The Great Democratic Cave-In

George Bush's “war on terror” has provided a pretext to transform the American republic into a new form of police state. Despite the Founding Father's carefully construed "checks and balances," Bush has granted himself unprecedented and unconstitutional executive powers.

These broad powers allow Bush to make unilateral decisions and take sweeping action without any input or oversight from Congress. And, Bush's use of his dictatorial powers have shown no regard for the rights of American citizens.

One of the most egregious powers Bush created for himself is the power to spy on American citizens without a warrant. In the name of fighting the never ending "war on terror," Bush and his criminal accomplices have claimed that the Constitution's guarantee of due process (no search and/or seizure without a court order) is too dangerous.

Of course Bush would not have been able to destroy rights and liberties if Congress acted like the co-equal branch of Government that they are supposed to be.

The Democrats are especially despicable because they are armed with the authority of oversight and reign in Bush's power-grab.

But they did not try then and are still capitulating to the President, even as they claim that the "compromise" is a legislative success for the Democrats.

Did you ever wonder why the Dems keep caving to Bush? Call us paranoid, but we are not alone in suspecting that there is plenty of guilt to go around if an investigation should ever uncover the truth about the Bush crime family. And then there is also a matter of money. The Dems who signed on to the "compromise" have benefited the most from the generosity of the telecom industry.

There is hope though that the filibuster planned by Senators Dodd and Feingold will further delay the bills passage. If you care to let your own Senators know how you feel about FISA and telecom immunity, click here to send them an email.

I a joint statement released on Tuesday, the Senators said:

“This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name. We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form. We will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans.”

Question is, what will you and I do about it?

Weapons of Total Distraction

Lots of juicy headlines in the news these days:

• Idaho Senator Larry Craig caught with his pants down cruising for gay sex in an airport men's room;
• Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales -- both resigning under the cloud of multiple Congressional and other Federal investigations;
• White House press secretary Tony Snow and Senator John Warner, both announcing their imminent retirements yesterday;
• The 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana;
• The 2nd anniversary of hurricane Katrina;
• Big Democratic donor, Norman Hsu, on the lam;
• The 2008 presidential election and whatever any of the 20 or so candidates said, ate or did;
• Will Fred Thompson announce his candidacy or not;
• War in Iraq;
• War in Afghanistan;
• Sub prime mortgages, the roller-coaster stock market, and the ever-widening wage-gap
  

Even if we ignore the melodrama of today's news, in our own lives there are many distractions in these last days of summer -- Labor Day weekend, starting school, and so on.

In the meantime, while we've been focusing on all these other things, George Bush and Dick Cheney have ramped up their war rhetoric against Iran:

• US Battleships and Bombers are at the ready.
• No new Congressional resolution necessary since Bush declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are a terrorist organization.
• Bush and Cheney believe they must "take out" Iran's nuclear program before leaving office.

And after we bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, what will happen?

Iran is a Shia Nation and the Iraqi population are 60% Shia. Thus the majority of Iraqis -- who we are supposedly trying to bomb into submission -- will naturally identify with Shia victims in Iran and will no doubt despise us even more than they do now. From Lebanon to Oman and beyond, the Shia will be understandably united in their sense of victimization.

And even if we were to crush their mortal enemy, the Shias, don't expect Iraq’s Sunni population to react any better. Whatever their feelings about Iran, they have been very clear about their hatred of a Western presence and expansion of U.S. operations in the Muslim world.

Don't believe us? Ask bin Laden.

The entire world will respond with revulsion. From Europe to Japan there will be much discussion about how to best distance oneself and protect oneself from a USA gone nuts.

Its almost as if Bush and Cheney want to create the perfect climate to foment perpetual war...

Now why would they want to do that?

Who gains from such a thing?

We know who will lose... the rest of us.

After all of the propaganda oozing from this Administration, how are we expected to believe that such distracting headlines are not intended to keep us from noticing under which shell the truth hides?

Death of a Mountain

For years, travelers crossing the State line in West Virginia were greeted by a sign welcoming them to "Wild, Wonderful West Virginia." Recently however, those signs were replaced by new ones bearing the ominous message: "West Virginia, Open for Business."

When we first saw the new sign we were somewhat surprised and uncertain as to the meaning of its message.

Then, last Friday, we read about the Bush administration's proposal for new mountaintop removal (MTR) regulations and it all made sense.

Now we know that the sign change WAS a sign of change -- and not for the better.

Instead of promoting the Mountain State, the sign advises visitors that here in West Virginia business is paramount. And because coal IS the business of West Virginia, the people and the law must genuflect to the will of old King Coal.

For all of you flat-landers out there, MTR is a process whereby a mountaintop is literally removed -- trees leveled, critters buried alive or chased off, layers of rocks and dirt blasted, scraped, and shoved off the top of the mountain to fill in the rivers and valleys below with coal sludge and debris. This not only leaves an ugly scar where the mountain once stood, it also creates catastrophic damage to the local and regional environment. You can learn more about MTR here.

And the proposed regulations will permanently legalize MTR -- already known to be a devastating and environmentally dangerous form of coal mining.

According to Joan Mulhern, legislative counsel for the environmental group, Earthjustice:

"The proposed change will say the rule requiring buffer zones does not apply to putting excess spoil into valleys near mines -- called valley fills -- or to impoundments that coal companies build to hold slurry -- water and fine particles -- left over from processing coal."

Have you ever been to West Virginia? Have you seen the sun rise over tree covered mountain tops as they peek out over mist covered valleys?

It is a breathtakingly beautiful state!

For most folks, West Virginia is just a pretty place you gotta get through on your drive to New York or Florida. We've actually met people who don't even know that West Virginia is a state unto itself but rather they believe it is merely the Western portion of the state of Virginia!

We know exactly where and what West Virginia is because it is our home.

Here we have found our own little paradise to live out the rest of our days -- surrounded by glorious mountains -- in the house we are building from recycled materials.

Our dream of living peacefully on this mountain is threatened by the fact that we live on top of the Pittsburgh coal seam and are surrounded by coal mines of all stripes -- deep wall, long wall, surface and strip mines.

Six days a week, fleets of enormous coal trucks lumber down these long and windy roads, competing with logging trucks, that carry West Virginia's rich resources to far off places where they are sold to enrich mine owners and operators who are smart enough to live somewhere else.

Sometimes called "strip mining on steroids" MTR does to mountains exactly what the term implies:

"MTR is a relatively new form of coal mining which takes the mountain off the coal. Up to 1,000 vertical feet of local relief are blasted away to get to the thin coal seams underneath. MTR requires that the targeted land be clear-cut (de-forested) and then blasted by heavy use of explosives. The debris created is typically scraped (literally pushed) into the adjacent river valleys in what is called a valley fill. At current rates, mountaintop removal will mine over 1.4 million acres (5,700 km²) by 2010."

Not too long ago, if you wanted to see the devastation with your own eyes, you had to charter a plane to fly over the mountains. Thanks to Google Earth, you can see the ravaged mountains from the comfort of your own desk.

From space, the mountains look like the coat of a once-beautiful animal with a debilitating case of mange. The mountaintops are laced with strangely shaped bald spots, where trees give way to brushy undergrowth. Giant hunks have been bitten out of the mountainsides, revealing sores of crumbling sand, broken rock and black tar. Once-neat layers of sediment are visibly torn asunder, cascading down hillsides. Strange top-hat-shaped protrusions of land rise up sharply. For miles and miles, it looks as if someone took a giant potato peeler to the side of the range.

On hot and muggy August days like this one, millions of Americans will flip on their light switches and turn down the air conditioner without ever realizing how or why they are able to enjoy such conveniences.

Today we are asking you to take a few minutes out of your day to make a difference.

We still have about 55 days remaining to submit public comments on the proposed rule. You can send your comments by mail to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Administrative Record, Room 252-SIB, 1951 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20240, or over the Internet through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

Please identify your comments by including docket number 1029-AC04 in the subject line!

We hope you will take some time out of your busy schedule to write a comment opposing the new rule. We need as much support as we can get to offset the powerful coal lobby which has many politicians, from the local to the national level, in its pocket.

This new rule is probably just a quid pro quo to Bush's big coal supporters who helped him get elected in 2000 and again in 2004:

"One of Bush’s big supporters in West Virginia, James “Buck” Harless (a Bush “Pioneer”), who raised $250,000 for Bush, had a private audience with the President at Bush’s ranch. What’s more, his grandson, James H. Harless II, was chosen as an energy policy adviser during the White House transition."

Remember, coal companies are just big corporations who only desire profits at any cost. We have seen in recent months how coal mine owners and operators will even risk the lives of miners if they think they can squeeze one last dollar out of a dilapidated mine shaft. Time and time again they have shown they will do whatever it takes to get at the coal, even to the point of choking out the the life out of our communities and the democratic process.

BEWARE the Pretend-O-Crats

"No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare; if Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." James Madison

If talk is cheap, the Democrats have amassed enough empty promises to fill all of the vaults in Fort Knox.

In the months leading up to and ever since the November 2006 elections, the Democrats promised to be the party of change. They told us they would stand up to Bush and set the country back on its Constitutional track.

I don't know about you, but I feel like an idiot for believing -- even slightly - that they meant what they said and would do as they promised.

What we know now is that the Dems only pretended they would stand up for us just long enough to get elected. Either they have no spine or they are only slightly less criminal the Re-Pugnant-Cans.

In the slight chance that you've been out of the loop and don't know about the latest Democratic cave-in to Bush, here's the gist of it:

Just before taking off for their August recess, the House and Senate -- with the help of Democrats voted to approve the Republican sponsored and White House approved 'Protect America Act' which vastly expands warrantless phone and e-mail eavesdropping. And you'll never guess who IS empowered to approve of the wiretaps?

Sit tight boys and girls for this news may make you lose your breakfast -- the guy in charge of deciding who gets spied on??

ALBERTO GONZALES!

Most of the Dems who voted for the act are "Blue Dogs" - a term used to describe socially and economically conservative Democrats who are really Republicans in everything but name. I think we ought to kick them out of the party.

According to Congress.org:

"On August 5, President Bush signed S.1927, a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The bill gives more authority to the National Security Agency and other agencies to monitor emails, phone calls, and other communications that are part of a foreign intelligence investigation. Details of the bill include:

• Intelligence agencies are no longer required to receive a warrant to monitor communications between someone in the United States and someone overseas, as long as the investigation is aimed at someone in another country.
• For conversations between two parties in the United States, agencies will still need to obtain a warrant.
• The law will be in effect for the next six months.
• Instead of a court, approval for wiretapping may be granted by either the Director of National Intelligence or the Attorney General.

President Bush argued that the changes were needed to give intelligence officials more flexibility, as well as close a gap in intelligence activities.

Opponents of the bill argued against a lack of court oversight, as well as putting more power in the hands of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales."

In other words, the Attorney General -- the same one who has been lying under oath to Congress -- who wrote memos to Bush in support of torture -- who called the Geneva Conventions "quaint" -- THAT Attorney General will need NO warrant and NO probable cause to spy on YOU.

And the Pretend-O-Crats gave him that power!

Apparently, the Democrats who voted for the act were told by the administration that there is increased intelligence "chatter" about possible terrorist attacks on the United States. They were warned that if they did not back the bill they would be accountable for putting the country at risk

That would be reason enough to support the bill -- IF BUSH HAD ONE IOTA OF CREDIBILITY LEFT.

Which he does not.

Supposedly the Act will automatically expire after 6 months.

And we are SO absolutely CERTAIN that there WILL be MORE chatter in 6 months -- giving the Bush Crime Family reason to twist the arms of the spineless Dems again -- that we will bet our house on it!

Please let your Congressperson know that your want them to STAND UP TO BUSH and STAND UP FOR YOU!

FEAR: The Great Persuader

Broadly defined, 'homophobia' is a term used to describe discrimination in word, deed or attitude against members of the LGBTQ Community. It is often associated with HATRED of queer people in general.

But the suffix of the word is 'phobia' -- which literally means fear. And, according to Wikipedia, "fear is a distressing emotion caused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc, especially dread to meet or experience the danger".

So, in reality, homophobes do not so much HATE us as they FEAR us. And, as you know, fear leads to anger, which leads to hate which leads to suffering and discrimination and violence and...

Homophobia is just one brand of fear being sold in America today. It seems that today, fear has permeated our entire culture:

• Fear of terrorists and terrorism

• Fear of Hell

• Fear of Death

• Fear of Muslims

• Fear of 'Illegal Immigrants'

• Fear of imports

• Fear of... each other

Fear is a perfect tool for manipulating society in order to further an agenda that would otherwise be unattainable.

"It's fear of the unknown. The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, all that--it's all illusion." John Lennon

The Bush Crime Family are master fear peddlers. They have managed to grab more power and money for themselves and their neo-con minions than even they could have imagined in their wildest dreams.

They have eviscerated the Constitution and weakened the Republic more effectively than Osama bin Ladin could ever have accomplished by bombing cities or flying airplanes into buildings.

And yet, because we are afraid, we let them get away with it.

Dorothy Thompson once said that "the most destructive element in the human mind is fear."

And Bush is at it again. He is on a furious campaign to frighten us with lies that tie al Qaeda with September 11. He wants to scare you into supporting his illegal war. He hopes you will agree to give up more of your freedoms. He wants you to unquestioningly let him torture, spy and imprison. He hopes you will be too frightened to care as he, Cheney and Rove manipulate the system so there are no checks and balances and until the Republican Party and the neo-cons can freely dominate American policy for many years to come.

We need to wake up! It's time to come out from under the bed and face the fact that the only thing we have to fear is our own stupidity, our own gullibility and our own willingness to be enslaved and intimidated by governmental and corporate propaganda!

Please read this article for a great synopsis of how terrifying the future may soon look if we do not stand up to the true threats!

Seeing the Forest

My parents, Ken and Dorothy, were poor, working-class -- and they were Republicans.

Until I heard a recent BBC broadcast entitled Document, I could never understand why my parents consistently voted against their own self-interest.

My mother was especially vocal about her political views. I was her youngest (she had 10 children and was nearly 50 when I was born) and so I knew her as a sweet and generous, grandmotherly woman who was set in her ways -- especially her conservative political beliefs.

We had a radio in the kitchen that, like the coffee pot, was on all day. Mom listened to talk radio on KDKA – out of Pittsburgh – which, in retrospect, may have been the precursor to Limbaugh, Hannity types.

When the talk show host or his guest talked positively about racial or gender equality issues, my mother would seethe in disagreement. Like today’s right-wing fanatics, she did not articulate actual reasons for disagreeing with progressive ideas and equal rights – she just fumed and hissed about Blacks “taking over” and the scourge of “bra-burning feminists.”

To her, it seemed that the America she believed in was in danger from a take-over by peace loving hippies, civil and women’s rights activists, labor unions, environmentalists and “bleeding heart liberals.”

All of these free-thinking groups were making her great country weak.

And like many conservatives today, there was no questioning her beliefs. What she knew to be right WAS right, period. End of discussion.

It must have comforted her to have such a simple explanation -- a liberal bogeyman -- to blame for her feelings of frustration about her own life.

When I listened to the BBC broadcast, I learned that in 1933, when my mother was just 25 years old, a group of prominent, wealthy businessmen plotted to overthrow Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s government and replace it with one resembling the fascist government of Italy and Germany.

Yes, you read that correctly – they wanted to install a dictator like Mussolini or Hitler to head the US Government because they were frightened by the notion of empowering the poor and creating government agencies to regulate businesses to ensure the safety and well-being of the American worker.

You never learned about the coup in your history books because FDR decided NOT to pursue convictions as long as the men who instigated it promised to leave him alone. That is unfortunate since his decision has led us down the long path to where we find ourselves today.

Although the coup ultimately failed when a whistle blower turned them in, the businessmen – who also owned and controlled the news industry – were successful in casting FDR as a socialist who wanted to destroy and weaken America by creating unions that made workers lazy, by creating a welfare state with government “handouts,” and by giving power to women, Blacks and other minorities thereby harming white people whose ancestors founded this country and made it great.

Thus the seed for the great "liberalism is evil" lie had been planted and like kudzu, it would soon choke out the truth.

And so, I finally understand that my mother -- a naive and gullible young woman at the time -- believed she voted for a man that destroyed America.

She so believed in that lie that she forever turned against FDR and the Democratic Party.

That lie is still repeated as truth today.

It has become like the trees that block the forest of truth.

In 1983, fifty corporations controlled most of the news media in the U.S.

Today, just FIVE big (and by big we mean HUGE) corporations -- Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) -- control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric (NBC) is closing in at 6th place.

They own the cable channels, the networks, the Internet, sports teams, theme parks, automobile manufacturers, publishing companies, film studios, food production/distribution, airlines, department stores, and on and on.

This means that 99% of everything you buy, see, hear, read, eat and wear were brought to you by these sponsors. There is no way to escape the influence they have and are having on what we believe and what we know as "truth."

If you do not believe you are being influenced by these corporations, then we have some swamp land in Florida and a bridge in New York City we would like to sell to you.

And who were this group of prominent, wealthy businessmen who tried to overthrow FDR? According to the BBC and in an earlier article written by Randy Reynolds, they were the Remington's, DuPont's, Rockefeller's, Mellon's, J.P. Morgan, George Herbert Walker, Samuel Bush and Prescott Bush, and others.

Not surprising then to learn that the failed takeover they attempted oh so long ago has been successfully fulfilled by their descendants.

And you can just imagine how much more sophisticated the propaganda machine has grown over these last 75 or so years.

Now we have an Administration that has committed treason and war crimes:

• they authorize torture and extraordinary rendition

• they give tax breaks to the wealthy and to corporations

• they argue against expanding a health insurance program for children

• they leave an entire city to drown

• they allow drilling for oil in Alaska's pristine wilderness

• they permit polluters to regulate themselves and get the oil industry to write our energy policy

• they wage illegal wars

• they corrupt the election process

• and they LIE
  

They lie and they lie and they lie.

Do you wonder why every American is NOT demanding that Congress begin impeachment proceedings against Bush, Cheney, Gonzales and others on the Administration?

With just a few corporations owning the information highway, what else would you expect?

The truth is as plain as the nose on your face: American's do not know what is really going on because when we turn on the news, read a paper, see a movie, buy a book or magazine, we get fluff. Any news about Bush's wrong-doings are white-washed and pale in comparison to the time spent reporting on Lindsy Lohan (or other celebrity's) latest fiasco.

By controlling what we know, they control what we think and what we do.

In this way, they can manipulate and obfuscate reality until we do not recognize that our own lives are being made smaller and our own interests denied.

That is why my poor parents -- who believed so much in the Horatio Alger rags to riches mythology --were so puzzled and bitter at the end.

For they did what was expected of them each and every day of their lives:

• they were true, loyal and patriotic Americans
  

• they worked hard
  

• they were good consumers
  

• they voted Republican and thus consistently voted against racial equality, worker’s rights, women's rights and economic justice.
  

And yet, I can't help but believe, in the end they KNEW.

I spent time with both of them in the days before they died. And even though they could not or would not articulate exactly why -- each said they felt betrayed and duped in some way.

I think -- in their last sad days and hours -- as the light in their eyes slowly dimmed, they realized too late they had been screwed.

But at least now I understand...

Monkey Pox in the White House

We were sitting around last night, chatting about the grandkids, our recycled house building project and other mundane topics that matter to us. Then the conversation drifted - as it often does - to politics.

Rather than specific issues, like the war in Iraq, recent Bush Administration executive orders and signing statements, the Attorney General scandal, or the Administration's refusal to release documents to Congress, we were looking at "the BIG picture."

What does it all mean?

We watch and read the news -- where we can get details about a specific event reported one-at-a-time, but, rarely does anyone try to put it into a larger context.

So many improprieties, so much secrecy and illegality. Where is the Administration going with all of this?

What is the point?

Is there a larger, unseen agenda?

Why would Bush and Cheney grab so much power unto the executive, only to cede all of that power to a new president -- probably a Democrat -- in 2009?

That's when it occurred to us -- there may not BE an election in 2008!

If you step back and look at the whole forest - and not just one or two trees at a time, here is what you get:

Bush lied us into an unnecessary war that has enriched Corporations like Bechtel, Haliburton, and Boeing. They have outsourced our Intelligence to private contractors. They have outsourced much of the fighting in Iraq to mercenaries.

They have cut taxes that hurt the poor and middle-class while enriching the wealthy.

Recently, Bush signed an especially frightening executive order that gives him absolute power to seize property and assets of anyone -- even you -- if he believes that your actions, words or deeds are supporting any individual or group who may possibly harm the administration's efforts in Iraq.

This is NOT a joke. Two articles (here and here) on the executive order were recently published. The story was also reported on Democracy Now.

You really need to take a few minutes out of your busy day to educate yourself about this frightening turn of events that could have dire consequences on your life very soon.

Add this to an earlier executive order giving Bush the power to declare Marshall Law and SUSPEND ELECTIONS:

"In October 2006, Bush signed into law the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. Quietly slipped into the law at the last minute, at the request of the Bush administration, were sections changing important legal principles, dating back 200 years, which limit the U.S. government's ability to use the military to intervene in domestic affairs. These changes would allow Bush, whenever he thinks it necessary, to institute martial law--under which the military takes direct control over civilian administration."

And even if there IS an election, how will we know it isn't rigged?

"At least part of the U.S. attorneys plot seems to derive from the "election fraud" hoax that Republicans are trying to perpetrate in order to gain control of the country's voter lists. So nailing this inept crew of thugs won't be good enough. We need laws protecting the right to vote from the kind of phony, partisan prosecutors that Gonzales, Rove and Co. were trying to put in place, and from the punitive, restrictive voter-ID laws that are a prominent part of the far-right political agenda. "

Also read this great Rolling Stone article on Attorneygate.

Why is impeachment off the table? According to two constitutional scholars, there is ample evidence that it is the exact remedy required to cure America of the monkey-pox that has infected the White House since January 2001.

Maybe this is all just paranoia. But given all of the information we have -- and certain there is much more which we do not yet know -- our paranoia is well deserved and justified.

Mabel, Mabel, Put Impeachment ON the Table

Bush is not the only one in Washington living in a bubble.

Democratic leaders in Congress -- including and especially Speaker of the House Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid -- are so far up each other's ass that they cannot or will not stand up to this rogue president and his outlaw administration.

What MORE does Bush need to do before they will consider impeachment proceedings?

Reid and Pelosi each took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the US Constitution. They were elected by the people and work for the people.

It is up to US -- the people -- to remind Pelosi and Reid that -- as leaders of the opposition party -- it is their DUTY to protect the citizens from the Bush crime family.

Ignoring that duty is tantamount to charges of conspiracy and/or accessory after the fact.

And if we the people let these corrupt and cynical politicians get away with ignoring Bush's illegal acts -- like warrantless wiretapping, torture and extraordinary rendition, turning the Justice Department and other non-partisan governmental departments into an arm of the GOP, violating the Constitution and International laws, waging unjust wars, polluting the environment, lying under oath, dangerous executive orders and signing statements and more -- then we, too, are just as responsible for the death of our freedoms.

Pelosi and Reid will feel perfectly fine about doing nothing unless you tell them you are out here watching and waiting for them to take action.

Here is how to contact them**:

Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-4965 or email

Harry Reid: (202) 224-3542 or email

Are Reid and Pelosi afraid of the political fallout? Are they thinking strategically that keeping Bush in office will somehow help Democrats take back the Congress and the White House?

Are they NUTS?

Either Pelosi and Reid are timid little mice, STUPID or they are Manchurian Candidates -- put in office to help the GOP dismantle our Democracy.

Either way, they gotta change their ways or GO!

If Reid and Pelosi think they are better off waiting out the clock until January 2009, they will reinforce perceptions that they really are spineless wimps.

Whatever their stated or hidden reasons for ignoring their Constitutional duty, we are headed on a course for disaster which will mark the beginning of the end of the "Grand Experiment" called American Democracy.

**If the straight community won't get off their butts and do something about this, we BETTER! After all, our families have MUCH to lose. If another Republican like Bush becomes president and the powers that Bush grabbed are not rescinded by Congress, we stand to lose more than most. Since the GOP sees itself as the party of GOD and aligns itself with the anti-gay movement, as the unclean immoral scapegoat of the fundamentalists, LGBTQ people may be in deep doo doo. Seriously.

For more details about why we need to Impeach BUSH and CHENEY, read this!

Banning Books for Jesus

We read with interest an article about a Florida mother, Laura Lopez, who wants the school district where her children attend to ban 80 books from the library that, in her feeble mind, "promote sin and lies."

Fortunately, this wing-nut is not being taken seriously and her request has been denied -- twice.

"Lopez admits she hasn't read a single one of the objectionable books cover-to-cover.

In her appeal, she quotes scripture and blames the Columbine school shootings, drugs, bullies, teenage pregnancy and other ills on what she considers the removal of God from schools.

She targets literary genres ranging from reference books to short stories. Among the books she wants removed are "Medical Ethics: Moral and Legal Conflicts in Health Care," "Warriors of God: Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin in the Third Crusade," "Coping When a Parent is Gay" and "The Cider House Rules," a John Irving novel about a rural doctor who runs an orphanage and performs illegal abortions."

Don't think for one minute that this is merely an amusing, yet rare case of modern-day Puritanism!

In 2005, a Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen, who believes homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle, drafted a bill that would prohibit public school libraries from purchasing "new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters." Allen says he does not think his bill is about censorship, but rather, he "looks at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."

According to the American Library Association, between 1990 and 2000, of the 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, 515 were related to "material with a homosexual theme or “promoting homosexuality,” (up 18 since 1999).

"Seventy-one percent of the challenges were to material in schools or school libraries. Another twenty-four percent were to material in public libraries. Sixty percent of the challenges were brought by parents, fifteen percent by patrons, and nine percent by administrators."

And even with the Democratic victory in the November 2006 election, America is still sliding toward theocracy:

How do we know this?

For starters, George W. Bush believes himself in some way to be speaking for God; the Republican Party is primarily representative of religious zealots; with the help of the Republican Party religious fanatics have conquered the Supreme Court, they use the nation's churches to spread their fear and propaganda; the theocrats in government pass legislation that is promoted by religion and religious leaders; and the Bush White House implements programs and policy that are to be driven by religious motivations and biblical worldviews.

Progressive Americans need to stay on top of these "silly" stories of crazy wing-nuts who want to control everything about our lives -- including what we do in the bedroom -- while they worship elected officials -- many of whom are hypocrites (who invade innocent countries, sleep with young boys and/or call girls as they preach about morality) who support mean-spirited legislation depriving LGBTQ families of our fundamental rights.

Like the bumper sticker says:

If You're Not Outraged, You're NOT Paying Attention!

Countdown Special Comment: Bush, Cheney Should Resign

Happy Birthday USA.

Today we are turning over this space to Mr. Olbermann. Please take 10 minutes to watch and listen to his Special Comment.

For now, free speech remains one of more potent remedies against the rising tide of NEOCON FACISM.

Celebrate the Nation's Birthday and enjoy a taste of free speech while it lasts!

Oh yes, and PLEASE, pass on the link to this blog to everyone you know.

'Single-Issue Extremists'

A few days ago, CBS news reported that the Alabama Homeland Security Department web site listed Single Issue Extremists -- like Gay Rights Advocates -- as potential terrorists. Many Blogs are now discussing this issue but without looking at or linking together all of the seemingly unrelated stories about the recent directive signed by un-President Bush and plans for building FEMA camps, etc. One reader suggested that we include into the mix the issues of global warming and genetically modified food since she feels that there may be a need to create a health disaster to justify the killing off of many unwanted people. No need for gas chambers if mass murder can be blamed on an "Act of God" or "Mother Nature."


Maybe we are getting paranoid or just going crazy... BUT we never dreamed our Government could become so corrupt in such a short time and while everyone was watching...

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Are YOU a Terrorist?

According to the web site, 'Terrorism Awareness and Prevention'

"Law enforcement often feels the greatest terrorist threat is from “single issue” or “special interest” groups."

These groups include:

• Environmentalists
• Animal Rights
• Pro-Life
• Anti-Nuclear/Anti-War
• Gay Rights
• Anti-Geneticists (opposed to genetically altered crops)

I don't know about you, but under this criteria, almost everyone I know -- including myself -- is a potential terrorist!

This 'single issue group = terrorist' definition is not limited to this particular web site... yesterday, CBS News reported that the Alabama State Homeland Security Department's web site (until they removed it on Friday) also listed Gay Rights Activists as potential terrorists.

The page had said, "Single issue extremists often focus on issues that are important to all of us. However, they have no problem crossing the line between legal protest and change and illegal acts, to include even murder, to succeed in their goals. In many communities, law enforcement officials feel that these groups offer the greatest organized threat to the community."

The Terrorism Awareness and Prevention web site even offers an interactive quiz so you can test your terrorism knowledge base.

As we reported last week, this information should be considered along with other news about the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive recently signed by Bush, as well as the building of FEMA camps not only as proof that our Constitutional rights are quickly deteriorating, but also that we are in very deep doo-doo.

It is now clear that the neo-cons, along with right-wing fundamentalist religious groups and the military industrial complex have teamed up to create a Government -- that in a post September 11 world -- has declared that anyone who exercises their Constitutional right to freedom of speech and assembly is a "Domestic Terrorist."

We've GOT to pay attention to what this crowd is up to and do something about it. The question is WHAT and WHEN? When is it too late to stop the madness? Are we like the proverbial frog in a stew pot with the temperature rising so subtly that we will not sense when it is too late to jump out and save ourselves?

Please note that these web sites are NOT the work of crazed and paranoid fringe groups! They are published and sanctioned by various states and federal governmental agencies and their message is clear:

If you belong to one or more of these groups, YOU, too, might be a Terrorist!

Terrorists Throughout the Ages: A Rogue's Gallery of Misfits and Malcontents from Across History and Today.

Bush To Be Dictator In A Catastrophic Emergency

Is George W. Bush setting up a scenario to justify the suspension of the 2008 elections by creating (or letting happen) a catastrophe on US soil that would give him Constitutional authority to remain President beyond his 8 year term??

If you think this sounds paranoid, read on!

According to an article in Global Research by Lee Rogers (read it here), Bush recently signed a National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive that will empower him, in such an "emergency" to suspend the balance of power granted by the Constitution. Rather than co-equal branches of government, Bush -- as President -- will have the authority to "coordinate" the Congressional and Judicial branches. As usual, this directive does not result from the legislature. It is an executive order. No oversight.

According to Rogers:

"The directive defines a “Catastrophic Emergency” as the following.

"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

So what does this mean? This is entirely subjective and doesn’t provide any real concrete definition of what such an emergency would entail. Assuming that it means a disaster on the scale of the 9/11 attacks or Katrina, there is no question that the United States at some point in time will experience an emergency on par with either of those events. When one of those events takes place, the President will be a dictator in charge of ensuring a working constitutional government."

What's all this got to do with the LGBTQ Community? PLENTY! Today, environmentalists are prosecuted as "terrorists" -- FEMA is setting up camps in case of a homeland emergency... If right-wing fanatics like James Dobson continue to consult with the President/dictator-for-life, perhaps we will begin to see a rise in fundamentalist-inspired anti-gay violence in this country.

The time to start paying attention is NOW!

Democrats Backing Down on Troop Withdrawal Date

We hate to admit it but... Pat Buchanan is right about the Democrats!

Recently on Scarborough Country, we heard Buchanan say that unlike Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress would cave and completely fund the war because they "do not have the courage of their convictions."

And then yesterday, we read this in the Houston Chronicle:

"Congressional Democrats relented Tuesday on their insistence that a war spending measure set a date for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Instead, they moved toward a deal with President Bush that would impose new conditions on the Iraqi government."

Americans voted the Democrats into the majority last fall to put a stop to this madness! Why are they caving on the issue of setting a timetable? Do they think we are stupid? Do they believe we will do nothing?

TAKE ACTION AND TELL CONGRESS NO MORE BLANK CHECKS!

UPDATE: MoveOn sent the following email which we urge you to read and take action on!

MoveOn Opposes Iraq Bill -- Urges All Democrats to Vote Against

Statement by Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director

Voters elected Democrats in November to lead the way out of the mess in Iraq, but the supplemental bill to be voted on this week won't end the war.

There are no real timelines or real accountability for the Bush administration -- just a blank check for an endless war.

A vote for this bill is a vote to continue President Bush's failed Iraq policy, and we'll be urging every last member of Congress to vote against it.

MoveOn members are asking us to consider all options for Democratic members of congress who ran on ending the war but vote for more chaos and more troops in Iraq -- including in-district advertising and recruitment of primary challengers.

And we'll work hard so that Republicans who refuse to listen to the country on Iraq face a great political backlash in their home districts.

In an email this morning, MoveOn encouraged all 3.2 million of its members to urge Congress to vote no. In part, the email reads: "Every single Democrat must vote against this bill. This is a key test vote on whether your representative is serious about ending the war." The email was sent by MoveOn's Nita Chaudhary.