PSoTD

It seems on target. They are isolating Bush and the neocons, pitting their words against military Generals and the wishes of the Iraqi leadership. Finally, the meme: we should leave so Iraq can begin healing. I see Bush's speech dropping him a few more points, regardless of the news media's incompetence in coverage. The President's image isn't going to be Commander-In-Chief, but Incompetent-In-Chief.

Kerry: The President is not dealing with reality.

Feingold: The President is confused.

Look for those terms to resonate, especially Feingold's. Who doesn't believe that?

On the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' heroic act of civil disobedience on that Montgomery bus. Read more here.

It could have just been a car accident.

Rep. Tim Murphy, one of two members of Congress treated at a military hospital after a weekend accident in Baghdad, said Monday that wounded soldiers told him the United States should remain in Iraq.

Murphy appeared at the event in hiking boots and sported a small bandage on a cut above his right eye. He said he is still experiencing soreness in his neck, arms and back.

Murphy, 53, said he was traveling on a back road to the Baghdad airport with Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., on Saturday night when an oncoming vehicle sideswiped the small armored bus in which they were traveling.

Yeah, maybe it was just some innocent accident on the way to the Baghdad Airport. Wonder if that bus had a protective convoy. Of course, you gotta wonder how heavy the bus was, since it was toppled by a sideswipe.

And you gotta wonder how close the Bush Administration is to losing a civilian American elected official in a visit to Iraq.

I watched the 60 Minutes report last night about what things are like in some parts of New Orleans. Despite some of the good news I've been reading lately about businesses opening back up in the famed French Quarter and that there will indeed be a Mardi Gras in 2006, the 60 Minutes report sort of brought things back into the sad reality of what is happening in my favorite city.

The Lower Ninth Ward section (at least, the part they showed on camera) appeared to be a pile of gray dust, eerily reminiscent of New York right after 9/11. One man who inspects homes for the city knows what victims are going through, since he is also one of them. From the outside, his house looked like it wasn't in bad shape. On the inside, it was a whole different story. Flood waters trashed his home's interior and now the walls are covered in mold.

Still, progress is being made. It's just going to take a lot of time and money. One of the questions that came up in the report was that old "Should we even bother rebuilding a city that is going to be surrounded by water in 90 years?" song we've been hearing since Katrina hit.

I fear that some of these same people who question whether we should rebuild one of America's most diverse and culturally significant cities see no problem in spending similar amounts of money and time going to war in Iraq. The American spirit is about helping our own and our neighbors when disaster strikes. We face adversity and we rebuild bigger and better.

After the San Francisco earthquake, we didn't question whether or not people should abandon their city for fear of another quake. I never hear anyone in Washington trying to tell folks in Florida that they shouldn't live in such a high-risk region for hurricanes. That's not what America is all about.

New Orleans deserves our compassion and our best efforts to help it return to its glory. It's going to take some time, but it will be worth the wait.

Jane reporting in. I'm pleased to be guest posting at PSOTD.

The Valerie Plame affair is not the first time Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been involved in a leak. In 1992 when he was at the Dept of Defense, the defense guidance document, considered so sensitive that not even the Congress could get a copy, was leaked to the press not only once but twice, in different drafts. Libby was called before a Congressional committee to explain what happened. This is a very brief except from Defense Planning, Guidance and Security Issues (Hearings before the committee on Armed Services United States Senate, 102nd Congress, 2nd session, June 3, 10, 16, and 18, 1992). (Y 4 AR5/3:SHRG 102-834). More excepts are available here.

Chairman Nunn: Do you believe the entire document has been leaked?
Mr. Libby: It is the claim of the reporters who reported it that the entire document of the two different drafts have been leaked.
Chairman Nunn: Has there been any investigation started as to who leaked the document, how it was leaked?
Mr. Libby: As I responded to the committee, and you noted earlier, I know of no investigation being done. I have consulted the appropriate officials and been advised that none is underway.
Chairman Nunn: None is underway
Mr. Libby: Correct, sir.

It does seem like the guy has a history with this sort of thing.

You would think that the modern nude protest would have began in a warm weather climate. You would be wrong...

Naked Protest and the Politics of Personalism (PDF)

In the Canadian winter of 1903, members of a Christian sect called the Doukhobors became the first modern naked protestors. Similar to the Anabaptist/Mennonite sects of Western Europe, the Russian Doukhobors rejected ecclesiastical hierarchy, traditional Orthodox liturgy and modern forms of social organisation in favour of individual spirituality, radically simplified worship and anti-modern communitarianism. To some degree, their heterodox attitudes were tolerated by church and political authorities. But when, in 1896, they made bonfires from their own weapons to protest conscription in the Czar’s army, stiff repression was inevitable. By 1899, as many as 8000 Doukhobors fled the post-bonfire crackdowns for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Considering conditions in the failing Czarist regime, Canada was probably an improvement, especially for a group that had little interest in political revolution. Even so, radical Doukhobor emigrants calling themselves the Svobodniki (Freedomites) or ‘Sons of Freedom’ soon began agitating again, moving outside of their settlements to spread their radical understanding of the gospel. Initially, the Svobodniki punctuated their preaching marches by untethering their animals, discarding their metal tools and starting bonfires of leather. By 1903, the Sons of Freedom had added nudity to their repertoire, seeking through nakedness to walk with the simplicity and moral purity of Christ. The Doukhobors brought their nude proselytisation to surrounding towns, where beatings and jailings only served to fortify their religious zeal. For the next fifty years, public nakedness remained a central aspect of their proselytisation and political dissent.

This sounds like a movie waiting to happen.

Kitty Carlson has found his Republican cat toy in the catnip-stuffed embodiment of Karen Hughes. Meow!

In this case, asked in Arkansas:

Has the Arkansas Democratic Party lost its soul?

The article makes a good case for the official "party" being squeezed by Republicans on the right and Progressives on the left, leaving the "Party" with little definition beyond claiming the "big tent" scenario. Sooner or later, the "Party" is going to have to decide which way lies governing success and quit trying to play the middle, because the middle is getting skinnier every day.

President Bush's Veterans Day Speech was an insult to the intelligence and the patriotism of all Americans - particularly anyone interested in the history of our nation. On a day where we should gather together to honor those who sacrificed to build a nation, he spent his speech in an UnAmerican effort to castigate honest people in search of the truth, which is further dividing this very nation.

History isn't finished the moment something occurs. It takes time. Facts come to light. The history of the Bush Administration won't be completely understood for decades, most likely. It is a natural factgathering and fact-absorbing process. Bush wants to hinder that process. It only makes his actions more suspicious. And by claiming that this process somehow weakens the nation, and fighting and clawing to prevent it from happening, Bush is weakening the nation - by dividing it.

Wow. Try to imagine for a minute that you're a Republican politician, and you were putting together the pieces to run for a new seat (to you) in 2006 - Congress, Governor or other state executive branch, State Legislator...

Do you take that jump now? Two state Republican Governor campaign duds this week. A very unpopular top of the Republican Party. Anger about government in general. Do you try to swim against the current in the next election?

Or... do you try to wait it out? Money's going to be tough next year for Republicans - every Republican is going to need it, even those in previously suspected "gimme" seats - as long as the Democrats run a candidate. Hell, Republican contributions may shrink as corporations try to cover themselves for a debacle by contributing to Democrats. If a Democrat runs, will you as a member of the future of the Republican Party take a flyer in a 2006 election?

There's a school of thought that believes that at least some of the "smart, new" Republican candidates are going to cut away from challenging in 2006 races. The likelihood seems reasonable to me. That will leave the Republicans with second, third, and fourth preference candidates in many races. That won't help Republican elective chances. Less capable the candidate, less funding for the race, lesser likelihood of success...

Republicans shouldn't be worried about just losing next year. They should be worried that they've set the mechanics in motion for the GOP to be regular losers for quite a while. Incumbency is a big advantage, and the Democrats have a strong opportunity to grasp it. Republicans are going to find it hard to weather 2006's Global Bushing, and it will be interesting to see if imcumbent Republicans deny it until they find themselves in the minority in government.

Hopefully, Federal disaster aid will not be made available to this candidate for U.S. Senate after Hurricane George blows away his election chances.

Q Do you think that Republican candidates — can you say now that you expect Republican candidates will embrace, will ask for, will want this President to campaign with them next year?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they are. The President is going to be campaigning for Lieutenant Governor Steele here in just a short amount of time. And he looks forward to campaigning for those who share his compassionate conservative agenda for the American people, and who share his commitment to keeping America strong and safe and prosperous. And that's what he will do.

On CNN Today:
(not a transcript but from memory)

Miles O'Brien: Yesterday was election day. Did you vote?

Soledad O'Brien: Yes I did.

Miles O'Brien: Well, that's better than I can say.

Maybe he thinks that makes him a "real outsider" as far as government is concerned...

Residents rejected Measure D, the Pardee Homes-backed initiative for 2,450 homes in North Livermore, and were re-electing Mayor Marshall Kamena and Councilman Tom Reitter, both staunch anti-Measure D candidates.

With the vast majority of precincts reporting, Measure D was losing, capturing just 28 percent of the vote.

From Canada.com:

A treaty aimed at reducing deaths from smoking has been ratified by 106 countries who can now vote at the first meeting of the anti-tobacco convention, the United Nations said.

The treaty, known as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, was finalized in May 2003 and came into force earlier this year. The parties who have ratified it are scheduled to meet for the first time in Geneva in February. The treaty requires countries that ratify it to restrict tobacco advertising and sponsorship, put tougher health warnings on cigarettes and limit the use of language like "low-tar" and "light."

...

Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based organization which campaigns against dangerous corporate actions around the world, said countries covering over 70 per cent of the world's population have ratified the treaty.

They include Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

"The progress is a true testimony to the growing global commitment to protect people's lives over big tobacco's profits," Corporate Accountability International's Campaigns Director Patti Lynn said in a statement.

The organization criticized President George W. Bush's administration, which signed the treaty on May 10, 2004, for failing to submit it to the Senate for ratification.

At least, if Lewis Gould, the author of "The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate" has a good grasp on the bad Fristory...

Are there any senators today who impress you?

Harry Reid is evolving into a very effective and tough Minority Leader. On the Republican side, Mitch McConnell is a better debater than most and a sharp advocate for his party. Should he succeed the inept Bill Frist, he will prove a difficult test for the Democrats. Lindsey Graham and Russell Feingold are worth listening to in debates and hearings.

Can't you get your dad to pull some strings to get you out of finishing this tour of service?

I said this last year but it bears repeating, I really like this part of Rich Stevenson's campaign - he's a candidate for Congress, Ohio District 1, in 2006...

National Election Holiday

To promote democracy, our elections must be our most honored national holiday. Our election holiday could last up to four days, with voting Saturday through Monday. The Polls could close at the same time in each time zone throughout the nation, all the way to the most Western time zone, Hawaii. On Tuesday at noon, with all the polls closed, the voting results could be officially released from the "local election commissions."

According to the American Antitrust Institute, Alito is not likely to be a supporter of antitrust enforcement.

Other blogs on this story: f/k/a, (Anti)Trust Me

Livermore, California has a long history of housing growth controversy. When I lived there in the 1970s, Livermore was a no-growth community, and during the 1980s that policy allowed Livermore to watch as the population growth in the Tri-Valley occurred in nearby communities of Dublin, San Ramon, and even Pleasanton.

Tuesday Livermore will have an election to consider the approval of the building of 2,450 homes in North Livermore. It will be interesting to see how it goes, since if approved there's discussion of a need for an additional elementary and high school, plus all the other necessary infrastructure.

More importantly, this vote has somewhat bypassed the City Council's approval process:

From the Tri-Valley Herald:

The lack of any formal development application with the city has been used as a rallying cry for opponents. Proponents of this theory, including Mayor Marshall Kamena, said that Pardee should have filed an application with the city so that the project could have been scrutinized to see if it met city guidelines for such factors as traffic mitigation and affordable housing requirements. After the project was deemed to satisfy city requirements, Pardee could have gone to voters for approval, he said.

If voters approve it as outlined in the initiative, the city will have difficultly requiring any mitigation beyond whats written in the documents, Kamena said. This point has been hammered home at numerous debates about the project.

I'm long gone from Livermore, and there's no way I'll ever return to live there. Still, I'll be watching and hoping that Measure D fails, because Livermore's been through too much housing policy history to have government review bypassed in this way. And government's role in housing development should not be as peripheral as implementing any development that is approved by voters.

A lot of folks, including M at Comments from Left Field, think the Virginia Governor's race is the most important election this Tuesday.

Remember a few weeks ago, when Ted Stevens threatened to quit the U.S. Senate because other members of Congress wanted to pull his funding of the bridge to nowhere?

What a crock. He wouldn't quit his position as U.S. Senator from Alaska. And even if he tried, you'd have to think that his son would convince him to recant.

From the Kodiak Daily Mirror:

Two months after collecting $145,000 in consulting fees from Cook Inlet Region Inc. in 2002, state Sen. Ben Stevens quietly returned the money, acknowledging he didn't fulfill the requirements of the job, according to CIRI chief executive Margie Brown.

Brown, responding to recent inquiries by two dissident board members and the Daily News, said Stevens "indicated he wasn't satisfied, returned the money and paid us interest on it."

Brown's disclosures come as public scrutiny has focused on outside consulting work that has paid Stevens more than $1.1 million since 2001, the year he was appointed to a vacant Senate seat. Among those jobs, all reported by Stevens in his legislative financial disclosures, were the payments from CIRI. While Alaska media and the Los Angeles Times reported on Stevens' CIRI work, the fact that one year's payment was returned came as news. Many of the companies paying Stevens, including CIRI, have business with the state or have benefited from the actions in Congress of his father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, or both. The L.A. Times story, published in July 2003, used Ben Stevens as an example among several senators' sons and spouses who collected big payments from companies seeking benefits from Congress.

Read the story. You'd think there would be a law against this kind of government insider trading, but apparently not enough of one to stop it.

More Ben Stevens posts of interest: Washington Libertarian Review, About It All, Life in Bush's America

Public Citizen has posted information on who has contributed to DeLay's legal defense fund. Here's the list of corporations and other entities who have enabled DeLay's legal defense activities since 2000:

Allegiance Telecom Service Corporation
American Airlines Appriss Inc. (PAC)
Ashland Inc (Ashland Inc. PAC)
ATA and Affiliated Companies
Bacardi USA, Inc.
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.
Bell South
Betra, Inc.
Bizwil, Inc.
Bizzack, Inc.
Black Diamond, Inc.
Brookfeagin Real Eastate
California Correctional Peace Officers
Calmaquip Engineering Corporation
Ceco Pipeline Services Company, Inc.
Codell Construction Company
Compac
Consol Energy, Inc.
Construction Services Tech
Contran Corporation
Conwood Company, LP
Coyote Loaders, Inc.
David R. Brown Revocable Trust
DEC, Dannenbaum Engineering Corp.
DFM Processing, LLC
Distilled Spirits Council US
DNG Inc.
Easyrider Construction Co.
Eberle Communications Group, Inc.
E-Cavern Communications & Electronics
EHS Equity Holdings, Inc.
Energex Systems, Inc.
EPCO, Inc
Ergon, Inc.
Eugene S. Allen & Inez C. Allen Revocable Trust
Excalibur Construction, Inc.
Florida Crystals Corporation
Frank W Brown & Assoc. Inc.
Gables Financial Group
GAF Materials Corporation
GenCorp
Geocontrol Systems Inc.
Global Marine Corporate Services Inc.
H & I Equipment Inc.
Hale Mills Construction, Inc.
Hale/Associates Inc.
Harmony Grove, Inc.
Henley Properties, Inc.
Hermes Reed Architects
Hinkle Contracting Corp.
Hou-Tra International
Huntsman Corporation (& PAC)
IGT
Infinity Business Group, Inc.
Inland Group, Inc.
International Integrated Industries, LLC
ISP Energy & Natural Resources
J&B, Inc.
John O'Neill Associates, Inc.
JTS Incorporated
Kentucky Assoc. of Highway Contractors, Inc.
LaCrosse Enclosures, Inc.
Larry Stigers Equipment Trailers & Trucks '
Lee's Ford Dock, Inc.
Legget & Platt, Inc.
Lehman & Lehman
Life Care Management Health Nursing Homes/Home Care
Lombard & Assoc., Inc.
M&D General Contractors, Inc.
Mallory Factor, Inc.
Mark Two Engineering, Inc.
Mastec, Inc.
Maxxam, Inc.
MCO Properties, Inc.
Mid American Energy Holdings Company
Mid-America Associates
Nami Resources Co, LLC
Next Generation Ventures, Inc.
Nissan North America Inc.
NL Industries
Nor-Stick Corp.
Northeast Construction
Ogden-Chaparral Limited Partnership
Outdoor Venture Corp.
Panda Energy Management, LP
Paxson Communications Corp.
Penpac
Philip Morris
Phillips International, Inc.
Phoenix Products, Inc.
Pike Electric Inc. (Pike Electric PAC)
Plastic Packaging, Inc.
PMG Pharmed Group Health
Promadco, Inc.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Reliant (and subsidiaries)
Rosswil, LLC
Sager Family Ltd. Partnership
Saunders Lawyers & Lobbyists
SMTM Consulting
Stephens Development, LLC
The Columbus Organization
The IAC Group, Inc.
The Limited Service Corporation
The Mullett Company
The Preston Group, Inc.
Tools for You, LLC
Traffic Engineers, Inc.
Travis Consulting
Valhi, Inc.
Verizon Services
Village Spirits
William J. Lehrfeld, PC
Wilson Jr., PA
WWTL 700 AM International Broadcastaing Corp.
Your Way Fumigation

Dominated by Energy and Construction companies. Who all wonders what they're getting for their contributions?

You almost made Billy Frist cry.

If they're going to be this upset by a slap in the face, they'll probably require hospitalization for the gut punch.

Jan Frel is right in this piece:

Democrats Fiddling as the World Burns

The question is asked, with really no good answers:

Bush is at the nadir of his career and the entire Republican Party is a sinking ship. Why aren't we getting more than weak slogans from the Washington Dems?

Here's a suggestion to move the Democratic Party.

In the winter of 2005/2006, there should be 3 to 4 debates held around the country, or maybe more. Prominent Democrats should be invited to attend and debate, including the possible Presidential candidates, but also Bill Clinton and Al Gore and other folks. These debates ought to be about the serious issues of the day:

Iraq
National Debt
Medicare and America's Health Care
Energy

and let it be a real debate. Let it be hard hitting. Let it be in the open. It will generate interest. Let America see that the Democrats are debating these issues amongst themselves. Let them see some real solutions suggested. Get Americans interested in Democratic Party ideas for the future, rather than being depressed by the Republican vision.

Other posts on this article: Politics in the Zeros, True Blue Liberal

Richard Morrison of the Times Online has an interesting piece about corporations and government and points out something that institutional management desperately needs to practice with regularity: humility.

The Romans had the right idea. They had a feast called Saturnalia when masters became servants and vice versa. Of course the exchange of status was strictly limited. The servants weren’t permitted, for example, to feed their masters to the lions while they were in charge. Even so, it was an exercise that reminded the ruling class of what it was like to be bossed around. And although one hates to give the hierarchy of the Catholic Church any credit for humility or a sense of reality, much the same thing used to happen on the Feast of St Nicolas, December 6. For one topsy-turvy day the bishop would relegate himself to dusting the candlesticks, and the humblest altar boy would be elevated to the bishop’s throne. Of course, they would never elevate an altar girl; that would have been the end of Christendom as they knew it. Nevertheless, by their actions they were issuing a timely memo to themselves that Jesus washed his own disciples’ feet.

Well, we can all think of modern organisations where the bosses make a point of stooping to pick up litter, or occasionally getting coffee for their secretaries, or even manning the customer-complaints line now and then. But not many. And some of those bosses do it only if there are TV cameras or impressionable visitors. My feeling is that it should become standard practice, not least because it would make businesses more efficient. Imagine what would happen if the directors of British Airways had to man the check-in desks over a bank-holiday weekend. Wouldn’t we find that, miraculously, all BA flights were bang on schedule?

The main reason, however, is that many big decisions are made today by people who have virtually no contact with those whom their diktats will most affect.