Bill Clinton to fundraise for [Heath] Shuler.

I thought Joe the P would be booted after he said that McCain sickened him. No such luck. WTF kind of country is this that this guy still has a platform?

Morning all,
Well it was supposed to start snowing here around noon. Wondering why everything was white when I woke up. I need coffee.
195 hrs & 56 min

Here in CNY, we have bitter temperatures forecast for this week. Bitter, bitter cold.
Now off to the office with it’s poor heating system. Will be wearing multiple layers of clothing.

Ye gods will the DLC never give up.

I don’t like the sound of this.

BT. Surely this is no surprise. This administration has been both overtly and covertly breaking the law for years, has committed many impeachable offenses and the Dems have done squat. Why would we think they would do a damn thing now, the chance to nail the bastards cleanly with Impeachment has passed. The Dems, who by the way are owned by the same people as the repubs, do not give a sweet damn as long as the rich get richer and the poor get f****d. Come Jan 20th the only thing we are doing is changing the CEO.

We had competing rallies in Denver yesterday. One group carrying Israeli flags the other carrying Palestinian flags. I was wondering if wingnuttia was going to go all bonkers as they did with those who carried Mexican flags not to long ago.
195 hrs & 48 min

Obama sounds rather *off* with his statements. He says he doesn’t condone torture but says we need to *look forward* (Another phrase I detest).

Isn’t doing nothing, condoning?

There is less than a year left before another national political party can be formed and up running before the next congressional elections. Someone who cares better get humping straightaway.

It wasn’t supposed to snow here but between 6 A.M. and 7A.M. it covered the ground.

I’ve branched out from “WTF kind of country” to “What a species!” I really get weary of our species sometimes.

If i were him or anyone in his administration I’d keep my mouth shut about my intentions until the White House was safely vacated and ready for its new occupants and key people were sworn in.

This makes what, three?

LMAO.

As i have said before I am looking forward to punishing the criminals of the Bush administration so that someone in the future is tempted to go there again.
195 hrs & 38 min

Funny you should say that. We had a meeting just yesterday on that very subject.

The Progressives are a diverse lot with little State by State organization but it is a place to start. Act Blue is by far the best way, as far as I can see, to gain seats at all levels of government for like minded people. So maybe the thing to do is concentrate on getting as many Progressives in as we can and see if that leads to a break in the Democratic Party allowing the DLCers to go hump CT Joe and the rest of us to promote true left wing politics.

Mornin’, pups

More pix from the Free Palestine rally in Orlando on Saturday. In the YouTube mashup at about 1:26 the heavy set man with a pony tail is Rev Bruce Wright, founder and head of The Refuge of St Pete, a grassroots homeless program.

It was supply and demand that drove the price of oil up – demand for futures!

It’s time to junk the futures market and the hedging of prices. That didn’t work out too well for those who ran out and bought fuel at inflated prices because they were hedging against the anticiapation of even higher prices.

Let’s stop the BS and get these risk managers a real job. STOP the trading of paper – all sorts of paper. That’s why we have the mess we have.

I missed this. Didn’t even know about it. I gotta get on somebody’s e-mailing list.

…and then will take questions. The President is looking forward to discussing the important events of the last eight years as well as issues in the news today.”

can’t decide whether this will be the longest press conference ever, or the shortest.

Depends on whether it’s *georgie’s* versions of the important events (or at least the ones he’s aware of) – or the real ones, I guess.

There is a place for futures if we are going to retain the capitalist system. Let us not throw the baby out with the bath water. Regardless of the endeaver there is those who would abuse it. Punish the abusers.
195 hrs & 18 min

I caught Steve Kroft’s piece on 60 Minutes last night.

He made the point of the oil deregulation into commodities markets being the same as what happened with Enron in the California energy “crises”.

And that the deregulation took place in 2000…when Bush took office.

Ken Lay, CEO of Enron, is in the Bush inner circle.

Anyone else see a pattern here??

that 60 minutes clip is a hoot – as in a joke. all that shit was being explained (and better) by hugh BEFORE the price of oil crashed.

Let’s not preserve the capitalist system. It moves all the wealth to the capitalists – wealth created by workers. Fair?

thanks!

another protest at my rep’s office today.

Believe me, plenty of oil companies were involved in commodities speculation through their “brokers” to gin the price up and they could claim they played no part.

Bookmark the link I used. St Pete for Peace will have all events in FL posted. We’re part of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition and participate in all their events.

Orlando PD said 1,200 people. That’s a really good turniuyt for here. (There were 50 counter demonstrators).

will do. you were there?

That would be hard to prove if it’s all done in secret, as Kroft reported.

Ken Lay indeed was in the Bush inner circle. Unfortunately he died before spending a day in jail. This is my fear about Cheney.
195 hrs & 11 min

That seems a dead end plan, just when does the break occur? after the next election? Both Republican AND Democratic labels are worthless. Progressive is a nebulous and carries no message. Pick a name that will scare the hell out of the opposition. Populist would do it, carries the scare factor of communist or socialist but without the baggage. The opposition has no handle on what it is, their scare tactics will implode on them. Populist is about opposite corporatist as you can get. What you are suggesting will result in more of the same. An absolute break is the only way forward. Let the loosers keep their Republican or Democrat designations. (Democrat is used as contemptuous of DLC blue dog DINO’s)

Unfortunely, no.

And that the deregulation took place in 2000…when Bush took office.

bush took office in 2001 – not 2000. i expect he was talking about the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 which among other things included the enron loophole.

sorry to say that was clinton’s watch. i’ve got a partial timeline on the financial regulation/deregulation with some of the details.

Pardon my faux pas–

got any evidence? don’t doubt it’s likely, but that’s not the same thing. thanks.

Gees o pete, I’m batting 0 this morning. Time to go back to bed.

Does Lou Dobbs consider himself a populist?
195 hrs & 7 min

We were all harping on the speculators while Wall St and the oil barons were pooh-poohing that as nonsense. These people wouldn’t know the truth if it put a foot up their ass.

Thanks…those numbers are looking better & better.

As a cover for his neoconservativism.

haven’t a clue, what is a lou dobbs?

Hey no biggie. Don’t sweat the small stuff. *g*
195 hrs & 3 min

you but not everyone. after krugman, iirc, came out explaining why it was not speculation, there was more than a little, um, discussion in these threads…. *g*

i feel kinda bad because i didn’t start paying attention until sometime last spring and it took hugh far too much effort to convince me.

SPFP says 2000. After all these years I trust our figures rather than any “official” figures.

So maybe he can get a job with the Obama administration.

tell you what – you don’t keep count on me, and i won’t keep count on you. deal?

OUCH!

If Populist doesn’t suit, use Socialist, but it has handles that can be used from the propaganda used against the position.

LMAO. Deal!

Some days…you’re the windshield

Some days..you’re the bug

Today, I’m a bug.

*g*

Christy is upstairs…

I’m halfway through Conscience of a Liberal. Krugman at times is a puzzle. His chapter on movement conservatives ties a lot of things together into a cohesive whole. I wonder why he was reluctant to see the price of oil fiasco as speculator based.

Oh, and thanks much for the timeline. I’ve bookmarked it to go over it later.

Kelly O’Donnell saying that georgie wants to use this last press conference to “get all of his final thoughts out”.

So – starts at 9:15, over by 9:16. Then “questions” from the always vigilant WH press corpse.

RevBev,
I assume you saw/heard the news about the President of the denomination?

oh yeah. the organizers usually have a decent idea beforehand what the size will be.

Geez, it’s Monday already.

Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.

Israel, get the fuck out of Palestine!

Namaste

I had, but only briefly. Thanks for the link….are you psychic or have we had previous denom. conversation? Sorry if I have forgotten.

Palin/Dobbs? Dobbs/Palin?

This is NOT an official Lou Dobbs and/or CNN Website.
It is a website for all Americans! Republican, Democrat, third party, or independent, everyone. It is a website that will focus on why the United States of America needs Lou Dobbs as its next President, and how we can help draft Lou Dobbs to actually run for the highest office in the land. Thank you for stopping by and please help spread the word about this website and that we truly do need Lou Dobbs for President.

http://www.loudobbs4president.com/

I don’t disagree with you at all, and I do like Populist (I would prefer Socialist but that will not work in America, yet).

It is interesting that in my State, NH, there are only two parties officially recognized! Of course present system has the decked stacked against upstart parties. The Green Party, unfortunately, has had way too many bad stories in the MSM and so have become a laughing stock in some circles.

As the leadership of the present Dem Party is wholly owned by the same corps that own the goopers changing the Party from the inside is problematic.

Maybe Helen Thomas and the rest will throw shoes?

You mentioned it one night when I (and I believe DrDick) both stated we had been raised CC (DoC)

I am thinking Obama will give her her chair back right away…we should remind him.

OT

selise, in response to our dialogue about Juan Cole’s post yesterday. My point was made by the quote you linked to:

On the Uselessness of Street Protest;
And the Usefulness of Web 2.0 Lobbying

This kind of headline about large street protests against the Israeli attack on Gaza annoys me no end.

The mechanisms are well known whereby the Israeli Right* is able to engage in this cavalier disregard for civilian life (and, some are saying possible occasional targeting of civilians.

I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t matter if tens of thousands of people demonstrate in Paris. Oh,it might put a little pressure on Sarkozy to remonstrate a little harder with the Israeli government, but in the larger scheme of things it isn’t very significant.

(my bold)

…but in the larger scheme of things… then he goes on to explain what the larger “scheme” is (AIPAC molding US policy through political influence and $$$) and suggests a strategy that would be more powerful than protesting, from the viewpoint of the “flow of power”.

From this perspective and from my own context as a peace protestor and peace educator, I think we have to agree to disagree. Cole has and new perspective and it could be right.

Cole gets the bigger picture of the flow of power and how to move to the next level of protesting and organize a powerful political lobby for peace. That is novel and quite “a chess move” from a peace protest perspective.

It is somewhat like a group of people looking at a river. Many see water and two riverbanks, perhaps the current. Someone in the same group, may see force and power and the flow of power and how to make it a source of advantage. Cole is addressing the flow of power and what would be THE most effective move irt such power for building influence on peace policy. He uses some great historical context to make his point.

The difficult move for those of us who are protestors, is the thought of creating a “next level” power move through a tool like lobbying. Lobbying has such a slimy-unethical-political-status quo kind of character interpretation… Although, Strangebedfellows is honestly, a move towards lobbying. I support Strangbedfellows. Cole is basically suggesting the same concept to counter-balance the role of AIPAC in our politics. This is worth serious consideration.

Now, I will agree with you, protesting has it’s place in history and in effectiveness, especially if it has economic impact. This country was built on protesting…and I still like Tea Parties. And utilizing both a peace lobby and protesting (as we both agreed) would be the best.

Cole just wants a “smarter” Tea Party and he put this argument into context.

Remarkable…thanks for remembering. W coming up right now…get the shoes. ;)

i’ve got to read that book. krugman has been wrong on other stuff, i think he used to be a pretty neoliberal dlc type. but writing about the bush administration has radicalized him. dontcha know, he became shrill!

i like shrill krugman much better.

klynn, i didn’t disagree with either you or cole on all the other good stuff that needs to be done. my point was only that it is not an either/or question and that in my opinion BOTH are valuable and significant. that’s not what cole wrote. his larger scheme of things is far too narrow imo.

furthermore i don’t think what cole is saying is new (although i do think it is useful if he would just quit with the false choice thing). btw, i’m going mostly off of what i’ve read from gene sharp and especially bill moyer. if you think they are wrong, could you direct me to some additional reading? thanks.

So here’s news — to me, anyway — Gene Robinson, the first openly-gay Episcopalian bishop, will give the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial inaugural event which is the kickoff event for inauguration week.

The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com

I opened DIGG. (sorry, transfer of URL inoperative)

Of course Sharp and Moyer are very important reads on the subject.

I also suggest Dr. Irwin Abrams and Dr. Charles Chatfield. Chatfield has written a great deal on the history of peace protesting. Both are my mentors.

sorry selise, 68 was a response to you @ 65. The reply didn’t post when I submitted.

got it thanks.

i’m mad as hell right now because cole’s piece is being used as a reason why we shouldn’t protest – i kid you not i just got it in my email, it was sent to the entire list to argue that we shouldn’t bother with today’s protest.

and i’m also personally frustrated by some of what you wrote, for example: “The difficult move for those of us who are protestors, is the thought of creating a “next level” power move through a tool like lobbying.”

who’s us? i have been thinking about this stuff. the very first fdl “roots project” visit to a senator’s office was organized by your’s truely. i supported strange bedfellows. i have no problem with lobbying. i’ve been involved in non-protest related actions as well as protest related and i’ve given quite a bit of thought to these issues. doesn’t mean i don’t have it all wrong – i very well could. but why the lecture as though i’ve never given a thought or been involved in any of this?

p.s. in a rush – going to the protest – but wish i’d taken the time to temper my previous comment. would like to continue conversation if we can find a convenient location…. will be looking for you. thanks.

Joe the shill for the Israelis…someone has got to start giving him better quality propaganda..this is so bad it hurts..

The people of Sderot “can’t do normal things day to day” like get soap in their eyes in the shower, for fear of rockets, said America’s most famous plumber, whose real name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher.

“I’m sure they’re taking quick showers,” he said. “I know I would.”

Wurzelbacher’s status as a rookie was evident when he stood in front of a pile of spent rockets and said: “I have thousands of questions but I can’t think of the right one.”

What he could summon was contempt for Israel’s critics, who are outraged by the more than 870 Palestinians killed in Israel’s bruising air and ground onslaught against Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers. Thirteen Israelis have also died since the operation began, including four killed by the rocket fire that touched off the war in the first place.

“Why hasn’t Israel acted sooner?” Wurzelbacher asked. “I know if I were a citizen here, I’d be damned upset.”

He described himself as a “peaceloving man,” but added, “when someone hits me, I’m going to unload on the boy. And if the rest of the world doesn’t understand that, then I’m sorry.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..56978.html