!

Now lets focus on sending rational thoughts and energies in the direction of the D.C. court that Desiree (of TX) will appear in on April 2nd.

There must be something about Western women! Woot. Woot.

Conundrums, Quandaries, and Feb 5th

What's a progressive girl to do? Feb 5th approaches and I'm facing a question that hundreds of thousands (I'd like to say millions, but I don't think there are that many thinking people actually involved AZ Democrats) of other Arizonans are facing , do cast my initial approval, my primary vote in the AZ Democratic Primary for the woman, the black man, or the white man? Crass way to look at it I know, but at first pass that is what it seems like. It isn't a horrible situation to be in compared to what we've had in the past. White man, white man, white man... ad infinitum. It isn't a great situation to be in either.

Can't get real information on the candidate via the media, just talking heads flapping their jaws about polls and such. As has been the case for far to long, the media is making the news and not reporting information to be interpreted by the masses. I do not care much for Tim Russert, he gives the impression that he isn't framing issues and asks hard questions, but he misses the big glaring issues about corporatism, fascism, voting fraud and the farce elections have become in this country. His interview with Hillary Clinton this past weekend allowed me to remember why I think Hillary is a very bad choice for President.

Time after time yesterday when I watched Meet the Press I was absolutely floored by the false impressions she created when she spoke.

Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama, "He gave a very impassioned speech against it and consistently said that he was against the war, he would vote against the funding for the war. By 2003, that speech was off his Web site. By 2004, he was saying that he didn't really disagree with the way George Bush was conducting the war. And by 2005, '6 and '7, he was voting for $300 billion in funding for the war."

Via omission of the political climate of 2003 she misdirects people into assuming he pulled the speech from the website because he no longer believed in it. In 2003 there was near hysteria in this country about "you are either for us or against us." and the absolute cut and dried false picture that the administration and the media painted and piped into peoples homes 24 hours a day was that any criticism of the the invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq was akin to treason. It would have been political suicide to leave that speech up on the website at that time.

She goes on to say a bit later in the interview, "I have been working on behalf of civil rights, women's rights, human rights for years and I know how challenging it is to change our political system and I have the highest regard for those who have put themselves on the line."

That is utter poppycock! Unless those people who are putting themselves on the line this time happen to disagree with you, as she has repeatedly shown in her disdain for the women of CODEPINK. Rather than answer questions about her support of the war in 2003 and stay and discuss the concept of the pink slip Jodie Evans attempted to present to her, she marched out of the room, and when she authorized her staff to call for the arrest of women engaged in demonstration in her outer office rather than meeting with them to answer hard questions they posed she showed no respect for those on the front lines of protest and change.

I can go on and on with statements she made yesterday that paint a completely false picture. Most times it can't be said that she lies in an outright fashion, but she is deceptive and judiciously picks through contradictory snippets to create depictions that lie. She is a consummate politician just as is her husband.

"Look, this is up to the voters of our country to determine. But I want them to have accurate information about our respective records, what we've accomplished, the working that each of us have done when given a chance to serve." she later stated. With election integrity being a missing component in the last several elections, anyone who speaks about voters determining anything without addressing the need for clean and fair elections conducted via paper ballots, then what they are saying is just balderdash. For AZ election integrity info check out Blog for Arizona

Can't support her -- she is all about what she can do for the country --- and changes her depiction of herself as necessary per shifting understanding about that for which the country may be looking. She plays old school politics with the big boys where the game is all about getting elected and not about having a vision that you support and strive to make real.

That brings us to Barack Obama. Geesh, he has a good presence and his diction and polished demeanor are everything that the top schools, colleges and universities promise to their well heeled clients, the parents of their students. He epitomizes a new diverse elite class that is coming into existence in the U.S. White men will not rule for much longer. Shifting demographics alone tells us that. I have been in the same room with him and he is , from my gut assessment which I trust most of the time, a sincere, intellectually sharp, and artfully well spoken. It does worry me that he has not been a successful leader in getting the war stopped.

Edwards. I really like him because of his wife. I won't vote for someone just because of a spouse. I heard her speak at the BlogHer conference in Chicago this past summer and was awed by the direct uncensored manner in which she spoke. Stage IV cancer had not up to that point diminished her presence, drive, or the courage to speak her mind. She said that her blog is uncensored much to the occasional chagrin of her husband's campaign coordinating publicity staff. I think I could relate to a man who has such a life partner. Now about him. I suspect that having a mill worker as a father gave him a very different life from Obama and Clinton. He was the first in his family to attend college. He started out in a private college, Clemson, and transferred to a state school, North Carolina State where he got a Textile Technology degree. When I transferred from private to state it was because of money. I suspect the same sort of thing played some role his transfer. Eventually he became a trial attorney and fought for individuals against corporations. So far so good. Blue collar. Worked for his education. Married an intelligent woman. Self made wealth. Knows what it is to lose a child; and understands health care concerns and adversity. I'm leaning in his direction -- the only real concern I have about him is his cushy cosiness with the banking industry -- the bad guys.

However, there’s one highly significant chapter in his Senate career omitted from Edwards’ campaign Web site. Edwards, who comes from a state where banking is big business, played a critical role in brokering legislation to allow banks to sell mutual funds and insurance, and to engage in other speculative ventures. This law, worth hundreds of billions to the banks, blasted a gigantic hole in the Glass-Steagal banking law’s firewall of protections designed to prevent the kinds of bank collapses that marked the Great Depression of the ’30s — meaning that it put the money of Joe Six-Pack depositors at risk. Such a gigantic boon to the banking lobby can hardly be classed as a populist victory. - LA Weekly 1/29/04

So what is a girl to do. Guess I will wear a clothes pin on my nose when I go to vote in the February 5th AZ Democratic Primary. I'm serious, I'm wearing a pink clothespin on my nose when I vote... even while I show my ID, and restate as I have the last few times I have voted, that requiring me to show an ID is unconstitutional.