Progress Now Action

Phil Graham former Senator and current Economic advisor to Presidential candidate John Mc Cain, believes we're a nation of whiners. If he were a liberal he'd be accused of hating America. I wouldn't go that far but it does appears Graham hates Americans enough to call them whiners and tell us any economic woes we are experiencing are merely figments of our whining imagination. Can you blame him? After all, a complaint against our economy is a direct attack on the failure of the economic philosophy Graham and his conservative buddies worked so hard to build. He was instrumental in de-regulating the home mortgage industry himself. If you lost your home because you were duped into signing a flexible rate mortgage by being told you could re-do it later, you can thank conservative economics and Phil Graham personally.   Read More »

From David Swanson:

The peace movement has stood for peace and justice, for ending wars, preventing new ones, and building peace. Our top priority in Washington, D.C., has been ending the funding of the occupation. That work is over for the next year, because Congress has provided that funding.

We can still work against recruitment, we can still educate, we can still agitate, we can still oppose an attack on Iran. But one of our secondary priorities in Washington has been imposing a penalty for the illegal attack on Iraq in order to discourage future attacks on Iran or anywhere else.

We have pushed half-heartedly for impeachment,
with our main lobbying focus on cutting off the money.

Now, at the same time that the money is
a done deal for another year,

the possibility of impeachment is beginning to spark. After over two years of declaring impeachment "off the table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has relented and suggested that some sort of preliminary hearing be held in the Judiciary Committee - and specifically on the impeachable offense of misleading a nation into war.

If the peace movement is not just a movement against one war or occupation, but a movement for peace, we should push with everything we've got for that (impeachment) hearing to happen, happen soon, and happen well.

We should ask everyone who cares about peace to phone Pelosi and Committee Chairman John Conyers, as well as their own representatives, whom they should ask to introduce their own articles of impeachment.

We've been on a losing streak, brothers and sisters, and the door is cracking open toward a major victory. Let's open that door fully and lead a peaceful march of millions through it.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34705

PLEASE CALL and demand that Impeachment Hearings be started
BEFORE the Election

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr.: (202) 225-5126
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-4965
And your Congressman:Contact info

Please join our weekly Impeachment Events, see our Calendar on the website ImpeachCO.com or in the Calendar here on ProgressNowAction.org

John H Kennedy, organizer
Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com

..

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
Current mood: inspired
Category: Life


Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
(WAR = EVIL)

THIS IS MY FAVORITE ONE......

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

NO I LIED....these next two are my favorite ones...... I so would go to jail if I had too!!!!

An individual who breaks a law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
Martin Luther King, Jr.


A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.

Agendas within agendas seems to be the theme of the current administration... first we're going to invade and get rid of Saddam Hussain... then we're going to eliminate Al Kaida from Iraq... where it wasn't, then we're going to bring Democracy to the Middle East, as if Israel wasn't enough... Now America is going to convert the heathen Arab while catalyzing Armageddon. When did we become so arrogant as to think we dictate to God when the end will arrive? Ask you local fundamentalist Army, I'm sure they have a pamphlet for it. Article quoted below courtesy of VVAWnet:

"US Military's Middle East Crusade for Christ
by Robert Weitzel

"They are proselytizing not on behalf of the Constitution of the United States . . . but rather on behalf of some sort of fanatical view of end times. And they are using our army to affect that." -Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson

Last August the watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of "freedom packages" to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic "Left Behind" computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels-nonbelievers, Muslims and Jews.

On May 1 the Senate approved the promotion of Brigadier General Robert L. Caslen Jr. to Major General. Currently the commandant of cadets at West Point, he will become the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. He is also president of the stridently fundamentalist Officer's Christian Fellowship, whose vision is a "spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit."

General Caslen was promoted despite the Defense Department's recommended disciplinary action against him and several other senior military leaders because they had "improperly endorsed and participated with a nonfederal entity while in uniform" by participating in a promotional video for the Campus Crusade For Christ's Christian Embassy, an evangelical organization that ministers to Beltway politicians and sponsors weekly Bible studies at the Pentagon.

According to the DoD Inspector General's report, one of the generals involved "asserted that Christian Embassy was treated as an instrumentality of the Pentagon Chaplain's office for over 25 years, and had effectively become a 'quasi federal entity.'" Arguably, he believed his participation in the video was in the line of duty.

Considering both the Pentagon's evangelical proclivity and a 2006 Pew survey which found that of the major religious groups in America, evangelicals have the most negative views of Islam and Muslims, the U.S. sniper who was recently caught using the Quran for target practice in the Baghdad neighborhood of Radhwaniya might be excused for thinking the book was a legitimate target upon which to perfect his craft . . . excused for thinking he was acting in the line duty.

And is it any wonder that with evangelicals and fundamentalists at the very top of the military's officer corps -- to say nothing of their Commander in Chief -- that an enlisted Marine was passing out Christian "witnessing coins" inscribed in Arabic at a checkpoint in Fallujah? One side of the coin asked, "Where will you spend eternity?" An evangelical favorite, John 3:16, was on the flip side.

Sheik Adul-Rahman al-Zubaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah who was outraged by the Marine's proselytizing said, "This event did not happen by chance, but it was planned and done intentionally."

While the Marine's proselytizing is not the official policy of the predominately Christian force occupying the predominately Islamic Iraq, it was done "in the line of duty" with a wink and a nod from his chain of command. Think Abu Ghraib!

>From Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic training facility, where trainees are encouraged to attend Campus Crusade's weekly "God's Basic Training" programs, to the U.S. Air Force Academy where students are pressured to attend the Crusade's weekly "cru" (short for crusade) Bible study, American military personnel are, as Campus Crusade's Scot Blom gloats, "government paid missionaries" when they complete their training.

As the demands of fighting a perpetual war against "radical Islam" begins to strain both the military's resources and the country's resolve, the Pentagon has begun outsourcing larger chunks of the war to private contractors. Predictably, our "government paid missionaries" have become more expensive and much less controllable or accountable.

The Bush administration's favorite contractor, Blackwater, is the most powerful private army in the world. It commands thousands of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, has over a billion dollars in government contracts, and enjoys complete immunity from prosecution for its theater of operations' conduct.

Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, a staunchly conservative Catholic, has also served on the board of directors of Christian Freedom International, a crusading missionary organization operating in the overwhelmingly Islamic countries of Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Prince envisions an evangelical "end time" role for his warriors: "Everybody carries guns, just like Jeremiah rebuilding the temple in Israel -- a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other."

No one in the last decade has contributed more to end time, apocalyptic evangelism than John Hagee, a televangelist seen by millions of viewers weekly and pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church. Hagee preaches that in order to bring about the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture of true believers, Islam first has to be destroyed.

In a 2006 interview with National Public Radio's Terry Gross, Hagee told her, "Those who live by the Quran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews." He went on to claim that there are 200 million Muslims waiting for the chance to attack Israel and the United States. From his pulpit, Hagee makes it clear to his congregation and the radio and television audience what they can expect from American Muslims if such an attack ever took place: "While American Muslims live in America, 82 percent are not loyal to America and are not willing to fight and defend America."

In his book, "Jerusalem Countdown - A Warning to the World," Hagee warns that the war between Islam and the West "is a war that Islam cannot and must not win."

John Hagee is not just a mad evangelizing prophet. He is the mad evangelizing prophet who is courted by a war president, a hawkish presidential candidate and members of Congress from both parties. His Islamophobic bilge has trickled down from Capital Hill, through the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon, and into the chamber of a sniper's rifle and the hand of a Marine guarding a checkpoint in Fallujah.

Officers in the military are expected to lead by example. Enlisted personnel are expected to follow that example. If the recent incidents at Radhwaniya and Fallujah are not just the acts of renegades, then the chain of command seems to be working the way it was designed."


Here's the link: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/09/9510/

On Saturday, July 19 from 1-3 pm Soulforce in Colorado will launch a discussion group exploring the wide-ranging oeuvre of nonviolent theory entitled "Readings in Nonviolence". We will meet at The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (1050 Broadway in Denver). I hope you might consider joining us.

Christopher Hubble   Read More »

Former CO Lt. Gov Gail Schoettler has a great column this week in the Denver Post about John McCain's close association with some pretty hateful "men of God":

One of the best outcomes of this election season just may be the "outing" of preachers who spout hate in the name of religion. Not that this is anything new. For thousands of years, religion has been used by the power-hungry to justify horrors inflicted on others and to whip up fervor against "outsiders" and "non-believers." . . .

In an NPR interview, [McCain ally Pastor John] Hagee said that "All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them."

Hagee also enlightened us about Hurricane Katrina. "God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin."

Then there's the ever-quotable Rev. Pat Robertson, who takes on women as well as gays, Muslims and other disagreeable groups. "The feminist agenda," he said, "is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

These aren't kooks spewing venom about other human beings and religions. They are preachers who have huge audiences in their churches, radio and television programs, and national speaking tours. They continue to influence American politics despite their claim, as Rev. Dobson made recently, that they are not political.

These "men of God" do us a great disservice by trying to mask their hatred in the garb of religion. Rather than focusing on solving problems, they try to whip up fury among their listeners by savagely attacking those who think, act and believe differently from them.

Rev. Wright is not alone. We need to look just as closely at the words of other ministers who preach contempt and hate. In this election year, maybe America will begin to hold all vicious preachers accountable for their loathsome words.

Amen.

Will he keep getting a free ride, or will the media ask him about this:

Broken down by party, 85% of Democrats want our troops home within 6 months, as do 78% of Independents. Why won't Udall listen to his Party's voters?

Oh golly.

Does that mean Udall may have to stop funding
more war?

And save 1,000 US Soldiers from death? Perish the thought.

Does that mean Voters Want Impeachment Hearings too
before the Election as well? ( OK, I'm reaching, but you know they do. We just can't get an honest poll done.)

Perhaps the RMPJC was right to pressure Udall so vigorously to Stop Funding The War? Didn't Udall have some of those old folks arrested for wanting the funding stopped. Nice Guy.

According to an article on Democrats.com by Bob Fertik 68% of Americans want U.S. troops home within 6 months ( Before The Election). This while Congress ( and Udall) considers President Bush's request for another $100 billion for Iraq.

The poll marks a 14% increase from 54% in September.

Only 32% of Republicans want our troops home soon.

Democratic support grew by 15% since September, and Independent support grew by 20%. By contrast, Republican support was unchanged.

The new poll differs slightly from last September's poll because Congressional Democrats ( including Udall?) have proposed giving President Bush $70 billion more than he requested in order to avoid another unpopular funding vote before the November election.

? The Congressional Democrats ( and Udall) want to give Bush $70 Billion additional for more War, more than Bush asked for, just so they (including Udall) can avoid another embarrassing vote for another War Spending Bill just before the election?

Go here for the entire article.

Congress (and Udall) fiddle while Soldiers die. Disgusting.

I agree with Udall on a great deal but stopping the funding for the Iraq War and holding Impeachment Hearings prior to the Election are non-negotiable.

The only way we Democratic Voters will get our Democratic Congressmen to do what we want is to ruthlessly Hold Them Accountable.

I think Udall has a sworn duty (by Oath of Office) to protect the Constitution and call for immediate Impeachment Hearings prior to the Election. Call it his Congressional report card.

If he doesn't stop the funding for the war and doesn't Call For impeachment Hearings prior to Nov. 4,
he doesn't get to be Senator. Simple!

If he loves the troops and respects our Constitution he will do both.

John H Kennedy, organizer
Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com

Weekly Impeach Rallys Every Saturday at East 6th and Speer in Denver from Noon to 1:00 pm. We have lots of Impeach Signs. Just show up and help us carry them. Its Fun!!!

Hey!  Is anybody going to the 60th Annual Conference on World Affairs?

The Sixtieth Annual
Conference on World Affairs
University of Colorado at Boulder
April 7– 11, 2008

The Conference on World Affairs was founded in 1948, originally as a forum on international affairs. CWA expanded rapidly to encompass the arts, media, science, diplomacy, technology, environment, spirituality, politics, business, medicine, human rights, and so on. Roger Ebert, who holds a record of thirty-seven consecutive years of participation in the CWA, refers to the event as “the Conference on Everything Conceivable.”

Each April, 110 participants representing a wide range of backgrounds gather in Boulder—a beautiful college town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains—for what The New York Times calls “a week-long extravaganza of discussion and debate” on over 200 non-academic, interdisciplinary panels, plenaries and performances.

Conference participants discuss issues on an impromptu basis—a refreshing alternative to the specialized gatherings of academia and the business world. Molly Ivins, a frequent participant over 25 years, wrote that CWA offers “whole new ways of looking at old questions and information that can transform the way you look at things.”

 

I posted a brief note here stating that Udall was supporting impeachment which linked to a page on our website
that just said "April Fool".

It was censored and deleted. This is not the first time the PNA staff has deleted postings which made comments about Udall that they did not like.

Is PNA's staff losing it's sense of humor or is only their version of progressive speech allowable on this website?

Is this organization really progressive if they censor opposing views?

What do you think?

NOTE: We are having our Saturday protest early so we all can attend Udall's Idea Raiser at 1 pm at East High School at 1545 Detroit in Denver. We will try to bring up the subject of impeachment.

You all should attend too.


We heard that Senator Salazar wants to Impeach Judge Nottingham and couldn't wait to comment on
todays article in the Denver Post online.

To be fair we invited Senator Salazar and Congressman Udall
to join our Impeach Cheney Protest this Saturday
at East 6th and Speer at 11:30-12:15 pm
to hear the honking of voters that want accountability for Cheney through Impeachment.

You all are welcome to join us and bring your friends.
We have Impeach signs for you all to carry.

And if you can't stop but are in the central Denver area
drive through the intersection of East 6th and Speer repeatedly
and HONK FOR THE US CONSTITUTION.

See Ya Saturday Noon

John H Kennedy, organizer of the
Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com

..

Heathen Alert: Colorado Springs fails to sponsor Easter Service by: Zappatero 03/19/08 @ 10:09:29 AM MDT (Why must they make Baby Jesus cry? - promoted by johne)

There have been no takers in the sponsorship of a long standing Easter Service traditionally held in Garden of the Gods each year:

No Colorado Springs church or group has booked public land on Easter Sunday morning for the service, said Paul Butcher, director of the city's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

OMG, and I friggin' mean it! No New Life Church, whose very name implies the rebirth of Christ? No way: they have a highly profitable schedule of shows to put on. Mega-Jesus doesn't live on faith alone.

From the 1920s till 2002, the Easter sunrise service was held in the Garden of the Gods. But parking problems and the cost of renting stages, shuttling in worshippers and supplying portable toilets became too expensive for sponsors.

Will the hurricanes, lighting bolts and floods of a wrathful God consume Colorado Springs for its lack of faith? Are we to believe all the self-righteous in Fort Dobson, who say they believe, yet can't be bothered?

(h/t to SquareState.net) 

A little backstory: I was raised Southern Baptist. Even though I pointedly don't follow the strict tenets of this strictest of Protestant faiths anymore, I'm proud to say that I still have a good Baptist sense of what's icky, and imperious judgmentalism about all such icky things. I always use the paper toilet shields in public bathrooms because I'm pretty sure it would be a sin not to. And I am completely--completely--unable to dance. In most other areas, a good education has given me perspective beyond the presumptuous and subjective Christian worldview.

Which is not to say that there aren't a great many smart Baptists, despite theological differences worthy of respect and friendship. And here and there, in little ways, we see some Christians trying to find a way to reconcile the realities of our 21st century world with their faith. How happy to see them rejecting the misguided notion that "when the last tree is cut down, Jesus will return."

Southern Baptist leaders shift position on climate change

Several prominent leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention said Monday that Baptists have a moral responsibility to combat climate change -- a major shift within a denomination that just last year cast doubt on human responsibility for global warming.

Forty-six influential members of the Southern Baptist Convention, including three of its past four presidents, criticized their denomination in a statement Monday for being "too timid" in confronting global warming.

"Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed," the statement says. "We can do better."

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, adopted a resolution last year urging Baptists to "proceed cautiously in the human-induced global warming debate in light of conflicting scientific research." The resolution said "many scientists reject the idea of catastrophic human-induced global warming."

On Monday, however, dozens of Southern Baptist leaders expressed a different view.

"There is general agreement among those engaged with this issue in the scientific community," their statement says. "A minority of sincere and respected scientists offer alternate causes for global climate change other than deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels."

The signatories pledged to do their part to fight global warming "without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or our responsibility to address it. Humans must be proactive and take responsibility for our contributions to climate change -- big and small."

Important, and to be encouraged for the good of all of us. I know, you're dying to get into a civil conversation with an evangelical Christian so you can segue over to "why do you think all but 800 million people on Earth today are going to burn in hell," or "how did Cain get a wife," but take baby steps--and welcome our Baptist friends into a slightly more reasonable fold.

I am a consultant in development economics, so I travel internationally a lot. Currently I am in West Africa. This exposure gives me a special perspective on our elections.

To the world, America is not just another country - it is an Idea. That Idea embodies all the words that we throw around in our political discourse - opportunity, justice, democracy, inclusion, tolerance. So this election is about the Idea of America. (Don't get me wrong. I have met no one so naïve as to think the reality always measures up to the ideal. People understand all about bigotry, abuse of power, kleptocracy, corruption and injustice. But these facts on the ground do not overcome the Idea.)

One of the many tragedies of the Bush-Cheney years is that this Idea of America is on the verge of being extinguished in the eyes of the world. America is increasingly seen as guided by self-righteous self-interest. Big, dangerous, disrespectful, selfish, threatening and bullying. Bush and Cheney have turned America into just another country.

So the issue here is not Hillary Clinton's question of which candidate crosses the threshold to be Commander-in-Chief. The issue is which candidate crosses the threshold to shift America from the pursuit of self-righteous self-interest back to the Idea of America. Which candidate most recognizes that our national self-interest is best furthered by embracing the Idea that America represents, that leadership means having a willing following, not one cajoled into obedient ranks by threats and bribery; one that recognizes our mutual global interdependence, not beggar-my-neigbor and go it alone.

The world is following our election very closely. People may not understand our political process very well, with primaries and caucuses and all that. But they understand that democracy is in action. We are in a process that is being watched by cab drivers, waitresses, street vendors and panhandlers from Abuja to Yerevan and from Nassau to Addis Ababa.

If we show the world that Americans can use democracy to restore the Idea of America, all God's children will be dancing in the streets.

I commented on this article in the 03-09-08 Denver Post on Bush's veto of the Anti-Torture Bill as follows.   Read More »

How foolish it was to oppose annexation of Union in Longmont. Those of us that were in favor made the case that if Longmont didn't annex, someone would. And that's EXACTLY what's going to happen. Now, the development will go as planned...and Longmont won't get a cent of the sales tax revenue. Firestone's trustees can see what amazing potential this development has. Shame on us, and how naive of the anti-union group to think that if they could stop Longmont from annexing, that the developers would just give up on the idea. Way to go...if Longmont had annexed, not only would we have gotten the tax revenue, but we'd also have had a say in the design of the development AND we would have been able to keep space between our town and our neigbors. Now, we'll have another city camping on our doorstep. Nice job, you all should be VERY proud.

March 1, 2008

To: Commissioners of the Colorado High School Activities Association

I agree with Senator Peter Groff that your decision to require the Herzl Academy team to play basketball on Saturday afternoon is "despicable." Your public intractability is also arrogant, imperious, bigoted, and hypocritical!

This is not a religious issue. It is an issue of fairness and respect. It's unfortunate the non-Jewish high school athletes weren't courageous enough to say they would not play if Herzl didn't play. (Yes, I know Herzl was eliminated.)

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed, an injustice to one is injustice to all. I'm proud and grateful we have Bruce DeBoskey and Senator Groff who will stand up for what is right and just.

You commissioners are a disgrace. You owe the people of Colorado and Herzl Academy a full and PUBLIC apology.


David P. Felice
gelato321@aol.com
4035 East 18th Avenue
Denver CO 80220-1016

COPY TO:
Sen. Peter Groff
Anti-Defamation League, Mountain States
ProgressNowAction.org

pangelico@chsaa.org
rblanfordgreen@chsaa.org
bborgmann@chsaa.org
chowell@chsaa.org
tmcintire@chsaa.org
trobinson@chsaa.org

Fellow Democrats, I am very, very concerned. I think that, if we don't properly handle our nomination process over the next month, we could lose ALL of the support and good will gained with voters since 2006.

The issue that could undo us involves the Super Delegates to the national convention, and the Cognitive Dissonance they may create.

Before I go further, let me tell you about my background. I was an elected county party secretary from 2000 - 2002. I was a member of both county and state central and executive committees. I also ran for the state senate.

Now, let me tell you all a secret.

To read the rest of the blog entry, click here:
http://liberalnn.blogspot.com/

Step up, don't be shy!

We just had the gold-medal award-winning record-breaking GOP-freaking fantastically amazing caucus turn-out of all time (so far).

There are swarms of new bees buzzing! NOW, how do we keep them active and making honey for the election in the fall?

Let's all think of some ideas, and don't worry about whether someone else will think they are the best ideas ever. Just...share them. The thing about ideas is that often they generate MORE ideas. And one that might not totally work where I live (rural and red) could be perfect for Pueblo or awesome for Alamosa.

I'll start. We are going to harvest the emails and PO addresses our county collected at the caucuses, and use those to start a 'known active' mailing list. It was pretty expensive to mail a postcard to every Dem household in our county, but mailing a few hundred postcards before other events? Doable.

An idea I want to promote down here is to start up some committees new people can join. Bake sale contributers? Someone to work a MONTHLY voter registration table? (Maybe combine those two ideas? Register people AND sell them cookies?)

I once read something about how to be happy: you need something to do, something to care about and something to hope for.

The way I see it, we Dems have the power to help a LOT of people get happy!

So first...ideas!

Your turn!

Alan forwarded this Dobson email to me:

"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.

"But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."

There you have it folks. Will we see a resurrection of Gary Bauer's quixotic candidacy?

Alan adds: don't be fooled into thinking this is an authentic display of moral conviction. Nothing of the kind--most of Dobson's complaints about McCain aren't related to the core "morality" planks Dobson hangs his hat on at all.

For example, when Dobson talks about "free speech" with McCain what he's really talking about is McCain's hated tendency to support reform of political campaign financing, something Dobson learned a great deal about as he toured the country the last few election cycles shadowing various Republican campaigns.

He doesn't like McCain because McCain wouldn't take part in the worst of Senate Republican judicial maneuverings to force corrupt or extremist (or both) candidates into federal judgeships.



And he doesn't like McCain because he "uses foul language."

No, the real problem here is the same problem all the GOP insiders have with McCain: though perhaps crazy, he doesn't play by their crony moneybag rules. So Dobson will sit 2008 out, and maybe all of American plutocracy with him.

Cool by me.