Bush & McCain in Bed Together

This morning three of us Tucsonans, Sue, Kim and I drove up I-10 to our State Capitol to help the Phoenix type folks unwelcome Bush as he came in to Mesa to visit the military contractors at visit to the company was probably only arranged so he could use Air Force One toSilverado Cable Company -- this come to Phoenix forMcCain fund raising events. A couple hundred folks gathered on S. Dobson Road at 1st Avenue.
Susan and I are holding the "Get the Balls to Prosecute War Criminals" sign. I had the pink balls, Susan had the lettering talent, and Kim had the attitude (as you will see further down the page.)

The crowd was quite diverse and included Phoenix CODEPINK, local folks, young and old people, folks from Flagstaff -- first time protestors and seasoned professionals.

It was difficult for me to get a picture of the lineup of a couple hundred people along the street as I couldn't get into the street or across the street due to the police presence.






















Met up with Arizona Liz (here shown with Kim & the "Balls" sign.) Liz has been a busy little pinker in D.C. representing our state with other CODEPINK women from around the country. I've written about her being assaulted when Desiree managed to let Condi know that the blood of scores of thousands is on her hands.

Overall this was a good event with lots of people venting at the motorcade as it drove by so as to let Bush and Co. know that he isn't welcome here by regular folks and McCain is not being supported by most folks in Arizona now either. Liz walked out into the street with a huge sign that said "Pray for Insane McCane" as the motorcade was passing by on its way to the fundraiser that had been moved to an undisclosed location after they couldn't sell enough tickets to have the event at a large arena. I hear it was also because of the protests to some degree.

The most disconcerting thing that happened was a cop with major camera apparatus who was filming every one in the crowd. When one young woman asked if that was going to get her on a list, the cop put his camera down and came over and got in her face and yelled, "What did you say to me?" She was quite taken aback and obviously a bit frightened. First, why are cops taking pics of people lawfully gathered together to send a message to the administration. Secondly, why did he have to act like and A**hole? Unfortunately my pic of him taking a pic of me turned out blurry. I'm putting it up any way.

Then is was on to Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Phoenix to Pink Slip Bush. I don't have any pics of that as I was one of the women who had to physically drag Bush away from the adoring cadre of Billionaires for Bush to that we could Pink Slip him. You can see his back and one of the Billionaires in the pick I snapped as we were getting ready to grab him. I will have pics of that sent to me tomorrow and I hope to have them up tomorrow evening.

McCain that was of course followed by a honeymoon in whichAfter that there was a marriage ceremony for Bush and it was clear that McCain is in bed with Bush as they were escorted in their bed through the streets of downtown Phoenix.

Then it was on to grab a bite to eat at Rosie's (10th and Camelback) to refuel and hear a few words from Rae , CODEPINK 's national liason with local groups. There were Gilbert folks there who were PDA affiliated, and folks from various other groups affiliated with the Phx End the War Coalition. After that we then decided on the way to where we were crashing, that we would stop by and chat with Blair and his buddies who are all associated with 9/11 Truth. Bryce is fasting for the next few weeks to bring attention to our nation's "Hunger for Truth." If you go to this site you can find out about it. It is always good to connect with other groups who want the same end result as you even if you differ on the details and issues.

The next post I will talk more about why all this was happening.

Off to Rally Against Idiocy and Fear-Mongering

Heading to Phoenix to protext Bush coming to Arizona to join with Insane McCain , the Manchurian Candidate, in a fund raising attempt. I say attempt as last week they had to cancel the planned venue for one of two reasons (and probably some of both)

1) the venue wasn't filling up, that's right in McCain's own State Capitol, Phoenix, Republican masterminds couldn't sell enough tickets to fill it up

2) they also were worried about the number of protesters coming from around the state and even beyond Arizona's borders -- it would be really embarrassing for the party loyalists and corporate stooges to be outnumbered by protesters.

So they changed the venues. The fundraisers are now just listed as "at private residences" and I would suspect that these residences are in walled against the riff raff gated communities. The Bush schedule for Tuesday shows him arriving at Silverado Cable Company in Mesa, AZ at 3:05 p.m. After King George and Prince John zip off to private residence land everyone will head for Chavez Plaza, downtown Phoenix, to rally together against any continuance of war, war crimes, and governance by war criminals -- there will be music, speeches, skits and general reconnecting and strengthening of the bonds and determination of Arizona activists, Democrats, and veterans groups as they seek to let the country know that Arizona people don't back McCain.

Here's the info from the flier that was distributed about these protest events:

We Turned Them Away –
Downtown Phoenix is a Bush-McCain Free Zone!

Tuesday’s Phoenix Downtown Rally and March Still a go – 4:00 p.m.

Also, Big Protest Against Bush in Mesa- 2:00 p.m.

Please Distribute Widely!!

Bush and McCain

are on the run!

from OUR protest

of THEIR endless war!

Read all about it!

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/05/19/daily77.html?jst=b_ln_hl

So,

PROTEST BUSH

IN MESA

at

Defense Contractor Silverado Cable Company

this Tuesday, May 27^th

2:00 – 4:00 p.m. corner of 1st Avenue and Dobson Rd. (south of Main Street and Dobson Road) in Mesa

Parking available in shopping mail on Dobson between Main and 1^st Avenue, Mesa

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=dDJ&q=Mesa,+AZ,+USA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image

AND

Rally at César Chávez Memorial Plaza

in Phoenix

Music, speakers and a celebration!

Watch CodePink Phoenix “pink slip” the prez.

Washington Street at Second Avenue (in front of Phoenix City Hall)

http://virtualguidebooks.com/Arizona/CentralArizona/Phoenix/ChavezPlazaPhoenix.html

4:00 - 5:30 PM - Tuesday, May 27th

Join us at a rally where we anticipate a disconcerting sight:

McCain in Bed with Bush!

5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Tuesday May 27th
Help us chase embedded McCain & Bush out of Phoenix.

March down Adams Street to the Phoenix Convention Center

(Second Street between Adams and Monroe)

http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/CIVPLAZA/plazaidx.html

Park on the street (free after 5 pm) or in surrounding parking garages.

http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/CIVPLAZA/parking.html

.

Bring water to drink and sun protection.

Sponsored by End the War Coalition - Code Pink Phoenix, Progressive
Democrats of America, Phoenix Women in Black, Arizona Alliance for Peace & Justice,
Phoenix Chapter 75 Veterans for Peace, Arizona Vietnam Veterans Against the War,
Arizona Green Party, Grandmothers for Peace, Arizona Christian Peacemakers and Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus

For more information call 480-894-2024 or e-mail endthewarcoalition@cox.net, codepinkphx@yahoo.com, dan@pdamerica.org, or go to http://www.azpeace.org

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

This is the info that arrived from the Democrats:

Many of you have heard that President Bush's fundraiser for John McCain had to be relocated due to the promise of massive protests (and poor ticket sales!). They may be able to run, but they can't hide! Here's the most up to date info on where to be and when to get there.

Rally in Mesa

(Mesa) 2:00pm Protesters should begin to arrive at Rally location. (Rally participants wll converge on the SE Corner of Dobson and 1st Ave.)

Parking is available at the Main Street Market Place on Dobson between 1st Ave and Main St.

(Mesa) 2:30pm Rally participants must be in place. (Road closures take effect because of President's arrival)

(Mesa) 3:00 - 3:30pm Rally continues as Pres. Bush prepares to address a private crowd. (Demonsration is expected to be captured by media)

Rally in Phoenix

(Phoenix) 3:00pm Rally Participants may opt to arrive at Democratic Party Headquarters to be shuttled to Cesar Chavez Plaza

(Phoenix) 3:30pm Rally Participants Begin to arrive at Cesar Chavez Plaza (On Washington St and 2nd Ave -in front of Phoenix City Hall)

(Phoenix) 4:00pm Rally Begins (with Speakers and Special Guests)

(Phoenix) 4:30-5pm Downtown Protest March begins (towards the Convention Center)

(Phoenix) 5:30-6:30pm Arizona Democratic Party Shuttles begin shuttling back towards Headquarters (Shuttled participants will meet at Cesar Chavez Plaza to be shuttled back)

For more information on these events or to RSVP to the shuttle, please call 602-298-4200 or email Amanda Jaksich at ajaksich@azdem.org

I will post impressions and pics after these events tomorrow. Hasta.

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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