See my shopping spree below (I got you universal health care, but I couldn't find a bow big enough to fit).
I made a movie, funded schools and teachers, and bought myself a secret island fortress, and still had almost half a billion left to burn to celebrate the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
A growing number of active duty soldiers or recent Iraq war veterans are speaking up about the war in Iraq.
And with the number of soldiers speaking up about their experiences in Iraq via online forums, blogs and pamphlets, some vets feel it's their duty to let the American public know the truth.
"The honest truth is that if the American people knew what was going on over there everyday, they would be raising their voices too. They would be saying, 'Hey, bring those guys home," Sgt. Selena Coppa said.
Coppa blames lawmakers in Washington for filtering the facts on the war in Iraq. She said there's no real end in sight.
There will be a great debate as November approaches over who is a "fiscal conservative" and who is a "tax and spend liberal".
It is highly likely someone will throw the words "transcendent challenge" into the conversation, and that got me to thinking...what if there were other "transcendent challenges" besides "islamo-facism-scary-monster-gonna-get-us"?
Then my thoughts went further (always a dangerous step), and I found myself asking: if we hadn't of spent that $2.4 trillion on one transcendent challenge, what else could we have done with the money?
Some of today's answers are serious, some are maddening, some are silly...and all of it is our tax dollars in action. (Well, to be fair, it's not all ours. Our kids and grandkids will be chipping in, too.)
One of the resolutions that got killed Saturday was the one that would have put a referendum on Iraq on the primary ballot. This was the second round in the fight to get the Iraq referendum on the ballot. The Iraq referendum resolution had already passed the Resolutions Committee at the last SDEC meeting a few months ago and it was even brought up to the full SDEC meeting back then. It would have passed the full SDEC then, but it was unnecessarily tabled at that earlier meeting because party leaders were ignorant of the Texas statute that allowed the SDEC to put referendums on the ballot. They had to go look up the statute after the meeting and then found out that the grassroots activists were right and the SDEC could put referendums on the ballot just by a vote of the SDEC. It is unbelievable that the party tabled the proposal on such a lame motion. The parliamentarian or the person chairing the meeting should have been aware of the rules and allowed a vote on the resolution. Such ignorance of the rules is a joke. We need to elect party leaders at the next convention who have a basic understanding of state laws pertaining to party business.
Thanks to the undemocratic refusal of party insiders to allow a vote, the resolution failed to pass a second time last weekend. So now there will be no referendum on Iraq on the Texas Democratic Party ballot. I wanted to find out what happened, so tonight I called a few people on the phone. Madeleine Dewar, a member of the SDEC and one of the official sponsors of the Vote Us Out of Iraq resolution, called the meeting a "disaster" and said that she had the thirty two votes needed to pass the resolution in advance of the meeting. Scott Cobb, who initiated the campaign, last summer to get the referendum on the ballot said: "In California, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that had passed the California legislature on Aug 31 to put a referendum on Iraq on the ballot in California. The Texas Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself for acting like Schwarzenegger and preventing a referendum on Iraq from being on the ballot."
As I reported in a recent story, I was fortunate enough to have a talk with my Member of Congress, Dave Reichert, regarding the "surge".
While we disagreed with many aspects of his (and my) interpretation of events, there was one valid point he made that deserves a detailed response: that Democrats cannot articulate a path forward that could be reasonably expected to reduce the chances of "the bloodshed and chaos" that is so ominously predicted in so many quarters.
My goal today is to reach way outside the conventional thinking to offer such a path.
Every once in a while, serendipity provides a gift to those who answer its call.
But like a cat, you must be always ready; and that's why I decided to turn around and see what was going on under the tent perched on the corner of the vacant lot this afternoon.
What was going on was that Republican Congressman Dave Reichert was giving a speech. I don't get a chance to meet the local Congressman very often, and I said to myself: "Self…what a great chance to talk about Iraq…with a Member of Congress. You should go talk to him."
So I did.
As it turns out, he was most gracious and more than willing to talk; and we spent about 10 minutes in a back-and-forth. As Paul Harvey would say, "the rest…of the story" is continued below.
There are times when only the most evil of thinkers are able to grasp an excellent opportunity to do good in a most unlikely place.
As one of the most evil thinkers I know, I stand here today to tell you that we have an opportunity to turn this Larry Craig situation into a chance to stand Mr. Bush's war plans on their head-if we are willing to play the extremely brutal political game required.
We are all by now aware of the Senate vote to encourage the State Department to identify a unit of the Iranian Army as a terrorist organization.
I was so amazed to discover that Washington's Senator Patty Murray voted for the resolution that I immediately sent her an email expressing my most severe displeasure.
She was kind enogh to respond.
Today I have replied to her response.
Those two emails are the rhetorical tofu in tonight's dinner discussion, and I invite you to pull up to the table and join us.
(A very interesting idea here... hmmmmmmm - promoted by boadicea)
In a comment on the BlueNC site to one of my postings, Icloud aptly points out that Mr. Bush does not personally suffer the consequences of this war-that is, neither his family or personal fortune are at stake here.
The same can also be said of many of the Members of Congress. Jim Webb is an example of a Member who does feel that personal connection, and the passion he brings to this issue is clearly a result of that experience.
So how might we make the Members and the President more personally engaged in the daily lives of the military community…and more empathetic to the needs of the average military family?
The purpose of today's discussion is to offer a suggestion that would do exactly that.
(It's not often, even in the U.S. Senate, that you see a sitting Senator so publically coat himself in chicken shit.
Texas deserves a better Senator than this. - promoted by boadicea)
Cross-posted from Daily Kos and Blue Texas
Sen. John Cornyn isn't content with joining Republican efforts to drag out George W. Bush's morally irresponsible war of choice in Iraq. He's also not content with spreading his pack of lies and misinformation about Moveon.org's recent ad attacking the testimony of Bush's Iraq general, David Petreaus.
He now plans to introduce a sense of the Senate resolution Thursday attacking Moveon.org for daring to expose the holes of Petreaus' testimony and the continued idioicy of Bush's war.
More below.
Just as you have unfinished work piling up on your desk; stories pile up on mine that deserve discussion. Each of today's stories would not in and of itself make a complete day's work, so instead I'll lay out on the table a late summer buffet, if you will, of conversational morsels that together will hopefully present a more complete "meal".
(Cornyn keepings lying about MoveOn.org... - promoted by krazypuppy)
Cross-posted from Daily Kos and Blue Texas
If this is the best defense John Cornyn can come up of George W. Bush's war of choice in Iraq and the shoddy testimony of Gen. David Petraus, he might as well resign from his post.
Instead of offering any explanation for Bush's continued failings in Iraq, Cornyn decided instead to attack Moveon.org for producing an ad attacking Petraus' testimony and asking the question: "General Petraus or General Betray Us?"
More below
After hearing this YouTube clip, it makes me wonder why I haven't heard about any Democratic opposition to my (I'm ashamed to say) congressman, Pete Sessions (TX-32):
If you haven't heard Keith Olbermann's excellent special comment on the Iraq war today, it's well worth more than just a listen.
There was one section of Keith's commentary that quoted a passage from Robert Draper's newly-published book, "Dead Certain," which struck me greatly.
Here's part of what Keith said:
"I'm playing for October-November," Mr. Bush said to Draper. That, evidently, is the time during which, he thinks he can sell us the real plan, which is "to get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence."
Is this REALLY want Texans want, an indefinite presence in Iraq supported by a senator who's been Bush's strongest supporter on the issue?
More below.
Hello, I'm Fake C., and I'm a member of the Lefty Fringe.
Even though I've been attending these meetings for awhile, I need to better understand how I came to be in this situation, so here goes…
It all started when I was reading about this George Bush guy that was running for President. This woman who used to write about Texas politics and its quirky nature put up a series of stories that gave you the impression that there was nothing good about this guy.
So I voted for Al Gore, because (I thought) he would make a better candidate. It turns out it was just a sign that I'm a member of the Lefty Fringe.
Don't get me wrong-it's not as if I haven't sought help…but it just isn't helping.
(And while aging politicians argue over the definition of "success" in a surge, young men and women are still being parted from their families. May they return home as soon and safely as possible. - promoted by boadicea)
It has been an unusually wet and rainy summer in my corner of the world, and it was a great pleasure to be able to combine a road trip with what has become a rare sunny day.
The Girlfriend and I were headed to see our two godsons and their family for a summer barbecue; and you would think the combination of family, a perfect day, and a smoking grill would be all you would need to guarantee happiness all around.
But not today.
Why?
Because we were going to say goodbye to one of our godsons.
He's going to the Middle East with his Army unit, and this is his last day "in the world".
I went to tonight's meeting in Austin of the Capital Area Progressive Democrats and asked them to endorse putting a referendum on Iraq on the primary ballot in March. They approved the resolution on a voice vote. Here is a pdf of the resolution they approved. They are the first group to endorse the referendum.
Proposed Texas Democratic Party Primary Ballot Referendum on Iraq
"Shall President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress, in support of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, end the United States occupation of Iraq and immediately begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all United States forces; and further, shall President George W. Bush and the Congress provide the necessary diplomatic and nonmilitary assistance to promote peace and stability in Iraq and the Middle East?"
Capital Area Progressive Democrats
supports putting a referendum on Iraq on the Texas Democratic Party's primary ballot on March 4, 2008. The actual ballot language can be determined by the SDEC. We urge the SDEC to vote to put such a referendum question on the primary ballot.
It seems that W has invited Congressional leaders to the White House to discuss compromise capitulation on the Iraq war bill now that he's killed funding for with a stroke of his lucky veto pen.
They should bring a video setup because this message clearly needs to be delivered with visual aids.
I'm not much of a gadget woman, myself. I'm impressed by them and even more impressed by folks who use them so effortlessly, so elegantly, so integrated-ly. I mean, there are folks that even have the baby monitors in every room linked (wirelessly) to their home and office computers. They buy cars with iPod jacks, they text message their lunch orders, which then magically appear in their cubicles a half hour later. Waaayyy different than my lifestyle of calling on a phone (hey, it's cordless!) for pizza. But I admire, tremendously, y'all's ability to integrate all this hardware with its software into your lives. So I thought y'all would like to see the newest Apple product, now in a limited Beta release. Turn the page.
