Support Dean?

Prove it.

Ok, I just realized that Atrios' post doesn't explain what's going on. He decided, and I agree, that we should show our support for Dean, and more important, show the anti-Dean Democrats - also known as the anti-reform Democrats - that we know why they're attacking Dean, and it ain't gonna fly. Show them this with our money. Donate to the DNC. Atrios has already raised over $30k for them. If you want to donate, go here. Read the rest of this post...

Some Positive News: Young Americans More Racially Diverse Than Ever

Not all the news on Americablog has to be bleak. This front page story in USA Today is espeically fun because it's good news to us that the far right -- with its xenophobia and fear of "race-mixing" -- will see as bad news. In short, people under 40 are far more racially diverse than people over 40 in the US. White-dominated America will be a thing of the past in about another 40 years when our country will be a patchwork quilt of people from all over the world. And since young people are growing up in this brave new world, they'll resist or ignore entreaties to see blacks and Hispanics and Arabs as people to be feared. (It's the same trend that means the far right will ultimately lose out on pushing for hatred of gays -- young people in America have grown up with gay friends and classmates and they just don't care.) One especially telling statistic is on interracial marriage:

Marriages across racial and ethnic lines jumped 65% in the 1990s and make up one in 15 marriages in the USA, up from one in 23 in 1990, Frey says.

"Everyone realizes that we're a nation of diversity now, and they want to celebrate it," says Allison Cohen, president of PeopleTalk, a market research company in Wenham, Mass. "Americans have come to see diversity in their workplace, in who their friends are."

Read the rest of this post...

Why is Howard Dean FOX News so angry?

AMERICAblog hears someone went batshit-crazy today at the Harry Reid/Howard Dean meeting, but it wasn't who the MSM would like to think.

Our sources tell us that a photo-op took place today with Howard Dean and Senator Harry Reid in Reid’s private office (these are usually secreted away in the Capitol Building itself, near the Senate floor). FOX News's Brian Wilson reportedly spent the photo op angrily interrupting reporters and shouting questions out of turn. After an initial swarm, reporters squeezed out the door. FOX's Brian Wilson was apparently wearing no credential of any kind (that wasn’t a red flag to anyone) and behaving "bizarrely angry" so the Washington Post's Mark Leibovich asked who he was.

We hear that Wilson "went nuts," responding to the Post reporter (whose credentials were clearly on display):

"Who the fuck are you?"

Gee, Brian, do you kiss Rupert with that mouth?

The Post reporter then responded that he was from the Washington Post and didn’t see credentials on Wilson and because of his incredibly pointed questions wondered whether or not he was a rogue Republican staffer!

As they raced down the hall outside the austere Senate chamber, we're told that Wilson displayed an impressive knowledge of four-letter words, and was incredulous that he would either not be recognized without proper ID or would be called out on being completely one-sided and working from GOP talking points.

See, and folks thought things wouldn't be nearly as interesting now that Jeff Gannon is history. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Chat away... Read the rest of this post...

GOP: No pro-choice women need apply to our party

This is a new low, folks. And it's a sign that the religious right's intolerance, venom, hubris and hate is reaching new and unpredented levels.

They are now, via their GOP minions in the US Senate, filibustering the appointment of Julie Finley to be Bush's ambassador to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) simply because she's pro-choice. That's it. No other problem. The woman is pro-choice, so, as the Washington Post notes, in the eyes of the Taliban wing of the GOP she's not qualified to deal with issues like Chechneya, Turkey's entry to the EU, and other European integration and security issues.

She's not qualified for a job as a diplomat because she's pro-choice.

Now let's just look at how loyal a Republican this woman has been:

Julie Finley, a native of Illinois and longtime resident of Washington, D.C., serves in several capacities within political and community organizations both nationally and locally. Since 1997, she has served as Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee's major fundraising arm, Team 100. She is currently serving as National Committee Woman for the DC Republican Committee.

Mrs. Finley has supported Republican candidates at all levels. She served as National Co-Chairman of Finance for Dole for President in 1995-96, in addition to serving as Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party's Victory '96 Committee. In addition to being a Dole-Kemp delegate, Mrs. Finley served as Assistant Secretary of the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, as well as on the Platform and Arrangements Committees. She was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Security. In 1992, Mrs. Finley served as a Bush-Quayle delegate to the Republican National Convention in Houston. She has hosted numerous fundraisers for candidates from across the country.

We are now at the point in America where pro-choice women are no longer welcome in the Republican party. Think about that, and remember it.

More on this from MyDD. Read the rest of this post...

American Family Association attacks TV preachers

Bitch slap fest coming to a town near you. Methinks all is not well in fundyland if AFA is saying TV preachers are huksters. Read the rest of this post...

Religious right still pissed at GOP for caving on filibuster

From the American Family Association's propaganda organ:

...A conservative spokesman claims the deal that ended the unprecedented Democrat filibusters of pro-life and Christian judicial nominees in the U.S. Senate is a symptom of a disease plaguing the Republican Party -- an outbreak of Republicans in Name Only, or RINOs. And, according to Gary Bauer of the group American Values, it is time the GOP was inoculated against the infection. "We're going to do everything we can to end this disease of RINOism in the Republican Party," he says, "where people are elected running as Republicans, but they come to Washington and quickly decide that they can't think of anything better to do with their time than to make deals with the radical Left and Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. We need to have some truth in advertising in politics, and this is a good place to start."

Bauer and other pro-family activists were enraged by the actions of seven Republican senators who recently joined with Senate Democrats to craft a compromise to limit the filibusters. Formerly such secret deal-making "was perceived by just about everybody as being a negative thing, something we wanted to stop," the American Values spokesman says. "Now, all of a sudden, when those backroom deals are thwarting the pro-family and pro-life movements of this country, the media holds them up as some sort of ideal that we should all be excited about." According to Bauer, those GOP deal-makers who joined with liberals in forging the filibuster compromise are typical RINOs, who should have stood their ground instead of giving important ground to Democrats in the battle over Bush's judicial nominees.

Message to religious right hate groups: Even your own party doesn't like you. Read the rest of this post...

Pedophiles: Not In My Backyard

I'm truly conflicted about this one. In Miami Beach, they've passed an ordinance that bars convicted pedophiles from living within 2,500 feet of schools, school bus stops, day care centers, parks or playgrounds. Because of the size of Miami Beach (just over 7 square miles) and the fact that it has 21 parks and 6 public schools, the ordinance effectively bans pedophiles from living in the city at all. A township in New Jersey and another city in Florida have quickly followed suit and some 40 other local governments have called to get more info on the ban.

Well, I sure as hell wouldn't want a convicted pedophile moving in next door to my kids. (Who would?) But, really, can every city and town in the country simply ban pedophiles? Should we just dump them into some commune far away from everyone else? Would anyone care? And why stop there? Why not ban all murders or all felons? Can we just legislate away crime and fear? Read the rest of this post...

School district ordered to pay $300k to gay students who were harassed

Let this be a lesson to any school district out there who is sucking up to the religious right. You make a move in their direction and against gay kids, and some gay kid is harassed as a result of the anti-gay climate you create, you'd BETTER have a good answer. Ask your religious right buddies if they plan on bailing your school district out when you lose $300k in court. Read the rest of this post...

Why Does Bush Hate Democracy?

George Bush has a pattern of coddling corrupt monarchies and military dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Then he turns around and punishes democracies that don't do exactly what he wants every single time. The latest example: Germany.

A number of nations believe the Security Council should be expanded from 15 to 25, with four new permanent members. Others think there should also be room for two African countries, including possibly Egypt. Does Bush object to including Egypt, a corrupt dictatorship that has strangled that nation's growth and encouraged the growth of extremism in the Middle East? Nope. He saves his firepower for Germany.

Germany has banded together with India, Japan and Brasil to jointly push for a seat on the Security Council. They promise not to even ask for the right to a veto for 15 years. Since Bush always insists that democracy is the key to a safe and stable future, you'd think he would jump at the chance to give these four stable democracies more influence and prestige. But no. Germany objected to Bush invading Iraq and its leader even campaigned on anti-US sentiment. So Bush is blocking Germany's bid and damn the consequences of international security. Germany didn't play ball so they must be punished.

More proof? Bush is coddling the cruel government of Uzbekistan even as it opens fire on its own citizens. Six senators are suggesting to Bush, gee, do we really want to get into bed with such a sleazy government? It certainly proves the lie that Bush wants to spread democracy. Really? By garnering a long-term deal for a military base in a corrupt country that abuses human rights on a grand scale?

More proof Bush hates democracy? He's stunned that the OAS (the Organization of American States) laughed off Bush's suggestion that he "monitor" the growth of democracy in the Americas. Gee, maybe it has something to do with the fact that Bush supported a military coup in Venezuela because he didn't get along with the democratically elected leader.

Why does Bush hate democracy? Read the rest of this post...

Does your favorite non-profit use Capitol Advantage's Capwiz?

You need to find out, and ask them why they pay someone who helps Lou Sheldon, the American Family Association, and Focus on the Family bash gays. Google capwiz and see what sites are using it.

They declared the culture war. You're either with us or against us. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Off to lunch in a bit Read the rest of this post...

A Supreme Court justice for all Americans

Very interesting idea. Get a bunch of progressives together and push for a moderate Republican Supreme Court appointee. Very interesting. Read the rest of this post...

Iraq's Kurdish President Supports Armed Militia Accused Of Targeting Sunnis

Things are going swimmingly in Iraq. Two days ago, the Kurdish president -- instead of upholding the rule of law and calling for all armed militias to disband -- threw his support behind the Shiite Badr Brigade.

President Jalal Talabani's backing of the Badr Brigade came at a time when Sunni leaders have not only demanded that it be disarmed, but have complained that the militia provides intelligence and support for some Shiite-dominated special security units.

The Badr Brigade was the military wing of the country's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Republic in Iraq, or SCIRI. The party claims the Badr Brigade is no longer a militia but performs social and political functions.

Yes, the Shiite and Kurdish vision of Iraq doesn't include merely a trained and responsible national army. It apparently also includes armed ethnic militias, militias that the Sunnis claim are targeting and killing them. It's more complicated than that, of course. The Kurds naturally don't want to give up their militias because they've created the one stable, safe area of Iraq and are loathe to put any of that at risk.

For a closer look at Iraq, this diary from the London Review of Books is insightful. In case you can't access it, here's the depressing kicker by writer Patrick Cockburn:

The safest areas in the country, despite the bomb in Arbil, are the three inner Kurdish provinces: Iraq’s 15 other provinces are a bloody no man’s land. In the summer heat of the last few weeks, the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates have become warmer. Bodies that were dumped in the river in the winter months are now rising to the surface. Hundreds of them are being buried in temporary graves but nobody knows who they are or why they were killed.

But my favorite part of the USA Today story is the tag at the end that has become a commonplace. It begins "In other violence Wednesday...."

In other violence Wednesday:

• Gunmen killed two industry ministry officials in a drive-by shooting in the capital's New Baghdad neighborhood.

• One police officer was killed and six injured in clashes between Iraqi police and gunmen in northwest Baghdad after gunmen attacked a police car.

• In Mosul, police Col. Nashwan Hadi was killed in a drive-by-shooting near his home. The attackers then fired a rocket at his house, injuring five people — including two children.

• An officer was shot and killed in eastern Mosul.

• A car bomb in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, killed two people. Gunmen also killed Mustafa Ashraf, a translator at an American base.

Read the rest of this post...

AIDS In Africa: Bush Ain't Helping

David Brooks has a rather tortured column on AIDS in Africa. He tries to paint Bush's inactions in the best possible light while still arguing that much, much more needs to be done. Even the headline (which he probably didn't write) is wrong: "In Africa, Life After AIDS," it reads, when any responsible observer knows that the worst is still ahead of us. Africa won't have life after AIDS until decades from now and only then if we take action today.

All he concedes is that, "Obviously, there is still a long way ago." Then Brooks makes a comparison that even he admits is perverse: he compares the underfunded hospitals to Silicon Valley in the early '90s.

They're facing the problems start-ups face: how to offer treatment to hundreds when you have only one sink and one phone, how to use the survivors who suddenly have the rest of their lives to lead.

That IS perverse, David. A Silicon Valley start-up is a luxury enjoyed by people with the freedom and wealth to roll the dice on a new company that could make them millionaires. Hospitals in Africa starved for resources are a sign of dire necessity and the moral failing of the world community. People are dying and no one cares.

Brooks also describes money "rolling in" from the US, which is also a lie. Here's the truth: Bush made a big splash by promising to spend an extra $15 billion fighting AIDS in Africa and his words have proven hollow.

1. Bush hasn't come close to spending the amount he promised.
2. Bush has politicized the funding, placing religious purity ahead of medicine and saving lives.
3. Bush has defunded effective international groups like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Why? Because they don't meet his standards of religious purity.
4. Bush has forced Uganda to switch from an effective prevention program that cut HIV infection in the population from 15% to 6%. What new program does he dangle money in front of the government to force them to use? An unproven abstinence only program that every responsible health expert says will result in more illness and death.

Rolling Stone has a decent article detailing the roadblocks Bush has placed in front of those trying to help Africa. It proves Brooks is willfully lying or woefully ignorant when he tries to credit Bush with helping to fight AIDS on that troubled continent.

It's pretty simple. Bush pretends he wants to fight AIDS but won't buy condoms. That's like saying you want to fight hunger but won't buy any food. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Bush is in Columbus, Ohio today... Read the rest of this post...

Ohio Governor's Office knew in October about missing $225 million

Governor Taft's Office has known since October -- just before the election -- that the state lost $225 million in a risky fund according to today's Toledo Blade:

Gov. Bob Taft’s office learned seven months ago — not this week — that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation had lost $225 million in a high-risk investment.

In an Oct. 26, 2004, e-mail to Taft aide James Samuel, the bureau’s administrator-CEO, James Conrad, wrote that the “entire value” of the portfolio managed by MDL Capital Management was down about $225 million.

Mr. Conrad also alerted the governor’s office that the bureau had rejected MDL’s request for another $25 million and the firm was in danger of collapsing, which he said would be “likely to make national news.”

Now why would this have made national news on October 26, 2004? And why were they hiding it?

Hmm....because it would have created a huge GOP scandal one week before the election? Who knows what would have been dredged up if the Governor's office had told the public about this fiscal mismanagement. And who knows how it would have affected the vote in Ohio.

But, the Governor's office kept it a secret.

The GOP in Ohio is corrupt. It's really that simple. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Social Security plan continues to be a winner

Please, keep focusing your attention on the plan which has a disapprovall rating of 62%. How's that mandate going these days? Read the rest of this post...

Foreign aid for the poor?

Apparently the answer is "screw 'em" according to recent report on global military spending. Despite being a so-called christian administration, the Bush team is much more interested in protective trade policies that limit opportunity for the poor nations and spending-'til-they-drop with the military industrial complex. It's not a pretty picture but then again, those peace loving Swedes are probably just trying to hurt America. Oxfam clearly also hates America because they too dare to question Bush policies.

In 2004 - the sixth successive year in which arms spending increased - the global total spent on munitions topped $1 trillion for the first time since the height of the Cold War. In contrast, the amount spent on aid over the same period was $78.6bn.

"When you look at the amount being spent on arms compared to ... aid, it shows how little is being spent on aid," said Brendan Cox, a spokesman for Oxfam. "We are pushing to increase aid by $50bn annually, but the US spends $450bn on arms. This shows that, when there is a political will to find funding, the resources can be delivered. We need a war on poverty."

The group's report also refers to an investigation by the Congressional Research Service which shows that in 2003 just five members of the G8 - the US, Britain, France, Germany and Russia - were responsible for 89 per cent of arms sales to developing countries.

Read the rest of this post...