They should form a club

Ok, this one I take credit for, with due hat-nodding to Brian Hamilton who created the Ken Mehlman part of the video - I then embellished. Tomorrow's version will create an entire chorus line - stay tuned. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

So much news today, almost forgot about the open thread :-) Read the rest of this post...

How a DNC chair is elected - the process

Matt Stoller of BOPNews.com has written up a short explanation of the process for selecting a new DNC chair. You can read it here.

Caveat, Matt has posted the explanation on a Web site he's helping run that is pushing Simon Rosenberg for DNC chair. I'm still agnostic on Rosenbeg. I'm impressed that he did a conference call with those of us with BlogPac a few days ago, but I'd still like to know where he actually stands on the issues. Is he a conservative, a liberal, what? Can't pin the guy down, and I'd like to before I support him. So far, I'm still with Dean. Read the rest of this post...

Religious right achieves new level of hate

Yes, the religious right hate groups have actually elevated their anti-gay bigotry to a new and higher level. They're now demanding that the Justice Department investigate whether it's true that homosexual lawyers actually WORK at our revered Justice Department! Horror of horrors! Next thing you know, they'll have negroes and latins working there too. What has this world come to? And if they do have negroes there, I'm sure the religious right would want to know if they let them actually work on civil rights cases too! Ewwwww!

I think we ought to demand a Justice Department investigation of whether religious right bigots are working in the agency. I'm serious. Let's all contact the same people the religious right are contacting and demand that if they're going to consider investigating whether ethnic minorities work in the Justice Department then we want them to investigate whether people with allegiances to religious right hate groups also work there.

What about Ken?

Not to mention, if the religious right thinks that simply being a homosexual in an administration job per se makes you a fifth columnist who colludes with others to advance the homo agenda at the expense of good Christians, then I demand to know if Ken Mehlman is gay. Because if he is, then using the religious right's logic, Ken will be guilty of being a fifth columnist who will obviously be colluding with others to destroy the family and Christianity (and America) as we know it.

Actually, now that I think about it, let's all contact the religious right and demand an investigation into whether Mehlman is a gay fifth columnist. If gay lawyers at the Justice Dept are per se a sign of the filthy infiltration of infidels into our beloved GOP, then what would it mean to have a gay lawyer running the entire party! The end of times.

Traditional Values Coalition
In DC: phone (202) 547-8570, fax: (202) 546-6403
Also in DC, Amy N. Skeen, their press contract: (202) 547-8570
In CA: Phone (714) 520-0300, Fax: (714) 520-9602

Email them here. Read the rest of this post...

Howard Dean announces for DNC chair

At this point, he's my man.

Dear XXXX,

As I have traveled across our country, I have talked to thousands of people who are working for change in their own communities about the power of politics to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. Every group I have spoken to, I encouraged them to stand up for what they believe and to get involved in the electoral process -- because the only sure way to make difference is to step up and run for office yourself.

Today, I'm announcing my candidacy for the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

The Democratic Party needs a vibrant, forward-thinking, long-term presence in every single state and we must be willing to contest every race at every level. We will only win when we show up and fight for the issues important to all of us.

Another integral part of our strategy must be cultivating the party's grassroots. Our long term success depends on all of us taking an active role in our party and in the political process, by volunteering, going door to door and taking the Democratic message into every community, and by organizing at the local level. After all, new ideas and new leaders don't come from consultants; they come from communities.

As important as organization is, it alone can no longer win us elections. Offering a new choice means making Democrats the party of reform -- reforming America's financial situation, reforming our electoral process, reforming health care, reforming education and putting morality back in our foreign policy. The Democratic Party will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing its rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions. We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it.

But most of all, together, we have to rebuild the American community. We will never succeed by treating our nation as a collection of separate regions or separate groups. There are no red states or blues states, only American states. And we must talk to the people in all of these states as members of one community.

That word -- 'values' -- has lately become a codeword for appeasement of the right-wing fringe. But when political calculations make us soften our opposition to bigotry, or sign on to policies that add to the burden of ordinary Americans, we have abandoned our true values.

We cannot let that happen. And we cannot just mouth the words. Our party must speak plainly and our agenda must clearly reflect the socially progressive, fiscally responsible values that bring our party -- and the vast majority of Americans -- together.

All of this will require both national perspective and local experience. I know what it's like to lead hands-on at the state level and I know what it's like to run for national office.

With your help, this past election season, Democracy for America, already started creating the kind of organization the Democratic Party can be. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates at all levels of government -- from school board to U.S. Senate. We contributed almost a million dollars to nearly 750 candidates around the country and raised millions of dollars for many more candidates.

Together, we helped elect a Democratic governor in Montana, a Democratic mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah and an African American woman to the bench in Alabama. Fifteen of the candidates we endorsed had never run for office before -- and won.

I also have experience building and managing a local party organization. My career started as Democratic Party chair in Chittenden County, Vermont. I then ran successful campaigns: for state legislature, lieutenant governor and then governor. In my 11-year tenure as governor, I balanced the state's budget every year.

I served as chair of both the National Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors' Association (DGA). And as chair of the DGA, I helped recruit nearly 20 governors that won -- even in states like Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi.

All of these experiences have only reaffirmed what I know to be true. There is only one party that speaks to the hopes and dreams of all Americans. It is the party you have already given so much to. It is the Democratic Party.

We can win elections only by standing up for what we believe.

Thank you and I look forward to listening to your concerns in the weeks ahead.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Read the rest of this post...

Virginia's Cosgrove is a Gay-Basher, too

Delegate John Cosgrove, who John pointed out is whining because the bloggers were mean to him, has also positioned himself as Virginia's leading gay basher. That's no small feat in that state. He is pushing legislation for a vote on a gay-bashing constitutional amendment this November.

What a coincidence. Virginia has a governor's race this November. So, Virginia's gay bashers need a constitutional amendment this November. These amendments are pure politics. There is nothing policy driven about them. (Virginia statutes already bans gay marriage.)

So let's just call Cosgrove and his supporters what they are: GAY BASHERS. They want to be able to kick the gays around during the elections, just like George Bush, Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and the RNC did last fall. Gay bashing....How Christian. Read the rest of this post...

Win one for the bloggers

Mommy, the bloggers were mean to me. Of course, this politician being mean to women, hell that's okay. But don't be mean back to him, because Republicans are the only ones allowed to play hardball.

Not anymore.

Chesapeake lawmaker withdrew a bill on Monday that would have required women to report fetal deaths, after he received more than 500 e-mails from people concerned that the measure would punish women who have miscarriages.

Opposition to the bill, HB1677, was generated by “blogs,” personal Web sites set up by individuals who post information and encourage discussion about topics of interest to them.

Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, was shaken by the speed and volume of the response as word of his bill traveled across the country via the Internet.

“I’ve never been blogged before,” he said. “The tone of the e-mails has been disgusting. It’s, 'You’re a horrible person. You ought to be cruci fied.’ And those were the nice ones.”

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Armstrong Williams scandal is "tip of the iceberg"

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) just filed 23 Freedom of Information Act requests with government agencies in order to determine who else was on their payrolls. Uh oh. Liberals with balls.

From their press release:

CREW has now filed FOIAs with 23 agencies requesting copies of all contracts with public relation firms, including Ketchum and Fleishman-Hillard. Both firms have contracted with the government resulting in similar controversies, and in violation of the Publicity and Propaganda clause.

"This type of covert propaganda, has no place in a healthy democracy," Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. "It is particularly outrageous that the government continues to engage in this sort of illegal activity despite the fact that the GAO has said that it is illegal."

Sloan continued, "The question now is how extensively has the Administration used propaganda to shore up its controversial policies? Did it pay any commentators to speak out in support of the Patriot Act? Is it paying anyone now to convince the public that Social Security is in crisis? By filing these FOIAS, we hope to answer these questions."

The FOIA request for the Department of Education is available here. CREW also sent the following agencies FOIAs today: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Drug Enforcement Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Social Security Administration.

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Religious right joins the tsunami relief effort, 16 days late

I guess the homos donating $100k to tsunami relief finally forced the religious right to actually acknowledge the massive death and destruction that occured in Asia well over 2 weeks ago.

From Focus on the Family's press release today:

On today's national "Focus on the Family" broadcast, Focus founder and chairman Dr. James Dobson announced the organization's plans to join the tsunami effort. Capitalizing on its unique ability to understand and meet the needs of families worldwide, Focus hopes to raise one million dollars for relief efforts and will provide extensive grief, counseling and family resources for survivors

.Message: I care (about bad publicity). Read the rest of this post...

Kid Rock's replacement

(Credit goes to AMERICAblog regular Brian Hamilton for creating this little ditty.) Read the rest of this post...

Oh, now I feel safer

Today, Bush is nominating Judge Michael Chertoff, who served as a top aide to John Ashcroft, to head the Department of Homeland Security. According to the Associated Press:

Chertoff, whose resume includes stints as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey and the Senate Republicans' chief counsel for the Clinton-era Whitewater investigation, was one of the administration's key figures in the war on terror.

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Bush: You can't tell the truth, but I can lie

This is classic. Bush told reporters the key to passing Social Security is to not scare senior citizens while his administration is trying to sell the country a crisis:

"I think two of the things that are going to be important for the members to understand, once they've come to the realization there is a problem, is that no longer can they frighten seniors by saying, if we do this, seniors aren't going to get their checks," he said. "I think it's become pretty clear in people's minds that the issue ... does not revolve around those who have retired or those who are near retirement."

To win, which is all that seems to matter to Bush, he must create the perception of an impending crisis with Social Security. In other words, he needs to scare Americans...again. Problem for him, is that there isn't a crisis and he is being challenged on that. There are fixable problems with the program, but that doesn't change the Bush talking points. It's all crisis, all the time. So, they continue with their campaign of falsehoods while admonishing others not to tell the truth. He takes everything to extremes. No one will tell seniors they won't get their checks, but it is fair to say that Bush wants to cut benefits. Well, that is, if you can believe what his staff is saying.

Actually, according to today's Washington Post, the biggest problem Bush has selling his Social Security plan, may actually be with Republicans.

Many Republicans are expressing reservations about the political wisdom of President Bush's vision for restructuring Social Security, as the White House today intensifies its campaign to restructure the entitlement program for the retired and disabled.

Bush, who relishes challenging the conventional wisdoms of Washington, has privately counseled Republicans that partially privatizing Social Security will be a boon for the GOP and has urged skeptics to hold fire until he builds a public case for change. But several influential Republicans are warning that Bush's plan could backfire on the party in next year's elections, especially if the plan includes cuts in benefits.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush administration to force DC to pay $17.3M for inauguration

The GOP boondoggle will come at the expense of DC homeland security funds. This reminds me of the countless presidential visits during the campaign where towns were left with the bill after a campaign stop. Taking money away from DC for this propaganda show is egotistical, not to mention unsafe. Fortunately even Republicans are crying foul on this one.
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